Introducing The Student Blog Team ’25-’26

Celia (LEAD EDITOR) 11TH GRADE

Hi! I’m Celia, the Lead Editor of the Student Blog and a junior at ASU Prep Digital. I’ve been part of this school since 6th grade and joined the blog in 9th, which has been such a fun way to share ideas, work with creative classmates, and grow as a writer. I love leading the club and welcoming new writers each year!

Outside of school, I work part-time at Starbucks and stay active in my community through the Fountain Hills Mayor’s Youth Council. Volunteering, whether at town events or local service projects, has become something I genuinely enjoy because it connects me with likeminded people and lets me make a difference in my community.

Academically, I’ve been taking college-level concurrent classes since the summer between 8th and 9th grade, earning 28 credits so far. I’m passionate about politics and plan to major in political science. My goal is to hopefully become a lawyer some day. 

I am very excited to present to you our amazing group of students this year! 

TAEGAN (CO-EDITOR) 11TH GRADE

Hi! My name is Taegan, and I’m the Co-Editor of Student Blog. I’m currently a junior, and this is my third year as a member. I live in Tucson, Arizona, but I was raised in Southern California. Outside of school, I’m primarily a dancer. I’ve been dancing for around thirteen years and spend most of my time in the studio, which is why ASUPD is such an amazing school for me. I’m a huge fan of F1, K-pop, and any form of horror media. I’ve always been the kind of person to have too many interests to count—writing being one of them, which is why I’m so happy I get to pursue that passion in this club. I love to write fiction, poetry, and persuasive essays that I can strongly debate. I’m excited to start writing this year and discover what our amazing team has to offer!

PALOMA SWICK 12TH GRADE

Hello, my name is Paloma and I am a senior at ASU Prep Digital. I have been attending this school since I started high school. This is my first year writing for the Student Blog. The thing that I am most passionate about writing about are fictional stories. I think I wrote my first fictional story sometime while I was in elementary school. I also kind of like writing song lyrics as well. I have enjoyed doing this since I was young. Some of my interests outside of writing are drawing, reading, and music. My favorite thing to draw are anime-style characters. I like both physical and digital art. The types of stories I like reading include fantasy and mystery stories. Series that I have read and liked include the Good Girls Guide to Murder and the Hunger Games series. The music that I mainly like listening to is pop and alternative music. I also like pop-rock and vocaloid music. I like writing music of my own too, although I am just a beginner. I got inspired to do this because of how much I loved the songs I listened to, and wanted to make some of my own. I am also learning how to play the guitar! Some other things I like doing in my free time include watching videos, watching shows I like, and making videos of things I am interested in. Some of my other interests include psychology, animation and fashion. My favorite aesthetic is a cutesy/pastel aesthetic, although I kind of like darker aesthetics too. I really like pastel colors, especially pastel purple and pink. Overall, I am excited to see what my experience at the Student Blog is like, and hope whomever is reading this is having fun checking the blog out!

MIRAI KAKO 12TH GRADE

Hello everyone!
My name is Mirai Kako, and I’m currently in the 12th grade. I live in Arizona, and this is my first year being part of the Student Blog Team. I’m really excited to be here because I enjoy writing and see this as a great way to express ideas, connect with others, and grow as a student.
One of the main reasons I joined this team is that I have always loved the power of writing. I see writing not only as a way to share stories but also as a way to inspire people, exchange knowledge, and create community. I plan to write about topics that relate to student life, education, and personal growth. I also enjoy exploring themes such as resilience, first-generation student experiences, and strategies that help us succeed in both academics and life.
A little about me, outside of blogging, I am very passionate about healthcare and nursing. I plan to become a nurse in the future and eventually specialize in the nurse practitioner field. Because of this, I’ve already started working on prerequisites and even started some college-level courses through ASU while still in high school. Balancing school with preparing for my career has been challenging, but it’s something I am very motivated to pursue.
In my free time, I enjoy reading, writing, volunteering, and exploring creative projects. I have completed over 150 hours of community service, much of it through volunteering at my local church. A fun fact about me is that I am graduating high school a semester early, which has given me a unique perspective on time management and setting goals.
I’m really looking forward to learning from everyone, sharing my experiences, and growing together as a team this year!

AMIYA AUSTIN 11TH GRADE

Hi! My name is Amiya Austin. I am currently in 11th grade and I am 16 years old. I live in Phoenix, Arizona. This is my first year in the Student Blog. I love writing stories (mainly fictional) about different things. But, my favorite type of fictional stories to write are short stories and my favorite genre is fantasy. Even though I really like writing fictional stories as a whole, those are my favorite kind to write about. It is my favorite because I just like storytelling and making up stories and I always have since I was young. I also like writing poems even though I do not really write them super often. I also like informative writing because I like explaining things and providing information. Some fun facts about me are that my favorite food is pizza (cheese to be more specific), I like to exercise and listen to music, and my favorite subject in school is Spanish. I also have a dog named Maxwell. I love D&D, my favorite animal is the dog, my favorite insect is the butterfly, and I want to be an author along with a biologist in the future. Some places I like are Dave & Busters and Butterfly Wonderland. I like Dave & Busters for their arcade games and Butterfly Wonderland for the butterflies they have (I just really like butterflies as a whole). I love D&D because of the adventures you can go on and the characters that can be made. It is kind of like being a character in a fantasy story. While I do not have a favorite book as of right now, my favorite type of books to read are graphic novels. Overall, I am very excited to be joining Student Blog this year and I cannot wait to meet my peers!

ASHLEE DODD 11TH GRADE

♡ Ashlee Dodd – Current Junior ♡

Been in Student Blog since Sophomore year.

I feel like I’m the most passionate about writing about my favorite classes academically in blog posts and I like writing short character stories for personal work of my own.

I’d say a fun fact about me is that I’ve been drawing both digitally and traditionally for the past nine years, I love listening to music artists such as Billie Eilish, Ghost, and Evanescence, I like comic genres such as MARVEL and DC.

And after passing high school, I’m looking to find a career in either becoming a fashion illustrator in the industry or a selective art-director in lead or character designer for animated movies, TV shows, or cinematography.

AUDREY 11TH GRADE

Hello there! My name is Audrey, and I go by (She/They/He?), for now at least, and I’m in the 11th grade! I live in Arizona, and I have just joined the ASU Prep Digital Student Blog! I am very excited to be here and I hope I do a good job! One of the things that I am incredibly passionate about writing is fictional stories and narratives! I’ve got soooo many original characters in my head, and I love to write stories and poems involving those characters (and sometimes even characters from media that I like, haha!). I also like writing anything involving queerness in any way, but I might refrain from doing so in my writing on this blog, mainly just because I’m not sure I’ll be able to find the opportunity to, haha! (well, there’s also other reasons, but I’m pretty sure many of you already know them) Some fun facts about me are that I love drawing, writing, and watching anime/donghua! Some of my favorites are Link Click, The Summer Hikaru Died, Heaven Official’s Blessing, and, including a more niche one, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard (haven’t read the light novels/manga, but I’ve heard that it’s better than the anime!)! Another fact about me is that I am hard-of-hearing and have microtia! If you don’t know what that means, it just means that my outer ears are not fully developed! Technically, I still have one ear, but it’s a little misshapen, so it doesn’t look quite like a regular ear! To be able to hear, I wear a BAHA, or a bone-anchored hearing aid, but it’s technically just a headband with “antennas” on my head, haha! Sorry for rambling so much about myself, but I thought that maybe someone out there might enjoy learning about this kind of thing and be able to see someone just like them out there! I hope you all enjoy my writing on this blog!

CAITLIN “CAT” 10TH GRADE

Hi, I’m Caitlin but I normally go by my nickname Cat. I’m in 10th grade and I can say the time is flying. I live in the Estrella mountains. I just moved here from Tartesso. This will be my second year in blog and I’m super excited. I love the blog and all the people in it. It’s a super fun community and I look forward to every other week (since I have chemistry at the same time :..[). I love writing sad queer stories but if I’m making an animation I write happy stories. My passion comes from a love to be in other people’s shoes and try to see things in another way. Some fun facts about me is that I have a dog named Lily. She’s one year old now and she is super energetic and cute! I also am a very creative person, I enjoy drawing and animating. When I’m not drawing or writing I enjoy watching a stream named Ranboo. They stream mainly video games. I have been watching them for about 4 years now. I got into them after watching them date a phone (yes I said date a phone it was a weird dating sim). But if my parents are home I enjoy hanging out with them. Watching shows such as, british baking shows, f1, and WNBA. Another fun fact is over the summer I got really into watching sports. I have been watching F1 for some time. Esteban Ocon is my favorite driver even though he is not the best.

AMIRA 10TH GRADE

Hello! My name is Amira, I am in 10th grade and I live in Phoenix, Arizona. This is my first year with ASU Prep Digital and also my first time joining the Student Blog. Over the summer I taught myself how to play the piano which was really cool and I’m now taking a piano course this year to get better at playing. I have a few hobbies such as drawing, painting, and swimming. I like to hike and play pickle ball when the weather is nice. I also like the fall season because around fall is football season. Me and my family love watching football. I grew up watching football but I was never really interested in it until I went to my first football game a few years ago and that’s when my love for football started. My love for watching football is so strong that it made me decide what career I want in the future, which is to become a sports broadcaster. I also like to go to baseball games and sometimes in the spring time I go to spring training games. I don’t know much about baseball but I’m slowly learning more about it. I have 3 dogs and I’ve always loved having dogs. I plan on maybe volunteering at dog shelters in the future. There aren’t any specific topics I write about often but I do like writing and I’m excited to write about new topics and get to work with my peers in the student blog.

ALIZABETH MEADOWS 9TH GRADE

Hi! My name is Alizabeth Meadows, and I am in 9th grade. This will be my first year with the Student Blog and I’m excited to start! I live in Surprise Arizona, and if you don’t know where that is, it’s a suburb outside of Phoenix. (About 40 minutes away from the loop around Sky Harbor Airport.) I love to write science fiction and mystery stories! I actually just finished creating a cli-fi short story in my English class. I like writing about real-world problems, such as social media, fast food, and climate change! I feel like more people should be made aware about these things, and that we should try to get more people involved. I love reading and listening/creating music! My favorite things to read are horror, mystery, and science fiction. I also will read a romance or two here and there. (Like Twilight and The Host). My favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. (I forgot who it’s by…) I played the flute for a year, while I was in sixth grade, and I played the keyboard. (I can play the Micheal Meyers theme song! It’s really easy, actually.) I wish to learn how to play the saxophone. It’s a magical instrument, one that I feel like most people love and will truly listen to. I will listen to everything except heavy country. (I will listen to country music like Carrie Underwood and Zach Bryan, but I don’t really think they count as country.) My favorite band is Arctic Monkeys! My favorite song changes day to day, based on what mood I’m in. My favorite song today is Oklahoma Smoke Show, by Zach Bryan. I’m really excited to be here in Student Blog and can’t wait for us to start the year! I look forward to meeting everyone!

MAKENNA 9TH GRADE