Humans of Harker: Tiffany Zhu immerses herself in stories

%E2%80%9CI+write+fictional+stories%2C+and+I+spend+a+lot+of+time+thinking+about+situations.+Even+though+Im+trying+to+delve+into+other+peoples+psychologies+when+I+do+this+sort+of+thing%2C+at+the+same+time%2C+I+feel+that+helps+me+satisfy+my+desire+to+figure+out+how+people+think.+Its+a+way+for+me+to+explore+what+sort+of+ways+people+think+about+the+people+around+them+or+their+settings.+Thats+one+of+the+things+I+find+most+rewarding+about+creative+work+and+creating+characters+and+plots+and+imagining+settings%2C%E2%80%9D+Tiffany+Zhu+%2812%29+said.+

Melissa Kwan

“I write fictional stories, and I spend a lot of time thinking about situations. Even though I’m trying to delve into other people’s psychologies when I do this sort of thing, at the same time, I feel that helps me satisfy my desire to figure out how people think. It’s a way for me to explore what sort of ways people think about the people around them or their settings. That’s one of the things I find most rewarding about creative work and creating characters and plots and imagining settings,” Tiffany Zhu (12) said.

by Angele Yang, Reporter

Since middle school, senior Tiffany Zhu has devoted her time outside of school to writing. In seventh grade, she read Crime and Punishment with fervor, though she didn’t quite understand its themes at first. After searching for similar authors and works, she discovered the The Brothers Karamazov, which turned out to be her all-time favorite novel and realized the significance of both books’ ideas.

“I could actually find and understand why this novel was important, and if I were to investigate them I’m sure I could write a thesis about it, and I’m sure people have so that’s how it all started,” Tiffany said. “After that, I started thinking about Dostoyevsky and that maybe I should started looking at people who write in similar styles as him or from the same time period or from the same country.”

A ritual she’s kept since sixth grade is writing a journal entry on her laptop every day. She uses this outlet to channel her thoughts or stress onto paper.

“Sometimes, I write a lot. Sometimes, I just put down a to-do list, but it’s a habit I keep every day. It actually takes a surprising amount of time,” she said. “Sometimes, I spend almost two hours writing about stories as well, but sometimes I just spend two hours drafting a story and then I’d realize that this has nothing to do with the homework I’m supposed to be doing. It is something I have kept up day to day, and I’m actually pretty proud of all my entries dating back to 2010.

She often look at her previous entries, dating all the way back to sixth grade. After comparing her recent entries to entries back from 2010, she’s realized how much she has changed.

“[If I could go back in time, I would] tell myself, ‘You’ll realize how little you actually know, and you’ll appreciate that you don’t really know everything and that you can’t learn some things,” she said. “Because you don’t know that much, all that stuff every day is an opportunity to learn. It’s wonderful.”

While talking to a friend on a school trip to Switzerland, Tiffany encountered a powerful phrase that has influenced the way she looks forward to her future.
“[I] was speaking to a friend, and her motto for that trip was ‘no regrets.’ I thought that was a really good point, and in particular, that phrase made me realize that that trip is really only happening once and in a such a time in my life when I had just graduated sophomore year,” she said. “I just left what I thought was the most intellectually exploratory year of high school and so my mind was buzzing with this fervor, and I seized upon the phrase ‘no regrets.’ That’s a really powerful phrase. I still think that it’s a good way for me to judge what I should do or what I want to do.”