Hi! I’m Andrew Huang, a senior at BASIS Independent McLean in Virginia in the U.S. I’ve always loved writing, not just for the stories themselves but for the way they connect people who might never otherwise understand each other. A few years ago, I started Reading Across Borders, a nonprofit that’s worked on literacy projects in places like Senegal, Madagascar, China, and here in the US. In my community and in communities around the world, I've been privileged to meet students whose worlds looked completely different from mine. Yet somehow, our stories resonated with each other. That idea stuck with me: how words can travel farther than we can, and bridge things that politics or distance can’t.

Back at school, I started the Writing Workshop Club, a community where we share and critique each other’s work. It’s messy, funny, and honest, and it reminded me how good writing doesn’t just show who we are, it helps us listen to someone else. This project grew from all of that. I wanted to build a space where young writers could use their voices to cross boundaries — cultural, emotional, political — and imagine something better.

For 2025, our theme is about breaking through barriers: not just the ones we see on maps or in headlines, but the quiet ones inside us: fear, doubt, division. How can writing make the world feel a little clearer, more hopeful, more open to change? That’s the question we’re starting with. I can’t wait to see how you’ll answer it!