Hi, Eris!

Firstly: I am SO jet lagged right now, so if I stop making sense, that’s probably why. You have been forewarned. (This is also the reason for it being a shorter letter, haha- I also have to finish my fanfic entry. AAAAA. I think I hate it still, and I have no clue where I’m going with it.)

You should definitely try crochet clothes! It’s pretty fun. Although I guess it’s a little less critical in Singapore because they’re typically much warmer, and we have plenty of heat over here already. But! Making sweaters and stuff is fun at least.

Thank you for the tutorials!! I will definitely have to check them out.

People in the comments for crochet videos are SO helpful. I like to have the demonstrations of the videos but also can’t be bothered to skip around sometimes, so it’s nice to have both.

Ahhh, quadratics and all that jazz. My sister was just talking about that to me yesterday, haha. Good luck! I’m sure you can do it.

Do tell on why the math teacher is good “right now,” by the way; it sounds like it could be an interesting story.

Sorry to hear about your geometry test, though if it makes you feel better, I find that things like that often turn out not to be quite as bad as expected. Either way, I hope the teacher sees the effort you put into both parts, and hopefully it ends up alright? I think a lot of times, the MCQs/structured questions are worth more than the essay/free response questions, which at least (hopefully) means that if you ran out of time for your essay, your other marks can still save you? I don’t know if it works like that at your school, though, but that’s how it works on things like AP tests. Which I realize are very different, but that’s the closest comparison I can currently think of.

I lied, the SAT is actually only a bit over two hours total, close to 2.5 when you add in the ten minute break in the middle! It’s really not so bad because it’s practically all multiple choice questions (based on the practice, anyway) with a couple of free response ones on the math section here and there, which is basically just “put in the number that is the correct answer.” Singapore must have places that offer the SAT, though I’m not exactly sure at what locations it does so. Something I’ll figure out eventually! Or will leave to my parents to figure out, since they will probably be driving me.

On the other hand, many of the AP tests are over three hours long, and let me tell you, THAT is painful. AP lang especially was exhausting. Basically, we had an hour of multiple choice questions followed by over two hours of essay writing, and we did three essays in that time. I was so tired after that, but thankfully the rest of my day after the test ended up being relatively restful.

Your dad can do the production, perhaps! Which is also very interesting—and very important.

Ooh, wait, there’s a piano part in Satisfied? I cannot currently call it to mind at the moment, but I’ll have to relisten to it at some point and look for that, because that’s quite interesting.

Going exhibit by exhibit is probably the best way to go, honestly. That’s what I SHOULD do, but we also don’t end up at museums often enough to make it practical, hence my “Read everything!!’ strategy.

What museums are most interesting to you?

When we went to that museum, I think we ended up spending like four hours there? I totally would have spent longer, but I was also meeting up with a friend, and I didn’t want to keep her for too long, plus we got hungry toward the end of it.

Yeah, I actually know very little about Sapa. I’ve just looked it up, and it seems gorgeous, though.

I once brought really tiny scissors on the plane because I forgot to take them out of my bag, but my sister also got flagged for those same scissors on the way back, so honestly, who knows? I think it’s probably not allowed in general, but if you’ve got small enough scissors, it might not always set off the alarms or whatever.

Honestly, at this point, COVID is probably just going to be a part of life as much as any other sickness. Though it’s weird to think that a few years ago, it was such a big deal.

Extra time for Hamilton-experiencing is always a good thing! But yeah. Work building up is…not fun. Once again, good luck with managing all that <333

I did not realize they had excursions, I think. That’s definitely a start! But yeah, I agree with you on the school system. Your youth should be the time to be free and experiment and all that fun stuff!

YAY, DFH!! You’ll have to tell me all your thoughts once you finish the album and experienced it.

Okay, my phases. Mine are, according to my sister and others, very annoying and incredibly obsessive. To be fair, they’re not really wrong. I’ll start off by liking a piece of media, then in the next few weeks (or perhaps upon a reconsumption, like what happened with The Hunger Games), I’ll get SUPER into it and will just talk about it nonstop, basically. I will consume all kinds of media related, typically analyses, and I’ll form my own analyses and then dump them on whoever happens to be close enough and nice enough to have the misfortune to listen to one of my rambles. This goes on for a few months, after which time it starts to become more normal, but I’ll still reference it randomly from time to time. Afterward, I’ll still talk about it from time to time and will still enjoy consuming related media, but it remains mostly dormant until a) an update in the media, b) I get a really interesting thought, or c) I find someone else who is also a fan of said media.

Yesss, that rhyme in Satisfied is something else! Dare I say that it is…satisfying? Anyway, it’s so pleasing to the ears; the consonants and whatever sound perfect together, and they fit so nicely <3 ALSO, HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED? Genuinely one of my favorites. I’m so ashamed at past me for not remembering to put that one on my list. I was like, “I know I like more Act Two songs than that,” but I couldn’t be bothered with checking the album for the titles, so I forgot it.

King George is SO funny, and Jonathan Groff does an excellent job on the portrayal; it’s so silly.

The Jefferson-Madison-Burr company is so silly because they really just want to see Hamilton taken down a peg, ahaha

Okay, so when we used to go camping, we’d bring all our own materials and would sleep in sleeping bags on a mat (inside our tent, of course). On the other hand, at the place we go glamping, they have a tent all set up, and it’s pretty well-furnished! It had proper beds and blankets and stuff, and it also had some of the materials outside like a camping stove and some pans and utensils. They also had a solar powered shower! That was really cool.

I’ve said this before already, but thank you so much for being such a great pen pal! I, too, have had so much fun getting to know you better, and I’ve loved rambling at/with you throughout this session. Hopefully we’ll be in the same cabin again one day soon, but either way, I hope we keep talking between the sessions and during future ones regardless of our placement! Thank you once again for being wonderful <333

Sincerely,
Snowy

Hi, May!

It’s technically the end of the session for me now, but I decided to respond anyway, ahaha. I’m sure you’re very busy, though, so don’t feel pressured to respond to this right away or ever <3

I’m sorry to hear that the last few days haven’t been great, and please don’t apologize for any of this <333 Are you doing okay?

The jet lag is so bad, but I also did actually sleep like seven hours last night, which is more than I’ve gotten in quite a while- I’ve been doing like five or five and a half for at least a month and a half now, so…yay!

As for LotR, we can just chalk it up to Tolkien enjoying using too many words.

I’d like to say that being online has taught me a lot about the British system, but unfortunately not. I can never remember whether you’re +1 year -1 year, sobbing- But I think that’s right!

You’re just ancient, May <3 And ooh, I didn’t know it was your birthday so recently! Happy belated birthday! (I mean, a month is only relatively recently, but oh, well)

Yeah, I’m thinking of doing something in neuroscience, possibly neurolinguistics—hence the double major. I was initially thinking of doing English as my other major, so I was super leery about switching it for linguistics because it was my parents’ idea for me to do linguistics instead. But I’m rereading Babel by R. F. Kuang right now, and it’s reminding me that I actually do and always have thought linguistics was super interesting, haha. My dad has been trying to push me to more computational linguistics because I love stats and he’s obsessed with AI, but it doesn’t seem like my calling as a profession. Other than that, I’m not terribly sure what I want to do.

Hey, it might not have been the original plan, but it’s so wonderful to hear how much you love it <333

Ooh, The Bear and the Nightingale sounds so cool. I used to think I disliked all fantasy, but I’m realizing that’s not the case; I just dislike it when they lose that grounding, so that’s definitely one I could enjoy. Project Hail Mary! Yes, I’ve heard that his books are VERY science-y, but I have enjoyed some books of that kind, so I’ll definitely have to check it out. Do you think I should read the book or watch the movie first?

The Gilded Blade was…okay. I’m really only reading it for this one character arc/storyline, but I find a lot of the characters kind of annoying, and I felt like the mystery was losing me later. The characters and their dynamics did get slightly better toward the end, though, I think? Anyway. I’m STILL nowhere near finishing A Fortune of Sand, but I’m hoping to get to it once I finish my writing comp entries (*sobs in I’m still only halfway done with fanfic and I have less than 24 hours*).

Waittt, that’s so true! I used to do novels a lot more, but then I kind of switched to short story and vignette and poetry, and now I really struggle with going back to novels. I wonder if we’ve rewired our brains for short plots and stuff.

Ah, okay, I’m very glad to hear that I’m not the only one who didn’t know the meaning of “bonce,” hahaha-

I do actually enjoy driving! Well, I’m not the biggest fan of driving when I’m tired (because who is?) or doing lane changes, and it’s way better when we put music on, but other than that! It’s fun.

Aaa, no wonder; that sounds really busy for sure. Hopefully it’s also fun? And yeah, it definitely must be nice to know that next year/academic year will be less busy.

From my understanding, the SAT is a standardized test that lets universities know how you’re doing in English and math. Not all schools require it, but some do, and I think some have a minimum score requirement or something? Based on the practice versions I’ve done, it’s not terribly difficult—most of the stuff I can do with my knowledge from 8th grade/Year 9, but I know different schools have different standards, so it’s a way to see whether people across the country/world have met certain benchmarks. I don’t think we have a real equivalent for A levels, actually, at least based on my knowledge of A levels.

Never in my life have I heard of B-techs and T-levels. Do explain.

Thank you so much <333

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now!

Sincerely,
Snowy

“On Diplomacy, or the Art of Translation”
1,999 words (including author's note)



Henry pushed his pen into the paper and signed the document with a flourish. There. The work was finished.

But no—he reread the address he’d translated only to realize it hardly asserted the dominance intended by Commodore Wyatt’s original. This version wouldn’t do.

He sighed as he balled up the piece of paper and threw it across his dorm room. This time, the page landed in the bin where a hundred other near-identical versions of the address threatened to spill out; if nothing else, his aim was improving.

“Henry? We’re going for dinner. You coming?”

Henry turned to see James in the doorway, his glasses slightly askew. “Hm.” Dinner did sound nice, but Henry had an awful lot of work to do. “I’ve got to—”

“—to finish that address, yes, we know.” James rolled his eyes. “You’ve been working on it for three days straight. Have you even slept?”

Not really. “Sure.”

“C’mon, just for tonight. Haven’t you heard what they say about coming back with fresh eyes?”

“James, I’d love to…just once I’ve finished this. We can celebrate then.” Henry’s gaze was already back on the paper, once again registering the phrasing of the original English and scrambling for the Marshallese words to convey the significance of the great and powerful force Commodore Wyatt described in similarly equivocal language.

“You work too hard,” James muttered as he walked away, but Henry knew better than to take it as a criticism—in the tower of Babel, diligence was a trait valued almost as highly as silver. By that measure, Henry’s work ethic was practically priceless.

Still, it didn’t change the fact that he was, in truth, exhausted. Henry had thought that the end of the war would have lessened the load of translation, what with fewer treaties and armistices to clarify. Instead, it only grew as Britain began to lose its hold on its former colonies, leaving an increased necessity for documents understandable by both parties. The coalescence of the United Kingdom’s and United States’s finest linguistics programs at Babel only a few years earlier didn’t help either; now, the Babblers were required to translate Americans’ business and politics as well, in exchange for monetary support from the United States’s booming economy. It was a fine reciprocity, he thought, for anyone other than the students.

But never mind that. Henry had an address to translate.



Dawn broke the dark sky as Henry broke through the translation. Finally, he found words gentle enough to convince the Marshallese to leave their home for their own good, assertive enough to remind them of who was in charge.

A great destructive force, reborn as something to save humanity. No mention of the bombs; that wouldn’t sit well, and besides, he doubted the Marshallese would understand in the first place. A call to action, asking them for their selflessness, to give up their home for the tests. An implication that the United States didn’t need their permission to proceed, so it was best to step aside early.

In short, it was practically perfect.

Commodore Wyatt showed up at 10 o’clock sharp, so precise that even without the title, Henry would’ve guessed the Navy man was military.

“You have the translation?” Commodore Wyatt asked, his voice lilting in the fashion of a command.

“Yessir,” Henry responded, “I’ve done my best.”

“I expect nothing less. Let’s see it.”

Henry laid the pages on the table one by one, three copies of the same address written in the islanders’ mother tongue. Commodore Wyatt, of course, couldn’t read it—otherwise he’d have done the translating himself. Nevertheless, he gave them a quick once-over and nodded.

“Your payment will come after the tests have been successfully completed,” Commodore Wyatt told him.

So that was, what, six months? Henry didn’t like the wait, but he supposed he could live with it. Diplomatic translation didn’t carry the same prestige as silverworking, and that reflected in the payments. Henry had known that coming in. But silverworking was part magic. Diplomatic translation? That was all skill.



“So he liked the translation?” James asked, his mouth still full of corned beef.

“Chew your food first, would you?” Caroline muttered.

Ignoring his classmate’s disdain, James said, “How much is he paying you?”

“I don’t know,” Henry admitted. “Most likely, it’s contingent on the tests’ success. And yes, he must have liked the translation or else he wouldn’t have taken it.” This seemed obvious, but Henry felt compelled to answer James’s question no matter how shallow it might have been.

“Should’ve stuck with the silverworking path,” James said, shaking his head. “You could have guaranteed yourself the money there.”

Unlike James, Caroline caught onto the second part of Henry’s response. “Could he even read it?” She must have reached the same conclusion as Henry had earlier—that if he’d had the ability, he’d have translated it himself.

“Of course not. But he had to look like he could.” Henry lifted a spoonful of beans to his lips and smiled. There was a certain kind of satisfaction that came from being smarter than the Commodore. A certain kind of power that held.

The words the Marshallese would receive were ultimately in the hands of the translator, not the author. Henry could have said anything he’d liked, and no one in England—or America, for that matter—would have known the difference.



The first deciding moment came in February.

Commodore Wyatt’s address was, naturally, televised, and Henry navigated to the channel to tune in despite the mounting pile of coursework he had to complete by morning. Self-indulgent, perhaps, but it was just this once.

On screen, Commodore Wyatt gathered the native people of Bikini around a clearing, where he sat upon the base of a palm tree—a bit crude, but he supposed people like them had little better for a person of Commodore Wyatt’s standing. The men captured by the camera all stared at Commodore Wyatt, part reverent, perhaps, but mostly confused as he spoke to them.

When their translator spoke Henry’s prepared translation, he said the words in such a slurred manner that Henry winced; this man butchered his own language. Even so, it brought Henry a thrill to hear his own words used for such an important matter. His first real assignment, shown to the world. They wouldn’t know it was his, of course, but he did. He did, and that was what mattered.

“…turn it into something good for mankind.”

Henry had left the “it” in question up to the Marshallese to interpret. He figured too many reminders of the bomb by name would do little to sow assurance among the Marshallese toward the United States, and their compliance was necessary for the camera.

When finished with the address, the camera turned to the Marshallese king, who seemed to deliberate for a moment before deciding upon the fate of their people and home.

“We will go, believing everything is in God’s hands.” Henry thought he saw some nods of assent amongst the people as their king spoke, and he felt a flutter of pride in his chest. That was, in his books, a positive sign both for his translation and his pay.

The translator returned the king’s response to Commodore Wyatt in broken English, and a smile broke onto Commodore Wyatt’s face. He stood as he delivered the final statement, his voice booming through the television’s speakers.

“Tell them that’s fine; everything being in God’s hands, it must be good.”

In England, Henry, too, smiled and drank to success. The first step had gone exactly as intended.



The next morning, Henry joined the rest of his cohort—James, Caroline, and Alan, who had recently returned from a trip abroad to Singapore—for breakfast. They nibbled on scones as they studied, and Henry had to work to keep the smile off his face.

James, though, could read him despite his best efforts to disguise his pleasure. “Spit it out already,” he demanded.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Henry said, waving him off. It was not nothing, and they knew it, Henry most of all. Success tasted so sweet, but he’d keep up the pretense of modesty for a while longer.

“Yeah, right.”

“No, really,” Henry said, but it only took a minute for his humility to break. “Well, they broadcasted the address last night.”

“Oh?” Caroline looked up from her books. “I take it your translation worked?”

“Exactly as intended. Better, maybe. They’ll leave their island next month, and in July, they’ll test the bombs.” A small chuckle escaped him. “Then I get paid.” Maybe, even, they’d write books on him—the translator who won the Marshall Islands over. Yes, he’d be a hero.

James shook his head, joining in the laughter. “I can’t believe they just let him!”

Henry just shrugged. “What would they know?”

“What’s going to happen to them?” Caroline asked. Was that concern creeping into her voice? But Henry quickly dismissed the notion; he must have been hearing things.

“Hell if I know. Hell if I care, to be honest.” And then the moment of distraction ended, and Henry returned to his readings. A few minutes passed before Alan spoke up without warning, the first time he’d said a word all morning.

“So what next?” His stare seemed cold, piercing. Almost judgmental.

Henry cocked his head. “Pardon?”

“I said, what next?”

“Oh, that’s simple.” Henry let a moment of silence pass like a held breath before his next words. “It’s onto the next translation.”

Author’s Note:

This is a work of fiction in some rights, but in many others, it’s anything but.

For the fan fiction aspect of this piece, I looked to one of my all-time favorite novels: Babel by R. F. Kuang. This story takes place in Oxford’s (fictional) Royal Institute of Translation, known as Babel, and Henry, along with James, Caroline, and Alan, are all students of translation at the school. Kuang’s book focuses on the art of silverworking, fusing etymology with magic, and how it perpetuates colonialism, but for this short story, I decided to focus on a slightly different aspect of translation. I won’t pretend I have any immense knowledge of etymology or linguistics (yet), so I turned to what I did know: an instance of American colonialism in the 1940s. While Babel takes place in the 19th century with a British-centric lens, I chose to look at an alternative situation in which Babel lasted into the 1940s and became more closely connected with the United States following their alliance with Great Britain during World War Two. Thus, Henry’s importance is not as a silverworker but a translator for the politics of postwar dominance for the United States and United Kingdom alike.

The behind-the-scenes work for Commodore Wyatt’s address I’ve written about is entirely fictional, but the address and Wyatt himself were entirely real.

In 1946, the United States announced Operation Crossroads, the first series of nuclear tests to be conducted on a remote collection of islands in Micronesia.

Early in the year, Navy Commodore Ben Wyatt was tasked with telling the native Marshallese people of Bikini Atoll to evacuate so they could conduct nuclear tests Able and Baker on their island. This conversation was filmed dozens of times to find a suitable clip for U.S. and global audiences, a power play that at once reassured Americans of the Bikinians’ willingness to relocate and sent a message of dominance to the United States’ rivals. The lines appearing in the broadcast in this story are taken directly from this conversation or slightly reworded. King Juda, as he was known to the Americans, agreed to leave in the same words I’ve written—according to his translator.

This began a twelve year period in which the United States tested nearly 70 nuclear bombs on the Marshall Islands, with further injustice ensuing.

A note: In Babel, the protagonist, Robin, is an interrupter of colonialism. Henry is an enabler. Much of his narration regarding the Marshallese reflects this, though this is not representative of my own views.

Thank You Notes

Waterfall: Waterfall! Thank you so, so much for being such a wonderful leader this session. Your idea for Dystopian was fantastic, and I appreciate how much effort you put into the world building to make our storyline fascinating (and how diligently you updated the QOTD—I aspire to do that). I’m so honored you offered to me. Anyway, you’re also just an amazing person and an incredible singer, too! I hope to see you around more in future SWC sessions <3

Ember: Ember!! We hadn’t really talked much before this session, but it was so nice to get the chance to talk more through co-leading. Plus, you’re such a fun person to be around, and I’m really glad this actually pushed us to get to know each other a little better, ahaha- I hope your summer program (I think that’s what it was—correct me if I’m wrong) went well!

Maggie: Maggie!! Thank you for always rambling with me about Gracie Abrams and The Hunger Games. I can’t believe how long it’s been (honestly, I don’t even remember when we first started talking at this point, ahaha), but I’m really glad I know you.

Telly: Alright, there’s so much more I could say than what I will say here, so I’ll keep this short. Thank you for being one of my best friends, absolutely mudskippery, enduring all my nonsense, etc., etc. You’re an incredible artist and an even better person, and I am infinitely lucky to have you in my life—and in my cabin, haha. Anyway. I’ll see you soon!

Saffron: SAFFRON! Fellow former AP lang student (we did it!!) and Gracie Abrams fan <333 You’re such an awesome person, and I absolutely adore talking with you. Your app this session was incredible, and I’m also so glad that you got the offer—you deserved it so much! Thank you for your eternal belief in me with the titles; it’s very much appreciated (and also very necessary-). I’m sure there’s so much more to say than this, but we’ll leave it here. We need to talk more. Anyway! Thanks for being the wonderful person that you are <3

Sandy: Sandyyy, fellow hi-fi lover! I adore talking with you, whether about history and whatever else. Thanks so much for caring about my interests (the Marshall Islands comes to mind) and for all the little rambles we’ve had here and there. We should definitely talk more! Anyway, here’s to hoping we get to see each other more in future sessions <333

Fini: Thank you so much for enduring my endless rambles about R. F. Kuang and The Hunger Games and literally whatever else. It’s somewhat recently occurred to me how long we’ve been friends at this point—can you believe it’s been YEARS? Crazy thought. Anyway, thank you so much for being such an awesome friend and person throughout all this time <333

Ly: When I first started seeing you around SWC, I was utterly shocked that another Singapore person was in the community. Now there are even more than that, so I’ve got you to thank! Plus, you’ve been, like, my biggest cheerleader for the past few sessions, and I’m so grateful for your support <3 Thanks for being an awesome person, and I hope to see you around more next session!


Eris: Eris!! It was so fun to be your pen pal this session and to learn more about a very different side of Singapore life and also to just ramble about…all the things. Boy, we sure did ramble a lot. Anyway, I’m so glad we’re continuing our conversation, and I’m really glad I’ve gotten to know you over these past two sessions. I’m so grateful to have you as a friend <333

Chocolate: Chocolate, you sleep-deprived sender of near-impossible wars (but less this session, thank you), person with incredible music taste (I’m not biased), twin of mine and also absolutely incredible person, I’m so glad that I know you. I don’t have much to say here that I haven’t already told you dozens of times, but really, I do hope you know how much I appreciate having you in my life. Thanks for being the chaotic, fun, and caring person that you are <333

Seagull: Seagull!! I’m so glad I’ve gotten to talk to you more this session; you’re such a wonderful human being, and it was so fun to be your pen pal. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Those Xeno-Fi profile pictures are INCREDIBLE, and you’ve got to be one of the best artists I know. Here’s to hoping we get to talk more in future sessions? Thanks again for being so awesome <333

Alia: Oh my goodness, every time I remember how long it’s been since we first got to know each other, I’m in utter shock. It’s been like…I don’t know, four years or something? Anyway, thank you for being such a wonderful friend for that whole time. We definitely need to talk more, haha- I hope the crazy life of college is going well for you, and I’m so glad I’ve gotten the chance to know you for all these years <3

Pepper: Pepper! It’s always such a joy to see you around camp; you’re so much fun and so sweet, and I absolutely love talking to you. Thank you for sticking with me and my writing for this long (has it seriously been…more than three years? At least? I’ve honestly forgotten at this point), and more than that, thank you for being an absolutely incredible friend and person. I hope to see you more next session!

May: May, what would I even do without you? Thank you so much for being one of my biggest supporters since, like, the very beginning. I’m so glad we got to be pen pals this session—and that you decided to come back for this session. I’m so grateful to have you in my life; you’re always so caring and kind and incredible, and I’m beyond amazed to have a friend like you. And! Your writing’s awesome, in case I haven’t said that enough times. I hope you come back for plenty of future SWC sessions, expected or not, and that either way, we’ll keep in contact at least a little, yes? Good luck with the adulting, and make sure to have a lot of fun, too <333

Tilly: Hi, Tilly!! I had so much fun discussing the World Cup with you this session, but beyond that, you’re also just such a fun person to be around, and I’m so glad I know you. Thank you for being such a great person <3

Cat: HI CAT! I’m so glad I’ve gotten the chance to know you better these past few sessions. You’re such a fun person to talk to, and I really enjoy seeing you around. Thanks for putting a smile on my face so many times and for being absolutely awesome <3

Toko: Toko!! You have incredible book and music taste, and I adore talking to you. You’re an absolutely incredible writer (both your entries this session were STUNNING, as usual), and thank you so much for your critique on my entry; it was so helpful, and I really appreciate your offer for last-minute feedback because I honestly don’t know what I would have done without it/you. Anyway, beyond this, you’re an all-around wonderful person, and I’m so glad that we’re friends. <333

Isa: Fellow Swiss person! It’s been so fun to randomly chat about Switzerland in the World Cup and just…I don’t know, just talk in general, which we really ought to do more. Thank you for being an awesome person and such a delightful presence around SWC, and I hope to get to know you better in future sessions!

Recca: Recca!! You know the drill. I should start by saying that I don’t actually remember which cabin you’re in, and I currently can’t be bothered with checking, so lucky you, you get to be at the bottom as the sole entrant in my “unorganized” section. Congratulations. I read Macbeth recently and really liked it! I have many Thoughts™to share on this, if you may be so interested. Anyway, thank you for always making me laugh and for being the iconic, incredible person that you are. Thanks for being one of my first friends here (wow, we’re, like, so old now) and for being a great one at that. I hope you know how awesome you are <333

Hosts, Polar Bears, Daily Team, (co)leaders, judges, panelists, and everyone else who makes SWC run: Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into making SWC the camp it is. From planning activities to session and cabin themes to reviewing writing comp entries and literally everything else that you all do behind the scenes (yes, I’m combining like twenty groups here, but still), you all are putting in so much love into making this place what we know it. Thank you so, so much again; I really can’t put into words how much I appreciate all you do <333

Everyone in SWC: You all are seriously some of the best people you know, and I’m so glad that I’m a part of this community. Thank you so much for being the wonderful humans that you are and for making SWC a place worth coming back to session after session. <333

Critique for Sapphire

Okay, one thing that stands out to me in this piece is somewhat related to the formatting. Oftentimes, you have dialogue, and it looks something like the following:

(dialogue tag, e.g. “The other figure nodded and said in a voice lower than a bear’s”):
“(dialogue)”

The issue with this is that you’re paragraphing before you reach the dialogue that the dialogue tag precedes—which, technically, is in the middle of the sentence! It can make it a little confusing to read, as paragraphing typically signifies a switch in topics or a new speaker, which isn’t really what you’re trying to do here.

Similarly, later on, you have multiple different speakers talking in the same paragraph. This is a place you should be paragraphing! It makes it a little easier for the reader to follow who’s saying what and the general plot, and it also makes it more visually appealing.

One other thing (this is less of a problem to me), but there are some places where you have some more passive voice! It doesn’t feel like it’s written in an overly convoluted way—which is a common problem with passive voice—but it can cause your story to lose the action because it takes power from the subject of your sentence grammatically. For your opening sentence, for example, “A tall dark figure was hiding in the clearing of a century-old forest” could become “A tall dark figure hid in the clearing of a century-old forest” (minor note that I think you’d also need a comma after “tall” because you’re using two different adjectives to describe the same thing, and it’s effectively the same as saying “a tall and dark figure”—though take this with a grain of salt, ahaha)

Some other minor grammatical errors I noticed while reading:
• Then vs. than—you tend to use “then” to compare things when it should actually be “than”
• Missing possessives (in the sentence example for the dialogue tag, you had it as “bears” but I changed it—it needs the apostrophe because the voice is belonging to the bear!)

I’m so sorry for the huge ramble on grammar; I’m such a grammar nerd/stickler that I can be very annoying about this, slkdfjsldkfjs

One thing I did really enjoy about your piece was that the speaking style was very nice and distinct, and the language and phrasing each character’s speaking took on fitted their character’s status, etc. You also did a good job of letting their personalities shine through in that dialogue as well!

App Critique for Eris

About Me
Okay, so pretty minor notes here!

• For Hamilton, you can probably cut everything after “Hamilton” because I bet most people will realize you're talking about the musical and not the person (seeing as we've got a lot of theater kids in SWC)
• PHM could be a parenthetical! Like “…obsessions, Project Hail Mary (PHM).” Just after looking through your app briefly, I don't THINK this abbreviation comes back later, though, so either you could switch the subsequent mentions of the full name to the acronym or just cut the acronym
• The sentence “Apart from that, I also enjoy various hobbies such as the ones above” feels redundant—you could cut that!
• “My passion for writing in particular was curated/culminated”: I don't think either “curated” or “culminated” is quite the right word here—maybe “cultivated” would work better?
• “In terms of drawing, I’ve recently picked up the hobby again…” could become “I've recently picked up drawing again…”

This is purely about the communication/wording and it's also very nitpicky. This answer is great content-wise!! It's really just minor stuff that probably won't affect much of anything, ahaha

Previous Participation
• List is great, super easy to see your participation
• What does “bridging the gap between the student body and teachers” look like? I'm not sure exactly what this means
• Love your self-reflection in this section—it's overall a super well-written answer, and you should be proud!

Cabin Preferences
• If you're looking to cut words, you could take out “I think that the storyline and the setting would make a fun and exciting cabin to be in!” because if you're suggesting it, you presumably think it's fun and/or exciting, haha

Otherwise, looks great!

Time Management and Dedication
• “During that time period”: Do you mean before October 11th, around that time, or after? It's a little unclear to me

No other comments here! I think you might get this kind of thing a lot, haha.

Communication and Accountability
For the following part, I'm thinking you could perhaps rephrase it slightly to say the same thing in less words?

Yours: “In group settings, I generally initiate most things. I like to look at the bigger picture, usually the finish line, and try to keep things moving along on time.”
Possible revision: “In group settings, I like to take initiative, look at the bigger picture, and keep things moving along on time.”

I love how you show your how multifaceted all these traits are—it really shows how you understand yourself. You also present some specific measures you'll take, which is great!

Scenarios
This is great! All the things you've said here are very specific and also very actionable. No feedback for this section <3

SWC Impact
Once again, marvelous answer, nothing to say here!

Cabin Atmosphere
• “A friendly and bonded cabin that feels encouraged to participate in all sorts of activities”: I get what you're trying to say here, but I think the wording is a littleee awkward. Maybe “A cabin focused on bonding and friendship where campers are encouraged to participate in all sorts of activities”? You might have to cut that down a little bit, but I think that puts the focus on the people in the cabin and the atmosphere rather than the cabin itself (not an animate thing and all that) while saying the same thing.
• “I'd first start with myself” –> “I'd start with myself” (removes redundancy)
• “Bonding campers”: Minor, but I get the idea of like forcibly fusing campers together (I think chem has gotten to me) when you say this, so maybe just rephrasing it slightly to make it seem like a more natural occurrence could be good? Like, “Helping campers bond” or something

Checkboxes
Eris, you did this completely wrong. Shame on you.

(I'm completely joking, I promise. This one is, like, impossible to get wrong, ahaha)

Overall
Eris, your app is SO GOOD! The stuff I mentioned was all really nitpicky to clarify and word things slightly differently, but I think content-wise, you're great. Your voice, your ideas, your perspective on yourself and leading—if I didn't know better, I probably would have thought you've done this a million times before.

I bestow upon you a little more minor advice…

Just make sure your paragraphing is consistent! You sometimes have spaces between paragraphs (blank lines), but other times, you don't. I'd recommend doing one or the other! (I personally lean toward blank lines, but it's ultimately up to you)

Best of luck to you, though I honestly doubt you'll need it <3

Critique for Toko!

About Me
• I'm not even sure if this is technically incorrect or anything, but for some reason, my brain keeps going back to the “probably did not need to exist”—should it be “do” instead? I'm not sure
• “Going on runs” —> “running”
• Delete “for people” (implied)
• “There’s a decent chance that if I show up to school with a bag, it contains…” —> “If I show up to school with a bag, it probably contains…”
• Could delete “if it catches my attention” (kind of implied)
• On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous mention!! I'm rereading The Emperor of Gladness because I might perform a part of it for speech, but there's one scene from the former that's also on the table
• Could probably delete everything in the sentence after “long after I've finished reading” unless you feel super strongly attached to it
• I might paragraph before the music section?
• “so you’ll almost always find me with something playing in the background”: Doesn't really feel like the right transition word/next clause, and it could maybe be cut? It's kind of implied
• Could delete “I’d say I’m someone who pays attention to small details” and just go onto the next sentence from the transition

Experience
• Could cut the “I think” of “I think what I value most”
• Maybe “All of these experiences have shaped how I approach leadership” could just become “Through these experiences” and then go to the next sentence?
• This section looks wonderful overall, though! If you're looking to cut more from this, I'd probably look at the parts where you list all the things they've taught you and pick the ~2 that were most important, but it's probably fine

Cabin Preferences
• I feel like the “I'd love to help…coming back to each day” could probably shortened? I assume this information is stuff that could come in the cabin atmosphere section as well

Time Management and Dedication
• “throughout September, October, and November” —> “through November” or something in that vein
• “and the ability to check in throughout the day when needed” could probably be cut or shortened
• “”I'll be significantly less available…during the performances“ could be shortened to ”I'll need to prioritize theater during the performances, though I'll still make time for SWC when I can.“ (You could keep the parenthetical for personality or something; it's up to you)
• IN WHAT WORLD DO YOU GET MORE THAN A FULL WEEK FOR THANKSGIVING BREAK? Anyway.
• ”I'll also be in the EST time zone…“ could just become ”During which time, I'll be in EST“ or something
• ”so my co-leaders and hosts know what’s going on and we can make sure nothing gets dropped.“ —> could cut, kind of implied?
• Paragraph before ”I rely“
• I like the specificity when talking about how you'll bring your time management strategies to SWC!
• ”Not everything can be the most important thing at the same time, so“ —> could cut and start at ”when"
• Love your last paragraph!!

Communication and Accountability
• Paragraph before “One thing”
• This is so good! Nothing really to say here—your points are great and really give me a sense of your communication style

Scenario
• Paragraph before “From there”
• Same as communication and accountability! Great points, no real feedback, haha

SWC Impact
• “Even so, something about knowing that this community was there stuck with me.” —> I think this needs some rephrasing? I'm a little confused as to what it means. You could probably also delete it if you need the space; the sentence before will flow into the next paragraph nicely
• I love how you've taken a very specific aspect of the impact SWC has had on you and expanded on that! It's very genuine
• I've been saying this a lot lately, but I do honestly think this section is excellent overall!

Atmosphere
• This is great! The one thing I notice here is that a lot of these ideas that you mention in here definitely come up throughout your application (which is not a bad thing; consistency means you have a clear idea of what you're looking for in a cabin and in a leader!), but I think you could definitely cut words and make this feel a little less like a reiteration by leaving some of the ideas you've mentioned to further elaboration in this section—or vice versa

Overall Thoughts
• For the cutting down words, I'd recommend looking at the areas where you give a series of examples and see if you can pare it down slightly or combine them in some way! Syntactically, it can get a little repetitive, thus detracting importance from some of your more important points
• The content of your responses is great! I also love how your voice comes through in your responses
• Mainly: Just tightening up some sentences and phrases to delete unnecessary words! I think this is more an issue toward the beginning; later on, it feels like the words are pretty much all necessary for the multifaceted answers you're giving
• Paragraphing! Super minor, but just make sure that they all have the extra space between them (I know forums can sometimes be a bit weird about paragraphing as well, though, so that's probably not entirely you-)

Overall, your answers looked excellent, and I'm honored to have critiqued this! Good luck to you <333

Snowy's SWC November '26 (Co)Leader Application
Project version
Word count: 2,595 words (excluding bonus)

About Me

Hi, I’m Snowy (she/her)! I’m a high school junior, morning person, and overuser of parentheticals living in Singapore (SGT/UTC+8). This November will be my eleventh session of SWC.

Firstly, I love to read, especially historical fiction, poetry, and realistic fiction. In particular, I’m a huge fan of everything by R. F. Kuang, The Hunger Games, and I Fell in Love With Hope. You’ll often find me bragging about the number of authors I’ve met (3 out of 4 of my favorites!!) and my rather impressive collection of signed books. Reading is honestly what inspires me most to write.

Speaking of which: I’m currently working on a short story for an anthology I’m publishing with my club, a sort of magical realism epic (?). Not my usual genre, but I’m having a lot of fun with it!

Music, of course, is another huge part of my life. I’ve played piano for eleven years, and I recently started learning music production! As for listening…I listen to most things, but my favorites are folk, pop, and indie.

I’m known to ramble about my obsessions, but I’ve done my best to cut it down for this application! I’m currently taking a psychology class and hope to go into neurolinguistics/psycholinguistics/something like that in the future. I also love Shoot From the Hip, Sherlock, and good writing, but my primary obsession is the dark fantasy-dystopian video game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I could go on forever, but alas, word limits. Other than that, I play soccer, bake sometimes, and want to learn as many languages as possible!

Experience

This will be my eleventh session of SWC! Which is strange, since I don’t feel like I joined that long ago.

Across these sessions, I’ve campered twice, co-led six times, and led twice, and I’ve been a Polar Bear for the last two sessions. My full writing camp experience can be found here. Through all of these sessions, I’ve learned a lot about the inner workings of (co)leading, primarily that we need to build backups into our plans early on because things rarely happen as we think they will!

I’ve been writing for four years now, and I’m currently taking a class on publication! Beyond that, I dabble in a bunch of genres, have been published in a cookbook that aims to tell the stories of Singapore’s migrant workers, and am working with my club to write and publish an anthology together.

• Some leadership experience I have aside from Scratch camps includes:
• Helping to plan, organize, and run an overnight camp for younger kids
• Managed the Girls Who Don’t Fit In studio on Scratch
• One of the leaders for our chapter of the National English Honor Society
• One of the leaders of the aforementioned writing club
• JV soccer captain
• Mentored middle schoolers in a history competition

My experience in all these areas has taught me so much, but mostly that leading is about being a good collaborator. No one leads alone, and in SWC especially, we’re so often working together to rework plans according to camper activity, delegate tasks, and discuss ideas!

Cabin Preferences

In rank order, here are some cabin ideas/preferences I have!

Mystery, Historical Fantasy/Fiction, or Steampunk: Employees of an Victorian era watch shop discover the secret to altering time and work together to literally—and figuratively—turn back the clocks to solve and stop a heist before it begins. For this cabin, we’d have weekly puzzles/clues for the campers to solve.

Fairy Tales or Fantasy: The campers awaken in Lemuria, a dream world where the sun, moon, and stars have been stolen. To go home, they must retrieve these from the Queen of the Night. This cabin would be more challenge-focused with things like writing dares and tasks to complete activities! The storyline is also partially based on the video game Child of Light, no context needed—I’m well aware I’m basically the only SWC person who knows this game.

Nonfiction or Comedy: In which our curious campers discover the wonders of science to solve everyday problems…and realize that some questions are better left unanswered. Campers would enjoy silly writing prompts with elements of randomness as components of tasks to progress the storyline! This cabin would be inspired by or use scenarios from Randall Munroe’s nonfiction book What If?

While I hope to lead a more relaxed cabin, I find that having at least some competition motivates me, so I’d prefer not to (co)lead TCTWNW.

Time Management and Dedication

As a junior, I expect to be quite busy this session, but I nonetheless feel confident I can dedicate at least 30–45 minutes to SWC daily, hopefully more. Plans currently on the table include:

• Soccer season (through early October): Practice four times a week
• School trip: October 8th to 11th
• Traveling from October 17th to 23rd, but activity should actually be higher because there’s no school (UTC+9)
• November SAT
• At some point late November: Might have friends over for my birthday

As for time management, as an athlete, club leader, musician, and student, I’ve definitely had to figure out how to balance my time! One thing that’s super helpful is my to-do list. I brain dump everything that needs to get done in a general to-do list, and then I organize the things I hope to accomplish that day at the top of this list. This gives me clearer goals and helps me prioritize! I often like to estimate roughly how much time each task will take so I can budget my time and keep to a schedule.

I’m also a person who works hard to meet deadlines. I do my best to get started early, put extra effort toward the most pressing tasks, and adjust my schedule when necessary.

Communication and Accountability

I’ll be the first to say I hate confrontation. I’m definitely a people pleaser, and I’ve struggled with advocating for my own ideas or expressing concern regarding others’ externally.

Over the past year, though, I’ve gotten better at both of these. In my creative writing club, I’ve found that to progress conversations, you need to put yourself out there and share (and defend!) your ideas. When the conversation doesn’t seem to be moving, I’ll send a message sharing my ideas and asking for others’ thoughts. This might look something like:

“For our next meeting, I was thinking we could start with some writing dares, then give updates on the anthology, and finally could close with 20 minutes of peer review. How does that sound to you all?”

I want to make sure others feel heard, so I’ll generally follow up with, “Does anyone else have any other ideas?” or reiterate my openness to feedback. If we’re still struggling to make headway on a decision, I’ll weigh the options based on the discussion, and pick what I believe is the best one. I’ll then present that idea with my reasoning and ask for confirmation from everyone else! Sometimes, someone needs to make an executive decision so we can move forward!

In times of disagreement or when critiquing another’s idea, I express my concerns while emphasizing that these are my worries so I’m not shooting down ideas. For example, when one of my fellow leaders for the creative writing club suggested restarting the anthology from scratch, I mentioned that “I love the theme you’ve come up with, and I would definitely love to write it! However, I do know that we also picked our previous theme last year with the members’ inputs, and I hesitate to change that when we’ve gotten in this deep.” This way, I express my concerns while giving the others a chance to justify, explain, and rework their idea as a team.

In SWC, I hope to employ these same strategies. Many times while (co)leading, I’ve found myself at an impasse because of my avoidance of sharing my opinions, but through this structure, I aim to communicate my thoughts honestly while still being respectful!

I’ve learned that for SWC, one of the most important things is to overcommunicate. I’ve felt at times like I had no idea what was going on—even when (co)leading. To prevent this, I’ll send messages every 2–3 days to summarize our recent discussion. This makes it easy for the others in my leading team to keep a high-level understanding of our plans and tasks.

I’m an incredibly task-oriented person, and my to-do list is one way of keeping myself accountable; immediately adding things to my list ensures I won’t forget about it!

During the SWC and prep season, I also message in the forum at least once daily to keep conversations moving. This both keeps me and my team accountable: By clearly laying out what needs to be done and updating each other often on tasks’ status, we can stay on top of our work. If I haven’t heard back from others on a task for a while, I’ll check in more directly (e.g. on their profile) to see how it’s going and whether there’s anything I can do to help. If this is a consistent issue, though, I’ll first check whether they’re okay; I once had to step down from co-leading due to stuff in real life, so I understand what it’s like when things come up that prevent you from being an active leader. I’d then ask if they’d like to continue leading. If so, I’d work with them to make a plan about how to complete the tasks they’ve been assigned. If not, I’d notify the hosts and the rest of my team immediately, then assess whether it’s possible to complete the storyline with one less (co)leader. If necessary, I’d look at other (co)leader applications to see if there’s anyone else who could step up in my cabin to help.

Scenarios

Scenario A

If a camper came to me telling me they’ve been struggling to write because they’re overwhelmed, my first priority would be to check in on them. I’d let them know that I’m here for them and remind them to take care of themself. I’d then reassure them that the important thing is whether they’re enjoying the writing process, not the quantity of words, and I’d remind them that life > SWC, always.

An example response might look like the following:

“Hi, (name)! I’m so glad you reached out. Firstly, are you doing okay? Please make sure to take breaks and take care of yourself, yeah? As always, life > SWC. Is there anything in particular that’s overwhelming you? I’m always here to listen if you need anything <333”

A follow-up could also be:

“Writing should never be about quantity or writing only to meet a word goal; what’s important is whether you’re enjoying the process, and if your word goal is getting in the way of that or is stressing you out, we could always lower it!”

Additionally, if it’s SWC that’s overwhelming the camper, I’d also remind them that SWC’s activities are entirely optional and are meant to be fun, motivating exercises—not obligations. If they’re confused about the activities, I’d explain them individually, as I know that often, things feel overwhelming because we don’t know where to start.

SWC Impact

I’ve learned that any good writer has a community of supporters behind them. Though I was largely inactive in my cabin for my first session of SWC, my (co)leaders always made an effort to reach out to me about my goals and wellbeing, and they encouraged me along the way as I kept upping my word count. And two years ago, when I had to step down from co-leading due to some matters in real life, my fellow (co)leaders—Luna and Reese—took the time to check in with me and make sure I was doing okay.

It’s that kind of effort that makes SWC so important to me.

Connecting and reconnecting with people is one of my favorite parts about SWC. Each session, I meet new people, talk to people I hadn’t known as well before, and catch up with old friends. Inevitably, I end each SWC session with a bucket full of writing and, more importantly, friendships.

As a leader, I want to be the one that reaches out to campers and brings them into the community, that makes them feel welcome. I want to take the extra second to help out a new camper when they’ve got a question or give a critique, and I want to make myself available to listen to campers if they’re struggling as well as celebrate their successes! Ultimately, I want to be that person who shows others that SWC is that community that sticks with you, in and out of the session.

Cabin Atmosphere

“A relaxed yet fun-filled cabin with a light storyline encouraging camper bonding and writing exploration while prioritizing wellbeing and self-care.” (148 characters)

The best SWC sessions I’ve been in are the ones where I’ve gotten the chance to really get to know the people in my cabin. Even two and a half years later, I still reminisce about the March ‘24 Script Theatron with the friends I’ve made from it. That’s what I want out of a cabin—a place where campers feel so well-connected with the community that the memory sticks with them years later.

Through providing opportunities for connection such as a question of the day, we can help campers find commonalities and start conversations. In addition, the first few days of SWC are critical for building bonds, so I hope to invite campers as early as possible, ideally on the day of receiving the camper sort. This way, we can take a few days to get to know each other before camp even starts. When people post their introductions, I’ll do my best to respond to each one! I want to be a friendly face (…or username) in the community, and I want people to feel like they can reach out to me about anything.

I plan to integrate the writing exploration aspect in through providing weekly writing prompts for the campers! I also plan on including low-stress writing games and activities like cabin-wide three word stories or abecedarian poetry.

Lastly, self-care. Honestly, remembering that life > SWC is one of the hardest things for me; so often, I’ll get caught up in “being productive,” reaching a word count, etc. that I forget to take care of myself, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. To ensure SWC remains a positive place for campers, I’ll make sure to check in with them and my (co)leaders directly throughout the session as necessary, but definitely at least twice! This would help us build connections to campers directly, preventing us as leaders from seeming too removed. Moreover, being proactive will help campers to get help when they need it. Like many people, I struggle to ask for help, but if someone’s reaching out to ask me how I’m doing, I’m much more likely to tell them something’s going on. As a (co)leader, I would reach out to campers to make seeking help feel more comfortable.

I also plan to check in on campers who have been writing a lot to ensure they’re taking breaks and taking care of themselves, and as a cabin, we can incentivize self-care through cabin currency or through integrating it into our cabin activities.

Overall, I want our cabin to be a place where people have fun, and to me, that means giving people the freedom to explore and collaborate as well as ensuring campers are always putting their wellbeing ahead of anything else.

Checkboxes

I will be able to help add points in the main cabin consistently throughout camp
I’m willing to share a promotional project for SWC (though I am happy to help out with others’!)
I’m willing to put the link to the camper signups on my profile

I can complete all (co)leader responsibilities!

Bonus Question

Ooh, I actually don’t know. Maybe a navy blue dress and mask with gold trim on the mask!

Huge thanks to Toko and Kat for critiquing my app answers!