Acting on an impulse, senior Amanda Molino never expected to fall in love with creative writing.

“I kind of took it on a whim my freshman year because I needed another credit,” Molino said. “I ended up really loving it.”

Even though she has always taken an interest in English, Molino’s writing has developed substantially throughout high school.

“I found this notebook of my writing from when I was in third grade and I just wrote down some random story, it was awful,” Molino said.

Sophomore year, Molino was able to pursue her newfound passion by joining the literary staff of Sequel. Now, as a senior, she has become the literary editor of the magazine alongside senior Kelly Stone.

“It can be really tough to pull together a magazine that has such a great history, but her insight and talent makes it seem a lot easier,” Stone said. “Amanda has a talent for finding exactly what seems off with a piece.”

Incorporating imagery while writing about personal experiences, Molino creates poetry and prose pieces that reveal hidden details about herself, she said. Recently, she finds herself writing more poetry.

“I used to write more prose when it was more fictional, but I have been moving away from that recently. So, it’s a lot more grounded in my personal life,” Molino said.

Inspired by English teacher and Sequel advisor Meekah Hopkins, Molino discovered that she wanted to become a teacher and has already gotten a head start by being a writing tutor.

“Amanda has her own voice and is not afraid to be in charge,” Hopkins said. “She gives really great feedback to students, and that’s a big part of being an English teacher.”