Writing contest winners winter 2023

Four times a year, we ask our readers to write about the impact recent stories have had on teens around the country. In Winter 2022-23, we had a range of responses from writers connecting to stories about family, race, online culture, self image, and the importance of a name.

Gaming While Female 

by Erika Yeung

Names have been changed.   The first video game I played, when I was nine, was Call Of Duty: Black Ops III, a first-person shooter game. The player experiences the action through the eyes of the protagonist in a three-dimensional space. I loved the adrenaline rush that it and other games gave me.

I Am Not My Inheritance

by Anonymous

While I was close to my mom growing up, my father was emotionally absent and only seemed happy when he was highly intoxicated. Like a ghost, he came and went. I only saw him briefly before he left for work and after he came home, or during the weekends as he binge drank in the living room.

​​​New NYC Program Provides College Funds to Teens in Foster Care

by Faith Ornstein

I am a high school senior in foster care. I have started my college applications and I know I won’t be able to pay every dollar for tuition, room and board, and other essentials. So when my editor at Represent told me about Mayor Adam’s announcement about a college financial assistance program for NYC-based youth in foster care, I wanted to learn more about it.