Ariga Safaryans is a senior at Glendale High School, and she is the president of the Creative Writing Club. She has been in the club since her sophomore year and has been president since last year. Ariga is also the co-captain of the GHS Dance Team, and she is our current Senior Class President. She loves spending time with her brother and friends and watching movies in her free time.
Ariga initially joined the Creative Writing Club, because her friends started joining it too. But, she also joined the club so she could get tips on how to write better because writing has always been a struggle for her. The club encourages its members to write for enjoyment and express their creativity, instead of following strict prompts or writing guidelines. She said, “It’s just more [about] learning how to love writing for yourself and finding what writing means to you.”
The Creative Writing Club occasionally facilitates writing workshops. Also, last year, Ariga came up with the idea of writing letters to senior living facilities, such as Sage Glendale. The team has sent them letters and care packages for the holidays. Recently, Ariga and the club members had an event at the Los Angeles Public Library, where one of their members recited poetry and was rewarded with a $400 prize.
During club meetings, members are mainly just writing, such as composing works for the Words Do Wonders page of our Explosion website. They also complete writing projects for community service and hold lunchtime fundraisers. Ariga prepares for each session based on what is coming up. For example, the first two meetings in November were mainly about community service, and writing out letters for elderly homes during Thanksgiving Break.
When Ariga is working with the team, the most difficult part is getting everyone to step out of their comfort zone. Not all of the club members want to participate in poetry contests because they are afraid to stand in front of a crowd and recite their work. However, Ariga has created a bond within the club, so her members will eventually feel more comfortable speaking in public.
Ariga’s favorite part of the Creative Writing Club is having fun with her friends and being able to plan prompts. She also loves it when she knows she has done something good, like knowing that she impacted a student’s life and helped them find a place at GHS.
One of Ariga’s favorite memories came during the most recent poetry contest. “The event was a really beautiful event, where we got to see people from different schools that had created their poetry or were reciting famous poetry,” she said. “And it was just a fun environment to witness it all.” She and her members were very grateful that they had the recognition to be part of this event.
Ariga’s goal is to plan more community events for her club members in the future. She hopes to provide a safe environment for them, and she hopes to convince them to be more out in public and show off their work.
To join the Creative Writing Club, you can use the Remind app and type in the code @ghscrclub. Then Ariga will let you know when their next club meeting will be. You can also follow them on Instagram: @ghscreativewritingclub24!
