A handful of Branham have been recognized in the annual Scholastic Arts and Writing Competition, which were announced last month.

Among the winners in the writing category were juniors Angela Choi, Lia Choi, Zhi Quan Chua, Thuan Do, Srishti Ganguli and sophomores Michelle La and David Tran. The regional writing winners will attend a ceremony on Sunday afternoon in San Francisco hosted by Writopia, which organized the contest.

Do, Chua and Lia Choi won the Gold Key, which is the second highest possible regional honor. Gold Key winners will be notified if they are chosen for national scholarships and awards later this month, and their work will be judged at the national level.

Do, a Gold Key awardee, wrote a science fiction story, “The Shopkeeper,” which blends fantasy and creative fiction. Writing has been a hobby of hers since elementary school, and she is open to pursuing her creative passion.

“I’m not sure where this will take me, whether it will remain just a hobby or become something more, but I definitely plan to continue pursuing literature regardless,” she said. “It’s something I can’t imagine giving up.”

Lia Choi, who is a Bear Witness staff writer, also wrote a science fiction short story for her Gold Key-award submission. Her story takes place in a robot-human society where humans are rebooted as robots after their death.

She said she pulled inspiration from her dad, who loves science fiction, along with many of the books she has read.

When she found out that she had won the Gold Key award during her English class, she felt it was a “pleasant surprise.”

Choi recommends to other students interested in participating in Scholastic competitions to not shy away from the size of the competition, where thousands of regional students compete.

“Creative writing has no guidelines.” Choi said. “As long as you’re presenting your voice or whatever, and I think anyone can do it, honestly. Creative writing, I feel like it’s something that comes more from you instead of someone else.”

We will follow up with Scholastic Arts winners and additional Scholastic updates in an upcoming story.