Sophomore Hong An Phan, is one of fifty writers out of the hundreds of applicants that have been awarded the scholarship opportunity to partake in the Valentino writing program.

With the collaboration of New York Times Best Selling author Tomi Adeyemi and Valentino, an Italian fashion company, the program “Writer’s Roadmap” comes to life. Writer’s Roadmap is a workshop that allows writers to improve their writing skills and provide them tips and tricks of the trade.

In an interview, Phan stated that she is “a big fan of the author Tomi Adeyemi,” which helped initiate the idea of applying to the Writer’s Roadmap. 

“Chances of me getting into [the Valentino Writing Program] were very low,” said Phan and despite her shot in the dark, Hong An not only was accepted, she was granted a scholarship to participate in the workshop for free. 

Through learning from video lessons and collaborating with the other members of the program, Phan has gained experience that has impacted her writing. “Before, I’ve never structured [stories] and never thought about plot points or plot devices,” Phan explained. 

While there are numerous other writers participating in the Writer’s Roadmap, Phan states that she and another girl are  “the only two high schoolers in the program.” But ultimately, Phan remains the youngest in a program full of adult writers. 

“I didn’t have much time to be working on a pitch when I was in school,” Phan explains a struggle of balancing both school and this program. In addition to the hours she puts into her writing, she has to complete her homework and participate in her extracurriculars. 

As she dreams of the future, she hopes to pursue a career in writing fiction novels. Not only does Phan exemplify her writing skills through this exclusive program, she has also won a University of San Diego creative writing competition as a freshman in high school.