Alan Semerdjian is an educator, a writer, a musician, and a sometime visual artist.  He has been the advisor for The Herricks High School Literature Club for the past decade.  

Notorious for an inability to adhere to deadlines and writing an insufferable amount of love poems, Sasha Stern joined OPUS (and ESP) at the start of freshman year in order to better indulge in these vices. Sasha works with poetry and short stories, and has recently been recognized by the Freeport Arts Council, among others. When not writing, Sasha can be found playing an instrument, listening to instruments, or zipping around small-to-medium bodies of water with a pair of oars.

After spending a lifetime nose-deep in books, Prisha decided that she wanted to help make one herself. She joined OPUS in her sophomore year and hasn't looked back since. As a writer, she was a winner in the Nassau Reading Council's annual competition. As a reader, she's probably read over 500 books in the last four years. In her free time, you can find her playing etudes, practicing her tennis serves, and burying herself in recipes in the kitchen. She's thrilled and humbled to serve as Editor-in-Chief this year!

Chloe Lin was the Grand Champion of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association’s 36th Annual Student Poetry Contest and published in Rattle, Ice Lolly Review, and elsewhere. She also edits at Outlander Zine. When Chloe is not selling her soul to a Google Document, she enjoys messing up recipes and folding paper cranes.

Tina Pathak, an avid reader and writer, values analyzing the world around her to create a space where strong impactful messages can be spread. In her spare time she is editing her novel which tackles important issues like mental health and suicide or drafting personal nonfiction pieces. Tina has recently won a NYSEC award as well as a NCRC competition. Aside from writing, Tina enjoys debating, playing with her dog, and spending time with good friends.

Daniel Ng writes poetry pieces that explore complex emotions and strange ideas. Despite his unhealthy relationship with using the ocean as a metaphor, his poetry is recognized in some places, such as the Scholastic Writing Awards and Susquehanna University’s apprentice writer publication. When he is not poeting, he likes to play video games, make video games, listen to any and every kind of music, and go to the gym.

Vivian Huang enjoys writing poetry about life's heartfelt moments. Her work has been recognized by Scholastic, The New York State English Council, and Teen Ink, among others. She also edits for Polyphony Lit and serves as a member of their Junior Board. In her free time, she loves baking and listening to K-pop.

Christine Chen joined OPUS as a freshman after much encouragement from her friends. Now a senior, she looks forward to the weekly meetings. Usually, she’s suffering over composition or agonizing over the variety of projects she wants to start. If she’s not drawing, she’s enjoying fantasy novels and rereading poetry books. In her free time, you can always find her worrying over the number of commas she put in one sentence, watching baking videos (she doesn’t bake), and ruining her eyesight over the newest animated feature.

Enjoying the little details in life, Maria constantly strives to live in the moment. In case you ever find yourself playing a game of trivia and she’s the topic, here are the attributes that you should know: she is 16, in her senior year of high school, and Co-Art Director of Herricks OPUS! When not in an academic environment, she sits at her sewing machine furiously fabricating her next spontaneous fashion project. In the dead of night, Maria creates avant-garde outfits while jamming out to rap and RNB music. She believes everybody deserves to have their own voice heard and is ecstatic to share hers through the Literature Club!