Upon walking into the club for the first time, one notices the way the students hunch over their work, pencils flying over scrap paper. This club was made to be a creative haven for these students–writers, artists, photographers–as they compile their work into a literary magazine: Reflections.

“Reflections was a club that existed before, and I really have a passion for developing kids’ writing,” sponsor Dan Barnes said. “Creative writing isn’t really a side that gets approached in the classroom, and I wanted to make sure this club was an outlet for kids that need it.”

Reflections was restarted on Jan. 8 after a bit of a hiatus. Barnes is new to sponsoring the club.

“I think I have a good, core group of students who have been in Reflections before, and I know they will do a good job helping us with what they’ve done,” Barnes said. “We also have a lot of fresh faces that will help revive the program quite well.”

Students who join Reflections meet Thursdays to share their creations with others.

“I like writing. It’s a thing I’ve always loved to do,” junior AJ McNamee said. “I joined sophomore year because I really liked writing and that there could be a close knit group of people who actually do stuff that we enjoy.”

Now that the club has figured t-shirt designs and book themes, the club is progressing into becoming a student-led magazine.

“It was really neat how we get to choose what we put in there,” senior Bayleigh Williams said. “It’s really open, not strict like a classroom. Nobody has a wrong idea. Everyone has their own little thing that they put on the table that makes it interesting.”

Not just writers submit their work. Freshman Gabrielle Kuster contributes to Reflections by drawing her own fantasy characters.

“I draw manga art, mostly original characters. I think of cool things that make up a character: a warrior, an elf, a fairy–stuff like that,” Kuster said.

Not everyone can think up ideas on the spot. Luckily, creators find that Reflections helps them find inspiration for their work.

“Part of the club itself is just finding inspiration which is pretty cool,” freshman Hannah Hoffmann said.

Another benefit of Reflections is learning to put your creations out there. Creators can get feedback from other members this way.

“I hope I’m able to be more open about my writing and drawing,” Hoffmann said. “Right now I’m not the most comfortable showing anyone my art so I hope I get better at sharing everything.”

Students that attend Reflections have different ideas for what they hope to take from the club, and what they hope the magazine to become. For Williams, it’s finding the uniqueness in everything.

“I hope Reflections brings out all the different beautiful things about each and every person and what makes them unique,” Williams said. “Before judging someone, thinking, ‘oh, they look bad’ or ‘they are too shy’, if you look at what they really love, you should be able to appreciate that more through the magazine.”