Illustration by Kaavya Gnanam
Year:
Sophomore, Class of 2025
Major/College:
I’m a CC student, intending on declaring my major in English literature and creative writing. I chose both of these majors because I want to write for my career. I’m doing English to gain exposure to talented writers and doing creative writing to be better at my own writing. I want to be able to do a lot of multimedia and cross-genre writing. Right now, I mostly write poetry, but I want to learn more about writing fiction. I would also love to get into screenwriting. I’ve also joked with my friends about dabbling in writing rap songs. Songs are poems, after all! I haven’t written any yet but just wait … my album is coming soon.
Hometown:
I’m from Miami, Florida. Miami’s a big city, but I don’t know a lot of people at Columbia who are from the same part of Miami as me. I live in a part that is primarily Cuban immigrants. I don’t live anywhere where you would see mansions on beaches.
What you love about Quarto (you can also share a favorite memory):
As someone who likes to read and loves to write, I really appreciate having access to student work. In English classes, the stuff we read can sometimes be so filtered and already run through by so many academics that it doesn’t feel as fresh or innovative or new anymore. But with Quarto, we’re constantly seeing young people write about things that other young people care about. We see a lot of stuff that take risks and have a voice that you don’t see as much in English classrooms. I also love that we get to talk about writing in ways that are different from a traditional classroom setting. We get to talk about the actual act of writing instead of only talking about literary devices. Our conversations revolve more so around what young writers are thinking about as they write, what are their intentions are with this writing, and what they are trying to say about their environments and the world they’re in.
What else are you involved in/hobbies & interests:
I love to write on my own time. I’ve been posting my stuff on Instagram, trying to get my work out there (@r.moralespoetry). I keep getting rejected from mags, but if poetry doesn’t work out, I guess I can always go back to pursue writing rap songs!
Besides that, I really love making jewelry. I’m a very hands-on person. I also took on crocheting last year. When I’m watching a TV show, I need to be doing something with my hands and oftentimes that’s crocheting.
Favorite author/work:
There’s this one poem that I hold on to for dear life because it’s helped me through so much in life. It’s a Morgan Parker poem called “Magical Negro #217: Diana Ross Finishing a Rib in Alabama, 1990s” I read in an anthology called Black Girl Magic. Her titles are phenomenal. There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce is another book written by her that I really like. She’s really changed how I think about writing my own poems. I love her so much because when I read her writing I feel like she captures self-destructiveness so well. She writes so freely, a lot of stream of consciousness. A lot of her poems are very angry and I like that she doesn’t hide from female rage.
My favorite musical artist is The Weeknd, which I’m a little embarrassed about, but let me explain. On a Google Doc, I analyzed every song on Trilogy. When I sat down and tracked the songs across all three mixtapes, I was like, “Wow, no one understands that this is really musical genius.” It’s actual poetry. So, that’s my favorite group of albums, and my favorite song from them is called “Till Dawn.”
My favorite movie is Brokeback Mountain. One of my movie-buff friends didn’t believe me when I said it was good because he saw that it featured Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger and assumed it was too much of a mainstream movie to actually be good. But when I showed it to him, I could see him getting emotional as the movie went on.
What’s in your tote bag/essential items (5-10):
iPad: Computer and laptop love child, efficiency on the go!
Glasses: Beyond being far-sighted, I literally cannot read something right in front of me.
Lip gloss: Plump, glittery, and juicy lips are always necessary.
Aquaphor: HYDRATED lips are always necessary.
Deodorant: I sweat a lot and don’t want to make others the victim of my sweat.Over-the-ear headphones: Perfect intersection of music and ear warmth.
Wired headphones: In the event that over-the-ear headphones unfortunately die.
Book and pencil: This book is specifically for a class, but any kind of novel to entertain me while I’m away!
Hair pick: Cannot be seen with flat hair.
Water bottle: For on-the-go thirst relief, the irremovable mold in the lid always has some added flavoring.