About
River An



Peddie School 27’


As a singer, actress, writer, and visual artist, 
Musical Theatre
Vocal Performance  
- Performer

SEPTEMBER 2023 – PRESENT

  • Lead roles: Fiona (Shrek) and Gloria Thorpe (Damn Yankees) in school production

  • Chapel and memorial soloist; core member of Peddie Singers (10th, 11th) and Treblemakers (9th) with repertoire in jazz and musical theatre.

  • Lead vocalist for Blair Day band (2024, 2025), performing before the full school community.

  • Upcoming (Feb 2026): Ensemble member in Peddie’s winter musical Mamma Mia, expanding musical theatre experience.
Peddie Student DEI 
Leadership Council 
- SDEI Leader

MAY 2025 – MAY 2027

  • Liaison between DEI office and students; collaborate with affinity groups; lead community workshops.

  • Focus: moving from awareness to respectful dialogue; amplifying underheard voices.

  • Core skill: listening and facilitating to reach compassionate solutions; carrying this work into college leadership and academics.

Visual Storytelling 
Amphion 
Literary Art Magazine 
- Artist and Editor

SEPTEMBER 2023 – PRESENT

  • Independent study in visual art; Scholastic submissions recognized (Silver Key).

  • Amphion 2024 cover artist, layout editor; curating work and mentor contributors.

  • Plan to lead Amphion and apply visual/narrative strategies to independent work and critique in college.

Peddie Arts Citizenship Committee
– Theater Representative

 2024 – Present
  • Represent the theatre community in school-wide arts planning, advocating for student perspectives in arts programming.

  • Connect theatre with civic dialogue by framing performance as a space for empathy, identity, and social responsibility.

  • Collaborate with faculty and student leaders to promote inclusive, accessible, and community-centered arts initiatives.
Peddie Creative Writing 
Signature Program 
- Participant

SEPTEMBER 2025 – MAY 2027

  • Selected for a two-year, discussion-driven signature program focused on sustained study of literary works across historical periods and the production of original creative writing.

  • Create and revise original poetry, genre fiction, and graphic narrative through regular workshop critique with peers and faculty..

  • Junior-summer in-person program (2026); final portfolio and public capstone reading.

Law & Psychology Research on Juvenile Vulnerability 
– Researcher

JULY 2025 – NOVEMBER 2025

  • Completed a 20-page interdisciplinary research paper under the mentorship of a clinical psychologist on juvenile linguistic vulnerability in the justice system.

  • Analyzed how language limitations, trauma, and development affect interrogation practices and legal outcomes.

  • Expanding the project through original survey research with Centiment on adolescents’ understanding of Miranda warnings.
Columbia University High School Law Institute (HSLI)
– Student Scholar

Fall 2025 – Spring 2026

  • Selected for a competitive law program at Columbia Law School to deepen practice-based understanding of juvenile justice.

  • Participate in weekly case-based seminars on criminal procedure and constitutional law led by Columbia Law students.

  • Connect independent research on juvenile vulnerability to real-world legal decision-making through lectures and case discussions.
Princeton CIEL Senior Center
Intergenerational Musical Volunteer

MARCH 2025 – PRESENT

  • Bi-monthly performances and visits; music as a bridge for memory and conversation.

  • Shifted from performing to listening; moments of healing informed my archival project of elders’ stories.

Independent Project
- Founder/Artist/Interviewer

JUNE 2025 – PRESENT

  • Interview, illustration, writing, and voice recordings to archive elders’ memories and perspectives.

  • Purpose: give voice to underheard stories; long-term aim aligned with advocacy for representation.

Peddie Varsity 
Girls Golf - Athlete

SEPTEMBER 2023 – PRESENT

  • Varsity team member; MAPL team champion (2025).

  • Built resilience, patience, and team mindset; value humor and cohesion alongside technical skill.


PRESENTATIONS & PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIP

November 22, 2025
  • New Jersey Student Ethics Conference (NJSEC 2025) - Presenter

  • Selected as school representative to present original research: “Why Do Miranda Rights Fail to Protect Young People?”

  • Delivered analysis on false confessions, linguistic barriers, and legal reform proposals.
Languages

  • Korean (mother tongue, native fluency)

  • English (second language, native fluency)








RIVER AN’s Portfolio




  As an actress
As an actress, I learn to inhabit different lives and communicate truths beyond words.

Acting makes me feel most human and most present. The vulnerability necessary to take part in performance is exactly what teaches me most about courage, honesty, and human connection.

Theater allows me to channel my empathy and creativity while exploring emotions I might otherwise suppress. It challenges my perfectionism and teaches me to prioritize my emotional presence and genuine joy on stage with both cast and audience.






As a SingerAs a singer, I am connected to both my physical and emotional intuition. 

It requires me to fully trust my voice and the work I have done to refine it. In practicing the creation of music, this art that predates spoken language as we know it, I remind myself that my voice and the passion that helps me carry it belongs uniquely to me.

Where other art forms allow me to revise or reinterpret before I place them in the public eye, even allowing some level of removal from my own identity, my singing is directly connected to myself.




  As an Visual Artist
As an artist, I work across various mediums (drawing, painting, digital).

Art, for me, is a conversation between discipline and chaos. Ironically, my art is where my most obsessive, precise self emerges. I am methodical and sometimes even rigid, but it’s that structure that gives my expression room to expand.

The creative process often begins with frustration, be it a lack of originality or a technical challenge, but I’ve learned to welcome that discomfort and work through it. 


\


  As a Writer
I choose to write, because I believe that defining art is most often a futile endeavor, or at least an endless one, but it will always tell a story regardless of its medium. 

Writing is the only way I can understand myself, and through it, I wish to further understand the world around me and express what it means to me.




© RIVER AN 2025