As the school year comes to a close, publications such as Highlights and The Cavaleon are announcing their new leaders for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year. A talented writer and editor, one of Catharsis’ new Co-Editors-in-Chief will be rising senior Cheryl Fiffe.

Catharsis, Coral Gables Senior High’s literary magazine, serves as a medium for staff writers to publish original pieces written in the genres of prose, poetry and drama, all of which are accompanied by art created by the layout editors.

“Catharsis has pushed me past the boundaries of what I knew and led me to explore more aspects of writing and art that I had honestly never even heard of before. I talk to more people because of the publication, and I’ve made some truly amazing friendships that I hope will continue,” junior Cheryl Fiffe said.

Before Fiffe was a staff writer for Catharsis, she was part of the City of Miami swim team and is now also part of a variety of clubs at Gables. Currently, she is an active member of the National English Honor Society, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society and Interact. She was recently announced as the president of SHS, where she previously held the position of Directora del Teatro.

Fiffe’s interest in Catharsis was sparked during her freshman year, when her creative writing teacher, Mrs. Zaldivar, advised her and her peers to join the publication. With the encouragement from classmates and Mrs. Zaldivar, she did just that.

As the drama editor, Fiffe had a year full of learning opportunities that will carry over for her next role as EIC. Being tasked with presenting lessons during production week back in August and editing writers’ pieces helped prepare her to become EIC. She was also responsible for working with editors from other genres to manage the written portion of the magazine and coordinating with the layout editors.

“Writing is another form of art that lets me put my thoughts into the world and sign my name to it, and it’s truly powerful what you can accomplish with it,” junior Cheryl Fiffe said.

Fiffe’s most notable prose piece in her time in Catharsis has been “By the Seashore”. Consisting of several layers that can be read from multiple perspectives, the short story is about a ship crashing in Bahia de la Habana, which symbolizes Fiffe’s personal family history. She is also proud of the poem “Baja Bomb”, which she wrote in collaboration with next year’s layout editor, Isabella Velazquez, at the Florida Scholastic Press Association State Conference. “Baja Bomb” was submitted to FSPA’s poetry competition and won second place.

For the upcoming school year, Cheryl hopes to get more Cavaliers involved in this publication, even if they are not part of Catharsis, because, from her perspective, everyone deserves to have their voice heard.