Alyssa Pontines is a first-year staff writer who works under the Arts and Entertainment section for The Mirror. She has survived 12 years of compulsory education despite her true aspirations lying within the creative industry as an artist. As Van Nuys High School does not offer creative writing classes, she pursues mastering her storytelling skills independently. She primarily works with narrative fiction in her projects, preferring character-driven works over plot-driven ones. Much of her art portfolio consists of original anime-styled artworks as she finds drawing in a realistic style not much fun. Her current inspirations include Vocaloid and Japanese-EDM songs, graphic novels, animated shows and the rhythm game “Arcaea.” In the future, she plans on entering the art industry and specializing in either game design or concept art. If things go well enough, she wants to start a graphic novel or visual novel series of her own.