Risa Khawaja is a sophomore and reporter for Panther Prints. Growing up, she loved writing creatively and drew inspiration from the books she read, her favorites being “Tom” by Tomie DePaola, “Nate the Great” and the “A series of unfortunate events” series. Over the years she lost her passion for writing, but hopes to rekindle it through newspaper. Regardless, she still loves to read other people’s work, her favorite genres being slice of life and coming of age stories. Representation is important to Risa. She wants to read more about the children of immigrants, LGBT youth and strong women, where their main conflict is not the fact that they are a minority. With these subjects so rare in mainstream media, she wants to be able to write these stories. Using her voice to speak out on social injustice is a core value for Risa, and she wants to be a strong person who helps others. Risa considers herself to be extroverted, always wanting to meet and talk to new and interesting people. Ever the Gemini rising, she loves exploring various hobbies such as painting, guitar, gardening and baking. Her future is hazy, as she is torn between studying law, advertising, history and political science. All she knows is she wants her name to be known, and she wants to make changes in the world.