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My collage represents the growth in Emoni's mindset but also the things that stayed consistent. On the left, you'll see words like scared and close-minded, this represents Emoni when we first met her. In the middle are traits that have stayed consistent. On the right are traits Emoni has grown throughout the novel. All throughout the collage are images of because she always to cook.

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My Word map represents Emoni’s growth throughout the book, with words that reflect her. On the lower half of the heart, there are words such as fear and Self-doubt, which represent Emoni towards the beginning of the book. On the upper half of the heart, there are words such as Love and Cooking, which represent Emoni towards the end of the book. The colors I used on the upper half were more bright, representing happiness and love. On the bottom, I used darker colors, to match the theme of the words.

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When Emoni is stereotyped or looked at differently in the book, it really hits home for me. Growing up as a mixed girl was definitely not easy. I have never been treated as a mixed person; I always felt like I needed to choose a side. However, despite being mixed with white, I would still endure racism towards my asian side throughout elementary and middle school. In eighth grade, there was this one guy who would make remarks about the Korean food I would bring to lunch and mock the Korean language to my face. He did this every day, and his words slapped me in the face. Neither did my friends; they all just watched it unfold and then looked at me, expecting for me to say something. I never did. Well, that was all in the past. Now, I am learning to accept and be proud of both of my cultures, something that I was never taught to do growing up. In With the Fire on High, I feel like Emoni is proud of her heritage but gets insecure and uncomfortable when people stereotype her. I wish I could tell her: Just ignore them! Listening to ignorant people won’t help you. Stay true to your identity, and don’t let others bring you down for existing. You don’t get to choose what race you’re born as, so other people have no right to stereotype you for it. There is only one other person I wish I could tell this to; my past self.

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My collage represents the two sections of the book we have read so far, Sour and Savory. The left is white and very straight forward and blank, just like Emoni's view on the world. The right is colorful because Emoni now see's that there is more than one right answer for her life and she can be more than just mom to Emma. The picture I chose are the two recipes we have read, the Lemon Verbena and Strawberry Milk. There is a skyline of Philly, her home and the Spain flag, the place she had been working so hard to go to and now is at. There is also hearts on the right side to symbolize her feeling towards Malachi. The words I wrote are how I would describe Emoni when we first met her at the beginning and her now.

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Somewhere around the summer before third grade, I discovered that there were approximately four kids that lived on my street. They hung out together and ran around, and I’m pretty sure they were all siblings. I decided that I wanted to join them, because I had nothing better to do. The only problem was that I had no clue how to talk to any of them.

All of the backyards on our side of the street were connected through holes in the fences, and so for two days I joined them as they scampered about. They were there, climbing a tree. It was a pretty easy tree to climb, but I didn’t climb trees, so I just sat on the ground and read and talked to them occasionally.

I only remember two things from that interaction. The first was that one of the boys started bragging about how he fell asleep with his eyes open during class, which is almost definitely not true, but it made me try to fall asleep with my eyes open for the next four years. The second is that I accidentally told them too much about mammals and they made it very clear they no longer wanted to talk to me.

To this day, I don’t run around with random kids. Most of the time, I only talk to like three people, and it probably has something to do with that experience. They eventually moved away, but my avoidance of unfamiliar groups of people never did.

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My creative response is a rough sketch of what I think Emoni would look like arriving in Spain. So far in the book, we know that she's always dreamed of going to Spain, and because of her school's program, it's actually happening. When we first meet Emoni, she's a little overwhelmed with school and her daughter, and this continues throughout the book until she gets to Spain. The mood of the book instantly changes, and she is actually cooking in a real kitchen in a country she's wanted to visit for years. I drew Emoni looking up, because many times when someone feels a moment of relief, they look up. Overall, this artwork symbolizes the relief Emoni feels once she's finally made it to one of her end goals.

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A moment when my identity was shaped by my family and friends was the time when I started figure skating. My mother was a figure skater when she was younger, and I used to go skating with her sometimes. When I was seven, I decided I wanted to take actual lessons and start to learn how to actually figure skate. I decided this after my grandma took me to a public skating session on a hot summer day when I was seven. After skating around for about an hour, I told my grandma that I wanted to take lessons. Ice skating around and around the rink and feeling the cold wind against my face in contrast to the heat of the floridian summer was just as fun and peaceful as taking a nap would be for me now. When the session ended and I told her my feelings, grandmother talked to the people in the pro shop and they gave her the number of my very first figure skating coach, unless you count my mom, which I do not. My grandma called the number and scheduled lessons for me. I fell in love with the sport after that and I have now been ice skating for six years. I have made a lot of friends through the sport and gone through good times and bad. All of these experiences have helped make me who I am now. That is a way that my family and friends have shaped my identity.

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My creative response is a narrative about my thoughts on my life and how it responds to the world around me.

The past and the future are too interconnected for my comfort. I’ve always seen my life separated into three categories: Me Now, Me Then, and Me Later. I don’t know what separates these three categories. I don’t think I ever will. Maybe every time I finish a day, a new part of Me Now is over. Somewhere deep down I know that Me Then is going to be the reason that Me Later is the way they are. Somewhere even deeper down I hope that isn’t true.

The way I see it, Me Later is a completely separate person than Me Now. Me Later is going to be all the things about the world that I love and more. Me Later is going to leave a print on the ground she walks on. Me Later is going to be everything that Me Now isn’t. But I have no idea how to get there. Right now, I’m just throwing things at a wall and seeing what sticks; praying that whatever it is will somehow get me there. The world throws obstacles in my way and I shift forms to fit through them. So little of my present is my choice, that I have no idea if my future will even be mine.

By now, I should know that the beginning chapter or scene is never really the beginning. There’s always something that came before. But wouldn’t it just be easier if I could open a new storybook altogether?

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My map shows the things around Emoni. There are the value of Emoni and the things which are important to Emoni. She loves cooking, babygirl, Buela and Malachi. Also, she is passionate about being a chef and has a dream. She really wants to succeed. I put the culinary art school and Spain because they are important things in her life. I could tell that the class change her life.

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When I was 10, I was interested in boxing for no reason. When I was in the class of boxing, I am still in the ecstatic feeling of finally able to enter the club. I can even feel my mouth trembling, mumbling and saying “I finally can enter the club” without my control.

However, the truth is always so cruel.The wrists always seem aching, the legs always seemed unable to lift it up, the feet always seemed to have a discrepancy from the patterns it should follow, and the body always seemed too weak, unable to make the greatest strength to hit the sandbag. Dreams are always so close, but always so hard to chase.

During the break, I was sitting on the floor, wondering whether it is right to have too much passion on one thing, which is too hard to do good. I can feel the eyes of other club members just looking at me with contempt and a little bit, wondering why such a little girl has come to a club mostly for teenagers and grown-ups. I can even imagine the coach talking to my parents saying that I am not suitable for the training.

With great disappointment, I went back home. Seeing his little daughter so depressed, my father came and talked to me. I am a bit worried, will he still support me in the boxing club while knowing I did not have a gift for it?

Then I saw my father back from the gym, he seemed a bit tired but also really happy. I suddenly remembered he has been going to gym for years, and when he first went there, he told us how heavy the weight lifting stuff was, how fast other people can run, and how much effort he used on yoga. However, he still persists on what he is passionate about, why can’t I?

Thinking of this, I did hard on have practices by myself, gradually, the wrist were not aching while hitting the whole sandbag, the legs are easy to lift, the patterns are easy to follow, and

I gradually have the compliments of the coach and other club members. Nobody knew how hard I practiced, nobody knew how many times I hurt my arms and legs, nobody knew how hard I tried to bear the pain and kept practicing.

When I finally finished the last practice of the summer and prepared to leave the club, I barely felt the sadness of leaving the whole club, but felt a sense of accomplishment and great trust in myself. On the life long road, I always learned to persist on what I am truly passionate about, never give up easily and be the best self of mine.

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I chose to make my Creative Response a collage because it is a wonderful way to show Emoni growth was not stable or due to one particular thing but it took time and lots of fluctuations. The picture of the handwritten recipe represents two things. First, it is meant to demonstrate her relationship with her aunt, that they manage to stay in touch through family recipes likely passed down and tweaked from generation to generation. The fact that she makes something that is a huge part of her culture into her own personal recipe. I also illustrate that she has learned when to follow recipes and when to be creative and that there is a time and place for everything. The photo of the chef talking to customers displays how her meeting the head chef at cafe Sorreln was a turning point in her career. Because of this moment, she gained more respect for her culinary arts teacher and started to go to class and try again. She finally understood that there was always more to learn no matter what level you are or think you are. Once she went back to class she also started fundraising for the Spain trip. I think that she was finally able to put the effort in not something she needed to but something that fed her soul. The picture of a toddler is meant to portray Emma. Emoni really cares for Emma and even though Emma was not a part of her plan, she has become one of her main purposes Emoni would do anything for Emma and uses her as motivation to be successful. The picture of three chefs in a kitchen depicts Amanda, Richard, and Emoni. Working with them has taught her teamwork and how to build relationships outside of just best friends or partners. The peas being shucked symbolizes her so-called gift when it comes to food. When people eat her food they suddenly have happy memories. A man came up to her in the restaurant she was ‘interning’ at and said that her dish remanded him of sitting on his grandmother's lap as she shucks peas. The restaurant in the bottom right goes hand in hand with the peas. This is because the restaurant that Emoni works at in Spain has allowed her to explore and use her creativity in a professional environment. This experience is definitely allowing her to gain confidence and experience. The last element in the collage is the graduation hat with “...?” on it. Emoni will be graduating from high school soon but her next step is yet to be decided. She does not know for sure whether she will start working immediately or will continue to pursue her education in college. Everything from then on is yet to be decided.