Alissa Sun's World

I'm a Grade 8 student at Singapore American School. I was born in Washington, DC, grew up in Shanghai, and moved to Singapore in fifth grade — a new country, a new school, a new curriculum, and a lot of slang I didn't understand yet. (I once mixed up Eminem and M&M's.) I learned to ask questions, listen closely, and figure out how a new place works.

For almost two years I have been building my own fictional world called Alethi. It started when I read The Lord of the Rings and wanted my own Middle-earth. Since then Alethi has grown into hand-drawn maps, a foam-carved 3D model, its own language, species, mythology, and history. Worldbuilding is where my love of social studies, art, science, and fantasy pile up into one place.

A world only feels real when people live in it. That is why I run Dungeons & Dragons campaigns in Alethi as Dungeon Master, and why on Peer Council I help fifth graders get ready for middle school — I remember how nervous I was.

I play badminton and volleyball, piano and bamboo flute; I love musical theatre, paint and sketch, and make things in our makerspace. I fold origami cranes and leave them on the board for anyone to find. I'm writing a book set in Alethi — but the book is for the world. The world is not for the book.