The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards program was founded in 1923 and is North America’s longest running, most prestigious recognition awards platform for creative teens. Students in grades 7-12 are invited to apply in 28 categories of art and writing.

Among those 2025 medal winners is Delbarton freshman Eric Feng ’28 who won a Gold Key Award for his personal essay and memoir entitled A New Self. Eric also won a Silver Key award for his Flash Fiction piece, A Game of Chess. Born in the United States, he lived in China with his father and grandparents for much of his early childhood.  

At age five, Eric suddenly learned that he was flying to the United States where he would live with his mother. Surrounded by Chinese school friends and “aunties and uncles who owned my favorite restaurants”, Eric left the comforts of home to land in New Jersey. He had just a few weeks to adjust to a new language and culture where he and his mother were the only Chinese family on the block.  Virtually everything felt different. In first grade, Eric managed to make a new friend, Laura, who was also Chinese.  That first year was one of acclimation and A New Self is the story of how he adapted to his new life. Read Eric's memoir here. 

In 2024, as his summer vacation in China came to an end, Eric settled on a theme for his personal memoir. He would tell the story of his adjustment from his Chinese childhood to American life.   Eric says, “I wanted to write about the special experiences I had in my home country. I discussed this idea with my teachers and family and came up with a plan to share some of my written works to a public platform.”

His creative writing experience is not very different from his peers and “it was around the end of 8th grade when I started to become an enthusiastic writer,” he recalls. His freshman English teacher Mr. Michael Carr ‘01, himself a published journalist, helped provide insightful guidance. Eric says, “By analyzing other winning works and coming up with a story that was unique to me, I believe that was what made my piece of writing stand out from others.” 

Today, having fully acclimated to life in the United States while still treasuring his Chinese heritage, Eric is all in at Delbarton.  He competes for Green Wave Tennis, writes for the Courier and Delta, and is a member of the Research in Science Club and the Forensics Society. "I also love to play the piano so I am part of the Delbarton Tri-M Music Honor Society," he says. 

For over a century, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have inspired bold ideas in creative teens throughout the country. This year, the program attracted nearly 110,000 teens from U.S. territories, Canada, and every state in the nation participated in the Awards who submitted more than 310,000 works for judging. Nearly 90,000 regional awards were presented to nearly 50,000 teens, and more than 2,800 works received National Medals.

We encourage other Delbarton students to submit their original art and creative writing to next year’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and the Delbarton community salutes Eric for his adaptability, and for this wonderful achievement.