Celebrating Creativity: Synapse Announces Storytelling Contest Winners

From magical realism to urgent calls for justice, from fog-draped skylines to lyrical meditations on the self — this year’s Synapse Storytelling Contest showcased the remarkable range of UCSF student voices. Across fiction, nonfiction, photography, and poetry, participants brought forward works of humor, heartache, imagination, and resilience that reflect the depth of our community.

After careful deliberation, the judges are proud to honor this year’s winners, whose stories and images not only demonstrated technical excellence, but also resonated with emotional clarity and originality. Their work reminds us why storytelling matters: it bridges disciplines, inspires empathy, and captures the human experience in all its complexity.

Fiction

First place: Mary in Heaven

By Pedro Silvestre Marra

Mary in Heaven stood out as the winning entry for its emotional depth, originality, and narrative grace. With quiet power, the story explores love, memory, and mortality through the lens of Mr. Jiang, a war veteran confronting death and the haunting memory of his first love, Mary Anne. The concept — a liminal hospital for the dead — blends magical realism with heartfelt storytelling, offering a fresh take on the afterlife that feels both imaginative and deeply human.

What makes this story exceptional is its ability to balance humor, sorrow, and tenderness without ever losing emotional clarity. Subtle details — the old army uniform, the voice only he can hear, the sign reading “HEAVEN” — anchor the narrative in a touching realism even amid surreal elements. Ultimately, Mary in Heaven reminds us that love can transcend time and loss. It’s a moving portrayal of what it means to carry a promise — and to finally find peace in keeping it. 

Second place: One Ticket, Please, to Candidacy Land

By Nikhita Kirthivasan

One Ticket, Please, to Candidacy Land earns second place in the Synapse storytelling contest for its whip-smart humor, inventive style, and deeply relatable portrayal of the grad student journey. The writer transforms the academic qualifying exam into a treacherous yet comical expedition, capturing both the absurdities and triumphs of research life. Through clever metaphors, punchy pacing, and a refreshingly honest voice, the piece invites readers to laugh through the stress and chaos of higher education. It’s a standout for its originality and voice, striking a rare balance between levity and authenticity that resonates with both students and mentors alike.

Non Fiction

First place: From Mistrust to Empowerment: How Historical Medical Racism Drove Black Women Toward Midwifery and Home Births

By Amanda Lipford

Amanda Lipford’s essay stands out as a commanding and essential piece of nonfiction that combines historical scholarship, public health advocacy, and personal reflection with striking clarity and urgency. Her writing is emotionally grounded and intellectually rigorous, offering readers an unflinching look at how centuries of medical racism continue to shape Black maternal health today. Lipford draws powerful connections between atrocities like the Tuskegee study and the legacy of James Marion Sims to the modern-day reality that Black women face in clinical settings — namely, being disbelieved, dismissed, and often placed at greater risk during childbirth. What makes this essay soar is its duality: it exposes injustice while celebrating a growing movement toward culturally rooted, empowering care through midwifery. The piece builds toward a vision of healing and reclamation, not just survival. Lipford’s voice is bold, informed, and galvanizing — exactly what this moment in medicine demands. Her story doesn’t just shed light; it calls readers to action. 

Second place: Patient Encounter Note

By Saffanat Sumra

Sumra’s essay is a graceful and intimate narrative of a patient interaction that transforms a clinical moment into a meditation on healing, presence, and humanity. Through the metaphor of music, it captures both the patient’s dignity and the student’s growth with poetic sensitivity. It’s the kind of story that could be handed to every new medical student as a model of compassionate care.

Third place: July 4th Fireworks

By Andrew Ngo

This quiet, reflective piece reveals a profound shift in understanding trauma across generations. Ngo’s restrained storytelling lets the emotional impact build gradually, and the essay becomes a beautiful tribute to immigrant resilience and familial empathy. It’s personal, well-crafted, and lingers in the reader’s mind.

Photography

First Place: City in Fog

By Li Wang

City in Fog rises above the competition with its haunting subtlety and poetic atmosphere. The image captures a fleeting moment when San Francisco’s skyline dissolves into mist — a familiar phenomenon transformed here into something otherworldly. The fog blurs the hard edges of the urban landscape, rendering the buildings as ghostly silhouettes. This creates a powerful sense of mystery and emotional depth, inviting viewers to contemplate transience, obscurity, and the fragility of what we think is solid or known. The muted tones convey mood without dullness, and the composition draws the eye upward from darker foreground shadows into the soft, gray white of the vanishing skyline. The image is both cinematic and painterly, evoking feelings rather than simply depicting a place. City in Fog stands out for its ability to be at once beautiful and unsettling, grounded and dreamlike. It’s a masterclass in mood and restraint.

Second Place: Hang Gliding or a PhD

By Cuyler Luck

This photograph takes second place for its breathtaking blend of exhilaration and metaphor. The lone hang glider suspended over a vast expanse of mountains and river valleys perfectly conveys both the thrill and the uncertainty of stepping into the unknown — whether that leap is into open skies or the daunting pursuit of a doctorate. The composition is striking: the glider’s bright wing cuts across a canvas of endless greens and blues, symbolizing courage, risk, and perspective against the immensity of nature. More than just a landscape or an action shot, the image captures a universal human experience—the balance of vulnerability and bravery required when chasing ambition. Its visual drama and conceptual resonance make it an unforgettable second-place winner. 

Third Place: Baker Beach

By Leela Mohan

This photograph earns third place for its warm, nostalgic capture of a quintessential San Francisco scene. With the Golden Gate Bridge rising in the background, the image balances iconic landmarks with the everyday lives of beachgoers—reading, lounging, and enjoying the sun. The soft, golden light and slightly grainy texture lend it a timeless, almost film-like quality that evokes memory as much as it documents the present. What makes the photo stand out is how it transforms a crowded beach into a portrait of community and leisure, reminding us that even in a bustling city, moments of rest and joy can define our shared spaces. Its storytelling lies in the small details—the umbrella’s splash of color, the intimacy of a reader immersed in their book—which together create a scene that is both familiar and quietly profound. 

Poetry

First place: At Night, the Wake (After Alice Notley) 

By Halle Young

This was a nice homage to American poet Alice Notley and a special read. Young evoked Notley’s prosody while including personal touches through imagery and references to modern pop culture. In the wake of past experiences and decisions, emotions are high; Young aptly captures those waves of feelings. Its layered imagery — from storm surges and sea glass to television loops and lullabies — creates a rhythm that is both intimate and epic, echoing the tides it invokes. By transforming the “wake” into a multifaceted metaphor of mourning, aftermath, and awakening, the poem achieves a rare blend of emotional urgency and lyrical sophistication.

Second place: I Left My Heart in San Francisco 

By Nick Fiorentino

San Francisco is a beautiful city with iconic views and landmarks. Through wordplay and rhyme, Fiorentino shines a rose-colored glow across all of San Francisco, with witty references and with hefty compassion and grace. In blending personal memory with the city’s iconic landscapes to create a heartfelt portrait of place and identity, his inventiveness and rhythm capture both the nostalgia of first love and the enduring pull of home, making the city itself feel like a living character. With warmth, musicality, and a strong sense of belonging, it leaves the reader feeling the permanence of San Francisco etched into identity.

Third place: War of One 

By Arren Chavez Ramsey 

Ramsey War of One is a familiar ritual that is sure to be relatable to many readers. A simple vignette of one’s daily battle with oneself! The steady rhythm of footsteps paired with the language of war creates a powerful metaphor for perseverance in the face of invisible conflict. Its honesty and emotional resonance invite readers into the quiet heroism of enduring each day, making it a compelling and memorable piece.