The year 2016 feels like yesterday, yet also like another lifetime. Ten years ago, The Schola was born from a simple yet profound ideal. I launched it with a clear purpose—to cultivate disciplined habits of thought and foster a lifelong engagement with ideas. I gave myself a decade—a timeframe sufficient to assess its long-term viability and witness the enduring influence of our work. By now, the outstanding authors from our very first volume would be well into the next chapters of their lives, and it’s remarkable to consider how the discipline and clarity they first practiced in contributing to The Schola continue to fuel their journeys.

That ideal, the very essence I was chasing, was rooted in a foundational truth: that school is not merely a place or a phase, but a universal force for boundless becoming. Regardless of who we are, where we come from, or what we aspire to become, in school, we are all perpetual works in progress. In this space, definition yields to discovery, and limits give way to unbounded potential. This deep belief in school—an ever-expanding realm of transformation—inspired me, and that’s why I named the journal The Schola. It reflects this formative space where young minds are nurtured, challenged, and empowered to contribute.

The rigorous dedication that young students pour into preparing an essay for us is foundational. This experience, immersed in thorough research, critical thinking, and precise writing, is vital in shaping not only their intellect but also their discipline and voice. Every essay submitted to The Schola is more than a piece of writing—it’s an assertion of intellect and discernment, a young scholar stepping into the world of ideas. In an age awash with synthetic fluency, genuine insight signifies not just effort—it reflects clarity and rigor, and the rare discipline of independent thought. That union of authenticity and excellence, to me, is the truest kind of prestige—the only kind that endures—and it stands at the core of The Schola’s mission. We confidently expect our alumni—those pioneering students who have published with us—to advance knowledge, enrich culture, and contribute to the conversations that shape our world.

Breaking ground a decade ago was a journey fraught with uncertainty and setbacks. Throughout the arduous initial years of building The Schola, I pursued a meticulous outreach campaign targeting English-speaking schools across every country and every continent. It was a deeply personal endeavor, marked by a constant churn of soaring aspirations and quiet pessimism. The dismissive replies, the automated removal notices, and the overwhelming silence each left me profoundly discouraged—at times closing a door before it was even open. Looking back, I see now that the struggle was the foundation. Building The Schola was never about certainty—it was about the courage to believe in a space where the richness and range of emerging scholarship could be respected as a credible voice in the wider world of ideas. Behind the scenes, this journey became the story of Veritaum, the visionary publishing house founded to bring The Schola to life, its foundation built upon the journal’s hard-won success, dedicated to the formative years of intellectual development.

What makes The Schola truly unique is its unwavering commitment to showcasing high school scholarship worldwide in its full scope and rigor. As the only academic journal devoted to publishing scholarly essays across the comprehensive high school curriculum, The Schola embraces not only traditional high school offerings in the humanities and social sciences, but also broader fields that sharpen the intellectual agility essential for diverse future paths. Our ethos of comprehensive academic engagement finds expression in initiatives that build upon the foundation of The Schola, including Library Partner Subscription, an institutional program; Veritaum Anthologies, a thematic series drawn from the journal’s archives, offering students a window into the grand landscape of academic inquiry and fostering cross-disciplinary learning; and the Library, a resource supporting students’ intellectual and formative growth. These cornerstones are not merely extensions—they form an intellectual ecosystem within a carefully constructed architecture of thought leadership, amplifying the reach and impact of next-generation thinkers.

The tenth year. A decade is a marker not of time passed, but of the enduring relevance of our guiding mission. Our role has always been a steady one—tending to the space where a fleeting moment of discovery is captured, honed, and given a permanent home within the timeless tapestry of knowledge. As we mark this anniversary and look to the future, our commitment remains not to ourselves, but to that ephemeral, luminous moment of becoming—and to the enduring light it casts forward.

To alumni, every student who has submitted an essay, every subscriber, and all who have been part of this journey—join us in celebrating this milestone of our remarkable school.

Eva M Shin
Founder, The Schola
Publisher, Veritaum