NIKOLA received her M.F.A. in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and her B.A. from Yale University. Her writing focuses on ecopoetics, capturing the environment in crisis, and she’s always been inspired by BTS’s social and political commentary shared through art. Her poetry has appeared in the Denver Quarterly, the Spoon River Poetry Review, the Alexandria Quarterly, and the Cimarron Review, among other publications. Her BTS bias is J-Hope and her favorite song she saw live was Outro: Tear.

Padya is currently an M.F.A. candidate in creative non-fiction at Columbia University. Her writing almost always focuses on helping the audience find nuance in pop culture content they might not have taken seriously, from BTS to professional wrestling to a single strand of Zayn Malik’s hair. Her work can be found in Teen Vogue, them., Color Bloq, VRV Blog, Dogwood Journal, and Xeno Zine. Her bias is still Jin, despite some rotation of the other six regularly wrecking her. In a previous (pre-pandemic) life, she would have said her favorite BTS song is Serendipity, but these days, it’s 134340. She also cannot go to sleep without listening to RM’s mono. in order.

MER received her B.A. from Wellesley College in Environmental Studies and History and has since immersed herself in the world of both digital and paper collage. When not exploring #graphicdesignismypassion (follow @iconic.collage on instagram!!) you can find her singing one of her latest songs at open mics, getting her poetry published in Grlsquash mag, or discussing the philosophy behind BTS’ work with the Harvard Episcopalians. Mer’s topics of exploration include climate change, queerness, existential dread (and bread), and hidden histories. Mer’s bias is Suga, although she is wrecked by the rest of the rapline on a regular basis. Her state-sanctioned running playlist has been entirely consumed by BTS.

SHANNON received her M.A. in English from Ohio State and her B.A. in Classics and English from the University of North Carolina. As a Ph.D. candidate at Yale, she is currently writing her dissertation on mixed-language verse and multilingualism in Medieval England. As her Spotify history and new ARMY friends can attest, baby ARMY days are now behind her. She’s done it all, from assigning each BTS member a personalized cocktail to buying every GQ Korea cover. She is inspired by BTS’s passion for both reinvention and reflection, both poetry and play. Her bias is RM (mono. squad!) but she’d most like to discuss D-2 over whiskey with Suga (and rumor has it she has a Cooky soap dispenser and a framed photo of Jungkook hanging in her room).

TRACEY is an M.B.A. candidate at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). She received her B.A. in Film & Media Studies and Education Sciences. Her career has spanned the education, entertainment, and social impact sectors and now works in sponsorship/partner marketing. Besides BTS-related activities such as hoarding BT21 RJ merch and saving for the next tour, her hobbies include trying new boba shops, testing beauty products, watching soccer/football matches, and analyzing pop culture. Tracey’s BTS bias is Jin, and her favorite song is Spring Day.

Rebeca completed an online MicroMaster in Digital Marketing from Curtin University. She writes about a variety of topics, but her blogs and articles about BTS can be found in Borasaek Vision. Since day one, RM has been her bias, and Namjooning is her way to happiness. She loves spending time in nature, visiting museums, cafés and any other interesting places. She's also a big fan of exploring new ideas, as well as trying new hobbies, especially in the creative realm. Whalien 52 and Paradise have been her favorite BTS songs for a long time, but the rest of her top 5 changes every day.