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 Filipina American Writer,

Creative Specialist,

and (Semi-Pro) Fangirl

Game clock starts. Curtain opens.

This website is currently under construction. My apologies for any inconveniences.

I didn’t know what John Cena meant by “word life” when I was a WWE-obsessed preteen, and I still don’t know what he meant by it. But, as a person who spends time with words day and night, it feels right.

I’m Ashley: a 29-year-old Filipina American who loves basketball, (re)watches Marvel movies and TV shows too often, is mesmerized by musicals (just call me the fangirl version of Troy Bolton), and wrote one of Simu Liu’s favorite reviews of his books.

My (week)days are spent creating social media calendars, primarily composing copy but also selecting the accompanying images that likely get more attention. My nights are often spent watching a Chicago Bulls game or a TV show that probably has superheroes and/or Filipinos. But my favorite way to end the day? With words—whether they’re found in the pages of a (comic) book or pulled from the thoughts in my head and brought into reality via a blank document.

So, word life. This is definitely not the basic thuganomics, but welcome to my site nevertheless.

Wijangco
Writes

The History and Numbers of My Writing Career

Love for the Game

My love for basketball sparked my start in writing. It was a way to share my love for the sport after my playing days. I was recruited to write about the Chicago Bulls for a blog during my junior year of high school and have been writing about the game for more than a decade.

★ Read my articles ★

From Courtside to Copy

I studied journalism as a way to help my pursuit of a sports writing career, particularly as a basketball writer. But I soon discovered a general love for writing. Upon entering the professional world, I got into copywriting, helping brands share their offerings online via blog posts, landing pages, ads, and social media posts.

★ Read my copywriting work ★

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Outlets
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Years of Online Writing Experience

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Years of Copywriting Experience

*silent fangirl cries*

The Story of a (Semi-Professional) Fangirl

I wouldn’t be a writer if I wasn’t a fangirl, because my desire to write stemmed from my desire to share my love for what I love.

My favorite use for writing is to share love for my primary interests: basketball, Marvel, and musicals. And I’ve been lucky enough to do that on a professional basis.

★ More About Me ★

Featured on

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Write to the Point

Writing Specialties

Social media copywriting

Articles and blog posts

Feature stories

Sports, entertainment, and pop culture writing

Want to read my work? Head right this way for articles and this way for copywriting.

Once a Yerd, Always a Yerd

I’ve long considered myself to be a writer first, but yearbook helped me try out and learn photography and design. Just as a yearbook allows people to look back and reflect on their school years, yearbook has allowed me to reflect on the growth I’ve experienced as a writer, artist, and creative individual. To this day, nothing has been as creatively fulfilling as yearbook.

★ More About My Time as a Yearbook Nerd ★
Credentialed on the Sidelines

Media and Press Experience

NCAA Gymnastics

2017 Champaign Regional

Working as a freelancer for NCAA Gym News, I provided coverage of the postseason meet. My responsibilities included writing an event recap article, posting live tweets during the meet, and taking photos at the open practice.

NBA Draft 2017

Draft media availability

One of the first things I did as a communications intern at the National Basketball Players Association, I attended draft media availability session on behalf of the union. I spoke with a number of draft prospects during media availability, asking about their game, off-court goals, and their interests.

FAN EXPO Chicago

Comic convention

For two years straight, I’ve attended FAN EXPO Chicago as a credentialed media member. In 2023, I interviewed actor Gabriel Luna, known from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Last of Us, and wrote a longform feature story based on the conversation and his panel.

My Love for Musicals

There’s a Place For Us

As a High School Musical superfan during its heyday, it’s no surprise that I (eventually) became a huge musical theatre fan. I attribute my love for musicals and Broadway to Bandstand. But I credit Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2019 production of West Side Story as the show that made me fall in love with the form of storytelling.

From costume choices to music/song composition to lighting design, musicals have helped me realize the vast intricacies that can be used to share narratives.

★ Stage Musicals I’ve Seen ★

@wijangco12

Corey Cott’s rendition of “Maria” is so phenomenal that it has me wanting to change my name to “Maria.” 😄

2:47 pm • 02 May 19

Wijangco’s Words

Blog

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Photography

Snapshots from My Life and Work

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The year I started dabbling in photography

★ More Photography ★

Captain on the Court

Kirk Hinrich on United Center Court During Chicago Bulls Game

Far from the best photo I’ve taken, this picture of Kirk Hinrich that I took in March 2013 has always been a favorite.

Still relatively new to photography, I brought my Canon Rebel T3 to the Bulls game and spent much of it capturing my view of the game from my seat in the 300 level of the United Center. What I’ve always loved about this picture—besides the fact it’s of my all-time favorite Bull—is how I captured the lighting transition coming out of a timeout.

Gear on the Gridiron on Game Day

Illinois football helmet on Memorial Stadium Field

This photograph was featured on the Athletics Divider spread in the 2017 Illio, the official yearbook for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It’s nothing particularly special, but seeing this always reminds me of the time the yearbook representative who worked with Illio complimented the image during one of our meetings.

We’re All in This Together

Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.

This photo from the High School Musical panel featuring Corbin Bleu (left) and Lucas Grabeel (right) is easily my favorite from FAN EXPO Chicago 2024. I got ambitious with my coverage and wanted to take photos in addition to standard live-event reporting and any onsite interviews I’d get to do. For this snapshot, I had already turned my DSLR camera off to focus on live tweets but frantically turned my camera back on as I saw this moment happening. I knew it would be so special to capture and speak to the bond the two actors still have more than a decade after the HSM movie trilogy ended. So I’m glad I acted quickly enough and stay prepared to document it forever.