Lakeside School

IMAGO is the student-published literary and artistic journal/magazine at Lakeside. Over the past few years, IMAGO has aimed to highlight student success, from paintings and photography to poetry and prose. Publishing two to three issues per year, IMAGO has explored several themes, including "The Cultural Web," "Exploration and Discovery," and more. In the past few months, we worked on our Winter 2026 Issue, which is now out, that follows the theme "Sonder." 

Sonder. As we traverse societies, cultures, homes, and Mother Nature itself, we explore the definition of sonder. Yet, what does this truly mean? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “sonder” may be defined as “the awareness that other people all have their own complex set of feelings and experiences.” We all live as the main characters of our lives, and every passerby and empty “Hello, how are you?” attempts to fill the void and space that is ever-growing between us. In this way, we are all active participants in the idea of sonder.

At Lakeside, where so many stories intersect in hallways, classrooms, and quiet moments of reflection, this concept feels especially resonant. What does it mean to truly see the people around us? To recognize that every face in a crowd holds its own history, its own joys and struggles? As you turn through these pages, we invite you to consider the quiet complexity of the lives surrounding your own. How many untold stories pass by us each day? How might our understanding of one another shift if we paused long enough to imagine them?

As our contributors have explored the idea of sonder, this issue has traveled between and throughout communities, offering a glimpse into the depths of others’ lives—the chaotic, the dull, the bright, the quiet. We hope that these pieces will echo our community’s experiences of sonder and carry you beyond your everyday lives. 

Sincerely,

Editor-in-Chief, Cailyn C. ’26