By: Jessica Lao Let’s get things straight. This isn’t a story of getting personally stomped on by the police, or being forced to leave school because of my (as it happens, conveniently not) natural hair. For the most part, I can’t…
By: Jessica Lao Picture a 13-year-old sitting in a classroom, gradually consuming her weight in pencil erasers as her Georgia Studies teacher embarks on one of his infamous rants. “Did y’all see the video of that boy going after the store…
By: Jim Alexander Dave and I stood dumbfounded when we gazed across the Tiber Valley at the ancient city of Civita. The abandoned medieval buildings that clustered atop steep cliff looked surreal and the distant plateau might have been an apparition….
By: Alina Das The iridescent lights and hundreds of filled seats made my heart beat in a way I had never felt before. As my name was called, I slowly walked onto the empty stage. Using all my gathered confidence…
By: Angel Ramnani The biggest challenge I have faced is knowing that Indian families typically want their first child to be male. My parents conceived a child before me, but my mother aborted because she was afraid it would be a…
By: Vraj Patel I was trapped by the laughter coming closing in from all around me. I couldn’t distract myself from the noise. The voices around me suddenly became quiet and one voice was louder than the rest. This voice was…
By Ian Fletcher Before I start my humble analysis, here is the poem to refresh the memories of those who know it and to introduce it to those who haven’t read this masterpiece of nineteenth century poetry: Because I could…
By: Robert Bermudez teaching a classroom full of six year olds in Ecuador helped me to truly understand what it feels like to be on the other side of the immigrant experience Deciding it was time to both get away and…
By: Raymond Greiner How is progress clearly gauged? Is progress a machine or device invented to create less physical or mental challenge to daily routines? When does comfort become a negative and hard work a positive? In reality both offer favorable…
By: Jolo Motus When Gerardo started sleeping under the stop sign in the corner of my neighborhood, everything changed. Two summers ago, Gerardo ended up in Academy Way, the street I lived in. He told me that he was normally from…