Now, whenever I have a slice of my mom’s cheesecake, it transports me back to that rambunctious house, filled to the brim with all my extended family, the Christmas tree with the overly packed presents underneath it—one for each of my fifty-plus family members—bringing me back to when we used to celebrate the holidays together.
Read MoreNobody is upset about turning 20. At least, that’s what my parents told me this past June. But I was, I was the first of my friends to complete the second decade of my life, so there were few people to give me advice aside from my 60-year-old parents. According to them, these are going to be the “best years of my life.”
Read MoreFinding some semblance of home while traveling in a new place is no easy feat, especially knowing your time there is temporary. Studying abroad is a formative experience for college students worldwide.
Read MoreTalking to my friends’ boyfriends has never been easy. We only make small talk, usually talking about work and school. Once we finish these two topics the conversation goes stale. There I am, standing next to someone my best friend is in love with, someone who means so much to them, and I have run out of things to talk about.
Read MoreThe idealistic haze of possibility perpetuated by travel influencers online often overlooks the potentially dangerous consequences of traveling unprepared, especially as a young woman.
Read MoreEveryone seems to think that the way to solve your problems is by making a playlist for every occasion or pretending a camera is watching you cook pasta alone.
Read MoreMy new aversion to attention makes me feel sorry for my younger self who used to proudly wear her own frosting, how disappointed she would be to know that the big day in mid-March has become one I decidedly ignore until someone forces me not to.
Read MoreAs I reflect on these two vastly different places where I grew up, I realize that I am a fast walker, a fast talker, and someone who stands up for myself when others try to put me down.
Read MoreAfter crashing into the water, I would have to find my way to the ladder and retrieve my goggles. Somehow, I always reigned victorious.
Read MoreThe very first tarot card Mary pulled was the Nine of Swords which shows nine swords seemingly going through the figures’s back. She immediately asked me if I knew about someone who was talking behind my back.
Read MoreThat pesky habit of greed that parents strive to eliminate from their children’s behavior has started to manifest in adult behavior as well; it is known as “gatekeeping.”
Read MoreWhen you’re a kid, you don’t know that you’re different—people have to tell you. And I was told over, and over, and over.
Read MoreI would often feel guilty for desiring alone time and not wanting to spend all my time with friends or family; however, I really was just unaware that my social battery was worn out.
Read MoreDesperate to become one of the pack, I sought out the school’s “it-girl” and made it my mission to befriend her. Or become her.
Read MoreWe would always feel left out and wonder what we were doing wrong, why couldn’t we make friends?
Read MoreRecently I’ve become aware of another guest sitting beside procrastination at my table: self-sabotage.
Read MoreBut how had I gone seventeen years without any of the adults in my life noticing symptoms?
Read MoreThey fail to realize the anger and resentment of their 10-year-old not wanting to talk to them is in fact–and stay with me here–their own fault.
Read MoreI had my first kiss alongside Lady Bird and Rory Gilmore, smoked and drank with the cast of Freaks and Geeks, and ran away with the love of my life in Moonrise Kingdom.
Read MoreWe rely on the chance of love. The chance you’ll find the one during your morning bagel trip. Or maybe that’s just me.
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