I don’t remember much about my visits to my hometown of Trivandrum, India. As a child, all the details seemed to blur: faces, events, things that should've stuck. Yet, I always remember the smells. The...

I’ve never had a hot dog. Not at a baseball game or at a barbecue. No chicken nuggets, no turkey on Thanksgiving and no sizzling bacon in the morning. My childhood didn’t smell like burgers on the...

There's something poetic about fear—it holds you back, sure, but it also pushes you to grow. I sat in the sidelines for years and let fear call the shots. However, the moment I chose to face it, everything...

It’s the final stretch. Senior year. This is the time when many students decide to take their foot off the gas, lighten their workloads and coast to graduation. The notorious "senior slump" has settled...

December. I’m staring at a blank Word document. The cursor blinks tauntingly. It’s dark outside, and the oppressive cold creeps in. The clock inches toward midnight. My cursor stays put. I started...

Growing up I never paid much mind to the oddities of my family. It was normal having two parents with different skin tones and hair types. I was always blended within a family of different cultures...

“Mom!??! Where are you?? I’m going to be late!!” January 25th, the day where I had to be in two places at the same time. My CVHS dance team had a competition and my Ruff Ryder dance team having...

I slump back in my chair, my face buried in my hands as the cacophony of voices rises around me. My parents, aunts and uncles were in a strenuous wrestle of words over who would pay the bill. Once again,...

There was a fateful day in my pre-teen years, hanging in a limbo between adolescence and pure, innocent youth – the day I first locked eyes with my mother’s porcelain doll. I was smitten. She was beautiful....

Being a single kid in a family of working parents, the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on me psychologically. Online studies and losing personal contact with my friends led to anxiety and low self-esteem,...

The last day of school before winter break always meant one thing: Chuck E. Cheese. It was tradition. My grandpa would pick up my siblings and me, and we’d spend the afternoon lost in flashing lights,...