Many people grow up being fed the beliefs of a certain religion, but I was not. My mother is a Jewish-Atheist and my father, an Atheist. I am also a Jewish-Atheist, which some people find confusing.  As...

As a young girl growing up in Tanzania, a developing country, the idea of attending a four-year U.S. university was almost as mythical as an old African folktale. The fact that neither of my parents...

Although I was older than him when we met -- I was 11 and my rescue dog, Hunter, was five months -- it’s the opposite now. I’ve reached my prime at 21 and he is an aging 65 in human years. Every...

When I was 4, my parents, sister and I left West Covina, California, for Virginia, 2,234 miles away. We ended up moving to the city of Lynchburg — a name that seemed to figuratively foreshadow our...

Growing up, I didn’t have any siblings yet. It was pretty dull with no other person my age at home. My parents weren’t around during the day because my dad was at work, and my mom was still in college. I...

 The day I turned 18, my parents kicked me out of the house.  I had been gone for two days. I was making an attempt at a good gesture for my parents. My mistake was asking my aunt for a haircut, while...

I used to be an objectively worse student than my peers in elementary school: I got lower grades, was worse at physical activities, and was immature for my age.  Three years later, I got into Cal State...

Growing up, I never prioritized academics. My weighted grade point average was 2.7 when I graduated high school.  I thought baseball was going to take me far in life. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The...

I will never forget the color of the sky that day: A vivid blue flecked with clouds. It was a slightly cool day Nov. 18, 2020, at the outdoor skatepark my friend and I frequented. But on this day,...

In high school, I didn't have many friends. I was shy, a bookworm and simply was the person who didn’t speak much. That was until I met my best friend, Robert Canales, in senior year. It would change...