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Navigate religion for yourself, not the people around you
Since I was born, I’ve been getting up every Sunday to go to church. And every Sunday since my parents were born, they’ve been attending church with their parents. It always felt so normal, a part of my routine and nothing that felt uncustomary. Up until eighth grade, I also attended a private Christian…
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I am plagued by an irrational fear of death
For as long as I can remember, the lingering fear of death has consumed my every waking moment. Uncertainty of what happens after death and feeling as if I have no control has tormented me my whole life. Anxiety surrounding death prevents me from sleeping at night, as each time I close my eyes,…
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Dark humor fails to excuse racism
I have often been labeled as “too sensitive” to the jokes my peers make, so I tend to keep my mouth shut when I am frustrated with what they have to say. But when an acquaintance looked me dead in the eye to tell me that he hates Black people, then paused and giggled…
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Facing adversity growing up queer
I have faced adversity throughout my whole life, from the first time I cut my hair into “boy style” to now with my hair still short and identifying as an openly gay person. When people would walk into the girls’ bathroom and tell me to leave, my 8-year-old self would say, “I am a…
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Family traditions keep memories alive
My childhood was full of magical traditions filled with family and joy. Recently, I turned 17-years-old, and I realized just how much of my childhood has passed me by. So many of my old traditions have now turned into beloved memories of the past. So much of what I looked forward to as a…
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“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”
When the government told my great-grandmother to leave her home and the life her family had built on American soil, it changed everything. Having been born and raised in the United States, her life here was all she knew. Yes, she was of Japanese heritage, but she was also an American citizen, and the…
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The Gift of No
I have been attending math therapy for the past nine years, and I have learned more about rejection in those sessions than anywhere else. Math is something I have rejected my whole life, not because I wanted to, but because I felt like I had to in order to survive it. Since third grade,…
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The war in Gaza is not complex
I have always been proud to be Jewish. But at the age of 14, I had to reckon with the fact that my Jewishness could be stripped away from me if I announced an opinion deemed wrong by other Jewish people. In 2021, I learned about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the first time. I…
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The goodbye that I never thought would come
From the age of two to the age of six, I shared a room with my sister. We lived at my grandparents’ house for the first three years, and she had the top bunk. Most of our nights were spent in my mom’s room with the pink walls. My grandma and grandpa would tell…
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“I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything”
Every year, I can be found sitting at my desk when I hear, “Isabella, can you please talk to me after class?” and my mind instantly begins to whir. Did I forget to turn in my homework? Did I accidentally talk too loud during class? What could I have possibly done wrong? I smile…