I was just outside of Baghdad when out of nowhere, tragedy struck. I didn’t understand what was going on because I was only 4 years old, but I vividly remember coming back to my house and seeing it obliterated. My family later found out that the bombing was from Muslim Sunnis that hated our Catholic […]

Once I was in center college I started to cheer and dance for the center college soccer and basketball staff. I used to be what was known as “Sprit Crew” with all of my buddies and Spirit Crew was what I seemed ahead to. Throughout my college day, I might suppose, “if I get by […]

My idol is Bobby Fischer. Once I began taking part in chess, it was merely a recreation, albeit a good one. Nevertheless, I’ve come to comprehend that almost all of life will be represented on a chess board. One of many first classes I discovered was by no means depart a piece unprotected. To make […]

One thing about danger at all times terrified me. There’s a stage of uncertainty that comes with taking dangers; a stage of uncertainty that’s past consolation, for me anyway. Risk is a recreation of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. It’s darkish and I’m disoriented with no clear understanding of the course of the goal. Risk is that second once […]

All the signs point to the conclusion that I live in the past. Peace signs and Grateful Dead stickers decorate my car’s bumper, the smell of incense permeates everything I own, and Bob Dylan’s protest songs fill my iPod. My friends are always calling me a “hippie” and telling me I was born in the […]

Throughout my life, it has been a constant battle of people telling me that I cannot do something and me proving them wrong. To get where I need to be, I need to work harder at things than normal people. My dad always said to my teachers, “You do not see all the work she […]

There was not a single, shining moment of clarity in which I suddenly understood the importance or working hard for my education. I did not lose a loved one. I did not have a near death experience. I did not visit a museum or a national landmark. I did not read an inspiring book or […]

I find solace with the television on, and the cable box turned off. With fragments of black and white vibrating across the screen, and stagnant white noise infiltrating my soul and invigorating my bones, I have the opportunity to feel nothing. I am liberated by the stillness; the static sets me free. Living with an […]

My father always said, “You can’t stop the rain from falling, but you can choose to use an umbrella.” I figured he got it from a book…maybe an e-mail or a fortune cookie. But I never got the meaning of it until I went to high school. From pre-school to eighth grade, I attended a […]

How will your presence enrich our group? The House I wanted the stench would go away. I wanted the diseased, savage canines would go away me alone. In reality, I wanted I hadn’t come in any respect. A pair weeks earlier than sophomore yr, I traveled to Virginia and helped rebuild and transform houses of […]