Being ambivalent about my choice of religion shouldn’t ­really surprise anyone, especially when I’m still wading through the notorious teenage years of angst, when authority exists to be questioned. Nothing is set in stone, and religion is no exception. I think I have a right to be religiously ambivalent due to my family and the […]

“Kids, come downstairs. I made dinner.” I shakily make my way downstairs. The odor hits me before I even enter the kitchen. It is so pungent I stop dead in my tracks. My friends leap into their seats and dig in, but I am hesitant to sit down. I look in the bowl, and I […]

The diverse community of nations, a different language spoken on every corner, and the proximity to Washington and it’s institutions are all things that attract me to Georgetown University, but the most beautiful part of Georgetown is a learning community in the genuine pursuit of a better world. I have long ago come to the […]

Yesterday was the day when it all happened. Somehow everyone just disappeared, everyone but me. My friends, family, even my enemies are all gone, and there are no traces where they went. I’m all alone in this new deserted world, whether I want to be or not. Now I really know the meaning of one […]

“Mom is strong. She can fight this,” I said. “Right?” “She’ll fight her hardest. That’s for sure,” my dad said. And that’s exactly what she did. My mom’s strength and integrity is what I admired the most about her. And they are the traits I wanted and needed as a 13-year-old watching her go through […]

He’s still there. I have had someone following me for ten years. Every time I look over my shoulder, he isn’t far behind. The more I learn more about him, the scarier he looks and the more uncomfortable I feel around him. As I age, he ages, too. I can see the maturity in his […]

Will Rogers once said, “If you want to be successful, it’s just this simple. Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing.” About three years ago, I read a book that I had recently checked out at the library. It was called All the Light We […]

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. The vibration from the helicopter rattles my bones as I cautiously stumble my way across the Mendenhall Glacier. I can scarcely hear the guide as he begins his monologue regarding the glacier’s history. I grip my grandmother’s gloved hand tightly as we trek towards the crevasse. My heart quickens, and although I […]

A funny thing happened on the way to “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Myfour-year-old fingers were wrapped around the remote, seeking the trolley bell’sfamiliar ring, when I was drawn to the steady beat of a heart monitor. I nevermade it to the Neighborhood that day. Instead, I spent the afternoon in theoperating room of some distant hospital, […]

When I was nine, one of my favorite things to say to classmates was, “I have rock-solid abs. Really, I do. Punch me in the stomach and I’ll prove it.” Few people took me up on this unusual offer, but those who did touch my abdomen were surprised to find that it was, indeed, unnaturally […]