Essay

By Adesope Adisa The essence of my gender and being a woman has been something I struggled to grapple in my words on said, glances observed and in the synthesis of my surroundings in my subconscious. There was no safe place to be feminine- Ideologically, emotionally or practically.  As a kid, the boys would police our behaviour. “She’s too manly ", "too girly," "fast," "prude" etc. They dictated standards and policed our existence, unknowly replicating the sentiments of the w

By Rishika Tipparti graduate student killed in January 2023 by a speeding Seattle Police officer, who was going 74 mph in a residential area. He later mocked her worth, stating that she had “limited value” and that the city would need to “just write a check” to make up for her untimely killing. For many, this story was just another fleeting headline, quickly buried in the endless scroll of trending topics – if recognized at all. For many Indian Americans like me, however, eve

By Rishika Tipparti The world seemed to shatter when I heard about Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old Indian graduate student killed in January 2023 by a speeding Seattle Police officer, who was going 74 mph in a residential area. He later mocked her worth, stating that she had “limited value” and that the city would need to “just write a check” to make up for her untimely killing. For many, this story was just another fleeting headline, quickly buried in the endless scroll of t

By Jhanvi Latheesh Let’s be honest: boredom feels like brain torture. Like when your teacher says “Let’s review photosynthesis” for the 73rd time. Or when you're stuck in a grocery line behind someone arguing with a coupon. That’s when your brain starts quietly yelling, > “HELLO?? Can we please do literally anything else?” But here’s the weird twist: Boredom might actually be... awesome. Seriously. When I’m bored, my brain doesn’t just shut off. It takes off like a raccoon wi

By Nishka Chaube “We are in the age of the internet” is a common saying that gets more credible the further advancements humanity makes. With Gen Z (12-28 years old approximately) being the first generation to have been raised while the internet had become mainstream, it is inevitable that the younger end of the spectrum are arguably more impacted by the connection and entertainment that it provides. An inseparable part of the internet is, without a doubt, social media, with

By Sheryn Sek Suet Ying Digging through the piles of scattered paper in the box, I encountered a sealed envelope with a smiley face sticker on top, dedicated to me. Confused, I carefully tore it open and read the messy handwriting in crayons that trembled across the page — once, mine — asking the one question I never thought I would see again: “Was it worth growing up?” My brain froze for a long time. How long had it been since I wrote this letter? The question felt like it h

By Małgorzata Hernik The night was thick as ink… and my only companion was a humming machine that had already betrayed me six times. Seventh day at its side now… sometimes sitting, sometimes lying next to it, wondering what exactly is wrong with me. The keyboard that used to make everything glide—softly, cleanly… is it really not helping now? I drum my short nails against the Lenovo’s shell. The sound is more like a horse’s hooves on asphalt than the drama of a loyal, shell-s

By Javeria Ahmed Seventeen years have passed since I lost my father and not a day goes by when I don’t think about him or miss him. As cliched as it may sound, my father has always been my hero and I've looked up to him in every possible way. I have thought about writing a memoir but have been at a loss to do so, words will always fall short of doing justice to my papa, as we fondly called him, as he was too good to be true. Accepting and coming to terms with the loss of a pa

By Javeria Ahmed I taught Tennyson’s Break, Break, Break for nearly three years to my students but never fully comprehended the poet’s feelings until I received the dreadful news of my mother’s passing away. It was so sudden and shocking and I have still not come to terms with this new reality, this void that I feel with every breath I take, this emptiness that has engulfed everything around me. Grief has different stages and it affects us in various ways, there is denial in

By Layla Ramsay What does it mean to be heard? Is it all audible?  In my experience, no. Have you ever just grown up with slivering suspicions about someone? Not just for the sake of it, but because of micro incidents that just gradually build up over time. Like that time when they called you a harsh name that you’d never heard them use before. Or that time when you were certain they were about to raise their hand at you? Or even those many times when they’d silence you becau

By Hal Cicero I’ve stared at your picture for a while now. How hollow I am. How I’m reminded  of how hollow it’s all been for a while now, in the quiet spaces outside of the good parts that will continue to come, even with tragedy. I will always admit it isn’t all bad. But when it’s bad, oh, how hollow I am. It made me cry then. It still does now. How happy you were. How giving. How present and vigilant with tragedy, with loss. With our Dad. Yours, too, as you reveled in the

By Andi Van den Berge (Andi VdB) I am a wrist cutter. Or rather, I did it once. Had things happened with a thirty-second difference, I could be dead. The slice was lethal. When it happened, I didn’t think I was suicidal. In fact, it was the first thing I assured the paramedics. They believed me. So did everyone at the hospital.  The ambulance brought me into the emergency room, and I was warned that the hospital may place me in F-pod, but hopefully, they would not. F-pod was

By Aashi Singh “ Hey ChatGPT, write me an essay about thinking for ourselves. ” That single line could easily create this very essay — fast, polished, efficient. But sometimes, I pause mid-sentence and wonder:  if AI can think for me, what’s left for me to think about? It was a Sunday evening, couple of months back, the day before an English essay was due. My iPad glowed softly in the dark. I stared at the blinking cursor and whispered to myself, “Just ask ChatGPT.” One click

By Sanjana Sharma 1.One of the most ambitious individuals seem to procrastinate their assigned works because they have set their bars of expectations so high that they in turn result in procrastinating the work, finding themselves inefficient.  This somehow leads them to get knocked down by their own thoughts and mechanisms. 2.Human minds are wired chasing some sort of symmetry in nature of any task. But little do we know, attaining perfectionism without even getting started

By Anuvrat Tiwari Biology defines consciousness as “the capacity of a living organism to be aware of itself and its surroundings, to perceive and respond to stimuli.” This definition has always intrigued me. If mere awareness and responsiveness were the core criteria, then even a robot programmed to perform such tasks could be considered a “conscious being.”  Yet this biological definition feels limited. It is not that artificial algorithms could truly possess consciousness,

By Shreya Roy On a rather sunny monsoon morning, overlooked by the sun, a big elm tree shrugged the raindrops off its high branches and leaves in the middle of a street. This was an usual tree among the several others that dotted this street. Everything about it was normal but one一It looked directly into the Willow Apartment. Tired of the blazing sun, a bluebird flapped its wings speedily to reach one of the elm’s branches. One might think this was an ordinary bluebird, thoug

By V Kabilan Who doesn't like a forbidden romance where their “love” goes beyond their social status and the roles they were restricted to, but is it the love that is actually making the story flavorful?  Then imagine the very same characters being so thoroughly suited in their beliefs, economic status and social hierarchies that they are considered the “perfect match”, then the story goes on with them getting married and living their happily ever after and... that's it?  So

By V Kabilan The air feels like rum and rubber, as you walk along a path that seems to constantly waver like a pond of water left muddied and you came across it ... yes, an abandoned building vacant of life and you realize you have to make do with what you stumbled over. You go through the building feeling its rough edges to find a place to settle yourself. Lucky you, a theater waits, for that one spectator, to simply witness... what it has to offer.  The movie rolls... for b

By Monika Shobha Shahaji Salke पौर्णिमेला पूर्णत्व देणारा चंद्र, अमावस्येला मनुष्याचा  सुक्ष्म नयनासमोरून काही काळासाठी हरवतो पण तोच चंद्र पुन्हा पौर्णिमेला परमेश्वराचा विशाल नयनात उजाळतो आणि चांदण्यांनाही लाजवतो.लंगडया हरणाची शिकार करुन वाघ रुबाबत जंगलात वावरतो पण त्या हरणाचा संघर्ष वाघाच्या विजयावरही विजय मिळवतो. अशाच प्रकारे दुर्बलावर विजय मिळवलेले भलेही विजयाचा धुंदीत असतील पण समोरच्याचा अंतिम श्वासापर्यंतचा लढा, डोक्यावर चढ़लेल्या या धुंदीस पायदळी आणण्यास पुरेसा आहे.दररो

By Parikshit Kumar Sharma Is it real.? No, but rather it is omnipotent which can never be achieved by humans cause we are sad prisoners of flesh can never be satisfied as humans are full of greed and violence. Definition of peace can vary from person to person and they are not wrong its just we are not aware what is it to live in peace. The body of flesh is corrupted with violence and now is inherently passed on from generation to generation. We humans have never tasted a gla