Her face reddens and it becomes apparent that she is slipping out of control. She clenches her fists, nails gnawing at her skin. A wave of rage surges through her body, causing even her lips to quiver in anger. She gasps for breath, trying to calm herself down, but it is too late. Her screams […]
Si se puede, yes it can be done, was the phrase little eight year old me and my six year old sister chanted through my cramped, tiny townhome in the suburbs of Montgomery Village, MD after watching Gotta Kick it Up! on Disney Channel. The smells of rich Peruvian chicken being roasted from the oven […]
Eight-hundred meters left, that is it, solely eight hundred meters left. I felt my chest get tight and my aspect get sore as I plodded alongside the grassy pathway at my first highschool cross nation meet. My stride was brief, and my velocity was no higher than that of a shuffle jogger. I bear in […]
After the music stops, and the piano collects dust, only few will hear that glorious sound. Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Chopin continually ring through my ears. And once heard, the sound becomes unforgettable–just like him. The things he did always came off a little strange–constantly inventing thing, improving lasers, and editing picture. But, despite his odd […]
“How is it that a thirteen year old boy can raise more money than any of our board members?” asked the director of Camp One Step at a Time to open his board meeting. All of the board members were truly in shock at this opener. Did a thirteen year old really raise that much […]
Ardrey Kell. Those two words, synonymous with new school,O made my stomach turn. Switching schools, in the middle of high school, was a nightmare. But in one of the nationOs fastest growing cities, Charlotte, North Carolina, I had no choice. New schools were being hastily scraped together everywhere, and I was re-zoned to a new […]
I was curled up in the middle of my bed, a blanket clutched between clawed fists, sobs wracking my frame with so much force that the headboard clacked against the wall. In my head, a voice kept screaming, over and over, “Why me?” My angry fingers kneaded the unfortunate blanket, as if trying to pull […]
There is only one time I can think of that I experienced failure. It was in 2010 and I was at the recognition ceremony for the Prudential Spirit of Community Service Awards Ceremony in Washington D.C. This ceremony was the last big thing of our time in D.C. and was definitely the most important to […]
The clouds were absolutely as puffy as they could ever be, compared to any other view. I wanted to jump out the airplane window and bounce on the clouds as if they were trampolines. Along with the excitement of now, my second trip on a plane was the constant anticipation of how much longer it […]
I have fractured eyes and a jigsaw soul. Years of perusing the stiff, sharp-edged pages of just-bought books have broken and crushed me physically. My eyes are not clear-sighted, despite the endless dishes of squash that my grandmother insisted would cure my deteriorating vision. My spine has curved in subtle ways over time, and perfect […]