This morning I woke up, pushed aside my curtains and opened my window, and watched five straight hours of Netflix, only breaking for a breakfast of clam chowder and a lunch of banana pancakes. Yes, you read that right. Today's agenda: 1. Get out of bed 2. Take a shower 3. Put on clean PJs Summer…
As a sophomore in high school, English class was one of my favorites, but I disliked most of our reading assignments. I found The Odyssey extremely slow and A Tale of Two Cities wasn’t easy to relate to. After a few failed reading quizzes, I realized I couldn’t breeze through the class like I had the year before. So…
I arrived back home for winter break on Saturday night. Since then, a lot has happened. Simultaneously nothing has happened. That’s just how home is. The following are thoughts and conversations I’ve had since returning home: “How many people we know will we see at the mall?” “Five.” “What is that?” “Turmeric milk.” “This is the…
A few weeks ago, colleges across the United States exploded with discussions about race on campus. Major movements at Mizzou and Yale made the headlines of all the major news outlets, but journalists didn’t fail to mention similar protests at Claremont McKenna, Southern Methodist, Colgate, Bowdoin, and my own Ithaca College. It’s a little strange to read…
There seems to be some magical age when a kiss becomes significant. Most people’s actual first kiss doesn’t “count” because it happened in the kindergarten sandbox, before they really knew what it meant. And then there’s me. I’ve always told myself my first kiss didn’t “count” because it happened with another girl, even though we’d…
I don’t know how it happened, but somehow, when I returned to my camp counselor job at the Jewish community center this summer, I got assigned the job of outdoor exploration specialist. Which is funny, if you know me, because I’m not particularly outdoorsy. I hike occasionally with friends, sure, but I hated my earth science in…
When I signed up to be a subject in a research study about how food is related to brain activity, I just thought it’d be an interesting way for 15-year-old me to make some quick money. I didn’t know I was signing up for a longitudinal study, that I wouldn’t be done with the whole…
Only a few weeks after the Supreme Court announced that same-sex marriage is now legal in all 50 states, I went to my first gay wedding. It was also my first “stranger wedding”–I didn’t know either of the grooms or anyone at the event besides my date, so I felt like a neutral observer. In fact, I…
“Next on our open mic…Sabina!!” I grabbed the crumpled sheet of paper at my feet and stood up, practically tripping over the emcee as I walked up to the stage. “This is my first time reading,” I said, and the crowd responded by cheering and waving their “Muppet Arms” excitedly in the air, a tradition…
Today is my 19th birthday. Every year I feel like I’ve been that age FOREVER and it’s weird to finally become another year older, since I constantly feel older than my birthdate indicates. But here I am. 19. It’s been a hard year. Let’s just say it was a lot easier to come up with…
Victim to Charm 