Tomorrow I turn 18, so to celebrate and/or speed up my last hours of being 17 years old, here are 17 things I learned this year: 1. Fax machines ROCK when you live 3,000 miles away from your parents and can’t sign medical release forms because you’re a minor. 2. Make your friends your family. 3. In comparison…
Ordering takeout or delivery has never been a habit in my house. If we’re feeling uninspired or lazy in the face of cooking dinner, we’ll have a sit-down meal at a restaurant. Usually we’re driven by a change in cuisine; we frequently go out for Japanese or Thai, sometimes Indian, and occasionally Lebanese, Greek, or Italian. Pizza is usually reserved…
I started getting ready for bed and I noticed my pillow was missing. I immediately went to my sister’s bed, and found her reading with both of our pillows behind her. Me: “Can I have my pillow?” Her: “Oh, this is yours?” Me: “Yeah.” Her: “Here you go.” (she gave me the one immediately behind her, rather than…
Tourist. Usually the word comes from our mouths in a nasty tone, more spat than spoken. We look down on the people who aren’t assimilated into our own cultures, who represent elsewheres instead of heres. Yet being a tourist isn’t a bad thing. It means you are willing to admit your lack of knowledge about…
On November 1, 1755, an enormous earthquake hit Lisbon. Thousands of people had left their homes for church early in the morning to light candles in honor of All Saints’ Day. As buildings shook and crashed to the ground, they erupted in flames, and the people of Lisbon ran down to the large open plaza near…
“Don’t blink, you might miss it.” I have a lot of trouble with this phrase. The fear of missing out is a crippling one, and “don’t blink” only empowers the anxiety we naturally feel about not being able to do everything. While the phrase is supposed to encourage us to live in the moment and…
I love when a film is tragic and moves everyone in the theater to tears, and then ends abruptly, leaving nothing but the slow scrolling white text of the credits and the sounds of sniffling, soft comforting whispers, and the rustling of jackets. People will linger a few moments longer than necessary, because the theater is heavy with…
I love prospective students. From my dorm window I can see the soon-to-be college freshmen huddling in small tour groups, listening to the obscure facts rapidly spewing from their guide’s mouth and trying to discern which slivers of information makes my college more special than any other medium-sized liberal arts college in the mid-Atlantic region.…
I have a lot of day-to-day expectations. Some are basic, like having adequate food and water and a place to sleep. Others are higher-level, like that I can communicate with people around me and they will understand and respect me. I rarely consciously think about these day-to-day expectations, and that’s because they stem from various…
Dear Sabina, for future sad days or scared days or self-critical days, Sometimes you may feel disappointed in others or yourself. You may feel like you aren’t good enough, or like your failures are constantly being scrutinized. You may feel uncomfortable in your body or self-conscious about a strange bump in your hair. It’s okay to…
Victim to Charm 