Fall Frenzy Writing Contest: Apple Joy

 Photo Credit: Igal Ness for UnsplashWe wait under the trees.Grandma slides her hand in mine.Rustle…swish…It’s time!Aunts, uncles, and cousins look upward.Sparkling rubies and emeralds fall from the sky.Apples!The work begins!My baby brother’s small hands lift the first apple.Plop!In the bucket it goes.Plop, plop, plop! The bucket overflows.It’s my turn!My hands lift the bucketthen pass...

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Spring Fling Writing Contest: The Early Bird

Just a fun little entry for Ciara O'Neal's Spring Fling Writing Contest!The Early Bird(135 words)I'm uuuuupppp!The early bird gets the worm, and I am one eeeaaarly bird!Wait. What’s going on here?!This place is full of early birds up before me….That's fine. Maybe I'm not the earliest, but I'll get the biggest, juiciest worm. Nope, Joe's worm is bigger. So is Sasha’s.It's hopeless.No worries,...

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The Best Decision I Ever Made

So here I am! Six months down, and on to eternity. One of the best moments of the last six months was when I told Sean, "I really love being married to you!" He responded with, "I knew you would! That's why I was trying to get you to do it for so long!" Getting married wasn't an easy decision for me. I was on a roll in my life. When I started dating my husband I was enrolled in my dream master's...

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A Lens for Privilege

September 2015 Privilege. It is autumn again. The leaves are scraping against the ground as the wind moves them along and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the students are entering into their full rhythm. Just a year ago that was me-- trying to take it all in. Except you can never take it all in, not here. There is too much to take it all in. I can't help thinking about the privilege it is to be here. Privilege. A heavy and problematic subject. Today though I don't write about the...

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10 Fingers for Gratitude

My roommate describes people who are having a hard time as being on "the struggle bus." I really, really don't want to be on the struggle bus. Because it's not so much about having a hard time, it's about your attitude toward that hard time. And although I may be on difficult terrain, and it may seem that climbing on the struggle bus would be a ride instead of having to walk...once you get on the...

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Harvard: I Came, I Ran Around Like Crazy, and (Almost) Conquered

A huge point of this blog was to share about my amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience as a graduate student at Harvard. Big fail there. But maybe now that I am done, searching for employment, and unable to take an expensive vacation... I will write. I know, I said that before. But now I've got time! Freedom! Time! Did I mention time!? This whirlwind graduate program filled just about every minute...

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To Run

I had the chance to watch and cheer the runners today. As we walked up to the marathon, The last mile of the race, The tears started to well up. I didn’t expect to have such an immediate emotional reaction. But it came. The sound of crowds cheering and the sight of runners running brings me back to a race I ran where crowds cheered me on A physical marathon I ran at a time...

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