15. Quince. A woman. A princess with a tiara in a big white dress ready to face the world. That’s not exactly what I looked or felt like on April 12, 2006. The day was beautiful and I felt happy and nervous, awaiting the big surprise my boyfriend Ramiro had in store for me. But there was no tiara and no readiness for what would come that afternoon. I had no plans for my birthday that year, choosing not to participate in...

At 12 I fell in love with the City. My mom introduced me to the museums, second hand shops, and performances that would become my obsession. She also dragged me to see her dream school, Columbia. The way it’s part of the city but really its own entity, a pocket of knowledge and discovery tucked away amidst the noise, smoke and color. I love the core curriculum’s emphasis on humanities and its global perspective. Columbia allows students to take...

Books read for pleasure in the past year Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Tartuffe, On the Road, Naked Lunch, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Animal Farm, The Stranger, Catcher in the Rye, 1984, The Great Gatsby, The Alchemist, Wrinkle in Time, The Valkyries Required reading most enjoyed in last year Catch-22, Heart of Darkness, Thinks Fall Appart, Night, Wide Sargasso Sea, Lies My Teacher Told Me, Small Wonder, Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, House of Spirits, Language of the Flowers, Trojan Women,...