I can feel the dust settling around me as I sit patiently on the wooden shelf. My cover is dog-eared, and my pages are wrinkled from the tears that have fallen on them. It has been awhile since ***** has been able to read me. After school, she rushes past my niche in the corner of her room. She drops her bat bag, changes her clothes, and darts back out without even glancing at me. The door slams, shaking my shelf...

Like many people do, I went up to my parents one night when I was in sixth grade and told them that I wanted to be a doctor. My parents smiled and expressed excitement, just like they had done when I said I wanted to be a teacher, a movie star, and an astronaut. They did not actually believe that I would stick with that new dream. After all, I was only eleven and had years to decide what field...