Wide right, the forward lateral pass leading to the infamous Music City Miracle, and a playoff drought as old as I am – seventeen years, to be exact. The Buffalo Bills have a reputation among the National Football League as a team of yearly high expectations and inevitable failure. Tabloids and social media have dubbed Bills fans some of the most passionate in the League, focusing on the notorious tailgate culture. While these perceptions of outsiders aren’t contestable, the impact...

As an avid volunteer with a refugee literacy program, I have worked with elementary to middle-school-aged children hailing from countries including Burma, Somalia, and Thailand in my community. Despite their young age, each child demonstrates the importance of fostering diversity in faith and culture with a level of maturity that rivals that of many adults, while exhibiting the exuberance and innocence of typical children. Thus, when Sisi, a seven-year-old student, received her leukemia diagnosis, the news devastated our community. It...

Although Buffalo basks in its notoriety for being one of the most consistently snowy places in the United States, every resident knows that summers are often relentlessly hot. I was acutely aware of this fact as I attempted to keep tabs on a multitude of rambunctious children who have not always called America home, ranging from five to thirteen years old. The heat did not seem to bother them as they eagerly ran around the grass surrounding a church near...

As an avid volunteer with a refugee literacy program, I have had the opportunity to work with many elementary to middle-school-aged children hailing from countries including Burma, Somalia, and Thailand in my community. Each child has offered me valuable life lessons, whether it be reminding me to laugh off my mistakes while simultaneously learning from them or demonstrating the importance of taking time to appreciate your surroundings. Thus, when Sisi, a seven-year-old student, received her leukemia diagnosis, our community was...

On my first day at my summer job, I was handed a knife sharper than any I had previously seen, followed by a rundown of all of the vegetables I needed to chop. I accepted it nervously, given that I had not even a sliver of kitchen experience; in fact, my family often recalls the unfortunate Easter where I left the lasagna in the oven for a few hours too long, rendering it inedible. However, I knew that working for...

Throughout my years of high school, one could usually find me manipulating elements and solutions in the chemistry laboratory or attempting to solve difficult calculus problems with my peers. I spent a majority of my time in STEM classrooms, finding comfort in the objectivity of science and mathematics. Although I enjoyed my English classes, I never felt the same fulfillment when I finished a nineteenth-century novel or typed the final sentence of a paper analyzing poetry as I did when...

If one were to ask my closest friends and family to detail some of my most characteristic attributes, they would likely mention my intense focus and ambition when it comes to all of my endeavors, especially those related to academics. However, they would also presumably divulge my Achilles heel: dogs. While I am working on my calculus homework or fine-tuning my field hockey stick skills, if I see a dog of any breed, my level of focus on the original...

When Sisi, a seven-year-old refugee student whom I tutored, received her leukemia diagnosis, it was unfathomable that she should experience a level of hardship beyond what she already faced in Burma; even more incomprehensible was the subsequent financial strain placed on her family, shedding light on disparities in health care across demographics. Sisi’s battle made me question the world around me, from matters of public health and policy to the ethics of her situation. While studying the History of...

When one steps foot on Yale’s campus, the intricate gothic architecture and ivy-covered buildings may stand out, but even more captivating is the camaraderie among the students and faculty. From undergraduates taking part in innovative research with world-class professors to students indulging in a late-night snack together in their residential college, the sense of community at Yale exists on a campus-wide scale, strengthened by the diversity in culture and academics. While fulfilling the distribution requirements in a broad range...