I: Denial. I cannot be the President of the United States. When I heard this news, I accused my mother of playing a prank or perhaps reading the wrong article. I was an American after all. At only ten months, I was adopted from China to Enfield, Connecticut and I had not left since. I interrogated my mother for hours, but she could not tell me why being born in a different location drove a wedge separation between the rest...

I have always loved powerful, invigorating speeches from powerful, invigorating women. They defy what society has told us about women and their supposed meekness. From a very young age, I watched and watched and hoped that I could possibly become. “One day,” I said. I wrestled with my self-confidence for years and I let it follow me into the gates of high school, a world full of class presentations, Model UN speeches, and recitations of Hamlet (with oomph, my teacher...

Civilization and humans have always sought explanations for what they could not explain. The Greeks could not find reason for electricity reigning down from the sky or earth’s violent tremors, so they interpreted what they were seeing as angry gods and goddesses. Conspiracy theories are the modern-day equivalent of Greek myths. They were, and are, created to explain what modern scientists cannot or ideas by them that people reject. The Mandela Effect identifies the collective misremembering of an event...

The first time I tried to do the morning announcements, my voice was overtaken by insecurity as I scrambled to pronounce monosyllabic words that I had been practicing since I was two. I swore off the morning announcements, however six months later, I was back at it, speaking with clarity, balance, strength, and confidence. I am bold. Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter dinners always had my grandmother seated at the throne of the table. To the right of her was my...

It is, by Google Maps’ approximation, at least one fifth of a mile from my school’s D-wing to my school’s E-wing. The distance is quite deceiving given the alphanumeric order and requires substantially more than the three minute passing time for someone who has no athletic capability. The E-wing is home to the history classes and where one half of my soul lives. It is where Youth Vote rehearses their questions, Model UN meetings are held, and the...

My freshman English teacher was the most daunting person I had ever met, or will ever meet. After she told us stories of her travels, I was convinced that there was not a single latitude or longitude line that she had not crossed. She was able to recite a month long unit on the history of drama. I never saw one single note in her hand. I had never met a teacher quite like her. She was interested in us...

I have always loved souvenirs. My grandmother, having exorbitant amount of time on her hands since retiring, loved to coordinate trips for the seniors in town. Although, due to health constraints, they mostly traveled to casinos and other wheelchair accessible areas, she never failed to bring me back a gift. The souvenirs opened my eyes to places beyond a suburban town with forty thousand residents. I imagined the land of New Jersey as one covered by poker chips and full...

My mother stands slightly under five feet, woefully unable to reach the top shelf at the supermarket, while her sisters tower above. My aunt opted out of the Pale Irish genes that had been carried down for generations. My grandmother refused to carry her blonde hair onto all her four daughters and two granddaughters. I stand out the most, with eyes as sharp as knives and pitch black, where-is-the-light-switch hair. The diversity within our family is the source of many...

In the spring of 2018, I was able to apply my interest of current events by helping create a Regional Student Conversation, where multiple school districts where brought in and were to share their voices and opinions. As the moderator of the Women’s Rights topic, I was able to ask provoking questions to the entire group. Surprisingly, the most debated topic was not over the wage gap. Rather it was about whether women are being pushed into careers that are...