Dictionary of the Deep Zero feet. It may seem like a chokehold on deck, but once the frigid water starts creeping in the cracks around my cheeks and forehead, I wish that neoprene hood were even tighter. It cradles my chin, a comfort, while the boat lurches in every direction in the swirling surge from Mexican hurricanes that send surf wrapping around the coast and up the channel. Draped over the banister of the upper level, the tanks bang against...

Given that I have had a freshman roommate once before, although I was only fourteen at the time, I feel that I have certainly mastered the basics of living with another human. Learning each other's idiosyncrasies until they swirl together and it's nearly impossible to remember where they originated, that's the remarkable truth of having a roommate. As a precursor to our future, here are some of my quirks. I frequently use guided meditation before beginning homework or to fall...

I am always trying to challenge myself, to grow. I left my small town and conservative Catholic school of eleven years for boarding school, I took advanced history classes despite my tendency towards science, and most recently, I traveled through rural Nicaragua with nothing but a backpack. On our third night in La Isla de Ometepe, a dormant volcano island turned lovely village, my group of twelve travelers encountered our first real obstacle: parasites from undercooked fish. As one can...

My mother suffers from chronic migraines. I remember unexpected school pick-ups by friends' parents, coming home to lights off, shades drawn, silence. As the years passed, I was able to do more for my mom during these episodes: feed my brother, do my homework without help, walk the dogs. There was always a piece of me, though, that felt stronger than my mom because I didn't have to succumb to pain like she did. Until the blinding, dizzying, hammering torture...

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