Joyous Christmas music fills the air, and a plate of hot samosas and spring rolls are passed around. The rules of Dreidel are explained to still-confused opponents, and Secret Santa gifts are pushed carefully into a corner. A friend turns down “Mistletoe Jam” and everyone gathers around an ornate silver menorah to witness the lighting of the eighth candle. I look around and see dark faces, pale faces, tinted and blended faces—all with the same look of confused appreciation...

During this past summer, I diagnosed my brother with autism. Don’t get me wrong—I am no certified doctor, nor do I claim to have the skills of one. I’m simply an avid reader of neurological journals. I do not regard this as an accomplishment, either. For weeks I could not bear to break this news to my mother. For days thereafter, my family could not bear to see a doctor, fearing the inevitable moment of being forced...

We as humans are incredibly drawn to all that is enshrouded in mystery and uncertainty. We constantly ask, "Why?" and "How?" and "So what?" Some say, "Curiosity killed the cat." Well, indifference surely would have doomed many more, for we cannot truly learn about the world without exposing ourselves to the world first. My parents have told me that I've been that prying and inquisitive pain-in-the-neck kid since I was young—interested everything under the sun and always eager to...

The first time I signed up for the Penn campus tour, abrupt scheduling conflicts rendered my parents unable to drive me to Philadelphia. The second time I signed up, another car rammed my bumper, inflicting enough damage to again miserably cancel my trip. The third time, a mammoth rainstorm flooded my city, blocking many routes and threatening to sabotage my plans yet again. Dispirited, my parents suggested that these coincidental catastrophes were bad omens. I, however, was not about to...