I spent this break wandering through the Shenandoah National Park, irresponsibly lost at points. With root systems and fungi speaking deep under the earth and leafless canopies suspended overhead, the woods enveloped me on all sides. I felt more at peace than I had in months. In nature, I feel[Read More…]
Off the Board
A race for comfort
A question that continues to trouble Black Lives Matter activists and organizers almost two years after the largest uprisings in recent history is how to disseminate powerful, transformative messages to those uninvolved, unaware, or uninterested in racial justice. To answer this question, critics pen a deluge of columns: Defund the[Read More…]
Learning to stay afloat while browsing
I, like many university students, grew up on the internet. Between the tabs and usernames, I slowly built a self. As a slightly awkward high schooler, I found camaraderie in online spaces run by other teenagers, and learned the fundamentals on topics like sex and menstruation by scouring the many[Read More…]
When Christmas isn’t how it used to be
Upon entering my go-to cafe last week, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. Christmas music was playing and a familiar thought crept back into my mind: Christmas has not felt like Christmas to me for a while now. When familiar tunes about reindeers and Santa Claus chime from[Read More…]
The price of popularity
In late September, my mom and I were chatting during one of our routine Facetime calls. An avid TV-watcher, she excitedly asked me if I had heard of Squid Game. The show had just come out, and my mom binged the series in a matter of days. As the semester[Read More…]
Roll for initiative
The door squeaks on its hinge, and a child, freshly orphaned, emerges from her room and pads toward the cusp of the ornate staircase. Tiny fingers thread through the balusters as she surveys the manor’s foyer. Our party—seven of us, a rag-tag bunch bound by circumstance and fate—freezes. Waits with[Read More…]
Maybe I was always playing myself
In elementary school, I spent most of my Saturdays attending Young People’s Concerts at the New York Philharmonic. My memories of those days are scattered and somewhat fleeting—I was far more enthralled by post-concert trips for hotdogs at Grey’s Papaya and Revson Fountain’s extravagant water jets than the actual performances.[Read More…]
Me and my board: Penny-boarding through Montreal
I have always been a cautious person. Though I can bring myself to take risks in many areas of my life, when it comes to physical activities I am usually the one who stays behind, choosing instead to sit inside with a good book. It is for this reason that[Read More…]
Made with love
Growing up, I never had chicken nuggets or frozen pizza for dinner. Instead, there was a fresh, home-cooked Persian meal in front of me each night––and looking back, I was extremely unappreciative of it. As I have gotten older, I have grown to appreciate that the love of somebody labouring[Read More…]
God, it’s brutal out here
As a third-year student, I feel like I should have this whole “university lifestyle” thing figured out. This year, however, I am living on my own for the very first time and at times feel as lost as I did in my first. I am someone who needs personal space[Read More…]
