I Am No Olympian This was it, finally. The sun was glaring down at me, beating me with its endless, Apollo-worthy electromagnetic hammer of brightness. Sweat flowed down my face like jubilant magma flowing from a cryptodomic volcano. The dust from the track rose around me like an army [...]
Rise Above Fashion It was an early Friday morning, a day planned to be one of the most rewarding for Joshua Woods because he would finally get his hands on those Nike Air Jordan XI ‘Bred’ sneakers. It began as a simple trip to Willowbrook Mall with his friend; they [...]
My Home I used to be furious at the advertisement that represented Ethiopia as a grimy boy begging for food; on the summer of 2011, when my mother, my younger sister and I flew to Ethiopia to visit family, I understood its accuracy. Although that unparalleled interdependence between the citizens [...]
Headstrong and Passionate One of the traits that I value highly in myself is my ability to make my decisions, no matter how much pressure I face. I have never been able to let others choose what is best for me. Throughout my entire childhood, I have found this aspect [...]
My Origins I can remember everything as far back as preschool—when life was as simple as the colored building blocks I used to play with, and when stress and sleep deprivation weren’t even factors that came into play. The world I come from is a planet like everyone else’s but [...]
I'm Not a Statistic Today, society portrays the black man as: a rapper, a thug, someone who only cares about brand names, and someone to be feared. The media constantly portrays the African American male as a monster as they are constantly seen as criminals. All of the statistics about [...]
Back to Basics Many of my friends ask me why I take film photos. They state: “Lauren, it’s so much easier to just take a photo on your iPhone,” and “Why would you wait so long just to see a picture?!” Film photography is a time honored tradition, one that [...]
No More Reading Consumed by high school--social media, social life, and of course, homework--I must not be alone when I say that I no longer have time to read. At all. I used to be the biggest book junkie that ever walked the earth (or at least, that walked the [...]
The Bench “So, knowing what you know now, would you have sat on the bench?” “I dunno. Maybe.” “Well then I’m afraid I’ll have to give you a detention.” In sixth grade, I was obsessed with Nelson Mandela after writing a report on his struggle to bring racial equality to [...]
Genius Brother My brother is a genius. You probably wouldn’t think so if you look at his grades—above average for a normal person’s standards, but extremely disappointing compared to my report card, decorated with an obnoxious abundance of “A’s” and “Advanced Placement”, almost as if my life depended on it. [...]