Never Ask Me
Kelly recalls a time when her greatest fear in the classroom was realized I sat up on the cold stool and rested my hands on the large black surface in front of me. I could...
Memoirs
Personal narratives and life experiences
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Kelly recalls a time when her greatest fear in the classroom was realized
I sat up on the cold stool and rested my hands on the large black surface in front of me. I could feel the abnormally cold tabletop freezing into my arms through my thick hoodie. I gazed around the huge classroom. Everyone sat on navy-blue stools at their assigned tables.
A collection of brief meditations on place
Outside, I slowly stomped through the leaves on a path that connects two parts of my neighborhood. There, I sat, listening to the birds and squirrels scuffle and fly. A deer, surprised, ran past me into the forest, turning back after a few meters, watching. I picked up a leaf, rough and colored with age.
Ava feels trapped at school in her classroom during reading time
The quiet classroom was like a prison. The lights were dim, and a broken bulb flickered softly above me. I had never liked the dullness of this room, nor did I like the quietness of reading time. I sat in my assigned seat and flipped through a book about spaceships.
A meditation on what makes each of us unique—and strange
Lauren has declared that I am officially an alien.
She declared it when we stood, or rather huddled, by the door as the rain supposedly “poured” outside. The word “poured” was thought of by a group of abnormally dry and cold North Carolinians who claimed that a mere trickle was a waterfall.
An unexpected visitor alights on the writer’s roof
It just stood there, like it was supposed to be there. It might be in Asia, but not at our little white house in Henrico County, Virginia. There was a peacock on our roof. That’s right, a peacock. My sister, mom, and I were standing on the deck leading into my parents’ bedroom, morning air slapping our faces.
The writer learns a valuable lesson after bringing home a pet worm
As I crawled through the lush grass, I could hear the cardinals singing a happy morning song and smell that fresh cut-grass smell that people have tried to bottle but never succeeded. I took a deep inhale to try and consume as much as I could, but ultimately it triggered my hay fever, which made me sneeze loudly.
An outdoor field trip goes ahead as planned, despite the torrential downpour
The rain was pounding down hard as I tried to seek shelter under the small makeshift ceiling of umbrellas. My shoes and pant cuffs were soaked, but the water continued pouring without any sign of stopping. Shivering in the cold, I had gone off my gears.
When the writer struggled with reading, it seemed like everyone was willing to help her improve except her teacher
There I was, sitting in my second-grade classroom in the School of the Blessed Sacrament. I was in the front of the room, crisscross applesauce on the yellow square of the rainbow rug—my favorite color. I was holding my Charlotte’s Web book.
It’s Michelle’s first day of school, and all she wants is to be in bed at home, with the familiar sound of Chinese filling the air
All I could see was the dark blue carpet beneath my feet, blurring and clearing as I held back the tears in my eyes. My hand, cold and frail from the lashing winds outside, latched on tightly to the corner of my mom’s winter jacket, afraid to let go.
When will our world go back to normal?” the narrator wondered, as smoke blanketed the California sky during the pandemic
I knew something was wrong when I saw bright orange light peeking through the cracks in my blinds. Quietly, I slipped out of bed and opened one shutter. What I saw was appalling: a yucky yellow hue tainting everything outside.