• Transitioning With My Parent

  by D.Z.

  Names have been changed. When I was little, my family would call me my mother’s daughter. I would request to match outfits any time I could, and often followed my parent around the house in their much-too-big-for-me clothes that I snuck out of their closet.

• A Curly Korean Complex

  by Oscar Scribner

  The moment I had been dreading had arrived. What was usually a mundane part of the day I’d sleep through was now a moment of palpable tension. The inquisitor was making her way down the list and was approaching…  “Oscar Scr-binder?”

• Listening to Love

  by Anonymous

  I realized I was unique when I was 4. Everyone else in pre-school had two ears, while I had a left ear and a tiny bump on the right side. I didn’t understand why my mom carefully brushed my long hair to hide the little bump.

• Remembering Our Ancestors: An Interview With My Aunt Frances Cuevas

  by Blonshe Katz

  For my aunt Frances Cuevas, justice is the most powerful force in the world. She works full-time as the Director of Investigations and Trials for the NYC Department of Probation to maintain integrity in legal proceedings. Frances also has a highly intensive hobby that takes up most of her free time: genealogy.

• Now, I’m a Proud Full-Time Hijabi 

  by I. I.

  “The believers are like a single body; if one part suffers, the whole body suffers.”  Imam Maulana Akonjee was quoting the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) to me and four other kids in the humid living room of my grandpa’s house, as a creaky fan rotated above us. 

• Taking the Risk to Trust

  by Nathalea Sky

  When I entered foster care at 16, I felt confused. The adults around me saw me as a child all over again. Now, I had a curfew. I had to obey the rules set by my agency and my foster mother.