• I Had to Leave

  by Jorge Alvarez Lizardo

  It was November 2019, an ash-gray morning. The car smelled like gas. I was in a new school for 7th grade, and my mom was driving me there. Neither of us had eaten anything. I could tell she was stressed and angry.

• Beautiful Now

  by Jaya Arellano

  I’ve always thought that I was too fat, in part because my parents told me I was. My sister was also “chubby,” and my mom encouraged me to get her to diet with me. She’d say, “Let’s get our summer bodies ready!”  

• I Look, Therefore I Am?

  by R.G.

  Names have been changed.  It was the day of my friend Amanda’s bat mitzvah. She was more of a recent friend, someone who, with my implicit permission, tended to degrade me on a daily basis. Nonetheless, I liked her, and at one of the final parties of the year-long bat mitzvah season, I wanted to look my best.  

• Hershey and Her Pink Castle

  by Israa Belbaita

  When I started middle school, there were a lot of things I didn’t like. I didn’t like the teachers. I didn’t like the building. Honestly, I didn’t even like the girl I saw in the mirror. She was quiet, self-conscious, and afraid of not fitting in. 

• How My Life Changed During the Covid-19 Pandemic

  by Elijah Charles

  Three years ago when I was 13, everything in my life was going well. I had social interactions every day at school and lots of recreational activities afterward.  I went swimming twice a week and practiced the breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, backstroke, and was learning the sidestroke.

• How Masking Impacted My in-school experience

  by Marylene Bioh

  After one year of online learning in 8th grade, I chose blended learning for my freshman year at Beacon High School. I only had to go in person one day a week, and during the rest of the week my classes were held remotely.