• The Greatest Thing I Ever Learned

  by Grace Andino

  I started volunteering at my local nursing home when I was 10 years old, but I wasn’t always sure why. I’d grown up with the expectation that you do good things so others see you as a good person, but doing good deeds didn’t always convince me that I was good enough.

• Hellfire and Homophobia

  by Luck

  Names have been changed.   As a little kid, I hung around girls and envied the ones with perfect, straight hair. When I complimented their hair, they’d say, “You’re weird.”  Boys noticed too, and starting when I was 8, they called me “gay.”

• Accepting That I’m Autistic

  by Anonymous

  Names and identifying details have been changed.  Five months after I left my mom’s house and moved in with my aunt, I had to get a psych evaluation. It was one of many new things I had to face as I entered the foster care system. 

• My Competitive High School Wasn’t for Me

  by D.Z.

  Names have been changed. As I approached high school, I applied and was accepted to Brooklyn Tech, a highly competitive public high school in New York City. Brooklyn Tech is one of the eight “specialized” high schools in the city that admit students based on an entrance exam.

• My Health Is Not Up For Debate

  by Sama Daga

  “Good morning, Dagas!” Dr. B. exclaimed, greeting my family. My family neurologist, Dr. B, worked with my mother to manage her stress-related migraines around the time I was born, and everyone in our family had grown to trust her. She was always happy, and usually it made me smile too.

• 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?”