• The Film That Changed My Life

  by Imogen Russell

  Names have been changed. I was 12. She was 14.  I’m 17 now, and two years doesn’t seem like such a big gap, but at the end of that summer Thea was going into high school while I was still a middle schooler.

• Taylor Swift: Vulnerability and Power

  by Jaya Arellano

  One of my first memories is watching Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” music video on MTV. I was 4 and my sister was 3. On the screen, a blonde girl wrote notes to her friend in her bedroom window and sang, “She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts…”   The reserved girl who doesn’t wear fancy clothes and isn’t popular reminded me of myself.

• Making Joy

  by Dani J.

  When I walk into the printmaking studio, the creaky wood-paneled floors give away my entrance. The studio appears dilapidated, with pipes exposed from an open ceiling, and I hear every other person’s footsteps and children screaming in the distance, but at this point it’s like a second home to me.

• Frame by Frame: Love in Motion

  by Hadiatou Barry

  I sat at the kitchen table with my hand planted on a flower print cloth as my aunt, Tanti Sadjo, prepared couscous, my favorite meal, for my birthday party. I watched in awe as she mixed the grains in a large silver bowl, ensuring that each grain was coated with the perfect amount of sauce.

• Dancing With the Bollywood Stars 

  by Ayush P.

  In the 4th grade, I attended a Bollywood dance class for the first time. My mom had signed me up, and the goal was for me to do something outside of my school and home life. “Physical activity is good for you!

• Book Review: Spilling the Greasy Beans on Demon Copperhead

  by Jessica Miller

  Barbara Kingsolver dedicates her novel Demon Copperhead to survivors of the opioid crisis and foster care. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the book is dedicated to someone like me: I am an Appalachian who was put in foster care due, in part, to my father’s opioid addiction.