A Breakthrough With My Mom
When I was 7, my mother said, “I’m going to America to give us a better life.” “Why?” I asked. In Jamaica, my dad worked for a gas company and owned a shop attached to our house where we sold basic items like bread, light bulbs, and combs. On Saturdays we sold patties, a kind […]
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Almost Derailed by the Pandemic
Last year I was in the spring semester of my junior year at Queens College when COVID-19 shut school down. At first, I was excited that I wouldn’t have to wake up early for class anymore. Then I found out I was getting kicked out of the dorm—which was my home. For the past three […]
Read MoreHow I Survived My First Semester of College
When I started college at the University of Vermont, I felt nervous but confident. I enrolled in seven classes: linguistics, race and racism in the U.S., global health anthropology, approaches to health, cultural crossroads, communication and science, and intro to psychology. While my parents and teachers were surprised by how many classes I was taking, […]
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My Worker’s Loving Lie
People who’ve never been in foster care may take for granted the little things when it comes to college. Most college freshmen, for example, just assume everyone has a parent or guardian to help them move into their first dorm. But many young people in the system don’t have anyone for that transition. Luckily, I […]
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