Acting Brave Made Me Brave
When I was 7 years old, an earthquake hit my village of Gujarat, Pakistan. I was sitting in my classroom, looking out the window feeling hot, tired, and bored. Then I felt the ground shake. Seconds later, the whole school shook. The teachers immediately began rushing the students out. The screaming and the grownups’ panic […]
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#blackinbrooklyntech
I’m a Bengali junior at Brooklyn Tech, one of the most competitive public high schools in New York City. Last January, our school got national media attention for a hashtag, #blackinbrooklyntech, that gathered stories of racism experienced by Black students. The first time I became aware of what Black students were facing was two years […]
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The Long Journey Home
Names have been changed. When I was a 5-year-old boy in Mexico, I had a red sweater with a hood. I loved to put it on my head and pretend that it was my long, beautiful hair. I looked like a girl even with short hair. In kindergarten, during recess, boys chased me in the […]
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Outgrowing My Therapist
Names have been changed. My foster care agency first sent me to therapy when I was 11 because I had suicidal thoughts. My grandmother didn’t seem fond of the idea, but she reluctantly took me. The office was tiny with a desk and a chair for the therapist and two chairs for her patients. Everything […]
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