Fellow Stories

#collegecanwait: Why I’m not attending my dream school (yet)

Sebastian Paine

2016-08-04

High school is a paradox. We, as students and as human beings, are at once created and destroyed. We grow, learn, and pursue new interests and hobbies. Thus, we are built up into who we are. At the same time, we are beaten down by a cycle of academic competition, peer pressure, and ruthless standardized testing. We are told that...

I’m not going to Duke University

Luke Sallmen

2016-08-02

Not this year, anyway.  Next fall, I’ll be glad to represent the Duke Blue Devils and learn how to be a college student. But first, I’m taking a gap year. And no, before you ask, I didn’t choose to do so because Malia Obama is doing it. I didn’t elect for a year off in an attempt to...

The Privilege of Time and Living In-Between

Chantal Tonnessen Smeland

2016-07-12

Little is known about this special place, but I for one have developed a love-hate relationship to it. It is like my personal observatory, where the only thing separating me from the universe is the thick glass dome. I can lie here comfortably, merely observing and dreaming myself away into the stars, or I can...

This is how I will save the world.

Indiana Nunez Sharer

2016-06-01

   When I was young, I wanted to save the world.    Before falling asleep I would lay in the darkness of my room hearing the movement of my fan as it rotated in uncoordinated circles. I didn’t know how I would create this change, but I imagined myself there, anywhere, feeling the splendor of...

Stories to Tell

Elizabeth Schubert

2016-06-01

On the third day in my host family, I woke with a pit in my stomach and tears in my eyes.  I tried to suppress it for a while, but then ran to my host mom.  I was barely able to get out “Can I call my mom?” before bursting into tears.  Later that night...

Capstone

Mandula Bashu van den Berg

2016-05-20

Yet another attempt to answer that eternal question: “How was India?”

Things I Learned While Living In India

Mandula Bashu van den Berg

2016-05-18

‘Too much salt’

Mandula Bashu van den Berg

2016-05-16

Throughout the last months of my stay in India, I put a lot of effort in my so called Final Community Project. ‘Too much salt’, a street art project on domestic violence was supposed to be an attempt to demonstrate my learnings and give something, however small, ‘back’  to my community. At first, I was...

Rebuilding You

Jordan.t.brett

2016-04-04

Let me set the scene. You’re 18. You have a dog. You killed that 5th grade state capital test seven years ago You’ve had 5 Jobs You’re a hard worker You broke your arm in 3rd grade You got steady grades throughout school And everyone knows about that time you saved david down the street....

Timeline of a Flower

Momo Manalang R.

2016-04-03

“And the day came when the risk to remain in a tight bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin   August     September October   November   December   January   February          March        

10 Things You Might Not Have Known About India

Alana Poole

2016-04-02

1. Dancing Queens You don’t have to be seventeen or female to be a dancing queen! Everyone in India is a dancing queen regardless of age and gender. Bollywood, Garba, Dandiya, Sambalpuri, Lavani, Bharatnatyam…the list goes on! These dances, both modern and traditional, are completely enjoyable and ridiculously fun. This photo was taken during Dussehra,...

The Hourglass (Dedicated to My Grandfather)

Momo Manalang R.

2016-04-01

  The western dawn crept into the net of my wakefulness. I tangled in yesterday’s web, unwillingly battling the clock’s legitimacy. Miami had catapulted my body like a pebble thrust along the lips of the Pacific, where I’d arrived to Manila shackled by an insomnia that knitted my eyelids back into my cheeks.   I...