Screeching songs about jingle bells, throwing tinsel on trees, hastily wrapping last-minute gifts and baking box double-chocolate brownies for a fat white man and his fat reindeer — while my phony Christmas-infused...

It was a question that my parents had asked and one I had asked myself countless times during the summer before high school. I had quit nearly all my extracurricular activities, so as I entered high school,...

The streets of San Jose, Calif. were deserted on a stormy night in 1997 when Seetha and Sankara Sarma arrived at the lobby of Motel 6, drenched and holding a 5-year-old child in their arms. My parents...

In a second grade classroom, as winter rain darkened the window, my 7-year-old self sat at her desk and thought about how one day, she might not be Lillian Fu anymore. She would have some other last name,...

I always remind myself, “Fake it ‘till you make it.” But I’m no actress. I’ve been fighting my introversion for years, trying to pretend that I’m an outgoing, charismatic person who is comfortable...

Five young Guatemalan girls clamored around me with sweet smiles on their faces, reaching for my hands and rushing me over to the shade under a nearby tree.  “Jugar con nosotros?” Maria asked eagerly...

It is one of life’s greatest travesties that so much of our childhoods are spent dreaming and agonizing over what adulthood will be like. As an almost-high school graduate on the cusp of turning 18,...

An Oxford comma is the comma used after the penultimate item in a list of three or more items. Some argue that it’s unnecessary. I strongly disagree. Each Oxford comma I write is inevitably accompanied...

“What’s your name?” the Starbucks employee asks. “Ann,” I say, as she hastily scribbles it onto a plastic cup.  But my name isn’t Ann, it’s Anwen. Yet I find myself assuming this identity...

I watch as my friend’s eyes grow glazed and distant as I realize that they are no longer listening to me. I hear their empty words as they reassure me that our friendship has not changed. But something...

I was elated. Lynbrook had just announced halfway into fourth period that schools were being shut down to slow the spread of COVID-19. I grinned at my friends, excited we would be taking our classes from...

Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. Watch your character,...