When I was younger, my childhood Chinese teacher posed this question to the class: "Which part of China are you from?"
The question was not so much where the student was from, but where in China the...
I want to start off this column by saying that in some ways, I've failed. This column was supposed to be published way back in May, before I graduated, but I never made much progress past the outline stage...
As my time in high school comes to a close, I am abundantly aware of the phrase “hindsight is 20/20.” For those of you who are underclassmen and feel that things are not going your way, I am here to...
I love my phone. It connects me with my friends; it keeps me in touch with my family; it can help me reach the police in an emergency; it lets me play Tetris.
Like many growing up in Silicon Valley,...
As the school year comes to a close, students frantically begin studying for final exams, which are typically held during the last week of school. However, in some AP classes, teachers choose to administer...
Nike’s famous slogan “Just Do It” often serves as an empowering and motivational mantra. But to me, this slogan was a phrase that fueled peer pressure throughout high school, giving my friends and...
August 17, 2015. My very first day of high school. I had just moved from India and was new to the area. I wondered if I would make friends, and I feared my introverted nature would prevent me from doing...
Navy blue t-shirt. Grey Gap jacket. Straight cut dark blue jeans. Grey sports shoes. Combed hair, messy brows. Scared of judgment, eyes staring at my bland clothes, never lifting my head. Not acquainted...
“Take every opportunity.” That’s something we’ve been told all our lives, and a principle that I wholeheartedly embraced as I entered high school. This resulted in me taking the most classes I...
February 2018: news of a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, jolted Americans across the nation. Within a month, students across the country organized a national...
As my school bus drove on bumpy lanes in India every morning, I often saw colorful posters endorsing low-level politicians plastered on walls and hung up on poles. Many of the posters simply wished those...
As the manicurist finished shaping my nails and prepared to let them dry, I asked her for lavender nail polish. Her shocked look made me second guess the words I had just uttered. Was it acceptable for...
