My grandmother used to embroider in the afternoons, with her pristine posture, a cup of tea next to her, always filled. When it cooled, I would replace it.  Filial piety was the first virtue my grandmother...

Smoke is the smell of nostalgia — so is bus exhaust and steaming, sun-baked concrete. The putrid perfume of garbage trucks could whip my feet off the sidewalk and plant them on the streets of Shanghai,...

Rows of models strutted down the runway in stunning dresses and elegant tuxedos on Friday in the quad for the annual Senior Prom Fashion Show. The strong afternoon winds delayed the start of the fashion...

Senior Aakash Ozarker chalks his hands as he readies himself for a deadlift. The bright lights of the college gymnasium strike his eyes, and he breathes in, then out. Muttering encouragement under his...

Tears flowed down my face as I walked through the San Francisco Airport security check alone. Gazing out the plane window, I was terrified of the four weeks I would be spending at summer programs on the...

Throughout my whole life, whenever I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I confidently proclaimed, “I want to be a neurosurgeon.” Yet, as I started exploring more subjects in high school,...

For many, freshman year is not much beyond a fond memory of youth, a cringeworthy point in life from which they grew as the rest of their high school years bloomed. When I think back to ninth grade, however,...

Link Crew Orientation. Club Info Day. Homecoming. While all my friends were finding out about these opportunities for the first time, it was nothing new to me. I already knew the details of these events...

Why did the scarecrow get an award? Because he was out-standing in his field. [Cue laugh track.] I know; that was a really bad joke. It probably didn’t even make you laugh, but I swear my humor is usually...

Music is an unmoving constant in my life. As I became taller, my to-do list longer, my career ambitions uncertain and my stress levels soared, my ears remained plugged with the sounds of Jeff Buckley’s...

Hello! I’m in eighth grade right now, but you already graduated high school. You’re off to college! I’m thinking somewhere still in Calif., and definitely in the U.S.  Williams is in a rural...