To the teacher who told me that “there just aren’t any great transsexual authors”; who told me that if I wanted to succeed as a writer I would have to operate under a pseudonym and “stop writing...

I grew up in a small, conservative, heavily religious town—heavily racist as well. In school, the cafeteria was practically segregated—not by any official rule, but by unspoken norms—where everyone...

When my freshman year English class was reading George Orwell’s Animal Farm, I heard one girl turn to her neighbor and say “no, no, bro, it’s about, like, Veganism. Like, the animals don’t wanna...

Part of the high school experience is meeting Dr. Devil’s-Advocate; “Just to play devil's advocate, what if female voting really is what has destroyed our political ecosystem”—I wish I were joking...

I have to imagine that nearly every teacher has, at some point, gotten the question, “When are we going to use this in the real world?” The answer may vary from teacher to teacher. Some will try to...

The bell rings dismissing everybody to their first period. I walk to class passing by the senior graduation countdown by the counselor's office. It’s now less than 40 days away. As each day comes to...

I wake up to my 6:30 alarm that tempts me to stay in the comfort of my warm bed, but I somehow muster the motivation to get up to get ready for school. But, I’m exhausted.  I wake up feeling like...

I walk into the building. The smell of overused grease and cheap cleaning supplies linger throughout the room. I clock in, barely on time. I put on the necessities, gloves, hair tie, a meager smile. Although...

I dreaded it every time it came around. You would think that it was something I would have grown used to at this point, but no... the same emotion evoked from me every single time...dread. The...

Baking a pie crust is easy, flour, sugar, salt, butter, and water. That’s all there is to it. I rolled out 3/4ths of the dough and placed it skillfully on the tray. I then used my fingers to crimp it...

I sat at a crumb-filled table. I could hear a crying baby in the background and the loud explosions coming from the living room television. I sighed, frustrated.  I had to face the undeniable fact...