I typically reek of two things: vanilla scented perfume, and the sour, often bitter, and excruciatingly pungent odor accompanied by failure. Inadequate from birth, I fail in many aspects. I fail at being tall. I am exceptionally horrible at being cool and Mario Kart is not my forte. More recently - and more detrimental to my ego - I have failed at being chosen as a representative for student council and getting selected to represent my school at Girls State ...

Clueless 8th grade me, Everything is about to change. You’re going to move across the country. You’re going to receive mail from colleges before high school even starts. You’re going to check the mail one day, expecting another cheesy college poster and find a purpose. It’s the iconic chapel and the quote proclaiming “Other than the architecture, nothing here is set in stone.” that’ll make you research and learn everything about the heaven that’s...

July 2006. She sits on a beach in Puerto Peñasco, nuzzling into her nana, contently lapping up the sweet juices that periodically drip down her mango paleta. Later, she will bask in the sun, drifting off until her twitching nose awakens her, recognizing the cart advertising mango con chile y limón. She has never known anything other than the colorful foods, warm demeanor, and endless pride offered by her heritage. This is who she is. April 2016. Moving to a...