Eyes interlocked with the mother bear, I stopped dead in my tracks, barely five feet from her two little cubs. Her gaze lingered on mine for only a moment, but the two cubs continued to stare, their eyes twinkling with curiosity. Ignore me, I pleaded, my heart pounding loudly in my chest as I struggled to appear calm. Park rangers had always warned me about this situation. Don’t run. Never scream. But now my desperate urge to flee blurred...

When I close my eyes and picture the perfect partner for a tutorial class, I fail to see anyone but Dr. John Watson, Sherlock Holmes’ acclaimed sidekick, sitting in front of me. Dr. Watson is the embodiment of what I seek in an ideal partner, and what I strive to be myself. His modest character would undoubtedly help us to grow together intellectually, as he would be a great listener when receiving my suggestions, and in turn, I would benefit...

As I stepped onto the University of Chicago campus last summer, the first thing that caught my eye was an oval-shaped structure which was curiously short for a building. Its glass dome glittered in the afternoon sunlight, as rays from the sun bounced off of its Fabergé egg-like exterior. I walked around this jewel and ran my hands across the words inscribed on its side: “Joe...and...Rika...Mansueto...Library.” A library! The singularity of this modern structure struck a...

The dark bags under Ellen’s eyes revealed the pain that had been knocking at her door. She was mostly confined to her bed now, but sometimes a spark of energy returned—usually fueled by her love for the Oakland A’s. “Is the game on?” She would ask excitedly. I had the unfortunate task of telling her “No,” sometimes more than once as her mind started to wear thin. Ellen’s lifelong battle with terminal heart failure was coming...