Two years ago, I was standing on top of the hill in the dark, freezing, snowy air, wearing a thin body suit, which was surprisingly unprotective against wind. To make the situation worse, the snow was the most dangerous a ski racer could experience: sugar on top of ice. I had completed one run earlier when, thankfully, the snow had been softer; the second run, however, would be very different...
There is nothing more seemingly banal than a back yard, or so I thought for many years. I spent summers mindlessly crushing the grass with my bare toes, indifferent to the microscopic ecosystem under my feet. That is until one summer night, when I lay awake in bed, unable to sleep because of the Moroccan heat...
“You don’t belong.” How often I would say this to myself when I looked in the mirror. Sometimes it would be after the agonizing experience of a lavish Moroccan wedding with all of its superficial etiquette, or after an all-American family reunion in the summer, complete with hotdogs and references to inside jokes that I can’t take part in. This won’t be your typical teenage, self-pitying speech about being overweight, having an exceptionally large nose, or not being part of the cheerleading squad...
My gray J. Crew flip-flops cautiously step into the empty classroom. I glance around at the white boards with remains of a red dry erase marker smeared all over, then shiver at the sudden wave of AC blowing through the room. As I sit down in the third row, two petite girls enter, laughing uncontrollably as they discuss their newest celebrity crush. Two boys of very different sizes follow, debating the outcome of a soccer game. And then comes the instructor, a short man in his mid-30s, decked out in an outfit that looks like it came fresh off the runway...
The first time I played the Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, I was only in 8th grade. I had never played a full symphony before and felt bewildered by the 45-minute piece. To my amazement, that time flew by in a rush of wild joy, as I discovered that music could be more than just an extracurricular. The symphony immediately became my favorite piece...
A short semester class that I took in junior year was my first introduction to psychology, yet I quickly developed a strong interest in the field. As I have become almost trilingual over the years, I am especially interested in cognition and language development, which happens to be one of the research foci of USC’s department...
Navigating my way through our school hallways, I glance at the passing students. Among 3500 classmates, there are still so many unfamiliar faces. The features I notice are minuscule—a sparkly backpack, purple glasses, shaved head. We are all just American high-schoolers. All just part of one large category...
I started violin as an experiment, which was exciting at first. However, the more I improved, the more difficult it became. Each note that was the slightest bit off was corrected and repeated until consistent. Many tears of frustration were shed, staining the wood of my violin. Then in 5th grade, I joined GTCYS and discovered I was not alone...
By the third time someone hung up on me, I knew that fundraising wouldn’t be as easy as I had thought. I learned quickly that even good causes have a hard time raising money, and that I’d have to get used to hearing the word “no.”Several weeks earlier, I had volunteered with The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families (CHCF), a nonprofit dedicated to the needs of disadvantaged Hispanics...
Three long whistle blasts roused me out of bed at 4 A.M. My boss, Matin, in his distinctive Midlands accent, repeatedly screamed "L-B-D! L-B-D!" – the dreaded "Lost Bather Drill." I jumped out of bed and ran out the door of my wooden cabin. There was no time to put on shoes before sprinting down the 100-foot hill of sharp gravel...
Back