My biggest fear is being forgotten.
It’s something of a selfish fear; it’s egocentric, to be honest. But truly I am not afraid of dying, only of ceasing to matter when I am gone. I am a firm believer in the insignificance of the individual, after all--not that the individual does not matter, to be sure. More than anything, it is my understanding that, as life continues after us as it existed before us, it is useless to act as though dying is the end. Far from it...
I live in a crazy world. My family and community have provided many opportunities for me so that I'm doing something every second of the day. Even during my free time, in the shower or on the school bus, I'm either doing my homework or rehearsing speeches. As busy as I am, I love my life. People ask me, "How do you get it all done? Why are you so motivated?" Only recently did I discover the answer, and it’s helped me realize why I do the things I do...
Still sleepy-eyed, I trudge downstairs to ESPN's talking heads arguing over blasting clips of SportsCenter’s Top 10. My older brother cheers and fist pumps the more dramatic slam-dunks and touchdowns. Will, “the baby,” cradles his lacrosse ball while peppering my dad with inane questions about the sports they love. My mom calls for our attention as I retreat with my yogurt to the far corner of the kitchen, attempting to block out the blaring TV and competing voices...
‘But are you willing to join politics or the government to make a difference?’ the anchor asked. Without blinking, I said, in all honesty ‘Yes’. I had been invited as a panelist on ‘Vision for India’, a panel discussion with Indian school kids on a national primetime TV show hosted by NDTV, India’s largest news channel.I could sense that almost everyone on the show was a little skeptical about my answer to the anchor’s question...
The auditorium is filling up. In a short while I would be wearing the “Head Boy” badge. I should be excited but what I feel is mostly stage fright.
I watch my grinning friends troop into the auditorium. Some can sense my nervousness, and call out to me reassuringly. I wonder if our relationship will change, once I become head boy. I will no longer be able to take part in all the pranks that they wanted to pull off in senior year. I just hope they will not do something so reckless that I need to march them to the principal’s office. I realise then that I would if I had to...
Growing up in a small, insignificant suburb in the greater Chicagoland, I know that I have only discovered a narrow, sheltered section of the world. Although demographics depict a typical American town, Vernon Hills still boasts a fairly multiethnic society. Even as a Chinese-American, I was conditioned to think racism is surreal, simply due to lack of exposure outside crude, stereotypical jokes. However, a lack of exposure does not denote a lack of existence...
"To be, or not to be, that is the question." While my life, thankfully, is not a bloody mess of a Shakespearean revenge tragedy, I see a reflection of myself in Prince Hamlet. I am not referring to his Oedipus complex or fake-yet-not-completely-fake madness (in my case, it may be too early to tell). As I explored Hamlet's character through his clever remarks and contemplative soliloquies, it became increasingly clear that we both think alike. We both think too much...
Upon hearing the words “math team,” one would expect a room full of mathletes wearing glasses, hunched over TI-2000 calculators while frantically scribbling down series of numbers and variables. Outside of the only extracurricular they are involved in, the nerds are socially inept and unable to communicate with other normal beings. Luckily, my math team experience was nothing like being in a group of Sheldon Coopers...
{Present: pres-ent
1. Something that is offered, presented, or given as a gift}
Let's stick with this definition. Unusual presents, accidental presents, metaphorical presents, re-gifted presents, etc. - pick any present you have ever received and invent a past for it.The Samsung Galaxy Nexus came into existence suddenly and completely. It did not “grow up”. It was never a child and its young brain did not develop over time as it became acclimated to its strange new environment. It simply was...
It’s a seemingly ordinary Tuesday afternoon, in February 2011. I am shivering and not just from the cold. This is the most nervous I have been in my entire life because this is not just any Tuesday afternoon, it’s the day of my first Mock Trial competition. As a first year starting witness I have to speak for 15 minutes in front of a judge while opposing counsel, probably far more experienced than me, does their best to pick my testimony apart. I am terrified. My hands are shaking so much that I spill scalding tea all over myself and this is even more nerve-wracking because I need the tea...
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