As a first-generation college student, I’m also the only member in my biological family to have attended and graduated high school. I see the promise of education very differently than my family. Knowledge is my sanctuary–it’s my safe place. I grew up witnessing both of my parents struggle with addiction, unemployment, and incarceration. Their relaxed […]
Being a First-Generation College Student Read More »
A couple of years ago I read about the seed packages at Hudson Valley See Library designed by a number of local artists. I visited the site at once, and it was there that I first saw Sheryl Humphrey’s work, on an Art Pack design for Rainbow Chard. I was wowed. I remember happily whiling away a
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I held back my breath for a time, but you didn’t. You had been to the very edge of the world. You knew the sound of the wind, low and constant, thrumming against the land, the ice, the sea. You’d seen how the pale gray-green earth disappeared beneath ice and snow, and then how that
Nothing Beyond This Read More »
Our love was vivid and real, a rare dream. You terrified me like a shark in a movie. I was stupid enough to think it was possible. You’ll be safe if you don’t look, I thought. You had no special powers, yet saved me every day. You wanted everything to be for the first time.
Andy has new sneakers. He holds one leg up so the kids seated at their desks can see the NIKE lettering better. It is Show and Tell time in my first-grade class. I believed Show and Tell was a worthwhile activity for a couple reasons. 1. It gave the children a chance to practice public
When I was in high school, getting a C on something as inconsequential as a homework assignment would ensure that my lunch period would be spent crying in a bathroom stall in a panic attack over my failure of a life, eventually ending in my silent acceptance of my future as a homeless person. It
Mental Health, Grade Obsession, and the American Student Read More »