What would you do if your kidneys failed three years after adopting a child as a single parent? It was 2015. I had been waging an all-out war against lupus for 26 years…
SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARD FLAUNT IT AWARD FINALIST (Essay): Throughout my life, I have struggled with loving myself and my complexities. In going to predominantly white schools for awhile, I was forced…
SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING FLAUNT IT AWARD FINALIST My “difference” is one I make myself. It seems I am constantly comparing my habits and lifestyle to others. I’m the one who…
SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING FLAUNT IT AWARD FINALIST When living in a town surrounded by people who do not share your cultures and practices, it is easy to feel as though your background…
SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING FLAUNT IT AWARD FINALIST In my painting, “Chronic Illness”, I explore my feelings regarding my multiple autoimmune diseases, diseases that bring me incurable and immense suffering, but will never…
SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING FLAUNT IT AWARD FINALIST Have you ever been in a friendship where you are the odd one out? It’s not a thing that occurs out of malicious intent, but…
I learned early in life about the power of perspective. As a child, I spent every August at my aunt and uncles’ horse farm in Vermont. My cousin and I would ride horses,…
2023 NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC ALLIANCE ART & WRITING- FLAUNT IT AWARD WINNER (ESSAY CATEGORY) If I don’t pick up that book that just fell, my heart is going to stop tonight while I’m asleep.…
2023 NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC ALLIANCE ART & WRITING- FLAUNT IT AWARD WINNER (ART CATEGORY) Living with an eating disorder personally means that every aspect of my life –every moment, every emotion, every experience–is…
We all start out so unabashedly unashamed. Whatever makes us different, whether visible or invisible, we regard without concern of what anyone else is thinking. Then it all changes. Someone. Somehow. Something. We…
At the age of five, I was diagnosed with psoriasis; a chronic autoimmune disease that results in itchy or ‘scaly’ patches on my skin. The symptoms of the disorder can be painful and…
The Korean war broke out in 1950. Armistice agreements between North Korea and America were officially signed in 1953, which resulted in the division of Korea into North and South at the 38th…
As published on June 18, 2022 on USA Today and later msn, the below opinion article is the original full version that was edited down for format. The first time I saw my…