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Thoughts from a 1st Generation Daughter
As a daughter to 1st generation immigrants, I’ve always felt underrepresented. I’ve always felt like no one was going through what I was; whether it was begging my mom to pack me a sandwich instead of the daal and rice she insisted I take.
A Year of Luck
Throughout all my years of living, I’ve been taught that my family, my ancestors, and my people, are always by my side.
I <3 Math
This may come as a shock, seeing as I do writing and photography for a magazine, but I absolutely love math. Math is my favorite subject. The way that numbers cancel out and simplify, and how everything tends to click in the end, scratches an itch in my brain. I love math so much that I look forward to it everyday, and I always have. Not once have I been bad at math. In fact, I’d consider myself good at every kind of math: Algebra (one and two), Trigonometry, Pre-Calc, and, so far, Calculus.
The Beat That Never Stops
Some days, when all is too still for time, I can see my heartbeat.Usually it’s right over my chest, in the slight wave of the shirt I’m wearing. It’s almost like a ripple of water, the way the beat expands throughout the fabric, then settles again.
Not All About Emo
I’m someone who’s very into fashion. I love putting together clothes and jewelry in ways that make interesting outfits. I never leave the house without an outfit that I think will make me look cool.
Little Goals
At the beginning of every year many people reflect on how the year went, what they did, what they didn’t do. Based on these reflections, many determine whether the last year was good or not. A common ritual people practice is to set “new year's resolutions.” The only trouble with setting yearly goals is that it can be very easy to break these promises. Some of these broken commitments include eating healthier and exercising, and who can blame them when running is practically torture and cheeseburgers taste pretty good ?
Holiday Envy
Ever since I was a young girl, I was a grinch. My green claws scratched against the Mariah Carey vinyl records until they shrieked. My furry-green-fluff laced the cookies laid out for Santa. I don’t come from the type of family that rises before the sun on Christmas Day to tear apart trinkets from the man who slides down the chimney to lay presents out for each good little kid.
My Body: A Radically Unimportant Part of Me
My body changed throughout the day, molded like clay into however my brain told me to perceive it at any given moment. I never really knew what my body looked like.
College
College admissions is a stressful topic for most high schoolers, with the looming suspense of where everyone will end up. Often, college is seen as the only path after high school, or at least the most ideal. As a current junior in high school, I am constantly stressed about how my actions will affect my future.
Writing Home
School was never something I had any specific thoughts or feelings about; it was just something I did. I knew it was important for the future: college, career, happy life, and so on. But that was it, just a means to an end, something I had to complete before I got to my actual goal of becoming an adult.
The Art of Diversity
As a junior in high school, I am taking AP Art History this school year. In the cozy confines of my first period classroom, we probe art pieces from 3500 BCE- modern day works through lively discussion, thoughtful written analysis and precise note taking.
Seasonal Depression
There’s a certain dread that comes to me around this time of year.Autumn hardly seems to exist in the more southern states of America, seemingly lasting anywhere from one week to one month at best.
Little Ghosts!!
In my recent years, I have become rather fond of little ghosts. This makes Halloween really rather exciting for me, because it is the perfect season to tell everyone how much I love little ghosts and why they should too, but I certainly do not confine my adoration of little ghosts to October.
Odisha: My Home Away From My Home
Many people define home as the address listed on your driver’s license. Where you were born. The town you may go to school in. But for me, Odisha has always felt like home.
Dinner Table
My home is soup.That’s not a metaphor, nor exaggeration. I do not live in a pot of broth, or eat it for every meal, but my home is still in soup. Specifically, the soup that my mother makes, simmering for hours in a large pot on the stove. It rolls off our Vietnamese tongues by practiced genes, and rolls back in by practiced appetites.
Home is Where My Heart Thrives
The most classic definition of home is “where one lives,” but I disagree. Sure, I live in my home, but that’s not my only refuge.
Found Family
I have seven siblings – one younger, six older. Only one of them, my younger brother, is actually related to me in any way. My six older siblings are my ‘honorary’ older siblings–my found family. I love my younger brother to the death, and I love my honorary older siblings just the same.