grit and bear it
knowing when to grit and when to quit
At the brink of midnight and a mid-semester breakdown, four lecture-captures into studying for my second physiology exam, a Facebook notification disturbs my academic focus. I minimize the Canvas tab and check my feed. Everyone at Brown apparently has had the same idea, and the page fills with posts and photos from peers venting about…
pumpkin spice
& other autumnal existential comforts
Solomon 001 holds a tense calm at 10:00 a.m., recently emptied in quiet preparation for the lecture to come. Although November has been full of sunny mornings and temperatures that barely qualify as sweater weather, the lecture hall is fixed in a cold, desolate winter. Off-yellow incandescent lights cast awkward shadows on the half-erased blackboard…
Providence is Not a Playground
Reflections on RIPTA
The bus driver jerks his arms right, guiding stubborn tires through the right turn from Memorial Boulevard on to Fulton Street. For a moment, everyone sways, fingers gently tightening against the metal rails. The half-hidden silhouettes of the Public Health Building and the Congdon Street Baptist Church slide behind us, quickly consumed by the towering…
All Summer in a Day
leaving loneliness behind in Madrid
Madrid wakes slowly on Sunday. I walk through the winding alleys near plaza mayor, smiling politely as I pass elderly couples exiting churches and groups of friends returning home from Saturday-night adventures. The midday sun throws us all into shadows of the old, marigold-colored buildings. I drag a finger along their warm walls and move…
a place on the stage
the thrill of a first visit
Endless reflective windows meld into crumbling brick walls, colored tarps cover construction sites, and LED advertisements illuminate a frigid night. The expanse of Manhattan unfurls its skyscraper-clad curtains and opens into my reality. I am swept into the giddy tourism, the excitement of a first visit. My expectations swell as names I’ve only seen on…