Don’t let words manipulate you.
I used to have the perfect boyfriend. At least, I thought I did. On the inside, I was sure he had a heart of pure gold, and as if that wasn’t enough, he was like a modern-day replica of one of Michelangelo’s sculpted masterpieces on the outside.
He was popular, to say the least.
Even before I started dating him, my friends and I would discuss him in hushed tones as if he was light years above us in every way. We didn’t even deserve such a classmate, let alone such a potential partner.
We’d say things like, “Did you…
Disappointment is an opportunity to count your blessings.
A few weeks ago, I checked my college email and found out that my final business project had been accepted. For the second time since 2020, I had become an alumna.
It didn’t feel like it, though.
As I sat in the living room with my MacBook propped up on my lap, staring at the screen, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion and nostalgia sweep over me.
I think the hardest thing for me — and many others in my shoes — is this: when I started college as a bright-eyed, clueless seventeen-year-old, I would never in…
This platform is a dream come true for writers.
If you had told me last year that I would soon be earning thousands of dollars in passive income from something I would gladly do for free (and meet amazing people in the process), I would have laughed.
Seriously.
But that’s exactly what’s happened.
Since publishing my first article on Medium in November 2019, I’ve earned what I consider a healthy amount of money on the platform, especially considering the amount of work I put into my articles and the fact that, for the past several months, I haven’t published anything due to a busy college schedule.
When I first…
Sleeping on the floor changed my life.
If you read the title, you might think I’m some kind of bed hater (if that’s even a thing). Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is, I loved my bed. Honestly. It was so soft and comfortable that I would often stay in it long after it was time to get up.
I thought it was perfectly normal to sleep in such a bed.
But, one day, many months ago now, I came across a video that piqued my interest.
It was about a woman who was explaining the health benefits she experienced when she started sleeping…
And I wouldn’t replace that experience for anything.
If you had told me in high school that I would pack up my life and move out-of-state at 18, alone, in a matter of two days, I would have laughed.
But I did.
And it was arguably the best decision I have ever made in my entire life.
So what got into me? Why did I do that?
Let me back up.
It all started on my 18th birthday. As a gift, my mom had registered me for a two-week-long summer program at a tiny residential college tucked away in the mountains. …
Being more selective will change your life.
I used to have terrible luck in relationships. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself whenever things fizzled out and my partner and I parted ways. I’d look at my friends who were in happy, stable relationships and wonder if I was just cursed to either be single for life or be in relationships that left me drained and anxious.
Having bad luck in relationships is something I learned to change; you aren’t doomed or cursed if your romantic relationships aren’t what you’d want them to be — even if it can start to feel that way sometimes.
Several…
Working at the same company for 40 years is a thing of the past anyway.
“So, want do you want to do when you grow up?”
I think this was the question that terrified me the most as a child. Whenever a well-meaning family friend would ask me that, I would freeze like a deer in the headlights and hope they’d have mercy on me and change the subject.
It was embarrassing. I didn’t know what I wanted back then, and I certainly couldn’t have imagined that I’d be working from my laptop today, not that many years later.
And that’s just it: I couldn’t have imagined it because it wasn’t an option when I…
How a shocking diagnosis changed my perspective on life.
It was a routine visit — or so I thought, anyway.
I hoisted myself into the optometrist’s chair and proceeded to swing my legs as I waited for the eye exam.
After a while, my optometrist, a middle-aged man with thinning hair and a beer belly, walked in. He examined my eyes. Then he left. After what seemed an eternity, he came back, sat down in his swivel chair, and started typing up some notes.
Finally, he cleared his throat and turned to me.
“I’m afraid… I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
His typical humor was gone. Though he…
It’ll show you what you really want in life.
When I was growing up, I didn’t have the foggiest idea of what to do with my life.
I went from wanting to be a veterinarian (because I loved animals) to wanting to be a cashier (because it looked like a fun job) to everything in between.
The thought of one day being an adult and having to face important forks in the road made me dissolve into a puddle of anxiety.
I tried not to think about it, but as the years passed, it became clear that I wouldn’t be able to avoid making big decisions forever. …
Emotions make us human. So why does society mock men who cry?
“I hate crying in front of you,” my boyfriend sobbed.
We were in his apartment, trying to spend some quality time together before I had to catch my bus, but it was a struggle that particular day.
His parents were splitting up, and my boyfriend, the man I loved more than my life, was sitting in his kitchen, trying to hold back his tears because he thought it was shameful to cry in front of his own girlfriend.
His words shocked and saddened me. We had already been through so much together, and the fact that he had never been…
