I’m not changing my last name when I get married

Note: I suppose I should first clarify the title. I’m only 17. There’s no way of my knowing if I’ll get married at all, so the title is quite misleading in its assumption that I will, at some point, get married.

Third in the State

I go to Pekin Community High School. We have over 2,000 kids, ranging from as young as 13 to as old as 22.

Pekin is a rather small town—not small enough for everybody to know each other, not even small enough for you to learn your neighbor’s name, yet not big enough to…

Why you shouldn’t be afraid of failure

It’s better to fail and then succeed than to succeed without failing.

This is a letter for the people who are afraid of failure. This is a letter for the people who would rather forgo…

I hate compliments

(Hold on to your hats, there is an explanation.)

Now, I don’t mean just unsolicited compliments. I don’t mean shallow remarks that are labeled as compliments by stupid men whose opinion I did not ask for (also known as catcalling). I mean…

Twit for Tat

This morning I sat down for a necessary, routine red cup of coffee at Starbucks, when a rather loud splash caused me to look up from the Twitter feed on my phone. Looking around the coffee shop, I was violently cognizant of the fact that I was surrounded by people who looked and behaved in the same way I…

What Rejection Sounds Like

A sarcastic rendition of a college rejection letter.

Dear Applicant #7493,

Thank you for lowering our acceptance rate and donating your application fee to our amazing university. We have received numerous applications and you are…

Covered

Uncovering your true self is like being stripped from your mask in front of the whole world.