LIFE, MENTAL HEALTH, OPINION

Planning the new year doesn’t have to be so exhausting

Featured Illustration: Abbey Lossing I’ve always loved celebrating the New Year. On December 31st, we’d feast as we waited for the clock to strike midnight, and I’d look up to the sky to admire the fireworks, despite harboring deep resentment for loud noises. In pre-pandemic times, my village hosted dinner parties, which were the only […]

Read more
LIFE, MENTAL HEALTH, OPINION

The Plight of an 18-year old in the Pandemic

Featured Illustration: ‘Lights On’ by Ranganath Krishnamani With the fall blues now fully upon us, students have returned to the back-to-school groove. Yes, unlike previous years, I feel oddly stuck to the preceding one. A year, a milestone even, that disappeared without realization. Leaving high school without graduation, without yearbook signings, and without senior trips […]

Read more
MENTAL HEALTH, POETRY & PROSE

My First Poem Was Titled ‘Futility’

Featured Image: Joe deSousa White caps of snow on the roof, pure and tranquil, and maybe I will, lay on this roof a little while longer to numb the continuous hunger of an eating binge that only serves to placate  the momentous desire to act preemptively   and seek an end Until snide words can no […]

Read more
MENTAL HEALTH, POETRY & PROSE

I hope you find it

Featured Illustration: Batel Silverberg computer screens and business deals, overly friendly women in bright lipstick and men with glum faces and too much designer, selling you a lifestyle self-care won’t be found by listening to harsh motivational speeches that leave you depleted won’t be found in the bottom of your wallet buying things you don’t […]

Read more
EMPOWERMENT, LGBTQ+, MENTAL HEALTH

An Exciting Life for the Depressed Mind

Trigger Warning: Mentions of suicidal thoughts and depression . . . My depression began at the age of twelve. I remember looking up one morning after I had washed my face wishing I were dead. It seemed that a tired dejected little Black girl’s face followed me around. Only her face has now grown into […]

Read more
CULTURE, EMPOWERMENT, MENTAL HEALTH

The Young Asian American Experience

How much do you know about the Asian American students in your class? You’ve heard the model minority myth, the stereotypes, the “toxic” parental pressure, and probably even witnessed the statistical success of the Asian American student. But how much of it is really true? And which of these perceptions are detrimental to the Asian […]

Read more
MENTAL HEALTH, OPINION

How Toxic Positivity is Counterproductive

Toxic positivity can be attributed to “insincere” positivity which is detrimental to someone’s mental well-being.  It is “the assumption, either by one’s self or others, that despite a person’s emotional pain or difficult situation, they should only have a positive mindset”, as Dr. Jaime Zuckerman phrased it. Examples of toxic positivity in daily phrases can […]

Read more