It felt like a movie, one where the woman screams and squirms as each contraction kicks in.  My sister had a rough pregnancy. Almost every month she’d have to go and check the baby’s heart, head,...

It was finally here: my first day of college. The start of a new journey. I woke up at 8:30 a.m. to get ready for my 11:40 class. I threw on my black high top vans, a graphic t-shirt, and light blue skinny...

It all started in middle school, a normal age for teenagers to have feelings about themselves. I would look at the lives of my classmates and wonder why I couldn't have a life like them. I would watch...

I was sexually assaulted when I was 6 years old, and again at 12.  A normal encounter with my sister’s friend suddenly turned to one of the worst days of my life.  It was abuse and it...

A lot can change in 10 years. When the sun rose on January 1st, 2010, Steve Jobs was still CEO of Apple, and the hottest Android phone was the newly minted Motorola Droid.   Facebook was still...

Oh how I love the holidays, especially because I get to experience the kids around me writing their letters to Santa Claus telling him what they would like for Christmas. I remember when I used to do...

I used to brag about having everything until the day I lost it all. At least it felt like I did. I had become accustomed to moving back and forth. I was used to being "the new girl." So when I was...

I am half Puerto Rican and half Italian. My mom is 100% Italian, but because her kids are half Hispanic and our father was never around, she tries to dabble in the Hispanic culture so we grow up knowing...

Being that person who was always there for others, and not wanting to talk because you felt like a burden, wasn’t easy. I always felt alone when I needed a shoulder. No matter how many people were...

Dear Teenage Self,   Oh, how I wish you could see what I see now. When I look back, I see you as one person but I know there were two of you. There was the girl that the world saw and...