2022 Issue

Assistant Director, Office of Fellowship Advising and UN Partnership

As I looked out of the airplane window approaching the US coast for the first time, I felt my skin tingling, my heart fluttering, my breath barely escaping my lips – but not from excitement. In the moment, I wasn’t sure if that was exhaustion from the 38-hour journey, anxiety about the plane landing, or just loneliness – being so far from my family for the first time in my life. Days passed before I realized that what I felt then was the fear setting in, and that this physical “fear-sickness” would stay with me for a long time…

Hannah Shin

Adrian Suarez

Xin Chen

Deeksha Jonnalagadda

Steven Escobar-Mendez

They said he couldn’t do it

A kid from the streets to college

Ain’t ever gonna quit

All he wanted was knowledge

They said he can’t afford it

A private institution, cost was high

No one taught him how to quit

Job after job, got the strength to defy

…

Anika Valeria Fallas Arguedas

Every day at the same stage

I was walking to your heart

To your soul full of stars

Lighting the path in my life

Until the light? What became too bright? became too bright

…

Thor Long

Oftentimes, the world focuses on two things: the beginning and the end. The middle is overlooked—it’s just how humans perceive the world. In nature, metamorphosis happens almost constantly, and we all know what a caterpillar is, and how beautiful butterflies can be, but how often does the world stop in between and admire the chrysalis? In showbusiness, theatre especially, the opening and closing acts are often the most grandiose, catching and retaining their audience like moths to a flame…

Thor Long

Dariia Tyshchenko

The air pierces the lungs with thousands of ice needles. Fog and cold are the rulers of the morning forest. They cover the lonely tree stumps spreading till the eye can see. After the first sunrays mercilessly kill playful dews, the steps of the mushroom pickers wake up this sleepy kingdom.

…

Blayre Walters

It had rained the night before so the air is stuffy and the ground is still wet. The sun has yet to come all the way out. It’s stuck behind some clouds only making an appearance occasionally. The rain from the night before intensifies the smell of the freshly cut grass. The loud rustling of pots and pans from the kitchen wakes everyone in the house.

…

Aviela Maynard

Robert Yochum

Every August anticipation begins to grow as the final days of summer finally pass as autumn finally arrives. The season seems to be enchanting, it’s magical essence gripping the landscape in a way nothing else does. Eventually though, the first day of fall would come with the autumn equinox as the ancient oak in the backyard began to finally drop its leaves. And once those leaves hit the ground, it meant the best time of the year had finally arrived.

…

Nadine Clopton

I feel with every fiber of my being that the climate crisis is actually a crisis of human consciousness. It is as much spiritual and emotional as it is physiological and ecological.

The same way a mother can hear her baby cry and know instinctively what they need, we too, can observe the irresponsible, disconnected behavior of humanity as a different form of crying and intuit where there is pain asking to be healed.

…

Sandra Manfreda

Caroline Pritchard

Deborah Walters

“Do you want to do the honors?” Jenn asked, holding the purple key with the little flower keychain out to her partner, Bianca. They were standing on the slightly slanted porch in front of their new (very old) home in North Carolina. The sky was gray, the ground was muddy, and one of the shutters was creaking, but the only thing that mattered to the two women was that they were about to step into their house for the first time since it officially became theirs.

…

Zena Meighan

Mary Newbegin

Maya Rose

There is nothing better than going for a drive on a bright day. No destination, only the journey. Driving for the enjoyment of their untouched surroundings, with no agenda or worries weighing on their shoulders. With the crisp breeze flowing through the open windows rich with the aroma of earth and pine, autumn has boldly made its arrival. Nothing can distract from its everlasting peace.

…

Fred Qian

Abdelrahman Qamhia

Arabic is the language of more than 466 million people
Arabic is one of the hardest languages in the world
Arabic has twenty eight letters
Arabic is written from right to left
Arabic has influenced many other languages
Arabic has sounds that are found in no other language
Arabic constructs words from a single root
Arabic words have many different synonyms
Arabic text is very detailed and descriptive

…

Kathy Ford

It’s early April and mornings are still chilly. The days s t r e t c h for the sun, pulling in its warmth, like a cozy blanket, to grace the earth with afternoons in the 40’s or even 50’s. ‘They’ say it’s a cool spring. Perhaps. But I am grateful for it nonetheless.

Everywhere nature is determined to have its spring. Even on these not quite warm days and nights. Have ‘they’ noticed? I have.

…

Dariia Tyshchenko

Listen to the song of a nightingale
And touch the serenity of the summer evening
Never this moment will happen again
Grasp it in your thoughts and heartbeats
Unapologetically to carve the pictures in your memory
And no words will describe it
Glimpse the last ray of the sunshine
Ever this moment will happen again?

Ray Zhang

Lonely traveler on his road to pilgrimage,
Abandoned his former life and dreams.
Nobody could tell if there’s a destination for him,
Granted with a bright future, he struggles forward.
Ubiquitous taletellers whitewash his irresponsible acts,
Accompanied with undisguised intentions for coveted interests
“God bless you” they said,
Even though “God” is made up by them for the everlasting plunder of the weak.

 Quan Hoang

The eerie haunted house laid miles upon a never-ending field of corn, wheat, and hay. A glowing moon glimmers through the ominous darkness of the night. Screams of horror can be heard faintly through the stillness of the frigid air. A young boy anxiously waiting in line was enthusiastic about the haunted hayride. He stood alone, he had hastily snuck out of his home without his strict parents knowing. In the distance, the boy saw a well-worn out wagon that hauled dozens of soulless bodies at a time, through the indistinguishable path that was filled with distorted clowns, monsters, and skeletons. The haunted hayride brought fear to the innocent, young boy…

Japheth Oforkansi

 Sean Fleming

The mountain was dusted with snow and the blue sky was peering through the clouds that were blocking its view. Along the trail, there were patches of snow grasping to stay alive until reinforcements would arrive. The woman in the back was shivering and each breath was condensating before her eyes. She reluctantly trudged onward. The group’s elevation continued to increase as the mountains around seemed to level with them. What seemed like power lines were scattered all around the mountains, but they were lifeless….

Derek Hammerstone

It really is true that a picture is worth a thousand words. As the seasons change, the entire world adapts around it. This change is inevitable, and as much as people usually despise change, sometimes it is welcome. Often, the coming of fall rolls in and takes hold like a warm blanket fresh out of the dryer. To the same effect, fall is often received with large, open arms. The seasonal tastes of cinnamon and pumpkin are joyous delights that cannot be resisted. Each breath taken as the months go on progressively gets colder, and feeling the crisp air nipping at exposed skin as everyone bundles up in their beanies and fur lined flannels is quite lovely…

Chancie Velasquez

The scream of five kids sounds like twenty as they play in the July heat. A drop of water, that can easily be mistaken as sweat, splashes my cheek as I pass by those five kids.Fire hydrants are only for emergencies not for children to be wasting the water on child’s play, I think to myself as I move my least piece of furniture into my new home. I was used to living in luxury, but I needed to do this volunteer work to seem as selfless as possible to my parents so they wouldn’t cut me off…

Yan Li