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A Name, A Name, My Kingdom for a Name
How I got my name In the late 1970’s, my mother — visibly pregnant with me — was hitchhiking in rural North Carolina. Leading my three-year-old sister Karina by the hand, they climbed into the back of a stranger’s pickup truck. With my father out of town, they couldn’t reasonably ride his Honda Hawk motorcycle…
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Careers I Once Entertained
The opportunities I passed on Following is a list of fifteen professions I gave serious consideration to, in order of increasing risk of peril, and the reasons why I didn’t pursue them. Nun Why: I like the idea of uniforms. Not the khakis and polo shirts of big box stores, adorned with plastic name tags,…
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That Time I Applied to Harvard (Twice)
Life’s painful lessons Remember when I applied to Harvard? Twice? I do. It was a long shot, and yet, my plan seemed foolproof. When I applied in 2006 (and again in 2007), I didn’t do it because I could afford tuition, had impressive extracurricular activities, or even had good GRE scores. I had none of…
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Lost in Lake Charles
How I was foiled by a sugar packet I shivered inside my puffy, gray coat, a hand-me-down from my older sister. I hadn’t expected it to be cold in Louisiana, even in December. My navy blue corduroy pants and purple Puma sneakers weren’t keeping me warm enough, and I wished my family would hurry up…
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Summer Squall
A beach day cut short In June of 1985, my older sister Karina’s eleventh birthday was spent at Newfound Lake, a pristine state park in New Hampshire. It was our favorite place to spend our summer days. Along with our family, a handful of my sister’s friends were also there to celebrate the occasion. Following…
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Six Inches Under
A hamster’s demise It was bad timing when my teddy bear hamster passed away. I sensed it was Coy’s last night on earth when his usual frenetic movements became exaggeratedly slow. I watched him through the side of his glass cage, smiling down at him like a mother who loves her child with all her…
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A Flick of the Pen 