Your science teacher asks you, “Do you want to pursue a career in science?”  You answer, “I want to be a genetics researcher.”  Your friend, Johny, answers, “I want to. Be a genetics researcher.”  The words in both sentences are…

Here’s a short story that (somewhat) captures how I felt during the college application process. Hope you enjoy! “I haven’t done enough.” I sighed, leaning my head back against a locker and holding my books against my chest. Yes, I…

I’ve been conditioned to internalize the phrase: “Hard work pays off.” It’s what my fourth grade math teacher repeated as a thinly veiled attempt to motivate us students: If you spend some time studying – and I mean actually doing…

This is a throwback to an essay I wrote a while ago. As a young person trying to define what “success” really is, it was insightful to consider what role technology (and specifically social media) has in shaping visions of…

Picture Perfect They are sitting very close together – not by choice. The small, round dining table is only suited for six people, and not ten, the number necessary for the whole family to get together. As the sister spoons…

Renowned paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould remarked, “There’s been no biological change in humans in 40,000 or 50,000 years. Everything we call culture and civilization we’ve built with the same body and brain” (Templeton, 2010). Such ideas have led to the…