From an early age, I showed an interest in becoming a police officer, or rather, I became interested in adventure and excitement...

I grew up watching over my shoulder and trying to keep the peace in our home. Though I breathed the air of misfortune, it did not affect...

But on the inside, things became unfortunately dysfunctional as their marriage faded into nothing. I spent a lot of time wishing I...

It was as if this passion for film was already in my blood. I mean, come on. Kelsey Parris the Filmmaker. It had a good ring to it. Since...

I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1990, maturing in a stable suburban environment, my first memories made on the playground. Besides what...

I often felt fearful as a young girl. My parents struggled to provide for us, causing an air of tension in our home. But if I wanted...

It’s an easy sentiment to offer someone else, but it took a long time for me to view my own figure in this way. Loving my body has been...

All of us have been given a purpose—I believe it. Finding it is the challenge, and once finding it, taking the risks necessary to fulfill...

My young whirring mind was as sharp as a whetstone, always looking to gain more knowledge. I was fascinated by how things worked...

At 100 years old, I’ve roamed the earth longer than many. I watched the Prohibition, Elvis Presley, and over a dozen presidents come and...

I had good, rowdy mates to play Cricket with and go to raucous Saturday morning kids’ movies with, and I went to a private British school...

With so little to do, teenagers hung out and partied in the barns. Life in our community was slow—with the exception of the one...

I’d climb on the roof of the house. I knew it was forbidden, but it felt like a faraway and mystical place. It still kind of is...

And suddenly pop—there I was. Well, it wasn’t so much a pop, and I’m sure there was a whole lot more screaming and bad language, but...

Quitting often means you’ve failed at something, but for me, this was like turning over a new leaf. Now, quitting isn’t exactly a habit...

I planned to climb out of my castle and ride my white horse to victory. To me, it sounded simple. Unfortunately, no one told me that a...

In fact, I seemed perfectly normal until about age four. That’s when I began walking on my toes with a sort of limp, as if I were...

Like some girls do, I used to dream of my marriage. On this day, I imagined myself in a white dress, surrounded by the people I love...

But as I crept toward young adulthood, I began to dream of life outside the 20-mile radius of my home. Surely there was more...

I grew up without a hometown. As the eldest child of an active duty military pilot, much of my childhood was spent moving from state to...