I have always been an easy-going person. Most of my life, I had basically had one mood: happy, more than able to roll with the punches.

At this point, the band had been on the road for days. Our clothes were glued to our bodies with sweat and our muscles winced from nights...

Loud voices painted the walls of my family’s house in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We shared laughter and home-cooked meals at our large...

I was a very chubby kid since childhood; I enjoyed food and was very carefree. I loved to dance and sing. I grew up with one sister who...

I had a very cheerful childhood—at least until I turned four. That was when my parents got divorced. Studies say that people often don’t...

My mother was still a student when she had me and literally had to take her final exams with me crying my lungs out next to her...

Remember that episode of The Simpsons when Bart divorces his parents? He moves into a wicked loft-style apartment with what little...

It’s a late night under an inky sky as I walk across campus from the theatre back to my apartment. The chilly night air rustles past me...

The human spirit is very resilient. We can pick back up when we fail, and fail, and fail. We can find hope when we are still battling...

My job was to look after the chickens and then collect and clean their eggs. As a family, we all worked together to keep the farm running...

When I close my eyes, I can still see the two sunlit rivers and the wide mountain meadows surrounding our house. I was born on a cold...

Life has a funny way of teaching us lessons, right? For me, it seems like every time I say, “I won’t do this” or “I won’t become that...

As the last born in a family of six siblings, I don’t remember much of my childhood until the death of my father in 1997. When my mother...

I was much more scared than I was thrilled when we got the call to come to Jewish hospital where someone was dying of chronic heart...

September 1, 2017. To many this was just another day; but for me, it was my last day as a “Ms.” The next day, I was going to say “I do...

I grew up with a warped understanding of love and received little attention from my parents. I searched for affection all my life, but...

I was just another “All-American girl,” born to a hard-working single mom of North Philly in the glorious 90s. My weekends were spent...

My mom was a nurse, and my dad was a realtor in Lekki, Lagos. My dad was strict with me since I was the first born, but my mom had a warm...

It was not by mistake that I was named after my clan, “Nyakach.” My parents must have had great hopes for me when they gave me this name...

With politics dividing this country, and “Nazi” being used on both sides of the divide, I often wonder how people can come back together...