Think About This
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
October 02, 2019
My nickname in my friend group is “the emotional toilet.” Not really the most glamorous of nicknames. Essentially it refers to my tendency to become someone for the people in my life (mostly men) to vent to and drop their emotional baggage on without expecting the favor to be returned. I’ve always prided myself on being a good listener and trying to help people solve their issues. Being needed can be addicting sometimes, but there’s a fine line between helping someone and trying to “fix”
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
October 02, 2019
Redheads, of course, are not like other girls. In literature (and just maybe in life), red hair is an encoded promise to deliver the heroine from standard girlhood; it guarantees a life worth telling, implying that most girls’ are not. Redheaded heroines are witty, undaunted, independent, and bold, qualified for narrative-worthy lives which “other girls” can’t access. She is the one whom the billionaire will adopt (Little Orphan Annie) or whose estranged parents will reunite after she meets
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
October 02, 2019
As I begin my journey into womanhood, I find things such as starting a family crossing my mind more and more. I think: When do I want to start having children? How many do I want? How much time does that give me to plan my own life and career?
I have always loved children, and I’ve always looked forward to the—very far—day I will begin having them. Most of the time when I ask myself these questions, it’s for fun. I have no serious inclination to have children any time soon, and
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
October 01, 2019
The memory of writing my first ever short story is clearly etched in my mind. I remember the setting (an elementary school), the characters (a class of third graders) and the conflict (a radioactive lizard, loose in the classroom). I also remember that all of the characters in that first story, and in my next dozen, were all white.
I have been writing stories for more than a decade, but I have only just begun, slowly, to dare to think of myself as a writer (the title feels elusive,
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
September 18, 2019
The menstrual cup is intimidating, to say the least. I come from a community in which many believe that somehow tampons can take your virginity and are thus something to fear and be protected from. It’s easy to see how this might conflict with my desire for the relatively more invasive menstrual cup. Fortunately for me, after my mother laughed at me about the idea of the cup, she encouraged me to try
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
September 18, 2019
As I begin my fourth and final year at the prestigious University of Virginia (thank God), I realize I find myself feeling a combination of three ways:
- Excited
- Relieved
- Terrified
I’m excited because I'm leaving. I’m relieved because I’m leaving. And I am terrified because… I have to leave.
My journey at UVA has been complicated (see previous article).
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
September 18, 2019
From a very young age my father instilled in me a love of cooking. Over the years he tried to teach me the culinary basics: the art of pairing flavors, the five mother sauces of French cuisine, the importance of making sure meat remains tender, and the fact that if you ask any Italian chef they will downright condemn putting cheese on seafood. Thinking back now, I realize that I have encountered fish and cheese before (your classic lox and cream cheese on an everything bagel), but for some
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
September 18, 2019
In fifth grade, as I sat at a lunch table eating with my classmates, a boy at the table over called me “freakishly tall.” When I reached seventh grade, I towered over even my basketball teammates. As a freshman in high school, I was frequently asked by adults what year I was in college. Suffice it to say, I’ve always been tall. I can point to a number of instances in my life where my height has been the subject of jokes, comments, and passerbys’ mutterings. Whether by my own doing or by
Photo courtesy of The Citizen Foundation.
September 18, 2019
“In our society, those who are educated sit on chairs and those who aren’t sit on the floor.”
These words from Shabana, a woman from Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, highlight an uncomfortable truth about the way class and education are entwined in what might ungenerously be referred to as the real world. In Pakistan and elsewhere, a person’s level of education is a precursor (although gatekeeper might be a more accurate term) to dignity, status and wealth. The astronomical gulf
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
April 16, 2019
I keep a list of things I want in the notes app on my phone (right below my grocery list and right above late-night ruminations on the failures of my life). Some time ago, I would use this “want” note as a safety blanket or a calming mechanism, relishing in capitalistic promises of a shopping high in the face of immediate stressors like exams and papers. Such a dependency left me feeling pretty empty inside, so I’ve left this note in neglect, and try instead to