Graduate Student, she/her, a mental health advocate, loves learning, will always be found with her nose in a book, working on holding space for all our quirks.
Blue shimmery rectangles of water. Pools frightened B, sprinklers did too. 7-year old B, wears a pink polka-dotted swimsuit and walked to the steps of the swimming pool. B tries to ignore her mother in the stands. A kind woman approaches B from the water and holds her hands out.
“I love the detailing on this, the colors blend so well. Wonderful illustration, D!” A graphic designer, she is listening to her mentor’s feedback on an illustration for a publication. D repeats the words to herself: “wonderful illustration, wonderful illustration, wonderful..” D stops mid-thought: “Was it really? The edges
“Groups of 4, please. I hope all of you have a wonderful time building this together!” I remember looking at the three strangers beside me. My earliest memory of working with a team was in elementary school, an exercise to create environment-friendly posters for Environment Day. As a young adult,
My grandmother is amused that I would like to share an anecdote about her online, she laughed and agreed. I watch my grandmother solve the Sudoku, a habit she has resolved to commit to religiously over the years. She has watched the news for longer hours over the week. It
I write this as I think about a chair. A chair, you ask. The chair, I reply definitively. Perhaps this chair was a corner of your bed, a designated space in your room. Spaces where you allow things to pile up, the stack of old clothes, a missing sock, books.
I finish an assignment and wince at the screen of my laptop. Review content, formatting, word limit, references. I run through a mental checklist. 'Turn In', my work will now be graded by a Professor. "Will she approve of this?", comes to me with ease, I
Can introductions create safer spaces? Let us reflect on F's story. F listened in to everyone introduce themselves, quietly nodding and acknowledging the wonderful team he was going to work with. It was F's turn to speak. "Hey everyone! I am F, my pronouns are
Mid-year cleaning. I find myself sitting amidst a room with books and surprisingly, bags. Laptop cases, old school bags, reusable jute bags, colorful cloth pieces. I hold an old backpack and open it to find notes that date back to a few years ago. I chuckle as I notice a
A deadline approaches, a new project, peers who are working to meet targets, a to-do list that looms over you, and a full calendar. You break for lunch. Walk over to your space for lunch and open up your packed lunch or set out your food in front of you.
How do we approach apologizing? We have all had to admit our shortcomings and hold space for another, too. Apologizing, on the contrary, does not create a binary of right and wrong, it fosters space for understanding. Perhaps, apologies can strengthen our relationships. V and R are friends. V forgets
Motivational posters lettered as "Positive vibes only", "Work harder", “Just do it.” stifle how we may feel in the moment. When we hold back on how we truly feel, we tend to pile these feelings inside us. If you kept pushing paperwork to the edge of