Jjajangmyeon, or black bean noodles, have always been a family favorite: thick wheat noodles drenched in a sweet and sour sauce the color of rich soil, a deep, dark brown. Glazed onions and meats tucked away like hidden gems in the mess. As a matter of fact, my favorite baby photos are of me and my two brothers, dark chocolate-colored noodles spilled all over our fronts and faces, staining our soft, peach-like skin. In elementary school, I probably ate the most jjajangmyeon I

The police gave her to me in one of their yellow jackets And nothing else When she didn’t go quickly enough He grabbed the front of it and threw her on the stretcher The thud reverberated Her bare legs were cold and bloody Her knees bore two crimson oases Revealed by broken skin I laid a blanket over her Two small red stains materialized before me, I pretended not to notice They said, “she’s on amphetamines.” The whites of her eyes were embraced by thin red capillaries Her pu

Andromeda, Scorpius, Orion. I trace my finger in the air, mapping out the constellations. Following the trails of plastic stars I taped to my ceiling at the beginning of freshman year. The only reason that I was ever able to fall asleep. But I’m not asleep right now. Wide awake, but not because of some stupid math test. I wish. I never thought I would hate work as much as I hated school. But I do. I roll over and stare at my chair in the corner. I used to throw my skates over

I’ve never gone through heartbreak before - until this July. It was a Romeo and Juliet-style tragedy, the tragic loss of the love of my life. At music camp this year, the orchestra played some selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet suites. But they were so much more than just a collection of movements - they told the story of what was actually going on in our lives. With “Montagues and Capulets,” the dark storminess and intensity reflected upon the first few days - anxi

How AI is revolutionizing the 21st-century student Every high schooler knows the panic that floods through your body when your teacher says to hand in an assignment you didn’t do. Your head goes into panic mode, figuring out a last- minute way to save your grade before it plummets down. But to your relief you remember, ChatGPT exists. And your teacher ceases to know the fact that a robot did your homework. For those who aren’t in high school anymore, taking advantage of this

I am afraid to speak up because historically, Fantastical females have been burned at the stake And although I do not believe in witchcraft I cannot deny that magic flows through these veins And I wonder if they burned so that you and I could rise from the ashes But there are still embers here and it is hot hot hot So hot that I melt and disconfigure until, I don’t even recognize myself But some force, Presses us until we are beauty We are diamonds Passed around from the rubb

To the ice cream lovers A Little Girl And Her Ice Cream My belly full from eating samples at the Korean grocery store, my eyes hung heavily but the bright, lit-up sign proudly announcing “Dairy Queen”, broke me out of my food coma. “Dairy Queen!” I shouted enthusiastically. “Pull over! Pull over! PUL-EESE!” I commanded my dad. My parents exchanged a look, and with a sigh, my dad started signaling to enter the parking lot. I cheered enthusiastically, clutching my comfort blank

Fast food and fast casual restaurants are generally found together within one area, such as outdoor malls and plazas. Restaurants “team up” to help advance each other’s businesses. These places will include a variety of popular fast food restaurants to prove to the customers that they have the freedom to pick where they want to eat, making the customers more likely to eat at at least one restaurant as opposed to none at all. As big chain restaurants differ in specialization o

I want to be like the sky The bold blue miscellaneous hues I want to grab it and hold it close to my chest And never let it go Feel it surround me Like a warm, knit blanket A bear hug that suffocates Squeezing all the fear out of my lungs But it always evades my grasp Because real beauty cannot be held or kept back Even when we’re within it We still can't touch it I want to be like the sky No one could question me I want to be like the sky They’d marvel at my beauty I want to

감사합니다 Thank You Sunlight cast a warm glow on the colorful market in Korea. “C’mon!” I called to my friend, beckoning her in my direction. The two of us were taste-testing street food. Though she lived here, it was my first time visiting and I was buzzing with excitement. I had been begging my parents to come here for years. My mouth watered as the sweet scent of cinnamon filled the air. Following the smell, I joined a few people in front of a stand where a man was handing out

The house in my head Is an upscale cottage With solid hardwood floors And warm wood paneling The stools at the breakfast bar All have backs And there’s a window right above the sink The curtains are pale blue With lace trim No expense was spared There’s a garden out back With a bubbling bird bath And bright-colored blooms There’s a stone path And a covered swing My dream one day is to sit on that swing And read Poetry I don’t want to hold the heavy loudness on my shoulders I

Halle Bailey in the Little Mermaid On September 9th, 2022, Disney released the first new look for the live-action movie The Little Mermaid coming in 2023 with a grand announcement: Ariel is going to be black. Immediately following the release of the trailer, social media was stormed with endless waves of hate. Racism overwhelmed the issue through Twitter hashtags and millions of Youtube dislikes. Because Ariel is black, people in support and opposition alike all had a word to

appear to me in waves foamy surfaces diffuse then smash against rock pebble & sand light’s muted shine in white trim: an arabesque about torrents of navy-black water the pealing reminder a piccolo gives an orchestra—her keys flutter as mimics the bird sounding an endless trill float over fluid foundation dip & dive under covers from above ebb to the shore, cower, disperse but don’t disappear your image apprehensive a refraction of light synapse seiche in my mind; disrupted my

Original novel written by Isabela Santana Michelle Grant had always been fascinated by gems, the ones that shimmered in the sun and reflected off her hazel eyes. Gems were precious stones, ones that people desired to have. They weren’t like gold and silver, both too bulky and heavy to hold. Gems were the stones people wore against their skin, the jewels that radiated wealth. As a girl, she didn’t have real gems, only the tiny, plastic ones that came with the board game she an

Anime and Manga have recently established a strong foothold in the western entertainment industry. Just walk into your local Barnes and Noble and look at the manga section. It has increased exponentially and is even slowly eating away at the American comics section. For anyone out of the loop on nerd culture, manga is essentially Japanese comic books. When I refer to a chapter of manga, think of an issue of an American comic such as Batman. Anime is simply the animated form o

I. strike half of my body clear the impurities I am desperately trying to hold onto halve my ancestors erase them from your history and all of your significance will not be clean till with only you I identify O you who from same descent make your promises cleave my body and cleave our experience memory photo, video and the person I cannot unsee in any given mirror like fathers like sons II. and so may I lay be it in vast & endless clouds of the heavens, in cadence & rhythm of

What does "chronically online" mean? People use cancel culture because they want to set the standards of a certain political or controversial stance, which everyone is free and encouraged to do as long as the freedom of expression/speech exists. This is especially true for young people, who are allowed to have opinions on how societal beliefs can move forward in life. But they have no way to actually make a change without the use of social media, since technology is readily a

To the young men who feel unaffected by the recent repeal of Roe v. Wade, With the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade, pro-choice activists have had to resort to new methods of civil disobedience in order to gain back their rights. Red states have put bans and restrictions on abortion rights. Some states outright banned abortion while others like our own only made it harder to achieve. Regardless, these restrictions have caused a massive influx of people who need abortions but do