Personal Essays

  Reconciliation      I have never been a very talkative and outgoing person. More recently, I have been made aware of the fact. It was Christmas Eve of last year, and we had invited a few guests over to share dinner. My mother is a very talkative and outgoing person as she was an only child and seeks to make everyone feel at home and cared for; she wants to project love for the siblings she never had. She was very active with the guests while still somehow managing to finish up her cooking. My father was in charge of the music and talked with the dads and adults. Then lastly, my sisters had yet to finish getting ready and hadn't come down to interact with the guests. I had been downstairs snacking on the small trays of grapes, crackers, and cheese. When the guests had arrived, I did not cower away at the sight of human interaction, nor did I jump in excitement to meet them. I would go out of my way to at least introduce myself and maintain a small conversation if th...

  Arduous Art      The plastic models I have constructed throughout my adolescence and teenage years. The first time I was gifted a plastic model kit, I was confused. I thought to myself, “This can't be right; shouldn't they have constructed it before?” The challenge was daunting and demanding. I needed tweezers, pliers, and a special adhesive called Plastic Cement. The sheer amount of tools and precision needed to fulfill the project was frightening. I was exploring a cave with a match to light my way. Unboxing the kit unveiled the trays of pieces I need to put together to create the tank. Glancing at the instructions was no help, vague annotations on a large diagram of an unfinished tank. Arrows and letters are paired with numbers to differentiate the myriad of pieces, such as “A3” or “B20”.  Being placed in the middle of the fire, I had to navigate my way to the exit. I began to cut out the pieces and try to assemble them according to the diagram on the instr...