Category Archives: Uncategorized

Note: This piece was written just prior to high school graduation in 2017, reflecting on the passage of time, and using the theme to look back on my three weeks in Beijing, China the previous summer. “Nǐ hǎo! Huānyíng dào běijīng shǒudū guójì jīchǎng!” Hello! Welcome to Beijing Capital International Airport!  Wow. What am IContinue reading “Wrinkles in Time”

Note (1/15/20): This piece was written in the summer of 2017 prior to my arrival at the U of M and in reaction to the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn I feel like I’m hallucinating… or at least high, that’s for sure. 36,000 feet to be precise, and somewhere above the general vicinity of theContinue reading “Airlines, Argentina, and the American Standard”

Note: This essay was written in a Fall 2019 University of Minnesota course, “Living the Good Life at the End of the World: Sustainability in the Anthropocene” I’m sitting cross-legged, yogi-like, deep in meditation next to a small pond in an endless forest under an endless sky, bathing under a stippled canvas of stars andContinue reading “Personal Values in this Age of the “Anthropocene””

Note: This essay was written in a Fall 2019 University of Minnesota course, “Living the Good Life at the End of the World: Sustainability in the Anthropocene” In a rapidly-dwindling nineteen months from this date, should all go according to plan (yes, Mom, I promise to see it through…), I will finish my undergraduate degreeContinue reading “Definitions of a “Good Life:” Differences Between Myself and My Society”

Note (1/15/20): This short piece was originally written in Fall 2017 for a University of Minnesota course entitled “Reality 101: a Survey of the Human Predicament” One may say it’s impossible to be an enlightened by a speedy weenie. Actually, it’s likely no one in the history of humanity, language, or culture has ever utteredContinue reading “Life as a Speedy Weenie: Joys + Issues of Sports Tribalism”

Note: the following is a short reflection on language, translation, and my study abroad experience in Beijing, China in July of 2016. “Zhōngguó…” “Zhooonnnggghuó…” I, and my classmates around me, test this new word gingerly in our unacquainted mouths, a cacophony of mumbling, unflattering dictations filling the room as our Chinese teacher listens closely. ThisContinue reading “Zhōngguó”

Note: This piece was written in the summer of 2016 as part of a high school class, “Watershed Wisdom.” It’s dated, but the feelings are still the same. The pristine water gleams in the early morning light, millions upon millions of tiny crystals glistening and dancing with the sun. Gently pulsating in the light breeze,Continue reading “Life on the Thumb of Wisconsin”

I still have bits of earth that should be of no use to me. In my bedroom cubby corner papered with a knife’s edge of dust  lay mud-caked rubber  and laces cracked like peppercorn: a pair, to be precise. Tonight, bolts of thickly-stitched fabric woven from tendriling time  and trails gone by ribbon out inContinue reading “Calls of the Wild”

Note (1/15/20): This is fictional, but not entirely. My own experiences during and after a trip to Israel-Palestine in January 2019 played a big hand in this, in addition to my own family background. I cannot possibly — and would not try to — speak to the true lived experiences of Palestinians, this is justContinue reading “Haifan Dreams; or, All We Stand to Lose”

Note: This essay was originally written in the summer of 2016, following the completion of a three-week study abroad program in China, an experiential / environmental high school class, and a yearly vacation with my family. I’m laying on a hard, wooden dock, shivering from the unanticipated cold under a threadbare blanket. My shoulder aches,Continue reading “Simple Joys: Beautiful Complexities between Beijing, Europe Lake, and the Milwaukee Watershed”