At just 13 years old, Meskerem Glegziabher left her home in Ethiopia as war threatened. She’s spent decades seeking to find the place she can truly call home.
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Robin Wall Kimmerer thought she could teach her students about science by taking them to the forest. But she discovered it was the land itself, not her, that did the deeper, more important work.
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When Ayanna Thompson saw little white children wearing blackface makeup, she was stunned and angry. She wrote her book to confront and remember this collective American history.
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Rolf Halden found relief and faced life-threatening danger in nature. Over time he realized that humans are not separate from the environment—and he has a duty to help protect it.
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Greg Marshall didn’t want to walk down the aisle. But it wasn’t because of the rain or second thoughts about getting married or doubts about how lucky he was to find his husband.
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After an exhausting 2019 and a tough pandemic year, Christopher Schaberg found time to teach his children to ride bikes. Unexpectedly, he rediscovered hope and promise for the future.
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As a middle-schooler, Sarah Viren shared her most intimate thoughts and feelings by writing in her journal to God. Over time, she began to question both her own life and the destination of her writing.
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Witnessing the death of a classmate’s brother made Isaiah Matthew Wooden realize he lives in a world hostile to Black being. But it was only later, after further loss, that he fully grasped how vulnerable he is to plunder.
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Max Bernstein struggled with the terror of drowning, until they decided to embrace their fear and learn how to breathe under the ocean.
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Cindy Lee, born in America to Korean immigrants, never thought her race or ethnicity made her “other.” Until the coronavirus—and rising prejudice against Asian-Americans—changed that.
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Bobby Malley talked openly in his high school class about his Syrian background. Soon he faced an unwelcome reality as some classmates imagined him supporting the terrorists who caused 9/11.
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Brian K. Goodman, researching the experience of Beat poet Allen Ginsburg in 1965 Prague, met a man who matched his romantic idea of a Czech dissident. He later discovered how wrong he was.
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In Nigeria as a child and later on Wall Street, Nnamdi Igbokwe personally faced the reality of corruption. Those experiences convinced him he needed to dig deeper and understand the nature of this criminality.
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Raheem Hosseini remembers some awfully awkward get-togethers, but he’d give almost anything for more adventures with loving family members now gone.
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Steven Beschloss planned on making New Year’s resolutions in New York. But he and his wife soon realized they had no idea how to plan for the future with the coming arrival of their first-born child.
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When her dad passed away several days after Christmas, Sally Kitch wondered if she would ever be able to enjoy the holidays again.
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As a young Jewish girl, Evelyn Block could not hide her attraction to the excitements of Christmas. But she soon realized how important it was to embrace her heritage and honor her immigrant family’s struggles.
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Traditions of the season were pushed aside when Damian Sebouhian’s father, a devout atheist and struggling with Alzheimer’s, announced to the family that he had had enough.
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Sarah Kasbeer has written a book revealing assaults she survived years ago. But as much as she yearns to share that most personal writing with her parents, she realizes they are reluctant to dredge up the past.
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As a young Black man in the Deep South, Danny Cherry Jr. had become accustomed to looking away when cruel policies led to violence or death. But two dead refugees at the border changed that.
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