It started with food being thrown across a table. A dare. A challenge. A single oily rice paper landing on her newly-washed blouse suddenly made her feel brave for the first time in her life. She felt a spark, a calling to do something with no plan or structure. The…

For my twenty-first birthday, my friend got me a shitload of balloons and shoved them all in the backseat of my car. I drove home from her house experiencing the comfort of their presence and the fear that one of them would pop. The squeaking sound that the rubber made…

1: Wake up extra late. Hit the snooze bar twice for every time the thought “Am I really going to do this?” crosses your mind. 2: Keep yourself busy all day to distract yourself from the feeling of absolute dread every time you think about it. Study like you have…

The following is a recorded series of snippets from support group meetings that the author has attended. The published transcripts have been used with permission from all participants in the support group. Day 1 [applause] “Hi, everyone. Thanks for the warm welcome. My name is Angela. Recently, I’ve come to…

There once lived a sheltered, naïve girl named Riding Hood. Her protective mother showered her with schoolwork, chores and an overwhelming amount of SAT practice workbooks to keep her busy. When the girl finally set foot outside of her suffocating home, the sweet breath of freedom was like a toxic…

I sulked in the corner of the room in my fluffy, rainbow wig. The red ball that had been clipped to my nose kept slipping and was constantly in my line of vision. The more I saw it, the angrier I got. My kindergarten class was putting on a skit…