My Side Quests
What are your hobbies?
It's such a simple question. Deceptively simple, even. Whether it’s meeting your roommate for the first time or waiting awkwardly in line at Levering Kitchens, I’m sure many of us have encountered this staple of small talk. Answering this question should be easy — second nature by now. Yet it’s one I’ve always struggled to respond to.
My toxic situationship with crochet
One morning, I woke up to find my phone charger unceremoniously tugged to the floor. A skein of baby pink yarn, studded with my 0.7 mm crochet hook, was tangled with my charging cable. My toxic situationship wanted attention, and it had decided that aggressively strangling my phone was the best way to receive it.
How to regain your reading habit
This past winter break, the first day I checked my to-do list and saw no pressing items, I made it my mission to regain my reading habit and make my inner child feel fulfilled once again.
POV: Your hobby has now become a career
I love theater — there is a reason why I still do it as much as I do. It’s how I met my friends, and spending such an immense amount of time delving into a character and their intentions is wonderful. However, having an extracurricular that is now a potential career path creates a complicated dynamic between the two.
Meditating on meditation
Recently, I have taken up meditation. It is one of those things you turn to when you fall into a post-grad quarter-life crisis in your early twenties (you’ll know what I’m talking about when the time comes, trust me).
Is this side quest really worth it?
True side quests should be done for the love of the game, independent of any career goal. But even though they are done out of love, these quests should be treated just as seriously and with equal standards as a “main” quest. Here’s an example from my own life.
A simple journaling exercise that is building my life
I have always kept a journal but have never been consistent with writing in it. When I was a little kid, the pages were more or less filled with my frustration about situations like my sister eating the last popsicle. However, my entries have evolved, and I now have finally acquired a habit of journaling.
From the classroom and beyond, my journey with CCSL
The energy in a middle school classroom is quite unpredictable.As a Head Mentor for the Charm City Stem League, I’ve learned that my most important job isn’t just teaching science; it’s meeting students exactly where they are emotionally and turning that energy into a productive, inspired hour of discovery and curiosity.
Clocking in as a girl who is trying
I started therapy a couple of weeks ago. At one of our first appointments, my therapist asked me what I do for “fun.” In response, I just stared at her — jaw slacked, and eyes glossed over, like she just asked me to do cartwheels across the harbor.