week 5- lindsay

Sometimes I think about sand at the beach. Like the really fine, white sand that you can pick up and see all these little stones in. I always wonder about how many unknown things can be in sand. Maybe a tiny piece of a shell from a sea creature we haven't discovered, or this little pebble was on the leg of someone that went to the beach in france. Or another is so old that it was seen before humans existed.

week 4- lindsay

everyone has defining moments in life, but very few of us know what those defining moments are/were. what if all of the things that have made us who we are were in our first years of life and we will never remember. I can say an alcoholic relative has made me not want to drink, but how has that decision impacted my personality? and what is that fact that my relative drank, or the way it impacted others that has an impact?

Week 4 - Eric

I went home one afternoon, very stressed about what I had to do in the near future. I then promptly accidentally fell asleep for 13 hours and woke up and I wasn't worried anymore.

Week 3 - Eric

saw two abandoned license plates outside of a walgreens. They had been ripped off.

Week 4

I ran for Speech and Debate captain today. When I put in my vote, it went to my competitor not myself. Many people possibly judge me. I judge me. But, I hate voting myself. Why do people do that? Should one not as a gracious competitors support others no matter what?

Week 5- Priyanka

I’m thankful I have two older brothers. Sure they’re not great sometimes, but I would murder anyone who lay a finger on them. It's the same for my guy friends, they're my idiots...Numbers are weird. Typing is your fingers tap dancing at the speed of light depending on how good you are at the sport. I have dreams and a passion. Not all of it will work out but that’s what my life is about. I really like my nails but they’re already chipping away like my tolerance for fake people. Surface level doesn’t mean  anything till you actually know them...

Week 2 - Eric

Saw a guy get pulled over in front of where I work. (pulled over, he was in the process of parking when the cop got behind and turned his lights on) they cop looked distressed and waved his arms a lot, before he left about ten minutes after he pulled him over. The driver then got out of his car and walked in and ordered something. He had a shower cap on.

Prisha - Week 5

Sometimes I see things out of the corner of my eye. Sometimes it's vaguely humanoid shapes, sometimes it's a monster.
I always wonder what would happen if those little shapes turned out to be something real.
Or maybe I should just sleep more.

Week 5 - Meghana Vadassery

I'm guilty of breaking promises. Promises to stay in contact and to keep in touch and whatnot, that is. I've got friends on the other side of the world who I think about regularly, but I can never find it in me to email them. Not even a simple "hello", or "how are you". I feel awful, and that pulls me away from emailing them, and then the cycle continues.
Last night, I set aside the time and faced the problem head-on. I emailed an old friend of mine, and poured out my feelings between profuse apologies. How much I missed them, how I wished they were here, how I felt terrible and I felt the burning need to overcome the obstacle that was distance and time.
I hope they respond.

Week 4 - Meghana Vadassery

President Warren G. Harding was a serial adulterer, even during his time in office. He died of a heart attack before his vice, Calvin Coolidge, succeeded him. The interesting thing about it? Coolidge hardly ever approved of Harding's decisions, and when he died, his wife wasn't interested in seeing an autopsy.
Conspiracy? Planned murder? Now, I'm not implying anything here, but....

Week 3 - Meghana Vadassery

I listened to this podcast on schadenfreude - a pleasure that comes from seeing others suffer. It sprouts from jealousy, and I thought to myself how many times I've experienced such a feeling. Way too many to count - that's for sure. But the more I analyzed myself, the less I liked what I was seeing. It's not right to become happy at another's expense (unless they're really, really evil), but it's present all the same. It's inalienable, and I guess all emotions are. But maybe it's how and when we choose them that differs.
So how do you get rid of an emotion you don't like? If all these feelings are innate and a part of ourselves, then it's really impossible to dispose of a bad feeling. Are they like dormant monsters, ready to awaken and wreak havoc? Or can one come to peace with them and never bring it up? Does our behavior depend on how often certain emotions overcome us? Are our conscious selves just a pie chart? Is that what character is?

Elise - Week 5

Someone asked me today if I would give up music or movies/TV if I had to choose one. This was much more difficult than I expected it to be.

Week 5 Carter

It's funny, the discrepancy between difficulties of different teachers. One of my teachers is widely regarded as one of the toughest in the school. On the other side of the spectrum, I have two of the easiest teachers I've ever had. It just seems like a comical paradox to me.

Hannah Uler - Post 5

I'm brainstorming plots for a YA novel with my mom, but we can't agree on what magic system to use, or how many subplots to have, or whether or not the curse is placed on an object or a person. I need time to sit down with her and talk everything over, and creativity to solve these problems, but time and creativity are not abundant in either of us lately.

Week 5- Nick Q

Sometimes I get in the mood to just bother people. Its very easy to do simple small things that for some reason really bother some people. Like my friend Jack for example hates when I wear a headband. So I try and wear it around him as much as possible.

Week 5 - Sophie Zhu

There was just always something about the lilts and subtle accents in people’s voices that captured my attention. The languages that flow through my being, from my mind to my fingers to the games I play and food I eat, intertwine in a dissonant harmony, interconnected yet uniquely different at the same time.

Week 5 - Caroline D

I don’t know why, but I feel like I saw 12 different police cars when driving around today. No it wasn’t the same car following me. I didn’t do anything illegal. I think I would know if I did. I don’t know. I just thought that was creepy. Maybe there was a criminal on the loose and every policeman and in Westford was on patrol. Or maybe I was out driving for too long... You decide.

Samiul Week 5

Why do people purposefully torture themselves by having kids? It makes no sense. The only practical purposes for the existence of children are to continue population, make previous generations feel hella old, increase spending to boost the economy, flex on your haters, save a marriage, or to perpetuate the lie that goodness still exists. Do you need kids to make life work? Answer: NO.

Week 5 Grace

When I was younger, I used to be so scared that everyone else on the planet were robots and I was the only human. I'm not sure why I thought this, but I'm glad I no longer think it.

Week Five Laura

Sometimes in the mornings I achieve maximum blanket cocoon potential. Every time that I do I ask myself if I will do anything during that day that could possibly be more important than staying within that cocoon. I've yet to think of anything that does matter more, but I get up anyways.

Week five, Mehlhorn

I was talking to the intern in art class. He was telling me a story that went as follows, "The other day our studio mates were throwing snowballs at our window. After a while they decided to stop and build a snowman instead. When we went out to look at the snowman he had fallen apart sadly. Among the ruins of the snowman was a ball of cigarettes." I responded with, "How environmentally conservative of them." He then reassured me that they did clean the cigarettes up, due to the squirrels on campus that they enjoy watching. After a slight pause I responded. Without much thought I said, "Can squirrels get addicted? Would they know they have an addiction or would they just be aware of the fact that they are in need of something and just cannot for the life of them figure out what it is?" I looked up. We made eye contact and he burst out laughing. I was a little shocked, I guess I never realized that the crazy things running through my head were actually worthwhile to hear.

Week 5 Celine

It’s weird how so many people, myself included admittedly, are self-conscious about their noses. At its core, it is just a body part which serves one purpose: to smell. I think that if your nose is functioning well with that, it’s perfectly fine.

Week 4 - Elise

It is crazy how quickly your mood can change. I was having a bad day the other day, and once I received good news my mood completely changed for the better for the whole week. I wish we could make our mood change that quickly all of the time and with ease.

Week 3 - Elise

Not to sound braggy, but I found out I got into my top college last week. It has been a week and my mind still cannot comprehend it. All of the hard work and determination I put into especially the last 4 years of school finally paid off.

Week 4- Nick

When someone is tired, hungry, and or need to use the bathroom it is nearly impossible for them to think of, or do, anything else.

Week 3- Nick Q

I always need something to look forward too. It is really easy to fall into a pattern of life if you don't have goals to reach. That being said, spending every waking hour thinking only of one thing can suck the true meaning from life, and disappoint you with your material prize.

Week 4- Priyanka

Hm. So many thoughts, racing like those hot wheels you played with as a kid.What is good or bad? Can’t you be born tabula rasa as that guy once said? I sure as heck think so. Juice is a sweet poison, and friends are few and far for me. Maybe I try too much? Maybe I try too little? Who do I need to be good enough for? My parents? My teachers? My friends? Myself?... Why does 5 minutes of sleep feel like floating in heaven for 7 hours, but 7 hours feels like a rude 2 minutes in hell? What makes me different? Why do I need happiness in the future when I should just be happy NOW. Haha waaaay easier said than done...

Mehlhorn, Week four

I saw you today for the first time in a while. When did you get glasses?

Mehlhorn, Week three

I thought about you a lot today. I thought about your dog and how she was always excited to see me. I miss watching her run up and down your basement stairs. I thought about sitting on your couch and the way you used to put your arms around me. I realized that, if I ever sit there again, it may never feel the same. I thought about the way you used to smell, my grey leggings still smell exactly like you. I thought about that car ride. I knew you were looking at me the whole way there. It's the little things that have resonated. I hope you are doing well.

Week 4 - Caroline D

I used to think people who work on TV shows or movies always had it all figured out. Like they always know what to write for the next episode and what this character should do and whatnot. But for the past few months, I've realized that productions are never perfect. Crew members face setbacks and have to find a way to fix them. But this does not mean I have lost my faith in shows and movies. In fact knowing that they also make mistakes shows that it’s okay to for me to make mistakes too. 

Prisha - Week 4

Nothing represents my sexuality more than every time I have to shove my rainbow flag into a closet.
My parents find it anyways.

Prisha- Week 3

Sometimes, I want to write. Sometimes, I need to write. There's an urge, an incomparable urge, to spill out the words onto paper, a buzz under my fingers and in my brains that just needs to be expressed.
Sometimes, it starts to hurt a little. The buzz starts taking over.

Hannah Uler - Post 4

"You know," I say, "I'm kind of a disaster."
"Only slightly," he says, and I grin.

Week 4 Carter

Whenever I'm stressed, I like going for walks to relieve my mind. Something about the fresh air and immersing myself in nature helps reduce my stress exponentially.

Week 3 Carter

It's funny how different a song sounds depending on when you listen to it. I find that if I'm in a sad or pensive mood, the music I listen to becomes so much more meaningful and some songs really hit me. In my experiences, that doesn't really happen with rap or pop on the radio nowadays, just because of all the saturation and the amount of times said songs are played - to me they lose their uniqueness.

Week 4 Celine

I’ve been afflicted with the worst ennui for a while now. I feel like there’s massive hole within me that I desperately need to fill, but with what I don’t know. Love? Happiness? A purpose?

Week 4 Grace

I don't understand how life moves so quickly yet so slowly at the same time. I feel like I've been in high school for an eternity, but it feels like I was 6 years old not too long ago.

Week 4 Leila

My friend asked me to play music while she was driving. For some reason I felt like I had to defend every song when it came on, even though she didn’t care. I don’t know why sharing music feels so personal.

Week 3 Leila

A seven year old racing me in snow tubing yelled “you’re dead to me” as an intimidation tactic. I don’t think she knows how the phrase is usually used.

Week 4 - Pappalardo

Music is something which is very difficult to describe in writing, not sound in general but music specifically, especially when is is music the reader may have not heard before.

Week 3 - Pappalardo

Procrastinating consistently can really mess up your life, although it can sometimes cause you to work your hardest, always consistently being late to the start of something is not necessarily good. I find that sometimes studying, for example, can be more efficient when I procrastinate but an essay on the other hand is not something to wait until the last minute to do.

Week 3 - Caroline D

My trig class is next to the bathrooms. In the middle of a lesson, My teacher, my classmates, and I heard some guy walk by playing music. It caught our attention. The next thing we knew this guy walks in the boys bathroom and we hear cheers from other guys. They must’ve been having a party.

Week 4 Laura

My teacher recently told me that I have the same level of confidence as Caesar did immediately before he got stabbed. My classmates agreed.

Samiul Week 3

There was this kid named WIlliam Driscoll at work today. He usually acts up, but, during our game of Jenga, we discussed about random things. For the first time, I felt like a normal human being. We transcended the tangible realm of human thought. I was considering asking his mother, if I could adopt him.

Week 4 Sophie Zhu

There’s something about the force of a hunger to learn that is indescribable. Perhaps the force is euphoric. There’s such liberation in knowledge.

Week 3 Grace

I fine it extremely difficult to remember other peoples birthdays no matter how hard I try. I have come to the conclusion that there are certain peoples birthdays that I will just never remember.

Week 3- Priyanka

 A couple weeks ago I was out at the doctors. It was on a Monday so while yayy no school, it also meant a series of uncomfortable tests being done out as I had to talk to a 40 year old practitioner. The nurse & I were in the middle of questions when the door opened. A young petite woman peered her head in. She wore bright green scrubs and began to say, "Hi Betha-". She quickly stopped herself, a puzzled look across her face as she sees my nurse. She awkwardly laughs & closes the door as Susan, my nurse, tells her she'll find her person in room 6. A little mistake, but it definitely helped break the tension in that sterile room. So for that, I thank that woman for her search for Bethany.

Week 3 Wood

I have so much time I can't do anything at all. All I used to think about was how little time I had to get things done, now I have so much time I don't do anything at all.

Hannah Uler - Post 3

Another post relating to a TV show (Star Trek: Discovery for those interested). A character who was murdered got resurrected and had the chance to interact with his regretful murderer. The event gives me a lot of fascinating ideas. What must it be like to talk to and maybe connect with the person who killed you? Conversely, imagine looking into the face of a person you murdered, their eyes burning with anger and pain. Interesting to think about.

Week 3 Celine

Why do so many people hate on seltzer? I can see why it’s an acquired taste, but why must it be labeled as “angry” water? Like, sparkling water is a common beverage in Europe, but here it has such a negative connotation.

week 3

I believe indecision comes from two or more personalities that continuously disagree on things. These personalities have different values, talents, and ideas, and constantly struggle over what is more important. They are always arguing. Does this make indecisive people some of the most complex? Or simply people who have not found who they are in life yet?

Hannah Uler - Post 2

This one is slightly morbid: a TV show I'm watching just killed off a minor character whom I really liked. I follow the actor and several more up-to-date fans on Twitter, and I know that he comes back, but I'm still a little bitter, seeing as the character was just trying to help and got his neck broken for his troubles. Now I have a desire to write a scene where a character gets his neck snapped. Just to see if I can.

Hannah Uler - Post 1

I like taking online quizzes in my spare time, usually the ones from Epic Reads, which are all about books (my favorite topic). One of the quizzes was titled "Do You Actually Hate These YA Book Tropes?" It had me give my opinion on certain tropes, such as love triangles, love at first sight, and the chosen one. I actually don't hate a lot of these tropes, but maybe someday I'll challenge myself to write a YA story without any of the tropes given in the quiz.

Week 2- Anthony Pappalardo

Considering school secondary to everything else in your life, while still putting in maximum effort is good. This makes school feel less like it consumes my life and more like something that's just there which needs to be done with as much effort possible.

Week number one- Anthony Pappalardo

Include observations of all the senses in your writing, this will make it more real. Such as taste and smell of food etc.

Week 3 - Sophie Zhu

Sometimes, midnight delusions are the greatest of delusions. When the only sound heard is the chirping of the crickets and the croaking of the frogs, and the sky hovers at the fine line between sunset orange and midnight grey, oblivion, but still with some fight left in it, as if it's yearning for the next sunrise.

Week 2 Carter

A girl in one of ski lessons that I teach went to the same ski area on the same day as me over break and stayed at the same hotel as me for the same nights and yet we didn't see each other once. What are the chances? Seems like a crazy coincidence (or maybe anti-coincidence, in this case).

Week 2 - Elise

As someone in high school in 2019, it it extremely worrying how much is put onto high schoolers plates. When is it too much? How or when will people determine it is too much? Will the addition of more responsibilities and obligations ever stop? The future of schooling and the well-being of high schoolers worries me.

Week 2

Why does time go by so much faster when you enjoy life? Why does God do that to you? When you do not enjoy something it takes forever and when you are finally having a great time, its gone before you know it. Is that what humans deserve? Is it a higher beings doing?

Week 1

My grandmother recently told me that she has not put her head under water in 60 years. She said she was almost drowned by a young boy that liked her and held her head under in a pool. She has a panic attack every time she puts her head under water now. The closest she has gotten is making bubbles with her mouth partially in the water.

Week 2 - Sophie Zhu

You have to realize, everytime you make me prove my loyalty to you, you are simultaneously making me prove my disloyalty to the other. Yet both of you continue giving me these trials. And so in the end, both of you see me as disloyal when all I've ever wanted to do is keep both of you as happy as possible.

Week 2-Anya

Fairy wings like glass, just as easy to shatter. All the myths talk about loosing wings, them getting cut off, but why do they never mention how the pieces are sharp?

Week 2: Samiul

My whole life is based on need. I care about what others think and I do things for the sake of their benefit. I do clubs, volunteer, try to achieve good grades, and work. I started these things not from joy, but from need. My own friendships became forged from my desperation to need a friend. I did not care about the person, rather I just needed to assauge my loneliness. Now, this time around I need a hobby. I want something to fill the void of my free time. But, while I find one because I need to or because I want to? I probably will never know.

Week 2 - Eric B

saw a guy get pulled over in front of work (pulled over, he was in the process of parking when the cop got behind and turned his lights on) they cop looked distressed and waved his arms alot, before he left about ten minutes after he pulled him over. The driver then got out of his car and walked in and ordered something. He had a shower cap on.

Week 2 Prisha

The people around me always tell me to pick my fights. Then they tell me that it's too many fights. Then they say that I'm too young to understand what I'm fighting. Then they tell me that if I want to fight, I should fight quietly.
Meanwhile, I've picked up so many fights that they're falling out of my bag.
I am, after all, 5'0" of concentrated anger.