I could never have anticipated that within days of moving to Boston to begin my first semester of college in 2008, I would be dropped directly into the center of the most cryptic, heart-rending story that I would ever encounter. I still hesitate to commit his name to the page. Knowing our history, it seems…
Everyone who knows me well knows that I’m a big Myers-Briggs nerd. I bug friends, family members, and coworkers to take personality tests—usually to confirm my growing suspicion about what their personality type might be. (I’m getting pretty good at guessing.) So what’s a Myers-Briggs personality type—and why should you know yours? I’ll break down…
I’ve loved podcasts for the past decade. I remember the night that I first listened to an episode of This American Life. I was a junior in high school, and the phrases “investigative journalism” and “storytelling” meant nothing to me at that point—but I knew immediately that I was hooked. I listen to podcasts whenever I…
It was the summer of 2012 when I drove away from my college campus for the last time. I recall the sense of endlessly expanding opportunity that swelled in my chest as I looked out over the bay. I thought about how far I had come in just a few years—so far from where I…
If I were to let the book of my personal history fall open to the final days of 2008, you would likely find me seated at an upright piano in a closet-sized practice room deep inside of Berklee College of Music, poring over sheet music late into the night. Or, quite possibly, I was perched…
On a Wednesday night in January 2017, I texted three friends: “You’re going to a march on Saturday, right? Are you feeling anxious? How are you dealing with that?” I was sitting on my kitchen floor with a cup of chamomile tea, holding back tears and taking deep breaths. My screen lit up with incoming messages. “I…
In many work environments, being an introvert is similar to being left-handed: Though we represent a sizable portion of the population, the world simply wasn’t built for us. However, thanks to speakers like Susan Cain and her Quiet Revolution, our society is beginning to realize its bias toward extroverts—and its desperate need for the gifts…