By O. Deng, TIWP Student Friendship is one of those things I’ve learned everything about, but also nothing. Maybe it was my struggle to make new friends at a school whose demographic I wasn’t used to. Maybe it was the way I was sheltered from making new friends as a kid, where I saw the […]

Audrey Harris, TIWP Student Some days I feel purple. Purple like plums, like grapes, or like any sort of fruit you can think of. I don’t really mind the color purple. And other days I am red. Not a raging red, more like a passionate red. Red that expresses love, devotion. Red that leaves your […]

By O. Deng, TIWP Student  “Thank you for your patience!” they say, and I just nod and smile because what can you do except wait? (I spend my minutes waiting for the hours to pass, and I spend my hours waiting for days to pass, and I spend my days waiting for weeks until weeks […]

Jake Sawyer, TIWP Teacher I’m not angry anymore. It feels like a waste of energy to be angry. But I do have an unfamiliar feeling inside. One I can’t quite explain…. like there’s a bundle of worms in my gut, tangled in a knot so intense that no amount of wriggling can free them, forcing […]

Inspired by the poem, “Joy Chose You” by Donna Ashworth By O. Deng, TIWP Student Joy doesn’t care if you’re sad, hungry, tired, or ugly. She’s like a small explosive at the back of your head, that you sometimes forget about but when the time is right she bursts, leaving you wondering how long the high […]

By Aya Riseman, TIWP Student I used to play on the floor with plastic letters. At a time when the world was meaningless and I had nothing important to do, I played. The time I spent, the time I wasted, it didn’t matter.  Back then, the letters were just colors and shapes. I would drop […]

By Lina Norris-Raman, TIWP Student The highway unfolds before us, a dark ribbon under a sky dusted with stars. Wind screams through the open windows. For a fleeting moment, I am boundless. Infinite.  The blasting song begins to fade. I can hear the ocean from outside. The tears I’ve been holding back finally spill over, blurring the […]

By Lina Norris-Raman, TIWP Student In a sea of faces, the noise of laughter and whispers dance through the air. Yet the solitude sits heavy, an unseen weight in a crowded room. Eyes scan the floor, avoiding connections that never truly form. A hollow echo resounds inside. I am alone, yet surrounded. Conversations ebb and […]

By G.G. Gallagher, TIWP Student I write what I know. And what I know are the moments with you. I’m sure I could find plenty of other things to write about, but those moments I have pictures for. When I take pictures, it’s because I want to remember. I fear forgetting. So those big moments, those […]

By O. Deng, TIWP Student I’ve been corrupted by social media. I know it. Every time I open the app, I get hit with a rush of dopamine that intensifies every time I swipe at the screen with my finger. Until one hour goes by. Then two. Then three. And I realize that I’ve wasted […]