life
This spring, I saw a TikTok that intrigued me. Befuddled me, maybe I should say. A woman sat on her bed and screamed into a pillow. The text across the middle of the screen read, “this feels worse than texting your ex.” A pinned comment said “She def doesn’t know…
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Madhur Mehta, 35, an Indian national living in Seattle and working at Amazon. The following has been edited for length and clarity.When I came to the US for my master’s degree in August 2021, my goal was to have a stable…
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Dima Beseda, cofounder of Spiry. It has been edited for length and clarity.I was only 3 when my dad brought our first computer into the house, but it changed my life. At a very young age, I realized that video games…
Jessica Buchanan spent 93 days wondering whether she would make it home alive. In 2011, she and her colleague were captured and held hostage by Somali pirates.Buchanan’s experience was extreme, but she recently told Business Insider that the lessons she took from it can help people through hard times in…
Karoline Leavitt landed a White House internship as a college student during President Donald Trump’s first term. In his second term, she served as the youngest-ever White House press secretary before announcing her departure on Wednesday.A former college athlete who spent her summers scooping ice cream in New Hampshire, Leavitt,…
In 2020, I unwittingly moved to Australia on what was supposed to be a temporary trip lasting a few months. Instead of studying abroad for a semester and heading back to the Philly suburbs with some stories and a tan, I stayed for another six years.Now, I’m a permanent resident…
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with William Swanson, a 22-year-old working in medical sales who moved to New York in June. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.I had just graduated from college and was moving from Massachusetts to New York for a job starting…
Right after graduating from college, I struggled to celebrate my newfound freedom.The full-time job I was searching for didn’t materialize as quickly as I thought it would. My once-populated Google calendar, a beacon of structure and routine as a student, stared blankly back at me.So, given my lack of plans…
James Hardaway has a reputation among his friends and family for being a reviews guy. Before making a big purchase, he’ll check Wirecutter and Consumer Reports, do a drive-by of Reddit, and see what’s being said on YouTube. He’s an avid film fan, and he eagerly combs through Rotten Tomatoes…
I didn’t expect to start my adult life so young, but that’s where I found myself when my parents kicked me out of their home at 17.I learned how cruel life can be, living in a homeless shelter for a year. I cried myself to sleep almost every night and…
