The lasting impacts of being raised by an alcoholic parent Story by Anonymous I remember my first drink, a Heineken my roommate bought me on my 21st birthday. I have always been afraid of alcohol, but that night I did not want fear to rule anymore. …

A trip to the past evokes happiness, grief and love — Written by Finn Wendt After a long 23 hours cramped in my family’s dead-bug-pelted van, we finally rolled into the gravel parking lot of the Sunlac Inn in Lakota, North Dakota. It was 10 p.m. on a sticky July night and the lone buzzing light pole barely illuminated the two-story…

How a news anchor stays true to her Ukrainian roots — Written by Jonathan Tall Marya recently started hearing the sounds of the rockets flying over her house. The area near the city of Lviv in western Ukraine hasn’t been hit as hard by Russian artillery. But the war is never very far away, air-raid sirens are frequent no matter where…

A friends-to-lovers story gone wrong, two times over. — Written by Alison Poppe Watching from the carpeted floor as Jordyn gets ready for work, I see flashes of my former feelings. Shaky eyes fixating upon the hands clenched in my lap, trembling breath staggering up my chest and puffing out between rosy cheeks. I feel something similar now, with…

Does choosing my own health make me an eco-villain? — Written by Luisa Loi At some point about a year ago, I emptied a whole kitchen drawer filled with dirty zip-close bags and potato chip bags into the trash, choosing my own peace of mind and my roommates’ respect over the survival of the sea turtles and Greta Thunberg’s happiness. …

Letters my younger self would have wished to hear — Written by Dia Wondimu 17. Today is the day you leave home for the first time, you’ve got all you need in the running car awaiting you: your best friend in the passenger seat and a single suitcase in the back. Your heart is pounding as you walk down the groaning…

How I learned to define my self-worth in a medium with a binary system of success — Written by Clay Wren Dread sets in the day of. My stomach aches, my hands are paralyzed. No form of comfort is solace to me. Thirty minutes before. I’m hyperventilating, overhydrating, paralyzed, detached to my own body. Competition is any minute now, and I’ve accepted my fate. I remember watching…

In the age of streaming platforms, what is the relationship between music accessibility and appreciation of what we hear? — Written by Jason Upton It’s an unusually sunny March afternoon in Bellingham, and before I back my car out of Pizza Hut’s crowded parking lot for the first delivery of my shift, I begin my ritual of scrolling through Spotify to select the mood of the day. Decisions, decisions.

How my early exposure to fan fiction molded my future sex life — Written by Olivia Hicks “I am a moth to his flame, and he never hesitates to burn me,” read my illuminated, shattered iPod touch. I was 12 years old, tucked safely under the covers at a sleepover, when I first typed “Wattpad” into the App Store and clicked download. It…