As fears mount, Muslim students seek a safer world

* This story was originally posted on UNC News Bureau Chapel Hill, N.C.–On Feb. 10 a man with a lot of anger and a gun killed three North Carolina Muslims in Chapel Hill. The deaths of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha, shook Muslim communities across the state. “I don’t think this affected any […]

On traveling alone as a woman

I’m exhausted. Sprawled across a hotel bed. Staring at my computer screen. Trying to remember everything I had to say when I was driving– everything I had no problem yelling into the hum of the interstate and the empty car. I’m angry. Or I was. Now I’m mostly tired. But just a few minutes ago […]

Dance your fear away

Here’s the thing (IN ANY REGION OF THE WORLD): governments can be terrible, so can non-state actors; economies can be unstable; societies can be fragile. So if you look at the Arab world and only see those things, if you refuse to look at the cultural significance of a region with 370 million people– 20% […]

On body image and illness

I’ve had the “I could stand to lose a couple (like 20) pounds, but tbh I just can’t be bothered to work that hard” body-type for as long as I can remember. I’d look in the mirror and be a little uncomfortable with the body looking back at me. I’d compare myself to smaller friends […]

The Fall

Someone once told me: “There is no heartache like the fall of an idealist.” I no longer remember who it was, but I haven’t been able to shake their words. So here is The Fall- with perhaps a hint of a resurrection too. The Fall The foundation has given. Years of wear finally win. The […]

Keep burning

Some days after December 17, 2010, I sat in front of a black, plastic PC monitor. It was marked with laminated white signs: Social Studies Lab. Glossy pieces of paper turned anti-theft protection. I don’t remember what I was supposed to be doing. Probably working on a research paper for U.S. History. Whatever it was, […]

Processing tragedy from afar

It’s 3 a.m. I’ve been scrolling through Twitter for hours. Trying to understand why I react to tragedy the way that I do. In phase one I act like a journalist. Scouring social media. Pretending I can tell the truth in a story that has only just begun. Sharing information. Detached. Scroll. In phase two […]

Surviving post-grad

So yeah. I’m 22 years old. But I’m not using storytelling as an excuse to travel around with my friends. I’m using storytelling as a solution to a very real problem.

Confessions of a move-on girl

“You’re kind of a move-on girl,” my mom observed at lunch yesterday. “Yeah.” My family is in town. I’m graduating in two days. I’m in Chapel Hill for three more months. Then what? I guess I’m a move-on kind of girl. Jump all in, plant your feet, look around and fall in love with where […]