Every day, five million people travel by subway in New York City. There is nothing unusual about going places on a subway, but there are many unusual people you can meet. There is only a slight chance you will ever meet the same person again. I take the subway to Manhattan almost every weekend. Sometimes, …
Tag: CUNY
A Sound I Will Never Forget
One day, I went to school. It was a regular day when we started history class. Then, my teacher started to scream at us, “Boys, go down under the tables.” The war had begun. We were so scared. A lot of students were crying because of the sound of the bombs and artillery. That sound, …
The Red Day
I had only been in America for a few months when I learned that on February 14th, we are supposed to wear a red dress because it is Valentine’s Day, when people celebrate love. Red is universally accepted as the color of true love, romance, and also blood. My friend Anju told me to wear …
A Broken Window
I went to sleep with my parents because the cold was severe. My father put wood in the stove to try to heat the room a little more. Once the wood caught the flames, I looked up. I saw the shadows on the dark ceiling in the firelight. I went back to sleep. In the …
The Key
One day, I came back home from school and stopped in front of the door to my house. I put my hands into the pocket of my pants to get the key, but only sand smoothly came out of the pocket. Since I had started to go to elementary school, I had had the key …
My Clothes Factory
At the age of eight, every time I was bored at home, I took my clothes that I didn’t like anymore and remade them into clothes for my dolls. I firmly believed that my dolls needed to be well–dressed, but this reason didn’t seem serious enough to my mother. She didn’t like this idea because …
The Golden Bike
During the weekends of my childhood in La Troncal, Ecuador, I rode my bike with my friend and neighbor, Jackie. My bike was old, black, small, and slow. I always came in last place whenever Jackie and I raced. Even with all my effort to pedal, I never won. Jackie’s bike was a shiny golden …
Almost Adults
I had never left the muddy roads of our village, which was 15 kilometers away from movie theaters and skyscrapers. But one afternoon, as my eight–year–old friends and I stood on our tiptoes and peered through a chink in the curtains of a neighbor’s home, watching a TV show, we saw a trailer for the …
My Mother’s Lap
She is the Buddha of my home/ the color of kindness, yellow,/ turned red blood/ to white breast milk/ and lavender.
Eyes Full of Hope
It’s been a while since I last saw her. All the way to my hometown, I think about meeting her. I travel through half the world—past oceans and continents, the fast-food smell of airports; the noisy crowds; the never-ending lines—and arrive at the air of my country, and the old familiar sunshine, which is so …
My Name
I had trouble with my name. I could not change my name because of our conventional Chinese rules. Li is my last name and it comes from my father. There is nothing wrong with my last name. My first name contains two Chinese characters: Wen and Zao. In our language, Wen is an advantageous word, …
The Story of My Name
Our name is our personal identity. By our name, we are unique and separate from others. Our names are an easy way to recognize a person, and they can be a way to get someone’s attention. According to my grandparents, a person’s name and the meaning of a name can have an impact on their …
Mamita Charo
When I was a child, I lived with my grandmother. For me, she was my mother. She was an amazing person. She worked so hard. She prepared food to sell in the flea market. Her name was Rosa Matilde, but her friends called her Mama Charo. She took care of me because my mom was …
My Son’s First Chess Trophy
I remember my son John’s first trophy for first place. It was very difficult to get! When my son was in third grade, his teacher recommended him to the chess team, and I agreed. Since that time, I went with my son to chess tournaments every Saturday, even in windy, rainy, or snowy weather. The …
Family Trip to Bago Yoma Forest
When I was young, my family lived in a village in Myanmar, near the North Bago Yoma Forest. My dad was a businessman and had a big machine that made boards from logs. The wood could be used for tables, floors, roofs, and so many things. My dad stayed for a long time in the …