April 21, 2019 A Little Bit of Chemistry “Now we are going to talk about the chemical equation for Sodium Chloride. Anyone care to offer the answer?” My chemistry teacher, Mr. Anderson, rambled on and on about chemical equations. My eyes were glued to the back of Luke’s perfect head of hair. It seemed like every curl on the back of his neck turned upwards at just the right angle. How did he have such perfect hair? My hair barely did as it was told even after using the straightener.
April 14, 2019 Kymopoleia’s Assignment This night, like every other, was exactly the same. I stood idly on the edge of the sand, watching the waves as they connected with the shoreline. Each crash comforted me, encouraging me. Don’t leave. Not yet. Another wave lapped upon around my ankles, shooting chills up and down my tired body. More reassurance. It’s nearly time.
April 7, 2019 Lanterns and Lollipops I’d never liked cherry lollipops. Maybe it was the sharp distinct cherry taste, or perhaps it was the fact they were red, as I’d never been quite fond of the color. All I’m saying is there are better flavors than cherry when it comes to lollipops.
March 24, 2019 The First Encounter “Penny! Wait up!” I turned on my heels. Behind me, a girl with vibrant auburn hair and bright blue eyes bounced up to me. Pushing the glasses up the brim of her nose, she handed me a piece of fresh printed paper.
February 27, 2019 Twists and Turns Recently on Halloween, I released my first book, Homecoming, as the first of my Trescott Series. If you haven’t checked it out yet or would like to do some last minute holiday shopping, click here to check it out. Thank to everyone who purchased and indulged in my first published novel! I love hearing your feedback and I am excited that this Wednesday, on the 19th, you’ll be able to access more of the shenanigans the Trescott kids are up to.
January 16, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: My Lizzie Moment Growing up as a late 90s to early 2000s kid, Lizzie McGuire and Disney were all the craze. Honestly, I think everyone wanted to be Lizzie McGuire at some point in their childhood. She had Gordo and Miranda, and then she even got a movie where she met a handsome Italian pop singer (who turned out to be terrible in the end, unfortunately) and she sang in front of thousands of people, and still got Gordo in the end. But mostly, I wanted to be Lizzie McGuire for one solid reason: that Vespa ride in The Lizzie McGuire Movie.
January 13, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: How to Be Happy When I arrived in Taiwan in 2016 the second time, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I was all dimples at training when they explained the more tedious details of our duties as teachers. I grinned as we drove around Taipei, checking out the sights, getting our medical tests done so we could get health insurance, and I even cracked a smile when I moved into my apartment and ran some numbers to budget.
January 9, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: The Buzz About Buxibans Not less than twenty-four hours after touching down in Taipei the second time, I was sitting in a lecture hall among forty other men and women. Some of them were the same age as I was, while others were older with far more teaching credentials than I had. Exhaustion filled me, mostly because I’d spent much of the night chatting with my roommate and one of my now good friends, Rona, after she arrived as well. We awaited our training leaders to start what would be a week’s worth of learning how to teach and more about the HESS curriculum.
December 23, 2018 What Happens After Your Last Game I remember the first time I stepped foot on the ice in hockey skates. At nine years old, I had donned figure skates for six years leading up to that, but nothing could prepare me for the dozens of bruises and bumps I had all over my body as I got used to life without toe picks. But yet, despite every fall and a few stifled laughs from my teammates that summer, I kept on trying. Thirteen years later, I would step on the ice for the last time, wearing my collegiate uniform and equipment way larger than the first set of pads I wore way back when.
December 9, 2018 Culture Kids Recently, a coworker of mine lent me the book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. For those of you who don’t know, it was on the U.S. Bestseller list and it’s a highly acclaimed book, and rightfully so. Without giving too much away, the contents of the story are pretty simple: it’s about a teacher reconnecting with his student and their very last class together: a class all about life, and how to be a good human. And as you may guess, it only took place on Tuesdays.
