Once a year, my mom and I take a road trip to the same winding road along the St. Croix River, to the town of… Read More

Imagine being in a classroom where everyone else is in on a secret, except you. What you hear is silence, but their stares say it… Read More

“Ahlao, do you want to hear a story?” said Dad, addressing me by my childhood name more than 10 years ago in our living room…. Read More

Maria Navidad Sanchez Resendiz also contributed to this story. A group of young people line up against a St. Paul light rail station. While one… Read More

William Bolton also contributed to this story. Motivation can come in many shapes and sizes. For Collin Evans, it’s the sight of the wheelchair he’s… Read More

I SAT IN MY dad’s taxicab waiting for my sister, silently observing all the movement around me. I watched the overworked single moms walking to… Read More

“Music is powerful. As people listen to it, they can be affected. They respond.” —Ray Charles BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. I push the buttons on the… Read More

DESTINATION: Liberia, West Africa. Travel distance: 7,690 miles. Mission accomplished. We arrived at Roberts International Airport around 11 p.m. After getting through customs, hailing a… Read More

AT 4 A.M., MOST TEENAGERS are usually sleeping in their cozy beds. I was 12 and wide awake. Memorizing the Quran. Even when my teacher… Read More

ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, I was dorm-room shopping. I was moving out of the house for the fall semester. Saying goodbye to my parents. Meeting… Read More