"We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that’s what I want in life. What I’m grateful and thankful to have found at Yale, and what I’m scared of losing when we wake up tomorrow and leave this place. It’s not quite love and it’s not [...]
Four summers ago, I stepped onto the Oval in the hazy evening heat for a campus tour at orientation. There were so many stories to tell of the buildings that make up this vast campus. I saw tradition everywhere. It seemed like each tree was planted with a story, each building had something to say, [...]
It's a scene you probably have heard of before. The professor strides in on the first day, blank chalkboard stretched out behind them, and gives some sort of menacing speech to the effect of, "Look to your right, then look to your left. These are your competitors for the next [insert amount of years]." I've [...]
At thirteen, I sat on the front steps of the only place I'd ever called home and closed my eyes. I curled my fingers around the sides of the stone steps, inhaled the scent of the blooming rhododendrons in the yard and hoped more than anything that I could stay. I turned to face the house - [...]
What’s bothering you right now? If you’re like me, there’s probably a few recurring complaints that make their way through your mind all the time. Life's inconveniences seem to come back again and again, stopping you from living out your days the way you want to. Traffic. Co-workers who are always late. A broken dishwasher. [...]
Numbers, to me, have always been dull. Necessary, sure. But compelling or emotion-inducing? Definitely not. I'm someone who bought into my demotion into the "low" math group in 5th grade and never really bounced back. I retreated into my refuge of words and social sciences, save for a few painful returns to calculus and statistics. But on [...]
It's really common as a young person today to be aloof in the pursuit of relationships and friendships. To show just the right amount of interest, send the perfectly timed text, the subtle Snapchat. Ask your favorite teenager or college student; they'll tell you all about the terms we have somehow agreed upon. It's extremely common. It's [...]
"Happiness is a journey, not a destination." It's one of those sayings that's so frequently repeated that I lose track of it easily. It's simple, solid advice, but more often than not I let it slide through me without comprehension. For whatever reason though, on this ordinary Tuesday, something about that phrase stuck. It started [...]
Beth handed me a blueberry-scented magic marker and a canvas-sized piece of paper. “Tonight you get to tell your story,” she said to all of us, a collection of ten strangers assembled in a vibrant arts-and-crafts room. “Tell it however you’d like. Timelines, webs, drawings. There’s no wrong way to do it. You’ll present them [...]
I am her biggest critic. I’m quick to notice any flaw she has when she’s in front of me, be it an off-center hairline or an unflattering angle. I cringe at her imperfections; they jump out at me before she’s even said a word. Has she gained weight? I think to myself each time I [...]
Bridget Cook 