Slip Ups, and Why our Embarrassment can Lead to Change

In the pursuit of making the world a better place, we are all bound to slip up every now and then. For me, this happened today. I was sitting in the library at my school, reading a book, when a young woman walked up to me and asked if she could talk for a second. …

Favorite Memories of 2017

Despite it being riddled with many political woes, there are still many great things that occurred in 2017. I wanted to take this time to share my favorite memories of 2017. Getting hired by Real Good Juice Co. Real Good Juice Co. came to me at a time when I was in a deep personal …

When Complacency becomes Toxic

We have come to a point in humanity's narrative where complacency is no longer an acceptable standard to uphold. As I discovered yesterday, however, this common truth is vehemently repulsed by many. I was walking back to my dorm from class when I came across a poster that had a picture of Kathryn Steinle that …

Lonely Anxiety

­ This is a short story I wrote during junior year, and am considering turning into a longer piece. Let me know what you think. -Jacob August 27th, 2015­ Mason stepped out into the hot Mojave sun, black Louis Vuitton’s clattering with each step, white pants and black fishnet jersey complementing, and red and black …

The Need for Intersectionality among Minority Activists

My first step into the world of activism began long before I had any inkling that I was gay. I was a part of a club that worked on a service project for the duration of the school year, then created a presentation about said project to be used in a series of competitions. My …

Opening up about Mental Illness

Being gay, professing progressive values, and binge watching Trisha Paytas' "mukbangs" are all, to some extent, controversial things about myself that I will openly profess. Having mental illness, however, does not fit in this list. I have known that I have had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, for many years, well before I ever thought …

Observations from a Week at College

I thought that since so much has happened in the past week, both personally and abroad, I would just take the time to spill all of my thoughts out, foregoing a traditional, "insightful" blog entry. I hope you can identify with at least one of the following. Expect the unexpected at all times. People are …

Lush, actually

There comes a moment in your lifetime where you realize that you, for the first time in your life, have fucked up. That moment occurred for me one blustery, cold January evening in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. Allow me to give you some background. For practically my whole life, I had lived sheltered …

A Collective View of Perfection

Have you ever had the privilege of witnessing true beauty? Something effervescent, unifying, and pure? This past Monday I had the opportunity to travel to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to view the Great American eclipse. Never really having had any experiences with celestial objects, I was very excited to take part in history. Getting to the eclipse …

Charlottesville

I was working an uneventful shift at my job when I got the news. "A vehicle just plowed into counter- protestors in Charlottesville" read the screen of text messages from my best friend Alex. I felt the air sucked out of me, as the gravity of the situation sunk in: white supremacist terrorists had murdered …