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Shifting Paths: Finding Balance After Burnout in a Global Pandemic
I obtained a master’s degree in environmental science, the crowning climax of my educational saga. However, with 2020 blindsiding us with the COVID-19 pandemic, what should have been my golden ticket to an environmental career eerily morphed into an uncertain labyrinth of jobless dreams. Unemployment engulfed me.
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Phantom Bonfires
Approaching the coast of the North Carolina Outer Banks, Ray slowed the sailboat to a stop, reeled in the sails with the main halyard, and tossed the anchor overboard. The wind rushed around the hull of the Corsair, causing the sails to waver madly. It raced past him as well, picking at his clothes and hair, blowing in his ears, and making goosebumps rise on his skin. His hair was already a windswept nest from the trip over and liable to tempt the coastline birds or evil seagulls.
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Growing up Wasian in Australia
After my first Chinese lesson as an adult, I called my Grandma to tell her what I had learned. I speak my mother’s language — the language of the country I was born in and the language of the country I live in now — but I have never been able to properly learn Chinese, despite being half Chinese myself. My inability to speak Chinese has made me feel like I’m bad at being Asian.
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Falling into Your Orbit
I’ve thought about The way the wind would whip my hair Away from my face just seconds before I find my end there On the rocks below Before your very presence brought A kind of happiness I wasn’t aware existed The kind I thought was mythical, you know?
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Encounter with a Hongkonger at a Hostel in Taiwan
On the rooftop terrace, we talked about traveling; things like finding stylish and affordable accommodation through online searches, riding bicycles around small towns usually missed by annoying crowds of tourists, and avoiding expensive metropolises with barren cultural lives.
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PawsUp and Hands Out For The ‘Untouchables’
"When 20 people showed up at our 0.3 acre property during the 2020 COVID lockdown, I thought it was the best thing that ever happened to us," said founder Jay Lau as he recounted the start of his organization, PawsUp.
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One Woman’s Mission to Let Migrant Women Shine Front and Center
An experienced immigrant, da Penha personally understands the challenges faced by migrant women. Native to Brazil, she has also lived in Portugal, Italy, and Cape Verde before settling in her current home in Scotland. But it was not just the challenges of migration that confronted her. The stories told by the press about migrants, especially women, were also alarming. As da Penha built a life away from her homeland, she began to realize the media did not always portray migrants in an accurate light, often describing them according to untrue stereotypes.
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Silence in the Pub Trade: Do Pub Companies Enable Alcoholism in Their Staff?
Working in a pub encourages drinking. For some, this is a dream. For others, a nightmare.
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Sifting Through the Ashes
I thought it was strange that my mom called me so early in the morning. It was 7:30am for me, so it must have been 4:30am for her. It was Wednesday, August 9th. “I wanted to call you before you saw the news. There's a fire in Lāhainā, Kīhei, and Kula. Everyone in our family is safe and accounted for. I might go pick up grandpa from Kīhei today. Your cousin was in Lāhainā, but escaped to Nāpili. Aunty has not heard from him since last night. I will keep in touch.” My cousin called my aunty the next day to check in. He was safe and helping with the…