As a child, I vividly remember my classmates warning me that if I swallowed a fruit seed, the fruit would grow inside my stomach. When I was first prescribed antidepressants, my mind wandered to that childhood fear. What if, instead of a fruit growing inside me, I grow to become an entirely different person? What if this pill plants a monstrous human being?
Read MoreGhufran’s essay explores the complexities of a Muslim girl’s bildungsroman—getting her period, fasting and praying, wearing a hijab, the unspoken rules surrounding her livelihood—and the unexpected grief that comes with it.
Read MoreTo my dearest plants, being with you has taught me so much. That growing is never about creating optimal conditions, rather it is about defying nature.
Read More“Discourse and nuances exploring mixed Filipinos in the Gulf remains to be what I consider uncharted waters. While interracial relationships and mixed children are commonplace in the region, it disproportionately lacks representation, rich depictions, and timely narratives within the OFW diaspora experience, societal depictions and documentations of the Gulf region. And when it is represented, it is depicted with problematic generalisations.”
Read MoreMaitha AlSuwaidi writes a melancholic letter to her brother: “You’re funny when you try to be. And you’re caring when you want to be. I admire that about you. I also admire that you don’t try hard to impress our mother, and I think your nonchalance ironically impresses her.”
“I agreed to [writing my IBO Extended Essay on Returning to Haifa] simply because it was less than a 100-page read. In retrospect, choosing to write an analysis on it and documenting the Palestinian struggle was one of the best decisions I ever made in academia.
Read MoreAlia AlGhurair shares a gentle reflection on her months February to April. An exploration of change, movement, and binary emotions that co-exist within us, Alia writes an essay that makes us all feel slightly less alone.
Read More“Times are changing, and the prospect of living alone is being laid on the table in even some of the most conservative, family-based societies, like those of The Gulf.”
Read MoreThe breath is what separates the dead from the living, and while we can still be breathing and living, we are oblivious and unconscious, more likely dead than alive.
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