I’m sitting in a booth at my university’s study center over-grinding the gears in my brain and having an internal existential crisis. The humming of the air conditioner overhead acts as a clock ticking in a silent room, roaring over the silence and etching itself into my brain reminding me that time is constantly running. Even when the weather today is supposed to be 70 degrees, I feel a grey cloud looming over me. My stomach rumbles as it’s 2pm in the afternoon and the only thing I had in me was a grande iced soy latte. I hunched over the table trying to form the first words and I feel that my brain is as hollow as my stomach. Creativity and generating ideas is no easy feat. It would be great if I can pull them out of my head and have them magically work but sadly, in reality I would have to put some grease into my gears to get things going. Despite the struggle, creativity and story telling is my way of being. I have always been a creative person and enjoy expressing myself creatively whether that be cooking, creating powerpoint presentations or conducting scientific research. I believe that everyone has a story that deserves to be heard. Stories, are what ties people-communities together. There is a bonding between the experiences and knowledge shared and there is infinite amount of wisdom that one can learn from another. As an enthusiastic artist and scientist, I seek building and understanding of these stories but, most importantly I thrive in sharing those with the people around me. Getting my voice heard is a frightening experience but I have believe that we should be guided by our fears. Our fears are not an obstacle that hold us back but, it is a vehicle in bringing us forward. And so, it is with this fear that I am writing this story in hopes of building up a community and world that is stronger through voices.
