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My well of existential crises is deep enough to last me through my 20s. The last thing I need is an eligible bachelor to push me down into it.

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They say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” so shouldn’t each one of us be given the freedom to decide how we wish to appear?

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Every year, when I do my taxes, I play this game with myself: how much did my writing actually bring me?

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You know that “no job is too small” mentality? Apparently all jobs are too small here.

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At our core, our worldviews were profoundly incompatible.

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I believe the academic world is more separate from the rest of the world than ever before. No one besides us reads our academic journals. No one besides us reads our literary magazines. What are we getting done by just talking to each other?

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Travel is a luxury for the rich, and the educated. Without the dollars to fund your first round-the-world trip would you have been able to live such a ‘determined’ lifestyle?

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We say we want to help, we try, and we even witness the positive short-term changes. The smiles, the hope, and the fix. We can’t see our long-term and unintended effects, both positive and negative. This is what keeps me awake at night.

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It is convenient to avoid hurting feelings.

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I write this and enjoy the luxury of my greatest fear being of what people will think of me,

fear of embarrassment,

fear of my shame – exposed,