Ring! Ring! Ring! As fast as I could, I raced my way across the soccer field to be the first in line for my fifth grade class before the teacher led us back into the dull, eraser-scented, fluorescently lit classroom. As I swayed from side to side, waiting…

As I scrolled through the news one morning, I saw the phrase “very Asian” on a headline. I immediately shuddered. Without even looking for the context, I felt threatened and upset by this. The words “very Asian” reminded me of times when my “Asian-ness” or “Indian-ness” was highlighted…

When I was in third grade, I vividly remember my teacher handing out photocopies of a map, instructing us to draw ourselves next to the country our parents were from. When I noticed that Sri Lanka wasn’t on the map, I asked my teacher what to do, but…

I’ve always been quite fond of my name—Iris. My mother’s decision to name me after the rainbow goddess turned out to be fitting for the years to come as I grew up between a clash of cultures and identities. The different colors of what I had seen, felt…

There is something strangely sad about watching cars drive away, especially ones you know well. It is that feeling of an almost-loss, like you are teetering at the edge of the realization that the car is too far away to call back. Soon, it will turn the corner…