essay – MAGAZINE

A South Asian’s Story: NEDA Week

Posted on Mar 3, 2023Mar 27, 2023 by Mauli Chopra

I have felt guilty all my life. Guilty about leaving, guilty about conforming to outdated standards for girls, for eating too much, for eating too little…

Author Catherine Linka: The Girl Beside You in Econ 101 Sleeps in Her Car

Posted on Feb 28, 2020Feb 27, 2020 by Germ Magazine guest author

She’s not a druggie or an alcoholic, and she’s not mentally ill. She’s one of thousands of college students who can’t afford a place to live. She might be someone whose scholarship doesn’t cover housing. Or her family lost their home after racking up mountains of medical bills. She could be the first in her […]

Author Nancy Richardson Fischer: Life Lessons Learned Writing Books with Elite Athletes and Coaches

Posted on Sep 30, 2019Feb 27, 2020 by Germ Magazine guest author

I was 23 years old when I got my first writing break. A college friend was working for the editor who’d acquired rights for famed Olympic gymnastics’ coach Bela Karolyi’s autobiography. I wrote a proposal, and my friend put it in a pile with the other potential writers. A few weeks later, Bela called and […]

How Consent Can Help You Become More YOU: An Essay by YA Author Rayne Lacko

Posted on Sep 16, 2019Sep 15, 2019 by Germ Magazine guest author

So much has happened since last semester. You’ve changed. Maybe you started hanging with new friends or had to say goodbye to someone you used to trust. Or maybe you decided to go vegan. Along the way, your view changed, and you along with it. And that’s OK. You’re growing, moving forward, becoming more you. […]

Skin Up: Essay by YA Author Heather Cumiskey

Posted on Aug 19, 2019Sep 22, 2019 by Germ Magazine guest author

Reclaiming the power (and pain) our complexion has on us “Ewww! Your epidermis is showing!” I can still see those three saucy girls approaching me and every other vocabulary-challenged kid on the blacktop during elementary school recess. Such good actresses they were, each one wrinkling up her face in disgust to sell their ruse and […]

Their Uproarious Laughter

Posted on Nov 13, 2018Jan 16, 2019 by Germ Magazine guest author

When I heard Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s opening statement, what struck me, as it struck so many people, was her recollection of the laughter of two teenage boys—their uproarious laughter at her expense. It made a memory, one that I’ve often pushed down over the course of my life, resurface. The school bus in middle school was no man’s land. No adults except for the bus driver who, with his back turned to us and […]

Author Nancy Richardson Fischer: The Words That Shape Us

Posted on Oct 11, 2018Jan 16, 2019 by Germ Magazine guest author

Two truths and a lie… When I was seven, a man said I would eventually go crazy. My mom used to tell me: I love you, but right now I don’t like you. A teacher told me that I’m smart but intellectually lazy. Figured out the lie yet? It’s impossible to know without knowing me, […]

Author Sarah Nicole Smetana: The Band That Vanished and the Songs That Stayed

Posted on Feb 19, 2018Oct 10, 2018 by Germ Magazine guest author

By the time I was electrocuted on an ungrounded stage in San Bernardino, my first band was already over. We hadn’t broken up yet, but the fissures were obvious. Our tensions had been high for weeks, ever since that recording incident or — if I’m being honest — since I began dating our drummer, David, […]

Turning Unlovely to Lovely: Essay by YA Author Heather Cumiskey

Posted on Nov 20, 2017Jun 22, 2018 by Germ Magazine guest author

When heaven gave out locks before my debut as a newborn, my angel on the assembly line must have gotten distracted and given me five times the normal allotment. Perhaps he or she had skipped breakfast. It happens. My mane is not your normal girl’s hair, with its unenviable coarse, horsetail texture, curly frizz on […]