Teaching was one of the most difficult journeys I have ever embarked on. A week after graduating from college, I moved across the country to start as a Teach For America Corps member in Houston, Texas. I had never been to Texas before and my first step into the humid Houston air shocked me. A completely new city, no formal teaching experience, and without a true understanding of what I had signed up for, I started making lessons and practicing classroom management techniques. After a few weeks of teaching summer school sessions, I started teaching in my full-time role as an 8th-grade Social Studies and Writing at a charter school in a low-income community. The school was structured in a way that was completely foreign to me. My classroom had one small window that was unreachable because it was positioned near the ceiling. My classroom also had a backroom that was lockable from the inside. I later learned that these measures were preventative measures put in place for staff and student safety. Students were expected to be silent for the majority of the day. Recess and outdoor time was significantly restricted. Lunch time was also meant to be a quiet and reflective period. It was very different from my school which had students transition outdoors, had long recess, and allowed us to leave campus to get lunch. Almost immediately, I realized that my students needed more support than I, alone could offer. A community had to come together to help the students learn and feel safe. I reached out to senior teachers and asked them for guidance. Teaching was a difficult task which forced me to learn to ask for help. I learned a lot from my colleagues and my students. I learned about lesson planning, advocating for my students, and how to be extremely, extremely, extremely patient. I strove to make my classroom calm, welcoming, and inclusive, teaching anti-racist activism and implementing DEI lessons. I mediated parent-teacher conferences and supported students and families, even helping a mom pass her citizenship test. These years demonstrated my ability to overcome adversity. I went beyond the curriculum and taught students about anti-racism, feminism, and self-advocacy. I coordinated celebrations and school-wide diversity awareness initiatives. I loved teaching, I am forever grateful for the community that accepted me and allowed me to try to educate their children. I love my students and applied to law school so that I can help them, and kids like them, believe that they too could do hard things. I believe that leading by example is key and was the best advice I was ever given.

I've been thinking about a new challenge for Love Island since I saw the first episode. In this challenge, contestants would answer personal questions about themselves, like how they view the purpose of their life, how clean they keep their homes, what traits they look for in a partner, and how they respond in a crisis. Then, their partner would call a loved one to verify the accuracy of their claims. This challenge would be great because people sometimes exaggerate or lie to convince others to pick them. By involving a third party to answer the same questions, it would reveal whether contestants are truthful, allowing their partner to assess the strength of their answers. I think that the audience would find it entertaining because we as the audience usually respond negatively to when we see members of Love Island acting dishonestly on the screen. I think it would add a lot of drama if we also get to hear the family member/friend react to hearing their friend lie on camera. We could also replace the friend angle by revealing prerecorded polygraph results! I think that either will add drama and ultimately help the partner decide if they want to continue in the pair.

I grew up close to my little brother. We practiced sports, watched TV, and spent countless hours just hanging out. Since he moved out of state, I don't see him as much as I used to. When I first heard Billie Eilish's "Birds of a Feather," the emotion she conveyed reminded me of the connection I had with my brother. Though some might interpret it as a romantic song, for me, it evokes memories of the time we spent together. Every time I hear it, I'm reminded that someone else out there shares my culture, upbringing, and the cherished memories of our family home. As the oldest in an immigrant household, I’ve always felt the weight of responsibility and the need to lead by example. When I listen to Billie’s "What Was I Made For?", it resonates with my own struggles of handling immense responsibility at a young age. The song makes me reflect on the times I should have asked for help or shared my emotions but chose to keep them bottled up. It brings me peace with my past missteps and fills me with hope. Lastly, "Bad Guy" always gets me moving and is the perfect road trip song!