My son has been practicing basketball several times a week for a year and has improved immensely. We were recently visiting some friends when he decided to play basketball with one of the other kids there. Since we had no basketball on hand, one of the parents went out to buy one and mistakenly bought…

I was recently on vacation with my family and a few of our friends (and their children). At one point, we were having dinner at a restaurant—we were a large party, with four adults and six kids, some of whom were picky eaters. Because of this, our order had many subtractions, additions, and other modifications….

Imagine your workplace is a garden. If a single plant in the garden is not thriving, you investigate the specific circumstances of that plant. However, if different plants scattered all around the garden are declining, you might take a culture of the soil to see if there is a broader issue with the garden’s environment….

I recently attended a Greek wedding, my first wedding since the Great Isolation which began in March 2020. The wedding offered traditional cuisine, and Greek specialties down to gin produced in Greece. When the Greek music came on, I partook in the tradition of folk circle dancing, whereby one springs to the dance floor and…

This is a picture of my father. He is kneeling over flowers that sprouted behind his house in Queens from a crack in the concrete. Vividly, I remember him mentioning how extraordinary it was that flowers could grow even in concrete. Similarly, this past year has been tough. Countless people have suffered during the pandemic…

I am so happy and proud to be reunited with my colleague Naveen Kabir who is joining us as a Senior Investigator and Facilitator. Welcome Naveen!

This weekend, I stopped by one of my favorite take-out places—KFC—to pick up lunch for my family. I placed the usual order for hot wings. After all, why change an order when we know it works? The cashier asked me a question, which I interpreted as “Natural Hot?” behind her mask and the plexiglass. “Yes…

In high school, I wrote an essay using“s/he” throughout, for “he or she.” I liked the idea of a universal “s/he,” but my teacher corrected my work, educating me about the universal “he.” Why “he” would win over “s/he” as universal, I did not know. But that’s how it was.  In my next essay I…

I recall a few years ago, I was having a conversation about gay pride with a young person. “Why are people ‘proud’ of their sexual orientation?” they asked. “I mean, straight people aren’t proud to be straight, right? Why are people proud to be gay?” The person was genuinely curious, so I shared my perspective:…

I haven’t gone to the gym since February 2020. Instead, I have been doing push ups at home daily. Last year I was only able to do 10 in a row. Now I can do 70. It was a process. Even now, the first one is always the hardest. It starts by getting started.