Annie Munch
Once I found a diary I'd kept during a vacation when I was probably 7 or 8. I had zero recollection of writing about the trip, and yet here it was—it was so detailed and had little pictures and everything (and I was not a diary-keeping kid). It seemed so out of character, but it made me wonder how much of what I think I remember is because it was important to me at the time, and how much is because it fits how I see myself now.
Laura T. Fisher
I’m 15 here. I could not figure out why I wasn’t happy; why I didn’t like being a cheerleader. It had been my life’s goal. I equated popularity with safety, and employed all the strategies girls of my generation understood to achieve and maintain that. I soon learned I hated all of that. Soon after this photo I quit the squad, faded into the social background, and started a more honest journey to finding out who I am. I’m still on it.
Caroline Heffernan
Many young girls face some sort of fear heading into their teenage years. Often times it is social, physical, or emotional. Mine came in the form of gymnastics. Until I was 9 years old, all I wanted to become was an Olympic gymnast. Then, one of my teammates broke her arm practicing a fairly simple skill. I was faced with the reality that the skills I was doing in gymnastics could be extremely dangerous. This realization never left me and although I continued gymnastics, my dreams changed. The little girl who dreamed of becoming an Olympic athlete now seems foreign to the present day version of myself.
Carrie Coon
She’s a sophomore in college, leaving to study abroad in Spain. Her parents walk her all the way to the gate. She intuits the world is larger than the one she knows, and I love her for that quiet audacity. She’s also running away from a few “catastrophes” instead of taking responsibility. She would rather leave the country than disappoint someone. I’d like to tell you, dear reader, that I take responsibility for my actions now, that I disappoint with abandon. I mostly do. She’s in there, though. “Run away, quick!,” she says, “Run away, far, so you can’t see their faces!”