The Backstory is a column celebrating fun and forgotten history!    One fateful day, a pig got hungry.  In search of lunch, the snacky swine fled its home and ran to a nearby farm, where...

It’s the season of reflection and hope towards the future, and I’m not just talking about the holidays. For seniors, it’s another kind of reflection and hope—one associated with college applications....

Any self-respecting American should still be reeling from a post-Halloween candy coma. Much of Halloween's joy—and pain—can be credited to Milton Hershey, who's known far and wide for sweetening American...

11-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift first announced her 2022 album Midnights last August, resurrecting Swifties worldwide after a two-year dry spell. Swift coined the album as “the stories of 13 sleepless...

It’s June of 2012, and in one room, five-year-old me is sound asleep, tucked under my pink butterfly sheets, hugging a fluffy pillow. In the next room, my dad is jumping up and down, screaming his heart...

Usually on my way to classes, my friends and I engage in the usual conversation: ranting about the newest teacher drama or stressing over homework and projects. But, the later I go into my high school...

How often do you pass a cow on your daily commute or when you’re out for a hike near the Hollywood sign? Never? Me too! Have you ever wondered why? Never? Me neither! That’s probably because we...

When I was younger, my parents forced me to play tennis for a couple of years. Eventually, I got bored and decided to quit and move on to something else. Yet, in the brief time I did play, I gained something...

From where it sat atop my messy biology notebook and test my teacher had handed back minutes prior, my phone buzzed. I prepared to read a message of praise from my parents for acing a harder-than-usual...

Two months ago, Ramadan, the holiest month of the year for Muslims, ended. I have so many beloved memories of how my family has celebrated Ramadan—reunions in Cairo, lanterns lit around the house, the...

Growing up as an Asian American, I didn’t see a lot of Disney movies I could relate to. I would be dressed up in Cinderella and Bell princess gowns wishing I could be like them. Besides Mulan, I never...

On March 28th, Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Bill into law. The new law “prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain...