". . . providing it is a cheerful lie."

Particularly in elementary school, my younger brother Ben was into Nerf guns. I liked them too - though not as much as he did - and would sometimes play with him. However, I found it a bit annoying how infrequently he dealt with the aftermath. The foam bullets would litter the floor. I would keep finding them in my room or under the kitchen table, just lying there. I would tell him to pick them up, and after a lot of pestering, he might. Actually, that in itself wasn’t so big of a deal. I didn’t mind that much - like I said, it was only a ‘bit annoying’. Overall, my brother and I get along quite well. We played together and still consider each other friends. Like many younger siblings, though, my brother has made it his personal mission to infuriate me. Now that we’re older, and we can have good conversations, I recently asked him why he tries to annoy me when he knows I don’t like it (and that I’ll probably hit him for it). In response, he said, genuinely, and a little perplexed, “I d...

When the college mail was starting for me, back in sophomore year, I received a black envelope with my name and address written on it in silver faux handwriting. Other Uni students probably received it as well. It invited me to join the Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders, which cost $985. The most hilarious part was when it said it was inviting me because of my “outstanding academic achievement” and “determination to serve humanity in the field of science and technology". I never and still don’t consider myself to be particularly skilled or passionate in most STEM fields. A prime example of this is how, like a lot of kids, I didn’t enjoy math. It was something boring to do in elementary school and middle school, and something tedious and frustrating in high school. My grades stayed fine, but my feelings toward the subject soured. In freshman year I took Math 2 and was, at best, tolerating it. Sophomore year was a bit better, but also the most frustrating. Sometime...