I learned that my sophomore year. "You're not a sorry person," my graduate advisor shared with me. My apologies quickly changed after she put that into perspective for me. "Just apologize," she continued. I've noticed a lot of my posts here have either begun with, or been grounded by, quotes of those closest to me. They've been lessons shared with me that have...

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"Don't let them people drive you crazy," my mother told me every time we wrapped up my vent session. She commanded it, with a "you bet' not" tone. Almost as if she knew I was teetering at the edge. She must've known I was one small nudge from flipping.  Today, I was the recipient of an unwarranted rude e-mail. The old Zoe would've...

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Last week started with being run off the road, with foggy windows, hitting a cement barrier and catching a flat tire. All before 8:00 a.m. It ended 23 presentations, a broken nail and a new tire later. It ended with bags under my eyes and not enough hours to get anything else done. It ended with a few tears and a few glasses...

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The next puzzle piece will be the weird one. The one with 4 outputs and only 1 input. It's going to be a piece that doesn't even fit this puzzle. A piece that'll have to be forcefully placed next to the piece that seems to match closest. It'll be the one bright piece. The piece that isn't even shown on the front of...

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I typed until my fingers hurt. Until page 15 turned to page 45. Until my stomach started growling reminding me that I hadn't eaten in 6 hours. I was in so deep and had no interest in stopping. Not even my blistered fingertips and empty stomach could stop me. I labeled the table of contents, checked my references for the hundredth time, literally,...

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"You're closer now than you've ever been," my mother repeated to me as I complained about college finals. At the time those words weren't at all what I wanted to hear, but now those words are perfect. They replay in my head more rhythmic than before. Like a chant. Or a song. Or the soundtrack to my life. "You're closer now than you've...

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