Winter 2018 Kaplan Award Winner Phone ringing. Loudly. Obnoxiously. Offensively. I extend an angry arm in the air and, with fingers outstretched, I claw around my pillowy dark grey comforter looking for the rude device. Of course, I’m not actually “looking” for the device since my eyes are closed and still on my head. Hands … Read More
By Yemas Ly Winter 2018 Kaplan Award Winner *Names have been changed to for safety reasons. Another day, another paper. I clock into the writing center. I sit down. I wait. I didn’t wait long for a student to lock eyes with mine, shyly, and walk ambivalently toward me. I usually skip introductions because it’s … Read More
By Diodato Bouzigues Winter 2018 Kaplan Award Winner My first electric guitar I ever played was a 1970 Gibson SG. ‘Tis an iconic guitar used by the legendary likes of George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, and countless legendary guitarists. I love Gibson guitars and hope to buy a Les Paul someday. Although I’m not … Read More
By Jane Yang Winter 2018 Kaplan Award Winner “Ok, they are really afraid of humans, and they will go crazy when they see you guys. So maybe just wait for me outside, and I’ll bring them out?” Helen’s hand is on the door handle, and she looks afraid, as if once she opens the door, … Read More
By Gabriela Capestany Winter 2018 Kaplan Award Winner In the back of the drawer there’s a pile of wrapped saltine crackers. “There were three packs of saltines all equally laid out when I first opened this drawer” says Julian O’Leary, one of the teaching assistants for the University of Washington College of Built Environments darkroom. … Read More
By Shannon Poehlman Winter 2017 Kaplan Award Winner I’ll be the first to admit, this was not my most intellectually fueled moment. I had been working in the shoe store for about a month and was already sick of the job; touching people’s feet like a ghoulish scene out of Cinderella, getting glared at by … Read More
By Catherine MacLeod Winter 2017 Kaplan Award Winner The floor was a sea of black fabric as I tore through my closet trying to figure out what to wear. It had been one week since I got the text: “Dashiell died in a car accident on his way back to WSU.” Are you supposed to … Read More
By Heather Ellis Winter 2017 Kaplan Award Winner I’ve cried long enough for my eyelids to swell before I finally pull out my Bible. I hadn’t been sure why I was taking it with me, and it hadn’t been opened since my dad gave it to me when I was fourteen. What I really want … Read More
By Sophie Hayes Winter 2017 Kaplan Award Winner “When we’re thinking about Hegel, what is the first thing you should connect him to?” My philosophy professor hastily asks the class. When a loud silence follows, she heaves a sigh. I know the answer. It’s dialectical analysis, Hegel’s method of inquiry. “Anyone?” She hesitates. “No one?” … Read More
By Varisha Khan Winter 2017 Kaplan Award Winner “On this day, December 19, 2016, the Electoral College of Washington State has cast its vote for the 45th President and Vice President of the United States of America.” Each word rang in my ears like the toll of a bell in a cloudy scene of a … Read More