Kathryn Milewski

During the spring semester of my freshman year, a friend named Sophie convinced me to attend meetings held by my college's Hillel Society. I am not Jewish, but since I was friendless and didn't have anything better to do, I came to the miniscule meetings where the club watched films on Judaism and ate kosher pizza. Born and raised Catholic, I felt like an intruder. But people welcomed me, and for a few weeks, I was less alone than I was before.

It was a gloomy day - the cold, quiet, solemn kind - when my family and I made the long journey to Bangor, Maine. We had spent over 7 hours escaping a tropical storm. Back home in New Jersey, the power was cut, houses were flooded, and the fence in our backyard had been damaged from a fallen tree. But in the northeastern part of the United States, all you could feel was leftover tension.

Let’s be honest: it’s downright impossible to make money off of Vocal through views alone. Some writers have successfully found ways to earn passive income from this website, but it's usually because...

A Light Trigger Warning - mentions of suicide, self-harm, and some weird pictures of me with a balloon face. Proceed at your own risk.

ALL ABOUT NICOLE RAFIEE If you've been watching Youtube vloggers for as long as I have (I'm talking 2008 to around 2012 or so), you've probably heard and understand the phrase "old school Youtube." It was that blissful period before Youtube videos became monetized where creators made whatever they wanted and didn't care about selling out for views. It was before trouble-makers like Jake Paul, scandals like Tanacon. It was a time when community came before subscriber count. And to be honest, content was a lot better because of it.

So in high school, I tried (and failed) to throw a murder mystery dinner party for my 18th birthday. Keep in mind, I was a proud theatre geek with an overactive imagination and very few friends. I had a guest list and outline of a script ready, but for some reason, the murder mystery never came to be. Paying for a theatre troupe to come and throw a murder mystery party at my house seemed ridiculous, so I just spent my 18th doing a normal person birthday party. And it was BORING.