If you’d asked me at the beginning of the school year, “What will National History Day mean to you?” I might have answered something along the lines of: another month (okay, maybe longer) of history reading, another history paper to write, another display to create, and another project to present. And I would have been completely, tragically mistaken. My involvement with National History Day became one of the most significant educational experiences of eighth grade. It challe

Over the Chinese New Year break, my family and I traveled to Jordan, visiting three places that could not have been more different from my everyday life: Wadi Rum, Petra and the Dead Sea. What started as a family trip quickly became one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve ever had, not just because of how beautiful it was, but because of what it made me realize about nature and history. Our first stop was Wadi Rum. To us, the desert felt endless. Massive sandstone mounta

Just a few days ago, my mom, sister, grandpa and I went on a day trip to Kanchipuram. It wasn’t just about sightseeing a new place, but rather seeing where my grandpa grew up. We walked past the houses he lived in as a child. Not monuments or preserved landmarks, but just ordinary homes that felt extraordinary because of the life lived inside them. These were the streets he walked every day, the walls that watched him grow up, the spaces where his story first began. Standing