Welcome to my blog!

When I return to the private all-girls school that defined my adolescence, my breath comes in the shudder of a well-traveled machine. What I discovered in those four years wasn't education in any meaningful sense. It was indoctrination into a system that prepares us for life by nearly destroying our ability to live it.

Once upon a time, my grades were my love language to myself. What happens when someone who has built her entire worth around her intelligence finally struggles? I found out when I almost failed a class in my sophomore year of college.

I thought reading my college admissions file would bring closure. Instead, it unearthed pain I’d spent years trying to bury.

For years, I believed that attending an elite school meant seizing every opportunity, regardless of its mental toll. Burnout taught me that while education is a privilege, wellbeing is a necessity. Today, I'm talking about the dangers of hustle culture and the systemic changes necessary to dismantle it.

I spent years trying to hide my depression from everyone in my life. Something needed to change. So in July 2024, I took an indefinite leave of absence from university to prioritize my mental health.