When I was a young hockey player in Pennsylvania, there was no doubt, hockey had been started in and belonged to Canada. I recall playing in tournaments across the Midwest with my Midget A Major team, The Mt. Lebanon Hornets. At times there would be chatter about the opponents, “Yeah man, I hear the team we’re playing Saturday is Canadian.” After a statement like that, fear would [...]
Most of us at PSG dreamed of writing a best-selling novel when we were young. While some of us went on to write novels as teenagers and young adults, none of us achieved early literary stardom quite like we had hoped. One of the most well-known young authors is Christopher Paolini. Guinness World Records acknowledges him as the youngest author of a bestselling book series. His epic [...]
I have always been a book lover, but choosing what to read next can be difficult, especially after I finish an entertaining book. My first experience with a book recommendation platform was a result of a friend’s attempt to solve my dilemma. She signed me up for the website What Should I Read Next. A few years later, I came across another platform, Goodreads, but by [...]
My family has just begun planning a trip to Arizona, and the Grand Canyon is a must-see on the itinerary. A lesser-known feature of this geographical landmark is the town located inside the Canyon that people have inhabited for over 1,000 years. Accessibility may be limited, but visiting the most remote town in the United States seems to be well worth the eight-mile hike into the [...]
When I was six years old, I moved from Massachusetts to Texas. I’ll never forget balking every time I heard some phrase foreign to my New Englander ears. The accent, I was prepared for—I knew my family dropped our r’s, while our new neighbors would likely emphasize them—but the idea of different geographic areas having their own sets of words was entirely new [...]
Books that deal with fantastic adventures are the overwhelming favorite amongst the PSG staff when polled on their childhood favorite stories, and mine are no different. I recall swinging plastic swords to defend myself against the imaginary monsters that seemed to always cause trouble in my backyard, because of my infatuation with The Hobbit and medieval-themed fantasy novels. Because of my interest in such novels, [...]
Recently, a friend and I traveled to the Maybarton Community Garden in Clinton, Massachusetts, for community service. Growing Places, a nonprofit community garden organization based in my hometown of Leominster, Massachusetts, helped assist the Maybarton staff with building 15 raised beds. Local farmers plant various fruits and vegetables for low-income individuals, families and communities in North Central Massachusetts. Not only does Growing Places help [...]
When I think about Shakespeare, I imagine booming voices, wooden stages and yellow spotlights. When I think about Shakespeare’s sonnets, I picture tissue-thin paper from anthologies printed using florid, 8-point font. My concept of Shakespeare himself involves white stockings, feathery caps and rhyming, existential angst. I studied abroad my sophomore year of college and made sure to visit the re-created Globe Theatre. Standing [...]
I never went to a preschool when I was little. Instead, I stayed home with my mother while my older brother and sister went to the elementary school down the street. My mother and I made friendship bracelets and decoupage treasure boxes, cooked fun snacks and played board games. So it never used to occur to me that preschool could be anything different. [...]
During my junior year of college I took a course on the history of the English language in which I was one of about five students. When we got to the lesson on phonology, we spent over an hour saying different words and trying to decipher their origins based on how we said them. Since there were only a few of us, we [...]