Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

The itch would not go away.

Frustrated, I looked down at the puffy monstrosity I was forced to wear and sighed. Clad in the baby-pink dress my grandmother had gifted me, my twelve-year-old self felt like a walking Cabbage Patch doll at my family dinner. I despised everything about my outfit, from its ruffled skirt layers to its tight pleated collar. However, despite embodying traditional expectations, the pink dress was ultimately a catalyst for self-understanding and I now cherish my relationship with my grandmother as an invaluable gift.

Influenced by Western films and TV shows, my grandmother believes that respectable granddaughters should avoid the USA; she often describes it as a “minefield”– of partying, unpredictability, and r...