I grew up in Brooklyn, NY. We lived in a Syrian Jewish neighborhood, which will always be a part of me, and that setting has been the core subject of certain personal essays. (In "The Art of Nostalgia," there is an essay devoted to how I link Syrian Jewish food to memories of my great grandmother.)

However, I moved to Long Island when I was ten years-old, and essentially, Long Island is where I spent a majority of adolescence and young adulthood. I wanted "Never Far Behind" to capture those memories, that deep-rooted imagery, and I wanted to pay homage to my roots.

I have some pretty embarrassing and hilarious journal entries from second grade. Writing was always an outlet for me. I think it was high school when I became interested in writing for the school paper and crafting my opinions into op-ed pieces for others to read and identify with. In college, I majored in print journalism and minored in psychology, and since my graduation, I have expanded from writing journalistic articles to writing and sharing personal essays, short stories, and poetry. I've really been enjoying the more creative side of writing and seeing where those genres take me.

"Never Far Behind" aims to capture various snippets of life's most intimate experiences, and I'm going to say this is my most personal project yet. It's sifting through love lost and love found. It's growing up and defining what it means to grapple with adulthood. It's merely accepting that we have our anxieties, our stresses, our painful emotions, and that it's okay, because we are merely human.

It's funny because I used to find poetry rather intimidating. It's a challenging genre. But once I felt more comfortable with a more contemporary, 'free form,' style of writing, as opposed to focusing on conventional structures, poetry and I became better friends. And now, well, here we are!