When I become too embroiled in writer’s block, I often remind myself that, so long as I stay alive to do so, I can update pieces I write. I studied abroad in Shanghai in the summer of 2017, during which...

The small oval scar on the top of my left arm goes unnoticed by most. They have no reason to look, since the United States stopped administering the smallpox vaccination in 1972. Even I forget it’s there,...