Lines from Layla
Layla Parast has had a tough lesson recently about what is important, and what constitutes that elusive “enough”:
As the year comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on my goals for 2025. I had thirteen, yes thirteen, goals: SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound), carefully constructed, color-coded, and…
Our contributing editor Layla Parast recalls how tough she found graduate school—until she found her people, a “pod” of friends…for life:
As the new academic year begins, one of my favorite traditions is meeting one-on-one with each of our incoming PhD students. This year, that tradition is a big…
Our contributing editor Layla Parast writes in praise of “glorious, unapologetic” email deletion:
Do you ever spend an entire morning, or even an entire day, just dealing with email? I hate that feeling. If you’ve read any of my previous columns, it may not surprise you that I’m a…
Our contributing editor Layla Parast writes about her new-found appreciation for the surprising complexities of American football:
Mid-February can be a bittersweet time for many in the United States—it signals the end of the (American) football season. For some, this may evoke no feelings at all. Football? Why bother?…
Layla Parast writes:
Fall is the time for apples, pumpkin spice, crunching leaves, and—for me—freshmen. Some people strongly dislike teaching freshmen, but I love it. I feel like a summer camp counselor again, except that this time I don’t have to worry about kids being pushed in pools or whacked…