500 Words or Less Quotes

“Or maybe I just wanted
to be wanted,
to be heard,
to be seen
by someone.

Anyone.”
― Juleah del Rosario, 500 Words or Less

“When I write
essays, I write
about the emotionally raw
moments,
the lowest points,
the authentic experiences
that change and shape us.

I am more than
writing college essays.
I am telling stories
that we are too afraid to tell,
because to tell them
is to relive them,
and sometime it hurts

too much.”
― Juleah del Rosario, 500 Words or Less

“I had a theory that our school was divided
by how we were programmed to live.
There were those of us like
Kitty, Ashok, and Laurel,
careful and contented,
pragmatic and happy.
They existed to wake up tomorrow,
always a new day,
because wasn't that the way we were
supposed to exist
as humans?
To keep living.

Then there were those of us who lived
differently.
Jordan, Miranda, and me.
We charged forward.
We took risks.
We strived for greatness
in every moment,
because every night we fell asleep thinking
this was it;
there wasn't going to be
a tomorrow.

But every morning
when the alarm clock went off,
we would lie in our beds,
shocked
that despite everything we did
the previous day
to run our bodies
into the ground,
we continued
to wake up.

Ben was one of us.
He hid it so well,
and I loved him
and I hated him
for being this way.

He pretended he was happy
when he was sad.
He pretended he didn't care
about anything,
not college,
not grades,
quite often,
not even me.

He pretended everything
would magically work
in his favour.

He denied that he understood me at all.
"Why do you have to study all the time?
Why can't you come over?"
he would plead on the phone.

But he aced the same tests as me.
He studied when no one was looking.
He fretted about his future
when no one was around.
He worried about his worth
alone,
like the rest of us.

pages 229-232”
― Juleah del Rosario, 500 Words or Less

“I had learned that we couldn't be the person we wanted to be. We can only be who we are.”
― Juleah del Rosario, 500 Words or Less

“We were human, and sometimes we were meant to feel guilt.”
― Juleah del Rosario, 500 Words or Less

“An expert on parties or on alcohol?" I asked. She took another gulp but didn't answer. I didn't want to be considered an expert on either. Both left me with an aftertaste that felt like sadness.”
― Juleah del Rosario, 500 Words or Less