“Did I pass the exam? Or did the exam pass me?” I’ve said this almost every year, but this time it feels different. It didn’t feel like just a difficult test. It felt like a final exam for a whole chapter coming to a close before a new one begins—one of those moments where you know the page is about to turn, and the only way out is through. There was no option but to pass. It’s as if everything hidden and undesirable suddenly rose to the surface, appearing like a typhoon but

“Always give at least a little bit more than you have to.” That’s what I’ve been trying to remind myself ever since I wrote it down,...