This is the place where everything could change.
This is the point of no return.

YOU SIT ON THE EDGE OF A CITY. THIS CITY HAS LONG SUNG TO YOU. THIS CITY HAS LONG DRAWN YOU IN. THIS CITY CHARMS YOU. IT CALLS TO YOU BY NAME. IT CASTS YOU IN STONE. IT MAKES A MONUMENT OUT OF YOU — ONE OF FAME AND GRANDEUR. THIS CITY TAKES YOU ON ESCAPADES — OF EXCESS AND POWER. AND YOU LOVE IT! THIS CITY IS ALL YOU COULD EVER WANT. BUT THIS CITY DOESN’T LOVE YOU. AFTER ALL, THERE YOU ARE — ON THE EDGE OF IT. AND THERE IT STANDS — BILLOWING OVER YOUR SHOULDER, PRESSING AGAINST YOUR SKIN, BREATHING DOWN YOUR NECK. YOU FEEL ITS WEIGHT. ITS FACADE IS HEAVY. THIS ISN’T WHAT YOU NEED. SLOWLY, YOU CHIP AWAY AT ITS MASK. SLOWLY, YOU LEARN OF ITS TRUTH — OF ITS HOPES AND DREAMS, OF WHAT IT WAS MEANT TO BE, AND OF WHAT IT ENDED UP BECOMING. ALL AT ONCE, YOU REALIZE — THIS CITY IS YOU. YOU ARE THE HOPES AND THE DREAMS. YOU ARE WHAT IT WAS MEANT TO BE, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO BECOME WHAT IT BECAME. YOU ARE THE SUNLIGHT AGAINST SHATTERED GLASS. YOU ARE THE NEW FLESH FROM OLD WOUNDS. YOU ARE THE FLOWERS BREAKING THROUGH THE CONCRETE.

THIS IS YOUR EPOCH. THIS IS YOUR MOMENT.

WILL YOU TAKE IT?

APPLY TO NO. 21 NOW ︎︎︎

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Renata Salazar (she/her) is a staff writer.

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