Elle White
Bio
Stories (34/0)
How volunteering abroad damages communities and cultures
The grass, scorched and scratchy stems pricked the skin on my legs as I sat in the African red dust. The children on either side of me were holding my hands, their eyes wide in fascination as they traced their fingers up and down the blue and purple veins in my wrist. They poked every freckle, pinched my fingernails.
By Elle White 4 years ago in Wander
To the Friends That Broke Me:
I’m slowing it down. Trying, so hard to write what I could never find the words to say. My chest is burning, heavy and all I want to do is smash my fist into something—anything, regardless of splitting bone. Tearing skin, scoring flesh—it never bleeds enough to let this bitterness seep out of my veins. You may as well try scoring into concrete. I don’t feel anything anymore, even if my body seems delicate and easily broken, I don’t flinch. And it’s because of you all.
By Elle White 5 years ago in Humans
I Failed My A-levels and Was Kicked Out of My School... It Was the Best Thing that Has Happened to Me Yet
I’ll never forget it. Standing in line with countless other kids whose envelopes had been marked like leprosy. We stood, waiting for a one-to-one talk with the vice principal, who would inevitably tell us we must leave the school. Our grades were not to a high enough standard to stay. Most of the students were crying. Angry mothers stood at their side, ready to rip anyone apart who dared to get in the way of their beloved, and "academically gifted," child’s future. Sorry hun, your kid was the one doing Jager bombs and tequila every Thursday night at the bar down the street.
By Elle White 5 years ago in Education
How We Cause Damage by 'Helping'
I am writing to you from the shelter of a veranda in a rural Ugandan village, where the current rainstorms and bellowing thunder are drowning out my thoughts. This is my fourth month living in Uganda, with four remaining. Uganda is incredible, with many of my pre-empted dreams sparked to life with more beauty than I expected. The clay-red roads, I wash it from my feet and sandals every evening. The vast array of plants, I rest in their shade, and smell their lushness after the rains. The wildlife, I listen to its constant chatter night and day.
By Elle White 5 years ago in Wander
How to Move out as a Teenager—Part Two
So here we are. Your friends have unloaded the last of your things from the boots of their chugging Peugeot cars, and the door clicks shut behind them. Alone, in a hallway of an unfamiliar house you clutch the shiny new keys that you will, inevitably torture yourself over losing and finding from here on out-seriously, first thing first... get a lanyard. It's quiet, and the world is officially your oyster. Hello to independence and adulthood (haha, who are we fooling.)
By Elle White 5 years ago in Lifehack
- Top Story - December 2018
How to Move Out as a Teenager—What You Must ConsiderTop Story - December 2018
I moved out of my family home at 18-years-old. I was not kicked out, but circumstances within the home became very difficult, to the point that I found that it was an impossible place to live. To do so, would mean that I would go backwards rather than forwards in recovering from depression and mental illness. It was a painful and disappointing endeavor, but one I am glad I made. It had seemed impossible, I didn't know where to begin and I needed to move quickly.
By Elle White 5 years ago in Lifehack