Designing a 'Legendary' yearbook theme forced me to face the truth: I used to chase fame and renown. Now I just want a life worth living with the man I love.
Author: Laura Joy Palma
My Students Asked About Heroes—Then Life Gave Me One Who Wasn’t Superman
A year ago, I named him Charming in this blog. My sophomores were studying archetypes, and I was certain I wasn't a damsel in distress. Turns out, the best heroes don't wear capes—they help you finish your own quest before starting a new story together.
Teaching Plot Structure While My Biological Clock Screams—How Sophomores Saved My Story
Babies surrounded us at church, and I cried through the sermon. But teaching short story elements to sophomores, I found my climax on the chalkboard: dozens of notes saying 'I love you' from last year's kids. Sometimes your students teach you how your own story resolves.
Catching Pokémon in Dark Parks at Midnight—Why This Teacher ‘Gets’ Her Students
I sat behind Rapunzel and Snow White at the football game, camera in one hand, Pokémon Go in the other. At midnight, I was creeping into empty playgrounds to battle gyms. I finally understood: teenagers and I share the same quest—we're all trying to level up without knowing the endgame.
Pokémon Go Taught This Teacher More Than Her Students: How to See Who’s Really There
I resisted until Charming showed me lures by the Alexandria waterfront. Suddenly I was talking to strangers, finding connections everywhere. Now facing 60 new sophomores, I realize: my classroom needs to be the best PokéStop ever—where kids catch exactly what they need to evolve.
How God Used My Writing to Write My Love Story
Seventy-seven weeks of Tuesday night writing led me back to faith and into the arms of a man who found me through my words. Sometimes God's best work happens when we're not looking.
Why I Don’t Want Summer to End (And What God Taught Me About Letting Go)
As a teacher, I know I have to give up my heart to 120 new students. Here's what my nieces and a street preacher taught me about trusting the faces you can't see yet.
When Love Asks You to Wait: A Year in Photos and Hard Questions
I created a photo album of our entire relationship to answer one question: Was he worth waiting for? Sometimes the hardest conversations happen with ourselves first.
When Love Isn’t About Timing: Four Days Without My Prince Charming
I broke up with Charming over our timing conflict—I'm ready for marriage, he's not. But driving away in a storm, God ministered to me through worship music. Is he worth the wait?
Why I Never Graduated from the College I Loved
Thirteen years later, I finally returned to Wheaton with the man I'd met there as strangers. Here's what I learned about the scars that build character and the dreams we bury too soon.
Writer's Growth 