{"id":5146,"date":"2025-08-04T20:46:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T20:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/?page_id=5146"},"modified":"2025-08-04T20:46:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T20:46:14","slug":"a-history-students-regrets","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-6-winter-2025-2027\/a-history-students-regrets\/","title":{"rendered":"A History Student’s Regrets"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Layla McLaurin<\/em><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you watch me open my book\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

on the sixties,<\/span><\/p>\n

read on yellowed pages Dr. King\u2019s words<\/span><\/p>\n

which you heard from your television,<\/span><\/p>\n

sweat coiling the hair under your white nurse\u2019s cap,<\/span><\/p>\n

scarred feet bit by strangling heels,<\/span><\/p>\n

do you wonder why I did not open up to you instead?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you watch me ask my professor<\/span><\/p>\n

about US involvement in Korea,<\/span><\/p>\n

about the war your husband fought\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

for an idea he did not yet know himself,<\/span><\/p>\n

while you, 16, whispered prayers<\/span><\/p>\n

for a girl you did not yet know yourself,<\/span><\/p>\n

do you wonder why I did not ask you first?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When from above you watch me\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

search archives for histories of the Great Migration,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

of the journey your mother made from\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charleston to West Oak Lane\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

after the Great War,<\/span><\/p>\n

her tawny face wrinkled by a north wind<\/span><\/p>\n

whose sharpness I will never know,<\/span><\/p>\n

do you wonder, Grandmother,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

why I did not try to search your memories?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Layla McLaurin<\/strong> is a member of the class of 2028 who plans to major in history. From Voorhees, New Jersey, she has always been interested in different forms of art, from music and theatre to visual art and creative writing. She is excited to continue developing as a student and writer during her time at Rutgers, and hopes to become a lawyer or archivist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Layla McLaurin   When you watch me open my book\u00a0 on the sixties, read on yellowed pages Dr. King\u2019s words which you heard from your television, sweat coiling the hair … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2513,"featured_media":0,"parent":5102,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5146","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA History Student's Regrets - Writers House Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-6-winter-2025-2027\/a-history-students-regrets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A History Student's Regrets - Writers House Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Layla McLaurin   When you watch me open my book\u00a0 on the sixties, read on yellowed pages Dr. King\u2019s words which you heard from your television, sweat coiling the hair … Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-6-winter-2025-2027\/a-history-students-regrets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Writers House Review\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-6-winter-2025-2027\/a-history-students-regrets\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-6-winter-2025-2027\/a-history-students-regrets\/\",\"name\":\"A History Student's Regrets - 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