humans of TAGby Morgan Moore

"I've often been told that I'm intimidating to men, which I don't really understand. Maybe it's the short hair, maybe it's the abrasive personality. But in all honesty, I don't care about what people think of me. I'd rather do what I want in my life than to tiptoe around boundaries for sake of being 'presentable' and all that nonsense."

“One Sunday morning, I woke up with my cat on my face, and I freaked out my cat by karate chopping him half-way across the room. He was coughing and meowing really loudly, but he was faking it for more food like always. Don’t karate chop your cat; we have dogs to do that for us.”

“I put tape on my computer’s front camera because I heard that hackers can get to it and see you. I know it’s unlikely, and I have nothing to hide, but I’d still prefer not to risk it. Plus, it’s much too creepy for me to.

“It's difficult trying to manage high school and a baby. I mean she's not my baby; she's my niece, but she's still my baby. There have been many times when I have had to simultaneously juggle my niece and fast approaching deadlines for college applications, homework, you get it. There have been times when I've had to write essays on one half of my computer screen while Barney plays on the other half to keep the baby on my lap still enough to write a paragraph. I'm a teenage mom without being an actual teenage mom, you know?”

“Take my picture here. Because I wanna be an architect. And there’s Downtown.”

“I think I’m becoming like my dad. It’s the driving. He drives like a maniac. Speeding, tailgating, that thing when you cross the solid white line. I’ll speed sometimes, but only 5-10 miles per hour above the speed limit. This morning I was eating my rice while I was driving. See, that’s the thing with breaking the law a bit. You do a little bit more each time. But, yeah, that’s like my dad when he drives. I guess parents are more influential than I think they are. I’ll never like football as much as he does. That’s a guarantee.”

“I got these boots when I was in eighth grade. My Dad said I wouldn’t wear them, and I wouldn’t take care of them, and they’d lie forgotten in my closet after a few months of having them. He bought them for me anyway after I promised I’d wear them forever. Well, it’s been four years, and I still wear them nearly every other day.”

“I cosplay. I spend my days toiling over a sewing machine, dyeing fabric, and watching YouTube tutorials on how to do everything from crafting my very own suit of armor to making cheap dress forms from duct tape and plastic bags. I am a hair stylist, seamstress, blacksmith, clothing designer, and cobbler. And that’s when I’m not playing dress up.

This hobby has taught me not to shy away from the label ‘nerd’. It is infinitely better to take pride in the work that I do rather than be bashful for fear of being branded with a middle school insult I now celebrate.  Being a nerd is about passion. I eagerly throw myself into the pursuit of knowledge in a diverse range of topics and cosplay just happens to be another facet of my many faces. Making a three-dimensional, semi-functional costume from a fictional world is a challenge that no expertise can quite prepare for, but with composed diligence and willingness to make mistakes, even the fanciful can become real.”

“I don't generally think of myself as smart, especially not the coveted ‘smart enough to be at TAG,’ but I guess it's been thrown at me since I was a kid. My parents are U.S. historians, so you can't even imagine how many books on race relations I read before age 8, and ever since then I've been reading everything that I could get a hold of. Reading all those three-hundred page books on Reconstruction in the South must have paid off pretty well because it seems as if I'm ‘smart enough to be at TAG.’ But it sure doesn't feel like it.”

“My first name, Shoshana (Hebrew for rose), was my great grandmother’s (my grandmother’s mother) and my middle name, Judith, is my other great grandmother’s (my grandfather’s mother) name. Both of my great grandmothers were very strong, inspirational women, and I feel honored to carry their legacies in something as important as my name. They both grew up in difficult conditions, into problems beyond their control, but worked hard to make better lives for themselves. They were also incredibly kind and brilliant people, and I strive to be like them some day.”

“I got you on your cell phone.”

“Yeah, it makes me look professional.”

“One day, back in fourth grade, I made Tootsie-Roll S’mores. I took two half-stale graham crackers and placed a half-chewed marshmallow in between them, but I literally couldn’t find any chocolate. Then, I remembered the candy my mom hides in one of the vases in the kitchen. I climbed on the counter and reached for the container on top of the cabinets on the wall. The only thing left was Tootsie-Roll. Even though I wasn’t a fan of Tootsie-Roll I thought I’d give it a try because Tootsie-Roll was sort of like chocolate, right?Well, it was really freaking good - my highest achievement, for sure. I knew I had to unveil my heart-breaking, life-changing, mouth-watering recipe to the public so that all people of the world could make Tootsie-Roll S’mores when there was no chocolate in their houses. And then I found out the internet already had a recipe for Tootsie-Roll S’mores.”

“I was eight years old. It was 2008. That was year I found out about my father. My father wasn't exactly loyal to my mother. In fact, he was often out working, and he met a lot of people. He would come home at night around 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. My mom was always there to greet him. This was typically how it went for most of their marriage until one night I heard yelling. My sisters and I hid in the dark. I tried my best to keep them calm. My parents were arguing, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. They divorced. The sudden separation was difficult, and I was left confused and scared. It took years for me to forgive, yet my mom was able to do it first. Now, my siblings and I go to my father's every other weekend. Sometimes, I notice a look of regret on his face.I get rid of that with a hug.”