Write Something Unique About Yourself | By Mary Balid, 16

        One unique thing about me is that I relate every body part to a food item. Or at least, almost every body part. Though I can’t pinpoint the exact moment that I realized this “talent,” I do recall a very early example of this phenomenon. In 3rd grade, I vividly remember a friend asking me what I would do on a deserted island; naturally, we discussed climbing coconut trees, building sand castles, and cooking fish. The conversation took a turn, however, when I mentioned that the thumb looked edible. I reasoned that the flesh underneath the thumb, combined with the thumb itself, resembled a chicken drumstick. She was astonished. I have since learned that not everyone sees a chicken drumstick when they imagine their thumb.

​        The thumb is not the only body part that has fallen victim to my food-ingrained mind. Celery reminds me of my arm bones, a large sweet potato looks like my stomach, and coconuts strangely remind me of my brain. My most recent discovery actually had to do with the texture of arteries. I was at Weill Cornell Hospital for a Heart/Anatomy Lab, and my mentor had allowed us students to touch the heart, carry the lungs, and feel the arteries and veins. The second I touched the artery, I felt it. The phenomenon had occurred. Loudly, I exclaimed, “THE ARTERY HAS THE SAME TEXTURE AS AL DENTE PASTA.”