Coffee churned in my stomach as I walked up the steps and entered the mobile lab. As
someone who thrives on predictability, this was one of the few times I was entering a situation
where I didn’t know what to expect, and was doing so willingly. As a marketing and
communications intern, my job this week was to observe Learning Undefeated’s Emerging
Leaders in STEM program and immerse myself in it. There was no way for me to have known
that this initial discomfort (after all, I was a humanities major walking into a STEM lab) would
transform into something else by the end of the week. On Friday, I'd find myself sad to leave,
equipped with new knowledge and friendships. However, on Monday, those results felt far away
and unattainable.

Waxahatchee is akin to everyone’s favorite cool indie boy band. The musicians who upload music videos that look like they were filmed on an iPhone 6. The ones who sport shaggy haircuts and untied Converse like it's a fashion statement. Maybe there’s a silver ring or two adorning the lead singer's hand as they grip the microphone at a shitty dive bar in your hometown. You know the type. The only thing Waxahatchee is lacking in this comparison is the pretentious fake introspective ego that comes with many of these college-wannabe stars. Instead, the band, which formed in 2010, artfully mixes Folk, Rock, and Country in a way that makes even hardcore Pop fans want to tune in.

A young girl with wildly curly hair and blue paint stretching up the span of her arms
shyly hides behind her mother’s legs, reluctant to help lead me into the store, the Refillery Co.,
that she has become well acquainted with since it opened in June. I will later discover that her
name is Alex, and learn from the show of fingers she holds up when I ask her age, that she is
four. Her mom, Jasmyn Blanchard owns the Refillery Co., which sits tucked away in a strip of
stores off Wrightsville Ave.

North Carolina was once seen as a safe haven for those seeking abortion access, but when Senate Bill 20 took effect in July 2023, the state became another one of many with restrictive reproductive health laws.