Maria Popova

And he says, sometimes with one I loved, my love went unreturned.

But out of that pain, I have written these songs.

Well, it's been evolving incrementally because it's very much an extension of me, the person, and thank fucking God I'm not the person I was 20 years ago.

I mean, who amongst us want to be who we were in our 20s?

Hating poetry, that's right.

I mean, let me backtrack a little bit.

So I came to the U.S.

from Bulgaria alone when I was 19, sold on the liberal arts education model, meaning thinking there was this system of education in North America that was going to teach me how to live a meaningful, substantive life.

And I also thought I'd like figured America out because of like TV and pop culture.

And, you know, I went to an American high school, so our classes were in English.

I was like, I got this.

I got this land down.

And then I show up.

And first of all, my parents had cobbled together $800, which was so much for us, to give me for the year.

And by the time I'd gotten like bedsheets and textbooks in the first week, I was like out of money.

And also realizing that I had gone from the 99% of Bulgaria to the 1% of America.

I went to a school that is like extremely privileged people go there.

And I was on financial aid.

I was working four jobs to pay for school.

And I still hoped at least it would teach me how to live.