A College Account

A place where adolescence and adulthood intersect, college has always represented a challenging journey of self-discovery.

Those challenges were only amplified by the Coronavirus pandemic and compounded by the simultaneous evolution of technology.

In his debut collection of nine short stories, Aaron Skye Pharr investigates the quiet and often melancholy reality of a generation of students seeking to understand and develop themselves while caught up in world-altering events, where barriers both physical and digital leave them increasingly isolated.

Relationships start, stop, and stumble. A socially stunted freshman's obsession with a tabletop roleplaying game begins to dangerously blur his reality. A nineteen-year-old with a chronic illness questions being made in God's image, leading to a new perspective on life. Two close friends are forced to confront their feelings after one hooks up with someone else.

A College Account is an honest and atmospheric exploration of what it means to find your feet as the world is shifting beneath you.

Aaron Skye Pharr attended Virginia Commonwealth University, earning a B.A. in English in 2021 and a Master's in Teaching in 2023. This collection is a love letter to the uncertain but exciting time college represents. Pharr's position as a Coronavirus graduate and an English teacher of the generation directly impacted by the pandemic gives his collection an insightful and relatable aesthetic for anyone aged seventeen to twenty-seven.

Narratives are grounded in the everyday, real challenges of young adulthood: from mental health to lost friendships. Magical realism elevates these complexities in select stories, giving an escape from routine that readers may desire. These coming-of-age themes have been written through a decidedly contemporary lens for a generation that experienced a global pause just as their lives were meant to begin. While the tone is melancholy and evocative, it ultimately provides a sense of catharsis and validation.