Everyone loves a story, assuming that it’s told well and has a point. You can use a story to introduce a subject to your readers, as featured writer Caitlin Guariglia does for her reflective essay about a trip to Italy.

Crash! The sound of metal hitting a concrete wall is my first vivid memory of Rome. Our tour bus could not get any farther down the tiny road because cars were parked along both sides. This, our bus driver told us, was illegal. He did not tell us, exactly; he grumbled it as he stepped out of the bus. He stood there with his hands on his hips, pondering the situation. Soon, people in the cars behind us started wandering up to stand next to the bus driver and ponder along with him. That, or they honked a great deal.