Finally Going Home
April 21st, 2026 | by Noelle Sterne
Should I feel guilty for not having reacted like my roommate did, sobbing and clinging to the bedpost when she had to leave without her child
About Noelle Sterne
Noelle Sterne
Author, editor, writing coach, workshop leader, and academic mentor and nag (PhD, Columbia University), Noelle Sterne has published stories, essays, writing craft articles, spiritual pieces, and occasional poems in in writing, literary, educational, humor, women’s, and spiritual venues in print and online. She contributes a monthly column to Textbook and Academic Authors Association, “Dear. Dr. Noelle.” Selected journals she has published in: Author Magazine, BlackFox Literary Magazine, Bookends Review, Chicken Soup for the Soul (10 stories as of June 2025), Feed the Holy, Grande Dame Literary Journal, Inside Higher Ed, Inspire Me Today, LiveWriteThrive, MindBodySpirit, Journal of Expressive Writing Mused, New Age Journal, Oh Reader, Pen and Prosper, Romance Writers Report, Ruminate, Sasee, Sivana Spirit, The Soliloquist, Spiritual Media Blog, Spirituality and Health (print and online), Thesis Whisperer, Transformation Coaching, Unity Daily Word, Unity Magazine, Women in Higher Education, Women on Writing, The Write Place at the Write Time, Writing and Wellness, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. Eons ago, Noelle’s children’s book of original dinosaur riddles was published by HarperCollins; the book was in print for 18 years and featured on the first dinosaur show of PBS’s Reading Rainbow. More recently, her handbook to assist doctoral candidates is based on her professional academic practice: Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation: Coping with the Emotional, Interpersonal, and Psychological Struggles (Bloomsbury/Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2015). In her spiritual self-help book, Trust Your Life: Forgive Yourself and Go After Your Dreams (Unity Books, 2011), Noelle draw examples from her academic consulting and other aspects of life to support readers in reaching their lifelong yearnings. Continuing with her own, she continues to write stories and essays and is draft-deep in her third novel, with more clogging her files. Website: http://www.