Teen Blogs

Shireen Younus

Ahmadiyya: My Small Town

Tallia Storm

'No' Is Never the Answer

Tara Subramaniam

10 Things Learned From a Month of Study Abroad

Tara Subramaniam

10 Things Learned From a Month of Study Abroad 1. Flying with family is infinitely easier than flying solo with a bunch of strangers in a multitude of ways. 2. Music is a powerful stress reliever. But sometimes, listening to top 40 music from your home country will either Remind you of fun times back home (which oftentimes inevitably leads to "A"). 3. There's nothing quite like flying over a country at daybreak. Scout's honor. School hours, after-school activities, homework time and meal times vary from country to country. 8. Study abroad, not party abroad (as my resident director says). Work hard -- play hard applies especially well. 10. "Me-time" can be the difference between a strained and fantastic host family relationship.

Katy Ma

17 Things I Want Myself to Remember Senior Year Out of sight, out of mind... Call, write, Skype or text, it doesn't matter. Show your love. Keep doin' what you're doin'. You're passionate about so many things -- remember why. You'll have photos of every "important" event like graduation and prom, but those are events you will remember. Most likely, you'll forget those memories with time. Walking back to the car after school does not count. Staring out the window during math class does not count. If you get into your dream school, great. If you write a blog every month as planned, great. If you're awarded scholarships, great. Assess, evaluate, go. Teachers, guidance counselors, mentors, friends, and loved ones have helped you this entire way. They helped you put in 100 percent all those times when you thought you only had 80 percent. Really, it doesn't matter who's speaking. Make your words count. 11. College Applications: get them done ASAP. Check deadlines, stay organized, don't psych yourself out. As you learned in high school, procrastination never really did anything for anyone. Remember? You love that a lot. Keep painting, creating, and envisioning. Inspire underclassmen to take on leadership roles. Smile. 16. Sleep. You'll feel refreshed and your body will thank you. You've worked hard. Staying up late cramming isn't worth having a tired and drowsy next day. Stay humble.

Murray Rosenbaum

3D Printing: Still A Good Idea?

Alexis Jane Torre

4 Problems I'm Actually Thankful To Have 1. Almost all of my best friends go to different colleges than me. I'm thankful for this problem because it just solidified how lasting my friendships are. 2. College is kind of kicking my butt... which is a huge change from high school. In high school, I took the hardest courses, graduated top of my class, and spent my summers working or going to summer programs. Even though my classes were hard at times, I wasn't ever fully challenged. 3. I haven't just settled in with one group of friends yet in college. Right now, I'm just kind of bouncing between groups of friends in. A part of me is just dying to finally have a stable circle of friends in college. I'm thankful that I'm still meeting and hanging out with new people. Up until I turned 18, I pretty much ate whatever and whenever I wanted and still was a size zero.

Anne Hilker

5 Reasons to Love Jennifer Lawrence

Carmin Chappell

50 Years After the March on Washington: A Teen's Perspective On August 28, 1963, civil rights activists from all over the country flocked to the nation's capital for the March on Washington, which advocated for economic equality between races. After a day of powerful speeches at the Lincoln Memorial, crowds of people marched along the National Mall. Chants resonated across the sea of people as posters and American flags were thrust into the air. "Trayvon! Martin! Trayvon! Martin!" Additionally, rampant cultural appropriation and supposedly comical "hipster racism" are issues that largely affect today's youth. The first step in eliminating these problems is recognizing that racial disparity exists outside of history textbooks. As an African American, I've realized that it is not enough to quietly work hard and hope for success. I saw many other teens marching, and their presence was reassuring.

Marsha Pinto

6 Reasons Why You Should Appreciate Introverts Although introverts comprise one third of the overall population,"introverted" isn't exactly advertised as a successful quality or one most people are willing to put on their resume. 1. Introverts have hidden powers: Just because we introverts don't say much, doesn't always mean we're clueless. While others are busy chatting, introverts observe things most people are oblivious too. The truth is, without introverts, extroverted people would have no one to listen to them. 3. Introverts can self-recharge: Though the extrovert may gain their energy through mixing and mingling in crowds, introverts are self-recharging powerhouses. 4. Introverts make great friends: Yes, introverts are human. 5. Introverts will one day run the world: In her famous Ted Talk, Susan Cain states that there is actually no flaw in being introverted. Introverts have shown the potential to be great leaders. Check out this article listing the 16 outrageously successful introverts.

Montita Sowapark

A Grievance on the Faults of Our Education System: The Student Version "Alejandro, you're Hispanic, but you're not 'the typical Hispanic student.'" "Gretchen Weiners, you're white, but you're not 'the typical white student.'" I'm in both the Asian American Association and the Math Honor Society (my crasser friends have pointed out the redundancy of this). Many schools do this by ascribing students to certain academic denominations in their attempts to create as "diverse" a student population as possible. I would be the "STEM-focused Asian Female." If students possess these abilities, they can apply them to anything, be it STEM, business, law, interpretive dance, what have you. In order to have passionate students, we need to have curious students. We don't want curious students; we want smart students. We don't want students who will explore and experiment; we want students who will pass exams and raise school ratings. By the time students matriculate into college, it's far too late to undo the damage of a dozen years of mis-education. We need to put the human aspect back into education, beginning with recognizing students as humans who are more than just "the typical Asian student."

Jane Han

A New Girl in School

Marcel Neergaard

A Night of Candles

Evan Manning

An Ode to Reading

Evan Manning

Are High School Relationships Worth It?

Madelyn Chen

Around the (Written) World in 80 Days In the ink-filled pages of books, words transformed into actions, descriptions into scenes, as my mind became a theater, with the playbill reflecting the novel I held in my hands at the moment. The magic had always been inside the books, but in the sweet haze and carefree days of summer, the wonder of books and sudden time to consume all my hands could hold was enhanced. The time that had been subtracted from my desired reading time by schoolwork and activities was being made up for by each page I read, as lost time turned into all the time, and a book in hand became my standard accessory. Books were the filling of and between days of frolicking around strawberry fields forever and sipping homemade lemonade, between outdoor play and inside reflection. The books were not a substitute for traveling -- but they were supplements, fantasy adventures constructed between and throughout a car trip to another state, a cruise to another land, a flight to another country. As dragons hoard precious gems and gold as their treasure, so books became my treasure, as the number of books lying around my room grew to outnumber the random knickknacks and the piles of volumes was transferred onto shelves, becoming a library. How I spent my summer vacation.

Marcel Neergaard

Back to School

Marsha Pinto

Being Shy About Being Shy As a girl who was once considered the "shy girl " of her class, I know am uncovering the blanket that has been hiding all introverts. Face-to face communication, expression and body language are totally absent in these forms of communication. Will all this lead to an increase in isolation and a shyer world? "Stop being shy," " What's your problem?" and "Why can't you speak?" are the last three statements that a shy person would want to hear. Another challenge that comes with being shy is having people say that your shyness is a flaw. It takes years and tremendous effort to overcome shyness. Did you know that some of the greatest people in the world were once terribly shy? Legends such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Bill Gates were shy.

Anne Hilker

Bella Thorne Talks Fame, Friends and 'Shake It Up'

Anouska Stahlmann

Best Scenes and Lines of ALL Time I'm now 15-years-old and I've realized I spend all my time watching films. There are some scenes that break your heart. There are those scenes that make your heart melt. There are those scenes that make you feel, cry, laugh and "aww." I've collected a list of 10 scenes. I've narrowed down all the scenes that have evoked so much emotion that I didn't know how to feel after watching the scene. The final scene of the actual film depicts a heartbroken Oskar breaking down over the fact that saving 1,200 Jews just wasn't enough. This is the second to last scene in the whole film but this is the last scene in the main action sequence. This important film is huge and is a reminder of the tragedy suffered. Jake narrates the film and it follows his life more so than Kristy's. In the 1967 Detroit Riot, Jojo's ("Get Back") little brother is killed. This scene just connects you to the action and shows Jojo's background. 7. The Breakfast Club is, once again, a John Hughes film. This whole film radiates John Hughes' unique sense of film and knack for creating those memorable scenes. This film is a fitting epitaph for him. That scene is pretty fly but it's not THE scene. The scene happens when King Kong arrives in New York. This scene doesn't sound like much but it's the scene that made the film. I honestly love the scene so much. Truly beautiful. 5. Surprisingly the only Tim Burton film on here, Edward Scissorhands makes it into my top five with a very beautiful scene. This scene is touching. Watching this about six years on and this film and scene has not lost the magic it always had. Put that with Tim Burton's amazing directing, Diane Wiest's kind face and Danny Elfman's stunning score, no wonder this film is breathtaking. Winona Ryder played the supporting role and love interest, Kim. This scene has Edward carving an ice sculpture of Kim as an angel. Danny Elfman composed a beautiful song, Ice Dance, which fitted this scene so perfectly and made it magic. 4. Pretty in Pink is the third John Hughes film to hit my list. This film sums up so much. Starring Molly Ringwald, the goddess of the Brat Pack, Jon Cryer and Andrew McCarthy, this film is perfect. This film has the ability to make you laugh, cry and "aww" all at the same time. My favorite all-time dance sequence is the Duckie Dance. The film is not a musical though. Including tracks from T. Rex and The Clash, this film is a smash hit. This scene is truly inspiring. Poor Holly! So, Paul and Holly quarrel and finally they have the most romantic kiss in the history of film kisses. John Hughes, god of teenage films, tops my list. In this one film, he managed to raise so many emotions in each scene, create some of the most memorable moments in film, create photobombing and create the most famous scene ever. John Cusack and Ione Skye star as the young new couple, Lloyd and Diane. This film focuses on them and the trials they face. Say Anything offers the best scene of all time. Cameron Crowe's build up to this scene is gigantic. This sweet song mixed with Lloyd's boombox, mac and car is the combo to creating the most perfect scene. Diane would be a popular preppy girl just like she is in the film. This film is a must-watch purely for the scene. Just watch it, everyone! So, that's my top 10 scenes.

Carmin Chappell

Bittersweet Nostalgia Looking back on my younger years, I realize the importance of the playground. In elementary school, during our (grossly under-appreciated, speaking as an exhausted teen) recess, the playground was the epicenter of fun. This park contained my favorite playground as a child, from the abundance of swings to the slide that seemed as tall as Mt. Everest. Slides were toppled over, jungle gyms were in pieces, and everything was covered in a layer of dirt. A sign indicated that the playground was being torn down and replaced. I suddenly felt strangely possessive over the now scrap metal. With the new playground comes a whole new group of kids. Kids who have yet to make the memories, or the mistakes, I have; kids who think that if they swing high enough, they can touch the clouds. Kids who will someday understand the sentimental value of a little plot of land filled with toys.

Isabel Song

Black Forest Fire This year, I'm watching the smoke from the fires across southern Colorado from my home. A fairly large portion of my school's student body lives in Black Forest, and the pre-evacuation area is startlingly close to my school and the other handful of schools around the area (there are at least 10-plus schools or academies in a four-mile radius from my house). Cue the mocking laughter. Here are some stats and figures about the fire. Random tidbit: a number of the homes in Black Forest are worth over $1 million. According to the latest press conference, about 155 firefighters are currently fighting the Black Forest Fire, and about 130 law enforcement officials are engaged in evacuations.

Anouska Stahlmann

Book vs. Film With Catching Fire coming out in a few months, I've been thinking about film adaptations of books and, although occasional, book adaptations of films. The Hunger Games vs. The Hunger Games (2012) This book is a must read, but the film? This epic book deserved an epic film but did not receive it. As a stand-alone film, it is superb. Unfortunately, a comparison to the book leaves the film in the dust. I think this film and the rest of the trilogy, which are being turned into films, have great potential. I'm really excited for Catching Fire as it's my favourite of the books. This whole book series is perfect. Throughout the book series, she struggles to choose between Dave the Laugh, Robbie and Masimo. Luckily, she has the Ace Gang helping her. There is then the Barmy Army who follow Dave and help him. The film didn't do it for me. Aaron Johnson was a great actor but didn't quite capture Robbie's characterisation in the way that the books did. Georgia Groome is not who I would have cast as Georgia. Beautiful Creatures vs. Beautiful Creatures (2013) I love dark fantasy romances like Beautiful Creatures. One after the other, I read loads of books. I loved the book. I've read the second and I've got the third but haven't read it yet. Southern boy with southern manners, Ethan tries to help Lena and also help himself as he really does fall for her. Lena is supposed to have long curly black hair, not medium length wavy (ish) brown hair. She had brown eyes in the film, not green. The Hobbit vs. The Hobbit (2012) Right, onto my analysis on what's wrong and right with them; I loved the Hobbit when I read it and I loved The Lord of the Rings films. I haven't read the books, much to my shame. The Lord of the Rings films alone set a huge task for director, Peter Jackson, to live up to. Lord of the Rings was epic. This short book has been long awaited to be turned into a film and even then, this roughly 280 page book has been turned into three really long films. The book is like 280 pages, why does it need to be in three parts?! I can understand why The Hunger Games trilogy is three films and the Lord of the Rings trilogy is three films because they are three different books. I really love Howard Shore's music score. I've given rather deep analytical explanations of why books rule here. Anyway!

Joyce Chen

Disappearing Texas The windows look out onto a field with ragged, wild grass, empty save for a few trees. At the edge, the trees condense, clumping into a forest that curves around a country road. There is an abundance of this kind of scenery around here in this area of Texas -- flat land after flat land, sometimes sparsely vegetated, sometimes densely so. If I am to stand in my front yard and turn left, I face an ordinary, suburban neighborhood with cars parked at curbs. If I turn right, I have no neighbors; the sidewalk breaks off into greenery. Brick walls, stamped with the logo of the neighborhood, corral the houses. It is, after all, possible to be distinguished by undistinguished scenery. I stare at the too-bright light, thinking that darkness is a luxury.

Tallia Storm

Do Scottish Teenagers Really Care About Independence?

Joyce Chen

Down Below: LA's Underground Bars

Hannah Weintraub

Educating Women: Let's Teach Them How to Fish Education has become a luxurious meal that many girls never get the chance to taste. The thousands of education-starved, female minds piqued my interest two years ago when I researched women's education issues for my school's Women's Advocacy Club. Last week I opened the paper, and my eyes darted to the headlines: "Pakistani Activist, 15, Is Shot by Taliban" and "Pakistani girl shot in head by the Taliban." As Yousafzai beings to recover from her harrowing injuries, the global community must begin to doctor the serious deficits in women's education. Stop giving women fish, and instead begin to teach women how to fish for themselves. Around the world, families and community leaders see women's education as an investment with little returns. Teach a woman to read? If there are no job opportunities for educated women, a community will not educate their women, and then there will be no job opportunities for educated women. Yousafzai has left us no excuse to ignore women's education issues. Even a Taliban's threat is no longer good enough.

Susannah Meyer

Empowering Women in STEM

Blake Kernen

Capitalists Are Environmentally Friendly I am a true movie buff. Take for example, last year's hit animated movie, The Lorax. A character named Once-ler is the "villain" of the movie. Pure evil. Hollywood loves to cast a capitalist in the starring role of villain, and the environment as the victim. The environment needs capitalists. It needs people with money to help preserve and protect it. April is Earth Month. Let's celebrate everybody: the environmentalists and the capitalists who care about preserving and protecting our earth.

Susannah Meyer

Celebrating Women of Worth

Yii-Huei Phang

Child Beauty Pageants: Why Should We Condone Them? Only quite recently, to my horror, I discovered that there's a show titled, "Here comes Honey Boo Boo." Why are child beauty pageants acceptable in society? Some entertained viewers may argue, "What's wrong with children being dressed up?" Eight years old. If I had to propose a solution, I would say to simply raise the age limit for child beauty pageants, or get rid of them all. Instead of beauty pageants, why not try dancing or singing? Those activities allow a child to gain more self-esteem and even some discipline, but without reinforcing unattainable standards of beauty.

Tara Subramaniam

Everybody Truly Wants to Learn

Anne Hilker

Chivalry is Dead -- And So Is Facebook On the 16th of November I deactivated my Facebook profile. I know, deactivate Facebook? I deactivated it for my own good; I have come to realize that liking profile pictures and looking at pictures of people holding red Solo cups is not the best way to occupy myself. Facebook used to be a fun place to share posts, but it has changed into a black hole of stalking, hundreds of likes on profile pictures, and chaos in one social media site. I have wanted to deactivate my Facebook for a while. I got my Facebook account in seventh grade. It was a huge deal and I remember feeling so cool -- I had a Facebook! Four years later Facebook has lost its sparkle. I also started signing petitions on whitehouse.gov. So Facebook, until I reactivate my profile to resume my stalking expeditions and awkward Internet moments, good-bye.

Jane Han

Collecting Pieces of Our Shattered Dreams When it comes to dreams and making big decisions in our lives, we tend to focus on statistics and probabilities. Forget about numbers; focus on what you can do to fuel your dreams. With so many people over-exaggerating and emphasizing the practical aspect of reality, it has become extremely difficult for anyone these days to keep their dreams alive. It's almost as if our imaginative and ingenious qualities of our dreams are being suppressed. I've always wondered if this is why so many people with great potentials have been slowly disappearing. What if reality isn't as inflexible as we've thought it was? Why are we becoming uptight pragmatists when it comes to dreams? And who are we to say which dreams live or die? Opportunities are scarce nowadays as more people are becoming competitive.

Alexis Jane Torre

Dear High School Seniors... The last semester of high school is always eventful. There are acceptance letters, caps and gowns, and invitations to graduation parties. I thought that this second semester would be easy and familiar. I would get those scholarships and acceptance letters that I had been working for my entire high school career. I stopped connecting with a lot of my old friends. I hated that people, situations and feelings were changing at a time when they were supposed to be constant. I feel like we've been taught to believe that change is bad. When we say someone's changed, there's usually a negative connotation. When we say that our favorite restaurant has changed or that a website changed its look, we usually don't mean improvement. Remember that people, situations and feelings change and that's okay.

Arlan Jaska

Developing a Talent That Becomes A Career There wasn't a safe way to learn and practice both sides of securing a computer system or application. Last spring, as a high school senior who had only started exploring computer security the year before, I took first place at the Cyber Aces Virginia Governor's Cup Cyber Challenge. I often think of high school students who still have to learn everything on their own. There are very few classes teaching computer security, and there aren't typically clubs for it, either. Reading books or websites just can't beat hands-on experience, and will never produce the rewarding thrill from solving a difficult problem. For students in the same situation, I recommend starting a club, because there are more people interested in this area than you might think. I also strongly recommend entering some of the competitions available.

Tallia Storm

Diary of a 'Tiny Chancer' at London Fashion Week

Marsha Pinto

Fearing the First Day of School? Whether you are starting middle school, high school, college or just another school year, the first day of school can bring about mixed emotions. First impressions are key, and the first day of the school year is a chance to make or break your position in the school hierarchy. Back-to-school ads often create the illusion of everyone's dream first impression -- being the popular kid at school who gets all the attention walking down the halls. According to a back-to-school survey by KidsHealth.org, one quarter of students who participated said that their biggest fear about school was their appearance. Lunch break is another stressor for the first day of school. What do the popular kids at school and the lonely kids at lunch have in common? Take advantage of extra-curricular activities at your school.

Anne Hilker

Find Your Perfect Book Whether you participate in sports, academics or arts, it can be hard to find time to look for a book and then actually read it. For teens like me who have a tough time finding the right books, I will make it easy for you. 1. For teens who like the element of fantasy and a little romance, the book City of Bones by Cassandra Clare is worth looking into. The book is about young Clary Fray, who is at a teen club with a friend when she witnesses a murder. 2. The next book I will suggest is for history buffs that like a side of adventure. The book takes place in 2025 and people at age 17 get tattoos that give your name, age and blood type. This book has romance, suspense, and is good for the Hunger Games fan.

Blake Kernen

Fourth of July Message: Jobs = Freedom I've always known the Fourth of July is a day to celebrate America's birthday, its independence from British rule and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We are the luckiest people in the world. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the jobless rate in the United States is 7.6 percent, with about 11.8 million people unemployed. Recent figures show that U.S. citizens receiving some sort of government assistance is at an all time high -- about 1 in 3 Americans. Job creation is critical to the growth and success of our country. Only then can people truly hope to achieve what our Forefathers envisioned as the American Dream.

Blake Kernen

Freedom Is Fashionable The retailer didn't actually call me one, but it markets a line of clothing called "Bright Young Things" geared towards teens. Sounds innocent enough, right? (Maybe they're wearing the underwear. LOL.) Moms and dads wrote letters and blogs, outraged that Victoria's Secret is marketing "sexy" to young girls. First, I don't buy my own clothes or underwear. Whether my underwear is cute, colorful or funny, it's not going to make me more cute, colorful or funny. (As teens, we are not quite that free yet, because our parents try to guide us to make responsible choices.)

Patrick Mott

Freedom of Speech Doesn't Mean a Thing to Twitter -- Or Does It? Your Twitter account will be suspended. Guy Adams was recently suspended from Twitter for tweeting his disappointment in NBC delaying the Olympic games coverage. But what really caused the issue is that Adams encouraged his followers to email an NBC executive and express their disappointment. There was no explanation, other than a generic response stating: "Your Twitter account has been suspended for posting an individual's private information such as private email address." Twitter has since unsuspended Adams' Twitter account, without citing any specific reason. Let's hope that Twitter has learned from their "mess up." Does one's right to freedom of speech override Twitter's policy on users tweeting 'personal' information? Tweet me: @PatrickMott.

Alexis Jane Torre

From Franny and Zooey to Zoolander: My Favorite Quotes If you haven't already noticed from all the Facebook statuses, Instagram captions and Tumblr pages, our generation is really into quotes. The gist of this is that our society really digs quoting things. My favorite quotes are ones that I reread or re-watch in movies and TV shows, and I'm just kind of in awe of how it's worded so perfectly. (Oh, and I decided to focus on quotes from literature, movies and TV shows!) What are your favorite quotes? Do you agree that our generation has a strong interest in quotes compared to previous generations? -- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five 2. "Oh I can't stop drinking the coffee, I stop drinking the coffee, I stop doing the standing and walking and the words putting into sentence doing." -- Lorelai Gilmore, Gilmore Girls -- Derek Zoolander, Zoolander 7. "Idea for a short story. -- Anton Chekhov, The Seagull -- Kirk Lazarus, Tropic Thunder -- Dwight Schrute, The Office

Marcel Neergaard

GSAs Make a Difference There are few resources for young gay kids. Fortunately, a friend told my parents about the high school Gay Straight Alliance (GSA). At the GSA meetings I could finally be me! GSA encourages us to face our fears and help with difficult things like talking to unsupportive parents. GSA supplies a safe space by being respectful of everyone. GSA opened my eyes to being more accepted and accepting. A short time ago my GSA played an interesting Game of Life. The outcomes and ability to succeed were different depending on the individual identity. School pushout is the set of policies, practices, and procedures which cause students to leave school rather than graduate. Things like "zero tolerance," unsafe schools, or lots of police impact LGBTQ students, students of color and students with disabilities much more harshly. Organized by the Dignity in Schools Campaign, GSA Network is helping students to protest, demonstrate, push back, and demand solutions.

Carmin Chappell

Girl Hate: An Introduction Feminism is usually described as opposing unequal treatment of women by men. From overly sexual rap videos to varying salaries, sexist actions by the opposite gender are fairly obvious. Internalized misogyny doesn't just come in the form of bullying cliques who wear matching outfits reminiscent of the movie Mean Girls. Many "body peace" initiatives started by magazines and corporations in order to encourage self-confidence have led to a distorted perception that "real women have curves" and that naturally thin girls are "sickly." Women are simply burning bridges by submitting to these sexist views insinuated into our minds by society. A woman could proudly declare herself a feminist and in the same breath shame another woman for her choices.

Bizzy Emerson

Golden Globes Red Carpet Wins and My Predictions for the Oscars Award shows are the "Hunger Games" of the 21st century: there can only be one winner (in each category), competitors are thrust under the spotlight of public scrutiny, and, most importantly, fashion is key if you want to make a big impression. While The "Hunger Games" feature a little more blood, sweat, and tears, the red carpets of some of entertainment's biggest nights is a lot like the Tribute Parade. Not long ago, we marveled as some of Young Hollywood's best and brightest worked it onthe Golden Globes red carpet. Although no one was literally on fire, à la Katniss Everdeen, the fashion was definitely white hot. Here are some of my favorites of the night and my predictions for what you can expect at February's upcoming ceremonies, such as the Academy Awards and the Grammys. Honorable mentions go out to Emily Blunt, Marion Cotillard, Zooey Deschanel, Nicole Richie, Kerry Washington and Robert Pattinson, who all showed unique, modern, and sophisticated style at the awards. For upcoming events, expect the deep V-cut that Allison Williams worked, as well as pops of red, like Jennifer Lawrence. Also, the ever-popular up-the-leg cut, perfected by Lea Michele, will most definitely be seen again -- maybe even at this weekends' SAG Awards. Until then, watching all of the Oscar-nominated Best Films is a great way to prepare for the more "educated side" of the awards. Consider it like when the Tributes are scored before the games! Good luck to all the nominees, and may the odds be ever in their favor!

Murray Rosenbaum

Graphics vs. Story

Blake Kernen

Gravity: Worth the Wait Go see Gravity. You won't be disappointed. No space aliens or even a love story needed for this space adventure starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Just good heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat fun. You'll have a new appreciation for earth's beauty from space and the astronauts and scientists who put it all on the line to research the world around us. But after seeing it I can tell you that I'm not heading into space anytime soon. Which is probably a good thing because the American astronaut program may not be going anywhere fast or far anytime soon either. President Obama cancelled NASA's Constellation program in 2010, grounding any plans to take a trip to the moon. And now, NASA, which celebrated its 55th birthday on October 1, has problems hitting closer to home. Some 97 percent of NASA's workers have been furloughed and its website shutdown, just like the government. However, there is some good news for people who still want to shoot for the moon. All you need is a billion dollars and a big appetite for adventure. A group of billionaires are all claiming their space among the stars, funding cargo vehicles, rockets and other private space exploration, hoping to get in on what could be the next big financial frontier. If anybody is going to do it, an entrepreneur might just be the perfect person to get the job done. By nature, entrepreneurs are determined and ambitious, with an incredible desire to succeed. History books are filled with wealthy visionaries, as Roger Launius of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space museum noted in a USA Today article: Howard Hughes with airlines, Henry Rockefeller with the oil industry, and auto pioneer Henry Ford. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airlines, hopes to start commercial trips into space in 2014. His vision is "to democratize space, eventually making commercial space travel affordable and accessible to all" according to a recent statement. And just last week, NBC announced plans for a competition series with Richard Branson called "Space Race" with a grand prize being a trip into space on Virgin Galactica's SpaceShip Two. Hopefully, these new-age space explorers won't lose their will or their wallets. Costs can get out of control and skeptics caution that the bigger the project, the bigger the cost miscalculation. But these entrepreneurs aren't only on a money mission; they're on a mission for mankind. "This is smart money investing in one of the largest commercial opportunities ever: going into space to gain resources for the benefit of humanity," says space "ranger" and X Price Foundation chief Peter Diamandis. Entrepreneurs living their dream and paying their own way. What in the world, or galaxy, could be better than that?

Hannah Weintraub

Having a 'Plan B' After unprotected sex, a woman can take emergency contraception -- also known as Plan B or the morning-after pill -- in order to avoid pregnancy. Most emergency contraception, according to Planned Parenthood, is most effective 24 hours after unprotected sex and can stop pregnancies up to five days after unprotected sex. This last-ditch effort to teach a girl about safe sex is a flimsy band-aid on the greater problems in sex education: for many students, sex ed is simply non-existent. What will help teens avoid pregnancy is if schools teach about existing birth control methods exist, how to use them properly and where to purchase them before a couple has unprotected sex or a girl gets pregnant. Blaming a girl for needing emergency contraception when she wasn't properly taught about birth control in the first place is a sorry reaction to the initial failings of our flawed sex education. Our perceived immaturity is one of the justifications people have for banning younger teens from accessing emergency contraception. Many also worry that emergency contraception will encourage girls to have unprotected sex yet studies show that this concern is unfounded. Giving girls access to emergency contraception has no affect on their likeliness to engage in unprotected sex.

Sophia Slater

Helping After the Great East Japan Earthquake: When Money May Not Be Enough Everybody's energy was more and more focused on relief efforts. Say you just lost a family member, your husband or wife. Obviously you would need financial aid to support yourself and the rest of your family. I've learned that this is the essential issue with relief work. Relief work after natural disasters is hard. Some people would rather be self-reliant, and others simply don't have the infrastructure in place for large-scale outside help. Emotional support in in the case of 3/11 oftentimes is in the form of activities that bring communities together, such as a project everybody can do together in order to raise money. After the disaster, they took pieces of slate from the ruined roofs of houses, shaped them into charms, painted them to make jewelry, and then sold them to help the town get back on its feet. The road to recovery is long, and never easy after traumatic experiences. We as human beings have the responsibility to help the survivors come to terms with their tragedy and current situation. By giving emotional support, we can help many people to realize that there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel.

Alexis Jane Torre

Here You Are Wanting to just read books and watch movies all the time because they feel like your only constant friends. You'll understand that real love will only happen if you muster up the courage to stop living in books and movies and start living in reality. Believing in all those pretty promises that guys make. Here you are, 18 and eagerly learning. Learning from your classes, your friends and family, and your daily experiences. Learning how to adjust to a new place and time without losing where you came from.

Marsha Pinto

Hey Girl, What's in a NUMBER? The biggest battle that a girl in North America faces is the battle against different menacing numbers in their lives that leads them to a life of self-defiance. Do body size numbers determine your ability? Do girls need to be considered worthy of wearing a brand? Who is it who coined the numbers that define a perfect body for a girl and what were these numbers based upon? Girls in North America are blessed with opportunities, freedom and great potential that many girls in other countries can only dream of. During the month of April, Girls Inc. teamed up with JCPenney to raise money for girls who cannot afford a college education. Girls Inc. and JCPenney assure girls that they are valued beyond the numbers and that life's best moments are lived not measured.

Odelia Kaly

If The Clothes Fit "If the Clothes Fit" That is the title of an article written by Minh-Ha T. Pham for Ms. Magazine last week about feminism and fashion. With the resurgence of anti-feminism conservative woman on the political scene, I thought it was particularly interesting that there are females out there who are still uncomfortable with expressing themselves through fashion. "'My passion for fashion can sometimes seem a shameful secret life,' wrote Princeton University English professor Elaine Showalter in 1997. In U.S. politics, Hillary Clinton has experienced the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't double bind for strong women. It's just that our biased, male-driven societal standards make it difficult for a woman to express herself through fashion. The issue is that self-expression is really what fashion is about. The predicament that many women face is the contradiction in the media's views on this subject: they are supposed to dress well and be presentable and professional, yet they are stereotyped if they show an involved interest in fashion. My stance on this is not really about the feminism aspect so much as the problem with people taking fashion seriously.

Amanda Dai

If They Can Do It, Why Can't I? "Scissors: One minute," our coach orders succinctly. My legs force themselves off the ground and I drag my back off the carpet. My legs move side-to-side, always one above, the other below, constantly switching like some gargantuan scissors. I glance desperately at our coach, who looks on impassively and yells corrections at some girls. "Ok girls, down." Sighing, I inch onto my stomach and complete another minute of scissors, this time lying facedown while lifting my legs off the ground. My hamstrings burn so much that my legs can barely move. "Last time," our coach states curtly. Our coach scrutinizes every girl's position, and once satisfied, commands, "Go!" The burn sparks and disseminates faster this time. I clench my hands harder. Darkness envelops me, and an unusual calmness washes over my mind. I relax, feeling accomplished. "Go," our coach instructs. I lower myself back onto the carpet, and as my back muscles unfurl in relief, I inwardly smile.

Bizzy Emerson

In Defense of Justin Bieber Justin Bieber gets an unfair reputation. More recently, I've attempted to be a sacred protector of Jelena, the whirlwind celebrity romance between Justin and Selena Gomez. One dollar from every Justin Bieber concert ticket sold is automatically donated to the charity, aiding in the development of schools specifically in Guatemala. Likewise, Justin has been a reliable supporter of the Make-a-Wish foundation, meeting with terminally ill children whenever and wherever possible. JUSTIFY?!) Justin's many missteps, it gives me hope that he cares about issues beyond himself. In terms of maintaining Justin, I put 100 percent faith in Scooter Braun, Justin's longtime manager, and Usher, pop sensation and mentor to the 19-year-old star. Having discovered and worked with Justin since he was pint-sized, I've chosen to believe that Braun is someone Justin can heavily trust and rely on when he gets into trouble. What most recently has made me especially defensive of Justin in the aftermath of this break-up is Selena's new song, "Love Will Remember," which is supposedly about Justin and their relationship. What upsets me about this is that Selena is seemingly exploiting Justin in a vulnerable moment in order to either prove that Justin has given up on the relationship, or to simply sell records. If what Justin is saying in the voicemail is no longer true, that doesn't mean it was false at the time he recorded it. Perhaps Justin's greatest form of defense is his artistry. If you've ever seen Justin in concert, you would know that his performances speak for themselves. Justin doesn't go through this entire life for the money and fame. Throughout a grueling traveling schedule, throwing up on stage, fainting down a stairwell and plenty of life endangering mobs and situations, Justin has never said, "I'm done." If you want to start beliebing, maybe the best place is with Justin's most recent release,Believe Acoustic.

Carmin Chappell

In Fashion, What's Old Is New Again In fashion, so much emphasis is placed on trend forecasting, with magazines and designers all competing to predict the next season's hottest styles. Through my growing interest in fashion, I've realized that predicting the latest trends is not so much seeing into the future, but looking back on the past. The crop tops worn by Kelly and Jessie with high waisted jeans matched some of the pieces in my own closet. Even in swimwear, the modest '60s-style bathing suit silhouette was increasingly popular this summer. The cyclical quality of fashion can be attributed to the constant transitioning of consumers. Many companies have already been capitalizing on the popularity of vintage fashion. Well-known clothing brands such as Urban Outfitters and American Apparel offer hand-picked, authentic vintage clothing for sale on their websites. ModCloth, an online store, is devoted entirely to retro-inspired styles.

Murray Rosenbaum

Indie Movies: Why Are They So Underrated?

Tallia Storm

Inhalers: The One Accessory I'd Like to Bling Up!

Yii-Huei Phang

Insight Into a Surgeon's Life and Aspirations Really ambitious aspirations. It isn't because doctors have a 'prestigious' reputation on Grey's Anatomy, or their salary figure. Rather, I look up to doctors who have changed peoples' lives. Over the past few years, I've dealt with a skin condition called eczema, which usually spreads around my hands. What if I lack the requirements to study in the medical field? I'm afraid that I'm being too ambitious. However, just a week ago, I had an internship at a hospital as part of work experience. Work experience is part of the Australian curriculum for students in my year. So, I was assigned under general surgery. I had the privilege to scrub in to observe surgeries, seeing many breast cancer and melanoma cases. Most of the time, it was breast cancer cases, and I really enjoyed that. I love the aspect of interacting with people in medicine. A typical surgeon's working day is not the normal 9-5. Not necessarily become specifically a surgeon, but to work in the medical field.

Hannah Weintraub

International Day of the Girl This October 11 the world will celebrate the day of the Girl; a youth-run initiative to end sexism against girls and to encourage girls to change the status quo. To be a woman activist is hard but to be a young female advocate has its own added challenges. Today, young women still seem to be disenfranchised from the greater feminist movement in many regards. In just one example, some feminist organizations don't accept high school girls as interns and then have few or no volunteer opportunities for interested young women. The young women involved in the International Day of the Girl -- particularly those from societies whose respect for women is far behind what I experienced in the U.S. -- are pushing past the historical criticism and age barriers. These women and other young female advocates are far from achieving their goals.

Annie Gersh

International Day of the Girl: Looking to the Past and the Future

Anne Hilker

Io-What?!? When I Moved to Iowa

Jane Han

Is Obedience the Key to Success?

Susannah Meyer

Is Social Media a Blessing or a Curse?

Blake Kernen

It's Not About the Money On our way, we talked about Home Depot, one of its founders Ken Langone, and you guessed it, the American Dream. Then, hopefully he would have success and happiness. A list of the "50 Greatest Entrepreneurs of All Time" compiled by Success magazine shows just how important entrepreneurs are to the history and the future of our country. The average entrepreneur makes just under$45,000 per year, and fails 3.8 times before succeeding. In it, Mr. Brooks makes a clear case for free enterprise and the entrepreneur. Who knew our trip to Home Depot would shed so much light on free enterprise? Here's to earned success, happiness and the American entrepreneur. Now, please pass the lemonade.

Natalie Merlo

It's OK to Be Different

Patrick Mott

It's a Connected World We're just a connected society. Smartphones, Twitter and Facebook don't make it easy for us to disconnect either. Some people may say that's a bit of an overreaction, but it's a legitimate fear ('FOMO,' or fear of missing out). As NBC New York reports, depression and anxiety many times can be attributed to FOMO. Yahoo! News recently reported that nearly 40 percent of 2,000 social media users surveyed stated they would rather do any of the following than give up social media: Wait in line at the DMV Read War and Peace Run a marathon Spend a night in jail Well, a on a five-day vacation, a self-proclaimed social media addict and CNN journalist, Kiran Khalid, gave up social media. Not surprisingly, by disconnecting from obsessively tweeting and checking social media, she really did enjoy her trip. For instance, you could set a daily limit of how many times you'll check social media. Remember to take the time to disconnect from the world.

Odelia Kaly

Labels Labels. Not like the Post-It kind of labels that you use on accordion folders, but the kind of labels that people stick on each other. Call them whatever you like: labels, stereotypes, classifications, and social expectations. Now, I'm sure that there are people who don't mind being called those things, but I hate the fact that people think they've figured me out so accurately that they've already got a category to put me in. The one that I deal with most is "hipster." Now to address the other issue: social expectations for women. I recently read an article on Chictopia that discussed what a "real" woman is. When people say that "real" women have curves and don't have stick skinny legs, I don't get it. Just the fact that a woman exists makes her real. "Many elements of media and western culture have ingrained in us a visual of the ideal woman. What is a woman supposed to look like? I was taught by mainstream visual cues that a woman is supposed to be busty and blonde, with a lot of makeup put on in such a manner that people think she is not wearing makeup, and with a particular way of dressing that shows off key body parts in a provocative manner. This dress is tight. Blonde hair or blue hair. Long hair or no hair. Makeup or unshaven legs. It presents such a variety of alternatives to inspire women. I don't dress for other people, I dress for myself. Some people think that fashion is shallow because it's all based on appearance, but it's only shallow if people choose to see it that way.

Annie Schugart

Leaving High School Regret-Free

Celia Islam

Letter to the Class of 2017

Jane Han

Life of a Nomad

Alexis Jane Torre

Maybe it's Time to Fall Out of Love... Falling out of love is supposed to be painful and borderline unbearable. In the midst of all the changed relationship statuses, ice cream tubs, and Taylor Swift songs, we forget that falling out of love isn't entirely bad. Falling out of love isn't entirely horrible. You don't just fall out of love with a person; you fall out of love with how they made you feel. You can fall out of mediocre love. You can fall out of unfaithful, harmful, or one-sided love. You can fall out of love with lying to yourself, constantly trying to justify someone's words and actions. You can fall out of love with waiting by the phone on a Saturday night. You could lose your self-doubt and lack of independence.

Jackson Barnett

Miley vs. Pip: Our Great Expectations

Daniaja Davis

Miley's Downfall Miley Cyrus. Brand.com reviews someone's online presence and uses special online reputation management technology to help control the search engine results page. It's kind of the same tragic tale: A young, innocent girl rises to stardom through Disney Channel, and as soon as that phase is over, she desperately wants people to view her as a mature adult. In Miley's case, she will forever be Hannah Montana, no matter how much hip-thrusting, foam-fingering or twerking she does. When Miley first tried to re-brand herself with "Can't Be Tamed" no one bought it. As for her performance, words cannot describe it besides: train wreck. Grinding on a married man, Miley? Miley wants to be a role model to young girls but if this is how she wants young girls to behave then I feel sorry for any girl gullible enough to believe that that is how a woman with dignity acts. It goes without saying that if people didn't question Miley Cyrus before, they are now. It seems that wherever Miley goes, controversy will follow. The video starts out at just a close-up on Miley. Only a few seconds later we see Miley riding on a wrecking ball completely naked. The song already had more mature concepts and meaning, but she just had to throw in sexual content because that's just what adults do, right? Maybe Miley could use some help from Brand.com.

Tara Subramaniam

My Stance on Education Reform I think education is extremely important, but that the definition of education is changing as we speak. This interest on maximizing learning in school evolved into thinking about an ideal school containing a mix of elements picked up from my past school experiences thus far. In an ideal school, the growth mindset could act as a mission statement, and the school would not put such a large focus on grades and studying for the test. Simply by working towards this ideal school, I soon got interested in ed reform without realizing it. In the U.S., I believe standardized testing has affected the teaching of a lot of schools, sadly. How does that show that kids are learning? I think that in general, private schools are doing pretty well, especially in relation to other schools, though I know they're not perfect. As a student, I've always been a big supporter of students being heard and putting the students back into the school picture. After all, the core idea of school is geared towards the students it's educating. The current education reform movement is a sea of educators, students, admin and parents who want to bring our education system into the 21 century. If I was a teacher, ideally, I would like a classroom with no (or less) focus on the tests, and a standards-based grading system.

Murray Rosenbaum

My Strange Language Exchange

Tara Subramaniam

My Summer Adventures in China

Alexis Jane Torre

My Summer Bucket List I've always seen summer as the time to make changes, go on adventures, and do things outside of your comfort zone. We're quite a few weeks into summer 2013, and I'm getting the feeling that this will be a summer for the books. For several years, I've made a summer bucket list, like a lot of teenagers do. I'm a compulsive list-maker so of course, I love summer bucket lists. Do you want to spend time exploring your hometown? Making a summer bucket list enables you to think about what you want to spend your time doing and why. Even if you're not a list-lover like me, you should still give writing a summer bucket list a chance. Below, I have put a few random activities from my Summer 2013 Bucket List to give you a glimpse of what I hope to do this summer season!

Susannah Meyer

My Take on the Holidays

Gillian Horn

My Wardrobe Is Going to College

Carmin Chappell

Old-School Cartoons: Animation Domination Cartoons have taught me everything I know. Through the TV screen, I learned about a wide variety of topics. The urban community of "Hey Arnold!"My feminist roots sprouted from the pint-sized superheros of the "Powerpuff Girls" and the tough, extreme sports-loving Reggie of "Rocket Power." The theme songs of today's shows, in all genres, just don't have the same resonating power. Aside from the music, I am still fond of my childhood favorites when compared with current programs. Popular media today, especially for teens, usually involves an element of fantasy. Teenage love triangles have been replaced with vampire-werewolf romantic affairs. Friendly competition between classmates is swapped for death matches in dystopian societies. Occasionally, I'll wake up early on a Saturday morning to watch some cartoons. Childish? Satisfying? Definitely.

Morgan Hegarty

On My Own: And It's OK! I made my mother proud. I was being social. But there were times when, even though parties and other social events were on every corner of campus, I found myself alone. Sitting in my dorm room, eating Chips Ahoy and peanut butter and checking out the best prices for a cute USB drive, I was content. There is nothing wrong with taking the time to recuperate from having to impress a handful of new people a day. Lunch tray in hand, a sea of tables filled with unfamiliar faces and that sinking feeling of having to introduce myself. By the time ended I was so frazzled that attending class seemed like a vacation. Ignore the pressure to constantly be surrounded by people and straining your energy impressing them. Turn down that invitation to dinner or don't attend every single board game night.

Theodore Li

On Snowden, Politics and All of the Above Regardless of interests, affiliations, or nationalities, political discussions provide teenagers, nationwide, the forum to frame thoughts that should be welcomed. *** Edward Snowden is the whistleblower who leaked thousands of NSA related documents to the public and then proceeded to flee to Hong Kong and later Russia. As the case further unravels, international dissent and support become more diversified as high governmental officials' frustration continues to increase. To many senators save Rand Paul, Snowden is the Judas of America. To whole countries and political figures, Snowden is heralded as nothing short of a hero who is willing to stand up to Big Brother. From my personal experience, few 30-year-olds have figured their lives out. Not only that, the government proceeded to spend taxpayer money to build a massive data center to store this information! "Sure, the government is collecting this data. However, it does not mean the government is abusing this data." The NSA's actions pave way as well as provide infrastructure to facilitate abuse. Edward Snowden, to me, is a hero to the American public.

Isabel Song

On Starting Junior Year I remember I used to be that kid who made a countdown until the first day of school that started weeks before the current school year ended. I was the nerdy kid who loved school more than summer and who secretly enjoyed tormenting my classmates with constant reminders throughout summer as to how many days we had left. I still love school and I love learning, but I've also come to enjoy summer in a way I never did, especially since high school is a lot more stressful than middle school, which has given me a greater appreciation for summer. • We're not freshmen. I don't know about you guys, but most of the high schools I know only require freshmen to go to school on the first official day for students in the school district. I also know most schools don't let students take AP classes until junior year, too, so there's a new opportunity for a lot of you! • Prom. That said, I know that most of my peers are beyond the moon excited for junior prom! After all, it's THE dance of high school that so many look forward to! • If you're in Colorado, no TCAP (preiously CSAP)! It is arguably the most important year of high school, especially in terms of the year colleges look at the most. Don't let the horror stories dampen your excitement. At the same time, though, remember that junior year is extremely important.

Carmin Chappell

One Direction 'Take Me Home': Album Review Although the songs still have the poppy vibe characteristic of boybands, this album has a more cohesive sound than the last, further verifying the group's musical development. With significantly more writing credits on "Take Me Home," the boys clearly pull from personal experience, discussing girls and parties and relationships in most of the songs. The lead single "Live While We're Young" could serve as an anthem for partying teens everywhere, proudly stating "Tonight let's get some/And live while we're young." In the acoustic song, the boys reinforce their loveable roots by proclaiming that girls shouldn't feel self-conscious about, well, the little things. There's no shortage of breakup songs on the album, but the upbeat dance vibe of the standout track "Heart Attack" is enough to cure any broken heart.

Marsha Pinto

Oppa Ellen Style! I would vow to break my shell of shyness. My shyness was often picked on by not only my classmates, but my teachers, too. In elementary school, I was the student who completed homework on time and always followed instructions. It eventually came to a point where a teacher referred me to the school's guidance counselor, stating my shyness was a problem that needed to be "cured." My teacher in middle school said, "You will never get anywhere being shy," and my teacher in high school repeated those same words to me. Every day I would come home from school, watch the Ellen Degeneres Show and think to myself, 'Ellen presents herself everyday with confidence to millions of people. It turns out that one of the teachers who told me I would never get anywhere being shy admitted to me that she herself was very shy as a child. So if people laugh at you, laugh a little with them and laugh a lot at yourself... Oppa Ellen Style!

Afshan Nasseri

My Kind of Happiness Of course, I smiled back and responded, "Good morning!" as each child giggled at the sound of my funny accent. I rewarded each of these courageous children by smiling right back at them and enthusiastically saying, "How are you?" As soon as I stepped foot in this "home land" I smelt the various (mostly outrageous) smells of the city. India isn't a place for lesson plans, so I never had one. Other days I'd look at the dirt ground that the children sat on as their "classroom floor" while they were shaded by tarp that covered half of them. It was generally easy to keep track of the children because most of them only owned one pair of clothes so luckily, my eyes didn't have to adjust to new outfits everyday. I saw the rice sacks that were used as beds for the younger children and the single miniscule bedroom the family of nine slept in. The smiles on each of the family member's faces showed me that they didn't mind the condition they lived in. In a place of 1.2 billion people, voices are unheard. While teaching in India, I found happiness in going to a village with no makeup on, clothes that didn't match and a huge language barrier. Every day I was thrilled to wake up at 6 a.m. to teach 400 kids simple English words. (My notebook.) Somehow, I forgot about my own happiness; yet, in a way, their happiness became my happiness.

Blake Kernen

My Mid-Summer Bummer Back-to school stuff was everywhere. I like school, but I love summer a whole lot more. The back-to-school shopping season is one of their favorite times of year because it's the second biggest selling season right behind the holidays. National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay says that "stagnantly-high unemployment, higher taxes and lingering policy uncertainty continue to keep shoppers and economic growth at bay." Retailers rake in about $72.5 billion for the entire school shopping season which runs from June through September.

Alexis Jane Torre

My Problem With 'Nice Guys Finish Last' Recently, Jenna Marbles made a vlog called "Nice Guys Do Not Finish Last" about why she doesn't believe in that whole "Nice guys finish last" thing. Most of the time, guys say, "Nice guys finish last" when a girl they like friend-zones them or doesn't like them back. Using that "Nice guys finish last" excuse isn't oversimplifying the problem; it's not addressing the problem at all. As Jenna Marbles puts it, "Nice guys finish last is a cop out." Do you really believe that "Nice guys finish last" is true, or do you agree with me?

Patrick Mott

My Problem With School I have a problem with school and it is not just forcing myself out of bed every morning to go and sit through six hours of boringness. It's not that I have to get ready just to see people whom I'm not too fond of and it's also not fighting my way through the hallways like it's The Hunger Games between every class. My problem with school is that you're evaluated solely based on your weaknesses instead of your strengths. Albert Einstein said, "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." When I first read this quote, I was taken aback; it summed up my school experience so perfectly. Teachers aren't entirely evil, but it seems as if it is their job to show their students that we don't understand course material. Why is that? Think about a test you recently wrote, do you feel as if your knowledge of the subject matter was properly conveyed to your teacher? I feel as if our schools are designed to highlight our weaknesses instead of what we, as students, excel at. Have you ever had an assignment that you know you just won't excel at? For example, many teachers will assign skits that you must present in front of the class. Many students may not feel comfortable showcasing their dramatic skills, or lack thereof, in front of the whole class. On the other hand, many budding performers may feel like this is their time to shine. So how can our schools help highlight student's strengths instead of solely showcasing our weaknesses? More and more teachers are giving students options for assignments, tests and other evaluation material. For example, your major project is assigned but instead of the teacher telling you what exactly you have to do, you can chose from a list of options; perhaps you could perform a skit, write a report, or showcase your awesome graphic design skills. This way you can show what you're good at instead of accentuating what you may find difficult. As students, it is impossible to retain 100 percent of the course material. Instead, we have to decide what we feel is most important for us to learn in the long-run. Wouldn't it make sense for teachers to give students options so they can highlight what they know instead of emphasizing what they don't? Instead of giving three questions on a test, teachers should give more questions with a wider variety of topics so students have the opportunity to show what they know instead of simply regurgitating information. The case of an Ontario school board abolishing the two level streams for math class is a perfect example of our school system hindering students' success. The Limestone school board announced last month that they will only offer academic math class to grade nine students. Currently, in the province of Ontario, students can chose an "academic" or "applied" stream for math class. Despite the stigma attached to both, the streams do not define your academic ability or intelligence; they are simply designed to help craft curriculum to what students need further on in life. For example, a student wishing to pursue a career as a mechanic may find the applied stream more helpful, whereas a student wishing to become an engineer may find the academic stream more useful. The school board's decision to force grade nine students to take the 'higher level' stream of math is, in my opinion, ridiculous. As students, it is our responsibility to push for a better way to emphasize our successes rather than highlighting our own faults. Wouldn't school be that much easier to go to every day if it we could show what know instead of showing what we don't know? It's for us time to shine.

Anne Hilker

My So-Called Concussion

Carmin Chappell

Side Effects of Growing Up in a Technological World I feverishly tug at the stuck zipper on my favorite pair of jeans. "Maybe if I pull a little harder..." Why couldn't I fix a simple zipper? I did well in difficult subjects like chemistry and calculus, but a broken zipper left me stumped. Growing up in the digital age has made operating technology second nature. While the domestic skills that she learned are undoubtedly extremely useful, it seems that today's youth have their sights set on loftier pursuits. Technological know-how is now a requirement in the job market as creating spreadsheets and social media marketing have become essential tasks. Today's teens have ample experience in this field, through school assignments as well as recreational Twitter updates.

Tallia Storm

So You Want to Be a Fashion Designer, Huh? From Teen Dreams to the Catwalk!

Patrick Mott

Supercharge Your LinkedIn Profile With a spiffy YouTube video and a cool tweet, LinkedIn officially opened its floodgates to welcome teensto the social network, dropping the age limit to join the network to 14. Usually, with a quick Google of someone's name, one's LinkedIn profile will appear. 1) Random connections are worthless: Connecting for the sake of connecting is so not the point! If the only reason you're connecting with someone on LinkedIn is to boost your number of connections, it's pointless. If you've answered yes to one or more of the connections, connect! Complete LinkedIn profiles make you look like a digital whiz! To me, this unprecedented move by LinkedIn most definitely encourages social media literacy among youth. So for teens, having a LinkedIn profile is crucial. It's extremely important that youth build their digital brand for future employers and with posting provocative content at an all time high, building a LinkedIn is an excellent start.

Carmin Chappell

The Intersection of Activism and Adolescence I am not perfect. The internal conflict between my desire to set a good example and my error-prone teenage self is definitely an interesting dynamic. My heart melts at the British boyband's heartthrob looks and flawless harmonies. Like any boy band, they strive to maintain their lovable image, but sometimes their attempts make me cringe. I felt terrible once I realized that the Native American-inspired "tribal print" trend I enjoyed was a prime example of cultural appropriation. The broader perspective I gained by learning about various issues had caused me to find faults within my everyday life. Supporting a cause does not equate to being flawless, and, as a teen trying to navigate my way through life, I've realized there is room for error.

Daniaja Davis

The Jonas Brothers Are Back!

Blake Kernen

The Mane Event It said, "if Monday morning were a student, it would be that awkward girl who reminds the teacher about homework and loves horses." The Run for the Roses. For horse-racing fans, it's a favorite. The Kentucky Derby ushers in an entire month of horse-racing mania for me and for millions of others. There are the trainers, owners, and jockeys who all figure in this race front and center. Rosie rode Pants on Fire in the 2011 Derby and finished ninth, the best finish ever for a woman at the Derby. Rosie comes to the Derby already riding high, having just come off a big victory at the 2012 Kentucky Oaks, the first female ever to win there. I wonder if Rosie was ever that awkward 7th grade girl, loving horses and her homework.

Marsha Pinto

The Obama Family, From a Canadian Teen's Perspective At one time, the world admired people who rose from rags to riches. The world is constantly seeking a "People's Person." Princess Diana was called the "People's Princess," Pope John Paul II is the "People's Saint," and just a year ago while the world was spellbound by Kate Middleton's Cinderella story. On January 20, 2009, the White House received a "People's Family." Together, Barack and Michelle have emerged from their own hardships to become a powerhouse full of experience, working together with the people of America. At the Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama addressed the importance of having a father present in a child's life. Malia and Sasha must have been so proud when their dad became president. In a country where broken families, single parents and divorce are numbered among the highest in the world, the Obamas have displayed strong family values. What other head of state as powerful as the president of the United States of America can boast of spending time with his family almost every evening? Remember, democracy is defined as being "a government by the people, of the people, for the people."

Murray Rosenbaum

The Oculus Rift

Marsha Pinto

The Power of Awkward Being awkward is defined as an uncertainty or a lack of confidence in social situations. Awkwardness is a natural part of our lifestyle. Living in an imperfect world, we have to face the reality that embarrassing situations and awkward moments are most often beyond our control. While today's graduations and award ceremonies honor perfectionism, I'd like to appreciate those who have perfected the art of awkwardness. Awkward people fear of being seen as "strange" but often don't realize that we are all a bit of strange. So here's to all who are awkward. Let's start by making awkward the new cool, tweet your thoughts using the #powerofawkward or comment below and let the power of awkward be appreciated!

Jane Han

The Power of Doing Nothing

Patrick Mott

The Power of Twitter Lots? According to the Twitter Help Center, "Twitter has become a valuable tool for people to exchange timely bits of information, whether it be a momentous news event, a personal story or a random thought." Look to Twitter. Twitter is a platform where you can find a real job or volunteer opportunity. I tweeted them! Want help? Look to Twitter. And by help, I mean customer service. Rogers, a telecommunications provider in Canada, has a Twitter account dedicated solely to customer service, @RogersHelps. Look to Twitter. You know Khloé Kardashian, right? Milk is just an average guy who started tweeting subjectively hilarious tweets. Try to use Twitter for the same purpose! So next time someone says "Stop wasting your time on Twitter..." read them this post! #SoundGood?

Blake Kernen

The Procrasti Nation I am the leader of a great and powerful nation: The Procrastination. I had high hopes, some big lofty goals and some pretty basic plans. The Creativity Research Journal studied a group of intelligent people, winners of the Intel Science Talent Competition, and concluded that procrastinators can actually be quite clever. The study also found that this particular group used procrastination as a tool; a "thought incubator" to develop a plan thoroughly before jumping into it, and a stress inducer "to ignite positive action." Here's the other reason for today's confession. No more Sunday night homework, no more Monday morning studying. I've managed to find a four-step process to Stop Procrastinating and Get the Job Done thanks to some highly organized productive people at About.com. 1. Make a List. You need to list all the necessary steps to get the job finished. 3. Begin Each Step on Time. 4. Plan Your Deadline Before the Deadline.

Alexis Jane Torre

The Whole Story It was about dealing with having vitiligo, a skin condition that causes white splotches on the skin. In "Pretty Is Just a Word," I wrote about having vitiligo as if I had completely accepted it. I wrote this piece as if I had not only come to terms with having vitiligo but as though I was completely and constantly proud of the white splotches on my legs, arms, and neck. There are some mornings where I just wake up wishing to have evenly tanned skin, no longer dealing with stares or questions about why I have spots on my legs. I'll even admit that I still have the rare temptation to try self-tanner or skin makeup yet again to try to cover up my splotches. Where I never had vitiligo in the first place. Recently, I've realized that it's okay to have mixed feelings and to change my mind. Andmbetter yet, it's honest. Yes, I can still get self-conscious when wearing short-sleeved shirts and/or shorts.

Amanda Dai

The Worst Thing Anyone Can Ever Feel: Regret

Hannah Weintraub

The chair stood in the center of the basketball court, its worn paint revealing a rusting, metallic frame. Everyone from camp gathered around the chair. Each person had the opportunity to speak just by standing up, walking to the center of the basketball court, and touching the chair. Once someone's hand graced that beat-up seat, the circle became silent, awaiting the problems or compliments that the speaker would address. I sat, nervous, like most nine-year-olds do when surrounded by older and "cooler" kids. Person after person raced to the chair. I walked gingerly up to the chair and cautiously tapped it with my finger. "I-I-I," I stammered, "I think we need more paper towels in the girls' bathroom!" It was incredible to know that if I spoke people would listen. Many women decided to raise their voices in countries that historically silence female dissent. The Washington Post pictured a young Bangladeshi woman, Hasina Akter, displaying scars from an acid attack. A man, angered that Akter spoke against him, doused her in acid, leaving her with partial blindness and wounds that cover her face and neck. In Egypt, according to the Washington Post, women chanted, "Women under military rule, violence is humiliation and silence is an insult."

Murray Rosenbaum

Pop-Finals

Gillian Horn

Power-less

Susannah Meyer

Privacy Rights in the Digital Age

Blake Kernen

Pro Bono Capitalism I've got a new celebrity crush. It's Bono of U2 fame. Aid is just a stop-gap. Commerce [and] entrepreneurial capitalism takes more people out of poverty than aid. Rock star preaches capitalism. Bono's speech is not new. Ashton talked about his work experiences before he became a famous actor, saying "I've never had a job in life that I was better than. I was always lucky to have a job. And every job I had was a stepping stone to my next job. You can build your own life." Rock on Bono and Ashton. Peace Love Profits, Blake

Hannah Weintraub

Pursuit of Happiness Firestone's same concern has riddled me for years. That constant personal check-in to see how I was faring in the rat race drove my high school career. But now, as high school graduation nears, the question has changed. I have always been told that if I worked hard in school and got good grades, satisfaction would follow. But as I finish up my high school education, this neatly maintained path to success is branching off into a million directions. Will I find success and happiness beyond this bend or do I need to wander a bit further, walk in a new direction? The path isn't so clearly marked anymore. We've already constructed a sure-fire guide towards a life of success and joy: Go to college, get married, find a nice 9-to-5 job, pop out a few kids and viola! Life-long satisfaction is yours. My disillusionment with this pre-ordained route has made me examine how my personal definition of success compares to that of my school and country. For so long, I went to school so that I could eventually achieve this vague idea of happiness that someone once dictated to me: money, family, home. What types of accomplishments will bring me happiness? Maybe money will buy me happiness. COLLEGE!

Morgan Hegarty

Put Harry Styles Down, You'll Break Him! We tend to put celebrities on pedestals. Many articles and Tumblr posts and tweets reflected the reaction of many teenage girls: utter despair that he was off the market. The only opinions that do are those of Malik and Edwards and their loved ones. It's an analogy to a China doll. If you expect impossibly high standards of Harry Styles, he might possibly break when you start criticizing him for not being perfect. The reason we consider these people famous is that we respect their talent. Even though we call ourselves fans, do these actions make us fans? I love talking about celebrities, but I would hate to be the reason they shatter into a million pieces.

Hasan Khan

RAP: Rhythm and Poetry I see no changes, Wake up in the morning and I ask myself, Is life worth living should I blast myself? I'm tired of being poor and even worse I'm black, My stomach hurts so I'm looking for a purse to snatch -2Pac, "Changes" Is rap music really a threat to society? Are these lyrics laced with venom? Are they corrupting young minds? Perhaps... But in my opinion, rap is actually just as relevant a music genre as rock, reggae or anything else! Sure, most mainstream rap today is violent, drug-filled rants with an annoying voice to a beat more fit for pop or techno music, but back before I was born, and a little bit after that, rap music was something to be taken seriously. When it first started, rap music was intelligent, thoughtful social commentary (like the stanza above, even though it was a posthumous 2Pac release). For young men, and sometimes women, rap told their stories and their music as an outpouring of emotion. Their "rap" consisted of their stories about poverty in the ghetto and frustration with discrimination -- it was an outlet of emotion against the ghetto, corrupt police and everything else that stood in the way of their ascent in society. The cursing and controversial lyrics to many people were just violent and rude ways to get attention; to me, they were trying to get their point across and show their true feelings. For example, would NWA's infamous song "F**k The Police" really have made such an impact if it were called "We Don't Like The Police"? I doubt it. So analyze me, surprise me, But can't magmatize me, Scannin' while you're plannin' ways to sabotage me, I leave 'em froze like heron in your nose, Nas'll rock well, it ain't hard to tell This rhythmatic explosion Is what your frame of mind has chosen, I'll leave your brain stimulated, n****s is frozen, Speak with criminal slang, begin like a violin, End like Leviathan, It's deep, well, let me try again -Nas, "It Ain't Hard To Tell" Nas fills his stanza with creative metaphors, instantly quotable rhymes and interesting wordplay, all at breakneck speed! Rappers are, without a doubt, the fastest of all singers; another way that this form of music is unique. Most interesting though, is how they are able to "freestyle" -- that is, make up rhymes with a story, on a beat, on the spot. For those looking for a quick and catchy beat and creative lyrics sung at a brisk yet understandable pace, look no further than some rap music! So far, I've only covered what's good about rap: the stunning wordplay, the masterful storytelling, the controversial lyrics, and the stuck-in-your-head-for-days beats. Unfortunately, all rap is not so wonderful, particularly present-day mainstream rap. To those who value human intelligence and dignity, I hope you try your best to make it through this next stanza. Rack city b***h, rack, rack city b***h Ten ten ten twenties on ya t*****s b***h 100 deep V.I.P. no guest list T-Raw you don't know who you f**king with? Got my other b***h f**king with my other b***h, F***ing all night n****a we ain't celibate, Make it sound too dope I ain't selling it, Bar fresher than a m*****f***king peppermint, Gold Letterman last kings killing s**t, Young money young money yeah we getting rich, I got ya grandma on my d**k, Girl you know what it is -Tyga, "Rack City" Want to hear something almost as horrible and disturbing as the stanza above? This song went double platinum in the United States. Why am I so negative against Tyga and his mainstream rap companions? After all, I was just praising 2Pac and Nas, and they curse about as much as Tyga. The difference is, there is not a single curse in Tyga's verse that somehow contributes to the song's message... Whatever that is! Below is another stanza from 2Pac, who instead of rapping about how much he loves these so-called b*****s (he does plenty of that, but counters his 'gangster' persona with songs like this), he raps about how they should change their lifestyle. Keep your mind on your money, Enroll in school, And as the years pass by You can show them fools. But you ain't trying to hear me Cuz you're stuck, You're heading for the bathroom about to get tossed up. Still looking for a rich man you dug a ditch, Got your legs up trying to get rich. I love you like a sister but you need to switch, And that's why they called you b***h -2Pac, "Wonder Why They Call You B***h" In that one section, 2Pac only had to say the word b***h once, while Tyga, on the other hand, said the word five times. The difference is, 2Pac managed to speak a world more on the topic than Tyga did, despite both of them rapping about disrespected women. Despite the immense talent and creativity of these rappers, there is no escaping the fact that they are disrespectful to mostly everyone. Because they are so popular, they can be bad influences to children who don't understand the messages behind the words. That means that whenever you listen to a rap, think about what goes on behind these words. Don't always listen to what they have to say, but don't unfairly criticize and ignore them either. Just remember that nothing is perfect, and that there's always going to be good with the bad. Like 2Pac himself said, "Through every dark night, there's a bright day after that."

Hasan Khan

RAP: Rhythm and Poetry Lyrical Content Told her if she got an image and a gimmick That she could make money, and she did like a dummy Now I see her in commercials, she's universal She used to only swing it with the inner-city circle Now she be in the burbs licking rock and dressing hip And on some dumb s**t, when she comes to the city Talking about popping glocks serving rocks and hitting switches Now she's a gangsta rolling with gangsta b****es Always smoking blunts and getting drunk Telling me sad stories, now she only f***s with the funk Stressing how hardcore and real she is She was really the realest, before she got into showbiz I did her, not just to say that I did it But I'm committed, but so many n****s hit it That she's just not the same letting all these groupies do her I see n****s slamming her, and taking her to the sewer But I'mma take her back hoping that the s**t stop Cause who I'm talking bout y'all is hip-hop -Common, "I Used To Love H.E.R." I began my rap music series in October by giving an overview of my thoughts on the genre through the years, highlighting particularly impactful rappers, and analyzing the pros and cons of the genre. Now, I will be examining the lyrical content: the metaphors, imagery, controversy, story-telling, etc. tells its own story about rap. There's no better way to start than the stanza above, the final verse of Common's "I Used To Love H.E.R." When first listening to this song, most people think it's about a girl, but it's not. Common is telling the story of how hip-hop has changed through the years, and how it "sold out." Rappers use metaphors and symbolism to tell their stories because it makes the image more clear to us. How can Common tell a story about hip-hop changing from a loyal companion to a money-grabber? By using an example we can imagine more easily: a girl. This verse is a prime example of the lyrical content of rap music because it is telling a story, using a controversial metaphor to spread a possibly controversial opinion. Common's words form in our minds as if we were reading a book -- rappers' lyrics tell us stories with their powerful imagery! The question is whether these metaphors are morally correct. It's no secret that rappers commonly bash and disrespect women; the thing is, they are speaking from their experience. Common describes his views on hip-hop by using his experience with girls -- hopefully not all girls, but at least one girl with whom he's had issues. It may not be right to use girls as a metaphor for negative occurrences, but if that is the experience from which a rapper can pull descriptive and powerful emotions, then it has to be understood. He's not rapping about anyone else's experience. It's the rapper's metaphor, and therefore it is his opinion on both subjects he's comparing. However, the problem still remains: Why is it a woman who is spoken of this way, not a man? For all the dozens of lyrics aimed at women, there is less than a handful aimed at men in the wide, divisive culture of rap music. What about a young boy hearing all these lyrics, thinking these exaggerated portrayals of women to be the real deal, or a teen girl who believes this is the way she is expected to act? Some young people might see rap's often stereotypical and condescending view on women as reality. Despite the creativity and complexity of a rapper's metaphor, the listener must first engage critically with this kind of metaphor. Till I collapse I'm spilling these raps long as you feel 'em Till the day that I drop you'll never say that I'm not killing 'em Cause when I am not, then I'mma stop penning 'em And I am not hip hop and I'm just not Eminem Subliminal thoughts, when I'mma stop sending 'em? Women are caught in webs, spin 'em and hawk venom Adrenalin shots, the penicillin could not get the illing to stop Amoxicillin's just not real enough The criminal cop-killing hip hop villain A minimal swap to cop millions of Pac listeners You're coming with me, feel it or not you're gonna fear it Like I showed you the spirit of God lives in us You hear it a lot, lyrics to shock Is it a miracle or am I just product of pop fizzing up? For shizzle my wizzle, this is the plot, listen up You bizzles forgot, Slizzle does not give a f**k! -Eminem, "Till I Collapse" Rap music is filled to the brim with rhymes, alliteration and slang. For proof, look above: Every line is filled with a ridiculous amount of rhymes ("Day that I drop, say that I'm not;" Eminem even rhymes whole phrases together!). All of this rhyme, alliteration, and slang (shizzle, wizzle, bizzle, and slizzle, to name a few) separate rappers from the rest of the musical pack when it comes to lyrics. Sometimes, rappers even insert themselves into their lyrics. Eminem describes his own style ("you hear it a lot, lyrics to shock"), accepts his fame ("till the day that I drop you'll never say that I'm not killing 'em"), and even mentions his questionable behavior ("women are caught in webs, spin 'em and hawk venom") all in one short verse! Another unique thing about rap lyrics is that they cover a variety of subjects in one song. Unlike other genres, rappers don't limit themselves to one topic in a single song, verse, or even line. Although this may seem distracting, this is just many rappers' eccentric and entertaining style. I'm living in that 21st century, doing something mean to it Do it better than anybody you ever seen do it Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it I guess every superhero need his theme music No one man should have all that power The clock's ticking, I just count the hours Stop tripping, I'm tripping off the power (21st-Century schizoid man) The system broken, the school is closed, the prisons open We ain't got nothing to lose, motherf***er we rolling Huh? Motherf***er we rolling With some light-skinned girls and some Kelly Rowlands In this white man world, we the ones chosen So goodnight, cruel world, I'll see you in the morning Huh? I'll see you in the morning This is way too much, I need a moment - Kanye West, "Power" What in the world is Kanye even talking about? The many messages in this song (corrupted government, white man's world, people with too much power, Caucasians and Kelly Rowland, etc.) are a bit confusing and don't make too much sense when put together, but that may be the point. Lyrics that seem random or ridiculous may just be open to interpretation -- it's up to you to decide what Kanye truly means by 'power.' Is it he who has too much power? The white man's world? Someone else entirely? As the song progresses beyond the short verse, the creativity, scope, and epic scale increases until the powerful outro: Now this will be a beautiful death, I'm jumping out the window, I'm letting everything go, You got the power to let power go? "Power" is also an example of the final component of rap's lyrical content that I'll analyze: exaggeration. Further increasing the epic feel of rap songs, exaggeration makes the story more exciting. "Do it better than anybody you ever seen do it"? Doubtful, Kanye. However, he embraces his attention-grabbing and arrogant persona; basically, he's a jerk to the world at large and he accepts it. All of this comes together to inform the song's lyrics -- there is creative symbolism, unbelievable rhyming skills, self-analysis, the dynamic stream of thought and epic exaggeration. With its controversial metaphors, rhyming and alliteration, and vibrant thought, rap has captured another generation. While many think of it as a relatively new genre, it is actually rooted in a centuries-old history. But that is a story for another day...

Tara Subramaniam

REVIEW: 'A Game of Thrones'

Alexis Jane Torre

Really, He's Just Not That Into You Yes, I can just anticipate the judgment and the "Really?" expressions on people's faces and the temptation to just stop reading this article right now. I'm a huge romantic. Ninety percent of the movies I own are chick flicks. I watch a cutesy Taylor Swift music video at least once a day. As much as I hate the idea of giving up on something -- or someone -- and thinking of what could have been, I especially hate spending my time and energy on something that deep down I know won't work out but that I try to make work anyway. It's like if you studied really hard and went through years of schooling be a veterinarian... who specialized in treating dinosaurs. So I'll admit that I partially wrote this for me; I needed to vent, write and deal with some typical teenage feelings.

Alexis Jane Torre

Reflecting Before the World Ends Okay, I know that the world will not end on December 21, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take time to reflect. And, when I say reflect, I mean really think, realize and maybe even find closure. Reflecting can be surprisingly tough to do. Sometimes you don't want to think about the dark, lonely times in your life. Sometimes you don't want to reminisce about good times with people who are no longer in your life. You can connect all those events in retrospect that made no sense at the time. I remember encountering multiple failures during my senior year of high school.

Amanda Dai

Rhythmic Diaries: 'I Can Do it if I Just Focus' I barely avoid crashing into yet another girl as she obliviously leaps straight towards me. The carpet is packed with girls, leaving little to no space for leaping. In the middle of my leap, my right hand passes the hoop to my left under my back leg. Just focus -- I can do it if I focus. When I step on the carpet all too soon, I'm still thinking 'focus, focus.' I keep my attention trained on my hoop, and as the music begins I'm careful to stay concentrated on my present element. I even execute the handling in my turning leaps succesfully. Excitement runs through me as I toss the hoop and do a chaîné roll. I watch as the hoop approaches -- coming closer and closer, exactly where I need it. I had just finished my consummate routine without apparatus. I had dropped the risk [toss] I had never dropped before. I stumble to retrieve my hoop and salute the judges with the best smile I can muster. I turn around, still dazed, and start to exit the carpet. Eventually, I force myself to put down my hoop and pick up ball.

Amanda Dai

Rhythmic Diaries: 'Let The Competitions Begin'

Amanda Dai

Rhythmic Diaries: 'The Day I Met 2012 Olympic Gymnast Julie Zetlin'

Amanda Dai

Rhythmic Diaries: Finding my Focus

Amanda Dai

Rhythmic Diaries: Learning to Just Have Fun

Amanda Dai

Rhythmic Diaries: The Road to Recovery

Odelia Kaly

Robot Apocalypse There's a small Calvin and Hobbes comic strip I've read countless times since I first discovered it in a collection at my grandmother's house. In it, Calvin tells Hobbes that he read a book where robots take over the world, and they both agree that it's a frightening thought. All of a sudden, Calvin jumps up and realizes that he has to run back home to catch his television show. What draws me back to this strip again and again is that Calvin is living the nightmare he fears: he is controlled by his technology. You can't help but believe in everything that Calvin creates -- his stuffed tiger, their crazy adventures, Calvin's bizarre inventions, and all of his otherworldly daydreaming mind wanderings. The boy lives in a world of his own fabrication, experiencing things so fully that the cartoonist has filled volumes with strips about how he and Hobbes spend their summer days. If I allow that to happen, what will I do if my smart glasses break at Costco and I am in desperate need of Raisin Bran? How would I cope if my self-driving car broke down and I urgently needed to get somewhere, but I had never learned how to actually drive? If we were to always rely on slip-on shoes and modernized versions of Othello, or if were to renounce our autonomy for the sake of convenience, we would never truly learn, we would never truly grow, and we would never be able to adapt. We would be newborn babies forever: perpetually ignorant, starkly immature, irrevocably incompetent. I happened upon an article about the new smart gadgets that are being invented and are threatening to take control of our lives. This author asked us readers in the opening line if we would like our Facebook friends looking through our garbage. The designers of this product even turned it into a game, rewarding people with points for "playing" faultlessly. Humans are naturally competitive. We're no longer trusted to make the conscious decision to save our planet. Our technology is determining that for us. Although our intrinsic human qualities tend to remain consistent throughout our race, aspects of our individual selves are what shift and transform. Technology is not about domination and micromanagement, it's about amelioration and survival. Even the creation of said technologies was a process of trial and error in itself. Otherwise, I was never plagued by social anxiety around my friends, people I saw every day at school and then didn't speak to again until the next morning in homeroom. I suddenly found that my classmates often reverted to discussing their online lives on Facebook, Twitter, AskFM, and other social media sites because of the ease and painlessness of talking about something so detached from themselves. At least I wasn't spending my time living a simulation of life, right? In an attempt to figure out how to approach the undeniably complicated task of finding like-minded friends, we've glorified misanthropy by retreating into our technology, whether it be a cellphone, computer, or now a photographic garbage can. We submerge ourselves in the wall-less, abyss-like world of social media and online interaction that merely imitates real life, pushing us further from our original goal. In addition to the decreased compatibility amongst people (disguised as increased association by way of Facebook and Twitter), our methods of assessing popularity are based purely on beauty. Our technology is always changing. The technology will burgeon, but we will remain stagnant. The poor state of the environment may not be able to sustain human life in a matter of time, but mechanical objects are not as utterly fragile as people. The dinosaurs preceded the Homo sapiens, who perhaps precede the cyborgs. At times I forget all of the marvelous aspects of technology. Millions of lives have been saved by the creation of machines used in hospitals and emergency rooms, and products like Life Alert. People are now able to keep in touch with old friends (myself included) through texting, emailing, or Facebook. I don't think technology is pure evil.

Murray Rosenbaum

Running With Two Olympians As Coaches

Murray Rosenbaum

Sailing With the Google Glass For five weeks this summer, I was an intern at a sailing camp in NYC called Hudson River Community Sailing (HRCS for short). The camp was amazing; I got to help teach sailing to children who may have sailed a little in their lives, and children who had never sailed at all. I taught points of sail, the effects on pollution, how to rig and derig a boat, knots, and even how to steer/sail the boats. "Wait, you mean the Google Glass?" After biking to HRCS on 26th street and Riverside Park and locking up my bike, I decided to walk into the boathouse wearing the Google Glass. A Junior Educator (student who went through the camps winter program and is like an instructor's helper) named Fariha saw me wearing them and screamed, "GOOGLE GLASSES!!" I took the Google Glass because I wanted to show my dad what it's like to go sailing at HRCS. The Google Glass is amazing because I took three 12-minute videos of us getting ready to sail and sailing, at I forgot I was recording at times. The Google Glass is easily one of the most influential pieces of technology I have ever used.

Patrick Mott

Seventeen And Photoshop: A Step Forward or Back? You've probably heard of the petition a 14-year-old girl started, called "Seventeen Magazine: Give Girls Images Of Real Girls!". HuffPost Teen writes: "Facing pressure from teen girls demanding truthful images of young women, Seventeenmagazine has vowed to 'celebrate every kind of beauty' and feature only photographs of real girls and models who are healthy. Sure, they're not using Photoshop. Makeup. (Click here to see the now famous "Dove Evolution" video, which transforms a regular girl into a cover girl in one minute.) So back to Photoshop and makeup. The American Medical Association denounces Photoshop for being a main contributor to adolescent health problems. Seemingly flawless models, Photoshop and makeup can all lead to mental health problems in teens, like low self-esteem and depression.

Theodore Li

Your Personal Ambition For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted a personal motto. I wanted a maxim that I could really try to live my life by. Chivalry! Courage! Enthusiasm! But a part of me could never get myself to create my own motto because I never knew where to start and I never thought I could commit. "With great power comes great responsibility" is an adapted quote by the great writer and philosopher, Voltaire. This adage resonates well for the moral compass of men and women in power. Kindness, in this sense, is the ultimate authority in justifying every action. My personal motto today is comprised of three distinct ideas -- being entitled, being minimalistic and being efficient. Entitlement is derived from Malcom Gladwell's book, Outliers: The Story of Success. Efficiency is a quality that everyone strives for... right?

Murray Rosenbaum

Thinking About the Future in the Present

Tara Subramaniam

This is (Not) Real Life

Sophia Slater

Tohoku Two Years On The identical rows of temporary housing units put up in Tohoku after 3/11 are not a thing of the past; hundreds of thousands of people still live in them every day. After four or five months of shared living spaces in evacuation centers, people were relieved to move into these units. There are also social problems with the temporary housing. The small, flimsy structures hold families of sometimes up to five people, with a lottery system that prioritized mothers and children above others. This also meant that your neighbors were not necessarily the people you had been with all of your life, decreasing the sense of camaraderie within each housing unit "village." The state aimed to create a fair policy for allocating the housing, and instead killed any chance of the housing areas functioning as a coherent and unified community. In a country as focused on the institution of community as Japan, this system is a drastic and difficult change for people to adapt to. Many villages have been rendered unrecognizable, so that people no longer can identify them as "home." In a sense, the people are homeless. Both media attention and financial support have decreased.

Evan Manning

Toronto's Everlasting Sports Misery

Sophia Slater

Tragedy on the Roof of the World Fire. Self-immolation, on the other hand, is a different kind of fire. Since February of 2009, more than 80Tibetans have self-immolated inside Tibet, with five Tibetans-in-exile self-immolating since 1998. I first learned about the self-immolations last summer when I took part in a community service program in Dharamsala, a former British Raj hill station in northern India, right near Tibet. The official seat of the Tibetan government in exile, Dharamsala is literally a mini-Tibet, with a Tibetan-majority population, momo dumplings (a traditional Tibetan food), and people circumambulating the Dalai Lama's temple while spinning their prayer wheels. Although not unique to Tibet, self-immolation has become increasingly widespread in the region. Mounted on the board are posters in English, Tibetan and Hindi depicting each of the Tibetans who have self-immolated, both in and out of Tibet.

Annie Gersh

Uniting Girls to Change the World

Nathan Blansett

Unpopular Opinion: Miley's VMA Performance No matter your gender, it sends a great message: championing the expression of sexuality, Christina belts, "Why is a woman's sexuality always under so much scrutiny? Remember that Jimmy Fallon bit on Weekend Update? "Christina Aguilera canceled two concerts in England, saying that she has acute bronchitis. Take a look at Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, or even Miley Cyrus (who's been the talk of the town ever since her VMA performance on August 25): after being cherished and idolized for years for their "good girl" image (I absolutely loathe that term and all it conveys), their decision to express open, fluid, "I-don't-care-this-is-my-body" sexuality (Britney and Madonna's lip lock a few years back or Miley's performance, for example) resulted in deafening reverberations. Those moments were (and still are) labeled as "pure shock-value" -- but if that initial view of the performer as a "good girl" (ugh) is so ingrained in the media and entertainment industry, doesn't the performer have to shock you? It's just like Christina Aguilera waving bye to the Mickey Mouse Club, dying her hair, and piercing her nose. Yes, there were some definite issues with Miley's performance (particularly her "commodification of black female sexuality," as expressed in this amazing article from Jezebel). Could Miley have expressed herself in a subtler manner, sans twerking teddy bears? ****-shaming. Objectification. Rape culture. Heteronormative. Patriarchal. Because if there were, that'd mean progress. We need to create dialogue because we need to be ceaselessly questioning the world around us, even if that world features a former Disney child star twerking on stage at the VMAs. In "Blurred Lines," some have said, "he's just expressing his sexuality." Now, I've heard people admit that "Blurred Lines" is a pretty awful song -- but why is his song enjoying enormous success and airplay, and Miley's being called a ****?

Patrick Mott

Using Social Media Positively We are a fast-paced, technologically evolving society and we are addicted to social media. In fact, we crave social media. We post almost every aspect of our life on social media. Absolutely. Our social networks can tell a story about us and, if you're like me, you want to make sure that the story your Twitter or Facebook tells about you is a good story. One's online reputation couldn't be more important. Make sure to post content that you feel positively reflects you, your creativity and your skills. 2. Don't Trust Privacy Settings: You have a private Twitter account so you can post anything you want? 3. Ensure You're Polished: Keep it classy! Once you click post, there's no looking back!

Nathan Blansett

What We Talk About When We Talk About Steubenville I don't remember my fellow student's exact words, so I'll refrain from misquoting them, but this person said something along the lines of, "Well, if a couple is married and the husband rapes the wife, I don't know if that's really rape. There's been a lot of talk about rape lately -- and not just in my classroom. On March 17, Trent Mays, 17, and Ma'Lik Richmond, 16 -- two students at Steubenville High School in Steubenville, Ohio -- were found guilty of raping a 16-year-old intoxicated girl as she lay unconscious. When my fellow classmate excused spousal rape, I realized something. We need to accept that we live in a culture that shames and tries to discredit rape survivors, that some of them "deserved it." We need to accept that we live in a culture where rape has become a topic of humor. When we boldly deny the term "rape culture," when we say that the term is useless liberal propagation, we are allowing for sexual violence to become normalized.

Helen Lu

What a Part-Time Job Taught Me At the end of my sophomore year in high school I began my job hunt. My communication applications teacher was encouraging us all to get a part-time job and I pictured a job to be the first step into being my own person. I thought that I had great skills in dealing with kids, so I applied for a job to tutor kids. Don't try to befriend managers, but be respectful. After going through some work with a couple of kids I realized my second lesson. Money that I earned from working long hours seemed to be more valuable to me than money given to me by my parents. For those of you with some extra time on your hands, I strongly encourage you to try a part-time job! Besides, a little extra lunch money is quite the motivation.

Tallia Storm

Who Doesn't Like to Pick Their Nose for a Good Cause?

Daniaja Davis

Why 'This Is Us' Changed my Life

Alexis Jane Torre

Why I Actually Enjoy Studying Math Right now, I am currently double majoring in communication and math. I never pictured myself as a math major. Despite the stress and frustration (and loads of homework) that comes with every math course, I really and truly enjoy studying math. I've definitely thought of how much easier it would be to drop all my math classes. But every time I think I'm done, I decide that my math classes are worth the lengthy homework assignments, the hours spent in the library, and the late-night frustration when solving a difficult problem. Studying math has taught me what it means to really love something. Last semester, I took a vector calc problem session class where we would do very challenging problems in groups. Math is hard. Like, really hard. All the professors and TAs I've had are intent on helping the students as much as they can. Studying math reminds me of a truth that I tend to forget: You can ask others for help. A subject that they may not be naturally talented in but allows them to realize how hard they can work.

Shireen Younus

Why I Didn't Celebrate Earth Day 2012

Anne Hilker

Why I Gave My Friend a Pineapple for Her Birthday

Marsha Pinto

Why I Love Ellen DeGeneres "Let's have a little fun today, let's give a little love away": These two memorable phrases from the theme song of the Ellen Show prepare you for an upcoming hour of laughter and giving with none other than Ellen DeGeneres. Beyond the laughter, the Ellen Show has an underlying message about giving. Whether it's an audience member or a man on the street, Ellen always manages to find a way to make someone's life better. Ellen's talent as a natural comedian is what brings families and friends around the world together in front of their television.

Annie Schugart

Why I Spent Homecoming at Starbucks (And Don't Regret It) Sitting in Starbucks on the night of homecoming isn't exactly what I had in mind when I imagined dreamy nights at high school dances. And it wasn't just homecoming I spent at Starbucks -- it was senior homecoming. I had never been dateless to a dance, but this time I was. Every girl deserves to be asked to a dance, and I'm glad I was able to ensure just one more person -- a person who entirely deserved it -- had a date. And while sitting in Starbucks on homecoming night wasn't my ideal senior homecoming, it was the reality I needed. I may have helped one person get a date to a dance, but there were many girls out there at my school still without a date. Those girls deserve dates more than anyone else. The culture of high school dances need to change. Guys, unless you're dating her, don't ask a girl from a different school or in a different grade. Ask the beautiful girls in your very own grade who have never experienced a school dance. To the girls who are fortunate enough to have dates to a dance, don't take it for granted. Help out the girls who don't have dates, and be careful of your words. You're beautiful for having thick skin. You're beautiful for putting up with feelings no girl should have to feel.

Odelia Kaly

Why I'm Worried About Social Media Mark Zuckerberg and his social media successors aside, my initiation into a world of Facebook-obsessed adolescents was highly unpleasant. Despite the fact that making friends with real, live people was taxing enough for my timid freshman self, the true struggle existed on the Internet. I'm not writing this to preach an anti-social media doctrine. I used to spend hours cultivating meaningless and superficial friendships with people on Facebook who wouldn't wave to me in the hallways. One of the first panels was about the immense power of social media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr and so on. When it was time for questions, I raised my hand and asked, "If I am a fashion blogger and I don't want to get involved in social media, but I attend fashion shows and events, can I still be successful in the industry?" Everyone in the room -- and those watching the event being live-streamed on their computers -- stared at me. I deleted my Facebook account in the middle of this past summer. Now, if somebody doesn't "like" someone's "wall post," they go berserk. I spent the rest of the summer nearly completely out of touch with the outside world, save for those people that I had called or sent text messages to and the people that were in a room with me. If deleting my account taught me anything, it was how to weed out my real friends from the fake ones. People that I thought were close companions didn't remember my birthday because Facebook didn't remind them when it was. I was even slightly content with going on living like that, maybe forever, only spending time with people I wanted to, or sometimes seeing nobody at all. I still feel uncomfortable telling people that I don't have a Facebook account despite the fact that I'm extremely proud of it. When a famous magazine editor challenged my views on social media in front of hundreds of people, there was no way I was going to argue with him about it. Call me old-fashioned, because maybe I am. But it frightens and disappoints me that my laptop accepts Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr as words, while it does not recognize an Old English word (certes). My intention with this article was not, as I mentioned previously, to berate you all for having Facebook or Twitter accounts. If we choose to get involved, we run the risk of becoming dependent on our online interactions, a thought that I can barely comprehend. If we choose to stay away from social media, we run the equally terrifying risk of becoming outcasts.

Nathan Blansett

Why It's OK To Feel Bad I've always liked New Year's. I think it's because I'm an unabashed hopeless romantic -- I love that possibility of resolutions, renewal and atonement. I savor the time spent with family, when life seems suspended and the lights are fuzzy, when Kathy Griffin embarrasses Anderson Cooper on CNN. Weightless. My January sucked. I came home and crawled into bed, ate my weight in processed chocolate. Those winter blues have thankfully faded. To be honest, it scared me a little. We could sit by the window and talk for hours about how our society unconsciously pressures us to live amiable lives devoid of most emotion, but I'll digress. Sometimes I feel awkward and sad and wallow in a sea of self-pity, but then sometimes I feel blissful, sun-kissed and absolutely beautiful.

Bizzy Emerson

Why Rachel Berry Is A Role Model On the musical-show, teens in the unpopular school glee club seek self-validation, as well as the acceptance and approval of their peers. I had always been a very ambitious young girl, so Rachel Berry (played by the effervescent and equally amazing Lea Michele) became my idol. From the second she stuck a gold star on the glee club audition sheet, I was hooked. While I love Katniss' feminist strength, I love Rachel Berry because she is a teenage girl. Rachel Berry is a dreamer. A female character that has romantic relationships that don't rule her life is kind of rare. In a way, Rachel is the modern teenage girls' Carrie Bradshaw -- she has an active love life, yet is also driven, surrounded by fabulous friends, and embracing New York City. Rachel Berry is a beacon of hope for dreaming teenagers in that horrid part of life when the greatest piece of advice adults can give you is "be realistic." She teaches us to be a teenager, and feel everything, and dream whatever we choose to dream.

Murray Rosenbaum

Why Sailing is One of My Favorite Pastimes

Hannah Weintraub

Why Water Can't Wait In Tanzania, the United Nations reports, when water sources were moved within 15 minutes of girls' homes, their school attendance increased by 12 percent while boy's school attendance increased by far less. The reason that women and girls make up over 76 percent of those who collect water is not because they are better equipped to walk the arduous miles to water sources or to carry heavy jugs of water. In a 2005 United Nations report on women's role in water collection, researchers found that organizations that coupled their water development projects with gender education and empowerment classes created much greater advances in women's education and community involvement than organizations that went in and set up wells without a focus on gender equality. In the game, players must help a young girl collect water so she can return to school. Meanwhile, users learn more about the water crisis effecting women through insightful factoids.

Tara Subramaniam

Writing... and Other Fun Things

Hannah Weintraub

You Have to Start Somewhere That summer, my leftist, socialist, Jewish summer camp hosted a Take Back the Night event (just a typical summer camp activity) where I had been inundated with more facts about sexism than I even knew existed. Feminism is still needed as long as people continue to believe that dolls are for girls and trucks are for boys. As a teenager, gender inequality affects my current and future expectations for safety and respect. Even college is tainted with sexism. Sounds like the perfect environment for women to receive an empowering education. Many structures of American culture reinforce the problems women face. Commercials and ads are a bevy of slogans and pictures supporting gender role stereotypes and negative body image that affect both men and women. Feminist visionaries like Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan have gotten things going.

Alexis Jane Torre

You're a Really Good Story You're a really good story. In fact, you used to be one of my favorite stories. Like, how in "Looking for Alaska," Alaska Young is Pudge's "Great Perhaps." You're a really good teen romance story. You have all the makings of a typical teen novel: a summer away from home, the possibility of romance, and of course, some really cliché lines. You're a really good "coming of age story". You're what helps me deal with being the stereotypical teen who feels trapped in suburbia. You're adventure and change and acceptance. You're a really good story about things falling apart. No, you're not like Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart." But, you're one of those stories that just leaves the reader hanging.

Haley Pereyo

YouTubers and Viewers I've watched these people post videos for years now and they have honestly become a part of my daily routine. To people that don't understand this community, this may seem crazy that people I've never met (now I have ) have impacted my life so greatly. The communities that grow from YouTube channels can change the world. Communities that grow from YouTube become more like families. YouTubers and their viewers connect in so many interesting ways. Viewers comment on their videos and we can talk one on one to the person who created the video. Many YouTubers do question and answer videos where they take the questions from the viewers and answer them right on their video. YouTubers and viewers work together.

Murray Rosenbaum

Pets: The Greatest Stress Relief in the World

Blake Kernen

Philadelphia Freedom-LGBT Style First stop was the Liberty Bell, a recognizable symbol of freedom around the world. Next stop was the Betsy Ross House, the birthplace of the American Flag. Brave Betsy Ross put her freedom on the line as she sewed the Stars and Stripes. On Sunday, Philadelphia was celebrating the silver anniversary of PrideDay, the LGBT Parade and Festival. My family and I all stood cheering, as people with rainbow colored flags sang, danced and marched up and down the historic streets of the city.

Hannah Weintraub

Pink Is Not Just For Girls I remember the distinct chants from elementary school, "Blue is a boy color! Pink is a girl color!" Not able to understand why colors needed an assigned gender, I chose yellow as my favorite because it could be for both boys and girls. As a tom boy, the idea of "girl things" and "boy things" made no sense to me. As time went on, women were even more relegated to the role of housewife by increasingly arbitrary theories on gender. Even 70 years ago, people thought women shouldn't go to school because education could cause women to have "brain fever" or become sterile. Luckily, I have been raised with a certain distance from these gender role stereotypes. My parents have always been an example of gender equality. My mom cooks dinner while my dad does the dishes. Our culture needs to be critiqued with fresh eyes so that our constricting gender roles can be swept away.

Blake Kernen

Please, Take Your Kids To Work For one, I think my dad works at a really cool place -- a TV network. It's earned success, finding out what makes you happy, working at it, and achieving it. Earned success can be anything you want it to be -- writing beautiful stories, being a musician, painting, being a doctor, helping others, bankers, lawyers -- something that brings value to your life, and other people's lives. This weekend for science homework, I had to watch Steve Jobs' 2005 Commencement address at Stanford University. Steve Jobs said, "You've got to find what you love." Basically, just go for it, earn your success, live every day like it's your last, love life. The average entrepreneur makes approximately $45,000 per year, and fails 3.8 times before succeeding.

Murray Rosenbaum

Strange Obsession with the End of the World?

Murray Rosenbaum

The Feeling of Success

Blake Kernen

The Girl Scout Promise I ate the last Girl Scout cookie in my house. When it comes to selling cookies, you could say Girl Scouts take the cake. (Dad, Girl Scout cookies are not made out of Girl Scouts, a joke he had to share with the CEO of Girl Scouts. During the selling season, Girl Scout cookies become the bestselling cookie in the country, stealing the top spot from the other favorite, the Oreo. For the past 100 years, Girl Scouts have been inspiring and empowering girls to be the best they can be. Girl Scouts make a promise to serve God, country, and to respect each other. It works.

Alexis Jane Torre

Actually, Zero IS A Size Zero is not a size... it's a disorder. Real women have curves. I'm definitely against pressuring people to fight their natural body shape and develop unhealthy tendencies. But getting rid of this expectation to be thin has just been putting into place yet another expectation for women's bodies. This once again encourages women to fight their natural body shape in order to meet a societal definition of "beautiful." Beauty is being thin, or beauty is being curvy. Beauty does really come in every shape and size, as cliché and overrated as it sounds.

Elise Jamison

Affirmation Addiction I am an affirmation addict. Wow. Google's secondary definition of the word affirmation is "Emotional support of encouragement." As a direct result of social media, we crave affirmations from our peers in the form of likes, favorites, shares, retweets, reblogs, and revines. As a 16-year-old girl with an iPhone, I consider myself pretty adept at social networking. I never thought it was particularly harmful. I need random people at my school to like my Instagram picture of me dressed as a cat, or else I am a loser with no friends. Why do I need likes to feel like I exist? I'm tired of wasting my time obsessing my dependency on social media attention. I've never met her anyway, so I don't care.

Karielle Stephanie Gam

7 Tips to Help You Fight Senioritis Parents and teachers dread it and students can't escape the terrible disease that sweeps nations every January and February. Countless teenagers worldwide -- typically between the ages of 17 and 18 -- are afflicted with this baffling, often lethal (yes, lethal!!) phenomenon called "senioritis," whose symptoms include carelessness, lethargy, as well as decreased motivation, punctuality and willingness to learn. - Colleges will reconsider their admission decisions if your GPA falls to a certain point, especially if there are financial packages involved with your acceptance. - In addition, too many unexcused lates or absences might affect your ability to receive a high school diploma. Don't disappoint your dream schools when you've come so far! Apply some of the non-academic lessons you learned in high school to this period of your life. The biggest role they will play in college is funding your future. Many merit-based and private scholarships have a grade cutoff just for consideration. "It was absolutely grand, absolutely mahhhvelous." 6. Sleep! Falling asleep during class and sleeping in will, as always, affect your academic performance. It's never too late to warn students of senioritis's symptoms, right? The dwindling homework submission rate, the constant lateness or absences, the tremendous procrastination, the daily six-hour-long naps -- sound familiar?

Karielle Stephanie Gam

9 Required High School Reads that Ended Up My All-Time Favorites The hardest thing about high school English classes is the dense, outdated books we are required to read. Au contraire! Lit class made me (for brief bursts of time) hate reading because it was way too strenuous, way too much. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: A contemporary classic, this was the first book I ever read twice in one sitting. To date, I've had to read it 12 times... and I still don't think I've caught everything. A Separate Peace by John Knowles: Character-heavy and true-to-life, this coming-of-age novel explores real themes of teenage angst, including innocence, betrayal, and identity. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: My favorite book of all-time: #1, top of the shelf. Overall it's one of the most compelling books I've ever read, and it's what jumpstarted my love for world literature, aka books written other than white-haired English/American males from large cities (typically deceased, and with excellent moustaches and solely posthumous recognition). It reads historical, investigating a small-town Colombian crime, but has fantastical elements, which make it darkly comical. Unlike most murder mysteries, Chronicle explores in-depth, almost journalistically, the duplicity of time and perspective, as well as the holistic problem with reconstructing "truth." Nobel Prize-winning author García Márquez utilizes a cluttered, purposefully nebulous structure to compose a contradictory, complex narrative. Night by Elie Wiesel: I cry easily during movies, but seldom when reading books. Atonement by Ian McEwan: To be honest with you, I loathed this book at first. Have you read any of these books? What books would you add to your assigned-read-turned-personal-favorite list?

Alexis Jane Torre

A Breakup Letter to Summer 2010 A sweltering hot Arizona summer spent away from home for the first time. Being attached to a certain period of time in your life is arguably worse than being attached to a person. How do you get over places and times and feelings? It was living somewhere new and going on late-night walks and having even later-night phone calls. It was freedom. The freedom to spend every day shamelessly flirting with and falling for some beautiful boy. I have spent quite a bit of time missing the summer of 2010, trying to chase down its romance and freedom and feelings. Because I don't resent the summer of 2010 or want to forget it forever. I want to break up -- but be on good terms -- with summer 2010. So, summer 2010 sure was one for the books.

Anne Hilker

A Confused Teen in a Moment's Clarity

Tara Subramaniam

A De-Stressing Finals Playlist

Murray Rosenbaum

A Different Kind of Club

Anouska Stahlmann

A Few Places I've Discovered in Nearly 15 Years So, I'm a 14-year-old girl in England. America always looks so colorful compared to the little dead town I live in. Since January, I've started going to London, the capital, a lot more. I love it there. But I've traveled all over the country and I've been to several places in Wales and Scotland and found that there are colorful places in the UK if you look hard enough. So these are the places in the UK that I love the most. It is in my beloved Dorset and it is always on my list of places to go when I visit as it is so beautiful. If visiting my favourite county, Dorset, Corfe Castle is a must as it is so perfect there. 12. Kenilworth Castle is somewhere I've been going since I was little. Funnily enough, my dad fell madly in love with it and discovered the place existed. Singing of the sweet little white cottage had felt like a dream and to think this mountain was real and the cottage actually did sit in Llangollen was a dream come true. Forgetting the song and mountain ever existed, my dad and I began doing day trips once more. The beautiful mountain seemed so lonely to me. We always frequent this mountain when in Wales because I've never seen somewhere quite like it. It's truly beautiful. 10. Swanage Beach, Dorset, is atmospheric, even on the rainy day that I visited it. Blue Pool in Dorset is one of the places I can. This little lake is colored blue but it is green in some lights. It's too beautiful to miss when in Dorset. I was never particularly in the place nor did I care about the legends. Since it was on the way to visiting relatives, dad thought it would be a good idea to visit it but I really wasn't interested. 5. Whitby Abbey is the only place to go for the true experience of the Gothic fiction that is Bram Stokers' Dracula. I'd never experienced Yorkshire before and I am so glad my first visit was straight to the beautiful Whitby Abbey. This place is atmospheric and moody. Wast Water is just stunning. Coniston means more to me than a lot of places I've visited. I feel like I have a long history there after falling madly in love with the idea of Donald Campbell. Coniston Water has seen many record breaking races of water speeders. Sir Malcolm Campbell set four world records on Coniston in Bluebird K4. Donald Campbell took up Water Speeding and set several records. Donald raced in Bluebird K7 and in his final race; Mr. Whoppit and Bluebird went down with their captain. The beauty of Coniston will never escape me. I'm actually running out of adjectives to describe how beautiful all these places are! This is the most beautiful sandy beach I've ever been to. The shells I found on that beach were beautiful. 2. Camden Town is the only place to shop in London, for me. At every turn there's something to fall in love with. Durdle Door offers a stony beach with clear waters and pure beauty. My first trip with my dad since my childhood was to Dorset and the first place on our list was Durdle Door. I can't express my love for it. The moment I set eyes on that sea that surrounded the arch in the middle, I knew I'd found my place. It was true love. Anyway!

Susannah Meyer

A Global Conversation to Inspire Youth

Blake Kernen

A Good Read: The Case for the Constitution Have you ever read the United States Constitution? Reading the United States Constitution is not an everyday thing for me. Last week, my eighth grade history assignment was to explain Article V of the U.S. Constitution, which states how the Constitution is amended. The United States Constitution was written in 1787 in Philadelphia during a one hundred day period from May 14 to September 17 known as the Constitutional Convention. It was signed on September 17, which is now known as Constitution Day. The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, weren't introduced until 1789. I recently read an article in The Atlantic titled "The U.S. Constitution Needs You." Ben Franklin replied, "A republic, madam.

Karielle Stephanie Gam

A Great American Character Analysis: Is Gatsby Indeed Great? F. Scott Fitzgerald's characterization of Jay Gatsby demonstrates the extent to which Gatsby transcends his own lowly roots and creates the impression of being "great." Throughout the procession of the 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, readers are exposed to Gatsby's various amazing achievements, including his ascent into excessive wealth and reputation, his long-standing and eventually successful pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, and his tragic, galvanized death. In the confrontational scene between Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy (with Jordan and Nick as spectators), Gatsby demands Daisy admit that she never loved Tom; but she cannot. Distraught with emotion, Daisy, exclaims to him, "I did love [Tom] once -- but I loved you too," which does not suffice for Gatsby. Gatsby wants Daisy's whole love, her unadulterated and exclusive love, but is jarred by the startling reality that due to the passage of time, and the cruelty of fate, Daisy loved Tom when she could not love Gatsby. Lastly, Gatsby's final proceeding shows his downfall. Dying young, he should be immortalized, or at least revered for dying for love, for dying a tragic, hopeless death. Gatsby's unremarkable death is Fitzgerald's last reminder to readers that although Gatsby had his great moments, they eventually led to his demise, and that as a whole, he is far, far from great. The tragedy of Gatsby having everything, then suddenly nothing, demonstrates his irrefutable distance from greatness.

Hasan Khan

A Trip to the Chicago Tribune In the modern age, how will printed news hold up against the revolution of online information? What exactly does an editorial meeting room look like? I learned the answer to these questions, and more, when I had the great privilege and honor of being able to take a tour through the Chicago Tribune with my family, thanks to former Chicago Tribunejournalist and current world-walker Paul Salopek (Here is my interview with him to find out more about our meeting, and HERE is the National Geographic site to find out more about his journey), who introduced us to Chicago Tribune nation and world editor Kerry Luft. The Chicago Tribune's message and goal shines in the very first room. Mr. Luft, the editor whose responsibilities are to "Make sure you get the right stories, with the right emphasis. The Chicago Tribune recognizes all the forms of media; after all, the LA Times, WGN-TV and radio, and six other newspapers aside from the aforementioned are under the Tribune Company banner, plus the company's subscription of the Washington Post's news service. On the subject of the news, I asked Mr. Luft whether the Chicago Tribune primarily focused on local news in Chicago, the United States, or the entire world. He explained the Chicago Tribune as "Increasingly focused on Chicago and the world through a Chicago lens, though with a pretty robust foreign coverage." Chicago is usually on the front page of the paper. On the website, breaking news can be posted all day long, while stories on the printed paper can be even a day late thanks to the schedule. Mr. Luft's reason for the Chicago Tribune's steady relevancy was the paper "Giving people what they can't find anywhere else; it's an indispensable tool to navigating Chicago." It was in this room that Mr. Luft explained the Tribune's history in a more in-depth, personal description.

Marsha Pinto

Abolishing 'Impossible': A Letter to President Obama Dear President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, Through a large part of 2012, I watched the rallies, conventions, debates, and campaigning that went into achieving your dream of another term as President of the United States of America. Often in these hard times, too many Americans struggle and strive to achieve the American dream, but it seems that success is only for the wealthy and influential. Rather, we should stay humble and leave that door of opportunity open to others, remembering that every individual deserves the opportunity to succeed.

Susannah Meyer

Act Upon a Feeling

Evan Manning

Breaking Bad 'Felina' For all us "Breaking Bad" viewers, we woke up today feeling a slight tinge of loneliness, as if a lifetime friend had just moved away for good. We slept restlessly, wondering what could possibly replace this friend, this friend who had given us all we needed and more for six brilliant years. Some of us cried, some of us laughed, but for nearly all of us emotions ran rampant. And yet, with all these inescapable emotions came one feeling that was also impossible to deny: pure satisfaction. Vince Gilligan's giant Chekhov's Gun of a masterpiece came to its inevitable close last evening. Walter White, the man who was given a death sentence in the very first episode of the series, finally saw his life come to a close. Jesse Pinkman, the character we all passionately rooted for, freed us all from our constant worrying as he drove off into the (sort of) sunset. The giant onion of what will be remembered as one of the greatest television shows of all time finally peeled off its last layer. While we all may be experiencing some sort of despair right now, is there any way this entire saga could have been wrapped up better? All loose ends were tied up, and all the questions Vince Gilligan has made us ask finally were answered, emphatically. All of Walter's former friends or enemies who we wondered about returned. For the most diehard of all "Breaking" Bad fans, the return of characters such as Skinny Pete, Badger, Gretchen and Elliot was so bittersweet. All of the tyrannical figures and Neo-Nazis were burned to the ground, culminating with Jesse's gruesome choking of Todd, the most polite psychopath ever to roam New Mexico. Only dark scenes such as this, and the shooting down of the Nazis by the scientific set-up Walter again created, could both bother and gratify a TV fan to their core. It seems like such a long time ago Walter White was introduced to the world, as the boring, civil chemistry teacher who had just been diagnosed with cancer. After years of transformation and mind-entrenching television, he may just have left the world he entered as the greatest character of all time. He was as dynamic as they come, as his change to Heisenberg showed how easy it could be for any of us to Break Bad. While it may seem unfathomable for Walter to have atoned for all the sins he committed, whether poisoning children, shooting Mike in cold blood, or ordering a hit on his son-like friend Jesse, he could not have gone out in a better way. He righted as many of his wrongs as possible, and spared the life of the young man whose life he had practically ruined. He said goodbye to his wife and looked her in the eyes one last time, and left the inheritance he had always sought to leave for his children. He came full circle, before finally falling in the methamphetamine lab that had always made him feel alive. As for Jesse, his living could have been enough for many of us Aaron Paul fans. For a character that has never caught a single break in his life, it seemed fitting that his first would come in the series finale. Not only did he get to kill a child-murdering man who had stripped his love from him and repeatedly tortured him, he got to say no to Walter, who had manipulated him time and time again. After all his pain and suffering, we got to see him cry out of joy for being free for the first time in his entire life. Many of us will spend the next couple years of our life searching for the next great piece of television. Searching greedily for something that can replace what "Breaking Bad" has given us for the past few years. Searching for something that there has never been before Breaking Bad, and probably never will be again. This show that Vince Gilligan put his heart and soul into taught so many lessons, and provided so much entertainment that it really spoiled us all. In losing it, we can grieve as much as we want about the fact that it will never come back, but in all the grieving we do, we have to acknowledge just how lucky we were to have it in the first place. Thank you Vince Gilligan, thank you Aaron Paul and thank you Bryan Cranston. Thank you for wrapping up the greatest television series I have ever watched, in the greatest way I could possibly imagine.

Marsha Pinto

Dear Bullies You may think that sending a hate message to one person is no big deal, but often that hate will reciprocate into more and more people hurting each other just to relieve their own pain from being hurt. Inside every bully is someone who has been a victim of bullying. Many innocent lives are lost because of people choosing to get revenge on others who have bullied them. Suicide rates have risen. Bullying only leads to more bullying. You have so much potential in you and yet you choose to waste your energy hurting others. I believe that every individual has the capability to spread kindness, even if they come off as destructive.

Sophia Slater

Coming Full Circle: My Meeting With the Dalai Lama This summer, I've returned to Dharamsala to work with the Tibetan community in exile. I received a message: "Be at the Dalai Lama's compound by 11:30 on Tuesday. I was going to meet the Dalai Lama?! Before I left for India, an audience with the Dalai Lama had been requested through my Tibetan relatives. I also really hoped to meet the Dalai Lama because of the connection between his predecessor, the 13th Dalai Lama, and my family. In 1910, my great-great-grandfather, S. W. Laden La, was liaison officer when the 13th Dalai Lama took refuge in India after the Chinese invaded Tibet. While working in Lhasa in 1920, my great-great-grandfather had an audience with the Dalai Lama at the Potala Palace, an unforgettable moment that he wrote about in his diary. In 1923, the Dalai Lama appointed him Chief of Police as part of an effort to modernize Tibet. Their last meeting took place in Lhasa in 1930; they spent the afternoon talking and the Dalai Lama gave my great-great-grandfather a beautiful khadasilk blessing scarf. At about 10:45, we headed for the Dalai Lama's compound. The line moved fast, and as we got closer I saw the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama held the photos, and held our hands tightly, and we posed for his official photographer. One hundred years after my great-great-grandfather was with the 13th Dalai Lama in India and Tibet, we were holding hands with the 14th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama thanked us and we thanked him. What I remember most is when the Dalai Lama took my hand.

Amanda Dai

Competition

Carmin Chappell

Confessions of a First-Time Songwriter I've spent many nights this summer curled around my acoustic guitar. Hours have been dedicated to strumming renditions of my favorite songs, playing until my fingers were too sore to pluck another string. Mind separated from body; body connected to melody. After finishing my lyrics in what should have been a questionably short time (I attributed it to my obvious natural talent), I carefully decided on a chord progression that fit the fabricated "mood" of my song. I loaded Apple's gift to the inexperienced musician, GarageBand, and prepared to record my creation. Disregarding my amateur recording technique, my song just didn't have the heart or style I'd anticipated. In terms of creative authority, writing a song is on entirely different level than interpreting other artists' music through covers. Despite my challenges, I'm not giving up on my quest for a great song to call my own.

Anne Hilker

Costa Rica: My Journey

Amanda Dai

Could I Quit Gymnastics?

Carmin Chappell

Creepers: Trudging Into Style Creepers are a type of shoe that originated in World War II, when British soldiers wore them because the tough soles of the shoes were perfect for the desert environment. After the war, the soldiers returned to London and frequently inhabited the various night spots around the city, giving the shoes the term "brothel creepers," or just creepers for short. After weeks of impatiently waiting, my shoes finally arrived. As a lover of all things fashion, especially shoes, I was elated to finally have a pair of creepers to call my own. I couldn't wait to wear them to school. In terms of shoes, there isn't much variety at my school. In class, my peers had some interesting comments.

Murray Rosenbaum

Crowdsourcing: The New Way to Solve Problems

Odelia Kaly

Fair Trade: A Utopian Concept Surviving in a Dystopian World I was nine years old the first time I encountered the concept of fair trade. The students in the grade above me had studied organic fair trade coffee companies and put up signs around my elementary school advocating for them. There's a slight chance I thought Fair Trade Coffee was the name of a café. I love Emma Watson and I also love fashion, so by common logic I thought I would love People Tree. As I began reading the passionately worded (yet tasteful) information page on People Tree's website, I slowly realized that fair trade was not such a foreign topic. Child labor?! Unhealthy and unsafe working conditions?! The fact that organizations such as People Tree, Fair Indigo and World Fair Trade Organization are actually doing things put my mumbling to shame. As lame as I felt while reading about fair trade, it motivated me to take action through my writing. According to World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), "The term Fair Trade defines a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. WFTO began "writing the rules" for fair trade around 20 years ago because the concept's popularity started to increase around that time. If only creating a fair trade certified company was as easy as Orville Redenbacher claims making popcorn is -- and if you're me, the latter isn't too simple either. Criterion number five says that no forced and/or child laborers shall be employed in the making of fair trade items. Ethics, people. To some people, fair trade may symbolize a sort of ideal work force that can't possibly exist in our current economy. Fair trade is a concept working against the grain of what is culturally and morally accepted in commerce. After all this time, it would seem impossible to make any permanent changes, yet fair trade organizations are doing it. As WFTO has eloquentlyphrased it, "Fair Trade is more than just trading: it proves that greater justice in world trade is possible. It highlights the need for change in the rules and practice of conventional trade and shows how a successful business can also put people first." So many massive companies have pulled the wool over the majority of the consumers' eyes -- no pun intended -- that some people refuse to believe that fair trade is actually feasible, if not a more ethically correct alternative. Luckily, for all of you good-hearted but apathetic people out there, fair trade businesses have already done 50 percent of the work for us. For example, Fair Indigo states on their website that the fair trade prices that are set for commidities like coffee and tea strive to cover production costs as well as the cost of living -- food, shelter, clothing, education and medical care included. Fair trade groups don't just help out their workers, although even that much would be enough to surpass other companies. Equitable treatment of workers? Check. Even our good old friend the environment benefits from fair trade. The farmers who participate in fair trade cooperatives avoid the use of toxic agrochemicalsthat are often used to control pests.

Haley Pereyo

Fangirling Dissected Every fangirl or fanboy reacts differently. There are some tools every fangirl needs. Social networks are another very important tool in expressing the fangirling feels. Fangirling in a sense creates a community. Fangirling or Fanboying creates a world inside the world we already live in. You create bonds with people all over the world and it allows you to become more open minded and think about how the rest of the world lives and functions. Fandoms and fangirling helps the people within the fandom but also the people the fandoms are supporting. Many awards that artists or actors (etc.) have won are fan voted and fandoms are the ones who push for them to win and encourage to people to vote. My generation, your generation, is changing the world in ways that will alter history.

Carmin Chappell

Fashion Bloggers are the New Fashion Icons Bloggers were mainly overlooked in the fashion community. As fashion blogs continue to gain popularity, they are offering a wide range of opportunities for companies as well as the people behind the blogs. Even multimillion-dollar companies like Jeffrey Campbell and Forever 21 feature bloggers on their websites. In an issue of Teen Vogue, style advice from fashion bloggers can be found alongside articles on high profile actors, musicians and models. Last year, Tumblr invited 24 of its most popular fashion bloggers to New York Fashion Week. "Fashion blogger" is slowly becoming an exclusive term, reserved only for the people who consider it a full-time job (and reap all the benefits) -- not the teenage fashion lover posting from her bedroom.

Natalie Merlo

Growing Up With Doctors I got to Seattle Children's Hospital's Craniofacial Center as a 4-year-old, no taller than my dad's knees, with blunt bangs and three pigtails. As a young girl with Crouzon Syndrome on a 14-year path leading up to a life-changing surgery, a surgery that would reposition the bones in my face, I really needed that. Around then I started talking to a surgeon at the Craniofacial Center, Dr. Richard Hopper. Around age 16, my doctors started to get really serious about my surgery. After a lot of thinking, I decided to take Dr. Hopper's recommendation and do the surgery that took the longest, but had the best outcome for life after surgery. After making that decision, my visits to Seattle Children's increased and I met my orthodontist, Dr. Hitesh Kapadia. Some people have great relationships with teachers or coaches -- I have that with my doctors. Looking back now that my surgery is complete, I'm so grateful that I had this specific team of doctors at Seattle Children's. Going to the hospital is never very enjoyable and surgery is daunting, but knowing my doctors truly care about me as a person helped me feel comfortable and know that the outcome of my surgery was going to be worth it. Though I am excited about my post-surgery life without braces and a face that helps me breathe, chew and better protect myself, I'm sad to be leaving Seattle Children's and the wonderful people I've met there.

Isabel Song

Guns, Death and True Fear I never knew true fear until I faced the possibility that my entire family might be dead. I remember that night all too well. My family, facing a boring summer night, wanted something interesting to do; one of the options that popped up was to go and watch the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. My parents, younger brother, and my brother's friend, who was spending the night at our house, jumped onto the idea. Later that night, after I'd finished watching my movie, I turned to Twitter. News sources I was following such as CNN suddenly began tweeting about a movie theater shooting. Initially, the only details mentioned that the shooting had been in Colorado during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. For the first time in my life, I was faced with the possibility that my family might be dead. I tried to calculate what time my family should be home. Aurora. After the Aurora theater shooting, I hoped we'd see some change and progress as a nation. I come from Colorado, a state that already faced the notorious Columbine High School shooting over a decade ago; we have never forgotten. We never forget our wounds. I'm not foolish enough to think that America could easily pass nationwide-restrictions on the types of guns sold and other such gun control measures. However, I cannot understand why America has yet to make universal background checks necessary for all gun purchases. Today, 91 percent of all Americans support these checks, as do 74 percent of NRA gun owners, and with good reason. A background check could have prevented a countless number of deaths. Perhaps some people are right in saying that background checks wouldn't have prevented the Aurora or Newtown shootings. The case against background checks and for gun violence prevention research is more beautifully written in this HuffPost Impact blog. However, I hope that my story also gives people another emotional reason for universal background checks for all gun sales. If I do sway someone who is part of the 9 percent that does not support universal background checks, I would be so fortunate. Think about the people you love in your life, the people you know, and the people you're connected to. Think about how you would feel if you thought your family was caught in a shooting. How can America let the bill for universal background checks for all gun purchases fail?

Blake Kernen

Hanging Onto Hannah What happened to Hannah Montana? As a 13-year-old girl, I have to say I miss Miley Cyrus' Disney days. Miley's performance at the Video Music Awards last night made me realize those days are long gone. Miley went on to more TV shows, movies, merchandising and music. Last night, Miley was nominated for four VMAs, tied for the second most nominations with Robin Thicke and Bruno Mars. Hannah Montana figures into the fiction part of all this. Hannah Montana is the wholesome character that Disney created and that me and millions of other girls are still hanging onto.

Hannah Weintraub

Having a 'Plan B'

Elise Jamison

Homecoming for $100

Tara Subramaniam

Homework: Help or Hassle?

Carmin Chappell

Hot Summer, Cool Music Now that the school year is over, you can finally relax... right? Between jobs, camps, internships, taking extra classes, and preparing for college applications, "summer vacation" can feel like anything but. Nevertheless, be sure to make time to unwind and enjoy the season. These songs embody the freedom, good vibes, and adventure that go along with summer. With a wide range of musical styles and tempos, this playlist is perfect for every occasion this summer. Listen to it at a pool party, on the way to the beach, or while hanging out with friends!

Tallia Storm

How I Became the Target of the 'Fashion Police'

Alexis Jane Torre

How It Feels to Love What You Do We tend to think that love is reserved for people. FBLA or NHS probably can't take you out to dinner and the movies, and no matter how many times you say "I love to run," your Nike sneakers or running route can never say, "I love you too." Obviously, inhuman objects can't show us love in the physical and verbal ways that people can. But jobs, clubs and hobbies can make you proud to be a part of them. Which is the whole point of love, anyways. When you love what you do, it's not forced. Perhaps the most important component of loving what you do is this: you don't quit what you love, even when it's stressful or difficult. You can literally find love everywhere and anywhere. You can find it at your part-time job as a math tutor.

Shireen Younus

How The Government Shutdown Is Impacting Young Americans A week of furloughed workers and partisan bickering since the federal government shut down. In 2008, I was in fifth grade. The fifth grade me lived in a time of hope and change; the 10th grade me lives in a time of hope to change. Change a political climate where Congress -- like elementary school children -- resorts to sitting sullenly on opposite ends of the playground instead of just sharing the proverbial jump rope. While our congressmen, instead of respecting, throw criticism at fellow politicians. The assistant principal's voice grated over the speakers as he recited the Pledge of Allegiance to an audience of barely awake high school students. Who is more entitled than a Congress that allows 800,000 furloughs while basking comfortably in the rays of the 27th Amendment, which ensures that congressmen never lose their salary? Washington has turned into a stage. Please take personal responsibility -- just like you expect school children to do.

Anne Hilker

How to Be A Great Fashion Intern

Anne Hilker

How to Be a Great Fashion Intern

Susannah Meyer

How to Influence and Not Be Influenced

Anouska Stahlmann

How to Speak Tumblr As a 14-year-old girl, I spend a lot of time on the Internet. Recently, I've gotten into social networking -- mainly Twitter, but Tumblr as well. And I've found that they've got an Internet language. • Shipping. "Shipping" is a verb. For example, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson create "Larry Stylinson." • Fandom. A fandom is a group of "fangirls." For example, the One Direction fandom is shortened to the Directioner Fandom. • Fangirl. A Directioner is a single fangirl from the Directioner Fandom. • Fanfiction. Right. For example, there is a Hunger Games fanfiction that I've read and its taken all the best ships from The Hunger Games and stuck them into a normal high school. • Derp. Oh, derping... If you're doing an awkward, inappropriate and majorly unattractive action, you are considered to be "derping." • Asdfghjkl. • Beef. • Tumblr person. A Tumblr girl is basically a girl that is perfect. Anyways!

Isabel Song

How to Survive High School There are some basic tips and advice that will help anyone get through high school. You can succeed in high school and have a fun time without getting hit with "drama" every single week. • Don't be afraid to approach your teachers. If you're struggling in a class, ask your teacher for help outside of class. My sophomore year I probably visited my lit teacher over 10 times to go over every part of my research paper. It's easy to lose yourself in high school, but just stay true to yourself and don't let anyone change that. Hope. Live. Love. • Stay organized and don't procrastinate. To do lists are also great, especially if you need to prioritize assignments. What I like to do is take a bunch of sticky notes, and I write one assignment, quiz, or test per sticky note. • Be kind to people. Just be kind and considerate to people! • Take the classes at the level you need. If your counselor is seriously campaigning for you to skip a class you don't need but sounds helpful and you don't feel too comfortable moving up, take that lower class if you need it. If people are telling you to take the AP class when you barely got through an honors class with a B after nights of crying out of frustration, do what's best for you and take the next class in honors or as a regular class. That said, if you need harder classes, make sure you get them! Please. So if acting is your thing, join the drama club. If you're into music, join orchestra, band, choir, or the like. Bye-bye. Also, make sure your friends are people who also live by this rule -- you don't need negative influences in your life!

Isabel Song

How to Survive Summer Reading Summer turns us into the biggest procrastinators. Not every book teachers have us read are drag-your-feet boring, though. Sophomore year was the first year I actually got summer reading since I moved to a new city and school where the teachers actually gave out summer reading. You don't have to be excited to do your summer reading and assignments. It helps to know how much you have to read and/or write and to know how quickly you can read, annotate, and work. • Get a good idea of what your book is about before your begin reading. • If your summer reading book seems like a complete bore, try to find interesting trivia about the book or author. Find any interesting facts on how the author first started, what problems the book went through before it was published, the success of the book, famous people who have read the book, or anything else that may interest you. Look at pictures of places in the book or illustrations people have made for the book. Let your curiosity soar, and the more interesting things you find related to your book, the more interesting the book itself may seem. • Space your work. Don't work your butt off for hours reading or working on assignments. • Read in a way that suits your learning style. If you're reading a summer book, find some way to do it that works best for you. The main goal is to get through that summer reading assignment!

Alexis Jane Torre

How to Trust That Things Will Work Out So lately, HuffPost Teen has had lots of blog posts on what it's like to get accepted, rejected, wait-listed, etc. 1. Get rejected I'm betting everyone that goes through that dreaded college application process doesn't get everything they want. For me, I wasn't really shooting to go Ivy League or anything (FYI: The only Ivy League school I applied to was Brown, where I got wait-listed.) I was instead applying to this prestigious Arizona scholarship that accepts 20 students a year. (I'll get into how to deal with getting rejected later.) I'm not saying that college is the right path for everyone, but if you're this far into a blog post about dealing with college rejection and whatnot, you probably want to go to college somewhere. 3. Let yourself be upset/sad/angry/however you truly feel about getting rejected. One of my favorite episodes is the season 1 episode where Rory struggles getting over her first breakup. (College application season can get cray cray!) Also, you might feel embarrassed or upset having to tell your counselors, teachers, friends, family, etc. that you got rejected. 4. Decide where you want to go, what scholarship you want to accept, etc. Personally, I struggled to decide which in-state university to attend. I've got mad school pride (bear down!), opportunities on end and tons of fellow Wildcats to befriend! For all you high school seniors out there, just keep calm and wait on. Right now, you're hoping that everything will work out for the best, and I'm assuring you that they truly will. I also hope that you don't let a few rejections define you. Take in your college's mascot and school pride. Trust me.

Alexis Jane Torre

I Am Currently Learning to Unlearn You're going to be around 13 years-old, strolling down the magazine aisle as your mom is grocery shopping. You decide to check the article out. For years after this first encounter, you'll continue to read those same magazines. Ironically enough, these magazines apparently have the goal to empower teenage girls and build stronger, more independent women. I mean, according to this teen mag, boyfriends happen in a week. You'll also throw on a tank top since you read an article on how guys like girls who wear tank tops. You're taught how to turn that cute guy in your calculus class into a full-blown crush. Then turn that hook-up into a date -- and that date into a boyfriend. You might even pick up a real book from time to time. Because it really is funny that magazines treat you like your only goal in life is to meet a nice young man and settle down with him.

Hannah Strohmeier

I Will Become What I Deserve: A Teen's Response Inspiring. Enlightening. Beautiful. Brilliant. Just like the song. I will become what I deserve. 'Become' will take some time. 'Become' will require hope." Change is part of becoming. Change. A person cannot just change. When someone tells me "I've changed. Because a person can't change. No one can ever change. But how do I just assume that we can change the world without considering that the people have to change to make it happen? And how do I not believe those who claim to have changed, when I have made an extreme effort to change over the past year? Change doesn't happen overnight. Change requires time. Change requires commitment. Is the motive for change for ourselves or for someone else? One foot at a time. "I will become what I deserve." I deserve to be happy and follow my heart wherever it leads me. I deserve to be proud of my accomplishments. I WILL become what I deserve. And to do that, I must change my thoughts, actions, words. I must change the way I perceive myself. I must change those negative thoughts into positive ones, because I deserve it. Because that much, that much I deserve. I will become what I deserve. So what do you deserve?

Ross Lynch

My 10 Favorite Things About Halloween

Blake Kernen

My BFFF Bond The day was founded in 1999 to celebrate the incredible companionship dogs provide and to encourage animal adoption. There are dogs starring in reality TV. Big well-known companies like Paul Mitchell, Omaha Steaks, and Harley Davidson have all jumped on the gravy-train offering pet products including shampoos, food and clothes. The pet insurance business is booming. According to the American Pet Products Association, 62 percent households in the U.S. own a pet. The bond between dog and dog owner began about 30,000 years ago when dogs started to become domesticated. Here's to my three dogs, my best furry friends forever.

Shireen Younus

My Brush with Gun Violence

Murray Rosenbaum

My First Run for a Cause

Alexis Jane Torre

My First Semester of College Experience This past week back at the U of A, I've been noticing how college freshmen are so obviously college freshmen. My first semester of college was certainly an experience. Not fitting into the group of people that I wanted to be friends with. I was able to learn from my first semester of frosh year, and have a very successful and enjoyable second semester -- and I'm hoping to keep using my experiences to improve and grow as a student and person. And since experience is probably the most valuable thing to offer college freshmen (except for free food because free food always wins), here are some things I learned/wished I would have realized during my first semester of college. Just stop with this whole lanyard business. Yeah, that group of people that you met at orientation just seems super awesome and cool! During my first semester of college, I spent a lot time trying to get myself motivated, listening to inspirational music and reading articles on study tips. But I actually spent very little time being motivated and working hard. During my second semester, I learned that you just have to dive right into working hard. Second semester, you'll come to love doing work in coffee shops and libraries. You'll learn to love working hard. You're constantly confused by people who say "I love college" and "College is the best time of your life." Everyone has a different adjustment to college.

Hannah Weintraub

My Grandmother's Lessons My grandma's struggles, both big and small, are testaments to the hard work of past feminists and reminders of why today's women must keep fighting to maintain our rights. Born in 1936, my grandma grew up among calls for war bonds and victory gardens. At the time, Rosie the Riveter beckoned in a seemingly new age for women. The world my grandma grew up in is a reality unknown to me and many of the girls in my generation. By the time I was born, working moms and growing numbers of women in college were just a part of the landscape. If women stop demanding equality, it might not take so long for our rights to erode. In my grandma's time, women seeking equality had obvious walls to knock over. We were immediately disturbed that culture could give a boy so much control over a girl's life. I worry that if today's generation of young women is not willing to take on these small issues, it might not be long until these inequalities multiply and cloud women's new frontier of freedom. My fear of a regression in women's rights is not completely unfounded, as the inflammatory reproductive rights debates have shown. If religion, culture and science can justify taking away women's reproductive rights, can these fields justify oppressing women in other areas? Yes, women have many rights today but our struggle is not over if we are committed to keeping these rights.

Tara Subramaniam

Old Schools Can't Teach Students New Tricks

Mario Orellana

Niño I was born on July 30, 1996 in a small village in Guatemala -- Chicaman. My life as a child was hard, with a family composed of a mother and a father. I can't remember. My father came from an upper-class family. The perfect family, but life isn't always beautiful. I grew up watching my mother being beat my the man who I called father. I worked carrying bricks, mixing rocks with concrete, selling gum at the capital, and sometimes selling pupusas my mother had made. Y tu madre tambien por eso se fue!" Every night I cried, remembering her image, while looking at the only picture I had of her. Our journey continued from bus to bus, hotel to hotel, van to van, always getting closer and closer. I brought a little book with me, a book I stole from my cousins. During the day, the sun was deadly walking under it. During nighttime, we also had to run from bush to bush, tree to tree, hiding from what the coyote called, "La mosca" a helicopter that patrolled the border. We had to keep walking, day and night, never stopping. The pain was so extreme that I ended up crying, taking the spike in my right arm while walking, and never telling anyone. But I kept on walking, because pain wasn't worthy of my attention. I remember this woman whose husband never answered the phone. The woman stayed. Something amazing, new sky, new people, new air. The van was taking me to Jamaica, Queens where my mother was staying in my uncle's house. I stayed still. I couldn't remember! Before me was my mother! I hugged her tightly, saying, "Madre ya vine, madre te encontre, madre aqui estoy!" I had found once again my shield, my mother.

Carmin Chappell

Not Our Movement The dramatic headline left me intrigued; it's not every day that issues of gender inequality are given publicity in mainstream media. I listen intently as a bubbly young woman appears on the screen, excitedly discussing her new book/movie/song/etc. that supposedly advocates strongly for women's rights. Seriously? There is no feminism without working towards equal rights for low-income and minority women. There are no gay rights without demanding action for thousands of homeless LGBTQ youth. I rolled my eyes as white, straight rapper Mackelmore received praise for supporting gay rights while actual LGBTQ hip hop artists go largely unnoticed. By utilizing their inherent privilege, whether it is race, class, familial connections or corporate power, these activists can gain widespread publicity while usurping the control from truly oppressed people who need representation. What eventually results is a group of popular advocates who bear a striking resemblance to the people who imposed the obstacles in the first place. The voices of people who regularly experience inequality should be amplified in order to form more inclusive movements.

Hannah Weintraub

Not-So-Sweet Seventeen Seventeen Magazine is the bastion of stereotypical teenage girl-dom. Need advice on hair, boys, clothes? Something about its sure-fire, "We've got you" attitude makes the magazine's advice hard to ignore. Magazines like Seventeen manufacture self-doubt so girls will buy the quick-fix products that are so conveniently displayed on the glossy pages. Teen magazines' conflicting message of body confidence mixed with the incessant dwelling on remedies for insecurities left my middle school mind in a perfume-induced haze. Forget the lesbian girls: in this heteronormative culture, all a girl could care about are buff and "OMG"-worthy guys. The advice ranges from laughable to mortifying. One year at summer camp, my friends, both boys and girls, laughed over the Seventeen flirting tips, "Wear dangly earrings!" I urge girls to put down that magazine and fill the void by reading books on revolutionary ideas, talking with moms and sisters and girlfriends, and actually accomplishing true "body peace." If we want to raise a generation of self-loathing women, let's continue to publish and support Seventeen. However, in this time of increasing self-hate among teenage girls, we don't need any more magazines and publications that prey on a young woman's lingering insecurity.

Theodore Li

Oh! Just Be Yourself For many students, this cyclical process of "going to school for breaks" won't be broken until the end of senior year. The mysterious college admissions process will be yet another thought in our hectic minds. College admissions counselors as well as seasoned application veterans of the previous year impart with us the simple, yet worn-out advice: Just be yourself. We also have to worry about being seniors, the concept of it -- especially what freshmen will see and think when they walk into the hallowed halls of my school building. What's expected is great, but seniors somehow manage to pull it off every year.

Hannah Weintraub

Penn State and Our National Attitude Towards Rape Why America doesn't care about rape Even though so many women are affected by the pain of rape and sexual assault, it took a star-studded case to bring the issue of rape to the forefront of American interest. A major obstacle in reporting rape is the relationship between the victim and the assailant. According to RAINN, two-thirds of all rape victims know their rapist personally. A 2010 study by The Havens, a sexual assault crisis center in the UK, found that half of those surveyed believed that there were some circumstances when a woman should accept responsibility for rape and, 31 percent of women and 23 percent of men thought women were to blame for rape if they had dressed provocatively. This mentality gives an excuse for people to act apathetically toward rape and sexual assault. If people believe a woman deserved to be raped, they can feel comfortable accepting that rape is inevitable and not work to aid victims or report rapists. The Penn State scandal shows America the frighteningly uncaring attitude that many have towards rape. At Yale, cheating results in a two-year probation, while rape only results in a four month probation.

Odelia Kaly

Soul Food A spiritual experience. I think, perhaps, that's one of the things I love about Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. One could argue love, or sex, but in the end, spirituality encompasses both of those in a succinct, broader sense. Edward Sharpe was borne of deep loss, a natural root of pain, and thus began a route to combatting that inherent and inevitable pain of existence. Oftentimes when people are grieving, or in a bad mental place, they claim -- although "claim" alludes to disbelief; belief in the claim is subjective -- to see supernatural apparitions, voices of (a) God/god, angels, seraphs, holy choirs, etcetera. The songs were a little sadder, a little happier, a little more aware of what they wanted. I was a little sadder, a little happier, a little more/less aware of what I wanted. Edward Sharpe songs are the kind of songs you must treat like classical music: you must either play them very softly or very loudly, never in between, or else the effect is lost. Perfect for falling asleep to, perfect for blasting from speakers while lying on the floor waiting to feel okay again, perfect for a jubilant dance party, perfect for sing-along car rides, perfect for putting on mixtapes, perfect for getting you through long subway rides... just all around perfect, but perfect in their imperfection. Like people. Humans. That's it, maybe; their music is irrevocably human. If you look at the demographics of people that listen to their music, it will shock you. GO AWAY IF YOU THINK I CARE. If Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes teaches us anything, it's that we shouldn't be afraid. Don't fear, the world loves you, we love you, the flowers and the sand and the asteroids love you, and as long as you love yourself, "everything will be alright forever and forever and forever" (The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac).

Anne Hilker

Sparking Interests

Odelia Kaly

Street Style: The Lensman's Struggle I used to have the utmost respect for street style photography. What someone else chooses to dress their body in is not necessarily what I should dress my body in -- if this were the case, the term personal style would carry no weight at all. Street style photography developed a solid reputation decades ago beginning with Bill Cunningham. Scott Schuman, the Sartorialist, started his blog in 2005 and reinstated street photography as a reputable career. During New York Fashion Week, amateurs with DSLRs flock Lincoln Center hoping for a glimpse and a few shots of their favorite fashion icons, but most often get the wannabes in expensive clothing attempting to stand out in the crowd. For my first two seasons at Fashion Week, I was that overzealous girl taking a picture of anyone who was being photographed by everyone else with a camera. I remember distinctly taking a picture of someone walking across Lincoln Center and then hearing someone shout, "Be original!" turned around, and saw a man who had presumably taken the same picture. Why couldn't I have the same photo as him if I liked what that woman was wearing? At the time, I rejected his opinion. Fashion is subjective, and saying otherwise is highly hypocritical. Take the emerging trend of wearing colorful running shoes with tailored clothing: a mere few months ago, if a woman wore her Nikes out on the street, she wasn't considered fashionable -- she was seen as a bum that couldn't handle wearing three-inch heels to buy groceries. Street style photography has become something of a meter that bloggers and show-goers measure their outfits against, and consequently their self-confidence is either compromised or boosted. Let's be real: I never would have worn graphic-printed cropped pants with an ostrich feather coat and glittery platform shoes on a regular day. Social media platforms such as Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and even fashion blogs are responsible for this shift in authenticity within the street style sphere. Bloggers are often paid to wear certain brand's clothing as an advertising ploy -- they are prepared to rattle off a list of who they're wearing at any given moment. The people who shoot that and the people who dress like that, kind of deserve each other. It's the people who want to be famous, shot by people who want to make their blog famous."

Susannah Meyer

Take Action Now This statement, made by the Senior Vice President of Advanced Technology and Projects at Motorola Mobility, Regina E. Dugan, marked the purpose and aspirations of the Clinton Global Initiative 2013 annual meeting. This past week, I have attended the meeting as a teen reporter for Girl Up, a campaign of the UN Foundation focusing on girls all over the world. We are the generation whose job it will be to imagine, inspire, and innovate to solve the world's current problems. Embrace Technology. Online platforms like social media websites not only galvanize important conversations but more importantly they level the playing field for billions of people around the world in terms of accessibility and voice. A great example of this is MY World, an options survey that allows people across the world to voice their opinions on which of the world's issues they prioritize. Cell phones are also a key technology that has incredible power worth harnessing. Basic functions like calling are allowing women and children in the developing world to live more safely day-to-day, and apps are being created for social betterment no matter where you're located. As President Clinton said, "The potential of getting people together to have a terrific impact is enormous." Invest in a Girl, Change the World. Giving women all over the world equal access to important resources and opportunities has been shown to benefit both the women themselves and their communities financially. When women have opportunities, entire economies expand. If we don't, the world that future generations inherit will be filled with lingering tensions and inequity across multiple levels.

Marcel Neergaard

Taking a Stand Against Anti-Gay Bullying (VIDEO)

Tallia Storm

Tantalizing, Tangible and Tactical TEDxTeen: Ideas for a New Generation Worth Spreading!

Blake Kernen

Teacher's Pet or Peeve? Does your teacher play favorites? For the first decade of my life, I didn't think a teacher had a favorite student. One of my teachers had her favorites, and I wasn't one of them. How could this be, she was a teacher, she was supposed to be treating every student the same. I've been scouring resources for some solution, and I've come up pretty much empty. I'm not unhappy that one of my fifth grade teachers played favorites and didn't include me. It taught me some very valuable life lessons. It taught me to respect authority, whether the authority respects me or not. I've been back to visit all of my former teachers, including this one. I'm not holding onto any hard feelings. Favorite or not, I've got a lot to look forward to.

Murray Rosenbaum

Technology Evolution

Tallia Storm

Teens Tripping Out On 'Why'

Hannah Strohmeier

Thank You for Smiling A Eucharistic minister is someone who hands out Communion to other members of the church during Mass. "Most importantly, just look each person in the eye and smile." "You're welcome" made it seem like it was a chore, so instead, I smiled once again. "Thank you for smiling," repeated in my mind on a loop. It was just a smile, and not even a big one! Just a small, close-mouthed grin. As a stranger was passing me, he looked me in the eye and smiled. We smile when we see people we love for the first time in a long time. We smile when we're laughing hysterically. We smile when we hear good news. We smile when things actually work out the way we want. It's as simple as this: When we're happy, we smile. A smile can change a mood. A smile can change the world. I found that I was even happier once I saw people smiling back at me.

Alexis Jane Torre

The 5 Defining Quotes of my Freshman Year The Last Lecture Series is where popular professors give a lecture as though it were their last. It's been my go-to inspirational quote during time-consuming job applications, stressful essays and assignments and finals week. My mom likes to tell this little story about how different my sister and I were growing up. On the last day of school, my mom would ask me if I had many friends, and I answered "No" for years. Before frosh year actually even began, I was eager (read: borderline desperate) to ensure that I had friends in college. Now, it's not like I regret making an effort to make friends, but I've honestly only stayed friends with a quarter of these people. I experienced going to a concert on a Tuesday night and staying out till 1AM. The concert hall was packed; I'd say ninety percent of the attendees were girls. After standing through five opening acts and chanting "We want Aaron!" multiple times, Aaron Carter finally performed. And, that night easily became the best Tuesday I've had in my college career. I came into college not knowing what I wanted to study. Up until taking this class, I never thought about majoring in math. This course made me understand problem-solving and analyzing and using some common sense to reach an answer. There are a couple reasons why this quote has defined my freshman year. Looking for Alaska reminded me why I loved to read.

Murray Rosenbaum

The Amazing Mantis Shrimp

Kehkashan Basu

The Annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations Ambassadors

Blake Kernen

The Case for Community Service So here are five reasons why a person should get involved with community service or volunteer work: There are currently more than 64 million people in America doing volunteer work through organizations. Maybe animals are your thing, then volunteer at an animal shelter, or cooking, then head to your local soup kitchen. 3. You become connected to your community. Volunteering in your community guarantees that you are going to meet tons of people that live close to you. People who share your passions and your interests. I don't go to school in my town so my local volunteer work helps me stay connected to my community and my neighborhood. 4. You've got the time. Community service doesn't need to take up all your time, and take a family member or a friend with you. 5. People and organizations need your help. Volunteering can have an enormous impact on the volunteer also. Research shows that students who volunteer have improved reading, math, science and history scores.

Susannah Meyer

The Controversy Over Apple's Factories

Tallia Storm

The Day That Changed My Life

Bizzy Emerson

The Great Gatsby Review I am grossly obsessed with Leonardo DiCaprio. The Great Gatsby, a classic American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is one of my favorite books. I've read it several times, and the older I get, the more I've learned to appreciate the story of glamour, love, greed, and the corrupted American Dream. So, it was fate when it was announced that my dream guy, Leonardo, would be playing the title role in Baz Luhrman's film adaptation of the novel. That being said, The Great Gatsby lived up to my (high) expectations. You want to catch every detail, and remember every special moment that Luhrman draws from the novel. When fringe dresses fly out from the screen, and fireworks seem to light the theater, it's as if we are guests at one of Gatsby's lavish parties. It is impossible to have The Great Gatsby without glittering parties and grandiose displays of wealth, but some believe Luhrman's dedication to this aspect of the novel is overdone. I love the book, and I love the movie too. As Gatsby waits for Daisy to arrive for tea, you can catch a glimpse of OCD-plagued Howard Hughes from The Aviator; as he tosses shirts down at Daisy, a flicker of Titanic's Jack Dawson shines across DiCaprio's face. It allows the film to feel intimate and special, as if DiCaprio has found a way to "repeat the past," as his character Jay Gatsby insists is possible. Likewise, Joel Edgerton has a standout performance as "hulking" Tom Buchanan, husband to Gatsby's long-lost love, Daisy, and maniacally materialistic and morally corrupted. In the film's most climactic scene, DiCaprio and Edgerton share an intense chemistry that would make F. Scott Fitzgerald proud. The 2013 Great Gatsby is not the 1925 Great Gatsby, and it simply can't be.

Murray Rosenbaum

The Illusion of 'Better'

Gillian Horn

The Importance of School Spirit Friday night football games -- much like an amateur season of Friday Night Lights, though, were always packed. That's expected in American culture, but what about my school's world-ranked robotics team? How many students turned out for their events? FANS, or Following Activities N' Sports, has its club members go around to various games and activities to support and cheer classmates on. After seeing a video of Taylor University's Silent Night, FANS leaders decided that a Silent Night of our own would be a perfect tradition at our high school. I strongly believe a version of FANS should be implemented in every high school. Everyone deserves to have a FAN, and everyone deserves to be a FAN.

Yii-Huei Phang

The Importance of Traveling I've been traveling since I could basically walk. As a result of this, I feel so privileged that they've given me the opportunity to travel. I've been to about 15 or so countries, from touring around the grand Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany to walking the Great wall of China. Traveling can develop a person's character, being open minded. Traveling is something you can't learn in a classroom. As a 13-year-old, I had never even heard of the country Bosnia. Nowadays, some people wouldn't be caught buying a pair of $5 shoes that isn't branded or "in style." Maybe in a way, traveling can be perceived as the golden opportunity to "escape" from reality, from our busy daily lives. Instead of staying home during the entire summer, maybe look into your traveling options. Travel as much as you can throughout your life, to broaden your horizons.

Carmin Chappell

The Power of the Spoken Word I can appreciate a good poem. Spoken word is just what it sounds like: poetry designed to be read on stage. Today, spoken word is performed by people of all ages, races and walks of life, and their poems are just as diverse. As a performance art, spoken word requires a more complex skill set than written poetry. Spoken word poetry can tell a wide range of stories, from personal narratives to social justice rants. Spoken word can also provoke reactions within the audience. The fact that the poet is reading their own work also strengthens the poem's message. I love to watch videos of spoken word performances in my spare time -- here are a few of my favorite poets: Sarah Kay was the first poet I stumbled upon while browsing YouTube one day. A woman of Japanese and Jewish descent, her poems usually involve personal accounts sprinkled with vivid imagery. She is also the founder of Project V.O.I.C.E., an organization dedicated to using spoken word to inspire youth. Favorite poem: "B" Buddy Wakefield, a veteran poet, heavily influenced the modern poetry slam movement with his boisterous style. He is the first poet to win the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship two years in a row. Favorite poem: "The Information Man" Kai Davis is a teen who uses poetry to voice her uncensored thoughts on life. Her poems concern the various issues of youth, African Americans, and women. Favorite poem: "F*ck I Look Like" (contains profanity)

Susannah Meyer

The Power of the Written Word

Blake Kernen

The Powerball Paradox My dad says nobody wins the lottery. If not money, then what do people really crave? The answer is earned success, the ability to create value with your life or in the lives of others. For some, this profit is measured in money. Earned success is the real jackpot. Anyway, my dad says he already won the lottery when he married my mom and had my brother and me.

Blake Kernen

The Presidential Scoop In Proclamation 5219, dated July 9, 1984, President Ronald Reagan said: Ice cream is a nutritious and wholesome food, enjoyed by over ninety percent of the people in the United States. Over eight hundred and eighty-seven million gallons of ice cream were consumed in the United States in 1983. The ice cream industry generates approximately $3.5 billion in annual sales and provides jobs for thousands of citizens. Thirty years later and Americans are still screaming for ice cream. Revenues from ice cream total more than $10 billion annually. Thomas Jefferson had his own recipe for vanilla ice cream, and strawberry ice cream was on the menu at President Madison's second inaugural dinner. President Obama is the only president to have a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor named in his honor.

Madelyn Chen

The Pressure of Pressure Inside the brick walls, around the lines of lockers, between the rows of desks and within the minds of high school students, a war rages on. The battlefield centers on the complex world known as high school, spilling into social life, family life, and simply life in general. Plain graphite, when put under immense pressure, turns into valuable diamonds. And so to the rest of the world and even adolescents themselves at times, high school is the stage between normal graphite and sparkling jewels, when intense pressure is applied, presumably justified by the Machiavellian theory of the end justifying the means, of extreme pressure leading to valuable diamonds. Without pressure, there can be no diamonds -- but high school students are not as durable as graphite or as brilliant as diamonds. Diamonds are unflinchingly hard, but high school is a soft and impressionable time of malleable minds unable to handle extreme pressure. Along with uncertainty about identity and a desire to fit in, high school teems with pressure from all sides, entrapping the adolescent in a war against the world and themselves. The first siege comes from the very institution itself, the physical building and invisible atmosphere of high school, the main battlegrounds of the war against pressure. Only for most, it's a losing battle, a one-sided fight that ends with pressure overwhelming high school students. The majority of high school students however, neither come crashing down nor shooting up under pressure, but instead hover in the middle, surviving each day, but bearing scars and bruises.

Carmin Chappell

The Privilege of Choice The prospect of higher education has always been present in my life. In middle school, university appealed to me as a way to transition from a confused preteen into a mature adult. In high school, the thought of gaining much-desired independence in college was extremely comforting. As I recognized the seemingly endless amount of possibilities that college provides, the cliché phrase "The sky's the limit" gained a new meaning. Attending college, let alone choosing between multiple colleges, is an opportunity that many teens will never experience. Unhelpful teachers and guidance counselors, a lack of knowledge about higher education, and rising tuition costs are just a few of the hurdles that could prevent someone from attending college. People like 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai have even greater struggles to overcome in order to obtain a basic education.

Bill Nyarko

The Problem Solver The solution to the big problem. The savior of the people. The guy who can solve any problem. Where people seemingly fought to make sure that the solution to the problem was not found or not applied to fix the problem. I stayed in my room and read books that covered a variety of subjects. I took it home, read the first book and BAM! My mind switched gears. Right around the same time I was told of an after-school club called ScriptEd. At first I feared these problems because their solutions used both logic and math. But as time went on I gained confidence and became more comfortable with the idea of solving complex problems. With the help of our great volunteers I learned three programming languages: JavaScript, CSS and HTML. Going into high school I did not expect to learn these languages.

Alexis Jane Torre

The Problems You're Supposed to Have We all know about those stereotypical teen problems. It's not clearly worse than a stereotypical teen problem. But it's an unfamiliar conflict, left untouched by nearly every movie, show, and book out there. Guys are supposed to break your heart, and parents are supposed frustrate you while your best friend is reliable and constant. It's okay to get into fights with your parents and break their rules. But we're never really told that it's okay to let go of our best friend. If you end up putting in all the effort in the friendship -- texting or calling them first, making the plans, and putting them first in your book while they treat you like you're a backup plan -- it might be time to just leave it.

Madelyn Chen

The Rickety Bridge of High School With the bite marks of middle school and childhood still hot on its heels, and teetering on the brink before college and adulthood, high school and adolescence is the awkward, acne-ridden bridge between the sunshine and rainbows of childhood and the glamour and gravity of adulthood. High school is a rickety bridge missing a few planks and swinging over the edge of a deep crevice, leaving those who cross uncertain if they will fall to their doom, or survive to reach the other side. Dragons and monsters dot the sides of the bridge of high school, breathing fire and throwing boulders in the form of mountains of homework, stressful exams, a balancing act of extracurricular activities, unfair teachers, and backstabbing cliques. The bridge of high school is your initiation to the world, the first step and transition into adulthood, which has no training wheels or stair handles. The real heart of high school lies in the atmosphere itself, in the experiences and the lessons learned, not inside a classroom, but in the spirit of adolescence that high school embodies and exemplifies, a rocky stage in the travels of young heroes. Beyond the dark clouds and wobbly planks of high school lie grassy meadows and rays of sunshine that touch your life and become permanent memories in turbulent times. With the first steps into high school, a new door in life opens, revealing a greater window of the world. You have time. As in the beginning of life, high school is a time of creation, despite demolition and destruction.

Odelia Kaly

The Right to Be a Woman I never really understood why feminism existed. I grasped the fact that women have never been socially, economically, politically, or anything-ly equal to men, but I just didn't understandwhy that was true. We're all just people; I couldn't wrap my head around why anatomical differences have engendered so many contentions and inequities. Even at my equal-rights-for-everybody-even-though-we-only-talk-about-certain-groups-of-people-because-they're-minorities-and-women-aren't school we were taught, "Don't get raped," never "Don't rape." It's extremely stifling and maddening to live in a world that objectifies women to such a degree that we don't even notice it anymore; that's how large a part of our society it has become. Even with revolutionary members of the media popping up everywhere -- Lena Dunham, Tavi Gevinson, Miranda July -- women are only being more forcibly squished into these molds. It's the clothing itself. Taking a tip from the boys, menswear for women, things of that ilk. Looking cool now entails dressing like guys. When has it ever been considered trendy for a man to wear a dress, or heels, or another garment of clothing generally associated with women? Approximately never, except for in the 17th century, when almost everybody in the aristocracy wore heels. And Marc Jacobs's pink polo dress that he wore to the opening of his museum exhibition in Paris last year doesn't count. Marc Jacobs is not a valid representation of the general male population. Do my androgynous tendencies -- short hair, near exclusion of pink in my wardrobe, very little makeup, unshaved legs -- imply that I am actively aspiring to look like a teenage boy? People make comments, assumptions, and evaluations on women's semblance all the time, thinking we crave their approval, that we strive for their acceptance. Some women definitely seek that sort of confirmation, but that often is a result of insecurity or lack of self-confidence. A woman has a right to use her body how she wants just as much as a man does. I've always wondered why nearly every rape story I've heard or read about involves a male rapist. It boils down to the fact that women are simply not considered equal to men. Sure, women have their weaknesses, but men don't? The number one argument that I feel neutralizes everything is that women can have babies, and men can't. I have high hopes for that cloud. People's intellectual capabilities are purely a result of how much work they put into cultivating their garden, to cite Voltaire. Male, female, non-cisgender, somewhere in between, we are all just people. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I highly doubt that anyone possesses those abilities. Feminists are not intrinsically evil, nor are they lesbian by default, nor do they wish to purge the Earth of all non-women. "Male feminists" shouldn't have to be a term that distinguishes men that promote equity from those that don't. The power rests entirely in our hands to change, if not reverse, the undeniable misogyny of the world we live in.

Amanda Dai

The Secret Diaries of Rhythmic Gymnasts

Susannah Meyer

The Social Media Bubble What was more extreme was that people who had tulips refused to sell them for a small fortune. After a while, people realized that tulips weren't worth it. In the 21st century, people obsess over designer labels and materialistic objects. Walking up and down the avenues of New York City, stores sell exquisite Gucci bags and high-end clothes from Ralph Lauren. Even in high school, as often as possible, people walk around in designer denim and tote their books in a designer bag. Why can't people settle for the same exact object without a small label? Social media sites give us a place where we can weaken real relationships into artificial ones. Nominally, people have more relationships than in the real world. However, these relationships consist of no real value. I would call this 'relationship inflation.' These thinning relationships at the heart of this social media bubble are illusions of real relationships. Some may say that this analysis of the nomenclature of social media is too serious. Why do you think these bubbles exist?

Murray Rosenbaum

The Story of a Woman Taking a Stand Against Religious Extremists

Evan Manning

The Stress and Anxiety We Deal With

Susannah Meyer

The Struggle For Academic Perfection

Quincy Bulin

The Teenage Magazine Editor

Karielle Stephanie Gam

The Things You Discover When You Are Away from Your Parents for the First Time: A Cautionary Tale for Incoming College I've never been particularly close with my parents and while I know they work hard and care a lot, I've spent my entire high school years wishing I could just be away from them, free to be myself, unrestricted, the way I want myself to be. University is where things happen: where parties rage, where there is no curfew, where you can eat whatever, whenever you want. That time has finally come. The weight of your loneliness won't settle completely until the exact moment when your parents leave you, whether it's before you board your plane, or right in the doorway of your dorm room. I guarantee it. You've convinced yourself, I won't be like that. When you are away from your parents for the first time, you will realize your parents are human too. Please remember this. Please remember this. Around this time in the summer, your parents are frantically buying you things you don't think you'll ever need. Hand vacuum! Water filter! Laundry detergent! Huge parka! Dictionary! Family photos! Don't forget this. Also don't forget that your mother is the only person who will ever ask you if you've had enough to eat and if you'd like second helpings. When you are away from your parents for the first time, you will discover they are the only people in the world who care enough to even mention these things to you, so just for one moment, disregard their impatience, their constant nagging, and their other little flaws, and just listen. Just listen. In the cases of absent parents or negligent parents or just downright unsuitable parents, I know this article won't do much for you. At one point I was arranging groceries in my new fridge, when I clumsily dropped a quart-sized tub of yogurt onto the kitchen floor. You've been looking forward to this moment your entire high school life; for some of you, perhaps even since earlier. For the first time, you are alone.

Theodore Li

The Wage Gap For many multinational corporations, the debate of minimum wage should have a clear answer. For example, if a store has 50 employees at one time making 7.25 an hour, the store would have to spend $362.5/hr. on wages alone. However, if the minimum wage rose to the $15/hr. workers are looking for, the store would have to spend $750/hr. on wages. Rather, they help hard working human beings to get by. I am a 21st century teenager who went out searching for a minimum wage summer job as a source of supplemental income and gas money. Working there, undoubtedly, is hard and strenuous labor. This "blue-collar" job is in no way a gimmick to "get-rich-quick." What I hope is that legislators will walk a mile in the torn-down shoes of minimum wage workers to the capitol building and pass a bill for the president to sign.

Amanda Dai

The Waiting Game

Sophia Slater

The Youngest Tibetan Woman Parliamentarian On Youth, Change, and the Dalai Lama From the moment 31-year-old Dhardon Sharling stepped onto the sun-drenched patio of a café in Dharamsala, home-in-exile of the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetan refugees, I could see she wasn't your typical young woman. Dhardon first gained widespread attention while working for the Tibetan Women's Association (TWA), a global Dharamsala-based organization promoting women, the preservation of Tibetan culture, and human rights. Over ginger tea with lemon and honey (a Tibetan favorite), we talked about her life, including her illustrious career as a TWA officer and, currently, the youngest female member of the Tibetan Parliament in exile. I am a second-generation Tibetan born in exile in India. I was educated at the Tibetan Children's Village schools, and eventually finished both my undergraduate and post-graduate work. I want to focus on how the Tibetan government in exile here in India, lacking infrastructure, is able to govern the Tibetan diaspora in more than 30 different countries. After my post-graduate work, the then-president of TWA offered me the position of research officer. Why did you decide to work with the Tibetan Parliament? Being Tibetan and being in exile play a major role in my career pursuits and ambitions. I would say a woman first. How is the role of youth in the Tibet movement changing? Twenty years ago Tibetan youth were not accepted as an integral part of the movement. I really credit organizations like Students for a Free Tibet, which trains youth to become leaders. What direction do you see the Tibet movement going in from here? The lifetime of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the most beneficial time for them to start a conversation.

Hasan Khan

We Are All Part of Each Other's Stories Last week, I had the honor and privilege to have Paul Salopek and Saudi Special Forces General Mohammad Banouneh in my home. For those who don't know, Mr. Salopek is a journalist/adventurer who is taking a seven-year journey on foot (called the Out of Eden Walk) across the entire world, from Ethiopia to Chile. This journey traces the path of human travel itself, from man's origin in Africa onward. I tried to make my questions cover all aspects of Mr. Salopek's journey. An interesting example would be "dagoo dagoo." Mr. Salopek made a fascinating analogy, calling it "the Internet of the desert." On the topic of the journey itself, Mr. Salopek gave several locations he's most excited to visit. Mr. Salopek considers not only his physical obstacles challenges, but plenty of mental ones as well. His main physical challenges include heat, lack of water, and of course the strain of walking all the time. Mr. Salopek's past reports included controversial topics like Middle Eastern wars, oil production, and overfishing. When asked about this, Mr. Salopek responded that they interest him. Wars interested him; since he was a child, he wondered why people resort to violence. This seems to be the overall point of Mr. Salopek's walk, that we have been, and are all, a part of each other's stories.

Marcel Neergaard

Wearing Purple Can Save Lives

Blake Kernen

What Are They Thinking? There are thousands of teens that have fallen in love with Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. I'm disgusted with what these teens -- girls and boys -- are thinking. These girls must think it's really attractive to kill and maim innocent people with homemade bombs. Instead of falling head over heels for Jahar, here's a different idea: Fall in love with America and embrace all it has to offer: its promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Anne Hilker

What To Do On A Long High School Commute

Daniaja Davis

What is the 'X Factor'?

Nathan Blansett

What's So Great About New York, Anyway? As a longtime fan of HBO's "Sex and the City" (of which "The Carrie Diaries" serves a prequel), I was initially offended. What's with our continuing fascination with the Big Apple? Has a desire for vibrant city life been embedded in my genetic code? For decades New York has been sanctified as a place of endless opportunity and acceptance. Ironically, people were drawn to the decrepit life of Alphabet City despite the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical depicting it as a life of destitution, sickness, and isolation. And then "Sex and the City" came along. "SATC" portrayed such a heightened reality of New York life, a soft pastel version of adulthood -- most of us can't afford Manolo Blahniks. The Golden Globe-winning Lena Dunham vehicle was certain to reference why so many young men and women move to the Big Apple. In the second episode, Marnie (Allison Williams) says, "Please, I've seen [Rent] like 12 times. That's basically why I moved to New York." Are all creative types masochists? It's time to reconcile my own thoughts about New York, my first love.

Patrick Mott

When Seconds Count After a crazy-busy Saturday, lying in bed late at night watching Big Brother was a welcomed retreat while browsing Twitter on my iPad. A peaceful, relaxing night until suddenly, a daze fell over me almost leaving me feeling like I couldn't breathe with sharp pains traveling through my chest, clammy skin and an immense amount of dizziness. I'd never felt like this before. After a few steps out of my bed, I found myself lying on the ground holding my chest trying to remedy the excruciating sharp pains. I couldn't move, breathe, talk. It hurt too much. Everything hurt. Minutes later with the unbearable pain not subsiding, I look up to see two paramedics and three firefighters running up my stairs towards me. "Patrick, can you tell me what's wrong?" queried one paramedic. Sharp pain still ran through my chest, sweat still pouring off me like I had just run a marathon, my head pounding. Next thing I know, both paramedics had me sitting up with ECG leads placed on me from head to toe. "This is going to make you feel better," said one paramedic as he placed an oxygen mask over my mouth. Wrapped up in blankets in the back of the ambulance, the paramedic with me in the back chatted about The Sopranos and other random topics in an effort to keep me calm while I was connected to an array of cords and monitors. While he continued to reassure me that everything would be OK, it hit me; when the paramedics were dispatched to my call, they had no idea what they were going to deal with. They didn't know me -- I was a complete stranger to them. Yet they treated me like I was a close family member. Simply put, how can someone care so much for someone they don't even know? While so many try to avoid trauma, paramedics put themselves into harms way to help those in need and at the end of each call, they may never know what happens to the patient. Tasked with saving the patient's life, it's no easy fete. They work feverishly for the crucial moments they are with the patient, before doctors and nurses can intervene. Lying on the stretcher in the hospital, I didn't notice the two paramedics who worked so hard making sure I was OK, slip out. I didn't get to thank them for helping me when I was in such pain -- for making sure I didn't feel anymore frightened than I had to be and for being there when I needed them. Although I didn't get to thank them, they didn't want to be thanked -- me being fine was thanks enough. To all the paramedics and emergency responders who risk their lives, miss family gatherings, work long hours and experience such trauma with every call, thank you. You truly are the people who run in when everyone is running out when seconds count. You dedicate your lives to helping people when they are at their lowest, and you work every shift saving lives. So to the two paramedics from Durham Region, Ontario who treated me like their own child and who whispered to each other when I was in a groggy daze, "I was worried for him" -- thank you. Thank you for being there and thank you for caring. Thank you for making such a scary experience that much easier. It's when seconds count that it all matters.

Odelia Kaly

When You Wish Upon a Star I can't remember a time in my life when fashion and art were not a part of it. At age six, I used my first sewing machine, and my friend Lola and I started hand-sewing shirts on the weekends, just for kicks. I've got tons of appalling and embarrassingly bad sketches from when I was in elementary school stashed in a drawer. It was all good fun -- I took a hand-sewing class after school for a semester once, drew some pictures in my free time, but it wasn't the focus of my life. Then came the summer before seventh grade, my first summer at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I went back the next summer and focused on my drawing and painting skills and spent a ridiculous amount of time preparing for the LaGuardia High School admissions exam, which entailed hours of making art. I've got it all planned out: get an internship at a magazine or a brand, become discovered as a young talent, finish high school, go to college and take a semester or a year abroad in Paris, all while slowly building my own brand, so that by the time I'm 21, I've had it made. Maybe a little. Is it normal for me to have my whole life planned out at age 14? Reading a dictionary." You may be thinking, "What an ignorant little girl, thinking all her dreams will come true. I think that if I try hard enough, it'll work out. I'm not like Monica from the television show Friends, who flips out if things don't go according to plan. Let's bring up Alexander Wang. Here's another example: Alexander McQueen, a legend at age 40. Those are some pretty young guys. That scares me a little. There's blogger-designers, model-filmmakers, even the doctor-blogger-model-who-designs-jewelry-in-her-free-time-er. There's always something new. If I change my focus, chances are fashion is one step ahead of me and has already changed itself.

Alexis Jane Torre

When Your Story Starts This is probably going to sound like a very familiar plot line. The protagonist is in a rut of some kind. Maybe they're too career-oriented. Or maybe, it's the opposite; they're too much of a player (there's probably a fancier term for this, but hey, it gets the point across.) They're down on their luck, or in and out of bad relationships. Their lives lack adventure and spontaneity. They're about to give up on love and excitement and happiness forever, but just as this happens, they meet the one. That one guy or girl who the protagonist falls for... hard. That one person who can get them out of their rut and help them move onto bigger and better things. So many films and books have used this plot line that the term "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" has been coined to describe female characters whose only role is to help their male partners sort out their life and make some much-needed changes. Examples of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl can be seen in Elizabethtown, 500 Days of Summer and Garden State. Movies, books, and music videos start their story right before the protagonist meets the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (or guy). Because this is when things get interesting; up until this point, the protagonist was boring and predictable, living a life far from worthy of its own movie. But in real life, can you really afford to sit around and wait for someone to inspire you to finally pursue you dreams? There is no script, no cue for an oh-so whimsical and carefree (and usually pretty darn attractive) person to just waltz into your life and force you to rearrange it. I know I tend to write a lot about relationships and being single; it's called being a teenage girl. But, this isn't about romance or relationships or finding "the one." This is about a bigger picture. The bigger picture is that you can't just wait around for someone to walk into your life and turn your whole world upside down. You can't spend your time hoping to meet some Manic Pixie Dream Girl (or Guy). And, you also shouldn't be someone's Manic Pixie Dream Girl or Guy. You can't expect to meet someone who'll make you change your ways and force you to be a better person. And you can't wait for opportunity or adventure to just come to you. You have to turn your world upside down (unless you're chill with it as it is. I don't know your life). You have to seek out adventure and make your own opportunities. Yes, sometimes good things can and will just happen to you. But, you can't just expect things to happen. You have to make things happen. This all goes back to the truth that we so often forget: You don't need someone else to complete you. You are whole and 100 percent complete as you are. It's your choice and responsibility to make your own decisions; no one else can nor should do it for you. Plus, it feels a million times more exhilarating to do something daring because you truly wanted to, not because your dream guy or gal told you to. If you want to go on a road trip, then make those plans (and save up for some gas money). If you want to change your major or career path, then go for it. If you want to stop making excuses and start living the life you want, do it. In real life, there is no guarantee that a Manic Pixie Dream Girl or Dude is going to show up just at the right moment. Therefore, your story --filled with adventure and freedom and learning experiences -- is not waiting on someone else to start. Your story starts whenever you want it to.

Bizzy Emerson

Zerrie Today marks the day millions of teenage girls have been dreading for the past three years: A member of One Direction is engaged to be married. Zayn Malik popped the question to his long-time girlfriend Perrie Edwards, and I feel as if every emotion I've ever felt has been tossed into a blender and made into the most tear-filled smoothie ever. My natural instinct is to be thrilled for Zayn. Perrie is an incredible girl -- as a member of insanely talented girl group Little Mix, she is ultra-chic, well-dressed, and beautiful inside and out. Check out Zayn's Perrie-inspired tattoo. If you fall asleep every night creating scenarios in your head of you and Zayn holding hands, talking on the phone, kissing in the rain... your whole illusion is being blown to bits. The tricky thing is this: Of course, we want One Direction to be happy. I am a "normal" girl living in suburban Illinois who can barely look at an average high school boy, much less an international British heartthrob. Sure, my heart might break into little smithereens when Zayn and Perrie have their first kiss as husband and wife, but I know that they'll be really happy, and that makes me happy, too. Live a little Zayn!" What's important now for One Direction fans is trust. Trust that Zayn knows what he's doing. Many girls on Twitter are comparing One Direction to the Beatles, but in a really depressing way. John Lennon and Yoko Ono's engagement is what broke up The Beatles -- what's so different about Zayn and Perrie? "Are you sad your little One Direction is growing up?" he asked.