Everyone believes their classes to be difficult at every grade, yet when you reach high school, your standards for hard work are blown out of the water. Never doubt the power of trial and error. Just like you would in any class when your teacher says “get ready to take notes,” you need a piece of paper, colored pens or highlighters and a pencil. The materials needed for taking notes differ depending...
A woman’s period goes by many names. There is the obvious, of course: a period, a menstrual cycle. There are the less well known ones like Aunt Flo or shark week. But somehow all of them bring on a feeling of disgust. Girls are taught from a young age to hide their periods because it’s something that society doesn’t want to know about. Boys must be taught to be disgusted by the mere mention...
Dear parents, This isn’t for all parents. This is to the parents that dismiss their children’s passions in order to encourage their own. This is to the parents who are skeptical of their children when they mention their mental problems. This is to the parents that believe that if their child isn’t perfect 100% of the time, then their child will never be well again. This is to the parents that...
Spikes on benches and sidewalks, sharp, jagged rocks scattered on bridges, benches cut in half, all of which exist in the world we live in. It sounds like something from a horror movie, seats and floors designed to be as uncomfortable as possible. Why would someone create such a thing? It’s called hostile architecture, a type of architecture that is designed to limit unlawful behaviors and stop...
It was a hot summer night. I stood outside, feeling the stickiness from the humidity on my skin, the Cicadas sang their loud repetitive song. I looked up at the stars hoping that he was going to get better. Lewis Thompson was my grandpa. He had this loud voice that you could hear from downstairs. He was my whole world. Growing up my parents worked at the United Nations. Due to their jobs, they...
From higher education to high heels, there is a question of where commonly placed gender norms in our society came from. What some people don’t realize is that a lot of these gender norms were actually meant for the opposite gender. Pink vs. blue One of the most identifiable gender differentiators is that blue is for boys and pink is for girls, but this actually didn’t come about until after...
You’re up late studying for a quiz you have the next day. You decide that you’ve done enough and you finally go to sleep at 1:30 a.m. The next day you take the quiz, feeling confident that you did well. Your whole day is going great until you check your grades. Your heart drops. The 100 you expected turned out to be a 60. You panic. The first thought that comes to your mind is, “...
We elect our leaders for change, and all we get is complacency. We actively go out of our way to vote, support and even campaign for those we believe in. Yet, we continue with the status quo. This tolerance for inaction is what plagues modern politics and especially this current administration. Unbeknownst to most, Texarkana is having a mayoral election. This along with upcoming midterms calls into...
Nearly twelve billion dollars in damages. One hundred twelve million tons of greenhouse gases released for generations ahead to suffer through. Eleven million gallons of fire retardant, causing chronic health problems for those in the surrounding area. Four million burnt acres. Ten thousand destroyed structures. Thousands of homeless and injured animals. Thirty-one lives lost and counting. That...
Suicide. That word grabs attention, doesn't it? They broadcast the horrible stories about suicide. They interview the families and show it as a tragedy. They talk as if the person was their best friend, when in reality they didn't know the person existed. They post about remembrance and say how God always has a plan. They like, comment and share it. But 24 hours later the Instagram story disappears....
In Clayton County, Georgia, on Aug. 13, 2019, tragedy struck. During a basketball workout in 97-degree heat, 16-year-old Imani Bell “leaned into a handrail and fell limp” due to a heart attack caused by extreme heat. Two years later, her coaches, LaRosa Asekere and Dwight Palmer, are being charged with murder, cruelty to children, involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. Seeking...
High school. If I had to break down the entirety of my four-year-long experience to someone, words simply would not capture each and every incredible moment. It’s the people. It’s the experiences. It’s the deadlines. It’s what happens outside of Room 50A and B when we’re kicked out by Smith or Potter at the end of the day. Pictures hang from the newspaper bulletin board, polaroids are...
Somewhere between my birth and enrolling in “First Baptist Preschool” at the age of 4, I noticed a peculiar aroma lingering around members of my family. Not a pungent or sour smell, but it followed me from place to place, embedding itself in the fibers of my tiny Levi’s jeans. Born in Pakistan in the ‘60s, my mother and father faced tremendous challenges. While American children spent their...
High school is supposed to be the best time of our lives. It’s marked by the teenage years–that perfect mixture of youth, no responsibilities and being just on the brink of full independence. Incoming freshman are filled with bright expectations–they dream about blinding stadium lights on Friday evenings; drives with their friend group around town with the car radio blasting; the token band,...
A teenager gets four years. Forty-eight months jammed full of decisions hurled at us that make or break our future. What we do and think is constantly monitored, what we say is limited, and what we wish for is often denied; however, for these four short years we get our own free trial for “Life.” At the door of high school we are greeted with a “no pressure”, because one’s entire future...
