7- Ethan R- Our Building Blocks

  The whole world can change with just the flap of a butterfly's wings. Every single choice and decision you make shapes you into being the person you are and will become. I believe every single thing that happens for a reason so that it shapes our history, and teaches us lessons for the future. 

Things have to happen for a reason, not necessarily that there's someone watching from above commanding everything to happen, but everything happens because it has too, it causes a timeline of events that are  staple events. It creates our history and from our history we learn and create our future. If things didn't happen for a reason then why have we been given the capacity to make mistakes? We make our mistakes while time is young so we can learn and take a path towards greatness.

In my life things have happened that I have regretted and loved and every single one of them shaped me.whether good or bad i had experiences that are now a part of my history, every single decision had either a reward or consequence. Either to push me to excel in that field or completely avoid it. If life was supposed to be by chance how could we grow. Our choices may outweigh whether good or bad so you need to have a balance in order to excel.Every single one of us has had our this was meant to be a moment whether in love, friendship academics, or personal we've all had our one out of body experience that is now a core memory.

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7- Samantha A: Why Learning an Instrument is Life Changing

Music is truly a gift to humans. Hearing it and playing it can create a sense of bliss and euphoria for the human brain. In a Ted Talk titled “How playing an Instrument Benefits your Brain”, it talks exactly about the effects instruments have on us, listening to them and mainly playing them. 

At first it discusses what exactly happens in our brains when we play music. Playing music is even considered the equivalent to doing a work out, as it is literally working out your brain and strengthening each area of your brain. The areas that are strengthened in particular are your visual, auditory, and motor. When playing it is described as “fireworks” going off in your brain, because of how much thinking and activity you are doing. 

Playing music isn’t impossible and anyone can do it if they apply themselves, but it definitely is a craft and understanding that you need to have in order to succeed with it. I remember receiving piano lessons as a child, and learning a few songs. It didn’t take me one time, but instead multiple to get down even a simple song, such as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”  I still own a keyboard to this day, and recently started teaching myself how to play a Taylor Swift song through youtube. It hasn't been the easiest thing, but I can feel the strong effects it’s been putting on me over the past few weeks. I am a firm believer that anything is possible if we apply ourselves to it, and so learning an instrument is a perfect example of that. 

The Ted Talk even discussed how enhanced our brains become due to learning an instrument and how different music is from any other art studied. When we are playing music we think of it as a fun hobby/passion of ours that is for enjoyment, little do we know though how much our brain is really benefiting from it. I think everyone should try some sort of instrument at least once in their lifetime, because the effects are truly positive and will be recognized. 

 

Word count: 351 

7- Katrina Smith: When we started hiding candy in hard shelled vessels: The origination of Plastic Easter Eggs

    

    Waking up on a Sunday morning and walking out in your pajamas to do an Easter egg hunt is a memory that many religious and non religious Americans share. Plenty wonder where the tradition of hunting for plastic eggs filled with sweet treats originated from. Even million dollar companies like Home Depot host annual Easter egg hunts for young children to participate in. When did plastic Easter eggs become a common household item? 

    Assuming most of us are familiar with the history of Easter, the egg is a representation of new life and new beginnings- like the resurrection. This is why eggs are involved with the holiday in the first place, why many families paint and do chalk art on store bought poultry. There is plenty more history on the involvement of eggs in Easter, but when did single-use colorful plastic eggs become the norm?

A father-son inventor duo, Erwin and Donald Weder, from Illinois had a stroke of brilliance when they created the hinged plastic easter egg in 1978. This new connected Easter egg made clean up for families after Easter egg hunts much easier, for they didn't have to search for two separate halves of the egg. Not much else is known about who the real inventor is for the first prototype of plastic easter eggs, and there is much speculation about who the first person was to patent the design. 

Words: 233

6- Mariza Avalos: What Can We All Learn?

One of the most important things that older generations can learn from newer ones is the usage of technology. Today's Society has evolved to a point where technology has arguably become the number one resource for communication. While it may not be a necessity for ¨survival” it is an essential part of maintaining a somewhat-successful living environment. 

Especially with the unprecedented state of the pandemic back in 2020, insurance companies, social services, medical and finance agencies are all transitioning to a point where many of their resources are accessed through online services. With that being said, younger generations being more accustomed to computers and phones, allow for them to teach the older generations how to navigate modern technology. On another note, older generations can learn the practice of open-mindedness; a concept that is often displayed throughout younger generations. This pertains to all aspects of life: social, emotional, educational, etc... Studies have shown that younger generations in the 21st century present more patterns of open mindedness than older generations. 

 It’s important to note that no one is inherently “open minded” or “closed minded,” it is something that is learned and conditioned throughout a person’s life span, but especially during childhood. So for older generations, it’s pretty likely that most of their practices are often more confined to the regions and communities they grew up in. That being said, technology has opened up the opportunity for millennials and gen Z to learn and foster knowledge expressed from around the global internet. With children, teens, and young adults being exposed to different communities and point of views, they’re given the opportunity to practice open mindedness. Which supports why younger generations would be better understanding and practicing open-mindedness more so than older generations. 

 In summary, older generations can benefit from learning more about using technology as well as the practice of open mindedness from younger generations. In order for them to do so, older generations have to be open to learning about these things from younger gens. It’s good to apply these when it comes to building relationships between grandparents and grandchildren, or mentors and apprentices. Regardless of whether one may be wiser than the other, it’s good to keep in mind that knowledge and information can be shared through both sides. 

6 - Diego B: Weakness is Strength and Strength is Weakness

The prevailing opinion in modern society says that weaknesses demonstrate how individuals are actually incapable of effectively succeeding a given position in an environment. On the contrary, strengths demonstrate how individuals are actually capable of effectively succeeding a given position in an environment. Numerous personal and scientific observations not only prove that these assumptions are incorrect, but I believe that the nature of strengths and weaknesses is much more varied and ambiguous than one might assume. The idea of strength and weakness are not fixed and separate from each other, but interchangeable, given particular circumstances. You may discover that your communicative capabilities could assist you in befriending new individuals or persuading the masses to purchase your new product, but it could distract you from succeeding in a calculus course. Your talkative attitude certainly will not help you around quiet people, either. On the other hand, a proficient learner in physics could find much success working at a firm like NASA or SpaceX, but their intelligence might come off as nerdy or unappealing to some. Strength is weakness, and weakness is strength. I believe that strengths and weaknesses do not even exist given life as a whole. There are only certain circumstances where weaknesses and strengths exist, but neither exist permanently throughout your entire life. I do not believe that the absence of weaknesses or strengths should discourage one from pursuing their goals in life, however. Every strength comes with its weaknesses, but every weakness comes with personal growth. So go out there and pursue your dreams, find your strengths in one area, and it might come with weaknesses in another. Just don’t be afraid in the weaknesses that you face, since they might, in reality, be your strengths. (288 words)

6-Nigel R: Learning from Younger Generations

Older people are out of touch with a lot of things in today's world. We often see it as funny when they don’t know how to do things like text but we could teach them things. This generation could teach them things like how to express their emotions, use new technology, and how to adapt to the newer things.  

Older generations were usually taught to  conceal their emotions or act tough. They also sometimes keep their feelings in. Meanwhile this generation is more open with their emotions and is not afraid to express them. This generation could really teach older people how to express their feelings and be open with people about how they feel. This could also help with the mental health of older people so that they aren’t holding their emotions in.

 Older generations could also benefit from learning to use new technology. If this current generation teaches older people to use things like Facetime they could communicate with their family and see their faces. They could also teach them to use robot vacuum cleaners so that they do not  have to worry about physically cleaning the house themselves.

 This generation could also teach the older generation how to adapt to newer things. They can have them do things like update their phone regularly to keep them up to date with the new updates. They could also teach them how to play video games and things like that so they could stay in the loop with new things. 

Word Count:250

6 - Janessa Huntoon: What doesn't kill ya makes you stronger

 

What doesn't kill ya makes you stronger

Strength is a word thrown around a good amount to lift someone up or give them that reassurance they seek. No one talks about how hard and depriving it can be to be strong all the time to find that strength in your lowest place and wait for it to eventually bloom, the roots almost consume you. They always say “be strong'' “keep your head up” or the more common statement “the tough things you go through make you stronger”, but I believe most of us would be just as strong without having to go through those worse times. 

We let that word get to us and when we constantly hear it, although some of us begin to believe it, we can’t always be strong. We have to let our guard down but then when we do that, we are called weak and look as if we gave up but in reality, we are so tired of being strong, fighting that constant battle no one can see. 

We let our guard down for one second and our title of being strong is perceived as different. Some of us can hide it better than others and the ones who can't face the most judgment. Being perceived as strong is an achievement but allowing yourself to not be strong all the time also is. But I guess it's like what they say, what doesn't kill ya makes you stronger but allowing yourself to take a step back doesn't make you weaker.