Exploring the Mystery and Magic of Life

  Source Link What is the greatest love story that you have ever read? Many people may say Emma by Jane Austen, The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell , or Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. There are plenty of books out there that have pages filled with romance, familial love, and friendship. However, none of these books even come close to the greatest love story of all. The book that I am speaking of contains a love that runs so deep that forgiveness is endless; a love so intense that one side of the relationship adopted the other into His family despite the fact that she could never be worthy. This book tells the story of the sacrifice of a Son in order to save a lost, defiant, and evil people. The book that I am talking about is the Bible .  I know that many of you are probably rolling your eyes, letting out a sigh, and preparing to click the close button on this blog entry. I don't blame you! Each one of us is completely entitled to...

  Source Link During the past couple of weeks, my English class has really begun to dive deep into media and the impact that it has on society. I have been thinking a lot about media and technology, as well as the many ways that they affect my life and the lives of those around me. I've also been thinking about how media impacts the lives of those who don't have access to it. The digital divide is "the growing gap between the underprivileged members of society, especially the poor, rural, elderly, and handicapped portion of the population who do not have access to computers or the internet; and the wealthy, middle-class, and young Americans living in urban and suburban areas who have access," ( Stanford University ).  UN's Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development  tells us that only about 53.6% of the global population actively uses the internet. That means that approximately half of the world's population either doesn't have access to the internet...

  Source Link I take a deep breath as I step out onto the dark stage. The air around me buzzes with excitement, and the audience is completely silent in anticipation. I fidget with my checkered dress as I think about my character; her likes, her dislikes, her fears, and her dreams. The music begins and a bright smile spreads across my face as I feel a newfound confidence surge throughout my body. As I open my mouth to sing my first note, I know that I am where I belong. I am home.  Musical theater is more than just a form of entertainment. Musical theater is a beautiful form of art and expression that can fill the lives of an audience with joy. However, in this blog post I will not be discussing how musical theater affects an audience, I will be discussing how musical theater affects its actors. I am the perfect example of this transformation. When I was little, I was a quiet and shy young girl who had very little confidence in herself. I was scared of doing pretty much anythi...

  Source Link Have you ever been scrolling on your Twitter account and found a post containing the phrase #BlackLivesMatter, #MeTo, or #IceBucketChallenge? Maybe you have created a post that contained the hashtag #SummerPictures or #ThrowbackThursday. The hashtag has become extremely popular in social media, and it has taken the world by storm. Whether we appreciate the hashtag and its use or not, we cannot deny that it can impact society, transform our government, and change the world.  The reign of the hashtag began clear back in 2007, when Chris Messina made a simple proposal on Twitter ( Wikipedia ). He suggested that the pound sign be used to categorize messages ( Wikipedia ). That summer, a San Diego resident named Nate Riddener followed Messina's example and created a post that contained the the hashtag #SanDiegoFire in an effort to raise awareness of the one billion dollars worth of damage caused by wildfires that year ( Bernadette N. Lim ). Lim tells us that, "in July...