Every Waking Moment

ristotle once expressed, “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” Quotes like these inspire me to always have hope during struggling times. In the book, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, a young protagonist, Marji, sees the light and hope for her family and the Iranian people during the war. The people of Iran persist to overcome the war and fight for their country with the hope that they will succeed. Continuous effort and optimism help me succeed in my unpleasant…

breeze into the number one spot. 2.New York, New York The lure of New york is impossible to emulate, it’s status as an icon is indisputable well deserved. The de-facto measure of success, New York forces you to step out of your comfort zone, every waking moment blossoms with new opportunity passing within a “New York Second”. New York is the gold standard for everything, which is appropriate because there is a vault that has 25% of the world’s gold bullion underneath Wall Street, but truly…

the trails and nature around Camp Ripley looked like photos from natural geographic. In Camp Ripley, I felt like there were more trees in the woods than people in the world. Every night during the weekend we got to stay in small apartment buildings so we could be out in the woods in time without having to wake up at 5 AM every day. By Sunday my dad and I had gotten pretty exhausted of the same ritual of getting up and going out of our zone, changing spots six to seven times and still having no…

Getting Old “Amy! Amy! AAAAAMMMMMMMMYYYYYY!” This is what I am waking up to again. I hear my mother hurrying down the hall into my great grandmother’s bedroom. I sigh and close my eyes, hopeful for a few more minutes of much needed teenage sleep. “Amy!” she hollers again, even louder, already forgetting my mother is in the bedroom with her. My mother’s name is Rita. No one in my family is named Amy, but that doesn’t stop my grandma from calling everyone Amy. Grandma has been living…

Amy and I began our long drive back home from our tour of the University of Virginia after spending every waking second of February break examining every nook and cranny of the school. Amy turned on the radio in order to distract us from the thought of having to drive 32 hours back to Arizona in the middle of winter storm Zander. The car began to swerve over the ice slicked roads as we merged onto Route 66, yet Amy did not seem to notice this slight drift. I leaned my head against the window to…

Slave stories from the West 1920; Cherlynn Williams My life had ended and begun all in one moment. I remember the day it all happened. Thick hot tears welled up in my eyes and I screamed. My Poppa whispered “Calm down, Cherelynn, you’ll be okay.” and I refused, arching my back in the overseer’s arms. Taking a swift kick to his face, I attempted to escape to no avail. Other slaves that were stuffed in the crowded pen began to grab at the overseer’s arms. A warning shot was fired into the air…

and is considered to be a bestseller. Her New York Times bestseller books include; The Human Age (2014), The Zookeeper’s Wife (2008), and A Natural History of the Senses (1990). A Natural History of the Senses, starts off with the sense of smell. Every chapter of the book obtains a different sense (smell, touch, taste, hearing, vision). Each chapter consists of subsections, where Ackerman connects the subtopic to…

All my life I 've chosen a substance to cope with my problems. I remember the first time I 'd ever heard of someone using substances as abuse. Seeing someone look sick, feeling so hurt inside that they felt the need to drink away their sorrows, cut away the pain or even choose needles and pills as a way out; But it seems easier to prolong ones pain, Because I knew going through withdrawal would just about kill me. I tempered the first time using Alcohol, I 'd just had my heart broken and I…

Modern generations face the burden of productivity. Idle time is time wasted, and stopping even for a moment to inhale results in a rapid exhale– a gasp of indignation. The conflict between the push for constant productivity and the urge for boredom-born inspiration results from the varying views of waste across generations. Through historical and personal context, Claire Messud’s “In Praise of Boredom” establishes a parallel between generations with regard to their focus on averting…

Sugar Detox for Beginners: You’re Guide to Starting a 21 Day Sugar Detox What is Sugar? In one form or another these days it is in every single thing we put into our bodies. Sugar does occur naturally in fruits and vegetables. However, refined and artificial variations of sugar have been created as well. These variations are put into processed foods to preserve and sweeten our food. Studies show that Americans are currently consuming sugar at an alarming rate of 130 pounds per year which is…