Salt mine

lead lives that are culturally constructed. These cultural norms are learned through the generations, but in the industrial west our culture is increasingly learned through media and arts. People of every culture take these learned norms as a grain of salt, accepting them as natural and inevitable while never questioning them. However, in challenging and analyzing these very cultural constructions, one soon realizes that some of these views are just mere conventions of their own culture. In…

Slavery impacted the lives of African Americans. After the civil war ended, slavery abolished throughout the south for the better of the nation. As a result of this emancipation, many African Americans sought job opportunities and higher education for their own benefit; however, the opportunity to advance in society was not easily gained due to segregation and racism in the south. Because more people dreamed of becoming successful, Booker T. Washington set goals, and accomplish them with the…

Poor nutrition eats away at people like a disease. While not considered a disease itself, it leads to so many negative outcomes it mine-as-well be called one. However, the improper nutrition of our population doesn’t always showcase itself in the ways that we think. When confronted with the words, “improper nutrition”, the vast majority of people are automatically going to think of a very gaunt, frail looking person who has little access to food and water. Contrary to this belief however, there…

The trip is a blur of salt water, cramped spaces, and chocolate. Eleanor munches on a chocolate bar, chair reclined so far back that her back is almost parallel with the ground. Logan leaves the car, slamming his door and she jerks into a sitting position, eyes wide and alert. Logan chuckles from outside of the car, opening the passenger door for her. “Morning,” he smiles and Eleanor pokes her head outside of the car. A large, Victorian, stone house stands before them. Two figures stand…

“We Win, They Lose”: How Reagan’s Foreign Policy Brought Down the Soviet Union The 1980s was a pivotal era in world history. After decades of America’s failed containment policies which strengthened and helped spread Communism across the globe, a change in direction was desperately needed. Ronald Reagan fundamentally shifted American foreign policy as president, which in turn, greatly influenced the collapse of the “evil empire” by the early nineties. Although the Reagan Administration did…

“Always kiss the devil at night, and he’ll remember you when it’s your time.” I pondered this as I sat, clicking away at my keyboard at another unreasonable time at night. I preferred the fluid feel of paper, with the drift of my favorite pen, creating the letters that I had learned as a child. It was all more personal to me, knowing that I drew words there with desire, rather than just pressing a lifeless key. However, despite my tendency of being a night owl and having my creativity flow into…

Nat, I am lying in bed writing you this letter cause I love you so freaking much and am so excited you are coming to the U. I have missed seeing you and talking to you everyday. I just can’t wait to be in the same vicinity. Whether I see you everyday walking to class or once a month I am so so happy we will be close by. Seriously, I think my mom is getting sick of hearing about how happy I am that we will be at the same school. Anyway, I cherish our friendship so much and want it to be strong…

Swing as an Attitude Towards Life Arising in the mid-1930s and originating in the United States, the newest style of jazz, swing, brought forth a renewed interest in jazz across the world, even in Nazi Germany. As the world began to recover from economic depression, swing, and swing-influenced music came to represent the latest trend in popular music. Despite discrimination against jazz music and jazz culture in the Third Reich, swing found an enthusiastic and dance-hungry audience. For a…

expedition in 1493 and renames it San Juan Bautista. Joan Ponce de Leon who was with Columbus on his travels founded Caparra which is a farm village and later became known as San Juan. In Caparra colonist forced the Taino to work for free and in the gold mines. Priest protested this and the Spanish throne forced the colonist to pay the natives and teach them the Christian religion. The Taino people eventually had enough abuse and disease that they rebelled. Sadly they lost the fight and fled to…

David Hockney once said, “Drawing is rather like playing chess: your mind races ahead of the moves that you eventually make.” Many thoughts cross people’s mind on a daily basis and can cause them to overthink. Overthinking can be dangerous for certain people; it can cause them to question their existence and the value of their life, what life has given and taken away from them. Some people tend to focus on the negative aspects of this and let these thoughts consume them, which can lead to…