The Creative Writings of Teenagers
By: Raniya Allen Da’Jay Barrett Amina Brooks Morgan Colbert Trenton Jerome Ellis Thomas Granda Brah’e Greene Isaiah Holder-Kieh Christiana Ilori Kaniesha Mabry Gretta Nijimbere Parisnuela Onyeokoro Nahjah Phillips
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The Creative Writings of Teenagers: Georgia State University Upward Bound Academic Academy 2020
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Text Copyright Š 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any name, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 9798665460550
Printed in the U. S. A. First Printing, July 2020
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Dedication This book is dedicated to Georgia State Upward Bound Academic Academy.
Special Thanks To Mr. Michael Maxwell, Ms. Michelle Jones, and the Upward Bound Staff for believing and trusting me with such an amazing group of students. To the students who contributed to making this book a success. You have all been such a joy and pleasure to work with. Your creativity and willingness to think outside of the box was impressive. I appreciate all of you! An extra, special thanks to Yoharis Paola Mendoza and Jasmine Dillard you rock!
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Table of Contents
Poetry……………………………………………………………………… 8 Speeches………………………………………………………………… 26 Jingles……………………………………………………………………. 53 Blogs………………………………………………………………………. 57 Songs/Raps…………………………………………………………… 72 Essays…………………………………………………………………… 83 Short Stories…………………………………………………… 113 Free Write…………………………………………………….
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Poetry All the Thoughts T- he first day H- oping for a good class O- optimism taking over my mood U- unknown words and terms being learned G- ood vibes virtually flowing H- iding the true feelings out of shyness T- ime flying by like seconds F- amiliar and unknown faces being seen U- nawareness of writing terms I don’t know L- listening to my father watching the news N- eeding somebody to connect with more E- ctasty hidden inside S- soothing energy coming from the teacher S- everal different personalities being expressed.
By: Brah’e Greene
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What is Love?
Love is a feeling. Love can be great. Love is the thing That makes people break. Everyone wants love Whether they realize it or not. Drifting away From this big melting pot. When you think of love You think it's romantic, But when others would think They'd get rather frantic. Making you wait And breaking you down Then making you feel Like you're ten feet off the ground.
By: Amina Brooks
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Rhyming Poem
I look around And see the light enter through the window. Everything seems so silent As if I were in limbo. But then I hear the songs of the bird They go on and on Never being unheard. I can smell breakfast that brings a sense of good tone. This scent is always there It reminds me that I am not alone. The smell of breakfast does go away but the soft breeze of the fan, I make sure it is there every day. The morning is always beautiful It always comes back And the joy it brings is plentiful. Make sure to wake up with a smile The day could be hard But the morning is peaceful for a while. By: Thomas Granda 10
Untitled
I see many different colors, I smell clean, refreshing air, Many things live here. I hear the voices, Of my lovely family, As they spend time together. It is full of love, And I can feel as well, In my room by my lone self. By: Isaiah Holder-Kieh
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Today
Today. A hill on the mountain top turned, The wind spoke, and the feel of burned. A squeak, a footstep, & a growl. At sundown. Today. Another hill on the mountain top turned, The wind spoke, and the feel of touched. A gaze, a breather, & a shock. At midnight. Today. Another hill on the mountain top turned, The wind passed by; the body of slumber returned. At sunrise. Today. By: Christiana Ilori
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The Room
There are pillows on the floor. There are pillows by the door. The walls are blue like the sky. As I watch cars pass me by. I hear the rain pour As I see my bird soar. The bed is messy. The floor is filthy. The shows on TV was a bore. This was my day all alone. This was my day at my home.
By: Kaniesha Mabry
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A Noisy Afternoon
They run and make games in their own way With laughter and shouting, the little people play The sun, amused, looks down and shines brighter But somehow, even with the unbearable heat, I hear laughter I could say the that my siblings are just crazy But I love that they play by their own rules almost daily My mother on the other hand is whipping it up And creating the food that will become my afternoon grub In the Nijimbere house, it's almost never a bore You’ll get one taste and come running for more By: Gretta Nijimbere
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Can Something Please Change!?
What I see is a computer screen right in front of me. The same screen I've seen for weeks. I hear the same birds chirping. I hear my dad outside working. My sister and brother are downstairs talking with my mom. I wish I could be down there, but instead I'm here scrolling through things that end with .com. I've been doing this since March. Typing the same keys. Looking at the same screen. Playing the same computer game to keep my mind at ease. But I'm used to it, it's going to continue to be this way Because from what I'm hearing Corona is here to stay. I’m sitting in my same room that I moved into two years ago in June. I see the same records some old and some new that have played the same tunes. I see my new desk that my dad built for me 15
So, I can sit and work and stare at the same screen. But as I do that, I can look out the window into my front yard and see the same tall tree. But like I said everything is the same. By: Morgan Colbert
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“The Poster�
As I look across my room, the first thing I see are bright vivid colors and multiple different character figures. I see the warm soft color of a pink dress with a blue gemstone across the chest, it is a woman with bright long yellow blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, sky blue round earrings and a bronze crown encrusted with 3 gems. I see a short man with blue overalls, a red shirt, big brown shoes, white gloves, and a red cap with the letter M attached to it. I see a slightly taller man with the same outfit as the blue overalls, big brown shoes, and white gloves, yet he has a green shirt, a green cap with the letter L attached to it. I see a big yellow turtle with red hair, sharp teeth and horns all around it. I see a green dinosaur with orange boots and a very short man with a blue vest, puffy pants, and a big red and white mushroom head.
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I see a big pink and white castle in the distance on top of a hill in a green summer landscape with trees, flowers, and hills. I see coins on top of floating bricks, some with question marks next to them. I see flower power ups and a piranha plant. I see the beautiful dimension of the video game world.... SUPER MARIO. By: Nahjah Phillips
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Poetry
I am so tired. It smells like powder fresh air freshener. I roll out of bed. I head to my dining room table. I join class. I sit with my back against the wall. I enjoy silence for a while But my family comes down and everywhere is loud. I run back to my room Where it is silent. I sit comfortably on my bed. I join class again. By: Parisnuela Onyeokoro
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Maybe One Day
Maybe one day, I’ll be at peace with myself. So that every time I walk past a mirror, I do not dread the way I look. Maybe one day, I’ll want to take a picture. I wouldn’t mind a little vanity. Till the day I’m able to say “Wow Da’Jay, you look good today”. Maybe one day, I’ll travel the world to visit Japan, China, the United Kingdom, and more. Traveling with friends to places unknown to us. Maybe one day, I’ll see the stars. Shining bright in the sky. Grasping at the light that takes so long to reach our eye. Maybe one day, I’ll enjoy living. Instead of seeking the end of the pitiful excuse of a life, I call mine. Maybe one day, I’ll be happy. Yeah, that sounds nice. Maybe one day. By: Da’Jay Barrett
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No Escape
On the couch, I sit. Always motionless all-day. When can I escape?
Where I Find Creativity
Bookcase filled with books Myself My computer By: Da’Jay Barrett
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Six Word Memoir
“I climb, I fall, I recover.” “I plan, I achieve, I repeat.” By: Nahjah Phillips
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Save Me from Insanity
The storm is raging, The tides are changing, The clouds are shifting, The mist is lifting, My heart is a battlefield, My mind distorts reality, My world is turning around, What’s going on with me, Is this real, Or is this just a fantasy, Waiting, Fading into insanity, Is this real, Or am I crazy, Falling, Calling for someone to save me, My soul starts to erupt, My thoughts begin to corrupt, My feelings turn to dust, I don’t know who to trust, Is this real, Or is this just a fantasy, Waiting, 23
Fading into insanity, Is this real, Or am I crazy, Falling, Calling for someone to save me, Now it’s time to face the truth, I’ve been hiding in a lie, For too long, Now I see past the fog, It’s all clear now, It was here all along, Is this real, Or is this just a fantasy, Waiting, Fading into insanity, Is this real, Or am I crazy, Falling, Calling for someone to save me, Someone save me, Save me, Save me from my insanity. By: Isaiah Holder-Kieh 24
My Papa and His Oatmeal
My papa eats his oatmeal basically, every morning it’s like his favorite food of all time. He makes it in small red pot on a small black stove with his small metal spoon and his kinda big bowl Strawberries red water clear oats brown butter yellow My papa eats next to his computer working the day away enjoying his oatmeal and its fruitful display By: Amina Brooks
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Speeches Police Brutality Within the Black Community
Throughout history, it is a well-known fact that black people in America have suffered. First slavery, then segregation, and now hate crimes committed by the people said to protect us. Black Americans are two-and-a-half times as likely as White Americans to be killed by police officers. Usually, the reason for the killing is because the person was black. A few examples are George Floyd, Troy McDane, and Antwon Rose. These examples don’t even begin to bring the justice we need for the thousands of black men, women and children killed just for the color of their skin. For the most recent murder that has happened, the people have started to protest. Despite what the media wants you to think the protests started peacefully. Then, the police came and did what they do best, and they created violence. Many undercover cops could be seen at the first protest in Minneapolis breaking glass and setting things on fire. The police also used rubber bullets and extreme force to try and “control� protesters.
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After this, the rest of the country and many parts of the world started to protest in the name of Black Lives Matter. You would think after all of this protesting that the violence would stop, and the police would change but that is in fact the opposite of what happened. Instead of taking time to reevaluate, the president sent the national guard to harm and dismantle unarmed protesters and the police still use their power to hurt and kill the innocent black protesters. All we want to know is when will it stop. Some might say that “they deserved it” or “they were probably resisting arrest”. First off, if you have to say “probably” then even you know your statement isn't true. There are also lots of witness reports and video evidence that attest to the former statements. And it should never matter if they were resisting or not, no life is worth an arrest. By: Amina Brooks
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Farewell
Thank you for listening to this message. It is an honor to have the work of wonderful classmates and peers who have worked hard to create wonderful pieces of literature and art acknowledged and to represent the hard work and devotion of our lovely Ms. Williams. I am thankful to have the opportunity to work with a wonderful, brilliant class and to be a part of something truly great. I also am thankful to have the chance to demonstrate my skills and grow alongside other great minds. I am thankful to have parents who provided the resources for me to successfully complete assignments and projects in this program and I thank myself for staying focused, determined, and strong along the way. Being in this class has taught me a lot of things such as gratitude, opening up, and having a joyful spirit. It has also taught me the many artful ways of expression. For all these things thank you. By: Isaiah Holder-Kieh
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My Time Has Come
How will I change the world? This, in itself, is a loaded question but in short, I want to be a part of a change that will transform America’s social and political views. For so long America has always been pictured as the mixing pot of the world, where people and their cultures are allowed to be themselves without oppression or judgement. But in these last few years, the true face of America has come out of the shadows and has shined a light on the many problems facing people of color today. Instances of racial profiling are found every day in American society, so much so that sometimes the difference of a sentence solely depends on an individual’s skin color. When a black person is killed by the police, little to no real investigating is done. When a person with Middle Eastern descent does anything wrong in the eyes of America, he or she is automatically a terrorist. On the other hand, when a white or Caucasian person is killed or has done anything wrong, they are labeled as victims until proven otherwise. Where is the equality that we were taught about in our schools? Where are the police officers that were designed to protect citizens no matter the cost? Where are the officials that promised to promote equality? How long do people of color have to stay quiet for a promise that was never meant to be fulfilled? directly perpetuates the tolerance 29
of unequal treatment towards people of color and re-enforces a wall that prohibits any reconciliation and communication between races. When I am older, I plan to become an activist for people of color and also educate other races who may not understand the everyday injustices that come with being black. It's been too long since people of color have taken this mistreatment and I want to be a voice for anyone who is willing to speak up and voice their experience. I implore you to look at the person to your left and look at the person to your right. Look at the ones who are behind you and those ahead of you. These people are the ones who will bear witness to everything that we do. We are the future! We will be the individuals that will crush old beliefs, start advocating for equality rights, and directly mold the future of this country into the dream we want it to be. I ask you to join me in this hard but ultimately fulfilling and essential part of American history! By: Gretta Nijimbere
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Small Steps Still Proceed to Change
The good thing about the world is that it isn’t perfect… So, there is always something to change. So many things can be done to help our planet. Things that would help make the world better would be using Oceanhero. It is a search engine that helps recycle water bottles and plastic out of the ocean to protect sea life. Millions of people utilize this search engine and it shows how many bottles have been recycled and how many bottles the user has recycled from their searches. For every 5 searches you use on Oceanhero one bottle is recycled, it is a small step that can lead to a big change. “Small steps still proceed to change.” World hunger and homelessness, all the money that the government gets from taxes, a percentage of that money could be used to help feed starving families and help give families a home. A percentage of taxes taken from everyday transactions could be used for these benefits and more such as low-income families. “Small steps still proceed to change.” Elections, anyone in any politics should be ineligible to run for office is they have a criminal background or have been a part of any racial discrimination. As humans everyone is equal therefore any and every race should be treated with equality, especially African Americans. People with criminal backgrounds should have no absolute power or say so in the functions 31
of a government and/or state or country. “Small steps proceed to change.” We as the people of the world, should understand the fundamentals of Earth, it is not only a home but a living thing as well, if the Earth is not in great shape how could we possibly prosper as a human race. If we cannot come together to work with and respect any and every race we cannot prosper. If we cannot take consideration for wildlife and habitats we cannot prosper. If we cannot take heed of the damage, we have caused such as pollution, overpopulation, and littering, we cannot proper. If we cannot respect and protect our women and children, we cannot prosper. If we cannot change the mistakes we have made, how will we ever exceed? That is why “small steps proceed to change” is significant because we can slowly fix our mistakes to make the world change in a beneficial way. By: Nahjah Phillips
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WHY I WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD
There are many great people who make changes, both seemingly minor and obviously great. There are many people right now doing big things in this world, but why do I want to be one of those people? Why do I want to change the world? What does it mean to change the world? To me changing the world means making a significant impact on people’s lives on Earth. It means leaving a mark that is memorable. It means cultivating change to bring about positive things that are needed in today’s times. Why do I want to do this? I have a desire to help other people in some way and to do something that is beneficial for other people. The way I want to do this is by ending stigmas, misconceptions, dispelling myths and lies and hoping to better elevate people’s mind from a distance. This is one of my dreams in life. By changing people’s minds, people will start to take action and make change in the world themselves almost like a domino effect. This in turn will help me achieve my goal by working through others. So, to close out, I want to change the world by changing people’s minds and inspiring benevolent 33
action and positive change. I also want to end the pain, confusion and illusions generated by the many distortions plaguing the minds of those who live in this generation. By: Isaiah Holder-Kieh
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Change is Just a Mindset Away
The world as we know it is full of strife and despair and plight. People kill each other over the simplest of disagreements, people do not feel safe in their own neighborhoods, and nations refuse to work together to better the Earth due to petty differences in opinion and religion. There has never been and never will be a world in which this is the correct way to handle things. Continuing to fight amongst ourselves and ruining each other’s communities is not the way to move to a better future. However, world leaders are not willing to move towards that end. They are not willing to put their pride down and make compromises as they believe that compromise is a show of weakness. How to change the world, I do not know yet, but I know the steps that we can take as a populace. Acknowledge that your vote counts and take part in legislative votes. Make sure we get the right people to represent us instead of looking at who belongs to what political party. In order to change the world, we first have to change ourselves. We cannot teach others what we do not know so let’s learn about it. By first fixing our country, we can help other countries fix themselves, not by force but by example. Other countries will learn how to thrive on their own and it creates a chain reaction of improvement for all. 35
In order to change the world, the change needs to come from us. I cannot change the world alone, no one can, not in this day and age. So, we must work together to change it, we must all be on the same page if we wish to advance as humans. We must all be on the same page to survive as a species. We must all be on the same page to change the world. By: Da’Jay Barrett
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Coming in with Covid
Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The last normal day we had. We were at schools just like any other day. The only difference was every other hour we'd hear of more and more people getting cases across the world. Then it came; Thursday, March 12, 2020 is when America completely changed. The lock down had been put in order for the entire country pretty much after every other country. The transition from being out all the time to having to stay indoors all the time was, of course, wasn't easy. The country was in terror. Since our government does not know how to handle most situations, we were definitely under prepared for this. As the weeks went on, the case numbers in the US went higher and higher. Tens of thousands of cases basically appearing out of nowhere. We all knew it was coming but we never anticipated that it would hit this hard. Because we've never done anything like this, most of America didn't listen in the beginning. Then the cases started to grow by the masses. The government started to lay down the rules more heavily on its citizens but that caused an outrage. Riots broke out in the streets from anger people across the nation protesting because of their discomfort of having to follow a few safety precautions. This, of course, caused a massive surge up in the number of cases that were reportedly going down. After that finally settled 37
everything was pretty chill. Classes were online now so school ended early. The online classes made it hard for me to focus but luckily, I was able to keep my grades up. School was over and I only had three weeks and it was time for Upward bound. The week before I started there was, unfortunately, there was another police brutality victim. The victim was black and seeing this as a black girl made my heart ache. More kept happening and it made me realize that I was a part of the most hated race on Earth. Realizing this on top of the stress of work was just a lot to take. Once again, protest broke out to try and stop racist killings, but it just got worse instead of better. The government tried to silence the protesters, but it made them protest even harder. It was nice seeing all the rallies and people being cautious of Covid-19. Covid-19 has really taken a toll on the world, but it seems like things will get better. By: Amina Brooks
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Untitled
Many times, I find myself wondering about the great nature of our world and how things work. I have always been fascinated by the laws of our universe, making it my goal to study these phenomena. I hope to one day change the world knowing all of these scientific principles. I hope to uncover new and interesting concepts in chemistry, physics, and biology that will inevitably lead to the betterment of our human civilization. I'm inspired by all the great inventors of humanity, including the ones that created fire, or stone tools, even the creation of walking upright. Across the ages we have advanced our technology to an astronomical degree. Less than 50 years ago computers too an entire room to process equations, now we have super computers that fit in our pockets that have become commonplace, I see this modern world and a can’t help to awe how far our world has gone and how much it has yet to achieve and i just can't help but to feel inspired by that, by bettering the lives of our world through the powers of science that is why I want to change the world. By: Thomas Granda
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God Bless Our World
Police brutality, segregation, murder, and even sexual assault has had a huge increase in our world that we live in. There are so many more issues that we have in this world that have impacted us tremendously but, are these problems really going to be solved if we blame and shame one another for who did what? Is it really going to make a difference if we show hate towards one another for committing crimes or having our own views of what and how we see life?... Everybody in this world deserves love and like everything else in this world, love has to start somewhere. We are all beautiful individuals who have a voice, so why not use it?! I have had multiple experiences of wanting to say something and use my voice to prevent something. There have also been many times till this day where I want to use my voice and speak up, but I get discouraged. I get scared and then feel terrible and useless for not preventing what I could have. I am pretty sure we all have, but just like I can face my fears and fight the inner enemy that does not agree with me you can too! Instead of singling people out we need to come together and let that race or person that we have singled out know that they are loved. That they mean a lot to this world and everything they do affect the world even if it is just one person. Love can fix the world. You may ask or wonder how but there is an 40
answer to that. That answer is love is more valuable than any material on this earth or object that has been invented. Why? Because any material or object built has been thought of and invented all starts from love. Whether the love is from one person to another person or an individual just loving themselves. God invented us based off of love and put a lot of thought into each and every one of us. We should take that opportunity of being born as a gift and blessing. We should use that gift to the fullest, never looking back. I know sometimes we want to give up on life and feel like we no longer have a purpose in life or reason to live but that would not happen if we all just let each other know how much we truly love and care for one another. Yes, some of us may commit some of the worst crimes possible and yes itis hard to forgive sometimes but just a little bit of more effort to empathize and love will make a huge difference in this world. For years we have been going against each other, lying, killing, and violating each other and where has it gotten us…. Barely anywhere. Changing the world may not be the easiest thing or may “God bless our world” seem impossible but if we work together to fix our issues then eventually, they will be solved. “Teamwork makes the dream work” is what my father always says and at first it would go in one ear and come out of the other but as I grow I understand that if you try to do something alone it 41
won’t be as nearly as easy to accomplish than having a group of people work with you. The protesting for the “Black Lives Matter” movement is not just one person. It is multiple and they have made a change for the greater good. It took one decision… “Speak up”. They let their voices be heard and are now making a huge difference. We all need to learn to do the same and come together no matter the color of your skin, your opinions, or your beliefs. WE CAN DO THIS so we shall. We have been blessed with the ability to do it and we will no matter how many times someone shows hate towards us we need to respond with love and peace and then my people…. We will not only learn and grow as people, but we will make a difference in this world. May god bless our world. By: Brah’e Greene
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Change
Good afternoon everyone, my name is Parisnuela and I will talk about how I will change the world. I will change the world by bettering myself. It is important to fulfill yourself as a person, before you can even think of bettering others. I will make sure that I have accomplished all my personal goals first, including becoming happier, successful, and comfortable in overall state of living. I must make my mark on the world. I will change the world because my individual impact is a step closer to making the world a better place. If everyone around the world strives to make themselves better, then the whole world will benefit. Special Occasion
Good afternoon everyone. I just wanna thank my lovely and joyful teacher, Mrs. Keshius Williams. She has made the process of creating this book very fun and simple. I do not think that I would have been able to do it without her or my fellow classmates. I enjoy how we all communicated with ease. I am proud of myself and my fellow classmates as well. We did well throughout this course! I wish you all the best! By: Parisnuela Onyeokoro 43
As Simple as Keeping a Positive Attitude
Growing up you tend to realize how sucky the world can be. Especially during these times where unarmed black men and women's lives are being taken, a pandemic is spreading and only getting worse, and people are choosing to be mean and ignorant on social media on a daily basis. It's hard to not only focus on the negative these days because it's always around us‌ or it seemingly is. But what we don't realize is we are very capable of changing the world with our minds alone. In a perfect world I would be like Jeff Bezos and have a trillion dollars in my bank account. I would then use that trillion of dollars for good and donate to hundreds of different charities and feed as many starving people as I could. According to a Quora article 1 billion dollars alone could feed roughly 4.8 million children for an entire year. Imagine what a trillion dollars could do. But sadly, we aren't in a perfect world. So, we're back to the idea of constantly having a positive mindset as well as positive intentions because that's something we can likely achieve. Believe it or not a positive attitude and positive intentions can get you very far in life. A great example of this are the protests that have been occurring. No matter how you look at it those protests were used to create positive change no matter how they turned out and no 44
matter how the media portrayed them to be and the protests did just that. The officers who partook in the murder of George Floyd were sentenced, same for the murderers who killed Ahmaud Arbery. Recently Elijah McClain has been getting justice and this all happening because of the positive impact of the people. The ones who keep signing petitions, donating, and protesting. So, what I would do to try and change the world is to try and spread positivity because it's something I can start doing now. Trying to spread awareness and positive influence on negative situations could get people to want to do the same and sooner than later we have a whole movement going and people fighting for the same cause, which would only bring more awareness. Bringing people together for the same cause makes it easier to try and change the world. A group of like-minded people spreading positive influence can be seen all throughout history and in the end those like-minded people are who we give credit to when it comes to changing the societal norm. That's exactly what I want to do, and maybe later I'll have a trillion dollars so I can donate to hundreds of charities and feed millions of people. But one step at a time. By: Morgan Colbert 45
Changing the World Starts With YOU
The world that we live in is nowhere near perfect or even good. There is no equality for all races, there is disease, Rapist, sex trafficking, pollution and more. We not just changing the world for us, but also for future generations. We want kids to live in a world where they don’t have or carry a gun for protection, they don’t have to be a target because of their race or gender. The fear of dying when walking out of their own home. Would you want that for your kids? That is not the way for anyone to live. A change starts now A change starts here and A change starts with you. Will you be a part of the change or against it? Let's change the world together. By: Kaniesha Mabry
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Untitled
Many times, I find myself wondering about the great nature of our world and how things work. I have always been fascinated by the laws of our universe, making it my goal to study these phenomena. I hope to one day change the world knowing all of these scientific principles. I hope to uncover new and interesting concepts in chemistry, physics, and biology that will inevitably lead to the betterment of our human civilization. I'm inspired by all the great inventors of humanity, including the ones that created fire, or stone tools, even the creation of walking upright. Across the ages we have advanced our technology to an astronomical degree. Less than 50 years ago computers too an entire room to process equations, now we have super computers that fit in our pockets that have become commonplace, I see this modern world and a can’t help to awe how far our world has gone and how much it has yet to achieve and I just can't help but to feel inspired by that, by bettering the lives of our world through the powers of science that is why I want to change the world. By: Thomas Granda
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COURAGE
“Part of being hungry is when you’ve been defeated.” -Eric Thomas Nobody ever said that this path you are taking is going to be easy. Nobody is ever going to be there for you at all time because YOU chose that path and you will finish it! Some of you all, the reason you want to take the easy path is because you lack courage. Denzel Washington once said,” If you do what is easy then life will be hard.” It takes courage to get back up after someone kicked, pushed, rubbed dirt on you, call you out your name, and DISCOURAGE you. Nobody say it was going to be easy. IT TAKES COURAGE. I was once broken down to the point I did not want to be a part of myself nor this world. I was once pushed to my limits. I feared that I could not go any further. I fear the disappointment. I feared most of all… failure. Behind all that courage there is fear, and the only way to allow that courage be a bigger person is to defeat that fear. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, or even a year from now but begin that path. Take that challenge. Began that war, because at the end of the day that fear will stick to you like skin, to the point where your 48
disappointment, your discouragement, your faith, and your doubts. At the end of the day it all within YOU. You must have courage. It is said that the human spirit is powerful. Your mind can do soo much than you think. YOU have the Power and YOU have courage. When you fall, get back up. When you are crawling, find a way to start walking. When you struggle, you struggle for a reason. You struggle to reach the top because at the end of every principle there is a promise. Being tired is part of taking courage, being defeated is part of taking courage, being pushed to your limit is part of taking courage, because at the end of the path only you are there to receive the results. By: Christiana Ilori
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Microcosmos
Maybe love was not meant for me. Maybe there’s something out there in the cosmos that disdains the prospect of me being in a happy relationship. I swear this was the one, that things would’ve been different this time around. Maybe if it weren’t for my doubt in myself, maybe if I had been more sure of myself, I wouldn’t be going through this alone. I loved him again, and I should’ve said that, despite what happened between us a year ago, it was perfect this time around. He was saying and doing all the right things, and when the opportunity came back around, I did not take it. Now I lie, trapped in this house. A cosmically mandated pandemic, strong enough to mandate a world-wide shut down of public activities, yet small enough to not be seen. Strong enough to threaten my asthma, yet small enough to be disregarded by the people who were supposed to love me. Maybe love wasn’t meant for me, because it’s getting too hard to love the people constantly jeopardizing my health for their egos. My parents refuse to humble themselves for such a microscopic threat. They’re constantly in and out of the house and refuse to even wear masks or wash their hands upon entering the house yet prevent me from going out because they’re worried I might not be careful. They believe their stupid 50
baby shower is more important than me protesting, saying I have no reason being out there and feeling as strong as I do about it. And it is in this they take away my voice. They yank the breath from my lungs with their iron grip of pure unadulterated ignorance. And I’m just so tired of having my feelings and emotions doubted and questioned, I’m so tired of having to reassure myself of my right to feel the way I do. Maybe before this happened our relationships could’ve healed, maybe we could’ve learned to love each other again, maybe I could’ve learned to love myself and open up again. Alas that is not the case, as now I’m mostly in my room, laying vulnerable to their ailments, prey to their toxicity, and victim to their ignorance. Maybe love was not meant for me. Maybe there’s something out there in the cosmos that disdains the prospect of me being in a happy relationship. I swear this was the one, that things would’ve been different this time around. Maybe if it weren’t for my doubt in myself, maybe if I had been more sure of myself this time, I wouldn’t be going through this alone. I swore this was the year, but the cosmos said differently. Everything is broken now, because this microcosmic threat broke us. It took advantage of every crack, every analytical and cognitive blind spot in humanity and used it to prey on the weak, on the weak people, on the weak relationships, on the weak families, on the weak immune systems, on 51
the weak egos, and swallow us in the cracks-nowabyss of incompetence to writhe and repent for those who failed to strengthen their minds and relationships beforehand. And it is this abyss I will dwell in till it is over, seeking reasoning and affection from those who I desperately want to love, but maybe love was just not meant for me. By: Trenton Jerome Ellis
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Jingles The Jingle
You want it I got it Shoes on deck Jewelry on ice We have everything you want alright You can have whatever you like Just call 10709 you can have whatever you like By: Kaniesha Mabry Paris Pasta
Crafted to perfection. Paris Pasta has been a family favorite for decades and we continue to keep to that tradition. Eat delicious mouthwatering pasta today, to keep the negativity away! By: Parisnuela Onyeokoro Amina’s Treats (sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
Aminas' treats Lyrics If you want something to eat Come on down to Amina's treats 53
Cakes and cookies and ice cream and more Come down here and you'll never be bored With a selection that can't be beat You'll really love it at Amina's Treats By: Amina Brooks Law Token
Your mouth might be broken, your throat might be choken' but at Law Token, our lawyers make you feel spoken. By: Thomas Granda Boostie the Protein Drink!!!! Original song: Missy Elliot “Cool Off�
Drink up (Drink up Drink up) Drink up Boostie helps you gain strength and fiber Quicker than eating fruit! Quicker than eating fruit! Quicker than eating fruit! Drink up (drink up drink up) drink up Boostie out here making a difference Try today and buy one get one free Buy one get one free! Buy one get one free! Buy one get one free! 54
Drink up (drink up drink up) drink up Try Boostie now and see the amazing results that you will get from the powerful Boostie drink! By: Brah’e Greene Career Finder Jingle
“Ok ok I’m looking for that bag I’m like ok Where that job, yeah you know I need that There that job, yeah you can have that Ok ok We chasing that bag I’m like ok Get yourself a stable job We like ok You wanna get a bag, then say ok Ok ok” To find jobs in multiple different careers reach us at our website at www.careerfinder.org or call us at 1-855-278-9874 By: Nahjah Phillips
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Refresh Yourself
W-A-T-E-R, you should know who we are. W-A-T-E-R, drink it and your organs will go far. W-A-T-E-R, the benefits you get are bizarre. W-A-T-E-R, nothing can compare or on par. By: Da’Jay Barrett Burger Bill
Here at Burger Bill, You can come here and chill, Get a nice meal for you, And a nice desert too, Here at Burger Bill, You can come here and chill, Come and get a nice meal, Here at Burger Bill. By: Isaiah Holder-Kieh
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Blogs Bored? Lonely? Wanna have Fun? Tik Tok is for You!
Even though most of us teens use this app, we really don’t know how much it has impacted the world around us. Tik Tok.. Brings people together. Teaches you how to dance, cook, DIY, and find new music! Informs us about what is going on in the world. Creative ideas are being spread daily! In general, love and joy are being spread daily! This app is truly a form of inspiration for people who have things in common! By: Brah’e Greene
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Gossip Freak
Welcome back to Confessions of a Gossip Freak. Today I have a shocker for you guys Nunya singer August Alsina clams to have an affair with Jada Pinkett smith with the blessings of our beloved actor Will Smith. Alsina then said he meet the family and even went to the 2017 BET awards together but will smith was nowhere in sight. When Jada Pinkett smith was asked about this so-called affair, she denied the affair with Alsina and that her husband will never give his blessing to it. Let me know what you think in the comments bellow and make sure to tune in next Thursday at noon. See you next time at Confessions of a Gossip Freak. By: Kaniesha Mabry
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George Floyd
May 25,2020 George Floyd the man who started it all. ´´Well why do you say the man who started it all well listen.” Right before the sun set George Floyd was coming out of a Minneapolis corner store, The clerk called the police and said ¨ An African American man brought a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill¨ the clerk called the police the police the police began to lock Floyd up they laid the man on the ground while putting his knee on Floyd’s neck on top of Floyd’s neck. While Floyd was on the ground, he began to say ¨I can’t breathe” repeatedly until he was dead. A day after George Floyd's death people began to do a peaceful protest, until police decided to start to spray tear gas and hit them with rubber bullets. Then the people decide that's enough of the peacefulness, and they get real crazy and start burning things up lighting things up. Then days later in Atlanta Georgia another African American man Got killed while in the custody of police. Atlanta decided enough is enough and started their riots. R&B artists such as lil baby and Meek Mill decided to make songs about all of this craziness and Baby got #1 on the charts. Black Lives Matter became the trending topic of the next few months 59
and is still trending on all social media platforms. #BLM #Enoughisenough By: Raniya Allen
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Bear 5 News
Good afternoon and welcome to BEAR 5 News! I am your host, Paris Onyeokoro. Today we discuss the coronavirus. COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly. COVID-19 affects people in different ways. Infected people have had a range of symptoms, from mild symptoms to severe illness. Over 10 million people worldwide have been infected with this virus. More than 2 million people have been infected with the coronavirus in the United States. Many people after quarantining and intense treatment, have been cured of the virus. Yet many have died. There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus. There is also no specific treatment recommended for COVID-19. Everyone must take all precautions possible! Stay indoors if you have underlying health issues, wash your hands, wear face masks, and stay 6 feet apart! When will all this be over? When will things get back to normal? Stay tuned for more news next time. Please stay safe everyone! By: Parisnuela Onyeokoro
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The Libya Slave Trade
Welcome back to Mina's Mail House. Today I wanted to talk about something a little more serious which is the slave trade going on in Libya. Right now, Libyan men are selling women and children to get more money, and nobody is talking about it. African migrants dream of going to Europe but end up going back overseas due to the Italian government not wanting them there. People from all across west Africa are in danger of being sold as slaves in Libya for prices between 100 and 700 dollars. Now this isn't a new thing, the slave trade has been going on for years but was only lightly reported on in 2017. Not only are there slaves but there is also human trafficking. Lots of people get sold multiple times before they are able to escape. If they are ever able too. Most of Africa's northern and western migrants went to Italy to look for a better life but Italy's government is very tight at the border. When the migrants arrive, they are usually put back on boats and taken to Libya where they are repeatedly sold and trafficked. I'm heading out but I just wanted you all to stay informed and educated. As always thanks for coming and I'll see you when the day is brighter. By: Amina Brooks
Still in School 62
Today is July the second, time really does fly. Only 2 months ago I was still in school. Due to the pandemic many things have been cancelled everywhere, even the closing of schools. July 4th approaches and we might have to consider canceling it as well. Lots of things have changed due to our current circumstances, I haven't been affected too much thankfully, with the exception of my education, I really dislike online schooling, I felt as if I was a dog waking myself. But the summer upward bound program isn't all that bad, good hours, and an interactive experience. I now have to choose whether or not I'm going to go back to school or if I'm going to stay home. I really don't want to stay home because I have been given 5 ap classes and I would go insane trying to do them online, but on the other hand I feel obligated to stay, not just because i could potentially get sick. This summer me and my sister have been taking care of my little brother. Hopefully, everything works out and I'll see you all tomorrow. By: Thomas Granda
The Natural Riches 63
Natural hair has globally impacted the hair world now in days, especially in the black community. To be natural is to not have any sort of chemicals in your hair, and by chemical, I mean perms, relaxers, texturizers, sometimes dyeing the hair. Now you know if you are from a black home you would know about those perms! Oouuuu baby, I know you felt that burning sensation. Sometimes we run out of styles. Being natural we can only do so many styles because of length, texture, curl patten, or we might just be too tired to do any styles to our natural hair. An alternative for us natural hair girls is protective hair styles; different braids, faux-locs, twist, sew-ins, cornrows, buns, bantu knots, crochet, & goddess style. Now, I have recently taken a liking to yarn braids. I know, I know ...” YARN BRAIDS!”, you say, But Yes Hun yarn braids. Now my “Back home” is Africa where all the riches at. We do many different styles with yarn textual materials; thread would be one of them. Honestly, I had forgotten some until one day, I had seen this beautiful black queen do this style on her head. No joke… I instantly fell in love and implemented it on my own head. Yess! people I finally broke the news, I DO HAIR. Now, do not get me wrong I may be 17 but I love to learn and grow. I also may not be able to do some styles, but I can defiantly do majority. Now if you are a newbie to the natural hair world 64
stay tone because I will have you moving in the right direction. Have a bless and wonderful day my loves and keep sharing this positive energy!! Follow me on Instagram loves @Loowey_chrissy. By: Christiana Ilori
Shedding Some Light 65
Well, hello again everyone! I really hope you guys are staying safe out there. As much as we want this whole pandemic to end, we have to abide by the rules set in place to keep us safe. Wear your masks, be 6 feet apart from others, and please for the love of God, do not start drinking bleach to ‘protect’ yourself from the virus. As crazy as it sounds so many people are taking part of the trend, believing it to be true. So many people have gotten sicker because of that trend and I implore you to take everything you see online about the pandemic with a grain of salt. Now that that is out the way, there is one other situation that is making history in America. Unfortunately, when we are looking at the news or any type of social media, it seems like I can only see the social injustice towards blacks. This morning I was scrolling through Instagram and I came across a video with a police officer tasing a clearly pregnant woman because she was being ‘uncooperative’. I also saw a young man being choked, who later passed out, by a police officer while yelling “Help, I can’t breathe”. There were even people around the scene telling the police officer that he was not resisting the arrest and that it was unjust to follow up with choking. I’ve seen so many of these videos online and sometimes I am on the brink to tears just seeing the way so many people of color are treated. For those brothers and sisters of 66
color, protect yourself by knowing your right and the laws of the state you are living in. Everyone else, please try to sign as many petitions as you can to bring awareness to the unjust, and highly racist system we call the police department. This is a real thing and I really hope that y’all look into everything you are feeding your mind. Please comment down below if you feel like you want me to further elaborate on this subject. Remember my loves, stay opinionated, educated, and elevated. By: Gretta Nijimbere
Slave Trade and Sex Trafficking in Libya 67
Since 2017, people who have been migrating from other countries to Europe are being kidnapped and forced into slave trade and sex trafficking. Over the past few years many migrants have been migrating to Europe by sea. Libya is the main infiltration point for refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe by sea and the Libyan Coast Guard has cracked down boats that are smuggling refugees and migrants to Europe. There has been an estimate of 400,000 to nearly one million people bottled up in Libya in detention camps. These detention centers are packed and numerous reports of robbery, rape, and murder among these migrants. Many people of color are being sent to these detention camps in Libya and they are vulnerable to being sold off as laborers in slave auctions. Various people have shared their experiences with the harsh conditions of these camps. Such as African day laborers who are a part of the caporalato system are used for cheap labor work. Sagnet, an African day laborer was promised to make $33 dollars a day filling crates with tomatoes. The boss of the system did not tell Sagnet that certain expenses would be taken out of his pay, (such as transportation, food and water), and that cut his pay to $4.50 a day. Most people who are put in these situations have no choice and are stuck with inhumane treatment. 68
“About 16,000 women who arrived in Italy from Libya from 2016 to 2017, nearly 80% fell victim to sex trafficking.” For instance, Gladys left Nigeria at age 22 after being offered a job at a hair salon in Italy, her trafficker kept her sealed away in a Libyan brothel. Thus, denying her of any food or water until she agreed to service their clients. Sadly, Gladys had sold her virginity for a plastic jug of water. After arriving in Italy, she was demanded thousands of dollars for her journey and forced to work as a prostitute to work off the money. “In most cases once women arrive in Europe, they are told that they owe thousands of dollars ranging from $20,000 to $60,000 to cover the cost of their journey. Then threatened with abuse, deportation, or even harm toward the women or their family if they do not pay. Once these debts are paid off, after three to five years of several $25 tricks a day, the trafficked women usually stay in Europe to earn money on their own or try to return home.” Despite all of this not much has been done to stop this and this is barely getting attention from the media. There are videos of the actual auctions and several posts about what is happening in Libya and Europe. There has been a petition to stop what is going on in Libya and over 1 million people have signed the petition, donated, and even shared the link and any info about what people can do to stop the slave trade and sex trafficking. 69
By: Nahjah Phillips
Destruction of a Nation, Cries of Tts People 70
Yemen is a country in the middle east that is currently undergoing a massive, countrywide famine, that is affecting 80% of civilians. Since the start of the Yemen Civil War, Yemen has seen a remarkable number of civilians killed or injured. The war had and continues to cause tear through the country and its people. With the Coronavirus pandemic, the damaged nation has rapidly started to fall apart. 4 out of 5 civilians need life-saving aid according to UN News and the crisis is not getting much attention due to the protests that are dominating the news in America. Disease, homelessness, and famine run rampant in Yemen. Many people die every day over causes that are avoidable if they get the correct aid. The protests are important, immensely important, but do not let that blind you for the rest of the world. Yemen needs help, all the help that it could get, or else an entire country will be wiped out, as this is not a localized disaster for Yemen. The entire country is suffering, it may not be our country, but take notice of it, learn about it, and find a way to help. By: Da’Jay Barrett
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Songs/Raps More Than Friends
When I am sad you lend me your shoulder to cry on When I have fallen you lend me a hand to hold on You are the one I want the one I need you are the only person that makes me complete There are borders I cannot cross And feelings I just can't share But at the end of the day I know you will still be there I want to be more than what we are now I want to be more than just your friend but how You don't know how I feel And my feelings towards you are real I hide my feelings to you deep down I hide them so they can never be found Because I know you don't feel the same way and that's okay I will be fine Even if you can't be mine I hide my feelings for years until they fade away I will hide my feelings for you if that's the only way to make you to stay By: Kaniesha Mabry
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Goodbye Lover
It was a midnight summers dream And you were standing me Promising all that were, making me love what I heard But you failed to tell me that all along there was her The heartbreak, the fear The love we had is gone Now there’s nothing else here but tears I gave my heart, and my soul But I guess for you I wasn’t good enough standing next to her So, I'm saying Goodbye lover I digging so deep to love you I thought all we had was true I'm missing all of your love, but you made me look at a fool And now you’re standing near me, telling me it's over The heartbreak, the fear Since the love we had is gone, there’s nothing else here but tears I gave my heart, and my soul But I guess for you it wasn’t good enough standing next to her 73
So, I'm saying Goodbye lover There was a time you wouldn’t let go of me And you always said I made your heart beat I'm someone that was burned I want to be set free Part of you keeps calling me back The heartbreak, the fear The love we had is gone Now there’s nothing else here but tears I gave my heart, and my soul But I guess for you it wasn’t good enough standing next to her So, I'm saying Goodbye lover By: Gretta Nijimbere
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The Cycle Shall Repeat
When I wake up from deep somnolence Perfect dreams are no more I couldn't help but feel this day will be ominous Once joy gets up and walk out the door Quickly time went, occupied to avoid small talk To avoid Judgement From the eyes of those Vigilant, like Hawks Deep in mind I sit alone There I try to find Everything I wish I had Known When I finally start to smile It only seems to last a while Because deep down inside It doesn't feel so bad to cry I finally close my eyes Letting darkness harden me like concrete No more cries Then tomorrow the cycle shall repeat By: Paris Onyeokoro
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Untitled
Today we're in creative writing and it's no longer June. We're in here learning how to make some tunes. Time seems to fly, just watching the clock run on by. But you know what they say, time is fast when you're having a blast. We’re learnin’ all summer and you might think that’s a bummer But you haven't been to creative writing where it always seems inviting. We're learning how to express our thoughts and feelings through words, spreading our wings just like birds. We’re gaining knowledge and in the process were making literacy our language. All in all, this class is great, we learn, and have fun just like if I was learning to skate. By: Thomas Granda 76
PAIN
Being black and alive is a crime nowadays, Kickin back and reclinin can get you shot nowadays, But maybe we ain't really ready for that, Or maybe can't talk bout how my cousin have to walk with a gat, there's no chillin, or relief when you can shot by the police for being a color that they view as threatenin when seen I'm scared man, that my momma gonna get that call like "I'm sorry but your son was gunned down shopping in the mall" In a nation where we all told to stand tall, But was only built on all lies and pitfalls, Maybe we should view the world as if it's small, So that we can come together, and so we can bear the weather, and turn the weight into a feather that we all share, I'm sorry momma, I know this world ain't fair but maybe we can wrap corruption up in a snare Chorus Pain, make the world go round but maybe we can make a change everybody got pain We stand in the rain, but we can clear one-day everybody got pain People struggling to make, but now we all have a
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chance to break it everybody got pain So, take chance and we can all make it through together everybody got pain By: Da’Jay Barrett
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Betrayal (Verse 1) Under the impression that you were feeling me Now you don’t seem the same were you just using me? I was down with you when you had nothing but dreams So why the sudden switch up from your boost of self-esteem I can’t believe you saying that you can’t be with me You telling me that you need your space and some time to breath Deep down you know you’re not telling me what’s underneath Is it really that you need space from me or you need enough room for someone that isn’t me As much as I cared for you and gave my love to you And you’re telling me that we aren’t meant to be All because of some other chick that you see Oh but you don’t know that she will never be me. (Chorus) Like why did you lie to me, why you didn’t tell me you was tired of me Pushing blame onto me to justify why we shouldn’t be I gave you everything from my heart and you still deny me 79
Making me feel bad for the feelings you tried to hide from me Blaming me for the demons you unleashed inside of me Like you lied to me (Verse 2) I told you I wasn’t with games and you still played me You told me that you loved me, then why you behave like you can’t stand me You don’t act the same anymore and it hurts so bad It’s defeat You put another before girl me You pushed me aside to please a flea You teared me down making me believe it was me. You had me thinking it was gonna be me You told me you would never leave And here you are, leaving me Wasn’t I not enough for you I cried so many tears, stayed awake for so many hours from what you did to me I look at myself and think what was wrong with me for you to leave (Chorus) Like why did you lie to me, why you didn’t tell me you was tired of me Pushing blame onto me to justify why we shouldn’t be 80
I gave you everything from my heart and you still deny me Making me feel bad for the feelings you tried to hide from me Blaming me for the demons you unleashed inside of me Like you lied to me (Bridge) You gave her what we had, yet there still isn’t any love lost here I loved you, when I did not even love myself All the lonely nights and sickening pain You didn’t love me (Chorus) 2X Like why did you lie to me, why you didn’t tell me you was tired of me Pushing blame onto me to justify why we shouldn’t be I gave you everything from my heart and you still deny me Making me feel bad for the feelings you tried to hide from me Blaming me for the demons you unleashed inside of me Like you really lied to me
Like why you lied to me (I thought you loved me) 81
Why you lie to me (you said you would never leave me) Why you lie to me (you said you would always be there for me) Why you lied to me (you didn’t love me) By: Nahjah Phillips
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Essays Start Small
It has been proven that African American women are the least protected and least cared for group of people in today's society. African American women are three times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy and/or childbirth, and 60% of black girls experience sexual assault by the time they reach 18. Being a young African American woman, statistics like these truly terrify me but also infuriate me. I will never understand why I'm part of “America's most hated� when I and literally all other African American women have done nothing to be put in that category. I used to believe that things will always be this way. At times I still do, it's hard not to feel this way, especially during times like this. Black women are being killed by police, randomly going missing, being sexually assaulted, and of course, they aren't getting justice for any of these things. Don't get me started on the constant discrimination and degrading stereotypes. I'm only 16 and I've sadly gone through some of these experiences. Boys touching me
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when I didn't want them to, grown men creepily staring at me and sometimes following me, inappropriate and rude jokes made about my skin color, my figure, or my race the list goes on. Discrimination is another thing. I've seen black women get discriminated against simply because their skin is darker and in the age of social media we're able to see this more than ever. But, luckily, I'm a part of a generation of change. Those videos of women being discriminated against or abused can now be used to our advantage as a way to educate, bring awareness, and also hold the attacker accountable. My freshman year of high school, my friend told me how a boy that I was actually very close to, was in a way mentally abusing her. I'll admit it, at first, I took what she said with a grain of salt. Then I decided to ask him about it and get his side of the story and everything began to line up. I then confronted him about it and told him how wrong he was. I threatened to tell his mother because at the time I was fairly close to her. He gave a sincere apology to my friend and then cut contact with us, and we haven't heard from him since. I know things won't always be that simple because I've experienced that side of the situation too. The side where things didn't go my way and the attacker didn't feel any remorse or regret for their actions. Or the side where the friend I was helping didn't like the fact that I was helping and 84
told me how I should “stay in my place�. But at least I know I did what I could to help. I will continue to speak up for my friends who are too afraid. On a more global scale I'm very adamant about educating my friends, family members and mutuals on the treatment of black women. I'm very adamant on having everyone sign petitions and do what they can to help. The case of Breonna Taylor being a great example of that. I've also protested against it too, doing my best to be as actively involved as I can. I know the older I get I'll become more capable of helping black women on a broader scale. Maybe one day I'll find a group of black girls who are just as passionate about this as I am and we can then make a group effort to create change, but for right now, I'll do what I can for my sisters. By: Morgan Colbert
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Peer Pressure
Peer pressure is very common in the life of a child or teenager, because they want to try to fit in with the crowd and do not consider the after math of their action. Peer Pressure can drive a person to do things they know is wrong and things they will not normally do in their life. An example of peer pressure is a friend telling you over and over to skip school even after you deny his or her proposal. You finally give in to your friend because you do not want to make them upset or angry at you. As both of you exit the school building you get caught by the principle and you both are suspended from school for skipping. You are now suspended from school for doing something you did not want to do in the first place all because of peer pressure and suspension is on your school record. For the week that you are suspended you miss some school work and test and report cards are posted that Thursday and now your failing two classes and your GPA went down all because of peer pressure. People get peered pressured into some other things like doing drugs, drinking alcohol, Stealing, having sex, and the list can go on. Peer pressure is not a good thing because some of their actions can lead to other things like depression and suicide and sometimes the things you do can stick with you for the rest of 86
your life and haunt you until the day you die. An example would be your friends wants to scare old people and they peered pressured you into it and you scared the old person so bad that he or she had a heart attack and died right in front of you. The decision that you made by being peered pressured had landed you in jail for a second-degree murder. A second- degree murder is when the murder was not intentional but the action that the defendant has done lead to the victim’s murder. All actions have consequences whether you were peered pressured into it or not it was still the action you chose to do. I can shed light on this issue by bringing it up to the school principal and she can bring it up to our county's board of education to find a solution. To eliminate this issue, we should have classes for speaking up. The counselors should be able to make time for students if they say they are getting peered pressured into doing something. By: Kaniesha Mabry
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Untitled
In our academic lives, there are times where we will inevitably make mistakes, have failures or experience disappointment without work. We might also be struggling to learn in general. However, these challenges can improve us in the future and teach you how to better handle issues at school. This applies to me as well especially when it comes to time management. The setback that I experience in school is turning assignments untimely and procrastinating. This caused a lot of unnecessary problems, consequences, and general sense of failure that hurt my self-esteem. I cared about my work, but I really struggled with managing my time. I also had some personal issues that interfered with me being able to concentrate and successfully complete my work. Years down the road I eventually found ways to better manage my time and stay consistent with my work. I learned from this that managing your time is very important. I also learned that managing my time can help me reassess my priorities. This taught me what needed to be done immediately, what needed to be studied, and what could be done overtime, how I should space the work out, how I should complete projects, etc. As time went on, I 88
got better and better and now it is way easier for me. I am still not perfect at managing my time, but it is a huge improvement from where I used to be. Another thing I unexpectedly learned was that it was possible for me to improve. At some point in time I was pretty sure I would probably always procrastinate, always get stuff turned in late, always hate projects, etc. But that simply wasn’t true. I was capable of change and with determination I would be well on my way to getting better. This was further confirmed when my teachers would recognize and praise my improvements and efforts and how I have done better. So long story short, you can change. In conclusion, the challenges of managing my time and scheduling my work has led me to better understand how to prioritize things and do things in a timely manner. It has also helped me find creative ways to prevent or at least reduce any procrastination. This is a personal example of how facing and overcoming these struggles can really prepare us and help us in the future. By: Isaiah Holder-Kieh
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Untitled
I can describe myself as humble and kind. I have realized for a long time now that I always put others first before myself. Never actually knew why, but I always knew that seeing other people happier made me feel better. There was a time where I struggled. Middle school was a very difficult time for me. I was picked on constantly. The bullying got to me and changed me completely. I slowly fell into a depressive state as a result. I am shyer today because I don’t want to expose too much of myself to others to avoid judgment. Luckily, I had a few friends that kept me sane till the end of middle school, but even those that I called friends soon chose to not associate with me as much anymore. This is why today I am a bit more skeptical about developing new friendships to avoid that feeling of being thrown away in the end. Now in high school, I was ready to become a changed person and forget the past. I was so optimistic because I believed that I would be going to a school that was not my feeder school. A school where little to none of my past classmates would attend. Unfortunately, I did not end up going to my school of choice and ultimately had no other choice but to go to my feeder school, where all those at 90
my previous middle school attend. I tried my best to avoid those who did not like me, but that was hard. I had no other choice than to develop thicker skin over the years. I decided to be on my own. Just me and schoolwork. I would sit by myself in class, at lunch, and on the bus. I took more time to think for myself. I cried a lot to help release built-up anger and sadness. I learned that if I am to care for anyone, I must care for myself. I cannot depend on others to fix what was broken. I must try and do it myself. And I will. Even though I have had a couple of ups and downs over the past couple of years. I can say that things were not easy at all. I have not changed completely, and I have no idea when that time will come. I must say that I have gotten much better over time. So, I am pleased with the mindset I have now that keeps me pushing myself further in life. I pray that life continues to fill up with nothing but joy. By: Parisnuela Onyeokoro
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The Struggle Between Teens and Sexuality
What's the first thing you think of when you hear the word “teenager?” Something related to hormones, right? Throughout childhood, children are told that when you become a teenager you will think about sex all the time. The portrayal of teenagers has been tainted by media, the sexual education system and has left many teenagers to feel as if something is wrong with them because of their lack of a sex drive. In media, teenagers are usually shown to be obsessed with sex and if they aren’t they are seen as weird and an outcast. One way media can influence teen behavior is when making movies about high school the main characters are typically sex-obsessed or get to that point in the show where they become that way. Most teens That I know have never even had their first kiss yet. The teen years and young adult years tend to be oversexualized and make many teens feel left behind. The sexual education system in America has always been iffy. Most of the time, the lesson leaves children more confused than knowledgeable. Many teens, such as myself, have to learn from other outside sources like the internet or fanfiction. Sexual education, like most things, is malecentered. While my male counterparts were learning the basic functions of themselves, the girls were taught about both male and female 92
genitalia and how to not get raped. Most boys learn that pleasuring themselves is natural, but girls learn that if they should be ashamed of themselves. When teens do have sex, it tends to be very lackluster for the girl since most sexrelated things are geared towards males. Because of the lack of information given to both girls and boys many girls feel they are not good enough if they are unable to please a man. On the other hand, many boys do not know how to make a woman feel good, so this results in a lot of confusion and frustration when it comes time to actually do something. You might think that it's just a onetime thing, but it is in fact, a thing that can happen for the rest of someone's life. Because of the lack of knowledge teens have about sex and what they know about themselves lots of teens think they are asexual. Asexual is described as the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity. When I first learned of the term, I was confused but intrigued. This is a sexuality that is lesserknown within the lgbt+ community. While this may be the case for some people it certainly isn't for others. A lot of teenagers think they are ace because of the stereotypes made by the media and the things we aren't taught in school. Having a sex drive is so romanticized by society that it seems like if you aren't looking for it all the time 93
something is wrong with you and you aren't a real teenager. As a teen myself I’ve come to learn that some teens like sex a little bit more than others. Not every teen is gonna be “a raging ball of hormones” as much as they are described to be. By: Amina Brooks
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Untitled
Many times, throughout our lifetimes, do we find ourselves encountering obstacles, setbacks, and mistakes. Mistakes are a part of our evolution, nobody is perfect and that concept keeps the world moving. It is what we do with those obstacles and mistakes that enable us to learn and reflect as a people, which ultimately leads to growth as an individual. I can recall many times where I was placed in a situation where I needed to overcome an obstacle or set back. During the second semester of my last academic school year, we were assigned digital schooling due to the increasing danger of the current epidemic. This new form of education was very challenging for me, it was hard to stay motivated, focused, and learn. I found myself struggling to complete my work and learn what I was required to learn. I already have poor time management skills, combine that with a lack of motivation and I was really struggling to complete the work assigned to me. I had to quickly adapt to my new scenario, or I would fail the semester. In the end I was cramming to finish all my missing assignments and also had many finals to complete in my classes. The only thing I could say for certain was that failing was out of the picture. Ultimately, I did complete everything I needed to in order to pass, but it was quite challenging, and that's without making me needlessly harder than 95
me. Now that I think of it, I'm glad things went the way they did. I was very lucky to pass the semester and with good grades and, overall, it was a much needed learning experience for me. I learned that time needs to be used effectively and efficiently, and that there will be challenging situations that I will find myself in all throughout my life and I need to be able to react and adapt to them. Thankfully I will be able to enroll into school again, with lots of caution of course. All in all, the struggle I faced with online schooling was a tedious but necessary one to overcome and I am glad I was able to. By: Thomas Granda
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College Essay
A time where I encountered a challenge would be in my 9th grade year of high school. I was just starting my first year in high school, so I was normally around my friends from middle school. There was this boy I knew from 7th grade that I used to date and well he started to hang around my friends and I more. I was ok with that because I didn’t have anything against him. We would all talk to each other in lunch, eat and make jokes, everything was cool. I had about maybe 2 classes with this boy and well he started to mess with me way more than usual, so my friends started to suspect that he liked me. I didn’t really pay attention to it much because he was most likely just playful and just enjoyed messing with me like he does with everybody else. After maybe about a few months of sharing classes and lunch with him, I started to believe that maybe my friends were right. So, a little time after in January I didn’t really think about him too much and well I made a post on my Instagram. I guess the boy thought that the post was about him when it was never about anyone, I was speaking in general and he took offense to it. Later I see pictures of my eye posted on his Instagram story and page talking about my eye and my looks. I was born with ptosis and had surgery done when I was very young, but it is still noticeable. He proceeded to take 97
screenshots of videos and pictures of me that I posted on my page and began talking about my looks with disgusted emojis and hurtful words as the caption. I told him to take them down and he blocked me so then my best friend at the time saw them and told him to take it down and he eventually did. He continued to talk about me in group chats and constantly acting shady towards me at school. I went home early that day, it was too much for me. He insisted that I was talking about him even though my friends told him that I wasn’t. It was hard because a month later in February around Valentines of 2018 my best friend just stopped hanging around me with no explanation and began hanging out with the boy. She didn’t answer my messages, my calls, and refused to speak to me in person. I couldn’t even walk down the hallways without someone pointing out that I was the girl that he was talking about on his page. My A’s and B’s began to drop because I had a hard time focusing on the work after being bullied and still was for a while. I had to constantly see my ex best friend and him and it took a big load of my energy. I had a few friends supporting me and being there but for the most part I went through this struggle alone. I cried many times for hours when I thought about everything that happened to me over just a course of a few months. I slowly began to distance myself more than usual and tried to focus more on school and myself. I tried many 98
months to bring my self-esteem back up, it was a big challenge because I constantly thought about what people thought about me. I was in constant paranoia that those pictures he sent of me in the group chat would be exposed by other people. I had a hard time making friends after that, I didn’t have the energy to try to my best abilities. As I am already an antisocial person, being alone majority of the time wasn’t out of the norm, but I began to seethe with anger from him and my ex best friend because they betrayed me. I learned who my real friends were, and she was not one of them. I learned that I can’t listen nor care about what anybody has to say because I have value whether I was born differently or not. At the time of going through this situation I felt weak, defeated, and vulnerable, but as time went by I learned that I was very strong to go through this challenge and because of it I have learned to love myself just the way that I am. To forgive the people who hurt me, not for their benefit, but to allow myself to grow and let go of the anger and pain that they caused me. My first year of high school was one of the worst because it was hard doing normal things such as making friends, playing sports, and focusing on schoolwork. Cyberbullying and bullying itself is a very serious matter and I am glad that I was able to survive and grow from it. 99
“The Times We Live In”
What are some of the biggest corruptions in today’s society? Could it be political issues, drug trafficking, or something bigger? Well, social media plays a significant role into today’s society and has various users of all different ages. Social media has affected numerous people in the past 2 decades, from accounts of cyberbullying, explicit content, self-esteem issues, misinformation, exposure to predators… Social media has become the daily routine and usages of billions of people around the world and there has not been much limits or precautions on social media to prevent these disastrous results. Social media is detrimental to society because it has countless pessimistic concepts streaming from one or more outlets and has multitudinously powerful leading impacts for the users who utilize it. One way that social media affects the lives of individuals is through bullying and not just physical bullying but cyberbullying, when an individual harasses a person mentally and emotionally on a social platform. “Seventeen studies described the prevalence of cyberbullying and/or exposure to cyberbullying. Across 19 measures of cyberbullying, the median percentage of respondents who reported having been bullied online was 23.0% (interquartile range, 11.0%100
42.6%; range, 4.8%-73.5%) (Hamm, pg 3).� This study even states that increases in internet use were associated with a higher frequency of both exposure to cyberbullying and perpetration of cyberbullying. Many different speculations are made to how a person comes up with suicidal ideas. “A recent meta-analysis found that, compared with traditional bullying, cyberbullying was more strongly associated with suicidal ideation, although there were insufficient data to evaluate its relationship with suicide attempts� ( Hamm, pg 2).This can conclude that there have been cases of cyberbullying where the bully or bullies themselves have targeted the recipient with name-calling, racial slurs, spreading rumors, wishing death or harm towards the recipient, which can lead to the targeted person to find ways in suicide attempts. Cyberbullying can influence a person or the people around them at risk of harm or worse. Social media affects society also from the explicit contents that are posted by individuals on social platforms such as (i.e. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) and at times there are not many sensors or warnings for the viewer watching the content. Kids and teens use social platforms as well and being exposed to sexual content, nudity, rape, gore, and violence can have some negative effects. 101
“Regardless of type, degree, and purpose concern about sexual content in the media, sexist and/or sexually explicit depictions, has generally been about the possible impact they may have on the attitudes and behaviors of male viewers ”(Yao, pg 3). This can lead to lack of concentration, fatigue, pornography addiction, behavioral changes and issues. Especially children and teens because their brains are still developing, and it could have some serious impacts on them and during their daily routines at home and even at school. There are no sensors or warnings on every post, website, or link to advise the person that there are mature themes and explicit content which could lead to children and teens watching it. Self-esteem issues have a big impact on society on social media because it makes individuals who surf social platforms compare themselves to another individual who has positive characteristics and makes oneself feel deficient correlated to that individual. Although ascensive comparison can be advantageous when it can stimulate people to become similar to the comparison targets, “it more causes people to feel inadequate, have poorer selfevaluations, and experience negative effects” (Vogle, pg 2). This indicates that people compare themselves to other individuals and majority of the time instead of being positive about oneself they degrade and think negatively on their own flaws 102
and characteristics which can result in low selfesteem. Another way that social media influences low self-esteem is through broken relationships. There are frequent occasions of infidelity through social platforms and this can result in low self-esteem issues for the victim. “Only a small percentage of married/cohabiting couples reported engaging in social media infidelity-related behaviors on social media was significantly related to lower relationship satisfaction, higher relation ambivalence, and greater attachment avoidance and anxiety in both women and men”(McDaniel, pg 2). This study can conclude that with many different people on a social platform, it can increase in cheating if there are multiple problems in the relationship. Problems in relationships can influence infidelity and being a victim of cheating can result in trust issues, low self-esteem, and isolation. Misinformation is a big thing on social platforms because when there are trends, gossip, or news it could be a hoax, or not fully accurate. “Using text analysis based on time series, we found that while false rumors tend to come back multiple times after the initial publication, true rumors do not” (Shin, pg 1). This can conclude that false information is more likely to come back again which can lead to inaccurate details or advice. False 103
rumors being spread can affect people who have to write essays or books because they will need a valid source to prove their points. “Rumor resurgence continues, often accompanying textual changes, until the tension around the target dissolves” (Shin, pg 1). This study states that after rumors are continually brought back up consistently, there are slight differences in the details of a rumor. Rumors are often stories or news that have been altered to seem real but are actually false information. Exposure to predators can also happen very easily on social platforms, especially (i.e. Dating websites, Facebook, and Instagram) Online pedophile activity has increased on social platforms over the years as the internet access is more available to all users. One form of online child exploitation is child grooming, where adults and minors exchange sexual content and messages via social media platforms. “Such behavior involves a number of stages performed by a predator with the final goal of approaching a victim in person” (Cano, page 1). Predators can pretend and catfish as a person on a social platform to lure people into dangerous situations such as kidnapping, or murders. People have to be cautious of who they talk to or share things with because it could be a 104
predator.“ As of March 2014, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), reported that I) 12% of 11-16-year old's in the UK have received unwanted sexual messages; and II) 8% of 11-16-year old's in the UK have received requests to send or respond to a sexual message�(Cano, pg 1). Based on this study there can be many predator's catfishing to lure children to give out personal information and lead minors into sex trafficking or kidnapping. Minors and even adults have to be cautious of who they speak to on the internet, what information they give, and who they intend to meet in person through social platforms. Although social media has many disadvantages, there are abundant ways that it helps the community. Social media allows connection to family and friends, learning, and production of businesses. Social platforms are all across the internet to help families and friends keep in touch whether they are near or far, it allows an easy access to stay in touch with a family member or friend through platforms such as (i.e. Skype, Facebook, and Instagram). There are plenty of websites that offer tutoring, education, and more. Websites such as (i.e. Tutorsbox, Khan Academy, and IXL) offers lessons and games to gain knowledge or to give insight on subjects and news to others. Access to the internet helps children 105
and even adults learn through an online platform effortlessly. Creating businesses on social media can increase in omnipresence. People have conducted their businesses on the internet such as creating their own websites, using Instagram, Facebook, and etc. This makes shopping easier and more efficient, especially with big companies that established a website so people can shop from the comfort of their own homes, such as, (i.e. Walmart, Target, and Amazon). Social media has various ways of making things more accessible and productive. According to the studies social media has many influences on society and has multiple effects on the people who use it. It may be said that social media is utilized by billions of people and is an effective form of technology, it plays a big role in how society functions and how it is structured today. Social platforms have its advantages and disadvantages but not much is being done for the disadvantages. There is a great deal to finalize in fixing the problems and negative effects social media has on society. By: Nahjah Phillips
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Reviving Myself
Each and every person on this earth has had a moment when they make mistakes and sometimes it even makes them distraught or hurt. I myself have made multiple mistakes in life even at this young of an age, but once I realize that I have encountered a problem or mistake in life I try my best not to harm myself with all of the negativity. Instead, I learn from it. Even if I take a long time to learn from the mistake, I still try my best to take a lesson away from the situation. An example would be the time that I encountered a challenge in my life so far that has been the toughest. Daily, I would not be in a good mental state meaning that I was repeatedly and constantly having mental breakdowns dealing with depression and constant mental verbal abuse. At the age of 13 years old, I had experienced hearing voices and visualizing non-existent things. This for me was a hard challenge to face and beat because I had never experienced such a thing. This really negatively impacted me by making me not be able to think with a clear mind. I also had to experience trying out different medications which caused me to not be able to properly control my body. At that point in life I just wanted to give up on life and I had no hope that I had a purpose for 107
living. Every day I would hope to die. Even though the majority of the time I felt like giving up, I also felt that I still had a chance in life. I continued to seek help from doctors and my mental institute guardians, also my father. I continued to inform and tell as much as possible to get the right medication for me. This helped me learn to never give up even in the worst situations. It taught me that I am not alone in this world and that putting in effort makes a difference even if it is not a quick difference being made. I now enjoy my life and continue to seek better medication for myself. I am very grateful for this situation that was challenging because I have learned so much from it and it still affects me until this day. By: Brah’e Greene
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Challenge and Adversity
Depression is an issue faced by many adults and teenagers throughout the world. While it is often not taken as seriously as it truly is, depression is able to cause a litany of issues within a person. To be clear, I was not diagnosed with depression, however, there was a period of time where my energy was close to nonexistent, I did not care much for my work, and I had thoughts of taking my own life. Through this time, I was taking classes at a community college and had a lot of work to complete. My friends were not there to help me, I could not talk to my parents about it, it felt like I was truly alone. However, I continued to work, I continued to live. I had given up on myself but I had not given up on my dream to provide my parents with a house, I did not want to rob them of the chance of seeing their only son graduate and get married. I wanted to provide a better life for my parents due to the life that they provided for me regardless of having me at the age of 17. I struggled a lot with my motivation and will to get up in the morning. I struggled to control my emotions and to not breakdown. Through all of that, I proved that my drive to succeed is more powerful than anything else. Once my mind is set on something, I accomplish it, no matter how difficult or how long it takes. I finished that semester with mostly A’s and two B’s in every class 109
and with newfound self-esteem. I maintained grades that are acceptable while struggling with my mental health, alone. I could not talk to anyone, I helped myself, I accomplished what I wanted on my own. The feeling of hopelessness is something that still attacks me to this day. I often do not have much energy and I am apathetic when it comes to many things. However, while this is true, I also do not give up easily, my willpower drives me when my thoughts tell me to give up and lay down. I am doing so much better than I was then, and all I can attribute that to is myself. My ability to persevere and my stubbornness when it comes to refusing to settle for anything less than great. I conquered my own feelings, when in the dark when everything felt pointless, I strived regardless, and for that, I can conquer anything. By: Da’Jay Barrett
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Resilience Personified
Growing up in a mostly traditional African household, my parents had always expected me to persevere in anything that I did, no matter how hard. In a way, they shaped and molded the majority of the skills that I have mastered today. One instance where I know I faced a challenge in my life was when my mom got really sick during my freshman year of high school. She had to be hospitalized for a month or two and no one could figure out what was wrong. During that time, I had to kind of become a little bit more mature. I had to not only maintain my 4.0 gpa and my daily afternoon clubs and activities, but also wake up a little earlier to feed and get my siblings ready for school then make sure they were never late. When I came home, I had to help them with homework after I got home after school. I had to kind of assume the position that my mom had left while still trying to be a normal high schooler. While my dad was doing everything, he needed to do to make sure my sisters and I were comfortable, he was still busy trying to make sure my mom was doing good. When that happened, it forced me to balance everything I was doing. During that time, I felt overwhelmed and like I would never get through it. Most nights consisted of me worrying that my mom wasn’t going to get better and the chance that my grades would slip. In spite of all the doubts, when 111
the end of the year came, I had the highest grade in my algebra, literature, and biology classes, had won the principal's list award, and awarded with an excellence in math and science courses. The sheer amount of doubt and the success that I accumulated that year taught me exactly how strong I was and re-enforce that idea that my parents had already beaten into my head for so long. I could overcome anything no matter how hard! It was hard but my thirst for success greatly outweighed any setbacks I faced. By: Gretta Nijimbere
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Short Stories Looking to Escape Sorrow
“The war had changed many, many things. The war had not been humble to the world as it oozed through all corners of the world spreading its darkness and destruction throughout reality. No one suspected this tragedy to happen, only a few years ago society was thriving, and happiness was not as rare as it was now, a lot of changes in a few years as shown through all of history. However, with history you can at least see the ending of wars, atrocities, and disputes, but right now there was no definite end to this suffering, no hope that this horrible period in time would end. There is only one thing that I can look forward to now, for a slight beacon of light in these trying times�. These are the things that Marco thought as he drove down a secluded road, he is getting closer to where he wants to be. As he drove down the empty road, seeing nothing but a frozen forest, Marco could think about nothing but the warmth of the past, the hearth of his old home, his old life. He was attempting to bring back some of that heat from the past, something different than his cold, cruel, 113
and unforgiving surroundings. He knew that this interaction with the past would not change his situation or even help him cope with his lack of being in his soul, But it was something to have hope for, which doesn't come often in this world. All Marco did was think, because that's all he could do, it was something his scenario couldn't take from him, the only thing his scenario couldn't take from him. Marco would often stare aimlessly into what seemed like a void, he looked entranced in the thoughts of his mind and asked himself one recurring question. “why?”, he thought, over and over again. He swerved on the road as he regained his awareness and focus. He was approaching his destination, approaching what was giving him his sliver of hope. As he passed the empty ruins, he thought of the buildings that should be in their place. Marco could barely recognize the setting that meant he was near his home, near a sense of total security. He felt like weeping at the sight of a wasteland that no longer has meaning as it did in the past, but he pushed on. He told himself that his tears would mean nothing now. Marco thought of that question again, “why?”, he thought to himself. Marco could barely take in the destruction of his hometown, “what will happen when I reach my final destination”, he thought. He tried to imagine that his home would be pristine, untouched, or intact at 114
the very least. He would usually stop himself from day- dreaming or thinking irrationally, but he no longer cared, he knew it wouldn't matter, so he allowed himself to have a moment of optimism. After driving for a few more minutes threw the deserted and frozen ruins, he was one turn away from his last sense of security, creativity, happiness, and anything that you would find in an innocent child. As he turned the corner, he attempted to brace himself for what he might see of his past, if he were to see anything at all. He exited the vehicle with a single round in his artifact of atrocities, as he thought of it. It was a firearm of course, but he never saw it that way. He then stood in front of his home. It was not completely destroyed, but it was not in any way hospitable. Marco looked at the holes through the roof and walls of the structure, trying to picture his house still whole to no avail. He entered his once warming home through the door frame, despite the massive holes at the front of the house. Marco walked through all the ruble and glass that was on the floor as he explored his only home. He thought of the family that used to live here and all the good memories that were created. He made his way towards one spot in particular. There it was, the piano that his mother had played for him when he was just a small, innocent, child. He could vividly remember his mother playing 115
wonderful melodies for him and teaching him how to replicate those same melodies. He sat down in a chair next to the piano, Marco was no longer a small boy, but a grown man with long, curly hair. He was going to attempt and play a note on the piano. As he struck the keys on the keyboard, he could vividly see his family and clearly hear the pleasant noises of the piano. He enjoyed this brief moment of hearth. He opened his eyes to realize that the piano did not work, and he was still alone. Marco walked through the corridors of his only home, he seemed entranced as if he were still daydreaming. He walked outside and looked at his home. He could no longer pretend or imagine that the structure he was looking at was more than a sad excuse for a building. With no more selfdeception ahead, now there was nothing that will ever provide him joy, there was only one thing left to do. There was a clutter by the birds nearby and then, nothing. By: Thomas Granda
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Clunky Clothes in the Summer
There was no reason she had to wear clunky clothes in the summer. Especially since it didn’t even stop men from uncomfortably gazing. It was embarrassing walking out in obviously uncomfortable and tacky clothes. It was embarrassing coming home and her body was drenched in sweat from the heat and anxiousness, and those things were getting worse. Not only the heat and gazes but most importantly her anxiety would not stop increasing. The more men that approached her the more she felt unsafe in public. She realized the things they would say to her were not only to justify their attraction towards a minor, but also to entice her with independence, always reminding her of her “exceptional maturity” which she desperately did not want to be reminded of. Her body never really meant much to her, yet it did to everyone else. The way it gravitated people’s attention towards her, the way it attracted the foul mouths of men, and most importantly what this all made her feel about herself. She had to carry herself with the upmost modesty and wear clunky clothes just to feel comfortable. But she soon knew in reality it never really stopped them. God forbids she puts any strut in her step, to walk around like she has any hint of confidence, because they’d tear that down. 117
Every man’s possessiveness when it came to her body, how they felt the need to ignore the person it’s attached to just to quell their egos, all just became so overwhelming and dehumanizing.. To know that your emotions and individuality will be trampled by most people in exchange for their pleasure was so disheartening. There was no reason they couldn’t treat her like a human being with human emotions, it’s basic human decency. There’s no reason people just accept this type of treatment. There’s no reason why she has to wear clunky clothes in the summer. By: Trenton Jerome Ellis
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The Lonely Forgiveness
In a town where everyone knows each other, is a small town in the east of Malid, Tortus. “But WAIT this child never knew her parents MR. and it was never her fault to be left in a pit” “I know Missie but all we can do for now is let her stay in child’s care” “But Mr. ...” ‘NO BUTS” *6 YEARS LATER* Children were playing and laughing except for Monet Beckum. She sat there with her pig tails drawing and painting on the concrete floor, when she will run out of space she will continue onto the walls of the Children’s Center, and that will get her into big trouble. The Children’s Center happens to be home to kids with one to take care of them but the people who work there. “Heyyyy Monet why don’t you ever play with Us “, Lorell asked. “Because I like colors, and to have more colors I draw”, Monet responded. “Lorell why don’t you leave the weird one alone. Be with us”, Shouted someone from across the room. Lorell has been the new girl for 2 weeks and had never seen anyone who doesn’t like to play. 119
“No, I want to play with Monet”, Lorell shouted back. “ “Can I play with you; I like colors to.” Lorell sat down with Monet and they drew a picture together and from there began a new friendship. *11 more years later * Over time the children that Monet grew up and left with their new family while Monet drew and drew. She wondered what will happened to her, she kept wondering and wondering.
One day when Monet and Lorell was drawing, they noticed there was something strange in the town. People started to be distant more and more. They one day heard old Missie talking about a pandemic, and that the town governor is placing everyone on lockdown. “You hear that Monet, we are going to be left on lock down”, Lorrel whispered. “Yes, I see.” Later, that day Lorell was called upfront to the main center office. Lorell came back with a big smile on her face. Monet was curious but decides to mind her business instead. 120
The next day she went to go look for loreal in the building, but she was nowhere to be found. Monet looked everywhere and even ask some other children but Lorell was nowhere to be found. She then asked Missie. “Sorry Hun, but Lorell has been taken by a family and she is now in a new home”, Missie explained. Monet looked down towards her feet and said, “But she didn’t be say goodbye.” Hearing that broke Missie’s heart because she knew from the moment, he has been taking care of her, Monet has lost another someone. Monet walked away sadly murmuring a thanks to Missie and went to bed. She was broken that day. The one person she knew, the one person that wanted to be her friend and up and left without a goodbye. *10 Years later* It was 5 days before Christmas and now Monet has her home and living the life of a lonely 36 year. Monet Beckum was known as the lonely Monk in the village now. She keeps to herself because of her pass. The only who had really cared for had died 4 years ago. Missie will never be forgotten in her heart. Monet never knew how much pain she kept in her heart. No one knew her personally, no one wanted to be friends or neighbors with her, in fact her two neighbors moved 2 blocks down to not be 121
near her. Monet was never grumpy or mean. She just wishes to be left alone in her thoughts. The next day Monet had to go to the market for she has barely anything to eat for the night. The streets were now filled with lights and decoration. As Monet walks she notice the laughter form families and joy filled in the air and now she wishes she had that from the beginning but everything happens for a reason they say so she kept on walking by in her thoughts as usual. “Monet is that you?”, a stranger asked making Monet lose her train of thought. “huh”, Monet turned in the direction of her name being called. “it is you, my gosh, how long has it been?” “I’m sorry, do I know you?”, Monet asked curiously staring her up and down. The stranger notice she was staring at her up and down and said, “It’s me, Lorell, don’t you remember?” Monet stared and stared until it hit her, all those years, all that pain she left her. “Lorell…”, She whispered. “why?”, asked Monet. “WHYYYYYY”, “why didn’t you ever say goodbye?”, she asked. “I am …. I am SOOO SOOO sorry Monet, I was just so happy at the moment. Can you please forgive me?”, Lorell begged. Monet ran without giving her answer. *3 years later* 122
Monet is still left in her thought, after that day with her encounter with Lorell she cried, she cried for the first time in years. She cried for when her parents left, for her lost friend, because she felt lonely, she felt hurt for all the pain they caused yet they ask for forgiveness. She doesn’t understand yet not more than ever she regrets not talking to Lorell, not forgiving her, because she still has this pain in her heart. By: Christiana Ilori
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“Karma Doesn’t Skip Anybody”
The pain you keep giving someone will eventually turn around and come as your pain. You can’t indulge in the suffering of others and not expect your suffering in the next turn. These two phrases explain that everybody will get their pain for the wrong they have done. Consistent, unfavorable treatment towards a person can lead to the final destination of a sadist. Zora Neal Hurston’s short story, “Sweat” reaches to teach the audience a lesson on how you treat people. This story takes place in Florida and Delia Jones is a washerwoman who works long hours of the day. She is married to Sykes, he abusive, insecure, sadistic husband of 15 years. She takes most of his behavior and slowly becomes filled with rage from Sykes treatment towards her. He treats her with little respect and does whatever he pleases. One day Sykes scares Delia with a snake in her laundry basket to poison her because he knows about her huge fear of snakes, yet he ends up being the one to become poisoned from the snake and Delia watches him struggle for help and she refuses to aid him.. First off we began with the emotional abuse that Sykes does to Delia. Delia could be doing her washing as usual while Sykes would come home and bother her to intentionally start an argument. The story claims that after scaring Delia with his whip 124
by pretending it was a snake he comments with “Course Ah knowed it! That’s how come Ah done it.” (Hurston 1) While laughing at Delia in fear of her thinking she was encountering a snake. “If you such a big fool dat you got to have a fit over a earth worm or a string, Ah don’t keer how bad Ah skeer you.”( Hurston 1) He clearly knows about her fear of snakes and doesn’t care about her feelings and intentionally scares her for his own humor. He then tries to compare his whip to an earthworm and a string to make her feel bad for overreacting. This is obvious bullying towards her, and he takes it to another level by abusing his power by consistently doing things to Delia. Delia, tired of the constant physical, emotional, and mental pain that Sykes inflicts on her, stirs up deep feelings of hatred and anger towards Sykes. He speaks down on her figure and constantly talks about how skinny she is. For example, Sykes says No how he wouldn’t risk breakin’ out his fangs ‘gin yo’ skinny legs. He mentally brings Delia down talking about how small she is and how skinny parts of her body was. He physically began to beat Delia just two months after their wedding and has continued to do so for fifteen years. He tries to be controlling by talking down on her and making Delia fear him to keep her insecure enough to stay. He has a mistress called Bertha and even though he isn’t working he pays her rent and has an affair with her. Delia begins to hate Sykes and their 125
marriage more and more throughout the story. In the story Delia says to herself, “Og well, whatever goes over the Devil’s back, is got to come under his belly. Sometime or ruther, Sykes, like everybody else, is gointer reap his sowing (Hurston 2). This shows that Delian knows that all of Sykes delinquency will catch up with him sooner or later and that “Karma Skips Nobody”. All of these things lead to Delia becoming fed up with Sykes and all that abuse he does towards her that leads her into leaving him to fend for his own when the snake poisons him. In the short story “Sweat’ by Zora Neale Hurston the snake represents a symbol for karma and Sykes transgression leading to his demise. Not all marriages work and sometimes they can run its course but in other cases it was just never meant to be. Delia’s realization that her and Sykes not being meant for each other came too late. As for Sykes, he finally discovers the true meaning of karma and is left in a slow and painful death as he watches the wife, he had broken watch him take his last breath. He realizes that Delia’s love for him has diminished over the years and she was no longer the sweet angel that took his wickedness. By: Nahjah Phillips
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Reaping Reapers
The world has changed so much..
“Kier come help me with these plates!”
I wonder what it was like in the past.. “Kier!”
Guns are obsolete now, not to mention illegal. The world has become an entirely different place since The Collision. Eight-eight years ago, an unknown mass of, god knows what, wiped ever the planet and changed the way we live altogether. It was so mysterious that people didn’t even realize it happened until the first Reaper appeared. Not long after that, people began to change, developing physical abilities beyond what anyone had ever seen, and the next generations were giants. Six foot five became the average height for men, and six feet became average for women. Many of them even developed abilities that defy logic. Pyrokinesis, telekinesis, healing, cytokinesis, and strength, the most common one. They weren’t so much as “superpowers” as they were survival adaptations. You couldn’t uproot a building but you could lift a truck if you don’t mind a little nosebleed. In this world, abilities mean everything, so why am I the only one without them… “Kier I swear to God if you don’t get in here right now-” “I’m coming”, I shouted back. “What is it?” 127
“I need your help with this, table five, twelve, sixteen have been waiting for their food for 20 mins. Get these plates to them.” “Yes ma’am.” “Now!” “Hi, sorry for the wait”, I said with a welcoming smile. Later on, that night after the restaurant closed, my mom came to talk to me in my room above the restaurant. “Hey Killer, something seemed off with you today”, she said with a worried look on her face. “Are you thinking about dad again?” “No, mom I’m fine”, I reassured her, but she always knows when I’m lying so I don’t know why I even tried. “Don’t lie to me, tell me what’s up”, she demanded. “Oh, It’s your ability isn’t it” “My lack of ability..”, I mumbled. “Killer, I-” BOOM! There was a huge explosion outside. I look outside the window and the whole street is on fire. Almost all the buildings are destroyed. I stared out the window for a moment in shock, then ran outside to go help the people and bring them inside. My mom grabbed my arm to stop me. “Wait!” she begged. “I can’t, I have to go help them, I have to be able to do something..”, I said with a glint of determination in my eyes. Knowing she couldn’t stop 128
me, she gave me her only keepsake, a blue crystal necklace, the same color as my eyes. “You’re the only one who doesn’t think you’re good enough..”, she sighed. “Go!” I raced outside and yelled, “Everyone get inside, now! Go!” That’s when I saw it. The huge Reaper, larger than any we’ve ever recorded. It was thirteen feet tall, skin made of rock, and veins of lava and coming right for me like a truck. I managed to dodge out of the way just in time. But it wasn’t long until it was charging back at me, and this time I couldn’t dodge. I was hit so hard the air was knocked out of me. I kneeled coughing up blood.
Damn it! I feel so useless! Why can’t I do anything! What does it matter being the fastest and the smartest if I can’t do anything with it! If I had an ability, any ability, maybe I could… I could.. Screw this! I ripped off the necklace my mom gave me and threw it at the Reaper, but then a memory hit me, just before the Reaper could.
You don’t need an ability to be great… You’re the only one who doesn’t believe in yourself… Get up! This whole time I was worried about what I should have and trying to compensate instead of accepting what I can. I may not be able to do what everyone else can… but I can do better! I rolled out of the way and hopped onto my feet before the Reaper could crush me. I looked around 129
for anything I could use. The fire hydrant! I dashed over the fire hydrant and tricked the Reaper into destroying it. Steam exploded everywhere and the beast bellowed in pain. Before it could escape the stream of water, I stabbed it behind the knee with as much force as I could muster with a sharp piece of debris. The Reaper fell and I jumped onto it’s back, my shoes screeching from the heat, and stabbed in its head. The Reapers lights went dark, and I stood there triumphantly. The militia had arrived and cleaned up the mess, and I told them what happened, witnesses verified. Later on, the city granted me a medal of valor, and I went home to check on the shop. Five years pass. I decided to join the militia. I’ve climbed up to the rank of “Adet”, the highest rank achievable, and I gave the orders. Some look down on me because I’m weaker than them, but I know my strength and I own it. By: Da’Jay Barrett
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Word Pop
I was so late for work that I had to rush out of the house. I grabbed my keys and headed to my car. All of a sudden, I
heard someone
scream help from two houses away from me, so I ran over there and hid behind a bush, Next thing I know a man walked out the house carrying a big black garbage bag. He was wearing a white tee
covered in blueberries parried with some khaki shorts and sandals. I knew all my neighbors and he was not one of them, as he walked to his car, he looked very familiar like the Hype man from the lil baby concert I went to last night. He opens the trunk and put the bag in there and looked around like he was afraid someone was watching him;
What the hell. I called the police ‘’Hello this is the police what is the problem’’ said the operator ‘’ There is a strange man putting a body like bag in their truck please come quick. The address is
1975 main street’’. When I got off the phone the man was looking at me with anger in his eyes, so I got up and started running towards my car but it was too late the man caught me then my
alarm
went off it was all a dream. By: Kaniesha Mabry 131
Sleazy Behavior
The infamous drug lord Sleazy was well known around New York and its drug trafficking scene. He was the king of cargo. Well known for smuggling, selling, and producing drugs to the lowlifes and even more so the upper class of New York. He was filthy rich, druggies respected and loved him, but policemen absolutely hated him. They wanted him not only in the jail cell but under it. Sleazy of course couldn't do all of this on his own though. There's no way someone could build a drug empire on their own with no help. He had goons who were also well known but Sleazy tended to not give them the credit they deserved. They felt as if without them Sleazy wouldn't be anywhere near as successful as he was, but Sleazy felt the opposite. He felt like there was most definitely an ¨I¨ in team, and because he was the face and the most well- known, he would take most of the credit. Well that sleazy mentality of his would be his downfall. On May 8th, 2001 a mass shooting erupted in a warehouse in the slums of New York. No one knew why, but everyone knew that that warehouse was Sleazy territory; it had to be something with him. Police officers were sent to the warehouse, one of those officers being me. The warehouse was destroyed, bullet holes were everywhere but no one was to be found, or so we thought. When we got deeper into the warehouse 132
there, we saw Sleazy. He was in a chair, bullet holes impaling him everywhere. He was for sure dead, no question. We were shocked, I mean who wouldn't be. Our biggest drug lord was dead, just like that and no one knew why or how or who even did it. The only one left was sleazy, and we of course couldn't question him. We worked on the case for months, but we couldn't find anything. Whoever pulled it off covered their tracks the best way possible. We eventually closed the case leaving it unsolved. It wasn't until the winter of 2003 when someone came forth. It was one of the well-known goons. He went by the name Slick and was known as one of the smartest people part of Sleazy’s whole operation. Well, slick came to us while on his deathbed. He was dying and wanted to come clean. He told the story on how Sleazy had lost it. Now sleazy was never really a humble guy but that day became completely full of himself totally forgetting about the ones who helped him up in the first place. He went on a trip saying he didn't need them, how they were all useless and that he could've done everything better by himself. Also, that he would have them all killed so he could truly have everything to himself like he intended. He actually shot someone (one of his goons) the day he said all that, he didn't die but was wounded and that set all the goons off. They decided to go against Sleazy. Kill him before he could kill them typa´ thing. They lured him into the 133
warehouse on May 8th, saying they had a big shipment that they needed Sleazy to look at. At the time Sleazy was of course on his high horse saying how stupid the goons were that they couldn’t even handle a simple package. Those words would be his last because as soon as Sleazy was distracted with the ¨package¨ he was shot in the head, the shots didn't cease till the clip was empty. Slick would know because he was the shooter. He was left to be the top dog. His reign was cut short due to his death two years later. But If sleazy wasn't so self-centered and egocentric he would probably still be alive to see another day or ya know in a jail cell, but most definitely not a casket. By: Morgan Colbert
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A Twist of Faith- Short Story
I remember this day like it was yesterday. The day I went back to my past and ultimately changed my future. I woke up to the sound of my alarm on a bright summer day. The sky was clear with no cloud in sight. The trees outside my window were bursting with life. Even the flowers that were nestled in my garden gently danced while the wind blew softly. Last but not least, I remember waking up to the face of the love of my life. I met him at the bowling alley the summer after I graduated from college. From the first time we met, we always had this spark that overtime transformed into love. Kelvin was 5’9, with brown eyes, and curly hair. He was incredibly handsome, intelligent, and goofy. Who would have thought, a moment’s decision would have taken him away. As per usual, I woke up and went downstairs to make our favorite breakfast. Breakfast burritos. As I sat our breakfast down, I heard the ring of our doorbell. I wiped my hands and opened the door only to see a golden key next to a note. I looked left and right only to see no one in sight. I remember the note saying “This is the chance of a lifetime to right the wrong you’ve wanted to clear a thousand times. To activate the key that opens the door, you have to repeat the words below”. A wrong that I committed is what I long to change so open the door so that it can be arranged. I said the words 135
and a white and gold door appeared. I put the key in the lock and opened the door only to look around and be amazed as to where I was. After the initial shock wore off, I noticed that the day I was in was October 18, 2024. This is the morning that I chose to abort my baby. I looked down and saw the paperwork I needed at the hospital. This is what I always regretted. No one knew. Not my friends. Not my Parents. Not my siblings. No one! I tore the paperwork that was in my hands and 9 months later, my baby Leigh was born. She looked like the perfect mix between me and her father, who unfortunately wanted nothing to do with her. I had long forgotten about the key and the door but on this particular day I remembered that it was when I met my husband. I freshened up, dropped Leigh off at my mom’s, and made my way to the bowling alley. I had gotten there a little bit late and immediately asked the friend who introduced us where he was. With a small frown on his face he told me that Kelvin had died in a car accident 9 months prior. With absolute shock I immediately left, went home, and cried for what seemed like forever. The key and letter that I had received were sitting in my jewelry box. I picked up the key and almost immediately start remembering all the memories I had with Kelvin. With more tears in my eyes, I read a sentence that almost killed me. “Grief itself cannot be changed, but for the love of one, you’ll give up another. Beware of the price 136
you’re willing to pay because in the end, you’ll end up paying the same” By: Gretta Nijimbere
137
Untitled
"Okay everyone, have a nice day!", my teacher says. I say see you next week! He said," maybe not". "Why?" I ask. Due to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus, the school and others may be closed. I am wondering if the school will be closed as I head to the bus. While on my way to the bus, I spot my friends. We walked to the bus area together, and while walking we talked about the possibility of the school closing. "Bye guys!", I say to two of my friends as I walk onto my bus. It's the end of the school day. Thank goodness another one of these tiring days is over. I see my friend sitting together on the bus. "Hey, Janet!", I shout. She giggles. While on the way to our drop off location, we continued to talk about the situation. Do you think the school will shut down?, I ask. She says, "it's a possibility, but I think they should anyway". "Me too", I say. Throughout the bus ride, we talk about other things and laugh as usual. Once we arrived, I entered my car and told my mom the news. She said, "It was about time!". I agreed. It is now the weekend. Everyone is relaxing, and I am doing homework. I heard my mom's phone ring. I ran to give it to her, but when I saw that it was the school, I answered it up 138
myself. The message said that school will be closed until further notice and that we will resume school that Monday through virtual learning. I was relieved. At least I did not have to wake up early and be surrounded by a lot of people. Virtual learning had its ups and downs. But at least others and I were safe this way. Plus, we were quarantined. I continued to use this opportunity to take additional classes over the summer. Best decision ever! I was a bit sad that because of the Coronavirus, I could not be with my friends over the summer at Georgia State. Instead, we had to have the program online too. But I know that it was for good reason. I know that this highly contagious viral virus won't be going anywhere, anytime soon. But I pray that everyone stays safe. This is not a joke. Lives are being lost daily. I am grateful that my family and I are still safe to this day. Unknown
139
Untitled
I am sleepy I am also hungry Why must quarantine do this to me I no longer sleep on time I eventually fall asleep once the sunshine I stay up either working or chilling I sometimes stay up to things thrilling I hope we do not go back to school Because not only have my entire summer been filled with school I also do not want to risk catching COVID-19 Because that is not cool Hopefully I get to stay home, and stick with my messed-up routine. By: Parisnuela Onyeokoro
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Wonderland Ruins (A true story)
“I am as mad as Alice herself “is what I told myself one rainy day as I quickly glanced at the window from inside. Everything in life seemed to be dark and unreal with every breath I took to live. Now, the odd thing was I did not want to live at the time, so I was basically a walking zombie on earth. No emotion, No smile, No positive thoughts, just a 13 year old girl hoping one day my life would either change for the greater good or end. The only thing I thought I could rely on was medication at the time. “No more! I can’t take this any longer!” is what I would say as I sat on the freezing cold bathroom floor balled up sobbing. Sobbing on the bathroom floor in the dark became a daily routine that I did not know how to fix or stop. Eventually, I was diagnosed with schizophrenia by my new Psychiatrist that I went to with my stressed and worried father. Every 2 to 3 months I would see her, but honestly, I wanted to see her every day. Usually people think their enemy is a person but mine was myself. Voices, hallucinations, and delusions were a part of my new everyday life. “You are never gonna get rid of us...we own you- “what will you be without us by your side...nothing”! I would hear these types of negative comments nonstop every day. My insecurities would get the best of me. I tried to ignore every last sentence that was said but after months of this I gave in. I 141
was confused, hurt, and out of energy to fight back mentally. “Your right, I am useless, and no one loves me. Maybe I should just die� is what I whispered to myself with tears rolling down my face. I felt like someone was constantly covering my mouth when I tried to speak up about what was going on with me but I could never find the right words or was too hurt to believe anybody or tell the truth. I put on a poker face from time to time when asked a question about how I felt because I did not want anybody to worry. I was also being told not to by the voices and believed it due to paranoia of the voices being family members. I was hurt, distraught, and mentally damaged from all the negativity and verbal abuse going on inside. At that moment, I also had a slight bit of determination to fight my enemy. I just knew I had some purpose in life even if it was barely even worth living for. I began to wonder about children and having a family and from that day on I knew I had to fix my life. I had dreams and goals I needed to accomplish, and I had to stand on my own two feet to get there. I could not just let the monsters inside my head get the best of me. At that point in my short life I wanted to make a difference. I began to push away all darkness in any area I was in knowing that if I did not, I would visualize what I was hearing. Positive thoughts and bright lights were the main thing I needed to get 142
out of my mental jail cell. “Daddy, I think I am getting depressed again and I am hearing more voices.” is what I told my father before hugging him to go to bed. Knowing and hoping that he would have a solution to my problem as always. Instead of sobbing on the bathroom floor, I would hold back my tears and try my absolute best to ignore my paranoia. Before I started making a change in my life, I changed my eating habits. When depressed I would throw up my food or not eat at all, but I knew I had to start making a change somehow. “You are so fat, you're disgusting, why even bother eating you pig!” even though I was hearing this I knew I had to ignore it even if I did end up throwing the food I ate. Struggling to brush my teeth due to the symptoms of the medication I grinned, realizing that I was trying to make a difference and it made me proud. I wrote letters to myself, tried coping skills, and never refused to take my medication at the mental institutes and all was fine. I was finally beginning to naturally smile without shedding tears. Everything was not perfect but was sure getting better for me. “ I promise you we are never leaving so you might as well get used to us.” is what I remembered the voices saying as clear as day but paid no mind to it as I figured that it was just another daily insult from myself. I forced the Ramen noodles down my mouth as I gagged on them alone downstairs. To ignore the gagging, I sang a song that resembled 143
what I was going through at that moment. I continued to tell myself that my life was valuable and that I loved it. My life had changed for the greater good finally. After being sent to the mental hospital 4 to 5 times, I was officially ready to just stay home but I knew I would have to act accordingly to stay with my family once more. I tried with all my might to be “good” and not respond to the voices but in the blink of an eye I was back to phase one. The sobbing, no smiling, paranoid, and emotionless me was back but this time I no longer could hold everything in. All I could remember was hollering at my father and sister as I said, “get away from me you demons!!!” I woke up the next morning being told to pack my stuff to go back to the hospital and there I was in the back of an ambulance car yet again. Today I am a better version of myself but, even I do not know how long this will last… By: Brah’e Greene
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Masks Save Lives
Constantly being watched and followed by something without eyes seems very very unrealistic. The thought of it never leaving your mind, constantly being reminded of it. You wake up and it's the first thing you think of, you eat breakfast and you hear it being talked about on the morning news, you turn on your radio in your car, and there it is being talked about again. The Corona Virus is everywhere, there's no escape. You can't run from it, because it'll eventually catch up to you. You can only hope it doesn't. It's like you're putting a loaded gun to your head and a mask and hand sanitizer is the safety. The only thing keeping you from getting shot with that bullet is to constantly wear your mask and constantly keep clean. Everyone knows that but it doesn't mean everyone follows it. One of those people being Dex. Dex is planning on going on a road trip from New York to Florida, even though quarantine and social distancing has been put in place. Little does he know this will be the last time he takes a trip and the last time he puts others in danger. Dex wouldn't make it to Florida and would actually end up in Georgia. Dex drove for about 7 hours until he reached North Carolina. He was tired so he decided to stop at a motel for the night. The motel 145
was cheap and drab, but it would do for the night. As soon as he stepped in the few people that were standing in the lobby began to stare at him. He walked to the front desk but the lady working there glanced up at him and then went back to her computer. “Sir where's your mask? No mask, no service.” the lady stated plainly. “What do I need a mask for exactly?” Dex said with a snarky attitude. The lady stared at Dex, unamused and not in the mood to deal with him. “You need a mask so you can receive service. No mask, no service. The next closest motel is across the state line, maybe you'll have better luck with them.” With that the lady went back to her computer. The ladies' nonchalant attitude was really starting to aggravate Dex. “This is a free country, if I don't want to wear a mask then I don't have to. Besides this whole thing is a joke anyway I don't understand why everyone is so worked up.” The lady looked up from her computer and stared at Dex with cold eyes. “Sir, if you don't leave, I will have to call the authorities. Please just make this easier on all of us and leave or just go get a mask” That sent Dex over the edge, his blood began to boil. He had had enough with this lady and he was going to let her 146
have it until he felt a hand on his shoulder. The shoulder belonged to a tall skinny man. “Sir please, it's late and everyone wants to get a room. Just get a mask or leave.� Suddenly Dex felt intimidated and he decided to leave. He got back into his car, angrily slamming the door and putting on his seat belt. He started the engine and was off to the next motel. He finally made it into North Georgia and by that time he was driving for over 8 hours with no rest. He was tired and his eyes were becoming very heavy. Just like that Dex dozed off which led him to drift off into the other lane into a car. It was a head on collision and Dex was dead on impact. If Dex simply went and got a mask or was wearing one in the first place, he would've gotten some rest and wouldn't have crashed into another car. Moral of the story is while COVID is around please wear your mask, you don't want COVID to catch up to you or to ya know, crash into another car due to lack of sleep.
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Rays Song in the Roaring 20s
It's October of 1918 the soldiers have heard that the war is almost over, and the enemy is beginning to let up. Of course, all of them are delighted with the news but there's one soldier in particular who feels even more delighted than the rest, Private Brown. Brown was a simple black man, his father worked in the factory developing steel for railroads and his mother would tend to the house and crops back home at the farm. Brown never thought he would be part of the U.S military, he never thought he would be “fighting the good fight”, but there he was, and he hated it. He dreaded every minute of it, especially after the passing of his dear friend Ray, also known as Ivory. He was drafted at the tender age of 18, 5 months after his birthday at the start of the war. He is now 22 years old, and boy did he have to grow up fast. Everything was fast-paced in the war. You ate fast, you walked fast, you rested fast, you recovered fast, you got over traumatizing experiences fast, way faster than you should have. “Hey, Brown did ya hear? It's almost over! We're almost out of this hellish experience.” soldier Lester said with a cheerfulness that hasn't been in his voice for months. Private Lester was a tall, strong, intimidating looking man, but he honestly wouldn't hurt a fly. He hated being in the war just as much as Soldier Brown did. 148
“Yeah, I heard 'em, finally. 4 years of this and we're finally almost done. Wish Ray was here to see this through” Brown said with a sigh. Private Ray was practically the only thing that kept Brown sane during the years. He was his best friend, they treated each other like they were blood brothers and promised each other that they would make it out together. Sadly, that promise was broken. Brown often thinks of the memories they shared, the one where Ray taught him a sweet song on the Piano being the one nearest to his heart. Now, Ray never wanted to be a part of the war either, it wasn't part of his plans; he had dreams of being a famous pianist and he most definitely had the potential. He grew up privileged and was able to have his own piano and take lessons. It was the way he stayed happy and calm, whenever something would happen, he would play his piano to try and escape. Ray was drafted into the war some months after Brown was. He was 19 years old at the time, but he was proud to be serving his country, he felt as if it was an honor. But he never thought that honor would be the thing that takes his life at the young age of 20 and neither did Brown, and that's why it's still so surreal to him. They both felt as if they were invincible and that they could really make it out. Thinking of that made Brown begin to tear up. “Hey, you know Ray is still here, watching over us,” Lester said, trying to keep Brown from 149
crying. “I suggest you play that song you like to play so much, lift your spirits up a bit� Brown sighed and slowly went to sit at the piano they happen to have in their mess hall. He remembers the first day it was placed and how excited Ray was. Brown had never seen him so excited. The piano was randomly put as a source of entertainment for the soldiers, but also as a way for the men to develop new skills. Some would play on it, and some nights they would hold concerts. Ray was always the star of the show and sometimes would be the only one to perform. He could play any and every song, he would take requests and then play his heart out. He was at his best when he was playing, for sure. Ray sat at the piano and looked at the keys, 52 white, and 36 black. They looked worn down and the white was no longer white but more of a cream color, nonetheless it was still a great piano. He placed his fingers on the key of D and A and slightly pressed down, he then continued to play the song always in his heart. The song he was playing was a song Ray came up with on his own. He promised that when he perfected it, he would teach Brown, in which he did. Learning the songRay's song- made Brown want to play and learn how to play the piano even more. On leisure days Brown would spend hours at the piano with Ray absorbing everything he could like a sponge. By the end of the month, Brown was able to play many songs but 150
his favorite song to play was “Ray's song.� They would often play it together, one playing it an octave higher than the other. But slowly them playing together began to cease. At the time Ray was beginning to get very sick, he had a nasty cough and would at times break out into cold sweats and hysteria he had what they called the Spanish flu. It was highly contagious and for that reason, Ray had to be kept away. Brown slowly began to see his friend less and less. Until finally one day he was able to see him again but sadly it was to say goodbye. Ray was dying and was on his last leg, he could only be kept alive for so long before the disease spread and took over. That day Brown sat with Ray and talked about what their plans were going to be. How they were going to make it out and Brown would be able to play on Ray's personal piano and how Brown would give Ray crops from his family farm. It was a tearful goodbye. Brown lost a part of himself that day, he lost his brother, and nothing could ever fill that void. That memory pushed Brown to play his heart out in the mess hall. It pushed him to play how Ray would, with passion and fire. His fingers moved at a rapid speed perfectly playing the jazz number Ray came up with some months ago. The playing grabbed the attention of the people in the mess hall, they cheered and clapped, and some got up to dance. In 151
Brown's head, this was a celebration of Ray's life and a celebration of soon to be freedom. 5 weeks had passed, and the war was finally over. Everyone who survived was free to go home back to their normal everyday lives. The only thing was, that it was impossible for some of the men. One of those men being Brown. He knew he was supposed to be leaving with his brother, but instead, he was left alone. at least he was leaving though. He hopped on the bus and was later dropped off at the train where he rode home to Chicago. He found that a lot had stayed the same. His mother and father were still there just older. His father retired so he was able to spend more time on the family farm. The house hasn't changed, his room didn't either. But some things did change. Buildings looked different people seemed more cheerful. But the biggest difference was the music. It would blast through the streets, groups of men and women could be heard from all over the lively city. Trumpets, saxophones, drums and the best of them all pianos could be heard every night downtown and that's where you would often find Brown. He would watch from afar enjoying the beautiful sounds of the fast-paced music. He couldn't help but think how much Ray would've loved this scene and how he would be right up there with the other musicians playing his song. 152
One night, Brown decided to play in Rays honor. He came across a club that had a sort of open mic and if you had a song in your heart you were free to play, and we all know Brown had a song in his heart. “I came back from war not too long ago,” Brown said into the mic while the crowd cheered. “Thank you” he chuckled. “I was supposed to come back with a dear friend of mine but sadly that didn't happen, so I dedicate this to him. I call this song Rays Song” Brown played the song with ease, the keys pleasantly meeting his fingertips. Each key created a beautiful tone that couldn't help but make him want to play more. It’s as if Ray was playing right beside him; it's like he could feel it. The crowd cheered and whooped, they began to dance, and clap and once Brown was done they demanded an encore. This turned into a weekly thing for Brown. Every weekend he would stop by the club and play Rays song, as well as variations of other songs in Rays honor. He gained quite a bit of fame across the metropolitan area of Chicago and was talked about quite a bit, and all of this because of his best friend Ray. All of that because he continued to keep that song in his heart. He would forever be grateful for Ray and his teaching of the piano. Forever. By: Morgan Colbert 153
The Mermaid and the Human
A boy was walking up the shore of the beach when he saw a beautiful woman washed up in the shore. he ran up to the woman she had long beautiful Red hair, bewitching melanin skin and a long multi- colored tail. Wait what she has a tail said the boy in his mind. He carried her to the cave up the shore making sure no one saw them. Once he reached the cave, he sat her on the bed of rocks. A couple of minutes has passed when the mermaid began to wake. She looked around her and saw that she was in a strange place, then she looked at the human boy and yelp. Who are you and where am I ask the mermaid? ‘’I am Kevin I'm seventeen what about you?’’ The mermaid was hesitated at first, but she spoke. “My name is Niya Princess of the seven seas and next in line for the throne I am also seventeen.” Kevin was shocked he never seen a mermaid up close especially not a royal mermaid. Kevin and princess Niya talked for hours and they both feel in love, but didn’t think the other felt the same, so they didn’t speak on it. The sun began to set, and the mermaid knew it was time for her to leave or her farther would send the whole kingdom for her. “I have to go” said Niya, but deep down she wanted to stay with the boy forever. Kevin didn’t want to see her go, but he knew she had to. “When can I see you again” asked Kevin with a hopeful look in his eyes. Niya knew her 154
farther didn’t like humans and Kevin would be killed if her farther see her with a human. “Never” said Niya it has to be this way for your own safety goodbye Kevin. With that Niya swam away back to the sea. Months has passed and Kevin would come back to the cove every day to see if Niya would ever return, but she never did. Kevin decided to walk on the beach coming to the conclusion that he will never see Niya again. Suddenly he saw a beautiful sight it was Niya WITH LEGS! “Niya what happen to your tail” asked Kevin. “My father gave me the power to transform me to a human and mermaid anytime I want” said Niya. That’s what Niya did she spent her time in the sea and up on shore with her one true love Kevin.
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The Door to the Past
I was dropping off lunch to my husband when a strange door appeared out of nowhere I read the scroll on the side of the door it said ‘’Enter to fix a past mistake if you choose it may lead to life happiness or your doom’’. I just stood there shook then I took a look around there was no one in sight and no cameras around. I looked at the door the choice was a no brainer I missed her so much that I had to go back and save her even if it meant I cannot have the life I have now. My hand was shaking like a rattle as it reached the doorknob, but there was no doubt in my mind that this was something I wanted to do. I open the door and went inside. As I entered felt something strange happening to my body then BAM all of a sudden, I was a child again. I was wearing a black and red dress with knee high socks and black shoes; My hair was pressed down to my back and I had a ladybug headband on and then it hit me I was wearing the exact same clothes as the day of the accident. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw it the car that hit my sister, so I ran to her as fast as I could and pushed her out of the way. I got a glance of the little boy in the back of the car and saw the fear in his eyes as the car went into a ditch and caught fire. I told my sister the whole story all up till now, but she didn’t believe me, and I didn’t care I was just happy I got her back. I went back 156
through the door, but I was in a strange house; I tried to call my husband, but his name wasn’t in my phone. I started to search the house saw a news report of the car the car accident I saved my sister from. I recognized the little boy form the newspaper; That little boy was my husband. I saved my sisters life, but it cost me my husband's life. By: Kaniesha Mabry
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Free Write NOODLES
Noodles. So when I think of noodles I usually think of ramen noodles because that's usually what people are talking about when they say noodles and also I think of the microwaves in the cafeteria that were really dirty and it was white. People used to go over there all the time to cook the noodles and we got a microwave the second semester of my ninth-grade year and I thought It was going to go away when I got in tenth but it was still there. So, when I got okay so I did summer school also and once again It was for 9th grade Year by the way once again this is also about the microwave and noodles. People would bring noodles and the microwave be crowded and the microwave was especially crowded in like regular school time but summer school it was still crowded and the microwave is on this table so people wouldn't sit next to it and It was so annoying cuz like why would you sit next to a place where a bunch of people would go and then they would get mad that we were using it like you're the one who's sitting where people are going to be anyway so what are you mad for like if you don't want people in your way then move. So yeah so people always talk about noodles and speaking of ramen noodles my dad 158
doesn't let me have ramen noodles because they have a ton of sodium so i've only had ramen noodles like three times in my entire life but I don't really like them anyway that much. I think I like the chicken one mostly cuz it's orange and I really like the color orange so i like the packaging and have these noodles here that are teriyaki beef ones and they're really good but they're not ramen noodles are probably produced by the same company but I'm not really sure they're from Sam's Club or Big Lots or something like that I'm going to remember. And we got a lot of them so I eat quite a bit but not really because we only got this for the pandemic to me but I'm pretty sure when it's over we are never going to get them again cuz they have a lot of salt and my dad doesn't like that cuz he's a health nut and he's weird and he always eat salads or something I'm going to my grandma's house she got me noodles once a ramen noodles but that's it also noodles are pasta that just different words to like also when I hear pasta I think of cheesy Alfredo I guess fettuccine alfredo yeah fettuccine alfredo. It has to be fettuccine alfredo cuz it's my favorite pasta like you can have whatever else and wants my favorite type of fettuccine alfredo pasta is shrimp fettuccine alfredo pasta because let's see why is it my favorite I just like cheese if you're doing anything with cheese I really like. So I don't really have that much to say about noodles I guess some I 159
don't like, like I don't like lo mein or otherwise chomain I'm not really sure I'm pretty sure it's just lo mein I don't really like that I think I can eat them but they taste weird but the chicken I usually like the chicken I wish I could just get the chicken without the noodles but they usually like got to get the noodles with the chicken so I can but it's so good I really like it a lot and speaking of Chinese food cuz that's what I'm talking about I really like Panda express's honey walnut shrimp I of course don't like the walnuts cuz walnuts are gross but the flavor of the shrimp is really good and I suggest that you try it I don't go out a lot because my dad is healthy and he doesn't like us going out a lot and my mom really likes to cook and she couldn't really good food to like she picks all kinds of stuff so she she cooks a lot but she also Cooks chicken because my dad really likes chicken I really like chicken too but he doesn't eat beef or pork so we mostly just eat chicken and sometimes we eat lamb for like if we have euros which is a Greek wrap and a lot of fish to on my birthday we had crab and I was really happy about that cuz that's a really all I wanted for my birthday was some crab so I cried cuz I didn't think I was going to get crab so back to noodles I like the way they look because they're curly and I like curly hair like loose I like all kind of hair but I like loose pink I don't really have a favorite color pink if I were to say I have a favorite color pink it would probably 160
be watermelon pink or cotton candy pink it's between those two I love cotton candy pink so much and want to say watermelon pink I'm not talking about the fruit I'm talking about the color that is named watermelon pink like when you look it up I'm not talking about the fruit cuz you know the fruit is red not pink but watermelon pink and cotton candy pink are some of my absolute favorite Pink's my favorite color is between those two but I don't like fuchsia or hot pink. they look weird to me. I don't like them. I also like cherry red which is like that really bright vibrant red that's my favorite red okay I'm done goodbye. By: Amina Brooks
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My Home
I see a computer that feels like we have been staring at each other for several hours. I smell oil and fire and a little bit of glade surrounding the house I hear noisy cars and a loud blowing sound coming from the vents But inside the house is very calm because no siblings are here and not a parent on site. I love my Home unfortunately I can't stay here forever like I would like to :( By: Raniya Allen
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Untitled
A strange world, echoing after its ruin. The city is empty, abandoned. No sign of life. The sky is constantly dark here. There is little life, if any left. I hear echoes of the remnants of what once was alive. Old pipes still leaking of the last, futile drops of water. Old rubble burnt nearly to ashes by the destruction that has passed. This city still retains a glimmer of its beauty. A mirage of what it used to be. I run as fast as I can to never suffer the horrors that fall upon my teary eyes. The city is gone. And I am left behind. I have been abandoned just like the desolate metropolis before me. I have been ripped, burned and only flow with the last futile tears flowing down my face like the water leaking from the broken pipes. I am the remains of the destroyed. I have no choice but to leave, to escape to somewhere else far away and foreign. By: Isaiah Holder-Kieh
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Ignorance is Quite Often Bliss
You sought to be wise Not knowing what that meant You wanted for knowledge Not knowing what it would do You gave it all up How you wish you hadn't won that day You sought to escape ignorance Not realizing it is quite often bliss Now you roar in silence through sorrow Wishing you had not won that day I hear your regretful cries And laugh knowing it is in vein How you wish you did not win that day You received your just reward You exclaim a question Now tell me Which do you fear more The howling echo Or the response By: Thomas Granda
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(Life Lessons)
• • • • • • • • • •
Expect the unexpected Do not take things personal Do what you need to do!!(NO EXCUSES!!) Make SMART choices!! TRUST yourself Erase is a greater threat Fall forward! Connect the dots look forward and not looking back Diversify yourself It’s hard to be rich, it is hard to be broke, Choose your hard By: Christiana Ilori
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“Outbreak”
I was just a 17-year old girl living my life before things turned out for the worst. I am a junior, I go to Frederick Douglass High School and well life is basically the way it has always been for me, I go to school on the weekdays and work on my hobbies during the weekends. Other than a big load of homework and notes to attend to, along with practicing my instruments and hobbies I had no idea how my life was going to change, including everyone else’s lives. It was March 14th, 2020, any one on any social platform has concluded that 2020 has to be one of the worst years in history. We have gone through World War III starting, Kobe Byrant and Gigi’s Death, police brutality increasing, soon riots over George Floyd’s death, protests and even a deadly virus broke out called COVID-19. Stores and businesses are shutting down and everyone is panicking to get food, supplies, and cleaning necessities. Basketball and football games are being cancelled and schools are forced to shut down after multiple cases of the virus being confirmed in the US. Celebrities, staff, and even children from schools, stadiums, and businesses have been confirmed with this deadly virus. The virus broke out in Asia and began to spread to other nations and countries such as the United States where I live. 166
As far as I am concerned a family went to Italy before the virus broke out and came back to the United States with one of the members of the family confirmed of contracting the virus and tested positive for it. This in my mind doesn’t sound good at all and what makes it worse is that it is hard to come to the conclusion of how this virus spreads and how you could be a carrier of it and go around people and get others sick. I haven’t seen such extreme cases of illness being contracted ever in my entire life. This virus makes any person who contracts have similar symptoms of influenza or pneumonia, causes such as shortness of breath or trouble breathing, fever or chills, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headaches, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, and pain or pressure in the chest. Certain cases of people who have contracted the virus have had such a hard time breathing they would have to use oxygen tanks to keep their breathing stabilized. It was believed that people older in age were more vulnerable to contracting the disease and more difficult to recover from it. Including children and young adults who have COVID-19 has even found it hard for them to recover. Not to mention the amount of deaths the virus has caused of all ages and countries. The government makes an announcement to put the whole country on quarantine, not just in the United States where I live but many other countries as 167
well. We are unable to leave unless it is necessary, such as going to the store or hospital. Other than that people would not take the virus seriously which lead to more deaths because people weren’t being sanitary, social distancing, or staying at home. Where I live there are announcements sent to phones and on the news about any people leaving their home after 9 pm. If the government is taking measures like this it needs to be taken efficiently. I began to get worried so I definitely took the precautions of being sanitary, wearing a mask when I go out, and social distancing. Many people are being laid off and aren’t making money which is hard to pay bills and get the things you need. There are people who have been signing for unemployment, because it has been really hard for certain people. College students have to go back home or stay with friends because the campuses have shut down also. Students who were supposed to graduate didn’t get to experience walking across the stage or enjoying their prom. So many students have been struggling with their online work because it is difficult for them to learn virtually without having a teacher in person. People with illnesses, diabetes, and kidney disease have to be careful of who they come in contact with because it could be harder for them to fight the disease. Which makes me worried for people I do know with any illnesses to be safe and careful. I get worried about my friends and family as well because I want 168
them to be safe and I don’t want after this pandemic is over to find out that they aren’t here anymore. I have been a bit paranoid myself, as I do have a family member with kidney disease and I hope and try to be positive about their health. I always try my best to pitch in and help such as making handmade masks made of rubber bands and cloth at home for people who couldn’t buy any or didn’t have any more. I always wash my hands after going out somewhere and try to be as careful as possible. Honestly it is scary, because you don’t know what to expect especially with certain people who can test positive for the virus yet show little to no symptoms. There are so many things going on in the world, from Libya’s slave trade, rioting, protesting, the virus and so much more going on in just the first 7 months of 2020. I try to be positive because it’s best to think more clearly in situations like this and I think I have been handling them ok. So many things going on and I still haven’t even finished high school, what’s going to happen, will anything change, will I be able to find a job, will I get to experience my high school prom and graduation, will I get to have a college experience, how long will this last, will a cure be discovered soon. Seeing my kind killed for no reason other than for the color of our skin. It is so hard growing 169
up and witnessing such extreme life changing events in a child’s eyes. And I will never forget it. “No Escape”
I was sleeping in my room when I woke up to a loud bang. I quickly sat up to examine the dark and quiet room that I sit in and to no avail I see nothing. I then hear the telephone ringing from my kitchen echoing through my whole entire house. I get up with a groan and think who could possibly be calling at such a late hour. I look at the clock and it is 3:45 AM, “ugh this better be important.” I answer the call to hear nothing, but hard raspy breathing and the phone hangs up. I then turn around to see a bloody knife on the kitchen counter and the mutilated remains of what looks like a dog in my backyard. What is strange is that I do not own a dog; I lived alone. I then head back to my room to see the television filled with static. I cut the television off and looked for my phone on my bed, I pulled out the covers and picked up my pillow to see the same knife covered in blood in the kitchen now underneath my pillow. I ran back to the kitchen to find the bloody knife. The knife and the dead dog were now gone, without a trace. I then see my phone laying on the couch and the screen lights up, I go to check and see a message from an anonymous phone number that says “THERE IS NO ESCAPE”. I immediately grab my 170
phone and head back to my room to get my car keys and as I try to leave my bedroom door slams shut locking me in. Furniture and decorations began to fly all across my room in crazy directions and I yelled “just stop it”. Everything drops and it becomes dead silent, I am then shaking with an uncontrollable amount of fear as I hear the same hard raspy breathing as I did once before right behind me in my ear. A man whispered in my ear and said no escape. As I tried to scream he covered my mouth and knocked me unconscious. I was never seen again. “Who Are You”
Who am I? Am I the ocean because my feelings and my emotions control me? Or am I land because the roots of my history are skin deep. Am I a ball of gas because I burst with innumerable energy? Or am I a speck of dust because I am minuscule and barely seen? So, who am I? Tis it possible to define me with a mere few words or so a paragraph? Can the definition of me explain who I am? Will it be comprehensible to the people that surround me? And will my definition of myself change the way others perceive me?
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I am Nahjah. I depict myself to be more reserved when it comes to interactions with others. I find the simplest of actions that could be done easily by someone who is an extrovert to be a lot more challenging for me, whether it's reading out loud in front of the class or being forced to work with a group of people I barely know. I refuse to be put in situations where I have to be dependent on someone else and be held accountable because of that person purposely not putting in any effort for a task. I am very independent and enjoy the majority of the moments where I am alone. My emotions are extremely intense at times and they can get hard to control. I can be very friendly at times, but I can also be very presumptuous. I believe that music plays a big role in my personality, and it is a significant outlet for when my emotions get the best of me. I prefer to listen to music during my struggles and during my happiest moments. Although I am antisocial, I don’t like to feel that I am neglected or just completely invisible especially towards my family and friends. I tend to be very cautious of who I can have in my circle and gradually take the time to allow myself to be comfortable around someone. I am intelligent when it comes to school, and I read and write often. I take time out of my day to do hobbies such as reading, writing, drawing, or 172
painting. I am a hardworking individual and anything that is a goal I plan to achieve, I out in the full effort, dedication, and sacrifice to meet that goal, and I never give up, no matter how hard the challenges are, no matter how extreme the obstacles may be, I show tenacity in what I want. I like my hair; I like how thick and strong it is and I always enjoy keeping it done in natural styles and maintaining its healthiness. I am crafty and have a creative imagination and I like to explore that through customizing my own clothes or shoes, to making my own jewelry, and even my own miniature sculptures. I love myself for exactly who I am, and there is nothing that I would change, me being the person I am right now is what has led me to the big achievements that I have put the hard work through and I will continue to strive for the absolute best. I am an overachiever and a big believer that I can accomplish anything with the right attitude and that my blessings and lessons will help me grow as a person and prosper as an individual.
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My Unique Beautiful Pathway Life Lessons:
“Just because you’re SCARED, doesn’t mean you’re NOT STRONG.” “BE-YOU-tiful.” “Some people will come in your life for a reason, some for a season, and some for a lifetime.” “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” “I'm broken, but I stand, to see the beauty in the pain and set myself free again.” - Becca “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, makes you change, and even when it hurts you have to start again.” - Becca “It is not supposed to be easy.” “You can do anything with hard work, discipline, and consistency. HARD WORK works.” “It's hard to be rich. It’s hard to be broke. Pick your hard.” “Live your life to its fullest potential and don’t really care too much about what other people think of you.” - Lil Nas X “People think because we’re young, we aren’t complex, but that’s not true. We deal with life and love and broken hearts in the same way a woman a few years older might.” - Rihanna “I am a child but I have to think and act like a woman, this business forces you to.” - Rihanna
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“Strength isn’t always shown in what you can hold on to, sometimes it’s shown in what you can let go of.”- Drake “If you really want something you are going to do whatever it takes to make it happen even if it involves hard work, failure, and challenges.” “Never let success get your head and never let failure get your heart” - Drake ‘Pain makes you stronger. Fear makes you braver. Heartbreak makes you wish.”- Drake “Never let your inner child die.” “Embrace all of your emotions, don’t ignore them, don’t mask them, embrace them.” “Perspectives Writing”
Are you serious? I have been waiting over a week to watch this movie with you and you said it yourself that you wanted to watch it at night and that you were not tired. This movie was really important to me and I wanted the both of us to watch it together and express our thoughts after the movie was over. I understand you falling asleep the last time we watched a movie but for it to happen for the second time is ridiculous, why is it that you always fall asleep on the movies I request, are they uninteresting to you. Do not waste my time saying you want to watch a movie that I requested and say you are not tired and then fall asleep. It doesn’t matter if you watched 175
the majority of the movie, I wanted us to enjoy it together and you know how I feel about watching scary movies at night alone so if you were sleepy you should have just told me that we could watch it another time. It makes me even more angrier that the next day you watch a movie you wanted to watch at night and stayed up during the full movie but whenever it’s a movie I want to watch you are full on knocked out after the first hour. It is ridiculous and it makes me feel like I can’t even watch a scary movie with you at night without you falling asleep on me. I am so sorry. I really do not know what happened, I really was not tired before we watched the movie, but I fell asleep out of nowhere. I still watched the majority of the movie with you even though I did fall asleep after the first hour. I knew how important this movie was to you, and I still fell asleep; I should’ve been more considerate of your feelings and letting you know when I was getting tired than to purposely fall asleep and letting you watch it on your own. I do not blame you if you do not trust me enough to watch movies with me at night anymore, this is all my fault because I have done this to you before. I feel really bad and take full responsibility for my mistakes, I will try my absolute best to make it up to you, I promise. I do not like when you are angry at me and I do not want you to feel like I am unreliable. As for watching a movie on my own that 176
next day, I am unsure of why I did not fall asleep and watched the entire movie but could not do the same with yours. Honestly that makes me feel worse because I could’ve put in more effort into staying awake for you until the movie was over or giving you a heads up on when I started to feel tired. Once again, I am so sorry for doing this to you more than once, I really am and will certainly try my best to make this up to you. “Outdoor Writing”
Freedom, I long for the day when I am able to do whatever I want to and not just because of the pandemic but strict parents. It makes me think more of when I can leave and do more on my own without being dependent on someone, or someone holding you back from going somewhere. I will have that type of freedom for myself once I leave the house and honestly it sounds amazing, I hate that my period came early this month when it was supposed to come around the end of June. It was a lot harder to handle as well with all of the constant unbearable pain, body aches, and vomiting. My boyfriend was really looking out for me while I was sick. He gave me tips, advice, and comfort the whole entire time. He stayed by my side the entire time even though he wasn’t physically there he stayed on the phone with me, constantly checking up on me, and finding solutions that would make me 177
feel better. I am so surprised from his levels of maturity during my feminine problems, most boys never really take too much effort on figuring out what is wrong during this time or just act really weird when it does happen. He has actually done these type of things on his own multiple times and it still has me in shock because no one besides family has shown me that much care during a cycle. It really shows me how much he cares and the genuine thought behind his efforts: I truly deeply appreciate him. I really hope that I get to see him this weekend, my mom said that he could over longer the next time he visited me. It would be nice to see him and I thought I would paint a painting for him to give to him for helping me out and being really caring and supportive. It’s not much but he seems like my artwork so I thought giving him a personal one would make him happy. I am actually very proud of myself in general from last year with my first experience with upward bound it was tough on me and I was not barely making it but I felt that I could’ve done better and with the progress I have from last year to now I think I am really improving and getting more adjustable to the college experience. Especially with the financial literacy class, I never had a class like that last year or at all in my previous years of high school so getting this information now is very beneficial to me and financial stability. 178
I really wanted to see this new movie that’s coming out this month but because of the pandemic I don’t really want to risk any chances especially knowing that I have a family member in the house more prone to getting sick than everybody else in the house. I wouldn’t mind just waiting until it came out on dvd or to rent so I could watch it from home. I look out my window while typing this and it makes me happy to see the sunlight, and hear the birds, and I have been thinking for a while now that maybe I should paint my own backyard from the window in my room. The only problem with that idea is that I do not have an artist easel so I would have to paint on top of a hard surface with a towel to not paint on the wrong stuff. I have been seeing so many people on social media paint on their walls, mirrors, even their laptop keyboard and it makes me want to explore and flourish with my creativity. I can’t paint on my walls, but I definitely hope one day I get to enjoy the feeling of painting my own room or house with my creative ideas. It seems so fun, because there are not any rules, I can draw and sketch and paint to my desire and see the final outcome. As of now I am running out of canvases and to paint on, but I still have paper and other things to draw on. I really want to try this creative type of Art one day and I hope that day is very soon. I hope that I get a projector and a camera so I can watch movies and take pictures. I have so many 179
creative ideas I can do with fairy lights, LED lights, a Polaroid camera, a projector and my phone. I can see myself taking some beautiful super model type pictures once I get all of those things. I hope that I can find a lot of fake flowers in one or two colors and glue them to the sides of my mirror and add fairy lights. I think that would be really cool and I could take some nice pictures with it. Finally, I have had some concerns about the TC’s, they tell people like Ms.Allen and Mr.Maxwell that we barely engage in participation yet when a student needs help there is half effort behind it. When I ask for help on edu, I rarely get any responses from certain TC’s so then I am left to figure out the homework or understand a concept on my own. Some teachers wait too long to put an assignment on edu and then I am stuck rushing because the due date isn’t fair from when they assigned it. When they say the will put in the homework in the afternoon on edu then 9 or 10 comes around then expect it done by 11:59PM with like almost 30 to 40 questions or just with assignments that I would take more than an hour to complete, so now I have little time to complete it and it can be frustrating not putting in your absolute effort because you are rushing through an assignment. As well as me taking notes on class then when a test arrives I’m like what is this I don’t remember doing that, and it makes me feel stuck thinking if I was 180
paying attention or did the teacher actually make an accident. Which recently happened last week in one of my classes. Other than that, I am enjoying things so far and my favorite class is College Writing. I think it is because I normally keep my feelings inside but now that I am actually writing or typing them down I am at least getting them out. It has been my favorite class since I started and I can’t wait for more. “Mystery Woman” I heard someone yell “HELP”..... It sounds as if it is a woman and her screams echoed down the dark long corridor of the alleyway. I run down the alleyway to her direction, and I shouted to her to keep screaming so I could follow her voice. She continued and now she sounded farther away. I pick up the pace and keep my weapon and phone handy to call for extra help. As I turn right down the alleyway I see a woman with a blueberry dress slightly bruised with a black Eye and cuts on her arms and legs that hypes the swolleness of her face. I see a man in all black clothing see me and grab the girl and run into the woods. I immediately chase behind them and find myself stuck in the woods, unaware of how to leave the way I came. I suddenly stop hearing 181
the girl screams and I say to myself “see this is what I get, tryna be helpful”. I stay calm and pull out my phone but to no avail I have no service. Soon I see the pieces of the woman dress on the ground from the violent fighting of the man trying to lure her somewhere. As I look at it, it has a 1975 sticker tag and a few drops of blood on it. What’s even weirder is that as I look up I see the girl as a mutilated corpse, with a pale body, white eyes, purple lips, a black eye, and a big red stain where her stomach was, she might have been pregnant and the man opened her stomach to kill her baby. I realized to myself that this girl was never real, yet she was a demon and she lured me out here to kill my baby. She grabs me by the neck and lifts me in the air and rips my baby out of my stomach and as I feel the strength of my body failing, I hit the ground. She tells me that I am stuck just like her and screams loudly in my ear. Then my alarm wakes me up; it was all a dream. “Importance of Music”
“I’m broken but I stand, to find the beauty in the pain and set myself free again.” - Becca I can really relate and understand this lyric in Becca’s song. I feel that just because you are hurt, heartbroken, or depressed you still stand strong and overcome your pain. That you can be hurt or 182
feel weak but you are still able to come to the realization that the hurt you are experiencing has its benefits even if you don’t see it right away. You allowing the good in the bad to give you the power of letting go, is the moment you allow yourself freedom from the emotions of the pain that you felt. That you should be able to get through your pain, that there was a reason to experience it, learn from it, and grow from it. I feel that every heart moment you go through is leading you to a better moment. Even if it hurts, even if it is difficult, your little steps still count as moving forward when you are in the process of healing. Getting through the storm is what brings the rainbow. “Will We Come Back to Each Other”
As I went to my car and headed to the store to get the newest video game, I realized today was the day I met him, oh how much I missed him. I miss the little things about him that made me fall in love with him, I missed his laugh, his smile, the way he smirks when flustered, I missed his touch, the way he smells and the way he holds me into his arms. I hope I would see him soon, I didn’t see him at the store at all. What if I don’t even see him, what if I won’t be with him because of my decision. As I headed out of the store to my car so I could go back home, I saw him. Oh I was so happy, my 183
heart flustered with excitement and I wanted to go over to him but as I was walking I realized that he was with another girl. They seemed happy and he didn’t seem too worried about me at all. My heart went from uncontrollable excitement to instant shatters the second I came to realize he wasn’t mine anymore. All because of my mistake. I changed a small factor about myself that really affected my life so when I changed that factor, it changed every moment in my life, certain moments that happened last time didn’t occur this time. I went back and changed myself from having ptosis. I changed what happened in the womb with me while I was in my mom’s stomach because I really hated having it my whole life. The constant bullying, neglect, trouble making friends, feeling like an outcast all because you’re a bit different. Since I have changed things, I never got bullied for ptosis because I didn’t have it, and I realized that the real me was meant to be born with ptosis. At the time, it seemed so hard having it because it made my life harder, I didn’t realize until it was too late that because I had ptosis that’s what made me strong, and independent, the person I had become because of my mistake wasn’t strong, they were a lot weaker because they didn’t have something to toughen their skin and that weak person that I had become WASN’T the person he fell in love with. I can’t believe this, if I had LOVED MYSELF and ACCEPTED my flaws I 184
wouldn’t have LOST the person I loved. I don’t know who I am anymore. But I know this isn’t me. I should’ve accepted myself the way I was born and I would be into his arms now. If we were really MEANT to be TOGETHER wouldn’t we find OUR way back to EACH OTHER? “Who Are You Now?” Who am I? I have grown so much in such a short amount of time. I look back and realize how much I have learned in the short few weeks in all of my classes along with tips and advice on my future classes for my senior year. I see myself just a little bit brighter than how I saw myself before. Although I am still antisocial, I am slowly adjusting better in more social activities. I rarely ever saw myself sharing my work during classes and expressing my thoughts and opinions. Many classes have made social activities a bit easier on my end. I feel that I am very antisocial though, I still panic at the thought of doing any social activities involving me showing myself or speaking in front of a class, it’s just in my personality. I can’t help it and nor do I try to change it but I do push myself to get out of that comfort zone at times. Social anxiety is not the easiest thing to deal with but from the experience I have had this month, it made things a bit less scary for me. 185
I absolutely love writing and creating stories even more than I did before. I love choosing random words and making them into a story, I have never tried different methods of creativity with my writing and I think because of this experience it has flourished a whole new level of inventiveness that I am intrigued to explore. Because of this experience I have learned to express those feelings I normally hold inside, releasing those intense feelings in a story or simply as a regular paragraph helps me deal with those emotions. Music is still one of the main solutions to solving my problems, I feel that music understands me more than any person ever could. It is different hearing someone understand the struggles you go through than hearing someone go through the same struggles as you As I learn to deal with my emotions by writing it out, certain assignments have made me learn new things about myself. So, who am I? “Am I the ocean because my feelings and my emotions control me? Or am I land because the roots of my history are skin deep. Am I a ball of gas because I burst with innumerable energy? Or am I a speck of dust because I am minuscule and barely seen? So, who am I? Tis it possible to define me with a mere few words or so a paragraph? Can the definition of me explain who I am? Will it be comprehensible to the people that 186
surround me? And will my definition of myself change the way others perceive me?” I am Nahjah. Nahjah Sakinah Phillips. I am antisocial because I don’t like to feel the need to be friendly with every person I meet. I am reserved because I enjoy the majority of my time alone. I am melodious because I have a spiritual connection with music. I am the ocean because my emotions are a symbol of the sea from their intensity and profoundness. I am land because I shift into levels of maturity like erosion. I am a volcano because my rage is fierce and fiery. I am independent because I step up from the ground unbroken. I am imaginative because my mind is outspoken.I am strong because not even the deepest cut can break me, “I am titanium.” I am a star because I bring light and hold an ecstasy of energy. My figure may be small but my mind is tremendous, my strength is stupendous, and my heart… my heart is ASTRONOMICAL. I am me and me am I. NO ONE OR ANYHING will EVER be me nor compare to me because I have my OWN level of rarity and even though it is difficult to see at times, this is the way I was meant to be. I push through the storms to create my rainbow. I am the rainbow because I have more than one attribute that combines together to form a beautiful personality. My significance on this earth holds 187
more value than all the galaxies in the universe. And my value is priceless and boundless, it is infinite and mysterious. My mind, my heart and my soul holds a unique treasure that slowly unfolds to shape me into my true self. I am elysian, and my beauty is incomparable and celestial. So who am I? Can I say I know for sure? When will I know for sure exactly who I am? Will I continually learn new things about myself as I grow old? Or will I have it all figured out as a young adult? I don’t know. I guess I’ll wait and see. By: Nahjah Phillips
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Noodles My Parkinson’s is making nothing easy, and it’s getting worse. Hours of messing up, having to remake the dough and through in 45 minutes of hand kneading, just to have the noodles fail time and time again. Hand-stringing noodles has been one of the most mentally straining challenges I have take up. I have spent years in this very kitchen constantly stringing and kneading, blowing through a copious amount of flour and yeast while my automatic stringer sits there mockingly, collecting dust on the countertop. But I need this, soon my Parkinson’s will prevent me from picking up a sheet of paper. I need this, cause I can’t shake the feeling that the world won’t need us anymore. I look around and see machines out-playing chess players, super computers that can simulate a crowbar down to its molecular features, automatic workers that can run and manage an entire assembly line, and an automatic noodle-stringer lying dormant until the day I will finally have to succumb and turn it back on.
By: Trenton Jerome Ellis
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The Killer Noodles
Mommy I don’t want to be eaten said the baby noodle. I know my son, but it is our fate it has been this way for generations and no matter how hard we try we will still be eaten. The baby noodle didn’t want this fate so decided to change it. He saw a bottle of poison on the counter, but he was on the table so he couldn’t get to it before the human boy comes back for them. He asked the cups for help. Hey cups have you ever seen dominos fall said the baby noodles. Why yes, we have answered the cups. why do you ask? I want you to knock the bottle of poison into our bowl so it can kill the little human boy answered the baby noodle. So, the cups did as the baby noodles said and knocked the poison in the bowl of noodles before the little human boy returned. The little human boy soon returned and took a bite of the noodles. The little human boy ate the baby noodle mother and died. He was happy he didn’t get eaten but he had no mother. By: Kaniesha Mabry
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Cheryl Deserves Noodles
Why don't some people like noodles? Sometimes noodles make people bloated. Some people just don't like noodles. Cheryl doesn't like noodles for both of those reasons. They make her bloated and she hates the taste and texture. I think Cheryl is an idiot, how could you not like noodles? Noodles are everywhere, they are in spaghetti, they're in Alfredo, you have ramen noodles. People love noodles. Noodles are good, maybe if Cheryl didn't always have soggy noodles her experience with noodles would be better. I blame her dad who often makes the noodles. He has made Cheryl hate noodles, and for that he should be in jail. How do you make someone not like noodles? He's also a chef, so I would think he would be very good at making noodles. Maybe he needs to lose his job because he can't even make basic noodles. He's a fraud and Cheryl knows that. Maybe that's also why she doesn't like noodles, because they remind her how much of a fraud her father is. I've seen her mom go down to the local sushi bar that also serves really good noodles. I specifically remember her going on the night they were supposed to eat spaghetti because it was a Saturday and Saturdays are for spaghetti. His own wife doesn't even like his noodles, someone should tell him this. Maybe I should tell him this, or maybe I should get Cheryl to tell him this. I mean 191
he would take it better from his daughter and then maybe Cheryl will have good noodles for once in her life. That's exactly what I'm going to do. An hour later I called Cheryl and told her what I thought, she told me that I was out of my mind and that if she told her dad that it would hurt his feelings. I proceeded to tell her how she can't live a lie her whole life and how she deserved to taste good noodles. She proceeded to tell me that she isn't living a lie and that she's not missing out on much. I then told her how I saw her mom at the local sushi bar getting noodles on Spaghetti Saturdays. She told me that I was lying which I of course took offense to. What I got to lie about her mom getting noodles for? It's seriously never that deep. I'm trying to help her and her family out, but whatever. I guess she’ll just never have good noodles and continue to hate them. By: Morgan Colbert
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In A Moment´s Plea
Engulfed in the fire Handed to the sea Dispersed with the skies In a moments plea The fire in her soul was calling out To whom should she trust without a doubt The fear, the worry, and the charm Should she hold them close without alarm Expressed with fire Handed to the sea Dispersed with the skies In a moments plea Caught in something beyond what could be eclipsed Time was a storm in which had lost her chance to be fixed Unjust was the face the judged from the mirror But what needed to be done couldn´t be any clearer Expressed with fire Embarrassed by the sea Dispersed with the skies In a moments plea 193
But alas under the light of a shining blue moon We watch her come into her own and finally bloom Touch by the sun and kissed by her rays We already see where her confidence lies Expressed with fire Embraced by the sea Raised with the skies In a moments plea By: Gretta Nijimbere
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