A few years ago, my friend introduced me to a new author she really enjoyed, Dave Eggers. I first read his work You Shall Know My Velocity, then moved on to his autobiographical book Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius. Not only did I love his writing, but also when I read his life story, …
Category: Youth
Jan 23
The Bitter Taste of Chocolate
As a chocolate aficionado, I can safely say that I consume chocolate on an almost daily basis. The sweet treat is something that I always have stashed in my backpack or purse, and it always leaves me with a smile on my face. However, I was surprised to learn that there is a sad and …
Jan 23
Accomplishing Universal Primary Education
One of the United Nation’s eight millennium development goals for 2015 is to achieve universal primary education. This means that both boys and girls, regardless of where in the world they live, will be able to complete a full primary school education. To give you an idea of how challenging of an effort this is, …
Jan 16
Tackling Intergenerational Issues: Bolsa Familia
Have you ever seen the MTV show Skins? Wait, it’s okay, I won’t subject you to the embarrassment of admitting to it; I’ll fill you in. The show (a replica of a British hit) fictionally illustrates the lives of a group of American teenagers. These teenagers participate in pretty much every morally questionable activity imaginable …
Dec 19
A New School for NYC
New York City may be adding a new higher education facility in its midst fairly soon. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently decided that the City of Lights needs a top of the line applied sciences school. The mayor has taken a great interest in the idea of a new academic institution, much to the chagrin …
Dec 05
An Educational Secret
Education is one of the most important commodities in the world, and many of us are privileged enough to have access to education in the United States. However, this is not the case for millions of undocumented immigrants who currently live in the U.S, but are unable to access higher education. Millions came to America …
Nov 28
Giving Back: Pencils of Promise
Every year when Thanksgiving comes around, I come up with a list of all the things I am grateful for, and then I try to give back to charitable organizations in my community or elsewhere. This year, I decided to give back to a non-profit organization called Pencils of Promise. Though it has been around …
Nov 14
The Math and Science Curse
Thousands of children, when they are young, play dress up as doctors, engineers or even researchers. Young future doctors dream of curing their ailing patients of far-fetched imaginary illnesses while future engineers dream of designing innovative trains, planes, and everything in between. Unfortunately, these youthful dreamers grow up, attend college as math and science majors, …
Nov 02
Screen Shot
More Children Under 8 are Spending Time Looking at Screens Almost every major human achievement that is discussed in today’s society has something to do with technology and computers. The iPad, iPhone, Xbox, Wii, and countless other pieces of technology are in the hands of adults and children. A common thread between all these innovative …
Oct 24
Barbie’s Looking Pretty Grown Up
Every year, Mattel sells millions of Barbie dolls to young girls and avid doll collectors across the world. Barbie’s image has changed from year to year, and she has managed to be everything from a veterinarian, supermodel, to the most perfect, stiletto-wearing teacher. None of these images and professions has drawn a great degree of …