Type
Topic
Country
Can we close the gap?
The concept of love
My first word was love. Under the flickering lights of North Shore Hospital on March 10, 2002, I met the one person whose love for me is unconditional. As I tore my eyelids open and glanced the kind, raven-haired woman, I immediately noticed her smile, which stretched for miles past the horizon. I truly believe that one person molded me into the person I am today. As I grew up, I became afraid of my own reflection, until I realized that the only things I should see staring back at me are the doting eyes of my grandma. Many years later, I returned to the hospital. One week away from losing my...
We are our own salvation
Hands are raising towards the sky. A sea of single hands. Skin so fair, looking, searching for wrinkles ready to touch, help. None was found. The sea of open hands turns into pointing fingers. Full of attitude, angry at the empty sky. Angry at the emptiness once full of protection. Angry at the aid which fails to come. Angry at the loneliness. Anger becomes desperation. Desperation becomes hopelessness. Hopelessness takes the strenght from some arms. Fewer and fewer are the pointing fingers. Some just give up. But with a ray of light comes a realization, and fingers turn into open hands again...
Become more
I woke up this morning feeling so tired and reluctant to stand up from my bed. I managed to say my morning prayers asking God for strength for a new day. Still I felt like staying at home. Then slowly I heard that still small voice saying, Praises, remember today is Tuesday, that man is always early for class. Try and get up if you don't want to miss your class. Hmmmm, I sighed slowly as I managed to stand up from my bed to go and shower while singing out loud. Shortly after I hurriedly dressed up, packed my bag an off I went. Still on my way to school I was praying so badly to get a cab on...
The opportunities and challenges faced by youth in rural America
Rural areas are essentially the backbone of America, but more and more young people are eschewing their rural roots in order to seek better opportunities in metropolitan areas. While there are a number of advantages to growing up in a rural environment, such as wide open spaces and a tight-knit community, many young people in rural America believe that the challenges outweigh the perks. Young people who choose to relocate to urban areas are typically seeking higher wages and increased access to resources such as healthcare, education, and healthy food. The Center for American Progress reports...
Fear of the unknown
Somehow I feel there is a lot that I am not letting out. I feel like there is more energy inside of me that seems to not be coming out, but I am eager to bring forth that energy inside of me; yet, I don’t know how. I am scared I might fail and probably not do well. Maybe I am scared of what people will think about me. I don’t know if I am fluent or capable enough. I don’t know if I have the skills needed to carry out responsibilities and implement those set goals, not because I don’t want to, but I just don’t know how to go about it. Can I succeed? Is it possible to try? These are some of the...
Breaking gender barriers in tech: How I started a nonprofit as a 15-year-old Filipina
Be who you are
In the spirit of the Day of the Girl: Let me remind you of your abilities as a woman. You were not created to shrink when trouble hits you. It's in our nature to contain it and come out of it. As a woman you are powerful. It doesn't matter how much life situations try to pull you down, because girl, you can pull through. You are more than what you see now. Fight for the change you want in your life. Think positive. Give no room for negativity. Work earnestly towards developing and challenging yourself to be a better person and it's gonna be a game changer for you. Feel free to pause and...
Creativity in translation
Splendid books deserve to be shared, just like fantastic movies or music. I have translated excerpts in Chinese from books and poems to English. They are treasures that belong to the world, and I don’t want to see them trammeled by the scopes of language. A good piece of translation is part of the creative process, not a mechanical exercise that is easily done with a computer. A computer can translate words, but they can't translate feelings. Computer-generated translations can be grammatically correct, but lack imagination. When we start to draw the images that hide in our head and lead them...
What are you waiting for?
If I hadn’t taken a gap year, I would have had the same life as every university student does in Hong Kong now (studying, tutoring and hanging out with friends). Simply, I ditched everything that I had in Hong Kong, and I started a new beginning in Kazakhstan as a United Nations Volunteer for UNICEF. Before I made this move, all of my friends were criticizing me about my decision. They were saying, ‘Why don’t you go to the volunteer programme after your graduation?’ ‘You are going to miss a lot because you are not getting immersed with us.’ Honestly, I also struggled a lot before I came here...
Tomorrow will be better
Sitting alone by the corner of her building lost in thought. Oh God! Why me? Why do I keep getting poor results from my exams, she exclaimed. When will all this struggle end? It is not as though I don’t study, I try my best to study as much as I can, yet no improvement. She sobs as tears roll down her cheek. Nkem! Mother approaches calling and looking for her, she finally saw her sitting by the corner filled with tears rolling down her cheek. Mama I am tired of trying so hard and everything seems fruitless. Nkem it’s okay, remember tomorrow will be better don’t worry, stop crying. She hugged...
What are you waiting for?
what are you waiting for? what’s holding you back from living the life of your dreams? what’s holding you back? I ask again the world needs you the world needs your heart, your passion, your excitement. humanity needs you, only you can make that dream of yours become a reality. what’s holding you back? let go of your insecurities, believe in the incredible power you have, listen to your heart and great things will start happening around you. listen to your heart and get out of that destructive zone in which you’re at right now we need you, the world wants to see the real you. the real you that...
The self love
What is self love? It is acceptance, affection, courage and respect for ourselves. It is related to high self esteem, it has no similarity to self-centeredness or pride. All human beings are different, these differences make us unique, authentic, valuable and make us shine with our own light. Don't be discouraged if someone tells you otherwise; forget about prejudices, belive in yourself. Love yourself as you are, love what you do and others will show you, the same affection and respect. Happines is the success of self love, so accept yourself, love yourself, be happy and you can find the...
Screens instead of teachers?
Why is it important to open up to your parents and how to do it?
Do you remember the last time you went through an emotional breakdown? Whose face popped into your mind when you felt like reaching out? Was it that of your parents? For many - certainly not. A child’s well-being can be influenced by many factors, but the parent-child relationship is undoubtedly the most significant aspect governing it. Adverse childhood experiences, different parenting styles and a parent’s own mental health define the mental growth and development of the child in early years but the manner in which the conversation takes place between the parent and child continues to shape...
Letter to my younger self
Hey little me, I wish you had written down a couple of questions for me to answer today. It is hard to think what you would have wanted me to talk about specifically, since I am you and not, at the same time. My last resource is guessing. I am not sure if you ever desired advice from an older self in order to take decisions. So even though you did not wish for them, here is a couple of bits of advice: To the one I was 15 years ago, math is hard but learning is great. Do not feel like you need to follow what everybody else does in order to feel part of the bunch. Keep being loud and kind; you...
"Love Yourself" : Two words that have changed million of lives
"Love yourself." How can a two-word sentence can be so powerful, that it has changed lives of milion people? It is just a reminder that no one tells anyone. No one reminded us that we need to love ourselves. BTS did. When I first started it, I took a very simple step. Earlier, whenever I went through very hard time, I just wanted to leave the world. I might not really want to die, I just wanted to escape. When I came to know about Love Myself, what I did was during such bad times, when the thought of death was about to come in my head, I told myself, "Love yourself." When people made me think...
Being a Muslim girl in America
Who I am and who I want to become
So my teacher gave an assignment to write an essay about WHO I’M GOING TO BECOME Typical right? But being the procrastinator that I am… I did it three hours before class…. After all how hard can it be? One hour to plan, One hour to draft And one hour to edit I sat there and began to write…write…write…write When class had begun and I handed her the essay I was like "I've been up all night working on this I deserve nothing less than an A” *wink My teacher looked perplexed Trying to figure out what I meant, holding the page of my future Torn from the book of my heart Written by my experiences She...