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Ideas and Ideals
I didn’t recognize my talent until one day my kindred spirit, Kun, said to me, “Summer, you are a confident person. And I like the idea of you.” “Am I?” None of my friends had ever said that. They praised me for being smart and friendly, but none of them would have credited me ‘confident.’ I nodded because I didn’t want him to know how insecure I felt when surrounded by a bunch of talented elites. But his words changed my life. I have not spent time wallowing in self-pity ever since. I flipped the desk and dismissed all the skeptics, as being true to myself, I am confident. When I fail, I...
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From a child to an advocate - 7 things I learned working in UNICEF
Six months, half a year or one hundred eighty-two days – this may seem like a short period of time but for me it is a mini-life journey, filled with challenges and new insights. I have been with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Kazakhstan as an international UN volunteer working on communications. As such, I have contributed to improving the visibility of the organization and the important work it is doing for every child. My contribution has varied: from writing and editing to pitching a partnership proposal and contributing to the launch of a new programme on volunteering. As I...
You can!
Not everyone has the opportunity to listen 'You can!' just at the moment we need it most. If no one has told you, then you should know that there is a force inside you that drivers you to do incredible things and make the impossible possible. You just have to believe in yourself, have confidence in what you do. You are able to realize your dreams and everything you set your mind to. If something does not go as expected, do not give up! Persevere. The secret is often to insist. Your opinion, your actions, your dreams are important and the world needs them. Some situations that occur in life are...
A Mixtape for Hope: Youth Poems for Change
A poem to the world
Has the earth cried enough for us to finally hear? Or have her cries been drowned out by bombs and fired bullets? Losing ourselves in man-made weapons, Metal death disguised as our protectors. Have you seen her bleed? Or are you too distracted by greed? I’m afraid we’ve failed the world, I think we’ve failed the children of today and the ones of tomorrow, A world built by promises turned into trenches, Spitting hate and ignorant verses, Survival is our new religion and the scripture says to ‘kill all’ if we feel threatened. Ignorance is bliss, But bliss is our excuse to hide the fact that we...
The significance of art & its effect on mental health
With a knack for arts and a passion for psychology, my dream is to use my art to contribute to real change in the community. By portraying my ideas through art and putting important topics on display through tangible artistic pieces - such as abstract sculptures and visual art representation - my messages get communicated to people. Since childhood, I have loved art and always looked at it from different perspectives, ranging from painting, drawing, and more. Illustrating cartoons with a beneficial story for kids, in addition to making miniatures (size of a coin) that show the significance and...
The Memory of Touch
Who knew that 2019 would be the last year when we would actually experience touch? Who knew that in 2020, touch would become such a negative verb? Who knew that something which used to calm us a year ago, would become the reason for millions of deaths? Well, a lot has changed since 2019, and sometimes it feels like the time from 2020 onwards is a completely different era; not a good one though. We all would agree, that touch is one of the major sense organs, and without it, humans wouldn’t get any sense of emotions, right? But, were we prepared for the time when a day would come when we wouldn...
Why Body Positivity on Social Media is More Important Than You Think
For a long time, the socially accepted beauty standard looked like this: blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and legs with a noticeable gap in between them. Victoria Secret angels, runway models, and TV ads plastered this image of perfection to the American public for decades. With the rise of social media, it seems that these images are nonetheless inescapable. Lately, however, it seems that women are starting to push back on this type of marketing. While certainly not the only culprit, this type of unrealistic beauty standard that is largely still being advertised adds to feelings of self pity...
Beautiful Scars
Whenever I try to reflect of how my life has been going, tears never fail to fall from my eyes. On my perspective: life is not at its best state for the past months. Life has not been good to me. Life shows its unpleasant side all at once. Everything fell apart, including the people i love(d), the things i enjoy, and ME. But what i realized— life needs to hurt me at times in order to let me grow and accept that not all things should come perfectly as planned. It is not going to be what you thought it would be. It will destroy, break and scar you first. And if you are strong enough, you shall...
Define you
Year 2018, that was the year I was going to live life true to myself. At least that was what I thought I was going to do. What ended happening was much more different. I continued to fear revealing my true self unapologetically because I thought I would be rejected for it. I continued going with the crowd flow and putting up a front 'cause everyone expected me to be something; so much more different to what I actually was feeling. Hiding my true feelings, I continued on. Until the breaking point later in the year. November is a hectic month. Just a month before the end of the year, everyone...
Peace or Piece Of Mind
I think about the peace we had Sitting calmly seeing the sky Cherishing beautiful movements And things we learnt in school But now it is not like that! Someone asked me- Are you having peace of mind and I said Only a piece of mind is left to be alive. Can we even sit in class? Hearing the ambulance roaming can we even continue to survive? Seeing friends losing their parents There is conflict happening inside Strange, unknown, and confused I pray for peace, security and A solution that exists
Your World, Reimagined
All Girls Are Beautiful in Their Own Way
I loved my school. The days at school used to be the happiest days of my life until I went to high-school. Luckily, I was chosen to study in a selected class. People around me, they study so well that sometimes I think I can't keep up with them. But that's not the problem. The problem is, I am not pretty. I usually receive jokes from the boys, or even girls. They say that I have a giant face, a big nose and a lean body. At first, I felt really sad, then all that remained was disappointment. Why did my friends do that to me? I always tried my best to please people so I would not have to hear...
From Where I Stand
The Lesson in Listening
How to Keep Doing Good When You Feel Bad
According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, more than 77 million adults volunteered through some organization. They spent more than 6.9 billion hours volunteering, which equates to an economic value of around $167 billion. It seems like some people were just built to volunteer and give themselves to help others. For others, it can be a challenge. Regardless of what side of the coin you fall on, you need to take steps to protect yourself emotionally so that the stress of volunteering to help others does not rob you of joy. Burnout should be prevented at all costs. The...