"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."-Mahatma Gandhi.

In the debris from a shattered building stands a little girl. Her hazel eyes reflected the gloomy color of the sky. Gunshots and explosions could be heard from a distance, along with the cries of people for help. This is the typical scenario in places such as Syria and also recently in Marawi wherein kids were planted with fear in such a very young age, wherein the...

    "Honey, there are going to be some changes," I'm sure your Mom has said to you. "Change is for the better," your Dad might have mentioned. "Change," says your Grandma. "Change," says your sister. "Change," says your teacher. "Change," says your best friend. "Change," says I.
    So now we've heard the word, but what do we think it means? Well, very different things, depending on the context. In a case where you are moving to another...

An eleven year old girl named Violet sits at her round Sunday School table. She looks up as the teacher walks in. He smiles and greets his class. Violet smiles back at him and sends up a prayer that the class will go well. Around the table there also sits five rambunctious boys. This is how it always is, while all five may not always be there, Violet is always the only girl. It has been this way since they...

    I first met her in elementary school, nine years ago. She had sat across from me, the edges of our desks pushed so close to each other, they overlapped and trembled like tectonic plates moved by a massive earthquake.
    That was a simile she proudly said herself, when after countless attempts of retreating into the remaining space in the commodious classroom, I questioned the compressed state of our desks with a bewildered stare and tilt of my head. After...

Sometimes, I think I'm ugly.

There. I've said it. 

See, I don't exactly care about my appearance. But sometimes, when I look into the mirror, I can't help but see the flaws that don't worry me when I can't see myself. I can't help searching for the wrongs of my face, the imperfection and the faults. I can't help but compare myself to others. 

If you look through my childhood drawings, you'll find a lot of these: little drawings of...

    You're joking, is all I can think as I stare at my best friend's face, but with her brows furrowed and lips in a straight, firm line, I know she isn't. Instead of crying, screaming, maybe even hitting her, I can only stare dumbly as my mouth curls upwards and opens automatically, saying, "I know you'll be great. You're [REDACTED], after all! You'll love it there." 
    [REDACTED] was a big part of my life ever since I was...

    You're joking, is all I can think as I stare at my best friend's face, but with her brows furrowed and lips in a straight, firm line, I know she isn't. Instead of crying, screaming, maybe even hitting her, I can only stare dumbly as my mouth curls upwards and opens automatically, saying, "I know you'll be great. You're [REDACTED], after all! You'll love it there."
    [REDACTED] was a big part of my life ever since I was young....

A change means to make or become different,Well life change all around you,Starting from when you were little;wearing diapers then when you were scared of the dark and couldn’t sleep because you thought a ghost was in the closet,to when your parents think you old enough to do everything on your own, but your actually not .See me:I’m trying to make a change to where our voice should be heard and when I said “our” I mean teenagers, we always...

She told me that she rarely talked, and that the only reason she was on stage was because this was important. Now it’s up to the children to rise up. It sets your heart racing doesn't it? Here in Western society, we are more connected than ever, there is no excuse for not realising the pressing issues of today. The problem is that too many ignore them. Inarguably, one of the biggest problems we face is posed by climate change....

I was so so happy to have the chance to see Grandma.  She had been diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer and since I was only five, I had an idea that she was only days away from dying. If I would have realized that, I would have been crying. Actually, I had never spent a lot of time with my grandma since she lived in The Netherlands, and I lived in Arkansas. 
When we arrived in The Netherlands we...

I love the idea of making change. 
Shaping, shifting, moving, mixing. Integrating, striving, driving, determining, to impact those around me.
Will it happen through a smile? Can it happen with a hug?
Maybe a conversation?
So many people are depressed.
Lonely. 
Sad, hurt, broken, confused.
Lost and angry and disappointed in their world.
I want to see people fulfilled.
Chasing their destiny, running after their dreams.
I want people to know they are known, to feel they are felt.
That...

A change , 
it's a word that often comes to my mind and probably everyone's mind and I think that goes back to the fact that everything is changing around us : people , opinions , thought , feelings , fears and friends too
and so , our world is changing
When we were young we used to think that darkness is the most scary thing , but we realize that there is so many other things to fear and...

1. Dream a 5 letter small word, that has a whole different world inside it. If you ask me what a dream is?  I'll say it is the first mile stone to build an empire and the first fire to burn and bring an empire to crumble. Every great idea, moment,  revolution and even rebels start with a dream, Centuries have been witness to that. The best part about a dream is that every Man walking on this earth, possess a...

    I had no business being at my cousins’ house; nothing good ever came of it. I was supposed to be at school learning the steps to pass my AP exam. Yet there I was, learning the steps to roll a blunt. Step 1: Grind the weed. Step 2: Prep the blunt wrap. Step 3: Wet the wrap. Step 4: Fill it up. Step 5: Roll the blunt wrap. Step 6: Seal the blunt wrap. The first six steps seemed so...

Im finally awake now,
I feel like I've never been.
I forgot what normal was.
For all these years I've been drowning, suffocating under the sadness, and I didn't even know it. The loneliness and suffering became norm. My twisted spirit was glamoured, my mind denying what's right in front of me.
Sometimes I wonder where I'd be right now if I had never been depressed. Would things be different? Would I be different? Would I have the same friends?...

    “It is now time for the parent dance.”
    A man’s voice boomed over the sound system. The gym floor opened up to the fathers and mothers making their way to their beloved kids.
    I would have rathered it had been time for any other dance. I would have rathered danced the cha-cha, swing and tango a million more times before this.
    One by one, boys lined up with their mothers, girls partnered up with their fathers. The music started...

Lighting storms in Laos made me realize there’s a strange allure to danger. It’s the held breath and shot of adrenaline, the shaky hands and the exhilaration of something greater, something so out of reach and yet too close, that catches on and holds interest. I remember my first lightning storm when I was four years old, and already, I was hooked to that sensation. I remember hiding out in a corner of the room, the electricity down, the house...

         If I could go back in time to tell myself some advice, It would be: "Raise your voice, Don't back away from challenges because of fear of judgment. Embrace your self." Growing up I was bullied, But thankfully they never punched me, or anything like that, It was only worded wounds. But still, words can sting, hurt, and sadly kill. It's not my fault for my personality, I never asked for them to hurt me. I should have...

Bullying, you might think yes its wrong. It is certainly, have you been bullied because I have been. Today I will raise my voice and say it stops here! I have made a change in my life even if it took too much out of it. Friends you might think they will never hurt you maybe that's right. I was hurt, made fun of without even knowing. I thougt it was okay, but it wasn't. Made fun of by the...

Bullying, you might think yes its wrong. It is certainly, have you been bullied because I have been. Today I will raise my voice and say it stops here! I have made a change in my life even if it took to much out of it. Friends you might think they will never hurt you maybe that's right. I was hurt, made fun of without even knowing. I thougt it was okay, but it wasn't. Made fun of by the...

Born Without Creativity

Like most elementary school students, my notebook was more like a canvas. In other words, along with my homework consisting of division and multiplication there were unceasing scribbles ranging from patterns to people. Many times my daydreams were accompanied by the movement of my pencil across the paper similar to a mini Van Gogh. Although, I was not going end up with a severed ear, I had already decided that my best artistry came from not listening...

Change is a permanent state. To think that just five years ago, we seemed to know what ‘democracy’ meant, what the facts were and were seemingly content with being European Union. Now, we are living in a world of ‘post-truth’, where nobody really knows what the facts are, where our governments seem more and more totalitarian and where we are questioning for what purpose the EU is. In such a world, the best change we can make is to improve...

PNB Rock- My City Needs Something: My Emotional Connection Is Real
The words to this song allow me to look at Philadelphia in a whole new light. I’ve never looked at Philadelphia as more than my house, and everything that happens in my house is how I perceived Philadelphia. Until I heard My City Needs  Something , Philadelphia could do no wrong to me, except for the fact that outside need to be cleaned, Philly has a serious littering problem...

    Let's go back in time.
    Set the scene: February tenth, 2002. A baby is born to two loving parents in a Cleveland hospital, and given the name "Aria". They are assigned the gender of "female", and wrapped up in a pink blanket, in a pink incubator, with a little pink hat on their head. Their parents have known their sex for a while, but they still feel consumed with joy at the sight of their wonderful...