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Chapter 7: Facing My Fears

Thursday, July 24th, 2025

Driving always felt terrifying to me. It wasn’t just about the mechanics of it. It was the idea of being in control, or of being responsible for something that could go wrong so fast. That fear kept me from getting my permit, even though my parents had been pushing me to do it ever since college decisions came out.

To be honest, I had planned to take the permit test last summer before college started. But every time I thought about it, anxiety took over. Instead of admitting that, I snapped back at my parents with, “I’ll get it when I need to.“ Deep down, I knew I was just scared.

But this summer was different. I entered this summer with the thought of being a different version of myself. Part of it was because I was fed up with myself. I was fed up with the constant failures I have been witnessing. 

In college, I’m always the one catching up. The one figuring things out while others seem to be fine. And at home, I could feel the weight my parents were carrying—stress from work, bills, responsibilities piling up. They never said the words, but I sensed it through their words. And on top of it all, they were worried about me. Not out of disappointment, but concern. They saw me struggling in college, academically, socially, and emotionally, and they didn’t know how to help. And I didn’t know how to fix all this. 

This summer, I had made all these plans: To run every day. To eat healthy. To get a job. To become that version of myself I’ve always pictured—strong, disciplined, confident. But one by one, I failed to follow through. I let myself down. Again and again.

So I decided that I needed to take one step. Just one. And that step was getting my permit. I wanted to push myself out there and get that license. I know it’s just a test, but to me, it was like finding a different kind of confidence. I took my first driving lesson on June 18th. I remember sitting in the car, gripping the steering wheel like it was about to run away from me.

Fast forward to lesson ten—my hands don’t shake anymore. My turns are smoother. I don’t have to overthink where to look or when to signal. In parallel parking and U-turns, I don’t hold my breath anymore. 

The night before the test, I couldn’t sleep. I kept imagining every possible way I could mess up. At the testing site, my hands felt cold, my stomach twisted into knots. I kept telling myself to stay calm, but inside, fear was bubbling up. My instructor kept saying, “It’s okay if you don’t pass the first time; most people don’t.” And he is right. But I didn’t have it in me to fail. Not this test. 

This wasn’t just about getting a license. It was about proving to myself that I could face my fears, that I could do something hard and come out on the other side. 

Guess what? I passed. Yes, on my first try. 

But I know this isn’t a magic fix for everything. It won’t suddenly solve all my problems or answer every question I have about college, my future, or who I want to be. What it did do, though, was to give me confidence. Remind me that progress doesn’t have to be perfect or immediate. Sometimes, it’s just about showing up, trying anyway, and trusting in yourself. 

That’s the lesson I’m holding onto from this summer is the courage to start, even when I am scared.

Driving always felt terrifying to me. It wasn’t just about the mechanics of it. It was the idea of being in control, or of being responsible for something that could go wrong so fast. That fear kept me from getting my permit, even though my parents had been pushing me to do it ever since college decisions came out.

To be honest, I had planned to take the permit test last summer before college started. But every time I thought about it, anxiety took over. Instead of admitting that, I snapped back at my parents with, “I’ll get it when I need to.“ Deep down, I knew I was just scared.

But this summer was different. I entered this summer with the thought of being a different version of myself. Part of it was because I was fed up with myself. I was fed up with the constant failures I have been witnessing. 

In college, I’m always the one catching up. The one figuring things out while others seem to be fine. And at home, I could feel the weight my parents were carrying—stress from work, bills, responsibilities piling up. They never said the words, but I sensed it through their words. And on top of it all, they were worried about me. Not out of disappointment, but concern. They saw me struggling in college, academically, socially, and emotionally, and they didn’t know how to help. And I didn’t know how to fix all this. 

This summer, I had made all these plans: To run every day. To eat healthy. To get a job. To become that version of myself I’ve always pictured—strong, disciplined, confident. But one by one, I failed to follow through. I let myself down. Again and again.

So I decided that I needed to take one step. Just one. And that step was getting my permit. I wanted to push myself out there and get that license. I know it’s just a test, but to me, it was like finding a different kind of confidence. I took my first driving lesson on June 18th. I remember sitting in the car, gripping the steering wheel like it was about to run away from me.

Fast forward to lesson ten—my hands don’t shake anymore. My turns are smoother. I don’t have to overthink where to look or when to signal. In parallel parking and U-turns, I don’t hold my breath anymore. 

The night before the test, I couldn’t sleep. I kept imagining every possible way I could mess up. At the testing site, my hands felt cold, my stomach twisted into knots. I kept telling myself to stay calm, but inside, fear was bubbling up. My instructor kept saying, “It’s okay if you don’t pass the first time; most people don’t.” And he is right. But I didn’t have it in me to fail. Not this test. 

This wasn’t just about getting a license. It was about proving to myself that I could face my fears, that I could do something hard and come out on the other side. 

Guess what? I passed. Yes, on my first try. 

But I know this isn’t a magic fix for everything. It won’t suddenly solve all my problems or answer every question I have about college, my future, or who I want to be. What it did do, though, was to give me confidence. Remind me that progress doesn’t have to be perfect or immediate. Sometimes, it’s just about showing up, trying anyway, and trusting in yourself. 

That’s the lesson I’m holding onto from this summer is the courage to start, even when I am scared.

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By Marzia Seemat

Marzia Seemat is a sophomore at NYU studying civil engineering and creative writing. She loves being close to nature, especially at the beach. Her favorite things include good food, morning tea, hour-long movies, and spending time with the people she loves.

For over 25 years, the Campus Clipper has helped college students in New York City—and later in Boston and Philadelphia—save money and succeed in city life. We offer a digital coupon booklet with discounts on food, clothing, and services, plus an Official Student Guidebook with real advice on how to navigate college life in a big city. Our internship program lets students build skills, earn money, and publish their own e-books. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @CampusClipper, and sign up for our newsletter to get deals straight to your inbox. To access the digital coupons, scan the QR code on our printed card—available in dorms, student centers, and around campus.

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Chapter 6: The Screen Between Me and Myself

Wednesday, July 16th, 2025

I was convinced I had everything under control in high school, and I even signed up for a debate on “How Media and Devices Shape the Youth.” And guess what? I argued passionately about how my phone helps us stay connected, learn faster, and express ourselves. And honestly, they do — but only if we know where to draw the line. ​​

But looking back… I wasn’t defending this media and devices. I was defending my dependence on it. I was using “productivity” and “connection” as a mask to avoid admitting the truth: I couldn’t go ten minutes without checking my phone. That it gave me dopamine hits, I didn’t want to give up. That I needed it more than I wanted to admit.

For the longest time, I thought this addiction started in college, but the truth is,  it’s been with me for years. I just didn’t realize it until now. You might wonder how I didn’t notice it back in high school. Well…I was wrapped up in my ego back then. My mom used to tell me I was addicted to my phone, but I would always brush it off. In my mind, as long as I kept my GPA high, it didn’t count as a real problem. And to be fair, I was pulling 90s, even while glued to my screen. So I thought, “How bad could it be?”

But then college hit, things changed. My grades slipped. My confidence collapsed. Suddenly, the tricks that used to work didn’t anymore. My ability to multitask, to study with distractions, to function while constantly checking notifications — it all failed me. And for the first time, I couldn’t deny it: this was an addiction. 

I started to realize that my phone had become a coping mechanism. Any time I felt anxious, bored, lonely, or overwhelmed, I’d reach for it without thinking. 

One thing I’ve really started to notice is how much my behavior has changed. I’m almost always in a bad mood. I barely have the will to do anything, even the basics. It’s like I’m constantly stuck in this fog, and I can’t shake it. I used to have drive, ideas, and things I wanted to get done. But now, even getting out of bed feels like a chore. Everything feels forced, like I’m running on empty.

It hasn’t just affected how I feel, it’s affected how I treat the people around me, too. My relationships with my family and friends have started to change, and not in a good way. I’ve become more impatient, more distant. I snap at people for no reason. I zone out when they’re talking to me. I’ve noticed myself getting irritated over the smallest things. I give short replies, ignore calls, and cancel plans. And the truth is, it’s not because I don’t care. It’s because I don’t have it in me to care the way I used to. I’m so caught up in my own fatigue, my own scrolling, my own world on a screen, that I’ve started pushing people away without even realizing it.

The worst part of dependence is that you don’t know how to stop. And even when you do know, it still feels like you can’t. You feel trapped in your own habits, in your own head. And you keep hoping one day you’ll just snap out of it.

But change doesn’t come all at once. It starts with awareness. With honesty. With moments like this, you finally stop pretending everything’s fine and admit that something needs to shift.

And that’s where I am now. I don’t have it all figured out. But I’ve stopped lying to myself. I’ve started setting limits. Whether in the form of feeling guilty after every doomscroll, or setting a timer, or just acknowledging the limit. I’ve started trying, even if it’s messy and slow. Because at the end of the day, I still believe in who I can become. I still believe there’s a version of me out there who’s more present, more connected, not to a screen, but to life.

Get 20% off your next best coffee at Absolute Coffee!!!

By Marzia Seemat

Marzia Seemat is a sophomore at NYU studying civil engineering and creative writing. She loves being close to nature, especially at the beach. Her favorite things include good food, morning tea, hour-long movies, and spending time with the people she loves.

For over 25 years, the Campus Clipper has helped college students in New York City—and later in Boston and Philadelphia—save money and succeed in city life. We offer a digital coupon booklet with discounts on food, clothing, and services, plus an Official Student Guidebook with real advice on how to navigate college life in a big city. Our internship program lets students build skills, earn money, and publish their own e-books. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @CampusClipper, and sign up for our newsletter to get deals straight to your inbox. To access the digital coupons, scan the QR code on our printed card—available in dorms, student centers, and around campus.

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Posted in Creativity, Friendship, NYC Student Guide, on Writing, onHealth, Relationships, Social Media Learning, student discounts, Studying | No Comments »

Dreamland Ch. 4: You are not a sellout, you are just 20 years old

Thursday, July 3rd, 2025

Every college student struggles with time management, with classes piling upon classes and the additional pressure to build your resume with clubs, jobs, internships. They say every hour of your day should be spent investing in the rest of your life, which leaves nanoseconds for fostering hobbies and interests. But over time, it gets easier. I’m surely not the first to say to you that you should allow yourself free time; that in itself is investment in your future. If you have it figured out, congratulations. 

I do not.

It’s not so much that I overbook my time or even procrastinate. More often than not, I frontload my work and finish all my smaller tasks before the weekend. I take pride in my work ethic when it comes to my academic life, but the remaining time is no man’s land, a space where a million obligations orbit and eclipse one another. When I’m writing, I think to myself that I should be applying to jobs. When I’m applying to jobs or generally lengthening my resume, I want to be writing because it feels more meaningful. I often end up doing neither, and the idleness at once comforts me and tugs at my skin.

This is only a dilemma because my brain compartmentalizes these two activities — writing books, and working toward a good resume — as not only different things but polar opposites. There is a solid rationale here. I’m not pursuing creative writing as my full-time career, which means I have to find other things I’m interested in that suit me. That’s what I suggest everyone does. However, I find myself also separating the pursuit of stability and the pursuit of fulfillment and creativity. 

I end up prioritizing quantity over quality. In many ways, this works. You should apply to and try out as many things as possible to find what you like. But sometimes this habit decays into an ingrained psychology where what I’m interested in does not matter. Anything will do, as long as I am doing it.

Content warning: job application. Image Credit: https://www.verstela.com/blog/tips-to-get-your-job-application-noticed/

In practice, I haven’t done anything that I absolutely despise. Not yet, at least. But no matter what I do, I feel that I should be doing more, something better, something that plants a direct line to six figures by my mid-twenties. I don’t actually care that much about money, but that lack of care itself is a huge privilege that I might someday lose. Rent is so expensive everywhere, entry-level positions require master’s degrees, eggs are a million dollars, and I still haven’t made time to write today.

The more I spiral, the sillier and guiltier I feel worrying about problems that I created. Isn’t it so terrible that I can’t manage my time at a prestigious university because I get insecure sometimes? There’s no “but” here. It really is just silly. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want to waste the amazing opportunities I’ve had by making no solid, practical plans for a job, but I also don’t want to waste my capacity to care about things outside of these plans. 

Like me, you may be a natural creative and plan to pursue something adjacent to that passion (or entirely separate from that passion, even) with your creative outlet on the side. Like me, you may not know which you should focus on at any given time, because each is unfulfilling in its own way, emotionally or financially. The best advice I can give you is to avoid thinking of your creative passion as lesser or smaller and instead let it run parallel to your practical pursuits.

I’m sort of stating the obvious here, I know, but it’s very easy to abandon parts of yourself when you grow up, and that abandonment begins in your formative years. In between classes and other obligations, you should be making time to tend to your lifelong dreams, even if they end up having nothing to do with your career. Don’t treat them as a waste, and don’t even treat them as a hobby. Treat them as sustenance, the very essence of you. 

And if you want some even better advice, make a schedule for each week. Life-changing.

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By Oshmi Ghosh

Oshmi Ghosh is a rising junior at NYU’s College of Arts and Sciences, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English with minors in Creative Writing, History, and Entertainment Business. You can usually find her appreciating the simple things in life: tea with milk and sugar, a good book, and/or intensely competitive board games.

For over 25 years, the Campus Clipper has helped college students in New York City—and later in Boston and Philadelphia—save money and succeed in city life. We offer a digital coupon booklet with discounts on food, clothing, and services, plus an Official Student Guidebook with real advice on how to navigate college life in a big city. Our internship program lets students build skills, earn money, and publish their own e-books. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @CampusClipper, and sign up for our newsletter to get deals straight to your inbox. To access the digital coupons, scan the QR code on our printed card—available in dorms, student centers, and around campus.

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Work-Life Balance Actually is Your Problem to Figure Out

Thursday, May 15th, 2025
Emma Grede on Diary of a CEO

“The emancipation of the working class must be the work of the working class itself.” – Marx and Engels, Strategy and Tactics of the Class Struggle (1879)

Here me out. 

The uproar around SKIMS Co-Founder Emma Grede’s comments regarding employees’ work-life balance responsibilities has brought on a lot of thoughts and feelings I want to discuss.

Last week, Grede stated in an interview with “Diary of a CEO” podcast host Steven Bartlett that a healthy work-life balance is a problem for employees “to figure out.”

Concerning employee attendance and micromanagement, Grede validated her statement by saying her company has changed with the times to accommodate personal life events. “You come in, you have set hours, but there’s flexibility within your working life. It’s not like ‘Oh my goodness, such and such is not at their desk.’” she said. “The way we run organizations now is that no one misses dentist appointments or a doctor’s appointment or a haircut or their kid’s parent-teacher conference.”

While Grede received a lot of pushback for her comments and lack of sensitivity as an employer, I have to agree with her… to a certain extent. The optimist in me wants to say it was giving unintentional Marxist queen.

It’s no shocker that Americans struggle with work-life balance. Our capitalist society literally thrives off of our clocked-on hours and has trained us to believe that we are important if we are good at our job, that we are valuable, even better than others, if we sacrifice ourselves to do more for our job. It’s one thing to be a small business owner living the dream of running a bookstore cafe. It’s another to be working for a company where you’re at the hands of a manager, who is at the hands of their manager, who is at the hands of their manager, and so on. 

I don’t know why anyone would expect a large corporation or sector of the workforce to ever take into consideration their employees’ work-life balance. In a utopia, surely. But it doesn’t look like we’re headed towards Marx’s wet dream any time soon, no matter how much I, too, fantasize about it. 

Marx Memes via Pinterest

Like so many aspects of our lives, it is our responsibility to do what’s best for ourselves, especially when it’s hard. Classload too exhausting this spring semester? It’s up to you to change that for the fall. Feel like you’re spending too much time on social media? You should probably put a lock on the TikTok app. Worried about not exercising enough? I mean, honestly, who isn’t, but who is going to fix that besides you? Not your boss, that’s for sure. It’s HARD to set these kinds of boundaries, especially because it means working towards bettering ourselves for us (how selfish!), rather than bettering a company for profit. 

It reminds me of a quote by John Green: “I took some pride in ‘not fulfilling my potential,’ in part because I was terrified that if I tried my hardest, the world would learn I didn’t actually have that much potential.” I’ve seen a lot of people fall into this rabbit hole at one point or another, myself included, because there is a comfort in settling. “I guess I could get used to just being a teacher,” I used to say to myself before I applied to grad school. And the truth is, I probably could’ve just slumped into that routine of having a steady pay and set schedule despite being irritable all the time. But I knew I was stunted as a person when I was teaching, following a path that would leave me feeling limited. That doesn’t mean, however, that there wasn’t still fear in stepping outside that box and pursuing myself first.

Because of this, I do agree with Grede that, when it comes to work, no one is going to look out for you except for you. And this sentiment goes against everything a generalized American workplace wants you to think. It’s hard to stand your ground and set boundaries with work because we’ve truly been programmed not to, and doing so is frowned upon by everyone who is too far in, especially those who profit the most from your labor. If more working people start to be more strict with their work-life balance, institutions will eventually be forced to reckon with a new norm. I firmly believe this is true, as even Grede alluded to such changes in her interview. “That’s just not how we work anymore,” she said regarding an outdated lack of flexibility in work hours. 

TBT When I used to go to work sick only for balding women to talk about me behind my back.

This is one thing I love about Gen Z. If any generation has learned to stick it to the man in terms of work-life balance, it’s ours. For most of Gen Z, you literally could not pay us enough to go into work unless we really have to. I enjoy my new job right now, which is actually a rather huge thing for me to say, but at the end of the day, I will always prefer to not work. I know my value doesn’t come from a job. I know my happiness won’t increase if I overwork myself for the sake of an institution. I know any notion of “making the world a better place” can be done without a monetary profit involved. At the end of the day, I work to have money to pay for the things I need and hopefully a little extra. If I didn’t need to be an employee, I wouldn’t be! I would do pilates, volunteer, buy expensive coffee from a small business owner who runs a bookstore cafe, and run my own magazine, AKA become my own boss. I mean, that’s kind of the dream, isn’t it?

I often see people overextending themselves for jobs that don’t even align with their passions and/or come at the cost of their well-being. Even if you love your job, you shouldn’t be risking your physical or mental health, your relationships, or your interests for the sake of work. What is the benefit? So other work-obsessed people will identify you as “good at your job”? So you’ll be known around the office as “dedicated and dependable”? That’s just sad. If you have PTO time, please take it. If you have sick time, PLEASE take it, even if you just have a cold. And if you have neither of these things, but you feel burnt out and can spare a day of work without getting fired, just take a day off. “I won’t be able to make it in today. I apologize for the inconvenience.” End of discussion.

On the flip side, I know many people do not have a choice in terms of improving their work-life balance. They have to work a 40-hour work week to pay all their bills. Especially for those who live in a big city like Boston or New York, most of the time, they’re just working to pay rent and utilities. Add being a student on top of that, and it’s truly like someone materializing in front of you every two weeks with a vacuum, sucking up your entire check. If you can’t take the city out of the girl, you also definitely can’t take the girl out of the city. It’s something I’ve learned to accept. While there are ways to balance work and life, no one can say it isn’t difficult, and self-care during this time looks different for everyone. Take it easy, take a break whenever you can, and just remember, even if you are working long hours day after day, labor laws exist, and rest is eventually required!

“Disappear, babes,” Adele whispers when you clock out.

I can’t believe I used to spend so much time complaining to friends and family about how burnt out I was as a teacher when I was actually the only person who had control over changing that part of my life. Once I did, I became so much happier. Not only that, but I opened up space in my life to actually lean into my passions, such as becoming an editor and writing these blog posts (with no worry or remorse, I might add).

Until the world is ready to stop dehumanizing working people for profit, you have to watch out for yourself. I can assure you, your job will always ask more of you, and it’s on you to learn how to say no. Sometimes, saying no comes with what may look like a consequence. You may have to set boundaries and say no. You may piss people off. You may even have to give up your job and search for something better. Others may not understand your decisions. But if you’re putting yourself first, you will almost always come out on top, and the right people will stand by you. Secure the bag, and then leave! What are you waiting around for?

“A schoolmaster is a productive labourer when, in addition to belabouring the heads of his scholars, he works like a horse to enrich the school proprietor. That the latter has laid out his capital in a teaching factory, instead of in a sausage factory, does not alter the relation.” – Marx, Capital, Volume I, Chapter 16 (1867)

Boston Students! Grab a nice book and head over to Caffé Bene for 10% off with this coupon and a student ID!

Brenna Sheets is a graduate student in Emerson College’s Writing and Publishing M.A. program. Her hobbies include going on long walks, watching bad television, reading, and writing.

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Dodging Office Saboteurs: How to Stay Strong in a Challenging Work Environment

Monday, February 17th, 2025
Common Statistics of Workplace Bullying in America.

We like to think of bullying as something only kids go through when they’re learning about social hierarchies and how to approach people’s differences. Most of us are taught at a young age about the cycle of bullying and how to break the chain, however, as many as 45% of Americans say they have been bullied during adulthood. Often, adult bullies are more calculated than those we can recall from our childhood, as they tend to teeter the line between being domineering and unambiguously committing a form of harassment. This leaves workers questioning themselves, feeling uncomfortable, and struggling with their mental health.

According to the WBI U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey conducted in January 2021, “30% of Americans have experienced workplace bullying; another 19 percent have witnessed it; 49 percent are affected by it; and 66 percent are aware of its occurrence.”

It can be hard to tell just what constitutes workplace bullying, but a lot of the characteristics are the same as what we learned in grade school. The Workplace Bullying Institute defines bullying as “repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one or more of the following forms: verbal abuse, offensive conduct/behaviors (including nonverbal) which are threatening, humiliating, or intimidating; or work interference – sabotage – which prevents work from getting done.”

In a 2017 study, the Institute discovered that nearly 75% of workplace bullies are men, with 60 percent of that portion targeting women. Moreover, two-thirds of women workplace bullies (referred to as “mean girls”) target other working women.

When work issues get the best of me, I like to turn to my hobbies to bring me joy. Here’s a coconut lemon pie I made from scratch, which was sooooo delicious! Baking has become a very therapeutic pastime of mine.

 Aside from the more commonly known experiences like written or spoken personal insults, name-calling, or public shaming, workplace bullying also includes:

  • Intimidating or undermining employees by demeaning their work standards
  • Setting them up for failure and constantly reminding them of old mistakes
  • Threatening employees’ personal self-esteem and work status
  • Withholding Information that involves them
  • Making unreasonable demands, creating undue pressure and stress, and overworking employees
  • Giving constant and unfair criticism
  • Blaming without factual justification
  • Giving hostile glares and other intimidating gestures
  • Purposely excluding or isolating a coworker
  • Deliberately insulting others and taking part in behind-the-back putdowns
  • Monitoring another excessively
  • Ignoring personal boundaries

 A meta-analysis based on 140,000 participants showed an overwhelming amount of evidence that toxic work environments have an incredibly negative impact on mental health. This can even generate chronic stress and burnout, and it can lead to the worsening of any pre-existing mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. Chronic stress has been linked to issues such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and a weakened immune system. After all, we spend about ⅓ of our lives working, so it’s no wonder how a negative work environment could impact us so tremendously. 

Another thing I do when the going gets tough is remind myself of how far I’ve come and where I’m headed. This is from December 2023 when I found out I was going to Emerson! Reminding myself of the small wins I’ve accomplished (like Emerson and being a part of Campus Clipper!) is a great way to stay positive and push through difficulties.

The most common tell-tale signs of toxic work environments that are often supplemented by frequent bullying include a lack of organization, high turnover rates, poor communication, gossip, a general absence of trust, micromanagement, and inappropriate work-life expectations. Often, we are unaware of just how toxic a work environment can be until we’re knee-deep in it, searching for a way out. Of course, many people are not in the privileged position to simply quit a job without having another one lined up immediately. What, then, do we do after we’ve found ourselves stuck? Surrounded by workplace bullies?

  1. Focus on the Positives, if Any 
    • Focusing our attention on the positive things about our work can help protect our mental health by shifting our mindset away from stress and frustration and toward moments of gratitude and personal growth. Finding small wins here and there can boost resilience, making it easier to maintain motivation and emotional balance, at least while you try to find a new job. 
  2. Keep Good Company
    • Having supportive colleagues can provide a sense of belonging, validation, and encouragement amid workplace stress. By building positive connections, we can also help counteract negativity, making it easier to navigate challenges and maintain our sanity.
  3. Leave Work at Work
    • Setting a boundary with yourself to leave work at work allows us to protect our personal time from stress and negativity that doesn’t belong there. Disconnecting helps us recharge, focus on self-care, and maintain a healthier work-life balance.
  4. Connect with HR
    • If your workplace has an HR, contacting them is incredibly important for your mental health and self-care because it ensures that acts of harassment and bullying are being documented and addressed, helping us create a safer and more respectful environment. Speaking up also reinforces the idea that we deserve to be treated with respect, and we won’t expect anything less. Most importantly, workplace laws protect employees from harassment and unfair treatment, and HR has a responsibility to uphold these standards to ensure a fair and lawful work environment. 
  5. Quit! 
    • Quitting a toxic job sometimes is the only way to protect our mental health. As we know, staying in a harmful environment can lead to overwhelming stress, anxiety, and burnout. It can cause us to lose self-esteem and feel like things won’t ever get better, and the consequences can be long-lasting, both mentally and physically. Prioritizing our well-being by leaving allows us to reclaim our peace, build confidence, and seek a healthier, more supportive workplace. Being upset every day you go to work is no way to be spending ⅓ of your life. Your future self will thank you.
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Brenna Sheets is a graduate student in Emerson College’s Writing and Publishing M.A. program. Her hobbies include going on long walks, watching bad television, reading, and writing.

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Today I Wanted to Throw Things (But I Wrote Instead)

Friday, October 18th, 2024

Drumroll, Please.

Today, I want to talk about the patriarchy (Run!).

As I have gotten older, I’ve become more and more startled by the sexism I’ve endured. I always naively assumed that these experiences would diminish as I got older. When I was a teen, I thought being an adult meant men would finally start to think with the heads on their shoulders. Between the ages of 18 and 22, I shamefully let a lot of college guys off easy. In reality, they deserved a punch in the right place, and it was all for the same reason: It was ingrained in me to think “Well, they’re just boys, right?” equating them to dogs that keep shitting on the carpet well after their puppy years. I also didn’t want to be the girl with a problem who was no fun because she couldn’t take certain “jokes,” or the girl who cared too much about right and wrong. Now, at 24, I am finally and simply beside myself. There is no other way to put it. I keep thinking about how the mistreatment of women gave rise to James Tiptree Jr.’s Houston, Houston, Do You Read?, a story where men no longer exist and the effects of the patriarchy are long forgone.

In the past few years, what has surprised me the most is the number of women I’ve met who perpetuate the patriarchy: women who’ve belittled me because I’m younger than them so my presence makes them insecure about their age: women who believe being unmarried makes my value as a person decline; women who objectify and shame each other, and unapologetically support men who do. 

I have just started my third year of teaching at a new school, and there is no AC. The classroom I teach in faces the afternoon sun. When I started working in September, temperatures reached well above 85 degrees Fahrenheit inside. After about a week of suffering in slacks, I wore business casual shorts. The fabric went past my fingertips when I put my arms down by my side—adhering to the school’s dress code policy. I even asked my boyfriend if he thought they were fine, and he said yes. Despite other female teachers wearing skirts and dresses the same length to no complaint, I was pulled into the office by an older woman in the administration. She said, “You’re new and so young, so you’re already drawing attention from the parents. You wouldn’t want to give people the wrong idea, too.” I froze. I think eventually I just said, “Okay.”

We are not always in such a privileged position to say what’s on our minds. Though we’d often like to let people have it without facing some kind of consequence, life doesn’t work that way for the majority of us. Let’s not forget, too, that BIPOC communities and women are often punished more harshly for the same mistakes as white men in the workplace. The things some men got away with doing and saying at my old jobs without even a pat on the wrist were absurd. The number of women I saw get let go for less harmful or comparable instances was worse. 

When you’re angry, it’s good to get out and enjoy nature for a while.

What’s Your Damage, Heather?

Believe it or not, this is not some exposé of the U.S. education system and its flaws. The sad fact is that I’ve simply had a very ordinary epiphany. I guess I’ve fully realized that the patriarchy is everywhere, toxic masculinity is everywhere, and I am just another young woman who’ll have to deal with it for the majority of my lifetime. After the shockwave of this realization subsided, all I wanted to do was curse out every person around me.

When we desire to hurt those who have hurt us, what are our options? Which ones leave us in the healthiest position (with the smallest chance of getting arrested)? 

In an NPR interview last week with Rachel Martin, Margaret Atwood said, “I’m quite vengeful. I can’t help it. It’s who I am. So I make [critics] into idiotic people in fiction.” This idea of rerouting your anger and using it for creative, internal gain is similar to rage journaling. 

Rage journaling, where you write out all your nasty anger until it diminishes and some clarity of mind creeps in, is less preferable to, let’s say, smashing someone’s windshield. This is because we crave a physical, visual outcome that satisfies our primitive need for control and dominance. If someone breaks us, we want to see them, or something of theirs, break as well. 

Obviously, we can not and should not resort to violence or outward aggression that is directed at and negatively impacts other living things. Therefore, using a rage journal can be a cost-effective and healthy way to help you let out your anger safely. It can also fuel your creativity when writing antagonists for your novels!

In my journal, I curse people out, call them names, tell them their mother would be disappointed in them, and the best part is I can still face them the next day not feeling guilty, embarrassed, or knowing that my last check has already come in the mail. Rage journaling validates your emotions, gives you time to process your feelings, let your anger out, and learn how to proceed with a conflict in a more appropriate manner. Overall, if you rage journal first, you can choose, to respond with rationality as opposed to heated emotions.

That being said, if you are someone like me who has anger that can’t be disposed of because it concerns the world and how it works, rage journaling is not a one-stop solution. Rage rooms are a good supplement. So is exercise, especially boxing. Screaming into a pillow is cathartic, too. Therapy is a must.

Me sunbathing, fully clothed, during my lunch break.

Truthfully, you should also stand up for yourself when you get mistreated, in the workplace or otherwise.  If you find yourself repeatedly having to rage journal or having to explain to someone else how their actions have caused harm and you’re still being treated unfairly, that is a whole other story. At that point, it could be time for HR to step in, or some kind of higher authority with the power to make things right, even if you do have to bring representation in. While we don’t like to think about things getting that out of hand, it’s important to recognize the severity of a situation and evaluate the best course of action.

The hope is that we can rage journal, show up to work the next day, and have a productive conversation that changes things for the better. It is important to try to handle conflict with patience, clarity, and logic, and sometimes that is hard to do if you are blinded by anger or hatred. At least your journal will never yell back at you.

Boston Students! Get 20% off at Gloria’s Beauty Center in Allston with your student ID!

Brenna Sheets is a graduate student in Emerson College’s Writing and Publishing M.A. program. She is also a teacher, currently specializing in middle school history. Her hobbies include going on long walks, reading and writing, and watching bad television.

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Intentionality as a Young Adult: Creative Ways To Make Money

Friday, October 4th, 2024

When looking for internships for this summer, I stumbled across Spoon University, a blog run through the organization Her Campus, that aims to make food content written by college students for college students. If you’ve been keeping up with the rest of my chapters, you’ll know that this is quite literally my dream gig. I applied, thrilled that there was something out there so uniquely up my alley. Due to my passion for food, I got the internship. Even though it’s now over, I still write with them to this day, getting to cover some of the most exciting food releases and restaurants. 

This was a paid position, and I was also sent food regularly for review. However, this wouldn’t have been possible for me to achieve without marketing my skills. If you would like to do the same, don’t worry — that’s what I’m here to tell you how to do!

When applying to Spoon, I went on a very common rant that I would give my friends — my opinions on the Dunkin’ Spring 2024 menu. From my interview, I gathered that this had definitely made me stand out from the competition. So my first piece of advice is to do your research! Within your specific passion, find niche topics that you know you can consistently talk about and feel like you’re well-educated on. If you only passively enjoy something and don’t have developed opinions on it, maybe it’s not the right passion for you to try and make money from. You want to be able to call yourself an expert on this thing and mean it!

Picture I took of myself trying TikTok’s viral fluffy coke for Spoon University this summer. 

Another example of a creative way I’ve made money is through music reviews. I had been writing for music blogs through my college for the past few years, until I found a website called EveryDejaVu. As a student who attends college in Boston for the majority of the year, I found out about this publication through many of the local artists I had written about. This leads to my next recommendation, which is don’t be afraid of reaching out to smaller organizations within your community! Just because it’s a smaller organization doesn’t mean they don’t have funding, and big-name brands certainly aren’t everything. 

When you’re applying to jobs and especially internships, it can be very tempting to only apply to places you’ve already heard of before and admire. But some of the best places I’ve worked have been companies I’ve only found because I’ve been applying. These businesses tend to place a much bigger focus on work-life balance, and can even sometimes pay better than working for a bigger name. 

I also really recommend leaning fully into your interest of choice. Don’t be afraid of doing work just because you like it, without the promise of money at the end! I tend to go to a lot of both in-person and virtual writing events, like writing workshops. Through these, I’ve been able to get writing gigs just through the power of networking. For years, I had served as a reader for multiple literary magazines pro bono, just learning how they worked. But after rubbing elbows with the right people and expressing my true passion for this field, I’ve gotten jobs as a judge in writing contests, an opportunity that has paid up to $50 per contest! When you find the right people to share your passions with, amazing things can happen. 

Ultimately, these probably won’t become your full source of income. Especially at the beginning, it may take a while to actually make money this way. But I do find these options significantly more heartfelt than the often soulless get-rich-quick schemes like filling out surveys for hours on end, to only receive maybe $10 by the end of it. I especially think these can be great options for college students who often fill their free time with extracurriculars anyway. These are just like that, but with the potential of a surprising amount of extra cash!  

When you make that extra money, this is a great place to spend it! Especially with this 20% off coupon, that you just have to bring to the store along with your Student ID.

By Izzy Astuto

Izzy Astuto (he/they) is a writer currently majoring in Creative Writing at Emerson College, with a specific interest in screenwriting. His work has previously been published by Hearth and Coffin, Sage Cigarettes, and The Gorko Gazette, amongst others. He is currently a reader for journals such as PRISM international and Alien Magazine. You can find more of their work on their website, at https://izzyastuto.weebly.com/. Their Instagram is izzyastuto2.0 and Twitter is adivine_tragedy. 

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Chapter Eight: You Have More Choice than You Know

Monday, August 5th, 2024

I had planned to interview either a friendship coach like Danielle Bayard Jackson, a female empowerment coach (which I never knew was a thing before conducting this research), or a feminist theorist/academic like Dr. Bec Wonders for this final chapter. An interview with either of these professionals would have helped me better tackle heavy subjects like the female happiness paradox, female friendships, and other issues related to modern womanhood. These are topics I had to include here because college is an institution that takes women out of the home, which is very significant for women’s freedom. It was hard finding someone who fit the profile of who I wanted to interview while overcoming scheduling conflicts. But I will dive into these topics the best way I know how.

Choice is essentially at the root of what feminism is about. However, not everyone—especially not every woman—has the same degree of choice as the other. There are many women, especially those marginalized, who are forced to make constrained choices because of social, cultural, familial, political, and economic pressures. It is even important to note that while many women from Western cultures experience more choice than those from Eastern cultures, that doesn’t necessarily mean the choices available to Western women will automatically grant them happiness and fulfillment considering the pressures modern women have to work more than previous decades.

All women will fall somewhere within the “free choice-constrained choice” debate, for which one paper offers a third view—“satisficing”; this being when specifically women make a choice that may not be preferable but is good enough depending on unique personal circumstances (though not used in other sources, I use “free choice” instead of “choice” to be more specific). I may not want to admit it to myself, but I feel I might have been making more constrained choices than “satisficing” ones. The only free choice I would consider I have ever made would be going to college since I always wanted to go since senior year of high school—though my parents expected me to go too.

This subject for women is often fraught with shame, guilt, and regret because women feel pressured to make the “right” choice. But only anti-feminists believe there is such a thing as the “right” choice for a woman. Ultimately, no one has the right to tell another what kind of life they should live. And even if any woman ultimately makes a choice that is wrong for them personally, life is still meant to explore whatever options are disposable and appreciate the lessons that come with it anyways.

Additionally, our lives are made for multiple choices and not just one. I myself have felt regret for rejecting many men who were in some way interested in me because I didn’t want the “death sentence” of singlehood to be my fate as a woman. It wasn’t until I realized the pressure I felt to get married and have children was ironically a way of affording the possibility of moving into my own apartment. Marriage might have been a temporary solution towards my goal of financial stability, but there always seemed to be a trade-off lurking in the shadows (e.g., dual income replaced with unequal domestic labor in long-term partnerships).

Similarly, I felt regret when I quit a dream internship because it being fully remote was making it more difficult to manage the boundaries between work and my family. After a while, I realized that my peace of mind was much greater than any career regrets. I would rather work a tolerable in-person job to a fully-remote job I liked because the latter required more out of me emotionally and physically. Having been on both sides of the choice paradox fence, I felt like I was sacrificing too much. Though, I can’t say I am not grateful for these experiences because they redirected my energy towards more sustainable options.

While the female happiness paradox (though, I prefer to call it the “woman’s choice paradox”) tells us that women are under a lot more stress because of the constrained or satisficing choices we have to make, there are still ways for women to create more or better choices for themselves in an increasingly anti-woman political landscape. It may seem ironic that I hold a very optimistic view about women’s gains—not just in the West—while talking about the limits on women’s choice. On the other hand, it is important to recognize that freedom is a lifetime pursuit under capitalism; and many of us can find freedom to varying degrees depending on the path(s) we take.

One way women can create more or better choices is to keep their friendships with other women close. Though there are many obstacles that stand in the way of female friendships keeping strong as cited by Dr. Bec Wonders, women still make great efforts to maintain a support network; actually, college-educated women are more likely than college-educated men to have a close friend at work. The second way towards more choice is attending networking events, meetups, or social events for women such as the Women’s Connection Summit led by Danielle Bayard Jackson, and/or social clubs where mostly women are likely to be in attendance. The last way towards more choice is to take inspiration from and highlight other women’s work, especially those who you would want to work with in the future. By continuously reaching out to other women, you can learn from them, create awareness of necessary and impactful work, and likely develop bonds that will last a lifetime. Connection creates abundance, of course.

two women standing next to each other in front of a white wall
Women work better together.
Image Credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/two-women-standing-next-to-each-other-in-front-of-a-white-wall-OUxbYsnmPJI
Connect with your girls over lunch using this 15% off coupon!

By Daeli Vargas

Daeli is a recent graduate from the City College of New York with a BA in English and a publishing certificate. She is from the Bronx and is very passionate about all things literary. She hopes one day to publish many books of her own and share her passions worldwide.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Chapter Six: There is Room for Your Dreams

Monday, July 22nd, 2024

To me, it was always stated as fact that making money was more important than following your dreams (unless your dream happened to be very lucrative). I was also told that it is unrealistic to expect fulfillment or happiness from your job or career. I had been terrified of the thought of working my adult years away and living a miserable life. I had made a promise to myself never to live that kind of life lest I wanted regrets. These were among the many myths I had to prove wrong as I worked hard to get myself closer to my dream life.

The first myth I would like to bust is—your dreams won’t make any money. Countless were the times I wanted to drop out of college and partly to blame for that was this myth. I knew that when I graduated high school, I immediately wanted to go to college. I loved being a student and knew I wanted to learn more about almost everything, so college was a natural progression in my life. However, I couldn’t fit in with many of my peers because we decided to study very different things and were driven by different values. I was almost always told things like “You will be broke easily,” “What are going to do with that,” and “You need to study something else.” I had felt like my presence was unwelcome in an institution I thought was where I could find more open-minded individuals.

The reality is a lot more complicated than what my peers made me believe. I was an English major with the dream of being a published author and making a career in the publishing industry. While these careers require tedious growth, tolerance for constant rejection, and perhaps occasionally sacrificing the opportunity to make money upfront, there was always going to be opportunities where I could use my writing and editing skills to make some money—whether that was a paid internship in publishing (though, hard to find), a paid writer’s fellowship, a freelancing gig for an advertising company, or creating my own business. If it wasn’t going to be my main job, it would be my side job. Even then, I always found myself using the creative problem-solving skills I credit my English degree for giving me in my personal life.

The second myth is—you can’t expect fulfillment or happiness from your job or career. I don’t want myself or anyone else miserably clocking in and out of the place where we’ll be spending the majority of our adult lives. I don’t see why it’s unreasonable to want and expect more out of our jobs and careers. Work shouldn’t just be about waking up, commuting, and saying we worked a certain amount of hours every day. It should be making us feel inspired and making good use of the natural born skills and talents we have. In the end, measuring the value of our work based on our annual salary doesn’t always factor in how much it gives back to our society. Those who prioritize money too much over other more people-centered values may recognize themselves as less human. So, expecting more from our jobs and careers only makes us human.

I tried prioritizing money over fulfillment and passion much to my detriment. I understand that you need money to survive and access resources all over the city, but being that we are beings driven by emotions, we can’t ignore the real need we all have to seek meaning in what we dedicate our time to. There was real labor that went into pretending I wanted to be at certain jobs when truthfully, I didn’t. Yet money had to be the thing I sacrificed so much for. I realized that sacrifices I have made for my dreams were more worth it than sacrificing my dreams altogether. This was because my dreams were the foundation for the life I wanted to live. When we start to understand what we do as more than just a number value or a prize, we start to see the lifestyles behind them that either deprive us or nourish us. And my dream of being a writer and editor in publishing was going to be the key to my dream life of living more intentionally, valuing meaning over material items, and treasuring the collective more over the individual.

The third and last myth I want to cover is—your job or career is your identity. As passionate as I am of having a creative career or passion job, I recognize that I don’t like the possibility of being pigeonholed nor do I like the possibility of all my other interests and identities being ignored for the sake of pure simplicity. Your job will likely change as much as your identity over the course of your life. Even then, you could consistently be a person of multiple passions—a multi-passionate if you will. Therefore, you aren’t a story for others to make sense of. You are a universe of infinite realities.

A dream is a wish your heart makes.
Image Credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/room-full-of-clouds-surreal-dream-3d-rendering-moon-gm1301408665-393456340

College was where I felt I could create my own reality. It was the place to inspire and be inspired. It all had to start with stretching the very limited definitions forced on me since childhood. From being told that math and science were more important than my English classes to being told that the only thing I could do with an English degree was teach, I wanted a life of adaptable and accommodating definitions. Very literally, if you can dream it, you can believe it.

When you’re running for your dreams, coffee’s your best friend! Get your free coffee with any sweet pastry using this coupon!

By Daeli Vargas

Daeli is a recent graduate from the City College of New York with a BA in English and a publishing certificate. She is from the Bronx and is very passionate about all things literary. She hopes one day to publish many books of her own and share her passions worldwide.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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An Introduction to World-Saving: Prologue

Tuesday, July 9th, 2024

Admiring the blush blooming across the pinched cheeks of young tourists as they drink the cheapest red wine our Sicilian villa offers and the sloppy kisses they plant on their agape, laughing lips, I have unwillingly permitted several realizations to seep through my intermittent head throbs. It is my birthday tomorrow. I will turn twenty years old, and I have failed at living as a teenage girl. 

The finite potential I saved up for my teenage years, as if they were points to be redeemed at Dave & Busters or paid time off hours set aside for a short-lived vacation, has rotted and will wither in the next sun cycle to a place neither time nor I could catch it.

In retrospect, I’m grateful for the few parties I’d made appearances at, football games I’d stood in the back of, and crushes in class who had served primarily as muses for poetry but had not been of substantial importance as to break my freshman spirit. They would come later. I had snuck out of the house to meet boys, tried out for the softball team, and stuck my head out a sunroof under the cover of a tunnel. I had checked off the little things on the mental list I prepared in my pre-teens, yet coronavirus and the abnormal hardwiring of my mind had been the catalysts to my primarily online academic journey in the second half of high school. 

After a series of unfortunate events, I had been advised by school administration to not attend prom nor walk the stage for the mental safety of myself and physical safety of others, while the rest of my graduating class—mainly comprised of eerily similar Barbies and Kens clothed in milkmaid dresses and in suits of fine fabric from places I’ve never heard of—had thrown their crimson-colored caps at the peak of spring weather, and the following week rented beach houses the to consume liquor stolen from their equally plastic doll-like parents. 

I’d spent a few months isolated, experiencing ceaseless depression and feelings of ostracization. For my own wellbeing, I couldn’t leave the house nor use any electronics. If I had a visitor, which had only ever been my younger cousin or my close neighbor, they’d be screened for devices which had to be left at the foyer. 

I hadn’t been one to drop my schoolbooks and have an unassuming, charming upperclassmen retrieve them for me. Boys had not stolen glances at me in the halls. The cheerleaders had never sat with me for lunch. My hair had not been blown out on a bimonthly basis, instead it had been buzzed short because of my alleged depression and anxiety that ripped it off in thick clumps. I had lacked the blackout parties, spontaneous coastal trips, and urban explorations. With only myself to blame, I had chosen to remain cooped inside and ruminate over the potential I had, rather than pursue the efforts it would take to self actualize.

Then came university. In my first year, I splurged most of my money on lavish dinners, chic bodily adornments, and overpriced tickets to piano recitals. I invested my leisure time in projects I had no real passions for so as to be perceived as an intelligent, indestructible, and interesting woman. Months of precariously crafting a pristine and beautiful facade eventually proved futile, as the ostentatious exterior inevitably crumbled when I revisited my hometown and found myself disinterested in impressing my high school counterparts. 

Now I wear my well-loved clothes from senior year, detaching old memories and infusing new ones into their distressed sleeves and eclectic buttons. Deviating from saving money for elegant evenings amongst older company, I presently opt to expand my wunderkammer of vintage cameras and to purchase flights to cities I’d never thought to visit. The need to adopt a pretentious personality that fed on underground jazz artists and bled orchestral symphonies from the Renaissance dissipated. I could listen to mainstream rock and indie classics meant to make the young and stupid drunk on the liveliness they swell in. I began to savor the world again, like a little kid given their first dollar at a candy store. This abrupt but welcome thrill was the impetus for my drive to play a role in saving the world.

And so here is my epiphany. If we, the people that inhabit the world, hope to ensure this miraculous planet stays afloat in our universe, there are various key concepts we need to understand. We must adopt collectivist notions and realize that human beings have the shared responsibility of caring for the Earth. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have our basic needs met have the opportunity to take action toward creating a society where the needs of others are also fulfilled. 

Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it can be believed that if people had access to clean food, safe housing, and secure jobs, they would be more inclined to seek endeavors conceptualized by minds at their highest potential (Maslow 1943, 430). Perhaps if one were to add a genuine sense of belonging and community, coupled with a healthy self-esteem, to these people, they would truly self-actualize and choose to engage in methods of mending the world. Maybe if Oishee found authentic connection among her peers, she would be apt to start volunteering weekly at the communal food shelter. Maybe if Darrell earned a sufficient salary to avoid living paycheck to paycheck, he would begin smiling at strangers and gain the confidence to engage in small talk. Maybe if Jimena had scheduled therapy and developed a support system, she would willingly host fundraisers for mental health non-profits. 

We must note that kindness is not a panacea for all evils, but a tool in the grand scheme of it all. It is the simplest of seeds we can plant to prompt the growth of hectares of worldly goodness. Rarely do situations de-escalate when multiple parties are brash, hostile, and dismissive. My friends and partners learned, sooner than I, that setting boundaries whilst remaining gentle, patient, and loving is most effective in alleviating my stress and calming my anger. Of course, this does not work in cases where negotiations preventing the termination of a mass genocide built over the course of decades of history is at play. The principle still stands: looking out for our fellow people is the root of how society can be improved and earth can be healed. It can begin with a seed planted by one of us. 

This is a collection of experiences from my adolescence that have driven me to contribute towards sustaining this planet we hold dear. Motivation is everywhere and I think I have it in me to participate in  change-making agendas. Will you play a part in saving the world?

References 

Maslow, A.H. (1943). “A Theory of Human Motivation”. In Physiological Review, 50 (4), 430-437.

Ansorger, Jennifer. 2021. “An Analysis of Education Reforms and Assessment in the Core Subjects Using an Adapted Maslow’s Hierarchy: Pre and Post COVID-19” Education Sciences 11, no. 8: 376.


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