Pocket Lint

     As a child I was terrified of the water. Maybe like most people, I was afraid of drowning, but it was more than that. Maybe it was the feeling of uncertainty and the loose yet rigid medium surrounding you, or maybe it was simply my skin.     Growing up with Eczema was a constant hassle, but growing up with Eczema AND a family who loves the water was even crazier. I never wanted to learn how to swim because of my skin condition. Living with a compromised skin barrier gifted me with a piercing pain that shot through my face, neck, and arms whenever I wanted to have fun in chlorine or salt water. This horrible experience was basically just a normality during family vacations. " This isn't fair!" , I always thought to myself. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to learn how to swim?     "Swimmer", an autobiography by Nicole Dennis-Benn, sets up a symbol of swimming as it connects to the art of perseverance in being an immigrant. She highlight...

     So lets say that you were to join a competition, and everyone was just like you trying to get the same thing, everything. You might be thinking how is this possible? You cant get everything . Everything  isn't a thing to get. There's a life where some may choose to keep looking mindlessly like this, and others where they actively choose to look forward past the superficial things. Life can be beautiful or it can be ugly, but however it is, it's in your hands.      The commencement speech "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace to the graduating class in Kenyon College describes the life in which some follow their "default-setting" of a mindset. This mindset is dull and superficial in the way where we can't see or feel past what's just around us, or "unconsciousness" as Wallace describes it. He encourages the upcoming independent adults to seek out a more wide view of life -- one where you are capable of looking past the ideas that ...

War working women.  In 1942, World War II was at large. The United States and other Allied powers were fighting strong as the Axis powers , Germany, Italy, and Japan, began to lose power. Men were heading to war and left jobs at home. As men were fighting overseas for their nation, women were the ones to take charge with jobs in factories, agriculture, and the military at the home front.  War  working women.  " Rosie the Riveter " a character that was used to personify the period back then as women began taking on crucial jobs even when they may have been entirely different from the ones they already had. The typical male-dominated fields were taken over by women, and overall the nation grew stronger. Encouragement around the media were asking women to volunteer for service towards the war effort. Taking over 17+ different uniform jobs , women made a huge impact during World War II.  War working women .  To honor these women who gave their extreme w...