The blazing sun dips beneath clouds of gold Upon the departure roar ocean tides And the moon slowly rises to behold The world’s vast skies and magnificent vibes. The night darkens to unveil brilliant stars To bring about a cool breeze to my heart Healing comes forth, mending deep, bleeding scars For the night, sorrows…
Fact: one-in-four people will be affected by a mental illness throughout their lifetime. It is actually one of the leading causes of disability in North America. The World Health Organization predicts that by the year 2020, depression will be the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite all the recent talk going around about spreading…
With the ability to write about a wide range of topics, Dhriti is certainly a refreshing and bright personality to have on YAA. I had the utmost pleasure of meeting with her at Vendome Cafe and chatting over our salads, meat pie, and sandwich. Very eloquent and thoughtful when she speaks, it felt easy taking…
Ah, Halloween, a time of frights and fun, candy and costumes, ghosts and ghouls, and – cultural appropriation and racism? Halloween is the one day a year you can decide to be something you’re not, to get creative, and try something new without consequence, making it one of my favourite holidays! However, when people take…
The issue of conforming to societal ideals has been around for far too long, and sadly it is prevalent pretty much everywhere on this planet. Although women in every culture are relentlessly faced with the societal “ideals” of appearance and mannerism in their societies, today I would like to shine a light on the insecurities that…
Over the course of the last several years, I’ve noticed a common trend among many of the elementary aged kids that I’ve met and had a chance to talk to: a lack of geographical knowledge. I have met a sixth grader who has been in a public school since kindergarten, who is an all-around good…
The cold season is upon us! And for us Calgarians, so is the snow! It might be only October now, but winter is definitely here. During these chilly months, your energy levels and metabolism change from what they were during the previous seasons. The weather might keep you lodged up under your covers with multiple cups…
Now that I’m in Grade 12, I have been reflecting a lot on my experiences so far and how they have made me the person I am today. One of the biggest influences has definitely got to be volunteering. I began volunteering with Youth Central in the summer after Grade 9 through Youth Are Awesome…
About a year and a half ago, my summer camp took me rock climbing at the UofC, and I instantly fell in love with the slow paced yet exulting sport. Pretty soon, I signed up for an introduction to climbing class at the UofC, and I started going to climbing gyms (they exist!). But pretty soon…
As the weather shifts from balmy to chilly, we find ourselves being locked away from the outdoors. Being lazy teenagers, we decide to binge watch a show on Netflix. However, after the show is over we find that we have no purpose in life, so we continue to watch another show. The cycle goes on…
The other day as I was reading Sean Covey’s book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (possibly to find an answer to stop procrastinating) and I came across an interesting concept that instantly shifted my view about everything. Covey talks about paradigms. Essentially, a paradigm is your perception about a certain situation or topic.…
In the past few weeks, I’ve written about the basics of building a capsule wardrobe: from the what and whys of it to what it comprises of, it only seemed fitting that the final post in this series would be me sharing a bit of my own capsule wardrobe. I’ve omitted some things from this post…
I plowed a bit of earth one day, Which I had put lilies and wildflowers in galore. And my garden had a little white-washed fence, Which I re-painted annually My garden wasn’t a royal one, With its homey flowers, But what had I seen of Paris or Rome? So I thought it to be very regal.…
I have always been an avid reader. Over the years I have delved into a diverse array of english literature, biographies, sappy love stories and more! Now I am revealing my top ten books in a variety of genres. History, Educational and Scientific: One of my favourite and most diverse areas of books is…
It is no longer a question of whether we can control an entire species gene code, but should we? Should we play with something that connects every living thing on this planet? Even if it meant that one of our deadliest enemies could be neutralized, or that over a million people every year could be…