Tag: blog
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“I Love You with All My Heart”
I often told my mother that I love her with all my heart, even if that meant with only half of it. The other half of my heart never developed. I have a congenital defect called Hypoplastic Right Heart, Pulmonary Atresia with an intact ventricular septum. In simple terms, the ventricle that would normally pump blood…
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A Walk through Fire
Since Covid first began, like many people, I’ve experienced complete annihilation in certain areas of my life—the parts I’ve always considered the most important. As far as I can tell, the pandemic is a forced shift away from how we’ve been doing things and towards a New and Better Way of Existing. And not just…
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Your Dig-Down
How many people live inside my head? I do know it’s crowded, and sometimes they really get in the way of each other. I reach for the freezer door to pull out the ice cream. Voice 1 responds, “Nope, remember you’re cutting down on sugar.” Voice 2 weakly objects, “Yes but . . .” I…
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Taken Away, Again
I am Ilze Marie Madeiros, but that wasn’t always my name. I used to be Ilze […]
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Playing with Playlists
If I had a nickel for every playlist I’ve made in my life, I would just go ahead and […]
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Hanging by a Thread
As I’m about to doze off, an idea strikes me. Grumbling but excited, I grab […]
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Bring on the Party!
Yes! Bring on all the Holliday cheer that surrounds us in November and December! However, let’s not bring on the average 5-10 extra pounds everyone gains. Ever wonder why we go on diets in January? You guessed it. It’s not just to get ready for beach season. It’s also to lose the “ugh” we gained…
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Adolescent Conformity and Groupthink on Social Media
American adolescents sacrifice individuality for the social validation of assimilation. Social media promotes assimilation as the predominant manner of connecting with others. Influencers or public figures dominate digital discourse at the expense of ordinary citizens. Some digital ideas are drowned out by the most powerful members of society. Social media platforms are conformist by design…
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Criticism: Helpful or Harmful?
Criticism: the art of defining the qualities or merits of a thing; discrimination or discussion of character or quality. The creative writing teacher marked up the short story Emily turned in at the end of the semester—and it was virtually covered with red marks! Lots of sentences were crossed out and different words inserted instead.…
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Dominos
By October, panic erupted in my chest when I thought about the future. How wonderful it is to create things like this! I took a deep breath, tapping the side of my keyboard nervously, wondering if I was about to make the best decision of my life or a horrible mistake. The Common App website…