Millennial Influx

06/09/2022

The shutdown of a high school newspaper in Nebraska is only the latest episode in efforts to censor student publications across red states.

08/02/2022

20/12/2021

Navigating College with a Chronic Illness: Ash*ta Suna and Lupus
By: Elizabeth Snowman

“You don’t know exhaustion until you get tired after taking a shower”

At first glance, it may not seem as though there is anything different about freshman music-psychology major, Ash*ta Suna. However, underneath her beaming smile, is a fierce warrior. She has faced moving to another country and being away from family, an energy-depleting autoimmune disorder, mental health struggles, a global pandemic, and more.
Born in the United States in 2001, her family, originally from India, returned there in 2006. Ash*ta came back in July of 2018 for her junior and senior years of high school and has not returned to India since. This is a bit difficult because it means she cannot see many of her family members for months or years at a time.
Now, for clarification, Lupus is no walk in the park, and these struggles and their consequences do wear her down. Some of the above issues are ongoing and have been for quite some time. However, Ash*ta is able to keep her chin up and maintain a pretty positive attitude.

Lupus
According to lupus.org, “lupus is a chronic (long-term) disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of your body. It’s an autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system… attacks healthy tissue” rather than actual infections. Ash*ta happens to be one of the rare people who suffer from this disease.
The main symptoms that affect her daily life from this disease are pain and exhaustion. When asked about daily challenges, she replied…
“Walking around campus is a very big struggle”, as are playing the piano with aching joints, even things as seemingly inadvertent as waking up or taking a shower are tough for her. Each individual task is tiring. So, imagine being in this situation, whilst in college, where you must walk pretty much everywhere and have classes at all sorts of times, not to mention a plethora of assignments to do and exams to study for. That is the reality for Ash*ta every day, and the struggle of balancing school and health is quite real.
Back in 2019, shortly after moving to the U.S. from India, she had a devastating flare-up, which caused major hair and weight loss, as well as an inability to walk.

Mental Health and Depression
The above effects of Lupus also tend to have an adverse effect on mental health, and Ash*ta’s case is no different. The inability to do basic activities without getting extraordinarily tired wears on the brain, and, in Ash*ta’s case caused depression and anxiety. With those, came feelings of uselessness and of being a burden to those around her. Comparing what she is able to do to what others (who are not affected) are able to do is also an issue that negatively affects her mental health.
The 2020 pandemic did not help matters either. Because Lupus is an autoimmune disease, Ash*ta had to be much more careful than others. She also had to watch her immunosuppressant medicine, as this could risk sickness even more. This meant not being able to see others, reduced schooling, and not being able to work at all. She could also not go on the walks around town, something intended to help bring her strength back (from the 2019 flare-up), which caused her to be “stuck at a certain point (health-wise)”. Not being able to have a social life, besides seeing her sister in their shared apartment caused extreme loneliness. All of these things served to exasperate the existing mental illness and did not help with progressing out of her flare-up at all.

Faith
It would fit that someone with so many struggles might have a conflict of faith or perhaps even doubt God. In the late fall of 2019, around the same time that her most recent flare-up began, Ash*ta became bitter with God.
“I was angry with God for letting me get to that point”.
She stopped praying as much, and when she would, it would most often be with anger towards Him. Despite these feelings, however, she never doubted His existence or His watch over her. This “blind faith”, she says, came from her upbringing/her parents’ strong faith.
It was through music, that she began to develop a deeper connection with God- something that happened over the summer. To this day, it is music that helps her faith grow stronger.

Journey To Gordon
As to why she chose Gordon? Ash*ta says that family played a big role in that decision.
“Amrita (older sister 2) had gotten a visa to come to Gordon, so that made the decision fairly easy”
However, due to a health flare up- the same one that is still affecting her to this day, she made the decision to take a gap year and did not finish her application.
That said, Ash*ta still decided to take a gap year and defer her admission to this year. However, this past fall, she got bored and wanted to study, and took some community college classes.
“Which is a rare thing for me”, Ash*ta laughed.
As time passed and her health did not improve as quickly as it was originally supposed to, it came time to decide as to whether or not she should come to Gordon for the fall semester of 2021.
“I make my best decisions, especially with tough ones, when I go in the car with Ankita and drive”
So that is exactly what she did. It was on this drive that Ash*ta decided to come to Gordon. With this decision, came “a light at the end of the tunnel”- a bit of hope amid so many struggles. And while she admits that Gordon has been tough, overall she is happy to be here and feels as though it was the right choice.
Ash*ta is taking music classes, as she enjoys studying music and this helps her to stay motivated. You may have been lucky enough to hear her sing a duet at one of the Day of Prayer evening events. This is something Ash*ta was very proud to do, as singing and playing the guitar are some of her passions. Psychology also interests Ash*ta- particularly in the area of criminal profiling. Time can only tell where her journey at Gordon will take her next, but it appears that the future will be bright for this inspiring student.

Photo Credit: Prateek Katyal on Unsplash

19/12/2021

You don't need to be anxious all the time...

Anxiety and Depression are the Worst

Brooke Buganski is currently a senior at Gordon College and is studying accounting and finance. She is not sure what she wants to do in her future but after graduation, she is planning to move back home and see where God takes her. Brooke states, “For my future, I would like to have a decent paying job, to help support my family in the future, and live in the country somewhere.”

She is excited about her future but also scared. The future can be terrifying for most people. She doesn’t want her future to reflect her past.

How It Started

Brooke has been struggling with anxiety and depression since the early years of college. She explains, “My depression started around the middle of freshman year of college; my step-mom and dad got divorced the summer before college, and things kind of just went downhill from there. Depression is a big thing, but it was also a lack of energy, lack of focus, not being motivated to do anything.”

One day Brooke was working at a Christian camp in New Hampshire. She was saving up money for college. Her brother: Damon and both of her parents came up to visit her for a day. Little does she know she was about to hear the worst news of her life. Her parents sat them down at a picnic table and told them, “We’re getting a divorce.” Brooke couldn’t believe it. Her parents were getting a divorce. Because of this surprising news, she took the rest of the day off work. She spent the rest of the day crying.

This moment in her life has triggered anxiety and depression that Brooke still fights today.

Anxiety and Depression

Anxiety and depression are two of the most common mental health concerns in our society

Depression is something that shows itself differently for everyone. No one person, story, or experience can make someone understand how depression changes the lives of those who are suffering from it. Along with anxiety.

Anxiety is considered a feeling of nervousness and worry, typically something with an unknown outcome. Depression is considered a feeling of sadness and misery. These are different disorders, but they often occur together.

Studies show, “47% screened positive for clinically significant symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.” It is reported that college students suffer more than other adults. “We see this as part of an overall trend of rising rates of depression, anxiety, and other mental health outcomes and concerns that college students are reporting to us over the last five years, certainly, but even perhaps over the last 10 years.” An assistant professor of Health Behavior and Health Education stated that students indicated that their mental health has negatively affected their academic performance. College can put a lot of pressure on students and cause more mental health issues.

As for Brooke, she started to feel anxiety and depression because she wasn’t sure what the outcome of her family would look like. She was upset that she wouldn’t have the family she dreamed of. This didn’t let college get in the way of her academic performance.

There is no right way for this to be treated. People go to counseling, take medication, or try relaxation techniques like meditation. I asked Brooke what has helped her through anxiety and depression. “I started taking some medication my doctor has prescribed me, and I also went to counseling a couple of times a week.”

To this day, Brooke is still taking medication and going to counseling for her anxiety and depression. These conditions don’t just go away on their own. Brooke has worked hard to overcome this and because of these two things, she has come a long way in overcoming her fears and depression.

Faith Over Fear

Not only has counseling and medication worked for Brooke but also praying and reading her bible has helped her too. She states, “I began reading my bible and praying when I was in high school and continued to do so when my anxiety and depression came upon me.”

Not everyone is religious but when you choose to believe, faith comes. God is with us whenever we are feeling down and hurt. “He helps me through my depression because I see what he has done in my life and going back to my darkest days, he can get me through it,” Brooke stated.

One morning when she was working at her Christian camp in New Hampshire, she decided to go on a small hike It was a beautiful afternoon and she wanted to soak up the nature of her camp before leaving for college. “I love watching the sunset especially from the top of the mountain...I think it is just the most beautiful and peaceful thing to experience and I think it is so cool how each night it looks so different; the colors, the clouds, everything about it just changes daily and I think it reflects God too,” she said.

We are reminded every day how beautiful God created the Earth. It is something about God's creation that makes us feel peaceful and warm inside.

“For God gave us a spirit, not of fear but power, love, and self-control,” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Purpose

“Right now, in my life, my purpose is to be an example for my brother and those around me. My brother right now is 17 and trying to figure out what to do with his life and I know with a lot of our family issues, he has a lot to think about,” Brooke said. “I just want him and the people around me to know that no matter what they go through in life, they will always be strong enough even if they may not feel like it.”

She has gone through so much in the last 5 years of her life and she doesn’t want anyone to feel the way she felt during her high school years. She wants others and her family to know how much they mean to her and whatever they are going through-she understands. She won’t judge, she will love. She is there for the people she is close to no matter what the situation is.

Her greatest quality is forgiveness and love. “I am pretty quick to forgive, and I show love to everyone; even the ones that don't necessarily deserve it.”

If it wasn't for the people in her life today, she wouldn't be here walking the earth. She is strong, courageous, and victorious. She says, “my greatest motivators are my brother and my baby sister...every time that I get really low, I just remind myself that I need to do all this for them and show them the great things they can accomplish if they just put their minds to it.”

She is an inspiration to herself and others. People can get through this.

19/12/2021

Are vaccine passports really such a good idea? I have my doubts.

Vaccine Passports Vs. Vietnam

Countries across the nation have been announcing their plans to recognize vaccine passports, allowing their citizens to use proof of vaccination to attend certain activities. A vaccine passport is proof that you have tested negative against certain infections; it is mostly digital.

A new survey for the World Economic Forum found that on average, about three in four adults across 28 countries agree that COVID-19 vaccine passports should be required for travelers to enter their country and that this would make travel and large events safer.

Why is The Government Making This Mandatory?
Due to Vietnam being one of the highest-rising countries for COVID-19 cases; especially because of the new virus, this country has decided to mandate vaccine passports. A study shows that “Vietnam is reporting 3,702 new infections on average each day, 27% of the peak – the highest daily average reported on September 2.” Because this number is so high, it has caused many deaths.

In 63 cities, World Health Organization said that the pandemic has become more complex and could be more transmissible compared to the Delta variant. Citizens must stay alert because this could overload the healthcare systems. "Cities and provinces must also strictly monitor and isolate people from arriving from places where Omicron has been detected."

To prepare for this new variant, Vietnam should strengthen the medical infrastructure, and improve the response capacity for when cases increase. Minister, Nguyen Thanh Long, called all people to comply with regulations on pandemic prevention, saying to not worry.

Studies showed, “21,802 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the country since the pandemic began.”

Support from the healthcare services has been provided with protective equipment, food, accommodation, and a monthly allowance of 8 million dongs ($350.80). “In recent weeks, Vietnam’s health ministry has dispatched 14,600 additional doctors and nurses to the city and its neighboring provinces to support an overwhelmed medical system.” Overall, the health care workers are doing their best to provide patients with the necessities they need.

Furthermore, Vietnam has administrated 72,929,311 doses of COVID vaccines so far. "Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that enough to have vaccinated about 37.8% of the country's population." During last week's report, Vietnam averaged about 1,526,671 doses administrated every day. At that rate, it will take 13 more days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population.

While citizens are wanting to get vaccinated Ho Chi Minh is facing challenges that could result in a disturbance. "As of Aug. 12, the city had administered most of the roughly 4.3 million doses allocated by the National Health Ministry. Municipal leaders said that Ho Chi Minh City's current vaccine strategy is to reach high coverage as soon as possible."

According to this article, the Vietnamese government established a working group for the COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy on Aug. 13th. This working group is expected to mobilize donated vaccines, medicine for treatment, and medical supplies. In their first meeting, group members said, "countries especially developing countries, will face difficulties obtaining vaccines through the end of the year, given complexities of the global pandemic situation."

Therefore, many people might not accept Chinese vaccines. “A student argued that vaccines will protect people from COVID-19 but said that he would not accept Chinese vaccines because of low immune efficiency and unreliable data.” Studies show that only 4% have been fully vaccinated.

Overall, anti-Chinese vaccine sentiment has prompted the Vietnamese government that the best vaccine is the first one; emphasizing that the vaccination is useful for everyone and contributes to the pandemic fight.

Results
Furthermore, Vietnam's borders are closed to foreign travelers, except for certain circumstances. If someone is traveling to Vietnam, they are subject to follow the instructions and regulations of the Vietnam Ministry of Health to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

People need to be vaccinated, quarantine for 7 days with proof of a vaccine passport. As well as wearing masks in public places. If someone is caught not wearing a mask or not disposing of masks properly, will be fined. If someone is traveling without any protective proof, they are forced to leave the country. These rules are strict because Vietnam does not want any more COVID-19 cases happening. Vietnam wants to normalize the recognition of vaccine passports because people can visit certain places or countries without a COVID test.

The Argument Continues
Government officials are speaking out against mandatory vaccinations for international travel. While vaccination passports are slowly becoming mandatory, an increasing number of health experts seem to disagree with this because of the short supply doses and potential lapses in the number of protection vaccines provide. "Current health measures like testing and quarantines, they say, should stay for vaccinated people.” They go on to say that “Proof of vaccination should not exempt international travelers from complying with the other travel risk reduction measures.” It is known that vaccinated travelers could still carry the virus and sicken unvaccinated people.

The same study says, “The vaccines in the U.S right now have not proven that they decrease transmission, so the patient may still get mild or asymptomatic versions of the disease and they may then be able to transmit it.”

Other officials say, that requiring vaccines could discriminate against those in countries where they are unable to be vaccinated and it may drive vaccine availability down, which can cause ethics issues. "It is not fair to people in impoverished countries to have all the vaccines be used by rich people going on vacation instead of giving it to older people in poor countries."

Even people that are encouraging the use of vaccine passports are saying they should not be required. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the tourism-dependent Greece said, “He does not plan to ban unvaccinated travelers; instead, he is allowing free travel for those who are vaccinated would provide an incentive for more people to become vaccinated.”

Vietnam Making Their Country Safe
If vaccines do work to prevent transmission of the virus, however, doctors will agree that vaccine passports could be useful for those who are going to travel out of the country.

We see the number of cases compared to the number of deaths in Vietnam. These statistics keep rising every day. Why is this? People travel from all over the world and bring diseases along with them without even knowing. Vietnam is noticing this, and they want to make sure to keep people safe by recognizing mutual vaccine passports throughout the country. It is dangerous to have foreigners transmitting this deadly virus.

19/12/2021

An excellent point of view to motivate you to get up off the couch!

Made to Move: An Intentional Look Beyond the Typical Benefits of Exercise
By Anne Shearer

Throughout childhood and my teen years, I was always active. I grew up taking dance classes, had an elementary school stint in softball, joined show choir in middle school, added field hockey in junior high, and began running on my own in high school. Despite this, I never really considered myself to be active. These activities I did were just things that I enjoyed. Everyone else did them, so to me, these active extracurriculars were just what one did.

About halfway through my first semester of college, I began to realize just how active I had been in high school. I had never noticed, because physical activity had been so naturally built into my life. Now, though, I was not active unless I took time out of my daily routine to actually do something with my body.

I realized how much I missed being active and being physically in touch with myself. Being strong and able to use my body for strenuous things was very important to me, and I felt like that part of my identity was starting to crumble. Eventually, I adapted and figured out ways to stay active in this new era of life.

The Importance of Movement

The story of my transition to college life highlights a common problem in our modern world: the majority of us have naturally sedentary lifestyles. However, being sedentary is not good for us. Numerous studies have been done to demonstrate the benefits of exercise on mental health, intellect, sleep, and satisfaction with life. Few reading this will disagree that we should all be exercising. For Christians, though, there is a more important reason that we should be doing physical activities. This reason? God made us to move.

Christianity is unique among world religions because it emphasizes the importance of the physical world. The world that God has made and the bodies that He has given us are “very good.” We can know our bodies are important because they are not discarded at death, but will eventually be resurrected. Just as we should develop our minds, characters, and talents in life, we should strengthen our bodies as we are able. Just as God gave us intellects to learn and souls to love him, he gave us bodies to use— so we should use them.

Spiritual Benefits of Exercise

We should not make use of our bodies only because the physical world is important, though. Exercise and exertion have spiritual benefits, as well. Jonathan Parnell, the Lead Pastor for Cities Church in Minneapolis, writes that in every workout, there is a point near the end in which our body is spent and we have to somehow find the strength to go on. He submits the idea that we should find that last little bit of motivation in God’s grace, cultivating the realization that “God’s grace mobilizes us.” Pushing our bodies to the limit offers a valuable lesson, because it serves as a tangible reminder that we fall short and need to rely on God’s strength.

When we exercise, we also learn discipline over our body and humility at our weakness, argues David Mathias, Executive Editor for Desiring God. We should pray that these virtues would carry over into the rest of our lives. As Mathias says,

“God made us to move, and to do so vigorously. And he wired our brains to need it, reward it, and reinforce it. Exercise makes happier humans, and God made humans to be happy— in him— with bodily movement being an assistant, rather than adversary, to our joy.”

Mathias cites Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:10; and 2 Timothy 2:6 to say that God actually “commends the exertion of our bodies.” He also mentions Proverbs 21:25 to point out that those who “refuse to labor” are killed by their own laziness.

Clearly, physical activity is important to God. He formed our bodies to use for his glory, so it is important that we do so. Those who fail to exert and enjoy the body that God has given them are missing out on an important part of what it means to be human.

So, get up and DO something. Wonder at the amazing things you can do and wondrous places you can go with your body. Praise God as you exert yourself, and feel the glorious burn in every earthly muscle with which he has intertwined your spirit.

Photo by photo nic on Unsplash
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/strengthen-your-faith-through-physical-exercise
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/a-little-theology-of-exercise -422-sp20x2t6

14/12/2021

Swift fans would love this one...

Why Taylor Swift is one of the Most Successful and Influential Artists in the Music Industry.

Avonlea Cummings

Taylor Swift is one of the most known pop artists in the music industry today, Swift has released nine studio albums and is in the process of re-recording six of these albums. Swift has graciously taken the world by storm and many in her fandom the “Swifties” claim Swift is the music industry.
The Beginning
Taylor Swift grew up in Pennsylvania on a farm, ever since she was young, Swift pursued music. At the age of fourteen, Swift and her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee to give Swift a better opportunity to get noticed in the big country scene. By sixteen, Taylor Swift was founded by Sony records and she had just released her debut album, Taylor Swift. From there, Swift took off and has released her albums like clockwork, every two years she wrote and sung her heartfelt songs that fans could relate to since 2006.
Ambition
Taylor Swift has an inspiring ambition and talent for what she does. Swift is a singer-songwriter, and her creative style has grown with her as she has gotten older. She released her second studio album Fearless in 2008, this was a breakthrough moment for Swift in the music industry. Her single You Belong with Me and Love Story were hits that everyone screamed along to in the car. Fearless won a Grammy for Album of the Year and many other accolades, this was just the start for Swift. Just two years later, Swift wrote her third studio album solo, consisting of 20 original songs, Speak Now was released in 2010 for the world to hear. This was an impressive accomplishment for eighteen years old to write and produce her album solo while being on the Fearless tour. Critics and fans could see such ambition and passion from Swift since the start of her career.
Jump from Country to Pop
Following in the steps of Shaina Twain, Swift decided to leave her country roots in 2014 and take one of the biggest moves in her life and career. Swift moved to New York City and released her first full pop album, 1989. 1989 was huge for Swift, fans were in love with this new style Swift was hoping to achieve, Swift sold 1.87 million copies of 1989 within the first week of being released. Swift was praised for her talents again with the prestigious Grammy awards for, ‘Best Pop Vocal Album’, ‘Best Music Video’, and she won Album of the Year for the second time in her career. 1989 was celebrated amongst many and engrossed $250.7 million in her 1989 World Tour.
Close Relationship with the Swifties
Swift throughout the years has been able to hold a close and genuine relationship with her fan base who call themselves “Swifties”. Swift knows how to market to her fans well and gives them exactly what they want. Swift creates her albums into ‘eras’ throughout her life that her fans feel like they are there with her and experience what she is feeling. Swift has invited her fans to special listening parties to her new albums before they are released at her own houses in different cities. Swift hints to her fans about all-new projects she is working on throughout the new work she releases. To keep her fans engaged she calls them “easter eggs” is it like a puzzle her fans try to piece together all the pieces to figure out what she may release next. Whether it is being active on TikTok, writing letters, sending messages to fans, inviting them over to her houses, or paying for their education Swift makes sure to always stay engaged with her fans which is something many admire over.
Competing with Herself
Taylor Swift has broken record over record multiple times, but she continues to blow the industry away with the immense talent and numbers she ranks in. Swift gave the world a sweet surprise when she suddenly dropped her eighth studio album Folklore with less than 24- hour notice. Folklore was Swifts’ first Indie Pop album and broke 80.6 million streams on Spotify in one day, this was a new record for any female artist. Just recently, Swift outdid herself once again breaking her records. On November 12, 2021, Swift re-released Red (Taylor’s Version) this album consists of 30 songs and tallied 90.8 million streams in just one day surpassing Folklore.
New Beginnings
In recent years, Swift has tried to buy and own the production of her past albums to own under her record label. Unfortunately, this opportunity to own her music was not given to her, she took this and decided to re-record all her past music so it can be under the rightful owner, herself. As a singer-songwriter Swift believes the music she has written and created should be under her name fully, she has already begun the process of re-recording her albums. Swift is not only re-recording her early albums, but she is also releasing handfuls of new songs that have not been released yet to give something new to her audience. The songs are from “the vault” which is a figurative term for old songs from the ‘era’ in which the album was written and had never left her notebook until now. It is important to recognize that Swift is doing much more than only re-recording the albums she is also creating new music videos and just releasing a short film for her All Too Well (Taylor’s Version (Ten Minute Version) song off of Red (Taylor’s Version) album. This is another new creative piece of work that Swift has created.
Influencing Younger Artists
Swift is a huge inspiration for her audience and younger artists in the music industry. She holds a close relationship with Olivia Rodrigo, who at 17 became a megastar through TikTok after she wrote a breakup song after her life experience following the footsteps of Swift. Artists like Conan Gray, the Girl in Red, Shawn Mendes, and many more look up to Swift. Swift holds everything she faces with strength and grace making her image an iconic role model in this generation’s society. Swift writes close to her heart and knows how to connect with her audience, everyone needs to listen to Taylor Swift if you want to ‘feel’ something.