Packing Lunch From Home

Depending on the school you attend, school food may or may not be your best option for lunch. At most high schools now a days, upper classmen can leave campus for lunch, which is always nice. However, not the most affordable. Unless you’re parents are super rich, you’ll most likely not have a big enough budget to support going out to eat every day. I’m not saying school food is not healthy or not good, however I am saying that everyone has different taste buds and may not like the choices offered at school; especially at a public school. Bringing your own lunch may seem a little dorky at first, because according to some people, taking your own lunch after elementary school is uncool. Once you reach high school however, no one seems to care anymore.

One advantage of packing your own lunch is that you get to decide what you eat. At school there are multiple choices to choose from, but I can guarantee there are twice as many options at home; unless your mom hasn't gone to the grocery store in a while. There are healthier options too. School lunch is all funded by the state and they like to save money as much as possible. So they pick the cheapest kind of good to serve students. Cheap is not always the healthy. The majority of school’s food is processed, however thanks to Michelle Obama, schools are looking into getting more fruits and veggies in cafeteria that aren't ridiculously expensive. With packing your own lunch, you can decided how much processed food goes into your body. You are the one packing the lunch, so you decide. Also thanks to Michelle Obama, many schools have now gotten rid of desserts in the lunch line. This has caused a little bit of an uprising in students all across the country. Kids love sugar and schools have taken away the one and only unhealthy option kids have. If you chose to not eat school lunch, you can add a little something extra like a cookie or cupcake that will most definitely make your friends jealous.

Another advantage of a lunch from home is that you don’t have to wait in a long line to get your food. Most high schools only give their students a half an hour to eat lunch. If a kid is spending twenty minutes in line, that leaves ten minutes to eat; which is not enough time. Lunch is a time for kids to unwind in between classes. A time for them to socialize with their friends. A time for them to take a break from learning. This way, when they get back to class they’re focused and ready to learn.

Word Count: 454

No Makeup Selfie

One of the most popular slang words of today’s age is “Selfie.” All these girls going around saying, “Let me take a selfie.” It’s amazing how this one little word can take over pop culture. Most of the pictures you see on social media sites are selfies. One of the most famous selfies was taken by none other than Ellen Degeneres at the 2014 Oscar Academy Awards. Ellen’s selfie also included Jennifer Lawrence, Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, and Meryl Streep. Another more famous type of selfie is one called the “No Makeup Selfie” which has gotten quite the publicity these past couple of years.

            The no makeup selfies addresses the problem young girls have about their body image. Many girls feel the need to spend hours on end in the morning applying and reapplying pounds of makeup every day. A person’s face can only hold so much makeup. What most girls don’t realize is that they look pretty ugly with all those cosmetics caked on their skin than they would if they just wore their beautiful all natural face.

            Women of all ages post selfies of themselves wearing no cosmetics of any kind to show others that they don’t care what society thinks about them. They know they’re beautiful without all the makeup and they want to show it. They want others to be inspired by their boldness and take off the mask they call makeup and show the world the real you.

             If you’re embarrassed of what’s underneath, hiding behind make up will only do more damage. The chemicals will get into your pours and make your acne get even worse. Certain cosmetics can cause rashes if you’re not careful enough too. Even if you don’t feel confident enough to go out in public with your natural face, the least you can do is take it off before you go to bed every night. Many girls leave their makeup on while sleeping and all those long hours of sleeping and dreaming will cause the makeup to seep into your pours. It doesn’t help that you apply even more makeup in the morning either.

            Going all natural is great, however adding a touch of makeup doesn’t hurt either. As long as it’s subtle, you’re in the clear. Adding a little foundation to cover up those red spots or pimps is ok; as long as you haven’t popped the pimple. Applying foundation or any type of makeup to a popped pimple could cause serious damage such as infection because the makeup clogs up your pours, creating even more pimples. Adding s brush or two of blush on top of the foundation adds a little color to your cheeks without making it look as if you’re as orange as a traffic cone or as white as a ghost. A few strokes of mascara could also help your eyes pop, however don’t keep applying it to make your eyelashes look fuller. Subtlety can go a long ways. Eye liner doesn’t hurt either however you have to be careful with this one. Don’t apply too much to the bottom eyelid because it looks pretty tacky to have the bottom darker than the top; let’s just say you may resemble a raccoon if your eyes water or you sweat too much.

            Many women, both teens and adults, don’t realize how subtle makeup really needs to be to show a difference. You don’t need any makeup at all for that matter. These types of selfies women are posting help the younger generation not feel so insecure about themselves, which is something many teens have to work on.

Word Count: 601

To Be a Social Butterfly

The transition from elementary school to middle school or middle school to high school can be pretty scary. It’s a big change, especially from elementary school to middle school. You go from sitting in one class with the same teacher to having six different teachers and going from class to class. Not having classes with any of your friends can also be hard on a kid starting middle school for the first time. Stepping out of your comfort zone and getting to know people is definitely a start.

If you sit down in your first hour class and don’t recognize anyone, start up a conversation with the kid next to you. Be friendly but not too friendly. You don’t want them to think you’re clinging and stalkerish, because then they will most certainly not try to be friends with you. Shy people tend to have a hard time being the first one to start up a conversation. If this is you, just give them a smile. Smiling is the first step in starting a conversation. Ask them about their other classes or if they’ve heard anything about this teacher. Once you get past the awkward “don’t know what to talk about” stage, begin to ask them about their friends and family. Or what they like to do in their free time or on the weekends. You may never know what you have in common with that person till you get to know them.

The transition from middle school to high school may be a little different. It’s similar to middle school in a way that you move from class to class and you have six or seven different teachers. Although with high school comes more freedom; especially as you move up in grade. At most schools, the teachers let the upperclassmen leave campus for lunch and trust you to make the right decisions and be safe. With this new freedom, invite someone to go to lunch with you. It may be a little awkward at first to ask someone to lunch if you don’t know them very well, but this is an opportunity to get to know them. If you decide to stay at school for lunch, ask someone if you can sit with them. Nine times out of ten they’ll say yes. If they say no, then don’t fret about it and move on. Rude people are not worth your time.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is just one way to learn more effective social skills. If you continuously do something that makes you feel uncomfortable, you eventually become more familiar with the situation. Having these social skills will make it easier for you to approach people and be more assertive, which is something many people look for in a relationship or even when applying for a job.

Word Count: 470

Sisters by Chance, Friends by Choice

You can’t pick your family; you get stuck with whomever fate would like to put you with. Even if you don’t believe in fate or a God, you still don’t get the option of choosing what kind of family you’re born into or the type of brother or sister comes out of your mommy’s tummy. Unfortunately life just does not work like that. You have to put up with the family you’re given and don’t throw a fit about it. You may not like your family but they do so much for you that you don’t even realize it until it’s too late. Families will fight and the storm might get pretty nasty; but that’s human nature. In every storm, there’s always something beautiful that comes out of it. You just have to stick around long enough to see it for yourself.

To give you a little back ground information, I am the second daughter out of four girls. I've lived with both of my biological parents and sisters my whole life. This blog post is written in the perspective of a middle child who doesn't have a split family. I’m not saying all families are like this and I am not speaking for any other type of families. I feel as if I have no right in doing so seeing as I did not grow up in those types of conditions.

As a kid, I was obviously jealous of my little sisters when they were born because I was no longer the baby of the family. This is a natural phase that all older siblings go through. They don’t like the fact that this little person just shows up and attracts all the attention they once had. As they get older however, they begin to like having a little sister around. She’s someone you can use as a scapegoat so you don’t get into trouble. She’s the guinea pig for all the scary stuff you’re afraid to do; like unplugging the drain in the bathtub to make sure you don’t get sucked down under. She’s the person who volunteers to play the bag guy, just to make sure you’ll play with her and not exclude her for not cooperating. She’s also the girl you’ll go to when you have a problem that you don’t feel courageous enough to tell your parents about. You’re sisters by chance, but friends by choice.

Fighting with sisters can get pretty ugly, especially in their teen years. Girls tend to fight more with words than with fists; so when I say ugly I don’t mean bloody lip or blackened eye. I mean more of calling her the B word and saying “I hate you and never want to speak to you again,” kind of thing. Just remember ladies, you may be ridiculously mad at her for whatever she did or didn't do, but she’s your sister and at the end of the day nothing else really matters. She could die unexpectedly the next day and you wouldn't want to have the last thing you said to her be the nasty words of I hate you. Life is short and you must find a way to make the best out of a bad situation.

Word Count: 539