In today’s world, caring is crucial

Horizons

Tuesday, 11 January 2011 17:11

I’ve always been drawn to quirky people. I get bored when I feel like everyone is the same (what my mom calls “plain vanilla”). More and more during my time at North Park, I have grown to appreciate a person’s unique personality traits and have found myself drawn to those who “march to the beat of a different drummer.”

This interest in the intricacies of people’s personalities began in Los Angeles, where my time with the homeless taught me that every single person has a unique, complex story that deserves to be fully known.

Fired up and ready to change the world, I’d return home from every summer trip. I quickly discovered, though, that life in Hillsboro bares little semblance to life in the hustling, bustling urban...

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Pokemon childhood pays off at last

Horizons

Tuesday, 28 December 2010 17:21

Just as a head’s up to anyone expecting a thoughtful, poignant reflection on the past year of my life. This isn’t going to be it. North Park’s fall semester went a week longer than last year’s, meaning I have only had one week of recuperation since finals and my brain is still sufficiently mushy and incapable of processing complex thoughts.

I have, however, been thinking extensively about Pokemon. Yes, yes. Pocket Monsters.

For those of you who don’t know about Pokémon, allow me to explain. Geared toward children and including video games, an anime television show and trading cards, the whole idea of the Pokémon franchise stems from the hobby of insect collecting. In both the television show and the video game, one’s...

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Younger brother turned out pretty good after all

Horizons

Tuesday, 30 November 2010 16:42

A few months ago, I was clueless about what to write, so I opened my Facebook status to suggestions for column subjects. I kept a list of those ideas and revisited them each week to see if I felt particularly inspired by any of them. For this week, an idea about little brothers caught my eye

The suggestion was “how to bug your little brother and still let him know you love him.” This column is going to take a slightly different turn, but I wanted to give credit to Dale and Rachel Winter for planting the thought in my mind. Thanks, you guys rock.

My younger brother, Jacob, is now 15. He’s a freshman at Hillsboro High and one of my favorite people on the planet. Those of you who know and understand our relationship might feel...

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Make a difference? So, where do you start?

Horizons

Tuesday, 09 November 2010 15:43

I want to make a difference, but I don’t know how. I want to know about the world so I can stop being an ignorant American.

I know that I have a voice, and I want to use it to capture the attention of others and call them to action. I want to give myself to a cause, and I want to understand it through and through—the politics of it, its global relevance, why it is worth my life’s dedication. Unfortunately, I don’t know where to start.

In high school, I loved three things: my friends, sports and having fun. I was the center of my universe. As far as I knew, the world stretched only as far as my eye could see (and my eyesight is so poor, I joke about being blind).

My knowledge of the world began to expand as I got involved in a...

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