Summer jobs are a rite of passage for all teenagers, and my first summer job initially was no exception. Last June I joined the lifeguarding staff at Wild Island Water Park. My motives were tanning, talking, and texting prospective boyfriends. In addition to passing my Advanced Lifesaving course, I received training in pool chemistry, bathroom […]

“We will be getting a new student next week, and we would like you to help her around the school,” my fourth grade teacher said. And I agree happily. Excited about being asked, I imagine a fourth grade friendship. Painting nails. Sharing secrets. Being best friends. Next week came quickly, and I raced from the […]

A large, imposing crowd stands before me, some stand with their heads bowed in reverence, others stand staring into the far off distance, looking as if they have nothing in particular on their minds yet their hearts are saluting the fallen heroes of America’s past with solemn, dutiful respect. I wait in painstaking angst in […]

As I mopped sweat from my forehead and onto my already flooded shirt, I realized I could not lose this game. It was fourth and goal, and the he was only three yards away from the end zone. I looked back to see my smiling parents watching from a window inside. They were smart and […]

There was something about Mary. I would often watch re-runs of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” with my mother. From what I saw, Mary sat in her office talking to Murray while Ted occasionally reported the news and Lou walked around tossing off an insult or two. There were neither any real work done at […]

The premise of this work Is that rock ‘n’ roll matters, and that It means what it says. It seems that rock ‘n’ roll music has seldom been given its due as an art form, that It Is somehow relegated to a category of less “mature” or “serious” artistic pursuits by the media and the […]

The Best Friend Suicide Amigo, comrade, partner, main squeeze, pal, BRB, homier, and adage are all words used to describe our friends. Abraham Lincoln once said “a friend is one who has the same enemies you have,” but friends are so much more than that. Our friends are our life source. Virtually anyone anywhere has […]

The Oxford School Dictionary describes music as “A pattern of pleasant or Interesting sound made by Instruments or by the voice” and this Is the theme of my Communication Studies Internal portfolio “Music: How it Impacts the Lives of Male Teenagers. ” In the expository section, I presented a 10 minute speech to my teacher […]

Hip-hop is the latest expressive manifestation of the past and current experience as well as the collective consciousness of African-American and Latino-American youth. But more than any music of the past, it also expresses mainstream American Ideas that have now been Internalized and embedded Into the psyches of American people of color over time. A […]

The spell off saccharine song such as Ace Lo Green’s “Forget You,” demonstrates the magical powers of a great song that captivates the senses of many people. Even my seven-year-old daughter gets excited whenever she hears the song “Forget You” playing over the airways. From the outset, I was also wooed by its spell. The […]