We Only Have One Earth

By: Kosi U.

Our Earth is filled with many beautiful and natural wonders.  We see stunning pictures of landscapes and astonishing mountains all around the internet, but these pictures also serve as a warning sign. Over time, we begin to see a decrease in ice caps and bodies of water, along with an increase of more storms and droughts. Sadly, if we don’t act fast, these incredible places could be changed forever. This is all because of human-caused climate change. 

Imagine you are a polar bear looking for a day’s worth of food. Usually, you would be on the ice that coats the sea to hunt for seals and catch them when they come up for air to breathe, but the ice on the sea has begun to melt faster and re-form later than normal. Without the ice to stabilize you above the water, you have to search for less nourishing food. This problem doesn’t just affect polar bears, it affects every other animal and human too. 

One thing to mention is that climate change doesn’t only affect the temperature either. When water gets warmer, it can change the pattern of ocean currents which affects global weather patterns. This causes some places to get more rainfall which causes flooding, while other places don’t get enough water which leads to drought. We can see this play out in the California wildfires and all of the hurricanes. Because of all of these uncertain weather patterns, many animals are forced to find other habitats since their current home does not suit their needs anymore. If they do not find a new place to live quickly, they may die. If this happened, it could affect the whole ecosystem which in return, comes back to have an impact on humans. All of the storms and droughts are killing and displacing many humans too. Additionally, disease-carrying mosquitoes love hot and sticky places. This makes people more vulnerable to getting diseases, such as malaria. Unfortunately, things will only get worse if we continue to ignore these issues. Scientists predict that the climate will warm another .5 degrees Fahrenheit to 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100. This is why we must act now before it’s too late. 

• Reduce the amount of trash you create and try to reuse as many items as possible. 
• Unplug any electronics that you are not using at the time and turn off the lights when you leave the room.
• Buy locally grown foods to help reduce the emissions from transporting products and make sure to actually eat the food you buy.
• Reduce the amount of water you waste.
• Tell other people about climate change. Learning what you are doing wrong is the only way to find out your mistakes and help solve the problem.

Not only one person can fix climate change, it will take everyone a long time to accomplish this. Greta Thunberg once said, “The moment we decide to fulfill something, we can do anything.” We are the next generation and we will have to live with the consequences of everyone’s actions concerning climate change. We are never too young to make a difference. We must save our Earth because it is the only one we have. 

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April’s Camp NaNoWriMo Update

by Kosi U.

Hello everybody, I hope you guys are having an amazing day so far!😄💖

Today’s post will be an update for my Camp NaNoWriMo Project! If you don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it is a non-profit organization that promotes creative writing. It is most know for its creative writing event in November, in which participants try to write 50,000 words of a novel. There are also events in April and July called Camp NaNoWriMo, where you can choose your own goal and start, finish, publish, or edit a project!

This is my first year participating in any NaNoWriMo event, and I wanted to take it easy so I set my goal at 4,500 words by the end of April. I know that may seem really small to some, but, like I said, this is my first time doing this type of event and the first year that I am taking my writing very seriously, and I did not want to put too much pressure on myself.

I am working on a short story that is a young adult genre titled, ‘I Write My Own Story.’

Here is the synopsis, if you would like to know more about it: Sixteen-year-old Adalynn wants nothing more to become a blogger, and, one day, a published author. But, her strict parents oppose her dreams, by saying that writing will never lead her anywhere. After finding some courage, Adalynn starts a blog and publishes her work under a pen name. This works for a couple of months until someone finds out who she really is and threatens to reveal her identity to the public. Adalynn then must choose if she will shut everything down, or stay true to herself and let people know the real her.

Let me know what you guys think!

Second Update: I drafted this post earlier today and I just reached my goal! Now, my short story is not completed yet, but I am really glad I was able to reach my writing goal for the month! Since I have so much time left in the month of April, I will work on completing this project and then starting another one. This time, I may possibly set the goal higher for 10,000 words. Who knows?!

Because I reached my goal, I was awarded this certificate. I will put the picture down below!

One thing that I really like about Camp NaNoWriMo, is that I am learning how to pace myself, writing-wise. Before, I would write for a couple weeks, then I wouldn’t pick up that story for a number of months after the initial start. While that is technically okay because we all like writing at different times, I wanted to make writing more of a daily habit. That was one of my resolutions for this year. Every day, I try to write for at least 45 minutes, sometimes even more if I am really in the writing zone.

Another one of my favorite things about NaNoWriMo is the potential of starting writing groups, joining them, and having buddies.

Just in the last few days of me creating an account, I’ve already joined 3 writing groups and made some friends on the platform! It has been so cool to hear about everybody’s different projects and to see people’s preferred writing genres and styles.

A different writing goal on my list for this year is to read and write outside of my comforts zone. I am always either reading or writing about Young Adult novels and I want to push myself to dabble in other genres, especially fantasy and mystery. By learning more about other people’s stories, it gives me more ideas about projects I can potentially create and how I would go about doing it.

Also, being able to give and receive feedback on various writing projects is also really helpful and helps me on my writing journey.

Overall, this month so far has been really great, and I can’t wait to see what comes next!

(A bonus is that this is also birthday month!🥳)

If you guys are participating in Camp NaNoWriMo or working on a separate writing project of your own, what is your writing goal and what type of projects are you working on?

Thank you for reading!🥰😊💖📝📚

Sincerely,

Kosi

Dance: A Demanding Sport or an Easy Pastime?

by Kosi U.

It has been an ongoing battle in the dance community for many years. Is dance a sport or not? Many argue that dance is a sport because of the physical activities dancers go through to perform so gracefully onstage, while others say that dance is more of an art form and you can’t even win any awards for dancing. Well, that second claim is not entirely true. There are many dance competitions over the globe such as the Prix de Lausanne, an international competition for young dancers, and even the Starbound National Dance Competition which is the largest in America. 

Although dance is an art form, it should not invalidate the incredible amount of athleticism needed to become a performer or competitive dancer. 

Dancers are required to put an intense amount of pressure on their bodies which can lead to injuries and exhaustion, just like football or basketball. According to the John Hopkins Medical Center, common dance injuries include hip, foot, ankle, and knee injuries in addition to stress fractures and the possibility of arthritis. Most of the injuries result from the overuse of muscles, which further empathizes the amount of time dancers spend training. 

A ballerina performing her foot care routine to keep her feet in shape and protected for the rest of the day.

Also, did you know that the amount of energy needed to perform a full dance routine is the same as the energy needed to play 2 full football games or run 18 miles! 

Tampa Buccaneers player Steve McLendon said in an interview that he also takes ballet classes. 

Ballet class taken at the Columbus City Ballet School and Conservatory

“It’s harder than anything else I do,” McLendon told the Pittsburg Post Gazette

In the same article, he had also said that ballet helps to strengthen his knees, ankles, and feet to a great extent that he can even tell when he hasn’t been to classes in a while. If ballet is demanding for a professional football player, imagine how challenging it would be for a regular person like you or me. 

When people think about dance, ballet, in particular, they imagine girls in pink fluffy tutus, twirling around the dance floor. First of all, boys dance too, not just girls. Second of all, dancers only wear tutus in rehearsal and during performances, not in class. Finally, people don’t just twirl around on a stage. There are years of practice and building up techniques involved. If you’ve ever seen any dance videos, you may have observed all of the turns, leaps, kicks, and other intense movements dancers perform. You can’t just go out and attempt to do these moves yourself without any professional instruction unless you want to get hurt. This is why it is key that dancers work with trained professionals and attend daily classes to build their strength, technique, and stamina. 

George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker New York City Ballet in a seasonal tradition at the David H. Koch Theater.

 At the end of the day, dance is a sport and is unique from others because it can still be seen as a beautiful art form. Even at a competition, you have no choice but to admire the artistry of other dancers and how they use their movements to tell a story. By now, we can all see that dance isn’t for the faint of heart and it is physically demanding. Still, a great amount of creativity goes into the creation of dance. 

When we think about dance, it is a special case, both an excruciating sport and a magnificent art form.

Baking: More of a Science Than You May Think

By Kosi U.

Picture this: You’re a world famous baker. Most of your daily life is spent in the kitchen surrounded by the sweet and savory aromas that float around in the air. Whether it’s the fresh bread dough proving in the corner of the room, to the triple layer chocolate caramel cake baking in the oven, or the meringue you are mixing in the bowl at that very moment. Life seems perfect, until it’s not. The timer dings and you race to the oven just to see that the cake’s top layer has burned. From the corner of your eye, you notice that the bread dough has over-proved and is spilling out of the bowl and all over the countertop. After cleaning up the mess, and trying to salvage the small part of the cake you can, you return to mixing your meringue.

Ah, just a moment of peace, me here with my baked goods. Just like the old times.

Ring, ring, ring. One of your junior bakers, Jasmine, calls to inform you that the wedding you’re baking for needs 600 cream puffs instead of the original 300.

Great, I guess I wont be sleeping this weekend.

Every little detail matters, even if just one tiny thing is wrong, it can throw everything off.

These are the type of brownies my sister and I like to make. Soft, moist, and fudgy brownies with a nice chocolate center.

For many, baking is a stress reliever and the best way to spend time with those you love while filling your tummy with an unimaginable variety of treats. I myself love baking. It’s a ritual for me and my sister to gather together every Friday in our family kitchen and create our favorite dessert ever: fudgy brownies with extra chocolate. 

I mean, who doesn’t love brownies? They’re small, portable, delectable, square shaped, chocolate confections. I know for a fact that I along with many do.

Now, what exactly is baking? We all think of it as mixing different ingredients such as milk, sugar, flour, and eggs into a bowl and baking it in the oven until something tasty comes out. Well, the art of baking is a little more complicated than this. 

For example, everyone knows that bakers use yeast while making bread because it helps the dough rise, but why? When you add yeast to your dough mixture, it breaks down the large starch molecules into simple sugars that the yeast can eat. During this process, the yeast creates carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol, which creates air bubbles that cause the dough to rise and expand. Yeast fermentation is not only important for helping the dough rise, it also creates flavor as it starts to break down those tasteless starch molecules into sweet and sugary ones.

This reaction is one of many that happens while baking. Think about all the bakeries and cafes you may have gone to in your life, the cakes, macarons, pastries, bread, and savory dishes in the display cases. Think about all the ingredients, time, and energy that has gone into each and every one of those treats just to make them enjoyable for all the customers. 

So, the next time you bite into that slice of cake or mix some dough, remember, it was more than just combining all the ingredients, it’s the reactions, bonds, and love that makes it special.