A Precious Gem

Population, Problem, and the Organizational Arena – Mental health disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability, with suicide being the third leading cause of death in adolescents globally (WHO, 2024). This is not only a crisis in our neighborhood but worldwide. Each year, any given child will spend approximately one thousand hours in…

The Forensics – Every year, about 2,000 innocent individuals are wrongfully convicted and incarcerated (Siegel & Worrall, 2018, p. 452). Forensic science is a significant component of the criminal justice system, especially when presenting evidence in trial; most of this comes from a forensic science or crime lab. With the looming pressures to convict a…

“The children usually arrived in the dead of night, silent and terrified” (Hager, 2018). This opening line of the heart-wrenching article displays the traumas affecting children who experience abrupt short-term stays in the foster care system. We usually hear how important it is for children to be removed from neglectful or dangerous homes; however, rarely…

Fear keeps us safe. It blankets us like a cloak – like it’s five below outside. A shield protecting us from all that threatens. A cage to keep things in, and to also keep them out. But the trepidation creeps up my throat with an acidity that burns. Singeing my senses. It’s suffocating. The fog…

In an environment where adults seemingly do everything in their power to control and place students in a box, it is no wonder that so many nationwide want to be anywhere but inside the walls of a school. Within these buildings, there are increasingly more and more safety, security, and surveillance measures, as well as…

The three, really two-and-a-half, but actually a one-and-a-half story house that I grew up in, and my dad still lives in, originally was a one-story house, which was solely my dad’s (full circle moment), that my mom accidentally burned down while they were dating. There really should be a list of things that you should…

Fire and heat. Love and Passion. A fine line. Like the cracks in the earth creating cracks in the divine, a rare gem trying to survive the harsh conditions. Millions of years. Sink or swim. And if they do make it out, they are more beautiful than the rocks, elements, chemicals, and minerals they are…

Truths and lies. Lies and truths. Everyone has a tell. A shift in their seat, a crack in their voice, a constant tic. The steady ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum of a heartbeat turns into a flurry of punches that threatens to break skin.  BS, I think and keep captive behind my tongue as your tell ricochets…

You ask why I cry. “Are you okay?” An arbitrary question really. If only you knew what the tears kept secret. “I am fine.” An equally arbitrary answer. And still I cry. Sometimes my emotions are too great and the only escape for them is a single tear drop one by one as the salty…