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CONSERVATISM IN THE UNITED STATES: A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND OBSERVATION

‘I’m going to America!’, I announced proudly with tears in my eyes. After years and years of dreaming of doing Camp America, I finally got my three-month working visa to work in a Summer Camp in the town of Medford, New Jersey. It was one of the happiest days of my life, and I spent the entire train journey from London back to my home town of Crawley, West Sussex, absolutely bawling to my dad about how my dreams had come true. After one failed attempt to get a visa in the early months of 2020, it felt as though doing Camp America would always be a fantasy, a ‘one-day’ dream. But after exiting the American Embassy in January 2022 I was already packing my bags for the summer of a lifetime.  Upon arrival to the United States in June, I met up with Maddie, another girl going to the same camp as me. We excitedly met at the baggage claim at JFK airport, as we picked up our heavy suitcases and got ready to make our excursion from New York to New Jersey. We took the subway into New York City
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GUIDE TO MOVING ON FROM YOUR FIRST LOVE

  Ah, breakups. Everyone has one at some point in their lives, yet they make us feel so isolated in our feelings, as though nobody has ever and could ever feel the pain that we're feeling. Growing up, I imagined heartbreak to consist of burning their t-shirts, sobbing over sad songs and shovelling barrels of ice cream into your mouth until you were fine and dandy (I'm looking at you , Legally Blonde). But alas, that was definitely not the case. You know that feeling where you're sad so you listen to sad songs to feel worse because crying is low-key therapeutic? Well, the pain I felt from heartbreak was so bad that I'd have a full-blown panic attack if I heard even the first note of Somebody Else by The 1975. Funnily enough, I knew I was healing when it got to a point where I could enjoy listening to sad breakup songs and letting the tears come as they pleased.  I genuinely didn't think I would ever be happy again or find anyone new. Having said that, my real  worst
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RUNNING OUT OF YOUTH

It's New Year's Eve 2019. You're at a house party with your best friends, gushing about how 2020 is going to be your year, before taking that vodka shot that will decidedly finish you off for the night. You have a girl's holiday to Magaluf planned for July after you're set to have completed the A-Levels that you've had way too many sleepless nights over, working tirelessly for those three A's necessary to get into your top choice university in September. But all that hard work will be worth it when you have the best summer of your life as a freshly turned eighteen-year-old dancing all night long at music festivals, looking dazzling at prom (hoping and praying you don't despise your makeup and hair like you did at year eleven prom) and having an emotional leavers. And finally, at the end of summer, you and the friends you've had all throughout school will go your separate ways to universities across the UK - but you'll have an unforgettable
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POLICE BRUTALITY: THE ONGOING BLACK STRUGGLE IN THE UNITED STATES

“Until the killing of black mothers’ sons becomes as important as the killing of a white mother’s son, we who believe in freedom cannot rest until this happens” - Ella Baker, African American civil rights activist.  On the 25th of May, George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police. ‘I can’t breathe!’ he shouted. ‘Don’t kill me!’. This sounds all too familiar to the last words of Eric Garner, strangled to death in July 2014 by members of the New York City Police Department. In August of 2014, Michael Brown was shot dead by a Ferguson police officer. Similarly, Ryan Twyman was fatally shot by Los Angeles police in June 2019. These are only a small handful of deaths African Americans have had to endure as a result of police brutality in the United States. Appallingly, roughly one in every thousand black males die in the hands of law enforcement and black people are three times more likely to be killed by police than white people. These statistics don’t even take into account the
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THE UNSETTLING REALITY OF THE PATRIARCHY IN THE UK

Shining a light on the dangers women face on a day to day basis.   Sexism. Feminism. Patriarchy. Three words that are thrown around, ridiculed by many and taken seriously by a disheartening lack of people. If you label yourself as a feminist, people assume you have radical anti-men ideals, when the reality couldn’t be further from that ignorant viewpoint. As a young woman myself, I stand by the fact that sexism still exists and the patriarchy is not as close to being abolished as it may appear in the United Kingdom. Yes, women have suffrage, there have been two female Prime Ministers and there are increasing numbers of women in managerial roles, all improvements that should be celebrated and acknowledged but there is far more beneath the surface, entrenched in society. Regardless of all these improvements, I still feel afraid to go on walks in broad daylight wearing shorts on a hot summers day and I feel untrustworthy of the authorities if I ever had to report a sexual assault cas
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SUMMER BLUES

 Since being in quarantine, I have been through many phases of motivation and creativity, which often weren't permanent as I spent another fifty percent of the time being in a slump. Although this has been an awful time, the silver lining is that I have been able to really sit and think about a lot, and I've realised that this is a great opportunity for me to be more creative than ever! As a 19 year old student, I tend to spend my time distracting myself with clubbing, assignments and boy problems, so I have never before been able to think in this depth, completely distraction-free. I have realised a lot about myself and my future goals, which explains why I have made this blog. This feels a little strange as I used to do this as a little 14 year old with awful dress sense, completely uninformed on the state of the world, but now I've done my GCSEs, A-Levels and a year of uni, I'd like to think I have changed just a bit.  I have been sitting on th
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