“’How do you know when the gold is purified?’ we asked him, and he answered, ‘When I can see my face in it [the liquid gold in the crucible] then it is pure.’” – Gold Cord, Amy Carmichael Marital counselling guru David Schnarch uses the word “crucible” to describe those periods during which couples learn… Read more »
If there is one thing I should probably not be doing in this life, it is giving advice. Whatever good fortune I have come across, I have typically stumbled into ass-backwards rather than achieved through any sort of strategy or wisdom. Nevertheless, you just never know when somebody might benefit from a word or two… Read more »
Dear Barb: I am in my late twenties and live at home with my parents and younger brother. Recently, I began dating a guy who is 50 years old. We get along great and his kids love me. We seem so compatible; we are not aware of the age difference unless we look in the… Read more »
A happy brain could make you a superstar student. One Harvard study showed that “happiness is positively associated with GPA for students in grades 4-12.” Another study “revealed a significant correlation between happiness and academic success.” So, if happiness boosts GPA, why waste time being sad? In the undergrad, depression dipped my grades. Due to… Read more »
Studies can lead to stress. So, as students, our brains might chatter nonstop. We might second guess ourselves. We might toss and turn rather than drift into lullaby land. We might complain of headaches, sore muscles, and tiredness. We might even mingle with mental illness—after all, anxiety and depression can stem from negative thoughts, overthinking,… Read more »
Time off is important, not just from work, but from school too. Just like work, students need to have time off to refresh themselves and increase their performance for the next set of courses. School time is busy, and usually there isn’t much time to do any fun or relaxing stuff. For a vacation, summertime… Read more »
Now that summer is here, spending time outside in the sunshine can have significant and wide-ranging health benefits. Exposure to green space reduces stress, and all the ailments that go along with it (“University of East Anglia: It’s official – spending time outside is good for you.”, 2018). We don’t have to go on a… Read more »
Dear Barb: I look forward to reading your column as often as I can. Recently my younger brother was diagnosed with a mental illness. We always knew there was something different about him, but we hoped he would outgrow it. He seems to have gotten worse over the years, very unstable; some days he seems… Read more »
Imagine you weigh over 180 pounds as a five-foot four-inch femme. And earlier that day, you’ve been featured live on local news. And now, you’re about to watch, for the first time, the replay. As the camera opens to the sight of you, you coil back in horror. You look fatter than Momma June before… Read more »
For AU students planning on long-haul flights across the globe, airplane food can be either a blessing or a curse. For most of my student peers, it turns out to be the latter. Hence, when I began planning for this post, I felt like the sole advocate for airplane cuisine. While airplane food can vary… Read more »