Intersections (Spring 2025)

Photo by Gadiel Lazcano on Unsplash   Whether it’s a family member, friend, or coworker, or just someone you walk past every day, the chances that you know someone with a mental illness is pretty high. At the top of my head, I can already name several people I know who struggle with a mental disorder, one of them being my sister. However, as the youngest of my family, I really didn’t notice anything amiss. I enjoy interacting with these people. For some, the topic of mental illness is forbidden. Something that is deeply personal to them. But for others, it’s a topic they’re quite excited to discuss. It was always a learning experience whenever we settled on the topic of mental illness. I would hear about these people’s struggles, and how at times the rest of the world seemed so far away. So, when the UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting claimed mental health conditions were being over-diagnosed, these people I know were understandably outraged. And I agree with their frustration. If ...

  Kellen King Matt Montoya English 102 4/22/25                                                                                                                            I’ve always been told that teenagers like me often get into trouble. That they don’t think about consequences and make reckless decisions. This often leads to teenagers having regrets that could be short lived or lif...

By Matthias Carpenter “I don’t know why God would do this to me.” I sat on my neighbor’s couch and watched dumbstruck as the six-foot-tall Vietnam veteran broke down into sobs. “I don’t know why God would do this to me. I’ve lost one wife already, and now He’s taken my second wife!” His cry is echoed by people everywhere. This world is full of pain, sorrow, and death. If God exists, why doesn’t he intervene? Some, like my neighbor, ask this question from the depths of a heart rent by a horrible tragedy. They approach it drowning in an ocean of confusing emotions. Others, as rational inquirers, ask it from their brain rather than from their heart. Either way, the question is valid and demands an answer. It appears to be an open-and-shut case: If the Christian God exists, He is all-powerful and loving. But if there is so much pain and evil in the world, He must be either weak or—even worse—evil Himself. Atheist James Fodor lays out the apparently w...

Valeria Guzman Professor Montoya English 102 30 April 2025 How Unhealthy Are Crumbl Cookies When it Comes to the Effects of Sugar? One Saturday afternoon, my little sister had this strong craving for crumbl cookies. Since me and my family had never gone to Crumbl before, my little sister and I decided that we should ask our parents if we could go to Crumbl and pick some of their delicious cookies up. They agreed, and on the way to Crumbl, I got curious and decided to google how much sugar one Crumbl cookie contains because I assumed that it was maybe a lot due to the cookie’s size. To my surprise, it was way more sugar than what I imagined. After, we got to the Crumbl store, we went inside the store and picked out the cookies from that week’s line up. When we got home, I refused to consume a cookie because I was now aware of how much sugar one cookie from Crumbl cookie contains, and not to also mention I was very aware of the negative effects of high amounts of sugar can have...

Kat Stanley  Is minimalism getting a bad rap? In the article “Why Minimalism is BS”, by Jennifer McCartney, she strongly argues against minimalist ideals and organization. McCartney describes pristine design as flawed, full of unrealistic expectations to apply to your home. Her definition of Minimalism seems to imply living with a stark interior with few colors or happiness and scarcity also requires vigorous organization systems. Her article explains that Minimalism is unrealistic to achieve, that messiness is better for creativity, that mess is a valid organization system and the most authentic way of living.   In fact, Minimalism is more of a practice than a design style. It is about choosing what best suits your space rather than overly controlling emptiness as McCartney implies. It is about mindful curation and buying well made items to last, rather than overconsuming or staying on trend. With minimalism you have the mindset less is more, and a place for everything a...

  How can we use M usic to I mprove our P roductivity and P ersonal G rowth dur ing Daily Activities ?   You probably can’t remember what you had for breakfast last Saturday, but you probably do remember the lyrics to a song you used to have on replay but don't listen too much nowadays . Kinda funny how that works, music is hardwired into our minds, and it has the ability to evoke feelings like sadness , happiness , nostalgia , etc . But it goes even further than that , we don’t often think of music as a tool for boosting productivity, enhancing our focus an d even improving our mental health . We don’t talk about these things on a regular basis so right now I want to show you how important it is to understand the effects music can have on the way we feel, act and think in a variety of settings . Ranging from workouts to social connections , music can be used to enhance these experiences and maximize our production and overall success . But why and ho...