Social media has also turned something natural, like wanting to feel accepted or a member of a community, into something quantitative. Followers, likes, comments and views can make belonging feel like a numbers game. Instead of just thinking about if we fit in with the people around us, we can compare how many people appear to care about us online.

It seems every other week that a social media influencer or politician gets outed for engaging in the unthinkable. But oftentimes, the vigilante work that goes into exposing potential pedophiles produces inadmissible legal evidence and allows truly legitimate criminals to evade police capture.

If you happen to be in the country-hating camp, chances are that you have a certain image of what you hear on the internet and radio: listless, pitch-corrected vocals over compressed instrumentals that don’t even sound like the genre formerly known as “Country and Western.”

The death penalty has been used in the United States since 1608. its continued use raises questions surrounding wrongful convictions and the methods used to carry out executions. Unlike the death penalty, life imprisonment holds criminals accountable and also give them time to recognize the consequences.

I can’t change the Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis I was given at 19, but I can change the approach to understanding and living with chronic illnesses. For years, my symptoms were overlooked and I was told I looked fine; however, invisible illnesses do not become less real just because they cannot be seen. I know what it feels like to look fine and be in desperate need for someone to finally realize I wasn’t.

Ever since I came from Oklahoma City to Baylor in 2023, I’ve noticed a hole in the “Grease Pit” of fast food restaurants on the other side of the highway. It’s a hole that can only be filled by something as Oklahoman as me: Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Store.