We live in a world with no shortage of problems. Our planet's health is rapidly declining while our national debt steadily rises. Poverty and unemployment plague the world, and war is, of course, an ever-present threat. With all of these problems, why would we even put space exploration on our...

When I was 13, I decided that I wanted to become religious. My childhood had been a smorgasbord of a religious upbringing, with an Episcopalian mother and a Jewish father. But the idea of God was appealing -- a higher power to have a faith in, someone to pray to...

I've always been a relatively private person. So, needless to say, when I took a class based solely on reflective, personal writing last year, I had a difficult time. It seemed that every other kid in the class had no problem pouring their hearts and lives on to paper. When...

Travel essays have become cliché for a reason. An increasing number of high school students are going abroad, and finding their lives and perspectives changed in exciting ways. I'm included in this population, having spent a summer in China with the Experiment in International Living two years ago,...

I want to write about the Occupy Wall Street protests for my first Huffington Post blog. After all, it's an exciting movement that is happening right now and our country has been in desperate need of this type of large-scale political activism for a long time. However, despite following the...