1. Burgers 2025

  We often think of power as something held by politicians, CEOs, or military leaders. But power is also wielded in subtle ways—through language. The way we phrase things, the words we choose, and even the tone we use can establish authority or undermine it. Consider the difference between a direct command and a polite suggestion. A boss saying, "Submit this report by 5 p.m." exerts clear authority, while "Could you get this to me by 5 p.m.?" softens the demand. The second option leaves room for negotiation, subtly shifting the power balance. This phenomenon extends beyond the workplace. In education, the way teachers address students impacts classroom dynamics. A teacher who consistently frames instructions as questions—"Would you like to open your textbooks?"—may struggle to maintain authority compared to one who states, "Please open your textbooks now."      Another example is how expertise is communicated. Professionals use jargon to establis...

Memories.  They come in all types of shapes and forms. The small. The big. The good. The bad. And so the big question arises: are some memories really worth forgetting?  The movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” does an excellent job of communicating this idea. Before you read any further, I highly recommend that you to watch the movie if you haven’t already without any more prior information, as I believe going in clueless is a major reason that it has turned out to be one of the best movies I’ve seen yet. However, if you wish to proceed reading, here is some context first.  The movie tells the story of a man named Joel who was in a 2 year relationship with a woman named Clementine until it came to an abrupt end with an ugly breakup. When Clementine decides to undergo a procedure to completely erase Joel’s existence from her mind, Joel decides to do the same. The movie primarily focuses on Joel’s experience within his mind as he slowly relives his time with Cleme...

Out of all the emotions I have ever felt, I feel grief to be the most soul plaguing and profound human experience ever. After losing my grandmother, all I have heard everyone say is grief and healing is not linear, it is okay to feel sorrow at the most random times. It is often perceived as a dark, abyss of sadness whose only mission is to destroy any trace of happiness in one’s life. While I once believed that claim to be true, after being engulfed by that emotion and still experiencing it, I have come to see that it has shaped me as the person I am today.  One of the most powerful aspects of grief is its ability to reshape your priorities. The loss of my grandmother and certain events that have occurred after her death has been a catalyst for me to reevaluate what really matters. I was once a kid that never really understood the depth of familial bonds or parents; to me, they were a symbol of restriction that never let me eat fast food, play outside whenever I wanted, and forced ...

   According to the Oxford Dictionary, power is the ability to do something or act in a particular way. But does power really exist? Hear me out. While all these great and powerful historical leaders did once attain power, ultimately they lost power as time went on. Also, according to this definition, everybody has equal power since everybody has an equal ability to do something or behave a certain way. Therefore the value of power goes down greatly. It’s like if every single person on the planet was a billionaire and we lived in today’s economy with today’s prices. The value of money is gone.  Yes you can make the argument that political leaders have the ability to do more than regular citizens, but when you really think about it, do they? A political leader can start a war in another country, but what’s stopping a normal citizen from getting a group of people together to form an army and battle other countries. They definitely have the ability to do this if they really ...

Photo Credit:  depositphotos_189321824-stock-photo-abstract-tv-brainwash-backdrop.jpg Have you had your parents ever tell you as a child not to watch things that are violent or too graphic? And if you are also like me you must have wondered why would that matter so much? Don’t we just know what is right and wrong, and what we should and shouldn’t do. My assumption stayed the same for years on end even getting to the point where I thought it was a completely bogus claim. This all changed after I self studied AP Psychology last and learned about the various behavioral studies. One in particular that explained this concern to a tee was the BoBo doll experiment, a psychological study conducted by Albert Bandura in the 1960s. The premise of the study was to figure out the power of observational learning and modeling behavior in children. In the experiment the children, a part of the control group who don’t receive measured variables, were shown a video of adults playing with a Bobo doll...

Do you think you would be a good dictator? This was the question that one of my friends posed to me about a month ago while on a long drive back home (said friend had also asked us about an hour earlier to reveal our “deepest, darkest secrets”—if that gives you any idea about the range of our conversations).  Of course, my first instinct was to say absolutely not. I would be too worried about what everyone needed and thought about me. I would be too set on my morals…right? Sure, this would probably be true initially, but who is truly to say how a person behaves once they have their hands on complete and total power? The Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Dr. Philip Zimbardo in 1971 demonstrates the true sinister nature of the human mind when it is giving authority over another.  In this study, average college student volunteers were divided into two groups—prisoners or prison guards. For two weeks, these students were to be knocked into a different life, chained up in a ...

  I want to be buff. Like jacked. I’ve been trying to workout at home, and so far I have mainly been doing arm and leg exercises. To exercise arms, I use my dad’s power tower, and to exercise legs, I do calisthenics workouts. It’s nice to feel the burn, but I also like the feeling of productivity that comes with tired muscles that I don’t know how to describe; it’s relaxing to feel like I’ve used my time in a way that contributes to my future self. Do you guys work out? How do you like it? I’m motivated to become strong because of three things. One, my mother is starting to work out right now, and I feel inclined to join her on her journey. It’s awesome and daunting the power that people around you have over your actions; surrounding yourself with the right people is so important for a good life. Two, I want to feel in control of my body. I want to be able to feel light and strong with my movements, rather than feel like I’m dragging a weight around. Do you understand what I mean...

The Power of Language in Shaping Reality       Language is more than a tool for communication—it is a force that shapes our reality. The words we use influence how we perceive the world and how others perceive us. From political speeches to everyday conversations, language holds immense power in constructing social norms, reinforcing ideologies, and defining identities.      Take, for instance, the way media outlets frame news stories. The difference between calling a protester a "freedom fighter" or a "rioter" can shape public perception and policy decisions. Similarly, the language used by governments can normalize certain behaviors while demonizing others. George Orwell famously explored this idea in 1984, where "Newspeak" was designed to limit thought by restricting language. While Orwell’s world was fictional, real-life examples abound—politicians, corporations, and social movements carefully craft language to influence public opinion.    ...

 The Power of Friendship Friends are the best. Especially good friends because they can do amazing things. They can turn any sad situation into a good one, they are always there to help you, and they always make you feel like you belong. I am so grateful for each and every one of my friends as they completely changed my life.  I mean just imagine where you would be if you never met that one person that you tell everything to, or the person that encouraged you to try something new. You get the point, friendship is one of the most powerful things on Earth. Sometimes they can have their downsides, like maybe causing you to make a huge mistake, but overall, they truly are one of the best things you could ever have.  Just look at Spongebob and Patrick, or Phineas and Ferb, or even the Golden Trio from Harry Potter, now imagine those shows if they never met each other.  I have had many rough experiences that I don’t know how I would have got through if I did not have my fr...

Every moment on a day-to-day basis individuals have to make a choice. The choice can be simple from deciding what to eat to the colleges they want to apply to, but the single choice they make can spark a chain reaction that changes everything. Some choices made serve us with a supportive and nurturing environment, while others are secretly toxic holding us back. I believe one of the most crucial choices we make has to do with who we surround ourselves – chosen family, friends/classmates, relationships.  The phrase “blood is thicker than water” is a common idiom that explores the notion that relationships between family members are stronger than anything else. I believe that while it is true to a certain extent, some of the best family connections are the ones we choose. Family is not just built up on blood relations, but those who genuinely care, support, and uplift you. This is where the power of choice plays a role as it is important to surround yourself with those who have simil...

Photo Credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/big-data-technology-and-data-science-illustration-data-flow-concept-querying-gm1448152453-485760115 A new day, new power struggle. Life these days seems to be edging ever so closer to the next big conflict. With this comes a new elevated tension that seems to be omnipresent. This conflict is not portrayed in the literal sense as most would assume with wars or armies, but rather a form that can be best described as a Neo-Cold War style of warfare. Just like how the United States and the Soviet Union battled each other for supremacy without ever directly going to war, this era is seeing the dawn of a similar warfare fought like a free for all fought amongst every nation. This war is about Artificial Intelligence (AI) supremacy and who will be able to create the most intelligent assistant that would be able to automate the process of doing mundane tedious things quickly with the least effort expended, increasing productivity of the nation b...

Image is a $45 sticker from Boy Scouts?? Why is it so expensive. Here's the link if you want to buy it: https://bsatroop794.org/product/lock-in/ I don't know if this is happening to you guys, but I feel like I'm hitting a wall. I'm becoming significantly less productive with my time, and it's not going so great. Every day after I go home from school, it takes me a lot of time to sit down and get work done. Are you guys going through this too? I'm genuinely curious. I think it might be because it's the toughest time of the school year. August is pretty exciting because it's the start of something new, and that carries on to maybe September and part of October. And then there's the holiday season, which adds a bit of spice to our lives, and Thanksgiving and Winter Break are in sight. But was it really enough to have two weeks off? I don’t know; I feel like finals were pretty stressful. Personally, I came out of Winter Break questionably well-rested.  A...

It’s 9:59 PM. A small bead of sweat trickles down your forehead. It’s now or never. Fingers shaking, you type one last word and hit Submit , your half-finished assignment no longer your problem, at least, not until it is graded…but you obviously can’t think that far ahead.  Exhibit A? Twenty four hours ago, when you could have been working on the assignment, you chose to test your reading speed with a random video on YouTube (about 800 wpm). You doom-scrolled and discover a podcast critiquing the economic, social, and political conditions that shape the world of Harry Potter ( Critical Magic Theory ). Twenty four hours ago it was all about “living in the moment.” “I’ll be wiser tomorrow,” you said. “I’ll do it tomorrow.”  But what if tomorrow never came?  Granted, if you were dead, the half-completed assignment would be the least of your worries (unless you were Hermione Granger—then you’d be turning in your grave), but you get my point. How many things do we put off un...