Brittany’s cookies are by far the best
Time after time they pass the test
No one else’s can compare
Hers are made with love and care

Want to know a little more about the Youth Staff  here? Check out our Q&A with some of the Online Magazine staff members; their responses to these questions are below!

How do you think positively?

Mindy Yang (Editor-in-Chief): I think positively by not taking everything too seriously. Things will always change, laughing or smiling while you’re doing something will always give a positive mindset.

Sean Traynor (Editorial Advisor and Contributing Writer):  Whenever I am feeling down I like to like to listen to music or take a walk in the park. It always makes everything seem so much better.

Isabella Taylor (Poetry Editor): I think about how happiness is not something I seek but it is something I already possess.  I remind myself of all my blessings and feel grateful for them.  I try to keep myself in the “positive”.

Claudia Chow (Book Review Editor): I always try to be a “glass half full” kind of person, and look on the bright side of things.

Ryan Traynor (Contributing Writer): I think positively by trying to think about the best things happening. By picturing the good things, they usually come true. Also, my dad is really funny. When I am laughing, it is hard to think negatively.

Banging the keys in frustration, I turned away from the piano, trying to fight the tears that were already welling up in my eyes. After an hour of practicing, I still couldn’t get the rhythm quite right on a Mozart piece that I had to present to my piano teacher the following day. It was frustrating, to be sure, to have spent such a long time on a piano song and still be unable to play the piece correctly. To me, the piece had at first seemed fairly easy, and had a pretty simple melody. But, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t seem to play it the way that it was supposed to be played.

I decided to take a break, and come back to the piece later, when I had calmed down. For the most part, after a little bit of work, I could usually learn the song pretty quickly – however, it was always that one song, which might have appeared simple but was deceptively difficult, that always got to me. These types of songs always made me doubt myself as a pianist – if I couldn’t get this song right, would I be able to learn harder songs?

After having dinner, I decided to come back to the piano. Placing my fingers tentatively on the keys, I chose to play the piece slowly and carefully, focusing on hitting the correct notes instead of trying to play the piece quickly. Using this new method of practicing, I exercised a great deal of patience, something that I often have trouble with. Instead of focusing on how hard the rhythm was, I focused on how I could improve myself, little by little. Finally, I could slowly see myself getting better.

That evening, I didn’t have an epiphany, and I didn’t even get the rhythm right until a week later. But, I learned an important lesson – sometimes, baby steps are the best way to reach a goal. I’m an impatient person who likes to think that I can get somewhere by taking leaps and bounds. But, in the case of piano, I couldn’t move forward and improve until I slowed down, believed in myself, and took it one step at a time.

There is one form of writing that is, sadly, dying out. While writing forms like blogging are becoming ever more popular, the art of writing a handwritten letter is slowly becoming obsolete in our technology-driven society. There is perhaps nothing more uplifting than receiving a handwritten letter or card in the mail – I remember when I was younger, me and my friends stayed in touch over the summer by mailing letters to one another while we were away at camp. So, I hope that you’ll take a bit of time out of your day to take out the pen and paper, scrawl a note or write a whole letter to a loved one or friend who is living far away!

Here are a few tips

You really don’t need to have a specific reason for sending a card or letter. For the most part, many of us use mail to send a birthday or holiday card, but a handwritten note can simply be to tell someone how much he/she means to you.

Always begin with the date at the top of the letter, and start your letter off with “Dear” or “Hello”. It is always nice to begin with a polite greeting to whomever you’re writing, and the date is for the convenience of the person whom you’re sending the letter to. Unlike emails,  which are automatically marked with a date and time, it’s always good to put a date on the letters, so you can look back at them months or years later and remember when your conversation took place.

Practice your handwriting! With email, texting, and many other ways to communicate, the art of good handwriting is also being lost. Consider trying out your cursive, or try to print as neatly as possible to make your writing easy to read.

I can guarantee that you will make your recipient’s day when he or she receives a handwritten note or letter from you in the mailbox. Letters add such a nice personal touch and demonstrate how much you care about him or her.