The Jesus Test

In today’s world, living a Christian life has become a very gray area – each church and even each individual finds his/her own way to interpret the Bible – from one verse, you can get hundreds of different religions and personal beliefs. So, how do you know which one is right? How do you know if something is a sin? For example, is TV a sin? Movies? Sports? Some say there are, others scoff and say Jesus really doesn’t have an opinion on the topic.

I finally finished reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan and there is one little story he shared that has stuck with me.

“As I said before, my wife’s grandma Clara offered a real-life example of a person consumed with Jesus. I once attended a play with my life and some of her relatives, including Grandma Clara. During intermission, I leaned over and asked what she thought of the play. She said, ‘Oh honey, I really don’t want to be here right now.’ When I asked why, she replied, ‘I just don’t know if this is where I want to be when Christ returns. I’d rather be helping someone or on my knees praying. I don’t want Him to return and find me sitting in a theater.’”

Deuteronomy… the Christian’s Manifesto?

Imagine a people – living in a country they’ve called home for generations, but persecuted by their neighbors, government and friends for their beliefs. If they’re lucky enough to have jobs, they are the dirty jobs no one else will do. Even their children are bullied and anything beyond a basic education is not available. But, God hears their cries for mercy and sends someone to lead them across thousands of miles of oceans and land to a Promised Land – the land of milk and honey where food, resources, and wealth are in abundance. The Promised Land becomes their new home – food, houses, clothing, education, jobs – everything is provided above and beyond their expectations. For once, they are happy and blessed beyond any other generation, ever.

Sound familiar?  It’s the story of the people of Israel escaping from Egypt into the Promised Land under Moses’ leadership. But, it’s also my story – and the story of many other refugees who have escaped persecution in their own countries and immigrated to the United States.

While Sheryl Sandberg Leans in, Marissa Mayer lies low

Reblogged from Postcards:

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A look at Silicon Valley's two most powerful women from a journalist who has known both for nearly a decade--and offers news about Mayer's controversial HR policy and nursery at Yahoo

Never in the history of book marketing has there been a crusade quite like Sheryl Sandberg’s. Last Thursday in New York, the Facebook (FB) COO hobnobbed with former U.S.

Read more… 995 more words

Two of today's biggest role models on juggling business and family in the public eye - Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO and Marissa Mayer, Yahoo's CEO, are also my personal and professional role models. Check out this article written by Patricia Sellers for Fortune comparing their different management styles.

Law school visits & juvenile justice

As my law school admission process comes to an end, I am left to make an important life decision – what law school do I want to attend? Essentially, I made part of this decision when I was applying to law schools back in December, but being accepted to the majority of them really hasn’t narrowed down my options.

On a good day, I have it narrowed down to my top two schools, while on a more insecure day it increases to my top five. Most schools require a seat deposit by the first week of April, so I’ve set myself a personal deadline to have a seat deposit turned in by April 1. Yes, that leaves about two weeks to make a decision and get a check in the mail – and it’s not stressful at all. Not. :/

Anyhow, I’ve tried to schedule a school visit to my top choices to get a better feel for the amenities, the professors, students and overall school culture. It’s no surprise that each school had it’s pros and cons, making the decision at times harder, not easier.

I’m a gut feeling person, meaning that I trust that God puts a feeling in your heart when you just know what is right and what isn’t. But, if we don’t keep that connection clear with God and don’t trust Him enough to follow His advice, then that gut feeling can be pretty useless. I’m working on this part, so this whole life-changing decision may be a good place to test this connection and work on my trust issues.

One of my top two choices is the University of Missouri School of Law, aka Mizzou, in Columbia, Mo. I have never visited the law school so I drove down Friday with two friends of mine from the Drury Pre-Law Club who are also working through this whole process for the admitted student day.

The day’s events consisted of the usual introductions, and half a dozen break out sessions on everything from financial aid, diversity in the law school, study abroad opportunities to career development.

We also got to sit in on a 1L Property class and that was all sorts of interesting. Although this was not the first law school class I’ve sat in on, the whole intimidating idea of learning by Socratic method is always interesting to see. From observing these classes, it’s really not that scary, but I guess I may change my mind in a few months when I’m on the receiving end and am utterly not prepared to answer the professor’s question.

The law school school was also hosting the 2013 Law Review Symposium: “Bombshell or Baby Steps?” that day, bringing in legal experts from across the country to lead discussions and present on constitutional and legal issues of sentencing juveniles.

I attended the panel on open constitutional questions of juvenile justice, featuring Douglas A. Bernan from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, William W. Berry III from the University of Mississippi School of Law, Frank O. Bowman III from the University of Missouri School of Law and Michael O’Hear from Marquette University Law School. You can read their bios in the symposium brochure – there are quite a few brilliant legal minds in there!

Since I arrived like an hour into the panel, it took me some time to focus on the presentations and discussions, but towards the end, I could follow everything quite well. In my personal insecurities, I always expect not to be able to follow legal discussions or news, so am always surprise when I can. Yet another thing I’m working through!

Anyhow, I thought the panel discussions were very insightful and I learned a lot. Most of the discussions leaned against the idea of death penalty or life without parole for juveniles, especially in non-homicide cases. This seems reasonable, but one of the panelists mentioned a figure in the 2000′s of juveniles currently serving life without parole in the U.S., a number grossly inflated compared against the rest of the world where it’s rarely even in the double digits.

What do you think – should juveniles be sentenced for life without parole? Maybe just certain cases like murder? It’s an interesting debate to follow!

-YB

SuperHappyFunTimeNews

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working with a local Girl Scouts troop to obtain their media badge. One of their advisors is a professor at Drury and I guess my job as Editor-in-Chief of The Mirror came up in the conversation between her and another professor, who recommended my expertise (thank you Dr. Waters!).

The girls were working on putting together a publication – they wrote their own stories, gathered photos and brainstormed about what they want the magazine to look like. Honestly, I was expecting something different from middle school-aged girls, but I was pleasently surprised. The girls decided they wanted to do something that would make people happy and promote the good people do. The end result? SuperHappyFunTimeNews!

So, each girl picked her own real-life hero to write about. Ashley interviewed a fire chief and a veterinarian. Caitlyn wrote about her grandmother, Brenda. Kira wrote about Sacajawea being the only woman member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Brooke wrote about Temple Granden. And Makayla wrote about one of her teachers – Mrs. Parrish.

Two hours of hard work later, we had an awesome issue of SuperHappyFunTimeNews (check out the PDF here). I am so incredibly proud of their work and it was a great escape from my ordinary daily duties.

If you know me, then you you know I am a huge advocate of working with young women on self-esteem and encouraging education and innovation to follow your dreams. Over the years, I’ve had the honor of having so many amazing mentors and role models who encouraged me to dream big and work through my insecurities and weaknesses. So, I dedicate my life to doing the same and paying it back to other young woman. This is just one tiny step towards achieving this goal.

Here are a few photos from throughout the evening.

-YB

Before the Search Bar: 3 Steps to Identifying Your Dream Job

Check out The Daily Muse today for my latest article on what to do before you get to the search bar and the three easy (and fun!) steps to identifying your dream job! 

It’s always an honor to write for The Daily Muse (check out a list of my other articles here) – their site is a daily read for me. The curation of articles on being a successful young professional, whether in entrepreneurship or a big-shot corporate job. 

-YB

 

Featured image of Emerson Fry via the EveryGirl. 

She decided to start living the life she imagined

Photo via Amanda Catherine Designs.

Christy’s recent dilemma got me thinking…I love being a student – I like the schedule, the learning and the community of being in the cacoon of like-minded people. But, being a student, working two part-time jobs and extracurricular activities takes up all the hours of my day. Over the years I’ve learned so much about time management and priorities, but some days, I still get to a point of being exhausted, stressed and unhappy.

Over the years, one of my creative outlets has been blogging (on and off) and of course, reading dozens of others blogs for inspiration. And anyone who has ever blogged or read a blog, would agree that there are times you read a post and a burst of envy claims that you too want that kind of life – the adventures, the pretty photos and the pure happiness you see on your computer screen.