Tag: jessicajohnson

While I was watching the ongoing news reports on the assassination attempt of former President Donald J. Trump recently, I was simultaneously scrolling through social media posts on X.

The film “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” begins with a beautiful truth about childhood innocence.

In May, the Pew Research Center published results from January and April surveys on African-American voters’ opinions on the upcoming November election and domestic and foreign policy, along with their thoughts regarding President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

The kid in me really enjoyed Disney Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” the sequel to the beloved 2015 film that introduced us to Riley, an only child who is somewhat shy but has a big heart of kindness. I actually think the first film was funnier as it tackled Riley’s growing emotions of Joy, Fear, Sadness, Disgust and Anger from a young girl to the beginning of her preteen years. The setup of Riley’s emotions controlling her actions through a console in her brain was quite creative along with depicting how long-term and short-term memories were stored. The mind construction workers, whom critics described as “jellybean-like characters,” were hilarious as they kept everything together from running the Train of Thought to putting on REM-show dream productions at night. Riley’s life overall is a happy one. She’s well cared for by her parents and has a close friend group. The first challenge of navigating emotional and social changes comes when her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. Joy, Fear, Sadness, Disgust and Anger struggle a bit to get Riley through being “the new girl at school” and overcoming doubts in trying out for a youth hockey team. At the end of the film, the mind workers bring an expanded console for the emotions to operate that includes a large, red puberty button. This was the hint for the primary theme in the second storyline.

Within the past week, I have been reading some interesting Chronicle of Higher Education articles that my campus dean sent regarding concerns about students’ lack of zeal for intellectual engagement in the classroom. We spent some time discussing this in my annual review, particularly how many professors now feel they are at a crossroads in reaching Gen Z, the current traditional generation of college students.

In concluding with Part 2 from last week’s column, “Recognizing mental health’s value in church,” I want to share some final essential and helpful points that I received from this Bible study series taught by my pastor, Overseer S.D. Carter.

Towards the end of May, my pastor, Overseer S.D. Carter, began a mental health series for our church, Vision of Breath with Life Ministries in Columbus. The series has extended into June and has a similar theme to last month’s National Alliance on Mental Illness’ “Take the Moment” campaign, which focused on support for family caregivers and mental health providers.

I cannot imagine the immense depth of grief and pain the families of Davy and Natalie Lloyd are bearing right now as the remains of this young missionary couple were recently flown back to the US from Haiti.

Longtime Houston civil rights activist Reverend William “Bill” Lawson passed away this month at the age of 95.

When the 2024 spring semester ended earlier this month, I found myself thinking more about how technology is changing college classrooms.