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What Should We Know About Financial Literacy?

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Money is everywhere. People make and spend money on a frequent and consistent basis. Whether you're refilling your car with gas, paying for your school tuition, saving money to move out, or planning for retirement, you must deal with money. Even though everyone has to deal with it, most people don't know how to use it properly. One's financial situation plays a big role in determining their quality of life. When someone increases their level of financial literacy, it directly improves the quality of their life. Money is a tool that most people don't know how to use. Most people live paycheck-to-paycheck and depend on their single income stream to keep them afloat. They struggle to pay off debt because they can't save a penny and don't understand simple budgeting. These people are willing, but they just don't know how to escape their current financial rut. They don't know where to start. The first step seems the hardest. Financial literacy would solve the

Should the Obesity Epidemic be a Governmental or Personal Responsibility?

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Obesity has become a widespread issue across the US. Almost majority of the people in this country are overweight. Not only is it an epidemic within this country, but obesity rates are increasing across the world. The problem roots from people consuming too much food, not initiating enough physical movement and having easy accessibility to the wrong kinds of foods. Many people are taking notice and changing their lifestyles. A generally healthy lifestyle consists of exercising daily, drinking plenty of water, eating only whole foods, and limiting snacking. The government has also taken notice and took their own form of action. Some governments have adopted the concept of a "fat tax", where there would be extra tax added to foods that are unhealthy to prevent more people from buying it. Schools have tried to create meal plans that are more balancing and ban unhealthy snacks for kids. The government can make several different changes, but people will still be obese. So what doe

Is Pop Culture Good for You?

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Popular culture has changed over the decades. Television shows, music and different trends have come and gone. Not only has the media itself changed, but the mechanisms that deliver this media have also changed. With this transition, trends are short-lasting and the pop culture experience is less of a group experience and more of an individual one. But does this change necessarily mean pop culture is getting worse? Can modern pop culture have a negative effect on the population? My answer is no. More than ever, the population is able to connect to trends faster through social media. Of course, we have people like Malcolm Gladwell who believe social media doesn't have any profound impact on meaningful causes. According to him,  it only motivates people enough “to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice ,” ( Gladwell, 2010 ). Although Twitter may not be the best way to gather the population for physical, in-person activism, it still d

Niti's Early Literacy Development

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I would be lying if I said I remembered the first book I ever learned to read. Even if I said I remembered the first time I tried writing, I wouldn't be telling you my honest truth. I will tell you what I do remember though: During my first year in school (pre-k), we were instructed to choose a book and read it in front of the class, so I chose my medium-sized hardcover The Tale of Peter Rabbit  book. My mom helped me read and practice it daily for a week or two. I read very short children's books before this, but this was my first memory of actually learning to read. Way before pre-k, I attended a day care during the summer, where I learned how to speak English. I was born in the US, but my first language was Gujarati because that is what my mom was speaking around me. She was also very good at speaking English, so I was able to grasp the language very easily once I started learning around 3-4 years old. My mom has always inspired me from a young age because she came from a di