I often think of the power of words. The words others use to you about you, the words you use. The words that came before us and the words that will come long after we’re gone. The very same tool that can inspire and lead to greatness also can be used to cut down, leaving only rubble where something wonderful should have stood. Jackson could be either of those, and the power is in those who call it home.

EssaysChelsea Catherine CroomMay 27, 2016Jackson TN, Tennessee, Stay731, #stay731, Chelsea-Catherine Cobb, Katie Howerton, hometown, attitude, positivity, travel, Union University, Paris France, Women's History Month

Art Is 3/5 of Smart

A few months ago, I sat across a table from a four-year-old named Thomas. He and I were waiting on his dad who was in the gym coaching my son and the rest of a high school church league basketball team. I had some paper and markers, so we began to draw. Thomas drew his brother, where he lived, a mystery map, the gate to his house, the family car, his mom, his dad, a basketball, a fish in the water, and much, much more. Did I know this because he was a gifted illustrator?

Transcending Today

I still remember my last day of high school. I remember leaving the parking lot and listening to the Dave Matthews song “Number 41,” and I still remember the lyrics that were blaring from the speakers of my Nissan Maxima. “I will go in this way, and I’ll find my own way out. . . .” They seemed poignant at the time, though I’m not sure in what way exactly. As a matter of fact, I’m not really sure that I even liked Dave Matthews. I think I wanted to like Dave Matthews because all my friends liked Dave Matthews.

EssaysGabe HartMay 11, 2016Jackson TN, Tennessee, JCM, Jackson Central-Merry High School, Jackson-Madison County School System, Gabe Hart, education, athletics, sports, high school, school, Vision 2020, Dave Matthews, Allen Avenue, Vision2020, teaching, teacher, students, school system, job, Libert, Southside High School, South Side High School, Early College High School, integration, diversity, African American, African-American Merry High School, Jackson High School, Artis Hicks, athlete, Ed Jones, Ben Howard, Al Wilson, basketball, 5A State Championship, Oman Arena, Wesley Barlow, North Side High School, Nancy Petit, Wanda Taylor, Donna Tosh, Russ Pflasterer, O’Neal Henley, Johnny Williams, Johnny Reynolds, Tommy Allen, Tom Cobb, football, coach, Ricky Collins, Germantown TN, Jim Hardegree, Frank Shelton, Bobby Jelks, Jon Frye, Joe Davis, Willie Wortham, Jimmy Carmichael, USJ, University School of Jackson, Rothrock, Brett Favre, entrepreneur, Best of 2016

On: Being a Life-Giver

Women are made to give life. Before anyone shuts down on me, I don’t just mean that women are simply made to have babies. Sure, there is that obvious and very amazing way of giving life—actually giving birth to another human. But truly being a “life-giver” goes far beyond the physical sense of the word. I first heard about the concept of women as life-givers through a Bible study.

Stay 731: Becoming Strong

Strong is a word I used to hate. What does strong mean? What is strength? I feel like Pontius Pilate as I ask these kinds of questions. When I graduated from Union University a semester early, summa cum laude, I was called strong because I had achieved something. When I crawled out into the barren wasteland called the economy, I was called strong because even though I contemplated suicide, I kept trying to live.