The Disappearing Ship by Umar Malek

 The Disappearing Ship by Umar Malek

December 5, 1872. The British ship Dei Gratia spots something odd near the Azores. The Mary Celeste, an American ship, was just drifting along. From a distance, nothing seems off. Sails up, ship floating steady. But as they get closer, it gets weirder; no one’s on deck. Actually, no one’s anywhere. The place is deserted. Food and water are still there. Supplies untouched. The whole crew just...gone.

Not long before, on November 7, the Mary Celeste had sailed out of New York, headed for Genoa. Captain Benjamin Briggs was in charge, bringing his wife, their toddler, and a crew of eight. The ship carried about 1,700 barrels of crude alcohol.

When the Dei Gratia crew climbed aboard, the whole scene felt like a dream. The ship isn’t wrecked. The cargo is fine, everything you’d need to survive is right there. But the lifeboat’s missing, along with some key navigation tools.

The captain’s log offers the last clue: November 25, near the Azores. Nine days before they found the ship, and about 500 miles off. The log says everything’s normal, still headed for Genoa. But after that, nothing. For eleven days, the ship just drifts, empty. No captain. No family. No crew. No bodies or wreckage. Not a single clue about what really happened.

Even now, nobody really knows why the Mary Celeste was abandoned. The ship was in good shape and had everything needed to make it to Italy. Still, ten people vanished without a trace.

Some people think the crew believed the ship was sinking. When the rescuers boarded, they found over three feet of water sloshing around below, not enough to sink her, but enough to terrify someone. A sounding rod for checking water was lying out on deck, and one of the pumps was taken apart, maybe broken. Possibly, Captain Briggs saw the water, thought things were worse than they were, and ordered everyone into the lifeboat. If the weather got bad or the pump gave out, most likely the lifeboat would be lost at sea. Meanwhile, the Mary Celeste just kept going, empty, with no one at the wheel.

History.com Editors. “The Mary Celeste, a Ship Whose Crew Mysteriously Disappeared, Is Spotted at Sea | December 5, 1872 | HISTORY.” HISTORY, 4 Mar. 2010, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-5/the-mystery-of-the-mary-celeste.

Tikkanen, Amy. “Mary Celeste | Ship.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 22 Aug. 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/Mary-Celeste.

Damaged Broca, a poem by Fatima Azeem

 Damaged Broca

I dream.

Maybe, while braiding strands of hair—

Our eyes will be closed and our souls will meet

Will I be able to hear you speak then?

Or shall I reach into your mouth and connect us with string?

I’ll mend our flesh together and mix the dirt with us

Just so we can face the Heavens and sow our nails together

Up in the sky and constellations

Let's exchange secrets with the Dippers

And shout at the sun

I might just offer a shoulder and listen with deaf ears,

Cry crystals on Neptune,

Or maybe wish upon ourselves,

For the world is truly loud and your words are silent.

Ignorance, a poem by Fatima Azeem

 Ignorance

It’s loud

This world is really loud

In fact, if space had a sense of hearing

We’d have the ability to listen

See, the universe has a voice

One for everything

And yet the singing of planets are not heard

Nor is the death of a star

Or the mercy of a black hole

To hear is a choice for the abled

An ant might hear the plea of a hawk

But the blindness of a heart won’t face reality.

Veins, a poem by Fatima Azeem

 Veins

And my hands may not be clean,

They might never be.

But they can still carry you home

When you’re ready to sleep again.

Chlorophyll, a poem by Fatima Azeem

 Chlorophyll 

Like the winter breeze

Greeting my body

I feel myself give in

To the leaves, falling

The ones that change color

And meet the ground rolling

Scarring themselves with feet that keep walking

The sky was filled with vibrance

Not because the sun rose or left

But because trees were letting go of their green

I found it a miracle

To live another season

Watching the same trees sleep

Have their leaves reflect against my eyes

But it’s ending now

Like my body

It’s shivering and wishing to sleep as well

If only I could be a tall, marvelous tree

Beautiful and towering against the clouds

Then I wouldn't have to feel this way

Like my very being amounts to nothing

My roots aren't strong

And these branches are almost naked now.

Networking by Kaveeshan Gnanarajah

 Networking by Kaveeshan Gnanarajah

Have you ever been put in a group with people you have never talked to? The loud silence, the quiet “hi”, and the overall environment are SO awkward to deal with. Networking is often an overlooked skill, but it plays an essential role in building connections with people that could help you down the line. I'm not saying I am good at small talk at all, but I have been trying to interact with people I don’t know more and more each day. I’ve seen decent improvements, but there is still so much for me to improve. But why is this even important? Most of the time, these people you don’t know will have no importance to you. With that being said, I have learned that in my specific field that I want to pursue, the ability to actually get these connections is one of the most important things you can do. For any of you that are in the business industry, or atleast want to pursue it in your future just like me, this ability could be the difference between you landing your dream job and not landing your dream job.

The reason why these are so important is that they are so real. They let the person you are networking with actually see who you are as a person, rather than just seeing your resume. If you’re reading this, you might think that this seems to easy. Just by talking to some people, I could make my application just that much more powerful. Well yeah, it sort of is. Although connections are extremely helpful, you can’t hope that these will single-handely get you wherever you want. You should still make sure you are actually interested and have a good understanding of your industry's topics.

 

I hope this article can teach you that networking isn’t just a random thing adults call “conversations.” Rather, it should help you understand that this is something that can genuinely shape your future. 

How to say “no” by Kaveeshan Gnanarajah

 How to say “no” by Kaveeshan Gnanarajah

Imagine you finished a long day at work, and you’re finally ready to relax for the weekend. Then your phone gets a notification: “Can you cover my shift this weekend”? Although this exact situation has not happened to me, I have been through similar struggles like this, especially with two older brothers who constantly pick on me for fun. With that being said, its hard to say no. You never explicitly want to be the type of person that people think can’t help you or is unhelpful, so you rely on saying “yea sure”, even when it might be the best move. For those of you who can easily say “no” to things, then this article might not be for you.

Anyways, I’ve had to learn, not just within my family, but in literally any applicable scenario that saying no is not always rude. Yeah, it might be inconvenient for the other person, but think about it from their shoes. If you are asking people to do something, you aren’t gonna assume everyone is gonna say “yeah sure, I can do that”.  You have to be honest while also not explicitly being rude. There is definitely some ways that imply “no” in a negative connotation. Instead, you can rely on literally anything as simple as “Nah, I can’t, my bad”. Obviously, you don’t have to lie. In fact, you shouldn’t. If you really don’t have anything going on, you don’t have to say no, you should be willing to help people. But what I am specifically talking about is for people who are already busy or dealing with something, and who still say “Yeah” even when they really shouldn’t.

As I said before, this is just a simple guide for people who are scared to say it at all. There are times when helping is the right thing to do, but if you never say no, people in this world will end up taking advantage of your kindness. There’s a reason why every plane announces to put your air mask on yourself before helping others.