Utah soda craze
As you drive along your typical route to work on a Monday morning, you may notice the never-ending line at the Starbucks drive-thru, at least if you live in any state other than Utah.
Instead, in the Beehive State, you may notice the absence of a line at the few Starbucks locations and instead find an infinite line around a local Swig, Fiiz, Sodalicious or another soda-centered shop.
For years, many members of the church, including myself, have turned to the likes of carbonated caffeine to fill their theoretical energy tanks occasionally or even each morning because of the advisement from modern-day prophets against consuming coffee and caffeinated tea but not Diet Coke.
What many don’t realize is that the average cup of coffee includes 95 mg of caffeine while 44 ounces of Diet Coke has 154 mg of caffeine. Maybe in the recent excitement about “dirty” sodas, we’ve forgotten that following the Word of Wisdom is ultimately supposed to lead to a healthier lifestyle, not one filled with more caffeine, sugar and chemical sugar substitutes.
Decisions on whether soda is against the Word of Wisdom or whether it should hold a prominent place in your diet is a personal matter, but you should take time to consider whether your constant consummation of daily 44 oz Dirty Diet Cokes may actually be doing your body dirty with the overload on sugar and caffeine.
Cydney Fears
Henderson, NV
Benefits of classical music
Music is a huge part of our culture and is a major defining factor of our identity. Since music is so vital to our culture, we should evaluate the type of music we listen to and its influence on our lives physically, mentally and emotionally.
Studies have shown that listening to classical music at the gym, while studying or just to pass time immensely benefits our well-being as humans. While it may be hard to ditch the music we feel comfortable with, it will help us in the long run. Although classical music is often slow and not ideal for the gym, it improves overall gym performance.
Studying to classical music is majorly conducive to retainment of knowledge for tests and just being productive. Due to enhanced emotional receptiveness caused by classical music, our brains can obtain more information while studying, helping us with our performance in the classroom.
Listening to classical music can improve almost any aspect in our lives and although it may feel weird to make the switch, the benefits are limitless. Cortisol levels have been proven to rise, depressive tendencies can more easily be fought, creativity can be heightened and so on. Researchers have also come up with “The Mozart Effect,” where even the productivity of your brain is improved through “spatial-temporal reasoning.” Overall, listening to classical music has been proved to be very beneficial for you in everyday life.
Talley Larsen
Cheney, WA
The power of the plant
The power of the plant has been overlooked for too long. The benefits of nature have been circulating our society for centuries; however, nature's place and value as a health and cognitive promotion tool have been lost. Incorporating nature with our severely urbanized society will stimulate positive thinking, thereby leading to success.
As college students, we are confined indoors for most of the day, which separates us almost entirely from nature. Many students struggle with unhealthy levels of anxiety and stress as well as with keeping focus throughout their day when in class or when studying. However, these barriers to effective learning can be minimized by creating an ideal learning environment that employs nature as a restorative element to the mind.
The visual stimulus of foliage indoors serves as a psychological stimulus, reminding us of the tranquil and freshening relief that is present in the natural environment. College students in this type of environment would be able to not only increase their ability to focus but also their capacity to perform better in school.
By incorporating plants into the indoors, whether it be classrooms, offices, study rooms, dorms or even bathrooms, the benefits of plants will bestow themselves upon many students and faculty members, making for a more positive and effective learning environment.
By taking a step back to the past by mixing plants with urban society, we can move forward to a state of heightened thinking and effective learning.
Sarah Wassom
Roseville, CA