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Holding Hands

By Frankie Vitella

No one moved no one even dared to breathe too loud. Silence. Surely if we made the

slightest noise, we would be discovered. The wooden floorboards above our heads began to

creek and a stream of sawdust tricked down into our laps as we sat in the hidden compartment

under the kitchen. Someone was in the house. Time seemed to stop and the grip I had on my

older sister Mary’s hand was so tight, I was afraid I would break it. At that very moment, the

door above our head flew ajar and the light blinded us. My sister and I were ripped out of the

hole and thrown onto the floor. We were then taken outside and ushered into the bed of the truck.

I caught a glimpse of three uniformed men staring back at me. The only detail I could make out

was a scar on the officer's right cheek and a glimmering pin on the collar of his jacket containing

the letters "S,S" side by side. All of a sudden, a fist came hurling at my face, and then I saw

darkness.

I woke up with the truck coming to a sudden halt. My sister was lying next to me with

bruises all over her face and dried blood running across her forehead. I grabbed her hand firmly

as the officers pulled us from the back of the truck. We were led through a series of rooms and

found ourselves back out into the frigid air. Here, there were hundreds of people preparing to

board a train. The train arrived and everyone just stood still, hesitant to get on board. I heard the

faint blowing of whistles, and violent orders being barked in German. I never learned to speak

German but that day, I became a fast learner. The train was not anything I expected. The train car

reeked of must and mildew, and there was not even enough room to sit down because there were

so many people. With my fingers interlocked with Mary’s, she asked anyone if where we were

going, but there was no answer, only low, grumbling whispers. An old, hunched man with a long

gray beard began conversing with Mary and told her we were going to some sort of camp.

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Hopefully there would be food at the camp because I was famished. I became confused, because

I always thought of camp to be a fun thing, but I noticed Mary did not seem to think so. When I

asked her about it, she said it was a “different kind of camp”. After spending the night in the

train, we finally arrived.

The door slid open and everyone was exposed to a tall iron fence and a sign above it that

read “Auschwitz”. As I stepped off of the wooden train; My bare feet were hugged by the

freezing dirt. I quickly found Mary’s hand and waited for the next move. Up ahead, thousands of

people stood, shivering and scared beyond belief. All of a sudden the guards shouted “MOVE”

and everyone began running. Distant screams were cut off with the sound of a gunshot. Snow

began to fall heavily and I lost all feeling in my feet. With Mary’s hand holding mine, it was the

only thing keeping me warm. An older woman next to me could not keep up with the running of

the group and fell behind; I managed to turn my head back to see what happened. I caught a

glimpse of the guards beating her with a mixture of fists and clubs, not stopping until she went

limp. Still, the running continued; my lungs were burning and my heart was racing. The pace

began to increase and I could not even see Mary anymore, I just felt her hand. Suddenly, in all of

the commotion, I stumbled and I lost Mary’s hand. I screamed her name but any response would

have been drowned out my all the chaos. With tears, running down my face, I frantically

searched for Mary but she was nowhere to be found.

The running eventually came to a cease and men, women and children began to get

separated. This was my chance to find Mary. I wiggled my way through the panicking crowd and

began shouting her name. Just then, I was grabbed by one of the guards. Squirming and writing, I

did everything I could to escape his deathly grip, but it proved to be too strong. I was carried to a

large room filled with hundreds of other children. It was at that moment, I saw her.

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It was as if we made eye contact at the exact same moment. We ran up to each other and hugged

for what seemed to be an eternity. I asked her what all the kids were doing in the big room. She

told me that the guards said we are all getting showers. I chuckled because I desperately need a

shower as I was covered in all the mud and muck. A loud voice over the loudspeaker told all of

us to take off our clothes and we were led to an immense room with many showerheads. The

children slowly filed in and once again, the room was very crowded. I stared at the showerhead

right above me with anticipation, but no water came out. In fact, none of the showers were

working. Suddenly, the lights went out. Emulsified in darkness, I whispered in Mary’s ear that I

was scared. She hugged me tight and assured me everything will be all right. All of the kids

began coughing and gasping for air and I too found myself struggling to breathe. As my breaths

became less frequent, I found Mary’s hand and clenched it for the last time. As soon as I grabbed

her hand, all of the pain subdued. Taking my last breaths, I closed my eyes for the final time and

a smile stretched across my face because this time, I was not afraid of the darkness.

Drawn by: Anthony Perkins

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The Burden of Colors

By Taylor Termain

My thoughts are often gray

With an anxious thing or two.

I hold my breath to make them stop,

Until my lips turn blue.

I paint fingernails silver,

And pretend they’re strong like lead.

I force a smile on my face

Until my cheeks are red.

Feelings are rerouted

To hands I keep clenched tight.

My emotions are kept hidden

In fingertips blanched white.

There is a certain sparkle

In my tired eyes that lack.

Beneath my lashes there are

Crescent shades of black.

I had not so many colors

Before my mind began to sink.

Back when all was happy

I was just rosy shades of pink.

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I Believe

By Hannah Yeretzian

I believe that life should be fun and happy.

That you should learn to laugh at yourself,

and try to see the best in all situations.

I believe that summer is to short, and the

school year is too long.

I believe that if you work hard, you should

play hard, but you should always do your

very best at everything.

I believe that hamburgers are little pieces of

heaven, and that salads are a joke.

I believe that I can do anything I set my

mind to, and that just because I can do

something does not mean I should.

But most importantly I believe that the Lord

is my Savior, and that in heaven it rains

chocolate.

I Believe

Maria DeVincenzo

I believe in equality

Equal rights for all

Too much discrimination towards race

It makes us break down and fall

I believe in equality

Has not fully come into play,

We get treated different

It is like color is not okay

I believe in equality

Right for all races

Everyone is equal

Even with different shades on their faces

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I Believe

Sam Spadaro

I believe that God was here since day one.

I believe he created the gleaming moon and the scorching sun.

I believe he sent Jesus Christ.

To come and die to pay the price.

And if you try to prove me wrong.

Just let me finish out my song.

I believe he placed the stars.

And has a few spares in a jar.

I believe God let birds fly.

So they could roam and fill the sky.

I believe we are on this earth.

Because God had a plan for us even before birth.

Now go and spread the Lord’s good news.

Because eternal life is for them to choose.

I Believe

Kristina Michalski

I believe in love,

Some people say it’s like flying above.

Love makes people blind

to the one that’s on their mind.

Love is like a flower,

It takes more than just an hour.

It may catch you by surprise,

with even the meeting of eyes.

I believe in love,

with its symbol of a dove.

It takes happiness and sadness

but in the end you get gladness.

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I Believe

Chayce Smith

I believe procrastination is an acquired skill,

I believe it isn’t anything you can do at will,

I procrastinated for about an hour before I begin,

I didn’t know what to write about,

I did everything but the work,

I believe when poems rhyme it’s cheesy,

I believe rhyming makes the poem lazy, and easy,

I believe I’m a bit hypocritical,

I believe that as a human that’s pretty typical,

I tried to make this poem as ironic as I could

I believe people like me are misunderstood,

I hope you learned something about a certain type of individual,

I know that you’ve heard this from one opinionated soul,

That one opinionated soul being me,

You probably didn’t realize you’ve explored the mind of a smart kid with ADD.

I Believe

Nadia Guzman

I believe that I can be fully me,

I believe in the power of prayer

I believe music is the best medicine

I believe hard work pays off,

I believe in miracles

I believe in independence

I believe that love can heal a broken heart,

I believe in trustworthiness

I believe in faith

I believe that my friends will always be by my side,

I believe in loyalty

I believe beauty is from the inside out

I believe that with Christ all things are possible,

I believe I am unique

I believe I was made in God’s image

I believe in Me!

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By Emily Gillam

“Say not in grief he is no more, but live in thankfulness that he was”-  Hebrew Proverb

Throughout life, many come across a strong, influential individual who leaves a powerful

impact on their lives. Luckily for me, my Grandfather has been there since the start of my life’s

journey. From being the ones who made the rest of the family bust out in laughter, to being the

ones everyone would hush during Thanksgiving dinner for singing too loud, my Grandfather has

always been my best friend and has made a great impact on my life.

Being from a third world country where resources were scarce, my Grandfather grew up

a humble boy who although spent many hours working on a farm to help support his mother, yet

always found time to have what most children only dreamed of having: an education. After

marrying my grandmother and having children, he strived for his children to have a more fruitful

life than what he could provide for them in Peru. The support of my Grandfather is what pushed

my mother, along with her five other siblings, to bring their family out of poverty.

My Grandfather, Papito (as everyone called him), would always remind me how special I

was before I left for school each day. He would sing songs to me in Spanish, uplifting me with

every word, and told me that I would one day be the difference this world needed. I eventually

learned the words to every song and began to sing along each day. He was diagnosed with

Alzheimer’s soon after and as the years went on, the songs began to get shorter and shorter.

Towards the end of his life I was no longer a part of his memory. I remember coming to the

realization that there was nothing I could do but continue to love him.

It hurt me to see him struggle to recall even the shortest verses of what used to be our

favorite songs. I would always check to see if maybe this was the day he would remember who I

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was or at least my name, but it never was. Remembering how frustrated I was at the time,

locking myself in my room for hours, crying my heart out only makes me regret not spending

that time soaking in his presence.

Those last moments on that hospital bed were moments I will never forget. As my family

joined hands around him and prayed, I whispered back all the things he once told me as a child

and the songs we sang together every morning. I tried to hold back my tears but it was

impossible, he was gone.  

The perseverance my Grandfather possessed is what gives me inspiration to work

towards my goals every day. His advice, teachings, and determined character have stayed with

me throughout my life. It is because of him that I now possess the calm, friendly personality that

everyone associates me with; it is because of him that I have the determination to gain the most

out of my education, and it is because of him that I am hopeful to achieve my future goals. He

was and still is the humblest and gentlest human being I have ever met and he will remain in my

heart forever.

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Strawflower

By Desiree Wright

          Blood was everywhere. I could not think straight. I--I could not stop crying. Ricky told me

he would let me go after he was finished. It was dirty and naïve, but I thought it was the only

way to survive so I agreed.

Now, he was the one nearly surviving fighting for his life. I knew that Cameron Wells

was not going to leave me alone. He--He beat Ricky to oblivion as if he was a punching bag.

This could have been avoided by a simple knock out or a call from the police. It did not happen

that way.

Instead Cameron was no longer Cameron. He became bestial replaced with bitterness and

rage all in one mixture. He had this pleasure of hitting Ricky. Again there was blood everywhere

and I did not want to be held accountable-- accountable with the blood that could have been on

my hands. I started shaking as if I would never stop. It was so humiliating. I wanted to sink into a

heap on the ground and sob, but all these strangers were around me watching.

To be continued…

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ART GALLERY

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DRAWN BY: JORDAN DAVIS

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By McKenna Wilkins

By Matthew Fannon

BY Anthony Perkins

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IMPACT SECTION

DRAWN BY:

ANTHONY PERKINS15

IMPACT SECTION

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DO NOT CONFORM, BUT BE TRANSFORMED

By Antonia Giles

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that

you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

As Christians, God has called us to be greater than ourselves; not through our own power,

but through His. He has called us to be leaders, to be the head and not the tail. We are to lead

others to Christ for their salvation. However, sometimes we make the mistake of trying to make

ourselves like the world in order to attract people to Christ. This route never ends successfully;

for instead of us leading others to Christ, we become the ones lead astray. If we conform to the

world’s ways, they will see Christianity no differently than any other religion or belief system or

life style. In order to lead people to Christ we must be Christ-like. If one professes to be a

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Christian, people want to see if that person truly has changed. However, if no change is seen,

there is no perceivable reason to become a Christian. Conversely, if one professes to be a

Christian and a change is evident in that person’s habits and life, people will desire to know more

about them and why they changed. Because God transformed us through the sacrifice of Christ,

we must portray His love for us.

This is an encouragement to all the believers in Jesus Christ. We are a chosen people and

must spread God’s Word to the nations. It would be selfish to hold on to God’s promises without

sharing those same hopes with others. Jesus died for us and saved us from eternal pity. We must

do that justice through spreading the Message to as many people as possible before it is too late.

By Emily Gillam

The most valuable piece of advice that was ever given to me was by a woman who

continues to sow into my future everyday -- my mother. As time passes by, I continue to use her

words to help guide every decision I make.

I remember the day vividly. During school, I was told to write a paper on a current world

event and state my opinion. While researching, I came across multiple articles that were all in

one way or another, violent. One of them caught my attention and so I read on. As I read about

the story of a little girl about the age of 6 sold into sex trafficking, I began to break down into

tears. How could a group of people be so cruel as to ruin an innocent child’s life? I asked myself

this over and over throughout the duration of that day.

When I got home I told my mother about what I had read. My tears of sadness began to

quickly turn into tears of frustration. I wanted so badly to help everyone around the world

struggling but I felt so powerless. When I finally calmed down, my mom said in a soothing tone,

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“Emily, you can be the change you wish to see in the world”. All of a sudden everything went

quiet. It was like I had awakened to the reality that it was possible. Change was possible. From

that point on, I looked at everything with a different perspective.

My mother always taught me to find solutions. To this day, anytime she overhears me

complain she says, “ I understand...so what is the solution?” It is so easy to get caught up with

the wrong crowd; especially during the twenty-first century. Teenagers on social media complain

about almost everything. From “having a bad hair day” to being “forced to go to school”, nothing

seems to ever be in their favor. I admit I have partaken in this before, but I have grown a lot

since my discussion with my mother.

I finally realized that in everything I do, rather than follow the crowd, I needed to set

myself apart. I had let people take control of my emotions for too long. As I contemplated the

piece of advice I had just received, I made a promise to myself that I would no longer be

influenced by people who were too lazy to make a change themselves. I have control over what I

do with my life and my emotions. I am independent and proud. I am the change that I want to see

in the world.

“Be the change you want to see in

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CONQUERING YOUR WHALE

By Charles Curtis-Thomas

What shall it profit a man who gains the world but loses his soul along the way? What

shall it profit a man or woman who gains the world but loses their soul along the way? In this

brief time we have on Earth, our lives are largely made of us making choices and choices being

made for us. The choice your teacher made to give you a detention, even though you feel you did

nothing wrong, and the choice you made to argue back and prove your point are personal

choices. The choice whether to pick C or D on your history test or whether or not to buy a soda

from the vending machine are small choices. But, there are big choices, like picking a college or

deciding what to do for the rest of your life. And, there are everyday choices like the way you

treat your friends, the way you treat your families, and the way you treat yourselves.

The story of Jonah is one of those choices. God told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh

and minister to the people there. But Jonah did not want to go to the city. He talked back to God

and he went away from the town and got on a boat. God saw this and sent a great storm onto the

ship, almost destroying it. The sailors blamed Jonah for the storm and Jonah asked them to throw

him overboard to cease the storm. They cast Jonah overboard and then he was swallowed up by a

whale for 3 days and 3 nights. While he was in the fish, he called out to the Lord and the whale

spit out Jonah.

Nineveh is no different than the idea of our goals. And the idea of Jonah running away

from Nineveh is no different than the idea of us not listening to God and what we know is right.

Nineveh is no different than the example of you talking back to a teacher and running away from

your own goals and God’s plans. As a result of running away, we often find ourselves in bad

positions. We often find ourselves in that detention, similar to how Jonah found himself in the

whale. And, it wasn’t until Jonah realized that the path God set was correct that he managed to

get out of the whale and get out of his problems. This is how we can conquer our own personal

whale and achieve the same outcome.

Now, I’m 100% sure that most of us have set goals for what we do. Whether it’s bringing

that C average up to an A, starting in a basketball, baseball or soccer game, or just simply being

on good terms with people; we all set goals. Sometimes, it may seem as though plans never seem

to go the way we want them to.

“Be the change you want to see in

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But the question to ask is, which path are we taking to get there? Proverbs 14:12 says: “There

is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Why is it that in this

world, we love to go down our own path, do our own thing, but in the end when we get stung, we

run back to God and blame him for what happened? Instead of blaming God, why don't we just

listen to God the first time, follow what he says, and let him direct our paths. Then instead of

blaming God for our failures, we will be thanking God for our successes? Matthew 7:13-14

says: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to

destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is

hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

The definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over and over and over

and over again and expecting a different result. If this is insanity then why when we’ve been

within our own whale for 3 days, 3 weeks, or 3 months even, and we’ve been trying to get out

our own way, but it hasn't been working, why not change the approach? For us to go farther in

life, we need to change the way we think. So, when we’re all in that moment of weakness and

we’re trying to figure out how to achieve our end goals, we all need to ask ourselves, are we

trying to reach our goals through our own path or by the path God has laid out for us? Finally,

many may be saying that they may not feel God’s presence or God’s works all of the time. Many

people lose faith in God when it is dark and it feels as if there is no hope. However, answer this

question. When the sun sets and the moon rises, when we cannot FEEL the sun, when we cannot

SEE the sun, do we all panic because the sun is gone? Or do we have faith that it will rise again

and that a new day will arrive?

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Fight-or-flight

By Philip White

Do you know the feeling? The knot you get in your stomach when the roller coster you’re

on begins to go up the first hill. The pressure you feel when the bases are loaded with two outs

and you’re up to bat. The feeling you get when you know God is telling you to go over and lead

that person to Him, but you don’t know what to say.

That feeling is fear! And at one point or another we have all felt fear; we have all been

afraid. You see fear is an emotion, you can’t control it. It is a chain of reactions that go off in

your brain in response to a stressful situation. Due to these reactions your breathing becomes

faster and heavier; your heart starts beating out of your chest, and your muscles tense up. This

physical reaction to fear is most well known as the “fight-or-flight” response. Essentially, this

response allows the body to either stand and fight or flee from the danger in front of it.

In the Bible God says don't be afraid; he tells us not to fear because he is with us. In fact it

is His most repeated command. But, if fear is just an emotion and we can’t control it, then how

are we to “not be afraid”? The answer is simple. Fear isn’t just an emotion, it’s an action.

Remember that your body’s response to fear is fight-or-flight. I believe that when God says, “Do

not be afraid” He really means “Don’t run away from your fears. Don’t flee the threat ahead of

you. Rather stand and fight back against your fears!”

Now God never told us we had to face these fears alone, and He puts it best in Joshua 1:9

when He is appointing Joshua to be the next leader of Israel. He says to Joshua,“ be strong and

courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you

go.” By ourselves we have reason to be afraid because we are naturally; helpless, weak, and

fearful. That’s why God doesn’t just tell us not to fear, but he follows up his command with a

promise. He promises to be with us and to lead us through every situation we face.

But there is still one problem, a problem we have all faced before. "The devil is a liar!" In

the Bible the devil is referred to as the father of lies. I believe that fear is the biggest lie the devil

uses to limit us. God tells us we have no reason to be afraid because he is with us. He says that

all we have to do is trust in him. But, because we so often believe Satan’s lies of fear, we end up

hiding in our comfort zones, making excuses, and avoiding the unknown. You see what Satan

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does is tells us that if we are afraid of it, we shouldn’t do it. He leads us to believe that even if we

wanted too we could not overcome our fears, that it is impossible.

Fear is what holds us back from living the way God called us to live. Fear sets up walls

and boundaries for us to hide behind; it limits what we say and what we do. Fear is why the

world is the way it is today. Fear is why many Christians are only Christians at church. When we

believe Satan’s lie of fear we are chained down and limited to only the things he would allow us

to do. So, how do we break these chains? How can we overcome this fear that the devil claims

we cannot? There's only one answer. Complete trust in God.

In the story of David and Goliath we see what trust in God can really do. All it took was a

sling and a stone and Goliath was defeated. But Goliath wasn’t defeated because of anything

David did; he was defeated only by the power of God. David put his fate in God’s hands and

God gave him the strength to defeat the mighty giant. In Ephesians 3:20 it says that God gives us

the power to do infinity more than we could ever ask or think. No one ever thought David could

defeat Goliath because it was impossible, but as we know “with God all things are possible.”

You see, the whole time Goliath is boasting and cursing David. He laughed at the puny

boy the Israelites sent to fight him. But David stood his ground, not fearing the words Goliath

had spoken. David responded and simply said, “Today the Lord will conquer you.” David trusted

God! All the other Israelites cowered and hid from Goliath, they were grown men crippled by

fear. However, David trusted God. He put his fear aside and faced the Giant.

That’s how you control fear--by not letting fear control you. If you live in fear and if you

believe Satan’s lies you will never defeat your giants. You will never be “more than conquerors”.

So, I challenge you to break free from Satan’s lie and to throw away your fearful spirit. I

challenge you to live completely trusting God, without boundaries or restrictions so that you can

fulfill the calling He has for your life. I challenge you to live fearless--to live LIMITLESS.

About the Author:

Nicolle Dieterly was born in Maryland on May 3, 1999. Upon graduation, Nicolle plans to

attend college at Liberty University to study computer engineering.

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