"Heart Bones" by Colleen Hoover is a beautifully written novel that delves into the complexities of love, loss, and self-discovery. The story follows the journey of two characters who find solace and healing in each other's presence. The author's ability to create deeply relatable and flawed characters makes the story feel incredibly real and raw. The book explores themes of trust, vulnerability, and the power of human connection. It's a must-read for anyone who enjoys heartfelt and thought-provoking stories that leave a lasting impact. In "Heart Bones," the theme of self-discovery is explored through the journey of the main characters as they navigate their own personal growth and introspection. They are faced with challenges and obstacles that force them to confront their fears, confront their past, and ultimately find their true selves. Through their experiences, readers are reminded of the importance of self-reflection and embracing one's authentic identity. After reading "Heart Bones," readers often find themselves in a state of deep reflection and introspection. The book has a way of evoking strong emotions and connecting with the reader on a personal level. It leaves a lasting impact, making you ponder the complexities of love, relationships, and the human experience. It's a rollercoaster of emotions that leaves you feeling both heartbroken and hopeful, reminding you of the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit. The characters in "Heart Bones" are relatable because they are flawed, complex, and face real-life struggles. They experience emotions and challenges that many readers can identify with, such as heartbreak, self-doubt, and the search for meaning. Their journeys of self-discovery and growth resonate with readers, allowing them to connect and empathize with the characters on a deep level. It's this relatability that makes the characters feel like friends and their stories feel like our own. If you're looking for a captivating and emotionally resonant read, "Heart Bones" by Colleen Hoover is the perfect choice. With relatable characters, a compelling storyline, and themes of love, self-discovery, and resilience, this book will leave you feeling deeply moved and inspired. So grab a copy, dive into the pages, and let yourself be swept away by this unforgettable tale. Happy reading!

Like most teenagers, we are pressured to give into the temptation of “feeling nothing”. This was especially true for my brother. His name was Michael Andrew Berry, but everyone called him Andrew. He was 15 at the time he died, and he took the car out at 4 am to get high with his friends and crashed into a tree 0.3 miles from our house. This is the story of how my life has changed since then. Andrew was my older brother. He died at 15 as a sophomore in high school. I was only 13 when he died, and I was in 8th grade. Andrew was very smart. This allowed him to be very social with anyone and connect with everyone. When he first got to high school he started to hang out with the wrong group and he began vaping. It didn’t stop there, after he started vaping he started smoking weed and trying new drugs like acid and solar. He even started heavily drinking. The day Andrew died, I felt completely lost and alone. Although I did not like the way he lied about his life, he’s still my brother and I still loved him very much. Going back to school after his death meant everyone asking me what had happened and other things like sending me their prayers and condolences. He hadn’t been dead 3 days and I was at school being asked constantly “How are you?”, “Are you ok?” And many other things of that sort. I would make any excuse during that time to not go to school. I would fake being sick, say I had a breakdown at school and needed to leave, and one time I even got suspended so I wouldn’t have to go for 3 days. I blamed god so much during this time because although my brother did bad things, he was a good person. If god forgives us for our sins why couldn’t he forgive my brother and let him live? For a while, I stopped believing in Christ because I couldn’t forgive him for taking away my older brother. How could god just take someone I love so much away from me? I went to church every Wednesday and every Sunday. I prayed before I began my meals, I did everything to please god and he took my happiness and my family from me and sent me in a spiral. I became very distant from my friends because I couldn’t understand how they could be so upset when it’s not their brother, it’s not their life, and it’s surely not their family. I lost many friends, and I became very distant from the family I still had in their time of need too. It’s been 3 years since he died. I’ve fixed my relationship with my family, I made newer better friends, I found Christ, and I’ve devoted my future to being a nurse in hopes of maybe helping someone else's loved ones so no one will ever feel the same way I did. Today, I'm enrolled in college, and I'm working towards my nursing degree so I can cut down on the time it takes me to complete my degree and I want to help people. All kinda of people the ones like me and the ones not like me. I’ve found my calling and passion in healthcare and I would've never become anything if I would’ve quit trying to improve my mental health.

My mental health took a tremendous toll on my life. When my brother died, it sent me into an extreme depression. He was my best friend, he was smart, funny, charming, and kind. He was very passionate about his devotion to Christ. After his death, I was very angry at god. I couldn't understand why he would ever let my brother die. I continue to doubt if god was even real, or if he was just punishing me and my family. I was living in a constant mindset of hopelessness. That's the only word to explain the way I felt, hopeless. Before Andrew’s death, my brother, and I had grades so good they never once dropped below an A. I lost all of my goals, ambitions, hopes, and dreams, everything I had wanted and worked for in school since the 4th grade just vanished. I stopped having anything to look forward to in my future and even in the present at the time. Being diagnosed with depression and anxiety I felt a little relieved and gained a little more hope in my life. The medication at first wasn't strong enough to help, but after I was on the right dosage, little by little I began to feel more and more like myself. My parents convinced me to go to church with them. The first time being back was very hard because I was still so mad at god for taking my brother from me. The first service back at church I was scared to be there and I was very upset by the service. The pastor was preaching about all the great things Jesus has done and how he gave a blind man sight again. I was angry with the way they praised Jesus. I wanted to walk right on that stage and scream and cry and tell everyone in the room how horrible god was and that no matter how religious you are and no matter how faithful you are to God and no matter how often you read the Bible when It comes down to it Jesus won't save you, doctors won't save you, firefighters won't save you, no one will have you no matter how much you pray or read the Bible. After the service pastor Matt came up to me and asked me what I thought about the service. I hesitated to answer his question. I didn't know how to tell him that god was fake and a Lier. He sat me down and told me “God works in crazy ways, sometimes, god will put you through something to make you better, to make you stronger, and braver” At the time, I refused to hear him out even though I listened to every word he said. His words stuck with me. It’s been four years since I lost everything: my faith, my ambition, my dreams, my hopes, my goals, my motivation. I still remember everything pastor Matt told me that day, and I remember everything in that service. I reflect on his words a lot. I've since then found my self-worth, and I’ve received much praise from my peers for everything I’ve overcome. I want to help other people with my same struggles and help them to overcome their challenges.

My mental health took a tremendous toll on my life. When my brother died, it sent me into an extreme depression. He was my best friend, he was smart, funny, charming, and kind. He was very passionate about his devotion to Christ. After his death, I was very angry at god. I couldn't understand why he would ever let my brother die. I continue to doubt if god was even real, or if he was just punishing me and my family. After I stopped attending church, I very quickly began to date someone- who you could say “was from the wrong side of the tracks”, our relationship quickly became very toxic. We would argue all the time and treat each other very poorly. He would cheat on me quite often and because I was mentally and physically drained, depressed, anxious, and truly at my lowest, he knew he could take advantage of me. I was living in a constant mindset of hopelessness. That's the only word to explain the way I felt, hopeless. Before Andrew’s death, my brother, and I had grades so good they never once dropped below an A. I had dreams of becoming a cancer researcher and had plans to attend the University of Georgia, Go Dawgs! I lost all of my goals, ambitions, hopes, and dreams, everything I had wanted and worked for in school since the 4th grade just vanished. I stopped having anything to look forward to in my future and even in the present at the time. Being diagnosed with depression and anxiety I felt a little relieved and gained a little more hope in my life. The medication at first wasn't strong enough to help, but after I was on the right dosage, little by little I began to feel more and more like myself. My parents convinced me to go to church with them. The first time being back was very hard because I was still so mad at god for taking my brother from me. The first service back at church I was scared to be there and I was very upset by the service. The pastor was preaching about all the great things Jesus has done and how he gave a blind man sight again. I was angry with the way they praised Jesus. I wanted to walk right on that stage and scream and cry and tell everyone in the room how horrible god was and that no matter how religious you are and no matter how faithful you are to God and no matter how often you read the Bible when It comes down to it Jesus won't save you, doctors won't save you, firefighters won't save you, no one will have you no matter how much you pray or read the Bible. After the service pastor Matt came up to me and asked me what I thought about the service. I hesitated to answer his question. I didn't know how to tell him that god was fake and a Lier. He sat me down and told me “God works in crazy ways, sometimes, god will put you through something to make you better, to make you stronger, and braver” At the time, I refused to hear him out even though I listened to every word he said. His words stuck with me. It’s been four years since I lost everything: my faith, my ambition, my dreams, my hopes, my goals, my motivation. I still remember everything pastor Matt told me that day, and I remember everything in that service. I reflect on his words a lot. I’ve since then found my way back into my faith. I have new ambitions, goals, motivations, and hopes. I have grown so much as a person. I have a 3.7 ish on my transcript now and I will be dually enrolled starting in the fall and will begin working on my nursing degree. I read the Bible often when I find myself in need of guidance. I no longer need anti-depressants. I have found a new meaning in life and I'm grateful to myself for wanting to change and deciding that I needed to heal myself and take the steps to find what drives me and that I’ve found something worth living for. I used to think that I would never overcome my depression or recover from Andrew’s death. I’ve learned that sometimes in life, you have to go through something difficult to become a stronger person. I believe that god gives us what we need and guides us even when we don’t think he is there, he is, even for the individuals who don’t know him nor who believe in him. If I never would have gotten depression and never would’ve lost it all I wouldn’t be the strong, resilient, independent woman that I am today. If I never would’ve overcome depression I truly believe I would not be here today. I wouldn’t have been able to watch my sister grow up, see my parents fall in love with each other over again, or travel the Caribbean and be able to share that experience with my family, I wouldn’t be able to love myself and my life if I never had depression try to take me down. Despite my struggles, I’ve overcome all of these challenges and hardships in life without having gone through mental health issues.

Like most teenagers, we are pressured to give into the temptation of “feeling nothing”. This was especially true for my brother. His name was Michael Andrew Berry, but everyone called him Andrew. He was 15 at the time he died, and he took the car out at 4 am to get high with his friends and crashed into a tree 0.3 miles from our house. This is the story of how my life has changed since then. Andrew was my older brother. He died at 15 as a sophomore in high school. I was only 13 when he died, and I was in 8th grade. Andrew was very smart. This allowed him to be very social with anyone and connect with everyone. When he first got to high school he started to hang out with the wrong group and he began vaping. It didn’t stop there, after he started vaping he started smoking weed and trying new drugs like acid and solar. He even started heavily drinking. The day Andrew died, I felt completely lost and alone. Although I did not like the way he lied about his life, he’s still my brother and I still loved him very much. Going back to school after his death meant everyone asking me what had happened and other things like sending me their prayers and condolences. He hadn’t been dead 3 days and I was at school being asked constantly “How are you?”, “Are you ok?” And many other things of that sort. I would make any excuse during that time to not go to school. I would fake being sick, say I had a breakdown at school and needed to leave, and one time I even got suspended so I wouldn’t have to go for 3 days. I blamed god so much during this time because although my brother did bad things, he was a good person. If god forgives us for our sins why couldn’t he forgive my brother and let him live? For a while, I stopped believing in Christ because I couldn’t forgive him for taking away my older brother. How could god just take someone I love so much away from me? I went to church every Wednesday and every Sunday. I prayed before I began my meals, I did everything to please god and he took my happiness and my family from me and sent me in a spiral. I became very distant from my friends because i couldn’t understand how they could be so upset when it’s not their brother, it’s not their life, and it’s surely not their family. I lost many friends, and I became very distant from the family I still had in their time of need too. It’s been 3 years since he died. I’ve fixed my relationship with my family, I made newer better friends, I refound Christ, and I’ve devoted my future to being a nurse in hopes of maybe helping someone else loved ones so no one will ever feel the same way I did.

I've been through many things in life, many good, and many not-so-good. I’ve learned so much from my experiences and so much more from the people around me. From childhood to my teenage years I’ve learned so much from my parents. Being raised in a low-income home has taught me vital life lessons that help to navigate the real world. I know many things like how to the cheapest shoes last the longest, how to save money on groceries, and how to cook big meals with little money. I learned the value of a dollar. I was taught that hard work truly pays off to those working hard. I never had fancy shoes or clothes growing up, so I got bullied a lot as a child. My shoes were from dollar general and my clothes were all from goodwill and act 3. While everyone had the brand new Nikes and pumas I had faded glory. As a teenager, I learned not to be materialistic because “money doesn’t necessarily mean quality” according to my father. Money won’t make me happy and neither will the newest iPhone or the newest Nike soccer jersey. I had an amazing childhood without wanting materialistic stuff. Though I grew up in a household that lived almost paycheck to paycheck, when I and my sisters started cutting the neighbor's grass and cleaning their yards of branches, and pine cones and picking the weeds in the flower beds we saved enough money combined with my parent's savings to go to universal studios for the first time! I was 12 then and the feeling of that Harry Potter ride was a feeling I’ll never forget. Anytime money is tight I look back to that day and remember where I came from and where I am. I’ve experienced so many wonderful things in life living the simple way. I’ve been to the Caribbean twice I’ve been to Mexico before I’ve been to Canada. I’ve been on a cruise 3 times. I’ve been on a 15-hour train ride to Miami. I’ve done and seen so many things that most people in life never have because we’ve learned how to save our money and put it towards experience instead of materialistic things. Though the start of my life could have definitely been better, as I got older it made me a motivated, determined, hard working, wise, and over all a really well rounded person.

How much do we know about the technology we use every day? Let me explain. I don’t mean how to work social media, how to start a car, or how to turn your microwave on. What I mean is, if we had no prior knowledge of technology tomorrow, how long would it take us to get back to all of the technology we have today? Do you even know what components are needed to make a cell phone? We know so little about the world we live in and how it works. Laptops are the technology that inspires me. I love how each little piece makes a portable device with access to almost all the knowledge in the world. Technology is key a to keeping society going. I find that so deeply intriguing. With technological advances, we can maybe one-day cure organ failure with just a shot that prevents your organs from shutting down completely. Though old technology is the foundation, new technology is the skyscraper that overlooks the city. New technology is the big business that controls the government. New technology is what we need to make the world a better place. To end hunger, poverty, mental illness, and unemployment. Technology is literally everywhere around us and without it, who’s to say the life expectancy of a human isn’t 40 years old still? With technology we are open to a whole new world full of life, opportunity, experience, knowledge, and economy. An investment in technology is an investment in the future of the world.

When I was 8 years old my mother was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Being a 3rd grader with a very sick mother and a father who works all the time, you are forced to step up. I want to become a nurse so that I can help assist in catching the early stages of health conditions. Taking care of others has been my duty since I was a child. Dressing younger siblings, learning how to run a laundry machine, learning how to make a sustainable clothesline, learning how to take temperatures, cleaning cuts and scrapes, sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming. Taking care of everyone around me unable to ask for anyone’s help. I remember feeling like I was never doing enough. “What if I forgot to wash the dishes?” “Did Jill and Emma brush their teeth?” “Is dad working overtime again?” “How can I convince dad to let me stay home to make sure moms not alone?” These are the constant thoughts that used to race through my mind. At the age of 9, I knew how to cut the grass in the yard in 2 hours with the push mow. I knew how to make diners in the crockpot. I learned how to organize my chores and manage my homework and even help my siblings with theirs. I made mostly A’s so my parents wouldn’t feel guilty they couldn’t help. Over and over and over again I’ve proved to be the girl who can do it all successfully. When I was 14, we all moved into a house on my grandparent's property to take care of them when they fell and broke something, or drive them to the hospital when they are too stubborn to go. When I turned 15, I got my first job. I knew that once I got my instructional permit, I had to get a job to pay for my things. I saved all my money and I bought my first car outright 2 months after I turned 16. I saved 4 grand and paid in cash for a beat-up 2005 black Toyota Matrix XR. I’m 17 and now applying to colleges for dual enrollment. I plan on getting my CNA over the summer of 2023 to get a head start in life. Helping others in need is my life. Nursing is where my heart is and always has been. Nothing in life will make me feel happier or more proud than being able to care for others in a way that makes a difference.