Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism

Looks aren’t everything

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Somewhere, an overzealous mother in her mid-thirties calls out: “Smile!” Her daughter, 5, stops mid-backyard-play, constructs her lips just so and freezes for the camera. “Look happy,” the mother says. The little girl stretches her mouth to the point her cheeks twinge. “Yay! Good girl!” “Oh, wait! No! You’re squinting. Let me take one more.” In a world where social media’s influence grows by the second, just smiling isn’t enough anymore. Users of Instagram and other social media find validation not in the quality of pictures, but in pursuit of the perfect moment. With so many competing for followers and…

As mental health ails more students, colleges increase resources

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Kaela Moore smiled all the time. Unbeknown to many, the Northeastern State University student experienced five to eight panic attacks a day. Crippling depression once brought her to a place “no one wants to go,” she said. Moore, now 19 and living in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, attempted suicide during her freshman year of college. Although television sensationalizes college life in a grand and flawless manner, Moore’s reality proved somber. She said she often contemplated killing herself. In a sea of statistics, her struggle stands as one individual in a national mental health epidemic across college campuses. According to the World Health…

Taylor Ponds

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Taylor Ponds, 16, rolled groggily into the bathroom to start her morning ritual. She showered and listened to rap music, pausing frequently and skipping a song she just didn’t feel. She decided on J. Cole, and proceeded to spend an extra 4 minutes under the water because she wanted to listen to the song twice. “I love music,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do without it.” After adding a final touch of lotion on her hands for the day, Ponds crossed the hall and helped her brother Malachi, 4. He is one of the more than 400,000 people…

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