Eighteen schools, 12 foster homes and one young girl who was afraid to trust others: That appears to be the story of Katelynn Mansfield, who has been in the custody of the Department of Human Services on three occasions since the age of 5. But it’s only one part of the story of the Oklahoma City teenager, who wants to use creative writing as a way to rise above her troubles.
Working hard on a story only to have the content scrapped before publication is something former Norman High School student Makenzie Millsap is familiar with. Millsap wrote an article about the popular but sexually explicit book “50 Shades of Grey” by E.L. James for her high school yearbook, but school’s Principal Scott Beck removed the story before it could be published. Millsap said she knew the story might be controversial, but she thought she could “write around the parts that were bad.” “My main goal was to write an interesting story on how big the movie got and how crazy…
The struggle of living with Graves’ disease, a disorder in the thyroids, is a daily battle for the more than 3 million Americans who are diagnosed with it every year, according to the Mayo Clinic website. Among these people is 16-year-old Shelby Massey, a home-schooled high school junior. Massey was diagnosed with Graves’ disease in fall 2013. In addition, she also struggles at times with hyperthyroidism — when her thyroid makes more hormones than needed. At other times she battles hypothyroidism, which is when the thyroid doesn’t produce enough hormones. Massey said Graves’ disease affects those who have it emotionally,…