When asked, a freshman student Anna Thorson said, “I didn’t know this fact! It makes sense though, there really are a lot of them!”

A freshman student, Bridget Ferguson, said that she has been involved in dance marathon since she was a freshman in HIGH SCHOOL! She also said she loves being a part of such a  great organization and is excited she can continue her passion FTK here!

Many students have also said their favorite spot to sit or take photos of is here! It truly is so pretty!

The SAU cheerleading team is obviously so full of love for SAU! They have a close-knit team and have themed practices every Tuesday! What a fun way to spice things up!

A lot of students here at SAU also think the beehive is such a convenient place to study, hangout, or just get a quick snack before classes!

America’s teens are every bit as stressed as the adults around them — and sometimes even more — according to a new survey that offers a snapshot of stress amongst teenagers.

Teens routinely say that their school-year stress levels are far higher than they think is healthy and their average reported stress exceeds that of adults, according to an annual survey published by the American Psychological Association.

The agency’s Stress in America survey found that 30 percent of teens reported feeling sad or depressed because of stress and 31 percent felt overwhelmed. Another 36 percent said that stress makes them tired and 23 percent said they’ve skipped meals because of it.

On average, teens reported their stress level was 5.8 on 10-point scale, compared with 5.1 for adults.

“It is alarming that the teen stress experience is so similar to that of adults,” said Norman B. Anderson, the APA’s chief executive and senior vice president. “In order to break this cycle of stress and unhealthy behaviors as a nation, we need to provide teens with better support and health education, at school and at home, at the community level and in their interactions with health care professionals.”

That’s no surprise to experts who work with teens. They say that the pressures of schoolwork, social life, sports or other activities — combined with a relentless media culture — mean that young people may be tenser than ever before.

An increased emphasis on make-or-break school testing and sharp focus as early as middle school on future college or career plans can be intense for some kids. Others find that the ordinary struggles of adolescence — friendship, romance, fitting in — are magnified by social media that doesn’t end when classes are over.

Stress seems to be getting worse for some teens, according to the survey. About 31 percent of kids said their stress level had increased in the past year, twice as many as those who said it went down. And 34 percent said they expected their stress level would rise in the coming year.

1. Smiling makes you more appealing to others

You’re naturally drawn to people who smile more! There is a real physical attraction to people who smile.

2. Smiling relieves stress

Smiling not only makes you look happier, but it helps reduce stress.

3. Smiling elevates our mood

The physical act of smiling sends neural messages to your brain signaling that you’re happy or in a good mood.

4. Smiling is contagious

Not only does it elevate your mood but also the mood of others! It’s an unconscious response, but it’s a pretty great one.

5. Smiling can boost your immune system

The act of smiling can help your immune system work effectively, due to being more relaxed.

6. Smiling lowers your blood pressure

It makes us relax and actually slows our heart rate!

7. Smiling can overall make you feel good

Smiling releases endorphins and serotonin which make you feel on top of the world

8. Smiling makes you look younger

The muscles we use to smile actually lift your face up!

9. Smiling makes you seem more successful

Appearing more confident correlates with success or feeling that way!

10. Smiling helps you stay positive

Feeling negative when you’re genuinely smiling is hard, so when you smile it makes you feel so good about you and what’s going on around you!

If you have any interest in cars–or have a Twitter account (or a tv for that matter) you have probably heard all of the commotion about Elon Musk tweeting falsified things about Tesla. Many people are saying that this is why accounts from people who are higher up should be ran by a PR representative. Due to the lack of supervision, a tweet that caused a riot on the internet was made, so why not monitor all accounts? Tesla is saying that there isn’t a need to let this little scandal stop CEO’s from tweeting because they are the faces of those establishments. They claim that it is rare for CEO’s to want to “be superstars” and that some CEO’s use their personal platform but have largely inactive profiles and they’re simply there just to have a presence and to listen to their followers/customers or consumers. But due to Elon tweeting what he twote, Tesla is now being investigated by the justice department, they’re looking at whether Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, broke the law by musing on Twitter about taking the company private.

Last month, following the incident, Tesla received a voluntary request for documents from the DOJ, and according to the spokesperson, they’re being cooperative. In another article, the spokesperson continued, “We have not received a subpoena, a request for testimony, or any other formal process. We respect the DOJ’s desire to get information about this and believe that the matter should be quickly resolved as they review the information they have received.” The “criminal aspect” had an impact on Tesla share prices after it was first reported by Bloomberg, the shares then dropped 6% after the first report by the DOJ. The stocks however rebounded that afternoon, so it seemed to not hurt the company (money wise) for too long. If you were to bring it up to either party however, they both refuse to confirm or deny any details.

Moral of the story: not all people at the top of a business should have access to social media accounts—in more cases than just Elon Musk and Tesla… Not just for the good of the country—sorry, company, but for the good of the people who have to see what they post.

The app I decided to download was Pinterest. I don’t use it because I don’t really see the use or need for it. The website, while I know is being catered to what you choose to “pin” to a board, is super cluttered and unorganized. It kind of overwhelmed me, if I’m being honest. I also hated all of the notifications that I was constantly receiving from the application. I don’t think it was smart on their part to send you a notification whenever someone “pins” the same things you do or views your Pinterest board. Another thing I had noticed about the application that kind of made it inconvenient was that it would have too many external links that weren’t actually connected to the “pin” you clicked on. I would click on a workout pin and it would redirect me and I would never find the article about what I wanted to know more about or see. I prefer doing things of this nature on my laptop and the application was just too much for me. I prefer googling things and being able to click on the photo without being asked if I wanted to download the application. OBVIOUSLY if I’m googling ideas I don’t want to download it. I thought it was going to be a convenient time killer, but it just stressed me out and threw my vibe off. I don’t like how it would put multiple of the same article on my feed. It’s a multi-million-dollar company, you’d think they would try harder. If I had to rate the application on a scale from 1-10 I would give it a 5. It was only kind of okay, but I wasn’t a huge fan if I’m being completely honest. I have nothing against Pinterest users and if you plan on being a “Pinterest mom” have at it, but I’ll stick to scrolling through google images for 30 minutes before finding the perfect DIY outfit. 

It’s 2018—who DOESN’T use social media? (Besides grandma’s/grandpa’s or kids who don’t have access…) The list of social media websites or outlets is extremely long now compared to 5-7 years ago—maybe even longer.

With Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Whatsapp, Skype, Pinterest, Redditt and so many more, the world is connected through the internet and the apps it has made.

The social media’s I use are Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram. I think I first started using these my freshman year of high school simply because that’s when I got my first smartphone. Facebook on the other hand I got when I turned 13, when Myspace stopped being a thing (huge throwback, right?)

Social media has many uses, even though people use them differently depending on personal preferences.

I use Snapchat for talking to friends, yes, I know there’s texting/iMessage, but snapping your friends can be comical while also holding some type of conversation. The idea of being able to send a picture and a message reaches a new standard in not only communication but social media. You can post real time what is happening for more than just you to enjoy.

Twitter is mainly for me to be able to post my unfiltered opinions. You can basically do everything Facebook allows you to do but without the worry your grandma will stop talking to you after you post something. Twitter is just straight comedy to me, if I need a pick-me-up, Twitter is 100% where I go.

Facebook is basically for me to post pictures in albums for family members to see & to sell things for cheerleading.

Instagram is just to post the best moments, where you took a pretty good photo, with a clever—or no—caption.

I use my phone for these all for the most part, but if I’m feeling risky, I’ll use my laptop for Twitter. My phone is just way more convenient.

The blog that I read this week was “The best way for PR writers to avoid Artificial Intelligence disruption”(https://www.cision.com/us/2018/08/pr-ai-disruption/). Which to me was funny just because I was reading a blog about artificial intelligence on a computer.

I did a little more research on how AI will affect PR after I read the original blog because I was intrigued, https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2017/03/20/how-advancements-in-artificial-intelligence-will-impact-public-relations/#3bf10d7f41de, and it’s actually really interesting. There is a lot of things happening in the PR world, computers are beginning to do more and more things and AI is going to affect a lot of jobs in the near/far future.

I enjoyed reading the blog due to how informed it was. The factual backup that was all throughout the post made me feel more comfortable while reading what the author had to say. I liked how many quotes were used. To me, using quotes makes it seem like the author really did research on the topic and isn’t trying to bullshit their way through a post–not that anyone would ever do that…

I didn’t like how there weren’t many outside links to base an opinion off of. There weren’t any photos or graph to back any of the real data. Having these things makes it easier for certain people to grasp the entire picture of what it is that you’re trying to say. Without these you face a chance of losing a percentage of your customers/readers. I would have chose a more interesting title and layout. Something that would really grab the attention of readers. This topic is actually really interesting, but with the layout looking the same as every other post some people may get bored.

I feel that I would incorporate the data, facts, and quotes into blogs of my own. I would also take them not using photos or links & turn it into me using them for a more effective learning tool.