The purpose of the Teen Stories project is to be fully immersed in one of BranchOut!’s missions: bringing cultures together. As a result, we wanted to find something that all teenagers, from different
continents...

The follower count on Instagram changes to “10K” once you reach 10,000 followers. I remember staring at the 9,837 followers on my account, desperately trying to think of ways to scrounge up about a hundred more to get that coveted...

Waking up to the sound of my ringing alarm, I groan and instinctively grab my phone. I know I should get up, go brush my teeth, and start my day, but I just can’t seem to make myself do so. Snuggling back under the covers, I proceed to scroll through my social media apps one by one. First I check Instagram, then Snapchat, Facebook, Messenger...

For most of my middle and high school career, I’ve had a small circle of close friends. This meant that I didn’t bother peering into the lives of people my age all through my state by looking...

Social media, like most things, has
both benefits and drawbacks. One of its main upsides is that it effectively provides information to users whenever and wherever they are. I can access...

Personally, I have experienced both
positive and negative aspects of social media.
First, social media admittedly provides the opportunity to learn information that I typically cannot access. For example, it was very difficult for me to see what colleges abroad look like due...

Social media is about allowing
people to write, share, and comment on
websites and technology platforms for discussion and communication. It mainly includes SNS, microblogs, forums, etc. In short, social media is social networking...

Over the past decade, social media usage has grown exponentially. It has allowed us to connect with people around the world, explore new sectors of entertainment, and engage in stimulating conversations. There’s no doubt that the presence of social media has had a major impact on many people, particularly teens...

BranchOut! (https://www.velbranchout.org/) BranchOut!, a youth community outreach program based in the Washington DC metropolitan area, was founded in 2015. The program started out with 20 ...

Featured Authors
- Grace Lu - Grade 11, Great Falls, VA, Langley High School
- Isabel Gan - Grade 11, Alexandria, VA, Thomas Jefferson High School...