My heart started thumping when my parents told us we were going to Lebanon. They were beaming with excitement — my dad hasn't gone back to his homeland in nearly 20 years and it has been 14 years since my mom and I went there.  

STRESS in today's society affects everyone in different ways. As a teenager, each year of my life seems to be filled with new worries, demands and expectations from school life, home life and social settings.  

HIGH SCHOOL, for most, will always be a very memorable time. During those four years, everything seems to be happening in a whirlwind as you try to figure out who you are and prepare for the favorite question, "What are you going to be when you grow up?  

I looked at the clock during my English exam. I had only 10 minutes left. In those 10 minutes, I had an entire body paragraph to go and the conclusion. I felt my fists clench with frustration and stress.  

When a person first hears that I sacrifice time I could be spending hanging out with friends, doing homework or playing sports to go to three-hour orchestra rehearsals or various music lessons — sometimes five days a week — I am often asked what could possibly motivate me to devote that  

Who needs to be a princess?  

When I was a little girl, I would play dress-up with my best friend, and we would pretend to be princesses or queens or anything we thought was beautiful.