Hey everyone,

I'm writing this post to share what has happened to me over the past week and, in upcoming posts, what changes I'm going to be implementing to help make next semester a better one.

However, before we get into that I want to start with a proper introduction. 

Words are powerful. Words allow for the possibility of change and, even more, can instigate change. I repeat, words are powerful. And I have found that when your words are met with a call for an immediate cease, that the resolution cannot be to give in. You see I was told to stop writing. To stop sharing. To stop using my blog as a platform in which I have implied that the situation I am in, the situation that I have been in, has been falsified. But it is just that, when people tell you to silence your voice, is the exact time in which you need to keep writing. You need to keep going. Keep sharing, keep talking, keep going. I refuse to let the voice of a loud minority shut my blog down, and I refuse to close the pages of a book I have used as a free space to share my feelings, my rightfully so feelings, for good. I won't do it because I now realize how powerful my words are. And I want to share that realization with you.

Words are powerful. And with that, this will continue to be the platform in which I can freely speak my mind. I will no longer change my posts to please others, doubt the content that I share, and hesitate before clicking the publish button. Words are powerful and I am, too. 

I was told, in a poor attempt to resolve problems (that of which did not exist), to no longer use my platform as a method of sharing my experiences at Manoa. 

I would like to point out that if none of you have read the bio of this blog, that the entire point of this blog is to share my experiences at Manoa. In demanding that I no longer use this space as an area in which I can share my experiences, subsequently demands that I cease the entirety of this blog. 

And sure, I could make this post as a petty way to vent or rant or just simply to relieve some steam; but I won't. Let me also use this as a time to add that this blog has become a way to help myself heal and no longer continue to keep things bottled up inside. One would think, in knowing how much I have struggled this year, that I would be encouraged to continue the use of this platform- but I am sorry to say this is not the case.

But I am proud to say I will not back down. If my words effect people they can simply click the little red X at the top corner of the screen and not return. That's the beauty of words. You don't need to read them if you don't want to.

I encourage all of you to use this as an example. Take what I am going through and use this to further fight whatever fight you're going through. You are powerful. 

And to those who have asked me to try harder and to stop using this platform, just remember you can have your cake but you can't eat it too. 

Until next time,

Aislinn