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JULY 2025
I had an epiphany the day I turned 18. I didn’t come from a bad home, commit crimes, or experience any attraction toward drugs and alcohol, but I still felt this heavy weight on my shoulders. I was legally an adult in the eyes of the law. It didn’t matter that my parents still made decisions on my behalf or provided support; my age could no longer support me if I committed a crime. While I gained some privileges by reaching this monumental milestone, the responsibilities that came with being a legal adult were overwhelming at the time. Many teenagers who recently reached this pivotal moment likely felt the same way. However, even though we became adults, many don’t feel like adults. We like to imagine that becoming an adult happens with one major pivot point in our lives, whether it’s our 18th birthday or the day we walk across the stage to receive our high school diploma. In reality, a bunch of small milestones eventually lead to us feeling like adults. Things like making meals for my family and figuring out our budget helped me reach adulthood, but it also came down to making some significant decisions on my own. I was ready to graduate from college after only three years, but I was on a good scholarship that allowed me to pay my tuition in full with some help from my earnings from my minimum wage jobs. I wasn’t going to let that fourth and final year go to waste, and I had to come up with a plan. Would I get a double major or forego that to start my work toward an MBA? Ultimately, I decided to go for “Every choice we make has trade-offs or consequences. Those currently experiencing their pivotal teenage years are making these choices every day, whether they realize it or not.” Becoming an Adult Is a Process, Not a Moment
the MBA, which was more expensive but gave more bang for my buck. I still utilize that degree to this day.
Every choice we make has trade-offs or consequences. Those currently experiencing their pivotal teenage years are making these choices every day, whether they realize it or not. They may choose to stay home to study instead of going out with friends. While this will help them score better on an upcoming test, they’ll miss out on social development. If they decide to go out, they might not score as well on the test, but they may make memories with their friends that will last a lifetime. Every decision you make influences other areas of your life, but you need to be careful not to make a choice that negatively impacts your future. Sometimes, the decisions we make limit our future opportunities. It may be okay to spend time with friends instead of studying for a normal test, but getting hungover before taking the BAR could set your plans back a year or longer. Driving drunk instead of taking an Uber, getting pregnant while in a bad relationship, and committing felonies that limit your employability and remove your ability to vote are all great examples of poor decision-making that impact your future. Becoming an adult and gaining your independence does not happen overnight. It’s a result of your actions and decisions. It may take years or even decades to reach a point where you comfortably feel like an adult, but that’s all a part of our life journey. Take in different opinions and keep your future in mind whenever you need to make a choice.
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When Monopoly Helped Win a War Allied Powers Outwitted the Enemy, One Game at a Time
You know Monopoly as the game that ruins friendships and sparks hourlong battles over Park Place. But during World War II, it played a much more significant and far braver role: helping Allied soldiers escape from German POW camps. Yes, really. In one of the most brilliant covert ops of the war, the British Secret Service turned Monopoly into a top-secret escape kit. Before this tactic, smuggling noisy paper maps without tipping off the guards was too risky, and getting caught could be fatal for prisoners. Enter silk — strong, weather-resistant, and, most importantly, silent. The British turned to John Waddington Ltd., the licensed Monopoly manufacturer in the UK, who also happened to be an expert in printing on silk. It was a match made in espionage heaven. Waddington didn’t just tuck maps into game boxes, though. In a locked room most employees didn’t know existed, craftsmen rigged Monopoly sets with tiny metal files, magnetic compasses, and even real currency hidden beneath the play money. Each game
was marked with a secret red dot on the Free Parking space — an insider’s clue for captured soldiers to look out for.
Thanks to a clever partnership with the Red Cross, these “games” were slipped into POW camps as humanitarian aid packages. The guards thought they were passing along innocent entertainment. Meanwhile, inside the box were the tools to freedom. By the end of the war, over 35,000 POWs had escaped German camps — many with the help of these customized Monopoly sets. Though exact numbers are lost to history, Monopoly’s role in those escapes is one of the war’s clever secrets. The mission was kept quiet for decades to preserve the strategy for future use. Today, the story reminds us that the simplest tools can sometimes carry out extraordinary missions. Next time you pass “Go,” just remember Monopoly once helped people pass barbed wire.
CONFIDENCE IS BUILT THROUGH EXPERIENCE, NOT WORDS
Have you ever met someone who struggled with self-confidence and said things like, “I found my confidence” or “I’m feeling confident now” without ever doing anything to improve their self-confidence? Becoming more confident isn’t as simple as flipping a switch or speaking it into existence. It’s something that you build with each decision you make. July 3 is National Compliment Your Mirror Day, and while this may sound like a silly holiday, it’s a great reminder to show yourself love and build your confidence daily. Part of what has helped me build my confidence throughout my life is the ability to look back and see that I could pick myself back up every time I fell down. You can’t let mistakes or failures hinder your growth, happiness, or progress. If you can pick yourself back up from one setback, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can come back from anything, but it makes you more prepared to get back up from the next setback. You can look back and say, “If I made it through this, I can make it through the next thing.” When I first learned to drive, I was terrified of driving on the freeway, constantly worrying about when to merge, being unable to change lanes, and many other fears. However, each time I successfully drove somewhere,
my confidence improved. Of course, there were occasional setbacks. I may have missed my exit and had to take a different route or turn around, but I’m still here!
If you’ve ever watched the diving events during the Olympics, you may have noticed that the divers are graded on execution and the degree of difficulty. Executing a simple dive flawlessly is much easier than doing crazy flips and turns. The next time you’re being critical of yourself, take a moment to reflect on the difficulty of the task at hand. There’s a good chance you’re just being too hard on yourself. One of the biggest obstacles to strong self-confidence is comparison. We’re constantly comparing ourselves to others. Just live your life and appreciate each moment for what it is! Boosting your self-confidence will benefit every aspect of your life, so find ways to build yourself up!
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Have a Laugh!
Take a moment and think about the time in life when you learned the most about yourself, your interests, and the world around you. Many will immediately envision their school days, but there’s another major life event that imparts so much knowledge, direction, and wisdom. Our first job can be stressful, eye-opening, and rewarding. Over the next few months, many young people will start their very first job. Like many others, I started babysitting when I was a preteen. However, my first real job experience came a few years later when I started working at Dairy Queen. When you work in fast food, you meet a wide variety of people. You have high school students trying out their first job, adults working in management who saw this as their career, and just about everything in between. Working with different personalities lets you see new perspectives and learn so much. You learn that if you don’t cover shifts for other people, they won’t help you out. You discover you can do gross tasks, like cleaning toilets and mopping floors, without issues. You learn about your products and services while finding new ways to upsell and interact with customers. However, you also learn consequences. When people don’t show up on time or do their job correctly, they get fired. Yet, when I think about the most important lesson from my early working days, it’s the idea of money. I no longer looked at purchases in terms of dollars, but instead, as hours worked. If I wanted a pair of Guess jeans (it was the ’90s) or something fun, I had to question if it was worth a full day of work. I also had to determine what I was giving up to make that purchase. Many parents worry that starting a job will be a distraction for their child, but that’s not necessarily true. When I got my first job, I was in marching band and theater, and stayed active in my church. I knew that I couldn’t put off homework all weekend. I had to prioritize my time and make room for everything, significantly improving my time management skills. LESSONS BEYOND A PAYCHECK THE TRUE VALUE OF YOUR FIRST JOB
Chocolate- Covered Banana Brownies
Directions 1.
Ingredients Banana Brownies • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8-inch pan with cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, and salt. Add egg and vanilla and whisk. Add mashed banana and whisk, then whisk in flour. 3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until the center has set. 4. Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. 5. Bring heavy cream to a boil, pour over chocolate, let it sit for 1–2 minutes, then stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in peanut butter until smooth.
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1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt 1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup mashed banana
• 1 cup flour Chocolate Topping •
12 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped 1 cup heavy cream 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter 3–4 large bananas
Your child’s first job will provide many lessons that will carry them through life. It’s more than just a paycheck!
6.
Slice bananas and arrange over cooled brownies. Pour chocolate mixture over bananas and place in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving.
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INSIDE
WHAT IT REALLY TAKES TO FEEL LIKE AN ADULT 1 THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME OF MONOPOLY EVER PLAYED
WHY REAL CONFIDENCE TAKES TIME AND EFFORT 2
THE REAL LESSONS BEHIND YOUR FIRST JOB
CHOCOLATE-COVERED BANANA BROWNIES 3 COMPANY ENLISTS GOATS TO REDUCE RISK OF WILDFIRES 4
Goats on the Job in Colorado HOOVED HELPERS WARD OFF WILDFIRES
When a Colorado wildfire threatened one of Lockheed Martin’s plants last summer, the big defense contractor decided they needed better fire protection measures.
facility near Littleton. Five firefighters were injured battling the blaze, which forced the evacuation of 600 homes and put thousands of Colorado residents on edge.
So, the company called in an unlikely emergency workforce — a battalion of 1,200 grazing goats.
Goat Green has contracted with parks, government agencies, municipalities, farms, ranches, and private
Lockheed contracted Goat Green, a local Colorado company, to put its herd of hungry Cashmere goats to work clearing 98 acres of wilderness terrain near the company’s worksite, which includes a $350 million satellite-manufacturing facility. The terrain is too steep and hazardous for machine clearing or human crews, but it posed little challenge to the goats. Their mission: to eliminate fuel for future fires and clear paths for firefighters, if needed. The goats could mow down an acre of land dense with plants and underbrush in a day, eliminating invasive vegetation and reducing the terrain to a nearly level, trimmed surface. The goats’ work also prevents overgrowth near powerlines, where fires often start.
land owners across 15 states to provide low-tech clearing services. The company’s workforce consists of 1,500 Cashmere goats native to the Himalayas and comfortable in cold, dry temperatures. Unlike most domestic goats destined for the slaughterhouse early in life, Goat Green’s employees work for about 12 years for as many as 265 days a year. Kids are born on the worksites and learn to eat a wide range of weeds and forage as adolescents. These goats even have a retirement plan: After losing their teeth, they live out their final days in peace on a ranch. After a dozen wildfires in the last 10 years in the Littleton area, residents are bracing for another wildfire season. The area is a little bit safer this year, however, thanks to the goats. As one regional fire-protection official said on Facebook, “These goats are a wonderful partner to us.”
Lockheed embraced this unusual fire-protection strategy after last year’s 580- acre Quarry Fire came within a mile of the company’s Waterton aerospace
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