Government Critics Beware

For those of you who aren't a big fan of our current President, you may want to think twice before offering any criticism. As part of his attack on his critics, President Donald Trump has found a kindred spirit in Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who wants to revisit the ruling of a court case that determined how critics of the government shall be dealt with. The court case, New York Times vs. Sullivan, had the Times pitted against city commissioner L. B. Sullivan for inaccurately criticizing some authorities in Montgomery, Alabama, and while the original case had Sullivan as the winner, the Supreme Court unanimously reversed this decision and declared that criticisms against the government, no matter how false, are protected by the First Amendment. By undoing this reversal, Thomas will be giving Trump, as well as most other governmental bodies, a legal means to go after all of their critics, creating a huge amount of risk when it comes to criticizing the government. Thankfully, no other Supreme Court Justice has joined Thomas in his concerns, so the Sullivan ruling will stay intact, but the fact that a Supreme Court Justice is considering overturning that case ruling is a chilling thought to behold.

Here is a link to an article on Thomas' decision.

Discovering My Career Path

Growing up, I thought I knew for sure what I wanted to major in and grow up to be: I absolutely, positively, without a doubt wanted to be an artist. Art has been one of my biggest passions for as long as I can remember, and I wanted to make it into my career, with the mindset of "if you make a job out of something you enjoy, you will never work a day in your life." However, in high school, I began questioning that. Would I enjoy being an artist, taking requests and harsh criticisms without the freedom to work on projects that I enjoy? My art teacher in high school asked me those same questions, confirming that it wasn't just me that was concerned about that, and from then on, I decided to find a new career path. I entered college as something I would have never expected about five years ago: an undeclared student; and I am about to declare something I would have expected even less: Game & Interactive Media Design, a major I didn't even know existed before coming to High Point University. With this major, I can combine my passion for art and design with video games, another childhood obsession of mine. From what I've experienced, I very much enjoy it.

Oh, and don't even think for a second that I gave up on art entirely; I still love to draw to this very day.