This summer, Shift has taken us all over. Read the rest of this entry »
“Enter” — Shift debuts its music video
As the summer winds down, we at Shift have taken the opportunity to really reflect on our experiences here and our mission to provide interesting stories for diverse college grads. In an effort to continue attracting new fans of our work, we have brought together our original (delightful!) theme song, “Enter,” by Grammar, and some of your favorite Shift writers and other young people to bust out their best moves in one of the greatest montages of random dancing on various streets and locations in Chicago.
It’s time to present our debut music video. Beat that, Ferris Bueller!
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A new generation makes its voices heard in a digital democracy
On a sunny Thursday morning at the Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles’ Universal City, bright blue, pink and yellow lights bounced on the walls and ceilings of grand ballroom. It looked more like a Hollywood nightclub. But here, a group of 20-something entrepreneurs was looking for the chance to network and share ideas for transforming the ever-evolving Web. Read the rest of this entry »
The Jane Park Files
It all started with a film. And a Facebook search. The quest to find the people who share my name.
In 2005, I screened The Grace Lee Project at the Los Angeles Korean International Film Festival. It’s a quirky documentary through which the filmmaker – her name is Grace Lee – enters the lives of several other Grace Lees. In so doing, she tries to debunk the myths that surround the name and its bearer as the stereotypical Asian-American model minority. Read the rest of this entry »
Gay in America: When culture and sexuality collide
At some point, nearly everyone grapples with their identity – faith, family, sexual orientation. But it can be even more difficult for minorities or immigrants struggling to sort through their sexuality. Read the rest of this entry »
The Ultimate List: All 30 Things You Should Do Before You Turn 30
You may have skimmed our lists of 30 things to do before you turn 30. See the complete list all at once and learn more about each item, with additional resources, links and photos. Read the rest of this entry »
Why we serve
The U.S. military is zeroing in on young adults. But the double-front war in Iraq and Afghanistan is forcing many to think twice before signing up. Now eight years after its inception, the War on Terror has produced a new generation of recruits – and veterans.
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In the name of Dios: Mormon missionaries bring urban Hispanics, Catholics into the church
Traditional greetings—“buenos dias” and smacking kisses, one on each cheek—sound out over the organ music 22-year-old missionary Charisse Horn plays at a Sunday morning service in Logan Square.
A year ago, she’d never spoken a word of Spanish. Now, as one of about 35 Spanish-speaking missionaries in Chicago, she worships, gives testimony and reads El Libro de Mormon, or the Book of Mormon, all in Spanish. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you a part of ‘Generation Meh?’
You might expect a 28-year-old blogger who writes about issues of relationships, career, finance, happiness and misfortune for the younger crowd in today’s wired society to be pretty plugged in. True, Maureen Henderson is well read, articulate on issues of politics and policy, and well traveled. But completely wired? Nope.
An alternate path: Community living experiments in the city
Cooperatives. Communes. Intentional communities. Utopian experiments.
Whenever the idea of “living in community” gets thrown out, at least one and (more likely) all of these terms will inevitably appear in the conversation. “Utopian” risks sounding naïve in the cynical, postmodern era, and “commune” is often flat-out wrong (properly, it’s only used to describe communities that pool all their finances, which most do not). Read the rest of this entry »
For the Love: Six young adults get professional about their passions
What is the American dream today? A half-century ago it was a white picket fence, 2.5 kids and a secure job to support them. Today it encompasses the hopes of a constantly changing America, and what constitutes a successful life is a definition that’s just as volatile. Ask five young people what they hope to accomplish as adults, and you’ll likely get five very different answers.
Options for health care and insurance vary across the U.S.
Most college graduates bid farewell to their insurance plans the same day they bid farewell to their alma mater. Most. But some states and private insurance companies are addressing the increasing numbers of uninsured young adults with programs or laws to make the transition to the working world a little easier, and healthier. The question is whether these policies are enough. Read the rest of this entry »
Navigating the twists and turns of interfaith marriage
If dating someone of a different faith is tricky, then marrying someone of a different faith can be downright difficult and problematic. Whether a couple about to enter into matrimony is Catholic and Jewish, or Muslim and Mormon, or Buddhist and Protestant, uniting the traditions, cultures and beliefs of two people, and two families, is undeniably complex.
This Muslim-American life: young adults’ activist, artistic voices
Follow through this six-story series on the lives of second-generation American Muslims. Read the rest of this entry »
The Next Generation series: Sibling dynamics in immigrant families
One quarter, one dime and one nickel – times four.
Every morning my mom took out $1.60 in change from her floral-print cardboard box. Every morning she pressed 40 cents – three coins – into the little palms of her three kid brothers: James, Thomas and David. It was cafeteria lunch money. Read the rest of this entry »
