I’ve had what most would call a highly unusual and unorthodox upbringing. I remember the conversation with my father vividly. I was 6 years old and didn’t understand what he was telling me. I didn’t know what “gay” really meant. The only response I could form in my adolescent...

    What’s the first thing you do in the morning when you wake up? Brush your teeth? Make breakfast? Or do you check your phone to see who liked the picture you posted before bed last night?  Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and so many other platforms are all just a tap away,...

By Jessica Ramirez @TheEtCetera As a young mother of three school-age children. I know firsthand the struggles of finding adequate child care. I have experienced some issues in the past with facilities abusing children that my own children were enrolled in. This incident happened when my children...

I got my first smartphone in 2015. Right away, I was hooked. At that time in my life I was a stay-at-home mom with a 1-year-old child and the caregiver for my 76-year-old mother. That phone became my link to the outside world. I have never been into social media, but I am an information freak....

  With September being National Suicide Awareness Month, it’s important to discuss mental health and how it affects students. Many students with mental illness struggle with understanding and retaining information. If colleges are truly interested in improving their success rates, they...

        When I graduated high school four years ago and enrolled at Eastfield, I had no idea what to choose as a field of study. I thought getting my core classes out of the way would give me time to figure things out in regards to my career.        Then one day,...

  Having done the college life once before, I was dreading returning to school after a seven-year hiatus.  Walking into Eastfield on Aug. 26 was an unexpected experience that brought me a new hope to make something of myself.  The day started off with so much excitement with my first...

  Spider-Man is far from home following the recent disagreement between Sony and Disney, and everything the fans and actors have grown to love about the franchise is at risk.  Two movies with two more on the line are going to be ruined if Sony wins the argument.  There are a couple...

    As easy as some people may think community college is compared to a prestigious university, it’s still new and different. Whether you’re here because plans failed or a financial situation or even if you’re like me and had no idea what you were doing after high school,...

America, land of the free and home of the most expensive drug costs in the civilized world.  Lifesaving medications, such as insulin and seizure preventatives, are often the most expensive.  The more we need something, the higher the price inevitably tends to be.  However, the drugs...

  Now that electric cars provide a more environmentally friendly option for driving, why do people ages 18-20 constitute only 1.4 percent of the people who are buying, according to a 2017 survey conducted by CarMax? And in the age range 21-29, why is it only 9.1 percent? Granted,...

  Do you know someone from another country? You probably hear the word immigrant in the news frequently, but are there any immigrants among your close friends? If not, you might be missing out on some valuable relationships. When I moved to Texas from Oklahoma in 2004, I was already a world...

  Eastfield College is becoming so overrun with high school students that the Dallas County Community College District should rename the college Eastfield High School.  Eastfield currently claims there are about 400 high school students enrolled on campus. They project to have almost...

    From the food on your plate to the pets in your home, humanity has been artificially selecting desirable traits in other organisms for thousands of years.  With the results of our success all around us, why is society so afraid of the term GMO?  The millennium-long...

  Dear Et Cetera Staff, My compliments to Anthony Lazon for his excellent cover illustration and design on the April 3 edition of The Et Cetera. It was an excellent homage to my generation’s favorite Saturday morning program! Great corresponding article by Skye Seipp as well. I appreciate...

Dear Editor, The places and foods mentioned in the April 2019 article “Five vegan dishes to meet your leafy needs” are a good place to start for those interested in healthier, cleaner eating.  I, too, heartily recommend the nachos supremo at Spiral Diner and the spicy muchacho pie at Pizza...

  Who knew one of the most exciting times in my life would also be the most difficult and terrifying? For most students, the transition from high school to college is a dream, but that’s not always true for a first-generation college student. I graduated from a performing arts...

                      Members of the media and dominant political figures often push the narrative that President Donald Trump’s wall is a racist and unethical proposition, but that is far from the truth. This anti-wall viewpoint is generally followed with arguments that are not grounded...