Mack Academy Weblog

It has been quite a while since I have been able to blog as I have been incredibly busy preparing for and going through my first semester of college.  I thought I would share a little bit about what that has been like for me:

 My first semester in college has been a dream-come-true!  I am a double major in Worship Music Ministries and Liberal Arts and it has been amazing to be able to focus on areas that I really love.  I have just finished taking twenty units which has been intense but incredibly worth it.  This first semester I mostly took general education classes and a few of the basic classes required for my major and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Continue Reading "Mack Family Update: First Semester Completed!" »

In his video, Max Borders shared his concerns about rampant government regulation and its effect on small businesses.  Borders mentioned that it is essential to our economic welfare to encourage cottage businesses to grow and prosper and to remove the government regulations that threaten to crush the small business and entrepreneurial spirit.

Borders declared,

"The urge to regulate is nothing new...but the extent of the regulatory state today is unprecedented in history.  The problem in all of this is that regulation is like a hidden tax...when taxes go up it becomes more difficult for companies to succeed.  Likewise when these hidden taxes - these regulatory costs - go up, it becomes harder and harder for entrepreneurs to thrive.  What I would argue is that cottage industries are at the beginning of wealth creation."

Continue Reading "Government Regulation: Good or Bad?" »

Here is an essay I recently wrote for the New Threats To Freedom Foundation in response to Michael Goodwin's video on the Freedom to Fail. Enjoy!

Our goal today is to entirely eradicate failure.  We somehow have the idea that if our children fail, they will  be bruised for life, unable to cope with the realities of society and unable to make a successful living.  But is this really the right response?  Is the key to success the eradication of failure?

Continue Reading "The Freedom To Fail" »

I have been working very hard to raise the money that I need to attend The Master's College through scholarships.  My goal is to double major in Worship Music Ministries and Liberal Arts.

I recently applied for a $3,000 scholarship through WyzAnt, where I write an essay about who is my most important teacher and receive votes on my essay.  I need to make it into the top 10 to be considered for the scholarship.  Will you please help me earn this scholarship?

Just go to this site and vote for my essay entitled "Dr. Englin - Bringing the spark back into learning".

Thank you so much!

In a previous post, I shared a pop-up design I created using a cylinder technique to create a patriotic hat.  I had a request to share my templates and instructions, and since I have wanted to post a pop-up card tutorial for some time, this seemed like a great opportunity to try my hand at one.  As this is my first attempt, you'll have to be patient with me as a lot of the steps are very difficult to photograph.  I'd love to hear any feedback about this tutorial!

Although the request was for instructions to construct Uncle Sam's Hat, I needed to make a birthday card  and decided to kill two birds with one stone.  I used the exact same template and technique to create my Birthday Candle, and I will include a few notes along the way of how you can modify it to make the patriotic hat.  

Continue Reading "How to Make a Pop-up Candle for a Birthday Surprise!" »

Have you ever thought about what you might be missing out on by not trying new things?  A few years ago, my mother signed me up for a knitting camp at our community's clubhouse.  I wasn't really enthusiastic about this as I thought that knitting was just something that old people do and that I would never like or wear anything that I had made.  I was quickly proven wrong and by the end of that camp I was knitting scarves, towels, and dishcloths with whatever yarn I could get my hands on.  I was hooked!  

Continue Reading "Don't Knock It 'Til You Try It!" »

When I say the name Ben-Hur, what do you think of?  Probably the thrilling chariot race where young Judah Ben-Hur amazed the world.  Or maybe it was the story of Judah's life and his quest for revenge?  

For a school assignment, I recently had the opportunity to read Lew Wallace's unabridged book Ben-Hur and I thought I would share a quick review of it.  I had been well acquainted with the Charleston Heston movie of this classic story and had assumed that the book would be similar.  I was surprised at how different the two really were.
Continue Reading "Ben-Hur Book Review" »