An Ode To Dolly Parton

As a child born and raised in the Tennessee foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, there was no way to avoid learning a little bit about our hometown hero of sorts—the one and only Dolly Parton.

Read More
Sara Shelton
Something Is Broken

I remember exactly where I was on the afternoon of April 20, 1999. It was freshmen year world history at Alcoa High School, and I was sitting in the back left corner of the room. Our teacher was wearing a pink sweater and khaki pants that day. We were nearing the end of the school day so we were working on wrapping up an in-class assignment quietly before the final bell rang.

Read More
Sara Shelton
Girl Power

I’m a child of the nineties. And though that means a lot of things, for the purposes of this blog, it really just means one: I grew up in the era of the Spice Girls.

Read More
Sara Shelton
The Faces

My roommates often tell me how much they hate turning on the news. It reminds them of the terrible things happening in the world—the sad, unsettling, divisive parts of life. And while I understand where they’re coming from, I love the news.

Read More
Sara Shelton