Should I tell her?

 How do you know when to confess your feelings for someone? No rulebook says this is the right time or the wrong time. However, there are a few things you can keep in mind to help you decide if telling someone might be advantageous. If they have shown signs of being romantically interested in you and they seem like they would appreciate hearing from you, then go ahead and tell them! If not, it's probably best not to get their hopes up and just shoot them a text instead.

Two questions you must ask yourself before you decide to tell someone:

1. Do I like this person?

2. Would this person be worth the risk of losing them forever?

Let's look at both of these questions separately to help you decide whether or not it's safe to tell them.

Do I like this person? This one is pretty simple. Have you been interested in this person for a while? Do you think they are attractive? Do you like spending time with them? If the answer to these questions is yes, then go ahead and tell them! You've got incentive enough to want to take the risk!

If the answer to at least two of these questions is no, it might not be a good idea. While it's possible that this person has done something unexpected and completely won you over, more than likely you're still not interested in them. It's not to say you can't change your mind, since you can. However, it's probably better to keep your distance and let them approach you instead of the other way around.

It is pretty rare to never have been interested in someone before, but that doesn't mean you should never approach them. The key is knowing what they're interested in and approaching them with things they will find interesting as opposed to trying to use methods that don't work for everyone.

Would this person be worth the risk of losing them forever?

If the answer to this question is no, it may not be a good idea to tell them. This is one of those times when you need to weigh the risk of them finding out against how much you actually care about them. It's better to not risk it than lose it altogether!

There's no doubt that the possibility of losing someone forever is a strong deterrent for most people when deciding on whether or not to take a chance at telling someone. However, it doesn't have to weigh on your mind as heavily as some might think. If you're worried about losing them forever, you might be worried about the wrong reasons.

There is a myth that goes around most high schools, especially those with a handful of romantically involved students. That myth is that there's no chance of you ever getting into a relationship if you've never had one before. This isn't always the case! Many people who are in relationships after years of being single have never been in a relationship before. There are many more single people than there are in relationships and the numbers suggest that it's likely more likely that someone will be single forever than to not get into at least one relationship before they die!

There's nothing wrong with waiting for love and not settling for less than what you want. However, you may end up waiting forever. If you never tell them how you feel because of the fear that they might dump you, then you might just lose them forever because they did like your face and think it would be fun to spend time around.

If someone is worth the risk of losing them forever, then it's worth it to take the chance at telling them.

War

 A war huh!

War, is a violent conflict between groups or nations. The causes and consequences of wars have been discussed by scholars, politicians, and journalists for centuries.

I remember when I first heard the word War. My childhood was filled with war movies like "Saving Private Ryan" where the protagonist goes on a personal crusade to find his best friend's last known location in war-torn Europe, "The Pacific", in which men live and die to defend their island home against an invasion of Japanese forces while harboring hope that they will be reunited with loved ones back home.

I remember it vividly when I first heard the word War, I was in the eighth grade. I heard my teacher mention "World War II" in his lecture. World War II: A war fought from 1939 to 1945 by the Axis Powers (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan) and Allied Forces (British Empire, Soviet Union, and the United States of America) for global supremacy. I was surprised that there even was a war where nations went to war with each other. Naturally, this sparked my interest and I went on to read about all sorts of wars from the Opium Wars to the recent Korean Conflict.

I learned about the foundation of the British empire in Africa and the Caribbean. I learned about Rome's invasions of many different countries in Europe, both by land and sea. I learned about battles throughout history, such as those at Troy, Marathon, and Hastings. I learned that wars aren't just won by force alone; you often can have more casualties in a naval battle than on land. I learned about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, and of the Mongolian invasion that followed. I learned about war and its cost, such as the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in World War I alone. In my research, I felt as though the knowledge was being accumulated before my eyes and I couldn't wait to share it with others like an excited child christening his new toy.

"War" was a word that intrigued me, much like how "tragedy" is defined as an "eventful occurrence or experience". Events like these excite me because they give my attention to a subject that can be very broad in terms of knowledge.

While I was in the eighth grade, I had various plans for my future. In fact, I already knew that after high school, I intended to go to university and study international studies. This is where I expected to engage in research and analysis for my final two years of education. Now when I look at the subject of international studies in today's society, however, an "eventful occurrence" did not seem appropriate anymore. Instead of engaging with a wide cast of characters from all different backgrounds and cultures as was customarily done in the past; we now tend to find information about whether or not people are talking about war online or over the television or newspaper.

-Unknown