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Fast forward through her life for the awful ending. Then, do it again to see something amazing.

Right now, 62 million girls across the globe are not in school. These girls are our future doctors, teachers, and entrepreneurs – they are the dreamers and visionaries who could change the world as we know it if they just had the chance to get the education they need. This issue is personal for me, because I see myself in these girls. I see my daughters in these girls. And I refuse to just sit back and accept the barriers that keep them from realizing their boundless promise. That is why I am thrilled to announce that we're expanding our efforts to “Let Girls Learn" with a new, community-focused girls' education initiative across the globe. Through this new effort, we'll be collaborating with the Peace Corps to support hundreds of new community projects – from building school libraries to creating girls' technology camps - to help girls go to school and stay in school. But while our focus is international, I also want to be very clear that for me, this work isn't just about improving girls' education abroad. It's also about reminding our young people of the hunger they should be feeling for their own education here at home. I want kids here in the U.S. to be inspired by girls worldwide who are making such sacrifices and overcoming such great obstacles to get their education.We owe these girls, and girls like them around the world, an education worthy of their dreams, so I hope you'll join this movement. — First Lady Michelle Obama

Look at these faces!

They are the faces of girls who are beautiful inside and out. They are the faces of girls who deserve a future worth looking forward to, not one they'll dread.


They have dreams. They love to have fun.

They like to learn. They want to grow up and have options.

But because those faces belong to girls, the future could be bleak for them.

Girls are much more likely than boys to remain uneducated. Hopeful young girls have the school doors closed in their faces, literally and figuratively.

Worldwide, there are 31 million elementary school girls out of school. There are another 34 million lower secondary school (junior high) girls out of school. (You can fact check those overwhelming figures here.) And we don't even know how many high-school-aged girls aren't being educated.

What does a lack of education mean to many girls?

It means girls are much more likely to get married way too young.

Check out these figures: If all girls across the world completed elementary school, child marriages would go down 14%. If they all completed the equivalent of junior high, that number would go down by 66%.

It means girls are more likely to have babies well before they are emotionally or physically prepared.


It's hard to learn this statistic and not feel moved: "Almost 60% fewer girls would become pregnant under 17 years in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia if they all had a secondary education."

Don't feel hopeless. These girls' stories can have happy endings!


Education changes everything for girls around the world. Fewer would die during childbirth, their children would suffer less malnutrition, they would make more money, and they would be able to make decisions for themselves.

This is an investment worth making.

Not only does every single girl deserve a shot at a bright future, but girls and women make communities stronger and richer. Let's help give them a chance. And let's remind girls here in the U.S. how important an education is! You can spread the word by sharing this post. — Team Upworthy

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Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

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Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

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Family

Mom’s blistering rant on how men are responsible for all unwanted pregnancies is on the nose

“ALL unwanted pregnancies are caused by the irresponsible ejaculations of men. Period. Don't believe me? Let me walk you through it."

Mom has something to say... strongly say.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, are a conservative group who aren't known for being vocal about sex.

But best selling author, blogger, and mother of six, Gabrielle Blair, has kicked that stereotype to the curb with a pointed thread on reducing unwanted pregnancies. And her sights are set directly at men.

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Family

Dad takes 7-week paternity leave after his second child is born and is stunned by the results

"These past seven weeks really opened up my eyes on how the household has actually ran, and 110% of that is because of my wife."

@ustheremingtons/TikTok

There's a lot to be gleaned from this.

Participating in paternity leave offers fathers so much more than an opportunity to bond with their new kids. It also allows them to help around the house and take on domestic responsibilities that many new mothers have to face alone…while also tending to a newborn.

All in all, it enables couples to handle the daunting new chapter as a team, making it less stressful on both parties. Or at least equally stressful on both parties. Democracy!

TikTok creator and dad Caleb Remington, from the popular account @ustheremingtons, confesses that for baby number one, he wasn’t able to take a “single day of paternity leave.”

This time around, for baby number two, Remington had the privilege of taking seven weeks off (to be clear—his employer offered four weeks, and he used an additional three weeks of PTO).

The time off changed Remington’s entire outlook on parenting, and his insights are something all parents could probably use.

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Science

She tattooed half her face and you'd never know it. Her skills are just that good.

This incredible medical tattoo technology is giving renewed hope to burn victims.

All images via the CBS/YouTube

Basma Hameed runs a tattoo shop, of sorts...


Meet Samira Omar.

The 17-year-old was the victim of a horrific bullying incident.

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Images via Alan Taylor/Flickr, used with permission.

Updating the kitchen.


Remember those beloved Richard Scarry books?

Books from when you were a kid?

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Education

Voice recordings of people who were enslaved offer incredible first-person accounts of U.S. history

"The results of these digitally enhanced recordings are arresting, almost unbelievable. The idea of hearing the voices of actual slaves from the plantations of the Old South is as powerful—as startling, really—as if you could hear Abraham Lincoln or Robert E. Lee speak." - Ted Koppel

Library of Congress

When we think about the era of American slavery, many of us tend to think of it as the far distant past. While slavery doesn't exist as a formal institution today, there are people living who knew formerly enslaved black Americans first-hand. In the wide arc of history, the legal enslavement of people on U.S. soil is a recent occurrence—so recent, in fact, that we have voice recordings of interviews with people who lived it.

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