When you hear the words “all in,” what do you think? You might picture a Dancing with the Stars trend gone viral or maybe bridesmaids who fully supportive of the bride's favorite movie (and recreates an iconic scene). Whatever you picture, the idea is the same: Someone who does something with 100 percent total commitment. Going “all in” means giving your all—going completely over the top, no second guessing, no holding back. Just full-throttle enthusiasm, with some flair and creativity thrown in. And when people go “all in,” something truly special usually happens as a result.
The internet abounds with examples of people giving it their all—whatever it is. In this roundup, we’ve found the very best examples of people going “all in”—moments where passion, creativity, and commitment take center stage. Some are sentimental, some are silly, but all of them are a reminder that giving 100 percent is truly the only way to leave a mark on this world. Get ready: These folks didn’t just show up, they went all in.
One thing about going all in - it can be crazy and childish at times. That’s something that makes going all in special, connecting with that side of you that takes things less seriously in order to have some fun. Shira Goldstone and her husband took to that mindset when it started snowing in their backyard. Shira’s husband picked up planks of wood (and whatever other tools are required) and within the same night, in the falling snow, built a “snow-coaster” for the two of them to play on.
For Giving Tuesday, All In teamed up with Fresh Truck, a weekly mobile market that brings fresh and affordable produce to neighborhoods in the Boston area. Fresh truck hosts weekly markets, pop-up events, and an online storefront, all to help strengthen communities who need it the most. They’re going all in on local nutrition and food access, and we’re here for it.
I’m always all in on a good TikTok trend. This week, I’m going to share with you a classic that has come out of the Wicked franchise and the incredible actress Michelle Yeoh.
Michelle, who plays Madame Morrible in the Wicked movies, is an outstanding actress. She’s known for iconic films like Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, as well as Crazy Rich Asians and Star Trek. But her legacy might be this one quote, which she’s said in interviews countless times, and now people can’t stop making videos with the phrase “Madame Morrible, M.M…flip it around, W.W. Wicked Witch!”
You might have to take a look at how people are going all in yourself, the sound has taken off with already 14.3K videos, and the variations are unstoppable...defying all odds and maybe even...defying gravity?
TikTok · AleThere’s nothing better than finding a song that hits just right and gets you feeling productive. For some people, it’s lofi beats. For others, it’s orchestra music. For TikTok user @aleinmotion, it was the “coconut mall” song from the Mario Kart racing soundtrack. Ale never realized how much she listened to the song until it became #1 on her Spotify Wrapped. Sometimes you’ll be surprised by what you love most, and I’m thinking this is one of those moments for Ale.
This girl said her boyfriend had an ugly hat, so her family decided to go all in on supporting him instead. This is when love and humor come together, a perfect prank that actually made the boyfriends day…and taught his girlfriend that nothing is really that serious! They even got the daughter her very own hat as well, and she looked happy to wear it!
As someone who grew up with a dad who always wore floppy hats to protect him from the sun, I understand the embarrassment. Maybe it’s time I go all in and show my support with a matching hat and white long sleeve sun shirt!
Snag your free (!!) snack bar here while this deal lasts. Simply sign up with your phone number, pick up your favorite flavor of an All In bar at Sprouts, and then text a picture of your receipt through Aisle. They’ll Venmo or PayPal you back for the cost of one bar. Enjoy!
Autumn de Forest stands before a sign with her name on it
When Autumn de Forest was five years old, she picked up a paintbrush for the first time. It wasn't long before she was ready to show the world what she could do.
After a year of practice, the then-six-year-old asked her father if he could get her a booth at a local art-in-the-park program. "People would come up to the booth, and they would talk to my father, and they'd say, 'This is great!'" she said. "Apparently they thought it was Take Your Daughter to Work Day."
Almost everyone thought the artwork was her father's. When they found out that tiny Autumn was the artist, people couldn't believe their eyes.
Autumn created this piece when she was just 5 years old.Autumn de Forest
When Autumn was eight, she was featured on the Discovery Health Channel. There was a slew of media attention in the years that followed. There was Disney. There was The Today Show. There was Wendy Williams. She was called a child genius, a prodigy, and an expert painter.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Suddenly, Autumn de Forest was everywhere.
But not everyone was so accepting of the young artist and her work. Some people in the art world had...questions. Sure, she was good for a kid. But was her art actually good? Others wondered if the whole thing might be an elaborate hoax.
Autumn ignored her critics and kept painting.
Somehow, as the focus on her age began to wear off, Autumn's work ethic and art only grow stronger. She said that most days, she'd wake up in her parents' Las Vegas home at 7:30 a.m. After breakfast, she'd break out her supplies for a one- or two-hour painting session. From there, she dove into her school work. Most brick-and-mortar schools can't accommodate her travel schedule, so she did the majority of her schooling online.
Before dinner, it was back into the studio.
"That session can last much longer, that can be three or four hours when I really get into it," she said. "Then I probably have dinner and go to bed."
Autumn de Forest paints Autumn de Forest
Her work has been displayed in galleries and exhibitions all over the world.
An Autumn de Forest paintingAutumn de Forest
Autumn held a public demonstration before a showing at The Butler Institute of American Art.
The award took her to the Vatican for a private showing of her artwork with Pope Francis.
Autumn de Forest stands with the Pope who looks at one of her paintings Autumn de Forest
At 16, she also worked with the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, headed up by former First Lady Michelle Obama.
As part of the program, de Forest traveled to underprivileged schools around the country and led painting workshops. Oh, and if you're looking for some hard numbers to attach to Autumn's talent, she's got those, too.
Her paintings raked in over $7 million at auctions by the time she was a teenager—fetching as much as $25,000 each—much of which has gone directly to charities and disaster relief funds.
- YouTube youtu.be
The transition from child prodigy to respected artist has certainly kept her busy. In 2017, the Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center in Hendersonville, Tennessee hosted a major solo exhibition for de Forest titled "Her White Room: The Art of Autumn de Forest."
That same year, de Forest was listed as one of Teen Vogue's "21 Under 21." In her profile she was praised for her talent as well as her commitment to art education.
"In disadvantaged schools, they consider the arts an extracurricular activity," she told Teen Vogue. "It's devastating, as there could be child prodigies in these schools, but they don't know that they have this God-given gift because they're not given the opportunity because there's nearly no art programs in schools."
In 2018, de Forest was featured in the music video for the song "Youth" by best-selling recording artists Shawn Mendes and Khalid. The video highlights exceptional young people working to change the world, including de Forest, Emma González, and Elias and Zion Phoenix.
The video has over 88 million views on YouTube.
And of course, de Forest continues to share her absolutely incredible artwork on Instagram and in shows and exhibitions around the globe.
A portion of the foundation's money goes to a 529 account set up for the students while 10% goes to them directly.
"A lot of these kids that I work with, they're not very old, they're in second grade, third grade, fourth grade. Maybe in 10 years, they may only have four or five thousand dollars but that could be the difference between them going to college or not," Autumn told Teen Vogue.
Autumn's incredible rise in the art world is an astonishing feat for someone so young, but that accomplishment is easily matched by her generosity and commitment to helping develop tomorrow's prodigies as well.
De Forest's latest solo exhibition debuted in late August of this year, and ran through mi September at the Park West Soho Gallery. She now resides in Los Angeles according to her profile on the networking site, dot.cards.
For more information, visit her website.
This article originally appeared nine years ago. It has been updated.
It's estimated that only about 220,000 Holocaust survivors are still living. It's a number that's dwindling fast, rapidly accelerating every year. Sadly, in the coming years that number will eventually make its way to zero. When that day comes, it will be quite a loss for humanity. The stories and voices of those who lived through one of the worst atrocities imaginable are so important to our understanding of history. In fact, they've never been more important.
Nazi concentration caps were liberated 74 years ago, so a twenty year old who made it through the atrocity is now 94. Elihu Kover of Nazi Victim Services for Self-help Community Service spoke of the conditions many of these elderly survivors face as they advance in age at a Senate hearing in 2013.
"Holocaust survivors are growing older and frailer. … She may be coping with the loss of her spouse and have no family to speak of. In addition to the myriad problems associated with so-called 'normal aging,' many survivors have numerous physical and psychological problems directly attributable to their experiences during the Holocaust. … And many of these problems only surface in old age, having been hidden during their working years when the survivors struggled and made a new life for themselves as productive citizens of this country."
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of EuropeBy Alexander Blum - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
This sympathetic view of the tragedy isn't as popular in the Arab world where Holocaust denial is rampant and many cynically accuse the Jewish people of exploiting Western sympathy surrounding the tragedy to establish the State of Israel.
However, in 2019 two Arab men in Haifa, Israel made a beautiful show of respect to a Holocaust survivor who found their gesture "uplifting." And with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it's a powerful reminder that good people are everywhere.
Arab citizens make up about 20% of the population of Israel. The recent escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict has put added strain on the relationship between Jewish and Arab citizens. Some politicians have painted Arabs as enemies of Israel, or as terrorists or security threats. In turn, it's easy to see why some Arab citizens would be distrustful and guarded.
But not these men, who chose to see the humanity in their customer.
Simon and Salim Matari, who are brothers, were recently called to the home of Rosa Meir, 95, to fix a leak.
(Also, how cool is it to see another pair of brother plumbers getting some headlines?!)
Move over, Mario Brothers. Giphy
"When we got there, we saw there was a large blast of water and we started fixing it," Simon told the Times of Israel. "At some stage, while working, my brother Salim started to talk to Rosa about her life. She told us she's 95, a Holocaust survivor, and that she has a daughter."
"Her life story touched my heart," Simon continued. "At that moment, I decided I won't take a cent from her."
After the brothers finished their work, they gave Meir a bill that read: "Holocaust survivor, may you have health until 120, from Matari Simon and Matari Salim," adding that the cost of the service was "0 shekels." The service would have normally cost about $285 US.
"May you live until 120" is a Jewish blessing that carries the implication that the receiver live a happy and healthy life until the age of 120, which was when Moses is said to have died, his life "deemed perfect and complete."
When asked why he refused the payment, Simon said, "Money is important, but it’s not the most important. It’s important to be a human being.”
The gesture brought Meir to tears. "The brothers really surprised me," she said. "It was so moving and uplifting, and I thanked them a lot."
The brothers also told the woman that if she needed anything else they would be by to fix it for free.
If nothing else, Rosa Meir will be able to live out the rest of her days free of worry from leaks, drips, and broken faucets in her home. A small consolation, but the gesture touched the hearts of people far and wide. It's not the first time a big-hearted plumber has decided to waive his bill. A British plumber went viral several years back after fixing a 91-year-old's boiler for free. It just goes to show the power of a simple gesture for people who deserve our respect, admiration, and all the help we can give.
This article originally appeared six years ago. It has been updated.
"This thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it’s still going." 
UCI doctoral candidate Mya Le Thai has developed a nanowire-based technology that allows lithium-ion batteries to be recharged hundreds of thousands of times.
A quote widely attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca says, "Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity." In 2016, a doctoral candidate at the University of California Irvine proved that this is indeed the truth.
Nine years ago, Mya Le Thai, PhD was playing around in the lab when she made a colossal discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery—that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting appliances, laptops, smartphones, cars and so much more, plus fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.
A team of researchers at UCI had been experimenting with nanowires for potential use in batteries, but found that, over time, the thin fragile wires would break down and crack after too many charging cycles. A charge cycle is when a battery goes from completely full to completely empty and back to full again.
Phone charging.Canva Photos.
But one day on a whim, Thai coated a set of gold nanowires in manganese dioxide and a Plexiglas-like electrolyte gel.
"She started to cycle these gel capacitors, and that's when we got the surprise," said Reginald Penner, chair of the university's chemistry department. "She said, 'this thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it's still going.' She came back a few days later and said 'it's been cycling for 30,000 cycles.' That kept going on for a month."
This discovery is mind-blowing because the average laptop battery lasts 300 to 500 charge cycles. The nanobattery developed at UCI made it though 200,000 cycles in three months. That would extend the life of the average laptop battery by about 400 years. The rest of the device would have probably gone kaput decades before the battery, but the implications for a battery that lasts hundreds of years are pretty startling.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
“Mya was playing around, and she coated this whole thing with a very thin gel layer and started to cycle it,” Penner added. “She discovered that just by using this gel, she could cycle it hundreds of thousands of times without losing any capacity.”
“That was crazy,” he added, “because these things typically die in dramatic fashion after 5,000 or 6,000 or 7,000 cycles at most. ”"The big picture is that there may be a very simple way to stabilize nanowires of the type that we studied. If this turns out to be generally true, it would be a great advance for the community."
Not bad for just fooling around in the laboratory!
bill nye chemistry GIF by NETFLIX Giphy
Since her discovery, Mya Le Thai earned her PhD and has gone on to a successful career as the Principal Scientist with the Enevate Corporation, a company set "to develop innovative battery technologies that accelerate adoption of electrified mobility," according to their website.
She has also filed patents for her various inventions, the most recent of which being "Cells with blocking devices for delayed heat propagation" in July 2025. Her full list of patents can be found on Justia.
This article originally appeared eight years ago. It has been updated.
Not every woman can wait a half hour to handle a period issue.
There are a lot of men out there who shy away from discussing menstruation with women. But any man who's ever taken a class in basic human biology or had a mother, sister, wife, girlfriend or any other woman in their life should know the basics of how it works.
That's why a mother on the Mumsnet message board was completely "shocked" that her daughter's teacher told her to "hold in" her period. Does he think a woman can hold in her period like it's pee? (Spoiler: She can't. Different point of origin, different muscles, different biological process.)
Mumsnet is a UK website where parents come together to discuss anything from adoption to women's rights. This post appeared under the "Am I Being Unreasonable" thread.
"Hold it" is not an appropriate response to a teen getting her period.Screenshot via Mumsnet
According to the post, the 15-year-old's teacher prevented her from using the bathroom because he legitimately thinks women can hold back period blood. Or he knows a bit about biology but still decided to put her in the position to be mortally embarrassed.
The mother later said that the lessons last two hours so the girl had a long time to wait before being able to change her pad.
A few parents said that the teacher was correct to say no because students often lie about their periods to get out of class.
"It’s true - girls do use 'it’s my period' to get out. I’ve never had a period myself that would cause instant drowning in a half hour, I must admit," wrote one commenter.
We Tried To Not Leak On Our Period For A Week GIF by BuzzFeed Giphy
"Unless she is new to starting her periods then I would expect students to make use of time to change sanitary products," shared another. "Eg. Women know if we are a new pad every 2 hours or every 4 etc. Sadly, some girls do use having their period as some sort of get out of jail free card. I agree with him saying just wait half an hour. I think his phrasing was clumsy though."
Some women, however, shared that the nature of their periods would make waiting a half an hour potentially disastrous. Everyone's periods are different, and while some wouldn't have a problem even if it started out of the blue, some would.
"I used to have very sudden gushes and used to have to carry a change of clothes with me as no pad , no matter how super absorbent,would stop me flooding. Ever so embarrassing and very uncomfortable to have to sit and wait before going to clean yourself up. I'm very envious of the women on here who have never experienced it."
"This is ridiculous, I had undiagnosed endometriosis in high school and would have random clotting that meant I would immediately need to use the bathroom 
. If a male teacher said this I would be absolutely mortified, you should definitely complain!"
"Reminds me of when I was in Venice, I was on my period but use tampons. DH and I are walking down a canal and all of a sudden I look down and realise my crotch is bright red. Absolutely mortified. I must have flooded without realising and there was no hiding it. This was only 2 years ago so I still want to crawl into a hole when I think about it. Women can and do flood unexpectedly!!!"
Cramps and other discomfort are already hard enough to deal with when you have your period.Photo credit: Canva
Most parents thought the teacher did the wrong thing and needs a lesson in basic biology.
"I would be complaining, and I am not a complainer. There is so much wrong with that it's hard to know where to begin."
One poster was irate but completely right about the issue.
"Complain to high heaven! What if she'd leaked everywhere? I bet he'd have let her go to the toilet pretty sharpish. Hold it in? What a jerk!"
Another believes the daughter should have disobeyed the teacher and gone to the bathroom.
"In these situations (where teachers are being idiotic about the toilet rules) I would always tell my dd to just leave and go to the toilet, if she gets into trouble then so be it - I would back her up.
"Trying to deal with a period leak or a dodgy tummy it would be worse to not go to the loo and spend the rest of your school life remembered as 'that girl who leaked everywhere or shat herself' then nipping out of the classroom for 5 mins and maybe getting a detention."
One poster did a great job at re-framing the situation so that the teacher's actions seem even more ridiculous.
"Would it be ok to tell adults when they could or could not take action to stop themselves leaking blood?"
But the $50,000 question is: What subject does the instructor teach?
Hopefully it wasn't a biology teacher. Screenshot via Mumsnet
Bottom line: If a woman says she needs to use the bathroom for "girl reasons"—or any reason, for that matter—best to let her go and save you both some potential problems.
This story originally appeared five years ago and has been updated.
