+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
upworthy
Family

This teenage girl's story is proof that you're never too young for a heart screening.

True
Cigna 2017

In fall 2016, Kyli Penner was focused on school, standardized tests, her friends, and her dance team.

All photos courtesy of Kyli Penner, used with permission.

In the fall of 2016, her mom signed her up for a free heart screening through a local program called Play for Patrick.

“It was Halloween,” Kyli remembers. “I had a party that night, and I didn’t really want to take time out of my day to go do it. I didn’t think it was necessary.”

But Kyli’s mom was insistent — and it's a good thing she was. The screening would ultimately end up saving Kyli’s life.

Though she was just 15, Kyli had an atrial septal defect — basically, a hole in her heart.

At the Play for Patric screening, doctors discovered Kyli's heart was allowing oxygenated and deoxygenated blood to mix. If allowed to continue, it could become life-threatening. She would need surgery to close up the hole in her heart.

Thankfully, Kyli's condition was minor enough that it could be handled with a minimally invasive surgery. Doctors placed a small metal covering over the defect, and within weeks, Kyli was back to life as usual — dance team and all.

Though the process of finding and treating her condition was scary, Kyli is hugely grateful that she found out about it when she did.

“It’s crazy,” she says. “I didn’t want to go, and then going to this one thing that my mom dragged me to not only changed, but saved my life.”

Sometimes it can seem less overwhelming to ignore problems rather than face them — but for Kyli, getting her surgery when she did may have saved her life. “You don’t just plan to have heart surgery,” she says. “But it’s better to figure that out earlier and to do something about it.”

That's the exactly the point of Play for Patrick, which is the organization that provided the free screening drive that Kyli attended. Patrick Schoonover was 14 when he passed away suddenly from an undetected heart condition. Though his parents couldn't save him, they've dedicated their lives to making sure kids in the area, like Kyli, stay heart-healthy through preventive check-ups.

Now, Kyli's perspective has changed — she's all about preventive health care, and she's spreading her philosophy to her friends and family.

"It kinda gave me a 'why not?' philosophy," she says. "The hour I took out of my day ... was so worth adding years onto my life." Even her friends have adopted her mindset, inspired by Kyli to encourage their own families to get regular check-ups.

Ultimately, Kyli hopes her story moves more than just her own community to get the health care they need to prevent an emergency. "None of us likes to go to doctors' appointments," she says. "But we have to get out of that mindset and jump on opportunities for our health right now."

It can be a struggle to prioritize preventive health care, but Kyli's story shows that no one is above getting regular checks.

It can be easy to assume that if you're young or if you feel healthy, you don't need preventive care.

“As kids or as teenagers, we don’t really think that far ahead. We like to think in the now: what we have for homework, whether we’ll make a varsity sport or something,” Kyli says. “We think health issues are things we have to deal with as we age, but it’s not at all true.”

Kyli's story proves that, no matter how young or athletic someone is, everyone should prioritize preventive health care. It could end up saving your life.

Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
friendship
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.

Keep ReadingShow less
education
Education

In 125 years, millions of people have looked at this painting. No one really saw it until recently.

Van Gogh saw something it took scientists another 100 years to see.

Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Van Gogh’s Starry Night.



Van Gough never got to enjoy his own historic success as an artist (even though we've been able to imagine what that moment might have looked like). But it turns out that those of us who have appreciated his work have been missing out on some critical details for more than 100 years.

I'm not easily impressed, OK?

I know Van Gogh was a genius. If the point of this were "Van Gogh was a mad genius," I would not be sharing this with you.
Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Woman who lives on a cruise ship shares the hardest part about her perfect life

She's a little afraid to leave her cabin.

via Christine Kesteloo/TikTok and Cagri Gurbuz/Pexels

Christine Kesteloo has one big problem living on a cruise ship.

A lot of folks would love to trade lives with Christine Kesteloo. Her husband is the Chief Engineer on a cruise ship, so she gets to live on the boat pretty much for free as the “wife on board.” For Christine, life is a lot like living on a permanent vacation.

“I live on a cruise ship for half the year with my husband, and it's often as glamorous as it sounds,” she told Insider. “After all, I don't cook, clean, make my bed, do laundry or pay for food.“

Living an all-inclusive lifestyle seems like paradise, but it has some drawbacks. Having access to all-you-can-eat food all day long can really have an effect on one’s waistline. Kesteloo admits that living on a cruise ship takes a lot of self-discipline because the temptation is always right under her nose.

Keep ReadingShow less
cruise ships
Health

Women do better when they have a group of strong female friends, study finds

We're stronger together.

Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash

Women do better when they have female friends.

Madeleine Albright once said, "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." It turns out that might actually be a hell on Earth, because women just do better when they have other women to rely on, and there's research that backs it up.

A study published in the Harvard Business Review found that women who have a strong circle of friends are more likely to get executive positions with higher pay. "Women who were in the top quartile of centrality and had a female-dominated inner circle of 1-3 women landed leadership positions that were 2.5 times higher in authority and pay than those of their female peers lacking this combination," Brian Uzzi writes in the Harvard Business Review.

Part of the reason why women with strong women backing them up are more successful is because they can turn to their tribe for advice. Women have to face different challenges than men, such as unconscious bias, and being able to turn to other women who have had similar experiences can help you navigate a difficult situation. It's like having a road map for your goals.

Keep ReadingShow less
women
Pop Culture

Millennials nearing 40 are sharing their biggest mistakes so everyone can learn from them

Here are 21 of the most powerful responses.

via Pexels

Millennials are now old enough to seriously reflect on life.

It seems like only yesterday a millennial was a college kid that baby boomers chided for being entitled and Gen Xers thought were way too sincere and needed to learn how to take a joke. Today, the oldest millennials, those born around 1980, have hit their 40s and have lived long enough to have some serious regrets.

They also have enough experience to take some pride in decisions that, in hindsight, were the right moves.

The good news is that at 40 there is still plenty of time to learn from our successes and failures to set ourselves up for a great second half of life. These lessons are also valuable to the Gen Zers coming up who can avoid the pitfalls of the older generation.

A Reddit user who has since deleted their profile asked millennials nearing 40 “what were your biggest mistakes at this point in life?” and they received more than 2,200 responses. The biggest regrets these millennials have are being flippant about their health and not saving enough money when they were younger.

Keep ReadingShow less
millennials
Joy

Stop blaming the 'Karens.' The people who complain the most have a different name.

The stereotype has been wrong all along.

via Rickey123/Pixabay

A woman giving a stern warning.

Over the past few years, women named Karen have taken a lot of heat in the media. The term "Karen" has been used to describe a specific type of entitled, privileged and often middle-aged white woman. Typically, "Karen” is depicted as demanding, self-important and constantly seeking to escalate minor inconveniences to authority figures, like demanding to "speak to the manager."

Identifying the folks who create unnecessary drama in our world is important. But calling them a “Karen” isn’t the best way to solve the problem. There are many reasons to have an issue with the “Karen” stereotype. First, it’s terrible for people named Karen, and it’s also a connotation that many feel is racist, sexist and ageist.

Further, according to a new study by Trustpilot, the stereotype isn’t accurate. A recent survey by the online media site found that the people who leave the most one-star reviews aren’t female, and the women who do it the most aren’t named Karen.

Keep ReadingShow less
memes
Trending Stories