0316 Alabaster Newsletter-WEB

Around Town
“I have learned that my
faith is part of who I am
and that it cannot be
compromised. “
write a play about our lives. In the act about my future
I wrote that I was working as an author for a Christian
journal. Perhaps having the opportunity to be published
in CRJ is the fulfillment of this dream. This process has
also helped me understand that when we work with the
primary goal of glorifying God, everything else will fall
into place. When I first started thinking about submitting
my thesis for publication, I thought that it would
be too expressly Christian for most outlets. However, I
have learned that my faith is part of who I am and that it
cannot be compromised. I am very glad that I discovered
that there are distinguished outlets like CRJ that specifically
seek work written from a Christian worldview.”
Vaughn’s piece, “The Embodiment of Heroism Manifest
in Christ,” will appear as a feature article in the May/
June issue of Christian Research Journal as the first ever
piece written and submitted by a high school student.
She will be compensated for her work, and she will have
this distinguished accomplishment with her always, perhaps
one day having her piece cited by a future student
who once imagined him- or herself as an author as part
of a 7th grade assignment.
-Bailey Vaughn
ECCS Senior
Residential Beautification
Award Winner
have perverted the term hero and thrown it around
so loosely in our society. In many cases, she says,
heroism is confused with what is actually celebrity.
In literature, this confusion is especially seen
with characters who are anti-heroes. Many of their
actions seem to be more villainous than heroic.
She asked herself where the line was drawn. Could
a character be such a perversion of the ideal that
he cannot be considered a hero anymore? Vaughn
said that she finally realized that all people, even
villains, can act heroically without actually being
heroes. Once she reached this realization, the distinction
became clearer.
As reported in a previous edition of The Alabaster
Connection, Vaughn tied with another student
for first place in the oral presentation of the senior
theses, a graduation requirement for Evangel
Classical Christian School. Her rhetoric teacher
knew that her work was outstanding and worthy
of publication but had been having a difficult time
finding an outlet for high school compositions that
exceeded 1200 words. About that time, according
to Vaughn’s teacher, an opportunity with Christian
Research Journal presented itself through a contact
she had on social media. It turned out that contact
was the managing editor of CRJ, and once she
heard a synopsis of Vaughn’s piece, she was interested
in reading the entire thesis. She felt the piece
would be a good fit as a feature literary apologetics
piece. From there, Vaughn began editing her nearly
7000-word thesis to meet the 3500-word maximum
and other requirements of the journal.
Concerning the publishing process, Vaughn said,
“I remember when I was in 7th grade we had to
30 cityofalabaster.com
455 Heathersage Road
Paul and Marilyn Coman, who reside at 455 Heathersage
Road are this month’s beautification winners. The Comans
are well liked neighbors and enjoy their community. They
take great pride in taking care of their home and yard.
It was with great delight that the Comans received this
award. When Mrs. Coman was informed of their award
she made sure to spend some extra time in the yard, just
because the weather was nice.