Op/Ed

Off to Costa Rica!

March 28, 2018 by Lydia Anderson Leave a Comment

MeyMey Seng

Staff Writer

Before going to Costa Rica with the International Cultures class, I was super nervous yet filled with excitement. The idea of traveling to another country to learn about their culture, language, and build relationships with the locals are just some of the factors that made me count down the days until the trip.

Although, I was nervous due to it being my first time on a plane, that I can recall. I was actually more worried about the connections that I would be able to make with my very limited Spanish, yet excited to try.

When landing in San Jose and looking out the window, that was when it hit me: I’m actually here! To see the view of mountains replacing the crowded buildings of Philadelphia put me in awe. It’s not just the view that was different but while walking out of the airport, the heat hit me, so I immediately took off my hoodie.

The large purpose of our trip is to both conduct a service project and an individual project that we are passionate towards. Going into the service project that was taken place in the Bribri community was a four hour bus ride to a river. Through the river we rode in canoes for an hour and a half to the specific section in the Bribri community: Yorkin.

Walking into the community was extremely beautiful with all of the family, plants, insects, and other animals that welcomed us. Being there opened my eyes to so many new things and took me out of my comfort zones. From things such as limiting our showers to five minutes made me realize how much water I typically waste on a day to day basis.

With this community, my initial nervousness dissipated. We were all welcomed by genuine smiles and warm eye contact. Since the community did not have electricity, everyone talked with one another, which should be considered the norm. Having a discussion with the rest of the girls, we realized that our phones and social media makes us distant from actually interacting with one another back at home.

When starting the service, we would dig trenches underground, and connect pipes that would support two families into getting running water to their homes. Even though we are not professionals at digging, the families worked with us and were patient. Despite my limited Spanish, I was able to make small conversations with the people in the community, exchanging laughter and smiles.

When hearing about the service project of digging trenches, I anticipated that it would require hard work, which it did. What’s incredible is that the people of the Bribri community do that hard work everyday and are very strong.

The day we left the Bribri community, I expected to be sad, but not as emotional as I did. When we left, hugs were exchanged to everyone, and I could not keep turning my head to look behind at the loving family waving us goodbye.

After leaving the Bribri community, we ventured back into the city where I did things that I never thought that I would be able to do. Except there, I have the team support from the team leaders Jordan and Emily from Rustic Pathways, teachers, and girls in conquering my fears.

Going to the beach and not being able to swim was a difficult thing for me. Even though I have gone to the beach before, it would consist of my mother, grandmother, sister, and I holding hands with a deadly grip, knee deep in. With the support of my group they taught me how to flow with the waves.

That was new for me and I never felt unsafe which is strange for me since I view deep water as dangerous. Along with them, we had two great surfing instructors who were patient and taught us how to surf. While falling off the board dozens of times and still hearing the support from my peers really encouraged me and I was able to ride the waves eight times, well out of about fifty.

The next fear that I had to face was heights when we went ziplining. I was so terrified that I did not think I would be able to do it. The ziplining instructor luckily went with me for the first round where I screamed as loud as my lungs would allow. For the rest of the course, my peers would support me and make me be one of the first to go and even though at the moment I was petrified, I really appreciated it at the end of the day.

On our last day in Costa Rica, creating that amazing bond with the Bribri community, my team leaders, teachers, and girls that I was able to travel with made me already feel nostalgic. Being able to support two families, doing the unimaginable, bonding with everyone, made it difficult to leave. Even though I missed home, I miss Costa Rica already.

Why I Didn’t Walk Out

March 28, 2018 by Lydia Anderson Leave a Comment

Jayla Wright and Eric Valenti

Staff Writers

I wish learning about the Florida shooting had been a shock. Instead, I felt an overwhelming sadness for the lives that were lost and numbness towards the current state of our country. At first, I had thought that this issue of gun control was never going to fix. I feared that the US would be stuck in an endless loop of discussions about the problem with no solutions actually being acted on. When I heard that the students that survived the Florida shooting were organizing walkouts and protests and saw the support from kids all over the country I had a mixture of pride and anger. I was proud of my generation’s awareness but also angry at the people in power who have the ability and resources to end this problem but refuse to. It’s ridiculous to me that children are the ones who have to pick up the slack from adults. The very same adults who promised us a bright future, while at the same time allowing events that can prevent kids to from even having a future to keep happening.

To me, the walkout seemed like a step in the right direction. Kids walking out of class and organizing discussions on how to end gun violence was needed to show that there are people who are taking responsibility towards ending this issue. I’ve often felt helpless when it came towards activism and that I was not doing enough to create a change. The walkout allowed me to hear from educated speakers and also become more aware of other ways I can prevent gun violence from happening and ignite change. At the end of the walkout, there was a sense of unity within SLA’s community and I was pleased with my generation’s ability to join together in a time of urgent action.

The walkout was only the start towards students demanding gun control in the US and I plan on supporting them every step of the way. I’m not sure what are the planned steps after the walkout is beside the March for Our Lives on the 24th. I think the next steps will be more public acts to get attention on the issue, discussions on gun control with those in power, and gradual changes were done to establishments’ relationships with firearms to make it harder for anyone to carry any guns.

School shootings are obviously a huge issue in the United States, and I believe that the walkout was an impactful form of protest against school shootings. Personally, I don’t have an issue with protests or walkouts, and I support the idea of a walkout, but I’m not very politically involved. I didn’t feel as informed as I should be about shootings in the country and felt it wasn’t right for me just to walk out because others are walking out. The week that the walkouts took place was a little bad timing for me personally because I had missed some class that week and I had to make it up.

The idea that someone can still break into a school with a gun concerns me. I’ve researched the Columbine High School shooting that took place in 1999, and I would’ve thought after an incident like that, that school shootings would never happen again. It wasn’t until the Florida shooting that I understood how often school shootings occur and why. People now believe school shooters all have some sort of mental disability and labeling people with disabilities as violent.

The walkout allowed for people to get politically involved with a topic that they can relate to because this is something that is going on in our communities. I feel an immense amount of empathy for the people who die in school shootings and I can’t imagine what it’s like to go through something like a school shooting. I believe that these walkouts may lead to some sort of solution those who are protesting. However, I still wonder what this walkout will accomplish. I understand that this walkout is meant to prevent gun violence and raise awareness about school shootings but this doesn’t ensure that shootings will stop. This is why I’m cautious about protests if there isn’t a clear solution I worry about if what your protesting is worth it.

Column: My Time at SLA’s Detention

March 13, 2018 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Jeremiah Butler

Staff Writer

I’m sure most students at SLA have been on the verge of having Saturday detention at least once. For me, I went beyond that verge and had my first detention during my freshman year. I was still managing my timing to get up at a reasonable time to get dressed, eat breakfast, get ready to leave out of the house and go to school. I realized only two of those things I could actually do and one of them would be shortened majorly, and those are: getting dressed and going to school.

Freshmen year I was so ready to take on high school and not be as late as I was in middle school. The latenesses of course wasn’t on purpose, but since my old school had no consequences added on to being late, it was a matter of me not realizing my lateness will affect me in the long run.

Enforcing this detention on a student’s saturday morning is a call for students to be more responsible.

SLA detentions are usually held on the third Saturday morning of every month from 9 a.m to 11 a.m. With detention you have to come on time, because if you don’t you will have to remake that detenion up even if your already there and late. Also, if you didn’t know before: detentions have to be done, if you don’t you won’t be able attend any prom. And who really wants that?

Once you’re there, make sure you sign in, otherwise you’re wasting your time. I almost made that mistake, and I would’ve regret it forever. I was under the impression that you just come to detention and sit there until your sentence was up. I was later informed what would be happening that detention by a teacher, which was a relief.

Later, we were all assigned one or more tasks, depending on the first task workload. Those task could range from meaningful, in the sense that you’re doing something for the school, and time consuming to easy and quick. You would be assigned a task like pick up all the trash on the 3rd and 5th floor or simply just sweep the floors where needed.

I would say present at this particular detention was a total of maybe twenty to twenty six people there. So, my task was to go around the 1st and 2nd floor looking for any holes, writing, stains, drawings or anything that wasn’t supposed to be on the walls. Then to report all the places I found in an email and send it to a teacher.

I was one of those who thought if I get this task done fast then the sooner I can leave. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Once you finish your task you tell a teacher, and then you wait until detention is dismissed and then leave.

If I knew that we couldn’t leave early I would’ve took my time with my task, just to preserve time so I wouldn’t be completely bored.

On the whole, I feel that detention has a good purpose. However, , the structure of it all could be better. Some task are more time consuming than others, which makes the rest of the time pointless. Letting students leave once their task is checked and done, would seem fair to students who need to serve their time in detention.

Column: How to Deal with Third Quarter Stress

March 9, 2018 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Lauren Nicolella

Staff Writer

As all students know, high school can be super stressful. I know that my amount of stress may not compare to others, but recently I have felt that I am stuck in some kind of weird rut, both mentally and emotionally. It’s gotten to a point where I break down and lose a significant amount of motivation to perform well in school.

This breakdown tends to happen for me in the third quarter due to the due to the rising workload. At SLA, students will do anything to be 100% on our work grind in order to finish benchmarks in a timely manner.

It’s not all bad news, though. I’ve been trying out different things that have allowed me to relax. Although some of these strategies are pretty self-explanatory, I think it’s good to be reminded of or learn about new tips on relaxing during stressful times. This is what I know works for me– but I can only hope that it can help at least one person out too.

Listening to music.

Music has become such a vital part of my life and I absolutely love diving into different genres and artists. There’s no better feeling than discovering someone new, and really putting your time and effort into focusing on what each song means and sounds like. A few months ago I was fortunate enough to get Spotify Premium, which opened up a whole new unlimited access to songs that I never had before. Some artists that have been able to help me relax have been Pink Floyd, Niall Horan, and Billie Eilish. Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon which has become one of my favorite albums so far this year. Spotify also provides a cool feature where curated playlists are created to give new musicians a broader audience, as well as new songs that may come out that you’ve probably never listened to before.

Having a paper planner.

I’ll be honest, it’s been tough for me to keep up with filling out my assignments in a planner each day, but it’s worth it in the long run. Coming to SLA had the benefit of being able to use one booklet that had a daily schedule in it, with each subject listed. If you are forgetful, coming home with a completed planner of a set amount of duties may save you if an assignment isn’t shown on Canvas. I’ve never done this, but you could also customize your planner in a way that you want, to make it more personal and interesting.

Using the reminder app on your phone.

This is quite simple, but it has definitely saved small things I had on my mind earlier in a day. It is especially useful when you did not have a chance to write your idea down somewhere, and it’s almost guaranteed that your phone is always with you. I constantly make reminders for myself to ask people questions. For example, last week I wanted to go out driving, so I made it a point to remind myself to ask my dad to go out, using the app. It is a couple of clicks away, and it has the potential to make a lot more things easier for you while you deal with stress and work that has been piling up.

Surrounding yourself with productive and supportive people.

It is crucial for people to realize that you need others who are willing to support you no matter what you are going through. Cutting out toxic friendships will be the most important decision you have ever made. There’s no point to add extra stress on your shoulders, and having someone there who can help you rather than hurt you is needed in stressful situations.Even though I do like my alone time to recover from being so social, encouragement and motivation from your friends and having positive energy flying around can be very uplifting.

This is just a small list of things that I think are the most essential when it comes down to dealing with school and stress. We as students have a massive amount of pressure, anxiety, worry, and difficulties daily. You name it, we’ve done it, we’ve been through it.

The Weaknesses – And Strengths – Of The Women’s March

February 16, 2018 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Kai Bradley Guitierrez De Teran

Seniors Emily Stephens and Ella Burrows pose in front of participants at the Women’s March on the Parkway. Photo courtesy of Emily Stephens.

Staff Writer

On Saturday, January 20, 2018, The Women’s March took place in Philadelphia as it did in many cities in the US and around the world.

The Women’s March was first started as an act of disobedience against President Donald Trump and his administration on the day of his inauguration 2017. The march set out to to bring attention to the sexism and misogyny present in this administration. This year, organizers created a repeat to make it clear that these problems had not gone away.

I attended the march with my mothers, father and exchange-student brother, and saw several of the speakers on the Ben Franklin Parkway, including Nedia Ralston, Governor Tom Wolf’s deputy chief of staff, and Salima Suswell, one of the march organizers . Throughout the speeches, I noticed a pattern. The speakers would have a solid speech and then start mentioning some other issues, such as the hurricane and relief effort, or lack of by the Trump Administration, in Puerto Rico, sexual assault in the military and the problems women soldiers and veterans face and healthcare. I think these issues were valid and are connected to feminism, the problem I saw was that the speakers would go on to forget or fail to mention the connection to the reason this march was occurring: Women’s Rights. I think leaving this out was a mistake because it didn’t enforce the purpose of the march as strongly as it should have.

At school the following week, I asked multiple students what they thought of the march themselves. Did the messages presented by the speakers hit the mark?

Senior Lukas Alexander Hoffman, an exchange student from Germany, said that he felt as if there were many ‘feminists’ who were using the march for other issues. While he believes that many of the issues are valid, such as how most of Puerto Rico was and has been left without power and water by the Trump Administration after it was hit by two hurricanes, he felt they were distractions from the main topic, which is the discrimination against women in this society, and divided the audience instead of uniting them.

Hoffman also said “There were people holding up signs between [connecting] feminism and veganism, or people [were] talking about Puerto Rico, and you can talk about those issues but overall they don’t have to do with feminism. And in times where we talk about women getting harassed, about women being able to confront their harassers, it’s not fair and it’s totally wrong to misuse the Women’s March as a platform for your own non-related agenda.”

There’s a term for what these speakers were attempting: intersectional feminism. According to a report in USA TODAY, intersectional feminism is taking into account the different types of discrimination that women, and everyone, faces because of there sex or gender and their race, class, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc.

I do believe that what is happening in Puerto Rico is a feminist issue because discrimination is occuring; poverty, lack of resources, etc. However, the problem is that the organizers and speakers did not effectively to relate it to Women’s Rights.

On the other hand, march attendee Paula Gutierrez de Teran Prado — better known as my mother — pointed out how conversations such as these, that may seem off-topic, only happen at marches about Women’s Rights.

“In the US, you would never go to a march against racism and hear a speaker, or one of the organizers, talk about the oppression that is specific to women. While both are important issues it’s important to differentiate and focus on the one problem that the march is about. They should talk about racism in this society but they need to relate it to how this affects women and girls specifically.”

Can intersectional feminism successfully take on politics as well? At the march, I felt it was wrong how many just anti-Trump signs there were because I wanted the march to explicitly advocate for Women’s Rights, not to compare Trump to Stalin or Hitler. As I looked around the march, at one point, I felt it was more anti-Trump than pro-Women’s Rights or about feminism. I found it quite ironic how a march for women’s rights and feminism ended up being so centered on a white, heterosexual, upper- class man.

Now, I want to make it should be clear that this is all coming from the perspective of a 15 year old young white man who was raised in a feminist household. And

However, I didn’t only have negative impressions the Women’s March. It was truly moving to see thousands of people come out on a Saturday morning with their signs to support women’s rights or be anti-Trump when they could be sleeping.

Senior Emily Stephens said that she went to the march because she felt it is an important movement and an important time to show support, “I feel like it was really important for women to come together and really support each other.”

Stephens also commented on the speakers saying she felt it was important to recognize those women who have been making many changes in their community.

Hoffman pointed out how it was very good and motivating to see so many people show up. While to him it was much smaller compared to marches in Germany, he thought it was very good for what he has seen and heard of marches the US.

The Women’s March as a whole was great a way to notice all the organization and momentum that has gone into the fight for equal rights.