Op/Ed

Staff Writer

Mo Kelly

From April 7th through the 14th, 10 students from Toruń, Poland came to Philadelphia to participate in the annual SLAmbassadors exchange program. The program runs between SLA and schools in two sister cities: Toruń and Frankfurt, Germany.  Early this year, I was chosen along with 9 of my classmates to be apart of the Poland program.

I got my partner match in January. Her name was Natalia. Our first contact was through Instagram, where we just talked about our basics likes/dislikes. We both had the same favorite show, and that was a great jumping off point where we could talk about that and other stuff. I thought of her as just a normal teenager and I couldnŕ wait to meet her in person.

The months leading up to when they came seemed like years. But finally, the big day came. The entire morning and afternoon was filled with me cleaning every square inch of my house and getting everything perfect for my guest.

Finally, it was time to pick them up from 30th street. I met all of the other students in the lobby and we were all so excited we couldn’t stand still. But of course, their bus was delayed from New York, so there was a lot more waiting to do. We eventually moved outside into the slightly cold air and waited for the bus to arrive. My friends and I  sang songs and did a couple of dances to pass the time. But then, we saw a bus come around the corner. It said “New York to Philadelphia.” It was their bus. People got out signs they had made and we begin to cheer. The bus pulls into the spot and we watched as people slowly came out and grabbed their luggage. Nobody could see any of our people yet. The bus began to empty and still, our people weren’t there. After 5 minutes of confusion, we realized that it wasn’t their bus. Another long while of waiting.

Finally, for real this time, their bus pulled in. They walked out of the bus and instantly ran to their partner. Natalia and I finally saw each other and we gave each other a big hug. I instantly felt comfortable with her, especially after talking with her for months beforehand. For some reason, I was surprised to hear her accent. After talking to her through Instagram, I forgot that she might have an accent. It threw me off at first, but soon I got used to it.

My parents were equally as excited as I was to meet her. But, they never talked to her like I did so they had no prior impression of her. They immediately asked her tons of questions about her family, her town, and much more. Just as I did, they found themselves comfortable with Natalia after a short period of time.

The next day, our Polish students came with us to school and shadowed us for the day. I got the chance to officially meet the other students and the two chaperones. Most of them said that they were surprised on how laid back all of the teachers were, even the teachers we thought were the strictest. They told us that in Poland, they weren’t allowed to take out their phones, talk to their friends and they never sat in table groups like us. I knew that there were schools like that in Philly, but it was interesting to hear the students talk their first-hand experiences with it. It gave me and many others a new perspective.

When we weren’t with our chaperones, we would try and find the fun “Philly things” for them to experience. The week was so full of things that we did with each other; a Phillies game, Macy’s, the Art Museum, Wawa, and so much more. The polish students had so much fun spring things for the first time and we had fun watching them experience it.

My favorite moments were when the entire group of students would go out and just walk through the city. I especially enjoyed talking to some of the students I haven’t really met before. One student talked to me about clothing, makeup, and our respective styles. These moments made me realize how similar we all were to each other. Most always assume that people from different countries have different cultures and are completely different than we are. But, that’s not true. There might be some differences, but we’re really just humans at the heart.

Staff Writer

Lauren Nicolella

I can’t believe how fast high school flew by! Being a part of the Journalism class since my sophomore year has opened up my eyes to the different information and perspectives on stories around the city and within our school. It’s been a ride with many highs and lows.

I would have never thought that I’d be interested in anything writing related, especially journalism and social media related. I pushed myself a lot within these years of being in the class because with the elective being only twice a week I had to figure out how to manage time. I’m definitely still trying to improve that, as I could especially relate my struggle to all of the senior year events and assignments that were constantly thrown at me.

Being able to obtain the title of Features editor and being able to run the SLA Media social media pages has been the highlight of my journalism class experience while getting insight on what others are creating. I love being able to get closer with some of the underclassmen, as there are not many people apart of the SLA Media crew in the first place so it makes it much more personal.

I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without the help of my English and Journalism teacher, Ms. Pahomov. I enjoyed her classes so much that I asked to be her senior assistant teacher because she made my English class experience much different than others I had been apart of before. She’s taught me tips and tricks about reading and writing that I will always remember, and made me feel uncomfortable with my writing in a way that helped me improve as soon as I stepped into her class sophomore year.

I hope that once SLA moves, our legacy is passed on to those who will join the class next year and future years to come. As a whole, we have produced amazing articles this year that have made high school more interesting and eye-opening. It’s amazing of how the inside of things were able to be shared freely and someone could choose to build upon ideas, and having that freedom of exploring a new topic or section is what made us powerful as a whole.

Farewell, SLA. It’s been a great four years of growing and I’ll only continue to do that.

Mo kelly Staff Writer

Like any a typical high school student does, I check my email fifty times a day. It used to be mostly empty, with the exception of a few spam emails. But, since sophomore year started, I’ve noticed an influx of emails from colleges. And I am not very happy about it.

At first, it was kind of exciting. It was cool that these colleges were contacting me. They must really like me, I thought. Then, I started talking to my classmates about it. Each one of them had been getting the same emails (and a few letters) from the same colleges. This made me pretty mad. Before, it felt personalized. Now, I  know that they just send the same cookie-cutter mold out to any student that they want.

Personally, I am planning to go to college. It’s actually something I look forward to. But, after watching both of my brothers go through the extremely stressful college application process, I don’t want to rush in to it. I want to enjoy high school while I still can, not wonder what I should major in. The contant college emails and letters distract me quite a bit from that.

Everyday, I get an average of 5 emails from college. They’re mostly from colleges I’ve never even heard of. Each one has the same intro: “We think a dedicated student like you should explore your potential,” or some form of that.

Occasionally, they break the mold. My personal favorite was from a primarily science based school. It began, “Curie, Edison, Newton…Kelly?” It did make me laugh a lot. If their aim was to grab my attention, it definitely worked. Although I do admit that I forget what school sent me that letter.

It’s not just college mail that has begun. Recently, in advisory we selected our courses for both junior and senior year. I’m barely halfway through sophomore year and I have to decide what science I want to take two years from now. I feel worse for the freshmen. The decisions I was making about my courses were mostly based off of what I thought would look good on college applications, instead of what I actually wanted to take.

Even my family has started asking questions. Almost every week my dad says the same thing. “This time next year you’ll start the college process.” Recently, I went to a gathering where every single one of my family members asked me where I was going to go for college and what I wanted to do when I grow up. Each one of them tried to not so subtly push their alma matter on to me. My Uncle Terry is gunning for me to go to University of Iowa because, of course, that’s where he went.  tried to answer with a simple “I don’t know,” but they kept pushing. It felt like I was trapped against a wall and they wouldn’t leave until I gave them the answer they wanted to hear. So, I just named the first college that came to my head, NYU, UCLA, or Penn. None of which I want to go to. Finally, they left me alone.

I know how stressful college can be. So, I’m not ready for it to begun just yet. But in the meantime, these emails just keep piling up. t. At least I have people to complain about it with. That makes it a little more bearable. It’s pretty great when I watch someone open their email and hear the obligatory groan as they delete all of the college emails. At least I don’t have to suffer alone.

I know I’ve complained a lot about these letters and emails, but now that I’ve accepted that they aren’t going to stop anytime soon. I have only one request for these colleges: just make them a little more interesting. Put a little humor in them! Maybe then, I’ll actually read them and maybe even want to go to your college. A little personality makes all the difference.

So colleges, one more thing: yes, I got your email, and no, I’m not going to respond.