Inkwell | June 2018

Inkwell ANNIE WRIGHT UPPER SCHOOL

June 2018

The Investigative Issue

From the editor The Investigative Issue, Inkwell’s final print issue of this school year, illuminates a range of topics relevant to our local, national and global communities. Each article strives to incorporate multiple sources and elements of data journalism to tell these complex stories in clear ways. In the age of endless access to information, in-depth pieces are important to maintaining the discipline necessary to fully understand our world.

Articles in this issue were not assigned. Each staff member chose individual topics to investigate out of genuine interest, curiosity and passion. The diversity of topics chosen in this issue reflects the Inkwell staff’s ability to recognize and aptitude to explore the important stories of the communities in which we live.

These selections are each especially timely, too. Whether taking a stance on a controversial issue or examining the nuanced perspectives of a practice or culture, these articles courageously initiate conversations that are long overdue.

- Allison

Cover design by Nina Doody

Fitz, Editor-in-Chief

ANNIE WRIGHT UPPER SCHOOL

Inkwell JUNE 2018

827 North Tacoma Avenue Tacoma, WA 98403 inkwell@aw.org | 253-272-2216 Issue 3 | Volume 58

contents

EDITOR IN CHIEF Allison Fitz SENIOR EDITORS, STUDENT LIFE Nina Doody & Abby Givens SENIOR EDITOR, MULTIMEDIA Molly Bryant ARTS EDITOR Gabrielle Krieger NEWS EDITOR Maeve Hunt PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Jade Cheatham SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Julia Henning

Opinion: the media needs people of color Special Olympics comes to Seattle Annie Wright faces a religious crossroads Madame Gandhi inspires #NeverAgain sparks advocacy Detrimental effects of stress Life on base Visions of the North Korean peninsula

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SPORTS EDITOR Kaitlin Tan Inkwell aims to provide the Annie Wright community with dependable and engaging coverage of school, community and global topics. Timely articles of all genres are published weekly at anniewrightinkwell.org. In addition, three themed news magazines are published during the school year and distributed around campus.

Submissions of articles and photographs, correction requests and signed letters to the editor are most welcome. Please email the editors at inkwell@aw.org. All published submissions will receive credits and bylines. anniewrightinkwell.org

by Jade Cheatham

Opinion: lack of racial diversity in entertainment harms kids

Seeing a diverse spectrum of people represented in the media is inspiring.

There is, however, a lack of variety in on-screen entertainment, and this can have negative effects on youth and their development of self esteem.

I have always noticed a lack of people of color in on-screen media, and I have always had a problem with it. When I was younger, it confused me why others were able to see someone that resembled themselves on TV constantly but I couldn’t, unless it was some stereotype portraying people in a negative light.

I have never felt comfortable watching movies where African American people are portrayed in cliché roles such as thugs or convicts, because I know that most African Americans are not like that, and it is unfair to see them all as these characters. I believe these cliché roles have altered the way this group of people is perceived. Because of this stereotyping I had a hard time identifying with the shows that I watched when I was younger and even today.

Recently, however, I realized how powerful and uplifted I felt when I saw

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African American people on television playing dominant roles, rather than being portrayed in ways that we are not. Not only have I tried to immerse myself in television that shows my culture in a positive light, but also my parents felt that it was important to show me what I could be. Because of this, I have been brought up to realize the lack of different cultures in the media.

It is important for people realize the discrepancies in the media so that we can openly have conversations about it, without feeling uncomfortable talking about race. I have felt awkward talking about things that make me feel uncomfortable when I see them on TV which some people wouldn’t understand.

Statistically it is clear to see the problem with media. In on-screen media, people of color, including African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian and Middle Eastern represent 28.5% of all speaking characters on screen, although they comprise 37.9% of the United States population. From 1928 to 2015, 98.9% of actresses who won the Academy Award for best actress and 93.2% of actors

who have won the Academy Award for best actor were white. There seems to have been little effort to diversify entertainment media, and I believe that one of the main problems is that not many people have noticed.

"When I was younger, it confused me why others were able to see someone that resembled themselves on TV constantly, but I couldn’t."

So the question is: Why does this matter?

First, having a diverse range of people in the media has positive effects on youth.

It is true that people of color are getting roles, but they are very stereotypical ones which are neither advantageous to the actor nor to the people watching.

Stereotypes should not become the default to why someone is casted. Having more representation would help avoid stereotyping, which unfairly characterizes a group of people with a similar characteristic together, which often may not truly represent them.

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Another positive aspect to diversity in the media is that it includes different views and experiences that are often missed. Because everyone goes through different experiences, actors are able to portray parts in ways that reflect their experiences that others cannot. Without this the media is neglecting a point of view that is important. Everyone should have characters or images that they are able to relate to through not only race, but also experiences, because without equal representation people will feel like they aren't heard or seen. The most important outcome of media diversity is that it teaches self love. When a young girl sees someone like her as a doctor or a scientist, it plants of seed of hope and also possibility.

I was expecting. I thought that many people would be open to the question or learning about it, but many more people seemed closed off to talking about a topic related to race.

I talked to several people about the lack of diversity in on-screen media to see if it mattered to them. Surprisingly, I found that many people were unwilling to talk about this topic. There were two main reasons. Some people honestly never thought about it, while others felt uncomfortable by the questions that I asked and openly said that they didn’t care about it. This was not what

The most open people to the topic were children of color, because similar to me, they think about it a lot. During my investigation I got many answers about how the media is directed to a certain group of people, and including people of color would just disturb the norm.

This discomfort is common for people who do not have to think about race, but on the other hand there are people like me who think about it all the time.

There were people who were open to talking about race despite the fact that they have never thought about it before and were willing to listen and be openminded. Having conversations about race, even though it is uncomfortable, was beneficial to me because others were open to hearing my perspective and could relate it to themselves as well.

the media, because everything is catered around a certain group of people, and they don’t want to see us.”

I also got a lot of answers from children who said they look up to the people they see in the media and can easily relate to them. A young girl said, “When I see someone that looks like me in the movies I watch, it makes me feel like I could be in a movie too.”

Similar to me, the children felt important having someone like themselves in the media, because they felt heard and seen.

My main takeaway from this experience is seeing the importance of representation of people of color in the media, especially for a younger audience.

Conversations about race like the ones I had should happen more often, so that people are more comfortable when they do come up. Race is not something that we can avoid, and neither are racial injustices. It is essential that the media represents all cultures and teaches self love, so that everyone feels important.

A young African American boy said, “There are not many people of color in

The percentages of Black, Hispanic, Asian and other characters in media entertainment has not increased in the last ten years.

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Special Olympics USA comes to Seattle

Coach shares her perspective on benefits and controversies

by Maeve Hunt

Angela Martin, a Special Olympics athlete, celebrates after a successful 50m fly. Photos courtesy Leslie Kinkade

The Special Olympics USA Games, with more than 4,000 athletes and coaches from around the country competing in 14 sports, are coming to Seattle July 1-6. Rule changes at regional and state competitions, however, as well as a debate about the benefits of segregating people with intellectual disabilities to their own athletics event, have caused controversy.

Leslie Kinkade, a sibling and coach of Special Olympics athletes, shared her insights on the controversies and how

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they affect the athletes. Kinkade grew up with the Special Olympics. Her sister, a Special Olympics athlete, inspired her be an active part of the games. She has coached the Special Olympics USA ski team for the past 20 years and swimming for the past eight years.

She said her favorite part about being involved with the games is maximizing the time she spends with her sister and helping her and her friends reach their potential as athletes. “You spend a lot of time with these people and they become

your friends,” she said. “The social aspect and love shared is priceless. It is such an amazing experience.”

According to Kinkade, the mission of the Special Olympics is to provide the athletes the opportunity to compete, train and reach for their athletic goals.

The actual motto for the Special Olympics is, “Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." In addition the Special Olympics gives athletes the opportunity to compete on a large stage.

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THE RULES This past year the Special Olympics Organization tried to implement rules for winter events that have been in place for a long time in some areas around the country but have never been in Washington. Kinkade said she believed they tried to implement these new rules without sufficient communication, which was frustrating for many athletes and their families.

The new rule states that only an athlete who received a gold medal in regionals would move on to the state games. “This would mean that fewer athletes would have the chance to go to state, and all the training and work that the athletes put in leading up to the competitions was for nothing if they didn’t get gold, because they would only compete once and then their season would be over,” she said.

“In years past the state competition has been a huge celebration with festivities, but it was all going to be taken away without anyone knowing about it, because the organization did not make it clear to anyone what the rule changes were and how they were going to be implemented,” she continued. “Instead they just applied it without thought.

Fortunately they held the changes back

until next year. My concern is that the focus has gone away from athletes and now only focuses on sponsorships and the most elite athletes.”

situations, pool sizes vary, and relay formats may be changed at the last minute, so some athletes are disqualified even if they were not trying to cheat.

The Special Olympics organization also decided to bringing back a rule for the swim competitions known as the "15% rule," which required swim coaches to submit their athletes’ regular time for whatever race they planned to compete in. Then on the day of the race, the athletes are disqualified if they swim more than 15% faster.

After much dissatisfaction with the new rule, officials have increased the threshold to 30%. “One thing of concern, as someone who is a parent, sibling, friend, family member and community member, is trying to get to the heart of why they are doing all of this when they haven’t in the past,” said Kinkade. "One is left only to guess that it’s budgetary, increased demand of athletes, or even rumors have arose that Boeing has scaled back their amount of volunteerism so supposedly there might be a shortage of volunteers. The worst part about it is that we are left to guess. There still doesn’t seem to be a commitment to communication as to what's going on with the changes.”

The rule is meant to address unfair placement in the divisions. In past years the organization claimed athletes would swim below their ability at a qualifying competition to get into an easier division, then swim to their fullest potential and win. According the Special Olympics Washington, “We introduced a ‘maximum effort’ rule used throughout Special Olympics so as to help improve qualification scores submitted prior to competitions. This helps us place athletes in competition divisions where each athlete competes against athletes of similar abilities.”

The problem with this new rule is that athletes often swim faster in competitive

“Having this be inclusive instead of exclusive is important,” she continued. “I would say that it becomes compromised when they start only advancing the elite athletes to the high level competitions.”

These rules have either been modified or delayed. The future of the games for next year, however, remains unclear.

Volunteer at the Special Olympics The Special Olympics USA Games are always looking for volunteers to help make the games a success. If you would like more information about volunteering at the Special Olympics this summer, contact the Washington Special Olympics office at info@sowa.org or 206-362-4949. For more information visit their website at specialolympicswashington.org.

Leslie Kinkade and her sister Angela Martin are all smiles after competing in a unified ski race.

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A Short History The Special Olympics started 50 years ago after Eunice Kennedy Shriver, President John F Kennedy's sister, took a look at society and realized how unfairly people with intellectual disabilities were being treated. Among the injustices she noticed how young children with disabilities had no place to play and be themselves. Her observations inspired her to launch the programs that would eventually turn into the Special Olympics.

SEGREGATION VS. UNIFICATION Another controversial aspect of the Special Olympics is whether or not the event actually benefits those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Some say the Special Olympics segregates these athletes from others.

Kinkade provided an interesting perspective. “I think there is a place for both segregation and unification,” she said. “I think for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities there is a community that is created, and they have tried to promote a lot the concept of unified sports.”

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She explained that on her ski team, she races with her sister. This means she and her sister both get timed, and these are combined for a unified score. She also mentioned that for high-functioning and talented athletes there are many opportunities to compete in schools and in recreational sports.

“I really believe in the unified sports movement, the idea of pairing people together,” said Kinkade. “I'm a big believer in all of us having the opportunity of having a relationship with someone with a developmental disability.”

Shriver started with summer camp for young people with disabilities in her backyard in 1962. Back then it was called “Camp Shriver,” and campers ranged in age from six to sixteen. She wanted to give them the opportunity to explore sports and realize what they could do instead of dwell on what held them back. The camp grew throughout the 1960s, becoming an annual program, and it was replicated in other parts of the country.

Six years later in early 1968, Shriver had the idea to start “Olympic” games for children with intellectual disabilities. On July 20, 1968, the first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago. In this first set of games, over 200 events were offered, some of which included broad jump, high jump, softball throw, 100-yard swim and 50-yard dash. Soon after Special Olympics, Inc. was formed, with a board of directors to plan and regulate the games, ensuring the event for years to come.

After the Special Olympics was made official, the movement grew not only nationally, but by the 1980s it had become a global movement.

Today over 4.9 million athletes participate in the events each year.

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Annie Wright faces a religious crossroads

article and photos by Allison Fitz

The role of religion at Annie Wright has evolved since its founding as an Episcopal seminary for girls in 1884 to provide a “Christian education for the rising generation of daughters of the pioneers."

Several recent changes in particular, however, have sparked renewed questions over the complex relationship between Annie Wright’s Episcopal history and its present-day commitment to diversity and inclusivity.

The original vision of a “Christian education” remained at Annie Wright throughout the 1960s. At the time, the school taught required comparative religion classes. Students attended mandatory chapel services once or twice a day. Every Sunday, all boarding students attended services at a local church.

After that, however, the school’s religious values began to change. The 1973 renaming of Annie Wright Seminary to Annie Wright School most clearly demonstrates this change. By the early 1980s, chapel was no longer a daily requirement. While today the school’s historic connection to the Church remains – Annie Wright is a member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, and all-school and division based chapels both convene once a week – Annie Wright has also moved significantly away from the religious practices of its inception. No official religious classes are offered, and the content and rituals of each 30 minute chapel service vary by day and age.

Last year, longtime Annie Wright administrator and chaplain Jack Fallat retired. Somewhat out of happenstance, Annie Wright began this 2017-18 school year in an unprecedented situation: without a chaplain. Director of Middle School Bill Hulseman and Director of

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Business Development Rex Bates both stepped in to temporarily fill this role.

This transitional period promoted reevaluation of Annie Wright’s religious values, practices and affiliations by the Board of Trustees, administration, faculty, students and alumni.

AN EPISCOPAL TRADITION Sixty years ago, Chapel programming made no effort to accommodate any religions besides Christianity. Marjorie Oda-Burns attended Annie Wright as a boarding student from Hawaii 19631966, in grades 10-12. She remembers the particular routines of each chapel service, which would run every morning and evening except Fridays, which was just morning. Attendance for all services was mandatory.

For each morning chapel, students in grades K-12 would assemble in study hall at 8:25, and at 8:30 they would all file in to the chapel according to height and grade. Leading the processional would be a crucifer, a church flag bearer, a United States flag bearer and a Canadian flag bearer. The choir, whose membership was by competitive audition only, would then follow. The full time chaplain would lead songs, either as hymns or from the prayer book.

Evening chapel, according to Oda-Burns, was more “relaxed.” For 20 minutes after study hall but before dinner, boarding students would again congregate in the chapel; this time they would listen to a “meditative text,” usually led by a senior class member.

Hymnals line the pews in the Annie Wright chapel. Several times this school year, services began with singing of a hymn.

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Acolytes, including a crucifer, the United States flag bearer, the United Nations flag bearer, the Annie Wright flag bearer and the church flag bearer, still process into the chapel. During the processional, students and faculty usually sing the alma mater, but sometimes Hulseman or Bates select a hymn or a Bible reading to begin the service.

According to Hulseman, “Chapel is a prime ritual in our community...At least for a moment, we’re all hearing the same thing as a community. We are sharing that space, and not every school does that,” he said. “Rituals should motivate you, or open your eyes to a new perspective.”

Hulseman said he intends “to acknowledge and celebrate that Episcopal history and engage the community, fully recognizing the diverse identities and perspectives that make us up today.”

Every Wednesday, Episcopalian students attended a 7:00 am mass led by the chaplain. On Sundays, all 100 boarding students, regardless of their faiths, would don white gloves, dresses and heels and walk nearly a mile in a “caterpillar line” to Christ Church on North K Street for services. They would then return to a formal Sunday lunch, usually roast beef or ham.

“I was a Buddhist at the time, and chapel wasn’t awkward for me...it wasn’t right or wrong, just different,” she said.

“I enjoyed the quiet time.” She continued, “There were some Jewish girls for which attending these [services] was very, very difficult. Some of them did revolt, and I don’t blame them.”

Since then, Annie Wright’s chapel services have toned down their religious structure, but many aspects still remain.

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During this year of transition, the Board of Trustees is charged with defining Annie Wright’s religious identity. “When the board articulates that vision of who we are as a community and how the religious identity plays into that, then the administration and the faculty now figure out how that translates into our programming,” said Hulseman. In the meantime, he intends “to acknowledge and celebrate that Episcopalian history and engage the community, fully recognizing the diverse identities and perspectives that make us up today.”

One way to honor that Episcopalian past is to sing hymns. Hulseman commented that singing hymns could serve as a reflection of the two overtly religious ceremonies at Annie Wright: Lessons and Carols and Commencement (graduation).

“The first time you hear [that hymn] shouldn’t be at graduation,” he said.

Singing hymns like “Joyful, Joyful” or “Morning Has Broken” in the chapel is an attempt to make a consistent preparation for these culminating moments of the student experience at Annie Wright.

The Board ultimately dictates the overall programming aspects, which include religion, of these events. “If the format of graduation changes, then we look at what would be consistent throughout the year in terms of preparing for those peak moments,” Hulseman said.

STUDENT PERSPECTIVES These religious undertones of chapel have sparked a range of reactions among Upper School students.

Class of '18 student and five-day boarder Harmeet Dhami is Sikh. She said that she believes the use of chapel may sometimes “elevate the voices of those who are Christian,” and while she acknowledges efforts made by the school to represent her religion, she said that at times these efforts “can feel like more of a time filler rather than actual interest.”

Dhami led the Indian Culture Club, whose membership is open to all Upper School students. Over the past three years, the club has mainly celebrated two Hindu and Sikh holidays: Diwali and Holi. Dhami pointed out some challenges. “It is very hard to find the resources to celebrate holidays when you are away from home,” she said.

Attending Annie Wright since PreKindergarten, Sophie Rockne offers a different perspective. In Lower School, Rockne remembers learning about the histories of different sects through the animated show “VeggieTales.” Today, she observed that more religions are discussed in an “informative way” during chapels than when she was younger. “It made sense to gradually become more religious as students get older,” she said.

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Sophomore Natalie Doelman is Christian and attended a Christian elementary and middle school prior to Annie Wright. Next year, she will transfer to Jesuit Bellarmine Preparatory School. “I love Annie Wright, but a piece of me is missing, and that is the religious aspect of school,” she said.

She also said she feels ready to make religion more of an “academic priority.”

Despite her desire for a Christian education, Doelman said she finds the singing of Christian hymns in chapel inappropriate. First, if the school is committed to incorporating religion into student life, she would like the school to focus on a wide variety of religions, rather than just one. Her main issue with the singing, though, is that she believes it is inconsistent with the school’s marketing. “If Annie Wright is going to sell itself as a non-religious school, then it shouldn’t have religion in its programming,” she said.

Some students believe that Annie Wright’s messaging about the role of religion does sometimes conflict with its actual religious practices. According to the school’s website, “The intention in Chapel is to give religious and moral education, not to practice religion,” but for many, singing hymns and listening to Bible readings leans more toward practice than education.

During tours with prospective students, tour guides state that the chapel is used as a community gathering space rather than a religious one. They mention Lessons and Carols, but convey the idea that Annie Wright, though founded as a seminary, has no formal relationship with the church.

PRESERVING RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS Annie Wright still continues two distinctively Christian-based traditions: Lessons and Carols and Commencement.

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The Lessons and Carols service takes place in mid December. Middle and Upper School students read the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus. An Episcopal priest says a prayer. Audience members sing songs including “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.” While student attendance is mandatory for this event, students may be excused if so desired.

The Annie Wright Commencement ceremony takes place in the chapel, and, although not a Christian service, it does have “religious undertones,” Bates said.

Commencement has undergone two major changes regarding its religious aspects. Historically, the Bishop had been present to hand out the diplomas. In 2009, in order to accommodate for IB testing, May Day and Commencement were moved to the same weekend, pushing Commencement to a Sunday.

As the Bishop has fixed responsibilities on Sundays, his presence was no longer possible. This change was logistical.

In her 1966 graduation, despite her Buddhist beliefs, Oda-Burns received a signed Bible as a gift, which she thought was “appropriate” for attending an Episcopal school.

To leave the school’s religious history in the past would be “denying the foundations of the school,” Oda-Burns said. “It’d be sad to lose the religious tradition because it’s good to learn from a deeply entrenched perspective, rather than from a superficial perspective...

While teaching religion would be important, having an Anglican based chapel is also important.”

And to her, chapel is a “sacred place,” one that should be used for spiritual matters.

“I think the gym is a better place for an assembly,” she said.

The Bishop “anxiously hopes to retain a connection to the school,” Bates said.

If graduation were on a Saturday, the Bishop would attend. From a practical point of view, the school does not receive funding or support from the Church.

Bates does, however, believe it important to recognize the school’s long history and continued connection to the Church.

Last year's graduation ceremony also marked a change in ritual: the removal of the cross from the diploma. This change happened for two reasons, according to Bates. One was aesthetic. The diplomas looked “cleaner” without the cross.

The second was out of respect for the religious identities of the graduating class. When given the choice of receiving a necklace charm or a cross on May Day, 80-90% of the senior chose the charm.

Stained-glass windows line the walls of the chapel. Some depict religious scenes; others do not.

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To preserve and further educate about this history, Oda-Burns suggested that Annie Wright offer an educational comparative religion course to its students. During her time at Annie Wright, she took required religious studies classes, which were taught twice a week by the chaplain. The curriculum included the Old and New Testaments, church history, and how the church deals with social issues.

Hot topics at the time included the intersection between science and religion. “A lot of kids didn’t like it, but I more saw the class as an intellectual adventure,” Oda-Burns said.

“It doesn’t have to be Christianity based,” she said of the class Annie Wright might offer today. “I think it would be of interest to all of us to learn about the different religions, how two people of different perspectives approach the same issues.”

THE FUTURE Next year Hulseman will assume a new administrative position: Director of

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Academic Affairs. School chaplain will be one of his responsibilities. He has already announced his intention to redesign the acolyte program to further involve student voices in the planning and implementation of chapels. He’d like to make chapels more student-centered “as the rest of the school strives to be,” he said.

The Board of Trustees is ultimately responsible for creating a vision of the future of religion at Annie Wright. The school’s administration and faculty will then shape daily programming around this vision.

Last year a task force was called “to assess current chaplain practices and think boldly about a future of inclusiveness, across borders of spiritual doctrine,” said Cathy Close, who heads the committee. Close, who has been on the Board for four years and focuses mostly on the school’s educational programs, has a doctorate in theology and ministry.

According to Close, after “intense” interviews with former chaplains, faculty members and board members with special interests, the committee made several recommendations about the school’s religious future:

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Update chapel to include all faiths, denominations, even nonbelief.

2. Eliminate the antiquated hymns

and replace with universal, albeit secular music.

3. Include coursework in world religions.

4. Make available the chaplain to

students on a regular basis to deal with spiritual matters.

5. Maintain a connection to the

historical roots of the Episcopal Church, but make some connections inclusive to all.

This vision from the board invites change.

As the needs of the student body evolve, so must the school which supports it.

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Madame Gandhi inspires

by Abby Givens Madame Gandhi is the stage name of Kiran Gandhi, a drummer and feminist activist, who came to speak to Annie Wright Upper School girls on April 27 during activity time after school. Her mission is to “elevate and celebrate the female voice.”

Gandhi attended Georgetown University with the Upper School History and Global Politics teacher Katherine Everitt, who had invited her to come and speak.

Several students said they left the talk inspired by Gandhi’s personality and confidence. Sophomore Nina Ye said the talk inspired self-confidence. “The belief that you have in yourself is just so important, and even though she has had her down times, like she told us, she always found a way to bounce back. I think that resilience is really important."

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Junior Katye Mayora also appreciated Gandhi's confidence and said she felt that she embodied that at a Model United Nations conference the day following Gandhi's talk. “I had the spirit of Madame Gandhi with me,” she said. “I felt very confident stepping into that conference.”

Everitt observed a correlation between the way Gandhi “used her online platform to spread an interesting message and was able to go viral in a way that was very positive” to the topic of globalization in her IB Global Politics class.

Gandhi started off her talk by describing herself in middle school.

She said she didn’t feel as though she fit in. At a summer camp between sixth and seventh grades, however, she found the drums, “I had so much confidence from being excited and joyful about this new skill set in my

life,” she said. “When you have a passion for something, what other people think doesn’t really matter.”

This is a component of her broader guidance to “diversify your source of happiness,” the idea of validating yourself through investing your time and energy into developing a skill set.

When Gandhi went to Georgetown University, she began to recognize situations that didn’t make her feel good, such as parties dependent on alcohol and male interactions she didn’t feel comfortable with, so she worked to put herself into ones that did make her feel good. She made an effort to seek bars and music venues that played Afrobeat and soulful reggae, music she genuinely enjoyed. She then asked to play with the musicians and eventually became known as a drummer and percussionist in the DC area.

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During her last year of college she went to Los Angeles as part of a spring break program at Georgetown. There she met an executive at the major record label Interscope Records where she “hustled” and got an internship as a data analyst.

Although the position previously didn’t exist, Gandhi’s persuasion as well as her strength in math and understanding of social media influenced the woman to make her position into a full time job.

After working at Interscope for two years, Gandhi “started dialing into [her] own jealousy.” Jealousy, she says, “is a unique emotion that can show you what you want in your own life.”

This understanding pushed her to advocate for herself and play drums on tour for the musician M.I.A., while simultaneously getting her MBA at Harvard. She spent weekdays in Boston taking classes and weekends drumming around the world. “When you are passionate about something, you have to just go for it,” she said. “You have to just shut out the noise and focus and do it.”

During this same period, she starting running. On the day of the London marathon that she had trained for, Gandhi got her period. After weighing

Lyrics from “The Future is Female” To me, “The Future is female” means that no longer will female qualities be subordinated to male qualities I want to live in a world that is collaborative A world that is emotionally intelligent A world in which we are linked and not ranked!

the downsides and possible dangers of wearing either a tampon or pad, she decided to “free bleed” through her run.

This decision, “wasn’t me advocating for free-bleeding; it was me advocating for us as women, as people who bleed, to be able to do what is right for our body in the moment,” she said.

This decision brought her media attention across the globe. The BBC, The New York Times and several other media organizations in a range of countries republished a blog piece she posted on her Facebook page and subsequently policymic.com.

Gandhi used the media spotlight to spread her message, which can be summarized in the phrase “the future is

female.” She described it as recognizing that “the world is a better place when each person is provided with the environment they need to embody, whatever identity they chose to be.”

“In a future that is female, we believe that we have just as much to learn from the contributions of women and nongender conforming identities as much as we have to learn from men,” she said. “We say ‘the future is female’ as a call to action to remember that we have so much to learn from those whom have been typically underestimated in a cis, heteronormative, caucasian-led, patriarchal system.”

Ghandi spreads this message through her music, for example her song “The Future is Female,” and at events in venues around the world, including the White House.

Of her own journey, and for others on their own journeys, Gandhi said, “The best thing you can do for yourself is really take time alone to think about what makes me happy. When do I feel like the best version of myself? How do I continue to put myself in those situations? When do I feel confident?

What makes me have that confidence?”

Kiran Gandhi, donning her favorite color, speaks to Upper School girls in April.

Photos by Julia Henning

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The #NeverAgain movement

5 perspectives of March for Our Lives and student activism

PERSPECTIVE 1: A budding activist Last February, our Inkwell news team watched a video of a student in the Parkland shooting. That day sparked my activism for gun control. In the days before the national student walkout on March 14, I was really upset over Congress’s inability to act. I ended up writing an online opinion piece for Inkwell about both the polarizing gun control issue and my pride in young people taking a stand. Two days before the walkout, I wrote a spoken word poem that was quoted on the front page of the Tacoma Weekly newspaper. From there, I knew I wasn’t going to stop. I planned to attend the March for Our Lives (M4OL) event in Seattle on March 24, but ultimately stayed more local and attended the M4OL in Tacoma. I am lucky I did. Hearing speeches from local students who are now my colleagues that

day inspired me to reach out and ask for help in organizing a Tacoma Town Hall.

I contacted Kyungmin Yook, one of the Tacoma M4OL organizers, and we jumped right into planning.

The process was quite difficult. We had a lot of trouble finding politicians that would be available and willing to talk to the community, and we also had a hard time spreading the word to other people, and we only had about a week and a half to organize it.

We started by calling and emailing the three congressmen from the three congressional districts that cover Tacoma.

We chose Derek Kilmer (WA-6), Adam Smith (WA-9) and Denny Heck (WA10). We ended up realizing that those three would not be enough, so we called

by Julia Henning several other local politicians. Kilmer was the first to get back to us with a yes. We also got confirmation from Denny Heck’s legislative assistant that he would be able to say a statement on Heck’s behalf because Heck wouldn’t be able to make it. In the two days leading up to the Town Hall, we finally got a yes from both Jake Fey and Laurie Jinkins, representatives in Washington state. We ended up with a great three person panel.

The day of the Town Hall, at Mason United Methodist Church in Tacoma’s Proctor District on April 7, was really nerve-racking. We got to the church two or three hours in advance to set up, but we ended up with time on our hands, so we walked over to the farmers market and spread the word to shoppers.

Introducing the Tacoma Town Hall, (from left) Kyungmin Yook and myself, with State Representative Laurie Jinkins, US Representative Derek Kilmer and State Representative Jake Fey. Photo by Lisa Isenman.

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We started the Town Hall with prepared questions for the panel from local students. This segment went very smoothly, taking up about an hour and 15 minutes. We then opened up the floor for audience questions. There are about five men that stood up asking for the microphone, and when we gave it to them, we found that they did not come to just ask a question.

Each of these men made it clear that they believed that any further measures for gun control would take away their rights as Americans. While the point of this segment of the Town Hall was for

the community to ask questions, the men used this as a platform for gun rights, with angry accusations against the politicians and even students. I would not have a problem if they came to join in the discussion, but they were not asking questions. There was a lot of yelling, and as the student moderators, Kyungmin and I were responsible for cooling down the situation. I was really scared, especially because one of the men said he carried a gun, but Kyungmin calmly stepped in told everyone to cool down and walk away if they didn't have any questions. I was so grateful that I had help in that moment.

From this Town Hall, however, came great things. I helped form the Students Demand Action Pierce County group, and I have also learned a lot about myself and my work.

If I was going to change anything for next time I would make sure to not open up the floor to random questions. It is not that I have a problem with questions from people with diverse viewpoints; it was their hostility and disrespect by not conforming to the format. Kyungmin and I had worked hard to set up the event, and it was disappointing to see it include hatred and intolerance.

PERSPECTIVE 2: Tacoma Student Organizers The group who organized the Tacoma M4OL formed from students throughout Pierce County coming together through social media. “We had about five meetings and we broke into different committees to get work done,” said Rita Tumbusch, a first year student at Tacoma’s Science and Math Institute (SAMI). “We had a lot of things to do in a short amount of time.” The group knew they wanted to organize the march on the same day as the national march in DC, March 24. They spread the word through Facebook and Twitter.

Kyungmin Yook described the process of planning speeches. “They said that if you’re a student speaker, you can submit your speech to an email and they would

read it and ask you to edit your speech for clarity and stuff like that,” she said.

“So I submitted my speech and they chose mine.” Yook delivered her speech at People’s Park at 10:00 am in front of a crowd of what is estimated as more than 1,000 people. They also wanted to have influential people from around the Tacoma community, so they invited Mayor Victoria Woodards and US Representative Derek Kilmer to speak.

“Throughout the march people were coming up to me and telling me how my speech inspired them and how they’re inspired to create more action, and after the march, a lady came up to me and talked to me about how she protested the Columbine shooting and how they

weren’t able to get anything done and how they look to us as leaders to create change,” said Yook. “That is when I knew we did something.”

A few of the march organizers formed the Students Demand Action - Pierce County group to continue the fight. This includes Yook, Tumbusch, myself, and Anna Nguyen, another first year at SAMI. “I became passionate about this topic because kids like me do not deserve to die because of the lack of common sense gun laws,” said Nguyen. “I remember hearing about mass shootings all my life and I don’t want one more in my lifetime.

I want lawmakers to open their eyes and face the facts: kids are dying and you aren’t doing enough to stop it. It is in your hands to help save our generation.”

The group is planning to continue writing letters to lawmakers, organizing a march before the midterms and visiting congressional offices in Olympia. Follow them on Twitter and/or Instagram @sdapiercecounty.

Kyungmin Yook speaks to the crowd at People's Park during March for Our Lives. Photo courtesy of March for Our Lives organizers.

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PERSPECTIVE 3: Pro-gun view A very important aspect of a movement is to understanding the other side. I sat down with Annie Wright sophomore Natalie Doelman to ask her views on the issue as a gun user. Doelman emphasized that she supports student activism but not necessarily the March for Our Lives.

Doelman organized the chapel service on March 14 in honor of the lives lost in the Parkland shooting, one of three options for students that day. “I don’t support stricter gun control but I still wanted to mourn their deaths,” she said.

“I decided to have this thing in the chapel where we could have moments of silence and prayers to mourn their deaths without necessarily making it political.”

“I support student advocacy and I also support school safety.

I just don’t support the eradication of guns."

Around 17 people joined the service.

“I support student advocacy and I also support school safety,” she said. “I just don’t support the eradication of guns or some of the gun law measures that they are trying to propose.”

Doelman said she supports students who want to advocate for an issue. She also said she appreciates conversations where she can voice her opinion. “I still want a voice to say ‘Hey, I’m really sorry for the loss of these lives’ and be able to apologize to these people,” she said.

PERSPECTIVE 4: School Administrator With the protests against gun violence this year came another statement for voicing opinions...walkouts. Annie Wright students held two walkouts this year, one heavily influenced by the school and the other left to the students. I sat down with Jake Guadnola, Director of Annie Wright Upper School for Girls, to discuss student activism at school.

Guadnola explained how this style of protest is new to the school, and although there has been a lot of student activism in the past, there have not been protests this visible during his tenure. The school took the position that everyone, no matter their stance on gun control, should feel safe, included and heard.

The school released a statement explaining how the school would offer three options for the March 14 walkout time slot. Students could walk out onto the front lawn in support of gun control, head to the Chapel for a prayer service for the 17 lives lost in the Parkland shooting, or to the Great Hall for a safety discussion. “We sincerely wanted people who didn’t want to walk out to have a space where they could talk,” said

Guadnola. “No matter where you were on this issue, there was a spot for you.”

Guadnola also split teachers randomly among the three places, protecting the opinions of teachers and the studentfaculty relationships. “I was very worried that students would perceive teacher positioning on that day of the walkout as some sort of endorsement or nonendorsement, so I simply assigned faculty to various spaces,” he said. “It was not their choice and I did not solicit their input.” Guadnola has not heard anything from students on any teacher bias.

some or all of the day. “I fundamentally support students following their passions, interests, and their convictions,” said Guadnola. “Wherever you fall on any of these issues, having the courage to step out and act to try to make the community better in the way you think it should be made better is something that I wholeheartedly support, as long as what is underneath that is respect and respect for other people’s opinions.”

Guadnola pointed out the fact that we have a community more heavily weighted on the liberal side and said he worried about those who were possibly afraid to speak against the norm and stand up for their beliefs. The day was peaceful, and Guadnola even had people thank him for the thoughtfulness for the school’s deliberate planning.

The school made the second walkout on April 20 an unexcused absence, which caused a lot more people to stay inside.

Fifteen people chose to participate for

The student walkout included 17 minutes of silence, a spoken word poem and speeches.

Photo by Molly Bryant

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PERSPECTIVE 5: Student activists in Boston The Parkland shooting sparked groups similar to Students Demand Action across the US. Like me, Anika Nayak, a sophomore at Somerville High School in Boston, became very passionate about gun control. She joined Students Against Gun Violence (SAGV) and began protesting at her school as well.

SAGV organized most of the community and press outreach for their own march in Boston. Nayak also held what she called #WalkoutWednesdays, where she and however many people she could get from her school would walk out in hopes of getting bill H.3610, which would temporarily prevent firearm access for dangerous or suicidal people, out of committee in Massachusetts.

“It allows a family member or household member report you as a danger to yourself or others so it acts as almost a restraining order but only on guns,” said Nayak. “It takes away your guns for a year and then you can repeal that.” The bill was passed out of committee so they concluded the walkouts.

Nayak had a message for congressmen taking money from the NRA: “Taking a fundraising goal over our lives should

not be something at the front of their horizon. We may be in high school and we may not be able to vote yet, but if they don’t take the necessary action to act upon what we are asking for, we will vote for someone who will,” she said.

The group sees that this problem is not new. Current students in America have only ever known a country with school shootings. “We want to see a conversation about the issue because I don’t think we can change anything if we don’t start out with having a conversation about what it is that really needs to get changed,” said Nayak.

She emphasized the fact that it is a very powerful image to see students, people who can’t even vote, getting out there and telling the people who can vote what needs to be changed.

Students Against Gun Violence is interested in participating or organizing a die-in, where protesters lie down as if dead, in the near future, and is also hoping to focus on more issues they want address that may not necessarily be connected to gun control. Follow them on Instagram @studentsagvusa.

School Shootings (K-College) since 2009 by country

Point your phone camera at this QR Code to see highlights of the Annie Wright walkout.

Some takeaways for fellow activists: • Social media is a great place to start connecting with people who are just as passionate about projects as you. DM the co-owned activism accounts as they are checked more often.

• Make sure everyone is on the same page at the end of every meeting.

Communication is key.

• Keep pushing, calling, emailing...whatever it takes to get responses from people.

• Once you’ve reached the maximum of how much contacting you can do, let it run its course.

• Clarify times to meet in person with your organizers.

It is easier to communicate some things in person than over the phone.

• Get yourself a partner who is just as organized and passionate about the topic as you. Having someone to bounce ideas off of has paid off immensely. (Thank you Kyungmin.)

United States:

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The detrimental effects of Whether from workload, sports, music, relationships or social pressures, stress finds its way into adolescent minds and bodies and gives us that pronounced feeling of being unstable and overwhelmed.

TYPES But what is stress? Simply put, stress is the body’s reaction to a challenge or threat. It can be put into two categories: acute and chronic. Acute stress is shortterm stress, which comes from something that is challenging an individual in the present moment. It initiates a fight or flight response due to adrenaline coming from the body, making it feel like it needs respond right away. Some feelings of acute stress may come from an upcoming test or a musical performance, and it can last up to a month.

Chronic stress, on the other hand, is long-term, caused by conditions that are happening in an individual’s life on an ongoing basis. It is a lower level of stress than acute stress, but acts as an undertone to everything one is experiencing.

Believe it or not, stress has some benefits, such as allowing teens to perform well under pressure and motivating them. But more often than not, the effects of stress are immensely detrimental.

stress

EFFECTS According to an American Psychological Association survey, teens are and have been the most stressed-out population for many years. And while our bodies were made to handle stress, they weren’t made to handle the chronic stress that many suffer. Increased stress in teens’ lives leads to many harmful effects, such as inconsistent sleeping schedules, longterm physical problems, lack of focus and depression.

THE STUDENT PARADOX

their veins constrict, causing micro-tears in the veins and in the heart valves. This causes plaque from cholesterol to build up. Back, neck and stomach problems may not create severe injuries, but they can be debilitating.

Stress also has the capacity to make teens lose focus. According to Dr. Christine Stevens, an associate professor in the University of Washington Tacoma Nursing and Healthcare programs, teens suffer from emotional stress. Anxiety about an upcoming test, presentation or sports event can lead a student to become overwhelmed.

"During the most important time a teen needs to focus, stress takes away from that, which starts to affect emotions,” said Stevens. This leads to mental exhaustion and ultimately creates difficulties for a teen to focus.

One of the more direct consequences of stress is the correlation between stress and sleep. According to the American Psychological Association, more than 35% of teens report that stress causes them to lie awake at night, 36% of teens reported feeling tired because of the stress, and 42% of teens who sleep fewer than 8 hours per school night say that their stress levels have increased.

Stress also inflicts many long-term physical effects, such as heart problems, neck and back issues and stomach problems. When people are stressed,

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by Kaitlin Tan

Lastly, the most severe effect stress inflicts on teens is mental health problems like depression. Typically depression is caused by chronic stress, which affects a teen’s mood, potentially leading to low energy, outbursts, irritability, sleep disruption, and/or lack of focus.

REMEDIES Although the brain tries to soothe itself, it’s much more difficult when the body is under stress. The danger to teens is that when they are under stress, they may not see reality as well, which causes them to make choices that harm themselves, such as using drugs and alcohol. There are more helpful ways to combat stress however, such as meditation, talking and charting out time.

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According to Upper School counselor Nancy Waters, stress is often manufactured from the feeling of not having enough time for the things teens want to do, and as a response to that, we escalate anxious and negative thoughts and feelings. As a way to combat this, Waters advises students to chart out their time, mapping out certain times for homework, social activities and extracurriculars. She emphasizes the importance of scheduling time to relax, whether it be going through social media or spending time with friends.

relaxation and enjoyment,” said Waters.

Allotting an amount of time to relax – 15 to 60 minutes – allows teens to be able to enjoy their free time rather than worrying and stressing about what they have to do.

"There is a cloud of thoughts saying, 'I shouldn't be doing this,' or 'I feel bad,' which strips the feeling of pure relaxation and enjoyment."

Michaela Horn, a student who spoke about stress from a teen perspective in a TedxTalk, expressed that when she shared a survey with her class, her classmates opened up to her about the situations they were going through on subjects that they didn’t tell parents, therapists or counselors. They used the survey to talk.

When teens are not focusing on their work, “there is a cloud of thoughts saying, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this’ or ‘I feel bad,’ which strips the feeling of pure

healthy brain

There have also been studies showing that confiding in others about your own stress helps teens and encourages them to speak. Stevens suggested that “talking to someone who is not in your ‘stress posse’ actually helps…[because] they’ll really listen to you.”

Stevens also emphasized the benefits of breathing and meditation. She conducted a study in which she went to a school with young women and hypothesized that if she took the teens out for a hour – away from the chaos, away from the hallways, away from the classroom –

they would do better in their classes and their depression would go down. She was given a large closet to do activities with the young women; one time they did yoga, one time they colored, but they did something new every week for 12 weeks.

She found that at the end, the girls’ scores went up in their classes and they slept better.

Stevens therefore deduced that a remedy to stress is getting teens away from the situation that is inflicting stress, even for an hour, and instead finding a way to shut the brain off so some stress could leave the body. “Meditation allows teens to focus on breathing and coloring allowed teens to focus on their task without paying attention to their surroundings,” she said.

Others ways to combat stress include relaxing muscles, breaking tasks into smaller chunks, exercising, getting a sufficient amount of sleep, limiting or eliminating habits of caffeine and energy drinks, focusing on what you can control, and scheduling breaks and enjoyable activities.

results of chronic stress

Scans from Mayo Foundation from Medical Education and Research show the different brain activity when stressed and depressed.

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Home bases

Two upper school girls talk about their experiences growing up as military children. One lives on Joint Base Lewis McCord, and the other on Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

by Nina Doody

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Annie Wright celebrates its local and global populations, but often overlooked are those who have lived many places for a short time: military families.

I’ve dealt with the hardships of my father being deployed overseas in war-zones.

This status has had its ups and down, but I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Two Annie Wright Upper Schoolers have grown up as military children, Class of '18 graduate Mariella Beaurpere, who has moved eight times, and rising junior Gabrielle Granjean, who has moved seven times and is about to move again.

Inkwell: What are some differences

"Every morning, I wake to the sound of troops, engaged in their morning PT workouts – a synchronized grunting sound as they pass our neighborhood."

Washington has a significant military presence. In our backyard we have Joint Base Lewis McChord or JBLM, and on the Olympic Peninsula there is a naval base called Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

There are also several other naval bases and training facilities, most notably the Yakima training center, which spans some 327,000 acres.

JBLM has a huge impact on the South Puget Sound. If it were a city, JBLM would be the seventh largest city in all of Washington state. Beaurpere, who lives on JBLM, was able to provide some insight on life on a military base.

Inkwell: Tell me a little bit about

your life growing up as a military child.

Beaurpere: Growing up as a

military child has had quite the impact on my life experiences and identity. I’ve moved eight times in my lifetime thus far because of my dad’s work. I’ve learned to be adaptable and appreciate travel.

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in living on and off a base?

Beaurpere: I’ve experienced living

both on a off a base. Each military base is like its own little gated community.

For instance, to get home everyday, I am required to drive through a gate where soldiers and military police check my military ID, and in some cases, ask for me to open my trunk or they search my car (just routine procedures). It is also quite the process to bring civilians on base. Most of the military bases have a commissary, which is where you can go grocery shopping, and some sort of exchange depending on the branch of service, which is kind of like a Walmart or Target. There is no tax on bases. Another typical feature of military bases are the common sounds of soldiers’ routines.

There is also the sound of canons that go off at specific hours each day. I’d say the main difference between living on and off a base is the security measures in place and the fact that military bases revolve around the daily routines and duties of the soldiers and their families.

Inkwell: Do you have any favorite part of living on a base?

Beaurpere: While living on a base

has its advantages and disadvantages, I appreciate the tight-knit community that can be found at each. While the military often is protrayed as this hard-core, strict group, it truly forms a strong community that displays itself well through these military bases.

Grandjean also provided some insight into her life as a military child. She currently lives in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton but has moved about every two years, living in places ranging from Europe to Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific and finally the US. Similar to Beaurpere, Grandjean shows her military ID to get onto the base.

“Every morning at 8:00 am they play the national anthem, and at sunset they play Taps, and when you are walking outside and hear either the national anthem or taps you have to stop and turn to face the flag,” she said.

When asked about what is unique about her military lifestyle, she replied, “One thing about living on base is all of the houses have a plaque with the name and rank of the person serving and the name of their spouse.”

According to Grandjean, the shipyard offers similar facilities to JBLM. She said she enjoys having so many facilities in one spot and is able to walk to the field, complete with a track, and a gym nearby.

Living on the shipyard also allows Grandjean to watch soldiers return home. “Where I live, you can see when ships pull in, and so when ships pull in from deployment, people go outside to welcome the ship back home,” she said.

“A couple months ago me and my family watched the USS Nimitz pull in, which was out for a six month deployment.

It was really cool to see people almost hanging outside the boat waving, and we were all waving back.”

military bases in the state of Washington

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A map of foreign born Koreans per 10,000 people for Washington’s counties. (United States Census Bureau). Annie Wright Schools also have boarders enrolled from South Korea, in both the Upper School for Girls and the Upper School for Boys.

Big business

Local Koreans share visions of the peninsula’s future

In 2017 Washington State exported nearly $3.3 billion worth of goods to South Korea and imported more than 2.1 billion dollars worth of goods. (source: United States Census Beureau)

by Nelson Athow

On April 27, Kim Jong-Un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, and Moon Jae-In, the president of South Korea, met in the Truce Village of Panmunjom along the border of the Military Demarcation Line for the 2018 inter-Korean Summit. This meeting was a historic moment for both Koreas, and made Kim Jong-Un the first North Korean leader to ever set foot in South Korea.

The summit was packed with symbolism, including a tree-planting ceremony between the leaders. Each used dirt and water collected from the other’s country to plant a tree from 1953, the year the Korean War armistice was signed.

During the summit, both leaders signed the “Panmunjom declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula.” This document included pledges for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the reunification of

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families divided by the Korean War, and the easing of military tensions between the two Koreas.

Annie Wright Upper School for Boys freshman and South Korean national Hyowon “Joey” Im commented on the recent diplomatic events back home: “A lot of people agreed that was a really great movement, and they praised the South Korean president for acting that way and also… Kim Jong-Un for meeting together. But there are some groups or parties that really said that was bad, because they thought the South Korean president was just writing the peace treaty as what Kim Jong-Un was saying.

In my opinion, I think they really did good, they did a broadcast live in Korea… they both cooperated to make the peace treaty and they can help make a united Korea later on.”

The peace summit in Panmunjom is not the only recent act of reconciliation between North and South Korea. Earlier this year in February, both Koreas marched as a united Korean team during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. More recently, as a corollary gesture to the peace summit, Kim Jong-Un moved North Korea’s time zone forward by half an hour to put the country back in sync with its sister to the South.

There have even been discussions of an official end to the Korean War, and of a summit with United States President Trump in Singapore. These reconciliatory actions belie a tumultuous history of security and diplomacy stretching back to the halt of the Korean War. 1985 marked the start of nuclear diplomacy with North Korea, when its leaders agreed to enter into the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This diplomacy

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continued in 1992 when North Korea signed the Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and in 1994 when North Korea agreed to freeze its Nuclear program in exchange for aid from the United States. Each of these attempts at limiting North Korea’s nuclear program eventually fell through.

The last major effort at nuclear diplomacy with the North was the Six Party Talks from 2003 to 2009, including North and South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.

Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), with the latest test of the Hwasong-15 landing in Japanese waters. North Korean media claims the missile is capable of reaching the entire continental US, a statement neither confirmed or denied by the American government.

Local Korean Gyeongrim Youn, who lived in South Korea for 38 years, expressed her disbelief in Kim Jong-Un’s commitment to denuclearization. “Kim Jong-Un told the whole world that he’s not going to do it [continue nuclear testing]. South Koreans think that he is still doing it in secret, even though he told the whole world he was going to stop. In the past, maybe around the 80s, they said that they were not doing nuclear experiments, but they were actually doing it secretly. We don’t believe Kim Jong-Un.”

"I'm sure we will unify in the future...we are the same people, the same blood."

Since July of 2017, North Korea has also been testing a series of Inter-Continental

Many South Koreans immigrated to Washington, and many more live here temporarily. In total, there are 62,911 foreign-born Koreans living in Washington state as of 2016.

Stadium High School freshman Honggu Jin, who recently immigrated from South Korea, described North Korea as “a religious cult, where people devote everything to Kim Jong-Un, the supreme leader.”

Im disagrees. “I think people only think of them as a place where they make nuclear weapons and… threaten other countries,

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but I think North Korea is really not what people actually think. I just wish people didn’t think of North Korea as just a nuclear country. I wish they would think of North Korea as a civilized and also very cultural place.”

As for reunification, Youn thinks it will happen, but not soon. “I’m sure we will unify in the future… we are the same people, the same blood, but we have to pay for everything to unify our country.

I don’t want to unify now, but I’m pretty sure we will unify in the future. It is not easy to unify in the near future, because Kim Jong-Un is a greedy, ruthless, dictator. There are a lot of problems to unifying our country.”

Im also noted the challenges of unification. “We are using totally different languages and our beliefs are totally different right now. I wish we could unify, but in reality I think it’s going to be hard for us to unify.”

The future of the Korean peninsula looks hopeful, but given its tumultuous history, only time will tell whether recent events will lead to true peace.

Inkwell is open to Upper School girls and boys for the 2018-19 school year. We especially need graphic designers, photographers, filmmakers and audio/ visual specialists. Help us grow our media to broadcasting and podcasting and up our game in print and digital design, and/or join our amazing team of reporters. Contact Allison Fitz or Lisa Isenman to learn more.