The Featheralist: Volume 03, Issue 01

DEL NORTE HIGH SCHOOL | DECEMBER 2020 | VOLUME 03, ISSUE 01

The Featheralist

FOREWORD

Needless to say, we did not anticipate a global pandemic this year. There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected us disproportionately and taken a devastating toll on various aspects of our daily lives. But as new as quarantine may seem to us, we are not the only people who have experienced this unusual period of time. So how did historical figures from the past cope with similar uncertainties, and how can we learn from them?

One such figure is William Shakespeare, who wrote a few of his most famous plays when the bubonic plague hit London in the early 17th century. Theaters and public playhouses were shut down, and the entire theater industry was paralyzed. Rather than giving up on playwriting, Shakespeare chose to adapt to this situation: he saw quarantine as an opportunity to refocus his work and create new plays. During his time in isolation, Shakespeare channeled his creative mind and wrote some of the best works known in literature, including King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra.

Meanwhile, Sir. Isaac Newton was also quarantined during the bubonic plague as a student at Cambridge University in England. With all classes canceled, Newton spent most of his days in isolation reading and studying in his backyard.

Many historians claim that this was where the infamous apple fell from the tree and hit Newton on the head, prompting him to ponder why things fell. This eventually led to him discovering the universal law of gravitation. Newton also wrote the papers that would soon become the earliest versions of calculus and developed his theories on optics from playing with prisms in his bedroom.

Chinese business magnate Jack Ma was growing his wholesale website Alibaba when the SARS pandemic hit China in 2003. When one of Alibaba’s staff tested positive for the disease and his entire company was forced into quarantine, the end of Alibaba seemed inevitable. However, Ma saw it differently: during this time, he gathered a small team in his apartment to continue growing the consumer-based Taobao website. The team did handstands during work breaks to increase blood-flow and maintain high energy levels. Taobao would soon unseat eBay in China and become the 8th most visited website in the world.

Quarantine is, no doubt, an agitating and stressful period of time. We can, however, learn from Shakespeare, Newton, and Ma by shifting our mindset and viewing quarantine as an opportunity for personal growth. You don’t have to write bestselling plays, invent scientific theories, or start up a multimillionaire business. You can foster personal growth by spending more time with your loved ones, picking up new hobbies or projects you have always dreamt of, or finding new ways to serve your community. Whatever you choose to do, remember to believe in yourself, keep your head up, and keep going. We are all in this together.

Sincerely, Kane Xu and The Featheralist Officers

TABLE

02

BURNING LIGHT

03

ESPÉRANCE

04

TEENAGE APATHY

05

LACE AND CARDBOARD

06

LOST + FOUND

07

LONELY AT THE TOP

08

JUST NERVOUS

by Nikki Hekmat, ‘24

by Ellen Xu, ‘23

by Shriya Sankaran, ‘23

by Avani Ranka, ‘23

by Anna Feng, ‘23

by Bella Chong, ‘22

by Al Sabat, ‘24

09

POLITICAL STEW

by Karthik Rajasekar, ‘23

17

DOES WEATHER AFFECT OUR MOOD?

18

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE K-POP INDUSTRY

by Kayley Hou, '23

10

MY GIRLFRIEND

11

THE BEAUTY OF UNCERTAINTY

21

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: AGITATOR OR ADVANCEMENT?

12

REMEMBRANCE

22

VOLUME UP: UNMUTING THE YOUNGER GENERATION

13

HOW TO CARE FOR A SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

24

STORES GONE SILENT

14

THE CONSTANT SEARCH FOR MEANING

26

16

by Kane Xu, ‘21

by Russell Kang, '22

by Audrey Zeng, '23

by Taylor Kruger, ‘22

by Jack Miller, '24 and Vivian Hoang '24

STRAY MORNING

by Ida Mobini, '22

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December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

E OF CONTENTS

by Katelyn Gelle, '24 and Rini Khandelwal, '24

by Emma Shen, '24, Andrea Wang, '24, Tyler Xiao, '24, and Daisy Zhang, '24

by Alyssa Ringler, '24

by Vinay Rajagopalan, '24

STUDENT-LED INITIATIVES

by Andrea Baek, '22 and Russell Kang, '22

CONTRIBUTORS, COLOPHON, AND WORKS CONSULTED 01

The Featheralist

BURNING LIGHT

Written by Nikki Hekmat, ‘24 | Designed by Iris Ding, ‘22 A burning light.

It is waiting.

It must be done.

The looming cobalt flame is threatening, yet you must not bow down to its strength.

You have been chosen to strike the heart of the inferno And you must do so willingly.

A burning light.

You take the leap forward over the roaring chasm.

The fiery blaze washes a wave of heat over you Piercing your skin.

You attempt to open your eyes Yet its might is too str— You slump to the ground, earth caking your bruised cheek But you know you must go on.

A burning light.

The vicious heat peels your very flesh apart And your eyes wish to open for only a moment But the power Overtakes you And you are left with quivering lids that feebly attempt to shield your irises From the scorching light that challenges your vision Weakening its core.

A burning light.

The rays pound against your face The fire rages And you trudge on through the excruciation Until the final wall is just in your grasp.

Your eyes anticipate the awaiting relief You can overcome the agony It will not last And you will be able to gaze at the glorious landscape once more Without the pain of the blue flame.

The light is not more powerful Than your courage Your hope Your ever-growing resilience And perseverance through the tortuous journey.

You are here now And you will fight.

For as long as it takes For as long as the fire remains You will resist.

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Blazing Scar Tanvi Bagri '24 Traditional

A burning light.

The last obstacle The last stretch of fear and hesitation has been Terminated.

When you dare to open your eyes once more You will not cower back from the brilliant light No. You will stare intently For as long as you must For as long as the beast of the blue blaze inhabits your world So that you may fulfill your duty Continue on with your journey And so that the fire may not hinder your path.

You will pass it by soon enough But for now You must remain strong.

A burning light.

You are ready.

You grip the arms of your seat Plastic bites into your skin You swallow a deep lungful of air You crack your eyes open, widen them Drink in the vibrant colors of your surroundings Shift your challenging gaze to the light And you now know, That if the might of your will beats louder than the heart of the plight, Then nothing will ever be able to stop you again Because you were able to overcome— “Oh, I was kicked out of the Zoom, guys. Is my mic on now?”

Written by Ellen Xu '23 Designed by Colin Szeto, '21 mom-and-pop the fan whirs and clicks spinning lazily round and round dejected, yet still moving hoping to give its metallic wings the sense of flying once more

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

ESPÉRANCE

Illuminate Andrea Wang, ‘24 Digital

the old digital clock flickers gently in the background, crude red LEDs blinking in the fading light-9:27 p.m. another rush hour past another long, empty day over another night of wishful thinking youth hopes of a better tomorrow wishes of breathing life into a place once bustling with warmth and laughter

she hasn’t seen much of the world yet

silence feels like it could last forever.

they say she’s too young, too naive, too foolish, for having grandiose dreams and high hopes

front line

maybe it’s because she’s young that she believes

it’s the silence that bothers him the most silence purges the heart of hope

“we need you.” three words. three words were the only explanation they offered for the next long hours of shifts, working tirelessly through the night, watching despairingly as more and more flooded in, warriors of their own kind falling victim to the invisible enemy they need her but it doesn’t feel that way when she looks into the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl, lungs struggling for every next breath and tells her that they have done all they could, and that all that’s left to do is hope

her heart is untarnished, her dreams undestroyed, her wanderlust unquenched her hope is her fuel by the burning light of kerosene, she searches away, an endless string of queries, the limitless knowledge waiting beyond the horizon, despite the doubt, the disbelief, the draining desolation because she knows that somewhere out there, there’s a key to helping mom-and-pops stay afloat, despite the boundaries of distance and self-isolation

she can see that her family clings on to hope harder than they would a lifeline

somewhere out there, there’s a key to a future beyond covid-19, and frontline workers won’t have to fight on the battlefield for much longer

the protective gear is rough against her skin the mask stifling every short breath goggles clouding up with the heat and tears threatening to break loose

somewhere out there, brought closer and within reach through the strength of mankind’s resilience, there is espérance

at home, her husband and two kids wonder how hard she will have to fight in order to win a small battle in a war of millions.

[ espérance \ ˈe-sp(ə-)rən(t)s \ (noun, obsolete) an abstract, positive expectation; forgotten hope ]

03

The Featheralist

Written by Shriya Sankaran, ‘23 Designed by Sarika Pasumarthy, ‘22 I’m Faded

I’m Faded Hema Rajendran, ‘24 Hema Rajendran, ‘24Acrylic Acrylic

we're supposed to be studying. (we're not.) someone throws a pencil into a drain. it clat t e r s down, taunting. mocking. reminding. a warning, maybe. leaves scrape a dissonant symphony against the cement, an unsettling susurra in the fragility of this moment. our shadows lengthen, dusky liminality when everything else hovers in uncertainty, too. our phantom coming-of-age. a brittle silence— the signal of a generation compliant, with everything to lose and no one to care.

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the sun edges deeper under the horizon. a car alarm blares, in time with our dulled pulses. we take notice seconds too late to be normal. siri says fuck you and we laugh, but it's as mechanical as she is. it rings bitter, of empty promises and plastic-painted-silver. we are the puppets pushed ahead, cut from our lifelines. and success— success is not a final we can study for.

Mabel Szeto, ‘21 Digital

Written by Avani Ranka, ‘23 | Designed by Mabel Szeto, ‘21

I know a monster made of lace and cardboard.

Its claws are ribbon, and its face is bright green.

It comes in the night, in the soft, quiet moments to feed.

The monster will tear you apart from the inside out, limb from limb, slow and painful.

Even the bravest will be reduced to tears.

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

LACE AND CARDBOARD

Childhood Monster

This is your fault, the monster is your creation.

You are Frankenstein and the monster was brought to life by your hand, your temptation.

This is your fault.

It feeds off your memories, off the remorse and the fear.

Off the darkness that built as we waited to hear: Just three words.

Three simple words.

Twelve letters.

Sounds that are assigned meanings, an important meaning.

“You are enough.”

That’s it, that’s all the monster wanted.

No, that is all you wanted.

And you are the monster.

So this is your fault.

I knew a monster made of lace and cardboard.

Its claws are ribbon, and its face is bright green.

Yet somehow, all is not what it seems.

Forts made of cardboard, ribbons and lace as war banners and flags, proud words painted in green.

Yes, all is not what it seems since these days, that magic is gone.

What if’s and why’s are all that is drawn.

So tell me, haunted soul, what have you become?

The answer is always “a monster” and your time has not yet come.

This was your fault.

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The Featheralist

LONELY AT THE TOP Written by Bella Chong, ‘22 | Designed by Esther Jin ‘21

Four best friends were thick as thieves Armed with their smiles, their hopes, and their dreams They could not see the shadows lurking beyond For best friends were forever and never to be gone.

The first leg of the journey made their soles sore But the path was paved for only three of the four The fourth couldn't quite grip onto everything that she'd learnt And thus, the fourth was left in the dirt Then there were three--all relieved to have prevailed But into grave waters, did the three friends sail They reached a sea of monsters full of love and feel-good highs The third took the bait and overboard, she did fly The two on deck tried desperately to reel her back But she refused to hold on and instead leaned back The stress of the journey, she said, was wearing her thin "Let go," she told them, "let me fall in."

Troubled by their fallen, only two remained But they were still together; perhaps it hadn't all been in vain?

With their futures on the line and rankings in sight Pitted head to head and against their will, the two began to fight They clawed their way to the peak, eyes filled with bright stars Armed with their gleaming swords, their quick wits, and their hardened hearts Their minds were brainwashed with images of glory and gold But in the end only one was deemed fit enough for the mold One champion emerges from the junior trials Her lungs filled with relief, but her throat filled with bile The next leg of her journey would be tough, she knew If only she still had the three friends she'd said goodbye to

Souls Iris Ding, ‘22 Digital

06

Written by Anna Feng, ‘23 | Designed by Aidan Rosen, ‘22 lost + found -

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

LOST + FOUND maroon abercrombie and fitch zip up stained with a mystery marinara sauce teal, rhinestone, fingerless gloves, only one, so frayed it can barely be worn paw patrol lunch boxes filled with rotting sandwiches, pbjs prehistoric, sliced apples brown to the core

inside the plastic ikea tub, another world is saturated with mud and rain, bracelets from students who have long graduated, socks from preschoolers who have yet to figure out how to get them on, and earbuds that are silent in one ear there is nothing found about a lost and found maybe that’s just my personal vendetta. my first denim jacket, studded pink beanie swept away by the clamor of passing period i wonder where they’ve been all these years at the time, they all seemed so important i cried, knowing i couldn’t beg for another at eight, my ethos was six feet under my tantrums digging through purples and plaids, what you’re searching for is not there frowning to mom who parks at the school loop, arm leaning out the window, drumming fingers on the dashboard she gestures for me to trudge back, a sigh and twenty dollars escaping her rain erasing the round words scribbled with dry-erase marker “lost & found” even nature acknowledges most things that are lost are never found

Lost + Found Al Sabat, ‘24 Digital

07

The Featheralist

JUST NERVOUS

Written by Al Sabat, '24 | Designed by Mabel Szeto, ‘21

i hear you comment on how “everyone gets nervous” and “stop looking for attention” and “you’re overreacting” when i’m having a panic attack. when i can’t present something. when i can’t order my own food. when i say i have social anxiety. but it isn’t just being nervous. because “normal” people don’t freeze or blank out or breakdown when they have to give a presentation. “normal” people don’t feel their chest tighten as if someone were pressing down on my lungs until completely flat, tears don’t stab at the edges of their eyes, heart pounding louder than a fire alarm when they have to ask a teacher a question. “normal” people don’t go through every aisle in search of the cornstarch, instead of asking a store employee a question. i’m not overreacting or looking for attention when i have a panic attack. if you saw my panic attacks, you wouldn’t think they’re quirky or romantic. you’d probably be freaked out. because “normal” people don’t cry and flail around when they get overwhelmed. you’re privileged enough to be able to order your own food, ask a store employee a question, give a presentation, ask for help from a teacher, correct people when they’re wrong, without feeling like you're being suffocated. so don’t say things that aren’t true about the people who can’t do what you can.

Normal Mabel Szeto, ‘21 Digital

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December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

POLITICAL STEW Written by Karthik Rajasekar '23 | Designed by Colin Szeto, '21

Political Stew Colin Szeto, '21 Digital When it comes to politics and my life so far, I would say with 100% confidence that it has been pretty volatile. If you went back in time and found five year old me and asked what party he supported, he would probably say the Democratic party because he believed in democracy.

Obviously, that really isn’t a valid opinion for one’s support to a political party but it did change how I viewed politics for a long time. As I grew up and started to become more aware of politics, I started to support Democrats for more real reasons. I strongly believed in climate change, I believed in equality for all, and I believed in any group that just wanted to do something progressive. I also started to view conservatives as the “bad guys” who just want to keep everything the same and didn’t want society to progress. But it was around 8th grade, when I was learning American history and government, that I started to realize the benefits of the conservative ideology. I started to believe in immigration control, keeping the second amendment, and the eradication of laws that favor people because of race. I also started to view Democrats as the “ do nothings” because they were never able to achieve their policies even when they had the chance. These were my beliefs until the pandemic hit and everything changed.

The day was May 25, 2020 when George Floyd was killed. At the time, my family was confused about what happened. We had heard that an African American man was killed by a rogue police officer.

A day later, protestors were flooding the streets of Minneapolis demanding justice for George Floyd.

Protests started to spark all across the country as

thousands of people demanded justice. In response, counter-protests started to rise against the BLM protests across the country too. The country that I knew for almost 14 years started to change, for worse. People on polar ends of the political spectrum clashing in the streets, burning buildings down, and looting stores. As people looked to the government to help, the government responded with a blaming contest between Democrats and Republicans. It was at this moment I realized, America is really broken.

When it comes to present events, I like to compare those events to ones found in history. For the current protests and violence, I like to compare it to 1930s Germany. Back then, Germany was hit hard by the Great Depression causing massive inflation and economic downturn. Poverty skyrocketed and people were struggling to survive.

On top of this, a weak government was put in place after World War I that was not able to combat these crises. All of these factors gave way to the extreme division among the German people where they either had to choose between fascism and communism. Before you knew it, a megalomaniac came into power and caused one of the most horrific wars humanity has ever since and the Holocaust that we all still know today. Today, these groups are now the politicians in Washington D.C. who are willing to sink the country just for their own personal gain? So when I look at America today, I ask myself: When will someone use all of this division to come to power and set up a dictatorship? Will the free nation of America that we all know today be someday lost in

the history books? (If it even makes it into future history books) This is not the America I want and I know for a fact that the majority of Americans don’t want that either.

So now that we know what perils lie ahead of us if we continue on this path, we should think if it is still worth it to keep dividing us into different parties or to make a new one that is based on compromise. None of the groups that are fighting in the streets are ever going to achieve what they want if they keep going at it like this. Frankly, maybe some ideas will never be 100% achieved but that does not mean we are doomed to fail. It just means that sometimes, people are not going to agree with you. Sometimes, they will have different perspectives and different opinions about a topic.

By forcing people to agree with you, I say you are no better than the dictators that history remembers as horrible people. As one people and dare I say as one species, we should always be willing to listen to each other and be more open minded. This is the only way for us to combat all the problems the universe throws at us. Climate change, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, poverty, you name it, can be solved, by taking a little bit of liberal and conservative ideas, and making some political stew.

09

The Featheralist

MY GIRLFRIEND Written by Kane Xu '21 | Designed by Colin Szeto, '21

When I was a young child, I promised to devote the rest of my life to her.

I first met her at a park. All the kids on the grass field would play with her; she was the center of attention everywhere she went. Wanting to learn more about her, I approached her. We immediately clicked during our first interaction; she seemed to understand all of my thoughts and complement all of my movements. Naturally, we became best friends. She accompanied me everyday during recess at school, afterschool at the park, and even in my dreams at night. I soon realized that she had become the center of my life. I had fallen in love with her.

When my parents found out about our relationship, they tried to limit my time with her, forcing me to focus on school and my academics instead of wasting my time dating ‘girls’. At school, others scoffed at our relationship, deeming me too ‘skinny’ and ‘weak’ for her. I refused to give up my love for her, however; I began to do everything in secrecy. I snuck out of my house at night to meet up with her at the park. At times, I would even hide her in my own room for secret dates.

Over time, I started to care less about other people’s opinions of us. I realized that my short stature does not restrain the amount of joy we shared. My skinny legs do not stop me from putting in extra effort into our relationship. More importantly, the color of my skin does not dictate my future with her. I was the sole master of my own happiness, my decisions, and my destiny.

During high school, we would go on dates after school everyday, most lasting past sunset. On weekends, I would travel across the nation with her to different tournaments and showcases. We battled together, suffered together, and triumphed together.

Chagi Colin Szeto, ‘21 Digital

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Now, I continue to stand steadfast to the promise I made to her years ago-I am ready to grow old with the love of my life: soccer.

Written by Russell Kang, ‘22 Designed by Aidan Rosen, ‘22

THE BEAUTY OF UNCERTAINTY

Oh, the thought. Allow me to clarify. The realization that the nature of this universe is so, so crazy. As a child, I used to think that the world was set for me. I used to think that my path was already predetermined by my parents, and I used to feel a sense of great comfort knowing that my existence was definite, and that my fate was known. Yet as I grew older and as I continue to grow older, I begin to understand that the world is never as it seems. It is deceitful, it is apathetic, and it is unpredictable.

And with the coming of COVID-19, every remaining screw that we thought was nailed into the ground was suddenly ripped up by violent force and thrown back up into the air. The worst part, and one of my first accurate observations of life itself, is that nobody knows when the pieces will fall back down to Earth again, or if they’ll even fall back at all. Will we ever return to normalcy? The uncertainty is certainly discomforting.

But if you think about it, during this time, the truth is being revealed to us. Everyday now, we’re watching a small trailer that clarifies to us the nature of our commonly misconceived reality.

Nobody knows everything that will happen tomorrow. Or the next day. This basis of the unknown is not only how life works, but how our entire conceptualization of the universe works as well.

These unknowns have prompted many of society’s age old questions. What is the answer to human life? What is the greater purpose to our origin on this planet? Of course there’s religion and personal beliefs, but has there been a definitive explanation that has convinced the majority of us on Earth?

And the thought of that is just crazy if you really think about it. How do we as humans prepare for a future that has not been proven? On Earth, although not everything is set in stone, people still hold expectations for certain things, and those expectations are oftentimes met, creating a sense of assurance. So how can anyone, literally anyone, possibly comprehend pure uncertainty when nobody on Earth has even experienced it yet?

And it’s quite crazy to think that there will be a day when everything we have ever known will come to an end. Death seems like such a distant concept, but the reality of it is that it can strike at any time.

And who are we to stop it? Exactly. Nobody. And upon this, we may be introduced into something completely unrelated to this physical world we call Earth now. What could that look like? Who would be there? Would it even exist? I’m just rambling at this point - who could possibly be certain, right?

The Void Stares Back Aidan Rosen '22 Digital

At least for me, it’s a tough concept to truly grasp.

That the soul might not ever enter a human body again. That this life might be the only thing you ever get to experience on planet Earth, ever. That one day, everything we have ever known will come

to an abrupt end, without any answers, explanations, or resolutions. Imagine what it would be like if you weren’t alive right now. You may feel discomfort sitting in your seat just thinking about it, but really ponder right now. Is that really how you would feel if you weren’t you?

Would you be able to feel discomfort? How would that even work? There’s no proven answer.

Through quarantine, these questions have begun to plague my mind. Like the COVID-19 virus itself, these ideas originated in a deep part of my mind one day, and have been spreading ever since.

Laying down alone in the dark at night, looking up at the ceiling, my mind has vanished far from what I like to call the safe haven of thoughts, and has ventured bravely into uncharted territory. It’s been an adventure, but it has also led me to rethink nearly everything going on with my life right now.

And it’s led me to wonder if anyone else has felt or experienced the same thoughts that I have before.

How do other people react to the same realization that everything in the universe is so uncertain?

Once again, there’s no way to be certain.

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

It’s usually in pitch black darkness when the strangest thoughts emerge from the depths of the human mind. The deepest, darkest realizations typically arise when laying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Contemplation of life is imminent here.

But as I have begun to analyze something located within my brain, with my brain, I have started to conceptualize something. When life’s biggest questions begin to arise visually in our minds, we begin to run away. We begin to force our mind off of these unexplainable concepts, in order to continue on with our day to day lives. Humans find comfort in holding their minds to a shallow standard: once their thoughts unhook themselves from the anchor and begin floating off into the deep end, it sounds an alarm. People don’t know how to react. Uncertainty has been commonly perceived as a driving factor of anxiety, which is true to a certain degree. But what most people fail to acknowledge is that that same uncertainty can also do the exact opposite. Instead of anxiety, it can bring out drive. It can bring out desire. It can bring out purpose in one’s life.

People make choices - some big, some small. But in the end, every single choice tallies together to shape the life of an individual. And a person’s reaction to uncertainty can determine what choices they make, and how they make those choices.

Some people view uncertainty of the future as the end; there’s nothing worth fighting for. Others view it as a call to action; the future is unknown, so they take advantage of what is known - the present. It’s a double edged sword; you can use it to thrust forward in life and beat down anything in your way, or you can forever remain too cowardly to touch it, locking yourself in a position of no change. Use it how you want to. Either way, this is just something I thought about while lying in bed over the past couple months. The whole concept is quite crazy to really think about. In my opinion of course. I’m not entirely certain about yours. Guess it’s time to go to bed again.

00 11

The Featheralist

REMEMBRANCE

Written by Audrey Zeng, ‘23 | Designed by Aidan Rosen, ‘22

Rembrance Rini Khandelwal '24 Photography There are 7.5 billion people currently alive, and 105 billion that have ever lived. This means that for every living person, there are 15 who are dead. We could remember all of the dead if each of us alive honored 15 unique deaths. But far too many remember Cleopatra, Michelangelo, Galileo, and nobody remembers the soldier who had no family, no friends, who lost his life serving his country. How many people have faded into the clutches of history? i. The mother holds her son close to her chest. They lay together on a dirt floor, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. She stares into the darkness, cherishing the feel of his paper-thin skin brushing against hers, thanking and praying to whoever is listening that he may survive another night. His rib cage is nestled in the empty void that never fills her stomach, no matter how much of the acidic green paste she makes from leaves and brown, murky, water she consumes. She can see Death lurking outside the window, beckoning to her and her son, and although thoughts of a better life erupt in her mind, she hugs him a little closer. Death visited another family in their village last night, taking with him a little girl that had not even lived long enough to speak. The mother wonders who will remember the little girl, who will remember her son when he will be relieved from this existence.

Perhaps they won’t be remembered; instead, their deaths will be thrown into a pile of numbers and

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statistics, burned into privileged minds until the smoke becomes too thick to ignore. ii. He is afraid to go outside. Every time his friends invite him to hang out at the park or play ball, he comes up with an excuse not to. He has grown from a chubby child into a stocky teen with a face that he has been told looks threatening, even when he is relaxed. He is terrified of what could happen if a cop saw his threatening face if a cop decided that their life was at risk from an unarmed teenager who looked angry whose skin is darker than theirs.

He is afraid that his death will not be big or dramatic enough for the media, and no one will bring justice to the officers who killed him. He is not a hero, not a genius, not anybody special. Just a teenager who is afraid of death. Who would even want to avenge his death? iii. She is going to jump off a bridge tomorrow. She has been planning this for a month, putting more effort into this endeavor than she has for anything else in her life. She knows her death will not gouge out chunks of people’s hearts. It might be equivalent to a small paper cut among her previously close friends. When she opted to go to community college after being rejected from all the four-year institutions and her parents threw her out, she saw the doubt in her friends’ eyes. She saw their fake smiles, heard them say, ‘yeah community

college is great!’ in choked voices that forced the words out. She knew they, at Yale and MIT and Stanford, didn't want to be associated with her, a community college disappointment. She let them drift away. They wouldn’t miss her after three years of not talking. At best, she would get Facebook posts with grievances on how she ‘used to’ be such a great kid, how they ‘used to’ know her so well, how she ‘used to’ have so much potential.

Her death would spread no ripples of negativity large enough to drown somebody else. It was a service to everyone else, like flicking a fly off food or killing an ant that crawled inside the house. It was getting rid of a useless being so that a more deserving person could. She wouldn’t be remembered. She was okay with that.

For every statistic posted on social media, there are people behind the numbers. Some have been forgotten, just another nameless face among all of those that have passed. We cannot remember them for who they were, for what their personalities were like, but we can recognize that they were an individual, someone with hopes and fears and dreams, not just living so they could be grouped with others into yet another percentage, another 1 out of 105 billion, forgotten for someone else more worthy of a memory.

Written by Taylor Kruger, ‘22 | Designed by Daisy Zhang, ‘24 What is Manifestation?

Manifestation is a controlled sense of reality that mimics the future you want to behold. For example, if you want something, you have to believe you can achieve it or possess it.

Manifestation in my eyes is a spiritual way of being, I do not pretend I am someone, I am that someone. If I want to be a person of great riches, I am. If I want to be someone who will walk down thousands of runways wearing the most elegant of designer fashion or spend cash on Rodeo Drive, who’s to say I’m not? I determine my reality, I am the beholder of my fate.

Types of Manifestation Within the generalization of just the term “manifestation” there are levels, like everything of course. Let me break it down, you’ve got “Living As If” which is kind of what I have already talked about. Why wait for your dreams to come to you, when you can already be living in them. You are signalling the universe, “Hey... I know I can do this because I am already possessing the nature needed, so give it to me already.”

A very common use of manifestation, is just putting it right in front of your face, every. single. day. It’s called, “Dream Boarding” a collage, if you will. Sit down, put together what you hope to have in your lifetime (or sooner), things that inspire you or promote success, into one picture collage. Put it in a space that you will see everyday, put your goals right in front of your face so you’ll never forget. For example, if you are yearning for a new lover, a board that has connotations of love or romance, may be exactly what you need.

Next way of manifesting, is already thanking the universe for what you have. It’s like with your parents, if you trash those new converse, they’re obviously less inclined to buy you Gucci sneakers for your birthday. Same idea, just with the universe. If whoever runs that place, sees you respecting the wonderful successes already, it will see the capacity you have to hold bigger and better successes. Simply, “The energy you put in, you get out.”

Conscious manifestation is where you are in the driver's seat, you control your life. You turn right to go to NYU and then left to get that internship at Vogue, wherever you go, is decided by you. We steer the innovative and convincing energy to the Universe. Our focal objective guides (the car) us in case we need to center our attention around our intuition. Exactly when we let sense sway our choices, decisions and intelligence then we are fixed on soul. Likewise, the heaviness of getting it implied "right" drops away. Working with unnoticeable energy restores the play to a regular daily schedule rather than encountering real life situations. The energy you created consciously is the gas in the car and the plan you create (map the car drives on) aligns you perfectly to the road to success.

How I Manifest I manifest consciously, intentionally, I intend on naturally bringing these successes I want to my life. Manifestation has to be done with 100% belief and courage, do onto yourself with which you believe you can endure. I try to embody every technique to maximize my ability to bring things into my life by nature. Writing it down as if it has already happened/mocking what I want is my go to, like I’ve said before, I am who I want to be.

Confidence within my identity and the places I will go, is my main form. For example, I manifested my drivers license, people may think it was pure luck but I put it out there. My belief is mine, regardless of others and I believe that I brought it to myself. It was deemed impossible by my father due to COVID-19 and I had given up home. Like always, I day dream to music and it’s an escape, I pictured myself driving down my favorite road in San Diego after my brother came home for Christmas. I pictured myself standing in line with my Dad and taking my test, and hopefully passing. I had put it into my future by visualization, a routine I have always done and it had arisen. Manifestation is all about bringing opportunities to your life and I brought one to mine. My dad calls me at 5pm on August 19th and goes, “Hey, I got you an

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

HOW TO CARE FOR A SUBCONCIOUS MIND

Sky Clarissa Hom, ‘22 Traditional

appointment for your test, tomorrow morning.”

Him and I had been conversing about when I was going to step into this newfound freedom, breaking into young adulthood. My previous habitats had brought this choice into my life. To take the test or not, obviously, I took it. I woke up the next day before the roosters and took my final lesson and then I was off to the DMV. I did the darn thing and passed, knowing I had brought the dream I wanted to myself, that self success embedded a narrative in my mind that if I want something, I knew I could have it.

Tiktok Manifestation Tik Tok manifestation is a different world, taken on by the creators of the app. The world includes non conventional ways to manifest, different than previously talked about. As a TikTok addict, I have seen manifestation “guides” and how the generation that rules social media is using it. I have seen techniques of the 3x33 method, the 369 method or even the honey method. Yes, these do sound somewhat cult-like or insane but how hard is it to believe? I do believe in speaking your future into existence rather it be through a jar and honey or writing it into existence so much your hand cramps. My generation has grown into the intellectually advanced ways of getting what you want without really having to work for it, but can you blame us? We have found a way to succeed that doesn’t include a man at work for 60 hours a week and mom at home making a casserole. I’m not crediting all of our success to ourselves but to social media, especially TikTok, which has made it so mainstream. The methods and techniques are coming to the surface and who knows if they’re ancient? They are prevalent today. What you choose to do with that jar and honey is up to you, why not give it a shot?

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The Featheralist

THE CONSTANT SEARCH FOR MEANING Jack Miller '24 and Vivian Hoang '24 | Colin Szeto, '21

After a long stressful day, you flop onto your comfortable mattress, hoping to rid the tension of the day’s activities off your weary shoulders. You sink into your pillow, in an attempt to postpone your problems and responsibilities for at least a few more hours in exchange for some much-needed rest... but your mind won’t stop racing. You toss and turn in your sheets, restlessness washing over you, as the same unsettling yet not unfamiliar questions arise into your brain: Is there a point to any of this? Does my existence even mean anything? If we’re all going to die, does all of this even matter? Throughout one’s lifetime, it is extremely common for us to question where we fit in the universe and our purpose of existence.

Many respond to these perplexing thoughts by picking up spiritual practices such as religion, attempting to find their place in the world and uncover the true meanings behind life and death.

They form communities centered around their own sacred structures of worship, preaching to others that in order to live happily in the afterlife, they must be compassionate and look at life through a positive lens. But over the past decade, more and more individuals have strayed from religious ideologies, trying to search for their own answers through questioning and theory. People that tend to steer away from religious teachings identify themselves as atheists, and through their pursuit of life’s purpose, often reach the conclusion that life is, well, unequivocally meaningless.

This feeling of meaninglessness leads to the concept of nihilism. Nihilism, you may be asking, is a philosophical belief that expresses a negative perspective on ideas such as existence, and sense of reality. Existential nihilism refers to the belief that life has no meaning, no significance, and no intrinsic purpose. This can also be seen through existentialism, where many people, myself included, are continually concerned about what happens after death and if there is nothing after, then why should we be concerned with what happens now. There are various ways people use to cope with these disheartening philosophies looming over them, although many of those methods tend to be self-destructive.

Searching Vivian Hoang, ‘24 Digital

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THE LITTLE THINGS

THE MEANING OF LIFE

Certain individuals who see the world through an existentialist lens try to find their purpose through hard work, using productivity as a means to fill their desire for real value. These types of people commit to the belief that they are not deserving of a meaningful life if they are not constantly working toward something better. This mindset relates to the hustle culture that is frequently advocated in today’s society where all across social media, influencers project the message that if you work hard enough and put your mind to something, you could achieve the same level of happiness as they do.

All across the internet, it’s likely you’ve come across dozens of blogs and articles reading, “40 Little Things That Make Everyone Happy!” with the pieces giving reasons such as beating a video game, or finishing a movie. We may indulge in short-term goals to distract themselves from facing reality, trying to avoid confronting their true ambitions and desires. In doing so, it forces people to ignore the big-picture of their happiness and instead finds people trying to complete small tasks, only to find that the joy they get from it is temporary. Now lost and craving for another shallow feeling of satisfaction, they then search for the new distraction to acquaint themselves with, creating a pattern of eternal emptiness in one’s self. Believing that achieving goals like these will make yourself happy is a dangerous downward spiral. These things we do may make us feel happy for a short period but it soon fades away, leaving you unredeemed, with the new feeling of hopelessness that you are living an unsatisfactory life.

Many may search their whole lives seeking their purpose, trying to fulfill their desires for meaning, and thinking that one has to contribute something great in this world to achieve “happiness”. But this isn’t the case. Happiness is not tangible or material; it is a subjective construct, meaning it is different for everyone, as well as the means to achieve it is as well.

This causes people to put all of their energy into work, believing that achieving their goals will provide their lives with meaning. This labor-intensive attitude is a powerful motivator for those who want to be the best in their careers and academics. However, as time passes, this need for incessant grind may become woven into one’s identity, causing these people to struggle to differentiate between a productive life and a happy one. This, in turn, imposes the mindset that one must have an “always-on, always-working mentality where being frazzled is a badge of honor and your work and identity are one and the same” (Yuko). Because of the existential notion regarding the limitations of lifetime, people may work for as many hours as their body can endure, often leading to the negligence of their social, mental, and physical health, priorities in life that hustle culture ignores. Striving for the unrealistic work ethic that the media encourages people to have can increase stress levels in individuals, leading to dissatisfaction in one’s life and self-worth, and a disheartening lack of fulfillment when standards are not reached.

Goals like these may bring people temporary joy, but will never fill that sense of meaning and value they are desperately yearning for. Instead of distracting yourself with these tasks, you must first confront what it is that is keeping you from reaching happiness; only then will you be able to resolve the self-destructing patterns that are leading you to the dissatisfaction that is continually visiting.

You will never be satisfied or content when you continuously search for the next thing in your life that you think will give you meaning. It’s great to want to make an impact and help others, but not if your own happiness and well-being are sacrificed to do so. Just because your life is purposeful, doesn’t mean you are always happy in it. When you finally find the value in your life, then you will be able to find the peace you have been searching for.

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

HUSTLE CULTURE

During our painstaking time exploring these topics, we finally settled on a conclusion to answer humanity’s most aching question: “What is the meaning of life?”

Our response is that there is no true meaning. Life does not always provide us with the purpose that we are all so keen on seeking. As we trudge through life, it is expected to struggle with life’s uncertainties but it is up to us to make the realization that finding meaning does not lead to being happy, which is the most important priority of all. Each person on this earth is held responsible for attaining their own happiness, for changing their perspective on life. Regardless of hardships that you’ve experienced, and will continue to experience as time progresses, it is always possible to lead a worthy life, as long as you hold on to that sliver of hope.

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The Featheralist

STRAY MORNING Written by Ida Mobini, ‘22 | Designed by Esther Jin, ‘21

7:24 Cynthia Wang, ‘21 Photography I felt at peace after the full moon. I can’t explain it exactly—how I would open my eyes and I would be someplace new, like a fairytale, where the bad thing had passed, or I had passed by it, or the badness had slipped from my body altogether as if it were blood vanishing down the drain. It would be like the first day of my life. I could use my legs. I could taste the sun. I could take comfort in knowing that, for the single moment in which I had awoken, everything seemed to be as it had been before I slept: unchanged; perfect because it was unchanged.

But the thing about my sleep was change itself, and as I came to, the moment ran away from me. I might have tried to wrestle it back into my grip some months prior, although I understood better now: comfort was slippery and rare, and it never lasted with a condition like mine.

I had to stop walking because I had forgotten where I was going. I had forgotten where I was, even. My feet stung. So I put together that I had been walking for some time—since sunrise, maybe. I was slick with sweat, and I didn’t have any shoes on, but I knew better than to be surprised. I looked down at my feet, which were caked with mud. Could I remember this road? I thought I had seen it before.

When you wake up stranded once a month, you get to know a lot of roads.

Eventually, the sun came over the trees, throbbing yellow. I shielded my eyes with one hand. A passing car screeched at me with its horn. I continued walking, hoping I wouldn’t have to replace the front door of my apartment again.

As I fumbled toward civilization, my mind traveled in the opposite direction. Bleary-eyed, somewhat dazed, I recounted the past several weeks, starting with how I had managed to get myself a job in a department store at the beginning of June. Eight hours a day, I sprayed the back of my hand with perfume, adjusted the stand on which the perfume was displayed, and, when asked, wrapped the different perfume boxes in glossy red bows. I remembered Mama had come to visit me after my first week at the store to celebrate my newfound employment. “Hope you’re keeping track of your thing on the calendar,” she said, tapping furiously on

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the day of the full moon, which I never marked. On our last day together, she waxed my arms.

Outside of work, I slept—preferably draped over my sofa, cradling a half-eaten box of chocolates near my chest, chocolate smeared around my mouth and the flatscreen blaring out reality TV. Even when better stuff was on, I stuck to Hoarders and Say Yes to the Dress. I always felt a strange kinship to reality television, although I knew that most of it was fake; maybe it was just that I appreciated the idea of some showrunner out there craving my attention. My mind replayed a scene from Extreme Couponing before moving on.

I couldn’t go into the supermarket barefoot, which meant I sat beneath the awning for some time regaining my breath. My feet were blistered and bleeding. A woman that looked like she’d shop at the department store dug a dollar out of her purse and held it in front of my eyes. It was, for some reason, tinted pink, so I declined.

Ten minutes later, I started back down the sidewalk, lugging myself along. The sun, overwhelming and constant, had made me its victim. Everything hurt.

My apartment building was another twenty minutes away. I walked with diligence. Strangers stared and made circles around me. A flock of joggers came down the sidewalk, heads turned when they noticed my hair was in the shape of a bird’s nest and I had no shoes on. This was my ritual: my being subject to strangeness, my complete and utter helplessness to it. I had become strange myself; I was, irrevocably, that strange, shoeless woman, and I couldn’t do a single thing about it but accept that my ritual had been assigned to me.

By the time I stumbled into the marble foyer of my building, I’d had to explain to several people passing by that I didn’t require an ambulance. Now I faced the doorman, who was fairly new and, for that reason, barely recognized me. I waved frantically at my dirty face and repeated my name over and over again. Eventually he let me in. It still hurt that he didn’t know my name.

In the elevator, I met a surly-looking woman who was holding her pet chihuahua. The chihuahua, dressed in

a purple leash and matching booties, yapped angrily at me, as though we had known each other in some past life and hated each other vehemently. The woman scratched behind its ears. I followed her eyes to my muddy, bare feet.

“I was attacked,” I explained. “They took my shoes.”

She didn’t seem convinced.

The elevator door opened to her floor. She teetered out and left me alone for the next three levels up. Four, five, six. I picked at my face, unfazed by the bits of dried blood coming off into my fingernails. I remembered, bizarrely enough, having painted them a slick, bright green, two or three nights prior. Now they were returned to their plain state: long, ghoulish, and flesh-pink. The doors slid open again.

When I reached the door to my apartment, I discovered a large hole, as though something had clawed its way through—like a rabid animal, or a sledgehammer. The single constant that I dreaded each month. I crawled through the hole, careful not to splinter myself on the edges, and made it inside.

The curtains were drawn and tied. I remembered doing that when it was closer to evening. Everything else was like a clue—the scratches in the floor tiles, jagged shards of glass littered everywhere, a rip in the carpet.

Frowning, I poked my foot where it disconnected from the underlay, then moved into the kitchen, which was its own clutter: several piles of unwashed dishes sitting in the sink, a dying Chinese evergreen looming near a covered window, chunks and chunks of raw meat—red, bleeding steak—strewn over a cutting board. I opened the fridge and found more fresh steaks. Rib-eyes and T-bones, shiny and chewed-on. I couldn’t remember buying a single cut. “This is ridiculous,” I said, and closed the fridge. Then I brewed a cup of coffee and sipped at it in thick silence.

In no way was I surprised by the day's events. I’d known about my condition for some time now, for years, in fact: once a month, my body betrays me.

I suspect it has something to do with the bite.

Before my shift at the perfume counter, I decided to watch TV. Survivor was on. They voted off the blonde, then moved on with their lives.

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

DOES WEATHER AFFECT OUR MOOD? Written by Kayley Hou, ‘23 Designed by Esther Jin, ’21 How Did I Collect My Data?

From Wednesday, September 30th to Tuesday, October 5th, I posted a poll on my Instagram story asking viewers to choose what their mood was for that day. One option correlated with a good mood and the other option correlated with a bad mood. On the first day, I asked people to voluntarily take the poll every day for a week and to ignore the poll if they stopped participating after the first day. This allowed me to get more accurate results. Each day, I recorded the highest temperature in Fahrenheit as well as the first hundred votes from the poll. Lastly, I made the graph and table based on the data that I had collected.

What were the Results?

The table and graphs accompanying this article illustrate that there is little-to-no correlation between weather and mood.

Mood by Days of Week

Mood By Temperature

Weather and Mood Alice Tang, ‘23 Traditional

Possible Errors: The lack of correlation may have been due to my small dataset as I only recorded a single week of polling. If the data set was larger, there might have been a more precise and significant correlation.

Why do People Think that the Weather Affects Our Mood?

People think the weather affects their mood because happiness is traditionally associated with the color yellow, representing a sunny day, while unhappiness is associated with the color grey or blue, representing a cloudy or rainy day. But in reality, the factors that affect our mood are much more complex than the color of the sky and cannot be predicted simply based on weather phenomena. Factors of mood can be affected by anything from the day of the week to even the amount of rest you got the night before--people are most likely going to be happier on a Friday than a Monday.

How much food you ate that day, or maybe if you had a long test that day are all factors that contribute to how we are feeling. Overall mental health can also play a significant role in mood change or development. As a result, acing a math test and getting some exercise can weigh more heavily in factoring our mood than the weather simply being warmer than usual.

What is the Takeaway?

The weather does affect our mood, but that is not the only factor that goes into our complex feelings. So the next time you look outside your window in the morning and see that it’s cloudy, don’t jump straight to the conclusion that it’s going to be a bad day. Stay open-minded and don’t let the stereotype of bad weather get you down!

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The Featheralist

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE

K-POP INDUSTRY Written by Katelyn Gelle, ‘24 and Rini Khandelwal, ‘24 | Designed by Mabel Szeto, ‘21

K-Pop: a genre of music that shines perhaps the brightest out of its own niche, bringing unique vocals and rap together with complex choreographies. It has garnered millions of fans worldwide devoted to their respective idols, raking in billions of dollars. But who is behind all of the fireworks and flashing lights? The answer is the industry, and it’s time to take a dive into it.

Criteria of the Paradigm K-Pop Idol The first topic of discussion is that K-Pop idols must meet certain requirements, namely weight and looks. Female trainees take the brunt of this standard, as they must be somewhere between 92-110 pounds before they debut; male trainees can be from 125-150 pounds, depending on height. The Korean beauty standard for both genders prioritizes a slim physique, a small face, a v-shaped jaw, pale and flawless skin, straight eyebrows, and large, double-lidded eyes. All K-Pop idols must struggle towards getting their scales to read differently and their mirrors to show the kind of person that society wants them to be.

Unhealthy Dieting and Weight Restriction While a tantalizing option for losing weight, dieting has its own negative consequences.

Unfortunately, it is still a common method for slimming down oneself in the K-Pop industry. Kim Seokjin and Park Jimin, better known as Jin and Jimin, respectively, of superstar boy band BTS opened up about the extreme diets that they undertook prior to the group’s Wings comeback in 2016. In the October 30th episode of JTBC’s Please Take Care of My Refrigerator in 2017, the two members discussed their weight-losing methods. “I would eat two packs [of chicken breast] a day, and I did that for almost a year,” Jin revealed.

“Everyone told me that I should take vitamins while dieting, but I didn’t take any and I even experienced malnutrition.” After Jin’s confession, Jimin admitted that he followed a similarly effective diet. “I wanted to be one of the good looking members,” Jimin said. “That’s why I decided to lose some weight.” Because of this, Jimin ate one meal a day for ten days. To experience firsthand the consequences of this diet, BTS fans (collectively known as “ARMY”) decided to try it out and found that the diet caused breathing problems, chest pain, loss of muscle mass, and nausea, among other issues. The entire situation shows that not all solutions are healthy.

Appearances and Surgery A large portion of K-Pop idols also undergo plastic surgery at the request of their companies in order to make themselves more attractive to the public eye. One prominent figure who avowed to receive surgery is American rapper Jessi, whose career is based in South Korea. On Radio Star’s July 29th “No Filter, No Breaks” special, Jessi expressed her thoughts on cosmetic alterations and her own operations. “I’m against plastic surgery now,” she said. “I had eye and nose surgery, and I got lip fillers done…people said it was too much. That’s why I got them all removed recently.” Because the industry saw her appearances as unsatisfactory, she eventually had to get plastic surgery in order to compensate. This was an obvious display of lookism, which is discriminatory of those whose looks were “inadequate”. Sadly, the pressure to get surgery stems not only from companies but also from the audiences. In SISTAR #208 of Radio Star, Soyou of K-Pop group SISTAR revealed that it was because of harsh criticism concerning her looks online that she decided to undergo a cosmetic change. “I tried to lose weight, but I couldn’t.”

Soyou also continues that she was debating on getting a lip enhancement while also confessing that she had already received a nose operation. Her internal solutions to improving herself tie into the importance of the Korean beauty standard in that she was forced to endure a multitude of hate solely because people did not like the way she looked.

The avalanche of duress eventually got to the point where she chose to go under the knife for it to end.

While hateful comments have plunged, it is crucial to note that the sufferings of a K-Pop idol are never truly over. “I’ve done everything I could do,” says Jessi, referring to her own experiences with plastic surgery. “No one’s perfect.”

Trainee Mabel Szeto, ‘21 Digital

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December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

Stage Cynthia Li, ‘21 Digital

The Will of the Camera While K-Pop idols are rich in fame and fortune, they still must adhere to some standards. Whether it is doing something against their will or against their moral judgment, the show must go on.

Singing Without A Voice Along with beauty and weight-based requirements, K-Pop idols often have no choice over what they’re performing or displaying. Performance concepts are commonly developed to please the public, while the idol’s consent is ignored. Kim Gayoung of now-disbanded girl group STELLAR discussed how she and her fellow members were given revealing outfits for a photoshoot, though they initially refused. After a few photos and insisting the outfits were inappropriate, STELLAR members were allowed to change into different clothes; however, the original racy photos were released to the public, forever giving STELLAR members a disreputable image. Gayoung goes on to elaborate on the damage the industry had taken on themselves as individuals. “I’m not that kind of person [to act inappropriately],” she explained.

“And yet because of that [incident], the whole world sees me as this type of person.” Not only did their actions as K-Pop idols affect their own lives, but it affected their families as well. “[Our parents were asked what we were doing], and they replied, ‘[Our daughter is] in a group called STELLAR,’ people would look us up and see only shocking

photos of us. People would ask them, ‘Why is your daughter doing this kind of thing?’ I felt so sorry.”

Gayoung also touches on mental trauma, saying that a particular scene in the music video for their hit “Marionette” negatively affected one of the members. The shock she took from her ordeal forced her to abstain from white milk due to the insinuations of the content she was filmed in. “She was really hurt. Because none of us knew.”

Dancing Crippled On the premises of provocative content, Chou Tzuyu of TWICE is another victim. As a fifteen-year-old girl, she was directed to perform a come-hither dance in an elevator for an LG U+ commercial. Whether or not Tzuyu’s consent was taken is unclear, but it is highly immoral on her management’s side to allow a minor to broadcast such content to the public. As an underage performer, the advertisement itself encourages virtuously wrong behavior, namely pedophilia. It enforces the idea that the sexualization of the young is not only acceptable but also useful as a means of profit. While it is true that such content sells quickly in the markets, that does not mean that it is in the company’s best interest to sacrifice righteousness for financial gain. Not only does the video give the wrong impression of Tzuyu, but it also gives wrong impressions of K-Pop as a whole, as it’s being promulgated that such concepts are wholeheartedly supported.

Idol Behavior and Dating An idol’s offstage life is altered as well to appeal to the audience. Dating is strictly prohibited in order to give K-Pop fans the impression that they’re much closer to their idols and also to force idols to concentrate on their careers. This can lead to a multitude of consequences that affect an idol’s personal life.

The Dating Ban Idols are usually if not always forbidden to date, whether it is each other or anyone outside of the spotlight. If dating between idols does occur, it can lead to serious consequences, such as putting a stopper in their careers. K-Pop stars HyunA and E’Dawn were in a secret relationship for two years before their record labels found out. The idols were ousted from their groups (HyunA from their shared project group Triple H and E’Dawn from both Triple H and Pentagon) and their contracts terminated for “breach of loyalty and trust”. This idea that idols are not allowed to live their own lives as people restricts them from finding love that could be potentially used as an emotional outlet to the stress they experience throughout their careers. One popular couple in K-Pop was Jennie from BLACKPINK and Kai from EXO, who decided to go public in January of 2019. However, they broke up after a month because they needed to focus on their work and their schedules were simply too full to accommodate a full-time

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The Featheralist

relationship, according to an SBS funE report. This not only shows how extraordinarily busy an idol’s life is but also how important love could be in them. However, they are banned from dating in order to keep up a boyfriend-girlfriend-type relationship with none other than their doting fans.

Sasaengs and Obsessive Fans As part of the rule on dating, K-Pop idols either do not date or must hide their relationships extremely well to keep the media out of it. This makes them seem “available” to fans, increasing their appeal to the audience and thus being able to sell better. In K-Pop, fanmeets are customarily held in order for the fans to get the chance to meet their favorite groups and performers up-close and personal. At these fanmeets, idols usually perform acts such as “aegyo” (acting cute) in order to please fans while also accepting their gifts and letters. This often gives fans the false impression that an idol would do anything and everything for them.

While not all of this love is just for show, the illusion that idols are always open and willing to date a fan often results in horrific repercussions.

Two effects of this aftermath are the rise of sasaengs (literally “private life” in Korean, but in this case, it refers to idol stalkers) and obsessive fans. The behaviors of these so-called fans can range from delusional to downright dangerous. In an infamous instance, the K-Pop boy band EXO had just completed one of their schedules in their early years. After leaving a building they had been inside, they approached a van that looked exactly like one from their company and was also parked where the company van would have been. EXO’s manager sensed something wrong and stopped the band’s members from entering the van. As it turned out, the van had been rented by a sasaeng who was attempting to kidnap the EXO members.

In 2006, SUPER JUNIOR’s Kim Heechul suffered from another sasaeng incident. While driving, he noticed that he was being followed by a car. In an effort to lose them, he made several turns and followed different routes; however, the chase ended with Heechul getting into a car accident, breaking his leg.

While obsessive fans aren’t as physically traumatizing to the idols, their actions are still terribly sickening. 2PM’s Ok Taecyeon, for example, once received an incredibly disturbing note from a fan. It read “You can’t live without me” and was written in the fan’s own blood.

Thankfully, the idol’s true fans defended Taecyeon and demanded an apology from the fan; however, that is not to say that Taecyeon was mentally unaffected by the note.

As it is, nearly all K-Pop performers must deal with being stalked, harassed, or hurt. Unfortunately, it is very rare for an idol’s company to take legal action against these “fans” because incidents such as these are growing increasingly common. While it is possible for such instances to be halted through lawsuits or other litigations, K-Pop companies tend

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to prioritize the idols’ image rather than their safety; because of this, their health and privacy tends to be sacrificed for fame and money. This is detrimental to the overall welfare of the idols and is, contestably, unfair, especially because the idols are the ones bringing benefit to the industry and are receiving mistreatment in return. All in all, the way a group or performer is managed by the company has a lot to do with how much trouble they are forced to put up with throughout their life as an idol.

Dealing With Mental Health An idol’s struggles with mental health, especially depression, is also a usually glossed-over topic. In the industry, idols must pretend to act normal and untroubled on-camera and to their fans rather than open up and talk about their problems. Late Kim Jonghyun of SHINee suffered greatly from depression to the point of committing suicide. In a note he left behind, he implies his managers did not care that he was going through problematic times.

“I tried figuring out the reasons for my pain and suffering. I already had the answer. I was in pain because of me. It’s all my fault that I carry so many imperfections.” Despite Jonghyun’s obvious dejection, he was unable to share his own feelings and eventually died to end the pain he was feeling.

Another late idol, Choi Jin-Ri “Sulli” of girl group f(x), supposedly committed suicide over the amount of hate she was receiving for drifting away from the norms of wearing modest clothing and being respectful to her older actors. Sulli was known to be outspoken and had only recently been seen confronting and laughing at online hate in a recording, chillingly hiding the emptiness she felt before her untimely death. All sides of the disastrous situation show how easily an idol can hide how they truly are, leaving dedicated fans to throw darts at the truth and to wonder how the celebrities that they love must be feeling.

Conclusion What is it about K-Pop that makes it addicting?

Could it be the physical appearances of the idols, or how they act? Whatever might appeal to a K-Pop fan, it is mostly due to the company’s request. Like a multi-faceted diamond, the industry itself are sides of an infinite story. From surgery to dieting to lack of freedom, love, and access to mental support, there is no doubt that the standards are high while spirits may be low. In the face of facts, however, K-Pop is wildly successful in terms of money and support. With all honesty, no matter how beautiful something might seem, there will always be at least a sting of poison. In the words of Jeong Hoseok, “It’s too bad, but it’s too sweet.”

Star Mabel Szeto, ‘21 Digital

Written by Emma Shen '24 and Andrea Wang '24 and Tyler Xiao '24 and Daisy Zhang '24 Designed by Esther Jin, ‘21 Affirmative action (AA) is the policy in which an individual's color, race, sex, religion, or national origin are taken into account to increase opportunities for underrepresented groups in society. Affirmative action policies attempt to change the status quo through various means, such as requiring a certain percentage of minorities to be accepted for college admissions and denying government funding to institutions that fail to meet that criteria. Proponents of affirmative action argue that this new system will help reverse the effects of systematic racism towards minorities.

However, this is counterproductive: not only is the general concept of AA unfair in today’s context, but it also hurts the minorities that the policy claims to help.

At first glance, affirmative action seems beneficial to minorities. However, this is a lose-lose situation upon closer inspection. Affirmative action will lead colleges to separate students into groups based on their race, limiting individuality by labeling people.

This generalization will fuel harmful stereotypes.

Affirmative action creates the perception that all minorities are disadvantaged. By contrast, they assume that majority groups are naturally advantaged. The story becomes strictly black and white with no in-between: there is no additional consideration for a wealthy African American applicant or an Asian American applicant living in poverty. As a result, the aspect that makes American college admissions unique--the

The States of America Uma Sharma '24 Digital

opportunity for students to showcase a variety of talents in both their academic and non-academic lives--is undermined. Prioritizing race will stifle individuality in the college admissions process by categorizing students by race rather than focusing on the unique story behind each applicant.

AA further harms minorities by exacerbating implicit bias toward groups “benefited” by affirmative action. People’s prejudices will likely become exacerbated when educational institutions

“Prioritizing race will stifle individuality in the college admissions process by categorizing students by race rather than focusing on the unique story behind each applicant.” factor race into admissions processes. This is due to the “mismatch theory,” where people will incorrectly speculate that minority students are admitted because of their race rather than their qualifications, making them “mismatched.”

Minorities could face doubt about their education and accomplishments from employers and consumers, which would hurt their job prospects and ability to climb the ladder. This is a probable consequence that would plague all minorities in the long run. Even on campus, they could be disrespected by peers and professors on a daily basis. When reflecting on her experience as a student at Princeton, Michelle Obama recalls that “[i]t was impossible to be a black kid at a mostly white school and not feel the shadow of affirmative action… It planted a seed of doubt. Was I here merely as part of a social experiment?" (Becoming).

Obama’s experience highlights the risks that minorities face later in life when their universities factor race into their admissions.

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: AGITATOR OR ADVANCEMENT? Though affirmative action seeks to reverse the consequences of systemic racism, it is neither a fair nor an adequate solution to this issue. We need to realize that diversity in educational institutions can still exist without the need for affirmative action. Boosting diversity should not be done by covering up the flaws within our schools. A study shows that American schools are underfunded by “nearly $150 billion annually… school districts with high concentration of Latinx and Black students are much more likely to be underfunded.”(The Century Foundation) This forces schools to heavily rely on outside factors such as parent donations, leaving schools in disadvantaged or low-income communities underfunded. Instead of giving under-resourced students a temporary boost to attend more selective colleges, we should instead be trying to improve the quality of school curriculum early on, so that there will not even be a need for minorities to need AA’s assistance in the first place. AA policies may artificially boost representation, but would only increase reliance on affirmative action rather than school reform, which are necessary to help minorities succeed in education.

Inherently, affirmative action does not truly benefit anyone. It robs thousands of other considerably outstanding and hardworking overqualified students from attending the school of their choice, and only negatively affects minority students in the long run. In other words, affirmative action is simply placing a band-aid over a bullet wound--a momentary, superficial solution that ignores the problems coming from systemic racism.

Education serves as the core of our society: its effects are widespread throughout society, whether that be in the workplace or in day-to-day interactions. In the battle against racism, bringing race-based policies into the foundation of our society is a dangerous idea. College admissions should be based on competency and character, traits that must be separated from one’s race.

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VOLUME UP: UNMUTING THE YOUNGER GENERATION Written by Alissa Ringler, ‘24 | Designed by Esther Jin, ‘21 “Please be quiet and sit still while I lock the doors and close the blinds,” countless teachers have instructed me throughout my years at school.

Hearing frantic announcements from principals and crowding underneath desks is an event that almost every student in America has experienced.

Lockdown drills, although frequent and predictable, were one of my biggest fears in elementary school and caused many of my other classmates anxiety as well. However, contrary to what my teachers thought, avoiding telling us what we were preparing to hide from made the situation considerably more frightening. Although it was still quite alarming to realize one day a classmate may wish harm upon you or your peers, once the event was explicitly acknowledged, the

“Please be quiet and sit still while I lock the doors and close the blinds...” feeling of helplessness and confusion was replaced with a strong want for a solution. There are several other instances when the adults I know care for me choose to hide important information as a way to ‘protect’ me. It is important for adults to realize that they cannot shield the younger generation from the events that impact them directly, and doing so only strengthens the problem. In some cases, we, the younger generation, are the only people who care enough to make a change, and we will only be able to come up with solutions once we know what we are fighting for.

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On February 14, 2018, a shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. I recall participating in the silent memorial arranged by my middle school the following day and resenting the politicians who made it possible for the 19-year-old shooter to purchase a gun, as well as the many adults who told me not to worry about political decisions such as gun restrictions. It occurred to me that the incident could have been easily prevented and I felt as if the people who had the power to make a difference were choosing to ignore the problem because it didn’t affect them.

This mindset changed after I learned about the Parkland Shooting survivors who had founded a youth activism group called the Never Again Movement. Until then, it had never occurred to me that the younger generation could do something as impactful as become activists until then. The day immediately after the shooting, many survivors including Alfonso Calderon, Sarah Chadwick, Jaclyn Corin, Ryan Deitsch, Emma González, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, and Alex Wind began to demand tighter gun restriction laws and created #NeverAgain. By the end of the year, the Never Again movement had hosted major protests and boycotts, convincing several politicians to pass laws that made it harder for young adults to buy deadly weapons. In fact, while school shootings have become increasingly more frequent as the years go by, the number of school shootings in America dropped dramatically after the Never Again Movement was founded. Kids as young as 16 were making a larger impact than the older, more experienced politicians making decisions.

Time passed and for a short period I forgot about youth activism and the strength of the younger generation. It wasn’t until Greta Thunberg started making headlines that I was once again emboldened by the power kids held. Greta, a 17 year old activist for climate change awareness, began skipping school in August of 2018 to protest in front of parliament. After a little over a month, Greta had inspired 17,000 students in 24 countries to participate in school strikes to demand

government action against global warming.

Because of her success in pressuring government officials to cut global emissions and invest in sustainable technology, Greta even won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, making her the youngest person to be recognized as Person of the Year.

Unfortunately, her age put her at a disadvantage and she received a lot of negativity and hate. As a response to Greta’s achievement, several politicians, including President Donald Trump, mocked her and called her names, as if they were the children in the situation. Frustratingly, while decisions on the general safety of the planet are being made based off of financial gain by politicians who will not live to see their impact on the climate, the younger generation will be the ones to suffer in the future. Greta’s actions show that we must not wait for other people to make the right choices, but instead fight for our own safety.

More recently, there has been a call to action to fight against the injustices towards Black Americans and other minorities. America has an extensive history of racial injustice, and as a result,

many kids are introduced to hate and violence at a young age. Young black lives matter activists Thandiwe Abdullah and Anya Dillard are fighting for global change so that kids won’t have to worry about discrimination in the future. Thandiwe Abdullah, the 16 year old activist, was 10 when the black lives matter movement was founded and knew she wanted to help. At an early age she became invested in making change and quickly learned that she could do so even as a child. Now, Abdullah is well known for her contribution to the Black Lives Matter Vanguard and Black Lives Matter in Schools Program. Anya Dillard also started looking for ways to benefit the world at a young age. She frequently participated in protests and by the age of 12, she was organizing her own.

Following the murder of George Floyd, Anya sprang into action and began arranging mass protests in front of government buildings so that her message would be heard. Now, at 17 years old, Anya is credited for creating The Next Gen Come Up Organization, which helps the younger generation get involved in current events and

“We will only be able to come up with solutions once we know what we are fighting for.”

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

Volume Up Vivian Hoang, ‘24 Digital

express their opinions. Together, with the help of other youth activists, Anya and Thandiwe hope to shape a better future.

While we may be young, we have a huge impact on the world and deserve to share our opinions. The NeverAgain Movement, Greta Thunberg, Anya Dillard, Sophie Ming, and many other activists have shown us that when our safety is ignored, we can take matters into our own hands and make the change we need. Your opinions and actions have the power to make a difference in the world, so use your voice and see where it takes you.

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The Featheralist

STORES GONE SILENT Written by Vinay Rajagopalan '24 | Colin Szeto, '21

Cheese Town Colin Szeto, '21 Digital

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Ah, Souplantation. I have many fond memories of the place. I’d walk down its doors, my mom would force me to use the sanitizer, and I’d grab a tray. I’d get some salad, a few croutons, and what is most likely way too much cheese to be healthy. We’d be seated, and I might go get a Sprite or a root beer at the soft serve machine, and I’d get mac and cheese (Now that I think back, I ate a lot of cheese). After that, I’d finally have some ice cream; it was a wondrous place. Sometimes we’d eat with friends, and we’d talk, laugh, and of course, eat. It was, by far, my favorite restaurant, though my recollections may be biased from nostalgia.

Then COVID, the virus that’s caused a global pandemic and the one that’s messed up your life for the past roughly-half-the-year, caused the US to go into lockdown. I hoped it would be over in a couple of months, but I was sadly mistaken.

And then I heard about Souplantation closing. I was shocked. This couldn’t be happening. But sadly, this was foreseeable. Souplantation is a buffet; and buffets and pandemics don’t mix.

restaurant closed 73 stores, according to the BBC. DavidsTea, a tea shop in Canada has closed several of its locations. According to Business Insider, China has seen retail sales dropping by an outstanding 20.5%, which is worse than even the 2008 global financial crisis.

Perhaps an important question to ask is this-could this all have been prevented? Could these stores have been saved?

Before answering those questions, we must first talk about the retail apocalypse. This “apocalypse” is a large closing of stores that has been going on since at least 2017, and possibly for the last decade.

For example, about 9,302 stores closed in 2019, which was a 59% increase from the previous year.

It isn’t all retail outlets, just real, physical, brick-and-mortar stores; like malls.

People have attributed the apocalypse to the growth of Amazon, or just the growth of online shopping in general. This is partly true. When you go to a store, you might browse a bit, and end up buying items that you didn’t necessarily come for.

But in online shopping, you get less distracted, and you usually only buy what you need. Amazon’s sales quintupled from 2010 to 2015, according to The Atlantic. Also, eCommerce sales have

It’s not just Souplantation having this problem.

According to Business Insider, almost 12,000 chain tstores in the US are expected to close by the end of the year. 12,000. An inconceivable number of stores, to be sure. And there are some recognizable names-JC Penny has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as has Pier 1 Imports. Victoria’s Secret and GNC are closing hundreds of stores. Macy’s is closing 125 stores.

“eCommerce sales have increased dramatically... they rose by 11% from 2015 to 2016”

That’s not all. Just in California, thousands of businesses have permanently closed. 19,000, in fact, according to an ABC10 News article.

increased dramatically. For example, they rose by 11% from 2015 to 2016, according to Adobe Digital Insights.

According to the Yelp Local Economic Impact Report for September 2020, businesses like Women’s Clothing, Gift Shops, and most anything relating to food have been heavily affected by the pandemic. About 19,590 restaurants have closed permanently. 17,503 retail and shopping stores have closed.

One factor is that America has far too much retail compared to its population. According to an article from Quartz, the amount of retail space per person in the States is a whopping 23.6 sq. ft. To give an idea of scale, in Australia, there is only 11.1 sq ft per person and only 4.6 in the UK. Clearly, the industry is far too bloated.

Thankfully, businesses like home, auto, and professional services have been weathering the storm better. Only 9.9 per thousand roofing businesses have closed, compared to 28.1 per thousand food trucks. One possible reason for this is that these businesses have less contact with their customers or less contact with things they touch often.

Another reason is the shift in where Americans’ money is being spent. Spending on clothes was down by 20% in 2016. However, other industries like hotels and traveling are going up.

Astoundingly, restaurants have grown twice as fast as other retail(According once again, to The Atlantic). Fun fact- in 2016, spending in restaurants and bars overtook spending in grocery stores for the first time in America.

But enough of talking about the US, how are things looking in the rest of the world? According to Reuters, back in March, UK businesses like hospitality and retailing are suffering, similar to what is happening in the US. A British pizza

shut down many non-essential businesses, when it was a hotspot for coronavirus. This certainly damaged many stores, both small and large. If we had shut down as hard as Italy had, no doubt the same would have happened to us. And if we hadn’t shut down, stores would have still closed down(Little known fact-dead people can’t buy stuff). So in short, this most likely couldn’t have been prevented. But if COVID did not exist, it would not be nearly as bad. So those of you with a time machine, you know what to do.

So, who’s going to fill the vacuum left by these store closures? Obviously, Amazon is still growing, and will most definitely benefit from the increased need for products. Also, companies who can deliver goods that are ordered online will be able to greatly benefit as well(for example-UberEats for food). But what will happen to smaller businesses?

Will they benefit too? Let’s quickly define small businesses-they are small, local businesses with only one or two locations.

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

I’m sure many of you have a place where when you look back on it, you find a multitude of fond memories. Maybe it’s Chuck-e-Cheese’s, or Pump It Up. Many of you probably have multiple. For me, that place is Souplantation.

Well, the confidence of small business owners has increased from April, according to Vistage. But sometimes confidence can be misleading. What are the actual facts?

According to the Associated Press, COVID favors businesses that are more digital, or able to service needs online. So one way for small businesses to survive and grow is to undergo digitalization, or speed up their digitalization projects. In an increasingly digital world, this is likely the only way to really survive and thrive through this crisis.

We don’t know what the future has to hold. But I know that someway, somehow, we, as human beings, will persevere just like we always have and get through these unprecedented times.

Those are just a few factors. Now that we know about the “apocalypse” we can discuss if store closures could have been prevented. For some evidence, we can look at Italy. On March 12, Italy

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The Featheralist

STUDENT-LED INITIATIVES Written by Andrea Baek '22 and Russell Kang '22 | Designed by Colin Szeto, '21

FOCUS

“We are a digital media production team, who brings together students from the district to discuss different viewpoints on social issues. We try to foster an environment where people from opposing sides can talk face to face, and maybe knock down some preconceived ideas one side might have about another.”

INSPIRATION

“I think what inspired me was seeing a lot of posts on social media. I know that’s probably not the best reason, but I think in general, you see a lot of intolerance from person to person about their views. I don’t think there were many platforms previously where students from opposing viewpoints could talk and share their opinions. I think we still have a long way to come, but hopefully, we will get there eventually.

GOALS

“In the future, I hope that we can achieve our mission and have a safe place where people feel comfortable sharing their opinions. While I think views and interaction are some of our goals, having a safe place would be our first step.”

EFFECT

“I hope that people will not be quick to judge and take someone for their face value. I think we are mostly aimed at the larger student demographic, with the hopes of giving students a place to openly discuss their values. Through productive discussion, we hope that while students can acknowledge their differences, they can also come to understand the reasoning of others.”

Re-Project Answers were provided by Allison Huang

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December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

EFFECT

FOCUS

“Diversify Our Narrative as a whole focuses on advocating for an actively anti-racist curriculum nationwide. The anti-racist curriculum includes teaching BIPOC literature and history but also emphasizes addressing racism in the current curriculum and teaching ways to combat it. IN PUSD specifically, our chapter plans to implement at least one BIPOC-written book in every high school English class within the next five years as well as managing discussions about marginalized communities in history classes. We have already made immense progress, meeting with dozens of PUSD teachers, staff, and district heads. We have gained lots of support from teachers and staff and our goal is to spark conversations that ignite into innovative ideas on how to make education more inclusive and diverse. Overall, we hope to create a positive learning environment where all students can see their ethnicities and cultures fully represented.”

INSPIRATION

“The biggest inspiration for starting DON PUSD was our classmates. Throughout our high school experience, we’ve met so many people with different cultural values, upbringings, religions, and so much more. With that, we started to notice that the things we read and were taught were not reflective of the students at all. One thing in particular that always got me thinking was the lack of indigenous history taught in school. We were given lectures about Native Americans as though their cultures and familial statuses are just histories. I bet half of the people in my grade don’t even know how to pronounce indigenous because we were not even taught that word. This same lack of cultural and diverse education is true for really any ethnicity aside from the typical Eurocentric perspective. We are never taught about other cultures. Especially riding on the momentum of the BLM uprising this summer, there was a need for the youth to take action. Our district founder, Tamara Alsaied, stumbled upon DON when they still had roughly 500 followers. She reached out and ended up creating the PUSD chapter of DON. From there, many people started to join because of the widespread feeling that WE are not represented. For many of us, Diversify Our Narrative was our first opportunity to really shape and play an active role in our own education. By telling stories and teaching histories from ALL perspectives throughout our curriculum, we hope to make people of all ethnicities and backgrounds feel represented and promote the development of a new generation that is more accepting and globally aware than ever before.”

“We hope to impact the community, specifically, PUSD middle and high schools. We want to open up the conversation on race and identity by providing more diverse perspectives, specifically in the books taught in English and history courses.

We believe that middle and high school is a time period crucial to our development and opinions, and as so, it is incredibly important that students are exposed to diverse perspectives so they grow to be more empathetic and inclusive people. Really, our desired impact on the community has always been the same: including more books written by BIPOC authors in the curriculum. Instead of having one of these books written by BIPOC taught as a token, they should be the norm! Through holding conversations with many teachers and administrators, many English classes now have more novels by diverse authors - and we’re excited to spread that energy with our district.”

GOALS

“For the short term, our goals include opening DON clubs at all of the PUSD high schools and working with school cultural groups. We also hope to link with community members and other San Diego organizations fighting for diverse causes.

Finally, we want to define clear action plans with teachers through the creation of lessons and with the district by planning our future role in change.

Long-term, we hope to have BIPOC authors and books normalized in every classroom in our district K-12 and create an environment where diverse education is the rule, not the exception. On top of that, we are hoping to help facilitate the availability of an ethnic studies course for students as well as AP World History on more high school campuses. Hopefully, through these changes, we will be able to foster diverse social evolution within our district.”

Diversify Our Narrative Answers were provided

by Sonia Somasundarum, Katie Schwenker, Inbar SChwartz, Tamara Alsaied, Aditya Mavalankar, Jessica Malvin, Claire Chung

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The Featheralist

CONTRIBUTORS Staff Contributors Cynthia Wang, ‘21 - Co-president/Editor-in-Chief Kane Xu, ‘21 - Co-president/Editor-in-Chief Andrea Baek, ‘22 - Vice-President/Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kevin Wang, ‘21 - Treasurer/Editor Ellen Xu, ‘23 - Secretary/Editor Anna Feng, ‘23 - Board Editor Kayley Tung, ‘21 - Board Editor Russell Kang, ‘22 - Board Editor Nicole Pi, ‘23 - Board Editor Allen Chen, ‘21 - Board Editor Colin Szeto, ‘21 - Head of Art Esther Jin, ‘21 - Co-head of Graphic Design Mabel Szeto, ‘21 - Co-head of Graphic Design

Advisors Mr. Thomas Swanson Dr. Trent Hall

COLOPHON

The Featheralist, Volume 03, Issue 01 Del Norte High School's Political and Literary magazine.

16601 Nighthawk Lane, San Diego, CA 92127 (858)-487-0877 https://www.powayusd.com/Schools/HS/DNHS https://dnhshumanities.weebly.com/ dnhshumanities@gmail.com School Population 2,168 students 192 full-time staff Font Families League Gothic (titles) Oswald (pull quotes) Libertinus Serif (by lines/body text) Computer Hardware and Software Windows 10 Adobe Illustrator Adobe Photoshop Adobe InDesign

Price of Magazine We rely 100% on local advertisers and student essay contest award money to print our magazine.

We print around 150 copies per issue depending on page count and distribute copies of each publication for free to the Del Norte student body and surrounding community.

Cover art “Growing Mind” by Colin Szeto, ‘21

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Writers Andrea Baek, ‘22 Bella Chong, ‘22 Anna Feng, ‘23 Katelyn Gelle, ‘24 Nikki Hekmat, ‘24 Vivian Hoang, ‘24 Kayley Hou, ‘23 Russell Kang, ‘22 Rini Khandelwal, ‘24 Taylor Kruger, ‘22 Jack Miller, ‘24 Ida Mobini, ‘22 Vinay Rajagopalan, ‘24 Karthik Rajasekar, ‘23 Avani Ranka, ‘23 Alyssa Ringler, ‘24 Al Sabat, ‘24 Shriya Sankaran, ‘23 Emma Shen, ‘24 Andrea Wang, ‘24 Tyler Xiao, ‘24 Ellen Xu, ‘23 Kane Xu, ‘21 Audrey Zeng, ‘23 Daisy Zhang, ‘24

Editorial Policy The Featheralist is produced and managed entirely by members of the synonymous The Featheralist club, an 100% student-run extracurricular club. The Featheralist club members are divided into three distinct but coordinating departments: Writing, Art, and Graphic Design. Each department is led by a small group of student officers.

The Writing Department collects drafts from both staff and guest writers. Student-led “editing squads” ensure that all articles are publication-ready. The Art Department curates artwork of all subjects, mediums, and styles through methods similar to the Writing Department. Officers screen all writing and art pieces for school appropriateness. Lastly, the Graphic Design Department combines verbal and visual content together into print-ready spreads.

Artists Tanvi Bagri, ‘24 Iris Ding, ‘22 Vivian Hoang, ‘24 Clarissa Hom, ‘22 Rini Khandelwal, ‘24 Cynthia Li, ‘21 Hema Rajendran, ‘24 Aidan Rosen, ‘22 Al Sabat, ‘24 Uma Sharma, ‘24 Colin Szeto, ‘21 Mabel Szeto, ‘21 Alice Tang, ‘23 Andrea Wang, ‘24 Cynthia Wang, ‘21

Graphic designers Iris Ding, ‘22 Esther Jin, ‘21 Sarika Pasumarthy, ‘22 Aidan Rosen, ‘22 Colin Szeto, ‘21 Mabel Szeto, ‘21 Daisy Zhang, ‘24

WORKS CONSULTED

“Affirmative Action: Agitator or Advancement?”

“Federal Role in Education.” Home, US Department of Education (ED), 25 May 2017, www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html.

Obama, Michelle. Becoming. Penguin, 2019.

Knight, David. “Federal Spending Covers Only 8% of Public School Budgets.” The Conversation, 14 July 2020, theconversation.com/federal-spending-covers-onl y-8-of-public-school-budgets-142348.

Mission Statement: The Featheralist as a club exists to foster a collaborative and mutually edifying community of artists, writers, and graphic designers. We empower students to explore topics spanning the entire spectrum of the humanities—from screenplay to political essay, from poetry to short story. We serve as a megaphone to broadcast students’ unique ideas, experiences, and visions to the entire campus and the larger community.

Scholastic Affiliations We are a proud member of the Columbia Student Press Association.

Theme Self Growth—We hope to keep persevering and maintaining positive mentalities through these uncertain times.

The positions expressed in any of the articles are solely those of the individual writer(s). They do not represent the viewpoints of The Featheralist, nor those of Del Norte High School or the Poway Unified School District.

Sign up for Writing Seminar 1-2!

Course Summary:

Writing Seminar 1-2 is a creative writing elective for 11th and 12th graders (or 10th graders with a counselor or teacher recommendation) that explores the elements of numerous literary genres, including poetry, prose, drama, journalism, and creative non-fiction. To develop their own voices as writers and create original pieces, students will engage in writing workshops, author studies, and publishing. Writing Seminar 1 focuses on mastering the techniques of authors and exploring poetry, short stories, non-fiction, and drama while Writing Seminar 2 allows students to dive deeper into their writing independently, working on more extensive projects and preparing their work for publication. Students will have multiple opportunities to publish their works in online and print publications and submit their work to writing contests.

Scan the QR code to sign an interest form! It’s for logistics to ensure the class is accepted!

December 2020 | Volume 03, Issue 01

LOVE CREATIVE WRITING?

Topics of Study: ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶

Studying multiple forms of writing, including poetry, drama, prose, and nonfiction/journalism Writing original writing pieces inspired by literary models and examples Developing a unique voice as a writer Identifying techniques of writers (including characterization, dialogue, narration, setting, etc.)

Completing writing projects, such as short stories, poetry collections, or a literary magazine

FAQs:

1. Is this an English class or an elective?

This is an elective that meets the UC/CSU “g” requirement.

2. Can I take this instead of an English class?

No, as this is an elective course. However, it meets the fine art UC/CSU “g” requirement.

3. Is there a lot of homework?

While there will be extensive writing, assignments are designed to be completed in class with minimal homework.

4. Why would I take this and an English class at the same time?

This class is designed for students who enjoy writing and want to experiment with different forms of writing they don’t traditionally experience in English classes. This class gives students the chance to take more risks with their writing, publish their work, and submit to writing contests for prizes and scholarships.

5. What is the grading like?

The gradebook will include a few categories, including classwork, projects, and polished writing. While polished writing pieces are graded with a rubric, standards are different from traditional essays. As this is an elective, it is not meant to be a difficult class. Students who work hard, try their best, and show their passion with their writing will succeed.

6. Do I have to take both Writing Seminar 1 and 2?

You are welcome to just take Writing Seminar 1. However, to take Writing Seminar 2, you must take Writing Seminar 1.

For more information, contact Ms. Darcey at mdarcey@powayusd.com or fill out the interest form.

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OUR GREATEST GLORY IS NOT IN NEVER FALLING, BUT IN RISING EVERY TIME WE FALL - CONFUCIUS