Activities for Winter Wellness

By JENNA PRESTON ‘22 Associate Editor-in-Chief

There’s something about the change of seasons, particularly the transition to frigid winter weather, that can throw your entire routine and perspective off. The cold weather and few hours of sunshine make it diffi cult to maintain enthusiasm and stick to your daily routines. It might put you in a constant state of sadness or grumpiness. When your body receives less daylight on a regular basis, you may feel sluggish and gloomy. Because of this, some people are more depressed than normal. Because of the sunset around 5 p.m., you might want to go to bed early or feel like you don’t have enough time in the day to get everything done. It’s tough to go from long, hot summer days to shorter, cold winter days. Not to add that cold and fl u season coincides with darker days and unpleasant weather. The combination of all of these factors might make you feel down and unmotivated to follow your passions in life. You may feel dispirited, have diffi culty focusing, lose interest in things you normally like, or notice changes in your eating and sleep routine. If you think you have seasonal affective disorder or have been diagnosed, your symptoms may go away by the time spring arrives. However, if you begin implementing some activities into your daily routine throughout the winter, you can begin to regain some sense of wellbeing, despite the seasonal sadness you are experiencing. Take in as much sunlight as possible. When the body doesn’t get enough sun, the brain creates less happy hormones and melatonin levels rise. The sun is at its brightest between noon and 2 p.m. If it’s too chilly to go for a stroll, opening the curtains in your home or offi ce to allow the light in might provide a nice mood boost. Exercise can also be benefi cial. Even if you don’t think you’re up to it, you’ll thank yourself once you get started. Aside from the physical benefi ts, it is extremely benefi cial to your physiological health. Thirty minutes of exercise can help the brain by increasing serotonin release. Put on your favorite music, TV show, or podcast and enjoy those thirty minutes! It may truly improve your attitude, and if you’re doing it every day, you’ll have something to look forward to. During the winter, it’s easy to forget to look after your skin and lips. Self-care has the power to completely improve your mental health. Your mind will feel more confi dent and at peace with everything if you feel good about yourself. Winter is a diffi cult season for your skin because of the dry air outside and the moisture-sucking heat indoors. Your skin is begging for some hydration. Create a self-care regimen that makes you happy. It will make you feel a lot better whether you buy new skincare that works for you or just moisturize your body every day. Look for new lip balms or scents that you like. You could give yourself a facemask as a treat, a conditioning hair mask, or introduce a new serum into your skincare. Find self-care items that you love to treat dry and chapped lips in the winter. It’s a considerate gift for yourself. Not only does your skin need moisture, but so does your entire body. Keep yourself hydrated! In the winter, we usually forget that we need eight glasses of water — just as much as we do in the summer. If you have a hard time shying away from coffee and caffeinated drinks, try adding a dash of lemon or herbal tea to your water to make it more interesting. Your body and skin will reward you if you stay well hydrated. Try something new! This is your sign to pick up for something you’ve maybe never tried before, or something you’ve been wanting to try for a while. Whether it’s a new exercise class such as Pilates,

Soul Cycle, or Yoga, this is your chance Create a self-care to include something different into your regimen that makes everyday routine. Sometimes we need you happy. a push to start something new, it can be a tad bit scary to introduce yourself to things you’ve never done before. However, once you do, new hobbies can really offer a moodlift and you could fi nd yourself really enjoying it! Maybe you’re more interested in building some new skills. Creative activities can open your mind and inspire you. Inspiration is a great motivation, especially if you’ve been feeling blue lately. There are so many different things You could learn how to crochet, yarn, dance, or play the guitar in your free time. If you go to a class to learn these skills, it might be fun to change your environment and get out of the house. You might even make some new friends during the process!

Activities to help you beat the cold and feel like yourself again.

Photo by Jenna Preston ‘22

Suggesting fi ve hot stocks for investments

By TIANA CYRELSON ‘22 Media Editor

For new investors, the stock market can be scary. It can be challenging to know which stocks to invest in, which to drop, and when to do all of it. Mr. Sherman teaches a full-year investment course for students interested in learning and covering taxes to day trading. As Eastern’s only Investments teacher, Mr. Sherman was asked which stocks he is investing in currently, and which ones he would recommend. While Mr. Sherman may be the Investments teacher, these stock suggestions are for informational purposes only. One of the fi rst lessons in Sherman’s class is that each investor should do his or her own research and analysis before making any decisions. Without any further ado, here are Sherman’s suggestions for fi ve stocks to invest in right now. The fi rst stock mentioned is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. Sherman highly recommends Exchange-Traded Funds as their expense ratio is fairly low. In layman’s terms, an expense ratio is the fee to invest in an ETF. Unlike mutual funds, the expense ratio of an ETF is signifi cantly lower. “To paint a picture, the expense ratio of this ETF is less than 0.01%. Which means that a $10,000 investment into this ETF with an average return of 9% over 30 years will result in a future value of 130k and only cost you approx $3500 in fees. As a comparison, a 10,000 investment into a mutual fund that tries but usually fails to beat the S&P 500 and has a rate of return of around 7% over 30 years will result in a future value of $76k and cost you over $5k in fees. Sometimes, it’s just smarter to put your money into these indexes and let them work.” The second stock on Sherman’s list is Shopify. Like Ebay, Shopify is an online buying and selling website, where users can price and list their own goods for sale. “Shopify is one of the fastest growing growth stocks out there. They have taken a bit of a hit, as have other high-growth stocks, due to the Omicron variant and the possibility of higher interest rates from the Fed, however, I believe this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are going to result in a big earnings win for the company when they announce in February.” Third up is Ford. The well known automobile company has recently come into the limelight due to their announcement that the F-150 Lightning electric pickup was on track to ship in the spring of 2022. “Getting into this giant in the auto industry at these prices seems like a steal. Over the next few years, I think their revenues grow nicely as they continue to revamp their product line.” The fourth name on this list is American Eagle Outfi tters. They are a popular clothing brand among the teen and young adult demographic. Like Shopify, this investment decision is based on the holiday sales. “Yes, there were supply chain issues, and a new COVID variant to battle but I think they will end up reporting stronger than expected sales in the 4th quarter and a healthy profi t for the year. With two acquisitions in 2021, there is a lot of upside in this stock for years to come.” Last, but most certainly not least, is the SPDR Bloomberg SASB Corporate Bond ETF. While this may be a mouthful, it is important for each profi le to have an appropriate level of diversifi cation. This should be based on age, income-level, risk tolerance, and other similar factors. The fund’s current top holdings are Bank of America, Cisco Systems, and Dynatrace Inc., as well as many others. “You don’t invest in bonds to get rich, they are there for one of two reasons, to diversify your portfolio so you can weather the storm when your riskier investments underperform, and/or to provide you with some investment income.” With each of these suggestions is a recommendation towards personal research, as no investment should be made without consideration to one’s own personal profi le. Smart investing can be a helpful secondary source of income, but each investment should be carefully evaluated.

Investments for Dummies

Featured Stocks

1. SPDR S&P 500 ETF 2. Shopify 3. Ford 4. American Eagle Outfi tters 5. SPDR Bloomberg SASB Coporate Bond ETF