Volume 1, Issue 3

The McHenry Messenger

McHenry High School | McHenry, Illinois | Volume One | Issue Three | February 2020

CAN I HELP YOU?

Many students at MCHS need to work, and some really want to work—but all have experienced the downsides to being young and employed

INSIDE

A new wing is rising from the dust and snow at West Campus. Here are the latest construction details. PAGE 3 The student parking lots are always hectic— and sometimes scary. But the drop off lane makes the situation so much worse. PAGE 7 This year’s Battle of the Bands featured the best musical acts MCHS has to offer. Get to know this year’s (and last year’s) winner. PAGE 8

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Volume One | Issue Three | February 2020

Table of Contents

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THE WALLS OF A NEW WING ARE RISING ABOVE WEST

5

THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE PARKING LOT

THIS YEAR’S BAND BATTLE SHOWCASED MCHS’S BEST

On The Cover High school is hard enough

without the additional stress of a job. To make matters worse, many MCHS students—some of whom work to support their families—report being mistreated

pg.7 by customers and co-workers.

Cover Photo By: Karina Lucarz

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12

NETFLIX’S “YOU” HAS GRIPPED VIEWERS

—Plus!

Learn details about National Art Honor Society’s upcoming Paint and Sip event

pg.4

Though people are supposed to feel “okay” all the time, there’s an app that helps monitor mental health

pg.6

The signs of a toxic relationship, and what to do when your relationship becomes abusive

pg.6

In Each Issue

News ............................ 3

Opinions ..................... 5

Features ...................... 7

Entertainment ......... 12

Editor’s Note

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The McHenry Messenger Mission Statement The McHenry Messenger’s primary mission is to inform and engage the students and staff of McHenry High School as well as its broader community.

As a student-driven publication, it is important to us that we represent every group within both campuses, provide a platform for them to speak their truths, and ensure access to objective, balanced information that they need to know.

We also hope to engage our audience by covering the subjects most relevant to them and presenting it in an entertaining, accessible manner.

Published by Editorial

Staff Writers

Contributing Photographers Special Thanks to

Advisor

McHenry High School in McHenry, IL Alayna Trimingham, Opinions Editor Kyla Henige, News Editor Jared Bysiek, Features Editor Zach Brown, Sports Editor Stacy Correra, Copy Editor Ciara Duncan, Layout Editor Madison Wise, Artistic Director Becky Arendarczyk, Social Media Director Chase Creech, Hayley DuHamel, Michelene Havard, Oliver Simpson, Elle Smith, and Emma Snyder Karina Lucarz and Lukas Metropoulos Matt Connor, Amy Maciaszek, Gina Nomikoudis, Mitch Stengel, Carl Vallianatos and Visual Image Photography Dane Erbach

Both the McHenry Messenger’s print and digital editions have been established as designated forums for student editors to inform and educate their readers as well as for the discussion of issues related to their audience. Though the student media advisor is responsible for teaching students sound journalism skills and judgment, this paper does not engage in prior review and, thus, all content published by both editions of the McHenry Messenger reflects only the views of the student staff and not school officials or the school itself (unless attributed accordingly).

The stories you need to know...

It has taken some time, but we finally reach our third print issue. Because of winter break, it may seem like we have not been busy since this semester began, but the McHenry Messenger has been working tirelessly to inform the school. So after much anticipation, we present to our readers the third issue of the McHenry Messenger.

With this issue, we continued to provide news about current events in our school, like the construction at West, and the recent Battle of the Bands, and some happenings between StuCo and the student body. However, we also continued our push for more personal pieces, like the treatment of teenage workers and toxic relationships — and more.

The editors and our staff strive to write thoughtful, informed articles for our school and our greater audience. The newspaper team feels a responsibility to publish articles that are not only factual, but generally organized and well-written.

We want the readers to enjoy our articles, and take something away from each one to remember.

We want to provide a voice for the school, its students and its staff. We want to cover all the important topics that matter to our audience, as well as topics that can entertain them. So without further interruption, we proudly introduce the third issue of the McHenry Messenger.

Jared Bysiek Features Editor

If you would like to get in contact with the McHenry Messenger, please email the advisor at erbachdane@dist156.org or call (815) 385-7077 and leave a message on his voicemail.

Visit TheMcHenryMessenger.com for more news, features, and opinions This issue was printed by the McHenry High School Print Shop Read more at TheMcHenryMessenger.com

News

Volume One | Issue Three | February 2020

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Though construction broke ground in September, the structure that will make up West Campus’s new wing began taking shape at the beginning of second semester.

Photo By: Lukas Metropoulos

West’s new wing one-third complete With the foundation almost complete, construction crews hope to finish by the end of 2020

By Kyla Henige @henigekyla News Editor

As the school year reaches its final stride, East and West campus are one step closer to finishing construction for the campus change occurring in the 202122 school year.

The construction at West Campus has been on schedule, and is getting worked on everyday. About 90% of the foundation for the new wing is already laid out, meaning that phase A of three sections is almost completed. After construction phases on the base of section ‘a’, the construction crew will go ahead and begin to work on phase B and C.

“I really feel strongly that this is going to be a real source of pride, not just for the school, but also for the com-

munity,” says superintendent Dr. Ryan McTague. “Not to mention, it will also be the catalyst to bring our school finally together as one.”

During these next few months, construction will continue on, and begin working on the shell of the building, beginning with the masonry and steel.

This means that the construction crew is looking to finish the full outside so that they can begin interior work.

“Hopefully by the end of the year, we will have the new wing fully shelled in, so that we can begin working on the inside and each individual room in the new wing of the building,” says McTague.

The school aslo has to make room for upperclassmen from East and taking on more classes and new classes.

This means moving more classrooms in

the main building around.

“An example of this [circumstance] is how we have to construct a new art room, because if we don’t, it would get lost in the new construction,” says McTague. “More rooms like this include the child development room, and we’re looking to build a new student services office. So there are sections in the existing building that we are going to have to remediate, and build out to accommodate the transition that’s going to take place in about a year and a half.”

With construction moving with no delays (as of right now), the new wing of the building is expected to be finished around November or December of 2020.

Because of the construction, West Campus will shut down during the summer to remediate the mechanical systems.

StuCo seeks feedback about campus reform

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Student groups at both East and West create opportunities to hear from student body during AIM, before school

By Chase Creech @creech_chase Staff Writer

By Kyla Henige @henigekyla News Editor

With all the physical changes happening at both East and West campus, Student Council, otherwise known as StuCo has decided it’s their turn to make a change in the school community.

Both campuses have introduced the new concept of an open student council meeting. This means is that people who aren’t in Student Council can have meetings with the StuCo board and talk about their ideas on things that could be improved or changed in the school.

East Campus has held open meeting for a while now, but it’s becoming more popular, whereas West Campus is just now implementing this idea. Raising Student Voice & Participation, known as RSVP, is a cohort of about 28 students from East StuCo. This

group runs “student summits” where these students visit East Campus AIM classes to see what school reform and changes that should happen during the school year.

“We have the StuCo board, and then we have everyone else, which are people who like to come in and listen along with pitch some ideas,” said sophomore and secretary of East StuCo, Alexandra Fogleman. “I really like how there’s always new people coming, and new ideas, so we’re never stuck without any ideas, and we always have something to talk about and improve on.”

Issues or topics brought up at these meetings range from getting a coffee shop to gaining back a late start Tuesday, and even parking lot issues, along with many other ideas. One of the biggest issues going into effect this year, is a boys intramural volleyball team.

“Student Council has been mostly involved with school spirit and like Homecoming events ... and we hadn’t been so much focused on like the student government aspect in the past,” said East StuCo advisor Leah Pel-

letier. “Helping to get the voice of the students on what changes they want for the school as opposed to just the fun events that we’ve put on now.”

For students such as Julia Druml, president of West StuCo, opening these meetings is a great way to bring the school community together.

“We try to be an advocate for the student body,” says Druml. “We’d like to be the voice that gives students a way to express what they want changed.”

West Student Council has also held their own meetings where individual classrooms can meet up with student council and express what issues they have, or what they would like to implement for the school.

Student council is trying to be an advocate for raising student voices mainly pertaining to upperclassman.

Both campuses wish to continue these meetings in the hopes that more people will show up with their ideas, and that they can make changes to keep the student body happy and in a good environment.

NAHS invites students to Paint and Sip

Students can bring a friend to this Valentine’s-related painting tutorial hosted by National Arts Honors Society

By Oliver Simpson @oliver_james82 Staff Writer

The National Art Honors Society, otherwise known as NAHS, will host their first ever Paint and Sip event on Friday, February 7, from 5-7pm in room 356 at West Campus.

“The Paint and Sip event is an all inclusive event that caters to everyone’s individual talent,” says junior Avery DeGroh, event coordinator and painting instructor.

Paint and Sip events are more

than often something that adults do for fun as they drink wind. However, NAHS is making it more family friendly by providing non-alcoholic beverages.

This event teaches people how to paint a scene while getting to hangout with friends and maybe some new people.

The event will cost $15 per person, to cover the cost of supplies, drinks, and two hours of guided art. The additional funds raised at this event will be used to support the NAHS scholarship that they give to their seniors as long as raise enough

money.

The theme for this year’s Paint and Sip is “Valentine’s Day,” since it will be hosted exactly one week before the holiday. NAHS is encouraging everyone to bring a partner to partake in the painting day.

In order to be a part of this event, students must sign up ahead of time by scanning the link code on fliers located around the school. Contact Avery DeGroh (21dega293@student.dist156.org) for any additional information.

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Volume One | Issue Three | February 2020

Opinions

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Drop-off drivers add to long list of parking lot challenges

The parking lots at East and West are already hectic — and the behavior of drivers in the drop-off lane make the lot even more treacherous.

Photo By: Lukas Metropoulos

Drivers in both the East and West parking lots need to follow rules better

By Emma Snyder Staff Writer

The parking lots at East and West are notorious among students for being a disaster. This year, the parking lot is more crowded than ever with students, teachers, buses, and drop-offs all trying to maneuver in it at the same time. While there are systems in place to help people get in and out of the parking lot efficiently, drivers dropping off students aren’t using them correctly. Drivers dropping off and picking up students are increasingly causing issues.

For example, at West, the parking lot is composed of three main sections and two different lanes. There is one lane that is intended to be for buses only and another lane meant for drivers dropping off and picking up students. The section of the parking lot closest to the building is used as teacher parking this year. The other two

parts of the parking lot are used for student parking.

The biggest issue with the parking lot is that drivers do not follow the intended traffic patterns. Drivers are trying to get in and out of the parking lot. Many times, this results in the drivers doing whatever they can to get out of the parking lot quickly, especially using the wrong lanes and cutting off other drivers.

Often times, when drivers pick up students, they use the bus lane or pull into the front parking lot to avoid waiting in line.

The issue with this is that it creates confusion among all drivers in the parking lot.

Drivers using the bus lane delay the buses, and prevent them from efficiently getting students to and from school. When drivers use the teacher parking lot to pick students up or drop them off, it creates confusion among student divers also trying to leave the parking lot. Using the teacher lot causes

drivers to become unable to follow the traffic flow of the parking lot, forcing them to cut off other drivers to leave campus.

Navigating the parking lot is hard when drivers are all trying to leave through one exit. This problem has been lessened by having school security guards helping to direct everyone out of the parking lot and a police officer directing traffic on the road.

But the issue is still ubiquitous. Drivers push their way out of the parking lot and there isn’t always an even flow of vehicles coming from each area of the parking lot.

Drivers dropping off and picking up students has been an increasing issue for the parking lot at both campuses. This issue frustrates teachers, students, and parents who are all trying to navigate the parking lot. And, while the parking lot has gotten a little better, there is still a long way to go to improve the way that drivers are doing dropoffs.

Opinions

Mental health apps benefit everybody Apps like stoic. improve the happiness and tranquility by helping users track their mental health

By Michelene Havard @michelene_rose Staff Writer

I’m standing around feeling far away—flustered with two minutes left until the bell rings. I see one of my favorite former teachers, so I crack a smile. When my teacher asks, “How are you?” My immediate response is to say good, but I really haven’t had a good day. When students are having a hard time processing their emotions, technology can be a useful tool to help them achieve self-actualization.

Every now and again I ask myself, “How do I really feel?” With technology, people can learn how to practice stoicism in a healthy way. Everyone feels a range of emotions, but on a bad day it is harder for people to express how they truly feel.

An application on my iPhone called stoic. is a safe space for me to track how I’m really feeling without worrying about what others will think. A stoic hides their emotions and accepts their fate. stoic. is a mental health training app that helps people keep track of their mood, journal, meditate, overcome fear, and breathe. The

app motivates me to prioritize my main focus of the day, and in the evening I record my fulfillment of those goals. I can see the statistics of my mood distribution throughout the week, and now I realize Monday is only as bad as I make it out to be.

Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy, which is why every morning the app shows me an inspiring quote from a famous philosopher. The philosophers inspire thought-provoking messages which opens my mind to ideas while I’m journaling. I appreciate that the philosophies are interchangeable. There is an option to choose other philosophies such as Buddhism, Taoism, or Catholic.

stoic. encourages me to write a list of things that I’m grateful for while journaling in the morning. It’s a rewarding feeling to think positively even if I know my day is going to be tedious.

The developers of stoic. respect the privacy of every individual user of the app—they cannot and do not read journal entries. There is something enlightening about stoic that draws me back to it everyday when a regular pen and paper

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does not. stoic. was featured as Apple’s App of the day for its engaging exercises and trends.

Three of my favorite quotes that gave me a new perspective:

Marcus Aurelius wrote, “Today I escaped from anxiety. Or no, I discarded it because it was within me, in my own perceptions—not outside.”

Seneca wrote, “Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow, and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortuneś control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.¨

Epictetus wrote, “̈Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.”

I tried stoic. not knowing how much I needed it for reflection. Journaling has never been easier and more calming— some apps make you feel like you are your mental illness but this one doesn’t.

Learn the signs of a toxic relationship Though there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ relationship, no one needs to feel trapped by abuse or dependency

By Alayna Trimingham @/skshdsji Opinions Editor

A relationship requires both parties to be friends before anything romantic can occur.

Without this, two people cannot understand each other enough for a healthy relationship. But what happens when you don’t have that understanding?

Many high school students are fed the fantasy of a “perfect” relationship, and this leads to trying to achieve perfection, which is never obtainable. Toxic relationships form from unrealistic expectations and lack of knowledge on what a good relationship looks like. The definition of a toxic relationship, according to HealthScope Magazine, “is a relationship characterized by behaviors on the part of the toxic partner that are emotionally and, not infrequently, physically damaging to their partner.”

The main reason why toxic relationships are so common, especially among teenagers, is lack of communication. Teenagers fear embarrassment and isolation, but without pushing through these fears, it leaves a lot of

room for toxic relationships and friendships.

Since teenagers are at a period of growth, how they act and behave now impacts how they will act throughout their entire life, and that’s why open communication is such an important skill to learn, even when social status seems more important than ever. This is a problem because if teenagers don’t figure out what a healthy relationship looks and feels like, they will continue the pattern of bad relationships over and over again their entire life.

Another reason that toxic relationships are common is that many teenagers do not know the red flags of one, or have the self-confidence to see them. Many teenagers feel as if they need a partner or friends to be whole, and without these relationships, no matter how toxic they may become, they will feel all alone.

However, in many cases, it is better to be alone than to be surrounded by people that have bad intentions, but the fact that some relationships aren’t worth keeping is hard to recognize with low self-esteem, which will only get worse in a bad relationship. Everyone needs to feel cared for and important to function throughout daily life.

Many people are under the impression that a toxic relationship is any relationship that makes them upset or get in arguments, but this is not the case. A toxic relationship is an abusive relationship, with unequal distributions of power and dependency. The red flags of a toxic person are dependency, controlling behaviors, and most importantly — being emotionally draining to be around.

These relationships need to be taken seriously, and calling any person abusive that is not abusive, but simply just aggravating, takes away the meaning of the word, and shys people in a serious abusive situation away from help. It is important to understand the meaning of the word before it is used, and be aware of the signs and behaviors of a toxic person, because otherwise toxic and abusive relationships will thrive and grow.

The best way to make toxic relationships less common is to know the red flags of a toxic person, and have the self-confidence to be open about feelings and boundaries. It is important to remember that it is more important to be safe and comfortable than to be in any kind of relationship.

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Features

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Whether at restaurants like Starbucks or McDonald’s or retailers like Meijer and JCPenney, students sometimes have to put up with abuse from customers — ofter following an already overwhelming school day.

Photo By: Karina Lucarz

Volume One | Issue Three | February 2020

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Customer Servants

Finding a job is a right of passage for many high schoolers — and so is the abuse that comes along with minimum wage be a short wait on the food because we were short-staffed,” explained senior Kylee O’Brien. “He called me r-------, asked how my parents died, and what forest I grew up

A teenager clocks into her job, dreading the next six hours of her life. She in because ‘there’s no way a person raised by civilized humans would ever be so f-----puts her uniform over her head, and tops stupid.’” Obviously, not all customers are it off with the mandatory hat that always this way, and many students who have jobs makes her hair look unwashed after she have not had interaction to quite this exwears it for too long. She takes a deep tent. Though others have not experienced breath, reminds herself that it’s all for the this level of disrespect from customers, paycheck, and with a plastered-on smile, repeats her mantra: “Hello! What can I get that does not mean that customers are not sometimes rude in other ways. for you today?”

“This one woman called us out

Students with jobs are often for her order being late because she called disrespected in the workplace due to the stereotype that younger generations do not it in the day before, but our manager didn’t inform us there was a pickup order,” says take things seriously. The term “respect senior Carter Koura. “So she comes in your elders” is widely used to in instances screaming and complaining because we when a child says something off-putting didn’t have it, and then decided to comto their parent adult authority. Although adults in the workplace often get mistreat- plain about me and [my girlfriend, who ed by customers as well, there is something works with me] on our break. She said we were giving her dirty looks and that about being a teenager that provokes different treatment than that of their older we were talking bad about her, which we coworkers. Whether it be people believing weren’t, then said she wanted to smack [my girlfriend] and called her a b---- in the there is a lack of maturity or knowledge, complaint.” having a job as a teenager oftentimes

Though teenagers receive freresults in less-than-satisfactory levels of quent disrespect in the workplace, they berespect towards them. lieve it doesn’t necessarily have to do with

Whether the job is food or retail, most teens with jobs have some interaction their age. According to some teens, they feel as though the disrespect they receive with customers. “This middle-aged man came in, and when I told him there would from customers would not diminish if they

By Stacy Correra @stacycorrera Copy Editor

were adults. Some of their adult coworkers are also treated poorly and isn’t necessarily a result of their age.

There is an undeniable pressure on young people to get a job. Some teenagers have an urge to be more independent, and sometimes, that means getting a job in order to pay for things they want that their parents may not want to purchase. Another viewpoint are the students who feel obligated to get jobs to help their families pay for things. “Prices for everything are going up -- insurance, gas prices, everything,” says senior Eddie Ferrenti. “So it’s becoming harder to support parents. Once we start [participating in, for example] sports or athletics, everything starts adding up the price.”

Going to school is hard enough.

Adding the stress of going to work after school adds onto the stress of school, and it all adds together. When shopping at stores or ordering from your favorite fast food joint, these stories reminder consumers to take into consideration the lives of the people who work there. They have emotions too, just like any other person. The verbal or emotional abuse these workers soak up throughout the day oftentimes comes home with them. No one should leave a place feeling fine after intentionally making someone’s workday more difficult than it has to be.

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Features

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Fan Joshua Miller holds a tennis racket as he cheers for Winter Tennis during the Student Council’s annual Battle of the Bands in the West Campus Auditorium on January 24.

Photo By: Madison Wise

Volume One | Issue Three | February 2020

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Sing it loud This year’s Battle of the Bands provided a slew of talent and promise from the students of both East and West Campus

By Jared Bysiek @bysiekjared Features Editor

Standing behind the curtain, the band waits to be introduced by the emcees before they can start performing. The time leading up to the performance has been full of excitement and anxiety, but now it’s in full force. As the curtain begins to open, applauds filling the room to eagerly welcome the band, a deep inhale escapes the singer.

No turning back. Soon after, the room is full of energy: music, dancers hyping everyone up and even some confetti being shot out to the crowd.

The Battle of the Bands may have only had three participating bands, but the diversity between not only them but the intermission acts made up for it.

It began with a performance from the teacher band Staff Infection. Featuring 14 total teachers, staff members, and administrators, the band performed cover songs that ranged from Alice in Chains to Lizzo, and brought a fun start to the event with their performances and banter.

In between each main act was an intermission where one or two people would perform while the next band set up for their set. The intermissions included ukulele performances, a country duet, and a variety of dances. All acts were met with high praise from the audience while waiting

for the next band to begin.

The bands that performed in the competition were Temporary Delay, Nyght Stryke and Winter Tennis, each one bringing something unique to the show, including a variety of styles, songs and even crowd interaction.

Temporary Delay played covers of more alternative rock songs, like “Fell in Love with a Girl” by the White Stripes and “Mister Brightside” by the Killers. The singer carried the energy throughout the set by providing stage banter. Featured dancers boosted the set’s energy as the band shoot confetti at the crowd.

The band that followed, Nyght

Stryke, brought a touch of 1980s rock ‘n’ roll to night, even dawning glam makeup and headbands to further drive the experience.

The drummer brought the excitement to it all, hammering away and twirling the sticks to wow the crowd.

At the end of it all, Winter Tennis won first place for a second year in a row after an energetic and entertaining set that provided a pop-punk experience to the night. They not only performed some interesting cover songs, like “I Miss You” by Blink 182 and “22” by Taylor Swift, but also two entirely original songs that night, titled “Calligraphic Tragedy” and “Ready? Ready.” story continues on page 11

Singing into his microphone, Joe Cangelosi performs alongside Battle of the Bands winner Winter Tennis on January 24 in the West Auditorium.

Photo By: Lukas Metropoulos

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Volume One | Issue Three | February 2020

Features

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Taking a breather, guitarist Ben Zarnstorff talks to the audience with his band Winter Tennis during the Battle of the Bands on January 24 in the West Auditorium.

Photo By: Madison Wise

story continued from page 10

During songs, friends danced with them on stage and hit inflatable beach balls into the crowd.

“Winning again felt just as great as the last time, and we’re really happy people enjoyed our show,” said Winter Tennis’s singer/guitarist and senior Joseph Cangelosi who felt nervous about their set but felt that everything worked out in the end. “We were flustered, and I was definitely anxious because our band hadn’t practiced in a month due to everyone being away at college,” he said. “However, we put all of that behind us,

and realized we were just there to have fun.

The show got easier the more the crowd got into it, and their energy really helped us perform at our best.”

The bonds in the band keep everything strong, since all members were good friends. “Me, Vic, and Ben were all drummers and played in a lot of MCHS’s different music ensembles,” Cangelosi said, “so we were already really good friends. I knew Ben played guitar and we liked the same music, so we had to convince Vic to play drums for us… [And then] I asked our friend Billy, who’s actually a trumpet player, to learn

bass for us. [We] have been best friends for years, so our synergy and prior experiences as musicians made practicing, and pulling the band together, painless and a ton of fun.”

The Battle of the Bands ended on a high note, with no performance ever ending without roaring applause and joy. The competition provided students a chance to show talents that may not normally be easy to display. And though Winter Tennis came out as the winner, it’s clear to see that everyone left having earned the respect and enjoyment of those who watched.

Arts and Entertainment

12 In Netflix’s “You,” Penn Badgley plays an obsessed criminal who’s murders are hard to watch — and hard to turn away from.

Photo Courtesy of: Netflix

We’re watching “You”

The Netflix sensation’s success stems from its deep dive into a criminal’s mind

By Elle Smith Staff Writer

Many students at MCHS are obsessively binge watching the new show “You” on Netflix. When season two was released in late December, the show started rapidly growing in popularity. Below the surface, this show has some profound messages to teach a younger audience about dangers that they might be ignorant to.

The main character of “You” Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) meets Guenivere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), known to friends as Beck. He falls in love with her immediately upon meeting her and takes it to the extreme within only a few days.

Joe goes from stooping outside her window with a pair of binoculars to

kidnapping her current boyfriend as well as her best friend Peach Salinger (Shay Mitchell). Joe kept Beck’s boyfriend locked up, and eventually murdering her boyfriend, Joe’s neighbor, and her best friend.

The show is interesting because it reveals insight the mind of a criminal. The most complex part of each murder is that somehow Joe finds a way to justify every single case. As he commits these brutal crimes, he truly believes that he is justified in doing so. He believes he is protecting Beck or in the case of season two, Love (Victoria Pedretti) who is his romantic partner in the second season. He believes that it is his job to defend those he loves, and when someone becomes a threat... he eliminates them. As the show progresses, we learn about Joe’s past trauma, which

serves as an explanation as to why he is so profoundly violent.

Perhaps the reason this show has become so successful, particularly among the Generation Y and Z aged audience is because there is some reality to the concept. Viewers watch as Joe goes mad but somehow manages to keep a cool exterior.

This is an all-too-real scenario, as often those who commit crimes are the ones who many thought “could never hurt a fly.”

The show draws attention to the complexity of the human race: unpredictable and quite strange. It subtly encourages viewers to be cautious of who they fall in love with, and who they let into their life by showing the worst case scenario of what can happen when love really is too good to be true.

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The Final Four

Volume One | Issue Three | February 2020

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The Final Four

In each issue, we shine the spotlight on a de-

serving member of our MCHS community by asking them four questions. Get to know Kaili Wegener, a senior from West Campus who cares deeply about both her studies and the world around her...

By Ciara Duncan @sneintemoarn Layout Editor

Why do you make your education such a priority?

It’s always been a super important thing for my family and I. My grandfather, he’s an immigrant from Greece.

He wanted a better life for himself.

But, not only for him, it’s also his family. That’s why I’ve wanted success academically is to make people proud, and to do it for myself too.

What’s one thing you want people to know about you that has nothing to do with school?

All of my time really isn’t about school.

I have so many different interests that are academic, but it’s about taking those interests, like politics, into an academic sphere. That sort of builds my passion for it. Even though I most of my interests are academic, it’s because I’ve taken my passions outside of the classroom into the classroom, which motivates me.

How have you taken politics into your academic sphere?

I did a legal internship last year, and a lot of research on immigration policy.

Sophomore year, I came up with this idea to take something I’m passionate about, something that a lot of people deal with directly at a local, state and national level, and international level. So, I’m going to study political science at Northwestern probably on a pre law track to eventually go to law school.

What was it like being accepted to Northwestern?

It’s really exciting obviously, but it took a lot of hard work. Sometimes, it got to the point I had to prioritize school over a lot of different things. Sometimes, in an unhealthy way. That’s what I would say to other students. You need to value your relationships, your social life, not just academics. And colleges will see that too.

Last Look

“

My coaches — Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Guardalabene, Mr. Roweman, and Mr. Molina — really helped me grow in wrestling. Winning doesn’t matter, just how you improve.”

- Blake Olson on his first season as a wrestler

Photo By: VIP

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The McHenry Messenger McHenry High School

East Campus 1012 North Green Street McHenry, IL 60050 (815) 385-1145

West Campus 4824 West Crystal Lake Road McHenry, IL 60050 (815) 385-7077

www.themchenrymessenger.com