September Issue 2021

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Katelyn Chang, 11 Editor-in-Chief

Katelyn Lam, 11 Features Editor

Magdalene Ko, 11 News Editor

Joshua Choe, 10 Opinions Editor

Nagham Masarweh, 10 Center Spread Editor

Maxwell Zaninovich, 10 Sports Editor

Meet the Thunderbolt Staff 2021 Advised by Mr. Hensley

Brendan Phimsoutham, 11

Chloe Ho, 10

Elizabeth Chen, 9

Jake Meyers, 9

Ciara Whipple, 12

Hanson Han, 11

Julia, 9

Mia Khan, 9

Phoebe Piserchio, 9

Kaliya Williams, 12

Michaela Gonzalez, 10

Samantha Chen, 9

Vanessa Nguyen, 9

Tiffany Xu, 9

Zhiyuan Ma, 9

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news

By- trustee Elections

New map plans are being introduced for the by-trustee system.

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Ziyuan Ma, Staff Writer

an Mateo Union High School District is currently preparing for the transition to by-trustee area elections, which will be implemented in the 2022 and 2024 elections. In the current system,known as at-large elections, candidates wishing to be elected as a board trustee can reside anywhere in the district. Voters can choose to vote for any of the candidates. In the by-trustee system, the district is split into zones. Each zone is represented by one of the board seats, while each candidate runs for the seat representing the zone the candidate resides in. The voters only vote for the candidates residing in the same zones as them. There are 2 pre-map public hearings on August 26th and September 9th to discuss the upcoming transition.

On or about January 25th, the school district received a letter from an attorney at law firm Shenkman and Hughes PC accusing the at-large election system of violating the Civil Voting Rights Act of 2001 (“CVRA”) by being “racially polarized.” In other words, the system dilutes the voice of minorities and doesn’t allow their chosen candidates to win. According to the presentation from public agency law firm Lozano Smith at the August 26th board meeting, not only will going to court be extremely costly from litigation fees, it is highly unlikely the school district will even win. The law firm said that the only way to guarantee the school district won’t be sued is to transition to by-trustee elections. On February 25th, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted for Resolution 20-21-12 to begin the transition process.

When asked about her opinion on the change by The Thunderbolt, Trustee Linda Lees Dwyer believes that despite the district being forced to transition, this new election system will increase representation from communities that don’t in the old system. She said, “I want more varied voices. I want to see current high school parents become board members. When I first ran for the board, I had 1 in college, 3 in high school and 1 in junior high school. I had lived and was living the high school parent life--and I brought that with me to the board… We have no board members now with children in the schools. This change could facilitate more age and ethnic diversity-which is good.” Dwyer said that even if she loses her ability to run in the next election, this is the right thing to do.

The Thunderbolt also interviewed several other people, including Mills’ teachers. They agreed that this change would be positive. One source knowledgeable about the subject said that if a candidate wants to represent an area, they should live in that area. A candidate living far away won’t know enough about the area to make important decisions.

Trustee Ligia Andrade Zúñiga thought that the outcome might not be better. “I think this situation could go both ways… it could be that there is not as much diversity in the candidacy, or accessibility in the process [than] people thought. I think we are all just trying to understand and learn more about how this process works.” She pointed out that becoming a candidate is still expensive and inaccessible for many people.

During the August 26th pre-map hearing, the board discussed criterias that should be used to split the district into zones. According to a presentation from National Demographics Corporation, the district must take into account the federal requirements. The zones should consist of about the same population, and there should be no racial gerrymandering. An article from the Washington Post states that “racial gerrymandering” is when the map is split in a way that minimizes the representation of minorities in the government. For instance, it is considered “racial gerrymandering” if the map is designed so that there are significantly more non-minorities than minorities in each zone. The voice of the non-minorities will drown out the voice of the minorities. National Demographic Corporation also discussed common factors used to split an area into different zones, such as visible boundaries, anticipated future growth, and communities of interest. The Corporation defined communities of interests as groups of people having “shared social or economic interest.” One criteria the Board frequently mentioned should be used is that each zone should have more than one school. The Board thought that if each trustee represents only one city or one school, the trustee will only look out for the zone’s own interest instead of the entire school district.

Trustee Dwyer hoped that high school students will involve themselves in the transition process. “This would be a great exercise for the government classes--to participate in our meetings on this issue and provide their analysis and input! I would really like the government classes to study this. This participation would give the board the perspective of many students from throughout the district...” Dwyer mentioned that many high school students will become eligible voters in the 2022 election.

Trustee Zúñiga agreed with the idea of student involvement. “I would love to have a session with students to voice their opinions, ask questions, and give suggestions about what this should look like to them.” Zúñiga said that this might even encourage students to run for elected or appointed office in the future.

There will be two map consideration hearings on January 20th and February 10th of next year. The large amount of time is needed to allow the demographer to be able to use the official redistricting 2020 Census results, which aren’t released at the time of this article. Drafts of the proposed maps will be released at least one week in advance of the hearings. There will be an online map review tool

Changes to Mills A

Magdalene Ko, News Editor

fter over a year of Zoom, there are bound to be plenty of changes to our daily routines at school. From completely different schedules to COVID rules to new programs, the coming year will be a readjustment for all of us. Here’s a quick preview of all the changes headed to Mills.

Of course, the most important changes are all the COVID-19 requirements. First off, we’re required to wear masks indoors except when eating or drinking, yet masks aren’t needed outdoors. Social distancing isn’t needed indoors except when eating, although most will eat outside. Most students are already vaccinated, but if not, vaccinations are highly encouraged. If someone fully vaccinated comes into contact with someone COVID positive, they don’t have to quarantine. Unvaccinated people can continue attending school but have to take COVID tests twice a week for 10 days. Last but not least, if we’re sick we’re asked to stay home until feeling better, which is also the only time the LiveSafe app is needed.

Another huge change is our schedules. Before COVID, Tuesdays and Wednesdays were our block days, while the other days had all periods. Typically school would start at 8:00 and end at 3:15. That all changed during Zoom, where we started late, ended early, and had much longer passing periods. Now, Monday is the day with all classes, starting at 8:30 like all other days, and ending at 3:35. Lunch will be 12:2012:50, and we’ll have a passing period of five minutes. Tuesdays and Thursdays have become our block days for even periods. Flex period is right after brunch, and 6th period ends at 2:55. Wednesdays and Fridays are odd period days, with 7th period ending at 3:40.

These changes might be big, but there are plenty of other new things coming up. The tennis courts of Mills have been taken down and are being transformed into a new athletic complex. According to Principal Duszynski, the complex will be a huge asset for our school and our athletic program at Mills and the Millbrae community”. Mills is also joining with the district on a journey to become anti-racist. They’re implementing classes for all teachers and staff to learn to be inclusive as well as listening to feedback from students and teachers alike.

A less noticeable change will be the social interactions of all of us. A year of learning online has changed our social lives, and we’re all a teeny bit nervous about returning to school and meeting everyone again. Maybe we’ve seen friends over the summer or went to hybrid learning, but it’s still not quite the same as seeing everyone again. Fortunately, Ms. Duszynski is hopeful that we’ll be able to rebuild our previous friendships and connections.

Over the summer, she was able to see some incoming Freshmen interact at the Summer Bridge program. In the beginning, they were quiet and stuck to themselves. By the end, they had fun together, partially because of the community-building activities Ms. Kovacs and Ms. Montani constantly included. Ms. Duszynski wants to encourage all teachers to include more community building, and is hopeful that we can “re-establish our sense of community after last year”.

This year, every single one of us will be undergoing changes. Seniors will worry about their future and colleges, then enjoy their last year (prom!). Juniors will stress over hard classes, tests, and careers while rekindling friendships made during a short freshman year. Sophomores will come onto campus without ever experiencing a regular Mills school day, meeting and learning about all the teachers, classmates, and activities they missed during COVID. Freshmen will enter a new stage in their lives, navigating a new social structure and mastering opening their lockers. New students and teachers will have come, others will have left. That doesn’t mean we’ll be completely confused when we go back. Together, we can navigate this return to school and fall back into new but normal days.

The cafeteria remains empty as students are required to eat outside.

4 In- person Events Mia Khan, Staff Writer

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ow that Covid restrictions are easing up and school is starting again, Mills High School is transitioning back to in-person events. Last year, students missed out on in-person Proms, dances, and rallies. Students are now excited to be able to attend these events in person and safely.

Principal Duszynski and the Leadership class are working to plan fun events while still prioritizing safety for Mills students. Masks are encouraged and vaccinations are recommended for all outdoor events. Masks will be required for indoor events, but most large events, like dances, and rallies will be outside.

Homecoming this October will take place outside, with the dance in center court.

Since the August rally was successful, the leadership class will again try to add outdoor activities and other events to make it fun like the past rally.

When asked about what students are looking forward to this year, Ms. Dove, the leadership activities director, says “I think the Mills students are looking forward to a sense of normalcy and community this year.” Homecoming, dances, and rallies will give students a chance to socialize and have fun while still keeping safety a top priority. We’ll be able to resume some of the normal activities from before COVID. Ms. Dove added, ¨Safety is the biggest priority to get out of the global pandemic. We want to encourage masking and having events outside will give us more room to spread out.”

During distance learning, virtual events just weren’t the same for students. Even the highlight of fall semester, Mills Mania, had to go online. Everything else was cancelled, even prom. We’ve been suffering without in-person socialization for almost two years. So, being able to have big events this year is an amazing opportunity for students to get back into the normalcy of pre-covid activities.

The SMUHSD board had a meeting to propose a potential student vaccination requirement for participation in extracurricular activities. This means that only vaccinated students will be able to attend dances, sports, drama performances, and clubs outside the school day. The Board explains that this policy will keep our community safer and encourage unvaccinated people to get vaccinated. In the end, the board was not able to reach a decision and will discuss at a later date.

The Mills community is confident and hopeful for this year’s in person events. Principal Dyszynski wants to thank the student community and encourage everyone to have a great year exclaiming, ¨Let’s have a great year and re-engage and rebuild that sense of community that we have at Mills.¨ We’ve been suffering without in-person socialization for almost two years.

The rally was filled with fun outdoor events like relay races.

Students dressed in red and gold to support for their grade.

District Covid Rules Brendan Phimsoutham, Staff Writer

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Precautions against the Delta variant are clear in the masks and sanitizing guidelines.

ith the 2021 Mills High School academic year kicking off with in-person classes again, questions have arisen for the county and state regarding what is to come for students of all grades. Covid-19 and its destructive effects still remain as the new Delta variant is beginning to creep up on San Mateo County, bringing much concern to all residents, workers, and visitors in the area. As a solution, San Mateo County Health has continuously given updates on the status of the pandemic and the rules and restrictions that follow.

During the week of August 9th, 2021, schools in San Mateo County began to reopen with on-campus learning in effect. Much planning was required in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among students, including a requirement for all students to wear masks indoors and even outdoors on the campus.

“The District will provide face coverings when necessary. However, staff are expected to bring personal face coverings to ensure they are properly worn by employees over the nose and mouth when indoors, outdoors and less than six (6) feet away from another person, including non-employees, and where required by orders from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) or San Mateo County Health,” SMUHSD stated in their spring 2021 Covid prevention plan. However, as of August 2nd, 2021, San Mateo County announced the alarming presence of the new Delta variant and its effects on both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

An unexpected appearance to everyone, the Delta variant was reported to have infected a small percentage of vaccinated people in the Bay Area. This has begun to worry not only the SMUHSD, but San Mateo County as a whole. The presence of the Delta Variant alone poses a huge threat to students and teachers that need to be in the same room and will prevent on campus teaching with the risk of the virus spreading from classroom to classroom.

The amount of concern from the County has led to the questioning of whether or not another quarantine should take place, compromising plans for the 2021 school year.

Despite the seemingly imminent change in schedule, students, parents, and staff of Mills High School have begun to grow tired of the constant updates in rules and regulations; another quarantine could provoke a harsh response from people.

5 Art & Wine Festival The Mills band performs at the Art and Wine Festival.

Elizabeth Chen, Staff Writer

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ith the absence of a classic Millbrae tradition in 2020 due to COVID-19, the Millbrae Art & Wine Festival has come back better than ever this year! The Millbrae Art and Wine Festival is an annual event that happens every Labor Day weekend in downtown Millbrae. The festival has rides, food, wine, art, jewelry, and stands for fundraising.

Even with the ability to host the event, due to the pandemic, there was unfortunately a decrease in booths and many large spaces between different sections of them. The first section, which spanned from Naked Fish to One Martial Arts, included rides like a rocking pirate ship, a large slide and a train that circled around the first block of rides, and carnival games like a water gun race. The next section included a water stand, a Vietnamese food truck, one of the stages which had general performances like singing and dancing, and stands that contained jewelry, candles, bags, and various foods like spicy jerky and pomegranate jam. Following this, there was the second stage which was exclusively for music and is where the MMAG (Mills Music Arts Group) performed. The third section was very packed and contained rows of food including, garlic fries, juice, big turkey legs, sandwiches, juice, smoothies, and crab. The final section, spanning from Sweet Indulgence to the end of Broadway, contained the remaining stands which were very similar to the second section.

The cooks at most of the food stands, although they had masks, were not wearing them due to the heat and standing next to grills, although the majority of attendees were wearing masks. Likely due to the pandemic, many attractions were excluded from the festival. For example, the zipline, hamster balls and ride that went upside down were all no longer present. There also seemed to be a smaller amount of stages and the two stages contained minimal seating meaning that there were crowds of people standing on the sides.

The vendors, organizers, and Millbrae City council members ended up organizing and hosting the Millbrae Art & Wine festival very well and were able to turn the occasion into a reality despite the presence of COVID-19. Here’s to hoping for another great festival next year!

A food cart is set up for hungry students.

Food, like hot turkey legs, are always a highlight at the Festival.

Imapct of Free Meals Jake Meyers, Staff Writer

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n July of this year, California State Governor Gavin Newsom passed a law that allows all California public school students to receive two free meals a day. This law invests $54 million to feed all 6.2 million public school students. The pandemic was a major reason this law was passed as many families are now in a financial crisis and unable to afford full meals for their children. With this law passed, all students can receive free lunch and breakfast during the entire school week.

Free food seems good for everyone, but the debate to keep everyone fed while balancing the economy is raging in Sacramento. Many in the government are afraid the free lunches will make the people become even more dependent on the government. While the argument continues, we will still be receiving free lunches.

There are both pros and cons with having free school meals. Many state that the benefits include giving more people an incentive to eat; they would go get food just because it’s free. Although free food has many benefits, every benefit comes with consequences. Many students end up wasting the free food and much of it isn’t eaten. Because of this problem, there is more trash left on the tables, especially the Juniors. Mills students have also been experiencing daily impacts due to lunches being free. “It’s impacted me positively because I don’t need to ask my parents every month to refill my lunch account, although the lines are longer now,” states Chester Ho (11). Chester also states that the chicken pesto pasta should be added back to the menu again and notices that the portions are quite small.

Some of the students here at Mills say the lunches have changed in quality and taste from before, when they had a price. “The lunches tasted mediocre in past years”, says Kyle Bitner (11). Others also emphasize the difference in quality. “The lunches this year definitely feel more fresh than they did in previous years,” states Brendan Phimsoutham (11). The food this year is healthier which is good, but many students don’t like it. ‘We need salt’ is a common complaint heard during lunch. Others also wonder why the juice is frozen solid. How should they drink it if you can’t even put a straw in? We can see there is definitely a change in quality and taste, but some students also feel that there is now a smaller menu. “There are less options than before,” says Warren Kuang (12), similar to Chester’s complaint.

After this year, California’s government plans to invest $650 million into ongoing funds by 2022-2023 to permanently continue offering two free meals a day for all California students. As of now, California and Maine are the only two states participating in offering free meals for all. Hopefully the investment for ongoing plans will help to improve food quality and taste.

Students are assured to have a steady supply of food year round.

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Working Students

by Julia Xia, Staff Writer

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ith the thought of college plaguing our minds, many students find themselves wondering what they can put on their college applications. Clubs are usually a go-to for most students since you can choose which one you want and be with your friends the entire time, but what about part-time jobs? People may be reluctant to get a job because of the responsibilities they require, so why should students consider applying for jobs?

There are many reasons why a high schooler would want to find a job, whether it’s for extra cash, experience or to expand their knowledge. According to Ciara Whipple (senior), who worked as a lifeguard, “I’ve always been a good swimmer, and I wanted a summer job that was fun and was busy so I would have something to do.” Another common reason for students to get jobs is simply that they want some extra cash. Kaliya Williams (senior), a senior who works as a cashier at Target, stated, “ I knew it would look good on my college application, and I wanted to make some extra money over the summer.” Not only is having a part-time job a great way to earn some extra money for clothes, snacks, or even going out with your friends, it also looks great on your college applications. It shows that you can handle adult responsibilities as well as knowing how to manage your time properly.

When you’re in high school, having a job can be very stressful; learning how to balance school life and your job along with any other responsibilities you may have.

Many students might think that they can’t handle the responsibilities of a job and shy away from looking for one. That brings us the question, can students handle the responsibilities of a job? “I definitely think a student can handle responsibilities of a job, it just takes a bit more time management to spread things out and set priorities which I think is a good skill to develop now as a student,” answers Stella, a barista at Eggetts. Working and going to school are two completely different things. When you go to school you are only responsible for yourself but when you’re at a job your action affects others and it’s part of your responsibility to make sure everything goes smoothly. This puts more pressure on you because if you don’t do your part, the business as a whole will suffer.

Being completely confused about managing your time and balancing school with work is completely normal, especially if it’s your first job.

With jobs comes experience. When you start working at a young age you learn to easily adapt to the new environment. Students have many incentives to work part-time jobs. They can make extra money, gain knowledge of the subject, and have some fun.

Having a job in high school gives you the job experience that can help you find success in future endeavors.

Teacher Angle on Distance v.s In Person Learning

by Katelyn Lam, Features Editor

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s we return back to school and begin easing back into old routines, we as students haven’t been the only ones affected by a year of online schooling. Teachers have had to move entire classes worth of material online and reformat their plans to adapt to the new situation. From zoom difficulties to digital assignments, everyone has adjusted to the past year differently.

Regarding distance and in person learning, the differences between the two made for an unusual school year. With being online came the inevitable disconnect between students and teachers, and many found it difficult to focus in class online. It became easier to focus less in class and zone out mid-lesson. Mr. Hensley, one of Mills’ 9th grade English teachers, stated that he “tried to make it fun and engaging for the kids”, but without physically being able to see everyone, it was difficult for teachers to keep track of what everyone was doing. When asked how difficult it was to move everything online, Mills math department teacher, Ms. Dreyer responded saying it was “more a matter of how [to] make what I do in the classroom as effective as possible in a virtual situation” That was the biggest challenge many teachers faced. They had to adapt to an entirely new environment that they hadn’t faced before. Keeping track of the students became more difficult and while sending links and assignments became easier with the use of the chat, it was harder to make sure people were actually following along with the lessons.

Although all staff have varying opinions of last year, most agree that this year is already looking better. Dean Christian says that distance learning “caused [him] to be creative” with his job and find new ways to contact students, especially for those who don’t check their emails as often. Teachers ended up having to contact students through Zoom, and that led to more impersonal communication that took out that bond they have with their students. Many kids, especially freshmen, tended to have technical difficulties with Zoom or logging onto Canvas making it harder to teach and causing class time to be used helping them get in. With Zoom, interactions between the students and teachers became less frequent and more difficult to coordinate. Some teachers already had a live agenda, like Ms. Dreyer, and that made the transition into distance teaching easier than those who had to create an agenda online from scratch.

Between the past year and a need for new ideas, many adaptations have carried over, including more teachers using live agendas and finding better ways to execute group discussions. Mr. Hensley has decided to keep on using Canvas discussions to help students with their essays, and he isn’t the only teacher to make use of otherwise overlooked functions. Other teachers have started to make more use of the live agendas and putting more of their assignments online for students to access.

Dean Christian reflects on the past year, highlighting that being alone was both the best and worst parts; having time to yourself while also having to cope with being the only one there.

For staff, some of the best parts of distance teaching included being able to stay at home along with zero commute time, but even that had downfalls. It blurs the line between work and home, causing even less motivation to work. It has had its upsides though, helping teachers finding new ways to teach and work. Mr. Hensley used the last year as a guide and is now having kids enter their peer editing on canvas, and other teachers have used it as a way to improve communications between everyone and make materials in class more accessible. Ms. Dreyer mentions that the convenience factor was a big plus but like for most others, the lack of connection was a big drawback. Overall, while COVID-19 may have caused an interesting past year with many changes, both teachers and students are excited to be back in-person this year, combining both new and old routines to improve on this coming school year.

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New Mills Teachers

by Max Zaninovich, Sports Editor

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very year the Mills community welcomes new teachers and staff members. This year we have five new teachers and two new counselors: Mr. Debois (Biology and Ap Environmental Science), Ogechi Ibanusi (Ethnic Studies and Modern World History), Ms. Do-le (Algebra 2, Geometry, and Geometry support), A. Reyes (Woodworking, Engineering Teach, and Architectural Design), and K. Reyes (Chemistry), who also taught at Mills last year, although only online. There are also 2 new counselors, Ms. Nieve and Mr. Fong who teach a class called “College and Career Success” as well.

Recently there has been little turnover in the Mills counseling department, but this year we are lucky enough to have two new counselors! Ms. Nieve and Mr. Fong are both very excited to be at Mills this year. Mr. Fong has been working in education and counseling for over a decade, and for the last eight years, he has worked at Lowell High School in San Francisco. Even in just his short tenure here, he already “likes Mills more than Lowell” and says “all of the students and coworkers have been so supportive and welcoming”. He wants to specifically mention “Mr. Christian and Michael Duer for their support, as well as Mr. Slager for being a great conversationalist”. Ms. Nieve on the other hand has never worked in the counseling field before, but has been working in schools for 6 or 7 years. She was formerly a pre-school teacher and “loves playing with play-doh and in sandboxes with little kids.”

Ms. Nieve also taught and counseled at Skyline Community College last year. However, this is her first high school counseling position. She stated that wants to thank “Ms. Mack and Ms. Vasquez who have been amazing in supporting me and Mr. Fong and have made it the least stressful experience possible.” She added that she hopes she can, “Advocate for students and make the high school experience and learning, in general, more fun.”

Both Mr. Fong and Ms. Nieve teach a class called College and Career and Career Planning which helps 10th and 11th-grade students get college credit while getting CTE credit. Ms. Nieve actually worked with Ms. Laux last year to help create the class. The class combines two courses that are taught at Skyline College. They hope that in the future the class can be expanded to include all four grades at Mills.

Both A. Reyes and K. Reyes taught online last year, however, this is each of their first years at Mills in person. Both of them are fairly new to teaching having only taught online last year. A. Reyes teaches woodworking, architectural design, and engineering tech and K. Reyes teaches chemistry. K. Reyes wants to thank the Mills community and Mr. Wangfor being super supportive and adds that she loves bread. A. Reyes added that she can shed light on “the importance of building because it is a part of our everyday lives but is so often taken for granted.”

Mr. Debois is another new science teacher here at Mills. He teaches biology and AP environmental science. This will be his 8th year teaching having taught for 7 years in New York before recently moving here. He taught at a middle school in Queens for a while and then taught a year as an instructor at NYU. He really wants to try to introduce project-based learning to the Mills curriculum and make it more mainstream stating, “Project-based learning can put the learning into the hands of the students and have them be the center of knowledge rather than the teacher.” Both Mr. Debois and K. Reyes wanted to give appreciation to Mr. Wang for his help and support as new teachers at Mills.

This year there are a lot of new teachers and staff at Mills and we hope that we can all welcome them to the Viking family to the fullest extent.

Athenas Island

by Magdalene Ko, News Editor

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n September 23 and 24, Thursday and Friday at 7pm, Mills will be treated to Athena’s Island: a musical, written by our very own Mr. Huddleson. As our first in-person musical in over a year, it’s sure to be one of the highlights of the new school year. Based off the #1 New York Times bestseller The Codebreaker

by Walter Isaacson, the musical focuses on Jennifer Doudna’s extraordinary life.

The story is about a simple Hawaiian girl who defies society’s expectations and develops groundbreaking discoveries such as the shape of RNA. As a professor at UC Berkeley, Doudna continued studying the properties of RNA. To add to her list of accomplishments, not only is she a cofounder of CRISPR, a gene editing tool, her work has been the basis of the COVID-19 vaccine and other abilities to rid humans of viruses. As for the cherry on top, she won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of a method for genome editing in 2020.

As Mr. Huddleson was reading The Codebreaker in March, he stated, “It just inspired me. I had songs in my head when I was reading the story of Jennifer Doudna.” As a Berkeley professor and molecular biology major himself, Doudna’s story hit “close to home.” He just wanted to “write about this person and her interesting life, and what made her heroic.”

While we continued the interview, I found myself more and more interested in the musical and Jennifer Doudna. When I asked what we as an audience should take away after watching Athena’s Island, Mr. Huddleson remarked “science is amazing.” All the scientists in biochemistry, especially women, are rock stars.

“We praise our athletes in our culture, we love politicians, but I think some of the most important heroes are the people in the medical field and in the sciences because they’re creating cures.” He continued on to point out that we should respect our scientists and believe them because they’re regular people too.

These scientists are the unsung heroes of our lives, dedicating their lives to research to save ours. One of our very own Mills graduates, Craig Venter, has become one of the leading scientists in genome research and wrestling with the controversial issues that come with it. When Venter was a soldier in Vietnam, he’d jumped off a boat to give up on life, but swam back to dedicate his life to science. “Even in the darkest despair, you could become someone that changes the world” was the inspiring statement after such an encouraging story.

Just like Venter, Doudna has persisted with her work, as well as weighed the moral problems that come with gene editing. “Like Jennifer Doudna”, Mr. Huddleson revealed, “people kept telling her oh, you’re a girl, don’t go into science. She was discouraged.” After her dad motivated her, she continued on, and is the most predominant chemist in biochem.

Since he read The Codebreaker in March, he had plenty of extra free time during distance learning when he didn’t have students to interact with. He decided to utilize that time to compose. “My process was just ok, making deadlines, May 29, I’m going to write this complete thing” he explained. He managed to write a couple of songs a week, on top of teaching all his English classes.

Even Mr. Huddleson’s naming process was unique. Athena has always been a symbol of strength, wisdom, and feminism. When he went to Nashville, he visited the life size replica of the Parthenon and Athena.

He was struck by her symbolism and thought “what a powerful symbol of power and wisdom”, and was even more affected by the Me Too Movement, a stand against sexual assault and harrasment that was gaining influence.

He even incorporated an underlying fiction Athena storyline, such as the Athena Project. It was a project created to connect people to Doudna’s technology. Her dad also hands her a figurine of Athena, allowing her to learn about the Greek goddess and all she represents.

The musical is “a way to bring back the live arts and bring the community together”. This musical will be the first live one in over a year, and will be socially distant, free, and in the courtyard. There’ll even be displays all around center court about different scientists. “Come out if you feel like musicals, if you like rock, if you like stories, if you like science, anything. It just brings art and music and science together” he stated.

Athena’s Island is a complete musical, with about 20 songs. He thinks it’ll be “a lot of fun”, but is also hoping for it to be published. Remember, come September 23 and 24, at 7pm in center court to enjoy a return to pre-pandemic life. Good luck to Mr. Huddleson, the Mills band, and drama team! We’re looking forward to experiencing all your hard work!

CENTER

8

Transferring From Middle School To High SAMANTHA CHAN, STAFF WRTER

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he transfer from middle school to highschool is a very different experience. As a freshman myself, I’ve experienced that there are definitely more people on a larger campus, but now in highschool, most people have to get used to block schedules while grades are also starting to matter more. As a result, there is a lot more stress. Also, the majority of the students didn’t or had limited access to lockers.

Many middle schools have around 800-900 students in the whole school, while Mills has around 1,220 students. Also, since everyone is on a new campus the layout and amount of people can be confusing. For example, since most underclassmen are graduates of Taylor Middle School, where there are more hills and a different layout, Mills is more flat with many more classrooms. All the buildings are also organized differently and now there are different halls for different subjects which all look very similar.

Something else that was different from middle school was the fact that we now have easy access to lockers. Though some schools did have lockers, many people ended up not getting lockers. Even the people who have had lockers didn’t have easy access to them and ended up not using them. Also, for most people in P.E, they are just getting to have their own lockers so they no longer have to share with someone else. Many people are also experiencing having bigger lockers and locker rooms with more space to move around.

One other thing that is very significant from the change from middle school to high school is grades and schedules. Now, grades are starting to matter and you need to pay more attention while being loaded with more work and classes. Classes normally in middle school are around 6 periods while we now have 7 periods. Since there are more classes, it means more homework. Before, in middle school, we were used to having barely any homework, to now having to spend an hour or two on completing homework. Also, instead of having every class every day like in middle school, students now have to adapt to block schedules. Going from having all the classes every day to only having it every other day (except on Monday where everyone has each class), can make it confusing as some people may try to attend the wrong classes.

Overall, Middle School is very different from High School. In middle school there was no easy access to lockers and there also is a larger campus. The students have to get used to different schedules and classes all while they have to worry about their grades. Many people will find this new experience anything from exciting to terrifying, it depends on the person.

Guide to In-Person Kaliya Williams and Ciara Whipple, Staff T

hrough the past year and a half we experienced, we know that adjusting back to in-person learning can be difficult. This may be especially difficult for the freshmen and sophomores, who haven’t been on campus yet.

It is always important to stay on top of your workload, but staying motivated isn’t always easy. . Some strategies I like to use to manage my time and workload are keeping a daily schedule/agenda, figuring out when my most productive time is; whether it’s waking up early in the morning, doing homework after school, finishing work late at night, or simply working on an assignment until it’s complete. I know realistically most students find it difficult to stay motivated and complete assignments, especially leading into the second semester. I must say I have the same problem, but procrastinating only makes it harder to stay up to date on work.

If your workload becomes unmanageable there are many resources here at Mills to help you, such as our school counselors, teachers, or after-school tutoring. As a senior, I understand the hesitation of asking for help but teachers and even upperclassmen are always available to help you find ways to better manage your time or help to ease your workload!

Being open to making new friends and trying new things is another great way to get back into the routine of going to school in person. Being a nice, positive, and welcoming person to all can assist you in this area. You’d be surprised how much you have in common with people in different classes and grades.

Staying involved in extracurriculars is a great way to meet new people who have similar interests as yo . At Mills, we have many opportunities to stay involved! We have a few different clubs such as Interact Club, Unicef, Latina Mentor Program, GSA, and many more. You can also start your own club; if you have any hobbies or interests that you are passionate about you can start your own club. Another great way to stay involved is through sports! We have a lot of great teams at Mills like the Girls Basketball team, Boys basketball team, Baseball, Softball, Golf, Badminton, Tennis, and more. Playing on a team is a great way to build lasting friendships throughout highschool and build skills in your sport of interest. As exciting as all these all sound it’s important to keep your classes at the top of your priority list, so make sure not to overbook yourself.

9

Schools Affects on The Student Chloe Ho, Staff Writer

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or many people, it’s a relief to be back in person for school. Distance learning has taken heavy toll on the majority of youth in terms of overall well-being and academic performance, and returning to a normal environment ives everyone an opportunity to start fresh and make up for the previous year. An in-person school experience is essential for everyone. Seeing friends, obviously, is superb. But in the larger picture, the social effects it has (which friends fall under) is extremely important because they affect all aspects of one’s health. Given that students had been cooped up at home for most of the school year, these significant differences and advantages compared to distance learning may be more noticeable in terms of feeling, but what they actually are may not be immediately apparent. With that said, this article aims to display exactly what a school environment provides for students that distance learning may not, and underline why what it provides is so important.

It can be heavily agreed upon that distance learning was unorganized, ineffective, and just generally irritating. A year of screen fatigue, achy joints from sitting, diminished motivation, and the divide between teachers and students are problems students are all too familiar with. Additionally, mental health issue rates have increased at an alarming rate. According to JAMA Pediatrics, “Across 29 samples and 80, 879 youth, the pooled prevalence of clinically elevated depression and anxiety symptoms was 25.2% and 20.5%... Thus globally, 1 in 4 youth are experiencing clinically elevated depression symptoms, while 1 in 5 youth are experiencing clinically elevated anxiety symptoms. A comparison of these findings to pre-pandemic estimates (12.9% for depression and 11.6% for anxiety) suggests that youth mental health difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic has likely doubled.” One of the main problems that have contributed to this issue is the lack of social interaction. Social interaction is something that all humans naturally crave, and being separated from those you enjoy communicating with and being restricted to digital communication just cannot satisfy. Though students are surrounded by those in their household, there is nothing that can replace talking with friends, especially when one is living in a world of uncertainty and experiencing troubles in academics and well-being.

On a more psychological level, social relationships are crucial to everyday life. In the words of NCBI, “Social support may have indirect effects on health through enhanced mental health, by reducing the impact of stress, or by fostering a sense of meaning and purpose in life… Supportive social ties may trigger physiological sequelae… that are beneficial to health and minimize unpleasant arousal that instigates risky behavior... Personal control refers to individuals’ beliefs that they can control their life outcomes through their own actions. Social ties may enhance personal control (perhaps through social support), and, in turn, personal control is advantageous for health habits, mental health, and physical health.” This is all regarding in-person interactions -- digital communication cannot fulfill any of these. This also applies to online school, where students are too unengaged to pay attention, and teachers are limited in what they can do for them. They cannot keep them in check or disciplined, and so as motivation takes a dive, so does performance, followed by a spike in stress. This vicious cycle may have been prevalent among students before, but with the pandemic, this became a more common problem.

However, the past is not worth ruminating on for too long. Now that those days are gone, students can now shift back to a normal routine. But why is being in person so much better anyway? Obviously, being able to see friends and peers is great, but the school environment as a whole is actually crucial to all aspects of health because of its social factor. To touch back on seeing friends and peers, interaction with students actually provides a lot of benefits in pretty much every aspect of health.

One of the most notable ones is mental health. Explore Life agrees with this, explaining that “Social contact helps us to cope with stress and major life changes like a divorce, redundancy and moving house. And knowing that we are valued by others is an important psychological factor in helping us to forget the negative aspects of our lives, and thinking more positively about our environment.” There is a certain place in everyone’s lives that only those close to us, be it a friend, lover, or parent, can fill. A particular person or group may have even entered the mind as that was read. But in order to have made these relationships in the first place, one must’ve first conformed to their environment in order to be socially successful. To quote the NCBI again, “[The] Social Development Model hypothesizes that children learn patterns of behaviour from their social environments, and that this learning occurs in 4 ways: their perceptions of opportunities for being involved with others; their ability to interact with others; their actual involvement; and, the rewards they perceive as emanating from such involvement.” The article continues to elaborate on why these aspects are important, which can be summarized as contributing to a feeling of belonging. When these four behavioral patterns are in place, the student feels more need to uphold them, thus allowing them to naturally let themselves become comfortable in their environment. These patterns are also evident in everyday life, and by exercising these at school, one is learning to become more socially intelligent in any social situation. Now that everyone has returned to in-person school, everyone is given opportunities to do some much needed and craved community building. Actually, students have been developing these skills since they were first ever in school through peer relationships. To add on, “Social interaction with another child who is similar in age, skills, and knowledge provokes the development of many social skills that are valuable for the rest of life… For example, as infants, children get their first encounter with sharing… during pretend play as preschoolers they create narratives together, choose roles, and collaborate… and in primary school, they may join a sports team, learning to work together and support each other emotionally and strategically toward a common goal. Through these experiences, children develop friendships that provide additional sources of security and support.” So not only are these interactions important for the sake of developing social relationships, they are crucial in developing personality traits and a set of skills that will be needed to go through life and social situations in the upcoming years. Of course, being in social situations also proposes challenges -- self-esteem issues, for example, are common among many because of the desire to be accepted and to please others. But, as addressed earlier, healthier bonds you have with others help to counter such difficulties. In addition, these difficulties themselves also allow one to build some character development.

Of course, it’s definitely worth addressing additional benefits brought by being in the company of people. There are physical health benefits, for one. Returning to Explore Life, “There is compelling evidence to suggest human contact is also vital for our physical health too…. Sociology researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, cited evidence linking [little relations between] social ties with a host of conditions, including the development and worsening of cardiovascular disease, repeat heart attacks, autoimmune disorders, high blood pressure, cancer and slowed wound healing.” There are also more academically centered benefits, which should naturally come from being in the comforting presence of students in an academic setting. The Education Hub states that a student with weak social connections has a higher chance of struggling with organization, time management, attention, and transfer of knowledge among others. This relates to what was previously addressed regarding comfort in an environment -- if one is uncomfortable, the level of success in other aspects decreases, which is why it’s important to get out there and form some relationships with others.

Though that was a lot, all of it ties back into being in person. Being able to be in school, as painful as it might be (especially after coming back from being at home for such a long time), is so important for our health. Distance learning damaged that by restricting all socializing to chat and occasionally laggy cameras and audio. And, to be honest, no one was really particularly engaged as a result of that because there was no environment surrounding them to encourage that. Eventually, the student body will have completely readapted to the school environment and begin to maybe even take it for granted. It’s worth remembering, however, the days of distance learning. The days where it was nearly impossible to succeed academically because all aspects of health were being halted from growing and hurt. With the return of students comes the return of opportunities, and because they were so scarce during last year, it’s encouraged that all students take advantage of opportunities not only in academics, but with expanding their social circle. Making an acquaintance never hurts, and networking is always worth a try. It should be in the interests of everyone to make this year better than the last, and it can all begin with just taking the risk of socializing.

SPREAD

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The Struggles of Student Athletes Hanson Han, Staff Writer

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s a student-athlete myself, I know the struggles many of us have to face. We are forced to make hard decisions about how we manage our time. How much time should we allocate for school, athletics, sleep, and social life? There are simply not enough hours in a day to balance all of these activities.

Our school day usually begins at 7:00am. Then, we spend around 6 hours (8:30am to 2:30pm) in classes. After school, practice can range anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours, depending on the sport. This gives us a minimum of 7.5 to 9 hours of school and practice. Keep in mind that these times do not even account for travel, or the hours spent working away at the mountain of homework given to us.

On top of that, the pressure applied to us couldn’t be more demanding. To fulfill our duties as students, colleges look for students with multiple AP classes and heavy course loads. And for athletes, they only recruit the best of the best. The combination of these two factors end up causing a lot of stress on us as teenagers to try and satisfy both ends of the equation. This isn’t even considering that despite the workload given to us, scientists still recommend for us to get at least 8 hours of sleep per day. And for us, the few hours left in a day are usually spent with our friends and family.

For me, cross country practice usually ends at around 5:30pm, and I end up getting home at around 6:00pm. I’m taking 4 AP classes (6 total courses), which leads to roughly 4 hours of homework every night. And when the weekend comes, things don’t improve. My weekend is spent taking SAT classes and participating in ping pong tournaments. This back-to-back timeline leaves me with little to no time to slow down, catch my breath, and relax.

For wide receiver Antonio Sacco (11), football practice usually ends at around 6:30pm. He is taking 1 AP class (6 total courses), which leads to roughly 2 hours of homework every night. If Antonio were to have more time, he would spend more time biking, painting, and gaming.

For tennis star Erika Kita (11), practice usually ends at around 6:30pm as well. She is taking 2 AP classes (7 total courses), which leads to roughly 2 hours of homework every night. If Erika were to have more time, she would spend more time on her passion for arts and crafts, making keychains and drawing. She would also spend more time practicing the drums and watching television.

For all three of us, we strive to meet the 8 hour sleep requirement, with the leftover time spent with friends and family, getting the most out of it, before setting our sights on college The amount of pressure that is being applied to us student-athletes is too much for any teen to handle. Hopefully, the pressure will be lightened on us, but for now, we all need to persevere, and continue to do what we do best: Represent Mills High School to the best of our abilities.

Beginning of Mills 2021-2022 Sports Nagham Masarweh, Center Spread Editor

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ills’ fall sports season has officially started and sports scores are beginning to roll in. This year Mills is starting with football, tennis, golf, water polo, women’s volleyball, cross-country, and cheer. And, while we’ve had a rough start to the year, suffering numerous, frustratingly close losses, we can only go up from here.

Football has had some close games with bashing scores. They had their first home game on September 3, 2021, playing Monta Vista. Despite the junior varsity not being able to yet have their first home game at Mills, the varsity team had a chance to go against Monta Vista with a score of 26-21. They had a few good touchdowns and the defense held strong, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to get the win. Varsity and Junior varsity have their next upcoming game on October 1st playing Sequoia but their next home game is on October 8th against San Mateo. ​​Girls’ volleyball has been practicing since August 9th, and they have already played a few preseason and regular-season games. Junior Varsity began the month with a couple of losses, but they won two games, one against El Camino High School and the other against Terra Nova High School. So far, neither the varsity nor freshman teams have won a game, but it is still just the beginning and there is so much to come from both amazing teams.

The girl’s tennis team has also been practicing in the gyms here at Mills, San Mateo Highschool, and Burlingame High School because of the new construction of our new fields at Mills, but have begun tennis matches from September 7, 2021. They have lost their first 2 matches but have caught 2 wins with a score of 5-2 playing Oceana and 4-3 playing Westmore. They have had strong practices that have been bonding as a team, making the sport especially fun.

Water Polo has started the season off with conditioning, adding a good amount of players to the water polo community. Both Varsity girls and boys had their first games of the season on September 2nd, although suffering a few losses to close scores, they have been giving it their best effort and playing as a team with good sportsmanship. Junior varsity guys and girls have also had a few games but some schools don’t have JV teams so they have not had the chance to play as much but they have been also joining varsity teams at a few of their games getting a feel for the sport and bringing out the competitiveness in the new players that have joined. The teams have had great practices getting the new players on board and giving every player a chance to learn the sport to its full potential.

The cross country team has been practicing every day since August 9th. They have officially had their first two meets on September 11th and September 14th.

The first meet was held at Golden Gate Park and the second was Half Moon Bay. On September 25th, they look forward to competing on a high note after good runs, standing strong, and having good outlooks hoping for a few wins.

Golf practices have been held at Poplar Creek Golf Course and they had their first match on August 31st although sadly, facing a loss against Aragon High School. Even though their season has started a bit rocky, they have been making great progress on the course.

Cheerleading tryouts have also gone underway, beginning on September, 7th, 2021. They’ve begun teaching all new prospects choreographies and have had final cuts since September 15th. Mills now has an official Varsity and Junior Varsity cheer team that will cheer Mills to victory.

Sports are just starting to roll in and it is just the beginning for these students to show off their physical abilities either on a field, court, swimming pool, or track.

Sports COVID-19 Protocols Josh Choe, Opinions Editor

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t’s been almost a month since the start of school and Mills High School’s fall sports are in full swing, with Mills football, girl’s volleyball, water polo, and cross country all having multiple games under their belt. Considering COVID-19 is still prevalent in our everyday lives, as well as the Delta variant posing a significant threat, it’s necessary to take precautions, thus increasing the need for proper safety precautions to keep both athletes and spectators safe

At school, inside of our classrooms we are required to wear our masks at all times, our desks and chairs are wiped down as often as possible, amongst many other non-visible protocols that are planned out. If we want to do something even as inconsequential as taking a sip of water, we are required to do so outside the classroom. Additionally, should someone contract the virus, there are protocols in place including testing and separation of those who were in contact with the person who contracted COVID. Sports, of course, are a close contact activity and are strenuous activities that put students at risk for COVID-19 more than our normal everyday actions, due to obvious reasons such as heavier breathing around unmasked athletes. To keep athletes safe, new precautions have been taken and put forth. Mr. Keller, the athletics director for Mills explains the specific precautions that athletes at Mills must take: “Athletes that practice indoors are required to wear masks and coaches must change plans from ordinary practice planning, due to athletes not being able to go through heavy exertion with a mask on. Vaccines are not required for athletes and spectators are not required to wear masks unless they are indoors.”

However, since that interview, new information regarding the COVID vaccine mandate has been revealed. Through an email sent to all sports participants, administration expanded upon the change and necessity for vaccines, likely because of multiple discoveries of COVID-19 within the Mills population and possible unidentified cases at rival schools. All athletes are soon to be cleared for vaccination if they want to participate in sports.

Girls’ golf coach, Mr. Anderson, was among the few to contract COVID-19 a few weeks ago. He has since recovered, yet it goes to show how important it is to get vaccinated. Though he may have not contracted the virus from our students, it still drastically lowers the possibility for the transmission of the virus to spread from an affected individual to others in the group. And that was only for golf as well. Other higher contact sports such as football will carry higher risk for contracting the virus and spreading it.

From the first-hand experiences from our Mills Football team and Water polo in the pool, players describe their experience with the protocols and how it affects their practice and even games: Nagham Masarweh (10) is on the Mills Water polo team and she gives a quote on how she feels as if the regulations are almost nonexistent: “Nothing is different from ordinary practice, there aren’t any regulations for water polo.” On the other hand, the Mills Football team is required to have more regulations. A sophomore football player who wishes to stay anonymous, is on the JV football team and he shares how practice and games are affected by regulations for him, “We don’t really do anything differently, other than having our masks on whenever we need to. Personally, I’m just more careful when I ride the bus or touch doorknobs.”

We hope that the regulations put in place will sufficiently protect our student athletes and we hope that they will have a good year of sports this 20212022 school year!

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New Mills Athletic Compound Max Zaninovich, Sports Editor

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s many Vikings know, the old softball, baseball, and tennis courts all need updating. The lack of drainage on the lower soccer field, which was also the softball field, would constantly flood whenever it rained. Overgrown grass would make playing hard for athletes. Although the tennis courts have been updated in the past six years, it’s time for a fresh start.

Due to bond Measure L from the district, all schools were given funding to update their sports fields. This funding requires a 55% pass rate, and fortunately 41,647 (57.45%) people voted yes on the bond. Although 30,708 (42.55%) people voted no, it was still enough to pass a $385 million obligation. It was approved and launched December 17, 2020. On May 20, 2021, the Board heard a construction update on Measure L. Mills and Capuchino were the last to start construction, improving stadiums and fields.

This summer, construction started on the rebuilding and updating of the tennis courts as well as the baseball and softball fields here at Mills. The baseball and softball fields should be finished by November next year. The tennis courts should be done the earliest, around August next year. The new fields will all be turf fields. Similar to the old football field, grass was hard to maintain, constantly turning brown or growing weeds. With the new turf, there is no longer any worry about maintenance of grass or floods. New lights will also be a part of all of the fields as well as added to the pool. The new tennis courts will be more spread out and in a new, more accessible layout.

As a result of the new MAC, all Mills soccer practices and games will be played on the football field. No longer will half of the soccer season be played on one field and the other played on the football field. Since football is a fall sport and soccer is winter, the teams can practice and play without interference from each other.

Like all construction, there are some minor changes to deal with until the fields are ready. For staff and teachers, the faculty lot is closed, forcing some of them to find new parking spaces. Most exits on the east side of school, including the Foreign Language, History, and English halls, are locked from the outside.

Typically, students would use the back exits to go from hall to hall, but now everyone has to go through center court.

Despite these small inconveniences, expectations are high for the new fields. Mills principal Ms. Duszynski stated that the Mills High School athletic facilities, aptly nicknamed the MAC (Mills Athletic Compound) “will be the best athletic facilities in the entire district.” Mr. Keller, the athletic director, has also expressed his anticipation of the modernization. Since it’s been quite a while since the sports fields have been updated, he’s hopeful the construction will be a success and accomplish everything needed.

The construction has caused quite a change at Mills. The entire lower field will be completely changed by the time the MAC is usable. Construction might take over a year, but it will certainly be worth it to use and enjoy a brand new athletic facility.

SPORTS

ENTER 11

Album Review: Donda By: Joshua Choe; Opinions Editor

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ong awaited album by rapper, song writer, and producer Kanye West, “Donda” dropped at around 5AM PST, August 29, 2021, marking his 10th studio album. Through labels GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings, it was a blessing for the album to finally drop. Delayed from its initial release date of July 24, 2020, Donda was put on hold again and again to the dismay of fans, including myself. Problems with Kanye changing up songs, both removing and adding rappers (Snoop Dogg was originally supposed to have a verse on one of the songs), and issues with DaBaby being featured on the song Jail Pt. 2, added to its continuous delay. However, multiple listening parties were held, and through them, Kanye previewed his tracks and revealed his living quarters within Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz stadium. Fans were able to note the changes between the songs played at the listening parties and the final version of each song on the album after its release.

Moving aside from its short history, the album ultimately lived up to its hype. All of the songs featured were actually better than I expected, and I was more than happy to find the typical musicality that I would expect from Kanye. Despite those that criticize the album, saying that only having a few good songs on an album doesn’t make it good, I frankly think that they’re wrong. It’s simply impossible for every song in an album to be amazing, and some songs are just meant to grow on you. I would definitely know because I used to hate Kanye before I took some time to let his songs grow on me and recognize his genius. I’m not going to even mention the number of people that only listened to the Donda Chant and unironically based their opinion of Donda off of that. The album was reminiscent of his songs: Waves, RoboCop, Dark Fantasy, and Ghost Town, which are, in my opinion and probably a lot others, among the greatest works he’s ever created.

This album seemed to take a little bit more of a somber tone, in memory of Donda West, Kanye’s late mother, who died in 2007 at 58 years. I would rate this album a high 8.5/10. The only disappointment I could find from the album, aside from its multiple delays, was the removal of a lot of verses from multiple artists, including an extended Kid Cudi verse.

My favorites from the album included: Jail (feat. Jay-Z), Keep My Spirit Alive (featuring KayCyy), and New Again (feat. Chris Brown). Jay-Z’s verse on Jail was very appreciated and it was definitely nice to hear his voice on Donda. KayCyy’s chorus verse was perfect for Keep My Spirit Alive, providing the perfect back for the song. Honorable mentions were Hurricane (feat. The Weeknd, Lil Baby, and KayCyy), Lord I Need You, Jesus Lord, and Moon (Kid Cudi, and Don Toliver).

Personally for me, Kanye’s music represents a lot of the best memories of my life and represents my mental changes, getting me through the worst periods of my life so far and providing me something to lean on. Throughout the whole last year and the years before that, the four above-mentioned songs, Waves, RoboCop, and Dark Fantasy were always present, playing on my phone during my best memories of long bike trips with my friends and late night hangouts. And that is a firsthand proof of what listening to music is: to be able to form connections and feel the music on a higher level, past what you initially hear. I look forward to connecting Donda with new, good memories throughout this year.

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hroughout the path of creating a name for themselves, celebrities eventually create a line of merch to put their name out there. Kylie Jenner has her “Kylie Cosmetics” line and Ariana Grande has her own line of apparel. Many stars create merchandise for their supporters to show their love, and most products turn out great. Here are a few times where things didn’t go the right way.

Olivia Rodrigo’s fans are bringing attention to her new, extremely low quality merch. Fans are angry that her merchandise isn’t as it seems on her website. Olivia Rodrigo is an actress most known for her role as Nina Salazer-Roberts in the hit T.V show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Paige Olvera in the Disney show Bizaardvark. Disney Channel media sensation turned singer-songwriter has since written many songs and an album, including hits Drivers Licence and Good 4 You. Her album “Sour’’ is listened to all around the world. Rodrigo’s team has crafted her brand into a line that’s relatable for teenagers , but is now receiving fire and heavy criticism from angry fans.

Many tiktokers have made videos about one of her merch items available for purchase, the Sour Triptych Tank. Customers who ordered a cropped white tank expected the product from the image, but instead received a long, dress-like tank that they had to crop themselves. Other fans bought her supposedly light, lilac purple bucket hat, but received it as a solid deep purple hat instead. Some received safety pin earrings that said “Suor” instead of “Sour”, and complained that the pins do not open for fixing. Her enraged TikTok fans continued to make many more videos addressing the situation which led her team to remove over half of the defective items from her website.

Along with Olivia’s dilemma with failed merchandise, James Charles, along with his infamous past, was faced with yet another scandal. James Charles is most known for being a makeup artist and beauty guru. In the past, he collaborated on Youtube videos with many other stars including Emma Chamberlain and The Dolan Twins. He started off as a local makeup artist who started a small Youtube channel where he posted makeup tutorials. While he continued to create and post videos, he eventually became a media sensation.

Back in 2020, he was accused of releasing merch products that look suspiciously similar to Ethan Klein, a YouTuber and podcaster who created his own brand, “Teddy Fresh”. James and his team, not only having a bad reputation beforehand, received a sea of hate for taking another YouTuber’s merch ideas. The color scheme was almost identical, yet James’ piece had “Sisters” written across, in addition to his merch brand titled, “Sister Apparel”. According to Ethan’s tweet that same week, his wife, Hila created the hoodie and multiple other hoodie ideas for his website. James responded back with a tweet stating he had never seen Klein’s design before releasing his products and already spoke to Ethan about the situation but never got a response. He ended the tweet with “If you’d like to continue our conversation and find a solution, my DM’s are open!!” And as far as the internet could tell, that situation was finally over.

The James Charles case is officially closed. Rodrigo’s, on the other hand, has not come to an end. Her fans are still afraid to purchase her products after seeing the reviews on social media and her team has yet to give out an explanation. She still has a few items on her website but removed over half of the products on her line due to criticism and obvious mistakes. As a personal fan of Olivia Rodrigo, I hope her team improves and fixes her line.

Merch Chaos

By: Vanessa Nguyen; Staff Writer

Degendering Fashion

12 By: Michaela Gonzalez; Staff Writer

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ashion: it is everywhere we look. It is how we politely function as a society/civilization and keep our body warm and protected from the outside world. To some people it may be to just avoid nakedness, but for others it is to express themselves and their highest self identity, while telling the story of both us and our history. Each sock, neckline, jewel, shawl, button, sleeve length, and texture can classify yourself into a specific group and movement. Your style can cultivate a progressive change, such as women starting to wear pants in the mid-19th century to demonstrate their desire to feel equal to men.

Despite knowing the significance of a piece of clothing and style which can dictate various ideas, society norms have limited our personal self identity to our assigned gender from birth. Before the last few hundred years, men have been known to wear skirts and long dresses such as in ancient Greek and Roman times. But more recently, women have worn one thing and men have worn another. Society completely ignored the possibility of a person existing as neither a man or a woman. Anyone that went against this norm were instantly criminalized and discriminated against by the dominant culture, never intersecting, and never questioning why we were raised to dress one way solely based on our gender. Never questioning why our genders have one style to pertain to, and why we have to follow them.

Why do I have to wear a dress because I was born a girl and have to exhibit femininity? If I identify as a boy and want to wear a blouse, why can’t I? These are the questions many designers, influencers, and brands have thought of, and have happily contradicted them.

Many designers have fashioned articles of clothing that go against the “gender norm”. Harry Lambert famously dressed Harry Styles in an elaborate dress when he appeared for Vogue’s first male-solo cover. In the accompanying article, Styles stated, “Clothes are there to have fun and to play with.... I’ll go into shops sometimes, and I just find myself looking at women’s clothes thinking they’re amazing....

-anytime you are putting up barriers in your life, you’re just limiting yourself.” Another international artist breaking the same barriers are k-pop sensation BTS. They have been known for redefining the line of masculinity and femininity through their clothing, music expression, and performance techniques. One of their many non-traditional photoshoots include one in 2016 for Singles Magazine where they wore dresses, lace, and fishnets, which are considered “feminine”. Lastly, the creator of the #degenderfashion movement is writer, activist, and public speaker Alok V Menon. They are known to speak out against the limiting images of normalized masculinity and femininity. With this, they express their self-identity by dressing themselves with bright and unique pieces without the barriers of gender in mind, simply creating outfits for creativity and style.

This movement is taking a step toward needed gender-neutrality that has been long overdue. Fashion is a source of the ultimate individual artistic self-expression, and degendering it will bring style to it’s highest potential. What we wear as we know it, can cultivate a progressive change.

If I identify as a boy and want to wear a blouse, why can’t I? S C H H A I N G By: Phoebe Piserchio; Staff Writer

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n September 3rd, 2021, Marvel Studios will be releasing Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, their franchise movie featuring an Asian American superhero. Actor Simu Liu, starring as Shang-Chi, is excited to share his movie with the world. After famously tweeting, “Hey @Marvel, great job with Cpt America and Thor. Now how about an Asian American hero?”, in 2014, it came to no one’s surprise or disappointment that Liu is now starring in this role. He and his other cast members including Crazy Rich Asian star Awkwafina and director Destin Daniel Cretton are stirring with excitement, ready for the long overdue Asian representation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Because we’ve been celebrating a lot of firsts in our community — when ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ came out three years ago, we celebrated that as the first studio movie with a predominantly Asian cast in almost 25 years,” Liu says. “I’m looking forward to the moment where we no longer celebrate firsts. We’re celebrating seconds, and thirds, and fourths, and fifths. So I’ll take this moment for what it is… But I hope that there are many more just like it afterwards.”

As fans’ excitement starts to grow nearer to the release date, more questions start being asked. Disney CEO Bob Chapek states that Shang Chi will be an “interesting experiment” with the film only being released in theaters, as opposed to also on their streaming service, Disney+. However, Simu Liu, being protective of his movie, eventually bounced back and tweeted in response, “We are not an experiment. We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will preserve after an embattled year. We are the surprise.” Liu later explained how he wanted to get the message across and show how fired up he is for the movie. He continued to say, “...It’s truly going to change the world.”

Despite Simu Liu’s great effort in promoting his movie, the same cannot be said for Marvel Studios. Marvel fans are upset with the lack of promotion on their part for Shang Chi. Many say that the little advertisement is “racially motivated”. Unlike other recently released Marvel films including “Black Widow” and “What If…”, fans say Simu Liu is promoting his movie more than Marvel Studios themselves. “We, Asians, get our first ever Asian-led Marvel film and @marvel isn’t doing anything to promote it. Tweeting a poster isn’t enough…” (@widcwfilms on Twitter). The Asian community has been waiting for their representation, and when they finally get it, Marvel is doing the bare minimum to promote it. And while many fans are aware of this, there are others that simply don’t care. A select number of fans say the movie is “unimportant” and that they won’t watch it because it doesn’t have any of the “original Avengers.” Because of this negative energy, other fans on social media are doing their best to take matters into their own hands and promote the movie. As an Asian-American, it’s about time we see Asian representation in this popular film franchise, and I am looking forward to seeing much more to come.

OpiniOns

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The Thunderbolt

Mills Student Parking Lot Kaliya Williams, Staff Writer

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ver since the start of school, the traffic in the student parking lot has become drastically worse. On average, getting to school every day takes me around 10 minutes but once I approach the student lot, I get stuck in a line of cars, adding an extra 10 to 15 minutes to my commute. This line of cars causes chaos and traffic every morning for students, to the point that many students are arriving late to class due to the unpredictability of traffic. Why are so many cars rushing to get into the lot and why has it become worse this school year? Upon entering the parking lot it becomes clear many of the students in the cars aren’t actually driving, they are being dropped off by their parents.

Understandably, many students cannot drive yet and need rides to school.

However, is our current student drop-off system effective? Many of the students who park in the lot are new to driving, so being stuck in traffic and coming in late to class is an additional stress. I can also understand the perspective of parents wanting to drop off their child as close as possible to school, but is that really necessary? I would hope all Mills students are capable of walking an extra block from the student drop-off lane to get to class. I see the student parking lot as somewhere students can go to park without the hassle of waiting for traffic to clear or sitting and waiting for each parent to stop in the middle of the parking lot just to drop off their child and watch them walk all the way into school. The stop-and-go traffic can also lead to an unsafe environment prone to accidents.

I’ve seen many parents driving with no caution for the many students walking through the parking lot and even stopping in the middle of the lanes holding up student traffic.

Talya McDonald (12) and Ciara Whipple (12) both agree student drop-off creates additional traffic every morning but think the problem could be mitigated if parents could properly use the student drop-off lane. Micheal Duer (traffic director) also stated he believes this is becoming an even larger safety issue; with many parents coming through the lot trying to find somewhere to drop off their child they often block handicapped parking spots, stop in the middle of the lane blocking traffic, and drive carelessly. These unsafe driving habits can lead to potential accidents or injuries. Not waiting for their turn, speeding, or double parking is not an uncommon occurrence for many of the drivers in the lot. Duer has suggested an updated layout for directing traffic in the mornings. There is a lane attached to the student parking lot designated for student drop-offs. However, the large majority of parent drivers either don’t know about this lane or choose not to use it.

Considering the alternative plan to reduce traffic, there should be a turning point in the near future. Students and parents can follow the plan for traffic reduction and orderly driving in order to shorten student commutes to school and reduce the possibility of accidents.

How Useful Is a Planner For School?

Tiffany Xu, Staff Writer

Romanticization of High School Katelyn Chang, Entertainment Editor

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ow useful is a planner? A planner is a notebook that acts as a personal organizer with an agenda with pages to write down everyday tasks and events. There are pages containing yearly, monthly, and weekly calendars.

Some fancier planners even have extra blank pages, an address book page, and pages for notes. The compact size of most planners makes it effortlessly easy to bring it around everywhere you go. With the world beginning to open up and everyone returning back to school, daily life has gotten busier than staying at home for online school. Planners are a very useful tool now that everyone has much more activities to attend to. Not only do planners help with tracking your schedule and tasks, they also help with your health and reaching your goals.

Planners can help with staying on track. The detailed pages of a section for each day can come in very handy for assignments and tasks from school or other places, such as outside work and tutoring places, chores, and any extra tasks you would want to get done during the day. Writing things down in your planner can help you make sure you always stay on task and focus on finishing all your assignments. For bigger events such as upcoming tests, due dates, hanging out with your friends, or even appointments, you could use the monthly calendar to write it down so it is easier to remember. This way, even if you forget when your doctor’s appointment is, you’ll always know that you can look back at your planner. Writing down your everyday errands can also make you more organized and can enhance your productivity and time management. Time management is key in life, especially in high school, because time is limited, and a lot of activities need to be finished. Before having a planner myself, I would go through each class mentally, figuring out what work I’d have to do before going to school the next day. Sometimes, this wouldn’t work; I’d forget my homework and due dates. Now with a planner, I can always stay on top of things and can stay organized...

Cont. on Thunderbolt Website

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s a teenager, the transition to young adulthood is usually marked with classic Hollywood movies including Mean Girls, Clueless, and Bring it On. This, combined with more modern takes on teen movies, specifically To all the Boys I’ve Loved Before and the Kissing Booth, all of them have one specific theme in common: High School.

Being a junior at Mills, I’ve hardly had a complete High School experience, even with COVID-19. However, even then I can come to recognize the blatant falsehoods of what it means to be a high school student featured in mainstream and Hollywood media. The parallels that can be drawn between the movies and reality are almost baffling. The issue with the frankly fairytale style depictions of High School is that it forces this narrative that being a student is a one dimensional experience focused only on one’s social life. Taking for example “Mean Girls”, the iconic lunchroom clique scene is a trivial and entertaining depiction, but unrealistic in real life. In reality, while groups of people may be divided based on interests and friend groups, it’s not as serious as having a real life “Plastics”.

As for life as a high schooler in the real world, it’s much less entertaining. There isn’t a lot of free time to hang out with friends 24/7 or plan something like a kissing booth. Rather, students are sleep deprived, stressed, and focused on success rather than their wellbeing. In American society high school is portrayed in part by these movies as a dream like four years of your life where you can live out your teenage years. Even believing this fallacy myself, once I was thrust into high school, I began to see the differences in reality. Freshman year was the most similar to what is depicted in Hollywood, but later as an upperclassmen, I feel what many of my classmates do regarding the actual lifestyle of a high schooler. For the majority of upperclassmen students, and especially those in their junior year, free time is spent studying, studying, and even more studying. While living the perfect high school moment can be a part of student life, the bigger impact is that there is simply more to it than that.