The Thunderbolt March 2022 Issue

Volume 62 Issue 4 || march 2022 ||

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Be Sensitive, Be Brave Covid Absences Katelyn Chang, Chloe Ho, Editor-in-ChiEf, Staff WritEr

H

ard work is what many Chinese people value most. Pushing to do better, even in weak areas, will most certainly result in success.

There’s a similar mindset with mental health, according to a conversation with clinical psychologist Joyce Chu: When your mental health is weak, it’s viewed as just another

not being culturally open made it uncomfortable was the motivation.

Chu’s two-hour training workshops, turally infused and cover a great

talks about the basics of mental health and wellness. It goes into details on what the difference is between going through everyday highs and lows versus when to seek professional assistance, as well as how to maintain good mental health. The other covers being familiar with suicide and prevention. It explains suicide, how to help and connect with someone who might be suffering from suicidal thoughts, and warning signs across cultures. It takes place on Zoom and is interactive with polls and activities.

Joyce Chu is a professor and clinical psychologist at the Palo Alto medical center. A Chinese-American, Chu’s parents didn’t understand mental health was, and her relatives suffered from a range unrecognized problems like substance abuse, depression, and eating disorders. It didn’t occur to her family that they could reach out for help. The community around her wasn’t much different – Chu saw great amounts of unnecessary suffering that could’ve been resolved with proper help and support. Today, she’s also a community and cultural psychologist and a suicidologist. Her life’s mission

is to reach out to underserved communities and break down barriers and stigmas around mental health in Asian-American populations.

Together she works with Sylvia Tang, who works for the San Mateo County Behavioral Health & Reco-chair of the Suicide Prevention

Chu’s workshops, Tang reached out to collaborate with her and make it accessible to more in the community by translating it into Mandarin.

The goal of these workshops are not only to educate, but to start and change the conversation around mental health. Tang and Chu aim to have mental health conversations revolve more around support rather than waiting for the problems to pass. Resilience is indeed a sign of strength, and endurance is undeniably a good trait to exhibit when faced with a problem. But the strongest thing one can do is to admit they need help until they’re at a point where they are healthier and stronger. Being able to be honest rather than keeping it all inside is the best thing you can do for yourself, learning and becoming the best person you can be.

To learn more, feel free to reach out to Sylvia Tang through her email at stang@smcgov.org.

lInkedIn, Palo alto unIVersIty

SYLVIA

TANG,

JOYCE

CHU

work harder to be mentally healthier and you’ll gain the resilience of a horse. But as she goes on to say, that’s really not the case. Something on your mental health is one of the several harmful results of the unspoken topic in the Chinese community. The most notable result is the silent struggle, lacking proper support because of the stigma around it and mental health as a whole. It’s no wonder that the Asian-American community has the lowest rates of mental health service usage in the country. Recognizing this huge, unrecognized issue, Sylvia Tang and Joyce Chu collaborated to create shops which especially cater to the Chinese community to destigmatize and start a conversation around mental health issues.

This project came from a partnership with Santa Clara County, in which a lot of issues with their mental health training problems arose.

Things such as time restraints and

Features Behind the Scenes of a School Lunch

Elizabeth Chen Staff WritEr

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any people caught covid because the Omicron variant is highly contagious. Students went on trips and attended other social gatherings over winter break which only suing increased absences, teachers

slowed down their lessons and posted them on Canvas. With everything becoming digital and a lot of the work being completed independently, some students have ended up just staying home because they deemed it safer, as they were still able to receive their education.

Since many teachers and students were absent, slowing down the curriculum so no one falls too far behind was necessary. This resulted in a lot of down time for students in class, causing many to face boredom as class time was empty and purposeless. Students felt that it would be a waste of time to show up at school because they could complete all their work from home on Canvas. So, many decided to stay home ished and spring semester kicked in, students have also faced a lower amount of energy because everyone to school everyday after several weeks off. After the Christmas feeling wore off, students faced a long semester with a seemingly endless Fortunately, the Covid-19 booster has also been authorized for administration to teenagers.

This, however, led to some students missing school because of their side ers were also getting sick, meaning many students had substitutes. This

Center spread

OpiniOns -

guages

Police are More Important than Society Realizes

spOrts Journey of the Varsity Girls’ Basketball Team

left students confused, as there were oftentimes unclear directions and they could no longer ask for quick er. This also caused a lot of students to feel as though class time was pointless because all of their work could be done later, since the teacher would review when they got back. campus felt emptier and was eerily quiet.

After winter break, many students were absent. For example, a lot of Juniors were absent because they caught what was most likely the omicron variant of Covid-19 meaning those classes were even emptier than the already empty classes of other grades. Additionally, because their friends were absent, other students were motivated to not show up to class. Extra motivation for staying home came from everything being online. There was a constant change of who was in class, almost turning into a game of seeing who’s going to be present or absent the next day.

People were returning to class while how contagious the new variant is, people are constantly testing, some positive and some negative, and for safety reasons some people may be quarantined and can not attend in-person classes for that reason.

This also causes teachers to have to catch students up with the work they missed over the days they were absent.

Now that the Omicron wave has died down, there seems to be rising hope. The mask mandates are being lifted, sports have returned, and spring is arriving. Students and teachers have persevered through all together and accomadating each other. Thank you everyone for staying strong and united, and stay safe!

entertainment Male Gaze vs. Female Gaze in Media

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Rape Trauma Services Presentation Vanessa Nguyen Staff WritEr

Mills High School Publication

TW

: mentions of rape, sexual

assult

Millbrae, CA 94030 editors@millsthunderbolt.com www.millsthunderbolt.com

Thunderbolt Staff Faculty Advisor kelly hensley

Editor-in-Chief katelyn chang ‘23

News Editor magdalene ko ‘23

Features Editor

The Rape Trauma Service is a center for rape victims and survivors. RTS visits schools around San Mateo County to spread information on ways to seek help when dealing with an abusive relationship or environment, as well as prevention of violence. Their main goal is to eliminate all abuse, violence and/or sexual assult. RTS came to Mills High School to explain to our students the importance of boundaries and consent. By using engaging activities, they explain ways that people could ask for consent and set boundaries for themselves to make sure they are safe , helping us remember how and when to ask for consent.

Sexual assault is a sensitive topact that attacks one of six women in America and not every one of them speaks up about it. Rape comes with a feeling of fear and toxicity that’s hard to open up about and that’s what RTS is there for. They help the guide them to leave an abusive relationship behind. They help people

katelyn lam ‘23

boundaries and consent. Being in

Center Spread Editor

to leave because the victim could be dependent on the person. Victims sometimes rely on their abuser for some reason whether it’s money, love, or a false sense of safety. Other times, the person could be threaten-

nagham masarweh ‘24

Opinions Editor Joshua choe ‘24

Sports Editor maxwell ZanInoVIch ‘24

Entertainment Editor katelyn chang ‘23

Staff Writers elIZabeth chen ‘25 samantha chen ‘25 mIchaela gonZaleZ ‘24 hanson han ‘23 chloe ho ‘24 mIa khan ‘25 ryan kurnIawan ‘22 ZhIyuan ma ‘25 Vanessa nguyen ‘25 brendan PhImsoutham ‘23 Phoebe PIserchIo ‘25 cIara whIPPle ‘22 kalIya wIllIams ‘22 JulIa xIa ‘25 tIffany xu ‘25

ing them, saying they would harm them or themselves. Many victims don’t realize they are being coerced.

RTS explained that bribery, blackmail, or threats are all forms of coercion, and none of them are ‘consensual’. Whatever the reason may be, RTS helps them realize the harms of staying and offers a reliable source

sight shows information about their newsletter and volunteer options.

Once you look around for a while and see the different ways this cenchloe ho

Rape culture is sexist behavior that starts innocent but can turn dangerous.

to guide everyone to safety.

In society, rape and assault are commonly misconcepted. Sometimes victims feel forced to stay silent in fear of rejection or being blamed, or other consequences. A call for help may not actually help and may lead people to blaming the victim for “not wearing enough Along with the traumatizing explace, victims have to confront the situation afterward not knowing the reaction of their trusted ones. They

@thunderbolt records The Mills Thunderbolt

ture’. Rape culture is where being rape or sex is applauded for males but shamed on females. This could make it harder to open up and add to the horrifying feeling of disgust and fear hovering over them. No one should ever have to feel trapped or isolated after this type of situation.

Everyone should have a source to report to when they feel the need to ask for help, and RTS is one such option.

RTS explains to us that sexual assault could be many things that don’t even include rape. They teach

that shows what they do. They offer a 24 hour crisis hotline along with resources for other hotlines that can help you out. They have seperate counseling groups for children and women veterans as well. For children to expand their knowledge on this sensitive topic, they set up workshops in schools that would educate them on what they need to know before going out in the world.

Sexual assult is a scary topic, but you don’t have to go through things alone. This program allows a safe environment for anyone of all ways to ask for help.

Wellness Counselors: Having a Positive Mindset Mia Khan Staff WritEr

loop and interrupting that pattern is a skill that takes time, but can be re-

hroughout highschool, mental health plays an important role in a student’s life. Emotions and stress

have a positive mindset and thinking of best case scenarios. If you’re feeling judgemental of yourself, take the advice you would give to your friend if they were feeling the same way.

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school deadlines, presentations, and extra curriculars. Often, the feeling of exhaustion and loss of motivation can negatively affect students’ grades and performance. It can prevent students from paying attention or performing at their best. Mills’ wellness counselors can provide group counseling, crisis support, and referrals to reduce stress and grief to many students as they tried to juggle online school and their mental wellness and happiness. As mental health and physical health are connected, a method to combat the effects of quarantine is to prioritize basic needs such as getting enough sleep, food and water, and exercising. Connecting and talking through emotions with someone can also greatly relieve the strain. But, adjusting back to in-person learning can also be a struggle. Our wellness counselors offer to give students a safe space to share and express their thoughts and struggles. Features like Crisis Support help students stay safe during a mental health emergency, while referrals would connect students to outside resources.

When asked what can be done to give students a positive mindset for this year, Mills wellness counselor Laura Hahn responded, “I mIa

khan

The Mills Wellness Counselors are a great resource to get support.

Spotify:

us about setting boundaries and that if those boundaries are broken, what one could do afterwards. A slidemember how to make boundaries and how to set them in place. The acronym ‘fries’ was used to help students remember consent. F is free choice, meaning both people can say no freely. R stands for revocable, so people can stop or change their mind anytime. I represent informed, which means people only receive what they consent to. A common break to this idea is stealthing, which is removing a condom without consent, which is illegal. E means enthusiastic: body language is important and yes means for everything.

On their website, https://www. rapetraumaservices.org/, they explain different ways to engage in

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could be shamed for what happened; be called names, even if that’s not at all what’s supposed to happen. This mentality is known as ‘victim blaming’. Other possible consequences are that victims don’t get the proper protection and help, and the assaulter might come back. Many start victim blaming because of ‘rape cul-

connect to students. students discontinued their normal routines such as staying organized,

taking care of their physical and mental health, and interacting with friends. The pandemic brought a wave of exhaustion, stress, and

that a positive mindset doesn’t mean that you’re ignoring the hard or unhappy stuff in life - it just means you’re trying to get through it in a Hahn continues, “Noticing when you’re stuck in a negative thinking

more carefully.

The best way to reach a wellness counselor is to make an appointment or visit during a drop-in time. Students can make an appointment for themselves through the Mills website under the counseling section, or with a trusted adult or teacher and pick a time that works for them and any preferred counselor. Mills wellness counselors are here to support the Viking community!

“

I noticed that a lot of students saw some big differences in their behavior during distance learning compared to in-person learning before the pandemic: bored, numb, unmotivated, exhausted, stressed, and irritable. Grief, experiencing the loss of missing out on parts of high school experience, comes up for a lot of students too. ~~Ms. Laura Mills Wellness selor

”

Hahn, Coun-

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Instagram Blackout Backlash against Leadership Michaela Gonzalez Staff WritEr

M day-long power outage canceled an entire school day at the last minute.

Many of us had crammed a semester’s worth of curriculum late into the night, only to be frustrated that Students had already gone to school, and were left with an empty day

instead of the traditional two. This caused understandable unhappiness and vexation with many of the students, who feared that having three ingly stressful and not allow them to perform at their best. Consequently, many students took to social media to vent their frustrations, particularly Instagram.

Students constantly traveled to the Mills Leadership Instagram (@ folded during the day. Leadership

posting daily countdowns up until When the power outage occurred on Wednesday, Leadership’s account posted the newly updated released out of courtesy of updating students who are not up to date with their emails. A repercussion of this post resulted with people spamming the comment section with judgements full of hate and anger. Some even created false accounts to anonymously express themselves.

Leadership team received the comments they were, “...annoyed and lot of it was appointed to the wrong person, as the Leadership team has no voice in what the administration decides. We were simply completing their position, updating the stu-

ahead of them, while others were unsure of what to study for the next day.

Admination’s answer to this dilemma, via email and phone dialer, was to reschedule the missed Finals for later in the week. This meant stu-

had used their Instagram account throughout the school year to post updates on activities, events, and even uplifting and inspirational messages. Their Instagram account was a natural place for Mills students to go, especially during the Finals Fall week. Leadership had a routine of

Zhiyuan Ma Staff WritEr

don’t seem to be helpful, they are necessary because students have to be supervised. Learning might be slowed without a teacher, but without substitute teachers, learning can’t carry on.

While there might be a substitute available to supervise students, it’s a challenge for teachers in quarantine to continue instructing and providing support to those that are struggling. As everyone learned from distance learning last year, the face to face interaction, having a teacher nearby at all times is vital to a strong learning process. When Mr. Burdette, a history teacher, was asked about whether he would be concerned if he had to miss school for several days, he replied that he would be very concerned. However, he would “tape lessons and deliver as equivalent an experience

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s many students have already observed, students and teachers had to quarantine due to how contagious omicron is. The massive increase in cases means that teachers have to adapt their classrooms creatively to ensure students are still learning while staying safe. Meanwhile, administrators have to make certain substitutes to cover for absent teachers.

According to administrative assistant Ms. Tipton, on average seven teachers are absent each day. Since absences are very big. On top of the teacher sicknesses, there is also a substitute shortage across the state.

She said, “We can use at least another twenty to help out in our district

Other teachers posted links to Youtube videos in an effort to provide lectures and extra learning. Science

cess to phones- and social media, ever. In a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2018, 95% of teens between the ages of 13-17 have a smartphone, and 45% have confessed to being online almost constantly. As for social media, more than half of the surveyed students stated that they have Insta-

are proved to be more daring when the consequences of our actions are more unknown than younger children and adults. When we post stories or comments on social media, we are behind a mask:our screens.

gram downloaded on their phone.

With reasonable argument, Instagram has it’s up and down sides. dom to create and post whatever and however you may like. Unfortunately, this perk also falls into the category of disadvantages. With this freedom, users can take action too quickly, and let their emotions take control. Especially people with de-

quences, feeling protected as it is not face-to-face contact.

One aspect we can all agree on:

have had close communication with their subsitutes to ensure the class completely understands the work

without technology. He can more easily collaborate with students and assign work without worrying about worksheets and collecting homework. Ms. Battaglini, a math teacher, agreed that technology lessens the problem. “I use a Live Agenda so students can keep up with what is happening during the class periods

continuation of education. Ms. Battaglini observed, “I did miss a little over a week of class at the beginning of last semester and although it was an adjustment for students, they did a great job of helping each other out with the curriculum and did not fall

communication, many teachers still are unable to fully explain their instructions to the class.

Another hurdle teachers face date students who miss school. Mr.

am also posting some of the class notes and example problems so that students can read over those at home once they are feeling better. Hopefully this allows the students to follow along somewhat with what is

teach to two substantial groups in completely different environments at the same time in the same way.

I’ve had to change the design of my course to make it easier to follow remotely, and easier for absent

agendas have been growing in popularity after distance learning. These live agendas allow students who missed class easily view the work for the day. Other helpful features include linked resources or extra teacher notes.

Even though the main focus is on teachers and administrators, students play an essential role in the

the actual decisions of the school.

If students have problems regarding the way the school is run, they must go either to the school administration, not the student-led student leadership.

As an added annoyance, students were only complaining about the situation. None offered suggestions or were understanding. They were simply disrespectfully trolling leadership. Many turned their comments into a joke, pretending to be clubs at Mills and accusing leadership through puns and Frustrated at the hurtful comments being made, leadership turned the comments off. They were particularly urged to do this after an individual published a post on Instagram announcing to implement self-harm. To add on, other students claimed the administration was silencing their voices. They claimed that students would be the victims of this change, but were not consulted in the making. The last straw for the team was when an individual posted to send danger against Mills High School. Upon receiving this, Admin and Leadership attempted to search for this individual.

Situations similar to this are great examples of how young generations utilize modern technology, for better or worse. Many often don’t think about the full reprecussions of their actions, posting and New age technology allows many teens to have the easiest ac-

to try to be successful at a distance.

They would have a substitute and I would have to direct the substitute…

I hope [being stuck in quarantine]

how heavy his class relies on the internet, he said that his job is much easier than what would have been

likely to publish things without discretion, not knowing the conse-

suck. That schedule made none of our lives easier, students and teachers and teachers alike. But whenever we see it in ourselves to post on social media, there is a human behind every screen. A little kindness and respect for leadership is the type of kindness humanity needs right now.

enthusiastically praised his students.

“I’m proud of all the work EVERYONE has done to make this year sucThe struggle to continue learninto lockdown. Everyone thought the wait would be fast, but teachers and students are still dealing with hard work of teachers, admin, and faculty has been evident as they guide students and offer as much extra support as possible to ease students’ daily school life. A big round of applause to everyone, especially the teachers, who has been patient

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Behind the Scenes: The Cafeteria Food Process Ziyuan Ma Staff Writer

Every day, Langi begins work

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he bell rings, signaling the end of the period and the beginning of lunch. Students scramble out of ones to get school lunch. Conspicuous lines begin to form in front of the red food carts and cafeteria as friends join each other. After students receive their lunch, they hasten to get to their usual lunch spots and begin gnawing away at the food.

In the kitchen, about an hour before lunch one Friday, I and one of the editors saw one of the cafeteria staff, which some might recognize as the person operating the food cart on the 200s classroom side of the campus, wrapping a slice of pizza with parchment paper and aluminum foil. (Nutritional services assistant lead Raghda remarked that, unsurprisingly, pizza is one of the most popular food items.) Trays and trays of nachos, ready to serve, cover the countertops. We also spotted two trays of what looked like chocolate chip cookies dough. away, not immediately noticeable behind all the equipment. In one of the cupboards there lies the menu: a sheets of paper, each describing a certain dish, from spicy chicken salad to pepperoni stuffed sandwich.

Mills

CAFETERIA

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n January 29th, the Mills Jazz Band participated in the Folsom Jazz Folsom Jazz Festival is an annual event within the state where middle and high school jazz bands come together to compete. Everyone gets a chance to listen to each other and interact with other bands. For the jazz members, it’s a special moment to be able to experience such an accomplishment and to meet new people. in their category, there were soloist awards to seven people. The jazz band worked hard for their rightful place in the competition, having rehearsals and practices very often; arriving school early in the morning, and sometimes leaving school late. They rehearsed for months, paying very close attention to details, listening to original

:Wrapping

listed along with the source of the ingredients and the nutritional values.

Every high school in the district has the same book, though each might serve different items. This book is the beginning of a school lunch meal.

Jazz

Tiffany Xu Staff Writer

WORKER:

the

pizza

slices

in

foil

The next step for the cafeteria staff is to place an order for new ingredients from distributor Gold Star Foods before Friday.

Mills’ nutritional services lead Sianea Langi explained, “We don’t [order from other companies such

in

preparation

for

Ziyuan Ma

lunchtime.

as Costco or Cisco] because the regulations for the nutrition doesn’t meet what they have.” The ingredients are then delivered from the Gold Star warehouse at Dixon, California near Sacramento. It arrives at Mills Highscool on Tuesday.

regulations from the government, every food item ordered is precooked. Some food items only need to be heated up. For hot foods such as pasta, the process is more complicated. “The burgers are already ready, [they’re] patties. Even the chicken [is precooked]. So all we do is cook it for ten minutes.” Langi said, “...Except if we have to make pasta…we cook the meat. So same thing, the meat is precooked. And then we prepare, we put seasoning and then we have to cook the pasta and mix it with the sauce.”

Before the pandemic, there would be a monthly menu listing what dishes would be served each day. Now, ingredients that the cafeteria staff want to order might be unavailable, requiring them to improvise. “We have to go with what we have, what we get,” Raghda said. Langi elaborated, “Maybe burger doesn’t come, they are out of burgers. So, we have to [substitute] it with chicken burger, make more of the chicken burger.”

Even though people argue that lunch is unappetizing, the cafeteria staff still tries their best to make the food appealing. “We think about our own kids. You are like our own kids…if they don’t like [the food], [you won’t like it],” Raghda said.

Langi continued, “Because the kids, they have eyes for the food.”

Band Brown Bag Lunch Performances

of their songs. Soloists and smaller groups practiced to perfect their songs. The jazz band played three songs, “Easy Money” (Benny Carter), “Dance Of Denial” (Michael Phillip Mossman), and “Johnny Come Lately” (Billy Strayhorn). mance in the festival, members are proud, as Erik Headley (senior) describes it, “We had some unreal time constraints but we managed to put it all together and give one of the best performances we’ve ever given.”

Members were able to play perfectly, no sections overpowering others.

Some favorite parts were watching certain bands from different schools play, interacting with others, performing, and eating crepes.

Every member of the jazz band contributed greatly to the preformance and it was due to all their place award. This festival has been a remarkable place to see potentials in bands. It’s a memorable moment that the band will cherish forever.

Nagham Masarweh Center Spread editor

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ills has an amazing community of musical artists with extraordinary talents, from Jimi Hendrix on the guitar, to Niccolo Paganini on the violin, and Eretha Franklin’s singing.

Brown bag lunch performances have been a tradition at Mills for a few years now. Before the pandemic the same type of performances were done, the only difference being the performances were done in the lobby near the theatre. It showcases talented students around school, helping them practice in front of crowds and bringing them a bigger audience. Some performances are songs written by students and other performances are students favorites.

They perform almost every Thursday at center court with guitar performances, piano solos, singing performances, duets, trios, and so much more. The music that is sung are either local favorites or new upcoming music made by the students.

Students rehearse in the band room Brown Bag lunches have brought a great amount of entertainment to students at Mills while enjoying their lunch break. It brings smiles to students' faces and makes the music community become used to audience and stage presence.

Choir students sign up to perform and choose a song they want to per-

form, either dueting with a person from band with an instrument to go along with their singing or band students just playing their instruments.

Talking about music, the annual talent show at Mills highschool is coming up next month on March 25th! It is a great opportunity for the youth to showcase their talents. Auditions will be held either in the theatre or bandroom. Don’t be afraid to come out of your comfort zone and shine a light on a few special things you can do as individuals at Mills.

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Student Burnout & Seasonal Depression Footloose Nagham Masarweh Center Spread editor

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eturning from a much needed holiday break, students are once again faced with the overwhelming stress and workload of the new year. We have now come back to school; back to heavy books and sore backs. The effects of school on students tends to be overlooked, and although it may not obviously seem overwhelming or stressful to

sion, they typically compare it to regular depression. Seasonal depression, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, and the winter blues all share some similarities.

Depression is a term used to describe a group of mood disorders with the common characteristics of feeling persistently depressed, loss of interest in activities, that daily life. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is depression that sets in during a particular season (most often Winter) and lasts 4-5 months

ing your body (going for a walk, sports practice, dancing, yoga).

A few questions to ask yourself when feeling like you are going through burning out and seasonal depression that counselor Laura Hahn encourages include:Am I hydrated?

If not, have a glass of water. Have I eaten? If not in the past 3 hours, eat a healthy snack. Did I get enough sleep? If not, take a nap (not more than 30 minutes!) or try listening to calming music, an audiobook or a podcast to help you fall asleep (check out the podcast “nothing much hap-

Musical

Mia Khan Staff Writer

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ills High School welcomes a new spring musical production of Footloose. Footloose, a musical drama, tells the story of a small town in the Midwest dealing with a ban on dancing after a tragedy involving young people. An inspiring musical with a captivating storyline, it’s sure to entice the audience and leave everyone on the edge of their seats. Preparations have already begun, with dance rehearsals on Mondays and Wednesdays, vocal music on Tuesdays, band and blocking on Thursdays and set building will be on Saturdays in March.

To see it happen for myself, I went to see a typical vocal rehearsal day for Footloose. Everybody started off with a routine of vocal warmups, the routine strict and clear.

Everyone knew what part to sing and performed naturally. Mr. G occasionally paused the routine in order to instruct them on improving whatever sounded off and to have he gave. The band room was never quiet for a moment. Along with the singing and persistent efforts of the students, they also made room for personal amusement. Impromptu dance sessions during and between songs brought laughter and smiles to all the performers.

Dance rehearsals are led by choreographer Zoe Swenson Graham.

the eye, returning to this new cycle of stress and depression takes a toll on students’ mental health. Returning to this new cycle of stress and depression can cause the need to look beyond the facade of happiness or casualness that students exhibit.

Burning out is a state of mental, physical, or emotional exhaustion. It tends to happen with teenagers when they are faced with heavy stress or frustration with no chance of relaxation Of course, some stress is necessary for students so that they can be motivated and work harder towards their goals, but there’s a doesn’t stop and feels like it is never ending, causing students to burn out.

Seasonal depression on the other hand, isn’t exactly burning out, but a type of depression that changes throughout the seasons.

It usually begins and ends at about the same time every year. Most students’ symptoms start to appear in the fall and continue in the winter, sapping students’ energy and leading to sad and moody attitudes. These emotions also tend to sometimes even last through spring. January has also been proven to be a prime time for seasonal depression to fester. Results from the National Center for Biotechnology show about 88 percent of students experience moderate to severe stress, with 44 percent of students showing moderate to severe anxiety and 36 percent of students having moderate to severe depression.

Seasonal depression is more common than we may think. When people think of seasonal depres-

out of the year, almost every year.

The winter blues are often what people think of when they think of seasonal depression, and that’s the feeling of low energy, somewhat depressed, and low motivation but not so severe that you can’t function.

Now you may sometimes see depression as being weak or not normal, but that is not the case. Wellness Counselor Laura Hahn here at Mils advises” it’s important to understand that feeling anxiety and stress is normal and that you cannot control them from occurring – this is your brain’s automatic survival mechanism. A manageable amount of anxiety from time to time can be helpful - it can motivate you to prepare for a test, rehearse for a performance, or work out hard at practice.

Even happy events like graduations all of this is just part of being human.

Similarly, many people experience depression at one time or another during their lives, but during the adolescent years, the changes in your social life, body, and brain chemistry can make teens even more susceptible to feeling confused or sad.

It’s important to remember that if your feelings of depression, anxiety, or stress do not go away, if they get worse, or begin to frighten you, you need to tell an adult you trust. “ A few tips when going through a hard time is by focusing on taking care of your basic needs/self-care – make sure you’re getting enough sleep (ideally at least 8 hours per night), eating enough food (and not just snack or processed food), drinking enough water, and mov-

Prep

She starts everyone off with dancing warm ups and resumes practice from the previous act choreography.

Split up into groups throughout the different dances, each dancer gets a focus with the choreographer to improve their moves.

The VAPA Department, including Music, Drama, and Visual Arts will collaborate with the Orchestra, acting, stage crew, Dance, and scenery to make this musical successful.

See Mr. Hudelson, if you’re interested in stage crew, consisting of lighting, mic, and sound team, costumes, and makeup, starting in early March!

The cast features Taylor Le as Ariel, Maddy Schoening as Rusty, Ben Garcia as Rev. Shaw Moore, Shree Singh as Vi Moore, Jeremy Garcia as Ren, and Erik Headley as Willard. Actors will rehearse after school for 10 weeks before the show, presenting for two weekends in April from the 15th-23rd. Shows are 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays, with 2pm matinees on both Saturdays too. Tickets are free for all Mills students and $10 for adults.

The production preparations are off to a successful start and the drama department is excited to shine in the spotlight again and be supported by the attending Mills community. Mr. Hudelson, head of the drama production says, “Rehearsals are going well and this cast is super talented. You won’t want to miss this production!”

pens”). Have I showered? If you haven’t on the last day, go take one.

When was the last time I moved? If

DRAMA:

Rehearsing

for

Footloose,

the

upcoming

musical

production.

for a jog maybe just a walk around the block or do some stretching.Am I dressed? If not, put on something clean. Give yourself permission to wear something special. Have I talked about how I feel? If not, reach out to someone you trust, make an appointment with your School Counselor or Wellness Therapist.

Sometimes students’ lives are stressful in the school aspect, but it’s also important to not forget their personal lives and all the struggles that come wiith that. Many may think that school is the cause of all this stress and anxiety but there also has to be thoughts of what your peers might be going through.

Everyones lives are different and it’s impossible to fully understand someone elses situation. Now yes, you may have similar struggles and emotions as someone else, but we always have to be aware and empathize with people and their personal struggles and know that everyone thinks and feels things differently.

Between the stress of school and home, some students are not able to mangage all that stress, leading to undesirable consequences.

It is not implying that all students go through burning out and seasonal depression, but many students struggle, whether you can see it or not. We need to shine a light on student’s mental health which is way too often overlooked and put aside in regards to more physical things or or issues.

DRAMA:

Rehearsing

for

Footloose,

the

upcoming

musical

production.

Mia Khan

Mia Khan

6

Center Spread

The Thunderbolt

The Importance of Setting Realistic Expectations Magdalene Ko newS editor

A

s 2022 rolls around, the most common procedure is to set goals for the coming year. All around me, I hear people asking ‘did you set any resolutions?’ ‘what are your goals?’ ‘my goal is to procrastinate less’.

Yet how many of these resolutions are actually achievable? Majority of the time, we can barely stick to our goals for a month. Whether it be a conscious resolution or a general new expectation to achieve, the key to a successful goal isn’t making it yourself and adjusting your goals accordingly.

Normally, people say things like ‘I want to lose weight’, or ‘I want to read more’. However, neither of these goals are measurable or timely.

They’re too general to be achieved on a step-by-step basis. Maybe you can stick to your goals in the beginning, but as the newness of your resolutions fade away, you stop working toward them, and eventually, they’re forgotten until the next year. about your achievements. Setting a goal you want to achieve, but will never actually be able to, is just lying to yourself. Factors like other engagements, ability, or too daunting a goal will all affect your ability to reach your goal. Before you set your resolution, you need to make time for it. If you want to work out everyday, but know you have a lot of homework on Tuesdays, your

goal should be to work out everyday except Tuesday. If you workout on Tuesday, then great, you did an extra bit on your goal. If not, you won’t be disappointed and lose all motivation.

Another strategy is to make small milestones for yourself. Too big a task might seem daunting, having minor goals to reach your greater goal gives you motivation to keep going. Such milestones will prove your goal is realistic. You also won’t feel exhausted trying to reach your goal, when in reality you’re making progress. Milestones also keep you on track, moving you toward your overarching goal. Missing a milestone ties back into the realistic goals, allowing you to adjust your goals or milestones so they’re achievable but challenging.

Sharing your goals is also a great way to stay on track. Having accountability keeps you from slacking off your resolutions. If you want to be ‘nicer’ in the new year, talking your actions over with a friend is the perfect way to see the outcome of your goals. They can give honest feedback or advice about how to adjust and improve your objective.

Getting a different opinion or having someone encourage you could be just the motivation to keep you working hard. all your expectations down. It only needs to be a small list, like a Post-It you’d see everyday, but doing so reminds you of your goal and makes it practical and achievable. Turning it into a checklist of sorts, or tracking your progress in other ways all contributes to staying on track. There’s

these goals are measurable or timely.

They’re too general to be achieved on a step-by-step basis. Maybe you can stick to your goals in the beginning, but as the newness of your resolutions fade away, you stop working toward them, and eventually, they’re forgotten until the next year. about your achievements. Setting a goal you want to achieve, but will never actually be able to, is just lying to yourself. Factors like other engagements, ability, or too daunting a goal will all affect your ability to reach your goal. Before you set your resolution, you need to make time for it. If you want to work out everyday, but know you have a lot of homework on Tuesdays, your goal should be to work out everyday except Tuesday. If you workout on Tuesday, then great, you did an extra bit on your goal. If not, you won’t be disappointed and lose all motivation.

Another strategy is to make small milestones for yourself. Too big a task might seem daunting, having minor goals to reach your greater goal gives you motivation to keep going. Such milestones will prove your goal is realistic. You also won’t feel exhausted trying to reach your goal, when in reality you’re making progress. Milestones also keep you on track, moving you toward your overarching goal. Missing a milestone also allows you to adjust your goals or milestones so they’re achievable but challenging.

Sharing your goals is also a great way to stay on track. Having accountability keeps you from slacking off your resolutions. If you

Vanessa Nguyen Staff writer

hange can be terrifying, driving your adrenal glands into overdrive, change doesn’t have to be so terrifying and stressful. If we learn how to approach new challenges differently, change can be a catalyst for personal growth and enrichment.

Last year, my parents dropped the news that we were moving back the year before. I couldn’t understand why we were moving again in just a year. I had just started making new friends; we were all going to go to high school together. And here are my parents telling me, “We are moving back.” On top of this, my dad would be staying behind in Texas. My head was a whirlwind of confusion and anger. What about my friends? How is dad going to be without us? What school am I going to go to? I had so many questions and no answers.

I didn’t want this change. I wanted my life to be the way it was. Needensued. Regardless, the move was on.

As we readied to move back to of emptiness and sadness caused me to feel physically ill and depressed. I had so many fears that I had started to withdraw from my parents. My mom couldn’t help but notice my downward spiral. She tried to talk to me many times about it but I closed her out. I blamed her for this uprooting and I just couldn’t talk to her. If I had any awareness, I would have noticed this move wasn’t easy on her either.

On the day of the move, my dad came up to me. He knew that I was not happy. He hugged me and started talking about things but then

changed the conversation to why it was necessary to do the move.

He then started discussing why it’s important to embrace change. He said when we try new things, we pupusas, and how I lost my mind when we tried this new El Salvadoran delight. He told me this move can be just like trying something new and realizing it is amazing.

Wasn’t going to be with me anymore was terrifying. I had just started making new friends and settled into my life in my new home.

There was both a feeling of excitement and fear rushing through used to something and suddenly life shifts. Most people see it as a terrible thing, and sometimes, change can be awful or terrifying; similar to when you’re living your life freely and a global pandemic hits. But, after the storm comes a rainbow, and good things can come from change. There are times where you could be using the wrong coping mechanisms to handle the change in your life. The mentality and positivity you have going into something can really change the outcome, but it is under-

standable when you’re not used to a new life or not used to change at all.

There’s no wrong way to feel.

When life is changing, you feel anger, sadness, frustration or even excitement. It’s important to feel your feelings and acknowledge how you handle things before you get better.

Being able to know how you’re feeling completely can keep you from blowing up at people who don’t deserve it. It’s a process, but once you can open up to people again you’ll be able to let out all your feelings and it’ll feel like such a release.

There are different coping mechanisms to handle the pain or happiness you’re feeling; some better than others. I myself, am not great with change and have used many different types of coping mechanisms to help and, I must admit that some of them were not the best options. I didn’t take the right amount of time to heal and lashed out at people: my friends, my loved ones. Although there's no exact “right time”, everyone moves at their own pace and some might take longer than others and we should be able to feel our emotions and take the time we need.

There may be times where you aren’t the one who needs to handle change. If your friend is going

want to be ‘nicer’ in the new year, talking your actions over with a friend is the perfect way to see the outcome of your goals. They can give honest feedback or advice about how to adjust and improve your objective. Getting a different opinion or having someone encourage you could be just the motivation to keep you working hard. all your expectations down. It onlyneeds to be a small list, like a PostIt you’d see everyday, but doing so reminds you of your goal and makes it practical and achievable.

Turning it into a checklist of sorts, or tracking your progress in other ways all contributes to staying on track. There’s an oddly big amount of pride and happiness when you

through a hard time, sometimes all they need is for someone to be there for them. If they’re not ready to talk, a simple “I’ll be here for you” is all they need to feel secure and cared for. Oftentimes all you need is someone to listen, and that’s what you could be for your friends. Even an “I really don’t know what to say” could help them and venting to you could be as much help as you can give, which is completely okay!

The idea that some people don’t grasp is that change is a constant thing. There are many ways to cope with change, but everyone adjusts with change in different ways.

The hard truth is that nothing stays the same. Things are constantly moving and that could lead to great or awful things. The best thing you can do for yourself is having a support system: a friend or family member to talk to. Try to differentiate the things you can control and things that are out of your control, as it’ll give you a sense of stability.

Great lessons can be learned from change. It can seem like an awful thing in the moment but truly, if you give it time, things will look up. Just let yourself feel and experience everything and you could learn from mistakes or move on from the past. But to achieve the feeling of

visibly see your progress, even if it’s slower than you expected. Writing everything down is the perfect way to stay focused on your expectations for the year, even if it’s not a New Year’s resolution. Writing something like ‘remember to make a cup of tea for yourself’ is still a great way to take care of yourself.

Ultimately, remember that even if you don’t achieve your goals as quickly as you want, perseverance yields rewards. You might not see your progress, but after a while, you’ll see how far you’ve really come, and be proud of the work you’ve done. The important part is just working hard and having fun as you work toward your goal. I wish you all the best of luck in accomplishing your goals!

getting better, you need to experience the journey to success so you understand what it’s like to make mistakes and learn from the past.

When I embraced the idea of as a way to grow, meet new people, and try different things. When I was able to wrap my mind about all the new possibilities that lay ahead of me, I saw it as a chance to expand my horizons and learn more about myself. And as I sit here writing this article, I see myself doing things that I would not have imagined back in Texas. I have embraced the change and because of this I have grown and see all sorts of new possibilities that make me feel like my life has taken on a new direction.

Center Spread

The Thunderbolt

New Tiffany Xu Staff writer

A

s it’s now a new year, it’s time to start this semester right. One good way to improve this year is to improve your studying. This will start 2022 on the right track, and to end up in a successful and proud year.

When improving the way you study, looking back from last year semesters may be an effective way to study. Thinking about the way you

Year,

New

Academic

Sometimes, to-do lists don’t always do the job to get everything done.

It may be very satisfying to cross things off a list, but it also gives an

is that if something you think you need to do before studying, ask yourself if it takes less than 2 minutes, if it does, then do it, if not, don’t.

This may be obvious, but try to avoid being near your phone or any device that may distract you.

You’ll end up procrastinating, losing focus and losing momentum of studying and getting your work done. Multitasking can also form poor study habits. It may seem like a practical idea, getting more work done at once and taking up less time, but in reality it’s not the best way to study. To enhance your studying to the top, it’s best to know what type

ing notes can be very helpful but at the same time, can be time consuming. When I write notes, I learn as I write and end up not really needing the notes after. Sometimes writing notes takes a lot of time, by the time

another day. A more effective way is to schedule time for each assignment or topic. This ensures that you’ll get other method is the pomodoro method. It’s a time management system where you work for 25 minutes, take a break for 5 minutes, and after four rounds of those, take a longer break of about 15-20 minutes. A further tip

you and which didn’t. You can emphasize on the ways that helped you become most successful. Get rid of the methods that don’t seem to help, it’ll waste time and won’t do anything to move you forward. Looking back from my own studying methods, I realize that I should spend less time procrastinating over the thought of studying and to just do it.

Before studying, I would think about assignments I need to get done and upcoming assessments that I need to prepare myself for but it always ends up being unsuccessful. Another habit that I have is always studying at the last minute. I have learned that it is a poor way to prepare myself, so I know that I should learn to organize my schedule.

Different Samantha Chen Staff writer

L

ove is a complicated and interesting emotion between two people.

It can be expressed and perceived ways of expressing love can be categorized into 5 groups: quality time, acts of service, and gift giving/receiving. These groups were originalwho recognized that couples were just misunderstanding each other’s ways of expressing their love.

A very common love language for everyone would be quality time together. A partner who values quality time enjoys having the company

auditory, writing/reading, and kinesvisual learning category, followed closely by kinesthetic learning. This means most of my studying would be using videos, diagrams, and patterns. Sometimes just doing practice problems might not help as well because if you can’t solve it you won’t be able to solve any problem. It’s better to learn and try one practice problem to see where you get stuck and learn to solve the problem.

Types love language may be hard for some people as they are uncomfortable with the nature of this love language.

This may make it complicated as the person who desires to receive love through physical touch may feel underappreciated. While others may be uncomfortable and feel that their partner is being too needy and clingy. the group of love languages. This is when one feels loved just by positive phrases and or words which express love from their partner. They value communication and use positive words and uplifting phrases to express their love. Those who receive unexpectedly praised or complimented. These words could not only help one feel love and appre-

of and self-esteem. On the other hand, like many things there are ups and -

igh schoolers hear their families saying ‘I love you’ yelled across the house. Yet it’s not always just about family. What exactly are the different times people say I love you?

From a young age, we hear ‘I love you’ said between our parents, as well as told to us. Although not all parents say it explicitly, we know that a parent’s love, and all familial love, runs deep. We might hate our parents’ overbearing attithey should love us nonetheless.

Of course, the most mainstream situation to say ‘I love you’ is for

would need for an upcoming test, I wouldn’t be able to actually use the notes since I spent all of the time writing them. So the best option is to make the most important notes, and if I have time, to add more notes. Another method would be to make the notes as you learn them during class, so you don’t waste as much time.

Using new tips and techniques, you should be able to ensure you will get a more fortunate year. This could help along the years of school there still is left.

Languages

to feign excitement and fear that they may disappoint the gift giver.

Love languages are ways that people express their love and appreciahelps people understand each other and please each other. Though there can be amazing things about love, it can become a double edged sword and not always be accepted in the way it was intended. Though it’s important to acknowledge that the relationship may not always go in the way it is expected to, love languages can help bring people together.

And, through these connections we can all further learn to experience

loved since their partner is occupied doing things to express their love.

Similarly, receiving and gift giving are another way to express love. Partners who value gift giving and/or re-

base human emotions and feeling.

relationship and to show how much they care. Though receiving gifts and giving gifts seem similar, they can be quite different. Those who like giving gifts enjoy and receive satisfaction from the gesture and do not necessarily need to receive a gift in return. However, there are those who are not comfortable receiving gifts as they feel an obligation to

they’re dating ‘I love you’ as a way to cement the relationship. Such a phrase isn’t the only way to display one’s affection, but is the most common. This symbol is constantly in mainstream media, promise rings and necklaces have hearts and love engraved on them. During Valentine’s day we see it everywhere: cards, chocolate, cookware, clothes, and school supplies. Some people are hesitant on telling their friends they love them, afraid it would be misread as something more.

Yet ‘I love you’ could be said between friends as well. Simplifying into just ‘love you’ or variations on text is common. I’ve said it to my friends, normally when I ask them to do something for me. For example,

Love

may seem kind and supporting can unintentionally be taken the wrong way and do moreharm than good.

Acts of service can also, like anything else, be harmful. Examples of acts of service include driving, cooking, cleaning, and caring for their partner. Though this is... appreciated by some, it may be incompatible with others. Those who value physical touch and quality

What does ‘I love you’ mean?

H

Tips

concepts by pretending you’re explaining it to someone that doesn’t know anything about it. If I’m able to explain it easily, it signals that I

expressed by desiring to be engaged and have the others undivided attention. This strengthens the connection and helps make for a lasting relationship. As long as their partner is attentive to them, they will feel loved.

Another love language is physical touch. Those who express love through physical touch show this through hugging, holding hands, kissing, and cuddling. Though this

Magdalene Ko newS editor

7

when I get school help, I’d say thank you, you’re the best, and occcassionally add ‘love you’. Other times it’s said with sarcasm, said after a particularly savage insult. I’ve seen others state ‘they love that person’ sometimes as a joke, but other times as a fun way of describing platonic affection. Another common time friends say ‘I love you’ is after a particularly emotional moment when they are vulnerable and open. Despite friends commonly not saying ‘I love you’, there are still plenty of moments to state one’s platonic love.

Both boys and girlsstate their love differently, cussing their best friends out or explicitly stating their platonic love. Through everything, ‘I love you’ still retains its meaning.

8

OpiniOnS

The Thunderbolt

Why There Has Been A Resurgence in Zodiacs Phobe Piserchio Staff Writer

to astrology, a good app to look at is themselves out.

Overall, it is reasonable to say it could be due to people’s rising obsession with self-care and wellness.

For whatever reason, astrology can give people a better understanding of who they are. It can encourage per-

T

he zodiac consists of twelve signs: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and astrology, they have been around for thousands of years. You have a sun, moon, and rising sign. Your sun, determined by your birthday, is your “main” personality. Your moon, determined by the place you were born, has to do with your emotions. Your rising, determined by what time you were born, is related to your outer appearance. Your three signs are not limited to any combinations- you can have the same three, different ones for each, and so forth. Each sign corresponds to a whole list of elements that “describe” you as a person, tell you what other signs you are compatible with, your strengths, weaknesses, and overall different qualities about yourself.

However, if astrology has been around for so long, why is it “trending” now? If you’ve been on social media apps such as TikTok, Instagram, or Pinterest, you might have seen pictures or videos that have quotes along the lines of, “Your style based on your zodiac sign…”, or “What celebrity you would be friends with based on your zodiac sign…” It is videos like these that gy has on people. Even Spotify has released playlists for every zodiac sign that they change every month surge in popularity, zodiac signs have been something many people

awareness and understanding of not only you, but your environment.

I, myself, enjoy seeing videos tional character I am based on being a Gemini. I also like learning about my sun, moon, and rising signs what they mean and how I’m associated with them. Personally, I think the truth behind it is not entirely real but whether or not you believe in it is entirely up to you. If you’re new

out what your signs are and their important to recognize everyone has a different opinion on this topic and it’s very interesting to see people’s alternate views on it.

The beauty of astrology is that the interpretations behind it can be whatever you want them to be; real or unreal, spiritual or logical, the connection you have with it is up to you. It can create a pathway for people trying to make sense of the world and themselves. Although we will never know how many people do and do not believe in it, it may be time to fully review the disadvantagwell-being that comes from engaging in zodiac signs.

Phobe Piserchio, The Thunderbolt

ZODIACS TODAY: Why has there been such a huge resurgence in its popularity?

rely or depend on. Whether due to a search for self-discovery, simply looking for what your “aesthetic” should be, or who you should be friends with based on one’s sign, soon the media - have looked at zodiac signs for guidance and inspiration.

There have been many studies that show a large percentage of young adults believe in astrology, while older generations believe in it less. In 2014, the National Science Foundation in America found that the skepticism around it has been decreasing. I myself am a “clever, indecisive, ambitious, and impulsive Every single sign has admirable traits, while also having faulty ones.

The downside of this is that people may look at zodiac signs as someone’s whole entire personality; this can create many stereotypical qualities that impact the way a person sees themselves or others.

But there are, of course, many times where descriptions may be entirely accurate. The question is: what makes them so popular? As I mentioned before, talking about how you are associated with your sign has been perceived all throughout pop culture. Perhaps people enjoy these videos because they like to see what “style” they are based on the fact that they’re a Taurus, or what based on the fact that they’re a Scorpio. Maybe people genuinely want to know what ways their zodiac sign

Should We Return to Online School Or Stay In Person?

Julia Xia Staff Writer

W

ith the return to in-person classes, many students and teachers are wondering which style of learning is better: online school or in-person school. While in the end, it truly does come down to personal preference, there are many logical reasons behind why one might be better.

One of the advantages of online school is that students have more freedom than in in-person school.

With that freedom, students can stay in touch with their friends, learn new hobbies, and spend time with parents. Another reason why students might enjoy online classes is fortable doing school in their own bedrooms, and not having to talk as

much. They might just like having to socialize. Students are able to learn at their own pace since they have so much time on their hands. The last reason why online school can be good for kids is because kids with

sible to do extracurriculars, since we were online and everything was closed. Most students weren’t able to participate in their clubs or sports.

During in-person school you are able to receive one-on-one help with your teachers. For example, you can easily stay after class to talk with er than writing them an email and hoping that they respond. Another positive about in person school is that since you’re in an environment that is geared toward productivity, it’s easier to get work done and stay focused. Finally, in person school is just more effective at helping students increase their critical thinking skills, social skills, and self discipline.

Many students might lean more towards online, instead of in-person because some kids are just more independent and don’t like, or can’t handle social interactions. It can be hard for students to sit still for long

periods of time; and when they’re at home, they have the ability to get up and stretch their legs. The last issue with in-person is that it isn’t have to follow a strict regimen, and if they don’t complete what they wanted to do that day, then they fall behind.

At the end of the day it all

comes down to a person’s preference. Some people just prefer to work in the comfort of their rooms while others like going to school and being surrounded by people.

Whether schools in-person or online it’s each students own responsibility to learn what their learning style is so they can achieve their education.

work online then in a school setting.

However, there are also many disadvantages to online instruction. you’re in your bedroom all day.

Many kids see their bedroom as a place to relax, sleep, or just be lazy.

When you expect them to start using that space for school work, they can get easily distracted and fall behind.

For many students, the temptation to cheat was great. When you’re taking tests, or are just doing classwork, it’s really easy to just click on a new tab easy, but there was no way teachers could monitor them. It was impos-

Julia Xia, The Thunderbolt

ONLINE SCHOOL: We returned to in person fall of 2021; considering all of the pros and cons, is online school still neccessary?

OpiniOnS

The Thunderbolt

9

Law Enforcement: Why it’s a Bad Idea to Defund the Police Ryan Kurniawan Staff Writer

W

hen people hear police of-

armed, 6’2 white males clashing with rioters on the streets of Minneapolis, Seattle, Miami, and Los Angeles.

Police are often categorized as racist, trigger happy oppressors whose purpose is to violate our unalienable constitutional rights, while originating as slave catchers. But that is very far from the truth. In fact, the only reason law enforcement scrutiny exists is because the situation has been heavily politicized, even though it isn’t a political situation, but a social one. People trust their favorite polisions for them, instead of doing their own research and coming to their own conclusion. One great example is how president Trump claimed the election was stolen from him, which directly led to the January 6th insurrection. None of president Trump’s followers cared to do any research about election results, labeling facts as conspiracy theories and propaganda. But this article isn’t about January 6, it’s about why defunding law enforcement is a bad idea, and the only way to prove this, is to go back in time.

The origins of policing can be

It wasn’t until after the Revolutionary War that major cities began to develop, urbanize, and grow in population, ultimately leading to a rise in crime. This is when city leaders decided that someone needed to enforce the law during the day, since the watchmen were only aclice department in the country was established in Boston with Francis

other major cities began following suit, with the NYPD being formed in 1845, Albany and Chicago in 1851, New Orleans and Cincinnati in 1853, and Philadelphia in 1855.

These newly formed city law enforcement organizations were recriminals, keeping the peace, and protecting the city against outside threats.

Now that we have gone over the history of police, let’s go over “defund and demilitarize the police” On February 28, 1997, two men, Larrobbed the bank of America‘s North Hollywood branch. The two robbers were confronted by LAPD outside the bank, and a large shootout ensued. The standard issue sidearm

Ryan Kurniawan, The Thunderbolt

POLICE: Law Enforcement agencies from across San Mateo County along with Central County Fire came together to practice active shooter scenarios

To this day, the North Hollywood bank robbery remains one of the enforcement history. But what was event? After the shootout, California law enforcement demanded that they be equipped with better and stronger equipment. This led to an expansion of the 1033 program, a program launched by President Reagan in response to the war on drugs, that allowed the military to sell their old and unused equipment to law enforcement agencies across the on drugs more effectively.

Ryan Kurniawan, The Thunderbolt

POLICE: Law Enforcement engage in a highly violent standoff outside of a Bank of America (1977)

traced back all the way to 1607, when

were both heavily armed, each car-

Jamestown, Virginia. Police at the time were known as “watchmen”, a volunteer force whose main job was to keep street candles lit during the night and to sound the horns during Native Americans or wild animal attacks. However, watchmen at the time were not very effective, since many showed up drunk, and would just sleep on the job.

A majority of the volunteers were men who were serving as watchmen to avoid military service, or were serving as punishment, further adding to their ineffectiveness.

ity. They also wore military grade bulletproof vests, which successfully protected the gunmen from the re-

Overused Samantha Chen Staff Writer

O

States, it has become a tradition to make New Year’s Resolutions.

A New Year’s Resolution is a goal that someone sets for themselves at the beginning of the year. Though they can be helpful for many, only a small handful of people are able to the unreasonable and unattainable goals that they are setting for themself. Some common resolutions such as losing weight, being healthier, spending less money, becoming more productive, and learning a new skill are great, yet can be very hard to achieve. The majority of people who draw up these resolutions have good intentions to change but cannot

withdrew from Iraq. This left millions of dollars worth of Military equipment unused by the Military.

Everything from M9 Beretta pistols, to MRAP Mine resistant tanks were sold to Local law enforcement agencies. Now ask yourself this question, Would you rather purchase a used airpod pro for $70, or brand new airpod 1s for $110? Ok, maybe you’ll choose the brand new downgraded ones over the used pro, but what if you had to buy 100? 1000? What about 10,000?

LAPD employed over 10,000 here is very substantial. Each M16 250 million in fees for brand new -

clearly outgunned, ran around the dealer, where they purchased multi-

were injured, and over 2000 rounds

is still 125 million. We didn’t even add body armor, tasers, uniforms, ammunition, vehicles, armored vehicles, and special assignments.

If police do not buy from the military, cities across America would go bankrupt funding police depart-

New ultimately attain them.

Some common reasons why tions are the loss of commitment/ motivation, not having enough time, not seeing immediate results, or not knowing where to start. However, what many people don’t understand is that it takes time and they will not immediately be able to achieve their goals and that they don’t need to rush. Those who rush in and don’t pace themselves may experience burnout. Burnout is something that at one time or another, everyone has or will face.

The most common resolutions include working out more and eating healthier, but the problem with those resolutions are how they do deadline. When people set goals for

ments. It’s either buy military grade equipment and scare liberals or buy civilian grade weapons, which are less effective, cost more, and people will still blame all of society’s problems on you.

Keeping the police from buying from the military also directly contradicts “defund the police” If you’re going to make police departments buy their own equipment, and defund the department at the same time, good in law enforcement. Working in law enforcement without proper protection like bodyarmor and reliable defensive equipment is the equivalent of taking a test without studying. Except your life depends on your test score.

When you “defund the police” your

benchmarks toward their goals. An example of this is if you are trying to lose weight, instead of saying “I want to lose weight” it may seem more manageable if the goal is to “lose X amount of pounds by X amount of weeks”. Instead of focusing on the end goal, you can just focus on one section at a time.

Also, another common area of people’s resolutions that they tend to break at, are temptations. Some goals such as eating less sweets and spending less money can be hard just to cut out of your life completely and go cold turkey. Though

Police departments across the country are already struggling with staffing shortages, public distrust, and city government that does not care about them. The Police are barely clinging on while crime is beginning to skyrocket. Property crime has risen over 50% in San Francisco in the period of half a year, while the City DA, and Mayor are trying their best to make the SFPD’s lives as miserable as possible by passing ridiculous regulations like police are banned from reviewing footage caught on private security cameras. One recent one that really confused me was one request by the SFPOA to equip of-

solve police brutality, when in reality access to non-lethal alternatives, but defunding a police department harms cry and complain when someone is shot and killed by law enforcement. their job more dangerous than it al- Now, with the recent rise of smash ready is. Sure, It is true, British, and and grabs, mayor London Breed has Chinese police are unarmed, but that declared a state of emergency, and is because British and Chinese cit- has promised to “crack down on izens are unarmed. Saying Chinese these criminals” . Crack down with and British police are unarmed also is false. They have armed tactical quit in 2021? SFPD only employs units with military grade equipment on standby ready to deploy anywhere in the country in a matter of minutes there were 27 Police recruits in the when a situation turns violent. In the class of 2020. That number dropped to 19 In the next class of 2021. That is secured through the second amend- is a 30% drop of recruits.That numment. Police in other countries do not ber dropped even further to 9 new need to worry about the threat of vi- recruits in the class 272 in late 2021. olence.

So I am begging everyone, stop I just want to make it clear I do blaming all of society’s problems actually support police reform. I be- on the police. They work 12 hours a lieve that training police more in day, and are on call 24 hours a day, de-escalation and negotiation will 7 days a week, just to be scapegoats.

- If anyone should be blamed it should tives that do not require a violent end. However, I am against the idea supposed to be to create a safe enviof defunding and taking away police ronment for their citizens.

Years

dive into it and hope to last until the end of the year, while realistically, they will not. In the end, they will lose motivation and quit just like the previous years. To prevent this from happening, it would be helpful

equipment, since doing so would put

there will always be temptations, distractions from those temptations may make it easier to manage and achieve the end goal in the long run.

Some ways to combat the temptations are picking up new hobbies, hanging out with friends, or just slowing down the intake of what you are trying to stay away from.

Other reasons why people give up on their resolutions are due to mistakes or setbacks. For example, if someone were to skip going to the gym when their resolution was to go to the gym everyday, they may quit just because they missed one day.

But, just because someone misses one day, it is not, in fact, the end of the world and it is completely okay to take a cheat day or a rest once in a while. Also, if taking breaks helps from not breaking their journey to -

Resolutions cial and not bad at all.

Some other things that may help with accomplishing your New Year’s resolutions is support. Though some people prefer to be alone and doing everything by themselves, it is always nice to have someone support follow through with your New Year resolution.

10

SportS

2022

Super

Hanson Han Staff Writer

H

ere at Mills, many of us are invested in sports. Whether we are in fantasy leagues, or actually watching the games, there is little debate that the Super Bowl is one of the most important games, a highlight of the year. For example, our very own Dean Christian has been a huge Los Angeles Rams fan since he was young, being very excited seeing his team win the Super Bowl. However, many of the students at Mills were siding with the Cincinnati Bengals, since the Rams beat our home team, San Francisco 49ers, to get their way

Bowl

history by not only winning their making it to Super For the game itself, things were already not looking too good for the Bengals. Going into the game, the Rams were favored to win by 4 points. Burrow was sacked 70 times in the season, 7 of them in the Super Bowl. This means the Bengals now hold the record for third most sacks allowed in a season, and tied the record for most sacks in a Super Bowl. This problem was clear from day one, with everyone everywhere knowing that the Bengals offensive line needed dramatic improvement. To make matters worse, the Rams have Aaron

Recap

unable to play for the rest of the game. ond half, Burrow passed to Higgins for a 75 yd touchdown. Both teans

goal and Rams kicker Matt Gay makscore at 20-16 favoring the Bengals.

With the clock winding down Stafford threw a touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp which put the score at 23-20 in the favor of the Rams. The game ended in incredible fashion, with Donald raising signifying that they had won, and that he was waiting for the Super Bowl ring.

The halftime show was also

Flaws of P.E. Grading

interests, this Super Bowl would be drama and action. The game ended with the Rams beating the Bengals 23-20, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. But the road for both of these teams to get to the Super Bowl was really interesting.

For the Rams, their star quarterback Matthew Stafford has had quite the journey to make it to the big game. Stafford spent 12 years with the Detroit Lions, with disappointing seasons every single time. He was a star quarterback stuck with a no name team. Thankfully, Stafford self, after going to the Rams in 2021.

This redemption story for Stafford has really made the Super Bowl even more interesting to watch.

For the Bengals, their franchise prior to this was in shambles. Their last win in the playoffs was in the 1990 season, 31 years ago. To quote MSNBC reporter Kathryn Tappen, “The last time [the Bengals] won in the postseason, Seinfeld was on your TV, cell phones looked like bricks, and text messaging didn’t even exist. In fact, only four active Bengals players were alive the last time this team won a playoff game 31 years ago.”

This year, the Bengals have made

The Thunderbolt

Michaela Gonzalez Staff Writer

5

Donald, a defensive tackle who was ranked as the #2 best NFL player overall. Many people prior to the game were predicting that Donald, along with the rest of the Rams defense, would completely shut down the Bengals offensive line. A closer look at the game might explain how the Bengals kept the game so close. petitive, with the Rams leading during the second quarter, the Rams suffered a crucial blow to their offense. Beckham tore his ACL in a non-contact play, which left him

extremely entertaining, wheresuch as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J, Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent.

All of these performances cost the NFL a total of $13 million dollars to put together this event. That investment certainly payed off after many called it the best halftime show of all time.

All in all, the game was more intense and close than many had predicted. Many experts, fans, and analysts, including myself, expected the Rams to completely close out the Bengals which made for an intertaining to watch and worth my time.

,280 feet. 63,360 inches. 1 mile. All of us students collectively dread the cry out of the words “the mile” and the task that it entails. Whichever elementary and middle schools we have all been to, we have all been subjected to running the mile. Aside from the few of us who enjoy running, we have dreaded this task that makes up the majority of our Physical Education (P.E) grade. Uncomfortable locker room changing,, menstruation excuses, and wet dog odor after a day of PE in the rain are aspects of PE that we remember much too vividly. However, our relationship with PE isn’t entirely negative.We can always remember the many good things such as bonding with our classmates, the slight dopamine rush after a good workout, and the occasional unit where we get to explore an activity that we enjoy.. However, that gets put on pause every week as we have to once again run a timed mile. miles took place in 1900’s England for various contests and gambling games. Now, the mile is run all around the world in elementary, middle, and high schools for health reasons. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that children get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each day. A recent decline has been shown in another study from the 1980’s to 2014, meaning we cannot run as fast as our parents could when they were en upon in the U.K named “The Daily Mile” is similar to our own here at Mills. This is when students run or walk for 15 minutes straight. They have reported 85 countries and 3,175,461 students participating in this challenge.

The team behind this challenge claim, “The aim of The Daily

Mile is to improve the physical, social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of our children – regardless of age, ability or personal circumstances.” Although this is the same promotion our own P.E teachers promise they will help us accomplish, students don’t view the mile the same way. But many students believe the poor execution is damaging the original goal of the mile.

As of now, the grading of our mile is based on what our PR (Personal Record) is. The number of seconds you add or subtract from your PR affects the amount of points you receive. You receive full points and an extra credit point if you improve,if , full points if you points are taken off depending on how much worse you perform than your personal record.,] For example, if my PR is 8:34 and the next week I run an8:50, I will get 7/10.

The goal of this grading system is to encourage improvement and provide equal opportunity to achieve a good grade regardless of natural athleticism.. With that being said, what the grading system fails to take into account is that there is a cap to how fast you can run, and each day there are external variables that affect your performance. So rather than incentivizing students to work hard and improve, students PR mile and slowly improve so that they may get a good grade. These unrealistic and rare expectations do not sit well with many P.E students.

“It’s a good way for students to get exercise, but we should be graded on our effort because it is unrealistic to be expected to do better each week”, states a sophomore. After interviewing students with a diverse set of running capabilities, they all agreed the grading system doesn’t help anyone achieve the grade they would like to appear on their report card. It is merely impossible for a student to get 100% on every mile.

But along with this, it is a shared thought that P.E provides students with the space to exercise physical It is absolutely necessary for the way that the mile is graded be altered.

SportS

The Thunderbolt

11

2022 Lady Vikings Girls Basketball Team Makes History Max Zaninovich SportS editor

T

he 2022 Varsity Girls Basketball season is one that won’t be easily forgotten. Between Covid and battles with injuries, it is safe to say that this season was eventful. The incredibly fun and chaotic season was capped off by a hard fought home loss to Argonaut in the Northern California Regional SemiThe season began at home where the Lady Vikings were 2nd place in a Mills hosted tournament, coming up just short against Woodside Priory 43-37 after beating Lowell in a close 36-33 game and routing Salinas 6-3 in pre league play and entered league play looking very optimistic.

Unfortunately, during league play, injuries became a major issue.

However, those injuries may have actually better prepared the Lady Viking for their deep playoff run. Junior center and team captain Serena Mezzetta stated, “We constantly were forced to play games down players due to injuries, but that allowed for more playing time and game experience for other players which made us a deeper and overall better team come playoff time.” The Lady Vikings eventually ended league play

with a record of 4-8 which was good enough for 6th in PAL and earned them a spot in the CCS playoffs.

As players returned to the lineup, the Lady Vikings were feeling

selves and had each other’s backs and kept moving whether it was positive or negative. We all had con-

They hosted Monterey and won with a commanding score of 51-16.

They then hit the road and traveled to Soquel High School where they once again won convincingly, by a score of 60-25. After beating Santa cially qualifying for NorCal, they were all set to battle against rival school, and number 1 seed Capuchino High School in the CCS championship game. Many Mills students, dressed in all black, came to support the Lady Vikings as they squared off against Capuchino. Mezzetta said, “We really appreciated all the students who came to support us and helped give us the energy we needed to battle hard until the end.”

With the students cheering them on, the Lady Vikings were playing outstanding and were winning early and even had a lead at halftime. However, that lead slowly faded and Cappuccino ended up coming back and

and mindset helped push them to a home victory over Lowell High School by a score of 41-26. They then boarded a bus and took a 6 hour bus ride to take on the number 1 seeded University Prep Panthers.

They made history with their win at University Prep 48-35 and became fortunately, the season came to the end after a tough, hard fought loss to Vanessa Nguyen The Thunderbolt

Mills Girl’s Varsity Basketball team breaks huddle before taking on Arganaut in

Although the loss was disappointing, the Lady Vikings certainly didn’t let that stop them from striving for more. Star senior point guard Janice Yung stated, “No matter what was happening we still Vanessa Nguyen The Thunderbolt

Junior Team Captain and Center Serena Mezzetta jumps to attempt to win the open-

Junior forward Natalie Ng credited the team’s postseason success to the fantastic chemistry of the team. Yung stated, “We have phenomenal chemistry, we spend every day together, and we just play for each other and I think that really made us play at our best.” Yung also touched on that, saying “After games or practices we’d hang out and have team dinners and that really brought them together. The chemistry was really good due to hanging out after practice and I think that’s what I’m gonna miss the most.”

We are incredibly proud of our Lady Vikings history making basketball team this year and we congratulate the seniors on their incredible Mills careers and can’t wait to see what the future holds for next year’s Lady Vikings team.

Vanessa Nguyen The Thunderbolt

Senior guard Kayli Lee shoots a 3 point shot over Argonaut defender as time expires

Why Joshua Choe opinionS editor

M

ciency in badminton, having year after year of high ranking in tournaments and matches against other high schools. Many rightfully joke that Mills’ success comes from being an Asian dominated school.

But why is that exactly? To put it simply, South-Eastern Asian countries have a higher prevalence in badminton; Asia has 7 out of 10 of the most popular badminton-playing countries, as stated by an article on this badminton-centered website.

Asian badminton culture grew from the ease at which one can play, as well as the low cost of recreation-

Mills course, carries over to these speAsians in our country are also more likely to play the sport. Looking at statistics from the Olympics, dating back to 1988, all of the reigning champions are Asian countries.

When students see role models they can identify with, they are more likely to be inspired to play the sport.

Asia has created a culture of badminton, whether it be playing with friends on a playground or dominating the international competitions.

In Asia, one can be a professional badminton player for life, whereas the lack of popularity in Europe and America means another job might be necessary. The success of Asian champions breeds a healthy cycle of Asian-American students proud of their heritage and continuing the cycle by joining badminton. This year,

Excels over 100 Mills students tried out, and the full team has over 40 people.

Considering the physique of Asians being on the smaller side, badminton is also a more appealing sport due to its lack of physical contact and its accessibility, compared to more daunting and physical sports that require more size such as football or basketball. Badminton comes with it’s own types of injuries: wrist strains, tennis or golfer’s elbow, ankle sprains, and rotator cuff injuries are all common. However, badminton is ultimately much safer and less physically demanding, alleviating many parental fears.

Of course, all this is meaningful because we have students who are dedicated to their sport from a young age. Many of our top bracket players have played for close to, or over, ten years. Many play with outside orga-

at

Badminton

nizations, going to competitions elsewhere, giving Mills an advantage over other schools without such players. Again, their experience helps foster a cycle of growth amongst those newer to the team.

As of the writing of this article, Mills is having a dominant season, on a 4 win streak, most currently winning 27-3 against Westmoor.

Mills has also beat SSF, Cap, Burlingame, and Lowell. The team has easily maintained their sweep, training hard to remain on top.

Expectations are high for the Viking badminton team, but no matter the outcome of the season the Mills community is proud to have such a strong team. Asians have dominated international badminton from the start, and Mills students are no different. Despite their Asian heritage, each win

comes from the hard work of every single player. Remember to go watch their matches and support our team!

12

EntErtainmEnt

The Thunderbolt

The Difference between the Male vs. Female Gaze By: Julia Xia; Staff WritEr

T

hroughout media in movies, TV shows, music, and more, there are certain scenes a male or female audience. Whether it’s the dialogue that’s been written to appeal more to each respective gender. But what exactly is the male and female gaze and why is it important to acknowledge them?

Before we discuss why the male gaze can be harmful, not only to the opposite sex but to men themselves, we have to understand what exactly the male gaze is. To put ualize and objectify women. The phrase and academic Laura Mulvey in the 1970’s.

In her essay, she discusses how women in the media continue to be used as props; their only characteristics being their love for the male lead and their looks. The portrayal was directed to the male audience, therefore the term ‘male gaze’ was created.

Now that we know about the male gaze,

Created by feminists in response to the male gaze, the concept of the female gaze introduces more diverse views in entertainment.

how can it be harmful? Since the term objectiscious, knowing that everywhere they go and whatever they do is constantly sexualized by the opposite gender. Now, the male gaze isn’t just objectifying them through media, it’s also in real life, whether it’s walking down the street and getting cat-called and being told to “smile more” or having a “nice body” remark thrown at you. But, since it’s been around for years it’s been normalized in society, young girls are taught to be more ladylike, by wearing traditionally femine clothes, to act more mature, etc.

Ultimately, the reason why the female gaze is important is because it depicts women in a better light. Instead of them falling into one-dimensional roles such as the ‘girly girl’ or ‘tomboy’, the female gaze provides women with real personalities and character deby our consumption of what we watch or read, it’s a progressive start to have shows with female leads that are just as important as their male counterparts, because then people learn to see both genders equally.

Throughout entertainment, history movies, books, and plays have mainly been catered to the male audience and written by men. Because of this, we rarely see movies that are made for women. Essentially, most of the content that we consume is dedicated to the male gaze. The female gaze is a relatively new concept and is still being explored, but it’s essentially how women see women in their own eyes. Much like the male gaze, except instead of being seen for their looks, women are now looked up for their personalities, the interactions they have, and more.

Spring-themed

Arts

At the end of the day we shouldn’t use social media and other forms of entertainment to shape the way we see people. It’s not as if every man will see things through the male gaze and every woman will see things through the female gaze. We all see things through our own perspective and don’t fall into one catboth gazes and the way they impact people.

and

Crafts

to

Attempt

By: Katelyn Lam; fEaturES Editor

A

ers of spring, there’s plenty of fun and exciting things to try out. From Easter activities to spring decorations, hopesomething. Especially for younger kids, the upcoming rainy months may be a struggle to keep boredom out of the house, and with all the stress that comes are some fun and easy indoor and outdoor crafts and activities for all ages!

There’s always the classic egg hunt, perfect for indoor and outdoors, all you need is some plastic eggs, toys or candy, and some great hiding spots. Egg decorating always comes in handy if you're ready for a messy craft, and it’s something everyone can enjoy. With so many different and fun ways to decorate, they can be as elaborate or as simple as you want. Some fun ideas include stickers, white crayons to really make the patterns stand out, and if you're not afraid of getting sticky, glitter glue always adds a fun sparkling touch.

NFTs:

A

Crash

Dye sets can be bought from your local craft or drugstore, or you can even dye them at home with some food coloring and vinegar. For older kids and adults, egg decorating can be a fun and detailed activity. From traditions like pysanky, a Ukrainian egg decorating method including melted beeswax (which can be substituted with a white crayon) to the Japanese tradition of hollowing the egg out and decorating it with washi paper, the designs can go from unique to mind blowing. With eggs inevitably comes multitudes of egg cartons, but they don’t always have to be thrown out right away. You can always cut them out and make fun animals with the shape, or even use them to start planting per cartoon, not the styrofoam ones if you plan on planting them for real, but for the plastic pipe cleaner or paper ones stuck into the cups, anything works, just make sure paint sticks.

For those unafraid of getting their hands dirty, pebble painted lady bugs and bees are sure to bring a splash of color to anyone's kitchen or yard. All it takes is a rock can bring your favorite critters to life.

Course

With some extra pizzazz with the help of glitter or sharpies, you can create entirely new designs.

Your imaginations the limit. With the help of some paper and pom poms, you can make anygoogly eyes and some pipe cleaner antennas and your caterpillar will be the jazziest in town. With rain bring? Rainbows! There’s always a fun craft inspired by rainbows, from 3d cutouts to ones made of plates, a few cotton balls and glue and you have a new colorful table decoration.

The best ideas for kids are a website full of fun and interesting crafts and activities updated often, so if you are ever in need of something fun and easy, go check it out! It's perfect for younger kids with everything from slime to food, and they even sort it by age and season or holiday, so it isn’t only related to spring crafts. Pinterest, in particular, is always a fun and useful resource to use for inspiration when it comes to any type of craft ideas, and all you have to do is search up spring crafts or activities and hundreds will pop up to choose from. There's always something fun to do, you just have to look for it. Happy spring and happy crafting!

and

Explanation

By: Chloe Ho; Staff WritEr

T

he majority of us know NFTs as those one-of-a-kind tacky bored ape portraits that have circulated around the internet. They sell for all of this money just for people to screenshot, “Save Image As”, and mock them for being just beyond ridiculous. Perhaps a smaller bunch of us know a bit more about them – at least that it stands for “non-fungible token” and that they are reproduced forms of media sold online. But as far as I’m aware, I don’t think many people understand their purpose and their effects on the digital world. Are there any at all? What can it do for users? Is it the equivalent of Bitcoin? After some research, I intend to give a basic summary of what they are and what purpose they serve.

NFT stands for “non-fungible token” – a non-interchangeable token – that is sold on line for people to bid money for ownership.

If you look up some NFT marketplaces, you’ll forms of original content like art and reproduced images and videos. When you look at the sellers, there are usually a select few names that appear multiple times as you scroll. These are the names of huge blockchains that sell the content of users under the blockchain. More on that later. The big appeal is mainly for

less success anywhere else. People like artists and music producers can sell their works as away with the “starving artists” status and give creative people a platform for opportunities.

During my research, I didn’t just see artistic pieces, however. There were Twitter screenshots, gifs that could be easily found anywhere, and other things that took no effort to put on the market. According to CNN, lion, a video clip of a LeBron James slam yond me as much as it is for (most of) you the appeal of such unoriginal items, but in the same CNN article, it states that “[It’s like] Pokémon cards, rare coins or a limited-edition pair of Jordans: NFTs create scarcity among prove it.” I suppose one could call or compare it to something like digitally collecting things. People can take pictures of artworks on walls just as they can screenshot a picture on their screen, but nothing can beat owning it yourself. Because of that, these things are set at such high prices in order to validate their authenticity. It’s kind of like how

millions whereas a duplicate might be an authentic Van Gogh painting can go for found somewhere in a furniture store.

With all of that now said, are they really worth investing in? I spent a good deal of time looking at them all, even almost considering selling some original NFTs of my own just to get the full experience. But one should not make impulsive decisions without considering both pros and cons.

The Verge has written several articles on NFTs, including one titled “How to create an NFT – and why you may not want to”, where Mitchell Clark describes blockchains in more detail. “Every transaction [in the blockchain]… costs fees that are paid to the miners. These fees are called “gas”... Almost everything you do on the blockchain… will cost gas… paying gas does not 100 percent guarantee your transfer will go through…

If something does happen and your transaction isn’t completed, you won’t get the gas fees you paid back.” That didn’t sound appealing to me, but to the huge number of people who do sell in these blockchains, it seems like an obstacle worth overcoming.

A big question posed by this would be “who the heck is buying these things?”. More

importantly, why. According to CyberScrilla, “The type of people who buy NFTs folks all around the world. From celebrities… to your everyday working-class citizen.” As for reasons, it lists things such as investment opportunities, brand perks, exclusivity and utility. Some NFTs are sold by companies to give buyers exclusive items, and others allow you to invest in the company. That would be appealing to anyone. In addition, the rising trend of NFTs contributes to its appeal, which may explain why these well-off celebrities are getting in on buying and investing in NFTs. The amount of money that sellers can earn from these NFTs is extremely alluring. It seems almost too good to be true. In the future, I can see the platform becoming more stable and popular, but for the time being selling and buying is a rather risky investment to make. Some have found great success with the platform, but there consideration before starting. Money is nancial stability, I think that there are a lot of other safer alternatives to consider instead that could be just as worthwhile.