WATCH Magazine, Spring 2022

Volume XII, Issue II Spring 2022

watch PORTER-GAUD SCHOOL

The watch magazine would like to express its gratitude to the following members of the Porter-Gaud community for their help with this semester’s publication: Brian Principe, Brink Norton, DuBose Egleston, Caitlin Adelson, Joy Sasnett, Ken Hyde, Amber Wilsondebriano, Beau Porter, and Anderson Toole.

Cover art by Anna Caroline Symonds.

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Table Of Contents 2

Is the Hussle Worth The Hassle?

How productivity can lead to negativity.

Shea Smith

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Majoring in Silence How free must free speech be?

Ethan Curb

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Now: All Of Us Are Butterflies!

How the Butterfly Effect affects us all every day.

George Walton

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Puzzled by the Time A case for true crime.

Avery Chambers

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The Bat-men?

Which Dark Knight truly rises?

Mission Impossible: Make an interesting movie, Hollywood. Please.

Anna Caroline Symonds

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Lights, Camera, Exploitation: The sexualization of child stars.

Emily Benasutti

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Read This Article If You’re a Good Person: Why feeling bad won’t save the world.

Abby Comer

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Who’s “That Girl”?

Is the “That Girl” lifestyle beneficial?

Callie Liberatos

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Your Childhood is a Lie: The Mandela Effect. Should you trust your memory?

Gracie Keogh

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Carlisle Smith: Introduction

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Sophie Levenson: Monday

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Gracie Keogh & Nina Ziff: Tuesday

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Ananya Chag: Wednesday

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Shea Smith: Thursday

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Abby Comer: Friday

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Callie Liberatos: Saturday

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Turner Long: Sunday

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Ubuntu: It’s Not About You: A person is a person because of people.

Turner Long

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Peace, Love, and Unhappiness: Have hippies lost their groove?

Ann Connolly Clair

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One Last Time: Teachers’ advice to outgoing seniors.

Emmy Keogh

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Faculty Farewells: A few special guests join this graduating class.

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Faculty Fashion: That’s so Camp.

Callie Liberatos & Kevin Pham

Joey Carter

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Pressure Plan-it

Get Lost in Your Own Mind: What do your dreams really mean?.

Ella Murphy

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Ananya Chag – Managing Editor Sophie Levenson – Managing Editor Patton Galloway – Head Publisher Callie Liberatos – Art Director Turner Long – Section Editor Shea Smith – Section Editor Kevin Pham – Publisher Nina Ziff – Publisher Carlisle Smith – Publisher Emmy Keogh – Staff Writer Ethan Curb – Staff Writer George Walton – Staff Writer Anna Symonds – Staff Writer Emily Benasuti – Staff Writer Joey Carter – Staff Writer Avery Chambers – Staff Writer Gracie Keogh – Staff Writer Windland Jaimes - Staff Writer Ella Murphy – Staff Writer Abby Comer – Staff Writer Ann Connolly Clair – Staff Writer Mr. Childs Smith – Head Advisor Mr. Jonathan Chang – Assistant Advisor Ms. Sarah Romano – Assistant Advisor

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Letter from the Managing Editors Dear Porter-Gaud, I have always found that great writing carries great weight. Words, our constant companions, can broadcast ideas and share perspectives; they can challenge assumptions, connect strangers. The watch magazine has, for twelve years now, served as a paragon of student expression at Porter-Gaud, and has thus fed words and their wonderful consequences into our school for just as long.

I like to think of this magazine as necessary. Being a writer has a slew of implications: writers are artists, artificers, creatives, intellectuals, empaths, researchers, thinkers, doers. It is necessary to have such people in an institution, for it is these people who connect the dots between our hallways and the world that surrounds them. A writer on the watch magazine is in the unique position of balancing the interests of our school community with the interests of our city, our county, state, country, and globe.

Our writers balance the demands of time and current events with the enduring consistency of high school: an experience that never really changes its tune. Still, these thinkers and creators are able, year after year, to bring nuance and novelty to our pages.

It has been an immense honor, and an incalculable pleasure, to serve as a managing editor on the watch magazine this past year. Our publication is designed to represent you, the student body; it is molded around the ideas of your peers, who craft articles—then decorate them with student art, carefully chosen fonts, and the transformative powers of our talented publishers. I hope that you all take the time to read this magazine every semester that you are here at Porter-Gaud; perhaps even return to it as alumnae. There is no better way to capture the minds of the students at this school than through their words and art. The watch magazine takes advantage of that—I hope that you do, too.

All the best, Sophie

Hey Class of 2022! This year has truly been special. We have made the most incredible memories as a senior class, from cheering for famous Tiktokers at football games to racing each other in bouncy houses to finally heading towards graduation week. Though I’m not biased at all, I feel this is a very special class for so many reasons. We are the most spirited, most amicable, and have a group of the most unique personalities I have ever seen — I truly mean that. We are also amazingly resilient as a senior class. The COVID-19 pandemic began when we were just sophomores, meaning we were only able to have one “normal” year of high school before the world was turned upside down. Together, we got through quarantine in the spring of 2020. Then we experienced the most chaotic junior year imaginable: many of us had things like SATs and ACTs canceled, and online school, cohorts, and inperson school switched around often. However, we were able to overcome this, and make a lasting impact for our senior year. I can’t tell you how much it means to me to look around and see the same faces that I’ve known since first grade. We have truly made friends to last a lifetime. I am so proud of this senior class, and I cannot wait to see where our futures take us! ALMOST GRADUATION!!

Sincerely, Ananya

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Is the Hustle Worth the Hassle?

How productivity can lead to negativity.

Shea Smith Wake up at 6 AM. After a peaceful journaling session and a 30-minute meditation, make yourself a healthy, homemade vegan breakfast and immediately hit the gym–you have to burn off the calories from that breakfast somehow. Spend the rest of the day working–et everything done, dotn’ procrastinate. Exercise multiple times a da. y Follow a plantbased diet. All work, no play; any moment spent lazily is a moment wasted. Productivity is the priority. And if you arent’ productive for even a second of the da, y you spend that mere second feeling guilty.

This supposedly “healthy” mindset and lifestyle has become all the rage, and we call it “hustle culture,” dedicate their whole brands to the promotion of health and productivity–typically attempting to motivate their audience to live a life that stimulates both the body and mind. On paper, this sounds fantastic. The age of technology has unquestionably been revolutionary, as it has disseminated knowledge and conected people all over the world like never before. Nonetheless, this era has simultaneously presented a plethora of problems that continue to prevent this generation from reaching its full potential. e T chnology addictions are real and profound, and as a result, mental illnesses, as well as procrastination tendencies, have skyrocketed. So, the promotion of a productive lifestyle should be applauded, right? ypiT cally, the encouragement of this lifestyle on social media comes in the forms of romanticized videos and pictures exhibiting an ideal, perfect life: early rising, matching workout sets, immaculate rooms and houses, freshly-made and nutrient-rich food. The purpose of these posts is to impel audiences to follow their example and engage in daily activities that ultimately lead to a healthier mind, bo, dy and soul; In order to persuade their viewers

The luxury, productivity, and overall happiness these videos showcase can lead spectators to condemn themselves for their own lifestyle choices that fall short. Susceptible teenagers scrolling on social media may watch these videos, perceive how happy and perfect the lives of these lives. If you decide to sleep in until 1 am instead of rising with the sun at 6 in the morning, you’re laz. y If you dotn’ go to the gym six days a week, you’re unhealthy. The toxicity surrounding this growing culture is obscured, yet exists in abundance.

In addition, viewers of this content may feel as though structuring their lives around this social media trend will be the long-awaited answer to all of their problems. attractive and healthy-looking, all while seeming genuinely hap. py Despite social media’s facade, it is still a known fact that social media is a highlight reel; content that is posted is meticulously selected by the content creator and is rarely ever an accurate representation of what that persons’ life is actually like. It’s easy to depict a perfect life when there is a screen to hide behind. However, when actually digesting the media, it’s much harder to remind oneself of this fact. for their constant collaborations with brands (money has to come from somewhere!); in order to uphold their end of this collaboration and promote the brand in a satisfactory audience into purchasing the products. If a beautiful skincare brand and is paid to tell her subscribers that that brand solved all her skin problems, susceptible viewers are likely to look at her and think to themselves, if I buy that product, my skin will be perfect just like her. In reality, that

constantly use aesthetically-pleasing visuals and uplifting words to support their claim that a productive lifestyle leads to happiness.

and spends hours airbrushing her skin on a photoshop app to conceal any imperfections she sees. Establishing whether or not a person is putting on a happy front for the camera

On the surface, all this seems innocent and wellintentioned; however, in an incongruous paradox, promotion of “hustle culture” carries the potential to drastically deteriorate ones’ well-being. When diving

When viewing media that promotes this certain lifestyle, whether consciously or subconsciously, feelings of inferiority often ensue. Looking at a video of what an they’re so productive. I just lay in bed most days.” While

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Artwork by Carlisle Smith

Majoring in Silence How Free Must Free Speech Be?

By Ethan Curb

Two people sit down at a table together.The wefirst cannot, asks because the this hatred and division has made its second a question, to which the other responds. When he way into the physical world. is finished, the first offers his rebuttal and soon the two engage in a respectful conversation with one another.

Take, for instance, the college campus. College is After a time that feels far shorter than it actually was, darn close for most of us, and we don’t have a lot of time they shake hands, thank each other, and leave left before in peace we leave home and venture out into what’s both with a greater understanding of themselves and of sometimes known as “the real world.”Auniversi the other person. once a place where views were shaped. It was once a place of learning, discussion, and debate, where students What I have just described was an episode of The Bill would grow as people and seek to better themse Maher Show, shown back in 20 1, in which conservative and the world around them. But recently, colleges have pundit Ben Shapiro and liberal MSNBC commentator become places of increasing censorship and silencing.

Malcolm Nance engaged in a debate over critical race Speakers have been banned from campuses becaus theory, (known these days as CRT) systemic racism, of their and political views. Riots and protests h other major socio-political topics.What is staged striking for no other about purpose than preventing someone this specific episode, if you ever get the chance fromto speaking watch their mind.Take what happened at it, is just how respectful and how healthy the debate the University of California, Berkeley, back in 2017. between the two men actually was. Shapiro and Nance Aright wing speaker was invited to speak at th come from polar opposite sides of the political aisle on college by a group of students attempting to expose virtually every issue out there, yet they managed to have the predominantly liberal population of the college a fruitful discussion and both left feeling to more a conservative confident viewpoint. But on the day of the in their own position and yet with but with a better event, students gathered outside the building, shattered understanding of the other side. windows, and lit fires in a successful attempt t invitee from speaking. Regardless of political v Shortly after, everything went south–at least according should be seen as wrong. “Free speech” should not quell to the media. I looked at the news from several free speech. sources following this broadcast, and all I could find were stories about how one side destroyed the other. From If we censor speech because it offends us, we can never CNN I saw articles about Nance tearing apart Shapiro’s grow.We will remain in our isolated safe space, for point of view and completely embarrassing him on of a better term, with no ability to handle anything that national television. From Fox News I saw stories about stands against our dearly held beliefs. And by doing how Shapiro destroyed Nance with “FACTS” and this, we are unprepared for the world and its at “LOGIC.” What went wrong? Why did something so there will always be those who seek to offend. If yo good, which culminated in the men shaking hands never have andto deal with anything offending you, how can leaving at peace with one another, immediately become you possibly be prepared for a world in which you will a mudslinging contest in which the left and right each constantly be offended? claim had an exalted winner and a humiliated loser?

When did discussion and debate, the earliest form of With this false sense of safety, brought about by a intellectual human discourse, become so aggressive and coddled childhood all too common these days, comes a cutthroat? lack of internal conflict.We never have to questi own beliefs, and we remain sure that we are right and The reason for this particular incident, I believe, is the no one is wrong. So when that safety is breached, we desire by the media to keep its ratings high. doIfeverything news in our power to ensure that anything that channels appeal to their audience, as they did here, they questions us is silenced. But if we allow our perspectives will keep themselves profitable. But at least to be questioned, once we if we allow ourselves to face those could simply turn off the TV or close the computer. Now who would oppose us, we can become strong in our

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beliefs. We can understand our own perspectives better in censored. Just because you are offended does not always addition to understanding those held by others. Perhaps mean you are right. more importantly, when our ideas are confronted, we can America isfor. founded on free speech. And free speech may further know ourselves and what we truly stand takemanyforms,fromdissenttoprotesttooutrig I found a very interesting guest article from American the New views.

York And these should be able to be shared.

Times about free speech at the University of Virginia. The Wemustruntheriskofallowingtoomuchspeech,rat author, Emma Camp, was a student at the school, a selfthan erring on the side of censoring too much. If someone proclaimed progressive who certainly felt that her political wantstotalkabouttheso-calledgloriesofcommu opinionswerenotintheminority.Butshewas them. struck Let theirbyvoices be heard, and let their experiences one thing in particular: the absolute fear of all students to provethemwrongorright.Ifsomeonewantstotalka share their opinions on anything. Camp described what thebenefitsofpoliceandwhattheybelieveisthe was happening as “self-censorship,” where people don’t systemic racism, let them. That is not hate speech, but the share their opinions for fear of being shunned and hated. statement of an opinion, and one that should be debated and Peopledon’tevenwanttoriskthepotential discussed ofsaying in a civilized society. Even if you do see speech anything that could be interpreted as offensive. likethisasoffensive,asmanydo,censorshipisnot togoaboutcombatingit.Insteadoffightinganyresi Distressed by this, Camp decided to take a stand. put seektobringpeopletoyoursidean toyourShe beliefs, up a poster of the First Amendment on her door, and the better understanding of their views. university made her take it down. (The university cited a size-limit issue when it came to the sign, but many aren’t But exceptions certainly must be made. We certainly must buying it). stand against opinions that have no political basis and are near-universally considered to be hateful, or outrageously We’ve reached the point where even the colleges wrong. Overtly racist opinions that are intended to only themselves are too afraid to allow free speech. But even bring about harm must be censored. Facts that are obviously worse than that, as Camp says, students are censoring false and have potential to injure society must also be themselves, falsifying their ideas to please professors. But monitored;blatantfalsehoodbenefitsnobody.Fore in doing that, they lose sight of their own beliefs and begin citing the greatness of the Nazi party is neither productive to withdraw from standing up for what they believe. noracceptable.Thereisnopurposetospeechlike other than to sow hatred, injustice, and anger. Therefore all With all the things in the news in the past few years, from speech should be permitted that does not intend to harm or media misinformation attacks to social media censorship, disparage others, whereas speech that can be reasonably free speech is under attack.Take a look at communist interpreted to intend harm should be restrained.

China, which cut reception of specific moments of our presidential debates to their citizens. What about Stalinist You may agree with nothing that I just said. And that Russia, which disseminated propaganda about thebeokay.Weshouldbeabletohavedisagreeme should glorious prosperity of Russia while invading Ukraine a themoutthroughdiscussionand andseektoin work desperate attempt to find food?These examples all show not censorship and silencing. The only way for society to the end result of restricting free speech. Even as I write progress is to give a platform for all voices, even those you this Russian troops have destroyed Ukrainian TVstations, completely disagree with. In hearing out and discussing quelling dissent. opposing beliefs, we can not only further our own

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worldviewandbecomemoreconfidentinourselves What I seek to propose, then, is tolerance of a great can also bring people to our side through rational discourse. variety of beliefs (with several key exceptions that I will discuss shortly) and an end to censorship.Take ideas likelies in our diversity of viewpoints.

Our nation’s strength the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, or the January But without healthy dialogue and debate, that diversity will 6th riot and insurrection. While controversial, these ideas ceasetoexist.Americansspeak,now,moretimidlyt are political at their core. Twitter censored people who before, for they are afraid of being shut down. But Free spoke of how the virus originated in a Chinese lab,is and speech the core of our nation.Without it, we a it later turned out to be fully possible, according to the and powerless in the face of a world that wants to destroy.

CDC. Donald Trump’s alleged incitement of violence got Our strength comes from our ability to speak fre him banned from Twitter after January 6th. But there is stand up for what we believe is right. an argument for both sides, meaning that one can make a case for both Trump’s guilt and innocence. And as With that, ponder this question: how can we restructure our long as there is some potential to change your beliefs, as society to ensure that we remain both safe and strong? there was with the origins of COVID, nothing should be

Artwork by Carlisle Smith 7

Now: All Of Us Are Butterflies!

Up Next: Why Hurricanes Are Running Out Of Names How the Butterfly Effect affects all of us every day.

By George Walton

“Tworoadsdivergedinayellowwood,”wroteyou Robert stillhavemadeittothatsamecollegebyt Frost.Thesefamouswordsmakeaninteresting different route? metaphorforlife:taketheroadontheright,andyou’ll show up at Town Centre, hanging out with your friends That’stheButterflyEffect,anever-changing,bran on a Saturday afternoon. But the left road might lead likesystembasedonminisculevarianceswith you to spend the day studying for your upcoming math universe. The smallest decision–maybe even one you test. Same afternoon, two different options that could makeonacompletewhim–cancausealong-term lead to endless possibilities. It all depends on how you effect that completely alters the rest of your life. These respondtothetextyougetFridaynightasking choicesyou leadto to other choices, which lead to more, come hang out on Saturday. Maybe you stay home and and so on. Which… is scary, to be honest. Without study.Youreallykillthetest,andyouendknowing upinyour it,youcouldchangeyourlifeforever,or dream college. Yet, whoknowswhat someone else could change it for you without you even might have happened if liftingafinger. you didn’t study?

Would Imagineyourselfwalkingdownahall,maybetheth flooroftheUpperSchool.Classjustletout,andi everybody’s favorite for lunch: Bang Bang Shrimp.

Allofasudden,thehallsflood,andhereyouare walkingthroughthemiddleofitall.Lookingaro you notice someone opening a door, which redirects traffictowardsyou.Allofasudden,yourplanned route becomes obstructed, so you move to the left to avoidit,makinganewpath.Whatyoudidn’t see was the door on the left that just opened abruptly. And then someone tries to dodge it,

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bumps into someone, who then bumps into you, then you bump into…you see where this is going.

up.Sorry.That’slife.That’stheButterflyEffect.We can’tpredictthefuturebecauseofalltheun variables just waiting to mess up our perfect system.

This isn’t just a hypothetical problem or situation: this That annoying piece of dirt that gets in the way of so ButterflyEffect,eveninsmallproportions,is many your possibilities: without it, we would have control. everyday life. You are here. Who you are is a result of all We would have order and purpose. Without that small the choices you and others have made before this very piece of dirt, we would have the easiest existence ever. moment.

Justlookintothatmicroscopeandtaketheb whatever you want.

SoisthereabeneficialsidetotheButterflyEffect thatwecantakeadvantageof?Well,yes.Or,maybe But that piece of not.Rememberthathallway?Nowzoomout.Like dirt, annoying ahelicopter,we’refloatingabove,observingitinits as it is, gives entirety. This is where science can help us on our quest us variety, toconquereverybutterflythatflapsitswings. surprise, and Inessence,thehallwayislikeaPetridish.Above diversity. it is the microscope, and above that It gives microscope is our eye. us life as Instead of a weknow hallway it, which is and ultimately made better students, by the you now see molecules bouncing around in the dish, bumping into each other and the possession walls of the dish. Using angles, of that geometry,and(forthefirsttime diversity intherealworld)math,wecan and surprise. As actually calculate where each molecule humans, we want to is going, which molecule will be hit, and control our lives, but your what effect it will have on that microcosm you are input might not exactly equal your studying. This is as perfect as the simulation can get. expected output, studying for that test might not get you intoyourdreamcollege,andtakingthatleftor Butsomewhereinyourlab,aflylandsonabroom.won’talwaysendwhereyouthinkitwill.

Thatbroomfallsdownontoapottedplant,whichflings dirt everywhere.Thankfully,onlyasinglemolecule Soofwhy would you try? If nothing is guaranteed, if what dirtmakesitintoyourdish.Yetthatspeck you still want might changes not be the best for you, why bother? everything. Something you predicted would hit the wall Even if we don’t have total control over our lives, that of the dish, now hits the dirt instead. Now the dirt and doesn’tmeanit’spointlesstotry.Whichismor thatothermoleculespinofftomakemoreand Achieving more your goal by pure chance or because you rogue molecules, throwing your perfect system into utter triedyourbesttogetthere?Sure,itmightnot chaos. and we might never know what is best, but that shouldn’t stop us from doing what we want, or what we feel is As much as we try, we can’t predict the future, no matter right.Justremember,thepathwetakecanmake“ how zoomed out our microscope; there will always difference.” beafly—somethingwedidn’tpredict—thatmessesit

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Puzzled by the Time A case for true crime.

by Avery Chambers

however,wewillneverfullyknowwhatgoesoninsi American Murder: The Family Next Door. Why would their heads. More generally, we become interested in somebody choose to watch something with such a the lives of other people because they perform in ways gruesome title? One can only assume extreme violence, we could never imagine doing ourselves, whether it be a gory scenes, blood, and dead bodies. But for some morbid fascination with Ted Bundy or a more innocuous unknownreason,it’saddicting.Whatcausesordinary loveare of Taylor Swift.

Obviously, Taylor Swift is on top of peopletoobsessoverdisturbingscenesthat likely to themusicindustrywhileTedBundywasaserialki horrify them? butpsychologicallyspeaking,ouryoungteenbrain Some research studies suggest that it’s merely because we drawntothe“unknown”ofthoseliveswewillnev are fascinated by the well-plotted mystery of true crime. fully understand, because we will never be them. We are Other research suggests we have a desire to explore the creatures of curiosity. complexities of our inner human nature. Ever been angry enoughtothinkaboutharminganotherindividual?Don’t befooled.We’veallbeenthere.It’sthe“darksideof humanity.” After all, as they say, criminals start out as peoplejustlikeus,buttheydemonstratewhatdaringto breaktheruleslookslike.Allofusaretemptedatsome pointtobreaksociety’smanyrestrictionsandregulations, but to go so far as murder, for an ethical person, is unfathomable. Anyone could commit a crime. But for the truly insane, it’s easy.

However, a true crime obsession is multifaceted and can’t be explained with one simple answer. Perhaps the fascination with crime comes from curiosity. Personally, Ifindthemostinterestingcrimedocumentariesarethose thatlabeltheserialkillerasacompletely“normal”person.

There is nothing visibly wrong with them.. Therefore, my brainfindsithardtologicallyexplainwhythispersonwent haywire. And if my brain can’t create an explanation and labelforaserialkiller,howisthatpersonanydifferentthan myself?AndthenIfindmyselfstartingtothink,“Whoa, that could be me.”

But why are we curious about these things we don’t understand?Whydowefearthe“unknown,”yetare constantlyfindingourselvesatthecenterofit?

Serialkillersfascinateusbecausewedon’ttrulyknow them.Wemayknowsomefactsaboutthem,likewho theyhavekilledandmaybesomeunderlyingmotives;

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Artwork by Amber Wilsondebriano

We also can’t help but wrestle with the hypothetical while revealing very little about himself, causing idea of being a victim of one of these serial people killers. to deeply wonder how this man led a double We feel some security when watching true crime life. documentaries because we are warned of the possible evils that can happen to us: kidnapping, human In another case, for example, a man named Scott trafficking, Peterson was accused of killing his wife, Laci However, as many believe, there was no conclusive evidence proving he did it. So why was he sentenced to life in jail? The media. This case became a national sensation, and the world decided Scott was guilty in their minds before he ever reached a court hearing.

The media has the power to twist a story in order to attract as many viewers as possible. Their goal is to create a never-ending cycle; one in which there is a nagging and unquenchable thirst for more stories, more inside scoops. The media truly knows ho feed our true crime obsession, sometimes at the cost of the truth.

Don’t be fooled.

We’ve all been there. It’s the “dark side of humanity.”

So, is true crime harmful or not?

True crime can normalize horrific events and desensitize the young mind to such horrid actions. When we continuously watch and absorb the possible violence of murder. We are taught, humanity, we begin to especially as girls, never to walk alone, always in accept this as just pairs. But surrounded by loving family and friends, the part of society, majority of young adults have not experienced any such good and tragic events, and true crime shows us that we could be potential victims. And so we wonder what it would be like to be a victim. We are afraid to explore evil or experience the unknown of a dark, evil world coexisting. because we are uncertain of what to do in those situations.

Not only do On the other hand, being open to the world of crime we accept it, but educates us and makes us feel somewhat empowered sometimes we almost and in control over what could happen to us. expect these terrible things to occur. We become However, a young teen doesn’t just wake up cynical one and desensitized. There is day immediately addicted to watching true crime. no reaction to the news or media when Something stirs it, pushing a normal level of interest these horrific things do occur. to obsession. That something is the exaggeration and propaganda of the usual perpetrator: the media.

Our fascination with true crime reveals how we desire to empathize. Serial killers stray from the s From documentaries to bright colored Instagram norm in such an extreme and atrocious way that they posts, we are intrigued with the amount of information should obviously be condemned; however, we still find we can receive with the click of a button.ourselves Whether searching for ways to understand them. We it be podcasts or documentaries, particular criminal attempt to empathize with them by dissecting them, cases and serial killers, such as Ted Bundy, by digging owe their for reasons in their childhood to explain infamous reputation to the media. In the Ted Bundy the person they became. And so true crime poses an Tapes, Bundy manipulates the media into feeding a intricate puzzle that we will always seek t glorified narrative of himself. He milkedifthe we don’t attention always have all of the pieces.

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The Bat-men?

Many rise from the shadows, yet only one dark knight rises Words by: Joey Carter Art by: Beau Porter

WeallknowBatman.Theiconiccloakedfigurewho mostly focuses on the dichotomy of the Bruce Wayne / wears the shadows of buildings and lives beneath Wayne Batmanpersona,andhowhecametobethecrimefigh Manor.He’soneofthe,ifnotthemost,wellknown and moral judge that he is now, the new Batman is a much superheroes in the DC Universe. His iconic specialty, darkerandcoldermovie,emphasizingthecrimean justicewithoutanykilling,hasdrawnabold corruption moralin line Gotham in City more than on? the actual bat the city. character.Duetothis,Reeves’movieishonestly about Batman, so much as about the villains and crime on His portrayal has varied over the years, from classic Gotham’s streets, if only from Batman’s perspective. comicbooksoftheloyalandbraveCapedCrusaderto the witty and satirical LEGO Batman movies. A variety ofactorshavetakenontheiconicroleofthis Additionally, powerful the actual production of this newest movie figure,suchasMichaelKeaton,ValKilmer,Georgefeels off. While Nolan crafted this to perfection, the Clooney,BenAffleck,ChristianBale,andmostrecently masterpiece of a movie shows a contrast between good RobertPattinson.ThoughKeaton,Kilmer,Affleckand andevillikenightandday,almosttwo-faced,theR even Clooney have their fans, many feel that few of them productionisalwaysdark.Almosteverysceneise meaure up to the standard set by Bale in Christopher shotinaclub,inthenight,orinabasementorada Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, which, has been esteemed as room. There seems to be no light in this new movie, the best set of Batman movies to date. and thus no good, only evil. This constant shadow that themovieresidesincanmakeitalmostblandto Which brings to the newest The Batman, directed by Matt at times. While the plot in the movie is actually quite Reeves.So,howdoesPattinson’sperformanceintriguing varyfrom and thrilling, the actual scenes and shots seem Bale’s iconic performance? Well, it has a whole different sub-par, and become an eye sore after a while of watching. vibe to say the least. While The Dark Knight Trilogy

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Furthermore,Pattinsondoesn’tseemtofill investment theroleofThe bankerwhoislatertoberevealed BataswellasIthoughthewould,andcertainly killer. doesn’t HisBateman fill personaispsychotic,arrogan ChristianBale’shunkysuit.Pattinson’sBruce absolutely Wayne insane isin general, so having this actor transition likeadepressedteenager,alwayslookingsleepintodeprived anupperclasshiddensuperhero,itmakesa and constantly sad, and never shows the arrogant playboy interesting vibe. As seen in the DC movies, Christian Bale billionaire that we would expect to see from Bruce Wayne. develops both sides of the movie, playing the mysterious Instead, he seems to be just one mood of Batman, with anddarkBatmanwhilehavingabehind-the-scene and without the costume, channeling the whole movie into as a billionaire secluded in Wayne Manor. While divided one vibe and almost never alternating between the two betweenthesetwocharacters,ChristianBale sides—themanandhisalterego.Now,Iunderstand tofitthat theattitudeofeachone. theReevesfilmisalotdarkerthantheNolantrilogy,but whenyouarestuckinaseriesofdepressionand One darkness particular scene in Batman Begins serves as a good fortwohoursand56minuteswithnobackground example: of Bale as the cocky billionaire BruceWayn Bruce Wayne or anything that happened before, it can be is seen at a hotel with a few models by his side. While frustrating to bear. he is at dinner, the models, very drunk, decide to in the decorative fish tank in the adjoining ho Bale has starred in a multitude of award-winning and When the manager comes up to Wayne and tells him famousfilms,suchAmerican as Psycho and The Big he needs to leave with his friends, he, stuck up a Short. His stunning facial structure–uh, I mean natural extremely pretentious, writes a check, hands it talent for acting has saying, “Well you see made him a major I’m buying this hotel, on-screen presence. and uh, setting some (Bale has even been new rules about the pool the subject of many area”. Befuddled, the memes, including his waiter walks away and famouswalkfrom carries on with what he American Psycho was doing, while Wayne where his character is goes back to dinner, walkingintheoffice and then even joins with the headphones the models for a swim on, dancing to music himself. We do not see andwavinglikeanicefriendlyguy—thathe’sany most of this feigned arrogance by Pattinson, makin certainlynot.)He’safamiliarandgood-looking Bruce face, Wayne but pretty dull and boring, only focusing on his what about his routine sets him apart from all others? downs and not his ups. Christian Bale, on the other hand, seems to fit the duality perfectly, portraying th For one, it’s dedication. After performing in The Machinist mix of obnoxious yet suave in his billionaire playboy, in204,amovieaboutanemaciatedworker,Bale,who offsetting his real heroism underneath. Additionally, hadpareddowntoameasly12pounds,hadtosetonto this lack of complexity by Pattinson leads to a o astricttrainingregimentinordertoprepare dimensional forthe Caped first Crusader a character who you don’t movie of the Dark Knight trilogy, Batman Begins. In order even really know that well in the end. to transform into the mass of man that the Batman is, Bale hadtotackonanadditional10poundsin6months We can inall agree that both of these bat-men have very preparationforthefilm,andthenneededtime pretty before faces. the However, Christian Bale seems to not 6monthswasovertocutsomeofthebulktobuild onlythe showthedarkandstoicfigureofBatman,butt refinedshapeofthemuscularBruceWayne.Soinobnoxious aspan and arrogant personality of Bruce Wayne as of 6 months, Bale went from underweight to extremely well.Pattinson’sBatmanisdifferent.Itwasdar bulkyandevenhadtimetothinouttoadefined and very andmuch focused on the crime of Gotham City and genuinely strong person, just for the act.

Batman’s response to that. His performance is one-sided and unilateral which made his performance rather bland.

Butthekey,Ithink,ishisnaturaltalentand Returning versatility backtotheking,theoneandonly,Chris as an actor. Christian Bale has starred in many previous BaleoffersaflavorfulperformanceofnotonlyBatm filmsbeforeNolan’sTrilogy,asIexplainedearlier, but Bruce butWayne I as well and playing between the duality am going to focus mainly on his performance in American of the two perfectly. Christian Bale’s title remains as the Psycho.Inthisfilm,BaleplaysPatrickBateman,a one crazy andtrueDarkKnight.

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Anna Caroline Symonds

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MAKE AN INTERESTING MOVIE, HOLLYWOOD. PLEASE.

When I think of an action movie, my mind floods with a montage of deafening gunshots, muscular men, car crashes, and fight scenes––because nearly every single one relies on these same tropes to engage their audiences. All cards on the table? I’m tired of this blatant, laughable laziness.

Let’s begin where all movies do: the trailer. Every single action movie draws an audience in the same way with the only cool shots in the entire movie: a man scaling a building, a glimpse of a beautiful lady gasping in fear, a fiery explosion. And yet, somehow, these cliches sell. In order to rely on these titillating “ingredients” to maximize ticket sales, action films neglect the script and characterization, creating instead the movie equivalent of clickbait. And because of its attractive qualities, action consistently remains one of the highest grossing genres every year. So many people get hooked in to watch these movies, despite likely having seen another with the same plot and action shots; the only difference being character names (unless it’s the case of the Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher franchises).

Action movies use these simple captivating elements to maximize their audience and generate the most amount of revenue in spite of their low-quality writing. Without strong dialogue, characters remain just that--characters. A good, entertaining movie should include dialogue that humanizes these otherwise fictional people and fosters a connection between the audience and the personality. Instead, action movies include lines that simply push the plot along and segue into the next explosion. Humans crave impressive spectacles, and action movies feed that desire; people become addicted to these explosive scenes. The result? They flock to theaters, hoping to see their favorite actors shoot guns on screen. These cliched violent stunts provide just enough adrenaline to satisfy viewers, but do they inspire them?

Even the casting is lazy. When casting a top-selling action movie, it seems like directors always resort to a short list of men they can rely on to attract viewers: Tom Cruise, Vin Diesel, Liam Neeson, Terry Crews, The Rock, Nicolas Cage, Mark Wahlberg. These men manage to make millions simply by being classically macho. Their power and strength reverberate on screen, but their bodies do most of the hard work for them, making them easy-picks for lazy directors who do not want to spend time developing unique and

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powerful personalities. Is the intensity of The Rock’s physical presence on screen due to his acting abilities? No. The movies rely on his muscle mass to create a dominant, “superhuman” character. Now, it’s not my intention to undermine The Rock’s accomplishments; I recognize that it takes an immense amount of effort to become a recognizable name in Hollywood. But if an action movie could construct an interesting and complex character for him (perhaps like the more rounded individual he portrays on HBO’s Ballers), I feel like he could really show off his talent. I’m just bored. I’m bored of actors like The Rock playing the same characters with the same personalities.

It’s time for Hollywood to level up this genre, and diverge from the tropes on which they rely.

Not only do they depend on the same stereotypes and personalities, but they also adhere to the same characters and create a collection of movies that frequently do not build off of one another. And oftentimes, in order to make the series last as long as possible, they cast several different actors over the years to play the same character.

Seven actors have played James Bond, five actors have played Jack Ryan, three have played

Spiderman, and so on. This goes to show that just as they have found tropes that “work” for them, they also find likable enough characters that they exhaust until their good idea is dead. At some point, they need to give it a rest and come up with a new idea.

Also, almost anyone who watches these movies can notice how so few of the characters are women. While men like The Rock manage to be cast over and over again in very similar roles, actresses struggle to even have a speaking

role. Only about 28% of speaking roles in action movies belong to women. And when women are cast, they are often hypersexualized––who would wear tiny shorts and heeled boots to battle a swarm of enemies? So why do actresses rarely get to play strong female characters?

Perhaps the idea of an unsexualized and strong female character deters their target audience: men vicariously living out their hero fantasies. Perhaps action movie writers are too scared to sacrifice the approval of this audience to include women in this sector of the industry.

I’m not entirely sure the reasons, but there’s no denying that the discrepancy exists. And the depressing thing is, when movie creators attempt to include women, it often feels forced. For example, the very creation of Batgirl and Supergirl feels cursory. The writers were too lazy to give women their own superpowers, so they just rebranded Batman and Superman as “girls.” Also, the fact that they’re Batgirl and Supergirl, not Batwoman and Superwoman is notable, don’t you think? Would you call Superman, Superboy?

Action movies are essentially Hallmark movies marketed for men. They are released rapidly with the intention to attract a large audience, and people eat them up. And just as Hallmark movies are constantly (rightfully) criticized for their predictable storylines, so should action movies.

They both have their cliché, cheesy scenarios that try to make the main character likable, but honestly, all they do is make me want to cringe, roll my eyes, and stop watching the movie. Both Hallmark and action movies are mindless fun, but I have never heard someone praise the genius of a Hallmark movie; meanwhile, some claim to be so invested in an action movie that they “can’t sit still.” Sorry, but I struggle to feel anxious about a character’s impending death in an action movie when there has been absolutely no visible effort put into his development. Sure, the main character’s best friend dying can be jarring, but I feel no attachment to them at all, so I couldn’t care less if they’re gone. When a character dies, I want to feel the true pain of loss; I want that cathartic experience that movies can give us when they have excellent writing and development. But action movies don’t help me know their characters, so I don’t know what I’m missing.

At the end of the day, the old adage is true: follow the money. Action movies want to maximize their profits; they’ve found what works best and they’ve stuck with it.

While the world progresses, action movies do not. Their overuse of 70 year old tropes bore me. But maybe you still enjoy them. Maybe the sight of exploding buildings brings a smile to your face everytime. If so, by all means, watch every action movie you want—just don’t include me.

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Lights, Camera, Exploitation.

We need to talk about the sexualization of child stars.

By Emily Benasutti

You speedily scarf down your dinner while gluing your in the most vogue clothing. What may not have been eyestotheclockabovethestove.Tenmoreminutes. apparent, though, were the consequences of becoming a Your heart races as you await the most important night child star. While we might have envied Miley Cyrus for oftheyear.Eightminutes.Rushingtotheliving her notable room,status and talent, we were simultaneously youmakesureyourclaimedspaceonthecouch ignorant hasnot to the revolting sexualization she, and many beentakenbyyoursiblings.Twominutes.Snatching other children, thewere experiencing. remote off the table, you hurriedly turn on the television.

Sixtyseconds.Aftermonthsofanticipation, When it’s you finally only see the glamorization of being famous, here. On your screen is the premiere of the new Hannah you often don’t consider the struggles that celebrities Montana movie. undergo.Manycelebritiesspeakupaboutthetr they experience from the general public: criticism on As you watch her rise onto the stage, you wonder what socialmedia,stalking,lackofprivacy, USAetc.For it’sliketobeastar.Closingyoureyes,youenvision Today, Taylor Swift touched on her experience being yourself in her position. Bright lights illuminating your stalked,stating,“Itrynottoeverreallysaywh silhouette. Thousands of fans simultaneously chanting am, since all my addresses are on the internet… I’ve your name. All you want in the world is to be famous. hadalotofstalkersshowuptomyhousearmed.”

To be given the spotlight.

Within hours of her statement, articles were published advocating for Swift’s safety and criticizing the behavior Many children of our generation once shared this same of people who invade the private lives of celebrities. dream. Whether it was through acting on television, Althoughtheseresponsesareentirelyjusti singing in concerts, or playing in sports games, our also subtly expose the hypocrisy that exists in modern media. The same media that promotes messages about treating celebrities as real people and respecting their privacy goes on to encourage the sexualization and objectificationofchildstars.

“While we might have envied Miley Cyrus for her notable status and talent, we were simultaneously ignorant to the revolting sexualization she, and many other children, were experiencing.”

Sexualizing famous children has unfortunately remained a consistent trend in Hollywood for several decades.

Shirley Temple, often considered to be the most famous child actor of the early twentieth century, experienced public sexualization at the mere age of four years old.

Premieringinaseriesofshortfilmsnamed“Baby Burlesks,”shewasforcedtopartakeinsexuall suggestive content in which she wore highly provocative adult clothing. Temple’s early entertainment career continued to circulate around inappropriate material.

In her autobiography titled Child Star, Temple refers tothesefilmprojectsas“acynicalexploitati young imaginations desired to be widely recognized childish innocence.” Unfortunately, Temple endured this forourextraordinary(thoughoftenimaginary) revolting talent. sexualization before many child protection OnDisneyChannelandNickelodeon,wewatched laws were enacted. Although these laws have now been kidsourownage,andweimaginedhowremarkable in effect itfor decades, they don’t always protect famous wouldbeifwewereintheirshoes:knownandchildren adored fromevengrosserobjectificationfro by millions, not having to attend school, getting to dress public.

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“As they mature, they may feel as though they must reserve their sexuality because it was spotlighted throughout their childhood.”

Recently,unfortunatestoriesofBritneySpear Socialmediahasactedasasignificantgateway haveto come to light in the media regarding the revolting promote the sexualization of famous children. On various exploitation she experienced as a child and adolescent. platforms, the lives of young stars are constantly being TheNetflixseries Britney vs. Spears exposed common blasted and dissected. Who they date, what they eat, and tactics that are often exercised in Hollywood for the how they dress are subjects that constantly remain in the purposeofsexualizingyoungwomenlikeBritney.In headlines of entertainment news outlets. For instance, 207,Britneyexperiencedwhatmanyoutletsclaime Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown gained her beaninfamous“mentalbreakdown”inwhichshewa stardom at the age of twelve, and has since spent her publically photographed shaving her head and bashing a adolescence in the spotlight. She has secured her place as carwithanumbrella.Magazinesandwebsiteswer one of the most popular child actresses of our generation, topublisharticlestitled“InsideBritney’s accumulating over forty-seven million followers on (People)and“BritneyinCrisis!

OK!)These . ”( photos Instagram. Unfortunately, this fame has come at a continue to circulate the internet today with a multitude sickeningprice,asBrownhasexperiencedintense ofuserscreatingmemesorsharingjokesregard sexualization for years. At only thirteen, she was included bizarre incident. Britney will unfortunately always be in a W Magazine article titled “Why TV Is Sexier Than associated with the “deranged star” persona that the media Ever.” Additionally, Brown’s attendance of the 2020 prescribed to her. But who drove her to that point?

Screen Actors Guild Awards caused an upheaval on social media in which thousands of adults were inappropriately commentingonherredcarpetlook.Myfacehunter. comquicklypublishedanarticletitled“MillieBobby Brown bares a hint of cleavage in Louis Vuitton at the 2020 SAG Awards.” In response to the inappropriate comments, Brown posted an Instagram video with the caption,“Ourworldneedskindnessandsupportinorder for us children to grow and succeed…I get frustrated from the inaccuracy, inappropriate comments, sexualization, and unnecessary insults that ultimately have resulted in pain and insecurity for me.” Her frustration shows how sexualizationoftenresultsinloweredconfidenceand self-esteem. Having millions of strangers constantly criticizingayoungstar’sphysicalappearance Overmakes the years, child stars from various generations itdifficultoruncomfortableforthemtonavigate their havespoken outabouthowtheirprematurest personal sexuality; and as they mature, they may feel as created long-term consequences for their mental stability. though they must repress their sexuality because it was Sexualization of children most frequently causes intense spotlighted throughout their childhood. insecurityandvulnerabilitythatisdifficult

“Sadly, Britney will always be associated with the “deranged star” persona that the media prescribed to her. But who drove her to that point?”

For example, Natalie Portman became popular for her Socialmediasurelyplaysasignificantrolein actingatonlyelevenyearsoldthroughthe194film perpetuating sexualization, but it certainly was not the Léon: The Professional.ThisfilmdisplayedPortmanina creator of this revolting trend. Sexualizing famous child rathermaturewayandprovokedinappropriate stars has been established since the mid twentieth century, regarding her appearance. Over two decades later, in but it truly became a sensation around the early 2000s.

20,sheclaimedthat“beingsexualizedasachildto

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awayfrommyownsexuality…Irealizedveryquickly talkingaboutthesexualobjectificationthat that if I were to express myself sexually… I would feel stars experience, but the reality is that it occurs to unsafe.” This insecurity continues to affect Portman boys as well. Finn Wolfhard, another young star in through her adult years as she feels she must publicly Stranger Things, has also experienced a good deal portray herself in a conservative manner to prevent the ofsexualizationinhischildhoodcareer.In2017,a sexualization that she experienced as a young teenager. 27-yearoldfashionmodelnamedAliMichealposted an Instagram story of Wolfhard that she captioned Wetendtoautomaticallythinkoffemales “Not when to be weird, but hit me up in a few years.” The young star has received thousands of similar comments on his social media pages for years, despite the fact that he only recently turned eighteen. It is our responsibility to raise awareness regarding the sexualization of all child stars regardless of their gender.

This sexualization of children is not limited to celebrities. Social media perpetuates the sexualization of all children no matter social or financialstatus.Our current generation is experiencing some of the most severe forms of sexualization through trending standards on modern appssuchasTikTok and Instagram. Just lookaround.Children who still attend elementary school are becoming increasingly pressured to dress more provocatively due to online trends.

To protect their underdeveloped minds and innocence for the sakeoftheirfuture stability, children should be protected

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fromthesepitfallsofcelebrityandfame.

I wish Erika that I wasn’t sitting here writing about the Christakis,aformerfacultymemberofthe sexualization Yale of children, but that’s where society Child Study Center, suggests that experiencing has ultimately brought us. Not sexualizing children a normal childhood “is of critical importance is easy. But as long as our culture continues to do it, because… their developing brains are given the we should be aware of its implications and form a chance to grow in a nurturing, language-rich, resolution that will prevent future generations from and relatively unhurried environment.” Being living in a world where they are sexualized before they fully develop.

sexualized by the media as a child has catalyzed an emotionalbreakdownin several celebrities’ adult lives:justlookatBritney Spears, or Lindsay Lohan.

Hyper-sexualization additionally prevents child stars from being able to have agency over their own sexuality as they grow. There should ultimately be stricter child protection laws that prevent such sexualization and better shield the innocence that has been strippedfromotherslike them at such a young age.

Artworkby Carlisle Smith

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READ THIS ARTICLE IF YOU’RE A GOOD PERSON Why feeling bad won’t save the world.

By Abby Comer

EverymorningIfeellikeI’mwakinguptoanewdisaster. using to write this article and even this magazine you are European and American politics are falling apart, global reading can seem products of deforestation. No matter what warminghascontinuedtobecomeworse,anditIfeels do, it seems like there will always be planetary repercussions, no progress is being made with Covid and it’s our fault. All and that’s something that I feel is completely out of my of this is leading to a growing sense of guilt, and quiet panic control. has found its way into many of us. It’s understandable: we all want to help but we wonder if it’s too late to really Inmoderntimes,suchanxietythatisspecificallyd matter. However, we also feel bad when we do nothing, towards or associated with the decaying environment which leaves us feeling even worse than we had before as on Earth leads to existential dread. As the planet is now we are the problem. slowly dying as a result of human activity, many of us are struggling to see our true purpose in life, and we are This condition is often called a guilt complex, something I beginningtoquestionifit’sevenworthfindingou believe to be the biggest catch-22 of all time, a situation in rate of Earth’s decay. It feels as though the world is going to whichyouarestuckwithnogoodsolution.Themind end tomorrow, feels so why does it really matter where we go in trapped in a cycle in which you feel bad about all of the our lives? things that you’re doing that are hurting the planet but you feel as though there’s nothing you can do that will help. As WithCovidespeciallyitfeelslikethereisnocu aresult,youdon’tdoanything–butthatjust will makes actually youfeel worktopermanentlyexterminatet worse.

More than half of the people in the United States are fully vaccinated and almost half of the population that is Such guilt can be directly tied to anxiety, perhaps that that vaccinatedhasabooster.Whythendoesitfeellik we’vefeltsinceourchildhoods,specificallythe isn’t anxiety going anywhere? Why do I feel the need to constantly from pressure being put on us. Growing up in a household haveamaskinmypocket?Atbiggatheringsofpeople with high expectations or being a person who insists on ratherthanhavingfunI’mthinking: This really looks like having high standards for yourself at some point, especially a super-spreader. The anxiety and stress that was very at a young age, can be severely detrimental to your mental prominent during the beginning of Covid is often still here, well-being as you grow older. Beyond the fact that we and yet we have made great strides towards restraining the generally believe we are able to do better, there is a guilt virus—sowhythendoesitfeellikewe’regoingnow that comes along that tells us that we’re a failure when we Similarly,itfeelslikenothingwecandowillreal don’t see things improve. In the current generation, this meaningful purpose, so we’re tempted by that same feeling is most commonly seen in school with students who fear of helplessness that comes out of climate change. While they’re not living up to their parent’s expectations, their climate change and Covid are extremely different things, teacher’s expectations, and even their own. they both seem to have no good cure. Many organizations suchastheCleanAirTaskForce—whichhelpstore Environmental guilt is now etched into the psyche of a airpollution—areworkingtohelpwithglobalwa majority of people growing up in this generation. Teenagers similarlytothewaymanyscientistshavebeenwo today are not only far more aware of how humans actively findacureforCovid.Theybothhavemanypeoplework harm the planet, but also may feel intrinsically part of to alleviate the problem at hand, but it feels as though no thepreviousgenerations’mistakesbysimply long-lasting beingborn. progress has been made on either.

Such feelings of uselessness are not appealing to any of us.

However,thatishowmanypeople(myselfincluded) I constantly feel wish I could do more to help the world, I’m rightnow.ItfeelsasthougheverythingIdoiskilling sure most the people do, but that doesn’t change the fact that I planet in some way: the computer I’m using will become don’torthatIcan’t.ItfeelslikeI’mwatchingamov obsoleteinlessthan10yearstimeandwillend know upin that a Icouldbehandlingthesituationmuch landfillsomewhere,thecarthatIneedtodrive the characters toschool in the movie are but at the end of the day, isaddingtocarbonemissionsdaily,thewooden I’mdesk not a character I’m in a movie. The world around us doesn’t

have a coherent plot from which I can devise a far-reaching solution. And, inevitably, the curtains are going to close with me having no involvement whatsoever in anything that I feel really “matters”.

In a world that seems run by social media, it’s easy to watch all the bad things happening in the world from the safety

“The world around us doesn’t have a coherent plot from which I can devise a far-reaching solution.”

of a screen and feel bad but comfortably distanced. For example, every morning I listen to a daily news podcast on the way to school and it explains everything major that’s happening each day, the good and the bad. I remember getting in my car, turning on the podcast, and hearing about theRussianinvasionofUkraine.Itwasscarytolis tobutRussiawasjustmovinginonUkraineatth However, the next day when I got in the car my podcast brought up the situation again, and then again the next day; itwasonlythenIfinallyrealizedtheseverityoft NolongerdidIfeelcomfortabletreatingitlikei another topic in my podcast” and I begin to feel a ceratin daily hopelessness. Especially with the recent information oftheongingattackonKyivsandthebrutalityth isdeploying,however,thereisstillhopeasUkrai surrenderedyet.Realisticallythereisverylit help in my situation but that doesn’t stop me from feeling guilty about it, a war that’s happening 55,000 miles away.

While it’s unfair to group global warming, COVID, thewarinUkraine,andAmerica’spolitical tensionstogether,Ithinkit’sfairtosay mepersonally—theyallmakemefeelavery large amount of guilt. However, it’s important to remember that guilt is a natural human emotion; however, the growing environmental crisis has exponentially heightened these emotions to a detrimental extent. While the environment is something that everyone should be worried about, there is a limit to how much all of us can do and that is something we should all be able to forgive ourselves for. Learning personal limits is necessary for all of us and, similarly, everyone should learn the limit to which they can no longer help while still being able to help themselves. Nobody can solve every problem, a concept that I myself am still learning to deal with; however, not only is that something we all need to come to terms with as it will only hurt us to be constantly disappointed, but we should also realize that certains things canhelp.Recyclingandlimitingtheamounty drivecanhelptheplanetsome,keepingwit various sanitary precautions can help deter the spread of Covid, and giving generously to various charitiescanhelpsupportthoseinneedi and even here at home. We all need to learn to forgive ourselves for what we are unable to do and appreciate little things we can all do to help so we can, in turn, appreciate the world around us.

Artwork by Anderson Toole

Who’s “That Girl”?

Is the “That Girl” lifestyle beneficial or detrimental?

Text and Art Callie Liberatos

You’veseenher.Oratleastyouknowsomeonewho knew fitsitwasasilly,impossibletask.Still,achalle thedescription.Perfecthair,clearskin,flawless challenge, makeup. so what did I do?

She’salwaysworkingout,gettinghomeworkdone,andjust generally being perfect and productive. She’s “That Girl.”

I tried it.

If you haven’t heard of “That Girl” you’re either: A. Living Honest opinion? It wasn’t completely horrible. But I’ll get underarock;B.NotwatchingenoughTikTok;orC.Aboy. backtothat.

Though being idolized might sound great, the amount of effortittakestopulloffthisideallifestyle So here isinsanely is my strange time experience with the “That Girl” consuming, especially if you’re in high school and have lifestyle. academics, sports practice, extracurriculars, clubs, etc.

Nevermind the amount of willpower and self-discipline ThefirstproblemIranintowaswakingupat5:30inthe required to maintain such an extensive day-to-day life, but morning. Every. Morning. That facet of the lifestyle was simplythetimeittakesishugelyoverwhelming. something I immediately dropped. Not to be a quitter, but there is absolutely no way I was going to do that. Especially So is the “That Girl” lifestyle realistic? since most of the routine is set going to sleep at night around 12:0/3,meaningyougetfewerthansixhoursofsleep every night, which just isn’t healthy.

Objectively,Iknowmosthighschoolersspendalmo same amount of hours sleeping as an on-call doctor, but I’m someone who spends a lottt oftimesleeping.Y’allkeep being the weirdos up at 4am, alright?

Point being, I wouldn’t recommend getting up at 5:00 in the morning to anyone, especially as someone who is certainly not a morning person; it’s just not worth it. However, I did makeanefforttogetupearly,justnotFIVEAM.Instea Itriedtowakeuparound7:30ontheweekendsand6:30 beforeschool.Strangely,Ireallyenjoyedit.Ifeltl didn’twastemyentireweekendsleeping.Ifeltpr andmotivatedandlikeIhadn’twastedhalfthe justdoingnothing.Itgavemeachancetodoskinca listentoapodcast.Igottofullywakeupandbecon throughout my morning instead of groggily rushing out the door before driving, still half-asleep, to school.

Anotherpartofbeing“ThatGirl”isworkingout.

After watching an absurd amount of YouTube videos Admittedly, I am not the most athletic person out there, as extensively going over the process and routine required literallyanyonewhoknowsmecouldtellyou.It’sno tofittheroleof“ThatGirl,”itseemedtomelike don’t atruly likeworkingout,Ido,Ijustfailatbeingcons impossible goal (and not to mention one that would potentiallyleadtoeitherburn-outorsomeWorking kindofdistorted outregularlyhasquitefranklychangedmyl eatingpattern)You . havetobecometheperfect Orgirl at least that alteredMr.my mindset. It has changed my body’s DarcywantedLizzytobe:accomplished,gorgeous,skilled, programming in a way. I usually feel lethargic in school, able to perform any request at the drop of a hat. Even Lizzy likeI’mjustdriftingfromclasstoclasswithout

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23

Your

Childhood

is

a

Lie.

The Mandela Effect: Should you trust your memory?

By

Gr@ci3

K30gh

Do something for me: imagine the board game Monopoly. need a bigger boat” is really “You’re gonna need a bigger Now, in your mind, describe the “Monopoly Man.” Are you boat.”InthathistoricApollo13flightwhichgaveusa picturing that old guy with the white handlebar mustache in the famous line “Houston, we have a problem”, Command ablacksuitandtophat,holdingacane,amonocle perched Module PilotJackSwigert actuallysaid,“Okay,Houston, over his eye? we’ve had a problem here.”

Well,Ihatetobreakittoyou,butthatisnotthe actual So what is this all about? How is it that so many people “Monopoly Man”, only what we think of as the “Monopoly wrongly remember moments in the exact same way? In Man.”Infact,therealmoney-lovingRichUncle fact, it’s so common that there’s a term to describe this Pennybags, that wheeling-and-dealing icon, has never phenomenon––The Mandela Effect––when we collectively wornamonocle.Notoncefromthemomentthegame first have false memories. The term was named after the former hittheshelvesin1935.Ifyourefusetobelievethis, you of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, who became President mightbeconflatinghiminyourmemorywithMr.Peanut, presidentin194;yet,thousandsofpeopleclaimto that lovable legume adorning the cans of Planters Peanuts distinctlyrememberhimdyinginhisjailcellint for the last century. It’s Mr. Peanut who wears a monocle, alongwithhisblacktophatandcane,whichisStudies possibly

by Marney White, a professor of psychiatry at Yale whatmakeshimblurtogetherwith“MonopolySchool Man”in ofour Medicine, have been done on the Mandela Effect, memories. and results have shown that mass groups of the population experience“confabulation,”orotherwiseknowna involuntary false memories is basically where your brain takesotherfactsandfillsinthegapsinyourmem While this may sound similar to having an “overactive imagination”(a.k.a.,lying),itismoreakinto“honest lying” because the individual’s brain insists their version of thetruthisreality.Thereisnodishonestint believes his or her memory is accurate and real.

“It’s no wonder then that conspiracy theories about the Mandela Effect have taken root, claiming alternate universes or government conspiracy theories.”

Oneofthebiggestreasonswhypeoplearesoshocke the original event, instead of what they have previously believed to have been, is nostalgia. The idea of being so sure about something so dear to your childhood -and having that memory shattered with actual facts- is what putsusinthisstateofdenial.TaketheBerens ashowbasedontheclassicchildrens’booksabo family of bears, Mother, Father, Sister, and Brother who live in a hollowed out tree and go on adventures.

Indeed, the Berenstein Bears followed my family on Ok,let’strythisagain:offthetopofyourhead,tell the everyme road tripwetookfrom1-203.Mymomwould most famous quote from Star Wars.Comeon,youknow pop in the Berenstein Bears DVD as we nestled into our thescene.DarthVaderhastrappedLukeSkywalker Toyotaand minivan, and away we all went on the long ride he’s hanging on for life. As Vader inches closer, he begs together. The show’s theme song, illustrations/animations, LuketojoinforceswithhimontheDarkSide.Luke and resists, the important aspect of family taught through fun so Darth Vader plays the only card he has left, stunning the adventuresaresomeofmyveryfirstvividmemorie audiencewhenhereveals,“Luke,Iamyourfather. ”Am I So when Irecentlyfoundout(thanks,TikTok)thatit right?Isthatthequoteyouwerethinkingof?actually Oh,no.Sorry, spelled Berenstain instead of “Berenstein,” I was because that’s… also wrong. What Darth Vader actually immediately in denial. You might as well have told me that says is “No, I am your father.”

Sprite is spelled Spryte. No. way.

And there’s more. The famous Jaws line, “We’re gonna

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The Mandela Effect feeds on our sense of nostalgia. In the

wide range of human emotions, nostalgia is one of the most powerful. Humans are instinctively territorial, and we form It’s no wonder,then, that conspiracy theories about the groupstoseparatethosewhoareintheknow Mandela fromthose Effecthavetakenroot,claimingalterna who aren’t. Dr. Krystine Batcho, a psychology professor universes or government cover ups. Witnesses remember at LeMoyne College, explains in a recent interview for multiple shots coming from two shooters in two different the American Psychological Association, that nostalgia directionsattheJFKassassination.Although,t strengthens a person’s sense of self, helping to solidify governmentWarrenReportreleasedtheyearaft one’s concept of identity: “Nostalgia is an emotional assassination, exhuastively interviewed 500 people and did experiencethatunifies[…]oursenseofwhowe scientific are,our analysisandballisticresearchandc self,ouridentityovertime[…]andgivesusacould sense haveofonly been one shooter from a high window in who we want to be in the future.” Therefore, when we theTexasSchoolBookDepository.IsthistheMande realize that we have misremembered something, it erodes Effect playing with our memories? Probably a question for ascintillaofourconfidenceinourpast.Whoare thewe? auditory cognitive neuroscientists, but my guess is yes, What did we experience? You were nostalgic about the thatfaultymemoryisatworkonceagain.

BerensteinBears?Wham!exactly It’snot what you thought it was anymore.

Weliveinreallystrangetimes.Fakenews,beliefin multiverse and conspiracy theories are all around us.

The rise in social media has also reinforced these collective So, it doesn’t help that on top of that, our memories can false memories. Social media has made it possible to form collectively misremember a cultural event or experience larger groups that can create a herd mentality. The internet through the Mandela Effect. And if you go online to “fact” has given way to these groups and their mass ideology. checkyourownmemory,younowhavetheaddedproble Thatmight’vesoundedlikepropaganda,butisn’t that people that can what edit just about anything. What is real persuasionis?Isn’tthatwhatthey’refighting anymore? for?To And show what is photoshopped? Perhaps the best way thatthey’rethe‘right’onesandit’stheflawed to approach worlditwe is to realize that no one’s memory is perfect,

livein,possiblythinkingour ”It’s faultnot that the past andthat’sokay.Attheendoftheday,nooneisgoing isn’t as we remember it, yet instead it’s these other people sparkmassivechangeovertheword“Berenstain who have no idea what’s going on.” This thought process spelled in a different way than people remember. But until strengthenstheargument––sortof.Confirmation then, enjoy bias the is crazy a conspiracies about the multiverse, and hugeproblemwithintheseherds.Theyareonlythe looking world for ending;becauseyouneverknow,maybethe what helps them prove they’re point, overshadowing what’s right. actually true.

25

Get Lost in Your Own Mind What do your dreams really mean?

By Ella Murphy

One minute, you are driving on your usual route to school, and the next thing you know, the road gives way to an ocean. Your car quickly plunges into the water and vanishes around you. Now you’re scuba diving in clear blue water as dolphins and whales swim by you. You take the dolphin’s fin, but he tells you that he’s a germaphobe and doesn’t want Covid.

Thinking nothing of this strange situation, you are alarmed by a blaring noise off in the distance. Its siren blasts over and over and over again.

Soon, you open your eyes and realize that it’s 7:30 A.M., and you have to get ready for school.

So what are dreams? Your brain is an intricate place that keeps millions of memories, made up of deep thoughts, images and sensations. But some of these memories can get lost in translation. This is why in dreams, we sometimes experience snippets of our past core memories or places we’ve seen in passing mixed together to create a sequence of randomness. Some of us want to make sense of these mistranslated memories because people believe they have a deeper meaning, while others just ignore their dreams.

If you want to make sense of your dreams, one method is to keep a dream journal. This is beneficial for those who truly believe their dreams mean something and want to analyze them for a message or just for fun. A dream journal is most effective when you first wake up: take a few minutes in your notes app or an actual notebook and write down what you remember. This process will help you remember more

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of your dreams and maybe help you induce lucid dreaming.

Lucid dreaming is a state of consciousness during a dream, which allows you to control your own dreams with your mind. Want to fly? Just think about it, and soon, you’re floating ten feet off the ground. In fact, you may have already experienced a lucid dream. 55% of people have had lucid dreams before in their lifetime. It’s incredibly empowering to be able to learn this skill because technically you can do anything

inside of your own mind.

Despite the empowering experiences lucid dreamers have, not all sleeping experiences are positive. We’ve all had a nightmare at least once in our lives. Your nightmares can be caused by excessive stress or anxiety happening during the day, so once your body shuts down, your mind is still active with built up stress. In nightmares, you’re usually being chased by a scary clown, falling from crazy heights, or even

being faced with your greatest fear—but why? Most people believe their nightmares are significant because they are centered around something they have stressed about in real life, but other times, they are just plain terrifying for no reason. A nightmare once in a while isn’t too traumatic, but when bad dreams hone in on our anxieties, it’s a way for our bodies to communicate with us that we need to get help for the sake of our mental health. Our emotional and psychological well-being make a huge impact on us, and if our daily stresses and anxieties manifest too frequently as nightmares, then we should start facing our mental health and dealing with our problems head on.

Even more terrifying than a nightmare is sleep paralysis, which is when a person is awake from their sleep but can’t move or speak. When waking from their sleep, they are faced with the stress of not being able to move, and on top of this, some become so anxious from the paralysis that they feel like they can’t breathe. These episodes don’t last long, but it’s hard to stay calm under what feels to be a magic spell of sorts. If someone has been

extremely sleep deprived and anxious, a sleep paralysis demon might manifest. This demon can be any hallucination, from shadows, to clowns, to vampires, or anything that might bring a person intense fear. The demon torments them while they aren’t able to move, and the person facing this just has to stay calm because the more they freak out, the worse the episode becomes. Being out of control and unable to react

to what’s happening around you would be terrifying to anyone.

Whether you believe your dreams mean something or not, they are still a big portion of our lives, as we take up, on average, one-third of our lives sleeping. They can be meaningful to those who find meaning in them or mean absolutely nothing to those who pay no mind to them. Emotions and stress make a huge difference in our dreams and nightmares, telling us what we are feeling subconsciously and causing us to experience strange things such as our teeth falling out or falling from the sky. Either way, dreams tell us so much more about human nature: we don’t like uncertainty, and we want control.

Our brains are always trying to predict what’s next so that our bodies can react, so when we start to think about what we don’t know or can’t understand, our brains malfunction, and we start to panic. This is why people want to understand their dreams and why some go as far as seeking clarity from psychics and fortune tellers: they are afraid of uncertainty and want to find meaning. But others don’t mind not knowing, and they live with the fact that maybe they’ll never know what their dreams really mean. Dreams are just snippets of our core memories mixed with random ones that make an odd series of events that seem completely normal.

In the end, uncertainty is part of the human experience along with dreams and thousands of other mysteries that we just can’t fully explain. Sometimes we have to learn to just go with the flow and accept that we’re not in control of everything because things don’t change just because we want them to. We have to learn to adapt and accept things as they are, even if they are scary. Once we embrace the unknown, we can finally feel our eyelids get heavy and our minds go blank. Our limbs untense and slowly, subtly, sweetly, we drift.

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THIS PLANNER BELONGS TO:

a stressed high-school student

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Pressure Plan-it

By Carlisle Smith

As I walk into school one morning, up the first flight of stairs and down the hallway without a friend at my shoulder to talk to, a phone to stare at, or a head in the clouds— I start to notice things. I notice the tired faces, fidgeting hands and complaints uttered from other students to their closest friends, and I’m caught off guard because seeing the tired faces of others reminds me of my own. I never relate so much to my peers, save for the few relatable TikToks or memes shared on private stories, but today, I recognize the struggle in their eyes and the slouch of their shoulders.

A girl across the hall worries her bottom lip between her teeth, staring at her phone with a crease in her brow and unspilled tears, threatening to make a scene.

A group of guys to my left drop their gym bags in the middle of the floor and argue over who played worse last night. Their defensive words do little to mask the insecurity left over from their defeat.

Two friends stand together, silently scrolling through social media and shifting every now and then to gain credit for social interaction.

I watch and I listen and I realize, I’m not the only one. I am not the only one who’s tired, anxious or stressed. I’m not the only one who feels pressure.

Before, I’ve heard people say that pressure makes a diamond. That after undergoing a harsh process of force and heat, we will be left with something shiny and perfect.

But to be honest, I don’t always feel that way. In unconventional ways, I do feel like a diamond sometimes: cut down on all sides, taken and placed where I’m not comfortable, forced into something unnatural to me for purposes I don’t endorse. I feel pressure all the time, but I never feel flawless or special.

As people– students, daughters, sons, siblings, employees, athletes and future graduates– we face many different kinds of pressure. Pressure isn’t unnatural or applicable only to ‘the quarterback’ or ‘the nerd’, it’s universal. The experience is shared because it’s human and felt by everyone. It’s what makes all of us nervous, worried, stressed or even insecure sometimes. Occasionally, our stress stems from some of the same places or for the same reasons, but everybody’s experience is unique. We aren’t always comfortable talking about feeling pressure or admitting to it, but it’s there. Whether you can handle it on your own, whether you can share it or you can’t, it’s not just you. It’s all of us too.

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Monday

By Sophie Levenson

Notes:

*Test* Friday!

• return library book • go to extra help

It’s six-thirty on a Monday morning. Bursting with energy, I climb out of bed, eat a full bagel for breakfast, and get to school twenty minutes before the first bell rings. I chat with my friends in the hall outside Homeroom, then saunter off to American History with Mr. Jordan, where my hand incessantly shoots up in the air. Such is the rest of the day—enthusiasm and excellence, followed by Bantam basketball and a productive night of homework. As my evening winds to a close, I set to work studying for my math test—oh, equilateral triangles! The bane of my happy life! Still, my energy level: high. Grade average: 99.

Extracurricular activities: 27. Ah, sixth grade. What a time to be alive.

Five years later. I am caught at that God-awful light which insistently blocks the way onto Albemarle Road; because of the never-ending red, I’ll be two minutes late to school. It’s 8:27. My hair is a mess, because I stopped caring about my appearance at school two years ago, when I became acquainted with the sight of the classmates in sweatpants, Zooming into Chemistry from their beds. My eyes were too sleepy for contacts this morning, so I’m sporting my blue glasses with a frizzy braid, along with a nonPG sweatshirt which I know I will have to remove before C period. I spent Sunday night trying to convince myself to study for an in-class essay, which was a wholly unsuccessful two hours—apparently, my new philosophy of “just winging it” has really taken over my previously impeccable work ethic. Because now, it’s a work ethic shared with two jobs, a volunteer organization, and way too many AP classes; maybe for you it’s a work ethic spread thin between a Varsity sport, two weekly choir practices, and babysitting little siblings. Either way, we’re both tired.

Weekends these days are full of the aching desire to just sit at home, watch Gilmore Girls, and go to bed at nine o’clock.

So every once in a while, when I’m too tired to go the extra mile on my government project, I stop and wonder aloud: did I peak in middle school?

Report Ca rds come out tomorrow!

Why would such a thought ever cross my mind, though? I am seventeen, accomplished, capable.

I am a person defined by qualities far more significant than a GPA; yet, after twelve years of living from classroom to classroom, I seem utterly incapable of escaping the worth ascribed to me by my grades, even though now I am trying to embrace the senioritis and grant myself a week or two of academic grace. At this point, I am fighting against my own mind. The numbers which flash at me from portergaud.myschoolapp.com wield an inordinate amount of power over my selfesteem, and some programmed piece of my brain has decided, definitively, that my quality as a person rests in the eight-point difference between a 91 and 99.

Suddenly, the light turns green.

It is 8:29. I drive on, shoulders tensed, the fingers on my steering wheel stiff from years of scribbled test answers.

Onwards, into the divine calculator of my human value.

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Tuesday

By Gracie Keogh & Nina Ziff The sound of the whistle sets my mind into focus. The noise of the crowd blends into the background; the gym interior blurs until all my concentration centers on the court. My sole priority this fine Tuesday night is victory. The intensity of the close match pumps adrenaline through my veins as the final set comes to an end.

The voice of my coach yelling at our team is second only to the voice in my head. My very own cheerleader: the voice that dictates everything I do.

Right now. Get the point back, let’s go.

Goals for Today:

Beat Bishop England!!

All eyes are on me as the serve floats right over the net directly to me. My pass sends the ball close to our side of the net. The point would have been lost if it weren’t for our setter, who reaches up to set up the offense, as another of my teammates approaches to retrieve the point. Unfortunately, the other team blocks the hit, sending the ball right back to our side of the net. I watch the ball land far out of reach of our libero who was unable to get the dig.

She pushes herself off the ground. Slapping hands I say, “you got the next one, don’t worry about it. That’s a hard ball.”

As I return to my position on the court my “cheerleader” chimes in. Great job, your pass was so bad, you should just have Coach sub you out. You can’t even make an easy pass, she scoffs. The game was about to be over but you had to go on and mess up the point. This is sad, you can’t even handle the pressure, you’ll probably lose playing time.

This is so embarrassing for you: why do you even play this sport if you can’t do anything right?

But Coach doesn’t sub me out like I hoped; instead, I’m given tips on how to to improve my game. I can’t decide which is worse: all the voices around me--especially my inner “cheerleader”--or the idea of being taken off the court, humiliated in front of my team and peers.

Stop thinking! The next play is beginning. You need to stay focused. If you don’t get this next pass, you might as well quit this stupid sport.

The whistle blows again, returning me to the present. My gaze wanders to the score. It’s close.

Way too close. It’s 14-12. We’re winning, but just barely.

I focus in on the ball so intensely that for a brief moment, even my anxiety has a hard time wiggling its way into my mind.

Ok, you’ve got this. Just like practice.

And just like that, the ball finds its way onto my platform. My form is perfect. My pass is perfect.

But am I perfect?

You’re definitely not perfect, remember your last pass? the “cheerleader” reminds me. Or that serve you missed at the beginning of the game which caused the other team’s 5 point run?

The play continues, snapping me out of my contemplations. The other team returns our hit. I settle into my defense, but the girls at the net quickly block our opponent’s spike.

15-12. The game is over. We’ve won. The crowd cheers. And yet, the “cheerleader” incessantly chants one blazing thought in my head:

Everyone played great, but honestly you could’ve played better...

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Wednesday

By Ananya Chag

Wednesday morning, an average day of school on a cool, September afternoon. Balancing my paper plate in my hands, I collapse at my usual spot on the Green to have stimulating conversations about the latest school gossip—or ya know, what color Ms. Davis’s shoes are today (fabulous style choices, by the way).

And just like that, someone casually brings up the ol’ question.

“How far is everyone in their college applications?”

We all know this innocent question has some serious consequences. As I open my mouth to respond, I see the tension rise. Shoulders are alert and at the ready, eyes are avoiding the person who spoke and instead are giving each other looks of “I can’t believe she just said that.”

And then I shut my mouth.

Next to me, two people start to move aside from the others and whisper to each other, subtly of course, so nobody notices. I catch the words “counselor” and “essay.” Just two words. But those two words have an enormous context.

Everywhere I go, “college talk” has become hushed whispers, yet I know that right now, the whole senior class is going through the stressful college process together. We’re tired of adults incessantly asking “the college question.” We want to murder the CommonApp. Scheduling our final SAT is going to be hell. But aren’t we all in this together? Why can’t we all just TALK to each other?

Someone starts, “Well, I’ve almost finished my personal essay, but I still have to finalize it.”

Another asks, “What’s your top school?” And then I see hesitation followed by, “A bunch of different schools I guess.” I try to hide my panic.

Should I hide where I’m applying too? Am I doing something wrong being so transparent? I just told that girl in my AP Micro class where I applied Early Decision; should I have done that? Oh god, I don’t want word getting out. Like everyone else, do I just start shaking my head and feeling uncomfortable at the very mention of the word “college?” I hate this, I hate this, I hate this.

I am jolted back to reality when another friend finally puts a stop to the group’s misery, firmly demanding, “Guys, let’s just not talk about college.” The subject is dropped, and after a couple of minutes, the subject is changed to a more pressing matter: what we’d all be wearing to the birthday dinner that weekend. However, I do not contribute. My thoughts stay right where they are.

My worst fear with my college decision is being judged by my classmates and peers. If I shoot for a “prestigious” school, I’ll be judged. If I want to stay local, I’ll be judged. If I want to go where my friends are, I'll be judged. If you want to use college to escape everyone you know, you will be judged. And of course, there’s the fear of rejection.

What if someone asked me the day after decisions came out, if I got accepted, and I had to tell them the news that made me cry for hours on end? And then they’d realize why my eyes were redrimmed. And then, and then…..

I am jolted back to the present by everybody getting up and leaving for their next class.

I find myself wishing I could travel back in time, to the very moment where my friend had asked the college question. I would have been the first person to speak up.

Instead, I find myself silently walking to class.

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Thursday

By Shea Smith

Math class on a Thursday afternoon: staring at the time and hoping that somehow the arms of the clock will magically skip the forty minutes left of the school day and just hit 3:20 already. Unfortunately, the second-hand of the clock moves as slowly as ever. I silently wallow in my boredom for a second before racking my brain for ways to distract myself. Hmmm…what do I have to do today? Then, I remember.

I have work after school. I discreetly sink down in my seat as dread overwhelms me. After a long, strenuous day at school, I must immediately get in my car and drive to wither away at my $10 an hour job. Besides, after work I have to finish editing my essay and study for a make-or-break test I have tomorrow. How will I make time for all that if I leave work at 9 pm? I’ll go to bed too late, and then I’ll be tired for my test, my grade will suffer– we all know that familiar spiral.

I begin to think of any possible solution— how can I skip work today? I could just call my boss when I get out of school. I could make up some little lie… maybe I can be sick today, or tell them I have an emergency or something. I reluctantly brush those thoughts off as the realization comes to me: I’ve already missed work twice in the past week. If I call off again today, my boss will definitely give me the boot. He even confided in me last week that running the business has been super stressful for him lately, and he doesn’t want the hassle of an employee who doesn’t give him 100%. I have to go in today if I want to keep my job.

Maybe I should just quit. It’s my junior year; I have enough on my plate.

Work is an unnecessary source of stress. But I can’t quit. I need the money; my

parents are fed up with always paying for my stuff, and no one likes that annoying friend who’s always asking everyone to lend her a couple bucks. This job is my only source of income, and frankly, it's exhilarating to have my own money– I love the independence. But that trade-off means I have to make sacrifices: miss social events, lose free time, and gain some extra anxiety.

Every time I find myself stressing over a shift that day or the text I have to send my boss, I tell myself that work is a choice– it’s not compulsory, like school work or college applications. But at the same time there’s another part of me telling me that it's something I have to do. Maybe because it makes me feel productive and independent. Maybe because I get a nice paycheck every two weeks. But whatever the reason, I just can’t shake the overwhelming pressure to be perfect at my job; I don’t want to disappoint anyone, including myself. I’ll get in my car and I’ll drive to work and I’ll take a deep breath and I’ll endure the pressure.

Be Happy

Go to the bank for deposit after school $$$ 33

Friday

By Abby Comer

I wake up at 6:30 A.M. on a Friday morning. Eyes still heavy, I roll out of bed and get completely dressed in ten minutes; I need to spend the rest of my time preparing for one test, two quizzes, an in-class essay, and the lab report that is due today.

But, I need to be out of the house by 7:30, so it’s not much time to prepare. Next thing I know, I’m standing in the middle of the hall on the third floor of the Upper School—the day is already over, and I’m exhausted and overwhelmed.

To Do:

My phone buzzes.

As I begrudgingly unlock my phone, I’m met with a text from my best friend whom I had made plans with earlier in the week (when I still had the energy). “r we still on for tonight” I sigh deeply as I tap on the box to reply. We had agreed to a group hangout where we were going to see a movie and then go to dinner. It sounded fun on Tuesday before the school week had tired me out. But now, I’m not in the right mindset.

Of course, I can’t say no. I have already fully committed to the plans; if I say no now I’ll mess up everything for everyone involved. I also don’t want to be that one person who spends their Friday nights alone in their room feeling the isolation of looking at the Instagram pictures posted by everyone that I ditched, wondering what it would have been like to go, regretting my decision to stay home.

•group hangout on Friday •say no to Quinton’s invite • RSVP to Sally’s bday party

But then again, shouldn’t I learn to make boundaries for myself? Every week I’m exhausted. Every week I have plans. Every week I go against my better judgment.

It’s a never ending cycle. I ask myself: “Could today be the day that I finally say no?”

And it’s always … not that day.

I’ve made a commitment, so I have an obligation to stick with the plans. At odds with commitment and obligation, my exhaustion from the week becomes irrelevant.

As other students jostle against me exiting the school, I can’t help but feel envious of everyone who doesn’t have Friday night plans. Every week I make plans out of fear of not having them, but by the time they come around, I can’t help but feel like I made them out of desperation rather than actual desire.

Looking back down at my phone, I stare reluctantly at the message that I received earlier, and the small blinking line in the reply box. With a lot of hesitation, I type: “yep see you then.”

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Saturday

By Callie Liberatos

r e n n i d y Famil @ 6:30

My Saturday was going fine until dinner.

I spent the day relaxing, enjoying the short time off from school before I have to do homework on Sunday and inevitably get back to classes Monday morning. Saturdays are a chance to focus on myself for a change, to have a healthy respite before jumping back into things. Plus, I deserve to have a break, right?

Wrong.

As soon as my family sits down to enjoy our meal, my dad hounds me, asking what I did during the day. Why would he ask me that? It’s not like I just stared at a wall all day but I also didn’t exactly do anything worth mentioning.

In all honesty, the biggest things I had done was put on a face mask, watch Brooklyn-99, and go back and forth between scrolling through Pinterest and Tik-Tok respectively.

So I told him just that…

It was not well received. As soon as the words leave my mouth he starts asking about why I didn’t do any homework. Surely I have homework. What about scholarships? College doesn’t pay for itself.

An endless volley of questions and expectations are launched my way, barely giving me enough time to even gather a response. This triggers my sister into proudly announcing that she has done all of her homework; not to mention she got an A+ on her humanities paper. Is it possible to be jealous of an eleven-year-old? When I was her age, a C in science class would excite me.

Nevertheless, things have changed since then. For one, I’ve figured out how to study, but it’s weird to see her have so much of her life together at such a young age. Just hearing about her accomplishments just makes me hyper-aware of my own shortcomings.

I don’t play a sport. She does multiple of them. It took me until this year to finally obtain good grades (and even then I still have one B). She’s had straight A’s since birth.

My dad's questions paired with my sister’s looming superiority leave me in a state of inadequacy. My stepmom subtly attempts to shift the topic of conversation to what she had for lunch, hoping to get my dad to settle down. And yet, my mind continues to trail behind their conversation––still stuck on the topic of what I’m doing with my life. I could have spent the day more productively!.

Submitting scholarships! Homework! Learning a new language! Literally anything other than wasting away in my room.

Now I feel guilty that I was lazy, that I’m trailing behind on this invisible timeline that I didn’t even know existed. Thank you, Dad. I wish I could say this was the first time this situation has played out, but it’s almost a weekly occurrence. Maybe not always in the same context, but always the same.

I feel like I don't meet my parent’s standards, so I guess I’m not good enough. I’ll always be the lazy, loud-mouth middle child who doesn’t help out. Not that my parents say any of that, but I know I’m only tolerated. It's what they say between the lines when they ask me why I can’t do simple tasks.

But it’s okay. I can make it up to them tomorrow. Everything will be fine, because there’s still Sunday.

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Sunday

By Turner Long

I did it. I’ve made it this far, through another grueling week. I wake up to the sounds of birds chirping outside my window, the soft light kissing my face as I slide out of bed into a nice thick, fleece robe. I walk downstairs to the smell of bacon and cinnamon rolls cooking in the oven, and the aroma slowly awakens me from my excessively long slumber. Good ol’ Sunday morning cooking. I sit down at the kitchen island, and as I munch on my meal, I reflect on the thrilling swim meet I had that week, the college I want to go to, and the party I enjoyed last night. Hunger satisfied, I walk back upstairs to get ready for the day—I’m in no rush. After all, today is for rest and relaxation.

And then, just when I think I’m in the clear, it catches me off guard, watching me ominously from the darkest corner of my room: Bookbag. Backpack. Knapsack. It’s where it all started, and now it beckons me back to yet another endless cycle of pressure. It silences the songbirds; no time to go outside and enjoy nature. There is too much studying to be done, too many parents to make proud, and too many games to prepare for. It’s work time.

Make up for wasted weekend time. I creep closer, inching towards its toxicity.

Ridiculous, I think to myself, to be so afraid of something that isn’t even alive. Or is

it? I wince as I touch the zipper, preparing to unleash the conniving, cyclical monster of

pressure who rejoices at the fact that I have limited, infinitely precious, time. So I’ll start working, every week, again and again…and again…

This Week I...

... was feeling _______________ tired ... participated in _____________ a group hangout ... did ____________ all my homework coffee ... ate ______________ ... enjoyed _________________ ... was looking forward to ________ the weekend 36

Go to extra help 7:45 a.m. Monday

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Ubuntu: It’s Not About You A person is a person because of people.

Text and Art by Turner Long

attended women’s prayers every morning at 6:00 AM, went Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu: a person is a person because to school, made room for prayer at the end of the day, and of people. Originating from the Zulu people in South fasted every Sunday as best as she could. She was orderly Africa, this is the core belief of the Eastern philosophy of and oriented organized through her devotion to God. Ubuntu,arguablyoneofthemostselflessandteamsystems of thought to ever be created. It removes desires Although I, too, have always been a very religious person, of the individual; the individual is worth nothing because IhadneverthoughtoflookingtoGodtocreateapu itisdefinedbyabroadercommunity––thusbringing or that He has a divine plan for me. I am a very “type A” prosperity through the achievements of others. But what person,soIhavealwaysfeltlikeIneededtobeinco does this have to do with me, a seventeen-year-old boy everyaspectofmylife,anearlyimpossibletask.Thr from the Lowcountry? More importantly––as part of my Simone and what she was able to teach me about the loving community––what does this have to do with you? nature of God, however, I was able to shrug off the burden of trying to control the future. Simone taught me to let go This past fall, I was given the amazing opportunity to through God, because what He has in store for me is always travel to South Africa to study at the School for Ethics and meant to be my purpose, including learning to release little Global Leadership, or SEGL, for short. On my journey, I things that build up unneeded pressure over time. Now I metthemostselfless,caring,inspiring,anddevoted young know the secrettohealthyconfidence:beingsure individualsIhaveeverknowninmyentirelife.

Igrew close futurebyknowingthatwhateverhappens,itwasa to students from all over the African continent, developing meant to be. friendships with people from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi,SouthAfrica,Morocco,Tunisia,andEgypt—just Maziko tonameafew!Whatshockedme,though,wasnothow they Mijoya: Humor spoke,whattheyenjoyedeating,whattheylikedtowear, ComingfromMalawi,acountrythathasbeenranked their economic status, their lives at home, or anything else poorest country ofthesort(althoughthereweresomeverystark contrasts) . intheworld,Maziko’soriginstor be considered “rough” by most of us here. And yet, he is the Rather,itwastheirdevotiontoservingothers through epitome of“hakunamatata.” theirinfinitelyreligiousandselflessnature.

Ifeltsuddenly resuscitated; they revived my heart, my faith in humanity. I “Guesswhat!”Mazikoasks. became a person because of these people. Ubuntu.

“What?” I say excitedly.

“TheMalawiangovernmentjustsignedacheckgra Niakwezi Simone: Confidence 5,000 Malawian Kwacha towards infrastructure.”

“Ohwow!That’sgreat!”

Simone was one of my closest friends during my journey totheAfricanLeadershipAcademy(ALA),andoneof “DoyouknowhowmuchthatisinUSdollars?”

“No, do you?” themostinfluentialfiguresofmytrip.PartofmyPeer Counselor(PC)family,Simonebelongedtomysister“Around hallof$6,” he says with a smile.

Twawana, and indeed she became as close to me as a sister.

Backhome, OriginallyfromUganda,Simoneisastrikingindividual.

I however,wasnottheonlyplaceMaziko facedadversities.

DuringmystayatALA,Mazikowas wasintimidatedwhenIfirstmether.Poised,confident, and highly selective, she is careful about choosing her friends. I diagnosed with diabetes. He had to spend a couple of days and countless wouldeventuallydiscoverthatitisherheart thathospital makesvisits herwith faculty chaperones to get proper medical help. Away from home, without his family, so. diagnosedwithadiseasethatisvirtuallyincu I was certain, would be distraught. If it were me, I probably Simone has an undying loyalty to herself and her religion. would Sheknowsherpurpose,somethingmostofusdon’t athavegonehome.Maziko,however,sprangbackas if nothing had happened. In fact, he made his dire situation this stage in our lives. As a result, she is deliberate and intojustonemassivejoke,refusingtoletitfa unhesitant, as if living this life is muscle memory for her. inspired.

As from I watched him jab insulin into his stomach with Eventually,Ifoundthatthisconfidenceandfocus stem awince,hedeflectedwithaself-deprecatingjokea a trust that is rooted in a much higher power: God. Simone

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theflabonhisstomach.WhenIaskedhimhowheremained was placed in the Humility study room placard until my so collected, he explained, “Us Malawians are funny. Life finalfewweeksattheschool(ALAhadsevencoretrai is too short to get hung up on the bad stuff. My situation one of which was humility. These traits each had their own cannot be changed, so there is no point in dwelling on it.” individual rooms, and to have your name placed in one of Mazikotaughtmethatourproblemscanseemgreat them and meantyouexemplifiedtherespectivetrait.It even overbearing sometimes, but we must ultimately learn to bigdeal)Then . again,that’sclearlythereasonhisn enjoyeverymomentlifeoffers;ourtimeistoofinite there atto all.dwell onthingswecannotcontrol.Somakedarkthingslight.If youcan,makeajoke.Andmoveon.

WhatIlearnedfromMalik,however,isthatdespitea accomplishments, it is not your academic success, how many Yeshua Amen: Love friends you have, or how many awards you have won that definewhoyouareorwhatyouamountto.Instead,Mali Yeshua was also a member of my sister hall Twawana, and would argue his worth should be measured on how many she played the role of my PC mother, reinforcing something I lives he was able to positively touch and transform; he urged alreadyknewalotaboutfrommyownfamily:love. me to measure my worth in the same way. Thus we come to findourtruepurposeinlife:toserveothers.

As she is only three years older than me, it was strange atfirstthatYeshuareferredtomeasher“son.

Umuntu ”“Howare ngumuntu ngabantu, my friends. We are people you, my son? Are you going to bed at a reasonable time? because of people, and it is only through serving others Howisyourworkload?Areyoudoingwellinschool? that Do wefindourbestselves.Simoneencouragesust you miss home? I love you, my son.” I wasn’t sure how to confidentineveryaction.Yeshuaremindsustoser respond to this level of care and devotion. Should I call her throughlove.Mazikourgesustoembracelifetoits mother? Yeshua? Mom? I ended up interchanging all three And,finally,Malikremindsustostayhumble––thatw as I realized the value of a title––the connection it created must never put ourselves before others. To embrace these allowedmetotreatandrespectherlikeamother. characteristics And is to realize that our lives ultimately mean inturn,shecontinuedtotreatmelikeason:she nothing held without me the paths we create for and with others. It responsible, taught me how to succeed in an environment is to realize that to become our best selves, we must let go entirelyunfamiliartome,andcaredformelikeof that which we consider “self” entirely, as our lives are afledglingshewouldhavetoreleaseonly too obscure in the vast expanses of the universe to mean three months later. anythingsignificantontheirown.Wearetwo crocodiles sharing one stomach––maintaining Yeshua taught me to love all people as individual minds, but nourished by one life if they were my children––with respect, source. An Ubuntu metaphor illustrates a kindness,andcompassion.Fromher,I powerful way to thrive: through learned that love is a commitment, and each other. most importantly needs to be practiced.

Malatji Malik Mashingo: Humility Malikwasmyroommate.He taught me what I believe to be the most powerful and enlightening characteristic of Ubuntu: humility. Not only a hall spirit leader and my roommate, but also a PC father andafriend,Malikshaped my ALA experience through his selflesskindness.Chairmanof the student government, leader of Men’s Prayers, soccer fanatic, amazing dancer, stunning orator, (and now futurestudentatNotreDame),Malikvirtually accomplished it all during his stay at ALA. And yet, it tookmemanyweekstodiscoverjusthowdecoratedmy roommatereallywas.Ididn’tevenknowthathisname

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Peace, Love, and Unhappiness Have hippies lost their groove?

By Ann Connolly Clair

Aboutayearago,myfamilyandItookatriptoAsheville. whocanforget I aboutthefamousWoodstockfestiv was surprised to see a drum circle full of smiling, perfectly 40,hippiesflockedtoenjoysomeoftheirfavorite insyncpeopleinoneofthelocalparks.Obviously, music Ihad creating the most iconic music festival to date. tostoptoenjoythemusic.Thepeopleweretakingrequests and seemed fairly friendly. As I was standing there, I heard The word “hippie” actually comes from the word “hip.” In an older man scoff to his wife: “God, what a bunch of dirty thename,it’simpliedthathippieskeepupwitht hippies.” He was clearly not enjoying it as much as I was. fashion trends and are the societal standard. This was After that, I thought about why he had said “hippies’”in shownasthehippielifestylebegantotakehold a negative light. All these people were doing was playing Hippie fashion began to become a staple in America with thedrums.Hisreactiongotmethinkingabout baggy allpants, thetimes colorful headbands and huge jewelry started I have ever heard the word “hippie” used in that sort of to be seen on the average person. Even if a person didn’t way. Someone on the news rolling their eyes over youths believe in the hippie ideals, they could still wear a tie dye protesting, insults about their hygiene habits and mostly all shirt. Their clothing was no longer a political statement, of them equating the word with “dumb.” So why would he just cute clothes. So how did the word “hippie” gain the say the word “hippie” so insultingly? When did “hippie” present derogatory connotation? become such a bad word? And has our perception of the word changed through the decades?

For some, it was alwaysinsulting.Backinthesixtiesw hippies were just gaining in popularity, older generations thought they were uninformed and unpatriotic due to their many protests and rejection of class hierarchy. To them a hippie was an unclean person with long, greasy hair who didn’tbelieveinshoweringandwasconstantly drugs. But more than that they were seen as an imminent threat towards the status quo with their constant protests andalternativewayofliving.Theywereclassified “tree huggers” for wanting to protect the environment from unnecessary industrialization. The main criticism of hippies seemed to be that they were “weirdos” or “insane,”and thattheydidn’tliveintherealworld.Thisdefi definitelyevolvedwithmostofthenewergenera thinkingofhippiesasgirlsonInstagramwithcal voicestalkingabouttheirmorningmeditation Whensomeonesaystheword“hippie,”what’sthe in first whatcouldbeclassifiedas“indie”clothing.Iti image that comes to mind? Someone with long hair impossible nowadays to go to a Halloween party without who’s wearing tie dye and has questionable hygiene?

Flowercrowns,barefeet,andyogamats?Orevenfilthy stonerswholiveinabrokendownvanwith“peace,love, environment”stickersplasteredalloverthebumper?

Perhapsyouenvisionadmirablechangemakers:young, peaceful people who are desperate for political or environmental change. But my cousin and mom, the two people I would classify as hippies in my life, certainly don’t liveinvans,andtomyknowledgehaveneverattendeda “makelove,notwar”march.

When did “hippie” become such a bad word?

Hippies are often associated with the sixties, but their exactoriginisdifficulttopinpoint.HippiesintheUnited States began as a youth movement. They rejected greed, experimented with psychedelics and believed in expanding one’sconsciousnessthroughthingslikemediation,eating healthyandlivinginthemoment.Hippiesinfluenced popularbandslikeTheBeatles,TheGratefulDead,and The Who. Hippie culture spread worldwide through music, books,thefashionoflongskirtswithflowercrowns,and movies such as Wonderwall and Easy Rider. And of course,

40

ArtworkbyNinaZiff

seeingsomeoneinatiedyeshirtandaflowercrown “not living with in the real world,” but decades later it has been rose-colored glasses. While this is not insulting, it still proven to help people who are mentally collapsing under feeds into the problem. Hippies are seen as stereotypes, stress.Isn’titclear?Allalong,we’veneeded—and notpeople.Luckily,weseemtohavegrownoutofneed—hippies the tocatalyzechangeinoursociety. phase where the substances hippies have used are suddenly outlawed and now limit ourselves to only establishing them The newer version of a hippie seems to be girls who shop asditzypeopleblabberingabouttheirchakras exclusively inTVshows atstoreslikeFreePeopleandwearcr and movies. necklacescorrespondingwiththeirzodiacchart Instagram bio. They may attend an occasional yoga class Butoursocietyhasbeenhighlyinfluencedbythese but overall hippies they do not subscribe to the practices that whoarescornedfortheirflowyfashionchoicesand stereotypicalhippiesfromthesixtiesareknown alternative way of life. Crop tops, something that hippies new brand of hippie is more about the appearance of a cute were derided for wearing due to their “provocative” nature, room and a bohemian clothing style instead of the protests can now be found on every teenage girl in America and and drugs that hippies lived through so many decades hippies essentially invented the veganism movement that so ago. These young men and women on social media are a

ArtworkbyAmberWilsondebriano

manyInstagraminfluencerspreachtoday.Today’s“presentable” political version of a hippie. But even without the climate is fraught with protests about everything: racial, more problematic elements of a hippie, they are still at times gender, and sexual orientation equality, nonviolence, the mockedfortheirfaithinhealingcrystalsandthe end of class hierarchy and legalization of certain substances sign. They are still considered by some ditzy and stupid for which are all causes that hippies have been advocating believing in something that is not considered “the norm.” for since the sixties. While hippies are certainly not the firsttoprotesttheseissuesandbepunished Thefor definition it,always ofahippiemayhaveevolvedbutthecr protesting the traditional way of life has become part of will always be there. For some people, they will always not the hippie brand. One main issue that plagues our world is live in the real world. But hippies have always stood against climate change, which has caused the world to reconsider cruelty toward others, eschewed the material things in life, their environmental footprint; if people had listened to the prioritizedlove,andlookedforwaystoevolvesoc hippies who advocated for environmental rights decades ago,procedurescouldbeputintoplacetohelp Hippies fightpreach thisliving your life to the fullest, freedom of approaching issue. choice, and pursuing your happiest self. So, instead of labeling them as stupid and merely copying their clothing Someofthetacticsthathippieslikedtouseare style, now let’s making thinkaboutwayswecouldalltrytobe acomeback.Escapism,awayofescapingthisworld morelikethehippiesfromthesixtiesthatalwa throughanotheroutletsuchasbooks,musicor forrecreational change. substances, originated with hippies. They were accused of

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One Last Time...

Teachers’ advice to outgoing seniors.

By Emmy Keogh

Dear Class of 2022,

The main topic that’s been on my mind for the last few months, basically eversinceIclicked“confirm,”iscollege.Everything The aboutit. classes, the people, the weather, the clothes, the dorm, the game days.

And although I am extremely excited to experience it all in just a few shortmonths,Istillcan’thelpbutworryabouttheunknown.We’renot justtalkingaboutthetransitionfrommiddle We’re . tohighschoolnow leaving this campus and our homes to venture off into the world; many of us are leaving the state, or crossing the country to further our academic aspirations,andwiththatcomessomanyquestions!Insearchofanswers Itookituponmyselftoaskourteachers––thosewhohaveguidedusthe last four years––to see if they have any wisdom to impart for our next four.

Ms. Fox, Coach Kuchler, Madame Shealy, Mr. Greenwell, Dr. Westerman, Ms.Romano,Ms.LaurenFrick,CoachP,andMs.Swigerhaveallshared theiradviceontopicsthatrangefromchange,tolove,money,makingan impact, studying abroad, dorm room decor, staying healthy, and sports.

Ofcourseweallknowit’shardtofocusrightnowassecondsemester seniors, but my advice to you all is to listen to the wisdom our teachers giveus—onelasttime.

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Math

Asanygiftedmathteachercantellyou,thereisaformulaforchange:A(x)=[f(b)-f(a)]A(/(bx)-a) = ,where Averagerateofchange,f(a)=Valueoffunctionf(x)ata,andf(b)=Valueoffunctionf(x)atb.Thatmightseem complicated,butforMs.FoxandCoachK(whotaughtmeHonorsAlgebraAP 2, StatsandAPBCCalc),itis verysimpleconcept.So,IcouldnotimagineanyonebettertoaskaboutthechangesthePGCla can expect to see in college.

Coach K, what was the biggest change you experienced going from high school to college?

“Obviously, there are endless changes that you will experience as you transition from high school to college. The biggest change is the freedom.

You are now living on your own, oftentimes in a different city or state. Yes, freedom is great, but with freedom comes great responsibility. You now have to do your own laundry, grocery shop, cook, and be responsible for your spending. These changes are part of growing and becoming an adult.

Make sure you enjoy every moment of it because these years will fly by, and then you have to actually start adulting. So my best advice I can give you is enjoy your freedom and have fun, but also be responsible.”

Ms. Fox, in what ways do you think our upcoming experiences as college freshmen will change us?

“It’s odd to think about my experiences as a freshman in college––it feels like yesterday, even though it was just 10 (in my particular number system––because. . .math) or so years ago. I think the biggest (and the best) change coming for you all is the ability to figure out WHO you want to be and start growing into that person.

It’s often hard to realize our own wants and needs when we are around the folks who have known us our whole lives. It’s so easy to just live up to their expectations of us. When you go off on your own for the first time, you will be exposed to people from so many walks of life! Embrace the opportunities. Try new things, find new passions to explore.

Porter-Gaud has been a snug and comfortable cocoon for many of you, but now it is time to embrace the metamorphosis and become the beautiful butterflies you are! That said, you’d all better flutter yourselves back here at some point so we can see and rejoice in your transformations!”

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History

If there is anything history has taught us, it is that even the most inexperienced among us can rise to do great things. (Mr. Greenwell’s lectures in WHAP on the Mongols rising from a small group of huntergatherers to one of the most formidable fighting armies on Earth comes to mind.) We may not all be destined to become the next Genghis Khan (I should hope not), but we all will all have opportunities to make an impact and do something great. In order to understand this better, I turned to Mr. Greenwell and Dr. Westerman, two teachers who have spent their lives studying how great nations and great people rise to the occasion.

Mr. Greenwell, what advice would you give to the rising college freshman on how to make a positive impact, both personally and academically?

“Whatever my years and experience have imparted, only two observations seem to me objective enough to share as ‘inheritable’ advice.

As former students may attest, ‘Panic is inefficient’ can serve as a healthy axiom on any exam. However, from the merely inconvenient to the potentially life-threatening, remember that you cannot control circumstance… but you can strive to master how you react to it.

I have also encountered only two types of people: those who believe that they owe the world something… and those who are convinced the world owes them something. This truism seems to apply irrespective of demographic. Choose which you will be. So shall your ‘impact’ follow.”

Dr. Westerman, with your global perspective, what is your opinion on studying abroad?

“As a history and comparative government teacher, rarely do I say something is ‘simple,’ except in response to your question. If you get the chance to live abroad–for study or work–take it. And when you do, don’t just stay within your comfort zone with your class or fellow Americans. Get out and meet locals and see what the everyday lived experience of others is. As much as vacations, social media, and book-learning does to help us gain insight into the world around us, nothing replaces spending a semester or a year living outside the borders of our own country. You’ll learn to appreciate things we have more, you’ll learn what it means to be an “outsider,” and how one has to navigate that experience.

Living abroad will make you more empathetic, more worldly, more human. Take the chance and embrace the challenge.”

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Sports

Somethinglike80%ofPorter-Gaudhighschoolstudentsparticipateinatleastonejunior each year, and the Class of 2022 is no exception. For some of us, we will continue our athletic careers in college.

Butwhatabouttherestofus?WillwegofromplayingbasketballagainstCardinalNewman inadormroomeatingTakisFuegohotchilichips?Willweactuallygotothegymandattempta class? For advice on staying healthy and active in college, we turn to our longtime state championship-winning volleyballcoach,CoachP,andtrainerextraordinaire,LaurenFrick,foradvice

Coach P, do you recommend being a part of a varsity, club, or intramural sports team in college and why?

“Yes, I recommend getting involved in anything you love, but specifically a sport you enjoy. Participating in a familiar sport, whether varsity, club or intramural, is a really meaningful way to interact and connect with new people that share a common interest with you. You might even just meet your next best friend while peppering! It is a great way to incorporate staying active and being healthy as a part of your new routine right from the start of college too!”

Lauren, what advice do you have for the Class of 2022 in terms of staying healthy and active in college?

“Set yourself a schedule and be on a routine! Block out and prioritize times for studying, social life, sports/activities, and honestly for some personal time––enjoy the campus, check in with yourself and family; that is all part of being healthy. GET INVOLVED! Find a club sport or intramural team to keep active and meet people with common interests. These teams typically have scheduled practices and/or playdays that you can work into your routine. A lot of schools offer classes through their rec center, so read the posted flyers all over campus! You never know what you may find!”

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World Languages

French,oneoftheRomancelanguages,isoftencalledtheLanguageofLove(although, ,aRomancetobeclea languagemeansthatitderivesfromLatin,whichwasspokenat Therefore, thetime let’s inRome) embrace . the idea that one of our French teachers, Madame Shealy may have special insight into our future romantic pursuits.

Shouldwebreakitoffwithourhighschoolrelationship?Isdatingincollegeagoodidea?Ori our classes, and wait to get serious with someone later in life?

Madame Shealy, should we ditch the hometown girlfriend/boyfriend now, or stay together to try to make a long-distance relationship work in college?

“I know it’s a question many couples face when the idea of leaving for college starts to become reality rather than just a mere idea. If you ask me, which I guess you are, I would always say it’s best to go off to college with a clean slate, no ties, etc. There are so many new experiences to be had in a new place with new people. I would hate for anyone to feel like they had someone holding them back. College is time to explore a new kind of independence. I bet if you looked at statistics, the number of high school couples who stay together through college would be very low. That said, one of my best friends married the guy she started dating in ninth grade.

Her mom had done the same. I am a believer in the idea that things will work out if they are meant to be. One of my aunts married her high school flame many years later and after a first marriage that did not work. So, you just never know!”

English

Whether you are curled up reading A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man or the latest NY Times Best Seller, noonecanarguethatreadingisbestaccomplishedinacozynook.Athome,thatmightmeanr queen-sizedbedpiledhighwithcomforters,orreadingstretchedoutonyourlivingroomco withablanketthrownacrossyourlegs.Incollege,doesreadinghavetomeansittingonah dorm-issueddesk,orcross-leggedontopofyourstandardtwinmattresscot?Howisaperso that inspired academia vibe in such a depressing, institutional space? For advice on how we can best turn our dorm roomintoatruehome-away-fromhome,wegotooneofouroutstandingEnglishteachers,Ms.Roma knowsathingortwoaboutcreatingagreatplacetoread.

Ms. Romano, what decorating suggestions do you have for the Class of 2022 as we attempt to turn a basic dorm room into a cozy nook?

“Swap out the cot for a lofted bed. Wrap its legs in xmas lights. Nestled beneath—your futon adorned with patchwork quilt, mini fridge, cd tower, a milk crate to display fake succulents and your stack of books (pulp fiction, narrative poetry, highbrow novel) . A vivid backsplash of postcards, photographs, and literary quotes to encourage daydreaming. A blank notebook and sharpened pencil to collect wayward thoughts or scraps of beautiful language from your reading. A pair of slippers, a silenced phone, a block of time when your roommate’s away. Withdraw here to escape; escape to discover; discover to return anew.”

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Economics

Highschoolstudentsoftenthinkofmoneyintermsofsmallamountsand How shortmuch do Itermexpens need to Venmo Gracie for the Starbucks she got me? How much will gas cost me if I drive to the Georgia game?

Will my paycheck from Kilwins be enough to cover Spring Break? But, when the Class of 2022 heads to college, ourfinanceswillbegintoshiftfromshort-termworriestolong-termplanningandobligat maintainingscholarships,andwork-studyjobstaketheplaceofparents With simply somany footingth financialconsiderationsahead,weluckilyhaveagreatlocalresource. ,oneofour Iasked PorterMs.Gaud Swiger economics teachers, to give us the ins and outs of managing our money in the near future.

Ms. Swiger, what advice do you have for the Class of 2022 in terms of finance and money management as we head off to college?

“Be realistic! Set a budget that fits your lifestyle and your personal cash inflow. Be sure to account for EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR because, at the end of the day, it’s usually miscellaneous spending online, in stores, or going to drive-thrus that influence people to spend more than they intend. Every dollar counts. You don’t need anything else off of Amazon that you learn about from TikTok or Instagram ads, I promise. Think about what you need and then prioritize your wants. If your school requires a meal plan, use it.

Set boundaries around how much you will eat out. You don’t need Cane’s or Starbucks every day or every week. The best memories can be made over a microwaved bowl of ramen or easy mac! Leave one card (debit or credit) at home when you’re socializing. If you can, use cash rather than a debit or credit card. It’s psychologically harder to spend cash, therefore you’ll be more conservative with your money. Also, Venmo is real money. Save a reasonable amount (at least 20%) for your future stability and (usually 5%) for fun future plans, but keep in mind that you’re only young once. Be smart, be aware, but live your life!”

A Final Message Aswewrapuptheseclassesthelastfewweeks,Ijustwant tosaythankyouforallofthetimeandattentiontheteachers have given us over the last few years. Whether it’s a coach on the sidelines giving advice on the next play, or teachers coming early and staying late after school for extra help, all of our teachersnowfeellikepeoplewecanreachouttoforsupport andadvice.Asweembarkonthisnextadventureinlife,we willtakethesewordswithus,andwewillalwaysbethankful for their support.

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The Legend of Aaron Lipka Vale, Lipke.

By Sophie Levenson

Onasunnydaysevenyearsago,whenIwasinthespot fifth to do so. All of our walls go down in that grade, I sat on the steps of the S&T and listened to a classroom: my classmates and I express our confusion man play the bagpipes. He wore a “got latin?” t-shirt, unashamedly, we share our thoughts, ask quest black-framedglasses,andevenbehindthehorn again ofhis and again—and we are always well receive enormous instrument, ten-year-old me could see his Lipka appreciates curiosity to a truly admira smile. degree. He is never annoyed by misapprehension and always humbled by novel ideas. He encourages our curiosity and does not scold our error: Lipka w in the most selfl ess way, for every student to su and grow to whatever degree might be possible. He is patient, incredibly so, for he suffers not only through a persistent demand for granola bars (which he stores for students at the cost of his own dime) , but a through hours of our utter exasperation at the more confusing passages of Tacitus and Virgil.

But in spite of his admirable patience and generosity, Lipka is a tough teacher. He is honest with his students, and often blunt; he expresses disappointment when his expectations are not met—a further testament to the iron strength of his belief in our abilities. Diligently, Lipka assigns homework; h pesters us with frequent quizzes, regular tests; his class is not, by any means, an easy one. The result is that we learn.Ask a Latin student on campu tell you about the fall of the Roman Republic, t

Lipka.

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First, it seems necessary to address the casual nature in whichPorter-Gaudstudents—whethertheyhavehad himasteacherornot—havetakentoaddressingMr. AaronLipka,theLatinbeaconofPorter-Gaud.Ifind thatLipka’stitleisreflectiveofthereputationhehas built for himself on our campus: he is a man who needs nointroduction,nohonorific—hisnamecarriesallhonor initself.Lipkaislegendaryourhalls,establishedas a man whose door is always open and whose smile is always wide. Students are comfortable in his presence; hisclassroom,likethemanhimself,isahomebase on campus, always ready to offer solace and comfort.

Hence,thename“Lipka”—noqualifiers—epitomizes transition to the Empire.Ask one to recite a thegreatrespectwhichstudentsandteachers poem ( I assure alikeyou, they are seared on our minds) . carry for this man; anyone who might posit that the Ask us to tell you about the Trojan War, and its informality with which students address him implies a players: Hector, Paris,Achilles, Patroclus—eac lackofrespectwouldbequitemistaken. character could prompt from us an entire dialogue.

WhenAaron Lipka teaches, people learn.

Indeed, the comfort I have found in Lipka’s classroom for the past several years has been incomparable.

Even before knowing him, meeting him, having him I have sought his wisdom on all sorts of affairs, as my teacher for three years, Lipka was part of m laughed often, cried a couple of times, when it was scholastic life at Porter, for he has always been the needed—and felt that I was entirely in the man who right brings Latin to these halls.

Lipkalives,breathes, is Latin. andHe loves the language, tum, pietate gravem ac meritis si forte virum quem adoresRomanculture,worshipsVirgil,isfascinated conspexere,bysilent, arrectisque auribus adstant; Caesar; his life has been dutifully and nobly dedicated ille regit dictis animos, et pectora mulcet. to the Classics, and his commitment is evident through every aspect of his life and being. If one were to peruse My AP Latin class translated these lines together this year. thebookshelvesinhisclassrooms(afavorite The pastime passageof issignificantasanepicsimile,andinits mine),onewouldfindanamalgamationofliterature of chiasmus that as a poetic device, but to me, its meaning and could only be curated by the most enamored scholar of its phrasing hold this bit of The Aeneid particularly dear. In Latin. Harrius Potter sits next to Cicero’s essays which lie English: next to Winnie Ille Pu,nexttoLipka’sprized Oxford Latin Dictionary.ThespacewhichLipkainhabitsbursts “Then, with ifbychance[theRomans]catchsightofsomeman thethingsthatheloves—naturally,hisspace who is is heavy filled with with pietas and merit, they fall silent, and Latin. theystandwiththeirearsperked.Herulestheirm words, and soothes their hearts.”

VirgilwrotethesewordsaboutaRomanspokesman Cicero, or Augustus perhaps, though nobody can be sure. I ratherliketothink,however,thatthesewords forLipka.Pietas is not a truly translatable word, but in essence it describes an individual who values his duty, his community,andhispeople.Lipkaisamantowhomthe Romanswouldascribe pietas. He rules his Latin students’ minds with his clever, erudite words; he soothes their heartswithhiskindness,hisoddhumors,hisunli inclusivity.IratherthinkthatLipka’sdedicat language and culture over the course of his life has shaped his character, for it seems to me, and to those who also shareinLipka’scompany,thathispersonrepresen thevirtuousmannersoftheRomanpeople.LikeCae Lipkaisdetermined.LikeCicero,heteaches;likeHe heiskind,likeVirgil,heisthoughtful,(andabeekee HehastheinternalstrengthofAchilles,themor of Priam, the passion and excitement which so fervently Having been a scholar of Latin for seven years, and a characterized Jupiter. He has Catullus’s humor, Tacitus’s studentofLipka’sforthree,Icanattesttothe patience. magical Heisgreat,asLiviawas.Romanheroes,ficti effects of this instructor’s love for the subject. Latin is a andtrue,canbefoundinthemakeupofLipka’smindan difficultlanguage—itisrichwithcomplexgrammar heart, forms, justastheRomanlanguagecanbefoundonhi antiquated poetic devices, strict linguistic rules and then the every belonging and in his every turn of phrase. utterdisregardoftheserulesfromauthorslikeVirgiland Caesar. Translating real, historical Latin is a measurable For XX years, Porter-Gaud was brightened and cultured by this task,whichdemandstimeandconcentrationman aswho well loves asa whatandwhoheteaches.AsLipkagraduate plethoraoflearnedskills.Andyet,forsolong,alongside Ihavestuck theClassoflet ,2 02 uswishhim,together,afinal with Latin, as have my classmates (our AP Latin class this goodbye: ave atque vale, magister. gratias agamus. yearmaybesmall,atmerelythree,butIworkinexcellent company)These . yearsofdedicationtothelanguagecannot bechalkeduptoanysortofbegrudgingresignation—on the contrary, my classmates and I study this strange subject becauseoftheremarkableeffectitseemstohaveonour lives. Latin does not merely teach us words; it instills us with an understanding of the world and its history, it challenges our perception of literature, and it gifts us with a unique sort of beauty which might be undiscoverable elsewhere. As much as I believe Latin to offer all of these benefitsbyitsownnature,ittakesaphenomenalteacher toguidehisstudentstothisrealization.WithoutLipka, and the curriculum he designed for Porter-Gaud, there would be no such admiration for Latin amongst our student body as there exists today. There may even have been no opportunity for Latin at all. And I, for one, would feel as if I were missing a limb.

Itseemsonlyfittingtobidfarewelltosuchamonumental figureasLipkainhisfavoriteform—Latinitself.Butfor suchathing,Idonotthinkmywordswouldsuffice.Thereis, however,alovelypassageinthefirstbook Aeneid: ofVirgil’s

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Porter-Gaud Faculty Fare-thee-wells As some venture into retirement, while others walk down differing paths, the watch bids a fond farewell (for now) to a few of our favorite folks.

Ms. Peyton Sasnett US Science

Coach Sasnett emulates the type of leadership that I hope toonedayunderstand.She’sthetypeofpersont anyone feel welcome, no matter the space that they’re in.

Asaklutzy,shy,andgenerallyintimidatedeight onthebasketballcourt,I’veespeciallyappre astoundinglywelcomingattitude.She’sgivenm manyotherJVbasketballersjustlikeme—the to compete, and the example of truly effective leadership.

Evenwhilebearingwitnesstoanawkwardown-go blatant double-dribble, Coach Sasnett always remains incrediblykindandsincere.Yougetthesenset aboutyourimprovementonthecourt,yetspecifi you to improve as a person. There’s always a question on Mr. Salley’s end-of-season sports survey that reads: On a scalefrom1to5,howlikelywouldyoubetotrustyou coachwithpersonaltopicsoutsideofbasketb question always ends up being a challenge; I couldn’t imagine giving her anything less than a 6-star review. For 3years,I’vebeenluckyenoughtobeapartofateams fosteredoutofherowndedication,kindness,a Coach Sasnett is a wonderful role model and a person that I can always count on for a warm smile in the hallways.

Wewillmissyousomuch,andagain,thankyouforall you’ve done for Porter-Gaud.

-Junior Anna Lehman

Has Been Found: JamesIslandCountyPark,EdistoIsland,Church, Clemsonfootballgames,walkingaroundobservingand absorbing nature Peyton Sasnett has been a true gift to PG in so many ways!Fromherzestforconservationandenviron Will Be Found: protection to her true love of all things biology, she has Edisto Island, in the boat, hanging out with animals, enhanced our department and her students’ learning gardening,growingmilkweedforMonarchs,cooking, experiences!Iwillneverforgetherfirstyearat reading, writing. wewereco-teaching!Itwasbothfunandexhausti hadnotdonethisbefore!Shehadgreatideasan Favorite Sayings: best to help her acclimate to “life at PG” but on some days Truethat!Noworries.Seriously?Amen. we just “muddled through.” I have loved seeing the new classesthatshehasofferedforourstudents Likes Most: theyhavehelpedsomestudentsfindtheirtru Myfamily,animals,gardening,cooking,reading,music, truly excited for Peyton in her new endeavors but PG is birding,yoga,andmakingapositiveimpactintheam world losing atruegem! and in the lives of others.

-JaneSettle,ScienceTeacher(retired) Fond PG Memories: Sharing biological sciences with my students and watching the “light bulbs” turn on over their heads, wildlifezoologyfieldtrips,coachingJVgirlsbasketball, workingforyearswithanawesomestudentgrouptoplan the best prom ever at the Joe, and handing my children their high school diplomas at graduation on the Green.

Quote: “Ineverywalkwithnatureonereceivesfarmorethanhe seeks.Everybodyneedsbeautyaswellasbread,places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” – John Muir

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Peyton has contributed so much to the Cyclone community Sometimes becoming an educator has a way of during her tenure at Porter-Gaud as both a biology teacher choosing you… handpicking you among all the o andabasketballcoach.Shefostersaloveofscience through because of your ability to encourage and inspire… thefieldtripsthatshetakeswithherWildlife Zoologyyour deepest passions to contagiously allowing students and the egg baby project that she does each year with shine through in all that you do, both in and out of her Human Biology students. I have enjoyed having her as the classroom. To know Peyton Sasnett is to my colleague and wish her well in the next chapter of her life. successful educator, friend, mother, and probably her favorite, dog mom, to whom have I reluctantly given -Caitlin Adelson, Science Teacher up my self-proclaimed position as the favorite to Luna, her 4 year-old “goldador.” Teaching for 24 years and being awarded the SCISA Teacher of the Year are hardly her most impressive accomplishments. As her daughter, but perhaps a more appropriate term, her “mini-me,” I have had a front row seat my entire life to witness the countless lives she has touched, students she has inspired and athletes she has coached. To those who have had the opportunity to be her stu you for being her outlet for all educational information about the world around us… it gives me and my brother a learning break, which naturally birth, from the life cycle of Danaus plexippus (the monarch butterfly) , or which animal she choo year to win March Mammal Madness! Your thous of students over the years join me in saying the biggest thank you for your 2 4 years in the clas I know my mom will miss watching her student academically, graduate and move on… and I have no doubt she secretly wishes you’d all go to Clemson.

As she makes this transition in retireme classroom back to biological and ecologica as she once did, I hope to one day be at least half the educator she has been.

-Joy Sasnett, PG Alumna, Long-term Substitute, and Loving Daughter AlthoughI’veonlyhadthepleasuretoworkwithPeyton

forthelasttwoyears,asanewly-fledgedlifescience teacher, I have immensely valued her experience and guidance. She never hesitates to share resources, tips onlabactivities,ordeliciousbakedgoods(speakingof which… Peyton, I need to get your recipe for the treats yougaveusatChristmas!).However,mymostfavorite thing that Peyton has shared with me by far is my dog, Moose.BackbeforeIwashiredonfull-time,Iwas workingasasubstituteteacheratPG.Oneafternoon, PeytonsaidthatherdaughterJoywaslookingforhomes forherdog’spuppies.Asasuckerforcutetinythings,I jumped at the chance and am now the proud owner of a not-so-tiny120lbgoofball.I’velovedsharingallofthe puppy milestones as adoptive “parents” with Peyton, who alsokeptoneofthepuppies,Luna.I’mgoingtomiss Peyton’s passion for the outdoors, love for animals, and enthusiasm for education, but I’m thrilled for her that she Ms. Sasnett and her Science Department colleagues can gets to continue her pursuit of all of these things in her burn up any dance floor, with and without the use of nextstepofthejourneyinenvironmentaleducation!

Bunsen burners.

-Kristen Goehring, Science Teacher

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Porter-Gaud Faculty Fare-thee-wells...

Three years ago at new faculty orientation, each of us had to stand up to introduce ourselves to everyone gathered in the library. Jonathan volunteered to go early (It’smoreefficienttogetitoverwith,Iimagineh thinking).Hesharedthathe’sfromNorthernVi (likeme!)andwenttoUVa(likeme!).SoIcouldn’tresi impulsively calling out our commonality in the middle of hisintroduction.Heturnedtowardme—astra crowd—pointedtwofingersinmydirectionandd withagrin,“Newbesties!”Ilikedhiminstantly,a myfirstimpressionneverwavered.Ourfirsttwoy Mr. Jonathan Chang together, we shared a classroom. He always left it better thanhowhefoundit,chairssnuglyunderdesks US Science boardmarkersneatlyinarow.Thebestdayswer Has Been Found: Eatingfriedchickenwithhiswifeatthat ended with him teaching in our room, so I could return Edmund’s Oast in time to unwind with one of our epic gossip sessions.

Jonathan has been a wonderful colleague to have these Will Be Found: BackpackingintheBlueRidgeMountains past few years muscling through Covid’s grip. I will miss of Virginia hisstraight-shooting,fluff-cutting,energy-conse pragmatism. I will miss his smile. And I will miss my Favorite Sayings: “That’s how people die.”

NoVa Wahoo bestie.

“The sooner you’re done, the sooner you’re done.”

-SarahRomano,EnglishTeacher “Youknow,accordingtosomerecentresearch..”

Likes Most: WakingupwithoutanalarmonSaturday morningtoeatahomemadebreakfastcroissantsandwichwith my wife while watching TV, beating randos on the internet in video games, carrying a lot of stuff through the wilderness forafewdays,kayakingdowncreeksandriverswithasilly sunhatonmyhead,shuckinghotoysterclustersonacold night,stickingmyfeetoutfromunderthecovers,eatingspicy foods, subsequently eating the Tums and Pepcid that allow me to eat spicy foods, telling students that they’re bad drivers Fond PG Memories:Thelookofhorroronmystudents’ faces when I opened a string cheese and bit into it without peeling it apart Parting Words: Your value is not tied to your grades or how manypointsyouscoreoranythinglikethat.Itisultimately upJonathan an approachable teacher, Students consider toyoutofindvalueinlife,andforme,thatisfollowing Jesus appreciating the patience and humor he infuses in his Christ.Thatallsaid,youmightfindvaluewhereyouclassroom. didn’tHe is skilled at meeting students where they are expectit,sotrymorethings:it’sokaytolikeEnglish withand their math ability, and he encourages them to stretch scienceandmusicandvolleyballandcomputersand rock- applying concepts learned in physics to real life themselves, climbingandcheese-makingandwhateverelseyouwant.

As In a recent project, he set up an accident scene situations.

KurtVonnegutwouldsay,itjustmakesyouamoreinteresting on a counter using toy cars and took photos to help inspire person. students to apply the equations they learned in class to

what could happen in their own lives. I greatly appreciate Quote: “Idon’tthinkbeinggoodatthingsisthepoint doing theof way he inspires students to learn in a new and different them.Ithinkyou’vegotallthesewonderfulexperiences with way, and I will miss having him as a member of the science differentskills,andthatallteachesyouthingsdepartment. andmakesyou an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

-Caitlin Adelson, Science Teacher - Kurt Vonnegut

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Mr. Chang and I both started at Porter-Gaud in the fall of 2019,excited,clear-eyed,andcompletelyunawareofwhat thenextthreeyearswouldhold.Wenavigatedourfir at PG together, a pandemic, teaching virtually and hybrid, andinsomewayswhatfeelslikeourthird“first-yea we have yet to have a normal school year since we started. I am grateful to have had Mr. Chang’s support as a colleague andfriendandwillmisshisquickwitandhilariou next year.

-Sarah Bauer, Science Teacher

This year, his first year as a full-time member of the science department, I’ve had the pleasure of sharing an office with Mr. Chang. Although we share exactly zero planning periods, the brief morning and afternoon overlaps are one of the highlights of my day. He is a kind, capable, and quietly hilarious colleague who is always ready to lend an ear (specifically his Though Mr. Chang initially shared his talents between the left one) and to offer advice. He will be dearly missed around Englishandsciencedepartments,wewereluckythe enough to S&T building, but we wish him well in his next adventure! have him as a science department member full time this year.

I have thoroughly enjoyed his collegiality and willingness -Kristen Goehring, Science Teacher to share ideas about the best ways to teach our respective physics classes. Mr. Chang has encouraged me to try new All of us at the magazine will miss you especially lessons and activities this year that I wouldn’t have felt and wish you the very best! confidentenoughtotryinyearspast.Iwillmissmy friend -watch and colleague next year as he explores new adventures in Virginia.

-Meagan Downing, Science Teacher

Wait—Dr. Westerman’s leaving too??!!

No, he’s not. We just couldn’t help but show the human side of some of our teachers staying on campus.

Can you can find the seventeen differences between these photos? [Hint: One has a bunny.]

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Porter-Gaud Faculty Fare-thee-wells...

Director of Human Resources

Ms. Barbara West A Precious Resource

For more than two decades, one individual worked tirelessly to ensure that the faculty and staff at Porter-Gaud could remain people at heart.

I have worked closely with Barbara for the last 23 years beginning with the first year we both came to PorterGaud. It is daunting to consider the amazing influence she has had on bringing decades of faculty to PorterGaud. Her contribution to the faculty—the heart and soul of Porter-Gaud—is immeasurable. Since 2009 when I became Head of School, she and I have worked most intricately together, talking almost every day and meeting multiple times a week. We have struggled through difficult times with faculty and helped them through trauma, and we have rejoiced as we grew with new hires, new positions, and better ways to support and retain excellent teachers. Barbara has always placed the professional work of Human Resources at the highest level, but she has also played the role of advocate, psychologist, and a caring advisor when needed. For me, she is one of the most trusted colleagues I have ever worked with.

-DuBose Egleston Head of School Working with Barbara during her last few years at Porter-Gaud has been one of the best experiences for me personally and professionally. Just six short months after bonding over the saying “hit by a bus” during my interview, we charted unknown territory together as we weathered the pandemic through Zoom for over a

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year! She has been a great mentor to me and is admired by many. Her knowledge of Porter-Gaud extends beyond the operations of the Business Office, which she has grown in her time here, to also include being a doting parent of two alumnae. I will miss her camaraderie and sass, but I have a feeling we will see her pop in around campus even after her retirement!

-Heather Jashienski Human Resources Specialist For over two decades, Barbara West has been a leader within Porter-Gaud’s business office with admirable confidence and care. She is not only a human resource expert, but a certified accountant as well—a combination that few, if any, challenges can withstand. Many times, I’ve seen the careful approach she uses, making sure that every perspective gets considered and every detail is thought through. Her knowledge and expertise are inspiring and irreplaceable.

But beyond the myriad numbers and policies she maintains, Barbara is also a kind soul and a thoughtful gift-giver. I will miss talking baseball (even though our teams are divisional rivals), and swapping stories of children and grandchildren while on the way to lunch. I truly hope she enjoys her next chapter, as she will certainly be missed in the halls of Porter-Gaud!

-Ben Thompson Payroll Accountant

Posted: Spring 2022 BarbaraWestisoftenoneofthefirstpeoplemany people Director of Human Resources (2022-23 School Year) meethereatPorter-Gaud,givenherroleasHRDirector.

AsthefirstimpressionofPorter-Gaud,shemakesalasting Porter-Gaud School is an Episcopal, independent, one. Her friendly demeanor and compassion for people coeducationaldayschoolfor1,04studentsingrad mixed with her professionalism and excellence in her The -12.

Schoolisseekingafull-timeDirectorofHuma jobprovideabalancethatIhavenotseeninmany HR Resourcesbeginningwiththe20-3schoolyear.

Directors. She is always happy to greet everyone on the walkstolunchandalwayshasherdooropentotalkor new DirectorofHRwillfollowsomethingofa listen.WewillmissherdearlyintheBusinessThe Office and legend.

Porter-Gaud’slongstandingDirectorexe in the whole school. our school’s mission and professional standards. Barbara -RachaelSiebert BusinessOffice AccountantWest was a champion for our professional community, advocating for policies and practices that: IhadthepleasureofknowingBarbaraWestevenbeforeshe supported aninnovative,enthusiasticworken cametoworkforPG,asherdaughterwasoneofmyveryfirst -focused on employee health and wellness; studentshere.WhenBarbaracameintotheBusinessOffice -improved retirement savings by elevating our school’s as an accountant a few years later, I thought it was a nice little matching program; bonustohavesomeoneIknewandliked“overthere,”but -improved family planning by considering how to best really only thought of their corner of the world around paydays use bonding leave; oronceayearwhenwesignedupforbenefits.Longbefore sheformallyheadedupHR,Barbarawasmygo-tosourcefor Barbara was passionate about developing and improving navigating the evolving health insurance system in the days our hiring practices to create not only a more diverse of Obamacare. And even after she began pulling together all professional community but a community that focused on ofthemanythreadsthatwouldbecomeHRatPorter-inclusivity Gaud, and belonging. She remains central in leading that world was mostly invisible to me. That changed when our hiring program by communicating the standards and I applied to move into the role of Athletic Director. I got to best practices before and during each hiring opportunity. knowmyoldfriendanew,firstasacandidate,andeventually Sheasksthoughtfulandprobingquestionsofca as one of “those people” on the other side of the table who that not only align with our mission but consider his or her had to hire and supervise others, as well as deal with legal ethics and values and how each will add to our community. compliance and issues of equity. I had no idea how complex A successful candidate will need to meet the extremely andinterconnectedallthoseareaswere,andasa rookie high bar that Barbara set to excellence in this critical role. internalhire,IfeltlikeIhadbeenthrowninthedeependofthe pool. But Barbara was my life preserver, not only helping me Because of her genuine care for each employee at school, learn how to do my job better, and patiently explaining things a successful candidate must have Barbara’s empathic to me (“Well, Larry, that really would be an interesting idea, heart,keenlisteningskills,andabilitytoha except for the fact that it’s been against federal labor law since and unique cases with grace and poise, even in the most ”)5but 3 9, 1 alsoworkingtocreateandstreamlinesystems challenging circumstances. that will outlast both of us. The cartoonish stereotype of the villainousHRpersonwhoruthlesslyseekstheadvantage of Personal attributes as established by outgoing Director: the company over the employee could not have been more -Appreciates and enjoys interacting with talented false. Barbara has always been an advocate for every person educationalprofessionalsfromdiversebackg workingatPorter-Gaud,whethertheywereadivision-Shows heador evidence of organization, self-motivation, and apart-timecoach.Shehasworkedtirelesslytoimprovethe punctuality; qualityoflifeforourcoaches—notleastofallbyimproving -Shows evidence of effective communication and the quality of their AD. Most importantly, she has been my interaction with all various constituencies; friend—evenonthoseoccasionswhenherconsummate -Shows evidence of a desire and willingness to professionalism required her to tell me things I didn’t want to contribute to the life of an independent school hear. Barbara created both her position and her department. community.

ShehasmadethePGBusinessOfficebetter,shehasmade Porter-Gaud better, and she has made me better. I will miss No, THIS IS NOT A CONTRACT :) —it’s not even an herterribly.Iknow,thankstotheprocessshecreated, officialthat job posting—but perhaps it’s one fitting way to wewillmakeanexcellenthire.Buttherewillnever bemany thanks for many years of service to extend our another Barbara West. our school. Thank you, Barbara!!!

-Larry Salley Appreciably designed by Ken Hyde, Athletic Director Director of Admission and Enrollment

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Porter-Gaud Faculty Fare-thee-wells...

Director of College Counseling

Ms. Karen Kimberly Counselor Extraordinaire

For nearly two decades, one person ushered every P-G student onto the Graduation stage.

This spring, she’s graduating with them.

Back in the day, my classroom was in the small building in Shady Acres, as was the college counseling office—how fortunate for me. Karen arrived, and I could tell that she was special as soon as I met her. She came with a message that there is a great place for everyone, a place where each person can fit in and thrive, along with a warmth and dedication to our students that I had not seen before.

I was lucky enough to have three children who came of college age at just the right time. Karen was there to walk them through the application process, helping them with her calming influence to believe they would end up in a great place. She instilled a sense of peace that only she could provide. As the decisions came in, they ran to her, as all decisions seemed to mean as much to her as they did to them.

And they did. Getting to know Karen as a colleague and more importantly as a friend, I watched in awe as she did her job, touching lives with empathy and compassion, enhancing the impact of the experience and competence she brought to the table. The depth of her empathy and compassion were often seen in the tears she shed as she helped students navigate this exciting time in their lives. While we would often giggle at these tears, they were a sign of true love, a love for her students and their well-being. She was motivated by one thing—to help all of our students end up in a great place, and that she did.

She can retire knowing that she helped a generation of young people successfully begin an important phase on their journey to becoming vibrant adults for whom the world would offer vast opportunities—truly a place in which they would find their way and make a difference.

As Karen moves into a new phase of her life, I will miss her. She made Porter-Gaud that great place for me and many others. I wish her all the things she has wished for all of us. I wish her happiness, a sense of belonging, and peace, knowing that she has and continues to make the world a better place for all.

-Julie Ellison, Head of Lower School

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As I attended Sophomore college night a few weeks ago, with its cadre of speakers from various colleges and universities, I was proud to think that Karen could have presented on any of those topics. She is the expert in so many areas of college admittance, and she knows our students so well. Writing the college essay—check.

Building your college list—check. Affording College?

—check. Helping our students find the right school for them is an art, but it relies on the vast knowledge and experience that Karen Kimberly brings to bear on helping each individual student. I’d consider going back to college myself if Karen Kimberly was there to help me. She will be missed at Porter-Gaud, but I’m grateful for her guidance and reassurance for hundreds and hundreds of our graduates. That is a legacy that is beyond measure.

-DuBose Egleston, Head of School

Karen Kimberly has an effortless ability to make you feel welcome. When I first started working at Porter-Gaud, I quickly discovered that Karen was kind and funny and engaging and someone who could be a friend. She is genuine and her love for her students is abundant—she is their greatest advocate. In her laugh she “opens her arms” and puts her students at ease, guiding them to discover the joy that should be the focus of their matriculation. Her counsel and kindness will be greatly missed, but as she strolls to her next adventure, I hope she knows that she has left an indelible imprint on the PG family. Karen, may your retirement be filled with troutfilled rivers, moose sightings and laughter. I look forward to seeing you “along the way.”

-Paul Baran, History Department Chair

For 18 years she has graced the halls of Porter-Gaud with her infectious energy, laughter, positivity, love and commitment to students and her colleagues. She helps each student find the right place, and she is overjoyed when they figure out for themselves what she knew all along. Ever patient as students begin the arduous process of finding their right fit, but they are never alone; they have the world’s best cheerleader in their corner. Karen Kimberly has become such an integral part of our campus life that it is hard to imagine the Upper School functioning without her. She always has an open door and champions new ideas amongst her colleagues. She brought a world of expertise to Porter when she came in 2004 and changed the college experience for our students forever.

Karen has built programs to guide and support students as well as their anxious parents that will remain a part of our standard at PG. As a colleague and friend, I will miss her every day. As a parent, I am forever grateful for her loving guidance that led my daughters to the next chapter of their lives.

-Ashley Stock, Fine Arts Department Chair

I first met Karen Kimberly as an admissions representative visiting Porter-Gaud on behalf of Wake Forest. I had a day full of school visits on a cloudy day. On the way out of my meeting before heading to Porter-Gaud, the staff member at the front desk said “Oh good, you’re wearing rain boots”. I looked outside. Rain coming down in sheets.

Needless to say, the crosstown was flooded. I pulled over in a parking lot to wait it out as I watched cars drift through the intersection. It was inevitable. I was going to break the cardinal rule of admissions travel. I was going to be… late. I couldn’t even give an estimated time of arrival.

When I called Mrs. Kimberly, her first concern was for my safety and not throwing off the schedule for the day. She told me to stay where I was, keep her posted, and let me know if I needed anything. Mrs. Kimberly didn’t sound annoyed or flustered, and she assured me I was doing the right thing by staying put. I ended up having a great visit later in the day.

As she has done with countless students and families, Mrs. Kimberly stopped me from panicking about what was out of my hands and kept me focused on what I could control. When the opportunity to work with her at Porter-Gaud came up, I jumped at the chance! Quick with an encouraging word and eager to support each student throughout their experience at Porter-Gaud, Karen Kimberly has set the tone for what college counseling should be; a journey to be celebrated.

-Jennie Harris, Associate Director of College Counseling

“Matron of our Honors” we put it long ago in these pages when an outbound senior yearned to reciprocate, if only in some small but public way, the kind expressiveness that’s been “Mrs. Kimberly” in our halls these many years. That label seemed to fit like a glove: who else has better personified the hard-won dignity of getting a diploma? What better person could greet one’s great news (“I got in!”) or grieve with a sad student when, inevitably, as it happens sometimes, he hears that a college has deferred his dreams? For me, though, the honor has been all mine just to be around her, to laugh along with Karen’s infectious laugh, to get her frank advice that’s no less generous, or to catch her sly look in the midst of a meeting (and sometimes know exactly why it’s there). In these years here, I’ve had no better friend.

-Childs Smith, English Department Dear College Counseling Hall of Fame Committee, I am writing to you today to recommend Karen Kimberly to your Hall of Fame. Karen has been a wise, thoughtful, and talented guide for thousands of Cyclones over her tenure at Porter-Gaud.

Her knowledge of each student and her understanding of the college process from both sides of the desk have provided our school with a signature program that transcends mere college acceptance. Karen’s philosophy of best fit for the student begins with students growing in awareness and agency. Encouraging students and families to loosen their hold on outcome goals, “good schools,” and reverse engineering, provide an illuminated pathway to college understanding, education, and process that lead to success not only in selecting a wonderful fit, but provide the best soil for success at that college and beyond.

Becoming a member of the Hall of Fame cannot simply require leadership and excellence in College Counseling, but should also include impact on the school and its community members at large. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Karen for her impact on my life as a school professional. When I became the Upper School Dean, she helped me work through some of the most challenging cases, lending particular guidance in trying to balance what is best for the student and what is best for the school. When I was newly tapped as Director of Admission, she instilled confidence in me that I could be successful by leveraging my strengths, owning my blind spots, and encouraging me to seek professional development at every turn. Most importantly, she provided insight on how to prioritize my work at different stages in my career. Lastly, as a father with a strong tie to my college Alma Mater, I listen to her conviction that there may be schools other than just UNC that could be a fit for the girls. Still working on that one.

It has been my pleasure to know Karen Kimberly as a colleague, as a mentor, and as a friend. I give you my highest recommendation for her entrance into the College Counseling Hall of Fame!

Sincerely, Ken Hyde, Director of Admission and Enrollment

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Porter-Gaud Faculty Fare-thee-wells...

Director of Strategic Communications

Ms. Jen Lorenz The Wizard of Us

You may never know how much was done for all of us by one of us. And that’s the point.

But it was a lot.

Undoubtedly, you know the work and influence ofathletic Jen focus to becoming bastions for social justice Lorenz, although you may not know she was was the and equality. None of the success we enjoyed as an one behind that work.And you may not fully realize institution through all this change and adversity would the immense impact she has had in her tenure at Porterhave been possible without Ms. Lorenz. In the middle of Gaud, or understand how much her fingerprintall hasthat, been she decided to add teaching Public ingrained into the mission and message of the School. But her already full plate. She is a team builder and a doer. the people who work closely with her know just Shehow makes things happen, and we need more peop important she is. Jen Lorenz will never “toot her own her in this world. horn.” It is not who she is. So I will do it. Because she certainly deserves it.

She is a fierce advocate for the people who wo with her. She puts the needs of others ahead of her own, She has served as the Director of Strategic often at her detriment. She is a wonderful colleague and Communications for seven years. She is “Mom” to friend, and I, along with the entire PG community, will senior Will Houlihan and a loving friend to all on miss her terribly. She is off to unknown adven campus. She has been a champion for all things Porterunknown places, but there is one thing — that Gaud. Jen works closely with every group in our wherever she lands will be incredibly fortunate to have community—parents, teachers, alums, administration, her. board members—all who understand the void that will be left when she leaves. Her job reaches far beyond her job Godspeed, my friend. description because people understand that if you want Brink Norton, Director of Digital Media & Publicat something done well, make Jen part of it.

Jen is an honest and direct voice of reason in a time When we first developed the chief communication position when reason seems to be in short supply. In her time for PG, I did not anticipate what it would evolve into. I just here, she has helped craft the messaging that everyone didn’t know what we were missing until Jen showed it to in the PG and Charleston communities hears from us. As we learned what Jen was capable of, she became the us. When you consider all that happened during her go-to leader for so many faculty, staff, parents, and trustees. time here, it makes her tenure even more important. A Everyone wanted her at the table. It is easy to take for granted pandemic where we were constantly changing policies so many improvements or new tools that we never had and messaging depending on the best information we before. From our social media presence, to new websites, to had, and then the information changes…again. Her communication office unwittingly became the only beautiful and comprehensive publications, Jen has improved window into the school as the world shut down, and our image in anything she has been involved in. She has things went remote. She led us through the aftermath helped us tell our stories of excellence, but she is also the of an unflattering documentary where our current staff story herself. had to atone for the dreadful sins of the past. Social -DuBose Egleston, Head of School unrest and a changing societal and political climate caused schools to shift from an academic, moral, and

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Jen has been so much more than a superior to me. She’s my friend and one of my closest confidants in Charleston; my own mother calls her my “work mom.” I owe so much to Jen. I truly wouldn’t be at Porter-Gaud without her, but more importantly, she’s been there for amazing moments of triumph and times of sorrow. In a world of constant inconsistencies, Jen has been the constant for me ever since I started at PG five years ago.

Irreplaceable is an easy word to throw around, but Jen is absolutely irreplaceable in every sense of the word. From a professional standpoint, Jen holds herself to an unmatched standard, but more importantly, Jen is an exceptional human being. She is one of the most selfless people I have ever met, always willing to lend a hand and put others before herself. Jen has left an incredible impression on this campus that simply will not be forgotten. I will miss Jen beyond comprehension — we all will, but I couldn’t be happier and more excited for her to take on new challenges and adventures, wherever they might take her.

-Brian Principe, Assistant Director of New Media

It is hard to find the right words. Each situation requires the author to understand the audience, prioritize the key messages, keep the language clear, and finally, “own it.” In a complex organization like an independent school, strong communication of mission, vision, and values is essential to the student, parent, faculty, and alumni experience. My friend, Jen Lorenz has been the consummate marketing and communication professional illuminating who we are and what we stand for over the past six years. I have struggled for days trying to capture how important she has been to this school, to our Admission and Enrollment team and to me. So, I will use a couple of the lessons she taught me to give it my best shot.

Lesson 1: Walk Right Into It. From day one, I appreciated Jen’s honest and straightforward approach to her work and to her relationships. She values authenticity and in turn brings her whole self into each opportunity to contribute. Never shying away from telling you how she feels about something, Jen offered a thoughtful perspective on how we should communicate the real Porter-Gaud to current and prospective students and families. Jen’s tenure included some extremely challenging times for the school, particularly the release of the film What Haunts Us directed by a Porter-Gaud alum, the death of George Floyd, and the Pandemic that included the pivot to remote learning, hybrid education, mask mandates, vaccine clinics, and what we hoped would be a meaningful experience for students over a multi-year period. With the increase in the need for timely communication, Jen worked around the clock to organize, produce, and deliver a communication strategy for a number of different stakeholders. Synthesizing the information and capturing

the tone of each message appeared effortless under her leadership.

When I asked her how she was able to have such success in such a stressful time, she reminded me that we need to Walk Right Into It. (Paraphrasing) Don’t be afraid of the challenge. Take it on with grace and an empathic heart. You have to listen to the array of perspectives, even if you don’t share some of them. There will always be skeptics, but we need to know how they feel. It is so much better than having the skeptics creating their own narrative in spaces of their choosing.

Lesson 2: I Welcome Your Feedback.

Jen authored or co-authored nearly every all-school communication. Her guideposts focused on clarity, simplicity, and understanding your audience. Who would be receiving the messages impacted tone, priorities, and in many cases, whose signature was at the bottom. She had a number of colleagues that would review these messages, and I felt honored to be on this team.

With each review, she would include a note that always included, I Welcome Your Feedback. Feedback can be tough to receive for anyone. It’s hard to hear where you can improve. Jen modeled this critical element of a growth mindset. Not only did she welcome it, but she also expected it. She knew that the strength of the team would always exceed the expertise of one. I have struggled in much of my career with receiving feedback from others. I am grateful for Jen’s guidance in this regard in my own life. I’m still not great at hearing feedback, but at least now, I ask for it:) Lesson 3: Boost It. You did it! Where so many of us find such a challenge in selecting the right words, in the proper order, with an understanding of context and complexity, you did this effortlessly each day you stepped on campus. Your positive attitude and solid gold heart gave this place a Boost—seemingly just when we needed it! I am so grateful for your leadership, your partnership, your commitment to each student, and your friendship. You will be leaving Porter-Gaud better than you found it. Consider us Boosted!

We wish you the very best in your next chapter.

You will be missed, my friend.

Ken Hyde, Director of Admission and Enrollment Thanks so much, Ms. Lorenz. We’ll miss you!!!!! -G Block

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Faculty Fashion That’s So Camp

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Ms. Tamarra Washington 60

Ms. Silvia Davis

Ms. Anna Smith

Find out which Porter-Gaud teacher’s style fits you!

Ms. Fran Ridgell

Mr. Walker Bruce

Mr. Sean Dietrich 61

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