October Issue 2023

THE TRINITY VOICE

SOCIAL MEDIA EVOLVES

NEWS OPINIONS FOCUS

With a record 879 students on campus, how will Trinity run at capacity?

New technologies used in class could leave teachers and students behind.

Social media is changing the way students live, for good and for bad.

LIFESTYLES

With or without science, manifestation becomes a major trend

SPORTS

New football season sees suprising additions to the team.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

e Trinity Voice is a member of the Florida Scholastic Press Association and the National Scholastic Press Association.

e Trinity Voice is produced by the newspaper/journalism class at Trinity Preparatory School of Florida. Editorials represent the opinion of e Trinity Voice writer and are not necessarily the views of the administration, faculty, or Board of Trustees of Trinity. e Voice welcomes letters to the editor and freelance articles or photography. All submissions become the property of e Voice. Please send all correspondence to 5700 Trinity Prep Lane, FL 32792. e Voice may also be contacted via phone at 407-671-4140 and via e-mail at voice@trinityprep.org. For information regarding the purchase of advertising within e Voice contact us by one of the methods mentioned above. The Voice is a monthly publication during the school year (with the exceptions of November and January).

STAFF

Editors-in-Chief: Marcos Membreno, Jack Ververis

Managing Editors: Sarah Zehnder, Ava Savino

Copy Editor: Kaylee Ortega

Layout Editors: Amy-Ruth Gyang, Reese Taylor

Social Media Editors: David Bryskin, Ana Carolina Marques

News Department: Iris Lei (Editor), Julian Sealy, Alec Diaz, Karthik Stead, Laziza Talipova

Opinions Department: Abby Hernan (Editor), Reese Taylor, Amanda Rose DeStefano

Focus Department: Peyton Alch (Editor), Fay Zhao, Lucy Chong, Zach Kleiman

Lifestyles Department: Taylor Riley (Editor), Kaylee Ortega, Boaz Kim, Victoria Berube, Jack Aaron, Sammy Lou

Sports Department: David Steinberg (Editor), David Hull

Podcast Department: Aetant Prakash (Editor), Sreekar Nagulapalli, Mohil Kapadia

Graphics Department: Amy-Ruth Gyang (Editor), Austin Yuan, Andrew Edwards, Caden Liu, Lia Garibay

Photo Department: Anna Miliotes (Editor), Andrew Edwards, Raheel Patel, Olivia Kortman, Olivia Prince

Fact Checking Editors: Boaz Kim, Julian Sealy

Business Manager: Sreekar Nagulapalli

Adviser: Erin Miller

This Month’s Podcasts: by Austin Yuan Caden -

SENIOR PUBLISHES BILINGUAL POETRY COLLECTION

Article by Iris Lei Graphics courtesy of Megan Vu

Few students at Trinity become published authors, much less with books written in two languages. However, senior Megan Vu has accomplished this feat with her new poetry collection titled “Ex Caelis ad Tartarum,” or “From e Heavens to Tartarus.” It contains 20 free form poems written in Latin, the language Vu took from sixth grade, with English translations. Award-winning author and Trinity Prep alumna Meg Nocero provided the book description and a commendation on the back of the book.

“ e words dance on the page, delightfully evoking imagery that has one curious as to the stories’ mythical unfolding,” Nocero wrote. “Bravo to a wonderful debut. Well-done!”

As the title insinuates, the theme of the book is a descent from the heavens to hell. According to Vu, the book starts with the heavens; heavenly bodies and stars, then the earth, and nally the poems related to hell and the outer world. She decided on this theme after reading poems in Honors Latin III, a class that additionally motivated her to write the book.

“We were reading a lot of Catullus poems, and I think I got the idea from that,” Vu said. “Honestly, he talks about a lot of nature.” e collection of poems is a result of Vu her lan-

skills and uency, which assisted her in Latin competitions. Last year, she placed second, with Maxima Cum Laude in the National SCRIBO contest. Earlier this year, she won a gold medal with Summa Cum Laude on the National Latin Exam.

medal structure complete

According to Vu, writing poems in Latin is especially di cult as the structure and grammar both require the writer’s complete attention.

“I always have my [Latin] dictionary in my hand while looking at that,” Vu said. “And I typed the poems [with] the other.”

An illustration of Hades dancing with Persephone, one of the three illustrations by Megan Vu’s illustrator Clarissa Du.

While this is her rst time writing a poem collection, she has experience writing short stories. Still, it was challenging for her to juggle schoolwork and writing.

honing guage Christmas,” Vu said. “I took really long breaks

“I was overwhelmed with schoolwork at the time, so I wasn’t able to write my book until Christmas,” Vu said. “I took really long breaks in between.”

She nished after eight months, but poetry is not the only thing the book contains.

ere are also three illustrations inside done by Vu’s illustrator Carissa Du, who is also her cousin. ey depict Hades dancing with Persephone, Charon the ferryman rowing down the River Styx, and a gure shing among the stars.

“I sent a bunch of emails to di erent publishing companies, but after talking to them in detail I realized that the publishing process would be way too long,” Vu said. “Some of them can take years to get published.”

All the proceeds from the book sale are donated to the nonpro t social services organization, Kids Beating Cancer. According to Vu, she also talked with the orginization in late August about selling her book at their upcoming gala.

- Senior Megan Vu

An illustration of Charon the ferryman for Megan Vu’s book by Clarissa Du.

Publishing her work consisted of trial and error, and she eventually self-published on Amazon after the traditional method would not work. Amazon allowed her to manage every aspect of the process.

ough her journey writing “From Heavens to Tartarus,” is over, she is working on a short story based on Latin and Greek mythology. Vu’s motto stated in her book’s foreward encapsulates her current and future piece: Latin is here, Latin is there, Latin is everywhere.

“I always have my [Latin] dictionary in my hand while looking at [grammar]. And I typed the poems [with] the other.”

TRINITY HITS STUDENT POPULATION RECORD

Article by Alec Diaz Photo by Olivia Kortman

is school year, Trinity is facing its largest enrollment in history with 879 students. According to Director of Admissions Denise Turner, 6,000 people move to Florida each month, which contributes to the increase.

e COVID-19 pandemic also played a role in parents wanting to send their children to Trinity, as it was one of the only schools to continue o ering face-to-face education during the pandemic.

“Parents became very frustrated with public schools, so they started pulling their students out of public schools and looking for private schools where we quite frankly managed [the coronavirus] a lot better,” Turner said.

Head of School Byron Lawson said that part of the reason Trinity has gotten more students is due to Trinity’s reputation. Trinity has both gotten positive reviews from parents and grown the school’s college matriculation data during the pandemic.

1,000 if we built out space just for teachers to [have] o ces not in their classrooms.”

With a signi cant interest in Trinity, there are some that the school has to turn away, at least initially.

“As high as [applications have] been, we have turned away more students than we have in the past,” Lawson said. “We are getting

school and 11:1 for middle school.

According to Turner, if Trinity ever did get to 900 students, the possibility of purchasing land is not o the table.

“If [the growth] necessitates new property, if that necessitates moving the school a couple of grades to a di erent building, then potentially you’ll have to do that,” Turner said.

Turner said that having the middle and upper school at di erent locations is not ruled out either.

“I don’t think anything is out of the realm,” Turner said. “It’s just that [this] is a strategic answer that the board of directors would have to come up with [and] the board of directors would have to say to Mr. Lawson, ‘ is is what we want to do and let’s go.’”

ere has been

On ursday, August 26, the Trinity Saints pack in the auditorium for senior investiture. is year marks the largest number of students at Trinity with a total of 879.

more students from more areas than we have in the past.”

“It’s the equivalent of, ‘I don’t know what to do right now, but I know I can’t go wrong if I [go to Trinity],’” Lawson said. “We are that school, you’re not going to go wrong if you choose Trinity Prep.”

Lawson said that the school could possibly exceed its current limit if there was more space, though it might lead to unintended consequences.

“I will honestly say that I do think this school has a limit, and it’s limited by space,” Lawson said. “How we use the current space that we have, the school could probably get to

e waiting list at Trinity is an unranked waiting list, which means that a student is just on the waitlist and it does not matter if there are people ahead on the list. en, every applicant is reevaluated to see what they bring to the table. ere is currently a waiting list of 37 people across all grades, with the most being in 9th grade.

As a result of the large student body size, the school is being forced to adapt to its large number of 879 students. All school assemblies have been moved to the gyms instead of in the auditorium. e teacher to student ratio for the core classes this year is 12:1 for upper

some property purchased, most notably an o ce park with four buildings that can be seen when going towards Howell Branch Road.

Since admission is always a year ahead, Turner said that there are 180 students being looked at for the 2023-2024 school year.

“You think about the fact that we’ll be graduating 142 students this year, right, so essentially we would be looking to have at least 142 new students join us next year, as new students to replace our graduating class,” Turner said. “So to try to keep our enrollment about where it is, year over year, which is around that 800 mark, when you graduate out, you have to bring in new.”

EXCHANGE STUDENT SHARES EXPERIENCES FROM STOCKHOLM

Article by Julian Sealy

Photos Courtesy of Hanna Skoglund and photo by Andrew Edwards

After going through various applications with essays, English tests, and interviews, junior Hanna Skoglund has nally made it to Trinity Prep. Skoglund is from Stockholm, the capital of and one of the most inclusive and welcoming cities in Sweden.

“[Unlike America] it’s not the end of the world if you don’t have your driver’s license,” Skoglund said. “ ere’s a lot more bikes and buses and less cars because everything is so close.”

Skoglund has quite the extended family and is one of ve kids in her family. She has a twin sister, two younger brothers who are twins and an older sister, Clara, whose also in the ASSIST program in California.

Skoglund said its been di cult to adjust to the Florida heat, as well as, the dress code and cuisine.

“[In Sweden] we have the same schedule

Junior Hanna Skoglund with fer family in the mountains while she worked as a sailing instructor over the summer.

every day and the classes are very different,” Skoglund said. “We also don’t have much of a dress code really.”

Skoglund talked about some of the biggest di erences between Sweden and the U.S.

“You serve a lot of pizza and fries everyday, we don’t really have that in Sweden” Skoglund said. “We have different stu everyday, where here it’s all the same thing every week.”

Back home in Sweden, Skoglund is a sailing instructor and also enjoys playing pickup basketball.

Skoglund said she’s enjoyed Trinity so far and is excited for what’s to come this year.

“I’ve made some new friends and all the teachers are really nice,” Skoglund said. “I like pottery a lot too, it’s a very di erent subject, but a lot of fun.”

GERMAN STUDENT BRINGS MULTI-SPORT TALENT

After a long ight on Sunday night and a serious case of jetlag Monday morning, sophomore Moritz Ernst has made it to Trinity from Germany. Ernst is from Dusseldorf, home to some of the best fashion and trade fairs in Europe.

Ernst said what he enjoys most about living in Dusseldorf.

“I would say how close [together] everything,” Ernst said. “If I’m hanging out with friends, it’s easy to go to each other’s houses or go into the city to the restaurants because it’s all very close.”

Ernst said how his rst days at Trinity have been so far.

“ e rst days were rough, but it’s ne now, I really like it here and the people are really nice.” Ernst said.

Di erent from America, there’s no high school sports in Germany, everything is through clubs and signing up to play.

Moritz Ernst recently moved to Florida and is enjoying his few weeks at Trinity. He plays three sports: football, tennis, and soccer.

Ernst talked about what he’s most looking forward to about playing sports in high school.

“I’m playing football right now and I’m enjoying that,” Ernst said. “I would say I’m excited to meet new people and I’m looking forward to playing soccer and tennis.”

Back home in Germany, Ernst has two brothers, who all love sports.

“Me and my younger brother play soccer and tennis,” Ernst said. “My older brother though is a competitve skier, I would say he’s pretty good,”

e US and Germany have many di erences and Ernst said which ones have been the most signi cant.

“In Florida, it’s really hot and the buildings and the landscapes are just in general, very di erent from Germany,” Ernst said. “I think also I do like German food more than American, although I think it’s weird that you fry everything.”

INFLATION SCRAMBLES GRILLE PRICES

Article by Jack Aaron Graphic by Lia Garibay

Inflation has crept into Trinity’s breakfast burrito. Senior Max Balon purchased a $4.75 breakfast burrito from The Grill every day last year and paid $855 over the course of the school year. If Balon keeps that up this year with the $5.50 dollar breakfast burrito, he will end up paying $135 more - for a total of nearly $1,000 by the end of the school year.

Food prices in the past year have gone up for several reasons, including inflation and supply chain disruptions. The Grille is being hit par ticularly hard by this instability.

“The other day I got aluminum foil for $98, normally it’s 45 bucks,” Food Director Chris topher Behrens said. “My chicken has gotten up to $140 per 10-pound case.”

Food prices have increased all over the world. In the U.S., food prices as a whole have gone up 13.1% from August of 2021 to Au gust of 2022. According to an August article in CNN, the price of bacon increased 9.2%, the price of fruits and vegetables increased by 9.3%, ground beef 9.7%, milk went up 15.6%, flour increased 22.7%, and eggs in creased 38%. In contrast to these prices, from December of 2017 to December of 2018, food prices increased by a mere 1.6%.

This current surge in food prices is forcing The Grille to increase its own prices. Behrens is making sure that the prices of The Grille’s food are staying consistent with the amount of money he is paying for the food.

In addition to food, The Grille has seen an increase in the price of paper goods. According to a May article from the fresh produce indus try newspaper The Packer, the price of paper has gone up 14%. This paper can be seen all over The Grille from the sheets of paper be tween bacon to the paper cups they supply.

“Coke cups, I can’t get them at all,” Behrens said. “The 21 ounce cups, they’re not available, so I had to get the plastic cups.”

Despite the higher costs, students and staff are still frequenting the Grille.

“We’re busier than ever,” Behrens said. “We’re busier than ever because if you think about it you can eat here or try to go outside. So if you had your car, you drive to Tijuana Flats, they charge you twice as much as me, and then you’re going to drive gas, find a spot,

grab your food, come back and try to find a spot again.”

Despite this, some are still dealing with the cost increase. Ninth grader Dylan Daviduke purchases a breakfast burrito every morning, but because he has a fixed budget, he plans on buying fewer this year.

“I have to reduce the amount of food I con sume from The Grille because of the inflated prices,” Daviduke said.

Daviduke is among the many who have to compensate for the price surge, and it is un clear what effect this will have on The Grille. Morningstar’s head of U.S. economics, Pres ton Caldwell, said in an interview for CNBC that food prices will not start to drop until

anywhere from 2023 through 2025.

An annual tradition is now the next item to suffer from the current price surge.

“We won’t have Thanksgiving turkeys to get,” Behrens said. “Normally the head of school will buy turkeys for each staff member and give it away for Thanksgiving. We won’t be able to do that this year.”

Even in this stressful environment with problems everywhere, Behrens is hoping to roll with the punches and keep The Grille afloat.

“You live life on life’s terms, sometimes it’s how it is,” Behrens said. “It’s more of a head ache for me to keep changing [the food prices], so I don’t. I raise what I have to raise a little bit, and left it at that.”

WILSON WIDENS HORIZONS WITH NEW ADMINISTRATIVE ROLE

Article by Ava Savino Photo by Raheel Patel

New Assistant Head of School Tresa Wilson has always been inspired by the strong women in her life. Whether it was her mother encouraging her to pursue her passion in teaching or the women leaders in her previous job at an all-girls school in Dallas, she always was surrounded by powerful role models. With her new position at Trinity, Wilson hopes to continue this legacy and inspire even more young leaders by being a role model herself.

Wilson grew up in the west Texas town of St. Angelo and was raised in Tyler, located two hours outside of Dallas. With a major in communications and minor in Spanish from e University of Texas at Tyler and Southern Methodist University, Wilson started her professional career at a local TV station. However, Wilson decided to change careers after a short time in this job.

“[I] was really not progressing as I thought I would in the communication eld…[so] I decided that I wanted to branch out with the advice of my mother,” Wilson said. is transition marked the beginning of Wilson’s 22-year career in education, starting at the Dallas Independent School District teaching Spanish rst and then sixth grade. Continuing in education, Wilson transitioned into private schools where she discovered e Hockaday School in Dallas.

“I was at the school for 16 years, and I think what the great thing about education is that [it] gives you a chance to grow,” Wilson said.

Wilson said that she got to experience a variety of perspectives in her di erent roles. She was a fourth grade teacher for eight years and the Director of Inclusion and Community for another eight, her most recent role before coming to Trinity.

In this role, Wilson was in charge of a number of initiatives to promote diversity and community at Hockaday, including professional development to sta on student development, parent education, and how to counteract biases. Wilson’s favorite program that she developed during this time was the yearly Hockaday Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration.

“ at entailed really thinking

about, ‘How do we come together as a community?’ ‘How do we celebrate his message?’” Wilson said.

During this celebration, Wilson emphasized this message with lessons and dialogue about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in advisory and classes. ere were also a variety of performances led by students and faculty working together in activities such as the all-school choir or individual dance performances.

“One thing I’d love to do was really highlight people that you never saw before,” Wilson said. “All of us [came] together to create one community.”

Wilson’s experience in her previous job led to her current Assistant Head of School position here at Trinity Prep where she is currently working on learning the school community.

“I’ve got to learn, ‘Who is Trinity Prep, What does it mean to be a saint?’ and then incorporate those things, your mission, your

strategic imperatives…and then think about how does that trickle into my day to day,” Wilson said.

In this role, Wilson’s main responsibilities are currently recruitment, retention and the school Fellows program for mentoring new teachers. She hopes to

incorporate her

perience as a diversity director into her current role once she better learns the school’s culture.

“Whenever you go to a new institution, you should learn that institution,” Wilson said. “My hope is to bring insight and also think about programming as we move further down the path.”

Aside from her current job, Wilson has a variety of hobbies that she hopes to continue since moving to Florida. She is interested in joining sports such as soccer, tennis and golf. Wilson is also an avid Net ix watcher and enjoys a variety of action, romance, and foreign language lms.

“I’m the one if there’s a new superhero movie coming out, I’ve got to go to the movies,” Wilson said.

She also enjoys spending time with her family, which includes her mother who works at a neurosurgical clinic, her father who is a retired school crossing guard and her sister who is 11

years younger than her. and o see her.

Wilson said that she is excited to meet the new students and faculty here on campus as a people person herself, so she hopes that students stop into her o ce behind the help desk or interact with her out on campus whenever they

“I hope it becomes a culture where if you have a question, ask it,” Wilson said. “I love providing [students] with opportunities or tapof advisory.

ping into how I can support them.”

Wilson hopes to learn more about Trinity through the lense of her sixth grade boys

NEW FRENCH TEACHER TRANSLATES TRAVELS INTO TEACHING

Article by Lucy Chong Photo courtesy of Elisabeth Johar

From teaching students in Paris to attend ing a wedding in China, Elisabeth Johar, Trin ity’s newest French teacher, has created a life in which she is always looking to experience new cultures and broaden her perspective of the world.

Originally from Brittany, France, Johar moved to the US at the age of 16 to attend col lege at Bryn Mawr University. During college, Johar began what would become a long legacy of teaching, through tutoring the French stu dents at her university.

“I started tutoring French a long time ago in college. They needed people to help ..so I helped them [run] drills and that kind of thing… and I really liked it,” Johar said.

Following her time at Bryn Mawr, Johar continued pursuing her love of languages and passion for teaching through working with in ternational students at the University of Notre Dame, Drexel University, and the University of Delaware. Additionally, Johar ran a lan guage program that educated the spouses of international students in English.

“It’s all about education, helping people learn [and] helping people fit into their envi ronment[s],” Johar said.

Once she had established the foundation for her career, Johar decided it was time to take her talents overseas. In 2005 Johar ar rived in Xi’an China, home of the terracotta soldiers and capital of the Shaanxi province. She worked for a company in Xi’an teaching English to students of all ages for around a year and a half.

While abroad, Johar discovered a plethora of new experiences, one of her favorites taking place in a Western region of China occupied by the Uyghurs. There, she attended a wed ding where she met people from a variety of areas including Uzbekistan, China, the Uighur regions, and the West.

After returning from China, Johar attended Columbia University’s Teachers College, where she received her master’s degree and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Lan guages) certificate.

Johar’s next big adventure abroad began in a place not very foreign to her: France. For the last five years Johar has enjoyed teaching En glish at Lycée Fénelon, and showing her hus

band and two sons the country in which she grew up.

“France is so beautiful. There’s just so many things to see and discover,” Johar said.

Right behind Johar’s latest adventure in France follows a brand new one in Winter Park at Trinity Preparatory School. New to Florida, Johar has recently enjoyed exploring the area and finding ways to involve herself in the com munity. One of which has been joining the Winter Park Bach Festival Society Choir.

“It’s been really fun to get to know the area, discover a little bit and learn the Trinity cul ture,” Johar said.

Now at Trinity Johar aims to educate and create an environment in which her students can thrive. Johar cites her favorite aspect of teaching to be the moment when she sees the information all fall into place for each student. She describes it as “a click.”

“When I see students who… maybe strug gled in learning a language all of a sudden [ex perience] a click, I see that I can help them,” Johar said. “I really love that.”

In late spring of 2017, Johar visited the Eiffel Tower with her two sons. While there, they got to see the tower’s annual French Open decorations.

DUNAGAN’S NEXT MOVE

Former college admission o cer becomes Trinity’s new college counselor

Article by Jack Aaron Photo Courtesy of Katherine Dunagan

Katherine Dunagan is a rst generation college graduate who underwent the admissions process without much guidance. Her lack of support during this time made her passionate about helping others, which led to her becoming Trinity’s new college counselor. Before Dunagan’s journey here at Trinity, she was a college admissions o cer for the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

“It was intense,” Dunagan said. “I worked for a school that had 60,000 applications last year alone, so it was really, really busy all the time. I was constantly reading students’ les, while also trying to recruit students out on the road.”

Dunagan’s prior experience is rooted in her education background. Dunagan received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications-Public Relations and French from Wisconsin-Stevens Point University. is experience has bene ted her ability to help students with the college admissions process.

“I think [my experience] de nitely helps because you’ve built a lot of connections at other universities,” Dunagan said. “So I would be out on the road with Notre Dame, with Wake Forest, with USC. I co-presented with the University of Florida, so I got to know admissions people very well. So that way, when you move to a new position and a high school, you can really connect more directly with counselors on the university side.”

Dunagan celebrates after her rst ever Disney 10K in Feb. 2022. Her skirt is a reference to Frozen, and her shirt is a joke for a friend.

Along with her connections, Dunagan uses her own experience in applying to college as she counsels Trinity students.

“I want to make sure that the student’s voice is in the conversation, even though the parents might be the ones making the decision,” Dunagan said. “Making sure that I’m working with students so that they feel engaged and empowered is something that I value because I didn’t necessarily have that from a counselor when I was applying to college.”

In Dunagan’s free time, she enjoys taking her 10 year old daughter to Disney World. In addition, Dunagan has been running for the last ve years.

“I made a New Year’s resolution where I was going to do one 5K a month for an entire year,” Dunagan said. “And I made it halfway through, but I didn’t make it all the way. And then last year, I did my rst 10K, so that was the longest one that I’ve done so far.”

Dunagan is still working to complete her New Year’s resolution, as she trains to run a half marathon in February of 2023.

“I want to set a goal,” Dunagan said. “And I want to work towards the goal and know that I can achieve it. And I know it’s going to be hard. But the feeling afterwards is what I’m looking for, like I can set my mind to something and make it happen.”

A trend sparks debate over mental health concerns MANIFESTATION: MAGIC OR MOTIVATION

Article by Taylor Riley Photo by Anna Miliotes

From going viral on social media platforms to Ariana Grande writing a song about it, manifestation took the world by storm during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time when so much of life felt out of control, many found it comforting to subscribe to a belief system where the power over your life is ultimately yours to wield. But does the theory hold any scientific credibility? Or is it, as Grande sings, “just like magic”?

Manifestation is rooted in the law of attrac tion, a principle that posits positive thoughts attract positive outcomes while negative thoughts attract negative outcomes. Many understand manifestation as attempting to will your desires into existence by thinking or writing about them. Sophomore Sallee Rosen, who discovered manifestation via the internet, uses it as a tool for mental health. She believes that it does not have a singular definition or purpose, but can mean different things to dif ferent people.

“It can be a way spiritually to actually man ifest things, it can be a way to organize your thoughts, it can be a way to just set things in motion,” Rosen said. “It can be many things, whatever the person pretty much believes.”

However, many critique manifestation for placing value on thoughts rather than actions. Psychology teacher Donna Walker said that wishing for something to happen is not the

same as putting work towards making that happen.

“People who subscribe to [manifestation] may also believe they’re able to cause a change in the universe that isn’t controllable by them selves,” Walker said. “So for example, if I man ifest that I get accepted into the college I want, that’s really not something that is within your control.”

While manifestation is not backed up by sci ence and has no guarantee of success, there is a proven correlation between positive thinking and less stress. According to a study titled “The power of positive thinking: Pathological worry is reduced by thought replacement in Gener alized Anxiety Disorder,” positive thinking de creases stress and anxiety, even if the positive thoughts are unrelated to a source of worry. So although users of manifestation are not prov en to be able to change something that’s out of their control, they can lower stress levels through positive thinking.

However, is achieving what they’ve mani fested a result of lowered stress levels due to positive thinking? Or is there truly a supernat ural element at work? Either way, manifesta tion has helped Rosen decrease her anxiety by helping her focus on the positives.

“If I’m in a really anxious mode or if I’m having a panic attack, I can think to myself, okay, so what is happening right now?” Rosen

said. “What’s stressing me out? What do I want to be better? And I can focus on that stuff.”

Rosen represents a healthy use of manifes tation, however some take the practice too far. At its core, manifestation is about positive thinking, but forcing yourself to be happy or positive when you are actually hurting is un healthy. This is called “toxic positivity,” which applies to repression of negative emotions in order to appear happy when you aren’t. Dee Starling, physical education teacher, agrees that toxic positivity doesn’t lead to genuine happiness.

“Is there a correlation between positivity and happiness?” Starling said. “I think there can be, but I feel like it has to be genuine positivity. Because I feel like there are a lot of people that have positive attitudes, but really on the inside, they’re hurting or they’re sad, or that they try to portray a positive attitude.”

Many manifestation users simplify the con cept to pushing away all negative emotions in order to be positive, which is why it can be unhealthy. But as Rosen said, it can just be a lens to positively view the world and work on improving yourself. Either way, the posi tive thinking that is central to manifestation is proven to lower stress, so Ariana Grande’s “I get everything I want ‘cause I attract it” atti tude might just be worth a try.

How listening to music affects studying performance

Article by Boaz Kim Graphics by Austin Yuan

As senior Koray Tekin sits down to mem orize his AP French oral, he turns on some of his favorite rap music to listen to while he studies. After about 10 minutes he cannot seem to focus on memorizing his speech.

“When I am trying to memorize stuff or I am trying to read, I feel like the lyrics just get in the way because sometimes I find myself starting to sing along to the lyrics instead of focusing on the words of a page,” Tekin said. “Instead, I will either put on lo-fi music or classical music with no lyrics in it.”

Tekin’s explanation for this lack of focus is backed up by a 2019 study by the Universi ty of Wollongong Australia. According to the findings, listening to lyrical music can signifi cantly decrease your comprehension when try ing to memorize something. It is shown that the least disruptive music genres for studying include classical, instrumental rock and ambi ent/chill music.

“If you are a student who is just miserable without studying with music, then the re search is pretty clear that instrumental music is better to listen to than music where someone is singing and there’s words that can alter your focus,” AP psychology teacher Donna Walker said.

Many people listen to music they like to im prove their mood or help them focus on a task at hand. A study called the “Blur Effect” had a group of students listen to the popular brit pop band Blur and another group of students

listen to Mozart before taking a spatial test. The results concluded that the students who listened to the popular pop music did better on the test than the students who listened to Mozart simply because they liked the pop music more than Mozart.

“When I am doing math prob lems or writing an essay, I do lis ten to rap because it is my favor ite genre of music and something about it just helps me get through my homework efficiently,” Tekin said.

Tekin is not alone in preferring to listen to music in only certain subjects. A Trinity Voice survey found that 73.5 percent of re spondents listened to music while studying for math, compared to only 40.5 percent of students who listen to music while studying for world languages.

There are a variety of combinations and sub jects where listening to music is utilized, but for some students such as senior Thomas Kien le, listening to no music at all, seems to work the best for studying.

“I normally do not listen to any music while studying or doing homework because I feel like it takes my focus away from the work that I have to do and puts it on the music instead,”

Kienle said. “I have learned this from expe rience because I have tried to listen to music while doing school work and usually I get little to nothing done.”

While researchers have discussed all of the different benefits and drawbacks of listening to music while studying, at the end of the day the choice is on the student.

“Research has demonstrated that studying with music for most people is actually detri mental, which is why I would suggest to stu dents that they should try studying without music and give it a try for at least two tests to see how they do,” Walker said. STUDYING WITH SONGS

Let’s BeReal.

BeReal.

Rising social media app shows a two-sided perspective

Article by Peyton Alch Photo by Anna Miliotes

In a society where there’s pressure to look and act a certain way, BeReal is attempting to respond by offering a more genuine approach to social media.

BeReal was founded by Alexis Barreyat in 2020, and though the app is two years old, it has substantially risen in popularity over the past few months. BeReal went from having around 900,000 users in July 2022, to 21.6 million users just a year later.

BeReal is a different approach to social me dia, promoting authenticity and encouraging people to live in the moment. Every day, Be Real sends a notification to users’ phones tell ing them it’s “Time to BeReal.” From there, you have two minutes to stop what you are doing and take your BeReal for the day.

“Overall, I think it’s kind of unique,” sopho more Connor Nanus said. “It’s a cool concept, I like how you can see the calendar, and how it gives you a picture each day you can look back on.”

Freshman Ellison Clark just recently down loaded BeReal, and her first impressions of the app are positive. She said that it is a lot dif ferent from other social media apps and that she likes the genuine, realistic approach that BeReal provides.

“Overall, I think It’s kind of unique, It’s a cool concept, I like how you can see the calendar, and how it gives you a picture each day you can look back on.”

- Connor Nanus, Sophmore

“I like it,” Clark said. “It’s really nice because you don’t feel like you’re on social media. It’s what you’re doing right now, so it takes that unrealistic part away.”

According to Nanus, for him, BeReal is less addicting as a whole. He will spend a maxi mum of 30 minutes on BeReal a day, which is

substantially less than the amount of time he spends on other social media apps.

“I’ll do the one a day and then react to a couple of people’s, but other than that it’s not really something I think you can really spend a lot of time on,” Nanus said. “You mostly just take your picture and then look at other peo ple’s [posts].”

BeReal has changed the way people view so cial media. Its popularity has influenced peo ple to use social media in a more casual way, which can help erase the unrealistic standards seen on other social media platforms.

“I feel like on other apps, you have to look really nice and presentable when you post but with BeReal, I feel like none of us look super put-together,” Clark said. “And it’s nice to see that.”

Though BeReal’s whole point is to erase the obsession around perfection on social media, it may be promoting a different kind of performance. Many find it hard to tear away from old hab its and be genuine on the app, forcing the question to emerge: To what extent are BeReal users actually being real?

“When I first got it, I was real ly scared of it, because I wanted to look nice,” Clark said.

Other platforms have influ enced people’s attitude toward social media, so it’s harder for people to be genuine on BeReal. Clark said that the more she uses it, the easier it is to abandon old ideals and embrace authenticity.

“Now I’ve kind of gotten rid of that pressure,” Clark said. “I don’t spend as much time think ing about it, so I’m not scared of it anymore.”

Though BeReal is a milder ver sion of social media, it is still en tertaining and can be a good way

to connect with friends and see a side of them that might not be as commonly seen on other social media platforms.

“Getting the notification is always so ex citing,” Clark said. “Even if I’m not doing anything fun. It’s nice to see what everyone’s doing.”

- Ellison Clark, Freshman

“I like it, It’s really nice because you don’t feel like you’re on social media. It’s what you’re doing right now, so it takes that unrealistic part away.”

MATURING WITH MEDIA

Article by Peyton Alch Graphic by Caden Liu

Social media is a place with unlimited potential. It can spread good, or it can release bad. For young kids using social media, the potential for negative impact becomes even more extreme because they are much more impressionable.

Social media has never been necessarily kid-friendly. Despite the age ratings that have become nothing more than a suggestion, younger kids are joining these apps and becoming part of the large masses addicted to social media.

According to a poll sent to Trinity students, out of 400 responses, around 20% downloaded social media at the age of 12, and 16% got it at the age of 11. Some began even younger, such as eighth grader Olivia Agnew, who has had social media since the age of eight, when she rst got Musical.ly, and has had some form of social media ever since.

“I’ve always had TikTok because my mom thinks it’s very creative,” Olivia said. “I’ve had Instagram since sixth grade and Snapchat since seventh grade.”

for young kids in the rst place. Kids are being exposed to things that impact their mental health, self image, and beliefs in general.

“Because many are under the age of 18 they don’t have the maturity to switch o from

social media,” Olivia Agnew’s parent Genny Agnew said. “ ey don’t realize how obsessive it can be which has a toll on their mental health from FOMO to anxiety to loneliness.”

have the capacity to understand all that information coming at them,” California assembly member Bu y Wicks said before the vote on August 30th.

“We want to make sure that when these products are created, they are by design and by default safe for our children.”

According to a report from the University of Michigan, one-third of children ages seven to nine years old use social media apps. ey are being exposed to all types of content on the internet, good and bad. e things they are being exposed to in uence their social and emotional development.

Social media platforms have so many ways to keep people coming back, but these techniques can negatively impact the children using these apps because they weren’t designed

In August, California lawmakers passed two bills designed

to protect minors using social media. ese bills would force social media platforms and online services to make sure their features protect the minors using them by re-evaluating the risks that these services might cause to children.

“Our children are getting bombarded with information online, and they don’t yet

Bill AB 2273 would stop companies from using minors’ personal information. is would force social media platforms to enable data privacy measures to protect minors’ information from being used in a way that might hurt them. Bill AB 587 would require social media companies to make their privacy policy and terms of service available to all users.

California assembly members Jesse Gabriel

“I think that having social media so young can really impact who you want to be; having so many expectations kind of sets you up for failure because no one’s perfect,”

- Lilly Lawton, Senior

Social media is altering the way younger generations grow up

and Bu y Wicks suggest that this bill might motivate other state governments to pass bills similar to this one to protect the growing number of minors on social media.

can really impact who you want to be; having so many expectations kind of sets you up for failure because no one’s perfect,” senior Lilly Lawton said.

“Unlimited access to news, brands and other privileges previously reserved for adults canforce children to mature faster,” Genny said. “ ey are more savvy than previous generations.”

When kids see their favorite in uencer look or act a certain way, they will be more prone to copying that behavior, which can cause them to change their behavior to mimic the in uence.

“I think that having social media so young

“And when you put up a somewhat perfect persona on a social media platform that isn’t accurate, it can really hurt individuals.”

Another impact that social media has on individuals has to do with the unrealistic standards that are so regularly seen. ese ideals create false expectations that are ingrained in young kids from frequent exposure.

“When you’re scrolling forever, you start to compare yourself,” Olivia said.

“You feel like, ‘oh I could be like that, or oh I wish that was me.’”

is exposure to the unrealistic beauty standards seen on social media can cause young users to become insecure about their appearance. ey change their appearance and look older, but they usually do not mentally mature until around 18 years old.

“I think social media can be a good thing when it comes to maturing, because you see older people on social media, but at the same time, I think it can hurt young girls and guys,” Lawton said.

“You see all these expectations and beauty standards, and that can de nitely impact teens’ insecurities.”

Social media can also become consuming for young kids who don’t have the maturity to realize how obsessive it can be.

“I personally try to limit myself on social media just because I hate how it kind of consumes some people,” Lawton said. “I think that’s a really good way to limit how much it’s in uencing you and the decisions you make.”

Social media has become a large part of society and will continue to in uence people. As kids continue to use social media, it will change the way they mature and change. It’s important to think about how much social media is impacting the most inuential group of people, kids.

“Deep down, we all know that social media is a highlight reel, not real life,” Genny said. “You can’t fully remove social apps from kids. But if parents and schools help students set boundaries with their social media to guide them not to get sucked in too far this will help with their overall mental wellness.”

“Deep down, we all know that social media is a highlight reel, not real life,”

- Genny Agnew,Trinity Parent

Opinions

Article by Abby Hernan Graphic by Andrew Edwards

Late last year, University of Central Florida’s Department of Modeling and Simulation performed a study on Trinity’s campus. 13 students volunteered to use an Oculus or virtual-reality headset to test if lab skills learned virtually could transfer into real-life applications. While some students could easily maneuver through the game, others struggled with the controls, felt side e ects such as nausea or dizziness and experienced technological issues on the headset.

Even though virtual reality is not routinely used in classrooms, other technology has been cemented into curricula. Whether it’s taking tests on Canvas, typing essays on Google Docs or making ashcards on Quizlet, almost every part of the classroom that was originally on paper has transitioned into its online counterpart.

is transition has made schoolwork more accessible and organized; with technology there are no loose papers being shoved in backpacks or homework assignments unable to be found. However, as school technology advances, the disadvantages of an overreliance on technology could be pushed aside.

e appeal of a ashy new tool can overtake how practical that tool actually is. Virtual reality seems like a good way to introduce students to performing dangerous experiments in a controlled setting, but those techniques learned through virtual reality aren’t necessarily carried into real life. e UCF study only tested students with previous lab experience, but there is still little information on how

students with little experience would learn on the headset. Schools need to remain hesitant on adding new tools to the classroom unless they have been adequately studied, as the consequences for our students can be dire.

During the pandemic when virtual classrooms were essential, a poll by Common Sense Media and Survey Monkey found that 59% of teens felt that online school was worse than traditional school. While some students said the main downside of online learning was missing social interaction, the majority’s concern was the fact that they felt they could not learn well online. Students would stare at a screen for hours to learn a lesson to then continue to stare at the blue light to do assignments only to repeat it the next day; a Google meet was not the same as face-to-face interaction.

Technology should be used as a complement to teaching, not a replacement. Virtual learning was a temporary solution to a problem, but if we allow technology to grow too fast while being unchecked

then the same problems of students struggling with little human interaction could arise.

“Technology is not a skill set. It’s a tool that helps inform a skill set,” English teacher Hannah Schuttler said. “Sometimes we get so excited about the new fancy tool that we forget that it’s merely a tool to help students achieve a skill or some kind of knowledge. I don’t want them to know how to use Kahoot. I want them to use Kahoot to learn vocabulary.”

Technology in the classroom also remains too centered on the student’s experience rather than the teacher who has to utilize that technology.

According to a survey done by the EdWeek Research Center, nearly two-thirds of teachers said they were experiencing technology fatigue, which is a burnout that occurs when

people have to rely too heavily on technology. Teachers cannot be expected to learn how to use new tools, implement them and be able to solve issues that might arise for them.

While we should be cautious of technology, there are still many bene ts that can come from it. Review games such as Kahoot or Gimkit are great ways for students to practice using the information they are taught. It also makes collaboration easier such as sharing a Google doc or being able to easily send a teacher an e-mail if you need help.

A virtual-reality headset could also allow students in a French class to virtually travel to France and converse with other French students or allow history students to travel to museums around the world.

“What I’m seeing like for the Oculus that I think is more interesting is an enrichment type of activity,” science department chair Romina Jannotti said. “For instance, there is an app of [a museum of] Anne Frank’s house, where you can tour Frank’s house on the Oculus. I’ve never been to Amsterdam or to Anne Frank’s house, but I had a student who went on it and she’s been there, and she told me that they let you see things in the Oculus and go in places where they don’t let you go in real life.”

Many teachers have already begun to successfully balance technology with more traditional methods of teaching. For example, Schlutter tries to incorporate technology into her seventh grade classes to help them learn how to use technology in a school environment, but with her ninth graders she takes a di erent approach.

“With the ninth graders, I start out using less technology to reset and really think about how they do things and how they study,” Schuttler said. “Is a Quizlet really the best option or is it just the easiest one? How they complete assignments? Does that need a Google doc? Is it easier to do it on the computer? Or is it because that’s just how it was given to me?”

Encouraging students to explore di erent methods of learning will help them nd which one will suit them best. e classroom cannot be reliant on strictly pen and paper, but it also cannot be reliant on technology. ere must be a blend of both to produce the most optimal environment for students. e classroom uses technology, technology does not use the classroom.

DIVING INTO A NEW CHAPTER

Aquatics program adds new director and head coach

Article by David Steinberg Photo by Raheel Patel

For the rst time since 2005, Trinity Prep Aquatics is competing without former Director of Aquatics and Head Coach, Rocco Aceto. Filling Aceto’s old position is a familiar face on campus, previous Assistant Aquatics Director and PE Teacher Anne Marie Stricklin.

Stricklin is serving as Interim Aquatics Director until a long-term coach is named. Growing up, Stricklin had a passion for swimming and began competing at age 10. During her high school years at Grand Island High School in New York, Stricklin was a ve time All-American, two-time New York state swimming champion in the 50 yard freestyle, and school record holder in seven events. After an illustrious high school career, she went on to swim at the University of South Carolina. In four years of competition, Stricklin was a 3x NCAA Division I Academic Team All-American. e competitive nature that swimming brings was what Stricklin loved most about the sport, and it pushed her to become better and better as the years went on.

“I loved to compete,” Stricklin said, “but I hated losing even more. I love the competitive aspect involved in swimming at all levels, whether it be middle school or at the college level.”

After college, Stricklin went on to coach at multiple universities, including Auburn, Georgia Southern, Northern Illinois, and the University of Notre Dame before ultimately joining Trinity as an assistant aquatics director in 2006. is year marks Stricklin’s 17th year at TPS, and she is excited to help compete for more titles.

Filling the position as Head Coach of Swim and Dive is Natalie Nickson. Nickson joins Trinity after previously coaching ten years at Dr. Phillips High School, where she attended as a student and competed on the swim team. After high school, Nickson went on to swim at the University of Florida, competing in the 100 and 200 y. Nickson plans on bringing a fun, yet winning culture to Trinity in her time as head coach.

“I am hoping to form a sense of community to the team,” Nickson said. “High School swimming is a very fun and fast experience. I want all the swimmers to enjoy their time representing Trinity Prep. I was both a high school and collegiate swimmer, and I look back at my time swimming for Dr. Phillips High school as the best time of my swimming career. e friends and memories I made are something I hold very dear to my heart even now. ”

At rst, the adjustment from coach to coach was not easy for the swimmers, but as they became more familiar with the coaching sta , they began to see improvement. Boys Varsity Captain Max Balon said there was a time this summer when he wasn’t sure about how this year was going to unfold, but is now con dent that the team is heading in the right direction.

“ e transition from the old to new coach was very di cult for every single one of the swimmers,” Balon said. “ ere was a bu er

stage where we did not completely get the most bene t out of our practices, but then we all adjusted to the new coaching style, which has helped all of us improve into the best we can be.”

Trinity aquatics is known to be among the best in the Central Florida area, and there is no intention for that to change. Stricklin said that the team has found a groove after an unfamiliar start to the year, and is hoping to add more banners in the DAC this upcoming season.

“It’s de nitely a hard time when you lose your coach that has been around the program for such a long time,” Stricklin said. “So it was a transition, but I think everybody now is settled in and working well together. We had a great summer of swimming and produced lots of best times at meets so far. So we’re well on our way to continuing the long standing tradition of winning that we’ve had here in the program.”

Head Coach Anne-Marie Stricklin with her varsity boys swim team after a recent practice.

FOOTBALL TEAM TACKLES PLAYER SHORTAGE

Article by David Hull Photo by Olivia Prince

e number of students playing tackle football throughout the country has been on a steady decline, especially in private schools. Over the last three years, Central Florida schools, including Trinity, have experienced a notable decrease in numbers. Despite this, Trinity’s football team has attracted younger students to play.

According to Athletic Director David Langdon, the team has its youngest roster in over a decade, with two-thirds of the players being underclassmen or middle schoolers.

“ is is not a Trinity Prep problem,” Langdon said. “ is is happening to a lot of teams we play. You’ve got other schools that have been predominantly very good in the past and they’re still good but their numbers are down.”

In its rst two games of the season, Trinity faced o against Seven Rivers and Taylor High School. Despite having more than 40 players just a few years ago, both rosters now have less than 22 players.

According to Forbes, this issue isn’t only a ecting the Central Florida area, but also schools throughout the nation. High school football participation has experienced a 12 percent decrease from 2010 to 2018, and is still declining.

Even though the team has become signi cantly younger, senior and captain of the team Jordan Acker said he’s optimistic about the prospects of a younger lineup.

“As a senior it was kind of tough having a young team like this,” Acker said. “A lot more kids are starting to realize that football isn’t as dangerous as you really think it is and that is actually a lot of fun.”

In previous years, the team has been heavily reliant on seniors to start and play signi cant minutes, averaging about 10-15 senior players. is year, the senior and junior classes combine for only nine players. Langdon is impressed with the younger players’ performance, but thinks that it is unfair to match them

up with much more experienced players.

“We regularly have a bunch of seniors and juniors,” Langdon said. “We’ve got these young kids, but we’re not going to put them up against older kids from other schools.”

According to Langdon, because the six middle schoolers don’t get a lot of playing time, the freshman and sophomore classes have had to take on a more signi cant role, typically playing for the majority of their games.

Freshman Ishan Choksey is a starting wide receiver and cornerback. Despite his size disadvantage, he appreciates getting so much experience during his rst year.

“It’s scary, but it’s also fun because I like the contact,” Choksey said. “I’m going up against seniors from other schools. I’m still young and it shows I have a long way to go on varsity.”

During the season, there are plans to assemble a junior high team consisting of seventh, eighth and ninth graders. Langdon believes that the addition of a junior high team would

allow the younger players to succeed.

“We’ve worked hard on getting [the junior high team] so the kids can play age appropriate opponents,” Langdon said. “ e kids want to play so we’re just going to try to make it as safe and great of an experience as we can.”

Over half of the varsity team are ninth graders or younger, so if a JV team was assembled, the majority of players would have to play on both teams. Play time would be limited due to the six quarter rule, stating that an athlete on both junior high and varisty can only play six of the eight quarters between the two games.

Despite the challenges the team will likely face this season, Langdon said the young team should lead to success in the future.

“We have a lot of potential in our seventh, eighth and ninth graders,” Langdon said. “We just have to keep ghting and get through the season, let the kids get better for upcoming years.”

Senior Anthony Miceli and seventh grader Lucas Cordova

rest on the sideline during the game against Taylor High School on September 2. Cordova is one of the six middle schoolers on the team.

PHOTOGRAPHY EXPOSITION Volleyball Serves Up A New Season

Anna Miliotes

Senior Lis Jermano spoke with her coach, Terri Kruczek, about a play for the next rally at the game against Winter Park High School.

Andrew Edwards

Olivia Kortman

Sophomores Tori Hill and Cece Davis block a pass during the game against Monteverde Academy. They secured a win with a score of 3-0.

Anna Miliotes

Senior, Lis Jermano, getting ready to serve against the Winter Park High School volleyball team on August 23.

Seniors on the volleyball court create a barrier to block the oppos ing team. The Trinity Prep team is able to work together and make quick group decisions during a rally.