Winston Magazine Issue Three: New Beginnings

ISSUE THREE DECEMBER 2016

NEW BEGINNINGS THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE

F T R EDITORIAL STAFF

CONTRIBUTORS

SCHOOL NEWS

Humans of BSM P.34

LIFESTYLE

12 Things You Didn’t Know About Christmas P.8 5 Thoughtful Presents for that Weirdo In Your Life P.10 Popular Christmas Destinations for 2016 P.11 How Well Do You Know 2016? P.14 Best Teachers Quotes of 2016 P.19 A “New” Year’s Resolution P.20 Non-Cookie Recipes Santa Will Love P.27 It’s Been Dank, 2016. P.32

REVIEWS

Winston’s Holiday Box Office P.12 Going Where Pokemon Have Never Gone Before P.30

PERSPECTIVE

War on Drugs versus War on Poverty? P.23

MUSIC

Old School Christmas Playlist P.26

LITERATURE Mrs. Claus P.15

EDITOR'S N O T E

‘Tis the season for another issue! This year has been full of firsts for Winston; our first video team, our first large group of writers, and our first issue to reach 2000 views. But after this final issue, we hope our legacy lasts.

Thank you for the support that you have given us in this past year! We hope Winston has made you proud and represented the school community in a positive and unique way.

We hope this issue sleighs.

Take it away, Rudolph!

LIEZL BITAS AND CATHERINE KAWPENG

TWELVE THINGS YOU DIDN T KNOW ABOUT CHRISTMAS Ah, Christmas. It’s that time of year when people are really happy, thankful for each other and recurringly broke from all that gift shopping. Living in a country like the Philippines where saying “Christmas is just a holiday” would be a HUGE understatement, it’s easy to believe that we’re accustomed to know everything there is to know about Christmas.

However, after scavenging dozens of fact sources, here are 12 (interesting!) things you don’t know about Christmas.

1. Norwegian scientists believe that the cause of Rudolph’s red nose is because of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system. #PrayforRudolph 2. Half of the Swedish population has been watching Donald Duck every Christmas since the 1960’s.

3. In Venezuela, people go to Mass on roller skates leading up to Christmas.

4. Ever wonder where all of Santa’s letters go to? It turns out that Santa has his own postal code in Canada called “H0H 0H0”.

5. Norwegians only have to pay half of their taxes during November so that they’ll be able to have more money for Christmas.

6. From 1659-1681, Christmas was illegal in Boston. You would be fined up to five shillings for showing holiday spirit.

7. In a 1995 survey in the United States, it was found that 7 out of 10 dogs get a Christmas present from their owners.

8. According to Facebook, one of the most popular time to break up a relationship is two weeks before Christmas whilst Christmas day is the least favourite day for breakups.

9. 1 out of 6 annual retail sales in the United States come from Christmas sales alone. No wonder we’re all broke by January.

10. In the United States, over 20,000 ‘Rent-a-Santa’ are hired. They are coached on how to deal with public pressure, rowdy kids and how to not make their breath smell bad.

11. Rudolph was originally supposed to be called ‘Reginald’. Imagine singing “Reginald, the red nose reindeer…”

12. An average of 15,000 Americans visit the ER every November/December due to holiday decorating accidents.

It’s that time of the year again - sleigh bells ringing, (artificial) snow is glistening and the grocery stores playing little other than Mariah Carey. Considering the fact that we live in the Philippines, this could mean any time between September and January, but for this case, Christmas is actually fast approaching! Year after year, the same question springs to mind: what gift should I get this person.

Don’t worry - here are five Christmas presents that will definitely stand out at any Secret Santa!

POPULAR CHRISTMAS DESTINATIONS 1. The Philippines

Why not hang around in the Philippines?

Christmas season starts in September, and doesn’t finish until January! If you love christmas, come to the Philippines where you’ll be hearing Christmas songs just about anywhere!

Article by Sarah Isabel Miller

2. Paris

Bonjour, Cava! Why not travel over to Paris! Wouldn’t it be cool to spend your Christmas in the posh france streets? Perhaps try riding that big ferris wheel or looking around the Louvre. If you are looking for a slightly’ the romantic vacation, this is the right place for you.

Imagine… a white Eiffel Tower. Wouldn’t that be gorgeous? Don’t forget to say ‘salut!

4. Iceland

Who would have thought to plan a visit to iceland?

Specifically, you should go Reykjavik. Imagine the beautiful skies and the wonderful ‘yule town’.

They also have cute Icelandic horses too!

Maybe go for a nice trail ride... but be ready for the cold!

5. Norway

3. Hawaii

Why don’t you go on a beach vacation and get away from the cold?

Why not head over to Hawaii to enjoy christmas on the beach with perhaps a nice ice tea in your hand? Or maybe you would like to splash along the beach?

Whatever you decide.

Norway celebrates Christmas a little differently than most places… as well as Santa Claus, they have gnomes that give out presents and you might even get to see the famous northern lights! They also have the rare fjord horses, unique to Norway.

WINSTONhS HOLIDAY BOX OFFICE

A QUIZ BY CHRIS LIM 2016 has been an eventful, crazy, fun and exciting year; so many different things have happened throughout the year.

Let’s see how well you can recall 2016!

Where was the Olympics hosted this year?

Which iPhones were released in 2016?

A: iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus B: iPhone 5s & 5c C: iPhone 7s & iPhone 7c D: iPhone 7 & 7 Plus

A: There was no olympics B: Rio, Brazil C: Cape Town, S. Africa D: Pyeongchang, S. Korea

Which of these movies were NOT released in 2016?

A: Zootopia B: Captain America: Civil War C: X-Men: Apocalypse D: The Martian E: Suicide Squad

True or False: 2016 is a leap year.

A: True B: False

True or False: The United Nations turned 70 years old in 2016.

A: True B: False

Which 2016 app has the most downloads?

A: PokĂŠmon GO B: Google Duo C: Higher or Lower D: Slither.io

True or False: BSM turned 40 years old in 2016.

A: True B: False

Which of these songs were NOT released in 2016?

A: Heathens by Twenty One Pilots B: Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande C: One Dance by Drake D: Can’t Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake E: Hello by Adele

Who is the presidential candidate that is wellknown for having messy hair, wanting to build a wall across Mexican borders and known for being aggressive in debate A: Hillary Clinton B: Barrack Obama C: Donald Trump D: Bernie Sanders

Which Samsung phone was NOT released in 2016?

A: Samsung Galaxy S7 B: Samsung Galaxy Note 6 C: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 D: Samsung Galaxy S6 E: Samsung Galaxy J7

If you got 0-2 questions right: You may know one or two stuff about 2016, but clearly not that much.

If you got 3-5 questions right: Nice try! You remember some stuff about the year and do remember some events during 2016.

If you got 6-8 questions right: Good job! You know quite a lot of knowledge about 2016 and clearly remembered the events and trends during the year.

If you got 9 and above: WOW! You clearly remember 2016 in such clear detail. You specifically remember in detail what 2016 was like.

1. B 2. D 3. D 4. E 5. A 6. B 7. C 8. A 9. B 10. A

MRS CLAUS At what point Do you think they'll forget you Toss you away like an old toy Into the bin with all the wrappers And all their distant thoughts?

At what point Do you think they'll stop waiting For your cherry red face to come And for the hooves of your steeds To trot on their rooftops?

Seventeen hundred years Does that not seem enough For them to realise You do as much as a mailman While your little workers Pick and build and cut and slice Make the list and check it twice Maybe next year you'd consider To read their names for once You might have missed a few Or at least, bring us back some cookies I'm not making any more for you

a poem by Liezl Bitas

BQQBSFMNPPE

Catch us at the Christmas fair...

BEST TEACHER QUOTES Compiled by The Year 13’s

A ‘NEW’ YEAR’S

Every new year, each one of us sits down and writes a list of what we hope to achieve in the year ahead of us. But studies show that most people give up on their resolutions 4-6 weeks after they’ve made them. The question is: how can we stick to our resolutions?

In this article, I will give you some resolutions that are easy to follow, and yet can still be worthwhile goals...

Firstly, a resolution as simple as staying in touch with family and friends can benefit your daily life. Having people that you can talk to when you need help, or trade amazing stories with is a huge benefit of staying in touch. Another benefit is learning about different cultures. People from different races have different beliefs and know different things. Having more friends can expand your knowledge base and let you learn new things. Maybe one of your friends knows how to play the piano. A family member might know how to set up a tent. Friends and family are valuable aspects of everyday life. Keep them close.

Another good resolution is to learn something new each day. Strive to gain more knowledge, whether it’s about history, food or the newest trends. More knowledge can help you make new friends, or gain new interests and skills. Fortunately, this goal, no matter how hard it seems, is relatively easy. Checking the main page of Wikipedia daily through this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page can be a great way to get new information. Talking to friends can be one too!

Next: drinking 8 cups of water can also be a great resolution. Surprisingly, a great number of people around the world don’t achieve this goal, either because they choose not to, or they simply don’t have enough water to drink. If you are one of the lucky people that can support 8 cups of water a day, drink 8 cups. It may seem like a daunting challenge, but it is very beneficial to good health and it has lots of benefits.

After that, breaking a record can make you feel good for the rest of the year. If you want to start small, you could try to break a personal challenge, but if you want to go the extra mile, you could try to break some bizarre world records, such as the fastest one mile run with fins on, or the largest house of cards. There are definitely some weird records out there for you to compete for!

Finally, filling someone’s bucket everyday can make anyone feel happy. In case you haven’t heard of the term, it just means making someone feel good. Whether it’s celebrating an achievement, or comforting someone that is down, if you make someone happy, you will feel happy.

But remember, the best way to have a good 2017 is to be happy. Happy New Year and a good 2017!

BY VINCE TIU

WAR ON DRUGS VERSUS

WAR ON POVERTY An article by Alexa Sy

S

ince Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30, 2016, there have been over 3,600 people murdered in the name of his “war on drugs.” Making good on his campaign promise to restore law and order, he has given the Philippine National Police (PNP) the authority to act without affording criminal suspects the due process promised to them under the law.

Many Filipinos have shown outrage against these policies; the international community, including the United Nations and the US President Barack Obama, has also been highly critical of his excessive human rights violations. To this, President Duterte has responded with vulgar and “colorful” comments attacking governments and institutions that have historically been the Philippines’ strongest allies. Despite this, his popularity has continued to soar.

When he assumed office, President Duterte declared that the country was on the brink of becoming a “narcotic state” as a result of the feckless Philippine National Police (PNP) and judicial system. To achieve his goals, he gave the PNP the mandate to kill suspected drug personalities without first having to prove their crimes in a court of law. General of the PNP Ronald “Bato” De La Rosa is a notable advocate for the President’s war on drugs. In a speech to surrendered drug users and pushers he declared, “You know the drug lords here, right? Go to them, douse their houses with gasoline, set them on fire. Show them your anger.” gaso From an administrative point of view, exterminating drug pushers and users appears not only to be an unsustainable way to instill fear, but a destructive one at that. As presented in a piece by The Economist, “Mr. Duterte’s critics fear that the drug trade will only subside temporarily, but the damage done to democratic institutions will linger. The police freely admit that drug syndicates have taken advantage of Mr. Duterte’s green light to kill rivals or potential informants.” The President’s radical response to drugs has gained even more popularity since his assumption of office.

However, I often wonder: to what extent is this method an ethical one? Street execuHoweve tions and police shoot outs are not only taking the lives of alleged drug pushers but also the lives of the innocent. Furthermore, by doing away with the rule of law, we are clearly undermining Philippine democracy - the same democracy by which the President was elected into office.

This idea of suspending due process seems to run contrary to its self-proclaimed origins. If we could not trust the police to catch these criminals prior to his election, and if the courts could not put nor keep them behind bars, why have we given the same organizations extra power with which they can now operate with impunity? If the police could not successfully execute the law before June 30 when the President came into power, how can we trust them with bending it now? Although through these killings the President can claim short-term success and lead people to believe that crime has decreased, they may instead provide a false sense of security and give rise to a cycle of even more criminal activity.

A war on drugs is not a new idea and has been proven to be unsuccessful in nature.

There have been previous endeavours to foist such policies in numerous countries such as Colombia, Mexico - all of which have resulted in no success in even suppressing the drug market. Thailand’s attempt in 2003 resulted in 2,800 casualties from extrajudicial killings within the first three months. Mexico’s militarization of its drug war was no less destructive, provoking outbreaks of violence involving drug cartels leading to 164,000 homicide victims between 2007 and 2014). Furthermore, according to an article by http://newslab.philstar.com/, at least 1,000 leaders, including those whose countries have waged a war against drugs, admitted most recently in April that it was “ineffective, misguided and only led to disaster.”

For students, trying to making sense of all that has happened over the last few months has certainly been a challenge. New names, new moral standards, and a whole new vocabulary, including frightening phrases like “extrajudicial killings, ” “salvage victim,” and “ the death squad,” that once seemed reserved in our minds as things that happened only in the movies, have suddenly leapt off the big screen and into our newfound reality. Like many of my generation, I struggle with having to navigate through today’s issues. With all the noise, I attempt to form my own personal judgment; I read, I listen, and I observe, but there is still so much to take in and it is all very overwhelming.

While I have no knowledge of law-making, I do believe that there are alternative solutions in addressing the national drug problem – one that is not exclusive to the Philippines. The worldwide drug epidemic stems from broader societal issues like structural poverty and extensive corruption. According to government figures, there are three million drug addicts but more than 25 million Filipinos live below the poverty line, illustrating that poverty is a bigger threat to our society and does more harm to more people.

The sick and disabled drug addict is an easy target: a criminal, a menace to society.

We should ask ourselves, however: how did he get there in the first place? What system and government failed him? Most likely, he grew up living in crowded quarters, no food on the table, and was probably allowed to drop out of school with no parents or teachers to advocate for his success. Poverty is at the root of his addiction.

Shouldn’t this war be the one we fight?

The President P argues that drugs can rip families apart - but so does poverty. Families are separated as parents leave their homes and take jobs far away from their homes.

Women are forced into the sex trade as a means to provide for the family they’ve left behind. It is poverty - not drugs that sit at the root of most social ills. Forus to fight the effect and not the cause is extremely short sighted. This is the issue that should be the priority of our president, rather than populist vigilantism that not only has a history of failure, but violates the country’s laws and universal human rights as well.

OLD SCHOOL PLAYLIST A bit of jazz and blues to warm up your Christmas!

A CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST SANTA WILL LOVE Do you want to immerse yourself in the holiday spirit as much as possible? How about starting your day by eating a Christmas breakfast? These superb dishes will make breakfast the most enjoyable time of the day; their sweet, sour and salty flavours just gives you a punch of flavour. Once you taste one of these dishes you simply won't be able to resist taking another bite. Here are the Top 5 Christmas breakfast menu items!

Article by Piper Yu, Xiying Tham and Sanya Saxena

ORANGE PECAN FRENCH TOAST

Do you want to make December mornings more special? Well, try this orange pecan french toast and you will never want to have anything else for breakfast again. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup butter, melted 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 1/3 cup chopped pecans 12 (3/4 inch thick) slices French bread 1 teaspoon grated orange zest 1 cup fresh f orange juice

1/2 cup 2% milk 3 tablespoons white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 egg whites 2 eggs 1 tablespoon confectioners' confec sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS 1. In a small bowl, stir together some brown sugar, melted butter, and corn syrup. Pour it into a 9x13 inch baking dish then spread it evenly. Sprinkle pecans over the sugary mixture. Arrange the bread slices in the bottom of the dish.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together some orange zest, orange juice, milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, egg whites, and eggs. Pour this mixture over the bread, Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Remove the cover from the baking dish, and let stand for 20 minutes at room temperature.

4. Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

This recipe will approximately take you around 1 hour and 55 minutes.

EGG NOG LATTE

Eggnog and a Latte by the Christmas weather. What could be better? (No coffee maker needed)

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup 2% milk 2/3 cup eggnog 1 (1.5 fluid ounce) jigger brewed espresso 1 pinch ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour the milk, eggnog and sugar into a microwave-safe jar or cup 2. Use the stick blender your hands, shake/mix the milk mixture vigorously for 30-45 seconds. Stop when the mixture appears to look VERY frothy or full of air bubbles.

3. Remove the cover, if applicable, and place the mixture into the microwave. Heat on high for 30-45 seconds, or until the mixture starts to bubble up almost to the top of the jar. Take care not to let the milk mixture overflow the jar or to bubble too much and then fall flat.

4. Repeat these two steps (shaking and then heating) a second time until the milk is nice and frothy.

5. Pour the latte into the bottom into a mug. Holding back the milk foam with a spoon, pour the mixture in the cup but don’t mix it. Optional: Sprinkle Nutmeg into your latte.

This Recipe will take around 5 - 10 minutes (or even less) to make.

GLAZED APPLES

These apples are glazed with a strikingly beautiful pomegranate juice, and is sure to make Santa and his deers drool.

INGREDIENTS 2 apples 2 tablespoons of butter ¼ - ½ cup pomegranate juice 1 tablespoon sugar (or more) a pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS 1. Core 2 apples and trim the top and bottom of each apple, then cut into thick rings.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

3. Add the apple rings and cook 4 to 5 minutes per side.

4. Add ¼ - ½ cup pomegranate juice, 1 tablespoon sugar (or more) and a pinch of salt; simmer, turning, until the apples are glazed, 3 to 4 minutes or to golden brown.

This recipe will take around 15 - 20 minutes to make.

MAPLE PEPPER BACON

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the shiniest, yet tastiest of them all? This bacon wears a glamorous maple and pepper coating, and its crispiness just reminds you of the dried leaves in autumn.

INGREDIENTS 1 pound bacon Maple syrup Pepper

DIRECTIONS 1. Position wire racks on 2 rimmed baking sheets.

2. Lay 1 pound bacon in a single layer on the racks and bake 7 minutes at 375 degrees fahrenheit.

3. Brush with maple syrup and continue baking until caramelized, about 25 minutes, flipping, brushing with syrup and seasoning with pepper every 5 minutes.

4. Let cool 5 minutes on the racks.

This recipe will take around 40 - 45 minutes to make.

GOING WHERE POKEMON HAVE NEVER GONE BEFORE I remember my dad taking one look at my phone after ‘Pokemon Go’ had just come out in the Philippines, shaking his head and telling me “I hope you can manage your time wisely -– with I.B. and all, that’s a game designed to waste your time.”

Just like my dad, most of the world is keen to pass Pokemon Go off as another meaningless fad for teenagers to waste their time on. This idea does nothing but further aggravate the stereotype of technologically dependent teenagers incapable of functioning without a phone in their hands. Even worse, it’s not only adults who are thinking this; self-proclaimed ‘hipsters’ are going on lengthy rants about the app’s popularity, accusing its users of just ‘falling for the hype’ and not actually enjoying it.

It’s pretty funny how much these people have to say about Pokemon Go -- you know, given they’ve never actually played it themselves. It’s time we look beyond these assumptions and focus on the side of the story that sadly, not many people listen to: the perspective of those who do play Pokemon Go and what they have to say about the game’s significance in their lives.

It goes unsaid that the origin of Pokemon Go is the famous Nintendo video game of the same name, making the world of Pokemon nothing new to most of our classmates and friends. I was able to get some insight from one in particular whose experiences with Pokemon differed from the rest.

“Pokemon actually played a big role in my childhood. It was the first video game I ever picked up, and I fell in love with it immediately.

It also got me through cancer, which is kinda cool.”

Since the game’s release in July, there have been numerous tweets and posts from teenagers and young adults suffering from mental illnesses detailing how Pokemon Go helped them get up and out of the house. Getting out of bed and productively accomplishing a task can be one of the biggest challenges for someone with a mental illness like depression.

For someone suffering with social anxiety disorder, being in public and socializing with others without feeling self-conscious or vulnerable to judgment is also extremely difficult. Interestingly, because of the need to be outside while playing Pokemon Go, users who suffered from such illnesses reported that they found themselves en joying going out of the house more and pushing themselves outside of their social comfort zones.

Don’t misunderstand -- Pokemon Go is no substitute for proper medication or therapy.

Rather, Pokemon Go acts as a catalyst for encouragement and motivation. Because of the significance Pokemon had on this generation, Pokemon Go acts as an extension of our childhood. The reboot brings us back into the world so many of us found ourselves immersed in, and often turned to, to escape our everyday problems. The app’s interweaving of the fantastical world of Pokemon with mundane surroundings truly makes its conception a dream come true for anyone who wished that they were a trainer in real life. Pokemon Go allows us to relive the portions of our lives we enjoyed best, or in other cases, revives the sentimentality carried within the moments where we overcame our biggest obstacles.

So to all a the skeptics: who knew that a silly game would be just the thing to make someone decide to get up in the morning and live their life?

An article by: Audrey Buhain

it's been dank, 2016

by Xuanlin Tham and Alexa Sy

Every year, the word ‘meme’ brings to mind an increasingly diverse cast of characters, and 2016 has been no exception. From politicians who have unwittingly been drawn into murder mock-conspiracies to the familiar names of our childhood cartoons, this year has seen the continued escalation of memes to a level of hilarity and ingenuity that almost transcends any attempt at explanation. Here are some of our picks for the dankest memes of 2016 (so far).

animation. Catchphrases from the video rapidly became reaction image material: many people found it surprisingly easy to relate to Japan’s cultural, political, and economic history, with Bill Wurtz’s low-pitched “hire a samurai” becoming the voice of reason when it came to solving everyday problems. The video’s unique appeal is difficult to define, but one thing is for sure: we’d all love to have history lessons like this in school.

with each tweet getting more and more ridiculously indulgent. “Is Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer?” became the most trending question on Ted Cruz, and Twitter users even directly messaged Cruz to question him about the increasingly popular allegations.

(Unfortunately, these investigators didn’t get the answers they wanted; they got blocked

by Ted instead.)

Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer is a beautiful illustration of the many wonders of meme culture. It demonstrated that memes are a form of expression that have a place even in secu rious issues like politics - and that despite their inherent comical nature, they still reflect significant messages about public sentiment on important events in a manner accessible to younger audiences.

HUMANS OF BSM

by Riana Lago

"Why do you wear a suit?" “I think that the purpose of wearing a suit is to show that you're ready for business, you're professional, you're grown up. Why do I wear a suit? You could say I do it to hide my insecurities as a man, or for attention. Or I might just do it to cool fine as hell.

We'll never know.�

"How did you come up with the "Micheal Rynne" hair?

"I tried to look like Goku, but failed in a great way" - Micheal Rynne, Year 12

"Tell us about the cheer squad" "The most tiring part is the warm up but the best thing is the dancing!"

- Thea Padilla, Darra Knee and Ella Tazwell, Year 9

"What's your spirit animal?"

"I feel like my spirit animal is a penguin because penguins are the only birds that can't fly" - Ben Melsbo, Year 12

“What’s the best thing that happened to you today?”

“Maybe waking up.”

- Mark Felipe, BSM Technician

See more on: http://winstonroars.blogspot.com/search/label/HOBSM

“Sometimes second chances come even better than the first. Becoming Editor-in-Chief seemed only a ludicrous dream for somebody who couldn't even get in her old school's publication organisation as a humble literary writer, but it happened here. Within the twelve months I steered the ship, I'm proud to not have only introduced new departments like Perspective and WinstonVideo, but also I'm glad to have been given the opportunity to lead such a valuable team alongside Catherine to help make Winston the best we could make ma it.”

- LIEZL BITAS “As a new student last year, I was definitely honoured to be titled Winston's 2016-17 Managing Editor. With a lot to prove to my new peers, both Liezl and I revitalized Winston's image and improved it according to our perspective as new students. The team and I were able to increase Winston's viewership to 2000 reads, the submission of articles, and the number of issues released per school year. We hope we didn't disappoint!”

- CATHERINE KAWPENG “I remember walking into the first Winston meeting in IB and stressing out about my inexperience in crafting an eloquent piece of writing with nothing but my imagination to guide me. Then, never realised the true impact that Winston could have on my life - from teaching me to write, to enabling me to hone in my leadership abilities, Winston has been a transformative experience. Working with individuals who are as motivated and driven as I am means that I was also able to develop as an individual and as a member of the BSM community. Increased viewership, increased participation and enthusiasm about Winston’s issues are viewershi all aspects that we have experienced in the past year. I am so proud to say that I am a part of Winston, and I am overwhelmed by the progress that we have made. Thank you for making this experience so incredible!”

- ANITA PERI “I’ve been a part of Winston for three years now, and I’m so happy to have been able to contribute to the magazine and watch it grow over the years. Best of luck to the next team, I’m sure you guys will kill it!”

- VANESSA TAN

“Wow has time passed! I remember my first ever online article that I published; the Chameleon Mixtape Vol. 1 - the melancholy mixtape. That was the first time I have ever shared my creative ideas and I am proud of myself for that. I also remember being a part of the very first issue this year’s team had published, and I could not have been more thankful to be a part of such a wonderful and collaborative group of exquisite members!”

- GABBI GANE “I really can’t believe that its all over! Creating the graphics and issues for Winston has been nothing short of amazing and I’m so thankful for the rest of the Editorial Team! It’s been an amazing year for this publication and I can’t wait to see what the next team has in store for us!”

- BEA NAZARENO “Okay, wow, this day came faster than I thought it would. It's been a wild ride, I'm grateful to have collaborated with a group of talented writers. It's been an amazing year, and for one last time, this is Ali, your marketing head and graphic designer, signing out!

- ALESSANDRA SY “The most memorable experience for me was seeing my first Humans of BSM photos put up on the Winston website. I think I brought more emphasis to Humans of BSM and was able to inspire other photographers to bring their own changes to it. The thing I'll miss the most is the food at Wednesday meetings haha!”

- JULIAN BERNAS “WinstonVIdeo was just an idea and I honestly never expected it to actually happen. Our team has grown so much and I am immensely proud.

Winston is definately something I am going to miss when I graduate.”

- CEARA RUSSELL