STAY WOKE
KELLIE MONZON CRUZ
"BEST FRIEND BREAKUPS"
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week or so you’ve probably heard of the Tristan Thompson/Jordyn Woods cheating scandal. If you have been living under a rock, then let’s catch you up. Khloe Kardashian, famed American personality, was dating her daughter’s father, Tristan Thompson, a successful Canadian basketball player on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Khloe’s sister younger sister, Kylie Jenner who is most popular for her makeup line “Kylie Cosmetics,” has a best friend named Jordyn Woods. Proof of Tristan and Jordyn has surfaced and has thus created a drift between Kylie and Jordyn. The entire Kar-Jenner family has now distanced themselves from both Tristan and Jordyn and refuse to take any of their calls. Sorry to break it to you, but they’re probably never talking to them again.
Media has been covering Khloe’s take on the situation, and although she is the victim here, no one has paid a single ounce of attention to Kylie. Kylie was forced to cut Jordyn out of her life, the second mother to her daughter, her best friend of years, and the friend who she spent thousands of dollars on. At the time the scandal surfaced, Jordyn was living in Kylie’s guest house in Calabasas but has now been kicked out and has resorted to living with her mother. Kylie has made it clear that she chooses her family over her now former best friend, but she still has to get over the betrayal.
Speaking from personal experience, breakups with best friends are absolutely devastating, so one can only imagine what’s going through Kylie’s head right now. Jordyn betrayed Kylie and her family, the family that has accepted her as one of their own and supported her throughout her career. Best friend breakups are the abandoning of your best friend and all the memories you’ve created together. This means having to stop texting, calling, and laughing with them and becoming absolute strangers to each other. Having to leave their memories behind and at the same time dealing with the disloyalty Jordyn has exhibited to the entire world, Kylie has inevitably broken up the relationship she thought she would have for a lifetime.
Media has been covering Khloe’s take on the situation, and although she is the victim here, no one has paid a single ounce of attention to Kylie. Kylie was forced to cut Jordyn out of her life, the second mother to her daughter, her best friend of years, and the friend who she spent thousands of dollars on. At the time the scandal surfaced, Jordyn was living in Kylie’s guest house in Calabasas but has now been kicked out and has resorted to living with her mother. Kylie has made it clear that she chooses her family over her now former best friend, but she still has to get over the betrayal.
Speaking from personal experience, breakups with best friends are absolutely devastating, so one can only imagine what’s going through Kylie’s head right now. Jordyn betrayed Kylie and her family, the family that has accepted her as one of their own and supported her throughout her career. Best friend breakups are the abandoning of your best friend and all the memories you’ve created together. This means having to stop texting, calling, and laughing with them and becoming absolute strangers to each other. Having to leave their memories behind and at the same time dealing with the disloyalty Jordyn has exhibited to the entire world, Kylie has inevitably broken up the relationship she thought she would have for a lifetime.
Valentine’s day is a religious holiday celebrating a Christian martyr by the name St. Valentine and although we have no official reason for why we celebrate this holiday of a Christian Saint, we did transform this holiday into one about loving and caring for others through traditional and unorthodox ways. This holiday is celebrated all across the world with each part of the world celebrating it with its own unique customs and practices but today I will be focusing on what traditions the students of Tucker follow for Valentine’s day. Tucker takes on a new air when it comes to holidays and celebrations but I believe that around Valentine’s the attitude truly shifts and we get to see more of the uplifting charm of human nature for our fellow classmates, teachers, and staff. This uplifting is done by a myriad of clubs, classes, and events that take the opportunity to shine a light on others even if you don’t want to be elated about the holiday.
The TSA decided that in order to raise more funds and celebrate Valentine’s they would kill two birds with one stone and sell wooden heart engravings for your valentine for $5. They began this idea the week before Valentine’s up until the day before and based on what I’ve asked of the president of the TSA, James Bunting, this seemed to have been a very popular choice with people around the school as it gives the person’s Valentine something almost as beautiful as them.
The Beta Club gave back to the community by hosting a Valentine’s day Drive and they were donating to the “My Sister’s House” organization. This drive lasted from the 4th of February all the way to Valentine’s day. Beta accepted feminine hygiene products such as soaps, lotions, etc to give to My Sister’s House that focuses on helping women and children of domestic violence. This once again speaks volumes of how even if you are not willing to indulge in Valentine’s or the traditions at Tucker there are still ways for you to at least help someone else you may not know at school.
The THS Chorus and Habitat for Humanity both held bake sales to raise funds for each individual club. They both had the theme of Valentine's and had every sugary delicacy a high schooler can dream when trying to stay awake for your next period, this included everything from red velvet cupcakes to red and white sugar cookies which are everyone’s favorites. Not to mention that these clubs both do incredible work for what they do even outside of holidays. The chorus bake sale students were so nice in fact that they gave me free cookies when I told them about how I was writing this article about them. Truly a wonderful and caring group of people and clubs. The creative writing class also took the initiative to show support to those who need it most in our building. The entire creative writing class along with Ms. Genevieve Johnson made handwritten letters for teachers, staff, and for anyone else who needed it for everything they do for us and our school.
With finally at the end of the day the school put on a Valentine’s day pep rally recognizing the sports the teams of Tucker for all that they had accomplished. The pep rally perfectly encapsulates my feelings towards what Valentine’s does at Tucker. It brings everyone together to give thanks and show appreciation for those we may not thank enough especially for everything that these teachers, staff, clubs, and sports team have to trudge through to support us. Valentine’s is a day of cheerfulness and should be shared with everyone regardless of what they think about the holiday itself, be nice to each other.
As my previous examples prove, Valentine's day at Tucker is not taken lightly and confirms that there is an appreciation for one another at Tucker. There are many activities and traditions done at Tucker that I simply cannot list them all in this one article but my point was to convince those who don’t celebrate this commercialized holiday that there are other ways to enjoy it even if you don’t have a Valentines but simply enjoy it for yourself or help another.
The TSA decided that in order to raise more funds and celebrate Valentine’s they would kill two birds with one stone and sell wooden heart engravings for your valentine for $5. They began this idea the week before Valentine’s up until the day before and based on what I’ve asked of the president of the TSA, James Bunting, this seemed to have been a very popular choice with people around the school as it gives the person’s Valentine something almost as beautiful as them.
The Beta Club gave back to the community by hosting a Valentine’s day Drive and they were donating to the “My Sister’s House” organization. This drive lasted from the 4th of February all the way to Valentine’s day. Beta accepted feminine hygiene products such as soaps, lotions, etc to give to My Sister’s House that focuses on helping women and children of domestic violence. This once again speaks volumes of how even if you are not willing to indulge in Valentine’s or the traditions at Tucker there are still ways for you to at least help someone else you may not know at school.
The THS Chorus and Habitat for Humanity both held bake sales to raise funds for each individual club. They both had the theme of Valentine's and had every sugary delicacy a high schooler can dream when trying to stay awake for your next period, this included everything from red velvet cupcakes to red and white sugar cookies which are everyone’s favorites. Not to mention that these clubs both do incredible work for what they do even outside of holidays. The chorus bake sale students were so nice in fact that they gave me free cookies when I told them about how I was writing this article about them. Truly a wonderful and caring group of people and clubs. The creative writing class also took the initiative to show support to those who need it most in our building. The entire creative writing class along with Ms. Genevieve Johnson made handwritten letters for teachers, staff, and for anyone else who needed it for everything they do for us and our school.
With finally at the end of the day the school put on a Valentine’s day pep rally recognizing the sports the teams of Tucker for all that they had accomplished. The pep rally perfectly encapsulates my feelings towards what Valentine’s does at Tucker. It brings everyone together to give thanks and show appreciation for those we may not thank enough especially for everything that these teachers, staff, clubs, and sports team have to trudge through to support us. Valentine’s is a day of cheerfulness and should be shared with everyone regardless of what they think about the holiday itself, be nice to each other.
As my previous examples prove, Valentine's day at Tucker is not taken lightly and confirms that there is an appreciation for one another at Tucker. There are many activities and traditions done at Tucker that I simply cannot list them all in this one article but my point was to convince those who don’t celebrate this commercialized holiday that there are other ways to enjoy it even if you don’t have a Valentines but simply enjoy it for yourself or help another.
It was two in the morning. The rain hammered like stones being thrown at a wall. Astrid looked at the clock by her bed. In only a couple of hours, everything would change. It couldn’t be true. It was all made up. How could this happen? After a couple of minutes of twisting and turning she got up.
She walked over to the window and reflected on the empty street. Nothing. No one. She had always loved dark Chicago with its lively, crowded streets. Now it was coated with fear and mysterious that hid in the dark. It was a place that reminded her of what happened that day.
Then she saw something in the distance, or rather someone. It was the figure of him. The tall, lanky, dark and handsome figure that once made her feel so free and beautiful, now made her heart race with nothing but anxiety and fear. Fear. Fear. That’s all that went through her head.
Astrid gulped. With every step he took closer to her door she could hear it. The voice in her head. Run. Go. She glanced at her own reflection. She was a short, thin, dark-haired, green-eyed, sad girl. Nothing would go back to the way it was.
BAM BAM BAM! With a jump, Astrid looked at the door. He was here. No escape now. It was over now. As she stepped closer to the door she could feel alarms going off in her head, her heart racing and her palms sweating. She could almost see the grim smirk on his face.
"I am here because I want answers," He bellowed, in a shallow tone. He slammed his fist against the door.
Astrid looked back, even more, emotional and weak. She wanted to scream and shout but nothing came out. She opened the wooden door, staring at him through the screen door.
They looked at each other with two different emotions. He could see the fear in her eyes but only smiled. He banged on the door again this time opening it. How dumb could she be to not lock the screen door? She knew better. She should have known.
He studied Astrid’s beautiful figure and dark shadow that clouded her life. Eventually, she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but I can't give you answers," she explained, in pitying tones.
He looked blank, his body raw like a bewildered monster.
Astrid could actually hear his body shatter into a thousand pieces. Then the tall lanky man grabbed Astrid and threw her on the floor. His eyes were dark, mysterious and cold. She could almost feel his anger coming off his body. He yelled. She knew why. She knew she couldn’t do anything to stop it so she listened. He was hurt, confused and angry. She tried to get up but was shot down yet again. She could never get rid of him. It felt like hours of him screaming and shouting and throwing everything around the house. She finally felt her eyes close and drift to the sleep she should have been in all night.
BAM BAM BAM
Astrid shot out of bed. It was two in the morning. The rain was coming down like cats and dogs. It was only a dream. A dark Chicago dream.
She walked over to the window and reflected on the empty street. Nothing. No one. She had always loved dark Chicago with its lively, crowded streets. Now it was coated with fear and mysterious that hid in the dark. It was a place that reminded her of what happened that day.
Then she saw something in the distance, or rather someone. It was the figure of him. The tall, lanky, dark and handsome figure that once made her feel so free and beautiful, now made her heart race with nothing but anxiety and fear. Fear. Fear. That’s all that went through her head.
Astrid gulped. With every step he took closer to her door she could hear it. The voice in her head. Run. Go. She glanced at her own reflection. She was a short, thin, dark-haired, green-eyed, sad girl. Nothing would go back to the way it was.
BAM BAM BAM! With a jump, Astrid looked at the door. He was here. No escape now. It was over now. As she stepped closer to the door she could feel alarms going off in her head, her heart racing and her palms sweating. She could almost see the grim smirk on his face.
"I am here because I want answers," He bellowed, in a shallow tone. He slammed his fist against the door.
Astrid looked back, even more, emotional and weak. She wanted to scream and shout but nothing came out. She opened the wooden door, staring at him through the screen door.
They looked at each other with two different emotions. He could see the fear in her eyes but only smiled. He banged on the door again this time opening it. How dumb could she be to not lock the screen door? She knew better. She should have known.
He studied Astrid’s beautiful figure and dark shadow that clouded her life. Eventually, she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but I can't give you answers," she explained, in pitying tones.
He looked blank, his body raw like a bewildered monster.
Astrid could actually hear his body shatter into a thousand pieces. Then the tall lanky man grabbed Astrid and threw her on the floor. His eyes were dark, mysterious and cold. She could almost feel his anger coming off his body. He yelled. She knew why. She knew she couldn’t do anything to stop it so she listened. He was hurt, confused and angry. She tried to get up but was shot down yet again. She could never get rid of him. It felt like hours of him screaming and shouting and throwing everything around the house. She finally felt her eyes close and drift to the sleep she should have been in all night.
BAM BAM BAM
Astrid shot out of bed. It was two in the morning. The rain was coming down like cats and dogs. It was only a dream. A dark Chicago dream.
“The ultimate purpose of economics, of course, is to understand and promote the enhancement of well-being.” - ó Ben Bernanke
*Man's curiosity created various fields of study to explain the world. The great men and women of our time introduced "Natural Science" to help us understand how particles and the universe interact with each other. Scholars had also introduced to us "Social Science" to explain the creation of the first man, his behavior and his interaction with the world.
An integration between Natural and Social Science has brought us the study of Economics. It is a quantitative, data-focused approach towards understanding man's behavior. It helps us track, study, and understand human behavior in order to improve personal, social and professional life.
We study Economics for sustainable growth.
Through Economics, we begin to understand humans and their motivations. As future professionals, it is important for us to understand its concepts and create solutions to produce social changes in the local, regional up to the national sphere. Studying Economics also equips us with problem-solving, analytical, and persuasion skills that are important for today’s employment market.
Having an economist mindset provides us knowledge on how to make a good or service reach our consumers. Understanding customer behavior, strategies, and the market can help future businessmen provide wise decisions for growth and success.
Economics is a part of our everyday life
We are called to make economic choices every day. We decide how much to spend and save, how much to allow for insurance, whether to take a bus or the train, how much to pay for lunch, switch career, move to another city, where to go next vacation, and so on. These decisions are always part of our everyday life.
During elections, how should we choose who to vote? How can we participate in a democracy as informed human beings? We cannot create wise questions if we do not know economics. Economics helps us make intelligent choices; it leads us how to evaluate our elected government officials and much more. Everyone needs to understand economics in order to live and participate meaningfully in society.
Economics is not just demand and supply, Economics explains everything that surrounds our daily life. From taking the bus home to choosing our smartphone plans with phone services, to the importance of reviews to determine what movie to select in Netflix, it is all economics at play. Economics sets the price and the variety of vegetables one chooses to buy when summer arrives. As citizens, we have to be educated about the basic principles of economics in order to understand the forces that drive the markets and prices around us.
In a nutshell, Economics gives us a different view about issues that are highly important for our well being. Understanding the economy and its concepts will make one create better choices in life, be it buying an apple in market or major life and career choices. Economics is an interesting, essential and valuable subject in today's world.
*Man's curiosity created various fields of study to explain the world. The great men and women of our time introduced "Natural Science" to help us understand how particles and the universe interact with each other. Scholars had also introduced to us "Social Science" to explain the creation of the first man, his behavior and his interaction with the world.
An integration between Natural and Social Science has brought us the study of Economics. It is a quantitative, data-focused approach towards understanding man's behavior. It helps us track, study, and understand human behavior in order to improve personal, social and professional life.
We study Economics for sustainable growth.
Through Economics, we begin to understand humans and their motivations. As future professionals, it is important for us to understand its concepts and create solutions to produce social changes in the local, regional up to the national sphere. Studying Economics also equips us with problem-solving, analytical, and persuasion skills that are important for today’s employment market.
Having an economist mindset provides us knowledge on how to make a good or service reach our consumers. Understanding customer behavior, strategies, and the market can help future businessmen provide wise decisions for growth and success.
Economics is a part of our everyday life
We are called to make economic choices every day. We decide how much to spend and save, how much to allow for insurance, whether to take a bus or the train, how much to pay for lunch, switch career, move to another city, where to go next vacation, and so on. These decisions are always part of our everyday life.
During elections, how should we choose who to vote? How can we participate in a democracy as informed human beings? We cannot create wise questions if we do not know economics. Economics helps us make intelligent choices; it leads us how to evaluate our elected government officials and much more. Everyone needs to understand economics in order to live and participate meaningfully in society.
Economics is not just demand and supply, Economics explains everything that surrounds our daily life. From taking the bus home to choosing our smartphone plans with phone services, to the importance of reviews to determine what movie to select in Netflix, it is all economics at play. Economics sets the price and the variety of vegetables one chooses to buy when summer arrives. As citizens, we have to be educated about the basic principles of economics in order to understand the forces that drive the markets and prices around us.
In a nutshell, Economics gives us a different view about issues that are highly important for our well being. Understanding the economy and its concepts will make one create better choices in life, be it buying an apple in market or major life and career choices. Economics is an interesting, essential and valuable subject in today's world.
I encountered many communication challenges from my hearing loss in high school. These experiences gave me an understanding of how to prepare for challenges when I go to college.
My favorite activity in high school was being a member of the volleyball team. In the end, I became more outgoing as a team member but communication was sometimes stressful. But later on, the whole process of what was stressful for me was worth it. During my volleyball Senior Night, my coach said something that I never noticed about me until she said it, “When I met Lejla, she was a mouse until after four years, she is a whole freaking lion right now!” If I had not joined volleyball and played with my team, I wouldn’t be the person I am right now and able to handle one of my challenges about communication.
Ever since my parents found out that I am deaf, they knew I would need help from the teacher who works with deaf students. Every year since middle school, my parents had to advocate for the help I needed to be successful. Since my parents are non-native English speakers, this was an ongoing communication challenge and put a lot of stress on my family and I. With all of the opposition we’ve faced, I have learned how to be a strong advocate for myself. I hope I can share my skills with other students with disabilities in the college's community I choose.
Socially, my hearing loss affects communication with people. Some examples include:
people don’t understand the negative impact of background noise when I’m listening, people lose patience when I ask them to repeat what they said, friend in groups often talk at the same time (making it hard to fully understand the conversation), and instead of repeating over again, they say, “never mind” or “don’t worry about it”. Usually, when there is something that I can’t hear or I miss some conversion, I would just nod and pretend like I know what’s going on. I have to deal with these communication challenges every day, and I don’t think my friends will ever understand and that’s okay. It is not what only I have to deal with, it’s what every deaf person has to deal with.
My favorite activity in high school was being a member of the volleyball team. In the end, I became more outgoing as a team member but communication was sometimes stressful. But later on, the whole process of what was stressful for me was worth it. During my volleyball Senior Night, my coach said something that I never noticed about me until she said it, “When I met Lejla, she was a mouse until after four years, she is a whole freaking lion right now!” If I had not joined volleyball and played with my team, I wouldn’t be the person I am right now and able to handle one of my challenges about communication.
Ever since my parents found out that I am deaf, they knew I would need help from the teacher who works with deaf students. Every year since middle school, my parents had to advocate for the help I needed to be successful. Since my parents are non-native English speakers, this was an ongoing communication challenge and put a lot of stress on my family and I. With all of the opposition we’ve faced, I have learned how to be a strong advocate for myself. I hope I can share my skills with other students with disabilities in the college's community I choose.
Socially, my hearing loss affects communication with people. Some examples include:
people don’t understand the negative impact of background noise when I’m listening, people lose patience when I ask them to repeat what they said, friend in groups often talk at the same time (making it hard to fully understand the conversation), and instead of repeating over again, they say, “never mind” or “don’t worry about it”. Usually, when there is something that I can’t hear or I miss some conversion, I would just nod and pretend like I know what’s going on. I have to deal with these communication challenges every day, and I don’t think my friends will ever understand and that’s okay. It is not what only I have to deal with, it’s what every deaf person has to deal with.
All five Tucker Robotics teams made it to the Vex robotics Georgia state championship. All five Tucker teams participated in over 12 competitions during the 2018 – 2019 school year; the THS VEX team has accumulated over 50 tournament awards. Tucker as a school alone has earned 1/3 of all the awards in the state, so out of about 150 awards, 50 belong to Tucker High school. There are about 200 active teams in Georgia, but no one is close to having as many awards as the Tucker High school Vex organization.
On February 9, 2019, 60 teams had arrived to compete for 15 Worlds spots in the Vex robotics Georgia state championship. To advance to Worlds, a team must be awarded either Judges Award or Tournament Award. Or in the rare case that a team double qualifies (wins two awards) a team is then picked from the season wide world skills list. The rounds of qualification matches started rough ending with 1320A in 5th place and 1320C in 9th place while all other tucker teams were below 16th place. During the alliance selection, 1320B was picked by 1275A, 1320C was picked by 109Z, 1320A picked 109A, and 1320D was picked by 5278A. During the round robin, a lot of upsets happened, meaning that the higher seed lost to the lower seed. These upsets caused for the finals match to consist of teams 1320B and 1275A (4th seed) to face teams 1320C and 109Z (3rd seed). The final match ends with a score of 18-16, 1320B and 1275A (4th seed) won the tournament. The awards given out were Tournament Champion to 1320B, THINK award and Skills Champion to 1320D, Judges and Tournament Finalist 1320C, and due to double qualifications 1320A and 1320E qualified off the skills list at the Georgia VEX State Championships at Ola High School in McDonough, GA. All 5 teams qualified for the Worlds VEX Robotics Competition in Louisville, KY from April 24 – 28!
On February 9, 2019, 60 teams had arrived to compete for 15 Worlds spots in the Vex robotics Georgia state championship. To advance to Worlds, a team must be awarded either Judges Award or Tournament Award. Or in the rare case that a team double qualifies (wins two awards) a team is then picked from the season wide world skills list. The rounds of qualification matches started rough ending with 1320A in 5th place and 1320C in 9th place while all other tucker teams were below 16th place. During the alliance selection, 1320B was picked by 1275A, 1320C was picked by 109Z, 1320A picked 109A, and 1320D was picked by 5278A. During the round robin, a lot of upsets happened, meaning that the higher seed lost to the lower seed. These upsets caused for the finals match to consist of teams 1320B and 1275A (4th seed) to face teams 1320C and 109Z (3rd seed). The final match ends with a score of 18-16, 1320B and 1275A (4th seed) won the tournament. The awards given out were Tournament Champion to 1320B, THINK award and Skills Champion to 1320D, Judges and Tournament Finalist 1320C, and due to double qualifications 1320A and 1320E qualified off the skills list at the Georgia VEX State Championships at Ola High School in McDonough, GA. All 5 teams qualified for the Worlds VEX Robotics Competition in Louisville, KY from April 24 – 28!
THANKS FOR READING THIS MONTHS ISSUE OF COLLAGE. WE HOPED YOU ENJOYED IT |
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