Many animals on earth have been losing their habitats and eating harmful substances dangerous to their bodies. It’s time to take action. Everyone should reduce, reuse, and recycle!

You should reduce as much paper you use as possible because paper comes from trees. If you buy paper from the store, it means those trees get cut down. My favorite tree is a willow tree in my yard, which I use as a secret hideout and have picnics under. The branches in front are so curvy and long, they touch the ground and we can meet beside the trunk where our parents can’t find us. If foresters cut down every tree in my neighborhood, I’d sit on my favorite willow until they got tired of waiting and went away. What if you had a favorite tree and foresters were going to cut down all the trees in your neighborhood, what would you do to protect your favorite tree?!

My mom has a small box with a mirror and eye shadow and a brush, and when she ran out of eye shadow, she was about to throw it away. I stopped her and said, “Why don’t you give it to me? I can reuse it and make something out of it!” My mom gave me the box and when I opened it, I put a lot of special flat things inside the compartments, like my special, pastel-pink, heart-shaped rock. I also keep my lucky bracelet in there, which has a chain so thin, it’s almost invisible. What if one of your parents broke something and your parents were about to throw it away. Would you stop them and make them give it to you to reuse? Or would you let them throw it away and sit in the garbage dump, ruining the earth?

In our school, there is a composting bin, garbage bin, and a recycling bin. If you throw recyclables in the garbage, they will immediately go to the garbage dump, it will slowly destroy the earth and could even wash into the ocean. Lots of fish and sea animals could eat the plastic, thinking it's their prey, which could kill them! If you wanted to save the earth and put the recyclables in the garbage can, and other things in the wrong places, it would go to the garbage dump and the dump would get bigger and bigger every day and might even kill animals. (It also wont get recycled.)

Now you know how important it is to reduce, reuse, and recycle! Let’s take action and help spread the news so creatures on the earth and in the oceans never face danger again!

The thing that I would like to change about the world is… that dinosaurs should not be extinct. You may think “oh no,” but that’s nonsense and moonshine. Dinosaurs are lovely, I tell you! One time my friends made a dinosaur puppet show for me and that thing was a genius, I tell you! Oh, I think you mean real dinosaurs. Well, I really wanted to see them. (all of them except the T-Rex). My brother says that he wants to ride the T-Rex and that thing is never going to happen, I tell you!

Three different reasons why it would be lovely to live with dinosaurs still alive:

1. Because it would be great to know what the dinosaurs eat, live in, and what its speed is. Is it fast, or slow? Yep, I would like to know.

2. Because I think that when dinosaurs exist, they will put them in Dinosaur Zoos! And all people can see clearly the dinosaurs, and there, the T-Rex cannot eat humans, even if he tried to.

3. Because humans could buy them as their pets, and feed, clean, and keep them.

That is what I wish to change about the world.

In fencing, you can’t just be strong. Even if you are the strongest person in the world, it doesn't mean you can be the Olympic Champion. If you are calm and strong, then together you might be the Olympic Champion. If you are calm, even if you are losing, you can think about what to do next. If you are strong and losing, you can't think about what to do next. It is better to be athletic than eating Lays chips the whole day and getting fat. You also need to be smart because you can think and analyze. If you don’t have a brain you won’t know what defense to do or how to attack. So now, you also need to have good eyesight. That doesn’t mean if you have glasses you can’t do fencing. In 2018, the British fencer Richard Kruse won in the Shanghai Grand Prix and he wears glasses. You can still win if you wear glasses, but you need these abilities below: speed, reaction, calm, half-strong/half-skinny, athletic, eager, good eyesight. For equipment, you need: mask, glove, shoes, lame, foil, epee, or sabre, wires (headwire + bodywire). And finally, fencing is, to me, the best sport I’ve ever taken part in. Most of all, you also need to believe in yourself!

Listen up everybody! Ghosts can do anything, so get a ghost. Then, you can do nothing and the ghost can do everything for you.

First if you want to go to sleep but you can’t, then you ask the ghost to do it for you. It can get you water and tuck you in and sing lullabies to you.

Second, a ghost can help you do homework. It can do Kumon for you. It can do your BASA homework. You can watch TV while it does it! It loves doing homework.

It can fight bad guys for you and protect you too, even though it’s invisible.

A ghost can also clean the kitchen for your parents instead of you. Then they can do what they want! It can do your parents’ work.

Finally ghosts can be your friend. And you know what? You can also have an invisible dog.

I sometimes have brain talks with myself. My brain will be like, “Hey, Let’s build a house.” That is my brain when I am playing a game. Then my brain will show me a picture of what it probably will look like. I would build and build until I realize that it does not look like what my brain told me. Instead it would look like a block and not like a house at all. Sometimes it is a tall block and it is boring with no decorations.

“Hey,” I tell my brain, “it doesn’t look like the picture in my head at all. I am going to delete my world in the game.”

“I agree, delete it,” my brain will say.

When I really want to do something for fun, my brain would say, “Hey, let’s do some bottle flipping.”

I will be like, “Good Idea!”

I keep playing until it is dinner time. After dinner, I would say to my brain. “What are we going to do now? Remember that game we were playing?”

But I notice my brain has fallen asleep and would not tell me anything. Then I get bored and my brain will think about it when it goes to sleep, but it keeps error-ing (that means it’s busy).

So it won’t remember.

This is how my brain goes on an adventure from place to place. And helps me collect good information. You should try having a talk with your brain. It’s really fun to have a partner nearby.

Imagine rusty and weak buildings, with little maintenance and a little working population. You wouldn’t have a house or you might have a straw or wood house, weak and fragile. You would find the market dusty and empty, with a shortage of supplies. Your child would die in the hospital with no medical support. People crowd into bustling villages, all in shortage, groaning. So many children are born… but die. All this is what will happen with overpopulation in Sub-Saharan Africa. But why should we care about people on the other side of the world?

First, living standards in Canada will improve once we help Sub-Saharan Africa. Technological developments will occur more quickly if there are more people with money and facilities to do research around the world. For example, many people fear cancer. According to Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell, not even ⅓ of the world population took part to donate to cancer research. Increasing this would probably increase health levels if even only ⅖ of the population took part. This would benefit you. You could be in excellent health and have an excellent education.

In the Demographic Transition of 4 Levels described by Warren Thompson, most of Sub-Saharan Africa is still in the early stages. As said by the IUSSP (International Union for the Scientific Study of Population) in 2013: “However, in sub-Saharan Africa, many countries are in their early stage in the demographic transition. The transition, in particular fertility decline, has been much slower than that in other less-developed regions.” If we do not help Sub-Saharan Africa, their population will boom. This would cause a massive famine and immigration and lead to violence worldwide since overpopulation isn’t national, but global. IUSSP estimates suggest if education and health don’t increase rapidly, Sub-Saharan Africa could have 4 billion people in 2100. But if things go well, it will only have 2.3 billion.

The problem Sub-Saharan Africa is undergoing is not a war in which neither side gives up. It is the demographic transition. We just need to support them, to encourage them to set up health facilities and education facilities. We don’t need force. We need to donate to Sub-Saharan Africa or write to the Canadian government to encourage them to help. This would ease the tension of overpopulation.

As you can see, it is not hard to help. We need to consider people on the other side of the world and the fact that helping them can help us.

Imagine you are onstage, stuttering and stumbling on your words, trying to deliver a speech with incorrect, unfiltered information that isn’t organized well, and is already well overtime. Your audience is growing restless and bored, and whispers amongst themselves, making you even more nervous; you are scared that the audience is talking about negative things concerning you, as you are lacking self confidence. Sounds pretty miserable, right? This is what most children would think and do if they didn’t take speech lessons. Here are even more reasons why:

First, taking speech lessons can help build their self confidence in general, talking in public, and when it comes to expressing one’s inner feelings, ideas, and opinions. Research proves that improving communication skills, which can be improved during speech classes, builds independence and friendships, helping your self confidence grow. As your confidence grows, you will be more likely to accept yourself, and won't be embarrassed, scared, or shy when it comes to expressing your opinions, ideas, and emotions. You will also feel happier, more proud of yourself, and many other positive emotions, helping your positive mindset and health prosper.

Second, speech classes will also help with improving communication and presentation skills, learning how to do research, verify and filter information, organize data, be knowledgeable, and think quickly. Speech classes help with organization skills because if you wanted to be persuasive, you would have to make the speech as organized as possible. Speech classes also help with your research skills and being knowledgeable because in order to make a good speech, you need to be able to research a lot of statistics, or know a lot of knowledge to make your speech understandable, accurate, and persuasive. Thinking quickly is achieved by improv speeches, meaning you get a topic, you have 2 minutes, and then you have to perform. All of these skills will also be needed in school, so this also helps get you a better report card in writing, and presentations!

Lastly, speech lessons help in time management. When presenting to an audience, you want to make sure that you know when to say what, so you won’t talk forever. This means that you will get plenty of practice in time management, and you can use this skill in your own life.

In conclusion, taking speech lessons can help you build your self confidence in general, talking in public, and expressing one’s feelings, ideas, and opinions. It also helps with improving your communication and presentation skills, learning how to do research, verify and filter information, organize data/statistics, being knowledgeable, and thinking quickly. It also helps with time management. So, now, do you think that everyone should take speech lessons?

Ever since I learned origami I think that I started paying attention to a lot of little details. I also think that ever since I learned Origami, I also got better at hand-eye coordination. I have done origami for around 5-6 years.

Origami is where you take a square piece of paper and fold it into anything. The name origami comes from the Japanese word “oru” which means to fold and the Japanese word “gami” which means paper. The standard origami paper is 150mm x 150mm. There are many different patterns and colours that can be on origami. You can have 3 different colours on one piece of paper or you could have a blank piece of paper. You could also have fancy Japanese pattern paper.

The lifeskills Origami can help develop are psychomotor skills such as hand-eye coordination, patience, attention to details, concentration, precision, dexterity, perseverance and the ability to follow instructions carefully. Origami is an excellent way to reduce stress.

In my opinion origami is a lot of fun because there are many different types of things you can make. I can fold cranes, boxes, balls, pianos, boats, frogs, fortune tellers and ddakji. I am yet to tackle making a tuna or a turtle because there are some folds that are a little bit confusing.

Sometimes when I’m doing origami people walk up to me and ask me to make them a crane for good luck, a box to put on their desk, or a rose to decorate something. Some even ask me how to make it. Whenever I give them their origami, they’re happy and I feel good about it. It is satisfying to be able to do that.

Origami is a gentle activity that will shift our focus away from our stress. If you learn how to do origami, you’ll be able to develop a lot of life skills. So what are you waiting for? Go get a piece of paper and join me on the origami adventure.

If it weren't for the pandemic, I wouldn't have to do online school, have trouble with my left eye, and get acupuncture needles in my forehead every weekend. Apart from changing backgrounds every few seconds, online school is totally getting on my nerves.

I-pads, computers, and other screens are bad for your eyes. I know it sounds weird coming from a person who watches TV every weekend. But I bet that online school is going to take longer than say The Simpsons or Encanto. Soon you will be wearing ten layers of glasses if you do online school for five years in a row. If you don’t believe me, try it yourself.

Sometimes my teacher glitches on the screens. Do you have glitchy wi-fi? In person we do not get fuzzy from time to time.

Do you hear me? That's a problem. A VERY big problem. I cannot hear what you are saying right now. “You are on mute.” In person we would not have our voice shut off with a button.

“Oh, common, Andy, mute yourself. We all know that your pigeon had some babies!” In person you would not bring your pigeons or babies to school. We would be more focused on the actual work.

This next disadvantage is the most important. If you have not been paying attention before, please pay attention now. Ok, if you have school you probably have homework and your teacher can’t just hand you your homework on a screen. You have to do it on Seesaw - the most irritating app ever. On Seesaw the buttons or levers are so confusing it nearly drove me crazy in grade two.

If you want to do online school you will find some very nasty surprises. I warned you. Now go outside and play. Anything that is not staring at a screen will do.

Getting freedom is harder than losing it. People can assume that you are bad by judging you by your looks. This damages and harms how we socialize. They pass it on and it keeps on going until more than half of the society or maybe more thinks like this.

For example. My classmates assume that I am smart because I look Asian. People say I am smart just because I look Asian. It's just an assumption and stereotype. From how I look people assume I am Asian. I’m not even Asian though! Sometimes we don't think about others' personalities. We should judge people by personality not looks. In my class sixteen people look Asian, but only five of them are actually Asian. They are the oldest child. Only six people in my class are not of Asian heritage.

If the person that doesn’t like a certain culture or race, or religion, becomes president, they spread that much faster, because they have much more power.

I hope we will have a president that does not judge people. They can make it illegal to be discriminated against. People should be able to be white, yellow, black, red, green or purple, without being judged. Maybe they are rainbow colored.

We shouldn't be forced into groups like this, and think that we are better. We don't even truly understand why we are better and how other people are worse! We are all human after all.

Do you find electronics the most distracting thing when you are trying to focus? Well, a lot of people do especially when they have notifications on. Often many social media apps can affect your mental and physical health. BUT you can save yourself with a few tips.

For me it can be distracting because when I really need to finish homework I’ll be reading text messages on my phone, which slows me down. Sometimes, when I’m trying to control my focus, I mute the notifications and it really makes a difference. The things that distract me that are on my electronics are apps, games, calls, and the loud buzz of notifications.

In my school, we are not allowed to bring cellphones to school. We have to leave the cellphones at home. My friends at a public school get to bring their cellphones. I think people with cellphones in their classroom would be getting up and down every second to check their phone for messages. In a study on cellphones in the classroom, Dr. Kevin Riutzel says that: Having cellphones in the class contributes to failing grades. Also a cellphone can lower someone’s full potential. He says, “additional research from Stanford University reveals that intense multitasking decreases the efficiency of completing a given task.”

How do we keep our minds healthy from electronics and social media? For me I don’t really use social media like Facebook or Instagram because I’m too young and my mom don’t really use it much. But I have friends who are on Instagram. They use it as a way of communicating. I read about the recent whistleblower on Facebook, Frances Haugen, who says, “Instagram endangers young women. It increases their risk of self harm, suicide, eating disorders, and poor body image.” Teens often say they are addicted to the app, “I felt like my body was not good enough because [it] never looked like bodies of [Instagram] influencers.” Even though Facebook has good intentions, their focus on maximizing profit has lead to very dangerous outcomes. “Facebook algorithms create a system that amplifies division, extremism and polarization.”

How do we focus when we are distracted? I have some tips. You can turn notifications off. Or you can put your electronics in another room. Sometimes when you are focused you are really into what you are doing, but when you have a phone in front of you it’s very tempting to touch it and continuously scroll. People are known to check their phones 58 times a day, but people touch their phone 2617 times! If it is not there right in front of you, you won’t be tempted

My last tip is STAY AWAY FROM YOUR PHONE!

Reference Links:
Facebook faces the Music from What In The World? Issue 3, 2021/2022
Screen Time Statistics 2021: Your Smartphone Is Hurting You By:ROCHI ZALANI
https://elitecontentmarketer.com/screen-time-statistics/

“They decide to teach us about people like Rosa Parks, Susan B. Anthony and Booker T. Washington… We learn about how these people expressed themselves and conquered and we can’t even express ourselves in the hallways,” says Tyler Sumpter, a student in Chicago. I’m a student from a private school here in Vancouver that has lots of annoying uniforms given out to students. Therefore, today I’m going to give you three arguments of why we should ban school uniforms.

My first argument is that uniforms don’t give students the feeling of freedom, a true statement considering all the rules you need for those uniforms. You need to tuck in your shirt at all times, your tie should be pulled up and under your collar, which should be tucked neatly downwards and not pointing up. Your shoes should be black, you’re not allowed accessories except hair ties for your pony tails or pigtails, of course. Your socks should be pulled up to your knees, your blazer should be buttoned at the bottom but not at the top, and your stockings should be black or white depending on the season (in my school, anyways). If you’re a student at a school that’s not even allowing you the right to choose your own clothes, you definitely wouldn’t want to study there.

My second argument states the fact that students in private schools can get easily distracted during class, since most students will focus more on their clothes than their studies, which would affect their grade. Some students may be focused more on tucking in the shirts, collars, and tie, while others will focus more on the fact that their uniform is uncomfortable, tight, and itchy.

Lastly, school uniforms should be banned because of their price. These unnecessary, useless and itchy pieces of clothing take way too much time to put on and take off, yet cost an incredibly high price, making the deal not worth it at all. The most expensive piece from my uniform is also the most unnecessary, yet it costs $200! And remember–this is only one piece of my clothing–so think of how much money you would spend if you added five more pieces of clothing to make one whole uniform.

Think of a world where students could express themselves freely for who they are. Now, think of the bland, boring, uncomfortable world we have now. I hope you can see why we should ban uniforms from private schools. It’s obvious! As high school student Troy Shuman says, schools uniforms “teach conformity and squelch individual thought.”

We probably all think that confessions are bad and that they are embarrassing to share. Like telling someone what you think about them or telling them how you feel about another person. But confessions aren’t always bad because if you tell them to other people they can know more about you. You also might get over a lot of things that were in your mind. That can make you whole to yourself.

Confessions can be good to you because they can let yourself and those close to you know more about you. For example, you might always think the person in your class sitting beside you is weird, but if you think that the person who sits next to you is weird, it blocks you from thinking they are funny or original. That might change how you feel and speak about the person. So, confessions can let you learn more about yourself and let yourself change what you think of someone else.

When you confess you might feel overwhelmed and scared, but you might feel relieved at the end when you finish confessing because you got over what you think or feel about something. For example, almost everyone you know doesn’t like the type of food you like, so you pretend that you also don’t like it because you are worried what someone will think about you. Pretending about who you are eventually will make you someone else. You might feel scared for a long period of time and worry about the food you like, because you were not being honest with yourself and others. But if you confess, others might think you are original and reveal that they like the food you like. When you confess you might feel relieved because you got over something.

You can see confessions aren’t as bad as you might think they are, they can be very helpful to you and make you stronger, more confident, and more resilient. Confessions are important to say, but you don’t have to say it to everyone or anyone.

I hope that you will change your mind about confessions and being honest with yourself, and maybe even admit one to someone you know!

References:

Superpowered: Transforming Anxiety into Courage, Confidence, and Resilience by Renee Jain and Dr. Shefali Tsabary

On the 9th of January 2022, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships sent figure skating fans into an uproar. The United States Figure Skating Association chose to give a long program with underrotated jumps and a fall more points than a completely clean one. Avid watchers of the sport could clearly see the difference between each contender’s performances and demanded a much-deserved win for the perfect free skate. The judges, however, did not acknowledge this at all and let it slide by without a word- perhaps even on purpose. This wasn’t the only irrational score in the event, though. Nathan Chen’s skate included 2 falls, which would be counted as serious errors. In the case of these, there’s a maximum amount of points allowed for each component category: 3 of them have a cap of 9.25, and for 2, it’s 8.75. Nonetheless, 3 of the judges broke this rule many times when scoring Chen’s program.

This isn’t something new, either - unfair scoring has made an appearance in figure skating for many years. In the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, the Canadian pair skated clean while the Russians did not, but somehow the latter country received the higher score. Marie-Reine Le Gougne, a judge involved in this scandal, actually admitted outright that she had been pressured to vote for the Russian competitors. This led to the system of anonymous judging, which has been used in every competition since.

One of the most - if not absolute most - famous occurence of cheating from the judges panel is undoubtedly the ladies singles competition from the Sochi Olympics of 2014. Between Adelina Sotnikova and Yuna Kim, the former ended up taking the gold medal. However, Sotnikova stumbled through a critical combination, while on the other hand, Yuna Kim skated completely cleanly. Now, if we look at the grade of execution points (GOE) given to each skater, we can clearly see that many, if not all of the judges gave Sotnikova +3 for most of the jumps. That was the highest amount of GOE points that someone can possibly get on a jump back then. Looking over at Kim’s scoring sheet, most of the judges gave her +2s and +1s! She was majorly underscored, whilst Sotnikova’s score was severely inflated. To this day, people still debate over these controversial results.

Figure skating and its judging system has become entirely corrupted through the years- and if this continues, we may be seeing another one of these scandals in the upcoming Beijing Olympics. It’s terrible how such a beautiful sport has turned into one of bias and injustice, and people may lose interest in figure skating completely if this twisted system doesn’t come to a close.

You’re in a parking lot of the supermarket, you’ve just got out of the car, then suddenly a person starts walking up to you shouting rude and offensive comments about how you look. This is an example of discrimination. Discrimination is a very serious problem that has been a big cause of bad mental health for many years. Being discriminated against for what you look like can really hurt, and can lower your self esteem. This can lead to mental illnesses like depression or anxiety. But why are people being discriminated against?

People are being discriminated against for the color of their skin and their race, for example the people who are being discriminated against are black people, asians, and indigenous communities. This is a very bad reason for discriminating against someone, and we souldn’t even be discriminating agaisnt anyone for anything. In an article written by BBC, it was said that US Olympian Sunisa Lee was pepper sprayed in racist attack. Sunisa Lee shared in an interview with PopSugar that she and her friends, who were all of asian descent, were attacked by a man driving by who shouted ethic slurs and said “go back to where you came from”. Sunisa Lee accomplished a lot in the Summer of 2021. She won gold in gymnastics and is the first US-Hmong Olympian. Everyone should be supporting her, not attacking her for her race. It is very important that she shared her experience of being discriminated against, because now more people know that this is happening and it is a very serious problem.

But why aren’t many people aware of this problem? Many of us don’t know that people are being badly treated for basically no reason, because we aren’t being treated that way ourselves, and not many people are talking about it. According to CTV News, about six-in-ten Canadian kids have witnessed bullying based on race. And a study conducted by UBC Researchers have shown that indigenous children are twice as likely to be bullied as white youth, and when teachers are asked if they are intervening one-quarter say they are either ignoring it or being completely oblivious to the situation. This shows that not many people are sharing their experience of being bullied because of their race, and people don’t want to admit that their ancestors or someone they know has done something like this.

In conclusion, we should support our friends and family who might be experiencing this, and speak out if we went through this ourselves. We need to work together to put a stop to discrimination, because we are all equal no matter what we look like.

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his cabinet last year, I thought it would be the best cabinet ever to be made, because I thought in consideration to LGBTQ2+ and BIPOC, surely Mr. Trudeau would have more diversity in his team, in large roles, or even people of different kinds, as Prime Minister. As it turned out, there wasn’t enough diversity of people of different beliefs, race, or sexual orientation. I was shocked and disappointed. I thought in the recent years of protests, problems, and awareness of diversity in people, Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet could have been a reflection of the LGBTQ2+ and BIPOC community.

The Prime Minister's cabinet needs to have more leaders of colour and race. Some people who are African Canadian or Indigenous could be included into a large, visible role with the country. It would also show that our country is more inclusive with other people, and also shows that all different types of people, no matter what, can run a country. After what has happened with racism and the uncovering of the Indigenous children, we need to emerge from these problems stronger, to show that we accept our country’s wrongdoings and are working to put strong voices to represent everyone in this country.

It isn’t really fair to have only “straight” people being Prime Ministers. We need to have bisexual, asexual, lesbian, e.t.c, to govern a country. Justin Trudeau can include more LGBTQ2+ people to show the country that we are trying to have inclusivity in our world and that THEY can run a country. We can also have more perspectives of different kinds of people to make better decisions in the future. The future could also inspire other people to be whatever they want to be, even though they feel unsure of themselves in all our communities. After what has been recently happening in our world, the world has been more open to other kinds of people and we can include more LGBTQ2+ people into our country. We’ve never had any type of LGBTQ2+ person and someone should step up to have a major role in our country to govern. It doesn’t matter if you are queer and still has a major job in the country (such as Prime Minister)! A lot of famous people are slowly beginning to open themselves up about their sexuality too!

It’s time for a big change. With climate change, the omicron variant, racism, homophobia, and many more problems in the world, it is time for more people to have a say in this global crisis of problems. More people included in a big say, means more perspectives and views of these “crises’.

There she was, waiting for me at the front of the school. After everything she’s done to me, she’s going to act like we’re okay? Wow.

I walked over casually, “Hey!” I exclaimed.

Weird looks from everyone, people whispering to each other’s ears. I looked around. What was it?

I looked over to my other group of friends and waved at them. Eye rolls, laughter.

“Oh, looks like nobody wants to be your friend now,” she snarled and walked away.

Confusion filled my mind as I tried my best to think if I did anything wrong, but nope. Not that I know of.

Oh, I know. It’s because I hung out with someone who wasn’t her over the weekend. She’s mad, she’s jealous, so she’s getting revenge by telling everyone I did things that I never have. I should have known.

Why is she like this? Why can’t she let people have freedom to do and hangout with who and whatever they want? She always does this. Sending death threats and telling people to stay away from me, just because I went to the mall with another friend.

I’ve had enough of her.

Freedom is important. To me, to you, to everyone.

Everyone deserves the right to hang out with whoever they want and do whatever they want. If someone’s a real friend, they’ll have the actual qualities to be a friend, which includes letting people have the freedom to hang out with whoever.

Nobody should ever be in control of another’s life.

With school forcing me to write paragraph after paragraph, Google Docs has become a close companion of mine. Although a reliable and loyal one, Docs is also quite annoying, especially in its habit of reverting back to “Arial”, every single time I start something new.

So, instead of Arial, the boring rip-off of Helvetica, I propose to change the default Docs font to Times New Roman. Already favoured by English teachers and students alike, this classic font is bold, formal and easy to read. Unlike Arial, each letter is clearly distinguished, with no longer introducing confusion between uppercase “I”, and lowercase “l”, since there are distinct markings in the “I” and “l” respectively. .

Also, Arial is aggressive on the eyes. While Times New Roman is bolder than EB Garamond, it still remains elegant. On the other hand, Arial is dark and appears to be an attempt at modernity, which fails and instead settles for mediocrity. The uniform and chunky lines of each letter are an eyesore– the words muddle and blur. It reminds me of over-highlighting; when you highlight everything, nothing stands out. However, Times New Roman has beautiful varying lines, helping the letters flow when read. The capital “N” demonstrates this very well; the thicker middle line forces your attention to slide downwards, helping the transition between uppercase and lowercase become smoother.

Lastly, Times New Roman is already extremely popular. Personally, I did a survey asking “Is Arial a good default font?”, and 56% of the responses were to the negative. Some replied with font suggestions, most commonly Times New Roman, and Spectral; these two are similar, since they follow the “newspaper” style. Times New Roman is also the fourth most searched for font¹, therefore if Times New Roman is so well-liked, why shouldn’t it be the automatic Docs font? Clear and classic, Times New Roman leaves a formal impact, an important characteristic for most writing, leaving readers and writers both content.

In conclusion, Arial, a font so decidedly bland it’s almost required to be changed, shouldn’t be the default font. Times New Roman is a crowd pleaser, with enough character to prevent it from being soulless, but not enough for it to become overwhelming.

So, when you begin the next dreaded English assignment, remember to change the font. You may sacrifice an extra minute, but I assure you, it’s worth it. Discard the dull Arial, and instead change it to something that’s simply better.

Reality TV defies true reality.

An everyday citizen rapidly flying over and crawling under challenging obstacles to victory, under a time crunch. A homecook creating impeccable food and reaching its culinary dream in under 60 minutes. Housewives in extravagant homes dishing about glamour and wealth, while wearing the latest styles in the ideal body. These are the clips that we see when we search up “reality TV”. But the truth is, reality TV defies reality. Real people wearing real clothes with real problems are not real enough for reality TV.

According to a survey conducted by the Mental Health Foundation, nearly 1 in 4 people experience a negative impact from reality TV on body image. This is linked to cases of severe anxiety, depression and feelings of shame. Reality TV paints an image of perfection that exacerbates the insecurities of predominantly young audiences.

What audiences see on screen is an ideology for a perfect body that is generally unrealistic, largely uniform, and lacks opportunity for diversity. In fact, when directors cast people into these TV shows, they often find the unique and prettiest people in order to attract attention and gain views. Everything from what these people wear, to even what they say gets twisted around to cause more conflict and get more attention.

Audiences watch reality TV shows thinking that the shows are a reflection of a “normal” existence. However, reality TV presents the complete opposite. It normalizes abnormal lives, portraying everyday life as boring and undesirable. But reality TV is not real. A TV producer called Michelle Crouch says that “[reality TV shows] have writers who craft plot lines, twisting and tweaking footage to create conflict and shape up a story.”

I am not asking for much. All I want is empathy. All I want is for show producers to acknowledge the impact it has on viewers. All I want is a change in the reality TV industry.

What if the prince of the story wasn’t all charming as they make him out to be? What if the princess was taught lies and thought that violence means love? Society has grown up with the idea that if a boy is being mean to you, that means he must like you. Through time, I’ve grown to notice how screwed up this view is. Especially if this is being taught to younger kids.

Children grew up with a heavy influence from their parents. During these stages, they learn boundaries and rules that lead them into the future. Though what happens to those parents who still apply a lens of good and bad when it comes to showing feelings?

Emotions are often grouped in different ways with feelings such as anger and sadness are seen as bad while happiness is held on a high pedestal. We’re praised for being anything but sad which leaves our so-called negative emotions scrambling for a spot in the world. In which case, they’re heavily stigmatized.

If a man cries they’re seen as weak. If a woman is loud they’re unlady like and won’t be able to secure themselves a husband. People adjust themselves to meet standards that are simply blown out of proportion and in the process, repress their emotions and what makes them a person.

If the prince was really as kind as they say, then why does he use violence as an answer for everything? Maybe he grew up not being able to freely let his so-called negative feelings out and instead, chose a mechanism instead. But what if he had been able to? Teaching young kids that bullying equals love only promotes abusive relationships in the future and with added pressure to fit perfect molds, these types of reasonings can only end in disaster.

The prince isn’t supposed to abuse the princess and the princess deserves more of a happy ending than what was promised. Even with how deeply-rooted these things are, perhaps one day we’ll see the end to the saying “boys will be boys”.

My voice hasn’t always been low. Throughout the years, I’ve gone from a would-be valley girl to speaking with the teen-girl linguistic phenomenon called the vocal fry.

From teenage speaking norms, valley girls, and the Kardashians’ telltale voice, women have always been under fire for the way they talk. As a 2014 study concluded, “although vocal fry, whether used by men or women, [was] judged more negatively than a normal speaking tone, women were particularly seen to be “less competent, less educated, less trustworthy, less attractive, and less hireable”.

This must mean vocal fries are unattractive, right?

“[The] guttural fluttering of the vocal cords,” as Douglas Quenqua states, was actually seen to be “use[d] [by] [women]…as power tools for building relationships” according to Carmen Fought, a professor of linguistics at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Although women are so often regarded as weaker, vulnerable or downright stupid for introducing and pioneering slang and vocal innovation, there are reasons suggesting why women might be more attuned to social cues, often triggering an onset of linguistic features. Some possible reasons include a higher sensitivity to social interactions, using language as a means to break pass societal stereotypes defining females as docile, demure and proper, or understanding the increased margin of acceptance when speaking extravagantly and with extra embellishments and distinctive qualities.

However, despite all the hate women get for employing vocal fries, based on a study of 18- to 22-year-olds, “researchers at Centenary College of Louisiana found that young men not only fry, but they do so more than young women, [as] [m]en typically have lower overall pitch than women…so their voices descend into fry more easily”. The “unappealing nature” of a vocal fry has become a way to discredit women in the labour market, blaming any implicit bias on the just-so-happened-to-be unalluring sound of the female’s natural voice.

Still unsure about the misogyny that has arisen over female linguistic qualities? As stated by a friendly comment under a 1-minute compilation of Kim Kardashian vocal frying, “what is the attraction of a woman sounding like a frog?”

Whether it is the natural diction of an individual’s speaking style, or the intonation, pitch, and verbal qualities employed, learning to respect, appreciate, and accept, is the bare minimum.

Like, totally.

It’s that time of year again. The dreaded report card season. Everyone is restless, trying to chuck in the last of their late assessments, preparing for the disappointment of that one bad grade. But what fogs my mind the most is that suffocating fear of failure that lives in the shadow of the ideal student image others have somehow sculpted to resemble me.

Fear of failure often comes hand-in-hand with being an overachiever… but not for me! I’m more like the opposite of an overachiever. I have a bad habit of leaving my assignments for last minute and settling for “good enough” when something could be “great”. I can’t seem to figure out if that’s necessarily good or bad because it prevents me from crossing the line to being a perfectionist, but it leaves me in a constant loop of hoping that this pattern of: low effort → good results, miraculously continues for the next assignment. And when that does happen again, there’s this imposter syndrome that sits in the back of my mind whispering to me that my marks weren’t deserved, that the teacher just likes me, or that I just got lucky, or maybe they were mixed up with someone else's marks; because there’s no way that something I didn’t put any thought into could be good enough.

On the other hand, when I don’t get good results, I can just tell myself, “Pshh! It’s ok, it’s just because I didn’t put effort into this assignment. If I did put in the work I would have totally gotten a good mark”. But sometimes I think, maybe the lack of effort in these assignments aren’t as severe as I tell myself they are. Because even as I’m fumbling around my ideas and making typos left and right just trying to have something to hand in, somewhere in my subconsciousness sits the strive to make it deserving of good marks. And maybe when I get marks back that aren’t as good as I expected, under all that confidence that “I would have gotten a good mark with effort” there’s a little part of me that feels disappointed.

So perhaps I am a little bit of an overachiever. No, I think “overachiever” isn’t the right way to put it. I just have a fear of failing when I put in 100%, so I limit myself to 50%. But maybe I’m just convincing myself that these assignments are all low effort so when the marks come back bad I can say, “I barely put any effort into this” and when they come back good I can say, “I barely put any effort into this!”

If you’ve ever watched the “Karate Kid” or any martial arts films, the biggest theme is how the “bad guys” are always disciplined through violence. Getting around the harsh world means beating each other up, which yields a cycle of good vs. evil – no longer “self-defence”, but revenge.

That’s what I thought too until actually doing it myself. It took me 3 years for my parents to convince me to even step into a “dojo”. I imagined walls of punching bags, brawls on creaky wooden floors until people passed out, and an army of fighters yelling while performing memorized attacks in unison. When you search up “karate”, you see high kicks, fierce punches, and eyes reflecting killer mentalities.

Fighting has been used for entertainment for centuries, but only in recent decades did it become televised. Is it really a safe sport? Will it produce aggressive and violent outlaws?

The media portrays martial arts as brutal and inhumane, with arrogant fighters challenging their enemies, or criminals seeping with aggression, anger issues, and greed. Martial arts films don’t realistically show what it truly is. I mean, there were probably gangs, crimes, or rough neighbourhoods like the ones in the movies and may even exist today, but practicing martial arts doesn’t mean you’re a member of a gang either.

Don’t get me wrong – I love watching the gut-wrenching, explosive combats. Martial arts is the pinnacle of entertainment and my gushing source of adrenaline, adding excitement to my boring life. But behind the action are powerful progressions countering racial stereotypes; like Bruce Lee as an influential Asian fighter, on the big screen, showcasing his diverse techniques, focus, and legacy. Plus, the sport has dramatically changed, with regulations and rules set in place to reduce injury risks; and instead extract the purpose martial arts was created in the first place: to strengthen the mind and body.

When people uncover that I practice karate, their utmost expressions of shock – as if I’m a vastly different person after knowing I have capabilities to “throw some blows” – are especially predictable. I feel inexplicably gutted that people don’t see the value of martial arts: that you don’t have to be emotional or even athletic to try it. I’ve learned it helps me focus and filter out life’s stresses.

Point is, you don’t know what something is until understanding it. Martial arts is universal. No matter where you live, what language you speak, or how old you are; anyone can try. It promotes confidence, resilience, discipline, community, and mindful behaviour that can’t be expressed the same in today’s conservative society.

According to the world health organization, depression from academic pressure in students is increasing rapidly every year. From 2017 to 2018, there were 4% more applicants to U.S. universities, yet only 65% were accepted. Around 500 Janpanese students commit suicide every year, and from 2009 to 2015, an increase of 30% of American students reached out for campus counselling despite the enrollment only increased 5%. However, the standard of living in the countries where these reports originated have an abundance of resources for learning which should pave a successful future. How come the worst cases of depression come from the places with the most amount of resources? The statistics all point to one sole factor: academic pressure.

Even though academic pressure is a combination of numerous factors such as competitive spirit and peer pressure, it all leads to the extreme desire for high grades. Higher grades mean greater possibility of acceptance from better universities and colleges, which means more knowledge and choices, thus leading to more opportunities, which means more power and a greater sense of control over our lives, and that sense of control puts us at ease. Since grades and GPAs act as representatives students use to prove their worth and intelligence, it causes worrying and distress, but so much to the point where it becomes intoxicating and unhealthy.

My therapist suggested that I go on walks for my mental health. It’s no surprise that such a strategy results in improved mood and reduced risks for mental illnesses including anxiety and depression. And I have to admit, the fresh air and marginal exercise did help boost my serotonin production. Yet despite walking in my own neighbourhood- my home for the last 17 years- I still find myself constantly checking behind me at the sounds of any potential threats.

Globally, 30% of women aged 15 and older have been subjected to physical and or sexual violence by a partner or non-partner at least once in their life, with most violence being perpetrated by someone intimately known.

One would think that such numbers are comforting to young women, that the likelihood of being assaulted by a stranger is next to none. But each time I hear a sound behind me when I walk alone, I quicken my pace, place my fingers on the power button of my phone, ready to press it five times as I’ve been taught, and prepare to sprint if the footsteps speed up with mine.

I, along with the vast majority of females, have learned to keep my head down and hold my keys between my knuckles to assuage the fear I feel each time I leave my home without a male. It’s disheartening to know such fears are universal to women and are normalized to the point where there are widely shared strategies and apps that aim to mitigate such trepidation.

I can acknowledge the increasing awareness that society has begun to grow, surrounding the uncertainty and lack of safety females feel in public places, yet my anxieties as a young woman have yet to subside. There is so much more change that everyone, but my generation specifically, can achieve to quell the apprehensions of all young women.

We deserve to be able to go on a walk for our mental health without the added anxieties of being jumped or harassed. We deserve the simple right to leave our house as our male counterparts do without fretting. We deserve to feel safe on the sidewalks of our own neighbourhood.

Do your part to make your community feel safer for the daughters and sisters of society. Cross the street if there’s a woman in front of you, offer to escort your female friends, and step in when you see a woman being objectified or harassed.

It was a pleasure to burn. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 begins with a statement that not only introduces us to not only the climax of the novel, but also Bradbury’s intended meaning behind the story. During an interview where he was asked “What is the meaning behind the novel Fahrenheit 451?” Bradbury, an esteemed and talented author, simply responded: “TV is bad”.

While some speculate that Bradbury was lying about the meaning to let readers decide for themselves, I believe that Bradbury was actually communicating a much greater topic: The co-existence of humans and technology.

Recently, CES 2022 took place in Las Vegas. Many fascinating technologies were displayed, including the Dyson hair curler, flying cars, and more. Everything seemed amazing but, I believe we are walking down the path Bradbury predicted we would

In Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist’s wife, Mildred, barely speaks to him. She stays inside and watches her TV wall all day. In the first chapter, she even tries to kill herself by overdosing on sleeping pills. Screens are addicting for people of all ages and can consume relationships. Instead of healthy face-to-face interactions, people stay on their screens far too much. While there is importance in spending time with technology, Bradbury’s was worried about it consuming human relationships.

In 2018, Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego state authored a study about how, in 2016, 1 in 3 teens did not read a book for pleasure, but instead stayed on various social media platforms. Looking at screens physically prevents eye contact and human interactions, and teens lose the feeling of forming proper bonds with others.

Ray Bradbury’s blunt statement can be interpreted in many different ways. I believe he meant exactly what he said, but his words were muddled down from his true meaning: that technology cannot completely replace human interaction, or there will be severe consequences, starting from the potential termination of human interaction. Despite writing the novel in a ti

Try tweeting support for JK Rowling and Ellen DeGeneres. I guarantee that any such account would immediately become a target to the powerful social justice warrior force that is ‘cancel culture’. Even more likely is a subsequent TikTok video in response to the tweets. A sassy snap and hair flip are the perfect Gen Z sidekicks to the loud, overwhelming diss of the century: “Canceled”. With the age of ‘expression freedom’ through internet sharing platforms like Twitter and Instagram, cancel culture—the concept of ostracizing a person due to their beliefs and actions—has been amplified over the years. The phrase itself originated in 2014 with the infamous Harvey Weinstein trial and the #MeToo movement when social media advocates deemed Harvey Weinstein and similar sex offenders cancelled, effectively removing them from relevant entertainment circles and projects. Clearly, it’s powerful. With a history of little accountability from figures in power, cancel culture has allowed underrepresented minorities to hold revered figures accountable for their actions—and in the cases of Harvey Weinstein and Dolce&Gabbana, it has certainly achieved its purpose. But what are its unseen implications? I don’t even need to investigate the large-scale effects first. At my private, liberal-leaning school, its effects are already apparent; as my class has gotten older, we’ve often participated in topical discussions from vaccine hesitancy to pro-choice laws. Despite the lure of an ‘open’ conversation, I’ve seldom heard an opposing view speak up on controversial issues. Perhaps it’s because the last time it occurred in Grade 10, the student who began speaking on the validity of feminism was immediately shot down and humiliated by their classmates for the next month. Sure, their statement was not one that was widely agreed with but what are the harms of never allowing these voices to speak? Without open discourse, there is little chance for further understanding and education for anyone. Maybe cancel culture is in part an excuse to refuse to listen. Canceling itself is definite. Yet, the people that are subject to this phrase are often not. When celebrities and public figures are forever canceled, the message it provides young viewers and netizens? That mistakes are shunned. That perfection is the only path to avoid ostracism. I can’t help but wonder how this type of language has discouraged and frightened young voices. For teenagers like myself who are still trying to find their voice and their identity, this mantra is damaging to the growth and evolution that we all need to experience. I don’t propose we ‘cancel’ cancel culture (that would render this piece hypocritical, no?). Instead, finding a method of call-outs while still allowing individuals the ability to grow, evolve and learn from their mistakes is essential.