Time Herself
By: Mia Scemla
A poem about time.
2911, 2020
1411, 2020
I Am Lost
By: Arielle Germeus
Do you have a subconscious bias or discrimination against a group of people? Did you accidentally call a black student another black student’s name even though, if placed side by side, they look nothing alike? Do you assume a black student would act a certain way, know a certain dance, or know a certain slang word? Do you automatically assume that a black student would know a new album was released from a certain artist (more specifically, a hip hop artist)? Do you change your vernacular or persona to fit a certain stereotype when talking to a black student? Do you think before you speak? When you commit these microaggressions, please think about it, please ponder on why that would hurt someone, even if you wouldn’t be hurt by it. Let us all learn from this, because I would like to leave the school knowing this is a community where future black kids can feel accepted instead of lost, like me.
0611, 2020
A Year on Pause: My Decision to Take a Gap Year
By: Sophia Fogarty
The day before my rescheduled graduation, I applied for a gap year. I did not know what this year would look like, but that did not matter. I just knew I did not want to go to college, or at least not like this. This fall was bitterly uneventful as I continued working at my summer job and lived at home with my family. However, I am okay with that. I see this gap year as a pause. This year is uneventful so that next year can be. I knew that it would not be the typical gap year full of travel and adventure, but as I had hoped, it has been full of self-growth and learning.
It is not the glamorous gap year that I used to imagine, but I have not looked back since deciding to take it. For most of my friends, a gap year was not the right option.
0611, 2020
Haze
By: Sebastian Giugovaz
It’s a peaceful Friday night. I sit back in a chair in my backyard, listening to the nocturnal ambiance that surrounds me: the song of the crickets, the breeze that wooshes through the trees, the eerie silence of the moon. For me, it is a time of introspection, a time to immerse myself in thought. I dig deep within myself, but I encounter a fog in my mind, a blur. Like a camera lens trying to focus, I try to understand and visualize my purpose in this life, what I want to do with my future. In a time where change is imminent, knowing what you want is crucial, so society says. The pressures of a 17-year-old adolescent choosing the next step in his life, the rapid change from boy to man, and the expectations set for him by others, all swirl in my head, creating a typhoon of concern and fear. As I attempt to keep this storm of emotions at bay, I continue to encounter this murkiness. I have no idea what I want to do or what the future has in store for me. No matter how hard I try, I can’t visualize a clear path in my life.
3010, 2020
This is not a Drill!
By: Chiara Bruzzi
answer these questions in the comments section!
1109, 2020
Why is Applying to College Absolutely the Worst?
By: Chiara Bruzzi
I came to conclude that the college application process is so stressful and intimidating because of everything it represents. The abstract feelings which all seniors feel, but college counselors can’t understand. The notion that every application is a measure of success both of your past and your future. That is because the strength of your application asses your success in the past, while the reputation of the school you are applying to assess your threshold of success in the future. And just like that, you are stuck in the present, while being attacked by the past and the future. It is too much to think about and too stressful to experience. And yet, you have to push through, sit down, and breathe as you write yet another version of your personal essay.
1109, 2020
Internet Uncensored: Navigating Toxicity
By: Julian DeLacadena
There’s an absolute injustice within communities on the internet where individuals don’t treat others how they should be treated — and this is wrong! Sure, nobody is perfect, and conflict is inevitable everywhere, but the internet appears just to be filled with an unquestionable animosity that dramatically differs from real-life interactions. Interactions on the internet are far from “authentic” real-life interactions, but does this warrant malicious behavior for little reason? Is it the aspect of anonymity that leads individuals to act this way? Does a computer screen offer a sense of security where others feel less vulnerable with little repercussions for actions?
1109, 2020
A Broken-hearted Girl’s Thoughts on Grief
By: Isabella Farina
I learned that the engulfing pain and sadness can come out of nowhere when someone on the street laughs like he did when our song comes on when a girl and her two brothers walk past me. I can’t help but feel a sort of resentment for those who still have two brothers, an older and a younger one like I did. This makes me feel guilty, but it’s the truth. I know that time heals, but as the initial shock of this tragedy lessens, a new type of pain has settled in, and it’s overwhelming me. The settling of the idea that I will never see him again, that I have to accept the millions of conversations that will never occur, and the events that he will not attend, it’s a lot. Grief humbles you.
0908, 2020
Community in Isolation
By: Daniel Fruman
I was always amused by the idea of an Ancient Greek philosopher. An old man sitting in a garden surrounded by ornate columns, drinking expensive wine, and contemplating everything from free will to the meaning of life. Yet I had never thought that I’d ever find myself in a similar position and to be honest, I still can’t fathom how these thoughts started, but there I was contemplating away, and the more I contemplated, the more empty I felt. Now, I’m certainly not going to go on and on about how this pandemic altered my world, simply because this was an issue that I had as far back as last year. And as more responsibilities piled up on my shoulders, I found myself in that state of melancholic contemplation more and more. Fortunately, I was kept busy. I’m the type of guy who likes to have things to do, never be finished with something, to have a constant stream of challenges thrown at me from all directions, so that I may succeed and move on. So when all those challenges got taken away, and my life became a monotonous stream of tedious online classes and aimless wanderings around the house, singing long Wagnerian arias, I felt those melancholy thoughts rush back into my life, like Achaeans bursting through the gates of Troy.
3107, 2020
Night Thoughts
By: Chiara Bruzzi
Thoughts are running through my head. I can’t catch them. I can’t stop them. No matter how hard I try, they clog my mind, one after the other, and just like that, I lose sight of them. Usually, I would relieve this mental turbulence with meditation or a night out with friends, but nothing feels right. It’s too late to meditate, and I don’t even know the meaning of friends anymore. Friends aren’t supposed to feel weird around each other. And yet I get anxious just thinking about social events right now. I don’t get it. How can a few months at home have such a significant effect on me? That question remains unanswered, and another thought creeps in. How is it that my extremely loving family surrounds me, and yet I still feel lost and alone? I don’t understand. I am supposed to be strong… this is too sad to think… these are just night thoughts. I am sure that, to some extent, this is true.