0612, 2020

The Intangible Weight

Chiara Bruzzi/ December 6, 2020/ Guest Writers, Relationships/ 2 comments

By: Will Perez
As my final year in high school began, I left Alaska, where I stayed during the summer, to return to Miami. When I arrived in Miami, it hit me: I was under the impression that staying 4000 miles away from home with my brother would detract from all the mental trammels that had built up and festered during the extended quarantine. Those long months of solitude during quarantine had built up this impotent anger and feeling of helplessness towards the world. I wanted to seclude myself more than anything and succumb to the situation that fell upon the world without even giving it a try. That summer changed my mindset after I got back, but not for long. As much as I didn’t want to leave, I knew it was time for school in person because once again, I felt this obligation to return in person and make the most of what everyone described as “normality.” It seemed that all the progress I made was laid to waste as I relapsed into what some may describe as anxiety-induced depression. Every day seemed more bland than the one before, and I felt myself becoming crushed under the weight of everything. I was diligent in getting things done but I was soon overwhelmed, if it wasn’t one thing… it was another. I wanted nothing more than to sleep and isolate myself amidst the weight of everything.

0412, 2020

How Bullying Made me Successful

Chiara Bruzzi/ December 4, 2020/ Guest Writers, Relationships/ 1 comments

By: Matthew Gaynor
Those who have the biggest smiles are the ones who have shed the most tears; those who are the most caring have been broken the most; and finally, those who are the nicest have been tormented the most. All of these characteristics have one thing in common: They describe my past. I am a victim of bullying, and I do not think most people will understand, but I hope this post and my story will give you a new outlook on life and a story you will not forget.
For years, I have tried to understand why I was bullied. I use to want to piece everything about my history and knowledge into one. Now, I have finally accomplished that goal; here we go… how bullying made me successful.

2911, 2020

Time Herself

Chiara Bruzzi/ November 29, 2020/ A Collection of Reactions, Guest Writers/ 3 comments

By: Mia Scemla
A poem about time.

1411, 2020

I Am Lost

Chiara Bruzzi/ November 14, 2020/ Activism, Guest Writers/ 3 comments

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

Chiara Bruzzi/ November 6, 2020/ Guest Writers, Mindset/ 2 comments

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

Chiara Bruzzi/ November 6, 2020/ Guest Writers, Mindset/ 3 comments

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.

1109, 2020

Internet Uncensored: Navigating Toxicity

Chiara Bruzzi/ September 11, 2020/ Behavior, Guest Writers/ 4 comments

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

Chiara Bruzzi/ September 11, 2020/ Guest Writers, Relationships/ 0 comments

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

Chiara Bruzzi/ August 9, 2020/ Guest Writers, Relationships/ 1 comments

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

American Experience

Chiara Bruzzi/ July 31, 2020/ Activism, Guest Writers/ 0 comments

By: Arielle Germeus
Let me tell you about my experience
Wondering if my brother will make it back home if he were ever in a traffic stop
Wondering if I will make it back home if I were ever in a traffic stop
Watching a march occur of an organized parade of people believing I am less than human
Being told to change my hair because it looked unprofessional
Having people touch my hair without my permission because it “looks so soft”
Being denied a job because of my name
Afraid that my fellow students assume I am ghetto because of my hair
Getting several wary looks from my classmates because the discussion is about slavery and I’m
the only black student in the classroom
Getting shot at because I took down a suspected shooter and they thought I was the shooter
Getting shot at because I was in my apartment and a woman thought I was robbing hers
Getting shot at because I told the cops I had a legal firearm in my possession