Author: Bella Robakowski

  • Coach Buckley: Shaping the athletes of NPHS

    The final play of the game is upon them. Whether it’s soccer, football or lacrosse, each athlete has an intense focus on the goal at hand: winning. While for some, this pressure may be too much to bear, however for NPHS athletes, the challenge is gladly welcomed. They have been taught to be calm…

  • Knock out the knockoffs

    When it comes to high quality designer goods it’s easy to spot a fake from the real thing. Take a good look at the logo, examine the stitching, or try to find the authenticity card and you can tell if it’s a knockoff. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy to spot a fake when it…

  • Well, that’s life…

    In this upcoming year, my personal resolution is to not fight life. Instead, I’m teaming up with life and seeing where it takes me. I know it’s a weird resolution, but I have come to the conclusion that my eternal cycle of exhaustion and anxiety must be broken, and that this resolution is the…

  • Strings strikes a chord with the audience

    With instruments tucked under a chin or grasped between knees, they lift their bows gracefully. Only an inch of space hovers between the bow hairs and the coiled metal strings. Silence fills the room. The conductor’s raised hands quiver above the players’ intensely watching eyes. Then, his hands swoop up and drop, bows meet…

  • ‘Tis the season to raise money for baseball: The baseball team tree lot is a success

      Every sports team knows the difficulty of raising money to support their team throughout the year. The baseball team has taken a very unique approach to their fundraising in the form of a Christmas tree lot that is hosted by the team annually. Shortstop Shay Whitcomb, senior, has worked the tree lot since…

  • I’m a feminist, and you should be one too

    During the scientific revolution, it was discovered that females have smaller skulls and bigger hips than males. This information was used by men as positive proof of their superiority. To them, smaller heads indicated that women were less intelligent, and the wider hips confirmed their main purpose was for childbearing. For hundreds of years,…

  • Sifting through facts and fiction

    Fact checkers have kept very busy during the recent political debates. According to the New York Times, in the second presidential debate, Donald Trump made more than twenty two comments that were either lies or mis-statements. Hillary Clinton, by comparison, was tagged with four. We relied on fact checkers to seek and correct false…

  • Fight on because you can’t always get what you want

    As a big USC fan, nothing makes me happier on a Saturday than when the Trojans get a big fat W.  Unfortunately, my boys are 1-3, so there hasn’t been much celebrating so far this season. My only consolation is that, at 2-2, UCLA hasn’t started out that great either. When I recognize that…

  • Learning to count blessings through the stressing

    I wake up to my blaring alarm and race to school. I carry my jam-packed, 34.2 lb backpack from class to class where I sit for hours and aggressively take notes and stress about whatever test, quiz or assignment I have due. I finish my school day with a few hours of dance team…

  • Community theatre trains future Broadway stars

    In a perfect example of life imitating art, a group of musically talented teenagers from all over Ventura County united on stage to sing and dance in a show about a group of kids getting together to sing and dance. Camp Rock: the Musical, is a theatrical version of the 2008 Disney channel movie…