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Managing Media Consumption
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I have often filled the idle moments of my day with a steady stream of incoherent digital stimuli that have left me feeling empty and useless. This is because my attention is being focused on things that I do not care about or enjoy. This damages my schoolwork, but more importantly to me, it…
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College applications make me cry
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Bam! That’s the sound of my face hitting the floor at the start of senior year. But what caused me to fall so hard? Well, it could be the college application process. It could be the instantaneous return to IB homework. It could be the new job I picked up to save up for…
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Learning to live without her
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My whole family loves Young Frankenstein, not because of Gene Wilder, but because of my mom’s impression of the monster horrendously singing “Puttin on the Ritz.” Every time the song came up, she would make herself and the rest of us laugh with her strained, goofy, out-of-tune singing. That impression is one of the…
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Grieving through senior year
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On November 27, my dad passed away tragically in my living room. My mother and I gave him CPR for what felt like hours while my brother called 911, and we listened to the first responders work on keeping him alive for forty minutes before they pronounced him dead. He had been in and…
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Let kids draw in class
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When I was 11-years-old, I received my first C letter grade. It was on a notebook submission and points had been docked for disorganization. I fanned through the spiral bound pages, which had red Sharpie minus signs next to the various characters I had inked between chapter notes. Utterly heartbroken, I decided the next…
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Senior year is not as easy as it seems
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During the first semester, many seniors are buried under the pressure of college applications or their plans after high school, while also facing the stresses of their extracurriculars. In my case, and many others, we also have to keep our grades as perfect as they can be for the handful of elite colleges that…
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Growing up Jewish during the holiday season
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Strolling through the local Target and inevitably laying my eyes on the bright, giant Christmas tree used to be my least favorite holiday occurrence. To me, it was a reminder of the pathetic one-shelf display of Hanukkah stickers that resided in the very back corner of the store. I would beg my mom to…
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State laws should not be overwritten by cities
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City wide governments should never be able to override state protected rights. This problem was brought up when certain cities in California attempted to ban abortion while the rights for this procedure is protected by state law. When abortion was denied as a federal issue when Roe v Wade was overturned June 24, 2022,…
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Becoming comfortable in my own skin
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From a very young age, I knew I was gay. To be exact, I am a nonbinary pansexual, which means I don’t identify as a boy or a girl, and I am attracted to everyone. As a kid who grew up in a very heteronormative household, I never thought about anything outside of that.…
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Mental health support needs to help the mentally ill
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According to my medical history, I have never had major problems with my health aside from appendicitis and the occasional flu. However, when looking closer you will see a history of mental illness. Notes from therapists and psychiatrists, hospitalizations for suicidal ideation and an attempt and admittance to a psychological facility in west Torrance.…