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The culture shock that comes with the European dream
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During winter break, I spent nine days exploring Paris with my family. This was my first time visiting Europe and I observed several culture differences between Europe and America. During my trip, I shopped at food and flea markets, ate food at fancy and local restaurants and walked (a lot) all over the charming…
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My new year’s resolution: to rediscover myself
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I have long been a philosophical child. I always had more questions than my parents or teachers had answers, and gathered knowledge to hoard it away in the cracks and crevices of my mind. When I was little, I did things because they were fun, because they brought me joy. In my most vivid…
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Human connection dies with online shopping
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As I walk the desolate beige alleyways on my way to my job at the Janss Mall with jazz music softly floating around me, I cannot help but feel melancholy for the empty stores and days of customerless stretches for a mall I frequently shopped at growing up. Restaurants and stores are struggling to…
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Proximity does not equate to closeness
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When my brother, Duncan, left home for UCLA, many cautioned me with horrified expressions and a constant echo of comments like “just wait for how lonely you’ll be” or “I can’t believe you’re an only child now.” Initially, these remarks scared me into thinking that I would suddenly become an isolated, sibling-less individual. But…
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Slice of Life: Hiking provides the cheapest form of therapy
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Growing up in Newbury Park for most of my life, I can say with a full chest that I do not take advantage of it enough. In addition to In-N-Out and Potrero Road late at night, there are miles and miles of trails that curve and switchback like our own patchwork. I have attempted…
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New valedictorian policy removes prestige
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While the typical valedictorian definition acknowledges the single highest achieving student, the Conejo Valley Unified School District [CVUSD] has strayed away from this normality, and has once again proposed a new policy: the Latin Honors system. After 18 years of the current policy, Board Policy 5127, in place, where students are recognized for their…
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Episodes of overstimulation flood kids media
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Next to candy or dessert, TV was always a special treat for me as a child, and I found myself glued to the screen whenever I had the rare opportunity to watch a show or movie. Today, it shocks me when kids can barely sit through a 20 minute episode of “Cocomelon”– although I…
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Copy-paste culture has taken over cinema
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All too often, I find myself turning on the TV to the same movie. Except it’s not. The plot is practically identical, the characters are the same cliche archetypes and I still find myself on my phone halfway through. Cinema’s level of apathy when it comes to plot and the only clear motive being…
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My identity is in my name
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As summer came to an end, the inevitable ring of the first school bell brought a new year of teachers inquiring about my name. While my name is definitely not unique, it is slightly long and has a variety of nicknames. “Elizabeth,” they call, followed by “any nicknames?” Every year, my response is the…
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Driving courtesy continues to decrease
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Daily patterns of traffic show how driving courtesy has shifted into a mindset where many motorists focus on just themselves. Driving etiquette is essential in making roads safe and pleasant to use, yet so many people rarely feel this. The need for safer drivers is not a matter of blaming individual people; rather, it…