The US Census found in 2013, 1 in 4 high schoolers work part-time jobs during the school year. Many of these jobs are in customer service, whether it’s in the fast food industry, a restaurant, a grocery store, or any other positions that deals with people, and helping customers get what they want or need.

Community service: a necessary evil for embellishing college applications and resumes, or even for impressing your peers and parents. Of course, community service isn’t all bad. In the International Baccalaureate (IB) program students are required to participate in Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS). It sounds like a lot to deal with, and sometimes it truly is. Keeping up with weekly logs, reflections, and evidence can be tedious on top of all of my other assignments, but CAS has helped me stay committed to a task and taught me how to record events for me to reflect on later. It has also highlighted how both the person receiving and the person giving benefit from the act.

WARNING: If you plan on watching 13 Reasons Why and you’re behind the curve, don’t continue reading this article; Spoilers lie ahead!
As high school and teen shows go, it can be understood that a majority of the storylines, characters, and settings may be unrealistic. When a show and its writers take themselves too seriously, it can be reflected in just about every aspect of the show: from acting, to dialogue, to the entire story itself.

Hashtag. Ating. Trending. Tweeting. Snapping. The internet streams social media into teens’ lives every waking moment of the day. Social media has become the communication form of choice with teens which comes with the good and the bad. It allows them to express themselves and communicate instantaneously with family, friends and strangers, but many times […]

Every girl knows the unspoken rules of Girl Code, but despite of knowing these guidelines, many girls don’t uphold the code. Once a guy gets into the mix, girls feel that the rules don’t apply to them anymore, but they’re wrong. Guys can cause longtime friendships between two girls to end in a heartbeat. The […]

Reliving a traumatic experience at the mention of a specific word or phrase, noise going off, or the sight of a familiar face is nothing to take lightly. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a very real concern, is taken seriously in most cases and is appropriately accommodated for serious cases via safe spaces. Safe spaces are a good idea for those who need a place to calm down from panic attacks, PTSD attacks, or harassment. However, over the past five years, there’s been the used and public opinion of safe spaces.

When I started middle school, everything was new and crazy.

I wasn’t too worried about school, after all, I had just left the fifth grade and none of my classes were difficult.

It wasn’t until the end of seventh grade that I began experiencing feelings of depression.

What do you think of when you hear the word, “Crossfit”? Do you think, “that sounds hard” or “those people are crazy”, or “you’ll get hurt doing Crossfit”? What if I were to tell you those are all true. It is hard, most crossfitters are crazy for challenging their bodies and for pushing themselves to the absolute max, and there is a chance of getting hurt if you don’t take the time to learn proper form and body mechanics. Crossfit consists of constantly varied movements performed at a high intensity level. All crossfit workouts are based on a mixture of weightlifting, gymnastics, running, rowing, and more. Crossfit is for every age group, and all workouts can be modified to fit any fitness level or disability. Crossfit can also be extremely beneficial to any high school athlete looking for the edge on their opponent.

Some people aspire to climb the corporate ladder, to retire by 35 with a bank account full of money from savvy investments and shrewd business deals, but others would find that type of life devoid of meaning. Incentivizing education usually only leaves a bad taste in a teacher’s mouth as they don’t see success defined […]

High school is where students discover who they are. It’s where they decide what direction they want to go and who they want to be, stumbling through different obstacles to get there. From being scared to ask your crush to a dance, to failing a history test because you stayed up late watching Netflix instead of studying, to having a nervous breakdown in the middle of nowhere because assignments just keep piling one after the other, high school helps prepare students for adversity. Though many people think high school is the worst thing ever, there are many positives, like meeting people who you may spend the rest of your life with, making friendships that will stay very close to your heart, and creating memories that you will cherish forever. The four years of high school are some of the best years our our lives. Even though it may not seem like it now, you will realize it once it all starts to come to an end. Every year has its lows, but it’s up to you to make the best of every situation. here are some tips on how to do that.

One of the most difficult things to do is starting something new. One can overthink it, and talk themselves out of it. Starting a new sport, new class, new way of thinking, self improvements, eating healthy, starting to workout… whatever it might be, gaining motivation is difficult, especially when one doubts how far they’ll go, how much they can do, and how they will do it. Sometimes those doubters aren’t outsiders, but the person attempting to make the change. One might doubt the progress that will be made, and that stops them from starting. One of the most difficult things for me to do was to start taking care of my body – physically and mentally.

Whether the star of the little league team or the kid picking flowers in the outfield, it’s a rite of passage for American children to test the waters of sports. The obsession with sports doesn’t end in grades school, but instead continues even after teams become more selective at a collegiate level. As little league athletes transition to weekend fans, the popularity of sports in universities has continued to increase and coaches have started making millions of dollars based on the revenue generated by the players on the field. Coaches are over privileged and excessively paid for their players’ performance in numerous college sports while the athletes are strictly sanctioned by the NCAA.

The dictionary defines self-worth as the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person. However, there are many ways for a person to value themselves and assess their worth as a human being, and some of these are more psychologically beneficial than others.

Some people dream of traveling the world, while others are content with staying where they are. As a person who has traveled to a different country, I can say I am one who dreams to continue traveling the world. The feeling of not being stuck in one place while seeing new customs, traditions, and cultures makes it worth spending money on a plane ticket. I would love the opportunity to study abroad and think any student who has the chance to should take advantage of it.

The most important key to life is to see things in a positive perspective. The important aspects of humor is mental health and attitude. It’s important to be able to see things in a humorous way and not take all the negative situations so seriously. Not only is humor important, but it is good for physical and emotional health. Making people laugh is my favorite way of spreading joy to other people. I enjoy making people laugh because I feel that making someone smile is best thing someone can do. My goal for every day is to make someone smile or at least brighten their day. Jokes are common ways to make people laugh. Jokes come in all categories. They can be about animals, plants, or science related.

It’s nine o’clock at night and I’m at the studio bending and contorting my body beyond its limit as sweat drips down my face. Twenty-plus hours of my week are spent twirling on pointe shoes and leaping in jazz shoes, resulting in bruised toenails, blistered feet, and bloody toes. I compete at cutthroat competitions with some of the most proficient athletes of all time and come home with sore muscles and aching bones. I am a dancer, and I go through the same hardships as any other athlete, yet I am told that dance is not a sport. This ideology that dance isn’t a sport is a fallacy that our society must quickly be made aware of.

What happens when you combine two of the most delicious substances on Earth, chocolate chips and cookie dough, into one amazing food? The answer: you get a chocolate chip cookie! This classic treat has always surpassed others of its kind in popularity, including sugar cookies, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, and even the famous snickerdoodle. Of course, every cookie wants to be like this star. Because of that, a devious substitute has emerged, tricking people into eating it as it masquerades as a chocolate chip cookie. Yes, I am talking about none other than the evil oatmeal raisin cookie.

Many fears in the world cause some superstitious parents to over protect their children. Independence is gained at a young age but, being over-nurtured or coddled, can cause some kids to lack in that characteristic. Parents may think that smothering their child is the best thing they could do but, it benefit both the parent and the child to let each other have some breathing room. Coddling leads to no self-reliance, and never learning from one’s own mistakes.

Keeping a smile on your face, maintaining a positive attitude at all times, and meeting the needs of many different people, are all duties someone must juggle while having a job in customer service.

The older generation asks this generation many good questions, like: “Why are you teenagers so lazy?” and “Why is this generation of music so self-centered?”. One of the most important questions is: “Have you seen the original?”.

YouTube is used world-wide to upload and watch videos to entertain whatever quirky interest internet users may be into. I find amusement in the beauty and fashion channels like many other young girls. These YouTube bloggers are just average girls who have more experience with things when it comes to beauty tips. The videos serve as a guiding tool for beginners, like myself, who didn’t really have anyone to teach them the basics of beauty.

While many features differ from country to country, there are a few things that every country has in common. One of those is currency. Despite all of the flaws and problems that money can cause, it is necessary to keep a country running smoothly. Since money is such an instrumental part of a well-functioning nation, […]

There are many misconceptions about yoga and many people don’t do it, or are quickly opposed to trying a yoga class, because they’re not flexible enough, don’t have good enough balance, are bad at meditating, or are already physically fit. However, people don’t understand the practice of yoga is a process. It’s not about the final destination, but the transitions and the journey along the way that make yoga a key component in becoming more fit.

The Internet is truly a complex and glorious place. At its best, it can be an outlet for creativity and communication, but at its worst it can be a bottomless abyss of terror and confusion. Unless someone has been living under a rock without wifi for the past few years, they are aware of what I like to call the “Golden Quartet” of the Internet: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Facebook. All of these apps or websites have commonalities, like their general accessibility, user-friendliness, and instant messaging abilities. Though these qualities are all essential to the apps’ success, there is one item present on all of these social media platforms that they owe much of their credit to, an item that is often taken for granted and somewhat misunderstood: the “meme”.

Many have cried foul at the idea of 14-year-olds being charged with felonies for making threats in the name of some menacing clown profile, arguing that a kid’s life shouldn’t be ruined over a prank. Consequences are an important part of life because it is the only way people learn. No matter how many times […]

“And they lived happily ever after” … words that so many of us fell asleep to as children, but as we grow, we may think that it’s foolish to believe that we can have a happily ever after and life only about paying bills, going to school, and having a career. We struggle and we suffer, but is it wrong to think that we can’t have that ‘happily ever after’?

Along with the leaves and cool breezes, October is a month that gives rise to the Fall spirit. However, that’s not the only spirit that rises in the tenth month of the year. The age old tradition of dressing up in costumes and going house-to-house looking for candy for the sake of a child’s enjoyment is usually what comes to mind when talking about Halloween, but for an ever growing group of people, Halloween is so much more than that. It’s about the scary, the spooky, the freaky, and the weird.And it’s not just one day; it’s the entire month.

It’s 2016. R&B artist Frank Ocean finally dropped an album, ‘90s pop culture sensation Pokemon has made an incredible resurgence, and the extremely successful Democratic nominee for the 2016 presidential election is a woman.

On Tuesday, July 29, 2014 I made the decision that would change my life forever. I became a vegetarian, and in that moment the harassment and the ignorance started from my friends and peers. I made a personal decision that day without knowing what kind of reaction I would receive. I watched a video on Youtube that I was recommended called “If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls”, and it was life changing. It showed graphic images that no 12-year-old should see, like pigs being beaten with their babies and cows being hung upside down and having their necks slit. It was horrific and educational at the same time.

The President of the United States has many important jobs such as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, demonstrating hospitality to foreign ambassadors, and appointing the Supreme Court Justices. Looking at the two presidential candidates, some people, including myself, are concerned about the future of this great nation. Around 55% of Americans have said that they want a third party candidate, which demonstrates an overwhelming amount of dissatisfaction in the current choices.

It’s not a big secret that I am a huge Donald Trump supporter. I’ve been to a rally, I have the hat and shirt, and my truck proudly sports his bumper sticker. While I am not afraid to voice my support about this presidential candidate, a lot of people are. People are fearful that they will be labeled, “racist”, “homophobic”, “bigoted”, and “Islamophobic”. The backlash that comes from voicing one’s support for Mr. Trump is criticized severely in certain parts of the country, and many people have a good reason to be scared of sharing their opinion. Death threats, property damage, violence, and the banning of social media accounts are just a few things that have been experienced this past year by people who support Mr. Trump. On a personal level, last year my brother came home with two Trump bumper stickers and we were both hesitant about placing them on our cars out of fear that our cars would be keyed. If all people do is watch the biased liberal news, there are reasons not to like Mr. Trump, but if one does research on him, they will find that there are many reasons why he would be a great president.

Swimmers make a turn on the wall as the people in the stands erupt. They push to edge out the competition as each stroke is more and more taxing. These athletes are the best of the best and as the race comes to an end the swimmers pull themselves out of the pool, many sitting on the side waiting for assistance. Several attach prosthetic legs as they leave the pool and make their way to the podium to hear their country’s national anthem play as they receive their medal. Paralympians are athletes who capture the heart of sports by facing adversity as they pursue their passion.

Recently, opposition has been growing in America against something that has been around since 1787: the penny. Yes, this little, brown, seemingly insignificant coin has been the subject of much debate across the nation. More and more support is growing to get rid of it. Entire websites have been developed with the goal of eradicating the penny. Yet despite all of their effort, these people are wrong. The penny contributes a whole lot more to society than many people realize.

Death Valley can only be the name for a campus with promising features. Bursting with festive colors of purple and gold, Louisiana State University can be seen from a mile away. While rivals have evolved over the years. In the past Auburn and Alabama have been considered competitive equals. Now the Aggies have been added to the list. As a Bryan / College Station native, most would assume I’m an Aggie fan, but my allegiance rests with the Tigers.

It’s understandable that high school teens don’t have a desire to read anything other than the text messages and tweets on their phones, because many of the reading requirements set by schools and English teachers are classic novels that aren’t relatable or even interesting to their generation.

Whether it’s writing, playing sports, or making good grades some people find things easier than others. I find small talk difficult. I just can’t chit-chat with people, if there’s not a real topic, the conversation soon devolves into awkward staring. Some people just find things easier than others. However just, because things seem easy to […]

It’s understandable that high school teens don’t have a desire to read anything other than the text messages and tweets on their phones, because many of the reading requirements set by schools and English teachers are classic novels that aren’t relatable or even interesting to their generation.

At the ripe ol’ age of 15, I often look back nostalgically on my days of school-mandated naptime, the addict-like rush of joy that comes with recess, and most of all: insurmountable collections of coloring books. In kindergarten I was fond of scribbling lines of crayon into the printed outline of Disney princesses and random zoo animals, both inside the lines and out. There has always been something about coloring books that takes an insane amount of focus and determination for a young child, and shoving a crayon into a child’s hand and putting a coloring page in front of them has proven to be one of the most effective ways of buying parents and teachers a few moments of silence.

Societal standards for both men and women have become a growing issue now in the day and age of social media and television. A man can run around with his shirt off, but if a woman does it, it becomes indecent. If a man cries, he’s a sissy, but if a woman does it she’s just a normal emotional woman. Men and women are held to such irritating social standards that aren’t fair to the opposite gender, it makes it hard to tell what’s exactly wrong or right.

Online courses have become a popular alternative to physically attending class. This is good for some people like single working parents trying to go back to school, foreign students who can’t leave their country, or disabled students who have difficulty leaving their home. However, the common factor of laziness takes over many Americans in abusing […]

Throughout students years in grade school, they are usually asked what their goals and plans are after they graduate. Teacher usually ask the questions at the beginning of the year so the teacher can know more about the students. Many students will write that they want to be a doctor, a lawyer, a police officer, or any other profession they look up to, but as time gets closer to the end of the school journey into the real world, many have done nothing to take the next step into becoming what they say they have always wanted to be. It’s more something teens just say, instead of actually making an effort to do. Student apathy shines through in how they choose to do things daily, or rather how they choose not to do things.

Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies? If not, maybe you would like to know more about the Girl Scout program and what lies behind the caramel coated, toasted coconut; a program that builds character, true grit, and important lifelong skills that turn girls into strong women. Though it may not seem like it, Girl Scouts is more than just an operation sneaking into the hearts and stomachs of Americans everywhere through sweet cookies and even sweeter smiles.

People blame religion for a lot of things that happen in life, but if they aren’t arguing about religion, then they will find something else to argue about. Even if people have different sets of beliefs, many things align within religions and can provide common ground for people to relate. Religion provides a majority of people with direction and purpose of some kind.

Finding a pair of jeans that fit just right is like finding the Holy Grail for a girl. Once a girl finds the perfect pair, she has to be prepared to pay a hefty price for the denim that fits over her lower half. Jeans are an essential in any wardrobe, but the struggle is real.

The creative section of the mind should not be confined. Art is the expression of creativity that also makes the daily life extraordinary and worth living. With that said, art can be viewed in many ways from music, to paintings, to the performing arts, creating a large amount of employment opportunities in order to keep the human mind intrigued. Art seems to influence the current generation the most by encouraging a free-spirited mind. In fact, they may be lost if all art mysteriously vanished. People like art because they feel that it relates to them and how they feel, making them more comfortable with themselves.

War is bad. It has been sad that war brings a country together, but it mostly tears it apart. Sure people come together to lift each other up and work toward a common goal, but that’s only after family members have been ravaged by war and countries are suffering economically and safety wise.

Subtweeting, hashtags, and long paragraphs in the comment section over something completely irrelevant is what most people see today, people of the internet have no chill. Twitter flame wars and internet bullying are just barely scratching the surface of social media controversy, but that doesn’t make them less of a bad thing.

Growing up, my mom always told me that everything isn’t meant for everyone in the world of fashion as well. Sometimes people should think about how they look in a certain color or how their clothes fit before walking out of the house. Everyone has their own opinions of fashion and everyday people come up with a new style or a new way to wear things, but there are still certain principles that must be followed as people are still judged on how they put things together and how it looks as a whole. With that said, in the fashion world, all rules are made to be broken and who is anyone to judge a person’s self expression.

It’s finally here, Episode VII of the Star Wars saga: The Force Awakens. Many devoted Star Wars fans could hardly wait to sit down in theaters wearing their fandom t-shirts and carrying their large buckets of popcorn to once again gaze upon the classic introductory paragraph as it floated off into the starry abyss behind it. They couldn’t wait to soak in the entire film with all of it’s explosions, plot twists and turns, and many juicy, important, and devastating cliffhangers leading audiences into the next episode set to release in 2017.

Students in high school today were either not born yet, or don’t have memories of the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11.

Waking up to sounds that fill my hearts with joy and laughter signifies a wonderful time of year- Christmas. Hearing my favorite Christmas song, which has been sung generations, warms my heart. Christmas It seems to be the best time of the year. Every time I change the radio station there’s another old Christmas tune. My eyes begin to sparkle until I hear a spin on the beat, a person freestyling, and an artist that is struggling to hit every note to sound better than the next. I realize with horror that it’s not an old classic, but a new remix.

Christmas is a time to celebrate, spend time with family, give and receive presents, and eat all the food we can. However, most people find themselves struggling with one simple thing the presents. I’ve been through it countless times, the holidays come around, stores are booming with sales, and everyone’s eager to receive the best presents in the world, but the ideas are nowhere to be found. It seems that every time I don’t have the money or a reason to buy presents for my loved ones, presents are jumping off the shelves, but when confronted with decisions of what to choose for that oh so special Christmas gift, the ideas are less than ample.

Sex education in Texas mainly focuses on abstinence, but that mindset is only forcing many sexually active teenagers to be ill-prepared. Enforcing the idea of abstinence only education, only creates a taboo framework where some teenagers want to have sex because they are told not to. Sex isn’t just a religious or moral issue, there is a level of education that must take place so young people can make responsible choices. When students are uninformed, they may not make the best decisions for themselves. Out of sight, out of mind is an interesting approach, but sex is already on teenager’s mind so it should be part of education.

The sound of steaming hot water for hot chocolate, sleigh bells ringing in christmas songs, flashing colorful lights up and down different neighborhoods, being woken up by the smell of gingerbread cookies, tacky Christmas sweaters, and the exciting Black Friday advertisements for preparation of Christmas gifts. Christmas time can’t get here any quicker.

As the end of October comes to a close, the spooky Halloween month fades into November. November marks the beginning of two months of the living nightmare that is the Christmas season. Now, you may ask, why does the Christmas season start in November? Well to tell you the truth, it starts in early October, or even earlier. Why does it start so early? It’s because people think they need to feel holiday cheer before it needs to be felt.

With the insanity that comes with high school football in Texas, many things happen on the field that could become problematic.

Relationships are some of the most important factors in people’s lives. Many people do not feel that there is room for both old and new friends and it can cause issues, but both old and new friends have a place in a person’s life.

Lately I’ve noticed a lot of people on Tumblr have started to bash Americans, despite Tumblr being made and maintained by Americans. What bothers me the most is that the non-Americans (and even some Americans) are calling us “ignorant” and “stupid” for not knowing about the world’s problems to the depths that they think we should. One post that really struck a nerve with me was one that stated that Tumblr needed to stop being so “America-centric”.

Sit up straight! No elbows on the table! Chew with your mouth closed! We’ve all heard these obnoxious remarks from our parents and guardians, but our stubborn minds want to reject these orders. Manners can often be thought to be unimportant, but should not be so quickly dismissed.

A rose gold watch from Fossil, a phone plan for the latest iPhone 6s, or even some new clothes – all things a teen could have without using their parents money, with their own job. Teens can start working as young as 15 with a working permit, and at the legal working age is 16 in Texas. Once a teen hits 16 they should begin applying for jobs and looking to the future.

In the heat of summer, the only thing that keeps Southerners alive is their beloved Brenham original: Blue Bell Ice Cream. There are days that are emblazoned in the minds of all Texans; one such moment is the tragic day that Blue Bell announced the devastating recall on all of their products: popsicles, ice cream bars, and most importantly, the ice cream itself. The recall was due to a listeria outbreak in multiple factories, causing them to shut down production, along with general Texan happiness and sanity.

Suitcase- check. Backpack – check. Multiple forms of currency – check. Passport… Long story, but check.

This summer I traveled to Europe alone for the first time. Most 16-year-old’s parents would never consider allowing them to travel abroad, much less alone, but my parents and sister were born in Bosnia and much of my family is scattered across Europe. Having family live in a different countries has made it difficult to keep in touch with everyone, so my family and I try to go to Bosnia i Hercegovina as much as we can during summer breaks. We are the only ones in our family who live in America, so it’s easier for us to travel to Europe rather than everyone else coming here. Also, it’s a lot easier for Americans to travel out of the country than my family from Europe to get a visa to come to the US.

At the beginning of this year, the Norseman staff looked at wide-spread movements that bring about change, such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. In looking at that, we were able to see the good and the bad of such movements; viral trends can just be that – a trend that quickly dies – but they can also be educational.

It’s now that time of year again. A time when the clock winds down to the last days of another seemingly never ending school year. A time where we start planning our trips for the summer and dream about the amounts of sleep we’ll finally have. Although for me this time around, the clock seems […]

Everyone struggles with something, especially in high school. Maybe your grades aren’t exactly what you want or you’re struggling with problems at home or with your friends. Life can be a bit overwhelming, so I want to share what I’ve learned about how to deal with troubling times.

Technology has overrun our everyday life. In school, we use it for quizlet and duolingo or for typing Internal Assessment long articles for peers to edit. At home, we post cute selfies or watch Netflix (because, let’s get real, no one watches television anymore). However, can you remember a time where you couldn’t press the home button on your iPhone to get Siri to find information for you? Children from the 1980s know the horror of these times because they lived it.

Presidential elections, Olympic games, and leap years – four years seem to be a popular time for new things to come about. So much change happens in four years, yet we don’t realize that these changes occur until we look around and see that we are only a couple of months away from graduation and […]

Technology is, inevitably, a part of our everyday lives. There are infinite privileges to living in a technologically advanced time, like the ease of communication across the globe. Technology is undoubtedly going to keep improving long after our generation passes. But, considering just how absorbed we can be in technology, it can guide us into a world made completely of glowing screens. These never ending privileges of technology seem insignificant, but collectively, they can lead to the elimination of interactions with real people.

If I were to bet someone a million dollars that 90% of American teens use Snapchat, I’d probably win. Don’t we all just love the new update? Whether you love it because it hides your best friends from your significant other or you hate it for the exact same reason.

As a budding artist, it can be difficult to be as expressive through my work as I want to be. With the pressures of judges at competition and various guidelines and other things to think about when working on pieces, art starts to be a very stressful endeavor for a high school student. The big question is: how safe is it outside the box? How far can I go before I can’t go any further?

For decades, students have taken to bathroom stalls with Sharpies in hand to spread gossip and rumors. However, the bathroom stalls have ceased to be the primary avenue for such information. Recently, many have taken to social media as a new means to spread hateful rumors to a larger audience.

When I am not spending my time procrastinating writing my incredibly witty newspaper articles, I tend to dabble in the art of writing novels and, occasionally, reading them. One of the many things I have discovered in my writing adventure is that, no matter how exciting or original your plot is, if your characters fall flat, the story falls flat.

There are many people that come from single parent or broken family homes. I am one myself. Some either live with their mom, dad, or neither. You may even be lucky and have both, but sometimes that isn’t always a good thing. Most parents divorce, because of many disagreements and arguments. Many times, it is the mother doing everything on their own, just like mine.

Every brush stroke, pencil sketch, pastel, primary, and secondary color added to artwork signifies something an artist deeply feels. The same goes for writers like the Norseman staff. Every key we press, and article we submit is our artwork, and expresses what we think about a topic. Believe it or not there are many different types of artists. Although there is one type of art that isn’t typically called art: graffiti.

While many of the things society detests are shunned for good reason, some of them just happen to be the most enjoyable to do. Who wouldn’t want to drive 80 on the highway if it meant you could get to your destination faster or bring dry breakfast cereal into a movie theater because you were too hungry to care about distracting other people? But societal constraints on language seems to be the most lenient, and there are times when our language is perforated with terms that most people consider unsuitable for general communication.

Speed walking around a football field and blowing through some weird instrument is considered stupid by many people. Although many may say marching band members are insane for wanting to make a bunch of figures and play for eight minutes straight, people should think about the real work behind this insanity.

As the second semester gets into full swing, a major topic weighs heavily on the minds of teachers and students minds – next school year. Seniors are finalizing their decisions for life post-high school, juniors are looking to take SAT and ACT tests, and students might spend hours at a time scavenging through the thick course guide trying to figure out which classes to sign up for before they meet with their counselor. Many of these underclassmen find that teachers, counselors, and parents are pressuring them to take the most advanced classes and get involved in every organization imaginable so their résumés look impressive for colleges.

As Black Friday creeps deeper into Thanksgiving every year, guests around the dinner table become more sparse as they rush to beat the crowds or clock in to work their shifts. This attitude is seen at Christmas as people have become more interested in gifts and possessions rather than spending time with their loved ones. […]

Why is it that many people refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance? Why can’t a growing number of Americans differentiate between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? What ever happened to the sense of national pride and unity amongst the American people?

From fighting to loving, making memories to making each other cry, the love/hate relationship amongst siblings is a powerful thing.

SAC, suspension, phone calls home, having to change clothes, referrals, and so many more things are consequences of the two words we all hate to hear, dress code.

Cheers erupt from the stadium as the two teams face off, each knowing the only way to claim the championship is by going through the other. Fifteen seconds later one team is dead while the other team pushes on.

Southern comfort, mouth-watering food, and perfect beyond belief sweet tea. These aren’t just items that are depicted in Southern-centric movies and songs, they’re actual characteristics found at the wonderful, scrumptious Chick-Fil-A fast food chain. 50 years ago, the founder of Chick-Fil-A, Truett Cathy, invented the best thing since sliced bread – the chicken sandwich. This […]

Many people pride themselves on being socially conscious, but as a whole social consciousness seems to be fleeting based on observing past examples.

The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood is everything a high school play should be: funny, entertaining, clean-humored, and hilariously weird. And the quirky, lovable Viking cast brought the characters to life – onstage, and off.

Fighting again wages in the Middle East as members from a multinational coalition led by the United States battle against extremist militant fighters of the Islamic State terrorist group, often referred to as ISIS, ISIL, or simply IS. Much of the heavy fighting is taking place in Iraq and Syria, where Kurdish ground forces, backed by US led airstrikes, are battling to reclaim lost territory.

The neon leg warmers, baggy sweatshirts, and wild poofy hair will remain safely tucked away deep in closets across America because, even though the 80’s are making a comeback, it’s thankfully not with fashion. Instead it’s with wildly fun and entertaining movies, television shows, and cartoons.

Shoes have become just about as irrelevant as the splattered mosquitoes that get wiped and smeared off to the sides of windshields, and that is unacceptable.

Music, a seemingly innocent topic of conversation can bring me a great deal of pain when headed down the wrong direction. We ended up talking about what we like, what we don’t like, what we’re excited about, and what came to be disappointing, but no matter where we are, it always comes back to that one person who always gives the rest of us the classic excuse, “There’s just nothing new that’s good.”

Cats are without a doubt the most amazing creatures in the whole entire universe. Not only are they great, easy-to-handle pets, but are also the epitome of the internet today. GIF after cat GIF, cats never cease to make us laugh until we cry, and feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

In high school there are many special occasions to look forward to: school dances and birthday bashes. You make plans with friends, rent limos, and buy dresses, but really, what are you thinking about when it comes to these events? How are you planning on showing up?

As I sit here in my Doctor Who t-shirt, with my Harry Potter backpack sprawled open at my feet, and BBC’s Sherlock playing in the background, I can’t help but wonder about the stereotypes surrounding the term ‘fangirl.’

Is it really almost the end of my senior year? What a crazy roller coaster of a ride these past four years have been. From the trials, errors, disappointments, tears, and triumphs that I have experienced, I am walking away from high school knowing so much more than when I walked in, and not just academically. I’ve learned a lot of lessons – some the hard way. There are definitely things I wish I would have known before I entered high school. This being my last article, I am dedicating it to incoming and current freshmen so they can learn the things I didn’t know.

The blow to the face, the ringing in your ear, the sting on your cheek, the drowning feeling of indescribable sadness and forced guilt. Emptiness surrounds you, however it has to be your fault. You really must have been flirting with another guy this time, you weren’t just being nice. You begin to question your every move. Was I really staring at him? Were those text messages to my guy friend as innocent as I thought they were? I must have done something to deserve this. After all, he loves me.

Chicken tenders here, chicken tenders there, chicken tenders are everywhere. Lately, chicken tenders have become increasingly popular in various fast food and sit down restaurants.

A mother: a woman who loves unconditionally, putting her child’s needs before her own. In high school, most girls don’t understand that kind of love or selfishness.

If one thing is certain, it’s that there needs to be a instruction manual for incoming high-school freshman – how to do this, when to do that, what’s important and what’s not going to matter in ten years – because we all know that it would save everyone a whole lot of time and effort. Unfortunately though, there isn’t. Kids are left to learn manual-worthy lessons on their own; some lessons are learned by experience, some by association, and some simply by observance.

Over the course of four years, high school can fill that theoretical manual pretty full, but perhaps the most important lesson one could learn from that manual may not be realized until late in the high-school career, or even afterward: to not let high school be the center of the universe.

As a kid, all I used to sing was, “Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a Spiderman can.”I still sing it today. I’ve been a Spiderman fan since I was a kid, and my mom has tons of pictures of me dressed up in Spiderman costumes. Consequently I was very excited for the new movie, The Amazing Spiderman 2, the sequel to the 2012 film, The Amazing Spiderman.

High school, day one: lost, shy, and scared. My first class on that day was Journalism – Newspaper with Rebecca Dominy in room 6160. A series of questions ran through my head as 8:25 a.m. came closer and closer by the minute: where is room 6160? I knew the class would be filled with upperclassmen – what if they think I’m weird?