We should change the way we go about our school experience from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Some things we could change is allow time in the day for students to take a break. In an interview with Ms.Davenport, the school librarian, she states “ Students should have twenty to thirty minutes of Brain Break as she calls it or meditation time.” No phones, no screens, no work. Just time to rest your brain and to collect your thoughts and allow your mental stability to return to normal. Also when we are on breaks we should increase the length of the break. Fall Break and Spring Break should be two weeks long. The one week period is not enough time to rest from school. When our education system decides how it runs they don’t necessarily think of the students and teachers best interest. They could more smoothly allow the teachers to teach the curriculum that they believe that needs to be taught to the class based on what they know. From a standpoint of a high school student, a bunch of others and I believe that foreign language should be taught in elementary school. When hitting a certain age students begin to forget what they have learned because they tend to retain the information they learned at a very young age. From a personal standpoint, I believe that homework should be an optional assignment to do for those students who need the extra help or those whose failing a certain class. Some might argue that homework is used to allow students to further develop their understanding of the topic. However when most students hit high school where the homework is the most given and most intense they more than likely have jobs and responsibility to do after school so they barely have time to do the homework and it is just hindering their grade. If someone actually does the homework its after they get home and it’s really late. They stay up really late and are tired for the next day. These are just some of the things that need to be changed about schools everywhere.

If you are a student, teacher, or administrator at Carter High School, then you have probably been informed of the ludicrous earbud and headphone ban in hallways during class changes. This rule was announced when everyone in the school went into the auditorium for the beginning of the year lecture on school rules and expectations. During the lecture, students were told that the staff believed that we became oblivious to the chatter if we had our earbuds or headphones on, so it was a recurring struggle for teachers and other staff to get the attention of a student when they needed to talk to them if they were using their earbuds. However, if a teacher wants to talk to a student they can just touch the student’s shoulder to get their attention. Another example given in the auditorium was if there was an announcement, then students with their earbuds in would not know what was being said because they were preoccupied with listening to their music.

If there is an event or deadline that requires attention, then students will most likely see them on the TVs that are all around the school or they can ask their friends. Word travels quickly throughout this school because we have so many ways of communicating upcoming events or deadlines for ordering items like coupon books and class rings. An important point that was made during the lecture was that if students have earbuds in and something happens like a fire then those students will not know what is happening and be confused, which may end up with them freaking out and causing a panic in the hallway. We all have eyes and noses, so if something smells like it’s burning, and we see flames, we’ll know that something is on fire. However, fires are not common at Carter High School. 

Carter High is an engaging school, so there is a lot of conversation happening between most students in the hallways, but some students do prefer to put their earbuds in and turn their music on while they traverse the hallways to their next class.Earbuds should be allowed in the hallways because it keeps noisy students from interrupting others, it will help some of us to focus on getting where we need to be and will help block out the stressful vibes in the hallways. 

Title: Supernatural

Creator: Eric Kripke

Starring: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Misha Collins 

Network: The CW

Release date: Sept 13, 2005

Available: DVD, Netflix, Television Networks

Supernatural is several television genres carefully blended together: a writing masterpiece. The show,  Supernatural or spn, as it is often abbreviated is the longest running live action sci-fi series ever and is about two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, and their family hunting monsters and stopping apocalypses. “Saving people, hunting things, the family business” is one of the most memorable lines of the show, and it expresses the boys’ determination to pick up where their father, John, left off. The series starts with a flashback of the ominous date November 2nd, 1983, where their mother, Mary, is killed. Driven by the anger of his wife’s demise, John raises his sons as supernatural hunters to try and hunt down his wife’s killer and gank every monster along the way. It flashes forward twenty-two years, when Sam and Dean are searching for their missing father. This small action jumpstarts the series as the apocalypse, destiny, hell, and even death is hung over their heads. They refuse to give up on family, which at the core is what the show really is about. “A wise man once told me, ‘family don’t end in blood.’ But it doesn’t start there either. Family cares about you, not what you can do for them family’s there; for the good, bad, all of it. They got your back, even when it hurts,” says Dean Winchester. The shows intense scenes and emotional plotlines improve the seasons greatly. The only negative thing I can say about the show is certain seasons are slow leading up to the plot. 

The show is coming to an end in its upcoming season fifteen. Those who love and have been with the show for years are deeply saddened by the news of its end.  Supernatural premiered in 2005, and it seemed that the show was immortal to canceling and fans just assumed it would be with us forever. Yet on March 22, 2019 the show’s cast revealed the shows end date leaving the fandom shocked and brought to tears. For first-time watchers and the supernatural family,  I encourage you to watch the final season to help the show go out with the bang it graciously deserves. 

The Lady Hornets soccer team was ready for success until three of the players were set back from playing because of injuries: one with a concussion, one with a torn ACL, and the other with a severe foot sprain. Soccer is one of the highest ranking sports for injuries in the world. There is no protective gear other than shin guards. And, there are sharp cleats, 90 minute games, and majorly aggressive players. At the beginning of the year, the Lady Hornets were excited for the upcoming season; but, misfortune proved to be the only successor of the team. Olivia Wolford, a freshman offensive player on the team, has a lateral ankle sprain, mid foot sprain, and major bone bruise. She is out for 4-6 weeks. Olivia says, “I miss practicing with the team and being around my friends and teammates. I miss playing, honestly.” Not only was the team affected by the injuries, but the players themselves were greatly affected by not being able to play. Olivia is out for over half of her freshman season. Kelsey Stillwell is another member of the team who was injured during the season. She tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Kelsey says, “I’m definitely out for the season, and the recovery time for my surgery is six months,” and “the thing I miss most is having the rush of getting closer to the goal and then shooting for it.” These girls are both offensive players, which weakened the offensive line for the team. Overall, with the team finishing the season, the hurt players are working hard to improve their injuries and the team is working hard to come back from the loss of their offensive assets.

Title: The Human Condition

Artist: Jon Bellion

Release Date: June 10th, 2016

Label: Visionary 

Jon Bellion’s album The Human Condition is a beautiful interpretation of what it means to be  human. This album was released on June 10th in 2016 consisting of a combination of fourteen hip-hop/rap songs. It is his fourth studio album he’s released since he started music and I really like this album. When it first came out it was one of my favorite things to listen to, and I still listen to a few songs frequently. 

Jon has been making music since 2011. He has helped write songs for Eminem, Jason Derulo, and MAX and has been featured on songs with Logic, Zedd, B.o.B, and a few others. Jon’s most popular song is “All Time Low” – which peeked at #16 on Billboard charts – is included on The Human Condition. One thing that is cool about his music is that a lot of his sounds and music are actually his own vocal tracks. He literally sings to the sound of his voice, which is why his sound/style is so unique. 

This album includes “He is the Same”, “80’s films,” “All Time Low,” “New York Soul (Part ii),” “Fashion,” “Maybe IDK,” “Woke the F*ck Up,” “Overwhelming,” “Weight of the World,” “The Good in Me,” “Morning in America,” “iRobot,” “Guillotine,” and “Hand of God.” Each song, in its own way, shows what it is to be human – family, self-assurance, love, break-ups, uncertainty and faith. The album is unique and Jon really stepped up his game on this one.

Five out of fourteen of the songs are explicit, mainly for foul language. Some may not like the album considering foul language, and that his music is an acquired taste because of the sound. However, I really love The Human Condition. The beats, vocals, and the lyrics are all amazing and totally worth a listen. Its available on most platforms/apps, and if it’s not on your favorite, it’s on YouTube.

Have you ever seen Finding Nemo? Finding Nemo is a kids movie rated G and  released in 2003 by Andrew Stanton. Finding Nemo is about two clownfish, a father marlin and son Nemo,  and one Blue Reef fish, Dory. Nemo at his first day of school while he and the other kid fish see a “butt”, they told Nemo he would not touch it, so of course, what any other kid would do, he went and touched the boat. The boat he touched was a boat collecting fish to put into a dentist offices fish tank, which Darla, The dentist’s niece, will soon come to pick out a fish to take home with her as a pet. Marlin sets out to find Nemo while he’s searching for Nemo he bumps into a fish, her name was Dory, and she has short term memory loss. Dory insists  that she tag along with him to find his son, Nemo. Finding Nemo is an excellent movie breakthrough.  It is a great child’s movie because it teaches you that the people you least expect to be helpful to you and love you will in reality help the most and will also be there for it all. In the movie, the main sense that sticks with me the most is when even though Marvin is being rude and hateful towards Dory she still stays by his side, even if she may want to leave. While Finding Nemo has very good parts there is still some room for improvement. One place for improvement some say is that it has no satisfying payoff or outcome. Some say that Finding Nemo is an absolute waste of time because you get nothing from it, but Finding Nemo teaches people of all ages many good lessons, for example, it teaches that the people you do not believe will be beneficial to you and are just a normal stranger will actually be one of your biggest supporters and your biggest fan. Finding Nemo is an excellent, heartwarming, marvelous, and an amazing child movie, while being called a child’s movie it is an amazing movie for anyone of any age. 

Title: Lover
Director: Taylor Swift
Studio: Electric Lady
Release Date: August 23, 2019

If you are a fan of Taylor Swift, you probably know that her most recent album Lover became 2019’s best-selling record in just one week when it came out on Aug. 23. According to Forbes,  Lover debuted on top of the Billboard 200, pre-sold more album copies than any other in the history of album sales at Target and is the most successful Amazon music launch, breaking global records. I would say this is a recovery from the drama and hate that was thrown at her over the past 3 years because her last album Reputation was written from a very dark, guarded, and aggressive point of view and told a dark story in her life.

However, this album has taken a remarkable turn to the other side of that perspective with the perky and upbeat songs that are on the album. When she released the leading single “ME!” on April 26, 2019, it led fans such as myself to suspect that a new album release was on its way. Our suspicions were proven true when she dropped her next single, “You Need To Calm Down” at midnight eastern time, but before releasing it she went live on Instagram to announce it. After that, it was apparent that she had plans for something but no release date was mentioned yet. She still stayed extremely active on Instagram though. Taylor Swift describes Lover  as a letter to love itself, with a variety of song tones, themes, and lyrics. 

The cheery mood to the album is what I believe fans love the most with upbeat songs such as “ME”, “Paper Rings”, “London Boy”, “I Think He Knows”, and “I Forgot You Existed”. In “ME!” Swift sings about the rebirth of the joy in her life and how she may have been a little dramatic during her Reputation era. In “Paper Rings” she sings about how even though she loves things that shine she can give up the shiny things to be with someone she loves. In “London Boy” she sings about the good times she had in London when she met her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. “I Think He Knows” is an upbeat song describing a crush like feeling she has with a friend. The first song on Lover is “I Forgot You Existed” and tells about the freedom she feels when she moves on from someone preventing her from being happy. Even though this album is different from Reputation, it is similar to 1989 with songs like “Starlight” and “Daylight” that sound a bit too close to each other to know where Taylor Swift got the idea for “Daylight” from. 

I really absolutely love this album, and I’m not saying that just because I’m a die-hard fan of the woman but because of the bare-boned storytelling, musical accompaniment, and the lyrics in it as well. This album is energetic, flawless, and overall amazing.

Company: Nissin

Product: Cup Noodles

Price: 75 Cents Per Cup

Consumer: Possibly You

Do you enjoy ramen? Do you like food to cook fast? Are you willing to go the depths, or rather heights, of high blood pressure for tasty food at any whim? If you answered yes to all of these, you might just like to have Nissin’s Ramen noodle cup (it’s a cup of ramen noodles with corn, carrots, and some flavoring), but if you value your health, you might not want to ingest this messy slew of sodium and fat. The fourteen grams of fat and one-thousand-eight hundred-twenty milligrams of sodium make the cup of noodles taste great, but while your taste buds say yes, your stomach may say no. If you’re fine with having high blood pressure then you may not care about this other thing that is put into ramen noodles: Tertiary-butyl hydroquinone. Tertiary-butyl hydroquinone is an additive they put in styrofoam cups, and plastic. Definitely not the healthiest thing in the world. It also takes quite a while to cool down, like an oddly long time, even when you put in the fridge or the freezer so it is kind of annoying. For what it struggles in good and healthy ingredients; it sure makes up for in taste, texture, and entertainment. As far as taste goes, cup noodles are not bad at all. There are plenty of diverse ingredients: corn, carrots, ramen (of course), and flavorings ranging from chicken broth to beef broth. The presentation is rather entertaining due to the food itself, not the cup, the cup is ugly. You can pour hot water in the cup and then BAM–from a noodle brick to a noodle mop, so again, pretty entertaining. Also, while it tastes good and looks good, these cup noodles are also very cheap: running at about seventy-five cents per cup. The cup is genuinely hideous, but it isn’t all bad. The cup has a nice font on the words, and you can use for more than just to house the tasty, fast-cooking noodles. You can use the cup as a pot to put plants in, you can use it as a non insulated coffee mug maybe even a cup for water. Nothing will ever fix how ugly the cup is though. Nothing, So, apart from the unhealthy ingredients, the cup design, and the cool down time. Cup noodles are quite good, and worthy of being tried at least once.

Title: Supernatural 

Director: Eric Kripke

Starring: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Misha Collins

Studio: The CW

Aired: British Columbia 

Release Date: April 25, 2019

Those who have watched previous seasons of Supernatural  know the vigorous roller coaster of emotions we experienced during season fourteen. After season thirteen’s shocking finale, fans were left with a jaw-dropping question: what is going to happen to Dean? Season Fourteen is gripping and it has you on the edge of your seat the entire season. It consists of twenty episodes as it slowly leads up to a major plot twist that no one was expecting, leaving for an epic season finale. Supernatural is the longest-running live-action sci-fi fantasy series. It tells the tale of two brothers and their angel friend, taking on all of America’s darkest monsters. The show starts with the brothers Sam and Dean trying to find their father who has disappeared on a hunt, while the angel Castiel, does not appear until season four episode one. The trio has been called Team Free Will (Dean, Sam, Castiel) by fans since season five when Dean jokingly nicknamed them. “Team Free Will. One ex-blood junkie, one dropout with six bucks to his name, and Mr. Comatose over there. Awesome.” 

 The show is addicting for those who love a good binge-watch, how’s three hundred and seven episodes sound? Those who love horror, emotional tearjerkers, hot guys and mysterious but complicated storylines, Supernatural is the show for you because this one has it all.

The show was written and directed by Eric Kripke until season five when it was taken over by a few other writers. Supernatural’s main cast is Jared Padelecki (Sam Winchester) Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester), and Misha Collins (Castiel).  It has a very loyal and occult following of fans who have been watching for years and still can’t get enough of the boys, I sure can’t! 

In the premiere of season fourteen, Dean is possessed by the archangel Michael as the rest of Team Free Will try to save him before Michael destroys our world using his body, just to get back at his father. “Because he doesn’t care! About you, me, anything. Now, at first, I thought I’d do it better. Show him. Be more God than God. But now? I just wanna burn every one of his little worlds until I catch up to the old man.” Michael said in a confrontation with Castiel when he was still occupying Dean’s vessel. 

The quotes, the plot twists and the emotions that were expressed made the season. One of the best parts about it was Jensen Ackles getting to play two characters (Michael and Dean) when he is known to only play Dean. He did a phenomenal job playing this new and complicated character. One thing the writers could have done better is lengthen Michael’s reign of terror as it was a huge plot altering point for Dean. Yet Michael was only seen a total of seven episodes out of the twenty.   

Putting that aside, the season is one of the best it’s ever made. Which makes me both excited and unhappy for the shows series finale. If season fifteen is anything like season fourteen, it’s going to be an epic conclusion I have been waiting years to see. I’m not prepared! 

Title: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

Main Actors: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Emilijah Baranac, Janel Parrish, Israel Broussard 

Release Date: August 17, 2018

Available: Any Time on Netflix

With so many movies and TV shows to choose from, thanks to streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, it isn’t always easy to find the good content in a sea of bad, so upon the release of the Netflix original, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, my attention was definitely caught on the diverse cast and relatable concept. After watching the movie fully on numerous occasions and binging it with my friends, it’s easy to claim that Susan Johnson’s directed Netflix Original is the summer film all teenagers were waiting for.

Susan Johnson, an aspirational Arizonan with big goals started back in 2000 after receiving her Master’s Degree. Upon collecting awards for her 2004 hit (Mean Creek), Netflix partnered alongside her to release one of the most enjoyed rom-coms of 2018. With tons of experience under her belt and a passion to tell stories, she pushed boundaries subtly by telling the teenage experience of young Lara Jean and her awkward and heartwarming love-life. By including an inclusive and diverse cast and wonderful production skills, she’s created a binge-worthy movie to spend your Saturday night on. 

Although some may argue the movie follows unrealistic ideals for teenagers, the personalities shown and the awkward-but educational-moments that Lara Jean (played by Lana Condor) experiences, I’d counter that by saying it is a more accurate film than most before it. Lara Jean, the main protagonist, promotes the idea of growing, changing, learning how to love, and navigating the ropes of high school. She teaches the idea that sometimes you just have to step out of your comfort zone to welcome a world of opportunity and relationships, a message many teenage movies forget to focus on. While a wonderfully romantic movie filled with good humor, it also holds meaning to it, something I know I, and many other teenagers want more of. The cliché and overpopularized romance shows and productions have long since been outdated, and 2018 was welcoming something way more. 

Lara Jean gets stuck in an unfavorable situation when all of her love letters she wrote gets mailed to every boy she’s ever had feelings for. She navigates this chaotic event all the while, handling the loss of her mother and possibly learning a bit more about love. Lara Jean isn’t your static cliche character, she has dimension and she carries that throughout the movie. Where many movies before have failed through the use of teenage-tropes and cheesy/impractical romances, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before contrasts all expectations of a high school love story, making it easily one of the best highschool movies that teenagers everywhere can relate to.