I never used to consider myself my own enemy. But now, I look in the mirror and can be nothing but critical. We have reached a point at which low self-confidence has poisoned the minds of too many teenagers, myself included. I’m guilty of scolding myself about how I’m not pretty enough, smart enough or athletic enough; the list could go on and on. Having been born into an age of technology, my
Read moreThe year is 2030 and you can bid farewell to 99 percent of Earth’s coral reefs, any chance of buying chocolate and a vacation to your favorite coastal destination. You can also say goodbye to the prospect of saving the planet from the perils of climate change. Enter the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report. Along with its findings
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Six million dollars for personal Chromebooks? Check. An additional $3.7 million for “flexible furniture” in classrooms? Check. Enough money to replace outdated textbooks from the early 2000’s? I’m sorry, the district has other priorities. WLC Architects, an architectural firm hired by the school district, identified a need of over $500 million to repair facilities. In other words, the Novato Unified
Read moreI used to think I was grounded and I knew that many people were suffering around me. I felt like I had been through some suffering myself; my parents divorced and my mom moved away. But, it wasn’t until this past summer that I saw what real suffering looked like. I grew up in San Francisco, where approximately 8,000 people
Read moreThere are over 50 students on a list waiting to meet with a mental health counselor. There are two mental health counselors at San Marin from Bay Area Community Resources, and only one is on campus on any given day. We also have one school nurse who is on campus part-time. I was having a panic attack last semester, and
Read moreBy Marijke Pieters-Kwiers As I stayed up late one night on YouTube, a video popped up in my feed: A Jay Alvarrez video to be specific. I’d heard of him and seen a few clips of his ostentatious and extravagant lifestyle on YouTube, and many would know him as the Instagram-famous boyfriend of Alexis Ren. As I watched, I
Read moreFrom capture the flag to Instagram, our generation is unique as we are the only one to have been raised with classic childhood games in elementary school and then transitioned to the influence of the Internet in middle and high school. Like so many others growing up in the social media age, I eagerly took part right away in the
Read moreOn Valentine’s Day, a notification lit up my phone during my first period chemistry class announcing one of the deadliest school shootings in recent history. I am ashamed that I paid no attention to the news— I turned off my phone and went back to work, because after mass shootings started occurring on almost a monthly basis, I began to
Read moreI started out each year relatively strong, usually maintaining a 3.0 GPA through the first progress report, but by the end of the first semester, laziness would plague my brain. I’d have around thirty missing assignments in some classes, because I actively avoided doing homework by partaking in activities like browsing the Internet or watching movies. As my junior year
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Throughout my entire life, I closed myself off to the idea of vegetarianism because I thought that my single choice would make no difference in the long run. I told myself that it would be impossible to change my diet because I had grown up eating meat, and it would take too much effort to change. My close-mindedness was not based on a dislike for animals or desire to hurt the environment, which
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