When I was in kindergarten, we had nap time every day. We would come back inside after recess each day, and without fail there would be mats laid out all over the classroom floor. We would each have to pick a mat, and once we laid down, that was where we had to stay for an hour without getting up.
I hated nap time. All the kids did. But now, I would give anything for it.
During that hour, we had to lay on our mats quietly – we could read if we didn’t want to sleep, but we couldn’t visit with friends. We were always so restless, watching the clock and counting down the minutes until the hour was over.
Now in high school, having an hour of nap time during the school day would be luxurious. I am constantly sleep deprived after staying up into the small hours of the morning working on homework, and I can say definitively that I would take FULL advantage of an allotted nap time.
All I can say is that as high schoolers, I think we deserve nap time.
Almost every time I see my sister she says the same thing.
“You really should start journaling.”
And to this very day, I have resisted. I have chosen to not follow my sister’s advice, something I usually regret later on. Instead, I have developed ways to kind of journal. My newest favorite being a quote book.
I thought of making it when the storage filled up on my phone due to the massive collections of screenshots of quotes I’ve found on Instagram. So, naturally, I used a notebook my sister got for me.
Since then I’ve been writing down quotes on what seems to be a daily basis. However I feel, I’ll pick a quote matching it. If a quote resonates with me, I’ll write it down.
The most special thing is I can write some of my own poetry or incorporate my ideas into other poems. Each page has a different layout, design, and meaning.
So, in a way, my sister’s dream has come true. I write almost everyday, but not exactly the way she likes it.
Currently I’m writing an article about a senior who is taking the path less travelled. Rather than jumping straight from high school to college, she’s taking a year in between. Before I started writing this articles I knew what gap years were, but I associated them with partying and messing around. That is not the case. Students who take gap years get to travel, do charity work, take a break from the competitive atmosphere of high school before going into even more rigorous college academics, work, and discover themselves out in the world on their own. Even Harvard recommends gap years. Just look at Malia Obama. Gap years are finally starting to drift away from the notion that they are filled with parties and are starting to be recognized as beneficial. I’m grateful I was given this article to write, because now I am aware all the benefits gap years can yield, and who knows, maybe I’ll take one now.
In the season 6 trailer Bran Stark is seen with what appears to be the White Walker leader. While I believe this is a dream I think the White Walker King is looking for Bran. But why would the White Walker King want to find Bran you might ask. It’s simple Near the end of season 5 during the White Walkers siege on the Wildling camp there was 4 horseman ominously watching the battle from the cliffs overlooking the camp. At some point, one of these horsemen joined the battle and was killed by Jon Snow. Because he died they are probably looking for someone to take his place. I think The White Walker King wants Bran to take his place making Bran one of the four horsemen. Brans ability to warg may transfer when he turns into a white walker giving him the ability to control the living and the dead. It only makes sense that the white walkers find a new horseman because George RR Martin is clearly alluding to the four horsemen of the apocalypse and three just doesn’t cut it.
In the United States, we have so many holidays honoring certain people and certain things. But we often fail to recognize those who aren’t in the picture, or who fall outside of conventional situations.
Happy Mother’s Day to those who lost their mothers, or never even knew them. Or maybe it’s not a happy Mother’s Day. We fail to acknowledge the people for whom Mother’s Day is a hard day – the people who never got to know their mother, or who had abusive mothers and don’t want to celebrate.
Happy Mother’s Day to the moms who aren’t alive for this year’s celebration, and to the mothers whose children died before their time. Let’s celebrate the women who tried and tried and couldn’t have children, and guardians who may not have kids of their own but fill the role of mothers, taking care of kids as if they were theirs.
Happy Mother’s Day to those without mothers or kids, and to those who have a hard time on this holiday. Happy Mother’s Day to the people who have no one to celebrate, or no one to celebrate with.
Recently an old friend came to dinner. As she talked about her life I came to this realization: life, no matter where you are in it, is hard.
Whether you are older and wiser or young and reckless, people are hard to love, friends are hard to keep, biting back retorts a challenge.
There’s always a road block, always a speed bump. Money, love, distance, self esteem, everything is a crossroad.
I’ve also realized that there will always be people telling me, “Yeah well think about all those other people suffering, by comparison you’re living easy.” I am one of those people telling others this. I am a person telling myself this. Yet that doesn’t take the sting off of living.
People telling you to stop complaining is much like rubbing salt in a wound, but then again this world complains so incredibly much. I have a family of wasps living in my head constantly reminding me of my complaints, all the negatives I see in the world and others.
Admittedly I am probably more judgmental than I ought to be, maybe a little too cynical, a little too sarcastic, a little too snarky, a little too mocking. Still it’s hard, to be around people who constantly complain, only see issue and always seem to have an issue, or relate everything back to them.
And the worst part is that person is me. Or am I brave enough to step out into the world and proclaim that I am any different than the person standing next to me? That somehow I have defied human nature while they haven’t?
No I am not, because I am not different. The person next to me is having the exact same thoughts, “I am different aren’t I, I can do what I want, because something I can’t quite put my finger on makes me better than the person standing next to me.”
It’s the human survival drive and by extension competitiveness. It’s the need to outlast everyone else, it’s the dopamine release you get when you’re right.
I am no different, life is a crossroad.
I am constantly at a roadblock, a crossroads and I for the life of me can’t figure out how to handle it with grace.
As I grow older, I continue to notice more about those around me. This year, I have taken particular attention to the issues with body image and gender debates and have noticed that in every aspect of these subjects, people seem to become greatly offended.
Having a “positive body image” is all about loving yourself no matter how much you weigh or what jean size you wear, yet people on both sides of the spectrum are constantly critiquing each other.
Words like “fat” and “anorexic” and “overweight” have become sensitive, and it no longer matters if you are skinny, overweight, chubby, or just average; you WILL be criticized for your weight. The irony in this is everyone is preaching having a positive body image, when in reality, we continue to criticize those who are not of an ideal weight.
Secondly, the gender debates. Recently, two UCLA women publicized their opinions on gender neutral bathrooms stating “Transgenderism is a mental disorder”, “get your agenda out of my bathroom”, and “there are only two genders”. While many may agree or disagree, these are their opinions, and they are entitled to share them.
The issue here is that no matter what, people will always have different opinions, the issue at hand is to cease the mass amounts of sensitivity towards these subjects. Understandably, people have strong opinions on these subjects, but this is not a reason to push personal opinions onto everyone around us.
OVS Journalism Blog 
