Category: journalism

Stuff having to do with the world of journalism.

The Mind of A Cat

frenchfriesssssLeave a comment

Cats are such interesting animals to be around. They do what they want, and we just happen to exist next to them.

I never really knew what cats were like until about four years ago. They seem to only eat, sleep, and lick themselves, but occasionally play. It’s funny to think that they make their own choices and have their own feelings.  

What goes through their heads is something that I always find fascinating. How do they choose what to do, who to go with, and how do they determine who to trust? They’re very curious creatures and always try to know what’s happening like humans.

They can be very affectionate at times, but sometimes they like to keep their distance from people they don’t know or distrust. 

For solitary animals, they are quite social when you really get to know them. It depends on which cat it is, but it’s still fascinating to know about them and what they think. 

Gray Tabby Cat: 5 Patterns, Breeds & Personality

P.C – Google “Tabby cat”

Work

SonnyAngel100Leave a comment

Having a job has always scared me. I was scared of doing something wrong and getting fired, or not liking the people I worked with, but now that I have been working at Ojai Ice Cream for over a year, I’ve made more friends than I could have ever expected. I’m friends with most of my coworkers, and there are very few that I don’t like working with. With some of my coworkers, I’m friends outside of school and hang out with them after work, and a lot of the time we end up getting in n out. One of my best friends I met through work as well, and I hang out with her very often, and I’ve made new friends through being friends with her. My bosses are also the best, and they have me go through resumes and tell them who should and shouldn’t get hired. I’m very thankful to work at the ice cream shop, and I couldn’t imagine what I would be like if I didn’t start working there. 

Ojai Ice Cream (@ojaiicecream) · Ojai, CA · Instagram photos and videos

Pc- google

Heaven

lalapaloozaurLeave a comment

The idea of heaven always used to scare me. What do you mean we live sometimes a short life, sometimes a long life, and if we’re good enough, we get to go to a place that’s supposed to be an eternal happiness. What would eternal happiness be to someone? Would it be seeing their dog that passed away or seeing their parents who loved them, but never got to say goodbye when they wanted to? Or would it be for someone the idea of having food each day, or for others, driving a luxury car? When I think of heaven, I don’t know what to think my eternal happiness would be for me. Would it be my parents loving me the way I always wanted them to? Or getting a second chance at life where I don’t stress about such minute  things. I have always wanted to meet God ask him what heaven would be like for me but to this day, I’m still unsure and hopefully one day I’ll figure out what heaven means to me.

Heaven in Christianity - Wikipedia

PC- Google

Auditions

0neh1tw0nder_击Leave a comment

This upcoming Sunday is my audition for OYES (Ojai Youth Entertainers Studio). I’m honestly somewhat terrified. This is the first play I’ve done that isn’t apart of school, so there’s no guarantee that I’d get in for sure. I feel like that’s the most nerve racking part of it all, honestly.

The musical that OYES is doing is Ride the Cyclone, which has been one of my favorite musicals for the longest time, ever since I found out about it in the 7th grade. It’s about a group of choir kids who die on a rollercoaster accident, and each one of them has to tell their story, in song form, in order to be set back to life by a fortune teller.

I have to memorize a one-minute monologue and sing a cut of a song. I’ve been paranoid about memorizing the monologue for the past week, mainly because it also applies to my theatre class on Friday, in which I have to preform. Might as well do the same monologue for both events, no need to memorize two different ones, right?

Still, I’ve been terrified. What if I miss a line, or have a voice crack in the middle of the song? It’s better not to dwell on it for now, only when I’m driving to the studio is when I get to sweat bullets about it. It’s whatever, if I don’t get in, there’s no big deal. Hopefully.

Theatre vs. Theater: What's the Difference? | Backstage

P.C.- Google, “Theatre”

College Stressors

olivemartinisforeverLeave a comment

I have never felt this overwhelmed in my life. I never believed people when they said “senior year is so stressful all of a sudden.” I didn’t believe them because they said that junior year is supposed to be the most difficult, but for me it was amazing. Suddenly, though, a switch flipped; I was faced with an extremely challenging week, and now this week I’m faced with endless college things being thrown at me. I feel so unprepared. Did I do enough work over the summer? Are my activities good enough to get me into college? Do I like my essay? How am I supposed to show colleges myself in a 600-word essay? I feel like it was just yesterday I was doing this application process for high school; how am I already back applying, but now to colleges? I wish this process was easier. Not only that but I have applications for financial aid, capstone, endless amounts of games for sports and so much homework for every class. How am I supposed to get it all done while not getting sick or being tired everyday. I can’t wait for the moment all my applications are done and I can finally take a deep breath and relax a little.

College Options – Mrs. Koch's Counseling Corner
PC: Google

End of Summer

pinkypie222Leave a comment

Every year before summer starts, I always assume it will last forever and that I don’t have to worry about anything except my tan. I feel free with basically no worries until August rolls around, and suddenly the days start flying by, and all I can do is mourn how great summer felt. This year it was the worst yet. Most of the summer, I was distracted by traveling and being around my friends, I didn’t even give school one thought.

When August started, I was still out of town, so I didn’t realize that by the end of the month I would be back in school. As soon as I got home, all of my motivation disappeared. I had procrastinated all of my summer work, and now I had to cram it all in the short period I had. I think I literally read every single day, not because I wanted to, but because I knew this year would be hard and I had to be prepared for the worst.

I’m still mourning summer like it was my last bit of freedom ever, but I’m also one step closer to graduating high school, which is amazing. I was honestly expecting worse coming back to school. I thought I needed to have everything figured out as soon as I came back, but I was only stressing myself out. I know the year will grow more challenging in the depths of winter, and I’m trying my hardest to ignore it. When the time comes, I’ll probably regret that too.

“School Background” by Words as Pictures/ CC0 1.0

College

spinakopitaLeave a comment

Though I’m a Junior, thoughts about college are racing through my mind. I feel like I’m the only one stressing about it, but in reality, I want to get it over with this year so that next year I know where I want to apply. I know the places my parents and grandparents want me to go. But what about where I want to go? I wake up in the morning and immediately just start researching because of how interested I am. I’m so excited to move on to a different chapter of my life once I finish high school. I know it’s a while away, but it’s something to look forward to and work hard for during my final two years. College essays, applications, and the SAT are all so stressful, and I believe that it’s something that I should start preparing for now, so that in the future I’m more than ready to move on and start my own life as an adult.

Colleges have many options, but one thing I’m sure of, at least for now, is that I want to stay in California close to home. A lot of my friends tell me that college is your 4 years to leave and experience something new, but I couldn’t imagine anywhere else that I would even want to live. Maybe my mind will change within two years, but I know that California is my home, so even if I do end up leaving. I will 100% come back.

New School Year

0neh1tw0nder_击Leave a comment

Around 2 weeks ago, counting camping, school had started. The first week of school was easy, I mean, it always is leading up to prep for all school camping and eventually going out to camp. Camping itself was fun, along with the weekend following it, me and my brother went to go see LA Galaxy versus the Seattle Sounders. I’m not the biggest on soccer, but it was fun for my 9 year-old brother, so that’s all that matters.

I’d say, not a lot besides that weekend had started off this school year. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have things in the future I’m looking forward to, such as My Chemical Romance with my friend, going to see more local shows, a trip to Patagonia and a trip to Greece.. and I’m sure a lot of other things that I can’t think of right now. Nonetheless.. I have a feeling that this year’s gonna be a pretty solid year.

Junior (education year) - Wikipedia

P.C. – Google, “junior year”

Skin

lalapaloozaurLeave a comment

It never felt hard to fake a smile, it came almost automatically to me. I never noticed when I would fake it just like how I never noticed the color of my skin. It was a color my mom would idealize as in Africa the lighter the skin the prettier you were. So with her panther-like complexion she admired me which left me happy with my identity.  As for my father he loved my mothers skin and loved me for being a combination of him and her. I never noticed my skin until I began to be treated differently for it, I would try to pinpoint what it was. I’d say things like, “maybe it was my non-European features.” Or maybe it was my curly hair. During middle school I was severely bullied, where my identity felt as if it was just my skin. When I moved away from that environment I began slowly forget the harsh comments that were made. Although the micro aggression would sometimes appear it wouldn’t affect me. Up until my trip to Switzerland where I was called the n word multiple times by multiple people, but this time it was with my friends the people I trusted the world with but yet not a single one stood up for me and so as that word was being said towards me it felt as if my entire world was crumbling. Though I forgot because we are taught to forget to move on. So a year went by I let go of one of those friendships and I moved on. Up until it was brought up again this year, I don’t know if it was something in the air or it was my body reprocessing it but it broke me. I cried, I cried and cried. And I began to feel as if I was 12 years old again, on my knees begging and praying to god asking him why he would create me like this with tears that could fill the atlantic ocean. As I woke up the first thing I noticed was not the acne on my face or the puffiness of my eyelids, it was my skin color. I felt as if it was truly the only thing people saw me for. Up until now I cannot say I have moved on. I still cry from time to time wondering why I was born this way. But I am slowly trying to forget and move on as what else am I supposed to do?

PC: Google

The Summer I Worked All The Time

Blondebundles67Leave a comment

This past summer, I turned in my resume to over 10 businesses. I only got one call back. I knew that getting a job would be hard, but I never thought that it would be nearly impossible. When I got the call from the manager at Skating Plus that he wanted to interview me, I was over the moon. After my interview, I was sure that I would get the job. I already had 4 friends working at Skating Plus, so they could put in a good word for me. The day I got the call, I was in Ralph’s shopping for pickles. The moment I heard “we would like to hire you”, I jumped up and down, holding my jar of pickles. Still on the phone with the manager who had just hired me, I walked around the store continuing our conversation. The second the phone hung up, I called my best friend and roommate, Chelsea, who worked at Skating Plus, and told her I got the job. A week later, Chelsea was the one training me for my very first shift. I picked things up quickly and soon became friends with my new coworkers. I made over $3,000 that summer from working. I would work mornings, nights, and doubles. My first paycheck, I went on a shopping spree, because I had earned it. I am still working at Skating Plus, trying to balance running cross country, going to school, doing homework, and spending time with my family and friends.

PC- Google