Category: journalism

Stuff having to do with the world of journalism.

Best Feelings

godgoldngloryLeave a comment

Because I always tend to write negative blogs, I figured that this week I’d try to write about something positive. So, here is my list of the best feelings in the world.

Making someone genuinely laugh, being so happy you can’t even explain it, sneezing, listening to music in the car and lip-syncing along, seeing the waiter bring your food out, looking out the window in the morning to fresh snow, laughing so hard you can’t breathe, sitting down after spending hours cleaning, when ALL your knuckles crack with relatively no pain, relaxing after being extremely productive, late night drives (bonus points if with music), taking a shower after practice, sleeping in after you deserve it, receiving unexpected gifts, climbing into clean sheets with freshly shaved legs, having really deep/ long conversations, taking your heels off, getting a good grade on an assignment you thought you did bad on, Christmas morning, holding hands with someone special, singing in the shower, cozying up when it’s cold outside, when you like your fit and you get compliments, waking up and realizing you still have a couple hours to sleep, getting told that you’re missed, screaming songs in the car with your friends, when your cats want to cuddle, being proud of something you cooked/baked, taking a photo with someone you love, when your food is hitting the exact right spots, eating ice cream while on a walk, when your notes for school look really good an aesthetic, getting lost in a book, those head scratcher things, and super duper long hugs.

Sneezing: 10 Reasons, Causes, and Triggers

PC: https://www.houstonent.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog%20images/why%20do%20i%20sneeze%201.jpg?width=1600&name=why%20do%20i%20sneeze%201.jpg

Minecraft is the best game

leapingwaterLeave a comment

I have played a plentiful amount of different types of video games in my life time. From horror games to Sims 4, I have tried out quite a few genres. However, Minecraft is my favorite. Minecraft is a game where players can do just about anything: build, go on adventures, farm, and much more. I think I first started playing Minecraft and watching other people play it on youtube around 4 years old, starting with pocket edition on my iPad mini and moving up to a computer eventually. The hours I have spent on this game in total is kind of concerning as I am now sixteen years old. I still have the same love for the game, even though I don’t always have much time to play it during the school year. I have made so many memories and gotten so much closer to my friends by playing this game. I used to be on the phone for hours talking to my friends and playing it with them during quarantine. I know its a literal video game, but it goes to show based on the amount of time I have spent playing it how it really does not get boring. You can live your own little life in a world of blocks and do just about anything you want.

pc:https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnrJMo5WcAQbBPX.jpg

Clarity

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Both of my ankles are hurt, I haven’t showered in 4 days, my palms are bloody, and I am freezing. I am sitting in the cold van, warmed by the rays of the dawning sun and the half-full cup of coffee in my hands. It is nearly unbelievable how joyful these plain comforts can be. Piercing the constant cold and usual discomfort, the bleaks of comfort appear heaven-like. My excitement and anticipation before every sip of coffee seems child-like. In fact, it is. The reason is – I am so dang grateful for that instant of surreal content and satisfaction. I am engulfed by state of what it seems like perfect clarity – a true understanding and love for everything in that blissful moment. That is the magic of a life free of the comforts we have chained ourselves with. A wild life of fully experienced and deeply felt moments – be that intense pain or subtle happiness.

https://www.erinhanson.com/content/inventoryimages/Erin-Hanson-Gaze-of-Dawn-1.jpg

Another camping trip

pottymouth818Leave a comment

The last couple of days I was on a camping trip at the Salton Sea. I had a good time because everyone on the trip was upperclassmen, primarily seniors. I don’t hate the freshmen, I just don’t want to be around them. 

The best part about the trip was destroying myself by falling onto a cement plank and into a pile of thick mud (made up of chemicals and fishbones) that smelled like horse doo-doo. Kate had been filming me on the swing and I was calling her name to try to get her attention to film me jumping off of it when the seat slipped out from under me. I twisted straight off the swing, contorting my back, and landed in the most perfect place. I  don’t remember the last time I fell so hard and so out of nowhere; I never saw it coming. 

The trip was also good because the weather was nice. At night having the weather be pleasant makes a huge difference.  I usually get anxious when I have to stress about bulky layers and staying warm, but this time that wasn’t the case. I wasn’t worrying about when the weather would get to me. 

A final contributor to this good time was the fact that it was only two days long. I didn’t feel like I had to hunker down and prepare for war. It was a quick trip that I was just able to simply enjoy. 

Camping is also a great time because I always love talking to people on my trip. 

Overall it was a great trip and I’m glad I was on it.

“Tent Camping” by Ben Duchac/ CC0 1.0

My Issue with Thanksgiving

uwucutiepatootieLeave a comment

I don’t think I’ve ever met someone whose favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I understand that it is time to reunite with family and celebrate, but it just stresses me out way too much. I always have a big thanksgiving with about thirty people and I feel like I’m being tested the whole time. People always ask what college I’m going to, how I’m doing in school and what my interests are. My cousins, who are older than me, are all in college or have recently graduated. All of them have their thing. They are all basically amazing athletes and students. They all go to really good colleges like USC or NYU and they act like those are really easy schools to get into. I understand that it is important to think about college, but they have been asking me which one I’m going to since I was in fifth grade. My Thanksgiving dinner is way too formal. There is a whole seating chart that separates me and my immediate family, so I’m silent most of the dinner. My final issue with it is the food. I despise Thanksgiving food and I always end up only eating mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pie. My family doesn’t really eat on Thanksgiving, so their stomachs are empty by the time we have our dinner, but because I don’t eat that much at dinner, I am hungry the whole day.

“Thanksgiving Autumn” by Element5 Digital/ CC0 1.0

what is my passion

purcyLeave a comment

I wish I had something to look forward to. It’s so much easier to work hard when I’m working towards something. Just the satisfaction of getting an A is not enough for me to work towards getting all As. The most frustrating part is that I know I could do it but I just don’t have any motivation to be exceptional. If I was working for a college I really wanted to go to or a job I really wanted that would be perfect but I just don’t have that. I feel like everyone around me is working towards something important and I’m just floating. I don’t want to float anymore. I’m trying to just pick something to work for but it’s not the same as finding a specific passion. The thing I do with my life every day of my life is not something that I could really make money doing, it wouldn’t get me far in a career. I want to do something that I enjoy and I really hope it comes to me soon.

Photo cred: @grandpix

New Winter

pottymouth818Leave a comment

I’m excited for Christmas this year because I’m almost guaranteed a white Christmas. My family has recently bought a new house in Mammoth. This house is a house where everyone gets their own room so that means less fighting and everyone getting their own personal space. Since it’s large enough for my parents to be convinced we’ll be able to enjoy it, we’re packing up and spending Christmas in Mammoth; hence the white Christmas. I’m hoping that we’ll all be able to enjoy Christmas and the entirety of winter in Mammoth without stepping on each others’ toes. Everyone could fit into our old place but I have a feeling that the new house will be a much more inviting place for the whole family.


Since we’re going up for both Thanksgiving and part of Christmas break, I’m also hoping that I’ll really be able to improve my snowboarding skills. Last year I randomly decided that I wanted to Snowboard so I went all in and bought all the gear and now it’s too late to go back. So far, I’ve actually liked the process of learning how to snowboard significantly more than skiing. I don’t regret my decision at all.


I’ve never been a pro at anything on the mountain, I’m the type of person who would get in your way. To me it’s never been competitive, the whole thing is a joke in the best way possible. When I want to go fast I do, but I thoroughly enjoy face-planting in the snow by trying tricks I know I will never be able to accomplish and taking my time on the way down. Long story short, I’m looking forward to a fun winter.

“Snow Winter” by FOCA Stock/ CC0 1.0

The struggle

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Kyiv, Ukraine. It is yet another Russian bombardment. My friend Nastya is awake and running down into the bomb shelter at 3 am. Again. In just a couple of hours, sleep-deprived, she will be sitting at the desk as if it’s normal day. Only 4 months ago she participated in an extremely competitive selection process which made the education financially feasible for her. During the two former years, in spite of ceaseless airstrike sirens and a constant anxiety, she had been studying – relentlessly. And her hopes paid off – she earned a scholarship to study in an Architectural college in Kyiv. Even so, there was a price to be paid – more intense airstrikes and even less security. Like this, without much sleep, and amidst this overwhelming chaos, she has completed 2 months of her studies. Nastya followed this path because she knew – this might be her only chance, a morbid one, but a chance for a better future. Her example is a constant reminder of how absurdly fortunate I am. What if a person like her had opportunities like me? In some disturbing sense, wars are necessary to cultivate people that are going to grit their teeth. Comfort kills. Struggling is just another word for being alive.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa2.jpg/298px-Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa2.jpg

Yin & Yang

godgoldngloryLeave a comment

I never necessarily understood the term “opposites attract.” Like, what does that even mean? If two things have completely opposing characteristics, how on earth could they ever work together? Well, I’m confident in saying that I now understand the contradictory concept.

My roommate and I are literally the most opposite people on the planet. She is a night person, whereas I am a morning person (on the weekends, I usually wake up about four hours earlier than her). Her side of the room is messy a lot of the time, whereas I physically can’t function or think if mine is anything but perfect. She prefers to look at things logically, whereas I am an extremely emotional person. While we both get good grades, she is naturally very very smart so the effort she puts into school is about five times less than what I put in. She is quite the introvert, while I tend to be more extroverted. All considered, I think you get the point, that my roommate and I could not be more of different people. However, I don’t think I would trade her for anyone else in the world.

I think the term “opposites attract” stems from the conclusion that those with conflicting principles complement each other and help each other experience new perspectives. Analyzing your differences can also lead to making common connections of random similarities that weren’t originally apparent. For example, my roommate and I both share similar hobbies like playing both volleyball and piano. We also are both only children, and share a lot of the same food tastes. We also both sleep talk, except she does in Chinese, so she has an unfair advantage over me with that one. Anyway, coming to boarding school has made me realize the importance of finding people that can provide you with new outlooks on all aspects of life, as it will never be beneficial to stick only to what you know. My roommate and I have been rooming together for about two and a half years now, in our third school year, and we don’t plan on parting ways anytime soon. Well, that is if I can keep it together and not drop my metal water bottle onto the ground producing an ear-piercing crash at seven in the morning when she is trying to sleep in.

Yin Yang Logo and symbol, meaning, history, PNG, brand

PC: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQwJAqFKX4YMYzOAhGsgMzUGbY4cHrJAhnexA&usqp=CAU

How My Hate For Black Licorice Ruined My Entire Evening

godgoldngloryLeave a comment

One fun fact about me is that I have never liked black licorice. It’s honestly just utterly repulsive. Ever since I was really young, I always had a deep-rooted hatred for everything about it. Don’t get me wrong, red licorice is amazing – a very fine snack. Nevertheless, my opinion on black licorice is that it is absolutely offensive. No person should ever be putting that substance in their mouth. Until that fateful night.

Adele and I like to work on our precalc homework together because doing so alone is basically the same thing as committing suicide. So last night we had just started to do our homework, and this is where the night went downhill. Adele, like a literal crazy person, pulls out a bag of black licorice and starts eating it. She offers me a piece, which was the most fatal moment of my life.

Me, being the naive and stupid person I sometimes am, actually thought that my long-standing disgust for such a horrible thing might actually go away with time. So, I accepted her offer, and it was the kickstart to the worst night of my life. It was still the most disgusting thing that has ever come in contact with my taste buds. I can’t even put it into words how much I hate it. I don’t even want to talk about it.

Anyway, the rest of my night was undoubtedly ruined. My precalc homework took me and Adele an hour and 45 minutes. It was the most awful thing I’ve ever done. I hate trig. But not as much as I hate black licorice. I genuinely believe that the fact it ever came in contact with my mouth is the sole reason for such an awful week. After I took about 5 years off of my life by completing my math, I was so unmotivated that I did absolutely nothing and laid in my bed for the next couple of hours, procrastinating all of my work. My entire mood was thrown off, and it is still a little affected, even a couple days after the incident.

If anyone reading this has one takeaway, I would suggest to never let black licorice within a three-feet radius of you. Also, drop out of precalc if you have the chance.

Kookaburra Black Licorice - Furlong's Candies

PC: https://www.furlongscandies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Black-Kookaburra-Licorice-scaled.jpg