Posted inEducation, Opinion, Community, Student Journals

The Life of a Hermit

Jorge J. by Jorge J.

Being locked up in my house has been kinda cool since I do not get to see people anymore. It sounds rude at first, but when I explain it further, you will understand why I like it.
I have more time to focus on myself and not worry about other people’s problems. I will occasionally help people who text me here and there, but people who know me understand that I don’t like using my phone as much as other people. Even though there is a whole pandemic going on and social activities have been cut down dramatically, I have not resorted to turning my back on my old person ways. I have fun reading a book and watching scary movies, and it gets better because I get to enjoy it and not rush through my activities by worrying about somebody else.
It has been hard being a hermit, especially since I have nothing else to read. I thought about asking people for book suggestions, but I thought that I would sound weird. Instead, I resorted to asking about movies I should watch. I was told to watch 47 Meters Down and let me tell you something; this movie made me even more scared of the ocean. Sharks were already terrifying, but now this movie has scared me even more now. To fisk this anxious experience, I resorted to watching the Hannah Montana movie. Everything hits harder now that I am older, but I still love the experience, especially the scene when Miley sings The Climb, you just have to love that part.
I made a dumb mistake by asking for movies since almost all of the suggestions I got were movies about pandemics and the end of the world, but we are not trying to panic in this house. I stuck to listening to music instead. I am currently going through a little Taylor Swift concert mindset, so I just have her music blasting in my room, and I love it.

Posted inEducation, Community, Student Journals, School Pride

Who hit the pause button on my life?

Betsabe G. by Betsabe G.

I’m sitting here thinking about what I should write about, but my mind is blank. I usually have a response to everything. My mind is normally full of thoughts about turning in assignments on time, completing Mr. Bernal’s essay, finishing Mr. Garza’s notes before the fifth period, and getting signatures from all of TAFE so that Mrs. Brown can turn in important paperwork, but right now I have nothing. I guess it’s not really that my mind is blank, but that it is filled to the brim with so many different things not school-related. Right now, I am thinking about how much I miss the ice skating rink. I’ve even been thinking about just putting my skates on and walking around my room for a while. Crazy, right? I’m also wondering what the people that used the school as an escape are doing right now, those people that were able to leave their toxic homes, even if it was only for eight hours. I am thinking about my birthday is on April 10, and how I’m not going to be able to have anybody overdue to social grouping restrictions caused by the pandemic. That one really stinks. I’m thinking about how much I actually miss school. Usually, I’m not looking forward to school because of the toxic environment, but now I am counting the days until President Trump allows for this quarantine to be over. I think that it is just the fact that we can’t go back to school right now, which makes me want to go to the school that much more. I have been thinking about how COVID-19 cut the National Hockey League season short just as it was getting good. My team, the Chicago Blackhawks, had a shot at making it to the playoffs, but I guess now we’ll never know. Even though this quarantine has been relaxing, I have been so bored. I ran out of things to do, so I started writing some songs. One of which I am thinking of sending to Mr. Silva so that he could post it on the school’s Instagram page. I’ve even thought about doing some covers of random songs and posting them to my Instagram. I’ve been using this time away from school to try and make myself more productive. I have started going on early morning runs, and I have started working out daily. I took the time to thoroughly clean my room, and now it doesn’t even look like it’s mine anymore. My family has also been taking advantage of this quarantine. We have been able to eat together as a family more than we probably have since the beginning of the school year. It’s absolutely crazy. I see my sister all of the time since they temporarily closed down her workplace, and UTRGV made all of their classes online. In conclusion, I believe that, although it was brought to us under such disappointing circumstances, this quarantine might be just what we needed after all—a pause.

Posted inOpinion, Community, Student Journals

The switch to online school has been a mixed bag

by Ivan Silva

The first week of online school and quarantine hasn’t really affected me too much. The quarantine had not affected me really at all since my lifestyle before it was pretty much the same as it is now, as sad as that may sound.
Before the quarantine, I never really left my home, so I didn’t really need to cope with the change when nothing really changed. The switch to online school has been a mixed bag, however.
On the one-hand the switch to online has allowed me to work on my own time, on the other hand, I can be extremely distracted when at home since there are several other things that I would rather do than doing school work, and since I am at home and have options I can be doing work for a few minutes, before getting bored and switching to watching YouTube or reading Wikipedia since I find it far more interesting than doing work.
Another positive is that the workload is incredibly light, especially when compared to the average school week. As far as I am aware, under the current set up, the classes only really need two grades per week, so I have ample time to do work and then time to goof off. I do miss school though, staying at home has gotten extremely monotonous with just my family and getting into fights with my brother often since he doesn’t understand that I may be busy with work. Although school is also monotonous most of the time, it is a different kind that’s not nearly as mundane as staying in my room for most of the day, and not being able to see my friends has been pretty demoralizing since I can’t really have any conversations with anyone. The only advice that I could offer for anyone in this predicament is to work as soon as possible so that you have time to focus on other things to entertain yourself so that you may distract yourself from the humdrum of being stuck at home.

Posted inEducation, Community, Student Journals

Emotional Confliction: A plight of overwhelming sentiment I feel. A train station that slowly corrupts sane thoughts

Laura C. by Laura C.

A plight of overwhelming sentiment I feel. A train station that slowly corrupts sane thoughts and brings upon a fresh batch of nothing and everything at the same time. “There will be a curfew from 10 pm to 6 am…” “We are issuing a stay at home order…” “School will resume until May 4th…” One thing I do tend to hear a lot is, “You are not alone; everyone is going through this together…” but I can’t help feeling selfish at the thought of placing my emotions onto the range of the crowd outside these four walls.

So I try my best to conceal. Conceal the madness that is my brain, at least until it’s lights out, and everybody is asleep anyway. During the night is when it gets worse. Many long for silence, yet I resent it, especially during this time at night. I pray to the higher power, whether it be associated with religion or some sort of science. Then I realize just how skeptical I am of that too. And I tend to scrap all the will power within me to fight against the wave of tears brimmed beneath the pupils of those eyes. Those eyes that wish to see the media take their place and provide comfort and solace along with this devastating news. Those eyes that carry the need to make everyone feel happy and loved, and want to protect people.

Alas, one day, I woke up stricken with a will; it is time to challenge despair. I run desperately towards the door, and I step outside. I step outside and on to the grass, although I shouldn’t, because I’m allergic to pollen, and I breathe in condensed and polluted air. As I do so, I admire the landscape before me, then I turn around, and I feel grateful for my life, and for the beautiful shelter, I can call my home. So I start my way back inside as if to be a completely new person.

Since then, I take upon that persona. One that goes through emotional vendetta in a healthy manner and isn’t afraid to place herself with the rest. I realized that this conflict is nothing but a state of mind. The angle that I perceived at the start was true, and it was me. So is this angle and version. I once read in an article, “Though some parts of our personalities feel written in stone…, the truth is that all of us are capable of altering our perspective.”  I guess the point I’m trying to convey is all emotions and personal conflicts are valid. I suppose even more so at this stage. We really are going through this together. I’m more optimistic and hopeful towards the future now, and I encourage you to do so too. You are not alone.

Posted inEducation, Community

Seniors, Class of 2020!

by Ivan Silva

Seniors grades are due next week so we can finalize your rankings. Ensure you are completing all assignments for your classes. If you need anything to complete your assignments, please get in contact with your teacher(s) so you can resolve the issue(s).

Posted inEducation, Community

Mental Health Support Line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week toll-free at (833) 986-1919.

by Ivan Silva

Texas Health and Human Services has launched a 24/7 statewide mental health support line to help Texans experiencing anxiety, stress or emotional challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This new resource offers COVID-19-related mental health support for all Texans. People can call the Statewide COVID-19 Mental Health Support Line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week toll-free at (833) 986-1919.