Author: adviser

  • Roman Candle, an Album by Elliott Smith 9.6/10

    Roman Candle, an Album by Elliott Smith 9.6/10

    “I’m a roman candle, my head is full of flames,” Elliott Smith sings in the title track to his album Roman Candle. (Composite image by Audrey Ramirez)

    Recorded on a four-track recorder in his girlfriend’s basement, Elliott Smith manages to combine soulful lyrics and lo-fi folk instrumentals to create his absolutely stunning debut album Roman Candle. Smith touches on heavy subjects such as domestic abuse, alcoholism, relationship issues, and loneliness in such an inconspicuous way, reminiscent of Outkast’s “Hey Ya”, a song about divorce hidden behind a fast-paced dance rhythm. 

    “I wanna hurt him, 

    I wanna give him pain.” 

    Smith opens with this line as his chorus to the title track “Roman Candle” which begins the album. Quick yet subtle guitar strums hauntingly ring in each ear as you take in the deep and intense lyrics. 

    “He could be cool and cruel to you and me

    Knew we’d put up with anything… 

    Your tears are cheap, wet hot red swollen cheeks…”

    Smith bravely shares his painful experiences of domestic violence and emotional abuse as a kid via music. Seeing as this is only the first track of the album, it suggests that you strap in and prepare yourself for the rest of the album because it is definitely a ride. 

    Songs like “Condor Ave”, “No Name #2”, and “No Name #4” discuss relationship issues, abuse, and occasionally alcoholism, which is a huge issue Smith personally struggled with for a long time. 

    “I wondered if I would talk about drug use. But I guess, why hide it?” says Smith. 

    Elliott beautifully combines acoustic guitar with his own soft and breathy vocals. “No Name #3” is a perfect example of the kind of melodies Smith is capable of creating; with about a few guitar and vocal tracks stacked on top of each other, this song is the epitome of “indie”. Each song has such a raw tone, almost as if you were with him while he was recording. “No Name #3” opens at a 79 bpm tempo soft guitar strum that makes you appreciate your sense of hearing more than ever before. Elliott begins singing in a whisper, discussing an unhealthy relationship either between a couple or a family. 

    Emotional intensity and musical brilliance combine to create a nearly perfect album. 9.6/10

  • BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse: An Amazing Experience

    BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse: An Amazing Experience

    Deep dish pizza with bacon and pepperoni (K. Burton)

    This has been an amazing experience. BJ’s Restaurant in Torrance, Ca. was the perfect place to order takeout. We ordered a Wing Dinner and some Salmon, Salad and Green Beans. When arriving to pick up the dinner everyone was following the Covid-19 guidelines and they made sure to sanitize the counter every time a new customer approached. 

    The food was well packed, no missing items and everything was hot when we picked the food up and they even provided a few sani-wipes. 

    You can either win or lose with salmon, but this salmon was delightful. It was buttery full of flavor and once topped with the lemon cream sauce it took it to a whole ‘nother level. “[Even though] I’m a vegetarian I would give the salmon an A + this is one of the best cooked salmon I have had in a long time,” said Hisa J. 

    Grilled salmon with lemon cream sauce. (K. Burton)

    Salad oh salad it was a normal salad. The one thing I did enjoy was the mixed greens that were used instead of just plain lettuce. The balsamic dressing is what took the salad over the top and gave it the extra kick it needed. 

    House salad with balsamic vinegar. (K. Burton)

    The wings were seasoned to perfection, not over cooked, still nice and juicy when you take that first bite. The dipping sauce was provided on the side which allowed the chicken to still have that crunchy skin. “I would order these wings anytime they are just as good as other restaurants that I have ordered takeout from,” said Jordan J.

    The garlic knots. (K. Burton)

    The garlic knots were little bombs packed with lots of flavor. You can taste a fair amount of garlic but it’s not too overpowering. 

    Vegetables are the best part of a meal for a vegetarian. “The green beans were cooked just how I like them with a little char on the edges and full of flavor seasoned with a nice salt and pepper combo and a little fresh garlic had my taste buds jumping,” said Hisa J. 

    Sautéed green beans. (K. Burton)

    This is one of the best dinners I’ve had in a long time due to us being in a stay at home order.  Overall I would recommend this restaurant to my friends and family to try. From the moment I arrived to getting my food home and in my stomach it was an amazing experience.

    The author, Jaylan Miller, trying the pizza. (K. Burton)
  • Honest Review of the Restaurant Claws

    Honest Review of the Restaurant Claws

    A closer look inside bag of seafood. (Alyssa Thomas)

    Seafood is one of the most versatile foods. Different types of seafood, different ways to eat/cook it; there are so many options that seafood can please everyone.

    One of the options that I personally love eating is seafood boils. Seafood boils consist of different sea animals such as crawfish, lobster, clams, and much more. Many seafood boils also contain corn and sausage. Louisiana and South Carolina are known for their tasty and giant seafood boils. Seafood boils typically do not contain any fish, since fish is rarely ever boiled. 

    When ordering seafood boils from restaurants, you pick your meats and extras, then the food is brought to your table in bags. Claws, located in Cerritos, is my favorite restaurant to eat seafood boils. You order by the pound and not by how many meals you need. For example, if your table has four people, you don’t order four “meals”, you would order around four pounds of food to share among the group.

    At Claws, you are treated with bibs, gloves, a table cover, and many different seasonings for your food. My family and I typically order calamari and fries as our appetizers. We then choose the seasoning that is a combination of all flavors available. In about 10-15 minutes all the bags of seafood come. The entire table is covered with paper so the table can get as messy as you want. The waiters give everyone a small container of salt, pepper, and ketchup.

    What seafood boils from Claws look like before eating. (Alyssa Thomas)

    When I eat at Claws, I’m usually with three other people and we order four to six pounds. Our seafood bags usually contain crawfish, mussels, shrimp, and corn. My cousins and I are not a fan of spice, so we order mild.

    Ordering and eating seafood boils from restaurants during this pandemic is, unfortunately, not the same. The number one convenience of eating seafood boils at a restaurant is there is not a big mess for you to clean up afterwards. Seafood boils almost always get messy due to the bags and sauce getting everywhere. When ordering Claws to-go, you choose your seasoning, meats, and everything else you would when ordering in the restaurant. When your food is ready you get the bags like normal, and it all tastes the same, but it is definitely not as fun or convenient as eating inside.

  • How Awesome is this Sushi? Very

    Picture a Ma ‘n Pa shop mixed with a trendy, modern sushi joint, and what comes to mind will probably look a lot like Awesome Sushi. Located on the corner of Clark Avenue and Willow Street, this restaurant may be small, but makes up for it with great customer service, food, and the determination to stay open. 

    During the health and economic crisis of the past year, small businesses like Awesome Sushi have struggled to stay afloat. Before COVID-19 spread throughout the nation, restaurant owners would greet their customers at the door and make them feel welcomed without a mask or plexiglass divider. What makes Awesome Sushi unique is the staff still finds a way to make a customer feel welcomed despite necessary safety precautions. 

    The staff at Awesome Sushi make ordering takeout via phone simple and easy. To-go orders are on-time, and the staff greets each customer with a smile and asks how their day has been.

    Awesome Sushi is also known for their healthier options as they have low-carb and vegetarian rolls. The sushi joint also has a wide variety of fish ranging from tuna to salmon to escolar. I tried the tuna poke, spicy edamame, and an iced green tea. The freshness of the ahi tuna and flavor of the edamame was the perfect combination. The iced green tea topped the meal off. There is so much to try on their menu which makes each meal different.

    Awesome Sushi is now only open for takeout orders. The determination to stay open throughout the pandemic is telling. Additionally, the restaurant persists by the closeness of the family and staff that work for their community. 

    At Awesome Sushi, they think that sushi should be more than just a high-end meal. It’s a meal for all. 

    “Come and try out how awesome we are!!!!” the Awesome Sushi staff said.

    To find out more about Awesome Sushi, you can go to  http://myawesomesushi.com/

     

  • Wings By BTS

    Wings By BTS

    The Korean boy band BTS released their 2nd full album, Wings, on October 10, 2016, under their label BigHit. 

    The album includes the track “Blood, Sweat, and Tears”, which gave the boy group their first win at the “Mnet Asian Music Awards” for best dance performance that same year. Like the intro track “Boy Meets Evil”, the album is about the temptations of a young boy when growing up: “Too bad but it’s too sweet”. 

    Back to the title track, it’s about being intoxicated with one’s feelings and neglecting them. The vocals are breathy, expressing the lust of commiting a sin that’s “sweeter than sweet”. 

    This album is also the first time the boys try solos, expressing their hardships of growing up. The soft and soulful dance track “Begin” by Jungkook is about how his bandmates raised him during their trainee days. The electronic-inspired “Lie” by Jimin is about being so deep into a lie that you lose yourself. The sensual solo “Stigma” by Taehyung is about lying to yourself and the world, along with the feelings of being a sinner. The passionately rapped “First Love” by Suga, is about things or talents that have been neglected for a while, there is still a fire there in the heart. It’s about an escape. The meaningful rap, “Reflection” by RM, is simply about just learning to love yourself. The old timey feeling, “Mama” by J-Hope talks about the struggles of family sacrifices. 

    And lastly, “Awake” by Jin, is lyrical with powerful vocals and is about seeing your limits, questioning if you’re enough. There are other tracks on this album but I feel that these are the best and get the meaning through. We all reminsenice on our past mistakes and try to force ourselves to be something we’re not, to try to fit in. From this album, I got that we should learn how to love ourselves, imperfections and all. That is a beautiful message that is not said enough.

  • The Weeknd’s “After Hours” album — a story about a beautifully toxic relationship

    The Weeknd’s “After Hours” album — a story about a beautifully toxic relationship

    When fans and other music enthusiasts learned that three-time Grammy winner The Weeknd was not nominated for a Grammy this year, despite his record-breaking feats and well-received praise from music critics, people were notably upset. 

    Abel Tesfaye, most well known as The Weeknd, dropped After Hours on March 20, 2020, which set a high bar in music. 

    The album’s unique instrumentals encompass the listener with strong emotions that almost feel like an out-of-body experience. After Hours follows a clear storyline about an unhealthy relationship influenced by Tesfaye’s own love life. Even if you have not been in a relationship, Tesfaye makes it as if you were the one in his situation. 

    The Weeknd opens up the album with a dark R&B feel and heavy bass lines that convey his deepest thoughts and experiences during his relationship. This theme follows throughout the first half of the album, up until “Blinding Lights”. The narrative starts with The Weeknd singing about his unstable relationship with a girl who is devoted to him, but he, unfortunately, cannot be the same towards her. Despite him not being able to properly communicate his emotions, he still finds it hard to let go of the girl he loves. Their relationship continues to crumble due to trust issues and insecurity, and it eventually leads to their breakup.

    Aside from his relationship, Tesfaye shows a more vulnerable side to him by talking about the harsh reality of stardom. In “Snowchild,” Tesfaye reminisces about his time before stardom and the hardships he faced before his breakthrough with a graphic opening line: “I used to pray when I was 16, If I didn’t make it, then I’d probably make my wrist bleed”. The song then transitions to focus on his life as a superstar, boasting about his fancy lifestyle and the fame he gained. Once again the focus shifts, but instead it’s about Tesfaye’s true thoughts on his life as a celebrity: “20 mill’ mansion, never lived in it / Paparazzi tryna catch me slippin’,” which can be seen as him feeling alienated in Hollywood. The melancholic atmosphere with the lack of beat shifts within the song sends a message as if his feelings never changed despite him being at the top.

    The Weeknd uses “Heartless” as the midpoint between the thematic shift of R&B to 80s pop. Unlike the previous tracks, he boasts about how his material possessions and notoriety made him “heartless” (hence the title). Though this track’s trap and R&B beat make the listener feel as if they are invincible — like they’re in an intense chase scene from an action movie. The dark reality of the lyrics shows how even though Tesfaye has all this wealth, his ability to properly connect to anyone emotionally has been severed.

    With “Blinding Lights”, the most notably popular song off of his album, The Weeknd completely ditches the dark R&B and replaces it with the 80s inspired tunes. Bound from the beginning to be a chart-topper, this song incorporates futuristic synths and a fast tempo that anyone can dance to. In this song, Tesfaye collaborates with Max Martin, a man who helped produce hits like “I Want It That Way” by Backstreet Boys and “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift. This song fills you with ecstasy and adrenaline, thanks to electro-pop sounds combined with Tesfaye’s captivating vocals. This song also perfectly weaves into the theme of the previous song, “Faith”, which centers around The Weeknd’s fall into drug addiction. The chronological placement of this song serves as him being on that “high”. 

    The album continues with the romantic aspect of the story, despite the two parties already having separated. Both The Weeknd and his love interest still have feelings for each other, yet they know it’s wrong to be together. However, they find a way around that by being friends with benefits, even going so far as committing infidelity with each other. The sound also reverts to the dark R&B feel, which represents him going back to the toxic “relationship” they have.

    The album reaches its end with a tragic, yet hypnotizing song, “Until I Bleed Out”. Other than reading the title itself, the song impacts the audience as Tesfaye hypnotizingly chants about how he wants to cut her out of his life permanently to the point that he bleeds. However, depending on the listener, this song can also have a double meaning in which it refers to his drug use. Continuing from the story around “Faith” and “Blinding Lights”, “Until I Bleed Out” serves as the conclusion of the story with The Weeknd being hospitalized most likely from his drug usage. The ending is up to the listener on whether the character he plays is still alive. 

    Truly an album worth 4 stars, The Weeknd inserts many allusions that allow the audience to interpret their own story. The cycle of pain, heartbreak, and bad habits is something that leaves the listener upset at his actions, yet the melodic and catchy tunes are something that sticks with them. Without a doubt though, The Weeknd has a unique artistic ability that allows him to create a sophisticated storyline that lets the audience have a love-hate relationship with the character he created. 

     

  • Ben Platt’s Sing To Me Instead Album Review

    Ben Platt’s Sing To Me Instead Album Review

    At a young age, Ben Platt became interested in the theatre arts. When he was 11, he took the opportunity to do a small tour with the musical Caroline, or Change. Since his debut in the musicals, The Book of Morman and Dear Evan Hansen, Ben Platt also starred in the Pitch Perfect movies leading to his nomination in the Teens Choice Awards and a Tony Award. He has appeared in other movies and shows and is now the lead in the series The Politician on Netflix. That same year Platt released his album Sing To Me Instead.

    Sing To Me Instead, released on March 29, 2019, is a Pop album of 12 songs that revolves around the world of love, heartbreak, and healing. With each song, I felt as if I were being drawn in and invited to see Platt’s love story. 

    One of the songs, “Share Your Address,” tells the story of how Platt is known to move fast in a relationship and has quickly fallen in love. “It’s ’cause I’ve waited far too long, for someone just like you,” inferring that Platt was tired of waiting, and now that he’s in love he wants it all. It contains a very upbeat rhythm that invites the listener to get up from their seat and start dancing. At the beginning of the song, the music seems exciting and the piano part is repetitive but enjoyable. 

    A song that also tells a story about a new love is “Honest Man.” In his documentary on Netflix, Platt stated that he wrote this song about a past relationship where his boyfriend hadn’t come out yet and Platt described how he wished he could’ve tried his best to support the relationship and his partner as he went throughout his journey of coming out. Throughout the song, the piano seems to stay the same quiet soothing sound. The beginning starts off slow and quiet but by the end, it’s a bit faster and there are more high notes. This song is something that some people can relate and sway their heads to. 

    In “Temporary Love,” written by Platt, Ben Abraham, and Jonny Price, Platt sings a song that would bring ease to a partner who has been heartbroken many times and fears a new relationship. The lyric “This is not a temporary love” repeats all throughout the song, and “Know your heart is in my hands,” gives hope to the listener that unlike past relationships, this one won’t lead to a big heartbreak. The song could possibly be a storyline that follows after “Honest Man,” in which the partner is still doubting a relationship with Platt’s character. 

    “Hurt Me Once,” is a song that is a sudden change from Platt’s previous songs. Composed by Platt and Eg White, this song tells a story about a relationship that is slowly ending, where one is losing interest and the other desperately wants the relationship to continue. The song brings a melancholy vibe that is sure to cause sorrow to everyone who has ever had a heartbreak. The lyrics, “You have all these choices, I have none,” implies that the partner who desperately wants to save the relationship knows that one doesn’t work without the other. They know that if a partner becomes disinterested in the relationship, it’s not worth saving, it’s up to the disinterested partner to decide if the relationship should continue. There’s nothing to do but to wait around to see if heartbreak is going to come. It may be a sad song but the lyrics make it a catchy song that even someone who’s never experienced a relationship heartbreak will be able to enjoy. 

    One of the most popular songs in the album, “Grow As We Go,” follows the theme of heartbreak. In this song, one partner is lost and believes that in order to grow they need space from the relationship and that it should end. This song is in the view of the second partner, singing that the other one doesn’t need to leave in order to change, that they can grow together. The background music is very calming and can leave the listener at ease. The lyrical section encourages a healthy relationship in which the partners talk to each other and help one another through “every twist and turn.” 

    A song that moves from heartbreak to healing is “New.” In this song, Platt expresses how after an ended relationship, he feels like a whole new person. The lyrics begin, “Wish that I’d known, this feeling was coming, when I was crying over you,” describing how even though a breakup may hurt, it will be over and you’ll feel like a new person that you never would have imagined. The beginning rhythm was electric and can cause your body to move to the beat. The line “Burned all your letters just for fun” shows how easy it is to just let go and discover the new person that you’ve become. This is a great song for anyone who is past the point of being sad after a breakup and gives them a chance to jump up and dance. 

    It’s a great album for anyone who’s in love, heartbroken after a breakup, or past that point and ready to become a new person. Platt’s music is creative and very enjoyable. Months after the Covid-19 outbreak, Platt released a new single titled, “So Will I.” He is also hoping to release his second album sometime in 2021.

  • School reopening is a good idea – but not for me!

    Jackrabbits are officially returning to school! As of March 2021, Polytechnic High School and the rest of LBUSD has announced that students are able to take a survey and decide if they would like to return to school and do hybrid learning or continue doing school online. 

     

    I feel like this is a good thing because I have noticed that many students have slept during Zoom sessions or do not take online classes as seriously. So I feel like having that hybrid option could really help students bring up their grades. 

     

    On the other hand, Covid-19 is still going around, so when students return it could expose students to the virus. We would have to do things like clean desks, wear a mask the whole time and keep our distance from teachers and other students. 

     

    Me personally, I think I will continue to do online instead of hybrid. I feel like the two days of the week in school isn’t going to help or affect me or my grade. I would like to return to school, but only if everything was back to normal. Overall, I think hybrid learning will be a lot of help for many students who can get on-hand help if they need it, but I don’t think it would be worth it for me.

     

  • Thoughts About Online Learning and Reopening School

    To start off, I feel like going back to school next month is pointless because of the fact that we are going back only for one month and we are gonna be doing the same thing that we do at home only in the classroom environment. I think that there isn’t really a reason to go back if we are about to graduate. The fact we only have a little bit of time left, and having no Senior Activities, it makes no sense for us to go back and have just one month of Senior year. I have chosen to stay online to finish the school year. 

    In my opinion staying home is the best choice for me and it’s better for me in a working environment, without distractions. It’s a plus for the students who don’t do too great in school because they can work at their own pace and turn in the assignments as late as they want without having to stress about it. It’s good because I get to take breaks if I need it and if I want to go ahead, I can go ahead and do the work if I already know what to do. I feel like online school has helped a lot of the kids who don’t pay attention in class to get better grades and be more successful in a way, because the kids can work and do school anywhere they want,  as long as there is wifi around.

    Aside from the first paragraph, there are cons with online schooling because there are things that kids can do in the comfort of their home without teachers supervision. Students feel like they can do what they want whenever they want, and the fact that we can turn off our cameras makes it easy for us to get up and do other things while in school. 

    There are tons of cons with online schooling, but the main one that I hear the most is that some people have bad Wifi and they can’t do the work and get to class because it’s a stream from the cloud that uses data to transfer the video to one computer to the other. Teachers need to understand that some people have really bad wifi and sometimes the Wifi is so bad they can’t even log into Canvas or Zoom, and we can’t control that. Another reason why people have problems doing online school is that they have an old computer or laptop that is crappy, and the system is old and can’t keep up with how much data is being transferred on Zoom, causing the computer to run slow and act up. 

    I would love to go back to school and get back in the habit of being in a classroom environment, but if we are going back and doing the same thing that we are doing at home, then there is no point in doing that. I can work at home in the comfort of a nice chair, desk, computer, and lay down in my bed without having to ask the teacher. At school the desks and chairs are uncomfortable and make our backs and butts hurt after long periods of sitting, and we have to ask to get up and do things that we can do at home.

    To conclude my opinion, I think that online school has helped me and other people do better in school even if there are problems with it. Sometimes online school can be stressful because we have so many things that can happen in our households, and I feel that teachers understand what we have to go through with online school and that makes us students feel better, because we know we are not the only ones that feel the same about online schooling. 

     

  • My Family’s Firefighter

    My Family’s Firefighter

    Three young girls stand behind a firefighter on an old fashioned fire truck
    Kelly Rodriguez and sisters with retired Long Beach Fire Department Captain/Investigator Patrick Wills. (Photo courtesy Kelly Rodriguez)

     

    I know this firefighter who’s been there my whole life. His name is Pat Wills. Well, he was a Fire Captain with the Long Beach Fire Department in Los Angeles, but he retired not that long ago. He now teaches cops to become good. He met my mom just after my sisters died in a fire. At that time he was supervising investigators of the Long Beach Fire/ATF Arson Unit. Pat made sure living in unpermitted converted garages won’t happen anymore. It’s illegal now. When I was young we used to go downtown Long Beach to the city hall to fight for my sisters’ law, Aviles Law. Aviles Law was first made official by the City of Long Beach in 2011, and then became a California state law in 2013.

    A young girl with man smiling
    Kelly Rodriguez with Pat Wills. (Photo courtesy Kelly Rodriguez)

     

    Pat never left our lives since my sisters died. He has helped us a lot for our sisters. Every year when it’s our birthday he comes and brings us flowers or if he can´t make it another firefighter comes and we take pictures to send them to Pat. Pat’s wife also bakes us cupcakes. They’re the best. 

    A family stands posing for a picture
    The Rodriguez family with Pat Wills. (Photo courtesy Kelly Rodriguez)

     

    Pat is working on a book about my sisters. He’s been working on it for years, and it’s coming out soon, like around April 2021. He just needs half of the people in the book to sign it so he can  have the rights to say my sister’s name and their names.

  • A Rude, but Subtle Awakening

    A Rude, but Subtle Awakening

    These past months have had a series of highs and lows. It’s been hard for me to stay consistent in many ways. I often catch myself overthinking small things such as the way I speak, write and solve homework problems.  With the COVID-19 pandemic being the root of many of my problems in the present day, I noticed that I’ve been overwhelming myself with thinking about my future. Although, before the pandemic I wasn’t very social, I hate the fact that I don’t always have the option to decide if I want to be. I am not a very social person, I keep my circle small and the few people that I confide in bring me joy through these times.  Recently,  while speaking to one of my friends I told them that I had been attempting to do too many things at once resulting in not getting anything done. I realized that I was ironically stressing myself out trying not to stress which resulted in not completing anything. I came to the conclusion that staying inside everyday while doing online school has made school my entire life. School is important to me but the question that I frequently ask myself is this: What’s next?

    I say to myself, “After school what can I do with my day, realistically speaking?” Then the only thing I come up with is doing homework so I have a better GPA which will make the chances of me getting accepted to a university greater. While confiding in my friend, they  reminded me of how unhealthy it can be to overwhelm ourselves. Hearing that from an outside source other than myself and my mother seemed to be a little more effective. My friend then offered to take me out of the house to clear my mind. After being away from my computer and my family,  just embracing the moment that I was currently experiencing, I felt a tremendous amount of weight lift off of my body. One particular outing my friend took me on was as simple as walking to the beach and sitting on the sand before sunset. Having experiences non-related to school has improved my capability to perform when solving problems. I appreciate the little things and experiences more than I have ever before. At this point in my life anything can happen, school shouldn’t be more important than myself.

  • Working out During Quarantine

    Working out During Quarantine

    Working out is endorsed by doctors and health-specialists for all kids or for anyone who may be in need of it. Many supply this need with walking, biking, or other hour-long activities that can be accomplished at a park or out in the open. Other workouts are done in gyms or closed-off workout spaces. Some people indulge in building up a private gym in their homes and have been unaffected by the change Covid-19 brought upon them. Others, however, have been left in the dark about how best to go about continuing their routine while stuck at home – and some people are too busy trying to support themselves or their dependents to worry about it.

     

    I have experienced this myself, even as a student with no workout-heavy extracurricular activities, the sharp decline in the amount of walking I accomplished in a day, walking from class to class, and walking around school with friends have left me uncommonly lethargic, eternally tired, and while my grades have taken a sharp upturn with the abundance of time I have to do nothing, my physical upkeep has been lacking. While no negative effects have shown long-term problems, should the world go back to normal, it shows me more clearly the lack of agency I take in keeping myself fit, as I usually rely on everyday exercise to keep me healthy.

     

    Without that outlet, I’ve been put in charge of my own health and wellness, and I’ve done my best to develop a small, important way to make sure you move about and give your body the smaller exercises it needs to stay healthy.

     

    1. Don’t sit at your computer all-day

    No matter what you believe, schoolwork won’t keep you glued to your chair all day. Every workspace and school schedule allows for small breaks to be taken in between bouts of work and classes. Don’t take this time for granted, and sit at your computer or on your phone, watching Youtube or Tik Tok. instead, get up, shake out your legs and stretch your arms, use every break you can to move as much of your body as possible.

    1. Have a small workout or stretch routine

    Set aside a small amount of time in your schedule to work out, no matter how intense it is. It can range from a small ten-minute low impact routine, or an hour-long weight-lifting routine. Any extra movement will be beneficial for your body, and its health. I prefer a ten-to-fifteen minute workout, short and simple, with hand weights to ensure I keep the strength in my arms and torso. There are plenty of examples of short, long, easy, and intense workouts out there if you look for them.

    1. Understand that you need to go outside

    With the threat of Covid-19, many fear going outside. By saying you need to go outside, I’m not encouraging you to go outside and have parties or visit others, but to sit or stand outside, with proper mask protection and sunscreen, and stretch or stand or walk. Breath in the air and let the sun warm you. Becoming stagnant inside can lead to more brittle bones with a lack of vitamin D, which can become a long-term problem. Make time every day to stand outside, and sit or lie down, in your front or backyard, if you can, or try to squeeze the time in when going out for needed groceries. 

    My main suggestion would be to do a pre-warm-up outside, or if your workout is short, spend your entire workout outside, if you are able to do so and with proper face protection. I do a combination of school work and workouts outside, intermittently throughout the week.

    Image result for Dumbbells

    Working out and moving around, no matter how often, is an activity that will help with the monotony of staying indoors and any feeling of stillness that may come upon you. These are three smaller ideas that I’ve come up with to help myself when facing being indoors for the unseeable future, and keeping your body strong is one of the main ways to combat this. 

     

    The next time you get a ten-minute break, rather than looking at screens, stand and stretch, take a breath, and move your body.