Category: Opinion

This year, Senior Ditch Day was on Wednesday, April 20th. Senior Ditch Day is an unofficial annual holiday for seniors to take a break and celebrate all the hard work they have done in their soon-ending high school careers.
Although half of the teachers at Poly were expecting to have empty chairs in their classrooms, the other half knew their students would come because they placed traps for seniors to come that day. The word going around the day before was that many senior students had tons of work assignments due on Senior Ditch Day. Many teachers threatened their students with zeros and losing participation points if they chose to be absent. “It was definitely intentional to ensure that students come to school. It was very unfortunate for some students who still decided to ditch,” said senior Aldegundo Camacho.
The fact is that with just 41 more days till the class of 2016 graduates on June 15, all seniors are focused toward that specific day. Most of all, seniors are prepared to drop dead due to the end-of-the-year homework and class work we are all receiving.
“It is so unfair, we are seniors and it is the end of the year and getting lots of work assigned.Teachers should remember what it is like to be a senior and realize that there is more in our lives than just school. Due to us having to be here by law, school is very high priority,” said Senior Saul Ruiz.
“I had two test that day,” Lorena Ordaz said solemnly, “I wanted to hang out with my friends.”
The last two months should be the resting period for all seniors, not a time for more work to be given because seniors already gave their very best throughout the last four years: many sleepless nights, skipping out on fun, and even having to lose some event or associate important to you.
Seniors are the Kings and Queens of Poly High School, and having worked their butts off to get to this point, we at least deserve the last two months to be some of the easiest and best of high school.

March 25, 2016
Ms. Andrea Garcia

Dear Andrea,
Thank you for applying to ____________. The Committee on Admissions has reviewed your application, and due to the large number of highly qualified applicants, we regret to inform you that we –.
Thank you for applying to –.
Thank you –.
Tha – .

It didn’t even matter anymore.

What did I do wrong?  What could I have done better?

It was as if door after door had been slammed in my face. Nine out of twelve doors, to be exact.

As all my fellow seniors know, college season can be either the worst or best time of the school year. For me, the entire process, from testing to filling out applications to the actual moment of truth, was hell. I like to think that I am a person who would not be completely devastated by a college rejection, that I am someone better than the system. I know that neither a college acceptance nor a rejection defines me or my future. Yet, it is hard to feel confident about my accomplishments and myself and feel secure about my future when that goal I have been working towards these last four years becomes meaningless. Everything I have accomplished, all the hard work and late nights – meaningless.

I tried to make sense of things and put everything into perspective.  However, the truth is that as much as I tried to put “things in perspective,” I really just could not. The college process always seems  so subjective and it makes me furious.

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT? I know one thing though: they did not want me. YOU WANT THEM, AND NOT ME? Are you serious? I know it sounds ugly, but do not even try to deny that you have not thought that way at least once. We all are entitled beings, and we all get somewhat bitter when we see someone succeed over us.

I was disappointed in myself. My pain became my parents’ pain and that definitely was the worst part. I would lay awake thinking about what I could have done better: my test scores, grades, and essays, but no matter how hard I thought about it, the matter of the fact is that there is nothing I could do about it now but move on.

“It all happens for a reason.”

I would roll my eyes so hard every time I would hear that. But this time around, it seems to be the most comforting line. Even though that reason is not as clear right now, hopefully four years from now, I will be grateful for the ways things worked out.

Let me tell you seniors, you are not alone and it is not just me. The first step is accepting the fact that even though we will not be where we imagined, we all must learn to be grateful for the opportunities we have. Take them and run. Berkeley was my dream school; however, I will be across the country for the next four years at American University in Washington, DC.

We all must be excited for our futures, and if we are not, we must work towards something that excites us. With the college wave behind me, I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors. If a door was not opened for you, it was because there was not anything behind it for you, so find one that does. Get up, take a deep breath, and dust yourself off. Take advantage of all the opportunities presented to you, and work hard for those that are not. Be great wherever you go.

The pro-life vs. pro-choice debate on abortion has undoubtedly ruffled many feathers on both sides. However, regardless of religion, sex, or self-righteousness, it is a fact that the effects of limited access to legal and safe abortion services are deadly.
Do you know what happens when women do not have access to legal abortion? Women perform the abortions themselves.
Many women, especially in developing countries with unsanitary conditions, use wire hangers, knitting needles, or other sharp objects in an attempt to pierce the fetus and terminate the pregnancy. This causes major internal injury and infection, sometimes leading to the deaths of the fetus and the mother. I do not know about you, but this does not sound pro-life to me.
Women have also turned to popping pills of all kinds, pouring bleach or gasoline into their vaginas, purposely falling down flights of stairs, drinking far too much alcohol, or drastically overheating or freezing the body.
Now, I know people are thinking, “That is the woman’s fault for throwing herself down a flight of stairs!” However, that is not the point. The point is, if women had access to a legal, safe abortion in the first place, they would never have thrown themselves down a flight of stairs, injuring or killing both them and their fetuses. With a legal, safe abortion, at least one life would have been saved.
Before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, up to 5,000 women died from DIY abortion methods every year in America. According to a report by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project, somewhere between 100,000 and 240,000 Texas women attempted self-induced abortions in 2015.
If women cannot get abortions, they may have to give their babies up for adoption. Now, many people see absolutely no problem with this. But please, explain that to the seven million children who are currently in institutional care worldwide. If adoption is so “good” and “easy” and “available,” please explain that to the 120,000 orphans currently living in America, the 27,000 of those orphans who will age out of the system with no financial or emotional support each year, and the 25% of those who will have no high school diploma or GED, according to SOS Children’s Villages. There is also plenty of research supporting that neglected foster children are more susceptible to falling into a life of crime. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that 30% to 40% of foster children have been arrested after exiting the system. According to the California State Legislature, over 70% of State Penitentiary inmates were once in foster care. When children are left in a series of homes that are rocky at best, the odds of stability are stacked against them.
If these statistics do not phase you, are you really pro-life? I think the more accurate phase would be “anti-abortion access.” Regardless of political standing, it is completely undeniable that the effects of closing abortion clinics are fatal and damaging for women and their fetuses, the latter of which will become their children.

Views of the Presidential Candidates and US Citizens

Abortion definitely appears like a partisan issue, especially during the current presidential election. All Democratic candidates are pro-choice, meaning for abortion, and all Republican candidates are pro-life, meaning against abortion. However, abortion is not so simple a subject.
Within each party, Americans are divided on the subject of abortion. According to the Pew Research Center, the Democratic Party is divided with 60% pro-choice and 35% pro-life. The Republican Party is divided with 39% pro-choice and 57% pro-life. Despite these in-party divides, the Republican Party leans to the pro-life side and the Democratic Party to the pro-choice side.

Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt

The Supreme Court heard the controversial abortion case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt on Wednesday, March 2.
People are claiming that Texas’s abortion laws passed in 2013 are an “undue burden” for women trying to obtain an abortion.
The Texas law requires all abortion clinics to have hospital admitting privileges and to meet the construction standards of surgical centers, measures that appear logical until looked at closely. Hospitals rarely give abortion clinics privileges and abortions are rarely surgical, meaning that dozens of abortion clinics were shut down for no good reason.
With the death of pro-life Justice Antonin Scalia, a 4-4 decision looks very likely, and would allow these states to shut down even more clinics. Thus, it is crucial for pro-choice advocates that Justice Anthony Kennedy votes in their favor.
The Supreme Court’s decision is expected in June 2016.