Category: Opinion

  • The Life of An Office Aide

    Everyday in school you see an office aide walk into your class and I’m pretty sure you think it’s probably one of the most fun classes you can take on campus, but that may not be the case.

    Don’t get me wrong being an office aide does have its perks, walking around school to kill time, just chill there for a bit, walking around and delivering stuff, but most of the time you may not have something to do.

    In my experience, being an office aide in the counselor’s office, you get to take call slips, sort out the mail, and deliver things for counselors and occasionally take other things, but what do yo undo when they don’t have mail or what if the they don’t anyone to call out of class? You just sit there in the office… right in the middle of one of the busiest offices in school. Everyone, including teachers, students and staff memebers are walking in and out of a very small office.

    So yeah, it’s an easy ‘A’ and does get fun, but a lot of the times you are just sitting there. But for me I have a friend that I’ve known for a while in that class so it’s kinda just like another lunch period, and we just walk around when we don’t have any passes to hand out, but we can’t be out for too long in case they do need an aide to do something, even though there are three aides during my period.

    Personally, I would recommend being an office aide, it’s an easy ‘A’ and it’s even more fun if you take the class with a friend, because you get to pick what office you want to be in, you get to take some walks, when you don’t have anything to do you can just sit there on your phone. The cons is it can get boring waiting on stuff to do, sometimes the mail can really pile up, there’s many people walking in and out of the office, sometimes teacher don’t even wanna open their doors… and teachers can sometimes be a little bit rude, but most of them are pretty cool.

    One time a teacher asked me what the pass is for and SIS, I really don’t know, and she kept asking me, like the students name is on there and tells them where to go… I’m just the aide, the little delivery man, sister, so I don’t know why you would keep asking me, that’s between the counselor and the student.

    Sometimes I feel like the teachers don’t remember that we don’t know what they’re going there for, we’re just the delivery man (or woman).

    But at the end of the day, I do enjoy the class, I feel like it’s very easy, and a majority of the time pretty fun, especially if you have conversations with the workers in your office. So if your thinking about being an office aide, I most definitely recommend it, it’s like a free class period.

  • Australian Fires a Call to Action

    Australian Fires a Call to Action

    We can not continue this way. This is not normal. The catastrophic fires raging within Australia’s forests are not normal. The one billion animals dead and eight thousand dead koalas is not normal. As a result of us being Americans, the situation seems far away to us. Justifiably, we are not confronted with the pain of being there: smelling, seeing, and feeling the fires. However, we must stand as a collective whole and fight against climate change.

    The longer the climate worsens, the more it seems like people are disregarding the situation. It is in our human nature to get tired of one thing after it continues for a while (just like a monotonous sitcom at your grandparents’ house), but this climate crisis is not something we can turn off. We know that, but we should act as if that is true. We can not expect for things to get better unless we instill the urgency of the situation now. Climate change is happening, and it’s happening quickly. To match the speed of this crisis, we need to return to the foundations of humanity.

    Within humanity, there is in it the “human,” that makes society better, and at times as critical as this, we need to be reminded of the change we can make. Humanity is not something to be learned, it’s a basic kindergarten principle. We all can practice it and implement it into our lives. The only requirement for making change is knowing that you can. Making small changes like maybe not getting that five-dollar Starbucks drink on Monday and instead using that money to donate to fire relief and recovery programs, decreasing your carbon footprint by turning off the light when you leave a room, or minimizing shower time. These little things when practiced as a collective whole create progress and change. They matter.

    You can help the world continue more positively because we can not continue this way. These fires are not normal. This is not normal.

  • Iran vs. America

    The two countries have been feuding since the 1980’s after there were disagreements from the 1979 Iranian Revolution. But when the U.S had an embargo on trade with Iran in 1995, things got very serious and possibly close to an outbreak of wars.

    In 2015, the United States led successful negotiations for a nuclear deal intended to dismantle Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities, and when Iran complied in 2016, sanctions on the country were lifted. The Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear deal and re-imposed the sanctions in 2018.

    Since this time, relations between the United States and Iran have worsened, and the two countries came close to conflict when their major general Qasem Soleimani was killed in a U.S drone strike approved by President Trump.

    Why we would do this? I’m not quite sure. Government officials state that Trump had initially decided to strike at the Shia militia, but instead chose the most extreme option of killing Soleimani after seeing television footage of the attack on the embassy. 

    But then there’s a contradicting statement by the Trump Administration claiming that Soleimani was targeted in order to stop the “imminent” attacks on Americans that he was plotting. There is no actual answer from the president himself other than these statements following Soleimani’s death.

    What I think should’ve happened in this situation was to leave him and the country alone. They haven’t attacked our country in a while, so why attack theirs and break up the somewhat peace we have. Until they physically show they’re going to attack us, we shouldn’t strike first to reveal how “powerful” we are against them.

    All this is going to do is invoke violence upon us like what has happened already. They shot missiles at us and shot down a Ukranian plane to display what they are capable of doing. At least we have defensive missiles to take out incoming enemy fire – oh wait, nevermind! They don’t work.

    As long as we stay away from using violence against Iran, we will be safe from any “World War III” possibilities as the media says will happen.

  • World War 3 LOLs

    “2020 is going to be my year!” World in 2020: Brink of WW3, Australian wildfires, no girlfriend, living in Grandfather’s old shack.

    *****

    The government is drafting kids because they know all the games of Call of Duty paid off their training.

    *****

    Iran thinking it’s all fun and games until kids that got drafted in the United States start building, doing 90s and quickscoping.

    *****

    Iran might have the Iranian Hulk, but the US have Lizzo.

    *****

    Donald Trump is starting the New Year off with a BANG.

    *****

    The best part of the New Year is not going to have to worry about the next year because we’re already dead.

    *****

    Mexico is now starting to build their own wall to escape the WW3.

    *****

    El Chappo now chilling in the White House while the US is too focused fighting Iran.

    *****

    When NCAA athletes are happy to hear they’re getting drafted until they get sent to Iran.

    *****

    When you’re chilling out on the porch and some FBI agent walks up to your porch and says “Hello sir may I…” “Its Ma’am!”

    *****

    Kid: “I need to get out of the house more.” Army recruiter: “Here’s a free ticket to Iran! Just for you!”

    *****

    President Trump message to Iran, “Let’s make a deal we get 1⁄4 of your nation’s oil supply and  we don’t missile strike you anymore. And as a show of gratitude we give you Justin Bieber. Beiber fever right? Deal?”

  • The Death of Mainstream Rock

    While the rock music genre may be alive and well today, its existence on the charts has all but become extinct. With bands like the Jonas Brothers and Ariana Grande topping the charts as of 2019, it is evident that rock has been occupying less and less spots on the charts. Not only that, but most of the artists who gained traction in their careers through rock have as of recent years evolved into a sound more pop or electronic than anything else. There is no better example of this than Brendie Urie and Panic! at the Disco. The band made a mass hit in popularity back in 2005 with their first album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, but come the new decade, half the band left the project, and the rest of them left in 2015. At this point, Panic! has been left to a solo project instead of a band. Death of a Bachelor (2016) wasn’t a bad album, though it did depart from the band’s roots, but the following, Pray for the Wicked (2018) wasn’t worth more than a trashed vinyl you found on the side of the muddy road. It felt so mechanical and fake, as if it were written by a computer instead of a human.
    Hailing from England, Kaiser Chiefs had their brief period of popularity hit the US during the previous decade, probably due to the second British invasion that occurred in the 90s with bands like Oasis, Kasabian, and Blur. Their second and third albums hit the US top 200 charts at 45 and 55, respectively, but with their third album in 2011, it was nowhere to be seen. Two records later, frontman Ricky Wilson decided he wanted to switch from writing Brit-rock or Brit-pop to writing dance music. Stay Together (2016) is the worst album they’ve ever released by a long shot. With every song framed by electronic synthesizers and bombastic choruses, the band even flat-out admitted at the start of the seventh track, “Press Rewind,” “This is pop music/We’re writing and recording pop music.” The easiest song to stomach would be “Indoor Firework” because the lyrics were at least somewhat meatier, but not by much.
    But then come their latest, Duck (2019). An album for which was widely criticised for its failed attempt to please both critics and fans alike. The record had a few tracks that were enjoyable, including the catchy “Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something,” but the majority of the album seemed as if it were written to sing in stadiums, especially the irritating opener, “People Know How to Love One Another.” Duck was a sigh of relief compared to their previous record, but after two consecutive albums of mostly junk, there is almost no hope left for Kaiser Chiefs.
    Sure, we still have Jack White and The Raconteurs with Help Us Stranger (2019) being arguably their greatest record yet. But as for White’s solo projects, not only do they live in the shadow of the greatness that was The White Stripes, but Boarding House Reach (2018) strayed far from the mark of anything we have come to love about White, incorporating more elements of funk, experimental, and gospel music rather than rock. Maybe there is some hope for rock in the future, but as of 2019, it is unlikely that we are to see a big rock band stand out in the mainstream industry in the near future.

  • Goodbye 2019

    I know at the end of the year we say, “this was the worst year ever,” but… 2019 was literally the worst year ever. I don’t know if it’s because I got older and I have more responsibilities and I am much more aware of how much the world hates me… but my goodness. I won’t do an entire recap of how much the world showed me that it didn’t like me this year but I will say this one was definitely one for the books. Now it wasn’t completely bad. Some good things did happen. I got a new job, moved to a new house, started saving money. But the emotional strain that this year had on me was hard. I lost friendships that I truly thought would last forever. I cried more this year than I have since I was a fetus. I felt so much stress and pressure this year from so many different things but this year taught me that I am truly resilient. Every time I fell, I got right back up and continued moving forward. All the friends I lost, good riddance! Every bad thing that happened was to prepare me for something later on. A reminder for anyone who reads this, you are resilient! This year has tested everybody but we’re still here, growing!! So be proud. This decade was something else but here’s to the 20’s! Good luck!

  • TikTok at All Hours of the Clock

    With over 33 million downloads, TikTok has become a very popular media platform that has risen to the top. Although many people may say that it’s a cringey app, I think otherwise. Well at first I didn’t actually. I once found myself among the several people who would claim themselves to be against TikTok. I’ll admit, I would even judge the people around me, such as my friends whenever I would see them making or posting their videos.

    My obsession with TikTok began just like any other person who is now making videos on the platform. I only downloaded the app as a joke, not thinking I’ll find any pleasure in the content it provided. At first I wouldn’t go on the app very often and even almost uninstalled it at some point. However, after more and more of the people I look up to on YouTube began using it, I found myself following them and before I knew it, I couldn’t even bring myself to close the app.

    I may have published a couple videos at some point,but I don’t really enjoy making them as much as others. Moreover, I definitely don’t enjoy showing my face to a bunch of strangers. People such as y cousin and best friend may do it, but I think just having downloaded the app is plenty outside my comfort zone for me. All in all, while I may enjoy the people who make content on the app, but I can guarantee that I will never make any videos of myself dancing or following along with the weird trends that go around just at an attempt to go vial and become “TikTok famous” as they say.

    Sadly enough TikTok has consumed much of my life.There have been situations where I have been in the middle of conversations through text with people, and end up forgetting to reply to them because I get distracted with TikTok. There has even been a certain weekend where I accidentally found myself staying up till the sun rose all because I stayed up all night on TikTok. This is something I definitely did not do before TikTok.

    The impacts TikTok has left in my life have not been very good, and that is exactly why I have decided to give myself a break from it. I don’t go on it as much as I used to (although I do still use it more than other apps) but I feel better about it as well. I would definitely not recommend people to download it unless you want to get hooked. By the way this is a joke, I do still have a life.

  • Not Home for the Holidays

    Happy Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy New Years! Happy to be home for the holidays! But wait…. instead of being able to be reunited with loved ones people are faced with deportation. Wow what a Christmas miracle!

    If you couldn’t tell, I was being ironic. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to be with their families during the holiday season due to Trump’s Administration embracing the bill, R.A.I.S.E. (Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy). The bill is meant to raise American wages by ending chain migration and by reducing the amount of Green Cards by 50%, yet, the bill ultimately fails to address an important aspect of deportation… the human within the statistics of “illegal aliens.”

    This holiday, we want to be able to celebrate the end of the decade with loved ones, but in order to do that our community must rise up against the tyranny occurring in our backyards. Instead of Santa Claus, children catch a sight of I.C.E. in front of their homes. Instead of Santa quietly sneaking in and stealing cookies, children are faced with the disruption of I.C.E. barging in their homes and taking their parents away. Instead of tears of joy, the community is encountered with tears of sorrow.

    In the fiscal year of 2018 more than 256,000 people were deported. According to the Washington Post, “I.C.E. said that 2,711 who were traveling in families and 5,571 unaccompanied children were removed from U.S. soil.” With the end of 2019 arriving, we can only hope that the amount of families separated decrease.

    With a large number of students at Poly being first generation Americans, this situation hits close to home. As opposed to former president, Barack Obama, who only deported immigrants convicted of serious crimes, Mr. Trump wants more rigid policies that would break up families.

    Peoples aren’t only deported for coming to America illegally but even legal immigrants are being deported if they have committed a numerous amount of misdemeanors, not accounting for how long ago it occurred and whether the person has changed or not. The measures that have been taken to deport family members away are unjust and some of the immigrants being deported are refugees who came into this country not knowing much. As a result, they were destined to suffer in this failed system called America, the land of the free! Family members and immigrants shouldn’t suffer from a failed system that is not set up to assimilate refugees and immigrants.

    In order to stay safe this holiday, you should know your rights. I highly suggest you search up a know your rights card and if an I.C.E. officer does try to instigate a situation show them the card and attain a lawyer. Remember you have the right to remain silent during this holiday season.

  • The Truth About Thanksgiving

    Most of us have heard the story of the pilgrims as kids. As we have been told, the pilgrims were immigrants from England who traveled to America seeking religious freedom. An English-speaking Native American named Squanto helped the pilgrims find food and learn how to use the land so they could survive in the new world. As thanks to the Native Americans, the pilgrims held a feast with a turkey, united together as one people to show gratitude for their bountiful harvest and good friends.

    Today, however, many of my friends are against the celebration of Thanksgiving because they believe that we are not celebrating friendship, but instead the oppression of the Native Americans. By coming to America, the first settlers brought diseases to the native people, attacked them, and stole the land that was rightfully theirs. Therefore, to celebrate Thanksgiving is to support the slaughter of the “real Americans” and forceful takeover of their homeland.

    However, many historians believe that this story that we have been told about these first settlers is indeed false. For one, the pilgrims did not come to America seeking religious freedom. According to the Plimoth Plantation, a museum dedicated to preserving history of the Plymouth Colony, the pilgrims had already fled religious persecution from England by immigrating to Holland. While there, they had complete freedom over what religion or church they followed or associated themselves with. No, they didn’t come seeking religious freedom, but instead because they feared they would lose their culture. Many of their children had begun to move away from their families and associate themselves with the Dutch culture. To preserve their identity as an English people, they decided to take the journey to the Americas.

    Most of the rest of the story is true. There was indeed a Native American named Squanto that helped the pilgrims, and they did have a three-day feast of Thanksgiving with each other where they ate and hunted together. But you also might not know that the epidemic that killed Squanto’s people had come and gone before the pilgrims arrived. They had nothing to do with that slaughter that so many people attribute the first Thanksgiving with.

    It is undeniable that our country has some corrupt, bloody history. But that first feast of the pilgrims was not symbolic of any of that. Even if we are wrong about the pilgrims, that doesn’t mean that the holiday is corrupt. For years, Thanksgiving has been celebrated by sitting down with family and friends for a meal to show gratitude and joy for each other’s company. It doesn’t matter if that feast actually took place or not. You can still give someone a gift on Christmas without believing in Christ or go trick-or-treating without believing in ghosts or spirits, so it is perfectly okay for you to give thanks this holiday season and share a good meal. Just don’t forget the pie.

  • Royal vs. Jokers

    The rally stage. The infamous rally stage that houses the butts of seniors during lunch and nutrition, is indeed the throne to kings and queens: seniors, the rulers of the kingdom we call Long Beach Polytechnic High School. The little, itty-bitty specks we call “freshman” perhaps would be named as “the jokers”. Their lower status prevents them from being able to rest even a pinky on the brick steps of the almighty rally stage. Even at twenty arm lengths away, just the thought of one of these jokers on their rather dirty and cold stage creates a fire hot rage for the kings and queens of Poly High School.

    One day in the Kingdom of Poly High School, a brave group of freshmen – I mean, jokers – were getting ready to eat their grub. At the rally stage, the kings dined fancy with their Hot Cheetos bags, every last crunch of processed cheese flavor bringing them closer to a bad case of diabetes, while the queens ate their lunch out of perfectly crafted Tupperware. As the jokers innocently pause in their steps to sit on the rally stage – I mean, throne – of seniors, the kings and queens were enraged at the sight of a lowlife joker on their beloved cathedra. The royals got up in a fury, walking almost a mile to the other side of the stage, catching their breath as they got to the jokers after their long trudge. A good workout, I might add, after all the Hot Cheetos, but that’s besides the point. The jokers trembled in their little boots as the royals huff and puff and blow them off the stage. The royals laughed in their victory, thinking they will never see or hear of the jokers on their stage again. Or so they thought…

    The next day, the kings and queens change it up and are instead fine dining on sweet and spicy Takis, satisfied with the lack of jokers around them that would contaminate their air. As the end of lunch grew closer,  more jokers, left and right, surrounded the stage with their new weapon: a sign. The sign read, “Freshman (Jokers) Welcome Here”. Their sign, a flag representing their will to fight the system created by the royals, waved high and proud over the stage, the blue and green markers bleeding through the paper due to the damp air. A great inspiration for all jokers and for those to come. A symbol of their strength and the f’s they don’t give. The royals, taken off guard soon begin to realize the persistence of the jokers, but prepare to fight back. Ripping the war flag off the catwalk, the seniors take back their turf. However, the jokers didn’t even blink, they didn’t give one rat’s ass. Instead, they sat right back down. Cheek to cheek, they sat their cheeks on the throne.

    The previous story is based on true events at Poly High School. The arrogance expressed by the seniors that inspired this tale is not necessary. Don’t kick poor freshmen off the stage. Poly is supposed to be a place where we welcome everyone. Seniors, sit down!

  • Gooooood Morning Jackrabbits!

    Gooooood Morning Jackrabbits!

  • Missing the Class of 2019

    If it hasn’t been said already, then I’ll be the first to say it: this school year is extremely different compared to last year. However, one thing that has especially impacted me has been the absence of alumni. It is uncertain how I got so close to them, but I know for a fact that it is definitely not the same without them.

    During the previous school year, you would find me hanging out with a group full of seniors. Like I said, I don’t really know how I winded up there in the first place, but being around them sure gave me pleasure. Conversations with them made me feel welcomed, and being a part of them made me feel included.

    Aside from that friend group, I also gained some friends from a college readiness program located at Long Beach City College called Upward Bound. I did not expect all my friends there to be ready so soon. Now that they’re in college and the majority of them no longer attend the program the same way, it feels different.

    Not only that, but last school year the newspaper production class was full of seniors. It was a class full of leadership as well as love and passion. Without this love and passion they held, the school newspaper could not have been the same. The laughter and inside jokes shared among the class brought a whole new meaning to journalism for me.

    Overall, these people left such a huge impact on me. Meeting them is possibly one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. In all honesty, seniors should be appreciated more and not taken for granted while they’re around.

    Although I no longer see them or hang out with them in the same way anymore, the experience was fun while it lasted. The connections are still there and the friendships still exist. I hope they’re all doing well and that they’re surrounded by people as amazing as they all are. In the end, people come and go in life, but it’s what they leave behind that matters.