JENNA SPOONT
WRITING
Throughout my life, I have always loved to sit down and write. My writing took on a higher level in high school when I won various writing competitions, from the Pennsylvania State University Essay Competition, PSPA Features Write-Off, PSPA Newspaper Editorial Write-Off and NSPA On-Air Reporter Write-Off. In January, I began an internship with Katie Koestner, a national expert on student safety and teen relationship culture. I work with Ms. Koestner to write scripts for a series of movies called ThinkDrink, ThinkLuv, ThinkText and ThinkSext. Ms. Koestner discovered my writing talent after I interviewed her for "World Wide Watch," the front page story that I wrote for The Spoke in Dec. 2012.
Whether I am writing for the newspaper, television, radio, film, online or even English class, I take every word that I write seriously. The way I write, the way I convey my words, determines the mood and the effect that I have on the audience.
NEWS
World Wide Watch:
As technology becomes an integral part of the lives of teenagers, The Spoke investigates how students perform illicit acts, operate under an impression of privacy and recover from public scandals that involve technology and social media.
The Spoke, December 2012
Writing "World Wide Watch" gave me an inside look at the dangers of sexting and distributing inappropriate images on the Internet. The difficulty that I encountered was dealing with anonymity, because I prefer to make a source anonymous if their interview revealed incriminating information. As the reporter, I had to decide whether or not I wanted to use the source Meredith Hart, because she wanted to remain anonymous. I questioned the credibility of the article, but came to the conclusion that yes, Hart's name is a pseudonym, but her story could change the lives for the better of the student body.
Senior Meredith Hart* was only a sophomore when she stumbled upon nude images that an Internet user took of her on Omegle, a video chatting website, when she was just 13 years old. As her world crashed down and her peers ostracized her, Hart cringed at the thought of the one minute that altered the rest of her high school career.
Hart said that the pedophile impersonated a celebrity and she posed nude for him, unaware that he was taking pictures of her. About a year later, Hart searched her name on Google and found the pictures. Her parents contacted the police to try to take them off the Internet, but the pictures were later found by another student. News of the photos spread across the school and her classmates’ taunts eventually became so severe that she said she needed a security guard to accompany her to classes.
Hart said she began attending a boarding school at the beginning of her junior year, where she could get a fresh start and rebuild her reputation.
“Right now, I kind of learned that it’s not far in my past, but it’s far enough in my past that I can explain it to people and say that I’ve learned from it,” Hart said. “As I’m going off to college and everything, I just hope that it doesn’t come back, because that really does affect your reputation. And I’m trying really hard to get a good reputation back and it’s pretty much impossible.”
Hart said she wishes she had reconsidered the situation before posing in front of her webcam.
“If you think something doesn’t seem right, don’t do it,” Hart said. “Even if you have that slightest idea, because normally it will turn out in some kind of negative way. [Even though] it’s just a chance, it’s not really a risk that you want to take.”
Dr. Rob D’Ovidio, a professor of Criminal Justice at Drexel University, explained that any person who receives a nude picture of a minor can be legally responsible.
“It becomes incumbent upon [the individual] to notify the authorities in their school or preferably law enforcement, or preferably both, actually, that someone has sent them a text message or an email message with a picture of a naked minor or any type of pornography,” D’Ovidio said.
Sexting at ’Stoga
Senior Kurt Collinson* said that he has been sexting, defined as sending and receiving sexually suggestive texts or images, since seventh grade. Collinson said he does not see sexting as unusual in today’s society, and although he knows his actions are illegal, he hopes that he does not get into legal trouble.
“Kids are bored. Sex is more allowed now than it used to be. It’s much more public, it’s much more publicized on TV and all over the Internet,” Collinson said.
Junior Clayton Bolen* said part of the reason he began sexting was because of peer pressure.
“I just saw other people doing it,” Bolen said. “It’s kind of like one of those things where other people are doing it, so maybe I should be doing it too.”
Collinson said that sexting is laid-back and simple. A typical conversation starter would be along the lines of, “What are you doing, babe?”
If she says, “‘Nothing, I’m laying in bed,’ then you ask and you pretty much just say it, ‘Send me pics,’ and sometimes they do it, sometimes they don’t,” Collinson said.
In Pennsylvania, sending explicit pictures of minors is illegal. House Bill 815, approved by Gov. Corbett (R-Pa.) Oct. 25, made the penalty for consensual sexting by minors a third-degree misdemeanor. Transferring images with the intent to harass is a second-degree misdemeanor. For the first offense, offenders take educational programs and have charges dropped from their criminal records.
Despite the reduced penalty for consensual sexting, distribution of nude images of minors remains a crime. D’Ovidio said he advises minors to consider who may end up receiving photos that they send.
“There’s a perception that we’re safe and we’re secure when we communicate via mediated technology, such as computers or cell phones,” D’Ovidio said. “When we don’t have to face a person directly, and have that interaction, our inhibitions are reduced.”
Outlets for sexting include Snapchat, a mobile phone application, which enables people to send photos that will expire after one to 10 seconds. However, users are able to save the pictures by taking screenshots.
Hart said that people have asked her to send nude photos via Snapchat.
“No matter who it is, if they went to Conestoga and they were there at the time, I think that they feel that I’m open to [sexting]. It’s actually really insulting that people think that,” Hart said. “And I understand where they’re coming from, I really do. But it’s insulting. It’s kind of like, ‘Wow, that’s what you think of me?’ Because that’s not who I am.”
Chatroulette and Omegle are two websites based on video and text chatting. The slogan for Omegle is “Talk to strangers!” however the website disclaimer, updated Nov. 27, encourages users to “not transmit nudity, or behave in any other inappropriate way.”
Although Omegle does not permit minors to use the service without the consent of a parent or guardian and prohibits children under 13 from using the website altogether, D’Ovidio said that parents may find it difficult to enforce their children’s Internet habits.
“You can reach out to Chatroulette and have a random conversation with someone online and quite frankly, there’s a lot of pornography, a lot of viewing of people showing their private parts on those types of services,” D’Ovidio said. “Parents need to do a better role of controlling that and really take a step back in time and say, ‘I’m going to assert my authority and ensure that I know who my kids are speaking with.’ And recognize what that means is they’re going to have to play a role in their child’s virtual life.”
An illusion of privacy
Principal Dr. Amy Meisinger said that security will be a priority for the district as it implements its Bring Your Own Device policy next year.
“We know how important your digital dossier is in the next steps that you take as students,” Meisinger said. “Employers look at this, college admissions offices look at these things—they’re Googling you, they’re looking at Facebook, they’re looking at Tweets, they’re looking at all these things. So our goal is to educate the students so that you present yourself in the best light and that you don’t get yourself in a situation where you would close doors for yourself.”
Conestoga educates its students about Internet security by incorporating digital citizenship lessons into research projects and holding an annual program by Katie Koestner, a national expert on student safety and teen relationship culture. She spoke to seniors Dec. 14 about date rape and underclassmen Dec. 17 about Internet safety.
“If you make that choice [to sext], you’ve got to own the responsibility of what comes with it,” Koestner said. “It’s not as simple as flirting in the privacy of behind a closed door with someone you like. You’re definitely flirting in a really public place. So imagine whatever you’re doing with technology, could you do it in the middle of the football field in front of everyone else?”
Locally, Radnor High School faced a sex video scandal Nov. 15 when a student allegedly stole another student’s cell phone and distributed a video of students engaging in sexual activity.
Meisinger said that if an incident were reported on school grounds, the administration would take part in the investigation. However, if a student or family member reports an off-campus incident, the district refers them to the police.
Senior Anna Grosul faced an unpredictable incident after she posted a non-incriminating photo of herself and senior Robin Luo onto her Facebook timeline. One of her friends, Siv Zamani, created a “meme,” an image or video that is passed electronically on the Internet, that ended up on the homepage of Reddit after it received more than 200,000 views.
“People I didn’t know at all, I’ve never met in my life, like people from Texas or Georgia, were just commenting on my picture, like ‘she looks like she’s 12’ or ‘she’s not attractive,’ and that was just not something that I wanted,” Grosul said. “I didn’t ask for their opinion, they don’t even know what I look like in person. It just really hurt my feelings.”
Grosul resents the fact that she did not have any control over Zamani posting the picture on Reddit, even though she “wasn’t doing anything bad in the picture, it was just the writing on top of it.”
“It was really scary because it was all just for fun, we make memes all the time,” Zamani said. “First it felt amazing to be on the front page of Reddit because that’s been on the bucket list for a while, and I got that. But then when [Grosul] called [about the meme], I got very scared very fast because I wasn’t trying to do anything harmful.”
Grosul understands that users sign privacy contracts on Facebook, but, “I just think that there’s nowhere to hide anymore,” she said. “Sometimes, I’m scared if I even just post a picture of my face that it would just turn into something that it shouldn’t.”
Luo considered the risk of colleges seeing the picture, but said he understands the repercussions that arise from posting a picture on Facebook.
“Facebook is an open website where if you post a picture, people are allowed to take that,” he said. “But it [made] me feel like my privacy was invaded.”
A parent of a Sandy Run Middle School (Upper Dublin, Pa.) student reported a similar Facebook privacy breach Nov. 30. Pictures of girls from the school were posted on a website containing photos of other minors. The photos, non-suggestive in nature, were placed next to links for pornography websites.
D’Ovidio advises people to speak up if they do not want images of them shared on social media websites.
“Be cognitive of the fact that those pictures can wind up in the hands that you don’t want them to be in,” D’Ovidio said.
Sophomore Cameron Moore said he does not use Facebook because he realizes the potential downsides of posting personal information to social media.
“I don’t have a Facebook account because I just don’t want that information out there,” Moore said. “Anyone can see it no matter how embarrassing it is, and from what I’ve seen of Facebook, people take whatever liberties they want.”
However, despite the potential drawbacks, Luo noted that the Internet can also be used to one’s advantage.
“You can choose what you do on the Internet, so unless you want to do bad stuff, like post a picture in an inappropriate way, then that’s your decision,” Luo said. “But most of the time you can use the Internet to your advantage.”
Rebuilding a reputation
Hart said that she has become more cautious since the photos leaked.
“Normally if you think twice, you catch yourself from making a mistake that could cost you something big in your life,” Hart said.
Hart said she is making an effort to inspire people at her new school about the dangers of the Internet. She has become stronger since the incident and is trying to educate other young women about online privacy. She said that she plans to base her senior presentation on what she learned from that one minute she spent on Omegle.
“I’ve matured a lot. I know how to handle so much more,” Hart said. “You can throw any situation in front of me and I realize that it’s okay because everything will get better. The second that that happened, I thought that I was going to fall off the face of the earth. But now that I’ve been able to handle that, you can throw whatever you want at me and I can take care of it.”
Collinson said he became more careful with his sexting habits after hearing of the Radnor scandal, but will not stop sexting altogether.
“I’ll definitely think twice about it, without a doubt,” Collinson said. “But I’ll still do it.”
Bolen said he stopped sexting after realizing how it could affect peoples’ reputations.
“I’ve actually become a lot more faithful as a Christian, and that’s kind of done it,” Bolen said. “I’ve seen things like the Radnor scandal and I realized that I shouldn’t be putting these things out there.”
Hart said she barely recognizes the person she used to be.
“I have totally turned my life around as a person,” she said. “I have much more going for me now than I ever thought I would have in my life.”
Seasonal flu infects 'Stoga, causes schoolwide stress
The Spoke, February 2013
The winter season correlates with runny noses, fevers, stomach viruses and absent students. According to Conestoga attendance data, as of Jan. 22, an average of 97 students were absent per day in the month of January. In January 2012, an average of 52 students were absent per day.
This year’s flu season unprecedentedly peaked in early December, according to Elizabeth Walls, Bureau Director of Personal Health Services at the Chester County Health Department (CCHD). Cases of influenza typically tend to spike around mid-December, January and February. Walls said the CCHD offers every school district in Chester County an opportunity in the fall to provide free flu shots to students in school, with parental permission. Tredyffrin/Easttown School District has never chosen to participate in this service.
Dr. Delvin Dinkins, Director of Assessment and Accountability and the Curriculum Supervisor, said that the school district is not necessarily opposed to the CCHD flu shot service, but the community has not considered the topic as an issue of “substantial interest.”
“I don’t imagine that there is any liability that the district would be concerned about,” Dinkins said. “I think at this point it may be more of a situation where people feel like they’re getting it taken care of; it’s part of either their yearly check-ups or they just do it at their discretion.”
Senior Chase Shipp gets a flu shot every year and considers the vaccine as the easiest option to weather the flu season. He thinks the district should consider providing flu shots in school to make it more convenient to get the vaccine.
“If it’s free and the people want it, then I think by all means they should have access to a vaccine that could save them from a very powerful illness,” Shipp said.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Pennsylvania’s influenza activity status is considered “widespread,” meaning “there was an increase in influenza activity in all regions of the state.” In Chester County specifically, there were 730 reported cases of the flu and four reported deaths caused by the influenza virus between Oct. 2, 2012 and Feb. 2. The trend is evident at Conestoga, causing schoolwide stress among students and teachers.
Sophomore Owen Crowley contracted the flu while performing in Disney World with the music department in December. He ended up staying home for a week with the flu after the trip and his absence caused him stress in school.
“A lot of my test grades and scores dropped because I wasn’t able to keep up with everything as much as I usually would,” Crowley said.
Crowley had not been vaccinated with the flu shot when he got sick. He planned on getting vaccinated in January, but the virus hit him early.
Walls suggests getting vaccinated in the fall, when plenty of flu shots are available and before a widespread amount of people contract the seasonal flu.
“People say, ‘I’m going to get the flu from the flu shot,’” Walls said. “Not true. If you’re sick with legitimate flu in less than two weeks [from the vaccination], I have to tell you, you already had the flu bug. The problem is that the vaccine takes at least two weeks to protect you. If you get sick, you’re already exposed without protection.”
Senior Meredith Frost does not believe in getting the flu shot. She has never contracted the flu, nor has she ever been vaccinated for the flu.
“My mom doesn’t believe in flu shots and I’ve kind of learned from her why,” Frost said. “Most of her life, she’s been a big activist on homeopathics, and always finds alternatives to drugs that don’t have side effects.”
For the people who are allergic to the vaccine because of egg allergies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is developing a vaccine called Flublok, using recombinant DNA technology. The FDA ran an evaluated study of 2,500 people and injected them with Flublok.
“If [the experiment] goes well and these people get the same level of protection as people like myself who got the egg-based vaccine, then next year, in addition to having flu mist and injectable flu, they would have this engineered flu vaccine,” Walls said.
Although some students decided not to get the flu shot, the administrators recognize that the winter season affects the school’s population. Assistant principal Kevin Fagan took initiative and temporarily moved the cramped testing center in Room 297 to Room 268, a large group room, in order to accommodate the crowds of students trying to make up tests.
“We will do whatever we can do through a case by case basis,” Fagan said. “The flu is here, be aware of it. We have to weather the storm.”
Crowley said he wishes that the administrators had moved the testing center before the flu season began to escalate.
“When I came back after break and I had to take a good four or five other [tests], [the testing center was] pretty packed the entire time. We would have to wait an extra ten minutes just to be allowed into the testing center,” Crowley said.
Although the flu season will soon taper down, nurse coordinator Dawn Zrebiec suggests that students continue to stay vigilant in their hand washing and sanitary habits.
“Get as much sleep as you can, wash your hands often, stay away from other folks who have flu or virus type illnesses,” Zrebiec said. “Here in the nurses’ office, we do make an extra effort to clean midday. We wash off doorknobs and we wash the pen that people sign in [with].”
Shipp said he will continue to get an annual flu shot since he has never contracted the flu in his life.
“Just because something’s never happened to you doesn’t mean it will never happen to you in the future, and if all you need to do is take one little shot to prevent it from happening, then why not?”
When I chose to write this story about the seasonal flu, I needed to find an angle that would relate to my high school. I found out that my school district chooses not to offer flu shots to the students, even though the county health department offers them to all schools in the county. I got to the bottom of the story after interviewing a school administrator.
REVIEW
Colfer inspires nation of teenagers in "Struck by Lightning"
Stoganews.com, January 2013
In December 2012, a press contact from Tribeca Films offered the opportunity for student journalists to speak with "Glee's" Chris Colfer about his movie. I was one of twenty-five high school journalists across the nation who had the opportunity to ask Colfer questions via video chat and preview "Struck by Lightning" online before it was released OnDemand and in select theaters. A difficulty I faced during this experience was choosing the top two questions to ask Colfer. I ended up asking "As Carson is a stronger believer in himself in the movie, why is it important for teenagers to believe in themselves and believe in achieving their dreams?" and "As you wrote the screenplay and play a writer in the film, what does writing mean to you?" Colfer gave me great responses that added depth to my article.
Popularity, outcasts, alcoholics, divorce, friendship, passion and fate, “Struck by Lightning” covers it all.
“Struck by Lightning,” featuring screenwriter and lead actor Chris Colfer, of FOX’s “Glee,” tells the story of Carson Phillips, a 17-year-old high schooler who has big dreams in a city of small hopes. The film, directed by Brian Dannelly, is now available OnDemand and in select theaters. “Struck by Lightning” raises awareness of universal high school woes.
Although “Struck by Lightning” is Colfer’s first screenplay, his passion for writing dates years back to when he was little.
“I think writing is an amazing therapeutic release, and also, sometimes it can be a curse, because sometimes I get something that I absolutely have to do and I don’t have a choice in the matter and I’ve got to get it out, or otherwise I will go insane,” Colfer said in an exclusive digital interview.
“Struck by Lightning” follows an unpredictable, unconventional storyline. Colfer characterizes Carson as an underestimated, overambitious, unpopular teenager.
“I think it follows the story of a student that hasn’t really had their story told much,” Colfer said. “I think usually high school movies always focus on the same characters: the jocks, the cheerleaders, or the people who want to be the jocks and the cheerleaders, but they never really focus on the other kids, [the kids] that are really just focused on what they want to do and who they want to become.”
The movie begins with establishing shots that set the tone for important scenes, including a road sign of the Clover City population, which is 9,525 people, the Clover Community Chapel, the Clover Meadows Assisted Living building, Carson’s home, Clover High School, a lonely student in an empty hallway and The Clover High School Chronicle production room. Next, the shot cuts to Carson walking in the parking lot toward his grandfather’s red car, where he gets struck by lightning and dies.
“I thought it would be fun to have [Carson] just be dead from the beginning and be able to have his sarcastic narration from behind the grave,” Colfer said. “Also, I like that the audience suddenly has more knowledge than the characters.”
Through witty voice-overs, which help the audience understand Carson’s personality, Carson recounts his high school and personal life. He yearns to leave his small-town, unrecognized existence, and awaits getting accepted to Northwestern University, where he plans to major in journalism. Carson is the president of the Writing Club, which has a small group of members including Dwayne, the stereotypical “stoner,” Vicky, the shady goth girl and Emilio, the attractive foreign exchange student, all of whom have absolutely no interest in writing, except for Malerie Baggs, played by Rebel Wilson of “Bridesmaids.” Malerie happens to be Carson’s only friend, but he does not always truly appreciate her presence. Although Malerie portrays a quirky, quiet character, who records her daily life on a video camera, she makes a good point about why she documents what happens in her life.
“What isn’t worth remembering? With good memories come bad memories. And I’ve got a lot of both,” Malerie explains to Carson in the movie. “At least this way I can fast forward through all of the bad stuff. The counselor once told me that it doesn’t matter if you’re stuck in the past or if you try to forget the past. What matters is what you do in the present. So that’s why I just try to soak it up as much as possible.”
Colfer learns from his guidance counselor, played by Angela Kinsey of “The Office,” that he needs a supplement for Northwestern to accompany his application. He decides to start a literary magazine and blackmails a group of unwilling participants into writing for his publication through “Operation Clovergate.” Carson targets the student council, comprised of the head cheerleader, the yearbook editor, the quarterback and the drama club representatives. Although Carson is a cynical “jerk,” according to Colfer, his blackmail scheme winds up changing the perspective of the popular students, when they realize that writing helps them release their inner emotions.
As the high school plot unfolds, Colfer also introduces a subplot about his agonizing, stressful personal life, including the divorce between Carson’s parents. His estranged father, Neal, played by Dermot Mulroney of “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” has remained absent in Carson’s life for five years. He suddenly tries to act patriarchal when his pregnant fiancée, April, played by Christina Hendricks of “Mad Men,” wants to meet Carson. But on the other side of the genes, Carson lives with his depressed, alcoholic mother, Sheryl, played by Allison Janney of “The West Wing.” Sheryl constantly reminds Carson that she should have aborted her pregnancy with him, and, Carson, just like her, has no potential to succeed in any dream that he wants to achieve.
“I think a lot of times when you meet a character with a troubled past or issues with their parents, you kind of understand why they had to grow up so fast and why they’re so mature,” Colfer said. “And I just wanted people to know what Carson’s deal was, that he was from this world that was very subdued and stuck in the past, and he just did not want to [become] his mom.”
Carson also must cope with the illness of his grandmother, played by Polly Bergen of “Desperate Housewives,” who has Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a nursing home. As Carson pushes back his tears and stays strong, his grandmother inspires him to keep writing stories, even if no one will remember them.
“I think Carson’s relationship with his grandmother was important to me because I’ve always had such a strong relationship with my grandmother,” Colfer said. “And when I was little, I used to do the same thing, I used to write stories and I would show [them] to her and she would edit them for me and then hand them back to me. I kind of wanted to incorporate that relationship into the movie.”
Another noteworthy aspect of Colfer’s writing is a weather motif. Lines that foreshadowed the lightning storm that kills Carson include, “Sometimes someone’s personal rain cloud can be deadly,” “The higher your cloud, the further your rain falls” and “Light showers and possible thunderstorms by the end of the week.”
Despite Carson’s sudden death, Colfer said he believes that all people, especially teenagers, should follow their dreams, no matter what obstacles pop up.
“I really just hope that people leave the theater or leave their living rooms, hopefully just inspired to have aspirations. I hope by seeing Carson and the way that he dies and seeing him robbed of all of his potential, that it forces people to find the potential within themselves,” Colfer said.
Colfer commented on the most impactful line of the movie, which reads, “A life without meaning, without drive, without focus, without goals or dreams, isn’t a life worth living.”
“What’s the alternative? Living a life that’s boring and not what you wanted?” Colfer said. “Someone has to do these things. Someone has to be the next president of the United States. If someone has to do it, what makes you not a candidate to fulfill your dreams?”
OP/ED
Faith in America’s future restored at Inauguration
Stoganews.com, February 2013
45Words.org Blog, February 2013
In January, I covered the 2013 Presidential Inauguration for The Spoke. I put together an online package for Stoganews.com, which includes my broadcast news package, an opinion piece and a photo gallery. The difficulty I faced with writing the opinion piece was choosing the right angle. I needed to think about what impacted me the most, and I decided that the theme of the Inauguration, "Faith in America's Future," really stuck with me. I decided to write about the faith that was restored in my mind after watching such patriotic people come to the National Mall in honor of President Barack Obama.
Golfer Walter Hagen once said, “Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. You’re only here for a short visit. So don’t forget to stop and smell the roses.”
From Jan. 18 until Jan. 21, I soaked in the excitement, the beauty and the history of Washington, D.C. Throughout my life, I have visited D.C. to spend time with my grandfather and to tour the incredible college campuses. But this visit was different. This visit I covered the 57th Inauguration of the President of the U.S. for ’Stoga News.
The Inauguration is the Super Bowl of politics. It sets the tone for the next four years. It gives the patriotic citizens of this great nation hope for a better future. And what I love most about the Inauguration is the fact that no matter what political affiliation you choose, the opinions are silenced on this day. On Inauguration Day, we celebrate “the land of the free” and “the home of the brave;” we celebrate America.
As I waltzed down the National Mall to stake out a spot as close as possible to the U.S. Capitol building, I have never seen so many enthusiastic volunteers in my life. Bodies bundled up in thick jackets, hands covered with warm wool gloves, heads embraced by Presidential Inauguration red hats, the volunteers greeted the audience with handshakes, high fives and fist pumps. From thin women with a full set of pearly whites, to heavy-set men with just a few teeth, it did not matter about race, gender, sexual orientation or social class. All that mattered among the volunteers was their excitement to be a part of history in the making.
After I set up my tripod and plugged in my microphone, visitors came up to me asking to be interviewed. I spoke to people of all walks of life, coming from across the country and from around the world; North Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Illinois, Delaware, India and Trinidad and Tobago, just to name a few. Some were decked out in Obama gear, others looked more like Uncle Sam and many were covered in fleece blankets and fur coats.
When I met the students of the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy, located in Dallas, I could easily tell that these kids were more than proud to represent their school at the Inauguration. They are well-raised, well-spoken children with spectacular moral values. I even had the opportunity to hear them sing their school song exclusively for ’Stoga News, with a chant at the end, “Believe, Achieve, Succeed!”
As over 800,000 visitors filled up the National Mall, I watched thousands of American flags soar and wave through the diverse crowd. From the little boy resting on his father’s shoulders, to the woman juggling four American flags in her hands, they got to witness the second inauguration of the first African American president of the U.S.
When the ceremony concluded, it was as if the Exodus had happened all over again. I trailed through the day’s clutter; bags of Chips Ahoy, cans of Red Bull and cups of Starbucks coffee. And the thought of even riding on the Metro within the hour was impossible to fathom. But walking at the speed of a snail made me admire what was occurring right before my eyes. Street vendors sold “Obama pretzels,” which looked like any ordinary soft pretzels. Other vendors stood in the middle of the streets selling Obama buttons, t-shirts, bumper stickers, bobble heads and commemorative Inauguration tickets. And what I saw before my eyes was humanity coming together, supporting one another’s causes, celebrating another day of being free.
Tragedies throughout President Obama’s first term like the Sandy Hook massacre, the shooting in Aurora, Colo. and the death of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stephens, made me lose faith in humanity. I questioned how such tragedies could possibly happen when our country is supposed to be the strongest in the world. But attending the Inauguration restored the lost faith. The day reminded me that Americans can and will continue to come together for the sake of freedom and for the necessity of safety in our nation. And the theme of the Inauguration, “Faith in America’s Future,” was perfectly fitting for my restoration of faith.
In four years, I encourage you to step out of your living rooms and travel to Washington to witness the next Presidential Inauguration. I know that the television stations put on a phenomenal program of the festivities. But standing in the biting cold, speaking to patriotic people and listening to the words of our country’s leader in person, can certainly not be felt in the comfort of your own home.
Opportunities abound as internship approaches
The Spoke, December 2012
After an incredible, impromptu visit to the Univision television studio in San Antonio during the NSPA Convention, I felt that I needed to write an opinion piece about it. That evening, as my roommates were asleep, I wrote my entire article on a notepad, using the flashlight from my phone to see what I was writing. As I wrote the article, I discovered my own voice as a writer.
When we were little, we dreamt of becoming rock stars, veterinarians, astronauts, politicians and of course, princes and princesses. We followed our hearts and played dress-up by decking ourselves out in leather jackets, space helmets and royal crowns. And now, as high schoolers, we have to realize that we’re almost grown up, and we will have to make the decision of what career we would like to pursue sooner than we think.
Think about the voice inside of you when you were a kid that told you what you dreamt of becoming when you grew up. Senior Internship gives seniors one month off from school to shadow a professional and to pursue those dreams in the real world. But that one month may not be enough to fulfill that voice inside of you.
So take action right now. If you want to be a doctor, contact a hospital and shadow one. If you want to manage sports teams, set up an internship with a Phillies manager. If you want to design clothes for Anthropologie, call up the headquarters and ask for an internship. From my experience, I have noticed that professionals love to see curious high school students because we are the fresh minds who will soon run the industries.
Seniors, you have about five months until you start your internships on May 6. That’s five months to think about your futures seriously. As college application deadlines approach, use this time to sort things out. If you have no clue about what you want to do in the future, that’s okay, because according to Dr. Fritz Grupe, founder of MyMajors.com, 80 percent of college-bound students have yet to choose a major, and 50 percent of college students change their majors during their college years.
But even if you’re not a senior, right now is the time to figure out what you think you want to do. If you discover that the one dream you have always had no longer interests you, it just narrows down the field of careers. As you complete your journey through high school, bask in the opportunities that come your way; you really never know who you will meet along your path.
When I was in San Antonio last month for the National Scholastic Press Association Convention, I met Univision anchor and reporter Brenda Jimenez at a roundtable session. Later that day, I stumbled upon the Univision television studio while I was sightseeing and sat in on the five o’clock newscast. By witnessing Jimenez’s enthusiasm and passion for her career, I became more excited and devoted to pursuing my career in journalism.
So don’t waste any time if you have a dream burning inside of you. And if you’re stressed about college, a career or even finishing high school, let me fill you in on what Jimenez told me in Texas.
“We all want the right thing in our lives, but to get it right, we might have to take a left,” Jimenez said. And “if you’re stressed about something, that only means that you’re passionate about it.”
FEATURES
The Adoption Option: Opening hearts and homes
The Spoke, November 2012
The number one aspect of my adoption article that I struggled with was finding an interesting angle. I had always wanted to write a features story on adoption, but I had difficulty focusing in on what I needed to cover as a journalist. As I searched the Internet for adoption agencies to speak with, I found that November is National Adoption Awareness Month, the exact month when my article was going to run. After I found that angle, everything seemed to come together from that point on. It was a pleasure to speak with parents, social workers and students about their views on adoption and how it has affected their lives.
When senior Kahle Mandarino goes out to dinner with her racially diverse family, including her white parents, African American brother, white siblings, biracial brother and half-Hispanic cousin, sometimes people ask her family, “Are you guys all together?”
“It’s normal. Sometimes when someone calls my name, or I’m going somewhere, they’re looking for some Italian girl with [the last name] Mandarino. And then I show up,” Kahle Mandarino said.
Kahle Mandarino, who is of Nigerian descent, was born in America and adopted by her parents, Michael and Terry, when she was two days old. She is grateful that her birth mother chose a loving family for her to grow up with.
“I feel lucky that I’ve had the chance to have a normal family, with a mother and a father and siblings. If my birth mother was not as educated, didn’t have the opportunity to put me through a private adoption, I could have been in the foster care system,” Kahle Mandarino said. “To have all those things line up, and to live here in this great environment, I really haven’t had too many bad experiences [in my life].”
The Adoption Process
Kahle Mandarino was born three years after her adoptive parents began the adoption process. Her parents were open to children of any ethnicity. They just wanted to bring home a healthy baby.
“I was born on December 23, so I stayed in the hospital for two days and arrived on Christmas,” Kahle Mandarino said. “So my parents say that I am the best Christmas gift they ever had.”
Alexandra Peters, Marketing Coordinator at Adoptions from the Heart (AFTH) in Wynnewood, considers the adoption process long, yet rewarding.
“First [the prospective parents] start with education, learning about the adoption process. And then they go through all of the paperwork and everything. They have to go through a home study, where one of our social workers will go into their home and go over all of the questions [...] We just make sure that the children have a safe home,” Peters said.
According to Ashley Kodet, a social worker at AFTH, the paperwork itself may take up to three to four months to complete. Part of the reason is because AFTH wants to ensure that the birth mother finds a family that she feels comfortable with.
“A birth mother doesn’t always get a lot of support. A lot of times more focus is put on the adoptive parents, who often times [are] the ones paying for the service. But we find it really important to provide just as much if not more especially emotional support to the birth mothers. Both sides are going through a very emotional process. For a birth mother it is a really difficult time,” Kodet said.
Kodet mentioned that an adoption at AFTH costs the adoptive family between $30,000-$35,000 because of expenses such as application, education, home study, advertising, placement, post-placement and legal fees. However, the agency itself does not charge any service fees to birth mothers.
Raising Awareness
According to adoption.org, the 2010 Census gathered that there are about 1.5 to two million child adoptees in the U.S. and anywhere from six to 10 million adult adoptees. According to the Children’s Bureau Administration for Children and Family (AFCARS), there are about a half a million children in foster care in the U.S. As children are always available for adoption, adding a child to a family can benefit all parties involved, according to Terry Mandarino.
“I try to encourage people to think about it and to consider [adoption], especially if you have room for just one more,” she said. “I think that if you can touch the life of just one child, that is something really wonderful.”
The Mandarino family was featured on NBC’s “Real Life,” a daytime-talk-variety show, in May 1996. In the segment featuring her family, Terry Mandarino commented on the topic of interracial families.
“Do you really see color? Because I see an infant that needs a lot of love and a home,” Terry Mandarino said in her interview on “Real Life.”
Because November is National Adoption Month, Peters, of AFTH, is spreading the word about adoption through social media and raising money to provide services to underprivileged birth parents.
When raising money, “We try to get people to look at it from the perspective of if you were adopted or if you had placed your child for adoption or if you have adopted. There are so many different things that happen on a daily basis that could be different for someone who’s involved in an adoption,” Peters said.
International Adoptions
Art teacher Piera Raffaele had never seen a man until she came to America when she was 3 years old. Her father adopted her from an all-girls convent in Italy.
He told her about the first time he laid eyes on her.
“My father was over in Italy, and he went to this orphanage where I was, and he saw me in a corner, and he said ‘I want to adopt this little girl,’” Raffaele said.
Coming to America allowed her to gain access to many of the opportunities available to her today, including her teaching career.
“I just feel I knew teaching was what I really wanted to do, because I wanted to help people. Because I feel that I was helped by having my parents adopt me,” Raffaele said. “I mean if my parents were still alive, I would thank them and thank them for bringing me here, for giving me opportunities that I probably wouldn’t have had if I was in Italy.”
Junior Andrey Lanahan spent the first 10 years of his life in an orphanage in his home country, Russia, until his adoptive family from the U.S. gave him a home.
“In Russia, I wasn’t really exposed to so many opportunities. Like I never knew competitive water sports even existed,” Lanahan said. “Things like crew and canoeing, I became really passionate about. Back there all I did was kick a soccer ball a few times and that was about it. So when I came here, my athletic career really started going.”
According to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. families have adopted approximately 20,000 children internationally each year over the last decade.
“Adjusting to the different lifestyle and culture, that was probably the most difficult part,” he said. “Back there it was just a loose lifestyle. Here you start mapping out your future really young. It is at a much faster pace than Russia.”
Freshman Julia Hess was adopted from the Zhanjiang Kids Orphanage in China when she was 10 months old. Hess always knew that she was adopted because her mother is German and her father is Armenian.
Hess hopes to give back to the country that laid the foundation for her life.
“I plan on going over to China when I am older [to] help out in my orphanage that I was adopted from,” Hess said. “If I am not able to work in that specific orphanage, I would at least like to help out in an orphanage and interact with the community that I was born in.”
Life in the Family
Junior Lee Bernick’s brother, Andy, a sophomore at Delaware Valley Friends School in Paoli, was adopted from Cambodia when he was 2 years old.
“I look at him like a regular brother. I don’t even think about the fact that he’s adopted, normally, unless people ask,” Bernick said.
After visiting Cambodia when she was 12, Bernick realized how an adoption can completely change a child’s life for the better.
“I stood next to a 16-year-old girl to take my picture, and we were the same height because she was so undernourished. And they were happy, but they were just really poor,” Bernick said. “If [Andy] had stayed there, he could be living like that, or living on the streets selling stolen books to tourists.”
TV studio technician Art Phillips and his wife adopted their daughter, Kelly, when she was 5 days old. He recalls an experience when his daughter was 2 months old.
“This one night I remember I was looking out the window as I’m leaning my head toward her nose to listen to her breathing, and I look up and there’s a full moon and there’s a beautiful sky. And I go up to the window and I thank God for this bundle laying there in that crib, and then I realized how strong my love was for her,” Phillips said. “I said that my love didn’t come close to the love that God has for her and all of us. That’s a strong love.”
Phillips has a chain of adoption in his family. His daughter was trying to adopt her own child when she was contacted about an abandoned baby at the hospital who needed a home. Baby Nicholas was adopted right then and there.
“I shudder to think what would’ve happened to Nicholas if he was not adopted,” Phillips said.
Junior Kyle Stefanic was also adopted right after he was born. His older sister, Candice, a Conestoga 2011 alumnus, was also adopted. He said their relationship resembles that of biological siblings.
“It’s always felt like we were sort of blood related, I guess, even though we’re not,” Kyle Stefanic said. “It’s just since we were both adopted from birth, we’ve always had the connection of being brother and sister and not just, ‘oh, you’re not part of my actual family.’”
Meeting the Birth Parents
The Phillips family had mixed emotions about their daughter meeting her birth mother.
“It hurt my wife, but I knew it’s what [Kelly] needed to do,” Phillips said. “When Kelly finally met her birth mom, you could visibly tell how much more confident she was. She felt much better about herself.”
The birth mother happened to live only a mile away from Phillips’ home.
“We could’ve been wheeling Kelly through the store and there she [could’ve been] in the same lane,” Phillips said.
Kodet suggests that the best way for adoptees to cope with the whirlwind of emotions about possibly meeting their birth parents is to talk to their adoptive parents.
“Often times adoption records are sealed until a child is 18, but their parents might have some information that they haven’t shared with them yet, that they might not have felt that they were ready for,” Kodet said.
Kyle Stefanic feels a bit uneasy about possibly searching for his birth parents one day. He only knows the first name of his birth mother.
“I would [consider searching for my birth parents] because I’d always want to find out who my parents are and just be able to relate with them. But, I really don’t know what would happen from there if I met them,” Kyle Stefanic said.
Although Hess has never met her birth parents, she does not feel a great need to meet them.
“I think finding my birth parents would be cool, but it is not a huge intention of mine. All the family I need is right here with me,” Hess said.
On this Thanksgiving
As Thanksgiving approaches, adoptees and their parents reflect on their families.
“I guess having so many different people in my family, I’m more open to people from other races, open to diversity,” Kahle Mandarino said.
Hess, whose sister was also adopted from China, appreciates how her adopted parents made her family feel like any traditional family.
“We don’t make it a big deal. A family is a family, no matter how and who it is made up of. I love my family and I know they love me back. I appreciate every little thing they do for my sister and [me],” Hess said.
On this Thanksgiving, Lanahan is especially grateful to have the educational opportunities available in America.
“I never would’ve dreamed of going to college, but now I’m starting to go through that process,” he said.
When Kyle Stefanic’s mother, Sandra Stefanic, sits down for Thanksgiving dinner this year, she will think about her eternal gratefulness for the birth mothers of her two children.
“Both of [my] children are a dream come true for us, because we wouldn’t have had a family otherwise,” she said.
Behind the Bronze
The Spoke, June 2012
A difficulty that I faced during this article was a potential lawsuit from a tanning salon owner. She threatened to sue me if I used her quote about not requiring parental consent forms to minors who decide to use the tanning beds. After a helpful discussion with the Student Press Law Center, I decided that the tanning salon owner's unwillingness to comment was unnecessary to the overall message of the story, so I did not include the predicament in my article.
Junior Jenna Stewart lies down, gets comfortable and soaks in the blasting music, whirling fans and beaming lights. She is in a tanning bed—her escape from reality—and, for Stewart, an almost daily ritual. She usually tans four to five times per week, going a minimum of two times per week.
“I just don’t even think about [the risks]. I don’t want to know that I can have skin cancer; I just don’t think about it, I just [tan],” Stewart said.
Junior Bobbie Thorn describes tanning as peaceful and relaxing. Before prom, Thorn bought a subscription to a local tanning salon. But after watching the YouTube video, “Dear 16-year-old Me,” Thorn changed her opinion on tanning.
“I saw [the video] when I still had my subscription, so once it runs out I’m not going back anymore. It’s not worth it,” Thorn said.
The five minute public service announcement, created by the David Cornfield Melanoma Fund, went viral among the Conestoga community when health classes were assigned a project by health teacher Marcia Mariani to send the video to at least 50 people, using Facebook, email or another source of online communication.
“It’s not just about ‘let’s learn about skin cancer, and then never talk about it again.’ It’s about learning about skin cancer, and then putting on the sunscreen, because this is killing people,” Mariani said.
Inside the Salon
According to recent studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), skin cancer has become common in young adults and is the most common type of cancer in the United States. The CDC also named melanoma as the deadliest type of skin cancer in its May 10 press release. A melanoma develops on the skin, often from a mole, and creates tumors. Melanomas are often formed because of overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays.
“Most of these skin cancers are generated when you’re 15 or 16 [when you get] that sunburn at the shore,” said dermatologist Dr. Scott Schafrank, of Main Line Dermatology. “It’s those types of burns early in life, especially off of the face, that lead to moles later in life which cause the melanoma.”
Although everyone may be at risk of skin cancer because of sun exposure, the use of a tanning bed increases a person’s risk of cancer by 75 percent. More than 30 million Americans, including 2.3 million teens, go to tanning salons annually, according to research by the Food and Drug Administration.
“I think that indoor tanning salons are one of the biggest risk factors for melanoma in young women. There really is no health benefit to indoor tanning salons,” said dermatologist Dr. Bruce Brod, of Dermatology Associates of Lancaster and the University of Pennsylvania. “Any ultraviolet light, whether it’s from the sun or indoor tanning salons can cause skin cancer, and particularly melanoma.”
Currently there are no laws in Pennsylvania on juvenile use of tanning salons. Tanning salons, instead, have their own protocols. Multiple local salons require parental consent for minors to tan, citing protection from potential lawsuits.
According to Lisa Newcomb, the National Director of the Melanoma International Foundation (MIF), on “tanning salons, I would [tell people to] stop now. There’s legislation that they’re trying to push through across the country to make it illegal [or] to make it so you have to be over 18 or have parental permission depending on the state. To me, there’s no compromise on that. It’s not safe. Just don’t do it.”
The Addiction
Although the risks of tanning are high, many teenagers find themselves unable to stop.
“The problem is you don’t notice the difference between one tan and the next, but you definitely do between the first and the last tan so you want to keep going back,” Thorn said.
According to a study published in the Archives of Dermatology and a study done at Wake Forest University, exposure to UV light for just 10 minutes twice each week causes an endorphin release (the body’s natural painkillers) and without that release it was shown that people suffered a withdrawal similar to that from narcotics.
“I definitely feel better after tanning,” said junior Caroline McGinnis, an employee of Endless Tans in Berwyn. “When I start to lose [my tan], I have a desire to go back.”
The Archives of Dermatology also reported a strong correlation between tanning and an underlying addiction. The members of the study that qualified as addicted to tanning experienced twice as much angst as those who tanned without being addicted. The study attributed this to deeper mental distress in those participants.
“You just think, ‘oh, yeah, I’m going to look nice and tan after I’m done’,” Stewart said. “So it just gets addicting because you want to be really, really tan.”
Mariani believes that tanning comes back to a self-esteem issue prevalent in teenagers today.
“I think that our obsessions about what’s on the outside go way beyond thin or the clothes you’re wearing or the way your hair is,” Mariani said. “I don’t think people are really connecting self-image and self-esteem with tanning, but [tanning is] just another way that teenagers are able to feel better about their appearance.”
Perception
Recently, a New Jersey mother stunned the nation when she allegedly brought her 5-year-old daughter to a tanning booth. Although Patricia Krentcil, the ‘Tanning mom,’ denied the claims, her story became the laughingstock of the media.
“I don’t think anyone should ever bring their [five]-year-old daughter into a tanning salon,” McGinnis said. “That’s not right.”
In the past decade, tanning has gained an increased role in the media. The hit reality television series “Jersey Shore” uses the slogan “GTL,” or “Gym, tan, laundry,” conveying the importance of being tan in the eyes of others.
Studies have indicated that 85 percent of Americans under the age of 25 believe people look better when they are tan.
“I think it’s just because everybody honestly wants to be tan,” Stewart said. “I think it’s a trend at our school; you go tanning.”
However, according to research done at Northwestern University, frequent tanning leads to an increase in wrinkles at a younger age. UV rays damage the collagen and elastin fibers in the skin that allow it to bounce back from stretching and prevent wrinkles.
The study also showed that teens were more likely to stop tanning because of the potential of obtaining wrinkles, rather than because of the risk of skin cancer.
“They’re not worried about skin cancer, but they are worried about getting wrinkled and being unattractive,” Dr. June Robinson of Northwestern University said in a press release. “The fear of looking horrible trumped everything else.”
Hitting Home
“It’s challenging to have someone that you love go through something so serious,” Stava said. “Especially with melanoma, I feel like there’s more awareness of it now, but when my mom went through everything, we didn’t know that much about it.”
Stava said she felt honored to take part in the Safe From the Sun Walk & 5K Run on May 12 at Villanova University with her baby daughter.
After emotionally reminiscing the life of her mother, Stava gave advice to those who have embarked on a similar journey with their loved one.
“Just be as strong as you can be,” Stava said. “Just having enough people around you to support you is the most important thing that you can do.”
Catherine Poole, president and founder of the MIF, battled melanoma 22 years ago. She later started a forum on the MIF website for caregivers and those dealing with the disease, regarding treatment plans, doctors and moral support.
“My biggest message to people is check your skin. You know your body better than any doctor does, so check your skin regularly. If you see something that’s different, new, has changed, get it checked,” Poole said. “When the disease spreads, it goes to your brain, it goes to your liver and your lungs and it kills you, quickly. We have some therapies, but not good ones. Find it early; get cured.”
Melanoma kills more young women than any other cancer, including breast cancer, according to Poole. She said that melanoma does not have the same amount of camaraderie and awareness as breast cancer does. In order to gather patients and supporters, Poole organized the annual Safe from the Sun Walk in 2003.
“This event is actually the largest [melanoma event] in the world,” Poole said. “This is like family reunion day for a lot of people that have lost people or have somebody fighting the disease.”
Sophomore Jordan Sticklin ran with a team of 20 people to support his neighbor, who is currently battling melanoma.
“It’s a great cause and I know that there are a lot of people out there who have melanoma, and that they might not even know about it,” Sticklin said. “And it’s important to raise money for it and be aware.”
Mela-no-more
Runners take off at the starting line of the Safe From the Sun 5K Run/Walk at Villanova University on May 12.
“We’re still a long way from an ideal treatment,” Brod said. “Catching it early makes all of the difference in the world.”
Junior Min Chun found a mole on her skin when she was in seventh grade and decided to get it checked out by a dermatologist.
“There was a little something above my ear and they thought it was skin cancer, so over the summer I had an operation to remove it,” Chun said. “It definitely made me more careful around the sun.”
Bronze Safely
Students who desire a healthy glow have other options, such as spray tans or the use of tanning moisturizers. Junior Molly Dudrear applied Jergens natural glow lotion every night for three days before junior prom.
“I just wanted to stay away from anything that could potentially cause skin cancer,” Dudrear said. “I just wanted to go with the healthier option.”
Dudrear said that her family certainly recognizes the importance of applying sunscreen.
“We make sure to reapply after being in the water for too long. We call everybody out at the same time and we all apply the sunscreen together to make sure we’re all covered,” Dudrear said.
Chun decided to take the healthier option as well. She got a spray tan and used the Jergens cream, but still believes that the sun gives the best tan.
“I used a cream … and I thought it was better than a spray tan. It was simple—you just put it on. You don’t have to drive anywhere and if you don’t like it you can just take it off. I think people want something quicker, though, because you have to put [the lotion] on repeatedly,” Chun said.
Sunless tans, including creams and self-tanner can be purchased in drug stores, and most tanning salons offer spray tans as an alternative to UV ray beds. Although the FDA is still conducting tests on many sunless tanning products, they have been proven to be safer than UV rays as long as they are combined with a sun protection factor (SPF).
Although the staggering statistics about skin cancer are rising, exposure to the sun is inevitable, especially with summer just around the corner.
“As for being outside, I think it’s about making smart choices,” Newcomb said.
Newcomb suggested that the use of sunscreen and protective clothing, such as hats, can make all of the difference.
“If kids know that all of [their] friends are jumping on this bandwagon and realizing that [skin cancer] can happen, maybe we’ll all start to be a little more accepting of the skin we’re in,” Mariani said.
Proud to be an American
Students with international backgrounds experience the benefits and challenges of gaining American citizenship and embracing their diverse cultures.
The Spoke, December 2011
Writing "Proud to be an American" made me appreciate the diverse environment in my high school. The story taught me about how difficult it can be to obtain American citizenship. A problem that I faced during the story was that some students did not want to be interviewed because they were in the process of obtaining citizenship, and did not want to say anything that could potentially ruin that. I had to dig deeper to find sources that have faced difficulties with obtaining their citizenships either in the present or the past.
Senior Maria Alvarez says that becoming an American citizen is about the combination of her past and her future. She still longs for aspects of her life in her hometown of Cali, Colombia: the hikes in the mountains, learning to dance with her cousins and the family and friends of her first home. But America is her home now too, she says, and she sees a future for herself here, a place where she feels like a permanent part of its society—another place where she belongs.
After 12 years of United States residency, Alvarez is now in the process of taking the next step by gaining U.S. citizenship. Alvarez plans to become a dual citizen, meaning that she will retain citizenship status in both the U.S. and Colombia. She is now 18 years old and will be applying for citizenship on her own, rather than gaining citizenship through her parents’ application. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the advantages of becoming a citizen include the right to vote, travel, collect benefits and become a Federal employee or elected official.
“I value being able to completely participate in this country because I’ve lived here for so long,” Alvarez said. “As an 18-year-old, I would like to be able to vote and to participate in politics, and to be able to just live here because it’s a part of my life.”
Alvarez left Colombia when she was six and her father was offered a job in Ohio. Increasing violence also threatened her family’s safety, though the political strife has since improved.
“The political situation was difficult,” Alvarez said. “In the late ’90s, when we moved, there was a peak of the drug cartel movement and terrorist groups. There were limitations to our freedoms because we couldn’t do everything we wanted to, out of fear.”
Alvarez chose to take the path of naturalization go gain citizenship. It is the next step for foreigners who already have a green card, a document that establishes permanent residency in the U.S. As part of the application, Alvarez must interview with an immigration official and take a civics and English exam.
“Why does the American flag have 13 stripes?” and “What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?” are examples of questions that could appear on the test, among many others.
“It’s a complicated process. There’s a lot of paperwork to fill out, a lot of documents to present. I think getting all of that together is difficult,” Alvarez said.
Immigration process
For many immigrants, receiving a green card is a key step toward living in America and possibly eventual citizenship. A green card permits an immigrant to legally work and reside in the U.S. on a permanent basis. Immigrants can work and live in the U.S. with a visa, but it only authorizes temporary privileges for a certain time.
Junior Ignacio Magaña came to the U.S. in 2005 from Mexico City because his father was offered a job in America.
“My dad was really worried that if he didn’t get the job, we would have to leave in 30 days,” Magaña said. “If he had been laid off, and he didn’t have the green card yet, we would have to go back to Mexico. It was very stressful.”
The next phase of the citizenship process involves applying for a green card. Sophomore Phoebe Todd was able obtain her green card after living in the U.S. for five years. She moved to the U.S. from Mexico when she was three years old, but her family is of British decent.
The green card “didn’t make much of a difference for me because I didn’t work,” Todd said. “But my brothers and sisters had trouble getting jobs and working in places because they weren’t citizens.”
According to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, current green cards are valid for ten years and must be renewed before they expire.
After possessing a green card for five years, an immigrant can then apply for citizenship. Sophomore Emer Ryle, who was born in Ireland, is currently obtaining her citizenship with her parents.
“I think the interview process was more important [for my parents] than the test,” Ryle said. The interview involved “talking to someone from the state. They asked questions about where they were from, where they grew up and why they were not citizens already.”
Ryle’s parents completed the naturalization process so that their children could easily attain their own citizenship. For Ryle, this means that she will only have to fill out some easy forms to become a U.S. citizen, since her parents got citizenship while she was a legal minor in their custody.
French teacher Josée Brouard has considered citizenship since she moved to the U.S. from Quebec, Canada 15 years ago.
“At this point, it wouldn’t be necessary [to become a U.S. citizen] because of the green card,” Brouard said. “I stand up for the pledge of allegiance, I watch the political debates, I am very into the American culture [and] I feel very much like [I am] part of the country.”
On campus
Junior Annika Ritz and senior Sebastian Ritz moved to the U.S. from Germany in 2000. Both siblings retain German citizenship and say that they may get U.S. citizenship with their family at some point. With college fast approaching, they are looking at universities in both Germany and America, which is a choice that will significantly affect their futures.
“The tough part is [that] some [college] majors don’t transfer internationally, which means I’d have to pick the U.S. or Germany [to live in],” Annika Ritz said. It is “a tough decision. The good part is that throughout my life, I’ll always have both countries and cultures open because I’m fluent in both languages. It would be a challenge though because I’ve never had German classroom instruction, besides for kindergarten.”
If Annika Ritz chooses to study medicine in Germany, for example, the degree would not easily allow her to practice in the U.S., meaning that where she studies might be where she chooses to live. Sebastian Ritz will be attending the Munich Business School in Munich, Germany next year, but he plans to use his degree to work in America when he is older.
“I talked to my parents and researched online. [I] looked to see where good business schools are. With my German background I decided to go to Germany,” Sebastian Ritz said. “It was kind of tough. I kind of grew up here from first grade to now so it’ll be a big change next year.”
Junior Orla Rea, who was born in London and moved to the U.S. in 2009, has chosen to attend college in the U.S. because of the opportunities in the American system.
“I feel like there’s a lot more variety of what you can do here,” Rea said. “In England, since it’s a smaller country, it’s more limited to what colleges you can to go to, or what kind of job you’re going to go into. I feel like in the U.S., anything can happen in terms of career and college.”
Dual citizenship
Though some countries allow their citizens only exclusive citizenship, a defining feature of the United States is that it allows its citizens to retain or gain citizenship from other countries.
Rea has had dual citizenship for most of her life, meaning that she can be a citizen of two countries, since her mother is an American citizen. Dual citizenship comes with challenges, however. One difficulty Rea encounters is keeping track of the expiration dates of both of her passports.
“When [the passports] were out of date and we had to renew them, we had to go to the U.S. Embassy in London,” Rea said. “It’s a really long process. You have to go through all of these security measures and wait in line for about three hours to get your passport renewed. I guess it’s easier than applying for a visa when you’re here [in the U.S.].”
Junior Julianna Bradley has been an American citizen for her entire life, but she recently obtained her second citizenship in Italy. Bradley got the citizenship along with her mother and sister, senior Chrissy Bradley.
“My one great grandpa, whom my mother never met, moved to America and then moved back to Italy so we weren’t sure whether he got his citizenship again when he went back to Italy,” Julianna Bradley said.
When she was younger, her mother decided to try to regain Italian citizenship. After finding a draft card proving that Julianna Bradley’s great grandfather was a citizen and verifying that her mother is fluent in Italian, her mother was awarded citizenship. Julianna Bradley also gained Italian citizenship through her mother.
Because of my citizenship, “I can play for the Italian national team for soccer. That’s something that I’ve really looked into,” Julianna Bradley said. “It’s still a cool option if I ever wanted to play in the Olympics.”
Julianna Bradley could be an athlete, own property or vote in Italy thanks to her Italian citizenship.
The possibility of dual citizenship made the decision to apply for citizenship easier for Alvarez.
Dual citizenship “is really important to me because I wouldn’t want to give up my Colombian citizenship, but at the same time I do want to become an American citizen,” she said. “So it’s nice that I still get to be a part of Colombia, which is where I came from, and I get to be a part of the Untied States, which is where I’ve grown up.”
A defining factor of American citizenship is that it allows citizens to retain the cultures and heritage of where they come from or keep a link with the history of their families.
“Being American is who you are, not where you’re from,” Julianna Bradley said.
Catching some Z's proves difficult for insomniacs
The Spoke, May 2012
I am a strong observer and constantly look for stories around me. In 2012, a student in my Spanish class complained about not getting any sleep. On some nights, he said, he would just lie in bed, but his body would not shut down. I decided that his story as an insomniac would be an great story to cover for the community's sake. Some people may think they're insomniacs, but they may have minor sleep disorders.
It’s three o’clock in the morning and junior Dan Sterry finds himself doing push-ups on his bedroom floor. He is tired of helplessly lying in bed, and has accepted another sleepless night.
“I don’t sleep. I just lie there. Even if I have my eyes closed, I’m just there for hours,” Sterry said.
The 70 million Americans who suffer from the common sleep disorder known as insomnia can relate to Sterry’s lifestyle of frustration. Insomniacs have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or both. The disorder can exhibit short-term or ongoing symptoms. Sterry’s clinically diagnosed case of insomnia has lasted for five years.
“You suffer in silence and you kind of just deal with it,” Sterry said. Sleep “is a blessing that a lot of people take for granted. People sleep in class, and I always get jealous.”
An average night of sleep for a teenager should last between nine and ten hours, according to University of Pennsylvania researcher Michael Grandner, who specializes in sleep and health studies.
“Our bodies have an internal clock that tells us what time it is,” Grandner said. “Every person’s clock is slightly different, but since our bodies use the position of the sun to adjust the clock, most people’s clocks tend to line up.”
But an insomniac’s internal clock is not in sync with an external clock. In fact, on a typical night, Sterry only sleeps for two hours. Despite his rituals such as listening to mellow music and burning incense, his body refuses to temporarily take a rest.
Grandner advises people who struggle with sleeping problems to refrain from wasting time lying in bed.
“If you are in bed and can’t sleep, get out of bed and do something else for a while,” Grandner said. “You’re not doing yourself any favors. Even if this means less sleep in the short term, it will help you in the long term. This also means to only sleep in bed— don’t use your bed for reading or homework if you can help it.”
Junior Sam DeMarini, who averages about 4.5 hours of sleep per night, has come to accept his abnormal sleep schedule. Although he is not a clinically diagnosed insomniac, he said that he has become used to his irregular sleep routine.
DeMarini experiments with remedies to help him catch some sleep. Last year, he took overthe-counter hormone supplements called melatonin to help with the chemical imbalance in his brain. After a month of using the medication, he noticed a change in his mood.
“I was more irritable,” DeMarini said. “I don’t know if it was because of the medicine or because I thought it was the medicine.”
Grandner does not suggest the use of melatonin for insomniacs. “The approach that has the best long-term support is something called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, which is really a toolkit of approaches for reprogramming your brain to learn to sleep in bed rather than stay awake,” Grandner said. “You usually need the help of a certified therapist.”
Now, instead of using medications, DeMarini has decided to adjust the lighting in his room to help him adjust his sleeping schedule.
“They say that artificial light keeps people awake, so I have blue Christmas lights up in my room so that I can still get around at night, but it’s not so bright that it keeps me awake,” DeMarini said.
Above all, the students have found a common cure for the severe fatigue—lots and lots of caffeine.
“I drink coffee in the morning and I drink iced tea throughout the day,” DeMarini said. “If it weren’t for my morning coffee, I wouldn’t be able to get to school half of the time.”
However, according to Grandner, caffeine consumption can be detrimental.
“Avoid caffeine after noon. It can stay in your system for 12 hours or more,” Grandner said.
With a poor immune system, and a susceptibility to other health issues, Sterry envies those who sleep normally.
“Be happy that you can sleep,” Sterry said. “Not getting sleep could be [messing] you up, and you don’t even know it.”
Grandner agrees that the American culture does not value sleep as much as other healthy habits.
“We don’t brag about eating ten cheeseburgers in one sitting because we know that’s dangerously unhealthy,” Grandner said. “But we will brag about pulling all-nighters and getting by on very little sleep, when that might be just as bad for you. We find excuses to not sleep. But the truth is, sleep is a very important part of health and might make the difference in keeping weight in check, [scaring] off heart disease, getting better grades, being able to focus and keeping your mood positive.”
SPORTS
Student bikers ride for ultimate adrenaline rush
The Spoke, May 2011
My article about student bikers was enjoyable to write because the students had some epic stories about their bike riding experiences. A difficulty that I faced was keeping the article concise. I interviewed a bunch of students but I had to keep their stories short and sweet for the sake of space in the paper.
Riding down the street on his dirt bike, sophomore Eric Javie flew off the pavement, crashed into a mailbox and fell into a ditch. He apologized to the owner of the mailbox and rebuilt it right away.
“I wasn’t hurt; I was just a little stunned and scared,” Javie said.
Student bikers like Javie enter dangerous situations every time they hop on their vehicles. But nothing, besides the occasional mailbox, stops them from reaching the ultimate adrenaline rush.
When he isn’t cruising the streets, Javie accompanies his best friend, sophomore Billy McLean, to McLean’s farmhouse near the Pocono Mountains.
“It’s one of my favorite places ever. It’s relaxing and fun just to be around,” Javie said.
The bikers do more than spend the day on trails during their stay at the farm. In order to thank McLean’s parents for paying for their gas, the boys pitch in around the house, then save up their money to purchase equipment.
Necessary items for dirt biking include helmets, goggles, neck braces, chest protectors, boots, gloves and long pants. A decent helmet ranges from $45 to $660, goggles are from $15 to $90 and neck braces range from $40 to $700. The prices depend on the brand and quality of the equipment.
After the work is done, much of the boys’ time is spent racing around the farm. Although neither McLean nor Javie compete in dirt biking events, they hold races with other bikers.
McLean said that through experience, the bikers learned to keep their races off of the pavement. He said that he realized the streets are not a place for dirt bikes when his father received a $200 fine for riding on the road.
Instead of risking a ticket from the police, sophomore Jake Buly sticks to the track and drives a different kind of ride. Buly rides an All Terrain Vehicle, or ATV, and said that he has crashed a few times.
“Usually when you crash, you break things like levers or the throttle tube,” Buly said.
Opting to ride a dirt bike but on a different terrain, sophomore Max Sohosky rides near coal mines in Kaska, Pa.
“Coal mines are no place to play, but we do anyway,” Sohosky said.
The thrill of dirt biking can come at the cost of injury. In one incident, Sohosky was riding without his goggles when a bee flew into his eye. After the injury, he realized that getting back on the bike was the most important part of the sport.
“You just have to focus on the fun you’ve had,” Sohosky said. “Once you get on the bike and start riding, you realize you know how to do this and it was just a mistake.”
Unlike Javie, McLean and Buly, Sohosky competes in official races. Sohosky placed first in the Iron Man dirt biking competition in St. Clair, Pa. in April 2009.
“Placing first is great because you’ve put in so much effort to take first,” Sohosky said.
Sohosky believes that the joy of biking helps balance his costly hobby. He saved $1,800 to pay for his bike. However, he believes the sport is worth the money if the biker truly loves riding.
“Dirt biking is a really fun way to just get outside and explore nature in a different way,” Sohosky said. “And even if you’re on a track, you can still go fast and get an adrenaline rush.”
Passion like no other
Students weigh in on the artistic expression, time, training and effort that they pour into their own unique styles of a sport that they love.
The Spoke, February 2011
The difficulty that I faced while writing this story was finding strong sources to help tell the story. My favorite interview was with Claire Edelson, who is an Irish dancer. After my interview with Edelson, I went home and watched Irish dancing on YouTube, which helped me picture the style of dancing and added color to the article.
Standing in a line of ten dancers, senior Claire Edelson hoped her name wouldn’t be called for as long as possible. The judges read off the list of winners starting at the bottom until finally Edelson achieved fifth place in the Regional Irish step dancing competition held this past November.
Student dancers spend their time outside of school in a whirlwind of practices, recitals and competitions. Edelson is no exception; she is currently preparing for her third All Ireland competition in two weeks, as well as her first World Championship this April, both in Dublin, Ireland.
“It’s always been a dream to qualify for Worlds,” Edelson said. “Dancing overseas is at a whole new level when you’re competing against girls from Ireland and England, and I’m glad to know what it’s like having been to All Irelands. It’s definitely motivated me to practice even harder.”
Irish step dancing competitions consist of three dances: a hard shoe round is followed by a soft shoe round to contrast energy and stamina with grace and quickness of foot. After the first two dances, about half of the competitors are recalled for a final set piece.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” Edelson said. “You have to start warming up without even knowing if you’ll be recalled. You just have to assume that you will be and go over the notes for your dance anyway.”
Set pieces are typically choreographed by dance instructors but are also altered to fit each dancer’s strengths and weaknesses—no two dances are ever the same.
“You often change the dance to fit your style,” Edelson said. “If you’re a strong dancer, for example, you would want a long set piece to prove that you have stamina.”
Stamina is a sought-after quality in Irish step dancing; it’s important for dancers to be in excellent physical shape before competitions, and training is a big time commitment. With the All Irelands so close, Edelson attends classes four times a week in New Jersey with practices typically lasting a minimum of five hours. She also dances in local competitions one to two times each month.
Although Edelson loves competing, she also entertains the possibility of going on tour after college as part of Riverdance or Lord of the Dance, the Irish equivalent of Broadway.
“Giving shows would be an amazing experience,” Edelson said. “I would meet people from all over the world and perform a completely different kind of dance. It’s hard but it’s definitely possible.”
Hip-hop
Like Edelson, sophomore Grace Goins dances to win. Goins performs hip-hop and pom in competitions with her dance team.
“We do all different kinds of hip-hop,” Goins said. “In our routine we have things such as tutting, popping and locking, and then we do flips and jumps.”
Since she first began at the age of three, Goins has tried many different styles of dance, everything from ballet to tap to belly dancing. Over the years, she stopped studio dancing and decided to become more competitive.
“It’s the only activity that I stuck with,” Goins said. “I kept up with it because I love to perform. I don’t really like recitals but I like performing to compete.”
Goins said she competes with her dance school from December to June, with about six to seven competitions each year. She said that she is unsure if she will pursue her current area of dance in the future and is looking into other possibilities.
“There’s not much out there for me, especially for hip-hop, but pom dancing for college could be an option,” Goins said.
Bharatanatyman
Sophomore Neha Nataraj dances for personal expression. Two summers ago, Nataraj went on tour to six cities in India with a group of others who dance Bharatanatyman, one of the oldest forms of Indian dancing. Bharatanatyam focuses on dramatic storytelling inspired by ancient Indian sculptures.
“Bharatanatyman requires a lot of training. It’s very difficult,” Nataraj said. “It’s completely different from Bollywood.”
Nataraj will soon prepare for her Rangapravesha, a coming of age milestone and her first time dancing alone on stage. She plans to rent out a venue for her family and friends to watch her dance.
“If you’re a dancer, you reach a certain point that you can perform by yourself, on stage alone,” Nataraj said. “It’s an actual true art form.”
Theatrical dance
Freshman Jenna Sharples is a musical theatre dancer who also participates in ballet, tap and jazz.
“I was a really, really hyper kid,” Sharples said. “The only way to get me to stop bouncing off the walls was to get me to dance or do gymnastics.”
Sharples has been dancing since she was four years old, but she discovered her passion for musical theatre and choreography when she performed as the Beast in the “Beauty and the Beast” ballet when she was seven. She quit gymnastics and decided to focus on theatrical dance.
“I like to express myself through dance, because I like the feeling of getting up in front of people, and just entertaining them and making them happy,” Sharples said.
Sharples hopes that her dance experiences will help her get to Broadway.
“If dance wasn’t part of my future, I wouldn’t know what to do,” Sharples said. “I’d be so lost.”