Grandparents Nurture FamilyLifeTreeImpacted

Gabi Marmet | Staff Writer

Throughout my life, I have been so lucky and grateful to have had all four of my grandparents and one great grandmother in my life to look up to and learn from. My Baubie, Zadie, and Big Baubie (on my mom’s side) have lived in Minnesota, while my Nonny and Poppy (on my dad’s side) have lived in Los Angeles for my whole life. My grandparents who live in Minnesota I am able to see all the time, and my grandparents who live in LA, who I love to visit with. With all five of my grandparents, I have been able to go on amazing adventures and trips while forming bonds and unforgettable memories with them.

My grandparents on both sides advocate for staying close to one another and seeing each other as frequently as possible. Before my greatgrandmother passed away this past year, she always said to my family and those around her, “There’s always room for more at the table.” She taught me to welcome everyone with open arms and be kind to learn about different cultures and languages. Lastly, my Big Baubie was a rock to my family, holding everyone together and always telling stories. Some of her famous quotes which I have brought with me throughout my life are “There’s no such thing as sick,” and “You can have a fight and then get over it.”

Molly Seidel ‘24 has a very close relationship with her grandfather, who also has influenced her life greatly. Seidel spends a lot of time with him, whether it is family dinners, watching football games during the season, celebrating holidays together, or talking for large amounts of time on the phone. She has loved her tradition of celebrating Christmas days with him while eating great food. Seidel has always been, “inspired by his drive and who he is as a person. I just think he’s a really genuine person and I admire him a lot, so I definitely take him as one of my biggest inspirations.”

One specific memory that Seidel will always cherish was their drive home from school together. When Seidel was in middle school, her grandpa used to pick her

Poul values her grandmother’s lessons and place in her life. She mentions that her grandmother has “taught me that quiet people sometimes have the most important things to say.” all, even when I don’t love them.

Although my grandparents all have taught me to prioritize family above everything else, they have each brought me different memories and lessons that I will always hold in my heart. For example, my Baubie has brought me memories of shopping till you drop, even when I drop faster than her, and my Nonny has brought me and my cousins many laughs on her upcoming ‘grandkids lesson’ on how to “find an appropriate mate.” My Zadie always makes my family smile whether it’s dancing to Johnny Be Good, or feeding the wild animals on every trip we have been on. My Poppy has inspired me and my family to be fascinated by our family history and up every day from school and drive her home. Not only was that extremely nice of him, but she got to have one-on-one time with him and talk about both of their days while bonding. Although there are no specific objects that connect Seidel to her grandfather, she explains that he gives the gift of his time and support, always being invested in her family’s lives and who is always there for them.

I, as well as Seidel and many others, have learned so much over the years from our grandparents that we will carry throughout our lives. It’s important to cherish every moment that one has with their grandparents and always be appreciative of having such amazing people in one’s life.

Gronlund says that it is important for students to not waste food and especially important to “pay attention to where you are putting your food trash, [and pay] attention to [which bin you] put your candy wrappers in” or else it will all go into the same landfill at the end of the day. This is not good.

When asked about student awareness, Gronlund says, “I don’t know, because I don’t think a lot of them care…they don’t really wonder how much people bring in, [even] things like [advisories], and how often people bring in donut boxes and things like that.”

Justin Krelitz ‘23 says, “It isn’t surprising that people put landfill trash into the organics during lunch. Really it’s sad for all parties involved, because it disrespects not only the custodians, but the student body as well. It’s just a really bad look—private school kids excessively littering. It’s just a little too close to ‘rich

Rowan Wallin

more pieces and that they just go into the trash. Besides food, the compostable cups and to-go boxes generate a lot of waste. He says, “It’s a service that we provide, and we’re happy to do it, we’re required to do it, [but] those cups probably close to 1500 a week, and same with the small to go boxes, probably 5 to 6 hundred.” in front of us and make us wait for them to cross, even when we’re carrying 300 pounds worth of product or something. We’re just invisible, they don’t even see us. They’re all in such a hurry that they just feel that they can do what they want when they want.”

Julia Rasmussen ‘23 ponders where to put her candy wrapper in the Senior Lounge. This lounge, which is the most frequented in school, has three garbage options, while other places usually only have two. kids disrespecting the help.’”

Gronlund notes, “I wish that somebody would bring it up, like the deans or something. Just to tell the kids to be more mindful where they throw their trash. If nobody makes them pay attention, they’re not going to, and why should they?”

A Blake alumnus once told Gronlund, “My one complaint from Blake is that because everything is so different there, and I wish we were held ac- countable more to get more ready for college.”

Gronlund wishes that there were chaperones standing next to the compost bins in the lunchroom, watching faculty and students dump their food and trash in the correct bins. Gronlund explains, “I think it would definitely help [if students didn’t waste their food], but I think it would be really hard to [implement] because there are no teachers here that would

Synesthesia Shapes Perspectives

Two students with condition share

Kaining Zhang | Staff Writer

Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon that blends one’s senses. Someone who experiences synesthesia is called a synesthete, and whatever “triggers” it is called a stimulus.

There are over 80 types of synesthesia, all of which are divided into two categories. The first is projective synesthesia, which is when the synes- tive synesthesia is rarer than projective synesthesia, and an example is ordinal-linguistic personification (OLP), where a person assigns ordered sequences with personalities and genders.

Ali Hecker ‘24 has varying types of synesthesia, one where she “[associates] colors with letters, numbers, pretty much any word,” spatial synesthesia, where some 2D objects appear to be 3D, and another which associates “tastes with words or sounds.”

Hecker muses, “A lot of people have [synesthesia] and don’t really everyone is born with synesthesia, our brains just choose to react to it differently, and for most people, it goes away with time.

Petra Ekstrom ‘24 , another synesthete, says that synesthesia really helps her in music and actually allows her to have perfect pitch. For her, “a ‘C’ would be red, an ‘F’ would be blue, and an ‘E’ would be this greenish yellow.” Ekstrom has always been able to pick up any basic instrument’s skills almost immediately.

There are still many unknowns regarding synesthesia, especially the stand there and make them.”

Brett Weber, the executive chef, says how he and his team try to “[Minimize] it as best as possible, it [is a] tricky game because [of] the amount of you know students and faculty on the campus and we’re trying to make everyone happy.” His team tries to repurpose the foods (that are still in a healthy state) into new dishes to prevent food waste.

Weber sees a common trend where students ask for

Weber says, “I mean I wish humans in general [were more mindful about food waste]. I don’t think Blake is unique to anywhere in the world to be honest with you…Not just Blake but humans in general consume more than we need.”

In regards to appreciation, Gronlund shares, “The way I look at it, [I] don’t think it has anything to do with appreciating us or not. I think we’re invisible to a lot of students. In the students’ eyes, we’re not even here. If we’re walking through with a cart or a two wheeler that we have to unload, they walk right

Weber explains how “please and thank you goes a long way…I tell [my two daughters] all the time if you grow up and learn how to say please and thank you, you’re gonna go a long way in this world, because I think kindness goes a long way.

Krelitz explains, “As a school we have to ask ourselves, and think long and hard, if this description fits us. Because it very well might. It is our responsibility to do better. We are more than capable. But no assembly announcement or email blast will do the trick. Individual students have to do the right thing. Respecting the staff and the school at large is what we have to do. It’s that simple.”