Editor's Note Lighthouse Newspaper is coming to a close after this issue and I wanted this one to be very special. See this project is not just an assignment for me to graduate. It is an idea that I came up with to show my skills as a journalist in hopes to show others what they could do with the power of writing. When you read this my hope for you is to hopefully get some ideas from the publication and start your own even if you don't want to publish it online for the world to see. Writing is a key to a door of imagination, wonder and excitement. When I picked up a pencil for the first time I felt free like the pencil was my car and I could go anywhere. The stories in here are a mixture of personal stories from my classmates and my own. I hope when you read these stories of life and near death experiences that you will take away something from each. Please do not think harshly of them because they are sharing their stories with the world. If you do feel uncomfortable while reading them it is your choice to exit the page. The ending is a review and opinion of Cyberbully a movie that has a personal story behind it along with a review of Selena's Gomez new album Revival. Life is a book unwritten. Only you hold the pen.
Oct ober 23, 2015
I ssue 2: Personal Volume 2- 3
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A BATTLE BRAVELY FOUGHT ?Your daughter has cancer.? Over the phone, the doctor spoke to junior Ryleigh Kaiser?s dad, Ryan Stutzman, on that August morning. His heart began to fall deeper into his chest as the doctor continued to talk about his daughter?s disease. ?We had no idea how to tell her,? Ryan said. ?So we decided with the ?don't beat around the bush, but laughter heals everything?method and just tell her what was going on.? When it was time to break the news to her, her dad was surprised that she took the news even better than he had. Her face was focused and ready to take the situation full on. Ryleigh?s mind was in her thoughts were different than her actions. Images of tests and surgeries swarmed her
Elise Tucker Editor-in-Chief
head. She knew her parents and friends worried for her and want to help. Ryleigh was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP). The doctors found it on her head. It?s so rare that there?s typically 1,000 cases diagnosed per million people every year in the U.S. The cancer causes a tumor on the dermis, the layer of the skin that contains nerve endings and blood capillaries. With palms sweating and a ?let?s get this done? expression on her face, Ryleigh?s eyes focused on the wall ahead of her like she was about to race against her cancer. The doctors immediately swept her into a series of tests and surgeries. A couple days after getting her diagnosis call, she visited Dr. Perry Johnson, a plastic surgeon. Her mind drifted
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away from the thought of what could happen to August weeks. her as she sat in that waiting room. ?I wear a hat around usually, but that?s more for ?The only option that was really discussed the benefit of other people because I know it looks was surgery,? Ryleigh?s mom Amanda said. pretty gross and people can get kind of ?Radiation was discussed but only as an option uncomfortable,? Ryleigh said. if the surgery didn?t remove all the cancerous Ryleigh hasn?t been fazed by her diagnosis tissue.? after her last surgery. She wants to be known as the ?We were also advised we would have to have two surgeries a week apart,? Amanda said. ?Typically the removal and reconstruction is done at the same time. However, the doctor wanted to test the removed tissue first to ensure the margins were clear of cancer.? A CAT scan and skin graft came after her first surgery. She visited doctors and surgeons, and waiting in the pre-op room for hours on end made it seem like white walls and latex smell of the hospital had become her new home. In her second surgery, the surgeons removed all of the cancerous tissue and help heal the wounded head.
girl who has Netflix playing on her laptop, eating Chinese from her favorite place, and texting her friends. After everything, she?s just a normal teenage girl who wants to be herself. Ryleigh?s battle with cancer was short, but that doesn?t mean it was easy. She dealt with the medical problems only to come back to school, where people harassed her with questions that made her feel like an outsider. Her father once asked her how she felt about school and how the kids there might react to her wound. Ryleigh told her father that she didn?t care about what other people thought of her. If they didn?t want to look, they could just look away.
"She's oneof the toughest peopleI knowand she's my hero." -Ryleigh's father Ryan Stutzman
From getting the call about the diagnosis to the surgeries and endless hospital visits, her parents have been more proud of her than ever. Ryleigh proved that anyone can push through the worst of times and reminds us to be grateful for what we have.
The doctors patched her head with a wrap soaked in antibiotics to prevent infections. They took skin from her stomach and placed a drainage tube across her ?She?s one of the toughest people I know and abdomen. For three days after the final surgery she?s my hero,? Ryan said. ?The way she handled she was immobile. herself was noting short of inspiring and I am "A week after my second surgery I had the proud to call her my daughter.? third, which was basically a reconstruction surgery,? Ryleigh said. ?I had to wait a week so they had time to do the pathology and make sure they got all of the cancerous tissue out of my head.? The drugs in her system numbed the pain of her numerous procedures and long doctor visits, and now she?s cancer free. She still has physical and emotional scars from the traumatic events that took place during those excruciating
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FEAR OF FAILING Senior tells about her fears in school, life, future Elise Tucker Editor-in-Chief
Sitting in my seventh grade classroom with a pencil in hand, I begin to write my story. Mrs. Walters walks around the classroom to make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to, but then she stops at my desk. I glance up from my paper and she smiles at me.
pounce on its prey. I shouldn?t let the grade effect me but it does.
?Keep writing, Elise. Write what you feel.? I nod and continue on with my paper.
For example, math is now my burden that I need to take control of. A worksheet. A problem. A number. They all freak me out to the point of me crying about not understanding something. Failing is my worst fear.
?Write what you feel.? Huh I thought to myself. Maybe I can just write freely and express myself through writing. That comment from her sparked my love of journalism and writing. I was the little girl with big dreams and no fears until now.
Whenever I fail to do a task, I feel so bad about myself. Like I can?t do anything. Like I can?t grasp onto a situation and pull myself up.
"I try tobe happy in public, but that mask is startingto fade".
But then reality hit me in the freshman year of high school. I was afraid I wouldn?t get into an amazing college and become a journalist with my current grade in math. I thought that I would never become a reporter or writer for any publication. I thought I wouldn?t be able to move to New York. All of these fears would race through my mind whenever I saw a hard problem I couldn?t solve.
Being a ?people pleaser? doesn?t help either. I want to be the best and I want to please, but that doesn?t happen in reality. It?s not all rainbows and unicorns. It?s dark. It?s cold. It?s a void that we can?t get out. Now I understand that my life shouldn?t be encompassed with the fear of failing. I don?t want to walk around with my head down and a melancholy look across my face. I want to be strong. I want to be positive. I want to feel happy all the time, but I know that it won?t
happen. I know that failing doesn?t always feel great especially when it?s in school or on a team, we just need to deal with it. Failures build us up into better people. Nobody is perfect. If we were all perfect then the world would be boring.
Being torn down by my failures has impacted the way I act. I put on a mask at school. I try to be Now when I think of that moment when I was positive. I try to be happy in public, but that in Mrs. Walters?class I think I will write what I feel. mask is starting to fade. I went from being positive about a lot of things to second guessing I will get through this. I will not pass a problem aside anymore. I need to push on and keep myself on my hopes and dreams. moving in my life. I need to remember to never let I don?t even check my grades anymore the fear of striking out keep me from playing the because that letter grade in math scares me so game. much. It stares me down like a lion waiting to
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EXPERIENCING INSECURITIES Student expresses her insecurities,depression Elise Tucker
become more outgoing. Junior Olivia Coulter has always been the person Shields goes to in a time of Senior Emmalee Shields has been through a need. lot with her body. She has been beaten down ?She was the one who pressured me into doing and broken not by someone else, but by show choir or theater,? Shield said. ?She?s the one herself. With depression and her insecurities who says you need to do this. You have the ability pulling her down, she struggles to stay to do this.? positive. They have been together since second grade ?I get self conscious about my weight and the two are inseparable. Coulter has been a because a lot of my friends are smaller,? true friend to Shields even when they weren?t as Shields said. ?When I see them, I get jealous close in middle school, but they are very close because I wish I could be like them.? now. Shields has felt like she needs to create a ?Every time she feels bad about herself I tell her wall for herself, but her friends have found a that she?s so pretty,? Coulter said. ?When I say a way to break through it. She has always felt compliment, I feel like Emmalee thinks, ?oh she?s bad about herself. just saying that because she?s my friend, but it?s ?I haven?t been diagnosed for having true.? depression, but I just get into one of those Coulter has also felt like she?s not good enough funks and it takes over my body,? Shields said. for her friends and people in general. Shields and Shields has always wanted to be a skinny girl Coulter both have insecurities, so they lean on for a long time and the feelings of being each other for help. insecure about herself hasn?t been helping at ?Whenever I feel insecure, she tells me that I?m all. Her biggest insecurities are her hair and smart and I?m good enough,? Coulter said. ?She?s her nose. tells me that I look beautiful.? ?I would change my hair because I can not These two girls aren?t the only ones stand my hair,? Shields said. ?If I could I would experiencing insecurity in their lives. Many girls shave it off of my head and I get insecure and boys go through insecurity and depression about the size of my nose a lot too.? everyday. Even though Shields has been through She has wanted to change her look since difficulties accepting her body, she has some high school has started, but her friends tell advice for teens today. her she?s perfect. Her friends have always ?You are beautiful,? Shields said. ?And don?t let been by her side ever since she felt bad about anyone tell you you?re not.? herself. Editor-in-Chief
?My friends have been there for me constantly, like when my parents just don?t really understand what I?m going through,? Shields said. Even when her parents don?t understand her, her friends have brought out her brilliance as a person and she?s starting to
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FRIEND DRAMA TURNS UGLY Elise Tucker Editor-in-Chief
Senior year was supposed to be our last year being happy, but the drama of having girl friends quickly arose. Fights over a group chat and verbal fights in the library that resulted in one of my best friends at Westside crying because her other friends were joking about how they wanted to die encompassed my life as a senior.
girl was joking about how she wanted to die. I was in shock when she started crying, but then she stated that she knew someone who committed suicide and the wave of emotions just hit her. I led her to the back where the books were and I tried to calm her down and talk to her about what was going on. One of my other friends came over to help out and eventually I got her to calm down.
"Shestated that sheknewsomeone whocommitted suicideand the waveof emotions just hit her."
I didn?t know what to do because I didn?t want to choose between my friends. I was Sweden in the situation, which basically meant I was there to help them out as much as I can without picking a side. The fight started out like a little bickering back and forth from girl to girl and I was just sitting there not knowing what to do. Then one of them broke down crying because she felt offended that the other
I later thought about how I could cheer her up somehow without getting in the way of my other friendship. Agreeing with one girl would make the other girl not trust me and I didn?t want to rip my friendship during my last year of high school. I want to go out with a bang, so I asked my crying friend if she wanted to go to a movie. She agreed and we both went to see ?Hotel Transylvania? and talked about our lives. I didn?t want to bring up the incident at all, but I did tell her that if any of them say something in the group chat then I would talk to the others. The whole situation quickly left our brains, but the effects are still there. The two girls don?t really talk to each other anymore because of the fear of
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Friends shouldn?t have fights or disagreements at all. The reason I?m friends with these girls is because they have my back through any situation, but when one of them is hurt or having a panic attack about something I feel crushed. I don?t want any of them to be upset. I don?t want them to feel alone. I want them to be happy in the group of friends.
anything about it. It angers me so much that this had to happen to the best of us, but some bad things happen to good people. I know that some fights between friends are temporary and I know that we will get through it, but this one has left a scar on all of us. I hope to mend the relationships I have with my friends, so we can graduate and move on without another spurt of anger. The end is supposed to be fun and I will try to make it fun for myself even if my friends don?t want to join me. Hopefully we can overcome this.
I will forever remember that day of sorrow in our group. It will stay in our minds and keep the two girls from talking to each other. I wish that fight didn?t happen, but it did and I can?t do
DEAR GRANDPA Elise Tucker
ago.
Editor-in-Chief
I can remember faint memories of your face and how you were on Earth. When we were younger I remember calling you ?Cookie Monster? because you loved Grandma?s chocolate chip cookies. She still makes them you know. I wish you could still enjoy them like you used to. I wish you could taste the golden brown treats with a huge amount of chocolate chips in them. I remember playing with PlayDo when I was a kid and you would play with me. I think we might have even gave you some to ate, but you quickly hid it before we gave you more.
Dear Grandpa, I?ve missed you. I?ve missed seeing your face during the holidays and you standing next to grandma with loving eyes. I?ve missed the jokes you would tell and how you made my mom smile whenever she saw you. She misses you. Whenever we drive past your new home, she starts to focus more on the drive ahead rather than looking over at the cemetery. She still talks about you at the dinner table. She tells stories of how we were with you when we were kids and how my brother is so much like you. The colorblindness. The ?Doran? curl that you made famous now is a part of my brother. I see you in my grandma?s eyes whenever we have a Sunday dinner. I wish you could be a part of those dinners. You would love sitting around the table full of food and love and just talk to us about your life. Dinners have been so slow and melancholy since you left us years
I can remember the day you died? I don?t really want to remember it though. I want to remember all of the good memories, but this memory of you stood out to me because of the way my mom was crying when she said that you passed. The shock wave that hit me when I was just nine years old made me feel so empty inside. You left our world and it left a void in me. The funeral was the hardest part though. The way Aunt Shari cried for you made my family cry and
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getting into another fight and completely breaking the friendship. We have all felt the effects of that day hit us. Sometimes I feel like I should have picked a side, but at the same time I didn?t want to get in the way. I wanted to have our last year together ?fight free? and ?happy,? but of course, that didn?t happen. I the fear of loosing friends is a huge weight on my shoulders that I want to go away.
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Personal me even more on that cold winter day. I remember the drive to the cemetery. Silence encompassed the world. Nature seemed to be angry at the loss because the wind and cold was so harsh that we all need to huddle together when you were lowered into the ground. We all became more of a family that day. Not because of your death, but because we all needed each other to get through something. I wish you could see little William today. He?s the cutest baby in the world. I wish you could have been at Michael and Lindsey?s wedding to see the joy on their faces when they were married. I think you would love her very much just like Michael does. You know that Paul found someone just as special and now she is engaged to him. Her name is Maddie and those two are perfect together. We are now seniors and sophomores in high school. Yeah I can?t believe that either. I remember seeing you while I was in 4 th grade while Jill was in 2 nd grade. It?s crazy how time flies uh? Mom is doing well for what I know. She continues to work hard and I want to tell you that she is an angel for helping us all
these. She does so much for us and doesn?t get all of the credit that she deserves. Grandma misses you. I know that she does. Ever since Maddie, the dog, died, Grandma has been alone in her house. She has had troubles with her heart and I know that you are there watching over her closely to comfort her even though you aren?t here. Thank you for taking care of her and being her guardian angel. Because of you she is still here help us and loving us so much.
"Whenever wedrive past your newhome, shestarts tofocus moreon thedrive ahead rather than lookingover at the cemetery."
Thank you for letting us feed you PlayDo. Thank you for always listening to my grandma and loving her so much. Thank you for my aunts and uncles and my mom because if you and Grandma never met then they won?t have been born. Thank you for doing the best you could do when your family had barely anything. You have always been a guardian for us and we know that you are still watching over to make sure we nothing bad happens to us.
I love you so much, Grandpa. I will never forget you. The photos and memories of you will always be within my grasp. I love you, Elise
Wewill forever loveyou, Grandpa.
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A&E Rating: ****
Selena's Revival
Singer's new and improved sound loved by fans Editor-in-Chief
Move over Taylor Swift because Selena Gomez is back and better than ever. The past Disney star released her newest album called, "Revival" and the world is loving it . Billboard is calling Gomez the next "Chart Topper" because her album went to No. 1 as soon as it came out on October 9. The sound is full of rhythms and synthesizers with not a lot of guitar driven sound. The album overall is a powerful message for young girls today. The song "Surviors" tells girls that they will get through anything and everything in their lives. It makes me feel a lot better about myself and I can listen to this song when I'm feeling down. The song "Rise" has a very similar message. The darkest song in the album is called, "Sober." Gomez shined a light on an abusive relationship when her
Selena Gomez's new album hit No. 1 when it came out on October 9.
partner comes home drunk. This song brought up a personal connection for me because I have a fear of being around someone who is intoxicated to the point of them taking violent actions against me. And finally, we have the title song, "Revival." The song doesn't start out like your typical pop song. She uses spoken word poetry in the first 10 seconds to explain what the song is about. Revival is about her journey from being a Disney star to dating celebrities to having a new sound. You would think that the first song would be a peppy song, but the song is actually quiet slow. I didn't really like that it wasn't a very danceable song, but the rest of the album makes up for that. Overall, the album is full of inspirational tunes that will keep audiences dancing out their hearts. Gomez and her team of writers have done it again with breaking tradition of regular music. I applaud them on their success and hope that Selena continues her journey.
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Elise Tucker
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CYBERBU/ / Y
Rating: *****
Brings realness to the world wide web of bullying Editor-in-Chief It all started out as a joke, but it turned into something more. In the ABC Family Original Movie Cyberbully, a teenage girl named Taylor, played Emily Osment, is the subject of cyberbullying. Her mom Kris (Kelly Rowan) tries all that she can to help her technology-loving teen. Taylor joins a social media cite called "Clicksters" without her mom's permission and starts to get harassed by her peers at school. She soon learns Phot o f rom ABC Famil y. Cyberbullying came out on July 17 and is about a that fighting fire with fire is not a good girl who is the target of the famed online bullying trend in teens. plan at all and it backfires into a war. cyberbullying. You would think that maybe her friends would help her out, but they don't. They don't want to get involved and be harassed themselves. The bullying escalates into her almost committing suicide. Where is her mom you may ask? Her mom is trying her best to help out her daughter, but she keeps pushing her away. She goes to her state Congress and she is alarmed that the state doesn't have any law against the
The movie gave me the chills. The way Taylor almost gave up on herself made me want to help her even more. The way Osment stepped into a broken teenage girl's shoes was breathtaking. Her emotions were true and real, which made me cry even more. The whole movie just felt too real for me. I thought that this bullying could happen to me with my friends and family. We live in a world of technology and it isn't a gift. It's a weapon that is hurting us. The movie displays the power of the internet and how it can crush us into something that we aren't. The relationship between mother and daughter was strong in the end and Taylor learned that to think before she posts. I applaud the writer of the movie for how scary and real this was. Thank you for putting a movie like this out there in the world.
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Elise Tucker
Thank you for taking the time to look and read this project of mine and I hope that you start your own.
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