12.12 Issue

hilite

CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL NEWSMAGAZINE VOL. 84, NO. 5 DEC 12, 2019

ONLY

SKIN

DEEP? Students evaluate changes in beauty pageants, judging contestants on factors other than physical appearance PAGE 26 | WENDY ZHU

table of contents

NEWS 6

6 NEWS BRIEFS 7 STEM FOR THEM 8 UNDER CONSTRUCTION Door 4 to undergo construction over winter break

16 GOING SOLO

Students reflect on their past experiences, freedom of traveling out of state without parents

18 PICTURE PERFECT

STUDENT SECTION 22

10 A NEW CHAPTER 11 PREVAILING LESSONS

22 CHARITABLE CHOICES

FEATURE 12

24 BYE WINTER WONDERLAND

12 VIBE CHECK 14 KNOCK ON WOOD

23 HUMANS OF CHS

Students, travel professionals consider positives, negatives of traveling during holiday season

COVER 26

26 BRINGING OUT BEAUTY Students analyze evolution of pageants; focus away from external appearances

ENTERTAINMENT 32 34 A DECADE OF ENTERTAINMENT Take a look at highlights from the past 10 years

32 ALMOST HUMAN 36 VOICES OF FAITH 38 PUNK PIECES 39 ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS

Contact information: Mailing Address: 520 E. Main St. Carmel IN 46032 Phone: (317) 846 7721 Ext. 7143 Website: www.hilite.org Email: Staff members may be contacted by using their first initial and their last name appending @hilite.org The HiLite is a student publication distributed to students, faculty and staff of CHS with a press run of 4,500. Copies are distributed to every school in the Carmel Clay district as well as the Chamber of Commerce, City Hall and the Carmel Clay Public Library. The paper serves as a public forum and two-way communication for both the school and the community. Opinions expresed in the newspaper are not those of CHS nor Carmel Clay system faculty staff or administration.

Credentials: The HiLite belongs to the Indiana High School Press Association, Quill & Scroll and the National Scholastic Press Association.

Advertising: Businesses may advertise in the HiLite if their ads adhere to guidelines. The advertising policy is available in Room C147 or at www.hilite.org/ads-info.

Editor in Chief

Entertainment

Da-Hyun Hong

Tessa Collinson Natalie Khamis

Managing Editors Riya Chinni Aditi Kumar Angela Li Raphael Li Uday Lomada Hari Patel Karen Zhang

Front/TOC/JAM Robbie Ge Gray Martens

News

Josie Cruzan Pranav Jothirajah

Feature

LAASYA MAMIDIPALLI PHOTO

SPORTS 40 40 BREAKING THE ICE 42 PAYING PLAYERS Committed CHS athletes, athletic director reflect on possiblilites for college athletes to be paid with NCAA rule changes

44 MOVING THE GOALPOSTS 46 STRIKE AND SPARE! 47 SPORTS BRIEFS

PERSPECTIVES 48 48 LOST CONNECTION

49 TRY A NEW TUNE

54

50 GIFT IT YOUR BEST Staff members Calina He and Uma Kandallu debate regifting

@hilitenews

52 A BETTER TALK 53 AND THAT’S ON PERIOD SIS

@hilitenews

15 MINUTES 54 54 DOODLES OF FUN Junior Shannon Xie does art commissions through her instagram, @hunnypuffs

@HiLiteOnline

Lillian He Wendy Zhu

Ads Team

Brian Zhang

Student Section/15 Minutes

Sports

Sarah Kim Ashwin Prasad

Perspectives Marvin Fan Calina He

Litebox

Maddie Kosc Shruthi Ravichandran

Social Media

Kassandra Darnell Hannah Gretz Anna Klauz Lily McAndrews Marissa Ryan

Web

Livvie Hurley Avery Thorpe

Adviser

Jim Streisel

Kris Otten Angela Qian

Principal

Rhea Acharya

Michael Beresford

Cover

Thomas Harmas

Superintendent

Responding to the HiLite: Letters to the editor will be accepted for the Jan. 12 issue no later than Dec. 25. Letters may be submitted to Room C147 placed in the mailbox of Jim Streisel, emailed to management1920@hilite.org or mailed to the school. All letters must be signed. Names will be published. (Letters sent via email will be taken to a student’s SRT for them to sign). Letters must not contain personal attacks against an individual and may be edited.

Corrections and clarifications: Big Game Club has a commitee of students this year instead of specific leadership titles. Deion Ziwawo and Mia Glass were incorrectly labeled as president and vice president. Ryan Osborne is still the head coach of the men’s basketball team and former CHS coach Scott Heady remains at Marian University.

The HiLite strives to correct its errors. If you notice any inaccuracies in this or past issues, please contact management1920@hilite.org.

ROBBIE GE FRONT COVER PHOTO

04

DEC 12, 2019

THE LEGACY OF

STAR WARS

With release of “The Rise of Skywalker” approaching, take a look at history, achievements, impact of Star Wars GRAY MARTENS, MARVIN FAN GRAPHIC IMDB, ROTTEN TOMATOES, STARWARS.COM, MARKETWATCH SOURCES

WHO’S WHO?

OBI-WAN KENOBI Anakin’s mentor, flees to Tatooine and mentors Luke after Revenge of the Sith

YODA A Former Jedi master who trains Luke to use the force in order to defeat Vader and the Emperor in “Return of the Jedi”

DARTH VADER

LUKE SKYWALKER

1980

1983

Synopsis: A young farmer named Luke Skywalker is enlisted to help in a rebellion against the Galactic Empire Critic Score 93%

Synopsis: Luke seeks training from Jedi Master Yoda while Leia and Han are on the run from the Empire Critic Score 95%

Synopsis: Luke confronts Darth Vader about his past, the Rebels fight the Imperials on Endor to destroy the Death Star II Critic Score 81%

A NEW HOPE

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

RETURN OF THE JEDI

ORIGINAL TRILOGY

1999 Synopsis: Young Anakin Skywalker is taken into the Jedi order, the Jedi fight to liberate Naboo from the Trade Federation Critic Score 54%

2002

PREQUEL TRILOGY Synopsis: A separatist movement threatens to tear apart the Republic, and the Jedi try to discover its source Critic Score 66%

THE PHANTOM ATTACK OF THE MENACE CLONES

INNOVATIONS High Quality Effects: Pioneered by John Dykstra, animation and a system of computer-controlled motion photography was used to create special effects

A smuggler who joins the rebellion and fights the Empire. Father of Kylo Ren

A farm boy on Tatooine who joins the rebellion to overthrow the Empire and becomes a Jedi, Darth Vader’s son

Originally Anakin Skywalker was the “Chosen One” before he turned to the dark side; returns to the light side and dies in “Return of the Jedi”

1977

HAN SOLO

Virtual Characters: Motion Control: High quality motioncontrol camera systems were used to film complex spaceship battles that could be put in different scenes

Jar Jar Binks was one of the first fully CG characters to appear in a film; it would eventually lead to many more CG characters in the franchise

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THE MONEY

$2.07 billion

Budget vs. Box Office Revenue $1.03 billion

$775 million

$538 million

$11 million

$18 million

A New Hope

Empire Strikes Back

$32.5 million

$475 million

$115 million

$115 million

2012

$33.0

billion USD

2015

Synopsis: During the Clone Wars, Anakin is bitter over not being on the Jedi Council, joins the dark side and becomes Darth Vader Critic Score 80%

REVENGE OF THE SITH

$200 million

$200 million

The Force Awakens

The Last Jedi

One of the most lucrative parts of the Star Wars franchise is the numerous video games and toys sold under the franchise name each year

$760

Total Star Wars toy sales in 2016

Total Revenue generated by the Star Wars Franchise

billion

2005

Revenge of the Sith

million

$9.31

Disney buys rights to the franchise from George Lucas for 4 billion USD

$113 million

$1.27 billion

Toys and Games

Theme Parks With Disney taking over the Star Wars franchise, theme parks such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge get thousands of visitors every day

$649 million

Attack of the Clones

The Phantom Menace

Return of the Jedi

$848 million

05

Total worldwide box office revenue of the Star Wars Franchise

2017

2019

Synopsis: Thirty years after the original trilogy, Han Solo and newcomers Rey and Finn must defeat the First Order and Kylo Ren Critic Score 93%

Synopsis: Rey finds Luke who teaches her how to use the force, the First Order attempts to stamp out the Resistance for good Critic Score 91%

Synopsis: The Resistance along with Rey and Finn faces the First Order in a final battle to end the trilogy Releases Dec 20 2019

THE FORCE AWAKENS

THE LAST JEDI

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

SPEAK-UPS

SEQUEL TRILOGY

How has Star Wars affected you on a personal level?

“My uncle is a really big fan, and I wasn’t that close to my uncle before, but then the new Star Wars movies came out and he asked me if I wanted to go and he took me to those movies. It actually brought me closer to one of my family members.”

Junior Ben Outland

Scan this to view an interactive version of this graphic

“I remember going to see all three films with my dad. My oldest kid watches the films with me so its interesting that I shared Star Wars with my dad and now I’m able to share the new trilogies with my child”

Media Specialist John Love

news

DEC 12, 2019

News Briefs CADENCE ARMSTRONG BRIEFS

EDWARD DONG GRAPHIC

HOLIDAYS

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December 22-30 Hanukkah December 25 Christmas

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January 1

New Year’s Day

IMPORTANT DATES December 17-20 Final Exams December 20 End of Semester 1 January 7 Students return

EVENTS

January 1

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January 13 Academic Information Night 5-8 PM January 14 Class awards presentation during SRT

ANUSHKA DASGUPTA GRAPHIC

SEMESTER 1 FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

DEC. 16

DEC. 17

DEC. 18

DEC. 19

DEC. 20

G1 REVIEW

B1 REVIEW

OFFICE HOURS

OFFICE HOURS

OFFICE HOURS

7:50-11:00 a.m.

7:50-11:00 a.m.

7:50-11:00 a.m.

G2 SRT G3 REVIEW G4 REVIEW

B2 REVIEW B3 REVIEW B4 FINAL

LUNCH

LUNCH

LUNCH

11:00-11:30 a.m.

11:00-11:30 a.m.

11:00-11:30 a.m.

G3 FINAL

B3 FINAL

B1 FINAL

11:40 a.m.-1:18 p.m.

11:40 a.m.-1:18 p.m.

11:40 a.m.-1:18 p.m.

G4 FINAL

1:33-3:05 p.m.

G1 FINAL

1:33-3:05 p.m.

B2 FINAL

1:33-3:05 p.m.

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07

STEM for Them

New STEM club forms to provide educational opportunities to students VIYANG HAO Q&A

Q&A

PRANAV JOTHIRAJAH PHOTO

stem club president and junior kalika raje

What is STEM Club?

STEM club is basically a club that is focused on bringing educational outlets and opportunities to students that might not necessarily have access to these programs otherwise.

What are some goals for the club this year?

One big goal is just to being able to provide connections and opportunities for people who don’t have them otherwise. Even someone I just texted now, after leaving today’s meeting, I was able to give her that professor connection from the guest speaker we just had that she wouldn’t have (had) without talking or being part of the club.

Why should students join this club?

If you’re at all interested in any STEM field, I would really advise anyone who is available to join because (the club) gives people different education opportunities and possibly prospects for doing research. (The club) also gives you something that you can apply your passion to STEM into a way that can kind of affect the community if you will.

want to be a stem?

Why did you decide to establish this club at CHS? I first thought that (the club) was originally going to be around forensic science and things like that because I had a class that provoked my interest in that but that idea kind of plateaued when I had issues trying to find a sponsor for that. Then since I’m now in my junior year, I was like, ‘I only have this time now to establish a club.’ So that idea really drove me into starting the club officially and also part of the idea behind it was that I wanted to make something (that was) accessible, and not competitive.

How often does your club meet and in what room?

The club meets roughly two to four times a month depending on the month’s schedule and we usually meet in room B213. It could also change depending on whether or not we have guest speaker coming into speak.

Check out the current most promising jobs in the STEM field

PRANAV JOTHIRAJAH GRAPHIC BESTCOLLEGEREVIEWS SOURCE

Statistician Description: Collect, analyze and present data. Focuses on using data and numbers to address business issues.

Annual Salary: $84,060 Mathematician Description: Collect data and studies it themselves. Focuses on presenting new principles.

Annual Salary: $103,010

08

DEC 12, 2019

Under Construction Administration explains construction for main offices at Door 4 KASSANDRA DARNELL STORY

GRACE BELT PHOTO

S

fice) will be done from Christmas to spring break, and this, most of the area (current counseling and student services) will be done from spring break to the start of summer,” Schaller said regarding the changes.

“And then for the rest of the summer, the rest will be (finished), assuming everything’s on time, which may or may not happen.”

As the student body has expanded, so has the staff. One of the major reasons for all of the renovations to these main offices is to accommodate the significant amount of new staff that have been hired in recent years.

tarting during winter break, the attendance, student services and the counseling offices at Door 4 will be under construction. In addition, the health center and activities offices will also be under construction. The offices will be moved, expanded and renovated.

During construction, the new office at Door 21 will act as a temporary attendance office. Assistant Principal Joseph Schaller said the construction will last until the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year.

“This area right here (the current attendance office and nurse’s of-

i’m the map

by the numbers

1

MILLION square feet covered by main campus

29

ENTRANCES and exits to CHS’s main campus CCS SOURCE

“We’re creating some additional offices because we have many more counselors than we used to have and social workers and so on and there’s just not enough offices in that area,” Schaller said. “But it creates some additional space for not only the counselors, but they’re also going to have the new college and career readiness area. It’s going to be (where rooms B164 and B165 currently are) completely renovated and looking good for them.”

Rachel Cole, director of counseling, said via email that she is excited about the renovations and

Take a look at the new office locations after winter break

6 3 2 Door 13

Door 21

First Semester Location Key 1 - Activities Office** 2 - Athletics 3 - Attendance

4

1

5

4 - Health Center**

All Offices Door 4

Second Semester Location 5 - Student Services** *Assistant Principal Maureen Barto will be located at door 21

6 - Student Pick-Up and Drop-Off

**Accessed through Main Office RILEY TERBUSH GRAPHIC JOSEPH SCHALLER SOURCE

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that they’re much needed, considering the counseling office is one of the first places seen by new families that come to enroll and the offices were in need of a makeover. In addition, Cole also said she also thinks the renovations will be beneficial for students as well. “(The offices are being expanded) to support our staff and the needs of our work with conferences, community agencies coming in,” Cole said regarding the renovations. “I think we will be more centrally located and parents and students along with college reps will have more space to meet and not have to walk to other conference rooms.”

All of the main offices will be temporarily moved to various parts of the building.The counseling office will be moved into media center classrooms one and two as well as the hink tank. Offices such as attendance will be located at Door 21 and the health center will be accessed through the main office.

“There’ll be a couple classes in this block area, B164 and B165, that’ll become either a part of counseling or athletics. Those (classrooms) are going to go over into A100. This will end up

We’re creating some additional offices because we have more counselors than we used to have and social workers... and there’s just not enough offices in that area.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL JOSEPH SCHALLER

did you know?

Carmel High School is the biggest high school in Indiana, both in regards to student count with 5,444 students, and in campus size, with a campus that is over 55 square acres after six major renovations since 1958. being reconfigured because student services, they’re going to be moved over here, and the nurse’s office will be moved over (to the current attendance office) once everything is done,” Schaller said in regards to the new layout of the building. “(The nurse’s office) is the only office that will not have to move twice. They won’t have to move and come back. Once this is finished, they’ll just move straight over. We wanted that to be a smooth transition for the health center. They’ll have it easy, so to speak.”

Once construction to the offices at Door 4 are complete, the new offices at Door 21 will not act as attendance offices. When the 20202021 school year begins, students will have to go to the attendance office at Door 4. The offices at Door 21 will act as a permanent Student Resource Officer (SRO) office and place where staff can allow students into the building through that door. Schaller said those offices are needed now that Door 21 is a permanent entrance and Student Resource Officer DJ Schoeff said that entrance was in need of an SRO office because it is one of the lessmonitored building entrance. The new offices at Door 21 have been built because it is now a permanent entrance into the building.

“That’s never been an official entrance for us. We used to lock that door and you had to walk around.

But we didn’t think that was good so we started letting kids come in there,” Schaller said. “But that wasn’t good.

09

So we just have that makeshift desk there with somebody sitting there and we got buzzer added to let people in.

But now that’ll be an entrance very similar to our main entrances, like Doors 2, 4 and 13 where you can actually come in and be scanned in.”

Shoeff said that an SRO office would be beneficial to the overall safety of the school.

“Door 21 was an area that we saw was kind of a weakness, if you will, where a presence would be beneficial. (The) natatorium’s there, we have lots of visitors that come in there, and we wanted to make sure we put an office down there for two reasons,” Schoeff said. “Number one, the presence. We’ll have an officer down there as often as we can. And two, the deterrence of walking up and seeing a police officer’s office is right there. It’ll be very beneficial and we plan on putting a nice little sticker on the outside to identify that it’s a police office just h as a deterrence.”

TECH SAVVY: Activities Administration Assistant Karen Hayes checks and writes her emails. In the upcoming construction, she will be staying in the activities office. Hayes said Student Services will be in this office here eventually, so she’ll have three people in there instead of two.

10

DEC 12, 2019

A New Chapter New Carmel Clay Public Library (CCPL) branch to open Jan. 6.

branching out

The CCPL Joyce Winner West Branch will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. on Jan. 6. Take a look at some important information regarding the branch Branch Highlights Hours Mondays-Thursdays

JOSIE CRUZAN GRAPHIC CHRISTY WALKER SUBMITTED PHOTO

Location Broughton Street Bird Cage Walk

West Branch

10 a.m.

- 8 p.m.

Horseferry Road

DVD and bookshelves with wheels

Fridays-Saturdays main room seating

Q&A ccpl communications manager christy walker JOSIE CRUZAN Q & A, PHOTO

What is the new library branch?

The new library branch is our first official library branch. We’ve been in this main library building since 1999 and a few years ago we opened a digital media lab on Main Street but this is the first time where we’ll have an actual branch where people can go check out materials outside of this building.

What are the highlights of the new library branch?

It will have its own smallish collection of new releases, (consistently) popular things­­—books and movies both. We also have been told that people are really excited because it’s a place where people can go and check out things they put on hold. It’s going to have a drive-up materials return and an automated materials handling system, which is a conveyor and a sorter inside, which makes it really easy for us to get things checked back in and put where they belong. It’s also fun because people will be able to see that machine from inside the branch. It’s about 5,000 sqaure feet total.

noon - 5 p.m.

by the numbers

85

THOUSAND people can be adequately served by the main library branch

1.4

MILLION dollars were approved for the branch

360

THOUSAND items in the main library’s collection

2.1

MILLION items checked out from the library in 2017 CCPL SOURCE

Gate ons Pars

two mezzanine sitting rooms

N

*Starting December 30, the drop box at Towne Road and 131st Street will no longer be available

What goals does the library have for that branch going forward?

We definitely want to improve accessibility to all the things that the (main library building) has, and not just things people can put on hold and check out, but the other services that people can come into the branch and learn about. We have an expanding collection of digital materials and those are things that people haven’t necessarily heard about or aren’t sure how to use. People will be able to come in and learn about those things.

Why did the library choose to open the branch in the Village of West-Clay?

We had been hearing for years from people on the west side of Carmel that it was a burden to get to this library, and especially as that part of town has grown and there’s been a lot of development and still is in that part of town, it’s been more of a challenge for people who live on the west side of Carmel to get to the library, so we knew that we wanted to do something to improve service to that part of town.

Are there other library branches planned for the future?

Not currently, but we are going to be doing a renovation and expansion of the main library building. That’s something that we’re in the planning stages for now, but we’ve got some exciting things lined up with that, like an expansion of our teen area and our program space, which is very small.

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11

Prevailing Lessons Prevail to relaunch 100 Men Campaign starting in 2020 CADENCE ARMSTRONG STORY, PHOTO

I

n 2017, Prevail launched the 100 Men Campaign, which aims to develop male leaders willing to stand up to oppose violence, creating a safer community in central Indiana.

According to Sara Roorbach, 100 Men Campaign coordinator and primary prevention specialist at Prevail, Prevail plans to relaunch for 2020 after a hiatus.

“100 Men has been around since 2017,” Roorbach said. “The real reason why they chose to go in this direction was mainly based on the feeling that men have kind of been left out of the conversation surronding domestic violence (and) sexual violence. It’s always kind of been a women’s issue and we really want men to feel like they matter and that they can make a difference.

In 2020, moving into next year, we are kind of revamping (the campaign).

There’s going to be projects, volunteering opportunities and also integrating meeting into all this too. (There’ll be a) quarterly meeting so the guys can come together and learn different skills.”

Prevail plans to host the first event for the campaign in 2020 on April 28 at the teen literacy fair.

Roorbach said, “Within the last few years, we’ve had five major projects that have happened.”

Primary Prevention Specialist Kelly Groden said via email that the campaign’s aim is to create a safer environment.

“In the short run, 100 Men empowers men to challenge abusive, objectifying or otherwise harmful words and behaviors,” Groden said. “This campaign sends a strong message to the community that violence is not the norm and will not be tolerated or excused. In the long run, 100 Men will create a safer community by reducing risk factors for violence.

When people’s needs are met, they are significantly less likely to use violence to solve problems.”

Junior Julain Wright said via email “I think it’s a good thing.

Domestic violence is a really serious issue to me that I feel like not many people pay all that attention to. If there are awareness programs like this then people will become more educated and feel more comfortable speaking out.”

In regards to the campaign Roorbach said, “It’s kind of been taboo that men aren’t effective so they don’t feel inclined to be personally invested unless it’s happened to someone they know or affected them personally in their life. We really want people to feel like this is something that you should

by the numbers

22%

of Prevail clients in 2018 were men

7

PROGRAMS that are offered by Prevail Inc. are aimed towards children and teens

3968 PEOPLE served by Prevail in 2018

also feel invested in... we really want to welcome them in and say, ‘No let’s actually talk about this.’”

“On paper it seems like it could be really successful,” Wright said. “I would like to see it in practice all over, especially in schools, because I think it could be really successful and have a lot of imact here. h

body talks Take a look at some different body safety presentations to students Prevail Presentation in Health Classes -healthy and unhealthy relationships -how to feel safe in a relationship -how to tell the signs of abuse

5

SCHOOL DISTRICTS participate in Prevail’s safe dating curriculum

25%

Step up to Sexual Assault Presentation -defines sexual assault and consent -laws about sexual assault -identifying unhealthy relationships

of Prevail clients are under 18

PREVAIL INC. SOURCE

GRACE BELT GRAPHIC CARMEL CLAY SCHOOLS SOURCE

GIVING TREE: Sara Roorbach, 100 Men Campaign coordinator and primary prevention specialist at Prevail, explains a meaning of a piece of art on the wall of the Prevail main office on Nov. 19.

Roorbach said, “This is definitely unique in that it’s engaging a different community and is specifically targeting a group of people that maybe haven’t been super involved in the past.”

feature D E C 1 2 , 2 0 1 9

Vibe Check

In light of growing popularity of self-care, students, counselor evaluate proposed benefits, shortcomings of trends MICHELLE LU STORY

G

lossy Twitter threads. Skincare Instagram accounts.

Vlogs recording daily routines. These are all facets of the “selfcare” movement that have taken the country by storm. However, the question ‘why do you practice self-care?’ still remains, for the most part, unanswered.

According to the International Self-Care Foundation (ISF), selfcare is any activity done to improve mental and physical well-being. Yet, given the rising popularity of selfcare, evidenced by the emergence of “dopamine fasting” (where people fast from stimulants such as electronics), many say that the current movement has turned into a marketing tactic.

Claims like these have prompted people like junior Nishita Prasad to reconsider this so-called “self-care,” and take matters into her own hands.

“Especially like on Instagram, like on social media, there’s a very ro-

manticized idea of self-care,” Prasad said. “At the time they were really popular, but I noticed a lot of the self-care pages would post the same things and they wouldn’t have any scientific accuracy…I don’t think doing physical self-care is as helpful as mental self-care and I don’t really think the media covers that as much,” Prasad said.

However, Prasad does have what she calls an extensive skincare routine, which involves serums and more active skincare products; occasionally, she also does periodic self-care such as face masks. She said she believes the original premise of self-care is more wellintentioned and can be a springboard to improved health.

“It’s the easiest way for some people to start healthy habits,” Prasad said. “But just to start out just doing skincare or actually about thinking what you have to do is a great way

SKIN CARE: As part of her skincare routine, Senior Hannah Liu applies Blanc De La Mer cream, a facial hydrating mask used to moisturize and brighten the skin. Liu said skincare is an important part of her self care routine. Another thing that she chooses to incorporate in her life for self care is exercise, specifically dancing.

RAY MO PHOTO

to start working on the mental and physical aspects of your health.”

Director of counseling Rachel Cole said despite its importance, self-care is overlooked because of how people choose to sacrifice it in light of increasingly busy lifestyles.

“Sometimes we need to be reminded, because we get so caught up in our academics or even social (life) and working that we kind of let (self-care) go to the wayside,” Cole said.

Senior Hannah Liu said based on personal experience, those benefits of self-care are evident. She said she defines self-care as eating right, working out, sleeping a decent amount, and doing things she loves.

Liu said, “Compared to periods of time when I’m not taking care of myself, there’s a huge difference in my own mental health and happiness.”

Likewise, Cole mentioned how just taking time for oneself provides a wide

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Less is More

13

Students should take a break from constant external stimuli GRACE XU COLUMN

O

ne Saturday in November, I took it upon myself to attempt a five-hour dopamine fast. (Including sleep, it ended up being a full 12 hours.)

I didn’t allow myself to look at any electronics, read books, eat, hold conversations, exercise, listen to music, or drink anything that wasn’t water.

To be honest, it was a very difTHAT’S ferent experience from what I had previously imagined.

Being a self-care trend, I thought it would calm me down, or enlighten me. Instead, for the first 30 minutes, I laid on my bed, despairing about all the homework I should have finished earlier, then proceeded to write a to-do list.

But as the fast progressed, I felt my mindset begin to change. Being forced to do practically nothing was freeing in its own way. I was able to revel in how slowly the time passed and realized how much time I waste on a day-to-day basis—not just literal time, but the feeling of time too.

I could also physically feel the effects of the dopamine fast. My hearing became sensitive to DOPE the hum of electronics in my room, and I would automatically bounce my legs whenever I wasn’t paying attention.

The fast also gave me time to think..

It was probably the most I’ve ever just thought in my life. I ruminated on the movie I’d seen the night before, questioned if Henry David Thoreau was an early pioneer of dopamine fasting, and

Scan this to read the rest of this column

did you know?

This trend originated in Silicon valley where people were looking to escape the daily bustle of life NYTIMES SOURCE

be (dopa)mine Take a look at the effect of dopamine on the body and brain Normal Levels Dopamine acts in the brain to help with feeling pleasure, rewards and motor function

Synaptic Vesicle Dopamine

LILLIAN HE GRAPHIC MEDIUM, NYTIMES SOURCE

range of benefits that aren’t limited to just physical improvements.

Cole said, “I think (self-care) helps in relationships. I think it does in your work, I think it does in academic performance … if you do something you enjoy that is not work-related, then I think it affects

Dopamine Receptor

Dopamine fasting A self care trend to abstain from pleasurable activities (eating, exercising, etc.) for a time to derive more pleasure from them later Dopamine deficiency Low dopamine levels due to a medical condition. Symptoms include muscle spasms and guilt.

everyone around you and can (help) you physically as well.”

Liu said she agreed, adding it is important to know there is a fine line between self-care and self-care stripped of its inherent purpose, such as glorifying the use of a certain product or using it as an excuse for negligence.

wondered how I would write this column. I also might have gone through an existential crisis. Or two.

In the end, I managed to accomplish a whole lot and nothing at the same time. I’ve never been the biggest fan of many self-care trends—personally, I find that a lot of them justify not doing work—but dopamine fasting had the opposite effect. It made me so aware of how much time exists—and how much time I waste. It also forced me to check in with my thoughts.

As stress ramps up with finals season, attempting a dopamine fast might seem daunting—but it isn’t necessarily the fast itself, so much as the concept of it, that I found helpful. Perhaps, try taking a few hours to avoid the constant intake of external stimuli and check-in with yourself. Your brain and body will thank you. h The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff.

Reach Grace Xu at gxu@hilite.org “Personally, I know people who do this and I’m guilty of doing it too…I know I should be working hard as a student,” Liu said. “I think it’s really important to know how much slack off because you need to strike a balance between self-care and being lazy.”

However, Prasad said despite its obvious benefits, self-care is not a panacea for all problems, especially ones that require professional attention.

Prasad said, “I think like I said I think it’s a good first step but I think if you actually have something that a therapist would be good at dealing with mental health issues that are more in-depth than just, ‘Oh, I’m stressed at this moment,’ then it’s definitely a better idea to actually go see a therapist because there’s only so much you can h do for yourself.”

Scan this to read an extended version of this story online.

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DEC 12, 2019

LILLIAN HE GRAPHIC DANCESPIRIT, EONLINE, FTW, PEOPLE, USATODAY SOURCE

Knock on Wood As foreseen apocalyptic events quickly approach, students consider effect of superstitions, pregame rituals

Taylor Swift

LESLIE HUANG STORY

A

idan Mellor, Ambassadors member and senior, actively participates in the school choir, and although he said he doesn’t personally believe in superstitions, he said before each performance, choir members follow a chant. He said this chant has become a mandatory ritual to set an optimistic atmosphere for a better performance.

“The chants have always been a staple of our performances and competitions and absolutely get all of us in a better headspace to perform,” Mellor said. “The chants always get us (to) focus on and only the present and help focus a lot of the groups collective nervous energy before the show.”

According to psychologist Linda Hinkle, superstitions and rituals like the ones Mellor participates in stem from anxiety and can psychologically improve performances. She said superstitions can hold a variety of benefits, which include boosting self-confidence and creating a sense of control.

Hinkle said, “Superstitions are often prevalent in situations involving fear and have been passed down through ancestral roots. There has been research that supersititons can improve performance by first raising confidence,

Superstitions are often prevalent in situations involving fear and have been passed down through ancestral roots.

There has been research that superstitions can improve performance by first raising confidence.

PSYCHOLOGIST LINDA HINKLE

which in turn helps a person execute their tasks better.”

Mellor said his family has reinforced certain practices, but eventually he said he realized that these practices were more superstitious than cautionary. Beyond this, he said superstitions have not especially affected his life but have contributed to how he chooses to approach performances and important moments in his life.

Similar to Mellor, Carol Syverson, tennis player and junior, said she has never been a superstitious person, but during tennis, there are actions players do to help them during the match.

“A thing tennis players do during the match oftentimes in between points is mess with their strings or kick their racket as a way to forget the last point,” Syverson said. She added how because tennis is such a mental sport, it’s more about what happens during the match and not before.

13 This is her lucky number and she tries to incorporate it into her life whenever possible including writing it on her hand during concerts.

CHANT TIME: Before going on stage for Holiday Spectacular’s first performance, Aidan Mellor, Ambassadors member and senior, and other choir members chant. The chant is a way to rid of their nervousness before performing.

KIERSTEN RIEDFORD PHOTO

stroke of luck

Serena Williams

Take a look at some pregame or preperformance rituals celebrities have Stage Kissing Right before a performance, he lies on the floor, puts his forehead and hands on the floor and blesses the stage.

Then, for good luck, he knocks on the floor three times and gives it a little kiss.

Ball Bouncing She always bounces the ball five times before her first serve and two times before her second.

Shoes and Socks She always ties her shoelaces a certain way and will not change socks throughout a whole competition.

Chris Martin Brush Teeth He always brushes his teeth before performing because it makes him feel smarter.

Drink Order He always put two bottles down in front of his chair and to his left.

One is behind the other and diagonally aimed at the court.

Nadal uses it to ground him in his surroundings.

According to Fame 10, tennis player Serena Williams’s pre-game ritual includes sporting a pair of shower slippers to the court, tying her shoelaces a specific way, and wearing the same socks throughout the tournament.

Similar to Williams, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift writes the number 13 on her hand before each performance and tries to incorporate the number into her life in any way possible as she believes it will bring her luck.

For both Mellor and Syverson, a superstitious element of their preparation for a match or performance is the chanting that occurs before the event.

Mellor said two of the most common warm-ups the choirs perform include “Czechoslovakia” and “Take the Cake.” “‘Take the Cake’ is one we always start with where we chant that and jump around and hype each other up,” Mellor said. “Another that we love is doing is called ‘Czechoslovakia,’ where we do a bunch of clapping and stomping and shouting in a specific order that gets progressively faster and more intense while in a circle.”

Mellor said the chants originated 10 to 15 years ago and have been part of every performance since.

Kleber Rebello

Restless When restless he fiddles with his shirt, his hair, and his shorts.

Rafael Nadal

Badge When arriving at the court he always puts his bag down then turns the tournament ID face up.

Towel He goes to his towel after every single point.

by the numbers

18% of 18 to 29 year olds consider themselves superstitious

27%

of people believe a fourleaf clover is lucky

33% of people believe picking up a penny is good luck STATISTA, YOUGOV SOURCE

He said, “The chants have their roots in tradition and assuring that the group is mentally ready to perform, but I think nowadays they do have a role in superstition especially for members who’ve been in the group for a long time.”

Similarly, Syverson said the tennis team creates a new chant each year to use for their matches and competitions. Both Syverson and Mellor said chants help improve their mindsets before the start of competitions and performances. Syverson said the chants help get the team fired up since each member gathers around the circle and participates in the chant.

While Syverson and Mellor routinely take part of these chants to pump up the atmosphere, Hinkle said it’s important to not take them too far or else they may have a negative impact.

“I think while these superstitions can be helpful in improving performances by boosting confidence, they can also cause unnecessary worrying to occur when it’s a bad superstition,” Hinkle said. “It’s important that people don’t base their decisions entirely off of superstitions.”

Mellor said although he is skeptical of superstitions, he said he believes people should follow what is most important to them.

“I’ve always felt that superstitious are most often rooted in anxiety or tradition,” Mellor said. “While this may make superstitions feel less important, it shouldn’t deter you from believing in what makes you feel secure or prepared for something.” h

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DEC 12, 2019

Going Solo Traveling out of state alone gives more freedom, experience SOPHIA HAWKINS STORY

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LEAH TAN PHOTOS

hen junior Olivia Sarjent was a freshman, she, as a member of the color guard, traveled with the marching band to southern California for a competition. The trip only happens every four years, and the students who make the trip visit Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and other sights in the area.

Along with many other CHS students, Sarjent traveled out of state without her parents, and although she was still with the school the whole time, she said she felt that the experience was still a new one.

“I know on our last day (the chaperones) were like, ‘Okay, here’s your $10 that has to last you lunch and dinner,’ and so you were kind of on your own to choose what you were going to do,” Sarjent said. “It’s kind of strange because for a lot of kids it was probably the first time being given money, like, ‘Here you go. Get food.’”

PACKING PLANS: (LEFT) Junior Olivia Sarjent packs her suitcase. She said traveling alone allows for more independence.

(CENTER) Sarjent looks back on Disneyland memorabilia from a past trip. She went on a trip to the amusement park during freshman year.

Two weeks before her 11th birthday, sophomore Naomi Grossman flew to Laramie, Wyo. to visit her aunt and uncle. She said she remembers the experience well.

“You have more freedom to do what you want when you’re not traveling with your parents,” Naomi said.

“You don’t really have to talk out what you want to do, so my aunt and my uncle were kind of substituting as my parents. You get more special treatment.”

However, traveling by plane can be inaccessible to some.

Plane tickets often cost hundreds of dollars, and when traveling in groups, this bill can add up quickly. Furthermore, coordinating travel for multiple people can take time.

HILITE.ORG

“It was definitely easier (to plan) because it was just me opposed to my brother and my dad and my mom and (me),” Naomi said. “So that’s why instead of us taking a year to plan it, it took two or three weeks.”

At the beginning of this year, oboist and junior Emily Osborne’s teacher asked her to travel with her to Italy for a music festival. Osborne’s family traveled with her overseas, but their paths diverged as they went to Switzerland while she went to Italy.

“It helped that my family was going over with me in flight, so I didn’t have to navigate airports myself, but still it took a lot of planning, so I figure out when was going to be separated from them,” Osborne said. “When they were coming back because they did go to home last night to hear me play in the concert, it wasn’t so much planning because it wasn’t like me going with my friends on a trip or vacation it was well-scheduled and well-organized.”

It may also seem as though traveling long-distance without one’s family would be scary for both the children and the parents involved.

Naomi’s father Daniel Grossman said via email that this was not the case for him.

“Letting Naomi go to Wyoming alone was not scary for me because the airlines have systems in place for child travel, and she was going to visit my sister,” he said.

Naomi, on the other hand, said she had some anxiety, but that didn’t get in the way of making good memories.

“I did get nervous,” she said. “At first I was like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to think about my family because I know I’ll get kind of sad.’ And then after a week, I hadn’t talked to my parents, and it’s not because I didn’t love them. It’s just, I knew

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up in the air Learn typical airline policies for flying unaccompanied as a minor AGES 0-4

AGES 5-7

AGES 8-14

GENERAL RESTRICTIONS cannot travel unaccompanied must be in unaccompanied minor service to fly without parents* can choose to fly unaccompanied* FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS cannot take any flights unless with a guardian** can take a nonstop flight to their final destination can take connecting flights may need parental permission to fly internationally SERVICE FEES OF SELECTED AIRLINES*** JET BLUE: $100 per direction per child

AGES 15-17

*Some airlines don’t provide nor require unaccompanied minor services after age 12 **Some airlines take guardian to mean someone who is 16 years or older. ***service fees are in addition to general cost of plane ticket

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: $50 per direction per child UNITED AIRLINES: $100 per direction for up to 2 children DELTA AIR LINES, AMERICAN AIRLINES: $150 per direction per family RHEA ACHARYA GRAPHIC AMERICAN AIRLINES, THE POINTS GUY SOURCES

(that) if I was to call them on the phone I would cry. And then my aunt was like, ‘Yeah, your parents are on the phone,’ and I did cry. But I still enjoyed the trip.”

Ultimately, Naomi, Sarjent and Osborne all said that their trips were worthwhile experiences.

“I was at first very scared to go because I was going to be one of the youngest people there,” Osborne said. “I went with my oboe teacher and her husband and then her two kids. I was really scared I wouldn’t be able to hold up with it, but I’ve gotten to be more responsible by myself. I’m not at the point now where if my parents are out of town I need someone to stay with me because I’m more self-reliant.”

Naomi said that it can be fun to get away from the normal routines and rules of being at home.

“The fun thing about traveling without parents is that you have a break from your rules and customs in your household,” Naomi said. “It’s always a unique experience.” h DISNEY FINDS: (RIGHT) Junior Olivia Sarjent tries on a pair of Minnie Mouse ears from her trip to Disneyland. Sarjent said traveling with the marching band without her parents provided a valuable experience that encouraged her to be more responsible.

by the numbers

1/3 of Gen-Zers said they preferred traveling alone

38% of solo travelers said they would do so again SOLO TRAVELER WORLD SOURCE

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DEC 12, 2019

Picture Perfect Students, parents ponder expectations that come with traveling, explain how photos on social media create them SARAH ZHENG STORY

A

UMA KANDALLU PHOTO

lthough many students find traveling one or two times a year enough to grasp different cultures and places, sophomore Annie Salter travels with her family roughly four to five times a year to a variety of places.

“We usually travel to many exotic and tropical places because it’s an escape from real life,” Annie said. “We travel to different cities to be able to see different countries, new cultures and experience new things.”

On her trips Annie said that she enjoys taking vacation photos because they remind her of her experiences as a family since her siblings are all in college and her dad works, but she said she does travel with certain expectations, especially when it comes to the photos.

“I do have a Pinterest board that I like to look at for traveling, so I usually tend to think these places will be amazing, which I’ve usually been quite impressed with,” Annie said. “Every time, they’ve met my expectations, and everywhere I’ve gone has been beautiful and something new I’ve never seen before.”

Rather than using pictures that Annie sees online as expectations, she said since she is a photographer, she uses online photos as inspiration for potential photos she may take.

“Instagram photos aren’t necessarily the reason why I have expectations,” Annie said. “I don’t base my opinion of a place on the photos I see.”

Senior William Pugh, on the other hand, said he usually travels six or seven times a year on an airplane and travels 10 times in a year by car. Both Annie and Pugh have similar reasons why they travel:

I just want to emphasize that the grass is not always greener on the other side. It’s extremely important (to be) focused on bettering your experience and creating your own experience.

SENIOR WILLIAM PUGH

to relax and find new experiences regardless of expectations of photos.

“One of the reasons why we go on vacation is to relax but also leave Indiana,” Pugh said. “I personally find Indiana really boring. We also travel to find new experiences, see different perspectives and see the world in general.”

Annie said that seeing photos on the internet or on social media, as well as having expectations when going on vacation, is a positive aspect.

VACATION INSPIRATION: Sophomore Annie Salter shows her Pinterest board to sophomore Julia Miller during SRT. Salter said she uses social media for photography inspiration when traveling.

“I think the photos are mostly a positive thing, because going into something and knowing what you’re going to get, based on the photos you see, you won’t be disappointed,” Annie said.

“My parents used to travel a lot and they told me that they would go places and would expect something and get there and it’d be entirely different, which is exciting for some people.”

However, Pugh said he thinks overall seeing photos and creating expectations in your mind is usually negative because during your trip you will be focused on fulfilling those expectations instead of enjoying it.

“I think in a way expectations can be negative because social media is definitely a place where we tend to share the best moments of our life, and we want to make our lives seem amazing when in reality we’re all going through something,” Pugh said. “That can hurt too because if it doesn’t live up to the way it looks in a photo that can be bad.”

Annie’s father, John Salter said he agrees with both Pugh and Annie’s explanation of why vacation

HILITE.ORG

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#forthegram Take a look at the most popular Instagram locations from 2017, based on geotags

London, United Kingdom (3) The Tower of London

Paris, France (5) Musee d’Orsay

7 3 5 10

1 6 Los Angeles, California (6) The Getty Center

New York, New York (1) The National 911 Memorial and Museum

2 9

Barcelona, Spain (10) Basilica of the Sagrada Familia

4 Sao Paulo, Brazil (4) Parque Ibirapuera

is important as well as the expectations that come with it.

“I think if you get on Trip Advisor or any other vacation websites and you look at the destination you already have your mind made up of what it would be like,” Mr. Salter said.

“Social media and reading other people’s reviews creates an already made up perspective. If I get there and it’s not quite what I was expecting, I’m let down a little, but it only influences how I go into the experience.”

Although Annie said that expectations can be a positive aspect of vacation and Pugh said it tends to be a negative aspect, Mr. Salter said it can be both a negative and positive perspective on vacation.

Mr. Salter said, “If you are going in knowing what to expect, you may have had a more planned experience, but at the same time it could be negative, because you go in with a mindset that this destination will be amazing, and it disappoints you.”

Pugh said that expectations can close off the overall perspective of the situation about why you are

SAY CHEESE: Sophomore Annie Salter (left) poses with her siblings Lucy (center) and Sam Salter (right) while on vacation in Terre, Italy. Salter said she enjoys taking photos while she is on vacation for the memories but usually tries to focus on living in the moment.

ANNIE SALTER SUBMITTED PHOTO

traveling in the first place and that’s the main reason why he finds photos online to be negative.

“If I go into something seeing that someone had a lot of fun and I didn’t have as much fun, then it’s closed off and I’m not able to have my own experience and develop my own feelings,” Pugh said.

Both Annie and Pugh said that having expectations comes with the experience, but it shouldn’t take over the experience of traveling.

“I just want to emphasize that the grass is not always greener on the other side,” Pugh said. “It’s extremely important (to be) focused on bettering your experience and creating your own experience.” h

Moscow, Russia (2) Saint Basil’s Cathedral

Istanbul, Turkey (9) Dolmabahce Palace

Saint Petersburg, Russia (7) The State Hermitage Museum

8 Jakarta, Indonesia (8) Grand Indonesia Mall ANGELA CHEN GRAPHIC INSTAGRAM, TRIPADVISOR SOURCES

COMPUTER SCIENCE AT TAYLOR

We have the bandwidth to build your skills through small classes, hands-on-experience, and high-tech spaces like our drone room, malware room, and project labs.

Computer Science | Cybersecurity | Digital Media LEARN MORE: TAYLOR.EDU/STEM

Y E H ! just one thing:

Remember to get a yearbook!

Having a yearbook is always a great way to reflect and remember all the memories you created at CHS. Order at www.yearbookordercenter.com search for Order Number 17177 OR pick up an order form at room C145.

Price: $52

DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 14, 2020

student section

Online Registration Now Available!

student section

DO NOT

AA Indiana Driving School

AUG 14, 2019

AUG 14, 2019

IN BUSINESS SINCE 1945

Online • In-Car Instruction • Road Test www.indianadriving.com Wilson Office Plaza 949 Keystone Way Carmel, IN 46032 (317) 844-5542

Students must be at least 15 years old to participate

SCAN ME

60

80 100

40 20 0

charitable choices Take a look at volunteer opportunities around Carmel during the holiday season

Carmel Clay Public Library’s (CCPL) Nailed It! Where: CCPL When: Dec. 14 Duty: Set up baking supplies and assist the bakers

Christmas at the Zoo Where: Indianapolis Zoo When: Nov. 23-Dec. 30 Duty: Assist in interacting with zoo guests

Children’s Museum of Indianapolis Volunteer Where: The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis When: Nov. 25-Jan. 8 Duty: Engage with children during the Jolly Days Winter Wonderland event

Christkindlmarkt Where: Center Green When: Nov. 16- Dec. 24 Duty: Help direct customers around the market

Foster Fairies Inc. Where: 14038 Parley Ln Fishers, IN 46038 When: Dec. 5-7 Duty: Help children who are victims of abuse and neglect by donating a Christmas gift

Good Samaritan Network Where: 12933 Parkside Dr Fishers, IN 46038 When: Dec. 14 Duty: Help assist with food drives and other volunteer opportunities during the holiday season

EMILY SANDY, KRIS OTTEN GRAPHIC INDIANAPOLIS ZOO, CHRISTKINDLMARKT, INDY WITH KIDS SOURCES

HILITE.ORG

Humans of CHS CHS students reflect on holiday memories, traditions HANNAH GRETZ, ANNA KLAUZ, VICTORIA NOPPORN SPEAK-UPS, PHOTOS

Scan this to see more Humans of CHS

SENIOR NINA METAXAS Most of my family have birthdays in the first week of December, so it’s always a really exciting and happy time for all of us. I think (our tradition for Christmas decorating) started with my middle sister, Sophia, who is really passionate about Christmas decorations. I really looked up to her, so decorating started to be our tradition together. When I first saw the movie “Elf” there was one scene that stuck out to me where Buddy the Elf would decorate the store late at night. It reminded me of me and my sister because, at the start of every holiday season, we would pick a random school night to decorate the entire house to surprise our family the next day, a lot like the scene from the movie.

JUNIOR MADDY LUDWIG

SENIOR GRANT BEDOYA I met Justin Bieber in a Tim Hortons when I went to go visit my family in Canada for the holidays. I used to live in Canada, so all my family is still there. I never thought I would see a celebrity, let alone Justin Bieber in an airport.

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We got a puppy for Christmas and as soon as we got her, she went straight for the tree and knocked it over. A lot of ornaments broke and my mom was super upset about it. We were all shocked.

FRESHMAN SARA TAGGART

My family and I were driving to Cincinnati when we got lost in a huge snowstorm.

We ended up stuck in a small town in Indiana.

We couldn’t find a single bathroom, so I had to literally pee in the snow.

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DEC 12, 2019

Bye Winter Wonderland Students, travel professionals, consider benefits of traveling during holiday season MARISSA RYAN STORY

F

or many, the joy of the holiday season is the hope of the stereotypical “winter wonderland” on Christmas morning, but for junior Michelle Boulos, she would rather see that snow in much warmer liquid form.

Boulos, who has traveled her entire life during Christmas and plans to go to Aruba this year, said, “I don’t remember the last time we haven’t traveled, to be honest. We like going to the beach to get away from the bad weather and just enjoying our time.

We think it’s better to spend money on going places and having cool experiences rather than (buying) gifts.”

Boulos is not alone. Sophomore Nolan Thorpe also travels every Christmas but for different reasons. According to Thorpe, his family visits New York to see extended family members who live in other states.

“I enjoy it more when we go to spend time in New York (than Indiana) because I get to see my cousins

PERFECT ANGLE: Junior Michelle Boulos sits in the front seat of a helicopter with her camera in hand, ready to take photos of the scenery below. Boulos said she loves photography and is always eager to expand her skills when her family decides to travel to different places during the holiday season and other breaks.

S P EA K U P !

How do you decide to travel or not travel for the holidays?

“I travel during the holidays because my parents want me to experience unique things from other countries that are different from America. We also really like the beach so we try to go to one every vacation.”

Sophomore Andrew Brooks “I don’t travel because my two older sisters are in nursing school and work all the time so my mom and I don’t want to go on vacation without them.”

MICHELLE BOULOS SUBMITTED PHOTO

who live in Florida. They come up as well and that makes it a whole new fun environment,” Thorpe said.

According to Hassie Holmes, a travel agent for Travel Leaders in Carmel, it’s not unusual for people to travel far and wide over the holidays.

“Clients come to us for travel during the holidays to visit family and friends, to go back home wherever home is, to be to make holiday memories,” she said via email. “Some families travel for the holidays instead of buying more things (and) are able to make memories that last a lifetime.

Maybe the popular reason people come to us during the holidays is to escape to warmer climates.”

Boulos said she has much more free time to travel during the winter.

Junior Meg Dillon THEA BERTOLINI SPEAK-UPS, PHOTOS

by the numbers

107.3 MILLION

Americans traveled for the holidays in 2017

97.3 PERCENT

of travel in 2017 was motor trips REUTERS SOURCE

“During the winter, I appreciate traveling more because it’s cold and gloomy. I never feel like I’m missing out of being with friends during the winter,” Boulos said.

No matter where Thorpe and Bolous are, they both said the best part of the holidays is being with family.

Thorpe said, “I enjoy going into the city to see the big Christmas tree in Times Square and spending time with my family.”

Bolous also said most of the holidays are spent in the presence of family.

“We aren’t very religious; therefore, we really like to spend our holidays as a family. We like to spend time and enjoy the presence of each other. The gift is being together, and it’s fun to travel with my family”

HILITE.ORG

According to a winter 2018 poll conducted by AAA, one in three Americans planned to travel during the holidays, with a record-breaking 112.5 million travelers on the roadways. That was a 4.4% increase from the previous year.

Holmes said that data could be attributed to “families and friends (who) are realizing that making memories is priceless. People are busy with work, school and life. So I think that travel has become more popular because a lot of people value spending memorable times together.

I have booked multi-generational family cruises for the holidays, villas in Italy, tours and all-inclusive.”

Boulos said for her, travel also provided a lot more activities than possible staying at home.

Boulos said, “When I travel I try to do a lot of water sports: surfing, jet-skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving, just stuff that you would never be able to do (in Indiana). Photography is a huge part of me and I really like

25

“In the summer, we usually go to Fire Island. We don’t usually travel there in the winter, but when we do during the summer, I normally get a temporary job.

During the winter my cousins in Florida come into town and we celebrate Christmas and New Years together.”

Sophomore Nolan Thorpe underwater photography, so it’s nice when I get out and get to use my underwater housing.”

While Boulos has traveled all her life, Holmes said many travelers who haven’t are in need of guidance in planning and executing trips.

Holmes said, “For the Midwest, travel during the colder months to warmer destinations is one of the most popular motivations for travel. But my job doesn’t stop once your trip begins.

If there are issues, travel agents can help.

When you travel, time is a commodity

and no one wants to spend that precious time for hours on the phone with an airline. We advocate for our clients.

We use vetted hotels, resorts, tours, and cruise suppliers so that we know the client will have a wonderful experience.”

Whether the trip has been planned to the last restaurant or on a whim, traveling during the holidays for Boulos, makes her “100% way happier when I come back home because I got my dose of sunshine and I get to escape the seasonal depression that causes me h so much stress at school.”

GREAT VIEWS: Junior Michelle Boulos smiles next to a mountain range.

Boulos said she loves traveling because she gets to experience it with family.

MICHELLE BOULOS SUBMITTED PHOTO

Bringing Out Beauty With Miss America 2020 competition a week from today, students, pageant director, address common misconceptions about pageantry, evaluate how it evolved to encompass more than just outward appearances

WENDY ZHU STORY

CALINA HE PHOTO

W

hen a family friend told Abi Meyyappan, National American Miss Indiana (NAMI) finalist and senior, about an opportunity for a free photoshoot this past summer, Meyyappan said she had no idea it was actually an open call for a beauty pageant.

After the photoshoot, she thought nothing of it, but a few weeks later, she received an email informing her that she had been selected to participate in the NAMI competition.

Thinking back to her New Year’s resolution to pursue each opportunity with which she was presented, Meyyappan said she decided to take a leap and begin her journey with pageantry. Little did Meyyappan know, however, that these would be her first steps toward a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that would leave her with lifelong lessons and friends.

Earlier this year, Meyyappan participated in NAMI for the first time and ended up placing in the top five, which qualified her to advance to the national-level competition. While Meyyappan said she had never expected to partake in a pageant prior to this year, she also said participating in NAMI has helped her in many ways.

“I’d never considered doing pageants before, and I’d never considered myself a pageant girl,” Meyyappan said. “But I found that I really enjoyed it, so when the opportunity came for the next one, I was like, ‘Alright, let’s do it!’”

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DEC 12, 2019

Despite Meyyappan’s positive experience with pageants, there are still those who question the benefits of participating in them.

Critics often argue these contests fuel unhealthy competition by pitting contestants against one another. During Miss Amazon 2015, for example, runner-up Sheislane Hayalla notoriously tore the crown from Carolina Toledo’s head moments after her coronation, a moment that has garnered over seven million views on YouTube.

However, Meyyappan said that was not the case for her, as her fellow competitors at NAMI were nothing short of supportive and did not have an “eyes on the prize” mentality.

“Going into this pageant, I didn’t know anyone,” Meyyappan said. “All the girls there had been doing National American Miss for years, so they all knew each other. I was kind of nervous because I’d never met any of these girls before, but they were all so sweet.

“One of my favorite memories was when we were all just complaining about how much our feet hurt, so we were sitting down and telling stories. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it was really just the feeling that it was such a positive environment, and everyone was so encouraging. It was just compliments all around, and there was nothing negative at all that whole weekend. Though it was a pageant and everyone wanted the crown, it didn’t feel like a competition because there was no animosity in the air.”

I learned how important confidence is and how a smile is the prettiest thing you can wear. Pageantry is about how you present yourself and how you make others feel.

It’s about how you use what you know to help other people.

SENIOR ABI MEYYAPPAN

eye of the beholder Learn the different scoring methods of beauty pageants

INDIVIDUAL SCORING Every candidate is ranked in each category The ranks are added up All categories are ranked equally Seen as the most objective grading style

2nd

WINNER: candidate with the lowest total score acros all categories

Thanks to her newfound group of friends from NAMI, Meyyappan said she got more involved in the community through charity work.

Although NAMI already required all contestants to bring in donations for children, Meyyappan said she and her friends continued to give back even after the pageant was over.

“We all got together and volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House downtown, where we got to cook and serve a meal for families who had to stay overnight at the hospital,” Meyyappan said. “This was something I had never done before, so I think being a part of this pageant definitely opened me up to doing even more types of community service, and I learned about new opportunities to serve other people.”

According to Doreen Brown, State Director of USA National Miss Indiana, community service is a fundamental part of pageantry. Major

STASH OF SASHES: (ABOVE) Dressed in her pageant attire, Abi Meyyappan, National American Miss Indiana (NAMI) finalist and senior, poses for a picture on stage.

Meyyappan said she thinks the pageant atmosphere is very supportive.

Meyyappan said, “You go out there, you put a smile on your face and you be proud of who you are because confidence makes anything look good.”

CALINA HE PHOTO

RHEA ACHARYA GRAPHIC PAGEANT PLANET SOURCE

COMPARATIVE SCORING Every candidate is graded in each category on any arbitrary scale, for example from 1 to 10 Decimals are typically used to prevent ties

7.68

Scores from different categories sometimes have different weights WINNER: candidate with the highest total score across the categories

HILITE.ORG

beauty pageants like Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Universe, all encourage their titleholders to make positive changes in others’ lives through philanthropy and charity.

Additionally, Brown said pageants also emphasize public speaking and communication skills.

“Just like participating in any kind of sport, pageantry has fellowship opportunities, industry networking, advancing to state and national competitions and, most importantly, it’s the person’s journey of personal development that leads to reaching their greatest potential,” Brown said.

“So many lifelong skills are developed through pageantry both on and off the stage, such as public speaking, community service, networking and title management.”

Alexandria Audritsh, 2019 International Festival Queen and senior, is no stranger to these improved real-world skills; she has been participating in pageants for years. Even though Audritsh has had plenty of experience being on stage because she has been dancing since she was 5-years-old and singing since she was 8, she said pageantry still boosted her confidence.

“When you’re a young child, you’re really carefree with being on stage, but when you get older, you start overthinking and having second thoughts about yourself,” Audritsh said. “Pageants

OPEN ARMS: Alexandria Audritsh, 2019 International Festival Queen and senior, sings in the Studio Theatre. For the talent portion of beauty pageants, Audritsh sings in Chinese; she also participates in other Chinese singing competitions. She said, “Almost all the pageants I’ve participated in have been really accepting of diversity.”

RICHA LOUIS PHOTO

really helped me get through that and helped me believe that I really am a confident, beautiful person and that it does not matter what other people think.

Meyyappan also said her confidence improved as a result of participating in pageants; however, she said she believes there is still a stigma surrounding pageantry, giving the impression that pageants focus solely on outward appearances.

“People think pageants are all about looks, but they’re really not,” Meyyappan said. “The biggest thing I

Scan this to watch Alexandria Audritsh, 2019 International Festival Queen and senior, sing

29

learned (from pageantry) was how important confidence is and how a smile is really the prettiest thing you can wear. Pageantry is about how you present yourself and how you make others feel. It’s how you use what you know to help other people. People aren’t always going to remember what you said to them, but they’ll remember how you made them feel.”

Audritsh also said she has dealt with people who have similar misconceptions about pageantry.

“When I talk about pageants, most people think of something like ‘Toddlers & Tiaras,’” she said.

“But pageants are really about internal beauty.

30 D E C 1 2 , 2 0 1 9 timeless beauty

JULY 1, 1920

Learn how beauty pageants evolved HISTORY CHANNEL, FORBES SOURCE

SEPT. 19, 1888

Times runs a headline, “1,000 Bathing Girls on View in Pageant,” describing a fall event that later became Miss America USA

All male jury in Belgium judged 21 women in dresses to decide the “most beautiful girl on the planet”

Throughout the years, beauty pageants have continued to undergo several developments to have less emphasis on physical appearance.

Last year marked an especially significant change for the Miss America pageant, as the Miss America Organization eliminated the swimsuit collection and announced that the contest would no longer judge participants on their outward appearances. Meyyappan said she believes this change to the program is a step in the right direction.

“When people hear ‘beauty pageant,’ they think you have to look like a model or look a certain way,” she said. “They think it’s for girls with long legs, a tiny waist, all that stuff, and I think taking away the swimsuit section showed how that’s not the case. When you’re wearing a swimsuit and you’re in front of everyone, it’s like you’re on display for how you look because that’s what they are looking at: your figure.

I think taking that away builds confidence because there were girls of all sizes, of all ages (at NAMI).”

by the numbers

98

years since first Miss America pageant

5’5”

mininum height to be Miss Universe candidate

50

THOUSAND dollars of college scholarship if you win Miss America COSMOPOLITAN, PAGEANT PLANET SOURCES

SEPT. 14 , 2015

CALINA HE PHOTO

Miss America 2.0 is launched

Donald Trump sells ownership of Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants he had bought in 1996

Audritsh said she shared similar views with Meyyappan, adding that she believed these new Miss America policies reflect shifting beauty ideals in recent years.

“In the beginning, (pageants) were mostly based on conventional beauty, but now the world has become a more accepting place,” Audritsh said. “Now, I think most pageants have realized that how you look in a bathing suit doesn’t necessarily constitute your true beauty.

Most pageants now look at inner beauty, and the most attractive thing to them is being a kind, confident and intelligent person.”

With less emphasis on appearances, there has also been an increase in diversity of pageant titleholders in recent years. This year, for the first time in history, African-Americans held all three major pageant titles in the United States: 2019 Miss America Nia Franklin, Miss USA Cheslie Kryst and Miss Teen USA Kaliegh Garris.

Considering Miss America banned African-Americans from competing BEAUTIFUL SOUNDS: Senior Abi Meyyappan practices playing the violin at home. When participating in beauty pageants, Meyyappan either sings or plays the violin as her talent.

AUG. 29, 2018

until the 1940s, this moment showed the development within the beauty pageant industry in recent decades.

Next week, about one-fifth of the contestants on the Miss America stage will be people of color. According to Audritsh, the increased representation of people of color in pageantry has given her more opportunities to appreciate her culture. “(As a Chinese-American), there’s sometimes some bias, but (pageants are) usually pretty open-minded,” Audritsh said. “Almost all the pageants I’ve participated in have been really accepting of diversity and other cultures, so I would definitely say pageants have evolved in that aspect.

For the International Festival, it was more culture-based...it was kind of

Q&A JAYANA HAMMONDS, 2018 MISS INDIANPOLIS BLACK EXPO AND SENIOR KIERSTEN RIEDFORD Q&A

What scoring system did your pageants use?

The pageant was based on a system of points. Some of those points came from how much fundraising you and your family did.

Other points came from how well you answered the questions in your interview. And the other points came from your onstage performance.

So, we already had some points going into the pageant.

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beauty around the world

RECENT YEARS

Take a look at which countries/territories have had the most Miss Universe pageant winners

2018 Miss Catriona Gray of the Philippines

MISS UNIVERSE SOURCE

Trinidad & Tobago

Australia Brazil Canada Colombia Finland France India Japan Mexico South Africa Thailand

Sweden

Philippines

Puerto Rico

Venezuela

United States

= one pageant winner since 1952

2017 Miss DemiLeigh Nel-Peters of South Africa 2016 Miss Iris Mittenaere of France 2015 Miss Pia Wurtzbach of the Philippines 2014 Miss Paulina Vega of Colombia

RHEA ACHARYA GRAPHIC

like a miniature Miss Universe in Indiana. Basically, the whole pageant worked to promote cultural diversity in Indiana.”

Brown agreed, saying these broken barriers within the pageant industry are positive changes and encourage contestants to embrace who they are.

“The pageant industry is continuously evolving with the current times,” Brown said. “This year alone,

did you know?

The rules at the time said all contestants must be born females so Miss Canada 2012 Jenna Talackova was at first disqualified from the Miss Universe pageant because she was transgender. But, after Talackova hired a lawyer and 40 thousand people signed an online petition hoping to allow her to participate, the original decision was overturned.

NATIONAL POST SOURCE

What motivated you to participate in pageants?

What do you think the judges cared most about in your pageant?

I was interested in the scholarships it offered but more than that, leadership in my community and the specific cause I chose are important to me which is research and awareness for Riley Children’s Hospital.

Throughout my freshman through junior year, I was really involved in Dance Marathon so it just fit. I was able to do my own type of fundraising, my own type of leadership for that cause outside of school.

For my specific pageant, they were looking at how well you were able to articulate your thoughts, not really so much what you said—it was more about how you said it. We did have a small beauty aspect of the pageant but since the pageant was more about promoting self worth than a traditional sense of beauty, it was more about how you presented yourself, rather than if you were attractive and could fit conventional standards of beauty.

Scan this for a Q&A with another beauty pageant contestant: Catelyn “Catie” Combellick, junior and 2019 Miss Indiana Teen USA

31

USA North Carolina had their first contestant in a wheelchair, USA Minnesota had their first contestant with Down Syndrome and Miss Universe had their first openly transgender contender, which was Miss Spain.

It’s wonderful to see the amount of love and support for these contestants as they pursue their dreams.”

While Brown said it may be overwhelming to do something new, she, Meyyappan and Audritsh all encouraged others to step outside their comfort zones and participate in pageants the unique experiences and valuable skills gained from pageantry as reasons to compete.

“I think (pageants) give you a platform to help people,” Meyyappan said.

“You realize that you have the power to make a change in other people’s lives, however big or however small. It gives you confidence to do that. You go out there, you put a smile on your face and you be proud of who you are because confidence makes anything look good.

You don’t have to be skinny; you don’t have to look a certain way. You just have to be happy with who you are.” h

JAYANA HAMMONDS SUBMITTED PHOTO

entertainment

HILITE REEL

DEC 12, 2019

Here are the HiLite’s top picks for best movies

A Decade of Entertainmen t

3

BILLBOARD, BU SINESSINSIDE R, SCREENRANT , WHISTLEOUT SOURCES

Take a look at the top five grossing films

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Jurassic World (2015) Lion King (2019)

$2.979B

$2.068B $2.048B

$1.670B

$1.654B

4

Big Hero 6 (2014)

BEST OF FILM Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Tangled (2010)

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

As this decade co m some entertainm es to a close, take a look at ent highlights fro m 2010-2019 OLIVIA CHILDRE SS , JACKIE HUR GR APHIC

2

1

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

MARVEL SWEEPS Here are some of the biggest moments in Marvel history

21 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films since 2010

Stan Lee 1922-2018

13

Known as the creator of many beloved Marvel heroes, he left behind a historic legacy for superhero fans.

Avengers: Endgame (2019) Highest grossing film of all time

MCU spin-off TV shows since 2010

Spiderman: Far From Home (2019) Sony’s highest grossing film at $1.1 billion

BILLBOARD’S BEST SINGLES Take a look at Billboard’s top singles

Tik Tok Kesha

Rolling in the Deep Somebody that I Adele Used to Know Gotye

Thrift Shop Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

Happy Pharrell Williams

Uptown Funk!

Mark Ronson ft.

Bruno Mars

NEW APPS

HILITE.ORG

Here are some popular apps developed

Instagram (2010)

Snapchat (2011)

33

IPHONE EVOLUTION

VSCO (2011)

Vine (2013)

Take a look at how the iPhone has changed

TikTok (2017)

S P EA K U P !

iPhone 4 2010

What was the best entertainment moment in this decade?

“I would say personally, Avengers: Infinity War; I thought (it) was huge and everyone went to see it.”

Senior Jacob Beach

“Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star’s series on YouTube... It was exciting to be able to see it. It was something new.”

Freshman Kadence Pazera

iPhone 5 2012

iPhone 6 2014

RIYA CHINNI, TESSA COLLINSON SPEAK-UPS, PHOTOS

BEST OF VIDEO GAMES

iPhone 7 2016

Take a look at the best video games X A

Y B

iPhone 8 2017 Minecraft (2011) 144 million units sold 2011 VGX Award Best Independent Video game 2015 Kids Choice Award Favorite Video game

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) 15.71 million units sold*

Nintendo Switch (2017) 34.74 million units sold

2019 Game award nomination Game of the year

Most sold game: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017) 19.01 million units

Fastest selling Nintendo game of all time

Most anticipated game: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)

iPhone X 2017

iPhone 11 Pro 2019

*as of Sept. 2019

SH CO AU RR YS

Love Yourself Justin Bieber

Shape of You Ed Sheeran

God’s Plan Drake

Someone You Loved Lewis Capaldi

Scan this to check out a playlist with the top songs of the decade

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DEC 12, 2019

Almost Human Student character designers, art teacher describe effects of new styles of animation EMILY CARLISLE STORY

T

MICHELLE LU GRAPHIC

he phenomenon whereby a computer-generated figure or humanoid robot bearing a near-identical resemblance to a human being arouses a sense of unease or revulsion in the person viewing it. This is the Oxford Dictionary definition of the “uncanny valley”, a term that has become more prevalent in recent years. The uncanny valley occurs when animation or electronics are almost human-like but not quite right, leaving people with an unsettled feeling.

The uncanny valley is seen a lot in modern animation in films such as “Cats” (2019), “The Lion King” (2019) and the upcoming “Sonic the Hedgehog” (2020). When non-human entities have the emotions and facial features of humans, it can sometimes cause audiences to be more uncomfortable than immersed in the movie.

Kenzie Howard, character designer and junior, said she thinks there is a disconnect between audiences and creative teams for movies.

Howard said, “If you think about it, the animation team themselves don’t really have much of a say in what they are supposed to bring to life. The real disconnect is the creative team that tells the animators what to do.”

Howard added how the creative teams involved in producing these films are more interested in the money than the quality of the movie.

She said, “It is a total cash grab at this point. The quality of Disney movies has been going down because there are no new ideas.

It’s just remaking classics but liveaction or with way too much CGI (computer generated images) because it looks cool.”

Faith Lawrence, character designer and senior, said she disagrees with Howard’s view on the Disney remakes.

“I personally really enjoy a lot of these new remakes. It is really cool getting to see my childhood favorite movies in a more realistic way,” Lawrence said, “but I can totally see

redesign bros Take a look at the designs involved in two iconic 2019 adaptations 2019 Sonic the Hedgehog Following its trailer, fans became critical of Sonic’s human-like teeth and limbs. Even original designer Naoto Ohsima spoke out on Twitter over his worry about the film.

New release date: Feb. 14, 2020 2013 Pikachu

1998 Sonic Due to design regulation by the Pokemon Company, the film received praise due the designers’ balance of animal textures and proportions with the integrity of its characters.

Released: May 10, 2019 2019 Pokemon Detective Pikachu THE VERGE, SYFY WIRE SOURCES

I AM YOU: Faith Lawrence, character designer and senior, works on one of her designs. The design was inspired by the idea of herself in the universe of an anime show called “RWBY.” CHLOE SUN PHOTO

where audiences may fail to enjoy them because it isn’t exactly how they pictured it. It is like when you read a book and picture a character one way in your head and then the movie comes out and it just is not what you expected; it can be kind of a letdown.”

Andrew Murray, AP and IB Art teacher, said the uncanny valley is a cause of overusing technology that was once innovative and unique.

“We can’t blame anybody for using technology. It’s such a magnifi-

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35

This is a character design by junior Kenzie Howard; this was not created by the HiLite staff cent thing and it’s so awesome. But I think we’re getting to that stage where we’re overusing it,” he said. “Technology has been around for enough years now that we’re kind of pushing it too far or people are just using it for technology’s sake... It is that overuse of it in movies like ‘Cats’ where there’s absolutely no reason for all that which creates a further disconnect.”

For example, in the upcoming “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie, the animation was so humanoid that when trailers were released, internet users essentially cyberbullied the studio into doing a complete redesign of the title character. This movement shows the impact that creating anthropomorphic characters has when using CGI.

These so-called “live-action” films that rely so heavily on animation cannot truly be considered live-action.

For example, the new “The Lion King” movie was advertised as live-action; however, all of the animals in the movie are just computer animations.

Howard said this new style has decreased her enjoyment of movies.

She said, “Nowadays, people are so focused on, ‘Oh this character will look cool’ or, ‘I have to make the scenery perfect’ but there has not been as much effort put into the actual stories and characters. I think that is why movies have been so unoriginal and bad recently.”

Although Lawrence said she finds the animation “fascinating,” she realizes the issues it may cause

for viewers because it “ruins the nostalgia of a cartoon classic.”

Murray said he believes audiences are less likely to connect with an eerily human character as they are a cute cartoon.

“If you don’t believe the characters, you’re not going to invest yourself in the film,” he said.

“When you watch something, you might like the plot, you might like the setting but the main thing that’s happening is the character development. If you’re using CGI for your characters and it doesn’t make sense or you’re not embracing it fully, your audience won’t be able to focus on the characters themselves and will instead focus on the look of the movie.” h

A NEW PERSPECTIVE: Kenzie Howard, character designer and junior, draws different aspects of her original character, Felicity. She created the concept based off of the question of what animals would look like if they were humans.

KENZIE HOWARD SUBMITTED ILLUSTRATION

36 D E C 1 2 , 2 0 1 9

Voices of Faith Students, program director explain how they combine Christian faith, passion for music VALLIEI CHANDRAKUMAR STORY

W

VERONICA TEETER PHOTOS

ith recent headlines such as “...Made Me Appreciate Christianity for the First Time” (DJBooth), “...

Calls Himself ‘Greatest Artist God Ever Created’” (E! Online) and “... on a mission to ‘turn atheists into believers’” (The Irish News), Kanye West, American billionaire, rap megastar and performer, has received both backlash and support from the Christian community and his fans for his abrupt transition from secular music to strictly Christian-based music with the release of his ninth album “Jesus is King.” In this mod-

MOVING FAITH: Christina Carmichael, Christian volunteer worship leader, Allegro member and sophomore sings during a worship rehearsal.

Carmichael said she enjoys singing during worship because it has allowed her to express her faith confidently.

ern approach to gospel music, West portrays himself as a martyr to express spiritual warfare and Christian messages in a more comprehensible way for younger generations.

Christina “Chris” Carmichael, Christian volunteer worship leader at Grace Community Church, Allegro member and sophomore, said she believes that along with allowing oneself to express sacrifice, Christian musicality allows more space to grow and develop how emotions, both positive and negative, are expressed. Carmichael said combining faith and music allows her to deeply

songs of faith Take a look at songs with Christian influences on Spotify

Christian Spotify Playlists Popular Christian Songs PLAY Masterpiece

Christian Workout Mix Top Christian Contemporary

Tori Kelly, Lecrae

Christian Dance Party

I’m Getting Ready

Christian Christmas

Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Nicki Minaj

You Say Lauren Daigle

Follow God

Christian Radio Stations WBRI-FM: 96.7

Kanye West

WIKL-FM: 90.75

Jesus, Take the Wheel Carrie Underwood

WIJY-FM: 95.9 WXLW-FM 950 AMBOTV, SPOTIFY SOURCES ANGELA CHEN, NATALIE KHAMIS GRAPHIC

Scan this to view Ambo TV’s Top 10 songs of the week

express herself through singing without worrying about slight complications in the performance.

“It’s so much more important to have the music be focused on God and faith. Allowing myself to connect with God through music is the main purpose, so perfection isn’t as important,” Carmichael said.

For Annie Rose, Christian Allegro member and senior, incorporating the principles of Christianity into her musicality also involves more emotion and sensitivity. Rose said that she thinks one of the main principles of Christianity is having positive, loving relationships with people. So, Christian musicians often put themselves in vulnerable positions during performances to unite with the people they’re performing with and for.

“For me, (being Christian) basically means loving everyone the way Jesus would love them, so no boundaries to who can be your friend and no boundaries to who you can love,” Rose said. “It’s just trying to live like that through anything, keeping positive and being positive towards people all the time.”

Jaime McCord, Area Director of Carmel Young Life and WyldLife, said that based on a musician’s perception of a song’s meaning and its relation to Christian fundamentals, this can strengthen affiliation with God by performing in a way that expresses personal and deep faith.

HAND ON MY HEART: (RIGHT) Annie Rose, Christian Allegro member and senior, performs a gospel piece with the church band during a Sunday service. Rose said singing at church strengthens her faith by connecting with each song’s meaning.

“Music is an expression of faith in a way that people can share more passionately about the relationship that they have with Jesus,” McCord said.

Carmichael said that while she tailors her performances to clarify her relationship with God by learning to emotionally portray herself in different ways than she would have by simply participating in a school choir, she has also gained many learning opportunities by training to be a worship leader at Grace Community Church, deepening her ability to perform and intrinsically connect with audiences.

“In a program with five hundred students, it can be hard to get the individual attention you need from your director unless you go out of your way and get it,” Carmichael said.

“With worship leading, you’re singing by yourself into a microphone, you have a vocal coach who works with you, you have a full band playing behind you. It’s not an opportunity I get from Allegro.”

Carmichael said Christians who are passionate about listening to music in today’s society cannot always rely on a piece to relate to uncondi-

tionally since the struggles are unique to the writer in most cases.

“It’s fair to the individual, but we all have our own experiences. It’s not fully representative of the entire faith and the entire religion,” Carmichael said.

McCord said music, both Christian and secular, plays an integral part in Young Life and WyldLife with its

ability to assist people in expressing their passions and experiences.

McCord said, “It gives words to feelings and things that have happened in their (program participants) own lives that they are able to share in a more powerful way because of the words in the music, or the song, or the ability to play yourself.” h

Entertainment Spotlight

Punk Pieces

Junior Jordan LaBoyteaux makes, sells punk jewlery CLARE DIERCKMAN Q & A, PHOTOS

Where do you get your inspiration for the pieces you make?

Sometimes I’ll go on the internet for inspiration, or I’ll watch a good show and maybe see some accessories in there and be like, “Oh my gosh, like, that’s really cool; I wonder if I can base something off of that.”

How did you decide to start your own business?

I saw other people making jewelry and I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is really cool; I kind of want to get into that.”

When I started wearing my pieces to school, people started (saying), “Oh my gosh, that’s so cute! Where’d you buy that?” And then I was like, “Oh, I made it” and they were like, “Oh, you should start selling jewelry,” and I thought, “Oh, that’s a really big brain idea.”

Scan this to view LaBoyteaux’s Depop page

PUNK ‘POPS: Junior Jordan LaBoyteaux wears green lollipop earrings that she created. LaBoyteaux said she started making jewelry because she has aspirations to become a fashion designer or a jewelry artist in the future.

Do you have any specific materials that you prefer to work with over others?

What process do you go through when creating pieces to sell online?

I really don’t like wires, like making shapes out of thin metal wires. I prefer thick metal pieces to bend and stuff like that. I also really like using small items, like Lego heads, or different things that can be turned into something cute.

Usually I use small minifigures or just letters and make different words (to chain together), I gather my materials, I sit down at my desk, and then I just kind of tinker and tinker until something comes to mind.

HILITE.ORG

Entertainment Briefs

39

NATALIE KHAMIS BRIEFS KIMMI VASIL PHOTOS

Performing Arts

Winter Orchestra Concert

Today CHS Auditorium First Concert: 6 p.m.

Second Concert: 7:30 p.m.

PLAYING TOGETHER: Senior Vivian Werstler plays the cello during a Symphony full orchestra rehearsal after school. The Symphony orchestra will be playing in the second concert starting at 7:30 p.m.

Local Holiday Events

An En Pointe Christmas Noblesville High School Dec. 20: 7 p.m.

Dec. 21: 2 p.m.

HOLLY, JOLLY CHRISTMAS: Senior Cynthia Wan dances during a rehearsal for En Pointe Indiana Ballet’s annual holiday show. An En Pointe Christmas will feature a mix of classical and contemporary ballet to start off the holiday season.

Christkindlmarkt Today to Dec. 24 Center Green Wednesdays & Thursdays: 4 to 9 p.m.

Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays: Noon to 9 p.m.

sports

DEC 12, 2019

Breaking the Ice CHS figure skaters, former U.S. figure skater elaborate on physicality, commitment needed for success in figure skating KAROLENA ZHOU STORY

W

VERONICA TEETER PHOTOS

hile winter is the only time to ice skate for most students, for junior Kendall Erne, it’s a year-round activity. As a competitive ice skater, Erne skates two to four hours per day, six days per week. On top of these practices, she competes once or twice per month.

LEG UP: Kendall Erne, figure skater and junior, stretches her leg up. Erne said she started lessons at age 5 but was interested in the sport since age 3.

“I compete a lot. I usually compete five or six months out of the year and typically do one or two competitions a month,” Erne said.

“Most of my competitions are outof-state in places like Michigan, Ohio and, most recently, Texas.”

Erne started when she was 5 years old; however, she had an interest in skating since the age of 3.

“When I was really little, I just saw it on TV and I really liked it, so I stuck with it,” Erne said.

Now, many years later, Erne just placed second in the U.S. Figure Skating Midwestern Great Lakes Regional Challenge, which qualified her for the Sectionals Final.

“It’s the highest level of competition for my level,” Erne said. “At this competition, the top four placed

skaters of each level advance to the Midwestern Sectionals Final, which is the highest level competition for my level in the country. I placed second at Regionals and eighth out of 18 at the Sectional Final.”

Erne said she attributes her success in skating to her physical training.

Floyd Johnson, Carmel Ice Skadium manager and former U.S. pairs figure skater, also agreed that ice skating had a large athletic aspect.

Additionally, Johnson said there is a mental aspect to skating.

“Your mind is a huge thing because you need to remember the process of (going) step-by-step in a routine,” Johnson said. “When you’re putting someone in the air (when pairs skating), you are showcasing the girl like a pedestal, (so) you have

fasten up Take a look at how to properly and safely tie ice skates

1

TIGHTEN LACES IN THE FRONT END OF THE BOOT Work from toe to ankle, pull securely but not too tightly

2 USFSA SOURCE DA-HYUN HONG GRAPHIC

4

TIGHTEN LACES MOST WHERE THE FOOT AND ANKLE BENDS

3

LACE AROUND THE HOOKS Make criss cross pattern with the laces; don’t pull too hard, leave room for ankle to bend

FINISH WITH SECURE BOW Tuck the bow into the top of the boot to prevent from catching in the blade

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to make sure they are safe. That starts with being strong mentally.

To prepare herself both mentally and physically, Erne said she has a pre-competition routine.

“I shake my hands around and yawn to get more oxygen to my lungs and to calm me down to calm my nerves before competition,” Erne said. “To stretch, I do a few things like the splits, and I slowly try to stretch my back out more, so I can do better spin positions.”

Right now, when Erne is practicing or performing, she said her favorite move is the triple toe loop.

“They are my newest jump element,” Erne said. “To do a triple toe loop, you pick into the ice with the left toe pick, jump in the air, com-

plete three revolutions and land on the right back outside edge.”

While Erne’s favorite trick is the triple toe loop, skater and sophomore Emily Hu said her favorite is the split jump.

Hu said, “It’s a simple jump; however, there are many variations to it. You skate forward and then turn to pick and do a half rotation while your hands go straight into the air above your head. Your legs would be going into the splits and you land forward. This jump can be done in many ways and showcases the flexibility of a skater.”

Unlike Erne, Hu started ice skating between fourth and fifth grade, but similar to Erne, she also skates in competitions.

TAKE A SPIN: Kendall Erne, figure skater and junior, opens out of her spin and stretches out her leg. Erne said she competes for about half of the year but practices year round. She added that her practices are about two to four hours and take place six times a week; and most of her competitions are in Michigan and Ohio.

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“I compete every couple months.

It really depends on the location of the competition,” Hu said. “I’ve been to many states to compete.

The furthest I’ve been (is) Florida for the National excel series, and (I) placed second in my group.”

For both Erne and Hu, they said they ice skate because they have fun and enjoy it. Also, Erne said she enjoys ice skating because of the freedom she feels.

“I just like that it’s kind of a free sport (and that) you can just go out and do whatever you want. You can do a ton of cool jumps and spins, and it’s really unique,” Erne said.

“My favorite part about skating is the freedom that it gives me because I get to do such unique things.” h

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DEC 12, 2019

Paying Players Committed athletes at CHS reflect on NCAA rule changes allowing players to be paid by third parties for their namesake ANIKET BISWAL STORY

E

ver since the start of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) in 1910, college athletes have never had the opportunity to make profits off of their games. This has created controversy in the sporting community about whether collegiate athletes should be allowed to gain money from endorsements, advertisements or from the games they play in.

In late September of this year, California issued a state-wide law

banning colleges from prohibiting athletes from signing endorsements and advertisements, according to the New York Times. This event marked the beginning of a movement that is trying to get collegiate athletes nationwide paid for their plays.

In late October, according to NPR, the NCAA board of governors voted unanimously to start the process “to permit student-athletes to benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness.� This

LINED UP: Ty Wise, varsity football player (number 37), IU commit and senior plays outside linebacker at the Semi-State game on Nov. 22.

Wise said he likes the rule change.

NICK BECKMAN PHOTO

ruling means college athletes across the whole nation can now gain profits from their athletics.

Ty Wise, varsity football player and senior, is committed to playing football at IU starting in January. Wise is an outside linebacker, meaning he has a large responsibility in defense. He said the new NCAA rule change is long overdue and finds it necessary.

He said, “I love the new ruling because it allows athletes to build up a brand with their name and be

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rewarded for the large amounts of money they bring to their schools.”

Wise also said he thinks that the new rule will affect him personally.

He said, “I think it will affect every college athlete. For me, getting more money in my pockets will motivate me more than I already am since it will push me to perform better, so that my name is used more.”

On the other hand, Bruce Wolf, assistant athletic director at CHS, said he wants seniors to look past the monetary incentive and focus on the sport itself.

He said, “I hope the (seniors) consider the best academic and career fit for them, not where they might make some additional money.”

Another athlete committed to playing sports in college is Phoebe Bates, varsity cross country and track runner and senior. Bates plans to run at IU and said she might consider running professionally, depending on her performance in college.

Unlike Wise, though, Bates disagrees and said, “I am not that fond of the new rule because, at the end of the day, athletes play their sports because they love it, not because they want money. The rule might distract athletes from the real reason why they play. The rule change will not affect me that much even though I would enjoy my name being used. I want to focus on playing my sport, not so much the money that comes with it. If I do that, I might forget my love of running and become focused on making money, which is something I do not want to do.”

However, Wise said, “Putting money into college athletes’ pockets will help to eliminate worrying about money and could help with tuition for athletes. I personally do not see any cons of this rule because it creates a happier environment for more athletes.”

Wolf said he would have personally voted to prohibit compensation for athletes.

He said, “This new rule has been made to allow some compensation for some athletes, but it will cause an ‘opening of the floodgates’ for other

THE RUN DOWN: Phoebe Bates, varsity crosscountry and track runner, IU commit and senior, runs warm-up. Bates said she is not fond of the new rule change because she believes that it will cause college athletes to focus on money more than their sport.

However, Bates added that she does not believe the rule will affect her as much.

LILY MCANDREWS PHOTO

avenues of compensation. I would not have voted for this because it would entice some athletes into just the money aspect of playing, not so much fun of the sport.”

He also gave some advice to future seniors who are thinking about

43

committing or thinking of playing a collegiate sport.

Wolf said, “It is tempting to react to this sort of enticement, but in the long run, a conscientious and objective approach will bring about the best results.” h

pay to play The NCAA’s recent decision allows college athletes to profit from their image Leading the Way Legislative action from these states NCAA Annual forced NCAA changes Revenue Legend Considering legislation Passed legislation None

$1.1 billion in 2017

Local level Lesser-known athletes can receive endorsements for local businesses

Scholarships

National sponsorships Some elite NCAA athletes can earn sponsorships such as themed apparel

Prize money Elite athletes have the chance to keep their competition winnings

EDWARD DONG GRAPHIC

The average student-athlete scholarship is $18,000

CBS SPORTS, CBS NEWS, NPR, NCAA SOURCES

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DEC 12, 2019

Moving the Goalposts

With Gold, Blue games tomorrow, CHS Icehounds express their desire to be a school sanctioned sport DANIEL KIM STORY

OLIVIA MCKEE PHOTOS

BACKSTOP: Nicholas Weninger, goalie on the Carmel Icehounds Blue team and freshman, prepares to make a save. Weninger said the low number of students attending Icehounds games to the teams results not being announced on the announcements like all varsity sports are.

A

t CHS, sports such as basketball, football and soccer are all sanctioned by the school; they have their own fields, equipment and schedules given and organized by the school’s athletics department. However, there are some sports that do not receive as much attention or support from the school, such as hockey.

The students who participate in these non-school sanctioned sports often pay for equipment out of their own pockets and practice venues are not as readily available.

Nash Cheslock, Carmel Icehounds forward and sophomore, said while his non-school sanctioned sport is similar to all the other sports at this school, it doesn’t receive the same recognition, and that, Cheslock said, is frustrating. “(Hockey) should be a schoolsanctioned sport because we’re playing for the school,” he said. “We have the school name on our jerseys. (Hockey and other sports) are both very competitive, we play other (schools) and we always get high rivalry games. We always want to beat (other schools), but we’re not schoolsanctioned so we don’t get the support that we want from our school.”

According to Cheslock, another drawback to hockey being a nonschool sanctioned sport is its equipment and facility costs. Cheslock said he has to pay for his own equipment and practice times because his sport is not school-sanctioned.

“Ice time is very expensive, so that’s a big reason why we don’t play (as much),” Cheslock said.

“The football stadium—that’s school property and it’s free for anybody’s use, but the rink is city property.”

However, according to Cheslock, changing hockey from a non-school sanctioned to schoolsanctioned sport would fix the cost problem for students and encourage more people to participate.

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“I think more people would be encouraged to play because the cost of play (would) go down a lot,” Cheslock said.

Carmel Icehounds coach Dan Desmond said cost was indeed a big issue for students in non-school sanctioned sports. Desmond said he agreed with Cheslock’s claim that hockey would attract more players if its cost went down.

“100% of the cost to play is covered by families of the players,’’ Desmond said. “On an individual level, equipment is also very expensive, far more than most other sports. If we were affiliated to the school and had financial support for some of these expenses, I believe that would help draw more people to play high school hockey.”

However, becoming school-sanctioned isn’t an easy process. According to Assistant Athletics Director Bruce Wolf, there are many elements to consider when deciding whether or not a sport will be made school-sanctioned.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) plays a part in the decision as well.

“There are multiple criteria/considerations for school sanctioning,” Wolf said via email. “Initially, CHS has sanctioned IHSAA-sanctioned sports as an initial criteria. Some of the other criteria/considerations include student interest, available practice and competition venue (controlled by the school), acceptable contest schedule, resources required if adopted and adherence to state and federal mandates.”

Schedules and balancing with school is another area Cheslock said his sport struggles with. He said his sport usually disregards school hours and he sometimes finds himself having to leave school early to play hockey.

“If you’re in a school-sanctioned (sport), you always get a better schedule in general because sometimes we just have to go against the school (schedule),” Cheslock said. “We have to play games on Friday at 3 p.m., but if (we) were in a school-sanctioned sport (we’d) get a better schedule and better practice time.”

According to Wolf, that very schedule is another reason why hockey is still a non-school sanctioned sport. Wolf said due to the fact that many schools in the area do not have a hockey team, the teams at this school must travel long distances to play their opponents.

“There aren’t a lot of schools that have hockey,” Wolf said, “and therefore to develop the schedule,

HUDDLE UP: Nash Cheslock, Carmel Icehounds forward and sophomore, turns around to find the puck during a practice.

“Because we aren’t state or school sanctioned, all funds are outof-pocket, and because ice time is expensive, we can only afford two onice practices per week,” he said. “If we had more financial support, we could have more team practices and events.”

set the record

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frequently you have teams traveling long distances to play their contests, which (the school would) rather not do if we can help it.”

According to Wolf, however, hockey can become school-sanctioned if the IHSAA adopts hockey as a sport.

“Once the IHSAA adopts a sport, it’s automatically reviewed by the school to see if it should be adopted, and frequently, it has been,” Wolf said.

Another way a sport can be school-sanctioned, Wolf said, is if the leadership organization of the sport contacts the athletics department and discusses ways for the sport to be implemented into the school’s other school-sanctioned sports and schedules.

One recent sport that followed those protocols was lacrosse.

Wolf said, “(Lacrosse’s leadership organization) began a dialogue about three years ago with us and discussed what kinds of things they needed to do over a three-year period to get more in line with other school-sanctioned sports.”

But communication is not the only consideration, according to Wolf. For example, Wolf said members of the hockey leadership organization started asking the department long ago to be schoolsanctioned, but they still have not been approved.

Despite the reasons and factors that come into play, Cheslock said he hopes in the future his sport will become school-sanctioned.

Cheslock said, “I hope in the near future hockey is school and statesanctioned so we get cheaper team fees, better ice time and more support from our student body.” h

Take a look at the schools of top ranking Indiana hockey teams

1 2

CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL Record: 16-1-1

CULVER ACADEMIES HIGH SCHOOL Record: 5-1-1

RIYA CHINNI, UDAY LOMADA GRAPHIC

3 4

MYHOCKEYRANKINGS SOURCE

BLOOMINGTON HIGH SCHOOL Record: 8-4-1

FORT WAYNE HIGH SCHOOL Record: 9-2-2

46

DEC 12, 2019

Strike and Spare!

Co-founder of Bowling Club gives details on csport, competition ALIVIA ROMANIUK Q&A RAY MO PHOTOS PINS DOWN: Zachary Streitenberger, Bowling Club o-founder and junior, practices at the Woodland Bowl Center.

The Hounds play in a league with nine other central Indiana teams and compete at Central Indiana venues including Brownsburg, All Star and Hindel. The regular season for the bowling team concludes today against Cathedral and after the winter break, the team commences its state tournament with a sectional match on Jan. 11.

Q&A zachary streitenberger, bowling club co-founder and junior

Why did you join the Bowling Club?

I joined because of friends that are involved and a desire for a sport that requires minimal physical stress, but also gives competitive spirit and skills.

When does the Bowling Club meet?

What do you enjoy about the Bowling Club?

(I enjoy) the satisfaction of bowling well and being a part of a team that supports everyone else.

Why should people join the

We meet at Woodland Bowl (on) Mondays Bowling Club? and have matches (on) Tuesdays and sometimes Thursdays. If we don’t It’s a fun and awesome experience and allows for people who want to be part of have a match Thursday, we have practice. a team to join a positive environment.

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SPORTS BRIEFS

ASHWIN PRASAD BRIEFS

NICK BECKMAN PHOTO

SATURDAY

TOMORROW WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MEN’S BASKETBALL

What: Varsity vs. Brownsburg

What: Varsity vs. Noblesville

What: Falcon Duals

When: 7:30 p.m.

When: 7:30 p.m.

When: 9 a.m.

Where: Brownsburg HS

Where: Fieldhouse

Where: Perry Meridian HS

WRESTLING

TUESDAY

SATURDAY SWIMMING What: Tiger Claw Diving Invitational When: 10:30 a.m.

Where: Fishers HS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

SWIMMING

What: Varsity vs. Evansville Reitz When: 5:00 p.m.

Where: Southport HS

What: Varsity vs. HSE When: 6:00 p.m.

Where: Natatorium

DEC. 18

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DEC. 20

WRESTLING

MEN’S BASKETBALL

MEN’S BASKETBALL

What: Varsity vs. Center Grove

What: Varsity vs. North Central

What: Varsity vs. Noblesville

When: 6:30 p.m.

When: 7:30 p.m.

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Fieldhouse

Where: Fieldhouse

Where: Fieldhouse

TEAM SPOTLIGHT: WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACH: ERIN TRIMPE (2ND SEASON) 2018-19 RESULT: SECTIONAL FINALIST The Hounds underwent a rebuild last year as the team adjusted to new head coach Erin Trimpe. An up-and-down season saw the Hounds rack up a 2-5 conference record and an early playoff exit. This year, guard and sophomore Kate Clarke (left) and forward and junior Bridget Dunn move into leading roles as the team aims to reestablish itself at the top of Indiana basketball.

CURRENT RECORD: 3-4

perspectives

DEC 12, 2019

Lost Connection Reliability of internet connection at CHS could improve if students are able to directly report issues HILITE STAFF EDITORIAL

F

or most students, connecting to this school’s Wi-Fi is easy. All one needs to do is input the unique username and password made for the school’s computers in the appropriate blanks when prompted. Yet, once connected, many students complain that the WiFi is slow in certain parts of the building or doesn’t work when needed.

To avoid these perceived problems, some students stay on data throughout the whole day or switch between data and Wi-Fi depending on which one is working faster.

According to Barry Nueman, wireless and networking specialist at this school, the whole school has a minimum coverage of Wi-Fi that should be sufficient for students to use. He said each classroom has an access point and each of the main areas have a couple of access points in them. He also said the last time the access points were updated was the summer of 2017, falling within what he considers a normal five-year window.

Although the school’s Wi-Fi is supposed to meet a certain level, Joseph Schaller, assistant principal in charge of operations, said the only way technicians know the WiFi is failing or is slow is through

our stance

students should be able to report connection issues directly

teacher reports. Usually, teachers email Schaller directly or lodge a complaint to the school’s technical staff so the problem can be fixed.

Nueman said the technical staff usually responds to these problems within a day, meaning that from their point of view, problems are fixed relatively quickly. But for students, most of whom are usually on their devices, the time from when they notice the problem to when it is actually fixed usually seems longer because they are the first to notice problems with the Wi-Fi. This can lead to a disconnect between staff and student perceptions of the Wi-Fi. To fix this disconnect, students should talk to a staff member or teacher as soon as they notice a problem with the Wi-Fi. That way staff can notify the technicians of a problem much sooner than they otherwise would have.

by the numbers

41%

of teens choose Snapchat as their main social media site

4.5

MILLION daily active internet users

4.1 BILLION internet users in 2018 OURWORLDINDATA, STATISTA SOURCE

One solution the school could implement that would lead to fixing Wi-Fi problems sooner is a reporting system that would allow students to directly submit their Wi-Fi issues. Much like students talking to their teachers, a direct reporting system would help technicians know earlier when the Wi-Fi is down. Furthermore, a direct reporting system would allow technicians to analyze a Wi-Fi problem to a greater extent because they would get valuable information on the parts of the school that have no staff or a limited staff presence.

Overall, the Wi-Fi in the school is proficient, for the most part. But, with a couple of additional tweaks—specifically having students go to staff with their Wi-Fi problems and implementing a reporting system in which students can directly report their issues to technicians—an adequate Wi-Fi connection could become even better. h

poor connection?

Here’s what to do when the Wi-Fi isn’t working Diagnostics...

Did you remember to reset your school wifi after fall break?

Assist Me...

First try restarting your device and reconnecting

If you believe there is a problem with the Wi-Fi, report it to a teacher so they can report it to technicians JACKIE HUR GRAPHIC CANVAS, RENT.COM SOURCES

Network

If you’re experiencing problems on a Mac, try running diagnostics on the network

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49

Try A New Tune Students, friends should attend more performing arts events than just Holiday Spectacular EMILY CARLISLE COLUMN

M

any students and comwhen at a concert I see my friends munity members attend waiting for me after the show. I Holiday Spectacular, am usually greeted by my parents otherwise known as Spec, which is and sometimes my grandparents the Carmel Choir program’s largest or cousins, but walking out from event. As a member of Accents, our backstage to find a group of my all-female top competition choir, I classmates eager to greet me allove Holiday Spectacular season, ways makes me smile. especially after seeing so many Speaking from experifamiliar faces in the audience. ence, preparing for a conI personally feel that our cert or event requires a lot marching band and choirs of hard work, focus and get the majority of the atpreparation so it means a tention from the community. lot when people genuinely However, I wish the other percare enough to pay attenforming arts received as much tion when we get to present support as we do because SUPPORT THE ARTS what we have been working while Holiday Spectacular is toward for months. From a fun family event, other pera choir standpoint, our most forming arts courses, such as band visited events are Spec, of course, and orchestra, have performances but also Evening of Show Choir, Take a look that the community should be just where each competitive show choir at entertainas excited about. performs its set from the recently ment briefs Throughout the year, orchestra, finished competition season along and upcomband and choir host concerts that with other favorite songs from ing performare mainly attended by performers’ previous concerts. However, the ing arts family members. But while family performing arts’ fall and spring events is nice, I know I get extra excited concerts are not as widely attended.

39

The audience is mainly composed of family—and we love their support—but it means a lot when people who don’t feel obligated to come support us as well.

Yes, Holiday Spectacular is the most easily accessible of the performing arts concerts due to the many opportunities one has to see it, but many other concerts are offered during convenient times as well. For example, when performances are during the weekend, they rarely take up more than two hours total, so it is worth it to come support your friends. If you cannot make it to a concert, please make sure to wish your friends luck and be genuinely interested in the work they have done. And try to make it to at least one concert; trust me your friends will really appreciate h your attendance.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Emily Carlisle at ecarlisle@hilite.org

shopping frenzy Two weeks away hmmm... maybe I should start shopping for Christmas... nah

One week away eh i still got time

PRANAV JOTHIRAJAH GRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

Christmas

aw shoot

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DEC 12, 2019

Gift it

CALINA HE COLUMN

Regifting leaves previous gifter, recipient unsatisfied

A

actual physical gift should not mats we approach the holiday ter as much. Therefore, giving away season, many people frantisomething that was given to you is cally try to figure out what inconsiderate and defeats the purtheir friends and family would enjoy pose of gift-giving. for gifts. Sometimes, the lack of Imagine putting effort money or time that we have into a gift just to have catches up to us and we rethe recipient give it to gift something we have alsomeone else. Clearly, ready received. While this watching someone give practice may prove to be away something you an inexpensive and spent so much time-efficient optime, money and tion for the holiday thought on would season, gift-givers make you upset. should not conIt might even lead sider regifting. you to question We have all how much thought heard the phrase, should be put into “It’s the thought HOLI-YAY! future gifts. that counts,” but Even though regifting overlooks there is an environmental benefit that idea and sends an unclear mesto reusing products, especially with sage to both the new recipient and larger and more expensive gifts, the previous gifter. To the previous pawning them off to a friend or gifter, regifting shows how unvalued family member for the sake of saytheir gift is. To the recipient, regifting ing you gave them a gift is not a shows you did not put much effort or valid reason. Often, people use this thought into their gift. as an excuse for regifting, when The point of gifts is to strengththey make no other efforts to benen personal connections between efit the environment. There is no the gifter and the receiver, and the

How do you feel about regifting?

“I usually just try to accept the gift. I don’t really give (the gift) away. If I don’t like it, I’ll just accept the gift, maybe put it somewhere I won’t remember, and I might not ever use it again or something. It’s not worth regifting. You know what I mean?”

Junior Brycen Highman LESLIE HUANG PHOTO

ANGELA QIAN SPEAK-UP

justification for calling a present that was given to you a “gift” for others.

If you really do not have a need for a gift that others could potentially use, I advise you to find a way to make the gift more creative and personal, or to not give it to others as a gift. Other options include trying to be more creative and thoughtful as you buy or make gifts. A simple card or homemade item can say just as much, if not more, than a store-bought gift.

Simple gifts, such as photos and small items relating to inside jokes and memories, can also be much more meaningful than a gift card. Especially if money is a main concern, making a card and printing some pictures could prove to be one of the most thoughtful gifts. The amount of money one spends on a gift does not necessarily show how much effort one puts in.

Rather, it is the motivation behind the gift, which can be seen through the creativity and personalization.

Keep in mind that after all, it is h the thought that counts.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Calina He at che@hilite.org.

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Your Best UMA KANDALLU COLUMN

D

Regifting is beneficial when proper etiquette is used

uring a Secret Santa one year, I received an item that I had previously given my Secret Santa for their birthday the past year. As awkward as that was, I gave them the benefit of the doubt in the hopes that it was an honest mistake. However, I later found out the gift had expired and that a halfbaked attempt to hide the expiration date by coloring over it with a black marker had been made.

Ultimately, that ‘TIS THE experience definitely made me rethink the whole process of regifting.

With the holidays right around the corner, many people have begun their anxious searches for gifts.

During this season, many people also consider the option of regifting, but debate whether or not it is impolite to do so. In honor of National Regifting Day on Dec. 18, we should em-

brace the benefits of finding new purposes for gifts.

As long as one follows basic etiquette, regifting can be beneficial for both the giver and the receiver.

This etiquette involves only regifting items that have never been opened, used or expired. It also includes not giving the gift back to the original sender or regifting within the same social circles.

When I choose to regift, it’s either because the item is something more geexample, SEASON neric—for a gift card—or I think the receiver will gain more use and happiness out of the gift than I would.

As long as one regifts with the intention and belief that the receiver will enjoy and find purpose in the gift, I think that regifting is wonderful. Regifting allows for another person to reap use and happiness from an item that would otherwise be in the trash or collect-

ing dust. Just as regular gift giving brings happiness to the gifter, regifting can also make the giver happy knowing that the receiver will enjoy the item much more than they would have.

While some may say regifting is impersonal and takes away the thoughtfulness in giving gifts, regifting also involves thoughtful consideration of the receivers’ likes and dislikes.

Often, there’s nothing inherently wrong with the gift you wish to regift; it just may have been something you already possess or it may be something that just did not fit your interests. You can make regifting about giving an item to someone who would genuinely enjoy it when you yourself would not, and not just about trying to get rid of something you don’t like. With this mindset, regifting is an amazing opportunity to spread joy during the holiday season.

At the end of the day, one man’s trash can truly become another man’s treasure. h The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Uma Kandallu at ukandallu@hilite.org.

How do you feel about regifting?

“I feel like regifting is fine as long as the gift you receive isn’t personalized, is in good condition and hasn’t been opened. If you never intend on using the gift then it’s okay to give it to someone else who will probably use the gift.”

Senior Hannah Na CALINA HE SPEAK-UP, PHOTO

51

52

DEC 12, 2019

A Better Talk

Netflix original ‘Sex Education’ covers extensive range of sexual topics; important for teenagers to understand the complexities of intimate relationships DA-HYUN HONG COLUMN

W

hen I ask people if they’ve seen “Sex Education” on Netflix, the most common response is along the lines of “the opening scene was too much for me so I stopped watching.”

While I agree that the first scene in Netflix’s series “Sex Education” can be overwhelming, what follows is so much more important than I just amateur sex jokes.

The British series first appeared as a Netflix original in early January this year, and the second season will return at the start of 2020. The story focuses on awkward and relatable teenagers learning to navigate their sexual experiences while managing the different pressures of high school. Otis (Asa Butterfield) is a gangly high-school student whose mom is a sex therapist; therefore, Otis is pretty wellversed regarding the subject. With the help of an unexpected friend, Maeve (Emma Mackey), the two set up their own business: offering relationship advice—both romantic and platonic—to any students willing to pay. Unlike most glorified shows targeted to teenagers like “Riverdale” and “Gossip Girl,” “Sex Education” successfully portrays what teen relationships are like in real life.

While Otis probably got “the talk” from his mother at a young age, I can’t say the same for me. I never planned to walk up to my traditional East Asian mother and ask her how sex works. In interpersonal relations, my class heard a single hour-and-a-half long presentation about safe sex that was

predominantly emphasizing the effectiveness of abstinence. Ninety minutes is definitely not enough time to cover not only the physical but also mental and emotional aspects of sexual relationships. Considering these circumstances that I’m sure many other students could relate to, what’s shown in movies and television actually does matter.

LOVE MAEVE The most common conversation surrounding the topic of sex in high school is just a matter of whether you’ve done it or not; this tends to cloud how complicated intimate relationships can be. It’s not just about learning how to use contraceptives; it’s just Scan this as important to understand how to form meaningful relationships to read a with others, which includes both cover story friends and partners. about Because “Sex Education” covers such a diverse number of topics, sex ed

you’re bound to learn something from it. Each character brings something completely different to the table, whether it’s socioeconomic background, sexuality, athletic ability or even just weird fetishes, the show covers numerous levels of emotional and sexual maturity through its well-developed plotline.

As a TV-MA series, it is undeniably raunchy, and it’s completely valid if you’re not okay with watching content that makes you uncomfortable. But this show shouldn’t be cast aside as just another teenage rom-com. It sets a new precedent of what should be expected in high school relationships, and it opens up a more diverse discussion regarding intimate experiences. I for one will be eagerly awaiting the upcoming season. h The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Da-Hyun Hong at mhong@hilite.org.

#teamtrees

12

19.2 million trees are cut down per day by paper companies

December 17,400,000

RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK SOURCE NATHAN HUANG GRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

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53

And That’s On Period Sis

CHS should consider providing free menstrual products in bathrooms

W

Additionally, free feminine hether it’s hiding a products at CHS would relieve tampon up your some of the stress that high school sleeve to avoid emgirls are dealing with every month. barrassment or having to leave Having your period is simply school because you ran out of your added stress to an already stressful own supplies, we’ve all been there. time of life. So often I see girls let Something as normal as my period their period get in the way of their shouldn’t stand in the way of me school day, either letting it afhaving a regular school day. As fect their performance on a teenage female who atan assessment, or even altends high school, I’m lowing it to impact their tired of feeling like my something to 1500 500 period is 1000 2000 class attendance.

The security of hide or ignore. After having a backup all, it is something plan, something all of us have to else to rely on deal with. outside of your We walk into own supplies, the bathroom exwould alleviate pecting it to be some of the extra stocked with paper weight on teenage towels, hand soap shoulders and toilet paper. FIRST MOON PARTY girls’ and remove one But what about feitem off of the endmale hygienic prod500 1000 1500less list of things 2000 high school girls ucts? Women need these products about.

500 1000 1500have to worry 2000 the same way we need toilet paper, Most importantly, the school’s so why the difference? acknowledgement of a teenage Not only do we have to deal girl’s cycle in an attempt to ease with the stigma surrounding mentheir experience would allow girls struation, but we also find ourat CHS to feel much more normal selves paying an extremely high about something that for so long cost for the basic products that we they have been taught to avoid. By need to keep functioning for these letting it be known that this school four to seven days. is understanding of this very reguAccording to USA Today, the lar part of life, girls would feel sigaverage female spends somewhere nificantly more confident and acbetween $150-$300 per year on cepted by their peers. feminine hygiene products. Period While it may come at a cost for products come with a high price CHS, placing free period prodtag that can often become too ucts in even just a few bathrooms much for some teens and families throughout the school would not to pay. Free tampons and pads beonly be a first step in achieving ing provided at CHS would be a menstrual equality at CHS but also small step in fighting the period allow us to set an example for other poverty that exists all around us.

MARVIN FAN GRAPHIC

MADDIE KOSC COLUMN

period products Check out average costs and sales of feminine hygiene products STATISTA SOURCE

Average per-unit costs Sanitary napkin/liners

$4.45 Tampons

$5.99 Overall sales of feminine hygiene products in the United States in 2018 Pads/ Liners Tampons Vaginal Treatments Douches Other 0

500

1000

1500

millions of dollars

institutions across the country by normalizing something so many of us have to deal with. h The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff.

Reach Maddie Kosc at mkosc@hilite.org.

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15 minutes of fame

DEC 12, 2019

Take a look at some of Xie’s artwork

Junior Shannon Xie commissions her artwork ANGELA QIAN Q&A

LAASYA MAMIDIPALLI PHOTOS

How would you describe your art style?

What software do you use for your digital art?

I don’t really do realism anymore. Now that I have more free reign on what I like to draw, I go for more of an illustrative style that’s kind of semirealistic. It depends on what I’m doing.

I really like Procreate, but I also use a Wacom tablet with Photoshop occasionally, whenever I feel like I want to pull it out and set it up.

What do you think about before you start to draw?

I like drawing wacky subjects—very surreal stuff—and I like colors. I don’t like when people say, “I hate using this color in my art. This is just tangent,” but it’s just like, “No.” The way that a color works is (that) it depends on what colors you’re pairing it with, so any color looks nice if you use the right palette.

Have you ever studied color theory?

I freaking love color theory. I’ve never taken a color theory class or anything, but we’ve covered it briefly in our classes, and I’m trying to work on my color theory. I really like colors. I love colors so much. I hated when we had to do black-and-white projects. I love color.

How did you learn to use the software?

Trial and error. I don’t get how people use a stylus with an iPad because an iPad is a finger touch thing, so I draw with my finger on an iPad, but (I) obviously (use) a stylus for the tablet. You learn by doing.

Those overlay layers and the effect layers were so fun to play with.

Will you describe your work with commissions?

I started doing commissions sometime in middle school, I think like seventh grade, but even now I’m laying pretty low in commissions because I’m trying to focus on school and stuff. It’s kind of just when I feel like it. I used to make people little logo designs.

Now, it’s mainly just I’ll draw their characters or a person.

HILITE.ORG

Is this something you’d like to pursue as a career?

Are your school art pieces and personal artworks different?

I do want to pursue (art) to some higher degree just so I can feel like I’ve accomplished something with it, instead of just feeling (like) I threw it away. It is something you can do as a hobby and still do professionally without training, but I’d like to pursue illustration alongside some science field.

This year, they’re definitely merging together more, which I’m really happy about. Definitely in my freshman year and middle school, the assignments were very clear cut and strict, and even if I could have some control over what I was doing, it definitely wasn’t what I would draw for myself.

SQUIGGLY STYLE: Junior Shannon Xie paints on a sheet of plastic hung from the ceiling. She said she likes doing both digital and traditional painting, with her traditional art pieces being mainly oil and acrylic paintings.

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litebox

DEC 12, 2019

Walk Like a Champion Cole Brevard, varsity football player and senior, celebrates victory during the IHSAA State Tournament finals at Lucas Oil Stadium on Nov. 30. Carmel played Center Grove in the championship game, winning with a final score of 20-17. The Hounds finished the season with a win-loss record of 11-3.

AYMAN BOLAD PHOTO