The Pinion Vol. 100 No. 3 Mar. 2022

Vol. 100 No. 3 March 2022

The student-run newspaper of McKinley High School

Established in 1920

Qua rter 3 Edition

PREVIEWS Page 5 : Perspective of McKinley Page 6 : Mixed views on NFT's Page 11 : Joseph Nakamoto is this year 's BaO Teacher Page 8-9 : Winter Concert Photo Essay RS 22-0658 - March 2022

Multiple students are missing in Justin Colados classroom, mostly due to close contact or testing positive to omicron. Photo by Shane Kaneshiro.

NEW YEAR, NEW VARIANT 2022 2022 st st ar artt ss of offf w witit hh om om icr icron on su surrge ge

by Shane Kaneshiro, reporter As a new semester began at McKinley High School, a surge of a new variant called omicron triggered many students' absences and anxiety.

Starting the first week of January, teachers noticed a significant increase in student absences due to COVID-19. For AVID teacher Justin Collado, one-third of his 20/20 was missing. ?It's just so distressing seeing a lot of students out,? Collado said, ?There?s a big hole in the middle of a classroom.?

Teachers are not the only ones feeling the effects of absences. Office assistant Hailey Tanaka has been bombarded with more calls, 20-plus many mornings. ?The normal morning bustle is even crazier,? Tanaka said.

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Students are also aware that many of their classmates are missing.

Sophomore June-lyn Degracia has seen up to three to five of her classmates absent during the surge.

Some of her family and friends have contracted COVID-19. ?It?s pretty terrifying because I could have it (COVID-19) right now but you wouldn?t know,? Degracia said.

In an update in February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that omicron is more contagious than the delta variant. Omicron spreads to someone even if they are vaccinated or don't show any symptoms.

While Degracia fears catching COVID-19, other students who contracted the virus know that it's a miserable experience. Senior Andrew Valdez caught COVID-19 at the beginning of the semester. While M ar ch 2022

being in quarantine, Valdez felt terrible with a fever that lasted three days. He also had to notify his teachers that he wouldn't be attending school for the next few days.

While some students haven?t contracted COVID-19 friends and family might have caught the virus.

Junior June Jolikiep has known some people that have been affected by COVID-19. Some of them even died from this virus. ?Omicron is much worse. I see a lot more people getting infected (by COVID-19) on campus and in my personal life,? Jolilkiep said The omicron surge made the workload for Principal Ron Okamura and the vice principals more difficult.

When a student or staff catches COVID-19, Okamura said three administrators are working ?almost full-time? contact tracing students or NEWS

staff who have been exposed. One case sometimes takes an entire day to complete all the contact tracings.

The time period they are most worried about is lunch. ?That's when everyone is close together, no mask, and sometimes sharing food,? Okamura said.

Contact tracing is only one of the mediation strategies the school uses.

Some students are not adhering to mediation strategies such as wearing masks. Degracia said she is concerned about whether students are wearing their masks properly in the class. ?I?ve seen kids with their mask down or not covering (their nose) correctly,? Degracia said.

Another issue with the omicron surge is that students, teachers, and staff are growing tired of the restrictions and this pandemic in general. For Collado, seeing the number of cases at this point of the pandemic seems more like numbers instead the amount of people that caught COVID-19. ?I think a lot of people are getting more lax, which is understandable because we have been going through this (pandemic) for the past two years or so,? Collado said.

On January 20, 2022, an emergency meeting by the Board of Education was held to discuss the rise in absences in the schools. About 10% of atendance dropped in the first week. Data showed out of 1576 students 87.7% of students at

Office assistant Hailey Tanaka is taking a phone call during the "morning bustle." Photo by Shane Kaneshiro.

McKinley High School were present during the second quarter. During the third quarter, 78.2% of students were present on the week of January 7th.

One response to the rise in cases in the school was students were required to leave the school premises immediately after school unless they are actively involved in school-related activities.

Most of the regulations that were implemented before the surge such as MHS (mask, hand washing, and social distancing) have been effective, the princial said, for a school the size of McKinley. ?We've been very lucky in the sense that our students are really taking to heart to keeping

themselves safe,? Okamura said.

Following the guidelines is one strategy that has kept students, teachers and staff safe. Freshman Codie Soriano said everyone should continue to follow the safety guidelines. ?Wear your mask properly, wash your hands, and make sure that your hygiene is really good,? Soriano said This pandemic is not going to go away soon. Nevertheless, there are vaccines and treatments that can help control COVID-19. ?We are at a completely different point in the pandemic than we were two years ago,? Collado said. ?We have all these tools available to us that are going help us fight against the pandemic.?

3r d Qu ar t er Absen ces per Per iod

NEWS

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Su r vey Qu est ion : To w h at ext en t h as t h e r ecen t om icr on var ian t su r ge im pact ed you r lif e?

A Lot Many of my classmates contracted COVID over winter break and have missed class because of this. I myself got sick when I returned to school following winter break, and I was worried I had gotten COVID. I stayed home the entire week and quarantined just in case; I missed classes, tests, sports practices and an audition in that week.

Senior Ronya Malae

Somewhat The omicron surge has been raising many concerns for everyone. I had to step out of certain situations and leave due to the rising concerns. People have been more strict about the safety guidelines and are becoming more paranoid. I've heard many people around me getting notified about close contact, or their families having close contact. In the past, I rarely had people I knew getting COVID. But with this variant, I feel like the transmission rate has increased so rapidly to the point where, now, people I know around me have COVID or know others that have COVID. Sophomore Jennifer Li

Somewhat I have been getting tested 1000x more often than I did with the previous variant. This new one is highly contagious. My entire family is paranoid and developing anxiety. Whenever I am exposed to someone with COVID, or have a slight symptom, I have to get tested. At least the testing site is at Ala Moana, so I can get Starbucks along the way.

Sophomore Sterling Hitchcock

Not very much There are new changes made meant to protect everyone. But it didn't affect me a lot. I know a lot of people are staying home to protect themselves which can take a toll for classes to get behind. There were times when I wanted to stay home for my safety, but I know that if I stay home it'll affect my classes, classwork, and social life, so I try my best to stay safe, so I can keep going to school.

Junior Celica Pham

Out of 110 students that answered this Pinion survey , 24.5% answered A Lot, 42.7% answered Somewhat, 24.5% answered Not Very Much, and 8.3% answered Not At All. PAGE 4

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NEWS

Do t h ese r esu lt s m at ch you r per spect ive on M cKin ley High Sch ool "I understand that people are not interested in all their classes and subjects and there are people who are connect to their teachers. I know a lot of teachers who have good relations with the students. So I can understand the results."

Junior Victoria Escalona

44% 44% rrespon esponded ded tt hhat at Classr Classroom oom en engagem gagem en entt

"I didn't really have an experience (last year) because I did 100% virtual (learning). So that's why it is really hard to adapt to the student environment."

Sophomore Anh Cao

33% r espon ded t h at t h ey f eel t h ey Belon g at M cKin ley

"I feel most kids here would rate this (survey) low. I feel "school belonging" is a bit low, because feel like I belong here because of my friends. For a lot of classes and depending on the teachers."

Senior Isaiah Atkinson

"No. Every class is different; some classes are quiet and some are loud and some are scared to talk. It just depends."

Freshman Jensen Chow

59% Respon ded posit ively abou t Teach er -St u den t Relat ion sh ips "Last year in particular was pretty rough on everyone. Only a small percentage of students got to be here in-person. It's hard to feel any sense of belonging. Now that we are back, I can see why the school safety are going down because of the incidents that are going on.

It is sad because I used to feel that this school is extremely safe. " Math Teacher Valerie Dao POTS

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61% 61% Respon Responded ded posit posit ively ively abou aboutt Sch School ool Saf Safet et yy "I think this (the reuslts) are inaccurate. This doesn't match my experiences. Classrooms don't feel like a stale desert where everyone is miserable and disengaged.

I think people are more engaged than they are willing to admit."

Sophomore Sterling Hitchcock *Numbers from Panorama Education's Student Classroom Survey (1956 responses) and Student School Survey (1170 responses).

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McKinley Community Expresses

M ixed View s on NFTs

by Jerome Linear, reporter People all over the world are starting to spread the news about NFTs and how they can impact the new generation and that includes McKinley HIgh School students.

Junior Dante Williams said he plans on investing his time and money into NFTs and hopes it can benefit him in the future. Williams said he believes investing is a gateway to having a good financial future and has researched more than just NFTs. He also does research on stocks, trading assets, and cryptocurrencies.

Williams believes that NFTs have just started to emerge and believes there's still plenty of time to get into it, especially at a young age. ?It's like the big next thing. Anyone, a sophomore or a freshman, a middle schooler, anyone could get rich off of NFTs. It is like limitless potential,? he said.

However not all students are as enthusiastic about NFTS and think that they are non-fungible, environment harming, and even useless.

Sophomore Stacy Cabusas believes that who buys NFTs are gullible and thinks that NFTs can be an easy decline in your finances. She thinks that investing money in a digital image is completely senseless and easily leads to scams. ?You're paying ownership to an image that costs tens of thousands of dollars, that you could easily screenshot or recreate yourself, especially since it's on the internet so I don't know what they expect from it,? she said.

Many students have mixed feelings about NFTs but some just feel neutral about them and don?t really mind the concept of them.

Junior Joshua Montero thinks that NFTs are popular and good for making money especially now. He thinks these investments can make profit if you know what you're doing. ?NFTs is kind of a popular thing nowadays for buying and reselling and it could possibly make a good profit with it or you can create one yourself," he said.

NFTs are just starting to emerge through this generation and lots of pros and cons about them have been heard all around McKinley. Many students avoid NFTs because of the negative aspects that is talked about them, while others continue to invest their time into them. ?NFT?s are like a faster painting being sold at an auction.

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M ar ch 2022

Jerome Linear looks at his NFT (Cake Ape) that's worth over 500 dollars. Photo by Athena Griep.

A painting can take a few moments to years depending on the artist which makes it worth something or genuine but an NFT can be made by anyone at any time and that is the problem I have with NFT?s,? sophomore Joseph Mai said.

NEWS

Fir st Ever St at e Level Awar d

Won by McKinley Cyber Tigers

by Lian Fouse, guest writer The 2021-2022 McKinley Cyber Tigers team broke new ground this year when it received the school?s first State-level award in the CyberPatriots national cybersecurity competition.

The Cyber Tigers finished second in the state and were among the country?s top 25 percent in the Platinum Open division, qualifying the team for the national semi-finals round. After breaking into the Platinum division during the 2020-2021 season, the Cyber Tigers were able to sustain their momentum and reach new heights this year while overcoming obstacles along the way. ?We've never gotten to this point ever,? said Cyber Tigers mentor and McKinley High School alumni Mark Munar. Munar, who has been the mentor since 2011 when the team was formed, recalls a time when the Cyber Tigers did not have their own computers and none of the students had any experience with cybersecurity.

The Cyber Tigers have come a long way since then, but building the necessary technical skills for the competition requires significant time and dedication from the team each year.

With students continually graduating and new students coming on board, the team must review fundamentals and bolster higher-level technical skills simultaneously if they want to succeed.

Moreover, the Air Force Association that sponsors the national cyber defense competition continues to raise the bar. According to Munar, the competition gets tougher every year. ?It's ridiculous how sophisticated the challenges are now,? Munar said. The Cyber Tigers must find and fix a wide variety of security vulnerabilities in computers, like maliciously planted backdoors that a cybercriminal can exploit to take over a network. The team has six hours to solve as many issues as it can. One of the reasons the competition keeps getting harder every year is that hackers keep finding more NEWS

and more ways to attack computer systems. ?There are a lot of threats out there,? said Cyber Tigers club advisor and JROTC teacher LTC(R) Manuel Pulido. ?Our society is moving to everything over the internet, like with the internet of things, so we must know how to operate in that type of environment.? As society becomes increasingly digital, cybercriminals seek new ways to exploit every vulnerability. This is why the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the employment of information security analysts will grow by 33% over the next decade, far exceeding job growth in most other professions.

Despite how demanding the CyberPatriots competition has become, Munar remains confident that anyone who wants to can learn and become adept in cybersecurity. A good example of this is senior Ryan Vanairsdale, who joined the team as a freshman with little experience in cybersecurity, but feels he has learned a lot since then. ?From my four years with the Cyber Tigers, I gained an understanding of the internet, networks, and how computers function,? said Vanairsdale. The benefits of the training went beyond the specific skills necessary for the competition, he said, adding that ?the things I've M ar ch 2022

learned in Cyber Tigers have made me more confident and informed when I do anything related to computers.?

Training for the CyberPatriots competition involves more than just technical skill development.

CyberPatriots is a team competition, so teammates need to coordinate with each other to best use each others?strengths and manage time effectively. It is structured to closely simulate what it would be like if you were part of a security firm and were asked to investigate and protect a real business?network. ?You?re learning systems analysis, project management, information management, prioritizing actions that you?re taking ? those skills cross boundaries into any organization,? said Pulido.

Whether or not the Cyber Tigers will be able to sustain their forward momentum in the CyberPatriots competition will depend on continuing support from mentors and coaches as well as dedicated participation by McKinley students.

The Cyber Tigers practice every Thursday after school in the JROTC basement in A Building throughout the school year. If you are interested you are welcome to stop by a practice or check the student?s activities web page for more information.

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WINTER CONCERT RECAPPED

On December 11 2021, the Band and Orchestra (BaO) hosted their concert in McKinley's auditorium. This is the first indoor concert since the pandemic shut everything down in March 2020.

Photo above: Seniors Chulyler Lau and Leihani Tabanera performing for band. On the right, Max Miranda and Jese Reeves perform on the cello for orchestra. When the concert starts, any student not performing sits with the audience to support their peers on stage.

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FEATURE

To the left: Senior Ana Ramirez last name leads the Orchestra in a final practice one hour before the concert starts. She is also the firstchair for the violin section.

Meanwhile, the band members help each other get properly situated in their uniforms and tie the traditional band bracelet to their wrists to signify their unity.

To the left: Irika Cruz, Keoni Ansan and Gene Yamashita play the trumpets.

To the right: After the concert, the BaO performers meet up for a congratulation speech from Joseph Nakamoto, the BaO teacher. Afterwards, students meet with their friends and family and celebrate their performances.

Consider supporting the BaO at their gigs and concerts.

Their next concert, which will also be held at the auditorium, will be on March 5; for more photos check out the Winter Concert Walkthrough article at mhspinion.com.

FEATURE

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AmyAssembles

'INDUSTRY BABY'

by Althea Cunningham, reporter To give the McKinley Band a more inclusive and modern song in their collection, senior Amy Ruan remastered a song from the '90s in the second quarter of the 2021-2022 school year.

"Industry Baby" is a band song that Ruan arranged herself within the span of two days. Beforehand, Ruan was just transcribing, or reformatting, previously written songs through software called MuseScore. She had to touch up songs like "Rocky" because of errors noticeable by players when they performed. ?It usually just ends up with people saying, ?oh, no, this part is wrong? and then forgetting about it because they need to work on other music,

and the piece has already been written,? Ruan said.

Joseph Nakamoto, the band instructor, usually asks Ruan to transcribe songs due to her proficiency with the software.

Nakamoto said Ruan gets the work done right away. ?For her to have that interest and for her to have that spark into wanting to do stuff like that, it makes me appreciate how I could ask her for help,? Nakamoto said For "Industry Baby," in particular, it was Ruan's first song to be completely arranged with her own ideas instead of just reformatting it.

She took inspiration from other arrangements and researched rhythms to compose "Industry Baby".

Ruan said that she tried to include every section of the band for a more challenging and engaging song for everyone to be proud of. ?This is just a fun piece for school, for everyone, and I originally thought it could be like a special song to play for the future,? Ruan said.

Ruan got the chance to hear her song be played at the first football game of the year. The band wasn?t expecting a game because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ruan said she was surprised when her composition was thrown into the song list. ?It's still kind of chilling for me to hear what I just made being played,?

Ruan said.

Senior Amy Ruan focused on powerful brass just like it's heard in the actual song by Lil Nas X, but she also worked with section leaders to properly include their instruments into her arrangement.

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FEATURE

A l umnus A ccepts The Role of Tea ching

Joseph Nakamoto directs the band during a sectional practice after school. Photo by Shane Kaneshiro.

by Shane Kaneshiro, reporter When Joseph Nakamoto was growing up, he was immersed in music. Nakamoto, McKinley High School's new Band and Orchestra teacher and director, knew he wanted to work with music. He said he saw two paths where his skills could be useful. One path led to a professional musician and the other to an educator. Nakamoto decided he wanted to become an educator.

He said taking this job fulfills his responsibility to the community to give students opportunities and a broader perspective on how to relate the successfulness of music to their future jobs or future careers.

Not all Nakamoto's goals are so

FEATURE

lofty, Nakamoto said he also just wants "to spread the love of music.?

As an alumnus of McKinley, Nakamoto said coming back to his alma mater to teach has changed his perspective of the school that he learned in. He gets to implement all the experiences into the community that he is creating. ?I understood all the traditions from what this program stood for, all the work ethic values, some traditions that the program has had for such a long time,? Nakamoto said. ?I'm glad that I can keep maintaining those same traditions that I went through and also revamping them if need to be revamped.?

Nakamoto said he believes music is a good escape from reality. However, Nakamoto also acknowledged there must be discipline.

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?We have to work hard to get there,? Nakamoto said.

On a normal day, Nakamoto comes to school early and stays late for students to practice. On the weekends, he can often be found in the band room so students can practice. ?I want all the students to feel like they have a second home. ... For most of the students, the band room is like a second home,? Nakamoto said.

Nakamoto said he believes that McKinley is a very fortunate school.

However, a lot of people it take for granted but it depends on students. ?Teachers, staff, and administration can only do so much to build a culture, but honestly, it's all 100% Student-led, to building a good school culture,? Nakamoto said.

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Ra sla p Surp rised By Differenc es

Between Chuuk, Ha wa ii

by Perlynn Calep, reporter OJ Paul Raslap's first experience in Hawaii was very different from how he imagined it would be.

Raslap, also known as Jayback, is a junior in McKinley High School.

He was born and raised in Chuuk, until he had to move to Hawaii in middle school.

In Hawaii, he saw things he had never seen before and learned new things. ?In Chuuk, it?s not that modern, but it?s kind of changing now,?

Raslap said.

Another new thing in middle school was the schedule. ?It was different because, back in Chuuk, in some of the classes you don?t change periods. But when I

came here, I was always confused,?

Raslap said. He was used to staying in one room all day but now he has to walk from one room to another.

One thing that hasn't change is that Raslap loves to draw. He began drawing at a very young age. He expands his art styles, making new art projects he learns by just being inspired.

Moving here sometimes made him feel homesick. Raslap was very close to his grandpa.

"We face-time sometimes but I regret not answering him because I?m always sleeping,? Raslap said. ?And because of the pandemic, I couldn?t go to Chuuk and he was sick but I couldn?t go.?

His grandpa inspires him the most and encourages him to do what he dreams to do.

Tiger Shar es Her Coming Out Jour ney

by Athena Griep, reporter Kae Aragon is a freshman at McKinley High school. She shared her story about being openly gay here at McKinley.

Aragon said her opinion on how McKinley is handling students who have preferred pronouns. She said that she was treated equally and she felt comfortable being herself PAGE 12

during school. At the beginning of the school year, some teachers had some struggles with her pronouns but they are used to everyone?s pronouns now.

Aragon said before she came out, she was scared of being judged or to be treated differently by her peers, teachers, and even her family. While this does still happen, it?s not often. It wouldn?t be the first time someone was judged for their sexuality and it definitely won't be the last.

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FEATURE

Rep orter Ta lks Ab out Wa r Stories In Syria

Pinion reporter Althea Cunningham gets feedback from Star-Advertiser reporter Kevin Knodell.

by Jerome Linear, reporter Kevin Knodell is a reporter for the Star-Advertiser and has been working with The Pinion staff. He shared some defining moments of his time traveling as a reporter in various places.

Knodell visited Syria twice as a freelance writer. Between the visits the Turkish army invaded. He said that before the Turkish army invaded, Syria was pretty stable, but when he went back after the invasion, the mood was completely different and said he saw much more violence and hopelessness. ¨ I think they realized that they were going to have a lot more war and that they weren't going to know peace any time soon," he said.

During his time in Syria, he was also near a bombing in a city. It

FEATURE

happened a few blocks away from his hotel. During his time there, he said that he saw a mixture of Turkish troops, American troops, Syrian regime fighters, and mercenaries.He said that they had gotten through the worst of it by defeating ISIS, but he said that many people were worried because the Turkish army was putting troops all along the border and they felt like an invasion was coming. ?There was kind of a mixture of Turkish troops, American troops.

Syrian regime fighters were out there I saw them a little bit and saw their flag. And there were also just a bunch of mercenaries that the Turkish army had hired, Syrian refugees who were fighting for them,? he said.

He wasn't doing much writing during his time in Syria but more interviewing. After he came back from Syria, he started to write.

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?I was interviewing people and taking notes and recording interviews and taking pictures whenever I could, like doing all that kind of thing while I was out there," he said.

He had many experiences in his time in Syria and learned from them.

He also learned a lot about Syria in general. ?I think they were deeply disappointed in the United States and the U.S. government after that happened," he said.

He currently lives in Hawaii and enjoys it here. Although he misses the winter and the long drives on the mainland, he still quite loves the scenery of Hawaii and how different Hawaii is from the mainland. ?The weather is way different. I love being able to go to the beach,?

Knodell said.

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A WEB FUL L OF ACTI ON Sp id er-Ma n: No Wa y Hom e Review "Spider-Man: No Way Home has now grossed more than $1.69 billion globally and has became the sixth-highest grossing movie of all time." -boxofficemojo

by Jerome Linear, reporter

?Spider-Man: No Way Home? is an entertaining film, full of amazing acting, nostalgia, spectacular action scenes, and an extraordinary idea to bring back other iconic heroes from different older classical movies. This has never been done before in any other Marvel movie and is why ?Spider-Man: No Way Home? is an enjoyable film, making it easily the best movie of 2021.

The new Spider-Man film is a live-action Marvel film that includes all the elements for a great action movie such as mind-blowing action scenes, funny and emotional moments, and carries a sense of nostalgic excitement seeing other heroes and villains from previous Spider-Man films. Every performance fits perfectly and seems to fit this film's sense of action.

One of the best parts of this film is the massive amount of well-known actors that helped create this film. This film allows actors such as Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, and Jamie Foxx to take back their roles as Spider-Man characters, which makes ?Spider-Man: No Way Home? extremely PAGE 14

exciting. I found myself more interested in the plot because I wanted to see what character would appear next.

Seeing the other Spider-Man cross over from different universes was fantastic and genius. It reminded me of my childhood when I used to watch ?Spider-Man 2? and ?The Amazing Spider-Man" in my room all day.

However, I do have to say that this movie was way darker and more emotional than the other movies.

There's a point in the movie where the Spidermans all talked about what they had been through and what they had lost being ?Spider-Man." It is so sad because it's like you have been through what the previous Spidermans been through because it happened in their previous films.

This movie is also very funny and I really enjoyed the part when the Spidermans were all shocked to see each other. It made me laugh so much because they were so similar, yet so different. Overall this is a very fun and family-friendly movie.

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EDITORIAL

?TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE' SHARES LIFE'S GREATEST LESSON

by An Vo, guest writer The statement, ?Death ends a life, not a relationship,? is one of many aphorisms passed down from an old, patient, and wise mentor to his young pupil.

Every Tuesday, Morrie Schwartz, a sociology professor and passionate dancer, teaches his final class about The Meaning of Life. However, this was not an ordinary class. Instead of relying on textbooks, the subject was taught from experience. Although grades were not given, the curriculum revolved around socializing and being a parental figure for Schwartz until his funeral was held in lieu of graduation. This class had only one student: Mitch Albom.

Albom, who graduated from Brandeis University in the city of Waltham, Massachusetts a couple of decades prior to Schwartz?s final class, felt guilty for not keeping his promise to stay in touch with his favorite professor.

Burdened by the deaths of family members and the harsh reality of life, Albom decides to reconnect with his former professor 20-years after graduation to discuss life and death.

Despite the long-awaited reunion, Schwartz, whose ?eyes were more sunken ? cheekbones more pronounced ? and the sagging cheeks gathered up like curtains,? welcomed Albom with open arms and smiled ?as if you?d just told him the first joke on earth.?

Schwartz reveals that he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig?s disease, an unforgiving illness of the neurological system which had no known cure. Albom

EDITORIAL

describes ALS and its effect on Schwartz?s body as ?a lit candle: it melts your nerves and leaves your body a pile of wax.? Even though his death was imminent with each passing day, Schwartz decided to teach one last class to enlighten his pupil, Albom, with life?s greatest lesson. ?Tuesdays With Morrie? is a candid and profound book, with each page beaming with the warmth of unembarrassed love between a young man and his old mentor.

Reading the book made me feel like I was also a student in Schwartz?s final class. I have gained a new perspective on multiple topics in life, including love, family, forgiveness, culture, the fear of aging, and, most importantly, death. I also found humor from Schwartz?s frankness, gained a deeper appreciation for my mentors, and felt heartbroken as Schwartz?s health conditions worsened and approached death?s door.

Out of Schwartz?s other loving thoughts essential to his teachings, my favorite aphorism is: ?giving is living.? Like Schwartz, I feel truly alive when I give to others. I also feel guilty when I take more from others, albeit Schwartz exaggerates that taking from others makes him feel like dying.

Furthermore, in the book?s afterword to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of ?Tuesdays With Morrie,? Albom emphasizes that the aphorism, ?giving is living,? is more than just a saying. It was ?[Schwartz?s] philosophy, his raison d?être, maybe even his secret.?

The book was also reminiscing about my favorite teacher in middle

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school. Like Albom, I was a raw, precious jewel who had the potential to be polished into a proud shine through the eyes of my teacher. My teacher?s view of me as a gem juxtaposes my personal view of a ?living corpse.? She encouraged me to view the world on a positive note and overcome my obstacles in life, including my timidness and pessimistic attitude.

In fact, Albom?s description of Schwartz as a candle is accurate with my teacher?s appearance?they are both old and had pale, saggy skin.

Had she not died from a heart attack during the summer of eighth grade, my teacher would have wanted to share the same relationship as Albom and Schwartz. Therefore, I can relate to Albom and understand the guilt he felt when his promise to reconnect with his old professor was overdue. The only exception was that Albom was fortunate to get a second chance, even if it was during Schwartz?s last months, while I only had one opportunity with a very limited time period and missed it.

Overall, I recommend this book to people who have wished they had a second chance to reunite with their mentors and receive wisdom for their busy lives. Schwartz?s ultimate lesson to cooperate with one another with love and compassion has genuinely touched my heart, and I aspire to be compassionate for others and expose their potential just as my teacher had done for me. ?Tuesdays With Morrie? is a sincere and gentle tribute to Schwartz and his invaluable teachings, through which Albom writes a final thesis to share his professor?s parting gift with the world.

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Mi ssi on The Pinion staff strives to provide and maintain accurate, entertaining and informativenews for the students, staff and alumni of McKinley High School.

We strive to show diligence in creating all our content so we can make a positive contribution to the public.

Publ i cat i on Informat i on The Pinion is published by the Newswriting class and printed by ReprographicsLearning Center.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JUNIOR PAUL BAGARA Winner of Mc Kinley's Poetry Out Loud Contest Congratulations also goes to contest runners-up junior Lian Fouse and freshman Parker Skinner.

The Pinion McKinley High School 1039 South King Street Honolulu, HI 96814

Thank you to Aloha Bakehouse and Cafe for providing prizes for all the contestants. Visit them in Kakaako at 1001 Waimanu St.

Emai l comment s or quest i ons t o pinion@mckinleyhs.k12.hi.us

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M ar ch 2022

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