The Viewpoint February/March 2016 Issue

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Viewpoint

Mountain View High School 2135 Mountain View Road Stafford, VA 22556

STUDENT NEWS Magazine MVHS VOLUME 10 ISSUE 4 February| March

oN PAGES 8 & 9 READ ABOUT HOW artistically talented students EXPRESS THEMSELVES


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The Viewpoint FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 VOLUME X ISSUE IV

DO YOU BELIEVE IN LUCK? Luck is success or failure thought to be brought by chance, rather than through one’s personal actions, but is it really that simple? Many believe that there are four basic principles that “lucky” people use to create good fortune in their lives. To be lucky, you need to be skilled at creating, noticing, and acting on opportunities given to you by chance. You have to make effective decisions by listening to your intuition and feelings, and take the necessary steps to boost intuitive abilities. You have to expect good fortune. In addition to all of this, you have to turn bad luck into good. There are many symbols that people believe bring good luck, such as horseshoes, shamrocks, and the number seven. However, these are all myths. In Ireland the only true sign of good luck is the shamrock, with each leaf symbolizing a different goal in life: fame, wealth, love and health. Picking up a shamrock does not define how lucky you are or if you are going to be successful in life, but it’s the person who picks up the shamrock that is the deciding factor. So why is it that we are so superstitious when it comes to luck? If you so happen to stumble by a four-leaf clover, picking it up isn’t going to give you the A+ you need on an IB test or bring you 100 dollars. Sure every once in a while

Editorial Board

something good comes along, like meeting the guy of your dreams in a restaurant in Fredericksburg; however, a penny on the ground isn’t what got you to where you are today. It’s important to remember that there is not always a pot of gold on the other side of the rainbow. Luck only comes to those who are willing to work for what they want and refuse to think otherwise.

Hailey Bullis Cory Haley Sarah Yakulis Social Media Editor

Krissy Poff

Copy Editors

Leah Garza Reagan King Adviser

Trisha Strahl

The Viewpoint is a cross-section of the news and opinions of the student body of Mountain View High School. It is a forum of expression published by aPrintis. Letters to the editorial board are welcome and should be submitted to rooms 303 or 311.

Staff Writers

Staff Writers

Jenny Bullers, Lily Cowper, Paige Doerfler, Michael Goffus, Zane Gobie, Alex Harrington, Morgan Ocetnick, Reagan King, Austin Venable

Feature Figure by Morgan Ocetnik

Morgan Ocetnik

Making money at this age is incredibly hard to do, and senior Isiah Ethel has managed to make an amount beyond an average teenager. It all started in 2013 in a random way. His friend was recording him in his closet and came up with the concept of creating a clothing line. He’s a clothing designer, filmmaker, and music producer. Ethell began building his connections with successful people so that his business can really take off and grow. He has a line with Nike and is working on shoes with Adidas. Recently Ethell has been working with a man named Wizzle X that is high in DC fashion. He also works with Adidas which is how Ethell got the connection. Ethell has his own website called moneyhungrykings.com and sells all of his clothing designs, shoes, some jewelry, and backpacks. He receives lots

of help from his friends with shipping the clothing out and has made a statement with his fashion all over the world. His business Money Hungry Kings has been discovered throughout the country and more, so it isn’t just local within Stafford. Ethell will be attending Full Sail next year and is going to be studying film making so that everything will eventually connect and come together even more to pursue his dreams. “I don’t believe I should hold myself in a box and only work on clothing. I’m trying to branch out and make my brand something way bigger,” said Ethell. He is very successful with his money and has made over a hundred thousand dollars just in the past few months, separating himself from many high school students because of his successful early start.

Front Cover Cory Haley

2014, 2015 Virginia High School League State Championship First Place Award Winner 2013, 2014, 2015 Free Lance-Star Best Over All Newspaper 2011 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist 2011, 2010 and 2009 Virginia High School League First Place Award Winner

Mountain View High School 2135 Mountain View Rd. Stafford, VA 22556

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at Mountain View an overview of February and March

Signing Day by Jenny Bullers

Jenny Bullers

Eleven senior student-athletes relished in the spotlight at the senior signing on February 3. These students were being honored and recognized for their accomplishment of committing to play their sport at the collegiate level. Five of Mountain View’s baseball players committed: Jacob Pollock and Jacob Menders both accepted an offer from Shippensburg University, Dylan Hall accepted an offer from Virginia Tech University, Alex Smith accepted an offer from the U.S. Naval Academy, and Bob Gryzmkowski accepted an offer to play football and baseball for the U.S Merchant Marine Academy. “I feel very good that I have my college all figured out and that I know what I am going to do with my life,” said Smith. Eric Dass decided to continue his football career at Anderson University. Taylor Lavette is committed to Lynchburg University to continue her softball career. Annalee Johnson signed to swim at Penn State University. Lauren Graves committed to William and Mary University for pole vault. “I am very excited because it has been my dream school for a long time. I had a lot of options to play at other places but I knew this is where I wanted to go to school,” Graves said enthusiastically. Two of Mountain View’s women soccer players, Mary Grace McGregor and Ashley Sannicolas, pursued their division one offers with McGregor attending University of Richmond and Sannicolas attending Liberty University. “I am really glad that all of my hard work has paid off and I have been looking forward to this for my entire life,” commented Sannicolas. These determined student-athletes have balanced their school work and extracurricular for as long as they can remember and this signing ceremony was a respectful recognition for all of their long nights and early mornings.

Bomb Threat by Michael Goffus

Lauren Sarno

On February 12, Mountain View received a call threatening to bomb the school. Meg Athing, the front office receptionist that received the call, said, “I was the one who answered the phone. The person on the other end of the phone made a threat and said we have twenty minutes to get out of the building.” The school resource officer was then notified of the call, followed by Dr. Jim Stemple and the assistant principals. In order to retain order and have account of everyone, students were sent back to their classes before being evacuated out of the building. Students were first evacuated to the school’s football stadium, but were later moved to Margaret Brent. This was Mountain View’s first bomb threat.

On March 5, FCCLA and National Honors Society volunteered to throw a celebration for Dr. Seuss’s birthday at Central Rappahannock library in order to help spread literacy in young children. The event held various Dr. Seuss themed games and activities for children to participate in ranging from kids hopping on bubble wrap while a FCCLA members read the Seuss book “Hop on Pop” to the kids. In addition, the kids made paper hats and could get their face painted. FCCLA president, Julia Hanson, who has been planning the event since she was in eighth grade, thinks the event helps bring the community together as students from all different schools come to the event:“We think of our communities as just our schools and separate little areas but then this brings everyone from all different sorts of areas here together.” Each year Mountain View FCCLA adds a new activity or changes another activity slightly said Kerri Hederer, the FCCLA advisor: “This year we added puzzles to the coloring, and last year we added the bingo, and the year before that we added the fishing, so we’ve been adding one thing at a time.” The event attracted 330 parents and children between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.

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Hailey Bullis

Hop on Pop by Hailey Bullis


Br ooke Myers

Brooke Myers P hotography Brooke Myers shares her progression in photography throughout her life. by Hailey Bullis photos by Brook Myers

Using a Nikon D5000 camera and a 55 millimeter and 121 millimeter lens, Brooke Myers takes portraits, photos of her friends, family, and nature. After drawing inspiration from her grandfather at a young age, Myers to started photography as a hobby and only began her company last year in January. “My granddad has always taken photos but he doesn’t have a business and my aunt started a business so I wanted to follow in their footsteps,” said Myers. The idea for starting her company (Brooke Myers Photography) came from her aunt, who owns a photography company called A Token in Time. “I liked how my aunt would take pictures of the seniors and it just made their memories last; So I thought that was pretty cool,” said Myers. Myer’s biggest inspiration for photography

is Daniella Studios, a photography business based out of California. “She just takes gorgeous photos, and I love them” continued Myers. “I think she’s my favorite photographer. I find a lot of inspiration in how she captures her photos and in where the setting is.” Myers likes to take photos of nature or scenery for herself. “I take a lot of nature photography as well. Flowers and scenery; I like to go to Civil War battlefields, so I’ll take pictures while I’m there.” Myers continued, “I love history, so I think it’s cool to document and go back and look to see what the photos looked like back then and what it is today.” Taking photos of other people for Myer’s is easier than taking pictures of herself: “It’s hard, because selfies are different than when you’re getting a professional picture done with a professional camera. It’s more of a personality thing and more of a you that goes into a self-portrait.” While Myer’s enjoys photography, she feels that career-wise, it will just be a side job, due to the fact that photographers don’t make a lot of money. “I feel like I’ll go into the business field, which photography is the business field, that or medical,” said Myers. Myers has taken photos of junior Jennylynn Johnson, junior Lauren Willsey, and others for prices ranging from $30 to $60 per photo shoot, depending on where her client wants to take the photos, how long the shoot will take, or if they want the photos printed. Myers posts any extra photos onto her website, which can be found through her Facebook page, Brooke Myers photography.

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It’s just

politics.

2016 politics seems more like a reality show and less like a presidential campaign. What’s with all the drama? by Lily Cowper

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump won the Virginia primary vote on Super Tuesday (March 1).

candidate based on their parents’ opinions on politics, and 43% percent of those polled said they do, but the most effective voting strategy is to educate yourself. The policies that this president implements will affect the next four to eight years of your life, so why wouldn’t you want to have a say? Another interesting thing to note is the large population of independent voters in America today. According to a 2014 Gallup poll, a record-high 42% of voters in the US are independent. 39% of students polled at Mountain View are independent. Why is this? Is it because of the stigma surrounding the identification of political parties? Does just under half of the American population have commitment issues? How has this affected the results of the primaries this year? In Virginia, we have open primaries, where a voter of any political party can vote, but many states such as New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Maine, have closed primaries, which require registered voters to vote within their parties only. If there is a large number of independent voters, then there is a large number of people in these areas who haven’t voted for either party. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out in November.

This year is a big year for politics. We are all watching the news. We all know who is in the running. And it is clearer now more than ever that politics is just a game. When you think of the 2016 presidential campaign, who is the first person to pop in your head? Trump? The majority of the 160 students at Mountain View polled on the subject said that they believed media bias has played a major part in voters’ decisions this year, and that the media had been perhaps over-reporting on presidential candidate Donald Trump. About 8% of students polled said they preferred him as a candidate, and he is leading in most national polls as well as winning a large number of delegates in the recent primary elections. Though some of us support his campaign, according to the surveys,

28% of students polled are Democrat

many of us are employing the “this isn’t funny anymore” point of view, proving that Trump’s policies, ideas and insulting comments can be taken in both positive and negative respects. On the Democratic side, the public has been comparing Trump, a Radicalist Republican, to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a left-wing Radicalist who has also been gaining a significant amount of followers, especially with the younger voters. Sanders took the lead by over 10 points among students polled at Mountain View, with 32% of the vote. Marco Rubio took second with 19% of the vote. 13% of students were undecided with their choice of candidate. This may be because, like most of the country’s population, students may be simply uneducated about the election. They often choose a

33% of students polled are Republican

39%

51%

of students polled are Independent

of students polled stay consistently up to date on politics

43% of students polled have the same opinion on politics as their parents

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The Arts at Mountain View The Viewpoint explores and sheds light on some of the most artistically talented students at Mountain View, bringing a new aspect of high school to life. by Paige Doerfler and Krissy Poff

Art by Meagan Forsht Photos by Cory Haley

Riana Chan, Violinist and pianist Senior Riana Chan, Concert Mistress for Chamber Sinfonia, has been surrounded by music her entire life. “One day, my cousin was playing piano for me and tried to show me a few things. According to her, I was super enthusiastic about it, but not in the sense of banging on random keys; I wanted her to actually teach me. So, when I was five, I started taking piano lessons, and I seemed to do better than most students. That’s when we realized piano might be my forte.” In addition to playing piano at such a young age, Chan started playing violin in sixth grade, making this her seventh year as a violinist. She has performed on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center for the Boys and Girls Club for the Greater of Washington’s ICON Competition, surpassing the preliminary rounds and making finals. She has also performed at the Four Seasons Hotel in DC, receiving $1,000 in scholarship money, and competed in the Mary Smart State Competition, placing first in her division. Playing an instrument has definitely impacted Chan on a personal level. “I’ve always been a rather shy individual, but playing piano meant having to always perform pieces in front of audiences. So in that sense, it’s helped me to get over my fear of standing out in a crowd.” Chan’s first orchestra performance as a piano soloist was at the Piedmont Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition. It was her first time showing true emotion in her playing, giving meaning to what she plays, knowing that all those eyes were watching her every move for such a long period of time. On March 12th, Chan was able to perform a solo with the Rappahannock POPS Orchestra, in which she pushed herself to make it her best performance. Chan is inspiring to become a pediatrician and hopes to golf and play in a college symphony, preferable at the University of Virginia. “A true musician has the courage to convey all emotion into what they play and have the sense of vulnerability in front of a crowd of strangers, with the intent to help them feel those same emotions.” 8 q the viewpoint q february | march 2016

Renee McGee, Trumpet Player

Senior Renée McGee, first chair trumpet player in Wind Ensemble, has been playing the trumpet for seven years. “My dad plays lead trumpet in the Army Blues, a military jazz band up in Fort Meyer. Playing trumpet was an easy decision: free lessons,” she said. McGee said that she should have gotten into music earlier, but with how music is set up within the school system, that wasn’t exactly an option for her. In addition to being a well involved trumpet player at Mountain View, McGee played in the Virginia All-State Orchestra. “[All-State Orchestra] was both fun and challenging. I love playing with orchestras more than anything. For some reason, the sound just seems really pure.” Battling with class scheduling is an issue that many musicians face, McGee managed to be a partial IB student and a musician. “I’ve liked the flexibility to study what I enjoy. [IB] is a great options, especially for musicians.” IB has allowed McGee to explore other subjects that she has taken an interest in. She plans to double major in trumpet performance and chemistry. “I know, it probably seems totally random to major in both. Physical science, especially physics and chemistry, have always been interesting to me. I’ve really enjoyed what we’ve studied in IB Chemistry over the past couple of years. I think it’s neat to know what things are made of and how they work on a level that you can’t directly see.” It is unknown where McGee will be studying for the next couple of years, whether it’s UNC Chapel Hill or Virginia Tech. However, it is very clear that no matter what she ends up doing as a carer, she intends to keep playing trumpet. “Music, like the arts in general, are really lifelong things,” she said, proving that playing the trumpet will definitely be a part of her life.


Meagan Forsht, Artist Senior Meagan Forsht has been painting intricate pieces since the beginning of her sophomore year when she realized her true love for art. Paintings are a visual form of art that allows the artist to express who they are behind the canvas. “I’ve always colored outside the lines, that’s how I discovered I loved to paint,” said Forsht. Every form of art is different; however, painting allows the viewer to dive into the world of the artist. The art program here at Mountain View allows students to explore all aspects of visual art, such as sculptures, 3D art, and canvas painting.

“My favorite thing to draw is animals,” said Forsht. Whether it’s a sculpture or a self-portrait, students are encouraged to create what comes to mind and fully express what comes to mind. Forsht plans on attending Mary Washington in the fall and aims to major in the arts, while also studying biology as a backup plan. “I’m also very interested in animals and evolution,” said Forsht. After attending Mary Washington Forsht’s dream is to become a tattoo artist to take her art from the canvas on to a more meaningful background. From paint brush to tattoo needle, Forsht plans on creating art for the enjoyment of others. february | march 2016 q the viewpoint q 9


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Old Rag Adventures Old Rag Mountain is a popular destination in the Blue Ridge Mountains that many students have camped out or hiked through. See their experiences and adventures of the trail. by Morgan Ocetnik. Background photo by Ian Hodge

Noah Bannon photo by Ian Hodge

Noah Bannon is a senior that loves hiking at Old Rag. The first time he went was junior year and has been four or five times since then with his friends. He said that being out there he really gets to know his friends more especially with not being able to use his phone. He explained that if you hiked the trail at a faster pace with few stops one could probably finish in an hour and 30 minutes, but it is about an eight mile hike. Bannon said the trail rating for Old Rag is a Double Black Diamond but it’s really not hard at all. His favorite part about going is watching the sun rise and camping out. One of his best experiences was going to Old Rag just to watch the sun rise: “The best experience was me, Ian, and Martin woke up really early, and we left at like 2 in the morning. We hiked to the top of it and it was freezing cold. We all had short sleeve shirts because it was hot down at the bottom, but when you’re at the top it is super windy because it affects with the wind temperature. So it’s super windy and freezing and we had to sit there and we waited till the sunrise. We just sat there for an hour watched shooting stars flying everywhere and we saw the sunrise, it was awesome.” Bannon said that usually when he goes with his friends they don’t bring too much: a backpack with a knife, first aid kit, and some cliff bars. Another time Bannon and his girlfriend were driving to get to Old Rag. It took about an hour and a half to get there and they lost signal so they couldn’t look at their navigation. They pulled over into a street, and when she started backing up she slammed right into a guard rail. As a result, they had to go straight back home. He’s had both the good and bad experiences but overall loves the trail and recommends students to go.

Jennylynn Johnson photo by Morgan Ocetnik

Jennlynn Johnson is a junior that went to Old Rag last summer in July with her family. She had been camping before and had walked small trails, but this was overall her first real hike. She explained it was nice going in the summer because she didn’t have to dress warm or worry about it being freezing cold. All of the trees were grown out making the mountains very green and vibrant with all of the plants being visible, she said it was very pretty. The trail is very rocky and right before she got to the top she had to climb over large boulders to see the view. “The funniest part was that my brother thinks he’s the coolest thing around so he’s 22 but at the time was 21 and he was going up saying ‘yeah you guys suck at hiking’ and all of that. Next thing you know he turns around and runs into this rock getting a concussion from it,” said Johnson. She explained that it was really hilarious though because he popped his head up and there was a huge rock that you couldn’t miss. He just completely ran into it. “It was just funny, the irony of it,” said Johnson. Johnson said that for the most part it was an easy hike. For anyone who plans on going, she advises them to wear tennis shoes and athletic clothes, and be expected to have to maneuver yourself through the rocks. She explained that it’s not a distinct pass. It starts off as a trail and you’re walking up a hill, then it starts to get very rocky to where there are boulders left and right. She said when you first see them, it looks as if you must climb up them but you end up going around the rocks. Then at some point, they had to walk up the big boulders and jump down that five feet or so on to ground with the path just carrying on afterwards.

Zach Mumma

photo by Grayson Soper

Sophomore Zach Mumma went to Old Rag for the first time this year in the beginning of January. He and his friends took a day trip up to the mountains and were prepared for a vigorous hike and hoping it would be difficult, but it wasn’t as hard as they expected. He said it was freezing, but they had many layers of jackets and clothing on. It was even colder at the top, and it being winter, they were completely above the clouds. “I liked the rock scramble at the top. It’s the top portion of the mountain where you have to climb down into the rocks and go underneath and above,” said Mumma. He enjoyed going in the winter because of the clouds but a good time to go hike Old Rag, from what he’s heard, is early in the morning when the sun rises. So if he could go again then the next time he explained would be really early in the morning. Mumma explained one of the experiences with his friends on the hike was when his friend almost fell off the mountain. He was just sitting on the edge and he lost his footing, but quickly grabbed onto a tree, which could have turned out really bad. Besides that he said everything went really well. If he were to give advice to someone going for the first time, he said that it’s important to bring gloves along because you have to get on your hands and knees. He had brought some, but his friends hadn’t, which they regretted. Mumma described his overall experience as “enthusiastically fun, it was just being able to spend time with my buddies and talk about all kinds of stuff.”

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Boys of

MV Baseball

third base Nathan Neff Senior My older brother played and my dad always coached baseball, so we just kept playing . Both of my parents are my biggest supporters; they come to all my games. I usually hear my dad screaming at me from right behind home plate.

An inside look on this year’s Mountain View baseball team members including their personal experiences and hopes for the new season. article by Jenny Bullers illustration by Lindsey Hughes photos by Cory Haley

Pitcher Dylan Hall Senior My mom and dad are my biggest supporters. They put me in a really good place to succeed. The thing I will miss the most about playing for the school is all of the guys I grew up with, just not seeing them, missing them.

catcher Alex Smith Senior I just want to be a good teammate and be there for my other teammates, be a good supporter, and improve on last year. I feel good that I have the opportunity to play the game I love at a great school in the Naval Academy.

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Second Base Bradley Ramsey Senior My favorite part about playing baseball for Mountain View is how competitive we are and how much of a true team we are. My biggest supporters are my team, parents, and coaches. My parents are always pushing me just like my teammates and coaches; they never give up on you.


left field

Short stop Jacob Pollock Senior My dad had played baseball in college so it just kind of ran in our family, like today my sister still plays softball. It has just always been a part of our family. We are really excited about this upcoming season, we’ve put in a lot of time and work to sacrifice.

Bob Grysmkowski Senior Our hopes for the upcoming season are to do really well. We only graduated two seniors last year so it’s basically the same team but with a lot more experience. I followed my brother’s footsteps. He started playing first and it’s always been a family thing ever since.

Center Field

Second Base Jacob Menders Senior My biggest supporters are the rest of the team. Everybody pushes everybody to be better. I am excited about committing to Shippensburg University because it is a big accomplishment and not a lot of people get to do athletics in college.

rom the age of six to their last years of high school, these boys have been putting in the time and effort to play the game they love: baseball. Countless training sessions, lifting regimens, and games have helped prepare many of these boys for either their last high school season or playing at the collegiate level. After their fall league ended, the team started conditioning after school multiple times a week along with meeting up at indoor batting cages in the morning to practice hitting. The boys have high hopes for this upcoming season and plan to improve on last year where they lost in the regional tournament. With this year’s seasoned team, the state championship is well within their grasp. All of the players on the team agree that they have great chemistry. But they do not dedicate their success to only each other. The players are where they are today with the help of the Mountain View coaching staff and the support of their family and friends. This team is more than just a team; they are a family. There is something special about joining together with other kids to make a team and a play a sport that forms a very strong bond. Although most of the team’s players will be graduating soon and pursuing the next step in their lives, they will never forget the memories made while playing for this cohesive high school baseball team.

F

Harry D’Antuono Senior My coaches, parents, and teammates are my biggest supporters because they push me to be better and motivate me. We are all kind of like a family so it’s fun to play with them and it’s just a good experience and we all just go out and play for each other and have fun with it.

Right Field Josh Menders Sophomore My dad is my biggest supporter because he built a baseball field in our front yard and my grandpa because he always comes to watch me play. When I was younger, my friends and my brother’s friends would have small baseball games in our front yard. february | march 2016 q the viewpoint q 15


It’s time to stop and smell the flowers

.

1 25 Hours Are spent doing chores around the house per day on average.

2 Hours Are spent doing homework per day on average.

Students’ days are crammed so full of activities that they don’t actually have enough time in the day to do everything. by Cory Haley Sleep Survey result Average amount of hours of sleep high schoolers get each night. (Results from a 200 person survey)

W

hat is free but also priceless? You can’t own it but you can use it. You can’t keep it but you can spend it and once you’ve lost it you can never get it back. Time. For something so precious it seems to be the one thing that we waste the most. It doesn’t matter whether you spend your time on social media, school work, or electronics, we spend too much time doing things that don’t let us truly live. We go to school for eight hours and then go home and study for three hours so we can get into a good college, but oh wait, colleges need to see that we’re active in the community so we volunteer for community service six hours a week and spend two hours after school each day doing sports and clubs on top of the already existing mound of school work. Do you need money to buy, spend, or go out with your friends? Better work 10 hours a week so you can go to Starbucks with your friends that you now, after all of that, barely have time to see. We jam pack our lives full of so much activity, so much noise, that we believe we’re living full and enriching lives when we’re actually just too busy to think otherwise. We just have too much going on around us to notice that we’re not living life, but instead turning into monotonous machines that spit out worksheets and activities that we don’t really care about. I guess that’s the American life though; fast, action packed, and never slowing down until we’re in our 30s and can’t slam back three energy drinks a day to keep up with life. Whatever happened to stopping to smell the roses? I feel like I saw the roses and in the process of getting to them I trampled every flower in the meadow. After one of the most stressful months of my life trying to get into college, I know I’ll be slowing down my lifestyle to be able to smell the other flowers and maybe make a few detours on the way before I get to the roses and I suggest you all do the same. So put down the homework, get off Facebook, and take a step back from life every once in a while. I promise a breath of fresh air occasionally won’t stop you from getting to those roses.

.

2 2 Hours Are spent playing sports or doing after school activities per day on average.

.

3 1 Hours Are spent on different forms of media per day on average.

Over half Of the students surveyed said that they did not have enough time in the day to complete all of their tasks.

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