table of contents May Issue, Spring 2020 - congrats on finishing school! Enjoy this last issue from the Hermonite team
Letter from Editor in Chief (Bill Wu) New Hobbies (Stella Zhu) How to Survive Quarantine (Tory Tran) Tradition (poem by Do Hoon Kim) Untitled (poem by Dariya Kozhasbay) Uncommon Facts (Bill Wu) Get Rich Quick (Mike Budner) To All the Hoggers I've Loved Before (Bill Wu)
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CONTRIBUTORS Editor in Chief
Managing Editor
Bill Wu
Do Hoon Kim
Head of Layout
Head Copy Editor
Alex Fan Dariya Kozhasbay
Linh Dinh
Head of Printing Layout Editors Emily Pham Alex Fan Dariya Kozhasbay Bente Bechtold Leila Yi Sunny Pak
Tory Tran
Writers Dariya Kozhasbay Stella Zhu Do Hoon Kim Bill Wu Tory Tran Mike Budner
NTRIBUTORS
letter from the editor in chief Dear reader, “
All we need, all we need, is hope. And for that, we have each other.” I am Bill Wu ’21, the next Editor-in-Chief for the Hermonite. For this May issue, the new editorial board for the 2020-2021 school year is taking over.
Quarantined in a 3-star hotel 10 minutes away from my house in Shanghai, I spent the past 15 days lonely, depressed, psychotic, unstable, furious, confused, and exhausted. I found myself believing in conspiracy theories, going through my camera roll to relive the good times, and dreaming about my fears and anxiety. Humans are so susceptible to unfounded theories during confusing times because we want, we need, to rationalize the situation to stay sane. On top of this, it feels like if I am not constantly savoring every moment with my friends, all of it will just fall apart. However, good times always pass, and that’s why they are good. Memories are for remembering, not reliving.
It’s times like this that tests the depth of our connection with each other. Catch up with an old friend, binge watch educational documentaries, amend some arguments with your family, pick up a once-beloved hobby… Find what it is that motivates you every day to get out of bed and stay positive. We are in this together. And remember, you are not alone. Hope you enjoy this issue!
Stay positive and healthy and spread love!
Regards,
Bill Wu Editor-in-Chief
RECOMMENDED BY THE NMH COMMUNITY
N E W
learning to play the accordion
warzone the boys with
(Elliot Gooley)
g n i k coo painting shoes (Linh Dinh)
collect cerealsing (Bailey Koo)
ing k r o w out
hilda (Mat ock) Hadd
spee dcub ing
(Juliet Homes)
photography
(Grier Calagione)
building + planting a vegetable garden
learning how to use blender
SEIBBOH
(Connor Theriault)
& g n i bak cheting crot h) bac Birn a c ec (Reb
i tai ch
dyin unic g hair orn
rainbow loom
(Danie lla We ldon)
practici soccer ng (Salm
g n i bik
aR SĂĄnche amĂrez z)
(Alisa Kravtchin)
running in hyde park (London)
dariya kozhasbay '21
Uncommon Facts 1. Up to May 5th, there have been 3.58 million confirmed cases worldwide with 252k deaths and 1.17 million recovered cases. (From: https://news.google.com/covid19/map?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en)
2. In partnership with the World Health Organization, Lady Gaga hosted “One World: Together at Home” concert, raising almost $128 million dollars for all COVID-19-related efforts. (From: https://www.vogue.com/article/lady-gaga-one-world-together-at-homeconcert-fashion)
3. David Dobrik, a famous YouTuber, went around LA to help out families who are struggling during this pandemic by giving away free iPads, Xbox One Xs, PlayStation 4s, cars, and his own merch with checks for (From: https://www.elitedaily.com/p/these-tweets-about-david-dobriks10k. coronavirus-giveaway-will-make-you-emotional-22846125)
4. Updated a month ago, there are 7 states of the U.S. that haven’t yet issued a stay-at-home order: Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and (From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stay-at-home-orders-states/) Wyoming.
5. A growing number of colleges are calling off the requirement of standardized testing scores for “firstyear applicants in the 2021 fall admission cycle.� These schools include five Ivy-League schools, the University of California, and more. (From: https://www.nytimes.com/article/sat-act-test-optional-collegescoronavirus.html)
6. The current testing for COVID-19 is a nose swab test: two q-tips up the two nostrums and one q-tip in the mouth. The results could take up to a week.
7. Gilead Science paired up with one Chicago hospital to test their newly developed antiviral medicine remdesivir. Most of the patients in the study have been discharged; two perished. However, this is only one trial, and it needs more trials with different groups of patients to determine the full results. (From: https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/16/early-peek-at-data-on-gileadcoronavirus-drug-suggests-patients-are-responding-to-treatment/)
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Disclaimer: This is a joke. It’s not real. Don’t take it seriously. Bill made me put this in.
To All the Hoggers I've Loved Before...
For this final issue of the academic year of 2019-2020, I invited the student body to write a letter to one beloved member who will be leaving the big NMH family.
In a foreign world, you were a pleasant reminder of all that’s familiar. We shared a first language and were from the same side of the world. You were one of the first people I met on campus, meeting you was one of the first memories and impressions I’ve made in my time here. In those blazing August days I was homesick and nervous, but you were cute and kind. You gave me something to look forward to in those awkward, awkward orientation mornings and slightly contrived get-to-know-each-other events; as someone who kept getting lost in the ins and outs of the whole ordeal, it was nice to have you show me around. It was just as nice to have you walk me back to my dorm, even though it was raining cats and dogs outside and you lived on the opposite side of campus. In those first few days, you told me that you would let me borrow your calculator because I needed one for my Geometry class, and the two of us could go get it during a break. We never ended up going. I had to buy my own calculator.
Sigh. In the first few days of school you’d wave to me in the hallways, outside of classrooms. You’d even mutter an aloof “hello,” to me if I was lucky, and it would make my heart do the tiniest little hop and a bounce. In our text convos, you were unenthusiastically succinct. Unlike me. You were nice though, you asked me whether anyone was being mean to me. Maybe the hot and humid summer air melted my puny brains, and that’s why I thought this would go anywhere. Maybe it was my internalized fear of all-things-foreign that pushed me to go out of my way and send you a nonchalant text or two every so often. Or maybe I’m just a socially challenged hopeless romantic who can’t interpret situations accurately. All of the above, perhaps?. I told a random girl on my floor about our encounters and she gushed that “maybe he’s into you!”, and I guess I was so starved for attention and approval I did my best to believe that. Over time, you stopped saying hi to me whenever you saw me. You left me on read for three weeks, and I had to call you out for it in order to get you to text me back. It made me sad, not going to lie. I decided to give it some time, maybe we’ll become friends as the year goes on. We haven’t said a single word to each other since October, and we've both graduated now.
Hi Socks, My friends and I gave you the nickname socks because of the weird socks you always wear. I think that I liked you the first time I met you. It was the beginning of orientation and you were very nice to me. You said, “Hi my name is ----” well I can’t say your real name but… from that moment on, I looked out for you. I saw you all the time around campus and FINALLY junior year came and we had a class together. I was so excited because then I could be your friend and we could get closer until I made you like me back. And it worked for a little while. You even drew me a smiley face on the desk and we chatted all the time. Not as close friends but as the casual class friends you have a streak with on snap. But, now… that class is cancelled because we are all home and you feel like a world away. I was so excited to get to know you but now I only see you on a computer screen. All my plans to flirt with you and charm you with my wonderful personality went out the window. Maybe next year we’ll have a chance to get to know each other...but for now...I just have to be content to watch you on the computer screen.
Sincerely,Your matching sock