EDITORIALS
January 31, 2020
Incorporating culture in class
LISKE FRENCH STUDENTS LEARN the history of crepes during class. One day I was sitting in my Spanish class and heard about culture week at Southview. I quickly became interested in the idea of becoming immersed into different cultures around the world. I decided to start my adventure and learn more about how students can know more about different cultures. After having a conversation with one of Northview’s language teachers I became more aware of how NV’s language department incorporates culture into different classes and clubs. I learned that many things about how culture is embedded in different classes and how hard the teachers work to teach us about different cultures. I think it is important that each student at NV is aware of different lifestyles and the effort that the language department puts into each class and event. The first, and most important, thing I learned was
that culture can not be learned in one day, it takes time and understanding to learn about other languages’ and countries’ customs. “In the last couple years we have focused on using the language that the students are learning to embed culture as the basis of our instruction,” said Spanish teacher Señora Lindsay Jurski. When you take a foreign language as a class, you don’t only learn how to speak that language, but you also learn the cultural aspects of the specific language. Each language teacher is passionate about the culture they’re teaching. They work hard to make the class inclusive of other cultures as well. The most important thing I learned while doing my research was the importance of culture and how each class has culture embedded into it. -Maia Dray
JURSKI SPANISH CLUB MEMBERS celebrate Spanish New Year.
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indsey’s owdown by Lindsey Hubay
If you open Instagram or YouTube, I guarantee it would take no more than five minutes to find a post or video discussing “what I eat in a day as a vegan” or “vegan meal plans”, and the list goes on and on. Vegan diets have become more mainstreamed, and after my best friend Trenton Woelfl decided to start a vegan diet this summer, I have always been interested in what it actually looks like. There is no better way to learn than trying it for yourself, so that is exactly what I did. I ate a vegan diet for a week, and I have a lot to say about the experience. To prepare for the week, I researched different ideas and recipes to try out. I then went to the store with Trenton so that he could help guide me to popular items. The first thing I noticed was the price of vegan substitutes. I’ll be honest, I really did find a lot of substitutes similar to things I typically eat, but they were double the price for half the quantity. For someone on a budget, it definitely was harder to plan meals that had substance to them similar what I typically eat. It’s also important to point out that I am a super picky eater, so I struggled a lot with finding affordable substitutes that I actually liked. Anything nut based is a no for me, and that’s a common ingredient in many items. My personal tastes definitely made it difficult, but I know I am not alone when it comes to be picky. When shopping, I had to read the ingredients on everything. It took a lot of time, I am aware that over time I would just know what’s vegan, but anytime I would want to try something new I would have to do it all over again. Maybe adults with typical diets focus on the ingredients regardless, but for me it was definitely different and took more attention. I live a fast paced life, I love being busy and am always on the move. Since I am still in high school, I take advantage of the fact that my mom typically makes me food while I’m busy so there are always some sort of leftovers ready for me. This week, that did not exist. If she was making something that had a side that I could eat, she would save me some, but that usu-
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ally meant rice or vegetables, not an actual meal. When I was busy one day then had to rush to babysitting, my dinner was salsa and chips, a common meal throughout this week. It wasn’t filling and I found myself feeling snacky, but because I was babysitting I didn’t have a ton of options so I just waited until I got home. I felt like wherever I went, I had to pack my own food, almost like I was a little kid. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it made me uncomfortable as a guest and it was weird to not enjoy the same meal as my company. After just a few days, I kept reaching the same conclusion: I was bored. I can’t decide whether it was because I was eating the same things or because I was stressed and wanted easy mac more than anything, but it just felt boring. I felt like I was constantly focused on what I couldn’t have than finding the food I could enjoy. I was happy to find a recipe that finally sounded good to me and that most accurately resembled my typical diet, but even then it still took an hour to prepare. Maybe I don’t have the patience to truly enjoy a wide variety of vegan dishes, but I think many could agree that it does take time to learn how to transition a large part of your lifestyle, and I think it’s time that I don’t have at the moment. I know it may seem like I have nothing good to say, but I saw a lot of benefits this week as well. For starters, I felt great. After meals, I felt like I was satisfied but not overfilled or like I over ate. I felt a little more energetic, and my workouts went super well throughout the week because of this energy. It was a good cleanse, and it also showed me that I definitely want to eat more of a plant based diet going forward. Life is short, so I can’t see myself saying goodbye to ice cream or chicken permanently anytime soon, but I do want to focus more on a dairy free diet. Despite my challenges this week, there is no denying that eating clean comes with many benefits, but I know that is not a surprise. I’m also proud that I truly did eat a vegan diet for a week, I didn’t slip up once. I think it just showed that if I really do want to make a diet change, than I can, and that I am in control of what I put into my body. I’m really thankful that I finally decided to go for it and try something new, and I encourage you to try something new as well, even if it isn’t going vegan.
