Pre-College Programs Don’t Make Your College Application Perfect

These expensive programs are not beneficial and are a waste of time.

By CELILIA CHENG, PRINT MANAGING EDITOR

SOUND OFF Opinions of Robinson Students

Theatrical release poster for “Barbie.” Photo from IMDb

As a kid, I was never allowed to have Barbies because my mom thought that they set unrealistic beauty standards. She didn’t want me to feel bad for not being as skinny or perfect as a Barbie. As a result, I never felt a real connection to Barbie, or any of the Barbie movies growing up. Since I never had that personal connection, I viewed them as cheesy and shallow.

But, despite my lack of knowledge of the previous Barbie movies and “Barbie’s Dream House,” had been looking forward to this movie since the announcement of its release, and it did not disappoint.

The movie focuses on stereotypical Barbie played by Margot Robbie who lives the perfect day every day in Barbie Land, until one day everything changes when she starts having irrepressible thoughts of death. This worrisome “defect” sends Barbie on an adventure to the real world with the mission of returning her life to normal.

While on her journey, Barbie has a wake up call. Much to her surprise she realizes that the real world is nothing like Barbie Land, but the exact opposite. She finds a world where men hold all of the power and she is constantly talked down to.

Robbie does an amazing job of bringing a literal doll to life. It’s incredible how much emotion she was able to invoke in audiences

Taylor Swift Re-Releases Her Third Studio Album.

By ASHLYN MILLER, SPORTS EDITOR

Taylor Swift continues her journey, reclaiming the magic in her early albums with the release of “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).”

Being the highly-anticipated follow-up to her acclaimed sophomore album, “Fearless,” the Speak Now Era solidified Swift as, in my opinion, one of the most influential musicians of all time. With one of the highest-awarded country albums in her rearview mirror, she had set a high bar for herself. A lot of people in the industry didn’t want to see her live up to the hype, but as always, Swift came out on top.

Coming off of previous success, she created a poetic album, masterfully crafting stories of wistful romance and heartbreak. Swifties everywhere are ecstatic at the chance for their queen to finally reclaim another one of her titles, 13 years later.

The original 16 tracks, to the blind ear, are virtually the same; however, a more seasoned Swiftie

2. “Redbone” by Childish Gambino

3. “LOVE. FEAT. ZACARI.” by Kendrick Lamar & Zacari

4. “Is There Someone Else?” by The Weeknd

5. “Smooth Operator” by Sade

6. “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift

7. “The Spins” by Mac Miller

8. “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” by ABBA

9. “Pink + White” by Frank Ocean

10. “Money Tree” by Kendrick Lamar & Jay Rock

11. “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince” by Taylor Swift can pick out the small differences in lyricism, production and tone. Her faux country accent is also absent from the re-release. I will definitely miss these subtle details of the original, but for me, they aren’t the reason why “Speak Now” is one of my favorite albums; love it because of the storytelling. I just don’t understand the fans who are upset over a missing breath at the end of a song.

Not only was this movie emotional and relevant, but it was funny as well. While tears were shed, laughter was much more common. There were many moments when the entire theater was giggling, usually because of Ken.

It’s no wonder that the Barbie movie broke so many records, such as having the best US opening ever for a film directed by a woman. Therefore, proving that it actually achieved its goal of empowering women. It’s a movie by women, about women, for women.

I think the Barbie movie is an important movie for everyone to see. It clearly depicts the everyday challenges that women face in their day to day lives in a funny, ironic way. If you haven’t already, you should head to the theater as soon as possible to see it.

Along with every re-release, Swift puts out tracks labeled as “From the Vault.” Although these songs are completely new to us, she wrote them years ago, along with the rest of the original album. “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” had six songs fresh from the vault.

For me, one of the most memorable songs “When Emma Falls in Love.” Not because of how amazing it was, but because of how much its stunning mediocrity stood out from the rest of the album. Swift has such a good song writing ability,

New health food destination, Green Lane, opens for the summer.

By ASHLYN MILLER, SPORTS EDITOR

Over the course of the summer, you’ve likely seen the green, bunny-clad building that houses a drive-in salad shop every time you

ment that offers nutritious green food choices for those in the South Tampa area.

On the current menu, there are eight signature salads, which can also be made into wraps. I was able to try two of their salads: the Creamy Caesar and the Golden Greek.

The Creamy Caesar’s ingredients were standard, having just croutons, grape tomatoes, cheese and grilled chicken for toppings and caesar dressing. Immediately, I hate the name of the dish. ‘Creamy’ is the worst possible way to describe a salad. It’s so unappealing and I don’t know how they allowed that to happen to their menu. Aside from the name, the salad was just average. I liked that the toppings were dice cut, which improved the texture once it was all mixed in. However, there should have been more protein based on the price of the salad. The majority of the bowl is just lettuce, with what looked like one tender worth of chicken. I would not go to Green Lane for something that can easily be replicated at home, such as a Caesar Salad.

A Green Lane Passion Black Tea outside of their new location on Gandy.

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The Golden Greek on the other hand was very special. This salad came with a choice of chicken or tofu, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, kalamata olives, mini croutons and a red wine vinaigrette for dressing.

All of the produce and

12. “Pursuit Of Happiness (Nightmare)” by Kid Cudi, MGMT, Ratatat

13. “Out of Time” by The Weeknd

14. “The Thrill” by Wiz Khalifa & Empire of the Sun

15. “3005” by Childish Gambino

16. “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift

17. “8TEEN” by Khalid

18. “Nonsense” by Sabrina

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