Scotlight issue 2 pdf by Scotlight Magazine

SCOTLIGHT Volume Ii / EDITION II

The Emotions Issue Exploring how emotions Affect us and run our lives

Inside this issue:

An in-depth looK into

envy p. 12

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DJ • ARTIST • PHOTOGRAPHER CARLMONT HS ALUMNUS '98 T: 650.303.4542 E: am.almighty.visuals@gmail.com W: ksun37.wixsite.com/alexismadayag I: instagram.com/alstriker37

–Table of contents– HOW I FEEL

04 06 08 WHY DON’T WE TALK ABOUT IT?

AM I WHO YOU THINK I AM?

10 12 14

GET MAD

LITTLE GREEN MONSTER

OVERCOMING SOCIAL INSECURITY

16 18 20

LIKE A PUPPET ON STRINGS

ANXIETY CLOUDS THE BRAIN

ADHD & Me

Carlmont Journalism Carlmont Journalism is a nationally renowned media arts program run by the students of Carlmont High School. Our staff of 120 people works to deliver the latest news to our student body of 2,200, their families, and the community. News, within our school and beyond, is important to us, so we are committed to providing timely information, current events, and thought-provoking ideas to our audiences through story-telling, design, video, photography, and other emerging technologies. More than just another high school journalism program, our mission is to think beyond the “Bay Area Bubble” and stretch the community’s mindset to include those of the rest of the state, country, and world. We aim to encourage our community to step up and be educated advocates of change.

Scotlight is Carlmont High School’s “spotlight” magazine, distributed quarterly to our community. Spotlight stories take a deeper look at issues that are important to our audience and examine multiple aspects and angles. Our mission is to stimulate thoughts in our readers that are otherwise glossed over by offering in-depth feature stories that dig deeper into the lives of those around us. We aim to engage our readers through thought-provoking articles, photography, and design.

Our Mission

Letter from the editor

Dear Reader, Emotions are difficult to write about. Emotions are even more difficult to talk about. But why? In kindergarten, we are taught how to express how we feel. “I feel” statements dominate playground conversations as teachers attempt to create more meaningful interactions. Where along the line do we stop being comfortable sharing how we feel with our peers? So many of the decisions we make and the paths we take are dictated by the way we feel in a given situation. Why can’t we comfortably express that? In this issue of Scotlight, our team explored the ins and outs of our emotional capabilities in order to, hopefully, make the conversation a little easier to have. Through topics such as emotional manipulation, envy, and social insecurity, we hope to shed light on the abnormality of opening up and reduce the stigma that surrounds it. Sincerely, Mona Murhamer Editor-in-Chief

Samantha Dahlberg Talia Fine Kaylee George Cath Lei Connor Lin Kylie Lin Zana Lunsford Isabel Mitchell Mona Murhamer Hanalei Pham Kathryn Stratz Katrina Wiebenson

Staff

EMOTIONS CATE ARMSTRONG

[

Every day, we carry different emotions. But sometimes specific emotions make up who we are and stick with us every single day. Joy, boredom, and anxiety are common emotions people feel, and three students explain how these three feelings affect their lives.

WRITING, DESIGN, AND PHOTOGRAPHY: ISABEL MITCHELL

“It might sound cheesy, but I try to live my life by finding joy in the little things. It’s more of a norm to be negative, so I just try my best to stay positive in every situation, and life is better. Living my best life is trying to find happiness in the little things and just smiling every day. Not only that, but I try to surround myself with loving, genuine, and positive people who build me up, not break me down. If you aren’t happy with the people you surround yourself with, it’s important to find those who you can be your best self with. Also, what makes me most happy is making others happy. I try to find the time every single day to be kind to others and recognize them for things they’ve done. In this day and age with so much negativity, spreading a little kindness can go a long way. You never know what is going on in others lives, so it is important to be empathetic of that and just practice kindness. Making this a norm for myself has made me a more appreciative and happy person, and I have grown a lot because of it. Overall, I find joy in the little things, appreciate those around me, and push myself to stay positive.”

]

RYan Huskey Jacey Kelly

“My outlook on life is that I do not want to have any regrets. I should always be happy. I leave everything behind so that when I do, I lived the best life I could have lived. Boredom is not a common feeling. You can control what you are doing and also what you classify something as being ‘boring.’ If anyone is bored, they can always make a good time, and that is how people should take it. Turn boredom into an experience. The feeling of boredom is not fun at all. If I’m ever bored, I’ll ask my friends to hang out or figure out a task to conquer to not feel bored. I feel like most outlooks differ, but I feel most can be accomplished by just the way you live your life. Every day is an opportunity to change your life with the way you perceive how your day will be. Most outlooks on life do not necessarily always come true, but I want to try my best to live the best life possible and have a good time while I am doing it.”

“There is this point that I hit when I am doing homework that triggers me. It might happen gradually or just out of the blue. But when it does happen, I just start to freak out. I can’t control it even though I really want to. I have been stressed about homework since sixth grade, but the panic attacks started in seventh grade. The panic attacks happen when I know the amount of work that I need to get done, and I have been not getting a lot done because I don’t understand it. I try to understand, but I can’t. It takes me so long and then I realize the time that has passed. But I also don’t let my life revolve around homework. Luckily I have been taught by and lived with parents who do not believe in homework. Instead of working, I can go outside and experience other things in life. School is supposed to teach you about different experiences and get you ready to be on your own in life, but I can learn that when I just go out on my own. I can learn by doing.

“I’M F

INE”

THE STIGMA AROUND TALKING ABOUT

EMOTIONS

One of the hardest things in life is being honest, not just to others but to ourselves. When it comes to emotions and feelings, more often than not, people have a difficult time opening themselves up to others, an action that sounds non-threatening but in reality is surrounded by fear and stereotypes from all over society. While it’s something that everyone experiences, why are emotions and feelings so uncomfortable to talk about? Izzy Lunderman, a junior, said, “People don’t like sharing their feelings because it makes you vulnerable, you’re essentially exposing yourself. There’s also the fear that people are going to judge you and your feelings. When I’m upset, stressed, or sad I want my emotions to be validated, not contradicted by another person who has no idea how intense my feelings are. When you tell someone something personal, you’re trusting them with part of who you are. Doing that is scary, especially given the amount of gossip and rumors that are spread in high school, but in the end, it’s important to let your feelings out. It’s not healthy keeping them in, it just sets you up for disaster. Even though sharing your emotions is scary, it’s an important part of expressing who we are and keeping ourselves healthy.” And she’s not alone in thinking this way. Aaron Sher gains a different perspective from living as a gay man in society. He said, “I am completely comfortable discussing my feelings, as it only serves to better myself and those close to me. What comes of holding on to your feelings and letting them boil inside? It’s always important to acknowledge and discuss how you feel, no matter what the circumstance is. This will allow you to grow and mature as a person. There’s certain stigma surrounding being a gay man and how we express our feelings. It is generally more difficult for men to show emotion, and I think we, as gay men, strive to ‘man up’ or ‘stay macho’ for as long as possible, until we can no longer bear it and we look for alternative ways to express ourselves. When it comes to relationships, a lot of gay men end up repressing their feelings and emotions until they blow up and then seek that love elsewhere. Not only do we have society still not fully accepting who we are, but we also have two men living with the ‘macho’ complex trying to make one relationship work. I don’t see how you can grow, learn and change if you continue to repress feelings. The only way to foster growth is by acknowledging how you feel, regardless of those feelings being negative or positive.” No matter who you are, pressures of society can still follow. Maxil Ertl, a junior, experiences the stigma in a similar way. “I think boys will make fun of you for the way you feel even though a lot of us experience similar feelings. It really comes down to the stigma that surrounds guys talking about their emotions. So often we’re joking about irrelevant things, but when it comes down to sharing feelings and taking each other seriously it feels like they don’t really care,” Ertl said. While sharing your feelings comes with more possible collateral damage, what people don’t realize is that as teenagers we’re going through a lot of the same things. Making mistakes, trying new things, and branching out of our comfort zones are things that we’re experiencing together. We should be able to reflect and share our feelings without the surrounding fear and stigma, no matter who we are.

WRITING, DESIGN, AND PHOTOGRAPHY: ZANA LUNSFORD

The Breakfast Club. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. High School Musical. Mean Girls. Juno. Donnie Darko. There will always be angsty teenagers, confused and angry at the world, and iconic movies to make them amusing and relatable. It’s a timeless theme because everyone experiences the teenage years, during which many struggle to find their identities and interact with the world. It’s a cliche pivotal time. Robert J. Hedaya M.D., says in Psychology Today that teenagers brains are literally reshaping their neural pathways and getting redone or re-routed. Previous evidence of personality and stability fade as a result of this reconstruction, and new perspectives or reactions to surroundings develop. Those changes add to the consistent portrayal of the teenage years as the path between being a kid and living in the adult world. For many, the final archway over the transition is college. College is the period between being viewed as a child when being told to act like an adult, and truly becoming an independent person in the looming and foreboding “real world” we’re always being welcomed to. “I’d say the biggest difference [between high school and college] is the freedom to do whatever you want whenever. You

have to be a lot more disciplined because there’s nobody reminding you what you have to do. If you manage your time well though, [the independence] can be a lot of fun,” Sam Levy, a 2016 Carlmont graduate, said. College is the taste of real life while rent and food is either covered by someone else or the are effects delayed through student loans. It’s also a higher education that, in theory, leads to better paying jobs in society. It’s a major step in a young person’s life, but, often times, high school students see it as their only option to move forward. “I don’t know where I would go in life if I didn’t get into [a college],” Kyle Dimick, a junior, said. According to the Los Angeles Times, over 206,000 people applied to one or more University of California for the 2016 fall semester, setting a new record for the 12th year in a row. That same year, seven of the eight Ivy League schools received between 31,000 and 48,000 applications each, according to ivycoach.com. Yet there are only about 9,000 students in the entire Sequoia Union High School District. Not only are an increasing number of high schoolers having college tunnel-vision, but thinking about the statistics of college causes students regular anxiety. “I think or stress about getting into college every day,” Dimick said. As teenagers’ neural pathways are changing and taking shape into how they view the real world, judgement from colleges can cause a lot of stress; acceptances, rejections, or high standards deeply affect students. “I’ve observed that the college process is very long and difficult for the people applying. Those applying often get very stressed out,” Sonali Kanaya, a sophomore, said. “Getting judged by colleges can lead to people feeling that they’re not good enough and lose self confidence.” In terms of identity and emotion, rejection from a college is taken seriously. It can feel like the rejection of a person, an identity, a personality. On an application, grades are meant to represent intelligence; extracurriculars represent community involvement and passion; leadership opportunities represent taking initiative and standing out. Those categories attempt to represent the real, young human being who is forced to quantify and explain the parts of their identity that they think shape them. “The process definitely affects one’s personality because if someone doesn’t get in to a school they want but their friend does, it can lead to resentment and jealousy,” Kanaya said. However, a common feeling among students and advisers is that the college process does not need to affect them so harshly. “It is important to maintain a strong personality so they won’t get as affected from getting denied and be more relaxed for the college app process. I think if you have a strong personality it

won’t matter whether or not you’re judged,” Suzy Floersch, a junior, said. It takes intrinsic strength to be judged and resilience to be rejected, especially when the pieces of an application do not necessarily represent a wholesome person; activities that a person is good at but not stellar at, enjoys but isn’t committed to, has an aptitude for but isn’t that talented, or appreciates them but not super publicly. These aspects of a person’s identity are more than a “yes” or a “no” from a college could ever represent. Staying calm and confident helps students better deal with obstacles and rejection, and nobody is alone when they lose sight of that confidence. “Everyone’s going to experience rejection and, besides just part of the college experience, it’s part of life. You feel like you should take it personally because it’s against you, but it’s not attacking you,” Nina Rasor, head of the College and Career Center, said. “There could’ve been something missing on your application, the fit isn’t right, something that is not personal against you.” There can be a lot of options that students dismiss when they have their heart set on one thing, even though teenagers don’t have to be so deeply affected by the judgement from colleges. “My advice would be that it’s more about going somewhere than going to that perfect place because I’ve had students that wanted to get into the perfect place, they went there and after a year they were miserable. Then they left. It could be Stanford or Berkeley or Tulane– whatever the case may be,” Jayson Waller, the social studies department head, said. “I’ve also had students that were really good kids, they didn’t get in to their first, second, or third choice and instead of going to a four-year school they went to community college.” There are many paths to success, and success is defined differently for everyone. “It’s hard as a high schooler to recognize that there’s a bunch of different opportunities for advancement after high school, it’s not just one road; there’s a multitude of roads, but take a breath and you’ll probably be fine,” said Waller.

Likes the rain

Cooks and bakes

No one is exactly alike, so being confident in one’s identity, even if they’re still finding it, is important in finding the path that is right for them. It could be going to college, it could be finding a career straight out of high school, it could be a mix of both, or a path towards neither. In any case, remaining strong and unaffected by acception or rejection from others helps people find their own way in life. To quote The Real Slim Shady, Eminem, “There’s a million of us just like me… who dress like me; walk, talk and act like me and just might be the next best thing, but not quite me.” WRITING AND DESIGN: TALIA FINE

Good with kids Loves walking dogs

Reads a lot

Can do a backflip 09

ANGER IS NECESSARY Balancing emotions is like eating in moderation. You need to intake multiple types of emotions in order to stay balanced. According to author Dan Mager, “Emotional balance occurs when we allow ourselves to feel whatever comes up, without stifling or being overwhelmed by it, and learn to accept our feelings without judgment.” There are some emotions with a more positive connotation than others, but anger usually has a negative stigma. However, anger is a vital part of a person’s mental health. According to Psychology Today, a health website, “Experiencing such anger vindicates your position and frankly affords you a most comforting sense of moral superiority over that which opposes you. Moreover, it reduces the odds that you’ll slip into a pessimistic attitude.” Anger, to some, is a way of coping, a natural response, or an attempt to mask or cover another emotion, such as sadness. In fact, the Merriam Webster definition of anger is: “a strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong or wrath.” In the past, I have used my anger to deflect other feelings, whether it be guilt or sadness. My grandpa passed away last year and I found myself becoming easily irritable or lashing out from things that normally wouldn’t bother me; whether it was school related or my parents asking me to do something, I felt mad. After researching it, I found it was normal. Being afraid or feeling insecure naturally causes humans to get defensive in a given situation, which comes off as irritability or anger. Psychologist Leon F. Seltzer describes a scenario to show how humans naturally give a defensive response: “How many times have you heard a child bellow to a parent (in the effort to avoid being punished): ‘I didn’t do it! He [or she] did it!’ Despite the negative trends that are associated with anger, according to The Washington Post, one in 10 Americans have severe anger issues, and despite things like outbursts and projection, that come with anger, it’s manageable. Alec Grogan-Crane, a senior, has dealt with anger issues. “My anger originated from losing in motocross races, and harassment that came from getting pushed around by my older brothers. Since I was a lot smaller than them, getting angry helped me get them to stop picking on me,” Grogan-Crane said.

Anger resonates with us. It isn’t something that has to be taught or developed. It’s just there. Anger helps humans grow, and it often causes interaction in new experiences, as well as stimulates an emotional response. “We were born with a potential for anger. Mothers understand anger in infants as early as three months of age. It isn’t something that needs to be learned or taught, like money or relationships. It’s yours to feel as the needs arise. Think of your anger as a birthright,” said anger management counselor Mark Thomas. Although releasing anger is necessary, there is a very thin line between anger and bitterness. Anger can build us up and at the same time make us become something that we are completely unaware of. The detrimental part of anger is the subconscious actions that come with it. At the same time, anger can be a much-needed release— it could also be a barrier to your health because of effects like stress could lead to heart problems, in extreme cases. “Sometimes when I would get overwhelmed with stuff in my life, I would literally just grab whatever was in front of me and smash it against the wall. I’ve broken a few things doing that, and put holes in walls,” said GroganCrane. “It’s also made me hide my emotions sometimes. I guess you could say that there are two different sides of my anger. One side comes out from me being competitive, and one from being overwhelmed.” Managing anger isn’t easy, but it is possible. According to the American Psychological Association, some simple ways to keep your anger at bay are relaxation, word choice, thinking before you speak, humor, more communication, and changing your environment. Grogan-Crane said, “As I got older, it came to a point where I was embarrassed at my outbursts, so I decided to manage my anger. I’ve gotten pretty good at controlling it. This weekend, at my race this weekend, everything went wrong. I just got to the bottom of the hill and started laughing. I just went on. I guess it wasn’t my day.” People are afraid of anger, but they shouldn’t be. In my eyes, anger is the most important emotion, and I think it’s the reason people have so much trouble opening up. The world is too sensitive and letting out your frustration at the right time is far better than holding all of that built up anger in.

“We were born with a potential for anger.” Mark Thomas Anger management counselor

WRITING: JORDAN HANLON DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION: CATH LEI

In romantic relationships, jealousy can be toxic and cause distrust between partners. However, this jealousy is often felt in many different ways. According to the New York Times, Gregory L. White, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Maryland, said, “Jealousy is not a single, simple emotion.’’ Instead, he defines jealousy as a complex of thoughts, feelings, and actions that follows threats to the relationship, which can be generated by the perception of a real or potential attraction between one’s partner and a (perhaps imaginary) rival. Many students have experience with jealousy in one form or another and have seen its effects on relationships. Cassidy O’Connell, a senior, said, “I really try hard not to let jealousy get the best of me in my relationships, especially with my significant other. I think that if trust isn’t present and jealousy is, the relationship just isn’t something that should be continued. I avoid jealousy as much as I can in my relationships.”

“My sister and I are twins, and we’re constantly being compared. When one of us is in the spotlight, it’s hard to not get a little jealous,” said O’Connell. This feeling of jealousy between siblings is experienced in many families. However, it may cause more severe problems than expected. Sibling jealousy often results in a continued rivalry, which can cause distress and anxiety in many children, according to a study written by Corinna Jenkins Tucker, Ph.D., and published by the Center for Disease Control. In order to avoid the harmful, long-term effects of jealousy, many have chosen to learn from the feeling and support their siblings instead. “I was most jealous when my sister got her license and I didn’t. I obviously wanted to be in the position she was in because it was exciting, but I learned that we’re not always going to be at the same place in life and that is okay. I decided that instead of being jealous, I should just be excited with her,” O’Connell said.

It is human nature to use social comparison to determine where we stand and how to adjust our standings. We most often compare ourselves with and envy those that are similar to us; this explains why we experience envy or jealousy when our friends succeed, according to The Evolutionary Psychology of Envy by Sarah E. Hill, Ph.D., and David M. Buss, Ph.D.. With the stress of school work, extracurriculars, and future plans, many students cannot help but feel jealous at certain times. “At this point in my life, I think I get most jealous about college and academics for sure,” O’Connell said. “It’s hard not to compare yourself to others. When I feel like I’m not doing as well as other people, I wish I was in the successful person’s position. I try to remind myself that everything happens for a reason, and my hard work really does pay off in the end, so jealousy isn’t worth my time. It’s better to be excited about others’ achievements.” WRITING: BROOKE CHANG ART AND DESIGN: CONNOR LIN AND HANALEI PHAM PICTURED: OLIVE PESCHEL

Social

Insecurities Examining how fear bleeds into social discomfort. Fear is the monster that creeps out from under your bed in the dark of night. You know that the causes are figments of your imagination– those shadows on the floor can’t possibly be moving. But still, the fear surrounds you in an icy grip that won’t loosen until sleep finally pulls you under for the night. Now, imagine living through that fear in broad daylight. For many, that is just part of life– struggling with the fear and insecurites of social pressures. Especially among teens, social interaction has become a key source of anxiety and stress. In a 2011 study, the National Institute of Mental Health found that roughly half of 10,000 teenagers age 13-18 exhibited some form of hesitance towards social interaction. Only a smaller portion of that demographic, 12 percent, met the criteria to be diagnosed with a social anxiety disorder. Despite this apparent gap between social awkwardness and social anxiety, I’ve found

that there really isn’t a definite is, they will always have line that separates the two, insecurities about their abilities based on the teenagers who I and their virtue. have interacted with. They may be smaller doubts, Over the course of a few like not knowing enough about weeks, I interviewed several the topic at hand, and they Carlmont students on how could be larger ones such as capable they perceived panicking at the mere notion of themselves to be in social starting a conversation. situations. Some were the Ultimately, the insecurities cheerful, extroverted type surrounding social interaction while others were more shy, are like a spectrum. They reserved individuals. fluctuate in severity from However, all of their person to person, situation to responses included a standout situation, and at some point, assertion: “My problems are everyone has been daunted by not as bad as other people’s.” a potential social situation. I heard something like that My final advice is to soldier from a friend who is extremely on through. The fear that fills eloquent and comfortable you with doubt is often times talking to all types of people, just in the moment, like a but I also heard it from a shadow, and getting through classmate who is clinically the rougher patches will diagnosed with social anxiety. eventually make life easier. In addition, my more I can say this with the socially-apt friend recalled utmost confidence because acting more reserved and throughout all of my interviews uncertain in situations where with Carlmont students, there they weren’t fully informed. My was one other phrase that kept other friend admitted to feeling repeating itself: “It gets better.” uncomfortable simply entering a room full of people. So what I’ve found, which WRITING AND DESIGN: KYLIE LIN may seem obvious at first, is PHOTOGRAPHY: ALEX CHERNIKOV that no matter how confident @alx.sf PICTURED: NATHAN DOUGHERTY or unconfident a person

The following are excerpts from interviews of Carlmont students. It is important to remember than no one is alone in their insecurities.

“It’s being in a room full of people, but still feeling like you’re alone.” “I’m really “Throughout worried about saying my life, I’ve kept something mean or switching friend offensive. Even now, I groups. I feel like regret a lot of the I’m going to keep things that I’ve getting hurt if I “I’m open up in real said in the not as bad as life.” past.” some people. I can

still talk to new people who I am introduced to, but it just gets really bad, especially with people who I perceive as ‘above me.’”

“Even as a confident person, there are situations where I’m not informed, and that’s when I’ll go into the shadows.”

“It gets better. It sounds cliché, but it’s true.” 15

It’s a generally distasteful idea that our thoughts, beliefs, and actions aren’t our own— that we may inadvertently be acting on someone else’s cues and directives. Yet the truth of the matter is that emotional manipulation is more prevalent than many would like to believe. We are humans; we have emotions, and our emotions give room for others to use them to some end. From Jan. 11 to Jan. 18 in 2012, Facebook conducted a research experiment on 689,003 unknowing users, in which their News Feeds were either stripped of all negative or positive posts to test whether their moods were affected. Led by data scientist Adam Kramer, the researchers found that emotions were contagious. According to the research paper they published, “When positive expressions were reduced, people produced fewer positive posts and more negative posts ... These results indicate that emotions expressed by others on Facebook influence our own emotions, constituting experimental evidence for massive-scale contagion via social networks.” In Facebook’s data use policy, the company has given themselves the right to use Facebook users’ information for research purposes, making all users vulnerable to manipulative experiments without their direct consent. Once revealed to the

public, there was an outcry as the public questioned the ethics behind the study and questioned whether it is acceptable for large corporations to play mind games under the name of science. However, Facebook isn’t the only one to emotionally manipulate others. Tom Williams* said, “Sometimes if I need pity from someone I know is liberal, I’ll play my ‘closeted bisexual card,’ which is true, and talk about how oppressed I feel, which is greatly exaggerated. I have had reasonable success with this technique, even if there is no relevance whatsoever to what I want from them.” Many don’t like the thought of emotional manipulation. Yet, people are constantly being manipulation whether they know it or not. In a study exploring information intake, researcher Martin Hilbert found that people receive five times more information than they did 30 years ago. With loads of information circling our daily lives, people are more prone than ever to manipulation in many aspects of their lives,

from advertising to relationships. Furthermore, this onslaught of information makes it “So[that] pitches that seem to simplify the world resonate more today than they did when we had more mental bandwidth,” wrote Kit Yarrow, chair of the Department of Psychology at Golden Gate University, in a Time article. On a smaller scale, playing with someone’s emotions can even be blurred into people’s daily lives subconsciously. There are underlying subtleties that people may or may not be aware of, such as targeting another person’s feelings through pathos or emotional rhetoric. “Emotional manipulation is constant. Every interaction we have with another human has a goal, something we want out of that interaction, and literally every word we speak carries volumes of information in the form of social cues and body language all aimed at achieving that goal. Emotional manipulation is simply one of the tools we use to get what we want and is no more immoral than a knife or an axe is immoral,” Casey Felton, a senior, said. Despite the commonly perceived notion that emotional manipulation is strictly negative, there are also ways to manipulate in a positive light. “In my opinion, there is no objective line between appeal and manipulation. The morality of a manipulation or appeal comes down to the end result of the interaction. Manipulating someone into unwanted sex is very different then manipulating them into quitting heroin. In this manner

of thought, one could immorally appeal to another’s emotions by nudging another to commit crimes and morally manipulate others’ emotions by guilt tripping them into not beating their child,” Felton said. Politicians and marketers also utilize emotional manipulation in various forms. It is human nature for people to feel as if they are shrinking into the background. Manipulators capitalize on this feeling, creating a seemingly individual connection, inflaming our sense of control and influence. Narratives created around products or services are designed to pull heartstrings or create a simplified image easy for consumers to connect to. For example, the Humane Society commercial for donations shows clip after clip of abused and neglected animals in an effort to appeal to viewers’ emotions. Marketers, politicians, and others are all guilty of playing on emotional reasoning rather than logical reasoning. By manipulating emotions in this sense, without factual foundation, people are led to believe that their emotions portray a larger, more factual truth than they actually do. Politicians will often appeal to the middle class or the common man, drawing on feelings of patriotism, pride, hope, and promising a better future. Politicians focus less on the technical details of their platform and instead choose to spend their words on topics that are easily understood and important to the audience. This is just one of the common forms that emotional manipulation takes. Activities director Jim Kelly said, “Leadership is the idea of being able to influence people but hopefully influence them for good rather than for bad. You can influence people by finding and providing what they want or making the person feel important. Leaders will manipulate to get their way.” From oversimplifying situations to guilt tripping, emotional manipulation,

intentional or unintentional, for good or for bad, is a reality in almost every dimension of people’s lives. To many though, the real danger and concern is that sometimes emotional manipulation is so subtle that it happens without one noticing. Kelly said, “I know that there were people who manipulated or influenced my emotions in the past. The thing is, at the time, I wasn’t aware of it when it was happening to me.” Although manipulation can be a subtle phenomenon and may be inevitable, there are ways to be aware. In a Ted Talk by Tristan Harris, a design ethicist at Google who studied how to ethically steer people’s thoughts, he called his audience to action to solve the fundamental problem of being

manipulated. “We need to acknowledge that we are persuadable. Once you start understanding that your mind can be scheduled into having little thoughts or little blocks of time that you didn’t choose, wouldn’t we want to use that understanding and protect against the way that happens?” Harris said. *Due to the sensitive nature of the content, this name has been changed to protect the anonymity of the source.

WRITING AND DESIGN: KAYLEE GEORGE AND HANALEI PHAM

ANXIETY CLOUDS THE BRAIN Increased heart rate, perspiration, tunnel vision, hyperventilation. Different symptoms, same diagnosis: anxiety. According to WebMD, children as young as 6 have reported to have anxiety, but teenagers and adults between the ages of 14 and 40 struggle the most. This total comes to about 3 million people every year in the U.S. Three million. This means that the many different causes and effects of anxiety all fall under just one umbrella. Merriam-Webster defines anxiety as “an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physical signs (such as tension, sweating, and increased pulse rate), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one’s capacity to cope with it.” This “nature of a threat” causes an emotion center in the cerebral hemisphere of the brain– the amygdala– to rapidly send adrenaline throughout the entire body. Although there is only one bodily reaction, there are many different threats and thus, many different reactions to this adrenaline. In pre-civilization times a threat could include a nearby predator or the fear of not obtaining food for the day. But in today’s society, threats stem from anywhere and everywhere. “My stress stems from many different areas such as school and my extracurriculars which then makes me feel anxious,” Kaitlyn Gates, a junior, said. Today’s expectations for students are ridiculously high to the point where a 4.0 GPA is not good enough. Colleges look for sports, volunteer hours, and other extracurriculars on top of that perfect GPA. When competing against students who excel in all of these areas, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed. “The workload in high school is a lot more intense, and it goes beyond homework and tests,” Gates said. “When I don’t have time to work on my own hobbies, or relax, my anxiety increases.” On top of school work and preparing for college, students often feel the need to conform to social norms or trends in order to convey a certain attitude to their peers. “My anxiety comes from my need to fit in to the conforms of what society says my life should look like. I also stress a lot about my future, but my appearance to others is something always in the

back of my mind,” Hunter Hawkes, a junior, said. While some students excel at academics and extracurriculars, others appear to “excel” at the social aspects in high school; having a large group of friends and attending social events can cause those who don’t participate in those things to feel insignificant. The desire to fit into these pre-set “norms” causes additional anxiety for many. “My anxiety has just been around since before I can remember,” Sally Brown*, a junior,said. “When I was little, my English wasn’t very good because at the time I spoke three languages, so I always had this constant worry of people not liking me because of that. My anxiety has definitely increased since high school because of the need and want to go to college.” Whether it be academics, social anxiety, or the desire to fit in, each threat causes physical symptoms of which the intensity can vary. “Quick breathing is usually what happens to me. Depending on how bad my anxiety attack is, my vision can blur too,” Gates said. “And the only way for me to calm back down is to completely stop what I’m doing and focus on bringing back normal breathing.” Anxiety attacks can come at any time in any place. Some start off slow, while others quickly escalade into loss of vision and in extreme cases, loss of consciousness. “My reaction is all in my head. When my thoughts keep flooding in, my eyes start to move around really fast,” Hawkes said, “I usually feel normal again after exercising.” Physical activity can often be beneficial, but achieving a mental equilibrium is a more effective method for others. “I start to inhale and exhale slowly while listening to music. I try to distance myself away from others so I can have that moment alone to really calm my nerves,” Brown said. Anxiety takes on many forms and impacts many different people. Recognizing how common it truly is and how many people are affected by it can be comforting to those who feel that they struggle alone. *Due to the sensitive nature of the content, this name has been changed to protect the anonymity of the source. WRITING: SOPHIE LYND ART AND DESIGN: KATHRYN STRATZ

ADHD & ME JUNIORS FIND WAYS TO COPE WITH ADHD “I think it is just frustrating how you want to get something done but you keep getting sidetracked,” said junior Kaylee Leong who has the inattentive type of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). As junior year begins, students tend to feel the stress of keeping up with grades and finding the right college faster than expected. On top of that, some students struggle with a condition where they have great difficulty focusing and paying attention in class, they feel restless or challenged to sit still. “You want to get something done but you keep getting sidetracked,” said Leong. According to Merriam Webster, ADHD is “a developmental disorder that is marked especially by persistent symptoms of inattention (such as distractibility) or by symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity (such as fidgeting).” Living with this disorder can make easy tasks become more complex than they should be. According to the Healthline newsletter, there are three types of ADHD; “inattention: getting distracted, having poor concentration and organizational skills; hyperactivity-impulsivity: interrupting, taking risks, never seeming to slow down, talking and fidgeting, difficulties staying on task; and combined type: both inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive type.” Julia Rhodie, a junior, was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

in November of 2016. She found it very challenging to pay attention in class and focus on getting her school work done. It was also not easy to talk about what she was experiencing with students or teachers. Her frustration with the situation led her to doctors who finally diagnosed her condition. “It was pretty difficult to express my daily struggle with people who couldn’t really relate. I just felt and do feel like the majority of people who surround me make me feel a lot more alone in this process,” said Rhodie. Attention Deficit Disorders can be diagnosed at any age, but symptoms are noticed more when children start to attend school. According to the U.S. Department of Education, students with ADHD typically include inattention and hyperactivityimpulsiveness behaviors such as difficulty staying on task, excessive motor activity, and blurting out answers to questions without waiting to be called upon. An estimated 5 percent of children and 2.5 percent of adults have ADHD. It is more common among boys than girls, according to the American Psychiatric Association. Even athletes can struggle with ADHD in sports competition. They may feel a big rush of adrenaline about something that happens to them in a sporting event, which then impacts their ability to focus or control their impulses.

Zach Burgos, a junior, is on Carlmont’s varsity basketball team and has ADD. He feels that he struggles most to focus in the classroom and is easily distracted by his peers. “Sometimes I will walk into class and forget to turn in my homework because I am too distracted by other things happening at that moment. I forget to turn it in, even though I already finished it,” said Burgos. There is help for students to manage their symptoms and improve their performance in school. ADHD treatment can include medicine prescribed by doctors to control the symptoms. According to the U.S. Department of Education, public schools offer two federally mandated programs to protect the rights of eligible students with ADHD: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504). These programs provide options for students with ADHD to get assistance, modifications, or accommodations in school to help them improve educational performance. “People should know that it is completely okay to struggle with something like this. By telling people, it brings more awareness to the possibility of having it,” Rhodie said. WRITING: SAMANTHA DAHLBERG DESIGN: KATRINA WIEBENSON

more than 3 million cases per year * The condition canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be cured * Can be lifelong

Zach Burgos

Can contribute to: low self-esteem, troubled relationships, and difficulty at school or work.

Julia Rhodie

Symptoms: Limited Attention and hyperactivity * Treatments: Medication and talk therapy

Kaylee Leong

Sequoia Union High school District Carlmont High School 1400 Alameda de las Pulgas Belmont, CA 94002

Cover art by connor lin