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ANNANDALE HIGH SCHOOL

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TRUMP TOWERS

AHS reacts to controversial election; some students fear new regime while other look forward to new policies TEAGAN FOTI Co-Editor in Chief Donald Trump makes history; the businessman and former Celebrity Apprentice host becomes the first non-politician to achieve presidency and instill monumental fear in the majority that did not vote for him. Trump's bold and crude language along the campaign trail leaves behind a residue nationwide which has ignited into protests.

The President-elect has insulted almost every social and ethnic group in America, from women to Muslims and Hispanics, the LGBT community and African Americans, (and that's just to name a few). Some believe that the remarks made by the man that the electoral college elected brings into question the leadership America chooses and if the system really works. "[Trump is] a bully who can't take what he dishes out. He has no grace or class. A presidential candidate should never use the foul language he has, let alone a president elect. He's not eloquent or kind. Those words inspire violence and hate," senior Jessica Ferson said. "Already Trump supporters have hurt people of the LGBT community."

However, some believe that his demeaning statements are not a part of his character and that he is just impulsive in his speech.

"I think that at times he can be a little rash and big mouthed. Also, when he is in office he should have his Twitter account taken away from him because he can't control himself that well online," junior Hunter Swedish said. "Other than that, I like his businessman personality and how's it's going to translate into an America first attitude."

Nevertheless, this election was one of the most negative, from both parties. The bigoted comments and constant belittling phrases earned Trump tremendously more airtime than Clinton and thus provided him with a greater platform to express his

viewpoints. His harsh words hit especially close to home for many at AHS because in Northern Virginia minorities are a majority, and AHS is one of the most diverse high schools in the nation.

The racist and misogynistic views that Trump often portrays are something that many students and faculty fear will have a great impact on the diversity that our community thrives on.

"I think [his presidency] will have a direct impact on the Annandale community," Ferson said. "The impact might not be as drastic as deportations like Trump promised, but I'm sure the policies his administration passes will hurt people's lives."

Trump was not the popular candidate at AHS according to a poll conducted earlier this year; it revealed that only around 18% of students support him as opposed to the 63% standing behind Clinton. It was also overheard in the halls that various students now fear that coming to school will set them up to be captured and put on a truck, headed back to their home country, a thought that did not cloud their mind a week prior.

However, Assistant Principal Jamie Carayiannis feels differently. "I think [Trumps presidency] will be a heck of a lot better than most people think, they have this preconceived idea of what they think he is going to do. I think the media has demonized [Trump] in so many ways. I think he is a winner and that's what our country needs right now."

There is also hope that despite Trump's lack of political experience he will make a great leader due to the fact that he knows how to hire the right people to get the job done; he can also learn as he goes. "[Trump] is NOT a career politician like Clinton so he is in it for the American people. [He] can't be bought out by lobbyists because his campaign was funded by himself or small donors.

I really like in his 100 day plan how he is going to flush out the swamp (Washington). I honestly believe he's going to get rid of this system of crony capitalism and expose corruption in Washington," Swedish said. "Trump will also continue to uphold the 2nd amendment which is a right that has been gradually taken away.

I also do agree with his pro life stance. In addition he is going to rework trade deals like NAFTA and he is a strong opponent of the see TRUMP pg. 5

Voters easily defeat Meal Tax FCPS searches for new source of revunue; possible raise for teachers haulted

BY SADIE MODICA Co-Editor in Chief More money for meals means major cutbacks for schools; 54% of Fairfax County voted against a proposed 4 percent meal tax which would have contributed an estimated $96 million to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and the county government.

The tax, which would have been applied to all prepared meals from restaurants, grocery stores, cafeterias, movie theatres, coffee shops and food trucks, was expected to contribute 70 percent of its revenue to FCPS. FCPS will have to deal with the implications of the vote on top of its pre existing deficit. One of the expenses the county will reconsider was the $100 million that were to be funneled into the salaries of the teachers. Reconsidering this expense will make it harder for FCPS to compete with neighboring districts.

"It should have passed because it was an opportunity to make FCPS teacher salaries competitive with neighboring salaries-- which they are not right now," James Madison High School English teacher Joy Korones said. "FCPS will continue to lose qualified and talented teachers to other school systems, who pay more highly and value their excellence."

Now FCPS schools must search for a different source of income-- or make some major changes regarding the appropriation or acquisition of funds.

Though some residents lament the loss of money for FCPS, some question whether the proposed tax revenue would be used in the advertised way.

"I didn't think that FCPS would actually get the money from the county," senior Julia Sheehy said. "I'm glad [the tax] didn't pass. They might have added money somewhere and then taken it away somewhere else. In the end, the county wanted the money."

Reports show that while 184,000 residents voted for the tax, 231,920 voted against. This is not the first time a proposed meal tax in Fairfax County was shut down.

In 1992, the tax was rejected. Because of FCPS and the county government's growing deficit, however, the idea was reintroduced last spring. In order to compensate for their prospective loss of revenue, the county offered to give $3 million directly back to the restaurants. Many restaurants, however, still opposed the tax and how it could affect their business.

Silverado, a local restaurant, publicly opposed the tax with a large sign in front of its building. The Great American restaurants, including Silverado, are major Fairfax County establishments. see MEAL TAX pg. 5

ATCs fall production introduces many new features

BY TEAGAN FOTI Co-Editor in Chief Murder and marriage, theater's newest production "Blood Wedding" has it all. The cast and crew have been working for countless hours since mid-September to prepare for opening night on Thursday, Nov. 19th and are proud to unveil a new and innovative set in this play.

The new, complex set design was created by junior, Carson Binkley and is something that the audience should look forward to seeing.

"We have really branched out for this production in terms of the set. We build three different types of staircases from scratch. Set changes are made even more dynamic with the use of periaktos (three sided rotating columns, each side painted for a different setting). We constructed eight periaktos is total," theater teacher Katherine Brunberg said.

The set is one of the many things the crew has been working tirelessly to assemble.

Bad eating habitss Learn about the dangers of eating too fast Health 7

"We spend about three hours per day after school rehearsing, and about 12-16 hours on the weekends on technical aspects," senior, Jessica Smith said. Smith is the productions Assistant Director and Publicity Designer, helping to give notes to the actors in regards to performance and blocking, she also designs the posters, flyers and shirts for the production.

In addition to the new set, the music for the performance was composed by one of the actors, Anna Castillo. The music will be played during the complex set switches and will be performed by student musicians.

"We will have live musicians on stage the entire show, underscoring scenes and providing the transition music," Brunberg said.

The original music and intricate scenes are just a few factors of the production that Brunberg looks forward to seeing.

"I am always the most excited to see all of the elements come together," Brunberg said. "The production process tends to be very separate with costumes, set, lights, sound, makeup, props, musicians, and actors all working on perfecting their individual areas. The last couple of weeks of the production process are where everything is

New Moviess

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNANDALE THEATER CO.

Theatre presents 'Blood Wedding'

The cast meets for a table work meeting in the early stages of the play.

merged to create one beautiful, cohesive performance. We have already started that merging process, and I must say, it's going to be awesome."

Tickets for the play can be bought for $8 during all lunches the week of the production or for $10 at the door.

In addition to the Nov. 19 performance there are also shows on Friday, Nov. 18th at 7PM, and on Saturday Nov. 19th, both at 2PM and 7PM.

Students and staff co-create online book

BY SUAD MOHAMED Staff Writer November is national novel month, and AHS is celebrating by writing a collaborative story. Jennifer Cory, the School Based Tech Specialist, came up with the idea and English teacher Niki Holmes helped to finalize the details. "[Corey] came up to me and said 'hey this could be fun,' and I said 'yeah it's crazy, but it could be fun."

Holmes said.

Holmes encourages everyone to work on the novel because it will have a positive impact on them.

To edit the novel simply go to Annandale's homepage and click the link where it says 'AHS Collaborative Novel'. This will ask you to login into your Google docs account and then you can start to add onto the story.

"The idea of working with other people to create something means we have the opportunity to learn from each other's skills and create a stronger product," Holmes said. "Another reason this is such a great idea is because the process of writing is a good activity for people, especially students, to help sort out their thinking and be creative."

Although the novel is geared more towards AHS students, teachers, and staff, the Google document is actually available to anyone with a FCPS Google docs account.

"Everybody is welcome to make a contribution," said Holmes. "There is no training needed nor an interest meeting, just jump in and add some of your creative writing to whatever the person above you wrote."

The novel has no set parameters. The writers will choose the plot, theme, characters, conflict, and setting.

"That is the joy of collaboration," Holmes said.

"Not knowing what's going on. It gets created as people work together."

Students have been advised - any changes you make can be viewed by anyone, even if you delete it; so don't delete someone else's work or add something insensitive or rude.

The writing of the novel begins on Tuesday, November 1st and conclude on Wednesday the 30th.

"Hopefully at the end of the month, we'll have a complete mess of a novel," Holmes stated. "I've seen short novels and long novels, so who knows what will happen here at Annandale."

Art competition

Read about all the action packed movies coming out soon

See what students entered into art regionals

Entertainment 19

Arts 9

2 EDITORIALS

Nov. 15, 2016

Prove us wrong, Donald Trump President-Elect, stop the bullying and start actually governing

The grueling almost two-year-long election cycle has finally come to a close. With the projected Electoral College votes at 306 to 232, Donald Trump will become the 45th President of the United States.

President-Elect Trump ran an unprecedented campaign.

With almost all odds against him which included: discontent from his own party, a highly experienced opponent, almost zero endorsements from well known news publications (he was endorsed by the KKK) and terrifying campaign rhetoric, the entire world was (and still is) shocked by Trump's win.

Trump's road to the White House proved that in politics during times of severe polarization, bullying sadly does work. Trump has alienated and targeted almost every single minority group.

Throughout his entire campaign, the new Presidentelect has called Mexicans rapists, Muslims terrorists, mocked the disabled and continuously degraded women.

Yet every single time he made these horrendous remarks, he was met by the cheers of millions.

Trump successfully appealed to some of worst nature in many Americans. His voters overlooked and justified the xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, sexist and racist viewpoints of their candidate.

This is also a man who almost idolizes authoritarian leadership. Trump has repeatedly praised Vladimir Putin

DONALDJTRUMP.COM

BY BINQI CHEN Editorials Editor

Demonstrations aside, it is important to recognize that we all should be vigilantly in watching for his success. Americans must realize that if Trump is an effective president, his success will resonate with the entire country.

Everyone should hold Trump accountable for his future actions as POTUS. We can no longer tolerate Trump's brash comments anymore. Trump needs to become more mature in order for him to be a respectable president.

No matter how much we dislike the new PresidentElect, we're stuck with Trump for the next four years. It is time to heal the great divide between the citizens of the United States.

As much Americans want to deny Trump as Commander-In-Chief, the results are final, he will be the next leader of the free world. This is even emphasized by the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton who have encouraged a smooth transition of power between the current POTUS and his successor.

This election has proved to be an extremely tough loss for Democrats. Along with winning the Presidency, the GOP has won the House and maintained a Senate majority.

Congress will mostly likely continue to not hear Obama's appointed Justice Merrick Garland and will wait until Trump appoints a more conservative candidate to replace Justice Scalia.

This will prevent progressive legislation and progress to pursue in the United States. This includes topics regarding equal rights for all and the enviroment.

Even though Trump was disliked by millions of voters, Clinton was also unpopular. Many voters thought that their voices wouldn't be heard under Clinton and had to opt for casting their ballot to the more outspoken Trump.

In conclusion, a Trump presidency is frightening and unpredictable. But America needs to unite and encourage the President-Elect to make just decisions during his time in the Oval Office and not diminish decades of hard work and progress.

President-Elect Donald Trump meets with President Barack Obama to ensure a smooth transition of power.

and Bashar al-Assad on the way they have governed Russia and Syria, respectively.

Trump has already pulled back on many of his promises that had encouraged millions of people vote for him.

He has revealed that he wishes to keep parts of ObamaCare and that his "wall" will be part fence.

Even though ObamaCare can still be largely improved upon, completely cutting the program and not replacing it with a better alternative immediately, over 200 million people will be left without health care.

Another scary thought that comes with the Trump presidency is his running mate and current Vice-President Elect Mike Pence.

Pence has repeatedly assaulted LGBTQ rights. In 2000, Pence advocated to cut HIV funding for groups that supported homosexuaility, and instead believed that tax money should be given to convert gays by electrocution.

Conversion therapy poses a painful violation to the human rights of the victims that are forced to undergo it.

Millions of people, both nationally and internationally, are terrified of Trump's upcoming presidency as seen in the hundreds of the ongoing protests following the election's results.

There has been even a "Women's March on Washington," that is planned to be held on Inauguration Day. Over 44,000 people said that they would attend the protest.

BY BINQI CHEN Editorials Editor It has been exactly two years since the story of the still unknown "Jackie" shocked the entire nation and ignited new debate about sexual assault and rape on college campuses. It has also been over a year since Jackie's story has been largely discredited and retracted.

Millions have read the infamous 9,000 word "A Rape on Campus" story published by Rolling Stone in November 2014.

In the article, a student named Jackie said that she was gang raped by seven men at the University of Virginia's Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house as part of a hazing ritual for pledged members. She allegedly met and went on a date with a fellow student named "Drew" before he took her to the fraternity house and raped her.

People were disgusted by the assault and the lack of action taken by UVA. On campus, all Greek activity was stopped. Within a month of publication, the discrepancies began to unravel.

There was no party at the Phi Kappa Psi house during the weekend in question, Jackie's friends were not contacted for their accounts and that it was a possibility that Drew never existed.

Rolling stone retracted the article after Columbia University released an analysis of the the errors with the reporting and writing of the story.

Other victims of sexual assault and rape will now be hesitant to come forward with their own accounts of incidents.

More than 11.2 percent of all college students have been raped or sexually assaulted. In the United States, one of out every six women has experienced an attempted or completed sexual assault in her lifetime. That is incredibly scary.

Nicole Eramo, UVA's former dean that worked with sexual assuault cases, sued Rolling Stone for $7.5 million (only compensated for $3 million). The jury has decided that the magazine did indeed intend malice in their protrayal of Eramo in their article.

The jury was right in deciding against Rolling Stone. The article made Eramo seem as if she did not care for the victims of sexual assualt and that she did not help Jackie at all.

Jackie herself has even written a letter to Eramo the day

following the publication of the article to thank Eramo for her support through her recovery.

The fraternity has sued against Rolling Stone for $25 million. Phi Kappa Psi suffered damage from the article.

The fraternity's members and their family were in danger and stressed. The entire existence of the 150 year chapter was in jeopardy.

The house was vandalized and many alumni of the fraternity removed affliation with Phi Kappa Psi from their resumes.

Even to this day, many people who have not been keeping up with the case will continue to judge the fraternity.

Phi Kappa Psi had a strong and validate argument for their case. The fraternity's other chapters were all affected negatively by the article.

The article caused the group permanent damage and the least Rolling Stone can do is provide compensation.

Rolling Stone is a highly successful publication, making over $100 million in 2013 solely on advertisement revenue.

By compensating, Rolling Stone will be saving its repution and also promote accurate journalism. This case is set to be trialed next year.

The effects of inaccurate reporting can be detrimental.

Too many times are victims blamed, harassed and ignored for simply telling their story. We must all stand together to prevent sexual assault, on and off the campus.

ARCH.UVA.EDU

Magazine pays $3 million following rape story trial

UVA's Phi Kappa Psi house, where the alleged rape occured.

OCEANSERVICE.NOAA.GOV

Rolling Stone compensates

Too late to save the reefs?

We can still revive the over-bleached Coral Reefs

BY YABI BEREKET AND CASEY NGUYEN Staff Writers The beautiful, vibrant colors of the Great Barrier Reef were once portrayed as the safe and secure home for Nemo and Marlin.

However, it is no longer as vivid as it once was.

Rather it has now become an empty and desolate wasteland. The cause? Us. Located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is awaiting its impending death. Despite being on the verge of its demise, it has not completely gone off the face of the planet just yet.

It still has a sliver of hope of surviving if certain actions take place. But this can only be possible if people build awareness of the Reef. Not only this, but they must learn that it is their daily actions that have lead to this vital problem.

Besides being known as the home of the Finding Nemo stars, it is also composed of other aspects that gives it its established name. The reef consists of over 2,900 individual reefs, and is over 344,400 square kilometers.

As of right now, the lifespan of the reef is 25 million BC to 2016. With a lifetime of such lengths, it is only right to try and preserve what is left of it.

According to Nature World News, scientists are researching techniques to preserve the life of the Barrier Reef. Despite this, one cannot leave all hope

Staff CO-EDITORS IN CHIEF Teagan Foti Sadie Modica MANAGING EDITOR Sabrina Hawa VIDEO EDITOR IN CHIEF Crew McCarthy NEWS EDITORS Nancy Evora Jessica Salisbury EDITORIALS EDITORS Binqi Chen Aseal Saed COPY EDITORS Yvonne White IN-DEPTH EDITORS Ruth Mekonnen Kim Laura SPORTS EDITORS Cameron Foti

Jude Nanaw SPORTS XTRA EDITORS Ryan Gammon Grace Hogye PEOPLE EDITORS SoulisaPathammavong Marilyn Rivas WEEKEND EDITORS Mohamed Elhag Conrad Shartel INTERNATIONAL EDITORS Lina Al-Taii Tooba Siddique ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS Julius Miller Hussein Salem LIFESTYLES EDITORS Sheila Aguirre Lucie Lefbom HEALTH EDITORS

Judy Nanaw Julie Nguyen PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS Alaina Garay Kailyn Garay ART EDITORS Serene Ghul Kavi Shamdin ACADEMICS EDITORS Rachel Shogren Halley Thadeus WEB EDITOR/MASTER Alex Tran AD MANAGER Mauricio Reyes CIRCULATION MANAGER Mauricio Reyes STAFF WRITERS Jordan Adams

Kidus Ayele Fares Ayoub Yabi Bereket Laura Clemons Luke Elkins Diego Feliciano Brandon Ho Kayla Holcomb Mahdi Larhmari Arzoo Marzi Suad Mohamed Casey Nguyen Katie Pope Sharon Sanchez Ashleigh Storm Kimberly Vaides Andrew White Lennon Wuhrer Ethan Zimmerman ADVISER Alan Weintraut

of saving it to the scientists.

A decent person must contribute their own part complete their share of making the world a better place. Since mankind is the cause of the upcoming death, they should be the ones fixing it.

Nonetheless, dead and dying are two separate concepts. Being dead is being no longer alive; it is absolute. In contrast, dying is the act of gradually ceasing to exist.

In this case, the coral Reef is not dead, but dying.

We still have hope to preserve what is left. Not everyone can say they received a second chance, so we must take this opportunity given to us and fix our past mistakes.

Coral bleaching plays a part in causing its previous colors to turn a white, pale colouration.

The reef is unable to withstand such an intense outbreak, so instead they get severely damaged hence the bleached looking color. Death is becoming apparent with each passing day.

Coral biologists say the solution of conserving the reef is creating a new breed of corals that have high tolerance to stress.

Though the reef is not fully dead, it is very much considered to be.

In this day and age, nobody cares. No one cares about how their actions affect others and if not others, the environment.

However, this kind of thinking is unacceptable.

What you do as a person, as someone who is living on this planet, affects the person next to you. You cannot just blame it on pure ignorance.

It is through building awareness for this ending historic relic that mankind may be able to extend its due date by making miniscule changes each day.

Heard in the Twitter-verse...

Annandale High School Vol. 62 No.3 4700 Medford Dr. Annandale, VA 22003 703.642.4229 November 15th, 2016.

The A-Blast is an award-winning newspaper that strives to inform, educate and entertain the student body and community.

Published every three weeks, The A-Blast will not print any material that is obscene or libelous; or that which substantially disrupts the school day, or invades an individual's right to privacy.

The A-Blast is an independent, open forum for discussion that is printed at the Springfield Plant of The Washington Post.

Signed letters to the editor of 250 words or less may be emailed to theablast2016@gmail.com or submitted to room 262 or mailed to the school.

The A-Blast reserves the right to refuse advertisements.

All submissions become property of The A-Blast, Copyright, 2016.

Look out for the next tweet @theablast on Twitter for a chance to be featured on the next issue!

EDITORIALS 3

Nov. 15, 2016

U.S. not the best nation USA Today ranks countries based on poll

BY ASEAL SAED Editorials Editor Recently U.S. News released their annual Best Countries rankings, evaluating over 60 countries and 24 rankings, having data extracted from a survey of over 16,000 people all over their globe.

In this ranking, the United States came at fourth place, with Germany being placed in first. The criteria measured to determine these rankings were: adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power, and quality of life.

Even before the release of this list, many Americans have grown concerned over the image of America by others all over the globe.

According to a poll by Pew Research Center, over 50 percent of Americans have grown concerned that America has become less powerful and influential in the international community.

Over 70 percent of Americans said that the U.S. was less respected than in the past.

Despite this conception, The 2016 Best Countries Ranking has the U.S. at No. 1 in power and leadership. The U.S., however, is at No. 2 in political influence, and economic influence, this ranking reflects some of the ideals of Americans mentioned earlier.

The U.S. also ranks high in entrepreneurship and cultural influence.

However, quality of life, a ranking that reflects the everyday life of

citizens, was lower than many would expect. America was put at a No. 14 in this category.

The attributes in this category that put down the U.S. was affordability, safe and income inequality.

Income inequality was given a 1.1 score out of 10.

The United States looks to be at a good standing, in terms of of its perception to the rest of the world, but there is much that it could improve.

America often calls itself to be the best in the world. However, this poll shows that there are limitations to what America can do.

Additionally, one must remember that this list was compiled in reflection of the thought and beliefs of those all over the globe, and that it is hard to determine numbers for qualitative traits.

The ranking can only show so much. We cannot rely solely on this list to determine how great America is.

Although the United States is still influential, it still has many things to work on, so maybe America is not as perfect as we all deem ourselves to be.

Why is school Wi-Fi is so slow?

Students can't get their online work done

BY LUKE ELKINS Staff Writer Students and staff can come to the consensus in the issues of the school Wi-Fi. Messages fail to send in the cafeteria, Instagram posts don't load in the jock lobby, Snapchats can't send in the hallways. The list goes on and Popular shows like New Girl are often watched during W4, but television shows like these can often lag because of the slow Wi-Fi. on.

So just why is the school Wi-Fi so However, by connecting to the desktop computers it can be faster. slow?

Wi-Fi, you allow FCPS to view your However, "It all depends on loAccording to Annandale's tech- browsing information. Signing in as a cation and where you are in the nology specialist, Jennifer Cory, guest is not a loophole to this. Even school," tech specialist Michael El"There are two Wi-Fi systems, FCP- when signing in as a guest, all opera- lion said.

Sonboard and Fairfax." tions performed on the phone can be There are certain hotspots If you login to FCPSonboard with traced back to yourself. around the school, and when you are your student ID, a cookie is downThe internet provider for our on a mobile device and you connect loaded on your phone. This cookie school Wi-Fi is Verizon Fios. On aver- to the first hotspot your phone can. allows you to automatically connect age, laptops can be at a speed of 450 When walking away from that to the WI-Fi at any Fairfax County mbps, on the hardware of certain hotspot to another, your phone school at any time.

wants to stay connected to the original hotspot, instead of connect to the nearest one, so sometimes it seems like the Wi-Fi is on and off.

School Wi-Fi isn't slow on purpose. It's not specifically designed to be slow for certain apps.

"There's not many restrictions, only the ones required by the government. FCPS has a liberal amount of restrictions," Cory said.

Basic restrictions are placed on sites that may contain disturbing or shocking content, content deemed inappropriate for school kids.

One of the primary reasons the Wi-Fi is slow because it is Wi-Fi used by everyone in the school. When there are a lot of students using the omputer at the same time, the internet ca slow down.

The Wi-Fi isn't made for students to be on social media.

It's a lot easier to traverse the halls quickly during classes, when there will only be a select few people, rather than between classes, when everyone is in the hallway and it's a lot harder to move quickly from one end to the other.

Public Wi-Fi is being accessed by many people at the same time. This hogs a lot of the bandwidth, or the amount of data that can be carried in a time period.

You've probably noticed how much better the Wi-Fi works on the computers at school compared to on mobile devices. This is because there is a private Wi-Fi set up for school computers.

Although the private Wi-Fi on the computers isn't that good compared to Wi-Fi at your house, it's still a significant upgrade on the Wi-Fi on mobile devices. Computers are able to load pages much faster than phones are.

FCPS isn't hiding better Wi-Fi from you though. "The private Wi-Fi is specifically for computers, not phones," Cory said.

"The Wi-Fi is pretty powerful, but the number of machines is always a factor in how fast or slow the Wi-Fi is," Ellion said. "The school and County are always looking for way sot make it fast."

Is the school Wi-Fi sufficient for your needs?

"No, because it "No, it doesn't work "No, it is slow and doesn't work." at all." doesn't work. It takes more time to KARISHMA JAIRAM JONNY SHIFERAW get into sites for sophomore freshman research. " CLAIRE VAUGN freshman

"No, I ran a speed test and it was slow, also students lose data for school."

STEPHEN SUBU sophomore

"No, it is pretty "No, when I'm looking up a question bad because the connection is slow." the server is never available."

ALEX CROMWELL INGRID GUARDADO junior junior

"Sometimes it does, but when it comes to Instagram and Snapchat it doesn't work."

MERY BERHANE senior

End the abuse of elephants in the circus Ringling Bros. ending use of elephants

BY ASEAL SAED Editorials Editor People all over the world have enjoyed the entertainment that elephants have provided in circuses and circus-like performances.

For the Ringling Bros. circus group, elephants are a staple in their shows, and have been for over a century. Elephants doing tricks and twirls that captivated the audience.

However, in 2015, Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus', announced their promise to phase out the 13 elephants currently being used in their live shows by 2018, and was subsequently moved up to 2016.

Ringling Bros. are in their final two months of using elephants in their live shows, with one of their most recent and one of the last

performances with elephants in D.C..

Coming after decades of protest against the unethical treatment of elephants and other animals in the circus, Despite their mystic enticement in the shows, what isn't known was that for these large beloved animals were being tortured and abused behind closed doors as a form of training.

Feld Entertainment has had to pay $275,000 for its violations for the Animal Welfare Act. Their abusive way towards animals, elephants in particular, have been extensive.

A report by the Humane Society claimed that elephants and other animals used in the circus were being "shocked and beaten." Because these claims could not be supported, Feld Entertainment won over $25 million by the Humane Society and other animal rights groups.

Even with this victory, other animals used in these shows are being mistreated regularly in their shows.

Handlers of these elephants often use a tool called the bull hook which is used to guide and tame

The elephants used in the popular live performances of Ringling Bros are also being abused behind the scenes.

elephants in the circus industry, However, with its pointed metal point and hook, this device is often misused to stab and beat the elephants.

The use of this tool has become increasingly hard, with over 50 cities banning the use of them.

Ringling Bros. isn't the only perpetrator that abuse animals, many

zoos have been outed as elephant and animal abusers in the U.S., with the few hundred elephants that are in North America are mostly found in zoos and circuses.

The plight of elephants does not just stop at the circus or the zoo. This is just one of many plights elephants face. Those of which include: the killing of elephants for their ivory tusks,

poaching, and deforestation.

At the rate of their death right now, Asian elephants, which are most used in circuses, in could be extinct within the next two decades.

Feld Entertainment has made a remarkable precedent by taking one step closer to saving these precious creatures.

Graduation rates are up

Cartoonist Corner

A good thing, but still can improve

BY CASEY NGUYEN Staff Writer

ILLUSTRATION BY MOHAMED ELHAG

Red caps and red gowns. Big smiles and big laughs. With a diploma in one hand, students breathe a sigh of relief as it is finally over.

They have finally received their high school diploma, feat that is hard to accomplish.

The nation's rising rate of graduations is gradually continuing to skyrocket as years go by. Most recently, President Barack Obama announced that the average graduation rate has improved from 80 percent to 83.2 percent in 2015-2016. This is a record high since the 2010-2011 academic school year, being a nearly 4 percent growth.

Looking at the bare numbers given, there is no denying the great news this is. However, it does not recognize the low income family students who are approximately 14 percent behind those are not low income.

It is easy to say that "staying in school and graduating should be the utmost importance to young people our age today." However, when placed in these low income schools, it is easy to find school to be a burden when other responsibilities build up at home.

However, one cannot deny that attending college often determines how successful one is in the future, but nonetheless, these new

President Barack Obama speaks at Benjamin Banneker praising the record increase in high school graduation rates since 2011.

statistics are promising and reflect the ideals we have worked so hard to achieve.

When looking into our very own district, it is also surprisingly higher than many expect. This comes from the misconception that American students are not very smart and have no direction.

The Fairfax County School Division has bested both the national and state averages. Among the nation's 50 largest school districts, FCPS is also at the top for graduation rates. According to the 2015-2016 statistics, 92 percent of students graduated high school on time.

When taking a deeper look at the statistics, Annandale High School has also improved. Our school year has improved to a over 90 percent. The school system has much to celebrate over bettering its

numbers from the previous school years.

Even with over 50 percent of our students receiving free and reduced lunch, our graduation rates are steady.

However, another gap is evident in the statistics. The gaps between minorities and Caucasiawn people are still high. This is another statistic we need to improve.

With these improving statistics, school officials have no doubt finally found a way to keep kids in school.

They know exactly where their best efforts must be aimed at.

We have to make sure that these rates continue to go up.

With graduation rates being up across the board, they represent the achievements and the hard workings of the teachers and students.

2013- 2014

2014- 2015

AHS: 91.0% National: 82.3 %

AHS: 91.0% National: 83.2 %

4 NEWS

Nov. 15, 2016

ESOL students learn about elections and have their questions answered

BY NANCY EVORA News Editor Democratic congressman Gerry Connolly came to AHS to speak to the ESOL government classes and address their questions on Oct. 4.

Some of the topics congressman Connolly discussed with the students were on immigration, health care, the Dakotas pipeline and the structure of the U.S. government.

Connelly's visit was organized by ESOL government teacher Ernest Lissabet who got in contact with Connelly and set everything up for the event to take place.

The congressman was excited to visit AHS and talk to the students.

"I love speaking to the young people and Annandale High school has a lot of students in my district, and I represent this area. I got good questions on immigration, on campaign financing, on marihuana issues and the pipeline in the Dakotas," Connelly said.

Although his visit involved a question and answer session, before speaking to the students, he had been given a set of questions so he could prepare for the

event. "[I] had been given prepared questions such as what it's like to be in the Congress and what do you like the most and least about being in Congress. I thought they were really thoughtful questions and I did a little Q and A on history and I got some good answers, so well informed audience, obviously good teachers here at Annandale," Connelly said.

"The ESOL department invited him to support our U.S. VA Government classes. The purpose was to inform our students about the democratic process in the United States," ESOL head department Meredith Hedrick said.

ESOL classes such as government and math benefited from his visit as they got a chance to use the knowledge they were being taught during his speech.

"This was an interdisciplinary unit that we had so in their ESOL government class they got to study about the electoral college, in our math classes we went in and took a look at the websites that were showing the polls and took a look at what is the math behind the electoral college," ESOL math teacher Leonard Bumbaca said.

"I learned the different points of views and other political stuff they outside with the parties. I also learned some points of view on drugs and health care," senior Daniel Chamul said.

Overall, students who attended the event got to learn more about issues that matter and about the importance of the government.

NANCY EVORA

Congressman Connelly speaks to students

On left, ESOL math teacher Leonard Bumbaca, middle Congressman Connelly and on the right corner, ESOL government teacher Ernest Lissabet talk to congressman after the event.

Halloween mascarade concert held

BY NANCY EVORA

BRANDON LIEN

News Editor

Seniors Brandon Lien, Mollie Valorose, and Josephine Ohene pose prior to performance. Brandon and Josephine are dressed as "Netflix and Chill" and Valorose is dressed up as a vampire.

AHS orchestra and Poe Middle School orchestra debuted their annual Halloween masquerade concert in the auditorium at 7 p.m. On Oct. 27.

The concert's theme was masquerade and the orchestra students dressed up in costumes to perform in the concert, the auditorium had Halloween decorations as well.

"Generally this concert is probably the hardest to prepare for because we have less than two months which is not a long period of time when you see the kids only every other day. It took us a month and a half to get ready for the concert," orchestra teacher Angela Ammerman said.

A variety of music was played at the concert. Students played a combination of classic and modern music. Poe Middle School also had the chance to play some of their pieces.

The Beginning Orchestra opened the show, followed by the Poe Sinfonia Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, Sinfonia Orchestra, Philharmonic string and last but not least, the Artiste Orchestra.

Ammerman discuss how hard she pushed the students.

"I pushed them pretty hard at the beginning of the year, For the concert itself we prepared for a few days just doing decorations and things like that, we had probably like 15 rehearsals," Ammerman said.

Even though the rehearsals were tiring for many, students had a great time as they prepared for the concert.

"Preparation was really fun. They like the music because is kind of spooky, so it's fun to play because there is always a story that goes along with it and this group of kids in particular was really ready for a challenge so when I presented them with kind of difficult music they were really excited to take that on in general across the program," Ammerman said.

Student shares how much she enjoyed the concert.

"I really enjoyed the concert with my little brother, I love all the songs and the Halloween theme," senior Sasha Silva said.

Filament to host fundraiser

BY JESSICA SALISBURY News Editor

Seniors Jerusalemm Mekonnen and Lanii Nguyen performed at Coffee House las year.

The Filament will be holding a coffee house fundraiser in order to allow students and teachers to share their literary pieces and art. Auditions for the event will be held on Nov. 16 at 3:05 p.m. in room 272. The coffee house will then be held on Dec. 7 at 3:30 p.m. in Clausen Hall.

The Filament is our literary magazine and is free to any students who purchase the yearbook at the end of the year. The Magazine can also be purchased for $4 to anyone who does not buy a yearbook.

"It is great because it showcases the wonderful literary, artistic, and photographic skills of Annandale High School students," Filament club sponsor Fusun Sulzbach said.

At the coffee house there will be free coffee and baked goods for sale. The price upon entry is $3 at all lunches or $4 at the door.

At the event, students who would like to share their poetry or musical talents come up to the stage and perform as their classmates and teachers enjoy the pastries and listen.

This year Sulzbach is also encouraging teachers to share their own poems or sing if they would like. "Last year there were two teachers who participated so I am hoping more teachers will participate this year," said Sulzbach said.

On the left, senior jessica Smith, in the middle junior Sloan Limon and on the right Jeff Marx pose for a picture.

Q and A with Tony Award winner

BY NANCY EVORA News Editor The Annandale Theatre Company (ATC) had the opportunity to have a question and answer session answered by a Tony Award winning Broadway writer On Oct. 31.

The event took place in the Watson Auditorium during W4 and Pride Time. Jeff Marx, writer for Avenue Q came to talk to the students about his experience in theatre.

"It was a Q&A as well for all theatre students and to grasp a better understanding on what theatre in the real world is like," senior Jessica Smith said.

Marx had the opportunity to share his personal story among other details of his life with the students. "[He talked about] how he got to Broadway, and his life now. Though in between the discussion he would enlighten us with his perspective on different subjects on the theatre industry," senior William Rangel said.

Students shared things they learned at the Question and Answer session.

"I learned that theatre is this thing with so many opportunities for work. Jeff Marx was once told 'You have no talent, and you have no future', and fast forward to today- he's a tony-award winning Broadway writer.

Ignore those who will crush your dreams, it's unfortunate that they can't see what you have to offer the world," Smith said.

AWC offered college essay workshop

BY NANCY EVORA News Editor College essays can become a senior's worst nightmare as they get ready to submit their college applications.

The essay is an important part of the application since it provides students with the opportunity to share something personal about them and what makes them standout from everyone else.

Asides from impressing the admission office, essays give colleges an overview of the student's writing ability.

With all the stress seniors have to endure, the Atoms Writing Center (AWC) offer seniors with the opportunity to have their essays revised by trained tutors and get feedback that can help them improve their essays.

On Weds. Oct. 26 and Mon. Oct. 31, tutors offered two College Essay Workshop during pride time where seniors were given the opportunity to share their essay drafts with the tutors and get tips on how to improve their essays. Students who wished to attend the workshop had to tell their english teachers to sign them up for pride.

Seniors who attended the workshop talk about their experience at AWC. "Being able to go to the AWC for the first time was very useful and informative, the tutors were helpful in fixing my mistakes. I believe that they should continue with their current teaching methods," senior Eric Nguyen said.

At the workshop presentation, the tutors went over different types of essays and what colleges looks for in someone's essay.

Tutor discusses how they prepared for the workshop.

"For the most part we used the information we learned in our English classes and what we already learned because a majority of us are seniors who have already written a college essays," AWC tutor, senior Kimberly Romero said.

Boys and girls chorus members at a preformance on Oct. 25

Chorus audition results

BY NANCY EVORA News Editor

IB English and sponsor Stephanie Hanson of The Atoms Writing Center.

Overall, seniors were happy with the tips they received at the workshop.

"I would recommend the Writing Center to those who are dedicated to their work and are willing to go the extra mile towards perfecting their work, others should take the time and go to the AWC," Nguyen said.

The Annandale Choral Program had 41 students that were placed in All-District Choirs for the 2016-17 school year. Among the 41, 25 students earned a spot in hte SATB choir and 12 students earned a place in the SSAA choir.

AHS students got to go to vermont High School on Nov. 12 where students auditioned to see if they would go to districts. the following students are those who placed in the Districts chorus, the SATB choir and in the SSAA choir.

SATB: Maya R. Koch, Michelle M. Akl, Elliot V. Alwes, Benjamin S. betts, Danyom Beyene, Kyle R. Dalsimer, Nina A. Davis, Tristan Dock, Janu C. Gellert, Tommy N. Ho, Juliana M. Iglesias, Daniel Interiano, Ivana Jarin, MyKim D. Lee, John M. Lopez, Garrett Meadows, Selam Negash, Y Nhi Nina H. Nguyen, Manoa J.Raharinaivo, Holly M. Ramia, William Rangel Cardozo, Elena Serban, Kathy Strong, Wesley R. Vaughn, Justin T. Vo, Beckman C. Hollins, Hidaya I. Hussen, Amber C. Tran.

SSAA: Melat Habte, Alene N. Boghosian, Eva R. Bottcher, Araceli N. Cabrera-Ortuno, Danielle Davis, Savannah Gravitt, Christina N. Lee, Vinh G. On, Jasmine Tang, Emily M. Trachsel, Karen Vuong, Rediate Zewdu Yimer, Kanoosh Soloki.

NEWS 5

Nov. 15, 2016

Leadership lends a hand

Trump becomes President-elect

Class drive donates school supplies to Lumberton High

CONT. TRUMP

BY JESSICA SALISBURY News Editor

The recent Hurricane Matthew has hit many homes and schools, leaving them damaged or even destroyed along the eastern shoreline. Leadership has set up a drive called "Lend a Hand to Lumberton" to give students an opportunity to help out Lumberton Senior High School as they recover from the storm.

From now until Nov. 22, students and faculty will have the chance to get involved and donate school supplies to this school in need.

In preparation for the drive, Leadership did research about the path of Hurricane Matthew and found places that were most physically damaged by the storm. They then narrowed their research down to Lumberton Senior High School and then came in contact with their principal, Larry Obeda, and told him their intentions and asked if Lumberton High would benefit from the drive. "They were very receptive and grateful for our offer, and we are very excited to be working with LSHS," said Leadership sponsor Jessica Arias.

Lumberton high is very appreciative for Annandale's support as they try to transition into the school year.

"Lumberton and their families have had to adapt to change and some things that we take for granted aren't available to them at the moment," said senior Leadership executive board member Karen Lara. "The help from our school will impact the regrowth of the high school and help provide them with the necessary supplies they need for their students."

Students are encouraged to donate new school supplies during all lunches. Binders, folders, and notebooks will be accepted individually and everything else must come in a pack. The class with the most collected items will score points for the winter pep rally.

Arias thinks that students should like to participate in this service activity because school supplies are easy to shop for and they will be going to students much like the ones at Annandale. "Lumberton High has a student body of around 2,200 and a population diverse like ours," said Arias.

A countless amount of students have agreed that this cause is a great idea and an all around great thing to do.

"To help these kids worry about the more important issues rather than whether they'll have school supplies sounds like a great cause to me," said sophomore Rebecca Tecle.

Students and staff have the power to make a difference and show that they can have a significant impact on the school's recovery.

"We are lending a hand to a school located 336 miles away, so it shows our influence has no limit," said Lara.

Everyone is coming together as one school and one union, to help out this school who is less fortunate.

"I feel really great knowing that my efforts will go and help so many students in need," said junior Charlotte Getsey. "After donating, students feel good about themselves and enjoy the idea of making someone else feel good too."

Many students want to help because they understand what Lumberton High is going through. "They are students just like us, so we can all relate," said Lara.

This opportunity is a very simple and easy way for every student and staff member to help out and allow the high school to continue to grow and learn just like Annandale. Every student should have the opportunity to get an education. Nothing should be able to take that opportunity away from them.

the American economy."

If you ignore all of the demeaning words he has uttered and look at his work ethic and history there is proof that he can lead and make progress towards what he feels passionate about. Trump is also highly skilled at finding the right people to get the job done; he surrounds himself with the best in the business.

"It is clear to me that [Trump] got better and better and better as time wore on and by the end of [his campaign] he was a polished, articulate politician that people really thought was great," Carayiannis said. "I think he's going to hire the right people to help him."

In recent days he has started to make some in depth comments about what his administration plans to achieve in the White House and it's almost contradictory to what he spent many months campaigning about. "[Trump has] already began to soften up his original immigration plan," Swedish said. "Only time will tell."

As for the entirety of his presidency, his supporters have high hopes.

"I will be expecting a lot from him," Carayiannis said. "He has a republican dominated congress so he should have ease making things work. Already since his election, the Canadian PM has said he is willing to renegotiate NAFTA with Trump, Russia is ready to work together with the US, Syria is willing to open peace talks, the DOW closed at a record high, and the list goes on and on. One of his main pillars was bringing jobs back to America and job growth. I only expect success and nothing short of that."

Meal tax CONT. MEAL TAX Those who support the tax argue that the county government needs to work from the inside, fixing problems with infrastructure and the usage of money, and that more money will not necessarily help with the problem.

NEWS BRIEFS NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH Students and staff are being challenged to write a novel together for the month of November. Starting Novmeber 1 go to the school website and start contributing to the novel.

THANKSGIVING BREAK Students will not have school on Thursday November 24 and Friday November 25. It will be Thanksgiving break.

BLOOD WEDDING The Annnandale Theatre Comapnay presents Blood Wedding. Tickets will cost $10 at the door, and $8 at all lunches. It will be held on November 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. and on November 19 at 2 and 7 p.m.

FOOTBALL QUARTER FINALS The Region 6A North Football quarter finals start on Friday, November 18. The location is TBD.

LEND A HAND TO LUMBERTON

FALL SPORTS AWARD CEREMONY

STUDENTS RELEASED 2 HOURS EARLY

From Nov. 2 through Nov. 22 Donate school supplies to help a school who lost everything during the hurricane.

Donate in the cafeteria.

The fall sports awards ceremony will be held on Monday, Nov. 21 . The ceremony will start in the cafeteria at 6:30.

On wednesday, November 23 students will be released 2 hours early to start off Thanksgiving break.

WINTER BREAK Winter Break will be on December 19 through January 2.

GIRLS BASKETBALL HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT The girls basketball holiday tournament will be held at Oakton High School, from December 27 through December 29.

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY Monday January 16 will be Martin Luther King Day

6 ACADEMICS

Nov. 15, 2016

Students stress over Virtual Business

How does it work?

- There are Assignments in Virtual Business plus a final assesment.

By Mia Rasheed Staff Writer All students enrolled in Economics & Personal Finance or IB Business have experienced the struggle of having to complete the grueling Virtual Business Simulations. The program is compiled of four sections; a reading, a reading quiz, a math quiz, and then a simulation.

These simulations don't have time limits, but may take anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours, depending on their individual level of difficulty.

After each section of the lesson is completed, students are given a grade. Reading quizzes are graded out of ten, the math is out of five, while the simulations, grading varies depending on performance and ability to keep up with the assigned tasks.

"I don't think these prepare students for real world situations; if anything it [Virtual Business] just frustrates the students and has them try to work around the sim rather than actually work it, so that they can try and get in their scores as fast as possible," Howard Dwyer, longtime economics teacher said.

Jerome Dwyer, who also teaches Economics and IB Business, agrees with aforementioned statement.

When asked to comment on the program, he simply stated, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don"t say anything at all."

The course in its entirety consists of nineteen lessons, each containing four subsections. After completing the assignments, students receive a certificate which indicates course completion.

"I don't stress about the grades I receive on the sims because my teacher can always reset it for me," junior Grace Hatch said.

- Each Assignment contains reading material, a reading quiz, a math quiz, and a simulation.

- Sims are supposed to be realistic and are meant to teach you how to survive in the real world and how to manage your finances.

Simulations most commonly take place in the city and have you tasks such as buying an apartment, managing your schedule, paying your bills on time and much more.

Students are required to get a minimum of seventy percent on each section of the lesson in order to pass the simulation.

Students need teachers to reset the reading and math quiz if they receive less than the required minimum, allowing them to simply retake the questions. In the case of the simulations themselves, students can easily press the reset option and retake the simulation.

The number of retakes has no effect on the student's final grades, as the only grade recorded in the gradebook is that of the final retake.

Although some students believe that Virtual Business does help them acknowledge basic tasks and responsibilities they will face during adulthood to an extent, the real benefit of the program is still questioned by many.

"I don't like virtual business because it's a very

restricted reality and I believe that not everyone will go through the same thing a simulation asks you to go through," junior Shirley Chu said.

Junior Jessica Roop argues the opposite, citing the program as being helpful in learning time management. Others think of it as an unnecessary stress.

"The program is stressful and unhelpful and doesn't relate to what we're learning," junior Rebecca Kindling said.

It is safe to say that the overwhelming majority of both students and teachers believe that there isn't much practical knowledge to gain from these simulations, and that they are essentially a waste of time.

How can students check their grades online?

This is a correction from the last edition of The A-Blast.

Students should use their own student ID and not their parents' in order to log into SIS. The online grade book has become extremely popular. Without interims this year, students have been checking online consistently to see what grades they got on each assignment and how they are doing in their classes.

FCPS expects students to check their progress in their classes on their own since they are not printing interims.

If a student's login information is not working, they should see their counselor.

Step 1: Go to

Step 3: Click on Grade

www.sisparent.fcps.edu/

Book.

Step 2: Log in using

Step 4: Click on each

your school ID and password that you use to log in to FCPS computers.

Tips

individual class in order to see your graded assignments.

- Keep the reading material open as you take the reading quiz so you can refer to it when needed.

- Don't skip steps in the Sim. It may be easy to just answer the questions, but doing the Sim fully is the only way to get a 100%.

- Pace yourself! Get a few lessons done each week so you will not fall behind.

What do you think of Virtual Business?

"I think sims are very hard."

Jonathan Assefa sophmore

"I feel like it helps teach you things you'll need to know later in life."

Tyler Rush junior

"It's not satisfying, it doesn't help me learn."

Caesar Lopez junior

"I think it's a good way to gain experience at a young age, before going out into the real world."

Dawit Wondwosen junior

"It's so damn easy."

John Lopez junior

"I just think it's really unneccasary and time consuming for no reason."

Ayah Rababeh junior

"I think it's good because it shows you what it's like in the real world."

Rose White senior

"It's so easy to scheme, it's pathetic."

IB Spotlight: Kitty Le

Jessica Fuentes senior

Sudoku

Q: How do you keep up with your academics and social life?

A: It's pretty difficult for me to maintain both my academic life and my social life. However, the majority of my friends are also IB candidates. This makes it a lot easier for us to spend time together because of our corresponding schedules.

Q: What are your studying habits?

A: If I have a test or a quiz, I always make sure to study the material thoroughly beforehand. I usually don't sleep until I complete all of my assignments and study sufficiently if needed.

Q: What is your favorite IB subject?

A: My favorite IB subject is Topics. It's really fun to learn about the different causes, practices, and effects of war.

Q: What are your plans after high school?

A: Like most people, I plan on attending college right after high school.

Q: How are you going to prepare for the IB exams?

A: I plan to study a lot when the time comes to prepare for IB exams. Over the summer, I organized all of my notes from junior year in order to have all of the material ready for when I actually need to start studying.

Q: What is your extended essay topic?

A: My extended essay is about the extent to which Koreans were oppressed under Japanese rule from 1910-1945.

Q: Is your only focus academics?

A: My primary focus in high school is academics, but I do try to make time to spend with my friends and family.

Q: Who or what has helped you on your IB journey?

A: Since most of my friends are also experiencing the same things I am, they have greatly helped me on my "IB journey."

Q: Who is your favorite IB teacher?

A: I can't really choose a favorite IB teacher because they're all great in their own ways.

Q: What advice would you give to future IB Diploma Candidates?

A: I would advise future IB diploma candidates to please not procrastinate, although it is a little easier said than done.

Q: What skills do you think the IB program has taught you that you can help you later in life?

A: The IB program has taught me that I can accomplish a lot of things in the span of one night.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A: In 10 years, I see myself finishing up graduate school, hopefully with a job.

Directions:

1. Place numbers where they do not already exist.

2. The game only contains numbers 1-9.

3. The goal of sudoku is to place 1-9 in the empty spaces so that each row, column, and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once.

Get the Answers!

On your smartphone, scan this code using the application QR Code get the answer to the Sudoku.

HEALTH 7 Stop rushing to finish your meals Nov. 15, 2016

Eating for less than 30 minutes is harmful in the long run With such busy schedules, students as well as teachers oftentimes do not take the proper time to sit down and eat their food.

Meals are instead viewed as burdens and only take away from time that could be spent being productive.

As a result, important meals like lunch and dinner are wolfed down in five to ten minutes, not even close to the adequate amount of time needed for food to travel down your digestive system.

According to WebMD, eating too fast can lead to a series of complications including irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis and heart disease. These problems will prevent you from having a comfortable day as abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, indigestion and nausea are only some of the symptoms.

They also found that it takes approximately 20 minutes for your brain to send signals of fullness so eating too fast will confuse your body as to whether or not you are full.

An adult digestive tract is approximately 30 feet long and five minutes is clearly not enough time for food to make its way down your system.

Inhaling your food at these fast rates will force your digestive tract to fasten its pace in order to get all into your stomach without getting backed up.

When people are in a rush to finish their

JULIE NGUYEN

BY JULIE NGUYEN Health Editor

It is common for students to rush to finish their lunch in order to have more time to do homework.

food, chewing is ignored and results in undigested food traveling down to your stomach.

This ultimately causes distress for your system, making it harder for your body to break down the food you eat.

As a result, the necessary nutrients in the food won't be properly absorbed into your body because the large chunks of unchewed food are harder to process. Ultimately, your body will react negatively to the lack of nutrients.

Eating too fast will also take a toll on your

bowel movements. Shoving food down your throat will only result in your brain telling your digestive system to slow down.

The abrupt changes and inconsistency of your digestive system will either leave you with multiple trips to the bathroom or weeks of constipation.

Junior Amy Chung explained that she has even skipped meals to complete homework but only at the cost of her own health. "[Rushing to eat] makes me more tired while I'm doing my homework," Chung said.

This problem is not rare among students as most of them deem themselves 'too busy' to eat. They begin to prioritize their time towards school work rather than their own health, taking less than half an hour to consume their meals.

Both senior Remmy Salinas and junior Vidhi Phadumdeo stated that they merely take 15 minutes to eat lunch which is clearly not enough time for your body to process food. Instead of using the allotted 30 minutes the school gives for lunch, some

students use half of that time to eat and use the remaining lunch period to head to the library or back to class in order to study or get work done.

Everyone has work to get done and people to see, but taking the time to sit down and have a proper meal for 30 minutes is extremely important.

Even knowing this fact, some students go to even more extreme measures of completely skipping their meals instead of rushing to eat.

"I generally don't eat lunch or breakfast because I'm doing homework in the morning and during lunch," Phadumdeo said. "I've done it for so long my body has gotten used to it. At this point I don't feel any different and I can't eat normally anymore."

Of course, maybe those extra 30 minutes you spent eating could have allowed you to finish a school project but those minutes will only contribute to keeping your body healthy.

Overall, mealtime should be the most important portion of your day and speeding through your lunch or dinner clearly has negative effects in the long run.

What is the point of preparing a meal for yourself if you can't even take the time to appreciate it?

There is no reason to eat your food in record time, no one is racing you to the finish line. Instead, slow down and take the time to enjoy your food one bite at a time. Your papers and homework can wait, but your health cannot.

Make sure you're allotting at least 30 minutes per meal in order to avoid any health complications. Sit down, relax and eat your food at a normal pace, one bite at a time.

Is it easy for teens to access alcohol or cigarettes?

"One of my family members does smoke so it wouldn't be hard."

"It's really easy in school because there's a lot of people who do it, but that doesn't CRISTIAN ALFARO necessarily mean you freshman should."

"It's very easy to get alcohol or cigarettes because you could just ask a random adult that stands next to 7-11."

"It's not very easy [for me] because none of my parents or my peers drink alcohol or smoke or do drugs either."

KADIJAH JANNEH

JOE GARCIA-BAILON

freshman

sophomore

"It's super easy because most kids' parents drink or either smoke so it's always lying around the house."

ZAIN GHUL

"I've seen a documentary from my film class and it seemed like it's easy if you just go to a gas SARA ELKHEBRI station counter." junior RYAN PEICH

sophomore

senior

senior

Teenagers no longer smoke and drink like they used to Cigarette and alcohol use among teens fall to new lows

BY JUDY NANAW Health Editor How weird would it be for us to ask our teacher for a cigarette? Or walk into a bathroom to catch a group of teens smoking? In the past, these incidents were pretty common, but nowadays fewer teenagers are smoking and drinking. In 2015, the smoking and drinking rates of U.S. teenagers dropped lower than they ever have before- a good sign that the appeal of smoking and drinking is diminishing.

According to a survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the percentage of teens ages 12 to 17 who reported using alcohol fell from 17.6 percent in 2002 to 9.6 percent in 2015. The amount of adolescents who smoke also went down from 32 percent in 2002 to about 20 percent in 2015.

In the past, there used to be a smoking lounge for teachers which could have heavily influenced students to smoke as well. However, now we no longer have this courtyard open to smoking as the Annandale community discourages any drug use.

"My very first year in 1993, there was a teachers' smoking lounge," English teacher Bill Maglisceau said.

"I've caught some students [smoking] in the bathrooms before. Not so much anymore because it's just such a taboo thing now."

Bill Maglisceau English Teacher "Teachers would be able to go in and have cigarettes between classes and before school and after school, but there were never any students allowed smoking."

Young Americans are no longer being influenced by their parents' habits, whose generation had much higher rates of smoking and drinking. This proves that the public health efforts found in school lessons and the media to lessen smoking and drinking among teens is working.

"I feel like they're more focused on education and they're more mature now," Atique said. "Maybe their parents at home get drunk on the daily and they don't want to become like them."

Different campaigns whose goals are to decrease the smoking rates have encouraged movies to have fewer scenes that include smoking. Research shows that the more times a young person sees smoking in movies, the more likely they are to get into the habit.

Over the years, adolescents have been seeing less smoking in PG-13 movies.

One campaign from Legacy fights to cease smoking by teenagers. Commercials about this rebellion against the tobacco industry are found on television channels such as Nickelodeon, where young adults are easy to reach.

The big statement repeated in these commercials is: "We have the power. We have the creativity. We will be the generation that ends smoking. Finish it."

This powerful message, along with facts about tobacco, such as its harm to pets and the diseases it causes is broadcasted to teens every day and pushes them to take action to make their generation the one to finish smoking. In the past, smoking was more prevalent at school than it is now.

"I've caught some students [smoking] in the bathrooms before," Maglisceau said. "Not so much anymore because it's just such a taboo thing now."

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine discovered that from 2000 to 2004, Legacy was directly responsible for preventing 450,000 teenagers from starting to smoke. Some practices that have significantly caused smoking cessation include making cigarettes more expensive and creating smoke-free areas.

Smoking banned places such as at work and restaurants gives out the message that smoking is no longer in. The environment makes smoking a negative activity and in effect quitting it becomes easier for people.

Despite the decline in the use of alcohol and cigarettes, prescription drug use and abuse are still high.

About 19 million people who are 12 years and older misused prescription drugs in the past year, including pain relievers.

The survey shows that there is of substance abuse treatment in the U.S. Out of the 22 million people who needed this treatment in 2015, only about two million received it. Although President Obama requested $1.1 billion in new funding to provide access to treatment, Congress did not provide it.

Hopefully we can see a drop in the amount of drug use just as we have witnessed a drop in smoking and alcohol drinking. With continued attempts in encouraging teenagers to quit the use of drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, there will be positive results to follow.

"It's prettty difficult since I'm underage and I don't have an ID or anything."

TOMMY HO junior

"[It's] hard because I'm not around that type of idea or that type of stuff. It's pretty impossible."

AREEBA ATIQUE

8 PHOTO

Nov. 15, 2016

Cookin’ it up in class Students participate in culinary arts

ALAINA GARAY

Stundents cook a variety of foods each class, in this case cookies.

ALAINA GARAY

Gloninger teaches senior Katie Garrish how to make garlic bread. "My day is different, I enjoy the fact that I get to interact with students and the teachers get to see the kids in a different environment than only sitting down," Gloninger said.

ALAINA GARAY

Senior Christian Benavides and junior Nickol Badani prepare to make sugar cookies.

"I like the learning experience of culinary arts," Badani said.

Senior Othmane Kerfal cuts sugar cookies into shapes.

ALAINA GARY

ALAINA GARAY

Senior Katie Garrish takes chocolate chip cookies out of the oven.

ALAINA GARAY

Culinary Arts teacher Christine Gloninger instructs junior Tristan Dock while he uses the grill. "The best thing about culinary arts is coming in every day and being able to create something new and spontaneous with the ingredients we keep in the pantry," Dock said. "Especially since my class is split over Red and White Days, I really get to enjoy every aspect of culinary arts."

ALAINA GARAY

ALAINA GARAY

ALAINA GARAY

Seniors Adyam Gebrehiwot and Bahja Nur get snickerdoodle dough ready to put in the oven.

"I like that we make the recipes in large amounts because the challenge is more on us," Gebrehiwot said.

Culinary Arts is a course that is available to seniors, juniors and sophomores under certain circumstances. For example, if they've been in a different cooking class or if their parents ask for them to be in the class. There are currently 60 students enrolled in the course. The class is worth two credits, therefore it takes up two class periods. For each class Gloninger comes up with a plan that goes along with the curriculum then lets the students chose what they want to cook with the ingredients that are provided. The students make about 25 servings of different meals each period. One meal cost between $4.50 - $7, unless it's a meal for four which is $12.

They sell around 90 percent of the food they make while the other 10 percent are left for the students to taste.

Gloninger lets teachers know their selling food by sending out an email with the item and the price, the teachers respond back with how much they want and what lunch they have so the students can deliver it to them. The fun doesn't stop with just the cooking, the fun continues while washing the dishes and mopping the floor. In January Gloninger starts with a sous chef that changes weekly. In culinary I there are always a few kids who have more experience cooking, Gloninger pairs them up with the kids who have never cooked before so they all get a chance to be in charge.

9 ARTS Art students compete in Regional Project

Nov. 15, 2016

BY SERENE GHUL Arts Editor

Students are also required to submit an artist statement for the competition. They must answer questions such as: who/what was your inspiration?

What is your personal connection to the theme? What did you use to create your work?

Numerous prizes are available for the winners of the competition. The biggest prize is an expense-paid trip to the National PTA Competition.

Scholarships available for the winners are an $800 Young Artist Scholarship and $200 Young Artist Scholarship for second place.

Students from AHS will be competing in the competition this year.

This year we have a total of 17 pieces from various students.

For the first time in Annandale's History we have 6 entries from our special ed. students. All works of art will be on display in Claussen Hall today and tomorrow.

Judging will be held November 14th and November 15th from 4:45-6:00.

District for judging, each participate will receive a certificate for participating. In addition, the first place winner in each category will receive a $20.00 gift card.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JACOB WEBER

The National Arts & Humanities Month is this October and in celebration of this, the annual PTA Reflections competition is being held.

Last year, over 300,000 students from over 8,000 schools gathered in Washington D.C for this contest in honor of the opening of the Reflections Art Exhibit at the Dept. of Education.

Art students are working hard to make to ensure their pieces be submitted for the event. Thousands of students from across the country will review a collective theme and create original pieces of art.

This competition is a nationally acclaimed student recognition program to encourage artistic creativity in the classroom and at home. Students of all grades and abilities may participate.

This year, students must submit their projects revolving around the 2016-17 theme: What is your story? The theme for this year was chosen by the Reflections Theme Search Contest.

Students can choose from the available arts categories: dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography, and visual arts.

After submitting their pieces, the judges look for three components when evaluating the artwork: interpretation, creativity, and technique.

This piece was created by senior Jacob Weber using ink pen, markers, and oil paint. The theme of this piece is about all things that influence people growing up and make them who they are.

ARTIST: Samantha Almeida

ARTIST: Max Fay

ARTIST: Chaz Poindexter

ARTIST: Jess Ferson

ARTIST: Sandizah Hogue

MATERIALS USED: Water colors, markers, pens

MATERIALS USED: Pencil

MATERIALS USED: Acrylic paint

MATERIALS USED: Acrylic paint

MATERIALS USED: Polaroid

The partners of Montagut and Sobral, Concepcion de Montagut and Germaine Wright Sobral, each have decades of immigration law experience.

Our firm specializes in immigration law and has helped tens of thousands of immigrants to become lawful permanent residents of the United States. We have also helped thousands of clients to become United States citizens.

Contact Us Montagut and Sobral P.C is located in the Rock Spring Professional Center at: 5693 Columbia Pike, Suite 201 Falls Church, VA 22041 (703) - 820 - 0550 (Phone) (703) - 820 - 0310 (Fax)

10 IN-DEPTH

Nov. 15, 2016

TA

TOOS Should teens get tattoos?

YES NO

Students and staff show off their tattoos

BY SHARON SANCHEZ Staff Writer

"I got this tattoo of a hydrangea because it's mine and my mom's favorite tattoo, " said seniort Nina Davis.

"I got this tattoo on August 8th 2016. I got it because it represnts me being a Leo," said junior Anoynomus.

"Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted a tattoo. Simply because my mom had a bunch of them. So I came up with the idea of getting a mother-daughter tattoo. We chose four leaf clover tattoos because wwe always find four leaf clovers everywhere. We got out matching tattoos during spring break in Maryland at a tattoo shop. I will never regret getting my tattoo because it symbolizes the bond between my mother and I and how lucky we are. I already plan on getting much more tattoos." said senior Kasey Richett.

IN-DEPTH 11

Nov. 15, 2016

"I have a zodiac symbol [Scorpio] on my left shoulder because when I was in high school I always read my horoscope and I was interested in that. I have the words fallen angel on the back of my arms. I'm interested in getting an entire sleeve of tattoos. I think they're artistic and they're a way to express yourself and show where you've been in your life and what's important to you.," said Coach Aldenderfer.

Everyone should be given the freedom to express themselves however they want.

Whether that be by the way they dress, act, or even if it has to do with some ink on their skin.

Tattoos can let us express ourselves and make our individuality stand out.

Putting some ink on skin shouldn't be something looked down upon, but instead celebrated or because it shows how committed people are in the sense it will remain on their skin forever.

They are more than just permanent designs. Once you get a tattoo it becomes a part of you.

Getting a tattoo shouldn't be something you're forced to not do, it should be something that you want and should have the right to do, even if you are of still in your teens.

Many argue that teenage brains aren't fully developed and that they're not mature enough to get tattoos, but there are also legal adults that have gone under the

needle and have regretted it.

It doesn't matter how old you are when you get a tattoo, you still risk the fact of regretting it.

So who's to say that all teenagers aren't mature as adults when some adults themselves are always getting tattoos and then regretting it.

Not all teenagers should be characterized as indecisive, incompetent, pubescent beings, just because some are.

Tattoos have been around for years and they're not going anywhere any time soon.

Sure, some people have and still associate tattoos with having a rebellious and criminal-like appearance, but a lot has changed in the past couple of years.

People now have a completely different outlook on tattoos than they did in the 90s or 80s, especially young people of this generation.

Ink has gotten trendy, more socially acceptable.

Tattoos can capture moments of something, or someone, and they can be a great reminder of memories, and daily inspiration.

Most people seem to think that if you're getting a permanent design on your skin it should be a well thought out process I'm not saying it shouldn't, but it doesn't necessary have to be something that's

been on your mind since your childhood.

Tattoos are fun and as long as you like it and know that you'll like it in the future don't let the fact that it doesn't have a very meaningful meaning stop.

Lastly, tattoos aren't always permanent. If you change your mind, you can get advance lazer tattoo removal. It will only take a few visits and has minimal side effects.

Tattoos are a lovely form of art that express who you are and can be removed if that's what you want.

BY KIMBERLY VAIDES In-Depth Editor As teenagers, the way we dress can reflect who we are, and creates a first impression.

It can be putting all our efforts to look the nice, or just not caring how we look, our appearance is our facade.

Tattoos are a form of art that is

FACTS ABOUT TATTOOS · The needle pierces your skin 50 to 3000 times per minute

Do you have a tattoo?

91% NO

· Black is the easiest color to remove with laser technology

9% YES

· Laser removal breaks up the pigments to let your immune system remove them · In 2012, more woman had tattoos than men · The FDA does not regulate or approve tattoo ink · Arrows are one of the most popular tattoos

A survey was conducted via The A-Blast's Twiter on Oct. 27,

expressed on the human body. People with tattoos shouldn't be judged or seen differently but many will still judge regardless.

Unfortunately, many people take appearances as a way of assuming one's personality since it usually reflects who we are, but that isn't always the case.

Tattoos, being one of the more permanent versions of self expression, are used to convey one's mind.

Typically, tattoos are given a bad connotation because it is affiliated with a dangerous vibe.

Unconsciously, when we see someone with a tattoo, some could see them as intimidating or unprofessional.

In our modern society, tattoos are gradually becoming more acceptable, but there are many factors contributing to why tattoos aren't as lovely as a design.

In order for the tattoo to be permanent, the needle must reach into your second layer of skin, the dermis.

According to The Guardian, the tattoo's ink is injected into the living tissues, immune cells, nerves and blood vessels.

Despite this painful process, if you are unfortunate and get your tattoo done at a place with unclean needles, the consequences are dire.

Side effects of contaminated ink may include a possible allergic

reaction to ink, scarring, redness, swelling, skin irritation and fatal blood infections. If this information makes your skin crawl, then there's more negative impacts tattoos have.

Tattoos could also be a problem when applying for a job. It also depends on the dress policy the workplace you are applying to has.

All of these negative impacts are determined by the content and size of the tattoo.

If someone changes their mind about their tattoo, it is possible to have it removed with laser technology. Although that is easier said than done. It is expensive and will not remove the tattoo completely.

Having the negative effects of tattoos in mind, it is ultimately up to someone whether to get a tattoo or not. However, getting one as a teenager isn't the best idea because of our undeveloped ability to make sensible decisions.

"I'd wait until I was more experienced with life," junior Holly Ramia said. "I would get one in my mid or late 20s because I wouldn't want to get a tattoo that I'd regret."

Even though the legal age to get a tattoo is 18, it is possible to get a tattoo earlier with your parent's permission. However, we should not rush into such an important and permanent decision such as this. We have our whole life ahead of us to decide if a tattoo is what we want.

Q & A with Assistant Principal Schneider Q: Do your tattoos have any meanings ?

A: They have different meanings. Some of them have meanings for my daughter. I have some with her name and her birthday. I have some that are written in different languages and have meaning. Because I've run numerous marathons in the past years, I have tattoos from different places and locations where I've done my races. I also have some for different members of my family like my father and my mother.

Q: Do you ever regret getting a tattoo?

A: Never. It's always been a choice. My choice. Nobody's ever pressured me to do it. It's something that I've always done on my own.

Q: When did you get your first tattoo?

A: As soon as I turned 18. Two days after my birthday, which is on Christmas Eve, I got my first one.

Q: Did your tattoos ever impact you negatively?

A: I would say there are some people that are not fans of tattoos; whether they could be here, where I work for living or in public that don't look on them as acceptable they still think of them as something negative or just in a bad way overall.

But I find that once people realize that it doesn't change who I am or what I do, then they're okay.

Q: Would you consider getting more tattoos in the future?

A: Always. The last tattoo I got was a couple of months ago.

Would you ever consider getting a tattoo?

Q: How many tattoos do you have?

A: Lost count. I have many.

Q. Do you think teens should get tattoos?

A: The legal age in most state at minimum is 18, so I'm okay with someone who is at least 18. I would say being that young, you probably don't have a lot of knowledge about where to go and what would be safe. For example, when my daughter turned 18, I took her to where I go because I trust my artist. I knew he would be very careful, I knew it would be clean, and that he has a good reputation for his work.

Otherwise, anyone that's younger, you need your parents permission.

"No because I'd most likely be allergic to the ink."

If you get it by someone who isn't licensed in the state, then you always run the risk of something bad happening like dirty needles being shared, just bad work.

SAVANNAH GRAVITT

So I would always tell anyone, teenager or otherwise, if you're going to get it to go to a regular place, someone that's recommended and that you absolutely want to get it.

freshman

"Yes I would because I think they look good and maybe it makes you look better."

JONATHAN MORALES freshman

"I think maybe I would just for something that's really important to me."

"I am considering get a tattoo when I'm 19 because I want to get a symbol that represents me."

KYLE DALSIMER

CASEY BONANNO

sophomore

sophomore

"I would consider getting a tattoo but I'd wait until I am more experienced with life."

HOLLY RAMIA

"I really would love to get a tattoo because I really love art and it's really cool."

KATANA NEGLEY

junior

"I would get a tattoo. Of course I'd get a tattoo if it meant something meaningful."

junior

"I would because it would be something significant."

NGOC-TRAN NGUYEN senior

ANDREW NUNEZ senior

THE EVOLUTION OF TATTOOS 3300 B.C. Otzi is a European Tyrolean Iceman. He was found at an Italian border around 3250 B.C. Otzi had 61 tattoos across his body, including his left wrist, lower legs, lower back and torso.

The First Tattooed man

1000 B.C.

Henna Tatoos were created

Henna is a plant found and grown in South Asian and North African countries. The tattoo last from one to three weeks on the skin, it depends on your body temperature, skin type, body chemistry, lifestyle, and where the henna is applied. The average person tattoos lasts 10 days to two weeks.

1846

The first tattoo shop opens

In 1846, a German immigrant named Martin Hildebrandt created the first ever tattoo shop in Manhattan, New York.

During this time, tattoo artists did tattoos by hand.

1891

The first electric tattoo machine was invented in 1891, by tattoo artist, Samuel O'Reilly.

The Electric Pen was originally created by Thomas Edison but it did not use any ink. Samuel O'Reilly added needles and an ink reservoir and gained the official credit for it.

The electric tattoo was created

1999

The first tattooed barbie

Mattel releases the Butterfly Art Barbie, which is a doll with washable body art.

2006

Last state to legalize tattoos

In 2006, Oklahoma becomes the last state to legalize tattoos.

12 INTERNATIONAL

Nov. 15, 2016

Students blend Thanksgiving traditions Vietnam

Ethiopia

Peru

BY LINA AL TAII International Editor

BY FARES AYOUB International Editor

Thanksgiving is a day to appreciate everything you have and be thankful, no matter where you are from.

For Ethiopian senior Bitania Endalkachew, Thanksgiving is a day to show gratitude for the opportunity to be thriving in America, as opposed to the numerous Ethiopians who would love to be Endalkachew and her family here but can't come. spending time together "[On Thanksgiving], everyone in my family goes to one person's house and we eat the regular food like turkey and mashed potatoes, but there's also cultural [Ethiopian] food like injera and wut," Endalkachew said.

After the meal, they continue to celebrate the holiday by spending time together for the rest of the day. "Sometimes the adults play Ethiopian music and if people want to dance they will dance, it's like a big celebration," Endalkachew said. Though many American families love the Thanksgiving holiday only for the food, the Endalkachew family combines the food aspect along with cultural tradition.

"My family pretty much merged the holiday with Ethiopian culture," Endalkachew said. Though her family combines the Ethiopian and American celebration traditions together, the meaning of Thanksgiving is the same to them.

The most important holiday for sophomore Jennifer Chavez is Thanksgiving.

To start the day, her dads side of the family comes in the morning to visit her at her house and share what they are grateful for. "After we share our thoughts, we figure out and agree on whose house to go Chaves and her family at the dinner to and eat lunch," Chavez said.

She and her family begin the cele- table brations by eating tamales along with other Peruvian food in the morning.

The ladies in her family usually cook while the men watch movies or play pool.

For the big meal, she and her family eat turkey, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, and other traditional Peruvian food.

"The most exciting part of Thanksgiving for me is when I get to eat the turkey," Chaves said.

Though they combine their cultural food along with the basic American food, Thanksgiving reminds them to be thankful for their blessings.

United

BY TOOBA SIDDIQUE International Editor The turkey and mashed potatoes are not the only thing Senior Christina Le enjoys on Thanksgiving she loves having family love as well.

Since Thanksgiving is not only celebrated in the United States, but in other cultures and countries as well, Le and her family enjoy celebrating it.

Christina Le and her mother Le was born in New York, celebrating thanksgiving with but her family is from origi- traditional food nally from Vietnam, They celebrate Thanksgiving just like most people in the United States do; with loads of food and family over.

"Thanksgiving is a holiday I celebrate with my entire family and friends as a way to show how much we appreciate eachother," Le said. "Every year on Thanksgiving we have turkey, mashed potatoes, and we also incorporate some Vietnamese dishes."

With the busy schedule Le follows in school, she rarely gets to see her entire family, whereas on Thanksgiving she gets to spend time with her large family and make memories.

Le says that since Thanksgiving is not a religous holiday, it is a great way to spend time, with your family and Thanksgiving serves as a great way to integrate ones own tradition and cultures into the American culture.

Bolivia

States

Eritrea

BY TOOBA SIDDIQUE International Editor

BY KAYLA HOLCOMB Staff Writer Junior Grace Hatch has lived in America all her life and has grown up celebrating many of the traditional holidays with friends and family. One example is Thanksgiving.

"We have a very relaxing Thanskgiving day. Everyone in the family Hatch and her brother spending usually makes one thing," Hatch said. time with their grandparents Hatch's family begins the day by spending time with eachother, since it is one of the only holidays where they spend time all together.

"My entire family comes together to hang out and eat a big dinner together," Hatch said.

Since Hatch has lived in America all her life, Thanksgiving has always been a traditional holiday for her and her family.

During Thanksgiving, Hatchs family eats a traditional meal "We eat turkey, mashed potatoes, apple pie, stuff like that," Hatch said.

After the meal, Hatch's family plays games or watches movies to continue spending the holiday together.

"Thanksgiving to me is a time to spend with your family and be thankful for one another," Hatch said.

Hatch's family, like many American families spend the Thanksgiving weekend by showing gratitude for what they have.

BY KAYLA HOLCOMB International Editor

Senior Jasmine Gosalvez was born and brought up in the United States, but comes from a Bolivian background.

Gosalvez says that Thanksgiving is great because her entire family gets together to appreciate each other and have a meal together.

"I am thankful for the her younger sister, and people and things in my life all Gosalves, their parents spending time together. year round, but Thanksgiving is a great way to get together with family and friends to celebrate America as well as the blessings in our lives," Gosalvez said.

Although Gosalvez is originally from Bolivia, most of her family was born in the United States and she has seen the others adapt to the cultures and holidays of the United States and make them their own.

"The best part of Thanksgiving is definitely the food, because it is like an all you can eat buffet and the leftovers are amazing," Gosalvez said.

"Turkey and sweet potatoes are my absolute favorite just like everyone elses in my family."

Gosalves' Thanksgiving including their numerous relatives brings in Bolivian cultural aspects as well, and the day becomes much more exciting.

"Most of my family lives in the United States and having relatives over is a great opportunity for my siblings and I to interact with those who live a bit far," Gosalvez said.

Some would think that Thanksgiving, in sophomore Sesina Beyenes house would be very different considering her family is from Eritrea, but it is not.

"We celebrate Thanksgiving pretty much like everyone else, with a lot of food and a bunch of friends and family. The Beyene and her siblings enjoying the only difference is most of our holiday season family is scattered all around the globe, so we invite a lot of close friends to celebrate with," Beyene said.

In Eritrea, they do not celebrate Thanksgiving so Beyene and her family adapted to the holiday while adding some of their own culture to it. "We usually eat chicken, lasagna, and some traditional food from back home, plus we have this very special chicken wing recipe which I always try to incorporate into Thanksgiving dinner," Beyene said.

Although Beyene is from a totally different culture, the meaning of Thanksgiving stays the same within her family's celebration of the holiday.

"Thanksgiving is very important to me because of how much my friends and family mean to me. With so many people having less, it's important to appreciate everything you have and to not take it for granted," Beyene said.

What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving?

"My favorite part of Thanksgiving is giving away gifts to family members because that is a tradition in my family."

"My favorite part of Thanksgiving is definitely the nap after I eat all the food."

CRISTIAN ALFARO-

LUCY WANG

freshmen

freshmen

"I don't really enjoy Thanksgiving so much, but I love the mashed potatoes."

"My favorite part about Thanksgiving is the food and having great company in the house other than my ZAIN GHUL own family." sophomore

BY MUNIBA SALEHIN Special to The A-Blast One year passed when I was in Pakistan. I lived with my mom's family and my cousins. I lived in Peshawar.

Most people that live in Peshawar speak Pashto, but I don't know how to speak Pashto. So I speak Urdu.

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan but some people also speak different languages such as Pashto and Punjabi. In Pakistan, women and girls don't go to mosques.

I love to go Northern cities of Pakistan because it has natural beauty. Tourists like to visit Northern Pakistan such as Murree, Kaghan Valley, Kalash Valley, Swat. Pakistani wear Salwar kameez because those are the traditional clothes. Women wear Salwar Kameez with hijabs, and men just wear Salwar Kameez.

"My favorite part of Thanksgiving has to be the mashed potatoes and the football games because my favorite team is the Ravens."

"Thanksgiving itself is my favorite because we get a break from school and get together with people I KELSIE LICATOVICH don't see very often."

"My favorite part about Thanksgiving is visiting my family in Pennsylvania."

senior

CARLOS RAMIREZ

VALERIA DORADO

ELVIN MARTINEZ

CHRIS HENAO

sophomore

junior

junior

senior

American stories Sophomore Muniba Salehins experience coming to America from Pakistan

"This will be my first time celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States, but I am looking forward to the long break."

Our relatives live in the U.S., so we made a plan to go to the U.S. and meet our relatives to start our future life in the U.S. When I was 2 years old my grandfather submitted our paper work to apply for visa; In 2015 when I turned 14 years old, we finally got our Visa.

We arrived in the U.S. on Jul. 3, 2015 with my mom, dad and my brother. In my family everyone has a different purpose to come to the US, but I came to the U.S. for education and for better future. As we all know that the U.S. has a better facilities than others countries.

It was not difficult for us to adapt here because half of our family lives here. In the beginning, we lived with my grandmother in Alexandria, but time passed and we moved to Springfield and then Annandale.

I am 15 now and one thing that has not changed is that I still do not like to get up in the morning. The most astonishing thing is that it is my mother whose voice wakes me up now. She gets up first ever day and prepares breakfast for us.

America and Pakistan are different since they have different culture, language, economy, currency, military and school system. In some ways Pakistan and

First person accounts of coming to America U.S. are similar because of the people. The school system here is very different from the one we had in Pakistan. In Pakistan, we have to wear a uniform but here we can wear any clothes we want to. In my old school I was considered the smart girl.

I thought that I would always be the smartest one and that whether I worked hard or not, I would always come in first. Here in the U.S., the teachers expect more from their students.

In Pakistan, we used to write long answers. Sometimes the examiners get tired and give up reading part of the way through but still give you high marks! Perhaps the expectations in Pakistan were lower because it was so challenging just to be in school. We did not have good science labs but we do have good libraries and computers.

It is difficult for me to select one country that I prefer to live in. I am still hopeful that I can return to Peshawar and see my family, my friends, my teachers, my school and my house again. Perhaps it will take time but I am sure it will possible one day. I am very busy with schools and events, but I have made friends and we chat on our breaks and at lunchtime.

Anyway, we do not have much time, here school is a lot of work! Many of my friends back In Pakistan probably think we are very lucky to live in the US in a nice, society and go to good schools. Now I am in 10th grade, and I am enjoying my second year in high school.

I still have so much more to learn about the cultures, religions, and people here in America, but so far the journey has been great and I am excited for what is yet to come.

LIFESTYLES 13

Nov. 15, 2016

Should stores be open on Thanksgiving?

Students begin to work Black Friday shifts on Thanksgiving Day

YES

BY LUCIE LEFBOM Lifestyle Editor Every year, many families gather together to eat, play some football in the fall weather, and to be grateful. The American holiday Thanksgiving is the epitome of autumn. It's a tradition to celebrate it for some, but an inconvenience to others. Not everyone wants to embrace the company of 40 relatives nitpicking at their lives for three hours, or to eat a grand meal made up to celebrate virtually nothing.

Stores shouldn't be closed on Thanksgiving for those people who want the opportunity to work an extra day, on a holiday that really doesn't hold any importance to them.

"If I had a job, I wouldn't mind working on Thanksgiving. I don't think it's a special day, and it would just be another day that I had to go to work," senior Chris Henao said.

Many that oppose the open status of stores on Halloween call it business greediness. Frankly, that's exactly what they're doing. Being greedy. People want to shop on Thanksgiving. Whether that's the way a mother and daughter spend their quality time together, or people want to get ahead on holiday deals, there are consumers everywhere on Thanksgiving. Retail stores should be open to supply this demand.

Restaurants should also remain open on Thanksgiving. If people are out shopping, people are out eating. And that's only a small portion of the market.

"My family goes out to eat for Thanksgiving, we don't like to cook that much food. It's a nice way to go out and celebrate the holiday," said senior Othmane Kerfal.

Many groups go to restaurants to eat their Thanksgiving meal. Whether they don't want to spend days cooking a meal, or they just want to get their groups out of the house, restaurants need to be open to service these wants. It's good for business and it's good for the employees.

People need to work on Thanksgiving to keep these

stores open, whether they be retail or restaurant.

It is just another day at the job for some, and if the employees make their money off of tips or commission, it could even be a great day on the job. The general public shops on Thanksgiving, and employees need to be there to service them.

"I love to shop on Thanksgiving. I can buy the things I need for the winter season, and there are always good deals because it's Black Friday weekend," said sophomore Haley Moss. "I would rather go Thanksgiving than on Black Friday because the stores get more crowded than they already are and I can get the stuff I want without it being sold out.

Thanksgiving celebrates the first harvest of the new world, and is simply used as a day to reunite with family. People can do that any day of the year, it doesn't have to be the last Thursday of every November. Also, Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday. No law prevents stores from opening and making their employees work, and there shouldn't be.

People should be working on Thanksgiving. It is a prime day for business. Many people go shopping due to the big deals, and many go out to eat to celebrate with their families. The employees need to be there to keep the stores running. Instead of stuffing their faces with turkey and cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving, many people should be able to and will be stuffing their pockets with cash.

Senior Tara El- Achi poses with her co-worker while working at Olivia Macarons located in Tysons Corner Mall.

NO

BY SHEILA AGUIRRE AND IVANNA PEREZ Lifestyle Editor and Staff Writer Thanksgiving isn't just about turkey and mashed potatoes. Thanksgiving is a holiday for families to bond and spend quality time with each other. The day should lead to new memories being made, and thankfulness for one another. However, Black Friday has begun earlier and now stores are open as early as 6 p.m on Thanksgiving day.

Thanksgiving is meant to promote thankfulness for what you have and for the people you love. "How are you supposed to tell them (Family) and even sit down to thank God for everything you have when you're working for hours?" Freshman Kalkidan Tucker said.

Students shouldn't be rushing to eat their meals because they have to get to work. Some people don't even get the day off at all. "It should be a day spent with family, not working. It isn't fair," said freshman Jason Reyes.

Bosses should understand workers need sometime to relax before the Black Friday mayhem begins.

Usually a worker works two 8-10 hour shifts between Thursday and Friday.

Senior Viviana Sandoval worked at Pacsun on Black Friday, "We shouldn't work on Thanksgiving because we don't have time with our family," said Sandoval.

By the end of their shifts students are tired and just want to go home. "By the time my was shift was over I just went home and slept, I didn't even get to eat any left overs" said Senior Kiara Andio.

Andino worked on Black Friday last year, and made $15 per hour. However, Andino had to go in at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving day and miss her family dinner.

Bosses also incentivize of these young student by bumping their pay raise for Thanksgiving.

"It's a day for family, the people you love. People's bosses should understand that," said freshman Bismaa Khan.

The only upside to working on Thanksgiving is earning more money than usual. However, this isn't as great

as it sounds. You'll have no time to relax with family that you haven't seen in awhile.

The only time people should shop on Thanksgiving is to get some last minute gravy or pumpkin pie. No one goes to buy a new car or to buy new clothes from a retail store. Last year, stores like Best Buy, Target and Macy's all shifted their starting times for Thursday evening.

However, some stores make it impossible for people to get time off, since Black Friday is their busiest day of the month.

November 1 is the beginning of the holiday season for all stores. It's one of the busiest months other than December. Thanksgiving will be break for these workers so they can relax before working the next day.

The mall is closed on Christmas day so employees can spend time with their families. The mall should still continue to keep this tradition for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is important it would be a shame to miss out on an opportunity to hang out, hug, and cherish the people you love and miss it, to spend the day working.

It would be very unfair of retailers to take advantage of low paid employees who are forced to work.

Stores Opening on Thanksgiving Day Dick's Sporting Goods Belk J.C. Penny Kmart Kohl's Macy's Modell's Old Navy Sports Authority Target Ulta Victoria's Secret Walmart Best Buy

DIY THANKSGVING TREAT

Rice Krispie Fall Leaves

Materials Needed -Butter -Rice Crispies Cereal -Mini Marshmallows -Food Coloring -Leaf Cookie Cutter -Cookie Sheets -Bowls -Spatula

4.

Gently fold the mixture into the rice krispies until the cereal is completely covered with the mixture.

1.

5.

For each color of fall leaf, melt three tbsp. of butter, add three cups of mini marshmallows, and stir until melted.

Pour the mixture on a cookie sheet, and put some butter on your fingers to spread it out evenly over half of the sheet.

2.

Add a lot of food coloring, so that your mixture becomes very dark.

3.

Once you have a dark color that you like, add three cups of Rice Krispies cereal.

6.

Finally, use a leaf cookie cutter to make the leaf shape for the treats.

7.

Put all your leaves together for a yummy decoration and treat!

FASHION SPOTLIGHT Jasmine Gosalvez, 12 Q. How did you learn how to dress?

A. I didn't learn from anyone, I just put on what I like and add things to make my outfit look better.

Q. Where do you like to shop?

A. I usually go to Forever 21, H&M, Charlotte Russe and Pacsun.

Q. What are your favorite clothing pieces?

A. I love my trench jackets and sweaters.

Q. What is your outfit for school or a date?

A. For school, I like to wear leggings with a cute top and accessories. On dates, I like to wear dresses with cute heels and a coat.

Q. On your lazy days what do you prefer to wear?

A. I rarely bum, but when I do I'll wear yoga pants with a PINK sweater with Uggs or running shoes.

Q. What is your favorite season to dress for?

A. I really love the fall season.

Q. How long does it take you to get ready?

A. It usually takes me about 30 to 35 minutes to get ready.

Q. How much do you usually invest in clothing?

A. Usually I spend $50-75 on myself each time I go shopping.

Q. What are your favorite pair of shoes?

A. My favorite pair of shoes are my booties, because they go with everything I wear.

Q. Do you dress to impress or dress for yourself?

A. I dress to impress myself.

Q. Who is your fashion inspiration?

A. I don't have an inspiration, I just wear what I like and I make it work.

Q. Whats your favorite accessory to add to your outfit?

A. My favorite accessories are my necklaces, because they're always so cute and they make my outfits look nicer.

Gosalvez smiling at the Cox Farms pumpkin patch.

14 PEOPLE

Nov. 15, 2016

Scholarly student excels in school Senior Matthew Vogus stands out by being heavily involved

BY SOULISA PATHAMMAVONG People Editor Student Athlete Matthew Vogus has dedicated his high school career to being top tenth of his senior class. "I try to do my best in everything I do at Annandale," Vogus said. He has invested most of his time at school participating in numerous functions, extracurricular activities, honor societies and sports.

Vogus has been a part of the Student Government Association (SGA) from his junior to senior year and is now president of the class of 2017. Since he has been apart of SGA, he has helped them pay off the class debt, raised thousands of dollars through fundraisers, and booked a new location for prom.

Additionally, Vogus is the President of National Honor Society and associated with Math Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Atoms Key Club, and Green Atoms. The majority of clubs he is involved in correlate with his interests and helping other kids along with the Annandale community.

Vogus has always been academically prevailing, from elementary school to high school. Currently, Vogus takes seven IB classes, but is not qualifying for the IB Diploma. "I chose not to because I wanted to have the freedom to take whatever classes interested me," Vogus said. With this entitlement he does not have to worry about the requirements of the

diploma, such as taking a language and the different SL and HL classes.

The stress and pressure of activities and school has led him to be isolated from his friends and family. Vogus has little time to spend with them or to even sleep.

His commitments have brought him down mentally and physically. It can be hard for him to stay focused in class, practice, or even in conversations with his friends.

"It takes a lot of time management, and you have to stay focused on what you need to do," Vogus said, "I have to deal with a lot of stress too, which can get me in a funk and not want to deal with anyone."

Despite the fact that Vogus hardly has time for his friends, they understand how

occupied his is with everything. "It can be tough for us that Matthew is always busy, but we understand he has a lot of responsibility. It just makes it more fun when we do see him," said Madison Walsh, one of Vogus' good friends.

For Vogus, sports have always been a form of tranquility, inside and outside of school. Since he was little, he has been a participate in football, lacrosse, basketball and rugby. Although he engages in many sports, football is his most preferred hobby. Vogus began playing football at the age of eight and continues to play every day.

"Ever since I started playing football, I instantly loved it," Vogus said. "The first season in BRYC we went undefeated and I had a blast, so I played it every

My greatest strength: is my work ethic.

I describe myself as: a hard worker. I think I put maximum effort in everything I What makes me different from do and I'm very determined and focused. everybody else: is how invested I get into what I'm doing, whether it be My hobbies are: playing lacrosse, going sports, school, clubs, or my friends. I to country concerts, and grubbing with put myself fully into it and I think that my friends. distinguishes me from the average person.

My favorite thing about high school: is the people. I have become friends with so My biggest aspiration: is to travel the many different groups of people. It has world doing research in order to help really exposed me to how different people save the environment. I would like to go live and the different cultures. to places like the Great Barrier Reef or Greenland to see how human actions are My greatest accomplishment was: affecting nature. being elected class president or being awarded all district honorable mention A motto that I live by: is hard work for lacrosse last season. pays off.

fall." He started off playing on Braddock Road Youth Club, a recreational level organization, and made his way up to being one of the captains on our varsity football team.

Outside of school, something Vogus has always been passionate about is helping the environment. He has organized numerous cleanups around his neighborhood and performs community service with the environmental clubs he is involved in.

One of Vogus' proudest achievements was planning an event for Flag Run Creek, aiming to collect litter and recyclables.

His family and friends volunteered and assisted him. The clean up day was an overall success that Vogus takes pride in.

Vogus aspires to be an environmental engineer after high school. "I've always been passionate about the environment and want to be able to do all I can to help protect it," Vogus said, "I think sustainability is necessary and want to stand up for something that can't protect itself."

He plans to apply to John Hopkins University, Duke University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bucknell University, and Stanford University and major in environmental engineering, a branch of engineering focusing on protecting and developing solutions to better the environment.

Whether it's planning senior prom, calling plays on the field, or helping the environment, Matthew Vogus always puts 110 percent effort into everything he does.

Matthew Vogus plays safety for AHS varsity football.

President Vogus with Vice President Sabrina Huynh and class sponsor Norm Ash fundraise for the class of 2017.

Vogus in action last season playing lacrosse at the game against Lake Braddock.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATTHEW VOGUS

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATTHEW VOGUS

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATTHEW VOGUS

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATTHEW VOGUS

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATTHEW VOGUS

Vogus shaking his varsity lacrosse coach Bill Maglisceau after recieving the "Atomic Achievement Award."

In 2013, Vogus organized his own clean-up at his local park Flag Run Creek.

Alumni looks back on being an activist Class of '59 Alumni Joan Trumpauer Mulholland recalls her time at AHS and the consequences she faced as a white young Civil Rights Activist. Mulholland went to Annandale for three years and remembers how different things were compared to how they are now.

"You think Annandale's food is bad now, you could not imagine how bad it was," Mulholland said. Mulholland's friend had given a pork chop with green slime to his mother, a nurse so that it could be tested. Due to the results of the porkchop, Mulholland and her classmates started a strike against the food the cafeteria was serving, however Principal Ralph Buckley shut it down by threatening to close down the cafeteria.

She also faced gender discrimination.

She applied for a foreign exchange student program to go overseas and was rejected because she was not male. However, her father arranged for her to go to Europe to visit pen pals she had sent "snail mail" to.

"I know your school has a nice plaque

PHOTO COURTESY OF MADISON WALSH

BY MARILYN RIVAS People Editor

Mulholland visits AHS and hangs out with yearbook staff.

up of Mr. Buckley, but that is not the way I remember him," said Mulholland. Principal Buckley refused to approve Mulholland's two week absence from school to go to Europe until her father intervened.

Mulholland had to share a locker with three other students due to the overpopulation of the school at the time.

She wanted to go to a small church school in Ohio, but her mother disapproved and

forced her to apply to a segregated school: Duke University.

"The guidance counselor, I don't know what I had done to tick her off, but she got all hoffy and said it was a waste of time to apply because Mulholland's son non- I won't get in but fiction children book. I did," Mulholland said.

Mulholland finished the semester, took a year off and then applied to a historical African American University, Tougaloo College in Mississippi. She received a call from the University saying they had not received her grades from AHS. She called the same guidance counselor and asked why she would not send her transcript, and she simply just refused to send it to a historical black college. Tougaloo accepted her based on her DU grades because AHS refused. She was first whites to enroll in Tougaloo College and continued her activism.

As a white teenager, Mulholland took action and fought for equality even though she was privileged.

"As a southern I felt called to do what I could do to make life equal for all," Mulholland said. She was jailed for a few months during Freedom Riders, encountered violent mobs including the KKK and fought along the side of civil right heroes.

Mulholland's story has turned from an award-winning documentary into a nonfiction children's book She Stood for Freedom composed by her son, Loki Mulholland. In the book, he wrote about his mother's experiences as a white women in the south that was fighting for African American rights. She has influenced her son and others by showing how an ordinary individual can have such a drastic impact on the civil rights movement.

Mulholland being white privileged women could have had a safe and easy life, yet she decided to go up against the odds of her race, parents and friends to fight against the inequality she witnessed growing up.

She know tells her story to influence others to focus on the greater good.

WHO AM I? I attended: Arizona State University and I graduated in 1995. I received my masters degree from University of Maryland in 2012.

My favorite classes in college were osteology, comparative primate anatomy and a seminar class in Egyptology.

I was born in: Nevada. I have lived in Virginia for 11 years. Previously I lived in Austin, TX and Phoenix, AZ. The rest of my family lives in Arizona, California, and Nevada. I attended high school in Phoenix, AZ and ran track all four years. I was also in National Honors Society.

Before teaching at AHS: I worked at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix for three years and then I did a short stint as a science middle school teacher in Texas for two years. I have been teaching at Annandale for 11 years. I was a trainer for Borders Books & Music before I became a science teacher.

I teach at AHS because: I really like the diversity. It is so exciting to have students from all over the world as well as Annandale locals. I love to get to know students and hear their life stories. I love teaching biology and anatomy. Everything we learning in biology is all about you!

How can you not relate?

In my free time: I like to spend time with my family, run, hike, read, listen to music, and watch movies. I also like to paint and draw.

On your smartphone, scan this code using the application QR Code to find the answer to the Who Am I.

On my currently short, but successful road in life, I have discovered many things about myself. At three years old, I encountered my true passion, dance.

From moving and grooving to the different types of music playing on the radio to having my own Non- Profit Organization at the age of 16.

I took my first dance step rather than foot step. I was introduced to a little friend when I was four years old. The first time I saw him he looked like a mini Santa Clause in the arms of my crying mother, who was on a large bed surrounded by people in blue.

My little friend ended up being my brother, Frank.

Growing up together, I learned that he always wanted to follow my foot steps. As unpleasant as it was to hear him cry all the time, you can say we grew up to be each other's partners in crime.

Being my little daredevil self, I loved getting out of my parents sight to go after my dads CDs, turning on the radio and doing what I love most with my best friend.

Going out with me had to be

On April 29th, 2016, I decided to create my own Non- Profit Organization, a Bolivian Folkloric Dance Group.

This experience has been nothing but a blessing in life.

Through ups and downs, I have managed to slowly build up the structure of my Group.

From people doubting my leadership skills because of my age, to proving them completely wrong and winning awards. I have learned a lot about myself, and I know there is more to it as years will pass by.

Days, weeks and months of stress and tears is and will always be worth it. Sleepless nights, fights and arguments with my family, having no support, not being able to prioritize between school and my group, led to my grades plummeting; even worse during Exams season.

I am happy to say I have overcome many obstacles and I have now learned that school always comes first before anything. I Currently have the best grades I have ever had! Managing my IB courses and group has not been easy at all but all is well and life is great!

Keelin Cordova-Ferrufino, junior

the most difficult mission; keeping me in their sight was a workout. My parents took us to the park one day and I easily managed to get away from them, since they were mostly worried about Frank.

I ran off and ended up in the middle of a strange crowd. Everyone was turning, kicking, and jumping all so synchronized. Not hesitating at all, I ran in to do the same. I remember the music, the joy and laughter everyone had, I told myself I had to come back.

Twelve years later, I have done nothing but that, and even more.

SPORTS X-TRA 15 Taking a shot at unique sports Freshman plays hockey outside of school Hunter Westfall Special to the A-blast Ice hockey. A game that people don t know much about. Because ice hockey isn t offered as a school sport, not many people understand the sport or what it takes to play.

Like every sport, it takes time to become skilled. I started skating at three years old, started learning how to play at four years old, and started officially playing on a hockey team at five years old.

I played house hockey until I was ten years old and I decided to start playing travel hockey because I wanted more of a challenge.

Once I made the switch, I noticed that the game was much more fast paced than house league. I also noticed that my teammates and competitors were more skilled and more at my level. Having teammates who are just as good as me, makes the game more fun because it makes me work for my success.

Although the switch from house to travel was good, it began to take up a lot of my time. I was expected to put in a lot of effort and make the team my priority. This had a lot of strain on my school work because much of my time was dedicated to hockey.

It s a lot more difficult than school sports because I have to travel up and down the East coast and I practice far away from my house. I also have games every weekend which makes it a lot more time-consuming than school sports, which have their games

during the week.

On top of the long practices and weekend games, I have to worry about homework. If I don t manage my time wisely, I have to stay up long hours to finish all my school work.

Hockey is also more challenging than other sports because you travel at 20-25 miles per hour constantly going back and forth which requires good conditioning. You have to score against six opponents that are trying to wreck you, and the physicality is at a higher level than other sports.

The sport is a lot more hazardous as well because it s easier to get concussions, broken bones, teeth knocked out, and any part of your body cut open because of the sharp skates.

Despite the danger, hockey is a unique winter sport that many people should get involved in. It is held on a sheet of ice with people going back and forth with action always happening on defense and offense.

It s really interesting to watch because of how fast paced it is.

The fans are always really involved which creates a great atmosphere when you attend a game. It s also fun to watch because there are big hits, fast Freshman Hunter Westfall playing left wing for his travel team the Montgomery Blue Devils plays, great scoring, and most of all, fights.

I have actually gotten into a couple There are numerous students at AHS Another great aspect of hockey is fights. I have thrown hands and punched an who participate in ice hockey already. The fighting. If a pair of guys get mad or angry at opponent multiple times. I got a penalty, but school should start to plant the idea of a each other, they drop their gloves and start my team got hyped up so I thought it was hockey team to see if other students are punching each other until one wins. Contrary worth it. interested and get feedback from students to popular belief, fighting gets you a trip to Overall, I think hockey is a great sport. I and their families. the penalty box.

I think it would be a successful program believe that AHS should start its own hockey Although the participants of fighting get team. Other schools in our district like because many students are already skilled a penalty, it gets the crowd hyped. When Edison, Woodson, and Bishop O connell have at the sport and any Atom has the ability to the crowd is hyped, it adds to the overall their own hockey teams. learn and develop skills for ice hockey. atmosphere of the game.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HUNTER WESTFALL

Nov. 15, 2016

Just because hockey isn t offered at AHS and it s a little different from most sports, that doesn t mean that you should be discouraged from getting involved. It s a lot of fun and you get to meet interesting people outside of school.

Name: Michelle Kendall Position: Varsity Swim & Dive coach What experience do you have in that sport?

I began swimming for the Holmes Run Hurricanes at the age of eight. I swam in high school for Falls Church, as well as in college at Syracuse University.

Why did you choose to coach at AHS? My dad went to AHS. It also reminds me a lot of the high school I went to, and I feel right at home already.

What are your goals for the team?

To help each swimmer and diver improve upon their times and perfect their techniques. I believe personal growth is much more important than winning or losing.

What are your personal goals for the season?

To promote positivity, fun, and hard work. Swimming was always my favorite team to be on because it was such a family. I will do all that I can to make sure all of my swimmers and divers feel the same way.

What do you think will be the biggest challenge this season?

Our team will be a little smaller than some of the other schools we'll be up against, but I already know we'll make up for that in heart, spirit, and passion for the sport.

What do you do when you are not coaching?

When I'm not coaching, I'm hiking, swimming, or making art. I graduated from college in May 2016 with a degree in photography and entrepreneurship, so I am currently working on starting my own business.

Name: Victoria Douglas Position: Swim & Dive coach What experience do you have in that sport?

I have been swimming ever since I can remember. I swam for my local country club every summer until I broke my arm and had to sit out for an entire season.

Why did you choose to coach at AHS? I got involved with coaching as a way to be a part of this school aside from being a math teacher. It gives me a chance to meet students I might not teach and if I do teach them, it allows me to get to know them as more than a student in my classroom.

What are your goals for the team?

To become a family and help the program grow.

What are your personal goals for the season?

To get to know my new athletes and help them out any way I can whether it is in the pool or in school.

What do you think will be the biggest challenge this season?

We have a whole new coaching staff. It is going to be a learning process for coach Shelley and I, as well as the athletes.

What do you do when you are not coaching?

When I'm not coaching, you can find me baking, shopping, or enjoying time with my family and friends.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PATRICK PACAK

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MICHELLE KENDALL

Swim and dive welcomes the new coaching staff

Fantasy basketball hooping it up in first month Ryan Gammon Sports X-tra Editor While most are updating their instagram with new pictures to post or taking those selfies on snapchat, some people will be updating there fantasy basketball lineups for the next couple months.

With two of the main fantasy sports in high gear, it will be hard for those fantasy junkies to keep track of the injuries and the stars.

Ricky Rubio, point guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves, was a bust and really messed up my lineup with his elbow sprain; I either have to find a replacement, which is risky because he [Rubio] is a good player, or I will have to take a loss for the next two weeks, sophomore Kyle Dalsimer said.

A lot of good and athletic picks

were in this year s fantasy draft, but there were also rookies that would have had a crucial spot in the starting lineup but suffered early season injuries.

Ben Simmons, forward for the Philadelphia 76ers, was a lot of fantasy players top picks for the first round of the draft, but that ended quickly having suffered a fractured foot, on the right side, during his preperation in the summer league games.

With some downfalls in fantasy basketball, there are still some key picks that could just get you that one win you are looking for in this week s matchup.

John Wall, point guard for the Washington Wizards, has been a key player; Wall has scored 131 points in the last nine games, which definitely puts him among the best point

guards in the NBA. A lot of superior players are out there to be picked up for a lineup, but the biggest and most crucial pick in a fantasy draft is by far the first pick. The first pick is that one guy that will always average the most points per week on your fantasy team.

My biggest contributor has been Russell Westbrook, point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, because he has had a huge first ten games averaging 31.9 points a game and has averaged me a ton of fantasy points, sophomore Alex Bellem said.

For me, Anthony Davis was my first round pick and I could not be happier. He is one of the top scorers in the NBA and has the best point average out of my whole team, Dalsimer said. Which is unusual

because usually the point guard scores the most points for the team.

There has been a lot of new comers that have signed up for the new 2016-2017 fantasy basketball league, so there are key pointers that new players should know before the season starts to get serious.

For the new people playing this year, a tip is to make multiple teams in the same league so all of the good players will be in your control, Bellem said.

There are a lot of tips that could help even the most expierenced players get even better than what they are now.

As the season is in the start up, the trash talking will start to begin.

In the end only one thing matters, who wins at the end of the week.

Fantasy Football: Sleeper Picks week 11

Name: Kirk Cousins Team: Redskins Position: Quarterback Passing attempts: 354 Passing completions: 237 Passing yds: 2,716 Passer rating: 94.8 Interceptions: 7 Touchdowns: 14 Next three games: vs Packers, @ Cowboys, @Cardinals

Name: Allen Hurns Team: Jaguars Position: Wide Receiver Rec Yds: 456 Recptions: 33 Avg yds per catch: 13.8 Touchdowns: 2 Fumbles: 0 Next three games: @Lions, @Bills, @Broncos

Name: Isaiah Crowell Team: Browns Position: Running Back Rushing attempts: 121 Rushing Yds: 551 Touchdowns: 5 Fumbles: 0 Receptions: 21 Rec. Yds: 234 Rec. Touchdowns: 0 Next three games: vs Steelers, vs Giants, BYE

Name: C.J. Fiedorowicz Team: Texans Position: Tight End Rec Yds: 305 Recptions: 29 Avg yds per catch: 10.5 yards Touchdowns: 3 Fumbles: 0 Next three games: vs Raiders, vs Chargers, @Packers

Name: Brandon McManus Team: Broncos Position: Kicker Field goal att: 24 Field goals made: 21 Field Goal pct: 88 Longest field goal: 55 yards Next three games: BYE, vs Chiefs, @Jaguars

Name: Miami Dolphins Team: Dolphins Position: Defense Fumble recoveries: 3 Interceptions: 9 Points scored: 7 Sacks: 22 Touchdowns: 3 Next three games: BYE , @Eagles, @Bears

16 SPORTS

Nov. 15, 2016

Who runs the world? Girls XC Cross country team strives to break indoor track records this year

BY JUDE NANAW The girls cross country season has come to close following the Patriot Conference Championship meet. The girls ran in over 10 different competitive meets throughout the season against many Patriot Conference rivals.

The team had success this year with many runners breaking personal records and setting new personal best times.

"This cross country season we were all able to drop our times and beat our personal records in most of the races," junior Janice Milian said.

The improvement was not only with the team as a whole but also individual improvement.

"My biggest success this season was breaking my personal record at the conference meet by almost one minute," sophomore Vitalina Fuentes said.

Girls cross country and track head coach Phil Harris has been impressed with the performance of the team this cross country season.

There has been drastic progress made with most of the runners from last season.

"One of the best performances I have seen from the girls cross country team has come this year," Harris said.

"All of the girls who made it to the conference meet last year and made it again to the meet this year, their personal best times have dropped an average of a minute and a half," Harris said.

This drop in personal record times among runners is much improved when compared to the average drops in best times from past seasons.

COURTESY OF EMILY POPE

Sports Editor

The girls cross country team lines up at the starting line at the Patriot Conference Championship meet on Oct. 26.

"Most of the time personal records drop about 30 to 40 seconds between seasons, but this year that has improved dramatically," Harris said.

Although many of the girls will miss the season ending, there are some things they will not miss.

"I feel sad that the season is over but I'm not going to miss running in the heat for most of the season because that was horrible," Fuentes said.

With the start of many winter sports coming soon, one sport that many girls that ran cross country will also be participating in is indoor track.

"I feel like that indoor track is going to be easier than cross country this year because there is less running in

the meets," Fuentes said.

Many girls are excited for and eager for the indoor season to begin.

"I feel ready and really excited to be going into the indoor track season this year," Milian said.

The team last year had some success during indoor track, however due to the shorter length of the season and the decreased number of meets, there was not much time for improvement.

The girls look to work harder during practice in preparation for meets.

The girls will also be setting new goals for themselves to accomplish during indoor track.

"My goal for this season is break six minutes for my mile time," Fuentes said.

Many runners also look to improve personal record times in certain events during the indoor track season.

"A goal I have for this year is to drop my mile time and hopefully have a personal record of at least 5:30 in the mile by the end of the indoor track season," Milian said.

Efforts put in by the team during the cross country season are important to the indoor track season because improvements made during cross country carry over to the track season.

"One of the goals we have as a team is to keep on running because whatever the team does during the cross country season will definitely carry over to the indoor and outdoor track seasons and have a positive effect," Harris said.

In the indoor track season last year, the team came close to breaking significant school records in some events but fell short in the end.

The team looks to pick up where they left off last year and continue to progress and possibly break certain records.

"Last year we came close to breaking some records in different events in indoor track and I can assure some records are going to fall this year," Harris said.

"An example of a record we look to break would be the girls 4x4 relay. We came close to breaking that record last year, but this year the girls are focused to set a new record in that event," Harris said.

The team looks for overall improvement for the whole team.

"We are trying to have everbody improve and make the team a lot better as a whole," Harris said.

The team will soon begin to have practices and work hard for meets coming up this season.

Which winter sport are you most excited for this year?

"Indoor track because I like to run and I'm excited to run in different events."

JASON FLORES

"I'm probably most excited for indoor track because I enjoy running."

"Swim because I'm really excited to see the new coaches for this season.

CINDY SANCHEZ

freshman

OINK ANWAR

freshman

sophomore

"Swim because I can't wait to see people bleach their hair blonde. " MARYAM ATIQUE

"Basketball because I have a feeling that our team is going to be really good this year" MATTHEW MCKIVER

sophomore

"Basketball because the stands are usually really packed and exciting."

"Basketball because it's a nice sport to watch and there is a lot of competition.

ADRIANA GOMEZ

junior

junior

"Basketball because I'm on the dance team and we get to perform at halftime."

MOISES LAZO

NINA NGUYEN

senior

senior

Basketball looks to improve in Patriot Conference Atoms look to rebound following tough final record last year

BY JUDE NANAW

COURTESY OF DONTAE JOHNSON

Staff Writer One highly anticipated sport coming up this winter is boys basketball. The team looks to rebound and improve following last season's frustrating 4-19 finish.

"We didn't close out our games well last season which is something we need to improve," senior Dontae Johnson said.

The team had difficulties with communicating on the court last season as well.

"We did not communicate well and did not play well together as a team," junior Matthew Mckiver said.

Last years team included a younger roster that did not have much experience prior to the season. The lack of varsity experience resulted in a slow start for the team last year.

"Last season we were a younger team that lacked varsity game experience," Head Coach Matthew Behne said.

The varsity roster remains mostly unchanged with few seniors graduating last year and some new additions made this year.

"New season new team. Improvements are going to be made by individual players in their conditioning, skill, and understanding of game situations," Behne said.

The team looks to have a better record this season and a higher ranking among Patriot Conference rivals.

"Our goals for this year is to get better everyday and be at the top of the conference at the end of the season," Johnson said.

The boys have set goals to achieve that will help them perform better.

"We are going to use our athleticism to our advantage to improve our record from last year," Mckiver said.

The team also looks to put more points on the board during games throughout the season to out score opponents in games.

"We plan to be more about transition and advancing the ball as fast as possible and being able to score fast," Mckiver said.

In order to accomplish these goals the team will be working harder in practices to be better prepared for games.

"This year we plan to be in better shape than other teams and run the floor well to get good shots," Johnson said. Putting forth their best effort will be vital to the team's success this season.

"Our goals are for players and coaches to give their personal best each day. If each player can do that and come together to embrace teamwork then we will have accomplished our goals," Behne said.

The first regular season game for the team will be on Nov. 29 against the Fairfax Rebels following two scrimmages against George Mason High School on Nov. 18 and Colgan High School on Nov. 26.

ssBOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL

SCHEDUELE: 2016-17 11/29/16: (H) vs Fairfax 12/09/16: (H) vs Broad Run 12/13/16: (A) vs South County 12/15/16: (A) vs Marshall 12/16/16: (A) vs West Springfield 1/03/17: (H) vs TC Williams 1/06/17: (H) vs WT Woodson 1/10/17: (H) vs Lake Braddock SS 1/13/17: (A) vs West Potomac 1/17/17: (A) vs Mount Vernon 1/19/17: (H) vs South County 1/24/17: (H) vs West Springfield 1/27/17: (A) vs TC Williams 1/31/17: (A) vs WT Woodson 2/03/17: (A) vs Lake Braddock SS 2/07/17:(H) vs West Potomac 2/10/17:(H) vs Mount Vernon

Senior Dontae Johnson dribbles under the rim against Lake Braddock.

Coach's Corner: Julian Scarbrough Girls cross country and track sprints and jumps coach Q: How long have you been coaching at AHS? A: I have been coaching track here at Annandale for three years so far.

Q: What is your favorite part about coaching at Annandale?

A: My favorite part about coaching at Annandale is seeing the kids work hard and achieve their goals that they set for themselves.

Q: Besides track, is there any other sport you would coach?

A: Besides track , a sport that I would maybe coach is football.

Q: What made you want to coach and is there a story behind why you coach?

A: Being a former athlete made me want to coach. I also had a community service project in my sociology class and I volunteered to coach at South Lakes and three runners went to states and then I started coaching.

Q: Did you participate in and run track in high school or college?

A: Yes, I participated and ran track in both high school and college.

Q: What advice do you have for underclassmen who are interested in participating in track this year?

A: Advice I would have for underclassmen who are interested in joining track this year would is to come and try track and see if you enjoy it and have fun.

Also try to not set your goals to be too high.

Q: What has been your biggest accomplishment in coaching track?

A: My biggest accomplishment in coaching track so far was having Franco Kitila make it to nationals in the freshman group last year and Astrid breaking a triple jump record.

Q: What goals do you set for yourself as a track coach?

A: Some goals I set for my self as a coach is to try to motivate kids to the best of my ability so that they perform to their full potential. Also, to be there for when it really counts.

Q: Did you run track growing up?

A: Yes, I ran track mostly throughout high school and continued to participate in track in college.

Q: What makes you want to continue coaching track?

A: Seeing everyone practice hard everyday so that they can succeed and reach their goals.

KAILYN GARAY

Q: How long have you been coaching track?

A: I have been coaching track for 12 years total.

Coach Julian Scarbrough poses for a picture at track practice.

SPORT 17

Nov. 15, 2016

Boys cross country makes history First team since 2007 to secure a spot at regionals

BY CAMERON FOTI History was made a week ago, the boys cross country team ran in the 6A North regional meet at Burke Lake on Nov. 2. Performing well in this meet would secure a spot in the state championship meet at The Plains, but they were not able to meet their high standards.

Senior Dagim Tigabu finished in 52nd place with a time of 16:38, freshman Mikyas Sahlu finished next for the atoms with a time of 16:42 in 60th place, followed by Abbey Yared, Ethan Zimmerman, Mahiteme Tigabu, Zaid Al Kahfah, and then Tyler Westfall.

This is the first cross country season with the team's new coach, Dave Ciccarelli. Ciccarelli has brought many new changes and vibes to the team.

"We changed the culture this year to a culture of extremely hard work, high mileage, intense intervals, repeat hill work and significant increase in upper body core strength training," Ciccarelli said.

A major part of racing is getting over the discomfort of running.

This season, the team has worked to become more accustomed to that

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVE CICICCARELLI

Sports Editor

Seniors Dagim Tigabu (left) and Mahiteme Tigabu (right) sprint to get an early lead in their race

feeling so on race day they can overcome it and do their best.

"This difficult training regimen translated into the team's ability to better withstand the pain and discomfort inherent to racing. The end result was faster times and better team finishes," Ciccarelli said.

Many of the boys have improved from last season and have broken many of their personal best times.

"This year I got worked a lot harder

by coach Chic and dropped my best time by over a minute from the previous year," said sophomore Abbey Yared.

"Last year I was running in the 17:40 for a 5k but, this year I ended up running 16:09," said senior Mahiteme Tigabu.

Practice was a huge factor in the team's success this season. Without the unwearying effort put into practice, it would've been a lot harder for

them to reach the their goals.

"The key to success in any endurance sport is increasing the body's ability to move oxygen into the bloodstream and it is this type of aerobic work that gets this done.

We combined this with lots of upper body and core work to better maintain form in a race when the body is significantly fatigued," Ciccarelli said.

The team was led by the twins,

Mahiteme and Dagim Tigabu.

"Having my brother by my side is always motivating. The sibling competition between us is so intense that I'll do whatever it takes to win," said M. Tigabu.

The boys were very reflective of the season after the meet.

"My favorite part of the season is when every person on the team medaled and broke their personal record at a meet," M. Tigabu said.

Many of the boys have become faster throughout the offseason by training on their own, "In many of the distance workouts the boys are run much faster than in previous years," Ciccarelli said.

The Atoms, on paper, are most likely going to make the state meet in the upcoming year. They have smashed their coaches wildest expectations for the season.

"My goal when I accepted the position of head boys cross country Coach was to have the team Advanced from the conference Championship to the regional meet in three years," Ciccarelli said, "The boys did it in only one."

Most of the team will now be transitioning into indoor track mode, with the season just around the corner, about a week or two away.

Most to all of the skills used out on the course this fall can and will be brought to the track this winter. Luckily, they will still have their coaches to lead them to more success as the colder days come upon us.

It was unexpected for the boys cross country team to make it to regionals this year. But with the tireless effort and great coaching, the team smashed the expectations for the season and made history.

"I could not possibly more proud of what they have accomplished," Ciccarelli said. "They have set the example and tone for long-term success that, hopefully, will be sustained for years to come."

Athlete of the month: Ayman Elhag Sophmore varsity athlete finishes out season strong

BY CAMERON FOTI Sports Editor Sophmore Ayman Elhag has played two years of football for AHS. This year, he is working harder than ever to get his team as far as they can possibly go.

COURTESY OF AYMAN ELHAG

Q: When did you start playing football?

A: I started in sixth grade and played one year of ABGC then played freshmen football and now I play for varsity.

Q: When did you first realize your love for football?

A: I realized my love for for football this year when I saw how hard the seniors work because it justs makes you want it that much more.

Q: What made you want to start playing football?

A: I wanted to start playing because I saw Jarvis Landry play in college and to this day hes always been my favorite player.

Q: What do you do usually before a

Sophmore Ayman Elhag catches a pass one handed, then jukes out a defender against Lake Braddock on Oct. 9.

game?

A: I try to do my own thing and chill you know with my music and I have a pregame playlist and I just relax.

Q: What was the best moment in your football career?

A: The best moment of my football career was winning at the hoco game because going into that game Mt. Vernon was really rolling but we came out as the tougher team and won.

Q: How do you and your team celebrate a win?

A: We all just get super happy and excited and often have post game moves.

Q: How do you and your team deal with a loss?

A: After a loss, we get sad and try to bounce back because like Coach Scott says "win or lose we start the week 0-0 and try to win the day."

Q: What's the hardest thing about football?

A: The hardest this is the fact that its a hard sport to play it's fun but no one wants be on another persons highlight reel getting lit up or getting

mossed and if it happens to you it always sucks.

Q: What do you do in the off-season to prepare for football?

A: In the offseason, I run track in the winter and spring and work out with the team whenever the coaches have workouts.

Q: What is your favorite pregame meal?

A: My favorite pre game meal was Chick-fil-a because I love Chick-fil-a.

Q: How does playing more than one sport help you in football?

A: Playing more than one sport helps me in football because it's just nice to compete in more than one thing, you can use your speed developed in track to score a touchdown in football, it all comes together.

Q: Is it difficult for you to balance school, sports, and other activities that you have?

A: It's difficult but I'm slowly getting better at time management and getting used to staying up to finish my homework or setting my alarm to five am so I can get sleep and finish my homework.

Wrestling: three-peat?

The grappling Atoms are coming off back-to-back conference titles and are striving for a third

Senior Ben Padrutt (center) cheers before a meet at South Run last season.

Swim dives into new season New coaches, new direction

BY JORDAN ADAMS Staff Writer With a new season, and new coaches; the swim team are looking to live up to last season this winter.

New coaches Victoria Douglas and Coach Kendall are poised and ready to take the Atoms by storm.

"I am very excited to be a part of the AHS Swim and Dive coaching staff. I am looking forward to working with Coach Shelley and the parent volunteers," Douglas said.

Coach Douglas has been teaching Math at Annandale for the last two years, but this is her first year coaching swim. "I have been

swimming ever since I can remember. I swam every summer at my local country club," Douglas said.

Coach Douglas coaches junior varsity cheerleading as well as swim.

So far the coaches have received a warm welcome, "I have met the new coaches I am excited to see what they will bring to the team and how they will help our team grow," Senior Ben Padrutt said.

Padrutt is returning for his 4th and final year on the Atoms swim team and is the captain of the team.

Padrutt is looking forward to starting competitions and getting back to the swim team's traditions, of bleaching their hair for the conference meet. The boys bleach their hair blonde and the girls dye the tips of their hair red.

Fellow senior Rachel Neary is

looking forward to another tradition, senior night. "I am looking forward to senior night. It is weird to finally be the senior so I am really excited for it," Neary said. Coach Douglas in most looking forward to getting to know the student athletes and seeing where the team goes.

With the arrival of some new coaches, the team as a whole doesn't have any goals yet, but the individual swimmers certainly do.

"My goal for this years swim season is to improve my times from last year and to qualify for regionals in an individual event," Padrutt said.

The Atoms had success last year with a few individual swimmers; but the boys 200 meter free relay really stole the show by making it all the way to the state competition. The Atoms swim team will be looking for similar success this season.

"It takes a lot of effort and hard work and determination to become champions," said varsity wrestling Coach Derek Sweet. This upcoming season, the grappling Atoms are looking to become three time conference champions in a row.

In order to become three-peat champions, the grappling Atoms are going to need to take every sprint, match, practice, push-up and conditioning seriously.

Since every other high school is looking to defeat the champions, the Atoms are going to have stay sharp and focus during throughout the entire season.

The Atoms Wrestling team will be lead by their two captains, Junior Cesar Lopez and Junior Allen Kokilananda. Both of these leaders are looking forward to having a breakout season and leading their team to another title.

The grappling Atoms are without 10 seniors that graduated last year. The team this year is going to be very young and and hungry for victories. It's going to take sometime for the team to get used to the system.

"We graduated 10 seniors so we're going to be very young, very energetic and stride to become 3-peat conference championship," said Sweet.

This is going to be the second year for Coach Sweet.

Last year, after Coach Shoulders left, Coach sweet came in and took over the varsity team.

Sophomore Alex Brennan, JV and varsity wrestler said, "I think we will do well this year. We have a lot of new wrestlers moving up to varsity, since we lost a lot of seniors which graduated last year." He believes that him Junior Alan Kokilananda, waits to hear the referees and teammates can achieve and their third conference decision after one of his matches championship that they all have been working for.

Not only does the coach know that they'll have to first meet. But it will take some effort, "I kept my mind push themselves to the limit, Senior Allen Kokilananda open in terms of ideas and different ways to reach talent knows that too. "I need to improve in my conditioning and here, Sweet said. constantly keep pushing myself in practice and during Their first meet will be on Friday Dec. 2, at the Forest sprints," said Kokilananda.

Park Duals.

"I think that I'm going to have an amazing season and With the season about to start, Coach Sweet and his have a lot of fun just enjoying the sport and embracing grappling atoms are going to not lose their focus during the grind. And hopefully win another conference champi- practices and matches, so they can wrestle their way to onship," said Brennan. their third conference win in a row.

The grappling Atoms are looking to dominate in their

COURTESY OF ALAN KOKILANANDA

COURTESY OF JOYCE BOGHOSIAN

BY MAHDI LARHMARI Sports Editor

18 ENTERTAINMENT

Nov. 15, 2016

Boots on the ground vs. exo suits Should first person shooters stick to boots on the ground and avoid advanced movement?

YES

BY BRANDON HO Videographer Call of Duty recently released the thirteenth game in their franchise: Infinite Warfare. Anticipation leading up to the release is enormous with an old Call of Duty being remastered. Meaning that the developers are enhancing the graphics and re-releasing the game to newer consoles like the Xbox One and Playstation 4.

The addition of Call of Duty Modern Warfare being added on to Infinite Warfare brings back a fan favorite game of many avid Call of Duty players. Call of Duty's new title brings back a familiar style of gameplay used in the last 2 previous releases.

The style of gameplay is exo movement. In the last two title releases Advanced Warfare and Black Ops 3, Call of Duty based their game off of exo movement.

Exo movement is an enhanced way of playing where the user's avatar wears a skeletal suit that enhances the movement of the player including increase movement and jumping.

With release of EA's Battlefield 1, Call of Duty hopes to compete with Battlefield's first week release sales.

Electronic Arts has continually released first person shooters that stick to the concept of "boots on the ground" meaning all of their games continue a trend

that is realistic.

Gamers are not happy with the use of exo movements in the new Call of Duty's especially me.

I feel like the simplicity of the once great shooter franchise is lost, exo movement changes the game it speeds it up and adds another layer of gameplay which makes the game less enjoyable.

The reason why Battlefield has had so much success is that it sticks to its formula and provides realism which many game enthusiasts love.

"I like being on the ground and not having all the extra movement because it adds a layer of unpredictable movement in your opponents and I prefer more realistic games," said senior Korey Hylton.

Boots on the ground is a big topic for gamers because the two biggest first person shooters are Battlefield and Call of Duty, with Battlefield's record numbers on their release, Call of Duty hopes to compete.

Personally I feel like it won't because exo movement is once again being used. If Call of duty hopes to succeed in the future hopefully the franchise takes a step back in their next title.

Bringing back the concept of boots on the ground so that original players to the franchise get to relive and once again enjoy the fast paced first person shooter we all came to love and enjoy.

It will give shared success in the minds of the fans who asked for boots on the ground to return and for developers who will be back on good terms with the public.

NO

BY JULIUS MILLER Entertainment Editor In time, it has not been uncommon to see the gaming community divided over topics involving the newest games released.

Following the release of the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, the franchise received a lot of negative attention. Fans were unsatisfied to see the third consecutive Call of Duty game with advanced movement. Although this dissatisfaction can be justified and has been, players should be satisfied to get a game overall.

Advanced movement comes with the idea that Call of Duty has always moved forward in their games.

From Finest Hour to World at War, Call of Duty focused on basing their games off past events.

From Modern Warfare to Infinite Warfare, they have moved forward. Infinite Warfare is likely the last front: outer space. Fans of the franchise should look forward to boots being back on the ground in 2017.

These developers work day and night every year to create a game for the people, but they are entitled to their own decisions and likings.

If Infinity Ward decide they want to make a game with advanced movement, then that is what's going to

happen. I played all three of the advanced movement games.

The first released was Advanced Warfare, one of the first games to hit newer generation consoles. It featured exo suits that allowed the player to boost to ridiculous heights in the air, almost like Halo.

Most fans were dissatisfied with this because it gave more experienced players a huge advantage.

More experienced players were more in tune with the movements than newer players. The game play was great and it was also a beautiful game. The negative side of the game was not only found in the movement but also the in-game purchases called supply drops.

As of now, fans have accepted that supply drops are going to be part of every Call of Duty game. For about three months, I played Black Ops 3 endlessly and enjoyed it.

It was also a controversial game because although it did not feature exo suits, players could still boost in small bursts at smaller heights and run on walls.

Treyarch put a lot of time into the game and a lot of fans did not understand that it was probably in development during the release of Advanced Warfare.

This made it so that they could not just throw away the game. Black Ops 3 was overall a quality game that I enjoyed very much. Infinite Warfare is where the real controversy rose, because Infinity Ward developed it after wide disapproval of Advanced Warfare.

Fans need to be grateful that developers are giving them a new game every year.

I guarantee that if it were any other franchise, people would call Infinite Warfare flawless.

Players rate Call of Duty and Battlefield games

Call of Duty Finest Hour

Battlefield 1942

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

This was the first game ever released in the Call of Duty franchise and took on the events of World War II in its own interpretation.

Its place has been cemented in history as one of the most monumental first person shooters in history.

Imagine being placed in the crossfire of axis and allied nations during the height of World War II. Battlefield 1942 took on this idea and executed it well.

This was one of the first games that was released under the Battlefield franchise.

When you ask people what their favorite Call of Duty game is, it won't be uncommon to hear the name Modern Warfare 2.

This is due to the excellent multiplayer and campaign that left a lasting impression on many fan's lives.

"I still remember playing this on my Playstation 2 when I was a kid. It was really fun."

GABRIELA JORDAN senior

"It was a really ugly game but it was really fun to play and a little scary."

ELIZABETH CORCORAN junior

"It was better than Call of Duty 4 as far as the gameplay. It looked smoother and felt smoother."

Battlefield Bad Company 2 This sequel capitalized on the fault found in the original and features both a memorable base game and downloadable content.

The release of its DLC highlighting the Vietnam War is one of the best memories many Battlefield players have with the franchise.

"It felt better than Bad Company 1 but the graphics were still really rough in my eyes. "

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare

Battlefield 1

Infinite Warfare furthered the controversy of boots on the ground versus advanced movement.

It takes players out of this world, where they must fight in space stations and similar places.

The trailer for Infinite Warfare holds the second most dislikes on YouTube of all time.

The negative public perception of Infinite Warfare was only a sign to Battlefield to go back in time.

Battlefield 1 takes players back to World War 1 where they must fight in armored tanks and trenches.

It shifted a lot of Call of Duty fans over to the Battlefield franchise for the nostalgic experience.

"Everything that goes with this game is wrong. It is going to be a second Call of Duty Ghosts."

"I like the maps, especially how the zeppelin falls down and forms to the map."

TJ ULLAH

NICK SARATH

KYLE ADDO

KEVIN TRAN

senior

senior

junior

freshman

Bethesda shows quality with Skyrim Special Edition

BY JULIUS MILLER Entertainment Editor Five years ago, video game developer Bethesda released one of the greatest games of all time to players across consoles and PCs. Its influence carried on so much that it became one of the highest requested remasters of all time.

That game was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

On June 4, the people's request was met at the annual E3 Press Conference. Skyrim Special Edition was announced to be released to newer generation consoles with all downloadable content and player access to mods.

It was also set to be released as a free game to all PC gamers who had already owned the game prior to the remastered version release.

This was mainly due to the existence

of mods on PC's that could already apply graphical enhancements to the original game.

"I was pretty excited to hear that they were going to remaster my favorite game Skyrim," senior Waleed Awad said. "The original had so many bugs and I am glad they'll get that sorted."

Skyrim Special Edition plays exactly like the original version did but just looks even more beautiful than it did in 2011. This may be hard to believe for many, because the original game looks better than most games do today.

The real divide between whether you should buy this game or not is found in what you would play it on.

For console gamers, Skyrim Special Edition is a must buy. For PC gamers, not so much.

As mentioned before, PC's already had mods applied to the game that could already apply

graphical enhancements to the original game.

"I'm not going to get the remastered version," senior Dontae Johnson said. "My PC already runs mods on the game that make it look just as good or better than Skyrim Special Edition."

It's hard for long time players of Skyrim to say they don't miss the game. It wasn't uncommon for people to put in 100+ hours of gameplay into Skyrim at all.

People loved the game, and a lot of times it really brought the gaming community together.

Bethesda knew that remastering Skyrim would replicate the same emotions from its initial release and that's why the remaster was a perfect choice.

ENTERTAINMENT 19

Nov. 15, 2016

Students anticipate action-packed films Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Logan Hugh Jackman's last film as the Wolverine, the self-healing, clawed man from the X-Men series, will be released as the film Logan.

The movie is set to release on March 3, 2017, in IMAX and premium large formats. The cast includes film stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant and Dafne Keen.

It is loosely based off of the comic storyline Old Man Logan, which features Wolverine as an old man in the later days of his life.

The trailer shows Wolverine alongside Professor X, who in this movie is played by Patrick Stewart. Also very old, Professor X is shown to be meeting up with Wolverine for what looks like their final ride together. The trailer also includes a mysterious new girl, who looks about 12 that Wolverine and the professor meet. We do not know her importance yet, but can only assume she has very strong powers or a relation to Wolverine. The trailer was very short, revealing only that much.

"I want to watch Logan because all the previous Wolverine movies were intresting and cool to watch."

Marvel's beloved Guardians of the Galaxy return. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will premier on May 5, 2017, in 3D and IMAX. It will feature a star-studded cast including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, in addition to a special cameo made by Sylvester Stallone.

The trailer begins with vague and mysterious images of the bunch's spaceship; the Milano. Star-Lord, the goofy, human leader of the group is shown standing at the edge of an airlock, looking off into deep blue nebula in space.

Based on the narrative, it seems the film will focus heavily on Star-Lord's love interest in his alien Guardian counterpart, Gamora.

Furthermore, everybody's favorite soft-spoken "flora collossi", Groot, makes an appearance on Rocket the Raccoon's shoulder as a much smaller version of himself, regenerating as a result of the events in the first movie.

"I really enjoyed the first movie because it was a fun watch and I can't wait to see the second one."

YOUSSEF EL-BOUKRI senior

VICKY LUU senior

Power Rangers

Assassin's Creed Based on the best-selling video game, an Assassin's Creed film will be released on Dec. 21, 2016 in France and in the United States.

The movie will be directed

by Justin Kurzel and will feature the original story that continues the series' mythology. Michael Fassbender will w Callum Lynch, the main character in both the film and game.

The movie started development almost five years ago, when Sony Pictures was in final negotiations with Ubisoft Motion Pictures to make a film version.

It was officially said to release on May 22, 2015, it was then pushed back to June 19, 2015, and now is set for December by 20th Century Fox. The setting and location for the film will be in Malta, Spain, and the UK. The film is expected to take a deeper look into Callum himself as a person and his memories of Assassin's society.

Look out for the release as video game fanatics will line up on opening night.

"I'm excited to watch the movie because I've been a fan of the series since Assassin's Creed 2."

KOREY HYLTON

"I'm hyped to see Power Rangers because I watched it growing up and I want to see how the movie was reinterpreted."

senior

GASTON SANCHEZ

The extremely popular superhero drama TV show will be remade as a movie on March 24, 2017.

Power Rangers will be directed by Dean Israelite and will feature stars like Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, Bill Hader, Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Banks.

This is the third film of the franchise and will be a complete reboot, the last film was back in 1997.

Filmmakers tend release their movies about 15 years after the start of the show so the kids watching the show can grow up and watch the movie when it releases.

The film will follow the storyline of the previous TV shows and movies. The 2017 film will go about troubled teens turning into Power Rangers and defeating the alien antagonist.

The movie was first said to release on July 22, 2016, Lionsgate later delayed the release date to March 24, 2017.

If you watched Power Rangers when you don't want to miss this nostalgic showing.

senior

Is the iPhone 7 really worth it?

iPhone Evolution

BY DREW WHITE AND HUSSEIN SALEM Staff Writer and Entertainment Editor

iPhone 2007

iPhone 3G 2008

iPhone 3GS 2009

iPhone 4 2011

iPhone 5 2013

iPhone SE 2016

iPhone 7 2016

iPhone 5C 2013

The 10th generation smartphone lived up to the hype. On Sept. 16, 2016, the highly anticipated iPhone 7 and 7+ were released. The five inch, 32G model starts at $649 retail and goes up to $849 for the 256G device. Similarly, the plus starts at $749 for the 32G and goes up to $949 for the 256G. Recently, there have been complaints about the three storage sizes of the new iPhone. The seven has a huge jump in price for more storage and skips the original size option of 64G. "I have the iPhone 7 and it would have been nice for it to start at 64G instead of 32G because the 32G is too little and the 128G costs $100 dollars more for storage I don't use," said senior Tehya Moss. In addition to the new storage options, the iPhone 7 and 7+ both have new cool specs. The phones have no auxiliary jack and instead, earphones must connect to the charging port. Also, a lightning cable goes in the charging port connecting an auxiliary cord or normal headphones to the phone.

The downside of this is that you cannot listen to music while charging your phone without having bluetooth headphones or

Switch it up with Nintendo's newest console

BY HUSSEIN SALEM Entertainment Editor Japanese giant Nintendo will be releasing it's first ever hybrid video game console in March 2017. The Nintendo Switch is a tablet like console that will feature handheld configurations on each side.

The screen, otherwise known as the "Switch Console," is a battery powered tablet that features a 6.6 inch screen, headphone jack and a kickstand. It also comes with a controller system called the Joy-Con. They are normally attached the switch console but can be removed and used in each hand for gameplay or be used for a two-player game.

Nintendo is known creating children games and their active gaming, but look to change this in the future. During the unveiling, they showed they will be trying to compete with the PlayStation and Xbox by listing publishers Activision, Capcom, Electronic Arts, Sega and Ubisoft, but will still continue their originals like Mario Kart, Super Mario and Splatoon..

The company's goal was to make a successor for both the 3DS and the Wii U, so they tried to

make both in one.

"Our original concept was, 'What kind of new experience can we create?' And what we showed this time was an object that is both stationary and one you can take outside to play with anyone you want," Tatsumi Kimishima, President of Nintendo said.

As for pricing, nothing official has been released, but it may be similar to previous console. During a previous interview, Kimishima stated that the console will be priced in line with what you'd expect from a Nintendo console.

However, since the Switch is something of a new idea in the entertainment world--it's a console and mobile hybrid--it's not so easy to compare to any past Nintendo system. "Regarding the

speakers. Both phones have increased water resistance and have a new capacitive home button. They are the same size as the previous 6s and 6s +, however they have faster processors, longer lasting battery life, and bigger, better cameras. The 7+ has a dual lense camera so that it can better capture its surroundings. Both new iPhone's offer a new style; Jet Black, which is a glossy non aluminum body.

Many people have the iPhone model previous to the newest one because they usually don't believe in buying the new one at market price. Even though there may be several new features and a little faster, the money its worth may not be worth it. The iPhone 7 proves to be different.

"Although there are some downsides to the iPhone 7, the new features easily outweigh any negatives. It's nice to be able to use it in hot tubs and baths without being stressed about the water. I'm overall very happy that I made the switch from the iPhone 6s", Moss said The new iPhone 7 and 7+ have many great features that users love, it leads the road to the future of the next models.

However, with the steep price every customer pays for this advanced technology, you would think they would treat customers right by giving them storage options that they want. Rating: 9.0/10

Playlist of the Issue

price, as we have been saying, we are, in principle, not planning to sell it at a loss.

We would like a wide variety of consumers to enjoy Nintendo products, and we would also like to think in terms of consumers' expectations for our products." Kimishima said.

Many fans are criticizing Nintendo for it's extremely similar body to its predecessor, the Wii U. "I don't believe that the Nintendo Switch is worth it because it's so similar to the Wii." senior Saad Farooq said.

The company isn't expecting to lose any money from the release, though. Nintendo expects to ship two million Switch consoles during its launch in March.

Microsoft and Sony most likely won't be worried about Nintendo's newest console, as the PS4 and Xbox One are doing just fine. "Microsoft and Sony have dominated the gaming console marketing mix, therefore this new console

by Nintendo will not succeed." senior Mikael Mechal said.

Nintendo fans will be patiently waiting for the highly-anticipated release of the Switch and will camp out at stores worldwide.

Nintendo Console timeline: Nintendo 64

Super Nintendo

GameCube

Sept. 29, 1996

Aug 23, 1991

Nov. 18, 2001

Wii Nov. 19, 2006

Retailed for $199

64-bit central processing unit

Used optical discs as its primary storage

More than 101 million units sold

Sold over 49 million copies

Time Magazine named it Machine of the Year.

Sold over 21 million units

First motion-sensored console

Named 2nd best console by GameTrailers

Super Mario 64 was it's best-selling game

IGN ranked the GameCube 16th greatest console

Backwards compatiblity introducted

20 WEEKEND Indoor activities for the cold weather Nov. 15, 2016

Dave and Buster's

AMC at Tysons Corner

The perfect spot for all kinds of arcade games, Dave and Buster's brings out the kid in everyone. Packed with tons of racing games, air hockey and pool; it has every game you can imagine.

First you sit down at a table with your group of friends and order food. The food is similar to that of bowling alleys and laser tag places: pizza, chicken tenders, fries, burgers, all the sorts. Perfect for a night of bringing out the kid in you.

After eating, head straight to the arcade. There are many prizes you can win as well, if you're up to the challenge. Jump on a motorcycle and race your friends, challenge them to a zombie thriller game, or have an air hockey tournament. The choice is yours at Dave and Buster's.

Are you bored of just sitting at home and waiting for something exciting to come your way? Have you been craving the buttery movie theater popcorn? Well, the wait is now over. Watch your favorite movie at the AMC movie theater and go through the experience with your friends and family! It is a great place to stay warm during the fall season and the best part is that you can go watch a movie anytime you'd like.

Although the prices vary, certain movies are also available to watch in 3D. Recent movies coming out include "Allies," "Arrival," "Trolls" and many more. Don't forget to go watch your favorite movies at the AMC movie theater soon.

Autobahn Indoor

Room Escape DC Have a group of friends that you think can handle this puzzle? Take them to Room Escape DC in Fairfax, Va. It has a variety of different rooms such as a prison bus, an insane asylum, the White House, and many more. It costs about $30 per person, and the rooms take about three to seven people.

The goal for the group is to use all of the clues in the room to figure a way out.

It has props, real puzzles and activites, and even real people that participate with you. They last for about an hour, unless you can get out earlier. If someone in your party is scared easily, you may want to consider the more thriller rooms, such as the White House one!

Ever want to race your friends down the road, or feel like you are in a NASCAR race? Wait no more, because Autobahn Indoor Speedway gives racers both of those opportunities. Hop into your track suit, throw your helmet on, and get ready to race. You have to take the safety course first, however. This class teaches all of the rules of the speedway, with signs and what to do in case anything happens.

It is very important as the cars can go very fast, and everyone must still be safe. Make sure to have fun when you hit the tracks with your friends!

Fly High Loudoun Ever want to go skydiving, but can't get over your fear of heights? Wait no more, because at Fly High Loudoun, you can do it without the fear! bring a group of friends for the drive, and experience it for yourself. Jump into a cylindrical simulator that has fans along the floor and walls. Strap on your helmet and flight suit, and get ready to fly.

You first step into it with an instructor who guides you and holds onto you while you get the hang of it.

Once you have done that for awhile, they may let you take a turn on your own! It is rather expensive however, so you may need to bring a lot of friends for the party deal you can get. That'll save lots of money, and make the experience much more fun!

Flight Love trampolines? Flight Trampoline Park is the best place for someone with that passion. Packed with tons of rows of trampolines, vaults, air-bag pits and dodgeball rooms.

The dodgeball games are very crowded, and are played on trampolines, adding to the fun. The enitre place is basically just a big trampoline, so you may want to watch your step so you do not get hit by another person.

The best times to go are on Friday or Saturday nights, when there is Club Flight. For only $18, you and your friends can spend two hours from 9-11 for people only above 13 years old. It includes strobe lights and loud music. If you want some good exercise, this is the place to go.

Tips on spending a night out in Old Town, Alexandria Take a stroll through the vintage streets of Old Town

BY CONRAD SHARTEL Weekend Editor The Landini brothers is the perfect italian restaurant for a nice night out in Old Town, Alexandria.

ENjoy the historic area and dine on some pasa and get some ice cream afterwards for a great date idea.

Landini's is an old fashioned italian restaurant, with a very quiet and fancy vibe. Dress up if you'd like, cause it can make the occasion more fun. It is on the more expensive side, so make sure to save it for more of a special occasion.

The menu is all genuine Italian food, and then Italian dessert after the meal. It also includes bread and butter as at appetizer, which is a reason to head to the restaurant in itself.

The service is amazing, and makes you feel like you're sitting at a restaurant in Florence, Italy.

Afterwards, if you have the stomach for it, head to the creamery right across the street for some homemade ice cream.

Also on the pricey side, but like Landini, still worth it, the creamery

has soft serve, regular ice cream and milkshakes with all the flavors you want. It is a smaller parlor, so if the weather permits, you may want to walk around the waterfront or the shops while you enjoy your dessert.

There are many ice cream places all on the same street, King Street, such as ben and Jerry's.

However, the creamery gives much more of a homemade vibe.

After enjoying the delicious Italian food and ice cream, if you still want to stick around, head to the waterfront right by the Torpedo Factory.

The waterfront includes street performers, artists that will paint your face, and even magicians.

You can walk around enjoying all of these activities, or simply walk to the end of the dock and admire the CHarthouse restaurant, which is a restaurant on a boat.

You can also watch the other boats speeding past on the Potomac, and enjoy the river breeze.

It truly is an area with many activities for a fun night with someone, and a great night for some great food.

There are many other restaurants to eat at in Old Town; you really cannot go wrong. There is food of all sorts, but Landini's is at the top. It is expensive, but worth it, and gives a real Italian feeling.

Rating for Landinis: 9/10.

Rating for Old Town Creamery: 9.5 out of ten.

The inside of Landini Brothers Restaurant gives off a fancy and old fashioned vibe.

The front of Landini's at 115 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314

The Creamery Ice Cream at 110 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314

Class of 2017 Bulletin

213

days until graduation

To-do list: November Edition Make sure you start sending in college applications Sign up for FAFSA Juniors, sign up to take the SAT in December

Senior Crew McCarthy is the Video Editor in Chief, leading the team that brings The A-Blast to life.