The High 63

THE HIGH EDITION 63 | FEBRUARY 10, 2017

TRUE SCHOLARS (found on page 3)

Photograph by Giovanna Rojas

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Ruby Griffiths DEPUTY EDITOR

Edward Fraser

IT’S PERSONAL project time.

RED ALERT

The inevitable truth.

Period.

LOVE YOURSELF

Singles or Doubles?

2

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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dreamt my tooth fell out. Apparently, it means I’m dealing with a sudden change, which indeed could be applicable to anyone in year thirteen. Yet, it resonates for me now more than ever. That queer dream of my tooth falling out signaled my spiral into madness. Everybody became a stranger overnight, it seemed. Nothing mattered. The days were purposeless. Timetables felt crude. As if I cared about a schedule. Time seemed to mutate before my eyes and then get lost in dark pockets. Even though my teenage acne finally cleared, my mind certainly did not. Not for a moment did I realise that these last few months are my last. Not until the madness took over. The virus claimed its host, symptoms including tardiness, absences, and general academic laziness, all breaking out in a dismissive and angst-ridden demeanor. This is upper sixth illness and I am feverish.

Dr Cohen from the Washington Post tells me my senioritis is “no joke” and a gateway illness to general laziness and poor work ethic at university. I disagree. While it is not fun, like a pesky cold that instead of making you sneeze makes you tumble down a dark rabbit hole of existentialism and marmalade jars, it is not as bad as it seems. Just because the inevitable scenery change will cause us to question ourselves, does not mean that we are suddenly new people. As long as we try new things, talk about our goals, and think about the people we want to become, I have faith that we will clamber out of that rabbit tunnel alive.

I am sure that many of my peers are similarly dazed. If any of you are feeling that apathetic ache, I understand; but we must not forget that it allows us to step back for a moment. It whisks us away from the nitty gritty of sticky-posts, sweat and tears, and gives us a prime seat in front of the big screen. Revel in the nostalgia and take in those fast flickering pictures. Yet, when those cinema lights come back on and you realise it is still only midday, go seize it.

RUBY GRIFFITHS Editor-in-Chief

EDITORS Amanda Bris Amara Sarao Suhasini Mehra

Nikolay Zhurov Nick Jennings Anne-Marie Rusu

TABLE OF CONTENTS Tanzania Scholarships Sexism Democracy No Phones Exams on Holidays Personal Project Winter Ball Periods

03 04 05 06 06 07 08 09

How to be Single Relationship Advice Stranger Things Hair Dye Rogue One To Fell a Tree Watch, Read, Listen Comic & Wordsearch

10 11 12 13 14 15 15 16

3

THIS SCHOLARSHIP HAS SAILED

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fter four successful years, the Board of ISL has decided to bring its distinguished Student Scholarship Programme to an end. The decision, though saddening to many, was a necessary step in ensuring that ISL would be able to guarantee the best for the programme’s beneficiaries; comprised thus far of four Tanzanian girls, two of whom graduated in 2015 and two who will graduate this year.

The scholarship programme was first proposed several years ago by Simon Foley, who started the Tanzanian Service trips and is now the Secondary School Principal. The underlying aims of the programme were to give educational opportunity to young people who would otherwise not have access to an international education, to challenge any potential preconceptions held by the ISL community whilst increasing the diversity of the student body, and to have a hard-working scholarship student be a positive role model for the pre-existing ISL student body in hopes that motivation would breed motivation. Shortly after its proposal, the programme received approval and support from the board, and went underway into its selection process for the first round of Tanzanian scholarship students. This involved collecting students amongst the top 20 performing individuals—boys and girls alike—from the Year 11 Tanzanian National Examination results, followed by further oral interviews conducted by an ISL representative. The first two-year cycle benefitted two girls from different schools, Kwesiga and Christine, who graduated from ISL in 2015. The two girls who followed were Veronica and Belinda, joining ISL in August of 2015 to start their diploma programme. They are to graduate in just a few months from now, and will be the last beneficiaries of the scholarship programme. The four girls are viewed by many as exemplary students and excellent members of our community. The sheer show of support ranging from all ends of the ISL community for all four of the scholarship students was simply awe-inspiring.

With all of that said, what was most impressive were those willing to assume the roles as host families for the scholarship students. As the Student Scholarship Regulations literature suggests, ‘the host family is expected to integrate the scholarship student into their family as they would their own child.’ This would entail the provision of a nurturing, support-network in which they would be able to feel at home and seek help if at all necessary. The host families would also be responsible for supporting the student’s basic living costs, with supporting monthly payments from ISL. And unfortunately, just as insurmountable as is the responsibility of taking on a new child into one’s home, the scholarship students were often faced with a far lower provision of host-family accommodation than hoped. While there were a number of highly-supportive ISL student-body host families, namely the McNallys and the Graz family; often, it was left to several

Edward Fraser investigates the end of the programme

members of the ISL faculty to offer a helping hand to the students in terms of accommodation. Those include Mme Sion, Ms Foster, Ms Smith, Mr Foley, and Mr Friend. In actuality, “parents are very busy raising their own children and an additional teenager seems like a huge burden,” says Mr Foley, following up to say that really, “having these students is a real pleasure.” Ultimately, no matter how unfortunate, it is understood why not every ISL family would be quick to offer their homes to share with the scholarship students. And subsequently, due to the lack of willing host families in ISL, the programme is coming to an end.

However, that is not to say the programme wasn’t wildly successful during its course. Within just a few months from now, the programme will have given rise to the graduation of four young Tanzania IB Diploma students, two of whom are already on their second-year at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, USA. Christine, who is currently studying at WPI, strongly expresses her gratitude towards the opportunity she was granted as a result of ISL’s scholarship programme: “ISL has definitely shaped my university life and my future.

Without ISL, I wouldn’t be in WPI, taking biomedical engineering and adapted so well to university.” Throughout all of her experiences here—joyful, or even at-times stressful—she explains that “all of it was worth it.”

Not only were Christine and Kwesiga selected for ISL scholarships, they were fortunate enough to be able to continue their higher-education studies abroad with the help of private charitable donation in fulfilment of their tuition fees.

Many members of the ISL community feel that the scholarship programme should provide support into higher education after graduation. Simon Foley, the creator of the programme, states: “The rest of the students’ lives are not something that the scholarship programme can be responsible for.” He believes that their experience with the diploma programme alone will provide a “valuable world perspective and opportunities that will have tangible positive impacts on their lives,” regardless of where they go to university. Mr. Foley concludes that: “The sad reality is that without a great deal of luck, or generous scholarships, ISL scholarship students face an insurmountable barrier that the majority of other ISL students do not face – how to pay for college.”

Thus, while it may always be slightly upsetting to think that there will be no future beneficiaries of a similarly wonderful programme in ISL, it is important to instead reflect on the successes that the scholarship programme has been able to grant to the four Tanzanian girls, and to continue striving towards the very aims of the programme itself: to diversify the perspectives of the student body and to engender ambition in students via highly-motivated student role models.

4

SEXISM AND THE CITY

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o you really believe you face sexism in Switzerland?” I’ve been asked this question countless times, and I admit that I don’t always know what to answer. There’s no doubt that many girls in less developed countries are subject to violence and inequalities daily, and compared to them, what I face is nothing. But nonetheless, the sad truth is that I cannot declare that I haven’t faced sexism in my life. I sent out a survey to the high school students of ISL asking about sexist moments they have suffered from, and some answers I received were shocking.

Last night, after going to the movies with my younger sister, we were waiting for the bus in St. François and a beggar asked us for money. Another man also came up to us and, imitating the beggar, asked for money to “buy women”.

As my sister and I quickly walked into the bus that had just arrived, he continued to insist that prostitution is legal in Switzerland. Not only did this man take advantage of the situation to come up to us, he also made a nasty comment about the beggar’s intentions. I stood up for myself and the beggar, and shouted at him, repulsed and infuriated, but my sister was terrified. In the bus, she said she was so scared that if she had been alone, she would have run away. As we were walking home and crossed an old man, my sister had tears in her eyes and said “What’s the point of going out if you’re going to be put in a situation where you’re the victim?”. She even said she was angry with herself because she was encouraging such behavior from men, because she couldn’t stand up for herself. That not telling off these actions was ‘unfeminist’ of her. My fourteen-year old sister who has been out twice at night felt terrified and blamed herself. A tiny incident which many of us have experienced made her want to not go out anymore.

Many ISL girls have experienced similar situations where unwelcome attention made them feel scared or disgusted.

One girl had two older men persistently compliment her about her smile, her eyes, her accent. She says: “having my sister there who probably too would become a victim of unwanted attention made it even worse. I did not want her to lose her ‘innocence’ in a way.” Another girl refused to give an old man her number in the bus, and he “sat near me and asked what my problem was, wouldn’t leave me alone, stared at me.”

One sixteen-year old girl has had men “hit on” her in the train frequently since she was thirteen. She says it scares her, “especially when it is at night or I am alone.” Another girl who is only fourteen says she has been regularly harassed ever since she was eleven, “from small comments about my body to men grabbing me on the street as I walk home from school and request that I do things to pleasure them.” Three times men have tried to pull her away to bring her somewhere with them.

Recently, one of my friends who is a guy asked me: “Why would you complain when you receive attention?” It’s hard to understand why attention is not always welcome, because being complemented or admired usually stems from positive feelings. However, through the stories that ISL girls have shared, it’s clear that attention doesn’t always feel good. Hitting on people at parties is “what humans tend to do” as one respondent put it. But excessive, unwanted attention isn’t. The message here is not to stop giving attention to people, but to stop abusive attitudes that are not welcome.

Contrarily to popular belief, not only women suffer from sexism; men do too. Although nine of the eighteen boys who answered my survey said they had never faced sexism, some did insist that sexism goes both ways. One boy says he was “forcefully put in a situa-

Maëlle Jacqmarcq stands up for her sisters tion with a girl on a night out.” Another explained that “from a young age I’ve been told to not express my emotions as much and to keep my problems to myself.” He also pointed out that all Swiss men who will soon graduate “are forced to do military service, whereas women are not.” This is unfair and sexist because not only does it come from the idea that only men are strong enough to protect the country, but it also forces men who might want to pursue something else to spend eighteen weeks in the army.

Just like men are expected to act tough, girls at ISL agree they have suffered from an image of women as emotional and weak. One girl said that society dictates that women cannot be strong or muscular, and a few others experienced the phrase ‘throwing like a girl’ as an insult. Another respondent says she has heard many “stupid jokes” about rape or saying feminism is stupid. One girl expands this remark by saying, “If anybody makes a comment about how (the jokes) are disrespectful, we get called ‘crazy’ or ‘over-emotional’.” Both girls and boys suffer from gender stereotypes that society has developed, which is why men and women need to stick together to combat sexism.

I’m a 17-year old girl who lives in a privileged community in one of the richest cities of the world. I go to an international school with a very liberal mindset. The fact that many others and I from this school face sexism in our daily life is a problem. What about all those other people in the world who aren’t as privileged as us? When I introduced my article idea to the news team one month ago, I received moans and a sarcastic “new year, new topic” comment, insinuating that sexism is old, boring news. Someone even answered “please…” to my survey. People are sick of hearing about sexism. So am I. But until sexism continues to be a problem, the articles will keep on coming.

5

ONE MAN, ONE VOTE, ONE MESS

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oday, only 4.5% of the world’s population live in a fully democratic country. About 45% live in flawed democracies, while 33% are subjects of authoritarian regimes.

Democracy originated in Classical Greece, where political representatives were chosen by an electorate composed of men (sorry ladies) of all social and economic backgrounds.

Democracy is sometimes referred to as “rule of the majority”, and in theory it seems like a great idea. People should be able to decide who makes important decisions affecting their well-being, and have a say in their government. Unfortunately, this idealism is precarious in the real world.

One of the biggest problems that threatens the nature of democracy is voter ignorance. Many voters do not bother to learn about politics, and therefore vote in full unawareness. Democracy is supposed to enact the will of the people.

But what if the people have no clue what they’re doing? In case you have not heard, Trump won. Many people believe that this is because Trump supporters are poor, but in fact, Trump supporters in the primaries had an average income of about $72,000 per year. Not wealthy by Swiss standards, but in the United States they earn more than the national average and more than Clinton supporters. Trump supporters were not especially poor, rather they were uneducated.

American voters generally know who the president is but not much else. They don’t know which party controls Congress, what Congress has done recently, or whether the economy is improving or not. Just why voters know so little is well-understood. It’s not that people are stupid. Rather, it’s that democracy creates bad incentives.

Most voters are ignorant or misinformed because the costs of acquiring political information greatly exceed the potential benefits to the individual. In other words, in democracy, voters do not consider their vote to be especially important because how all of us vote, collectively, matters a great deal.

However, individual votes do not. Therefore, voters can afford to indulge in beliefs from questionable sources such as Facebook, or claims made by word of mouth— precisely because such beliefs cost them nothing. After all, the chances that any individual vote will decide the election is vanishingly small. Voters nowadays do not seem to feel responsible for their decisions, or recognize the importance of a single vote.

This is not just the case in the United States, but in many democracies. In my home country of Spain, my 101-year old great grandmother is eligible to vote. She is a remarkable woman in many ways, a Gypsy who single handedly raised five daughters, only learned to read when she was 20, has never left Spain and has remained uninterested in political affairs throughout her entire life. She always votes for the same party: PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party), with little concern for their policies and not considering their many

Amanda Bris does not follow the leader

corruption scandals in the past. Whenever I encourage her to think critically about her political views, she responds with a grunt, and goes about her business as usual. This political ignorance, combined with loyalty for a political party, is extremely dangerous, as it ensures that the parties who stay in power can do whatever they please and still be re-elected.

Supporters of democracy argue that the choice of the people is always the best. A leader is justified and legitimate if he is popularly elected, and his actions are determined by the greater good. Sadly, this is hardly the case. If we look at past history, leaders that have been catastrophic for a nation have risen to power through popular vote. It’s hard to believe that someone like Hitler, who devoted immense time and resources to figuring out how to kill segments of his own population, could have been popularly elected, but in fact he was. In more recent history, democratically-elected Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has committed extrajudicial killings of drug dealers, and encouraged ordinary people to murder drug consumers and traffickers. This leader states that he is responding to the will of his people, but the cruelty produced from this is simply barbaric. Democratic principles also state that the participation of ordinary people in politics is always beneficial, but if we look at Trump and Brexit, we can see that people do not always justify their decisions with logic and reason. Rather, they vote out of fear and resentment, enabled to do so with democratic institutions.

We can only claim the triumph of democracy if we acknowledge the problems of any of the alternatives. Dictatorships rely on a somehow random allocation of political leaders.

Countries can be lucky to end up with a benevolent dictator (the UAE, Singapore) with noble intentions and selfless policies, but this is rarely the case (North Korea, Equatorial Guinea) and most times dictators are not accountable to the common good (China, Saudi Arabia).

I feel lucky to live in a democratic system, and do not condemn democracy by any means. Rather, I believe it is important to recognize the problems that come with democratic principles, in order to make the system work as effectively as possible. As Winston Churchill declared, “democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” It is fair to say that no system is perfect, and even democracy has its faults. If we want to be responsible voters and ensure a bright future in all of the countries in which we are eligible to vote, we must think of the implications of our political decisions. It is important for our generation to stay informed with real facts, and to not let fear, hatred or bitterness dictate our political decisions.

Your vote matters, and your choice gives you power. It is up to you what you do with it.

6

BROKEN BY THE BREAK

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’m sitting on the same chair for three hours. I try to type, but my mind is blank. It’s two days to the deadline.

“I love this engineering program because…”. I dose off and wake up, still on the chair. “Whaaat! The ‘ why college X’ essay hasn’t written itself yet?” Oh, well. I facepalm myself.

I’m in my room. I think about how I’ve been isolated from civilisation, from family, from friends (for three straight hours!). Man, I do need some fresh air.

But that has to wait.

I’m facing my blank screen again.

I really cannot focus. I decide to do some questions from the maths packet we were given... It’s too many questions, and I cannot do half of them.

Did I mention this was during the Christmas break? A time meant to be spent with family, to buy and receive presents, and most of all, to take a break from school so that you may have a fresh mind coming back. Well at least

that is what I thought my Christmas break would be like. But thinking about the fact that I would be having my mock exams just a week after I came back from the break, I couldn’t always have time for family. I had to be in my room to finish up those college essays, and to [try] studying for the exams.

I shouldn’t be complaining too much.

Exams are important, aren’t they? A bookish explanation would be that exams are used to help us know our weaknesses, and what we need to work on, to make the education we are getting worth it. Of course teachers are not just evil aliens sent on earth, using exams to crush their students’ dreams and make them fail. That would be silly. (Unless, they are actually aliens, beware) So taking into account the very monumental importance of having exams, we should be prepared, so that we know our actual weaknesses, and for

OFFLINE OFF-PISTE

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his semester, in Year 10, the main topic of controversy was the rule of this year’s ski trip.

The rule that had so many people riled up is the Year 10 teachers’ decision to ban all mobile phones on the ski week.

The justification for this was that there are very few scenarios where a phone could really be useful and would only really cause a distraction from social activities and keep people from talking to each other. Many people in the year were frustrated and were not afraid to voice their opposition. The students made many arguments, however these were swiftly shut down by the teachers. It would appear that a lot of people were more upset about losing their snapchat streaks than not being able to call for help if they ever got injured.

I believe that the teachers made a good decision for the students socially; however, when it came to practicality, the rule had some flaws.

Socially, the decision forced the students to talk to each other and inter-

act more than usual. This was one thing that the teachers had put a lot of thought into, a point made clear in Mr Kirby`s year assembly, who also likened the students’ connection to phones to “Drug addicts who can’t get their fix.” I believe that it was beneficial for the students to spend more time with each other, as we are living in an age where we are constantly attached to technology. I noticed that people were down in the communal room a lot more because they wanted to do something to keep their mind active, which shows that we don’t need our phones like a lot of people thought we did. I also noticed that people slept a lot earlier and were not nearly as shattered by the end of the week as they were in past ski weeks. Also, people were a lot less loud.

However, there were some things that the teachers overlooked. I experienced this firsthand while I was on the trip.

While we were skiing, a couple of students had taken the wrong turn and

Veronica Wambura

year 13s, to ready ourselves for our finals. However, from what I’ve learnt, most of us did not study enough during the Christmas break. Either we tried and failed, or we just couldn’t get ourselves to touch a book during the holiday. This meant that coming back from the break, we weren’t able to prepare fully for the exams that we had to do only one week away.

So, really, the exams did not completely test us to know our weaknesses. Instead, some of them just showed us how much stuff we knew very well, but could not exactly remember, because we did not study enough for them.

I don’t know how this article is going to help with anything, but most students would prefer to have the exams at least two or three weeks after the holidays to prepare better. And so, knowing that our teachers are not aliens, I hope they will have a change of heart for future exams.

Lewis Martin had gotten lost. Our instructor left to find them. In the end we joined another group but with the afternoon of skiing wasted because our instructor was too busy looking for the people who got lost. This whole situation could have been avoided if we had called the other students to find where they were and went to get them. However, if someone was really lost and was off piste and injured, not being able to find out where they were could have lead to a life or death situation taking a turn for the worse. One thing that annoyed me was that the teachers said to just ask someone to call the number, which couldn’t be dialed by mobile phones.

I think that the decision to remove phones was a decision made much to the dismay of the students, but it had good intentions socially, forcing students to disconnect and talk to one another. However, practically, it could have been much better thought out or the week could have ended in tragedy.

7

UP CLOSE...

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hree weeks ago, it was the exam week for years twelve and thirteen, ski week for the years ten and below and the personal project week for year eleven. For those unaware, the personal project week is a week’s worth of time given to write the personal project’s final and most important step which is its report. However, this article is focusing on the experience that a few year eleven students had during the process of completing their personal project. Hopefully this will also give an insight on how the personal project works for the people who have yet to do it.

The first step in the process of producing a product or an outcome was to choose a topic. Here are example of a few of this year’s chosen topics.”. I believe that “the psychology of laugher” is an interesting topic because I also laugh a lot (sometimes too much). Also, understanding the how laughter works and what are its causes is something fascinating. Secondly, Cailan Moss’ topic about “Why do people believe

the unbelievable” is in my opinion an important topic. As human beings and especially teenagers, we tend to automatically expect the worse resulting in a lack of confidence thus, making us unable to reach our full potential in life. Thirdly, the topic about “Fast fashion” was eye opening. In her presentation, Eliana Frischer talked about the poor working conditions that people go through in clothing factories. However, what was surprising to me are the environmental consequences caused by fast fashion which are far more severe than what I ever imagined.

In addition, because the topic is chosen by the student. In many cases that same topic does have a connection to that student’s personal life. When asking Valentina Laugeri why she chose her topic about laugher, she simply answered “I just laugh a lot”. On the other hand, Eliana Frischer choose fast fashion as she is interested in fashion but was shocked when she realised that a lot of fashion brands are not environmentally friendly and “… It gave me a

... AND PERSONAL

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ast Wednesday the Year 11s celebrated the first day of February by speaking at the Personal Project evening. As a stretch of only a couple of months now separates the Year 10s from the beginning of their own Personal Project, their attendance at the evening was compulsory. No doubt Mr Anderson and his colleagues hoped that it would inspire us; however, speaking as a Year 10 student with an opinion, I write to inform them that may not have entirely had the desired effect on some of the students.

As presentations, the Projects seemed reasonable, with obvious outliers at both ends of the spectrum. I listened to some presentations that were excellently communicated. Nevertheless, some presentations were quite weak.

Generally, the weaker presentations were especially poor because of the lack of content being presented, and even the better Projects seemed to share this problem. Almost all of the

Projects I went to were research-based, with the products seemingly serving as another ticked box. The Personal Project is a great opportunity to use the pretext of a school assignment to research something you are passionate about; however, very few people seemed genuinely enthused by what they were presenting, and the few projects that were clearly based off of an enjoyment of the subject were heavily tangled in rather meaningless Global Context.

The overall unsuccess of this year’s Personal Project will not seriously matter in the grander scheme of things. After all, various year groups will always have various degrees of success when it comes to completing assignments.

However, one large problem does arise as to the suitability of having the Year 10s visit the presentations. It was Mr Anderson’s intention to “inspire” us by having us watch them, although it appears to have had a very different ef-

Leonardo Morosini new way of thinking regarding fast fashion and [my] shopping habits.”

While the ideas and products are very varied, we can appreciate that the difficulties and acquired skills from the personal project are very similar. We can observe that time management and organisation skills were the main difficulties. However, regardless of these issues, the skills acquired by completing the personal project are just as useful in real life: time management, researching and creative thinking, ironically.

While this was only a small sample of the students from Year 11, this shows that the personal project is not necessarily there to teach students on how to write a report. Instead, it exists to give the opportunity to MYP students to learn how to work independently by taking the responsibility of setting personal deadlines and exploring their own ideas without any guidance. This results in preparing us for the diploma program and to some extent, even adulthood.

Joseph Nobs fect. To a Year 10 student whose first experiences of the Project were these presentations, expectations may have been lowered.

On the way from one presentation to another, I heard several people remark as to how they had thought the Project was “way harder than it really is”. Additionally, when interviewed, one student feared that “some people would think that simply putting their research on a site counts as a ‘product’.”

Once the next Personal Project rolls around it would probably be better for the then-Year 10s to not have to “suffer the pain” of compulsory attendance.

Better to save the next students from another uninspiring Project than risk it having a similar effect to the one it has had on us, leading to more students gaining false expectations of the difficulty-level by the time they begin their own Project.

8

WINTER BALL IS COMING

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ebruary 11th, 2017. Is it Winter Ball day already?!

10 A.M.

Oh no!!! I’m late already! WHO WAKES UP AT 10 A.M.?!

Okay first thing, get out of bed! You’re so lazy!

Time to brush your teeth and get breakfast really quick…okay yeah, I guess you could get one episode in before you start getting ready. Netflix and breakfast it is.

What do I eat? Remember you can’t eat anything that will bloat you!

Okay okay, what should I eat? There’s only chocolate! MOTHER, ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME FAT?!? Oh, I found some fruits, okay I’ll make a smoothie. A small smoothie though, remember: YOU CANNOT BLOAT. Time for ONE episode. Netflix on. 40 minutes and counting.

11 A.M.

Breakfast and Netflix? Done.

Workout time! You gotta look and feel your best today.

At least one hour. Tons of cardio – feel the burn!

Don’t forget to drink loads of water – at least 2 litres. Stay hydrated, feel fresh and keep from bloating. It’s a must.

12 P.M.

Workout done. Refreshed and feeling great!

Time to shower and wash my hair, fresh for Winter Ball.

Speakers? Check. Winter Ball playlist? Check. Shower: done.

Time to start getting ready. First comes first: face masks. 1520 minutes? Okay, I guess I’ll just lay in bed for a while and let it do its thing. Okay 20 minutes are up, let’s get this mask off.

2 P.M.

Finally, time for my spa appointment.

What should I get done?

A massage for sure, a facial, then maybe spend a little time in the sauna. What better way is there to relax?

Maybe chill in the Jacuzzi for a bit afterwards?

Oh, and end with some green tea! That’s a must.

3 P.M.

Okay, relaxation time is over. You gotta eat lunch quickly, it’s already late, you can’t eat so close to the entrance time!

Okay, nothing too stuffing. Salad? Fruit salad? Quinoa? Quinoa it is. Of course, the healthiest and most filling option.

Don’t forget to drink tons of water!!! Keep that bloating down!

Amara Sarao wakes up, suits up, makes up

3:30 P.M.

Only 3 and a half hours left!! Time to plan your outfit. Okay, you’ve got the dress, now for the jewelry, shoes and makeup.

Black dress. Gold or silver jewelry? Either work. Let’s go raid mom’s jewelry – maybe she’ll have some nice silver.

Okay, found the perfect necklace and earrings. What next?

Shoes!! Back to mom’s closet it is! The shoes have to match the jewelry – something silver. Stilettoes? Pumps?

Now that we’ve found the shoes…let’s choose the perfect make-up look. Cute or edgy? Edgy. Smokey eyes, killer wings and red lipstick. You don’t get more edgy than that.

Outfit? Ready!

4 P.M.

Hair dresser in 20 minutes! Go, go, go! We have to go over what hairstyle I want; I mean I need a professional’s opinion.

Curls? Straight? Braids?

Well, if she says curls then that’s the best option. But what if she messes up? Okay, it’s okay I can just wash it at home again if I need to. No biggie! But there’s no time! She better not mess up this night for me! It’s okay, calm down, no need to stress about stress, just breathe. I mean it’s only your hair! Only my hair? If this goes wrong my whole outfit is just…

UGLY. You don’t have time for this stress. Mani-Pedi time!

Bright red nail polish to match my lipstick. You are going to look bomb! Oh and let’s not forget to do your eyebrows – they’re always the first thing a person judges you for. They gotta look on fleek!

5 P.M.

Finally, all the beauty parlor stuff is done. Time to go home, grab all my makeup and the dress and get ready with squad!

Makeup, squad jam session and some food …what better way to get ready for the big night?

Dance for an hour and then start stressing? Sounds like a typical Winter Ball day!

Post-dancing stress: makeup first! This better work because I haven’t practiced it – ah, that was a mistake! I should have planned the make up last week! Slacking much?

Okay, it’s fine, it looks good, don’t worry…your BFFs have got your back!

And finally, the dress!

The whole squad is ready, let’s go down and take all the mirror selfies we could possibly think of!

7 P.M.

It’s finally here! It’s time for tons of photos, a classy dinner and a night of dancing with all your friends. Who could ask for any better?

9

MY BLOODY VALENTINE

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h, Valentine’s Day… that wonderful time of year when the couples of the world turn to the Internet with one express purpose: to gross the hell out of me. So this February, I, a forever-alone single girl, am going to gross out the rest of you in return. Blood diapers. Let’s begin.

“Period” is such an ugly word, one that every girl cringes upon hearing it, and even boys flinch at its use. So it’s safe to assume that you know the term.

But, to all the guys reading this —do you know the true suffering? I think not. You see, everyone’s heard of the the cramps, the hormones, the fatigue.

But periods are so, so much more than that—a five-course meal from an overeager host, if you will. So, my dear male readers, please take a seat, and allow me to serve.

The first thing you’ll notice on the table is the smell. Imagine walking into an abandoned butcher’s shop, thick with the stench of stale blood. Yep, that’s the bathroom for a week. Then there’s the sudden, uncontrollable urge to wail for no discernible reason. Oh, and the constant sense of squidge.

A good time for Satan’s waterfall

Appetizers come in three forms: sneezing, coughing, and laughing. Because what better way to enjoy a funny video than to feel thick clumps of red goodness jettisoning out of you with every unchecked giggle? And God forbid you get your period the day you catch a cold. But that’s nothing; the real threat is the main course.

Dish number one is debilitating pain, served with a warm side of eternal suffering, drizzled with desire for the sweet embrace of death. Cramps can be served in three styles. The first

feels much akin to a bear trap, tearing through flesh and bone with cold indifference. The second feels like a rather angry population of tiny people is inside your vagina, stabbing at it with tiny swords. And the third? Well… the third feels like a zombie bit you inside your uterus, and you’re slowly rotting from the inside. And no amount of cutesy, pink painkillers can fix that mess.

Are you cringing yet? No matter if you aren’t; we’ve barely begun. You see, it’s not just the physical discomfort—although that’s available in abundance.

It’s the principle of the matter. Periods are, in all honesty, the most inconsiderate natural cycle in existence. Allow me to illustrate. Is it your birthday? Well, Mother Nature has a present for you, and you’re going to love it! Or perhaps it’s Christmas, and you’re going sledding—would you look at that! A nice crimson trail all down the hill to track your progress! What’s that? A six-hour hike through the mountains, possibly with no bathroom breaks? Yep, this seems like a good time for Satan’s waterfall. Periods are like that annoying colleague who keeps crashing your parties. And, worse, they’re the noisiest guest there. It’s bad enough that pad wrappers are so loud that you spend half your break in the stall, trying to open one inconspicuously. It doesn’t work, of course, and when you walk out and make accidental eye contact with the other girls in the mirror, you can just tell that they know. And, even worse: at least once in every school year, a girl must tell her teacher that she cannot participate in swimming this week. This alone will lead to a number of suspicious glances. And, chances are, every other girl in class will be skipping, too, although you could have sworn that none of you had the same schedule prior to this moment. So, now, half of the class is sitting out in the heat, dying on the inside, and the PE teachers all think it’s a Big Conspiracy. Which, let’s be honest, it sometimes is. Possibly more than sometimes.

Suhasini Mehra sees red But even that isn’t the worst of it— there’s still one dish left. The dessert, the icing on the cake, the final anguish.

The anxiety. Because periods don’t just destroy your insides. They destroy your very soul. It begins when your period is late. Not by a month, not even a week.

Just two days, maybe three. Well, that’s it. Clearly, you’re pregnant. No matter that you’ve never even held hands with a boy; there’s no other possible explanation. How will you tell your parents?

How will you—oh, look, there’s blood on the sheets again. Never mind! And now that your period has finally started, the paranoia only multiplies. You could put a pad on, and only five minutes later be asking a girl you’ve never talked to in your life if there’s blood on your pants—because you haven’t even had this thing on for half an hour, but already it feels like the entire Pacific Ocean is in your panties. And that feeling only gets worse at night—during that terrifying eight-hour time frame when you’re stuck with just one defense against having to do your laundry. All of a sudden, you wake in a panic, convinced that you’ve leaked. Frantic, you leap out of bed and, flinging the covers aside, switch on the lights to reveal—nothing. You lay back down and sink into an uneasy slumber, only to jolt awake four minutes later because this time you just know there’s something wrong. And the one time you do fall asleep for more than ten minutes?

Well. Let’s just say that there’s a reason women get so angry on their periods.

Because, when I’m standing here in my underwear at three in the morning, washing blood out of my pajamas, you’d better believe that I’m going to spend the rest of the night wide awake, silently cursing every single thing I hate on this planet. And, yes, that list will somehow include you—even if I’ve only ever seen you in my peripheral vision on a busy street. So don’t come up to me the next day and ask why I’m so snappy, because I might just snap your fingers.

Happy Valentine’s, everyone!

10

BE YOUR OWN VALENTINE

Sophia Scokalo and Giovanna Rojas

O

h yes, it’s that time of year again, ladies and gentlemen. The time of the year where the chocolate and flower companies make crazy profit and couples forget that getting a room for their overly gooey PDA would be a good idea, considering the rest of us are just trying to finish our food. “Love is in the air”, and we’re choking on the smell of flowers and false flattery.

So what about the single community? Are we expected to endure this commercial, lost-in-translation, so-called “holiday”?

Indeed we are. Let’s think about this in an opportunistic way, and remember that tomorrow, chocolates go on sale by up to 60%. So this year, if you’re single and struggling to mingle, heartbroken, or just sick of the overall grossness of Valentine’s Day, here’s The High’s Ultimate List of Do’s and Don’ts for Single Pringles on Valentine’s Day

DON’TS

DO’S 1.

2.

3.

4.

1.

Don’t wallow in self-pity and watch 21st century rom coms.

2.

Treat yo self. Whether it’s a juicy burrito or that bath bomb you’ve been dying to try, go for it. Today is the perfect day to focus on some quality you-time. Pamper yo self.

Avoid sad music. No Adele. No Taylor Swift. No heartbreaking lyrics that will send you and your self esteem to the bottom of the ocean. You are too good for that.

3.

Realize that all the pink is just a corporate scheme – a conspiracy theory for massive corporations to pry couples and drain them of money.

Avoid overindulgence, you might end up doing things you’ll later regret (or texting people you shouldn’t).

4.

Don’t subscribe to a dating site. Just don’t. We all know no one on those sites are looking for true love.

5.

Don’t go out with your other depressed friend, it might only bring you both down even more.

6.

Don’t assume that because you’re alone on Valentine’s day, that you’re gonna be forever alone.

A lot can happen in a day, much more in a year.

Jam out to Beyonce’s Single Ladies as loud as you possible can. Not your jam? Listen to the stuff that gets your positive vibes going, and cruise through the day with that spring in your step.

If you’re not the type to enjoy sitting and not doing much, channel your inner anger/sadness into the gym, it’s gonna be empty anyways. Do leg day, prevents you from walking into any bars or ex’s doors.

5.

Make the idea of “love” the taboo topic of the evening. Come to terms with it or avoid it.

6.

Singleton doesn’t only have to have the population of one - invite other singletons out for the night, watch a movie or bring out some games.

Group dynamics can allow for that one jokester to pull you out of any potential misery.

In this day and age, Valentine’s Day is about romance – and the Facebook posts, Instagram photos and all the media crap make that pretty obvious. Maybe instead of trying to find the Channing Tatum or Kate Upton of your dreams, remind yourself that there’s someone more important who needs some good old fashioned attention… and that’s yourself. In all honesty, sometimes it’s difficult to watch your friends (with lovers) make plans for the night, and see the red and pink hearts decorating just about every store in the city… So we say screw it. Today is a you day. Whether you prefer to battle it out at the gym, or read a good book and enjoy your tea, Valentine’s Day can be just like any other day. Love yourself everyday, not just on some tacky let’s-celebrate-smooches holiday.

11

TEN THINGS THEY WILL HATE ABOUT YOU

Amelia Lumme is your agony cousin

I

f there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s giving advice. How do I know? Simply because once I give someone advice, they never come back for more, which can only be because my selfless words of guidance have solved all their problems. I feel it is my duty to enlighten you all and provide what help I can, given not everyone is gifted with such wisdom. With Valentine’s day right around the corner, what better topic to address than love? You sent me an overwhelming number of burning questions, accumulating into what can only be described as a passionate blaze of queries and troubles, and I will now extinguish this flame with my extensive knowledge, which has come to existence through plenty of experience, including having not one but two boyfriends in middle school.

How do you know if you’re ready for a relationship?

You’re never going to know if you’re ready for anything unless you go for it. You just have to take risks in life, so find anyone you deem attractive enough and ask them if they want to be your boyfriend/girlfriend. Whilst you’re at it, you might as well say ‘I love you’ on the day you start dating as well. Go big or go home. Things should go alright from then on, but if they don’t, I guess you’ll know you weren’t ready.

Voilà.

How can I calm my nerves before a date?

Just relax. The hardest part is asking someone on a date, and you’ve already done that. They’ve said yes, so now all you’ve got to do is enjoy the time you spend together! Take a deep breath and go for it. What’s the worst that could happen?

Apart from completely screwing up to the point where they won’t ever talk to you again... What if you spill spaghetti everywhere? What if you accidentally tell them you think ‘La La Land’ is overrated? What if you find out your zodiac signs aren’t in the slightest bit compatible? Maybe asking them out was a bad idea. Good luck!

How do I overcome awkwardness in a relationship?

If you’re in a relationship with someone, it’s most likely because you’re comfortable with them, which should mean there is very little or ideally no awkwardness between you.

Try to pinpoint whatever it is that you find awkward and discuss it with your partner. Or, if it’s too awkward to even bring up with your partner, then just hint at it by saying ‘that was awkward’ after every interaction. If that doesn’t work then I’m sorry but that sounds like a you-problem.

Do you believe in life after love?

I can feel something inside me saying ‘I really don’t think you’re strong enough’...

How can I get a girlfriend/boyfriend?

I wish there was a simple 3-step process to answer this question with, but unfortunately there isn’t. It’s a 4-step process.

First, you need to meet as many people as possible to increase your chances of bumping into the love of your life, so join every ASA, attend every event, and go out every night.

Secondly, make it really clear that you’re single by posting a

lot about it on Facebook. Thirdly, no one likes someone with bad hygiene, so make sure you’re constantly reapplying tons of deodorant and perfume/cologne, and brush your teeth after lunch at school. Be that person. The fourth step is to be really confident, because who doesn’t love that? Go all out; let everyone know that you’re better than them and use every opportunity you can to one-up them. You are the alpha.

What’s the best way to break up with someone?

Well, first of all I’m very sorry that it’s come to this. Breakups are never easy, but I know the smoothest way to get the job done. Get on the internet, find as many memes about breaking up as you can, and tag your ex-to-be in all of them. They should get the hint soon enough, and in the meantime you get to look at memes. Perfect!

How do you move on?

People say you should immediately block your ex on social media and unfollow them everywhere, but I disagree. Instead, you should keep tabs on them to remind yourself how much better you are without them. This constant reminder will speed up the recovery and make you a lot happier. You should also boast about this new found happiness by posting shady snapchats and instagram captions about them as often as possible. You’ll be over them in no time.

Should you get back with a cheater?

Cheating is the best thing that can occur in a relationship.

If someone cheats on you, it says more about you than it does about them. You’re clearly not satisfying your partner enough, so they had to find someone else to make up for what you can’t offer. If you’re cheated on, see it as an opportunity to grow and to improve! Let them keep cheating, and you’ll keep learning. Make sure you are the one to apologise as well; it’s your fault for not being good enough. So yes, get back with a cheater, and let them cheat until they no longer have to.

What’s the best way to flirt with someone?

Well, first of all, you’ve definitely come to the right person.

What you’ve got to do is be very straightforward. Maintain eye-contact throughout the duration of your conversation.

I mean the entire time as well, don’t even blink. People like to know that you’re engaged in what they’re saying too, so nod occasionally and laugh at literally everything they say.

You should also be really physical with them, just to ensure you eliminate any boundaries between you. The best thing to do is to then combine these things and form a routine of laughing and lightly punching their shoulder whilst not blinking, varying speed and intensity throughout. This will work on anyone, trust me.

How do I know my relationship is going wrong and how can I avoid it?

You can tell your relationship is going wrong if you’re asking a 16 year old girl for advice.

12

STRANGER THINGS

M

ornings are for coffee and contemplation.” In the first five minutes of watching Stranger Things a character, who is known as Chief Hopper, had spoken what I plan to be my life mantra. This set out to be a good start for a TV series that I happened to watch in the first week of the Christmas break. Some may say it was a blessing that I had found it during the holidays, others would say it was a curse that I had started watching the most highly addictive show (you have been warned) when I should have been studying for mocks. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. For three or fours days, I spent my evenings binge watching the story that focuses upon four friends, one of which has gone missing, and their encounter with the supernatural.

The show, which unfortunately currently only has the first season released, is full of thrills and moments that may actually make your heart melt. For those who have watched it you know what I’m referring to when I say “Pretty?”, (and if not you really need to rewatch that scene).

Anyway, the show follows the story of four young normal boys, around the age of eleven and twelve, and their usual lives until one evening their friend Will goes missing on his way home after spending an entire day playing a board game with his gang. At the same time, a young girl, dressed in a hospital gown shows up at a burger joint starved and with her head shaved.

She is taken care of and fed by the owner, Benny Hammond. This scene is crucial as it provides the viewer with key characterisation of the girl, who we find out is called “Eleven”, and is a girl of very few and mono-syllabic words.

The kind-hearted man calls child services about the girl and they say they planned to turn up later that day. When they do, the man does not receive any help with the young girl but a bullet to the head. Watching this scene, your heart starts to race as the plot begins to thicken further intertwining the supernatural with a normal looking town set in the 80s.

The costume design and sets of this series pays homage to this time period without being “cringy” or cliché, providing brilliant visuals and scenes throughout the series. This homage is also continued through the music that is accompanies certain scenes, such as the brilliant track “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash. However, the directors manage to turn this fun and care-free track into quite a spooky track which causes your heart to race.

Regardless of the time setting, the viewer is still able to connect and relate to the characters as there is no great emphasis placed upon the time-setting, apart from visual, which causes any barriers to arise between the emotional connection of the characters and the viewer. One of the main themes of the series is childhood innocence as well as friend and familial love which balances out the supernatural and dark side to the story. The episodes depict the importance of friendship and how it allows one to get through incredibly tough and dark times.

Apart from this, the range of young talented actors on the series raises a hopeful continuation of the story without it going down the drain. One particularly extraordinary actor is Millie-Bobby Brown who plays Eleven on the show. Throughout the series, Eleven spoke around 248 words (I did not count this but looked it up) in eight ep-

Camilla Lozinska-Brown isodes of 55 minutes. Regardless of her lack of speech, Millie manages to project Eleven’s presence quite powerfully throughout the entire series. Thus the viewer never misses a word or an action of this incredibly powerful and magnetic character. The sweet nature of Eleven’s character really draws the viewer to her as well, as she embodies a natural innocence despite her awful treatment in her past. Additionally, the fact she has psychokinetic gifts makes her complicated character have different sides to her as it creates a more menacing aspect to her personality. What I really loved about her was how she indirectly challenges gender stereotypes with the fact her head was completely shaved whilst she wore a dress. There is an incredibly touching scene where Eleven feels self-conscious from her lack of feminine features (i.e. long hair) and the way the other characters react was incredibly touching (I won’t go into details due to spoilers).

I could keep going on about the different characters and their strengths, as well as the series as a whole but I risk giving out too much information.

Nevertheless, this series is genuinely incredible, take it from someone who never gets hooked on TV series, and is well worth the watch. I’ll leave you all with one of my favourite quotes from the series : “Friends don’t lie.”

13

DUMB WAYS TO DYE

F

our. That’s the number of times I’ve dyed or bleached my hair. The number of times that I’ve had to sit in a chair for over three hours at a time to get my hair to look like someone poured a bucket of paint over my head.

From the survey I sent out, I found out that around 41 out of the 88 of people want to get their hair dyed, while a quarter of the people have already dyed their hair. Doing so is a fun experience, but as all things go, it has its highs and lows. From all of the stares on the bus to random people in school, who you’ve never met, calling you out and either saying they love (or hate) your hair; these are the pro’s and cons of dyeing your hair.

Pain, pain, pain, and more pain. Along with a flakey and scabby scalp, that is what you get if you do a full head bleaching. Of course, it depends on your hair colour, but if you’re dark haired, like me, you would need strong bleach to get that icky colour out.

You’re sitting in a chair for 3-5 hours, your head on fire, while trying to concentrate on your phone or book and not look at the little timer ticking next to you every time they restart the 45-minute intervals. And don’t get me started on the tears. It’s not so much the pain, rather the smell. The type of smell that you can feel in your eyes...

Ok, let’s move on.

Depending on the hair dressers, they can give you food. And food is always the best medicine when your head is burning and your eyes are watering.

Along with the fact that, most of the time, if you really start crying, they try to give your head a break and wash all of the bleach off. Another great thing about the hairdressers is that you have time to do what you usually don’t have the time to do while waiting. Like catching up on your Facebook, reading a book, watch some YouTube (without sound, mind you), catching up on fanfiction… yeah, the pros of the actual

process aren’t that great. After all, by the time you’re done with the bleaching, there’s still 1-3 hours more of sitting around to let the actual dye set in.

Let’s have a quick intermission to talk about the effect on your hair quality. I got quite a few people saying that they wanted to dye their hair, but they didn’t want to ruin their hair quality. And, honestly, it depends. Some hairdressers use special products with nutrients to make sure that the bleach doesn’t damage your hair too much, and that it keeps its original quality.

Back to cons. The cost. And I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Sure, if you do a fringe, it doesn’t hurt as much, or take as much time as it would if you did the whole head. But the cost is still high.

Just bleaching to a near white colour for me cost around 250 CHF (for the whole head). And then dyeing it rainbow costs around 200 CHF. Those two times that I dyed my hair cost around 450 CHF. I’m not kidding, it’s that expensive (along with a discount). Of course, depending on the quality of dye and bleach, the prices may differ. Another thing is that you might not be able to dye your hair whatsoever due to family rules, or having no hair in general.

Manon Libine is somewhere under the rainbow So you might be thinking, so many cons and so few pros. Well, I wrote this article for one reason. To show you how much pain the hair dyers go to express themselves, and also so that the dear person who said, “When it comes to very vibrant colors, I believe that a large part of dyeing your hair is rebellion and attention seeking.” can stop being a prick. Outside of the cons, you do get stared at, but most of the time it’s because people think it’s unique. You might hear a young boy yelling to his mum, “Look mum, she has multi-coloured hair!” (true story). You could match with a friend to show your friendship (and get mistaken as siblings); you could do it to spread awareness about a certain subject, because people will ask you about it. You could be doing it for simple pride, about who you are. Or, finally, you could just be doing it because you want to. So, if you want to dye your hair, go for it… as long as you’re willing to wait 3 hours and a couple more for the dyeing sitting in a hair salon along with the pain and the tears, and pay 150-460 CHF for it. In addition to having to listen to the people who believe the following: Good day!

Illustration by Nikolay Zhurov

14

IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY...

R

ogue One is the first spinoff of the Star Wars series and the second movie after being bought by Disney. This is something completely new and honestly, I had no idea what to expect. Well, after watching it I can confidently say, they did an outstanding job with it. If you read my last review on The Force Awakens, one of the things that let me down was the lack of originality in the story line, and how they feared to venture beyond an already good story line they had due to backlash. Rogue One certainly took that leap of faith and did so victoriously. Not only were they able to create a new and original plot, but they were able to improve on already established plots.

One of the biggest questions posed by A New Hope was on the “exhaust port flaw” in the Death Star that was questionably convenient. For the longest time we were left with the idea that it was just there for purposes. Rogue One covers this large plot hole by taking the idea that the flaw was intentional, put there so that the Death Star could be destroyed.

Then there was the cast. Rogue One took a gamble with the cast and chose a few actors who were not quite well known in Hollywood. A diverse, dynamic group of people, I was honestly skeptical about how well the cast would work. The majority of the cast spoke English as a second language, and their profound accents inherently made acting for them a much more difficult thing to do. I don’t think they could have picked a better cast. In a world where big name film companies use mainly white actors, Rogue One dared to stand out and I instantaneously fell in love with the actors only shortly after meeting them. I couldn’t help but shed a tear during their fatal ending.

The only thing I thought didn’t work so well, was the development of the relationships between the characters. One of the scenes during the beginning of the movie, Felicity Jones says the line “trust goes both ways” to Cassian. What we’re meant to understand is that they don’t trust each other, but this will turn around throughout the movie. All of the characters, excluding two, met during the timespan of the movie, and they band together in attempts to save the galaxy, however throughout the movie I couldn’t help but feel a sense of awkwardness in the relationship between the characters, where they never truly bonded with each other. Furthermore, the movie does not really develop on the relationship between the characters and we are left with the idea that they were

The force is with Lyndon Kwan

practically strangers. This left me wondering during the end where Jyn and Cassian share their last moments together, as I didn’t feel much emotion for their relationship, and I didn’t feel like the trust between the two was gained like I hoped for. This could have easily been changed with a single scene.

Overall, the movie earned it’s ratings. It is rightfully being called one of the best Star Wars movies in a long time. It has added a new layer of depth to the story’s universe that left the audience wide eyed.

Illustration by Joseph Nobs

In a world where big name film companies use mainly white actors, Rogue One dared to stand out.

15

TO FELL A TREE

F

irst, aside from the fact that this short film has not been released yet, I assume nobody has seen it yet because they are all waiting for my amazing review.

I’d like to say that I think it’s amazing and impressive how a film in which some ISL students played a significant role in has resulted in such a high standard of quality and professionalism. “To Fell a Tree” is the metaphorical name of this short film directed by aspiring filmmaker, Nathan Ryan, a photography student at the Centre d’enseignement professionnel de Vevey (CEPV), and well-known by the ISL community.

Though only 28 minutes in duration, the quality the short film greatly exceeded my expectations, especially considering the scale at which the film was produced, in the sense that it was

very professional, and looked like it was the result of a much larger-scale production. What stood out the most for me was the effort and attention put on the make-up, the camera angles, and the lighting. This cemented the film as one that should be taken seriously, because of the consideration towards creating a complete and solemn mood to match the film’s chosen genre of a psychological thriller.

As for the acting, it was clear that the main characters of the film, three of which are Year 13 students; Beth Rennie, Jennifer Fernandez, and Greg Foster, who have previously acted in school productions, evidently showed great engagement and talent in their portrayal of the mysterious characters.

In a film with a plot based around lies and deceit you will be on the edge of your seat, watching how the characters

Paul Baroudi develop, and how the shocking peak of the film transpires. It very much realizes the tagline of the film, which is “in a forest of lies, there can only be one truth”.

Finally, for more exciting updates, teasers, and information, be sure to check out and follow the official Instagram page of the film, @tofellatree, and also check out its Facebook page at facebook.com/nathanrmedia. Be sure to attend the premiere of the film in the auditorium on Thursday the 16th of February at 18:30. The admission is free, and I would highly recommend coming to enjoy and appreciate the final product of months of hard work.

Head over to the school website right now to reserve your place to attend the highly-anticipated event.

WATCH, READ, LISTEN

Anne-Marie Rusu

HIDDEN FIGURES

JOHN SAGA

ULTRARUNNER GIRL.COM

If you’re in the mood for something that will definitely boost your self-esteem and inspire you to overcome even your toughest obstacles, this movie is the one for you. Hidden Figures tells the true story of three black women who went against all odds to change American history. Set in the 1960’s during the time of the international space race, Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson are exceptional scientists who join the very male and very white led NASA team to send the first man into space. This movie cleverly combines witty humor and authentic performances that make you have such a good time while watching it. It is also very easy to feel personally connected to the characters since they were played so accurately which I think is one of the most defining features of a successful movie of this type. This is absolutely a movie that I would recommend watching

Valentine’s day is approaching, so it’s time to break out the champagne and spend some quality time with your loved one… we can all relate, right? But no matter what you’re doing this Valentine’s, John Saga’s album Ouverture, Vol. 1 will definitely be worth listening to. He currently sings covers from Adele, Sam Smith, Alicia Keys and even nails an acoustic version of Hotline Bling (seriously, listen to it). His album is honestly one of the most angelic pieces I have ever heard, perfect for a calm night in or when you’re simply in the mood to listen to an amazing singer. If you’re interested in his music, I would always go for All I Ask or When We Were Young. Be sure to prepare the tissues.

Since November, I have been following a blog written by Stephanie Case, who is a human rights-lawyer, ultramarathon and founder of the charity “Free to Run”. I first heard about her during a Tedx talk in Lausanne and since then I have been obsessed with her life. On her blog, she not only writes about the work she does with her charity to help people, specifically women, run marathons and participate in society where they would otherwise not be able to, but also the stories of all the ultra marathons she has done. Her experiences range from fighting for equal rights during a marathon in Iran to almost dying while hiking across the Val Ferret in Italy, so if you’re looking for suspense, action, or inspiration, this blog is undeniably for you.

16

THE LAST LAUGH

Joseph Nobs