The High 70 by The High

THE HIGH EDITION 70 | DECEMBER 15, 2017

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Illustration by Manon Libine

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Edward Fraser Amara Sarao

...EVERYONE? WORDS THAT HURT

12 LATES & COUNTING

STRAIGHT TO THE TOP

Echoes down the corridor

The morning struggle is real

Popular or not?

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

his past year at The High has been one to remember. It’s been packed with controversy, entertainment, important stories, and above all, good journalism. Amidst the stories both praised and disputed, The High has been at the forefront of every issue, informing our audience along the way. Our final edition of 2017 ends the year on a strong note. As we approach New Year’s Eve, you may find yourself reminiscing upon all of the great moments of the past twelve months. Although some of you may be reluctant to continue into the new year, others will find themselves excited for what lies in the year ahead. No matter how you feel about 2018, it’s important to reflect on what came of 2017. From month to month, The High has served as a good reminder that we mustn’t ignore the smaller stories. As a free-functioning student newspaper, we’ve chased a diverse array of narratives throughout the year. The ambition and drive that each of our writers demonstrate in their work reflect what is most important: The High gives a voice to the voiceless. Issue 70 encompasses the very themes we consider to be important for the coming holiday season. From the investigative to the festive, this issue has much in store for all to enjoy over the well-deserved break. No matter how you plan on spending the break, reading through this issue’s wonderful range of stories is a great way to kick off your three weeks away from obligation and responsibility — and rest assured that The High will be back and refreshed waiting to report everything that 2018 will have in store.

EDWARD FRASER & AMARA SARAO Editors-in-Chief

EDITORS Fredrik Falk Sophia Scokalo Salim Markabi Celia Lette

Nick Jennings Suhasini Mehra Maddie Johns Christine Geiger (Special Guest!)

TABLE OF CONTENTS Consumerism Giving Back Hunger Banquet Year in Review Casual Slurs Girls Coding Trip Masculinity Value of Homeroom

03 04 05 06 07 08 08 09

Role Models Popularity Awkward Family Dinners Listen, Write, Visit Distracted Cookies Recipe Holiday Wordsearch Agony Aunt

10 11 12 12 13 14 14 15

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

he holidays are right around the corner. Soon, we will all leave to go on vacation and celebrate the winter festivities. For some, that involves a big, decorated tree in their living room, or a striking candelabra shining for eight days, or glamorous parties before the new year. But for most people, there is one thing that is prevalent in all of these winter holidays: presents. Do you remember the utter, child-like joy you experience when you receive a gift during the holidays? Unwrapping its endless layers to finally reach the treasure inside. No feeling could be better than getting exactly what you wished for. And just as soon as that present was opened, you were on to the next, with barely even enough time to say thank you. The winter season has always revolved around giving and receiving, but lately, I have noticed that the holidays have turned more into a display of an increasing consumerist society, rather than festivities centered around love and family. Did you know, the average American spends roughly $1100 per year on holidays gifts? Or that global holiday shopping sales are expected to hit $1 trillion this winter? Or even that 3.1% of the world’s children live in America, but they own 40% of the toys consumed globally? This idea that the holidays should be focused on gift-giving and receiving, as opposed to family or religion, has created a damaging culture focused on materialistic ideals. This, ultimately, turned a season dedicated to spending time with loved ones into a money-oriented display of retail and shopping. Companies market themselves in order to best manipulate the buyer into thinking they are getting a “great deal” for what they are purchasing: they make it seem like their products are the solution to all problems or that they are necessary for having a successful and enjoyable holiday season. Things like Black Friday and Cyber Monday (two days dedicated to the start of the Christmas shopping season in America) have even been created to kick start holiday purchases by Illustration by Leah Parsons

Maddie Johns is making a list, checking it twice advertising attractive deals and coupons. But in reality, all of these things are just a form of twisted persuasion that is driving the holiday season deeper into being focused on material goods. Ladies and gentlemen… this is not what the holidays are about. Our focus should not be on whether we get all of the things on our wish list, or how much one gift costed over another, or even if we buy the biggest present compared to everyone else. Our focus this holiday season should be on celebrating what really matters: family and friends (and religion for some). Now I get it, giving and receiving gifts is fun. I think so too! But I think that this joy we experience when getting a present is blinding us from seeing what these celebrations really mean. Holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah are not celebrating the gifts under the tree or the wrapped surprises you receive every night, they are commemorating religious tales that hold great importance to people all over the world. And even if you are not a particularly religious person, both holidays have an underlying focus on family and togetherness, not shiny new toys. So how do you avoid these materialistic habits during this holiday season and focus on what really matters? Well, here’s what I think: For at least one of your gifts, instead of asking for something of material value, ask for a donation to a charitable cause or organization you are interested in. Do some research, find things that interest you and things that you want to help improve. Some reliable charities are “Charity Water”, “Prevent Cancer Foundation”, and “Ronald McDonald House Charity”. Another replacement for material goods is an “experience gift”. Ask for something that you can do, with friends or with family, as opposed to “stuff” that you can have. When giving an “experience gift”, offer up your own skills: things like teaching someone a language, baking with them, or even making them a music playlist. Finally, this holiday season, focus on spending time with the people around you instead of the things that might be waiting for you under the tree. Relish the time with your family and friends while you can and I can assure you, you will enjoy yourself much more than before. Materialism is taking over the holiday season, but it doesn’t have to consume yours. Focus on what really matters and enjoy the break while you can. This is a time to relax and be with the people you love. Don’t waste it getting caught up in your Christmas Wish list.

THE GIFTS THAT KEEP ON GIVING

h, Christmas. Whether you are obsessed with or indifferent to it, whether you celebrate it or not, there’s no denying that it is the most wonderful time of the year. The excitement in the air, even in our lively country of Switzerland, is palpable from late-November onwards every year. From the stands and decorations in the streets, to the festive music in the stores, to the limited edition drinks and snacks, it truly is a special time. However, not everyone is able to enjoy this wonderful time. Millions of people are dealing with unimaginable struggles, and are, therefore, unable to enjoy the holidays like we do. Given that Christmas, and the holiday period in general, is recognised as a time of giving, I figured it would be appropriate to write a bit about how we can give back. So, if you’ve ever felt like the world is a cruel place whilst reading the news this year, and wished you could do something to help, read on. Donations, of course, are an extremely easy and effective method of helping others out — however, it is important to remember the significance of donating to a reputable charity. The internet is full of resources about charities and their credibility and purpose, so with some quick research, you’ll be able to find the reputable charity representing the cause you feel passionate about. Moreover, you don’t even have to donate large amounts — just 5CHF could help these charities make a difference if we all pitched in a little bit of money. These amounts may seem insignificant to us individually, but, combined, can help drive significant change. However, if you feel you’ve spent a little too much on Christmas gifts (including ones for yourself, of course — we all deserve to spoil ourselves a little this season) and warm beverages this past month, worry not. There are many non-monetary ways to give back. For the few of you over eighteen, and who

are willing and able to, donating blood is a quick and easy option that can truly change someone’s life. If, however you’re not of age and are maybe not the biggest fan of needles, you can still contribute in many ways. Opportunities to do volunteer work around the greater Lausanne area are plenty, and are highly appreciated by the charities operating in the region. Many of you may have already heard of the Soupe Populaire, a project run by the Fondation Mère Sophia, which is a soup kitchen in Lausanne that provides food for the homeless and those who cannot afford it. Many ISL students have volunteered there before, undertaking different roles, and they’ve all talked about how different and special an experience it is interacting with the people there, with many going back to help more. They’ve also mentioned that volunteers get to eat some of the food itself when the night is over, which includes baked goods from shops around the area, so all in all it’s a pretty great experience. If you’re interested, and over sixteen, gather some friends and volunteer one night (from around 18.30 to 22.00) — if you enjoy it, you can go back, but you don’t have to commit if you don’t enjoy it. Either way, it’s definitely worth giving a shot: you’ll make a big difference and hopefully enjoy yourself in the process. Soupe Populaire is just one of many volunteering opportunities in Lausanne — refugee centres like EVAM (with which our school works very closely), animal shelters, and more are aplenty in our modest city and its surrounding towns. Thanks to the many service activities our school engages in, you can easily commit to certain long-term services in the new year like: working, in rotation with other groups, with the wonderful kids from EVAM (who visit every two weeks); helping out every few months on EVAM Sundays; and you can even propose your own service event, getting help from other students and

Ipek Özkazanç presents you with options teachers in order to get it running. Advocating for a cause close to your heart is also an incredibly effective way of giving back to society. Our school has seen some amazing initiatives in the past months: Louis Beeckmans’ Movember-supporting t-shirt campaign, accompanied by some - unfortunately - unforgettable mustaches sported by some of our classmates; the Choose Love campaign that was brought to our school by Mr. Aldred; and many more that have taken our school by storm over the past years. Finally, remember that sometimes, the little acts of kindness make the most difference, so keep an eye out this season and see if there’s anyone that might need your help — even if they decline, they will be touched by the fact that you even offered, and you’ll know that you didn’t miss out on helping someone who may have needed it. This doesn’t just involve helping people out who seem to be struggling. Small acts of kindness can also be extended to your family, like doing the dishes without being asked (doing the dishes sucks, I know, but consider the fact that your parents hate it just as much as you do, and imagine how happy they would be if they didn’t have to do the dishes every night) and helping out with other chores in the house. To finish, I hope you have not taken this article as a request for you all to spend your holidays and all your free time volunteering and helping out. You deserve to enjoy your holidays, but remember that there are also many other people who deserve to enjoy them but can’t. We all are fortunate enough to have the lives we do — the least we can do is help make others’ lives even marginally better by making a relatively small effort. Enjoy your holidays, everyone, but don’t forget or ignore the reality in which millions live.

HUNGER FOR THOUGHT

Salim Markabi and Tom Secheyron

ecently, the Year 11s and 10s were treated to a great experience, thanks to Miss Vivian bringing the Hunger Banquet to ISL for the first time. For the Year 10s, this happened on Friday the 8th of December, and the Year 11s had theirs the following Monday. Multiple questions were asked by many beforehand: What is a “Hunger Banquet”? What are we going to do? How does it work? First one Year 11 student and then in the second part of this article, a Year 10, share their impressions from this out-of-the-ordinary double lesson.

surprised me was the difference between just middle and high class food. While the most fortunate minority had pasta and salad with dessert, the middle income group merely had rice and beans. Coming from Texas, rice and beans as a meal is nothing new to me, but I noticed some other kids seem uncomfortable having something like this. Being in middle class felt almost like being in a sort of no man’s land between the two other classes-eating food that looked like nothing next to the high class but was a definite improvement from lower class.

As the entire year group entered the Multi-Purpose Room, there seemed to be an omnipresent sense of excitement. On this day, all Year 11 students were going to be put into three categories: low, medium, or high income. The selection was done completely randomly, as students had to draw a piece of paper out of a bowl. Reactions were all over the place: some seemed disappointed; they knew that they would get to spend the next two hours sitting on the ground. Others were more enthusiastic: a delicious lunch and royalty-like service was awaiting them. Five students were selected to be part of the high-income group, while most of the Wolves had very little to cheer about when they got selected to the low-income group. This random selection was meant to represent our world today, and the luck that is needed in order to land in the more advantaged parts of our population. Most important were some of the scary facts about poverty displayed for emphasis. One of the most shocking ones: more than 50% of the world’s planet is suffering from poverty.

I also never realized how close the middle class actually is from falling into lower class. The feedback from several Year 10’s whom I interviewed was interesting as well. An interviewee from lower class said that he felt “annoyed” with higher class simply because they were eating quality food and being waited on right next to him, but he still thought the whole thing was worth the time it took. One of the lucky eight students who got picked for high class said that he thought the whole experience was very cool and that he “enjoyed seeing how the decisions that higher class people made could affect the people in lower classes.” Examples of that were actually used to show what life was like for these people. One of these was where a high class member was congratulated, saying his coffee company had gotten more profits due to rising coffee costs, but because of this, several middle class people fell to lower class because they lost their jobs working for the coffee company. Others were moved up from low to middle class due to Canadian students lobbying for better worker pay. An interviewee from this group of people felt better knowing he wouldn’t be eating bad food in cramped conditions, but it also made him want to do more, now that he realized what it can do to people’s lives. But after all this, what do the people who organized it think?

Quickly, the students settled into their respective positions and received their meals. The high income group was even treated to a 5-star meal that came along with their own butler, Mr. McArthur. The low income students had to eat limited portions of rice, but weren’t given any utensils. One of the most fascinating parts of the experience was also in the students’ reactions afterwards. Dhruv Sabharwal, one of the pupils that organized the event, talked to me about its real purpose, saying that: “As a school, we have a lot that everybody in the world doesn’t have and take for granted the basic things which others lack far too often.” Jonah Lamberts, who was part of the low income class, seemed to take away lots of positive aspects from this unusual class: “I thought it was a cool experience, an interesting way to convey just how privileged we really are. It was fun to hear people’s opinions and the teacher’s ideas on how to solve poverty.” To me, the conversation that took place was eye-opening: many interesting points were brought up and the level of interest seemed to be very high for everybody involved, students and teachers alike. The majority of Year 10 got low class and ate a quality of food I can almost guarantee they have never had before. What

“Experiential learning is an invaluable tool to any education,” says Mrs. Vivian, the main instigator of the Hunger Banquet. “So often we are faced with numbers and statistics and they don’t really mean that much.The Hunger Banquet to me is a way for students to experience, in an artificial way, the injustice of our world in relation to income.” When asked if she thought we had succeeded in understanding the point of the banquet, she replied, “I think absolutely. I was impressed with how willing ISL students were to engage in the event and reflect on the event.” During our reflection time, someone pointed out that getting a class in real life is just as random as selecting what class you got for the banquet. Of course, all of us at ISL got lucky, but when you think it’s just as random as picking a card, it really makes you think.

2017 REASONS WHY Jelle Banck wraps it all up

o, you know how at the strike of midnight on New Year’s Eve, you raise your glass and think to yourself: “This year was a pretty crazy ride. It cannot get any crazier than this.” And you know how the following New Year’s Eve you raise your glass once more, and think to yourself: “Damn. I was wrong.”? I know it’s happened to me quite a few times. But that’s not the point. The point I’m trying to get across here is that 2017 was yet another crazy year, where everything happened seemingly at once, and frankly, far too fast (then again, everything is fast when looking at something through a retrospective lense). Anyhow, due to the storm of events that happened this year, select events will be discussed in this article, so please don’t hate me for missing something. Don’t worry, school events will be discussed too. Right. We covered what everyone did at the beginning of the year, so let’s start with the main event of January: on the 20th, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. The swearing in was met with mixed reactions: some people were happy, thinking he would “make America great again”; others were utterly dismayed, thinking the end of the world was nigh, or something along those lines. Otherwise, it was business as usual. That is, until the counter-protests to the inauguration started the day after. And they happened all over the world. But the world is still turning, so all’s good. I guess. February was mostly uneventful, as far as major world events go. That is, until the DPRK started the first of many missile tests. Of course, this led to worldwide condemnation and a tightening of the many sanctions that have been placed on the DPRK. However, this did not seem to faze them in the slightest,

and they called it a success on their part. In March, SpaceX also successfully launched a rocket, which was a test on their reusable rockets. After launching their rocket, the Falcon 9, into the atmosphere, they successfully made it land on a designated platform. It turns out that, apart from being rather impressive, the successful recovery of a rocket is highly significant to space travel, as previously rockets were usually needed to undergo rebuilding once used. April was relatively quiet. Perhaps, a moment to breathe. In May, France passes a law that outlines regulations for catwalks to no longer feature anorexic models, and in addition to this, advertisers are made to indicate whether or not the models in their ads have been modified in any way whatsoever. After the Brexit vote took place exactly a year previously on the 23rd of June, the talks began about the British secession from the EU. It is now July, and the DPRK has - yet again - fired another missile, which landed in the sea of Japan, leading once more to worldwide condemnation. Speaking of nuclear threats, the UN made a nuclear ban treaty...which was not signed by any of the nuclear nations. August. Breathe in, breathe out. September was marked with Hurricane Irma, which had record breaking winds of 185 mph. Soon after the detection, Hurricane Irma moved over several Caribbean islands, leaving a trail of destruction. Upon hitting the USA, millions of homes were left without power. Soon after, Hurricane Maria hit the islands of Dominica and Puerto Rico, causing what could only be described

as a humanitarian disaster. The moment October began, referendums were triggered across the Catalan region of Spain, in a move that was deemed illegal by Madrid, and the rest of the EU, for that matter. Eventually, the referendum was riddled with crackdowns and protests, and after that, the referendum failed to go through. Speaking of votes, it was announced in November by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) that they intend to dismantle the net neutrality laws placed down during the Obama administration. In a nutshell, net neutrality ensures that internet providers are unable to make more money by putting a price on internet speed. Looking back over the year, it has been quite a crazy mix of events, woven together with events that instilled disbelief, amusement, sorrow, and glee. And even with all these world events going on, we mustn’t forget all the things that happened here at ISL. Granted, they might not be as globally significant as those world events, but this is still the school newspaper, so we might as well cover some important things that have happened in the past year. A good place to start is the abdication of Ms. Cheetham from her position as the director of ISL, whose position was then filled by Mr Cairns. Also, there was the memorable moment when a theatre company visited and gave a performance of The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, which was just one of the many performances that happened here at ISL. Overall, 2017 was a crazy year. So cheers. And may the next year be not as crazy as this one. And the one before that. And before that. And all the years before those years.

FRUITY LANGUAGE Suhasini Mehra thinks you should wash your mouth

his article is gay.

At least, that’s what I imagine a number of you will say after a glance at the title. But, of course, that isn’t special— after all, so are various books, worksheets, subjects, songs, memes, and, occasionally, chairs. So many things are gay, in fact, it’s a wonder the orientation is still considered a figment of the imagination in most parts of the world. Let’s make something clear: I’m not here to tell you that the phrase “that’s so gay,” is ridiculously immature; I trust that you know it already. What I’m here to talk about is something much heavier. How many of you have passed by a classroom and heard a student calling their friend a faggot or a nigger? According to the survey I sent out a few weeks ago, over 60% of you have. I was also not surprised to see that almost 70% of you consider it to be A-okay. The general consensus, based on your responses, seems to be a mix of two justifications. The first is that these words, when used “for banter” amongst friends, cannot be considered offensive, because everyone knows that “we don’t really mean it.” The second is that words only have meaning if we assign meaning to them; thus, if we use slurs casually, they will lose their weight. In fact, some of you said, the more we condemn these words, the more powerful they become. Now, I could refute this simply by stating that slurs make people uncomfortable. I could state that this discomfort is invariably dismissed as “being triggered”, and this dismissal tells people that ISL is not a welcoming community. I could direct you to multiple interviews featuring people who have grown up receiving these slurs. I could. But I suspect that you would only continue to ignore these people’s emotions, so I’ll take the long route and explain, step by step, why these excuses are complete bull. To begin: words have meaning. And, yes, language is fluid; meaning can change. Even “faggot” is the result of a semantic shift from its origin as a stack of kindling wood. However. What applies to some words does not apply to all. The fact is that, throughout history, there are few words that can compare to the impact the n- and f-slurs have had—and continue to have—on whole sections of the population. And these words aren’t ancient evils. The n-word has been used as a tool of oppression in America as recently as the 1960’s. Faggot, for that matter, is still not entirely considered unacceptable, and the subject is debated even now. They haven’t had time to evolve into something less hateful. But now, I suspect some of you will wonder: what’s so bad about these words as they are? Sure, they’ve been used to systematically oppress and belittle entire groups of people for centuries—but things aren’t like that anymore. It’s in the past! Surely, these words can be severed from their histories? Long story short: no, they can’t. Words are never just words. They carry the weight of their history, just as we do.

So, please, allow me to enlighten you on the history of your favourite slurs. I mentioned that “faggot” originally referred to kindling wood. How, you might wonder, could ‘a bunch of twigs’ have evolved into a hateful slur against homosexual men? Short answer: it didn’t. Well, not exactly. In the 1500’s, and later more commonly in the 1800’s, the f-slur became an abusive term towards women, because it was common for widows to make a living by gathering and selling firewood. It isn’t surprising to say that most slurs towards gay men target their masculinity; thus, the evolution of an insult against women into an insult against gay men is hardly anything new. There are other aspects to it as well, but suffice to say: for as long as this word has been directed at people, it has been used to demean and belittle. Then there’s the n-word: derived from a corruption of the Spanish ‘negro’ and unambiguously established as a derogatory term towards Africans in the 1800’s. In addition to the word itself, there exist a variety of related terms, taking ordinary words and attaching the n-word to them in order to demonstrate an implicit irony (for example, ‘nigger-rich’ described someone deeply in debt, yet flamboyant with money). And, of course, the most important thing—the n-word was used, first and foremost, to dehumanize and oppress African-origin slaves in the United States for four hundred years. So. There’s that. But, wait!—I hear you say. Sure, we can all admit that these histories are bad, and maybe they aren’t so easy to erase. Nonetheless, everything I’ve said has been with respect to these words as direct insults. But you use these words amongst friends, with the mutual understanding of a shared joke—so, how can they be considered as offensive as their histories? I want you to think about this. Really—take a moment to consider the last time you said a slur. I think you’ll find that you used the word, in that moment, to call out your friends for an undesired behaviour: stealing your food, for example. In other words: to insult. I think that’s how you’ve always used the word. No one ever says, “Thanks for buying me that Mikado, fag.” And, yes, I know that slur reclamation exists, and I personally support it. However, there is a massive difference between the oppressed group reclaiming a slur, and other groups casually using that slur as a cheap insult. So, I’m sorry, but that isn’t an excuse, either. Again, let me be clear: I am not here to persuade. I have no delusions that my article will compel you not to use these words. I don’t consider myself so powerful. What I am here for is simply to ask you a question. Please, humour me: Which word in the English language, directed towards privileged straight white men, has the same effect on its target as faggot and nigger? Tell me when you find an answer.

DEFINE OBJECT = TRIP

n the 17th of November, Mr. Baumgarten, our school’s Computer Science teacher, led a group of 20 girls to London in order to take part in a girls-only hackathon for the weekend. As an HL Computer Science student, my classmates and I were a little bit upset by this at first. Why should a group of students from Years 8, 9 and 10 get to spend a weekend in London to see if they are interested in coding, when we who actually take the subject don’t get the same opportunity? The decision to make it a girls only event is fair however, and it highlights a serious problem. Computer Science is a relatively new subject to ISL and the IB in general, with only a total of 36 students taking it across the three years that it is being offered. While you could argue that the numbers should be much higher for such a useful subject, a much bigger problem is that only 3 of the students out of the 36 are girls. We are all well aware of how important the skills

taught in Computer Science will be to finding a job in the future, so why is it that most girls seem to do everything they can to avoid taking the class? Well it’s not only a problem at ISL, only 12% software developers in the UK are women, which is only slightly better than the 8% at ISL. If we looked at more unequal societies, we might be able to explain that the cause for this divide is because women simply don’t have access to learning these skills. However, this is clearly not the case, the figures above come from the UK and ISL, two societies which pride themselves in their continued fight for gender equality. What is more likely to be the cause is the stigma surrounding the subject. Computer Science is seen as a very dry, boring and “nerdy” subject which is usually only taken by socially awkward men with thick glasses. Ergo, so long as the industry is seen as hostile, associated with antisocial behavior, and dominated by men, of course most women will

want to stay away. Thus, this simply isn’t the case anymore, and public perception needs to change. Every industry in the world is becoming more digitalised, and the selection of jobs that are related in some way to coding is increasingly rapidly. No matter where you want to work or what you want to become when you are older, CompSci skills will be necessary, even if you only use them to impress an employer with your resumé. It’s not only women who are missing out though, but society as a whole. A lot of the products created by software developers are meant to be used by both men and women. By primarily having men designing these products, we are missing out on the benefit of a wide range of ideas that come with having a diverse workforce. Unless we as a society want to miss out on this untapped potential, it is important that we at ISL, and society as a whole do what we can to get more girls interested in learning these vital skills.

MAN OR SUPERMAN?

e live in a world where we are more pressured than ever to adopt a certain ideal that is illustrated through the media. We are encouraged to look and act a certain way, whilst successfully managing our school work. We often talk about the societal pressures around body image that women face - exceptional skin, body and personality. Unfortunately for men, the self-confidence gap between men and women is tightening. Like women, men feel pressured to look a certain way - they cannot invest as much time in their looks in the fear of seeming too “feminine” or even “gay”. While issues that men face are, in many ways not as severe in comparison to women, they are still valid. Like any other issue, they need to be addressed. Firstly, what is the ideal man? In the media, you will recognize many patterns that define what we now consider to be “beautiful” in our society. As

you will know, in terms of physique, a man should be tall, lean and muscular, but not too bulky. Flawless skin, perfect hair and definitely a jawline. If he isn’t white, caucasian features are still a must. Also, the ideal man needs to be physically active, outgoing, funny and confident while not being too emotional. However, if he is not emotional enough he is boring. Also, a man should be protective of his significant other but not too much or else he is a jerk. The perfect man needs to be successful, and should either be very successful in what he does or have a job where he earns a salary that is enough for him to buy him a nice car and other luxuries. According to Men Get Eating Disorders Too, hospitalizations for male eating disorders have risen by 70% in the past decade. This statistic is something that would not have been as common in the past, as hypermasculinity rose to fame in the early 2000s.

Fredrik Falk

Leonardo Morosini

How does this affect ISL? In a survey, 146 ISL high school students responded; 50% of the respondents were male and 50% female. 66% of the men said that they go to the gym, while only 44% of the females do. While going to the gym is healthy, do you really think that the majority of people go to the gym for health-related reasons? Whilst there are a few flaws in the survey, such as the scale of the sample and the potential for misinformed opinions, it aligns with the common approach portrayed by the media. However, the fact that this issue has migrated from exclusively targeting women to being a similar issue for males is the main problem - it shows that instead of solving these matters, the media has spread and intensified them. This has caused our society to shift the ideals so far from realistic they become unattainable.

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOMEROOM

f you’re a highschool student, chances are that you have at least one person in your homeroom who rarely shows up to homeroom on time. Maybe they’re a heavy sleeper, maybe they have a long commute, maybe they like to take lots of time to put on makeup, maybe it’s any combination of other reasons. The point is they’re racking up lots of late and absent marks. The new policy being put in place in January will require students to show up to school earlier in an effort to reduce the number of students showing up late or not bothering to sign in, a policy that many IB students disagree with. The dilemma facing the students boils down to this: after the school day, most of us have after school activities either for our own ideas of commitment, but also for CAS, without which we cannot receive our diplomas. Some students also visit tutors to help them keep up with the challenging classes that the IB is full of, and these appointments and activities can stretch long into the night. In Year 12, I didn’t get home from my tutor until 20:00, and by then the last thing I wanted to do was spend more time working on assignments for my other five classes and TOK. Even then, I thought I had it easy compared to my classmates who told horror stories of working up to 02:00 before going to bed and needing to drink five cups of coffee just to keep walking the next day. So imagine their frustration when they get it drilled into their heads that every second of the Diploma Programme counts, only to sleepwalk into homeroom, sit down for twenty minutes, and be told they can’t do the rest of their homework. It only gets worse when assemblies drag on into class time, to the point where a few students have complained that even though they are holding up their end of the bargain, the school isn’t doing the same by requiring them to spend twenty to thirty minutes that they could have spent sleeping instead

of sitting in a too brightly-lit classroom while notices that barely pertain to them are read out loud. In some cases, students have arrived to school, then left their bags and coats in their homeroom to quickly print an assignment or use the bathroom only to miss attendance and come back and find out they’ve been marked as absent. Even when they have had a friend tell the teachers that they are in school, just not in homeroom. Then, there are also the students who start their mornings with two free periods after homeroom and don’t see the point in having to come to school so early in the first place. It would be much easier to spend that extra hour and a half catching up on sleep and then showing up later when their lessons actually start.

“Could homeroom be shorter? Yes, it probably could.” So what does the faculty think? Well, without going into anybody’s personal opinions, the simplest way to put it is the rules are the rules. The school is legally obliged to keep track of students and can’t easily do that when students don’t show up when being tallied off. “Could it be done in lessons? Yes, it probably could. Could homeroom be shorter? Yes, it probably could,” says Ms. Foster. As the circumstances are, though, she is a strong supporter of the current system. Compared to a lot of schools, 08:25 is already late into the day. But is it just about signing in to school? “I strongly believe that homeroom should be valued by students because it’s an excellent chance for

Nick Jennings submitted this article at 08:31 them to have a time with two teachers who are dedicated to making sure of their well-being,” elaborating that, “It’s their first priority in the morning.” While some students may welcome the chance to be able to talk to teachers outside of class time and without the trouble of organizing a meeting, some may prefer to talk to a counsellor. Nevertheless, there are other uses for the time spent in homeroom other than waiting for the notices to be read out. The easiest compromise would be to allow students to do homework during this time, which currently varies from homeroom to homeroom. Some allow it on certain days while others insist that students pay full attention to the notices, even if they are only about football being cancelled. “What I would be open to consider,” Ms Foster continues, “is whether the start of the school day could be five minutes of homeroom, then lesson time, and dedicated time with teachers, which is longer than the twenty minutes that we have, built into a timetable.” While this may seem like a viable solution for some, others could argue that we already have time built into our schedules for that: circle time and counselling. Whether students would benefit from more of that is up for debate. So there is obviously a need for homeroom to take place in one form or another. Whether that encompasses us students being required to show up earlier than currently will be disputed until there is evidence to prove that it works. Whether it makes sense to keep students in homeroom after attendance is taken is definitely up for further debate between students and faculty. Restricting students, especially in Years 12 and 13, from making full use of homeroom to finish homework is, however, a fairly obvious design flaw. While not opposing the idea of a twenty minute homeroom, I am simply agreeing with and upholding the statement often repeated by the faculty that every second of the IB counts.

NO ROLE MODELZ Khwaish Vohra scrolls and rolls

f asked, most people would say that social media is a large part of their life. Some of the first things most of us see in our day are their Instagram feeds, or our ‘good morning’ streaks.

scared to be themselves.” Some of you even responded that they have “strength, perseverance, success/achievement, creativity, wisdom (to some extent of course) etc., optimism, determination, brilliance, accomplishment, and knowledge.

Social media is all about sharing the best moments in your life; it is very rare to find photos on someone’s feed that portray them having a bad day. Celebrities and famous personalities seem to have the most exciting lives of all. They get to travel to new places, meet new people, and try new things constantly. Slowly, these celebrities become a standard: it becomes cool to wear what they wear, do what they do, and eat what they eat.

One thing worth noticing is that the characteristics listed above are ones that you use to describe someone when you know them very well in real life. To an extent, social media gives people a sense that they truly know the personality they follow virtually. The whole phenomenon of social media is that it gives personalities a platform to broadcast their life to their fans to such a personal level that one feels like they know a person without ever meeting them.

I started to wonder: are these celebrities becoming our role models? If so, what kind of role models do we have today? Who are we basing our standard on? To understand who we look up to, and how social media influences the personalities we admire, I surveyed the high school.

Another thing I noticed throughout the responses was that we feel as if their role models gave them inspiration as to how they could live their lives. Some say that their role models push them to pursue and take action in causes they care about. One student mentioned, “They inspire me to make a difference in the world, even if it’s just being enlightened about the topics. Especially since some are also around the same age as me, they influence me to speak up about these issues as many believe teenagers should have a voice because “we don’t want to be told it’s all going to be okay.” They inspire me to do things I want to do but lack the motivation or confidence for.” They also teach us to be comfortable and unapologetic about who we are: “They make me want to try my best and to feel comfortable being who I want to be without the influence of other people’s judgment.”

Through the survey, I saw the range of personalities people follow. From dancers and musicians, to politicians and comedians. When asked why you follow these personalities, there was a general agreement that these people had qualities that you looked up to. Many of you said that you follow these personalities because they are entertaining or they share certain opinions with you. I asked if any of these personalities were your role models and what qualities you admired in them. Over 60% of the respondents said that the personalities you followed are your role models. Here are few of the responses outlining why: they have “passion, open mindedness, and intelligence,” they are “funny, positive, caring, and expressive. They are not

Illustration by Minnie Lowin

I am not going to lie, I was not expecting the responses I received. I expected to find out that we as teenagers are easily influenced, and often times we do not know why we follow the people we do. Instead, I have realized that many of us surround ourselves with people who are similar to us and who inspire us. Social media simply allows us to do so to a greater extent. As a teenager today, I always hear parents and teachers talking about how social media can be a mindless space where teenagers get trapped. Upon reading these responses, I would beg to differ. In many ways, social media is an outlet into the real world, where we can educate ourselves and figure out what we believe in and the kind of people we want to be. To answer my original question: what kind of role models do we have today, and who are we basing our standard on? I would say that our role models today are people who inspire us and who motivate us. People who help us establish an identity and educate us on issues around the world. Social media gives us an outlet to the world that our parents did not have when they were growing up. It exposes us to the world outside our little bubble, and I think that is extremely valuable.

POPULAR CULTURE

ake a moment to picture the most popular girl and boy in your year. They’re popular because they’re nice, understanding, and make everyone feel at ease. Their popularity has nothing to do with their appearance, wealth, or ability to manipulate and instil fear in those around them, right? But what if popular people weren’t popular for their genuine qualities and instead their popularity was rooted in manipulation? We should be so grateful that that’s not how it works at ISL. If that were the case though… hypothetically, of course, and you had pictured the most popular girl and the most popular boy in your year and realized that you didn’t like them after all, and that many of your other peers didn’t like them either, then we would have to ask ourselves why they were popular in the first place. So why - in this hypothetical world - are people placed on a social pedestal even though they are not liked by most of their peers? This may be due to the fact that it can be hard to distinguish between two types of popularity: sociometric popularity, which includes well-liked people with reputations for being kind and fun; and perceived popularity, which includes people who hold a lot of social power but are disliked by many. The difficulty comes in acknowledging the blurred line between popularity due to likeability (what we enjoy here at ISL), and popularity due to power (an issue faced in this imaginary situation). Of course, sociometric popularity is easier to wrap your head around: kind, lively kids gain the respect and friendship of their peers. On the other hand, perceived popularity is rooted in less obvious characteristics, so how can you tell? While some aspects of perceived popularity are common to both girls and boys, popularity does differ when it comes to gender; boys and girls have to fulfill different criteria. To begin, a boy who has “perceived popularity” is normally in line with traditional forms of masculinity; he’s athletic, charming, good-looking, and outspoken. Similarly, the popular girl aligns with traditional femininity: she’s confident, attractive, flirtatious, and fun. While none of the traits listed above are bad in themselves, they generally act as a mask to what these kids are really doing. Boys tend to more outwardly demand superiority from their peers, using slurs and targeting less confident boys (something you would never encounter at ISL). For instance, the phrase, “that’s so gay” could be used to belittle the actions of one of their peers. While popular boys tend to be more direct with their peers, popular girls generally resort to more passive-aggressive means of establishing a high social standing. A great example of this is in the very popular, “Mean Girls,” in which Regina George gives compliments sarcastically, only to ridicule the girls later. But, of course, that doesn’t happen in real life. Some will go to great lengths to achieve popularity. Many resort to manipulation in order to maintain their status, using an unpredictable mixture of kindness and meanness to en-

Hannah Besson is not a mean girl hance their social standing and to manipulate those around them. They will act friendly towards a small circle of peers yet, ignore, exclude, and spread gossip about others. These popular kids tend to be both admired and feared by their peers; feared by those they treat badly, and by their “friends” who fear being demoted in the eyes of the “popular kids”. Similarly, by limiting their friendship group to a small circle, they create a facade of exclusivity that kids of a lower social standing yearn to meet. This small circle of peers conforms to the “popular” kids in order to lessen the risk of being kicked out of the group. After all, the independence of their peers is threatening to the popular kids; it’s a lot harder to manipulate someone into feeling inferior to you when they have a life outside of your friendship. Despite this manipulation, they continue to be admired; their outward confidence and control over their peers demands their respect. But surely, at this school, we wouldn’t give this type of people that power over us, right? Lastly, in our hypothetical scenario, the rich kids are popular. Before we begin, it’s worth clarifying that wealth is not the problem, neither is enjoying expensive things. However, for students to consider wealth as the sole means of determining the social hierarchy or climbing the social ladder is far from healthy. As you can imagine, these rich kids’ parents own multi-billion franc corporations and employ many of their peers’ parents. “Be careful what you say around her or your parents might get fired” is an increasingly common saying. Also, to be “in”, having one pair of 500CHF shoes and a Chopard bracelet for the sole purpose of keeping up appearances is essential. What’s the point of of buying something expensive if you can’t feel superior to everyone else, right? Again, buying nice things is not the problem. The only point at which it becomes an issue is when fun and genuine friendships become an afterthought, and spending their parents’ money is solely a demonstration put on for those around them. This wealth is lorded over their peers in order to maintain their sense of superiority. But why would it affect even the least materialistic people? Because our human nature forces us to want what we can’t have. So, through the use of mind games, manipulation, and control of group dynamics, popular people obtain power over their peers. While these are behaviours commonly observed in middle school, in this hypothetical high school, the popular kids never grow out of their manipulative ways and continue to be gratified by their peers. Thankfully, here at ISL, it’s the kids who find the sweet spot between being kind and assertive who are considered popular. We can all rest easy knowing that the popular kids aren’t targeting certain groups or people to maintain their popularity and that we aren’t standing by watching them do so. You don’t have to worry about any of that, since the social dynamic here at ISL is as healthy as can be!

THE LAST SUPPER

nce again, we find ourselves in a miserable mood because we’re almost done with school…but not yet. While I love holidays as much as anyone else, what I am NOT looking forward to are the long family dinners that make me question my sanity. I’m sure we all have the same internal monologue when it comes to these sort of events… Me: (Ugh I don’t want to be here… where is the champagne? Ohh no, it’s Stacy…. Run away!!!) Stacy: So…. How’s school going? Me: (Not this again. I just got out of school. Yeesh I can’t catch a break. Let me pretend like I’m not exhausted) School’s great! I mean there’s lots of work but such is the life of a highschool student. Stacy: That’s cool! My son is also in highschool… Do you know what you want to do in college? Or what you

want to do? Me: (God I don’t even know how to answer that anymore… I guess I’ll go with a basic answer so she doesn’t keep asking.) I’m not quite sure yet. I have some ideas… dabbling in (*insert some subjects here*), but nothing too concrete yet. Stacy: Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon enough. What do you do in your spare time? I bet you don’t have a lot of spare time with all that work. Me: Yeah, spare time is a luxury these days. I do sports when I can. At ISL, sports are a big deal - it makes being out of sport a rare occurrence. (Lmao I haven’t been to football in a few weeks because I’ve been swamped with work. I’ll just leave that tiny detail out… ) Stacy: Oh! I remember doing sports, I loved it! SooooooOOOoOOOO….. How’s the boyfriend scene? Me: (OOOOooo great. This again. How

Sophia Scokalo can I tactfully avoid this question...) I don’t know. It’s pretty complicated at the moment. I am just trying to focus on school - better investment. (Gee I barely dodged that one. Why does everyone assume I have to be with someone??) Stacy: That’s a shame… Probably better - relationships in high school aren’t great anyways. Are you sure you should be drinking that? Me: (Oops was I supposed to hide it? Uhhhh) Haha this is actually my first glass so it’s still okay… These conversations usually happen a few times before the end of the night. Despite the internal frustration, or boredom, people still seem to love christmas. Something about the cozy clothing, the sparkly lights and the sense of togetherness makes the whole situation okay.

LISTEN, WRITE, VISIT

Pia Tiwari

A CHRISTMAS CAROL BY TOM LEHRER

START WHERE YOU ARE BY MEERA LEE PATEL

KIZUKU CAFÉ

The festive season is here. The school corridors are turning into a sea of Christmas sweaters and it is almost impossible to walk ten steps in town without being serenaded by yet another christmas song spilling out of a shop or café. This media-fueled false cheer and unrestrained use of cinnamon can be tiring for the best of us. Well for those of you out there who aren’t quite feeling it, A Christmas Carol by Tom Lehrer is a christmas song that gives it to you straight, encapsulating every sentiment we experience as November turns into December, with a great sense of humour and sarcasm.

A new year is a new start. We make new year’s resolutions that last at best a few days. We plan to start working out and to think more positively, but never quite manage it. Start Where You Are by Meera Lee Patel is a journal that you would actually want to keep, and one that helps you achieve your goals step by step, rather than setting unrealistic targets that you know you’ll never reach. It is filled with watercolour illustrations and thought-provoking questions that urge you to get in touch with your true self and really make the most of 2018.

Hidden away on a back street of Vevey is Kizuku Café, a quirky restaurant with some of the best food, drinks, and interior design in town. Whether you happen to be passing by and crave a cup of tea and cinnamon rolls, or would prefer to make a full afternoon meal of their incredible hot dogs, Kizuku Café has something to offer. Good vegetarian and gluten-free options are available, and what’s more, it’s even open on Sundays. Spend a few hours there with a book this holiday, or visit later in spring for a refreshing brunch and walk by the stunning lakeside.

RITALIN ME THIS Lewis Martin was distracted but not amused

his year at ISL, the Year Twelve and Thirteens have put on a new play called Distracted. The play was directed by Ms. Hannell and Mr. Guillet. The actors in this play didn’t have very long to memorise their lines. In fact, one of the actors only came on board in September! They have had less than 3 months to prepare this play and I think that the end result is incredible in that regard. The main plot follows a young mother and her husband who are struggling to get by in the world. Their son has been having “issues” at school and they have been constantly trying to help him bring up his grades. Right from the first second, the play shows its absurdist, fourth-wall breaking comedy. The main character begins by directly stating what she is doing and why she is doing it. As the play continues, these fourth wall breaks create some of the best jokes in the play with characters shouting at the audience, other actors, and even the writers of some of the lines that they have to say. Personally, I love this type of humour. It makes no sense, and is over the top and completely hilarious. One issue that I did have with the humour, however, is that they didn’t go all out. I could feel that they were pulling some punches. They would bring up an awkward subject and just leave. This left the audience

feeling incredibly uncomfortable as they didn’t even make any hard hitting jokes. One example of this was when they randomly brought up the fact that they thought their son was going to be a school shooter. They didn’t make any jokes about it and you could feel the tension in the audience as everyone didn’t know how to react. Another praise that I must give this play is to the set designers. The fourth wall being practically non-existent allows them to move things on and off without disturbing the flow of the play. Even when it would disturb the play, they just turn it into a gag and continue moving the plot forward. The play isn’t all jokes and ridiculousness. This play is very much a close to home, character driven play. The play draws you in with its jokes and fourth wall breaks and then gets you invested in the characters and proceeds to hit you in the gut with heart wrenching scenes. The plot also drives forward the idea of letting people who have “disabilities” go on with their lives and not trying to change them by using pills and medicine. The play isn’t completely perfect however. One of my biggest issues is that in some parts of the play, the actors were so quiet it became almost impossible

to hear what they were saying. This is a real shame as the quick witted jokes are being thrown out left and right. I think that the actors were trying to make their characters feel as real as possible but I think that did ruin quite a few scenes as nobody could hear what they were saying. I believe that Distracted made light of, and didn’t treat with care, serious conditions and swept them aside because they were “side effects of drugs”. The son begins to have panic attacks over the school fire alarm. When the doctor is asked he begins to break character about how the medicine has been helping him. It is implied that the drugs he has taken have made him go insane. In my opinion, the play doesn’t treat the fact that people with genuine issues sometimes need the help of medicine and this can potentially push people who need help away from it. At the end of the play, the moral is: “People who have ADHD are fine as long as people around them aren’t distracted.” This is simply untrue and it isn’t fair to make light of a serious mental condition. In the end, I think that the DP students have put on a good play for the time they had available. I do believe, however, that it would be unfair to place this play onto a high pedestal when it is riddled with issues and some elements that I believe to be simply wrong. As much as I want to promote drama at ISL, don’t let this play get you distracted from more important things.

BAKED ON CHRISTMAS

hristmas is fast approaching. Christmas trees are up and fairy lights are out. I first baked these cookies a few years ago around Christmas and they have since become my go-to for when people come to the house or when I feel like baking something very easy and super quick. They are originally christmas biscuits but I like to make them year round and switch up the toppings!

Preheat oven to 170°C and line a tray with greaseproof paper.

Beat the sugar and butter together in a bowl until pale and soft. Then, sieve in the cocoa powder. Then, sieve in the flour and add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Or just shove everything into a food processor and blitz until smooth.

For the Batter 250g butter (at room temp.) 150g caster sugar 40g cocoa powder 300g plain flour ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp baking powder

For the Icing 2 tbsp cocoa powder 175g icing sugar 60ml boiling water 1 tsp vanilla extract Sprinkles to decorate

Pinch off pieces about the size of a large walnut (this really depends on how big you want them, but bear in mind that the bigger they are, the longer they take to cook). Roll each one into a ball and put them on a baking tray, flattening them into “fat discs”. They should be well spread apart, aiming for about 12 per baking sheet. Bake each batch for 15 minutes. They may not seem done when they come out but they will contin-

Eleanor Payne

ue to cook as they cool. They will (in theory) be slightly cracked on the top. 5.

Remove baking sheet from tray and let them sit for 10-15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.

To make the icing, put the icing sugar, water, vanilla and cocoa powder into a pan over low heat and whisk until everything is combined and smooth. Take off of the heat for 10 minutes. (I sometimes prefer to not add the cocoa powder to the icing – then they resemble Christmas puddings).

Ice the biscuits 6 at a time, then proceed to decorate. If you decorate straight away, the sprinkles will get “swallowed up” by the icing. Leaving for a minute allows for the icing to dry slightly so that the sprinkles stay sat on top.

WORDS UNDER THE TREE

TWELVE DAYS OF HOLIDAY AGONY

ere it is: the highly anticipated return of your favourite agony aunt. It must have been a devastating couple of issues without me, but now I’m back, and better than ever. Well maybe not better than ever, but definitely back. This time around, I’ll be answering holiday-related questions to help ensure you have the best winter holiday ever, you’re welcome. What should I do if I get a gift that I really don’t like? A classic question. I recommend smiling as wide as possible to convey a sense of happiness, followed by saying that you like the gift so much that you want to give it back to whoever gave to you in the first place, as a token of your appreciation. Or you could always just use it as tinder for a beautiful christmas fire whilst the gift-giver isn’t looking. I’m the Secret Santa of someone I barely know... what should I get them? You need to get to know them in order to know what to buy them, right? I recommend creating a fake online profile with an incredibly good-looking person as the picture (I can provide you with one) and messaging them over a few days. Before you know it, you’ll know them better than you know yourself, and buying a gift for them will be a piece of Christmas pudding. What’s best is you’ll become friends with them easily afterwards because you’ll already know a ton of stuff about them, to their surprise! Chocolate works too. Is Santa real? Is time real? Is gender real? Is anything real? Are we really just a bunch of animals floating on a rock in space? Is there life after death? These are some of world’s unanswerable questions. Yours, however is answerable: no. I don’t feel very “Christmassy”... how can I get into the Christmas spirit? Ah yes, sounds like you’ve got a case of what I like to call “growing up”! Once you realise the holiday season is maintained purely for the sake of fueling capitalism, it’s incurable. Merry Christmas! Is it alright to celebrate Christmas if you aren’t Christian? Of course! I don’t understand why this is such a controversial topic. My name isn’t Christian, and I’ll have you know I have been celebrating Christmas since birth. Surely that’s namist or something. How do I survive family dinners? There is nothing more painful than small talk with relatives or family friends, especially if you get asked what and where you want to study once you graduate about 27 times in one night. The easiest solution to making things less boring is by finding some form of entertainment, so try bringing up a con-

Amelia Lumme thinks the best gift is good advice

troversy concerning politics or something, and you’ll enjoy watching your family smash furniture and hurl plates of food at one another. What should I get my significant other for Christmas? Sounds like you haven’t taken the time to get to know your own boyfriend or girlfriend very well! Maybe your gift to them should be someone else to date :) What should I get my parents for Christmas? Sounds like you haven’t taken the time to get to know your own parents very well! Maybe you should-- oh wait, nevermind. Try candles or socks. I don’t have any money to buy presents for anyone, what should I do? That’s alright, you can just borrow money from your parents, and use that to buy them presents. Or, when someone asks you what you got them, just say something along the lines of “Hey, it’s Christmas. What matters most right now is that we’re here together, happy and healthy”. If you feel too awkward to reply, just walk out of the room. How can I stick to my new year’s resolutions? Don’t even bother trying; it’s impossible. You and I both know you’ll stop going to the gym after a couple weeks, or you’ll give up on learning Japanese by February, or that you’ll get sick of being nice to people 24/7. Not worth it. I want to enjoy my holiday but I have so much homework and revision, what should I do? Ho ho ho, sounds like you’re in Year 13! Fear not, for I have a tactic which will give you plenty of time to relax. All you have to do is complete ALL of your revision in 24 hours, giving you the rest of the three weeks off. Make sure you stay on task by taking no breaks, not even to eat. Trust me, it’ll be well worth it! What can I do if I’m snowed in? I understand completely. Where’s the fun in being snowed in when you can’t even play in the snow? There’s a simple solution to this problem. Just bring the snow into your house! I honestly don’t know why more people don’t do this. Is it alright to buy myself a Christmas present? Of course! 2018 should be a year of self-love for everyone. In fact, you deserve to have more than just one gift from yourself this year. Share this inspiring concept with your family and friends by opening all your gifts to yourself in front of everyone, emphasising how you bought way more presents for yourself than for anyone else, because you just have to put yourself first.

THE LAST LAUGH: NAUGHTY OR NICE?

Pia Tiwari