CULTURE

The Stress of Being a Senior

[Story by Max Villegas]

‘Junior year is the hardest year of high school’ said every junior ever.

Their experience is clouded by loading on AP classes, taking standardized tests, gaining leadership in extracurricular activities, and starting to prepare for post-high school life. But senior year is arguably the most difficult year for a high school student. Not to undermine the struggles of a junior, but senior year is unique. Senior year brings a mess of emotions unlike any other year in high school.

The process of figuring out and carrying out post-high school plans - whether it be college, trade school, military, or the workforce - is stressful on its own. The waiting period makes students feel anxious, restless, and unable to focus on anything else. The decisions - accepted, rejected, deferred, waitlisted - can make a student feel euphoric or depressed. The lack of external and internal motivation that seniors face truly shows what students care about. The push and pull between being a young adult but still living at home, or the dynamic between friends who have different goals from each other. Senior year is hard.

“I'm feeling excited for Capstone, and just graduation and summer,” said senior Shreya Krishna.

Along with many seniors, Krishna is pushing through the last stretch of high school: second semester. During this time of year, the celebration period feels so far away, it’s difficult to stay positive and focused on schoolwork or even look forward to exciting events.

Photo provided by Max Villegas After much work, student prepares to submit their application to Boston University.

Photo provided by Max Villegas Student gets accepted into University of Virginia.

“Freedom teachers have honestly relieved most of my stress because they’re super supportive but the class work definitely adds to everything,” said senior Kathleen Pham.

Having a support system, especially at school, is greatly beneficial to navigating numerous emotions at once. To combat stress, FHS seniors enjoy listening to music, taking a nap, or even embracing their current mood.

The college application process has its own stressors in addition to balancing coursework and extracurricular activities. The application season is unique: No high school student prior to senior year has experienced a lengthy application process like the college process.

“Everyone’s kind of curious to see where everyone will end up,” Krishna said.

People are naturally curious about what others are doing. College is unique, because it's the first time everyone isn’t going through the same public school system. People are going to a state school or are traveling far to attend college, so everyone is fascinated by which paths people are taking. Senior Nina Cabrera admits that she’s guilty of obsessing over other people’s plans - because everyone gets to choose their own school or plan.

Despite being a short period of time, senior year can be a defining moment for learning and reflecting. Trying to figure out what to do after high school can lead to discussions

The Stress of Being a Senior

regarding passions and interests.

“I’ve learned how to take myself less seriously and trust that it’s okay to not be in control,” Pham said.

Pham and other seniors have found that many aspects of their life are out of their control, which can be difficult for people who constantly want to control school assignments or in this case their future.

“I have learned that there is more to life than school. I realized some students’ heads, like myself, are completely bombarded with school life that they can’t pursue their interests and hobbies. Students gotta do things for themselves and especially, what makes them happy,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera hopes that current Freedom students prioritize what interests them, because regardless of their plans after high-school, it's important to find what keeps a student curious and interested. There’s more value in discovering passions and interests instead of aiming to receive an A on every assignment.

Photo provided by Max Villegas Seniors Samantha Borromeo, Megan McGraw, Madison Tavares, Jordan Thomas, Haley Wulff, Jacqueline Westfall, Max Villegas, and Hannah Greer pose for a dance team photo.

Disney Changes With the Modern World

[Story by Hope Nguyen]

From the very first Mickey Mouse cartoon to the modern Disney princesses, Disney has stolen the hearts of many. Disney movies have been defining childhoods with whimsical tales of faraway places, daring sword fights, magic spells and lovely princesses. It's 2022, and Disney has changed a lot since their company opened in 1923.

The Disney princess franchise, in particular, has grown to include more diverse protagonists and backdrops for their stories. A look back on some of their oldest movies in comparison to their newest ones can show how far they've grown as a company since then.

“I think [Disney princesses] are less feminine and weak than they used to be,” said sophomore Kaleigh Plowden.

Encanto and Mulan have themes of family, feeling like you're not good enough and have the setting showcase another culture. However, the movies are drastically different.

“Encanto is a story about generational trauma while Mulan’s is [about] the bravery of a girl and in all honesty the sheer capability a woman can have,” said senior Grace Nguyen, a Senior.

Mulan is set in Ancient China. As the only daughter of her family, it is her duty to bring honor to the family through marriage. However, Mulan has always been an oddball and an outsider, not fitting in with stereotypical gender roles. She feels worthless when a meeting with the matchmaker goes horribly. Then, her father is drafted to go to war to fight against the Huns, despite his old age. Mulan then makes a big sacrifice. She takes her father's place and goes in for him. Together with friends she's met along the way, she fights to save China against the huns.

“There’s a large difference in places, culture, and threats [to the story],” said senior Nicholas Powell..

The cultural aspects of Mulan were subtle but implemented well into the background of the story, as well as serving a purpose to show the sexist and misogynistic views of the time period. Colombian culture in Encanto was shown a little more upfront, with Spanish being sprinkled throughout

Disney Changes With the Modern World

the dialogue, but was still more or less subtle and thrown into the background to make way for the plot. The conflict was also more personal, less huge as many Hispanic families related to the toxic family dynamics in the film that are often present in everyday life.

Whereas in Mulan there were many different places the characters explored and traveled to, Encanto takes place in the same setting the whole movie, their home Casita.

Mulan's story is more self-driven and has higher stakes, moved by her desire to honor her family and the threat of foreign invasion looming overhead, showcasing an intense ride. Mirabel's story involves more than her, it's about her whole family, and has slightly sadder themes, with no "bad guy" or villain to point fingers at, but shows that everyone is flawed in their own way and that there is no true meaning of "perfect."

“[I like] Old [Disney movies] just because they're classics, and I personally like the old Disney music better,” Plowden said.

Nevertheless, it is clear Disney wants to take a different approach now when making their movies, presenting conflicts in more diverse ways than they have done in the past. Not every problem has to be some grand, larger than life scheme that must save the world. Some problems seem tiny in the grand scheme of things, found within the confines of one's own home. But it doesn't mean Mulan's story is any better or worse than Encanto's. Disney only means to introduce people to new and exciting tales, and through them they can show all sorts of lessons everybody can relate to, big or small and represent different cultures while doing so.

Even though old Disney was more focused on plot driven narratives, going straight from plot point A to plot point B in an easy to follow story, new Disney is focused on showcasing character driven plots, with no real storyline, but nevertheless demonstrating there's things to be learned even in the tiniest of settings. Both ways of writing are good, and it is all a matter of preference. In the future will Disney continue down this route, or change? Who knows. For now one can only hope that future movies will be just as good, if not better than Mulan and Encanto.