News
Caricature Contest Winners:
Here are the top 3 winners for the caricature contest! Congrats to our winners!
Marlboro Marketplace
By: Amanda Sun
Here are the top 3 winners for the caricature contest! Congrats to our winners!
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| Mr.Ancona by: Tiffany Lee |
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| Mr.Healy by: Marium Rizvi |
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| Mr.Fine by: Zaina Saif |
Marlboro Marketplace
By: Amanda Sun
Calling all future entrepreneurs! Marlboro Marketplace is the perfect place to explore your interests and passions, or even solve a problem. Students will have the opportunity to choose a partner (unless they prefer working by themselves) and sell their own product, service, or solution. Then they will be able to sell it at the Marketplace event at Memorial Middle School. The best part is that the students will be able to make money just by pursuing their own interests and talents! Not only will students have fun while doing what they love and making profits at the same time, they will also learn many important skills. Some skills include advertising, money saving, time management, and organization.
If you are one of those interested in participating in this event but are scratching your head about what to do, do not worry! Here are a few examples to give you an idea of what to do with this decision chart. Remember that whatever you decide to sell at Marlboro Marketplace, have fun!
Tournament of Books
By: Sreeja Paruchuri
And the winner is… The Hunger Games! This year, our reading specialist Mrs. Stein organized a series of polls in order to determine the most popularly favored book in MMMS. Everyone in the school voted on which books they liked the most in a series of 5 polls. It started out with 32 books and was then reduced to the “Sweet 16.” After that, students voted on the Elite 8, which then became the the Final Four. The Final Four included The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Wonder, and Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone.
Finally, there were two books left competing for the champion of the Tournament of Books. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins emerged winner, with Wonder by R.J Palacio in second. The Hunger Games takes place in a future North America where there are 12 districts under the rule of the Capitol. Each year, every district must offer a boy and a girl to participate in the Hunger Games, which is a survival competition held solely for the Capitol’s entertainment. Overall, the Tournament of Books is an exciting way to keep track of all the popular books of today’s world and will hopefully continue next year as well!
Monmouth County Fair Housing Contest
Congratulations to Nick Chang and Robert Valentino for winning first prize in the Monmouth County Fair Housing poster contest!
Pennies For Patients: MMMS Makes A Difference!
By: Danielle Ahearn
This winter, Marlboro Memorial Middle School participated in a fundraiser for many of the children suffering from cancer in our country. Pennies for Patients is an organization that encourages schools to donate money to cancer research and helping comfort kids in hospitals. Our school had a contest in which the homeroom that donated the most money to the cause would get a pizza party. The runner-up classes would get an ice cream party. The winning class was Mr. Bucci’s homeroom, and they raised $533.14! The runner-ups were Mr. Ancona’s class, which raised $274.65, and Mr. Osborne’s class, which raised $240.48. Then, at the 8th grade Battle of the Quads, $1,000 dollars was raised. In all, Memorial raised $3,667.33! MMMS sure made a difference in the patients’ lives!
WALKATHON!
All Shore Intermediate Band 2018
By: Megan Xie
This year, six students from Marlboro Memorial Middle School represented their school in All Shore Intermediate Band: Haley Deng (clarinet), Helena Tan (flute), Charis Tse (flute), Eric Wang (trumpet), Megan Xie (clarinet), and Allan Zhang (clarinet). From December 2017 to February 2018, the musicians in All Shore endured ten rigorous rehearsals, each lasting around three hours. Using all the hard work they put into their music, the students then performed two concerts at Red Bank Regional High School. Despite all the blood, sweat, and tears, the students truly enjoyed their musical experience in All Shore. Clarinetist Haley Deng says, “I would encourage everyone that is interested to join All Shore Intermediate Band because the rehearsals not only sharpen a young musician’s skills, but also spending time with other people in the band helps to develop strong relationships. The people in the band practically feel like family to you after All Shore is over.”
All Shore Intermediate Band is a student concert band meant to “Encourage the performance of quality band music.” This ensemble is open to students in Monmouth and Ocean County. Are you interested in joining? Visit http://www.shoreintermediateband.com or contact Mr. Goley for more information.
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| Bring Your Child to Work Day! |
Talent Show
Class of 2018
Dedicated to the CLASS OF 2018:
When You Grow Up
By: Amanda Sun
My child, when you grow up,
Your arms will be long enough
To stretch across the galaxy
You will gather the stars
And hold them forever
In your eyes
When you grow up,
You will stand taller than them all
You will touch the sky
You will brush the clouds
With your fingertips
And gather the sweet fluff full of dreams
When you grow up,
You will jump higher than the horizon
With the wind beneath your feet
The stars will be caught in your hair
And the moon will brush your nose
And the sun will warm you up
When you grow up,
Your sweet laugh
Will pour out of your mouth like honey
The fruits of your knowledge
And the blossoms of your love
Will bloom each year
But nothing
Is longer
Or taller
Or sweeter
Than my love for you
Clubs and Sports
Track and Field
By: Zaina Saif
On March 19, the 2018 track and field season started off at a run- with practice 5 days a week and Memorial students preparing for victory. This year, our school’s track team has a total of 140 members, the majority of the team being 6th graders. Lead by Mr. Fine, Mr. Osborne, and Ms. Hess, the MMMS track team is filled with skilled runners, throwers, and jumpers. Students participating in track are able to select form various events, such as 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 4x100m, Shot Put, Discus, Long Jump, and High Jump.
To succeed in track and field, our coaches believe you must display overall athleticism. Specifically, Mr. Fine believes that you need to be both physically and mentally strong to thrive in the sport. Some specific participants he believed demonstrated significant effort throughout the season are Lily Shapiro and Matt Freedman as distance runners, Eric Wang and Rachel Hayze in the sprinting races, Adi Sinha and Analice Wu in throwing, and Megan Xie and Pranav Rana in jumping. These 8th graders have shown superior leadership skills throughout their years of being on Memorial’s track and field team. All efforts considered, the most recognizable of our school’s track team will be selected for the All Star Meet, which concludes Memorial’s Track and Field season for the year.
The Little Mermaid: A Spring Production
By: Danielle Ahearn
The Marlboro Memorial Middle School’s drama club is proud to wrap up the year with their spring production of The Little Mermaid. There were three shows in which the cast rocked the stage. There were also three performances: Friday, March 23rd at 7 PM, and March 24th at 2 and 7 PM.
In the play, Ariel (played by Alyssa Kiselev) goes on an adventure. In the beginning of the story, she is supposed to perform a song with her sisters (Kavya Jain, Julia Scandaglia, Sophia Tedesco, Rachel Hayes, Tara Hayes, and Megha Ashanath). Their director is Sebastian (Danielle Lirov.) In the show, Ariel fails to attend, confusing the audience and angering her father, King Triton (played by Alexander Postovkskiy).
While the concert is going on, Ariel is looking for treasure with her friend, Flounder (played by Julia Munk.) They soon encounter a ship, where there is Grimsby (played by Madhav Ashanath) and Prince Eric (Josh Holtzenberg). When she sees the ship, which is sinking, she rescues Prince Eric and brings him to the shore. King Triton soon finds out about this, so he sends Sebastian to watch after her.
When Sebastian isn’t watching, Ariel sneaks out to go look for treasure, and eventually, she goes to see Ursula, and her two pet eels, Flotsam and Jetsam. (Ursula was played by Sierra Bonilla. Flotsam and Jetsam were played by Dallas Riopel and Anisha Atre.) Ursula proposes a deal to Ariel in which Ariel would become a human in exchange for her voice. Reluctantly, Ariel takes the deal. She is then on land and meets Prince Eric, who takes her in since she does not have a home on land. Eric does not yet know that Ariel saved his life. Since Ursula stole Ariel’s voice, she goes on land and uses her voice to try and convince Eric that she is Ariel. Later, however, he finds out that she (Ursula) was faking, so he then marries Ariel. Ariel stays human for the rest of her life, but she still keeps in touch with her family under the sea.
After hard work on three amazing performances, the cast and crew joined together on stage. This was an emotional experience for not only the actors and the crew, but for the audience too.
Sophia Tedesco, who played Arista the mersister in the play, says, “I was so upset that my time in the drama club was over for good (this was my last show), but at the same time I was really proud of myself and the entire cast for putting on a really amazing show and for having such meaningful memories from the past 3 years.”
Anna Petruzzi, the stage manager of the production, says, “I felt really proud of the cast and crew, but I was also really sad that it was over. It had gone so much quicker than I had expected.” Even though the crew of the stage was not on the stage acting, they had a very large impact on the show. The cast and crew consider themselves to be a family. All in all, it was a very amazing production that everyone involved was proud of!
The fall play has not yet been announced, but many people from the cast of The Little Mermaid and others are very excited to find out what it will be. Congratulations to the cast and crew!
CONGRATS TO 6TH GRADER GORDON FAN FOR WINNING THE CHESS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP!
Ping Pong Club
By: Ranvith Adulla
Do you have an interest in the sport of ping pong? Do you want to try the sport out? Do you want to develop your skills in ping pong? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then Ping Pong Club is the club for you. Currently, the club is in its second year of operation. For both of these years, Mr. Harpootlian has been the supervisor of the club.
This club was actually not an idea that sprouted from this school. Instead, Mr. Harpootlian got the idea from Marlboro Middle School. Mr. Harpootlian already had an interest in ping pong, so he decided to start the club with the goal of bringing ping pong to Memorial. He has definitely succeeded in his role, as the club averages 50 students a year, making it one of the clubs with the highest participation.
One of the reasons that the Ping Pong Club has such high participation is its flexibility. Ping Pong Club runs on both Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, you only go to the club on one day. So, if you have another club on Tuesday, you can go on Thursday, and vice versa. In addition, Ping Pong Club only runs for ten weeks. Therefore, if you don’t want to commit to a club that runs full-year, you can join Ping Pong Club.
Mr. Harpootlian runs Ping Pong Club in a very productive way. He creates a schedule for every day to make sure that you are playing against a variety of different players. In addition, instead of playing for the usual 21 points, Ping Pong Club students only play to 11 points to make sure that everyone gets a chance to play enough games.
When asked for some information about ping pong in general, Mr. Harpootlian reported , “Ping Pong is a great lifetime activity that kids and adults can play their whole lives. I would encourage anyone to join the club or just play for fun with their friends. It is also a difficult game that takes good hand-eye coordination and strategy to be successful.”
To conclude, ping pong on a whole is also a very challenging sport, and there is no place better to try it out than in our very own school! Next year, when you get the chance, will you join the ranks of people who play ping pong in our school’s club?
National History Day Club
By: Ava Giarratana
Welcome to the National History Day Club! The club, advised by 6th grade social studies teacher Mr. Osborne, meets on Tuesdays and prepares students for the National History Day contest, where a variety of students from different schools compete against each other. In this contest, students can choose to work individually or in a group. Each year there is a new idea, and students get the chance to make a project based on that idea.
This year, the theme was “Conflict and Compromise.” Simply speaking, contestants had to focus on problems and solutions in history. Participants first chose a topic related to the year’s theme. Special congratulations go out to 6th grader Amanda Sun, who made it to States, and 7th graders Danielle Lirov and Ridha Shaikh, who placed third in the State Contest and are the NJ alternates for Nationals. So keep calm and history on! And remember, the National History Club is always open for new students!
Softball
By: Mikaela Hartman
Softball season is finally here, and our softball team is working harder than ever. Coached by Mrs. Tatgenhorst, Ms. DaCosta, and Mrs. Hendrickson, the team has won their first three games, and is looking forward to a successful season. This year’s team of hard working girls will be playing their hearts out until the championship game, scheduled for May 24.
The girls, however, are not the only ones on the team working hard. The coaches push the girls to be the best they can be and to inspire one another. This is Mrs. Hendrickson’s first season with the team. Ms. DaCosta is coaching her second season, and Mrs. Tatgenhorst is coaching her ninth season. “We have a great group of girls who work really hard and really well together. They push themselves everyday to improve and learn,” Mrs. Tatgenhorst explained. She continued, “They enjoy pushing each other to be the best and positively encourage each other during every game and practice.” As in every sport, teamwork is essential, and it is clear that the Monarchs understand the meaning of teamwork.
The players are also very enthusiastic about their season. They have fun and work hard everyday to be the best they can be. Pitcher and first baseman Sierra Bonilla, a returning 8th grader, commented, “We learn that we’re not just part of a team but a family,” adding, “I think that our team has had our ups and downs, but I know that...we work together and try our best.” The players really see each other as a large family. They win and lose together. As Sierra explained, there is no “I” in “team.”
Our Monarch Lions softball team will be leaving it all on the field until the end of May. Home games are held at the Marlboro Little League Fields. This hard-working team would appreciate the support of an enthusiastic crowd. Upcoming games for the team include the All-Star game and championship. Do not miss out on a chance to see our Monarch Lions in action!
The 6th Grade Concert
By: Rebecca Zhang
The two sixth grade concerts are the time for the sixth graders in band, choir, and orchestra to perform their wonderful pieces for their parents. Hosted on January 24th, 2018 and May 22nd, 2018, these performances are directed and organized by Mr. Goley, the band director, Ms. Winslow, the choir instructor, and Ms. Dokus, the orchestra supervisor. The three band department leaders chose music pieces that they thought were fit for the members.
For the first sixth grade concert, Mr. Goley chose the songs Antagonist, Temple of Artemis, Ascension, and Fanfare Heroica. Antagonist is a lively song with an equally energetic band playing it, Temple of Artemis sets a mysterious mood with its misty-like tune, Ascension has a march-like rhythm, Fanfare Heroica has a heroic beat. Ms. Winslow selected the two songs Winter Lullaby, a gentle lullaby, and Dream Keeper, a song that gives an unpredictable mood and has an interesting tune. Lastly, Ms. Dokus elected the songs Tango Latino, Dog Dreams, and Appalachian Hymn. Tango Latino is an excitable, upbeat, and catchy song, Dog Dreams is a quiet and peaceful piece, and Appalachian Hymn is played as an elegant and serene song.
The Spring Concert, hosted on May 22nd, holds many different pieces as well. For the band, the songs Cassini’s Rings, Challenger Point, Chimes of Liberty, and Colliding Visions were chosen by Mr. Goley. Cassini’s Rings has a mystical and jumpy mood with changing tempos. Challenger Point sets a victorious mood and has changing beats; from quick and buoyant to more calm and quiet, then back to the excitable rhythm. Chimes of Liberty sounds like an encouraging and strong march. Colliding Visions starts and ends as quiet, and the bulk of it sets the mood as if one has achieved something great. Ms. Winslow chose the songs When in Doubt, Tell the Truth, Stars, and Jubilate, Alleluia! for the sixth-grade choir. When in Doubt has a catchy rhythm, Jubilate would make one feel jubilant and happy, and Stars is a sweet and wondrous piece.
Finally, for the orchestra, Ms. Dokus selected Stone Mountain Stomp, Rhythm ‘N’ Blues, Gauntlet, and Medieval Kings for the Spring Concert. Stone Mountain Stomp gives a rustic and country-like tune, Rhythm ‘N’ Blues is jazzy, Gauntlet gives off a mood like a cold, old, and abandoned mansion, and Medieval Kings has a royal and noble vibe.
All of the songs played were selected by the music directors to fit the pupils and give an appropriate beat. The three ensembles performed on December 7th, 2017 in the winter and May 22nd, 2018 in the spring. For the first year in middle school, the sixth graders had fun in their music lessons as well as performing with their friends. The songs were exciting to learn and different lessons were taught, so people learned new things. In conclusion, the sixth graders that chose to invest in musical ensembles had fun learning and performing their different musical instruments.
The Seventh Grade Spring Concert
By: Rishika Raghavan
On the night of Thursday, May 10, 2018, the one and only seventh grade spring concert took place! The event presented the works of the seventh grade orchestra, band, choir, and so much more.
To start off the night, the bell choir, directed by Ms. Winslow, played an arrangement by Ron Mallory of the popular jingle “City of Stars” from the Golden Globe Award winning movie, “La La Land.” The techniques used by the ensemble really made the breathtaking song stand out.
Then, the seventh grade symphonic band, conducted by Mr. Goley, played “March Concord” by John Edmondson, a song that gave off marching-band-like vibes to the audience. Following this, they played “Trampoline Jump,” a “bouncy” song by Steve Hodges. To end their spectacular performance, they played an arrangement by Michael Story, which included excerpts of songs from all eight Harry Potter movies. “The Magic of Harry Potter” really sounded mysterious and adventurous and made the audience feel like they were part of the movie.
Subsequently, the seventh grade choir, conducted by Ms. Winslow, showcased their work throughout the spring season with the pieces “Cool Moon” by Richard A. Williamson and “Journey of Hope” by Jim Papoulis. “Cool Moon” was a dramatic and moving piece. “Journey of Hope” was the opposite, a happy and upbeat song about never giving up hope. The piano for both songs was played by eighth grader Christopher Chen. The songs also included bass guitar played by eighth grader Max Brodsky, djembe played by Mr. Goley, and cabasa played by seventh grader Janie Lee.
After that, the Monarch Jazz Orchestra, or MoJO as the band calls it, played two incredible songs: “Glazed Over” by Les Sabina and “Backrow Politics” arranged by Peter Blair. There was loud applause from the audience as the ensemble finished performing.
This was followed by a short intermission, where the audience enjoyed snacks sold by the PTA.
Afterwards, the seventh grade string orchestra, organized by Mrs. Dokus, played “North Country Legend,” an optimistic piece of music, and “Brandenburg Concerto, No. 2 Mov. 1” by J.S. Bach, arranged by Merle J. Isaac. They also played “Spartacus” by Brian Balmages, which sounded like a commercial movie theme.
Next, Ms. Winslow’s Royalaires took the spotlight with three songs. “Down by the Riverside” arranged by Robert Rice was a cheerful and spiritual song. “Through the Dark” by Andrea Ramsey was a song written adapting the words and teachings of Helen Keller. “Try Everything” by Sia Furler, arranged by Paul Langford, is a popular song written by Shakira, featured in the Golden Globe Award winning movie Zootopia. The piano accompaniment for all three pieces was played by eighth grader Christopher Chen.
To end the magnificent night, the Griffin Orchestra, led by Mrs. Dokus, took to the stage, playing the pieces “L’Estro Armonico” by Antonio Vivaldi and J.S. Bach, arranged by Bob Lipton, “Lion City” by Soon Hee Newbold, and “Allegro Con Brio from Symphony No. 8” by Antonin Dvořák, arranged by Robert D. McCashin.
The concert was a spectacular showcase of both the students’ and the directors’ hard work throughout the season. Seventh grader Julia Scandaglia said, “This was one of the best concerts I’ve performed in. All of the ensembles did such an amazing job and I’m proud of all the performers for their hard work this spring.” We look forward to hearing more about the success of these hardworking students in the near future at their upcoming musical overnight trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, where ensembles such as Royalaires, Griffins, and MoJO will participate in a competition and represent MMMS.
8th Grade Concert
Pop Culture
The Winter Olympics
By: Sharabh Ojha
Unlike most years, the dawn of 2018 was very eventful. Protests all over the world, tension between countries, and more. But 2018 has had its share of good things, like Ugandan Knuckles, Black Panther, and Fortnite (although some might say these are debatable). But what is one of the best parts of this year so far? Look no further than this year’s Winter Olympics.
The 2018 Winter Olympics, held in PyeongChang, South Korea, started on February 7, 2018, with a total of 93 participating countries. The Opening Ceremony was held in PyeongChang Olympic Stadium on the 9th, and it was nothing short of spectacular. South Korean figure skater Yuna Kim, known also as Queen Yuna, was the final person to carry the Olympic torch, lighting the Olympic Cauldron and formally starting the largest sporting event in 2018. Many musicians, singers, dancers, and actors performed at the ceremony, all giving messages of peace. At the same time, 2 people impersonating Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, and President Donald Trump caused a large stir in the audience. Then, all of the teams from all of the countries paraded in the stadium. Pita Taufatofua, the Tongan taekwondo athlete, came to the Winter Olympics as a cross-country skier, receiving cheers from the audience when he paraded shirtless in temperatures of 26°. The song “Gangnam Style” played while Erin Hamlin bore the flag of the US. The most amazing part of the parade, however, was seeing North and South Korean athletes marching under one flag, showing unity, strength, and peace. The games had begun!
Athletes from all over the US participated in many different sports, and they all competed amazingly. These are some of those athletes. Red Gerard, a 17-year old snowboarder, broke records when he won gold in the men’s slopestyle. Beating more seasoned athletes like Canadian Max Parrot, he became the youngest player to ever win the slopestyle. Jamie Anderson, a more experienced American snowboarder, won gold in the women’s slopestyle with especially harsh weather in the final round. Chloe Kim, also a 17-year old, won gold in the women’s snowboarding halfpipe. Not only that, she beat the other competition by a landslide. Shaun White got his 3rd gold in snowboarding. Moving on to figure skating, Adam Rippon skated spectacularly, clinching bronze with his fellow teammates. While Nathan Chen may have flopped his first 2 attempts in figure skating, he managed to pull through in the 3rd round, and although he did not medal, he tried his best. Many other countries also did well in the Olympics. In what was a close match, Canada beat the US in women’s hockey, the score being 2-1. 7 different Norwegian cross-country skiers, including 8-time gold winner Marit Bjørgen, won gold in the Olympics. In the end of the Winter Olympics, Norway had the most medals, while Germany, Canada, and the US followed.
So, just like that, the Winter Olympics was over. The closing ceremony was held on February 25, and it was similar to the opening ceremony. It has been some time now since the end of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. However, it can still teach us in many ways. It shows us the importance of peace, friendship, and youthfulness in the world. It shows the importance of pride and patriotism. And, of course, it shows the importance of a little competitive spirit.
Nintendo Switch Review: The Best Console So Far (And Why Graphics Don’t Matter in 2018)
By Arca Baran
What if I told you that I played motion-controlled robot boxing with my friend on an airplane? Or that I milked virtual cows while sitting at a restaurant? I also played Mario Kart together with the person sitting next to me on the field trip bus ride to the Franklin Institute. And all I needed to do was plop a Nintendo Switch on a table and pass a controller to a friend. This, alas, is portable gaming, nothing new. But what if I told you that in addition to being able to take a video game console on the go, you can keep it on your TV? Or on your lap? Or in your hands? Enter the Nintendo Switch, the new console from Nintendo that tries to do it all.
Video games have existed for over 40 years, and one of the first companies to enter the game-making business was of course Nintendo. They have revolutionized how we play games time and time again, and showed that they aren’t quite like their competitors. Rather than focusing on pure graphical power (like the 4K-obsessed Sony and Microsoft), they come up with unique and fun ways to change the gaming experience. Examples of this are inventing the D-Pad with the NES, making the first ever portables (the Game Boy), inventing motion controls (the Wii), or creating a new kind of console altogether.
That is what would describe their latest console, the Switch. It isn’t a home console, and it isn’t technically all portable either: it’s a hybrid of both types of systems. You can play the traditional way on the TV, and when you have to go somewhere, you can slide it out of its dock to play on the go. Nintendo’s last console, the Wii U, however, is well-known for being a colossal failure. It sold very poorly over a course of five years, no one knew it existed, and it was misunderstood at first as being an add-on for the original Wii console. The stakes are high, and if the Switch ends up being another Wii U instead of a Wii in terms of sales, that could mean the end of Nintendo as a company. The system has been out since March of 2017, and plenty of games have released for it. I picked one up for myself in April, and I have been using it ever since. Is it an amazing console and a must-buy, or a useless and underpowered piece of garbage? Find out in this review of the console itself!
The basic premise of the console is that it is a hybrid console, a new type of gaming altogether. The system itself is a tablet which can be put into a dock to connect to the TV. It has two detachable controllers, which Nintendo is calling “Joy-Cons,” which can slide on and off the console itself, held separately, or put together to form a more traditional controller layout. There are three distinct ways to use the system (which Nintendo is calling “modes”): TV mode, handheld mode, and tabletop mode. TV mode is pretty self explanatory- it is when the tablet is connected to a television for an output of up to 1080p HD resolution, and it is no different than how other consoles work on a TV. Handheld mode is when you slide the tablet out of the dock, attach the Joy-Cons to both sides, and hold it in your hands to play as a portable system. The screen is very vibrant with a 720p resolution, and it is a lot better looking than I expected it to be.
Then, of course, comes the most unique playstyle (and my personal favorite): tabletop mode. In tabletop mode, the tablet acts as a portable TV screen: you just pop out the Switch’s built in kickstand, put it on a flat surface, detach the controllers, and lay back while relaxingly playing your games wherever you want. This is a lot better and comfier than having to hold the entire console in your hands wherever you go. Now you have the option to use only the controller. And the fact that it basically serves as its own, fully portable TV further adds to the “play anywhere” concept that Nintendo was going for.
The only downside to tabletop mode? The kickstand. You see, the Switch has a built-in kickstand (which is optionally opened) on the back of the tablet that serves two purposes: One, it covers up the microSD card slot, and two, it can be used to plop the Switch up on a flat surface while using tabletop mode. This kickstand is absolutely terrible, for a variety of reasons. It is very flimsy, and after a certain amount of pressure it will just snap off. It doesn't break, so that’s a good thing, at least. Nintendo purposefully made a metal attachment on the back that will unlock whenever too much pressure is off. This way, once it does fall off, you can put it back together super easily, like how a Lego brick snaps into place. Not only is this kickstand super flimsy, it won’t work on most surfaces. If the surface you place it on isn’t perfectly flat, it will just completely fall over. In order words: Tables are good. Beds aren’t. The Switch’s charging port is on the bottom, meaning that whenever you do place it in tabletop mode using the kickstand, you won’t be able to charge and play at the same time. This can be fixed by purchasing a $10 stand that not only lets it work on any surface or angle, but lets you be able to charge while playing. It’s upsetting that this couldn’t have worked out of the box, but it was entirely necessary since in order for the TV docking aspect of it to work, the USB-C port needed to be on the bottom (there was no room on the top since that is already home to heat ports, a headphone jack, and game card slot).
Tabletop mode is also my favorite mode because of the multiplayer opportunities it provides. Before the Switch, there were only three ways to play multiplayer gaming: One, online through an internet connection. Two, if you are both in the same room with a TV and sharing controllers. And three, if you each purchased a separate handheld system in order to play together anywhere. The Switch breaks this trend by letting you play together with anyone, anywhere, without the need for an extra system. The thing itself is the TV, so you don’t even need to purchase an extra system, or be with a TV in order to do it! Just plop it on a table and pass a Joy-Con to a friend, and you’re on it for hours of fun playing Mario Kart or Rocket League together. You don’t even need to purchase an extra controller in order to do so. The Switch comes with two controllers right out of the box, meaning that you are already ready to do 2-player mode in most games.
So, how does this all work? In other words, how can it “switch” (pun intended) so seamlessly into a variety of different modes? The key to all this is the controllers, which are officially called “Joy Cons.” Due to their modular nature, they slide on and off the main tablet with a metal railing system. It is very satisfying to slide the controllers into their place on the console, and the interface even makes an actual “click” noise through the speakers, just like how you hear it in the commercials. When attached, you can use them in handheld mode, charge them, or pair them to make the console recognize them after your first use. I expected holding the system in handheld mode to be a shaky mess due to the Joy-Cons, but surprisingly, they are really sturdy when they lock into place. There is still the occasional rattling of the Joy-Cons, but it is never really that noticable.It is just as easy and satisfying to slide them in as it is to slide them off. There is a small, yet easy to reach, release button on the back, and pressing them loosens the metal lock keeping them in place so you can slide them off to use them wirelessly. The modular nature of the Joy-Cons shows unlimited potential for accessories. Nintendo can literally use the railing system to attach anything they please to the Switch, but as of now, they have not yet tapped into this potential.
One of the biggest things that seperates the Switch from other consoles are its unique and quirky controllers. The Joy-Con controllers are, in my opinion, the best part of the Nintendo Switch hardware. They are incredibly well-built, durable, and can survive quite a few accidental drops and beatings. They are slim, light, incredibly stylish, and portable. They are well-built, and by no means feel cheap. The material that they are built with feels premium, smooth, and the perfect balance of comfortable to hold and not too slippery. The Joy-Cons are basically like ultra-souped up Wii-remotes. They are small and compact, fit a lot of tech inside on package, and can fit a variety of different playstyles. I have already mentioned that right out of the box, the Switch comes with two Joy-Con controllers, meaning that you can enjoy local multiplayer right away. I really enjoy using tabletop mode and bringing the Switch along with me to a friend’s house, since I don’t even have to connect it to a TV in order to enjoy up to 4 player Mariokart with friends (if I bring in an extra pair of Joy-Cons). The main issue with multiplayer on just one tiny screen is that 4 player mode is really crazy, since the split screen is really small and sometimes hard to keep track of. The Joy-Cons, when used in multiplayer, can be held sideways to access more buttons that are on the side railings of the controller. The Joy-Cons have a lot in one small package, since it fits NFC reading, HD rumble, and motion controls into a palm-sized device. Motion controls are used in games like Arms, a fun multiplayer boxing game, so you can enable optional controls where you can tilt to aim and move your arms to punch. The NFC chip inside is used to scan in amiibo figures to select games.
The most unique feature is undoubtedly HD rumble, which uses advanced vibrations to mimic feelings and textures. For example, you can feel like you're pouring a glass of water, or can feel invisible balls rolling around in a box. It is really hard to describe until you experience it for yourself, and it is really cool at first but the novelty kind of wears off eventually. The ball-rolling minigame in 1-2 Switch (a tech demo game for the Switch, similar to Wii Sports) certainly feels realistic, but it won’t fool anybody. It is obvious that it is only vibrations, but it is cool nonetheless. Oh, and by the way, did I mention that there is literally a minigame where you milk cows? No joke, and you literally get some vibrations that feel like liquid is being squeezed.
Besides HD rumble, one of the weirdest features of the Joy-Con is the IR camera on the right Joy-Con. It can detect different shapes and hand gestures, and currently the only use of it so far is a sandwich eating game in 1-2 Switch, where you move your mouth up and down to eat virtual sandwitches, if you find that entertaining for some reason. The Joy-Con have a variety of different colors to choose from, or you can just go with the boring old grey ones. Most of the colors are neon, which can be red, blue, yellow, green, or pink. When I say neon, I really mean neon, almost as if someone took a highlighter and colored the controller.
In fact, I have little to no issues with the Joy-Cons. They get the job done well, fit a variety of play styles, and have a phenomenal battery life of 20 hours each. (That is five times the battery life of an Xbox One controller, and more than six times the battery life of a PS4 controller!) The buttons are satisfyingly clicky to press, and the button placement is decently comfortable for your hands. Keep in mind, though that they are quite small. This was no problem for me personally, since they perfectly fit my hand size, and this makes them easier to carry around with me. However, those with adult-sized hands will probably start to get hand-strains from using them for a while, and using them sideways for multiplayer in a pinch isn’t the most comfortable either, with shoulder buttons that might be too far in for some people to easily press.
What I think is genuinely terrible, though, is the included Joy-Con Grip accessory that comes with the Switch right out of the box. It’s purpose is to put the Joy-Cons halves together in a similar form factor to an Xbox or Playstation controller. While it technically does do that, it isn’t exactly the most comfortable thing in the world. I already expected the grip to feel uncomfortable, but for a different reason: All the photos made it look rather square-like, which didn’t seem like a comfortable way to use a controller. However, that wasn’t the real issue, nor a viable one either; you are only ever using the buttons on the top half on the controllers, the bottom half is almost never used. The real issue is its angle of placement; it is way too vertical to comfortably use the two joy-sticks. Nintendo could have easily fixed this by making the grip more wide and putting the Joy-Con slots at an angle, so that your thumb naturally curves into the buttons. Instead, it makes them stiff and forced to lock at a certain awkward position. It doesn’t help, either, that the grip itself is made of a very cheap plastiky material, that is very tough plastic that isn’t that comfortable. Of course, the grip issue can be solved two ways; You can grit your teeth and never use it. Besides, it is much better using the Joy-Con separately anyways, since you have full freedom of movement with your arms. Or, you can shell out extra money and purchase the (slightly pricey) “Pro Controller”, which is its own separate controller that looks and feels like that of an Xbox one or Playstation controller, but isn’t included right out of the box.
Another accessory for the Joy-Cons that comes out of the box is the wrist strap attachments. They slide onto the Joy-Cons through the slide rails, and can be used during games that require motion controls (so that you don’t hurl a controller straight out of the window). I like how they also have buttons on them that make the shoulder-buttons on the Joy-Con itself easier to press. They are not cheap feeling, but actually made out of a hard metal. While they serve their purpose, they have one major flaw: They can get stuck rather easily. They each have a + and - sign faintly carved into the, that shows which direction that they are supposed to match up with on the Joy-Con. This would prevent someone from putting the left-strap onto the right Joy-Con, and vice-versa. When you accidentally do this (some friends have accidentally done this to mine once or twice), it is impossible to get them unstuck with bare force. Instead, you have to look up a tutorial online on where exactly to stick a kitchen knife in which special hole on the wrist strap. It’s not exactly a fun thing to have to go through, since I had to ask an adult to help me and there was a constant false fear of breaking my controllers in the unstucking process. They should have either found a way so that it is impossible for the straps to get stuck backwards in the first place, or have made the “plus” and “minus” signs on the straps a lot more visible.
The interface is very minimalistic, but still the best user interface on any console. It is very self-explanatory, and everything you want to find on the home screen is accessible quickly and easily. You have your users, friends, list of games, the settings, a news tab that shows all sorts of useful updates and tips, and of course, the Nintendo e-Shop for downloading games. It is snappy fast, and it takes only a few seconds to boot up the console, open the game, and play. It is so much faster than that of an Xbox One, where it will sometimes take a few minutes to load games. All this makes sense considering that the Switch is meant to be a portable system that you can take out anywhere, and just start playing as soon as possible.
Now that I’ve discussed the hardware and specs, it’s time to dive into the real point of this review: Is it worth your $299? For the most part, I would say definitely yes! But that all depends on what type of gamer you are. I will start discussing some pros and JOY-cons (I’ll stop it with the puns) so you can decide for yourself.
The best parts of the Switch can be described as two main aspects: First of all, the flexibility of being able to play however you want. Second of all, of course, the extensive collection of phenomenal games exclusive to the console. One of the reasons that I, myself, decided to get a Switch was because of how flexible it seemed to fit into my life. I am the type of person who, in the past, has played mostly only on handheld systems. Why? I travel frequently, and this way just because I have to leave my house doesn’t mean I have to leave my games. The same applies with the Switch, with the exception of that you can also use it on a TV if you feel like doing so as well. It awesome to have my own portable TV screen in tabletop mode, and I can play multiplayer wherever you want.
I have used my Switch in a variety of places, some stranger than others. I played multiplayer ARMS on an airplane with my friend (the people sitting next to us weren’t so happy at our swinging arms). I did “1-2 Switch” in a restaurant (people were looking at us weirdly when we were milking cows in the game). The main selling point of the Switch is it being a hybrid, and it is simply awesome to be able to put out the kickstand and put it down on any surface. Even in single player, it is still amazing to be able to take a massive game like Zelda: Breath of the Wild with you wherever you want. On the go, it is the same experience as playing at home. Nothing is significantly worse, and the graphics aren’t terrible either. Normally, it is up to 1080p 60fps in TV mode when docked, and whenever played portably, the screen quality may be worse (720p), but the frame rate stays mostly the same. It is, without a doubt, the best screen ever on a handheld system. It is very vibrant and you never notice the pixels (unlike how they are staring you straight in the face on the 3DS). However, the bad thing about the screen is that for some reason, Nintendo decided to make it out of plastic. While this was clearly done with small children in mind, so that it doesn’t shatter, it makes it very scratch-prone. Even sliding it in and out of the dock can scratch the screen! I would say that for this thing, buying a tempered glass screen protector is almost mandatory if you care about keeping your console in pristine condition for years to come.
The hardware, while incredibly well-made, still has its flaws. The tablet has only a decent battery life. Lasting anywhere from 3 to 6 hours on a single charge (it all depends on the intensity of the game you are playing), it wouldn’t be a good idea to bring this thing anywhere for long periods of time without a charger handy.Nintendo was smart enough this time to let it be charged using a USB Type-C port, meaning most Android phone chargers will also work to charge the Switch (though not always fast enough). Most of the bad things about the Switch can be fixed by simply purchasing accessories. The bad kickstand can be fixed by purchasing a cheap stand or hybrid cover. The plastic screen can be made better with a glass screen protector. THe lack on much internal storage can be made better with a microSD card. And if you find the Joy-Cons too small or uncomfortable, the Pro Controller is the ultimate solution. So therefore, the Switch is obviously a very innovative concept, but that might not be the reason to get it for everyone. What is the best reason to buy the Switch? The games.
The Nintendo Switch is home to some phenomenal games that you simply can’t play on any other system. Nintendo has long been known for their first-party franchises, such as Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon, which are all somehow present on the Switch (with the latter coming out sometime next year). In fact, two of the best games of this generation are on this console: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (which was 2017’s Game of the Year Winner at the Golden Joysticks Awards), and Super Mario Odyssey. Both of these games reinvented long-running franchises in great ways. Those aren’t the only good games on the system either: plenty of other good exclusives such as Splatoon 2 and ARMS are abundant. What if you are a “hardcore gamer”, and are looking for some great third-party cross-platform games such as shooters? Don’t worry, since the Switch has good third-party support (much better than what caused the infamous demise of the Wii U), and everything from Doom to Skyrim to NBA 2K18 is playable on the system. With COD: Black Ops II being announced for the system, this will be the first time that you will be able to play a shooter like that anywhere you want, on the go. And with Fortnite being a game that is heavily rumoured to come to the system soon, what better way would it be too play anywhere you want? (Yes, the mobile version exists, but it has inferior touch-screen controls. Being able to access the luxury of a proper, full controller with physical buttons will be a big upgrade.)
“BUT WHAT ABOUT THE POWER????”
I am sure that many Xbox and PS4 fanboys are reading this, and one thing is on their mind that makes other console supposedly “better”: Power. It was obvious from the start that the Switch was not as graphically powerful as the other two major consoles on the market. After all, it is a fully portable system, that can be connected to a TV only if you wish so. Nintendo purposefully didn’t make it as powerful, and for a variety of reasons. First of all, it would be impossible to have a graphical powerhouse that is completely portable. Even if they did, it would have a terrible battery life and would heat up to nasty amounts. They sacrificed power for portability. Besides, it isn’t so underpowered that it could be considered “bad”: It is quite more powerful than last generation’s Xbox 360 and almost as much as the standard Xbox One (not X). In fact, it is quite impressive, from a technical perspective. Just think about it: that they managed to fit so much power in such a small space. It is embarrassingly smaller than a PS3, even though it is almost twice as powerful (while still being portable)!
Why couldn’t they have made a normal, TV-based, very powerful console? The answer is simple: Nintendo isn’t “normal”, and they never will be. That isn’t a bad thing either. Nintendo has a history of being unique and standing out from the crowd. While Xbox and Playstation are obsessed with 4K and only graphics, Nintendo’s goal has always been innovation. In 1985, the NES introduced the idea of a D-Pad, which is a button layout still used in all controllers today. With the DS, they invented touch-screen gaming, years ahead of the first iPhone. With the Wii, they invented motion controls (to the dislike of many “hardcore gamers”). With the Wii U, they invented two-screen gaming. You could even argue that Nintendo invented virtual reality with the unsuccessful Virtual Boy back in 1995!
Given this history of focusing on innovation and originality, it is no surprise that they decided to make the Switch a unique concept rather than your boring, ordinary console. The following is my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt: The graphics race, in 2018, has become entirely useless.
Graphics are a lost cause at this point. 30 years ago, when video games were in their early days, graphics truly mattered. That’s since, with each successive console, you could truly see the difference. Think about how much of a difference there is from an old arcade machine to something like a Xbox One! The difference between consoles used to be great, and very noticable. Mario evolved from a couple of red pixels to a 3D, movable object! Nowadays, you can’t really tell the difference (unless you are told to focus on a specific detail). Graphics have gotten so close to being the same as reality that “being realistic” isn’t a concern anymore. No matter how better you make graphics, they will still look just as realistic to the naked eye. There is no need for real evolution at this point. If Xbox and Playstation don’t learn this, new consoles will be like new smartphones: Slightly more powerful, much more expensive, and not worth upgrading to.
Graphics have evolved to their fullest point already. Nintendo did the smart thing with the Switch and stopped the graphics race, and rather settled on innovation. I am actually happy that it is less powerful. Nintendo broke from the norm, and didn’t make a boring, average console: They created a new type of console altogether. Besides, if you truly care about graphics that much, a PC should be the option you chose, not a console. Otherwise, the Switch remains the king of all consoles. I would rate it a 4.6 out of 5 stars (or a 92%).
By Arca Baran
Video games have existed for over 40 years, and one of the first companies to enter the game-making business was of course Nintendo. They have revolutionized how we play games time and time again, and showed that they aren’t quite like their competitors. Rather than focusing on pure graphical power (like the 4K-obsessed Sony and Microsoft), they come up with unique and fun ways to change the gaming experience. Examples of this are inventing the D-Pad with the NES, making the first ever portables (the Game Boy), inventing motion controls (the Wii), or creating a new kind of console altogether.
That is what would describe their latest console, the Switch. It isn’t a home console, and it isn’t technically all portable either: it’s a hybrid of both types of systems. You can play the traditional way on the TV, and when you have to go somewhere, you can slide it out of its dock to play on the go. Nintendo’s last console, the Wii U, however, is well-known for being a colossal failure. It sold very poorly over a course of five years, no one knew it existed, and it was misunderstood at first as being an add-on for the original Wii console. The stakes are high, and if the Switch ends up being another Wii U instead of a Wii in terms of sales, that could mean the end of Nintendo as a company. The system has been out since March of 2017, and plenty of games have released for it. I picked one up for myself in April, and I have been using it ever since. Is it an amazing console and a must-buy, or a useless and underpowered piece of garbage? Find out in this review of the console itself!
The basic premise of the console is that it is a hybrid console, a new type of gaming altogether. The system itself is a tablet which can be put into a dock to connect to the TV. It has two detachable controllers, which Nintendo is calling “Joy-Cons,” which can slide on and off the console itself, held separately, or put together to form a more traditional controller layout. There are three distinct ways to use the system (which Nintendo is calling “modes”): TV mode, handheld mode, and tabletop mode. TV mode is pretty self explanatory- it is when the tablet is connected to a television for an output of up to 1080p HD resolution, and it is no different than how other consoles work on a TV. Handheld mode is when you slide the tablet out of the dock, attach the Joy-Cons to both sides, and hold it in your hands to play as a portable system. The screen is very vibrant with a 720p resolution, and it is a lot better looking than I expected it to be.
Then, of course, comes the most unique playstyle (and my personal favorite): tabletop mode. In tabletop mode, the tablet acts as a portable TV screen: you just pop out the Switch’s built in kickstand, put it on a flat surface, detach the controllers, and lay back while relaxingly playing your games wherever you want. This is a lot better and comfier than having to hold the entire console in your hands wherever you go. Now you have the option to use only the controller. And the fact that it basically serves as its own, fully portable TV further adds to the “play anywhere” concept that Nintendo was going for.
The only downside to tabletop mode? The kickstand. You see, the Switch has a built-in kickstand (which is optionally opened) on the back of the tablet that serves two purposes: One, it covers up the microSD card slot, and two, it can be used to plop the Switch up on a flat surface while using tabletop mode. This kickstand is absolutely terrible, for a variety of reasons. It is very flimsy, and after a certain amount of pressure it will just snap off. It doesn't break, so that’s a good thing, at least. Nintendo purposefully made a metal attachment on the back that will unlock whenever too much pressure is off. This way, once it does fall off, you can put it back together super easily, like how a Lego brick snaps into place. Not only is this kickstand super flimsy, it won’t work on most surfaces. If the surface you place it on isn’t perfectly flat, it will just completely fall over. In order words: Tables are good. Beds aren’t. The Switch’s charging port is on the bottom, meaning that whenever you do place it in tabletop mode using the kickstand, you won’t be able to charge and play at the same time. This can be fixed by purchasing a $10 stand that not only lets it work on any surface or angle, but lets you be able to charge while playing. It’s upsetting that this couldn’t have worked out of the box, but it was entirely necessary since in order for the TV docking aspect of it to work, the USB-C port needed to be on the bottom (there was no room on the top since that is already home to heat ports, a headphone jack, and game card slot).
Tabletop mode is also my favorite mode because of the multiplayer opportunities it provides. Before the Switch, there were only three ways to play multiplayer gaming: One, online through an internet connection. Two, if you are both in the same room with a TV and sharing controllers. And three, if you each purchased a separate handheld system in order to play together anywhere. The Switch breaks this trend by letting you play together with anyone, anywhere, without the need for an extra system. The thing itself is the TV, so you don’t even need to purchase an extra system, or be with a TV in order to do it! Just plop it on a table and pass a Joy-Con to a friend, and you’re on it for hours of fun playing Mario Kart or Rocket League together. You don’t even need to purchase an extra controller in order to do so. The Switch comes with two controllers right out of the box, meaning that you are already ready to do 2-player mode in most games.
So, how does this all work? In other words, how can it “switch” (pun intended) so seamlessly into a variety of different modes? The key to all this is the controllers, which are officially called “Joy Cons.” Due to their modular nature, they slide on and off the main tablet with a metal railing system. It is very satisfying to slide the controllers into their place on the console, and the interface even makes an actual “click” noise through the speakers, just like how you hear it in the commercials. When attached, you can use them in handheld mode, charge them, or pair them to make the console recognize them after your first use. I expected holding the system in handheld mode to be a shaky mess due to the Joy-Cons, but surprisingly, they are really sturdy when they lock into place. There is still the occasional rattling of the Joy-Cons, but it is never really that noticable.It is just as easy and satisfying to slide them in as it is to slide them off. There is a small, yet easy to reach, release button on the back, and pressing them loosens the metal lock keeping them in place so you can slide them off to use them wirelessly. The modular nature of the Joy-Cons shows unlimited potential for accessories. Nintendo can literally use the railing system to attach anything they please to the Switch, but as of now, they have not yet tapped into this potential.
One of the biggest things that seperates the Switch from other consoles are its unique and quirky controllers. The Joy-Con controllers are, in my opinion, the best part of the Nintendo Switch hardware. They are incredibly well-built, durable, and can survive quite a few accidental drops and beatings. They are slim, light, incredibly stylish, and portable. They are well-built, and by no means feel cheap. The material that they are built with feels premium, smooth, and the perfect balance of comfortable to hold and not too slippery. The Joy-Cons are basically like ultra-souped up Wii-remotes. They are small and compact, fit a lot of tech inside on package, and can fit a variety of different playstyles. I have already mentioned that right out of the box, the Switch comes with two Joy-Con controllers, meaning that you can enjoy local multiplayer right away. I really enjoy using tabletop mode and bringing the Switch along with me to a friend’s house, since I don’t even have to connect it to a TV in order to enjoy up to 4 player Mariokart with friends (if I bring in an extra pair of Joy-Cons). The main issue with multiplayer on just one tiny screen is that 4 player mode is really crazy, since the split screen is really small and sometimes hard to keep track of. The Joy-Cons, when used in multiplayer, can be held sideways to access more buttons that are on the side railings of the controller. The Joy-Cons have a lot in one small package, since it fits NFC reading, HD rumble, and motion controls into a palm-sized device. Motion controls are used in games like Arms, a fun multiplayer boxing game, so you can enable optional controls where you can tilt to aim and move your arms to punch. The NFC chip inside is used to scan in amiibo figures to select games.
The most unique feature is undoubtedly HD rumble, which uses advanced vibrations to mimic feelings and textures. For example, you can feel like you're pouring a glass of water, or can feel invisible balls rolling around in a box. It is really hard to describe until you experience it for yourself, and it is really cool at first but the novelty kind of wears off eventually. The ball-rolling minigame in 1-2 Switch (a tech demo game for the Switch, similar to Wii Sports) certainly feels realistic, but it won’t fool anybody. It is obvious that it is only vibrations, but it is cool nonetheless. Oh, and by the way, did I mention that there is literally a minigame where you milk cows? No joke, and you literally get some vibrations that feel like liquid is being squeezed.
Besides HD rumble, one of the weirdest features of the Joy-Con is the IR camera on the right Joy-Con. It can detect different shapes and hand gestures, and currently the only use of it so far is a sandwich eating game in 1-2 Switch, where you move your mouth up and down to eat virtual sandwitches, if you find that entertaining for some reason. The Joy-Con have a variety of different colors to choose from, or you can just go with the boring old grey ones. Most of the colors are neon, which can be red, blue, yellow, green, or pink. When I say neon, I really mean neon, almost as if someone took a highlighter and colored the controller.
In fact, I have little to no issues with the Joy-Cons. They get the job done well, fit a variety of play styles, and have a phenomenal battery life of 20 hours each. (That is five times the battery life of an Xbox One controller, and more than six times the battery life of a PS4 controller!) The buttons are satisfyingly clicky to press, and the button placement is decently comfortable for your hands. Keep in mind, though that they are quite small. This was no problem for me personally, since they perfectly fit my hand size, and this makes them easier to carry around with me. However, those with adult-sized hands will probably start to get hand-strains from using them for a while, and using them sideways for multiplayer in a pinch isn’t the most comfortable either, with shoulder buttons that might be too far in for some people to easily press.
What I think is genuinely terrible, though, is the included Joy-Con Grip accessory that comes with the Switch right out of the box. It’s purpose is to put the Joy-Cons halves together in a similar form factor to an Xbox or Playstation controller. While it technically does do that, it isn’t exactly the most comfortable thing in the world. I already expected the grip to feel uncomfortable, but for a different reason: All the photos made it look rather square-like, which didn’t seem like a comfortable way to use a controller. However, that wasn’t the real issue, nor a viable one either; you are only ever using the buttons on the top half on the controllers, the bottom half is almost never used. The real issue is its angle of placement; it is way too vertical to comfortably use the two joy-sticks. Nintendo could have easily fixed this by making the grip more wide and putting the Joy-Con slots at an angle, so that your thumb naturally curves into the buttons. Instead, it makes them stiff and forced to lock at a certain awkward position. It doesn’t help, either, that the grip itself is made of a very cheap plastiky material, that is very tough plastic that isn’t that comfortable. Of course, the grip issue can be solved two ways; You can grit your teeth and never use it. Besides, it is much better using the Joy-Con separately anyways, since you have full freedom of movement with your arms. Or, you can shell out extra money and purchase the (slightly pricey) “Pro Controller”, which is its own separate controller that looks and feels like that of an Xbox one or Playstation controller, but isn’t included right out of the box.
Another accessory for the Joy-Cons that comes out of the box is the wrist strap attachments. They slide onto the Joy-Cons through the slide rails, and can be used during games that require motion controls (so that you don’t hurl a controller straight out of the window). I like how they also have buttons on them that make the shoulder-buttons on the Joy-Con itself easier to press. They are not cheap feeling, but actually made out of a hard metal. While they serve their purpose, they have one major flaw: They can get stuck rather easily. They each have a + and - sign faintly carved into the, that shows which direction that they are supposed to match up with on the Joy-Con. This would prevent someone from putting the left-strap onto the right Joy-Con, and vice-versa. When you accidentally do this (some friends have accidentally done this to mine once or twice), it is impossible to get them unstuck with bare force. Instead, you have to look up a tutorial online on where exactly to stick a kitchen knife in which special hole on the wrist strap. It’s not exactly a fun thing to have to go through, since I had to ask an adult to help me and there was a constant false fear of breaking my controllers in the unstucking process. They should have either found a way so that it is impossible for the straps to get stuck backwards in the first place, or have made the “plus” and “minus” signs on the straps a lot more visible.
The interface is very minimalistic, but still the best user interface on any console. It is very self-explanatory, and everything you want to find on the home screen is accessible quickly and easily. You have your users, friends, list of games, the settings, a news tab that shows all sorts of useful updates and tips, and of course, the Nintendo e-Shop for downloading games. It is snappy fast, and it takes only a few seconds to boot up the console, open the game, and play. It is so much faster than that of an Xbox One, where it will sometimes take a few minutes to load games. All this makes sense considering that the Switch is meant to be a portable system that you can take out anywhere, and just start playing as soon as possible.
Now that I’ve discussed the hardware and specs, it’s time to dive into the real point of this review: Is it worth your $299? For the most part, I would say definitely yes! But that all depends on what type of gamer you are. I will start discussing some pros and JOY-cons (I’ll stop it with the puns) so you can decide for yourself.
The best parts of the Switch can be described as two main aspects: First of all, the flexibility of being able to play however you want. Second of all, of course, the extensive collection of phenomenal games exclusive to the console. One of the reasons that I, myself, decided to get a Switch was because of how flexible it seemed to fit into my life. I am the type of person who, in the past, has played mostly only on handheld systems. Why? I travel frequently, and this way just because I have to leave my house doesn’t mean I have to leave my games. The same applies with the Switch, with the exception of that you can also use it on a TV if you feel like doing so as well. It awesome to have my own portable TV screen in tabletop mode, and I can play multiplayer wherever you want.
I have used my Switch in a variety of places, some stranger than others. I played multiplayer ARMS on an airplane with my friend (the people sitting next to us weren’t so happy at our swinging arms). I did “1-2 Switch” in a restaurant (people were looking at us weirdly when we were milking cows in the game). The main selling point of the Switch is it being a hybrid, and it is simply awesome to be able to put out the kickstand and put it down on any surface. Even in single player, it is still amazing to be able to take a massive game like Zelda: Breath of the Wild with you wherever you want. On the go, it is the same experience as playing at home. Nothing is significantly worse, and the graphics aren’t terrible either. Normally, it is up to 1080p 60fps in TV mode when docked, and whenever played portably, the screen quality may be worse (720p), but the frame rate stays mostly the same. It is, without a doubt, the best screen ever on a handheld system. It is very vibrant and you never notice the pixels (unlike how they are staring you straight in the face on the 3DS). However, the bad thing about the screen is that for some reason, Nintendo decided to make it out of plastic. While this was clearly done with small children in mind, so that it doesn’t shatter, it makes it very scratch-prone. Even sliding it in and out of the dock can scratch the screen! I would say that for this thing, buying a tempered glass screen protector is almost mandatory if you care about keeping your console in pristine condition for years to come.
The hardware, while incredibly well-made, still has its flaws. The tablet has only a decent battery life. Lasting anywhere from 3 to 6 hours on a single charge (it all depends on the intensity of the game you are playing), it wouldn’t be a good idea to bring this thing anywhere for long periods of time without a charger handy.Nintendo was smart enough this time to let it be charged using a USB Type-C port, meaning most Android phone chargers will also work to charge the Switch (though not always fast enough). Most of the bad things about the Switch can be fixed by simply purchasing accessories. The bad kickstand can be fixed by purchasing a cheap stand or hybrid cover. The plastic screen can be made better with a glass screen protector. THe lack on much internal storage can be made better with a microSD card. And if you find the Joy-Cons too small or uncomfortable, the Pro Controller is the ultimate solution. So therefore, the Switch is obviously a very innovative concept, but that might not be the reason to get it for everyone. What is the best reason to buy the Switch? The games.
The Nintendo Switch is home to some phenomenal games that you simply can’t play on any other system. Nintendo has long been known for their first-party franchises, such as Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon, which are all somehow present on the Switch (with the latter coming out sometime next year). In fact, two of the best games of this generation are on this console: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (which was 2017’s Game of the Year Winner at the Golden Joysticks Awards), and Super Mario Odyssey. Both of these games reinvented long-running franchises in great ways. Those aren’t the only good games on the system either: plenty of other good exclusives such as Splatoon 2 and ARMS are abundant. What if you are a “hardcore gamer”, and are looking for some great third-party cross-platform games such as shooters? Don’t worry, since the Switch has good third-party support (much better than what caused the infamous demise of the Wii U), and everything from Doom to Skyrim to NBA 2K18 is playable on the system. With COD: Black Ops II being announced for the system, this will be the first time that you will be able to play a shooter like that anywhere you want, on the go. And with Fortnite being a game that is heavily rumoured to come to the system soon, what better way would it be too play anywhere you want? (Yes, the mobile version exists, but it has inferior touch-screen controls. Being able to access the luxury of a proper, full controller with physical buttons will be a big upgrade.)
“BUT WHAT ABOUT THE POWER????”
I am sure that many Xbox and PS4 fanboys are reading this, and one thing is on their mind that makes other console supposedly “better”: Power. It was obvious from the start that the Switch was not as graphically powerful as the other two major consoles on the market. After all, it is a fully portable system, that can be connected to a TV only if you wish so. Nintendo purposefully didn’t make it as powerful, and for a variety of reasons. First of all, it would be impossible to have a graphical powerhouse that is completely portable. Even if they did, it would have a terrible battery life and would heat up to nasty amounts. They sacrificed power for portability. Besides, it isn’t so underpowered that it could be considered “bad”: It is quite more powerful than last generation’s Xbox 360 and almost as much as the standard Xbox One (not X). In fact, it is quite impressive, from a technical perspective. Just think about it: that they managed to fit so much power in such a small space. It is embarrassingly smaller than a PS3, even though it is almost twice as powerful (while still being portable)!
Why couldn’t they have made a normal, TV-based, very powerful console? The answer is simple: Nintendo isn’t “normal”, and they never will be. That isn’t a bad thing either. Nintendo has a history of being unique and standing out from the crowd. While Xbox and Playstation are obsessed with 4K and only graphics, Nintendo’s goal has always been innovation. In 1985, the NES introduced the idea of a D-Pad, which is a button layout still used in all controllers today. With the DS, they invented touch-screen gaming, years ahead of the first iPhone. With the Wii, they invented motion controls (to the dislike of many “hardcore gamers”). With the Wii U, they invented two-screen gaming. You could even argue that Nintendo invented virtual reality with the unsuccessful Virtual Boy back in 1995!
Given this history of focusing on innovation and originality, it is no surprise that they decided to make the Switch a unique concept rather than your boring, ordinary console. The following is my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt: The graphics race, in 2018, has become entirely useless.
Graphics are a lost cause at this point. 30 years ago, when video games were in their early days, graphics truly mattered. That’s since, with each successive console, you could truly see the difference. Think about how much of a difference there is from an old arcade machine to something like a Xbox One! The difference between consoles used to be great, and very noticable. Mario evolved from a couple of red pixels to a 3D, movable object! Nowadays, you can’t really tell the difference (unless you are told to focus on a specific detail). Graphics have gotten so close to being the same as reality that “being realistic” isn’t a concern anymore. No matter how better you make graphics, they will still look just as realistic to the naked eye. There is no need for real evolution at this point. If Xbox and Playstation don’t learn this, new consoles will be like new smartphones: Slightly more powerful, much more expensive, and not worth upgrading to.
Graphics have evolved to their fullest point already. Nintendo did the smart thing with the Switch and stopped the graphics race, and rather settled on innovation. I am actually happy that it is less powerful. Nintendo broke from the norm, and didn’t make a boring, average console: They created a new type of console altogether. Besides, if you truly care about graphics that much, a PC should be the option you chose, not a console. Otherwise, the Switch remains the king of all consoles. I would rate it a 4.6 out of 5 stars (or a 92%).
The Star Wars Paradox: Will it Ever END?
By Arca Baran
For Star Wars fans all around the world, May 4th is a very special day. That is since it is the unofficial holiday "Star Wars Day", or as it is more usually referred to as, "May the Fourth Be With You!" Sound familiar? It should, since this is an intended pun on the famous quote from every single SW movie, "May the Force be with you." Since today is MAY FOURTH, it sounds a lot like "MAY FORCE". And so, not too long ago, the tradition of celebrating May 4 as Star Wars Day had began. Here's a little fun-fact: The day after May the Fourth Be With You is May 5th. Some fans call this day "Revenge of the Fifth!" (A pun on the title of the third movie.)
Star Wars is a very special movie franchise, for several reasons. It stands to reason that the original Star Wars (A New Hope), which hit theaters in 1977, is probably one of the most influential movies of all time, and it left the biggest impact on pop-culture overall. Even people who aren't fans of Star Wars are familiar with Darth Vader. If you ask a random person on the street if they are familiar with R2-D2, most will reply yes. And which kid hasn't ever dreamed of wielding a lightsaber, flying an X-Wing, or hugging Chewbacca?
If it hadn't been for George Lucas creating the first Star Wars over 40 years ago, then pop-culture would be very different. In 1977, he unintentionally created a widely-successful franchise that would grow a strong fan-base for more than four decades. This franchise would lead to a total of (as of now) 8 movies, 2 spin-offs, and two animated TV shows. Plus, one of them (The Force Awakens) would become the most-selling movie of all time at the international box office. Did I mention that Star Wars movies have earned more than $4.06 billion dollars in ticket sales along? Disney is sure getting crazy rich off of it.
With such a massive franchise like this, it makes sense to ask one fundamental question:
Will it ever end?
That's right, I am asking whether or not the 40-years old, money-printing film series will ever stop having content. Star Wars fans might be confused at such a question. They may think, "Of course it will continue! Why else would Disney want to stop their only I.P. that even has succeeded without their ownership? It prints money!!!"
And all of this does seem reasonable at first. I mean, it even stands to reason that Star Wars may go down the Marvel route and make a movie (or two) every year. The pros to this? Plenty of content, and much more money to earn to make more movies. The cons to this? Fans would get bored of it, movies might be more rushed, and plots less fleshed-out. Let me explain, using the two different possibilities, ranked in no particular order. Possibility A: They keep milking fans of their money with more movies, and the original fanboys won't live to see all of them; Or Possibility B: After Episode 9 releases in 2019, they will stop making any sort of Star Wars content altogether.
It's time to discuss all of these possibilities in depth.
Possibility A: Star Wars Means Forever!
If this were the case, then Episode 9 wouldn't be the end of the saga, and adventures of the non-Skywalker family (I'm looking at you, Rey) would continue to be shown over and over again, with no true end in sight. You may think that this means instant money for Disney. But think again. You see, they can't keep fans' interest forever. First of all, the original fans (the one who grew up watching the original trilogy in the 80s) would be long dead by the time that Disney finally goes bankrupt. And second of all, those who are still alive would get bored of watching the same stuff over and over again. Look, I love Star Wars and all, but if you keep giving us trilogies of good v.s. evil over and over again, I will probably stop watching them eventually out of boredom. That doesn't mean that Disney making more Star Wars movies would be a bad thing. Far from it. It depends on exactly how they manage that. But I will discuss that further in depth in sections B and C. Here we go on to the next possibility!
(IM)possibility B: The Force Falls Asleep
Yep, we're talking about this one. The most controversial idea of them all: After Episode 9 is released at the end of next year (2019), Disney will take a big bow and say goodbye to making new Star Wars movies. This may sound bad for some fans who love the new movies and want more content. This is semi-good news, however, for those fans who despise the new trilogy of movies and want it to end (I'm looking at you, Last Jedi haters). For me personally, I love the new trilogy so far, and while it hasn't been absolutely perfect, it certainly is better than the George-Lucas-made prequels.
Also, I looked it up, and here is a definitive answer: No. Star Wars won't end. There are at least 7 new movies in the works. A spin-off movie about Rain Johnson (director of The Last Jedi) is directing a three new so-far-untitled movies on his own, but we have no idea what it is about. A spin-off movie is rumored to be slated for 2020, which will be about Obi-Wan. And we all are aware that later on this month, Solo: A Star Wars Story will hit theaters, which is more than a year before J.J. Abram's Episode IX.
Conclusion: So, how long will Star Wars live?
So, yes, Star Wars will continue. It is confirmed by Disney's own announcements. But that isn't the real answer to my question. Will it be FOREVER? Or just until people get tired of it and they can't make money out of it any more? Most likely, that will be the second option. No franchise lasts forever. Let's look at it this way: Star Trek is very similar to Star Wars in many ways. (I'm not talking about plot-wise.) Both of them are science fiction franchises that have made lots of money over the years. The difference? There are quite a few. First of all, Star Wars has earned near 10 times the amount of money Star Trek has in films and merchandising. Also, Star Trek doesn't make movies anymore. So, as I look into my fake crystal ball (which is actually a small, red marble on my desk), I can tell you one prediction: Star Wars will eventually become like Star Trek. Give it a few more decades or so to stop the TV shows as well, maybe make some more books for fun, and then end it entirely, while still not leaving it alone.
My (probably inaccurate) prediction is that Star Wars will be a thing of the past near the year 2045 or so. It is still very possible, though, that we will get a reboot 20 years from now. Sort of how like The Force Awakens was meant to be a nostalgic-return to the franchise after so many years of waiting. The kids who are growing up watching the new trilogy now (around my age or younger) will be excited to see that reboot, and it would generate lots of money, too.
A Jedi Never Dies...
Don't be sad, however. Just because Star Wars will inevitably end in the future, that doesn't mean it is "dead". It will definitely live on in the memory of society as the whole. How could it not? It has been so influential on the lives of many, and so successful as a series. In fact, here is a fact that you can look up for yourself: Star Wars is the #2 highest earning intellectual property of all time! (Eight behind Pokemon, which is surprisingly #1.) These movies have shaped the childhood of hundreds of millions of people. We even have a holiday, May 4th, to celebrate how special these movies are.So, just like how Jedi turn into Force Ghosts after death, Star Wars will never die.
To sum it all up, here is a quote from Yoda himself: "Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is."
In memory of Carrie Fisher, 1956-2016. May the Force be with you, always.
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| 6F May the Fourth be with You Drawing Contest Winners! |
Shawn Mendes: The Album
By: Danielle Ahearn and Rishika Raghavan
On April 26th, Shawn Mendes’ fandom got greeted with very exciting news: the multi-platinum, award-winning artist would be releasing his third album on Friday, May 25th, 2018. The album is self-titled because the songs on the album are going to be more vulnerable and honest than any of the songs he has ever written.For example, on March 22nd, 2018, Shawn released the first single involved in the album, “In My Blood,” a very inspiring and emotional song about not giving up. On March 23, he also released his second single on the album called, “Lost in Japan,” which is the total opposite of “In My Blood”, giving out Justin Timberlake vibes and sounding like more of a catchy dance song. On April 26th, the singer-songwriter announced that his album will be available on music streaming sites such as Apple Music and Spotify on May 25th. Recently, on May 3rd, Shawn Mendes came out with a collaboration with Khalid on the song “Youth.”
Prior to this album, the 19-year-old singing sensation is known for singing the songs “Stitches,” which has gone 6x platinum, “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” and “Treat You Better,” both which have gone 3x platinum, and finally, “Mercy,” which has gone double platinum. Additionally, both of his albums, “Handwritten” and “Illuminate,” have also gone platinum.
Fans are raving about the new albums as there are going to be two exciting collaborations with the 4x platinum “Location” singer Khalid, in the song “Youth,” and the 3x platinum “Issues” singer Julia Michaels, in the song “Like to Be You.” Shawn has announced that the two songs he is most excited about are “Youth” and “Fallin’ All In You.”
The following is a list of the titles that will be included in his album:
In My Blood (available)
Lost in Japan (available)
Nervous
Where Were You in the Morning?
Like To Be You (feat. Julia Michaels)
Fallin’ All In You
Particular Taste
Why
Because I Had You
Queen
Youth (feat. Khalid)
Mutual
Perfectly Wrong
When You’re Ready
The Mendes Army (Shawn’s fandom) is ecstatic to hear about not only Shawn’s latest successes, but also about where he is headed in the future of his career.
Teacher Spotlight
Senora Luell
Granting Each and Every One of Her Students
One More Window From Which they can Look Out at the World
By: Zaina Saif
“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.”‒Frank Smith
Senora Luell is one of Marlboro Memorial’s appreciated Spanish teachers. This is her 6th year teaching and her 4th year teaching Spanish here at MMMS! She believes that knowing a second language is really useful and practical for everyone in their everyday lives. She says Spanish is like speaking in code or knowing a secret language only certain people can understand. She loves travelling to Spanish-speaking countries and experiencing the culture around the world.
For her first two years of teaching, she taught English in Spain to Spanish students. “I lived in a small town called Plasencia and then moved to a bigger city called Málaga,” said Senora Luell. Once she settled down in New Jersey, she started teaching in Marlboro. She says that the students and staff in our school are all so wonderful. “Everyone is very helpful, kind, and wants to succeed.”
Outside of school, Senora Luell loves to travel and cook. She says she likes to try new and interesting recipes. In fact, this summer she is going to Alaska and Peru. “I hope our students learn something everyday,” she says, “not just academically but lessons that they take with them, that shape the type of person they become.” Throughout her years of teaching, she was inspired by Nelson Mandela’s quote, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, it goes to his heart.”
Senora Luell speaks fondly of her experiences speaking other languages while travelling. She says, “As I have travelled, I’ve seen that people appreciate it so much if you attempt to communicate in their language (even if you do not speak it very well) as opposed to just resorting to English right away.”
Clearly, Senora Luell is teaching her students much more than just Spanish. She is opening a new door for every one of the kids she teaches. Memorial is so lucky to have such a prodigious teacher in our school environment. Thank you to Senora Luell for opening a foreign gateway in her students’ lives and teaching them the true meaning of a second language. Gracias, Senora Luell!
A good education can change anyone, but a good teacher can change everything. Many people may have an aversion towards science or think that it is difficult or boring. However, as a student of Mrs. Lindstrom for almost a full school year, I can assure you that if you are lucky enough to be in her class, it will become your favorite subject in no time at all.
Mrs. Lindstrom has been a teacher for around eight years, beginning her career when she decided she wanted to be a teacher in college. She visited a classroom and did a guest presentation in an internship at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which inspired her to start teaching science to middle schoolers. One of her major motivations towards teaching came from her older sister, who is also a teacher and has recently received the honor of being “Teacher of the Year” in her school. Mrs. Lindstrom enjoys working at MMMS mostly because of the “wonderful community of teachers and students.”
She has always loved science and nature, and in her free time, she loves to run and be outdoors. She particularly likes to hike and go to the beach, and enjoys the fact that science is constantly changing and that there is always more to learn about it. Mrs. Lindstrom would like to continue encouraging students to explore science and to appreciate the natural world. She would like to tell her students to always “follow your passions” and to never give up. To the world, Mrs. Lindstrom may be just a teacher, but to her students, she is a hero.
“Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual. If the people remember me as a good teacher, that will be the biggest honour for me.”
-A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Mrs. Grazulewicz, nicknamed Mrs. Graz by many of her students, is a 7th grade math teacher who is known by many students to be an amazing teacher. She is a great role-model to her students and helps shape them to become mature young men and women. She has been teaching at Marlboro Memorial Middle School for 8 years.
Having a knack for working with children, Mrs. Graz decided she wanted to be a teacher going into college. She says, “When I was younger, I would ‘play school’ with my little brother and sister and pretend to be their teacher.” Mrs. Graz enjoyed teaching them things and wanted to teach more. She especially enjoyed working with younger students, and originally thought she would teach in an elementary school. After her first semester, however, she decided to start working specifically on mathematics, so she became a middle school teacher. “I am so happy I ended up in a middle school - I love working with 7th graders!” she says.
Mrs. Graz is very inspired by the quote “If you can dream it, you can do it,” which was said by Walt Disney. She believes that hard work pays off not only in school, but in your entire life. This is something Mrs. Graz demonstrates to her students through her hard work as a math teacher. As a student of Mrs. Graz, I would like to thank her on behalf of not only myself but all my classmates for being an amazing teacher and role model whom we can look up to!
For her first two years of teaching, she taught English in Spain to Spanish students. “I lived in a small town called Plasencia and then moved to a bigger city called Málaga,” said Senora Luell. Once she settled down in New Jersey, she started teaching in Marlboro. She says that the students and staff in our school are all so wonderful. “Everyone is very helpful, kind, and wants to succeed.”
Outside of school, Senora Luell loves to travel and cook. She says she likes to try new and interesting recipes. In fact, this summer she is going to Alaska and Peru. “I hope our students learn something everyday,” she says, “not just academically but lessons that they take with them, that shape the type of person they become.” Throughout her years of teaching, she was inspired by Nelson Mandela’s quote, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, it goes to his heart.”
Senora Luell speaks fondly of her experiences speaking other languages while travelling. She says, “As I have travelled, I’ve seen that people appreciate it so much if you attempt to communicate in their language (even if you do not speak it very well) as opposed to just resorting to English right away.”
Clearly, Senora Luell is teaching her students much more than just Spanish. She is opening a new door for every one of the kids she teaches. Memorial is so lucky to have such a prodigious teacher in our school environment. Thank you to Senora Luell for opening a foreign gateway in her students’ lives and teaching them the true meaning of a second language. Gracias, Senora Luell!
Mrs. Lindstrom: Inspiring Students Everyday
By: Rishika Raghavan
A good education can change anyone, but a good teacher can change everything. Many people may have an aversion towards science or think that it is difficult or boring. However, as a student of Mrs. Lindstrom for almost a full school year, I can assure you that if you are lucky enough to be in her class, it will become your favorite subject in no time at all.
Mrs. Lindstrom has been a teacher for around eight years, beginning her career when she decided she wanted to be a teacher in college. She visited a classroom and did a guest presentation in an internship at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which inspired her to start teaching science to middle schoolers. One of her major motivations towards teaching came from her older sister, who is also a teacher and has recently received the honor of being “Teacher of the Year” in her school. Mrs. Lindstrom enjoys working at MMMS mostly because of the “wonderful community of teachers and students.”
She has always loved science and nature, and in her free time, she loves to run and be outdoors. She particularly likes to hike and go to the beach, and enjoys the fact that science is constantly changing and that there is always more to learn about it. Mrs. Lindstrom would like to continue encouraging students to explore science and to appreciate the natural world. She would like to tell her students to always “follow your passions” and to never give up. To the world, Mrs. Lindstrom may be just a teacher, but to her students, she is a hero.
Mrs. Grazulewicz: Teacher Spotlight
By: Danielle Ahearn
“Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual. If the people remember me as a good teacher, that will be the biggest honour for me.”
-A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Mrs. Grazulewicz, nicknamed Mrs. Graz by many of her students, is a 7th grade math teacher who is known by many students to be an amazing teacher. She is a great role-model to her students and helps shape them to become mature young men and women. She has been teaching at Marlboro Memorial Middle School for 8 years.
Having a knack for working with children, Mrs. Graz decided she wanted to be a teacher going into college. She says, “When I was younger, I would ‘play school’ with my little brother and sister and pretend to be their teacher.” Mrs. Graz enjoyed teaching them things and wanted to teach more. She especially enjoyed working with younger students, and originally thought she would teach in an elementary school. After her first semester, however, she decided to start working specifically on mathematics, so she became a middle school teacher. “I am so happy I ended up in a middle school - I love working with 7th graders!” she says.
Mrs. Graz is very inspired by the quote “If you can dream it, you can do it,” which was said by Walt Disney. She believes that hard work pays off not only in school, but in your entire life. This is something Mrs. Graz demonstrates to her students through her hard work as a math teacher. As a student of Mrs. Graz, I would like to thank her on behalf of not only myself but all my classmates for being an amazing teacher and role model whom we can look up to!
Where are they now?: Student Alumni
Visit Back to Memorial- Matt Sandelman
By: Zaina Saif
Matt Sandelman is a 21-year-old future rock star! Graduated in 2010, he has expanded himself into the music industry. He has a devoted interest in music- playing the bass guitar and writing as a composer for his two bands. Carrying on his career path as musician, he is lead singer and writes the bass notes. One of his bands is called Serious Matters and they play mostly alternative music. “We just released our EP Through It All on Manic Kat Records,” he said. “This past January, we toured in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, and Georgia. In the spring, we plan on touring all over the east coast.”
Matt learned how to play bass guitar when he was in 7th grade. Since then, he’s learned a little bit of acoustic guitar and even learned how to sing by participating in choir at Marlboro High School. Ever since, he’s enjoyed music and wanted to make it a part of his life. In MMMS, Mrs. Reardon & Mr. Shatz were his favorite teachers. “Mrs. Reardon and I liked the same music, so that was cool,” he said. Matt made some his best friends in middle school and he says he still sees them several times a day. One of his friends from middle school is in the other band he’s part of, The Highschool Superstars.
In addition, he was on the wrestling team for a season and was a member of REBEL, or present day HOT Club. He says that REBEL continues to inspire him because to this day he still abstains from drugs and alcohol. Some advice he want to give to kids in middle school is “Be your own person and don’t let other people’s opinions change you. Follow your dreams. I became a musician and now that's my job. But I don’t think of it as my job- I think of as a day off.. for my whole life.”
IF YOU KNOW OR ARE AN ALUMNUS AND WOULD LIKE TO BE FEATURED IN OUR NEXT INSTALLMENT OF WHERE ARE THEY NOW? PLEASE EMAIL ABUCCI@MTPS.ORG FOR DETAILS. THANKS!
Creative Writing
An Encounter with My Homework
By: Evan Chang and Ranvith Adulla
It was a normal day in a normal school week. Like every other school day, there was a heavy load of homework. When I came home, I was almost seething with fury when I unpacked my heavy pile of textbooks and worksheets.
“ARRGH!” I whined. “Why do I have to do homework EVERY SINGLE DAY?” I hit the table in a wild bout of fury. A couple of crayons flew up and crashed down like little toys being tortured by a 3-year old.
“Hey!” cried a tiny voice from the mound. “I’m getting squished! Take me out of this cramped place!”
“What?”
“Hey, you!” it said. I didn’t recognize it.
“Who are you?” I asked, startled.
“I’m your homework. Do you think it’s nice to yell at me every single day? If I had ears they’d be bleeding!”
“If you don’t have ears than how do you hear?”
“That’s rude.”
“I’m sorry,” I confessed, ashamed of my insolence. “I’ve never heard you before.”
“Yes, you have,” the paper protested. “I’ve been lying around in your ELA classroom for a few weeks already. My name’s Jason. By the way, can you get me a glass of water? I’ve been sweating in that backpack!”
“Alright then,” I replied cheerfully.
After I handed the water to my homework, I saw that it seemed to tip the glass over in a peculiar way.
“Umm… excuse me?” I mumbled. “Is that how you normally drink water?”
“Totally!” the paper said ecstatically.
All the while, the paper was slowly tipping the water over, closer and closer to the edge of the table…
SPLASH! The water flew all over the table. Jason, the talking piece of paper, was suddenly drenched in a flood of water.
I heard a scream. “It’s going to be OK, Jason! I’ll save you!”
Then I realized the sound came from behind me…
“EVAN!” my mom shrieked with pure rage. “What have you done to your homework? Stop daydreaming and do something for once!”
“Wait, what?”
It was a typical cold and windy winter morning. The baker was hard at work in his bakery, creating delicious treats for his many customers waiting outside in the cold winter air.
The morning was going smoothly since he sold many treats and all of his customers went home satisfied. Then, a teenage boy walked into the bakery and asked to work for the baker because his family was struggling to feed themselves. The baker was a kind and honest person, so he let the boy help him. The boy helped the baker every day after school, and in exchange for his help, he would always ask for treats to take home and share with his family. The next day, the baker was making chocolate chip cookies, since they were in high demand that day. When he finished kneading the dough, he put them in the oven. Towards late evening, the cookies were done and smelled fabulous. The boy helped him and asked for some of the cookies in return, as usual. He seemed to like chocolate chip cookies more than any other dessert. However, the baker refused to give him some, saying that he hardly had enough for the hungry customers outside. The boy looked upset and slightly angry.
The next day, the baker greeted the boy happily as he walked into the bakery, but was shocked at what the boy said next. He asserted, “I quit,” and walked away. The baker stared at him in awe as he exited the bakery. He had grown quite fond of the boy after spending every day at the bakery with him, so he was surprised. He couldn’t understand why the boy was so mad.
Later that day, as the baker was making his famous apple pie, a thought occurred to him. He concluded, “Maybe the boy was angry because I didn’t give him the chocolate chip cookie. Maybe if I make him a batch, he will forgive me and come back to work with me.” So he baked a fresh batch of cookies and he rang the doorbell of the boy’s house.
He answered, and jeered, “What are you doing here?” The baker was hurt by this but tried not to look upset.
“I’m here to make it up to you,” the baker replied. “Here is a whole new batch of chocolate chip cookies. Please forgive me and come back to the bakery.”
He thought for a while, and “Ok, but on one condition. You have to give me whatever treat I ask for any time.”
“Done,” the baker said, relieved to have his helper and friend back. Both the boy and the baker lived their lives happily, baking treats and making memories.
It may not seem like a big deal to you, but it was very important to me. It’s not just any old earring—it’s a gold one, a gift from my aunt. If you ever lost something that’s important to you, it makes you feel guilty, doesn't it? Well, that’s exactly how I felt.
It was 8th period; Spanish class. When the fire alarm went off, our class walked out of the building in a single-file line. All the students were going in different directions. I was looking for my homeroom meeting spot. I had just passed Mrs. Farrell's classroom when I felt my earring fall off! It landed on my shoulder and then onto the ground, but I wasn’t able to catch sight of the tiny piece of jewelry. I stopped right where I was walking to look for it. I might’ve been able to find it, but that’s not what happened.
Unfortunately, the kids behind me were not too happy about me stopping in the middle of the fire drill to look for my earring. They kept pushing me forward and yelling at me to move. Being the shy kid that I am, I didn’t defend myself. I just sadly walked over to where the rest of the kids in my homeroom were lining up.
When the fire drill was over, and all the kids were going back inside, I asked my teacher if I could look for my earring. She didn’t let me go, so I was forced to leave my poor earring behind and come inside. It felt like a punch in the stomach.
I felt like crying, but I didn’t, because… well, I would’ve been known as the lame girl who cried about the loss of an earring. I just took a deep breath (even though that did not help my situation) and trudged back into the school. I found my Spanish teacher in the hallway and talked to her about what happened. She did feel bad for me but sadly said that there was nothing that could be done about it.
When I came back home, I told my mom what happened. She was pretty angry, so she drove us back to the school to look for it. We never found my earring. And to this day, February 9th, I still haven’t found it. I don’t think I'll ever find it, either.
It’s not the first time I lost an earring. I got my ears pierced when I was around 5, so my mom bought me this pair of gold earrings with pearls at the end. But sometime close to when I was 9, the earring fell off my ear and into a crack in the road. I was going to fish it out with a stick, but my mom told me to leave it. Now, I sound like an irresponsible person (which I think I am), but other than that, I haven't really lost anything else.
This was mostly a complaint but I just wanted to share my horrible story with you. If you find a gold hoop earring, it would mean a lot to me if you would bring it to Student Services or me personally.
P.S. My mom did get me new earrings. They are gold hoops with these little circle things at the bottom!
“You’re late!” Mrs.Trink yelled. I, being the shy person that I am, I did not talk back to Mrs. Trink because this was the
“ARRGH!” I whined. “Why do I have to do homework EVERY SINGLE DAY?” I hit the table in a wild bout of fury. A couple of crayons flew up and crashed down like little toys being tortured by a 3-year old.
“Hey!” cried a tiny voice from the mound. “I’m getting squished! Take me out of this cramped place!”
“What?”
“Hey, you!” it said. I didn’t recognize it.
“Who are you?” I asked, startled.
“I’m your homework. Do you think it’s nice to yell at me every single day? If I had ears they’d be bleeding!”
“If you don’t have ears than how do you hear?”
“That’s rude.”
“I’m sorry,” I confessed, ashamed of my insolence. “I’ve never heard you before.”
“Yes, you have,” the paper protested. “I’ve been lying around in your ELA classroom for a few weeks already. My name’s Jason. By the way, can you get me a glass of water? I’ve been sweating in that backpack!”
“Alright then,” I replied cheerfully.
After I handed the water to my homework, I saw that it seemed to tip the glass over in a peculiar way.
“Umm… excuse me?” I mumbled. “Is that how you normally drink water?”
“Totally!” the paper said ecstatically.
All the while, the paper was slowly tipping the water over, closer and closer to the edge of the table…
SPLASH! The water flew all over the table. Jason, the talking piece of paper, was suddenly drenched in a flood of water.
I heard a scream. “It’s going to be OK, Jason! I’ll save you!”
Then I realized the sound came from behind me…
“EVAN!” my mom shrieked with pure rage. “What have you done to your homework? Stop daydreaming and do something for once!”
“Wait, what?”
The Baker’s Dilemma
By: Rishika Raghavan
It was a typical cold and windy winter morning. The baker was hard at work in his bakery, creating delicious treats for his many customers waiting outside in the cold winter air.
The next day, the baker greeted the boy happily as he walked into the bakery, but was shocked at what the boy said next. He asserted, “I quit,” and walked away. The baker stared at him in awe as he exited the bakery. He had grown quite fond of the boy after spending every day at the bakery with him, so he was surprised. He couldn’t understand why the boy was so mad.
Later that day, as the baker was making his famous apple pie, a thought occurred to him. He concluded, “Maybe the boy was angry because I didn’t give him the chocolate chip cookie. Maybe if I make him a batch, he will forgive me and come back to work with me.” So he baked a fresh batch of cookies and he rang the doorbell of the boy’s house.
He answered, and jeered, “What are you doing here?” The baker was hurt by this but tried not to look upset.
“I’m here to make it up to you,” the baker replied. “Here is a whole new batch of chocolate chip cookies. Please forgive me and come back to the bakery.”
He thought for a while, and “Ok, but on one condition. You have to give me whatever treat I ask for any time.”
“Done,” the baker said, relieved to have his helper and friend back. Both the boy and the baker lived their lives happily, baking treats and making memories.
I Lost My Gold Earring During a Fire Drill
By: Rayna Roney
On the twenty-second of January, 2018, something very terrible happened to me. It happened during the fire drill that we had at 1:30 P.M. The tragedy was that I LOST MY EARRING!It may not seem like a big deal to you, but it was very important to me. It’s not just any old earring—it’s a gold one, a gift from my aunt. If you ever lost something that’s important to you, it makes you feel guilty, doesn't it? Well, that’s exactly how I felt.
It was 8th period; Spanish class. When the fire alarm went off, our class walked out of the building in a single-file line. All the students were going in different directions. I was looking for my homeroom meeting spot. I had just passed Mrs. Farrell's classroom when I felt my earring fall off! It landed on my shoulder and then onto the ground, but I wasn’t able to catch sight of the tiny piece of jewelry. I stopped right where I was walking to look for it. I might’ve been able to find it, but that’s not what happened.
Unfortunately, the kids behind me were not too happy about me stopping in the middle of the fire drill to look for my earring. They kept pushing me forward and yelling at me to move. Being the shy kid that I am, I didn’t defend myself. I just sadly walked over to where the rest of the kids in my homeroom were lining up.
When the fire drill was over, and all the kids were going back inside, I asked my teacher if I could look for my earring. She didn’t let me go, so I was forced to leave my poor earring behind and come inside. It felt like a punch in the stomach.
I felt like crying, but I didn’t, because… well, I would’ve been known as the lame girl who cried about the loss of an earring. I just took a deep breath (even though that did not help my situation) and trudged back into the school. I found my Spanish teacher in the hallway and talked to her about what happened. She did feel bad for me but sadly said that there was nothing that could be done about it.
When I came back home, I told my mom what happened. She was pretty angry, so she drove us back to the school to look for it. We never found my earring. And to this day, February 9th, I still haven’t found it. I don’t think I'll ever find it, either.
It’s not the first time I lost an earring. I got my ears pierced when I was around 5, so my mom bought me this pair of gold earrings with pearls at the end. But sometime close to when I was 9, the earring fell off my ear and into a crack in the road. I was going to fish it out with a stick, but my mom told me to leave it. Now, I sound like an irresponsible person (which I think I am), but other than that, I haven't really lost anything else.
This was mostly a complaint but I just wanted to share my horrible story with you. If you find a gold hoop earring, it would mean a lot to me if you would bring it to Student Services or me personally.
P.S. My mom did get me new earrings. They are gold hoops with these little circle things at the bottom!
Book Tales
By: Ava Giarratana
I woke up to the sunshine streaming through my small window. I live in a small apartment in the big city of New York that I can barely pay for. I slowly dragged myself out of bed, still sleepy. Then, I completed my morning routine: brush my teeth, comb my hair, take a shower, feed the fish, blah, blah, blah. Boring stuff. But today, for some reason I felt something magical waiting for me. It was already 7:00 and if I didn’t hurry up, I would be late for work. I didn’t have a lot of money, so I had an old-fashioned bike for transportation. I rode my bike to work, which was a coffee shop called Coffee Craze. For some reason, my boss, Mrs. Trink, did not like me at all. Mrs. Trink always yelled at me, even if I wasn’t late for work!“You’re late!” Mrs.Trink yelled. I, being the shy person that I am, I did not talk back to Mrs. Trink because this was the
only job I had.
“Sorry ma'am, it won’t happen again,” I replied.
“This happens every time! I would FIRE you, but Coffee Craze is in need of help.” I nodded, not wanting to start an argument with my hothead boss. I headed off to the cash register and put on my Coffee Craze hat and apron. It was already dirty with coffee stains and powder since the shop also supplied desserts. I worked for hours and hours when finally it was my lunch break.
Because I had an essay due next Wednesday, I decided to go the library to do some research on plants. I left quieter than a mouse so my boss wouldn’t yell at me for some made-up reason. Riding towards the library, I felt that spark again in me again, like it was calling to me. The spark hit me like a baseball to a bat. I almost fell off my bike, but thankfully, I was by a patch of grass so if I fell, it wouldn’t hurt. Finally, I made it to the library. Hardly anyone was there; now that Kindles came out, no one came to the library. Poor library!
“Wow, no one is here!” I whispered to myself. “This will be perfect, the whole library will be mine to use!” And it was true. Only the librarian was there. I made sure to be quiet while I was climbing the steep stairs, only hoping that the stairs wouldn’t squeak. At the second floor, I went to row number 12 and looked at the old, dusty spines. I turned to the next row, seeing a boy with thick glasses the color of the night. He turned shyly, his cheeks a rosy pink. Like the boy, I turned my face, which was turning pink. I felt another spark, and I couldn’t explain it this time either. Then, while looking through the bookshelf, I saw it. A book. It felt like it was calling me, just like the spark has been doing all day. I have to go there, but the boy is there! I thought, but to me, it felt like my destiny to go to the book.
My heart pounded. Thump….., thump, thump. I breathed in, then out. Taking one step forward, I moved closer to the boy. As I finally reached the book, I closed my eyes, feeling the boy’s eyes staring at me. Slowly, averting my eyes away from the boy, I touched the book, but as I felt one of the dusty pages, the boy touched my shoulder.
The next thing I knew, I was sucked into the book. And guess what? The boy landed right behind me! I turned around and quietly said, “Hi.”
“H-hi.”
“Where are we?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied. Right out of the blue, a bottle of magic potion appeared. We dodged the bottle so we wouldn’t get hurt, and thankfully we didn’t.
On the bottle it said, The holder of this potion has to either figure out what this means or just drink the potion and make only ONE wish. But unfortunately, it then said, *FOR ONLY ONE PERSON.*
“What does it mean?” asked Leo.
“Honestly, I don’t know. But I know I am going to drink it if we don’t find it out.”
“NO!” he fumed. “I AM going to drink it!” We fought back and forth until he said something that we both agreed on. Leo said, “Fine, if we can’t decide then………” Suddenly, the bottle dropped! We were shocked, wide-eyed, but we didn’t say anything.
“What will we do now?” Leo murmured. We watched as the potion seeped into ground, but then my necklace fell off. Leo looked at it strangely, but then back at his necklace, which was the same as mine. We looked at each other as we connected our necklaces to see a book falling from the sky. We dodged the book just in time. Unexpectedly, the book opened to a page and it read:
“Love is found within, but being true to yourself is found with the help of one another. - Unknown”
So we sat down and started to introduce ourselves. “Ok, I will go first. My name is Rose Jones and…”
“Wait, wait, did you just say ‘Rose Jones?’” he interrupted.
“Yeah, so what?” I asked. “What's the big deal?”
“That name sounds really familiar,” Leo pondered .
“OH MY GOODNESS! You’re my sister!!!!”Leo said.
“Really?” I questioned.
“Dad told me a story. When we were younger, mom and dad got divorced,” he started. “So Dad said he took me and mom took you.”
“Ohhhhh, but I haven’t seen mom in a while, she left me,” I quietly said.
“Come back with me then!” Leo answered.
“Ok, how do we get back then?” I questioned. But, then it hit me. It looked like Leo got the idea I had too. We both held out our hands and magically, we were transported back to the library.
“Wow!” we both said. But then, we said no more. He put his arm over me, and I put my arm over
him. Suddenly, for the first time in what seemed like forever, I finally felt true happiness again.
“Sure,” Choco replied. “Let’s do it!”
“Yes!! Thank you!” Minty exclaimed, then rushed out of the room.
That night, Minty tiptoed into Choco’s bedroom, making sure to not make any noise. “Are you ready to go?” she whispered.
Choco whispered back, “Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
They crept downstairs and opened the front door carefully so it wouldn’t creak. Once they were outside, they climbed into Choco’s car and drove away.
When they reached the concert, they marveled at the sight and at how huge the crowd was. They walked inside and just as they did. Marshmello yelled from the stage, “Hi everyone, thanks for coming! Here’s my latest hit song, ‘I Love Rocky Road’!” She started singing and Minty swayed along to the beat. She sang as loudly as she could, and was having the best time of her life.
Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting noise. The music abruptly stopped, and everyone turned to look outside, where the sound had come from.
Then someone yelled, “RUN!! IT’S A HUMAN!!!!” Everyone began to panic and run in all directions. Minty was scared and glanced at her brother in alarm. “Let’s go,” he said hurriedly, as he gripped Minty’s hand hard and pulled her through the crowd of hysterical people, scampering this way and that. They reached the car, only to find that it had been crushed by the human’s foot.
“What do we do now?!” Minty questioned, a horrified look on her face. The expression on Choco’s face showed that he had no idea at all.
“Wait! I have an idea,” Minty bursted out. “Just, promise that you trust me.”
“Of course I trust you, Minty,” Choco said. “I’m your brother, after all,”
Minty raced up to the human, looking up. “Excuse me!” she shouted. “Excuse me, Mr. Human! Would you be so kind as to please go somewhere else?”
“Sure,” the human replied in a deep voice. “Thanks for asking me nicely and for not throwing things at me like the other ice cream flavors do.”
“No problem. I like making new friends. Um, Mr. Human, would you mind if I asked you for a favor? Since you smashed our car, by accident, of course, can you give us a ride home?”
“Of course! Anything for a friend!” he hollered and lowered an enormous hand for them to step onto. He ran until they reached 9 Rocky Road.
“Thank you so much!” Minty said, smiling. Tonight had been a great night, and she was glad that she had gotten the chance to make a new friend in it.
It was a pleasant day, with perfect weather; sunny, and slightly breezy. That was the best type of weather—at least, in my opinion. I was walking through Rose Meadow, which was an ideal name for the park itself. It was a beautiful field, with thousands of flowers blooming on the massive lawn and quaint little benches lining its sides.
All of a sudden, I heard the deafening sound of an explosion. I was shocked as to what had happened, so I tried to find the source of the sound. There was a large, purple, swirling mass expanding from the center of the lawn, completely trampling the pretty flowers that were already flying all over the place. Abruptly, I felt myself being sucked towards the whirling accumulation. I was frightened. What was this strange thing and what was it going to do to me? The last thing I heard before I got completely sucked inside the purple mass was footsteps, sounding like someone was attempting to run towards me.
When I regained consciousness, I woke up to find myself surrounded by sandy dunes. A hot, burning sun was shining onto me from above. I instantly realized that it was a desert, but what I didn’t know was that it was not just any desert. It was the one and only Sahara Desert.
I stood up wearily and stumbled on the endless sand. It was probably about a million degrees out here!
After a few hours of painful walking, I was exhausted.
“Water. Water. I need water,” I panted. “If only there was a way I could get water...”
I trudged on, in hopes that there was an oasis ahead. I knew it was probably illogical, since there was a very small chance of actually finding water in one of the largest, hottest deserts in the world.
Suddenly, I tripped over a massively rough object. I stood up and dusted myself off, eyeing the item that had caused my fall. It was a large, brown canteen filled with water. I picked it up quickly and cried out in joy.
Just as I opened it, I noticed red smoke pouring out of the canteen. I dropped the canteen and slowly backed away. What was happening?
I saw a figure starting to form. It looked like a little boy.
He exclaimed, “Oh, thank you so much for letting me out of that jail! I’m finally free after ten thousand years, all thanks to you!”
“Who are you?” I asked. “Also, do you happen to know how to go to a place called New York?”
“I am a little boy who got trapped in this water canteen by an evil sorcerer. I believe he is dead now, thanks to the Savior, who defeated him,” he said. Then he added, “Wow, you’re from New York? I was from there, too, until a purple swirling mass came and brought me here. There are a total of 2 wishes I can grant to the person who freed me, in this case, you. All you have to do is wish something, and I will make it come true,” the boy told me, over-enthusiastically.
“Okay. I wish that I could go back to New York and that you came with me.”
“Wish granted,” I heard him say, just before there was a puff of red smoke and Rose Meadow appeared before our eyes.
I suddenly woke up with a start. I had fallen asleep on one of the benches in the meadow. Wow, what a dream! I thought. Just then, there was a bang and a big purple swirling mass appeared….
I hustled into the classroom, surrounded by what seemed like a herd of rampaging buffalo, but was actually just a group of excited high schoolers eager to find their friends. There was Cassy, and Adrien, and Irene, and Brendon, and… the list goes on and on. Then there was me. I was the one person who was only kind of happy to be there but would definitely rather be at home. But, I was absolutely in love with the idea of seeing my best friend, and that was my motivation to have showed up in the first place.
The one and only, emphasis on only, Elijah. He seems to be the only one I can trust, and seeing as I have this stupid condition, trust is very important. So, naturally, I cut off everyone else. In this reality, I have one friend, one partner in crime, one person to look up to, one person who can rely on me. I kind of like it this way. I haven’t told anyone else about my condition, not even my own parents. I haven’t really placed much trust in them, anyways.
As I sat down, I noticed Elijah wasn’t in his normal seat next to me, which was strange, as usually he arrived to the classroom before I did. Walking to school takes me a ridiculous amount of time, even though I do leave home extra early. But the bell rang at 7:15, just as it always does, and class started.
At around 7:26, Elijah walked, his left arm stretched out in front of the teacher holding a small pink slip of paper. At least he showed up, even if it was eleven minutes late. He quickly ran to the back of the room and slid neatly into the desk next to mine. Almost instantly he reached into his binder and pulled out a pad of post-its. The special ones we use for passing notes. I had bought us these fancy sticky notes that had a little diamond in the corner to write our initials. Why was this so important to me? I’d been making a little collage for him, to celebrate his upcoming fifteenth birthday. I stared at his long fingers on his pen, furiously scribbling along on the post-it, the soft noise from the graphite sounding like music to my ears. Without even realizing, I was somewhere else.
It was Elijah’s fifteenth birthday. We were in a lavish banquet hall, with chandeliers hanging above every adorned table in the room. The beautiful golden candlelight stood out against the navy blue decor that was so gracefully placed on the tables. Suddenly, I felt fingers on my arm and I was yanked into another room. Where did I go? I turned to my left to see who it was, and I saw a familiar face. There, in an exquisite navy dress, stood Cristine. “Hurry up, you have to walk him out!”
“Walk who out?”
“Elijah, you dumb dumb! Now come on, he’s waiting!”
Cristine grabbed my other arm this time, most likely to keep me from getting too sore, and began running. I wasn’t even dazed; I simply went with the situation put in front of me. Cristine shoved me right into the spot in front of Elijah. Elijah, with his eyes sparkling like little diamonds, and the same cheesy grin on his face as usual. He held his arm out to me, and in his grasp, he held a small pink slip of paper. Cristine motioned for me to take it, and I was just about to open it, when I had a sudden realization.
My head snapped up, staring at the whiteboard at the front of the room. Back to the first reality. The right one. I looked to my left, and there was Elijah, giggling to himself quietly. He scribbled on a post-it and handed it to me under the desk: Caught in another daydream, huh? I sighed, and gave him a look that told him I was tired of having to deal with them. I grabbed my stack of post-its and picked up my pen.
Wouldn’t want it any other way. But isn’t it supposed to be maladaptive? Doesn’t seem too helpful to me.
I bent down, pretending to tie my shoe, and threw my neatly-folded sticky note at Elijah. After he read it, he let out another light giggle that the teacher somehow didn’t notice, but didn’t write any response. I wouldn’t expect him to anyways, seeing as he was used to this.
But after around 2 minutes, Elijah pulled something out from his bag and handed it to me under the table. I took it and found it to be a neat little light tan box. When I opened it, I found a small charm attached to a bracelet. The dark half of a yin yang, with a small little white dot to symbolize the little bit of light in darkness. When I took the foam cube out of the box to access the rest of the chain, I saw a little piece of paper. Because I’m the little bit of light in your darkness, it read. When I looked over at him, I saw his half hanging from a pendant around his neck. The light half. Because I’m the little bit of darkness in his light, I thought. We smiled at each other for a few seconds, and then looked back up at the board in the front of the room. I put the bracelet back into the box so that I would have one less distraction for the rest of the period.
I stared at the board once again, trying to focus on the endless jumble of words coming from my teacher. But my brain didn’t really care to listen to the speech we were being given on the topic of Shakespeare. I found my gaze shifting downwards to the floor, to the one position that my eyes found the most comfortable. I was well aware this was the one position that made me more prone to daydreaming, but the deed was already done.
Back to the party. Me and Elijah were singing “Paint It, Black” together. I looked up at the board. Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564. Elijah was blowing out the candles on his cake. Shakespeare wrote 37 plays. Cristine was giving her speech. “The Two Noble Kinsmen” was most likely written in 1613.
I kept slipping between my first and second reality, and I didn’t know how to make it stop. It was just like a game of ping-pong, the ball being my focus bouncing back and forth through realities. It just kept happening.
Then I heard the bell ring. Everyone stood up, making a beeline for the door. It took me a second to realize, seeing as I was in the middle of trying to fix Elijah’s tie before the group photo was taken at the end of the party. Of course, Elijah realized this and had already picked up my books and placed them on my desk in front of me. I picked them up and put the box on top of them, following him out the door.
“Here are the notes from class today,” he said, placing a bundle of neatly-folded notebook paper on top of my books. I thanked him, followed by our goodbyes to each other, as the next period was the only one in which we didn’t have class together. Thankfully, I found science actually very interesting, so I didn’t have to worry about daydreaming and missing notes.
As I walked down the hallway in the direction opposite of Elijah, I found myself back next to Cristine. We were struggling to hail a cab to get home, when Elijah came over and managed to get one to pull over almost instantly. We thanked Elijah, and we got in. But then I felt something crash into my right arm. I looked up and saw an annoyed-looking group of girls looking down at me. I was already short, but their high heels made me feel even smaller and more powerless. I said sorry to them over and over again, and then scampered off to my next class.
I slid into my seat as quickly as I could, once again in the back corner of the room. After a few minutes, I decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put on the bracelet, but when I reached down for the box, it wasn’t there. I panicked for a minute, wondering if I had already managed to lose my new prized possession. Thankfully, the teacher said we were to turn on our laptops to do work online, so I logged onto MySpace to message Elijah. He was online at the time as well, seeing as all the biology teachers like to use the same lesson plan.
I, uh, might not be able to find the box, I typed.
Did you bring it into the classroom with you? he replied.
I wondered why he didn’t panic. Was he expecting me to lose it? Maybe he realized how prone I was to getting distracted in the hallway heading to class.
I don’t think so, I responded.
Were you daydreaming on your way to class? he inquired.
Of course. Cristine isn’t a part of the first reality. She’s a part of my second reality. Just another figure in my dream. Nothing more than just a character to everyone else. I wasn’t actually getting in a taxi, I was just daydreaming.
I think so, I answered
Go check in the hallway, he suggested.
I raised my hand and asked the teacher to go to the bathroom. I saw people looking at each other with strange looks on their faces. I guess they found it strange that I had raised my hand to speak, let alone to go to the bathroom. I walked briskly out the door, trying to escape their judgmental stares as quickly as possible.
I turned down the hallway to where I had bumped into the two girls. I found the exact spot, but there was not box. But just as I was losing hope, I realized it had most likely been kicked to the side. And after some sifting through what seemed to be endless amounts of papers and pencils, I found it. The small tan box, with barely any scratches. I opened the box, and once I had decided the charm was perfectly unharmed, I ran back to class. Once I sat back down in my seat, I carefully put on the bracelet. It was a perfect fit on my arm.
I logged back into MySpace and sent Elijah a thumbs up. I knew he was probably smiling to himself, even if he didn’t say anything. The rest of class passed by pretty quickly as I breezed through my work until the final bell rang.
I walked out the door and turned the corner, where I found Elijah waiting outside his classroom. As soon I was close enough to him, I thanked him over and over again, but he simply shrugged and said it was his job to help me through whatever struggles I had. His cheesiness made the two of us laugh, and he leaned his head on my shoulder a little bit. I reached up to connect my half of the yin yang to his, and in that moment, we silently agreed to always be there for each other when we most needed it, even if we didn’t say it out loud to each other. No matter what reality I was in, he was there too, and it would always remain that way.
“Sorry ma'am, it won’t happen again,” I replied.
“This happens every time! I would FIRE you, but Coffee Craze is in need of help.” I nodded, not wanting to start an argument with my hothead boss. I headed off to the cash register and put on my Coffee Craze hat and apron. It was already dirty with coffee stains and powder since the shop also supplied desserts. I worked for hours and hours when finally it was my lunch break.
Because I had an essay due next Wednesday, I decided to go the library to do some research on plants. I left quieter than a mouse so my boss wouldn’t yell at me for some made-up reason. Riding towards the library, I felt that spark again in me again, like it was calling to me. The spark hit me like a baseball to a bat. I almost fell off my bike, but thankfully, I was by a patch of grass so if I fell, it wouldn’t hurt. Finally, I made it to the library. Hardly anyone was there; now that Kindles came out, no one came to the library. Poor library!
“Wow, no one is here!” I whispered to myself. “This will be perfect, the whole library will be mine to use!” And it was true. Only the librarian was there. I made sure to be quiet while I was climbing the steep stairs, only hoping that the stairs wouldn’t squeak. At the second floor, I went to row number 12 and looked at the old, dusty spines. I turned to the next row, seeing a boy with thick glasses the color of the night. He turned shyly, his cheeks a rosy pink. Like the boy, I turned my face, which was turning pink. I felt another spark, and I couldn’t explain it this time either. Then, while looking through the bookshelf, I saw it. A book. It felt like it was calling me, just like the spark has been doing all day. I have to go there, but the boy is there! I thought, but to me, it felt like my destiny to go to the book.
My heart pounded. Thump….., thump, thump. I breathed in, then out. Taking one step forward, I moved closer to the boy. As I finally reached the book, I closed my eyes, feeling the boy’s eyes staring at me. Slowly, averting my eyes away from the boy, I touched the book, but as I felt one of the dusty pages, the boy touched my shoulder.
The next thing I knew, I was sucked into the book. And guess what? The boy landed right behind me! I turned around and quietly said, “Hi.”
“H-hi.”
“Where are we?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied. Right out of the blue, a bottle of magic potion appeared. We dodged the bottle so we wouldn’t get hurt, and thankfully we didn’t.
On the bottle it said, The holder of this potion has to either figure out what this means or just drink the potion and make only ONE wish. But unfortunately, it then said, *FOR ONLY ONE PERSON.*
“What does it mean?” asked Leo.
“Honestly, I don’t know. But I know I am going to drink it if we don’t find it out.”
“NO!” he fumed. “I AM going to drink it!” We fought back and forth until he said something that we both agreed on. Leo said, “Fine, if we can’t decide then………” Suddenly, the bottle dropped! We were shocked, wide-eyed, but we didn’t say anything.
“What will we do now?” Leo murmured. We watched as the potion seeped into ground, but then my necklace fell off. Leo looked at it strangely, but then back at his necklace, which was the same as mine. We looked at each other as we connected our necklaces to see a book falling from the sky. We dodged the book just in time. Unexpectedly, the book opened to a page and it read:
“Love is found within, but being true to yourself is found with the help of one another. - Unknown”
So we sat down and started to introduce ourselves. “Ok, I will go first. My name is Rose Jones and…”
“Wait, wait, did you just say ‘Rose Jones?’” he interrupted.
“Yeah, so what?” I asked. “What's the big deal?”
“That name sounds really familiar,” Leo pondered .
“OH MY GOODNESS! You’re my sister!!!!”Leo said.
“Really?” I questioned.
“Dad told me a story. When we were younger, mom and dad got divorced,” he started. “So Dad said he took me and mom took you.”
“Ohhhhh, but I haven’t seen mom in a while, she left me,” I quietly said.
“Come back with me then!” Leo answered.
“Ok, how do we get back then?” I questioned. But, then it hit me. It looked like Leo got the idea I had too. We both held out our hands and magically, we were transported back to the library.
“Wow!” we both said. But then, we said no more. He put his arm over me, and I put my arm over
him. Suddenly, for the first time in what seemed like forever, I finally felt true happiness again.
Minty Chip
By: Rishika Raghavan
Rocky Road. Some people may just think of this as a delicious ice cream flavor, but to Minty Chip, it was her home. She adored living on Rocky Road, and her best friend, Vanilla Bean, also lived there. She and her brother, Choco Chip, lived on the ninth house on Rocky Road and were always having extremely exciting adventures and getting into a lot of trouble.
On this particular day, Minty walked into Choco’s room and asked him, “Hey, so, you know my favorite music artist is Marshmello, right? So she is having a concert where she sings all her greatest hits, a.k.a my favorite songs, tonight. Can you help me sneak out?”“Sure,” Choco replied. “Let’s do it!”
“Yes!! Thank you!” Minty exclaimed, then rushed out of the room.
That night, Minty tiptoed into Choco’s bedroom, making sure to not make any noise. “Are you ready to go?” she whispered.
Choco whispered back, “Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
They crept downstairs and opened the front door carefully so it wouldn’t creak. Once they were outside, they climbed into Choco’s car and drove away.
When they reached the concert, they marveled at the sight and at how huge the crowd was. They walked inside and just as they did. Marshmello yelled from the stage, “Hi everyone, thanks for coming! Here’s my latest hit song, ‘I Love Rocky Road’!” She started singing and Minty swayed along to the beat. She sang as loudly as she could, and was having the best time of her life.
Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting noise. The music abruptly stopped, and everyone turned to look outside, where the sound had come from.
Then someone yelled, “RUN!! IT’S A HUMAN!!!!” Everyone began to panic and run in all directions. Minty was scared and glanced at her brother in alarm. “Let’s go,” he said hurriedly, as he gripped Minty’s hand hard and pulled her through the crowd of hysterical people, scampering this way and that. They reached the car, only to find that it had been crushed by the human’s foot.
“What do we do now?!” Minty questioned, a horrified look on her face. The expression on Choco’s face showed that he had no idea at all.
“Wait! I have an idea,” Minty bursted out. “Just, promise that you trust me.”
“Of course I trust you, Minty,” Choco said. “I’m your brother, after all,”
Minty raced up to the human, looking up. “Excuse me!” she shouted. “Excuse me, Mr. Human! Would you be so kind as to please go somewhere else?”
“Sure,” the human replied in a deep voice. “Thanks for asking me nicely and for not throwing things at me like the other ice cream flavors do.”
“No problem. I like making new friends. Um, Mr. Human, would you mind if I asked you for a favor? Since you smashed our car, by accident, of course, can you give us a ride home?”
“Of course! Anything for a friend!” he hollered and lowered an enormous hand for them to step onto. He ran until they reached 9 Rocky Road.
“Thank you so much!” Minty said, smiling. Tonight had been a great night, and she was glad that she had gotten the chance to make a new friend in it.
Lost in the Desert
By: Rishika Raghavan
It was a pleasant day, with perfect weather; sunny, and slightly breezy. That was the best type of weather—at least, in my opinion. I was walking through Rose Meadow, which was an ideal name for the park itself. It was a beautiful field, with thousands of flowers blooming on the massive lawn and quaint little benches lining its sides.
All of a sudden, I heard the deafening sound of an explosion. I was shocked as to what had happened, so I tried to find the source of the sound. There was a large, purple, swirling mass expanding from the center of the lawn, completely trampling the pretty flowers that were already flying all over the place. Abruptly, I felt myself being sucked towards the whirling accumulation. I was frightened. What was this strange thing and what was it going to do to me? The last thing I heard before I got completely sucked inside the purple mass was footsteps, sounding like someone was attempting to run towards me.
When I regained consciousness, I woke up to find myself surrounded by sandy dunes. A hot, burning sun was shining onto me from above. I instantly realized that it was a desert, but what I didn’t know was that it was not just any desert. It was the one and only Sahara Desert.
I stood up wearily and stumbled on the endless sand. It was probably about a million degrees out here!
After a few hours of painful walking, I was exhausted.
“Water. Water. I need water,” I panted. “If only there was a way I could get water...”
I trudged on, in hopes that there was an oasis ahead. I knew it was probably illogical, since there was a very small chance of actually finding water in one of the largest, hottest deserts in the world.
Suddenly, I tripped over a massively rough object. I stood up and dusted myself off, eyeing the item that had caused my fall. It was a large, brown canteen filled with water. I picked it up quickly and cried out in joy.
Just as I opened it, I noticed red smoke pouring out of the canteen. I dropped the canteen and slowly backed away. What was happening?
I saw a figure starting to form. It looked like a little boy.
He exclaimed, “Oh, thank you so much for letting me out of that jail! I’m finally free after ten thousand years, all thanks to you!”
“Who are you?” I asked. “Also, do you happen to know how to go to a place called New York?”
“I am a little boy who got trapped in this water canteen by an evil sorcerer. I believe he is dead now, thanks to the Savior, who defeated him,” he said. Then he added, “Wow, you’re from New York? I was from there, too, until a purple swirling mass came and brought me here. There are a total of 2 wishes I can grant to the person who freed me, in this case, you. All you have to do is wish something, and I will make it come true,” the boy told me, over-enthusiastically.
“Okay. I wish that I could go back to New York and that you came with me.”
“Wish granted,” I heard him say, just before there was a puff of red smoke and Rose Meadow appeared before our eyes.
I suddenly woke up with a start. I had fallen asleep on one of the benches in the meadow. Wow, what a dream! I thought. Just then, there was a bang and a big purple swirling mass appeared….
“The Realities”
By: Anushka Sikdar
I hustled into the classroom, surrounded by what seemed like a herd of rampaging buffalo, but was actually just a group of excited high schoolers eager to find their friends. There was Cassy, and Adrien, and Irene, and Brendon, and… the list goes on and on. Then there was me. I was the one person who was only kind of happy to be there but would definitely rather be at home. But, I was absolutely in love with the idea of seeing my best friend, and that was my motivation to have showed up in the first place.
The one and only, emphasis on only, Elijah. He seems to be the only one I can trust, and seeing as I have this stupid condition, trust is very important. So, naturally, I cut off everyone else. In this reality, I have one friend, one partner in crime, one person to look up to, one person who can rely on me. I kind of like it this way. I haven’t told anyone else about my condition, not even my own parents. I haven’t really placed much trust in them, anyways.
As I sat down, I noticed Elijah wasn’t in his normal seat next to me, which was strange, as usually he arrived to the classroom before I did. Walking to school takes me a ridiculous amount of time, even though I do leave home extra early. But the bell rang at 7:15, just as it always does, and class started.
At around 7:26, Elijah walked, his left arm stretched out in front of the teacher holding a small pink slip of paper. At least he showed up, even if it was eleven minutes late. He quickly ran to the back of the room and slid neatly into the desk next to mine. Almost instantly he reached into his binder and pulled out a pad of post-its. The special ones we use for passing notes. I had bought us these fancy sticky notes that had a little diamond in the corner to write our initials. Why was this so important to me? I’d been making a little collage for him, to celebrate his upcoming fifteenth birthday. I stared at his long fingers on his pen, furiously scribbling along on the post-it, the soft noise from the graphite sounding like music to my ears. Without even realizing, I was somewhere else.
It was Elijah’s fifteenth birthday. We were in a lavish banquet hall, with chandeliers hanging above every adorned table in the room. The beautiful golden candlelight stood out against the navy blue decor that was so gracefully placed on the tables. Suddenly, I felt fingers on my arm and I was yanked into another room. Where did I go? I turned to my left to see who it was, and I saw a familiar face. There, in an exquisite navy dress, stood Cristine. “Hurry up, you have to walk him out!”
“Walk who out?”
“Elijah, you dumb dumb! Now come on, he’s waiting!”
Cristine grabbed my other arm this time, most likely to keep me from getting too sore, and began running. I wasn’t even dazed; I simply went with the situation put in front of me. Cristine shoved me right into the spot in front of Elijah. Elijah, with his eyes sparkling like little diamonds, and the same cheesy grin on his face as usual. He held his arm out to me, and in his grasp, he held a small pink slip of paper. Cristine motioned for me to take it, and I was just about to open it, when I had a sudden realization.
My head snapped up, staring at the whiteboard at the front of the room. Back to the first reality. The right one. I looked to my left, and there was Elijah, giggling to himself quietly. He scribbled on a post-it and handed it to me under the desk: Caught in another daydream, huh? I sighed, and gave him a look that told him I was tired of having to deal with them. I grabbed my stack of post-its and picked up my pen.
Wouldn’t want it any other way. But isn’t it supposed to be maladaptive? Doesn’t seem too helpful to me.
I bent down, pretending to tie my shoe, and threw my neatly-folded sticky note at Elijah. After he read it, he let out another light giggle that the teacher somehow didn’t notice, but didn’t write any response. I wouldn’t expect him to anyways, seeing as he was used to this.
But after around 2 minutes, Elijah pulled something out from his bag and handed it to me under the table. I took it and found it to be a neat little light tan box. When I opened it, I found a small charm attached to a bracelet. The dark half of a yin yang, with a small little white dot to symbolize the little bit of light in darkness. When I took the foam cube out of the box to access the rest of the chain, I saw a little piece of paper. Because I’m the little bit of light in your darkness, it read. When I looked over at him, I saw his half hanging from a pendant around his neck. The light half. Because I’m the little bit of darkness in his light, I thought. We smiled at each other for a few seconds, and then looked back up at the board in the front of the room. I put the bracelet back into the box so that I would have one less distraction for the rest of the period.
I stared at the board once again, trying to focus on the endless jumble of words coming from my teacher. But my brain didn’t really care to listen to the speech we were being given on the topic of Shakespeare. I found my gaze shifting downwards to the floor, to the one position that my eyes found the most comfortable. I was well aware this was the one position that made me more prone to daydreaming, but the deed was already done.
Back to the party. Me and Elijah were singing “Paint It, Black” together. I looked up at the board. Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564. Elijah was blowing out the candles on his cake. Shakespeare wrote 37 plays. Cristine was giving her speech. “The Two Noble Kinsmen” was most likely written in 1613.
I kept slipping between my first and second reality, and I didn’t know how to make it stop. It was just like a game of ping-pong, the ball being my focus bouncing back and forth through realities. It just kept happening.
Then I heard the bell ring. Everyone stood up, making a beeline for the door. It took me a second to realize, seeing as I was in the middle of trying to fix Elijah’s tie before the group photo was taken at the end of the party. Of course, Elijah realized this and had already picked up my books and placed them on my desk in front of me. I picked them up and put the box on top of them, following him out the door.
“Here are the notes from class today,” he said, placing a bundle of neatly-folded notebook paper on top of my books. I thanked him, followed by our goodbyes to each other, as the next period was the only one in which we didn’t have class together. Thankfully, I found science actually very interesting, so I didn’t have to worry about daydreaming and missing notes.
As I walked down the hallway in the direction opposite of Elijah, I found myself back next to Cristine. We were struggling to hail a cab to get home, when Elijah came over and managed to get one to pull over almost instantly. We thanked Elijah, and we got in. But then I felt something crash into my right arm. I looked up and saw an annoyed-looking group of girls looking down at me. I was already short, but their high heels made me feel even smaller and more powerless. I said sorry to them over and over again, and then scampered off to my next class.
I slid into my seat as quickly as I could, once again in the back corner of the room. After a few minutes, I decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put on the bracelet, but when I reached down for the box, it wasn’t there. I panicked for a minute, wondering if I had already managed to lose my new prized possession. Thankfully, the teacher said we were to turn on our laptops to do work online, so I logged onto MySpace to message Elijah. He was online at the time as well, seeing as all the biology teachers like to use the same lesson plan.
I, uh, might not be able to find the box, I typed.
Did you bring it into the classroom with you? he replied.
I wondered why he didn’t panic. Was he expecting me to lose it? Maybe he realized how prone I was to getting distracted in the hallway heading to class.
I don’t think so, I responded.
Were you daydreaming on your way to class? he inquired.
Of course. Cristine isn’t a part of the first reality. She’s a part of my second reality. Just another figure in my dream. Nothing more than just a character to everyone else. I wasn’t actually getting in a taxi, I was just daydreaming.
I think so, I answered
Go check in the hallway, he suggested.
I raised my hand and asked the teacher to go to the bathroom. I saw people looking at each other with strange looks on their faces. I guess they found it strange that I had raised my hand to speak, let alone to go to the bathroom. I walked briskly out the door, trying to escape their judgmental stares as quickly as possible.
I turned down the hallway to where I had bumped into the two girls. I found the exact spot, but there was not box. But just as I was losing hope, I realized it had most likely been kicked to the side. And after some sifting through what seemed to be endless amounts of papers and pencils, I found it. The small tan box, with barely any scratches. I opened the box, and once I had decided the charm was perfectly unharmed, I ran back to class. Once I sat back down in my seat, I carefully put on the bracelet. It was a perfect fit on my arm.
I logged back into MySpace and sent Elijah a thumbs up. I knew he was probably smiling to himself, even if he didn’t say anything. The rest of class passed by pretty quickly as I breezed through my work until the final bell rang.
I walked out the door and turned the corner, where I found Elijah waiting outside his classroom. As soon I was close enough to him, I thanked him over and over again, but he simply shrugged and said it was his job to help me through whatever struggles I had. His cheesiness made the two of us laugh, and he leaned his head on my shoulder a little bit. I reached up to connect my half of the yin yang to his, and in that moment, we silently agreed to always be there for each other when we most needed it, even if we didn’t say it out loud to each other. No matter what reality I was in, he was there too, and it would always remain that way.
Poems
Trying
By Xhaiden D’SouzaYou cannot score if you don’t kick the ball.
Though there’s a chance you will, if you try it.
As long as you try, it’s okay to fall.
Your team misses a goal - don't start to bawl.
Situations are not always sunlit.
You cannot score if you don’t kick the ball.
You can play basketball if you’re not tall.
You've got to try, you've got to try with grit.
As long as you try, it’s okay to fall.
"Get a home run!" your baseball teammates call.
Don't try, and the baseball, you will not hit.
You cannot score if you don’t kick the ball.
Whatever game you play, give it your all.
If you lose, try again, don't throw a fit.
As long as you try, it’s okay to fall.
Failure for sure if you don’t try at all.
Once you try, you have just done the first bit.
You cannot score if you don’t kick the ball.
As long as you try, it’s okay to fall.
Fear
By: Danielle Ahearn
We all feel fear differently,
But in a way, we’re all the same.
Some of us shake and tremble,
And others try to run away.
Though we all feel fear,
We can definitely talk about it.
Break down the walls,
The ones we are hiding behind.
A Simple Moment
By: Xhaiden Dsouza
A single petal,
Drops from a beautiful rose.
A simple moment.
One drop of water,
Lands in a pool with a plop.
A simple moment.
The tiniest ant,
Lifts a bread crumb o’er its head.
A simple moment.
The smallest moments,
Can awaken your senses.
And make a difference.
Loss
By: Danielle Ahearn
We all have our losses,
None of us can always win.
We all have some regrets,
We think about what could’ve been.
Some lose their belongings,
Or their family, or friends.
Some lose their confidence,
Thinking that their problems will never end.
Some people lose themselves,
But there’s things you have to remember.
You are still you,
You are beautiful and strong.
In the end, it’ll all be okay,
Just keep pushing on.
How to Get Yourself a Puppy
By: Xhaiden D’Souza
(The perfect poem to give to your parents)
A puppy shall come into this family.
It shall bring pleasure through the door.
It shall teach me some responsibility.
And you shall trust me even more.
This puppy shall grow into a perfect friend.
It will play with me very much.
It shall provide company until the end.
It shall be the finishing touch.
I will be occupied, and noise will be less.
Your days will be much quieter.
Your lives will be better if you say yes.
The need for this dog is dire.
Life and Birthdays
By: Olivia O’Reilly
Part one:
You were birthed
Into this wonderful infant
You spent these hours
Experiencing your first tears and breaths
This day was your day,
Your birthday.
Part Two:
You learn to walk
To talk
You’re now a basic human
Learning the functions of communication
You read and you write at a young age
You’re now a being that works
Like circuits in a machine
Except, you have feelings.
Part Three:
Birthdays go by
Different cakes every year
You always eat the last slice
And that is always the best slice
Because it’s the final slice
And you managed to claim it as yours
Every year.
Phase One:
You start to ponder
To wonder
You hide behind your sheets
Anywhere that isn’t visible to anyone
Thinking, regretting, crying
This was the first ever time.
Phase Two:
Your mind races
You regret so much
You start feeling sad
Depressed
You think like this for a while
You realize the harshness this reality gives
The unfairness that has happened to you
Breaks you down
Like a mortar and pestle
Pressing down
Breaking the food in the bowl.
Phase Three:
You start to not care
It was just something so simple to worry about
Even though it was weeks
Days, maybe a month
You haven’t been counting the months but, it’s now March
March comes in like a lion they say
And it’s true
It’s been so quick.
Conclusion:
It’s been around two years
Long time
But you forgot
Because it didn’t matter anymore
But to this day
You’re still in shock
Your streak was over
But you still can’t believe
That Brian ate the last slice of the cake.
P.S:
I wished I had that slice
But that’s life
I have to move on
I made that choice that I didn’t want that piece
But it’s over now
It’s time to move on
There are many cakes out there to eat
That’s life’s greatest lesson.
Peace
By: Xhaiden D’Souza
Starting from early civilizations.
Tensions grew over boundaries and land.
War raged through all the groups and the nations.
Those from different cities could not walk hand in hand.
Then technology advanced greatly
and came the atom and hydrogen bombs.
Many weapons were created lately.
Our world is not just peaceful islands and palms.
There were destructive events like D-Day.
Wars in Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
The world is not in harmony today.
No peace in Ukraine or Afghanistan.
In order to end war and find world peace.
Our fights over differences must cease.
Respect
By: Ananya Vuppala
There is something called respect
That you have to give to all
And when you ignore respect
You will have to make a sacrifice
Of more respect and love to them
Respect can be given
In many different ways
But no matter the way
You choose to give it
It must be given - that is,
To the right people
Respect follows with
Responsibility, care,
And honesty
But don’t forget that love
Is the heart to all these
April Alphabet
By: Xhaiden D’Souza
April is the month where
Birds come out
Carrying large, juicy worms.
Ducks come back from their journey south. An
Endless number of sparrows
Fly above my head.
Giant dragonflies
Hover over my garden.
Insects fill the air with a
Jarring buzz.
Katydids break the night silence with chirping.
Ladybugs
Munch on scrumptious aphids.
Night howlers,
Orchids, and
Poppies cover the ground with a carpet of color.
Quick bunnies
Run and hop around.
Silently, the hawk in the
Tree tracks their every move.
Underneath the mighty bird, baby squirrels come out to play.
Vehicles crowd the streets in the rush for Easter supplies,
While a single
Xenops pecks at a helpless insect.
Young robins chirp madly at their worm-holding parents while
Zachary, a young boy with curious eyes, watches them all April long.
A Window
By: Advika Vuppala
Everyday I pass a window,
Clean, spotless, and new.
I see it on the way
While driving to school.
It is not ordinary.
Each time I pass it,
Something strange happens;
The scene inside changes.
One day, there is
A lush meadow,
Filled with juicy grass
And blooming flowers.
The next day, there is
An endless prairie
With tall, brown grass
And tired, grazing elk.
The day after that, there is
A frozen tundra,
With no sun and life
Just endless permafrost.
From all these sightings,
I realize that
The world can bring you
To many places.
A Forgetful Person (Not me!)
By: Anish Pallati
I have not forgotten;
I just forgot what to forget.
I have not gotten a quarter,
I mistook it for a dime.
Well now, I’ve forgotten;
I have not bought some lemons,
Instead I bought limes.
Well now, I’ve forgotten;
Don’t know the rest of my rhymes,
What a forgetful crime.
Never Give Up
By Xhaiden D’Souza
“Never give up” is what people say,
But they are the ones who ignore this each day.
Nobody thinks about what it really means.
They just say it and say it like wound-up machines.
This phrase is common in essays, quotes, and books,
Yet when people fail, most don’t take second looks.
When many are looking for the perfect boat,
They give up if they can’t find one that can float.
We know that winners don’t quit, and quitters don’t win,
As Dory says, “Just keep swimming” even if you’ve lost a fin.
We also know that the tough keep going, when the going gets tough,
You won’t reach your destination if you haven’t tried enough.
Like Aesop’s tortoise, it matters not if you are slow,
What really matters is how long you can go.
Remember that failure is to success, another stepping stone,
So be that dog, who always gets his bone.
Don’t be a hypocrite, who tells, but does not do.
If you’ve said “Never give up,” then listen to you!
When You Grow Up
By: Amanda Sun
My child, when you grow up,
Your arms will be long enough
To stretch across the galaxy
You will gather the stars
And hold them forever
In your eyes
When you grow up,
You will stand taller than them all
You will touch the sky
You will brush the clouds
With your fingertips
And gather the sweet fluff full of dreams
When you grow up,
You will jump higher than the horizon
With the wind beneath your feet
The stars will be caught in your hair
And the moon will brush your nose
And the sun will warm you up
When you grow up,
Your sweet laugh
Will pour out of your mouth like honey
The fruits of your knowledge
And the blossoms of your love
Will bloom each year
But nothing
Is longer
Or taller
Or sweeter
Than my love for you
MMMS Art Gallery
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
White Limestone BeachBy Zaina Saif
Black Mountain
By Zaina Saif
Google Search “Oia” and Comment If my Picture is Better!
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
By Zaina Saif
“Aviation Art Contest”
By Anastasia Balatsky
“Sneak-a-Peek: The Real Face”
By Ananya Vuppala
By Zaina Saif
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