Behind the Scenes with Brooke

Take a look at my senior year English class adventures

  • Blog #2: To See What is Hidden, You Need to Try…

    In this blog post, there will be many passages that look like solid blocks of color. In order to read those, you need to highlight them.

    For my Gallery of Conscious project I decided to read Girls & Sex by New York Times Bestseller, Peggy Orenstein. Personally I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be extremely eye opening. By using information that she gathered over the course of over 70 in-depth interviews with teenagers from various backgrounds, Orenstein reveals the hidden truths and hard lessons behind girls’ sex lives in the modern world. She covers topics such as hook up culture, the expectations around oral sex, sexualization from the media, girls’ feelings about pleasure, the attitudes towards girls’ virginities, and the stigmas that lie around words such as “whore,” “slut,” “virgin,” etc.

    As I was reading this book, it occurred to me that in order to understand someone else’s story, you actually have to actively LOOK.

    HIGHLIGHT HERE

    So now you may be asking, Brooke, why are you making me work so hard in order to read this text? There are a lot of reasons, the first is that this represents having to take your own steps into the unknown, and making yourself uncomfortable. A big thing that stood out to me as I read this book, is that there are many boys who have no idea what a girl’s perspective is on sex. And this goes both ways. Information is not just given to you, you need to be willing to be disturbed.

     “We’ve also spent many years listening to others mainly to determine whether we agree with them or not. We don’t have time or interest to sit and listen to those who think differently than we do,”

    Margaret J. Wheatley, “Willing to Be Disturbed”

    There is a large stigma around sex. It is a topic that is not openly talked about both at home and at school. While sex education is required in some states it is not required in all. According to usnews.com, “As of June 2022, 39 states plus Washington, D.C., mandate sex education, HIV education or both… Thirty-nine states and D.C. either stress or require abstinence to be covered when sex education is taught. Meanwhile, only 20 states require provision of information on contraception…” While 39 states and Washington D.C. sounds like a lot, you need to remember that there are still 11 other states that have teenagers who are not guaranteed any sex education. The lack of sex education in certain states makes it so those teens need to go and seek out their own information, which is not always accurate. Even those teens who receive a basic sex education still need to find their own information, because many sex education classes only cover topics such as sexually transmitted diseases, contraception, abstinence, and teen pregnancy.

    And the hesitancy to talk openly about sex occurs at home too. While many parents will give the basic “talk” about sex, many are hesitant to go any further than that. The majority of American children will not discuss their sex lives with their parents, and parents will not push for information. An article on psychologytoday.com states that, “… many adolescents report little or no communication about sex with their parents.”

    Photo from here

    There are also differences between a boy’s education and a girl’s, and these differences start from a young age. In her book Orenstein writes, “When my daughter was a baby I read somewhere that, while labeling their infants’ body parts (‘here’s your nose,’ ‘here are your toes’), parents typically include a boy’s genitals (at the very least, ‘here’s your pee-pee’) but not a girl’s. Leaving something unnamed makes it quite literally unspeakable, a void, an absence, a taboo,” (Orenstein 61). Following the pattern that I wrote about earlier, these girls now have to seek out their own information about sex, and not all of the information you will find is accurate.

    HIGHLIGHT HERE

    This creates a hidden element to sex. Not only is it hidden from the other perspective, it also becomes hidden from yourself. This is another reason why I am making you work to read this. Not only do you need to consciously seek out information, you need to actively look in order to see sex and sexual experiences from another perspective.

    My partner Daniella and I were inspired by this concept if actually needing to try to be able to see the other perspective. For our Gallery of Conscious project we took a poster and split it in half, this is what the top half includes. We decided to take quotes from both of our books and write them in two different colors, one for my quotes, and one for Daniella’s. We will write these quotes so they overlap each other, so they cannot be read. This is done on purpose. In order to read the quotes, you need to hold up a plastic film to your eye. This will block out the quotes that are the same color as the film and allow you to read the others. This symbolizes the effort that is required to see the other side, and how without that effort, you cannot truly understand. 

    The bottom portion of the poster is a blank space. We will leave post-it notes and pens there for students to write their own stories and/or reactions on, then add it to the poster. They can leave it anonymous, or write their name.

    HIGHLIGHT HERE

    This portion of our project adds on to the first half. By sharing stories, you let the unseen become visible. Topics that are not typically talked about publicly will be broadcast to the student population. Another thing we hope to create through this is a sense of community. By reading stories that were written by other students at this school, people will feel less alone.

    Are you ready to uncover the truth?

  • Blog #1: A Look Into Peggy Orenstein’s Girls & Sex

    When I was choosing a book for my Gallery of Conscious project, I knew immediately that I would be interested in this book. The book in question is called Girls & Sex, published in 2016, by New York Times Bestseller, Peggy Orenstein.

    Image from https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTApDvRiDCineFR4QR_ntTt8MSBVq9zUUQt3l0HCTZQkkOAtngP

    Orenstein has written several other books, including Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Waiting for Daisy, Don’t Call Me Princess, Flux, and SchoolGirls. Many of her books are related to gender struggles. SchoolGirls discusses educational inequity and in Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Orenstein dives into the “girly girl” culture that is market towards young girls and children. Additionally, she frequently contributes to multiple news sources, including, but not limited to, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. She also has a very enlightening TED talk, which I would highly recommend checking out. Although it is a bit on the longer side, 17 minutes long, she included many of the topics that were discussed in her book Girls & Sex, and it can give you some more insight on what I read about.

    Girls & Sex exposes the truth behind sexual encounters for teenage girls and young women. By using information that she gathered from over 70 in-depth interviews with teenagers from various backgrounds, Orenstein reveals the hidden truths and hard lessons behind girls’ sex lives in the modern world. She covers topics such as hook up culture, the expectations around oral sex, sexualization from the media, girls’ feelings about pleasure, attitudes towards girls’ virginities, and the stigmas that lie around words such as “whore,” “slut,” “virgin,” etc. Orenstein also supports the stories that she has shares with data and statistics from multiple published studies, though by now they may not be very accurate, since this book was published around 7 years ago.

    Image from https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/girls-sex-peggy-orenstein/1123107792

    “If you’re going to talk about women in the twenty-first century, you MUST read Peggy Orenstein’s Girls & Sex. No one else is asking these questions; so no one else, then, is finding out the answers.”

     – Caitlin Moran, author of How to Be a Woman

    Critics have called Girls & Sex a “must-read” and have stated that the book is “thought-provoking” and “full of thoughtful concern and empathetic questions.” I will say that I am inclined to agree. Although I typically only like books that have some sort of story, whether that be fantasy or a memoir, I found that I enjoyed the contents of this book so far. I am 230 pages in, around ¾ of the way done. As a teenager, the personal stories that were shared in this book were very interesting. I got to read about many different types of experiences, both positive and negative, of girls from everywhere, and compare their stories to my own. These girls were all different from each other, from their religions, races, sexuality, political stances, and ethnicities. They were from large urban cities as well as small rural towns and everything in between.

    I have always been interested in researching gender inequality and studying women’s struggles, from both the past and present. Last year for my Junior English Research Paper, I read the book Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu and researched gender inequality within the school system. For my Junior History Research Paper I studied the Salem Witch Trials. And most recently, I read Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay.

    A screenshot taken by me from the Netflix adaptation of the book Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

    So, when I saw Girls & Sex on the list of reading options for our Gallery of Conscious project, I knew that I would enjoy reading it. And I was right. Although reading for school has never been my favorite, I do not have a difficult time picking up my book and reading. Though I do not get lost in it like I would with a fictional book, I really like the way that Orenstein organizes the interviews and data from studies. 

    One common theme that I have been able to connect from the various books I have read and research I have done, is that in many cases, women are seen as only bodies, objects. This quote from an interview in Girls & Sex stood out to me, “‘In high school my teacher unwrapped a peppermint patty and put it on the floor,’ Annie recalled. ‘Then she asked if we would eat it. Of course we were all, ‘Eww, no!’ And she said, ‘Exactly! Once you’re “open,” nobody will want you!’’” (Orenstein 79). As I read this, I immediately thought back to a quote from Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay. 

    “This commentary is often couched as concern, as people only having your best interest at heart. They forget that you are a person. You are your body, nothing more, and your body should damn well become less,” (Gay 121).

    From Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

    As I made this connection, I began to think. When teachers and adults compair a girl’s body to a piece of candy that she dropped on the floor, you really do forget that you are a person. Because that’s how they make you see yourself, as your body, and your virginity. They tell you that if you have sex you are dirty, and that no one will ever want you again. It feeds into this cycle, continuing from your parents and teacher, and generations before that. Because that’s what they have been raised and taught to care about. Your “purity” and your body. Honestly this topic is something that I am very passionate about, because it makes me so angry. Additionally, the fact that I was able to make such a strong connection between two books that were written about different topics, one about the reality of sex for teenagers and the other about the struggles of eating disorders, really shows how society views the bodies of women.

    Sex is a topic that is highly avoided in today’s society. Peggy Orenstein’s Girls & Sex not only highlights that topic, but brings you with her into the lives of teenagers all over America. I would 100% recommend this book to both teens and adults. It’s extremely enlightening and powerful, and it lets the voices and stories of these girls be heard by everyone.

  • SAMO #3: On and On and On…

    For my third SAMO project, I ventured into a world that I am not familiar with at all. The art world. Specifically contemporary photography.

    The first thing I had to ask myself was, what is the definition of the word contemporary?According to Google, contemporary means: living or occurring at the same time or belonging to or occurring in the present. The next question is an extension of the last: what is contemporary photography? According to eden-gallery.com, contemporary photography is a photograph taken in the present or the very recent past. Typically contemporary artists and photographers are alive and actively working.

    “Contemporary photography encapsulates or reflects back to us an opinion about our world today. The world is not static, and so photography is not static. Values, societies, philosophy, standards for living, technology, politics and geopolitical realities constantly change”

    fotorelevance.com

    So in my quest to learn about contemporary photography, my mom, dad, and I went on March 12th to the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. Before I left, I had decided to mostly focus on the exhibition Refracting Histories. This exhibition features 8 artists, including Tarrah Krajnak, Aaron Turner, Sonja Thomsen, Colleen Keihm, Tom Jones, Nona Faustine, Kelli Connell, and Natalie Krick. According to mocp.org, “Each artist challenges, probes, or deconstructs well-known art historical legacies, revealing the contributions of overlooked makers as well as pervasive discrimination that maintains the status quo.”

    After a 45 minute drive into the city, we arrived and parked. When we went inside, we were greeted by a very kind security guard who led us to the museum. The Museum of Contemporary Photography is a pretty small museum. There were three floors, each filled with art, and each floor was relatively small. It only took me about 15 minutes to walk through the whole thing and take pictures of different pieces and descriptions, but then I spent another 45 minutes really trying to understand all of the artwork. My parents ended up really enjoying all of the art, especially my dad. I also ended up really enjoying the pictures, which surprised me since I have never really been interested in that sort of thing, unlike my older brother who will drag my entire family into every art exhibition that we pass.

    We spent almost 10 minutes in this one room that I have a picture of above! All of the pictures were taken either by my mom or me. This was one of my favorite pieces, though it was in the Shannon Bool 1:1 exhibition. After about an hour we left the museum, and my dad told me that he had somewhere that we absolutely needed to go, but he wouldn’t tell me where! It ended up being Kilwins, which is an ice cream and sweets store, and if you haven’t been before, you absolutely need to go. It’s one of my favorite places. After getting some fudge and other sweets, we decided to head home.

    While I was at the museum, there was one piece of art that had captured my attention. It was my favorite out of all of the pictures.

    This piece was created by Kelli Connell and Natalie Krick and is titled Weapons and Power, On and On, 2022. These two artists place a contemporary feminine lens on the work of Edward Steichen, who was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Through their work (pictured to the right), they highlight issues such as the longevity of issues such as war and climate change.

    Out of all of the installations in the Refracting Histories exhibitions, this one spoke to me the most. It also really reminded me of certain topics from class, especially as we continue to read the book Citizen by Claudia Rankine. In the framed image on the left the words are, “weapons and power frustration and destruction.” In the second image on the right the words are, “on and On and on on and on and on.” There are so many ways that these words can be applied. One example would be racism and police violence. This second frame reminds me of “The Fire This Time” by Jesmyn Ward. In her introduction she writes this, “Replace ropes with bullets. Hound dogs with German shepherds. A gray uniform with a bulletproof vest. Nothing is new” (Ward 6). From slavery to segregation to police violence, this system of violence directed towards Black Americans has been continuing on and on and on.

    georgiaencyclopedia.org

    Lets begin with the police system. Most people are unaware of the beginnings of modern-day policing. This is information that I learned relatively recently as well. According to naacp.org, the modern police system can be traced back to slave patrols. The earliest form of salve patrol was created in the Carolinas in the early 1700s. Their purpose was to pursue, capture, and return runaway slaves back to their owners. These patrols would use excessive force during their interactions with slaves. Slave Patrols continued until the end of the Civil War when the 13th Amendment was passed. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

    Post Civil War, during the Reconstruction Era, these Slave Patrols were turned into “militia-styled” groups that actively denied equal rights to freed slaves. They enforced Black Codes, which were strict local and state laws that regulated and restricted access to labor, wages, voting rights, and general freedoms for formerly enslaved people.

    When the ratification of the 14th Amendment (which granted equal protections to African Americans) happened in 1868, the Black Codes were replaced by the Jim Crow laws. At the time, the police were relied on the enforce these rules of segregation, and they used extreme violence and brutality until the 1960s, when the laws were ended.

    pbs.org

    Police violence towards African Americans still happens today, and is unfortunately not uncommon. As I am writing this the date is March 20th, and I am going to do a Google search for the most recent case of police brutality that has been reported. After a little bit of digging I found this npr.org article from March 17th, of the death of Irvo Noel Otieno, a 28 year old Black man. Due to the violent way that he died, I will not include any specific details, but I would recommend reading the article that I have linked above.

    This brings me to the question, what is being done to prevent police violence?

    In 2020, there was a rise in protests against the police after the death of George Floyd, and many others. The Black Lives Matter movement grew in popularity as people vocalized their anger with police brutality. In 2020 alone, they raised $90 million and spread awareness to millions of people all over the world through their social media platforms. The movement is supported by many people globally, but not all people agree with them. One reason why there was such a large disapproval for the Black Lives Matter movement was the fear of change within certain groups. According to blogs.lse.ac.uk, “In the case of BLM, white supremacist groups led the resistance to any threat to their ‘way of life’ using such mantras as ‘Make America Great Again’, ‘All Lives Matter’ and ‘taking back our country.’”

    Obviously this issue is deeper than just a few legal matters. Racism is deeply rooted into American society. There is a system of oppression that has been present since the country’s beginning. It reminds me of a conversation we had during class towards the beginning of the year about the school system. At the surface it seemed simple to cause change. But then as we continued to discuss, it became clear that it was more complicated than changing a few rules at our school.

    There is an ongoing list of names on page 134 of the book Citizen by Claudia Rankine. To me these names represent a cycle. On and on and on. Kelli Connell and Natalie Krick show through their piece Weapons and Power, On and On, 2022 that issues such as racism, sexism, and climate change are ongoing. These issues have been here for many, many years and have improved very little.

    Weapons and Power.

    Frustration and Destruction.

    On

    And on

    And on

    And on…

  • Memoir Mash Blog: Speaking of Silence…

    Silence.

    It’s horrific that women have been silenced for multiple generations all around the world. Voices suppressed, opinions dismissed.

    Fear.

    What kind of world do we live in that victims of rape and sexual assault fear how those around them will respond when they learn that they were raped. Why should the victim be worried about judgment?

    Invisible.

    How come, in this supposedly equal society, women are treated as if they are invisible? We witnessed it first hand when a bunch of men decided that they could take away a woman’s right to choose. How dare they control what a woman can and can’t do to their bodies?

    Listen.

    Why is breaking the silence so important? Why should these voices be heard? As mentioned above, women have been silenced for many years. This unwelcomed silence results in women not being able to participate in important decisions, especially within politics. As the voices of women are ignored, that leaves men incharge of women’s issues. Recently when Roe versus Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, four out of the five Supreme Court Justices who voted to overturn Roe were men.

    Silence, is it forced? Or can it be a choice…

    Silence can be like armor to those who are in pain. By not speaking out, victims can protect themselves. And this protection can be from many things, including family, friends, and even themselves. As a society, we have been taught to only listen to others when they share the same opinion as you. People will argue against those who have different views from their own, and in order to maintain harmony, individuals will remain silent rather than speak up. As long as people choose to not listen to others who are different from themselves, individuals are forced into choosing to remain silent.

    Now pause and listen close, because silence contains more words than you may think.

    “All too often what ‘he said’ matters more, so we just swallow the truth,” (45).

    Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
                  Power can force silence.

    “Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person,”

    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “The Danger of a Single Story”

    “Sexual assault is a widely underreported crime. Abuse survivors who choose not to come forward, report abuse or tell their stories are known as ‘silent victims.’ Assault survivors may have many reasons for their silence, including:

    • Extreme emotional or psychological trauma that is too difficult to face.
    • Feelings of guilt, shame or embarrassment.
    • The feeling that the victim was somehow responsible for the abuse.
    • No recollection of the traumatic experience (blocked-out memories).
    • A lack of recognition of the crime.
    • Downplaying the abuse or not considering the event as abuse.
    • The assumption that no one will believe the victim.
    • Fear of retaliation by the abuser (fear for the victim’s safety).
    • Fear of punishment.
    • Fear for their children or loved ones.
    • Threats, intimidation or blackmail by the abuser.
    • Isolation from others – no support system, safe space or help available.
    • Still in a relationship with the abuser or assailant.
    • No financial support to leave the abuser,”

     Why Do Some People Stay Silent About Abuse?

                  The list goes on and on.

    Men, especially in the case of rape, are often believed over women. They have power over women and can change the story. After Roxane Gay was raped, she was deemed a whore after the boy who raped her told the whole school that she had sex with him. He created a single story. Gay was ashamed and embarrassed. She stayed silent because she was afraid of how her family would react.

    “I am confident in my opinions and believe I have a right to share my point of view without apology. This confidence tends to upset people who disagree with me. Rarely are my actual ideas engaged,” (267).

    Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body 
    by Roxane Gay

    “We’ve also spent many years listening to others mainly to determine whether we agree with them or not. We don’t have time or interest to sit and listen to those who think differently than we do,” (1).

    “Willing to Be Disturbed”
    by Margaret J. Wheatley

     As stated earlier, people tend to not listen to others who do not share the same views as themselves. The two quotes above show that people always want to be correct. Not only will they disregard another person’s opinion because it’s different from their own, they will disregard it because that person with the opposing opinion looks different from them. I see it so often in today’s society, especially on platforms such as social media. People are so quick to make judgments and harass those who are different.

    “I hear the rude comments whispered… The list of bullshit I deal with, by virtue of my body, is long and boring, and I am, frankly, bored with it. This is the world we live in,” (173).

    Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body
    by Roxane Gay

    “Although men are not immune from online criticism and attacks, the Women’s Media Center reports that there is a clear difference in both the quantity and the quality of these responses. Online abuse, including cyber sexism, takes many forms, among them impersonation, disinformation, electronic surveillance, non-consensual use of photography, violent threats, sexual objectification and gender-based slurs,”

    “When Women are Silenced Online, Democracy Suffers”
    by Marie Lamensch

    Social media is a hot spot for harassment. Women are victims of cyber sexism every day. Including in politics, where female politicians and journalists are abused every 30 seconds on Twitter. Men silence their opinions, and instead focus on their appearances, personality, really anything other than the original topic of debate. In Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, Roxane Gay mentioned that when she would be in a debate with a man, many times her opinions are not actually engaged. As a plus sized woman of color, hey will attack her appearance, and throw insults at her about her size and race. Unfortunately, this is a common theme. Women are often dismissed because of their appearances, and one of my personal favorites is in the movie Legally Blonde, a classic movie where the main character is believed to be “dumb blonde” just because of her appearance and lifestyle.

    So listen with an open mind and open ears, because the silence is speaking, and it has a lot to say.

  • SAMO #2: Our Plastic Pollution Problem

    Pollution and big corporations are two topics that, honestly, I know very little about. So for my second SAMO I decided to take a deeper look into how pollution is created, and the effect that pollution has on our environment.

    My SAMO journey began with a trip to the Des Plaines Trail Systems with my classmate Parvi and her friend Emma. We planned this trip during class blocks and over text for a few weeks. Since it was going to be cold outside that day, we prepared by wearing heavy coats and warm pants. We also brought trash bags and gloves so we could pick up the trash safely. On December 10, Parvi and Emma picked me up early in the afternoon and we drove approximately 30 minutes to the start of the Des Plaines Trail System. For a distance reference, we actually got a little lost on the drive home and ended up at O’Hare Airport! Upon arriving to the parking lot, I immediately noticed a large amount of trash. I was honestly surprised by the amount of different types of plastic we found, along with beer bottles, metal cans, and cigarette butts.

    I was also surprised by the amount of deer that were surrounding the parking lot! They kept walking up to us, I guess that the people who visit the trails feed the deer often. There was this one stag who followed us for almost 10 minutes. It freaked us out a bit since we did not know if it was going to hurt us or not. The pictures seen on the right were taken during our trip! They were taken by me and Parvi.

    After about an hour we had filled three trash bags, and decided to go back since it was so cold. I really enjoyed this SAMO activity. It felt good to know that you were doing something to help the environment stay clean, and to prevent the wild animals there from eating all of the trash. 

    One thing that really stuck with me from my SAMO experience was the large amount of plastic that we found all over the parking lot. There was everything from plastic streamers to water bottles to food packaging! As I began my research, I decided to search for the source of this problem and I immediately found that through their use of packaging, ranging from plastic bottles to bags, massive companies such as Coca-Cola and Nestlé are responsible for millions of tons of plastic waste each year. In fact, this NPR article shows that in a study done by Australia’s Minderoo Foundation in 2019, they found that there are 20 companies that are responsible for 55% of the world’s single use plastic waste. That’s a lot of waste produced by only 20 companies! The research also shows that nearly all of the single use plastics manufactured by these companies, around 98%, is made from fossil-fuel-based feedstocks versus more environmentally friendly recycled materials.

    As many people know, plastic has terrible effects on the environment. In an article published by the UN Environment Programme, it’s stated that chlorinated plastic releases harmful chemicals into the soil, which then seeps into groundwater or other water sources in that area. Additionally, when plastic particles break down, they gain new physical and chemical properties. These new properties increase the risk of having a toxic effect on organisms.

    “Additives such as phthalates and Bisphenol A (widely known as BPA) leach out of plastic particles. These additives are known for their hormonal effects and can disrupt the hormone system of vertebrates and invertebrates alike. In addition, nano-sized particles may cause inflammation, traverse cellular barriers, and even cross highly selective membranes such as the blood-brain barrier or the placenta. Within the cell, they can trigger changes in gene expression and biochemical reactions, among other things,”

    UN Environment Programme

    The way that plastics release chemicals into the water reminds me of a passage from the play An Enemy of the People, by Arthur Miller. Towards the end of the play, Dr. Stockmann learns where the bacteria that he discovered in the water of Kirsten Springs is coming from. The bacteria came down the river from Windmill Valley, where the tannery owned by Morten Kiil is located. The waste produced from the tannery was dumped into the river, polluting the town’s water source.

    “Well, Morten, I never made a secret to you that the pollution was tannery waste,” (74).

    Enemy of the People, by Arthur Miller

    The similarities between the tannery waste and microplastics are extremely concerning. One of the many take-aways in An Enemy of the People was that pollution is extremely harmful to those who rely on the contaminated water sources. Personally, it found it surprising that people would be willing to sacrifice the quality of the water in order to avoid taking a more difficult path. In class we discussed how it is unethical to let pollution like that continue, though upon reflection, we were being hypocritical. Everyday we create more plastic pollution by taking the easy route, for example using a plastic bag at the grocery store instead of a reusable one. By allowing companies to continue to use ridiculous amounts of plastic in their products, we are just contributing to an ever growing issue. As someone who was previously unaware of the amount of plastic that ends up in our environment each year, I will try to be more conscious of my plastic consumption. This SAMO experience really opened my eyes to the danger of pollution, and how large of a problem it’s become.

    TRY THESE PLASTIC REDUCING SOLUTIONS! 

    1.  Avoid single-use plastics such as drinking straws, instead try a metal one!
    2.  If you go shopping, remember to take a cloth bag. Some shops, such as Trader Joe’s, offer a cloth bag at the checkout! 
    3.  Recycle chewing gum… it’s also made of plastic!
    4. Buy more bulk food and fewer packaged products. 
    5. Replace plastic Tupperware for glass or steel containers, like Mason Jars!
    6. Pay attention and put your plastic waste in the correct recycling container.
    7. Avoid using cosmetics that use micro-plastics.
    8. Choose to reuse and give some of the packaging a new purpose, such as refilling your plastic bottles!

  • SAMO #1: Poverty and Education

    One thing that I have loved for the majority of my life is reading. I love the way that books can just take you to another reality that can be completely different from your own day to day life. I am very familiar with books, so for my first SAMO, I decided that I wanted to challenge that. I found that I am not familiar with poverty and the effects that poverty can have on kids’ education. So from that discovery, I chose to go volunteer at Bernie’s Book Bank. In December 2009, Bernie’s Book Bank was founded with the mission to provide books for the children who did not have access to them. And according to berniesbookbank.org, during its first year, Bernie’s Book Bank sourced, processed and distributed 140,000 children’s books!

    Picture taken by me. This was on the wall of the warehouse.
    Selfie taken by me. This is me and Mallory in front of the entrance.

    Self timer picture took by me. This was taken right after we signed in.

    After weeks of trying to find a date, my friend Mallory and I decided to go volunteer after school on Friday, October 7th. Before this date, we both needed to get permission forms signed by our parents, since we are both under 18. I have never done any type of volunteer work in the past without an adult, so this was very new to me. We rushed straight to my house after the final bell, then I drove both of us to Lake Bluff, Illinois. Another thing about me is that I hate driving, especially in heavy traffic. I get pretty bad anxiety while driving due to being rear-ended a few months ago, so this was another step that I took outside of my comfort zone. It took us around 30 minutes to get there and we had made it just in time. Shortly after arriving and signing in, the staff members took us into the big warehouse and explained what we would be doing.

    In the slideshow above, there are many pictures taken by both me and Mallory of our time volunteering at Bernie’s Book Bank.

    Click here to check out Mallory’s SAMO Experience!

    Mallory and I began with distributing different books into a huge bin. There were four huge boxes of books that were already stickered and ready to go. We took a pile of books from each of the boxes and placed them on the corners of a large bin. Then we took turns layering ten books from each pile into the bin. The people who worked there had explained that this was done to mix up the books, so that when the books are placed in bags for kids to receive, they get a variety of books with no repeats. After about an hour, we were taken over to the sticker station. For the next half hour, we put Bernie’s Book Bank stickers on the bottom corner of the books. These stickers let the children who are receiving the books know that they can take those books home with them. I really enjoyed my experience volunteering at Bernie’s Book Bank, and I recommend that everyone should try it one day!

    I started my research by looking at how living in a low-income neighborhood can impact a child’s ability to learn. The first issue I found is that many kids that live in low-income neighborhoods do not have access to age-appropriate books that they can take home. On berniesbookbank.org they share that there is a ratio of 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children in low-income neighborhoods. This is incredibly low, especially in comparison to middle-income neighborhoods, which contain a book to child ratio of 13 to 1.

    “In middle-income neighborhoods the ratio of books per child is 13 to 1, in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children.”

    “Neuman, Susan B. and David K. Dickinson, ed. Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Volume 2. New York, NY”

    Because of this lack of books, the children who live in low-income neighborhoods do not read as often when they are not at school, especially during the summer. And according to booksourcebanter.com, when school is not in session, children in low-income areas actually lose two to three months of reading growth. This in comparison to children in middle-class areas, who gain a month of reading experience during the summer. This creates a huge reading gap, to the point where 12th graders in low-income areas read at the same level as an 8th grader in a middle-class neighborhood. These numbers really shocked me. I had not realized that not having access to books could impact reading comprehension at such a large scale. I also learned that, according to readingfoundation.org, children who are poor at reading can develop social, emotional, and academic issues. Additionally because the majority of school curriculum is centered around reading, children who cannot read at their grade level will struggle. I never noticed before how reading is so important in every single subject. You need to be able to read for every single subject, even those that do not seem like they would have reading. For example in math, how can a child understand the instructions for a question on a test when they can not read?

    One large impact that poverty has on education is the effect that hunger has on levels of focus. Shah does not go into a lot of detail about the effects of hunger on education, so I decided to do some further research on it myself. I found that eating improves your cognitive function. On elo.health.com, they mention that quality food improves your mood and concentration.

    “I want to learn, and until my basic needs are met, I’m not going to be prepared to learn.”

    Shital Shah “How does poverty affect learning?”
    This graph taken from the Journal of American College Health shows that college student who typically eat breakfast in the morning on average have higher GPAs than students who do not eat in the morning.

    Being able to concentrate is incredibly important to a child’s education. It is almost impossible to remember, learn, or understand something that you are not paying attention to. When kids cannot pay attention to a school lesson, they are less likely to remember what they learned. This also applies to studying for tests. Without the proper energy needed to pay attention, kids in low-income areas are at a disadvantage. If they are unable to remember what they are taught in class, then how can they get a quality education? Many kids in low-income neighborhoods go to school hungry. Savethechildren.org says that there are approximately 12 million children that struggle with hunger in America. Going to school hungry attributes to struggles, such as reading comprehension. 

    This SAMO experience really opened my eyes to how large of an effect that poverty has on education. Especially with literacy comprehension, the reading level gap between middle-class and low-income children is shocking. There was a lot that I did not know, but as Margaret J. Wheatley said in her article “Willing to Be Disturbed,” we need to go into the unknown in order to create change and understand what we are unfamiliar with. Bernie’s Book Bank facilitates the collection, processing and distribution of new and gently used children’s books to significantly increase book ownership among at-risk infants, toddlers and school-age children throughout Chicagoland. In the slideshow above, you can see a fraction of the books that they have in their warehouse. By volunteering at Bernie’s Book Bank, I was able to participate in that process, and hopefully the children who receive the books that I sorted and stickered love them as much as I do.

  • Mash Blog: How Does Judgement Limit You?

    Everyone has judged another at some point in their life. But have you ever considered how making judgments of others limits ourselves? Our judgments are based on our preexisting concepts and biases of the world which results in the creation of a single story through stereotypes. 

    “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”

    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “The Danger of a Single Story”
    Image source: misteriopress.com 

    Through the many TED Talks, readings, and discussions that I have observed during my English class, I have realized one thing. I discovered that humans can be very stubborn. People do not like to feel as if their opinions or ideas are wrong. As a result, they insert their own views into another person’s story and change it.

    “In effect, she kept telling me, ‘Don’t bring your stupid way of seeing the world into my story, because that’s not what it was. Yeah, there was power, but that’s not all there was. You can’t summarize this.’”

    Jad Abumrad “How Dolly Parton Led Me to an Epiphany”

    Those who have a voice have the power to not only change someone’s story, but to make it the only version of this story. This new single story can create a fragmented view of reality.

    “Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.”

    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  “The Danger of a Single Story”

    These single stories and stereotypes create divisions between different groups of people. This conclusion leads me to my second realization: when we let go of our judgments and let ourselves be open-minded and connect with those who we may normally not, we create something new. A third space.

    “But according to this theory, when two people come together and really commit to seeing each other, in that mutual act of recognition, they actually make something new.”

    Jad Abumrad “How Dolly Parton Led Me to an Epiphany”

    “I finally understood what open-mindedness truly meant. It’s not at all about the outside and what people appeared to be, it is all about the inside, about the mind and how we choose to think.”

    Maryam Fuad Bukhash “What is the True Definition of Being Open-Minded?”

    “When we listen with less judgment, we always develop better relationships with each other. It’s not differences that divide us. It’s our judgments about each other that do curiosity and good listening bring us back together,”(3).

    Margaret Wheatley “Willing to be Disturbed”

    So, try and challenge yourself! Be open to new experiences and new people.

  • My Guiding Principles

    As I begin my final year of high school, I’ve done a lot of self-reflection. From this, I thought of 10 guiding principles that I feel will help me as I finish high school.

    1. Spend time with people who I care about, and who care about me. I know that this year will be extremely stressful for me. By being with people that make me happy, I will feel less stressed, and be able to relax. Also since I am going to college next year, I want to be able to spend as much time as possible with the people that I won’t see a lot. I really just want to be really happy this year, and my good friends and family will make that possible for me.

    This image is from the National Championships for Synchronized skating in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This was taken by my friend Sophia.

    2. Spend more time outside. Going outside helps me clear my mind and lets my eyes take a break from blue light. This is important to me because there will be a lot of stressful and important things happening this year. Going outside and taking a break will help me ground myself and just reset my brain.

    This is a picture of my two dogs, Ace(left) and Baxter(right). I love to play with them and take them on walks outside. This picture was taken by me.

    3. Research the things that interest me. With college coming soon, I need to take the time to really find out what interests me. To see what I will be passionate about and want to use my free time to study. It is important to me because I don’t want to study something that doesn’t interest me. I want to be able to learn about something because it is fun for me, not because it is required for a class. This will help me decide what I want to major in and really help me make a decision when the time comes.

    This is an image of the night sky in Alaska. I really love astronomy and astrophysics so that is something that I want to study more. This picture was taken by Kris Luckenbach.

    4. Take some risks. I want to step outside of my comfort zone this year because it’s something that I was too afraid to do in the past. I want to do this in school, skating, and in my social life. I want to do this because I don’t want my own self doubts to hold me back this year, I want to push myself and feel uncomfortable.

    This picture is from a rockclimbing trip I went on while I was at overnight camp in 2018. I am really scared of heights, so being able to even try to rockclimb was a big accomplishment for me. This photo was taken by one of the camp photographers at OSRUI.

    5. Keep trying. Senior year can make it so people want to stop trying, and I don’t want that to happen to me. Even though I am leaving at the end of this year, I want to continue to work hard and get good grades. Especially towards the end of the year during second semester.

    This picture is of me and my skating coach. It was taken after I found out that I had passed my last level of Moves in the Field. It took me many years and multiple tries on some of the levels but I kept trying. This photo was taken by one of the coaches at my ice rink.

    6. Organization. I’ve never been a very organized person, so that would be a good goal for me. Especially because I will be living without my parents next year, I want to develop good organization habits and skills.

    This photo is some notes that my friends and I took while studying for a history test last year. These notes were very organized and really helped me study. This picture was taken by me.

    7. Staying true to myself. It can be easy to try to be someone else, especially during highschool. This is important to me especially during my college applications because I don’t want to change myself in order to fit in somewhere. I won’t be happy if I need to do that.

    This picture is also from the National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This was taken in the Garden of the Gods. This was taken by my friend Sophia.

    8. Be positive. Things this year will be hard. Staying positive is the only way I will get through this. Especially during finals and AP exams. This is important because if I stay positive, I will be a little less stressed. One way I can stay positive is by spending time with friends!

    This picture is from the Bristol Renaissance Fair. I went this summer with some of my friends. This picture was taken by me.

    9. Stay focused. I already have a hard time staying focused during school, and being a senior doesn’t make it any easier for me. It is important to stay focused so I know what is going on in all of my classes, and so I don’t screw myself over this year.

    This is a picture of someone doing homework. It was taken by PeopleImages.

    10. Have fun. It’s my senior year, I’ve worked hard and I really want to have some fun this year. This includes spending time with my family and friends. This is important especially during finals and APs because those times will be really stressful, and having fun will allow me to decompress a little.

    Over the summer I went to the Weekend After Hours til Dawn concert with some friends. It was really fun! This picture was taken by my friend Linor.
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