All posts by HPSH Plaid Line

Music/Concerts

Album review: Gorillaz’s ‘Cracker Island’

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By: Bijou Kruszka

On February 24, 2023, Gorillaz released their newest album, ‘Cracker Island’. For those unfamiliar, Gorillaz is a virtual band created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. The fictional cartoon members are lead singer 2-D, bassist Murdoc Niccals,
drummer Russell Hobbs, and guitarist Noodle. They are known
for their genre-breaking music and iconic animated videos. Now,
with the release of ‘Cracker Island’, they’re back in the spotlight.

As a whole, the album is decent. On a first listen, all the songs seem to blend together, with a very similar lo-fi hip-hop sound with a slightly dance-y twist to every song. However, they make it work. As the saying goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and the chill, pleasant sound of the album is far from ‘broke.’ The songs are far from bad and some are even highlights of the Gorillaz discography. But when considering their past albums like ‘Plastic Beach’ and ‘Demon Days’, ‘Cracker Island’ fades in comparison.

Released a few months previously as a single, “Cracker Island” is the title track and first song of the album. Listening to the album as a whole, this one certainly stands out. While most of the songs in the album could be described as lo-fi hip hop with lyrics, “Cracker Island” is heavily contrasting with its electronic dance sound. The song is impossible not to dance to, and the bizarre lyrics and Thundercat’s vocal contributions to the song elevate what would have been a relatively basic dance track.

The other singles released pre-album range in quality. “New Gold” featuring artists Tame Impala and Bootie Brown, is a fantastic track. Combining dreamy, almost ethereal vocals with cleverly rapped rhymes and a fabulous rhythm, this track stands out from the rest of the album. “Silent Running” features excellent vocals from both Albarn and Adeleye Omotayo, and the beat is uniquely fun. However, both “Baby Queen” and “Skinny Ape” are relatively forgettable. Sure, they’re pleasant, but they feel much too slow, and don’t do anything super original. They seem to serve as filler tracks, which makes it bizarre that they were released as singles.

This album also heavily relies on featured guests. As mentioned before, Tame Impala, Bootie Brown, Adeleye Omotayo and Thundercat all added interesting elements to their tracks. However, this is not always the case. The song “Oil” features Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks, and that’s the only interesting thing that could be said about it. Nicks’s vocals are good, as usual, but don’t do anything special to the track. Neither the instrumentation or the lyrics are particularly interesting either. Singer Beck can be found on the final track of the album “Possession Island,” but his musical stylings are too similar to Albarn’s to make him a noticeable appearance. Alternatively, Bad Bunny’s appearance is incredibly significant on “Tormenta,” with his Spanish lyrics elevating the bossa nova-style track, and adding a level of uniqueness to the song not found in the other tracks.

There are only two songs not released as singles, or featuring another artist, “Tarantula” and “The Tired Influencer.” Both are unremarkable, and when first listening to them, I wanted them to be over much sooner than they were. “The Tired Influencer” was particularly mediocre. While the music was standardly pleasant, the lyrical commentary on social media was, as the title would suggest, tired.

‘Cracker Island’ continues the Gorillaz trademark of animated music videos. However, they’ve transferred their style from 2 dimensional cartoons to 3 dimensional models. While it is an interesting artistic choice, it feels less authentic than the 2-D. After all, the lead singer is named 2-D, so to move to 3-D feels odd. The music videos are also significantly harder to follow. While the story was somewhat ambiguous in albums past, it was relatively followable. Meanwhile, ‘Cracker Island’ is heavily centered on lore and plot, which is hard to convey in a music video.

Overall, ‘Cracker Island’ is good but not great. The songs are okay without being spectacular, and the stand-out tracks are only unique due to their featured guest artists. The music videos leave a lot to be desired. In comparison to Gorillaz’s past albums, ‘Cracker Island’ is simply average: pleasant but unmemorable.

Badminton, Golf, Scoreboard/Schedule, Track & Field

Sports schedule for: Mar 20-25

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  ATHLETIC EVENTS SCHEDULE: MARCH 20-MARCH 25  
MONDAYMARCH 20 
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
3:15pm Boys Golf BeginsGymnastics Area
4:00pm Badminton vs. MPLS SouthwestHOME
TUESDAYMARCH 21
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
3:15pm Girls Golf BeginsGymnastics Area
WEDNESDAYMARCH 22
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
    
THURSDAYMARCH 23
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
4:00pm Badminton vs. Como ParkHOME
FRIDAYMARCH 24
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
    
SATURDAYMARCH 25
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
9:00am7:30am / 12:30pmBoys/Girls Track and Field Gopher Classic Indoor Time TrialUniversity of Minnesota Fieldhouse
Travel/Food

‘Gelatina De Mosaico’ recipe

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By: Pablo Contreras

I have seen this gelatin in every Mexican store I go to and I have always wanted to know how to make it, but I never knew the name of it until I searched for common Mexican desserts. And when I saw a video on how to make this, I decided to try this out, and it was definitely an interesting experience for me.

This recipe is not mine, I followed the recipe on YouTube by The Cake Fairy By Lina.

Now, before you start to make this I must warn you that it is a somewhat complicated recipe to make; you have to have a lot of patience and have to make sure the gelatin fully cools down before continuing to put everything together.

While making this, I must admit that I had a total of two failures, this was mostly because I was impatient and wanted to get this done as soon as possible.

Just make sure that the flavored gelatin is fully cooled down.

(Just a tip, make your flavored gelatin 2 days before so that it’s fully cooled down. I did this and it came out better.)

Now, let’s get into the recipe:

Gelatina de Mosaico

Here are your ingredients:

Ingredients:

  1. Knox unflavored gelatin
  2. Milk
  3. A can of condensed milk
  4. A can of evaporated milk
  5. Strawberry flavored gelatin
  6. Lime flavored gelatin
  7. Orange flavored gelatin

Just to let you all know, I did only make two different flavored gelatin instead of three. Three different flavors are more traditional, but I didn’t have other flavors other than orange and strawberry.

If you are going to use three flavors, just copy the steps again.

Now, first let’s make your flavored gelatin before anything else:

Flavored gelatin:

  1. Boil 1 and 1/2 cups of water, and once boiled then add the gelatin powder and wait for it to boil again. Then, turn off the stove and set aside to let the gelatin cool
  2. Once cooled down, get your molds to put in the gelatin; every gelatin flavor should be in separate containers
  3. Now, put the gelatin in the fridge for about 4 hours/wait until it’s in its gelatin texture

(4 hours is the recommended time for gelatin to fully cool down, but you can follow my tip and have done this two days before, and just do this now, and wait two days later)

Now, here are the steps on how to prepare the Unflavored Gelatin:

Knox unflavored gelatin:

  1. In a cup, pour 1/2 cup of water then add in four little packets of the unflavored gelatin and mix
  2. Now, set it aside for 10 minutes
  3. Now, in a pot, pour in 2 cups of milk, a can of condensed milk, a can of evaporated milk, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
  4. Put it on the stove on low heat and stir
  5. Once the 10 minutes are up, grab the unflavored gelatin and put it in the microwave for 15 seconds
  6. Once the unflavored gelatin is slightly liquidy, add it to the pot and stir
  7. Stir the pot until it’s hot but not boiling (we don’t want it to boil)
  8. Once it’s hot, turn off the stove and set the pot aside

While waiting for the unflavored gelatin to cool, here’s how to prep your flavored gelatin:

  1. Take out your flavored gelatins from the fridge and use a knife to cut them into squares
  2. Once you cut them into squares, take them out of your mold with a spoon
  3. Take the squared gelatin out slowly and carefully
  4. In your bigger mold, where you’re going to put everything, use butter spray (only spray a little), then add in your squared jelly and put it in the fridge, so they remain cold while waiting for the unflavored gelatin in the pot to cool down
  5. Once the unflavored gelatin has cooled down, take out the bigger mold with the squared gelatin and add in the unflavored gelatin (make sure to cover the entire mold)
  6. Now, put it in the fridge, and let it cool down for a minimum of 8 hours, or until it’s fully in its gelatin texture/when everything is stuck together

I waited for about 16 hours because I wanted to make sure everything turned out ok, and it did, but you can do either 8 hours or 16; you just need to wait till the gelatin is fully all together.

Here are some pictures of the finished product:

This was truly a fun and patient waiting experience but in the end, it was delicious.

To learn more, go to the link at the bottom, but beware that the video is in Spanish.

The Cake Fairy By Lina- Como Preparar Gelatina De Mosaico-

National

Winter storms across the U.S. cause deaths and power outages

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By: Jamine Williams

Around the start of March, the U.S. had faced extreme winter storms. Heavy winds, flooding, and snow began making its way to the United States. The weather advisories were being sent out to states across the country. According to ‘NPR’, several days have passed since the storm started. On Saturday evening, it left more than 850,000 people without power.

The storm moved to the South and Midwest, a minimum of 12 people died, due to heavy winds and possible tornadoes that destroyed buildings. The Northeast region was the snowstorm’s next destination, where there was another warning issued by the National Weather Service because of heavy snow and coastal flooding. On March 4th, hundreds of businesses were closed. Many canceled flights in New York, New Hampshire, and many counties of Maine; due to there being a full foot of snow. Falling trees or branches caused the death of six people in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

In Kentucky, there were five deaths related to weather, and a semi truck flew from the highway. Michigan was hit with the snowstorm on Friday, March 10th. In the afternoon it covered the state with snow. 800,000 homes and businesses lost power and the Detroit Metropolitan Airport was closed for a transitory period of time.

Over in the West, the Sierra Nevada Mountains are topped with a bunch of snow, and some snow on the Upper Great Lakes. But the West has not recovered from the storm and is still covered with snow.

In Southern California, there were people who were trapped in their homes for another week, with all highways that are near the mountains closed. More than a foot, 15 feet of snow, had landed in Yosemite National Park, and it is closed permanently. Half of the Eastern country of California will begin having warm temperatures prematurely.

For more information, please visit:

Soccer

Loons and New York Red Bulls battle in the snow and literally slip to get a point

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By Aeden Evenson-McDermott

On the evening of the home opener at Allianz Field, the Loons and Red Bulls would duel it out in the snowy conditions Saturday night. With the field having a good covering of snow, and the snow coming down during pregame and into the first half, the field became slippery and slick in many places. The grounds crew were using leaf blowers to dust away the snow in the goal keeper boxes while the rest of the field was nearly covered.

With the MLS season in full force, and already in its third week for most clubs, the Loons would be coming off a bye week. It allowed for players to rest up and recover from a couple early knocks and injuries. Players like Luis Amarilla would also finalize his paperwork for his green card as he is a Paraguayan International. With an open training session last week, which brought much enjoyment to an excited fan base, players did different ball drills and worked out to get the final preparations ready.

The previous week, which kicked off the MLS season for most clubs (not LAFC or LA Galaxy due to the inclement weather), had the Loons take on FC Dallas on the road. The Loons were successful and accomplished the task of picking up all 3 points after an early goal in the second half from Mender Garcia, which led to the final score of 1-0 for the Loons.

With the Loons turning the next page in the past two weeks, Snowy Allianz Field would captivate the attention of many as it would bring back memories of the snowy homeopeners in the early years of Minnesota United FC a few years back.

Both sides would kick off when the referee blew the whistle. It was primarily a test of how the sides would adapt to the pitch being covered with snow and how this would transfer to how they would play. The wintry conditions also made the usual matchball get a change as they used the orange winter variant of the Upcoming Women’s World Cup Ball, so it would be easier to see in the snow.

Red Bulls would wear their traditional red and white kits and the Loons would finally debut their long awaited Northern Lights kit which is stunning.

Striker Bongokuhle Hlongwane would get a nice shot and would retrieve the rebound to power his big shot into the back of the net. An early 1-0 lead to the Loons but would they be able to sustain it?

With both sides exchanging a few chances, and with many poor calls by the officials, it was a slow first half despite Hlongwane’s goal.

With a lot of the snow still on the pitch, groundskeepers were actively working at halftime to clear away the snow as it had still been piled up. As the second half moved on, the snow would stop coming down and also the fields melted off, but it was still slippery in places with slush being an issue. It was nice to see the green field at least!

The second half would start out in flying fashion with the Red Bulls getting a quick equalizer to put it back to 1-1! The ball from the corner kick, taken by Red Bulls John Tolkin, meandered its way to the jumping head of Andres Reyes which required a split second snap of the head to guide the ball into the back of the net, which even MNUFC goalkeeper Dayne St.Clair’s fast reflexes stood no chance.

New York would show more dominance and create some decent chances and United would as well, but both sides could not get the breakthrough for the win and +3 points.

A hard worked game by both sides saw New York get their second draw of the season and the Loons now with a win and a tie.

New York will face the Columbus Crew in Red Bull Stadium while the Loons will travel to face Colorado. Both games are on this coming Saturday and are available along with every other MLS game to stream on Apple TV+.

It will be a big week for teams as they train and work on getting the chemistry better. It’s also important to note, from a Minnesota United perspective, that the club is in active negotiations and are progressing in talks to sign young South Korean player Jeong Sang-bin as a U-22 Initiative signing. He was developed in the Korean league and then went to Wolverhampton and they sent him on loan in the 21/22 season to Grasshoppers in the Swiss top flight league.

We are in desperate need of another striker, as getting goals will be hard this year, as we don’t have the striking force needed to be a top mainstream team. Hopefully, the addition of Jeong Sang-bin will be vital in getting more goals and provide an extra depth piece to the existing roster!

Basketball

March Madness rooting guide

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By: Caden Kipfmueller

Note: This article was written before round 1 started

Mid March means the beginning of tournament season, which means several weeks of upsets, buzzer beaters, and busted brackets. Every year, so-called “experts” make big claims about knowing the outcome of games, but the reality is nobody really knows what they’re talking about and it’s useless to try to predict the future. The best way to have an enjoyable time watching during the tournament is to not care and root for teams with good vibes. Here are a few that best embody that ideal.

Oral Roberts and Colgate are two teams that are known for their dental themed names. They are also Cinderella’s in the making, although they both drew tough first round matchups in the form of Duke and Texas. That shouldn’t stop you from rooting for them however, as they are both incredibly exciting teams. Oral Roberts is led by Max Abmas, a dynamic and talented scorer who was present on the team’s last Cinderella run. Averaging 22.2 points per game, Abmas is unquestionably one of the best players in the tourney and could bust many brackets soon.

Colgate, on the other hand, is another double digit seed with lofty aspirations. Going 26-8 and winning the Patriot League for the third straight year and the fourth in the past five years. The raiders are viewed favorably by analytics, so perhaps the stars align and this turns out to be their year to finally make it out of the first round after coming close several times recently.

Iowa State entered this year’s tourney as a 6 seed, but many view that as an underseeding. In the 2023 season, the Cyclones logged quality wins against teams like Baylor and Kansas, proving they can beat tough opponents. The team’s X-Factor is Robert “Bobby” Jones, a 6’10’’ senior forward from Prior Lake, MN. Jones is one of the best players on the entire team, with a versatile defensive skill set and one of the best basketball IQs the sport has ever seen. Jones is getting a significant level of buzz from professional teams.

The seventh seeded Missouri Tigers boast the nation’s 10th best offense and a rather impressive resume. Unfortunately, they are not strong defensively, which typically does not bode well for a team’s tournament success. Their saving grace is their turnover margin. Missouri forces turnovers at one of the best rates in the country, playing safe offensively and opportunistic defensively. This strategy has led to some of the biggest upsets of the season and a narrow loss to Alabama in the SEC tournament.

The final team of note is the thirteen seeded Furman Paladins, fresh off of a six game win streak. Furman flies under the radar and has been all but written off by tournament “experts”, but the Paladins are exactly the type of unsuspecting team that can turn heads come March. They’re led by an elite guard who can score in bursts and lead the team on runs. They also have four players averaging at least 10 points per game. Furman’s high powered offense may surprise the casual March Madness watcher.

Travel/Food

How-to make chocolate muffins from scratch

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By: Hannah Gliedman

One of the best snacks to have on a snowy or rainy day is soft, delicious chocolate muffins. Not only are they delicious and healthy but a way to keep busy on a day stuck inside. With a bake time of only 30 minutes, and easy to get ingredients, these muffins are sure to be the best part of your day. This recipe consists of a chocolate muffin recipe and a chocolate frosting recipe.

What you need

  • big bowl
  • mixer
  • wisk
  • muffin/cupcake tray
  • non stick cooking spray

Ingredients

  • 1 1⁄2 cups of sugar
  • 1 cup of avocado
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1⁄2 tsp of balsamic vinegar
  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1⁄2 cup of cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1⁄2 tsp salt

Frosting

  • 1 pack (8 ounces) of cream cheese
  • 1⁄2 cup confectioners sugar
  • 2 tbs vanilla extract
  • 1⁄8 tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a 12 cup muffin tin with wax paper or spray with non stick cooking spray.
  2. Into a large bowl, mix the avocado, sugar, milk, vanilla, and vinegar. After mixed throughout, either by hand or with an electric mixer, add eggs in one at a time until thoroughly incorporated.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Pour half of the dry ingredients and mix well, add the remaining half.
  5. Mix well and separate into muffin tins using either a spoon, pouring, or an ice cream scooper works very well.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned.
  7. Cool for about 5 minutes, or until completely cool to frost
  8. For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt together until completely smooth
  9. Spread the frosting over the cooled cupcakes

Serve and enjoy.

Note: Recipe adapted from Jessica Seinfeld’s ‘Deceptivly Delicous’

Getting To Know/History

Photography facts

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By: Julia Yang

I’ve learned that not a whole lot of people know about the photography rules and history, so I’ve come to tell fun facts about it.

Did you know that when taking photos of wild animals, photographers aren’t allowed to interact with them in any way? It’s true, photographers cannot interact with the animals whatsoever. There are several reasons for this rule:

  • Reason #1. If an animal loses its fear to humankind, it could fall victim to hunters.
  • Reason #2. Depending on the animal, it could be very dangerous.
  • Reason #3. To not disturb wildlife.

The most viewed photograph in all of history is the Windows XP default wallpaper. Isn’t that crazy? Out of all the photographs ever taken, that’s the one people have seen the most. What a time to be alive.

Funny cat pictures have always been a thing. Ever since 1870, Harry Pointer was taking photos of cats. Walter Chandoha was more well known than Harry though, and his career lasted for over 70 years. Can you imagine? 70 years of just cat pictures.

Not-so-fun fun fact, the most common subject people took pictures of in the 1800’s are corpses’. It wasn’t creepy or anything then. Of course it is now, though. In the 1800’s it was a way for people to remember their deceased loved ones.

Pictures with filters or effects on them will less likely be in a family album because the pictures then wouldn’t reflect reality.

Photography is a worldwide art form, in fact, it’s the world’s most popular art form.

Photography is one of the few jobs that are not taken over by robots. Robots cannot take pictures the way that humans do, scientists haven’t found a way to do that yet.

For more facts, visit the following websites:

Travel/Food

Best tropical places to visit in 2023

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By: Calla Fragrassi & Mackenzie Malek

With spring break coming up everyone needs a break from Minnesota’s hard and cold winters. Here are the 10 best tropical places to visit in 2023.

  1. Santorini

Santorini is one of the many Greek islands and one of the most famous islands in the world. Santorini is known for its beautiful views and hosts one of the few active volcanoes in Europe. Many people have theories that Santorini is the home to the lost city of Atlantis. The island is also known for its beaches and is made up of two different inhabited islands and multiple smaller surrounding islands.

  1. The Azores

Just off the coast of Portugal are the nine islands of Azores. Azores is one of the Europes safest destinations. There are many activities to do in the Azores including hiking, diving, bike tours, canyoning, bird watching, surfing and much more. The Azores’ islands are very sustainable because they preserve resources and opportunities for tourists to be eco friendly.

  1. Bali

Bali is a small island within the country of Indonesia. The country is known for its beautiful mountains and volcanoes, and is known for being a “surfer’s paradise”. The surrounding coast is filled with coral reefs and is perfect for family vacations. On the very famous Kuta beach you can find many hotels, restaurants, and shops along with many different water sports for anyone to enjoy!

  1. Galápagos Islands

The nineteen Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean. These islands are known for their unique wildlife such as sea turtles, sei whales, marine iguanas, and much more. Some activities you can do on these islands are snorkeling, which is a highlight for many tourists, sea kayaking, surfing, horseback riding, etc. If you are interested in relaxation don’t even worry, there are beaches perfect for disconnecting.

  1. Hawaii

Located in the central Pacific Ocean, known for its beautiful beaches, are the five main islands of Hawaii: Kaua’i, O’ahu, Moloka’i, Lana’i, Maui. Some of the most common things to do in Hawaii are visiting the Pearl Harbor museum, if you’re into history, or if you are into hiking, visit Diamond Head which is the most recognized landmark in Hawaii.

  1. Aruba

Aruba is a country south of the Caribbean Sea. This country is most known for its white sand beaches and bright blue ocean water. Some things to do are the butterfly farm, basically you are walking through a tropical rainforest surrounded by butterflies. Eagle Beach is a very popular beach to visit because of the white sand and turquoise water.

  1. Bora Bora

Bora Bora is one of the 118 islands of Tahiti. What makes it special is the scenery and culture. Like many other places on this list, Bora Bora is known for the vibrant blue water and white sandy beaches. The top sites are Matira Beach, Bora Bora romantic tour, the Tohora Bora Bora snorkeling lagoon tours, and whale watching.

  1. Maldives

Maldives the smallest country in Asia, located in the southwest of Sri Lanka and India. This beautiful place is most known for its amazing culture and interesting landmarks. Maldives is also famous for water sports like scuba diving, surfing, and water skiing. Maldives may be costly, but is one of those places where you only have to be there a few days to get the most out of your vacation.

  1. Dalmatian Islands

The Dalmatian Islands are a strip of 79 different islands along the Adriatic Sea. The three most famous and largest of the islands are Brač, Pag, and Hvar. The islands are all surrounded by beautiful high limestone cliffs, each with their own unique beaches and sights. This is the perfect destination for unforgettable beach trips, with one of a kind landscapes, and scenic views.

  1. The Isle of Skye

*Note, this one is not tropical, but still worth the visit.

The Isle of Skye, also called Cloud Island, is popular for its medieval castles and beautiful mountains, cliffs, and history that brings in tourists from all over the world. The island is rich with fascinating culture, scenery, and wildlife. Past visitors commonly say the land looks almost “untouched by the modern world”. If you’re looking for an exciting vacation with plenty of greenery and vibrant culture, The Isle of Skye is the place to be.

All 10 of these beautiful tropical places have something different to offer, along with great tranquility. While traveling to a tropical island can be spendy, and planning can seem like a lot of work, everyone deserves a break from the real world. Booking that trip can open many new doors and adventures that lead to many amazing experiences.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Day in the life of a high school student

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By: Caden Kipfmueller & Toby Martin-Kohls

Webster’s dictionary defines senoritis as: an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades. Senioritis is very real and affects at least one student at Highland Park Senior High annually. We chose to follow one such student around for a day and dive deep into the psyche of a slacker.

In order to minimize the time spent in school, this particular student has opted in for a late start. This option, as well as early release, are only available as an option for seniors.

Not only has he obtained a late start, he has managed to fit his class schedule into working for a double late start. This is a remarkable feat of laziness, and it should be appreciated largely because this is a decision that the counselors usually try to steer you away from taking. Somehow, the student we followed managed to convince the counselors to allow him to take this unique opportunity, although we have no clue how (potentially bribery?).

As the writers of this article are also seniors, we also want to note that the current Late Start/Early Release form only includes Period A1, B1, A4, and B4. So, this particular student took the time and energy to talk to the counselors about a course selection alteration to make his schedule easier for his last semester of high school.

After sleeping in well after 10am, this student arrives for his first class, which is Honors Band. This student plays the trumpet. They had a special guest give them a lesson. When interviewing this particular student about his thoughts and feelings about band class, he replied “Uh yeah… we suck.”

After his first class of the day, the student has first lunch. He opts to pack and bring lunch from home. His meal includes a singular slice of ham on two pieces of white bread. No cheese. Just ham. He also packed a brown, sad looking, once-green pear. Personally, I would have not touched that pear with a 10-foot stick. He then moves onto the next part of his meal. He has packed two protein bars. He ended up dropping one on the bacteria filled high school cafeteria table and still proceeded to eat it. What a way to support the elimination of food waste. Kudos to such an environmentally sustainable move!

When interviewed, this student said, “I enjoy lunch because I get to refuel my body for my last class of the day.” Such great words to hear if you are his Chinese teacher!

His last class of the day is IB Chinese. But wait! First, he needs to head to the CCRC (College and Career Readiness Center) to print out his almost late IB Physics IA. This is quite an important assignment, for those who don’t know, IA stands for Internal Assessment. We take a nice walking trip around the first floor, and as we get to the CCRC, he notices the red sign on the door noting that they are closed for advisory. He exclaims “!@#%! Hopefully the library is open?” I don’t say anything and let him ponder about his struggles. As a senior, it is surprising he doesn’t know how the school operates.

We make it to the library and log in on the slow computers. He struggles with getting to Google Docs, so I have to step in and help him navigate. After around 15 minutes in the library, he has his 4 page Physics IA. He quickly runs up to the third floor, only to find that Mrs. Hedwall’s door is closed. He knocks, and interrupts a class of juniors. The class is dead silent as he walks in and awkwardly hands his fresh off the printer IA. But, he’s managed to do the hardest thing of the day, getting his Physics IA in.

Our student walks in late, but the teacher does not seem to care. When prompted by the reporter about his tardiness, the student replied “I don’t care.” His class is preparing for the IB Chinese exams. His class was rowdy and energetic, but ultimately focused. Our student talks in Chinese sentences about the family in a picture, showing off his multilingual abilities.

Our subject is not perfect, however. The teacher asks him a question and he struggles to answer for a second before replying in Chinese. This response is met with laughter, though this humble reporter is not fluent in the language and thus does not understand the joke he made. At the end of the class, our student asks for clarification on the homework. His teacher makes a joke about how he wants to do two assignments instead of one.

The day ends, and our student is ready to go home after a long, tiring day at school. One of our reporters asked him about the latest history assignment on WWII, and our student revealed himself to be pro nuclear bombs. What an awesome day at school!

It should be noted that this article is 2 weeks late, showing that senoritis truly affects everyone.