Ask any high schooler in America what books they have been assigned as required reading and the responses will be largely the same: Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, The Lord of the Flies, The Scarlet Letter, and Hamlet are just a few among the many novels authored by deceased white men upheld to students as the best of what society has to offer. Year after year, these works are discussed in class, picked apart in essays, and for many students, shoved to the bottom of a backpack and forgotten about. They are the linchpin of literature courses across the nation, dubbed the “literary canon” due to being considered an essential and exemplary portrayal of society at certain points in history, capturing the culture and concerns of those times. The problem is, a society ruled by straight, white, cisgendered men is no longer the reality we live in today. And in order for assigned reading in schools to reflect a diverse society, our Eurocentric curriculums must be reexamined and changed.

I spent much of the earlier years of my life hungrily consuming stories of all shapes and sizes. Every Thursday, I visited the local library to browse through the Middle Grade and Young Adult shelves. I would leave with my canvas bag weighing my small body down with the possibilities of adventure and romance and found family. As I grew older and technology became more available, the weekly library trips ended and ebooks became my new source of stories. I found a safe haven in Goodreads and Booktube (a subset of YouTube dedicated to literature), where book lovers like myself discussed and reviewed their recent reads. Whether it was my Kindle or an audiobook playing in the background, a story was always nearby. In books, the protagonists’ journeys were my journeys, and their friendships were my friendships. When a character cried, my heart ached along with them. In my loneliest times, these books were my companions, my home away from home.

Yet, like a persistent nagging in my mind that heightened with the completion of every new book, I began to notice how the protagonists that I followed and rooted for and admired were all of one skin color.

Today has been rough. I've been having this same realization with myself at the end of each day for the past few weeks. John Green, a regarded author, said something that has resonated with me: my brain is not suited for a pandemic. This made me smile. Honestly, who is suited or prepared for a pandemic? It feels like a tsunami of bad news has invaded our homes, filled us with fear, and drowned us in sorrow. What makes this all worse is that there are people around us who are letting us down. In a world where a lot of media focuses on bad news, it is easy to be filled with stress and anxiety about what the future holds. In the midst of a global crisis, where we are constantly disappointed and discouraged, how can we just go on?

None of this is easy. Our environment invites so much difficulty. But after some careful reflection, I think we have no choice but to allow ourselves to feel what we need to feel. Focus on the goodness of others. Give thanks. And get to work.

Senior Athletes Commit to Colleges!

The BRHS Girls' Swim Team won County Championships.

Model UN Club attended the Princeton Model UN Conference.

Sweet Reads makes a donation to Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.

Editor-in-Chief Jasmine DeLeon reflects on foreign travel experiences prior to COVID-19.

Grace Doh recaps the Fall Play, The Desk Set.

BRHS Students Participate in Poetry Out Loud Competition.