Lead Op-ed Editor: Fatoumata Barry

Out of Print

The Decline of Independent Bookstores

By Fatoumata Barry

Since 2020, social media has affected the way we consume our media. Sure, social media has always been present for things like promotion, but after COVID, and with the rise of things like TikTok, its use in capturing audiences has risen. TV shows, movies, and in an explosive way in the past few years, book authors. Authors have promoted their books for years. It's not a new thing, but when you think of book authors' promotions prior to COVID, it was nothing more than just a few interviews and book signings. However, with the rise of specifically TikTok, these authors are getting to do more.

Booktok, which was once a “niche” community on TikTok, is now a full-blown community that has changed so many people's perspectives on reading. It’s changed so many authors' lives and has provided a space for people who love reading to share it with others. A huge part of the community is showing off your book collection and showing off your “physical TBR.” A huge part of getting physical books is by going to, well, a book store. A huge store that is well-connected to this community is Barnes & Noble, a store where you can buy every possible edition of a book, where you can meet your favorite authors, and many other cute accessories needed for books. It’s a great place and is evenly organized, but what happens when too much of this good starts overriding and taking over?

Overconsumption is a huge part of this generation, especially in the book space where people will buy books just for the sake of having a sprayed edge rather than actually reading and consuming it. With all this attention targeted towards this major brand store that everyone is focusing on, where does this leave the small corner book stores? You can find pretty much the same things you’d find there at your corner store, but because all the attention is on this massive corporation, no one wants to lend attention to the smaller indie stores. This means that more and more indie stores go out of business because of competition and piercing; it also means that if you realize it, a lot of community spaces get erased alongside it.

Photo by Evan Kieras

Barnes & Noble isn’t the only threat to local indie stores. I’d say that technology itself is a threat to book stores. The rise in technology also meant that ebooks have become a huge thing. When you make the decision to purchase a book on your phone rather than take the traditional route, it’s actively harming these smaller businesses that care not only for themselves but also about the work they’re distributing . Things like Amazon too actively harm not only our bookstores, but also our authors. Yes, getting your books cheaper is wonderful and all, but when the company is going out of their way to actively pay the authors less, is it really worth it?

All this to say, In an age where technology is everywhere, we need these smaller book stores. When you have greedy corporations constantly out to take these places down, these smaller places are extremely important. So the next time you see a book suggestion on TikTok and find yourself starting to head to Barnes & Noble, take a detour instead to your local bookstore. They might have what you’re looking for and so much more.

It's Okay to be a Work in Progress

By Rayhanatu Diallo

Photo By Aisha DiallO

Life is just one bundle of responsibilities. As a teenager, you’re constantly bombarded with school assignments, projects, jobs, responsibilities by parents, and much more. And yet we still have to push through. As high school students, we are expected to handle everything that is thrown at us – because our teenage years are supposed to “prepare us for the future.” As a result, every choice we make predicts our whole adult life, and now we are expected to have perfect grades, look perfect, think perfectly, just be perfect. But is this what was intended upon us? Was this intended upon society in general?

From the moment you were born, you have your life planned out for you. You go to school for 12 years, you spend another 6-7 decades working, and spend the rest of your 20 years in retirement (that’s if you’re lucky). Any major inconvenience that happens in your life gets immediately shunned. A person with zero imperfections, no negative unexpected thing being thrown at them, whether it’d be the life they’re living or other factors like looks gets glorified (which is why ideal features that are impossible to achieve without surgery are glorified, while natural features are shunned). Many ideologies follow this, one being the popular American Dream.

However, we’re human at the end of the day. It is physically and mentally impossible to live a “perfect” life. We make mistakes and we have many things that we don’t like about ourselves that we want to fix. We aren’t naturally psychics; we can’t predict the future. Life is always going to throw something unpredictable at us, but we shouldn’t put ourselves down for it. Your life is meant to have imperfections. We are meant to make mistakes. Living this ideal life with no slip ups isn’t a part of our nature.

Photo By Aisha DiallO

I mentioned before about the list of expectations we have in order to set ourselves up for adulthood. However, the happiest and most successful adults are probably still figuring life out themselves. What makes them happy and successful is their acceptance to all the new things life throws at them.

So if you’re just like me – sitting and stressing out about everything, and anything – just know that it’s okay. At the end of the day, you’re human. Figuring it isn’t the zenith of living. It’s just a facet of the journey. Your job is to simply lean in, learn, and enjoy the view.

Group Projects

The Bane And Hope of Students

By Yuvraj Singh Multani

Don’t we all hate it when the teacher calls upon a group project? Subject matters not, the idea of a group project is suffering on all accounts. Now, if you can pick your partners? Group projects may not be so bad, but don't you hate it when your teacher pairs you up with someone you don't even know? It's something that is definitely universally hated.

Group projects have too many cons that outweigh the pros. Socially, it's a nightmare. Introverted people may prefer to work by themselves; yet, sometimes they are not presented with such an option. Meanwhile, extroverted people may have to work with people they just can't synergize with. Don't even get me started on working with people you don't like.

Working with someone you don't like is considerable to working with a wall. Most likely, it'll have no communication. You'll get your part done; they'll get their part done. However, even with each of you working “together,” if you dislike each other, it could end up making a disaster of a project. Such a project will likely get a grade that you'll frown upon.

If you think that's bad, however, working with a slacker is significantly worse. They won't do any work at all, leaving you to pick up where they left off. The difference is, however, they left you with nothing to build on. The worst part is, you can't just leave their part blank. It'll drag down both of your grades. The only choice you'll have is telling a teacher, but all that hassle could have been avoided if you had the choice to do it yourself.

Another con of group projects are people who work slowly. Sure, they'll get it done, but they'll have you stressing about if they did it or not on the day it's due. If they don't match your pace, it may cause some overthinking and unnecessary stress. That overthinking, may cause some unnecessary stress. Nobody likes stress, and in this case it's so easily avoidable.

Now, group projects aren't always the worst things in the world. Sometimes, they might actually be the saving grace to your grade. You might struggle with a subject and require assistance. A group project could be that assistance. You might find out some things that you originally didn't know.

Photo By Mac Brown

For example, you may be paired with someone who excels in a subject you suffer in. They can mentor you while working, teaching you what you lacked, whether it's finding a solution in math or learning a new tactic in english. They can be a safety net as well, saving your grade from another bad assignment and elevating it to a decent or even good assignment.

Another pro for group projects is learning new mindsets. You may see something one way, but your peers may see it in a completely different light. It'll help you see things in other people's perspectives. Seeing things in more than one way will significantly improve your problem solving skills.

Lastly, there's always the chance you're paired with someone on your skill level when it comes to group projects. If that's the case, it'll help you tackle assignments much easier. Two people are better at solving something than one. Having good people on your team might be a saving grace.

In the end, it all dwindles down to how you perceive working with a stranger and who you get to work with. You may end up working with one of the categories I listed or maybe you'll end up working with someone who doesn't fit in those categories. Group projects are quite the experience and something we all need to endure. Either way it can be a learning experience and something you can take with you in the future, whether it be in other classes, college, or even your future profession.

˗ˏˋ Burnoutˎˊ˗

The New Normal?

By Japjeet Kaur Multani

The moment students hear the last bell of the day, they’re less relieved than they are exhausted. Students are slumped over desks, rushing to practices, or scrolling through their workload on their phones before they leave the classroom. Burnout is typically associated with adults who work in high-stress fields. However, it’s becoming a defining experience in high school life too. Juggling up to 6 classes a day, extracurriculars, jobs, workload-- it’s not surprising to see that burnout is becoming the new normal.

Burnout is more than just being tired after a long week. It’s a persistent, chronic state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion due to prolonged stress. For students, it often shows as a lack of motivation to do anything, declining mental health, and being easily irritable. It’s not just in school; burnout appears in homelife, with friends over text, and even alone. The expectation that you’re supposed to “do it all” with ease creates an environment where rest feels like failure instead of a necessity. At home, those “burning out” may not have the energy to go out with friends. They might not feel motivated to respond to every text. They might not even feel motivated to go to school every day. Once a person falls into burnout, it’s hard to get out.

Photo By Darlene Langomas

Social media worsens the pressure on students. Platforms where people tend to share their achievements and perfection creates a wave of comparison in others, where rest looks unproductive and success looks effortless. Because of this, many students may feel isolated in their stress, not knowing how many people actually relate to them. People don’t tend to post or talk about the struggles they go through just trying to get through burnout. It’s understandable -- burnout, for some, can be an awkward, sometimes even uncomfortable topic. However, it’s important to acknowledge that most of us -- at some point of our lives -- will likely feel the exhaustion creeping in.

Many people have noticed this repeating cycle, not just peers. Teachers, counselors, and even parents notice the effects burnout has in the classroom. Increased absenteeism, missing assignments, and lack of motivation are becoming more common. Rather than showing a lack of discipline, these behaviours show burnout. When students are pushed beyond their limits, learning becomes less engaging and more of a chore.

And as burnout becomes more normalised, it becomes more of an expectation rather than an exception. It reflects how productivity is defined for the youth. As students grow up in a society where constant achievement, effort, and engagement is expected, burnout is not just a school issue, but a social one. It’s time the classroom and, by extension, society address this ongoing issue. The collateral damage is much too heavy to ignore. By burning out a young generation, it conceives the notion that there’s only more burnout to look forward to as they reach adulthood. True potential cannot be achieved if burnout is not addressed.

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