December & January Issue

New year, new semester, new attitude

By Riley Lepley

According to F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Strength shows not only the ability to persist, but the ability to start over.” Whether persisting in this next semester or starting over, you are not alone. As New Year's now behind us, people around the globe reflect and reach conclusions about their year. With reflection come resolutions and conclusions about our new revolutionary ways to live out the next year. This tradition originates as far back as the Babylonians, promising their resolutions to their gods to gain good favor and plentiful harvest.

Perhaps their practice was not that different from our promises to ourselves and our gods today. What do we wish for? While a plentiful harvest may not be a widespread wish among MASH students, there are certainly countless pupils pondering how to achieve greater heights within their academic excellence and well-being. Some may hope to raise their GPA, get more sleep, and remember to charge their computer to avoid the subsequent side-eye in the class in which it dies.

There is something profoundly human in starting again every year. Annually, we commit to our resolutions, knowing failure is possible, because we have hope, and that’s enough to try. This annual ritual may seem trivial, however, as a strong new year-loyalist I urge you to attempt a change. The new semester aligns with the new year, and as we welcome 2024 many reflect not only on 2023 but the fall semester. Often the phrase booms over the PA System, “Pride. Tradition. Excellence.” What reflects this statement better than taking pride in ourselves, and practicing tradition by forming new goals in the new year and semester in order to achieve excellence, and encourage a spirit of excellence in the community?

To commemorate this tradition within our community, several students have shared their testimony on their reflection of the previous semester and what they plan to change in the new one.

To several peers, I posed the question, “What are your semester one takeaways, and resolutions heading into semester two?”

Dani Klinger: “Drink more water, stop damaging my hair, get ready in the morning, and read a bit more.”

Sarah Laouiz: “Drink more water, be more productive, stop procrastinating, and finish my job shadows.”

Samantha Brooker: “The hallways are way too crowded going from period 3, and we need to bring back the ability to sit in the cafeteria in the morning.”

Aolani Knisely: “Take advantage of study halls, and do my homework before doing anything else.”

Nandin - Erdene Molomjamts: “Never wait until the last minute to do your assignment, have a studying routine.”

Emma Rashford: “The construction is not great, and changing the morning rules was strange. I would like to increase my use of Quizlet.”

Peer Responses ranged from notes on high school infrastructure and rules to personal study habits. Four thousand years ago the Babylonians made promises for a good harvest. The Ancient Romans promised the god Janus good conduct in January. Early Christians even made a spiritual habit of resolving to do better in the new year.

This semester Mechanicsburg students march in the footsteps of those who came before us and try to be a little better.

Reflections from semester one

By Liliana Mast

When approaching a new semester and year, students have to juggle many feelings, like stress from a final, happiness from snow days, and eagerness for a new beginning. Amongst these changes, there’s also time for reflection. Undoubtedly, students have countless feelings about the last semester, and, therefore, were asked what they would change about the past semester, what classes they enjoyed most, and what classes they would recommend to others for the future.

Many student's answers varied on what they would change, but one, So. Avery Davies, says, “I would change the fact that I had three out of four of my core classes this semester, just because the workload was a lot compared to last year.” When talking to other students who had a similar schedule, they explained that due to their heavy workload, they felt a great amount of stress and anxiety. Even more, because most were not given their selected minor classes that they were looking forward to. In the future, scheduling could possibly be better planned in order to reduce the amount of anxiety in students and help to balance homework and personal lives. Avery recommended entering choir because it gives her brain time to relax while also allowing her to spend time on her hobby.

Other students like So. Addie Nedrow stated, “I would probably try to work harder because I caught myself slacking off instead of balancing out both school and life with friends.” I believe many students can agree that we all get off task and procrastinate while doing homework, but if we make sure to use study halls to our advantage and plan ahead, we can better our education and mental health. When asked how she would change this balance for next semester, she suggested using study halls, reducing time spent on her cell phone, and planning days to study for tests/quizzes. Addie describes enjoying the classes she took this semester because she met so many new people and made multiple friends. She states, “Now those people are familiar to me when I walk down the hallway, which is amazing!” Lastly, she believes that taking a language class, specifically Spanish, is interesting to learn about the culture while also expanding your knowledge. Being able to use it in the future and meet new people using the language to communicate is inspiring.

Some students answered simply by saying their classes went well and their teachers helped to make classes easier and better. For example, So. Forrest Schweighart says, “They have a welcoming environment for me to ask questions and make mistakes.”

Reflecting on the first semester and finding ways to improve the upcoming one is a great way to reduce stress and help with balancing life and work. A new semester means a new beginning, so make sure to start off with a positive attitude and be willing to experience new things. Happy 2nd Semester!

Photo Credit - Mrs. Heiser

A new hallway and updated classrooms will greet students in semester two.

A look into the diverse music taste of MASH

By Matthew Mongold

Many of us listen to music. The average American alone listens to 27 hours of music per week whether subconsciously or not. Music today has become much more accessible, as billions of people are able to listen to music through streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple music, and even Youtube.

On the subject of Spotify, they have since started a feature called Spotify Wrapped, which brings back all the music you listened to throughout the year and puts it into easily accessible data for the listener. I have since collected data on people's top genres of music as well as their top artists, brought on by Spotify Wrapped.

Starting with top genres, we see Rock, Rap, and Pop music being incredibly similar in percentages, though Rock is barely able to win out. Among the various genre categories include Broadway and Indie music.

Regarding people's favorite artists, we see a different story. Among the list, the only artists to be repeated are Drake, Taylor Swift, and Kanye. This makes sense, as all three of these artists rank 5th, 2nd, and 21st in the world respectively (based on Spotify's ranking system). Other people’s top artists in our school include the likes of Lana Del Rey, Nirvana and Mac DeMarco.

Spotify as well as other streaming platforms have helped shine a new light on music, as now people are able to listen to virtually anything whenever they want. People's music choices sometimes even define who they are. So next time you want to know somebody better, ask for their favorite artist, as it can tell you a lot about them.

The science of Christmas

By Kyle Moreno

- Overview -

Christmas, a holiday season with many fun traditions, decorations, and festive cheer, has ended, paving the way for another new year. However, underneath the surface of such a jolly holiday lies a world of science contributing to Christmas's magic; join me as we unwrap the science of Christmas!

- Physics -

Let’s begin the article with the Physics of Santa’s Sleigh. Newton’s laws of motion are crucial in understanding how the sleigh accelerates, decelerates, and maneuvers through the night. The Law of Inertia states an object at rest will continue to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force. Santa’s Sleigh would continue to move in the night sky unless outside forces, like air resistance, were added. The second law, the Law of Acceleration, states the force needed to accelerate an object is the same as the object's mass and the required acceleration. The force applied to the reindeer must overcome the mass of the sleigh and any resistance, allowing it to achieve the speed necessary for its global venture. The Third Law, Action and Reaction, is that for every reaction, there is an opposite and equal reaction, the propulsion provided by the reindeer results in an equal and opposite reaction that pulls the sleigh forward. Next is the Chemistry of Christmas, explaining the next side of science and how it relates to Christmas Decorations.

- Chemistry -

Next is the Chemistry of Christmas; the Christmas Lights that might line your house achieve their colors through the materials they are made of. LED lights use semiconductor materials, and the combination of the materials determines the color of the LED; the light itself is electrons transitioning between energy levels. Ornaments and tinsel often have metallic coatings that interact with light, making a reflective effect. Artificial Snow results from polymetric materials; they can absorb water and expand, creating a fluffy and snow-like texture; some even contain superabsorbent polymers that can absorb and retain large amounts of water. Next is the Biology of Christmas, explaining another side of science and how it relates to reindeer and the glowing red nose.

- Biology -

Reindeer, scientifically known as Rangifer Tanarandus, are well adapted to the environment of the arctic regions. Their biology shows this: their dense fur has an insulating undercoat, longer hairs protect against the cold, and their hooves concave, allowing them to move about their environments more efficiently. The Red Nose everyone thinks of at Christmas is commonly associated with Rudolph, but did you know that this exists but is very rare? Some debate its existence and speculate how it could happen; some argue that the coloration could be linked to the abundance of blood vessels in the nose, which could regulate a deer's temperature and help the reindeer adapt to their climate.

- Reflection & Looking Ahead -

As we reflect on the scientific wonders wrapped in the fabric of Christmas, we begin to appreciate the science that allows us to wonder, dream, and make Christmas more fun. From the physics guiding Santa’s Sleigh to the intricate chemistry of decorations and lights to the biology of a reindeer and the glowing nose, may the intertwined paths of our lives and science lead us to another great new year. Have a Happy New Year!

Photo Credit - Architekwiki

'Twas the season:

Christmas festivities - 2023

By Regan Naugle

Mechanicsburg is a place that does not take celebrating Christmas very lightly. Throughout the holiday season, citizens of Mechanicsburg spread the joy and spirit of the holiday season.

One example of where pleasure is applied is the Christmas tree lighting. During the Christmas tree lighting, people from different backgrounds could see Santa, watch the tree light up in the town square, and sing Christmas carols together, welcoming the holiday season. The 2023 Christmas tree lighting was on Friday, November 24th.

Another activity that many people like to do around Christmas time is to see the lovely lights and decorations that people set up at their businesses and houses. One thing that was covered by the news this year, particularly WGAL8, is the 25 nights of lights around Mechanicsburg, showing off all of the best light shows. They notably recognized Impress Drive for having some of the best lights in town. It’s safe to save people in Mechanicsburg, but Cumberland County are into its Christmas lights.

Staying on track with Christmas lights and light displays, one place you can go about 40 minutes outside of Mechanicsburg is Hershey's Sweet Lights. Hershey’s Sweet Lights is a beautiful drive-through light show with a radio station with music accompanying the lights everywhere outside your car.

Finally, a fourth thing you can do near Mechanicsburg is go to Candy Cane Lane at Hershey Park. While on the more expensive side of the holiday festivities, Candy Cane Lane has something for everyone; they have Reindeer that are fun for all ages, They have rides that are open even in the colder temperatures of mid-December, and not to mention the whole park is beautifully decorated for the holidays. It's the perfect place to get out of the house and into the Christmas wonderland of your dreams. This year, Candy Cane Lane was from November 10th to January 1st.

So although the season has already come and gone, no doubt the holiday is a favorite and of course, there's always next year!

The movies of 2023

By Charley Riley

2023 was a great year for movies. From the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, to the cultural phenomenon that was "Barbenheimer", and even a new Christmas classic in The Holdovers, there were so many great movies to choose from in 2023. In this article I’ll discuss some of my personal favorites, go over the many smash hit releases, and hopefully give you a new movie to watch. It may get a bit repetitive.

January started somewhat slow for movie releases. There were a few big releases, like M3GAN, The Pale Blue Eyes, and A Man Called Otto, which was the highest rated movie from that month according to IMDb, at a 7.5/10. I personally haven’t seen any of the movies from this month, but you can never go wrong with Tom Hanks. According to boxofficemojo.com (https://www.boxofficemojo.com/month/january/2023/?grossesOption=calendarGrosses), the box office was dominated by Avatar: The Way of Water, making over $200,000,000, with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish coming in second. To see all movies released this month, and for the rest of the year, go to https://www.firstshowing.net/schedule2023/

February had more notable releases this month, and I actually saw two of them! Those two were Cocaine Bear and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania. Both were disappointing. Cocaine Bear focused so little on the bear and too much on the humans. Ultimately, it took itself too seriously, and wasn’t as much fun as it should’ve been. For Ant-Man, it just wasn’t good. The CGI was bad, the story was subpar, and the charm of the other two Ant-Man movies were gone, which is sad considering I love the other two. Other notable movies were Knock at the Cabin, 80 for Brady, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, Magic Mike’s Last Dance, and We Have a Ghost. Despite the quality of the movie, Ant-Man actually ended up making the most at the box office this month, with about $170,000,000 made.

March was a big month for movies. I saw Creed 3, 65, John Wick: Chapter 4, Tetris and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. My favorite out of all of them is easily John Wick. Per usual for this franchise, the fight choreography was amazing, Keanu Reeves and Bill Skarsgård’s performances were stellar, and the story was really good. It’s far better than Chapter 3. The other movies I thought were all good, except for 65, but the D&D movie really blew me away. It wasn’t too cheesy, and was very funny. Overall, it was a good month. Other releases were Champions, Scream VI, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Murder Mystery 2. The box office had two movies go over $100,000,000, being Creed 3 at about $145,000,000 and John Wick: Chapter 4 at just over $100,000,000.

April was another relatively large month. I only saw The Super Mario Bros. Movie, because I like Mario. It was pretty good. There were many good releases though, with Air, The Pope’s Exorcist, Paint, Beau is Afraid, Renfield, Evil Dead Rise, Peter Pan & Wendy, Big George Foreman, and finally Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. A lot of these movies aren’t the best, but Air specifically has the general consensus of being one of the best movies of the year, but only has a 7.4/10 on IMDb. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, also sits at a 7.4, and is also said to be a really good one. The box office, however, was dominated by the Mario Movie, with it almost hitting $500,000,000 in this month alone.

May had some really good movies, and actually one of my favorites from the year. I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Fool’s Paradise. These two are such polar opposites. Fool’s Paradise is terrible. There isn’t a cohesive story, it’s got pretty generic acting, and isn’t funny. However, Guardians 3 is absolutely amazing. The direction is phenomenal, and the story is written so well, the acting, literally everything is done so well. One of the best movies of the year in my opinion. Other movies from this month include BlackBerry, The Little Mermaid, and Fast X. BlackBerry is a movie about the original Blackberry phones, and believe it or not, is seen as one of the best movies of this year. Kind of surprising, honestly. The box office, unsurprisingly, saw Guardians 3 at top, with over $300,000,000.

June was an interesting month. I saw Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Flash, Extraction 2 and Asteroid City. Spider-Man was an amazing movie. The animation was stunning and the music was as good as the first movie. On the flip side, The Flash was absolutely terrible. It was really bizarre that there were different versions of Batman but not the character the movie is named after. Not to mention the normal criticisms; the CGI, story, acting. It was all bad. Other notable releases were Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Elemental, No Hard Feelings, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Nimona, and Past Lives. Past Lives is very highly rated at 8/10. If you didn’t know, 8/10 makes the movie tied for 250th best movie of all time on IMDb. So Past Lives must be really good. Unsurprisingly, Spider-Verse was at the top of the box office with over $300,000,000.

July was the month of Barbenheimer! I’m sure you all know about that considering how big of a deal it was. Oppenheimer was very highly rated at 8.4/10; however, I’ll be different for once and say it was a solid 7. Barbie was rated at 6.9/10, but I really enjoyed it. Ryan Gosling is a national treasure and I'm Just Ken is absolutely amazing. Obviously Margot Robbie was also amazing. Other than those two, this was Mission Impossible month! Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One released to amazing reviews, and personally is one of my favorites. However, they made some very odd choices, which I can’t speak on without spoiling things, so I won’t. Other movies of this month include Insidious: The Red Door, They Cloned Tyrone and Disney’s Haunted Mansion. To no one's surprise, Barbie was at the top of the box office, with over $350,000,000.

August had a few big hits this year, mainly one of my favorite animated movies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. The animation in this movie, along with the banter and chemistry of the main characters, is unmatched in any movie I’ve ever seen. Other releases this month include Meg 2: The Trench, Gran Turismo, The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Blue Beetle. Barbie continued to top the box office with over $230,000,000.

September had a few releases, including My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, Expend4bles, The Creator, Saw X and The Equalizer 3. Not many to note this month, as the next three were quite large. Equalizer 3 sat at the top with a little over $85,000,000.

October means Halloween which means horror movies. The Exorcist: Believer, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, and Five Nights at Freddy’s were the big ones. No horror movie releases include my personal favorite from this month, The Killer, Killers of the Flower Moon (a long but good watch), Anatomy of a Fall, and of course, the Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie. The Ears Tour movie was at the top of the box office with over $150,000,000.

November and December were both big months for movies. Starting with November, we had releases like The Holdovers, a beautiful new Christmas classic, The Marvels, Trolls Band Together, Saltburn, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Napoleon, Wish, Good Burger 2, and Leo. There are a lot of movies there, and a few of them are very high quality. Believe it or not, The Hunger Games would sit at number one this month.

We’re finally at December where a plethora of good movies came out, including Godzilla Minus One, The Boy and the Heron, Wonka, Poor Things, American Fiction, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, The Iron Claw, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire and Migration. This month was truly packed to the brim with quality movies from Godzilla to The Iron Claw. The reasoning behind the later releases in this year was due to the actors' and writers' strikes that happened in the middle of the year. These strikes meant they couldn’t promote or work on movies, so many were pushed back into the last few months or even into 2024. Finally, the last movie to top the charts this year was, in some crazy way, Wonka, at a little over $130,000,000.

Looking back and moving forward

By Keely Brown

As the new year turns the corner, it is important to take time to reflect on the past year of 2023. The year of the rabbit: 2023 came with records of global warming, continued conflict between Hammas and Israel, Ukrainians fighting for control, along with many more significant events that will be difficult to forget.

Looking back at 2023, the music and movie industries had multiple breakthroughs. The most played song was “Flowers” by Miley Cryrus. This song was at the top of the Hot 100 for eight non consecutive weeks. Following “Flowers”, “Kill Bill” came in close second by SZA with Harry Styles’ “As it Was” being the third most globally played song. These songs were most popular on the radio as well as the most streamed music on Spotify. Turning our attention, the most played artist was Taylor Swift at number one with Bad Bunny and the Weekend following.

In the cinema, the industry had multiple breakthroughs with award winning productions across the year. The year of 2023 was a great year for the Hollywood Cinema and may go down in history as the year movies came back. According to the box office, “Barbie” was at the top of the billboard with about 1,400,000 billion dollars in profit. With this number one movie, it gave the world a Barbie summer. In close second is the “Super Mario Bros” movie with about 1,300,000 billion dollars. With 940,000,000 dollars in the box office is “Oppenheimer” in third. The year of 2023 was a great one for the cinemas with billions of people to be walking into the theaters.

On the global aspect, the world has seen multiple conflicts, discoveries, and stories. A highlighted story in the middle of June involved a submarine getting lost at sea. The submarine known as “Titan” was said to be destroyed, this issue pulled in many individuals by curiosity and the concept of the unknown. An important event was the Hamas and Israel conflict that began in the beginning of October and as of now still in conflict. This conflict began with Hamas imposing an attack on the Isralis leaving many injured and ultimately making Israel feel threatened. With continued conflict, Hamas and Israel have not seen any progress and it will make its way to 2024 with its conflict. In addition to the Hammas-Israel conflict, is the Ukrainian conflict that is still occuring leaving Ukrainians in danger and demanding safety.

With the new year 2024, as a society we should hope for some resolutions in the current conflicts. This new year will come with a presidential election where the Republicans and Democrats run for the office. At the end of 2023, and beginning of 2024 Colorado’s Supreme Court took Donald Trump off of the ballots because they felt that he no longer was eligible due to what the constitution says based on his previous time in office. This news has created many discussions between the Supreme Court and other offices on whether he should be on the ballots once again.

For a fresh start to 2024, as a community let’s set new goals. As a student, goal setting is important because it gives you motivation to complete tasks and be the best version of yourself. It is also important to do a self review of where you fall with your goals and ambitions for your future self. Jr. Tessa Flemmin at Mechanicsburg High School says that with the new year rolling around, she hopes to “have fun with the last years of high school with family and friends but staying motivated with my grades and efforts.” With this responsible state of mind, students should continue to work hard and try to stay in the moment as scholars get older and start to think about steps after high school.

Worst holiday foods on the dinner table

By Alevia Durham

Imagine this: You’re sitting at the dinner table with your family or friends. Whoever you’re celebrating with, you’re having a fantastic time. There’s laughter and conversation all around you; has your cousin graduated college yet? When are you going to get jeans without holes in them? There’s a warm glow surrounding the room, perhaps the crackling of a fireplace behind you. Whatever holiday you’re celebrating, it’s the best one yet. Food is being passed around the table and dishes are clinking together. You're piling mashed potatoes and meat onto your plate.

Then imagine you are passed the smelliest, most awful, tasteless dish you’ve ever seen in your life. You hate it, absolutely hate this food with a burning passion. Is it your grandmother’s green bean casserole that you’ve been forced to smile through every time you take a bite? Is it the driest piece of turkey you’ve ever had to put in your mouth and had to swallow gallons of water afterwards just to get it down your throat? Or is it fishy salmon, cooked and seared on the pan that’s now stinking up the whole house?

Well, you’re in luck. Some of your fellow students might have the same food-dislikes as you!

“Green bean casserole because I’ve never liked green beans,” commented So. Kendra Bower. “And I just like, like, ew. I hate green beans.”

Well, that wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard that. For those of you, unlike Kendra, who have never tasted a green bean casserole, it is an American baked dish consisting of many ingredients, the most important ones being mushroom soup, french fried onions, and of course the star; green beans. Of course, there are many recipes out there that all have different components and cooking methods but the base remains the same. Most of the time, this dish is made and eaten around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but could be made at any holiday party or dinner. Well, all except for Kendra’s; she would rather not see it on the table anywhere.

“Cranberry sauce, and I say this because it’s in my personal opinion that turkey and all the stuff that's being served for Christmas dinner isn’t supposed to be sweet,” So. Genna Smith explained. “And so whenever I see cranberry sauce on my plate, I get really disgusted because it’s sweeter than it should be; it’s as sweet as sweets, and I just can’t fathom the taste at all.”

Most of the time, cranberry sauce is either homemade or coming from a can. It’s essentially a relish sort of texture, but depending on how it’s made or purchased, cut up into smaller pieces. It’s a common side dish served with Thanksgiving or other holiday dinners like Christmas or Easter, depending on what you and your family celebrate. Typically, it’s eaten in North America, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

While a lot of people, like Genna, think that cranberry sauce is too sweet, it also serves as something different to break up all of the other flavors included in dinner. To use Genna’s example, turkey, stuffing, and bread are all things served at a lot of holiday dinners and they’re not supposed to be sweet. But don’t we need a break sometimes? Not to characterize turkey and bread as dull, boring foods, but they’re generally calm flavors unless you pile it with butter or other toppings. Don’t we sometimes need a hit of sweetness to cleanse our palettes?

No matter what holidays you celebrate and who you do it with, I think we can all agree: Anyone who likes green bean casserole is insane. Just kidding! We all have our own opinions on food, and now that you know that two of your classmates might share your views, you know that next time you invite them over for dinner, do not serve them cranberry sauce or green bean casserole.

What foods do you hate? Do you want justice for green bean casserole? Would you like to battle on behalf of the sweet cranberry sauce?

New Year's Resolutions:

Why we make them and how we can fulfill them

By Emma Faro

The holidays are a stressful time for almost everyone in the United States. Forced family gatherings, travel, and last-minute shopping all make December a huge headache. So why do we set complicated and sometimes unreasonable goals for ourselves when January rolls around?

New Year's resolutions. Some people believe in them and some don’t, but the idea behind them is the same for naysayers and supporters alike. We all set goals for ourselves whether it’s for work, fitness, self-improvement, or any number of things. A New Year's resolution is the same, but why is it suddenly so important as the year turns over?

As humans, we’re born desiring to improve ourselves and the world around us. As a new year approaches, we see it as a blank slate. An opportunity to move on from the mistakes of last year and make the upcoming year a better one. This is the perfect time for people to turn their lives around and improve.

According to a YouGov poll, about 37% of adults in the United States make a New Year's resolution. However, other surveys show that only 9% of those people actually complete their resolution and 43% quit by the end of the month. Our population doesn’t know how to set goals they can clearly reach, yet we continue to do it every year.

Goal setting can be a very cliche topic that is often misunderstood. Many people think a goal is just an outcome that you work to accomplish, but to achieve our goals they should fulfill certain criteria. You should set a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Based. Using these guidelines, you can set a goal that is easier to reach.

Your goal should be specific, “I want to stop eating out” instead of “I want to eat healthier.” Making your goals specific allows you to set a clear plan to achieve them and doesn’t allow for rule-bending.

If a goal is measurable, you can see your progress towards or away from your goal. If I am trying to eat out less, then I can measure it by how many days I eat out per week. It’s difficult to measure “healthy eating” because it is such a broad term. Giving your goal a clear measurement system will help you to know exactly when you reach your goal and how you’ve improved.

Setting an attainable goal is simple. Pick something you would like to achieve that you could do if you put forth effort. Losing 100 lbs isn’t a reasonable goal, but losing 5 lbs is. Trying to do something unreasonable only leads to a lack of self-esteem and disappointment.

Don’t try to do something you don’t need to do. Your goal should be relevant, or directly applicable to your life. You shouldn’t strive to do something that won’t benefit you or fit your lifestyle.

A time-based goal is a goal that has shorter benchmarks that lead to your larger goal. This helps you to stay motivated when the road feels long. When you reach a smaller goal, you feel a sense of achievement that spurs you to keep going. If I want to stop eating out, I could set a specific number of times I could eat out each month that steadily decreases so that by the end of the year, I won’t be eating out at all.

But most importantly, set a goal that you are excited to achieve and that you will dedicate yourself to. When you set a goal you don’t care about, you have no desire to work toward it. Decide to work toward something that excites you.

New Year resolutions can be difficult, but when you set an achievable goal that you are excited about, the new year can be a great opportunity to improve yourself.

Fun facts about the holiday season!

By Chelsea Guan

If time could be measured, perhaps it would be able to fly faster than a partridge in a pear tree. Although Christmas has passed, the buzzing excitement of the new year still lingers… Here are some fun facts about the holiday season that you probably never heard of and could perhaps be shared with family and friends in this year to come!

When you think about the holidays, festive songs like “Jingle Bells”, a Christmas classic, likely come to mind, along with many others. Well, to burst your bubble, not many know that “Jingle Bells” was actually originally written for Thanksgiving to honor the town of Medford, Massachusetts’ annual sleigh races! Additionally, the first song broadcast ever made in space was… (You guessed it!) “Jingle Bells”. The astronauts had smuggled aboard a harmonica and jingle bells to perform the tune as a prank. Seems like no matter the place, pranks will always have a spot open for them.

Now back to Christmas, of course it cannot go without the decorations that come with it! Although not everyone celebrates this holiday, it’s always a pleasure to see houses decorated with lights and other cute Christmas trinkets. However, one must remember to stay steady and balanced on that ladder when hanging up the Christmas lights, because the month of December, as well as November are considered the two most dangerous months due to the amount of injuries from decorating, a big portion of which is because of falls.

Speaking of decorations, the tallest Christmas tree ever displayed was 221 feet tall! Most Christmas trees are also grown for as long as 15 years before they’re sold. Lastly, drumrolls please… Our state of Pennsylvania is one of the top 5 Christmas tree producing states in the country!

Now to throw you back in time, when you got your presents from under the tree, did you receive a card with it as well? I wouldn’t be surprised because every year 1.6 billion Christmas cards are bought and sent in the United States! The average card is about 1 to 5 dollars, so if you do the math and estimate, that would still be at least 1.6 billion dollars spent. This feeds into the heavy consumerism surrounding Black Friday, as well as just for the holidays in general, since around Christmas time, credit cards are used about 6,000 times every minute!

Finally, if you want to hear something even crazier, buying all the items from the popular holiday song “12 Days of Christmas” is about $46,729.86! Well, at least now I know what I don’t want for Christmas this year…

Photo credit- Mash Speech and Debate instagram

Club news

By Macy Kiker

As many of you probably know, we have a wide variety of clubs here at MASH that are doing many exciting things. I have reached out to every club in the school to see what they are doing and how any new members can join. Please note not all clubs are featured in this article since not all clubs have responded; so for a comprehensive list of clubs please visit the club directory: https://4.files.edl.io/8485/10/18/23/010623-0905dffc-4efd-4f38-966e-eea4d73eac8b.pdf

Aevidum is MASH’s mental health awareness club all about suicide prevention and showing that we’ve got your back. There are no upcoming events set, however they are looking to plan a mental health awareness event in the Spring at the moment! Their biggest accomplishment recently was getting benches that we designed to be placed in local parks in Mechanicsburg such as Finkenbinder, Koser, and Soldiers and Sailors. New members can join by coming to our weekly meetings on Friday mornings at 7:45 AM in RM 218! Hope to see you there!

Fly Fishing Club: Meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month in room 308 from 6-8pm. They focus on improving their understanding and skills in fly fishing to make each experience on the water more enjoyable and rewarding. Throughout the winter months we tie flies and learn a lot including, but not limited to knots, casting/presentations, equipment and tools commonly used and what new and innovative stuff is out there, and simply how to catch more fish. In the fall and spring months we meet at local streams after school and spend time fishing together. If you are interested in joining you should reach out to Mr. Minnich for more information at jaminnich@mbgsd.org.

Improv is the practice of improvisation (making things up on the spot). The improv club hosts open improv throughout the year, inviting anyone who wants to try it out. In the spring we form an improv troupe, and prepare improv shows for the community. In May, Improv club will be having an improv show here at the school to raise money for a local charitable organization.

This is their 11th year as a club here at MASH. Looking to join? You can attend an open improv session (look for the announcements in Sapphire), or audition for the troupe in March!

PALS (Peer Buddy Program at MASH) If you are looking to be more involved with our life skills students, we have a club here at MASH to do so. At this club you sign up and work to form friendships with the life skills class and go out into our community and do various activities. This gives you a chance to connect with new friends and our life skills students the ability to do typical high school activities. If interested please send Mrs. Diegel an email to see how you could join!

Project LAUNCH (Leadership, Advocacy, Unity, Nobility, Community, and Humility) is a club pairing dedicated students with charitable organizations to make a true difference! We have supported efforts at Central PA Food Bank, Caitlyn Smiles, Operation Wildcat, and more! One of their biggest accomplishments this year is having over 20 students help with the Fall Festival at Elmwood! They love to give their members the opportunity to volunteer with organizations they are passionate about. Project LAUNCH goes above and beyond! If you are interested in joining email one of the leaders Ben Rhodes, Riley Shannon, or Olivia Rengen OR Join the Google Classroom Code- dmfr6v3.

Project LIT is a book club that focuses on culturally and socially relevant books that pertain to current issues in our society. We seek to promote up-and-coming authors, amplify the voices of authors of color, and build a community by changing the world one book at a time. Our next meeting will be held January 22nd at 3:15pm in room 128. We will be discussing the book "All My Rage" by Sabaa Tahir. Project LIT is very low commitment - we only meet once a month. We always have snacks and a great discussion, even for those who still need to finish the book. Interested in joining come to the next meeting! You can also email Bekka Kreitman the president of book club 25kreitmanb@masdstudent.org for the Google Classroom information.

Speech and Debate is a club that teaches public speaking skills, confidence, and critical thinking skills. Recent accomplishments include Both Macy Kiker (speech) and Aiden Pinsker (debate) winning at our first competition of the year. Also Riley Lepley was a semi finalist at the Lasalle invitational. This club is actually super fun; it's a great group of people and we get to go on fun overnight trips! Club meetings are every Thursday after school. If new members want to join please email Macy Kiker 25kiker@masdstudent.org.

Student Council is a student leadership organization aiming to capture school spirit in the form of events, fundraisers, and pep rallies. Keep a look out for the MASH Cultural Heritage Fair, Spring Spirit Week, and potential Outdoor Movie Night! Recent accomplishments include organizing MASH’s Old Hollywood Homecoming, Pep Rallies, Children’s Grief Awareness Day, and Project LEGACY Gift- Giving. Their members consider themselves to be leaders. If you are interested in planning events or showing your school spirit, join Student Council! Interested in joining? Students can keep a look out for announcements on elections around March/ April! We hope to see you join!

Ski Club: We meet for weekly trips via bus to Roundtop Mountain Resort in January and February on Wednesdays to ski and ride until 9pm. The club is open to all MMS and MASH students. An exciting event upcoming is the annual ski trip. This year they are headed to Mount Snow and Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont on March 1st -3rd. This has always been a highlight of the year for many students. Information for the trip is on all students’ google classroom streams or see Mr. Minnich for more info. There are a few spots left and the registration deadline is February 9th, 2024. Best way to stay connected is to join the Mechanicsburg Ski Club Facebook group for the most up to date information. You can also contact Mr. Minnich at jaminnich@mbgsd.org.

That’s a class?

By Olivia Hopkins

Here at MASH, there are so many different opportunities provided catered to specific interests. Although there are clubs that meet outside of school, there are also numerous classes that you can take that will enhance your high school experience! With picking classes for next year right around the corner, I decided that it would be a beneficial idea to provide students with a few class options that maybe they didn’t know about before! I got around to talking to a handful of students who have taken what they think is a class that more students at MASH should look into taking next year.

While asking Jr. Grace Evans about her experience with Film Literacy, she responded “it provided a new perspective on movies and the different processes that go into making the final film.” This class is open to all grade levels, and there are no prerequisite requirements!

Another class that isn’t too known around MASH is Theater! Although we do have a theater club, there is a class you can take to dive even further into this topic. An anonymous sophomore describes Theater as “a really fun class that has a good balance of working on building acting skills and just having fun with other people in the class.” In addition to film literacy, theater is open to all grade levels, and you do not need any previous experience!

So. Emily Stauffer took Adulting 101 her freshman year. She elaborates that “[she] really likes how they teach you life skills that you wouldn’t learn in any other class.” This course adds on to the practical skills you may need to incorporate into your life beyond high school.

Another class that is open to all grade levels is Digital Music. If you are interested in learning more about how to create your own music with an online editing software, this class may be for you! An anonymous junior states that “it really enhances my love for music and challenges me to think creatively and outside of the box.”

Onto classes that require some sort of pre-requisites. First up, one class you may not be too familiar with is AP Environmental Science. Jr. Ava Shingle describes it as “very hands-on and it teaches us to appreciate our environment, and shows us how to care for it.” This class is open to juniors and seniors only with a successful completion of Earth & Space Science.

Lastly, a class that is also only open to juniors and seniors is Anatomy & Physiology. Jr. Thoula Michelitch states that this class “teaches pre-medical skills that could be helpful to get a head start on identifying all body systems, and how they work together.” For this class, you must have averaged a B+ or higher in Level 1 Biology. Any interested students must fill out an application (see Mr. Laudenslager) and give the teacher recommendation form to their biology teacher.

Any other classes you may be interested in taking can be found in the MASH course description booklet: (https://4.files.edl.io/88bf/02/09/22/140343-f72d3733-e2be-48b8-ae0d-fb742c7a2748.pdf).

Photo credit: Patrick Grill

Wildcats begin the winter sports season

By Evelyn Hambright

As winter is in full swing, so is the winter sports season at MASH. From the court, to the pool, to the mat, the Wildcats have been once again dominating the competition.

Boys Basketball: The Boys Basketball team has hit the court for another strong season. With a lot of talented players, the team has gone 10-3 thus far. After losing some key senior plays last year, the team has mainly relied on Juniors. Justin Bardo, Josh Smith, and Chance Yanoski lead the team to victory. The boys next opponent is Lower Dauphin, a highly anticipated rematch for both sides.

Girls Basketball: Led by Seniors Anna Magnelli and Avery McAllister, the girls have started the season strong with a 8-1 record. With the loss of three seniors last season, the underclassmen have had to step up this year, and have been nothing but successful. Sophomores Bridget Edwards, Lauren Lebo, and Alaina Sweet have all played a big role in the teams’ successes this season, and will surely become even more powerful as they move into next year.

Swimming: Even though the pool at MASH has been under construction, this has not stopped the swimming season. With home meets taking place at Northern, the MASH swim team has had to adapt. The boys team has gone 2-3 so far, with the girls going 4-1. Both teams race again against Milton Hershey and are hungry for success.

Wrestling; Losing key senior wrestlers last year has put this year’s wrestling team through some adversity. With a 1-5 record, the team is looking for some success in the near future. The team has six seniors this year including Abel Brunk, Stephen Morisani, Taylor Gould, Gavin Renard, Michael Witt, and Davon Hutchinson. Their next match is against Red Land, and gives the Wildcats a fresh opportunity for success.

Update on the Israeli-Palestine conflict

By Aryan Sai

As the Israeli Palestinian conflict has continued, the atrocities have not stopped. During the 100 days of bombing, 23,000 Palestinians have died with nearly 60,000 injured and there are still 132 Israelis being held hostage in Gaza.

Many countries have been calling for a ceasefire as in mid-December there was a UN general assembly vote calling for an immediate ceasefire that was passed with 153 for, 10 against, and 23 abstaining. This has sadly not stopped the violence.

This conflict has also started to spill into other countries as a group in Yemen, known as the Houthis, have set up a blockade on the Red Sea and have not allowed Israeli cargo ships to pass through. This has led to rockets being fired at Yemen and the Houthis being labeled as terrorists by the US government.

Iran has also been using the conflict as a means for striking other countries with missiles, after firing missiles at Pakistan, Syria, and Iraq they claimed that they were attacking “Israeli spy bases” in Iraq, which has yet to be proven. Once again it is extremely important that everyone stays informed in such major world events, especially with all the misinformation out there on social media.

Kat’s Guide to a Hollow Knight

By Kat Hausauer-Morgan

Hey Y’all, Kat Here! Welcome back to Kat’s Guide, where a freshman with almost perfect free time writes about the (in their opinion) best thing since sliced bread.

Before I start, this article is going to have spoilers (mostly because as an artist, I can’t stop going crazy over the art of this game) but so that you guys can at least play the game somewhat blind, any massive spoilers will be highlighted black and be at the end of the article unmarked.

I know it’ll make the article weird but I want all of you to walk into this game and play it “the true way.”

Anyways, let’s talk about Hollow Knight.

Hollow Knight was released on February 24th, 2017. It was created by Team Cherry, a video game studio made of… three people. Yep. 3 people made this game. And yet it is one of the most popular indie games ever. Why? Well, let me tell you.

Hollow Knight is what we call a Metroidvania. This genre started from as early as Metroid from the NES. This style of game is… very confusing to describe. The game has no linear path, meaning theoretically you can go to any area you want when you want, but instead of having a linear path, the game makes it so that certain places require certain abilities to get to. For example, the first main barrier you will encounter is the Baldur at the gate of Greenpath. To kill it, you need Vengeful Spirit which you get from the area behind it. Sounds simple? Yeah, no. If you get lost within the first few hours of playing it, embrace it. That will happen a lot. I still do not know certain places off the top of my head.

Hollow Knight has a simple combat structure. You have a nail to swing, and later on, you get upgrades like dashing and double jumps along with spells. However, the bosses and enemies are what lead the combat to be a lot more fun. Bosses are very well done. While there is a technical “order” to the bosses, there isn’t a definitive order to them. You can do many of the bosses in whatever order you want.

Bosses in Hollow Knight have this almost-perfect flow to them. Most of the time, when you fight them, you are already at the perfect skill level to beat them. They also usually have very different patterns in terms of what their attacks are, how quickly they can attack, and when you can hit them. The earlier bosses can be easily wailed on and have nothing to stop you from constantly hitting them, while others only leave small opportunities to attack. Bosses also differ very greatly with things like how they are affected by the player. Knockback is a perfect example of this. Bosses differ greatly in how they are affected by knockback, and even when they are affected, it doesn’t mean that the boss is easy. In fact, Knockback affects a strategy of fighting a boss. Bosses that are affected by Knockback can be slowed down by damage, be more easily moved, and often get majorly affected by spells like Vengeful Spirit or Desolate Dive. However, they are often very unfazed by attacks like Howling Wraiths, can make certain charms more harm than good, can be harder to wail on due to how your nail knocks you back, and can also cause confusion due to how they move. Bosses that are not affected by knockback can be wailed on more easily, often get absolutely shredded with multi-hit spells, are affected more by attacks like Howling Wraiths, and can actually be used to dodge their own attacks. However, they cannot be moved at all by the nail, are not slowed down by damage at all, and can actually lead to some problematic situations.

As for how you can adapt to them, the Charm System exists. Charms act as applicable items that change something in your moveset. They can often make certain bosses easier or harder. However, I would not call them upgrades but more sidegrades.

I say this because depending on what type of player you are, charms can actually screw you up a lot. Even if it isn’t necessarily an in-game thing, there are still certain variables that can make Charms more harmful than good (with a few ridiculous exceptions).

Muscle Memory. Certain Charms can either directly or indirectly change how your abilities work. This can actually screw you up a lot if you’re used to the base ability and you try to use these charms.
In-game downsides. Certain charms in the game have actual downsides directly coded into the game.
Charm Notches. You start with 3 charm notches and get up to 11. These sound like a lot, assuming that each charm takes 1 notch. But not all charms are 1 notch. They range from 1 notch to 5 notches (technically 0-5 but I’m trying not to spoil anything.) This means the only way to have 11 charms is to only use 1 notch charms and have max charm notches. (or Overcharming but let’s not get into that)

The charm system adds a lot of customization and depth to Hollow Knight. Apart from a few charms that are absolutely ridiculous (I’m looking at you Shaman Stone and Fragile Strength), there are very few times where one charm is objectively better than other ones except for very obvious times.

Hollow Knight is a very fluid game. Not only are the graphics beautifully hand-drawn, but they also flow very well. The game is smooth enough to look nice but personality-filled enough to not look robotic. Everything from the protagonist to the areas to the charms to the god-like boss fights (Absolute Radiance and Pure Vessel are absolutely beautiful) looks as if you took individual masterpieces and combined them beautifully. This isn’t even mentioning the smaller details like the true final boss’ cutscene, the little details on the Knight like how it walks in towns but runs everywhere else, and how the more impactful the boss, the more detailed the arena (OK seriously go look at Absolute Radiance and Pure Vessel they have some of the most beautiful animations and arenas.)

This fluidity syncs well with the gameplay as well. This is a very skill-based and “responsible” game. What I mean by responsible is that not many times is a death “the game’s fault.” Most of the time, your punishment fits the crime and the punishment is your fault. Dash at the wrong time? Get hit. Go for a greedy spell? Get hit. Undershoot your nail swing? You get the point, You get hit. However, one mistake is not too harsh. Most attacks deal only one mask out of your starting 5 and potential 9. There are not many times where getting hit causes you to immediately lose the attempt. Most of the time, a failure is your fault (with exceptions) and the trial-and-error of the game is very little. There is nothing that cannot be done first try. With every failure, it may be your fault, but you learn something each time. In some fights, you learn when to attack and when to dodge. You learn how to dodge that one attack that constantly annoys you. You learn when to dodge away and when to dodge towards the enemy. You learn how many spells you can cast before you have to dodge again. After every mistake, you learn something. You use what you learn from one boss fight to beat another. This game also loves to test you against multiple enemies acting as one boss (The best examples are the Watcher Knights). As bosses get harder, they are still very unique in how they can overwhelm you. Some bosses leave little time to attack them, while others make you focus on multiple enemies at once. Some will spawn traps around the arena, others will deal 2 mask damage a hit. But in all of these, it’s nothing you can’t learn from, and the charm system lets you adapt. It can let you hit a hard-to-hit boss a lot more, allow you to shred multiple enemies at once, ignore the traps of a certain boss fight, and make your health go from 5 to effectively 6.

Overall, Hollow Knight’s gameplay is fluid and skill-based to a point where the phrase “that was not my fault” should not even come close to entering your mind playing this game… with exceptions.

However, like always, I have to bring up what is not good about this game so I don’t make this game sound perfect when it isn’t. To start (with something less of an issue and more of a warning), Hollow Knight is a hard game. I would not say its difficulty is ridiculous in practice because you always improve, but you learn early on that the bosses of this game are very difficult. If you like more casual games, this game might not be for you. Also, I mentioned that you most likely will be lost at the start. While this is part of the genre, I’m not saying that everyone would like it. Trust me, when I first started I had no clue what to do, so I don’t expect you to somehow find your way perfectly as well. It is also worth noting that Hollow Knight takes combat in a slower way than other games and compared to the last two games I wrote about, Hollow Knight is relatively tame with how slow combat is. Finally, it is worth noting that this game is best played blind or at least with little guidance for the full experience but to be honest, 2 while it is fairly difficult to play without any help, it can ruin an otherwise amazing game.

However, most of these problems really depend on what you want at the end of the day. My general advice is that if you want a game where you can sit down and relax, Hollow Knight will not be that game. If you want a more skilled game about exploration and simple yet engaging combat, Hollow Knight is amazing and most likely worth your time.

The game is ridiculously cheap at only 15$ ($20 on Nintendo Switch) and is an absolute bargain of a game for how much content it gives you. I’d absolutely recommend you guys check it out!

This game is a 9.5/10. The cracks that Hollow Knight has are very, very minimal and subjective and the rest of the game is a masterpiece.

Hope to see you in the next article on Kat’s Guide!

SPOILER SECTION!

Read at your own risk!

(There are like 3 in here but they’re still very heavy in terms of spoilers.)

(Absolute Radiance and Pure Vessel are absolutely beautiful)
(OK seriously go look at Absolute Radiance and Pure Vessel they have some of the most beautiful animations and arenas.)
(The best examples are the Watcher Knights)

Off to a hot start already: Mechanicsburg boys basketball tackle the new season!

By Josh Smith and Javier Robles

My Project.mp4

My Project (1).mp4

Mechanicsburg boys lacrosse prepares for an upcoming season

By Brayden Culpepper

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