Student Sound Off

of a rain storm, and the slide is covered butter. Avoiding the senior slide is like trying not to fall up the stairs at school, or trying not to text that one ex that makes you feel toxically amazing about yourself. However, avoiding the senior slide is not impossible.

Senior slide is like the common cold, it lasts for a little while but will go away eventually...that is if you are one of the more immunized students in our world. I admit, within the first week of school, I began slipping uncontrollably down the seemingly-infinite-negative slope. Each day I could feel my motivation crawling its way out of me and into my bed.

Ah how I loved that week.

My adoration for my laziness only resided for a short while however; just as a child is happy they’re missing school because “their sick”, only until they legitimately feel horrid, guilt and stress consumed me—and the only thing I could do was work my way back to “health”. Grind time officially began. Everyone barricading me with the caution tape that read “college application week” officially got to me. Because at that point in time I knew, if I didn’t get into gear, I would be in one hell of a trial with college admission boards.

My first college tour was over MEA, you know, the couple of days we get off of school for a confusing reason and the teachers complain about how they have to be there… (it’s your job, don’t whine). Anyways, my first tour!!!! I toured the University Of North Dakota to investigate their campus and more importantly their aerospace program. I want to be a pilot :); I enjoyed the aerospace program but not the location, but the tour made me realize something: if I don’t work as hard/harder than I did last year, there would be no freedom from my prison labeled “Senior Slide”. So I began.

I began application processes, I took the ACT for my final time, I started my application to the United States Air Force Academy (which is super long and strenuous), I met with counselors, and I began burning the midnight oil once again. I know, you’re probably thinking: gosh way to brag about yourself, “me, me, me, me, me” . And you’re half right and half wrong, I am very proud of myself. But, I couldn’t have done it without my friends, my family, my boyfriend, my teachers, my counselors, and especially without my teammates and coaches.

Fostering Service Dogs

Do you love dogs? Do you enjoy giving back to your community? Then you should join a program in which you foster in-training service dogs. I realize it seems strange to only foster an animal and not keep one as your own, but an incredible organization with an incredible goal.

The training isn’t extremely difficult. There are mandatory monthly classes where you get to learn new skills for the dogs to practice. Furthermore, you have to take them on outings to encounter new environments and situations, and you also have to make sure that they understand their basic commands.

As of now, we have fostered a total of three dogs. Our first short-term foster was Otto, then our first long-term foster was Bixby, and now we have our second long-term foster Maddox.

Let me share a little story about Bixby and then maybe that will change your mind.

For the past decade, my house has been dog-less. Don’t get me wrong, I love my cats, but there is something special about having a dog. Their wide grins, their wagging tails, and their everlasting energy provide me with endless laughter. That feeling encouraged me to scour the internet, looking for ways to get a dog.

My desire was fulfilled when my mother and I strolled into the Can do Canines building with smiles on our faces and butterflies in our stomachs.

“Mom, we’re getting a dog today!” I exclaimed.

My giddiness didn’t stop there, as we traveled through the doors a black lab awaited us at the end of the hallway. As we advanced towards the puppy, his tail wagged enthusiastically. Bixby jumped onto us and greeted us with kisses. I reached out and wrapped my arms around his body, and it felt as though he hugged me back while my face was smothered in his smooth fur. Pure joy encompassed my body. Bixby was now a part of our family.

Just give it a try and foster a service dog, but if you can’t then at least make sure to give back to the community. There are always people around you that are in need of assistance, and helping somebody provides a great feeling. Finally, be aware of service dogs because they are hardworking and their job is very important; if they have their vest on, then make sure to respect their boundaries and do not pet them because they are focused on aiding their person.

-By Noah Patterson

I like to see the transition from adolescence to adulthood as not just the big milestones, but a gradual change in daily life. If you know Anne Fadiman’s Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, the very first essay, Marrying Libraries, is focused around how Anne and her husband George had finally intermingled their libraries. Similar to the idea of marriage becoming fulfilled after the libraries are combined, you become an adult when you go to college, get a job, etc, however you truly transition when you opt for Raisin Bran instead of Trix. Coffee instead of juice. Boring instead of fun.

In a perfect world, the fun wouldn’t deteriorate with age. A social acceptance of adults basking in the youth of children’s cereal could possibly make the world a more playful, youthful, creative place, but alas, companies like Kellogg and General Mills find enjoyment in changing societies views on who eats what types of cereal. I feel the pressures of the judgmental elderly lady in the grocery store that tell me “don’t reach for the Fruity Pebbles, you’re not four.” Instead, I’d prefer that my mom go to the store in order to fuel my guilty pleasure.

The exclusivity of these children’s cereals and the stigma surrounding them has begun to create a wall that separates me from the joyous childhood I wish to endure again. I know it may seem silly and pointless to worry about breakfast cereal as a factor in my adulthood, but it just means that I am one step further from youth, and one closer to the responsibilities I fear. I wish to stay in my adolescence, but like the Silly Rabbit, I am no longer a kid, so I must venture onto a Trix-less path into adulthood.

-By Emily Lind

As my scrolling continued, I watched a TikTok ranting about VSCO; not VSCO girls, just the app itself. I instantly was confused. Sure, making TikToks about VSCO girls are trendy and all, but why bring hate to the actual app? In a matter of seconds, I felt a heavenly calling and understood what I should write my Sound Off about: rebuking the basic misunderstanding about VSCO.

To start off, I’ll answer the simplest question: what is VSCO? Well, when looking at the bare roots of the app, VSCO is a social media platform in which users, usually girls ranging from 12-21, create edgy, colorful, and other aesthetic edits to their photos. The app holds much of its attention towards photography and editing aspects, compared to traditional social media outlets. Yet, VSCO does offer features of uploading, liking, or republishing photos that are either your own or other users. Pretty simple, right? Wrong. VSCO is so much more than an editing app: it’s a platform where girls can post photos of them they don’t think are good enough for Instagram, a platform where likes on a post are not tallied; leaving social media pressures of popularity and amount of likes and followers unimportant, a platform where girls hype one another up by republishing one anothers photos, a platform where you can find encouragement and self empowerment through tweets and quotes and songs, a platform where positivity is spread through millions of girls. That’s what VSCO is. VSCO isn’t just scrunchies and hydroflasks and stickers and Birkenstocks and over sized t-shirts and whatever other assumptions you have; it’s a place where girls can simply be and feel themselves.

-By Miriam Manna

It all starts out innocent enough, you wander into elementary school with stars shining brightly in your eyes, full of curiosity and wonder about this new chapter of your life called “school”. You’ve heard pretty positive things from the adults surrounding you; this is where you get to learn, this is where your thrilling and promising academic career begins, and finally one you hear over and over and over again it will be fun. They’re not completely wrong, at first it is fun and you do learn lots of new and exciting things: how to read, how to do basic math, how to play an instrument, what animal is this, and much more. But then things start to change. You are introduced to the harsh academic system that is the grading system. The academic pressure begins to set in and you begin to place value into these letters that were once nothing more than the beginning of the alphabet.

Once you reach about 8th or 9th grade you are told that not only do your grades define you and your value as a person but that they will also determine how the rest of your life goes; what college you get into, how much debt you’ll be in, what kind of job you’ll get, and the pathway you take for the next 60 years. Now the education system has effectively added the fear and stress of these simple letters being the most important things in your entire life for your remaining time in school. As one would imagine this puts immeasurable internal stress on students to get the highest score possible which then shifts the focus from learning to passing.

Matcha of the Month: An In Depth Review of Matcha from 5 Tea Shops

Background:

Matcha is a finely ground powder green tea. The leaves itself are made into a powder, which is what gives matcha its distinct bitter, yet somewhat sweet taste. Because of this grassy taste, many people I know have had a hard time with the flavor; I like to think it’s an acquired taste. Matcha originated in China, but it became widespread in the Japanese style. Traditional matcha is prepared hot—powder combined with boiling water whisked in with a bamboo whisk. This energizing green tea has a variety of health benefits: antioxidants that have been linked to protecting against cancer, high blood pressure, and heart disease, and contains caffeine that doesn’t give off a buzz like it does from coffee.

My matcha addiction first began in 2018 when I visited San Francisco for the first time, where I visited a tea shop in Japan Town. Throughout my year of drinking bubble tea, I have visited many tea shops. I am determined to find the best bubble tea shop in Minnesota, so I’ve created criteria to rate the tea: price, straw puncture cleanness (how clean the hole for the straw is upon inserting in drink), flavor strength, amount of tapioca pearls, texture/consistency of tapioca pearls, if there is an ice/no ice option, shop aesthetic, and other notes. The control variables will be the size of the drink (large) and flavor (matcha). If the shop does not offer an option to subtract ice, it is a half point deduction from the score (no ice allows room for more drink, so more bang for your buck).

ChaTime: Southdale Mall, Edina

Price: 1/5. $6.23

Straw puncture cleanness: 4/5 . Small leakage due to cup being filled to the brim.

Flavor strength: 4.75/5. Very bitter, most authentic matcha flavor out of all the shops. Because it’s so bitter, sometimes I like to get extra sugar (120%) to make it a little sweeter.

Amount of tapioca pearls: 4/5. Not enough this time as there was some tea left after the pearls were gone. Another drink that I consumed a few days after this taste test had left over pearls, so it’s different every time.

Texture/consistency of tapioca pearls: 3/5. Decently hard but chewy.

Ice/no ice: I got no ice.

Shop aesthetic: 2/5. In the middle of a mall, so not that cute. Dinkytown location is more aesthetically pleasing (own shop, contains seating area).

Other: Flavor is somewhat inconsistent—the matchas I had prior to this time were sweeter. There is also a price difference for this location—the same drink is usually around $5.90 at Mall of America.

Final rating: 6.25/10

Feng Cha: Dinkytown, Minneapolis

Price: 2/5. $5.94

Straw puncture cleanness: N/A. Removable plastic lid with perforated hole for straw.

Flavor strength: 3.5/5. Sweet, but not very bitter. Similar to Starbucks but stronger. Would’ve liked it to be more bitter.

Amount of tapioca pearls: 5/5. Good amount!

Texture/consistency of tapioca pearls: 1.5/5. Abnormally small pearls, which were very hard and chewy. Quite possibly the worst pearls I’ve ever had.

Ice/no ice: I got ice, as there was no option for no ice. 0.5 point deduction.

Shop aesthetic: 1.5/5. This shop was located within a restaurant, so it was in an awkward and small corner. Not the cutest place, as you can see back to the kitchen. It also had weird and unmatching decor (flamingos and flowers).

Other: The cup was skinnier, and made of thicker plastic than most cups. The removable lid had a cute heart stopper on it! The plastic lid is recyclable, easy to puncture, and contains two holes for the straw. Since there are two holes already made, it may be harder to reach those last pearls since there is less room to maneuver the straw. The lid is removable, but it requires some determination and strength to take it off. The lid and cup could be reused if desired.

Final rating: 5.6/10

Gocha Tea House: Brooklyn Park

Price: 1/5. $6.18

Straw puncture cleanness: 2/5. The hole was large :(

Flavor strength: 3.5/5. Strong and sweet. Would’ve liked it to be more bitter.

Amount of tapioca pearls: 5/5. Good amount!

Texture/consistency of tapioca pearls: 2/5. Hard and chewy.

Ice/no ice: I got ice, as there was no option for no ice. 0.5 point deduction.

Shop aesthetic: 4.5/5. Very cute interior—modern chairs and flower wall for photo ops!

Other: Matcha foam was stuck to the lid. They also had cute coasters in the shape of fruit!

Final rating: 5.8/10

Kung Fu Tea: Dinkytown, Minneapolis

Price: 1/5. $6.48

Straw puncture cleanness: 4/5. Small leakage due to very full cup.

Flavor strength: 2/5. This was literally not matcha. It tasted like a sweet green tea.

Amount of tapioca pearls: 3/5. There were not enough, as there was some drink left after the bubbles were consumed. Like ChaTime, the amount varies every time I get it.

Texture/consistency of tapioca pearls: 5/5. Very soft and easy to chew—Ideal pearls!

Ice/no ice: I got no ice.

Shop aesthetic: 1/5. Cramped shop, no decorations other than the menus.

Other: You will get more bang for the buck if you get their Kung Fu milk tea because it simply tastes better and is cheaper. I would also recommend their Honey Oolong tea!

Final rating: 5.3/10

MuMu Tea House: Minneapolis

Price: 2/5

Straw puncture cleanness: 5/5. Very clean puncture. Quite the perfect hole.

Flavor strength: 4/5. Very bitter, decently strong. Tastes more watered down than milky. Would’ve liked it to be slightly sweeter.

Amount of tapioca pearls: 5/5. Good amount!

Texture/consistency of tapioca pearls: 5/5. Very soft and chewy—Ideal bubbles!

Ice/no ice: I got no ice.

Shop aesthetic: 5/5. Very cute, clean, minimalistic environment. Could be relaxing study space. Good color scheme—earthy toned.

Other: Lots of matcha powder chunks—Could probably fixed by mixing it up with ice, but it shouldn’t need to be. The cover of the cup is a different material from traditional plastic lids—this one feels like parchment paper, which could be more eco-friendly. The cup itself is skinnier than most cups.

Final rating: 8.3/10

As an avid reader since an early age, finding one single book that stood out to me was difficult. While I’ve read powerful and engaging literature that has challenged my view of the world and left strong, lasting impacts, one title that kept resurfacing in my mind was the 2009 Jamie Ford novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. My grandmother first handed me this book when I was thirteen years old, but the title didn’t engage me, and I didn’t think I would be interested in a book about the United States during World War II. One day, however, I found myself opening the slightly wrinkled pages and transporting into San Francisco during the height of the Second World War.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet opens with Chinese-American Henry Lee as a grown man reflecting on his time in San Francisco during the late 1930s and early-to-mid 1940s, where racism and fear towards Japanese-Americans was at an all-time high. Early on, we learn of significant conflict between Chinese-Americans and Japanese-Americans struggling to differentiate themselves from one another in a complicated world of western biases. Lee’s father, for example, was one of many who made him and his family wear “I am Chinese” pins so that no one would consider them Japanese and face daily animosity from hostile Americans.

This short synopsis of Ford’s book builds an ironic and tragic backdrop for the primary story: Lee’s deep relationship with a Japanese-American girl named Keiko. Sadly, she is mandated to a Japanese internment camp despite being a citizen of America and is eventually transferred to a camp in Idaho and Lee never sees or hears from her again.

A love-story between a Japanese-American and Chinese-American might not seem like the type of reading that would drastically impact one’s perspective on the world. Rather, the importance of this book is what lies beyond the surface of the story and within Keiko and Lee’s relationship.

During this time period, the United States was full of new immigrants and minorities fleeing persecution and war in their native countries. Because of the pervasive hatred towards Japanese-Americans, other minority groups - including Chinese-Americans - mirrored this bigotry. Instead of supporting fellow minority groups to oppose the majority’s hateful policies, each community’s survival mentality further divided their power. Lee’s “I am Chinese” button emphasizes the distance that these minorities put between each other and their subsequent disassociation from them. Thus, the majority gained more power and legitimacy to enact its bigoted legislation.