Features

By Khoi  Hogan Nguyen 

For students at Lincoln High School, especially those who do sports, work part-time jobs, or participate in other extracurricular activities, panicking to complete homework and staying up late to finish them is becoming a daily routine. Seeing dozens of assignments labeled “Due 11:59 PM” after coming home late is a common sight. In high schools across the nation, this phenomenon is replicated over and over, with Stanford Medicine describing the lack of sleep among teens as “an epidemic.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, lack of sleep can compromise the immune system, induce depression, anxiety, fatigue, irritation, and worst of all for students, decrease academic performance . Any one of these side effects alone would make it difficult for students to go to school, much less perform adequately in the classroom. In combination, they can be a lethal recipe for disaster. 

Leslie Luo, a junior at Lincoln, agrees with the Mayo Clinic’s assessment, saying that it’s hard for him to pay attention in class because of his lack of sleep, and that he keeps “dozing off.” 

Sleep deprivation can also indirectly have negative consequences, causing unhealthy coping habits.. 

"Being sleep deprived has caused me to rely on energy drinks in an attempt to keep myself awake in class, but it doesn't help me absorb information," says Rin Luong, a senior at Lincoln. "[The] information goes in one ear and out the other, and [that takes] a huge toll [on my grades]."

However, another prevailing view is that sleep deprivation and its subsequent negative health effects are purely the result of poor decision-making and time management. 

Haley Yan, a junior at Lincoln, agrees to a certain extent, calling time management a “super important skill” and recognizing that it could help alleviate the lack of sleep many students face.  

However, both Luo and Luong disagree, with Luo observing that students “don’t have all the time in the world.” 

Luong adds, “You can never really tell what someone is going through.”

To address the growing epidemic of sleep deprivation, students mainly suggest cutting workloads or ending school earlier.

Though consensus still has not been reached over how to deal with this crisis, junior Jordan Pham believes, “The first step to solving any problem is recognizing that it is a problem.”

By Richard Kuang 

         Inside Abraham Lincoln High School, in room 126, is a safe space called the Wellness Center, where students are free to seek assistance. Throughout the week, about 350 students come in to get help. Students come into the Center for their inclusive identity community, one-on-one counseling, basic medical counseling from the school nurse (Sara Chalk), information about community resources such as help crisis hotlines, internship opportunities, queer student support groups, and fifteen-minute breaks away from class.

          Sara Vo, a junior, talks about their positive experience with the Lincoln Wellness Center and how it’s helped them.

          “It’s helped me have my friend groups; the staff have always been there for me emotionally and physically,” they say.

           Within two months of transferring from Lowell after their freshman fall semester, they learned about the Wellness Center. Spending time there influenced their decisions and aspirations.

           “[The Wellness Center has] played a major role in my life, especially in what I wanted for my career—I’m going to be working as a medical worker or social worker that specializes in the welfare of the youth,” says Vo.

             Teachers may view the center as an excuse for students to leave class, leaving faculty to think students are using the wellness center as an excuse to not learn or be on their phones.

             Kristen Edmonston serves as the wellness coordinator at Lincoln. She helps coordinate wellness programs, oversees everyone within the wellness center, and assists the mental health crisis department at Lincoln. She’s been a part of the Lincoln community since March of 2015, working mainly as coordinator for the Center but also as a licensed clinical social worker that provides therapy to students.

            "Post-distance learning, our mental health needs for students were definitely increased," says Edmonston. “Teenagers generally trust me with things that they might not have told anyone else, and so I feel really grateful for that, that we can create spaces where we can open up and be vulnerable.”

             Gabriel Zepponi, a senior at Lincoln, shares his thoughts on the Wellness Center. He started participating in the program around the fall of their junior year, after difficulties during the spring of their sophomore year. His time at Wellness helped him with his emotions whenever they needed to be heard.

             “I found it to be very nice to be able to just go up to one of the adults here and talk about something that I felt very strongly about that day,” says Zepponi.

              The time that Zepponi has spent in the Wellness Center has influenced him in a positive way. He says, “I enjoy it here. I find the resources here help me keep coming back, and they have a strong input on how I am.”

              Sara Chalk, the school nurse at Lincoln, does a variety of medical-related tasks across campus.

               Chalk enthusiastically states, “I do a lot of first aid for students and staff. I also help serve as a consultant for 504 plans (supporting students with disabilities) that are medical, so migraines and concussions."

               Chalk also assists with individualized education plans, organizing staff training, administering sensitive services (sexual education), and substance intervention services. Very often, she is busy helping different people with first aid and wishes that there was another nurse to help her, but she still feels passionate about their job.

                “I think as my journey as a nurse and as a human, I really like being at baseline community prevention care—I really like talking to kids about that kind of stuff and preventing illness before it happens,” says Chalk.

                 “It’s nice to have colleagues that I can cry in front of. I don’t cry often, but it is nice to have a really supportive team that I feel like I could cry in front of,” says Chalk.

                   The Wellness Center is open to anyone during its operation during class time (excluding the fourth period), offering help and assistance.

                    Vo shares, “Everyone I know at school honestly has been affected by wellness. The staff are amazing people that deserve the world."

By Lia Roth 

       As their high school journey comes to an end, seniors at Lincoln High School find themselves on the cusp of a significant chapter in their lives. The transition from high school to college can be described as one of the most challenging and pivotal phases in a young person's life. Seniors are going through the process of college applications as the weight of their futures rests on their shoulders.

          Many seniors at Lincoln prioritize applications to the Universities of California and California State Universities. Alongside submitting transcripts and extracurriculars, UC’s provide eight personal insight questions, and four must be chosen and submitted by the applicant.

          The CSU system does not require any essays or personal statements.

         “CSU applications are definitely a lot easier,” senior Brian Yen described. “It's pretty much just how you look on paper. There’s no essay that you can write to make you look better than another applicant.”

          Both UC applications and CSU applications are due on November 30th, 2023.

          Yen started his applications in the summer before his senior year. This allowed him time to write several drafts and get revisions and advice from his counselors and teachers without feeling rushed.

           "I have to make some minor edits, but I’m planning on submitting my applications by November 17th.”

           Yan stressed how important it is for rising seniors to get started on their applications early, explaining that it makes the process entirely more smooth and less stressful.

            In contrast to Yan’s process, the college application deadlines can become a race against time for some seniors. College applications are unforgiving, and this reality has begun to set in for Ian Lum as he strives to meet the cutoffs.

          “UC’s are due in two weeks; I’ve been putting them off for so long that I’m just going to have to work on them my whole Thanksgiving break,” Lum said. “If I could give any advice to lower-classmen, I would definitely stress that they should start as early as possible.”

          He explained that by starting your applications early, one becomes aware of areas they may need help with, ensuring they have enough time to find resources to help.

         Drew Moore, a senior at Lincoln, is on a different path than most of her peers. Rather than focusing on schools in California, Moore has her sights set on the University of Portland for nursing.

         Out-of-state and private school applications look different from UC’s and CSU’s. Most schools accept the Common Application, which makes it so that instead of filling out the same general information—like your address, GPA, and extracurriculars—a dozen times, you only have to do it once. The common application is due January 1st, 2023.

         Moore was judicious in her application process; she had a goal to submit her application by October. Like Yen, she recommended starting to write essays in the summer before senior year.

        “Writing my supplemental essay early gave me lots of time to spare so it could be proofread exactly how I wanted it,” she explained.

        The emotional toll college applications have on students is intense; the constant uncertainty about acceptance and the pressure to excel academically can take a toll on wellness.

         “I lost so much sleep,” Moore described. “I’m so relieved I got it all over with.”

          College applications are difficult in different ways for everyone; there’s no getting around that. Yet, as the application season draws to a close, Lincoln’s graduating class gets one step closer to the end of the high school journey and the start of a new chapter.

By Julie Payne 

A big part of high school, especially for upperclassmen, is to start thinking about what might come next, including college.  Many students find the college application process to be complex and confusing. To address this challenge, Lincoln offers different ways to support them throughout the process including counseling center and class options.

At Lincoln High School, visiting the counseling center is one of the ways students can find help to successfully complete the college application process. The counselors help ensure  students meet all high school requirements for graduation. 

Whether assisting with course choices or keeping track of credits, the counseling office helping to make it less confusing, or ensuring students have the support and knowledge they need to navigate high school requirements with confidence and clarity. 

If a student needs clarification about A-G requirements, counselors are able to provide students with pamphlets, checklists, and information about financial aid.

Another support system is Peer Resources.  These student mentors share their experiences and advise students who might feel overwhelmed or unsure about the process. They've been in the same shoes and can empathize and help with any existing anxieties or confusion.  

According to the Peer Resources teacher, Mr. Wallace models this support by “having students let me know what their plans are after high school, and if they need help for individual applications.”

Considering this, we cannot forget about college and career classes being required to graduate. In the class, they cover financial knowledge about future occupations. Additionally, the credits you need to fill in highschool to graduate and go to college are the same  classes and credits you will need in college. A former lincoln student, Reese Wong, states, “It helped me learn more about how to get financial aid and just in general the college process itself, it’s super helpful!”. 

The college application process can be confusing, and students are offered support at Lincoln for help if they are feeling overwhelmed, whether it's with college and career class or just a teacher. Lincoln staff are here to support students and navigate them through this process, allowing them to take the next step in their lives after high school.

By  Melissa Yan 

Cutting class is a universal high school experience, but as skipping class becomes a habit for many students, the levels of severity for student absences vary between truancy and chronic absences. 

Students who are absent for three or more classes receive truancy letters, with the list of names growing since the past year. A large number of these absences come from students skipping advisory, which takes up the last 52 minutes of school on Thursdays.

“We’re trying to find ways to incentivize and really reimagine the purpose of advisory,” says Jordan Loey, an assistant principal at Lincoln. 

Advisory balances out the extra class time on block days, and is typically utilized by students to make up tests, check-in with teachers, and participate in larger events such as Club Fair and Fall Fest, although its purpose does not reach every student. 

“I don’t like to stay after sixth period because we do nothing, and as a senior, I don’t think [there are many announcements I need to stay for],” says Anna, a Lincoln senior who prefers to go by this anonymous name. 

While truancies apply to students who periodically skip class, chronic absences apply to two types of students: students who are enrolled in the school but rarely set foot in the school, and students who are on campus but are nearly always marked absent for their classes. Chronic absences are a much more severe form of missing class, requiring greater attention and resources for student support. 

To connect with families of truant and chronically absent students, Lincoln’s Coordinated Care Team (CCT) meets once a week to devise plans for supporting students. Recently, the team hosted a large outreach event, checking in with families about why their students have been absent at school. For many of the families, students were not in school for reasons outside of the school’s control, such as taking care of significant household responsibilities or living too far across town. 

“25-35 families showed up, but we don’t think we hit our [chronically absent students],” says Sharimar Balisi, the principal of Lincoln High School. 

In greater effort, the school is looking towards alternative methods outside of the classroom to stay in contact with students struggling with attendance, although they require more planning for reallocating funds from the school’s budget to afford student support services.

“If we want to add staff, our [budget] would probably come from supplies,” Loey says, explaining the trade-offs between funding for instructional supplies and support services. “We’re not going to be able to buy a class set of textbooks, we’re not going to be able to buy a new whiteboard, we’re not going to be able to buy all of these things because we’re hiring positions [for support services] to best meet the needs of our students.” 

While Lincoln does not currently have any staff members with a specific focus on chronic absences or truancies, an additional truancy counselor is under discussion. 

“We may add in another counselor who will do home visits, who will sit down to bring back the students… that’s something we do have to look at,” Balisi says. “We want to start thinking about that for next school year’s budget.”

By: Aneyah Wolridge

During the adolescent stage, stress could be caused by a multitude of factors such as homework, keeping up with academics, social life, trying to figure out your identity, and even things going on at home. Just simply being a teenager is stressful as the body is going through physiological and psychological changes, it could be a lot to handle.

According to The American Institute of Stress, some teens become overloaded with stress. When this happens, it can lead to anxiety, withdrawal, aggression, physical illness, or poor coping skills such as drugs and/or alcohol use.

Lincoln senior Genesis Diaz states, “And usually, once someone gets the first hit into the drug, they can become addicted so it becomes a routine.”

While this may seem like a “good way” to forget everything temporarily or escape, this affects you negatively in the long run. Substances are addicting, and you could get hooked on them quickly. But to quit is extremely difficult because the brain is already dependent on these substances and can experience harsh withdrawals when trying to quit. 

According to the American Psychological Association's Stress in America 2020 survey, about 43% of teens said their stress levels had gone up since the pandemic, and 45% said they have a hard time concentrating on schoolwork. 

A Lincoln junior who wishes to stay anonymous said, “ [Students] don’t know which to put as priority [school or mental health], because mental health can result in poor academics which makes them unmotivated to boost academics.”

Diaz also stated, “Academics get in the way of our mental health because we prioritize graduating by any means possible, that in turn can greatly affect the mental wellbeing of students.”

In an article by Clearfork academy, one of the main reasons why academic pressure can have such a detrimental effect on teens’ mental health is the constant fear of failure. The pressure to excel academically and meet high expectations can create a sense of anxiety and stress that can be overwhelming.

Although experiencing stress is normal here and there, too much stress can lead to both physical and mental health issues such as depression, increased anxiety, changes in eating habits (eating too much or too little), muscle tensions, trouble sleeping, and high blood pressure just to name a few effects.

Mental health and academic performance goes hand in hand and is hard to balance, focusing too much on one or the other could affect the other factor negatively. If someone chooses to prioritize their mental health and well-being, their academic performance could go down, but if they choose to prioritize their academics, their mental health goes down.

One way to better prioritize mental health is by practicing mindfulness. A study led by a Penn State faculty member suggests that practicing mindfulness exercises, particularly mindful breathing, could enable adolescents to more effectively manage the stress in their lives. It’s convenient to practice mindfulness anywhere, at home, on the commute to school, even during school. Taking small steps to better prioritize your mental health could also boost your academic performance.

Another way to lessen stress while balancing academics is practicing good time management. So instead of going on electronics once you get home from school, set up a time to do homework and to take a break in between homework sessions.

There are many ways to improve mental health and stress levels while trying to balance academics at the same time, instead of trying to focus on one aspect or the other.