Being under the age of 18, teens are not allowed to vote. I and many other students from Uni and other high schools took the opportunity to find a way to be a part of the voting process by volunteering to work at the polls.

As a teen working at the polls for the first time, it was a bit of a challenge, but it was overall worth it. We had to learn about all the new equipment and procedures. It didn’t get packed until the last two days. I worked around people who were more experienced in working at the polls and they told me all about how people love to come on the last day. One thing for sure is that we never ran out of supplies. We basically had the whole supply closet and it was worth it to prevent the spread of Covid.

We used epollbooks, which are used to give voters their ballots. There were also machines called BMDs, which were used so voters could officially cast their vote.

I remember having a nice conversation with a voter and in regards to the voting systems being used, she said, “I like the new machines, the old machines were way harder.” I wasn’t around to see the old way of voting, but she made it sound difficult.

Salimata Kéré, a senior from Uni who also worked as a volunteer stated, “I really enjoyed it because the environment I worked at was very welcoming and considerate of my experience. Everything was super organized, and they even gave us food.”

There were people who were new to voting and had never voted before. Those people were older than me and some my age, but it shows a lot about the impact this generation made on the importance of voting.

Of course, money came with the work, but I obviously loved the experience more. Kéré added, “They were super nice. I would still go back even if they weren’t paying us.”

In the end, as student poll workers we got the chance to interact with new people and learn the inner workings of voting.

Feminism is traditionally defined as, “The advocacy of women's rights and the bias on the equality of sexes." In a more or less traditional manner, there are various different interpretations. The idea and concept of feminism formally started in 1848.

As the years have gone by, the original meaning has changed. Some feminists today might disagree with what is now known as old-fashioned feminism. According to Jessa Crispin the author of “Why I am Not a Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto,” modern day feminism, “Works for us to be pretty and sexy, it gets us money and male attention, and there’s an idea that it improves our life and makes it feminist somehow.” Essentially, Crispin is trying to say that this not what feminism now stands for.

So what does feminism mean to women? Why would women consider themselves feminist today?

Stephanie Luis, a classmate of mine, stated, “I define feminism as advocacy for gender equality among all women. That includes women of all races, ethnicities, ages, socio-economic status, religions, sexual orientation, abilities, and disabilities.” Based on Stephanie's definition, she would consider herself a feminist, as would I.

However, with today's modern feminism, this is not the case for me. I believe that over time based on the traditional definition I would be a feminist, but now there has been a lot of changes to the movement that I cannot get behind on.

Modern feminism has become more of a sense of acceptance and the idea of using men and one's own body to gain some form of self-confidence, which modern feminists consider feminism. Due to this idea, I don't consider myself a feminist in today's modern day fashion.

But when it comes to the first wave of feminism, I am one.

“In these uncertain times…”

Surely we’ve all heard or read those words A LOT these past few months, but what do they actually mean? Well, we’re unfortunately living in a pandemic. That means staying at home, social-distancing from those outside of our households, and taking greater care of our health and those around us.

It’s not the first time a pandemic has happened in America; in fact back in 2009, (almost 11 years ago!) the world faced a swine-flu pandemic, the H1N1, that lasted for about 19 months. Thankfully, a lot of students were too young to even remember. It is, however, the first time a pandemic like this has happened, at least in our lifetimes.

So, instead of feeling sorry for ourselves while we sit at home, what can we do? Well, below are some ideas of things that might help keep you busy until it is time to go outside and see each other again.

First, how about picking up a new hobby? Hobbies are extremely diverse and there’s bound to be one for you. For me personally, I am a professional magician and I play guitar and bass. So maybe learning some magic tricks or learning to play an instrument interests you.

If not, how about writing or reading? There are countless novels out there and several series worth reading or re-reading. Some of my recommendations fall under the sci-fi genre, so if you’re into that sort of thing, I suggest the Pendragon series! It’s a fantastic ten-book series that is filled with twists and turns and gets progressively more serious as you read further into it.

If you're more into the writing aspect, however, you’re in luck! Last month actually happened to be NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month). If you create a free account on their website, you’ll have access to a whole platform dedicated to helping you write a novel. It’s never too late to start!

Maybe you’ve already got a lot of hobbies, and you just want to help make this whole situation a little more bearable. If so, there are still lots of organizations out there looking for volunteers to help. Reading-To-Kids is a fantastic organization based right here in LA that meets once a month to help encourage reading to underprivileged students. Myself and some Uni alumni still volunteer with the organization, and for you underclassmen, it looks great on your college applications.

If you’re looking for extracurricular activities, you could also join some of Uni’s clubs. Uni has various clubs students could choose from: aquatics club, robotics club, Class of 2021-2024, video games club, speech and debate club, and the list goes on. Perhaps one of these might suit your interests. At the very least, it’s a great way to spend some free time and see your friends, even if it is virtual.

Ultimately you should do what’s best for you in the here and now, and if that happens to be some of the things I’ve mentioned, great! If not, that’s okay too. I wish you all well during “these uncertain times,” and I hope to see you all again in person soon.

Hippo Campus has been adapting to the 2020 quarantine in a unique way when compared to all other music artists right now. They’ve been adjusting to not being able to do live shows by performing the “Dream Stream." The Hippo Campus' Dream Stream is explained in c3concerts as being, “Made up of two hometown shows, filmed live at Minneapolis’ historic First Avenue. Each night includes a different set list pulling from the band’s catalog, along with some never-before-heard tracks.”

Hippo Campus is an indie rock band that formed in 2013. They’ve been pumping out loud EPs and dreamy, experimental, and brilliantly written albums since their band formation. In 2019 two of the band members, including Jake Luppen, Nathan Stocker, and newcomer Caleb Hinz, made an EP under the name Baby Boys called “I’m Set." Baby Boys have been producing singles ever since. Luppen produced the album Lupin and released it in the fall of 2020 under the same name.

Most artists right now are void of any activity or content, but Hippo Campus, Baby Boys, and Lupin don’t seem to be even close to being out of ideas for the future, especially, their main singer, Jake Luppen. Baby Boys seem to be the middle ground between Hippo Campus and Lupin. It paved the path for the difference but is more of a sequel to Hippo Campus if anything.

Jake Luppen or, Lupin, as he goes by, then created his own, more edgy and explicit, solo project in between their sophomore album Bambi and the Dream Stream. Lupin is a psychedelic nightmare of an album, in a good way. It has it’s loud and bombastic moments and it’s calm and reflective moments, all making for a hell of a project. All of its lyrics are extremely personal and vulnerable to boot. They are like messages to people he knows. Lyrics such as “I hope you're alright, the sun's turning red I hope that it sets so gently now, don't beat a dead horse. There's some things you can't revive despite how hard you try” from the final track of the album, NZ, that demonstrates the personal messages.

Lupin highlights the different thought processes and expectations when making a solo project compared to a band’s commercial album. During his “Talkhouse Podcast with Naeem” he speaks about how differently he thinks when writing for the band and writing for his solo project. The pressure of expecting to play it live versus just writing it with only the music by itself in mind. Lupin identifies more of the difference in his interview with atwoodmagazine when he said, “Yeah, so crazy [to be] writing music when I was 19, and being in a band and kind of getting known for that, and then growing as an artist. But you can only release an album like once every two years as a band, so people don’t get to see everything that happens along the way.”

It's interesting seeing such a deep perspective inside the mind of an artist trying a bit of everything. Jake Luppen is on fire with all of his projects and is someone worth your time to check out.

Guatemala has a variety of fun and amazing traditions. I got to experience a lot of Guatemalan traditions before moving to the United states. One tradition in particular that I found interesting was “La Quema del Diablo,” which happens every year on December 7th. Guatemalans on that day gather to burn either a piñata or handcrafted figure of the devil at 6 pm.

When I was little, I enjoyed watching people party while the devil's figure burned to ashes. However, I didn’t care to ask my mother for an explanation as to why we had that tradition. It wasn’t until recently that I saw a picture on Facebook of the celebration and I realized that it was weird that people gathered around to burn the devil. I didn’t know when or why the tradition started.

Before researching, I asked my mother why Guatemala has such a tradition and she said, “La Quema del Diablo is a day in which we burn a figure of the devil to keep bad energies and spirits away. In the city they use piñatas, but in the towns people make the devil’s figure with clothes or other materials and add details like a mustache, hat, and other things like that. Over time it has become more of a celebration and now people play music and put fireworks on the figures.”

According to National Geographic, an expert on Guatemalan popular culture named Celso Lara explained, “At the Santo Domingo monastery in Antigua, it became an annual tradition to burn a figure of the devil and light firecrackers on the Day of the Rosary in late October.” Then the celebration was moved to December to “coincide” with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Back then, people believed that the devil creeped up on their homes. Hence, to purify their homes of the devil and evil spirits, people would burn their trash. Eventually, the tradition changed to people burning a piñata or figure of the devil with music and fireworks to celebrate keeping the bad spirits away.

It is evident that the tradition has now turned more into a fun thing and people have lost the main idea behind it. Now Guatemalans await December 7th for the music, the fireworks, and to see who made the coolest devil. It is not only partying, but people have taken advantage of the celebration to make devil figures with the face of politicians and other people they dislike.

The eagerness to celebrate has made some Guatemalans forget that the tradition started to keep bad energies and spirits away. Not to mention, burning materials like paper, carton, plastic, and other things is no good to the environment.

Nevertheless, I still find the tradition important as it is part of my Guatemalan culture. Such a unique traditional celebration as “La Quema del Diablo” allows family members and friends to gather up and make fun memories that they could pass on to younger generations and keep the Guatemalan traditions thriving.