Nyanza Williams 2022

Hello fellow UHS Staycationers! 

I hope your time at home is going well. During this interesting time, when the news is negating everything and our parents are going crazy with disinfectant, it can be difficult to remember that there is still good left in the world. But don’t worry, I got your back :) All you have to do is look at room 208 to witness some straight-up sunshine. Now I know, I know, Chemistry may not be (or have been) your favorite subject, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the woman who sits at the desk with the love of spreadsheets and the Critters. In case you didn’t already realize, I’m talking about the one and only Mrs. Royce. Anyone who has been in her classroom can sense the greatness that radiates from within her. She embodies the true meaning of not only being a teacher but a mentor as well. Her dedication to each and every student’s success is undeniable. Personally, I have to admit that when I first started Chemistry, I was afraid. All of the reports I had heard were that the class was extremely difficult and hard to pass. I was afraid of getting everything wrong, of speaking out in class and even talking to Mrs. Royce in general. 

The novel coronavirus pandemic has caused distress among Americans all over the country for their personal health. However, for Asian Americans, the situation at hand has caused a different threat: a barrage of racist attacks. The FBI claimed Chinese and Asian Americans are currently experiencing heightened hate crimes due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

We have witnessed an abundance of racist cases on the news already. At a Sam’s Club in Texas, a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old were stabbed because the alleged perpetrator thought, “the family was Chinese and spreading the disease.” In Queens, NY, a 44-year-old man was charged with aggravated harassment after allegedly harassing and pushing a 47-year-old Asian man who was walking his son to the bus stop.

Writer Jeff Yang, contributor to CNN, and co-host of a podcast about being Asian in America, underwent what he deems his own “breathing while Asian” moment while shopping at his community grocery store in Los Angeles. Yang says he was taken aback when a woman leaving the store noticed him -- the only Asian in the supermarket line. Unmasked, she began shouting profanities, theatrically coughing in his direction, and drove away.

Throughout the celebration of Easter, the Easter Bunny has become more and more integrated within the holiday as time progressed. The Easter Bunny is referred to as a folkloric character, delivering Easter eggs to obedient children. However, when did the Easter Bunny become such a major influence during the Easter holiday? There are various speculations to how the Easter Bunny came to be, but an answer to how this figure became recognized in America all started with German immigrants. According to several reports, as German immigrants in the 1700s settled in Pennsylvania, they also brought along their tradition of what is now the Easter Bunny. Throughout the years, this custom spread further along in the United States, slowly evolving along the way. With the rich past the Easter Bunny has on this holiday, I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Easter!

It’s important to have a clean and fresh space to work and live in, and with all the time we have to ourselves now, it is a perfect time to start your spring cleaning. Cleaning definitely isn’t the most fun activity, but there are many ways to make it a more efficient process rather than a long, boring one. Figuring out what works best for you may take some time and is all up to you, but here is a breakdown on a few ways you can do your spring cleaning while cleansing your mind, body, and space around you.

Physical Space

Clearing your physical space (whether it’s your bedroom, work room, or office) is an essential part of feeling happy and healthy while you’re at home. The space that you live in should be where you feel at your best, so cleaning up is an important thing to keep in mind during this quarantine. A good way to start is by organizing by category. Write a list of the different categories you’re trying to organize, including different categories like clothes, books, stationery, beauty and skin care, or whatever you want. For each catergory, take an item and try to figure out whether or not it sparks joy. If you can’t determine right away, put it in a separate pile and go through it again, asking yourself again whether or not it sparks joy. The items that spark joy can be kept, and the items that don’t can be discarded. This method comes from Marie Kondo, called the KonMari method, who says to “choose to keep only the things that speak to your heart, and let go of everything else.” She has many books that you can read that explain the KonMari method and tidying up in more depth. After deciding what you’re going to keep, designate a home for each of these items and finally, disinfect and clean everything. Vacuum or mop the floors, wash your sheets and clothes, wipe down and dust anything that needs it. Do whatever needs to be done so that your space is fresh and clean. All of this can help with learning how to let go, appreciating things, and being more cautious when spending. 

Self Care

Self care can come in many ways, but this way will mostly focus on cleansing your body. This isn’t too difficult to accomplish, but doing a deep cleanse can help your physical and mental state a lot. Detoxing your external self is a great way to tell your body that you love and care for it. Take a shower or a bath and just focus on cleaning every part of your body (try not to waste water!). Give your hair and your scalp a nice rinse. Exfoliate your body and scrub all the dirt and grime off your body. Shave or wax if you want. Brush your teeth for the full 2 minutes and use mouthwash. Go ahead and try a face mask or exfoliator. Clip or file your hand and toe nails. Everybody’s body is different, so do whatever your body needs because you deserve it. 

Digital Space

Clearing your digital space can be just as important as clearing your physical space. With all the digital learning, now is more important than ever. It can be a very simple process, depending on the person. If you’re the type of person who has over 10,000 photos in their camera roll, you might want to put your phone on do not disturb and spend some time looking through them deciding what you want to keep and what you don’t. The same goes for messages. Some of us carry messages from 2 years ago, which you probably will never need again. 

Earth Day just passed on April 22. However, celebration of the environmental movement and constant efforts to maintain a clean habitat should take place every day. Saving the planet is a huge concept, but there are a plethora of simple things you can do at home. These are ways anyone can and should diminish the effects of abuse our planet has suffered.

• Use Energy Efficient Lightbulbs - They reduce your power usage and are inexpensive. If each house in America did this, we would reduce pollution by the same amount as removing a million cars from the road!

• Always Recycle Glass - A glass not recycled can take up to a million years to decompose. Recycling your glass can reduce related water pollution by up to fifty percent and related air pollution by up to twenty percent.

• Use a Clothesline - Switch off the dryer and hang your clothes outside to naturally dry. The material will smell and feel fresher and will last longer.

UHS students have been in quarantine since March 13th, when Dr. Bushman announced that we would start online classes the next week. Since then, there has been a whirlwind of information and many things have happened since then. Online classes began, students began to get bored, etc. I decided to ask people what they had been doing to keep busy during quarantine. I asked this at the beginning and at the end of the month. These were the answers that people gave. 

At the beginning of quarantine, most people were having trouble finding things to do. Many of us went on several trips to the fridge, going on Tiktok, doing our makeup for no reason and sleeping (Kylie Carr, Ashleann Chen, Francesca Abiera, Elsa Macias, Patience Carbajal). Many people found themselves stressed out with many homework assignments and not enough time in the day to do them because of the change in schedule (Halli Hickman, Ari Ruiz). Others actually found themselves being productive, and doing academic activities like reading without being asked to (Emma Woodward, Charis Gray).  Evelynn Her found herself reminiscing on everything that has changed over the course of two months. “The real big bummer is the way we go, not with a bang but stuck at home in hopes to flatten the curve. Who knew those days were our last? … without proper goodbyes to the rest of our class… many memories lost and inexperienced things we won’t get back. And all we can do is move on to the next stage of our lives.”

Joann Moon 2022

By now you’ve heard the phrase “Stay safe!”, and “Stay six feet apart!” at least a million times.  But what does that really entail?  If you’re only one person, going to hang out with your friends should be fine, right?  After all, none of you have the Coronavirus, so there’s no way to contract it.  Though going out and having fun with your friends sounds way more appealing than sitting at home wasting hours on Netflix, we must practice social distancing to overcome this pandemic as a global society. 

Though Governor Newsom recently announced the gradual ease of shelter in place orders by May 31, that does not signify that our social distanced, house arrest-like lives will finally be over.  

“This is the time we should really appreciate each and every single human being living on this earth because you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow.” 

Mallika Mahendru  

With COVID-19 sweeping our world, infecting upwards of 3.5 million people, it is crucial that measures are taken so that you or others don’t heighten chances of getting infected.  Yes, it’s completely understandable that you miss your friends.  Of course seeing them through a screen just feels different than laughing and smiling with them.  But it is our civic duty to adhere to these social distancing measures- not only for the safety of yourself, but our public health crisis.  Though you may be tempted by watching Snapchat stories of your peers breaking social distancing, kindly remind them that this protocol is not optional. (You know who you are.)  This pandemic has swept the lives of upwards 250,000 people across the globe- do your part to prevent this virus and stay home! 

CNBC News reported two weeks ago “...the Coronavirus has erased nearly all of the job Gains that occurred after the Great Recession”.  Just last year, the economy saw record- low unemployment rates- but as this pandemic continues to escalate, factors surrounding the global economy will accelerate to a tremendous descent.  But, you’re probably thinking, what does that have to do with me?  That really sucks but I can’t just fix the world’s problems like that.  It does! Doing your part to better this virus is not meeting your friends in person at unsafe proximities. 

Ultimately, going to the mall with your friends will not solve our economic issues.  But what will help is adhering to social distancing and staying home until COVID news substantially improves.  The sooner everyone decides to stay home to prevent the virus spread, the quicker overarching economical matters are likely to be facilitated.  Feeling miserable is completely valid, but the burden is on us, fellow teens who are all facing quarantine, to tell our friends that breaking an order enforced by our governor is unlawful. 

The celebratory cheers of school being canceled last month were full of joy - now being stuck without real-life contact of your friends, here are some ways to cope with being home alone:

• Zooming a movie with your friends 

• Picking up a hobby you never had time for during the school year

• Studying with your friends via FaceTime

• Baking cookies and dropping them off at your loved ones’ homes

• Rearranging your room

• Taking self-timed pictures of yourself outside

If you want an easy lunch to make, look no further!  Making baked beans and cheese quesadillas for a snack, lunch, or dinner can be followed with uncomplicated cooking directions.  The ingredients to make this recipe is 2 (15 oz) cans BUSH'S Black Beans, drained 1 ½  cups salsa 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 2 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend, 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas (I normally use whole wheat), ⅓ cup sour cream (Greek yogurt is a great substitute as well!), 2 tablespoons oil (for brushing the tortillas)  Above all steps, make sure you preheat stove to 350 degrees.  Spot one container of beans into a bowl and delicately crush with a potato masher or the rear of a fork.  Blend in the remaining container of entire beans, 1 cup of salsa and cumin. (Here you would include any extra blend ins like slashed onion, corn or cilantro).   Spot tortillas level on a huge cutting load up, you may need to do 4 at a time contingent upon space.  Spread blend uniformly on half of 8 tortillas.  Top with cheddar.  Crease over and place on gently lubed preparing sheet.  Brush every quesadilla with a limited quantity of oil (or splash with cooking shower).  Spot in the stove and prepare for 20-25 minutes until cheddar is softened and tortillas are daintily sautéed.  Finally, cut into wedges and present with extra salsa and harsh cream (or plain Greek yogurt).  This is a nice, fulfilling recipe to make at any time, with minimal effort!

As you can see, being in the kitchen is a great way to kill some time during quarantine.  These recipes, and many more, are very manageable and entertaining to assemble.  This, along with fitting time into your days in quarantine to deeply thank medical personnel for their wonderful efforts in flattening the curve, should be implemented in your daily schedules.

“Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake.” Allrecipes, www.allrecipes.com/recipe/241038/microwave-chocolate-mug-cake/.

“Sheet Pan Quesadillas: Oven Baked Black Bean and Cheese Quesadillas.” Aggie's Kitchen, 17 Mar. 2019, aggieskitchen.com/oven-baked-black-bean-and-cheese-quesadillas/.