By Sarah Greenblatt

January 2026

Growing up, I have been blessed with the privilege of being able to travel. My mom has always loved to take later flights, redeyes, because that allows us to do more during the day. She loves to say, “We can sleep when we die.” The problem is I would lose hours of sleep and find myself tired and more irritable. And, this was not only my mom saying things like this. We are told that if we lose a few hours of sleep, we have a good work ethic. But, sleep should not be the price that hard workers have to pay. 

Over the summer, I attended a camp that was meant to teach students what it is like to be a part of a business. My team elected me the Chief Executive Officer. The first thing that the camp leader said to me was “you might lose some sleep, but it will be worth it.” But, loss of sleep is not something that should be “worth it.” Sleep is a biological necessity and a key component of health and organizational functioning. Additionally, improved sleep has been shown to lead to better mental health. So, we should not be encouraging sleep to be lost. 

Furthermore, many people are forced to give up the things they love or lose sleep. I am a member of the drama club at our school. Musical rehearsals can sometimes go as late as ten at night. So, without even factoring in the time to get home, eat dinner, and get ready to go to sleep, I would only be getting seven hours of sleep, below the recommended amount of sleep, because I have to wake up for school. This means that the school system forces me to choose between continuing with theater or prioritizing my sleep. As a hard worker involved in many things, I am forced to suffer. And, this is not only me who experiences this. Psychologist Todd Arnedt, who specializes in treating patients with insomnia, reasons, “We're a very engaged 24/7 society, and one of the first activities that gets curtailed is our sleep, and many people are just not devoting enough time to sleep at nighttime." 

Sleep deprivation due to work can be partially attributed to the “grind culture” present in America which is a culture built on the belief that the harder you work, the more successful you will be. In many situations this can be true, but sleep deprivation is not a good method towards success. Losing a few hours of sleep might seem like an effective way to get more work done, but  sleep deprivation leads to poorer performance and productivity. This can also lead to a cycle where a person repeatedly loses sleep to make up for their lack of productivity, but that lack of sleep makes them less productive.

So, both schools and work places need to ensure they are promoting the importance of sleep, and reforming their schedules to allow for better sleep. One way to ensure that these healthy changes can be implemented would be to alter the beginning of school to a later start time. Local schools in the Pittsburgh community, including Upper Saint Clair, have already instituted these changes in accordance with the results of the aforementioned studies. 

A later school start time would provide countless benefits to not only students but also staff. According to a Carnegie Mellon University study and the CDC, more sleep is directly correlated to better academic performance in addition to better physical health. Delaying school start time would also be safer for those who drive to school. Studies have shown that drivers between the ages of 16-24, the ages of all student drivers in our district, are twice as likely to be involved in drowsy driving car accidents. Pushing the start time of school to be even just 30 minutes later would not only create a more interactive learning environment, but also offer a safer commute. 

Our district has an opportunity to make a profound difference in students’ physical health, safety, and likelihood for academic success by following the research and advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics -- prioritize sleep by modifying the school start time.

By: Ryan Handshue

January 2026

Poetry is the greatest art form of all time. There, I said it. Unlike movies, dramas, ballets, and any other liberal art creation, poetry is versatile and distinct; a needle in a very homogeneous haystack.

In poetry, there is no set of strict Hollywood rules of what you can and can’t produce, no banquets and balls and book-signings.  No loud, annoying singing. No over-the-top showy ribbons, and flair, and madness when a new creation is finally erected. No. 

The true poet is lowly; a humble thinker with the sole purpose of adding a new viewpoint to an opinionated world. As the great Robert Frost once spoke: “I have never started a poem whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering.” Indeed it is, Mr. Frost. When writing any other piece of creativity, you are heavily recommended to follow an outline or summary. It would be absolutely maniacal to begin a movie, book, or play, without a concept of what is going to happen. 

The beautiful part about poetry, as Frost writes, is that planning can be disregarded. Poetry is like an old wooden chest filled with thoughts and details and experiences, which in increments, take their form. 

The reason why poetry is the best is simply the fact that anyone can write poems. Through just having an imagination or opinion, and by wanting to express yourself, your ideas are set to take shape into poems which are traditional or abstract. 

Think about it: if Steven Spielberg was a poet, there might be aliens in Jurassic Park. The shark in Jaws would not be an amoral killer, but instead a symbol of a struggle the protagonist is facing, whether it be in work, social, or family life. 

Poetry is simply different. According to a study by Berkeley Education, poetry can improve both your physical and mental well-being. Imagine that. If you work on poetry, it can help you self-improve, ultimately making you more confident and more willing to write more poetry. 

Isn’t that awesome?

Here are some types of poetry:

Ballad- Like a song. It can also tell a story.

Haiku- Traditionally about nature, but there are no rules, so write about whatever you want. What’s stopping you?

Freeverse- There are NO restrictions. None.

Now, you may have heard or been taught at some point in your life that your poems need to rhyme. I am here to tell you that that is the biggest lie you will ever hear. The only poem that requires you to rhyme is the sonnet, which is a 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and typically written in iambic pentameter. I disagree, though. I think rhyming’s dumb. I think sonnets are dumb. I don’t like rhyming sonnets. In fact, here’s a sonnet. A non-rhyming sonnet against sonnets.

Sonnet #1

This sonnet does not rhyme.

I don’t like rhyming.

I just broke the rules.

Take that Sir Henry Wyatt.

Another idea is that poetry is too “old school” or “too difficult” to understand. I would like to say that that is 100% correct. At least partly. You see, poetry is difficult to understand, and that's the beauty of it. I don't fully know exactly what every line of every poem means; however, I still appreciate the fact that I can interpret each piece based on how it applies to me. The more I read, the better a poet I become. Isn’t it beautiful that every poem has millions of meanings, and every poem can mean something different to whomever interprets it? I think so.

Now, I have questions for you. Why did you read this article? What have you learned? Do you want to write poetry? Do you want to be a poet?

I urge you to indulge yourself in the art of poetry. At least try it, as you will never know if you enjoy it otherwise. Write, create, inspire. You’ll thank me later.

By Justin Fry

January 2026

In the past couple years, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) transfer portal has been ruining college athletics by turning it into a free agency market. Instead of chasing team chemistry and loyalty, athletes have been more focused on things like name, image, and likeness (NIL) and playing time. These aspects are ruining college sports.

If you were to go back five to six years, you rarely saw any student athlete in the portal. That's because athletes were more focused on grinding, creating loyalty, getting a good education, and winning in their programs. It wasn't until July 1, 2021 that the transfer portal really started to boom. 

This date marks when the NCAA began to allow college athletes to profit from endorsements and other deals to make money. Ever since that fateful day, all the athletes heads turned. College athletics transformed from being about teamwork and brotherhood into a business that's all about money. 

Today, we have 18-year-old high school athletes being offered millions of dollars to go play college sports. For example, in 2024 Louisiana State University (LSU) had offered a five star recruit named Bryce Underwood $1.5 million to play football there. He later committed to LSU, and could later be seen on different social media platforms, Instagram and Twitter (X), remarking how LSU was his "dream school" and how much he loved the program. All it took was 6 months for all that to change. In November of the same year, Underwood was offered $11 million dollars to go play football at the University of Michigan. He immediately flipped his commitment to go play for the team up north.

In my opinion, this is just disgraceful. This act shows how much money can affect someone's personality. Underwood transferred from his dream school simply because he was getting paid more to go to Michigan, proving the negative impact of money on athletics.

The transfer portal is also making collegiate athletics unfair for the smaller NCAA schools. The Daily Campus Website states that the Ohio State University (OSU) "Buckeyes" football team earned upwards of $20 million for winning the 2025 CFP National Championship—an unfathomable amount of money. OSU now gets to put that money towards paying new athletes to create a better team, buying more advanced equipment, and paying more coaches. This creates a never-ending cycle where bigger programs continue to get richer, while the smaller schools are left struggling to compete.

Although the small schools may have talented players, the second they find success these bigger schools often harass them, offering more money and exposure. This defeats long-term development in the programs and makes it nearly impossible for the smaller schools to sustain success.

In conclusion, the transfer portal and NIL have changed college sports for the worse. What was once a program built on teamwork and loyalty has become completely overpowered by money and constant movement. Unless the NCAA puts stricter rules and regulations in place, collegiate athletics will continue to drift further away from their original purpose, ultimately ruining college athletics forever.