ACTIVITIES
ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE
If you’ve been on Instagram lately, you have probably seen people being nominated to dump ice water on their heads. This is because of an Ice Bucket Challenge started by the University of South Carolina to raise awareness for mental health. Unfortunately, the trend does not raise much awareness if people do not look into the foundation behind the challenge. According to their Instagram and website, USC Mind is a Mental Illness Needs Discussion club focused on destigmatizing mental health. The Ice Bucket Challenge could bring a lot more awareness if this information was included with the trend. Overall, I think it’s fun to nominate your friends to get water poured on them, I just wish people were talking about the awareness side of the moment. – Noa Zilber
THE SIMPLE JOY OF PAYING TO BE TRAPPED IN A ROOM
If you, like me, are an enjoyer of puzzles, logic, riddles, etc, you may find escape rooms very fun. The basic idea of an escape room is that you’re trapped in a room (usually with a few friends) and you have to solve a series of puzzles around the room to eventually be able to unlock a key to escape the room. Various types of puzzles can be found around the room, so you and all your friends can have your own opportunities to show off your very big brains. They usually last an hour and are best accompanied by a dinner afterward to celebrate your achievements. All in all, a very fun time. – Maren Merkel
WORD HUNT
I very often enjoy asserting my dominance among my friends and family, especially when it comes to my intellect. A method that I have used since the pandemic to do so is the Game Pigeon game “Word Hunt.” Ask anyone who knows me well enough; I’m a complete and utter boss at this game. Many of my opponents have still yet to beat me and begin to shudder in terror at the mere mention of it. No matter the skill of my opponent or the challenging aspect of the board, I am the constant champion in almost every match I participate in. It’s as if the letters speak another language to me, the language of underground and barely-even-English English words. For context, I recently secured my 1074th win in the game, and my record is 37,000 points in one match. Unless, out of incredible circumstance, you can best me, I henceforth declare all must bow before me as the “Word Hunt” Queen. – Finley Malone
GET A HOUSE
This spring break was undoubtedly THE best spring break for me. Back in January, I jokingly asked my friends in our 13-person group chat if they had plans for spring break. Somehow, these plans made it out of the group chat, as the plans soon became reality. We managed to get 10 of us to all rent a house up in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Let me tell you, it was the nicest house ever. It was huge, 7 rooms with 13 beds in all. With 6 bathrooms, there was little clutter amongst our 10-person group. With multiple communal spaces, a big kitchen, and balconies galore, the house was perfect for a group our size. Did I mention there was an elevator? And no, we totally didn’t break it on our first day there…. Being a 5-minute walk from the beach and the house having a hot tub and pool, there was never a boring moment for us guys. If you’re ever planning on going on a trip with friends, get a good house. 10/10 would recommend. – Michael Bryant
THRIFT STORES
Recently I haven’t been able to work as much because it’s my senior year and blah blah blah… so I’ve been a little bit short on money, but it’s almost summer and I am fiending for new clothes. I was driving to Target the other day and passed a Goodwill, I decided to pull in there instead. I spent $25 and got 3 pairs of shorts, 2 tops, and a pair of sunglasses. I’ve already worn every single thing that I bought, and I don’t feel guilty about spending money. Plus, it’s better for the environment to reuse clothes than to just keep buying brand-new ones! – Ella Engle
CENOTE TANKACH-HA
Not local in the least bit, but worth the trip. This is a closed cenote, so essentially a crystal clear lake in a cave, located a few kilometers outside of Coba, Mexico (about an hour’s drive from Tulum). For about $5, you get to walk toward a hole in the ground with stairs going down below the jungle. Cement steps give way to wooden steps and then you are on a 60-foot tall wooden stairwell inside a cave that is lit by a few electric lights (one is under water). Bats flutter around the roof of the cave, and if few people are inside you can hear them talking to one another. The stairwell has two platforms – one 10 meters above the water, the other 5 meters. The water is 30 feet deep at its shallowest, and about 180 feet deep in others. Why are you still reading? Go! Go! – Fred Avett
LISTENING AND WATCHING
MINECRAFT MOVIE
On Saturday, I went to see the Minecraft movie and, honestly, I am surprised by how much I liked it. It was a great viewing experience. Thankfully, I did not get popcorn or water thrown on me. The crowd was very respectful and the movie itself was way better than I expected. It stayed mostly game-accurate, with only a couple additions like speaking characters or weird features that were mainly added for the plot. I enjoyed the amount of references and how they got DanTDM and LDShadowlady in the movie as well. My favorite part was definitely the side-plot of Jennifer Coolidge with the villager. Overall, this movie was super funny and did not disappoint me at all. I would recommend watching it if you grew up with Minecraft, because if you didn’t you probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much. – Sasha Lapayeva
YOUR LIE IN APRIL (四月は君の嘘)
“Some lies are beautiful enough to change your life forever.” That was what this show taught me. Every start of Spring, when the flowers blossom and the pollen sneezes, it is time to watch it again. The story follows Kousei, a once child prodigy at the piano, who meets a girl called Kaori, an aspiring violinist. Across the show, we follow Kousei Arima and Kaori, along with their two friends Watari and Tsubaki ride the rainbow of sunshine, love, and sadness. At the end of the story, though, most people are left in tears. It is truly a beautiful show and encapsulates the ever-changing seasons of teenage weather. Not only will it touch your heart, but this show will also leave you truly wondering about life, what it means to love & lose, and what it means to be here. – Tommy Liang
THE INHERITANCE GAMES BOOKS
People have been begging me to read the Inheritance Games book series for months and I’ve been resistant. The cover of the books look like fantasy, and I was judging them by their covers by not reading them. When I slept over with my friend last month, however, she forced me to read the first few chapters. I read and read, and before I knew it, I was hooked. The premise of the book is a girl in high school inherits billions of dollars from the rich, late Tobias Hawthorne even though she doesn’t know the family and isn’t related as far as she knows. So many things happen to her as the richest teenager in America and living in the Hawthorne House with the disinherited family members. The first book gets a little slow in the middle, but stick with it because it picks up. I’m so excited to read the last two books and I recommend you do too! – Ellie Owens
TWICE
Twice, a nine person girl group that consists of Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Sana, Momo, Tzuyu, Mina, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung. Twice is what got me into Korean Pop. My admiration towards them gravitated when they released Moonlight Sunrise in 2023. Their vocals are beyond exceptional and their music is very poppy and cheerful. Their earlier albums are more cheerful and as the years went by their music matured which gives a range of music to those who want to try to listen to Twice. I recommend Twice to anyone who wants to get into girl pop and k-pop because their music will change your mood instantly. Whether you’re looking for cheerful, heart broken, or girl boss music, Twice has it all. – Teresita Trujillo
KOE WETZEL
I’ve recently been listening to a new country artist named Koe Wetzel. Koe is wildly different from most artists because his early work blurs the lines between multiple genres like rock and nineties grunge and his lyrics have a very different narrative than most country songs, because he sings about severe topics like jail and drug abuse, which are rarely referenced in the country songs you hear on the radio. One of my favorite songs from him is “Damn Near Normal,” which narrates the downward spiral of a drug addict’s life. I also love “High Road,” a song about peacefully walking away from a toxic relationship. (The original version features Jessie Murph; I strongly prefer the solo version.) Another great song from his 2020 album Sellout is “Drunk Driving,” which reflects on self-destructive behavior and using reckless behavior as a coping mechanism. Stream Koe Wetzel on Spotify here. – Maven Bolick
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
The Usual Suspects was a fantastic movie written by Christopher Mcquarrie, who also wrote Top Gun Maverick and two Mission Impossible movies. Verbal, a talkative observant criminal, tells the story of a period of six weeks which began with him meeting four other criminals in a police lineup and ended with a fatal battle on a pier. Throughout these weeks, events are manipulated by the mysterious Keyser Soze. We learn more and more about Soze as we try to guess their motivations and intentions. I really liked some dialogue in and the pacing of the movie, and I loved the execution of the final twist. – Jackson Lee
PIPER ROCKELLE AND THE SQUAD
I just finished the Piper Rockelle documentary that was released on netflix on April 9. Piper Rockelle became very famous from a young age on YouTube. Piper’s mom, Tiffany, immediately became her manager and she was interested in expanding her platform. They added a few other kids her age to the videos and this group became known as “The Squad.” Many of the squad members left the channel eventually because of the toxic environment the children were put in. According to this documentary, the kids would film all day, not go to school, and endure verbal abuse from Tiffany. The show goes into more depth about the actions of Tiffany and the hardships these kids endured while filming popular YouTube videos. I found the story very interesting, especially because so many people I know loved watching Piper’s videos when we were younger. However, I didn’t like how they structured the information; I think the flow of topics could have been better. It seemed like each episode touched on every aspect of the scandal instead of dividing the topics by episode which I personally disliked. – Anna Kate Flood
EATS
TOSTONES
One of the most incredible foods I’ve discovered recently are called tostones. Essentially, they’re twice-fried green plantains, which are either smashed or sliced. Paired with a delicious sauce, like Mayo Ketchup (Mayonnaise, Ketchup, and Garlic Powder). In most of the Caribbean and South America, you can find this incredible food in many restaurants, likely due to how common plantains are in that area of the world. At many of these restaurants, you can see them as a side to sandwiches, like how we might have fries as a side to our food. They go with anything. Unlike fries, they’re also incredibly hard to mess up making, so it’s rare you’ll have an instance where you end up regretting eating them. Overall, an incredible food that suprisingly isn’t crazy popular where I live. – Miles Forshay
BAJA BLAST
Yesterday, while on my road trip, my family was deciding where to go. I encouraged everyone to go to Taco Bell so I could get a Baja Blast. Baja Blast is a flavor of the soft drink Mountain Dew exclusive to Taco Bell. It has an aqua-blue color to it. It is meant to be a tropical twist on Mountain Dew with a lime flavor. However, it just tastes like a really sweet, sugary, candy-like lime soda. Regardless, it is very delicious and refreshing. I am not the biggest fan of Taco Bell, but getting a Baja Blast definitely makes going to Taco Bell worth it. Not everyone may like it, but it is very tasty to me and I would suggest at least trying it out before hating on it. – Juliet Gonzalez
H MART FOOD COURT
H Mart is a huge Asian supermarket filled with so many different things. They have every ramen flavor you can think of and so many frozen dumpling options. We have an air fryer at home and have tried many of their frozen foods items. We have bought the pre-marinated bulgogi beef many times and recently tried this frozen honey garlic chicken, which was amazing. But the best part about H Mart is the food court at the end. Without a doubt, we get something from the food court every time we shop at H Mart. The portions are big, so my mom and I can always share something. There is a photobooth near the food court with many accessories and affordable prices. H Mart is close to Chamblee so there is no excuse if you haven’t gone yet. – Kira Lawson
AND
HOODIES
Hoodies keep me warm and are soft on the inside. They’re great when it’s cold in your room or outside. You can get hoodies from almost any brand and they are all a little different from each other, some are grey or black or can be colorful like purple and pink. Everyone should own at least one hoodie in their closet for when fall and winter come around, you will probably want to try them on so you can see if you like how it fits on you, you can keep one in your car or in your room, I have one next to me when I sleep in case my room gets cold. My current favorite hoodie is from Garage, a store at Perimeter Mall. I recommend having 10 hoodies because they are so amazing. – Rowan Schreiber
