So midterms are here and whether you like it or not, there’s bound to be some kind of stress surrounding you. Your stress might not even come from school, it can be from home, or at a job. Here’s a step by step guide to not freaking out about it.

Stress is simply your body’s reaction to certain conditions. When you become stressed, your brain, specifically the hypothalamus (just a fancy way of calling the part of the brain in charge of your normal body), talks to the rest of your body, and releases hormones called epinephrine, and cortisol. These hormones are the reason you are stressed.

When your brain creates those “stress hormones,” it elevates your heart rate, your muscles tense up, you might feel really alert. It is normal to feel doses of stress throughout the day. Often times it keeps people motivated, and is healthy for you. Heck, anyone who plays a sport that involves a lot of movement creates a little stress, but they still love the game so it can’t be that bad.
But it might be hard to manage it. You need balance. Balance is hard when the student life entails you to working regular hours as your parents might, going to classes etc., but also, go volunteer, get a job, play a sport, join a club, and get your homework done. Here’s how to trick yourself into not being overly stressed:

1. Question the real reason for your stress.

Is it because you’re terrified of failure? -not having a future? -being rejected? Once you find out what it really is, it might be easier to break it down, and look at the bigger picture, or decide whether it’s important at all or not.

A guide to what to do in extreme stress. Created by Ana Pirosca.

2.  Reason with yourself all of the accomplishments you’ve had so far.

Did you win that competition? Did you at least try? What have you done that no one else has that makes you special? Recalling the good things you have done in the past might help you realize that you are capable of many things. If one thing doesn’t work out, there will be a guaranteed 2nd option to look at. If you don’t think you’ll do well, you might realize that, hey, it can’t be all that bad at it, if you really are studying with a friend is great.

3. If all else fails, talk to someone. Actually, no matter what, always talk to someone.

Schools have counselors for a reason. You can talk to them about the stresses you have about the future, and in your daily toils. If that’s not an option, talk to a friend, teacher, parent, etc.. Anyone is willing to help, just speak up.

4. Do activities to calm down.

Yoga, running, coloring, reading, singing, dancing. Clean your room, your poor mother would be furiously happy. Do something nice for a friend. Do it! Not only does it help relieve stress, but it is super healthy!

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BY ABHISHEK RANA & SUBIN BASTOLA

Head Coach Don Nally describes his team as a “battle tested” one, and that is due to them having been together for long and a lot of their starters returning from last season. One of these starters includes senior captain Nathaniel Ilebode, who has been on the varsity team since his freshman year. As a 6’4” power forward, Ilebode is one of the team’s most influential player.

Senior Captain Nathaniel Ilebode attempting a lay-up. Photo by Abhishek Rana.

Having played basketball ever since he was four years old, Ilebode has been passionate about the game ever since. When asked about what inspired him to play basketball he credited his “friends and watching professional basketball” as what “motivates [him] to be better.”

Ilebode has been team captain since last season alongside senior guard Bernard Taylor. Ilebode mentioned that being team captain means that he has to show “a lot of leadership” and make sure “[his teammates] know their responsibility” and are on top of things “in order to achieve [their] main goal, which is winning.”

Newcomer to the team this season, junior Malik Bissett praised his captain. He mentioned that that Ilebode is a key player in the team as “he knows how to grab rebounds” and has a “very good overall fundamentals.” Bissett also added that “[Ilebode’s] mid range game is one to watch out for” and that he also has “great control when driving to the rim.”

Being new to the team, Bissett also mentioned how welcoming Ilebode has been to him. He stated that “the two of them have gotten closer day by day.” Bissett also mentioned how “[he] looks up to him” and “asks him for help on what [he] needs to do better.”

Starting out the season 4-2, Ilebode stated that he thinks the season has gone “pretty smooth” and that “[they] have been playing really well.”  When asked what he thinks is the most important factor to the team continuing their success, he pointed to the team’s chemistry as the most important aspect. “Knowing how well [the] team works together and chemistry among players is a big factor,” he elaborated.  

After graduating this year, Ilebode hopes and plans to play basketball at the collegiate level, however is undecided as to where. He mentioned that once he graduates, “[he] will miss the bus rides the most” as well as “that feeling after a big win.” When asked what his favorite moment as a player for Malden High was, Ilebode went back to his freshman year against Beverly when “[he] made the game winning layup.”  

Outside of basketball, Ilebode enjoys taking pictures and producing videos as well as anything else related to media. When asked about the benefits and challenges of being a student athlete, he mentioned that “it has opened a lot of doors for [him] at the high school as well as in life.” He also added that “it is sometimes difficult to manage time,” but also that he has made a commitment and that he wants to honor that commitment as “[he] made the decision to do it.”

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On December 21, 2016, director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg’s latest collaboration “Patriots Day” was released in select theaters in the Boston area.

The movie re-creates the true story of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the four-day manhunt that followed. It focuses on the lives of specific individuals involved in or affected by the bombing, and highlights how these individuals contributed to the big picture. “Patriots Day” accurately depicts the intensity of the bombing and its effects while respectfully honoring those who suffered from the aftermath and those who sacrificed to catch the suspects.

Mark Wahlberg plays Boston Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders, who is one of the only fictional characters in the film. He finds himself on Boylston St on April 15, 2013 to work off a suspension given to him by former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, played by John Goodman. Prior to the marathon bombing scene, the film introduces characters that were directly affected by the bombing and manhunt, including newlyweds Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky, played by Christopher O’Shea and Rachel Brosnahan, MIT Officer Sean Collier played by Jake Picking and carjacking victim Dun Meng played by Jimmy O. Yang.

The film portrays several storylines from different character’s perspective of the time from the day before the bombing to the end of the manhunt. Saunders, Davis,  Governor Deval Patrick played by Michael Beach and the Boston Police Department work with the FBI to re-create the tragedy and analyze as much evidence as possible in order to identify possible suspects. Eventually, an FBI agent stumbles across footage of a man in a white cap accompanied by a man in a black pack carrying backpacks, later identified to be bombing suspects and brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, played by Themo Melikidze and Alex Wolff.. Meanwhile, the film also shows the Tsarnaev’s brother strangely peaceful home life with Tamerlan’s wife and daughter, as well as their desperation to take the attention off themselves and escape. It also shows Dun Meng’s and Sean Collier’s daily lives and Kensky and Downes struggle to find each other amongst all of the injured.

While this movie definitely gives a spot-on portrayal of this series of events, what really caught my eye was how real this movie seemed. The footage in the film that served as surveillance footage from the marathon, MIT and Watertown was the actual footage taken back in 2013. Much of the cast, particularly John Goodman and Alex Wolff, bore a striking resemblances to the real-life people they were portraying. It humanizes the characters by showing their average every day life before and after the bombing; for example, it shows the Tsarnaev family fighting over who will get milk for Tamerlan’s daughter.

Being from the Boston area and being able to recall these events from a citizen’s point of view, Berg offers normal, every-day people like myself the opportunity to view the story from an inside point of view. This allowed the audience to discover things previously unknown to them, such as the arguments had by the FBI and Boston Police over whether or not to release the pictures of the suspects and how the FBI literally re-created the marathon scene. The film’s dark and gloomy tone helps the audience from outside of the Boston area visualize how grim the time of the bombing was for Boston and its surrounding areas. Many of the scenes from “Patriots Day” were filmed in the Malden area, so you’ll see a lot of familiar places including New York Pizza, China Garden and The Big A Sub Shop.

Overall, Patriots Day is a riveting re-telling of the Boston Marathon and the events that follows. It precisely captures the events and emotions felt during that week, from the fear of citizens after the bombing to the relief and hope that filled Massachusetts once Tsarnaev was arrested. It notably honors the four people that died that week as well as the police and law enforcement that fought and sacrificed to get the people of Boston the justice they deserved. This is a movie that people from the Boston area will respect, as well as a film that people from elsewhere will enjoy for its message of hope for other places around the world that have experienced similar attacks.

“Patriots Day” will be released in theaters across the U.S on January 13.

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BY FALYN KELLEY & ANA PIROSCA

They’re running, jumping, throwing, and sprinting through another winter season of track. With athletes now adapted to the challenges, the team is tunneling full steam ahead.

It was seen in the beginning of the season, there was a lot of promise in many of the new additions to the team. Sophomore Mattheus Farias, on his second year of track is ecstatic about the team that has formed this year. “The season so far has been exceptional, with some of our new members making quite an impact in races,” Farias states.

There are many people in many events that are gifted in what they do. Nour Chouiki is a freshman who immediately got on to varsity, as a 600 meter runner. She explains that since the season started she’s gotten faster, “the first time [she] ran the 600, [she] was legit dead at the end of it,” Chouiki stated, “[but later], [she] was dead, but it was easier [to run]… kind of.” Which is understandable considering that the “season isn’t over yet, and there’s lots of room for improvement,” as returning member junior Amanda Santorelli pointed out.

Malden boys stretching. Photo taken by Ana Pirosca.

During practices and meets Chouiki would record her time, like many other runners. Over time she can compare how fast she ran, when her good days and bad days were, and what she needs to do to perform better. Chouiki also explained that over time her first and latest running times had an overall change of 10 seconds. Little differences such as that can determine who comes in first or second.

Though it’s never just how fast you run that changes. Junior Kylie DiMaro, a distance runner states that as a team, work ethic is improving every season. She states, “everyone continues to work hard every day in order to run faster. We continue to put our best foot forward.” Farias had come to the same conclusion about the team, having dedicated much of their effort to accomplish their individual goals. After all, without good work ethic, talent is meaningless, as expressed by many athletes at the start of the season.

It is also seen that support, confidence, and good advice worked its way to all the athletes. During races, everyone is working together or cheering each other on. Most indoor track athletes call their team

Malden boys running. Photo taken by Ana Pirosca.

mates family. Farias states that, “back during try outs it was so completely different” since everyone was just trying to get in shape and get used to the environment. The progress the team has made since then “is surprising because no one would expect almost 100 teenagers to be such a family to one another.” Attitudes have improved, and people have bonded.

As a result of such strength and unity throughout the team, many people are slowly achieving their goals. Some people such as Santorelli have been aiming to improve speed and endurance. Since starting track a year ago she’s learned how to push herself and “trying hard whether it is in workouts or just doing cores and strengthening.” Like Chouiki, her times and speeds have improved. Besides physical capability, she feels as if she has improved her confidence as well.

Big opponents are coming up. Farias believes the next few weeks will be “a thrilling few weeks.” Farias finds it difficult to keep up with everyone during meets and finds that he needs to focus more on the running than on the cheering. Though with a winning streak not yet being broken, it’s hard not to be excited.

Sometimes it can be hard to put your best foot forward if there’s an injury. DiMaro explains that one of the biggest challenges in running is getting injuries. When an athlete is hurt another athlete has to take their place. “Every runner is important and plays a key role in our success. When one person is injured the whole team is affected,” DiMaro says. Hopefully, the future brings healthy athletes and working feet.

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From December 9, through the 24, Malden Arts hosted a Pop Up shop at 480 Main St. The pop-up shop consisted of pieces from local artists, in Malden and surrounding areas. Items such as jewelry, paintings, music, clothing, pottery, and candles were sold by the local artists and craftspeople. Tables were set up throughout the venue, which members of Malden Arts tried-and succeeded-at making look as close to a real shop as possible. Displays of paintings and other forms of traditional art gave the pop-up shop an art gallery like vibe. Music that was being sold in the form of CDs by local musicians was being played while locals viewed and shopped for last-minute holiday gifts.

Display of bright paintings for sale. Photo by Abhishek Rana.

The pop-up shop began when artist, Lisa Sears, sent an email out to a group of artists and arts organizers, after an empty commercial space, 480 Main St., appeared in a local newspaper. Robin Inman, Arts Advocate Assistant, says that Sears’ email had essentially said “what if?”. The pop-up shop idea was brought up about a week before Thanksgiving, and Inman, Sears, and several other volunteers and members at Malden Arts “pulled together this entire creation in probably less than three weeks.” The shop’s host, 480 Main St., gave the group the space for the pop-up shop free of charge, which Inman says, helped a lot with pulling the shop together.

Ginny Remedi-Brown, one of the artists who created the pop-up shop and sold some of her work there, notes most artists featured at the shop are from Malden, or neighboring towns like Everett and Melrose.

Ose Schwab, self-titled Chief Instigator for Malden Creates, notes the diversity of the 54 artists showcased at the shop. Artists from Vietnam, China, Iran, and Libya are some of the countries in which the featured artists are from, including several refugees. The pop-up shop, Schwab says, “created a canvas on which many of the hidden talented individuals who may not have places to show their work, or opportunities [to do so]” can showcase and sell their artwork and creations. Malden’s pop-up shop has created a stage on which “people are equal players no matter whether they’re immigrants or refugees; whether they’re poor or rich. They are all there together showing their work.”

Among the artwork and artistic creations being sold, were fine arts, paintings, water colors, jewelry, ceramics, prints, textiles, and cards. “There is something [there] for everyone,” Inman says on the wide selection of items for sale.

Display of a painting of a lighthouse for sale. Photo by Abhishek Rana.

As a potter and Jeweler, Remedi-Brown, provided jewelery to sell at the shop. Remedi-Brown notes that she went to the pop-up shop to sell her work and “let people know that [Malden has] a lot of wonderful artists in the city.” Remedi-Brown attended the pop-up shop, and notes the “steady stream of people” who attended the shop. Around opening and closing time, the “steady stream” was of course smaller, but the number of attendees picked up during the day. “It’s been very successful,” Remedi-Brown says.

As a whole, Schwab believes, “it [had] been a tremendous success and an inspiration to artists” and those who came in and got “a lot of joy from the different colors and different creations.” Both the Mayor and the Chief of Police were attendees of the shop, and the pop-up shop as a whole have “shown the value of arts and how it can make community.”

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(Spoiler Alert!)

Out of almost nowhere, Netflix released one of their newest shows, The OA, in mid-December. At first glance, you could mistake the science fiction show for Stranger Things, one of the more popular Netflix shows. The OA begins with an unknown blonde woman, later to be known as Prairie Johnson, jumping off of a bridge. With a bystander’s video gone viral, it leads the Johnson’s, Prairie’s mother and father, to seemingly find their lost daughter, who had gone missing seven years ago. Also, an important thing to note, is when Johnson went missing, she was blind, but when her parents see their daughter for the first time in seven years in the hospital, she can see.

The single season of The OA, goes on with Prairie, now living back in her suburban home with her family, telling the local teenagers, all misfits or outcasts within their families, and a local high school teacher who becomes included after Prairie, who now prefers to be called the OA, sent a video out asking people for their help with an unknown problem. The seemingly odd group of people then meet in an abandoned house in town.

By now, the show is engrossing. I hadn’t left the couch, my eyes glued to the screen. The gloomy, science-fiction oddity on the screen kept me watching just as Stranger Things had.

While meeting at the abandoned house, Prairie, every night for an hour, tells the story of her life, her disappearance, her death, and her escape. Born in Russia, Prairie lost her eyesight when she died when her school bus drove off of a bridge. Dead, Prairie is transported to this “world”, pitch black except for the glimmer of what looks like stars around. There, a woman asks Prairie is she would like to go back, and she says yes, though, the woman says, she must take Prairies eyesight to shield her from the evils of the world. Prairie awakens, blind, washed ashore. She goes to America at a school for the blind, and while in America, living with her aunt, her father dies, leaving her aunt to pull her from school and live with her.

The Johnson’s go to Prairies aunt’s house in hopes of adopting a baby, but fall in love with Prairie instead. Years go by, and insistent that her father is not dead, she escapes her home on her 21 birthday, only to meet a man while she played violin in the subway. He kidnaps her, taking her to his is cabin in an abandoned mine where other people live who have also had near-death experiences are held captive. The kidnapper, a deranged scientist, is hoping to find out what happens after death: whether there is a heaven or hell, or anything at all. While trapped in these clear cages, like animals, Prairie falls in love with Homer, another captive.

For seven years, the group of people try and escape, but to no avail. When Prairie finally escapes, she is stopped and killed again by this mad scientist. She awakes, with her sight back, although she does not allow him to find out. Prairie and the others find that there are specific movements to “escape” as told by the woman in this other “world.” The movements are strange, and as I watched I got secondhand embarrassment. To me, this is when the show started going downhill in an embarrassing fashion.

Prairie enlists the group of teens and the teacher to perform these movements to save Homer. They practice the movements, and it is very unsure what will happen if they all successfully complete the movements, but they’re put to the test in the oddest way.

While at school, the teenagers are eating lunch and the teacher is about to leave her job, when another teenager, with a gun, comes into the lunchroom. The OA (the Original Angel) has this feeling that this whole debacle is going on and rushes to the school, where she and the teenagers, and the teacher do the five movements, and somehow save the school? It was strange, and cringey. Also the OA is somehow shot in this situation. It was all very slowly portrayed, and gave me major secondhand embarrassment. The show ends with The OA riding off in an ambulance.

Overall The OA was strange, and cringey, giving me second-hand embarrassment. But will I watch season 2 (if there is one)? Did The OA makeup Homer and her abduction? There are too many questions to be answered to not watch Season 2.

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In society, the image of men has always been that of an aggressive, straight, masculine, and publicly unemotional person. However, as time has progressed, many famous celebrities have dared to challenge this toxic concept of manhood.

In the seventies, there was a rise in glam rock bands and artists, like New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, etc. The most notable was David Bowie, who released Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars in 1972. David Bowie created alter ego Ziggy Stardust, and wore eccentric and colorful costumes. Ziggy wasn’t complete without his iconic makeup, which was bold and unusual. His album was met with some controversy, of course. Nevertheless, he wasn’t afraid to push the boundaries of what a man was even more, creating new looks and new egos in his career.

Another artist who challenged the social norms was Prince, a legendary artist who gained prominence in the eighties. Prince had no filter in his music, being known for being sexually explicit, which was a risk since a big topic in the 80s was censorship in the media. In his performances, he was known for having androgynous looks, wearing makeup and decked in striking costumes. Though, he didn’t just defy gender roles, he also rebelled against racial stereotypes associated with black men.

Prince isn’t the only artist on this list who confronted masculinity in the eighties. George Michael, who rose to fame in the eighties with Andrew Ridgeley, both in a duo called Wham!. However, he differs from everyone in this list, because he didn’t challenge masculinity on the outside. His iconic outfit consisted of a leather jacket, ripped jeans, and a tank top, wearing his signature cross earring. In 1998, George’s sexuality was outed due to a arrest that happened in April. He then embraced being a LGBT icon, frequently expressing his support for equality. He was also unapologetic about his sexuality, being vocal about it.

Nowadays, there’s been a new generation of famous men who protested against tradition, celebrities like James Charles and Jaden Smith. In 2016, James Charles, a seventeen year old makeup artist, became the first “CoverBoy,” being the face of CoverGirl, a cosmetic brand. Jaden Smith, a eighteen year old model/actor modeled for Louis Vuitton’s women’s fashion line, wearing typically “feminine” items like skirts and dresses. He also wore dresses on several other occasions, even to Amandla Stenberg’s prom.

Throughout the years, multiple celebrities have dared to be themselves and did the opposite of what society has told men to do. These celebrities have inspired generations of boys across the world to be fearless and not to be terrified of expressing themselves and their emotions. These celebrities taught a universal, important message; that there was no right way to be a man.

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BY KAYLA SOUSA & REBECA PEREIRA 

The new year has begun and as resolutions are being set, Malden High School swimmers are meeting previous goals and setting new ones as well. The middle of the season has arrived and swimmers are preparing for important swim meets that will define this season. With few meets a year, MHS swimmers definitely feel the pressure of doing well but never fail to deliver a good performance, winning all meets so far.

Team member sophomore Agatha Silva acknowledges that although there is always room for improvement, their results have exceeded expectations stating that “[they] had thought Malden Catholic and Swampscott would be tough but [they] were able to prevail and win.” Silva is conscious of areas for team improvement including “training a little harder to shave off more seconds,” as well as putting in an individual effort to stand out.

Sophomore Kevin Sathapomchaisit swimming the backstroke. Photo taken by Abhishek Rana.

This sense of personal improvement is widespread among the team. Senior captain Felicia Lombardi, like many swimmers, knows that when an individual succeeds, the whole team succeeds. She states that in order to continue the team’s undefeated record and win the Greater Boston League for the last time before advancing to the new league, each person must contribute to their fullest potential. She recognizes that “personally [she] wants to be more of a leader this year, especially since [she] was honored with the captaincy.”

But personal goals aren’t difficult to meet, as many team members have explained, because of the motivating environment the swim team has fostered through the years. Senior captain Vivian Nguyen explains that one of the team’s greatest strengths is the support they give one another. This same spirit is shown towards other teams as well which Nguyen explains saying “[she] thinks sportsmanship is crucial to having good and friendly competition.”

The team is now working on making technical improvements such as making it to practice on time and refining certain strokes but Nguyen explains that one of the biggest difficulties has been finding teams outside of the the GBL to challenge members. She says “we are always looking for teams to push us to go faster” but that this year, the lack of competition doesn’t pose a serious problem because the team will be advancing to the new league.

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On January 4th there was a New Year-New You event at the Malden Public Library. It was hosted by the American Association for Arab Women. There was a dialogue presented by Michele English, a certified BTB & Compass School Feng Shui practitioner. The BTB school of feng shui is short for the Black Sect Tantric Buddhist School of Feng Shui which is a feng shui school in the United States. The talk was followed by a Japanese flute performance by Elizabeth Bennett.

The president of the American association for Arab Women is Souad Akib. She says the association wanted to hold this event because they “want everyone to be able to start fresh this year because of all of the changes coming in 2017”. She said that “lately the city of Malden has been working into becoming a more united community and [that the association] wanted to do something for the city as well.”

The night started at 6:00 with a reception where everyone had the opportunity to introduce themselves to each other and settle down. There were snacks put out and many conversations going on. Nearing 6:30, Michele English was introduced and began her discussion on Feng Shui. She started talking about feng shui’s history and how it has adapted. Feng shui is the ancient Chinese practice of encouraging the positive flow of energy in a space.

Feng shui table showing good things to have at home to improve the energy. Photo taken by Ailin Toro.

As a feng shui practitioner, English says that she goes “to peoples houses for three main reasons, when they want to improve their love life, health, and money.” Some of the ways she helps them to do this is by removing clutter or buying things for her house that bring positive energy. An example of that would be buying an upwards facing lamp to “raise its energy throughout the room.”

After her presentation, Bennett took the stage and played a ten minute piece on her shakuhachi, which is a japanese flute. Bennett was the first women to be certified a Grand Master of the shakuhachi back in 1998. She has practiced and performed with Aoki Reibo, who has been playing the shakuhachi for 30 years and is renowned for his talent.

Bennett has had an interest in Asia since high school. She began to play the shakuhachi in college because of a program they had at her University in Connecticut. She “secretly thought [she] would pursue it” but before she would, she began to teach art history. She kept going to Japan and kept wanting to play the shakuhachi instead of just teaching so she officially decided to pursue it career wise.

When asked how her playing at this event came about Bennett said that she was “planning to move to Morocco and when [she] was looking for someone to help her get settled she got into contact with Souad.” Akib found a group in Morocco willing to help Bennett out and after that was settled she asked her to play at this event and Bennett gladly accepted.

Akib was very happy with the turnout. She mentioned that there were people from many towns attending the event and was “happy to give others a chance to meet new people.” The American association for Arab Women will also host the upcoming annual International Women’s day in March where many women from different communities will be present.

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BY ABHISHEK RANA & RYAN HAMES 

Revere High School’s boys hockey team includes eight players from Malden High School, three of whom are first line players. Juniors Michael Giordano and Michael Goroshko are both first line offensive players while Sophomore Marc Giordano is a first line defenseman.

Malden sophomore Marc Giordano defending an East Boston player on a break away. Photo taken by Ryan Hames.

Despite being from a rival school, Michael Giordano insists that “[the MHS] players don’t get treated any differently.” He continued to say that in fact “[their] chemistry works really well” because “a lot of the players have played together in other leagues before high school.”

This season the team got the opportunity to play a scrimmage game at Fenway Park on January 5th. Dubbed as Frozen Fenway, the scrimmage was against Pembroke High school and turned out to be a tight and action packed affair. During the scrimmage Goroshko scored two goals, and with six second left and Revere/Malden down down by one, Michael Giordano scored yet another last minute goal this season to ensure his team ties Pembroke with the final score of 3-3.

Malden junior Micahael Goroshko looking for someone in the offensive zone to pass the puck to. Photo taken by Ryan Hames.

When asked what game he is most looking forward to playing from their remaining schedule, Michael Giordano responded by saying the he is most looking forward to “the next time [the team] plays Everett. “Those games are the best as both teams do not like each other.” In their previous face-off in the beginning of the season, Giordano scored the winning goal against Everett with 16 seconds left, with the game having been very close and it could have gone either way.

Revere/Malden has started the season with an overall record of 3-2, and the team now hopes to improve their record in order to make the state tournament. When asked what he hopes the team also accomplishes this year, Goroshko stated that “[he] wants players to put their heart and soul into every practice and game.” He continued to say that “[they] must show passion for the game that [they] work so hard for and leave it all on the ice.”

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BY SABRINA MONTEIRO & JOSANY JEUNE

This season, although the Malden High School wrestling team starts off small, they have all continued to improve individually and gradually so far, establishing themselves as a hardworking team. The coach, as well as the captains, believe that this year could have a positive outcome.

Team captain, junior Wisly Pericles, believes that this season is going much better than last year in terms of working together as a team. Pericles states that “even though [we] haven’t won a game yet, everyone got better at working as a team. Everybody finally learned how to respect one another [without talking] back to the coach.” Pericles enjoy’s his time conditioning and participating in competitions mostly during the wrestling season. The team’s highest weight class is 220, and the lowest being 182. They have improved on not only collaboration with one another but their motivation as well.

Junior Hasnat Moughal performing a side control maneuver. Photo by Josandy Jeune.

Wrestling athlete, junior Seth Jones, believes this season has immensely advanced compared to last year. Specifically considering that they had no wins last year. Jones admits that the team won’t be as successful as he might’ve thought by the end of the season due to injuries individual wrestlers face. Although he does accept that “with the team [they] have now, [they’re] good and hard working… [they] don’t need more practice but next year [they] should be better.” Jones also states that this season, [they’ve] improved by “working harder, some of [them] are listening better and some are showing up on time.” Jones most memorable meet so far was held in Watertown, reflecting on the fact that they “put up the best fight there.” He enjoys winning competitions and the experience of a good challenge. He believes that he may carry out wrestling in college if he gets a scholarship. Next year’s goal for Jones is to “win, get stronger, faster and work better as a team.”

Junior Carlos Parada pinning his opponent. Photo by Josandy Jeune.

Junior Hasnat Moughal, another wrestler on the team, admits that as a team “[they] have progressed in the aspect of being more cooperative with each other and supporting each other’s needs.” Moughal also thinks that the outcome of the season will remain notably positive. Everyone will support each other and come out in much better shape than what they started with. Moughal expresses that “as a team [they] need to work on [their] stamina,” a personal goal for next year is to be more committed.

The coach of the wrestling team, Rin Van, believes that “the team has had some really good individual victories but they are a very small team, making it difficult to win meets since the other teams they compete with have more players.” Van believes that his coaching has improved from the beginning of the season, whereas at the start of the season he was extremely lenient, but has now begun to strap down and get the team more organized. Van considers that the outcome of this season will be positive and that “[they] might have a kid go to states.”

The team now hopes to continue their fundamentals and performances on the mat. 

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BY TOBY PITAN & SARA ZAKARIA 

Starting right after the holiday break, the semi-finals of Poetry Out Loud took place on Thursday, January 5, and Friday, January 6. 

Poetry Out Loud is a tradition at MHS, taking place every year. Students are required to memorize a poem of their choice off the Poetry Out Loud website, and recite the poem in front of their English class. The winners of each class gets to move onto the semi-finals, reciting the same poem, but this time in the Jenkins auditorium, pitting winners of different English classroom competitions from the same period.

Sophomore Libby Taylor reciting her poem. Photo taken by Ryan Hames.

There was a new addition to the Poetry Out Loud, or POL, competition for all English classes this year. This year, all students were presented with optional ways of reciting their poem to their teacher apart from the traditional classroom renditioning. Apart from the standard class recitation, students were allowed to go after school and recite their poem to their teacher, create a song out of their poem, or record a video themselves performing their poem. These options were presented for students who may not have wanted to participate in the class recitation, but still wanted to complete the assignment. Though, students who did not recite their poem aloud to their classmates were not eligible for the school wide competition.  

Senior Jia Huang stated that she likes that there are options and choices regarding recitation this year because “not everybody is comfortable when standing in front of [their] class and reciting a poem.”  Huang also stated that she likes that POL “brings out the confidence out of people…who you wouldn’t expect to talk and put emotion in their voice, even if they’re scared.”

Senior Zanta Ephrem said how “[POL] makes people to face their fears, people [are able to] memorize their poems [even if it is] just to get it out of the way.”

Likewise, Senior Tamala Mkandawire stated how she felt that POL “should be optional [though] it [does] bring everyone out of their comfort zone.”

Another Senior, James Garcia felt that POL “can help you in the future,” since it is an experience that can help with public speaking and could be especially helpful for those who may usually be shy or more reserved.

Junior Antonetta Remedi-Brown reciting her poem. Photo taken by Ryan Hames.

The Poetry Out Loud website offers students a plethora of categories of poems, which adds variety to the students’ potential experience. Students could choose from types of poetry including pre-20th century poems, modern poems, and poems based on specific literary techniques such as Ars Poetica or “the art of poetry”, free verse, dramatic monologue, etc.  The website also offers tips and techniques for reciting poetry, videos of past finalists from across the country, and audio clips of poetry for students  to listen for preparation.

All English classes in grades 9-12 from English 9 CP to AP Literature and Composition were required to memorize a poem and perform it via one of the aforementioned options to their teacher or fellow classmates. Any student from any class, as long as they received the highest score in their class could participate in the auditorium semi-finals and potentially the penultimate finals held in late January.

Depending on the class, students were given multiple weeks to prepare in and out of class for their recitation.  Along with the memorization and recitation, many students were given multiple assignments to be completed to help them better understand their selected poem, the competition, and to just be able to appreciate the art that is poetry recitation.

POL state and national finals are composed of 3 rounds of competition. For every round a student progresses though, they must memorize another poem of their choice off the POL website. Semifinals and finals are judged yearly by MHS English teacher Jennifer Clapp and an additional judge, which this year was MHS teacher Allen Phelps. POL is moderated by Play Production director and MHS English teacher Sean Walsh. Walsh also scores each contestant on accuracy.

One of the winners of the period 4 group, sophomore Jenna Vanella, chose to recite the poem “Little Girl” by Tami Haaland. She successfully had moved onto the semifinals this year as well last year. This time, however, she was able to move beyond the semi-finals, winning in her group, and advancing to the finals.

Junior Jasmine Grey reciting her poem. Photo taken by Ryan Hames.

Compared to last year, she said this year’s semifinals was “different, because [she] knew the people who were on stage with [her].” She stated that she was delighted to be competing with her friends, which made some of her uneasiness go away.

“It’s nerve racking to be on stage,” she noted, “but it’s a whole lot of excitement after you finished reciting.” Vanella’s advice to newcomers competing next year, is to try to have fun and stay calm. “It is scary to have to recite your poem to an audience, but the only thing that could go wrong is that you forget a line and try again next year.”

After the semi-final round which began on January 5, the following students have progressed to the final round of school competition: seniors Paul Araiza, Nathan Ghebremicael, Marisa Vasquez, James Mac, Victoria MacDonald, and Gaudenz Brooks, juniors Meghan Yip, Christina Charles, Jenny Huynh, Antonetta Remedi-Brown, and Alexa Murray, and sophomores Sammy Lee, Paige Pimental, Vanella, and Libby Taylor.

Finals will take place during long block on January 25th.

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The badminton club meets every Friday from 7-10 pm at the Salemwood School. It has been around since the Salemwood School was first established in the year 2000. Before they actually formed the badminton club, one of the founding members Larry Lo explained that they were a part of the Asian Spectrum Organization, and they originally held their meets at the Lincoln School before it was torn down and became the Lincoln Garden.

Badminton club members waiting for the shuttlecock to come towards them. Photo by Rebecca Oliveira.

They have 60 to 80 members in total, but not everyone who participates in the club meets every Friday so that the Salemwood gym wouldn’t get too overcrowded with people, since the badminton club also shares the Salemwood gym with a basketball team and the ping-pong team. The club has a “family atmosphere, that everybody is really friendly,” Lo says in describing the community of the badminton club. The club is open to not only students from Malden, but also to people around the Greater Boston Area.

Two members of the club, Shatrungai Singh and Vivek Thyagarajan, “usually warm-up first, play a warm-up game and then we play an actual game, but we don’t have a fixed schedule persay,” Singh states. “It’s pretty much up to the individual,” Thyagarajan elaborated. Members of the badminton club don’t have a fixed set of drills like most sport teams do, since the club is more of a recreational, free-for-all type of club.  For people like Singh and Thyagarajan, who have been playing badminton since they were very young, the badminton club allows them to leisurely practice in a very welcoming community.

In the past, the club used to join other meets around the city to compete with other badminton teams. However, for the past two years the badminton club has joined other clubs for “interclub friendly matches,” Lo explained, where they would meet and compete against each other. The different clubs would only be versing each other for fun, as opposed to competing against each other for a championship.

Badminton Club member serving. Photo by Rebecca Oliveira.

A lot of the members enjoy participating in the club for for a variety of different reasons. For new members like Feng Chang, badminton is “unlike any other sport”, and not just because it’s fun to play. Chang felt that, “there is not that much a gap between beginner and someone who has more experience,” which makes it easier for him to play with other members on the team without feeling self-conscious about his lack of experience, and that in the game “you’re not defeated so easily.”

Another reason people like badminton is the fact that it’s a very intense and high speed sport, and a lot of the members appreciate how badminton is a good workout sport. Lo said that he liked the “intense” and “high speed” aspects of badminton, and he explained that badminton is technically an even faster paced sport than tennis. Thyagarajan appreciates how badminton is an “all-round” sport, that allows for him to “move [himself] out of the couch and moves all of [his] muscles.”

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Debate Night was hosted by the Debate Club on January 10th, in the auditorium, and it lasted from six to eight. They debated on several topics, like illegal immigration, political correctness, presentism, zero tolerance policies and interventionism.

The Debate Club started planning for Debate Night in October 2016. Junior member Brendon Ky explained how the club “knew that [they] wanted to do another debate night this year since the end of last year because the first one went so well.”  Ky felt that “the event went smoothly, with the only thing that [he thinks they] really need to improve on is making it more structured and organized so the debates don’t go past the time [they] set for them.”

The topics of the debate were suggested by various people who wanted to get involved with the event. The topics were added to a list of volunteered topics if they were interesting enough, and if there were people willing to debate both for and against. They also wanted to discuss ideas that were controversial, as long as each side were defensible.

The purpose behind Debate Night, according to Ky, was for people to be able to discuss different ideas from different sides to provide a setting where people can consider unalike perspectives and argue contrasting stances of some of the current issues. “[He feels] like it’s impossible to have a civil discussion about different ideas without having people get offended or upset,” says Ky. Though, he went on to say how it’s always important whether there is a debate or controversy that all stances are considered. “Isolating and blocking out any opposing ideas certainly isn’t productive, and [he finds] it rather juvenile,” Ky said.

“One of the biggest problems [he found] with getting people willing to debate is that either they don’t know/care about any of the topics or that they are just too shy,” Ky stated. “The whole idea of having debate night is to make people care about these subjects, so once [people] start researching into the different stances and digging into the facts, [they] will find some sense of what [they] believe fairly quickly.”

On his performance, Ky says there is always room for improvement, however, he can still could work on debating and public speaking. His advice to newcomers wanting to join and participate is to put themselves out there, because the more they do something, the more comfortable they get.

“[He] personally [knows] most of the debaters who participated this time and many of them are incredibly shy, yet they put themselves out there and none of them regret their decision,” Ky said.

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As of January 2, 2017, the reading competition at Malden High School is on!

Student Reading Challenge form located on the Malden High School library website. Photo by Sydney Stumpf.

From Jan. 2, to June 2, Malden High School is hosting a reading contest, created by librarian, Mary Liberge, and an English teacher. The goal, Liberge says, was to “increase student recreational reading.” They thought that it would be fun to include the staff as well.

Participants read books and fill out the Reading Challenge form on the MHS library website, and teachers and staff participating have a separate form located in the Tornado Times. Liberge says that both teachers and students have already participated.

Liberge hopes that “this challenge will get more students to read for pleasure.” She notes the school work and time on social media that prevents students from allowing themselves to “pick up a book and read for pleasure.” The book recommendations that will, and already are, coming out of the contest, will hopefully “help other MHS students choose books to read” and “get students to start talking to one another about books, authors, and even topics.”

There will be a prize for the students in each grade that reads the most books, and another for the overall winner.

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Today in society, the millennial and older generation gets more and more fascinated with the obsession of the usage of social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc. Whether it’s showcasing high quality photos, inspirational quotes or just selfies of yourself, one thing for sure is that this specific trend won’t die out.

Young adults using social media on their phones. Photo from WikiMedia.

Scientific studies showed that people engaged in social media develop self-proclaimed and narcissistic characteristics. For example, the psychology researchers at the University of Georgia conducted a research involving around 13,000 students. They came to a conclusion that “narcissism has a modest, but reliable positive relationship with a range of social media behaviors.”

They also found that two other strains of behaviors. Grandiose narcissism is a type of narcissism that relates to the frequency of updating and posting selfies to their followers. Then there’s vulnerable narcissism, which ties to people with insecurities that spent little time on social media.

In my opinion, I believe celebrities play a huge role in it because of their influences on young people. Their ambushed photos that garner a lot of likes and followers, reaching millions, which often creates insecurities and a mentality to create or at least attempt, to have a lifestyle like them.

Also, I feel like there is a small misconception with it; maybe people like to post selfies because they feel that they receive a kind of self-confidence that they never had before, yet they are often mistaken. In reality, the usage of social media really depends on what the individual wants to do. On a more positive light, the main concept of social media is to express yourself or maybe tell a story through your photos.

Dr. Keith Campbell, co-author of the “The Narcissism Epidemic,” noted that when individuals engaged with social media they “will be engaging with more narcissism than might really exist in the world. This might distort your view of the world as being more narcissistic than it is.”

Collage of various social media sites. Photo from WikiMedia.

Ciaran McMahon, a director at the Institute of Cyber Security believes that there could be “a wider cultural increase in narcissism in the west that’s then reflected back in social media.” So, for social media to have such popularity means that narcissism must have existed back then.  

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BY ANA PIROSCA & FALYN KELLEY 

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Established in the 1940, the Protestant Church Athletic Association (PCAA) was created by Al Locke and Ken MacCuish, a basketball program alongside the softball program to, “espouse the virtues of character, courage, and loyalty,” explains Commissioner/Treasurer Steve Butland from the Church Softball League. Butland elaborates on the Church Softball League’s humble beginnings, saying that it had started out as a “joint effort by 5-6 churches” (the Centre Methodist and Maplewood Baptist churches being the main contributors), in an effort to encourage kids to not only go to Sunday school, but to “add another depth to these religious actions”. Nonetheless, they’re open for children of all religious affiliations.

2015 PCAA Al Locke Memorial Play-Off Champions – St Peter’s Angels. Photo submitted by league.

In the mid ‘70s, the league had a meager number of seven teams. However, the number of teams on the league has doubled in numbers, with a tea or two on the waiting list. The Church Softball League is a big league that currently has fourteen teams, and each team has from twelve to twenty members. Unlike regular high school softball teams, the Church Softball League has members that are above the average high school age limits, meaning that young adults are able to join and participate in the teams as well. Their season starts on the first Monday of May all the way to end of August, and their games take place at the two softball fields-the Hunting Field and the Ippolito Field-Linden STEAM Academy.

Between those four months, the Church Softball League’s teams are constantly hard at work. They usually play doubleheaders on Mondays and Tuesdays from 6 to 10 pm every week, and after the 4th of July week they play doubleheaders on Wednesday evenings as well. Their playoffs start on the second week of August with three rounds of playoffs that week. In Butland’s opinion, the league’s teams’ biggest accomplishments for this year was “having the family and friends coming down to a beautiful park and cheering on their family member or friend”, as well as the children “making full use of the park facilities,” referring to Linden’s renovated playground.

Their expectations for this year has been to “eliminate trash-talking,” Butland says, adding that the League is working on, “to stand behind their own players,” which is understandable since a lot of teams face this problem as well. Besides weather problems, Butland says that the league has struggled with players that have other “commitments to school, work, extracurricular activities, [and] family commitments,” this past year. On a more positive note, Butland believes that the most important attributes to the league are, “sportsmanship, competition, and commitment,” and it seems that the league is moving along on the right track.

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La La Land followed the story of two performers trying to find success in California. Their idea of success however, differed. Mia wanted to become a popular actress while Sebastian wanted to own his own jazz club and play piano.

Male lead, actor Ryan Gosling. Photo From WikiMedia.

La La Land won seven awards at this year’s Golden Globes. The movie won every category it was nominated for, including best motion picture – musical or comedy, best director, best screenplay, best score and best actor and actress for the leads.

Starting off with a musical number, on what seems like an endless highway, where after people ignore the traffic and begin to sing and dance on their cars. When that musical number ends is when Mia and Sebastian first meet. When Mia and Sebastian, are introduced, though it isn’t a love at first sight moment at all. Sebastian cuts Mia off while she ignores the traffic ahead of her. The fact that in their third meeting, Mia still had a boyfriend seems almost irrelevant to the story. That fact was so insignificant to them because they must have felt it would have been wrong to not be together.

From the moment they finally did kiss their relationships seemed perfect. Their characters seemed made for each other and the chemistry between them was insane. The quick shots of them going on dates, driving, and doing almost anything but just always looking happy, made it feel like they were destined to be together. The characters are so good for each other, always encouraging them to do what they want to, but meanwhile still trying to reason with them.

Throughout the movie we get to know the character’s hopes, get to see their struggles, and enjoy their successes. One of Mia’s first scenes is her at an audition, putting everything into it, and then just being interrupted and asked to leave. She was putting everything into it and her being blown off immediately made me like her character. After she meets Sebastian, it doesn’t make her push back on her dream, but push it forward. He encourages her to have a one-woman show and she even decided to quit her job and pursue acting full time.

Sebastian, from almost the beginning I could see how passionate he was about jazz. The minute Mia said she didn’t like jazz he immediately took her to his favorite jazz club and told her every reason that jazz was important, not only to him, but to the world. A few scenes later, Mia is seen dancing freely to jazz music and it’s clear that she found a love for it. When he joined a band that Mia knew he didn’t enjoy playing for she struggled with it. After she had quit her job and pursued her dreams because of him, she wanted him to pursue his too. She supported him quitting as long as he was happy. She just wanted both of them to be content doing what they wanted to do.

Female lead, Emma Stone. Photo from WikiMedia.

When Sebastian was going on tour with the band, the distance was clearly affecting Mia. It was obvious that something was going to happen, negatively, between them. Mia was working on her one-woman show and couldn’t just leave everything to be with him and seemed offended when he asked her to. Even from before, when the audience sees her at one of his shows where he’s being blocked off from being seen on stage by dancers and she’s being pushed back by fans we can begin to see a disconnect. The moment he doesn’t show up to her play though, was the moment I knew they couldn’t get past that. It was heartbreaking, truly. That was something Mia invested everything into and him not showing up because of a photoshoot for the band wasn’t something Mia could easily forget, especially since he was definitely missed since he would have been one of maybe ten people in the audience. After this, Mia goes back to her hometown,ends it with Sebastian, and seriously considers leaving her dream behind.

Shortly after this, when Sebastian gets a call from a producer that wants Mia to audition for a movie as the starring role because she had seen Mia’s one woman-show and actually goes to her I had hope that they would find their ways back to each other, especially since after the audition they tell each other that they’ll always love each other but now is not the time for them, especially with Mia leaving to Paris since she gets the role

Cut to five years later and Mia has become the famous actress she had always dreamed of being. The viewer is obviously ecstatic for her while she’s on the set shooting where she was once just a barista. The mood then immediately shifts when Mia is shown kissing someone else and leaving their kid with a nanny. Seeing Mia had moved on  and now had a husband and child was a shock.

Director Damien Chazelle. Photo From WikiMedia.

When she proceeds to go on a date with her husband and accidentally discovers Sebastian’s bar, with the name that she had recommended for it, it broke my heart. When they saw each other, even though it was five years later, it seemed like their love was still there and hadn’t changed at all, although it clearly had.

Sebastian plays a song that had made Mia interested in him in the first place and the movie cuts to a life where Sebastian would have never joined the band and they would have still been together. Seeing that clip of them having kids, still being in love, and being happy, all with the song that started everything playing in the background, made the audience yearn for that to happen. When it ended with someone else playing the piano instead of Sebastian and having Mia and Sebastian watching him, that’s when the ending made sense. Sebastian wasn’t supposed to be sitting watching someone else play the piano with Mia. He supposed be the one up there playing the piano in that bar which he owns. He wouldn’t have done with Mia. I’m glad that both of the characters got their happy endings, I just wish they wouldn’t have had to be separate to realize them.

I had gone into La La Land with high expectations. So high I was actually expecting to be disappointed since usually when I see movies after seeing such high reviews the actual movie pales in comparison, but that wasn’t the case with this movie. This movie not only met my expectations but went miles above it. I started the movie off with a smile on my face and ended it with tears in my eyes.

The marvelousness of the film also had to a lot with the soundtrack. It’s landed on the Billboard 200 chart and is as of writing this article the #1 album on U.S iTunes.

There wasn’t any point in the movie where I started daydreaming or dozed off, which wasn’t the case with me when I had seen Assassin’s Creed and Passengers a couple weeks before. I was focused on  the screen the entire time. Not because something necessarily exciting was happening, but because of the music, because of the conversation, because of the way that everything that happened would seem like something I want to remember. Every single part of the movie was beautiful.

Although I left in tears, I would watch La La Land a million times and to anyone who’s thinking about seeing it I would say to make time for it and go. You’ll leave the theater not only wanting to rewatch it but also with newfound love of jazz.

La La Land poster featuring reviews. Photo from WikiMedia.

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