While normally my blogs are silly ramblings or random pieces of food for thought, this time I have a genuine philosophical conversation topic. A very common saying is: “It’s lonely at the top”; but most recently I’d heard it said as “It’s not crowded at the top”. While these two sayings seemingly have the same meaning, the words “lonely” and “crowded” give the saying two contrasting interpretations.

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary says that “It’s lonely at the top” is an idiom, “used to say that powerful and successful people often have few friends”. While the world unanimously can agree that success is a good thing, many people claim that to achieve success requires a substantial amount of sacrifice. This sacrifice to some makes an incredible amount of success seem unnecessary or “not worth it”; this is why “it’s lonely at the top”, because most don’t have what it takes to get there. 

American self-help author, Napoleon Hill, is credited with the quote, “The ladder of success is never crowded at the top”. This rewording of the saying frames the top as not lonely, but the bottom as crowded. It implies that to be at the top alone in success is to be special and free from the suffocation of the masses. It poses reaching the top not as a burdensome sacrifice, but as a reward for anyone with the ability and wherewithal to reach it.

While all of this is interesting, I know what you’re thinking: “What’s the point?? What does it all mean???” And to that I say: that’s up to you. Success is a dual-edged sword; you can never be successful without ridding yourself of what’s holding you back. However, that’s not to say that the height of the ladder isn’t subjective or situational. Some people only need to climb so high to reach their top; the top of the ladder of others may be a little more populated than everyone else’s. Success is a subjective and deceptive measurement of one’s ability and worth that’ll often leave people believing they are worth less than they are. This all being said, I implore you not to be disheartened by the population of your current height on the ladder. Everyone should try to reach the top of your ladder, and just because your ladder is made of wood and mine is made of stone doesn’t make either any less of a ladder. Moreover, on your way to the top, don’t let others drag you down; when they see you climbing your ladder, they’ll snatch you like crabs in a bucket.

By tomorrow, 228 will be closing its doors for construction. For those of you who didn’t know – there is a 4×4 tile wide hole in the ceiling of the writing center. It’s been there for give or take 3 months and it’s only gotten worse. Because of this, each section is packing their bags and heading off to different new homes. 3rd period is moving to 156 along with Flex, 6th period is moving to 229, and 7th period will be headed to 261. So, no more brown, molded, dripping, trypophobia-inducing, definitely unsanitary ceiling hole. 

However, there are so many amazing memories that I have from the writing center that I can’t even pick one to write about, and it’s upsetting that I’ll be leaving such a cozy and welcoming place. So much work has gone into making the writing center what it is. We have a welcome mat for starters, there are decorations on every wall (which were painted by the one and only Mrs. Lawlor), we have fidget toys, food and candy, a Keurig, rolling chairs, and personalized table caddies decorated by the interns. Everything mentioned are things that we unfortunately can’t bring to these free rooms. In the end though, it’s the writing center staff that makes it such a welcoming and special place, and I know I speak for all of us when I say that the writing center will be just as welcoming despite the change of scenery. 

One more week at Shaker Heights High School. I spent 3 ½ years in this building and under the same administration. So of course there are things I think should be changed. So in no particular order…

1. Bathrooms. Why are half of the bathrooms in this school stuck in the 1970s? I need a mirror so I can reflect on my decisions of life, and some don’t even have one. Also why are all of the bathrooms locked? When I have to use the bathroom, I HAVE to use the bathroom and I don’t plan on running across the whole school.
2. Parking- for the love of god. If we can’t get a parking lot, at least teach kids SHHS parking etiquette: only leave about 2 feet between the back of your car and the car behind’s bumper AND if someone is trying to parallel park in a tight spot… maybe move for them so there’s more space. I was angered this morning when the car in front of me saw I was struggling and did not move. I don’t need another email from Mr. Routh critiquing my parking.
3. The front lawn needs a walkway connecting the flagpole to the sidewalk. I don’t need my new shoes getting muddy and I’m too lazy not to walk across the front lawn at 8 in the morning.
4. WIFI! I stand by my argument that kids would actually spend less time on their phone if the texts to their parents were sent in 30 sec not 30 minutes. Kids only constantly check their phones to see if texts go through. I’ve personally spent 25 minutes trying to send a text to my mom. I was on my phone the whole time and it still didn’t send. Better WiFi would make it quicker and kids would spend less time just quickly checking something then wanting to check it and having to wait for it to load.
5. More time outside/sunlight. My blue eyes ache the second I step outside after being locked in the school for 7 hours. Like right now: It’s sunny out and there is no way for me to enjoy the sun except go outside and be cold.

Now I spent a lot of my time this year dedicated to being more of an optimist and not a complainer. But god this school makes it hard sometimes. And after being in it for so long, I feel as if I do have the right to complain a little. But my shaker pride still runs deep and I will miss the good things about this place. You served me well, Shaker, goodbye. 

I keep seeing the candy salads trending on TikTok and have been dying to make one of my own. I have an obsession with sour candy, so this is the perfect dish for me. In my dream candy salad, I would include the following:

-Sour Patch Kids, these are a classic
-Trolli sour gummy worms, again, another classic
-Airhead Extreme bites, you can’t go wrong with these
-Sour Punch Straw bites, these are in my top three favorite candies overall, especially the red ones
-Sour Strips (Rainbow), these are my actual favorite candy, and my mouth waters just thinking about them
-Sour Skittles, I haven’t had these in a while, but I feel like they’re a good addition
-Red licorice (specifically Darrell Lea Australian Licorice, Strawberry Flavored), these are amazing
-Gummy sharks, these are really nostalgic for me because I used to get them all the time at the old candy shop at the mall

Over the past few years, I have spent many mornings perfecting the art of getting ready in as little time as possible. If you’re like me you stay up late and then in the morning sleep through 90% of your alarms and find getting out of bed almost impossible. If you are like me then you’re in luck because I have finally mastered the perfect, most efficient morning routine and I am going to share it with you.

Night before:

1. Pack your school bag. Not a single minute can be wasted trying to find all of your school supplies still delirious with sleep
2. Pick out your clothes. Have an outfit ready so you can roll out of bed and throw it on (admittedly, I normally hate the outfit in the morning and totally change, but the extra preparedness is nice in theory)
3. set as many alarms as possible. I set one every 5 minutes starting 40 minutes before I need to leave the house so that when I sleep through 7 of them I still have one left to wake me up

Morning:

1. Find the motivation to get up and roll out of bed. This is probably the hardest step, but unfortunately is the most crucial step of the entire process
2. throw clothes on my body as fast as possible. It’s become a bit of a race with myself where whenever I feel myself slowing down I see how fast I can get leggings on my body (not very fast)
3. brush teeth, take braid out of hair, and do any other hygiene steps. Just because the morning is quick doesn’t mean hygiene isn’t important and I want to arrive to school looking at least presentable
4. sustenance. As I sprint out of the door I make sure I grab breakfast (normally a muffin or granola bar) and some sort of caffeine to get me through the school day

If done correctly, you should be out of bed and in the car in about 5 minutes. I don’t necessarily recommend this high-stress morning, but when in a pickle, this has proven to be the most efficient routine.

Being a Junior in high school is both a blessing and a curse. I have a heavy course load, but I also did not have to take ANY EOCs this year. With the Solar eclipse, Eid al-Fitr, 4 late start days, and a quick road trip to Washington D.C., I have missed an extraordinary amount of school in the last three weeks. Did I use my gifted free time to catch up on late Work and study for my AP Tests? Did I clean my atomic bob of a room? No, I did what any smart person would do, I went to Target.

My best friend, Emily, and I have a big problem. We are absolutely obsessed with Target. Arriving at 7, we came in determined to remain focused and find everything on our small shopping list. But I knew that wouldn’t be the case when we pulled into the rooftop parking, and the sunset over target like an ethereal message.”This is a magical place”, the un seemed to say. Entering Target on the 2nd floor, we are immediately at the discount sale rack. There are tons of random junk you don’t need but are funny to look at. On my most recent trip, I bought a G.O.A.T. award.

After the sales rack, the next on the tour was the Children’s Toy Section. This is my favorite part. There are always fun things to look at here. With the right Target Buddy, you’ll find yourself in this section for hours.  Once we made it through, we went to the right to Electronics. there we hosted a miniature book club, perused records that are too expensive, and played a demo game of MarioKart. I lost.

After that, we went to Target Home Decorating aisle and designed our future apartment. I wanted the soft blue mini-fridge, and she wanted green. We decidedly picked the green, but the fridge was empty, so that took us to our last stop, Food. Every time Emily and I go to Target, we pick out a new treat to try. This time we chose Tru-Fru. OH MY GOODNESS! SO DELICIOUS!

It was the perfect end to a perfect adventure trip. Target is a time loop, and I love it with my full heart. There is no better way to spend your free time than exploring and pursuing the aisles of your local Target.

It seems that I have come to a roadblock in my writing. No matter how hard I try, no thoughts are coming in. No ideas are coming to my head. To be honest, I’m just exhausted. This year has been one of the most challenging of my life. I’ve worked so hard and kept up a busy schedule, all with the fear and uncertainty of COLLEGE hanging over my head. I spell COLLEGE in all caps because that’s how it’s felt for so long- like a huge standard that I’ll never quite reach.
The truth is, I haven’t even imagined what it will be like when I actually go to COLLEGE. Am I ready for it? I mean, I know I was an exchange student, but I still always had somebody doing my laundry and buying my food. How am I supposed to live without that? And at the same time, while I’m busy trying to remember how to separate my clothing into whites and colors, I need to also be thinking about my career and life goals. And don’t get me started on my lack of knowledge about anything money-related.
If you’re reading this before May 1st, that means that I probably still haven’t picked a college yet. I think I know what the right choice is, but I want to be completely sure. Deep down, though, I know that I’ll never feel totally certain. Every choice has its risks. It seems that for every pro a school has, it has a con to go along with it. At times, these choices have become paralyzing. Sometimes I think it would be better to hide in my bedroom forever, watching Netflix and living off of Goldfish crackers.
Obviously, I can’t do that (although it’s tempting). I want to go to college. I want to experience new things. And usually, when something scares me, it means that I’m headed in the right direction. I just need to trust myself. One day, I’m going to look back on this blog and think about how far I’ve come. Where I’ll be, I don’t know. But I think it’ll be pretty fun to find out.

Part 1: Meredith’s Perspective

London was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. It was very refreshing to be in a city that didn’t constantly smell. On the first day, I spent my time sleeping until dinner because I was extremely jet-lagged. After that, we went to an Irish pub and met up with my older brother and his friends. The next day we did some sightseeing. After having a cup of tea at a local cafe we took the tube to Parliament and did some more sightseeing. We also went to Buckingham Palace! But then we got rained on and had to go back to the hotel to change. We went to a fancy British restaurant that night and the only thing on the menu was Beef Wellington—I was not a big fan so I got something else to eat after but I did give it a try. The next day we went to the Tate Britain museum and they had a “Woman in Revolt” exhibit that my mom and I got tickets to. The exhibit was so interesting and probably my favorite thing we did in London. After we went to the museum we got dinner at a Japanese Teppan Yaki restaurant, where they cooked the food on a stove in front of you. That was a really unique experience; I had never seen anything like it. While we were there, I got mango sorbet for dessert and that may be one of my favorite things I had in London. It was probably my favorite restaurant we went to during the trip. The next day I slept in until I met up with Ezra, which was around 3pm.

Part 2: Ezra’s Perspective

In a fog of Earl Gray, rivers of people rushing across every walkway rivaling the Thames, and interminably unnavigable infrastructure, I managed to survive. My family’s flight landed us jetlagged in the middle of London on a Saturday and I decided that would be the perfect time to go to a concert. The concert did not have an announced location or set of bands when I bought the tickets (and intentionally so — that’s just how Sofar Sounds does it). Nevertheless, once I found out the location (a combination bar and coffee shop) and settled in, it was a great time. The next day, my family took the double-decker bus into the city to go on a walking tour of Karl Marx’s favorite spots in London (mostly pubs). Our tour guide, adorned in an incredibly large trench coat, gave us a series of mini-lectures on economics and the philosophy of Dialectical Materialism as well. Throughout the week, I saw the rather unimposing physical marker of Greenwich Mean Time (aka the Prime Meridian), stopped by a dozen record stores, had the worst veggie burger of my life, saw Marcel Duchamp’s fountain face-to-face, toured the London School of Economics, went to a cat cafe, and more. The highlight of my trip was on Wednesday, when I saw Yard Act (that We Make Hits! band) live in concert. I made good friends with people with incredibly British names (Harry, Arthur, etc.) and got my phone stolen. All in all, a good time. The night after, I met up with Meredith!

Part 3: Meet-Up of the Century

We started our hangout by meeting up at a famous coffee chain called Costa Coffee. While we were there, I (Meredith) got a hot chocolate and I (Ezra) got iced coffee. We spent some time catching up and talking all about London and then headed off to Brandy Melville, where I (M) had a wonderful shopping spree and got a ton of cute stuff! I (E) helped carry bags as we tried to look for sunglasses, but those were too expensive. Then we went to a store called MUJI where I (M) got some gifts for my friends as well as some candles for myself. 

We noticed that all across London laid an abundance of tiny, cramped stores with sodas, London paraphernalia, and more. We called them “crap-stores,” and visited quite a few. Then we walked to dinner. Dinner was at an Italian place called “Pastaio.” We started our dinner with water and a coke (with lots of lemon). For dinner, we started with some bread chips and then we got the same main course: a penne pasta with red sauce. After our main course, we decided to get dessert. I (E) got a rhubarb tiramisu and I (M) got pistachio ice cream! After dinner, we decided to get some snacks from a “crap-store,” including the single best drink ever made: European Orange Fanta. You see, European Fanta is made quite differently from American Fanta. There is a certain je ne sais quoi that differentiates the bland, lifeless, almost corporate taste of American Fanta from the lively, exuberant, refreshing taste of European Fanta. I (M) indulged in a very large bottle of water, my favorite European snack (Pringles) and some European strawberry candies. After we got our goodies, we decided it was time to start heading home. We then parted ways and continued with our journeys through the bizarre tunnels of everyday life in London. 

I am currently sitting in room 118 after taking the government EOC. I’m pretty sure everyone finished within 30 minutes, and we have to wait 2 and a half hours to be released. This is torturous. I tried on the test, I really did, but now that I have the opportunity to do my homework and be productive, I can’t bring my mind to it.

So I guess this is a message to the school board of administration or whoever requires these tests, please leave us alone. I’m already required to take an AP Government test, so this is really the last place I want to be right now.

Anyways, to brighten up the atmosphere, maybe I’ll draw a cute little picture of flowers and and a tree. (insert straight face emoji). But honestly, it’s okay, only 30 minutes to go. We got this!

Wow.

It has been a brutal final year of high school, and I’m absolutely sure that if I’d kept caring, it would have been the death of me. It may sound strange, but senioritis was really my saving grace this year. In order to balance college applications and decisions, IB testing, the IAs, my evil evil evil AP Stats class, and the gradual unraveling of my own sanity, something had to go. I guess what I ended up getting rid of was the value I placed on tasks. Senioritis shifted my priorities, and it shocked me how different I suddenly felt about what used to matter to me. Homework? Who cares? Grades? If I’m passing, good enough! My blog post from February? I don’t want to talk about it!

Rather than focusing on current or short-term tasks, I’ve tended to instead look down the road toward future possibilities. I’ve actually been comparing senioritis to reaching a kind of nirvana; freeing myself from the worry of school by letting go of the value I place on it. There is a strange sense of freedom to be gained from watching my math grade slip away and I experience a recentering of what matters when I fail to turn in an assignment and the world continues to spin. In this way, I feel that senioritis is almost an expression of my oncoming adulthood, as it signals the onset of my ability to distinguish between truly important situations and ones where it is okay to drop the ball somewhat. This year more than any other, I’ve become able to take responsibility for my late and missing work because I can finally articulate why I choose not to do it. Every SAQ I start and then don’t finish is a monument to my free will, and proof that I’m happy to exercise it (sorry Ms. Berndt). I’ve gone through enough pointless worry in high school that I’m completely ready to surrender myself to the freedom and absurdity of the future, and of choice. I’ve experienced plenty of needless stress, and after going through that for the better part of four years I’ve decided that I don’t need to do that anymore. So senioritis, thank you. I hope that I’ve earned every forty-five percent you’ve bestowed on me, and I’ll always cherish your lesson on the value of “good enough.”