Following the 5 Snow days we’ve had this year, I’ve come to the conclusion that the following activities are the best to keep you busy!

1. Crafting
2. Baking
3. In-car activities 
4. Thrifting

Starting off with crafting. My friends and I have reached the ultimate level of crafty-ness over this past long weekend. Some things we’ve done so far include pearler beads, bedazzling various items, adding charms to lip balms, and painting. I highly recommend that the next time you’re bored, you should indulge in a fun craft instead of scrolling on your phone!

Now on to baking: I’ve given and received a few baked treats over the snow days. First, my mom and I baked blueberry muffins. Then I made banana-walnut-chocolate chip muffins and brought them to my friends! @Sophia, my fellow SWC intern, made a bundt cake for me us and all of our friends as well! I think baking is a top-tier activity for when you’re bored (it’s also pretty productive!). I highly recommend it!

Okay, now for in-car activities. Going on drives (as long as the roads are tolerable) is such a perfect activity. The feeling of blasting music and screaming it with your friends is truly unmatched. Another honorable mention for an in car activity is going to a drive-thru, specifically Swensons. My friends and I love going to Swensons not just for the food, but also because it’s so fun to be able to sit in the parking lot and just chat. If you can, in-car activities are definitely a cure for boredom. 

Lastly, onto thrifting. Thrifting is really the perfect activity for when you’re bored. Over the past long weekend my friends and I went to an estate sale and found some pretty special items! Thrifting in general is also really great because it can take up a ton of time and entertain you for a while.

 

So, hopefully on the next snow day you have a few more ideas for when you’re bored out of your mind!

Laundry is 100%, without a doubt, the WORST task in the entire world. Not only is it time consuming, it is never ending. Since I started doing my own laundry when I was 6, I have never had a weekend spared from the laborious task of washing my clothes.

 

It starts with the extremely difficult task of lugging my basket of dirty clothes down the stairs. While this may not seem so difficult in theory, in practice it is absolutely awful. I spend more time pausing to make sure that I won’t trip over my own feet and tumble down the stairs than I do actually getting the laundry done. However, once the stairs are conquered, I must move on to the actual task at hand—sorting and washing my clothes.

 

Of all steps of the process, sorting my clothes is my least favorite. From deciphering whether a striped shirt should go with the colors or the whites to trying to come up with enough clothes to justify two loads of dark colors, sorting is both extremely time consuming and very tedious. Though some people feel comfortable skipping this step, I have had one too many precious clothing items destroyed due to staining in the wash. And so, at least 15 minutes are allocated each weekend to making piles of lights, darks, and colors. 

 

After my sorting is complete, I then get to do the easiest part, actually washing my clothes. However, this period of relief is quickly overtaken by the reminder that after my clothes are washed, they must be folded. While folding doesn’t seem so bad (it can be done while watching TV, listening to music, anything entertaining), it is a monster in disguise. Trying to fold my clothes neatly to minimize wrinkles takes eons, and don’t even get me started on trying to pair up my socks. This step of the process takes at least 30 minutes, and after it’s done I can’t even enjoy my progress. Instead, I have to make the arduous journey back up my stairs to put all of the clothes away. 

 

Finally, I can bask in the glory of a fully finished job. But, of course, I’m never truly done. I can never forget that just around the corner is another weekend filled with more clothes that need to be washed. And so, the never ending cycle continues. 

My interpretation of gender has always felt like a performance. This isn’t a negative feeling, it’s simply that I only think about my gender in relation to appearances or interactions. I will think about my gender when I consider if I’m safe in a space, or if I look good in an outfit, or if myself or others are acting in a biased/discriminatory manner. When I consider my core beliefs or identities, none of them center around gender. This may be impacted by the fact that I have never felt I’m presenting as the wrong gender in opposition to my actual self. If I had felt gender dysphoria (like many trans/nonbinary people do), my gender might be a more central part of me because I would know what it feels like to be perceived as the wrong gender. As it is, I can only understand gender as an act I put on for myself and others in order to make any one of us feel more comfortable. It is within these parameters that I experience confusion around my own gender performance, and researching gender terminology has provided an equal amount of questions and answers. 

Gender envy is typically defined as a desire to emulate the way someone else expresses their own gender. It is found most commonly, but not exclusively, in the gender-queer community, and can be caused by the hair, voice, clothing, or other traits of another person. Gender envy can be more acute in trans or gender non-conforming folks because it is often, though not always paired with gender dysphoria, the feeling of wanting to be another gender or feeling discomfort in the gender a person is currently presenting in. 

In people who identify as cis, gender envy is most common among people who don’t dress/present the way they would like to, sometimes because their desired look doesn’t conform with their gender. For example, a woman who wants to dress in a masculine manner might get gender envy for men who are able to dress in a masculine way without getting pushback. 

Even the terms “masculine” and “feminine” seem so limited, but they are the terms that almost everything is sorted into, and these distinctions are taught to children from a very young age. For me, being raised as a girl fundamentally shaped the way I think about self image. Even if a young girl or her guardians don’t mean to, the girl is receiving hundreds of messages about who she is supposed to be in order to become girly or ladylike. “Keep your legs crossed, pick the pink shirt not blue, don’t talk so loud, don’t eat so much, don’t be so rowdy, don’t be so competitive”, and on and on. I was not raised as a boy, but I imagine there are many similar messages for them warning against crying, being dramatic or “flamboyant”, and more. 

Not only are these confining messages that play into toxic masculinity/femininity, but they also imply that there is a “wrong” and “right” way to be each gender. Gender through this societal lens is a thing that can be performed correctly or incorrectly. That failure state can cause insecurity in people’s gender, meaning they can and often do work to be more acceptable to themselves and society. Through diet, exercise, clothing, activities, and overall manner, people can tweak themselves to play a role, such as being more muscular or skinnier. They are working towards an ideal version of their chosen gender, and that can cause envy towards those they feel are exemplifying this gender better than they are. That seems remarkably close to the previous definition of gender envy, but is it? What is the difference between the widely experienced feeling of wanting to be more like the stereotypes of an assigned gender and the experience of gender envy? Is the difference simply playing into assigned gender roles rather than chosen ones? 

Personally, I like the feeling of dressing in a feminine manner as much as I like dressing in a masculine manner. I love pants that look like formal mens’ pants, and I always look for pretty, flowy skirts in thrift stores. I like these clothes, and the way I feel in them, but why? Do I like skirts because I look feminine in them and that gives me confidence, or do I feel confident in them and just happen to look feminine? Is that the difference between gender performance and gender identity? Is there a difference at all, or are the lines blurred, just like those around gender envy?

 If you have miraculously followed my wiggly train of thought so far, you are as deep into the weeds as I am, and you may be asking yourself if this even matters. If so, you have pinpointed the main question of this whole rambly essay. Does gender matter? 

What is the best car to buy in the $50,000 range?

 

I’ve been pondering this question for a while, and I can’t seem to find a solution.  I know for a fact that the first car that I purchase with my own money will cost around $50,000, as cars below this range are either too slow, or just straight out boring to drive most of the time and don’t look cool.  I know this sounds like a lot of money for a first car, but $50,000 is nowhere near the price of a 4 and a half million dollar Bugatti Tourbillon, so this price is very justifiable.

Now, let’s get into the cars.  Just to note, I will be looking at cars that are not just fast with nice looking designs, but ones that are also suitable for driving in relatively bad weather conditions. This is something to factor in after seeing the harsh weather conditions that hit the whole country.  Cars that would be able to handle bad weather conditions should have all wheel drive, four wheel drive, and there are some cars that have real wheel drive that would be an exception to this weather rule due to some bias.  {A photo of every car is located below its description}

For our first car, we have a 2016 Mercedes Benz Amg GTS.  It came out in 2014 with an MSP of $150,000, but has depreciated 2 fold over the years, with used 2016 models laying within the $50k range, but mainly hovering around the upper 60’s.  The 2019 AMG GTS has a handcrafted 4.0Liter V8, 515 horsepower, 494lb-ft of torque, a top speed of 193 mph, and a 0-60 of 3.7 seconds.  This car may be real wheel drive, but when looking at the performance and design quality, you simply can’t say no.  This car may have depreciated a lot, but the cost to fix broken parts hasn’t, which is a big downside, but that doesn’t really matter too much, because you are paying to have a fine piece of art, and heavy repair costs should be expected.

The next car is a 2023 BMW G82 M4 Competition.  I absolutely love this car and to be honest, it’s absolutely at the top of my list.  This car is slightly above the $50k range, with some used models sitting in the lower 70s, and a couple in the lower 60s.  It took me a while to get used to the design of the car when it came out, as it had a very unique front grille design when compared to older models like the F82, but this new design has grown on me, and has become the staple for newer BMW models in general.  The 2023 BMW G82 M4 Competition has a 3.0Liter twin turbo inline-6, 503 horsepower, 479 lb ft torque, a top speed of 180 mph, and a 0-60 of 3.8s (RWD) / 3.4s (AWD).  This care comes in both RWD and AWD/X-drive, allowing customers to pick and choose what model suits their needs.  Overall, this car looks nice, is fast, and can step up to the plate when it comes to driving in bad weather conditions.

The last car is a 2014 Audi R8 V8.  Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved and wanted this car.  I vividly remember playing Need for Speed Hot Pursuit with my older brothers, and driving this car any time I got the chance to.  This car has been discontinued, but it’s still relatively easy to get your hands on a used version in the high $50k to the very high $200,000 for later 2020-2023 models.  This car is a true super car, and had an msrp of $140,000+ for 2014 model years and has depreciated a lot since then, as used models can go as low as $50,000.  The 2014 Audi R8 V8 has a 4.2Liter naturally aspirated V8 engine, 430 horsepower, 317lb ft of torque, a top speed of 187-188mph, and a 0-60 of 4.2-4.5 seconds.  Though this car is AWD, typically 85% of the power goes to the rear wheels, so it’s just basically a rear wheel drive car.  I love this car, and know for sure that one day I will own this car.

Thus said, before we get to the choosing , I just want to say that these three cars are all good choices in their respective categories, and that zero bias will go into the ranking of these cars.  Though these three cars don’t reflect all of the cars that lay within the $50,000 car range, these are my top 3 cars when cars in the $50,000 range come to mind.  The best car in the $50,000 range is the 2023 BMW G82 M4.  I really love all three of these cars, but I feel like newer models of the Audi R8 and the Mercedes AMG GTS would be way better compared to the models that are $50,000.  The BMW is the best all around car on this list and would be a great daily driver.  I plan on owning all three of these cars one day, and more, but I feel like for my first car that’s in the $50,000 range, it would be the 2023 BMW G82 M4.

 

Last week, a freshman shoved me in the hallway and actually told me to “get out of the way”. I’m a senior, yet somehow I’m the one who’s expected to move. While of course, students shouldn’t be treated differently just because they happened to be born in a different year. That being said, something is catastrophically wrong with the fragile ecosystem that is Shaker Heights High School.

High school has always operated on an unspoken hierarchy, one that every adult in our lives (ironically) reminisces on very fondly. Freshmen are at the bottom of the social food chain, every year you go up one tier until you reach the top, seniors. That’s the way it’s always been and some things shouldn’t change.

Freshman year, in itself, is a rite of passage. You don’t get to come to parties, mom still has to drive you to school (not that underclassmen get parking spots anyways), and you certainly must sit in the back of the bleachers. It sucks, but I find it endearing. Everyone has paid their dues, so must you. It’s the single tradition that unites all students at our school. Everyone was once a baby freshman.

When I was freshman, I was scared of seniors in the way you’re intimidated by people you idolize. I stayed out of their way, walking fast while making sure me and my friends weren’t taking up too much space in the narrow hallways. No, seriously—if a sophomore told me to fetch their pencil, I’d say, “of course” while kneeling on the floor. It felt comfortable to be able to be small in a big new environment. I knew I was at the bottom and that was fine by me. Fear didn’t hurt us, it just taught us when to move aside.

The balance has certainly shifted. Freshmen today are screaming in the hallways during tenth period completely oblivious to the fact that there are people around them, and trust me we are judging. Their lack of hallway etiquette is extremely concerning as they stop to chat and clog the busiest hallways of our building. They have play-dates in the hallways and take walks to peek into the window of every room. You are fourteen. Get to class. During sporting events, they pretentiously take their seats in the front rows with their heads held high until upperclassmen come to kick them out. They barge into classrooms without even the slightest respect to even knock.

I think all their concerning behaviors are tied to their alarmingly huge ego, that they have yet to earn. It’s prey behavior with absolutely zero survival instincts.

We heard tales of freshmen getting shoved in lockers and getting wedgied. Now they have no problem body-checking me in the hallway. Seriously, when’s the last time a freshman got their lunch money stolen? I’m not encouraging hazing, but they do need to sit in the back of the bleachers, sorry (not sorry).

The hierarchy worked because everyone knew their place. It taught us awareness, patience and how to wait. It made us excitedly anticipate our future and eager to earn our parking at the top of the oval. Patience was rewarded. The core image of watching seniors at hockey home-opener games standing at the glass once mattered. It allowed our freshman selves to realize that we weren’t supposed to be there yet that we had the privilege of so much forgiving time to grow into that. Not to mention, there is value in having role models, in this case the upperclassmen. It helps us develop our own character by seeing what’s possible, gives us purpose and sometimes to strive for. Sometimes it’s good to know you’re not at the top yet.

The point is to make the freshman scared again. Every healthy ecosystem needs balance and right now, ours is completely out of control.

 

7:15 AM, Monday morning.

One might think this would start for us like any other day: go downstairs, make breakfast (and by make, I mean watch my mom make it for me), and head out for school. But this Monday started off a little bit more excruciating than those that came before it.

I sit at my vanity, closed in by my light pink walls and warmly lit string lights. The aesthetic ambience, however, was quickly interrupted by a painful ring coming from my mom. Her high-pitched scream fled throughout the floors of our house, a noise one only bothers making at 7 AM if they are truly in danger.

I race downstairs, my body filled with hesitancy as the possibilities catalog in my mind. What will it be that caused my mom’s scream to flood the halls like a bad perfume, intruder? Robber? Scary man? Only one option remains, and our family may find it the most haunting of all.

“THERE’S A MOUSE!!!”

12 letters. Three syllables. 10 years off my life. 

In our 100-year-old home, I have faced too many encounters with mice, treating them as their own. In fourth grade, our first-ever furry friend chose MY room for its debut. I’ll never forget the bag of Rolo’s candy that rested in my trash can, crinkling so loudly it jolted nine year old me awake. 

Anyway, on this Monday, I let out a scream that matched my mom’s before slowly entering the kitchen to help. She tells me how she saw it run from the butler’s pantry to under the oven. Of course, if I were a mouse, I would also want to find the worst possible place in the kitchen to cozy myself up in.

For the days following, my 

mom and I faced struggles only other fellow-mousers could empathize with. This is the type of thing that only occurs when my dad is out of town, so we are helpless. We shoved four traps under the oven. To check them, we both had to hold onto a broom together, one hand over the other, and slide them out. The goal was to stay as far away as possible.

Who knew that a barely one-ounce critter could be so tormenting? I came downstairs for dinner and found my mom criss-crossed on the kitchen counter, exterm

inator on the phone, and all. For the record, he did not find her humorous whatsoever and was not phased by how torturous this mouse was for us.

I really wish that I could end this blog with an amazing takeaway, like something super meaningful that I have learned over the years of living with pests by my side. But no, I do not have a newfound appreciation for nature. No, I am not going to become some sort of mouse-oligist. And no, I am certainly not going to ever leave food in my room again. 

However, I would like to point out that we do have a very clean home, and the mouse issue is not because we are secret slobs. I guess some people are just too welcoming for this world. 

 

I like to think of myself as a food connoisseur. I am open to eating any food (other than pork, shellfish, and sour cream) and am always looking for good places to eat. So, for any other people out there who like food (don’t lie), here are my recommendations for different scenarios and times.

Best Breakfast Spot – Obviously First Watch is a delicious option that you can never go wrong with. But, if you aren’t looking to spend your entire paycheck for some pancakes and eggs, Eat at Joes is a must try. Don’t let the old timey diner vibe throw you off; they have some of the best tasting breakfast items that you’ll ever have (and for a quarter of the price). Trust me and give it a try. You’re welcome.

Best Lunch Spot – If you’re looking for a calm lunch spot for maybe a sandwich, soup, or salad, Stone Oven is a safe option. I am slightly biased (as it’s my place of employment) but they have great options. The soup is always delicious and you can never go wrong with a fresh sandwich. They also have delicious baked goods. If you weren’t feeling that and wanted a more interesting lunch, try Map of Thailand. Located in Asia Town, they have great Thai options. The workers are super nice, the noodles and soup are delicious, and it’s also right next door to Koko Bakery.

Best Dinner Spots- Often when I look for a dinner spot I am with my friends. This usually leads us to a cheaper option for food. I’ve gotten tired of eating gross fast food and look for healthier, tastier options. Choolah is an excellent quick and yummy dinner spot. I recommend the chicken bowl with Tikka Masalah, naan, and a mango lassi. If you’re with your parents and looking for a nicer spot, don’t worry because I know the perfect place. Cordelia is located on East 4th street in Cleveland and serves a broad variety of food ranging from an excellent burger to a cheese plate to a delicious carrot dip. I’ve been here twice for a quick bite before a Guardians game and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone.

Bonus spot: I love sushi. It’s my favorite food and I’ve tried many different spots in and around Cleveland. In my opinion, the best is Pacific East on Coventry. I’ve found they have the best rolls in town, very fresh fish, and great miso soup.

You’re welcome in advance for these elite recommendations. Enjoy

Over the past two weeks, Shaker Heights City School Districts has amassed four days off from school due to extreme winter weather conditions. With this high frequency of snow-excused absences, I thought of some of my favorite current and past snow-day activities. So, here is a list of 10 things that I enjoy doing on snow days. *These are not in any specific order* 

• Bake or cook

On Tuesday, I made bacon smash burger tacos with a friend, as we saw the video on Instagram. While the process was not as quick as we initially thought, they turned out pretty good. I’d like to think that baking chocolate chip cookies is a better and more classic alternative though.

 

• Go snowboarding or skiing

While we don’t have much to offer in Ohio compared to the West Coast, it’s still fun to take a trip out to Boston Mills or Brandywine and brave the cold for a few hours. To be fair though, the powder has been amazing recently at both resorts. 

 

• Binge-watch a movie or TV series. 

If you’re snowed in, there is no better time to do this.

 

• Go sledding

This is a no-brainer, and there are plenty of great spots to go sledding here in Shaker. I think Thornton Park has the best hill, but Shaker Heights Country Club is a great spot too. 

 

• Sleep in or take a nap

Our snow days have definitely given me an opportunity to adjust my sleep schedule to normal hours, especially after our “finals week.”

 

• Find an old childhood game and play it with your family

My go to recommendation would be to play Monopoly, but I recently played Twister and that was fun.

 

• Use the sauna at the gym

Nothing has made me appreciate the sauna more than the days we have had off due to the cold. I have been constantly using the sauna and the feeling when you walk to your car after the sauna is amazing. 

 

• Make a hot cocoa

I personally recommend the Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate Mix topped with whipped cream and bits of peppermint candy.

 

• Shovel your (or a neighbor’s) driveway

While this seems like a burden to most people, I find shoveling to be really satisfying, and it’s a good way to make an extra bit of money. Also, when I have enough snow to shovel, I like to make a jump in my backyard and use it to practice snowboard tricks. 

 

• Play video games

Whatever your video game preference may be, playing for hours on end with friends is a great way to spend a snow day.  

Every Track and Field athlete knows that the 4×400 meter relay is one of the hardest, most widely dreaded events for the runners. Spectators absolutely love it, however. It’s always the last event of the meet, so it’s usually run in the dark with the stadium lights illuminating the track. Four people run four hundred meters, which is one lap of the track. In this relay, just about anything can happen at any point. It’s never known if a runner will drop the split of a lifetime and get their team from fifth to first just before the finish, or if someone who started out strong will suddenly fade two hundred meters in. Four hundred meters is a sprinting distance, so it’s usually safe to assume that only sprinters will be running the 4×400. However, as a distance runner who is also decent at this race, I never know when I will be put in.

For Track invitationals, I typically run the 4×800 and the mile, but the ever present threat of the 4×400 at the end of the meet looms over me. Time and time again, I will have finished my races, done a three mile cool down, and eaten tons of food, only to discover twenty minutes before the 4×400 is set to go off that one of the sprinters is injured and that I will be running it. One time, I had consumed a whole Chipotle bowl and chocolate milk after running the mile, and unfortunately had to run the 4×400. As someone who likes to be prepared, this always throws me off, even though at this point I should probably be used to it.

When I’m running this event, I feel a strange sort of pressure. It’s different from what I feel when I’m running my own events, because I know how to perform well in those, and don’t have as much to prove. However, the past two years, the girls varsity 4×400 has placed third in the state at the statemeet. So when I’m thrown into this relay, I feel the pressure to prove that I won’t hold the relay back, and that we can still do well, even with a distance runner racing it. As much as I might complain about running the 4×400, I actually kind of enjoy the pressure, the excitement, and the community surrounding the 4×400.

 

While I was at boarding school, there were times when it felt like hell on Earth. Looking back though, I was absolutely right.

5 am Wake-ups

Since it was a no technology school, the school had to find a creative way of waking high-schoolers up before the sun was out. Their solution to this was to have a MASSIVE gong in the middle of the residential area and a sadistic kid to go with it. Right on queue at 5 (and sometimes earlier) the aforementioned kid would hit the gong long and hard, shouting ‘WAKE UP!’ like the echoing bang bang bang didn’t already have the next town over stirring. If you made the unfortunate mistake of thinking this was your mama’s house and stayed in bed for five more minutes, you’d be running laps to help you get up.

Morning Assignment

Despite a crazy price tag, the school didn’t have any janitorial staff. It was up to the student to maintain most aspects of the school. While this was for the most part a calm ‘sweep this room’ or ‘trim these bushes’ somebody must’ve hated me or something cause they made me responsible for maintaining and creating drainage channels. What this meant was giving me a hoe and asking me to till the land from the top of a hill to spot 50 meters away.

Morning Prep

Dedicated study time for 30 minutes

Breakfast

Being an all-boys school with no access to the outside world, there really wasn’t much drama to have. If there was any to be had at all though, it was at breakfast. During breakfast, especially by midyear, people would go around dorms with cups in hand seeking alms to make the school’s signature tasteless porridge a little less dystopian. The problem was, you gotta look out for yourself and your day-ones and everybody else can rocks. That dude who you thought you were chill with cause yall sat next to each other? Ask him for milk and see how chill y’all really are. That person you know from elementary but haven’t talked to since y’all came? He certainly don’t wanna hear from you now. Friendships lived and died on spoonfuls of sugar, syndicates of hate formed against the close-fisted, and the few who’d been frugal in preparation for the inevitable drought found the dual edged blade of social ostracism or self-impoverishment

 

Sometimes I have nightmares where I wake up to the sound of that terrible gong in my bunk bed, finding out that the past 4 years have been a dream. Although the main thing I feel in these dreams is panic and a spiraling sense of this can’t be happening, I feel excitement as well; excitement to see people who I’d thought I’d seen the last of and tell them about a dumb dream I had where I went to American high school and did things like being a “student intern”. Although boarding school did have its flaws, it had that wabi sabi in a way that made it a worthwhile experience.