I am cliche. I went on a trip and I’m pretty sure it changed my life. I might make it my entire personality from here on out. Sorry.

About a month ago, I traveled to Thailand with 17 other students, as well as Mr. McGonnell and Mrs. Shresta, for Shaker’s annual spring break immersion trip. After about 45 hours, including five flights, a hasty stop in Bangkok customs, and about my month’s salary worth of airport food, we arrived in Thailand. The trip allowed for three days spent in Chiang Mai, the largest city in Northern Thailand. The other three (my favorite) were in a tree house in Chiang Dai, a smaller Northern city in the mountains. Each day was absolutely jam-packed, but here’s my quick run down:

Day #1- Temple, Monk Blessing, Elephants and Night Market

Day #2- Sticky Waterfall, Mountain Temple, Cave/Meditation Temple and Hot Springs

Day #3- Tree house/Day of Service

Day #4- Tree house/Day of Service

Day #5- Waterfall hike, White Water Rafting, Return to Chiang Mai and Night Bazaar

All of the flashy activities drew me to the trip, especially the elephants. As the trip came closer, I thought non-stop about the rafting, the animals, and the markets. However, to my surprise, the most memorable experience ended up being the two days our group spent at the local boarding school.

Within minutes of our arrival at the school, each of us had two, or three or five children clinging onto us. Our service assignment there was to repaint the school, and to help these students with their English. Of course, we fulfilled this request- lesson planned, taught and painted -but a majority of our time was spent playing with Snapchat filters, giving piggy back rides or simply sitting and spending time with the kids. Those simple moments seemed a lot more meaningful than the English we taught, or the walls we painted.

Most of my time at the school was spent with Na Li, a little girl who clung to me from the second I stepped foot on school grounds. After an introductory round of sharks and minnows with all the students, she pretty much claimed me as her own. From what I could make out, Na Li challenged any other little girl that wanted to grab my attention. She dragged me from friend to friend, played with my camera, gave me Durian-flavored candy and a bracelet, and asked me to do her hair. I felt a little like a celebrity.

The rest of my time was spent helping re-paint the school walls blue and brown, as well as getting a spontaneous painting project of my own. As we freshened up the paint on the walls, we realized we were covering bright murals of animals that lined the walls. It was sad to see the school lose its character. Thankfully, Mr. McGonnell had the great idea of painting a new mural. He proposed the idea to our trip guide, Mary, and enlisted me to help out. Mary and I spent six hours, sketching, painting and perfecting a ginormous rainbow butterfly.

Somehow, those six hours passed and without any warning, tears streamed down my face. I placed the finishing touches on the insect and the little girls I had grown so close to came to say goodbye. They wiped the tears from my face, and made fun of me a little, understandably so. Two school days worth of games, pictures, teaching and painting passed so incredibly quickly. I wasn’t ready to go. It took about 20 minutes and 1,000 goodbye hugs before all 18 of us could make it out of the school.

A couple days later, I left Thailand knowing that the world is a lot bigger than I was able to see from our Shaker bubble, and that I am capable of being much cornier than I ever thought. From here on out, I’ll have a little more empathy for all the people who feel the need to talk about their annoyingly good trip. Unfortunately for everyone else, I’ve become one of them.

 

 

Now, some of you might be wondering why this is my last blog if I’m only a junior. Well, I really wish it wasn’t true, but I’m not going to be a writing center intern again next year, because I don’t have room in my schedule. So, to honor the time that I have spent in the writing center this year, here are some good times to reminisce.

1. To start it off, I loved when my class was able to convince Ms. Lawlor to bring us on a walk around the oval. Sorry, Bridget, I know you had homework to do, but it was such a nice break to have in the day!
2. We never got to have our party. Our class period was promised that we would have a holiday/Eden’s birthday party the last day before winter break. It was a fateful day. I was sitting in math, the class period before writing center, when I got a text that informed me the party was canceled. I was simply devastated. Distraught. I felt deceived. Then, in lunch, I received another text that informed me the party was back on! What a joyous moment. I experienced happiness. Jubilation. I arrived in writing center at the top of the world, only to discover that a teacher had requested our class to go help students in the library. I was quite saddened. We did end up singing a writing center Christmas carol to Ms. Davis’s class though, so it wasn’t a complete waste.
3. I never knew what I was missing out on before I tried the Ghost Toast KitKat’s. I thought that I had known true happiness in my life before, but I was clearly wrong. When we went scrounging in the file cabinet for any sweet treat that we would get our hands on, I couldn’t have guessed what perfection was awaiting. Crunchy, yet soft. Sweet, and flavorful. I am in love.
4. I applaud Ms. Lawlor for her compliance in doing the scuba. I never thought I’d see the day. Thanks to Sophia for convincing her to (I swear Ms. Lawlor it doesn’t mean anything bad) 9th period writing center got to see this wonderful thing. What memories.

I will miss writing center and all of the interns next year (except for Sophia F), and especially Ms. Lawlor! I’ll be sure to stop by with my frequent flyer pass to try to win some more Ghost Toast.

Today I sat in my very last high school class. The final bell rang like normal, at 3:13 PM. But this time the bell wasn’t just closing that day of classes, it was (unofficially) closing my time as a Shaker Heights High School student. It’s crazy to think that after that moment everything I have known is now going to look completely different. Teachers will become professors, my shared bathroom with my sister will become a communal bathroom to share with twenty other students, my home will be two hours away, and I won’t only be focused on getting good grades, but I’ll be focusing on my future career.

I am really sad to have to say goodbye to the many memories I’ve made and people I have met during my time at Shaker. But, instead of tearing up while writing an entire goodbye spiel, I wanted to share some things I’m looking forward to as I go on Senior Project and for this summer, in general.

 

      1. Senior Project!

I’m actually really excited to continue doing something during the month of May. I’m going to my old sixth grade language and literature teacher’s class where I will kind of be recreating the writing center at the middle school, by helping students with reading and writing assignments. I’m excited to see education from the teacher’s point of view, and to have something to keep me entertained until graduation.

 

       2. Prom!

Obviously I had to put this one on here because I’ve been excited for this event since my freshman year of high school. I can’t wait to get dressed up with my friends and have a great celebration to the end of the year. 

 

       3. Grad Parties!

Honestly, planning grad parties is incredibly stressful, whether that be from picking out what food to provide or decorations to buy. Plus, keeping track of everyone else’s grad party can be a handful. Let’s just say the month of June will be really busy, but super fun. I’m excited to celebrate everyone and their futures together!

 

       4. Traveling to Maine with my Family!

My family loves to travel to Maine over the summer. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to go the past couple of summers because of other plans, so I’m really looking forward to being able to go back this year. Some of our favorites include hiking in Acadia National Park, getting Fielder’s Choice Ice Cream, and hanging out on the beach in Ocean Park!

 

      5. Finally, moving into my dorm, and starting my next chapter in August!

I’m excited to see what my next chapter holds at Ohio State. I am looking forward to decorating my dorm with my roommate and exploring the city of Columbus. I am excited for all of the opportunities and can’t wait to take advantage of as many of them as I can, whether that be joining new clubs or studying abroad.

 

Even though I am looking forward to all of these events, in the back of my mind I still can’t help but be a little upset that I will never be considered a student at Shaker Heights High School again. All of the memories I have made and people I have met at Shaker will stay with me forever, and I can’t wait to make even more memories during my next adventure.

This past Saturday, April 18th, was my birthday! I had a great dinner, spent time with my friends, got awesome gifts, and had my school email hacked into by an unknown windows computer in Bangladesh. Obviously, one of these things is not like the others.

 

The first thing I expected to see opening my email Saturday morning was definitely not almost 200 salacious emails received on my account. They were all from random email addresses I had never heard of before, most being a random scramble of letters. I stared at my computer in shock—what had happened overnight? Further digging made me realize that this invisible force has also deleted all of my previous emails, leaving me with a blank slate.

 

Moving into my Sent tab, I realized that I had also been deeply compromised. Overnight, every minute, emails were sent out with obscene messages, all ending with a bright blue CLICK HERE link. Thankfully, nothing was sent to any teachers or students, I don’t know what I would have done if Dr. Glasner had received an email asking him to…anyways.

I deleted everything, and frantically tried to send an email to Mr. Wyatt explaining the situation. Here’s a pro tip if your email ever gets hacked, check the signature setting. While usually helpful, creating a nice and easy signoff for your emails, hackers use this function to easily copy their message to as many people as possible.

 

I eventually realised that (after being extremely offended that I got no response from Mr. Wyatt on by dire situation) I wasn’t able to send anymore. Any time I tried to send something over, an error popped up on my screen. I also, through trial and error, realized I wasn’t receiving them either. So for the rest of the weekend there was radio silence on my end.

 

With a heavy heart, and an extremely light email, I entered the office on Monday morning and begged Ms. Zucca for help. She led me to Room 235, a room many aren’t familiar with. If you’ve ever been down the math hallway, it’s the room that has the big “THIS IS NOT A BATHROOM” sign on the door.

 

The IT people were extremely calm, a stark contrast to myself. On the way up I had convinced myself this was a worldwide sting operation, and the FBI was going to be waiting just outside the door for my statement to help save the country. It was nothing as exciting though, all they did was change my password and send me on my merry way—not even a 5 minute interaction.

 

So, with a new and improved email, I come to you to tell my story. I wish I could say I knew how this happened, but I still have absolutely no idea.

 

Typecasting is defined as assigning a preference to a certain type of role, as a result of the appropriateness of their appearance. Now you may think, well yeah this is a good thing? We wouldn’t want a white man playing Harriet Tubman. It’s always important to maintain integrity of the original writing, so, a white man playing that role wouldn’t make much sense. However, there are roles where certain physical attributes are never explicitly stated and changing them would not harm the story in any way. This in turn, opens up the role to performers of all colors and sizes. In case you still aren’t understanding why this is a harmful practice, here’s another example.
Outside of school, this program was doing Shrek the Musical, so I asked my director if he thought I would be good for Lord Farquad. He’s got a great song in the show and it was a role I’d wanted to play for a while. He said that I should stick to something that fit me more like Donkey because I was a “crazy little black boy”. The original Donkey in the movie is played by Eddie Murphey, a renowned black comedian. However… the character’s a donkey. Nowhere in the show does it explicitly say Donkey must be played by a black person. However, because of stereotypes and typecasting, I was just supposed to limit myself to “black roles.”
Typecasting is a harmful practice that hinders performers based on physical attributes that if a character was portrayed by, would change nothing. Nothing in Frozen the Musical says that Elsa cannot be played by a plus-sized woman but it’s almost never seen. My official stance is that unless it is explicitly stated in the script or changes the integrity of the story, physical appearance should not determine whether or not a performer receives a role.
So to conclude the donkey story, I decided that if I wanted something, I wasn’t going to let me being a “crazy little black boy” stop me from going for it. I started learning the song I had originally wanted to learn for Farquad and eventually, I auditioned for the role.

 

I don’t know what drew me to sunny California, maybe it’s the sandy beaches, or the green palm trees, or maybe the fact that it’s 2500 miles away. I moved here 3 years ago and since then, I’ve been frustrated by the fact that I haven’t been able to explore this large country to the fullest. I admit I know little to nothing about Western USA, or the South, or anywhere other than the Midwest. In my opinion, a new environment can only bring opportunities and experience, something I consider vital for succeeding in life.

 

During my college process, I applied to no less than six colleges in California alone. The other 10 were scattered across the States. Now, the University of California (UC) system is largely different to most other college applications. For instance, it uses its own website for applying, not Common App like most of the other colleges. Additionally, the decisions come out in one wave, in late March. This made my waiting process nearly six months long, almost to the point where I had sort of forgotten about the UCs. Honestly, I had pictured myself at many other colleges before I pictured myself at University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), but different factors led me to choosing it.

 

When I visited, I immediately felt the difference between Cleveland and Santa Barbara. The smiling people, the rolling waves, and the mountain range backdrop all assured me of my decision. While I’m not a very spiritual person, I felt like fate had led me to choosing UCSB. Beginning my new chapter of life in California seemed right, as there I would have the freedom to grow. It is so different from Shaker, but that is what is most appealing to me. I’m not scared of this new experience, but rather eager and excited. 

 

When did Instagram start feeling like a performative full-time job? It’s not even the posting part. I rarely post. It’s when everyone else does, all at once. How am I supposed to think of a new, creative way to compliment 30 different girls on their spring break photos, all posted within a few days of each other? And don’t even get me started on prom. My friends all look so beautiful dressed up for their dances, but I’ve already run out of my different ways to tell them!

During springtime—packed with prom, spring break, and college commitments—there’s a consistent pattern of when every time I open Instagram, it’s always another post I need to engage with. Liking feels like the bare minimum now. A comment is expected, and not just any comment, but something that seems unique enough to be perceived as sincere or genuine. Unfortunately, coming up with one is so difficult to do when you’ve just done the same thing for a dozen other girls. It’s strangely exhausting.

There are only so many ways to say the same thing. You cycle through “so pretty,” “stunning,” “obsessed,” “wow,” and eventually realize you’ve already used all of them. Sometimes on the same person, which makes it feel repetitive, even though the intention is exactly the same every time. People often mock the identical comments, especially on TikTok. They act like a commenter’s creativity or uniqueness signals their level of sincerity or friendship with the creator of the post, but it’s not that simple. Most of the time, it’s just people trying to be consistent. If your friend posts, you show up. That’s the rule.

The problem is that there isn’t really a right way to do it. Not commenting can come across as rude, repeating the same thing makes you look uninterested, and trying too hard somehow makes it worse. I don’t think the issue is that people are posting too much. It’s that engagement has turned into something we have to keep up with. Even if I’m not posting anything myself, I am still participating constantly.

I really do mean it every time, even when it’s just “stunning” or “unreal” again, even when I just use a random GIF, and even when I don’t say anything at all. There just aren’t that many ways to say it, and there doesn’t really need to be.

1. In Saw X, the most gnarly in my opinion, one of the characters is stuck in Jigsaw’s traps due to him falsely impersonating and ‘performing’ a brain surgery on Jigsaw/John Kramer. The trap involves him having to cut his own head open (mind you, on no anesthesia), and pull out cerebral tissue that he must place into a jar of enzymes which will dissolve the tissue and will go up in weight. If he hits the weight limit in the span of three minutes, then he will be set free. Now quite obviously, this is my number one for how hard this trap would be to survive. Even if one managed to even cut their own head open to reach the brain, there is no way that they would be able to dissolve enough tissue in that extremely short amount of time. It is practically impossible.
2. Also in Saw X, the second worst trap in terms of survivability is when one of the accomplices of the false brain surgery must cut off her own leg with a wire saw, near the top of her thigh, and she must force a tube into her leg that will extract bone marrow. If she reaches the correct weight of bone marrow on the scale, she will be set free. She must do all of this in a mere three minutes as well as the previous trap. As is the first trap, it is practically impossible to survive as per the measly time limit and how difficult it would be both physically and psychologically to saw off your leg and extract bone marrow. As one can see with the top two traps being from Saw X, it is definitely the least survivable film in the whole franchise.
3. In Saw II, a man is forced into what is called the ‘Death Mask’ or the ‘Venus Fly Trap,’ which is a contraption that sits around the neck of the victim and has a wide mouth around the head. Once failing the trap, the mask snaps shut just like a venus fly trap does, and crushes the victim’s head. In this scenario, the man is trapped in the death mask and is told by Jigsaw that there is a key “right before his eyes” as a hint. The man must cut open and dig in his under-eye socket to fish out the key before the sixty second timer was up. Whilst the gore is a lot less in this trap, the timer makes the trap excruciating and panicked. Had the timer been longer, I would have not put this so high up, but due to the frantic nature of the trap, it creates a much worse situation for the victim.

Honorable Mentions:

Favorite Moment: In Saw 3D, a group of neo-Nazi skinheads are stuck in a trap together where they must rely on who the fans say is their ‘leader’ to set them free. The leader is superglued to a carseat and he must rip all the skin off of his back to reach a lever on the hood of the car that will stop the trap from going forth. This is a favorite moment of mine mostly due to the fact that this group of neo-Nazis gets completely obliterated, and how Jigsaw has the little saying along the lines of, ‘oh, you want to judge and harm others for their skin? Well rip all of yours off and see how that is.’ I don’t know, I just enjoyed this retribution.

Impossible: There is a character named Amanda who is an accomplice to John Kramer, and she sets up a trap by herself without his permission or influence in Saw III, and she sticks a detective working on the Jigsaw cases into it. The trap consists of a contraption that if failing to get free, will rip open her ribcage and effectively kill the detective. She must stick her hand into a glass of acid to reach the key at the bottom to be set free, and the detective is able to, but Amanda sets up the trap so it is impossible to unlock. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter that she was able to get the key, she was still murdered by the tongs digging into her ribs flinging open. This is why fans of the Saw franchise hated Amanda, as she makes the traps impossible to beat, and effectively kills the whole premise of the films/what John Kramer aimed to do.

On Earth Day this past week, my Instagram feed was full of one color: green. Green hearts, green infographics, landscapes captioned with things like “protect our planet.” For about 24 hours, it felt like everyone cared. The next day, these posts disappeared under outfit pictures and photo dumps. 

 

Don’t worry, I’m not saying posting is bad! I loved seeing all the appreciation, but taking Environmental Science this year has made it harder for me to ignore what happens after the post. Because unfortunately, the Earth doesn’t really benefit from a beautiful ocean photo on an Instagram story. Really, it benefits from the small (sorta boring) choices that don’t make it onto your story. Want to work on being a better environmental citizen? Then I’ve got some tips for you:

 

1. Thrift or rewear clothes instead of buying new ones

 

Industrial processes, like manufacturing, are one of the leading causes of global warming, and over-consumption only motivates industries. Believe me, I love to shop, and admittedly, I’ve stopped thrifting as much as I used to because buying first-hand is so much more convenient. But there are already plenty of clothes in circulation, and the Earth will thank you if you choose to buy second-hand. 

 

2. Finish or save food instead of throwing it away

 

Food waste may not feel like a “climate issue,” but it definitely is. A multitude of resources go into producing food that never gets eaten. On top of that, food waste in landfills leads to the creation of a potent pollutant that contributes heavily to global warming. I’ve definitely been guilty of tossing food just because I didn’t feel like finishing it, but now I try to be more intentional about it.

 

3. Turn off lights and unplug chargers when you’re not using them

 

A ton of energy still gets used even when we think something is off, especially with chargers that stay plugged in all the time. It’s not something most people think about, but over time, that wasted energy adds up. On top of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving energy saves your family’s money!

 

You may have noticed that none of these things are dramatic. Small choices like these can help us conserve resources and protect our beautiful planet Earth, but it only works if people are willing to participate. You may not think your actions will make a difference, but when they’re multiplied by millions of people, significant positive environmental changes can be made. 

If you couldn’t tell from my previous blogs, I love sports. In particular, the NBA is my favorite professional league, and the best part of the season is upon us: playoffs! Unfortunately, Ezra beat me to giving raw predictions for the entire playoffs so I will be giving my current predictions based on how different series have been going.

 

First Round:

Western Conference:

Oklahoma City Thunder (1) vs Phoenix Suns (8) – Right now, the Thunder are up 3-0 and I don’t expect anything to change. They’ve benefitted from (unfair) officiating, and will likely handle business in the fourth game of the series.

 

San Antonio Spurs (2) vs Portland Trail Blazers (7) – Currently 3-1 in favor of the Spurs, Victor Wembenyama’s return from concussion protocol should cement the Spurs as the winners of this series next game.

 

Denver Nuggets (3) vs Minnesota Timberwolves (6) – The Wolves are upsetting the Nuggets 3-1 currently, although Anthony Edwards and Dante Divencenzo will likely miss the rest of the season, possibly making a comeback possible. Unfortunately, Nikola Jokic has been playing his worst basketball in years, leading me to pick the Wolves in a hard fought game six.

 

Los Angeles Lakers (4) vs Houston Rockets (5) – OKC, KFC, UFC. Lakers in five.

 

Eastern Conference:

Detroit Pistons (1) vs Orlando Magic (8) – The Pistons are the sweetest one-seed in NBA history. Orlando is always a physical team and have been running Detroit out of the stadium (when they win). Give me Orlando 4-2.

 

Boston Celtics (2) vs Philadelphia 76ers (7) – While I’m writing this, Boston is up 69-43 on the 76ers on a 9-0 run. I thought that the Sixers would be able to upset Boston once Embiid was back, but this game is proving me very wrong. Celtics 4-1.

 

New York Knicks (3) vs Atlanta Hawks (6) – Atlanta was the team I was most scared to play in the first round (out of the teams we could have faced), and so far they are proving me right. Tied 2-2, this series is extremely competitive with the Hawks managing to win with pure grit. My pick: Hawks in seven.

 

Cleveland Cavaliers (4) vs Toronto Raptors (5) – So far, only home teams have won in this series. While this last game was very depressing, I still believe in the Cavs to scrape this one out 4-2 in Toronto.

 

Second Round:

Western Conference:

Oklahoma City Thunder (1) vs Los Angeles Lakers (4) – With Luka—and possibly Austin Reaves—back for this series, the Lakers will be a force to be reckoned with. OKC has certainly shown their dominance over the past two seasons, but I think the power-four of Lebron, Luka, AR, and Bronny will be able to exploit the Thunder’s weaknesses and scrape out a 4-2 series win at home.

 

San Antonio Spurs (2) vs Minnesota Timberwolves (6) – While injured Minnesota will scrape out of their matchup with the Nuggets, they will not be as lucky with the Spurs. Victor Wembenyama is the greatest defender in league history. Spurs sweep.

 

Eastern Conference:

Cleveland Cavaliers (4) vs Orlando Magic (8) – I would love to say Cleveland wins this series. A Magic team that just upset the one-seed and who we always play close with is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Paired with the Cavs struggles against Toronto, this series goes to seven. In a repeat of last year, Cavs win!

 

Boston Celtics (2) vs Atlanta Hawks (6) – This Celtics team is so overwhelming. I don’t see them losing to any Eastern Conference team outside the Cavs, Pistons, and Knicks. Celtics sweep in four.

 

Third Round:

Western Conference Finals:

San Antonio Spurs (2) vs Los Angeles Lakers (4) – In this matchup, the Spurs are the better team. They have had a truly remarkable season. Unfortunately, they are going against Lebron and Luka. Nothing Wemby can do to Deandre Ayton will make up for the pure wizardry of Luka and the amazing-ness of Lebron. The series ends in LA, with the Lakers winning 4-2.

 

Eastern Conference Finals:

Boston Celtics (2) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (4) – This series will leave me so disappointed. I don’t know if Harden will stay with the Cavs next year, and Mobley has been downright disappointing this season. The Celtics handle us easily in a gentleman’s sweep (4-1).

 

Finals:

Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics – This finals series will be the continuation of THE classic basketball rivalry, with the 13th finals matchup between these NBA powerhouses. Honestly, both teams have been great this season. The Celtics will, in dominating fashion, go up 3-2. Their wins will be blowouts and losses close. Unfortunately for them, the greatest player to ever grace a basketball court will take over in games 6 and 7 to win their 18th Larry O’Brien trophy.

 

2026 NBA Champions: Los Angeles Lakers

2026 NBA Finals MVP: Lebron James