Senior Send Off - Class of ‘22

Suhani Muhajan, Dhruv Singh, Caleb Smith, Grace Yang

Members of Northview's 2022 graduating class reflect on their experience in high school and their plans going forward. Point of View's seniors, Caleb, Dhruv, and Suhani, discuss their time in the class. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music.

Sahit: My name is Sahit and I'm a senior at Northview High School.

Sasha: Hi, my name is Sasha.

Soham: Yeah, hello, my name is Soham. I'm a senior here at Northview I'm the captain of the varsity soccer team.

Elizabeth: Hello, my name is Elizabeth Ziabchenko. And I'm a student at Northview High School.

Alana: Yes, hello, I'm Alana McLaughlin, and I'm a senior.

Sivan: Hi, I'm Sivan. I'm a senior at Northview High School, and I'll be graduating this year.

Caleb: And this was high school for Northview's class of 2022. We've learned we've grown, we've made countless memories that we'll keep forever.

Sahit: Most of my favorite memories are actually oriented with my friends and things we do together, we went to the Chattahoochee River, the plan was to just you know, look at a river and just play around in the park and so forth. But we he and I actually ended up going into the river. And we were not, we were not smart about it because the current was extremely strong, and we had no idea what to do. And we realized this halfway in, and like we barely made it out alive and kind of thing and like we were both shivering and hypothermic, it was just really crazy and scary. But now that I look back on it, it feels more like like a storybook adventure. And those memories that I'm really happy about.

Sasha: I got to step in for the role of Carrie for one day, and learn it in like two seconds. So that's definitely going to be a core memory for me. It was a lot of fun.

Sivan: Um, my favorite memory was actually pretty recent, it was during the Stone Mountain trip. So after the mountain, we everyone went to the barbecue and everyone ate and things like that. And everyone decided to go play volleyball. And for some reason, everyone decided to go play volleyball at this one singular net. And what I thought was so memorable about that experience was that like, kids from so many different like cliques or groups, kids from like different backgrounds, because who had different interests all came together and support each other while we played volleyball. And you could see like the excitement and joy in everyone's eyes when they went to when they hit the ball over the net. And people are high-fiving and people who never even spoke to each other before we're on the same team. And they were like just enjoying each other's company.

Elizabeth: Some of my favorite memories is like performing at an international night, particularly my senior year when I was in 2x. And the cullmination of my high school tennis, which was winning regions this year.

Alana: One of my favorite memories was probably I think it was the homecoming football game where it was blackout of this year. It was just great because all the different friend groups and our grade were there. And it was really like a sense of community and everybody was together. And I don't think you get that every football game. And it was just nice. And we missed so many things because of COVID. It was really nice to just be together and like kind of experience that.

Soham: I would say my favorite memory from the last four years is probably this past this past season with my team with the Northview our soccer team, we exceeded expectations tremendously. We were runner ups in our region, and we made it to the Round 16 second round of playoffs. And just that the whole season these past few months have been some of like the best ones in my life. This is a tremendous success we had in like the amount of fun I had to with with all my with all my teammates. And so it was just it was it was amazing was a great experience. Suhani: Whether we were online or in person, we've pushed ourselves to our limits, bonding over shared procrastination and late night studying.

Sivan: What I think I'll miss the most about my high school experience is the suffering everyone went through together. So in my eyes, while the classes were very hard and they took a lot of work, the nights that you spend with your friends on like FaceTime or discord like grinding out assignments or study guides and things like that. While they were hard. I think it was kind of enjoyable at the same time because um, it was like a group collectively suffering together.

Alana: I have loved yearbook. It's a lot of work but nothing beats like that community in that class and the ability we have to have so much fun together, but it's also something that's my passion.

Elizabeth: My favorite classes, were definitely my lit classes my ninth grade with Coronavirus, Yashi 11th grade with Miss Pope and 12th grade with AP Lit and Rawlins class. Honorable mention to honors Chem surprisingly because I definitely think that the shared torture of honors Chem brings people together. And I made some of my best friends are in my honors chem class where we did a bunch of labs and just talk through our assignments together. And cram studied for classes during lunch.

Sahit: AP Lang for sure by Mrs. Pope, even though it was online, which wasn't the best aspect of it. It was extremely entertaining and educational. It kind of helped me realize the importance of language which is something I didn't realize the first two years and it helped me really hone in on my voice. Identify with what I truly believe in and find a way to express that and justify it and like, you know, persuade people and like, take my stance. So it gave me a lot of confidence.

Sasha: Okay this is a class that I took freshman year. But it's definitely one of my favorites. It was 10th honors lit. And I had Ms Pope. We had this one unit where we were reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. And my friend Aayush and I, we liked the book so much that we started making a Broadway musical out of it. And we like wrote songs and cast people and everything. So I loved that class so much, I had so much fun.

Dhruv: Outside the classroom, we grew as people tried new things, we planted the seeds of future hobbies we take with us now.

Sivan: Growing up, I was like very, very unathletic. And something about wrestling and like something about like watching yourself grow, was like very fun for me. Because it was like, knowing that you didn't come from like a background where you were just knew you were gonna do sports, and doing wrestling and like winning matches and succeeding. Something about that was just very fun for me.

Sasha: I think I'm proud of how involved I got in everything that I did, I got some leadership positions. And I feel like that really helped me this year, like really get more involved with what I was doing and get that experience. Be president of a club. Just be in the club in the first place. I've been part of improv clubs since freshman year. So all four years, being involved in chorus being really involved in theater. I just this year gotten involved with the Northview bolt, which was like so much fun. Just getting involved with as much as I could, I feel like I'm proud of that.

Sahit: Especially with Psi Alpha, which is the psychology Art Society. And whether it's through guest speaker events, or like the various fundraisers, awareness campaigns, anything we've done, the ability to impact the greater Northview community and make a significant impact on it. And also leave a legacy of the club behind as a graduate, something I'm really excited and proud about.

Suhani: And despite everything that made high school seem impossible, at moments, we persevered, though, maybe that's easier to say, in hindsight.

Sivan: I was on the wrestling team. And I would say the wrestling teams practices were the hardest of any sport I've ever done. And being in that room, and like sweating, and like suffering and constantly like pushing each other, in that hot, sweaty room for like, hours and hours every week, kind of brought me closer together with the people I was in there with. And because of that it just made it so enjoyable and memorable.

Sasha: Taking charge and making decisions for myself and talking to people in that way. I was always more of a follower than a leader. But this year, I think I've definitely learned to become more of a leader and make decisions and be in charge of some things. And I feel like that's been really useful. And it's really going to help me going forward. So I'd say that's the main thing. Yeah.

Sivan: Looking back, because I was so sporadic, and so like spontaneous about a lot of my decisions. It kind of hindered a lot of my growth and development in certain areas. And I feel like looking back, if I just stuck to certain things and tried new things, I would have probably been a very different person than I am now.

Sahit: Because freshman, sophomore year, I think like most students, I spent a great deal of time to studying and working. And I wish I did have more balanced, which means enjoying myself more, going out with my friends more doing hobbies, and just an overall sense of like fulfillment, which I feel like I lack that I found now.

Alana: Like embrace who you are and don't apologize for being who you are. I think that obviously when you're a freshman, you're so worried that the upperclassmen are going to judge you and other people are going to judge you and I just wish that I had embraced myself sooner I think I would have been a lot happier.

Soham: Enjoy enjoy these years. I kind of sounds cliche, but like, and like you know, when I heard obviously when we all heard it back, back when we were freshmen too, like, oh, yeah, don't worry, we have so much time. It's true. It's for real man, it goes by so fast. Take it take it one year at a time. We can time you know, just enjoy, enjoy high school man, prepare yourself, gain those qualities that you need to be successful in life moving forward. This is the time where you where you learn everything, learn your skills, learn what you want to do and stuff. So going forward, I think I'll remember all the experiences that I've had these past few years whether it be in soccer, you know, how to take a tough loss or how to how to you know, when to whens the right time to like celebrate wins around women to push hard to work hard and stuff.

Elizabeth: The threat of college isn't so much of a threat as just a next step that is going to happen regardless of whatever grades or things that happen along my high school journey. So I would say work hard. But take take time when you need it. And sometimes an assignment isn't as important as something else that's going on in your life.

Sasha: I don't know advice I would give freshmen me is just don't worry as much cuz you are, because like, things will work out. It won't just all like, be that, like, you'll have bad moments, but like, it'll all work itself out, I won't stay like that.

Sivan: So I'll probably take like the regrets, I guess that I have from high school and move into college with them such as like, trying new things and staying consistent with certain things. But at the same time, I think high school has taught me that I can like kind of push myself farther than I really thought I could initially. And so I'll probably carry that throughout the rest of my life.

Soham: I knew like even before like I decided where to go to college, I was like, I want to come back as much as possible back to Johns Creek. To just you know, hang out with my friends.

Sasha: Well, first of all, I want to get this out of the way. Sujana asked me to say see Sujana. So the number one thing that I will miss about high school is to Sujana Vangala. Which is true, like, I think the answer is that I'm just going to miss all my friends, like so much I'm going to try like really, really hard to keep in touch with everyone.

Dhruv: I think for me over the past four years, something I'm really going to like keep is like the ability to learn like not necessarily even the things I have learned, but like, you know, floundering, like figure things out, like sharing it with other people. Like I think I really value that.

Suhani: I think personally, I really value the relationships I've formed. You know, these past four years, and especially in this class, because we all came into this kind of not knowing each other. But we've gotten so close together and getting to see how we've improved from our first episode to now. And realizing that we did that together as a group. It's really fulfilling, and I'm so happy that we got to do it together.

Caleb: I think for me, regardless of how much work we put into each podcast, putting our heart and our soul into it, I think we also remain to have fun, like when we made them, and growing these relationships within the class and kind of creating a family. I think there's something special in that. And I think these are some of the relationships that I'll carry with me and not always remember, in my future and in college.

Dhruv: I think that like for me no matter what, even if I'm leaving physically, I'm like, I'm not going to be here anymore. Like all this stuff from high school like the cringe the mistakes like the good times, like the friendships, I'm going to keep those with me like in my heart always know what I mean, as corny as that sounds.

Suhani: No same. I'm really grateful for all the experiences, whether they be good or bad. And I mean, I'm so grateful to all the people who supported me these past four years, like my bus driver, all my teachers, all my friends, those people that you know, you pass on the hallways and just wave at you know, and thank you to everyone who's listening because, you know, podcasts was so important to me this year.

Caleb: For me, one thing I will say is that throughout high school, there's so many lessons that I've learned, but especially this year, it's just stretched me a bunch with whether it's like in education or whether it's socially. There's so much that I've learned in my growth has been, you know, exponential, and I'm grateful that high school has provided me with the lessons that I needed to take with me into the future. And I'm forever grateful for it.

Sahit: Outings, we've had my friends like we went through waterfalls, you know, hiking, rock climbing, these are all things I never imagined I'd ever do. Just because it seems so out of left field like if like, I didn't see myself as the kind of person to go out with my friends, like stay overnight or go to parties or anything. But it was only in senior semester that we went far beyond our comfort zone and the normal. Just go home and study and sleep kind of thing to do lots of crazy things and lots of really fun things risky but fun.

Suhani: This concludes our senior year send off episode. Now signing off. This was Suhani.

Dhruv: This was Dhruv.

Caleb: And this was Caleb. Thank you for tuning in this year to listen to Point of View.

Grace: For a transcript of this episode, head to the point of view tab on our website nhsmessenger.org And follow us on Instagram Twitter or Facebook @nhspointofview for updates or new episodes. I'm Grace, one of the editors-in-chief for Point of View next year and this has been Point of View.

Across the Table - Our First Year

Jordan Anderson, Rachel Everett, Delisa Troupe, Suhani Mahajan, Sofia Mang, Dhruv Singh, Caleb Smith, Orelia Thottam, Grace Yang

In this episode, hosts Delisa, Grace, Sofia, Rachel, Orelia, Jordan, Caleb, Suhani, and Dhruv discuss their favorite memories, biggest accomplishments, and hopes for next year as the first official year of Point of View comes to a bittersweet end. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Delisa Troupe: Hello and welcome to Point of View where we give students a place to listen, learn, and lean in. I’m your host Delisa Troupe, and today I’m sitting with Grace, Sofia, Rachel, Orelia, Jordan, Caleb, Suhani, and Dhruv, some of the hosts of podcasts as this class comes to a bittersweet end. So the first question that we’re touching on today is how, what was your first impression of each other and the class like, think back to like your first day of school. What did you think of it?

Sofia Mang: It was a little bit awkward, because it was such a small class and some like not many of us knew each other. But I do think that it was kind of nice getting to know each other on the beginning because it was like, those icebreakers were kind of funny, and especially like the thing with Dhruv. Or used to call him like Drew with a v. I don’t know.

Delisa: So I kind of like started the class because Sofia told me about it. I had no idea even existed. And she was like, can you please come? I don’t know, and she was like, begging me. And at the time, I was an intro to art. But I decided to drop that because the class was like mostly freshmen. And I decided to join this instead, and I’m really glad that I did.

Rachel Everett: I remember for like, oh, was it like first week or two maybe three, Caleb our like head editor just was not in this class. He was not here for like, the longest time. And it was, so we got past that. Um, but I certainly remember like how seeing it was, it was an interest group. And we were all like, you know. Like sometimes in a class, you can all see people that like, oh that makes sense they’re in this class. Or like they fit like a stereotype. We all come from like, different backgrounds. And I kind of like that.

Suhani Mahajan: I just want to say y’all terrified me, because I didn’t know anyone but Dhruv, and Rachel.

Caleb: And me.

Suhani: No because I just did not know you until this year.

Caleb: You knew of my name right?

Suhani: You know, that’s a question mark. But Rachel was like a comfort like, life saver thing. And Dhruv was like, oh that’s that kid from freshman year. And then the rest of y’all were like, og my god, they’re so close. And I had no idea if I’d be able to like mesh with everyone in the class, especially since most of y’all are juniors, and I’m a senior.

Grace: I don’t know, I did not think we were that close. Like on the first day, because I didn’t know anybody because Marcus came later. He was the only person I knew, and even like Marcus came later and he only talked to me a few times he’s like clingy. And so I don’t know, my first day I saw like, I think it was Rachel, Suhani, who were in here. And I was like, looking around the classroom. And I was like, is this journalism? And they’re like yeah, and I was like oh I thought it was a different room or like a different title. Because I thought, I signed up for messenger, like the writing portion. But then I like got assigned to this class. And I was like, did I sign up for this? I’m like, I don’t think I did. But Mrs. Evans was talking about how like, we could like edit audio and maybe do videos. And I was like, okay, I guess I’ll stay. And like, because there’s too much of a hassle to go to my counselor, but like I’m glad I did. Because I agree with Rachel that like, it brings in a lot of people who are like in different social circles, and like in different grades as well. So it’s like really interesting to see how everyone’s doing and like, because everyone brings a different opinion. I feel like which is really interesting to see.

Delisa: Poor Jonah, the only freshman.

Sofia: I kind of like to call it, I told Delisa this the other day and I was we’re kinda like Breakfast Club. Yeah, have you guys never seen that movie?

Rachel: No.

Sofia: I’ve seen it. Jordan, how do you feel being like the only sophomore in this class?

Jordan: At first I was terrified. Because I didn’t know anyone. And I do really, I’m like really bad in situations where I don’t know anybody. So like, I’m quiet, I still am. But like outside this class, I’m like a hot mess but, we’re not gonna talk about that. Like I was like, really scared at first because I was like, “Oh i’m probably gonna do terrible. Everyone’s probably gonna yell at e if I mess something up.” But like eventually, I was like okay nice. This is like my favorite class. Whenever I’m stressed about chemistry I’m so happy, this is my next class because I can just like relax and think about happy things.

Delisa: No, this is kind of off topic, but you know Mekayle Upton. So I’m wither her in messenger,and she’s always talking about how you’re always talking about podcast.

Jordan: I love this class. This is the only reason why I come to school. Because if I didn’t have this class, I wouldn’t be in school 90% of the time.

Sofia: I’m kind of curious, because Orelia you’re also new to the school this year. How did you hear about this class and like find out.

Orelia Thottam: So, I was supposed to go to messenger too, and I was here Sophomore year. So that’s the class that I signed up for. And I was supposed to be a photographer for messenger. But then my fourth period was clashing with German, so they put me in this class. So my counselor was like, oh so you have to choose between journalism and German. And I was like, no I want both classes, I’m not choosing between either though. And she’s saying we’ll see about it later. And the next day she emailed me saying it’s only messenger so journalism four is fine. Okay, so I thought it was another messenger class. But I didn’t remember that over the summer, I did sign up for this class. So it was going to be the same class with Messenger, like it’s going to be the same thing. And then when I come on here, there’s like 11 people in this class. I know there’s quite a lot of people in messenger. Okay. And then they told us this is broadcast, I was thinking there’s no point in changing so they just said it’s okay. It’s not like a knew people in messenger anyways so it was okay.

Suhani: It’s all a learning process.

Orelia: Sure and it wasn’t like I knew anyone in messenger that was like, if i change, I’d be like, with my friends. I didn’t know anyone in this class nor that one. So I was like, I’ll have to meet new people. So I'll just in this class.

Delisa: And we kind of already touched upon this. But the second question is, why id you decide to join? And I wanted to ask Caleb, this because you technically did not have a choice. So how did you feel getting assigned senior editor podcast?

Caleb: I had worked on it the previous year, my junior year with Noelle. She had given me, her and Mrs. Evans and like Jennifer, the messenger editor, at the time gave me a chance to kind of work on some podcasts, kind of see what that was kind of like and then ended up loving it. And I also applied at the end of the year to be either like opinions editor for messenger, or like the multimedia, that sort of thing like the podcast editor. And I was kind of scared because it'd be our first year as a class. And I didn't know what to expect. But that kind of like the media and the audio aspect, I was really intrigued about it. Because I mean, I kind of started doing that sort of thing. During like 2020, and like COVID time, so I kind of was interested in that. And then I ended up loving it and kind of saw potential as a class.

Rachel: I’m very similar to Caleb in the sense that I was chosen as one of the junior podcasts editors alongside Sofia. So I wasn't, I was technically given a choice. But it was less of a choice and more of like, come on to the class. And I'm very glad I did. Because I ended up I thought I had wanted to go into like writing journalism. And I realized that my writing is probably not as strong as I thought it was. And now I like want, I'm looking at colleges, specifically for broadcast journalism, because of how much fun I've had in this class. And like, how much I just really found a passion for it.

Sofia: Yeah, just like Rachel. Obviously, I was also assigned as Junior podcast editor. And it was unfamiliar to me, but not as unfamiliar as it could be for Caleb and Rachel, because in my freshman year, I wasn't in Messenger or anything like that I was in it was like this, like one year class. It was really random. It was like a sports class. And we basically made videos and like interviewed athletes, and it was kind of like, a thing. So I was like, familiar with like, editing and like video and stuff like that. But I didn't enjoy like writing in the messenger. But then after I joined this class, I really liked the dynamic that came with this class. And yeah, I'm really glad that I stayed.

Dhruv Singh: I don't even know like the reason I ended up in podcasts, or broadcast journalism in the first place like I was never even tangentially related to like journalism kids. Like I was never in Messenger or talked to Miss Evans before this year. But I think that at the end of my junior year, because I was doing so much like video stuff with bolt and like the end of the AV program and stuff that is Pope recommended me to Mrs Evans. So then I was, I think it was like sneak peek or somewhere like the last day of school junior year, I came into like, say hi to teachers. And Mrs Evans emailed me even though I never talked to her before. She was like, “Hi, I have a class next year called like, broadcast journalism. I think that you'd like it. Do you happen to be at school today?” I wasn't even supposed to be at school, but I was like “Sure. Okay, I'll come by.” and then three months later, I ended up in here and I'm really glad I did because I got to learn like so much because like I I think that like I helped a lot with like the technical aspect for like the audio and recording editing and all that. But like, you know, I I really didn't have that much experience with the audio editing performance. Like I like you guys seem to think that I'm like, experiencing this I was kind of making it up as I went. No, and I'm so glad I did.

Rachel: Towards the beginning of the year we were all just calling out Dhruv's name like “Dhruv!” so he could come help us.

Dhruv: Dude that happened like ten minutes ago.

Suhani: Now it’s become Dhruv Singh and now it’s a command.

Grace: I remember one time I was editing something, I asked you for help to do something wasn't working right. He just pulled up Google and I could have just done this myself.

Dhruv: Listen, half the skill is figuring out how to figure out stuff when you don't know it. Okay, so that's what I say.

Delisa: And touching on that, other than Dhruv, who clearly taught us all the technical aspects of everything. What skills have you guys learned from this class?

Grace: Not to tute my own horn anything. Like I also did audio video to like, but like, I really only edited like sort of video. And I guess using platforms like Adobe Audition, sort of like to edit audio was something we learned like like cutting audio and like using fades and stuff like that. Like, I think one of my favorite days was when Rachel had the, like the Photoshop and Illustrator lesson because I, I think making graphic design is so cool. And like, and like it was, it was really fun, even though it was like frustrating at times. Because we were cutting out like Melissa and Megan or something like sometimes you'd cut out like their arm or something. Like it was I think it was really fun, like playing around with Photoshop and Illustrator and like, being able to make graphics and stuff like that is something I really like, like learning. And besides that, because I was completely new to like this whole journalism thing. So I didn't know how to like write interviews, like features or anything. So I think that gaining that like writing skill was also something really important. I feel like I learned.

Suhani: Like as a messenger kid, I love how different storytelling can be in broadcast journalism and how you have more choice with like, stylistic, like, stylistically how you get to tell that story, because it's not just like, interview, transition, interview transition, kind of how we do in Messenger. And I think that's been my favorite part. Because I feel like I've grown as a storyteller, how do you feel Delisa?

Delisa: I kind of like how we all grew together, like, especially in the beginning, some of us knew how to do things, but for the most part, we were all like pretty new to everything. I feel like the skills we learned in here, like using audition using Photoshop, and like everything else is like so helpful, like in the real world. And I feel like this class gave me like so much like technical skills that I like, never would have, like, known about before. And like, even though like if you can like search things up on Google, and you can like go on YouTube, it's not really helpful unless you actually have like a project you're working on. So the fact that I was like, able to not only learn those skills, but experiment with them was really helpful.

Dhruv: I think I learned like how to learn and teach from other people a little bit better, you know, like, because, like, I feel like I couldn't learn those skills. On my own. Like, I was curious, I could Google it. But I think that like applying it in the group setting is what made it really made me like feel like I was actually able to do this things like use them like. Well, like I don't think I would ever say like, oh yeah, I can use audition if I just was using it on my own at home. But you know, after like running an interview with you guys and being like, oh yeah, this is how you do this are like, figuring out new stuff with grace. Like when we're at like trying editing the homecoming episode stuff. Like, I feel like I'm competent. Now. Like, I feel like I know it.

Delisa: I really liked how we got to like, we had like ideas that we learned from other podcasts that we listened to on Spotify, and were able to like, oh, this will be so cool. Like, how can we add this into like our next episodes like using video or like the Hoco Titans things like you said, or like book bands was like completely new with like, using music throughout the entire episode. And I really liked like, how the more podcasts we put out, like the better they got pretty much.

Orelia: For me when I came in, I didn't know anything. So as I knew, every time I came into class, I was always worried that we're gonna do something today, and I don't know how to do it, and it's just gonna be so bad for them. I think by now by the end of it. Almost anything like the graphic, the editing interview, like how to set up a script, how to reach out to people in a way that it's not like you're not pushing them to do the interview with you like you're actually asking them,they all those things, I just, I've just learned a ton. And it's crazy to think about it because it's just been one whole year. And by the end for I feel like I'm more ready and prepared for the next year. So I'm happy about that.

Jordan: I have to say, my, this is weird, but my favorite thing that I've learned was on Adobe Audition, how to make like the waveform thing until multitrack would have learned how to do that. I was like, wow, this is for real. But like, I had no clue with any like how to edit anything. But I want to do because my little sister was like, Oh, I want to become an editor when I'm older. And I was like what type of editor, she was like editing like audio stuff because she watches this YouTuber that does it. And I was like, this sounds pretty fun. So when I like came to this class, when I was really excited to like learn how to do all this stuff, especially the multitrack my favorite thing.

Rachel: I would definitely say that um, I've definitely learned skills that have helped me outside of this class. I had never touched like audition or anything other than like InDesign and possibly illustrator from Messenger. So you being able to use audition, I figured out how to record something and like I worked with drew on how to remove like, some noise stuff for our Carrie curtain speech.

Dhruv: I pulled up google for that one.

Rachel: Okay. Um, so these skills that we've like, learned will definitely, like, they're not just things that we can use in this class, there's like applications outside.

Delisa: So now that we're ending the year, how do you guys think you've improved from the very beginning to now?

Sofia: Um, personally, for me, I think the main way that I improved, like the way that I'm most proud of is definitely on graphics. I remember at the beginning of the year, Grace, like helped us with our first graphic. And then from there on, I would really like I always went to her and I was like, Grace, please help me with this. And I'm like, I would like to, like follow her format. And then the most recent graphic that I made with the like international night, that was like, mainly from my own like, ideas in my brain. And I was so proud of how it came out, because it was like exactly how it looks in my head. And it wasn't really following a certain format, it just follow like, what the episode kind of like aura was, and I was so proud of that, I was able to learn how to like, I was showing everyone to class, I learned how to make shades on the curtain, nobody cared. But um, yeah, definitely just learning how to use Illustrator more and kind of use my own creative. Like way with that, and then also definitely audition. Same with international episode after I learned how to like, incorporate stuff because I feel like podcast is a lot more immersive and storytelling with the sounds able to do and stuff like that. And when I found out how to incorporate that without making it sound like awkward or weird, I was so proud of it.

Grace: To clear things up of it. The grace that Sophia is talking about is Grace Peng our EIC for messenger. So I was not a graphic Master, but yeah, I can really see how Sofia improved, like, her international night graphic was actually so amazing. And like, I feel like the whole thing was like having more creative freedom and like, not just following like a sort of like framework. I think we I think as like a whole group, we grew out of like just following a framework and like, started like doing our own sort of like how we want to do our graphics, like how we want to do your episodes, and not just doing like a like the exact same thing we always did like for me one way I feel like I improved is I think sort of like Delisa touched on it with like our book bans episode how like, we started sort of working into incorporating like different sounds and like cutting in more clips instead of just having like, blocks of just audio.

Delisa: Yeah, because the book bans no one, previously before that, we would just like have a complete like interview. But for the book bans ones is the first time that we had like different interviews that we had to incorporate into one episode. And so that was like a lot of editing a lot of like sounds that we had to include. And so that was like probably my biggest accomplishment or like the thing I'm the most proud of. And also, I was in both messenger and podcast this year for the first time. And I really learned how to like talk to people and like, introduce myself and like, especially when it comes to interviewing people. And I really like how I like learn to work together with other people, and just like, know how to do small talk.

Caleb: I think the thing I'm most improved on was my boldness. It's weird, me being the editor of this class, and I still get like stage fright and you know, being scared to talk in front of people because I'm scared of like the comments I might get back, and that sort of thing. But I think as we went on through this year, interviewing people doing more episodes, I gained more experience, and kind of got more comfortable with the mic, and that sort of thing. But also kind of being trying to grow as a leader, as my first time ever being like in a leadership position. Really, so growing like with the class, but then also kind of keeping us on track kind of, you know, just being a better leader, I think that's the main thing I've moved on.

Orelia: I feel as a class as well, like just the kind of content or the kind of episodes we used to make initially was what we make now I feel like they're just more serious and they have more of a reason behind it in some way or the other. Like the first few episodes like they just had so much room for editing and the way we frame the whole thing. And then the reason why it's like the homecoming one or the book bands, all those just was they just seem so much more detail oriented and professional in some way or the other.

Dhruv: I think that it just in general like the way we record episodes to like even the like less flashy ones. Like the first ever episode we did was the Downey interview, like Caleb, Suhani and I went that we were sent out and like originally wanted Mrs. Evans to come with us to we were it wasn't possible we were like really nervous. I remember that. We like walked to his office we go in and like it took us like 10 minutes to setup. I was like and then like Suhani would have like a whiteboard and she like flashed at Caleb when he needed him to say something and it didn't help like either because like in the episode you could tell Caleb would look like anyway. And like all sorts of things and like it took us like 40 minutes and I was okay like you know, Caleb's great at talking and so it's Downey and stuff, but then we did it again. Just Caleb and I We did the same thing we walked down the same hallway like when no one else it's like we were in like we were set up like instantly we got like more info in like half the time it was just so much better it was like all the bad habits that we had are like going away and like just our process is so much more robust and so like really interesting thing but I'm really glad we did like the same episode twice.

Caleb: Yeah, I agree. Dt: What are some of your favorite memories and then biggest accomplishments in this class? Som: I think I could say this for mostly everyone this class but my favorite memory was definitely Mrs. Evans birthday because I remember we made this like Slack channel and then it was like we all like it was so nice being able to talk everyone in like a non academic setting because these are the only use Slack that like you know, like podcasts kind of related stuff. But for this we were all talking about like what's her favorite color guys what gets you to get her something like links everyone told me the stuffed animal I thought was really ugly but everyone was being so mean but then like I went out to go get the cake and then everyone's favorite color purple, I’m pretty sure it’s purple. And then um after that when we actually came in and we had that huge card we were like running around to get signatures from teachers and then we're like trying to fill it up and then like to Delisa showed me the messenger was like that was so full compared to ours signatures from teachers and stuff like that. And then when the actual day came we were like talking about like ways that we could surprise her I was like I shouldn't pretend like someone slapped me and then scream Dhruv’s name.

Caleb: No we were gonna put it on Jonah that he like passed out.

Dhruv: Sofia said that and I wasn’t gonna get top so I said like, what if we pretend Jonah died.

Sofia: A freshman. Yeah, and then like, during the actual in the actual celebration, I just felt like so much like we were a family which I do feel like we are a family um, after all this time. And then messenger had like a whole like party with like.

Rachel: People in a budget, we gotta love it.

Sofia: It was really nice. And I loved how Mrs. Evans treasured it and it was a heartwarming moment for all of us.

Suhani: Told to go to the back room.

Caleb: You guys kept whispering and I was like what are y’all doing.

Sofia: No one told me that we were going to forget that, we weren’t going to forget that it was her birthday. So I didn’t wish her happy birthday because I was like, so we’re all forgetting that it’s her birthday right.

Delisa: Yeah, I literally remember planning like us all standing up at the exact same time going to the back of the back, like robots and her being like completely weird out like what.

Suhani: We said, let’s start our work and she’s never seen us so motivated.

Rachel: Um, I would say my favorite memory goes along with the birthday party. But I, Mrs. Evans texted me one day and was like, can you make a graphic with like, episode seven point twenty-two. And I was like okay, with no possible idea in my head, what seven point twenty-two could mean. I was like okay. Later come to find out, It's a picture of her ultrasound. She that I made. And I was like, oh, and then, um, the next thing goes along with it. But it was. It was witnessed. It was I think was at a birthday party. And I think Mrs Evans had just found out the gender of her baby. And she's like, do you guys want to know and we all placed bets. And then we found out and then we just got so hyped.

Delisa: I like how like every girl voted girl and then it was a girl and we all liked cheered and it was very wholesome.

Caleb: Yeah, I’m still mad.

Grace: I think that shows like one of my favorite aspects of this class that like, we're all really close to each other and also really close to Mrs. Evans. I remember that one time when Dhruv got a speeding ticket and he he was so stressed and he kept talking to Mrs. Evans about it and she like calmed him down and she was like-

Dhruv: She actually calmed me down so much. I was like, well, Mrs. Evans I'm really stressed about this, but like, you know, it's fine. Like I felt better after talking to her. She didn't say much.

Delisa: I remember your court date too.

Grace: As for like a competition, and I remember we submitted a few episodes for like what was it? GSPA, Georgia Scholar Press Association. Yes. And we did win an award for that. And I'm also, personally, I'm proud of like, being able to have a vision and like, carry it out. Because I remember the first time I was assigned to, like, I had the idea, or somebody had the idea for like, Homecoming Titans that we cover that. And like, I was like, I really want to be in that group. Because I really want to record that moment where he announces the titans, and there's like, a bunch of cheering. And like, I was able to, like execute my vision in that episode. And it made me like, really, really proud and really, really happy, or ever.

Dhruv: I remember it was so cool. Like, Grace asked me to, like, come to the back for a second. And I like went back there. And she started doing it. And then she like, I just kind of sat back and she did the whole thing on her own. And it sounds like so good. And I was like, I'm telling you, like, you guys do not need my help.

Delisa: Yeah, to wrap it all up isn't specifically a favorite memory for me. But I feel like because book bans are split into like two groups, and like most of us are like on either one group or the other. I feel like after that, we all somehow managed to like, even if we were in different groups, we would all like help each other out. And I feel like it made us like so much closer. So that was like one of my favorite aspects of this class. But what are your guys's like favorite things that you hope for next year, or like what you're looking forward to?

Orelia: I personally am kind of excited to meet all the new people who are going to be joining the class, and seeing how, like from whatever we learn this year, how it's just going to help what we do next year and change everything that we do next year. So that's one thing and just kind of being able to spend another year with all of you.

Sofia: Yeah, I agree. Because like, it's gonna be definitely more structured and different from this year, because we know so much more now. And it's going to be not as like, not easy to teach the other staffers but it'll be like better for us because I feel like we'll have more of a foundation and it'll just be more exciting to like, actually execute the stuff that you want to do. Because you had that idea. You didn't know if you could execute it, but you did. And now we know that we can execute like anything you want to. But yeah.

Delisa: i’m excited for Caleb’s grad party.

Caleb: Invitation to see if it comes to your inbox. But even though me, Dhruv and Suhani will be gone next year. My biggest hope is that you guys continue to make really good content for Northview to hear. I'll still be tuning in, but I'm just like, take whatever we've learned this year into them and keep growing. And I think I'm really proud of you guys. Oh Mrs.Evans don’t do it.

Dhruv: I think even if like I won't even lie, I don't think I listened to a single episode after they came out. Listen, like I would like help editing each one. I'd heard each one like I always heard it was like, yeah, the release, like I just like worry about the next thing. But even if like I'm not gonna be here, and I didn't listen to one, I just want you guys to like keep growing on you guys. Like keep trying new things and stuff I want to like, tune in and be like, Dude, I don't know how we never even thought of that. Like, I want to be impressed. I want to like and I'm gonna I'm gonna keep tuning in. I want to see where you guys do next.

Grace: A lot of pressure making me in this we have a Google document to sort of write down all our ideas. And my main idea was to fill the gaping hole left in Dhruv Singh’s place. Dhruv honestly did like a lot of stuff. So I'm hoping that we can like yeah, because you're leaving the morning will be mean after we finish recording. Yeah, I think that next year, I really am excited to like teach new people other things and hear their ideas as well. And I also want to like fix some stuff with like our mics and like sort of standardize everything because I know this year, you're a bit disorganized, because like renew class.

Sofia: And I hope I just hope that I can carry on Caleb's confidence and Suhani’s kindness just got like a whole spotlight.

Grace: Caleb is trying so hard right now.

Orelia: Actually.

Delisa: Is he actually.

Caleb: No.

Delisa: So to all the people who are planning on joining podcasts next year, or who hoped to join podcasts in the future, what would you guys say to them?

Sofia: I would say

Rachel: Do it.

Caleb: Just do it.

Sofia: Don't be afraid of anything that you think might if it's different from what you usually do, if you don't know if you'd like, if you don't know you'll be good at it, because you never know, obviously, I didn't know what was coming from me when I came into this class. But I love this community so much. I love the atmosphere. I love creating episodes. And it's turned into what my biggest passion, so that could be you too.

Delisa: Yeah, I remember my freshman year, I only wanted to be in classes if my friends were in it. Or if I knew the people there, just so I was because I was too afraid, obviously, to join things that were out of my comfort zone. Not only classes, but also clubs. And for all like the incoming freshmen and sophomores, whatever grade you're in, don't be afraid to join. Even if it seems like we're all close. Like, it didn't really start that way. And I feel like if you go out of your comfort zone, you take that leap to join something that you find interesting could be a much better experience than you would have ever imagined.

Rachel: You, you may not think that you're interested in something, but just joining a class and realizing that, oh, wow, I really enjoyed this, and I want to do it in the future is a really big step. And don't be afraid to come join us we have a lot of fun. It may seem like it's a lot of work putting out a podcast, but you have fun doing so.

Caleb: Although like I want us to I want you guys to create really good content. But I would say don't get too caught up in the work that you forget to have the fun that we have in this class, like the just the bonds that we make. And like the just all the laughs that we had, I think those are a lot more meaningful. And although we can just even implement those into our podcasts and like the bond between us in the connection that we have is from those experiences in the fun that we've had.

Suhani: Speaking of bonds, I would just like to give a shout out to someone who isn't here. New members when you come into the class and for the first time that lump in the back of the classroom is Marcus.

Dhruv: Keep an eye out for Jonah.

Grace: Yeah, just try it because I think that one thing that brings a lot of people together is like, like listening to stuff, whether it's like music, or like the radio or something. And also, I would say don't be afraid if that people will like already be in their friend groups or anything like at the beginning of the year. We like barely even knew each other. But like, this class really brings you closer to other people.

Orelia: Also, one thing that I noticed and I would advise is that if someone tells you that something about your work can be changed in a certain way. Like don't be afraid of criticism. And like don't be afraid if someone tells you to change something, don't feel offended by like just actually try to implement it and see why they told you to do that rather than being scared about it.

Mrs. Evans: So this concludes our episode. Thank you so much for listening. For a transcript of this episode, head to the point of view tab on our website, nhsmessenger.org And follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @nhspointofview for updates. I'm your host Mrs. Evans and this has been Point of View.

International Night - Backstage

Sofia Mang, Dhruv Singh, Caleb Smith, Grace Yang

In this episode, Host Grace Yang discusses the preparations behind International Night with the teachers, performers, and club leaders involved, honing in on their busy schedules, connections to the cultures represented and their hopes for the show. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music.

Grace Yang: International Night. An evening celebrating the different cultures at Northview with awe-inspiring performances, tickets that sell out every year, a packed auditorium, and delicious dishes from around the world. This is one of the most exciting nights at Northview, but many students are unaware of the time and effort that performers, sponsors, guests, and Kaleidoscope members put into making sure the event runs smoothly. Hello and welcome to Point of View, where we give students a place to listen, learn, and lean in. I'm Grace, and today I’ll be discussing preparations for International Night and what goes on behind the scenes.

Grace: Some of the principal contributors to International Night's success are the sponsors of the event, Mrs. Rogers and Dr. Hart.

Mrs. Rogers: Good morning. I'm Mrs. Rogers. I am the sponsor of Kaleidoscope club and Kaleidoscope club puts on International Night.

Grace: Kaleidoscope has put on the show almost since Northview’s founding.

Mrs. Rogers: I believe that International Night…it was going on when I first started at this school, I believe back in around 2006-2007, it may have started. I took over the club the 2013-2014 school year, and have been doing International Night since then and Dr. Sekman has been my right hand lady helping me with International Night.

Grace: They have supported the event every year and pour so much of their personal time into managing logistics and rehearsals.

Mrs. Rogers: Well preparing for it, I guess my favorite part is maybe auditions and then just working with the club officers to pull off the event and organize it. Perhaps the most difficult is just you know, being organized and then remembering all the little things that have to be done. And also just getting volunteers to do some of the things that are not as much fun like, you know, selling tickets, you know, working a table at the taste of cultures, that sort of thing.

Grace: The hard work pays off with a great performance that is put on every year.

Mrs. Rogers: I just hope it will provide a fun, fun evening that will be memorable and that will inspire them to be creative themselves and to appreciate the diversity that we have here at Northview and in our Johns Creek community and admire the talent of their peers.

Grace: Kaleidoscope is the club that runs international night.

Tvisha Pendyala: Hi, I'm Tvisha Pendyala, and I'm a senior.

Shruthi Balachander: Hi, my name is Shruthi Balachander and I'm a junior here at Northview and I'm the president of the Kaleidoscope Club.

Grace: Members are there for every rehearsal and they contribute to committees that organize different parts of the show so everything falls into place.

Tvisha: Well, we have committees so each person in leadership usually takes up a role for each committee and I've been an usher for every year that I was like in the club except last year, obviously because we were remote. And for ushering, since I'm the one that knows it the best, that's why I got the position really. Other than that, we don't just solely focus on the committee that we're assigned to or like the role we take, we are a really good team together. We will always help each other whenever we need it and if we have any general things that need to be discussed, we're down for it.

Shruthi: So my role includes overseeing everything from the committees that go into International Night, but also with the performers, rehearsals, and the night itself. So we have, especially leading up to the month of March and international night coming forward so soon, we've had a lot of monthly meetings with committees. My job is to split a lot of the members into committees and make sure that one is working on the paintings and the posters for International Night, the others are working on International Night Week activities, and the others are ushers and backstage committees for International Night itself so everything runs smoothly on the night of.

Grace: Kaleidoscope leaders and members have a lot of work and there are a lot of obstacles, but the process and end result are very rewarding.

Tvisha: Since it's like a really big group, right? Because you have your club members and you have the performers as well, so you have to manage both of them. Sometimes you forget that you have to meet with leadership on your own too. So it's just like constantly being aware of having to do different stuff to get to the end result. So it's just like, you forget stuff so it's kind of hard for that.

Shruthi: I think it's not easy because there's members who don't show up all the time, right? And there's not a continuation of everything and there's so many performers and groups and there’s so many logistics. Like, booking the auditorium itself is a big deal, booking the cafeteria and that is also such a big deal. But the tickets might actually be the hardest part because we at Northview are known to sell out of tickets super fast and it's really hard to get good show tickets. So that's why we were potentially considering a C show. And we're not sure if we will definitely or indefinitely have one because it's still up to how many tickets we buy and what all goes into it. But definitely, I think the performance itself and getting that all cohesively together, whether that was International Night auditions or whether it's right now, with getting all the groups to work with each other, that would definitely be the hardest part.

Grace: Each committee has different responsibilities. Each part of the show must be accounted for with people ushering, managing ticket sales, and everything else. And in the week before international night, everyone involved in the show has a packed schedule.

Shruthi: International Night rehearsals are known to go on forever. Like we practice until 10, 11 and it's just figuring out all the lighting, music, and how each group should transition. And as we know, the seniors always put on that great performance, because it's their year and there's a lot of members into that. So rehearsals are tiring, they're long, but it pays off because both the shows at the end run super smoothly. But we also have general meetings for the performers, figuring out what they're supposed to do when they're backstage and so yeah, it's long and tiring, but it pays off in the end.

Grace: Kaleidoscope is the backbone of international preparations and the members strive to put on a great show and share other cultures.

Tvisha: Since it's a cultural thing, I hope people can connect with their cultures there and have fun showcasing it. And it kind of inspires other people to showcase their cultures that aren't shown as much because like, obviously, Indians and Kpop, those two groups take up a lot of the time, right, which is great, because, obviously, I'm Indian, so I will enjoy it. But it's nice seeing the minority groups, even if it's Russian, like the Russian performances, like they're really nice to see. So I just hope more performers come out and the audience enjoys it, because it's really fun.

Shruthi: Um, so it's been two years since we've had International Night fully and really what I hope this year is that people feel a sense of enjoyment and appreciation for being able to be back in the auditorium, one, and being able to experience such a big night with so much diversity and culture, especially after everything that we've been through over the past few years. With, when we were a quarantine, I know a lot of movements came up and a lot of social issues came up. And I think this is a time we should be taking to really celebrate the positivity and culture and diversity and overlook our differences, then unity that brings us together. And I really hope that people not only see the effort that goes into this night, but they also see how much the value of culture is here at Johns Creek and Northview because it's such a big part of our identities and our societies.

Grace: Performers are the core of international night.

Jensi Perng: I'm Jensi Perng, and I'm the president of the Taiwanese Yo-Yo club.

Vedu Arya: I'm Vedu Arya. I'm a senior at Northview. And I'm performing with BBB or Big Bhangra Brand.

Sunny Park: Hi, my name is Sunny Park. I'm a senior at Northview. And I'm going to be in Dream High.

Grace: They share customs that are important to their backgrounds through instruments, dance, singing, and other arts and expose Northview students to cultures that many of their peers identify with.

Jensi: We're representing Taiwanese culture and our music choice is from Attack on Titan, so kind of Japanese culture as well. So I'm Taiwanese American, and I've been doing Taiwanese Yo-Yo for almost nine years now so it's been pretty long. And it's like, really fun and a great way to get to know people.

Vedu: So we generalize and say we represent Indian culture, right. But within Indian culture, there are multiple styles of dance. So this year, we actually went above and beyond and we’re performing new styles of dance. So we have Bhangra of course, we have Garba, we have Bollywood, we have Tollywood and we of course have Hip Hop as well.

Sunny: We're representing South Korea. I'm the president of KPOP Dance Club at our school so I do a lot of KPOP Dance and like, you know those kinds of performances as well.

Grace: Some of these clubs have a tradition of performing at International Night. For example, Taiwanese Yo-Yo usually performs as well as Dream High.

Jensi: So our club, I think, has been around for around six years and was started by another student. So I think with the exception of last year, this will be our fifth time at international night.

Vedu: So our group has performed before, we performed our sophomore year, so two years back. But the thing is, BBB isn't an official club or anything. It's just a friend group wanting to show off our culture. However, there is usually one Indian dance group every single year, that goes last at International Night and just, you know, performs and represents our culture.

Sunny: It was originally Korean seniors every year. But I guess this year, we're kind of changing it up. But yeah, every year.

Grace: Performers have to manage their schedules, spend hours practicing, and make decisions on the lighting and equipment they use.

Jensi: So our club meets every Wednesday, sometimes we meet over the weekends, as well. For the routine it usually takes me about two day but we tweak it when we meet up.

Vedu: So we have to perform at Beta Con as well, right and so we started practice, I think it was around December, or even November. Typically, we'll just go to one of our friend's house, he will host in their basement, or she'll host in their basement. And we'll just, you know, we'll just dance. Practices are usually pretty long, like just last Sunday, we were practicing and I was up till 3am at one of my friend's house. but yeah.

Sunny: I think it depends on the group. But I think for this one, because most of us are just doing the group is mainly just for, you know, seniors and just to have fun, we usually take up a little bit longer, I'm thinking maybe like four months. But that's only because we meet up maybe once a week, or maybe once every two weeks.

Grace: In the end, they're doing this to share a culture they're proud of and want the audience to enjoy.

Jensi: Well, we've worked really hard. So I guess like, as usual, we don't want any of the Yo-Yo’s to drop, and everything will go smoothly. There's this really cool part at the end, where we take a long pair of sticks, and we do some pretty cool tosses, so I want people to look forward to that.

Vedu: I guess one thing is that, since a lot of the underclassmen didn't get to experience International Night last year, is that it's okay to scream and shout and in fact, we encourage it. You know, we want the entire audience to get really hype while we're performing just so we know that you guys are having fun while we're also having fun performing.

Sunny: I hope you can see how much we've prepared for it. Obviously, not all of us are going to you know, be Kpop stars or, you know, going to be like these spectacular dancers. But yeah, I hope you guys can see how much fun we can have and like, you know, there's a taboo of Kpop and Kpop songs being very cringy. But I hope you guys can see past that and, you know, just see how Kpop can be fun and, you know, really enjoyable for lots of you know, diverse kinds of people.

Grace: The other side to international night is the Taste of Culture event. This is held in the cafeteria, where guests set up booths with food from the cultures they represent. This is made possible with the management of Ms. Hsu and Ms. Kim, two of Northview’s bilingual community liaisons. Parents, teachers, and other guests take time out of their busy schedules to prepare food from their home countries and give students a taste of authentic ethnic dishes. We usually have a few parents manning a Korean booth, showcasing food from the country that many of our students trace their lineages back to. Our very own Ms. Godbole and Mr. Hunter are in charge of a French booth, and the Nigerian Association always sets up a stand for Nigeria. Another crucial part to the success of International Night is the logistics behind everything. In order to control the stage lighting, make sure that the music and sound is done correctly, and that the entire show runs smoothly, Kaleidoscope teams up with the Northview drama department.

Mrs. Rogers: Oh well, we rely heavily on the drama department and they have wonderful experienced tech crews. So I contact Ms. Pieri and she recommends people for Stage Manager and lighting and sound.

Grace: All these factors come together to make international night unforgettable. Aside from showcasing culture around the world, the event gives Northview students and other people of the community something to remember and look forward to each year.

Shruthi: Recently actually I've also been seeing the promotion of Johns Creek High schools International Night and I was wondering the same thing about how much of a scope it has outside of the school. I think it really does have a lot because Northview’s international Night is known to schools around us like Lambert and Forsyth, because when I was in middle school, I remember coming and I wasn't even in high school.

Vedu: We want the audience to react how we reacted when we were the audience basically. When we were in middle school, and we were freshmen, we would run to the front of the audience, and we’d just, you know, start screaming and get really hype. And that's basically just what we want from the audience.

Grace: So this year, knowing all the hard work and time the performers, guests, Kaleidoscope, and teachers have put in. Let’s enjoy the show and let their efforts be known.

Shruthi: Definitely come watch international night! We have so much in store, the performances are gonna be great. But also join Kaleidoscope. I mean, it's a fun club. We do a lot of activities that relate to food and celebrating culture but we also talk about a lot of social issues and differences that arise because of culture and race and such. And so yeah, but come to International Night!

Grace: This concludes this episode of Point of View. Thank you so much for listening. For a transcript of this episode, head to the Point of View tab on our website, nhsmessenger.org, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at NHS Point of View for updates and new episodes. I'm your host, and this has been Point of View.

Books Bans- A World of Grey

Marcus Kim, Suhani Mahajan, Sofia Mang, Dhruv Singh, Caleb Smith, Grace Yang

In the first episode of our two-part series, host Caleb Smith discusses the wave of book bans sweeping over America and the effects of categorizing books. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Caleb Smith: “Love who you want to, and do it unapologetically, including that face you see every day in the mirror.”

“Many of us connect with each other through trauma and pain: broken people finding other broken people in the hopes of fixing one another.”

These quotes from All Boys Aren’t Blue by George Matthew Johnson advise us to practice self-love and healing from trauma, practices that almost every single person would promote as healthy and beneficial. What happens when we condemn texts that encourage youth, the future leaders of the world, to love themselves and heal from their pasts? Is the restriction of books a necessary action to help avoid explicit material to our youth? What becomes of our society when we restrict literature to black-and-white categories of either “acceptable” or “unacceptable”? Who determines this? Is this new wave of book bans driven by political agendas?

Hello and welcome to Point of View where we give students a place to listen, learn, and lean in. I’m your host, Caleb. Join us on episode one of our two-part series on Book Bans as we dive into these questions and the implications behind the recent surge of book bans in America.

Please note that this episode references sensitive topics including suicide, violence against minorities, mental illnesses, and sexual violence, and may not be suitable for some listeners.

On January 10, the McMinn County School Board in Tennessee voted to remove Pulitzer prize-winning graphic novel Maus from its curriculum, effectively prohibiting teachers from teaching the book. The board’s reasoning for this ban, as stated on its website, was due to the book’s “use of profanity and nudity and… its depiction of violence and suicide.” The book tells about the horrors of the Holocaust from the authors’ parents’ point of view as Jewish people, themselves. Art Spegielman, the author, stated he believes the real reason the school board removed the book was because of its focus on the Holocaust, but the school board did release a statement that it values “teaching our children the historical and moral lessons and realities of the Holocaust.”

Additionally in Texas, multiple books are being pulled from school library shelves due to complaints from parents and school districts’ reviews of the books. Several of these reviews and complaints were spurred by an inquiry from Republican representative Matt Krause back on October 21, 2021. Krause compiled a list of 850 books and asked Texas school districts for information on their whereabouts and costs, then asked schools to review books that deal with topics ranging from human sexuality to people of certain races or sexes being inherently oppressive. An associate editor at Book Riot found that around 60% of the books on this list include LGBTQ+ themes. The North East Independent School District started reviewing the books on the list and removed more than 400 books dealing with race, sexuality, and gender. The district received backlash with an online petition of people who believed this review was hurting colored and LGBTQ+ students.

Texas governor Greg Abbott has also contributed to the banning of books by sending a letter to the Texas Education Agency to “investigate any criminal activity in our public schools involving the availability of pornography.” In response to this statement, many parents have challenged books with the claim that they are pornographic. Authors rebut these claims, saying they come from reading isolated passages, and that the book as a whole encourages teens to act on their desires safely. Other complaints have been filed about books that deal with race; parents claim they make kids feel guilty for being white.

More recently, Forsyth county in Georgia removed eight books from its media centers shelves after a parent complaint of sexually explicit material. Of these eight pieces, four of them feature POC main characters. Four other titles were moved to only be available in high schools. These books include Looking for Alaska by John Green and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

This censorship of literature impacts students the most, so we sat down with a few high schoolers and a teacher to discuss their thoughts on these book bans.

Ashley Ulrich: Hi, I'm Ashley Ulrich. I am a teacher at Northview High School. I'm one of the co-chairs for the English department. And I've been teaching here, this is my 15th year, and I primarily teach 10th graders and juniors.

Book banning is not a new concept. It has been a political controversy for forever, it feels like. I have definitely taught books that have in times and places been challenged or banned by groups at different times.

Smith: Book bans have been around for centuries, with America’s first book ban taking place in 1637 on Thomas Morton’s New English Canaan, which critiqued Puritan practices. Since then, our country has grown much more accepting, welcoming people of all religions, races, and sexualities. Some of this societal progress can be attributed to books that push people to be uncomfortable and face reality. For example, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published in 1852, exposed the cruel nature of slavery to the public, strengthening the abolitionist movement.

Literature pushes the boundaries and tells about all facets of society.

Ryan Li: So like if you only approve certain texts, you only learn what those texts are teaching you. You don’t have the vast variety of, you know, different points of view, which is what makes literature so special.

Smith: It is a unique form of communication as it defuses ideas from all kinds of people. Anybody’s ideals may be challenged with literature, be they democrat, republican, or anything in between. No book is objectively correct or incorrect.

Ulrich: I think most sources are not that black and white. So it becomes tricky without picking out the most outliers of examples to, I think, pin down on a spectrum of, you are terrible, and you are great. There is a lot of gray in the space between objectively promoting good and objectively promoting bad.

Smith: For example, the “Handmaid’s Tale” offers Christians a critique on the possibility of the overbearing power of religion. It is written through a female point of view that shows the flaws of a male dominated society that is often seen in religious texts. Stripping away the political ideas associated with a story like this, we reveal a genuine warning about how individual rights may crumble under an overpowering government. Beneath the political veil that society has given “The Handmaid’s Tale”, lies a genuinely amazing piece of literature that critiques our status quo regarding religion and power structures. Putting “The Handmaid’s Tale” into a strict black or white box of either being pro-conservative or pro-liberal takes away from the story and the message it is trying to send. By reducing this work to a binary, the heart of this book is lost.

This pattern of exposing the worst parts of humanity in hopes of achieving reform or simply to make people think, can be seen in many popular books, whether they are taught in schools or not.

Li: It’s not really sort of something I can put my finger on exactly, it’s just sort of a feeling you get after you read a book. It sort of expands your worldview on things, like a subliminal message, things that slowly change the way you view the world through reading different texts, through reading things that concern these controversial topics that sort of, you know, expand your knowledge on them.

Smith: For example, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a book in the curriculum of many school districts across the nation, discusses uncomfortable topics such as mental illness and the terrible treatment that mentally ill people have received historically. The content makes readers think about the conditions in the medical system as well as about the bigger questions, such as things that are worse than death. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the setting is a mental asylum, where the patients are often rambunctious and punished for this behavior. The setting could lead readers to believe that there is something innately wrong with people who have mental illnesses. Rather than moving Cuckoo’s Nest to the ‘no good’ box immediately, an inspection of the book reveals how it uses the setting as a critique of the treatment of people with mental illness.

Ulrich: With a book, there is a writer, that writer is writing for an audience to communicate a message, and understanding the purpose of the message that they're trying to communicate and the audience that they're trying to reach. And what they hope to accomplish with that is important with any text, whether it's a speech, or whether it's a novel or any other form of communication.

Smith: Actually engaging and reading the book shows how the setting itself presents the mistreatment and horrors that happen in a systemic institution for people deemed ‘insane’. While Cuckoo’s Nest is a controversial book, it is not being targeted in this most recent wave of bans, along with many other hard reads. They are still being taught in schools across the country, and there is one defining factor about these books: they are from the so-called “normal” perspective, that being of a straight white man. Both the protagonist, Randle McMurphy, and the book’s author, Ken Kesey, come from this majority.

Vangala: Honestly, if you look at the publishing industry as a whole, even though there are so many people of color, so many LGBTQ people in America, it’s a largely white straight world. I think by banning these books and preventing people from accessing these kinds of stories, you’re showing them that only one kind of story is valid, and one kind of story is acceptable.

Smith: This doesn’t mean that Cuckoo’s Nest is any less important of a text, but it is a glaring pattern in these bans.

Ulrich: We're seeing right now, a lot of questioning of writers that are not from the majority population, people of color, people who are from the LGBTQ community, and a lot of superficial elements of texts are being used as the justification for why books can be banned outright for all people in this you know, whole school or home school district or whole state. And in doing so, there is an implied argument that people like that don't have a place that we shouldn't be listening to what they have to say that to me is problematic.

Smith: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is comparable in content, albeit a bit more serious, to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian was banned due to profanity and reference to sexual acts, but Cuckoo’s Nest is much more violent and contains more sexually explicit material, and has not been challenged in the newest wave of book bans. This raises the question of whether sexual content is being used to ban books or if the real intention is to prevent students from reading books showing a certain viewpoint.

Ulrich: I am more inclined to see the removal of whole groups of texts, because they're written by a certain type of person, or because they have, you know, content of this type or that type or this type or that type. I think that oftentimes, we can sometimes use those labels as a hide, for a real reason why sometimes a book might be banned, that we might say this content is what is objectionable, but really, it's a challenge to the status quo, or it's a challenge to the viewpoints and the feelings that people have. That is, at the heart the problem.

Smith: The striking difference between One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is that Sherman Alexie, the author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, is a Native American author showing the day-to-day life of a different culture, and Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a straight white man.

Vangala: I mean, it’s the same kind of idea where if you see the acceptable stories, and it’s The Great Gatsby, and it’s The Catcher in the Rye, it’s stories of white men. And then you look at the stories that are banned, and it’s about the Holocaust, and it’s about Melissa, a transgender girl, you’re seeing very obviously that one type of voice is seen as acceptable and some voices are seen as unacceptable, and when you identify with a voice that’s seen as unacceptable, it’s really damaging to your growth.

Smith: On Goodreads, a book review website, a parent reveals that she started reading parts of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and crossing out sections she thought were inappropriate for her child. It is an honorable task to be a parent and every parent wants to be the best for their children.

Ulrich: If a parent is really concerned about content in a text, as a parent, they have the right to determine what is appropriate for their child, in the same way, they should have that right to determine what a child can watch on television or see in a movie or playing a video game or listen to in music.

Smith: But allowing opinionated parents, often acting on a political agenda, to pick what is “too harsh” and to restrict those texts for all students across the board can be dangerous. Media has an effect on people's worldview, and it makes sense that a parent would want some knowledge and control over what a child is exposed to in their formative years. However, there is a difference between this contained parenting and the sweeping actions of a larger administrative board.

Ulrich: Speaking as a teacher and as a person, I think there is an inherent difference, which is probably come across in some of my other comments between a parent making a choice for their child, and someone making a choice for entire groups of kids or entire groups of populations that they may not intimately know. Those two things to me are very different circumstances. I see the biggest issue when someone thinks that they know best for whole groups of people without having any direct connection to them. A teacher, a parent, even an administrator who's directly involved in the lives of that group of kids, to me, is in a better place to make a judgment call for what feels like a more founded reason than making sweeping judgments from a position that's very detached and removed.

Smith: The themes of racial prejudice, sexual desires, and domestic abuse in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and other heavy topics addressing the LGBTQ+ community and sexual assault have become more relevant, but have also been more targeted in recent bans.

Li: I don’t think I’ve read many books concerning these themes outside of school, which is why I think implementing book bans is especially harmful, because sometimes school is the only place you’re exposed to these types of themes.

Smith: Banning these books across the board insinuates that the bigger ideas in these books are outright wrong, and can push them to be seen as part of political agendas.

Ulrich: When we take an entire group of texts, and give it a label, and then say that that is unacceptable, particularly if it is a flat ban, and across the board, instead of in an individual context for an individual kid, that to me can be very problematic, because it suggests that there is something inherently negative about the writer or the writers intentions. And that might be one person's view, or, you know, a group of persons’ views. But that's probably not a pan of a view for everyone. In fact, many books, unfortunately, find themselves, you know, for different reasons being challenged, because they might run contrary to the perspective that a group, you know, wants to advocate for and kind of make a political statement about.

Smith: The idea in modern American society that LGBTQ+ ideas are liberal and conservatives are anti-LGBTQ can be attributed to the current black and white, yes or no, of the American political climate. The world is not black or white, but a shade of gray. People cannot be labeled in a binary fashion, and to an even greater extent, the ideas that people share cannot and should not ever come close to a bilinear scale.

Ulrich: I try to include a variety of themes in the texts that we explore. I think questions about who we are as people, and what matters to us. And the way that we interact with other people are probably some of the most fundamental things that we can work with students about and have them think critically about, especially when we look at the world. On a bigger scale, once you're not in high school, I mean, interpersonal relationships and having a sense of who you are, and what matters to you. Those are fundamental things that shape every part of a person's life. So giving kids texts that are exploring identity, about sense of self, about how we relate to others, how we relate to people that are different than us, how we acknowledge that there are perspectives that are perhaps different than our own. To me, those are some of the most fundamental, important things that we can talk about. Because through that, we're addressing things that give kids the ability to make choices in the future about who they are, how they see themselves, the way they interact with others.

Smith: Katy Independent School District has banned the book and memoir “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M Johnson. In this memoir, Johnson explores the trials and triumphs of a black queer man growing up. Many could immediately label this as dangerous. It could expose our youth to sensitive topics such as sexual violence or uncensored sex.

Li: In terms of literature, most of the stuff that starts to, for required reading, that does deal with sexuality and things along those lines, happens in eighth grade. A lot of the reasoning behind these bans is that, you know, these people are too young to learn about these things but I feel like at that age, you’re already mentally mature enough to handle topics and themes of this nature.

Smith: The book could be labeled as liberal propaganda and be shoved in the ‘no good’ box and shipped away. However, as explained earlier, All Boys Aren't Blue explores topics of sexuality, masculinity, and consent, which aren’t topics that can be relegated to a political party. These themes include the discussion of the ‘republican father’, the idea of a strong breadwinning male figure, the explanation of consent and dangers of sexual assault, and even the talk of American childhood.

Vangala: When it comes to a book, you have to put, there’s so many people that work on a book. Even writing a book just takes years and years and so much thought that when it comes to a book, you know that there were a lot of eyes that went over it. When there’s sexually explicit conent in there, it’s for a purpose.

Smith: Forcing a label on a book antagonizes its contents. The stories that this work of literature can provide to society are lost through the attempts to section it off into a political party. There is something for everyone in books. Labeling them as black or white, red or blue, is a dangerous practice that prevents the dissemination of literature and stories within society.

Vangala: I believe that the people who are instating book bans are doing it with the belief that they are helping children, but by doing that they are actively hindering our education. They are, again, limiting our worldview and making us believe that only one type of person and one type of story is worthy of being heard.

Smith: We live in turbulent times that no one can predict. Literature and restrictions have been hand and hand for centuries. However, we have to critically analyze the reasons and how they are being restricted and ask the hard question of ‘is this okay to do’. The growth and development of our youth is at stake and prioritizing a political agenda can prevent them from learning the realities of the world and changing it for the better. Join us in our next episode to talk to the students, authors, and teachers these bans are affecting. Thank you for listening to the first episode on Book Bans. -For a transcript of this episode, head to the Point of View tab on our website nhsmessenger.org and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook @nhspointofview for updates and new episodes. I’m your host Caleb Smith and this has been Point of View.

Across the Table - Girls in Gaming

Rachel Everett, Sofia Mang, Grace Yang

In this episode, staffers Grace, Rachel, and Sofia discuss issues girls face in the gaming community and how they have overcome them. Listen here on Spotify!

Rachel: Hello, and welcome to Point of View, where we give students a place to listen, learn and lean in. We’re your hosts, Rachel,

Grace: Grace,

Sofia: And Sofia. And today we'll be discussing the gaming community's attitude towards females and how it has affected us personally. So a lot of people know that girls are generally not well received in gaming lobbies. I know for me specifically, there's been multiple times where a lot of guys have been really misogynistic towards me, especially if they found out that I'm a girl if I start talking, and it's not even just misogynistic, they're sometimes sexual towards me. And it just makes gaming overall, something that should be enjoyed turned into something that is just enjoyable, you know?

Grace: Yeah, I feel like, well to be fair, I don't really talk in team chat a lot. Because I've seen how people react to girls, so I'm like, I don't want to have that. So I just like, I don't communicate with my teammates, but sometimes that can be bad if you have call-outs and you can't really communicate with them. But sometimes it's scary because like, me personally, I'm just scared that when they hear my voice, they’ll jump on it, and say something, and I just, I don't do well receiving criticism, or getting bashed, so I just don't talk.

Rachel: I'm one of those people that tries to see the positive in everyone. So no matter what, I'll just always talk in lobbies. Like, I'm not like, I'm always kind of afraid of what might happen. But I don't really play longer games so I play quick, easy games like Spike Rushes. So I'm not too afraid of talking and doing call-outs. But I have experienced like, in those longer games, it's more of like, you feel you run into more of a chance of being insulted or being sexualized or misogynistic towards. So it's one of those things that's like, sometimes you want to talk and sometimes you don't.

Grace: I mean, a lot of times, I feel like it can be fun sometimes. Because if you get lucky enough to have a team that's either fun or doesn't really care that you're a girl, sometimes they don't say anything, or they'll go along with it. And they're like, I'll buy you skins or I'll buy you guns or something. And then like, sometimes they're more welcoming, which is still pretty nice. It's nice to see that people have sort of opened up more to girls playing these games with them and not really jumping to insult them.

Sofia: Usually, what I do is, whenever I'm playing a game, like Rachel was saying, in the longer games you're more afraid of getting that kind of backlash because it's more serious and it's taken more seriously, especially by the other players. So I really only talk if I'm doing well. And then sometimes, after I talk, then the whole team is very welcoming like you said, and it's a good experience. Because then you can actually have fun because it's way more fun when you can actually talk to your team and have fun with them. But then, sometimes if you talk, then you do get backlash. Like, one time I was playing this one game, and I was doing really well. We were winning. And all of a sudden I talked and for some reason, two of my teammates, they were guys, and they just did not like the fact that I was a girl and they completely left the game. So we ended up losing because they weren't playing anymore. And it's just like that kind of that hesitant moment where you have to decide if you want to speak, if you want to reveal that your girl and it's gonna change the whole outcome of the game. Why is that a thing? You know? Why does that have to happen?

Grace: Yea that’s so stupid that you have to be scared to talk. But I feel like a lot of the backlash is just for no reason. It's simply because of your gender. Or like, they'll make assumptions that like, “Oh, you're bad at this game because you're a girl”. I really hate that because it just sort of puts you down and it slowly chips away at your self esteem. Even if you're like, “Oh, they're just random, I don't care.” Like even some people in person, if they know I play games, they’ll assume that I'm bad just because I'm a girl or they'll make other assumptions.

Rachel: And Grace, you’re on the ESports team, aren't you?

Grace: Yes.

Rachel: See, that's more proving the fact that just because you're a girl doesn't mean you're bad. Like, we have Grace on the eSports team and that's really amazing and really awesome. But it is sad that it's almost expected that you're bad when you play as a girl. Like, when I reveal that I'm a girl sometimes, I get self conscious of every single move I make, like I beat myself up over every decision- if it's good or bad if I don't hit a shot, or if I just completely spray because I do that a lot. I just hold down the trigger button. But it’s just sad.

Sofia: Yea, there's so many stereotypes that just are enforced on “gamer girls” I guess. Like there's so many different agents in different games. Like obviously, in every different game there's different roles like DPS or damage and then support and for girls, they're always expected to play support, they're always expected to kind of be the person who doesn't really do much. They just have to do whatever people tell them to. And like for me, Sage in Valorant, she's like a healer. And in league, there's also healers. But everyone always expects you to play that healer, to be that person who just does whatever the male wants, I guess. And I don't really know why these stereotypes have come into gaming in the first place because gaming should be a unisex experience, it should be a universal kind of thing that everyone can do. And it sucks that gender was kind of roped into it.

Rachel: Going off of your Sage comment, when I was first learning how to play Valorant, I certainly played Sage a lot more, because she's kind of like, she's a good starter character. But I feel like a lot of girls do feed into the whole thing of Sage- and this is not to insult you Sofia. But just in general, it's like a lot of girls do kind of go into playing Sage more often and doing those support roles. And while there are of course, many people who go out of support roles, like I play Viper, and she's a controller. It's like maybe certain girls are scared to venture out of those support roles. And they really need to try and adventure into other roles and other categories.

Grace: I think the reason why a lot of girls pick the support role, I think it's just because we’re new to the game. Because like, when I was picking up League, I knew it was a really hard game and that there's a really steep learning curve. I picked the support role, because I knew you have another person with you in lane. So if you lose lane, it's not completely your fault. And also, I just knew it was less mechanically challenging. And because I didn't have any experience, like with a keyboard and mouse before, I just picked a role that I thought would help me get into the game easier. And I think that's true for a lot of girls because, like only recently have games been more marketed towards girls or have they been more open to girls. Because before, when we were all in like elementary school and middle school, games were only for guys which is why a lot of girls don't have experience. And I think that's why sometimes we'll choose more supporting roles. And I think even then the supporting roles, like just because everybody says “Oh they’re easy” and stuff. There's a lot of aspects of them that are important. Like for example in Valorant if you're like… what's it called? The guy who like runs in?

Sofia: Duelist?

Grace: Oh yeah is that like a duelist? I feel like a duelist you can just run in and get headshots like no brain anything. But if you're a controller or a Sage, you have to think about flanks and other stuff like that. It’s the same thing in league. Like, if you’re a support you have to think about more macro plays and other stuff that's going on in the game, not just mechanically, but what is going on IN your lane.

Sofia: Yeah, I like what you said about playing support characters when you're new, especially because you felt like if you did something or if your lane lost, it wouldn't be your fault. And I think that's something that also plays into Valorant and the reason why Valorant players also choose the support characters, because it's all about not getting blamed. Because especially being a girl, obviously if you're a bad player, in general, no matter your gender, you're gonna get blamed for losing the game. But for a girl, you don't really like to have that blame, especially if you're already not confident enough in the way that you play. Like sometimes I'm not confident enough in my own skills, no matter how long have played, no matter all the things I've done, I'm just not confident. And so I play these support characters because I don't want to be blamed for the game. If I did play a duelist like you said, and I didn't get those kills and I didn't win the game for my team, then I would be blamed and it would be even worse so because I'm a girl. I feel like the whole blame thing is just so scary for girls in the game. Rachel: I feel like, going off a very, very heavy stereotype, guys kind of go in running and gunning and they fit more of the duelist. Because like you said, duelists can just completely run and get headshots like nobody's business, but they're not focusing on strategy per se. But with sentinels and support characters like Sage, you do have to worry about flank and it's more strategical. And that's like, I feel like girls are like, how do I say this? Girls more so think about the strategies rather than the actual gunplay and aiming and shooting.

Grace: I mean, these stereotypes, I think it's gotten so bad that it affects every single girl because it's always just because of their gender. So like, even to the point where it sort of invalidates you and it's like, “Oh, you're not good at this game” or “You can't play real games”, because there's that idea that real games are FPS or stuff like that. And they think that girls can only play Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing and like I love those games, of course. But one, it invalidates the types of games that are more peaceful and sandbox, and two it invalidate girls who want to play games in general.

Sofia: Yeah, like these pro girl gamers or these pro streamers, there's a lot of streamers that are actually really good at the game. They're really good at Valorant. But just because they did gain popularity, because they were conventionally attractive, it invalidates it for all the men, they're just like, “Oh, you're not good at this game. You're just pretty. That's why you have followers. You're not good at this game.” Like Katsumi, she's on Cloud Nine White, which is the pro Valorant team for women and that team is actually really good. They're one of the best women's teams, I'm pretty sure but she's less validated just because she's very soft spoken, she's very, just cute, you know? And so it makes people think she doesn’t hold as much value as she does, because she's a very good player and people just completely forget about that. Because, “Oh, she's pretty. That's why she has a platform. That’s why she has etc.”

Rachel: Going off of the whole pro gaming thing, I feel like when you're playing as a woman, as a girl, I know that what I said earlier, I scrutinize every single play I make. And I kind of let those really bad comments get to me. And it's like, maybe I shouldn't really be playing these games, maybe I just don't have the right skill set. Because, I've always watched my older brothers play video games, and I've always wanted to do these things. But I've never seemed to pick up on it. Like I've never played Comp or like the one time that I played I was playing with Irons. Like, I'm not very good at the game but it's still really fun. And having those invalidating experiences of going, “Oh, you're really bad at this. Why are you playing this? Go back to the kitchen.” which is what I've been told, when I just want to have fun and play the game. I don't necessarily want to go play simple sandbox games, like Stardew like you said, I want something action packed and exciting. Sofia: Yeah, like, I remember, I first got into gaming around quarantine because obviously, we had nothing to do at home. And I remember I specifically bought a whole PC, a whole setup just so I could play with my friends. And it was really fun for me because I first started the game and they would just always play with me because it's fun to play with someone who's new, it's fun to teach them. But then all of a sudden, as soon as I started playing more and more, and I got more people to play with me, those same people that I bought the PC for, that I played games with originally, they were the ones calling me boosted, they're the ones saying “Why are you playing this game? This is not for you.” Those same people that inspired me to play started all of a sudden degrading me. And that was really tough on me because it felt like “Why did I even buy this, I don't even enjoy myself anymore because people who made me enjoy it are now making me feel like I shouldn't be doing this.” And I invalidate myself because I am a higher rank than average in Valorant. And it's because I did play with my friends who are like very, very high and they helped me get to that rank, but it wasn't about just getting to that rank, it was just to have fun with them. And the fact that people will always say a girl never deserves a rank, a girl doesn't really deserve it so the girl has to literally prove themselves to that person specifically that they can do what they have portrayed that they can do. It's just hard to deal with.

Grace: And so I think it's a lot more uplifting to play with other girls because if you find, I know in Valorant, but if you find another girl in lobby it's sort of a relief that like “Oh, I have a comrade! Thank you.”

Rachel: Literally, like I've always asked “Oh are there any girls here” or I've been asked that and the moment you find out you just have an instant connection with that kind of person and I'm just like “Let's go!”

Sofia: Yeah like you wouldn't even have to talk to them or know them. You could just be like, “Are you a girl?” “I'm a girl” “Oh my god we're best friends” “I love you” and stuff like that and that's kind of a way that girls have made it better for themselves. We've made it a community that's easier for us because instead of just sitting there and being like “Wow, I wish this was better”, we actually made it better. And now that a lot of girls are getting into these games, a lot of people are becoming similar in that way and it's so much easier to join a lobby because sometimes there most likely will be another girl and then that makes it so much easier on us to play the game and it makes it easier on everyone because we support each other.

Grace: Yeah, I think that reaching out in lobby is really nice because even though there's these stupid toxic stereotypes or whatever, you can sort of get through that by making friends. And you can sort of bond over that experience because you know that you've both been flamed just for being a girl so you're not gonna do anything like that to them of course.

Rachel: If y'all know the stereotypes of COD lobbies where it's like a bunch of guys and they're insulting each other and yelling at each other. But when you're in lobbies with girls, I feel like we moreso uplift each other, rather than like, “Oh, that was a really bad shot, what the heck?” You're just like, “Oh, let's go. That was amazing.”

Sofia: Yeah, and I really like, just what we've done as a community to make it easier on us. Even the stereotypes that have been put on us with the certain agents that we've played like, yes, I do main Sage, I play her a lot. But it's not just because of the fact that she's a support role or she's easy to play, cuz everyone just says, “Oh, you play Sage, because you're a girl, she's easy to play.” It's more like, I've been taking that and, there’s this whole thing about battle Sages where because Sage can heal herself as well as other people, so she can also take initiative and kind of control the game in her own way. And I've been able to do that too. And I like how everyone's been able to just take these stereotypes and just turn it into something that works for them and it just empowers us, instead of bringing us down.

Grace: I mean, to be fair to the guys, because I don't want to bash them too much. There are some of them who are kind of nice, or maybe it's just because they're simping for a girl. Because I know once I was in a league lobby, and I was trying a new role for the first time and so I was getting flamed by the enemy, right? And they're like, “Wow you suck at this.” And I was like, “Gosh, thank you.” But then, I think one of them asked if we had any girls on our team and I was not gonna say that I was a girl. Like, I'm not gonna put myself out there. But then one of my friends typed “Oh, yeah, this person is a girl.” And then they were like, “Oh, I see.” And they were like, “Oh, yeah, that character that you're playing is actually eally hard to get into. So you'll get there eventually. Don't worry about it.” They actually got nicer to me, after they found out I was a girl which was really, really unexpected, but kind of nice.

Sofia: Yeah, I feel like we should give the people some credit, because it's not like every single lobby is full of horrible people. Like sometimes I'll be in a lobby and it's always like 50/50. But the times that there are just a bunch of positive guys who don't really care that I'm a girl or they don’t care about the fact that I'm a girl will affect the way I play. It's just, they see how I play firsthand and that's how they judge me. And so it's just really nice because even through all these kind of bad experiences and situations, there's always good things can come out of it. There's always good experiences that we sometimes disregard by letting the negative ones overpower it. And so we just have to remember that in a way too.

Rachel: I've met a few people just through having these amazing experiences with them in spike crushes. And I'm like, “Do you want to keep playing later?” And we’ll play a bunch more rounds until late in the night. And it's just like, you've made these these friends just because you were nice to each other. Like, why can't everyone be nice to each other? There's always the positives outweigh the negatives. You know, as much as the negatives weigh on you, I always feel like there's more- personally, I always feel like there's more positives that are there to remember.

Sofia: Yeah. And who are you to let someone else dictate what you enjoy and how you play the game?

Rachel: So this concludes our episode of Across the Table. Thank you so much for listening. For a transcript of this episode, head to the Point of View tab on our website, nhsmessenger.org and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at NHS point of view for updates and new episodes. We've been your hosts, Rachel,

Grace: Grace,

Sofia: And Sofia and this has been Point of View.

News Flash - Homecoming Titans

Rachel Everett, Orelia Thottam, Grace Yang

Point of View host, Grace Yang, sits down with Northview's 2021 Homecoming Titans and Student Council President and VP to discuss the new title of Homecoming Titans. Listen on Spotify here!

Grace: Hello and welcome to Point of View where we give students a place to listen,, learn and lean in, I'm your host Grace Yang and today I'll be talking about the brand new title of homecoming titans; how the idea formed, and its impact on the school and the student body.

[Crowd Cheering] 

Grace: Every modern American high school student or alumni is familiar with the titles of Homecoming Queen and King. This is typically the selection of two students in the senior class, previously male and female, to represent the school at the homecoming dance. The key words there are male and female. 

Grace: With our growing and changing society, male and female are not the only accepted genders. There are people who identify as transgender, non-binary and even more. Having a homecoming queen and king cannot encompass and accurately represent schools anymore. 

Grace: Returning to school after nearly two years of remote learning, new opportunities are flowing in. It is a perfect time for new traditions and changes within schools. It ties in as well into Northview’s 20th-anniversary celebration. As we celebrate the past, we can create new traditions to replace those that might be outdated or obsolete. 

Grace: In addition to many other things, a more recent change was the new title of Homecoming Titans. Inspiration for the change in title was Northview’s diverse student body. As many of us know, Northview has many different cultures, which are highlighted in different events. Bringing this diversity into the homecoming court was an important factor to President Kelly Jeong and Vice President Jessica Kim. 

Kelly: The reasoning behind this change was that especially because of this rise in inclusivity, in social media, that was where the idea first originated. And because we want to keep this environment, this inclusive environment in Northview, which is what we are known for this diversity and inclusivity. at large, we also wanted to seep this into the student council decision making as well.

Jeong and Kim brought this proposition to student council members during a council meeting. This decision was important for them and had to be decided quickly before the homecoming season. They figured that the term Titan would best encompass everyone at Northview.

Jessica: In one of our meetings, we had voting among the student council members, and they are the representatives of their class, and our entire school. So we wanted them to predict the responses from the students and not just think, with their, with what they just think, but what their whole class would think and represent their voices. So we didn't consult with the other people outside of student council, when making the decision, but I believe that the student council as a whole was representative of the entire school.

Grace: While the overall response to the change was good there were of course varying responses and opinions. After the council meeting, the change was released to the entire school and the response was similar to the student council. The response was a positive one. 

Grace: There was also another change in the homecoming court. In previous years, only seniors were permitted to vote both male and female students onto the court.. All of the other grades were open only to female students. In contrast, this year, the court was open to anyone. Any and all students could be nominated, regardless of gender. . It was simply the people with the most votes.

Grace: This same voting system was used to decide the Homecoming Titans. The two homecoming titans would be the people with the most votes. It wouldn’t matter if it was two people of the same gender or two different genders. 

Grace: It just so happened that this year’s homecoming was a male, TJ James, and a female, Holyn Trautwein. These two winners were selected because they wholeheartedly embody what Northview is and what it represents. 

Grace: James and Trautwein were the inaugural homecoming titans. Both of them were very excited to be crowned homecoming titans and lead in creating a more inclusive space for people who do not identify as male or female. 

Holly: I really like how we're becoming more inclusive as a high school and I know some high schoolers still trying to become more inclusive. So I think we're like leading in that,” James said. They’re not just leading inside Northview but also for other schools in the area. “I think Northview is the only school I've ever heard of so far that's been using like Titans instead of king and queen. Like named for the role, which I think is really cool. Because again, it's like accepting of others and inclusive to everyone. And I think that's a really big step that I'm kind of proud of Northview for taking.  

Grace: This new step for Northview is due to the desire to create a more inclusive space. In addition to the Homecoming title change, Northview has created a new pledge committee in order to increase inclusivity and promote diversity. One of the Northview United leaders, Tania Pope, even selected James to be on the student portion of the committee. 

TJ: I'm actually a member of Northview United, I was recruited by I think Miss Pope was the one who invited me to join the team. So I think it's really important that we do have Northview United here at Northview. Because ours we have a diverse student body. But that doesn't mean that we know how to handle diversity appropriately, especially with like everything going on in like current events, and all that. So I think that Northview, I mean, Northview united is really helping us be able to learn how to take both, like consider cultures as perspectives, and respect them, and maybe like implement them in our lives if they work for certain situations.  

Grace: Even for students outside of Northview united, it provides an example to learn more about diversity and how to handle it appropriately. Trautwein shares how she sees Northview United from a student perspective. 

Holly: I think it's kind of a learning opportunity for everybody to see how to kind of, like, consider others and learn about other diversities. And just like, again, like what he said, with all the current events going on, I think it's really important to have this thing that educates us and helps us learn how to react to certain things.

Grace: While a simple homecoming title change can be impactful, Northview itself is also a place that leaves a lasting effect on everyone. Through its diversity and effort to be inclusive, it creates a strong safe environment. It also leaves an impression on the students. Including studying and hanging out and through events like international night, students are able to learn about varying cultures and learn how to navigate through an ever-diversifying world. 

Holly: I think the level of diversity here has helped me understand like, different kind of backgrounds, like those around me, who are some of my best friends like I never would have really known if I hadn't had Northview to bring us together. So I think really like broaden my knowledge of diversity and like cultures and stuff.

Grace: Despite the change in homecoming tradition, Northview students are embracing Student Council’s efforts to create a safe space for all students and present new opportunities for change. 

Grace: This concludes this episode of News Flash. Thank you so much for listening - For a transcript of this episode, head to the Point of View tab on our website nhsmessenger.org& follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at @nhspointview for updates and new episodes. I'm your host Grace Yang and this has been point of view.