The High 83 by International School of Lausanne

THE HIGH EDITION 83 | JUNE 24, 2019

MULTIPLE

CHOICE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Suhasini Mehra DEPUTY EDITOR

Khwaish Vohra

HIDDEN GEMS

HIDDEN JUULS

FAREWELLS

Preparing to welcome new students

A flavourful story

Departing students, teachers and classes

EDITOR’S LETTER

he school term is ending. In five days, the cycle of the year will turn again. The Year 13’s will be well and truly gone, and Year 12 will officially - terrifyingly - move into our final year of school. Year 11’s will take that gut-wrenching leap from MYP to DP, Year 10’s will discover all the joys of Personal Project, and a new cohort of Year 9’s will take their first tentative steps into High School. This last term has been a busy one; between exams, IA’s, Equality Week, and Sports Day, the past few weeks have been a flurry of activity - some of it fun, some of it… not so much. This issue reflects the good, bad, and ugly of the past few weeks. In these pages, you will find reports on the dangers of the IB, the power of languages, and the rising phenomenon of bathroom juuling. You will find musings on fandoms, summer, and coming out. You will see the best in our school represented in Coline’s coverage of our three presidential

Suhasini Mehra

candidates (good luck to Kevin, Rashid, and Elliot in today’s election!) - as well as the worst of it, in Chloe’s article on the students’ response to GEMS. And, of course, because this is the end of the year, you will find a number of farewell letters - read them, and remember the students and teachers with whom you have created memories frustrating and fond. Then close the issue, clear out your locker, and get ready for summer. Ah, summer. That elusive oasis lingering just around the corner… five days… four… three… two… And then, the next thing you know, it’s September, the air is growing colder already, and you haven’t done a shred of your homework, Extended Essay, Personal Project, or, god forbid, your IA’s. For now, though, the school year is winding to a close. Let’s enjoy the peace while it lasts.

EDITORS Ellie Parsons Coline Coubat Elif Civelekoglu Artemis Faulk Jade Tan - graphics editor Edward Fraser - guest editor Amara Sarao - guest editor

TABLE OF CONTENTS GEMS Coming out Languages Juuling Summer Sadness DP challenges Preparing for DP

03 04 04 05 06 06 07

Elections Fandom Sean Lìonadh Farewell Mr B Farewell from Mr B Mr Ivett’s speech McKenna’s goodbye The Cicada’s Song

08-09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

HIDDEN GEMS Chloe Uzoukwu is not judge, jury, or executioner

ol GEMS hates the people at ISL.” “ISL feels the same way about GEMS. And I mean at least we haven’t gone bankrupt.” This is a WhatsApp conversation between an ISL student and a GEMS (soon to be La Côte or ISL) student. Everyone finds it ridiculous and quite possibly hilarious, but do people really understand what is going on with GEMS? When someone says “GEMS”, your mind automatically goes to the small school in Etoy, which is now a few days from closing. But the Global Education Management Systems (GEMS) is the largest operator of kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools in the world. It has a network of over 70 schools in over a dozen countries. GEMS World Academy Switzerland, however, was opened in 2013 and announced its closure on May 29th 2019, due to financial issues. Mr. Cairns says,“It doesn’t really matter what is going on at the school, all that we need to know is that the school finds itself in a situation impending its continuing and multiple other reasons.” Let’s be honest, none of the ISL students really cared about GEMS closing. That was until we were all told that many of the students were going none other than here. ISL is expecting about 80 GEMS students next year and about 4-5 GEMS teachers. Because of these large numbers, some classes are expanding. For example, one class is being added to Years 6, 8 and 9 and class numbers may expand to about 24 per class. The school is looking at a few minor issues such as more lockers, problems with September trips, as well as Year 13 being bigger than ever next year. A day cannot go past without students here complaining about the new company next year. We have all heard and discussed things about GEMS, the people there and their standards. But I’m sure that there’s some decency in every one of you, so can we, as a community, think about how these new students are feeling, just for a moment?

According to Ms. Vivian, who is a parent of GEMS students and is quite close to the school, has used words such as “shocked”, “sad” and “angry” to describe the teachers’, parents’ and students’ reactions as the news was shared. She has also said that “the GEMS families I know are coming to ISL are sad to have lost a school that they loved, but they are also very excited to join ISL.” Being a parent affected by this situation as well, she described the events as a “tremendous shock”. Ms. Vivian suggests that the main reason that ISL students are so wrapped up in this new integration is because they are “apprehensive about what the change will mean for them.’’ She also gave the students this scenario: imagine if, right now, someone were to walk in and tell you that ISL was closing. For some people, this school is all that they’ve known. About 800 students are now left with nowhere to go to school, teachers left with no jobs. Look around the class. Think about your classmates. You would probably never be around the same group of people ever again. This is what happened at GEMS, less than a month ago. If you read Coline’s article regarding the elections, all three participants mentioned GEMS as their biggest concern. This gives a small snapshot of the scale of our reluctance to accept these new students into our community. Mr Cairns himself has actually voiced some concerns about the reception that our community will give the GEMS parents and students. “The second they walk through those doors, they are ISL students,’’ he has said. But obviously, students are having a bit of trouble understanding that and treat them as though they are a whole different species. Mr. Cairns voices some appropriate concerns. The students have not been the kindest towards to new company (as the student quotes illustrate). During the ISL TALKX, a promotional Battle of the Bands video was displayed, and the second the GEMS team

came up, the audience’s immediate reaction was to boo them. Let’s not even begin to talk about what opinions the students have: “They have a reputation of being dumb and cringey.” “Don’t like them.” “They literally have issues (like diagnosed) and are more aggressive than ISL students.” “We just interact differently and have values that don’t correspond with one another.” Ms. Vivian has a bit more hope for us as a community. “I trust that we will all make an effort to help care for our new members of the ISL student body.” And let’s not forget the fact that ISL may not be financially stable forever. For the time being we’re all right, but if a large company such as Nestle or Philip Morris made any large changes, such as moving their headquarters to different countries, even to other parts of Switzerland, ISL would definitely be in trouble. We could lose just as much as they did, maybe even more. This could happen to anyone at any time. All new students deserve to be treated with respect, no matter where they’re coming from. We have had students join ISL from GEMS, so why do we insist on making it a big deal now? We say “don’t judge a book by its cover”, isn’t it hypocritical that we’re now doing it ourselves? And, as Ms. Vivian rightfully says, “Just like all of you went from being new to ISL to being an integral part of the ISL community, they will too.”

Illustration by Elif Civelekoglu

CLOSET DEPARTURE

oming out: it’s something that plagues LGBTQ+ minds everywhere. The process of coming out is a difficult one and the time it takes can vary from years to days. When coming out, there are many things to take into consideration: when to do it, how to do it, who to tell and what are the consequences. All processes start somewhere and coming out is not any different. It starts with the recognition and acceptance of the fact that you are or might be LGBTQ+. However, doing so might be hard, as (despite an increase in societal acceptance) being LGBTQ+ does not fit the criteria of ‘normal’ that society teaches us. Due to this, it is normal to feel afraid, confused, excluded and alone. The speed at which self-acceptance occurs depends on the person, with some realizing early on and others

not realizing until later on in life. This step is the most important because if you can’t be open with yourself, how can you be open with other people? This then leads onto the next step: telling those close to you. This task might seem daunting as you never know how someone will react; whether they’ll accept you or not. This is always a risk when coming out, but do not let this scare you; there will be people that will accept you for who you are. When coming out to people, you must take the situation and the person’s personality into account. For example, do not come out to people you do not feel safe around either due to their words or actions. Try to think realistically on how people will react if you tell them. Find an appropriate time to come, preferably a time where you are comfort-

Mark Besson able and stable. Additionally, do not let anyone force you out; coming out is something personal and that you should be in control of - deciding how, when and who you come out to. Life even without other factors is complicated enough and being LGBTQ+ is something that can further complicate it. Fear is commonplace throughout the process and is only reinforced by the things we hear in the media: the attacks, the killings and the suicides. We as a community and individuals are in the optimal position to challenge homophobic behaviour and laws; and - with the privilege and advantages we have - are obliged to do for those who can’t and are in worst positions than us.

SPEAKING IN TONGUES

ave you ever wondered if your behaviour changes when you speak a different language? Do you find it harder or easier to express your thoughts when communicating in Spanish than English? Or maybe you regard yourself a different person when you use a different language. On a dayto-day basis, we often don’t realize how powerful language is and how it shapes our identity. Language has a strong impact on the way we communicate, but it also influences the way in which we think. Our thinking process and ideas can vary when we speak Croatian or Swahili. However, spoken language is not the only thing that shapes our thinking; written language impacts it too. As an example, let’s look at the way in which people place events in time. Most ISL students who speak English, where we write from left to right, would probably organise events chronologically and place the most foremost event on the left and the most recent occurrence on the right. However, the

same events could be organised in a completely different way by someone who speaks Arabic or Hebrew, in which people write from right to left. The way in which we perceive the world highly depends on both spoken and written language that we are exposed to. If you speak a different language than English you are probably aware of the fact that a lot of languages assign genders to nouns. Those genders differ across languages which impacts the way we think about certain objects. We consider some of them more female-like and others more male-like. The word bridge is a feminine noun in German and a masculine noun in Spanish. Although this may be surprising, a study has shown a difference in the way the German and Spanish speakers think of a bridge. While describing a bridge, German speakers are more prone to use words such as beautiful, which are stereotypically feminine, however a Spanish speaker will proba-

Kaia Grabowska

bly use a stereotypically masculine adjectives, such as strong. It is not uncommon to think that a different language gives people a different identity, because in many cases it does. Language shapes the way in which we perceive reality and act in certain situations. Some people are more eager to express their opinions in one language than another, which may be impacted by the experience they had while speaking a certain language. Language can be really closely connected with culture, as culture shapes the way in which we use language and express our ideas. Language is a powerful weapon that can bond as well as divide people. Without a doubt, it shapes our identity and impacts the social skills. We can feel like a different person speaking Mandarin, French and Portugese. Should we consider this a positive or a negative thing?

NOT CUUL TO JUUL

eneration Z flirted with the possibility of being a nicotine-free generation — that is until the epidemic that is juuling. Our generation is so attached to their juuls that two Year 9 students recently took to a school bathroom to get their fix. Two juul pods and two suspensions later and I am filled with curiosity: what drives young students to nicotine? Seemingly, the vape companies have found the perfect formula to manipulate our generation into buying; just like how Marlboro struck advertising gold with Marlboro Man, vaping companies enjoy a different type of ambassador: social media. Incidentally, this is how our two Year 9 students were caught: through a social media post of them juuling in the bathroom. Juuling is everywhere, all over social media, and all the “cool” kids do it. I was curious of ISL students’ motives for juuling and so I reached out to some of ISL’s resident juulers (who will remain anonymous; snitches get stitches) to gain an insight into the motives for juuling and their take on the suspensions. A student in Year 12 who juuls states that although their motives for starting did not include upping their street cred, it’s “quite likely” that this is a case. This student in particular picked up their vaping habits in an attempt to cope with the stress from both school and personal issues. One Year 10 student echoed their concerns, reinstating that the motives for vaping were to “look cool or relieve stress” but their own personal reason for starting was because they became friends with a group of people who all vaped and “it was suddenly very accessible”. When a Year 12 saw Snapchat stories of their friend in America posting about it, the habit soon moved to Switzerland. A different Year 12 student who is an ex-juuler started using a juul as an alternative for smoking cigarettes. They expressed their concern for their health and were aware of the consequences but having already been a smoker, juuling was easy to get into. Juuling is so popular because “it was a meme” according to a Year 12 juuler who alluded to the heightened teenage awareness as a result. “Combine that with good flavours and that’s why so many teens are likely to at least try.’’ But our ex-juuler disagreed. Though they acknowledged that “What flavour is that?” is a common question, they disagreed with flavours being a big factor -- instead there is a much more powerful force: collectivity. Because this juuler was “aware that many people are doing it” as a result “the collective social aspect encouraged [them] to try it”. For our anonymous juuler, this was a new way to connect and relate to friends. Additionally, they admitted that the most appealing aspect about vaping was how many young people do it, stating that “everybody wants to come off as somebody who is ‘cool’ and in order to appear this way, a person will begin doing things that others do.” After seeing their friends vape and practicing tricks, they thought it was cool -- that is, “un-

Ellie Parsons goes up in a cloud of vape til the Year 9s started vaping and it became cringey”. In the words of a Year 10 juuler, juuling to be cool is “really sad”, especially when it involves the younger years. Before juuling themselves, one Year 12 juuler thought school was the “most unacceptable place to vape” and that “there is a time and place for it, and school is not.” But when they started juuling themselves, they admitted to juuling in school during the morning, though not between classes. Paranoia of somebody walking in and catching them took over and they decided to stop juuling in school. They have since quit juuling and had a change of heart, saying that the “people who have been vaping in school are asking to get caught” -- drawing attention to the fact that “teachers are aware of the vaping problem at the school”. Being caught is almost inevitable -- especially if you’re flaunting it on social media. All anonymous vapers came to a clear consensus: they all agreed that the decision to vape in school “wasn’t smart” and the actions warranted the outcome. “I see vaping differently now than I did before, and I find it cringe that so many younger people are vaping and posting it on social media,” the Year 12 who quit juuling said. Another Year 12 added that it’s “ridiculous that people vape in the bathrooms, well aware of the consequences.”

“People who have been vaping in school are asking to get caught”

To all the younger students who are reading this: the price of being cool in high school is high. You sacrifice a lot of your sanity to conform to what is the norm -- do not also sacrifice your health. With suspensions in both year 9 and 10, undoubtedly when you are at your most impressionable age, perhaps it is time for us to treat juuling for what it is: a drug habit. For those who cry “it is only vaping” -- need I remind you that the age of a student in Year 9 is 13 or 14. Amongst the social-media-posting vapers who are eager to let the world know, the majority of teenagers have resisted the manipulative advertising from both companies and social media. Remember: it seems like everyone is doing it because the teenagers who do want the world to know. There are other ways to taste delicious flavours, there are other ways to relieve stress, and there are other ways to be cool.

SUMMERTIME SADNESS

ith the summer holidays approaching faster than ever and every student looking more than ready to dump everything they have learned in the past two semesters in the trash, it is hard not to have fantasies about the perfect summer. Of course, this is normal behaviour: we have seven weeks to do absolutely nothing and to wake up whenever we want, without having to schedule our days based on our lessons. But, as we realize it’s one week into summer and we haven’t eft the house for a few days straight, reality isn’t that pretty. So, why is it that our expectation and reality are so different? One could always blame the fact that our daydreams, mostly done in class, are simply not realistic. Which is fair enough: after all, nobody can spend that much time outside and not be exhausted at

the end of the day. But, while writing this, the question that was the most prevalent was “why”. Why do we have such idealistic dreams about summer, despite all our previous experiences showing that no, it isn’t that great of a time? While it could be just another case of “kids never learn”, the possible influence that social media and movies have on us is undeniable. After all, we have all watched at least one movie about the “perfect summer”. The plot of one of these movies can be chalked up to this: It’s summer, guy meets girl, usually the girl is shy, somehow they get together, happy ending with a kiss scene. Growing up with these types of movies shoved down our throats definitely affects how we think we should be spending our summers. Another contributing factor is social media. Just like the perfect summer movies, the

DP IS HARD :(

he International Baccalaureate is an educational program that is globally recognized for its difficulty. Recently, even the best universities are starting to realize that the IB is an extremely rigorous course that really and truly puts all its students through their paces, and are finally starting to lower their entry requirements to make it even remotely fair compared to English graduates. It seems crazy that uni’s have such high expectations considering the comparison between the DP and A levels (which seems to be extraordinarily straight forward, I mean, they only need to take 3 subjects for goodness sakes!) Not only does the DP require 6 subjects, of which 3 need to be studied at a level deep enough to supply its students with sufficient content to study that course at university level, but it also throws in 2 extra essays, a nerve-racking TOK presentation, and hours upon hours of CAS (and all the reflections).

Nevertheless, the Diploma Program was designed to turn out students of top calibre. Generally, those who pass the course are. It is also supposedly helpful that ISL offers the program that is built to help prepare students to tackle the DP: the MYP. However, it does not always seem to be entirely effective. It is also not always super helpful that as the years of the MYP come to a close, the DP students always hype up the difficulty to 110%. Now, I’m not going to deny anything and openly state: the diploma is like nothing MYP students have seen before. Notwithstanding, the constant whispers that DP students never have any less than 5 hours of homework a night and ought to consider themselves lucky if they ever get over 6 hours of sleep, is completely misleading. Although it sounds cliché, it really is dependent on the student’s organizational skills, and the students who moan the most are probably those who have absolutely no clue how to manage their time. However,

Elif Civelekoglu

perfect summer posts are all around us. Given that school takes up most of our time, once it is closed most of us feel odd, as we suddenly have a lot more time. To ease our endless boredom, we tend to turn to social media, since we don’t have to physically move that much to do so. Yet, what is summer without all of the dreaming? After all, it is a time for us to be free from school and the endless pile of work. We get seven whole weeks to ourselves when we can do more or less anything. So, this summer, go out, have a lot of fun with your friends, and visit some nice places. But in the end of the day be able to be happy by yourself. Even if that happiness is at 1 AM as the weather finally cools and you can binge watch your favourite shows in peace.

Poppy Harrison it does seem that scaring the younger years about the workload of the DP has become a rite of passage, and a means of enforcing a sense of superiority over those who still have no clue what is going to hit them. I think that the best analogy to describe the DP (at least in Year 12) is like an ocean: huge tidal waves, moments of darkness where you feel as though you are drowning. The vast emptiness beneath your feet means that you can never tell if something is waiting, lurking just under the cover of blackness, lingering until you think that you are safe before jumping out to surprise you at the worst possible time. But, hey, summer is almost here, so it’s time to throw on your swimmers, wade out into the water and simply hope for the best. Year 10s, enjoy the MYP while it lasts, and Year 11s… enjoy your last summer swimming in clear waters.

GET WITH THE PROGRAMME

Khwaish Vohra braces for impact

he Diploma Programme, a quintessential part of any IB learner’s experience. Every MYP student is groomed and prepped for these 2 years. Some go as far as to say that these two years are absolute torture (according to the urban dictionary).

to believe that it will be enough to get your act together to thinking that the way you used to work in the MYP will be good enough to sustain you. So is the best way to tackle the DP to just put your head down, work, and give your best effort every single day?

“The problem with the DP is that it is a two-year mission and you need to take one step at a time. Instead, you start the first year thinking about the end of the second year, when in reality you’re not ready for that. It is like asking a Year 7 student to do work from the end of Year 8; it is just not doable” explains Ms. Vivian.

As Mr. Kirby explains, “Something that students can struggle with is that often in the MYP, you can get by without a lot of hard work if they are academically capable. However, in the DP, there is the requirement to work more regularly and more consistently. Students who start the DP with a strong work ethic and are better at managing their time will find it much easier versus those who don’t.”

The DP seems like an insurmountable mountain, but stop creasing your forehead and allowing premature wrinkle lines to set in. Clearly, there is an easy way to hike up this mountain - ‘procrastination’. If the mountain seems too hard to climb, it is better to just avoid it. Anyway, you know how the saying goes: out of sight, out of mind. Right? Wrong. We all know that this habit will not solve your problems and will, in fact, make your problems multiply. So trying to behave like an ostrich by sticking your head into the ground when things get hard, will not get you far. You might be thinking that there is still hope even if you are a chronic procrastinator because now the seat belt signs are on and you are ready to buckle down and take the flight to your future.

The reality is once you develop a certain habit, it is difficult to break out of it. Well, unfortunately, it does not always work out that way, as Ms. Vivian cautions, “The reality is, more often than not, once you develop a certain habit, it is difficult to break out of it. Especially when under stress or faced with challenges, we take comfort in doing what we are used to doing.” The DP is known to be the king of stress and is full of challenges, so it seems that you might end up procrastinating on coming up with a plan about how not to procrastinate. That is just really inconvenient. Perhaps it is useful to determine the root causes of the habit. “While procrastination can be a sign of boredom, typically, however, it is an avoidance mechanism because something is uncomfortable or it challenges us” according to Ms. Vivian. It seems that the DP is full of deceptions, from leading you

While the DP already sounds like a lot of work, it is worth mentioning that not all of it is going to be difficult. Often the year above us can paint a certain picture depicting what life in the DP is like. It happens every year, and it isn’t always 100% accurate. There is this apprehension because of what we hear from older students, and most of the time the reality is that students get to the DP and they find that it isn’t that bad, they think to themselves - ‘I can do this.’ For starters, you have the freedom, to some extent, to study subjects that you actually enjoy rather than ones that are mandatory. So hopefully, a lot of the work you have to do will not feel cumbersome and laborious but rather enriching and somewhat challenging. Keeping that in mind, Ms. Vivian thinks it is important to remember that, “there are going to be periods where you are going to have to just work. I think that is important to build bonds with your teachers so that you feel comfortable asking them for help and reaching out. Don’t let anything build up because it is that silent suffering that, over time, makes you have moments of real panic.” Be present in the here and now. However how you achieve this is up to you: maybe it is a sport, meditation, or cooking. Thinking in the now is really important because you can’t control the future, you can’t impact it in an immediate way, so it’s useless to stress as it will not help you. Rather, ready yourself for right now by working hard and prepare for each step, one at a time. Before you know it, you will be filling out your college application forms or preparing for your gap year and essentially, getting ready for the next part of your life.

ELECTION DAY:

s the school year moves towards the closing stage, the time for a choice and a new beginning also comes. It is time for ISL’s student body to pick the new President for the Student Parliament, and this year, the race is between three students from Year 12: Kevin Banasik, Rashid Baxter, and Elliot Turner. The High has carried out an interview with each of the candidates separately, asking them about their experience in the field, their goals, aspirations and hopes for the school, so that the students can learn more about their possible future president. All three candidates stated during the interview that they will be revealing more of their plans during their speeches. Why are you running for president? Kevin: I’m running for President because I think that I fit all the criteria that Student Council had said for a person who wants to run for this role: they said that you need to be a risk-taker, which I am. They also said you need to be organized, which I have become, and they also need somebody who demonstrates good leadership qualities. I have done several leadership roles this year, inside and outside of school, including Fairplay Sports day, Cecily’s Fund Run. I am also a good listener, and I would like to hear what students have to say and improve it. I would be able to take that in as I am quite open-minded, and then try my best to make something come out of it. Rashid: Because over the course of a few years, I’ve actually worked with Student Council before, and when I was younger I was thinking, ‘Oh, maybe I can be president one day.’ And I actually want to try my hand. Hopefully, I’ll get it, but I always wanted to do it because I thought it is a way I can use my talents in front of an audience to express what the school wants. I think it’s a good application of what I can do. And I just really want it.

Elliot: I’ve taken a position in the Student Council before in Middle School. I really enjoyed my time and I think that since then, some really important things have changed: for example, the Student Parliament and Events Team used to be one unit. This has a lot of advantages, but at the same time, what the Student Parliament used to have was a lot of set goals that they had to meet. Those events were really important to the Student Council’s role, they kept us on the edge of our seats. Now that we don’t have this, whilst we’re going through this reorgawnization process, it’s really important that somebody who knows what the set goals are at Student Council is at the helm of it. I think I’ve proved this year, through the Cafeteria committee and other involvements, that I can execute goals and promises. The goal-orientated nature of that committee is what’s driven it to success. What do you think is the main obstacle ISL is facing and why? Kevin: I think that one big obstacle that ISL will be facing is the influx of all the GEMS students coming to ISL. However, in terms of facing this, I don’t think it would be particularly hard. The student body plays a big role in this. Obviously, we have the buddy system, but we will have to help them integrate as best as we can. We are international students, just like they are, so it should not be any different. But, I guess, because of all the drama behind it, with everybody talking about GEMS, it’ll be a bit uncomfortable on the student body side of things. Rashid: GEMS. We need to help them out. It’s not so much of an obstacle for us as it is for them, but figuring out how to balance class sizes and make sure these students, especially in the diploma where they’re halfway through. That will be a challenge. I suppose another challenge would be to make sure enough people are happy, even if it’s

a huge place. You can’t make all of us happy. We just need to compromise in some areas, which is a challenge. The President, in this case, will tell the leadership about what the student’s opinion is. Then, of course, the leadership will inevitably ignore that opinion if there’s a bad president. Elliot: I’ve been here since before the expansion. We faced a lot of obstacles in our expansion. I was Student Council representative during that expansion and that was a really important time. Next year, we are taking a lot of new students from GEMS. I’m so happy about that, to be honest. We’re finding a way to give back. We have so much more power than we really appreciate as a community. I think that giving back is really, really great in that form. That’s an obstacle I’d really like to improve on, whether or not I’m president next year. Whilst it’s vital Student Council meet once a week, I think it’s really, really important that the Student Council represents the student body as a whole. I think it’s been lost a bit and needs to be brought back on track. What do you plan to do about the main challenge? Kevin: In terms of planning for this, we know lots of people are coming in. It’s not new news. With my job as President, it’ll be my duty to actually make sure that their integration is brought in as best as possible through the buddy system and through making him feel more connected. As President, I would be able to talk to them, see if they’re comfortable, and from there, think of creative solutions as to how to make some people feel more integrated and united with the school. As a potential voice of the student body, I feel I should be the one who is open to talk to them, someone who is seen as approachable to new students in order to make long-lasting changes for the future.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS Coline Coubat talks to the presidential candidates Rashid: It would depend very much about the age group. If they’re coming into Year 13, I need an entirely different approach. Their approach would be much more focus studied. The younger years, it would be much more important to give a social grounding. Year 13 would need a lot of help studying. I’ll give you an actual example: Year 12 Standard Level Maths, we’re done with calculus. The GEMS students have not any calculus, while we have done it for 6 months. How are we going to help them? That’s different to a student in Year 8 who feels lonely. There are two different approaches, it’s a case by case sort of thing. I don’t think there’s a one size fits all approach. Elliot: One of the funny things I think we can benefit is a WhatsApp group. I’ve learned so much from creating Whatsapp groups. I think they’re so underrated. Generally, we should advocate for that kind of intimacy in Student Council. Overall, I’d say inclusivity is the biggest challenge, and GEMS is an opportunity for us to improve on it. It’s a way for us to improve the flow of ideas and our connectivity.

but it was just a big thing between Year 12 and 13. Not the school as a whole. I’m glad we won, but I didn’t come out thinking, ‘Oh, I’m a better friend with this person in Year 13, 11 or 10.’ Elliot: Well, this year we addressed the cafeteria. We had a great opportunity with that because we have a new cafeteria manager who was very open to setting goals. I’d say that it was very tangible. We’ve had new things come in, it’s improved quite a lot, and that was through a collaborative effort. Going forward, I think that there are many less tangible things that can be improved: deciding whether or not to wave to someone in the corridor, giving high-fives to little kids playing football. I know that making little decisions like that can really impact people’s days and your own day. That’s the one thing I want to build in the ISL community. We can get better at being more fluid with each other as people. What would you like to say about the other candidates and the fact that none of them are female?

Kevin: I think unity between the years is something that needs a bit more improvement. I’m a person that is very flexible with all year groups. I have friends in every year, but that’s not the case for everyone. I think the Sibling System is a great idea and a great start. We should be able to appreciate what the different year groups can do.

Kevin: I would appreciate you voting for me for multiple reasons, and I believe I can do the job right. I think I would be able to make a difference in terms of improvements. It is unfortunate that no girls are running for President this year. Female candidates would bring a greater diversity of ideas and perspectives, ultimately leading to a stronger group of candidates and more choices for the students. I highly encourage girls to run for President, and I hope to see this happen.

Rashid: Connection between the year groups. We’re trying to address it with the sibling’s program, which is good, but we just haven’t done it again, which is a shame. I think there also needs to be one between the High School years. There’s not enough of a connection between them. Wacky Week could’ve been a good way of making it stronger,

Rashid: Think about what you care about as a student and focus less on the bravado persona of the speakers, like me, Kevin and Elliot. We’ve got our own separate identities. Don’t vote along ‘He made a funny joke.’ I will play the game that way, because that’s what gets people to win, unfortunately. One thing I would say though, you’ll notice

What do you think there should be more of in ISL?

is that it’s just three guys. Girls don’t run. People say it’s a problem that girls don’t run, which I agree with, but my angle is: Isn’t it boring? It’s just three guys. Wouldn’t it be so much more interesting if there was girls too, and six different people to choose from? A lot of Student Council is a show; it’s not so serious. There’s no grand power you’re given when you’re president. It’s just like a show for the students. If it’s only three guys, it’s a boring show. The final thing I will say is, we’re pretty damn scared. Keep in mind that just because a guy is so confident, how is he going to be when he’s working? How is he going to be with people individually, with the Leadership team? Can you talk to him? There’s more to that than just a speech. Make sure that if you want the President to change something, that he’s the kind of person you’d be okay with talking to about it. Sorry for being cynical. Elliot: I’m excited. I think that there are three great candidates and, even if I don’t get the position, I’ll be really happy for whoever does. Kevin and Rashid are both very hard workers. I’m happy to be a member of such a great year group. I think it’s unfortunate that there are only three guys going for it; I love seeing girls going for positions, like Mariette on the Events team. I think it’d be great to try and encourage girls to try and run for President.

Elections take place today! All three candidates have worked incredibly hard for their campaigns and have the determination to continue to do so after the votes are counted. Remember, the Secondary School needs you to vote for someone who you believe will truly represent the Student Body. Results come out at the end of the day!

ALL ABOARD THE SHIP Jade Tan stans

t was two weeks ago when similar sounding titles announced the breakup between actor Bradley Cooper and model Irina Shayk across social media and news outlets alike. Yet, they never seemed to faze me. Of course, it was saddening, like any other celebrity couple splitting up. However, it was the predictability of the situation that took away the sentiment from the breakup.

move houses due to harassment from fans, as he announced in an Instagram post. Additionally, Taylor Swift has encountered invasive fans of her own, resulting in filing multiple restraining orders in the past year. One of these fans made headlines in 2018 for allegedly sending Swift threatening letters (including messages such as how he “won’t hesitate to kill her”) since 2016.

Following the release of A Star is Born (2018), the musical drama starring Cooper and Lady Gaga, fans were quick to comment on their on-screen chemistry. Then came that Oscars performance in February of this year, where they sang “Shallow” from A Star is Born, the first song that appears in the film where Ally (played by Gaga) is singing on stage with Jackson Maine (portrayed by Cooper) during his concert.

Speaking of threatening, actors who have played antagonistic roles have received negative backlash for the actions of the characters they portrayed, merely because people are unable to differentiate the actor from their character. Grant Gustin, known for his role as Sebastian Smythe on the American musical dramedy Glee revealed in an interview with E! News about the death threats he received on Twitter upon coming onto the show, “if you break up Klaine [the couple name for Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer)], I will find you and I will kill you”.

While it was a moving performance, the moment that really caught people’s attention was Gaga and Cooper sharing the same piano bench towards the end of the song, tilting their heads inwards in unison towards the single microphone as they held the ending notes (bonus: the smiles they exchanged with each other at the end). Soon after, all of social media was littered with praise for their rendition. Not for their talents, but rather their connection during the performance. The insinuation in the media that Gaga and Cooper were together after the Oscars was only part of the entire situation. Things escalated as Gaga and Cooper had reportedly fallen out of their respective relationships at the time. Despite all of this, it cannot be said for certain that this was purely the cause of Shayk and Cooper’s breakup. But it definitely emphasizes that this is part of something bigger. And it begins with the fans. As a so called “fan” myself, I can recall a time I acted similarly to this. It is easy to get swept up in the moment and ignore the consequences of your actions as you desperately hope your one true pairing (OTP) finally gets together. There was also a moment in time I no longer shipped fictional characters, but rather real couples; sometimes people who weren’t even in a relationship. In hindsight, I now regret the errors of my ways (flashback to the time I was embarrassingly obsessed with Phan, the romantic pairing of YouTubers Daniel Howell and Phil Lester) as I find it uncomfortable to see people make the same mistakes I once did. But with the experience of being a “fan”, I have come across various instances where other fans have crossed the line, such as stalking their idols. For instance, in February 2017, singer Brendon Urie (Panic! At The Disco) was once forced to

In a similar fashion, Victoria Vantoch, married to Supernatural actor Misha Collins (who plays the angel Castiel on the American dark fantasy series) was also on the receiving end of death threats from enthusiastic fans who ship Collins’ character with Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), all because fans longed for Destiel to be canon and happen in real life. From these given scenarios, there has been a clear lack of boundaries between fans and celebrities. Sometimes, this has even led to death, as John Lennon was shot in New York, 1980 by a crazed fan. Nowadays, it is easy to put people on a pedestal and worship them or view them without feelings, fuelling a god complex that alienates celebrities from the fans and others. Despite the negativity in these experiences, there have also been positive exchanges between celebrities and fans. In 2014, Rihanna met with fans in Trocadéro Square, Paris, which was filmed for the “Goodnight Gotham” music video (from her 2016 album ANTi). The sight of Rihanna jumping into the embrace of fans around her paired with “Goodnight Gotham” playing in the background fills me with joy. It’s pure and sentimental experiences like these that sort of give me hope amongst slightly concerning news about how another celebrity has been invaded of their privacy. Hopefully, there will come a time in the future where we can learn to step back and realize that celebrities are just regular people as well. They may hold higher statuses or earn significantly more money than the average person but at the end of the day, they have their own lives to live. It’s time to draw the line, people.

ON POETRY, FILM, AND ACTIVISM

ction is probably the last step in the journey of the poem,” Sean Lìonadh tells me, quoting himself from his writing workshops earlier in the day. It is Wednesday afternoon and we are sitting across a small grey table in the South Campus, a few minutes after his speech at the ISL TalkX. Sean is a young poet and filmmaker from Glasgow, Scotland, who works with the BBC and writes about the social issues of our time. “I think everything does ripple into action,” he explains, “even if you’re slightly kinder to someone because you’ve seen someone like them onscreen or in a poem.” Sean knows firsthand the power of words; it was his poem, after all, that inspired Nathaniel De Young to create the Time For Love project, which has created a safe space for LGBT couples in Boston to walk hand-in-hand without fear of judgement, reproach, or worse. Sean recalls crying when he first saw the footage of the movement, describing the experience as surreal; it was amazing, he says, that De Young could cite his poem as an inspiration for the movement. The project is clear evidence, it seems, that art can create social change. I ask him what allows the arts to have this power, and he smiles. “I think it’s so great,” he says, speaking of stories as a medium for change. “When people talk about issues, they get very angry and it’s very much about ‘I’ - you know, ‘I think this’ and ‘I feel this’. And people that disagree are polarized by that, whereas, with art… there is definitely an ‘I’, but there’s always a story. You don’t go in thinking that you’re being taught. You’re going in and you’re experiencing something and it’s the experience that is being shared with you that will be the change. So it’s a very diplomatic way to enlighten people. And it’s also enjoyable - and it makes you feel empathy. That’s the important part.” But art, no matter its power, cannot be the sole factor in change. That must come from us. I ask Sean what people can do, as individuals, to make a difference. He takes a moment to think, pulling his legs onto the chair and tapping slowly on the knees of his oscure yellow pants, and, when he speaks, his answer surprises me. “I suppose, firstly, have an open mind,” he muses. “I think, when it comes to these issues, they’re so polarized, and there’s so many slogans and things that we boil down to simple phrases, and actually it’s very complex, and it’s nuanced. So I think maybe patience is a good virtue for everyone to practice.” Sean believes that we give too much focus to changing the external world, that we are obsessed with a scale that is much too large. Change, he argues, starts from within. “I think that’s my main philosophy, that the first step you should take is inside. Because if you’re comfortable in your own skin, nothing’s gonna threaten you, so you’re not gonna want to attack anyone else. I think we need to start inside.”

Suhasini Mehra talks to Sean Lìonadh

I ask him what he thinks the future holds, and what our generations—we are, after all, barely a generation apart—must do to achieve a more optimistic future. We’ve all heard the news from around the world—the constant murmurings of conflict, dictatorship, of the steady and insidious rise of extremism—and many of us have wondered just what has happened to turn us down this path, when, for some years, we seemed to have been doing so well. Sean has an explanation for this. “I think there’s definitely a big backlash because now change is coming - in quite big, massive steps. There’s a huge backlash to it in older generations. And I think they’re trying to talk us down, almost talk us out of it - and kind of gaslight us, I think. And I think it’s up to us to resist that.” On a lighter note, I ask Sean about his upcoming film, Nostophobia. He lights up when I mention it, but laughs out loud when I ask him what he hopes to convey, joking, “How long do you have?” Growing serious as he gets into his story, Sean explains that the film will be a horror film about a gay couple who discover a supernatural power between them that grows stronger the closer they get. However, once they reach the point of intimacy, the power grows malevolent, and the movie takes a turn into horror. “So it’s really about what happens when two people who perhaps aren’t used to love, or have trauma in their lives, or are broken - then fall in love. So it deals with a lot of the issues I’ve already written about, like homophobia, shame, heteronormativity, love - but in a much, kind of, darker, grander, supernatural way.” He shifts in his seat, smiling slightly self-consciously. “So, yeah. I’m really excited to make it.” Finally, I ask Sean what he wants to impart on us, as a student body. He is impressed by ISL, he tells me. “I’ve heard students here using words that I can’t believe they’re using at that age - great words, you know, great ways to view the world, and quite heavy, complex concepts that I never heard about at school.” He wants us to know that pursuing art and creation is something we can all do, and that, if you strip away the quest for financial gain, life can become far more interesting and valuable. He also reminds us that we shouldn’t let ourselves grow complacent in our private bubbles—that we should be vigilant to the issues of the world. Most importantly, however, he stresses the importance of loving oneself. “I think it’s actually the hardest thing in the world to do. You’re not taught it at school.” Wearing half a smile, he adds, “It’s very easy to be unkind to yourself in a society where you’re so often told that something’s wrong with you. Do whatever it takes to fight against that.”

FAREWELL MR B Danix Santos swoons in hexadecimal

e all know by now one of the Greats is leaving us. Our very own Mr. Baumgarten, better known as Mr. B (or occasionally Overlord). I personally have only known him since I was in Year 11 in his digital design class. And, I must say - sorry to my other teachers - his class was the only one I genuinely looked forward to being in. Even more than my free periods that come with being in the DP. Obviously there is a slight bias from my side as I want to go into computer science in University but a big part of the enthusiasm for these classes was the teacher. We have learnt so much together as a class and I’m sure this week will not be the last we hear from you. From drawing sprites to inserting Mr. B’s game templates and calling them ours, to learning the hardest option of the computer science course: Object Oriented Programming, we have spent some great times together. Not a single class was boring. Now let’s go into some of the things he has done for the community. First of all, he added the first ever computer science class at this school. With job requirements including computer related skills on the rise in our modern world, people might not recognize it, but it was a huge and important step for ISL. Also, when Mr. B saw that people

needed more preparing for the Year 12 computer science class, he founded Digital Design (again, the best class one can take in Year 11). Proof that when he sees a problem, he takes action. Another proof for this is when Mr. B realised that the ratio of boys to girls in the classes was disproportionately high for boys, and so he enforced girl encouragement for STEM fields by running the girls’ Codeathon last year. The following are quotes gathered by your very own students, Mr. B: Y11 Girl: “Mr.B has been extremely influential in my academic life and without him I would not have the interest in comsci that I do. His passion and knowledge is infectious, and I can’t wait for him to infect a whole new school with a love for programming!” Y12 Boy: “He pairs good teaching with enjoyable classes where real life application is actually used unlike many subjects.”

Boy: “He cares sincerely about his students and he’s always happy to chat, even when not necessarily tech.” Y12 Boy: “He’s truly caring. Always makes time to make sure that you are comfortable and makes you want to go and learn.” Boy: “Bible Discussions / Study Meetings were fun.” (He is referring to learning Javascript. The Bible was the textbook) All your students want you to know that you will be sincerely missed. We went as far as to plan to build a statue for you but we knew it would be impossible to capture your greatness in it. We wish you the best in this next step in your life. We also promise that we will try not to “cross the line” too much. And what is a more appropriate goodbye than: Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay We’re thankful! Your Loving Students

Y12 Boy: “He sets an appropriate line while remaining the most enjoyable class.” Boy: “Mr. B is a lad.” Y12 Boy: “He made a difficult subject genuinely enjoyable to learn, and inspired curiosity in all of us to know more.”

CTRL-ALT-GOODBYE Paul Baumgarten has left the group chat “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard” - Unknown

’m an Australian. I don’t think that would be news to anyone. One of the names we Aussies have for our homeland is “the lucky country”. Though the phrase was originally penned in sarcasm, we adopted it as a badge of honour. Australia is rich in natural resources, has a great climate, stunning beaches, and plenty of wildlife ready to kill you if you believe the memes! We’ve got it pretty good down under. That’s all prelude to saying I think we have it pretty good here too. I am extremely fortunate to have worked here at ISL these past four years. I... you... we... are all incredibly fortunate to be here. We have fresh water, clean air, abundant food, excellent medical care, safe streets, all set to a backdrop of the incredible Alps. Add to that, we are at a globally respected school whose Diploma opens doors and opportunities that most can only dream of. Many are not as fortunate as us. We all ought to be enormously grateful. No matter how intelligent you are or how hard you work, the reality is there is an x-factor. Call it luck or fate, the reality is, without it you would not be here, and you exercise zero control over it. Born to the right family in the right town at the right time where the mix of circumstances came together just right to bring you here. The opportunities we have are completely inaccessible to the vast majority of humanity no matter how intelligent or hard working. Life has its difficult moments but I find remembering what I have to be grateful for helps keep things in perspective. Choose to build your life on a foundation of gratitude and the challenges be-

come considerably easier. A gratitude mindset to life changes you. It changed me. It not only makes you a happier person, but it makes you more patient and compassionate with those less fortunate, because that could have easily been you. There are some who too easily dismiss the challenges and difficulties faced by minorities and those from less privileged backgrounds. Don’t be that person. Kindness and decency are never out of style! (sidebar: is it strange how the only people who argue privilege is not “a thing” tend to be rich white straight males?)

To all my programming students: keep on coding! Computer Science is going to play a pivotal role in solving many of the worlds problems. If you think the field is significant now, wait until you see where we are in another 20 years. It is an exciting time to be a nerd!

A true gratitude mindset will also help make you a more determined person. Determined not to waste the opportunity given to you. Determined to make a difference. Former US President John F Kennedy said “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” So to your life of gratitude, I urge you to add action. Our world has big problems. We need leaders, scientists, engineers, doctors, lawyers, and artists to find innovative solutions to the mess the world is in. Therefore as I prepare to leave ISL, my charge to you is to be grateful, and from that gratitude let kindness, decency and determination flow.

To all those students I’ve gotten to know over the years: feel free to drop me a line from time to time in the years to come. I’d love to hear where your journey takes you. I wish you all the very best with your future!

I have said that if I could move to Hong Kong and take ISL with me I would. Being a teacher here has been the highlight of my teaching career thus far, so I move to my new school with a mixture of trepidation and high hopes. You, the students of ISL, have been a joy to teach. I genuinely look forward to coming to school to spend my days working with you. The vast majority of you are kind, welcoming, funny, good natured people who I would happily choose to teach again. Thank you for making my time at ISL so rewarding!

To the writers and editors who have contributed to The High over the years: Thank you! I have always found The High to be insightful and thought provoking. You play an important role in providing a student voice that I have looked forward to each month. (ps… sorry I had to kick you out of my room)

A bientôt! Mr B

Illustration by Manon Libine

THIS IS YOUR MISSION

t was a real honour to be asked to present you with your diplomas today, and I couldn’t be more proud of you. First and foremost, I wish to thank you: for the last two years, you have inspired me to be the best version of myself. I have loved every minute of it, and I hope I haven’t let you down. It has been a long journey during which we have all grown, and you will hear many metaphors about how this journey will continue; you will be told to climb your mountain, to seize the day, or to take the road less travelled by. These are all well and good – and maybe even necessary on an occasion like this, but I want to leave you with a more important mission. And it’s not about pursuing happiness – happiness happens while we are doing other things, the things we enjoy with the people we love – and sadly we only ever seem to appreciate it in retrospect. And my message is not about pursuing love. Believe me, that’s doomed to failure: for most of us, there’s no reciprocity in love. Men love women, women love children and children love hamsters. And it’s a bit ironic for you to receive advice from someone who has never left school – for 57 years without a break, my life has been organized around three school terms. What can I possibly tell you about life? Other than try to spend it doing something you love – if you can do that, you’ll be truly blessed. But I guess within those 57 years, I have learnt something about young people. What I have learnt is that you underestimate your power – your power to change the world that you are entering if you choose to become engaged. It is easy to be cynical about Greta Thunberg and her climate strike, but she debunks the argument that you as an individual cannot change something – she is the living embodiment that one person can create change. In that matter-of-fact voice of hers, she says: “We can’t save the world by playing by the rules – the rules have to be changed.” And the one thing I have learnt about young people is that you love changing the rules. But how much can you really do? After all, you don’t have much spending power; you don’t have much political power. What you do have, however, is so much stronger - you have immense moral power – you didn’t cause society’s wrongs – you didn’t cause the climate crisis – it is the failure of older generations, not only to grasp the science, but also to face the seriousness of the moral issues at stake. And compared to us crusties, you still have the vision and innocence, the hope and the energy; and you have the power to inspire us, the older generation, to embody those qualities, and not just give up, because the issues seem so daunting. During the civil rights movement in the USA, it was young people marching to Birmingham, their lunch counter sit-ins, and their refusal to give up seats on the buses that really helped shift segregation and discrimination. And it’s the voice of young people in the USA today that is shifting attitudes to race and gun control.

John Ivett’s speech to the Class of 2019 It is easy to be cynical about the 1.4 million students in 125 different countries who joined the first climate strike. Yes, it’s a tiny proportion of all people that age. But all change happens with tiny minorities. Society is like an amoeba. It moves from the margins, not from the centre. Change can be effected by quite small numbers of people – an academic study in the USA shows that you need a maximum of 3.5% of the population to overthrow even the most brutal dictatorships through civil action and peaceful protest. Because we are such socially minded creatures, we’re always looking for where the status quo lies, and try to align ourselves with it. And we start subconsciously shifting towards that position until suddenly a movement becomes a wave, a wave becomes tsunami - and then it becomes impossible to resist. And finally, don’t underestimate the dangers of populist politics and political leaders. (You know who I mean). Only the insane take themselves that seriously. When words lose their meaning, people lose their freedom (that’s not fake news that was Confucius). I worry that you don’t realize that some of our rights and freedoms are so newly won, that like new shoots they need our utmost protection. Last month, Alabama lawmakers passed a bill to ban abortion outright with the serious likelihood that the Supreme Court could overturn Roe versus Wade or change it beyond recognition. And at the same time as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Mark Chambers, the mayor of Carbon Hill, Alabama, said in a Facebook post that the only solution to stopping LGBTQ people from getting “more rights than the majority” would be “to kill the problem out. I know it’s bad to say (he posted) but without killing them out there’s no way to fix it.” And nearer to my home, Ann Widdicombe, a newly elected member of the European Parliament said “The fact that we think it is now quite impossible for people to switch sexuality doesn’t mean that science might not be able to produce an answer at some stage…” – a worrying suggestion that there could ever be a wrong way to love. I often go back Martin Niemöller’s legendary quotation on The New England Holocaust Memorial THEY CAME FIRST for the communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist... ... THEN THEY CAME for me, And by that time, no one was left to speak up. This is your mission: take your moral authority; your vision and innocence; your hope and energy – and challenge hatred, discrimination, injustice and inequality in your dorms and campuses – in the societies you join, and the courses you study. Yes, you may upset a few old farts, but remember: “It is rarely possible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody’s beard.”

EXIT STAGE LEFT McKenna Quam takes a bow

hen people ask me how I feel about leaving I am never sure what to say. I feel so many things, all of the adjectives at the same time.

I feel happy, sad, jealous, nostalgic, excited, scared, different, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. And sometimes even indigo. I feel like all the pigeons in all the subway tunnels in all the major cities in the world. It’s this conflict of emotions that makes it hard to put pen to paper to write this goodbye article. I knew how I felt when I was leaving Minnesota: sad about leaving my friends, but excited about moving to Switzerland. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited? Most people I knew hadn’t traveled past Chicago, let alone Europe. How do I feel leaving Switzerland? It is safe to say this place is my home now. Not my home away from home or any of that crap: it’s my home and the people of ISL are my extended family. I feel comfortable using the word family because that’s what this community has become for me. Especially the teachers, I attribute a lot of my growth academically and emotionally to them (shout out to Mr. Ribas and Mr. Kirby, who run the best student newspaper in the world). I know that in the middle of exam season it doesn’t seem like they care, but believe it or not our teachers want us to pass their classes. Every single teacher I have interacted with has pushed me to be the best that I can, and I appreciate all the work you put into teaching us. Another important part of my ISL family is my Year 11 brothers and sisters. I can’t wait to see what the class of 2021 will do next. Just a couple pieces of advice before I go. You can do more than you think you can do, so believe in yourself. *throws glitter in the air* Come to each other’s aid, we are all raindrops and together we are an ocean. Finally, if you want to have any chance at overthrowing the current Wacky Week champions, start planning a month in advance, and include a couples dance part in the performance. As I close this chapter of my life I will be losing a piece of myself - maybe that’s why I feel so conflicted? Because as I have adjusted to expat life, I made it a part of my identity and I’m leaving that behind. That is not quite right, it’s more like when I came into this experience I didn’t think I would change. I thought I would get some cool new memories, get taller, but that’s it. I didn’t realize the empathy I would gain, or newfound respect for all the third culture kids I’ve met. I thought I could slide right back into Minnesota like a puzzle piece, only the shape of me and my personality to change completely.

At the end of every day I do this reflection exercise called> “rose, thorn, bud” in which you think about the best part of the day, your rose; the worst part of your day, your thorn; and what you are looking forward to next, your bud. And I want to go through that for my last three years. Rose: The places I went and the people I met. To say I have become well traveled is an understatement. I have been to three new continents and around 15 new countries, but what matters more is the people I shared these experiences with. I will forever remember the London, Iceland, and Cambodia trips I took with my classmates. I haven’t even mentioned all of the amazing year 10, 12, and 13s that I have become friends with! Moving to Europe was cool, but trust me, the person reading this article is cooler. Thorn: I never gave the guys in my year a fair shake. Sorry, dudes. I judged you guys unfairly, and have said some less than kind words. I now see that was wrong. In the past couple months I’ve gotten to know you better and you all have been supportive and kind to me. I think you all have a tough road ahead in the DP, but from what I’ve seen in the past few months I think you can rise to the occasion. Bud: When a door closes, a window opens. Similar to how I felt when I felt when leaving Minnesota, I am sad to leave, but excited for what comes next. I am going to a new school that I’ve never been to before and I know no one there, and I am excited to start this process all over again. Meeting new people, awesome teachers, and creating new memories. Thank you for an amazing three years, ISL. I will miss you. I will leave you with a quote that resonates with me. “I’ll see you in another life. When we are both cats.” - Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky Illustration by Jade Tan

THE CICADA’S SONG

Ellie Parsons

Born from the earth

A life of nonchalance and the finest pursuits:

in both of nature and of being

flying, singing, mating –

A life of modesty, of insignificance – of absence,

Their many conquests for many eggs.

of a mother and of sunlight, they gorge on helpless kingdoms; the sap is theirs.

Though their lives end where they began:

The single possession. As they feast, they cry –

As the slits and the rips of branches, carved

A plea, cruelly muffled by the earth.

By mother, paving the way for a beginning, she

By three – no, four molts they gain

Falls. Into the earth – giving one last cry; a cry for the young;

power through their nakedness.

The New Children of the Earth

And then, by the grace of the golden temperature An eruption from the earth; a vengeance. An emergence, of the millions – raking skins over bodies of great trees, littering the ground with their old, forgotten, rotten selves. Bidding the earth their final farewell. With their introduction, comes music and they pollute, pollute the sky with the most beautiful song; The Cicada’s Song. Six weeks of ephemerality had them kinged

WORDSEARCH: FLAVOURS