Love Is/Isn’t in the Air

Every year, a holiday both hated and admired rolls around to spice up the level of affection in our day-to-day lives. Some fall under the spell of Cupid’s love arrow, while others mock the idea of the holiday.

If you haven’t guessed, I’m talking about Valentine’s Day. So whether you’re a lover or a fighter, you can still make Valentine’s Day fun no matter what!

For those who are in love with love, Valentine’s Day is a sweet treat. It’s the perfect opportunity to spend time with people you deeply care for and perhaps show your love through gifts, words, or food. You don’t have to buy a whole store to show someone that you love them. It’s all in the little things.

However, if you do have some cash to burn, you can get fancy with the person you wish to spend the day with. “You can dress up, make reservations and go on a nice date. Just remember to treat yourselves,” says Leah Arisman, a SHG junior.

If you don’t want to go on the classic dinner date, you can be creative and do something different. Get together and go ice skating, take a walk around downtown or cruise around the city.

You can also have a comfy/movie day, go hiking (if you’re into that), go bowling or even make dinner for each other. The choice is yours!

The day doesn’t have to be too elaborate to be romantic. If you’ve been dating your significant other for a while, perhaps go back to the same place you had your very first date and recreate it.

Make sure you take pictures with your significant other as well. When you look at the picture, it will just be another reminder of how much you adore them.

Presents are, of course, very sweet to give, but hard to find. I personally don’t believe that the price of a gift matters. I think what matters most is the thought put into it. Make the present yourself, or get your significant other a goofy present that possibly represents one of your inside jokes.

The key to having a great Valentine’s Day, whether elaborate or simple, is to make sure you have fun and show your appreciation for one another. This is the day to celebrate your love. Make sure you seize it!

Bree Derhake, an SHG senior loves when Valentine’s Day rolls around. “My favorite part of Valentine’s Day is the chocolate. My boyfriend and I go to Olive Garden and then a movie just to spend some quality time with each other,” Derhake says with a smile.

While there are people like Bree who celebrate Valentine’s Day, for others it’s just another day. To many, Valentine’s Day is overrated and overhyped. However, you can still have a good day even if you reject the holiday.

When Valentine’s Day presents itself, you don’t have to conform. You can have a day to yourself. You can buy candy (not any kind that is heart shaped or pink), take a bath and have a little spa day. Absolutely do not wear any red or pink on Valentine’s Day.

Of course, listening to sad music about how love is only a myth is a definite must. The ultimate goal is to avoid love at all costs. Just stay strong and you will make it through this horrific day.

One of the best things you can do is bum around and watch movies all day. Of course, these movies can not be in the same category as “Love Actually” or “The Notebook.” Watch an action or horror movie instead and invite your friends over who reject Valentine’s Day as well.

SHG freshman Matt VonBehren says, “I don’t make it a big deal, but I hang out with my friends and eat candy. It’s just fun to hang out with people you care about the most. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.” So just gather your girls or your guys and simply have a day of fun just like any other.

Whether you love or hate the day, Valentine’s Day is about spending time with the people that matter most to you in this world and showing them just how thankful you are that they are part of your life. XOXO. 

Celebrate and spread the love in every way possible this year. Photo courtesy of Google Images. 

Valentine’s Day Origins

From ancient Roman ritual to Catholic feast day to extremely commercialized holiday, Valentine’s Day, February 14, has centuries old roots. How did this romantic holiday become what it is today?

The Catholic Church recognizes a Saint Valentine, or Saint Valentinus. Legends surrounding “the original” St. Valentine are still shrouded in mystery. One legend is that St. Valentine was a priest in third century Rome. Emperor Claudius II ruled that Roman soldiers fought better if they were single, so he outlawed the marriage of soldiers. Valentine secretly married young soldiers. When Claudius discovered this, he put Valentine to death.

Another legend says that Valentine helped prisoners escape Roman prisons. According to history.com, “an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first ‘valentine’ greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl…Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed ‘From your Valentine,’ an expression that is still in use today.” No matter what the legend is, St. Valentine is normally associated with love.

There are two stories surrounding why Valentine’s Day is celebrated in February. Some people believe that it is celebrated on the day of Valentine’s death or burial sometime around 270 AD. Others believe that it was created in an attempt to “Christianize” the Roman festival of Lupercalia.

“Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus,” says history.com. Roman woman who were gently hit with the sacrificial goat skin on that day believed that they would become more fertile. This pagan celebration later became Valentine’s Day. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

Lupercalia was a Roman fertility celebration in mid-February on which “priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide,” says history.com. This would promote fertility in women and good fortune for crops that year.

At the end of the fifth century, Pope Gelasius outlawed the “un-Christian” celebration, and declared February 14 Valentine’s Day.

The Valentine’s Day as we know it today did not come about until much later. Today, we think of February 14 as a day of gift giving and Valentine’s Day cards. The oldest known Valentine’s Day greeting cards appeared in 1415. Now, these cards are essential for the day to be celebrated.

Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the United States, Canada, France, Mexico, Australia and the United Kingdom. Among Americans, the popularity of exchanging gifts and cards started in the early 1800s. By the 1900s, printed cards started to replace handwritten ones due to printing technology. Today, Valentine’s Day is the second largest card-exchanging holiday (Christmas being the first).

Next time you by a card or ask someone to “Be your Valentine,” remember that this day has a lot more history than you might think.

Teacher Appreciation Day

Catholic Schools Week, the first week of February, ends with Teacher Appreciation Day. When we all leave high school, we will have that one teacher we will never forget. Since we are still in high school, we can use this day to remember some of the best moments SHG students share with their favorite teachers.

“A favorite memory of mine was with my theology teacher, Mr. Blum. He’s a hockey fanatic and a lot of the girls in my class wanted to make a girls hockey team. We made a deal with him that if we got 25 girls to agree to play, he would coach us. We got a roster of 27 girls and decided on the team name The Blumblebees.” –Freshman Julia Curry

Rihab Habibi, an SHG chemistry and algebra teacher, helps junior Kate Janes with a question. Photo courtesy of SHG yearbook.

“Mrs. Habibi once sprayed a naughty kid with a suspicious liquid. It turned out just to be water.” –Sophomore Chandler Hady

“Well, freshman year, Mr. Zanger was teaching us about gravity and he spread his legs out and told someone to push him over, because when you have a wide base you generally won’t fall. Then he completely wiped out and he hit his head on the bottom of the desk. It was probably the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” –Junior Alin Cetindag

“The best memory I had at SHG is being around Mrs. Cavanaugh. After having her around in grade school, it is nice to see her again in high school. She always has something nice to say and always wrote funny and encouraging notes on my drawings.” –Junior Andy Johnson

“I’d have to say that a favorite memory with a teacher would be Mr. Martin’s Sporcle competitions. I’d look forward to his class everyday because no matter what kind of day I was having, his class just made it 1,000 percent better.” –Senior Paige Ulrich

I dump ice water on my old English teacher, Linda Smith, for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Photo courtesy of Sabrina Johnston.

My favorite memory was sophomore year. I was chosen to dump ice water on my freshman English teacher, Mrs. Smith–we call her Smithl–for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It was great because I looked up to Smithl freshman year and it was for a good cause. Also, everyone wants to dump a bucket of freezing water on a teacher’s head, no matter who it is.

These stories along with our own experiences will stay in our minds for years after we leave SHG. We leave this school not only with knowledge, but also memories of our teachers and the relationships we had with them. For that, I believe all of the SHG students are thankful.

New Year, New Me?

Every January 1, people around the world celebrate the start of the new year. Some promise themselves to change for the next year, so they can be happier or so they start their year on a good note. But are these resolutions really necessary? Do they make a difference?

A young onlooker watches the festivities of the 2016 New Year celebration in New York Times Square. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

Many people believe that New Year’s resolutions are an essential part of the New Year tradition and for the beginning of the year. According to a recent poll on statisticbrain.com, roughly 45 percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions and 17 percent infrequently make resolutions. Senior Jake Melton described resolutions as “fundamental to the improvement of the individual, be it physical or mental.”

Melton made a resolution to attempt to stay close to his best friends at SHG after he graduates. Resolutions do not have to be difficult or stressful. As long as a goal is set, it can be accomplished.

However, many people do not make New Year’s resolutions. Whether for personal reasons or the belief that resolutions do not change people, 38 percent of Americans never make goals for the new year.

I personally know many people who did not make resolutions. In my friend group, over half of them did not make a resolution. “Usually when I make them, I don’t follow them,” said junior Calyn Reardon. Of all the Americans who make resolutions, eight percent will succeed and 49 percent of them will infrequently accomplish their goals. Although Reardon did not make a resolutions this year, she still thinks that they are important “because they motivate people to set goals for themselves.”

So why make a resolution? People who make New Year’s resolutions are 10 times more likely to accomplish their goals than those who do not make resolutions.

New Year’s resolutions are good for everyone. It is fun to set goals and it is satisfying to achieve them. Not all goals have to be set at the beginning of the year, so enjoy 2016 and set some goals for yourself.

To Friend or Not to Friend?

How well do you really know your best friend? A challenge that has become very popular tests the idea of how well we know our friends and vice versa. This challenge is often seen on YouTube, where best friends sit down and ask each other questions about themselves or the history of the relationship.
This challenge can either strengthen a friendship or reveal the awkwardness of the unknown facts about a friend. So I ultimately decided to take the risk and try the challenge out with one of my best friends, Clare Lansden, who is an SHG senior.
Clare and I have known each other for 13 years and have stayed together through every obstacle thrown at us. Some of my best memories are with her and I can not imagine life without her by my side. I decided to put our 13 years of friendship to the test by asking her questions involving our past memories and facts about myself, and she did the same.
We both asked each other seven questions. I asked her the following questions about me and these were her answers:
Me: “How long have we known each other and when did we meet?”
Clare: “We met in kindergarten and know each other through family. We have known each other for thirteen years.”
Me: “What is my favorite color?”
Clare: “Black.”
Me: “What am I allergic to?”
Clare: “Tree nuts.”
Me: “Where is my favorite place to vacation?”
Clare: “Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.”
Me: “What do I want to do in life?”
Clare: “You want to graduate from Kansas, be a journalist and write for Vogue.”
Me: “Who are my celebrity role models?”
Clare: “One Direction, especially Harry Styles, Lana Del Rey and Cara Delevingne.”
Me: “What is my favorite movie/book?”
Clare: “The Great Gatsby.”
To my surprise, Clare answered all of my questions correctly, which made me really confident about our friend challenge! It was now my turn to answer her questions:
Clare: “What is my middle name?”
Me: “Marie.” Clare: “What is my favorite sport?”
Me: “Hockey.”
Clare: “What hockey team do I root for?”
Me: “St. Louis Blues.”
Clare: “What is my favorite color?”
Me: “Red.”
Clare: “Am I more of a beach or mountain person?”
Me: “Mountain, for sure.”
Clare: “What type of music do I listen to?”
Me: “Classic Rock.”
Clare: “Who are my favorite celebrities?”
Me: “One Direction, especially Niall Horan, Robert Downey Jr., and Cara Delevingne.”
Clare told me that I had gotten each question correct as well. This made us very happy because it showed how much we know about each other. I’ve always considered Clare a best friend. We have been through so much together- good and bad. I can’t see myself going through life without her friendship. I truly believe we are soul sisters and wherever we go in life, we will have one another in our hearts and minds. “Kate and I have been so close for so long, and I am always grateful to have someone like her by my side,” Clare said.
My experience with the friendship tag was very positive. It really tests limits on how well your friends know you and how well you know them. I recommend you and your friends try challenges to test your friendship. It will show you how you can improve your relationships in life.
Given that humans are a social species, friendships are very important and vital to life. Being able to connect with one another is one of the many gifts you can get out of life. So be sure to take on the friendship tag to analyze your current friendships.

Pictured: Clare and I on our way to a lunch date after half a day of school. We are always all smiles when we are together. “I really appreciate our friendship because I have so many wonderful memories with Kate that I’ll always cherish,” says Clare. Photo courtesy of Kate Ross.

Get to Know

Seniors Lindsay Finnell and Becca Heath

If you could go to lunch with any celebrity who would it be?

Lindsay: “Florence Welch.”

Becca: “Demi Lovato.”

You discover that the person you’re head-over-heels interested in loves a good homemade & handmade dessert. What will you concoct when you have this person over?

Lindsay: “Pumpkin cookies.”

Becca: “Brownies.”

What would you leave in your will for the person you care about the most?

Lindsay: “I don’t own that much but probs my dog.”

Becca: “My savings.”

What is your biggest pet peeve?

Lindsay: “When I can hear people chewing gum/chewing their fingernails in class.”

Becca: “When people make a mess when they eat.”

Would you eat a worm for $1,000?

Lindsay: “Probably.”  

Becca: “No.”

If you could choose to stay one age forever, what age would you choose and why?  

Lindsay: “Mid or late 20s because your body is still in peak health but you’re also old enough to do what you want and not be treated like a child.”

Becca: “22, because you’re an adult but you’re also at the age where it’s acceptable to enjoy life and have fun.”

Would you rather lose your sense of hearing or smell?

Lindsay: “Smell.”

Becca: “Smell.”

What do you want people to remember you by in 200 years?

Lindsay: “Doing sick kickflips on my skateboard.  Jk I don’t own a skateboard maybe saving the planet or something?”

Becca: “How nice I was to people.”  

What would you want to be voted best at?

Lindsay: “Doing sick kickflips on my skateboard.”

Becca: “Being awesome.”

Would you rather eliminate hunger and disease or be able to bring lasting world peace?

Lindsay: “World peace, which would probably make it easier to eliminate hunger and disease.”

Becca: “Hunger and disease because it would lead to more world peace.”

What’s one thing you would do if there was no repercussions or consequences from doing it?

Lindsay: “Go to whatever college I want regardless of tuition costs.”

Becca: “Choose to not go to college but still make a lot of money.”

5 Fun Stocking Stuffers

 

With Christmas approaching quickly, everyone is scrambling to find the perfect gifts for their friends and family. While it’s easy to find presents for under the tree, there are still those “stockings hung by the chimney with care” that are a lot harder to shop for. Target makes it easy to find gifts for everyone. In order to make shopping a little bit easier, I’ve compiled a list of a few stocking stuffers to please everyone, including thinkgeek.com, a nerdy merchandise website covering movies, TV shows, books, video games, and more, equivalents for the geeks in your life.

 

• Disney Tsum Tsum

 

These adorable little stuffed toys are perfect for a younger sibling, cousin, or even someone who just loves Disney. On target.com they come in three sizes: mini, medium, and pillow-sized. The thinkgeek.com equivalent can be found here.

 

• Jewelry

 

Do you have a mom, aunt, or grandma that is hard to shop for? Make it easy by getting a necklace or maybe a charm bracelet. On target.com, you can buy the ELYA Stainless Steel Polished Heart Charm Bracelet. The thinkgeek.com equivalent can be found here.

 

• Stationary

 

If you know someone like me who loves office supplies and cool pens and pencils, this is a great, practical, and inexpensive present that can be found almost anywhere. The Target website has a wide variety of stationery, including notebooks, planners, pens, pencils, and other kinds of office supplies.

 

• Candy

 

Cheap and convenient, candy is a great last-minute gift idea. There is an extremely vast assortment of candy available, sweet, spicy, and sour; fruity, minty, and chocolatey. Plus, most everybody likes candy. Target has many types of candy, and the think  has themed candy from “Monty Python,” “Doctor Who,” and more.

 

• Headphones

 

Marilyn Manson called music “the strongest form of magic.” So why not give someone a little bit of Christmas magic and give him or her a pair of headphones? Target headphones can be found here. The thinkgeek.com headphones can be found here.

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la! The Christmas season is finally here. Not even finals could bring down Christmas cheer. When you see Christmas decorations, they are often ornamented with reindeer or Santa Claus.

When kids think about Christmas, they are reminded that they will receive presents under the tree and in their stockings. I often wonder if people are forgetting what Christmas is really all about.

This photo reminds the public of how Christmas is all linked back to the glorious day our Savior was born. source: Google

The word “Christmas” stands for the annual celebration for Christians, revolving around the birth of Jesus Christ. The story of the birth of Jesus is recited in two out of the four gospels, Matthew and Luke.

The story goes that the Virgin Mary and Joseph traveled into Bethlehem from Nazareth because they had to register for a census. As they were traveling, Mary began to go into labor. They began searching for a place to stay so Mary could have her baby.

They found an inn, but there was no room, so they spent the night in a stable with animals surrounding them. When Mary had Jesus, she laid him in a manger and wrapped him in swaddling clothes.

Shepherds watching their flock noticed a star over the stable where Jesus was staying, it was seen as a sign. An angel appeared to them and told them of the good news, a savior was born.

Then a group of angels appeared and said, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and goodwill toward men.” Three magi were close by as well. The three magi followed the star above the stable and brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  

This Christmas story has been part of my childhood. Growing up with a Catholic education, I heard this story every year. However, the general public might be drifting from the true meaning of Christmas.

Fr. Marty Smith inputs by saying, Christmas is recognized as a sacred time of year; however, recent American culture is wrapped up in materialistic ideals.

SHG freshman Olivia Kink-Tucker states, “We become occupied with the excitement for the gifts we asked for that we often forget why we are celebrating Christmas in the first place.”

Personally, I love Christmas stories of Frosty the Snowman and the Grinch. They have always been part of my life and are a huge memory from my childhood. Sometimes I am too distracted by them to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.

So for people like me who are Catholic and in love with new age Christmas ideals, is having the best of both worlds capable? It is possible!

One important thing you can do each year during Christmas is remember to go to mass. SHG senior Andrew Gonzalez says, “I go [to Christmas mass] every year with my mom, dad, brother, and sometimes with our grandpa.”

By going to mass, you are praising Jesus and remembering his importance during this holiday season. If you’re worried about not having time for mass, remember that there is even a midnight mass. SHG senior Eilise Cummins says, “I go with my immediate family at midnight mass [for Christmas] at Cathedral.”

Another time to continue the faith is on Christmas day. SHG freshman Sophie Kink-Tucker adds, “I think people can incorporate the childhood and religious side of Christmas together by telling the children that they get presents because that’s what Jesus got from the three wise men when he was born.”

Fr. Marty Smith also very much believes in the goodness of the tradition of Santa. He says, “I think the tradition of Santa is a good one, because when done correctly it helps children to believe in something they can’t see, to believe in things that are not always visible to our eyes.”

What is important for faith-filled people is to remember why we celebrate. Cummins states, “I think in the time leading up to Christmas, we can all get really wrapped up in the idea of good prices and getting presents for other people that we forget why we are giving presents in the first place.”

This holiday season, while you are watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and feasting on delicious gingerbread cookies, remember that we wouldn’t be celebrating this joyous time if Jesus Christ was not born. Don’t forget to say your prayers, give back, and have a Merry Christmas!   

Turkey Day Traditions

Halloween is over, and November has begun. While many like to skip November entirely and head straight to Christmas, for some, Thanksgiving is just as important. Families gather together around a dining room table for a feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. Thanksgiving Day football games play on the TV, and, depending on where you are, snow is falling outside. It’s not uncommon for families to develop their own customs as a step away from tradition. SHG families hold some strange ones.

Freshman Nate Willard’s family doesn’t spend their day indoors. “We go chicken chasing.” Willard’s family goes out to a farm, where they can chase chickens around a pen and try to catch them. “It’s actually really fun. Sometimes it takes a while to catch one and sometimes it only takes a few seconds. It really just depends on the chicken.”

Sophomore Hannah Ketchum’s tradition takes a more sentimental turn. “Every time someone in my family dies, we make a lifesize cardboard cutout of them.” The cutouts are taken to Ketchum’s grandmother’s house and stored there. “Every Thanksgiving, or any family gathering really, we stand up those cutouts to remember [the deceased family members].”

Junior Evan Ihlenfeldt’s family plays a game. “We play a super long game of Monopoly.” A typical game of Monopoly takes about two hours, which can seem like a long time. The Ihlenfeldts, however, are dedicated to the game. “One time, we played for seven hours. We were at my grandma’s house from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.”

Senior Izzy Garcia’s Thanksgiving gets everyone in the mood for Christmas. “Every year after eating, we decorate the Christmas tree.” That sounds fairly harmless, until cannons get involved. “We take potato cannons and shoot the decorations onto the tree. We put the tinsel, for example, in the cannon and shoot it up into the tree.”

And thus, as Thanksgiving ends, Christmas has begun.

Steps for Studying

Finals: the two most feared weeks of the entire school year. This first semester finals week seemed to creep up on us. Studying for seven classes can be a lot, but here is a list of some of the best study tips for finals.

1. Notecards, notecards, notecards. Personally, I think notecards are the best way to study. They will take some time

   

   Notecards are easy to make and use for studying for finals. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

   to make, but they are great for quick memorization and quizzing yourself and others. “Repetition is key,” sophomore Grace Trello said. “The more you go over something, the more likely you are to remember it.”

2. Prewrite. If you know essay questions for the final, then why not start writing it. Jot down ideas and bullet points. Establish a thesis statement. Find some supporting ideas. Any preparation for essay writing is helpful for the test. For me, prewriting  is like giant notecards. Looking over the main points of the essay keeps them in my memory during my exam.

However, I do not think it is smart to memorize your entire essay. Time spent on memorizing the entire essay will distract you from other final questions. It is my experience learning just the key points of the essay will leave you better off.

3. Study groups. Sometimes studying by yourself is difficult. Or maybe, you just do not like staring at flash cards for hours. In any case, having a friend quiz you or you quizzing a friend is a great way to study and have fun. “Going over the material with friends allows one to hear the material in a different voice, and they can also fix mistakes you make,” said junior Matthew Melocoton. “Although there is also the chance that they might hinder you by becoming a distraction.”

In all honesty, friends do tend to procrastinate together. So make sure that you and your friends get a considerable amount of studying done before you relax.

4. Take breaks. Breaks in studying are good, as long as you get back to studying. In a big studying spree, breaks every 45-60 minutes are okay. Trello said that short breaks “give your mind a break, help you stay focused, and retain a lot of information.”

However, do not break too long. It is one thing to relax, have lunch, or maybe hang out with friends (for major stress relief). It is bad to binge-watch four seasons of a show on Netflix because you are not in the mood for studying. Once the study routine breaks, it is very hard to get back into the groove of studying.

Everyone’s studying technique is different, so some tips might work, some might not. Good luck and have fun studying.