Tag: Harper Gordon

Seniors face their hopes, challenges in final year of high school

by Ayianna Maddox, Harper Gordon, and Jada Belser

Senior year has officially started for the graduating Class of 2027. High school seniors are reaching their last adolescent milestone and preparing for adult life. Their emails, messages, and mailboxes are constantly filled with information about college, financial aid, and so much more. 

While all of this is a good thing, the downside is the constant reminder that their childhood is concluding, and the trepidation of what lies ahead.

“My biggest fear is ‘what’s next?’ Just knowing the next step is being on my own and leaving everything and everyone I’ve ever known scares me a lot,” senior Harper Hylton said.

Senior Jenna Watts finds there are exciting moments to look forward to. 

“I’m excited. I’m so ready for all the senior events to start, and it’s nice to know I’m almost done. Graduation is the goal, and I’m almost there!” Watts said.

Senior Alasia Sims expressed how the end of her high school career and the start of her adult life caused mixed feelings. 

“I’m happy to be done with school and everything, then I’m scared because I’m going to have to actually go and do adult things,” Sims stated.

Senior year is commonly associated with balancing life inside of school and outside of school, such as working, volunteering, college, and career searching. As a young adult, all of these activities can impact students’ viewpoints of what awaits them, especially when it’s expected that the student has it all “figured out.”

Senior Sean Dyer takes his BC Calculus test. Photo by Logan Vidt.

“I’m nervous about adulthood. There’s more responsibilities, but that also comes with more freedom. I’m most nervous about money management,” senior Sean Dyer said.

At the end of the day, after four long years of high school, seniors are still kids growing into their adult shoes.

“I feel like I’ve slowly been entering into adulthood the entire of high school,” senior Enzo Magallanez said. 

The Class of 2027 has a long, yet short, year ahead of them, but between college, financial, and career responsibilities, they are all kids enjoying their last year of freedom.

Senior Enzo Magallanez takes his BC Calculus test. The desire to do well in classes is just one of the challenges seniors face in their final year at JHS. Photo by Logan Vidt
by jhshyphen

Column: We must be the change to save our environment

by Harper Gordon

We are actively destroying our planet and we need to stop. 

As someone who wants to go into marine biology, climate change with animals is a very important topic to me and should be to you, too. Thinking about it now it doesn´t seem to matter but this is the plant we are inheriting. Over 100 million ocean animals die in a year. On average that’s 227,777 per day.

Graphic by Harper Gordon.

How does climate change affect ocean animals? Specifically whales and turtles? 

Climate change affects ocean animals through rising ocean temperatures, leading to habitat loss and migration; ocean acidification, which impairs shell and skeleton formation; and deoxygenation, creating “dead zones.” These changes disrupt food webs, alter migration patterns, and increase stress on many species, with some, like coral reefs and ice dependent animals, facing an especially high risk of extinction.

Whale Sharks

Climate change affects whale sharks by altering their food sources and forcing them into dangerous waters, increasing their risk of ship strikes.

Whale sharks are filter feeders whose diet primarily consists of plankton, krill, and fish eggs. They also eat small fish and squid. Despite their massive size, they consume these small food sources by swimming with their mouths open, filtering large quantities of seawater to strain out their prey.

Sea Turtles

Climate change affects sea turtles by causing more females to hatch due to warmer sand temperatures, leading to skewed sex ratios that threaten future reproduction. It also disrupts their food sources, alters migratory patterns, and endangers nesting habitats through rising sea levels and increased storm intensity. These combined impacts pose a severe threat to their long-term survival.

A sea turtle’s diet varies by species, with some being carnivores (like Loggerheads eating crabs and conchs), herbivores (like adult Green sea turtles eating seagrass and algae), or omnivores (like Hawksbills eating sponges or Olive Ridleys eating a mix of plants and animals). Other species, such as Leatherbacks, are specialists that primarily eat jellyfish and sea squirts.

As a person going into marine biology this is a big issue to me. We live our normal everyday lives acting like our earth isn’t crumbling and it is not acceptable. As an adult I plan to attend UCLA. So I can be the change I wish to see. 

We can and should all work together and be the change.

by jhshyphen