Picture Character (The Emoji Story) Film Review - A documentary on our beloved cartoon faces...
My rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
Director(s): Martha Shane, Ian Cheney
Genre: Non-fiction/documentary
Year released: 2019 Russia, 2020 United States
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Picture Character is a criminally underrated documentary about the conception of everybody’s favorite modern method of communication- the emoji. I must say, the cinematography of this film is quite beautiful, as each transition into a new subject comes with stunning b-rolls of our human cities, skylines, and population. Following the storyline of the creation of three new emojis, the film documents the process and reasons that many people have for wanting to change. Ultimately, I believe the film establishes a clear cultural shift in terms of communication both before and after the emoji’s creation, and does a great job of portraying how emojis have fulfilled certain societal demands- such as the need for inclusion. I also really like how the film included examples from multiple age and cultural groups, emphasizing that people want diversity in emojis, to mirror our diversity as a culture. Picture Character also stays consistently fun to watch, as it keeps a lighthearted tone, something that many documentaries fail to do. Overall, it’s a very fun, informative, and entertaining film on an integral part of our culture, and it’s evolution through emojis.
The Emoji Story is available on Apple TV and all major digital TV Platforms
TLDR: Take the plunge. Find out what it is you want to do and just do it without looking back. If you want to learn to code just pick any language out there. What you learn in one language is transferable to another. I’ve linked a couple of sources that might help you just as a pointer. As you learn I definitely suggest starting your own small projects. There’s going to be things you learn on the way that will bore you but you kind of just have to push through the boredom.
As someone who would like to pursue computer science as my career in the future, I’ve always wanted to learn the subject on my own but never really found the courage to start until this summer. Finding the “right way” to start was by far my biggest concern starting out. I didn’t really have any idea what language I wanted to use, where I would learn, and what I wanted to do. Usually, when it comes to things like learning a new skill planning things out is kind of important but when it comes to something like computer science it’s probably better to just find something that interests you and just go for it without looking back. To be honest, I don’t think there’s necessarily a “right” way to learn computer science, and spending the time to find it will undoubtedly bring you into an unproductive loop of watching videos or reading articles on how to get started which is where I was towards the beginning of summer when I decided that I wanted to try my hand at web development.
If you were to Google right now the technologies that exist in web development you would get a bunch of different articles that say different things about what’s the latest and greatest in web development whether it be some new programming language, library, framework, etc. and when I was first learning the basics of web development I had nothing to go off of and I was completely lost. Eventually, I learned to just tune out all the pointless Google searches and just started with the most basic thing in web development, HTML which isn’t actually a programming language and looks kind of like this which was sort of discouraging at first. Eventually, I got the basics of HTML and moved on to CSS which is also not a programming language (it controls the actual aesthetics of the page. I’ll show an example later from one of my projects). While the basics of HTML and CSS aren’t the most satisfying thing to learn, it was something I had to overcome. If you do choose to dive into computer science or specifically web development, it’s important to note that there are going to be many things that are boring to learn but you kind of have to just push through it because it’ll be important later on. I eventually made my way to learning Javascript (the actual programming language) which allowed me to create my fully-functional sites.
When learning the basics of web development I found it really helpful to practice concepts by making my own small projects. Although I all wanted to be able to create the next Twitter right off the bat, I kind of had to reel in my ego and realize that I wasn’t there yet. Instead, I built smaller sites that I had fun making like this website I made on my birthday which plays “Happy Birthday.” The site uses HTML for all the text, CSS for all the images and styling on the web, and Javascript for all its functionalities. While making the site I also had to learn how to use things like the Command Prompt, Heroku, and Git, and therein lies the beauty of taking on smaller projects as you’ll learn random things and improve upon your skills. After looking around on the site for about 5 seconds you’ll notice how buggy it is and I think it summarizes my journey quite well. When making projects you’re always going to encounter some small bug and that’s completely okay. For this particular site, I’m not really interested in going back and fixing all its bugs because there are other things I’m trying to do.
As of now, I’ve moved on past vanilla HTML, CSS, and Javascript and I’m more focused on learning other frameworks such as React and eventually I hope to become a full-stack developer. But, although I’ve learned everything I know pretty much on my own, I do have limits to what I can learn solo and I have enrolled in a community college to continue learning full-stack development. Although there are many things that you can self-learn, some things might just be easier to learn from an actual teacher.
The reason I decided to join the YUNiversity is that I wanted to be able to create a platform where the audience could relate to its contributors. When learning a skill, it’s easy to be discouraged after seeing some prodigy and giving up simply because you don’t think you’ll ever be able to improve to the point of mastery. However, I believe that if you saw someone who was your age and were able to see all their trials and tribulations towards mastering a certain skill you might be motivated to actually pursue something yourself. Likewise, I hope my story was in some way helpful for anybody who wanted to learn Computer Science or web development on their own. In the future, I definitely hope to continue talking about my experiences learning more about web development and I really hope that the audience is able to join me on that journey
Here are some resources if you want to learn something:
1.Game development (I played around with Unity and their tutorials a bit. I’d say they’re pretty good. There’s a lot of reading for their tutorials). I’d also suggest checking out Brackeys (A Youtube channel that goes over the basics of game development in Unity. If you don’t like reading this might be for you)
2..C++ (There’s a lot of reading involved here so if you don’t like reading I don’t really recommend it. It goes over the fundamentals of programming. Just be warned that C++ is harder to learn than some other languages)
3. Web Development
Freecodecamp (It goes through the basics of web development. There’s some reading but it also allows you to practice within their own environment. I used this to go over some of the basics of HTML, CSS, and JS)
Traversy Media (Youtube channel that goes over web development. I used this when I was learning and actually lifted some of the stuff in his videos for my own projects)
If you have anything you want to ask me or if you just want to talk to me I suggest just DMing me through my Instagram (@alex_yingnan_lu)
How Covid19 Has Impacted Mental Health in the US, and Potential Ways to Cope With It
Diego Padilla
It’s interesting to see that lately, thanks to the Covid19 pandemic, mental health as a topic of society has gotten more and more attention. This is actually not as surprising as one might think though, considering that the conditions people are subject to during these times are very different from our normal daily lives (in that they are more stressful and put people in less financially and emotionally stable positions. The massive amounts of death (brought on by the pandemic) may also have an effect on any person's mindset, as experiencing the death of a friend or family member can be a very stressful event in a person’s life. Let’s take a look at how this pandemic has affected the emotions of the general public.
At the start of the covid19 pandemic, the general consensus was that the quarantine and isolation would not stay a societal norm for long, and that soon after 2-3 weeks, life would return to its relative normalcy. However, it has now been almost 6 months since the stay at home orders were implemented and we are all still stuck at home, with very few states having their citizens return to school or work. According to the CDC, social distancing and other types of disease prevention methods that limit social contact can lead to a person feeling isolated, as if they have no one to talk to or vent out their frustrations with (source 1). The sensation of constant isolation and loneliness can have a considerably taxing effect on the human mind, especially to those who use social contact as a coping mechanism for stress. In addition to this, the pandemic, being an experience unlike any other to most people, has also brought on unique forms of paranoia and fear. An example of such a fear would be the idea of contracting covid19 (or a loved one contracting it). I personally have experienced this one a few times, as I have grandparents that are at high risk for covid19, and I know that many students can relate to this.
On top of the feeling of Isolation and fear of loved ones contracting the virus, the covid19 pandemic has also brought on new stresses to students of all different ages. Speaking from experience, many AP students this year were extremely stressed over their scores thanks to the changes to the exam. On top of this, preparation for these tests was made much more difficult now that teachers could not meet in person with their students, so we had the added stress of having to put in more time than usual. Furthermore, the uncertainty of where our schools would take our learning next made many of my friends and I very anxious about the coming year. It almost felt like during this ordeal we were lacking the feeling of complete relaxation and lack of worry, which is detrimental for anyone’s mental health. Luckily, this year our school has given us a clear cut schedule and provided us with much more resources than last year, but I can’t say the same for other students throughout the states. This uncertainty has unfortunately also reached the college admissions process, as thanks to the updated requirements, it feels like much more of a gamble then it ever has been. As for the students in these universities, there is an increasing frustration brought on by the fact that most top level schools will still be charging full tuition for online school (which provides a significantly lower quality of education). In general, students across the nation are filled with great concern over their academic future.
These added stressors, coupled with the lack of coping mechanisms such as physical exercise (closed gyms) and social interactions, have also made people turn to substance abuse and increased their symptoms of mental health disorders such as depression/anxiety (according to the CDC). From surveys taken on June 24-30, the CDC found that at least 26.3% of adults aged 18+ have admitted to suffering from mental trauma or stress caused by factors related to covid19 (Source 2). In addition to this, around 13.3% have also admitted to substance use as a way of coping with their declining mental health. This is pretty alarming, considering that alcohol can actually negatively affect/suppress the immune system, making you more vulnerable to infections diseases like the coronavirus (Source 3).
So how can we combat this overall decline in mental health? One thing that the CDC does recommend is to reduce the time we spend listening to the news, as hearing too many negative stories can increase the stress levels in a person drastically (Source 1). Other good mental health practices (that generally work to lower stress even when there isn’t a pandemic affecting the world) include meditation, getting adequate sleep, and to actually avoid substance use. As far as stress caused by lack of social contact, technological means of communication such as phone calls, video calls, and even messengers can help to ease the feeling of loneliness in a time social distancing is the norm. For extremely dire situations, we also have hotlines such as the Suicide Prevention Hotline that work to help people in mental crises, and prevent the worst from happening. The mental health of many Americans may be poor right now, but with our resources and current understanding of the human mind, we can definitely combat the stress in ways that seek to promote our well being.
For more information on this topic, check out these three great resources on mental health during covid19:
For me, time management and organizing my workload is something that I still struggle with a lot especially now during summer break when I’m pretty much locked in and I don’t have the pressure of school weighing down on me. While I don’t have to deal with a lot of schoolwork, there are a bunch of other things outside of my academics that require my attention whether it be some personal project or something related to my extracurriculars and I’m sure the reader can relate with the struggle of trying to find the time to do finish all their tasks at hand. In an effort to assist the reader with their time management skills while also trying to improve upon my own, I’ve gathered a couple tips from the internet that I believe might help us in becoming much more efficient at planning our workloads accordingly.
Create a to-do list - Sometimes when you’re just up to your eyeballs in the amount of work you need to do it's hard to even remember all the things you’re supposed to be doing. Therefore, creating a to-do list allows you to visualize all the tasks that need to be completed which can be used for further planning. Plus, nothing compares to the satisfaction of being able to cross off tasks from the list once you’ve completed them. Personally while I usually only use this when I’m in a pinch, I actually recommend making it a habit of documenting your tasks as soon as they appear just so you don’t forget anything while in the moment of actually creating the list.
Eliminate distractions - While this one is actually a “no duh” kind of tip it’s one of those things that are easier said than done. To prove my point, think of all the times when you’re doing something and you decide to check your phone because “you’re bored.” Learning to identify and remove distractions is important so you can actually put more focus into doing your work and tasks that might take merely half an hour aren’t extended to two hours or more. Personally, to remove distractions from my work I usually do my work in an isolated area and keep my phone in some other room across the house. I’m sure many people do their work while listening to music and while I do the same a lot of the time, I’ve noticed that for things like writing or some activity that requires me to think or have “conversations in my head” total silence is actually preferred.
Learning to say “no” - I’m not too sure how many people will relate to this one but personally as someone who works in a youth group I would sometimes find myself accepting projects that I knew I didn’t have the time for simply because I couldn’t say “no” as I thought it would hurt somebody’s feelings. Learning to put my schedule before others was one of the harder things to do as I would sometimes feel guilty about doing so. However, overloading your schedule for the sake of others isn’t very efficient and you may end up falling behind or fail to complete certain tasks. Rather, learning to trust the rest of your team and being able to delegate the work among others is a much more efficient approach.
Take breaks - It’s really easy to call ourselves out for being lazy and consider resting as spending time unwisely. However, we should also recognize the importance of resting in between our work periods to ensure that we don’t get burned out. After all, I’m sure we all know how our work quality drops once we’re really tired. Prioritize those breaks but try to put a limit on how much you’re resting so you don’t end up spending too much time resting and not doing work.
You don’t have to be perfect - Sometimes we want to make sure that our work is exactly the way that we want it and while it’s good to put your best foot forward to make sure things go as planned it's not necessarily realistic to have such high expectations. In some cases, it’s much more important to actually finish the work rather than focusing on every small detail of it.
There are so many different things you can do to improve your time management skills and my small list here doesn’t even scratch the surface. Personally, there are some things here that I would love to work on such as my consistency in creating to-do lists and my ability to eliminate distractions. I’m sure you’ve heard some if not all of these tips but there’s a difference between hearing and actually doing. I might make a follow-up to this post in the future with more tips or I might just create a whole series of posts dedicated to tips for work habits but at this point, I’m not really sure. I hope you found this post useful and hopefully we can all improve our time management skills. Bye! :)
It seems to be that once one becomes a high school senior, they immediately find a job, whether it be through fast-food chains or other local businesses. It’s rare to find high school students earning wages from teaching piano like me(Morgan)*. Continue reading to find out how we got the job, why we were qualified, what our experience was like, and more!
-How long have you been teaching, and who do you teach?
M: I’ve been teaching piano since freshman year of high school. My students are in all different grades, ranging from first to fifth grade. I do not teach through an organization, rather, students come to my house or I go to their house to teach.
A: I’ve been teaching piano to beginners in 1st to 8th grade at Journey of Education, a community organization, since July of this year.
-How are you qualified to teach piano?
M: I’ve been taking piano lessons for around 11 years and completed level 10 CM (was a state-level winner) when I was a sophomore in high school. I’ve competed in various regional and state festivals, competitions, and more.
A: I’ve been taking piano lessons for 12 years and recently passed level 10 CM with honors for piano.
-How did you start this job?
M: My piano teacher was not able to teach some of the students on her waitlist, so she approached me and asked me if I was interested in teaching them. To this day, I am so thankful that she gave me this opportunity.
A: My piano teacher told me that many of her students haven’t taken a lesson since March due to quarantine. Even though I continued, not many others felt comfortable enough to do so. I volunteered to teach piano because I wanted to ensure that others have an opportunity to learn in the comfort of their own home.
-What do the piano lessons look like/what exactly do you teach your students?
M: The lesson length largely depends on the age and level of the student. Typically, my younger, beginner students will have 30-minute lessons once a week. My older, intermediate students will have 45-minute lessons once a week. I teach year-round, so the total amount of lessons for each student turns out to be 36 (I don’t teach during the summer and holidays). I teach my students all the piano basics, like notes, dynamics, timing, intervals, etc. I also use lesson books, so I usually teach my students 4-5 new songs each week from it. My students also participate in yearly recitals, so they tend to play bigger pieces like “Heart and Soul,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Big Chief Strong Fingers,” “Fur Elise,” “Trumpet Fanfare,” and others. Before COVID-19, I did in-person lessons and would either have my students come to my house or I would go to theirs. Currently, I do online Zoom lessons to keep my students and me safe.
A: I hold online group sessions twice a week in 30-minute intervals. The first 15 minutes is spent practicing music theory, which is simply reading notes and counting beats, and the last 15 minutes for learning a short song so that students can be satisfied and have fun. The song is usually a children’s song such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or a well-known song such as “Jingle Bells”.
-What characteristic does one need to become a good piano teacher?
M: Patience! Since I teach younger kids, their attention span is very short, and they tend to zone out. It can be frustrating when you have to repeat the same concepts over and over, but once they understand it, it is so satisfying to witness!
A: An important quality is engaging students in learning. In group sessions, many kids feel too shy to get involved, so I ask individual questions to get their response. It allows them to learn efficiently and helps me know whether they understand a topic.
*Alwena volunteers, which means this is not her job.
I’ve had a lot of free time because of quarantine. I’m sure that most of you also find yourselves in my position, as we’re all cooped up at home, locked away from the busy, bustling world that we once lived in. I’ve been watching many films during these unprecedented times, some that I hated and some that I loved, which I will be sharing here. Some of the comments I make on the movies may contain spoilers, so be aware! Here are some of my all-time favorite films:
Get Out
My rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ Director: Jordan Peele Genre: Horror/Thriller
Year released: 2017 Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
I watched Get Out when the Black Lives Matter protests and campaigns were heightened, so it was very cool to see how relevant the movie was at the time. This satirical thriller deals with racial discrimination against blacks in a different, disturbing way. The reason I loved this movie was solely because of the ending. In horror films, you don’t get to see a lot of happy endings where the main character gets to safely escape and is freed from the conflict. It was so satisfying to see Chris, the main character, get his revenge on the family that was going to essentially exploit him for his body that was desirable to the whites.
2. The Florida Project
My rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭒ Director: Sean Baker Genre: Drama/Comedy-Drama
Year released: 2017 Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
The cinematography in this film was so pleasing to the eye. The bright colors and color palettes in every scene give off a Florida vibe. I would like to commend all the actors because of their mannerisms and the way they portray themselves in this film is immaculate. Although many are quick to dismiss this movie because they claim that there is no plot, the life of the main character Moonee is painstakingly realistic. The thing that shocked me the most was the way she and her other 6-year-old friends behaved. This film also shows the life of her mother, a teenage mom who steals to pay rent in the hotel that they live at. Her mom is also involved in a lot of other scandalous things, which just shows how Moonee’s home life has affected her upbringing. If you’re looking to find a movie that delves deeper into the origins of abnormal behavior, this is the one.
3. Lady Bird
My rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ Director: Greta Gerwig Genre: Drama/Comedy
Year released: 2017 Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
Lady Bird is my favorite coming-of-age film. Not only is the cinematography great, but I can deeply relate to Lady Bird, the main character. As the main character is entering her senior year of high school and working on college applications (which is like me right now!), she struggles to find who she is and what she wants. Lady Bird is a teenager who seeks to find recognition and attention, which jeopardizes some of her closest friendships as she struggles with self-worth issues and more. She struggles with teenage lust, family life, and more. Lady Bird also has a deep desire to migrate out of her boring hometown, Sacramento, to New York City. Just like her, I also crave the busy city life, and I desperately want to leave my hometown, Simi Valley for the east coast.
For a large majority of students (like myself), the Covid19 pandemic has been an experience unlike any other. Policies such as stay at home orders, mask wearing, and other infection prevention guidelines haven’t been prevalent since the Spanish Flu of 1918, which few are around to remember. One of the biggest changes however, has been the transition from in-person learning to distance learning, which essentially means that most schools have gone online. This has also effectively eliminated any large school events, such as sports games, in-person standardized testing, club/academic team meetings, and much more. Even though many students find that online school has left them with a lot of extra time, I’ve noticed that it pales in comparison to the quality of education that physical classes have to offer, and heavily limits students.
It’s Now Much Harder to Communicate With Teachers
During the final three months of my last school year, it became clear to me that moving learning online created an overall loss of communication between students and teachers, especially during the transitional period. The initial assignments were sometimes confusing to follow, and the lack of physical interaction between us and some of our teachers made completing them a very irritating process. Additionally, I found that for some of my classes, I would often have no idea when things were due, at least not until the third or fourth week of online school (which at this point, our school had assigned us an online schedule that gave us check in periods for our classes). This new restriction not only put us students in a frustrating position however, but also our teachers. The increase in emails by us students made responses by teachers much slower, which resulted in grade fixes and incorrect scores on tests much more stressful to get fixed.
AP Test Prep Became More Difficult, Despite the Tests Becoming Easier
For many AP students, this testing season was very stressful, not only because of distance learning, but also due to the complete transformation of the exams. Now that AP exams had to be online, the College Board had shortened and drastically cut many parts of the exam, meaning the time spent studying for these portions of the course was essentially wasted. Though the topics on the exams were limited to only first semester course material, the new short length of the exam, coupled with the fact that there would be multiple different exams per AP course, made it impossible to pinpoint what subjects would be the most important to the test. Case in point, for AP U.S. History students like myself, this meant that the one essay that decided our score could be based on an important topic or event anywhere in the span of 200 years. And while the shortened versions of the exams were easier in many ways, it was still stressful to study for, especially knowing that your lack of in-depth knowledge in a single topic could potentially be the difference between a high and a low score (It is worth noting however, that this will likely be a different experience for incoming AP students, now that College Board has the data and feedback from the first round of online exams that they need to improve their testing).
The Lack of Physical Social Interaction Made Classes Less Enjoyable
I never truly realized how important social interaction was to making class more enjoyable until the Covid19 pandemic. In this new era of online school, the classes feel more like audio books, and the lack of interaction between students and teachers was very apparent, especially because most students choose to keep their webcams off. This made lectures more boring, and harder to listen to than the in-person classes that we used to have. Learning with these new barriers wasn’t impossible by any means, but much less appealing to the average student, especially considering the fact with every computer, distractions are readily available. It also didn’t feel the same to go to “school” without really ever talking to your classmates, which was never possible considering that teachers would keep students muted for a large part of class (to reduce distractions). The teachers that did encourage interaction between students, however, were often met with silence by most of the class, and only the normally outspoken students would speak up. Despite all of these negative changes however, there were some benefits that made online school more manageable, and less unbearable.
More Free Time
At my school, because teachers could not be expected to keep students online for multiple hours, the class times were much shorter. Our normal class time, which was an hour per period, was now reduced to 20-40 minutes per class, at only three classes per day (and for the students taking more niche classes like computer science or art courses, some days there were no classes at all). This gave us much more time to complete our work and study for exams, making it easier to get better grades overall. In addition to this, busy work became less impactful on our grades, as we had the time to complete it now. Overall, it felt more free despite being an inferior experience to in-person classes, and even gave me the opportunity to introduce exercise into my lifestyle.
School Work Was Easier (though less impactful)
The advent of online school limited the possibilities of long term projects and presentations to an essay format, meaning that the most work we could have at any given moment for any class was just an essay. There were still confusing assignments, but we had more time to polish them and make sure we were doing them correctly, considering that class took less time and that their difficulty was limited by the constraints of video calls and online work. Finals week was much easier than a normal school year as well, because our normal 2-hour final exams were now shortened to a small assignment or a 20 minute quiz. This did have some negatives, however. Easier work meant that half of our second semester’s worth of work didn’t really impact our grades. For some students, distance learning meant that there was little opportunity to raise their grades. This work also felt more like busy work, and didn’t really help students grasp the subject as much as our normal work.
Going through the experience of Online School was indeed unlike any type of schooling I had experienced before. While it did have positives on my free time and my stress levels, I ultimately feel that I was robbed of the school year that I now yearn to have had (though I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be a senior and miss out on a live graduation). It’s the school-wide events that you experience with your friends, the joy of interacting with them, and the ability to easily communicate with your teachers that makes school a better experience, and without all of this, it’s a less fulfilling journey, that many of us had taken for granted. We at the YUNiversity hope that this piece made some of you realize how different our new normal is (that is if you haven't already), and how important it is that we try and stop the spread of this virus. Stay Safe, and please remember to follow your county’s safety guidelines to prevent contracting the coronavirus.
The YUNiversity Interns | YUNiversity Writing Dept. | YUNiversity Art Dept.
5 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Quarantine Summer
Diego P.
In recent weeks, the covid19 virus has begun to spike again (likely due to the reopening of social spaces), causing a second wave of new cases throughout the United States. Due to this recent news, it's likely that many states will have to begin closing again, meaning students all over the country will be stuck at home once again. This is in fact bad news, but it doesn’t mean that our time at home has to be monotonous. Finding the motivation to try or even look for new things to do can be challenging, but well worth the effort. Below is a list of potential hobbies or productive actions that may not only make your day more interesting, but can also improve mental health and productivity during these trying times.
1. This one might be cheating, but try reading a new book!
Reading is a pastime that everyone enjoys, but when indulged in, can bring many benefits to the mind. Reading a book immerses you into a brand new world, which can be very valuable considering that many people right now are limited to the confines of their own homes. The University of California Santa Barbara states that reading can reduce levels of stress because it pulls your focus from stressful events to the book you are reading (Source 1). This makes reading even more valuable during this pandemic, as the coronavirus has proven to create stressful situations.
2. Gardening
Gardening can be hard to get used to at first, but speaking from experience, I think it can be one of the most rewarding hobbies. Gardening allows a person to grow their own produce, including veggies such as lettuce, cucumbers, and carrots. Considering the dense population that can be found at grocery stores, growing produce at home is much safer than exposing yourself to a large group of people (which can result in contact with the covid19 virus). In addition to this, gardening can also have many mental health benefits. According to the Royal College of Physicians, increasing evidence is pointing to the idea that gardening can improve mental health by acting as a coping mechanism for moods such as anger, fear, sadness, etc (Source 2). Because of this, it's worth noting that for many stressed and frightful students, gardening can not only act as a hobby, but also help ease the pressures that online school and this pandemic bring.
3. Exercising
This should be no surprise to anyone, but exercising can dramatically increase a person’s quality of life. Even though gyms may be closing up again, many YouTube channels such as FitnessBlender have free workout routines that don’t require any equipment, allowing anybody with internet access to reap the benefits of fitness. MedlinePlus recommends exercise as a means to control weight gains/loss, but there are also secondary benefits such as overall improvements in mood, increasing strength, and improving the natural sleep cycle (Source 3). So in addition to improved mental health, exercise will also keep you physically healthy, which gives you a better fighting chance against the covid19 virus.
4. Start Tutoring Online
Distance learning has proven to be particularly difficult for many students throughout the United States. This leaves a great opportunity for students who lack extracurricular activities to step in as role models for their community. Due to the closures of tutoring offices and schools alike, now is the perfect time to work or volunteer as an online tutor, given that you have the right requirements and experience to do so. In addition to this, tutoring can also help with building important skills, such as communication, work experience, and leadership (Source 4). Having tutoring experience can also be extremely valuable on your academic record, especially during the pandemic, because it shows colleges that:
1. You are strong enough academically to help others with their schooling work.
2. You took a position of leadership by choosing to help others.
3. The current pandemic has not stopped you from reaching out to your community, improving yourself, and helping others improve.
5. Prepare Yourself for the Upcoming School Year
Now that the 2019-2020 school year is over, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to prepare for the upcoming school year, which could be more difficult than a normal school year due to the challenges that covid19 puts on the education system. There are plenty of free online resources available that can help you review past material for the next year. According to annual NWEA testing results/surveys, summer learning loss “is fairly stable in terms of RIT points across grade levels” (Source 5), which means that every summer students consistently lose a similar percentage of knowledge as their peers in the same grade. Thus, it’s important to review your skills over summer break to avoid this learning loss. Here are some great resources that you can use to retain and improve your knowledge over the summer.
1. Khan Academy- Khan Academy is completely free and includes many different subjects by name for students to choose from (for example, if you are moving on to algebra II, you can choose to review earlier courses like algebra I and geometry), including the SAT.
2. Quizlet- Quizlet is another free website that is composed of flashcard sets for many different topics that can help students strengthen their knowledge of concepts by memorization (it’s really great for tests and reviewing).
3. YouTube- In addition to humorous and entertaining content, YouTube surprisingly has tons of great videos made by teachers and other professionals on subjects like history/government, math, sciences, and more.
For upcoming seniors, it’s also a relatively good idea to begin preparing for college application, as the process can be long and stressful. For more information about applying to colleges, it’s best to contact a college counselor from your school ahead of time, as they can provide advice and assistance on the best courses of action.
While the coronavirus pandemic may have cancelled a lot of summer plans, there are still a wide variety of hobbies and school preparation that can be done from home. We at the YUNiversity hope that we managed to inspire you to make your summer less monotonous during this pandemic, and maybe even a little more productive. Please stay safe and follow all of the safety practices and guidelines set by your local authorities.
The YUNiversity Interns | YUNiversity Writing Dept. | YUNiversity Art Dept.
SOURCES:
1. “10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day.” UC Geography
2. Thompson, Richard. “Gardening for Health: a Regular Dose of Gardening.” Clinical Medicine (London, England), Royal College of Physicians, June 2018
3.“Benefits of Exercise.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 20 Apr. 2020
4.Educationcorpsucsd. Benefits of Being a Tutor/Mentor, 4 Sept. 2013
5.“Summer Learning Loss: What We Know and What We're Learning.” Teach. Learn. Grow., 22 June 2020
Social Media and its Influence on the Black Lives Matter Movement
By Morgan W.
In today’s society, social media consumes our life, leading to a faster spread of news and information globally. The ubiquity of social media has helped stimulate a new rise in the Black Lives Matter movement through changing perspectives of the police and African Americans. Social media has become a huge factor in helping society see the truth about the injustices that have been occurring for centuries in the past and now in the present.
The Black Lives Matter phrase and its prominence on social media were not created after George Floyd’s death. Rather, the phrase/hashtag was rekindled. Those three very important words initially appeared in 2013 as a hashtag and were used by a black community organizer in a Facebook post after the death of Trayvon Martin, an African-American teenager (17 years old) shot by a neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman. As the years carried on, the hashtag continued to gain popularity.
Social media has helped achieve wonders in all aspects of the world. It has helped rapidly advance our society and has brought the world closer together. The idea that we as human beings can contact another person across the world with a touch of a finger through a device is an astounding innovation. In regards to the BLM movement, however, it has been such a vital piece in helping the movement reach all populations in America.
In the past, right after the Civil War when racism was more prominent than ever and segregation was occurring, the only means of informing others about the injustices of the death/beating of an activist or person of color was through a phone call. If a civil rights worker in the Deep South needed to get the news out about an occurrence mentioned previously, they would call another line. The other line would be picked up by another civil rights worker who would take down the report (WATS report) and mail it out to lawyers or the Justice Department. Even then, most of the call receivers who answered the phone were white and would, in most cases, redirect or end the calls. It is relieving to know that this generation has formed a better, direct means of communication.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, the most popular forms of social media, have acknowledged the situation that is occurring and has notified their users that they are aware and hurting for the black community. However, the people/users who are using social media are making a bigger change by spreading information through stories, posts, comments, and more. Many are using their own platforms to repost informational posts on how to help and contribute to the movement. For example, resources like places to donate, petitions to sign, movies to watch for education, and black-owned businesses to support are shared. During this time, people have also created trends that have helped others acknowledge the presence of the situation. One of the most famous ones included users infiltrating feeds with black squares and adding the caption #blackouttuesday. While some have had complaints on it, arguing that BLM should not be used as a trend, it has helped rally the community together. Social media also allows us to find out about people who are being oppressed and keeps us accountable for being updated on news. Without social media, we would have never been able to know about the unjustifiable killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, along with other victims of police brutality (the George Floyd video was uploaded by a teenager). Even protests and rallies that are hosted around the country in different communities are gathered through different social media platforms. Many young people prefer social media over the news when it comes to being updated about the situation regarding looting and protesting, particularly because many videos and posts on social media are concise and contain short, informational videos or short captions that appeal to the short attention spans of many teenagers.
Even though social media can be a good thing to help support BLM, there are still, of course, trolls and other users that use social media to advocate against the movement. Many have even blamed social media companies like Facebook and Twitter for allowing some of “the most established voices on these social media platforms belong to conservative commentators whose aim is mocking and subverting social justice movements, rather than supporting them.”(Source 2) A few examples include conservative commentators Terrence K. Williams, Ben Shapiro, and the Hodgetwins, all of whom have had their anti-Black Lives Matter posts go viral. A couple of weeks ago, the most viewed Youtube video of the week belonged to the Republican congressional candidate, Joey Saladino, who held up an “All Lives Matter” sign in a predominantly black neighborhood as a social experiment. Twitter troll accounts have posed as left-wing radicals and have used this identity to create inflammatory hashtag likes #whitelivesmatter and #whiteoutwednesday. With Facebook, “64 percent of the people who joined extremist groups on the platform did so because Facebook’s recommendations algorithms steered them there.” (Source 2)
According to source 2, Rashad Robinson, an American civil rights leader, believes that actions of these social media platforms contradict what they have been displaying to the public. He believes that in order for the platforms to genuinely support the movement, they need to first remove recommendation systems and algorithms that could empower racist and white, conservative nationalists. Another step that Robinson encourages for social media platforms is to create a civil rights experts team that can help root out racism, which could help accurately distinguish what seems racist and remove it from the media.
The YUNiversity Interns | YUNiversity Writing Dept. | YUNiversity Art Dept.
Sources:
1) Anderson, Monica. “History of the Hashtag #BlackLivesMatter: Social Activism on Twitter.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 31 Dec. 2019.
2) Roose, Kevin. “Social Media Giants Support Racial Justice. Their Products Undermine It.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 June 2020.
3) Stephen, Bijan. “How Black Lives Matter Uses Social Media to Fight the Power.” Wired, Conde Nast, 1 May 2017.
What the BLM Movement and the George Floyd Protests Have Accomplished So Far
On May 25th, 2020, the murder of George Floyd sparked a worldwide movement to end systemic racism in the United States. The outrage prompted by this crime led to many people taking to the streets and peacefully protesting their message of equality. While it may seem like these voices fall on deaf ears, the Black Lives Matter movement has made significant progress involving police and social reform. Here are just a few of their accomplishments.
Police Defunding and Reform
Many cities are beginning to take into consideration the idea of defunding police, which involves gradually limiting or redistributing resources from police into other sectors of society (such as schools, medical facilities, etc.). Around 16 states have also promised to reduce or redirect resources distributed to the police.The Minneapolis city council voted to completely disband their police department, opting to go with a public safety system led by their community. This change is not just limited to one state, as even the mayor of Los Angeles called for a budget cut of $150 million to the LAPD. In addition to this, officers that have previously been responsible for police brutality cases are beginning to have charges pressed against them, including the officers responsible for the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s cases. This will likely act as a deterrent to such crimes for officers that value their jobs. Furthermore, lawmakers in California, New York, and Denver are now considering or have already banned choke holds, tear gas, and no-knock warrants (all previous causes for death by police brutality). While these implementations are still very gradual, the efforts made by black lives matter activists to change our corrupt systems and challenge these injustices ensure that the suffering of victims such as George Floyd isn't in vain, and promises to right the wrongs that African Americans have faced.
Political Changes
The recent protests have also brought on new changes to the United States’ political sphere. In congress, Democratic lawmakers are starting to propose new police reform bills, suggesting that slogans such as “defund the police” are actually catching the attention of our government officials. This is especially significant because it shows that congress actually listens to those with a voice, an even bigger reason to use platforms such as ours to emphasize the need for political revision. In addition to this, the defacing of statues of old confederate leaders has led to some counties doing it themselves, opting to replace these offensive monuments for statues of much less controversial figures. In fact, the sentiment against confederate symbolism has grown so much in these protests that lawmakers in Mississippi are looking into changing the state flag, as it is the last flag in the United States to have the confederate emblem.
Here at the YUNiversity, it brings us much joy to see that the United States is beginning to take the steps it needs to to solve the problems that the Black community faces. Changes like these are not only ensuring that history doesn’t repeat itself, but they also hold a promise to them. A promise that we as a nation will learn from the people that we failed, and not to take these issues lightly. We will be continuing to cover this topic as these events unfold themselves, and we hope that we have inspired some of you to take action or take it upon yourself to become more informed about the injustices on the Black community. Stay safe Everyone.
SOURCES:
-Raymond, Adam K. “Here's How the George Floyd Protests Have Already Changed the Country.” Intelligencer, Intelligencer, 9 June 2020, nymag.com/intelligencer/article/george-floyd-protests-accomplished.html
-Duvall, Darcy Costello and Tessa. “Officer Brett Hankison Being Fired from Louisville Police after Breonna Taylor Shooting.” Journal, Louisville Courier Journal, 19 June 2020, www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/
-“Home.” Black Lives Matter, 31 May 2020, blacklivesmatter.com/
Here at The YUNiversity, we are listening and supporting the Black community. We stand in support and solidarity in means of achieving justice. We are committed to standing against racism, inequality, and hatred. We understand that we have been given a platform, and we choose to utilize it to voice our opinions and educate others. Our voices about this movement will not be silenced but rather amplified as we seek to increase support and awareness for the current situation. Even though we are only teenagers, we have many interesting perspectives that we’d like to share with our viewers. Through this challenging time, we must unite to battle the issues involving systemic racism. Together, we can create change by supporting our fellow brothers/sisters, educating ourselves, and empathizing with the African American community. Although we will never be able to understand what our fellow brothers/sisters are going through, we mourn for them. We are appalled and angry at what we have witnessed involving police brutality. While we realize that we don’t completely understand the context of the whole situation from the perspective of the black community, we plan to fully support them as best as we can from the side and continue to educate ourselves on the matter to advocate and fight for their cause.
George Floyd’s death was not a normal passing. We must remind ourselves that a man was murdered by a policeman for the color of his skin. This was, is, and will never be right. What one decides to do with that fact varies amongst oneself. We must learn to love one another during this time. Similar situations to George Floyd’s death have occurred countless times in the past, as demonstrated by the death of Freddie Gray, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tamir Rice (to name a few). Change needs to be made now. However, once again, many people may have different methods or ideas on how to create change, and we have to respect that. Speaking of change, there are many ways to create change in the comfort of your own homes. You can begin by educating yourself and your loved ones. This can be through films, news, books, podcasts, articles, and more. By reading and stepping into their shoes, it can help you further understand the context of the situation, and it can also help you sympathize with the black community (if you were to lack empathy). The next thing that you can do to pursue change includes reaching out to loved ones and checking on them. Tell them that you are aware, you care, you hear, and you see them. The final step includes advocating and donating. This can look different in many ways. It can be through donating money towards organizations that, for example, provide legal assistance whenever civil liberties are at risk. You can also sign many petitions, which, for example, can help remove racist mayors and political figures from office. Supporting black-owned businesses and calling/texting numbers that help demand justice are also great alternatives. As you can see, change can be created, but we just need to act. Do the best you can to help. Use your platforms to spread the word and inform others on what they can do. Remember, anything helps (we have linked below many resources so that you can start helping)!
Finally, we hope that everybody is staying safe as they protest outside. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, we encourage all protesters to wear masks and distance themselves. Protesters contribute greatly to the movement, and we must not risk losing allies to the Coronavirus.
Keep an eye out for our future posts regarding the BLM movement.
👉 Check out a great, informationative video produced by one of the YUNiversity interns.
The YUNiversity Interns | YUNiversity Art Dept. | YUNiversity Photo Dept.
