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Back to Articles News Back to Sections Culture Night By Everton Prospere Volume 2 Issue 6 April 14, 2022 Image provided by Eva Martinez On April 1st, 2022, Valley Stream North High School hosted its annual Culture Night. Celebrating the diverse community within North, students, staff, and the local community experienced the cultures of countries from various parts of the world. Events throughout the night ranged from food tasting, showcases on unique countries, and live performances. The night began with a food experience in the mathematics hallway. Although the dismal weather prevented this event from occurring outside in the courtyard, a brilliant display representing many different countries was created inside the school. Throughout the math hallway, booths were set up with foods from around the world and informational tri fold boards. Visitors experienced delicious dishes from countries such as Italy, Poland, Haiti, India, Pakistan, China, Guyana, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and El Salvador.  After experiencing diverse cultures in the school, the attendees shifted to live performances in the cafetorium. Students first competed in a fashion show, representing traditional clothing from India, Bangladesh, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Poland. Two students, Carolina Caraballo and Lucy Wu, won the competition and each received an Amazon gift card. Following the fashion show, the audience watched singing and dancing performances. The String Quintet, the Spartan Steppers, and many more groups and individuals participated to make for an entertaining night. Students seemed to thoroughly enjoy the entire night: “The teamwork between advisors and students helped provide an enjoyable experience for all audience members with strong performances all around.” -Craig Papajohn-Shaw, (MC for Culture Night) “I found the Culture Night to be a very eye opening and diversifying experience from the food to the fashion show and the performance overall. I think it displayed the large variation of North’s culture.” - Daniel Ellis “I loved the food, the food was great, and I really loved the food.” - Ashrita Seelan “I was exposed to so many different cultures and experienced so many different tastes, sounds, and visuals.” - Joshua Hunt “I was appreciative of seeing the diverse community that is not always portrayed in everyday life.” - Anonymous “It was a wonderful day; I had a great time.” - Anonymous  “An even better ‘Class Acts’.” - Anonymous After a hiatus from the event due to the pandemic, Valley Stream North hosted a very successful Culture Night, 2022. A special thanks goes to the custodial staff, Language Honor Society, Culture Society, and the Audio-Visual club for helping put together this amazing event. Be ready for the next Culture Night in 2023! BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles News Back to Sections Homecoming is Back! By Everton Prospere Volume 2 Issue 2 November 19, 2021 Image provided by Hudl On October 30th, Valley Stream North High School hosted its annual football homecoming game. After a year where the usual festivities were canceled due to the pandemic, VSN students and staff alike were excited to return to a sense of normalcy with the festival and game. Homecoming is typically an event and game that invites school alumni to boost school spirit. With the Homecoming Dance canceled, the administration put in place an alternative: the Homecoming Festival. With a large gathering, many activities, and an exciting football game, this year’s festival was a great success! In preparation for the game, clubs and extracurricular activities were asked to prepare a sale to raise funds while also increasing excitement for the event. The custodial staff and administrative teams arrived early in the morning in preparation for the fun of the day. In front of the overhang of the main entrance by the gym lobby, multiple tables were set up in a market-like arrangement. Volunteers from clubs began to appear on site at 10:00 am, with two hours to put together their booth’s items. At 12:00 noon, the festivities began, with parents, teachers, current and former students, and residents attending. Some activities included a potato sack race from the Students Against Destructive Decisions, in which Mrs. Rieger, Mrs. Italiano, and Ms. Parisi participated. There were also sales for fundraisers: a tumbler — an insulated beverage container — by the Class of 2023 Grade Council, and an air pod case sale by the National Junior Honor Society. At 2:00 pm, the pregame festival concluded, and the football game began. Throughout the game, fans were encouraged to purchase food at Grover’s Grub food truck. A portion of the proceedings made at the truck funded the Class of 2022 and The Spartan Club. The Valley Stream North and Lynbrook High School varsity football teams versed each other in a thrilling battle. Although the Lynbrook Owls quickly took the lead, the Spartans turned the match around with outstanding defense and superb offense. The final score was 28-21, with Valley Stream North victorious at the end. The football team attributed their victory largely due to support from the full crowd of enthusiastic fans and the comical announcing by North’s beloved AP Psychology teacher, Mr. Daddino. This festival could not have been hosted nor so successful without the support and organization from the administrative team, custodial staff, security, the Student Activities Director, Mrs. Italiano, all the club and grade advisors, and North’s Athletic Director. Despite the pandemic, Valley Stream North rallied to host an amazing homecoming, and the bad weather forecast adjusted itself for the festivities. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections Standing On the Ledge: VSN Mental Health from a Student Perspective By Eva Grace Martinez Volume 1 Issue 6 March 18, 2021 Image provided by Ohio Department of Education When I first entered South Side High school to take my ACT in December, I found myself bombarded with posters and signs advertising their mental health resources. I saw the faces, names, and locations of guidance staff, school psychologists, and various other student support services professionals, just by walking in the front door.  My first thought was: Something must have happened here. Sadly, I was right. A quick google search showed two students had committed suicide in 2019. I offer my deepest condolences to the families of the students who died. It is not uncommon for schools and other institutions to respond to mental health issues after a crisis. Studies show that teen suicide rates are on the rise and have more than doubled since 2007. [1] The global pandemic has amplified this particular issue. Students are hurting for so many different reasons. Here is my story: The lowest point I remember came at the beginning of my sophomore year. I dangerously teetered on the edge of an emotional cliff I felt would have been impossible to climb back up. I was sad, anxious and depressed. Despite the helpful efforts of my teachers, my grades were falling lower than they ever had. I was sleeping erratically, either 2 or 12 hours a night. I could not eat; I lost 8 pounds from skipping meals. By November, I was too focused on seeing the next morning to care about whatever work I had been assigned the night before. I sat there, cold, tired, and apathetic to it all, and worse, I refused to ask for help. My talkative and happy demeanor created an easy mask for the problems I was facing. Every potentially concerning thing I said was passed off as “just a joke.” Despite how difficult it is for students to talk about their emotions and problems, I have supportive parents to whom I could turn for help, and I was ultimately able to receive help outside of school. I began treatment, and I can happily say, I am doing better than ever. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of students across the country is well-documented, but difficult to see happening to young people all around us – some who are on our screens only during the school day. Many students have spoken out to their friends or in extra-curricular club settings, saying the pandemic has “sent their mental health down the drain,” or otherwise negatively impacted their well-being. Students around me are voicing deep feelings of loneliness, even writing to the advice column in the North Star to ask about making friends virtually. As a school community, we have to check in frequently with each other because we are not okay. There are many steps a school can take to publicize and destigmatize mental health services at school. Signs around the school communicating facts about how common mental health challenges are can help to take away the shame that I and others feel when they experience symptoms; studies on a national scale show small steps like signage actually work. [2] Small changes or additions can actually have a significant impact. What We Can Do: Some examples of dispensing information widely might include: Posts on teams with the names and locations of student support services personnel to take the place of in-person signage for the many students who are virtual or hybrid right now. Well-documented and well-known protocols outlining the steps students, parents, and teachers can take to get access to school resources in a transparent, simple and confidential way. Increase in overall mental health awareness by holding more, and well-advertised, events to provide support. The Student Wellness Forum over the weekend of March 6th was a good start, and the second in that series is March 13th. We also can introduce a “SAFE” club. “SAFE” stands for Suicide Awareness and a Friendly Environment, this club may also focus on mental health in general, instead of just specifically suicide prevention. This is similar to what was done by students at Southside after both suicides had taken place. [3] A focus on Mental Health Awareness Month this May. We could hold a hallway decoration competition similar to Red Ribbon Week (THIS WEEK!) for drug awareness. We could ask each club to bring up Mental Health as a meeting topic during a meeting in May. For my part, as a leader in The Alliance club here at North, I’ve been engaging with the club’s members in discussions which helped me construct this article, and I feel like if we all work together as a school, every small step we take can add up to a big positive impact on students. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles News Back to Sections Giving Back: Donate to SADD's Annual Food Drive By Shinedip Kundlas Volume 1 Issue 2 November 24, 2020 Image provided by Island Harvest In the United States before the pandemic, approximately 13.7 million households experienced food insecurity at some point during 2019. A household that is food insecure has limited or indefinite access to enough food to sustain a healthy life. Children especially are more likely to face food insecurity than any other group in the United States. That is about 35 million Americans who were either incompetent to acquire enough food to meet their needs, or unsure of where their next meal may come from. For about a third of these households, gaining access to food was so inadequate that their eating habits were interrupted, and food consumption was reduced greatly. The rest of these households were able to acquire sufficient food to avoid complete disruption from their eating patterns but had to manage by eating a smaller portion of varied diets or utilizing food assistance programs like P-EBT benefits. However, the coronavirus pandemic has only worsened the problem. According to a group of Northwestern University researchers, food insecurity has doubled as a result of the economic crisis passed on by the outbreak, hitting as many as 23% of households earlier this year. In particular, on Long Island, food banks are reporting a nearly 50% increase in their food distribution since the start of the pandemic. Island Harvest is one of the largest hunger relief organizations on Long Island. The organization relies on over 100,000 hours of annual service that volunteers offer to help Island Harvest in their mission to end hunger and reduce food waste. Once again, VSN’s SADD club is working with Island Harvest to sponsor a food drive. Non-perishable items needed include Canned Soup/Stew, Canned Beans/Dried Beans, Peanut Butter/Other Nut Butters, Rolled Oats, Canned Fruit in Juice/Dried Fruit, Canned Tomatoes/Vegetables, Canned Tuna/Chicken Brown Rice/ Instant Rice/Quinoa, Nuts/Seeds, Shelf Stable Milk/Milk Substitutes, Whole Grain Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Box Cereals (Low Sugar), Olive/Canola Oil, etc… Help feed Long Island this holiday season by dropping off non-perishable food. This is the opportunity to give back the community and help a family who may not be as fortunate. SADD will run the food drive from November 16 - December 16th. Donations can be dropped off at the Faculty Entrance, Gym Lobby, and in Room 113. Like Anne Frank once said… “No one has ever become poor by giving” BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections Tales Through Time: The Native Americans: Years Ahead of the Europeans Rehmat Kaur Volume 4 Issue 3 March 13, 2024 Image Provided by Huffington Post It was an incredible awakening to learn that women's oppression was not universal; Indigenous women possessed property rights. If these Euro-American women from across Western society weren't aware of the glaring contrast between their circumstances, Native women were. Native women farmed with strong bodies, had autonomy over their lives, and maintained equal opportunity with men, which contradicted the ideas of female servitude and inferiority. Some women suffragists communicated their knowledge of Native women's higher rights with other progressives and people at large, as they inspired them. When Lucretia Mott and her husband visited the Seneca tribe in 1848, they witnessed how political authority was distributed equitably among all members of their society. Mott recounted her experience in New York, highlighting the significant role of Native women in their communities; as she stated, "Historically, Haudenosaunee women have controlled their nation’s economies, handled property concerns, and participated in all decision-making processes." As women in the United States celebrate the fact that the Constitution ultimately acknowledged the right of women to cast a vote 100 years ago, Native American women had a say in politics on this territory since the formation of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy over 1000 years ago. Non-native women, like our suffrage foremothers, benefited greatly from Native women's decades of experience. Gender influences obligations, but it doesn't restrict women within numerous Native societies. Early Native peoples differed, but their families and communal institutions brought them together through shared dependency and respect. In some cultures, women became warriors, like Dahteste and Lozen. In the Midwest, women frequently assisted in the hunting and harvesting of buffalo. They were also talented artisans who made blankets, baskets, jewelry, and ceramics. Marriage and sexual freedoms in Native tribes differed greatly, with some nations practicing polygamy and others observing monogamy and formal rituals. Women's dominance in relationships and throughout the nation was obvious in divorce, with women holding all home possessions. Members of the Haudenosaunee clan are descended from women and trace their ancestry back to their female predecessors. Iroquois people are born into a clan and remain there for their whole lives. Intermarriage within a clan is not permitted; therefore, when the young woman married, her husband came to reside in her longhouse, where they would establish their new home. The clan served as the primary socioeconomic element of Haudenosaunee society, led by women who oversaw their longhouse, farming, and food distribution, as well as selecting males to serve as representatives of their clan on the tribal council. Following European arrival, illnesses and territorial struggles killed 90–95% of the Indigenous population. Historians argue about how European expansion and migration affected Native women. Some suggest that following the initial contact, women's power fell as societies altered and evolved to become more like the dominant culture. Many tribes still valued the matrilineal inheritance of clan identity, as shown by women's major leadership roles. It may be concluded that Native Americans had significantly more rights and freedom than European women at the time, which motivated many people to work on improving society. Sources : How Native American Women Inspired the Women’s Rights Movement (U.S. National Park Service) ( nps.gov ) https://www.remedialherstory.com/1-early-north-american-women.html#/ https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/23931 https://www.lwv.org/blog/how-native-american-women-inspired-womens-suffrage-movement#:~:text=Leaders%20of%20the%20women's%20suffragist,women%20played%20in%20Haudenosaunee%20communities . https://www.grunge.com/331229/the-real-life-stories-of-native-american-warrior-women/ BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections Cody's Trivia Corner By Cody Sung Volume 3 Issue 2 December 23, 2022 Image provided by Getty Images How did the days of the week get their names? It’s not as complicated as you might think. Many of the names come from Roman gods, transported into Nordic culture. Let’s review each one. Sunday – day of the Sun. “Sunna” or “Sól” is a goddess in Norse mythology, which came from the Roman god “Sol”. Monday – day of the moon. The Nordic “Mani” for moon caused Mánadagr to become Monday. Interestingly enough, the Latin name for the moon is “Luna”, which is reflected in the name for Monday in other languages such as French, “Lundí”. Tuesday – named after Tiw, also known as “Tyr” the Norse god of war. Comparable to Mars, the Roman god of war. Wednesday – named after Odin, similar to the Roman god Mercury. Both are responsible for a variety of things such as luck. Thursday – named after Thor, the lightning god and most powerful of all gods. Comparable to Roman god Jupiter. Friday – named after Freya, alternatively called “Frigg”, the goddess of love, Venus being the Roman equivalent. Saturday – named after Saturn, the god of wealth, in Latin (Saturni), still recognizable in English today since the Norse didn’t change it. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Polaris Back to Sections Precious Memories Navrosedip Kundlas Volume 4 Issue 1 November 6, 2023 High school life, what a ride, As a junior, with dreams so wide. Books and tests, and late-night cram, Sometimes, it feels like a big exam.   Lockers jammed with secrets and chatter, Every day, something new to matter. Prom on the horizon, we're almost there, Hoping for a date, and the perfect hair.   Teachers, some strict, some really cool, In this high school world, we're no fool. Homework piling up, stress on the rise, But with friends by our side, we'll reach the skies.   Lunchtime gossip, and cafeteria food, Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's crude. Navigating cliques, and teenage drama, As a junior, life's like a never-ending saga.   But as we grow, we learn and find our way, With each passing moment, we seize the day. Junior year, it's a journey we'll survive, For in these high school memories, we'll thrive. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections Tomato Tomâto- NYSSEF Finalist Noa Cordova Volume 4 Issue 4 May 29, 2024 Image Provided by Mrs. Mansfield Commonly, “tomato/tomâto” expresses the idea that two things are essentially the same thing despite minor, inconsequential differences. In the case of Ismaela Andre’s research project, this idiomatic expression is far from applicable. Ismaela Andre, a senior Advanced Science Research student, earned her spot as a New York State Science and Engineering Fair (NYSSEF) finalist through her 3-year tomato research project which broadly focused on distinctions between two tomato types. Inspired by her study of Stevia and Splenda sugar in Science Research 9A alongside Mr. DiSclafani, she decided to continue studying sugar. Her freshman-year sugar research concluded that natural sugar, like cane sugar, is the healthiest, and maintained an interest in natural sugars. In Science Research 10, she concentrated on articles related to natural sugars including that of nectar, sunflower seeds, honey, and most notably, fruits. So, how did this well-known household ingredient become the focus of Ismaela’s research project? Peaches and tomatoes were the final contenders for the focus of her research. Her mentor Dr. Samuel Hutton, Associate Professor at the University of Florida, specialized in tomatoes, resulting in her tomato-focused research project. Ismaela followed an elaborate process to successfully carry out her research. Her mentor shipped indeterminate and determinate tomato seeds from Florida; indeterminate tomatoes continue to produce until the first autumn frost while determinate tomatoes only produce once. Assisted by Cold Spring Harbor research manager Blaine Fitzgerald, she put the seeds through germination for two weeks at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory greenhouse and transplanted them in Uplands Farm; by mid-September, she had fully grown tomatoes to work with. She measured the brix level, or the sugar content, of the tomatoes using a digital refractometer, which measures exactly that. Using a statistical test called a “t-test”, she found the statistical significance of her data when comparing indeterminate and determinate tomatoes. From her work outside, she began her work inside writing her senior paper. Her paper details significant findings: miniature indeterminate tomatoes had a higher brix level, and the green shoulder effect, a common disorder during the ripening stages of a fruit, does not affect a tomato’s sweetness. Her latter finding clarified a misconception about the relationship between the green shoulder effect and a tomato’s quality; although the abnormality affected tomatoes’ appearance, it does not mean they are “bad.” Full interview with Ismaela Andre: What was the biggest challenge? "I would say the biggest challenge of this process was definitely the connection part…the process of working with your mentor who's in Florida while working in Cold Spring Harbor. The communications were hectic because of the distance, but my professor was good at ensuring I had everything I needed.   What did you enjoy most? “I definitely enjoyed the experience of doing the project…when I would go down to cold spring harbor, plant the seeds and the process of watching the tomatoes grow.”   What did you take away from the experience?   “I did get learn how connections are very powerful...if I hadn’t gotten to know my mentor, I wouldn’t have been able to get into the Cold Spring Harbor Lab. Another thing that was equally important was learning the vocabulary of journal articles and annotating them.” Ismaela’s research delved deep into a common produce item and produced outstanding results that earned her an honorable mention at NYSSEF. Her hard work distinguished her from the many high school scientists across the state. Naturally, Ismaela will continue to pursue scientific studies as she focuses on chemistry as part of her pre-med track as an aspiring gynecologist. Ismaela shared, “The most valuable lesson for me was the learning experience itself and knowing that no matter where you go, you’ll always learn something new.” Congratulations, Ismaela! You are continuing to make North proud. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Editorial Back to Sections School Times By Augustine Magapan Volume 1 Issue 4 January 20, 2021 Image provided by ShutterStock In the year 2020, a new way of teaching has enlightened students and teachers called remote learning. Perhaps because we have done it in the past, but it wasn’t noted until now where it’s starting to not only show a trend, but is relied upon due to the pandemic. There are millions of people across the nation who use remote learning to prevent themselves from getting the coronavirus depending on how severe they think it is. Millions of people have made their own decisions about whether they should send their child to school or stay at home, and we should respect their choice. There are different characteristics for each type of learning they do, but it doesn’t matter as long the student feels safe and can learn. Whether we are on a chair logging on a computer to meet the other side of the classroom or literally inside the classroom, there is a discussion that should be had. Do students have enough school time when they’re fully remote or at school? Eric Suni, a writer who has over a decade of experience in health communications and worked as a science writer and information specialist for the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service, had an approval of his report by Dr. Alex Dimitriu. He is the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine, and is board certified in psychiatry as well as in sleep medicine. According to Suni, there is a function of your body called the circadian rhythm, which helps you work out with everyday functions of your body. For example, your best coordination might occur at five in the afternoon. Maybe you are at your strongest point at noon and gradually decrease strength or energy during the afternoon. These all are parts of your circadian rhythm. However, we will be focusing on the time when you sleep and when you wake up. This will affect how you perform in school. Not being able to get enough sleep is common with adolescents which affects them, and one of the causes is due to early school times. Adolescents change their circadian rhythms depending on what time they sleep and wake up. When high school times start early, it creates an effect on a student’s learning behavior where they will be a downturn in their mental and physical school performance. In California, they have refined their school times where class starts later, so students can get more sleep. The local districts in the state are already seeing effects from the change and will modify schools over time. High schools will not start earlier than 8:30 a.m. For example, first period at Huntington Beach Union High School District starts at 8:24 a.m. This will also depend on the parents and staff trying to adjust to the new bell system. Therefore, it’s a fascinating question that revolves around today’s society. There had been positive outcomes when schools start earlier since there has been better performance and health for teenagers according to the California Medical Assn. and the California State Parent Teacher Association. Kuss Middle School, in Fall River, Massachusetts, was analyzed as a chronically underperforming school in 2004. As time progressed to 2013, they were finally able to reach great improvements involving students when they took part in longer school days or extended learning times. Creating a school time involving a longer day seems to improve student learning. In addition, their school time was 9am -5 pm. Although that the school day is long, they start school later which can connect to the California school district’s findings. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that middle and high schools should start at 8:30 a.m. or later so students can have more sleep. The CDC has stated that according to 2014 School Health Policies and Practices Study, 93% of high schools and 83% of middle schools in the U.S. start before 8:30 a.m. Depending on what state you are in, a lot of public and middle high schools started before 8:30 a.m. From the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, they recommend that teenagers from ages to 13 to 18 years old should sleep 8 to 10 hours on a regular basis. If you do not, you’ll most likely be overweight, not engage in daily physical activity, suffer from symptoms of depression, engage in unhealthy behaviors such as drinking, smoking tobacco, and using illicit drugs, and perform poorly in school . The last part of the previous sentence can help explain some reasons why a school’s schedule can affect a student’s performance. The American Academy of Pediatrics also says that delaying school times can be an effective countermeasure to chronic sleep loss and contains a variety of benefits that revolve around physical and mental health, safety, and academic achievement. Although that there are positive outcomes when students have school starting later, there can be contrasts and obstacles. Every school will function differently. It will depend on how everyone will adjust to it. There are people who will also disagree on having school times later and when school ends. It depends on how much influence students, teachers, and education staff has on the larger population revolving around school and their hours. After reading this article, if you still go to school, did you reflect on what your school is doing right? There are many other resources to find more information about the effects of a later school starting time if you surf through the web or look at the news. This is a fascinating question. It all depends on what you and your school does your sleeping schedule. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Editorial Back to Sections Proud By Eva Grace Martinez Volume 1 Issue 8 June 8, 2021 No Image available at this time It’s October 3rd, 2015; you are sitting in your room taking an “Am I Gay?” quiz from Buzzfeed . You are crying. Your lips tremble, and your voice has been lost to sobs. It’s something close to three in the morning. You are not crying because of the results; you are crying because there are none. Like some magic 8-ball from Lucifer himself, the test has told you that it is up to you to determine your identity. You are someone who lives in a world of memorizing answers and rote learning. Your parents taught you how to think critically about art, music, religion, and politics, and all the other big words adults like to use. Still, they never taught you how to think critically about this part of you. You suspect they never had to. You’re too scared to Google anything. You don’t want your mom to see your search history. So you let the questions fester. They burn into your soul with a fervor you never knew was possible. You would like to say that the burning hurts you. That the pain shapes memories and decisions, or it informs some greater understanding of the universe around you. It doesn’t. Instead, it sinks down into the shade of who you are becoming. If your eyes linger too long on the pretty woman on the magazine cover, who would blame you? You try to convince yourself that it’s just because you don’t know her name. This will not be the last time you fail to convince yourself. You know that there are words for people like you. You watch the Obgerfell V. Hodges’s decision live on TV. Your mother smiles and says, “good for them,” and that is that. You do not tell her that you feel like crying; she does not ask why you are smiling so strangely. You wonder what it must feel like to dance in the sea of colors you see on the streets of DC. Your dad smiles and then changes the channel; he wants to catch up on the Mets game. The images of rainbows large enough to swallow the capitol building are tattooed onto your synapses. Later, you see the first gay couple to be married in New York on “Say Yes to the Dress”. You sit quietly, waiting for a comment from your grandma. The comment never comes. Once, you will creep up to your parent’s bedroom door. It is 6:30 on a Saturday evening, and you will open your mouth to speak. The air around you will still for a moment; this is the first time in your life silence slips its greedy hands over your lips. It will not be the last. It will take you two years to find a space where thoughts like yours seem normal. You know better than to discuss it with your friends at the time, so you turn to the internet. Suddenly there is an explosion of life. There are words to refer to every type of person you could ever meet, and someone is always making more. The words scare you. There are too many, and they all hold so much weight. You are lost in a sea of language, of prefixes and suffixes that make your head spin. The riptide pulls you out to sea, and you are assaulted by a barrage of letters, all jumbled to become one infinite black ocean. You know nothing of who you are and where you will go. Here, you cannot breathe water or air. Sink or swim, you will not survive. Until you do. You survive because the water is only as lonely as you make it out to be. If you sink, you will find mermaids with tails that glitter like oil slicks. If you swim, you see ships with stories of every place you could ever know. Survival is ingrained in you, so you continue to survive. When you are done visiting mermaids, and the sailors have run out of stories. They may ask you a question or two. They simply wonder how it is precisely that you define you. You still don’t have an answer to that question. You expect the worst; you have visions of teeth and talons. You expect to be sent off the plank. Instead, you are granted kindness. They don’t know who they are either. They tell you that this ocean is for all of us who don’t know. You are shocked that the “us” includes you; it doesn’t feel wrong, so you stay. You learn to tie knots, and you learn to navigate using the stars. You know how to grow your own tail now, and the murky waters, once terrifying, now feel like home. With joy, you tell a sailor this. You see the sadness in his eyes when he tells you, “that means it’s time to leave.” You don’t want to leave. You have just found warmth in a murky black ocean. You had just learned to sail this ship, and now you are forced to chart a new course. You wave goodbye to the friends you made. You don’t know if you’ll ever see them again. One of them shouts your name, but just as you turn to face them, a wave crashes in your vision. There is no time to be sentimental now; you must keep yourself afloat. You take your map and plan your route. It is only when your boat touches land that you realize where you are. You are home. You are home with new scars and new memories, but this is still home. You ask your dad if the Mets won last night and your mom if she wants to go book shopping. For a second, everything is normal. You did not just walk off a boat from a magical sea. Your hair has not grown, and you have not changed. As the seconds pass, though, any sense of normalcy shatters. Your mother squints and asks about the strange flag on your ship. Your dad tells you not to move. Your parents have always been good with words, and the confession they drag from you is sharp and messy like broken shells washed too far onto the shore. Yet, they collect these broken shells and press them together in their palms. They tell you that you are loved, no matter who you happen to be in love with. Just like that, the cracks in the shell begin to fade. They are not fixed, they are still brittle, but they begin to heal. Oh, what healing will do. No longer will you drown in waves of words too niche for how you feel, nor will you struggle to explain why your gaze lingers on the pride displays at Target. You will still be awkward and messy, and you will cry too much over silly things, but that’s growing up. You are happy now with who you have become. You would like to think that 10-year-old you would be satisfied too. She deserves to be happy. She deserves to love herself in the way you do now. You are so far away from where this story began and yet still so far away from its ending. You no longer strain against the weight of your own fear. You are strong. You are one drop of water in a sea of color, but here, you are home. You have survived through four long years of inner turmoil for this day. It has been exactly four years and four days since the Obgerfell V Hodges decision. In that second, you realize how light you feel, no longer bogged down by the heavy questions in your soul. You have grown up, and you are no longer worried about precise definitions. You are loved by your family and friends, and you might just love someone too. Nobody cares who exactly that is. Your friend is next to you; you giggle as he smacks a rainbow heart sticker onto your forehead. It is June 30th, 2019; you are somewhere in downtown Manhattan, and you are laughing. You are waving a rainbow flag that your parents bought for you amongst a crowd of others. You hear music start playing, and then you are dancing. You don’t have to wonder anymore how those people in DC felt four years ago. You know it now too. You stand with your shoulders back, laughing and dancing. You smile at the sea of color surrounding you, and your mom catches a photo of you dancing, flag in hand. You are strong here. You are safe here. You are a part of an “us” larger than yourself. You are crying again, but this time you are happy. You are proud. BACK TO TOP