SEARCH RESULTS

Back to Articles Polaris Back to Sections The Pen's Soul Catherine Duong Volume 4 Issue 1 November 6, 2023 Image provided by iStock Author’s Note: The story below was my first draft of my college admission essay, talking about my life like a pen and breaking free from being controlled by outside forces. Since my English teacher said it was too fictional/not straight to the point, I could not let this go to waste, so I transformed it to make it into a fictional story by tweaking it a little. As this tale has not specified who the hand is, feel free to symbolize it differently while you read! I, as a soul of a pen, wrote words in neat, straight, and perfect rows for all my life, being fully guided by the hand. My black ink flows as smooth as untouched snow against the paper. Until I’ve found curiosity in numerous things, like... what if I write each word with one smooth stroke? What if I bend letters in a bubbly or ridged way instead of the standardized and authentic Arial font? What if I use different colors for my ink like yellow or green? And so I began, dragging my tip against a clean sheet of paper for testing all sorts of things from different fonts to using all sorts of colors without the guidance and silent observance of the hand. As a pen, we are always guided by a hand or hands, and I never fathom or thought of the idea of independence; doing everything all by myself. Dependence is something I’ve stuck with my whole life up until now. As I kept exploring over time, I found new ways to express myself, growing out of the ordinary of a regular blue or black pen and creating my own ‘voice’ through my strokes across the paper. It’s like those humans who found themselves in different hobbies and making them, them! Until there came a day where the hand scanned my actions, their movement at first hesitant, but instantly grabbed hold of my body, their fingers intwined. I would typically let them hold me, but this time I felt different. This newfound knowledge from my experiments gave me some kind of weird strength to rebel against the hand, and so I did. I attempted to wiggle myself free from their grasp, but all the hand did was grasp onto me tighter and force me back to where I started. Over time, there was a constant long, and conflicting cycle between the hand and me: I tried to express myself, and the hand saw me and finally forced me to undo my discoveries. As much as I wanted to surrender, I refused to. After pondering on how to break this endless cycle, I hid under the desk by rolling away and slipping away the cage I was once placed in, now free. BACK TO TOP

Back to Artwork Black American Artists Back to Sections Still Life with Fruit and Nuts By Robert Seldon Duncanson February 12, 2021 Volume 1 Issue 5 Medium: Oil on Board, Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Back to Artwork The Memory Project Back to Sections Kubra Beskardes - Memory Project By Kubra Beskardes March 18, 2021 Volume 1 Issue 6

Back to Artwork Back to Sections Quinn O'Connor By Quinn O'Connor Volume 3 Issue 1

Back to Artwork Purpose Back to Sections Gilana Etame - Purple Yellow Study By Gilana Etame November 24, 2020 Volume 1 Issue 2

Back to Artwork Portfolio Back to Sections Nature By Elaine Ching June 13, 2022 Mixed Media Volume 2 Issue 7

Back to Artwork Portfolio Back to Sections Beauty Hidden in Women's Hair By Elizabeth Andre June 13, 2022 Collage Volume 2 Issue 7 I wanted to show the beauty and struggles of being a black woman and having hair. I displayed different hairstyles one can be open to. At the end of the day, no matter what hair texture, color, or style you have, you and your hair are beautiful.

Back to Articles Polaris Back to Sections The Truth By Huan Evo Alipio Volume 2 Issue 6 April 14, 2022 Image provided by Vincent Van Gogh In search for love, may he find the right one She walked, she strolls, she arrived quarter to two One foolish man running till three But yet she’ll never budge with great power for four Almost to the middle, with not intentions of meeting The time hit six, with the sun gleaming He or she never crossed the seventh path Which the eight can be revealed with a tremendous wrath He imagines to catch her and take her for a ride Though she assured him she will be her bride The time is twelve, what a shocking sound Then he got up, there he was in bed and bound BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles News Back to Sections SPO Club Presentation By Carolina Figueroa and Rachel Ezeadichie Volume 1 Issue 6 March 18, 2021 Image provided by Parents Website The SPO (Student Peer Organization) club, advised by Mrs. Melluso and Mrs. Christiansen, recently presented an educational lesson to the 7th grade. During the event, my classmates and I learned about coping mechanisms and how to control our emotions. As a North student, the balance of school, extra activities (like sports, clubs, etc.), homework and socialization can be stressful, but SPO offered manageable ways to deal with tough emotions. During the lesson, the SPO members taught the 7th grade students how to control and handle our emotions. My favorite activity was modeling the paper. During the lesson, my classmates and I first took a piece of paper and created it into whatever we wanted. I made a paper airplane, but other students created origami, paper snowflakes, folded the paper and so many other ideas. From this first paper activity, I learned that I have control over what the paper comes out as, and it’s the same with feelings. I am in charge of how I act and can only control myself. My emotions reflect on my actions, and if they get out of control, I may say or do things I might regret. Next SPO instructed my class to again design another paper project. After creating our first paper project, we used the same piece of paper and constructed something different. This time I folded my paper and created a bracelet while my classmates though of other ideas like shapes and more. SPO taught me with the second paper experiment that you can adjust the outcome of different situations This shows that with our feelings and emotions, they affect the outcome of a situation, but we can also adjust the issue if it takes an unexpected turn. In the past, I have tried different ways to deal with my emotions. A majority of those methods were good, but they didn’t work for me. SPO gave me a new way to think about the methods I used to work with my emotions. Figuring out and sorting the feelings and situations I can and cannot control made me think about how I used my emotions and how I reacted to them. When I sat down and thought about it, I realized that there are many emotions I can control and some that I can’t. I even did the activities that SPO taught us again, so that I could really reflect. When I was done, I felt a little better about my life because I knew more about myself than I did before. I would recommend that you sit down and think about how you have controlled your emotions in the past. It could help you figure out if you may need to change something in your life that you didn’t realize you had control over. It could also help you realize that you might need to stop trying to change something that you have no control over. Either way, thinking about your emotions and situations can help you better yourself. You can even use the activities specified in the second paragraph to do so! The SPO presentation really helped me progress in dealing with my emotions, and I feel that I learned great ways to help with coping and managing my feelings. I’m really looking forward to writing about SPO’s 2nd lesson! BACK TO TOP

Back to Artwork Lights On for Education Back to Sections Kiss of an Angel By Gilana Etame April 22, 2021 Digital Art Volume 1 Issue 7