Culture

The RANT ::: HELMET HEAD

The RANT ::: HELMET HEAD

EMMERT
This image by Cody Calhoon
All others by Jessi Proulx

The RANT ::: HELMET HEAD

Written by Nadya Simakov and Julia Garcia

Nadya:  Transportation says a lot about a person—and four wheels are so old school.
Not only are they bold and exciting, motorcycles are pretty practical.
Generally, motorcycles cost less in terms of repairs and parts. Motorcycle insurance is also cheaper, and less expensive than insuring an entire car. The average cost of motorcycle insurance is nearly ¼ the price of auto insurance. They have better gas mileage, which saves time and money. In terms of road tax, the motorcyclist also pays lesser road tax because the motorcycle occupies lesser road space. Also they take up less space and it’s easier to find a parking spot.
“Motorcycles turn a wimp into a man,” says HHS senior, Lika Zinchenko. They possess that bold appeal no matter how cheap—cheap cars can’t avoid looking like the clunkers they are. And come on, the Nissan Cube?
You can also do a lot of tricks on a motorcycle, since it’s easier to maneuver. Because of this, they are more evadable and have an easier time dodging accidents—less metal to move. Motorcycle riders are safer; they don’t text on their phones while riding. Motorcyclists are required by law to wear a helmet—not the case in a car.
Sure, motorcyclists can die in a car accident, but many people ignore the fact that lots of people who drive cars also die. When we go behind the wheel we’re taking a risk no matter what kind of vehicle we are in, have it be a motorcycle or a car. According to census statistics, there are 6x more deaths in a car than in a motorcycle.
Not just anybody can drive a bike—the tests for motorcycle license are significantly more difficult. The motorcycle written test is more demanding than that for a driver’s license. For the performance part, the examiners follow the rider in a car, making certain they obey every rule.
Bikes get thrills, bikes get attention, and bikes get practical.

Julia:  When I was younger, I went with my daycare to the nickel arcade. A man on a motorcycle hit the cement divider and he flew head forward over his bike—he wasn’t wearing a helmet and ended up going to the hospital in an ambulance. Since that day, I’ve been scared to ride a motorcycle and haven’t since.
In 2010 the government estimated that the number of deaths on a motorcycle was about 30 times the number of deaths in cars.
Not only do they have great potential for being dangerous, but motorcycles are just plain impractical.
Motorcycle wheels don’t get great traction in the rain. We live in the Rain State which rains on average about 150 days of the year leading to dangerous lack of traction—the ride would just be unpleasant and dripping. And then there’s the lack of space for people and stuff—why ride a motorcycle with only two seats if you can have a car with five? There’s more room in a car for friends and shopping bags, not to mention shelter year-round and air conditioning.
The appeal of a motorbike doesn’t define the appearance of the person riding it—you could look perfectly fine, if not better, in something else less accident prone; after all, it’s not always about looking good. Safety first.
If you want a cool breeze running through your hair, roll down the window. It’s in June, July, and August that highest percentages of motorcycle deaths occur and I don’t plan to be one of them. I want to spend my last summer having fun and being safe, not in a hospital room or worse.

BE THE CHANGE by Kristen Buehner

EMMERT

It’s 7:30am, biologically too early for any teenager to be up, and close to a hundred of us, students of all shapes and sizes file into the auditorium, clad with nametags. Immediately, the instinct that started back in grade school takes over. Some of us sit alone with our thoughts, wondering what the next seven hours of Challenge Day will bring; others pair up and sit with friends in little pockets around the room. There’s a pack of students that gathers in the back of the auditorium and takes ownership of most of the energy and the volume. The rest of us sit on the periphery.

When we’re called, we walk with varying levels of enthusiasm to the gymnasium, and through a tunnel of high-fives. Read more →

CROSSING THE LINE by Mr. Strong

EMMERT

I did something last week I hadn’t done in the last eight years as an educator. It was called Challenge day. And before the end of the day, there I was, with tears down my cheeks, revealing very personal information to four students who sat knee to knee to me, in a family group. I had another student rubbing my back, and in that moment, my head warm from the memories of what I was describing, and getting hugs from these students who really weren’t students any more, not now, not in the middle of all of this, not after what we shared with one another.

People talk about barriers being broken, where stuff like class, race, gender, level of power, drop, but this is the first time I’ve truly experienced it. It was like that scene in The Breakfast Club where six or seven students spend the whole day in Saturday detention and they are all different but by the end of the day everyone’s barrier has fallen, and they are all friends, united if only for that one afternoon. You move forward from it different than you were before. Whether or not those relationships continue isn’t the point—it’s the fact that it happened. And if it happens once, there, with those people, then it can happen anywhere, with anyone. Read more →

IT GETS BETTER

kronski

I first started thinking about my sexual orientation on a field trip in middle school. We were going swimming. I saw my friend changing clothes and realized I was looking at them differently. That was the first time I really started thinking about my feelings.

I was really nervous and scared. I didn’t know what I felt and didn’t know what my feelings meant. I grappled with it for months, which turned to years…eventually arriving at where I am today:  A proud gay man.
At first it was hard to tell people.  I couldn’t say it out loud–it had to be by email or by note.
I was scared people wouldn’t accept me. One day I was talking to my friend and he asked me straight out: “Are you gay?”
I got this blank scare—I’m sure he could see I was freaking out inside.
But he said, “It’s okay if you are.”
“Yes,” I admitted.
After that, I realized I had nothing to hide. I had to be proud.
I did have one major problem in middle school—a kid did say mean things to me and made me cry.  A friend saw I needed help, and dragged me to the counselor’s office. I’m glad she did.
They called in the name-caller, and I had no other issues from him.
I just needed a friend. I needed to know that I wasn’t alone, that someone out there cared—even when I thought no one else did. That friend that dragged me to the counselor’s office showed me that it’s okay to need help—and honestly saved my life and sanity.

I still couldn’t tell anybody new tell sophomore year. I had trouble owning up to it until people told me it was okay that I was gay. Eventually, I could just say the words: “Yes. I’m gay.”
But I know it’s hard to go to this point, and may take people longer than me.

The main thing I want people to get out of this is be who you are don’t worry about what your friends will say. If they don’t accept you they really weren’t your friend and won’t be around  much longer, regardless.

You’re not alone.
If you’re going through this and you can always contact me if you ever need help.
Sometimes you just need someone to talk to.
It gets better.
I am sure you have heard that so much—but it’s so true, so bears repeating.

It gets better.

 

IT GETS BETTER

EMMERT

I first started thinking about my sexual orientation on a field trip in middle school. We were going swimming. I saw my friend changing clothes and realized I was looking at them differently. That was the first time I really started thinking about my feelings.

I was really nervous and scared. I didn’t know what I felt and didn’t know what my feelings meant. I grappled with it for months, which turned to years…eventually arriving at where I am today:  A proud gay man.
At first it was hard to tell people.  I couldn’t say it out loud–it had to be by email or by note.
I was scared people wouldn’t accept me. One day I was talking to my friend and he asked me straight out: “Are you gay?”
I got this blank scare—I’m sure he could see I was freaking out inside.
But he said, “It’s okay if you are.”
“Yes,” I admitted.
After that, I realized I had nothing to hide. I had to be proud.
I did have one major problem in middle school—a kid did say mean things to me and made me cry.  A friend saw I needed help, and dragged me to the counselor’s office. I’m glad she did.
They called in the name-caller, and I had no other issues from him.
I just needed a friend. I needed to know that I wasn’t alone, that someone out there cared—even when I thought no one else did. That friend that dragged me to the counselor’s office showed me that it’s okay to need help—and honestly saved my life and sanity.

I still couldn’t tell anybody new tell sophomore year. I had trouble owning up to it until people told me it was okay that I was gay. Eventually, I could just say the words: “Yes. I’m gay.”
But I know it’s hard to go to this point, and may take people longer than me.

The main thing I want people to get out of this is be who you are don’t worry about what your friends will say. If they don’t accept you they really weren’t your friend and won’t be around  much longer, regardless.

You’re not alone.
If you’re going through this and you can always contact me if you ever need help.
Sometimes you just need someone to talk to.
It gets better.
I am sure you have heard that so much—but it’s so true, so bears repeating.

It gets better.

 

REALSCHULE

EMMERT

On March 18-19 eighteen students from Bavaria, Germany came to Heritage to get a taste of American high school for three weeks. One of the students, Svenja, has enjoyed many of her new experiences since she’s been in America.

“I like your donuts and your burgers,” she explained. “They are really good.”

Svenja also was attracted to the driving age we have. “I love that you can drive a car at sixteen. In Germany you have to be eighteen. But in Germany when we are sixteen we can go to the disco and drink beer, here we cannot.”

Despite the donuts and burgers, she hasn’t loved every part of her trip.

“Germany is really clean… I was in Seattle and thought the city was really dirty. The big cities, they don’t look really clean.” She did, however, enjoy her experience down in Vancouver. “It’s really pretty. I think the people here are nice.”

Svenja describes schooling in Germany as less lenient, and more difficult.

“I think classes in America are easier because you can decide what you want for math, or English, or anything, but we can’t. We have English, German, math and they are really hard.” Svenja also explained that the school German students  attend depends on their grades.

“In fourth grade, if you have good marks, you go to a Gymnasium, or Grammar School. If you have good or middle marks you go to Realschule, or Intermediate School.  When you’re really bad at school you go to Hauptschule, Secondary School.”

All eighteen of the visiting students are from an Intermediate school, and have been visiting local places such as Prairie High School. They will fly back to Nuremburg the last week of March. “It has been a good trip, I like to see America.”