RANTS

The tall tables surrounding the cafeteria act as the Checkpoint Charlie of NASH — a zone where anything is fair game, and you need to watch your back … or should I say the back of your chair. At the beginning of the lunch period, four chairs are secured at each of the ten tall tables, allowing a small group of friends to comfortably sit and eat their lunch. But every single day a group of six or seven individuals conveniently cozy up around a singular tall table, messing up the entire seating system! This leaves one table with only two seats. Two people now have a wealthy estate to eat their lunch upon with an ample amount of room, while one table is a row house full of zoo animals. To a person who demands order and organization, this is excruciatingly painful. Where is the order?! If this pattern continues, Checkpoint Charlie is going to get really ruthless really fast.

I can deal with the cafeteria, but one place I definitely don’t want to turn into a battleground is the bathroom.  I think we’re all mature enough that I can talk about this without using flowery words like ‘feminine products’ or ‘women’s trouble’. Let’s get real. When a girl is on her period, products like pads and tampons are used — something I’m sure we all know by now. But when you’re in a public bathroom, where do they go when they’ve been used? Easy answer– trash cans– that is, if you want to carry your used products across the bathroom to the one communal trash can. This is uncomfortable for you and disturbing to the bystander trying to wash their hands. That is why someone came up with the bright idea to put a little metal box that hangs off the side of the bathroom stall wall for disposal of tampons and pads. This is very useful — if it is there. There are some bathroom stalls at NASH that lack the little metal box. You either need to flush it, taking the risk of clogging the toilet, or walk across the bathroom with a used tampon in your hand. Both of these alternatives are not very ideal. So here is my demand to the school — put tampon disposal boxes in every single female bathroom stall!

After fighting for a seat at lunch and questioning what to do with used tampons, there is hardly any emotional stability left when you face rude comments from teachers. Look, we’re all learning here, and teachers shouldn’t make students feel dumb for not grasping a concept that was recently introduced to them. Saying patronizing things to students does nothing but make them mad. Some teachers wonder why students hate being in their class — well, it may have something to do with the criticism they receive every day when they come to class.  Throwing facts at the class and expecting them to regurgitate them is not teaching. A teacher is someone who should help students understand something, yet  some teachers just expect you to understand.

RAVES

A little something to brighten your day, after dealing with the stress of school, is unique hall passes. Along with the principal-approved hall passes, featuring clip-boards with laminated paper on them, some teachers have taken the more creative route when enforcing hall passes. These creative hall passes include, but are not limited to, driftwood, hole punchers, staplers, bricks, and other odd objects. I find it very burdensome to carry a large piece of driftwood or a heavy three hole puncher to the restroom with me, but it is more entertaining than a plain clipboard with yellow paper on it. These alternative hall passes bring a little more fun into your day . . . well, as much fun as a hall pass can give you. It’s better than feeling like a prisoner — the clipboard acting as my inmate number as I travel the halls.

If you’re still feeling like a prisoner here, try expressing your individuality with new clothes. No more winter coats! Pittsburgh is notorious for its fluctuating weather, but I anticipate the many warm days coming our way. For the first time, in what seems like years, I wore a short sleeve shirt . . . without a coat on! It has become such a natural routine to button up my coat, put on a hat, and go on with the school day shivering through the halls that I forgot what it feels like to be warm. My days of trudging through slush and snow are over, and dare I say the shorts can once again come out of hiding! I guess it’s about time to trade in the winter coats and boots for t-shirts and flip slips. Get ready, because summer is approaching and I couldn’t be any happier!

As a result of this warmer weather, shorts will soon be accepted again. A new trend that I’m excited about this season is bike shorts worn for leisure, not biking. They’re just leggings, but cut off above the knee! I think they look adorable paired with an oversized sweater or t-shirt. And since the weather has been so nice to us lately, we can start wearing shorts again. Bike shorts make for an effortless outfit that is good for all activities. Plus, bike shorts are a good way to counteract the societal pressure of wearing short shorts. They’re long enough that you don’t feel exposed, but short enough that you aren’t dying of heat!