5. Ravoli 2025

Molly Malone Statue in Dublin, Ireland Art is one of the main fundamentals of language. Through the many eras of history, from the renaissance to modern art, people have expressed beliefs, knowledge, history, and so many other things through forms like paintings, dance, music, writing. It is a very powerful tool in understanding people and our history, yet it’s constantly disrespected and undervalued in its significance. One of if not the most famous painting of all time is the Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci. It is visited daily by people wanting to take pictures to then post on social media to show everyone “I’ve seen the Mona Lisa.” The painting has lost its significance to humanity, now being recognized for its immense popularity as opposed to its true meaning. What it truly symbolizes is the idea of happiness , and the way it is captured through its soft, genuine smile is unique to any other piece of art. But most people don’t care about that, which is truly disheartening. ...

Seale and Newton (Duncan). When we think of “Black Panther” now, we think of the chant “Wakanda forever” and Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. Black Panther, however, has also historically represented a “revolutionary organization” created amidst the height of the “Black Power movement” (“The Black”). The Black Panther Party was founded locally, on October 15, 1966, in Oakland, California “by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale” (Duncan). The organization had original goals of fighting against police brutality, but eventually evolved into a “Marxist revolutionary group” based on ideologies of “Black nationalism, socialism, and armed self-defense” (Duncan; “The Black”). College students Newton and Seale created the original Black Panther Party for Self-Defense because of the grand scale socioeconomic inequality Black Americans faced “throughout North American” as well as the “assassination of Malcolm X in 1965” (Duncan). The Black Panther Party immediately set itself apart from “cultural national...

  The above painting by an anonymous artist, perfectly portrays, in my opinion, the value of looking outside one's self.  Here we go again! Oh that’s new, yay...I swear I had a jawline, like, two days ago…my hair looks so greasy.. And so runs the movie in my mind. INSECURITY. insecurity. INseCuriTy.  Isn’t it funny that regardless of how I capitalize it, the word still hits the same? I heard a theory recently, that human beings were never meant to look at their faces. Before those handy little gadgets came about, we had the nearby river to look at our reflection, that was if it was close by. Then those tiny little reflective metals started going everywhere, but in their humble beginnings, they were reserved for the wealthy. Now with social media and the wonderful camera app, we look at our faces more than ever. But (surprise, surprise!), the way we perceive ourselves is not the way that others see us.  The jawline, the hair, they are all gone come the first impressio...

I was not having a very good day for no reason at all. And a not-very-good day feels even worse when it is a Friday, and doubly so when the afternoon light at 3:14 is objectively beautiful and you don’t even have (that) much homework. Figuring that some chocolate might rewire the chemicals in my brain, I caught a bus after school to the nearest and the only chocolate shop that I know. But once I reached the shop, I realized, unfortunately, that I didn’t really care for chocolate after all—and after I went all that way. Feeling a little silly, I stood around pretending to inspect a bag of caramel clusters, eavesdropping on the people around me. It’s funny watching how people act around chocolate. Some appraise a box of bon-bons as critically as if they are selecting a new car, holding it up to their ear and nodding along solemnly as they scan the nutritional label, while others, paralyzed by indecision, ask for samples of everything, a note of helplessness in their voice. One voice ...

     Image by S unil Sonu Art      A bead of sweat trickles down my forehead under the beaming stage lights and the sound of applause fills the theater as I take my final bow and exit the stage, my bells clinking softly as a reminder of the dance that just finished. Grace and agility is what typically comes to mind when I think of dance due to the elegant postures and light movements, but what is often overlooked is the power behind the art.       Bharatanatyam, the classical Indian dance form that I have been learning since I was seven, requires immense stamina and flexibility. Each step needs to be executed perfectly and each beat carries significance. The nritta , or pure dance that emphasizes movement, consists of heavy striking footwork that resonates through the floor.      But beyond its physical demands, Bharatanatyam is a form of storytelling that goes beyond the rhythmic beats. Every gesture, or hasta , conveys h...

 You put down your phone and look at the time on the bottom right hand corner of your screen. It’s super late and you’re the only one awake in the house. You sigh as you turn off the lights. You can get it done during flex instead so you go to bed. There have been so many times on a Sunday where I have the entire afternoon free to myself, and somehow I still end up awake at twelve trying to finish something that I could’ve done in two hours. The next morning, as I brush my teeth and feel like trash, I try to figure out what went wrong. Most times this inefficiency and procrastination can be attributed to distractions. Have you ever just put everything aside and annotated an article for an hour straight and been surprised at how much you can get done without any distractions? These distractions come in the form of your phone, the little fidgeting gadgets on your desk, and the internet. Clearing your workspace of any distractions will increase your productivity a hundredfold.  T...

“Pure water can melt her,” so “SOMEBODY GO AND MELT HER!” While the above are lines from the musical Wicked , and water alone cannot melt anyone outright, water does have the ability to do quite a bit. Consistent force over time can allow for water to complete tasks that are not easily accomplished otherwise. Being able to harness water effectively gives great power to people, both on the scale of a whole civilization and at the level of individual tasks that must be completed. Pont du Gard, a Roman viaduct - Picture from USGS Historically, this has been true, as those societies who effectively learned the ways to manage water achieved dominance—if only temporarily. The Ming Dynasty successfully navigated the oceans and made great advances in maritime travel, showing their power and dominance of the seas. The Romans had a vast system of aqueducts that allowed them to develop rich and densely populated cities far from a water source. Even naturally, water can carve rock like with the G...

Image Link I have a lucky shirt. And a lucky number. I even have a good luck tradition with my friend that we routinely do before either of us takes a test or is about to do something important (it’s called brain zaps). And, honestly, who doesn’t have these seemingly arbitrary superstitions ? Recently, I was watching a show with my parents, and one of the scenes really stuck with me. When everyone was on the way to an important event, a black cat crossed the street and, without a second thought, they all stopped, turned around, and went back home. Not only that, they blamed the bad luck throughout their day on the black cat, which is truly atrocious because cats are so adorable. All this to say, superstitions are so deeply woven into our lives, and, believe it or not, they hold a lot of power over how we experience the world around us.  A few weeks ago, after my mom told me not to hand her a pair of scissors directly into her hands because it would cause a fight between us, I found...

  As artificial intelligence ( AI ) continues to evolve, it continues to redefine language and can potentially change the way we write, speak, and even understand the world. AI is no longer just a tool for communication, but an active participant in shaping it. AI-driven language models, such as ChatGBT, have made several breakthroughs in the past couple of years. They have the ability to write essays, translate languages, and even generate poems. Such development raises a big question: Who controls language in the age of AI? Language has long been shaped by culture and the human experience. Now it is influenced by algorithms trained on mass datasets, which may contain internet biases. The concerns that are raised regarding misinformation and the loss of human nuance in communication are called into question. Furthermore, AI has begun to redistribute power dynamics in the workplaces. Automated writing assistants and tools for translation have opened up language. It bridges gap...

Screenshot of Google Maps What are the true limits of political power? We've seen many changes in our American society, specifically in the system that runs it. As most of you probably know, former, now current, president Donald Trump was inaugurated into congress a little under a month ago. During his first day on the job, he signed over one hundred executive orders. I want to restate, emphasize, that this was his FIRST day. Now, we're starting to see these changes take action. Little note, this blog, while it isn't the intention, may have some biased statements, so keep that in mind while reading. One of the things Trump stated he is going to change is the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. While this seems completely irrelevant to the many issues we face in our country, it does seem like a decision that would need to be discussed within the government and in public; something that would take time to put into effect. At the time it was announced, it seemed...

Where would we be without Google Translate? Those layovers where everything you see is in German. Or French. What about when you leave the airport? Road signs appear in Spanish, sometimes with Basque. How is an English-speaking traveler who hasn’t studied Spanish supposed to know that “parada de descanso” means rest stop? Despite the widespread use of English around the world, knowing ONLY English can often be a disadvantage. In the Bay Area, this is especially obvious with a high concentration of people who know a second language, so someone who only knows English would feel left out.  Conversely, there are people here who only know the language of their home country, who don’t speak English. If somebody learns a second language, some of these difficulties disappear, as you could easily just switch languages if communication becomes hard. What about learning more than two languages? Maybe three? Four? For someone who travels often, learning these extra languages can be extremely b...

The power of friendship (cue sparkles). Okay, this isn’t going to be a blog where I relentlessly shower my friends with admiration and praise, squealing, “Together, we can do anything!” Great people, great people…but today, I’m going to take a more selfish slant. How do your friends influence you ? In a time where everyone, from that self-improvement magazine you half-heartedly opened in line at the grocery, to every single college with a “holistic” approach to admissions , tells you to “just be yourself,” it always seems like it’s the other people who complicate the very idea.  Image of me and a friend On a walk alone outside, I know roughly who I am. I might be in a sullen mood, but I always laugh easily. I always keep up a steady conversation with that voice in my head who I can only assume is the one me , the genuine article. But often, I’m different around my friends. Around one of my friends, I am extra extra cheerful. She is not. Though I have tried to tone it down, I can’t ...

  Above is an image taken from my laptop on February 12, 2025.  I dot my i’s and cross my t’s.  Who doesn’t? I like to check that the line above each “t” is immaculate, that I pay close attention to the spaces in between the words, to double check if I am grammatically correct in the sentence I write right now.  Perfectionism is one of those age-old, “it’s a blessing…and a curse” type situations. If Procrastination liked to wear hats, this is the one it would have on most of the time. If I had a vice, it would be admitting that I almost envy those who cannot have this wonderful blessing/curse that I do--except for the fact that I am being completely sarcastic. Did I do that dash thing right? I have been a perfectionist for as long as I can remember, but these past few years have shown me that something is often better than a “perfect" something. For all the blood, sweat, tears and matcha I spend worrying about being perfect, it ironically gets me absolutely nowhere. ...

Proceed? [ Yes ] [No] Behavioral game theory describes the prediction of people’s decisions based on a variety of factors like social utility and predetermined knowledge: choice one might have outcome A or outcome B, and choice two might have outcome B or outcome C. “Players,” or the involved parties of an interaction, “have systematic ‘reciprocated social values’” that they base their judgment off of (Camerer). Describing the unconscious thought processes behind a person’s decision-making, behavioral game theory seeks to understand the power behind human dynamics. I emerged from the cocoon built around me by the pandemic as I entered the eighth grade; I was forced to rebuild social skills through human interaction that was unpredictable and that I could not look up the answers to: in real life, there is no Wiki with the correct answers for the decisions I decide to make, and the consequences—both good and bad—all fall on me. I often wonder how many of these types of choices I ca...

Image by Zahra Bijani       When I look at my mom, I see my same dark brown eyes looking back at me, revealing how genetics play a crucial role in determining physical appearance. Just like my dad, I have learned to be organized and efficient when completing tasks, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. This habit did not come from my DNA but was developed through years of observation.       The debate of nature versus nurture has baffled scientists for generations. Studying this issue can be difficult, as it requires innovative approaches to distinguish between the effects of genetics and the environment. Twin studies are particularly useful when looking at this debate. Methods include studying twins who were raised together and another set that were separated from a young age.  Francis Galton was the first to study twins to settle the argument once and for all and his findings led him to believe that nature, our genetics, has ...