It seems like an entire world of opportunities instantly puts itself at your fingertips when you turn 18. The term “illegal” becomes a little less applicable, while the term “responsibility” either earns immense respect or gets completely ignored. At the age of 18 one is granted a running list of legally viable activities to be conquered without parental consent.

You can go skydiving

When 18 rolls around, all the years of annoyance and resentment that have been built up against curfews and the Seattle Public School system can float away with the clouds as skydiving becomes legal to do without parental consent. Jumping out of a plane can relieve the stress of everything you’ve grudgingly done for the past 18 years, and no parent has to be there and remind you dinner is at seven.

You can sext

It’s seen nearly every day on the news. More and more teens get in trouble, sometimes even arrested, for sending risqué pictures of themselves via picture mail on their cell phones to their significant others. Before they know it, their naked bodies have been seen by their entire school’s student body, thanks to forwarding. It’s called sexting, and is considered child pornography, making it illegal for anyone who’s considered a child to engage in it. However, sexting can’t be child pornography if the picture is of someone over the age of 18, so when this birthday comes, the virtual world may open up a little more.

You can get pierced and tattooed

There are a good number of people under the age of 18 who already have bodies covered in piercings and tattoos, which are probably envied by the teens who have to buy nude colored nose studs to hide them from their parents. The opportunity to desecrate your body will be completely legal when you turn 18, no matter how much your parents swear they’ll disown you.

You can buy products off of informercials

How many times have you been watching late night TV and seen an ad for something you just have to have? The newest three-armed Snuggie, say, or perhaps Tracy Jordan’s “Meat Machine” from “30 Rock.” Before you turn 18 you can only dream of these useful and fun products, but now they can be yours for only $19.95 (plus shipping and handling).

You can buy salvia

Proposals to make Salvia divinorum illegal in the U.S. have failed to pass so far. It’s not regulated under the Controlled Substances Act, but certain states have passed their own laws concerning this psychotropic plant. Most states have no age restrictions whatsoever, but many vendors refuse to sell it to anyone under the age of 18.

You can sell your sperm

Women have to wait until they’re 21 to sell their eggs, but men can start selling or donating sperm at 18. If you’re a man and don’t mind seeing numerous random children at the park who have striking resemblances to your own, donating sperm is something to consider. If done every week, maybe to multiple sperm banks, a reasonable, secure monthly income can be established, though prices on sperm donation differ depending on location.

You can become a porn star

You’re 18, you’re out on your own, and you need to find a way to bring in the Benjamins while trying to stay focused on college. Luckily, the government has made it legal for you to make big bucks starring in some of the most captivating movies of all time. When you turn 18, not only will you be able to star in porn movies, but you’ll also be able to go to the adult section of the movie rental store and buy the movies you star in, if you’re into that.

You can get married

There are the few that end up marrying their high-school sweethearts after (or during) college, but imagine being able to tie the knot while still in high school. Getting married while simultaneously writing college essays doesn’t seem too realistic, but if Nathan and Haley were able to pull it off on One Tree Hill, it might as well be a reasonable decision. Marriage is a contract and once you’re 18, contracts and binds are yours to sign.

You can buy cigarettes

But why would anyone want to do that anyway?

You can stay out as late as you want

Even though they don’t necessarily cut down youth crime, many cities across the U.S. impose youth curfews, which state that the youth, sometimes under 16, sometimes under 18, can’t stay out after a certain time and before a certain time. These curfew laws are rarely ever enforced, so most teenagers aren’t even aware they exist. When you turns 18, however, it’s just a nice feeling to know that another law doesn’t apply to you, even if you don’t know it ever did.

You CAN’T rent a car

At 18 you can die for your country, you can become a pornstar, and if you’re a boy, you can sell the DNA of your future kids to strangers. Three years later you’ll be able to go into a bar and buy alcohol. But you’ll have to wait seven years in most cases until you’ll be able to rent a car. Cars are dangerous.

Garfield senior Sam Woestwin is one of around 20 students from across the city enrolled in Seattle Schools’ Automotive Yes program. Every day at the start of lunch, as his friends head off to Ezell’s and Bathroom Burger, Woestwin hops in the whip and heads down to the nearby Automotive Technology Lab and Facility for fifth and sixth period.

Located behind Washington Middle School, this is one of the most unusual classrooms in the city. Students spend their class time around cars instead of desks. Featuring three automotive lifts, as well as space for about five cars, this class exemplifies the study of a subject that’s immediately applicable in real life.

Emerging out of that swag-filled exhaust cloud pouring from Woestwin’s Porsche is a new set of skills.  The practicality of an auto shop class, in contrast with the conventional alternatives, led Woestwin to shift gears and dedicate two hours a day for two semesters to spending quality time with his set of wheels.

“It’s always been a fantasy of mine,” says Woestwin.

Every school day around 12:20, instructor Kary Schneider begins the afternoon session of Automotive Yes. Students spend anywhere from five to 30 minutes spent going around the class, discussing each student’s plan for the day. Following the relatively brief “hands-off” session, the students get their safety goggles on, head out to the shop, and set in on their projects of choice.

“You can ask to do whatever you want [in class],” says Woestwin. “You can check oil, fluids. One kid replaced an automatic transmission with a manual one.”

Woestwin himself took on the titanic task of removing and replacing a defunct door on his own automobile.

“It just depends on how much money you can afford to spend, and how much skill you have.”

Automotive Yes is far from a goof-off elective. Schneider doesn’t take automotive work lightly, and treats every day of work as a test.

“It turned out a lot harder than I had expected,” says Woestwin. “It’s almost impossible to get an A in that class. I’m good at jumping through hoops, and I know I [won’t get one]. I think only a few kids did last semester.”

In spite of the difficulty of achieving top marks, the class attracts attendees from as far away as Ingraham High, as well as Garfield seniors Andrew Bennett and Brian Veit. Grades pale in importance when put up against the possibility for real-world learning.

“All the classes at Garfield just aren’t any good,” says Bennett. “I wanted to learn something I’d actually use.”

The Automotive Yes program is offered through a partnership between the Seattle School District, and national organization Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES).

“AYES was started by GM as a way to build technicians from the ground up using a good foundation of education,” says Schneider.

AYES connects automotive dealerships and manufacturers to participating schools, with the intent of giving students internships following their junior or senior years. According to the AYES website, the partnership is “designed to encourage young people to consider satisfying careers in retail automotive service” as well as “prepare them for entry-level career positions or advanced studies in automotive technology.”

Automotive Yes isn’t the only program of its kind. Vocational programs in medicine, plumbing and carpentry are offerred across the district through Seattle Schools City Campus classes, which are open to all students over the age of 16.

After trudging through that next Truax assignment or studying for the next Marine Biology test, many a Bulldog will finish the day with only few more memorized facts to show for their hard work and elbow grease. But the noble mechanic warriors of Automotive Yes will drive off in control of their lives, their destinies, and everything else under the hood.

At that point, Ed springs into action. He argues that the city is lying despite the clearly visible camera just behind the red light. My mom makes her counter-argument but Ed is determined. He repeats himself each time more enthusiastically than the last. Finally, my mother begrudgingly concedes. Despite not making a single valid argument, Ed had emerged the victor. Even when Ed Strong is wrong, he’s right.

Ed, a freshmen, is in AP calculus, four levels above the standard freshman math class. In a course containing mostly juniors and seniors, Ed’s classmates still look to him for assistance. But he doesn’t consider himself a genius. In fact, Ed says, “I don’t even consider myself one of the smartest kids. I’m just more motivated” This kind of motivation may be what propelled him to sixth in the nation at a Denver chess tournament in fifth grade.

So who is Ed Strong? “Math Nerd,» he says. “That’s all it’s ever been. But it’s actually better now.”

As freshmen, this is the first year we’ve been allowed to play tackle football during lunch. For some, this is an exciting new way to have fun. For others, it is daunting. Ed Strong harbors no such fears. The sight of Ed running full speed at you with the full intention of body-slamming you to the ground strikes terror into the heart of even the toughest freshmen. Tavish Fenbert, a man among boys both on and off the football field, has fallen victim to Ed’s bone crunching tackles on multiple occasions.

“On defense, he’s the biggest man out there” says Tavish. “Lots of people keep telling me to go out for football” Ed says, “but my mom won’t allow it.”

Ed’s mother is his only family member as he was conceived via artificial insemination. When he’s 18, if he wishes, Ed can find out the identity of his father. For now, he receives male guidance from his uncles. Ed’s uncles introduced him to the Seattle athletic scene. They have accompanied him to countless Mariners games and aroused an enthusiastic passion for sports. Part of the appeal lies in the mathetmatical aspect of sports statistics. Back in the eighth grade, Ed would spend entire bus rides arguing about the value of WHIP, FIP, and other esoteric statistical measures of baseball performance.

Ed is partially color blind but this doesn’t keep him from experiencing the arts. He fills his creative void with music. Since the third grade, he has played flute and piano and in fifth grade, added tenor sax to his resume. “Music has made school much more enjoyable,” he says. “Eighth grade was my best school year in a while and I owe much of that to music.”

But what will the future bring for Ed Strong? Ed pondered the question for a few seconds, sat up straight, and craned his neck forward in his trademark style. “I hate that question,” he said.

“Maybe he was going to end up being my perfect husband, but now I’ll never know. I’m pretty mad,” says LeBlanc. This  story illustrates a trend of countless fake accounts set up on Facebook in recent months.

These fake accounts usually appear to be real at first glance-one might have mutual friends or their wall may be pretty filled out. Upon further inspection, however, these accounts usually boast outrageous material like profanity, revealing photos, or nonsensical rambling. They’ve been known to broadcast everything from harmless inside jokes to inappropriate pictures and cyber-bullying.

“Cassidy Butler” started adding hundreds of Garfield students in late 2009. She claimed to be a Garfield transfer student from Houston who just wanted to make some friends before moving to Seattle. Although many initially added her with no qualms and wrote friendly welcomes on her wall, people soon started to question the authenticity of her profile. The questioning quickly moved from “Are you a real person?” to “Who the f*** are you?” The select few who played along with Cassidy’s sexual jokes and commented on her photos had fingers pointed at them as the face behind this obviously fake account.

Garfield sophomore Toni McFall continued talking to Cassidy online for a few weeks “to get answers” and was later falsely accused of creating the account.

“People who I didn’t even know hit me up of Facebook calling me a lying bitch and asking me why I did it,” says McFall, who promptly blocked, deleted, and reported Cassidy Butler as a fake account to the Facebook administration. Later, some of Cassidy’s real Facebook friends in Houston confessed to Toni that they had made the account just to have fun and mess with people.

Zach Ward, ’12, teamed up with his cousin Joseph Ward who lives in Boston. The pair made a fake account saying that Joseph Ward was a junior at Ingraham who just wanted to make some friends at Garfield.  Although it was only intended for fun, this false account triggered a huge response among  friends, both online to “Joseph” and in person to Zach Ward.

“To me, people just act really confused and want to know if he’s real or not,” says Zach Ward, “but online, no one has any boundaries because … they will probably never meet [Joseph].”  In both instances, Zach Ward felt embarrassed and ashamed. “It escalated to something way bigger than I expected,” Zach Ward says, “It was just a joke to me.”

The majority of the fake accounts are for fun and don’t target people in dangerous ways. Most of the cyber-bullying starts as backlash towards the creators once they’ve been figured out.

“What irritated me most is all the drama this brought,” McFall says. “I lost a lot of respect for people at Garfield who believed every rumor and brought so much attention to this dumb, fake account.”

The last question for the Cassidy Butler case is: why choose Garfield? “I guess everyone wants to be a Bulldog,” says McFall

Drown your sorrows in self pity
This is the classic and most trusted way to ride out Valentine’s Day. Bundle yourself up in blankets and consume copious amounts of ice cream and hard liquor (mix the two for a Bombay milkshake!). Watch “The Notebook” or another romantic comedy that will further engulf you in what you can’t have. If you don’t have blankets you can keep yourself warm with friction and the lonely glow of your computer monitor. This method is ideal for individuals with low will power and little to no hope. After a long night of drinking and tear jerkers (yes it’s possible to cry while you do it), call up an ex-girlfriend and cry deeply.

Boost your self esteem with freshmen
Freshmen crave the attention of upperclassmen, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. Find an attractive freshman (or 12) and flirt with them. They will be lured in by your social standing and seniority like Max David by the human growth hormone. Hit on them just long enough to spawn a small giggle or a blush, and then vanish into the crowd, leaving them with only a memory of your presence. If you find yourself in the even more unfortunate position of being single AND a freshman, scope out a fourth grade talent show: they’ll be talented and just your size!

Have a bro’s night (or babe’s)
The perfect way to forget about the opposite sex is to surround yourself with your own kind. Have some good old-fashioned same-sex fun (minus the stained britches) and call up a gaggle of your closest buds. Rent a stripper or two and kick back. Ideal movie options are “Superbad”, “The Hangover”, “Mean Girls”, and “Bring It On”. Stock up on pizza bagels and protein shakes.

Videogames
If you’re like me, you have always had a little crush on Zero-suit Samus, and have always dreamt of being half the man Soap McTavish is. Video games offer a portal out of the real world like nothing else (excluding playing video games after doing “jenkem”) Nothing takes my mind off of my female failblog like calling in an AC-130 in Modern Warfare 2. After hours of gaming, retire to your mom’s basement and make yourself a Hot Pocket.

Don’t hate the players, hate the game
This is the preferred tactic for the argumentative type. Complaining ardently about the holiday will detract from other’s good time (kind of like a spell of drain mana). Use every opportunity you get to poke fun at the holiday. Start out with a few slaps about the holiday’s history, then kick its teeth into the pavement with comments like, “it’s way too commercialized.” If you’re really into this method, buy large quantities of V-Day paraphernalia and host a singles-only bonfire.

Hit up E-Harmony
Choose a dating or social networking website and create several alternate personas. For me it’s Bruce Walker: established fighter pilot who enjoys speed cooking and championship hedge-clipping. Select physically attractive pictures and create a fake back story, then let the games begin. If you really want to forget about your troubles, become mentally attached to your creation. You are the Batman of the online dating world: by day lonely high schooler, by night Enrique, Latin dancer and Lion Tamer.

Above all, don’t despair. There are always options.

With highlighter yellow, I mark the speech as though it is interview material, listening to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King’s voice in the back of mind while reading over it. I love the way he starts off. As humble as one could be, Dr. King begins with, “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.”

Envisioning the impact that his speech would have on the world, he speaks life to its reputation in confidence. Slavery supposedly being abolished, Dr. King paints the picture of reality,

“But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.”

Rightfully so, he magnifies the conditions of his people, my people, our people. Lies of society binded the liberation of innocent souls, captivated minds and murdered peace. So how did Jim Crow overrule the note, “This note was a promise that all men, yes, Black men as well as White men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Hell, Jim Crow wrote the note! So unfortunately Black men being guaranteed “unalienable rights”, wasn’t the case; often times promises and signatures seemed to have the sole purpose of telling the people what they wanted to hear. While to some that may be morally wrong, it didn’t matter because Negroes had no say, and their feelings, meant nothing, better yet, they didn’t exist.

“Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.”

Negroes have been broke ever since. Left with the maxed out credit card because there wasn’t enough for us. Along with insufficient funds, we were insufficiently humane, leaving them reason to treat us as such, even though freedom was declared and slavery abolished. Metaphorically, physical chains weren’t needed because hateful vernacular bonded spirits in itself, but faith and hope prevailed.

Black people are stereotyped as being violent and this is the key. “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”

Dr. King is like a coach in the locker room preparing his team for the second half. Only this game was never a game ’cause games end, and while this is life and it eventually ends, once a body is liberated, no bondage can bind its potential. At the moment of liberation, posture is altered and footsteps are made with a different beat behind it, with a voice of revolution, singing in a melody of intimacy. Simply making love to the modification of life.

“With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.”

So I end in this, my dream is that his will not live on in vain; that every descendant of every activist and enthusiast will continue to live in the dream of equality. Also, that Blacks keep the perception of a unified body, with the power the people of the Civil Rights movement contained; there should never be a reason for segregation within a race.

He had a dream, we are the dream, so let’s live it, breathe it and watch its life be everlasting.

I would never consider selling them online for double the amount I bought them for, or even consider trading them for a vintage make of the same pair. And I would never, ever wait in line for over three hours at the Bellevue Square mall for the latest release of Chuck Taylors.

But that is exactly what I did for the “Space Jam” Air Jordan XI, the most hyped up sneaker of 2009. For reasons I still cannot fully understand, I decided to accompany seniors Michael Haruta, Kenny Nguyen, Juan Sarmiento, and Avi Loud on their search for the infamous Space Jams, an adventure which traveled from Northgate Mall to Bellevue Square Mall, back to Northgate, to Nike Town, and finally to South Center mall. The search lasted over twelve hours, and many of the stores we waited in line at ran out of shoes by the time it was our turn. But as Kenny put it “we were not going home until I had my hands on a pair.”

The adventure began on the eve of December 23 as thousands of people like us flocked to strip malls and Nike Towns across America to snatch up a pair limited edition Air Jordan XI. The buzz had been steadily increasing for months, generated by sneaker collecting sites such asnicekicks.com and solecollector.com. Sneaker stores like Nike Town, Champs, and Footlocker had been planning and advertising their midnight releases for weeks, all anticipating a heavy turnout. Many shoe collectors planned to camp outside the store, but most just counted on showing up like us.

The highly popular sneakers received its title and claim to fame from the 1996 movie Space Jam which featured Michael Jordan alongside Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters. In the movie, Michael Jordan wore black on black AJ XIS with a purple “Jumpman” logo. They became the must have shoe of the 1990s, and were finally released to the public in 2000 with blue Jumpman instead of purple.

Kenny, who owns over thirty pairs of sneakers, remembers first wanting the shoes after watching the Space Jam film. “That was my favorite childhood movie, so I wanted to wear the same shoes that MJ did. Plus how can you not have Jordan’s with clear soles and black patent leather across the shoe? Their just plain sexy” he says.

The hype that had been building up around the Space Jams since the ‘90s increased even more after the first release however, due to the online buzz surrounding the shoe. In the mostly online culture of sneaker collecting, selling and trading, the Space Jams became one of the most desired shoes. Pairs that were in good condition could sell for more than three times their original value. Nike recognized the continued popularity of the shoe and decided to re-release it in 2009.

This was a good move on Nike’s part, for the lines in front of the downtown Nike Town were rumored to wind around several city blocks. The lines at South Center mall were anticipated to be equally long. The guys decided to hit the release at Belleview Square mall with the expectation that “all the rich eastside kids probably pre-ordered them online.” As we took our place at the end of the line outside of the mall entrance, we discovered that the release which was supposed to happen at 12 p.m. had been pushed back to 5 a.m. As we hunkered down to wait in the frosty December air (we weren’t even allowed to wait inside for fear that the crowd would try to rush the store) I noticed a certain uniformity among the crowd. The line was overwhelmingly composed of Asian males in their teens and early 20s, most of them sporting previously released Jordans. Some were flanked by their sulky girlfriends who looked like they would fight you if you tried to cut them in line. The exception to the mostly young Asian majority came in the form of a few Caucasian women, most likely mothers on a mission to buy Space Jams for their sons or grandsons. A group of Cambodian men in their early 20s ahead of us in line all sported identical red and black “Bread” Jordans, most likely purchased at a former midnight release. They looked like the veterans of the scene, and had been wise enough to bring fold out lawn chairs and sleeping bags for their grumpy looking girlfriends in anticipation of a long wait.

“I hate it when people wear their best stuff to releases” muttered Michael, referring to the streak and crease free Breads. “They probably keep them wrapped up in plastic in their closet and only wear them to these releases so they can look all fresh.”

Indeed, many of the shoes that are purchased at these midnight releases will only be worn one or two times by their collectors. Because the value of a shoe increases with time, many people wait five or six months to sell their shoes online for double their worth, turning their footwear into a source of income. Indeed, many people come to releases to buy five or six pairs in various sizes so they can sell them online later, not keeping a single pair for their own use. But none of the guys had the intent on doing business, only to get their hands on pair in their own size.

“I don’t collect shoes to sell because I want to wear all of them” says Kenny. “I wanted the Space Jams to wear, not just to look at. Their one of the best shoes out there.”

The doors opened at precisely 5 a.m., prompting a stampede across the stretch of mall toward the blazing Footlocker logo. There was no time for manners, causing the less aggressive to fall behind in line. We lined up once more outside of the store and watched hungrily as the Footlocker employees moved around boxes of Space Jams from behind the chain link security door. Keeping your place in line once the Space Jams became a challenge for everyone naturally gravitated towards the shoes. Spats broke out as people tried to cut each other in line. A young Chinese man egged his girlfriend on as she pushed ahead in line, a look of determination gleaming in her eyes. Maybe it was because I was tired and beginning to regret accompanying the guys to the release or maybe it’s just because I can’t stand line cutters, But something about her aggressive enthusiasm pushed me over the edge. Are a pair of shoes really worth throwing away 12 hours of sleep? Is it worth getting in a fight over? Has the world become so materialistic that we are willing to wait over night and spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes that are desired purely on the hype that surrounds it?

Apparently, yes it was. By the time it was our turn in line, it was past 6:30, and all the size 10s had sold out. The aggressive Chinese girlfriend’s enthusiasm had been curbed by my withering stares and she had slunk back towards her original place in line. Only one of us walked out of the store with a pair of Space Jams, in a kid’s size that was purchased for someone else. We had wasted over three hours waiting in line. Discouraged, but undefeated, we turned our focus to Northgate Mall where the Champs store was supposed to hold a larger supply than the Belleview Square Footlocker.

On the ride to Northgate, the pair of Space Jams was unwrapped and passed around the car for us to marvel at. “These are soooo icy” moaned the boys in unison, referring to the clear soles that made the shoes unique. To me they just looked like a pair of sneakers.

I slept while the guys waited in line for another hour and a half for a pair of Space Jams in their size. The line slowly inched forward as the other mall stores began to open up. Michael was the only one of us who walked away with a pair in his own size, so they rest of the guys decided to go the downtown Nike Town. I decided to go home. It was past 8:30 and I was dead tired. It was a fight to keep my eyelids open. I felt frustrated, and unsatisfied. I wonder if I would have felt differently if we had all walked away with a pair in our size. It was as if Nike had made the shoes nearly impossible to buy, the hype continued by the promising hope of coping a pair. Hype was what drove the sneaker collecting culture, and hype was what kept you wanting the next pair. That’s all that the Space Jams were based on; hype.

“Even though they’re a pretty nice shoe, after waiting in line for all that time I don’t even think their worth all the hype that surrounded it. That’s probably the last time I’m ever going that far for a pair of shoes” says Michael.

Kenny agrees. “I don’t regret going on that crazy adventure, because in the end I got my shoes, but I would much rather spend my money on something that’s worth it; food and fun.”

As for me, I’m planning on keeping my Chuck Taylors in use for the next four years. At least.

Luckily, one girl stood out from the crowd. Carmen*, the oldest Spanish girl at the camp, was 17. Within the first week, the linguistically-inclined pair found themselves alone in an empty corridor, à la Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley.

“We went to an empty floor of Hagget Hall,” Jake said. “We made out there for 15 minutes.”

The next day, Carmen abruptly ended the fling. She said there was “too much pressure,” and “too many people” knew what was going on.

“They [the Spanish students] came on government grants,” Jake said. “Our exploits were being recorded in the town newspaper back in Spain.”

While Carmen fretted about losing her grant and ruining her reputation, Jake nursed his wounds in the dorms.

“For the next two days, I was heartbroken,” he said. “I played a lot of guitar.”

From afar, he noticed that Carmen was paying a suspicious amount of attention to Rodrigo*, her guy friend from Spain. Yet she still insisted that the two were just friends. After Jake witnessed Rodrigo pinching Carmen’s upper thighs, he concluded that people in Spain are more intimate with friends of the opposite gender.

Jake and Carmen got back together toward the end of the three weeks. When they had to say goodbye on the last day, Carmen was upset.

“I thought this was just like a summer thing but she was sobbing and distraught,” Jake said.

Jake isn’t the only Garfield student who has learned about foreign sexuality first-hand. Many other Bulldogs have returned from trips abroad with newfound knowledge of international attitudes toward romance and sex.

Okoye Berry, a senior at Garfield who traveled to Cuba this summer, remarks that Cubans seem much more open about doin’ tha nasty than Americans and are sometimes so open that they have trouble remembering to wear clothes. As a foreigner in Cuba, he experienced the forwardness of some natives firsthand.

“‘You want sex?’ might be the only English words they know,” he said, “If you’re American, it’s like $ signs come into their eyes. They will [d]uck you in a minute, maybe just to rob you.”

It’s possible that teenage sex is less frowned upon in Cuban society because people come of age earlier; there a sixteen year-old qualifies as an adult. Because of this, late teens/adults have much more open conversations with their parents about (gulp) sex. Indeed, Cuban parents probably don’t rudely wait until their children are fifteen to explain that storks did not actually play a vital role in their births (unless your name’s Zoe).

However, it seems that although Cubans are much more comfortable discussing/having sex, a double standard similar to one in America still exists.

“Guys are always gonna get high 5s; girls get a kick in the [tush],” says Okoye.

A thousand miles away, junior Cally Shine has born witness to some Irish attitudes towards sexual activity. Cally says Irish boys tend to be very forward, at least with American girls. While staying in Ireland she received many flirtatious texts like “so you’re the yank.”

She says that although the older Catholic generations regard sexual expression more strictly, the dirty deed has become much more acceptable with younger generations.

“I think it’s a little more okay to be slutty in Ireland, from my impressions,” she says.

Cally has a cousin who became pregnant at age seventeen and an aunt who was incredibly supportive to her impregnated daughter. Another one of her cousins lost her virginity at the age of 13.

Rhonda*, a former Garfield student who now does full-time Running Start, traveled to Norway during her junior year.

“Relationships and the sexual aspects of relationships in Norway, at least to me, seemed a lot more respectful,” Rhonda said. “Granted, there are still many random hookups, but it became really clear that relationships are taken very slowly and there is a lot of patience regarding sexual activities. Also, I found it really bizarre that couples that begin in the last year or so of their high school are typically expected to get married.”

The dynamics of Garfield’s senior class would change significantly if couples within the class were expected to get married.

Some people explore the world; some people explore their sexuality. Students at Garfield explore both at the same time, and they have discovered with certainty that sex does exist in other countries.
*Name has been changed.

First and foremost, try to study! Tests are a lot easier when you know the material. About three to four days prior to the tests, gradually reintroduce yourself to everything you have learned thus far. Most people forget that mid-terms exercise your knowledge on everything learned since the beginning of the school year. Surprises on a test can not only lower your score, but also lower your confidence throughout the rest of the test.

Instead of studying, many students revert to “cramming,” something you should NEVER do. Jennifer Carson, Wellness Prevention Specialist and Stress Management Educator for McKinley Health Center, says depending on the individual, cramming can be harmful to a student’s health if practiced over long periods of time.

“Giving yourself necessities while preparing for an exam makes you feel relaxed,” Carson says, “It refreshes your mind and body.” This explains why Ms. Carson has heard some students becoming hyper and dizzy during exams due to cramming.

Another way to be on top of your game for a test is by getting a good night’s rest. Seven to eight hours is an ideal amount of sleep, as reported by Daniel Kripke of the Scripps Clinic Sleep Center in California. Studies show that both too much and too little sleep cause the student to become sluggish, making concentration is a lot more difficult. Hit the sack early if you want to run that test with ease!

Finally, the step that’s probably most important is making sure to eat breakfast and to take a snack to school. Breakfast foods are quite high in proteins that will give you the energy to take those tests head on. Since most students get hungry before lunchtime, bring something to school you can replenish your energy with. Hunger will then be one less thing to taunt you as you take your exam.

An exercised mind, a rested body, and a full tummy are all it takes to ace an exam. Do not put yourself in a situation to battle hunger, sleepiness, and dizziness as you take on a test. Instead, allow your mind and body to work with you, so you can take down that midterm, and deceive mom and pop into thinking you actually did work the whole year!

Best friends or casual acquaintances may not know the most trivial fun fact, why they were so callously stood up at the movies, or more commonly, who you did last summer.

Everyone will agree that if a party hookup happened with a slightly … unsavory person, they wouldn’t be the first to run through the halls screaming “I HOOKED UP WITH JABBA THE HUTT!”

But if the partner isn’t someone one would run away from in fright, and the hookup is less of a hookup and more of a longer-term “thing”, why wouldn’t the response be to strut down the hallway with said partner on one arm and confidently remark “I’m getting with that,” to the idle passersby?

Hayes Gorecki, ‘013, says that “they are embarrassed about what other people will think of them.” He explains that even if the other half is not unsatisfactory, there may be other reasons that keep the pair apart, including different groups, rivaling friends, and possibly even ex complications.

Some girls will sink their claws into men, imploring all their friends to keep their hands (and mouths) off, and thus labeling the man forever off-limits to that entire group.

Hoes before bros (or bros before hoes for the esteemed and very secure boys reading this article) is important, but sometimes the rule passes beyond reason. Without limits, soon precious few boys are left unconnected to many catty girls, and another reason to keep a relationship on the DL pops onto the radar.

A slightly more ‘baggy cause to sneak around is presented by Sedgwyck Chan, ‘012. “So you can get girls on the side?” he says. Whether that’s from experience or not – congrats Sedge, what a player – Sedgwyck says his secret fling went along with it because she went to a different school in a different city. That would make it easy to keep things quiet for sure, as in the high school scene most people are definitely all up in yo’ beeswax.

“People have secret relationships because it saves the unnecessary drama of other people getting involved,” Solana Rollolazo, ‘012, says matter-of-factly. “Honestly I think they’re a good idea, or concept in general. What’s you and your significant other’s business is between you two, not the entire social network.”

Excitement is another reason, as sneaking around and sharing a precious few stolen moments here and there is conducive to a higher heat level later on. There is also minimal risk of getting bored in the relationship, as just being together feels wrong and therefore oh-so-very-right.

There is a bittersweet note, however. Friends of the couples often get their feeling hurt as they feel untrusted and unimportant.

Rollolazo has been the friend in one such unfortunate situation.

“Once I found out, I felt confused why they didn’t tell me. Like why they didn’t trust me knowing.” So if the couple has really close friends they trust (and don’t want the wrath of unleashed once the cat gets out of the bag, which it inevitably will), telling them would avoid much potential anger and hurt. Just be sure to make it clear that if they blab, the fury of a thousand flaming suns will be unleashed upon them and their families.

Some, like handsome senior Zach Wener-Fligner, use secret relationships to raise their social statuses.

“I’ve had lots of secret relationships. I promise! The secret girls are all over me,” Wener-Fligner says. “Last summer, I had a super ultra-secret relationship with Jackie Montarbo. But she spilled the beans!”

We may never get to the bottom of this mystery, though the outstanding reason is best summed up in the wise words of Jonathan Frankel, ‘011.

“It’s because one or both of the people are pansies.”