About Chinese New Year by ED

Chinese New year is on January 29 each year on the Lunar Calendar. Chinese New year is a holiday to celebrate the New Year. It’s not just celebrated in China but celebrated worldwide.

On Chinese New Year in China you're supposed to wear red, clean your house so you dust away bad luck from last year. You're also supposed to avoid negative words and not use scissors. For food you usually eat dumplings and noodles. You eat noodles for Happiness and Longevity. Dumplings are a symbol of wealth because of how it’s shaped like an ancient Chinese gold ingot. Another tradition on Chinese New Year is Dragon and Lion dances which are performed to bring prosperity and good luck for the upcoming year.

Chinese New year is also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. Chinese New Year lasts about 16 days. A tradition on Chinese New Year is to set off fireworks because in China fireworks are used to drive away evil. Trading Red Envelopes is another tradition on Chinese New Year. You trade Red Envelopes on Chinese New year because they are symbolic of the giver's well-wishes for the recipient.

The Story Of The Beast Nian. In ancient Chinese mythology, there used to be a terrifying beast that lived under the sea named Nian. Every New Year's Eve Nian would go to Chinese villages at night to eat people and Nian liked little kids the most. Villagers were afraid of Nian until one day an old man came to the village and told them that Nian is afraid of loud noises and the color red. So that New Year's Eve, People in the village wore red, hit drums and set off fireworks and when Nian Came to the Village that night, it was scared and ran away and was never heard of again.

That’s why we wear red and set off fireworks when it’s Chinese New Year.

HAVING CONFIDENCE by AS

Something I think is a thing that kids and adults should address is having confidence. Having confidence means you can walk into a room wearing something other people don't think looks good and not care because you like it. It means when the teacher calls on you in class you can raise your hand and give answers. Having confidence also means that you know that the answers you give will not always be correct and you acknowledge that fact.

In everyday life having low self confidence is not a good thing. If you have low self confidence you are less likely to do things you think are the right thing to do because you will end up questioning your own judgment.

On the other hand being overconfident is also not a good thing because you can come off as rude and it will look like you think you are better than anyone which will make people not want to be around you.
So if you shouldn’t be overconfident but you also shouldn't have low self confidence either, then you have to be confident right? But what is confidence exactly? There are a lot of answers to that question but confidence is when you feel sure about your actions and when you believe in yourself. Overconfidence is when we believe in our abilities too much and we lose sight of the fact that we are not always right. Underconfidence on the other hand is when we don't believe in ourselves enough and we question our own judgment.

I know that sometimes I'm overconfident and sometimes I’m under confident but I know from personal experience that having friends to help you remember your place or remember just how much you can do really does help

Sometimes you might have a lot of confidence for a few particular things and not as much for other things, and that's totally okay! You don't have to know everything but you shouldn’t think you know nothing either because you know enough!

QUOTES TO ENCOURAGE

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you someone else is the greatest accomplishment - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The most beautiful thing you can ever wear is confidence” - Blake Lively
“With confidence you have won before you started - Marcus Garvey

No pineapple on pizza by JL

(do not feel offended)

54% of Americans dislike the thought of having the pizza, they say that the sweetness of the pineapple does not taste good next to the salty flavor and the sauce. Personally, I believe that cooked pineapple on a pizza with meat is a recipe for disaster and that this combination is both horrible and not Hawaiian. Next the creator of pineapple on pizza, Sam Panoppoulos, was an immigrant from Greece that moved to canada made it as a marketing ploy and didn't ever try it before putting on the menu and said after he liked the combination in the pizza, that's what everyone hates, and even the president of Iceland. Lastly the controversy has lasted through and through since 2017 when it was most well-known but it has been happening since it was created in 1962.

Peer Pressure by SS

Something that I care a lot about is understanding peer pressure. Many people experience this everyday without realizing it. Peer pressure is hard to understand, but it’s a part of everyday life. People that surround you influence you in many different ways, both good and bad. Over time it can create positive and negative impacts on your health.

Peer pressure is extremely persuasive, and it’s hard to say no. People want to fit in with others, but a lot of the time, it backfires. For example, it can cause someone to change their personal style of clothing and force them to spend unnecessary money. Many people think that fitting in will keep them happy, but it normally does the opposite. It can make people upset and worried that something they love or like is hated by others.

Peer pressure can also have serious effects on your health. For example, if a lot of people smoke you might think that it would be better to join them. This can cause serious problems in the future. A popular saying is, “if your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do that?” This saying shows that peer pressure is dangerous and also hurtful.

Of course peer pressure can be used to a positive effect. For example, it can help motivate your friends who are a little too nervous to do something. It can help kids stand up for themselves and trust themselves more too. Peer pressure can be used to help others believe in themselves and make them feel welcome and happy.

Saying no is hard but essential to deal with peer pressure. It could cause you to lose someone you care about which is hard but important for your health. Even though someone pushes you to do something, you should always know you have a choice. It is up to you if what they are offering is right or wrong for you. You should always trust your gut feeling because it normally tells you if something is off or wrong.

A place that has a lot of good examples of peer pressure is in a middle school. For example, kids might threaten you to give them something in exchange for keeping a secret. Sometimes some kids might bring others down or push them to give up what they believe in. Some people might even bully others to fit in or to make them feel strong and in control of things.

Peer pressure doesn't only happen in person, it can also happen online. For example, people can make hurtful comments on others’s posts. This can be hurtful and also lower their self esteem. People can also convince you to do a “prank” that could put yourself and others in danger or trouble. Others could also try to get personal information by making up lies, such as this website is completely safe.

Finally, the point I am trying to make is to trust yourself. Every day, people will try to change something about you no matter how old you are. Know that you don’t have to appease everyone and as long as you are doing something that you enjoy, that's all that matters. Just know that no one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes, and it is completely normal, all you have to do is stay true to yourself.

Sources
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/niaaa-middle-school/peer-pressure;
https://www.stmichaelscollege.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Guide-for-Parents-Peer-pressure-online.pdf

Change My World by NA

I boot up my controller, get some snacks, and delve into the world of Super Smash Bros. My room is filled with music and color, not just from the game but from my environment.

I could just stay here forever, but unfortunately, life isn’t like that. If life was as logical as a game, then the world would be a better place.

I’ve realized that the world could use some fixing, and if nobody’s going to do it, I will. I’ll make the world my utopia. Nobody will stop me.

Road Construction by LN

Road construction is very annoying. The road has to be under construction for so long. Like, hurry it up, people! It doesn’t take 6 months to fix a road! Another thing: Pick ONE road, FINISH the project, THEN pick another road! Someone has to get it right once in a while. It’s not rocket science, only road science. It’s not even science! It's a simple thought. Thinking that some people need to use the roads would be courteous. Instead, they leave the closed signs up just to be mean. NOT COOL! Well, if I’m being honest, it’s not just road construction. I see outside my house, (since there is construction by my house,) that one person does all the work, and the others are just on their phones. They get paid to be on their screens! How is that fair? My parents go to work and would get fired if they got caught doing that. All of this “Oh, we’re special and perfect and we can get away with it” is just crap! It’s so annoying, and it HAS to stop! Also, by my house, there are about 5 roads under construction that have been under construction for 2 months so far, and not much is even done. There’s a car wash and dog groomers that’s been under construction for the same amount of time and it’s already done. It’s unbelievable. I hope it gets fixed soon, or my parents and I will probably complain to the company! This had better get fixed, or I’m going to go MAD. I’ll end up in a mental hospital because of road construction! File in the troops… It’s time to take charge! World War 3 will now begin! Justice will be served.

Equal Rights For Women by VRM

Have you ever tried to join a group or game but have been rejected because you are female? That’s happened to me. When I was younger I would try to join football games at recess, but the boys would say that I couldn’t join because I was a girl and I was weak. But if I’m being honest, I was probably stronger and faster than most of the boys there. In the fifth grade, I was put in a group with all boys for a project. The boys gave me the easiest part of the project and didn’t let me add anything or suggest things for the project. When I asked them why, they said it was because I was a girl.

What happened to me probably isn’t as bad in comparison to what has happened to other women. Take Shirley Chisholm. She tried to run for the democratic nomination to become president of the U.S. in 1972 but faced resistance because she was a woman, and she was African-American. When people try to publish pieces of writing, sometimes they get rejected because the material isn’t what the publishers want. That is perfectly normal. But sometimes people don’t get things published because they are female. And that is exactly what infuriates me. People don’t realize how difficult things can be for women and girls. People portray women as weak and that “They belong in the kitchen.”

Think about jobs too. If a man and a woman work the same job, sometimes the man will get paid more than the woman! And they work the exact same job! Sometimes it goes deeper than that, like if the man got a raise and the woman didn’t. But usually it’s not. Even in sports women still get paid less even if the female version of the sport is more popular than the male version. Take the WNBA for instance. According to the website Statista.com, the average WNBA salary was about $103,000 for this past season, but for the NBA, it was about $9.4 million. And the difference between the numbers only gets bigger when you look at top-tier players. Player Diana Taurasi makes about $235,000 a year compared to Stephen Curry who makes about $52 million this upcoming season.

Once when I was in 6th grade, I got dress coded just because the tiniest sliver of skin was showing from under my shirt. The teacher who dress coded me said that it was distracting for other students and told me I had to pull my shirt down further. I still cannot believe that that teacher would dress code me for something as stupid as that. The same thing happened to my friend that year, but her situation was much worse than mine had been. The teachers went as far as to send her home to change. At the elementary school I used to go to, tank tops and spaghetti straps were banned. I obviously understand that sometimes girls can go a little far with clothing, but tank tops should not be a stopping point. Girls should be able to wear the clothing that they want to wear, without having to worry about getting sent home to change or getting in trouble for what they are wearing. Boys on the other hand, never seem to worry about that kind of stuff. There was this one boy in my grade who had tucked the bottom of his shirt into the top of his shirt like a bikini, and he was just walking around the hallway! No teachers tried to stop him! So boys can get away with it, but girls can’t?

In conclusion, boys and girls, men and women, should all have the same rights and rules. Girls and boys should both get in trouble if they do the same thing wrong. They should all be paid the same money if they work the same jobs, because look, JK Rowling is a woman, and she is just rolling around in money. Francoise Meyers is also a writer, and she has an estimated net worth of US$94.9 billion. Women should not have to live a life where they are bossed around and depicted as a weakling and a maid. Because women are people too. And all people are equal.

Global Warming by AS

Saying global warming is a big problem would be right, but what causes it? The answer is us. Humans. People. We are the reason our world is like how it is and we can be the reason that it becomes how it was again. So why don't we do it? It's really simple actually. Our own ignorance is the reason that we have not taken action. It is true that many people believe that global warming is an issue. And it is true that there are people working to stop it but there are more than seven billion people on earth and most of them are contributing to these issues by polluting the planet. Some people are ruining the earth unintentionally. They pollute our planet because they think global warming is a government hoax!!! It is not. We have to take action against global warming or else it will end badly. The reasons that global warming exists in the first place are varied but a few big ones are that we are cutting down too many trees, we are releasing harmful gasses into the atmosphere, and we are polluting the planet with toxic waste and garbage!

EFFECTS

Global warming brings warmer temperatures unnaturally which changes weather patterns and is risky for life on earth. These temperature changes cause changes in rainfall patterns which result in more severe storms that occur more often in some regions. In other places water becomes scarcer. Droughts stir sand and dust storms that move billions of tons of sand across continents. Because of this deserts are expanding and people have fewer places to grow crops. That along with the threat of not having enough water is truly a big risk for humankind. Other than that, global warming can impact human health because it makes water and air quality worse. It also causes sea levels to rise which is dangerous for communities near water and underwater and coastal ecosystems. Also as humans we release carbon dioxide or co2 into the atmosphere and breathe oxygen in. Algae is one of the earth's biggest sources of oxygen and by polluting our oceans it causes algae blooms which are not good for the earth or its people.

IT HAS TO GO

Global warming isn't going to disappear on its own. It really wont. We can't sit idle and expect somebody else to swoop in and do all of it because the truth is that it is just too big for one person to solve. Or even a large group of people. They can help but they can't do it all. Everybody has to help. Not one person. Not ten people. Not even one hundred-thousand people can do it. EVERYONE should help. You don't have to own an electric car or change your entire lifestyle. The absolute easiest thing would be to just recycle! Like, seriously. You can stop reading this essay, grab some recyclable things, walk over to a recycling bin, and put them in. it's literally that simple.