If anything to have people skills, should be a top priority everyone should strive for. 

We are all going to have to work with people who we may have a difference of opinion with, but it is still imperative that we learn how to coincide with each each other and learn to agree to disagree.

In the real world, there will be many people who will get under your skin, especially at your job, but you just can’t lash out at everyone because it might leave you out of a job. There are plenty of ways to be diplomatic, prudent, and mature in these type of situations. For example, you can simply ignore and avoid the person or just simply pull them to the side and talk to them in an appropriate, mellow manner.

Remember, not every battle is worth fighting, so pick your battles carefully.

Overall, it is important to learn how to work with others and develop people skills because throughout all of our lives, we will work with all types of people of different backgrounds and we must know how to present our attitudes towards each other.

We must start practicing now so we will know how to coexist with others.

So here’s a list of the ten most annoying songs you hear on the radio:

1. “Bad Romance”- Lady GaGa
2. “You Belong With Me”- Taylor Swift
3. “Bedrock”- Young Money featuring. Lloyd
4. “Empire State of Mind”- Jay-Z featuring. Alicia Keys
5. “I Invented Sex”- Trey Songz
6. “Hotel”- Pitbull
7. “Forever”- Drake featuring Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne, and Eminem
8. “Single Ladies”- Beyonce
9. “Tik Tok”- Kesha
10. “Party in the U.S.A”- Miley Cyrus

      This year, have you noticed that people are starting to dress more and more alike? Common trends like colored skinny jeans, apparel from stores like Forever 21 and Mohawks are taking our school by storm. Leaving us with the question, “Is individuality still alive?”

      With over 2,200 students attending Gahr High School, it would be nice to see everyone’s own creative individuality.

      Recently, eight students were interviewed about their own personal style.  Shockingly, fashion creativity is at a greater high than ever. There are many varieties of fashion which students here at our school express.

      One in vogue student, Michelle Gregory (12) says she uses her clothes as a form of expression in order to differentiate herself from others. She gains her inspiration from music and singers such as Amy Winehouse. She has a self-described earthy and grungy flair.

      It is important to have your own individual style, so that people will be able to see who you are as a person. The way you dress not only shows your creativity, but your personality.

    “I want my style to let people know that I am outgoing and unique. I like to stand out. It is important for me to have my own style so that I can express my great personality!” Gabby Da Silva (9) said

      It is possible to still look great, while setting yourself apart from others. Instead of shopping at common stores in the mall, you can find affordable and one of a kind clothing in places you least expected.

            “Only wearing converse tennis shoes. My goal is to not look like everyone else while maintaining my ‘untouchable swagg’,’” Isaiad Bloomfield (9) said.

       It is important that we all express ourselves as individuals because we are all wonderful in our own way. Stand up and stand out!

 ”We run differently from other clubs, we don’t care about attendance and dues, we just care about getting people and having fun,” Cristine Bakke (12) said.

 Meetings usually start with 10 minutes of worship (singing) followed by an activity, personal sharing, and Bible study. Youth Alive has visited nursing homes

and has recently went on a picnic. They are currently planning additional community service opportunities.

 “It’s about time that there is a club like this,” said Daniel Mayoral (11).

The president, Bakke goes to homeless shelters to help and serve the less fortunate while the vice-president, Nikolai Ilagan, has just finished a mission trip to the Philippines to minister to other youth and children.

 ”It’s pretty laid back. Our focus is to lead people to Christ on campus and everyone is welcome”, Elliot said.

Basketball is known for being the hardest working compared to the rest of the sports on campus. Is this a true statement? Some people think it’s hard to believe.

“The hardest thing we do at practice is doing the skill work.” Coach Becker explains. They have drills where they jump up to a high point and squat down to the lowest point. “Run. That’s the thing that we do the most.”

I know some people may have a counter opinion with this. People may think that track and cross-country is the hardest working sports because they run a lot more than basketball, football, baseball and any other sport but yet again, they don’t have jumping drills and weight lifting nonstop. Everyday I see half of them after school sprinting across the campus and the other half of the team is squatting out dumbbells under the scorching sun.

Football is about players making plays on the field. Baseball is about a player that needs to hit the ball in a certain area in order to go to base to base to score. Volleyball is where the team volleys the ball back and forth trying to get the opponent off guard.

 Basketball is completely different. It is a team sport where they get the ball to several different areas to have an open man to get the opponent offset.

 There’s a lot of talk that basketball is not the hardest sport for many reasons. “I don’t think basketball is not the hardest sport because I imagine that you do more conditioning and running in soccer.” Maria Garcia (10) said.

“Yes, because you have to be aggressive and learn more about it.” He says. To me, basketball is the hardest working sport because there is a lot more to it then just running. They have a lot of conditioning to do. They also have a lot of exhausting drills to strengthen their muscles such as leaping up and squatting down.

“No, I think baseball is the hardest working sport because baseball practices all day, everyday, all year to get better and get bigger, faster, stronger.” Joseph Velasquez (10) said. “No, because I think soccer is a more aggressive sport.”

 Anything more drills that you can name, it seems like basketball players do that five times more. It is not only just keeping their muscles strong, but they also need to be mind strong. If you have a different opinion, then go to their practices just to watch. You’ll be tired just watching them. You have no idea how bad they workout. They use every ounce of energy. They went to CIF playoffs last year and I have a good feeling they will go again. When they practice, they make sure that they almost use every single muscle in there body.

Basketball is the hardest working sport compared to any other. They work hard and play hard. Then they show it on the court.

 I’m not saying it is not real, but it is not a “mature” relationship either.

 Although the feelings from a teenager to another might be true, it’s still young and not as mature as future relationships.

 I do not disapprove of teenage relationships because I believe they are quite helpful.

We are able to feel as much as adults can and we need those life experiences also.

Teenage relationships are a part of life.

Sure, you make a lot of mistakes, but you learn from them, because we are young and have more time to get the whole relationship thing right

If we did not have teenage relationships, we would make mistakes we are making now as young adults, making it harder for us as adults to cope with a mature relationship.

Many teenagers would agree with me.

Most teenagers nowadays know more about relationships than some adults.

So I think that teenagers should be allowed to explore with other teenagers in the form of a relationship.

To widen out experiences, to live life to its fullest, but to have the sense of responsibility not to go overboard and make mistakes you cannot learn from and you will regret for the rest of your life.

Teenagers should have the freedom to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend.

It’s not fair that they spend their time and money making a movie for it to get ripped off by people who are too cheap and too lazy to go see it.

Personally, I feel that the money should go to the people who deserve it the most because after all, it’s their job and they have to right to get their well deserved money.

Put yourself in their shoes. Wouldn’t you be mad if you worked hard to do a movie and in the end, it doesn’t get its fair earnings? Wouldn’t you be mad if you didn’t get paid? If you had a job and you got cheated out of your check, wouldn’t you be upset?

Overall, bootlegging is illegal and it is a crime. It’s unbelievable how something so wrong and illegal can make such a huge profit and honestly the people buying are no guilty than the people selling.

It is probably evident to everyone that aiming for something drastic like not drinking any soda for a year or planning to lose 30 pounds is rarely is accomplished. At the beginning of the year everything looks good, because the gyms are crowded and people are starting to eat healthy. But 2 months into the new school year, people are cheating on diets and the gyms are back to normal.

Sometimes people do not even last through January. After making a resolution to lose weight, you end up going to the movies and getting popcorn, because it is the usual thing to do and blatantly disregarding all hope of following through with your mission.

So save yourself the ink from your favorite pen, the paper, the time, and the disappointment, and do not make any resolutions this year. Even if you promise yourself that you are going to accomplish your resolutions this year, why put yourself through more stress on top of the stress the school year brings.

Even though resolutions are a good way to get rid of bad habits, try to make small, monthly goals instead of making a big goal that lasts the year.

To see the other side of the story, go to: New Year Resolutions are Useful

Certain resolutions can be goals, like getting a new job and further your career in life. I know that my past New Year resolutions have made a huge impact on my life for as long as I can remember. Accomplishing them gave me the ability to do basically everything I set my mind to. For instance, growing up I struggled with grades, but my New Year resolution was to achieve much more higher grades than the past and over time, it has happened with patience. For me, setting New Year resolutions were the best idea because those resolutions are equal to goals and have done wonders in my life, regarding habits.

To honestly speak, they’ve made me blossom into a much more outgoing, laid back, and most importantly mature type of person that I am today and I can truly say I am satisfied. When people think New Year resolutions are “Stupid” they should think about how much of an impact it can affect you as a person. To me, resolutions are a great way to start off the year and improve your lifestyle.

To see the other side of the issue, go to: New Year Resolutions are Pointless

Like all artists, Ji had to get her inspiration somewhere, and that somewhere was from anime shows that she had seen growing up. She has been drawing since she was 13 and has not stopped since.

“I was inspired by watching Pokemon and Sailor Moon and wishing I could create something that good,” Ji said.

Among her inspirations, she was also inspired by the works of Shilin Haung, whom is famous for her online web comics and fan arts.

Ji strives to improve her art skills in both traditional and digital art styles.

However, aiming for the big leagues in animation is not Ji’s plan for a career and art remains just a hobby.

“I’m not looking to go pro or anything, so I’m comfortable just sticking to the basics,” Ji said.

She strives to improve her art skills in both traditional and digital art styles. Ji’s artwork will be up for display in public this summer.

“I will be at Anime Expo 2010’s Artist Alley along with a few good artist friends of mine,” said Ji.

Until then, her art can be seen in The Gahr Forum as well as on her website, http://www.iiely.mangabullet.com.