Makenzie saw all the shoes lying on the field, and she immediately envisioned a school wide shoe drive with hundreds of pairs up for donation. That night, Makenzie, her mom and her brother, freshman Brett Jordan, searched on the Internet for an organization that would help them.

“I wanted to do this because I want the less fortunate to have more chances in life,” Brett Jordan said.

After finding a number of credible nonprofit organizations, the Jordans led the drive from April 4 to April 12. Instead of using another company, the siblings established “Shoes for Athletes”, their own nonprofit organization. The siblings reached out to charities that wanted to participate in the drive, got collection boxes and made 500 flyers to put up around campus. They intended to collect at least 200 pairs of athletic shoes and split them among different charities including Mission Skid Row, Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles Women’s Center and Soles 4 Souls which donates shoes to third world countries.

“I think what really inspired me to hold the drive is that it is really an opportunity to share the joy of competitive sports with those who would otherwise not be able to participate. I also hope the drive will allow them [Peninsula students] to experience a strong sense of compassion for those around them who are in need,” Makenzie Jordan said.

Makenzie hopes her brother will continue the drive after she graduates.

“I am excited to continue this in the future, but maybe just to switch things up, I could change the shoe drive to a hat drive or something similar,” Brett Jordan said.

In a school like Peninsula, where academic excellence is the norm and high standardized test scores are expected from the entire student body (our API has risen almost linearly in the past seven years), it seems at times as if book smarts are much more common, and to some extent, promoted, than street smarts. In an effort to get into colleges with brand-name recognition, students often sacrifice their social lives in order to find time to cram in that one extra prep class, to take one more AP course, or to form and “lead” one more extracurricular activity.

However, in reality, how many students on our campus, if left alone, would be able to operate sufficiently on their own for a day? A week? A month? In particular, of the seniors, many of whom will be heading off to college in a few months to live alone, how many right now know how to perform essential tasks like doing the laundry?

In high school, so many students are sheltered from the harsh realities of the world around them, and they effectively lose (or rather, they never gain) the ability to handle themselves responsibly and maturely in potentially compromising situations. In college, where alcohol is much more prevalent, where drugs are more easily accessible, and where parental guidance is virtually nonexistent, many students have difficulty in coping with peer pressure.

The question then arises: How prepared are students for college? It’s one thing to be able to solve differential equations or analyze critical reading passages while sitting in a classroom, but it’s an entirely different story to successfully live independently in a new environment. It is not unheard of to hear stories of college freshmen coming back home because they were unable to handle their newfound independence and the freedom that comes with it.

Colleges have started taking the initiative in this nation-wide problem. According to Ken Park, an admissions officer for the USC Marshall School of business, “we look not only at the extracurriculars but how it is communicated in an interview.” Colleges are now starting to seek students who have developed social skills, whereas in the past, they searched for students who exhibited academic superiority. One of Stanford’s essay prompts even calls for students to write a letter to their future roommate, which forces kids to look intrinsically at their social habits.

In the end, common sense really isn’t that common, especially in academia. In an effort to develop a higher GPA to get into a better college, students too often sacrifice the chance to develop social expertise or learn how to take care of themselves.

“Years ago, getting a single bad grade or a few mediocre grades did not cause undue harm to one’s record and future, but now students can get stressed out over the damage of a single ‘B,’” UCLA Psychology Professor Robert Bjork said.

Modern day students face fierce competition. In 2013, average Ivy League acceptance rates dropped to a mere 7 percent. Academic rivalry has also been on the rise, and students go to extreme measures to stay at the top.

“It’s hard to learn with such violent competition, because kids care more about getting good grades rather than absorbing the information,” said sophomore Carlo Paez.

But what drives a student to such extremes? For some, the need to be accepted into the most esteemed universities is a matter of personal pride. For others, a flawless report card helps boost their self-esteem.

While self-confidence is important, students who strive for such great achievements for the sole purpose of feeling superior is not right mindset. Pressure to be the best tramples individual creativity, and, in turn, creates a society of mechanical robots rather than free thinkers.

Education is a luxury and a privilege. Students should want to learn out of curiosity and a hunger for knowledge. A student with a lack of genuine desire to learn won’t go far.

Stress and monotony dulls the promise of young adults. In only a few years, these adolescents become the next generation of adults, responsible for the future society of the country. If their motivation is lackluster and misguided, they will burn out and be devoid of passion.

“Learning how to learn is a huge asset,” Bjork said. “We are becoming increasingly responsible for our own learning, not just during the years of formal schooling, but across our lifetimes.”

“I spend a lot of money on clothes and it is not fair for me to whine about how expensive the AP tests are if I am spending my money so carelessly,” junior Katie Cha said.

Students who cut down on frivolous items will have an easier time paying for testing fees. Furthermore, if a family meets the minimum budget requirement, they qualify for a fee waiver.

“The amount of financial aid given is based on the Expected Family Contribution, a calculation that takes into consideration family income and assets,” scholarship and financial aid adviser Teri Koyanagi said.

In addition, $93 now is a small price to pay for what are essentially four semester units at a public university, which costs an average of $8,244 a year, according to CNN.

With the cost of a college tuition rising dramatically in recent years, this figure will only enlarge.

Rather than complaining about the seemingly high price of an AP test, students need to understand the long-term benefits that these tests provide: benefits that are exponentially more valuable than the new pair of shoes in the store window.

Tighter requirements for membership must be implemented so that the dedicated few are not adversely affected.

ASB, Peer Leaders Uniting Students, Link Crew and the future Service Learning Leadership are the four leadership groups on campus. Link Crew hosts 100 members.

“The reason that all these leadership classes were created was because so many students have wanted to be a part of something,” Activities Director Season Pollock said.

However, this desire to be involved it is not always fueled by a need to take part in the community. Rather, membership attracts many students who simply want to join for an addition to their college applications.

“The growing number of students who are a part of leadership programs makes [membership] less impressive,” junior Amelia Frejie said.

Some organizations face problems because they host lukewarm members. Prospective student-journalists may join entry level journalism without completing prerequisites. Consequently, too often editors are saddled with reporters who cannot write well. Science National Honors Society offers membership to students in good academic standing who complete courses that many students here take anyway. The requirements, only two science classes, are minimal.

Inclusive organizations cause student members to be spread thin and not fully devoted. This slack results in greater breadth but less depth.

By enforcing rigorous entrance requirements and capping enrollment, members will be motivated to be dedicated and committed.

The illusion that this risk is increasing can be attributed to the heightened coverage that media outlets give disasters.

Students, with their multitude of online accounts, profiles and pages, are constantly bombarded with major news coverage. Whether it be through BBC’s Twitter page or the front page of Reddit, society is focused on inundating the populace with tragic news. It is overwhelmingly difficult to escape the persistence of national reporting.

Media outlets aim to make people more aware of their surroundings, but constant updates of disasters hardly help people feel secure.

“It makes me feel less safe,” senior Patricia Pan said. “After Sandy Hook, everything seemed to escalate in terms of violence and the rate of violence.”

Media outlets, instead of glamorizing tragedies, must take the emphasis off violence when covering crime and disasters.

“Viewers internalize these images and develop a ‘mean world view’ or a scary image of reality,”  a study called The Mainstreaming of America: Violence Profile No. 11 said.

Inflated coverage leads impressionable people to get ideas from what they see. Patterns throughout history show that the likelihood of copycat events has increased. For example, from 1983 to 1986, a sharp influx in the number of subway suicides in Vienna was linked to a dramatic increase in their coverage.

Political Research Associates attributes surges in media coverage of crime and drugs to the augmented attention it receives from officials and politicians. For example, CNN’s coverage of the tragic Boston bombing spiked total viewership by 194 percent compared to viewership from the previous week.
To mitigate the effects of this phenomenon,  screen time given to violence must be decreased and media must instead take the high road.

I can safely say I never anticipated having this attitude. For three years, anything familiar to me only reminded me of how much I wanted to leave the area. Getting as far away as possible was my goal. This was not out of resentment, but out of a desire to fulfill my potential and quell my curiosities. I grew bored of my high school responsibilities, which seemed so trivial compared to the world of possibility out there.

Such imminent change, however, has provoked a complete juxtaposition of my original feelings. For example, positions for next year’s newspaper staff were recently released. Though I was thrilled for all the new leaders, a wave of intense sadness washed over me. I didn’t feel ready to give up my position just yet; as silly as it was, I had thoughts of staying on as a super-senior of sorts.

I’m not expecting many underclassmen to understand my nostalgia. I wouldn’t even have understood it a mere eight months ago; this is a state of mind whose onset can only be provoked by the threat of parting. Nonetheless, I advise everyone to appreciate their time here to the fullest extent. Life in Palos Verdes may seem tedious now, but it is important to acknowledge that these people and this place have all played an integral part in shaping us, and that’s a beautiful thing.

As a sophomore, Griffin applied to the LA Phil Composer Fellowship Program, a two-year program that gives four high school students from Southern California the opportunity to compose pieces for the LA Philharmonic.

Each participant was required to compose a piece for the orchestra to perform on April 13 and 20 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The orchestra also performed Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” a suite inspired by different paintings. Similarly, Griffin and the other participants were taken to the Museum of Contemporary Art prior to the concert to compose a new song based off a self-selected painting.

Griffin was drawn to “Untitled (The Cry),” a black and white painting with a zip of solid white down the middle.

“Because of the contrast between the pure white and the black, the brush strokes looked very incomplete and hurried,” Griffin said. “It suggested action, drama and conflict.”

Griffin completed his composition during Winter Break. And before the subsequent rehearsals, Griffin met with former conductor of the LA Phil, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Samuel Adams, son of the current composer-in-residence of the LA Phil. In these meetings, they talked about the more practical side of the industry.

Griffin plans to double major in East-Asian Studies and Music Composition at Stanford. He hopes to receive commissions from orchestras in addition to performing. Griffin is also interested in researching Korean music, after watching the film “Suhpyunje” two years ago.

“When I watched my first Korean film about traditional Korean singing, it was the first time I listened to authentic Korean music,” Griffin said, “Nowadays, tonality and beat are added to it. I want to expose what Korean music actually is.”

“I think it is [becoming] very trendy for not just students but also adults to think that they can skip seeing a doctor by going to the Internet for medical advice,” Keller said.

But the inability to see a doctor at a moment’s notice combined with the convenience of a quick Internet search are two leading factors in the trend. Freshman Yoon Kim does not have to worry about the hassle of searching for a doctor since his mother is one, but said that he understands why self-diagnosing is done.

“American hospitals are very expensive and insurance costs a lot, so I do believe that it is more convenient to go to Google and search up the [symptoms],” Kim said.

Still, students and adults can easily misdiagnose themselves, causing them to believe that the ailment they do have is much worse than it is.

“You can have all sorts of misinformation and diagnose yourself with all sorts of terrible things when you might just have a common cold,” Keller said.

As people misdiagnose themselves online, ‘cyberchondria’ sets in, the anxiety that occurs when one reads an alarming diagnosis online.

“The Internet is not always a reliable source,” Keller said. “Anybody can put anything they want up on the Internet.” Keller notes that students will sometimes visit the health office mistakenly believing they have a grave illness.

“Sometimes [students] will come [to the office] and say ‘I think I have the …,” Keller said. When she asks the student why they believe they have a particular illness, Keller notes that the reply is often, “I’ve looked it up on the Internet.”

“Usually, we talk about it, and [the sickness] is usually not what they think it is,” Keller said.

Freshman Julianna Higa admitted that she has on occasion diagnosed herself using online sources, but does not take the online diagnosis too seriously.

“Sometimes I think [the diagnosis] is an overreaction,” Higa said. “I just tell my parents that I think that something is wrong… and that I should go to a doctor.

Keller does not believe that the Internet should ever be used to diagnose oneself, and recommends that if something is bothering a person, he or she should visit their doctor. However, the Internet can be used as a helpful resource.

“There is not a positive with self-diagnosis,” Keller said, “[but] the positive with the Internet is that when the doctor tells you what is wrong or if they have given you a medication, you can educate yourself and learn more about what the doctor has told you,” Keller said.