Life is always changing, always moving, and always shifting. It goes from one concept to the next; never giving a care to anyone it comes across. It just keeps going without a care or anxiety. Life changes, that’s a fact.

It will even change before you’re ready. It will just move on and shift into something uncomfortably new that messes with your mind and body and agitates you even further and plays with your mind. Like a cruel child playing with toys, life changes your scenery, your life, and your security in a split second.

One day you’ll love what you have, and in another that will be gone and done with and you won’t have a clue where it is anymore or even if it’s the same as it was before. Universally, this affects everyone, from little things like changing your hair style or going to a doctor’s appointment, to having your life split apart by a parent’s divorce or your break up with someone you’ve loved.

All of these little changes affect us. Our bodies become fragile and frail, our minds become weak and they suffer, and our lives open up into a whole new world of insecurity, helplessness, and fragility.

We can’t stop the change though, even though we try to. We all try to stop the unstoppable, but it’s fruitless. We can’t ascertain the ascertainable; we can’t be certain while in uncertainty. What we can do though is accept the uncertain and learn what we don’t know. There are new experiences and adventures to explore and navigate through in the unknown territory we call “change.”

Why not learn about the new world you live in? Why not do the best with what you have, where you are? The best solution is not to wither and die because the never-ending cycle of change is out and about, but to accept life as it is. The only thing to do is to live with what you have and accept, even unwillingly, what has happened and what has changed and what you now have to do to cope with it.

Change is a general nuisance, or if you enjoy it, a life-changing experience for the better. The only thing we can do is roll with it, because change is a natural process of life. It happens, and we deal with it when it crops up. Nothing we do is going to stop it, so we endure and thrive with the energy we have and the things we’re given.

That’s how it’s always going to be.

Music is one of the main components of my life. It fuels me, it keeps me going, it helps me think, it helps me concentrate, and most importantly it helps put me in a better mood when I’m upset. It’s like a good friend or a lost puppy. And who doesn’t want a lost puppy?

But it helps a lot. It is the brain in which all of my energy stems from. If I get to listen to music, I am happy. On days that I can’t listen to it, I become a little droopier and I have a little less positive attitude towards things. Music is there for me when others aren’t, and it speaks to me like nothing else can.

It has messages and voices that express themselves through tone, tempo and rhythm. It has its own mind and soul and it is there for me when I need it.

This just doesn’t happen to me though. It happens to a lot of other kids. There are kids and adults out there that use music to express their anger or sadness or any other negative emotion. They use it as a conduit so they calm down quicker or easier.

And it really helps, too. Music understands us. It knows us more than we know and subliminally knows what to do to make us feel better.

See? Just like a lost puppy or a best friend.

So if no one’s around to make you feel better, or you don’t have a lost puppy or any puppy in general, maybe you should listen to some music and see how it helps.

Study for math test, science project due tomorrow, dance class after school, drivers-ed and read chapter twenty-three of To Kill a Mockingbird; these are just a few things that a teenager in middle or high school stresses about.

A busy schedule like this can lead to extreme stress. Stress is mental or emotional strain or suspense. Teens constantly stress about things they need to worry about in and out of school; the thinking process never seems to end.

Adults often say to teens, “Stop complaining; you’re only a teenager. You have nothing to worry about, you have your whole life ahead of you,” but teen life is the exact opposite.

Teens of today have plenty of things to stress about, even if they are only in middle or high school. The future is one of the main causes of stress on teens today.

Stress can cause pain physically, not just mentally.  Stressing too much about things such as school, the future, pressure to do drugs or drink, and the pressure to fit in and live up to others’ expectations can cause serious problems with the body.

Constant stress can lead to head aches, back pains, and stomach problems. Stress affects the blood cells in the body that fight off infection, causing a person to get sick.

The most change in one’s life is during adolescence, making teen years the most stressful time in a person’s life.

When a student gets sick and is required to stay home from school, the recovery time is doubled because when they are home all they do is stress about what they are missing.

Stress affects teens and adolescences differently than it does adults.

According to Sheryl S. Smith of SUNY Downstate Medical Center, “A brain chemical that reduces anxiety in adults has the opposite effect on adolescents, a new study finds, explaining why many teenagers are so touchy.”

Stress can cause teen irritability, anger, and rebellion. This can lead teens to things such as violence, which explains one reason why there have been a recent increase in fights during school.

Adults have different ways of handling stress, such as yoga and exercise. Teens are too busy to take the time and do things adults can do. Adults don’t realize how much schools have changed since they went. They don’t understand how different life as a teen has changed.

There is more to learn in school now that technology has changed over the years. With the advances in technology and new discoveries in the world there is more to keep up with.

This also puts pressure and stress on teens to fit in and be “popular” with their friends in and out of school.  There is always a new style coming out, and the prices keep going up.

Teens need to worry about money to do most of things they do. They even need money for school to go on school field trips. Some teens’ parents don’t have the money to just give for movies, new clothes and college.

Teens of today have more things to stress and worry about than adults do. Teens worry about school, friends, being “popular,” and most of the time all this usually has to do with is their future.

Teens are constantly told that what they do now and who they are defines what kind of future they will have, and that is true.

Teens have so much to do, and with their busy schedules their minds are constantly working. That’s why teens need to have a day here and there to just relax and stop stressing.

Tech Week: [Tek Week]-noun. 1. A sustained amount of time when a select group of actors, technical assistants (“techies”), directors, and assistant directors engage in the final, long week of preparation for a show or theater production. 2. A very strenuous time in a drama kid’s life, usually associated with uncontrolled shouting, break-outs of pimples, attempted school skips, the pulling of hair, the practice of witchcraft, loss of sleep, drowsiness, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, and diarrhea (hey, Pepto Bismol!). Synonym: Hell Week.

The description above isn’t far from the truth. This week is Hell. Sort of. It is basically Hell. That’s better.

But hell would be a very good synonym for this blood-pumping, hatred-inducing week because the stereotypical hell would be a Tech Week. Or that we’re all just a bunch of juvenile teenagers and wanted to call the worst week of the year something vulgar and cool. But that’s not the point; it just plain sucks.

It just happens so fast. It’s like the weather. It is fine one second; sunny, blue sky, fluffy clouds and a hint of laughter everywhere you go and then BAM. The sun melts into a pale moon and the blue sky turns an opaque grey and there are shouts of rage and disagreement everywhere while it’s raining disappointment upon every open mouth.

To me though, I don’t think it’s the activities and the things we get done during the week that make it so horrible. I think it’s the stress and the high blood pressures mixed with loads of caffeine. So that put into a combination sandwich of doom makes everyone very snappy and moody the entire week.

Not to mention we have to stay in the auditorium until 10:00 at night to try and get in every single possible ounce of time to create the masterpiece that is a high school drama production. We only have one week to do it and half the people there think we’re going to fail and not make it in time. Including the directors.

It just makes everyone tired and comatose and sleep-deprived so they fall asleep in school and do badly that week.

The drama department at Middletown High School always seems to love it anyway despite the large amount of time-consuming, energy-sapping work that is put into it. There is always the will to continue with the show and produce the best thing since sliced bread, which can never be reproduced by the way.

That and there are always high spirits as odd as that would seem. People are bouncing about on the balls of their feet dancing to the music to the latest song that is being practiced or kids are running around performing odd jobs for their jobs or positions while joking with friends and just enjoying the highly stressful week that is Hell.

I personally love the chaos. I love seeing everyone run around yelling and screaming and seeing the hustle and bustle of everyday, or last minute, theater life. It makes me smile, knowing that I am a part of such an event and knowing that I do things that are integral to the creation of the play (which by the way is “Grease,” come and see it)

It’s the thrill of the fight, the excitement of a show that is coming up and is almost upon us. It motivates us to do more and do our very best in what we are doing. I get through this stressful week by my friends. They are my life-support system for this week without all the annoying chirps and bleeps. They help me stay sane and relatively calm and collected like my usual suave self (that’s a joke).

I think that’s also what drives the show. The actors, the techies, the directors; it’s not the set or the idea of the show or the audience when they come and see it. It’s the people that participate in it. It’s the actors, one of the biggest parts of the show because obviously without them we would have no show, just a bunch of techies running around lifting things, which is a show nonetheless.

We have the directors, the adults of the play. They make sure that we all stay in line and act “mature” and make sure that the play goes as scheduled and that we all do things correctly and are able to put on a fantastic show. Plus, they buy us food on Tuesday.

And then, last but certainly not least, (and to me the most important “interchangeable-part” of the play) is the techies. We, as I am a light techie myself, control the play. Literally.

We have ultimate control over the livelihood, the progress and the remarkableness of the play. Without the techies, there would be no play. No lights to light up the actors, no sound to let you hear them, no outfits or music. The stage would be dark, the lights would be off, the sound would be off and the set wouldn’t even be built without us; the worker ants of our little colony give the fruits of everyone’s labor.

It’s the people. The people make the show. The people are the elements that make it move and speak and animate it. They are the heart and soul of the show and they are the heart and soul of Tech Week. They make it run. They keep it alive and going with every single day that goes by, it goes by because the people that are involved have the will to continue with what they have come so far to achieve.

This is the real definition of Tech Week.

On March 20, the health care bill, one of the most controversial pieces of legislation ever to face America, was passed by Congress and sent to President Obama. The bill has faced a months-long wait, dividing Americans across the country into pro-health care and anti-health care factions, and spurring heated debates about the subject nationwide.

Though the bill has been passed by President Obama, these factions will likely not disappear anytime soon; conservative Americans have still held on to their extreme dislike of the president, though he has been in office for over a year, and many Americans feel that the introduction of nationwide health care will ruin the country.

But the issue plaguing the United States is not how Americans currently feel about the newly-passed health care bill, but of whether or not the bill will be effective and worthwhile in the long run.

The health care bill was primarily introduced to offer health care to all American citizens. Finally, after 233 years of millions of Americans being denied health care services due to unfortunate circumstances, the government has realized that all living humans should be protected from preventable health problems.

Doctors, prescriptions, and other medical factors will finally be available to Americans in-between jobs that have previously avoided health care due to the cost. Single mothers that take on two or more jobs just to make ends meet will finally be able to provide health care for their children and no longer worry about affording medicine the next time they get the flu.

Of course, this perfect picture of an America filled with available health care for everyone is plagued with several issues. Most of the issues are concerning privacy; several American citizens are worried about how the government would force them to go to the doctor, and that they may no longer have the option to choose their own doctor or practitioner.

But these people are losing sight of the goal; this bill is granting health care to the entire nation. Several thousand Americans will be receiving care and medicine that they would not have received earlier. The passing of this bill has the potential to save countless lives of those who could not afford or were not eligible for health insurance in the past.

So maybe the government will be a bit more involved in the lives of Americans. Do the people of the United States truly believe that the beginning of nationwide health care, a service that will save lives throughout the nation, will begin a new age of fascism?

Americans are upset over the fact that the government may make them go to the doctor. They see this as a removal of their civil liberties, and fear that the government will begin to control their lives.

This should not be seen as an issue. What would be the point of nationwide health care if the nation won’t attend frequent doctor’s appointments?

A portion of the public is trying to find fault with the bill, and honestly are making a mountain out of a molehill over this issue; haven’t most people readily attended appointments after being told by their doctors that they need a check-up? The only difference between this circumstance of being advised by a doctor versus the government is just a matter of people involved.

The health care bill certainly has its share of issues that will need to be fixed. But the bill’s main purpose outweighs most problems the bill presents. The nation must focus on the goal of the bill; providing the opportunity of better health to all Americans.

In the next two years, Middletown High School is expecting to have a total of 12 to14 diabetic students, an increase of two diabetic students from this year.

With all the diabetics already in the school and with more to come, it became clear to MHS nurse Sandra Hoffman that more space was necessary in the health room.

Unfortunately, expanding the infirmary takes space away from the classroom of MHS social studies teacher Michael Desimone. Though the sacrifice of about five feet is negligible, the class has been forced to spend over a week outside of their normal learning environment while construction is going on.

“I requested [an expansion] last year, after Christmas, but it wasn’t really worked on until this fall,” said Hoffman.

Diabetics require a considerable amount of space, for their supplies and for room to test. Sometimes three to four diabetic students are in the infirmary testing at once. Ample storage is needed for each student to store their juices, water, extra needles, and for some, pumps.

“I have to follow protocol,” said Hoffman, “You can’t store [the needles and food] together because they could contaminate other supplies.  And you don’t want to attract critters.”

Space for storage in the old infirmary was minimal, and with a computer, cabinets and cots the room was unquestionably cramped.  Hoffman said that she had supplies “shoved up under the cots, to keep them from being stolen.”

Items have been stolen from the health room in the past, Hoffman said, but the larger health room will allow for better security.

Even with the many pros that come from a bigger infirmary, more space for Hoffman means less space for her neighbor.

 Desimone said that even though he had a “sense of pride in [his] classroom,” he did not have an issue with the expansion taking away a bit of his classroom.

It was not the change in size that posed the most trouble, but the time spent away from the classroom that disturbed teachers and students the most.

Students are used to a set routine and they generally do not like change. Generally, they like to come in sit in the same seat everyday and proceed with class.

During the renovation Desimone held his classes in English teacher, Debbie Leonard’s room 2^nd period and room 209 for the remaining periods. This also posed difficulties for the teachers when dealing with technology they weren’t used to.

When Leonard returned to her room after it had been used by Desimone she had trouble turning the overhead on.

“I didn’t know what cords they disconnected and connected.”

Hoffman also faced challenges because during the renovation she shared a small space in Deputy Smother’s office. So, she was not able to bring everything with her.

“I only took 1 cot, computer desk, mobile abbreviated diabetic cart, fridge with insulin, supply box with band-aids, tape, gauze, medication books, and treatment books.”

Even though Hoffman felt that Smothers was “very accommodating. Sharing the space,” the space she needed just wasn’t there.

It was difficult because her office contains a bathroom but in the temporary setup “if someone [needed] to vomit they [had] to go into the hall bathroom,” said Hoffman.

Regardless of the difficulties that occurred during the renovation, Hoffman and Desimone are back to their normal routine and everyone is content.

To compensate for the decrease in space, Desimone said changing his seating arrangement is all that he will have to do, “I’ll just put them in rows.”

 Now the infirmary is better equipped for the health need of all students. “We’ll have four more feet added onto the width [of the room], and we added an office to the front (about 75 feet), give or take.”

 In the next two years, with all the diabetics, the space will now be there to provide for them and each of their very unique needs.

“And it’s times like these when we all need to hear the radio
‘Cause from the lips of some old singer
We can share the troubles we already know.”

- “Sad Songs Say So Much” by Elton John

This song, written by Bernie Taupin and Elton John, really speaks volumes about how songs can help a person through hard times.

I could name countless times when Elton John and Blind Melon have helped me feel better emotionally, or have just helped me calm down after getting rather hot headed about something.

I find it amazing how much music can change a person’s emotional state. I can go from listening to Claudio Sanchez of “Coheed and Cambria” sing of all the pain and suffering he will bring, and switch to Cat Stevens (i.e. Yusef Islam) sing of love and peace. This dramatic switch is my typical listening manner, but when I am experiencing an extreme emotion I stick with one or the other.

Sometimes, when angry, I will listen to hardcore music if I wish to sustain my temper, or sometimes I will listen to soothing song, maybe even opera, if I wish to cool down.

Its just one of the best feelings when you feel a certain way and you listen to a song and the words describe almost spot on how you feel. It makes one feel like they are not alone as many of us feel sometimes and makes them feel like someone understands them.

People have their favorite people to listen to when they feel a certain way. I personally can listen to Elton John in any mood, and with Blind Melon it just seems like they’ve hit the nail on the head with the crazy emotions teens have.

For any emotion in the world, there is most likely a song to describe what it feels like; to describe pain, shame, joy, and insanity. So, in the words of Elton John:

“Turn them on, turn them on
Turn on those sad songs
When all hope is gone
Why don’t you tune in and turn them on

They reach into your room
Just feel their gentle touch
When all hope is gone
Sad songs say so much.”

Everyday I have to get my little brother from school. I have to walk my butt from my nice comfy house all the way to his stupid elementary school, and then walk back. And on the way back I have to resist the temptation to just start screaming.

Now, the inane temptation to scream isn’t because of the long walk in the cold or burning heat, but it’s that almost every single little child there has a cell phone; they’re just talking and talking or texting on them the whole walk back.

Don’t get me wrong; I love kids. But these kids shouldn’t have cell phones or texting or any other implement that goes along with a cell phone.

Why would they need them? It’s not like they have lives somewhere else in the world besides school and sitting in front of the TV melting their brains. They don’t have jobs, they don’t have cars so they can’t drive anywhere, they can’t go anywhere in the first place because of their age, restrictions and limitations, they don’t date or have emotional connections to other girls or boys their age – well, at least let’s hope they don’t, because then they might need their pituitary gland checked – and they basically don’t have lives in which they would need a cell phone.

A child doesn’t actually obtain a life that involves the use of a cell phone until at least high school, because that’s when they start to become more independent and start to go out and do things on their own.

It just sickens me to see the child population of our country be so defected and diseased by these little hand-held devices. It poisons them into thinking that wherever they go they absolutely need a cell phone, and that’s not true at all.

But that’s what’s happening. Our children are learning about a tomorrow that revolves around technology and cell phones, and they’re learning it from the most influential sources of all; their parents.

Our parents are the people who teach us, tutor us, grow with us, and are the people who we look up to every single day of our lives. We see them talking on cell phones and always having their cell phones wherever they go, and we see that that’s okay. Since they need them all the time, we need them all the time.

I’m not going to lie, I have my cell phone with me constantly and it’s always on and waiting. But I don’t live off of it; I don’t need it to survive. It’s not a necessity at all.

I just look around and see all these kids that seem to live off of their cell phones. These little, tiny, munchkin kids who walk around with both hands readily on their cell phones waiting desperately for their parents to text or call them.

Like I said earlier, it’s the parents who do this sometimes. They give the kid a cell phone because it’s easy to get a hold of them, simple to use, and cheap for them to pay for.

But what’s so hard about going to pick up the child or just being able to know where the child is most of the time? It’s like a tracking device for the parents’ laziness.

I just don’t see the point in giving something that technologically advanced to a child who hasn’t even gone through puberty yet, much less knows what a text is, and who probably hardly uses a phone to begin with.

It’s so pointless. I know I may seem freakishly redundant by now, and I know I am, but I just don’t get the point. Children under the age of ten at the least don’t need a cell phone at all. They just shouldn’t have one. It’s not productive and it’s useless for parents to be wasting their hard-earned money on a child’s cell phone, and it’s useless for the child do have it because they don’t need it.

The United States has the greatest health care system in the world. Anyone with a serious injury or illness has a greater chance of survival if they are in America.

Reforms are needed to keep the quality of health care in this country while making it more affordable for everyone. The Obama-care bill accomplished neither of these; the bill addresses accessibility and does nothing to control cost.

Compare the current state of health insurance reforms in Maryland with those of Obama-care. Obama-care promises health insurance to everyone, regardless of their current medical conditions, with community-based rates and requires everyone to purchase it. Small employers in Maryland have had these same provisions for sixteen years, and premiums are rising twice as fast as the national average.

Furthermore, Maryland already has a high-risk pool as required by Obama-care. For years now, any Maryland resident who has wanted health insurance could obtain it with no questions asked, so accessibility is not an issue in our state. However, we get to pay the increased taxes and fines levied by the bill to support the rest of the country.

Despite the ease of obtaining health insurance in Maryland, we still have 750,000 residents in our state without health insurance. Of the three quarters of a million without health insurance, one-third qualify for public assistance and don’t apply. Another third earn enough to afford insurance, but choose not to purchase it. The objective is to make health insurance more affordable for the one-third in the middle that earns too much for public assistance but not enough to afford converge on his own.

Health care reforms that do not address cost are irresponsible. Health care reform that works should include physicians, insurers, legislators, and consumer groups all working together to keep what works with our system and make health care more affordable for America.

Lately, the world has seemed to be in disarray. A tsunami has rocked the Hawaiian islands of Honolulu and Oahu, storms have raged across Europe, and icebergs are breaking off of the coast of Antarctica.

The world has been ravaged with natural disasters in the first three months of 2010 alone. But, while the earth may be breaking apart, the people of the world are coming together.

Countless charities, businesses, and organizations have teamed together, hoping to raise money to donate to countries affected by natural disasters. UNICEF has announced a plan to raise $3.5 million to aid Chilean children affected by the destructive earthquake that recently occurred in February. Yéle Haiti, a charity created by Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean, has also assisted in the plight by distributing over 400,000 gallons of water throughout the small island.

These actions may seem intimidating and perhaps impossible when looked at through the eyes of the average teenager. Many students worldwide wish to make a difference in the world by assisting in areas of devastation, but feel that such monumental contributions cannot be achieved by mere adolescents alone.

But the students at Middletown High School are no average teenagers. Together, the students raised an astounding $955.37 for Pennies for Patients, a charity that donates money to cancer patients, and several hundred dollars for the victims of the Haitian earthquake.

The students collected money for Haiti over a few weeks in two large buckets at lunch time, and have been donating money for cancer patients during their third block classes. The students usually donate small amounts at a time, but they have quickly raised large sums for the causes.

MHS students have really shown that they care about the causes. Other people might have used their extra five dollars to buy candy bars and gum, but the students at MHS willingly donated their cash to the victims of the Haiti earthquake and cancer victims instead.

The adolescents have shown care that not many in the world possess by their outreach to victims from around the world. The money raised will dramatically improve the lives of those affected by disasters after they receive the cash.

Middletown students have recognized that it is almost impossible for one lone individual to raise hundreds of dollars to influence a cause. But, together, they have the willpower and strength to change the lives of the devastated forever.