BRYNN KEUDELL:
Still Waters Run Deep
Everyone has a quiet stage of life. A time where they feel more peaceful, aren’t as busy, and can just be. But some people live like that daily: Quiet kids. It’s something I’ve noticed since kindergarten. I have also observed how those kids are treated. I consider myself somewhere in between silent and loud. Quieter kids are usually stereotyped. Most people consider them nice, smart, kind, sometimes a little weird, and socially awkward. But I can’t help but wonder what’s inside their head? Where is the hidden part of their personality? Do they like school? What are they like around family? Who are they under their polite, kind personality? It takes a lot of self-control to not judge, blame others and still act like a saint. How do they do that? It seems like most keep-to-themselves types have a strong faith life, so is that the root of their quietness?
When talking with kids my age, I hear them often mention how they wish they could be as smart as a quieter person. But is that because talkative kids share all their confusion about assignments, making them look dumb? Whereas shy kids don’t share their confusion, making them look smarter by comparison? I think this is a high chance.
The other thing I’ve noticed is how underestimated certain shy types can be, more so if you haven’t known them for very long. A common assumption is that quiet kids don’t go past being quiet. That they don’t have depth, personality, and are boring to be grouped with. On the contrary, I think less talkative kids have lots of hidden talents and sides to them, but don’t wish to share that with everyone. Another norm for calm kids would be that they are very nice. Once in a while, a kid who is typically silent will remark or say something a little rude, and I’ve noticed my classmates’ surprised reactions. For example, one time we were doing a group project and were discussing a question. Then a quieter girl made a funny comment and everyone laughed. It showed her personality, and after that, she seemed more confident because people liked her and understood her better.
I decided to write about this topic for my blog because it is something I’ve had lots of practice observing. Next time you meet a quiet kid, don’t make an immediate assumption about them just because they keep to themselves. There is a lot beneath the surface.
ZOEY MCCLENDON:
A Mouse in the House
Inside my house, there are mice. It is probably just 1, but it could be a whole family; all I know is that there are mice. My cat, Moose, has been staring up at a small hole in my kitchen ceiling for about a month now, and from the moment she started doing it I knew something, probably a mouse, was up there. I honestly just ignored it for a while, since I didn’t like the idea of putting a trap up there to kill it. The mouse had most likely only wanted to come inside for warmth, since it’s starting to get cold outside again. I don’t think it entered our house to scare us. It just wanted to live safely, and it doesn’t deserve to be killed for that.
My mom recently noticed the hole in the ceiling, and despite the fact it’s been there for over a month, she believes it only appeared a few days ago. I have told her over and over again that it’s been there for a while, that it’s what Moose had been staring at for so long, but she refuses to believe me. Now she wants to set a trap to kill the mouse, but I don’t want the mouse to be killed. I have seen tons of people safely catch mice and set them free in fields so they won’t find their way back into their or another person’s house. I have tried to tell her countless times how I don’t want to kill it, but she doesn’t like the idea of just trapping it. She thinks I want to keep it as a pet, and although I would honestly love to, it is a wild animal and deserves to be set free.
The mouse situation has gotten me thinking about it a lot. Why is it so normalized to kill the small animals that wander into our homes? They don’t harm us at all and are scared of us harming them. Plus, mice are cute animals that are a somewhat common pet. If you go into a pet store, there is pretty much a guarantee that there will be mice. Sadly, mice have a lot of stereotypes that aren’t even true. Lots of people say all mice carry disease, and although they can, mice are actually super clean animals and so they rarely do carry diseases (you have to be more careful with rats because they can carry a lot more dangerous diseases than mice). I have also seen some people say that mice have a routine for cleaning themselves that is a lot like the skincare routines people have! Actually, mice have a brain super similar to people’s brains and are super smart animals, which is why scientists often use them for so many kinds of tests. They are pretty cool once you get to know the facts!
Mice are very agile creatures. They are great swimmers, climbers, and jumpers! They can also get through super tight spaces with ease. They are also mostly nocturnal because there is barely any danger at night. Mice usually live close to a food source because they eat very often despite being so small. Despite them living in one spot and hiding all the time, they are actually super curious animals and love exploring new smells, sounds, and objects! Their curiosity makes them super active and lively, which is probably the biggest reason people get mice as pets. They are super social animals and it is best to give them a friend or two, if you ever decide to get one. Overall mice have lots of fun qualities that make them great pets! I would personally love to have pet mice, but I also understand why it’s not for everyone.
Back to my mouse problem…my mom and I haven’t really talked much about it. It is probably because we just got so busy and distracted with other stuff that we forgot. I haven’t thought about it too recently until last night when I was thinking about this blog, but I do believe the mouse is still there because Moose still sits in the kitchen looking up every night. I am hoping that soon we can catch the mouse and set it free, because we don’t want the mouse to start a whole family. I plan on bringing it up to my mom sometime soon because it is a problem that needs to be dealt with. Hopefully she will let me try my safe trap to catch it since it can be put together super quickly and made with stuff at home. It’s also a better option than having to go out and buy a trap that you have no guarantee will work. At least my idea is free (if you don’t count that you might need to buy peanut butter and vegetable oil, but we already have those things). It would be nice if she let me try the trap, but she doesn’t even want me to get up in the attic where the mouse is. Until we can deal with the mouse problem, I will be stuck with a mouse in my house.
ACE SANGSTER:
The Child-like Cruelty Of The Collector
Hi, I’m going to be doing an analysis of a character from The Owl House by Dana Terrence known as The Collector, who first formally appears in the second season of The Owl House so spoilers ahead!
The Collector is probably one of my favorite characters, probably my second favorite with the first being Hunter, but if I were to discuss him, 90% of this would be incoherent words of excitement at his very existence. Anyway, The Collector: Allow me to set the scene for you… Luz has recently destroyed her only way of getting home— the portal door —in a fight with the big bad of the series, Belos, she is now trying to figure out a way to get home without the portal door, and just as she seems to be losing hope in there even being a way back home, her friend Amity tells her about there having been a human in the boiling isles in the past named Philip, just like Luz, but apparently he managed to get back to the human realm. After some trouble, Luz and Amity find his diary, but it has been eaten by a type of rat; however, this rat is special as it can basically project snippets of the book it has eaten, and in another episode Luz learns of The Collector and how it seems whoever this “Collector” is could help Luz get home. Throughout the rest of the episode, they use time magic to meet Philip in his time and soon learn he was a horrible person, using Luz and her accompanying aunt Lilith as simply a sacrifice to help him get his hands on The Collector who is now shown to have been imprisoned in a peculiar disk like thing, and Philip seems to be planning to free him.
So, we’ve briefly been introduced to The Collector, less so introduced more so knowing of his existence and his potential power. There is already commentary to be made about him; he’s been trapped away so viewers know he might be dangerous, especially since Philip is after The Collector, which helps set the scene for the next time we meet him. It sets our expectations as something powerful and likely dangerous while also keeping it mysterious, which is why it’s rather surprising (and scary) when we find that he acts like a child when we next see him.
The next major time we see The Collector he is shown in his shadow form, I would like to talk about this character design of his shadow form for a moment: In his shadow form he has the ability to project himself onto the walls in almost any shape and form he would like, this ability is used to highlight his playful, child like personality, he uses this ability in a way that mimics shadow puppets, cartoonish 2D shapes, depicting things and scenes through a childish lens, and –of course–through shadows! However, this ability also allows him to project over walls and multiple times over anything: He could curl around you and swallow you whole in dark, shadow puppet-like shadows; this form makes him not just childish, but larger than life, intimidating, and villainous in design. This form of The Collector portrays his character very well, childish and harmless at first glance, but intimidating and powerful on a second take, this perfectly encapsulates the true character of The Collector as he is a child given god-like powers and that idea in it of itself is horrifying, but I’m not here to tell you he’s terrifying and intimidating, I’m here to tell you why.
The Collector reminds me a lot of the original Peter Pan book; the most famous iterations of Peter Pan portray it as a story celebrating the wonders of childhood and wanting to stay a kid forever, but in the original book one of the main themes is the cruelty of children that comes hand in hand with innocence; in fact, I believe not only hand in hand but the innocence and cruelty of children is the same; the reason why these two seemingly opposite traits are actually the same in children is rather simple, actually, and I’ll explain it through The Collector. One line in particular helps demonstrate this concept: “So? Toys break all the time? You just fix ’em” in Season 3, Ep. 3, “Watching and Dreaming” –this line is in response to being told that people could die and get hurt, the purpose of this line is a chilling confirmation of his lack of understanding and even knowledge of death, this proves The Collector’s innocence and even how it is the very cause of his cruelty. He is so careless with human and witch life because he doesn’t even know how fragile life is and how it can be gone with a single wrong flick of his powerful, god-like fingers.
Taking this into account, imagine how he felt, watching Luz, one of the few people that genuinely tried to lead him into the right direction, wanting the best for him, practically disintegrated with him in her arms. He asks desperately where she went and now, finally understanding death, tries to save everyone else. This scene was heartbreaking for me and finally cemented his character as a misguided kid. This whole character analysis has built up to this one ever important scene as it was this scene that made me fully realize something: The only thing that makes The Collector a “villain” is his access to power. Let me say it again: the only thing that makes The Collector- one of the most iconic, powerful, layered villains –a villain, is his access to power. The Collector is just a kid, any other kid plays pretend and plays much more “violent” games, but the collection was also isolated, wrongly accused, imprisoned and misled, then he was given access to god-like powers where he can move the moon without even thinking much about it, let alone trying.
I love The Collector so much because he demonstrates the susceptibility to evil and cruelty all kids have while also proving his cruelty is from his childish innocence. The Collector is just a kid that wants to play some games, not even understanding the hurt he could be causing. I love how layered and well written The Collector is; I can write over 1100 words talking about him and still have more to say. Unfortunately, though, this is getting rather long and a touch repetitive even for me, so thank you for reading through my rambling about a show meant for ages 7 and up. Maybe at some point I’ll write another 1100 word essay about another show for kids
Work Cited
“Watching and Dreaming.” The Owl House, created by Dana Terrence, season 3, episode 3, Disney, 8 April 2023.
EMILY SMITH:
Smith Love
I doubt that most people have seen my whole family, so I’m going to tell you about them and who they are. I’m going to be telling you about/describing my family because I want you all to know why I love my family so much. Which is why at the end of each description of my family, I’m going to be saying why I love and appreciate them a lot. I’m going to be describing what they look like, starting with my mom. My mom is just about the same height as me. I’m usually a smidge taller than her when I’m wearing shoes. A few things about the way she looks are that she has short, brunette, wavy hair with some light brown and blonde highlights. When you see her hair, she usually has it curled, but her natural hair is wavy. My mom has blueish-green eyes that almost look like the color of the ocean. She has dark brown eyebrows and eyelashes. She is usually wearing light and dark brown eyeshadow on her eyelids with a bit of shimmer. If you see her during the week, she will usually be wearing the outfit she wears to work, which is black slacks with a nice top or a sweater. She would also be wearing shoes with a little heel on the bottom. My mom is the sweetest person and the best mom I could ever ask for. She is always there for me and has watched almost every single one of my volleyball games, and if she wasn’t there watching it, then my dad was.
My dad is about 6’0, so he is taller than me. Unfortunately, I will never grow past this, so I will never be taller than him. My dad has very short dark brunette hair and doesn’t have a beard or a mustache. He has dark brown eyebrows and extremely bright blue eyes that don’t have any green in them; they are just blue. His eyes also kind of look like the color sapphire blue, but a tad bit lighter. If you see my dad during the week, he will most likely be wearing a blue or gray plaid button-up shirt. He will also be wearing a pair of blue jeans and dark brown work boots. My dad will probably also be wearing a greenish-greyish hat that says Freres on it. My dad is very funny and the best dad I could ever ask for. He is also very empathetic, and he goes to all of my games that he can get to. The games that he doesn’t go to, he is at home watching my siblings.
I have two siblings, a sister and a brother, but I’m going to start with my sister. Her name is Claire, she is 11, in 6th grade, and in all probability 4’11. My sister has short, in-between, wavy, and straight natural strawberry blonde hair. Also fun fact, out of my entire family, she is the only one with reddish-orange hair. But anyway, my sister has blonde eyebrows and eyelashes, and she also has blue eyes. She has freckles on her face, but they aren’t very visible in the fall/winter, but are pretty visible in the summer. My sister is good-hearted and friendly, and I love to practice volleyball with her at home. But she can also be very irritating and frustrating to me and my brother.
My brother’s name is Ethan; he is 9, in 3rd grade, and is about the same height as my sister. Ethan has short, dirty blonde hair and eyebrows. He doesn’t have any freckles on his face. My sister is the sibling who has the most. My brother has ocean blue eyes, but they are a bit darker. If you see my brother, he will definitely either be wearing pajamas or shorts and a t-shirt. When he is at home, he really likes to watch YouTube, play video games while Facetiming his friends, and drive four-wheelers. Occasionally, he will ask me to play football or soccer with him, but it’s not very often.
My family is the best family I could ever ask for. I love and appreciate each and every single one of my family members. They are all so caring, thoughtful, cheerful, compassionate, etc.. My favorite things to do with family are when we have get-togethers with my whole family, especially when it’s on a holiday or someone’s birthday. I also really like working in the field and occasionally moving pipe (when I have to carry the lighter pipes) with my dad, my uncle, and my grandpa. In conclusion, I love my family so, so, so much and could never have any better family than the one I have right now.
LIL ZUBER:
snoitseuQ
What I’ve noticed from observing people starting at a young age to now is that there are a lot of personalities out there, and they all have so many questions that they need answered. When I hang out with my friends, there are always questions. When I hang out with my family, there are even more questions. Especially at school, there are questions. Everyone has questions, and not everybody has the answer to them. Questions are everywhere and are caused by everything, so I know I can’t stop all of them from being asked. The main thing that I think is the most annoying about them is the number of questions being asked during a certain time, or about a certain thing.
The questions will come at the most random timings, too. I was watching a movie the other day with my siblings, and one of them had tuned out the world and was fully invested in the movie, eager to see what would happen next. The other one is staring at the TV like it just said the most absurd thing you can think of, and ended it with a party. She was asking me every scene, “Why did they start the movie with a logo?” “Why did you laugh at that?” “Why did they start singing just now?” “Why did they say that word? It doesn’t make sense.” “Why did they have this actor star and not that person? They’re looking at that other person weird.” I hear these things every single time I watch a movie or TV show. Then, when I’m baking or cooking, “Why did you do that?” “Why did you turn the oven on?” “What does this do and why does it smell like that?” I get that my family, friends, and a lot of people are just curious and like to ask questions to understand. Except when the answer is right in front of you and you ask me for the tenth time, it gets a little old, and I may just stop answering your questions.
The average number of questions is impossible to find because every single person asks so many. The thing is, lots of the time, the answer is right in front of their face, but they are too lazy to look for it or think about it. They just want a simple, quick answer from someone who has already put in the work of finding the answer. Sometimes I wonder if people even want real answers or if they just like the act of asking. It’s like asking is part of how we connect to people. Still, it can be exhausting to be the go-to “answer person” all the time. I catch myself repeating the same explanations so often that I feel like I should record them and just hit the play button. But at the same time, I’ve realized that asking questions is a sign that someone is engaged, curious, or just wants to talk. Maybe it’s less about the answer and more about having someone to think things through with. And honestly, even though it drives me a little crazy, I wouldn’t trade those moments for silence, although sometimes silence would be very welcome.