Year by Year - Let it Snow

As we finally approach our well deserved break, let’s glance back at the core memories that have been made through Semester 1, from our spooktacular Mactoberfest, to our dancing and prancing at the Sounds and Steps to remind us of how far we’ve come. Recalling our highs and lows, it’s valuable to cherish the memories we’ve made throughout 2022, but also to look towards the future with spirit. Here are the views of Anna (Gr. 9), Berfu (Gr. 10), Kailey (Gr. 11), and Amaya (Gr. 12).

What is one holiday classic you will watch this winter break and why?

Anna: “The movie ''elf,” and the nutcracker ballet.”
Berfu: “Home alone because it’s the best movie ever.”
Kailey: “Probably Coraline. Idk I watch halloween movies during christmas (I know plz dont judge)”
Amaya: “I will be watching Scrooged, it's my mom's favourite and I've always loved it because of how the 'moral of the story' type thing wasn't crazy cheesy and was actually very uncomfortable and hilarious. It's an all time great Bill Murray movie.”

What are a few New Year's resolutions you are planning on manifesting or choosing to let go of?

Anna: “I want to be better with time management, and spend more time with my family. I also want to let go of paranoia.”
Berfu: “Probably get more organized.”
Kailey: “I tend to not make New Year's resolutions since I never follow them; but if I had to prob sleep early!!!! (like around 10:30 pm)”
Amaya: “In the new year I'm definitely planning to take better care of my body and be more mindful of my health. When I get intense weeks of school work, sometimes I neglect my own health too much and it's really important to do better, so I definitely want to take better care.”

How will you embrace “The season/spirit of giving” this winter break?

Anna: “Spending a lot of time with my family I don’t get to see often. Also, I want to make a gift for the guy that plays guitar in the subway every morning.”
Berfu: “Not sure.”
Kailey: “Embrace? bro im ready to collect free food from everyone B) (jk, spirit of giving I just give ppl my mental support since I got nothing left - i'm broke ;-;)”
Amaya: “Everybody says that the holidays aren't about gifts but I absolutely love gift giving. I love using the holidays as an excuse to give my friends gifts that I know they'll love. Things relating to inside jokes, and stuff they have been talking about throughout the year. It's so nice to see their reactions.”

When you think of a Winter Wonderland, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Anna: “Snow and lights in Canada’s Wonderland.”
Berfu: “Snow.”
Kailey: “Alice in wonderland? (idk its really random)”
Amaya: “When I think of winter wonderland it's all snowing and I think of hot chocolate. All the stereotypical holiday/winter things have always been so much fun to me. I love embracing the season.”

(How) do you plan to prepare for culminatings and exams over the break?

Anna: “I printed a million worksheets of ICS that we did over the semester and I plan on going over them over the break. But, I also want to give myself a break since I will have dance and school in the New Year.”
Berfu: ”I’m probably going to catch up on other assignments before going into culminating assignments and maybe study for exams.”
Kailey: “I love how you used the word prepare.... it's more like "procrastinating" and gaslighting yourself into thinking you'll be fine after the winter break even though you know full well you’re not.”
Amaya: “For me, even though I'm in grade 12, because of covid I've only had 1 semester of exams, so I'm a bit worried that I don't know how to prepare. I definitely want to be diligent. I'm going to use the break to make a schedule for all of January and cover different sections of units. I have 3 exams this semester, all stem courses, so I'm going to take advantage of studying with my friends to make sure I properly understand.”

Name one way you have or have not changed throughout 2022.

Anna: “When I started high school (so that's a slay), I feel like I’ve found a good group of friends, and I have been drinking a lot more water than I have in my entire life.”
Berfu: “I’ve matured and music taste stayed the same and I started to spend more time off my phone.”
Kailey: “One thing I have not changed: getting my hours of sleep!!! I never slept past 12am and I'm trying to keep it that way :)”
Amaya: “For me personally so much of my life changed drastically this year so there's no denying that I've changed a lot this year too, but one way I definitely haven't changed is knowing when to advocate for myself or others. I think being a nice person is not always the same as being a good person and I've always done my best to prioritize the latter. I'd rather know I treated someone good, if nice isn't necessarily the right answer.”

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