Category Archives: Student Features
Student feature stories written by LHS student journalists.
http://www.mortuary.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1028265/airman-survives-war-torn-youth-in-africa/Veteran’s Recognized in Cyrus Irish Auditorium
Lowell, MA- LHS Reserve Officer Training Corps recognizes military Veterans today in the Cyrus Irish Auditorium in observance of the Veteran’s Day national holiday tomorrow Friday, November 11.
Young and Passionate
By Janelle Kelleher
Lowell, MA- Rarely, a young, intelligent girl has it all planned out. But it is possible. One LHS student has a passion for surgery.
Nickolaine “Nikki” Encarnacion, a 15-year-old LHS sophomore, has her entire life planned out. Nikki has recently moved to this City this past July from New Jersey.
As a child in Passait, New Jersey, she played as a doctor. This game of dress up turned into something more serious when she later decided that she wanted to become a medical surgeon. Nikki enjoys the thought of helping people which is what inspired her to become a medical surgeon.
Nikki said, “It’s funny. I don’t like doctors at all, but I just have the spirit for becoming a surgeon.”
Nikki’s aunt, a role model to her, inspired her to become a surgeon. She became a doctor later in life.
“My aunt is a role model because she was able to become a doctor as an older student,” she continued.
Music with meaning is also interesting to Nikki.
This girl is open minded to all types of music as long as there is a good message to the songs. When she is listening to music with good meaning, it allows her to relate on a more personal level. That’s when she can make a stronger connection with the tunes.
Family Comes First
By Lil Patrylo
Lowell, MA- One Lowell High School student chooses family over everything. Stephane Silva, Brazilian woman empowered by her ROTC training, cares for others and wishes to selflessly help them.
When posed certain what-if scenarios, Stephane expressed care for others and love of her family over selfish interests.
One person dear to her heart is her grandmother, who on her last day on earth, Stephane would travel back to Brazil to bid farewell. Stephane also chose her family when given the ultimatum to save either her true love or her family.
When asked what she would do with a million dollars, she would help another country in need and give the rest of the money to charity. Another selfless act declared by Stephane.
On a free day you’re likely to find Stephane watching Grey’s Anatomy all day possibly eating her favorite food, lasagna. On her bluetooth speakers you might hear her favorite music which is country and Brazilian music.
One thing that Stephane has learned from high school is that she doesn’t care for other people’s opinions and can be anything she wants to be.
She’s also not one for material looks and she cares more for the value of people’s character. Staying true to her distaste for material looks, on average Stephane only takes about five minutes getting ready every day!
Moving on with life, prospects of college scare her due to the bills and the loneliness of being away from family by herself. But she seems strong and goal orientated as her ROTC training indicates. There’s a good chance her anxiety is in her head. Stephane hopes to go far in this world.
Stephane formerly played volleyball, lacrosse, and violin, but they remained merely childhood hobbies. Along with childhood hobbies, her favorite Pokemon character is Pikachu!
Stephane is a lover of the color green, and is against the look of socks and sandals. If given the choice she prefers pen. She uses an Apple phone.
But most of all, she is a lover of her country. When asked if there was something about her that deserved recognition, she responded her Brazilian nationality.
Stephane Silva is a stellar student who cares deeply for her Brazilian family and background but also for others.
A Teenagers Dream of Service
By Chhanraskmey Chhoun
Many LHS seniors may be confused about what they want in high school, but this senior knows what she wants to do afterward.
Sunlyna Chhoun has her head wrapped around helping the people.
Sunlyna, a bright 17-year-old senior, has been thinking about her future for a long time. As early as childhood she knew that she would like to some day work for people as a civil servant. A civil servant is a person who works for government to help the community.
She is currently enrolled in her high school’s JROTC program. Sunlyna wishes for this program to lead her into the civil servant career path that she has dreamt to pursue since childhood.
The Lowell Police Academy, a summer program in which she worked over the summer, trained her to teach youth about leadership and aiding others. It reinforced her focus on civil service.
Sunlyna also shared her aspirations and inspirations.
She had a knack for helping people as a young child, Sunlyna said.
“I wanted to be a lot of things,” she explained, “ I wanted to be a cowgirl, then I wanted to be a doctor, then I wanted to be a firefighter, then I wanted to be a police officer, now a lawyer.”
Your mother and celebrities come to mind when people think about inspirations, the following people molded who Sunlyna wanted to become.
“Mom, because who wouldn’t, and without her, I’d be a dropout and pregnant. Greta Garbo, because she is not afraid to do what she wants and to let gender tell her who she could and could not date, and she does not need a man. Marilyn Monroe, size does not matter, it didn’t matter to her.”,
Sunlyna admired these women for doing what they felt was right. Her mother had raised two young children at a young age. She admired Greta Garbo for standing up for her beliefs and values as a queer woman, and then Marilyn Monroe for accepting herself, especially her celebrity.
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Revealing Bobby, An Outdoorsman
Lowell, MA- A tall LHS athlete with blue-green eyes stands in the gym ready to take off.
Looking up at the sky, grabbing eggs from his home chicken coop, “going on a run for Cross Country… then attend Wrestling practice,” is a day well spent says Bobby. Not to forget ending it with his father’s homemade meals or one he cooks himself.
He leads a simple life and enjoys being outside. Whether it be; “riding my ATV, hiking, fishing, practicing sports, or going out with friends,” he said.
Besides him having the exhilarating occupation of a firefighter, Bobby wants to live stably, with his own house. Bobby describes his future home having a “huge, lush garden… along with raising a family” there.
Not planning to stay in Lowell, McCarthy says he will either spend his life on the peaceful nature side of New Hampshire or California. Steering away from the busy cars and buildings, Bobby says, “The trees, lakes, and mountains is where I want to be.”
Most of all, he wants to become a respected man with a good heart and soul because as simple as Bobby McCarthy put it, “God can read your heart”.
(Edited original version 1/9/2016)
Jokes In the Shower
By Courtney Murphy
Lowell, MA-‘Shower thoughts’ or hilarious comedy writing. As LHS senior Alex Tran considers his future, the 17-year-old considers himself a ‘friendly, go lucky dude’.
He wishes to become a future comedian or a screenwriter. He believes ‘the easiest way to cheer up someone is through a smile’.
During his free time he writes jokes and screenplays about everybody’s life as what he calls ‘shower thoughts’. Alex first started comedy at 8 years old when his parents separated. Being that he’s an only child, comedy helped him cope with his emotions.
By the time he was 14, Alex decided that he wanted to be a stand up comedian. After seeing a bunch of comedians before, Alex was definite about the goal. He admires comedian George Carlin because Carlin got his name on SNL (Saturday Night Live) and it was forever known until he passed away in 2008.
Alex would consider a journalism career as an alternative to comedy, particularly sports journalism because he’s interested in sports. He believes the “players’ personalities are not looked upon at all.”
In the meantime, Alex is in the process of developing a new comedy event at LHS. He hopes this comedy event would be a way to build his comedy portfolio and a chance for other comedians to practice their routines.
Alex plans to attend Middlesex Community College in the City and continue his education at either UMASS Lowell or Emerson College.
In college he looks forward to ‘perform at comedy clubs..and develop who I am as a comedian’. Alex is scheduled to graduate in June 2017 from LHS.
The Odd Girl
By Andrew Boisvert
Lowell, MA-That odd girl. That’s how one LHS student describes herself in a word, odd.
Amy Syri, a sophomore, views the world in a different more objective light. She considers herself a wallflower and takes pride in listening and taking everything into her personal knowledge bank.
“A confident and objective person,” says her friends. “Amy makes a great mediator.”
She chews on anything that she can get her hands on and sleeps during the day like a vampire. That’s in a word odd, according to Amy, who fears being left alone.
Her greatest fear, abandonment, you would never imagine the reason.
“My fear of abandonment comes from a traumatic shopping experience,” she said. “I was left at a store without a ride on more than one occasion because I love to shop.”
The greatest moment she has ever experienced in her life is when her friend got her a stuffed animal for Valentine’s Day. A very simple gift but that’s what she liked about it so much.
A Tale Of Two Worlds
By Connor Lang
Editors Note: This story is Part I of a series on immigrant and refugee students.
Lowell, MA- Imagine being set in a new life. Distant from your past of ease and wealth, you have been placed in the dead center of a world unfamiliar and aggravating.
Phuc (She prefers Phie) Nguyen is an immigrant student who has thrived academically at LHS. Phie is a funny, hardworking, and understanding individual. She speaks of her life in Vietnam. A good job, an advanced education, and plans for the future. Not persecution, not lack of schooling and not poverty.
“I grew up in a middle class family and I was really upset when my mother decided to move our family to the United States,” says Phie about the move to a new country.
In Vietnan Phie’s family had money and a strong backbone, her mother. Her mother kept the family together and always provided emotional and family support. Phie doesn’t exactly know why her mother wanted her family to come to the U.S. The lives that they would leave behind were just so great.
“It was so great in Vietnam. My job, my life, my everything. I don’t know why my mother wanted us to move here,” Phie Explains.
In Vietnam, Phie would have liked to study and become a lawyer because of her skilled thinking and generally sassy ways. But now, she feels as if her english speaking skills don’t even compare to her Vietnamese. Thus, her dream of becoming a lawyer may be broken. The medical field is an option now, the path loved by every parent. But, is it really what Phie wants to do with her life?
Phie tells of Vietnam, beautiful and peaceful compared to crumby ole’ Lowell, Massachusetts. She hides it well, but moving to America was a huge step backward. 12th grade classes had been taught in the 6th grade. Working at a local mall was almost fun. The only downside seemed to be not having as much time to hangout. But, Phie describes her experiences as nearly ideal. The U.S had seemed like uninhabitable lands and Phie couldn’t come to terms on why her mother was making her move while they had currently been living semi-perfect lives.
Now that you know a little bit about Phie, and maybe even have a better understanding of her life than me, but here’s the breakdown of her story. Phie is like a character in the wrong book, a prodigy of the wrong calling, a player of the wrong sport. She doesn’t show it, but she may be trapped in the wrong life.
Mass Poets Really ‘Louder Than a Bomb!’
By Haley Tran
Dorchester, MA-“Listen to the poem!” Dissatisfaction roars throughout the crowd at every slam… if they don’t like the judgement of a performance.
Louder Than a Bomb, held this year on May 6, 2016, is the biggest poetry slam and festival in Massachusetts, as well as the US. Louder Than a Bomb was founded in Chicago, but has progressively spread across the nation.
A poetry slam offers a forum for poets to share the spoken word genre, a public forum for free verse.
The audience claps, snaps, and yells out support when they hear a line that really touches them.
In the past month, Louder Than a Bomb has gathered together 42 schools in the region with around 300 young voices to share their story.
On May 6th, four teams were the spotlight in Strand Theatre: Freeverse!, Codman Academy, Urban Ego, and Indigo Poets Society took the Finals Stage by storm.
Each team was competing for the opportunity to be able to be put on a team for the international slam, Brave New Voices in Washington, D.C. on July 12-16. http://youthspeaks.org/bravenewvoices/
Other than that, Louder Than A Bomb is a large showcase of the best of the best slam teams in Massachusetts this year.
From fourth to first place: Freeverse!, Codman, Indigo Poet Society, and Urban Ego. Every poet was fantastic and unique in their own way despite their ranks in the competition.
The scores and numbers aren’t the point; the point is the poetry!
Slams are often criticized for harsh scrutiny and possible discouragement by the possibility of low scores, but we clearly emphasize how important poetry is and not the points.
Louder Than a Bomb is an amazing experience to be a part of regardless of your status as a writer or not.
Poets in this field are innovative and not just writers, but performers and advocates for a fresh outlet to share stories.
We are more than just talented people who can form a metaphor: we are a tight-knit community built upon love and support. There is no community more welcoming and radiant than the ones found within spoken word.
Anyone who is even the slightest bit interested should take no hesitation in attending a local slam or open mic. Even if you can’t write, it is a wonderful sight to witness.
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