Youth Writer - Growing Up in Santa Cruz

College Prep

growingupsc — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 18:56:15 +0000

By Mikayla Shults Last month I asked seniors how they were preparing for college. I assumed most students would be in the same boat- writing essays and applying for scholarships. For some reason, I thought I was the only senior choosing to take a different path and go to Cabrillo. The results were pleasantly surprising! It turns out many people are taking advantage of community college, and if they aren’t, plans for next year are not 100% clear. A few of the people I spoke to have worked extra hard since last year and know exactly what education and career suits them. One person went to Cabrillo for the last couple of years and just started school in Hawaii. I went into this with the expectation that everyone knew how they wanted to spend the next several years, forgetting that we were all still kids. Although some students seem to have it all figured out, most of us have virtually no idea what we’re doing, and none of us can predict the future. Even if everyone’s plans are different, there is still one thing we all have in common. The goal I saw in everyone’s responses was to make the most of this year, whatever that may be for them. Before we know it, we will all have it figured out, whether that be college or our careers, hopefully, both. Here’s what the kids are saying about college preparation. Claire I’m a little stressed at the moment, but I’m trying to keep a steady mind since I don’t want to burn myself out. Since it’s so early in the college application season, I’m taking my time and focusing on applications during my free period. I’ve started my UC applications, and if all goes well, I want to attend UC Santa Cruz and major in biology and minor in either biochem or environmental science. Nathan Well, I’m planning on going to Cabrillo for two years. Then I will transfer to a school with a good entrepreneurial program because I want to start an online sports website where people can watch games and comment on them live with other fans, and I want to learn the mathematics of that. Julia I am nervous about applying and eventually going to college. I still feel like I should be eight years old and playing on the playground. I am studying for the SAT and getting everything together for my college applications. Ever since I was little, I have wanted to go to Stanford, so that is my goal for college. I plan on studying Biology and eventually going to medical school. Hannah I am in an optimistic head space. I am preparing to go to beauty school and or ultrasound technology. I plan to take some Cabrillo classes, but I have other ideas in mind! I am excited to see where after high school takes me! Melia For me, the biggest benefit [of going to Cabrillo] was having a chance to explore different subjects and classes while it was affordable since I didn’t know what I wanted to major in. But also, during covid, it was a huge help because it allowed for some flexibility and again, was affordable, but even without covid saving money is always a good option. Sandy Very slowly, I have started some research on colleges. Last year in my art class a speech was given by an employee at SCAD, and this really opened my eyes to the possibilities after high school. Seeing many of my friends leave for college this year has also made me realize how close it is. I have been researching through visiting school websites and reading through their curriculum and programs. I have been keeping my mind pretty open, not wanting to get stuck on one school, and I’ve also been trying to take time to enjoy my last year of high school. Jude I’ve been procrastinating and putting off getting a letter or recommendation and writing essays. I’m looking into UC Davis, Berkeley, Humboldt, San Diego and CSUMB. I definitely want to go to a California school for math or science, something I won’t need to write a ton of big papers for. I’m excited to move out and be on my own. Beckett I need to write one more essay and my common app is due soon. I prepared by doing an essay workshop. I’m interested in going to UC Davis, Denver, Utah, Oregon State or University and New Mexico State. I am nervous but excited, and most importantly I want to finish strong. I started as the head of a tiger so I must finish as the tail of a tiger, not a mouse. Lilian I want to go to CSUMB, UCLA, UH, San Jose State, NYU, or San Francisco State. My plan is to major in nursing and maybe become a paramedic, then go to medicine school and get my PhD to become a surgeon. I still need to get my reference letters done. Mel I’m looking at WSU, CSU, UCSC, Cabrillo, Gonzaga, and the University of Oregon to study history. I haven’t done any applications yet, but I’m prepared for the challenge. Lucy My plan is to go to a four year right out of high school. I’m going to apply to a lot of CSUs, San Marcos, San Diego State, maybe even an out of state school! I’m applying to the University of Oregon which is kind of a stretch. I would love to play basketball if possible, but academics come first. And I want to major in kinesiology. Sequoia My plan for college is to go to Cabrillo to get my AA in fire science. I have already done a year of fire technology and right now I’m working on getting my EMT. I plan on trying out for the Central Fire District next September so I can get hired out of there to be a firefighter one and then work my way up. Eventually I will get my SWAT paramedic and rescue swimmer degree. I’d love to do a lot of wild land and seasonal work with CalFire. Katie I want to go into a direct entry four year BSM program for nursing so I can be an RN straight out of college. I really want to go to southern California, but I am applying to a few out of states. I just did a college rough draft essay, and I’ve been doing a fire internship, a sports med class, I’m working with the school’s new athletic trainer and I TA for the school nurse. I’m working very hard for nursing right now. Damian I want to go to college in southern California and hopefully major in kinesiology, because I want to be a physical therapist. I’ve looked into colleges like San Diego State and CSU Fullerton and a couple others. Arden I’m trying to become a mechanical engineer. I’m applying to CalPoly and Berkeley here. I’m also applying to the University of Waterloo, basically the MIT of Canada, and my dad works there. I already got into Montana State, which is cool, so that’s an option. I feel great about this, it feels awesome! Ally So I’m planning on applying to a few reach schools but I don’t plan on going to them. I don’t quite feel ready to leave home yet, and I didn’t get to do a whole year of dance because of covid, so I want to continue dancing for a little bit. I want to get my general ed done at Cabrillo and then from there possibly go to a 4 year, but I want to get my ultrasound tech license no matter what career I go into. The two careers I’m thinking about are dance or nursing but I don’t know which one I want to do yet. Read More Youth Writer Articles

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History in the Making

growingupsc — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 17:16:16 +0000

Students Witness Supreme Court History by Grace Timan Being too young to vote, and old enough to be affected by a policy puts you in an interesting position. At this in-between age, it can feel helpless at times. Throughout my teenage years, one thing that has characterized my interests is a passion to fight for what I believe in, in any capacity possible. As I move through life I am learning what exactly this means for my life and how to get involved in a productive manner. When I found out about the recent leak of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, I was on a school trip to Washington D.C. I was with all of my friends and you could immediately see the shock that shrouded the room. Being too young to vote, and old enough to be affected by a policy puts you in an interesting position. At this in-between age, it can feel helpless at times. We are constantly told by adults that our generation will be the change, that is our job to fix the problems that have been left behind. We hear this calling almost daily, yet without the capacity to vote it can be frustrating. It brings up the question, what can we as teenagers even do? In D.C. we were interviewing people working in public service in different regards, everyone from senators to museum curators. Throughout all interviews, there was a theme that today’s problems are integral for our generation to work on and resolve. We took advantage of the opportunity to be in such a significant place and went to the Supreme Court to observe, learn and participate in the protest. This was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had. Everyone is passionate, it’s hard not to get aggravated by these opposing opinions. The adults stressed to us the importance of supporting one another as opposed to arguing with the other side. Fighting for this cause made me so emotional. It felt hopeless, like my actions were insignificant, especially due to my age. It wasn’t until hours after the protest that I got a message that I was on the cover of the New York Times. Just hours ago, it felt like I couldn’t make a major impact as a teenager, but there I was on one of the biggest media outlets in the world fighting for something I believed in. After this experience, we carried a new perspective into the interviews, asking all of these individuals how we could further make the change as teenagers. As I mentioned before, throughout the interviews we noticed a plethora of overlapping lessons. The main takeaways we gained as a group were first, to never be complacent. As teenagers, and in this case, specifically as women, we can no longer assume that our rights are guaranteed. Secondly, we were told to pick one issue we care about deeply and then put all of our energy into finding solutions. Finally, find places where our work is going to make an impact in a palatable yet sizable way. We were encouraged to do deeper research, for example finding local smaller nonprofits with fewer resources in which our time, money, and talents would be put to use in a more direct application. Overall, we must always continue the fight and work to move progress forward. Read More Youth Writer Articles

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What is Gender

growingupsc — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 15:17:53 +0000

by Mikayla SHults This month, I asked transgender, nonbinary, and cisgender kids what gender means to them. In the past few years, it has become easier for kids to express their gender in the ways that they want freely. To many adults, being trans seems like a trend that children will not be consistent with. In the cases where kids seem to be flip-flopping between being nonbinary and transgender, what is really happening is a kid figuring out how they want to express themself and what feels right. When adults are not well informed, whether that be basic knowledge of the LQBTQ community or how to support their trans children properly, it can be very confusing when their child comes out to them. Even when a parent is understanding, finding out that the person you have raised in a certain way wants to express themselves differently can be hard to grasp. Making mistakes along this journey is completely normal, and everyone appreciates an adult who is willing to learn how to be more accepting of transgender youth. That is why I asked both trans and cis people what gender means to them personally and how they think adults could be more open to trans kids. Gender is a way you express or define yourself. Adults can listen and try to understand instead of shutting them down. Lucille | Age 16She/Her Gender is a spectrum that’s based on self-expression, not sex. Someone’s gender expression can be related to their sex, but it’s still their personal interpretation of what it means to be that gender. Audrey | Age 17She/Her To me, gender is what you identify as. It doesn’t matter what you were born as or what you like to wear; if you say that you identify as something, that’s what you are. A man wearing a dress doesn’t make him any less of a man. Adults can be more accepting by simply listening. Use the name and pronouns that someone tells you to use and be willing to learn when they try to teach you something. Jamie | Age 17They/Them Being trans is a big part of my identity. I find myself discussing gender pretty often. It’s remarkable how much I have to debate my own existence. Adults need to listen to trans youth more instead of talking over them. No one knows more about trans people than trans people, so the best thing is just to let us have a voice. Also, the insensitive “he, they, it, whatever” jokes need to stop for the love of God. Asher | Age 17He/Him I think gender is a form of expression between femininity and masculinity. Sometimes, people like to identify with one side more than the other or not even identify with it at all. I feel like acceptance comes from accepting yourself first and finding your own definition of gender. For example, I identify as female, but I understand that gender is just one of those funny human things we created. Claire | Age 17She/Her To me gender is a part of identity, largely influenced by social characteristics that our changing culture has created. I think adults can try and modernize their way of thinking when it comes to gender in order to be more accepting of the youth. Caleb | Age 16He/Him Gender is how you feel in your head. It doesn’t always line up with your sex. Men and women are the most common but it’s a spectrum. It’s how you feel comfortable identifying/presenting. Listen when we tell you something makes us uncomfortable. Do not ask for someone’s dead name. You can probably ask a question, but if you wouldn’t ask a cis person the same thing, google it. The internet is full of information. Sage | Age 17They/Them

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Teen’s Eye View

growingupsc — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 18:27:26 +0000

Teen’s Eye View By Grace Timan Senior year is the year of freedom, all of the stress of high school is over, and we can finally take it easy and relax. This is what we’ve been told since freshman year, always looking forward to this year of “fun,” and yet here we are as seniors, and the anxiety is more apparent than ever, and submitting our college apps was only the first step in a long and extensive journey. Looking into the future is confusing. In a year’s time, I have no idea what life will look like; all I know is that it won’t look the same. For the majority of my life, I knew what came next, a set of expectations I’ve had since childhood of what my life would look like through the years. As a senior, I have realized that I have no real way of knowing as much as I can try to picture myself next year until decisions are laid down. As seniors, we spend months in this limbo period of sorts, not applying to colleges anymore but not knowing which one we will attend. I have spent my entire education at the same school, K-12. Not only have I always attended the same school, but many of the people around me I have grown up with as well. We are used to one another, as comfortable in each other’s company as a family. We may fight like siblings, but we love each other with that same unconditional care. It’s difficult to think that this is my last few months around the people I grew up with; while we will see each other again, we won’t see each other in the same way. For these final, approaching months of senior year, we are encouraged by those around us to “live in the moment” and not waste this last bit of time together. Living in the moment is easier said than done. It’s hard to appreciate each day when in the back of my mind is asking what my future will be like. At times it can feel as if this anxiety clouds my vision. One of my biggest fears regarding these final months of my senior year is wasting important time. Sitting in the classroom as a senior is flinching every time someone hears their email chime. Whenever I get a college-related decision back during class, it’s an internal dilemma of whether I should open it right then and there. It’s hard not to let college decisions affect my self-worth. Since I was 14, I have taken the idea of college very seriously, trying to learn everything I could about the college admissions process. I tried to accumulate the perfect profile to submit to all my top choice schools. Through high school, I tried to become the perfect applicant. When I started to submit applications, I learned that the things worth submitting as extracurriculars are things I truly am passionate about. At the end of high school, I found that seniors spend a lot of time worrying about things out of their control. As college decisions slowly roll out, I’ve come to understand and accept that it is out of my hands, and there is no point worrying about what might or might not be. Looking back through each year, I’ve found that the things that show my merit were not the things I did from the anxiety of college decisions, but instead, the things I did for myself. The biggest advice I can offer underclassmen is to worry less about what a college may want from you and instead focus on figuring out what exactly you want to do with your time in high school. Parents and teachers trying to help seniors in their final days may stop reminding us how limited our time is and instead encourage us to use it to its fullest potential.  Grace Timan attends Mount Madonna School in Watsonville. She’s been going to Mount Madonna since she was 2 years old and will be graduating this year. She loves the beach, journaling, and yoga. She’s very excited to be attending UCLA in the fall and majoring in pre-public affairs. Read More Parenting Articles

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What the Kids Are Saying

growingupsc — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 17:59:06 +0000

By Mikayla Shults Are you in high school and want to take Cabrillo courses? Maybe you didn’t even know that was an option. I spoke to people in high school and college to see if they knew what was being offered to them. The people included in this page were less than half of the originally interviewed people. So many high schoolers have no idea that they could be taking college courses or don’t understand how they could benefit from it. The good thing is everyone knew that they could attend Cabrillo for FREE after high school. So let’s get this straight. If you are in any high school in Santa Cruz county, you can be taking Cabrillo classes. If you go to a regular public school, talk to your counselor and check out the Cabrillo website. You can even take summer courses! If you are interested in taking as many courses as possible, independent studies could be the perfect thing for you. At a school like Oasis, located on the Cabrillo campus, you can take up to 12 credits of college courses. Whichever path you choose, classes will be free. If you need to fulfill a requirement but your school doesn’t offer any classes that you would enjoy, explore all of your options at Cabrillo. Say you need to take a science class but it’s only three credits at Cabrillo. When that class is put on your transcript, it will turn into ten credits! Now you have extra credits than required. What can that lead to? Early graduation. You don’t need to be the most intelligent person in your grade or even your friend group to try out a Cabrillo course. You’ll find that it’s not much different than a high school class. The only difference is that you will be meeting new people and earning extra credits. I’ve taken short, four-week courses over the summer and semester-long courses. They have both been favorable compared to any other class at high school. Here are some dual enrollment experiences from teenagers all over the county. For more information on the Cabrillo Promise Program visit: https://www.cabrillo.edu/financial-aid/cabrillo-promise/ For more information on Dual Enrollment visit: https://www.cabrillo.edu/high-school-students/dual-enrollment/ Bridger Junior | Coast Redwood High School Dual enrollment is when you’re in high school, taking a class/semester at a college (like Cabrillo). A semester at Cabrillo is worth one year of high school. I’m not currently enrolled in a college, but I imagine it is infinitely helpful to grasp college and future education. Dual enrollment is your go-to if you want to get into a four-year right out of high school. I would recommend it to myself and my friends and everyone. I would love to see my friends succeed and exceed, and this might be the way. I heard you need at least a 3.5 GPA in high school to get into Cabrillo free afterward. I don’t know for sure. Reese Junior | Oasis High School I am dual enrolled and so far it has been a really positive experience. All of my professors have been really great and I love how I can do classes that my high school does not offer. I took cultural anthropology last semester and it was recommended by another teacher. I was a little wary at first but I ended up loving that class and it was so much fun! I had no clue what anthropology was before taking that class and now I might even want to study it in college. I am super interested in it so this semester I am taking a biological anthropology class.I would definitely recommend dual enrollment to my friends. I enjoy doing college classes so I would hope they would too. I have been told that it is free after graduating and it’s also free to high school students doing less than 12 credits. Kyla Senior | Scotts Valley High School I have heard about dual enrollment but I don’t know much about it. Although I did hear that if you take a Cabrillo class during high school then it doesn’t apply, but I don’t know if that’s true or not. (It’s not true! Any course you take at Cabrillo counts for high school and college at the same time.). Nicole CABRILLO COLLEGE I knew about dual enrollment in high school but did not take any college classes. I would recommend dual enrollment to my friends. Read More Youth Writer Articles

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Youth Opinion

growingupsc — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 16:53:37 +0000

Should I Buy My Kid Drugs? Cabrillo Students Voice Their Opinion We asked Cabrillo journalism students to weigh in on whether parents should provide drugs for their kids in the wake of recent deaths from fentanyl overdoses caused by drugs bought on the street. Here are their answers. Send your comments to editor@growingupsc.com Ally GoetzAs a young adult myself, I’ve seen plenty of instances where people have done drugs irresponsibly. Whether on school property or at a job, students and teens alike smoked weed or hit a Juul in the bathrooms of several different areas. The smell alone made me decide never to do drugs, and to this day, I haven’t. As for some high school kids I knew, I know for a fact that they still do drugs to this day. Legal or not, there is no way to stop drugs from getting in or out of schools. University or high school, drugs are already on the market to these teens starting at a young age. Most of Gen Z has received marketing and peer pressure to try out drugs, and banning them will only lead teens to want drugs more. Cut off the supply, and you’ll get more demand. Like how campuses and hospitals in Santa Cruz have needle disposal areas, teens should be allowed to experiment in a safe environment. A room or a time to give students a safe space to educate and decide for themselves whether they want to do drugs or not, leaving the decision up to them and not the marketing campaigns that have only recently begun to put product warning labels on their drugs and harmful substances. If I had a child, I’d prefer to educate them myself and have them try at home rather than learning from a friend who could potentially be feeding my child misinformation. Purchasing drugs and being used safely at home can lower the risk of overdose or harm coming to a child. It’s not only about health. It’s about the education and opportunity we provide for our children to help them make informed decisions about their health and choices. Steve CrossI suggest looking into the work of the CAHOOTS program in Oregon, dealing with problems resulting from laws that injured people they were designed to protect. They hired professional workers to perform some of the duties the police were forced to perform without training, such as relational counseling. This alleviated problems like “suicide by cop” by paying social workers to consult families after police calls for domestic violence, rather than having the police do the counseling.The CAHOOTS program has had some success in eliminating unnecessary deaths, hospitalizations and crimes according to CASE STUDY: CAHOOTS https://www.vera.org/behavioral-health-crisis-alternatives/cahootsI recommend total compliance with the law until a better solution is negotiated, while communicating your concerns to the community in open forums and public discussions. Gaby GilsonThis is a tricky subject because we don’t want to encourage teens or anyone to do drugs or smoke, especially do drugs because it’s not healthy. Still, at the same time, they will do it if they want to just like when you tell a kid not to do something, most likely they will still do it, but I think yes, it’s better to help your kids and find good weed instead of having something bad in it. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to do drugs, so I don’t think anyone should get their kids drugs or anyone drugs. I think the first thing is to try to educate them on the subject so they don’t do it because there are people that don’t do any of it. After all, they had a good education on it, but no, you shouldn’t buy your kids drugs because even if it’s clean, they can still overdose or become drug addicts. Drugs aren’t good, so I think rather than asking if you should or shouldn’t get it, inform them and educate them on the consequences and why they shouldn’t do it if they do tell you and decide they want to experiment with something I think it is better to be safe and do it with someone trustworthy. Still, overall, they should be encouraged not to do any of it. As I mentioned above, some kids will still do it, but I think it’s important to have a strong foundation, good education, and the right people around. If there are those things present and, for example, they want to smoke, then yeah, I say get them good weed, so there is nothing bad in it, but as for drugs, I don’t think they should have it in any way. Either way, I’m opposed to kids or anyone, in general, having drugs or alcohol because those are all bad things. I think it’s important to have good communication with your kids, have good values, and educate yourself on what can happen and all the bad things that it can bring. Moises MendezIn my opinion, it is much safer to provide (light) drugs from a trusted source such as a parent rather than a teenager to find it themselves on the street. The world is a lot more dangerous than we might think nowadays, and you never really know what drugs might be laced with. Teenagers are naturally curious and want to explore the world around them, including the world of drugs and drug use. With how much access to technology and easier communications we have today, it’s much easier for a teenager to find a drug dealer and make a purchase there, but you never know what those drugs would be laced with. I would prefer a trusted adult to obtain the substance they’re looking for. Obviously you’d want to stray away from any hard drugs, so if they’re going to use anything, I would encourage it to center around weed. At least in California, dispensaries are legal, making it much easier and specifically much safer to purchase weed for any kind of use. I would make a deal with my kid that I’m happy to provide weed to them as long as they stay away from any other drugs. If they’re using anything that I provided to them, it will be in the house, and I would try and encourage them not to give any to their friends just out of safety, but of course, they’re not always going to listen, so just keep any drug use within the house. Also, ensure that you have a long conversation about responsibility and addiction and that you’re always there for them and to help them with anything, fully judgment free. Steven RodriguesDo something, even if it’s wrong?!Parents most likely will be poised with the subject of drugs and their children. To that, you may find your choice of parenting being the normative teaching versus action and reaction. The obvious suggestion is to accentuate awareness, education, and morality of right and wrong. Perhaps your situation may lead to action, such as providing parent-selected drugs versus your child’s pedestrian street purchasing.What to do? Foremost, set the proper tone and image and be law-abiding. Facing the consequence of arrest may seriously impact the teaching path, let alone the embarrassment to parent and child. Control what you can control, treat this issue as a family management opportunity and keep that vigilant watch over your children.If so compelled to act, act at the ballot box, participate in related public forums, and participate in any school-specific education and prevention programs. Be proactive, be most favorable, and always maintain a primary parenting attribute; be your child’s role model. Jesse BridgesI would recommend that you would buy the drugs for your stepdaughter. I have a little sister who is only 15 years old. I constantly worry about her doing drugs or something else. That way, I can at least make sure that she is using them safely. And that fact that I at least know what she is buying. Basically, the alternative would be to lock her down and not give her any freedom. . I have to find the line between willing to trust her and, at the same time, learning where to draw the line. Also, if I am buying them for her, I at least know that she is safe, and I hopefully know what I am buying her. I figure that if she is going to do drugs, at least I can be in a position to stop her before she gets out of control. Also, the fact that if I don’t get them to her, one of her friends who isn’t as trustworthy as me might get them for her. Also, I don’t like her friends. Another reason I should be the one buying them is that if my sister’s allowance runs out, she doesn’t have to resort to any criminal activities to get money. Narayan WilderWith an overdose epidemic related to the lacing of various controlled substances with the far more deadly compound fentanyl, the question of how parents should deal with their children consuming and obtaining illegal substances has been circulating. If the goal of drug programs is harm prevention, then the first step is to make sure people don’t do drugs, and the best and only way to do that is (as with sex Ed) accurate education then easy access to the most proven clinical methods for harm reduction, like test kits, clean needles, responsive medical help. So if a young person is going to be partaking in controlled substances a way to make sure they are as safe as possible is to provide access to reliable non-tampered products as a form of harm prevention. This should be supported and seen as a valid way to keep your child out of harm’s way as much as is possible. Stigmatization and criminalization are two leading causes of extrinsic harm related to controlled substance use. They could be ostracized from their family and end up homeless. They could be harassed or detained by the police for acting like a “tweaker” the amount of harm that is assigned to an individual as part of a less dignified social class multiples the risk factor of their internal circumstances. That is why I support parents who feel comfortable providing their children with what they know to be accurate substances, so their child does not have to be exposed to the risks of interacting with criminal elements. Lucille TeppermanSo, you think your teenager is a good kid? That they wouldn’t be the sort of kid to over-dose? that they don’t do drugs? Come on, marijuana is now legal, and we live in California, the land of experimentation and counselors pushing hallucinogenic therapy. Don’t you remember being a teen? You do your best as a parent or adult role model, but that doesn’t mean that teens will not experiment with drugs, that they won’t cede to peer pressure at a house party and pop the pill that is being handed to them. They don’t get depressed and think that a little mind-altering drug may be an escape. “It’s not my fault it was laced with Phetynol,” was my teenage nephew’s response when I expressed concern that he was using. For youth who are not in school or troubled, there should be a way to make free drug testing kits readily available to them. All parents should have one available in their home for their kids to use. This issue concerns us all; these are the youth, whether you have kids or don’t. We should protect them. We need to make this an open discussion, and the community should be addressing this on social media and in council meetings.Why is there no government campaign out there like we had when I was a kid, Take a Bite Out of Crime? As a modern developed nation, who are leaders in the world in medicine and science, with all this technology at our fingertips, we should protect the young people. Read More Parenting Articles

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Accessibility in gaming

growingupsc — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 16:53:04 +0000

It’s the Small Things That Matter by zach livinston Let’s talk about Minecraft. Whether you play it, your kids play it, you know some people who play it, you’ve somehow never even heard of it; I think we can all agree that it’s nice when a community in some way or another contributes to a good cause. Making Minecraft as suitable as possible to as many people as possible is what user StitchyYYT decided was needed. He made a texture pack dedicated to making Minecraft suitable for those with Protan Color Blindness, Deutan Color Blindness, Tritan Color Blindness, Monochrome Color Blindness, Dyslexia, Moderate Arachnophobia, and Tryphobia. In order to understand why he did this, or what I’m even talking about, we need to understand textures. In Minecraft, the game is made up of pixel art that gets upscaled and then placed onto a cube, or several smaller cubes plopped together to create an object. These pixel art pieces (textures) are then moved into a folder in the game’s files. In an earlier version of Minecraft (the game updates over time to add new content and keep the game refreshing), they originally added texture packs, which were a way to change the game’s style. To create one of these files, you would open Minecraft, enter the versions folder, download the version of Minecraft you wish to edit the textures from, convert it into a .zip file, extract all, then delete the majority of the files apart from the textures folder, then open each individual texture within an editing software of some sort, and modify it as you wish. And at the end, just drag and drop it into your resource pack folder, and use it. There’s also the question of why he did this? Well, you see, in Minecraft, due to the sheer amount of blocks and textures, it takes quite a while to do all of that work, resulting in re-sprites. A re-sprite is when a piece of art is recolored or slightly altered in order to save time making new stuff, which, to the average consumer, is fine. However, to color blind people, it’s much harder to differentiate different colors. And it becomes even more difficult when you have Monochrome Color Blindness where your only signal at what a color is or isn’t comes down to the precise saturation, which is automatically irrelevant considering that has nothing to do with hue, making it extremely difficult for people to differentiate stuff. So, how does this texture pack counter it? With completely individual sprites. Each sword, food type, block, log, piece of dirt, it’s all unique. For example, in the base game, with the normal textures, the only difference between an iron and stone sword is the color of the blade, pommel, and guard. By making unique textures, players can memorize those textures, and know what they’re using and when. He’s shown some true dedication putting over 8 months into this texture pack, and making it as nice as possible. The pack style is sort of similar to a game like celest, embracing the warm tones, and high saturation. I’d highly recommend using this pack due to how much work was put into it and how welcoming it feels. It’s just an overall wonderful texture pack, and a wonderful cause. You can download it at https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/texture-packs/faithless.  My name is Zach, and I am 11 years old, I play a lot of minecraft, and I love technology. Read More Youth Writer Articles

The post Accessibility in gaming first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

TikTok

growingupsc — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 15:01:39 +0000

by Mikayla SHults In 2018, more than 1 billion videos were viewed every day on TikTok. With covid restrictions, kids have been spending much more time on social media apps than in 2018. It is important to know what children have access to online, so we asked some students from SLV, Scotts Valley, Oasis, and BCE what they have been watching on TikTok. Most, if not all, said they watch dancing videos. The most popular dancer on the app is Charli D’amelio, with over 120 million followers. If your kid is on TikTok, there is no doubt that they have seen her videos. There are many more creators like her who millions of people watch daily. Dancing is not the only thing that users do on this app, so let’s look at the most popular answers from our kids.

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Cabrillo Beach Volleyball

growingupsc — Fri, 28 May 2021 18:13:45 +0000

Cabrillo Beach Volleyball Player Alana Patyk by Alana Patyk There was a time in my life where I absolutely despised the beach. The coarse feeling of sand that dried out my feet and left me with heat blisters was not the way I wanted to spend my day. As a kid, I attempted to play beach volleyball as another way to stay active when I was not playing indoor volleyball. Immediately upon touching the sand, even before doing a drill, I found out that beach volleyball is not an easy sport. Before competing at a collegiate level, I even tried to avoid it if I could. But there was something that was urging me to give it a chance. So, I gave it about five or so chances. Every time I went to an SC Beach Summer camp as a kid, the one week that I spent there was enough for me until the following year when I would participate in the camp again. Moving in the sand is already a workout on its own; adding jumping, sprinting, and diving made things even more challenging. And as a young tween who never did any weight lifting or conditioning, it was very easy for me to give up because I was not naturally good at the transition from indoor to sand. This put me in a tough spot since I figured that I would be able to handle the change with ease— it definitely was not as simple as I thought. Despite the obstacles, I continued to go to those camps every day. Even though I struggled to get a firm grasp on the fundamentals and the physical aspect of the sport, I felt that every touch was leading me somewhere. And that it did. Today, I play beach and indoor volleyball for Cabrillo College. After high school, I thought I was never going to play again and that my senior season at Aptos High was going to be my last. Then an opportunity presented itself. Head Coach Kelsee Montagna and the Cabrillo coaching staff brought me on to play indoor and beach volleyball as a representative of the college and its athletics. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, our indoor season was postponed until Fall 2021 but luckily, we are able to continue with our beach season. At first, I doubted my abilities and figured that I would never make the connection with the sand. Once winter break came around, I was at Main Beach every day playing until I could not move. Every touch and every repetition was leading me somewhere and it led me to leveling up my game. By the time I came back from the break, I was jumping higher, swinging harder, and moving faster than I ever have. With the help and support of the Santa Cruz beach community and the conditioning that went into preparing the beach volleyball team for our season, I was able to overcome my self-doubt and dive head first into the sport that has made me a better person and a better player. Read More Parenting Articles

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Climbing Mountains

growingupsc — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 22:10:38 +0000

Climbing Mountains My School Year Ups and Downs By Grace Timan, 11th grade Priorities have changed, that’s something I learned in my Values in World Thought class this year. Yes, I do miss the way the world once was, and I pine for the classic high school experience. What I now want most, however, is the health of those in my community. Gazing at the faces of my peers displayed on their pixelated webcams, I reminisced on 2020 and years past. Dial back to September, a new school year and what was supposed to be a fresh start, that instead put us right back where we were six months ago – but this time with the workload of junior year. As I found myself staring at a screen in my bedroom instead of going on my school’s annual river rafting trip, cancelled due to COVID, the sinking feeling was unignorable. I remembered the words of the upperclassmen that came before me, telling me to cherish every moment because it would be gone before I knew it. They were right. It’s all passed so quickly, and now it felt ripped away before I got to hold on. None of us expected to be online for another year, until we were legitimately and virtually climbing mountains, instead of driving up the one we loved so much to our campus. Onlline SchoolDuring the first two weeks of online school, our teachers encouraged us more than they ever had. I definitely felt that they missed us, almost more than we missed each other. The endless assignments that quickly flooded our inboxes felt hopeless. I personally struggled to find motivation without a physical environment to encourage me. As a student with ADHD, being in an environment that fosters learning is incredibly important for my academic success. My bed, after waking up just five minutes before class, chugging an energy drink and frantically hoping I won’t have to turn on my camera, is not exactly a prime learning environment. Without routine and structure, it was easy to get lost in the vast void of Google Docs. The personal connection and relationships our teachers have made with us is what got me through. They took class time to ask us questions about how we were doing, gave us extensions on assignments when needed, and understood when we didn’t feel up to turning on our cameras. Finally In-personTwo weeks into the school year things changed for the better and we were able to return to in-person school! Another positive milestone? I got my driver’s license the day before we came back to school, and driving up to school on the first day of in-person classes was the happiest I have been in ages. Pulling into that student parking lot, we could see each other’s smiles through our masks! So much had changed, but I was just happy that we were all back together. It definitely is different because we aren’t seeing each grade in the same way that we have before. We are now more distant from one another, unable to walk through the different classrooms in order to keep our cohorts safe. One of the most memorable parts of Mount Madonna School is knowing everyone around me. As I walked through the halls growing up (I started at Mount Madonna in preschool), I knew everyone around me, and that safety and excitement of seeing a friendly face always felt good. I can’t imagine not knowing the people around me, so not seeing them was a huge adjustment. Along with that, the teachers moving from outdoor classroom to outdoor classroom is actually something I enjoy. It feels relaxing in a way, getting that break from all the hurried walking between classes. Seeing my classmates in person has improved my mental health; being able to socialize takes my mind away from the craziness of the world. It is definitely an improved learning environment. Adjusting to change & Mother NatureNo matter how grateful we were to return to in-person learning in the fall, there is always something unpredictable, more specifically the weather. Some of us were innovative with blankets and hand warmers but still, it felt impossible not to complain when we felt so cold. On the days it wasn’t cold it was impossibly hot. Without air conditioning and insulation, we sat in the sun for hours sweating through our masks, waiting until we could drive down the mountain with the AC blasting. Not only was the weather unpredictable as to how we would feel, it all presented challenges for our school leaders. With so many terrible wildfires over the fall and many days with bad smoky air quality, we never knew if it might be too crazy of conditions to go to school. It was never the administration’s fault, it was always Mother Nature getting in the way. It created an environment that felt unpredictable. It was easy to take our time together for granted, forgetting that it might suddenly be taken away. We were so focused on the weather, we forgot to worry about the virus, until we received a harsh reminder. A Return to OnlineIn mid-November we drove up to campus one day, expecting our normal school-day routine, and were promptly informed to return home. School was shut down. One single positive case before Thanksgiving break. Our county was moving back into the purple zone, and we thought we would be safe from the restrictions until the asymptomatic, positive case happened. We didn’t know who had tested positive, who was exposed, and we definitely didn’t know when, or if, we were going back. This felt like I was being pushed off a cliff. In losing my routine and my learning environment, my motivation deserted me as well. I didn’t feel like participating in class, doing my assignments before the last minute, or continuing any of the drives I had built into year. I found myself waking up just minutes before class started with not nearly enough energy to be the perky person I once knew. I lost myself once again in an online school. I have always known myself as a person who stayed motivated and pushed for her goals, but I lost that part of myself for a while. I couldn’t build up the motivation to do my work or even care if I did it right. I talked to my peers about how I was feeling and many felt the same. As I lay in bed on another late-night Facetime conversation on Facetime, we talked about how much we missed normalcy. If you had told me freshman year that this was the world I lived in now, I would never have believed you. There are some things in life you can never imagine being taken away until they are pulled from underneath your feet. Once again images of what my junior year would have been like crept into my mind. Unable to do the things that I looked forward to most, hope felt like a lost cause. I missed the feeling of screaming so loud at a volleyball game that I lost my voice right before song auditions for the school play. I missed the feeling of seeing friendly faces down the halls. I missed dancing pressed up against my friends at a school dance. Normalcy felt a hundred years, a lifetime, away. Priorities have changed, that’s something I learned in my Values in World Thought class this year. Yes, I do miss the way the world once was, and I pine for the classic high school experience. What I now want most, however, is the health of those in my community. We returned to in-person learning in mid-December. This time nothing can be taken for granted; I have learned that life changes too quickly, and to hold on and be grateful. Grace Timan is a junior at Mount Madonna School in Santa Cruz. Read More Youth Writer Articles

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