We are West. And as West students we strive to be the best of the best; we strive to be the best humans as much as possible. We strive for strong character education to build a resilient school and community. To achieve this, we must practice the discipline of character education.

“Always remember that chivalry is not dead as long as we are kind enough to complement and hold the door for one another,” said one West junior.

This is true, however character education is so much more than that. It’s about having better behavior and attitude especially toward one another. Any kind of bullying is what we strive to end by learning some important characteristics, such as good behavior, doing the right thing, having good morals, and keeping a good attitude. We take these steps to make the community around us more friendly and welcoming to all.

Alyssa Calubayan’17

Styles & Trends Editor

As part of the West Character Education initiative, students responded to quotes posted around the building to encourage positive thought and activity towards others. Here are some of those responses.

“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.”-Harvey Fierstein

John Nevins ‘17

This quote from Harvey Fierstein really spoke to me. This quote related a lot to me and my life. For as long as I can remember I was always bullied. People always pushed me around and called me horrible names. Even though they did this to me I never did anything about it, I never stood up for myself and let those people walk all over me. They knew I would never yell back or stand up for myself. And for some time I let those actions and words define me as a person. I thought what they said about me was true, and because of that those actions and words dictated my life. I always thought I was such an awful person because they said and did all of those things to me. But not anymore. Now I stand up for myself and anyone else who was like me. I don’t let those bullies dictate my life and my actions anymore. I don’t care what they say. I define my own life with what I say and do. I am who I am and no one else can say otherwise. We define ourselves, we are who we are, we are the only people who can decide who we are, no one else can change that. We are who we are for a reason and no one else can change that. Everyone should stand up if their lives are being dictated by other people and be who they really are.

“You are free to choose. You are not free from the consequences of your choice.” -Pat K.

Sean Magee ‘18

This quote has many correlations to a student-athlete’s life. Decision making bears a lot of significance both on and off the field. In school, a student-athlete is expected to be driven to keep their grades up. It is commonly known, and should be understood that, in order to maintain acceptable grades you must take the extra time after practices and games to study and complete work. If a student athlete fails to put in this extra work, it can have a negative effect on both their eligibility to play in high school and to be recruited to play in college. Considering that most high school athletes aspire to play in college, it is very important that student-athletes are careful to paint the best picture possible of themselves in all aspects of life. That being said, it needs to be stressed that what a student-athlete does outside of school is also incredibly important. They have to make sure they are not hanging out with a bad group of people, or getting in their own trouble. Any arrest, or charge, or failed drug test can ruin your chances and your dreams.

Also, in this age, a student-athlete must be extremely conscious of what they put on social-media. Anything that suggests something illegal or any slurs could be the difference in your recruitment. A student athlete has more responsibilities than ever before. They must be cognizant of how deeply one decision could affect them.

Music expresses that which cannot be said and what is impossible to keep silent. -Unknown

Jessica Rech ‘16

I could introduce you to people who have played music their whole life, who can’t get enough of creating sounds, melodies, of losing themselves to the beat of their own tune. They become entranced, and do not need to think about the notes that come next, for it just happens and they just play and the music never stops flowing from their instrument. It’s a magical thing, this feeling, this entrancement. Those who experience it show their own unique passion for the music that they play in a way that is difficult to put in the words, but is obvious when seen.

Music has always been a part of me, and has always been something that I have loved. Though I have learned to play two instruments, I do not get out of playing what the people I could introduce you to do. My best-loved part of music is the act of listening to it. With playing brings the anxiety of wrong notes or wrong rhythms, so that I can never lose myself in the sounds that I create. To close my eyes and just listen, to absorb the music and feel every note and pitch so that I am no longer some girl from Cherry Hill, but something much more, it the best feeling imaginable. The sounds of music are captivating, and every note I hear pulls me farther and farther away from my reality, so that I can be anything. Music instills in me feelings that I did not think I could have. With new feelings comes a better understanding of me, and who I want to be. Music is apart of me because it has shaped me into the person that I am today. I believe that the imagination I have and hold dear to my heart would not have originated in the absence of music.

I have always found the sound of a song to be truly interesting, rather that the lyrics being sung, for the music that accompanies these lyrics speak volumes more that the actual words. With music I am able to feel anything, be anyone, be anywhere. It gives me a taste of the world that I mean to venture in the years to come, and each note makes it harder and harder to wait. The sounds of music express emotions that no words could possibly create. I often play the song instead of trying to explain why I cannot stop listening to it, so that the music can speak for itself. It gives life to what are just lines on a page, in their simplest form. Music is what fuels a fire of passion in me that few things can, for music is all about passion. It is impossible not to share, to celebrate, for how could anyone keep such a thing to themselves?

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the wind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”-Plato

Amal Essa ‘19

Within music there are so many aspects to what the artist is trying to portray, whether it be sharing a story or describing the love one has for another. The beat can detriment whether one has an endangering conflict or whether they were feeling melancholy about a certain situation.

The singer shares emotion through the tone and the pitch of the voice. The deeper it is the more intense and deep the feelings are. You can’t write out on pen and paper how you are feeling and have the same impact as you would through a song. Aspects to your life shouldn’t be lived through a screen, it should be lived through long talks and loud songs where you can sense the mood and the feeling in which the artist is trying to portray.

You can write poems and write novels in which characters have emotions, but it won’t be the same as hearing the pause between breaths or the excitement one gets when getting the bridge of a song correct. You can describe what the sound of a drum is but you won’t be able to hear the sound of the symbols crashing as one hits them.

The ability to have music and to be able to understand viewpoint and feeling behind that story in such a small but meaningful time is completely insane and has so much power over the human race today. To those who can’t hear or chose not to, life has so many other aspects and ways to the beauty behind it, but being able to listen is crazy.

It’s as if you have the ability to feel what the artist is feeling,as if you are the one who was living their life. You are a story that could be told through a song and it shouldn’t matter if the beat has good rhythm or has a catchy intro, it’s based on how that person portrays life and how that person portrays certain situations, but it is your job to comprehend and determine how you portray it.

“It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love. It matters only that you love.”-John Lennon

Marian Castellanos ‘17

The meaning of the quote is that not everyone has the same love as everyone else, or has an explanation of the love they have, the important thing is that you as a person have to find love within yourself and compassion. Love is a feeling within us, within the world, and if there’s no love as a feeling we can’t be happy. Everybody is different and not the same , we all experience love at different times but that doesn’t mean we can never find it, there will be opportunities out there where we learn to love. Nobody in their life should live without love, because they won’t get to enjoy life and love from those around you. There shouldn’t be people who live in darkness and don’t accept love, because that isn’t the right way to live and it makes us feel bad about ourselves. When we find love within us, we’ll feel better and the people around us will make the world a better place. We all find love at different times, different places and with different people but the important thing is that we all at some point in our lifetimes are able to see and find that love.

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still gently allows you to grow.”-William Shakespeare

Noah Haigh ‘19

I never truly understood the meaning of “friendship” until this past year. I feel truly blessed to be able to find that meaning with a person that I have known now for seven years. In my definition of the word friendship it is when we have a special bond described by the word (kenzoku) meaning “family.” There is nothing like the feeling of when you go to your friends house and feel like you’re in your own home. Time and distance do nothing to the bond of this friendship. I feel that if you can’t have a friend that has some distance between yourselves you do not know the true meaning of that definition. Friendship involves recognition or familiarity with another’s personality. Friends often share likes and dislikes, interests, pursuits, and passion.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”- Benjamin Franklin

Kirandeep Kaur ‘16

Life is not meant to be easy. All accomplishments made by mankind have required hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. It is through our struggles to succeed that we learn what we are made of and who we are meant to be. If all our goals were achieved for us, what would we learn? What would we gain? Nothing.

Benjamin Franklin said correctly that “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Before we set out to do great things we need to put in the effort to plan our journey. We need to be ready for obstacles along the way, and we need to prepare to move forward if they set us back. Should we expect the road to be paved, we will never do anything. Nothing worthwhile will be handed to us, we have to get it ourselves.

Proper preparation enables success. If we are prepared to work hard to achieve our goals, then there is nothing that can hold us back. Failure is predicated upon the notion that all we want will be given to us without any effort on our behalf.