Real World – The Mirror

TikTok User Reacts to Potential Ban

March 29, 2024 by Lea Lambert

After being named the social media app of the year in 2022, no one imagined that TikTok would be on the verge of disappearing just two years later. Most students have probably heard about the possibility of TikTok getting banned in the United States. Still, after speaking with many Northwood students about this possibility, I realized that most don’t know why TikTok would get banned.

According to The New York Times, “the bill aims to get [the Chinese TikTok owner] ByteDance to sell TikTok to non-Chinese owners within six months. The president would sign off on the sale if it resolved national security concerns. If that sale did not happen, the app would be banned…Representative Mike Gallagher, the Wisconsin Republican who is among the lawmakers leading the bill, said on the floor before the vote that it ‘forces TikTok to break up with the Chinese Communist Party.'” The bill passed the House but still needs to pass the Senate and be signed by President Biden, not to mention clear inevitable legal challenges.

TikTok is a popular social media platform on which users can record themselves dancing or lip-syncing and share it with their followers. TikTok is well known for being a good source of entertainment. An average TikTok user spends 95 minutes on the app daily. People sit down, open their phones, and scroll, looking at people’s lives and the trends. They look at what to cook for dinner, popular fast-food orders, workout videos, and more. TikTok is a great way for businesses to use for marketing and publicity. It also unleashes users’ creativity to create content people can enjoy watching.

If TikTok had such a positive outcome, why would it get banned? Lawmakers have brought concerns about “data privacy” due to TikTok’s China-based company. They believe that sensitive data could be collected and that content might be censored in alignment with the Chinese government. The House bill requires TikTok’s owner to divest its U.S. assets within 165 days or face a total ban in the United States. A Divestment occurs when a company sells some or all its assets.

Currently, TikTok could be on the hook for up to $850 billion in fines. This situation is causing some friction. Users are revolting. They don’t want the app to get banned. The Office of Sen. Thom Tillis is receiving anonymous calls issuing death threats about the banning of TikTok. When we think about it, it is absurd that our society has made it to this point.

Maegan Byrne ’24. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

Senior Maegan Byrne is a much-followed TikTok content creator and avid platform user. TikTok is the only platform Byrne is comfortable posting on, and she hopes it doesn’t get banned. “I would be upset if TikTok got banned in the U.S. mostly because of how entertaining it is. I don’t think it’s necessary to post on there for me, but I like watching videos a lot,” Byrne said.

Byrne said she started as a content creator on TikTok, or more accurately, its predecessor. “I started using Musically, which turned into TikTok when I was in middle school. I got it because everyone had it, and it just seemed fun,” she added. Byrne likes that TikTok is less serious than other social media platforms. “I liked making silly videos with my friends. I post more to TikTok than other platforms, mostly because it’s less serious than other platforms. I can be goofy, make jokes, and post pointless things,” she said. “I like to keep my Instagram a little more professional, I guess,” Bryne added.

Byrne, her fellow students, and all of Gen Z anxiously await the fate of the TikTok legislation.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Real World

Perspective: The (Potential) TikTok Ban and Its Implications.

March 28, 2024 by Tony Yu

The House on Wednesday passed a bill with broad bipartisan support that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner to either sell the hugely popular video app or have it banned in the United States. If the TikTok bill were to become law, it would probably deepen tensions between the United States and China over the control of important technologies.

– The New York Times on March 13, 2024

I’m all too tired to even attempt to sugarcoat the following message in any way that doesn’t entrench its logical foundations into the sludgy annals of schizophrenic caffeine-fueled misinformation, so for my sake and the sake of any readers fortunate (unfortunate?) enough to stumble upon this article, YES. TikTok MAY VERY MUCH RECEIVE A COUNTRY-WIDE BAN – if certain conditions aren’t met in the future. On the surface, it is done as a precautionary measure that prevents the potential pilfering of the personal data of American users by the ever-topical Chinese government.

Illustration: https://thechargerfrontline.com/

What a way to start an otherwise entertaining article, I understand. Fortunately, we’re not here to discuss the intricate politics of America and how the mere act of doing something is enough to bolster support occasionally more so than the action itself – I’m not an expert, and politics are very much thin ice – rather, the implications that occur come the implementation of such an order. TikTok is popular – perhaps more popular for its own good – and anything done to it will send catastrophic ripples across America. Context may be needed to fully explain such a drastic rise in influence and popularity, and so I will provide context.

To my surprise (and the surprise of some of my peers), I am – for my age, at the very least – a chanced individual, one of the few not swept up by the social media boom that spawned as a direct result of the pandemic having locked us all in airtight boxes of brick and plaster with nothing worthwhile to take the mind off of our predicament aside from the steel rectangle we as a collective had trained ourselves to carry within our pockets at all times regardless of occasion and mood, a device that had already become ubiquitous. With demand for entertainment comes a supply of said entertainment in droves – short form content churned out from creators across the globe that unanimously yet unwittingly purveyed a horrific cacophony of mangled ideologies, of wealth being above all, of the apparent falsity that is ‘love’ and relationships, of videos longer than 10 seconds being the spawn of Satan himself, powered by the simple yet concerningly effective strategy of combining short-form, attention-grabbing content doctored to appeal to the bored and easily distracted with an algorithm programmed to, with great apparent success, predict the type of content you enjoy, creating a feedback loop of endless content that ropes you in for an eternity. Effective. Incredibly, devastatingly effective – I only happened to avoid its influence through an inexplainable stubbornness against the recommendations of others.

TikTok (for lack of a better word) blew up. It had achieved success in China long before the pandemic and in nearly every other country after the pandemic, becoming the No.1 trending app even as I write, whose popularity and influence, despite showing some signs of finally waning, remains potent enough to dwarf nearly every other entertainment-based app on the market.

As of early 2024, TikTok has over 1 BILLION monthly active users, roughly 1/8 of Earth’s total population, doubling that of Snapchat (Which reveals sideways the popularity of Snapchat, but that’s another story for another time) and catching up to Instagram at an alarming rate.
Since its inception in 2016, TikTok has been downloaded over 3 billion times.
ByteDance (The company that owns TikTok) is valued at a staggering $200 billion.
Out of the 4.8 billion total internet users, over 20% of them are active users of TikTok, including over 1/3 of mobile internet users.
There are 150 million TikTok users in America alone – by far the largest number out of any country in the world – larger than even China.
50 million daily TikTok users.
And so much more. It NEVER ENDS.

This is where the nature of TikTok becomes relevant once more. I mentioned above that TikTok is primarily a website that emphasizes short-form content above all else. There is not much to contend with there, but most aren’t aware of just HOW short-term they really are. According to the official TikTok website, the average watch time per video is around 1.5-3 seconds, while the length of the average TikTok video ranges from 21 seconds to 30 seconds. This horrific mashup of statistics makes it so if you were to upload a TikTok video and have a mere 20% of it watched, your video is considered by the standards of TikTok to be ‘engaging’ – a spine-crushing epiphany dampened further by the addition of some more stats that claim the average TikTok user spends around 55 minutes per day browsing these videos which results in a total of 400-600 TikTok videos watched per day.

It’s also worth noting the demographic of TikTok to fully factor in so many numbers. Over 50% of content creators are young people between 18 and 24 years old, and about 45% of all TikTok users are Gen Z, with a significant tilt towards women, as 60% of TikTok users worldwide are female. It’s a widely held belief that TikTok appeals to young people tremendously more than older ones, and the data agrees: there’s a significant drop in TikTok users from ages 50+ with a relatively moderate yet considerable drop of users from ages 40 and above. Despite having such a large user base, the demographic that it appeals to is quite consistent.

Empirical evidence, though pragmatic and effectively the foundation on which any good analysis is built, is quite a bore to slog through. So, instead of dropping the both of us into even more mind-splitting numerical data, I’ll deliver unto you a smattering of anecdotal evidence that confirms somewhat the statistics above while commenting on how each one adds to the impact of a potential ban. It’ll be more entertaining, at the very least, if not useful or informative.

“TikTok is used at nearly all junctures of the day. Iconic yet painfully repetitive bits from songs flood the corridor as I leave my room and attempt to make peace with all that surrounds me with little success. I recall being at the cusp of falling to sleep only to be jolted awake by a most heinous cacophony of clips of empty, derivative motivational quotes (Espoused no less by none other than your favorite human trafficker scrounging for diminutive scraps of relevancy) interlinked with the new popular music clip (Note that we are playing fast and loose with the definition of music here as not a single drop of melody nor lyricism can be derived from such swill) in a fashion that eats away at the core of my being. Crude opinions formed on delicate subjects ossify as the previously mentioned algorithm built with the express purpose of pushing to the user an ouroboros of self-aggrandizing content does its job. It is everywhere – everywhere and anywhere.”

– A re-write of a rant about TikTok one of my friends had a year back, only now it is more relevant than ever, and its addition to the article felt warranted.

“No, absolutely not. From what I’ve seen, nearly everyone I know uses TikTok to some extent/capacity. Most people on my team use it. I use it occasionally, though not as much as them, and yes, before you ask, I can see the appeal of using it the way they do—I’m just not interested enough in them to do so. Yeah, you’re right. A TikTok ban will change things. A lot of things. I just can’t really put into words the exact number of things. I don’t know.”

– Quote from a student I questioned about TikTok after opening with doubts of its influence on students our age.

“Yeah, I use TikTok. You don’t? It’s fun! You should get it.”

– A quick answer to my question from a student whose name I couldn’t recall – my favorite kind of answer, really. Simple, to the point… Yet incredibly telling all the same

“I don’t use TikTok.”

– Many teachers, when questioned whether they use the app or not. Neat.

Anecdotal evidence linking up with empirical evidence to form a concise conclusion is one of the best things analysts experience…Supposedly. I’m not an analyst, and I’d be better off not making assumptions about them. Either way, now that anecdotal evidence confirms empirical evidence, it’s time to discuss the implications of a potential ban.

There are 120 million American TikTok users, mostly young adults. A country-wide ban from Congress would not only alter the way so many people live on a decently large basis (55 minutes spent per day on one app is a large chunk of the day, after all), it would also sever the relationship said young people have with their government. This is rather dangerous, especially considering the time the bill was passed – in an election year, when the youth are given a chance to dictate America’s future (Or, at the very least, given the idea that they could). TikTok has become so ingrained in the minds of many that a sudden ban would be nigh-unadaptable, so many would choose to find ways to skirt the regulations – VPNs of all kinds come to mind – and use TikTok regardless. For them, nothing would change, except now, most of the content would be from countries that aren’t America. For instance, Brazil has a large TikTok user base unimpeded by the ban, which will then be the country with the most users and creators.

Many who use TikTok but aren’t willing to get a VPN to establish connections with the app once more may need to find other ways to entertain themselves – which would be incredibly difficult. As mentioned above, TikTok has drastically reduced the attention span of many a student, and to force them to move on to other forms of entertainment so quickly would be unwise – Considering the time elapsed per reading, writing, or art session, they may not have the patience to finish even one. Therefore, they may instead consider alternatives to TikTok, such as YouTube shorts or Instagram Reels, in these apps that work similarly to TikTok and have similar retention rates and userbases. TikTok, in a way, is less an app and more a phenomenon – the lowered attention spans of the younger generation capitalized made manifest. The banning of TikTok wouldn’t miraculously solve all that, so chances are they’ll merely move on to something else.

TikTok is also a breeding ground of internet trends that grow, spread and get parodied until the original becomes the anomaly. The banning of TikTok wouldn’t stem the flow of such trends but would surely cut down on the speeds at which they form. Individual jokes and ‘memes’ may have a longer impact. This isn’t all that important in the grand scheme (especially in comparison to the other implications above) but is worth mentioning as trends, especially internet trends, are a staple of TikTok and TikTok-esque apps and thus will be affected due to the ban. The youth might have to spend less time reading up on the latest new things, which is always a good thing.

The older generations, on the other hand, will stand mostly completely unaffected. They’ve likely more important things to do than care about some random app getting the axe.

And lastly, I wish to reiterate that I don’t use TikTok – so I don’t care. Really.

Suggested Reading:

Filed Under: Opinion, Real World, Top Story

The Future of Batteries

March 26, 2024 by Tony Yu

Symbolic image of a future battery. Computer-generated image.

The development of technology never stagnates. Whether it be something as simple as a patch for a technology/product in desperate need of repair or something truly innovative and game-changing for generations, there will always be SOMETHING on the horizon for SOMEONE. Something, in this context, is the electric batteries, an intrinsic part of our daily lives. They are also taking part in this dramatic metamorphosis towards a more developed future, undergoing changes at a rapid pace – and yet, it is rarely brought up when discussing the development of technology. In truth, electric batteries have improved immensely since their inception all the way back in the 1800s and will continue to do so for decades. This article will be an exploration of just where they are headed as a technology, and what to expect of them 50 years in the future.

Cheaper Batteries, Cleaner Energy.

As a counter to the purveyors espousing the inevitable and total collapse of society due to an overuse of coal/oil-based energy sources and that nothing could alter that course, cheap, powerful batteries are being used in grid storage, making renewables more and more viable as an energy source by the day. According to Reuters reporting, “Giant batteries that ensure stable power supply by offsetting intermittent renewable supplies are becoming cheap enough to make developers abandon scores of projects for gas-fired generation world-wide.”

This isn’t just a fluke, either. Recent news regarding the state of energy production has brought up an influx of never-before-seen developments in renewable energy (and the distribution and storage of said energy) that, in perfect union with the decreasing cost and increasing storage of batteries, renewables have been made much easier to invest time and money into, which would greatly assist in the production and storage efficiency of said energies.

Batteries, in a way, are catalysts to whatever technologies utilize them. The better the battery, the more effective the technology that utilizes it becomes. As batteries continue to lower in cost, so would the expense of producing such technologies. As productivity and investment continue to increase, it’s fair to suggest even cheaper batteries in the future.

Growing Popularity/Image.

Battery sales are growing almost exponentially – 33% more per year, in fact. This is due to an entire array of factors – including but not limited to – increased sales of electronics, increased effectiveness of stationary storage, and an explosion of growth for electronic vehicles of all kinds. As mentioned before, batteries act as catalysts for the storage of energy. An increased demand for them strongly implies an increase in battery-synergistic technologies, which would only further the demand for more batteries, increasing its overall effectiveness.

With such a massive increase in sales, people will inevitably be looking into them.

They are the perfect middle ground between the differing types of energies, storing them all with relatively stable efficiency. Higher sales = More investment = Better quality and even more production in the near and far future.

The Strengthening of Battery Volume Despite Lowering Prices

As prices for batteries continued to plummet, one might assume the quality to fall along with it, but the opposite has happened. As battery prices fell, the strength and capacity for batteries only grew to a staggering 500Ws per kg at the end of 2023. There doesn’t seem to be any slowing to this process, either; in fact, battery-based technologies only seem to increase in development speed. We were BEHIND in terms of estimation for what batteries will become.

Their growth doesn’t seem to be thinning out or stopping in any way. The s-curve trend of batteries implies something massive about our knowledge of how this tech works on a fundamental level – we aren’t even close to fully maxing out its potential with what we have. This is fortunate, as with the increased investments in batteries and renewable energies come changes that can work to seal the wound humanity has dealt with the environment. We will likely see more exponential growth in the future, and therefore, batteries are more powerful than we could ever hope to imagine today.

In conclusion, batteries have never stagnated in growth. They are and always will be something in the background—something that helps yet never takes the central stage. Despite that, and despite the heavy emphasis I’ve put on their role as catalysts, their role in the development and growth of humans as a collective cannot be understated. Because of this, we could expect cheaper and much more powerful batteries than we have today, embedded within your phone, walls, or even car.

Filed Under: Opinion, Real World

Lab-Grown Meat – Innovation Breeds Competition

March 20, 2024 by Tony Yu

A piece of GOOD Meat’s cell-cultivated chicken cooks on a grill at the company’s California office in July 2023. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

There is a common thread amongst surveyors of technology that manages to unite them all despite differences in ideology and identity – we have very little object, or in this case, ‘news’ permanence. We forget developments in technology just as quickly as we read the articles. This has been the case with solar-powered generators (something that most people seemingly forgot about only to be reminded of once more once it had reached mainstream media a few months back), developments in drone technology that makes them accurate and stable enough to serve in armies across the world, and of course, in what’s relevant to the topic at hand, lab-grown meat. I’m sure many of you may have picked up on the phenomenon of lab-grown meat a few years before from the miscellaneous articles lining the shelves of convenience stores and supermarkets alike, ruminated for five minutes on the massive implications, and forgot completely about it until seeing the title above. I don’t altogether blame you for it, surprisingly.

Lab-grown meat years ago was incredibly out of reach for commoners. Its price was nothing short of obnoxious (around $300k for a single patty produced by a Dutch scientist back in 2013. This “achievement” was and was thus seen as nothing more than a vain display of technical gene-spicing (however inaccurate that may be) expertise that provides little to nothing to the grand scheme of actually solving the unfortunately very real climate bushwacking and moral depressions caused by the meat industry at large (The meat industry alone is responsible for around 17% of all of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions, coming from a horrific mixture of animal gases and massive machines that wouldn’t look out of place out of a 90s horror flick) – and that was the impression left to many upon reading of the news all those years ago.

Fortunately for the bored and inattentive, there hasn’t been a single instance of technological progress wherein it has proven itself completely resistant to the waves of change – and change it did. From the sky-high prices effectively barring all but the elite from ever having a taste to the much more affordable (though arguably still overpriced) burgers costing upwards of 15 dollars from restaurants in Singapore, developments in the lab-grown industry had effectively reduced costs thousands of times per burger, a trend that came to be once the original tech became more widespread, and results became more consistent across labs. It’s fascinating to watch as it all becomes an actual option for those unwilling to take part in the traditional meat industry.

Unfortunately for those in parts of America looking forward to a meat-industry-free future, such innovations have proven too competitive, potentially harming the large and influential traditional meat industries there. This confirms two things: That lab-grown meat is mature enough to be both sold somewhat commercially and at a cheap enough price threaten the longevity of the meat industry, and that, despite the good that this could potentially do, it is being challenged on account of that alone. Southern states like Tennessee have legislated major fines to those selling cell-cultured meat upwards of one million dollars in an act of defiance against the rising technology. Tennessee wasn’t the only state acting up. According to a report in Vox, “Florida state Rep. Tyler Sirois, another Republican who introduced a similar bill late last year, stated a different — and perhaps more honest — motivation for banning cell-cultivated meat: to protect the state’s farmers from competition. ‘Farming and cattle are incredibly important industries to Florida,’ Sirois said in an interview with Politico in November.”

Some have even claimed the very practice of producing meat from cells to be an affront to nature—despite humanity’s current state being so much more of a mutation of “nature’s interests” than a new piece of technology that builds from predetermined principles of cellular reproduction could ever hope to be.

Strangely, however, this isn’t the first time politics revolving around meat have managed to cause real damage to nascent technologies. Meat and protein substitutes had always been under fire from politicians unwilling to fully shift from one to another in fear of damaging large industries. It is then somewhat fortunate that only a few states in America have passed this bill, and they will stand as constant reminders of how ever-prevalent ties with politics and economics technologies that, to most of us, are only positive additions to our lives and the ecosystems of the planet on which we reside can be.

Recommended Reading:

Inside the effort to cut the cost of cultivated meat (acs.org).

Why the media ignores meat’s role in climate change – Vox.

What is cell-cultivated meat, and why do Republicans want to ban it? The political crusade against lab-grown meat, explained. – Vox.

Filed Under: Opinion, Real World

Flash Freeze Sweeps Across America, Neutralizes Record Warmth

March 18, 2024 by Tony Yu

Source: WTXL

February 27, 2024 saw a radical shift in the weather as a massive cold front, reinforced partially by an artic blast (a sudden and intense surge of cold air from the North Pole, carried into America via an unnatural jet stream) swept across the midsection of America, jettisoning the lands that had recently just experienced the record-breaking warmth of February that alluded even further to the throes of climate change into an icebox of epic proportions – a drop of 50-60 degrees for cities like Kansas City, Dallas, and Chicago. The temperature, what felt like early summer, transitioned impromptu back immediately to the middle of winter as blizzards ravaged states like California and Sierras, causing jams in traffic and creating whiteout scenarios wherein snow blows across the lands (almost parallel to the ground as a visual representation of the winds at play here), the winds are inconsistent and unpredictable in direction yet potent and permeating in strength. Visibility is dramatically reduced as a result, twisting the simple act of going outside into a challenge. Snow blindness, a form of photokeratitis that is caused by UV rays reflected off ice and snow, is also now a factor at play, considering the innumerable layers of fresh snow coating the ground where there used to be ground-based foliage (grass, flowers, the works), so wear sunglasses if that causes significant discomfort.

The climate machinations behind such a mass drop in temperature, unfortunately, couldn’t be remedied in a meaningful way by the ordinary civilian. We don’t yet possess the technology to stop cold fronts or redirect jet streams, so for the average citizen, the best port of call would be to once again redirect their attention towards the age-old debate of adaptation vs. mitigation, rule out the latter, and look for ways to quickly change their personal spaces as to better cope with the dropping temperatures. This includes the good-ol’ advice of drinking plenty of water, turning on the heat before you go to sleep (failure in doing so has resulted in fever with the capacity to kill for the less fortunate), closing windows, bringing animals/plants you own unable to function in such drastic weather conditions indoors and wear heavy thermal protection if you ever plan on going outside for supplies or meet-ups with your friends. Winter is back for round two, and while you may not be happy about that, there’s nothing much we can do at this point except hold out until it all returns to normal – or at least, normal to the standards of the rapidly shifting modern climate.

Although we can’t yet prevent the cold front outright, it’s worth noting that the frequency of cold fronts is tempered by changes in the climate, something we as a species are both responsible for and capable of slowly changing. Perhaps. Optimism isn’t yet dead to me, and I’ll hold out hope whenever I can, so allow me this chance.

Filed Under: Real World

Warm Winter Bad News for Snow Sports Athletes

March 15, 2024 by Hamish Riddell

Aston Ferrillo ’26. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

The 2023-24 Lake Placid winter has been unimpressive. Global warming is a significant, well-known problem that has been a primary factor in recent depressing winters. Here at Northwood, we pride ourselves on our snow sports athletes, yet our earth cannot provide a sustainable winter for them to enjoy the sport they love. With temperatures reaching 54 degrees at the beginning of March and rain during February, life was difficult for Northwood’s winter sports athletes.

Aston Ferillo ’26 is a NYSEF/Northwood Alpine ski racer who is disappointed in the weather this winter. “It just sucks, and there is nothing we can do about it,” said Ferrillo. “If you think about five years ago, there was more snow,” he recollected. Weather directly affects his sport and he feels helpless when the weather is bad. “It’s not life or death, but we will just have a shorter season, but we can’t do anything about it which might even be the worst part,” he added.

Whiteface Mountain is the major training and competition venue for alpine, freestyle, and snowboard athletes in the region. The Whiteface season opened in November, which is consistent with the previous season; however, last season ended in late April, but Whiteface watchers say it’s not likely that the mountain will be open into April. The athletes have alternatives and fun ways to train and get snow when none is found here, as they went on early-season trips to Colorado and Austria in recent years.

Marcos Alvarez ’26. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

“It is getting too warm too quick,” said Spanish ski racer Marcos Alvarez ‘26. “There is not enough snow, and obviously, I do not like it.” Marcos expected more snow and better conditions in Lake Placid than his home in Spain, but that hasn’t been the case this season. “In Spain it snows more, which is crazy since I came here for skiing. It is not too different because in Spain, it is very hot too, and it gets warm like here.”

The Northwood snow sport athletes have been disappointed with this winter. All they can do is hope for a better one next year and hope that there is a possibility of a little more cold and snow this winter.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Real World, Sports

Northwood Community Conflicted About Phones

March 7, 2024 by Maegan Byrne

Students on their phones in the living room. Photo: Mr. John Spear.

Phones are an important tool used in everyday life, but they are being used less as a tool to improve productivity and becoming a bigger distraction for students. People are spending more time on their phones than studying, doing homework, or even socializing. Phones have helped make finding knowledge easier as well as bringing a form of entertainment into your pocket. They can connect the user with people from all around the world. However, they are also becoming overused. Because you can “socialize” so much over the phone, kids spend less time talking IRL [in real life]. Phone use also takes time away from studying or training for athletics.

The Mirror spoke with students and faculty at Northwood about their phones and how they were being used. Here is what we learned.

Morgan Smith ’24 on her phone in the living room. Photo: Maegan Byrne ’24.

“I mostly use my phone for communication,” Morgan Smith ’24 said. “I use Snapchat, text messages, and phone calls to talk to friends and family. I also use my phone to keep organized and keep schedules.” Smith sees some problems with her phone use. “I think there are major downsides to phones, like how distracting they are and how they limit socializing with people outside of phones,” Smith said. “My phone also keeps me up at night and can mess up my sleep schedule,” she added.

Scout Oudemool ‘24 thinks that phones are both a distraction and a useful tool. “I mostly use my phone for texting people, and to Google things for schoolwork. I think I should use my phone less when studying and not get as distracted on social media or watching shows,” Oudemool said.

Eduardo Campos de Aguiar ’25 also sees the pros and cons of his phone use. “My phone is both a distraction and a tool. For me, it’s a distraction in my free time, but when I need it, it can be a good thing. I use my phone for schoolwork and talking to friends and family back home. I think I spend an okay amount of time on my phone and think it’s useful,” he said.

“I think that phones can be a good resource, but you need to learn to navigate it,” Ms. Leigh Riffle said. “There are a lot of benefits to phones but also a lot of cons,” Riffle said. “One of the stinky things about phones is when you walk into the dining hall or living room, there’s not a lot of conversations, just everyone sitting there on their phones,” she added.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Real World

Humans of Northwood: Colin Kis ’24

February 28, 2024 by Hamish Riddell

My family and I frequently vacationed in Lake Placid before we moved here, and it was during these vacations that we first learned of Northwood. All I remember was loving this school. Before that, I lived in the borough of Queens in New York City. I went to a Catholic school in Forest Hills, Queens, from nursery to 8th grade. I had the same classmates throughout my whole time at the school, which made meeting new people at Northwood intimidating because I wasn’t constantly meeting new kids. Throughout my time in NYC, I socialized with my friends primarily by playing video games since it was what we loved to do. To this day, I still play video games whenever I have free time. I still play with my three other best friends.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I could not have an in-person graduation at my school. Instead, I graduated on Zoom and later had a car parade through the school parking lot to get my diploma. The summer after my graduation, I moved to Wilmington. I loved Wilmington more than NYC because it was quiet, had beautiful nature, and allowed me to do fun activities, such as skiing.

I used to play tennis a lot when I lived in NYC. I played at the USTA and the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills. Until about 7th or 8th grade, I wanted to become a tennis pro, mainly because my grandma said she always wanted to watch me play at the French Open; however, I eventually realized I did not have the skill to become a tennis pro and decided to focus entirely on academics. My favorite activity to do during my free time is playing video games. My love for video games started when I would watch my father playing video games. I was so invested in what he was playing. When I was young, I played Skylanders, Minecraft, and Roblox. Now, I play Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch 2, Minecraft, For Honor, Payday 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, and games from the Yakuza series.

I’ve really liked my years at Northwood. I’ve met many great students and faculty who are incredibly kind. I’ve enjoyed my classes and co-curriculars in all my years here. My favorite activity is skiing at Whiteface during the winter with the Ski & Snowboard Club. I’ve had an excellent relationship with the people on the crew and in the Ski & Snowboard Club. My crew teammates and I always have fun during trips to regattas. After Northwood, I plan to go to college and major in a STEM-related subject, and after go to medical school to achieve my dream of being a medical doctor.

As told to Hamish Riddell ’26. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Real World

From Kickoffs to Conversations: The Asian Cup’s Cultural Resonance at Northwood

January 30, 2024 by Li Feng

Illustration from Goal.com

With the Asian Cup already underway, the result from the first two rounds extends excitement amongst the Northwood Community. With representatives from South Korea, Australia, China, India, Thailand, and Japan. The air is thick with excitement as students engage in lively debates, trying to predict which nation will be the finalist to claim the “best Asian country” title. The multicultural identity of Northwood is on full display as diverse perspectives are encountered.

At the time of writing, Qatar is the leading team in Group A, followed by China in second, then Tajikistan, and Lebanon. Each team will fight for a ticket to the knockout stages with one more game remaining. “This would likely be a game of disparity,” says Anthony Wu ‘26 from China. China will play Qatar on Monday, January 22, in a deciding game for China’s advancement to the round of 16.

In Group B, Australia has confirmed their qualifications for the knockout rounds while India, although with one more game remaining, marked their end to further progress in the tournament. Mitchell Baker ’25, expressing optimism about Australia’s possibilities, remarked, “Australia will do great in the knockout stages. We won in 2015, and I believe we can win again.”

On the other side, despite facing challenging opponents in a demanding group, Shreeniket Bhat ‘25, a soccer player for the 17s from India, reflected on the team’s performance, stating, “India firmly stood their ground against teams of simply higher caliber, especially with five of our key players unable to play. It was a tough group to be drawn into, but it was great to see all players play with immense grit.”

In Group C, which does not feature any representatives from Northwood, Iran currently holds the top position as the leading team. Following closely, the UAE secures the second spot, while Palestine holds the third position. Hong Kong, unfortunately, finds itself at the bottom of the group standings. The competition in Group C is heating up with each match adding a new chapter to the unfolding narrative of the tournament.

In Group D, notably the favorites to win the tournament, Japan surprisingly found themselves in second place after a 2-1 loss to the current first-placed Iraq. Despite being optimistic about the Asian Cups, Nikalas Loraing ’25 expressed disappointment, stating, “It’s disappointing because, on paper, we have a very strong team and should be dominating every game. There are a lot of high expectations which leads to pressure on the team and the staff.” The unexpected setback against Iraq has heightened the stakes for Japan. With one more game remaining, Japan faces Indonesia in the final round of the group stage to contest for the first-place position.

In Group E, South Korea is the favorite to advance to the knockout stages, however, following a 2-2 tie with Jordan, South Korea remains in second. Although Korea has world-class players from various parts of the world, such as Heung-min Son from Tottenham Hotspur, Kang-In Lee from PSG, and many more, it is a disappointing start for many Koreans. With one more crucial game remaining against Malaysia, South Korea aims to come out victorious, hoping for a triumphant turnaround for their national team to secure first place in the group.

Lastly in Group F, a decent start to the tournament, Thailand won the first opening game to the tournament 2-0 against Kyrgyzstan and drew their second 0-0 against Oman. Samuel Knauf ‘24, a soccer player for the 19s from Thailand, expressed his disappointment, sharing, “I was expecting a win against Oman, but I am still confident that we could win against Saudi Arabia and qualify for the knockout stages.” The team is fueled by a collective determination to overcome challenges. “Once we qualify, we will demolish every opponent that stands in our way. With great power comes great responsibility,” Knauf said.

Adding to the dynamic atmosphere, the Asian Cup has served as a platform for cultural exchange within the Northwood Community. “It’s been great to have another daily topic of discussion. It enhances the sense of camaraderie in the soccer team here at Northwood since many of us come from Asian backgrounds,” said Bhat. The tournament has not only been a platform for competitive soccer but has also fostered a sense of unity and camaraderie among the diverse backgrounds represented in Northwood. The tournament’s impact goes beyond entertainment, creating a shared space for discussions, connections, and unity among the students.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Real World, Sports

What is Design Thinking?

January 30, 2024 by Hamish Riddell

Design thinking, also known as user-centered design, is a five-step problem-solving process (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test/refine) that helps people create better products, services, and policies. Design thinking centers the user and requires that the ones designing the solution deeply understand and define both the problem and the people who experience the problem.

Ms. Stacy Prime, Northwood’s Chief Innovation Officer, teaches the Design Thinking course at Northwood School. “In this out-of-the-box introductory course, students become real-world problem solvers and learn the five stages of the design thinking process: to empathize, define, ideate, prototype, & test/refine,” Prime said. “Faced with design thinking challenges, students leverage industry standard tools and processes to create innovative solutions to problems of their choosing. Part design studio, part think tank and makerspace, this hands-on and minds-on course takes place at the Innovation Hub and requires students to grow as critical and creative thinkers, communicators, and collaborators,” she added.

Ms. Stacy Prime, Chief Innovation Officer (Photo: Michael Aldridge)

Prime added an insight into why Design Thinking is included in the Northwood curriculum. “We want Northwood students to have the best education possible and be ready to be leaders in any field they pursue. Introduction to design thinking, along with entrepreneurship, 3D modeling, and robotics, represents new fields of learning that are growing in relevance,” Prime said. Design thinking can help students become leaders that the world is so much in need of: better problem solvers who can listen and collaborate with other people to develop great solutions to the world’s most vital and important problems.

Design thinking can also be applied to students’ learning experiences in general. “Most importantly, we want students to design a personalized path to success that centers their happiness and well-being. Students can apply the principles they learn in design thinking to their own lives, unlocking new opportunities and solving meaningful problems,” Prime noted.

Design thinking skills are applicable to students’ future careers. “The skills learned in design thinking are useful in any career field,” Prime said. “By taking a design thinking class, students learn how to solve problems for and with a specific group of people. Students also learn how to think more creatively and critically, which are two of the most valuable skills that employers look for in the workforce, according to the World Economic Forum,” added Prime.

Design Thinking is a great class to gain insight into how the process can benefit us. Many people worldwide use Design Thinking to solve problems and improve products and experiences. Design Thinking is a great way for students to find a passion and use creative skills to solve problems.