![After placing second in their respective LDEs at the Capital District contest in early November, freshman Jesus Jaramillo-Gallegos and freshman Wyatt Pickett will compete at the Area XII LDE contest in Georgetown on Nov. 23. Jaramillo-Gallegos is competing in Greenhand Spanish Creed Speaking, while Pickett’s LDE is Greenhand Creed Speaking. “Honestly, [I’m excited for] just traveling around, maybe meeting more people,” Jaramillo-Gallegos said. “And [I’m] nervous about probably just not being able to define my weak areas. I feel like I did decent for my first time ever doing this. I just think it’s fun.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Navy-and-Yellow-Simple-Group-Project-Presentation-1200x675.png)
![Holding up T-wolves, the tour group poses for a picture in the Chinese classroom. Sophomore Lydia Ou, junior Phu Trung and senior Yushan Pan gave a tour to Taiwanese diplomat Andrea Yang on Nov. 8. “I was so excited when I heard I would get to give the tour because it’s a big deal,” Ou said. “She’s from the US embassy for Taiwan, so she’s really important. I’m so privileged [to get this opportunity] and I’m so excited.” Photo by Skyler King](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Main-Taiwan.jpg)
![Sitting at a desk past the rows of books laid out for the Book Fair, senior Kimberley Walters assists people in purchasing books and finding titles. The Book Fair is taking place Dec. 16 through Dec. 20, and is an annual event during which students and faculty have the opportunity to go and purchase books and other trinkets in the library. Kimberley said she encourages all to go to the Book Fair, even if they think they don’t like to read. “If you make reading something that is fun for you and you find the things that you like to read, it will never be a chore,” Walters said. “So [the Book Fair is] a good opportunity to find something that will respark your want to read [like] when you were a child and you went to the book fair and you loved the ‘I survived’ books. Maybe you'll find your ‘I survived’ books of your high school experience, and it'll re-spark that kind of love for reading that may have died out.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Addie-L-47-1200x800.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, sophomore Olivia Mahlmeister and seniors Samantha Jameson, Adhit Eswaramoorthi and Justin Khadavi celebrate completing first chamber in the Congress Meet. All four students advanced to the final chamber. “Out of the 20 kids in the final chamber, we had a seventh, ninth, 11th and 13th, and they took the top four to move on to state,” AP US History and Debate teacher Josh Marsh said. “[Even though] we didn't make state this year, all four of them moving on [and] placing is phenomenal.” Photo courtesy of Josh Marsh](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-Regional-Congress-Team.jpg)
![Standing in front of a small audience, senior Kimberley Walters shares a social criticism poem titled “Pity the Nation” by Lawrence Felinghetti. Every month, sponsored by the poetry club, the library hosts a poetry reading. “I never thought I would be interested in [poetry readings] because I’m not the biggest poetry fan,” Walters said. “I think poetry is a very succinct way to express feelings and get a story across. Whereas lots of books have a span of a whole story, but it’s put in a lot of words. The power of poetry is that you can be so succinct within, and there’s a lot of power within the words that are used.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KIM-1200x800.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, Author Ehigbor Okosun, members of Page Turners, and other students reflect on the author's visit. “I thought the visit was great,” Senior Amia De Leon said. “It was interesting talking to her and [getting to know] her process and her thoughts and books in general. But I think the reason it went well [was that] people got to ask questions. I'm glad that she said so much in response to the questions and it wasn't just one and done. [The author’s responses] felt very articulate.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Sebastian-5-1200x800.jpg)
![Holding the Grand Nationals trophies, drum majors Helashi Wijayawardhana, Abigail Pettey and Eddy Kim pose for a photo. The BOA Grand Nationals competition took place in Indianapolis on Nov. 14-17. “My favorite thing was just looking back at the field, and I was like, ‘Oh, crap. I know all of their names, I know who all of them are’,” Wijayawardahana said. “It's just insane to me that I was able to make so many connections. [Being a drum major] taught me how to build relationships with people who I’m not really that similar to, and how to juggle a ton of things all together.”
Photo courtesy of CPHS Band SmugMug](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AJC.GrandNatsFinals-169-1200x801.jpg)
![Delicately placing the string to form the shape of a cornucopia, seniors Haley Burton and Avery Nelson create the November arrangement for the Flower of the Month Club. This club is led by Advanced Floral Design Students and provides a monthly arrangement to community members who subscribe to receive them. “I think flower of the month club is a really impactful way to show your loved ones ‘hey I really care about you,’ or even if they’re just for yourself, they’re a little pick-me-up throughout the month that [say] ‘I’m doing ok, and these flowers make my day a little bit brighter,” Nelson said. “I like giving people flowers because people value the flowers more and they value themselves more.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ava-Holmes-3-edit.jpg)
![Standing in front of the field at a freshman football game, cheerleader freshman Jacob Gaudreau along with teammate freshman Bella Gibson pose for a photo during halftime of game. “[Cheer has] definitely given me a much more outgoing personality,” Gaudreau said. “I used to be very introverted, so it's definitely made me more extroverted towards people.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ingrid-204-1200x800.jpg)
![Holding a wooden pizza toy, senior Taylor Peterson plays with small children in Bucaramanga, Colombia. During the summer, Peterson traveled to Colombia to help build an elementary school that only had two classrooms but five or six grades with one teacher. “We add[ed] two more classrooms,” Peterson said. “It’s kind of hard when you have two or three grades in one classroom and you only have one teacher. It’s very hard to actually get some beneficial learning. [The extra classrooms will give the students] a better quality of education because they’ll actually have a place specific for their learning.” Photo by Taylor Peterson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Taylor-P.png)
![Sucking in a breath of air, freshman Lily Pope competes in the 200 yard individual medley. On Oct. 25, the swim team competed in the AISD Swim Invitational. Overall, the girls team took second place and the boys team came in eleventh. “My favorite stroke is butterfly because I do the best in that stroke,” Pope said. “I feel like [butterfly] can test how [your ability] to convince yourself to keep going. The hardest part of swimming is convincing yourself to stay strong and keep pushing during a hard race [when] everything is tired.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/POPE-1200x804.jpg)
![Swinging with his arm extended, senior Nolan Park hits the ball smoothly over the net and to the opponent’s side. Park is one of four varsity tennis captains and helped the team win district championships. “Winning district champs was a pretty awesome feeling,” Park said. “We had lost to Liberty Hill a couple of weeks before, but when we played them [again], we came out and really took care of business. We took them out and it was just a really awesome night.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kassidy-419.jpg)
“I Would Hit Rewind”
Review on Gnash’s Debut Album
Gnash released his debut album on Jan. 11, 2019.
January 23, 2019
On Friday, Jan. 11, Gnash, an American singer-songwriter and producer, released his 13 track debut album “We.” The album has been anticipated by many of his supporters, including me, after his last three EPs titled “U,” “Me” and “Us” came out. The album revolves around heartbreak, insecurities and living in the moment. Together, it creates an intimate and sentimental masterpiece that makes you see yourself and the world around in a different manner.
Although I loved every song featured, below are my five favorite songs on the album.
1. “Happy Never After”- This is the first song on the album, and it starts in a unique way that I loved. When I heard the spoken intro, I was hooked. He introduces the whole concept of the album in less than 50 words and 16 seconds, and it sets the scene for every thought and emotion he had while writing the 13 song album.
2. “Imagine if”- This is one of the songs released in anticipation for the album release, but I did not listen to it, because I wanted to wait until the whole album was released. This is one of the more upbeat songs on the whole album, so it makes you want to bop your head and dance to it. It’s a very catchy song, so you can be guaranteed that I have all the lyrics memorized. “Imagine if” further helped me realize on what we miss when we are so caught up on our phones and social media rather than living in the moment.
3. “Insane”- This specific song immediately transported me to the mindset he might have gone through while writing this song. It’s a mellow, almost calming, arrangement that really helped with relating to him in some degree. I also really enjoyed the change of pace when he raps the second verse and later speaks the last few lines, something that was consistent throughout the album.
4. “Dear Insecurity”- The song features an Australian singer and songwriter, Ben Abraham, as the main vocals for the chorus. This song was also released prior to the album release, but unlike “Imagine if,” I did listen to this song when it was first released. The first time I listened to this song, I cried. It hit so many personal soft spots and it was written so honestly and raw, that for me, it was inevitable to not express those emotions as I listened. My favorite part about this song is the progression of ideas. In the beginning, it was about letting insecurities control your mind and then it ended at a point about an individual gaining that control back.
5. “P.S.”- This is the best song to end the album. It’s short, but it expresses many emotions in one minute and 43 seconds. It is not only the end of the album, but the end of his former relationship. I cried while listening to this song, especially with the last line that ties every song and emotion together, “Even if we’re not together, we’ll forever be we.”
My criticism:
1. I really loved this album, so there is not much criticism on my part, but there is one thing that I did not particularly love, this being the inclusion of “I hate u, I love u” featuring singer-songwriter Olivia O’Brien. At first glance, I was confused why it was added to the album, as it was released three years ago. In retrospect, I can understand why this song was added to the heartbreak side of the album, and especially because it was Gnash’s first hit song.
Overall, I can describe “We” as a rollercoaster of emotions. There was so much expressed that I was able to relate to many of the songs, lyrics and situations showcased. If you want to listen to a new artist, album, or song I definitely would recommend this album. I can guarantee that you won’t listen to the album without relating to at least one thing.
This album is categorized as explicit and under the Indie/Alternative genre. Stream “We” free on Spotify and Pandora and buy it for $8.99 on Apple Music and Google Play Music.
Rating: 5 out of 5 flowers
