Discovery week critiques, a deep dive into Holocaust education, and a family’s love for hockey—all unique topics, all discussed in my Op-Eds. In my six years on Spyglass’ staff, I’ve written dozens of op-eds; some about Westridge, some about my own life, and some about Taylor Swift.

I kept a detailed notes app file of every article idea that ever came to mind, and throughout my years writing, I’ve accumulated quite the list. Here are some of the op-eds I never got to write.

We Should All Play More Sports
If I had to take two years of photography, you can woman up and sit on the JV soccer or basketball benches for three years.

Crowdsource Pedagogy to Unlock an Unmatched Education Experience
Mr. E’s offering of extra credit for attending physics lectures at the likes of the Carnegie Observatories and Caltech. Autumn Rogers’ Capstone’s daily stand-up presentations to summarize your contribution to the group’s project. Ms. Yurchak’s journal entries for every reading we complete. Dr. Busch’s iconic interludes. Westridge teachers have a lot of brilliance, and they should share it with each other.

Start Rewarding the Pursuit of Rigor and Excellence: It’s Time to Weight GPAs Again
In a sea of 3.99s and 3.98s, how on earth can we distinguish ourselves academically? In a marketed rigorous learning environment such as Westridge, why are we turning our heads to students choosing to embrace difficulty by not reflecting those choices in their GPAs?

We Are Too Apathetic Toward Community Service
As a four-year service representative alongside Upper School Service & Community Coordinator Ms. Erica St. John, I’ve seen my fair share of students not caring about service, even if they may receive a failing grade on their transcript for it. At a school that seemingly feels individualistic, with every student solely thinking about their college prospects, our true potential as citizens of the world fails to prevail. We need to address our lack of enthusiasm and determination to better our communities.

Worried about ChatGPT Usage? Focus on the Tutors Instead.
Students who heavily rely on their tutors to generate ideas, syntax, and analysis are a dime a dozen at Westridge. As much as I believe ChatGPT usage for writing should be demonized, we should also hold students who use tutors for the same purpose to a similar standard.

Westridge Needs Quiet Spaces for Upper School Students
Walking into the library at pretty much any hour of the day, you are guaranteed to be met with at least one screaming Lower or Middle Schooler. The truth is, the library is difficult for many to focus in. Westridge should prioritize its Upper School students who endure the school’s most difficult education and offer them quiet spaces to work.

From your opinionated queen:

So long, Spyglass.