Expectations were high when fans heard that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, was being made into another movie. Director Baz Luhrmann tailored the movie into an artistic mash-up, merging the Roaring 20s with a Shakespearean tragedy. Luhrmann is known for producing unique and artistic films that include realistic graphics and surreal editing, along with vibrant sound track choices.

Fireworks illuminated the sky, confetti fell out of the air in every color imaginable, and blaring music could be heard miles and miles away; it was definitely a Gatsby party. Based off of Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby film is about an ostentatious new-money man named Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lives in New York’s fictitious West Egg and spends his time hoping for a future with the woman he has loved for five years: Daisy Buchanan. He disowned his past and began a new life, all because he loved Daisy. In both Fitzgerald’s writings and Lurhmann’s film, Gatsby is portrayed to be a man longing after the idea of love. He is depicted as the good guy who the audience sympathizes with. Staying true to the novel, Gatsby embodies the American dream in the film.

The movie does an excellent job of sticking to Fitzgerald’s plot. The story is retold by Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin. Carraway seems to be in some sort of therapy session, recounting moments with Daisy, Tom and Gatsby. At times, it is difficult for him to express his feelings through words, so he expresses himself by writing stories. The actors and actresses do a decent job of bringing Fitzgerald’s characters to life. At times, their New York accents seem overplayed, but for the most part, they stick to Fitzgerald’s original script. Gatsby’s charm and Tom’s arrogance is spot on as the movies plays out, and Daisy’s over-dramatic nature isn’t hard to pick up on either. The effort in perfecting the film and pleasing fans was overwhelming and somewhat cheesy at times. According to the movie, Gatsby’s parties in 1922 were supposedly filled with extroverted, unusual people dancing to modern day 21st century music. There is almost a 100 year difference between when the movie takes place and the songs that are being played at Gatsby’s parties. The opening shot is paired with one of Kayne West’s songs, which was a little off.

The movie begins to escalate in the second half of the film when two of the most anticipated scenes take place. Fans were anxious to see how Tom’s rage of violence and the unexpected death of a character would be portrayed. Although the scenes line up with Fitzgerald’s story line, they aren’t played out in a realistic way. For such an elaborate movie, fans expected Tom’s abuse towards Myrtle to be pragmatic and believable, but it’s hard to tell if his hand even really touched her face in this climatic scene.

The unraveling of the plot in Fitzgerald’s novel is nail-biting, making the book almost impossible to put down, but this wasn’t necessarily the case in Luhrmann’s film. Some of the editing and over-animation of Gatsby’s house seemed to overcompensate for the slow unraveling of the plot in the first half of the movie. While the acting was average in the beginning, the last scene pulls the whole movie together. The audience is left speechless when the choice not to drain the pool changes Gatsby’s future indefinitely.

Beach balls were tossed back and forth and pirate flags were raised all throughout the stadium as Chesney walked out on stage beginning his two hour show with his song “Whatever Makes You Feel Like a Rockstar.” Chesney sincerely convinced the audience that this show was the show that he had been waiting for all year.

There is no way to avoid the fun when you are surrounded by thousands of fans, dancing and singing along to every Kenny Chesney song imaginable. “No Shoes Nation” was taken literally, with fans throwing off their boots and enjoying the carefree night.

After stealing the show in his classic raggedy pirate shirt, Chesney jumped into fan favorites including “Beer in Mexico,” “Reality” and the much anticipated, “Pirate Flag.” With Musgraves touring alongside Chesney, fans expected her to come out and sing Grace Potter’s part in “You and Tequila” but to much disappointment, Chesney took on the song by himself.

From there on out it was a continuous stream of at least 20 of Chesney’s hits, leaving fans satisfied. The mood changed when Chesney performed his 2010 hit, “Somewhere with you.” With the night coming to an end, fans were still waiting to hear Chesne’sy classic, “Boys of Fall.” Chesney finally sang it as one of the last songs of the night, awestruck by all his fans singing along.

Chesney kept the crowd rowdy and on their feet all night with his high energy songs. He didn’t fail to make the night unforgettable. With relatable and catchy songs, Chesney always puts on a show worth seeing. He works the stage like a pro and makes it obvious that he is passionate about his music, his career and his fans. At the end of his show, Chesney left the crowd longing for the sun and sweet tea after preforming his fan-favorite song “Summertime.”

“It started at my Sunday school five or six months ago,” Patel said. “We donated the produce to homeless shelters and food pantries. I decided that if I could do one at school that would have a bigger impact because school kids are affecting their local communities.”

Patel’s garden, a keyhole garden, is named for its similar shape and originated in Africa. Keyhole gardens are drought-resistant and made from all-natural materials, though that is not the only feature that distinguishes them.

“Inside there are several different layers,” Patel said. “The first layer is cardboard and then there are six more layers of leaves. At the very top we have compost, organic soil and the plants: turnips, green beans, bell peppers, squash and cucumbers. They are all organic plants.”

Patel has also added an irrigation system for the garden, though watering it is not required as often as it is for other gardens.

“I installed little sprinklers or spikes inside the garden,” Patel said. “All you have to do is attach a hose and when the hose is turned on, little droplets of water reach the plant. It reduces the vibrations, which also reduces water loss, saving water once again. There is a compost layer in the middle which nourishes the plants.”

The garden is located near the school’s baseball field, and in order to prevent rabbits and other small animals from eating from it, it is raised about 4 feet off the ground. Completing the keyhole garden was no easy task, according to Patel.

“It took me from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.,” Patel said. “I had lots of help from people at my Sunday school, though, so it went by faster.”

Patel said another goal of the garden at the school is to get others involved in projects and make young people aware they can they make a difference as well.

“I hope to involve more clubs like Key Club, National Honor Society and Environmental Club, as well as classes like AP Environmental Science and Landscape Design,” Patel said. “I want to get them involved and show them that we want to have a bigger impact on the community. I want to show them how we can do this and its importance. I hope to show them what a keyhole garden does for the environment and what students can do to help their communities.”

Though everything about the garden is environmentally friendly, Patel is partial to some aspects of the project.

“I have two favorites,” Patel said. “My first is that it requires no weeding, so you don’t have to pick any – all you have to do is just let it grow and you are fine. My second favorite thing is that it requires very, very little water. I water it once a week and I am fine. The garden just keeps growing.”

For Patel, dedication to the garden and the environment itself should be a concern for all students because the environment affects everyone.

“It is where we get everything,” Patel said. “We get our food from the environment, we get our water from the environment, everything we own essentially comes from the Earth. I feel like our generation needs to step up to the plate and actually think about what we are doing to the Earth because if we continue what we are doing, with polluting our water systems, polluting the air and polluting all our natural resources, we are not going to have anything left. When we do not have anything left we are kind of, well, dead. I just want to see more involvement with our school in general.”

Before the singers of Music Corporation were introduced, the instrumentalists played a jazzy introduction on the keyboard, drums, bass, guitar and brass. SING immediately differentiated itself from “Jazz without Elephants” show when the four choral groups – bass, tenor, alto and soprano – emerged to stand upstage on a set of steps; at “Jazz without Elephants”, the singers sat on stools for the majority of the time.

After the 20 singers were introduced, with five members in each choral group, they performed “Light Up the World.” It was highly reflective of the mood and feel of many of the night’s performances to come with its high tempo and familiar stage choreography.

Most of the songs were performed in groups but there were also three solos and one duet. The first solo, “Ain’t No Sunshine”, was sung by junior Kyle Lopez. His talent was obvious in the third verse, where the words “I know” were repeated many times. Lopez was able to deliver the notes in a way that sounded clear and crisp. Senior Paul Hainey sang “Night and Day” by Cole Porter and charmed the audience, once again, with his tonality and vocal prowess.

During the first half, the boys took to the stage to perform “Find the Cost of Freedom.” It was a very mellow performance that sounded almost tribal as the guys chanted the lyrics. The song’s haunting nature contrasted with the all-girl performance of “Rumor Has It” in the second half, where the girls sang very tight, high harmonies with many small solo parts.

The only duet was performed by seniors Chloe Ximenes and Madison Jones, who sang “Halo” by Beyonce. Candles descended from the top of the stage and hovered above the girls for the duration of the performance. Although something sounded off as they harmonized and alternated singing the chorus, both have wonderful voices. Ximenes has a nice, soothing tone and Jones has a powerful register.

Ending the first half of the show was a performance of “Bring Me Sunshine” in which the singers surprised the audience by descending down the aisles before reuniting on stage. The song was very cheerful, included a tap dance and ended in a long and impressive string of vocal improvisation.

Two of the most memorable numbers in the second half were “Midnight Train to Georgia” and “Magalenha.” In “Midnight Train to Georgia” junior Alexia Garza, junior Leighton Millican and Jones impressed the audience with their dramatic and commanding solos. Jones ended the song with a handful of belted notes in a very high register that wowed all and left the audience cheering. “Magalenha” was sung in Portuguese by all of Music Corporation and senior Cam Wenrich led the group with shouts. There was also a very interesting, quick, rapping section in the song.

Some of the negatives of the show were the lack of a solo female performance and the out-datedness of some of song selections, such as “The House is Rockin’” and “Blame It on the Boogie.”

At the end of the show, a big screen dropped down in front of the set of steps Music Corporation was standing on and a slideshow commemorated Music Corporation’s year. After the slideshow, Music Corporation came together to sing “Family” and “Blame It on the Boogie”, ending their show and year on a bright and joyful note. Overall the show had a few hitches but was a fitting exhibition of the talents of some of the finest singers at Plano.

The Dell Scholars Program was founded in Austin, Texas by Michael and Susan Dell. According to their mission statement, the program aims to help students who are determined, but financially strained. The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation has also donated $850 million to other non-profit organizations in urban areas in the United States, India and Africa.

The scholarship offers $20,000 to students over a span of four years – giving them $5,000 for each of their first four years of college. It also supplies them with resources and networking to aid them as they work for their degree. All applicants must have some financial need as determined by the Federal Pell Grant.

“The scholarship program is primarily a need-based scholarship rather than merit-based,” the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation’s spokesperson Steven Knuff said. “The 2.4 GPA requirement reflects the foundation’s mission to reach underserved students who are academically prepared and college ready, and to provide them with scholarship funds to achieve a college education.”

The Dell Scholars Program is based off of more than just high grades, and considers its applicants’ individuality, unique experiences in and out of the classroom, need for financial assistance, willingness to work hard and their dreams.

Senior Medinat Olugbola is one of two winners of the scholarship from Plano. She would like to go to Oklahoma University or the University of North Texas for her bachelor’s degree, and then attend medical school to become an anesthesiologist. Olugbola said it was her childhood dream to go to medical school. Her current hopes are to attend Baylor College of Medicine for graduate school.

“I do need the scholarship money to be able to go to college next year,” Olugbola said. “My mom is a nurse’s aide, so she does private care for elderly people. Two of her clients died of old age a couple of years ago, so I had to move from Dallas to Plano during my junior year for her new clients.”

Olugbola applied for the program last semester and found out she was a semifinalist in February. On April 10, she was awarded the scholarship.

“The application took time, but if you sat down and focused you could finish it in one day,” Olugbola said. “I wanted to make sure it was really detailed, so it took me a couple of weeks. I really don’t want to do loans.”

Senior Alex Garcia also won the Dell scholarship. He is planning on going to the University of North Texas for his first couple of years before transferring to Southern Methodist University. He would like to major in business. Both Garcia and Olugbola learned about the scholarship through AVID.

“It was one of the few scholarships that I applied for where I actually took a lot of time to do it,” Garcia said. “I finally finished it during winter break. Not as many people at Plano applied for it since it was harder to get.”

Both Garcia and Olugbola applied for other scholarships, and they agree the time and tediousness of applying led to a worthwhile outcome.

“It took a long time to apply, but it was definitely worth it,” Garcia said. “You wait awhile, and then you get this email that you’re in.”

The Dell Scholars Program aspires to do more than just offer scholarship funds.

“We hope to change the way our country approaches its support for low-income, high-risk students,” Knuff said. “The structure of the Dell Scholars Program proves that this type of retention program is successful in helping these students obtain a college degree. We believe that more money doesn’t necessarily mean better outcomes, which is why we put more emphasis on student retention and graduation than on the size of the financial reward.”

I mean, sure, when he brings me lunch I give him a quick hello and thanks before I turn around to join my friends, but I haven’t really thanked him.  I haven’t looked him in the eyes, said thank you and given him the big bear hug he deserves. And it’s not because I don’t love him or appreciate him. I just take him for granted. I don’t realize how much I appreciate or love him until I realize not everyone has what I have.

When the shooting in Newtown, Conn. took place I remember reading a tweet written by a mom that said, “I’m appreciating the fact that I can pick up my kids from school today when I know so many other parents can no longer do that for their own.” It’s awesome that she realized how good she has it with her kids, really, but it is terrible that it took the death of 20 other parent’s kids for her to do so.

I, too, am guilty of not realizing how lucky I am until tragedy strikes. Maybe it’s just human nature, or maybe it’s just the culture we live in. We say we’re “living life to the fullest”, but we don’t ever make time to appreciate the lives we’ve been given. We don’t take time to appreciate the fact that we have working legs, a place to call home, a support system, until we see others who don’t.

I grew up in a house where I had two rooms. One room was my actual bedroom, the other was where I kept all my toys. I’ve been showered with gifts on my wishlist every Christmas and birthday. When I got my license, I got my first car. I’ve only ever lost one person in my life and his life only ended after he had lived a full 86 years.

I’ve never had any serious health complications. I have the best best friends. I have parents that still come in and wish me “Goodnight” before I go to sleep. I have a pantry full of food. I have a school full of the best students and teachers. I will go to college and get a job to give all of this to my kids. I am only 17 years old, but I have so much to be grateful for.

Our nation has faced tragedy in Boston and in West and after catching myself saying, “I’m really glad I still have my parents,” I have decided that every morning I will mentally list all the things I have to be grateful for. I will count my blessings. I will let my favorite Dr. Seuss quote serve as a daily reminder for me: You better be thankful a whole heaping lot, for the people and places you’re lucky you’re not.

It will no longer take a tragedy to make me stop and think about how much I have to be thankful for. I will no longer see how lucky I am only when I see how unlucky others are. I will not be one of those people, because one day tragedy will strike and in the midst of all the bad things, it will be too late to realize all the good.

“The desire and goal at the beginning of every season is to end up being district champs,” junior  Jennifer Puchala said. “We made our run for it and came up games shy, but Coach Zea always reminded us that we didn’t have to be first in district, we just had to make it into the playoffs.”

The team practiced to make sure their dreams of making playoffs came true.

“The average practice for us consisted of all aspects of the game,” Puchala said. “We warmed up by throwing every day and outfield hitting. Some days we even went back to basics and used soft paddles to work on techniques. Afterwards, we would switch and outfield would take fly balls as we hit. Then, at the end of practice we would come together for team drills and do live hitting on the field.”

When the regular softball season started, the girls didn’t start off very well according to Avery.

“We had some rough patches in the beginning. But came out strong when district started,” junior Katelyn Avery said. “We beat Allen to go to playoffs and our JV team won district that night.”

Before every game, the team takes time to honor some pre-game traditions and team building activities.

“We played the cow game every practice before district games,” Puchala said. “It is always upperclassmen vs. lowerclassmen. We set a stuffed cow in a bucket, throw the ball at it and try to hit it. Another tradition we have is the cheer we do before every game. Also, in the dugout, we have a tradition bag that has karma monkeys, our white board, the roster holder, the Chik-fil-a cow and a big link with smaller links representing each player on the team. The big link that holds it together says ‘Never, never, never give up.’’

Although the season is not over yet, some of the players have made favorite memories so far.

“My favorite memory this season was traveling to Bryan with the team,” Puchala said. “We got to stay in a hotel, play a bunch of softball and make memories that will definitely last a lifetime. As a team, we were able to form bonds that helped us win games when it came down to those final innings.”

Reflecting on this past season, some players can think of some key aspects of the game they could have improved on this season.

“Personally, I think I could’ve put in more time outside of practice to perfect my game in the areas that I struggled in,” Puchala said. “Hitting was definitely a weak point for me this season, so hopefully with all the practice we do, I’m able to come out stronger next year.”

The team won their first playoff game on Monday, April 29 against Lake Highlands. They won their best-of-three seires against Rockwall Heath on Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4 with a score of 6-2, and the second game with a score of 11-3.

“We are planning on keeping a positive attitude and never underestimating a team,” Avery said. “We will keep working hard in practice and take it one game at a time.”

On Monday, April 15, senior Stephanie Jabri began a conversation with Todd Bullis, a member of the Abolish Human Abortion group, while he and other supporters stood outside the turn-in to the parking lot next to A building.

“It was really an impulsive decision on my part,” Jabri said. “I went up to the guy and I didn’t really have anything in mind to say to him. I was caught off-guard with all his responses. He knows people are going to argue with him, so he has everything prepared. I didn’t know what I was going to say. Usually I’m kind of reserved. I was out of my element.”

For three other days during the week, Bullis stood outside different parking lots. Bullis also protests at churches and government buildings, but plans to stand outside local high schools to reach teenagers. Because Plano Senior is close to his residence, he began here. Though he will be moving to other campuses, Bullis said he may come back to this campus occasionally.

“Babies are created in the image of God and have value,” Bullis said. “If you do actually have an abortion, that will stay with you the rest of your life – forever that will be on your conscience.  My motivation is to help educate these kids to see what abortion actually looks like. I’ve heard students are reacting in all sorts of ways. I’ve even had someone say they were going to kill me if I come out here again, but I’ve also been thanked by students and say they’ve never thought about this issue before.”

Bullis videotaped his encounters with students. Several videos of his conversations with students are posted on the No Planned Parenthood YouTube channel.

“Videos take a small tiny event and spread it out over a bigger area,” Bullis said. “Many more people can actually see the interactions. I’ve talked to maybe eight people, but over a thousand people have seen the videos. That’s why I post online.”

A video of Jabri was put up, and she said in the video she became flustered. The next day when she saw a friend interacting with Bullis, she came back with a prepared argument, but the second conversation was not posted online.

“He uses his videos to paint a one-sided story with the footage, only posting or editing the parts of the video that are unfavorable to the opposing party,” Jabri said. “He continually brought up religious arguments, which are irrelevant to any type of abolitionist cause. If the government was to review laws regarding abortion, it would not do so from a Christian perspective.”

A few of the featured students are taking steps to get the videos taken down such as contacting Judge John Payton, and urging students to flag and vote down the videos.

“It doesn’t really bother me too much that there is a video of me standing up for what I believe in,” Jabri said. “I think the thing that does bother me is that he’s using me to promote his views. He used a video of me without my consent.”

After seeing the sign Bullis was holding, senior Chavis Hamilton approached the situation in a different way than Jabri. Hamilton decided to hold up a sign with his own message written across the front. Suggestions from his friends inspired the final message of “I want attention too”.

Sign in hand, Hamilton stood next to Bullis. Hamilton said the protestor was polite and appreciated the company. The two also posed for a picture that spread on social media.

“I didn’t think I’d get such a big reaction from this,” Hamilton said. “I just thought I was doing something worth doing, and it really was a nice surprise to get such a big reaction from everybody at school. I heard there was a bit of political backlash on Twitter, but none of it has actually caught up to me. I think it’s silly of anybody to be upset with me. As far as counter-protesting goes, all I did was hold up a sign that made me laugh. I just thought what the guy was doing was wrong and tried to make light of it.”

Like Jabri, Hamilton disagreed with tactics used to promote ending abortion.

“Despite how anybody feels about the argument, forcibly subjecting people to images like that, and telling them that it’s their apathy murdering babies is just behavior with no constructive end,” Hamilton said. “He argues it as a wake-up call for people but it’s just a juvenile oversimplification.”

Jabri believes Bullis uses inaccurate facts to support his stance, and that there are more constructive approaches an anti-abortion supporter could take.

“I find that a lot of times, the most self-righteous people are the ones who do the most harm or have the most to hide,” Jabri said. “Anyone who wants to help decrease the number of aborted fetuses can help an organization that gives comprehensive sex education or raise money for an organization that distributes birth control. Todd is a person who believes that repeating his sensationalized propaganda to young minds will bring about change. He can barely cite hard facts, but instead relies on loaded rhetoric. For example, he claimed women attend ‘abortion mills’ where they line up to get abortion.”

Although Bullis’ actions are legal, Jabri feels that his actions were inappropriate.

“I’m not upset with his pro-life stance,” Jabri said. “I am angry with how he goes about trying to create change. We go to school to learn in a safe environment and he was disrupting the peace of mind of the student body.”

A stranger snaps a photo of a person in a public location and uploads it to Instagram. A few hours and hashtags later, millions could have seen and shared the photo. As long as the photographer was not infringing on the subject’s reasonable expectation of privacy, and the photo doesn’t reveal any private facts or false information about the subject that would be offensive, the subject legally cannot do anything to remove the photo. Photos like these can be taken anywhere considered public – parking lots, streets, government buildings, school and college campuses. Many privately-owned establishments such as restaurants, bars or retail stores are considered public because the public is invited into them, and photography is allowed unless it is clearly posted otherwise. The subject cannot argue that “I did not give consent”. The consent is the photographer’s to give, and any disapproval with the photo is the subject’s own bitter pill to swallow.

The number of people information can reach is only increasing. In 2012, the Huffington Post reported that every day, 250 million photos were uploaded to Facebook and 175 million tweets were sent. In six months, the average number of mobile visitors on Instagram every day increased from 886,000 to 7.3 million, a 724 percent leap. Cisco Systems projected that by 2016, the number of smartphones and tablets used worldwide will outnumber the estimated world population. Today, the “public” is no longer just the neighbors down the street – it’s an audience of millions across multiple continents.

It isn’t that students should be afraid of social media; its interconnectedness and speed can help spread positive messages and useful ideas. However, at the same time, it is easier than ever to lose grip on conventional privacy and end up dismayed, should unflattering footage of individuals somehow end up on social media networks. Students today simply need to know what is at stake and always act rationally as they go about their day in public, keeping in mind that permission is not always asked before a photo or video of them is shared.