Kenny Lynch, Staff Writer 

When my mom watched me reach into the future as we lounged in the present, she pulled my hand back and gently reminded me, “By reaching for everything at once, you’ll forget what you already have. Slow down, Zakarie!” I was too impatient to be idle, yet the minute hands were catching up with me by the second. I was a precocious child with friends who aged their saplings with time, but I, on the other hand, was still waiting to sprout. My story is not different from your average teenager, but rather a boy that was too impatient to wait and climbed to the top of the tree.

It all started with my 10th birthday– the day I waited for my age to reach double-digits. It was a simple, sea-stirred day with a whiff of chlorine and freshly cut grass. I splashed around the sprinklers and joyously floundered in the grasslands. I remembered vividly that my father approached the porch in his truck that glimmered under the melting doubloon. As his door unfurled, I ran up to his open arms as he spun me around like a 1990s record player. My mother, who wore a floral top, smiled and chimed, “Dinner is ready! Round the yard and wash your hands when you come inside.”

A crew of children can be wild with energy, but reliable when hungry. When our scrubbed hands scurried around the set dining table, we started with grace as our hands fell into one another’s like bumblebees on flowers. We harmonized the final note, “Amen” and soon, we lifted our silverware and dug into our meals like pirates searching for treasure. In a way, dessert was a treasure. When dinner evaporated, my dad pulled out the lighter and my mother secretly lifted the cake that was sneakily tucked away from children with a curious gaze and a tenacious grip. As my family circled and sang, I blew the soaring candles out and wished, “I can’t wait to be a teenager. Life will be so much more fun!” Little did I know, I would spend years chasing milestones, blowing out candles only to wish I could relive this moment one last time.

On Wednesday, June 20, 2018, I turned the unlucky 13. This became the summer that forged my raw crystals into scintillating diamonds. It started off with my first party invitation by the varsity swim team. My invitation departed from the passenger seat in front of my driveway in the form of a paper airplane. As I marked the calendar and counted the clocks, I didn’t grasp all the days that ticked away. Tin cans and glass bottles clinked as my mind swirled like whirlpools. So, I tugged a few friends aside and asked them, “Can we catch some fresh air?” 

As they agreed, we walked out of the basement-turned-tavern. We passed women with boyfriends and men with long hair who strummed guitars. When we made it outside, we made our way down the driveway. The air felt cooler as our sweat dripped off like icicles. We sat down on the opaque pavement with legs straight as our upper body angled down. With the faint music and chattering, the pine trees twirled in the star-stirred night.

By happenstance, at 11:11 p.m., we saw a living bolt of lightning dash across the sky. Our blurred eyes didn’t realize that the flash was, in fact, a shooting star. Regardless of what we saw, we still made a wish. As everything went dark, I saw the subtitles in my subconscious wishing for the next checkpoint in ages. I wanted to drive. Like my friends, I wanted to traverse the terrain without permission or being patient; so I wished to be 16.

As another year, month and day passed, the world granted what I wished for, but not what I needed. On Sunday, June 20, 2021, as the coffee pot awoke at 6:00 a.m., the grumpy decaffeinated man who was my father wasn’t too excited for the road ahead of him. At 8:00 a.m. sharp, I was behind the wheel with my father strapped in as he sunk into the passenger seat. After approximately 15 minutes, my father grabbed the steering wheel like his life depended on it. He turned the car around and shut the operation down.

My father swapped places with me like the sun does with the moon. I was not a bad driver, but rather, a work in progress. My father told me, “Be patient and always keep your eyes on the road. It is so unnecessary for you to speed. No one is going anywhere.” I always wondered if his advice belonged less to the road and more to my life. After countless failed turns, trials and frustrated sighs, I finally obtained a permit, a driver’s license and a parking pass in my high school parking lot. It became an unreal moment as I became the driver who drove the people that once drove me. Oddly, this was not enough for me; this milestone was not fulfilling for me. Perhaps it was the soil where my delicate roots were planted. I prayed to God, “Please Father, gently unroot me and blow each pappus to a pasture far, far away from here.”

A request I asked, a result I received. I went to college when I was 18 years old, an ordinary experience of the latter, but I came to realize that all of my companions bonded due to their legal ages. I felt involved in our conversations we had, but never at the pubs, clubs or bars. Everything I once prayed for did not deliver in the way I expected. So, when we visited the Shofuso Japanese Cultural Center, I threw a penny in the well and cast a wish like a spell. On Friday, June 20, 2025, I turned 20. 

I have 20 years of life. Yet I feel as if not one day had a chance to be alive. I am no longer friends with the people that I once thought would be at my wedding. I no longer drink like a flower wilting for water. Instead, I ponder over organic emotions. In the midst of it all, I forgot a lesson I was taught until it became relevant in my own life. Somewhere, my mom’s voice echoed dimly in my head, “Slow down, Zakarie,” but I was already too far gone. My mom was right about the advice she passed down to me. Throughout my life, I continuously reached for the future before I acknowledged the present. My greatest regret was not the time I lost, but the time I never let myself live.

Nyr’e Jones, Staff Writer             

With the wide variety of different perfumes on the market, it’s almost impossible to know which to choose from. When just starting out or wanting to grow your perfume collection, the biggest question is, “Where do I start?” 

In this article I’ll take you down the list of five perfumes that’ll strengthen your perfume collection and will make the smell of you memorable.  

Starting at number one, “Good Girl Blush” by Carolina Herrera. “Good Girl” is a perfume collection by Herrera that ranges in many different scent types from soft to strong. The collection is well-known and extremely talked about on perfume TikTok.  

Good Girl Blush supersedes the rest of the collection. The perfume comes in a beautiful light pink heel inspired bottle and carries a long-lasting scent of bergamot and butter almond. Highlighting a very feminine and subtle scent, Good Girl Blush allows the fragrance to be noticeable and desirable. 

At number two, “Yara” by Lattafa, a perfume company that produces many perfumes that highlight different personalities for different women. The most recognized “Yara” is the light pink bottle that went viral on TikTok. 

The “Yara” carries the smell of amber vanilla and a floral scent. Inspired by the femininity of the Middle East combined with gourmand sweetness, “Yara” portrays a creamy and comforting vibe. This allows the perfume to be soft and light, but also maintaining a long-lasting smell throughout the day.  

Ranked at number three, “Daisy” by Marc Jacobs. Just like Herrera’s collection of “Good Girl,” Jacobs has a range of “Daisy” to choose from in different scents for different occasions. The original one is a classic in Marc Jacobs’ collection and a must when adding to your collection. A radiant floral scented fragrance balances with a jasmine scent to give that warm seasonal feeling. A perfume perfect for late spring and summer, very garden-like, and who wouldn’t want to smell like a flower? 

While on the topic of smelling like a flower, at number four we have “Bond No. 9 New York Flowers.” Bond No. 9, just like many other perfume brands, comes in many different kinds, but “New York Flowers” is less popular, but rightfully expensive.  

The perfume is another floral fragrance that combines a mix of jasmine, amber, rose and clementine. The mix flows together perfectly and executes the perfect floral scent.  

Ending the list off at number five we have, “Blossom” by Jimmy Choo. Jimmy Choo, known mostly for shoes that are to die for, has plenty of perfumes that are beautifully scented. Although, “Blossom” is one of their most notable.  

“Blossom” is a sweet, savory scented perfume primarily dedicated for young teenage girls and even young party girls. Mixed with fresh berries with a hint of floral representing a sweet pea theme, the perfume is cheerful, vibrant and incredibly youthful. Highly recommended for young girls but can be for all.  

These five perfumes are sure to leave a good impression on everyone and give both girls and women confidence that can last a lifetime. Smelling good and looking good are the keys to a happy day, so use these listed fragrances as a guide to having more happy days. 

Kenneth Lynch, Staff Writer

Mother dearest always haunted me with a harp of warning notes. My mother, an intelligent, idealized woman, prepared me with two injunctions:

1. “Watch your words. A mouth that acts like a faucet floats their friends to the surface and drowns their feelings to the bottom.”
2. “Watch who you surround yourself with, Zakarie. A community is an arena where the resources are scarce. When a hothouse flower is planted outside, it will have to compete with eucalyptus roots.”

My mom carved these proverbs into my palms. Regardless, I moved on. I was too lonesome to receive an invitation that would derail me from my immortal innocence. Or so I thought…

As the brass globe spun the years of my life forward, I met a student cloaked in mischief and mayhem. This student, Luci, walked into class like a merchant for whom it seemed as if the floor beneath her was cobblestone. The way Luci’s heels clicked on the floor seemed like the synths in a hymn I would intone during service. She opened her robe like the door to a vending machine; so many options, too many bad choices. In our seventh period German class, she offered me a trial: “$15 for the emerald strawberry flavored pod.” Temptation was my infamy, and my mother’s words were a failed inquiry.

As my addiction stretched to cities and factories, the exhaled pollution clouded my town in my snow globe. What started off as one fireplace chimney became a widespread epidemic of addictive tendencies. For my life became an ambush of addiction, I offered my body to the altar and said “I do.” I gambled my guarded thoughts to fuel an inferno in my lungs and a second sliver to visualize mind prisons of kaleidoscopes. The worst part about addiction is that you’re so self-aware, but there’s nothing you can do about it. That’s when I realized I broke my mother’s second rule. So I planned to get better. But what’s an architect without a blueprint?

As I sat on my window sill, the spirits in the sky rose from the smoke off my candle wick placed horizontally between my lips. When I exacerbated one alternative, I turned to another remedy. That is when I met Levi, the dry. His house was perched above a valley like the shadow of his stovepipe hat that rested on his skull. I asked Levi, “Do you have anything else in your hat that signals the shakes down my spine?” He handed me a demijohn of elixir. I gulped, gargled, garbled. As soon as the fluids fueled my fire, I heard the strings of synths, the cries from the choir and the rattling from the release. I joined the dead for the macabre dance. Levi may have been a bad influence, but sometimes as a teenager, I wanted to stop wondering. That was my second mistake, always wandering in my realm of introspection. 

I confess, my heart flickered like flames on a candle. Did he hand me a hypnosis trick to be his harlot? The longer I visited Levi’s world, the more I wanted to be in it. So, I gulped, gargled, gagged. The walk as I ascended toward the katabasis stretched my flesh as I got closer to Levi. Once I breached his barriers, I sat with him. The more I binged my potation, the more shadows I unveiled to him. In a way, he shaped and resonated with my terminal uniqueness. As soon as I felt naked with my bouquet of bare bottles, he proffered a glass vessel of peyote. Like Eve, I plucked the fruit off and chiseled a small nibble with my raking teeth, and realized my trust was rustic and his presence was patient. He invited me to his garden to snake me in his riddle. As I honored my vow, I devoured the fruit to dance with the devil. That’s when I realized I broke my mother’s first rule. 

As my heart twisted and turned, I let the faucet gush like a rapid from my bloodstream. As Levi levitated to the surface, my bundle of burdened baggage sank and I dissolved into the void. When I freed myself from the shackles, my soul remained shattered, with no salubrious strength. Before I let the seconds slit me silly, I was being haunted by my autoscopy. 

This darkening delineation waded towards me and hovered over my wretched posture. The figure pursed their jaw and soughed, “You who seek the salvage of your sanity must step back from the world before your sobriety can return. Be wary of the beast that tempts a weak mortal.” As I listened to my younger self speak to me, my survival instinct shimmered and I slipped through death’s grip.

Unlike the mortal Icarus, I bolted from limbo and my hope was sliced into the rays of the sun that I swam closer toward. As I blazed through Adam’s Ale, a hand with engraved letters on its palm turned my snow globe upside down. I tugged the daylight like a rope that slithered around my body as a harness. Once I reached the welkin, I was welcomed by colorless figures who beamed me to a gurney. As my mom quavered “Zakarie,” the harp’s notehead strummed a pulse to my shriveled heart. All may end in a lesson and a scar, but my mother’s third rule was:

3. “Never ghost your family from the other side of the gravestone.”

Nathalia Peralta D., Staff Writer 

Five million demonstrators attended the first “No Kings” protests on June 14, 2025, and almost seven million showed up to the second round of rallies on Oct. 18, 2025. Crowds gathered in cities across the United States, as well as overseas, to protest President Donald Trump’s administration and call for the defense of First Amendment rights. Many protesters from Los Angeles to New York as well as Chicago, Washington D.C. and Austin, Texas, flooded the streets chanting, marching and waving homemade signs that proclaimed “We want all of the government to work” and “Make America Good Again.” 

At the protests, speeches and music blared, some even donned Halloween costumes in the cross-country rallies that demanded protection of all Constitutional Rights, many claiming they are under attack by the Trump administration. Politicians in support encouraged the rallies and spoke up, telling people to keep fighting for democracy.  Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Chris Murphy of Connecticut were a few notable politicians speaking out. Even Bill Nye, the beloved children’s show host, commented, “They do not promote the progress of science. They suppress it, to the detriment of our health, well-being, and international competitiveness,” he said. “It is a formula for failure.” 

Many of the fired U.S. Agency for International Development workers also joined the No Kings Protest at the capital, including Amanda Nature. Nature, 41, of Washington told NBC News, “The common adage is that 50% of the country voted for this. But 50% of the country didn’t vote for a government shutdown and the dismantlement of the government and services that people rely on.”

High-profile clashes between residents and federal immigration authorities in Chicago have unfolded in recent weeks. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker shared a defiant speech. He called out Trump and Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller for “coming for the immigrants, and for Black and brown people, and for LGBTQ people and for their political opponents.” 

“History will judge us by where we choose to stand right now, today. Future generations will ask: ‘What did we do when fellow human beings faced persecution? When our rights were being abridged? When our Constitution was under attack?” Pritzker asked. “They’ll want to know whether we stood up or we stayed silent.” 

Many people are speaking up. There are plenty of people willing to stand up, defy and go against their government because they believe in freedom. Many people believe that if we all stay silent, we are giving in to a system of power that will only benefit the wealthy, leaving us all to fend for ourselves. That is not what America is, and we shouldn’t let it get to that point. 

This is just the beginning and a preview of what is to come in the following months. People are fed up, scared and unsure of what this government has for them, but even so, they stand front and center to protect their rights and freedoms before it’s too late. Senator Elizabeth Warren addressed thousands at the Boston Common, stating, “Standing up to a wannabe dictator? That is patriotism. Peacefully protesting to protect our democracy? That is patriotism!” While many protests have been peaceful and without incident, some leaders, including those in Texas, have said they would mobilize the National Guard to monitor for potential unrest. 

Sean Musial, Editor 

A good portion of people in the world consider writing a dying artform and a difficult field to get into when compared to other occupations. Whether it’s because of AI or overly saturated forms of content, writing is hard for any newcomer to gain mass recognition. Journalists, authors and screenwriters can spend years pouring their hearts and souls into something they’re passionate about to their very core with no results to back it up. The art of writing is something I will strive to improve day by day, until one day the rest of the world can eventually understand the way I shape the artform into my own worlds and stories. 

It’s a lonely process that involves picking apart ideas in your head to properly convey to the reader what you’re trying to say. Journalists take factual evidence they gather through interviews, research and fact-checking to tell the truth. Authors can take a couple of weeks or even years writing their book depending on the length, genre, scheduling and personal conflicts. Screenwriting, similar to authors, is a delicate process that can also take days to even years in this form to complete. 

Each of the three is a daunting task. It’s an accumulation of patience, persistence, poignancy and proofreading until you are comfortable with the final product. That’s part of the problem that AI has been creating. With this newly formed technology that is still advancing, it can practically minimize the hard work of an individual that takes weeks to complete and instead do it in seconds depending on the prompt you give it. The algorithm spits out a robotic word-for-word document on what you wanted with no emotional depth or human touch to it— yet people eat it up and pass it off as their own work. This is killing not only careers, but it’s jeopardizing creativity. Thoughts and words are coming from a robot, not people. 

Writing is something that has been engraved in me since I was a kid. The art that comes with telling a story, whether it’s movies or books, is something I am extremely passionate about. It started with me spending hours in my room studying what it means to convey a message to a reader. I still find random notebooks lying around my room and house filled with story concepts and cartoonish characters that I would draw. 

As I got older and started to understand where this was coming from, it became a more structured process, one that was less sporadic. The story concepts started to flow easier with more efficient planning. I planned throughout most of high school the overall ideas I wanted to convey out into the world. My friends would look over my shoulder curiously trying to figure out what I was doing. I explained it to them the best I could: I want to write books and movies for a living. When senior year came around, I got most primary concepts out of the way. I began to write even more.

I started my first book and my first pilot episode for a different story (which I later decided to turn into a book rather than a TV show). The things I write about have a wide range. The genres I tackle are as follows: coming-of-age, crime, sci-fi, fantasy, satire, dark comedy, war, historical fiction, etc. A goal of mine is to try and tackle all types by putting my own Northeast Philly/Sean Musial twang into it. 

As I’m getting older and still have this dream, continuing to try to get there, it’s difficult. I ask myself all the time, “Do I self-publish or keep on trying to get in touch with major publishing companies?” For now, I’m still aiming to get my work published by a professional publisher. I’ve been focusing on school lately but for the next couple of months, I’m going to get back in the race to get in touch with these companies. I continue to write for now, as I am starting three new books since I finished the manuscript of my first book. 

I’m an ambitious and optimistic guy. I know if it doesn’t work for me in the next couple of years, or even a decade, I’ll continue to pursue it. “Obsession beats talents” is something I heard a long time ago. You might be pretty good at something, but you’re not the best at it; yet, if I am as “obsessed” with writing as I was when I was a kid, that obsession could be a defining factor that truly gets me there some day. 

If you think writing is for you, in any type of field, go for it. Don’t listen to what others might have to say about it. Yes, there are definitely some road blocks in the way, but that should not stop the pursuit. Take me for example: I write every single day and will continue to do so. Write what you want to write about. Who knows, maybe one day the world will have the pleasure of seeing your work out there.

Welcome to La Salle On Record, a new five-part series from WEXP Student Radio where senior Kyla Renegar sits down with members of the La Salle community to hear their stories, each focused on one of the five Lasallian values. The goal of this series is to delve into La Salle’s history, its mission, and learn more about what it really means to be Lasallian. In episode 1, Kyla had the chance to chat with Father Frank Berna about what it means to teach, preach, and live in the presence of God. Follow along with this series to hear more wisdom and hidden stories from the Lasallian community!

Sam Klein, Editor

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution clearly outlines that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” Over time, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has enacted various bylaws that prohibit speech in cases of obscenity, indecency and profanity in an attempt to protect the American people. Yet, one thing has always been certain since the Bill of Rights was officially ratified in 1791: the American people have a fundamental right to free speech. 

In an era of vastly polarized political parties, the allowance of free speech has only further divided the American people, whose diverse opinions run rampant on the Internet, social media sites and by word of mouth. Still, our ability to voice our opinions is what makes democracy stand strong, allowing for a united front even if our opinions are not uniform. However, our democracy is as strong as it is fragile; our confidence in our autonomy is slowly deteriorating, one act of government censorship at a time. 

Many journalists and media personalities are growing fearful of censorship following ABC’s decision to remove Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air after his comments regarding the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. On Sept. 15, Kimmel discussed how divisive the country is while simultaneously criticizing Trump for deepening the divide, failing to release the Epstein files and ultimately targeting MAGA’s reaction to Kirk’s death.

Not only did Kimmel criticize MAGA’s response, but Trump’s minimal reaction to Kirk’s death as well. “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody called a friend,” Kimmel said. “This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”

Kimmel’s mention of Kirk’s murder sparked immediate controversy. Chair of the FCC Brendan Carr threatened to take action against ABC, and therefore Disney, if they did not act quickly. Succumbing to the pressure, ABC claimed Kimmel’s show would be taken off the air indefinitely. 

Yet a week later, ABC brought the show back.

In his opening monologue following the return of the show on Sept. 23, Kimmel said while choking back tears, “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution and it isn’t, ever.” 

Kimmel then expressed his sympathy for Erica Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, and explained how her forgiveness of her late husband’s killer touched him deeply. Yet, in light of the events, Kimmel could not help but recognize the democratic importance of his censorship to the broader issue of regulating free speech. 

Kimmel mentions how in other foreign countries, namely Russia and the Middle East, talk show hosts would get thrown in jail, or potentially worse, for criticizing people in a position of power, which is why he considers himself lucky. Yet, Kimmel acknowledges that within our democratic system, any censorship of comedians by our government is simply “anti-American.” 

“[They] tried to coerce our affiliates who run our show in the cities you live in to take my show off the air. That’s not legal; that’s not American,” Kimmel said.

Trump himself was outraged about the return of Kimmel’s show, immediately taking his response to Truth Social by writing, “Why would they [ABC] want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive DEMOCRATIC GARBAGE.” 

ABC has not publicly responded to Trump’s post, yet as CNN states, it remains clear that the president cannot stand to be criticized night after night. 

Kimmel outlined the process of learning his show was being taken off the air while featured on fellow comedian Stephen Cobert’s talk show, The Late Show. Also an avid criticizer of Trump, Colbert is being taken off the air by CBS beginning in May of 2026 for “purely financial reasons,” yet fans are skeptical because the decision came after criticism of Trump and the show’s parent company, Paramount Global. 

The technicalities of which talk shows will continue to air are irrelevant, for the importance of censoring them at all remains the focus of many journalists who believe our democracy is threatened. Kimmel’s remarks on his Sept. 15 show, while potentially controversial in nature, did not break any FCC guidelines that would give the government the ability to restrict his speech. The issue then wasn’t the legality of Kimmel’s words, rather the dislike of conservative higher ups, like Carr and Trump, to be nationally criticized, furthermore pressuring corporations like ABC to act. 

Although Kimmel remains on the air, the question stands: How can we “Make America Great Again” if our government does not believe in upholding the principles established in our Constitution, and perhaps more importantly– What does government censorship mean for the future of our democracy?