This is a map featuring the opinions of people around the world on Donald Trump. We obtained the map picture courtesy of CIA – The World Factbook from Wikimedia Commons. The responses on the map are from the “You Know You’re a CISVer when…” Facebook group, a group for individuals a part of Children International Summer Village (CISV), which were obtained by a survey we created and freshman Liana Keesing posted.  We obtained 104 responses from around the world, edited them for clarity only, and selected forty-seven to show on the map. We selected these forty-seven for their geographic diversity, range of opinions and knowledge of Donald Trump’s policies. These responses are only the respondent’s opinions and are not necessarily shared by everyone in a given country.

Link to Thinglink: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/792082315722358786

As May’s rainstorms give way to June’s humid sunshine, a month filled to the brim with AP tests, SOLs and SAT subject tests will be exchanged for studying for finals. A study song is just what you need to help pull you through the next four weeks of this school year.

I listened to Hozier’s newest album, Hozier, during all of my studying this month and “Cherry Wine” was one of my favorite songs. The tune is perfect for concentration because it is not upbeat enough to be distracting, but Hozier’s gentle tone and slow guitar provide a melodious background.

Hozier has a distinctive style–a mix of folk blues and indie that I’ve never heard before– as well as unique lyrics, which led “Take Me to Church” to gain widespread popularity. “Oh but she loves/ Like sleep to the freezing” is a line from “Cherry Wine” that epitomizes the Irish singer’s poetic verse, filled with creative metaphors and imagery.

Only recently, after having hummed the tune through many tests and AP exams, did I realize that “Cherry Wine” is much more somber than its tranquil melody suggests.

Just as I love last month’s song pick, “Waterfalls,” for its bold social message paired with a strong beat, Hozier’s sweetly sung story of domestic violence sets “Cherry Wine” apart in my mind.

Both the video and the lyrics emphasize the dual nature of abusive relationships: there is still the romance –“Way she shows me I’m hers and she is mine”– but in the next line, he comments on the the physical abuse: “Open hand or closed fist would be fine.” Many of the lines are the same as those that one could find in a love song.

He even adds a reference to verbal abuse, not just physical: “Calls of guilty thrown at me.” In addition, he covers domestic abuse by both males and females. The song is about the woman he loves abusing him while the music video shows a man abusing a woman.

In the music video, Irish-American actress Saoirse Ronan effortlessly and beautifully portrays a tragic situation. She is first shown laughing happily while she kisses her partner, then she sits in front of her mirror, staring at her black eye while she kisses him again. She knows that he is hurting her, yet she cannot stay away from him.

Once again, Hozier attacks a complicated issue with simple, soulful rhythm.

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is a club that aims to link business and education through leadership and career development programs.

“At FBLA we look at business ventures and we have guest speakers who talk about their businesses and what they do,” junior Tarun Singh said. “Basically we just try and teach everyone about business practices.”

FBLA also helps students develop skills they might need in the future.

“Although finance is not the career path I intend to pursue, there is so much from this club that will help me down the road,” sophomore Abhishek Mullapudi, publicist of FBLA, said. “Be it publicizing events, networking within the community, interacting with staff, organizing events, and just in general improve my personality. I know that my experiences form FBLA will helps me in my future endeavors and that’s a major reason why I love this club.”

On May 25, FBLA worked with other business clubs at TJ to hold an annual event, VentureTJ.

“VentureTJ is kind of like Shark Tank,” Singh said. “There are a few investors, who are the judges, and everyone pitches an idea. They talk about how they thought of the idea, what the idea is, who it’s going to impact, how they’re going to sell the idea, and in the end the judges decide whose idea is the best.”

VentureTJ helps students learn more about the technical side of business and allows for students to have a hand-on-experience with presenting a business proposal.

“I’ve learned many things from the past two years of VentureTJ, including how to make a successful pitch as well coming up with an idea that fits customer needs rather than wants, has demand, and has room for further innovation and improvement,” Mullapudi said.

Not only does VentureTJ allow students to explore different facets of business, but it can also help students in the future.

“I’m sure later on in life you’ll have to present to someone or give a presentation about something, or try to sell an idea or a product,” Singh said. “Also, you might sometimes might have to convince someone to do something, so these social skills and presentation skills are definitely something VentureTJ has helped me develop.”

Following a 2-1 loss to Marshall at the Capitol Conference championship, the Jefferson girls varsity soccer team played their first regionals game against Potomac Falls on May 24. The game was held at Lee and started at 7:30 p.m. Jefferson won the game 1-0, qualifying them for quarterfinals.

“We went into all the games just wanting to win and do our best. Our big goal this season was to win the Conference, but even though we didn’t win the conference, we still made it to regionals and that was a big accomplishment for us,” sophomore Margaret Covey, midfield and forward said.

This was the first game Jefferson has played Potomac Falls this season so they approached the game with more caution.

“We have never actually played Potomac Falls before, but we did have access to their previous rankings. We were a little unsure on how the game would go, so we played really defensively in the first 5-10 minutes, which probably was why we weren’t as aggressive at first,” senior Chelsea Li, midfield and forward, said.

At the end of the first half, the two teams were tied 0-0. For the second half, however, Jefferson changed their strategy to play more offensively, and senior Kaila Stein scored a goal.

“For the first five minutes of the second half we came out strong, had a lot of energy and we were connecting a lot better with people. After we did score we kind of went back to our defensive mode that we had in the first half,” Covey said.

After this game, Jefferson played one more game against Albemarle on May 26, which they lost 4-0. They ended their season with a total of nine wins and six losses.

“The biggest improvement was we could work better together, and we figured out each other’s strengths, and we had a pretty set strategy by the end of the season, we knew who to pass to and how to pass to each other,” Li said.

On Friday, June 3, the movie adaptation of Jojo Moyes’s “Me Before You” hit theaters, and to a mixed response. Though the movie itself was a box-office success and was praised by many fans of the book, critics were not as impressed, calling out the trite love story and cringe-worthy dialogue. However, the part of the movie that fell the most flat to me was neither the romance nor the script, but rather the portrayal of one disabled protagonist.

Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) is a bubbly young woman who finds a job as caretaker for Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a successful and rich young man who was paralyzed in an accident two years ago and is now confined to a wheelchair. As Clark finds out, he is also a survivor of attempted suicide. At his mother’s request, Traynor has promised her six more months of life before he goes to Digitas, an organization for euthanizing people in situations like his.

During their time together, Clark does her best to give Traynor a taste of why life is so precious and worth living. In the end, however, it isn’t enough. After Clark tells him that she loves him, Traynor admits to her that his plans have not changed. At the conclusion of the movie, Traynor dies in the clinic, leaving Clark with a vast inheritance for her education and a letter requesting that she “live well”.

From a certain perspective, the plot of the movie seems harmless and tragic. Someone in Traynor’s situation might indeed feel depressed and discouraged, enough so that he would want to end his life. However, the implicit message of the story is what has outraged many viewers.

I walked into the movie aware of the controversy that surrounded Traynor’s character and his suicide, but skeptical of how bad it could be. But by the time it ended, I felt the same way. The movie and Traynor’s last letter put forth the idea that as a disabled man, Traynor’s chance to live life to the fullest is gone- and young, whole, healthy Louisa still has that chance. The idea that someone in a wheelchair couldn’t live life as meaningfully as someone with working legs is not only inaccurate, but offensive.

Some might argue that Traynor is only representative of one disabled man’s situation, and not representative of an outlook on handicapped people as a whole. But the fact that no other character, nor the storyline as a whole, has anything to say against Traynor’s actions is discouraging. To Moyes, it seems, Traynor’s belief that life in a wheelchair is not as worth living as life on two legs cannot be disputed, or she would have allowed Clark or Traynor’s parents to voice a counterargument.

There is nothing wrong with what the movie is trying to say. The intention of “Me Before You” is to tell a love story that will motivate watchers to live life boldly and live it to the fullest, to be grateful that they are healthy and whole. This is the advice Traynor gives to Clark, and to people in the audience who are like Clark. But what exactly is the movie implying about people who are in a situation more like Traynor’s?

Who do we think we are? Fourteen and fifteen year olds in uncomfortable formal wear performing at tjSTAR with seniors and professionals? Answer: excessively introspective nerds.

1. “Should I rehearse or wing it?”

I felt torn between trying my best to make my presentation decent and using my time a different way. The whole presentation felt like busywork, useful only to practice for (hopefully) completing a legitimate project as a senior. IBET presentations at tjSTAR are a joke. The only people who cares to watch are parents, other freshmen presenting in the same block, and maybe a few friends who signed up because they had nowhere else to go.  During the time leading up to presentations, I pondered whether to prepare or not. I knew my group and I would embarrass ourselves slightly less if we spent extra time refining our powerpoint, but was it really worth it? I had math tests to study for and Facebook posts to read.

2. “Why am I wearing this?”

Formal wear is terrible. Presentations are already scary without the dilemma of what to wear. I wear a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers everyday, so forcing myself into a skirt and uncomfortable shoes just made the whole experience worse. But if I did not look “professional,” the impostor syndrome surrounding presenting at the same event as professionals would have been worse. Once again: who are we to be doing this?

3. “It’s the same topic, again.”

Forcing us all to choose some arbitrary topic doesn’t encourage respect for scientific work. My IBET worked on microbial fuel cells, and almost every group in my class chose from the same three independent variables. It did not feel original, let alone worthy of presenting to an audience. However, because everyone in the class working on the same project it promoted cooperation between groups, and of course it was much easier for the school to provide specialized instruction and materials. If only one group did MFCs, all the materials and skills they require wouldn’t be worth it.

4. “I sound so fake.”

Feigning enthusiasm for a topic seems like lying to the audience about the true potential of our projects. It seemed wrong to pretend our projects were hope for a better future. Whether a student was presenting about the bright energy future a 0.2 volt microbial fuel cell holds or the vital importance of determining where deer are by counting their droppings, none of it has a real, important impact. At least, I don’t think it does. I do acknowledge that there is of course value in everything, and I don’t want to just dismiss a technology because it’s messy and seems useless. Who knows? So once again I can’t decide, was faking passion for my project while presenting the right thing to do?

5. “What should I sign up for?”

Only one block of the day was my own presentation, and the stress did not end there. I signed up pretty far in advance and picking presentations was difficult. I felt like I should support my fellow students, especially since most of the students watching my own presentation would have been stuck there since other things filled up. I was very grateful to the few people who signed up for my group’s presentation to show support, even though I didn’t think IBET presentations were something to be taken seriously. But at the same time, I had the advantage of signing up early, so it made sense to sign up for fun presentations. I had such a struggle deciding between signing up for professional presentations versus showing support for fellow students.,

Despite the fact that he is a state- and nationally-recognized young musician (recently winner of the Ylda Novik piano competition and Lee University piano competition, as well as finalist in the MostArts piano competition, among countless others), sophomore Eric Lin never speaks about these accomplishments to his peers — in fact, I didn’t know that he even played piano until one year after I met him. Eric would much rather talk about challenging musical repertoire, or discuss how to better convey the feelings of classical composers, over his own successes.

Eric is continuing to define himself as a performer. He is not only self-driven and motivated to improve, but is also becoming more and more involved with deciding on the pieces he will study. Although communicating the composer’s intent is key to delivering an effective performance, Eric realizes that each performer’s distinctive musical interpretation is just as essential.

“A good pianist is able to communicate to the audience directly, and correctly show what the composer wanted to show,” Lin said. “But a good pianist also shows unique interpretations.”

On May 27, tjTODAY interviewed Eric Lin to learn more about his journey as a pianist and his other interests.

Photo courtesy of Eric Lin. Lin won the 2016 National Symphony Orchestra Young Soloists’ Competition in March, and as a result he will perform at the Kennedy Center on June 14 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.

Q: How long have you been practicing piano? How much do you practice? Who have you studied with (include masterclasses)?

A: I’ve been practicing piano for about 10 years, almost 11. I practice very little now, but when I was little I practiced way more. My first teacher was a Chinese teacher, and then shortly after I moved to a better teacher who is also a Chinese teacher. I studied with her for three or four years. At that time, I was in Chicago and then I moved to Virginia. I was with Dr. Lee for the past four years. I’ve not gone to that many masterclasses, but I’ve gone to [about] five.

Q: What competitions and performances have you given?

A: Some major competitions are I recently won the [National Symphony Orchestra] competition, and I’m going to give a performance at the Kennedy Center with the NSO. I won the David Dubois and Lee University [competitions].

Q: What inspires you when you play specific pieces? How do you express yourself through your music?

A: I try to make sense of the music, try to make a story usually. For some pieces, that doesn’t work, but pieces always have some mood or character to it and I try to develop imaginary characters.

Q: How do you choose your repertoire?

A: For the past few years, my teachers have chosen them for me, but recently I’ve had more input. My teacher usually gives me a genre, that I choose from, and i listen to a lot of music. Usually I just find one that inspires me, like affects me, the most.

Q: Have you taken any music courses in high school?

A: No.

Q: Will you pursue music in the future?

A: I’m not sure; maybe double major, but I’m not sure.

Q: Tell me about one of your most memorable moments in your music career.

A: One of my most memorable moments during or after a performance was when I was playing at a retirement center and a woman came up with me and shared stories of her younger days of playing piano. So I play at retirement centers every week and it always brings joy to know that you’re helping some people get through various pains in their life.

Q: How does it feel after you place in a certain competition or perform with an orchestra?

A: Sometimes I’m pretty nervous, but I’m also really concentrated; it’s kind of like taking a BC [Calculus] final exam or something like that. After I usually feel really relieved, not necessarily happy, it’s like done. When the audience applauses, it’s always really special, and you feel really happy.

Q: How do you deal with stress preparing for competitions?

A: Practicing is pretty stressful, but naturally playing the piano relieves stress. Also, it’s kind of a counterexample, but sometimes you get really frustrated, and you have to stop practicing for a while and think about other things and then come back.

Q: What was your reaction after you win or do well in a competition?

A: What I usually do is I try to expect nothing, and then I’m really happy when I get anything. Before, when I was little, I wanted to get first, so I was always really disappointed when I didn’t. Now I place more emphasis on how I played and not on the results. If I get a sixth place or something I’m not really that nervous at the beginning, but once you get to the top three I start to get nervous.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

A: I like to watch YouTube videos. I like to read, play chess.

Q: If you had one day off, how would it play out?

A: Just finish up all my work. There’s always work to be done.

TJ Drama’s 29th annual Knight of One Axe, a play on the words “night of one acts”, took place on June 4 this year. The play featured six student-directed acts, and one act directed by Mr. Pollet, an English 10 and Film Study teacher at Jefferson.

Knight of One Axe is one of TJ Drama’s smaller productions this year.

“One Axe is different from our other shows because it’s really small and it’s a series of one act shows that are unconnected,” sophomore Masha Goykhberg said.

Though most of the plays were written by Ms. Lowrey, the overall director of the drama department, one of the acts, Dust and Shadows, was written by senior Bradford Case.

“All of the acts this year were student-directed, and one of them, Dust and Shadow, was actually written by a student,” Goykhberg said.

One Axe is shorter and generally less stressful than other productions put on by TJ Drama.

“One Axe is a lot less commitment, so it’s less stressful,” senior Abby Peterson said. “You only have a couple pages of lines as opposed to an entire show, so it’s just a lot more fun and laid back as opposed to the musical which is much more rigorous and time consuming.”

The process for choosing directors and members of the cast is also different from that of choosing directors and cast for musicals and larger productions.

“You just audition one day and tell them your monologue and they just assign you to a group,” sophomore Soham Ray said. “And then you just practice in groups and perform it on the night of the play.”

The small size of the production also makes casting more flexible.

“Groups can be switched around really easily,” senior Zeal An said. “My play stayed constant for almost three weeks, but there were groups of people who were like, ‘I want to do this play,’ then a week later were like, ‘No we want to do this play instead’, and it still worked out really great.”

One Axe is a good way for new members of drama to learn about the processes behind a production.

“The fact that these are one act plays means that they’re really low commitment. They’re great for people who want to do a little role and just want to have a taste of what it’s like to act,” An said.

There are many things students can do if they want to get involved with the drama program at Jefferson.

“If you really want to get involved with TJ Drama, you can just show up to the Black Box, you can sign up for an eighth period, or you can message someone you know that’s in Drama,” Goykhberg said. “We’re very accepting, we love getting new people, and even if you don’t get a part in a show, you can still join tech because we really need more tech people.”

With classes having ended early, students spent the afternoon of June 10 participating in Jefferson’s annual J-Day. Students set up booths throughout the school to fundraise and spread awareness about their clubs. Meanwhile, student performances were held in the lobby. The Jefferson Student Government Association (SGA) began planning for the school-wide event about a month before it took place.

“We can expect pretty much the same number of booths [each year], but for performances we had a lot more than usual this year,” senior Wills Song said.

Though the booths have been set up around the track in the past, this year SGA decided to place booths either indoors or behind the school.

“It’s definitely harder to plan how booths are going to be arranged inside the school than outside on the track, but not by much. Arranging booths in general is difficult,” Song said.

From buying food to playing games and mingling, students were free to choose from a variety of activities to participate in during J-Day.

“J-Day is a good finish to our stressful, tiresome year of working for our difficult courses,” Song said.

Inspired by a conference he attended in Dublin, junior Prathik Naidu helped organize and host a bioinformatics conference at George Mason University on June 5. The purpose of the conference was to teach kids at the middle and high school level about the field of bioinformatics, and to raise awareness about how the fields of computer science and biology can be connected in ways that are not normally thought about.

“Bioinformatics is using computer science and the power of computer to help make sense of and understand biology and biological data,” Naidu said.

In order to learn more about the conference, tjTODAY interviewed Naidu about the role he played in it and his plans for the conference in the future.

Q: Can you please tell me a little bit about the conference you hosted?

A: The conference was focused on bringing computation and biology and bioinformatics down to middle and high school students. I was inspired because I was one of the few high school students who was at a conference in Dublin where I was able to present some of my research that I’ve been doing at Johns Hopkins University, and I was really wondering why I was one of the younger students there, and I wondered how we can bring this type of technology and fields to younger students.

Q: Apart from the conference, what else has gotten you interested in the field of bioinformatics?

A: In freshman year I took AP Computer Science and I was taking honors biology so I was really interested in those two fields. As I explored AP Biology in sophomore year I really became interested in how we can use computer science and computers to really understand all this public biological data. I did some research at Johns Hopkins between my freshman and sophomore year, where I was really able to explore and understand the field of genetics, and that’s really what got me interested in doing more research, which I’ll be continuing this summer.

Q: What kind of things did you talk about in the conference?

A: At the conference there were three different workshops, ranging from protein modeling to learning about how to mine for data, or even just writing code to analyze biological data. Apart from that, we also had opportunities for students to create their own idea that uses computer science to tackle a global health problem. There was a science fair at the end where they could present those ideas and judges from Georgetown and George Washington came to help organize that information and to help judge and pick the best projects.

Q: What role did you play in the conference?

A: I was one of the lead organizers. I had the idea and I pitched it to some individuals who helped sponsor. I was the one who managed a lot of the logistics. In terms of professional titles you could call me the conference chair. I worked with some individuals from international organizations who provided a lot of sponsorship to help bring this idea to a reality in terms of the funding, the logistics, coordinating the event at George Mason University. I would say I focused a lot on just building the conference and making it happen.

Q: Do you think it’s difficult to teach people about bioinformatics because it pertains to more than one field?

A: Often times in classes, people don’t build the connections between computer science and biology, which is what this field is about. It’s hard to realize you can write code to analyze biological principles. I think the goal of this conference, which we were successful at in terms of student feedback, was being able to show them how writing a simple algorithm can really help make a difference in understanding biological data. I would say that the learning curve isn’t big if you teach them these concepts in the right way and bring it down to the level at which youth can understand.

Q: What are you plans for moving forward with this in the future?

A: Next year we’re going to be having our second annual conference. I’m working with The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) and I’m one of the youth heads there. The organization is trying to bring this to other regions. We’re trying to figure out a way we can hold conferences in Texas, New Jersey and California.

Q: Is there a club a student can join if they want to get involved with this?

A: Wednesday A block there’s the Bioinformatics Society. We have strong membership and we do a lot of interesting activities ranging from coding challenges to a club research project, which we started this year and is becoming very popular. We’re allowing students to explore the field of genomics by analyzing data that’s available to the public. We’re also just teaching them in general how to apply computer science to biology.

With 53 teams, 421 participants and $57,236.10 raised in donations, Relay for Life is undeniably a large event at Jefferson. However, few have raised as much money as freshman Mallory Brodnick, who has accumulated $9,472.35 for her team, Kelly Strong, the namesake being her 13 year old sister, an osteosarcoma patient. Brodnick’s efforts have made her the top participant in Relay for Life at Jefferson and has made her team the second highest earner with a total of $10,589.59.  Surprisingly – given her success – she was initially ambivalent about getting involved with the organization.

“I wasn’t going to do it because I thought it would be hard to raise money, but a lot of my friends were doing it,” Mallory Brodnick said. Then I made friends with a group that were all in the same team so I decided to do it to.”

Her sister’s diagnosis also played a role in her decision to create and join a team. “I probably wouldn’t have done this if she hadn’t been diagnosed.”

But just how did Brodnick manage to raise so much money? The answer does not lie in conventional bake sales and car washes, but the power of ties and social media. Brodnick’s parents assisted her in her endeavor by reaching out to friends and family through various outlets.

“My dad sends out a weekly newsletter to all our friends and he includes a link and posts it on Facebook. All our friends know about Kelly so they donate.”

Brodnick is not the only one raising money for cancer and Kelly Brodnick, the latter’s best friend has sold nearly 600 t-shirts baring the words “Kelly Strong.”

Indeed, Kelly Brodnick is strong. As with every cancer patient the road to recovery is not an easy one. Diagnosed on April 1, 2015 the year has gone by in a blur of treatments. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

“She’s doing pretty well, she’s getting surgery on the 21^st to remove the tumor in her knee and she’s had a two week break,” Mallory Brodnick said.

From rallying together a community to a recent shout out on EllenTube, Kelly Brodnick’s diagnosis has had many outcomes, not the least of which being inspiring Brodnick’s newfound passion for raising funds for cancer.

“I’ll definitely do this every year.”

It’s 8:15 p.m., the pavilion is dimly lit by a setting sun, and thousands of fans shout the band name’s initials “T-O-P” on repeat. Suddenly, the stage lights up and it’s clear to all — the twenty one pilots show has begun. Watching twenty one pilots rise to mainstream fame over the years has intriguing, because the band has still succeeded to make their songs and concerts to connect with the audience.

The Ohio-based band, consisting of Tyler Joseph (vocals, ukulele, bass) and Josh Dun (drums, trumpet), played at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. on June 10.

The band announced the “Emotional Roadshow” tour last fall. Though they have been playing in arenas in other parts of the county for some time, this is the first time twenty one pilots played in an outdoor venue for their local tour date.

twenty one pilots is known to bring high energy to their concerts, no matter how many people are in the audience.

twenty one pilots opened the show with an excerpt from “Fairly Local”, which was a good addition to their setlist because many fans were disappointed that they did not play it on their last tour.

At one point, the stage went dark and the band appeared in the walkway between the pavilion and the lawn. This allowed the audience in the back of the pavilion and some of the lawn to get close to the band while they played a medley of their older songs. A definite standout moment was when they played fan favorite “Kitchen Sink”, a track from the self-released 2011 album, “Regional at Best”.

The band kept up past concert “traditions” throughout the rest of the show, such as Joseph climbing a structure in the back of the pavilion during “Car Radio” and playing “Trees” as the last encore song.

twenty one pilots’ previous album “Blurryface” had a visual theme, with patterns on the album art representing separate songs. The clips playing on the LCD screen behind the band were animated with these patterns, making them cohesive. This tour is also more centered on Dun, with the band playing covers featuring the trumpet.

twenty one pilots will soon be touring worldwide. Their latest song, released on June 15, will be on the “Suicide Squad” soundtrack.

If there is one thing everyone can agree on it is that Pixar is unapologetically relenting in its quest to get audiences to cry. From “WALL-E” and “Up” to the tear-jerking sacrifice of Bing Bong in the critically acclaimed “Inside Out” Pixar has been unfailing in its efforts to touch the heartstrings.  Such films seem to indicate that Pixar seems to be in its Renaissance stage, much like its visionaries breathed magic into Disney’s once failing animation division to usher in what many are calling a second Golden Age with hits such as “Zootopia,” “Frozen” and “Wreck-it-Ralph.” Now with the release of “Finding Dory” Pixar pulls out all the stops to maintain their pedestal in modern cinematics.

While Nemo was the protagonist of the 2003 classic, viewers knew that the heart, best lines and humor lay in the scatterbrained, but no less lovable, Dory. Now everyone’s favorite Pacific regal blue tang is back and this time she takes center stage. Living a comfortable life with her adopted family, Dory’s life is turned upside down when she begins having fragmented recollections of her old life, augmented by a lecture given by Mr. Ray. Soon the trio is off on a trail leading to a Sea World like animal rehabilitation center in California. Along the way they encounter and befriend a host of animals ranging from an octopus missing a tentacle (a septipus if you will) and a near-sighted whales to Belugas names Bailey.

Admittedly the plot is a little predictable – it is a children’s movie after all. But what the film lacks in originality it makes up with its powerful and touching message. With a lead suffering from chronic short term memory loss and various side characters dealing with their own afflictions, mental and physical, “Dory” is one of the rawest depictions of what it means to be “different” in a world that values conformity in a children’s film. Through the warmth of the first film, carried into the second, “Dory” serves as a way to remind viewers that differences, family and friends should be celebrated, not put down.

Jefferson is known to have a wide variety of clubs for people to explore their interests, and one of them is the Physics Team. This year, some of the Physics Team’s accomplishments include gaining about 50 new members, going on a field trip to the American Physics Society, participating in competitions, and increasing outreach. Senior and Captain Ross Dempsey also released a Physics textbook at the beginning of the year.

“[I] wrote my Physics textbook with Shankar Balasubramanian, who was last year’s captain,” Dempsey said. “We published that earlier this year, and it all started from our Physics teams notes. So, being on the Physics team was a big part of making that possible.”

The Jefferson Physics Team is actually comprised of three teams, an A, B and C team. The C team is for students who aren’t in AP Physics yet. At C Team meetings, students learn about basic Physics concepts.

“[I just] gained background knowledge on Physics [from being on the C Team],” freshman and C Team member Joyce Liu said. “I’m not serious about Physics yet just because it’s really early but I’ve learned basic topics on the subject and I’ve met a lot of really cool people.”

Every physics team member has a favorite part about being on the team. One aspect of the team that members enjoy is their ability to join with other clubs and programs for certain activities.

“My favorite part of Physics team is all of the outreach we do,” junior and Publicist Anshu Sharma said. “We started a partnership with TWIST this year, we had a very big Techstravaganza booth this year, and some of our Physics Team officers helped develop TJ Peer Tutoring. It was immensely rewarding to help increase the accessibility and teaching [of] the beauty of physics. A lot of people think it’s hard, but we try to make it fun and we really want to continue that.”

Overall, the physics team was able to accomplish a lot this year. From learning about topics in lectures to field trips to American Physics Society (APS) meetings, the team has been a great way for people passionate about Physics to learn more about it.

“I’ve learned new ways to look at problems,” Sharma said. “I’ve tried out a lot of different types of problems from Physics Team problem sets, contests like ‘F=ma,’ and general homework in physics class. I also learned how to teach others about the beauty of physics through study guides, guest lecturing, and things like that. I just learned a lot about physics. It was a really good experience for me.”

School may be over, but the Beat Blog sure isn’t! And while Anjali Khanna (the person who created these blogs in the first place) may be graduating, there’s no need to fear – I shall continue the Beat Blog tradition, providing you, the readers, with intriguing and exciting playlists to satisfy all your listening needs. And to start, this playlists is a way for everyone to start getting into the summer vibe. The playlist includes a few homages to the successful Broadway musical, “Hamilton.” And, with popular songs such as Pink’s “Just Like Fire,” to songs such as “Bloom” by ODESZA and even “Danza Kuduro,” by Don Omar ft. Lucenzo, there should be something for all to enjoy.

Do you ever wonder what happens to your pets once you step out the door? Sure, they walk around the house, maybe eat from your automatic food dispenser, but then what? Well, the new movie “The Secret Life of Pets” takes that idea and brings it to fruition.

The story revolves around the terrier Max (Louis C. K.), who has a perfect life until his owner (Ellie Kemper) brings a new dog named Duke (Eric Stonestreet) into his life. Soon enough, the two get into deeper trouble, and find themselves in a gang, one of whose members is a psychotic bunny (Kevin Hart), with other pets who abandoned their owners (who they believed did them wrong).

Much advertising has already been underway to garner excitement for the movie, from advertisements on TV to having short ads on Snapchat play in users’ feeds. And with roles played by actors and actresses highly acclaimed in their respective genres, the film has a high expectation to meet. Moreover, the premise and plot behind the story has a wide appeal to a large audience, from young children in love with animals, to older pet owners who hope to relate in some way to the stories told through the movie.

“Here’s something dog people and cat people can agree on: “The Secret Life of Pets” is hilarious, sweet and as fun for parents as the brats they take with them to the movies,” writer for the ‘New York Daily News’ Raakhee Mirchandani said.

However, the movie has received its fair share of criticism as well. Not only has its somewhat cliche plot been called out, but many have claimed the movie’s plot to be extremely similar to other movie plot lines, especially to that of the “Toy Story” series.

“The similarities to Toy Story, beyond even that initial premise, are pronounced — from the colourful characters in the group they leave behind, to the murderous villains they encounter, and even the idea their owners are unaware of their secret lives.” writer for the ‘Empire’ magazine Jonathan Pile said.

Nonetheless, critics agree that the movie can overcome this criticism with its fun-for-all feel that will draw large crowds of people to the movie theaters (and hopefully keep them more aware of their pets’ whereabouts).

The film comes out in the US on July 8, so make sure to be on the lookout!