I refreshed my Twitter feed while sitting in front of my living room TV on midterm election night, trying to get results as soon as they were available. I felt a growing sense of hope. At long last, it…

Everything you do in high school has the chance of being noticed, questioned and even judged. No, West High isn’t an institution that breeds “mean girls,” popularity contests or anything else that…

The wild journey began with a cat litter scientist from Iowa, a former NBA superstar and a strange coincidence that would impact their lives for the better.

Residing thousands of miles apart, Lin Wang…

Hundreds of dogs yelp and run around the concrete building. Every single bark echoes throughout the whole of the room. Along with animals, a few spectators and owners crowd around the performance area…

Back when I was an underclassman, my bookishness was all people knew me for. For 11 years it was my defining characteristic and something that I was very proud of. I was almost never without a book. I…

Jennifer Craig ‘06 drove down the street with her three-year-old daughter and her sister, Aislin Craig ‘21. They were happily on their way back to her new apartment with the last load of boxes. Then,…

As low-income students apply to college, at each step there seems to be another obstacle. When the first colleges in the United States were founded, they were mainly for the wealthy. Although today American…

Six years ago, 26 children and teachers were killed in their classrooms at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT by 20-year-old Adam Lanza. This shooting has come to represent the catalyst for the movement…

There exists a class that is practically unheard of among West students even though it has been around for four years.

The class is called Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates (iJAG), a program whose…

With awards season on the horizon, it’s time for the serious, Oscar bait dramas to start cropping up in cinemas. “Beautiful Boy” is an example of such a film and combines two distinct genres that…

While most students and teachers are asleep, head custodian MJ Plank wakes up at 4:00 a.m. and arrives at school at 5:30 a.m. to prepare for the day.
“I do a route around the building and the grounds…

From “The Fosters” to the “Annie” remake, adoption is portrayed more and more often as a sensationalized portion of media pop culture. However, these stereotypical Hollywood images do not encompass…

On Friday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 1, Theatre West presented Miracle on 34th Street, a Christmas play that celebrates the childhood wonder of the holidays. The sets were well detailed and the play was…

They knew something was wrong when she couldn’t eat her burger.

On Oct. 21, 2017, their one year anniversary, Noah and Sydney sat down like any other teenage couple to eat at Chili’s. However, after…

The gunshots ringing through the newsroom at the Capital Gazette this past summer struck more than five fatal victims. Those shots ignited fear in the hearts of every working or aspiring journalist in…

Education was not a guarantee for Veronica Kharunda ’19. The first school she attended was at a refugee camp in Kenya when she was 10 or 11. Children ranging from five to 20 years old attended before…

Six months.

A record-setting swimmer, Lily Ernst had to slow down and do physical therapy for six months straight to help ease a severe pain in her hip.

She started experiencing hip pain early last…

It started as a simple passion. Peyton Freeney ‘19, a lifelong film enthusiast, began producing short films during his sophomore year with a goal not to aim for a spot in the limelight, but rather to…

The rules are simple: be completely silent.

No audible conversations. No getting up and walking around. Just sit, relax and take a few minutes to get a clear head and prepare for the night.

This…

Appearances are not always what they seem.

Iowa City was recently recognized as an exceptionally accepting community for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals, receiving a perfect…

Glistening rays of sunlight beamed down to Naples Ave. where a grey 2009 Toyota Corolla was about to flip and change the course of senior Taylor Gardner’s life.

It all started with a volleyball tournament…

Following the death of her parents, Samina Naz was devastated. Her mother passed in 1998 and two years later, her father died of a heart attack. The loss brought her from Pakistan, her home at the time,…

For many best friends, a long distance friendship is virtually unimaginable. The thought of attending different schools, living in different cities and leading separate lives can throw a wrench in the…

The silence of an entire room weighs down across the pool. Everyone holds their breath, waiting for the dive to be executed. Once the diver’s head breaks the surface, her team roars in approval of the…

He was given a 3×3 Rubik’s cube eight years ago. With a few twists it could go from a colorful mess to an organized block of color. He became fascinated with turning the scrambled squares back into their…