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Saturday, October 31, 2015

Miss Telall Advice October

10/29/15
Miss Telall is back! With new submissions and new advice, SBPL’s very own advice columnist is always ready to help! Send your submissions to misstelallsbpl@gmail.com for ANONYMOUS advice! Good Luck!

Dear Miss Telall,

    I cannot tell you how uber stressed I am. Junior year means assignment after assignment after test after project and on and on. I have absolutely NO time to study for SATs, PSATS, or do any extracurricular work! I have to spend entire days stuck in my room doing one subject, ignoring the rest! How am I supposed to maintain good grades, but also do things I have talent in, like colleges want?

                                       Sincerely,
                               Are You Kidding Me?
Dear Are You Kidding Me?,

     Don’t panic! Sometimes, worrying overmuch can make it harder to face one’s work. You can make it through these tough times with a little determination, and some strategic planning. In terms of dealing with your present situation, just take each assignment one at a time. Things can get overwhelming when you don’t break them down- if you steadily work through things, the load will be much easier to handle. Your teachers wouldn’t give you these assignments if you didn’t have the ability to handle them well! So don’t rely on 12 hour, “handle-alls”. Instead, create a broken down schedule- each day, you might assign a few hours to English, the next hour to Math, etc. This way, you won’t become bogged down by one subject, and can instead systematically move through all of them. Furthermore, the brain works best when it is given time to process certain thoughts and new information.
     On that note, if you assign just 30-60 minutes a day for SATs, PSATS, or extracurriculars, you will be surprised at how much you can accomplish, versus a full day of cramming! Take a few moments to sort out your priorities- which classes are most important to you, and what are your goals for them?
      Next year, remember to lighten the load if you really feel too overworked! It will be easier to maintain good grades when you don’t overstretch yourself- take classes you’ll enjoy, and that leave some time for the other things in your life that you love! Colleges appreciate someone who is well-rounded, and that doesn’t necessarily mean taking the best of everything! It means having the responsibility to understand how to handle what you are taking! High-level classes aren’t the end-all-be-all. They’re great, challenging courses, but you shouldn’t sacrifice other parts of your life, or your health, for them!
     Finally, try consulting a family member for advice- your peers have been through this as well, so ask them about their experiences!

                                       Sincerely,
                                     Miss Telall
Dear Miss Telall,
       
      I have a sweet sixteen coming up, and I really want to go to it. However, my parents insist upon me staying at home. They pretty much refuse to let me do anything, even hanging out with my friends or going bowling, which happens to be one of my favorite activities. I understand it’s junior year, and I have a massive amount of responsibilities, but I feel it’s okay to relax once in a while. How do I get my parents to chill out?

                                   Sincerely,
                              Controlling Parents
Dear Controlling Parents,

      In order to convince your parents into letting you do what you want, you have to make sure that all of your responsibilities are fulfilled and you show them the best behavior possible. Additionally, you can also help out around the house to show that you’re willing to give up your free time just to help them. Once they notice that you are putting in extra effort, I can assure you that they will loosen up and let you do the things you want.
    You should take some time and talk to your parents to give you the free time that you want. You can talk about how you’ve been balancing your time properly and keeping up with your responsibilities. Due to this, you deserve free time which you can spend with your friends and do the things you want.
    In order to get the free time that you want, you have to ensure that you have your parents’ trust. Be nice to them, and appreciate the efforts they take for you! It’s not every day that parents get thanked for the things they are doing on a daily basis. This will lighten up their mood, and help you to get your point of having some well deserved free time across.
    And that’s a wrap! Miss Telall is glad to be back on our weekly schedule. Be sure to send us some more questions- remember, all responses are left anonymous!
     ~ Miss Telall


Ways to Stay Fit and Healthy in the Winter Samhitha Balaji

Ways to Stay Fit and Healthy in the Winter
Samhitha Balaji

As the winter approaches, many of us begin to stop going out for morning runs and start staying in to watch the holiday specials. Even though staying indoors and eating is a great way to spend the holidays, it is good to keep up your exercise habits. During the summer, we have a balance between exercise and eating but as winter comes around, our eating tends to overtake our exercise. In the winter, your body adjusts to store more fat in order to keep warm. In order to balance your body, we can use these tips to stay healthy while still enjoying the fun of the holidays:
  • Doing simple exercises daily can simply lower the amount of fat your body stores for the winter.
  • Opt for more comfortable well fitted clothing, rather then sweatshirts, to see the difference in your body as you exercise. Also baggy clothing leads to laziness and plenty of time to be a couch potato
  • Your carb craving increases in winter for more fat for your body to store. For breakfast and lunch, eat some healthy carb options like oatmeal, vegetables, protein, and dairy. Between lunch and dinner, go for low-carb foods, like crackers, popcorn, even cereal, as a snack. For dinner, go for pasta, or potatoes something with lower carbs but a good amount of protein.
  • Winter outfit: Inner Layer: a long sleeve or thin sweater; Middle Layer: a sweater or sweatshirt of some sort; Outer Layer: raincoat or heavy jacket ~ these will keep the heat trapped and, depending on the temperature, you can peel off or add on layers
  • Too comfortable? Stay inside with the heat, but don’t even sit on the couch until you’ve completed the workout-- Sit ups, push ups, crunches, squats: simple exercises to keep yourself busy -- You can even do these while a commercial is going on during your show
  • Too dark means too tired to get up... Sleep an hour early; this will allow you to get your long sleep but still have an AM workout routine
  • Too wet? After a run remove the shoelaces and liners to make them dry quickly, but don’t keep them too close to a radiator (it will destroy the base of the shoe); you can also buy waterproof spray to prevent less damage to your shoes while running

All of these little things factor into staying fit for the holidays. Along with enjoying the winter delicacies, these tips will keep your winter healthy and strong. When springs around, you won’t have to start losing weight but, you will already be ready to go out! Just remember: Spring and summer aren’t that far away and so, staying healthy in the winter is a year-round good thing. :)

Works Cited
“Winter-Proof Your Workout.” Fitness Magazine. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/tips/winter-fitness-workout-tips/>


Tuesday, October 27, 2015

My Happy Place By Chandu Singathi

My Happy Place
By Chandu Singathi


As my bare thighs come in contact with the rough wooden bench and my skinny fingers feel the bumps in the old tan-colored paint, feelings of familiarity and freedom stir inside me. After what feels like an endless week of hard work, experiencing the closeness of the nature surrounding me brings back my sense of comfort and belonging and makes me feel at home. The subtle winds bring chills up my spine and shift the position of my hair, tickling my bare neck ever so slightly. As I observe the departure of the sun for the day, the sky slowly breaks out into hundreds of shades of red. Peering between the cracks of the tall oak tree’s array of leaves, I catch glimpses of the giant descending ball of fire as it goes on its daily retreat. Stunned, I shift my gaze from the sky to the variety of multicolored leaves slowly dying on the oak tree, and I lay my eyes on exuberant reds, oranges, and yellows becoming illuminated under the setting sun’s rays. Whenever feelings of stress take over my mind, I retreat to my deck, taking in the peacefulness of the atmosphere and temporarily freeing myself from worries and problems. While I bathe in the beauty of the nature in my backyard, my thoughts begin to flow more freely and I speculate on various issues, or I sit with a still mind and simply observe the slightly overgrown grass covered in fallen leaves as well as the aged oak trees scattered around the area. During most Friday evenings, the addicting aroma of my mother’s famous chicken rice makes its way to my position on the largest deck in the community, and I remember the familiarity of eating that same dish almost every Friday for the past ten years. The burning sensation of the onions’ scent mixed in with the fresh smell of coriander stimulates my thoughts and memories, but I do not become shaken by these feelings. Instead, I remain on the wooden bench and peek at the back doors and windows of my neighbors’ houses, suddenly obtaining the sensation of being watched. Seeing no one and feeling completely separated from the world, I take a few deep breaths and inhale the fresh scent of the marigold flowers sprouting in the garden a few feet away from the deck, and I almost taste the revitalizing flavor of the mint leaves growing beside them. The natural green pigment of the mint leaves brings me to my senses, invigorating me from within and releasing any last knots of tension inside me. Before I know it, the crickets’ consistent chirps and the fireflies’ sudden bursts of light signal the coming of night, and I realize that dinnertime arrives. While I make myself taller and approach the back door, I hear the hooting of an owl from a distance, and my attempts to glimpse the owls results in my sight of nothing but tall, dark oaks with a few crumpled leaves remaining on them. As I make my way back inside my house, the cold wood under my bare feet sends chills up my legs, pushing me to increase my speed. While my nearly-frozen fingers embrace the door handle, I hear the familiar voices of my favorite Indian television actors and actresses along with the noise of my family members in the kitchen, and I scurry into my house before all the food is gone.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Refugee Crisis by Annamika Dua

I read a real story a while back named “Our Terrifying Swim: Two Syrians' Journey Through Dark Waters to Greece” by Salma Abdelaziz. It was written on September 14, 2015. This article was about two Syrian refugees who wanted to escape their current lives and go to safer and better places. The two men were Hesham Modamani, age 24, and his friend Feras Abukhalil, age 37. Both Modamani and Abukhalil knew that they did not have enough money for a smuggler ferry ticket, so they decided that the best possible option to get out of Syria was to swim. They swam from the Turkish coast to a Greek island called Chios. Both men planned the trip using their phones and Google Maps. Although it may seem like a suicide mission, this is how far people were willing to go to get out of the war zones. Madamani and Abukhalil had many difficulties throughout their journey. For example, they were not able to rest at the places they intended to because both islands ended up being rocky and unsuitable for them to take a break. To get through the amount of exhaustion they were feeling, they tried to cheer each other up by keeping the air light and telling jokes. After swimming for a tiresome five hours, they were able to see their destination of Chios and Modamani was able to get the attention of a ship using a laser pen. After getting to Greece, both men said their goodbyes and parted their ways. However, both men knew that they wanted to do something to help the Syrians who were still suffering and being oppressed. Personally, I think this is a very inspiring story. We should look at and commend these amazing heroes for being so head-strong. I think that these two men have a great story to tell and should not be ignored.


Annamika Dua

A Syrian Crisis Joshua Liao

A Syrian Crisis

Joshua Liao

            You might have seen images on the news or on the cover of time magazine, depicting Middle Eastern looking people with exhausted or sad expressions on their faces. However, most of us move on without taking a moment to consider what the images are about. After all, those people are not in America and there’s very little that we can do to help them. That much is true. But it is still important to understand this issue that is currently one of the world’s largest and hottest topics: the European Immigration crisis. To begin, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war that has gone on for almost four years now, with pro-democracy rebels fighting against the al-Assad regime. As the country has been torn apart by war, many Syrians have left, fleeing due to the destruction and persecution. The destruction, of course, has come from the war. The religious persecution comes from a group that you’re sure to have heard of: the Islamic State in Syria otherwise known as ISIS. The immigrants begin a journey that will last thousands of miles into Europe, where they hope to regroup and start a new life. Now just take a moment to put yourself in the immigrants shoes. You’re living a normal, routine life one day, when all of a sudden you receive news that a peaceful democracy protest has turned violent and war breaks out across your neighborhood. After a couple years of surviving bombs and fires, the situation has become too dangerous and you now have to pack up and leave the place where you grew up. You don’t even know where you are going, just that it will take a long time to get there. That is the situation that millions of Syrians are facing as they leave their country. They flee to European nations that are already overwhelmed with millions of other migrants. There are camps set up for the migrants to stay in, but they are overcrowded and dangerously short on supplies and medical aid. People are dying everyday, yet the efforts to help them are barely noticed due to the massive amounts of people that need attention. It is hard to imagine that so many people in the world are suffering so much, yet others know so little about their predicament. With this background, the next time you see a news article or a CNN report covering the crisis, take a moment to listen, to see what new developments are going on. There might just be some way that you can help.     


Friday, October 16, 2015

Letter to a bully from Sanjana Pendharkar

In seventh grade, I was lucky enough to stumble upon the fantastic novel, “Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories”. Evidently, it recalls the experiences seventy authors have had with bullying. Reading their stories, I was inspired to share my own experience with bullying. This story takes place way back when I was in elementary school.
(*All names have been changed)

Dear Lily*,

I’ll never forget you. I’ve met a lot of people. The close friends, chatterboxes, super-doers- but I’ve never met anyone like you. You’ve left a bruise in my heart, and even today, the bruise stays. You showed me how subtle bullying can be. You victimized me in a way I didn’t even think about. I guess it has to do with the day we met.

Except, I can’t even say why.

I had just moved to a new school that year. I opened the door to my classroom and felt a wave of nervousness come over me. I peered in and saw you. I remember it like it was yesterday. Big brown eyes. Silky, straight black hair flowing below your shoulders and a pleasant smile on your face. Glossy lips, no flaws, and that North Face Jacket. No wonder I wanted to be your friend.

We did become friends after a few weeks. At first, you confided in me. You’d tell me some not-so-nice things about my other friends and force me to shun them. So slowly, bit-by-bit, you started gaining my trust. Once you thought you had it all, you started growing. You grew in our friendship- you took the charge, you took control. On the other hand, I started shrinking. I lost myself inside our dangerous friendship. I listened to you. I followed you. I did whatever you wanted. I trusted you.

That’s when you pulled out your malevolent weapon. You made rules. Well, no they weren’t rules really, I’d hastily reassure myself. You just didn’t like it, that’s all. You didn’t like it if I didn’t do whatever you asked. You would persuade me to do all of your favorite things. I mean, if I picked, how good would things be? You’d always have the better option. If you wanted to spend time with me, how great was that? So what if I did all of your homework? Who cares if we hung out with your friends? You’d already assured me all of my friends were losers.

After a month-or-so, you revealed your true colors. You turned into a living nightmare. Being your follower, I saw you in your disguise as a nice, kind person. By then, you had started lashing out at me. You started to ridicule me. But then, you’d apologize and blame yourself- swear you were just having a mood swing and say why, why, why were you so mean, so inconsiderate- until I would feel sorry for you and assure you that no, you weren’t a bad person. You weren’t mean or inconsiderate- it was all my fault. I’m the one who should have been saying sorry. Then, you’d cry and hug me and say, “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” You’d promise me you would never be mean to be again. For a few days, you would spend time with me, be all fun and games until you went back to being mean again.

The last thing I remember about being your friend is you screaming at me for asking if you wanted to play during recess. I walked away from you, my heart shattered and tears falling down my face. That’s when I realized how fatal our friendship had been. It had eaten away at my conscience until I couldn’t even think straight. From then on, I vowed: no more bad friends. You’ve had enough, Sanjana. Don’t blind yourself just to appear stronger. See the red flags and get out. Pronto.

At first, I thought being without you meant being lonely and an outcast. But as I shut the door on greedy, manipulative friends, I found real friends. The true-blue ones that hang with you until the very end.

There’s still something I want to say to you Lily*.

Thank you.

Thank you for teaching me to not always trust first impressions. From your friendly disguises, I’ve learned it takes more than a first look to become someone’s real friend. You’ve shown me it’s what’s inside that truly counts.

Thank you for making me think before I start a friendship. To look down the road for red flags and danger signs. You’ve made me pay close attention to the smallest details. No longer will I blindly trust a person. No longer will I blindly let a friend hurt me with their stinging words. No longer will I hide in the darkness.

Thank you for showing me how to deal with anxiety. Every time I do something important, I remember your mocking face. If I’m scared to do something, I’ll remember you Lily.

You’ve left a scar in me which I will always remember. You’ve showed me how subtle bullying can be. You’ve victimized me in a way I still can’t imagine. You’ve left a bruise in my heart. I’ll never be the same.

No longer your victim,

Sanjana

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

iPhone 6s Review by Shweta Murali

iPhone 6s Review by Shweta Murali

The iPhone 6s is Apple’s newest phone and was released on September 9, 2015. The sales were huge, with more than 13 million sold in just the opening weekend. With only a few days of experience with the device, I have observed both good and bad aspects of it. If you are considering buying an iPhone 6s, hopefully this will help you in your decision.

Here are the pros:
·  Like always, a brilliant touchscreen that responds immediately
·  With the 64-bit A9 chip, the phone never lags or freezes and works surprisingly quick.
·  iOS 9 is a great improvement, with suggested apps and a new Search feature, as well as an improved App Store, a built-in News app, improvements to the Notes app, public transportation facilities in Maps, Apple Pay, and iCloud Drive.
·  3D Touch is the first of its kind, bringing a whole new innovation into the mobile world. Basically, the sensor detects the level of pressure applied to a touchscreen and responds by performing a certain action. It certainly impressed me with its immediate response and incredible knowledge.
·  An incredible, 12-megapixel iSight camera, which means you don’t even have to haul around your bulky digital camera around anymore.
·  The camera also includes 1080p video recording and a 5-megapixel FaceTime camera, which beats Skype by a longshot.
·  Along with the space gray, gold, and silver colors that previously existed, a beautiful new rose gold color joins the spectrum, which I personally believe looks awesome.
·  With improved and more secure Touch ID, you can feel safe knowing that no one else is snooping around on your phone.
·  This phone supports more LTE networks than any other smartphone, which means that you can have fast internet- even without WiFi!
·  The screen is supposedly shatterproof, which is a huge relief for my fellow klutzes out there.
·  Last but not certainly least, you can tell people that you got an iPhone 6s! How cool is that?

Although it may seem like it, the phone isn’t perfect, and here are the flaws:
·  Like all Apple devices, it is on the pricey side, with the device being $649 and the iPhone 6s Plus $749.
·  We thought that Apple would make an improvement to the battery life, but the battery life is still incredibly low compared to other smartphones.
·  The resolution of the screen is fair-1080p-but doesn’t nearly compare to the high quality of the Samsung Galaxy S6.
·  When playing games with a lot of graphics, there is a noticeable lag.
·  The phone’s screen is big, measuring 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches for the plus. Especially with people transitioning from an older phone such as the 5 or 5s, they could find it difficult to use at first. However, I like the big screen so I consider this a pro, but I know many people aren’t particularly fond of the large size.

Overall. these are the main positive and negative features of the iPhone 6s, and I personally love the phone and its efficiency. You can take a look at this list and weigh out the pros and cons of this phone. However, everyone has their own individual taste, so know that you are sure before you buy a new phone. No matter what phone you get, just be happy with it!


The High School AP Course Joshua Liao

 The High School AP Course
Joshua Liao


                These days, we often hear stories of high school students who pull all-nighters to study for tests and constantly operate on 3 to 4 hours of sleep. Many people wonder why a single student would overload their course schedule and put themselves through so much trouble. I too used to wonder until just recently, I realized the motivation and reasoning behind it. AP courses called AP for a reason: they are advanced placement courses meant to be taken by the most motivated high school students. The course load for these subjects is rigorous and a single day’s worth of homework from one class often requires most of the evening to complete. When colleges look into a student’s schedule, one of the main factors that they look for is the AP grade. For students who want to get into elite top 25 colleges, getting anything lower than a B in an AP course can be detrimental to their future. Therefore, students will often go to extreme levels to get the grade that they need. Every test and quiz in an AP class requires hours of studying, reading, and memorizing to prepare for. Even then, a student who does all this is not guaranteed an A. The tests are composed of critical thinking questions that often take much longer than the allotted time to complete. Students realize that their fellow classmates, their competition for a stop in one of the elite top 25 colleges, are not only taking one of these AP courses, but multiple. As a result, they continue to add AP’s to their schedule. With multiple courses requiring massive amounts of study time, it is inevitable that students will run out of time during the four to five hours they have in an evening to complete their homework, and will have to spend a portion of the night finishing course work. However, due to the students (and possibly their parents) motivation, every year a new crop of AP students will undergo this massive task and try to come out in a better position to enter a top 25 college.

Friday, October 9, 2015

Questioning Self By: Harrison Chiu

Questioning Self
By: Harrison Chiu
What defines the existence of one’s personal self? (Excuse the numerous grammatical issues referring to oneself and other selves? in the third person presents.) This article seeks to approach the psychological question through the philosophical method and philosophical approaches.
Modern psychology determines that self-concept develops either at age 3 (when children begin understanding gender stereotypes reinforced by their parents) or at age 7-8, when children begin interpreting feedback from parents and peers.
A more philosophical approach asserts that self-concept involves self-awareness as well. Self-awareness involves differentiating between one and others, recognizing one’s existence.
So, here are some conclusions I have drawn regarding the origin of this perception:
1.      One can differentiate between oneself and others
2.      Perception of this differentiation does not rely on sensory details
a.       For example, the blind still recognize themselves as separate from other people
b.      Let us test this with the most extreme example. A person is put in a “black box” which removes all sensory input, but they still can recognize themselves as separate from other beings.
3.      Perception does not seems to rely on mental self-concept
a.       Children recognize themselves as separate from other beings, seeking to address their personal needs
b.      In fact, the early psychology of children can be characterized as completely selfish, only seeking their own needs based on their own viewpoints
4.      Perception must be an aspect related to mental capacity in some degree
a.       Psychological experiments demonstrate chimpanzees have the highest degree of self-awareness, followed by elephants and dolphins
b.      Of course, the caveat is that the experiments are designed by humans: the test subjects must possess the ability to comprehend some element of the experiment
Questions to ask yourself:
What is my perception of myself? Why do I think that?
When does one person’s identity end and another’s begin?

Is it possible for such a perception to disappear? Is it possible for one person to perceive him/herself as another (think Finny and Gene)? If so, when does the following occur?

Article about Egypt & Nefertiti by Annamika Dua

I recently read an article named “Have Egyptologists found Nefertiti’s long-lost tomb?”, by Ian Lee. This article was about how archaeologists think that they may be very near to finding Nefertiti, an Egyptian queen who was lost for thousands of years. Nefertiti was the queen of Egypt, many years ago, along with her husband Amenhotep IV. But after ruling for 12 years, she suddenly vanished. Some people thought that she was still alive under a new name, while others thought that she had died. Nicolas Reeves, an archaeologist, believed that Nefertiti may have been located in the same tomb as the famous King Tut. Reeves noticed hieroglyphics on one of the walls in the tomb, which were similar depictions to ones described in other works. In order to prove his hypothesis he wants to use thermal imaging which could help reveal what is behind the wall. Reeves does not want to cut or destroy the wall because it is a part of King Tut’s tomb, and as of now they are not even completely sure whether something is behind it or not. What they do know for sure is that if they do find Queen Nefertiti, it will no longer be the tomb of King Tut, but the one of Nefertiti. I, personally, found this article pretty interesting. Egypt’s pyramids and it’s history are always interesting topics in my opinion. I think that if they do find Nefertiti, it will be a new step towards finding even more Egyptian kings and queens. Especially with so much more new technology, I think it will keep getting easier for us to find more things from older times. In the future, I would like to learn more about the history of Egypt and what happened to it’s kings and queens.


by Annamika Dua

Friday, October 2, 2015

Tiger's Curse review by Aneesha Kodati

The tiger's curse is a an exciting start to a bestselling trilogy. The plot starts with 16 year old Kelsey looking for a summer job and yes, the best summer job that she could find was at the circus. The circus houses a rare tiger that Kelsey grows to like. Then, she finds out about something that will change her life forever. Not be a spoiler or anything but the "tiger" is a young Indian prince with a scarring past. He has faced things and more importantly people that want him dead, but at the very verge of death the curse is made.


I feel like this book is a mix of all the greatest adventure novels that you could possibly find. It is a nicely set plot and has an amazing flow to the words. I absolutely loved it!

Review by Aneesha Kodati

Digressions on Life By: Harrison Chiu

Digressions on Life
By: Harrison Chiu

Although it seems strange given my limited experience, I would like to explain an approach towards the meaning of life. I pose my opinion on this psychological/philosophical topic through a philosophical approach; I hope that it seems valid and that you appreciate it. More readings on philosophy can be found on: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/linguistics-and-philosophy/24-00-problems-in-philosophy-fall-2010/index.htm
1.      People are divided into two primary categories: those who are content with their lives, and those who are not content with their lives (perhaps a black and white fallacy, but a mostly true generalization)
2.      People tend to seek contentment
3.      Those who are content do not seek anything else (2, 3)
4.      Meaning in life provides contentment through purpose
a.       This is the psychological component
5.      Those content with their lives do not need to seek meaning within their lives (2, 4)
6.      Those not content with their lives attempt to seek meaning within their lives (1, 3, 5)
a.       Hence the big question, “the meaning of life”
7.      In this way, seeking meaning within life implies an inherent lack of content with one’s life (7)
I suppose the point of presenting this argument is to pose the question: What is your meaning in life? What do you find most important to you?

In all the confusion and drama and scramble of life, it’s important not to forget about what’s important.