"Born" by Rishi Patil
Why Do We Compare Ourselves to Others?
Have you ever felt like you were being compared to someone else? Of course I have. I’m on summer vacation right now. I wake up very late every day, and sometimes I don’t know what I should do. Whenever my mother sees me lying on my bed, she feels upset and tells me, “You should do something, not just sleep every day. Make your own plan and study.”
After she told me that, I didn’t say anything. Then she started talking about other teenagers she knew and comparing me with them. I don’t know how other parents talk about their children, but sometimes I feel like my parents notice other teens’ achievements more than mine. I felt confused because I have also done things well. Why didn’t they see my efforts? But it’s okay. This is my life, and I remind myself of that.
Later, I talked with my friends, and they told me they had experienced the same thing. Their parents also compared them with other teenagers. It wasn’t surprising to us because we had heard it many times before. Sometimes, parents compare their children because they want them to improve. They may believe that seeing others’ success can motivate us. However, constant comparison can also make teenagers feel like they are not good enough.
I think everyone has their own strengths and their own path. We should not only look at what others have achieved, but also remember the things we have done well.
Thankfully, no one in my family gambles. Other than a few slot games once every few years and the occasional game of poker, betting never seemed to have such a big presence in my life. It was always something that never had any real stakes. Whenever my family friends and I played poker, we would bet using gum sticks and my mom seemed to have an aversion to the act of betting itself. I never understood why it was so common nor why it seemed to be so addictive. It was only till recently that I started to become more aware of how ruining the practice could be and how heavily prevalent it seems to be, especially today. But to understand why it’s so common, you need to understand the appeal. Gambling at first seems very low risk, high payout. ESPN journalist Rece Davis even said on live television that betting on NCAA was a “risk-free investment”(Davis). Companies recognize this and advertise as such. They tell you they’ll give you a free bet just for joining or that they'll match your first deposit by a high percentage. They'll tell you that you don’t even need to know anything about sports in the first place to win big. All you need to do is download the app on your phone, hit a few buttons, and bam! You're $1000 richer. The idea of betting a low amount to cash out big is insanely appealing. Sure there might be a few losses but as soon as you win once and that instant cash hits your bank account, you’re left yearning for more like a meth addict. That instant gratification is a huge factor in the appeal and that’ something harder to let go of once you actually try your hand on whatever apps happen to be the most accessible to you.
It’s not that hard to see why the gambling epidemic has become so big and such a problem. The appeal paired up with the accessibility is a dangerous combination. You see ads for sports betting everyone. Tiktok, Youtube, Netflix, Instagram. And if you’re watching an actual game, you see it on the display, the microphones of the commentators, the billboards on the stadium. Sports betting has become synonymous with the actual sport itself. You see it everywhere while watching a game. On the stadium, on the commentator's mics, the ad breaks in between, sometimes even during the game itself. A study recently shows that a gambling logo or ad is shown around every 13 seconds while watching a major sporting event. It’s inescapable if you are into sports. When gambling seems to be pushed from every angle onto you, the only thing stopping a person from betting a few hundred dollars away is their own self-restraint. Sports gambling is an insanely predatory practice that can and will ruin lives. And Kalshi and Polymarket are built upon those very foundations. They took everything that is wrong with sports betting and made it worse, infecting every single aspect of our lives.
Betts, Anna. “Revealed: Gambling Logos and Ads Seen up to Every 13 Seconds During Big Sports Games in US.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 26 Aug. 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/26/gambling-logos-high-profile-sports-games. Accessed 13 July 2026.
Gardner, Steve. “ESPN’s Rece Davis Walks Back ‘Risk-Free Investment’ Comment on Sports Gambling Segment.” USA Today, 24 Mar. 2024, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/media/2024/03/24/espns-rece-davis-risk-free-investment-quip-on-gameday-was-a-joke/73086329007/. Accessed 13 July 2026.
“Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act Of 1992.” Wikipedia, 15 Nov. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_and_Amateur_Sports_Protection_Act_of_1992. Accessed 13 July 2026.
Why Pencils are Better Than Pens
By: Sujal Mirchandani
I believe pencils are much better than pens when it comes to writing because they are easier to use and allow for mistakes. The biggest advantage of pencils is the fact that it can be erased, which is a huge deal because everyone makes mistakes sometimes. With a pen, you do not have an option to erase your mistakes, you are forced to cross out your mistakes and make your work look much sloppier.
Secondly, if you use pencils, you do not need to worry about running out of ink. Even if your pen has ink left in it, sometimes it just randomly stops working, and you are forced to swing it back and forth and hope for it to work again. This is very inconvenient and frustrating as a student when you are trying to be productive. But, pencils always work as long as they are sharpened. Also, if you are tired of sharpening pencils, then mechanical pencils are far better and more useful than regular pencils.
Lastly, pens only give bold and dark lines, while a pencil can give you any shade and boldness you want depending on how you use it. With a pencil, you have more control of how to draw and write, which makes the work appear neater and unique. Using a pen decreases your creativity because anything you write with it will look the same.
Overall, using a pencil for everything is just more reasonable than using a pen because of the various advantages it has. A pencil allows for correcting mistakes, avoids the hassle of running out of ink, and gives you more control of your work. Therefore, I believe pencils are far better than pens.
“Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch Book Review
By: Sujal Mirchandani
The book “Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch is a sci-fi thriller that deals with alternate universes. The story revolves around a college professor, Jason Dessen, who lives a very ordinary life with his wife and kid. When Jason was young, he had big aspirations of being a scientist and inventing time travel, but he gave up on his dreams after he got married and had a kid. He sacrificed his dreams and talents to care for the family. But, he always wondered if it was worth it to value family over his dreams.
One night, he gets kidnapped and wakes up in a new world which he is not aware of. He realizes that he is not the same person in this world. He no longer has a family nor does he teach astrophysics in college. Instead, he is a talented and respected scientist who has invented time travel. In this world, he is the person he always dreamt of being. But, Jason doesn’t enjoy this identity, and wishes to go back to his own world, with his family. In order to return, Jason goes through many other realities, in which he sees different versions of himself and his family. Ultimately, he returns back to his family and tries to start a new life with them.
The best thing about this book was that it was very engaging and sparked curiosity. It kept me interested all along and encouraged me to continue reading. It didn’t feel boring or complicated, instead it explained concepts of time travel in a fun and easy way that kept the readers interested. This book taught me how people make so many choices in their lifetimes, each choice leading to a different reality.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book because the topic was very fascinating to think about. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes astrophysics or psychology and I would rate it a 5/5.
“The Namesake” Book Review
By: Sujal Mirchandani
“The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri is about a boy named Gogol Ganguli who grows up in America to immigrant parents from India. The book focuses on Gogol's struggles to fit in because of his unusual name and Indian heritage. Gogol often tries to ignore his family and traditions to adapt more to the western customs. But, after Gogol’s father passes away, he finally understands the importance of his family and how meaningful his name is.
I thought the book had a good message about family and identity. It shows that it's okay to be different and that your background is an important part of who you are. Gogol changes a lot throughout the story, and I liked seeing how he matured over time. Also, I liked how the book covered the whole life of Gogol from his birth to when he got married. This big timeframe allows readers to connect more with the character and understand how the character is changing throughout the story.
The book was kind of slow, especially in the beginning. There weren't many exciting moments, and some chapters felt longer than they needed to be. Even though it wasn't the most interesting book I've read, it had a meaningful ending.
Overall, I would give The Namesake a 3.5 out of 5 stars. It isn't a book I would read again, but it has a good lesson and is worth reading once.
What does it mean to be declared dead?
When someone is declared dead, it is not solely because their heart has stopped beating; the official distinction (in a legal or medical capacity) between life and death also depends on the absence or irreversible lack of brain activity. This allows for two possibilities: cardiopulmonary failure and irreversible cessation of all brain functions.
Cardiopulmonary failure, as the name suggests, is the complete cessation of lung and heart activity within the body. The heart is the instrument that provides blood to the rest of the body. The lungs, which comprise the “pulmonary” aspect of the word, are responsible, in a more simplified context, for the exchange of gases in venous blood, replacing carbon dioxide in blood with oxygen.
Loss of function in the brain, specifically when it is irreversible, is another constituent of the declaration of death. This criterion, arguably the more interesting of the two, occurs when the the whole brain, including the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain, ceases to function.
The brain has many different methods of classification, and this paper follows the hindbrain/midbrain/forebrain system. This system compartmentalizes regions of the brain by overall function. Researchers and evolutionary biologists find hindbrains in nearly all organisms, as this is the portion of the brain that is responsible for vital bodily functions, such as breathing and heartbeat.
The midbrain and the forebrain are responsible for more complex cognitive processes, such as emotion and long-term memory storage. The highly developed facets of function and parts that humans possess are what allow for executive processing, multi-step thinking, and complex problem-solving.
Death by organ failure is also another viable possibility, although it is as an offshoot of the two aforementioned methods. For example, a palliative patient with liver failure does not die as a result of the liver itself failing, but as a result of the implications an organ failure can cause. The liver, responsible for detoxifying the blood, closely interacts with the circulatory and digestive systems. With toxins still present in the blood, liver failure makes a person much more susceptible to systemic infections, such as sepsis. Additionally, the blood is a vital component of the body because of its rapid transportation. Without acceptable blood chemistry, toxins accumulate in other organs, setting off an organ failure cascade.
Undoubtedly, toxins reach the brain and the heart, our organs of interest. The toxin buildup causes these organs to finally shut down as well. Systemic organ failure is incredibly difficult to treat, as communication between regions of the body generally occurs far more rapidly than potential intervention can reach. This is why infections of the bloodstream, such as sepsis, are so deadly.
With this in mind, some may wonder whether artificial stimulation of the brain or heart equates to life. Modern medicine distinguishes between maintaining organ function and maintaining biological life. Therefore, someone who requires mechanical ventilation can be classified as alive if brain function persists. However, if the entire brain, including the brainstem, has irreversibly ceased functioning, the person is declared medically and legally deceased.
Although every organ contributes to survival, the brain and circulatory-respiratory systems hold particular significance because they determine whether the body can maintain itself as an integrated organism.
References
Cleveland Clinic. (2024). Brain Death: What It Is, Stages & Criteria. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.
Eid, D. (2021, April 19). Forebrain, Midbrain and Hindbrain | Simply Psychology. Www.Simplypsychology.Org. https://www.simplypsychology.
End-stage Liver Disease (ESLD) | UCSF Department of Surgery. (n.d.). Surgery.Ucsf.Edu. Retrieved July 10, 2026, from https://surgery.ucsf.edu/
Mayo Clinic. (2025). Heart failure. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/
