We’re approaching four years since the beginning of Covid-19, the global pandemic of 2020. For those of you who either don’t remember or blocked it out, it was the part of our lives where we collectively picked up hobbies and impulsively cut our hair. To the seniors reading this, we went through our first high school experiences virtually. We involuntarily traded walking the halls to rolling out of bed five minutes before class, and logging onto a Zoom call where your camera stayed off the entire time. It was a time when TikTok thrived, the news never got turned off, and we heard the phrase “unprecedented times” enough to make us roll with every punch. We’ve survived this long, but what are the impacts since then?

Tulsa is reputable for its eccentric nightlife. From Club Majestic, Dust Bowl Lanes & Lounge, to the rest of “THE 10 BEST Tulsa Clubs & Bars (according to Tripadvisor). There's never a boring evening in the 918, that is if you’re over the age of 21.

11-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps opts for a 10,000 calorie diet to ensure his success in swimming. Simone Biles fought for 10,000 hours of practice before even stepping into the Olympic arena. To get there, they had to start somewhere—high school sports. Jenks Public School produces some of the most dedicated student athletes, but what makes them so good at what they do? I talked to a handful of JPS’s best athletes to see how the content of their bags contributed to their success.

If you are a Jenks Lifer, or even just a student who frolicked in the hallowed halls of a Jenks Public Elementary School, you’ve done the Jogathon. A day out of the year where logoed shirts are passed out beforehand, and bananas and apples are passed out after. Somewhere along the way in the middle, kids are unleashed like the running of the bulls. But instead of the narrow streets of Pamplona Spain, grades k-4 run the gravel track, getting a mark on their hand for every lap they run.

Classroom teachers make ends meet by working seven hours a day, five days a week. But when the school day ends and the bell rings, many disperse to do their secondary professions so they actually can afford to live. To get the personal experience of what goes on behind the teacher’s desk, I interviewed Carrie Loeber, Blake Connelly, Katie Franco, and Juliana Lynch, as well as Tim Abel–all of whom work second jobs.