Ballet dancers appear so effortless as they pirouette across the stage with their graceful yet sharp movements, but the reality is so far from that. Despite the way they appear to be dancing with ease as you sit and watch from the audience, those dancers are using just about every single muscle in their bodies to keep their legs straight, their toes pointed, making sure that every movement is controlled, sharp, pretty, and graceful. Dancing on your toes while they’re trapped in a little wooden box decorated in pretty pink fabric makes it even harder to get all of those intricate moves perfect.

Advisory, a designated time in high school for college guidance and academic help, often leaves students, especially those here at Jenks High School, with a variety of challenges and experiences. While the intention behind advisory is definitely pure, there is a lot of room for improvement that could transform the period into a more useful and beneficial use of our time at school.

Education looks different to everyone; even school itself looks different to everyone. Your experiences are based on what you choose to do, who do it with, and where. While the first day of school to many may look like walking into a stuffy beige building with hallways compressing hundreds or even thousands of students every passing period, or cramming into an obnoxiously loud cafeteria, to others it may look like waking up, getting ready, helping your parents with chores, and sitting at the kitchen table with your mom and siblings while the smell of breakfast and freshly printed papers wafts through the air.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Tweenager: “a young person between the ages of approximately eight and twelve.” A collective jumble of years, that for most were filled with awkward conversations, the end of elementary school, and balancing on a constant tightrope of still receiving a kids menu while switching from Disney Channel to the CW.

In every single sector of education, economics matters. They matter in the resources, opportunities, and classes that are offered at any school. Schools with a bigger budget are able to afford their students with more experiences that leave their classes better off. Going to a college prep-school can set you up with more college connections, standardized test preparation, and more one on one time with teachers. This is why it comes as no shock that when Think Impact did a report on scholarship statistics they found that 10% of private school students are awarded scholarships, while only 3% of public school students win scholarships. Scholarships can be earned through various different achievements, 25% of scholarships require testing scores, and each year the number is decreasing. This is good. Standardized testing requirements are an arbitrary way to measure student success because the preparation some receive is unfair to the majority of students left in the dark.

If you’re anything like me, you probably spent a considerable portion of your childhood fervently begging for one of those esteemed Justice notebooks. Nothing matched to the allure of the pink, fuzzy ones covered with squishy, glittery initials on the front. Mine was proudly embellished with the letter “E” and, like most of my treasures, spent most of its life beneath the veil of my twin bed. Its existence was marked by a handful of entries, random doodles, and fleeting thoughts before fate led it to a dusty box in the confines of the attic.

Every reader at one point in time has read something with romance in it. If it’s only been a small sub-plot or the main genre of the book. Romance is in everything; what you watch, what you read, and what you see around you. Romance in people's personal lives is there or not there at all.

For as long as I can remember, hunting has had a significant impact on my life, whether I’ve liked it or not. Growing up, my meals were filled with venison and my snacks were composed of deer summer sausage. My house was decorated with antlers, in fact, the first thing you see when you enter my house is a skeletal deer head, and if you dare to walk a little deeper you would find a giant stuffed buck nailed to our living room wall. Growing up my two older sisters were given Hunter Annie’s instead of Barbie dolls, and any visit to Bass Pro Shop was a family outing.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard has had a prolific career, releasing 25 albums spanning multiple genres in just 13 years. From starting off as a garage rock band to now being one of Australia’s most well known bands with an overarching story across their albums known as the Gizzverse, it’s safe to say that they’re truly a once in a lifetime band.

When you are craving a soda, whether it be at a restaurant, convenience store, grocery store or social gathering, what do you get? I get a root beer!

Call me a middle-aged woman, but don’t talk to me until I’ve had my morning cup of coffee. Consuming unthinkable amounts of caffeine within a single day brings me more joy then I would care to admit. Latte, nitro brew, or just a good ole cup of coffee, doesn’t matter to me. Especially in a time that finals are nearing. Listen, I get it. You need a cute indie coffee shop to go sit and study at in order to actually get work done. But there’s one problem; you have no idea where to go.

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.

Since the beginning of time, the act of killing for survival has been severely normalized. Meat mass-produced in factories, farms created just to raise cows for slaughter, to then be served on a plate for our country to be fed. But not everyone chooses to follow this “meat-eating” path. Many people have decided to eliminate meat from their diet completely.

The College Football landscape has been tossed, turned, and flipped upside down since the beginning of the season in August. Preseason playoff hopefuls such as Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Michigan State, find themselves unranked four months later, only to be replaced by surprises of the season such as Washington, Kansas State, and LSU. However, the previous three teams mentioned are out in terms of a shot at the College Football playoff. As an avid watcher of football for the past decade, I have culminated a deeper level of understanding for the game. In this article, I’m going to be analyzing and predicting the current ranked Top 6 Teams leading up to the College Football Playoff.

Whether you're a Christmas fanatic like I am, or if you are just trying to make it through various get-togethers, holiday movies are seen as a staple in many events from hosting a full house, to alone cuddled up next to a cozy fire, with flannel blankets and hot cocoa. While Elf, The Grinch (animated or otherwise), and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation are all great options here are some other movies to watch in different situations.

We all remember late nights, sitting criss-cross on the floor, the only illumination from the blue light of the TV. If you were lucky, your parents would accept your negotiations for ten more minutes of playtime. It was those nights, on the floor, in front of the TV, where I remember the hum of my trusty PS2 while playing the digital version of famous novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

We have all heard of bump, set, spike. Coming from a volleyball player who is in their second year of the sport, it is so much more than that. It's not just about the performance; the equipment and overall ambiance must be taken into account too. Unfortunately, the bump, set, spike stereotype is widely believed and embraced. Let's take a look at how volleyball is represented in different movies and shows.

The smell of freshly inked paper flooding your senses, the brush of the pages against your fingertips as they fly from the back cover to the front. The book feels so right in your hand, the coffee sitting comfortably in your other, and you feel utterly at home. As you peruse the aisles of books at your disposal, all the genres you could think of, you don’t have a worry in the world. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that after reading that, you’re thinking of one of the most commonly known bookstores. Probably Barnes & Noble. Maybe even Books a Million.

Out in the Midwest, gas station food is quite the norm. Here in Oklahoma, we have one of the best gas station chains in the country, Quik Trip. For the past 6 years, we have consistently enjoyed the delicacies inside QT Kitchen and their snack center. We aimed for people's favorites, then went after the irrelevant snacks. This taste test was definitely a trip to Flavour Town. Join us in telling you about our time there. We have ranked 12 items from Worst to Best, so you can know what to and what not to get. All photos credit to Quiktrip.com.

While walking down Jenks Main Street, you can find the River City Trading Post. The trading post looks simple from the outside, but when you step through the door you are transported into a maze full of everything you could possibly imagine. The first thing you see is a hallway of brightly colored ornaments hanging from the ceiling. Christmas music plays from the speakers immediately putting you in the mood for the holidays, which is a great thing because the River City Trading Post is an excellent place to find unique and handmade gifts at a range of prices.