Author: jkbanas

https://sites.google.com/stu.naperville203.org/tewwg-by-jake-banas/tewwg-text-set-homepage

For me, this text set was an important education on a voice that I have little experience with. Obviously, it is important to note your limitations on understanding situations like slavery and African American oppression. As a white male, I can admit that I am widely unfamiliar with the gender roles and stereotypes of African American women within society. That is why this novel and text set was of high importance to me. I wanted to further educate and explore the complexities and tensions of this voice and issue. From my research, I have learned how the historic oppression of the female African American voice is still having effects today. The TedTalk by Dr. Mwila highlighted a specific instance of how society still holds the expectation that African American females are supposed to be submissive, obedient homemakers. I think that bringing a previously unheard voice to light is a large goal of this project. Alice Walker’s “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston” essay talks about how Walker brought Zora’s voice to broader audiences, giving her a place to share her voice, her experiences, and her story. Bringing voices like this to mainstream multimedia can only increase diversity and educate others on the struggles and oppression they faced, creating a more inclusive society. 

Transitioning into my perspective on my time at NNHS, the largest thing that I have learned is self reliance. I think that nowadays in society, too many people blame others for not achieving their dreams or obtaining success. North taught me that you need to take charge of your future and the only way to achieve your goals is hard work and resiliency. The staff at NNHS were monumental in helping me achieve my goals of going to the University of Michigan as well as other academic and athletic aspirations, and when combined with my drive and initiative, I think North is a great environment for high achieving students. With that being said, it also is an intense, competitive environment that deals large sums of stress onto its students. I think while there are extreme downfalls to this, it has made me stronger and driven me to success. It has pushed me to be who I am today. 

To incoming seniors, start your college apps early. Push to grow academically and socially even within your last year. It is extremely easy to take your foot off the gas– don’t. Finish strong and go into college proud of your time at NNHS!

When I saw this optional prompt, I knew that I had to share my experiences and opinions on the idea of “learning loss.” As we slowly start to emerge on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can begin to assess how fully-remote and hybrid learning has affected us as students. In this New York Times article, author Katherine Schulten describes how students’ test scores and levels of learning are falling behind due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While this might be obvious to some, I do not believe that many of us have accurately understood how much of a loss we have experienced in terms of our education.

While I cannot speak on behalf of others, I can draw upon my experiences and what I have observed within my family when it relates to remote learning during a pandemic. While it is safe to say that no one has ever enjoyed doing homework, before the pandemic, I at least found myself sticking to some scheduled routine regarding it. Since online school, I view my homework with a “we’ll get to it when we get to it” attitude. My strict homework schedule has turned into completing random assignments at different times, and often I find myself too uninterested to put in the same level of effort that I did pre-pandemic. While I am not trying to say that I do not put forth any effort for online school, I think it is safe to say that it requires less attention to detail, less will to succeed, and less need for hard work than pre-pandemic school required. When it comes to studying for tests and quizzes, nearly all of my old study habits have been ditched for quizlets, skim reading textbooks, or no studying at all. This is a far deviation from my old habits of attempting new practice problems, rewriting concepts and notes, and using study guides or resources. I was kind of shocked to see how quickly these habits, which I have built my entire educational career, went out the door. Quite frankly, I’m mortified due to the fact that I will be an in-person college academic setting this fall. I am not going to be used to test stress, mandatory homework, or actually having to study. I think there will most definitely be a couple of wake-up-call moments; it could be a rude awakening.

On another personal level, I have witnessed what this “learning loss” has been like for younger ages. Two of my cousins, ages 12 and 6, are losing out on two of the most academically developmental periods of their lives. We have no idea how much these kids are being harmed by not being in school, since it is much easier to not pay attention as a six year old on zoom. I don’t know if I would have known how to navigate Canvas or join zooms and open activities by myself on a computer when I was six. For the 12 year old cousin in my family, he has some academic developmental disabilities which are amplified by not having an assistant by his side constantly, like he would have had if school never went remote. (I am not saying that school should have stayed fully in-person during a global pandemic, but merely highlighting one large loss during the last year of virtual school.)

I think another valid concern is for young adults in upper level education programs, such as medical school. I’m sure many of us teens have seen memes of collapsed bridges with the caption, “when engineers learning on zoom graduate,” or seeing tweets saying, “why would I let a doctor who learned on zoom operate on me?” While both these concerns are hyperbolic for comedy’s sake, these are valid concerns for young adults entering the workforce. Are they as prepared as they need to be for their demanding jobs? Will they be able to make up for the skills they have lost/missed out on? Will the next 2-3 years of people entering the workforce be noticeably poorly educated or less equipped than past years? These questions cannot be answered at least for another year into the future, but these issues are very real and could have lasting impacts on countless lives.

As us seniors wrap up our final month(ish) of high school, it is important to recognize the educational opportunities and skills that we have lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While some students might have experienced more “learning loss” than others, it is safe to say that we all can think of an instance where our pre-COVID self would act, study, or perform differently in school as opposed to now. It will be interesting to see how our class of 2021 adjusts to college as well as other graduates of higher education adjust to the workforce or other educational bodies such as medical school.

It’s not very often that a reader can be confused by a piece of writing before he or she even reads the first word. However, with Sherman Alexie’s poem, The Powwow at the End of the World, that was exactly my case. The very first word of the title, Powwow, was one that already gave me difficulty. One reason for this is because I barely knew, if even at all, what a powwow was. The word has been tossed around in conversation, used to describe a get-together, or even used to mock a group of people hanging out, yet its true meaning or purpose was not common knowledge to me. Another reason is that I have no experience with powwow’s, or any native american traditions or celebrations. I come from an upper-middle class Polish family in Naperville, Illinois, and even though my state of residence is named after a native american tribe, that is the extent of my knowledge about it. 

After filling in the gap regarding my knowledge of powwows, (it is either a sacred ceremony with singing and dancing, or a term for conference or a meeting with discussion), I began reading. After an initial read of the poem, the first thing that stood out to me most was how Alexie starts each sentence with “I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall…” I originally took this as the author succumbing to the requests of his audience, that he should forgive those who have wronged him. I interpreted the ones asking for forgiveness as the whites who stole land from the Natives, which invalidated my conclusion that Alexie was giving in to the requests of the audience. 

Alexie follows the first person statement at the beginning of each sentence with a detail that is very unlikely to occur. For instance, he mentions he shall forgive “after an Indian woman puts her shoulder to the Grand Coulee Dam and topples it.” While I have no knowledge of how strong or large the Grand Coulee Dam might be, I had difficulty interpreting this due to my conceived notion that this entire poem revolved around forgiveness. I thought this poem served almost as an olive branch, or an idea that forgiveness is inevitable even in response to the great evils committed against Native Americans. Quite frankly, that perspective was ignorant. Alexie contrasts his forgiveness with an action that is nearly impossible to occur, such as a single woman toppling an entire dam, in order to show that it will take more than asking for forgiveness to actually forgive. 

Alexie continues the pattern of the first half of each sentence while continuing to contrast it with more imagery and unlikely scenarios. However, while the image of a woman attempting to destroy a dam is rather self-explanatory, other descriptions were harder to understand. Alexie makes numerous references to the land and rivers, stating he shall forgive “after the flood waters…cause all of it to rise…” soon followed by, “after that salmon swims upstream, through the mouth of the Columbia and then past the flooded cities, broken dams and abandoned reactors…” After my first read, I missed that this was a chain reaction of events. One woman toppling a dam causes all of the other events that Alexie describes, each becoming less tangible and more surreal. I became frustrated that I could not comprehend why Alexie would build off each event with an even harder event to analyze, but it speaks to the depth of the poem. I realized that the speaker of the poem is undoing all the injustices levied against Native Americans. The dams that once contained their rivers are toppled, the fish that once could not swim upstream are free, and the cities and reactors that plagued the Natives’ lands were now wiped out. This is when I realized that the poem was not at all about a willingness to forgive, but rather forgiveness only when wrongs are undone. In this case, Alexie references extremes to show how unwilling he is to simply forget the horrors that those are asking him to forget.

At the end of the poem, Alexie shifts his focus to how the world will be after these evils are undone. Following his repeated first half of each sentence, he mentions that the salmon bring three stories: one of how to pray, one to make them laugh, and one to give them a reason to dance. This further complicated the poem for me because of how drastically different its tone is from the beginning of the piece. Alexie started by mentioning that forgiveness will come after the destruction of that which inhibits Native Americans and their culture, but now the speaker seems almost hopeful. I also didn’t understand the reference to the salmon bringing these three gifts, but after a quick search, it turns out that salmon are sacred in Spokane culture, seen as immortal, and bring gifts. (Was it cheating to search for that? I don’t think so.) 

Lastly, Alexie’s last sentence at the end of the poem states “I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall when I am dancing with my tribe during the powwow at the end of the world.” While his sentence makes it rather clear that there will be no forgiveness until the lives and land of these Natives are returned to how they were before, as a reader I am left questioning Alexie’s choice to end the poem this way. He broke the tone of the second half of the poem by mentioning that this powwow will happen “at the end of the world.” This reference usually implies destruction and the ceasure of all society, and would fit with the author’s attitudes at the beginning of the piece, rather than after detailing the three gifts of the salmon and the reunification of his people. 

Overall, my main sources of difficulty with this poem came from a lack of knowledge regarding a culture as well as a heavy bias towards my first-read interpretation. As a reader, it was interesting to see how I limited my understanding of a poem just because I did not pick up on certain aspects or ideas during my initial reading. This is something that I have long struggled with, and in the world of timed writings and timed assessments, my brain tries to run with the first idea that comes to mind, rather than taking the time to break a piece down and work through its difficulties. While I struggled to understand Sherman Alexie’s Powwow at the End of the World, as a reader I will continue to work line by line to notice poetic devices and techniques that lead the way to understanding and meaning. 

Many of you who are close to me know that I love to cook. It is one of my passions, often hidden from the outside world. While I have been heavily cooking since freshman year, the largest jump in both my success and abilities was definitely between junior and senior year. I believe a large part of this is due to the COVID-19 pandemic (a silver lining, perhaps?). When the world originally shut down, I know we all were forced to spend a little more time with our families than we would have liked, as headstrong, independent teenagers. However, my way to stay sane despite their ubiquitous presence was to cook with them. I tackled new techniques or recipes that I never had attempted before (I wonder if Ms. Hitzeman ever tried the risotto recipe I sent her), and perfected basic skills such as rapidly mincing herbs, or creating homemade spice rubs.

Along with this explosion of time to cook, I began doing more research into types of cuisine that I previously was unfamiliar with. I wanted to try to perfect culinary classics that you wouldn’t first think of when you thought of, for instance, Mexican food. Sure, we all think of tacos, burritos, guacamole, and more, but Quesa Birria was a dish completely unbeknownst to me. I came across it late one night on YouTube, when Nick DiGiovanni (third place contestant on Fox’s MasterChef) made a thirty-second video on how to turn the traditional Quesa Birria stew into pan fried tacos.

http://youtu.be/zYuiE2Tk8rQ

After watching this video, the following morning I added the ingredients needed to my mom’s grocery list, and waited. Fast forward two days, and it was time to make them for dinner. The meat, a cheap cut called chuck roast (used for pot roast), had to be marinated in the “stew” mixture for 12 hours overnight. It contained ingredients I had never worked with, such as Ancho and Pasilla chiles, Mexican Oregano, and Oaxaca (wah-haak-kah) cheese. Thankfully, my Vitamix could handle blending up whole tomatoes, chilies, onions, and the other ten ingredients.

After marinading the beef, it required six hours in the oven. Besides making your entire house smell amazing, little happened. When the meat came out, there was a thick layer of melted fat on the top. SAVE this for later! After shredding the beef, you are supposed to dip your tortillas in this layer of fat to then fry in a skillet on high heat! This will save you the use of oil, and keep your tortillas flavorful. After putting both the meat and cheese on the frying tortilla, fold it over, and then finish it off on the other side. Garnish with white onion and/or cilantro and you’re done after that! (Sadly, I did save any photos of the final product, but the one below is pretty much how it looked. The short YouTube video above also demonstrates what it looks like!)

I highly recommend you try this recipe for yourself. It requires little physical labor, but it is just a lot of ingredients. If you are looking to expand your culinary interests, make it for dinner for your family one night! I promise you they will love it. If you enjoy these cooking blogs, let me know. I’d love to keep sharing recipes or tricks that I have learned myself just from watching videos and practicing. Enjoy! Below is my stained, tattered recipe…that’s how you know you’re doing it right!

 

 

 

In my family, it is an annual tradition to make Polish sausage around Easter. My great grampy (Thomas Piszczek) had started the tradition when he returned from serving in World War II. The event became a day where the entire family crammed into a kitchen and worked from noon until dinner. 

When my great grampy passed in 2013, his cooking lived on through his children (my grandmother and my great aunt.) They would make the same Polish dishes he made for them, such as pierogis or kolaches. These meals found their way onto Christmas and Thanksgiving tables, or anytime we craved a taste of our heritage. 

As a kid with a love for eating, I always found my way into the kitchen. Watching my grandmother toil over supper became my first inspiration to begin cooking.

  The first meal I ever made? Chicken noodle soup. 

However, my horizons soon expanded under the influence of cooking shows and YouTube tutorials. I would spend my nights watching Gordon Ramsay talk about ethnic flavors, new recipes, or demonstrate how to master simple tasks, like chopping an onion. 

I began asking for new knives or utensils for my birthday to help me attempt more challenging dishes like risotto or paella. Each time I cooked something new, I always called my grandmother, raving about a new recipe. 

Many of my friends are shocked when I tell them that I enjoy cooking. They don’t understand that cooking is how I express my Polish heritage. They don’t feel the connection to my relatives, or experience the recipes that have been passed down like a family heirloom. But most importantly, they don’t see the photo of my great grandparents on the cover of our family cookbook, smiling at me each time I start cooking. 

With that being said, last night I made an excellent dinner for my family. While it was not one of the polish classics I mentioned above, it is the culmination of my love for cooking. I made a pan seared halibut with a caper lemon sauce, accompanied by oven roasted asparagus and rice pilaf. Halibut is a flaky whi

te fish, so it really goes well with almost everything. I chose to pair it with a lemon caper sauce because lemon is the perfect accompaniment to any choice

 of fish, and capers provide a salty pop. While the rice and asparagus required minimal preparation or attention to their cooking, the halibut was the star 

of the show. After generously seasoning the fish filets with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a pinch of paprika (the photo was before seasoning, as the fish was coming to room temperature for a better sear), I cranked up the heat and put each filet in. I made sure to not move the filets so that they could develop a nice golden brown sear.

 

After flipping them, I added in sprigs of thyme and rosemary, followed by a few tablespoons of butter so that I could baste the fish. Basting cooks the inside of the fish while keeping it moist. Just listen to the sound! (The video got linked externally, I could not figure out how to insert it here even after uploading the media. Just click immediately to the right! IMG_1647) Once my fish reached a temperature of 130*, it was ready to plate. Unfortunately, I do not have more photos than the ones I included, nor do I have a recipe since I just “experiment” based on prior knowledge or flavor profiles.

 

My family loved the meal and I can’t wait to make it again! Comment below something that you recently made for your family– during these times, nothing is better than a home cooked meal surrounded by loved ones! It is a great way to show your appreciation and spend time with those that matter the most. 

Three years ago on spring break, I sat in the U.S. Senate viewing gallery as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky argued why Montenegro should not be admitted into the United Nations. The Senate floor was half empty, and no one seemed to be taking interest in his speech. Despite his efforts, Montenegro was admitted by a vote of 98-2. In a country where politics is increasingly becoming red versus blue, how was the vote such a landslide? How could Senators be so sure? 

I was taken aback by how little the Senators cared about the decision they were making, merely popping their heads in through the chamber doors to cast their vote. For sake of discussion, I am not going to take a stance on the issue, but rather just present both sides and let you, the reader, decide. 

The first side I will examine is that the U.S. should not admit countries to global alliances without considering the consequences of doing so. Senator Paul cited two main reasons to not admit Montenegro in his speech: the economic and military consequences, as they relate to what the U.S. would gain from the alliance. Paul stated that a developing country such as Montenegro could do little to help the U.S. economically or militarily, while the U.S. would be expected to do this regardless. Maybe this is selfish thinking, or maybe he has a point. How far should the U.S. expand its aid for nothing in return? Is it this country’s civic responsibility to help those who cannot help themselves, or are we unnecessarily risking the lives of soldiers for a country that cannot help us in a time of an attack? He said in his speech, and these words still stuck with me to this day, “Should the U.S. fight other countries’ wars?” Senator Paul believes that it’s not worth the consequence of losing a mother or father’s sons and daughters. The same could be said for economic aid. Senator Paul argued that our country has enough problems that require financial assistance at home, and billions of dollars should not be spent in some other country where we would get nothing but a thumbs-up and a nice “thank you” for assisting. 

On the other hand, many believe that the U.S. has a duty to help developing nations such as Montenegro. Each and every one of us has won the lottery by being born here. Whether you love or hate this country, we are extremely privileged to be here. With that being said, many believe that it is our duty to help foreign nations in need, whether economically, or whether militarily. A country that is under persecution from a ruler or another foreign body deserves the same chance at freedom as us. Just as the French played a crucial role in the freedom of Americans during the Revolutionary War, we too could play a similar role for a developing country. Imagine if the French, a global superpower at the time, did not help the U.S. Would we be the country that we are today? Would we even be a country at all? This attitude can be applied across the globe, but rather this time, we are the ones pushing these nations to freedom and prosperity. Furthermore, along similar lines, our country spends billions of dollars on our defense budget that could potentially be allocated to other developing countries that need this assistance to survive. U.S. aid could be the difference between life and death for thousands of citizens, and it appears selfish to not economically contribute to an ally who needs it the most. 

The reason I chose to not argue on one side of this issue is because, quite frankly, I cannot decide which side I am in agreement with. I see Senator Paul’s argument about saving the lives of American soldiers and saving dollars for U.S. programs that need it, but at the same time I feel we have a duty to help other countries across the world. I really like my analogy about the French in the revolutionary war: would you and I even be here today without their help? We have the power to help in a similar manner. Regardless of what you believe, I believe this was a great experience to discuss and share with you all. Thank you for reading.