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Redwood Bark

Redwood Bark

Redwood Bark

Students consider various cultural perspectives in Professor Eddie Madril’s Ethnic Studies class. (Image courtesy )
TUHSD approves new ethnic studies course despite curriculum concerns
Michael SetonMarch 28, 2024

A new ethnic studies course will be introduced in the 2024-25 school year after a recent four to one vote by the Tamalpais Union High School...

Boldly standing out, an outdated air system contrasts the nature of Redwoods campus.
The Impact of the potential ‘NO’ on Measure A
Emily Hitchcock, Web Designer • March 28, 2024

As the clock ticks down to see if Measure A will pass, its current ‘Yes’ count is at 53.8 percent, with 55 needed to pass. An estimated 50...

The great divide of special education: the 504 plan
The great divide of special education: the 504 plan
Nina HowardMarch 28, 2024

As of 2018, up to one in four students at elite colleges were considered legally disabled due to mental health issues, learning differences or...

Chief’s Farewell – Broden Farazmand

Starbucks, sass, and stupiditythe three deadly s’s. These were the tenants of the straw man I constructed for my peers when I began high school. I imagined myself as a special snowflake, above and far away from the drunken ballyhoo that my peers were no doubt engaging in. And so I sealed my lips, and made no effort to get to know anyone, instead opting to dwell within my self-constructed solitude.

It is now, with the daunting inevitability of graduation looming over me, that I look back on times like that, and reflect on how I have grown as a person over the years. The truth is, I’m quite stubborn. I am so stubborn that it took me two years to change.

Sarah and Broden EIC Farewell

I was lost in a world of my own quixotic and isolationist tendencies, genuinely believing that an 8-hour World of Warcraft marathon was a night well-spent.  It wasn’t until my junior year, when I joined the Bark, that I finally realized the futility of my efforts to hide in solitude. It was in the Bark, through which I met a variety of new people, through interviews and association, that I realized that one doesn’t have to wrap their lips around the cold neck of a spirit, or engage in any other form of debauchery to get out of their house on the weekend.

Making friends wasn’t hard, at that point. Redwood, thankfully, is comprised of a multitude of accepting and interesting social circles. The hard part was accepting that I had spent two years believing a lie. I contemplated whether it was better to be alone and achieve in school, or to run away to a fantasyland of partying and fun. What I learned is that the two are not mutually exclusive. I could spend  a few hours a day programming, and a few with my friends.

I learned that balance is the key to a gratifying high school experience. Studying is paramount—it’s why we attend school—but it’s important to get out of the house and go for a hike, or play some basketball with friends. Strictly doing one or the other leads to loneliness, and self-destruction, respectively. The tendency to go towards one side is strong, but a one-sided life lacks value. Doing both in moderation leads to success, self-fulfillment, and happiness. Don’t be stubborn—if you were a loner like I was, call up your friends, or make some if you don’t have any. If you’re a dedicated socialite, dust off your textbooks and study. If you’re a natural Renaissance man and have been laughing at my bullheadedness, then good for you. It took me too long to hang my horns up on the wall.

I don’t know exactly what the future holds in store for me, but I do know that I’ll spend it in the most balanced way I can.

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