Zoomy Muhammad

End of the Year

May 29, 2020 by Zoomy Muhammad

By Kathryn Alexander, Daniel Amador, Luke Fisher, Moriah Mitchell, and Zoomy Muhammad

The end of the school year has arrived and the staff of OTJ would like to send off with an article about what we all loved this year at ODE

As the end of the school year draws closer and the beginning of summer draws near, the students of ODE reflect back on their year. It’s been a crazy one, from new teachers, to new classes, to the lockdown and adapting to changes, the students of ODE have had a memorable year. We here at OTJ decided to ask all of the students of the OTJ class about their year and what they’re going to miss most. We’ve compiled their submissions into one article so that we may remember this year for many more years to come.

“My highlight from ODE this year had to be our Theater class’ sword fighting workshop. Our teacher, Linnea Carrera, brought in a friend of hers who specializes in sword fighting and stage combat to give us all an introduction to the art form. We learned some basic moves, techniques, and terminology and then got to put what we learned into practice. The workshop was fun and engaging. Everyone was excited to learn and the environment was very encouraging since we were all trying something out of our comfort-zones. I’ll miss my classmates and teachers this summer. Finally, I want to thank all of the teachers and staff that make ODE happen every week, we appreciate you and wish that we had a proper goodbye before the school year ended!”

-Kathryn Alexander, Sophomore

“This was my first year in upper school, and I loved it! The new level of classes, the challenge, the interactions, (the grades,) it all made for a great year! I loved starting every Friday with fun, educational exercise in Gym Class, and ending it with warm hot chocolate and tea in Literature Class! When we couldn’t physically go to ODE, I missed my friends, the interactions, and the classes. I hope we will be able to go to ODE next school year!”

-Daniel Amador, Bridge

“Great. The class was neat and we got food.”

-Luke Fisher, Bridge

“This year, I have to say, it has been quite an exciting and amazing year. I experienced a lot of new things, and this was also my first year of high school. However, there is one thing that made my year very special. This was also my first year at ODE, and it has been one of my most memorable years yet. All of the kids and teachers were extremely kind and I had the best time in all my classes. Let’s go back to when I first visited ODE in the spring of 2019. I remember feeling very awkward walking around the building not knowing anyone. But it was not long before two girls came up to me and introduced themselves and offered to help me if I needed it! We chatted for a little bit and then they showed me around ODE! I will never forget that. They were so welcoming, and later in the fall, I learned that a welcoming attitude is not foreign in the ODE community. When I arrived for my first class in the fall, a group of kids was chatting in the study hall. I introduced myself, and they asked me what classes I was taking. I soon learned we all had similar schedules! We then chatted and laughed, and by the end of the first day, I felt like I had become best friends with all of them. Our friendships clicked immediately, and I don’t think there has ever been a day where I haven’t laughed at ODE. Classes at ODE are the best. They are so informing and I have really learned a lot this year about Journalism, Biology, Theater, and Spanish. The teachers were also extremely welcoming and I loved each of their classes. I thoroughly enjoyed the work and class time. In every class, I found I always learned something new. Every teacher was so knowledgeable on their specific subject. Journalism was a class I enjoyed immensely. It was a topic I had never been introduced to before and I loved making our website, typing articles, and taking pictures for our yearbook! I felt very passionate in that class and we all worked hard to make our website and our yearbook a success. I learned so much about reporting and journalism that I had never known! Over the summer, I will especially miss study hall with my friends and learning new things in our classes. Even though our year was cut short, I am so thankful for the exciting and wonderful year I’ve had. I have made amazing friends this year and I can’t wait to see everyone in the fall!”

-Moriah Mitchell, Freshman

“Out of all of my years at ODE, this will be the one I remember the most fondly. I can’t name just one reason, because it was a combination of a lot of things that made this year so memorable for me. For one, I was able to teach my own class which sounds crazy enough as it is. My passion for journalism has grown immensely and now I’m considering it as a career path, so thank you Mrs. Ginter for giving me a potential path to take in life. I’m definitely going to miss Journalism class the most. I’ve had so much fun leading the Journalism class and writing articles with everyone. And despite how hectic the yearbook committee was, I loved every second of it. I’ve realized my love of working with people and managing a team through my experiences in both Journalism and making the yearbook. I’ll deeply miss everyone in the class. They’ve brightened up my year in ways I never could’ve imagined and hopefully I brightened theirs as well.”

-Zoomy Muhammad, Sophomore

We hope you had a great year too, and we can’t wait to see you all next school year!

30 Interesting and Creative things People Did During Quarantine

May 16, 2020 by Zoomy Muhammad

By Daniel Amador

Ever since this quarantine started, millions of people have done many unique and fun things to keep them occupied and busy, so I have interviewed 6 people (myself included) and asked them to tell me five interesting things they did during this pandemic, and here they are.

I have made my interview very diverse, I have interviewed a sister, a cousin, two friends from ODE, and a friend from a camp: 3 boys, 3 girls, to get all perspectives.

My first interviewee is my oldest sister Elie Amador. Around the time this epidemic started, she came back home to Chicago for a break from teaching in Thailand, and she was hoping to do all sorts of fun things in Chicago, but couldn’t because of this lockdown, so I only thought it necessary to interview her first, so here is the interview:

“What are five things creative things you did during quarantine?”

“I looked through my childhood books. Books I read in my childhood.

“I recorded my music in the attic of my church.”

“I volunteered at the food drive at my church.”

“I went for a long run around my neighborhood, in the dark.”

“I bought a polaroid to take pictures.”

“Was that five?”

“Um, yes.”

My second interviewee is a girl named Kayla Bitakis, a friend from a camp. She is homeschooled and has just recently turned 14. This is what she wrote:

“By Kayla Bitakis”

“As this COVID-19 quarantine has been going on, I have found some fun hobbies to do in all this free time. Whether you find joy watching TV all day, or baking, or just have absolutely no idea to do with all this free time, I thought I’d share some of the fun things I’ve been doing during quarantine.”

“So the thing that I have found to be taking a big chunk of my time is this TV series called “The Chosen”. It’s a multiple season story based on the life of Christ. IT IS SO GOOD. I’ve cried in several episodes and cannot stop rewatching it. HIGHLY recommend it.”

“Another thing that I’ve enjoyed doing is baking. I’ve been experimenting with especially bread and cookies!”

“Another thing that I’ve been doing is biking! I’ve been biking so often lately I feel I’m going out too much.”

“One thing that I’ve also been doing is doing is testing my geography skills and seeing if I can list all of the countries of the world.”

My third interviewee is a friend from ODE, Zoomy Muhammad. She is also a writer for OTJ, is homeschooled, and is 16 years old. Here is how the interview went:

“Ok, so, the first interesting thing I did during quarantine, was, I taught myself a Tik Tok dance. because I thought it was weird, that I was sixteen, and I didn’t know a Tik Tok dance. And I was like, I’m like the only person my age in the world that doesn’t know a little bit of a Tik Tok dance, so I taught myself one. it was actually pretty fun, and it didn’t take long, so I’m gonna try to teach myself three more, over the course of this month.”

“So that was the first thing I did. This next one is for school, but I’ve been experimenting with cooking, not baking, cause I’ve got baking down, but cooking. I’m trying to figure out how to season things better and stuff like that.”

“That’s the second thing. I’ve been making new outfits. Eh, it sounds weird because I can’t actually leave the house, to, um, like, to show them off. But, you know, I’ve been rummaging through my drawers, finding old clothes that I haven’t worn in long time, and I’ve been trying them on, pairing them up with other clothes, so that, hopefully, when the quarantine is over, at least I’ll leave quarantine looking cute.”

“Um, some, somewhat similar, I’ve been doing something similar with my hair, um, I’ve been trying new things, uh, with my hair, watching videos on Instagram, of how to get my hair in certain styles I want it to be in. So, I have my hair done up right now and I’m gonna try to do something with it later.”

“Uh, the fifth thing is that I’ve been perfecting my rollerblading. I now somewhat know how to stop, a little bit, maybe.”

My fourth interviewee is another friend from ODE named Luke Fisher. Like the interviewee before him, he is also a writer for OTJ, is homeschooled, and is 13 years old. This is what he said:

“Ok, so, once again you said that I have to mention that I’ve been writing a book, so that is number one.”

“Number two, um, I’ve watched the final season of the clone wars, which is fantastic, especially the last four episodes. they are just perfect, some of the best Star Wars I’ve ever watched.”

“Number, I think three, maybe, Yeah. I think three. Uh, I rewatched The Mandalorian and I’m watching The Disney gallery Mandalorian The Series Behind the Scenes Documentary every Friday. Good series.”

“Um, number four, wait, am I already on number four or is it number five? Number four, thank you! I have been kicked out of my own room and forced to sleep in the basement, which has been an interesting experience.”

“Um, number five. I’ve been completely ignoring the stay-at-home-lock-down-quarantine-thing, just haven’t listened to that at all.

And we are done.”

My fifth interviewee is my cousin, David Chan. He is homeschooled, and just recently turned 14. This is how it went:

“What was the first interesting thing you did during quarantine?”

“So, one interesting thing I did was because I had extra time, I started working out and my dad taught me how to do different things, so it’s been fun to do that.”

“Another thing is that I’ve been doing is online Chess, doing chess calls with my friends, and learning how to play chess better and having fun with my friends at the same time.”

“The third thing I have been doing is I have been collecting data with a survey I sent, a survey for a history project, so it’s been kinda cool to see different people’s responses to the questions I gave, and on what they thought, like on what they thought about CoronaVirus and, responses to it and, the government’s handling [it].”

“The fourth thing is I have been doing lots of virtual game nights. Like, playing different things on them. Well not game nights necessarily game nights, just game times, playing games like Pharisees, or, Scribble-io, Mafia, you know, kinds of different games with friends whereas I would have never really done calls like that before.”

“I’ve, been participating in organizing and leading Virtual Prayer and Worship calls with people, also, I’ll add to the fourth, that some of the calls of I’ve been on have been with people I wouldn’t have seen otherwise, not just people I see regularly.”

“Thank you for your time!”

The last official person I interviewed was myself. I am (evidently) a writer for OTJ, am homeschooled, and am 13 years old. This is what I wrote:

“Number one is that I have been writing a book, and I have been re-reading a lot more books, like The Underland Chronicles.”

“Number two is that I have been writing articles for OTJ, like this one.

“Number three is that me and my family re-watched the Lord of the Rings series, the Star Wars movies, and The Mandalorian series.”

“Number four is that, for my second oldest sister’s birthday, we did a scavenger hunt sort of thing where we would drive to friends’ or relatives’ house and she would be blindfolded. By the time we reached a destination, we would read a clue to her about the person or persons, and she would have to guess correctly before we unblindfold her.”

“The fifth and final thing is that, several times, me, my younger brother, my oldest sister, and once my father and older brother slept in a tent in the basement or the greenroom. We did it for fun and to try a new experience!”

The final interview was with my little sister Emma Amador/Rodriguez. This one is not an official interview, since Emma is only 2 ½, and is basically just comic relief. Unlike the other interviews, I will include what I say during the interview, so that it will be less confusing. So, here it is:

“What are five interesting things you did during quarantine?”

“Favaves.”

“Uh huh,”

“Es fevavalen esoufathis.”

“And then what?”

“Ati!”

“¿Que?”

“Pasi a fefa.”

“Oh.”

“Editouwyow faui. Dede mau.”

“Thank you for your time.”

Translation for at least one of the things she said: Ati = Aquí = “Here” in Spanish.

And those are all the interviews! I hope this will give you some ideas of things to do during quarantine, maybe you could even ‘Pasi a fefa’ (whatever that means) like Emma said!

Onward Movie Review (Spoiler!)

May 8, 2020 by Zoomy Muhammad

Pixar’s newest movie Onward is an amazing watch for lovers of fantasy and DnD and it offers a heartfelt message of brotherhood discovering who you are

Released March 6th 2020, Onward follows the story of Ian and Barely, two elfen brothers in a world where magic has faded away and everything is modernized. On his 16th birthday, Ian and Barely receive a magic staff from their late father. Along with the staff is a spell that will bring back their father for 24 hours. After accidentally casting the spell, Ian brings back his father, but only his legs. Not only that, but the gem needed to perform the spell shatters! With only 24 hours to complete the spell and see their father, Ian and Barely embark on an epic quest to find another gem and see their father before time runs out.

Ian (played by Tom Holland) is a young elf who just turned 16. Ian is an adorably loveable shy kid. A nervous kid with no friends, who’s awkward and has no confidence. Ian, unlike his older brother, has never known his father and has never had a father figure in his life. He hopes that on his quest he can find the phoenix stone and finally meet his dad.

Barley (played by Chris Pratt), Ian’s older brother, is the exact opposite of Ian. A loud, boisterous guy with a lot of energy. Barley loves fantasy, history and magic, and is a bit of a goof. Barely hopes to teach his brother the way of magic and get to see his dad one last time.

Then there’s Wilden, Ian and Barley’s father. Despite being a pair of legs for 99% of his part in the movie, he has a lot of personality. We see pictures and hear about him when he was alive but even as a pair of legs we can see what type of person he was.

Along with Barley and Ian you have a cast of supporting characters. Lauren, the boy’s mother, the fearsome manticore, and officer Broncho, Lauren’s boyfriend.

Pixar is known for its distinct and memorable characters and this movie is no different. All of the characters in this movie are loveable in their own way. From the lovably dorky Barley to the charming officer Bronco, to the literal pair of pants that follows our protagonists around the whole movie.

As you can probably tell from the title and poster alone, this movie has a distinctly fantasy element to it but with a clever twist. You see, magic exists in the world of Onward. At least, it used to. Advances in technology saw magic going out of style. After all, why learn a light spell when you can flip on a lightbulb? Or why fly on a pegasus when you have a car to take you place to place? I’m sure we’ve all imagined something like this at some point. But magic does still exist, as seen by the working staff Ian and Barley’s dad has. And Ian has a magic gift that allows him to use magic unlike his brother who tries and fails to cast the visitation spell at the start of the movie.

It also seems, along with the magic, that the great creatures of legends have also fallen from grace. Corry, the once fearsome Manticore warrior, is now the manager of a Chuck E Cheese esque establishment. Sprites, once magical flying creatures use bikes instead of their wings. Even the unicorns are shells of their former majestic selves. Magic is also disregarded by most people as a thing of the past. This is why Barley -who loves magic and the ways of old- isn’t taken seriously by most people.

This is by far the most interesting aspect of the movie as I’ve never seen any other movie or show subvert the fantasy trope the way Onward does. There is something interesting about seeing unicorns depicted as mangy racoon-like vermin that raid trash cans or the once mighty dragons being small dog-like pets. It’s a good example of Show-don’t-Tell in worldbuilding. We get to see the magical creatures in their fall from grace instead of just being told that they are no more. The subversion of the fantasy trope is done very well and the fantasy and modern elements meld perfectly.

The movie makes many much appreciated references to fantasy in pop culture, and here’s the craziest part: None of them feel out of place. Because magic was an important part of history in this world, it makes sense for characters to reference to popular fantasy tropes. The most prominent of these is Dungeons and Dragons with a similar game existing in the movie. Barley’s Quests of Yore book becomes an important item as it contains all of the spells Ian learns.

I must say that the world building in this movie is absolutely brilliant. With movies taking place in a SiFi or fantasy world, world building is key. It’s vital that the world the characters are in not only makes sense, but is also believed by the audience. Onward does a good job establishing a world and making it believable to the audience.

As you’d expect from every Pixar movie, the story has a family oriented message. However, there was a slight difference in how this message was told that surprised me. They didn’t have to do it this way, but they did. This part contains major spoilers so if you haven’t seen the movie turn back now.

Now, at the end of the movie we see Ian crossing out the things on his to do list. With barely even an hour left until sunset, he’ll never be able to do all he wanted with his dad. As he crosses out the items on his list, he comes to a realization. He has done all of the things on the list on his quest, only, it wasn’t with his father but with Barely. At this moment, Ian realizes that he never needed to know his father because he’s had his older brother his whole life.
If i’m being honest, this realization caught me off guard. When I went back and rewatched the movie, I saw that this theme of brotherhood had been there the whole time. Instead of being a quest to find his dad, Ian and Barley’s quest becomes one of self discovery and brotherhood. I loved watching Ian and Barley’s relationship grow. They learn to understand and appreciate each other’s strengths and weaknesses, especially Ian. It’s a theme throughout the movie that people think that Barley is a screw up, even Ian. Ian learns though that his brother’s obsession with fantasy and magic doesn’t make him weird or a screw up. In fact, it’s Barley’s expansive knowledge of magic and fantasy tropes that helps them complete the quest. They grow from each other and that’s something I absolutely love about this movie.

Onward has a beautiful sentiment about being grateful for those you have with you. Ian becomes so caught up in meeting his dad, who he’s never known, that he forsakes who’s been with him from the start. It would have been so easy for the writers to simply let Ian meet his dad and end the movie there, and that’s what I was expecting. But considering all that the brothers had been through up until that point, it would have been an unfitting end to the story. I’m glad the writers of Onward went with the message in the movie instead. It adds that last element to the movie that makes it a truly fulfilling, enjoyable watch.

The Rise of Zoom

April 23, 2020 by Zoomy Muhammad

By Daniel Amador

I am sure you have heard about the communications software called Zoom. Ever since this Covid-19 pandemic began, people all over the world have started using it. It was mainly meant for conferences and meetings, but people also use it for random parties, birthday parties, classes for school, and even weddings!

The funny thing is, many people had never even heard of Zoom until this pandemic. Why is that? Who created Zoom? How did Zoom get so popular so fast? Why is it just mainly Zoom and not other softwares like Skype? Are there any problems with it? For the answers to these questions, you will have to continue reading.

The creator of Zoom is a man named Eric Yuan. Zoom was founded, surprisingly, 9 years ago, in 2011. Its headquarters are in San José, California.

How did Zoom get so popular so fast? When I did a bit of research about it, I couldn’t find any official answers, But I have some theories as to why that may be the case: Zoom is unlike almost all other communications softwares.

1. It is practically limitless how many people can be on one call at the same time, and there are even different ways to see all the people on the call, for example, there is gallery view, where you can see everyone in little boxes without scrolling down unless there are a lot of people, and speaker view, where a big box of the current speaker is displayed, and a few smaller boxes of other people on the side.

2. On Zoom you can do something called “screen share” that allows people to see your screen if you want to show them a video or if you want to search something up. You can also do “whiteboard” and it will allow you to draw things that everyone else can see.

3. There are also virtual backgrounds that you can get from your photos or that are already there, you can rename yourself so people know who you are or aren’t, and there is even a chat!

4. It is pretty easily accessible, and it is free (mostly).

Are there any problems with it? Yes. One of the problems is that it is sometimes static-y and kind of hard to hear music. But those are just small problems, here are the big problems:

Zoom was sharing and selling users’ info (without users’ permission) with Facebook, and there has now been a lawsuit filed against Zoom for these accusations (more about this one https://www.distractify.com/p/zoom-hacked-lawsuit).

Zoombombing is one of the worst problems of them all. Other people can actually hack into your call and chat and interrupt it and wreak havoc, by either sharing random or bad images, using bad language or just making a lot of noise and feedback. And since Zoom is so easy to access, it is also not too hard for experienced hackers to hack into your web camera!

Now, I am not saying all this to try and scare you out of using Zoom, infact, I might suggest it since it can be very useful. I am just telling you to be very careful when using Zoom as it is a previously unknown software that is now exploding in popularity. It’s important that you know the risks of using software like this, as it is just as important to keep yourself safe online as it is outside. Especially now as people everywhere are relying on technology to keep in touch and keep busy.

CoronaVirus Part 2: Current Times And What To Do

April 1, 2020 by Zoomy Muhammad

By Daniel Amador

As of Friday the 20th of March, the Mayor of Chicago and Governor of Illinois announced that the State of Illinois will be on shelter-in-place at 5:00 on Saturday the 21 of March, though they were already urging people to stay at home anyway.

What this order means is that you can not go to work unless your job is that of an essential supplier. For example, a cashier at a supermarket, security guard at a supermarket, a police officer, and, of course, a medical professional . You are also not allowed to use public transportation unless you have a letter from the government allowing you to, and you cannot go to a public playground. You wouldn’t be able to anyway, they are all closed. But you CAN take a walk outside if you do not touch anything, and you are allowed to go to the store when you need to (and to those dog-lovers, you are allowed to walk your dog; they cannot carry the virus).
But enough about rules and restrictions, here are five good ideas of what to do, and other things that may help you in this time:

You’re not alone. Remember, this is worldwide! More than 100 countries have at least 1 confirmed case, and millions of people are quarantined too. Also, every state in the US now has at least 1 confirmed case.
Just do what you do. As homeschoolers, we (generally speaking) normally stay at home most of the time anyway, so just do what you normally do! Read a book, do some homework (remember, we were still given homework in some classes), watch a movie, play LEGOs… I am sure you can think of something.
Make a movie or write a book. Throughout my life, I have always been making movies (or videos) or writing comics and stories. Use a device to record, grab some prompts, and invite siblings to help, and get creative. And for writing a story or comic, it is not that hard to get started; all you need is an idea in your head and a way to write it out.
Go to your basement or work area and create! As some of you may know, I have been involved in creating several cardboard arcade businesses, and not just in ODE, so I would recommend trying to build a cardboard arcade game or two. I would suggest using hot glue above any other connecting material. You could also try to build something out of wood and nails, carve something, or maybe just any other kind cool contraption!

I hope these things will help you through this shelter-in, and here is a poem I wrote about this epidemic; it may not be the best, but I hope you enjoy it: