2018 vocabulary

Thank u, Next - On Nov. 3,  pop singer Ariana Grande released a surprise track, titled “thank u, next.” The song discusses her exes, how they have defined her and how she is moving on. Within days, social media blew up with a variety of memes inspired by Grande’s lyrics. The memes range from self-deprecating jokes directed at their creators, to perfect descriptions of famous onscreen couples. Despite the jokes being made, the song has done so well so quickly due to its message of female empowerment and not needing a man to be happy. Parkland - On Feb. 14, 17 people were shot and 17 more wounded at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Parkland students have taken it upon themselves to advocate for gun control and began the planning for the March for Our Lives (which took place in many cities across the country including Los Angeles) on March 24, 2017. The Los Angeles march was planned by the LA Student Activist Coalition, many of whom attend Samo. The word “Parkland” has since come to represent school shootings as a whole and the students who have taken it upon themselves to advocate for gun reform. #MeToo - Though #MeToo was originally used in Oct. 2017 as a tool to share one’s stories of sexual harassment through social media, it has been in an extremely prevalent movement throughout 2018 as well. #MeToo has a purpose of raising awareness for those who have experienced both harassment and/or assault. Through #MeToo, many have been convicted of the crimes they otherwise would have gotten away with. Unfortunately, despite the movement, harassment and assault still continue to take place. In support of the cause, many Samo students have participated in the annual LA Women’s March. In My Feelings Challenge - On June 29, Instagram handle @theshiggyshow posted a video of himself dancing in sync to Drake’s song “In My Feelings.” The video immediately went viral and was inspiration for the challenge, which features fans jumping out of moving cars when the song comes on the radio, dancing in sync and moving with their car as it moves. Samo student, Sheena Sandhu (’18) participated in the challenge. “I just did it for fun because I thought it would be funny to do. My friends came up with these ideas of me getting out of the car to dance and then they would just drive off or I would run away. I’m not gonna lie―it’s some pretty good content!” Sandhu said.  Wakanda Forever - A phrase of greeting in Wakanda, the fictional setting of the 2018 Disney movie Black Panther, a global blockbuster and Disney’s first major motion picture to cast predominantly African American leads. After the movie’s release, the phrase became extremely popular (mainly among teens—heard many times shouted across the halls of Samo) and has been used as yet another inspiration for memes. Beychella - When Beyoncé blew the minds of Coachella attendees, including many Samo students, by tributing her set to black icons such as Malcolm X, Coachella was dubbed “Beychella”, signifying her powerful performance and implying it was greater and more impactful than all other performances combined. Additionally, she made history as the first African American artist to headline the music festival, solidifying the dub “Beychella.”  Bird (scooters) - Bird, founded in Sept. 2017, has taken over Santa Monica (where its headquarters lie) and other cities around the country and world. The scooters, which cost one dollar to unlock and 15 cents every minute, are used by thousands on a daily basis. They are often seen parked outside Samo’s gates, but recently cops have been enforcing the rules of being 18 and older with a valid driver's license. Many students have been fined as a result. Dragon Energy - Kanye West, who publicly supports Donald Trump (though “only agrees 100 percent” with himself), has tweeted that they both have “dragon energy”. West claims this means they are “Natural leaders, very instinctive” and have “great foresight.” West’s endorsement of Trump has caused conflict among many Samo students who have grown up idolizing West and his music, but do not condone the current governmental administration. While some students are comfortable promoting the art but not the artist, others strongly feel that the show of support goes hand in hand. Net Neutrality - Net Neutrality is the principle that everything on the internet is equally accessible and of equal cost. In Dec. 2017, a bill was passed to end Net Neutrality. This caused huge backlash among American citizens, disrupted the government and among other aggravators, led to a two day partial government shutdown in January. Twitter - A social media platform that has gone from a public forum for sharing irrelevant thoughts, to our nation’s premiere medium for presidential correspondence. Trump has gone to Twitter as one of his main means of delivering messages to the American population. These tweets are read (both directly and indirectly) by over 75 percent of American adults, and thus, social media has become even more of a political landscape in the age of Trump. Likewise, Dr. Shelton takes to Twitter to spread news relating to the Samo community as well. However, his tweets do not receive near the same amount of views and response as that of the president. Royal Wedding - On May 19, Prince Harry was married to American actress Meghan Markle. Naturally, as Americans, we made everything to do with the wedding about us. Shops all over the country were filled with “Harry and Meghan” tokens, ranging from completely hideous to slightly passable. Of course, our time is better spent focusing on a country’s government other than our own. Midterms - The 2018 midterm elections occurred on Nov. 6, with the highest voter turnout in 50 years. While Republican voter turnout increased by 7.6 million since the last midterms in 2014, Democratic turnout increased by 16.3 million. In the wake of a very divided and tense political state, the Democrats are eager to take back as much power as they can. Mueller Investigation - The Mueller Investigation, which began on May 17, 2017 and continues through today, is the investigation of possible Russian interference during the 2016 Presidential Election, in which Trump was elected. The investigation, headed by former FBI agent Robert Mueller has led to 33 people and three companies being accused of criminal counts, five of whom were at once working on the Trump campaign. On Dec. 12, a former lawyer of Trump, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting to “covering up [Trump’s] dirty deeds”. I-House Bathrooms - Through the month of October, third period Innovation Building classrooms were haunted by a constant onslaught of fire alarms - the cause “unknown.” In response administration chose to lock all Innovation Building restrooms, publicizing this decision with explanatory signs (“per [Samo principal] Dr. Shelton”) on the doors of all those locked in the building. Within minutes, pictures of these signs took over the Snapchat feeds of angry Samo students. Passionate students quickly researched the California Department of Education K-12 Toilet Requirement Summary and found that in closing these restrooms to student use, Samo was not complying with the standards. In retaliation, printouts of the summary were posted underneath all notices of the locked restrooms. The next day, students had their restrooms back. Under Construction - This phrase, coined by Dr. Shelton as Samo’s motto of the year, represents how the 2018-19 school year has brought on a new obstacle in navigating one’s way through the crowded passing periods of Samo. Over the summer, a 25 year long construction process began. Initially, a large portion of the path between the Science and Innovation quads were blocked off causing many delays throughout passing periods. Though the size of the path is still not ideal, it has been expanded since the beginning of the year.