Protest Towards Changes in the Environment

By PAYTON DAVIS

Staff writer

On Friday, September 20th citizens across the world marched protesting issues in regard to climate changes and citizens’ effects on global warming. In our city alone many students, faculty members, and parents joined on the streets outside of some vicinities such as Redwood High School, campaigning for a change in our environment. Students even formed get-togethers to speak upon the negative contributions individuals have been taking part in, that may be resulting in these climate changes. At these meetings, students brought supplies to make posters to help advertise with their protests as well. Lining the streets on Friday morning, students, faculty members, and adults all joined in an act to protect humans’ effects on environmental changes. Roughly around 11 am on Friday morning, some students and faculty members even walked out of their classes in order to further protest their beliefs. Students stood on benches and planter boxes chanting and presenting their posters, wearing all green in response to the human effects on global warming and climate change. 

You Might Have Allergies

By ELAINA WEST

Staff Writer

Allergies in the Central Valley are well known and seem to be never-ending. According to research by the American Lung Association, Visalia is ranked #2 out of the highest particle polluted areas of California. There are reportedly 550,000 San Joaquin Valley residents with asthma, which accounts for the highest asthma rates in the U.S. as of 2016. Pollution rates have not gotten much better due to the warm, dry season and land wildfires. The FCAA has tried to decrease air pollution in CA and has had some progress, but the Central Valley has still received an “F” grade for air quality. 

Allergies can affect people in different ways. For some, it lasts a few weeks. For others, it can last year-round. The most common type is seasonal allergies. These are allergies caused by the environment’s plant and tree pollen, and mold spores that travel through the air. The peak of seasonal allergies begins in the Spring, although there are still many cases throughout all seasons. 

This week, the forecast by Pollen.Com rates allergies in Visalia a 6 out of 12, with top allergens being ragweed, elm, and juniper. In the past month, it has dropped by 4 points but is expected to reach the highest by April. 

Seasonal allergy symptoms include sneezing, itchy or watery eyes, congestion, and runny or stuffy nose. Allergies can be confused for cold symptoms; however, allergies usually last longer than the typical cold. If you have long-lasting or serious allergies, a local allergy doctor you can find is the Baz Allergy Asthma and Sinus Center, or you can ask your doctor to refer you to a specialist. 

Forgiveness

By: BRIANNA RODRIGUEZ

Staff Writer

Forgiveness is a part of everyone’s life making it a life-changing experience for either the best or worst. Every day we go through life like its nothing. Sometimes that’s not truly the case. Some of us get hurt in a very bad way and it makes us feel extremely upset and angry. Sometimes it could be very deep depending on the situation. Some of us find it hard to forgive someone who made us feel this way because we generally can’t get over it or seem to let go.

The pain we often feel when we’re in very bad times makes it harder for us to concentrate on the things we need to be focused on because we’re so worried about what will happen next. We spend hours and sometimes days or longer thinking about all the possibilities that can or will happen and it won’t be in a very good way. Our lives are so easily turned upside down that we don’t focus on the one thing that is the key to everything, forgiveness. 

Forgiveness is the key and healer for everything in these terrible times we’re stuck in and can’t seem to get out of. There isn’t anything else in the world that’s more effective than forgiveness. Sometimes we have a lot of misunderstandings in the situations we face that we don’t spend our time talking to the person or people who caused this emotional distress, but instead hold grudges against them and hate them for a long time because of it. 

I wouldn’t be here writing about forgiveness if I didn’t go through something extremely terrible and horrible for the past 2 plus years of my life. Most people don’t truly understand the meaning of forgiveness. People often mistake forgiveness as apologizing and forgetting about it and moving on like it never really mattered or happened. How is that truly forgiving someone?

Some of us find it extremely hard to forgive because of the harsh situations we were placed in. Instead, we find it easier to hold grudges against one another because we think that’s the best possible choice for us even isolating ourselves. Some of us can achieve forgiveness because we have that strong bravery put into our souls while some of us take a little longer because they’re still trying to heal on their own. 

Here are the most important keys of forgiveness everyone should know in order to understand the true meaning or forgiveness and how we could use it in our everyday lives to better understand our world and our society as one.

• Know what forgiveness is and why it matters
• Become “forgivingly fit”
• Address your inner pain
• Develop a forgiving mind through empathy
• Find meaning in your suffering
• When forgiveness is hard, call upon other strengths 
• Forgive yourself
• Develop a forgiving heart

Later on through we realize after hearing someone talk about forgiveness or seeing someone show it to other people or just writing about it and reading it we realize that it’s very foolish of us to sit there and punish ourselves in our present lives for something we know we didn’t do or someone who truly hurt us in the past. 

If we want to start living our lives happy again we must be willing to let go of our past and start forgiving those who hurt us even if we don’t know how to. Forgiveness means more than an apology and forgetting everything like it never happened at the beginning, forgiveness means giving up our hurtful feelings and just letting the whole past go.