I think falling back in love may be better than falling first. Maybe that thought is too nostalgia-driven, but it's my truth. To love fully is to attach strings to everything. There is a corkboard...

Outside of this window sits two trees, one blocked only by the glass and the other overlooking the traffic. Watching the traffic lull, watching the lights turn, watching people and people watching. I...

It’s a simple fact that certain songs “hit harder” than others. Not every song can be screamed in a car. This element transcends genres and moods. It’s not an exact science, but I believe it boils...

I know I am too young, and I know I have time, but it seems like every day ends and begins with a flash of green.  I am only sixteen, but every passing moment I am without the feeling of forever, I...

Sept. 4 It was picturesque. 8 p.m., coasting down Cascade Road, the sky above me variegated with warm hues, music blasting, and my window open. It was perfect. Pinterest-y, if you will. I don't...

I think I am in love with September. I think I’ve escaped the inescapable, attained the unattainable, and broken the unbreakable. I think my love is, for once, requited. And even reciprocated,...

From the palm trees and the ocean seas of Florida to the hustle and bustle of downtown Ada comes a contemporary coffee chain with a delightful atmosphere and a delicious menu: Foxtail Coffee Co. Foxtail...

I'm going to be candid. Once I comprehended what I was getting into by taking Writing for Publication, I was immediately sure that I had found my place. I began to understand why the school surveys...

From several percussion instruments to the saxophone to the trumpet to the trombone to the clarinet to the flute to the french horn to guitar to piano, junior Cameron Penner can play a lot of instruments. Obviously,...

Opinions expressed in editorials on The Central Trend are the view of the individual writer and are not the opinion of the entire staff of The Central Trend or the Forest Hills Central staff or administration. According...

“I cry a lot but I am so productive, it’s an art.” This is a lyric from the song, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” by Taylor Swift that rings true amongst many, present company excluded—I...

This year, Junior Audrey VanSkiver, inspired by her sister’s fond memories, decided to go from sitting in the FHC Auditorium seats year after year to performing up on stage herself, and she has no regrets. “My...

It’s a late summer evening, but Stranger in the Alps by Phoebe Bridgers is playing from my record player like it’s mid-autumn. Music doesn’t have an official season, but the ghost on the album...

Around this time last year, Sabrina Carpenter began opening for Taylor Swift on the South American leg of the Eras Tour.  With Swift’s global reach leaving all eyes on Carpenter, she gained popularity...

As I sit in my bed, surrounded by a cloudy haze of vivacity, opalescent clouds swirling at the foot of my bed, slowly ascending onto my comforter, I’m reminded of the times that led me to where I am. I’m...

“I know it’ll be June before I know it, and I’ll grow without even realizing it. And my garden will grow with me. My flowers and I—eternally in bloom.” As the summer approaches, I find myself...

Various times throughout the process of interviewing basketball coach and English and Writing for Publication teacher, the one-and-only Ken George, he was passed by a colleague or a student, and each time,...

I think I would love you anywhere, anytime. I think I would love you if I were the moon and you were the sun, never meeting but tied over by fanfare and fairytales. I think I would love you if I...

There’s no place like home; there’s no place like home; there’s no place like home. You click your red—specifically ruby, for storytelling’s sake—Converse together, and the dreamscape of...

In each unplowed, untamed, unbridled field I run through, I find a flower. I glance around with internalized guilt coursing through my ivy-covered veins, and I pick it.  I steal it, and my frolicking...

In each seemingly dwindling, tapering year, there’s a moment of peak bliss. A point of no return, a gated entrance. Marbled archways built with pillars of freedom, promising the end to be near. I...

Senior Kiera Kemppainen has considered a copious number of potential careers throughout her life. From a young age, she has loved animals, resulting in an interest in designing prosthetic limbs for them....

Senior Ava Tilley has had immense experience with one particular phenomenon: culture shock. Culture shock refers to the startling experience of moving to a new place with a different culture and being,...

Dear Ella, I told you it would fly. I told you the ticking hands wouldn’t tick for much longer, and I told you how the wind would carry the summer away. I’m sorry you didn't manage to get a full...

Lately, for at least a few months, I’ve found my life to be a delicate, sensitive measuring scale. I’m constantly competing with myself, shifting between personalities with the flip of a switch,...

I prefer unspoken words. Books, letters, texts. I won’t believe anything you say to me, but if you text it to me I might find the truth in the margins of your midnight paragraphs. You’ve found...

Right now, as I have many times before, I feel stuck.  Trying so desperately to live in the moment and appreciate life while everything falls apart around me.  As I dream of an escape from this...

The way that I fiddle with the skin hanging off of my nails hasn’t changed. The muddy, uninteresting color of my eyes hasn’t changed. So, I guess I haven’t changed? The intensity with which...

At the beginning of each month, there is one task I must complete to truly refresh my mindset: creating that month’s cover page in my bullet journal. By March, I am perpetually disgusted by anything...

I’m still in the middle of the episode, with expositions scattered around me and diverging paths that show no connection to one another. I’m watching as intently as I can, with my rabbit beside...

When Olivia Rodrigo first released her sophomore album, GUTS, I wasn’t immediately an admirer.  I preferred the poignant melodies of her first album, SOUR, which I can barely listen to without promptly...

I’m sitting in the center of a seesaw, about to get yelled at by whoever’s patrolling recess. I’ve already had my turn to experience the rush of the high and the anticipation of the low, but my...

In another life, I was a poet. Of all the stupid oddities I’ve pondered and the questions I’ve screamed into the abyss, this is the only certainty. More certain than the sun rising in the morning...

From being cast as a lead in the upcoming Wicked to going through an extensively publicized divorce—followed by her current, relentlessly scrutinized relationship—to announcing her new album, Ariana...

I have a date with destiny. We’re going to a coffee shop down the block with mismatched chairs and handmade, ceramic mugs. The kind of place that feels like a hug; we could both use one. We’ll...

Each week’s never-ending motions that I go through include hours and hours of figure skating. As immersed as I am in the sport, my endless commitment tends to leave me burnt out and dreading going to...

From the moment I first listened to folklore amid the pandemic to the scream I let out when she announced The Tortured Poets Department, I have found myself a fan of Taylor Swift.  I have, however,...

“I am not even faintly like a rose. She was only extemporizing, but a stirring warmth flowed from her, as if her heart was trying to come out to you concealed in one of those breathless, thrilling words”...

In one hour and twenty minutes, I’ll be sixteen. Maybe when I’m sixteen, I’ll stop picking at my nails. Maybe when I’m sixteen, I’ll stop procrastinating. Maybe when I’m sixteen, I’ll...

A wild jungle of sparkles and frills sits on the horizon of the mall. Sophomore Katie Scanlon opens her eyes to the sight, bewildered and bemused as the chaos unfolds in front of her. The jungle that she’s...

Of all the contributions Taylor Swift has made to the music industry, there is one that often goes unnoticed and unappreciated: the popularization of eras.  Swift uses distinct colors, symbols, and...

"Check the pulse and come back swearing it’s the same, after three months in the grave." The snow-coated trees are no longer my muse.  The skift of snow that lay atop them has become all too familiar;...

As a lover of all things pink and all things heart-shaped, a store around Valentine’s Day is a sight very dear to me. ‘Tis the season of love in the air and desolation in the hearts of many.  Target—as...

I wonder what my heart tastes like. I’ve poured it out more than I should, yet I still have not a clue what I’ve given away. I’ve let go of glasses full of speeches that were thought out and...

Senior Paige Harsevoort has made book lovers everywhere tremble at the sight of her AP Literature project. “My favorite part [of making my project] was painting the violin and taking the top of it...

Although she has spent her life on the ice, Forest Hills Eastern junior Ellison Durkin only recently came to the realization that her academic life could coincide with her athletic life in a new way. “I...

I used to sleep with the door cracked open. I let my mom adjust it as she left me in the dark room. My bed was across from the door back then, and I could see her through the small window of space.  I...

Over her years of cheerleading, Senior Sophie Erickson has spent many hours at cheer practice. Throughout them all, some moments stick out more than others. While stunting, tumbling, and cheering itself...

Taylor Swift bears many titles. She’s a singer, songwriter, actress, director, producer, and businesswoman. Some of these are more associated with her than others. Although she’s had minor parts...

To Elle: I don't consider you my childhood best friend. It’s such a common phrase, but I have no relation to it. Because, while you did define my childhood, you still define my life every single day....

Unfortunately, the format and structure of education as we know it does not include much time for debating over whether a hot dog is a sandwich or not. Luckily, FHC has set aside a tiny yet effective...

I try so desperately to stray from my comfort zone, but I end up in the same, self-aware corner each and every time.  Paragraphs upon paragraphs of poetic phrases and metaphors taunt me in my sleep....

I’m currently living life with an extreme case of tunnel vision. Every warm-toned leaf on the ground, I cannot see. Every sign advertising pumpkin spice, I avoid. Every mention of Thanksgiving, I...

‘Cause in this city's barren cold, I still remember the first fall of snow, and how it glistened as it fell. There is nothing like the first fall of snow. It’s like coming home.  It’s like...

The orange glow of my fairy lights is the only source of luminosity present in my room. My warm blanket feels like all I’ll ever need in the world. With fuzzy socks, a pumpkin-spice-flavored hot chocolate...

It's spooky season, and Halloween’s rapid approach has jump-scared me once again. Every year, there are many classic costumes to be found: witches, black cats, and ghosts are all seen year after year....

When Good Riddance came out in March, I didn’t think I could be any more obsessed with the album than I was after I listened to it for the first time. It was constantly on repeat, the lyrics engraving...

I used to hate the smell of flowers. My nose was sensitive, and their enchanting yet strong scent overwhelmed me whenever I went near them. Just a few years ago, I hated pink; for many girls, it’s...

Healing. It means different things to different people and different things at different times. For me, it’s something I believe I can't do. Yet, I've never tried. When I'm upset, I wait for...

For as long as I care to remember, I’ve found that my music taste changes with the leaves.  Summer is defined by Solar Power by Lorde and Norman F****** Rockwell by Lana Del Rey, as well as a variety...

I look down to find two poppies in my weary hands. One has been resting in my grasp for two years; its imprint shallow yet enduring.  It’s an odd feeling, holding onto this flower that I’ve...

Giving your boss a parking ticket may not be a common approach to take when starting a new job, but FHC’s new security officer Lisa Stukkie unintentionally seized this opportunity. “I gave [principal]...

I’m afraid it’ll be eternal; this feeling. It lingers in my bloodstream, whispers in my ear, and settles within my bones. And I believe it. New levels of persuasion are reached through its brevity. I’m...

It’s time. Fall is sneaking out from under summer’s shadow, changing the leaves and changing the weather with every step she takes. A breeze accompanies her movements, floating through the air,...

I consume a lot of Starbucks. Yes, it’s overpriced and arguably overrated, but I still get a minor dopamine rush when I’m handed a fresh drink from the drive-thru window. Upon writing that, I realize...

I’m envisioning a wildflower field. Each plant took time to grow, and we’re left with a vibrant explosion of vivacious flowers. Within my own mind, I memorialize stretches of time by associating...