By Katherine Einstein
​
I’m just getting on my bike to go to school and—OH NO! It’s 7:46 am! 

I needed to leave at 7:45 am! 

This is a COMPLETE DISASTER.

I’m frantically pedalling and I’m just about to cross the road when I realize that I’ve forgotten my phone and because I’m a teenager, I can’t live without my phone so I drop my bike into a conveniently nearby puddle and run back into the house (I had to scream aggressively at my brother to let me in ‘cause I was too lazy to get my keys out).

At 7:47 am I’m on my way to the Skytrain station, not bothering to turn on the lights on my bike because who cares about safety anyways? You might think I could just bike all the way to school like a normal person who doesn’t live on the opposite side of Burnaby, but nope! And guess what? After the Skytrain, I have to take a bus.

By Mona Meighan. Photos by Victor Yin.

Hey Alpha! Welcome to the second publication of the fashion column “Fashion & Angst”!

With the bitterly cold winter months now upon us, looking fresh and trendy might seem impossible, but fret not! In this edition, I’m going to be talking about two rad fashion items of the season that you’ll be sorry if you ignore.

By Anonymous

Hi Addison,
Have any study tips? I try reading and re-reading the textbook (for science) and nothing is sticking!
Study Problems

Dear Study Problems,
Science textbooks are tough. I wouldn’t suggest trying to memorize off of them, oftentimes it ends up getting too complicated. I struggled with this too, until I hit Grade 10 and my science teacher made us create these study packages to help us remember things for each test. It consisted of a summary poster, Q&A sheet, vocab cards, and notes. Now, I’m not saying you should do all these things, but try one of them and see if it helps! I found writing my own notes the most useful because then I could look through the textbook and figure out which parts were necessary to remember and what wasn’t. Writing stuff down also helps you memorize the subject matter easier. Good luck!
Love, Addison

By Miriam Jang and Catherine Wang

​With winter festivities in full gear and the holiday season nearing closer every day, Alpha's Theatre and Dance Companies continued the annual tradition of their Dessert Theatre and Variety Night. The event showcases the talents of Alpha’s Theatre Company, featuring improv games, monologues, and skits, with an additional performance from the Dance Team. The overall production resulted in two fantastic nights of acting, laughter, dancing, and holiday spirit.

Unlike previous years, this year's production was held in the cafeteria and the ambiance of the newly renovated space was transformed for the nights. Audience members were invited to enjoy various treats and refreshments, provided by members of the Theatre Company. Before the show, attendees were serenaded by a live band, performing festive carols.

By Gabrielle Alvarez

​Most heroes I read about live in a wild, turbulent place, where one often has to look under beds and lampposts in order to get even the slightest semblance of sleep. My home is a place that people would not consider chaotic; if you can look past the rattling of books, the fluttering of pages being flipped and the incessant shushing of the librarians (as if their protests were enough to protect their ears from my squeals). I ask them this: can anyone, but a reader, hear the roaring riots of my thoughts, smell the dragon’s breath as we open hundred year-old books or see the snatching vines that pull me into their bindings like a fly meant for the taking? Can anyone but a reader complete their 150 minutes of physical education by the amount of back arching and leg flailing that happens when Harry Potter finally defeats voldemort? No. They can’t. Yet there are still people who often wonder if I miss the outdoors. I laugh at them because... I don’t. For we, as undisturbed creatures, seek shelter from the real and the mundane. Instead we aspire to feel the pang of pink and fireworks that enters through our fingers and travels to our toes when we spot the neglected stick-out of the bunch. The jewel in my cavern and the unread in their shelf. Although they have a point. As i'm sitting down with my back against the stacks of packaged imagination, vitamin D- enriched sunlight won’t slip past the cracks between the fastened books. However, once I open one, all seasons of sun, of white and green dance and tingle in my eyes. The oil stains and coffee grime adhere to the paper like icing on a cake, but that does not bother me - because the wear and tear of it all reminds me not of old age and carelessness, but of a good life. And, when I look closer at my brothers and sisters, children who perspirate the heat of a swollen mind, I know that even if they walk inside different places and different bodies, their thoughts are not careless, collided messes, but crisp, cool visions of clarity that end in satisfaction. I may not mold into soccer games or theater plays, but I do mold into the bookworm’s nook, fiercely warding off sinister snarls and smiles that tell me “it’s time to go”. Because I do not want to go. I do not want to leave my liberty, lingering in a library.