This picture is the complete TEDA International School 2015-2016 debate club roster, a student-driven club of 15 members. On Nov. 8, 2015, the TIS debate club co-organized and competed in the Maple Leaf vs TEDA International School Public Forum De-bate Tournament, with the participation of all middle and high school humanities teachers as part of the judges and supervisors panel. We returned victorious with the group championship and third place tro-phies, and moreover, profound friendships and expe-riences gained throughout the competition. This is important to us, because it ignites a debate culture in the TIS community. Debate club is a platform that strives to actively attract listeners, thinkers, and speakers and provide opportunities for maximum in-teractions and interconnections between their ideas. The veterans of this debate club are also dedicated to sharing such interactive critical thinking with younger debaters to let them devise solutions, and extend the boundaries of helpfulness, regardless of in world is-sues or everyday life. We, as TIS students, don’t just think, we think aloud, and we celebrate and salute these voices.

We interviewed the members of debate club to find out what debate club means to them.

Q: What is debate club to you?

I get a sense of accomplishment when I com-plete a debate. --Grade 11 student, debate club member Derek Troutman

I think debate club is amazing. It allows us to speak up and know each other better. I love spending time with everyone in the club!

-Grade 10 student, debate club member Ye Ram

Through participating in debate club events, I am able to acquire a higher level of speaking through logical analysis. --Grade 11 student, debate club member Sanghyeon Park

I think debate club can let us improve our ways of negotiation, making our arguments more reasonable and logical when describing a certain sub-ject or simply in a daily conversation with others.

--Grade 12 senior, debate club member Cindy Fan

Deep rooted in the close-knitted international community of TIS for over seven years, I have always sought to love the place that raised me up through-out my adolescent years by staying connected to each and every component of this family. Such is my predominant reason in organizing and leading the TIS debate club. --Debate Club President Daniel Dong

Inside Look: The TIS Debate Club

By Andrew Yoon and Daniel Dong Feb. 29, 2016

TIANJIN, Jan. 28 (TEDA) -- Have you noticed a group

of students leaving the school every Wednesday after

lunch? If you’ve wondered where they go and what

they do, this article is for you! They are athletics stu-

dents going to a gym outside of the school to practice

archery and

badminton

with profes-

sional coach-

es.

As this term

was the first

time learning

archery for

both boys and

girls, they

were highly

excited. Girls were aiming for the bull’s eye after the

professional training. Week by week, students

showed improvement in archery.

One of arch-

er Andrew

said “it will

help to con-

centrate on

something,

especially for

those who

are disabled

to focus like

ADHD pa-

tients.”

While girls

practiced

archery, boys were warming up their bodies by play-

ing badminton with a professional coach. There are

two coaches who come every week to teach badmin-

ton to our TIS students. They begin to train the foun-

dations like the basic badminton moves. Some stu-

dents are preparing for the upcoming ISCOT badmin-

ton tournament with these coaches. It is much more

effective compared with students practicing by them-

selves.

There are more

sports for stu-

dents other

than those two;

billiards and ta-

ble tennis. One

of the students,

Luna said that

the main point

that makes her

more excited

about playing billiards was because her friends were

there. Through what she says, we could see that this

class is not only for improving physical athletic skills,

but also could be good for bonding experience.

Patrick said “The biggest benefit of all the various

sports is choice and variety. students can try different

sports and determine which ones best suit your spe-

cific fitness and weight loss goals. Furthermore, as

students find out the most enjoyable sports for them,

they can have one more extremely beneficial option

for their free time and one more helpful habit for

their life.” In addition, these are all our TIS school’s

efforts for our students to experience more in finding

their own interest in sports or their life.

Meanwhile, high school Athletics students are plan-

ning to learn tennis and swimming in terms three and

four. There is an ISCOT badminton competition taking

place on Mar. 18, in Wellington for both Middle

school and high school. Come on TIS!

Inside Look: Wednesday Sports Club

By Ella Lim Jan 28, 2016

Boys are receiving badminton training to get

prepared before doing archery (12-10-2015).

Girls are attempting to target the bull’s eye on

the first archery class (12-10-2015).

Ella and Emma were excited because they got the

chocolate and vitamin juice for the best archer prize on

January,6th,2016.

TIANJIN, Jan. 15 (TEDA) -- At TEDA International

School on Dec. 17, there was the annual TIS Got Tal-

ent Show. Many talented TEDA students and teach-

ers showed various types of talent such as dancing,

singing and performing in the jazz band and choir.

Our TIS teachers performed dancing at the end of

the show. This astonished the audience because no-

one expected this group of teachers to dance. Teach-

ers danced to songs from various countries. The

choice of songs was creative and they were also rep-

resentative of our school. The variety of songs repre-

sented the Global Citizenship ESLR of the school. Ac-

cording to Mr.Wang, who is one of the group of

teachers, Ms. Natalie was in charge of choreo-

graphing the performance, and since her effort to

make the performance better, Mr.Wang was finally

convinced to dance in the show. Though he didn’t

prepare so much in practicing, he said he enjoyed

performing. “I hope my “funny” dance brought some

fun to everyone before the Christmas holiday starts.”

Talented TIS Teachers

By Ella Lim Jan. 15, 2016

TIS Teachers danced to the Korean song named

“No Make up”.

TIANJIN, Jan. 8 (TEDA) -- The high school choir sang

the song Hey Brother in the TIS Got Talent Show.

They had been preparing the song for around three

to four weeks.

While many of the students had joined the choir only

for one semester, while juniors Jasmine and Jason,

and senior Alim, had done it last year.

Ninth grader, Eun Young, said: “I was very nervous

during the show, because every girl had to hold a mi-

crophone. However, the audience seemed to enjoy it

which gave me more confidence.”

The meaning of the lyrics is asking their brothers and

sisters whether they have the same feeling and trust

in love.

High School Choir - Hey Brother

By Bin Hwa Cho Jan. 8, 2016

High School music teacher, Mr Malum, is seen here leading the

TIS Choir.

TIANJIN, Jan. 17 (TEDA) -- On December 17th, Teda

International School (TIS) held its annual Talent Show

in gym. All teachers, faculties and students attended

the show with enthusiasm. The performances were

various and wonderful; primary students, high school

students and teachers who

involved in Talent Show en-

dowed audiences different

perspectives of the show.

We interviewed teachers

and students about their

interests and reflections of

the show. Grade 11 home-

room teacher Mr. Narvaez

said, “This year’s Talent

Show was amazing, I really liked the show with the

little girl dancing and the little boy playing the bam-

boo instrument; they performed so well. I also liked

the NHS Lottery, the idea is so interesting and fully

evoked audiences’ enthusiasm.’’ When asked which

part of show needed to improve, Mr. Narvaez sug-

gested that school could select more novel kinds of

performances. Because all the shows of this year’s TIS

Got Talent were so similar to those of previous years,

audiences may feel a bit of aesthetic fatigue.

“However, this didn’t affect the wonderfulness of

2015 Talent Show.” he said.

We also interviewed another teacher, Grade 10’s

homeroom teacher, Mr. Deller. He said he really liked

this year’s Talent Show and it was well planned. This

show showed how much skill the students have.

When we asked about his favorite performance, he

said that he preferred ‘All of me’, which was per-

formed by the five-piece high school band called

‘Crossover Band’. “I really like the emotion in the mu-

sic of All of Me.” Mr. Deller said, “It is wonderful that

the school encourages everyone to participate in the

Talent Show so that more students will have chance

to show how talented they are.”

Senior Martin said “The song ‘Hey Brother’ per-

formed by high school choir was very popular and

well-liked in the Talent Show”. High school choir is

made up by 12 students who studied music hard in

TEDA International School. “Tony, a senior singer in

high school choir, also my best friend is leaving in

term three,” said Martin. “When I listened how he

presented this song, there are hope and my best wish

for him in it. That’s also the reason why I enjoyed the

choir’s performance.”

TIS Got Talent: What did people think?

By Cindy Fan, Jenny Quian and C.C. Cui Jan. 17, 2016

Terence and Kaylee put on

a beautiful performance.

The TIS High School choir were popular with the audience.

Talent Show Fever: The Crossover Ensemble

By Daniel Dong and Andrew Yoon Jan. 15, 2016

TIANJIN, Jan. 15 (TEDA) -- The beauty of this Decem-

ber 17th talent show lies in the diversity of performers

and our TIS community’s sheer capacity in celebrating

each and every voice of our future generations. TIS

students have elevated this show beyond all expecta-

tions, injecting sincerity and authenticity into each

performance. “We express therefore we are” is a sig-

nificant message that performers repeatedly transmit

to the audience. Today we are going to tell you a little

about The High School Crossover Ensemble organized

by Daniel Dong, a group of students that fell in love

with music and actualized their passion as soon as

they formed the band.

With sophomore Sandy on piano, senior Jenny on the electric

bass, senior Daniel on the soprano saxophone, senior Tae Hun

on the tenor saxophone, and senior Andy on the violin, this

ensemble was born out of a common belief that music sees no

boundaries, and breaking these borders brings ecstasy to all

music lovers. This is also the very reason why “All of Me”, a hit

single written and sang by John Legend, is chosen by the en-

semble to perform on-stage. It is a ballad carried by the

strings, but at the same time, leaves enough room for heavy

accents in the woodwinds. “It made me feel like singing along,

swing with it…It (the performance of the song) was charming,

tendered, and romantic…So lovely. My words aren’t enough to

describe it.” Grade 11 student Toshiro Tokunaga actively

shared his delight being part of the gym audience.

Throughout the span of a month and a half (weekly rehears-

als, two auditions), each and every member of the ensemble

were dedicated towards redesigning the piece, stretching its

compatibility with various instruments, and blending in more

flavors (member’s personal musical preference and skill) to

ultimately.

On December 17th 2015, in TIS gym, Tae Hun, the

member of the Jazz band is playing Tenor Saxophone

for TIS Got talent.

Sophomore Sandy played piano in the ensemble

Senior Daniel on soprano saxophone and

TIANJIN, Jan. 8 (TEDA) -- On December 18th, the

annual TIS Talent has been held in TEDAIS. Students

from different grades and even teachers presented

varies of show, for example unique dance from

different continent, different type of music and even

Kung Fu show. To find out which are the most popu-

lar show among sophomores two journalists asked

sophomore to accomplish an survey.

Ten random selected sophomore in total accom-

plished the survey, as the result of the survey, the

most popular shows were all about music.

No. 1 of the rank is the Fiesta Del Tiger performed

by High School Jazz Band. The band has been formed

by trumpets, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, pi-

ano, drum and bass players. A sophomore who did

not want to share the name answered why, “First

their performance was awesome, and second my

friends are in jazz band so I wanted to support them

and thanks them for bring such a high level perfor-

mance.”

No.2 popular show is Titanium by Grade 7 students,

singers by Timur and Alice, Piano by June Won, Bass

by Lucia, and Drum by Nick. Another sophomore

shared her reason for voting Titanium said, “Timur is

a really good singer and I really like his voice.”

No. 3 is the Hip-hop called Magic Castle by Thomas

Grade 5.

All of the performance from the wonderful show did

a great job and thank them for bring such a good

time for all the audience.

The top 3 most popular talent performances

By Emma Li and Jenny Wang Jan. 8, 2016

A picture of the TIS Jazz Band students performing

TIS Got Talent Show: The Jazz Band

By HyeJi Seo, Michelle Shin Jan. 15 2016

TIANJIN, Jan. 15 (TEDA) -- On 17 December 2015,

in TIS gym, there was a TIS Got Talent show per-

formed by TIS students and teachers. From primary

students to seniors and also teachers, various TIS

people stood on the stage and showed their perfor-

mances what they prepared for a long time. Howev-

er, the Jazz band had shown remarkable perfor-

mance, the song “Fiesta Del Tigre”. There is a total of

10 members in the Jazz band: Yuna (Gr.10), Tony

(Gr.12), Thio (Gr.11), Derek (Gr.11), Zi mu (Gr.9),

Amadheo (Gr.9), Tae Hun (Gr.12), Luna (Gr.10), C.C

(Gr.12), and Andy (Gr.12). They are in charge of the

individual instruments: Trumpet, Alto saxophone,

Tenor saxophone, Piano, Drum, and Bass. For one

and a half term, they played and practiced the Span-

ish song “Fiesta Del Tigre” chosen by Mr. Mazlum, a

Music teacher and a conductor of the Jazz band.

Now, they are planning and preparing for another

music and they will show the great performance

again next year.

We interviewed a member of the TIS Jazz Band, soph-

omore Luna, to find out more.

Q. Which instrument do you play in the Jazz Band?

A. Piano

Q. How long did you play your instrument?

A. 11 years

Q. Who chose this song which you played in the tal-

ent show?

A. Mr. Mazlum

Q. How long did you practice for talent show?

A. One and a half term

Q. How do you feel about the performances of the

talent show? Why?

A. Not bad, some students’ performances were un-

skilled and not really perfect but the efforts were

great. Others were generally good. On December 17th 2015, in TIS gym, members of the Jazz band

are performing “Fiesta Del Tigre” for TIS got talent.

On December 17th 2015, in TIS gym, Tae Hun, the member of

the Jazz band is playing Tenor Saxophone for TIS Got talent.

Q&A of the song ‘Vivir mi vida’ By Sean Wang and Martin Li Jan. 15 2016

TIANJIN, Jan. 15 (TEDA) -- TIS Got Talent is a talent

show that happened on Dec. 17, 2015. One of the

shows was called “Vivir mi vida”, which means “Live

my life” in English. It was sung by our school’s Span-

ish teacher Señor Domínguez & 7th grader Timur. We

have interviewed one-half of this duo--- Señor

Domínguez.

Q: What is the name of the song and what is it

about?

A: The song is called “Vivir mi vida” which means “live

my life” in English, the song is about ummm… you

know sometimes in life you have good moments and

bad moments, but it doesn’t matter I need to live my

life with the best attitude. (No matter how many

sufferings you are facing with or good moments you

are enjoying, you still need your best attitudes to face

with.)

Q: Who was the one that invited the other person,

you or Timur?

A: Actually, Timur invited me, I showed this song to

him a few months ago, and he loved the song and

learned it by himself. He then asked me if I wanted to

sing a song with him on the talent show, I agreed be-

cause it could be an opportunity to show the school a

new language Spanish.

Q: When did you and Timur start practicing?

A: Actually, we just practiced four times, once a week

in the Spanish classroom.

Q: Who was the one that came up of the idea of

wearing matching clothes?

A: Oh yeah, it was a suggestion by Timur’s mom---

Natalia, she said we should wear the matched-up

costumes. She wanted our jackets and she said we

should wear something bright inside, and we thought

red would be a good idea.

Q: Who was the girl and whose idea was it to let her

dance when you guys were singing?

A: The girl was Fiona.Timur’s mom suggested us to

dance during singing; however, none of them could

dance, so Fiona was chosen by her to dance on the

stage.

A close up of one of our school's Spanish teacher Siñor

Dominguez, he is both a great teacher and a great singer.

A picture of Timur, Sr. Dominguez and Fiona during the

intermezzo

TIANJIN, Jan. 22 (TEDA) -- Even though TIS Talent

Show had passed for several weeks, everyone was

shocked by chirming performances and never forget

it. However, for me. I think the most imposing show

is Chinese Kung Fu.

Therefore, we made an interview with Zac who is

the performer of Chinese Kung Fu in sixth grade. On

that day, we invited him come to our interview and I

saw a sunny boy with perfect smile and he also has a

pair of attractive eyes. Then, we began our interview.

He said he has already been learned Chinese Kung Fu

for two years. There was an occasion let him access

to Chinese Kung Fu. Once, he saw Chinese Kung Fu in

the park and he was attracted by it and quickly fell in

love with it. Hence, Zac asked his mother to invite a

teacher to teach him Chinese Kung Fu. Days later, his

mother’s friend introduced Mr. Liu who was an ex-

pert in Chinese Kung Fu and has numerous of experi-

ences of taking part in performance and competition.

Then, Zac determined to select Mr. Liu as his teacher.

He said Chinese Kung Fu helped him to build body up

and learned many skills of protecting himself. He has

also learned more Chinese Culture.

Kung Fu at TIS Got Talent

By John Li and Peter Pei Jan. 22, 2016

TIANJIN, Jan. 10 (TEDA) -- Besides musical perfor-

mances in 2015 TIS Talent Show, there was a special

lottery event prepared by the members of NHS. Out

of gratitude for participating the activities prepared

by NHS, the members have come up with a free

lottery event for all the primary and secondary stu-

dents. NHS members have bought pillars, dolls, and

selfie sticks for the lottery event.

In order to make it fair, the members prepared two

separate boxes of name cards for primary and sec-

ondary students, and randomly picked cards from

each box for each present.

NHS Lottery Event

By Tae Hun Choi Jan. 10, 2016

Toshiro Tokunaga, one of the students who luckily got

the prize, says: “It was lucky of me to get a selfie from

this lottery event.”

NHS prepared

this special event

to express grati-

tude for all the

students who

had eagerly par-

ticipated events

hosted by NHS.

The members of

the NHS used the

profits earned

from those

events to pur-

chase the prizes. Senior TaeHun is introducing the

lottery event.

TIANJIN, Jan. 10 (TEDA) -- The brilliant boys’ and girls’ U-19 basketball season came to an end. Two teams had 3 meaningful and significant months to-gether. They practiced hard, communicated actively, cheered for each other, and challenged bravely with admirable coaches, Mr. Pare and Mr. Firebaugh.

As the second semester begins, athletes of comets involved in winter sports begin to increase their sea-son intensifies. Basketball is no exception. This year’s teams have started to take important steps toward a successful year as they focus on important aspects of other that drives the whole group towards victory.

At the almost end of the basketball season, the big-gest and the most important tournament was hosted by Teda international school. ACAMIS, the association of China and Mongolia international schools, is orga-nized with several division and our school TIS is in the yellow division with five other international schools which are Xiamen international school, International school of Qingdao, Yu Cheng international school, British international school in Shanghai, and Shekou international school. Six teams include TIS (our school) play soccer, volleyball, and basketball tourna-ment every year. On January, there was the ACAMIS basketball tournament in TIS.

The tournament was held for three days. Girls’ teams from each school and boys’ teams from each school

played games in way of league to organize the list of tournament with teams with similar abilities for first two days. And at last, there was real tournament that decide from the first place to the last place. Each team from the six schools tried their best and showed high quality game to the crowd. SIS and XIS had two play–off matches, ISQ and BISS had four play-off matches, and TIS and YCIS had six play-off matches.

The results were as follows. For the boys’ team, SIS won first place. XIS achieved the 2nd place and 3rd place for ISQ, 4th place for BISS, 5th place for TIS, and 6th place for YCIS. For the girls’ team, TIS placed the 4th place.

Senior Daniel Dong said “The best thing about ACA-MIS is that the genuine love and passion of sports ru-in in our veins. We play this sport to express, to com-municate, and to bond. What Teda has is the ultimate school spirit, the souls of students united together when the ball flies across the air.”

Teda international school eventually escaped from last place in this year. We had been 6th place for two years continually. It is not bad result but the first step of the success for the 1st place. This tournament proved that TIS’s basketball team prepared well and are on the road to success.

The Three Days Journey

By Andrew Yoon and Daniel Dong Jan. 22, 2016

Mr. Pare is seen here coaching the girls’ basketball team just before the match

The players of BISS and XIS are seen here competing

No Cross, No Crown

By Aurora Wen and Jenny Qian Jan. 28, 2016

TIANJIN, Jan. 28 (TEDA) -- As a member of the As-sociation of Chinese and Mongolian International Schools (ACAMIS), Teda International School (TIS) hosted the 2016 ACAMIS Yellow Division Basketball tournament.

The TIS gym was full of people from Jan. 14-16 as players, coaches and supporters came to take part. During ACAMIS, the TIS cheerleading squad support-ed the athletes. They did a good job in cheering on the athletes and perfectly performed their lovely dance.

The squad tirelessly danced during the breaks to cheer the athletes up. They prepared a song called “Boom Clap” and planned a dance that fit the whole song. With little time to prepare, they made a last minute decision to change the song and create a unique dance. They were so excited to perform in school and, despite feeling nervous, they got past many obstacles and cooperated very well. The cheer-leaders encouraged each other and did an amazing job of cheerleading.

Cheerleader Sophomore Ella said, ‘We finished the performance with the feeling of victory and suddenly we had confidence. We never thought about that we were going to perform in front of that many people, but they were like the trigger for us to be more active and confident.’ The cheerleaders’ performance and passion successfully cheered on the TIS athletes.

The cheerleaders wore short skirts without stock-ings and thin blouses on the top all the time during ACAMIS. Their success was based not only on how they dressed, but also on how well they cheered for our school’s players. Whenever our school’s game started, they were always there ready to cheer on the athletes. Both the boys and girls teams played three games per day, meaning that the cheerleaders had to cheer for six matches. We saw that out athletes did really good job during ACAMIS and our cheerlead-ers really energized our ath-letes. Without their hardships, they could not com-plete the performance successfully. In conclusion, the cheerleading squad did a good job and everyone ap-preciated their hard work. Many thanks to YCIS-Beijing, ISQ, BISSpuxi, SIS and XIS for coming to com-pete. Well done to all competitors!

The school cheering squad cheered for athletes at

auditorium during match break, Jan 14. 2016

Three members of cheerleading group are cheering up for school

athletes during match, Jan 15. 2016

The school cheerleading squad practicing the

dance during lunch break, Jan 13. 2016

Review of ACAMIS

By Cindy Fan and C.C. Cui Jan. 17, 2016

TIANJIN, Jan. 17 (TEDA) -- Between January 14th to 16th, the important annual ACAMIS basketball com-petition was held in Teda International School’s gym. In total, there were six schools in attendance. Games were held over a three day period. As the host team, TIS Comets played a nice game. We took the oppor-tunity to interview some senior team members who are going to leave TIS to study aboard next year.

Senior John Li unfortunately did not play during ACAMIS due to a serious injury. He practiced with the team in the run up to the event. He said “Although I exercised and tried my best in every practice, I was still disappointed that I couldn’t help my teammates on the court.” When asked what he enjoyed in ACA-MIS, he answered: “I missed the most significant tournament and I will miss the time I spent with all the players.”

“Many of them were hurt during the games. I felt really bad that I can’t help them much because my skills are limited.” Martin Li shared his feeling about last year’s basketball ACAMIS.

The captain of TIS Comets ACAMIS team, Peter, is also a senior who is going to leave this school next year. He expressed his feelings, “In my last year, I think we all played really well. Even when we en-countered some difficulties, we tried our best with-out any negative feelings. We practiced and correct-ed our mistakes in order to make our teamwork better. As a captain, I see the progress on each of the players, and more importantly the whole team. I’m so proud of them and I appreciate the opportunity to fight with my teammates. I will miss this.”

Senior Peter making a pass during a game.

Senior players supported their teammates during

ACAMIS.

A review of ACAMIS

By Sean Wang and Martin Li Jan. 15, 2016

TIANJIN, Jan. 15 (TEDA) -- ACAMIS is a friendly sports tournament including soccer, basketball and vol-

leyball between six international schools in different parts of China. I have interviewed one of the athletes

from TIS----TEDA International School, that participates in the ACAMIS basketball tournament----our very

own, Martin Lee.

Q: When did you start to play basketball?

A: At the very beginning of my high school years.

Q: When did you start participating in ACAMIS?

A: This is both my first and last year in ACAMIS.

Q: What does ACAMIS stand for?

A: Association of Chinese and Mongolian International Schools.

Q: Do you do other sports?

A: I also play table-tennis and badminton a little

Q: From a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your basketball skills?

A: I would rate my skills a five, because I get too nervous when I play

Q: From a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the basketball skills of your team, the Comets?

A: I will give it a 9.5, because we’re not perfect,

and we still need a lot of practice, but we nev-

er blame anybody for their carelessness.

Q: What Schools does your team usually play

with?

A: ISQ---International School of Qingdao, XIS---

Xiamen International School, YCIS, BISS, SIS,

Q: Which is you’re favorite team except fir the

Comets

A: XIS and ISQ amazed me this year.

Q: Lastly, would you leave a comment to your

team?

A: Comets, we are the best! The TIS ACAMIS Basketball team 2015-16

TIANJIN, Jan. 29 (TEDA) -- After an exciting and ag-

gressive basketball season, the TEDA Comets varsity

boys team placed fifth in ACAMIS (Association of Chi-

na And Mongolia International Schools) and second

in ISCOT (International Schools Conference of Tian-

jin). Despite the wavering and possibly mediocre

standings, the team showed great improvement

from last year, where the team came last in ACAMIS,

and second-last in ISCOT. With a new coach as well

as younger players, the team had a fresh opportunity

to prove their skills and reach their potential.

Amongst these advancements came sophomore

James (Zhu Zhe) Jiang, who dominated on and off the

court impressing visitors and inspiring TEDA peers.

For this he has been called a 男神 (“Nan Shen”), or

“Male God”.

Before becoming a local We Chat sensation and a

school idol, if he were to be called a “God” it would

be most likely in a sarcastic or joking tone. Jiang used

to weigh over 100 kg (around 220 pounds), appear-

ing in the form of a goofy but very chubby kid with

features very different from his current look. But he

soon changed, first by taking big steps to lose weight,

such as eating less servings in a meal and exercising.

Often times, one could find that he skipped lunch

altogether, which he now often does.

Doing so, he managed to lose approximately 23 kg

(around 51 pounds), and currently weighs 77 kg

(around 170 pounds). Losing weight was not the only

thing he has done, however. Jiang began to lift

weights and do difficult workouts, gaining very large

tricep and leg muscle in comparison to the rest of

the school. Now lifting 20 kg (44 pounds) in weights,

he is in the “cutting” phase in fitness, though he al-

ready has been for many years.

After his impressive change, he began also to im-

prove also in sports. This year, Jiang joined the Boy’s

Varsity Volleyball team.

James the 男神

By Toshiro Tokunaga Jan. 29, 2016

Sophomore James Jiang, sporting both numbers 5 and 23,

shoots a difficult shot amidst three defenders with a high

jump, resulting in a one-point loss, during the 2016

Basketball ACAMIS.

James Jiang in his younger years, at the time in around sev-

enth or eighth grade, in TEDA International School circa

2012-2013.

TIANJIN, Jan. 29 (TEDA) -- This year, Teda Interna-

tional School hosted the 2016 ACAMIS Basketball Yel-

low Division Tournament, and five other teams, in-

cluding YCIS, ISQ, SIS, XIS and BISS, joined this tourna-

ment. Among the female players, there was a talent-

ed student athlete nicknamed “Kobe Bryant”; Eun-

Young ‘KK’ Kim, or ‘KK’ for short.

EunYoung is a freshman who has played basketball

since she was young. Her main position is guard, and

she is extremely talented at basketball. Particularly,

she has great dribble skills, such as between-the-legs,

behind-the-back, and spin move. She was the only

female player who perfectly used all those skills dur-

ing the matches, and students and coaches from oth-

er schools were often surprised by her fantastic drib-

bling skills.

As a result, TIS girls’ basketball team won 4th place

and brought home the Sportsmanship Trophy. Unfor-

tunately, this was her last basketball season as she is

moving to another school in Korea.

TIS Basketball Team’s ‘Kobe Bryant’

By Tae Hun Choi Jan. 29, 2016

Mr. Pare (coach) is having a brief discussion with the

players before the match.

EunYoung is throwing a ball to Linda Zhang (#9) during

the match against YCIS

EunSong (#15) is passing the ball to EunYoung ( #10)

during the match against YCIS.

EunYoung said “I love playing basketball. I often

play basketball with boys during the lunchtime.

Maybe that’s why my basketball skills are quite

good.”

Who is the TIS Boys Comets’ Captain?

By Peter Pei and John Li Feb. 19, 2016

TIANJIN, Feb. 19 (TEDA) -- Although basketball ACA-MIS has been passed for few weeks, it left lots of memories for us. Every moment on the court is unforgettable, all of the players will get improved if they tried their best during the game time. There are six teams; they contain XIS, SIS, YCIS, BISS, ISQ and TEDA. Audiences were shocked of superb skills of players, especially captains. John is the editor of this article determined, and he decided to inter-view one of the captains among these teams.

Peter is the Captain of Comets. This is the first year for him to be the Captain of Comets. He said even though he only can attend for the Captain for one year, since this is his senior year, he learned a lot and inspired by players sportsmanship.

Comets attained fifth place in this tournament, every player was satisfied with this position, since there weren’t enough players in TEDA. Peter said he saw Comets working really hard on practice; everyone has improved a lot from ACAMIS. They analyze vid-

eos to help them learn some rules and techniques. In the end, Peter en-couraged players who would take part in basketball team next year. TIS Comets had no reason to give up their belief, play-ers supposed to pursue their dream with a con-suming passion that would always exceed the limited talent.

Everyone was focus on the game, TIS COMMETS tried their best to finish the game.

James, who is one of the

comets was trying to protect

the ball

TIANJIN, Feb. 29, (TEDA) -- Many people choose to

emigrate and live in another country. They have to

learn to interact with the local culture. Our TIS stu-

dents in China come from many different countries.

They might have some problems adapting at the be-

ginning, and some were actually making mistakes

that would make local Chinese feel uncomfortable.

To prevent those mistakes and to improve your life-

style in the community of China, you should know the

importance of being part of the community.

The first step you should take to adapt to the local

community is to learn the language. Learning their

language of your host country is just basic good man-

ners. Not learning the language is a cultural mistake

many people don’t know they are making. It would

be a shame to live in China for ten years and not be

able to communicate with Chinese. This is not only

for helping to adapt, but also for enjoying various cul-

tures through reading, listening, and speaking. You

could probably hear more information that is useful,

or could even learn more about the cultures through

reading news and the internet that attracts you.

Through this, you could extend your view of the

world.

Giving appropriate presents is an effective way to

make friends with locals. Failing to give the right

kinds of gifts is the second cultural mistake that peo-

ple don’t realize they are making. For example, when

you have house warming with your Chinese friends,

you shouldn’t prepare pear梨 (li) as a present. The

word 离开（líkāi）indicates to leave, and to es-

trange. The pronunciation between two words is

same. Your Chinese friend will consider it to be a sign

that you are going to leave them, so this is one of the

mistakes you might make. There are more presents

similar to this. To give a clock 送钟 （sòngzhōng）

has the same pronunciation with to have a funeral 送

终（sòngzhōng）. It is same to give them umbrella

伞(sǎn) which means to scatter散 (sǎn). However, it

could be a good idea to send apple 苹果（píngguǒ）

which has the meaning of peace 平安 （píng'ān）.

It is important to adapt in local community and to

understand so that you can fit it. Communication is

the most important thing: you can learn what is right

and wrong through learning language. Everything

starts from communication.

2 Chinese culture mistakes you don’t know you’re making

By Ella Lim Feb. 29, 2016

TIANJIN, Feb. 29, (TEDA) -- Do you know how many people are dead because of trying to lose weight? Nowadays many people, especially teenag-ers, always feel extremely dissatisfied about their own bodies. Even though some people are slim enough, they are still being critical toward them-selves. Here are three warning signs that your diet may be bad for you.

As we browse through websites, we can find there are various advertisements and techniques of losing weight; such as extreme dieting, which already became the most popular choice for lots of people. However, the risks of trying this type of diet are high. The immune systems of the people who are dieting always tend to be weaker, as well as their physical function. Therefore, these people are easy to be in-fected by many contagious diseases, even broke or twisted their own bones and muscles during exercis-ing. I had a friend who was obsessed with dieting when I was in middle school. Although she got thin-ner and prettier, the place that she usually went changed from school to hospitals. Even she came to school; she could not attend our PE class, just be-cause she was too emaciated to run.

Many diets either cause or contrib-ute to gas-trointestinal disease. But it is not only about how over dieting causes stom-achache, but

also causes other serious disease. According to The Huffington Post, a mother from Florida fed her daughter cestode just because she wants her daugh-ter looks prettier during the grand celebration. Her daughter was hospitalized due to this Over-losing weight will also cause other disease. Without eating much food will cause low blood sugar. After a long

time, people will get Anorexia nervosa. It will also cause pneumonia.

A big question that many teens have is mental pressure. Students might not get along or doing well at school because they care too much about their ap-

pearances, and they can’t avoid most of these pres-sures and worrying about them is normal. However, feeling sad, hopeless or worthless could be warning signs of a mental health problem; it not only affects your academic performance, but also your body daily functions. Practice our own positive thinking will help you out, and it open us to new possibilities, we are more able to learn and build skills. The priority of stu-dents is study and more importantly, study the way of acting positively and avoid negative terms from others and themselves. People who have plenty of vigorous emotions in their everyday lives tend to be happier, healthier, learn better, and get along well with others.

The safest ways to lose weight are not extreme, for example you can track your meals in a food jour-nal. Instead of don’t eat all; you can eat healthier to make a well-balanced diet plan. By performing regu-lar aerobic exercise, it can help your weight loss. Re-member to avoid unsafe method and stay positive.

3 warning signs that your diet is bad for you

By Cindy Fan, C.C. Cui and Jenny Qian Feb. 29, 2016

Extreme dieting may lead to eating disorders

Being fit and active is smarter than starving yourself.

TIANJIN, Feb. 29, (TEDA) -- At TEDA International School, more and more students are starting to order lunch from outside or bring their own lunch. Why is this happening? Here are three ways to make your lunch healthier. #1. Make Healthier Choices First of all, almost 80 percent of the food that school cafeteria offers is unhealthy. As the old saying goes, you are what you eat. While the school is supposed to help students make healthy choices, the fact is that school meals almost always includes fried chick-en, French fries and potato chips which contain lots of grease and are high in calories. Consuming dietary fat leads to various diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. High calories make students gain weight at the same time. Many students we interviewed also mentioned that the school food was high in salt. This contributes to high blood pressure and other ail-ments such as stomach cancer, osteoporosis, obesity, kidney stones, kidney disease, vascular dementia, and water retention. So, how can you make informed choices? The right ratio of carbohydrate, protein, and beneficial fat is 5:3:2 respectively. At lunch time, you can ask for less fried food and enjoy more vegetables from the salad bar. The condiments on offer such as thousand island dressing are high in calories, so apply those sparingly. Salad is a great choice for lunch as it supplies vita-mins and other nutritious elements such as fiber.

#2. Pack Your Own Lunch Many students are starting to bring their own lunch-es to school. Homemade whole wheat sandwiches and salads are excellent alternatives to school lunch-es. They provide not only healthy protein, beneficial fat and dietary fibers but also make you more ener-getic for the rest of the day. We noticed that all the staple foods offered at school are always white rice or pasta which have a high glycemic index (GI). This means that your body uses the energy quickly so you get a rush and then your energy levels crash. Many students report feel-ing lethargic in the afternoons for this very reason. You can avoid this by packing your own lunch and by adding some whole grains such as oats or brown rice. These are low GI foods and release energy slowly after you eat. This will help you feel more balanced and have enough energy to study. #3. Vary Your Lunch Choices Even if you make healthy choices or pack your own lunches, it is important to have a balanced diet. Alt-hough some students order lunch from outside schools, it can be unhealthy to eat the same thing everyday. Many students have commented that the school lunch is too boring. The arrangement of school lunch is always the same after a short period. Thus more and more students get tired of school lunch because there’s nothing new. Takeout options seem exciting yet the school prohibits takeout lunch services. Many students just skip the lunch and go do sports or use that time period to study. This is very unhealthy for people, especially teenag-ers, people should take three meals regularly every day and make sure they have a good diet; eating reg-ularly benefits concentration and makes sure the day goes well. A good way to avoid this trap is to vary your lunch choices. You could bring a packed lunch three days per week and enjoy the school salad bar on the other two days. In conclusion, these three ideas can help make your lunch healthier. Which ideas will you try?

3 ways to make your lunch healthier

By Aurora Wen, John Li and Peter Pei Feb. 29, 2016

Opt for vegetables and salad instead of fried foods for

lunch

5 way to have a better school lunch

By Michelle Shin and Hye Ji Seo Feb. 29, 2016

TIANJIN, Feb. 29, (TEDA) -- To TIS students, are you

having good lunches? If you have a problem or are

discontent with the school lunches, here are five

things that TIS students want to improve about

school lunches.

#1. Skip the Salt

According to a survey we conducted amongst TIS

students, four students answered that sometimes the

foods are not well salted and sometimes are too

salty. You can avoid the salty foods such as French

fries and eat more salad and fruit.

#2. Bring Packed Lunch

Firstly, you can bring your own lunchbox. Homemade

foods may suit your taste better and it may also make

you healthier. Nonetheless, it can be a hassle to cook

and bring a lunchbox everyday.

#3. Go easy on the desserts

Sometimes, there are special lunches on some spe-

cial days. Many students really like these days be-

cause there are more side menus in same price, 25

RMB. But they also have some complaints with a per-

son who dishes foods out give less main menus. So

they just think the menu is special but not the

amount.

#4. Check the lunch menu

In TIS, there are charts showing the lunch menu on

the school homepage. It’s a very good thing to know

the menus but there are many similar foods each

week. So I think it will be better to make charts for

each month with various menus and upload it on the

“TIS We Chat” application for students to check

school menus easily. You can check the menu on the

school website and blog. This can help you plan

which days you want to eat at school and which days

you want to bring a packed lunch.

#5. Balance Your Budget

Three students we surveyed had a complaint about

the cost of the school lunches So, how can we lower

the cost of our lunches? You can propose to the

headmaster or the chef to lower the price. Alterna-

tively, you could bring packed lunch on some days so

you are not paying for school lunches everyday.

Many students buy lunch on the way to school or or-

der from outside.

In conclusion, these five ways can help you have a

better lunch. Which ideas will you try?

This was the desert (a piece of banana and watermelon and

two pieces of apple pie) for TIS lunch (25 RMB) on Mar. 3.

This was the main menu (bacon spiral pasta cream, BBQ

chicken, Nyonya aubergine and rice) for TIS lunch on Mar. 3.

TIANJIN, Feb. 29, (TEDA) -- The cafeteria’s

meals in Teda International School are the number

one choice for students and teachers during

lunchtime. To understand some of the opinions of

the students about school lunch, we interviewed sev-

eral students. We asked for comments and sugges-

tions about the meals. We discovered that there are

three main problems with the lunches that students

would like to see improved.

Firstly, many students reported that the cost of

the school lunch is considerably high. For instance, a

bottle of normal water that would cost one yuan out-

side costs three yuan in the cafeteria. The price of

snack is constantly increasing, which many items go-

ing from nine yuan to 11 yuan in the cafeteria. How-

ever, these same products cost less than five yuan

outside.

Secondly, the school lunch has too many calories

and some girls who buy the school lunch reported

that they are worried about gaining weight. Many

school food items have too much oil. While this im-

proves the taste, it is unhealthy. Some students are in

favor of meat-based dishes but the school’s meat is

so unattractive to some students that they do not consume school lunch.

The most important feedback we got from stu-

dents is about the taste of the food. For example,

sometimes the potato is too salty, the rice noodle are

too hard and too much oil is used. Many students

hope that the school lunch can be improved by ad-

justing the flavor.

Finally last but not least, students hope school

lunch will be better so that they can have a happy

and healthy meal at school. Many students reported

that they are happy to eat at school and would like to

see improvements.

3 suggestions for the school lunch

By Jenny Wang and Emma Li Feb. 29, 2016

Many students opt to bring packed lunch. Dishes such as squid

as typically lower in calories than school food.

Dishes bought outside school are tastier and healthier

because they aren’t fried or cooked with oil.

Mental Illness in Rappers

By Toshiro Tokunaga Feb. 26, 2016

TIANJIN, Feb. 26th (TEDA) - As we set off for the New

Year, lights of fireworks shine in the night sky, illumi-

nating faces looking upwards. Recently, however, a

new light has shone upon a concern that was taken

very lightly or overlooked before. This is the threat of

mental illness infesting common people and celebri-

ties alike. One of the areas where this has become

most prominent is in the genre of rap music, where

gradually, rap figures seem to be losing their sanity or

control of their behavior, with illness seeping into

their brains while the world can only watch with dis-

may or amusement. With others falling into the

depths of drug addiction, while others lash out on

social media, making controversial statements that

hint at paranoia and delusional thoughts. The main

question that bothers the minds of onlookers is

“What is going on?” We, too, are asking the same

questions, and have attempted to identify the prob-

lem and find the reasons.

To start off, B.o.B has made a decision to ex-

press his thoughts, mostly of conspiracy, onto social

media platforms, namely twitter. He recently re-

ceived a short popularity amongst the internet when

he attempted to convince people that “the earth is

flat”, showing pictures of horizons in the distance or

from airplanes, and showing that it is flat. He claims

that due to camera lenses being curved, they distort

the images of a round earth and that when the pho-

tos are corrected, the earth is actually flat. He contin-

ued to discredit famed astrophysicist, cosmologist,

and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, by adding clips of

times where he could not explain conspiracy theories

into a track he made one month ago, during the time

he made the frenzied twitter rant. The track was

called “Flatline”, which he made to go along with his

point that the earth is truly flat, and that everyone is

being lied to. But rather than sticking to that sole

subject, he decided to express his other theories. He

casually claims that the Holocaust was fake, sug-

gesting listeners to research Holocaust denier David

Irving. To go with this, he states that “Stalin was way

worse than Hitler, that’s why POTUS gotta wear a kip-

pah.” Though the track, sounded well-produced and

like a very hard-hitting rap track would, with lyrics

also speaking of “mirror lizards” and clones, as well

as his theories of Freemasons.

As a B.o.B fan, it would have been great if the

controversy stopped there, but it did not cease. In-

stead, Dr. Tyson took offense and got his nephew,

who apparently raps, to make a response track

where he disses and insults B.o.B on his theories. The

track, “Flat to Fact”, was rather amateur, however,

and sounded like something a math or science teach-

er would show their students to get their students

interested in a subject.

But this is not the end of B.o.B’s conspiracy-

filled raps and manic rants. Rather, it seems like he

has been subtly doing this for a long time without the

public’s notice. Last year’s “New Black” mixtape was

(Left) B.o.B’s conspiracy-filled rap song, “Flatline, released on

January 25th, 2016, calls out famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse

Tyson. (Right) B.o.B himself at a photo-shoot years ago.

Mental Illness in Rappers

By Toshiro Tokunaga Feb. 26, 2016

filled with civil rights and “Black Lives Matter”-like

material, but from another perspective it seemed al-

so like substance on the verge of distrust in the gov-

ernment—which, with the police shooting incidents,

is understandable. However it seemed much more

like a belief that the government was lying, and that

people should rebel.

Things only got crazier when he released his

two most recent mixtapes, W.A.T.E.R. (We Are The

Enemy Really) and F.I.R.E. (False Idols Ruined Egos).

With this, he asked his fans to share these mixtapes

as much as possible, as any rapper would, but with

the reasoning that he is experiencing censorship from

social media platforms and/or the government. He

asserts, with fans backing him up, that many of his

tweets remain unseen by many of his followers—that

those who heavily follow his tweets do not receive

notifications of only his tweets and that they do not

show up on their feed. He also maintains that his

popularity is tampered with—Youtube views are

leesened purposely and his tweets (reposts and fa-

vorite numbers) are also decreased, in order so that

they do not trend.

If you are able to see his tweets and do so

with much attention, you will find that he has more

to say about the government and lies. These include

the popular conspiracy theory that the moon-landing

is fake, backing up his claims with mocking images of

the moon-landing with comments such as “There’s

wind on the moon?” and “Remember when they

“lost [the] footage to the first moon landing ”. He

also affirms that any modern-day moon landing

would “expose too many inconsistencies” with the

last, showing that all supposed landings are staged.

Ironically, he does not fall to the belief in al-

iens, or any such extra-terrestrials—for the most

part. Rather, he believes these creatures are only

clones. Arguably his most unordinary belief is that the

government owns and hosts cloning centers for hu-

mans. His belief is further exemplified when he

makes his constant assertions that any celebrity (or

other human, for that matter) that suddenly suffers

from illnesses such as stroke, heart disease, or aneu-

rysm is actually the government abducting these peo-

ple, and cloning them in centers.

This is shown in his more recent, such as in

the F.I.R.E. mixtape’s title track, “Bend Over”, with

the analogy that people are being screwed over by

the government, as one would in sexual intercourse.

Here he starts off the track with audio of news foot-

age of people who have suddenly disappeared, but

continues to speak of rituals, sacrifices, blood reli-

gion , and more lies of the government. Other con-

spiracies include the idea that there are alternative

time-streams (the Mandela Effect), that 9/11 was a

lie, saying “Jet Fuel does not melt steel beams.” His

most down-to-earth argument is probably from an

old track, Dr. Aden, where he speaks of a doctor who

is relocated and uncovers cloning centers. This is

based on the story of a doctor who is moved to Cen-

tral America and reveals top-secret files and evidence

that medicine had AIDS contained inside it, with the

FDA’s knowledge. He told this story in August of

2015—but still, these claims are very out of this (flat)

world.

B.o.B, however, is only one rappers amongst a

crowd of many other that seem to be experiencing

some mental issues. Take a look at Blu, for example.

He recently, out of nowhere, took to twitter to blast

some of his most-worked-with acquaintances, and

Mental Illness in Rappers

By Toshiro Tokunaga Feb. 26, 2016

close friends, specifically Evidence and Alchemist,

calling out others such as the legendary Redman and

the (past) Sean Price. He starts off with homophobic

as well as racially insensitive comments towards

white people, ridden with hate towards police. He

claims that his two close friends are on crack and

“coked out” (cocaine), and that they are “Pro-Darren

Wilson campaign white b****s.” He claims these

two, who are highly respected amongst the rap game

as bringing a very traditional aspect of rap into mod-

ern and distinct, jazzy beats, are figuratively perform-

ing fellatio onto white policemen, naming Darren Wil-

son, and trying to get children killed. These state-

ments have no “evidence”, and nobody really be-

lieves or follows what he is saying. After Blu’s long

twitter rant, Evidence explains to everyone that Blu is

not mentally well, but tries to stay positive, praying

for help for a “very talented human going through a

hard time”.

Both B.o.B and Blu exhibit signs of paranoia

and possible schizophrenia with their comments, but

are not the only ones. T.I. has also stated that his gun

conviction charges were based on paranoia that peo-

ple were trying to harm him and/or kill his family,

while Kanye West’s action in the past few years

(especially with the highly controversial and compli-

cated release of his newest album, The Life of Pablo,

and the events that ensued with it) also exhibit schiz-

ophrenia. He has made subtle statements that he can

hear his mother and that his mother sang through

him in his song “Only One”, about his daughter North

West, and wife Kim Kardashian.

Kanye, too, has gone on many crazed rants

(more frequent than daily), that people have alluded

to a child who only gets a few minutes of internet per

day. Not only did he refuse to release his album after

changing its name four times and the final album’s

title meaning as well as artwork twice, he has claimed

he is the best artist alive, and ever. He has often re-

ferred to himself as God and the most influential and

all-round supreme artist and human. With other inci-

dents such as calling Taylor Swift an obscene remark,

asking for 1 billion dollars from Mark Zuckerberg

(founder and CEO of Facebook) on Twitter, and

attempting to boycott the Grammies (to name a few),

he definitely seems to be losing his sanity as well.

This loss of sanity is depressing, but probably

not as depressing as those rappers who are actually

experiencing depression and bipolar disorder. Rap-

pers such as Kid Cudi have been long-since known for

depression, nicknaming himself “Cudder”, like his self

-harm and cutting habits, but it was only until recent-

ly when his music career took a sharp turn from rap

to.. Unidentified music. His downfall itself would be

something to be depressed over, but he seems to

view his change as him “finding himself”, when in fact

he left his label, G.O.O.D. Music (ironically lead by

Kanye at the time) and released an album that re-

ceives scores as low as “0/10” from some, and being

mocked on all platforms of social media for its eclec-

tic and often unbearable sounds.

Kid Cudi in a collection of images taken for the promotion of the

second installment of his album series, “Man On The Moon”,

cerca 2010.

Mental Illness in Rappers

By Toshiro Tokunaga Feb. 26, 2016

Cudi often seems to be on the verge of suicide and of

harming others, after releasing worrying visuals to his

music, where he kills everyone in a small town. This is

taken further when he betrays his long-time friend,

and possibly one of the few rappers who truly cared

for his well-being, Lupe Fiasco, and began to insult

insult him for seemingly no reason.

Cudi has blocked off many in his life up till

now, but his actions remind many of others, such as

rapper Charles Hamilton, who shuit himself off en-

tirely from the world, locking his apartment in New

York and not talking to even his family for many

months. Experiencing Bipolar disorder, he, like Blu,

began to distrust his friends and go on rather strange

rants or make odd statements.

There are also more who are highly suicidal.

Rapper Christ Bearer has attempted suicide more

than once, notably by once cutting off his genital or-

gan. Tyler, the Creator is also one known for being

into intense self-harm and attempts of suicide, but

these behaviors have seemed to calm down with his

rise in fame. Unfortunately, other’s behavior seems

to get worse with time, such as Wale, who has ex-

pressed thoughts of suicide and exhibited very bipo-

lar behavior when he has yelled and fought over al-

bum rankings with news article companies and oth-

ers.

Mental Illness is always because of natural

causes, or things beyond the control of the individu-

als themselves. Rather, often times, it seems that the

change in mental state, behavior, and emotions

comes with their rise in power and fame—or the oth-

er way around. As the quote goes, “With great power

comes great responsibility” - and with many rappers

just coming from being average people or people

who ‘Started From The Bottom’, they may not be

emotionally ready to take on that role, or to adjust to

this. Being able to buy anything or do anything may

change their minds on many things, and they may

become excessively arrogant or conceited. This

would apply to Kanye West, who really does think he

is better than everyone else—having no role models,

no icons, other than himself. As one of the biggest

rappers in the game, with the biggest head, his nar-

cissism may be difficult to get over.

On the other hand, some who may be ‘falling

off’, or losing their popularity, may also experience

change in behavior. Unable to deal with their frustra-

tions and gain their popularity again, they attempt to

gain attention or just lose control of their mental

state and image. This would relate to B.o.B, who

made a quick rise in fame with great pop appearanc-

es, such as with Lil Wayne, Taylor Swift, Chris Brown,

etc. He was nominated for five Grammies one year,

but after that seemed to have been forgotten by the

mainstream media. His work changed from pop and

lyircally –focused rap (he was compared to rap leg-

ends such as Andre 3000), to psychedelic rap and just

singing, to rap that reeked of conspiracy theories.

Others may also experience heartbreak and

emotional issues: After the death of his mother,

Kanye West blamed himself and experienced ex-

treme disappointment and guilt. In addition, he has

went through many girls over the course of his ca-

reer, one who was important enough to make the

album, “808s & Heartbreak”. Kid Cudi and Charles

Hamilton also experienced a big loss in self-esteem

and will to live, from, what it seemed to be from their

music, to be caused from losses of friends and rela-

tionships.

Mental Illness in Rappers

By Toshiro Tokunaga Feb. 26, 2016

On the other hand, others begin to use and

abuse drugs. Some get so hooked on dangerous

drugs such as crack cocaine that their habits are visi-

ble in interviews and shows: DMX’s cocaine addiction

would show him to be tweaking and making odd, un-

controllable movements that seemed like he had

Tourette’s during media appearances. DMX has since

been in and out of rehab and prison many times.

Others who have visible addictions include

rappers Future and ScHoolboy Q. Both were addicted

to the same main drugs—codeine and promethazine

combination, nicknamed “lean”. This was especially

visible for Q when he would do group interviews with

his rap collaborative, TDE/Black Hippy, and would fall

asleep while sitting in an interview, or space out com-

pletely. Both were also addicted to prescription drugs

such as Xanax, that calm you down, or Adderall,

which is a dangerous combination when mixed with

an opiate. Q has since been off these drugs and stick-

ing to less-powerful drugs such as marijuana, and has

been doing very well.

Future, on the other hand, would not appear

this way, but appear unable to stop moving in inter-

views, itching himself, shifting in his seat, looking un-

comfortable. His voice in itself is a good determina-

tion of his drug uses as he slurs his speech and has a

deep, husky sound. He has made many songs dedi-

cated to drugs: Percocets (Percocet & Stripper Joint,

Perky’s Calling), Codeine (Codeine Crazy & Purple

Reign), Weed (Blow a Bag), Cocaine (I Serve The

Base), Xanax (Xanny Family & 56 Nights), Heroin

(Move That Dope), amongst many other mentions.

He made a mixtape about being able to take 56

Xanax pills in one sitting, titled “56 Nights”, and three

projects revolving around lean—”Dirty Sprite” 1 & 2

and “Purple Reign”.

Probably the most crazy story of drug addic-

tion is Big Lurch’s addiction to borderline dangerous

drugs such as PCP. Big Lurch, still currently incarcer-

ated, went to prison after falling under influence of

the drug at one time, and killing his roommate

through cannibalistic tendencies—cutting her up and

eating her, and was later found naked in the streets,

covered in the blood, staring straight up to the sky.

Others, however, have not been so fortunate

as to even make it to jail. Many have overdosed from

fatal mixtures of drugs. One prime example is A$AP

Yams, who overdosed last year from a mixture of

benzodiazepines and opiates, possibly also from us-

age of the hallucinogen LSD. More than 15 rappers,

including the Houston legend DJ Screw, have died

from drug overdoses. It is sad to say that the chances

of more deaths occurring are high.

From internal or external conflicts, celebrities

have been found ill and struggling to gain control of

their mental state and addictions. Their acceptance

of it varies, it only seems to effect more people as

time passes. We can only pray and try to support the

artists as they go through their hardships.

(Back) ScHoolboy Q falls asleep while ‘Black Hippy’ partner

Kendrick Lamar freestyles on radio station K104 two years ago.

TIANJIN, Feb. 29, (TEDA) -- As teenagers, we have a

lot of pressure by keeping our grades high. But if we

have too much pressure, our heads will blow up and

the bone shreds will hit and kill everyone. People try

different ways to release that stress, including smok-

ing, drinking alcohol and doing drugs. So to prevent

that from happening, here are three easy ways to re-

lease stress without using any addictive substances.

#1. Play Games

Playing games are one of the easiest and most effi-

cient ways to reduce stress, stay positive, and make

you feel better.

This might

seem ridicu-

lous, but scien-

tists have evi-

dence to prove

that it’s true,

so much evi-

dence, that I

can proudly say

that everyone

should play vid-

eo games.

When you think of video games, your first image

might be teenage boys sitting in front of their TV,

soullessly smashing their controllers. But studies

show that only 32% of the gamer population is teen-

agers, what’s more shocking is 45% of all gamers are

girls. A scientist did an experiment, where 103 adults

were given a frustration task and then randomized to

play no game, a non-violent game or a violent game

with good versus evil theme, or a game in which they

played ‘the bad guy.’ The results suggest that violent

games reduce depression and hostile feelings in play-

ers through mood management.

#2. Sleep More To Reduce Stress

Playing games are

only one way to stay

busy. Staying busy will

drag you out of think-

ing about taking drugs

when you are de-

pressed. One of the

ways of doing so is to

sleep, try to imagine

that you’re floating in

the air; it will help you

temperately “throw

away” all the pain you have encountered, and release

your body from being extremely tired to relaxed,

then you can keep on working your stuff after you get

up. Another way of staying busy is to have a hobby.

Once you have suffered too much from huge

amounts of work, you may want to do some activi-

ties, such as playing basketball or badminton.

#3. Start a hobby

While you are do-

ing your hobby,

you may want to

meet some people

that have the

same interest as

you. You can

make friends with

them, and share

each other’s ideas

and opinions; you may also talk to them about what

you have encountered, they can lead you into a good

mood. However, you have to make sure that you

made a good friend, who truly can help you；

otherwise, you might be result in a worse situation.

3 easy ways to avoid drugs

By Sean Wang and Martin Li Feb. 29, 2016

Grade 10 student, Sean Wang playing the popular

game Minesweeper.