Being a senior has its benefits, for example, being able to go off campus for lunch. Juniors also can do this; however, my junior year was spent in front my computer on Zoom and Teams calls. Being on campus for senior year has allowed me to go different places during lunch periods. After trying a variety of locations, I’ve narrowed down a list of favorites. For me, my go-to-stop for food and drinks is Oasis Tea Zone, which is in the U-District.

A 10-minute drive from Prep, Oasis is well known for its selection of boba tea. During my lunch or free periods, my friends and I go to Oasis. What I love about Oasis is that there is an upstairs section with couches and the decorations around the store. There is also a shelf full of a variety of games you can use while you’re there. I like to try out different drinks. By far, my favorite thing to order is the Taro drink with tapioca. I also pitch in money for a party sized bucket of their popcorn chicken to split with my friends.

Brainstorming this editorial took me a while. In doing so, I recalled my memories of my years at Prep. Entering freshman year, I remembered how reluctant I was to try new things. Aside from attending school, I didn’t participate in any sports or extracurriculars/clubs. However, I finally gathered the courage to go outside of my comfort zone and try something new, which was when I joined Journalism.

Prior to joining, I had built up assumptions that Journalism just meant more work to add on top of school assignments. I was proven wrong and found the Journalism environment enjoyable; being able to have fun with my classmates while working together to put together a newspaper. I enjoyed being a part of the Journalism team so much that I decided to continue doing Journalism in the years that followed. During my junior year, I mustered up the courage to try and apply for an editor position on the staff. I ended up getting the position and was able to work more closely in the process of making the school newspaper, from brainstorming article ideas to sending final layouts to the printers.

So why am I talking about my favorite place to go to during lunch and journalism? Don’t worry, it connects. Whether it be trying new places to eat, trying new food, or trying new activities, my message to the Prep underclassmen is to step outside of the comfort zone and try something new. I was wary of joining extracurriculars, but I ended up finding an interest in it. It’s hard to tell whether something is good or bad until you try it.