What do you do when you're at school and you start your period? Well, at Asheville Middle, first you would probably go around asking your friends, hoping they have a spare tampon. What do you do when they don't?

Many girls in middle school start or already have their periods. A lot of girls aren't prepared for when it happens. Most girls have to ask their teachers for supplies, which every girl is told they will or should have in their classrooms at all times. Will they, though? Should teachers even be responsible for purchasing and providing feminine products for students? If it is a general rule established by schools that teachers are to have products on deck for students at all times, then why don't the schools provide them themselves. Expenses add up when female teachers are having to buy tampons and pads for themselves as well as their students, so should they be responsible?

Take into consideration male teachers as well, do male teachers even consider the rule of providing feminine products for their female students? Or do they just expect their female coworkers to be responsible for tampons and pads? At Asheville middle there is a team that is majority male teachers, and the girls that I spoke to aren't generally comfortable with asking their adult male teachers for a tampon or a pad. This opens up a whole other question of should there be a dispenser of products in the girls bathrooms? “I'd rather carry quarters around in school than tampons and pads.” says Callie Judson, an eighth grade girl. The reason for this is that they are less bulky, and call less attention to the student carrying them.

At the end of the day, every girl has to deal with their period once a month. There would be a lot of change that could be made in order to make things easier for girls when it comes. For now, girls have to continue to ask their teachers for products if they aren't prepared, or struggle to make it to class on time after asking their friends. 

​Story by Aislinn Nash 

1 - Use the left side of your face- if the left side of your face isn’t a bad angle for you, use it. Studies show that your left cheeks show more emotion, which people find more aesthetically pleasing.

2 - When taking a group shot, don’t stand closest to the camera, or you’ll look disproportionate to everyone else.
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​3 - Angle your face- if you take your picture with a straight on angle, tilt the camera upward or downward to avoid your face looking look wider, bigger than it actually is, or a weird color.  

4 - Tilt your head up to avoid double chins 

5 - Don’t take a photo with the camera below your chin!

6 -  Lighting!- you should use natural or white lighting so you don’t look orange. 

7 - If you pose your body facing straight towards the camera, your body will appear larger than it actually is. Instead, pose at an angle.

8 - The best opportunity to get good lighting is the golden hour- the sunset hour when the light turns golden

Starting middle school. It’s a big deal! When I started, I was scared out of my mind. Hopefully, you aren’t! So here are 5 tips to help you go through your year with no problems.

1. Stay organized! You want to be able to open up your binder or backpack and find everything you need and also keep all of your papers with you, it’s important. Now, you don’t want to open your binder and find a mess along with a paper that was due today that you left at home!
   
   
2. Don’t get involved in drama! This is Principal Dockery’s number one rule, so it would be best as to follow it! Drama is not something you ever want to stick your nose in because you can become a part of it too. I’ve learned from experience and you don’t want to start or go near it.
   
   
3. Ask for help! Asking for help can be hard even if it’s just about a math problem. Don’t be afraid to speak up, it’s important that people hear what you need to say because they could use it for a future reference.
   
   
4. Manage your time! Managing your time is so important, not just for middle school, but for high school, college, and for the real world. You want to always turn papers or PowerPoints in on time because it shows you were paying attention.
   
   
5. Listen! It’s just that simple! It’s key to listen to your peers and teachers while they are speaking and it’s respectful too. It shows that you care about what they are saying.

Story by Iris Schreiner
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It’s not only the season for school to start back, it's also the season for stress. If you want to be successful this school year then you need to find healthy ways to deal with anxiety. Nature is the perfect solution. Research says that you're brain is designed to find things like lakes, trees, and streams soothing.

A study conducted by Robert Ulrich found that patients who had gallbladder surgery and recovered in a room with a plain wall had a much slower recovery than the ones who recovered in a room with a view of trees. This means that nature has a positive impact over people's well beings. There have been many fascinating experiments that have been done that have to do with the positive effects that nature has on people. There was even a study that found that it can increase the attention span of children with ADHD. Science proves that mental health is positively influenced by exposure to nature.

When school comes back, stress levels rise. This can negatively affect students grades and academic success. Nature will solve these problems. If you are ever stressed out, maybe trying taking a walk or going on a hike. There are a lot of great hikes to go on that are in or around Asheville. For example looking glass rock, max patch, and Roan mountain Appalachian trail. So, try going outside more often and your stress levels will naturally decrease!

Story by Alana Kendrick 

Citations: https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/enhance-your-wellbeing/environment/nature-and-us/how-does-nature-impact-our-wellbeing 
http://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/mood-disorders/nature-cognitive-anxiety-depression-mood/article/448018/
 https://www.romanticasheville.com/summit-hikes

​Every year, almost 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon. This summer, I went to the Grand Canyon with my mom, dad and sister. We hiked all the way down the canyon and back up in just 2 days. While we were hiking I noticed some people doing inconsiderate things. Here are some tips for when you are hiking to make sure you are prepared, and aren't that inconsiderate person!

1. Always have water. When we were hiking, I saw a runner who said that he had ditched his water to run faster. When you exercise you need to have water to avoid dehydration.
2. Be aware of hikers, especially on switchbacks. I saw someone at the Grand Canyon slingshotting rocks off the rim. They knew the rocks went into the canyon - what they didn't know was that there were hikers underneath them that could have gotten hit.
3. Avoid the sun! When you hike, especially the grand canyon, you get up and hike at 5 am to avoid the sun. We met a lady that decided to start at 9 am, and then she got heat stroke! 

If you listen to this advice, you are sure to be a healthy, smart hiker.

How do you view yourself? Do you like what you see when you look in the mirror? Everybody has a specific way they see themselves, pertaining to their hobbies, occupations, income, physical features, hometown, etc… Whether it's good or bad doesn't change the fact that we are constantly thinking about the way others must see us. Everybody is always wondering what others opinions on us are, if they notice certain traits that we notice, if they find us attractive, and so much more. We are obsessed with the image we expose to the world and we try to change based on what we believe people will be pleased with. The level of which we alter ourselves depends on who you are, however all people do this to some extent.

If you were to go ask five strangers to tell you their perception of your personality, and their opinions on your looks (imagine they were 100% honest), their answers would be immensely different from the answers you would get from people who you saw often. Studies show that if somebody knows you, and likes your personality, they will generally think you're more appealing than if they didn't know you at all. The more you get to know people, the more physically attractive or unattractive you will become depending on whether that person enjoys your company. Your view on your personality affects your view on your looks; so do other peoples. This proves that when you look in the mirror, you don't necessarily see what others see because everyone has different opinions on what good personality traits are.

Not only do we see ourselves in a way that varies from the way others see us, but we also see ourselves in a way that varies from the way we see others. When we think about the way we look and the way we act, all of our thoughts and emotions and experiences factor into that. When we see others, we judge these things based on what we know from what we observe through looking and listening. A lot of the things we think about other people are just guesses. The only possible way to find out if it is true is if that person told us, which they may or may not do because it requires exposing one's inner self.

We hide our true selves in attempt to appeal to the people around us. We constantly are changing our standards to please others. We aren't always conscious of this, which affects our personal view on ourselves. When we modify our personalities and cover our imperfections we don't know who we are anymore. We shouldn't have to think very deeply to have a good understand of ourselves, that is something we should know on the surface.

If people made an effort to be less concerned with the millions of unimportant viewpoints of random strangers they will probably never see again, they would all have a stronger sense of self. We can try and view ourselves through varying individual's eyes, we would get an idea of what people thought about us. We will never fully be competent enough to look at ourselves the way others do, but we can try and think in different ways and imagine looking at ourselves from different perspectives. We should also strive to disregard rude comments or gestures about our appearances or the way we act, because dwelling on it will only diminish our self esteem. This will make us more confident and happier with our image if we aren't so clueless and concerned with what people think.

Story by ​Willow Schenk

Works Cited
Animationsmears. "Animationsmears." Smears, Multiples and Other Animation Gimmicks. 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Sept. 2017.
Brouwer, Paul J. "The Power to See Ourselves." Harvard Business Review. 01 Aug. 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2017.
Furnham, Adrian. "To See Ourselves as Others See Us." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 06 Sept. 2016. Web. 17 Sept. 2017.
Nicholson, Jeremy. "Is Your Personality Making You More or Less Physically Attractive?" Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 24 May 2011. Web. 17 Sept. 2017.
Pronin, Emily. "How We See Ourselves and How We See Others." Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 30 May 2008. Web. 17 Sept. 2017.

Instagram. The singular one app that validates once and for all your status on the popularity scale. From followers to likes, whether you want to admit it or not, the numbers matter, and in this case… the bigger the better. And with 100s upon 100s of likes, it's hard to maintain a decent flow of likes let alone an aesthetically pleasing feed. Not to worry, Instagram users, with a few simple tools and tips you will be on the path to a stunning and classy profile.

First things first, let's review the basics. When it comes to having the perfect feed, a main theme is key. With that, it great to get creative and try different filters and apps to get the image to look just the way you want. I personally prefer VSCO, which has multiple options that let you make your account just the way you want - not to mention getting across your personal style. Once you've gotten a solid theme, it's time to figure out the mechanics behind the actual picture. Again, it's time to get creative. I personally look for symmetry and color, along with  interesting and unique lighting. Don't be afraid to try different angles that you wouldn't necessarily think of rather than just a simple eye level view.There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the recipe for the perfect Instagram!   

​Story by Julianne Lally