These studies that have recently been conducted were by Loyola University, who reviewed more than 1,200 young people, ages 8-18 years old. It was found that young athletes had a higher likelihood of becoming injured if they spent more than twice as much time playing competitively in their sport as they spent playing freely and unorganized (Channel One News).

This means that kids who participate in their sport more frequently have a higher risk of getting injured; which is already a known fact. Anytime one exposes themselves to physical contact or constant pounding from running, it strains the body, in both a positive way (getting in shape), and a negative way (putting oneself at risk for getting hurt).

Furthermore, Channel One News stated that experts said that kids and teens are more prone to getting hurt because they are still growing, and their bodies cannot tolerate the constant stress and pounding from competitive sport participation.

Since this is the case, teens need to be sure they take at least a day off per week from training, and allow their bodies to fully recover.

Even Dr. Jasen Baynes stresses recovery. He suggests that athletes should take “at least a month off between seasons. To let your body fully recuperate after a long season” (Channel One News).

By doing this, it allows the body to replenish itself and store up calcium deposits to enhance bone strength during that time off.

Dr. Baynes also says that teens should only play their sport for the amount of hours equivalent to their age. So, if you are 16 years old, you should only play your sport for 16 hours per week.

This may seem like a small amount of time; however, the body can only take so much stress before it breaks.

Oakmont students also speak their opinions about participation and injuries in sports affiliated with Oakmont.

Freshman Arthur Yuriychuk, cross country and track runner, admits that, “Between seasons, I usually take about three weeks to a month off just to recover from any injuries that my body has endured.”

Since Dr. Baynes recommends resting about a month between seasons, Yuriychuk is on the right track to prevent injuries from occurring.

Even volleyball, track, basketball, and soccer star Tiyana Dorsey, junior, says that being injured is “extremely annoying . . . and frustrating,” therefore she advises other athletes to, “know their body, and don’t allow forceful coaches scare you into not thinking about your health first. It also helps to be careful when stretching; it’s a really serious thing that really dictates how well you do,” Dorsey said.

These tips from Dorsey hit home for her, since she experienced a soccer injury from overstretching and hearing pop, thus resulting in her missing the remainder of her season.

Varsity senior 100 meter and 300 meter hurdler, Chelsea Boyd explains that she was, “injured last track season when I ripped a ligament and broke a bone in my left foot.” Sadly, this caused Boyd to “[feel] so alone, and [become] depressed because I was no longer able to compete.” As a result, Boyd felt excluded from the team and was out for the season, forced to sit on the sidelines for two months straight.

Now, Boyd suggests for other athletes to warm up properly before races to avoid the doubly painful season of sitting on the bench.

“I always warm up fully. Before competing I have a set routine of warm-ups that I have to complete before I’ll go race,” Boyd reveals.

That way, her muscles have a chance to loosen up and prepare to compete, which will minimize the risk of pulling or straining a muscle.

Warming up before stretching can also help athletes to not overstretch, like Dorsey, because the muscles already have blood pumping to them and are more flexible to begin with.

So take time off, warm up properly, and stretch only to loosen up your muscles before competing.  Most importantly, listen to your body and your coaches to prevent injury and maximize performance in your sport.

Katie Carte for Volleyball

Corey Eddings for Golf

Karlie Garcia for Track and Cross Country

Maddie Gedeon for Golf

Trey Olsen for Football

Peter Santos for Wrestling

Carte is also one of the five athletes who is currently being considered for the Sacramento Area Top Athlete Award.

“We’ve exceeded the goals we set for ourselves this year and enjoyed tremendous individual and team growth,” Coach Jinguji said.

The team competed at the Master’s tournament against the 15 best teams in all the San Joaquin Section.  They placed sixth, scoring 397 points and narrowly missing qualifying for NorCal Championships. Only the top three teams move on. Despite this disappointment, the boys can be content as they played their hearts out and to the best of their abilities.

“Sit up straight.You’re slouching,”

Immediately straightening, the lawyer risks a quick glance behind her to see her teammate watching her closely. They are in the Sacramento County Courthouse for the final round of the Mock Trial competition against Rocklin High School. If they win this, the Oakmont Mock Trial Team will get to go to the State Competition for the sixth year in a row.

Sadly, the Oakmont Mock Trial team did not end up winning the Placer County competition and Rocklin High School advanced to the state competition this year.

“We fought really hard this year, but after most of our team graduated last year, we knew that it would be hard,” said team captain Sarah O’Connor, a senior.

And unfortunately, the same is set to happen again soon. This year the team of 20 had five seniors and one freshman. The rest are juniors.

“We need to get more freshmen and sophomores involved next year, because after we leave, it will only be Little Sarah here,” said junior Rene Phan.

But the team may not even have a next year. After the teams long time coach , OHS teacher Michelle John, retired from the position last year, it was a scramble to find a coach for this year. The team ended up being coached by the Rocklin Mock Trial team’s coach, Mike Lang.

“We were so lucky that Coach Lang stepped up to help. We couldn’t find a teacher to coach us, and we were worried that we would end up losing the team. It’s still a possibility,” said senior Chelsea Boyd.

The team made it through the last year thanks to Lang, but the arrangement that was made had only been for one year. At the moment they are in limbo, trying to figure out if they can convince Lang to coach them again, which teachers might be willing to help out, and if they will have enough interest next year to even make it viable.

Enrollment in the club has dropped over the last few years, raising concerns that there may not be enough students to fill the ranks in the coming years.

“I really want more kids to join, because after next year it is only me and I want to keep this going. It’s a great group and it is so much fun to be apart of something like this,” said freshman Sarah Lisiewski.

The mock trial team is typically made up of 20 students. In the past, team tryouts have seen up to 40 auditions, this year only 19 tried out. A clerk had to be recruited from among friends to round out the team. But still there is hope. Team members have been hounding teachers to help them out, while others have been recruiting at the local middle schools.

“I really hope that more interest is shown in the program because it is so amazing. We are more than just a club. We are a family. We spend hours with each other, practicing, driving to scrimmages, memorizing questions. We are all really dedicated to the team and it shows. It binds us together,” said junior Patrick Macias.

For now, the returning team members are working hard to save the program they love, vowing not to give up.

“We will not let this program die. It is not an option,” said Lang.

When she’s out at lunch, hanging out with her usual circle of friends, her day suddenly takes a turn for the worse: a teacher strides up and berates her for her stylistic choices and sends her on her way to the office with a Disciplinary Slip.

First off, what does the dress code consist of? Well, currently it states that students wear nothing that includes the following:

-Halter tops

-Strapless tops

-Racerback shirts/dresses

-Revealing tank tops

-Exposed cleavage

-Exposed midriff

-Visible undergarments (bras, underwear, etc.)

-Short shorts/skirts/dresses

-Pajamas/pajama bottoms

-Slippers

-Bandanas

-Drugs, sexually suggestive images, weapons on T-shirts, etc.

-Sagging pants

The dress code also consists of consequences, which goes in a sequence not unlike the following:

First Incident: Student changes clothes, parent phone call home, incident documented in Aeries discipline history

Second Incident: Student changes clothes, parent phone call home, after school detention, incident documented in Aeries discipline history

Third Incident: Student suspended for one day, parent contacted to pick up student.

The problem with the dress code is that everyone has a different body type, body types that the dress code doesn’t quite appeal to. During my attendance here, I have been dress coded a few times as well as almost been dress coded multiple times. I think that almost any girl can relate.

My problem with the dress code is exactly what I said in the beginning: every girl has a different body type.

My body type consists of a very short torso and mile long legs, as well as a size 0 waist size. This is a problem, because when you go on that wonderful trip to shop for shorts, there aren’t exactly going to be shorts that look long enough on me to work with the dress code.

My long legs may make my shorts look almost a lot shorter than they would on someone with a longer torso and shorter legs, and with a size 0 waist size it’s hard to find shorts that qualify as worthy of the dress code.

There are also girls with those body types that just have a large chest area, which would make any shirt appear to be “revealing”. But most times, this isn’t necessarily a girl’s fault, it’s in her genes.

Is it really fair that a girl be dress coded because she doesn’t want to wear a ginormous shirt? I think that that’s actually quite outrageous, and should probably be looked into further.

Though with those points, there are some things that I can understand about the dress code. I think that everyone knows that one girl, who either just really likes to show off her legs, or she just really thinks that shorts that short are going to appeal to the other gender. There are some girls who wear shorts that show a lot more cheekage than most of us would actually want to see when we’re walking down the hallway.

So what do we do about the dress code? Well for one, I think that the staff really should think about the meaning of “finger-tip length”, because it’s not exactly a feasible rule that can be applied to everyone. Although there does need to be a way to account for some type of dress code, I really don’t think that everyone can meet the standards of that “finger-tip length” rule.

Honestly, most of it is a matter of a variation of body types, and trouble with shopping.

I think it is good to keep an open mind about how teens dress, as the generation is ever evolving, and most parents aren’t nearly as strict as they are thought to be. I think the same with shirts, and that as long as no undergarments or a very large amount of the chest area showing, there shouldn’t be that much of a problem with shirts either.

By the way you dress, you’re showing who you are as an individual. Do you really want that taken away by how strict the dress code is?

A few hours earlier, the boy entered his friends house and was immediately offered a “white pill.”

At first glance, the boy felt extreme terror. But in desperate attempt to fit in, the boy began to take the “white pills,” one by one, until he began to feel a surreal high.

As the night went on, coupled with alcohol and the “white pill,”  the boy suddenly began fighting for his life. Today was the day the boy began fighting for his life against the “white pill.”

Based on a yearly released nationwide survey provided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), findings shows “that the rise in drug overdose mortality was due to increasing deaths from prescription drugs rather than from illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine.”

Today, “prescription drug abuse is second only to marijuana abuse,” said Manchikanti Laxmaiah, Medical Director of the Pain Management Center of Paducah and Ambulatory Surgery. “In the most recent household survey, initiates to drug abuse started with prescription drugs, more often than with marijuana.”

Additionally, Laxmaiah feels that prescription drugs is much more easily abused as opposed to illicit drugs.

“The abuse of prescription drugs is facilitated by easy access [ via physicians and medicine cabinets] and a perception of safety [ since the drugs are approved by the FDA],” said Laxmaiah.

Pharmacist Eddie Howard feels a dramatic jump of prescription painkillers in the past five years.

“I don’t know that there is that much pain out there to demand such an increase,” said Howard.  “It almost makes me a legalized drug dealer, and that’s not a good position to be in.”

Likewise, narcotics unit supervisor Tracy Busby feels as if teen prescription drug abuse is a dilemma.

“It’s not hard for teens to come by prescription drugs,” said Busby.  “You go to every medicine in the county, and I bet you’re going to find some sort of prescription medicine in 95 percent of them.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) Monitoring The Future (MTF), by the time students graduate from high school, 25 percent of students reported having abused prescription drugs.

“I thought there’s no way this could be bad,” said an OHS student who preferred to not be named. “Before long, I started popping [drugs] every other Saturday.”

Also, OHS Nurse Becky Riley feels that students in general are involved with drugs.

“I do think there is a drug problem but I do not know the extent of the problem,” said Riley.  “I think it would be naive to believe there isn’t a drug problem on most campuses across America.”

A survey conducted by California Kids Health taken by freshman and junior students within the Roseville Joint Union High School District (RJUHSD), found that 66.1 percent of freshman and juniors in our district understand the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

Consequently, many students who understand the dangers of prescription drug abuse often do not know of the severity and dangers of side effects caused by prescription drug abuse.

“My eyes were bloodshot with big, dark circles around them,” said an anonymous OHS student. “I was always sick and depressed . . . I began to hate everything.”

So what are the dangers of prescription drug abuse?

“The obvious risk is to personal health,” said Bruce Hennings, anatomy and physiology teacher. “The use may contribute to future health issues and early death.  The impaired function of a person on drugs may result in accidents injury to others.  There is risk of physical or psychological addiction.”

In addition, according to the RJUHSD survey, only 22.5 percent of freshman and 23.4 percent of juniors found great disapproval in personal prescription drug abuse.

“I guess I felt that by using drugs, I would become a part of [my friends'] world . . .” said an OHS student wishing to remain anonymous. “. . . [I felt] it would deepen our friendship to new levels.”

However, a study performed by the CDC validated that the number of [prescription drug] overdose death is now greater than those deaths from heroin and cocaine combined.

“Racing thoughts, horrible images crept through my mind,” said said an OHS student wishing to remain anonymous. “I felt as if I were having a heart attack.”

Even with all the dangers surrounding prescription drug abuse, Hennings feels that getting drugs today is much easier through social networking.

“I would guess with today’s social networks, that communication for the purpose of buying / selling drugs is fairly easy if you have a desire,” he said.

Consequently, according to a study conducted by the CDC, enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2012 to medicate every American adult around – the – clock for a month.

After a week in the hospital, the boy, much like many teenagers involved with drug abuse survived another day.

In the end, “The worst thing was those moments when I could see myself,” said an unnamed OHS student.  ” . . . and what I had become.”

“The boys have a lot to celebrate and please…[congratulate] them on a wonderful season,” Coach Parr said.

They truly do have a lot to celebrate. This includes their third place finish in league with a record of 8-7, and an overall record of 14-11. They ranked sixth in Sac-Joaquin Section Division II out of twenty teams. As a result of this, they created a spot for themselves in the playoffs. They have a lot to be proud of this season.

They might as well be asking, “How are you going to make yourself important? What are you going to contribute to society? What kind of legacy are you going to leave behind?”

My question: How are you supposed to answer something like that?

In reality, there are no answers. According to the Wall Street Journal, people have about seven different careers or jobs in their lifetime.

When people think of careers, they automatically think of the prestigious ones; doctors, lawyers, chefs, designers and things like that come to mind.

However, the workforce is much, much broader than that. There really is a job for every personality type, background and skill set.

Here’s a list of a few odd jobs that are in demand today:

Embalmers (Average yearly pay: $45,060, according to forbes.com)

Interested in dead things? Embalming is one of the oldest jobs there is, because for as long as people have lived, they have been dying.

It requires preparing humans for burial, including grooming the body for a funeral, reshaping body parts with wax and cotton, and sometimes helping with funeral services and the occasional autopsy report.

All it requires is a high school degree and formal training in mortuary science.

Professional Phone Psychic ($60-$100 hourly, according to aol.com)

Have a gift for insight? Become a professional phone psychic! When the economy plummeted, there became a huge market for these skills, because people began seeking reassurance and insight in many aspects of their lives.

While this job is difficult to obtain because you have to be able to read people, engage with them and produce results, it requires no formal training.

Ice cream Tester (roughly $60,000 annually, according to careersearch.com)

Sounds like a dream job, right?

One upside is that you get to consume copious amounts of this sweet dessert on the job; however, most Ice Cream Testers are required to have a college degree in food science, and are asked to evaluate not only flavor, but consistency, texture and smell.

Fun fact: Most companies require that you eat ice cream with a gold spoon in order to not taint your perception of the flavor.

Explosives Technician (average salary: $44,000 annually, according to simplyhired.com)

Besides the fun that comes with blowing things to smithereens, there is a lot of physical labor involved with being an explosives technician, which is someone who uses explosives for construction, demolition, and cleaning power plants.

You have to be able to maneuver in small spaces, lift large weights and have fairly good math and analytical skills. You also can’t be easily rattled, for obvious reasons.

While training for this job varies from company to company, at it’s most basic level, it requires some elementary knowledge on explosives safety, explosive ordnance identification, fuse identification, electricity, physics, demolition and engineering.

These are just some of the many jobs that people have and earn a living off of today.

There’s no reason to be scared to jump into the real world. The workforce is a hungry beast for willing and enthusiastic workers and is the key to keeping civilized society going.

Whether you want to do any of the aforementioned jobs, or want to go on to be a doctor, a lawyer or a business executive, your potential and importance to the economy can not be stressed enough.

Next time someone asks you what you want to be when you grow up, you can say “I don’t quite know”, and have the confidence of knowing that you will be just fine.

Now no matter how you think the world will end, (zombies, asteroid, nuclear war, social rebellion) here is a step-by-step guide to surviving in the chaos-filled world to come.

Option #1 (aka the difficult but safer way)

1. DO NOT go outside!!! Seriously. You will die. Painfully. Stay inside with trusted friends and family until the sounds of fighting and carnage move away. (And by trusted I mean people that won’t  gnaw your face off when the food runs out).

2. Gather supplies. Bleach can be used to purify water and to get those nasty bloodstains out of your clothes.  Aspirin is the fix all for a reason. Get some. Those baby-ish sheets you always hated? They’re your new bandages. Congrats. Carrying around at least one day’s worth of food is a good idea.

3. Carry weapons. If you are old enough to cut your own food, you are old enough to carry a giant stick, no matter what your mother says. Better yet, you’re old enough to carry that sword that your mommy hides in the knife drawer. (You know the one. The one that your dad used on the Christmas ham.)

4. Get out of the city. I know we all make fun of rednecks, but they are the ones who will survive this. Do as they do and escape to the woods, transforming into a crazy backwoods militia type along the way. Staying in the city is like running into a dead-end alley to get away from the crazy killer. You will be trapped and killed like a rat in a trap.

5. Build a compound. Gather large rocks, chop down some 300 year old trees, and build a wall. Fence off an area large enough to hold all of your group, preferably with some source of running water inside or nearby, and hole up, leaving only to butcher some poor, cute woodland creature. Bambi’s mother? She’s your next meal.

6.  Train. If you are out of shape, you’ll die. That old saying “You don’t have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the other guy” yeah, that’s your new philosophy. Don’t be the slow guy. Death by bear is painful and messy.

7. Hoard everything. Money is now worthless. Coins on the other hand? Priceless. Hoard anything metal, any valuable pieces of jewelry, and any food that won’t spoil. Even your friends must not be trusted with Great-Grandma’s diamond necklace. It may be the key to buying your freedom from the psycho that killed your dog.

8.Speaking of the dog,, when the food runs out, eat him. Fido may be your best friend, but have you seen those teeth? Get him before he gets you.

9. Take no prisoners. In this new world, it’s kill or be killed. Don’t be the wimp that refused to kill for the sake of mercy. If you don’t know the guy you have trussed up like a turkey, then it’s best to not take any chances. Stranger danger is very real, and much more likely out here in the big bad world.

10.DO NOT BE THE HERO!! Have you seen the movies? Heros die. Cowards live. Personally, I’ll take the role of coward every day if it means I get to keep breathing.

That’s one way to survive the apocalypse. Of course if that sounds like a lot of work and not something you’ll enjoy, (I mean seriously, living in the woods? No thanks) here is method number two for surviving.

Option #2  (aka the easy way–or coward’s way, if we’re being honest)

A. If there’s a zombie apocalypse, become a zombie. It will hurt for what? Two minutes? And then you get to run around as a member of the new master race. Yeah. I like that plan.

B. Nuclear war? Dig a hole. Bury yourself, take a sleeping pill and wait for the end to come. A lot easier than puking up your guts from radiation sickness.

C. Asteroids are a bit trickier, but not by much. Put on your cutest bikini, grab your sunglasses, and lay around outside getting a killer tan in the process. (Emphasis on the “killer” part)

D. If there is a social rebellion, then option 1 is probably the best. But if you don’t want to live off grubs and plants for the rest of your life, you could always try and make new friends with the big scary guy that just happens to be carrying a big gun. Good luck with that.

And there you go. Plans for survival for all your worst-case scenario outcomes. Good luck with your preparations and stuff. I recommend that for the best results you start stockpiling food, water, first-aid, and weapons now. And for a really in-depth guide, watch NBC’s Revolution.