International Calamities (ft. Mrs. Saldanha-Kuncharam) | Viking Voice – Episode 3

I’ve been a part of the Viking Vibe newspaper club since my freshman year. This is a fact that, when mentioned to my friends, typically gets the same response: “I didn’t even know we had a school newspaper!” While some could attribute this to a lack of advertising or print editions, I firmly believe that the stories themselves were what made the Vibe go unnoticed for so long. There is an interesting story within every topic, and I firmly believe that this year will be the year in which we learn to bring these stories to light. I particularly have always been interested in film, and the increasing debate over whether “cinema is dead” intrigues me, mainly because I believe that the movies people like to see are not uplifted enough. While I have written articles about the film industry and trends in the past (thanks to former Vibe advisor Mr. Loh, who I learned to write articles from), I plan to dedicate much of my time this year reviewing recently released films to bring back cinema to South Brunswick. Movies are a reflection of ourselves, and I hope that general reviews about the state of the industry as well as specific movies I recommend will reach students and inspire them in ways that a sequel to a reboot of a trilogy hasn’t. I am not the only film lover in the club, however. Mr. Honig, our new advisor, has a similar passion for movies as he does with writing. With his new direction of the club, I hope that I can help spark a love of film within the community.

With the Viking Vibe facing such a large shift, we have a golden opportunity to inform people from all walks of life about all sorts of topics. It doesn’t matter what topics you like reading about, we have something for virtually everyone. The Vibe has, suffice to say, not been the most active in the past few years. We published articles only semi-regularly on our website and hardly had print editions. The opportunity to essentially have a Viking Vibe Renaissance was one the editorial board simply couldn’t wait for. I’d like to thank not just Mr. Honig for his ambitions for the vibe, but Mr. Loh for teaching me the fundamentals of journalism, and the editors that came before me for their diligence and passion for writing. I personally hope that with this revival, the Vibe will be able to get more information out to more people in a timely fashion. The entire budget crisis we’ve been facing hasn’t gotten much written attention, and it should be our responsibility to tell people about it so the many instances of confusion and surprise that happened in the past don’t happen again. The Vibe’s ability to give students like myself the chance to speak their minds about specific topics is also great. I’d describe myself as having an interest in politics, history, and culture, and the Vibe provides an outlet for us to talk about issues, no matter how significant. The future is bright for the Viking Vibe, and I’m confident it will become a beacon of information sharing for decades to come in the school.

Being a part of the Vibe is truly one of the best experiences I have gotten out of high school, and I want nothing more than to share that with other people. For so long, the Vibe has been in the background, and  the existence of the newspaper comes as a surprise to nearly everyone. My personal hopes for this revival of Vibe is that we can get our club out there and help students find an outlet to write, because newspaper gives everyone a chance to have a voice, no matter the topic. I’d like to thank Mr. Loh for teaching me everything I know about journalism and setting up a path for us, especially with the experiences and friends I gained in my freshman year through the paper. I’d also like to thank Mr. Honig for undertaking the lofty task that is revamping the Vibe and his ambitions for us. I’m sure the rest of the board can relate, but I never thought I’d see the day that everyone knew about the Vibe and I am so excited for what’s to come. Being a part of this club has been so gratifying and I hope other students will gain as much from it as I have, and perhaps even more.