After joining choir to pursue becoming a singer, Simon understood this was a community of devoted peers. The choir was led by a goal of making and sharing impactful music together, where they could perform something each member had dedicated themselves to.

“I built my closest friends [in choir] because of our shared interests and we have many wonderful experiences working together,” Simon said. “We all have the same goal, just making beautiful music.”

 Growing up together through music created strong bonds with each member. Rehearsals became a pastime, performances became memories, and singing with his peers became the foundation of unbreakable friendships.

“I know that because of [this] passion I’ll be able to find these good experiences everywhere, [but] it won’t be the same because I won’t have those friends I made from day one.” Simon said.

Developing a lead role in the choir to guide the organization to success, Simon took responsibility to mentor his peers through the journey of music. He was involved in different types of music both inside and outside school and therefore he held himself as an example for the choir. He was a student director and founder of a non-profit organization that leads music performances at hospitals and nursing homes to fund music scholarships. 

“I’ve been very active in not only choir but just a lot of music outside of school and there’s a lot of passionate people like me.” Simon said. “I was able to share a lot of the experiences I’ve had and let them know the mistakes I have made as well.” 

From spending time with the choir through long practices and to traveling with the school choir for performances, Simon encountered his fair share of thrills and nervousness. However, the close bond in the choir was always their anchor. From one performance to another, their togetherness led the choir beyond their anxiety to sing with precision and passion. At one of their most competitive competitions, the Madfest Festival, the nerves were up in the air. However, they used this stress to their advantage, and the Chamber Choir placed first. 

“We had some struggles before our performance at [Madfest] but everyone seemed really excited that day,” Simon said. “Everyone just came together and we enjoyed ourselves and that’s what led to our achievement.” 

  Despite the strenuous demands of choir, Simon remains unwavering in his commitment. From early morning rehearsals to the late night performances, he preserves with gratitude. Choir has given him a home to be himself, a passion to pursue, and a voice that continues on beyond the stage. His allegiance to the choir leads the next generations after him to success. 

“I hope that talking to the [underclassmen] about the lessons I learned can help them be a role model for others.” Simon said. “I hope what I’ve told them could cultivate a welcoming environment at Westwood but also to reach their full potential not only as a singer, but as a person.”

Cancel culture can take a serious toll on anyone’s mental health, regardless if they are a celebrity. Despite repeated efforts by the media trying to cancel Taylor Swift, these attempts do not succeed. In 2016 Kanye West wrote the infamous song Famous, where he references Taylor Swift. Swift publicly stated how she did not approve of these lyrics, but then-wife Kim Kardashian leaked a recording of a phone call where Swift gave West permission. This led to a trending hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty influencing backlash against Swift. In response to the hate she then made the album Reputation which was inspired by the drama. However, the backlash continued. Across social media in 2019, the new hashtag #TaylorSwiftIsCancelled gained the attention of Swift and pushed her to speak out to Vogue Magazine, saying “I knew it was the only way I could survive it. It was the only way I could preserve my mental health.” 

She started to suffer yet was able to overcome the “very isolating experience,” but found strength in overcoming it. This situation makes it clear the mental toll it took on Swift, and how she coped through music. Swift said “saying you’re cancelled is like saying kill yourself.” Many people would not have been able to handle the hate, and might have not been able to stand it. Social media has made it too easy to “cancel” public figures over small drama. It should not matter who is right, the public takedowns are a form of cyberbullying. To make someone almost start to question their existence is bullying and should not be normalized.  The normalization of online harassment only causes damage and should be stopped. 

While some celebrities can’t seem to get rid of the hate, others only benefit from it. Kanye West, now known as Ye, has made many tweets openly supporting Nazis and Hitler while still maintaining a loyal fanbase. Reports have even shown an increase in antisemitic hate crimes, showing how he is the leading cause of the wave of antisemitism. Although a few brands have cut ties with him, his music remains widely streamed. On Feb 6, he went on a tangent on X, formerly known as Twitter, posting tweets without end. “NEVER APOLOGIZING FOR MY JEWISH COMMENTS” and “IM A NAZI,” were just a few. This clearly shows how cancel culture is often selective, where it only affects a few, while others can continue on like nothing happened. Which comes to show how cancel culture is based on public perception rather than trying to ‘eliminate’ controversial figures. If celebrities with a huge influence can openly make insulting comments without any true consequence, it can send the wrong message to society. Ye proves how cancel culture’s purpose is not effective and more performative. 

Additionally, it is important to change as you grow, but despite that, cancel culture promotes the culture that you can not change and don’t deserve a second chance. Shane Dawson, a YouTube personality, faced backlash in 2020 after old videos resurfaced of offensive comments about race and inappropriate remarks about minors. This led to his platforms coming to an end due to his cancellation. He then released an apology video titled “Taking Accountability,” in June 2020 where he publicly acclaimed these actions as wrong, stating he had grown since and no longer identifies with that version of himself. Although he apologized, his subscribers went down by a million, and he had his YouTube channels banned despite his apology. 

The problem of cancel culture is that it focuses mainly on someone’s past, and can ignore apologies that have been made.  Dawson began his YouTube career in 2008 as a 19 year old, when social media humor was less restricted and more ‘dark.’ Yet in 2020, his videos became more mature, focusing mainly on collaborations like with a Jeffree Star Cosmetics makeup line. Regardless, his history overruled whatever he says in the present day. Personal growth is how people learn from their past mistakes, and to apologize if what they said caused any controversy. For society it gives the wrong impression that humans can’t change, and change their values. 

Cancelling someone does not lead to anything positive. From experiencing a mental health crisis to openly supporting Nazis and to apologizing about your past self, cancel culture is a system that is not beneficial. Let’s not let this toxic culture continue with the power that it holds, and bring it to an end.

On Saturday, March 8, the choir traveled to Houston, Texas to participate in the Madrigal Festival, also known as MadFest. This competition brought together different schools’ choirs to give them the chance to showcase their musical talent. 

Following months full of dedication and perfecting harmonies, going to MadFest was an exciting moment for the choir, as they finally got to perform what they had been working so hard on.

“We went up there and we poured our all into it” K’lynn Murray ‘27 said. “We were like really excited, it was a really wholesome moment because we have been working on this since December.”

The choir was nervous as they waited to know if they placed. However, when they heard the results they were able to celebrate together as Chamber received third runner-up, Chamber Men received second runner-up, and Innova received a Performance of Distinction award. 

“When we came off stage we thought we did a lot worse than we actually did,” Zoeya Chowdhury ‘27 said. “But once results came in it was way different then how we thought our performance was, whenever all of us won you could hear our cheers the loudest.” 

Setting records together as a choir was a fulfilling moment for the ensemble. However, being able to cheer each other on and win together was an equally valuable accomplishment. 

“What was the most important thing for us was not that we received a trophy,” Choir Director Mr. Andre Clark said. “It was that we all went and achieved something together, and that achievement happened on one day, but the success of that event happened on the days before that,” Mr. Clark said. 

The choir is able to return to Westwood and proudly show off their accomplishments as they get ready for their next performance. Choir will perform again on April 15, at the varsity Baseball game against Vandegrift at Westwood High School. 

As the fall semester comes to a close and the holiday season begins, Westwood Choirs provided a warm welcome to the holiday season, full of celebration,music, and community. On Tuesday, Dec. 10, Westwood Choirs performed at their annual Winter Concert at the Hope Presbyterian Church 

The concert opened with Silent Night. The holiday classic was performed by an arrangement of the seniors from the boys’ choir, all singing alongside each other.

“Getting to sing Silent Night with a few of my friends was really special, because those are my best friends,” Jonathan Simons ‘25 said. 

Throughout the concert the theme of togetherness was displayed, with a message to be grateful for one another. The songs performed ranged from a mix of holiday classics of Mistletoe and The Christmas Melody to lesser known tracks like Grace Before Sleep and Bonk’abaphandle. 

“[The Christmas Melody] was my favorite because we got to sing Mistletoe by Justin Bieber and sing with all the choirs.” Emery Stevens ‘27 said. “It was fun because I’ve been singing since I was little.” 

To begin wrapping up the night, Westwood’s show choir, Audacity, followed through on their annual tradition of singing at the winter concert. Dressed in their holiday themed sweaters, the group performed a holiday classic: Jingle Bell Rock. 

“Every year we have a tradition of singing Jingle Bell Rock,” Anika Sharma ‘26 said. “It felt so freeing [because] we have been working on these [songs] a long time.” 

The concert closed on an emotional note, with the alumni in the audience joining the ensemble of choirs for their final performance of the evening. 

“We all sang together, and it was like a full circle [moment],” Sharma said. 

Westwood Choirs will next compete on Saturday, Jan. 11 for TMEA Area Auditions. 

1. Fein concert
Filming a concert while you are singing along can be rather risky, because rest assured you will be able to hear yourself better than the actual concert itself. Then one day a boy went to a Travis Scott concert, where Travis Scott played the song Fein. Everyone was screaming Fein during the concert but one boy who filmed this song sounded extremely off from what he was supposed to sound like. From the actual absurdity of how bad this boy was singing it, people decided this was the new trend and that everyone should recreate it. Now, before people attend a concert they say “I hope they play Fein!” This trend was funny for the first few times I saw it, but then it just started to get extremely repetitive. I do not believe that anyone genuinely watches these videos and starts to laugh out loud from how the concert will not be playing Fein.

2. Mama a girl behind you [purple heart emoji]
As seen in the viral Snapchat video, there is a little boy who is filming his mom’s outfit; yet to everyone’s surprise there is a filter on the video, causing there to be a bitmoji “dancing” behind his mom. Since her son doesn’t understand that there is a filter, he says “mama a girl behind you” warning his mom about the bitmoji dancing behind her. At first said as something cute and innocent, the internet could not get enough of “mama a girl behind you.” The video is funny, yet when I scroll through TikTok comments I am bombarded with purple hearts and people trying to recreate this meme for any type of video.

Another popular trend on TikTok is “hopecore videos,” which convey hope, optimism, and love in an edit. Then somehow people now created “mama a girl behind you” hopecore videos, so that “mama a girl in front of you” implies that looking into the future is beneficial. Honestly, the fact people started to comment “mama a girl behind you” was already painfully unfunny, but at this point it’s gotten exhausting to even open the comment section, when I can predict what everyone will be saying. Then when people say the meme in real life, it is genuinely unfathomable to even continue talking to them – how are you so chronically online?

3. Can I go to Ellie and Mason house?
In a chain of text messages a little girl texted her (as assumed) mother, where she sent her mom a picture of her crying then said “Please can I go to Ellie and Mason house.” Very quickly people turned the picture of this girl crying into a meme, like putting makeup on her. In perspective this was funny and people were extremely creative with the way they would change the meme up, but soon people started to text their parents “Can I go to Ellie and Mason house?” Now here is when the meme gets unfunny, and everyone thinks it’s top tier comedy to ask their parents if they can go to Ellie and Mason house. I’m not trying to sound very negative and boring, but literally everyone’s parents were just confused, and it was honestly sad to see how lost everyone’s parents were.

4. What I do?
At a Walmart a man came up to a random woman, and started to do a prank on her. He told her “he knows what she did” when she didn’t actually do anything. She started to get defensive and then she said “what I do,” which quickly became an iconic moment. The actual video itself was almost close to perfect because the video quality was grainy, the video was taken in a Walmart, and the woman was fairly sassy. Yet of course everyone had to quote this meme like their life depended on it, for videos that were not even closely related to this reference.