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Category Archives: Season 3
The Circadian Clock and The Adverse Effects of Elevated CAT Level
By David Baek, VI Form
The Circadian Clock and The Adverse Effects of Elevated CAT Level
Introduction: This project probes into the molecular mechanism of the circadian clock of Drosophila Melanogaster. The circadian clock exists in all living things and regulates the daily rhythm of organisms’ metabolism, behavior, and other outputs that affect the organisms’ development (CH Ko, 2006). The circadian clock is a field that researchers and scientists have yet to fully understand due to the ambiguity of how circadian clock affect invertebrates and vertebrates. To uncover one small aspect of this obscurity, this study seeks to find the effect of sleep deprivation on antioxidant defense in fruit flies. If there were to be a link, the investigation would be significant as the effect will explain how sleep deprivation in humans can lead to the weakening of their antioxidant defense, leading to multiple cardiovascular diseases and pathological conditions such as plaque formation in vessels (Takeda, 2011) (Dominguez-Rodriguez et al, 2009). (more…)
Get Educated on the Syrian Conflict: Three Perspectives
By Emma Plumb, VI Form, Nathan Cunningham, VI Form, and Harrison Buttrick, VI Form
Get Educated on the Syrian Conflict: Three Perspectives
from Mr. Adam Jewell: As summer has given way to fall, the brave trio of students in my Modern Middle East course has tackled issues around the rise and role of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (or al-Sham, ISIS to most), or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or to some Daesh within and outside the Middle East. As they looked at where ISIS/ISIL/Daesh ‘came’ from and what it ‘wants,’ they began to ask why it seemed that no one really cared. Below are their perspectives as to why you should care about the rise and actions of ISIS/ISIL/Daesh. (more…)
The Transition to Adulthood at Age 14
By Cynthia Yang, VI Form
The Transition to Adulthood at Age 14
In September 2012, I started my freshman year just as my father took a job in Shanghai. One month later, during my mother’s annual checkup, her doctor discovered precancerous cells in her breasts and ovaries. My father was forced to rush back to the States as my mother underwent two surgeries, which left her on bed-rest for nearly two months. My father, the only source of income for our family, needed to return to Shanghai. Sitting down with me right before his flight, he solemnly asked, “Can you help me take care of your mother and your brother?” I was nervous about the prospect, but I gave him my most winning smile, promising, “Of course I can.” (more…)
Connection By Pride: JeJu Island to St. Mark’s Exchange
By Kasey Kim, IV Form Exchange Student from Korea International School (KIS)
Connection By Pride: JeJu Island to St. Mark’s Exchange
When I first told my parents that I was going to apply for the St. Mark’s exchange students program, they initially came up with concerns: “Will you be able to handle everything?” and “Won’t it be hard for you to follow up all the missing work after you come back?” This program is a month long trip, and my home-school, Korea International School Jeju (KIS), just started their second quarter. We do have to make up nine tests and two projects after we return back to Jeju, and our new friends here at St. Mark’s have been demonstrating similar reactions to my parents: “That is so unfair!” and “Do your teachers really want you to have cultural exchange here.” The extreme follow up work is the reason why most students at KIS give up on this opportunity – but I was never more confident or ardent of anything else before. I cannot identify myself only as a student with high GPAs and successful academics. Now, here I am in Southborough, meeting amazing new people and experiencing new things that I had been only watching on Nickelodeon and Disney channel shows. (more…)
From Classroom To Lab: My Work With T Cell Therapy
By Lilly Drohan, VI Form
From Classroom To Lab: My Work With T Cell Therapy
This summer, I traveled to Seattle, Washington to work in the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute. My biology teacher presented me with the opportunity, and I immediately got my hands on it. Studying cancer at the microbiological level in Advanced Biology my junior year really challenged me and stimulated my curiosity, but what I experienced during August turned my attraction into almost an obsession. Dr. Michael Jensen, the director of the lab, takes an approach to pediatric cancer therapy that not many take: using the body’s own immune system to fight off the cancer. Dr. Jensen and his team reprogram immune cells called T cells using virus technology to give the cells specific properties that help them proliferate and target specific molecules expressed on cancer cells. This form of therapy is incredibly innovative and creative, and it was so captivating to be at the forefront of the further development of the treatment for just a brief month.
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The Founding Fathers’ Intent and the Formation of the Constitution
By Joey Lyons, VI Form
The Founding Fathers’ Intent and the Formation of the Constitution
Throughout the country’s history, Americans have romanticized the nation-building work of the Founding Fathers. Since egalitarianism, liberty and democracy are central to the American mythos, Americans have often associated those ideals with the country’s founders. In making this association, Americans neglect the private interactions between the founders and, instead, focus on their public rhetoric. In public documents, most of the Founding Fathers expressed a desire to establish an inclusive democracy with majority rule. However, the founders, all of whom were in the economic elite, communicated different beliefs amongst themselves. Privately, the Founding Fathers wrote about their concerns over the possibility of oppressive majority rule by common people. As wealthy landowners, events, like the Rhode Island Currency Crisis and Shay’s Rebellion (both in 1786), (more…)
To Go Through Hell and Resurface
By Isabella Cruz-Nascimento, V Form
To Go Through Hell and Resurface
Crazy, insane, bipolar, OCD–all terms that have worked their way into colloquial language. Most people use them to describe themselves; “Oh my God, I am so OCD, I can’t handle messy rooms” is a sentence that could be heard regularly among teenagers. However, swap in a teen that genuinely displays compulsive behavior and the declarations turn into murmurs of, “What’s wrong with her?” “She needs to calm down,” “They need to medicate her already”. Mental illness is inconsequential and intriguing, until one sees its effects in person. In a community like St. Mark’s, being diagnosed with a mental illness can be onerous, not only because of the rigorous environment, but also because of the burden of the connotations that come with having a diagnosis. In an environment that demands perfection, I sometimes feel branded as incapable of success because of my diagnosis. For the majority of the past two years I have kept my dishonorable secret closely guarded. I refuse to do that now. (more…)
En français: Madagascar & Bruxelles, Belgique
The following descriptions are written by French 2 students who engaged in a
project making brochures that detailed different Francophone countries.
LEO 