Sophia Hsu

Articles

Featured Work

Explore a featured selection of my writing below.

The Standard •

Laura Bates confronts sexism through storytelling, activism

Award-winning author and activist Laura Bates was only five years old when she first felt the weight of sexism. After her younger brother was born, Bates said her mother received a gift in celebration of having a son.
“It was a piece of gold jewelry, and she asked my dad what it was, and he said that it was because, ‘You finally had a boy,’” Bates said. “That was the first experience I had of being judged and devalued because of my gender.”

Bates said for many women, sexism is first encountered...
The Standard •

Students take to Instagram to share their story, expose discrimination

The @shareyourstory.asl’s Google form does not require users to provide their name or email, making submissions anonymous. Angus said this anonymity could easily lead to false submissions.
“It’s way too easy to create fake responses, and I think that’s a problem that should be resolved,” Angus said. “It’s leaning towards a more dangerous place for ASL right now.”
Harrold said a downside of anonymous reporting is the inability to represent action the school might have actually taken.
“The risk in...
The Standard •

Small Business Showcase highlights community entrepreneurship, artistry

In February 2010, former Journalism Adviser Shannon Miller saw photographic potential on a snow day. She took out her camera and captured a telephone booth in the midst of the rare London snow.

“Everyone absolutely loved this photo,” Miller said. “So I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to make a card using this print and see what I can do with it.”
That same year, the Small Business Showcase — then called the Holiday Craft Fair — took place, and Miller saw it as an opportunity to sell her photographs....
The Standard •

Students embrace nostalgia through vinyl records

Jack Henry Richman (’24) owns a variety of vinyl records, a quarter of his collection being new ones. Yet, most of his records come from his father’s collection of older artists.
Jack Henry Richman (’24) said Generation Z has a big interest in any vintage items, gaining a sense of nostalgia for “stuff they’ve never even experienced.”
For Visual Arts Teacher Erik Niemi, the sentimental feeling of record players and vinyl transport him back to his childhood. Between the ages of five and 13, his ho...
The Standard •

Elia Blot-Lefevre reflects on entrepreneurial journey, career aspirations

While surfing with his dad along the Moroccan coast in 2023, Elia Blot-Lefevre (’26) could not ignore the unsettling amount of litter floating in the sea. After catching a wave brimming with plastic, Blot-Lefevre said he felt truly exposed to the gravity of ocean pollution. Blot-Lefevre and his father made an attempt to clear up the beach.
“We left thinking we had cleaned up quite a bit,” Blot-Lefevre said. “The issue was it was windy so we could see the trash cans with plastic flying out of the...
The Standard •

Apple TV+ Original ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ dives into hidden American history

In the opening of Martin Scorsese’s compelling masterpiece “Killers of the Flower Moon,” the Osage people dance over their oil-rich land showering them with wealth, a prelude to a story in which white settlers ruthlessly exploit the Osage Native Americans for their black gold.
The three-and-a-half-hour-long epic tells the story of the Osage murders orchestrated by William “King” Hale. His nephew Ernest Burkhart becomes increasingly entangled in the scheme. Set in 1920 Fairfax, Oklahoma, Leonardo...
The Standard •

From London to Chile: Atacama Desert’s clothes pile unveils fast fashion impact

When it came time for Jack Henry Richman (’24) to buy his prom suit, he knew the first place to look would be through the racks of a second-hand shop. Richman not only opted for vintage because of its stylish appeal, but also because he has been a consistent second-hand shopper since the age of 14. Despite scouring various thrift stores, he found each suit with a price tag of 200 to 300 pounds. 
“That made me realize the primary reason that a lot of people aren’t shopping sustainably is because...
The Standard •

Attention spans dwindle due to social media use

As I sat in my period eight English class, my mind resisted the efforts to focus on the pages laid before me. I could not understand why my attention span felt so short. Unbeknownst to me, the answer to my problem was in the apps downloaded on my phone.
As usership of social media has increased, so have our standards of appealing content. Social media platforms garner instant gratification, which can supply immediate fulfillment, yet lowers attention spans when focusing on substantial content ac...