Blind dates are always awkward: there’s the anticipation of who will be sitting across from you, the question of if you’ll like them and what to talk about. Blind dating on Zoom is even more uncomfortable—but has now become somewhat of a norm in our  current society, where we can no longer safely...

Last year, I did not have consistent study habits. I would procrastinate and pull all-nighters before tests, alternating between an hour of work and an hour of TikTok. I never used class time efficiently. By the time I came home after a long day of classes and water polo practices at around 7 p.m., I...

For months, colleges have attempted to battle the COVID-19 pandemic while accommodating students’ needs and desires. For some schools, that meant closing campuses entirely; for others, it meant allowing students to return to campuses while taking online classes. Some colleges have even attempted to...

Given both the disproportionately large number of elementary school teachers reluctant to return to campus and the safety concerns surrounding reopening campuses, The Oracle urges the school board to vote tomorrow against reopening all school campuses until it is safe. This editorial comes in response...

The beginning of the 2020-2021 school year has been marked by dramatic changes, especially in the district’s transition to fully virtual, synchronous classes. Much of the transition process has been commendable, from teachers reimagining their classroom strategies to a renewed emphasis on campus wellness...

Santa Clara County has been held in suspense for more than half a year while facing multiple surges of COVID-19 cases. The months of social isolation and constant caution have been draining for us all. Fortunately, Santa Clara County moved from the “purple” to the “red” tier of California’s...

Back in February, when my dad flew to visit my grandmother in Taiwan, she asked him to bring toilet paper. At the time, the request seemed hilarious and absurd: a spark of amusement in the midst of my everyday life. Unbeknown to all of us, our stores would run empty of the same bathroom staple...

In the midst of the global pandemic, classes have transitioned from letter grades to a credit/no-credit system. The key impact of this decision is that a students’ spring semester performance will not be calculated in their overall grade point average (GPA). At Gunn, a student’s performance is evaluated...

For months, the world has been at a standstill. Millions are becoming infected with the coronavirus in one of the most severe pandemics in history. While the death rate has been fairly low, the novelty and infectiousness has provoked a cautious government response entailing social distancing, the closure...

In the diverse community of Palo Alto, where girls are encouraged to go into Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) professions, it can feel as if schools have all but erased internal biases. This false assumption, which fails to take into account real-life experiences of girls in the district,...

“One size fits all.” This phrase, used by stores to bypass making sizes inclusive for different body types, represents the negative impact that modern fashion has on teenagers around the world. While the phrase is not seen everywhere, it stills engenders body image problems for many. Clothing...