Letters to the Editor: Shivani Palanikumar

Dear Editors,

I would like to start by thanking you for writing the article called “Retaining respect in cutthroat college culture” in the Smoke Signal. It is a very relevant article, especially during this time of the year. As a senior at Mission San Jose High School, I have observed the privileged mindset of many students on campus, that another person’s loss is someone’s gain. Reading this article in the new publication of the Smoke Signal voiced my opinion on this issue extremely well.

However, there were a few aspects about this subject that I felt were missing from the article that, if added, could help sharpen the point of the piece. The article mentions that this mindset is common in areas similar to Mission San Jose High School, and I feel as though the article could be improved by acknowledging the causes of this mindset in students. Some of these causes include the stereotype of the “model minority” or external pressure from adults or peers. I think this would be important to add to the article because talking about the root cause of an issue is a great way to begin to mitigate it.

Another improvement I feel could be made to this article is that it could highlight the impact of this harmful mindset in other parts of a student’s future. Since this article attempts to get students to acknowledge faults in their mindset, I think that by giving more examples past college admissions would help strengthen the article’s message.

Overall, this article was a well-written opinion piece that I enjoyed reading. I think many students on campus would benefit from the message of this article, and I look forward to reading more opinion articles in the Smoke Signal this year!

Thanks,
Shivani Palanikumar, MSJHS Senior