Boxing: The Hardest Sport

    The question of what is the hardest sport has been a hot topic of debate amongst athletes and sports analysts for a very long time, and it's very hard to answer. Of course, what makes a sport hard is subjective, but there are certainly aspects of some sports which put them far out of almost everyone's comfort zone. Requiring mental toughness, stamina, physical strength, and skill all make a sport harder, but some sports take these to the extreme. No matter what sport one chooses to back in this debate, there will always be a sport which is blatantly more difficult, such as turning Lacrosse into Lacrosse on horseback. This is why in this blog post, I'll be only considering sports that are fairly well-known and commonly played. Among these popular and common sports, I believe boxing is the hardest.

    One obvious reason boxing is hard is because of the physical demands and stress it puts on the boxer. Fighting for many minutes with very little break is very taxing and requires a lot of stamina. Also, knocking someone out or inflicting enough damage to win the fight needs a lot of explosive power as well. The footwork and movement means you also must be very agile and coordinated. You also need extremely quick reaction time to dodge your opponent's punches. There is a lot more physical training needed for boxing than many other sports.

    Another reason boxing is so hard is because it requires extreme bravery to attempt and willpower to continue. Even just attempting boxing means you have to be willing to risk getting injured badly. On average there are 223.9 injuries per every 1000 boxers (Mao et al.). Also, if a boxer is getting beat badly, and is hurt in many places, it takes a lot of mental strength to keep fighting and try to win. 

    Boxing also requires a lot more strategy than many might think. A lot of people might assume that whoever is stronger and more agile will win. However, strategy, footwork, and feints all make a huge difference and allow a boxer to land more hits on their opponent. These aspects are hard to train, usually requiring a coach or partner, but are very important to who wins. Not only that, in a fight, your body pumps with adrenaline and your brain's frontal lobe, which is responsible for clear thinking, can't function as well (Domonell). This means you have to consider strategy and footwork while tired and can't think straight.

    Boxing has many elements which make it hard, including power, stamina, coordination, agility, reaction time, bravery, willpower, and strategy. Most other sports have a few of these, but not all of them. However, boxing is hard because a boxer must be good in every one of these aspects to be truly elite. The combination of all the skills and training needed for boxing is why I believe boxing is the hardest sport.

Works Cited

Domonell, Kristen, and Princing, McKenna. "This Is Your Body on Fear." Right as Rain, UW Medicine,    27 Oct. 2023, rightasrain.uwmedicine.org/well/health/your-body-fear-anxiety. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.

Mao, Yunhe et al. “Incidence Rates and Pathology Types of Boxing-Specific Injuries: A Systematic             Review and Meta-analysis of Epidemiology Studies in the 21st Century.” Orthopedic Journal of             Sports Medicine vol. 11, 3. 31 Mar. 2023, doi:10.1177/23259671221127669

Laufey, an Up and Coming Artist - Felix

 What Musician, Actor or Author Should Be a Superstar, but Hasn’t Quite Made It Yet?

 

Laufey (pronounced lay-vay), the Icelandic singer/songwriter, is far from superstardom, but deserves to be just that. Born and raised in Iceland, she always knew of her dream to become a famous musician, but was never largely known until the COVID-19 pandemic (Gross). Ever since then, she has gradually gained more popularity and is now selling out stadiums in her current tour based on her most recent studio album A Matter of Time (Gross). I personally don’t consider this as her being a superstar because at that level of popularity I imagine that nearly everyone (at least in American culture) would recognize her name. On several occasions, I have casually mentioned her name, and proceeded to be met with blank stares. While this is not the only factor that defines someone's fame I believe it provides a good idea on how well known they are generally.

In my opinion the most deserving artists to be popular should, in some way, make an impact on the music industry. Laufey has done something that appeals to pop genre listeners but also includes her own take on it. Laufey has used both her classical and jazz music knowledge and added pop influences to make a combined sound of the three genres mentioned. She has made a significant mark upon the music industry and continues to do so, having recently won her second Grammy for best traditional pop album (Gross). As a songwriter, she has written most of her songs with themes of love, as is the norm for both the jazz and pop genres, with lyrics ranging from “One day, I will stop falling in love with you / Some day, someone will like me like I like you” (lines 7-8) to “I've had enough / Of waiting 'til you lie and cheat / Just like you did to the actress before me” (lines 8-10). With just these lyrical examples alone, it is clear that she is a versatile songwriter. While some may be under the impression that songs about love are flat or universally one way, I think Laufey expertly demonstrates the many facets of love in her lyricism.

Laufey’s aforementioned five-act stadium tour continues to sell out shows (Fell). She candidly remarks in an NPR interview, “Every night I go out on stage and I'm shocked that this many people even know who I am” (Gross). Despite this success, I would still not consider her a superstar, as she is still fairly new to the spotlight, as suggested by that previous quote. As earlier stated, she gained traction during the pandemic due to her jazz covers on social media receiving large amounts of attention (Gross). This internet success led her to later release her first two studio albums Everything I Know About Love and Bewitched. The latter which, according to Gross, “topped Billboard's jazz and traditional jazz charts,” (Gross). From jazz covers during the pandemic to sold out stadiums, Laufey continues to grow in success and I believe that she is well on her way to becoming a superstar.

What makes someone deserving of being a superstar and what makes a superstar? I’ve tried to answer those very questions in this blog post as best I can by explaining why Laufey deserves to be of that status. While there are several people I think should be more famous than they already are, Laufey is the only one who I truly think is capable of reaching that status in such a competitive and demanding industry. In a recent interview with NPR, Laufey says “I think I gained a bit of a reputation as this very soft artist with my last projects, and though I am that, I am so much more than that as well” (Gross). This excerpt shows her honesty and represents how she’s trying to break away from this misconception about her capabilities as an artist, showing how promising her career is, especially if she plans to continue to go out of her comfort zone. In conclusion, I truly believe that Laufey should and will be a superstar one day.



Here is a link to a small performance she did for NPR in 2023 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avjI3_GIZBw

Works Cited 

Fell, Nicole. "Laufey Charms L.A. Crowd With Her Whimsical and Theatrical A Matter of Time Tour." The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Oct. 2025, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/music/music-news/laufey-la-matter-of-time-tour-1236387430/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.   

Gross, Terry. "Laufey was an 'odd fish' in native Iceland. Now she's a jazz-pop star." NPR, 8 Oct. 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/10/08/nx-s1-5561773/laufey-fresh-air. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.  

Laufey. “Let You Break My Heart Again.” Let You Break My Heart Again, AWAL, 2021. Genius, https://genius.com/Laufey-and-philharmonia-orchestra-let-you-break-my-heart-again-lyrics. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.

Laufey. “Tough Luck.” A Matter of Time, AWAL, 2025. Genius, https://genius.com/Laufey-tough-luck-lyrics. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026. 

Mago, Nicole. Laufey performing on the A Matter of Time Tour. Vogue, https://www.vogue.com/article/laufey-bode-a-matter-of-time-tour-costumes. Accessed 5 Feb,  2026.  

Warren, Gemma. Album cover of Bewitched: The Goddess Edition. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewitched_(Laufey_album). Accessed 5 Feb,  2026.   

Rissah K - The Woman in White Reading Blog - no spoilers

    People who read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins will find themselves facing more than a straightforward Victorian mystery. The character Anne Catherick created the most frightening and unforgettable experience in the novel. From her very first appearance alone at night and dressed entirely in white, she feels less like a normal person and more like a living secret. The story presents her as delicate and unusual, yet her character develops into a vital part of the narrative who demonstrates how society overlooks people who lack power. 

    The gradual development of Anne Catherick's character importance through Collins's writing makes her character appealing to audiences. The characters who interact with her character believe she exhibits mental illness which triggers immediate response from readers who want to understand society treatment towards people who differ from established social standards. Walter Hartright is one of the few characters who listens to her and treats her with kindness, and through his perspective, we see that Anne is not dangerous or foolish, but instead frightened and desperate. The information she possesses about Sir Percival Glyde reveals her understanding of forbidden knowledge which creates suspense and draws readers to discover the hidden information she possesses. 

    The character of Anne serves as a major force that advances the novel's exploration of identity throughout the story. The character shares physical traits with another character which leads to disturbing events that occur throughout the story. The novel demonstrates that identity involves more than personal identity because it also includes the labels which others use to identify you. The absence of social power makes Anne Catherick susceptible to exploitation by others, which Collins uses to demonstrate how Victorian society employed the label of madness to silence women through mental illness classification. 

    The character of Anne Catherick remained in my mind after I finished reading the book. Her presence in the story remains constant although she does not appear throughout the entire plot. 

The Case Against Democracy?

 The Case Against Democracy?

By: Max Rosochinsky

Do you consider yourself a Republican, Democrat, or an Independent? In a country that forces us to characterize ourselves into one of three groups, I believe it is important to change the fundamental meaning of this question. However, the only way to do that is to ask an entirely new question to begin with. What are your political beliefs? Many aim to characterize their and others' endless beliefs and interpretations into two different yet similar groups, or choose the exit ticket and characterize themselves into the smaller, vague third group. Democracy is inherently flawed in the aspect in which it tries to represent all people's beliefs in a single unified group or a few individuals. 

Churchill once said “The best argument against Democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” (A-Z Quotes). Democracy relies on the fact that the voters are informed. Additionally, many voters might be acting on account of their own irrationality, or might be driven by emotion rather than knowledge. Democracy has a tendency to cease its functionality in dire circumstances, where both irrationality as well as emotion tend to take most effect. During the opening years of the second world war, Churchill often implored Roosevelt to help Britain hold off the Third Reich. Churchill did so before the fall of France, stating that such a move would erode the desire of the French to attain a separate armistice with the Germans in disregard of the agreement of the Anglo-French Alliance. He did so again before the Blitz, and once again to ask for destroyers to bolster the Royal Navy. The response of the United States was no. Public opinion favored isolationism rather than an intervention in Europe. The only thing that eventually dragged the United States into the war was a direct attack on its own military. The case to be made here is that, if the government wasn’t a democratic regime, the need for a high public opinion would be much lower, thus allowing an interventionist policy to take effect. 

Additionally, democracy is mathematically nearly impossible, as touched on earlier on this blog. Democracy's core principle is the election of a few to represent the many, or the idea of “all for one, one for all”. However, this rarely leaves all parties satisfied with the current government, and often causes tension within the country. Many decisions can be slowed down due to this nature for infighting to occur, particularly in distressing times. A country with a more dictatorial rule isn’t tied down in such bureaucracy, which leads to a centralized and efficient form of power, able to carry down and enact orders and policies quickly. One analogy to explain this can be found in a box. A democratic system acts like a heavily loaded box not taped together. Whenever you try to carry it someplace, some contents spill out or the box folds into itself. This is similar to that of a democracy: inefficient, and slow moving. Now imagine that this box was taped up, but in exchange you put a little more weight into it. Now, you can pick it up and move it wherever you please, despite having more weight. Dictatorships are generally more fast moving and quicker paced in their decisions, giving them a potential edge over any adversary. Despite the additional tension and possible unrest in the country, the centralized form of government of a dictatorship means that such demonstrations of displeasure generally avoid a mainstream audience, allowing for the dictatorship to keep operating. 

However, Churchill also said “Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried," (A-Z Quotes). Despite the inherent flaws of democracy, it is by far the best system that has ever been used. People have the option to oust governments if they don’t like them or if they prove incompetent, providing an advantage over a dictatorial system. One can at least have an option on who should represent them rather than no option at all. Governments can face pressure from citizens to enact or revoke policies, which would require much more support for an unfree system, and is less open to possible change. These benefits are only a few out of the many that democracy provides. Despite the inherent flaws of democracy, it is by far the best system available to us. 

Works Cited:

Web Page

"Winston Churchill Quotes About Democracy." Winston Churchill Quotes About

     Democracy | A-Z Quotes, A-Z Quotes, www.azquotes.com/author/

     2886-Winston_Churchill/tag/democracy. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.