By Kimberly Yamaguchi

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With the debut of the 2012 literary magazine, Equinox, just around the corner MHS staff and students have been given the opportunity to showcase their work. The only requirement was that each piece had to be an interpretation of the theme, “Shift.”

“I think it gives them a chance to express themselves and for both the artist and the audience to gain more appreciation for art. Also, I think that seeing peers’ artwork and writing makes the student body more connected as a whole,” said Sophomore Erin Waugh, creator of the painting “Train.”

The theme “Shift” was chosen by Journalism adviser Christopher Sato and left open to interpretation by the author or artist. “Basically, we gave the theme to the participants. It could be interpreted however they wanted. They could take the literal meaning of “Shift” or it could have been a more metaphorical sense,” explained the Equinox editor Junior Jeanine Higa.

Contributors hoped that the thoughts and emotions they expressed through their pieces would be something that readers could connect with. “Maybe people will see it and feel the same way I felt when I was writing it. That they’ll be able to connect to it,” said Sophomore Kaycee Oyama, whose poem “If Only” took “Shift” literally.

Equinox received an influx of submissions this year, which included everything from literature to art to musical pieces. “There were a lot of submissions in the literature category. Most were poems, though. We did have a few art pieces, photography and one music. A good range of selection, much more varied than last year,” said Higa.

Many of the pieces submitted, such as the musical piece by Freshman Mick Marchan, were brand new to the magazine. “The piece was supposed to show many failed attempts at restarting a man’s heart, so it had a lot of heart beat like sounds. It was very catchy,” explained Higa. The music piece will be inserted through the use of a Quick Response (QR) code, for the first time. This will allow the readers to scan the code with their phones to listen to the piece.

There were also a few feature art pieces such as teacher Milfer Araneta’s portrait. “His work was very professional. One of the pieces he made was on the multiple choice quizzes, the ones where you bubble them in. He filled a giant sheet of paper, probably over six feet, so that he had a portrait of a boy,” described Higa.

With the first real size magazine, instead of the usual pamphlet, the journalism staff is looking forward to the release of Equinox.