![Minutes before the Activities Fair in the gym, president Abhi Gowda ‘26 prepares the stall for his club Helping Hands, Sept. 4. A relatively new club, Helping Hands was co-started by Gowda and focuses on assisting the homeless, and just last year they succeeded in raising a couple hundred donations to send to shelters. This year, they have goals to expand, with hopes to increase volunteer opportunities and take in-person trips to shelters, as well as extend their help beyond just homeless people. “The Activities Fair gives a lot of underclassmen the opportunity to really get to know the Canyon culture, and it gives them many opportunities for service and volunteering,” Gowda said. “[Through the Activities Fair,] I hope to find a bunch of new and passionate members about our club and just get our name out there and spread awareness to the cause that we’re fighting for.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-2-1200x885.jpg)
![The winter guard team makes fifth place at the state championship finals in the Denver Coliseum, March 30. The team performed to Barnes Country's “Glitter and Gold,” lead by coaches Margo Sanford, Blair Bickerton and Anna Orgren. In their class there were a total of nine groups participating, and the top five who made it to finals received a plaque. “[Walking onto the stage] is very nerve-wracking, but also very exciting as well. When you first start color guard there's a lot of anxiety and uncertainty when you first perform in front of an audience, but once you've done it for a while, it starts to become the best part of the season,” Ella West ‘25 said. “It's very fulfilling to see an audience react to something you've put your heart and soul into.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Both-socal-media-nd-website-main-1-1200x846.jpg)
![April marks the 25th anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, created by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). This month is to spread awareness of the harassment, assault and abuse that happens around the world. The symbol that represented the month was a teal ribbon; however, some survivors of assault create different symbols and movements like the TikTok trend in 2022, where survivors would tattoo Medusa on their body, in honor of her backstory in Greek Mythology. “I don't think [this month is known] at all. I rarely see anybody talk about it. I rarely see much of an emphasis on posting it online, or much discussion about it, and I feel like there needs to be way more discussion,” an anonymous source said. “I think just validating every experience that a person has gone through, regardless of the degree of it, the severity, is an essential step into making sure that people are aware that this is a very real problem in a society and that we need to do better in addressing it.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_0011-1200x900.jpg)
![Lesbian Visibility Day is April 26, and it’s a holiday to celebrate the lesbian community of the world. Lesbian Visibility day was established in 2008 by many queer activists and organizations who sought to raise more awareness for lesbian history and culture. “So this is why during Lesbian Visibility [Day] we celebrate and center all lesbians, both cis and trans, while also showing solidarity with all LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people,” Linda Reily, in an article written by her, said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Lesbian-Visibility-day.jpeg)
Land of the Free, Home of the Brave
What can we learn from the American spirit of sacrifice?
media by Amanda Brauchler
A photo of the Marine Corps war memorial in Washington D.C., a statue of Joe Rosenthal’s photo of the six Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima.
January 14, 2021
The hardest days are often the most worth living; for these are the fires that forge great men. The men whose shoulders you stand and whose trail you walk. It is quite easy to feel defeat, easy to feel lost and to feel alone. It is easy to think about yourself and not others. The easiest thing a person can do is give up.
It is hard to be brave. I don’t mean taking a political stance or posting something to social media; It is brave to sacrifice for your fellow man; to protect those who cannot protect themselves; to fight for what is true. There are many people in our country who go to work and do not know if they will come home, many of whom live in our communities, and work to keep us safe. Our police, our veterans, our soldiers, these people show us what real bravery is real bravery embodies.
It is hard to fight for what you know to be right, against all odds. 244 years ago a small group of people went to war and defeated the greatest empire in the world. That group fought to protect their God-given rights of life, liberty and justice for all. Those men had the strength to stand when the world was crashing down upon them.
The United States of America is a country built on the sacrifices of countless great men and women, not for the state or the world; These people made sacrifices in the hope that they would help the people around them and the people who will follow them. It may be hard to fight against the odds, hard to show bravery, to sacrifice for others and not for you; but that is what defines a great man. A country is built on the sacrifices of its people and lost on the lack thereof. When your time comes, if nothing else, remember this “There is no greater love than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13