Spring break this past week has been an excellent opportunity to relax, sit back, and engage in self-care through interaction with entertainment. This was our moment to catch a break from a constant flow of work before we performed our last push to get us through finals, and of course, we spent our time binge-watching shows and movies, listening to various albums, and playing video games.
I dedicated my time mainly to reading “Six Crimson Cranes” by Elizabeth Lim and playing an amazingly animated indie video game by Team Cherry called “Hollow Knight.” “Six Crimson Cranes” is a YA fantasy and romance book (which has an equally fantastic sequel called “The Dragon's Promise”) which interacts with themes of Japanese mythology, magic, and coming-of-age. The story follows princess Shiori and her quest to return to her brothers after being banished for her ability to perform magic. “Hollow Knight” is a Metroidvania (meaning having diverse maps with different areas and hidden rooms) indie game developed in 2017. It follows the quest of ‘Little Ghost’ as he tries to rescue the kingdom Hollownest from the disease that destroyed it. It is an entertaining game, and for whoever likes it, another game from the same universe is coming out this summer called “Silksong.”
Gabriel Rojas (freshman, international business and French) watched a movie named “Illégal.” Illégal is a movie about a middle-aged Belarusian woman who had moved to Belgium with her kid with false papers. Upon being caught, she is put into a detention center, and the story follows her time there as she tries to escape to return to her child. Gabriel says, “it brought awareness to the problem of refugees and how they have a tough life. It’s not easy to do things as a refugee when you have that title on you. I have refugee friends, and it reminded me of how tough it can be.”
Madison Vath (sophomore, English) read a book called “A Day of Fallen Night” by Samantha Shannon, which is the prequel to “The Priory of the Orange Tree.” The YA fantasy novel follows the lives of four powerful women who are needed to protect humankind. Madison told me, “I like how it’s a fantasy book with feminist and queer themes.” She continues, “It’s so well-written too. The author does an amazing job at displaying multiple cultures throughout the story.” She also mentions how the reader doesn’t really know if the ending will actually be a happy one, keeping the audience on their toes, which Madison describes as “quite refreshing.”
Bianca Loss (sophomore, elementary education) watched the musical “Newsies” at Stadium Theater in Rhode Island. The musical is based on the real-life Newsboys Strike of 1899. She says, “the production was awesome. The actors were fantastic, and the music was just as good as I remembered.” She also mentioned the performers' strengths, considering they were in college. Bianca added that she was listening to the audiobook called “Spare,” the memoir of Prince Harry. She comments, “honestly, I just listened to it because I had a long train ride and was morbidly curious because of all the reviews.” She ended by saying that she thinks one has to be invested in him in general actually to be able to enjoy the book.
Solana Campbell (junior, business management) watched the movie “Kalank,” a 2019 Hindi drama starring Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. It won best male playback singer and best choreography at the 2020 Filmfare awards. The drama follows a story of love, conflict, and reputation set during the Partition between India and Pakistan. She comments, “There were a lot of ups and downs, but I enjoyed it. 10/10 would watch again.”
Natalia Poloche (freshman, biology) watched the movie “The Lake House.” The film follows the story of a lonely doctor who once occupied an unusual lakeside house. She begins to exchange love letters with its former resident, a frustrated architect. Natalia describes the movie as, “written so so beautifully,” and says, “it’s the kind of movie you would consider a comfort and feel good movie.”
School breaks are a fantastic time to discover new movies, TV shows, books, albums, video games, etc., which spark creativity and help us relax after a constant storm of homework, projects, and exams. I hope that you found something new that sparks your interest to engage with during your next break!
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.