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various spreads from Grip magazine Alberta Health Services Grip. It's your life. Grab it. This man is going to tell you how to deal with your life New magazine currently seeking writers, illustrators, animators, poets – creative types of all kinds – between the ages of 13 and 18. Articles, poetry, short stories, illustrations, comic strips and photography will be considered. Send questions and samples to creative@griponlife.ca. You will be paid. Really. Not a lot, but it's still money. griponlife.ca 3 what's inside 17 FEATURES Decisions, Decisions Top tips to conquer the homework mountain; Streeters about tough choices; deciding to study abroad; the Drayton Valley Horror Show; Plus: The BOAT quiz BY KAT PRIDE, LACEY P. MORRIS, ALYSSA KNOOP AND STEPHANIE SMITH Perspectives on Choice Fresh Out Of Rehab Everyday this teen opts not to do drugs BY ROSY LEE DEPARTMENTS ����e �e�r�� �a�ts ��u �lock the cyber pervs right now ���� �t �ne teen gets o�� the drugs ���hae� Rau�t He talks about rock, the �i�ed Signals, and high school ������������������������������������������� ���E �P ���� ���D � � � � � � � � � Fa� Fare: ���hae� Rau�t �s at the He�m Grip has a sit-down and a cuppa with Edmonton's own Michael Rault BY LISA OSTROWSKi Sex, L�es a�� �eb�ams Newsflash: Your new cyber friend, Jessica16, is really SweatyJim, age 41 Keep yourself safe BY PAIGE PARSONS Br��ge The Gap (�ear) The gap year happens between graduation and starting post-secondary What will you do? BY STEPHANIE JONES The Dar�er S��e A Q&A with a young adult novelist writing about a fictional teen overcoming self-harm BY ALLISON MCPHAIL And meet a real-life teen who is finally learning how to stop hurting herself BY JENNA Th�s �s F����a Ha��ett Meet this word whiz, who's finally slowing down after a very busy spell BY GRACE GRUNDY �t Happe�e� t� �e: Lear���g the Va�ue �f �e Kendra's life was spiraling out of control. She had to learn how to love herself and stop making herself sick – literally BY KENDRA DOETZEL 32 35 39 41 43 46 24 26 28 30 4 �essage �rom the �outh �dvisory council; word �rom the ��H�; the skinny on our contributors 6 �t Happe�s �ur e�perts test the latest games; Check out new books, films and tunes on deck; �ead our �ulletin �oard; Peek at the world o� work; See the signs at Dawson College; �lberta's own �e�opia.com 31 He�p �a�te� �s i� you're going to pose that question to your parents. Try asking us 48 D��ge: A Graph�� Ta�e �att is months away �rom graduation. �ut he's itching to leave his �riends and his problems behind and head out to the coast. Will he stay or will he go? BY PETER FERGUSON 50 P�rtf���� Winning poetry, illustrations and photography �rom Grip readers 54 The Last ��r� �t all started when she got out o� bed. � teen goes �rom calm to �razzled in 10 easy steps BY LACEY WALLACE Essay: The ���us��� �f Ch���e BY CHEYENNE SEIBEL C�ty Versus C�u�try Which one brings tougher choices? BY BRIANNE BERGERUD AND SAMANTHA MARCELLIN She's �y Baby Two teens weigh in on the decision to become parents BY MEGAN RYLAND 26 GRIPMagazine E dmonton-based alt-punk band Social Code has been through the highs and lows of the music industry. In the past several years, the band has changed its name, had several hit singles in Canada, toured exten- sively throughout North America, been signed to a major label and been dropped from a major label. It's been 10 years and somehow SoCo's still together. Not only that, but it seems they've grown closer. Formerly known as Fifth Season, Travis Nesbitt, Morgan Gies, Logan Jacobs and Ben Shillabeer have worked hard to get to where they are. Now in the midst of recording a new album, two of the band members take the time Since "no fruit is in season" at the time, Travis settles on whole wheat toast with hard-boiled eggs, while Logan and I each go for bran muf- fins. With their piercings, stretched earlobes and black hoodies, you wouldn't expect fresh fruit to be their breakfast of choice. But as it turns out the band has been on a health kick for the last several months. Travis explains that the last time they went through Vancouver, they went to a fast food joint and split two burgers for $5. "It was so good we decided to split it again. I felt so awful afterward I had to get Ben (Shil- labeer) to pull over," Travis says with a slight air of distaste. "[Fast food] tastes great, but it's really not," says Logan. The Edmonton band talks to Grip about music, the mixed blessings of success, naughty burgers and a fish called Gorman By Lisa Ostrowski Crack the (Social) Code out of a hectic schedule to chat and to fill Grip in on some of their latest news. TRAVIS AND LOGAN ARE SEATED NEXT to me, perusing the breakfast menu of this dimly lit diner in south Edmonton. The vocalist and bassist for Social Code seem incredibly down- to-earth but for some reason, I'm still not sure where to start. Do I ask about the name change from Fifth Season to Social Code? Or do I start off with questions about the new album? Luckily enough, they break the silence when they notice a severe lack of fresh fruit on the diner's menu. Travis flags down a waitress. "Sorry, is there any fresh fruit or a fruit bowl on the menu? I don't see anything," he says. FanFare griponlife.ca 27 SOCIAL CODE: (From left) Ben Shillabeer, Travis Nesbitt, Logan Jacobs and Morgan Gies 15 Tips to Squa sh Exam Stress Try this formula to eliminate anxiety and make test-taking a breeze By Nicole Pankratz What's bugging you? Global Good Luck Students everywhere resort to tricks and tactics to help them pass exams. In Korea, superstitious students believe that if you wash your hair on exam day, you'll rinse away all the info stored in your brain. Japanese students look for luck in Kit Kat bars. (Kit Kat sounds like kitto-kattsu, meaning "certain to succeed" in Japanese.) Some students in India swear by wearing the same outfit for each and every exam they take. Other words of wisdom from the four corners of the planet: • Use a brand new pencil (because it has no history of writing mistakes). • Write with the hand-me-down pencil of a stellar student. • Salute your parents before you leave your house on exam day. • Drink chocolate milk during your test. • Bring a good luck charm. • Pray! 14 GRIPMagazine griponlife.ca 15 Adults often joke that nothing in life is certain except death and taxes. But junior and high school students know there's at least one other thing in life that can't be avoided – And with exams comes stress. Stress in having to remember mathematical formulas and scientific facts you learned months ago. Stress in knowing you'll soon be spending hours hunched over a test paper,listening to the tick-tick-tick of the classroom clock. Stress in having to wait for days to find out if that fountain of knowledge between your ears pumped out enough right answers to make the grade. While exam stress is a fact of life for most teens, some struggle more than others with the symptoms – sweaty palms , butterflies in the stomach, the feeling of impending doom . If you're one of those teens whose heart races at the sound of the word " ," take a deep breath and read on. We have some tremor- tackling tips to help you make the most out of exam time. Tips to Squa sh Exam Stress 34 GRIPMagazine Sticks and Stones and More Bullying turned Kolby's junior high years into a nightmare – until he finally found a way to make it stop By Kolby Olsen Sticks and Stones and More M griponlife.ca 35 y life was pretty normal until I entered junior high school. I got teased once in a while but almost everybody does. When I started Grade 7, some- how I became the target of a group of wannabe tough guys at school. From Grade 7 through Grade 9, they harassed me almost every day. It started with name-calling and mean jokes in the hallway between classes. I tried to ignore it, but I think they could tell they were getting to me and it just kept getting worse. By the time I was in Grade 8, the harassment was happening in the classroom too. Some teachers noticed and others didn't seem to. The bullies would knock my books off my desk, throw erasers at the back of my head, spit at me and call me names. I'm pretty athletic and during junior high I played volleyball, basketball, badminton and ran cross-country. Sometimes the group of bullies would gang up on me in phys-ed class, especial- ly when there was a substitute teacher. When I came home with bruises, I just told my parents that I fell down in gym. What made the bully- ing so hard to deal with was the fact that it was never just one person doing it and I didn't know what to do when they were ganging up on me. When I started Grade 9, the bullying was so bad that I thought about quitting school. I was afraid to tell anyone about it, because I didn't want to seem like a crybaby or a tattletale. I knew I had to talk to someone about it, so one day I finally told my parents. My parents and I went to talk to the principal about the problem and things got better almost immediately. Although some of the bullies spread rumours that I had ratted on them, no one really listened to them and I felt a lot better. I realize now that I put up with a lot of bullying before I ever told any- one. If I had only told someone sooner, they may have been able to help and my junior high expe- rience would have been a lot more enjoyable. Being bullied made me feel frustrated, angry, afraid and embarrassed, but I also learned a lot about why bullies do what they do and how to make them stop.

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