Ask Athena - March 2025
Ask Athena features the enigmatic and anonymous person behind The Pillar’s very own advice column. Athena will respond to questions submitted by members of Athenian’s community about anything from advice on AWE to fashion trends. Hopefully, these responses will provide some helpful advice and clarity on Athenian community members’ interesting lives and suggest some new perspectives.
Do you think we should do a "rate my professors" at Athenian?
The short answer is no. Athenian is such a welcoming environment, so we do not need a space that raises unnecessary divisions. If you want to decide what course you should take, I advise you not to decide on teachers based on “how strictly they grade” but based on what topics interest you. Our school provides a wide variety of courses, from The Food on Your Plate seminar to Filmmaking, so you should not feel compelled to take one particular teacher’s courses. If you want to know more about the teaching style of a teacher, talk to that person or to one of their students. You can get to know a teacher so much more than if you are looking at ratings by other students, when you don’t know if they are biased or not. I feel like “Rate My Professors” is something that colleges could potentially do, but not for high school, and especially not for Athenian.
How long does an Athenian student spend on homework?
The time that it takes to finish your homework varies primarily based on what classes you have the next day. For example, if you have a math, science, literature, and language class all in one day, the homework load may be greater compared to a day where you have a free period followed by only three academic classes. Additionally, the time it takes to finish each homework assignment really depends on the difficulty of your homework assignment. For instance, in literature class, it might only take me about 30 minutes to finish reading a chapter, while it would take almost an hour to finish writing a paragraph about something. I would aim to spend about 45 minutes per homework assignment, but given the varying factors above, take this estimate with a grain of salt.
Do you think that there is unconditional love?
While this is a complex question hotly debated by philosophers and psychologists from Plato to Freud as long as human civilization has existed, my inclination is to answer a tentative no. I think that romantic love, no matter how strong or healthy, is always conditional because it is typically based on certain qualities, actions, or expectations we have of our partner, needs that, if violated, can strain or eventually quell your love for them. For instance, some people report that after they have discovered their partner has cheated on them they swiftly feel their love for them sour, though emotional responses are difficult to predict and depend on the person in question. Additionally, people fall in love with another person at a specific point in their lives, and because people change—subtly or radically—over time, a common cause of breakups is that one or both partners feel that they simply don’t feel the same way for each other as when they first got together because their personalities, paths, or interests have diverged. It is more difficult to answer the question of whether unconditional love exists when you consider the uniquely intimate bond between parent and child, as numerous parents report that they still and will always love their children no matter what they do, what actions they take, or the pain they cause to others. However, there are also parents who feel that they can completely sever ties with their children if they have transgressed a serious moral boundary of theirs, such as committing extreme acts of violence or abuse, displaying abnormally cruel or sadistic personality, or even leaving a religion or belief system they consider a core part of their identity. It is almost impossible to know, however, without reading a person’s mind, if the physical actions such parents take to remove their children from their lives can truly shut off their instinctual love for their children. For that reason, while I am inclined to answer that I don’t believe that truly unconditional love can exist, there are so many uncertainties in this deeply emotional and personal topic that I acknowledge that I am not 100% confident in my answer. Thanks for the thought-provoking question!
Why is Donald Trump removing so many government agencies and how will that affect me?
As of writing this response, the only government agency that Trump has shut down is USAID (the United States Agency for International Development). He has also shown a clear interest in going after the Department of Education. In terms of USAID, there is an argument to be made that cost-cutting and reform is desirable. However, the decision to shut down the agency has left workers stranded and vulnerable, and may have lasting detrimental effects on international affairs. It is unlikely to affect you, on a personal level. The elimination of the Department of Education would not affect us at Athenian on a personal level either, but it would have large implications for the United States. And, you won’t be at Athenian forever.
Is it possible to achieve true democracy in a school setting or are efforts to promote it more symbolic than meaningful?
Most schools aren’t democracies. However, Athenian values democratic thought, which is one of the six IDEALS. There are many ways Athenian promotes democracy. Our town meeting system allows students to submit proposals for changes they want to see in our community. The clubs and affinity groups students can form foster safe spaces for discussion and debate. True democracy is almost impossible to achieve in an institution serving young people, but Athenian encourages students to think about and value democracy.
Why are the conservative people at the school so quiet? I KNOW THEY EXIST, but they don't say anything. They should speak up more and make my classes more interesting.
The way I see it, conservative students don’t feel comfortable coming forward and expressing their views, especially in classroom settings, because the Athenian community is dominantly left-leaning. Fear of social ostracization, backlash from teachers, or offending someone can prevent conservative students from expressing their views freely. Creating more spaces on campus where the non-dominant viewpoint is acknowledged and considered is important to developing a vibrant political discourse on campus and could potentially change that.
Do you think humans are getting uglier in general? If yes, how so?
Beauty is subjective and every person has a different definition of what they consider beautiful. Beauty standards, however, are constructed by society to decide who to deem desirable and what features make someone so. I wonder why you ask why humans are getting uglier when there is much more evidence suggesting that humans are slowly molding our appearances into the beauty standard. Here’s a case study: South Korean height has greatly increased over the last century. Vox published a video in 2023 analyzing the fact that the average height for a Korean woman was 4’7 a century ago, but since then this has increased by 7 or 8 inches for an average height of 5’2. This is the largest increase of any country. The men’s average height increased by around 6 inches. In the past century, especially in South Korea, quality of life, nutrition, and healthcare have improved and this contributes to how much people end up growing. Let us not forget that all around the world people are encouraged to conform to beauty standards and during this period in South Korean history attitudes towards height shifted. A taller height is globally considered attractive and desirable. Before South Korea became more globalized, shorter height was considered desirable. Now that standards have shifted, along with the environment improving, South Korea has grown (literally). There have also been leaps in technology, healthcare, but also cosmetics. In the U.S. it is widely considered attractive to be tan and have muscle definition. With the recent invention of self-tanner, now anyone can be tan for as little as 15 bucks. Now with discoveries in healthcare, we can calculate how many calories we need to eat and burn and what exercises to do in order to achieve an ‘attractive’ physique more easily. Beauty, now, is not just left up to chance, we can more drastically change the way we look. There are so many cosmetic procedures available to the public. Braces, hair transplants, waxing, contact lenses, eyelash extensions, hair extensions, shapewear, makeup, skincare, and so much more are available all to mold people into conventional attractiveness. Not to mention the invention of the internet has given the average person a wealth of knowledge on how to best use things like skincare, makeup, and clothes to make yourself look more ‘attractive’. But this is where the real answer to your question is. Humans have been increasing in perceived attractiveness yet we perceive ourselves as decreasing in it, and this is because of the internet. Now, more than ever, we are seeing more people through apps like TikTok or Instagram. Apps like these have algorithms to show you one thing: things that are pleasing to the eye, or rather things you want to see. This is true for all media from TV, to movies, to even music artists. It’s rare to find someone in the media who isn’t considered attractive. There is a show that is entirely about pretty women prancing around in cute clothes, wanna know what it is? The Victoria’s Secret fashion show! And these people have been idolized for their appearance and pushed to the forefront because of their perceived attractiveness, from Adriana Lima, to Sabrina Carpenter, to the Kalogeras sisters. It’s no secret that we like to look at pretty people and media utilizes this so they can keep their viewers and stay popular. This is why we think we’re ugly, because nowadays it’s so common to see a pretty person whether it be on the internet or in person. Think about it: in the 13th century BCE Helen of Troy was said to be the most beautiful mortal woman. What was attractive back then? Having all your teeth? Having a full head of hair? If you’re a pyramid builder in ancient Egypt the prettiest person you’d likely ever see would have clear skin, be above 5’0, and not have leprosy. I’m sure if someone from then got a glimpse of Anok Yai they’d think she was an actual deity from above. Our beauty standards have risen so much since then, siren eyes? Plump lips? Small noses? Beauty standards have gotten to a point where now that it is common for humans to have things like straight teeth or good makeup we’ve started creating insecurities out of random things. So, questioner, are humans getting uglier? No! We aren’t, however, we think this because we compare ourselves to humans that are 1 in a million, we compare ourselves to people who have had plastic surgery or have altered their photos. We are not getting uglier, we are getting more insecure.
