For students in junior high and high school, this month is the time to register for courses for summer and next school year. Opportunities are even better for high school students because some electives can lead to employment and can be completed within 8 to 18 months (nocrcae.org/stem-professionals).

These courses are offered to Fullerton students in all high schools in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District through the North Orange County Regional Occupational Program (NOCROP). Students who complete the required courses for a chosen pathway do not just gain certifications but also the opportunity to be employed through partnerships with 500 businesses throughout Orange County. Free courses available in the summer are:

1) Medical Careers (Patient Care Pathway). Starts June 21, ends July 29, 8am-2:30pm Monday through Thursday. Online-hybrid classes plus Skills Day held once a week TBD. First in a series of courses that includes Body Systems and Disorders, Dental Core, Emergency Medical Technician, Medical Assistant (Clinical & Administrative), Nursing Assistant (Long-Term Care) and Sports Medicine and Therapy.

2) Body Systems & Disorders (Patient Care Pathway). Starts June 21, ends July 29, 8am-2:30pm, Monday through Thursday. Online-hybrid classes plus Skills Day TBD. Second in a series of courses listed in (1).

3) Information Technology  Fundamentals (Networking/Cybersecurity Pathway). Starts June 22, ends July 29, 8am-1pm, Tuesday through Thursday. Online-hybrid classes plus Skills Days TBD. Equivalent to one semester course. First in a series of three courses that include A+ Certification and Cybersecurity 1 (Networking+ and Security+).

Other courses offered are available during the regular school year and these are:

1) Food Service & Hospitality Pathway. Introduction to Culinary Arts, Culinary Arts and Retail Restaurant/ Food Service Occupations.

2) Hospitality, Tourism, & Recreation Pathway. Entertainment Park, Tourism Careers, and Hotel and Hospitality Management.

3) Emergency Response Career Pathway.  Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).

4) Systems Diagnostics, Service and Repairs Career Pathway. Introduction to Automotive Technology, and Advanced Automotive Technology.

Classes are held in various locations in north Orange County. During the school year, these classes are held after school and on weekends. Ask your school’s guidance counselor or learn more at the NOCROP website nocrop.org.

Meatball is a 3-year-old Pitbull mix who likes going on walks, playing with toys, and giving kisses. He is playful, energetic, and always has a smile. He prefers a home with older kids and no other dog so that his new owners can focus on teaching him the basics. Meatball was a stray when OC Animal Care took him in, so they don’t know much about him. If you want to adopt him, call 714-935-6848 or visit OC Animal Care at www.ocpetinfo.com.

“Like Home” follows Nelo, a girl who has lived all her life in Ginger East, her small neighborhood. But when her best friend’s store is vandalized, Nelo’s life is turned upside down and everything changes. She’s reluctant to accept this event and wants the neighborhood she knows so well to stay the same. Although it’s hard for Nelo to realize, she has to live with the fact that her neighborhood is slowly being “restored,” whether she likes it or not, and that Ginger East is next in a line of gentrified communities.

What I ultimately love about the book, above everything else, is the community of Ginger East as a whole. The way everyone’s lives are intricately woven with one another, with the neighborhood, and with new changes is a big part of the story, and how Ginger East united in the face of discrimination and gentrification is inspiring yet heartbreaking to read.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I can’t wait for more readers to get their hands on it. It’s a story of change, love, and discovering more about yourself. In addition to that, it has cute romances while capturing the nuances of friendship and grappling with social problems without making things too dark.

I’ll definitely be watching out for Onomé’s next book. Content warnings—blood, protests, police violence.

Yet again, TikTok is sparking another trend with the latest color personality test that designates users with their personal color and analyzes their personality type based on their answers. Offered in a multitude of languages, this 12-series questionnaire follows an algorithm that presents two answer options for each question. Later, answers are collected to match users with their corresponding color, and a brief, yet descriptive profile. Additionally, the site presents users with both compatible and incompatible colors. The color personality test is believed to be based on a personality profiling system created by Don Lowry in 1978, to categorize at-risk children. This friendly rendition offers amusing test results that TikTok users have been quick to share on their platforms. This new sensation may be more than just an exciting test, but perhaps an insightful experience for curious users.

Being a nurse is one occupation that has been overlooked in the past. It is usually overshadowed by doctors and has not gotten a lot of recognition. However, there are over 3.8 million nurses in America and each one plays a significant role in their job. Similar to doctors, nurses have different specialties and subspecialties, counting up to over 200.

March 19 is the perfect day to celebrate nurses as it is Certified Nurses Day. However, this day of recognition isn’t just about celebrating nurses, it’s about celebrating the nurses who have gone out of their way to get certified and gain the highest credentials possible in their field. The day of commemoration, March 19, is also the birthday of Margretta Madden Styles, the renowned expert of nurse credentialing. Since the first Certified Nurses Day, over 70 organizations have come together to celebrate this day.

To mark this occasion, you can reach out to a nurse you know and thank them for their contribution to society, especially during this time of pandemic. You can also encourage them to know the benefits of being certified and to get certified themselves, if they are not already.

Visit the website (www.nursingworld.org/education-events/certified-nurses-day) for more information.

Have you ever traveled to another country? If so, were you amazed at their wide variety of exquisite foods and snacks? Especially now that we can’t really travel anywhere at the moment, have you wanted to try these snacks in the comfort of your own home? Well, there are many international snack subscription boxes that offer varieties of snacks (and in some cases even drinks) from around the world. Here are some good subscription boxes that you might enjoy with your family, including one that I have personally tried myself.

The first box, Bokksu, brings us incredible snacks from Japan. Some of the best things this box has to offer are lemon cakes, seaweed tempura, and even different flavored Kit-Kats.

The next box, Tokyo Treat, also sends snacks from Japan. These boxes, however, contain more family-friendly snacks (by that I mean not as much seaweed and green tea) than Bokksu. Some of their best snacks include strawberry cookies and rice noodle treats.

This next subscription box, MunchPak, is a more global snack box that includes snacks from France, Brazil, Canada, and more. These boxes have many snacks similar to ours, such as hot chips like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and sour goodies like Sour Patch. If you like those types of snacks, or just want to see the snacks the rest of the world has to offer, then MunchPak is a good box for you.

Universal Yums contains snacks from around the world, like MunchPak, but of a higher class if you will, kind of like Bokksu. Some of this box’s best snacks include salted French chocolate and black truffle potato chips.

The final box is one that I have personally received and loved for the past six months: Snack Crate. Snack Crate is a subscription box that also features snacks from around the world. This one is unique though: when you first get a box, you can choose to have a box with just sweets, only savory snacks, or a mix of both. This box will give you more snacks that you like and less of ones that you don’t, although I think most of the snacks are good.

I have received snacks from countries like Brazil, India, France, and even smaller ones like the Netherlands. Although all of these boxes are different in their own various ways, all of them are good if you want to enjoy international snacks without going to that country.

To learn more visit www.cnet.com/news/best-snack-subscription-boxes.