Skip to Main Content
The official student news site of Westview High School

The Nexus

The official student news site of Westview High School

The Nexus

The official student news site of Westview High School

The Nexus

Sara Brownlee

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor

Sara Brownlee (12) is in her third year as a part of The Nexus. She plays lacrosse and rugby. She also enjoys hanging out with her friends and playing guitar during her free time. She loves listening to music and making necklaces as well.

All content by Sara Brownlee

In a Flash: Making the Cut

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor April 8, 2022

Monsèrrat Margritz (12) anxiously navigated the Regis University campus as the wind whipped her face and the snow from the night before crunched underneath her feet, March 19. She left her tour group...

Column: Sara’s Official Guide Through the Music Genres: What’s Poppin’?

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor April 8, 2022

Pop music has undoubtedly been one of the most influential genres of the 2000s, giving rise to an endless number of subgenres. While many of the pop-genres stand out to me, nothing beats the simple,...

Column: Sara’s Official Guide Through Music Genres: Funk it Up

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor March 18, 2022

Funk is a musically complex masterpiece of a genre that has stayed timeless since its creation. Starting in New Orleans during the 1940s, a certain style of R&B emerged amidst the city’s well-established...

Mackenzie Camara (12) dribbles the ball down the field during the home game against Poway, Feb. 4. Westview won 1-0 and celebrated senior night, where Camara was honored along with six other seniors for their time and commitment to the team. (Photo by Cara Tran)

Girls soccer wins Palomar League, celebrates seniors

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor February 18, 2022

Defensive midfielder Ale Pino (12) and defender Alyssa Leano (12) staggered to the center circle of the soccer field and stood facing each other. The starting whistle blew. Leano kicked the ball to...

Column: Sara’s Official Guide Through Music Genres: Dreaming of Pop

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor February 18, 2022

With its introspective lyrics and captivating melodies, dream pop has consistently been among my favorite genres. Also referred to as “shoegaze,” dream pop features layered and heavily reverbed...

Column: Sara’s Official Guide Through Music Genres: Psych-ed About Rock

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor January 28, 2022

I grew up going to music festivals with my parents where psychedelic rock was the main genre these concerts and festivals featured so when my peers tell me they are unfamiliar with it, I am shocked. Most...

A Rugby How-To:

A Rugby How-To:

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor January 28, 2022

Marc Finn sits before his drum-set in his practice room. Finn has been a part of popular surf-punk band, The Frights since 2014.

Finn plays drums for The Frights

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor December 17, 2021

Piled in a tour van, towing their equipment in a trailer behind them, Marc Finn and his childhood friends set out in 2016 on their first national tour as the surf-punk band The Frights. The good,...

Art by Michelle Jin

Pumpkin spice ruins fall

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor October 29, 2021

I walk out of my house at 7:35 a.m. and smell the crisp, cold air of the autumn morning. I shuffle my fall play-list and begin the 15-minute drive to work. The sun has just begun to peak above the...

Column: Sara’s Official Guide Through Music Genres: Ctrl, Alt-Rock!

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor October 29, 2021

For a while, “alternative” was used as an umbrella term for underground music that rose to popularity under the influence of the punk rock genre in the 1980s. At the time, emerging artists were...

Walpole finds place in LGBTQ community

Walpole finds place in LGBTQ community

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor October 8, 2021

Max Walpole (12) blew out the candles on his 14th birthday cake and knew that his life would change forever. “I got it in my head somewhere, because I was 14, that’s when I was supposed to do...

Advocates for a Better Environment gathered in the amphitheatre in order to raise awareness for climate change through a strike. Through speeches and posters, the club members conveyed their dismay for the current situation and advocated for student action.

ABE urges youth climate action

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor October 8, 2021

Advocates for a Better Environment (ABE) President Bella Santos (11) began her speech with discernible emotion in her voice. “We need serious intersectional cli-mate action now,” Santos said....

Column: Sara’s Official Guide Through Music Genres: Riding the New Wave!

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor October 8, 2021

  Taking its name from the French New Wave of cinema that spanned the late 1950s, New Wave dominated the music industry throughout the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s. The term “new...

Column: Sara’s Official Guide Through Music Genres: Rock with me Folks!

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor September 17, 2021

When the mindfulness of folk music intersects with the instrumentation of rock, folk rock music is born. Hinted at with its name, folk rock is the product of the fusion of folk music in America...

Best Projects of the Summer

Best Projects of the Summer

YJ Si, Sara Brownlee, Michelle Jin, and Amy Wang August 27, 2021

Album: Call Me If You Get Lost “Call Me If You Get Lost” is by far one of Tyler, the Creator's best albums to date. I was skeptical about how this would measure up to his last album, “Igor,”...

Column: Sara’s Official Guide Through Music Genres – The British are Coming!

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor August 27, 2021

British Invasion is arguably the most influential music genre of all time. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones,​​ The Kinks, and many others gained popularity through British Invasion. This genre...

Opinion: Fast Fashion is out of style

Opinion: Fast Fashion is out of style

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor June 14, 2021

My first analysis of my clothing habits happened in Spanish 3-4. Built into our curriculum, there was a concept called fast fashion, which is a relatively new strategy of mass production. Essentially,...

Students commit to college for sports

Baseball & Softball Gerrit Erickson - California State University, Chico Gerrit Erickson (12) will extend his baseball career at California State University, Chico this fall where he will be a...

Team members celebrate after they win 13-12  against Canyon Crest Academy on May 7.

Girls lacrosse wins narrow game against CCA

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor May 19, 2021

Madi Letztring (12) scored the game-winning goal through a wall of defense in the last few minutes securing a 13-12 win against Canyon Crest Academy. The two schools have always played neck-and-neck,...

Opinion: My awkward first day of school

Opinion: My awkward first day of school

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor March 19, 2021

My alarm woke me up an hour earlier than it had on every other school day. Until this day, I could wait five minutes before my class would start to get out of bed. But today was different, today I...

Westview Theatre Company hosts first virtual improv performance

Westview Theatre Company hosts first virtual improv performance

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor March 11, 2021

 Westview Theatre Company hosted its first improv show of the year Feb. 26, with a Dungeons & Dragons theme in front of a live audience on Zoom. Two teams faced off in multiple competitions...

The Nexus staff's 21 book recommendations for 2021

The Nexus staff’s 21 book recommendations for 2021

Art by Grace Tseng Whether to escape, better understand or cope with our chaotic reality, books are especially necessary in 2021. For our first issue of the year, The...

Album Review: "Power Up"

Album Review: “Power Up”

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor November 19, 2020

 4/5 AC/DC is Back in Black with Power Up, their 17th studio album, released Nov. 13. The music industry has missed the iconic Australian rock band since their last album came out in...

Timeline: Presidential candidate Twitter responses to events of 2020

Timeline: Presidential candidate Twitter responses to events of 2020

This year, as unprecedented events unfolded one after the other, the two presidential candidates have taken to Twitter to express their views and, in turn, their political opinions and plans for the future. 2020 January...

Sunahara, Levine return to playing music after restrictions on concerts loosen

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor October 22, 2020

Stepping onto a stage for the first time in months, Mia Sunahara (11) and Jonathan Levine (11) see a very different crowd than what they are used to. Instead of packed venues, the band stands on an...

Album: “Chip Chrome and the Mono-Tones”

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor October 1, 2020

 4.5/5 After almost three years of silence, just when I thought my addiction to the band had calmed down, The Neighborhood pulled me back in. “Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones”...

Students report high screen time hours, negative side effects during online school

Students report high screen time hours, negative side effects during online school

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor September 17, 2020

In this survey, staff members at The Nexus sought to evaluate the impacts that online school has had on students. The survey contained various questions on whether or not the increased screen-time has...

Fall Sports Senior Commits

Fall Sports Senior Commits

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor June 9, 2020

Gallery|2 Photos Karen GaoWashington University in St. Louis- Tennis Karen Gao’s  (12) dedication to tennis began at the age of 9, ultimately leading to her committing to Washington University,...

Essential employees given praise not raises

Essential employees given praise not raises

Sara Brownlee, Managing Editor April 10, 2020

Employees of grocery and convenience stores across the world are risking their health every day because their jobs have been deemed essential.  In the United States, many states have...

Load More Stories