Staff Editorial | The Chronicle
In a time when political division is more prominent than ever, it can feel like unity is just a concept. Social media feeds are filled with partisan arguments, news headlines highlight conflict and it is easy to forget how much we still share. The truth is, we are growing up in a nation that seems more concerned about winning an argument than understanding each other.
This constant polarization is not only exhausting but dangerous. When every disagreement becomes a moral battleground, it can be easy to dehumanize one another, to assume the worst and to forget that behind every belief is a person shaped by fears, hopes and experiences we may never fully understand.
This is why community matters now, more than ever.
As a staff, we have seen how quickly division dissolves when people are brought together by something simple and shared. As a pastime, some of our staff members have taken to playing Play Nine, an online multiplayer golf card game that encourages competition and community while reminding us that our in-staff friendships are what hold this paper together, not just the chaos of the newspaper cycle. As we shout at each other in games of Imposter and Mafia, we simultaneously interact without filters, without titles and without the instinct to immediately defend our opinions.
It is easy to dismiss games as trivial or “unserious.” But in a country where conversations have become increasingly hostile, spaces that encourage cooperation, laughter and trust are anything but meaningless. They are rare and they are necessary.
This truth was on full display on January 16th, when Mason High School hosted the St. Xavier Bombers for an in-school wrestling dual. The atmosphere was electric; the gym was packed with students standing shoulder to shoulder, cheering together, feeding off the same energy. Each match united the crowd in anticipation and Comet pride. For a few hours, division lost its grip. What replaced it was collective emotion, shared purpose and the reminder that we are strongest when we act as one community. While it sounds cliché, “Mason Moments” like these showcase the unity of our student body, no matter the political and social climate.
That same unity appears time and time again at girls’ and boys’ basketball games, football games and other athletic events. When the student section erupts after a three-pointer or holds its breath during a final possession, no one is asking what your political beliefs are. No one cares what side of an argument you are on. In those moments, we are bound by something deeper than ideology: a sense of belonging.
Mason High School truly does have a space for everybody. You do not have to be playing an online golf game in The Chronicle’s newsroom to find your own community. Whether it is in the performing arts, sports, the Taylor Swift club or Model United Nations, there is a space for everyone here. That is the benefit of a student body of almost 4,000; somewhere within three floors and 12 pods, you are bound to find people who share your interests or passions.
We are not saying that politics do not matter. They do. And more importantly, healthy conversations about the political climate should be encouraged. But when politics becomes the only lens through which we see one another, we lose something essential. Games, whether online or on a court, offer a balance to that reality. They remind us that disagreement does not have to mean disconnection, and that unity does not require uniformity.
In a nation increasingly defined by division, choosing community is not passive. It is an act of resistance. Showing up to games, cheering together, laughing together and sharing experiences pushes back against a culture that profits from keeping us apart.
Mason High School is proof that unity is still possible, even in times of division. Not because we ignore our differences, but because we refuse to let them be the only thing that defines us. If we want a future that looks different from the fractured present, it starts in shared spaces, shared moments and shared games.
Sometimes, the most powerful statement we can make is standing together and cheering as one.
