December 2019

INSIDE THE ISSUE

opinion 5

feature 8

a&e 11

the bull’s eye NEWS

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OPINION

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FEATURE

Starting fresh in a new nation Guest speaker recalls walking thousands of miles as a part of ‘Lost Boys of Sudan.’

RENEE ELEFANTE News Editor As government troops descended upon a village in Southern Sudan during the second Sudanese Civil War, about 100,000 boys who would become known as the Lost Boys of Sudan bolted from their homes into unknown territories. One of them was Alephonsion Deng, who spoke in Diamond Bar High School’s theater on Dec. 2 from second period to fourth period.

Deng was seven years old when he was forced to flee his village.

According to his manager, Judy A. Bernstein, 16,000 of the Lost Boys survived and made it to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, with 3,600 of them immigrating to the U.S. in 2001.

One story Deng told during his presentation was how he started reading and writing. While attending a school in Kenya, he overheard an elderly man talking about a

magic power that nations could use to protect themselves. Deng later asked his teacher about it, and the teacher taught the class how to write the alphabet.

“My message to you really is that education has given me the voice I have today,” he said. “When you want to get the magic power, it’s not gonna be easy, but it’ll change your circumstances.”

Deng also shared the time someone called him “hot” after coming to America. When he was 19 years old and working in Ralph’s, a young woman he said he found attractive greeted him at the checkstand and they began talking. When she was about to leave, she asked if he knew he was “hot.”

Deng didn’t know what that meant at first, so after asking a co-worker if he was “hot,” he ran to the bathroom and began to wash himself. He told his brother what had happened, and his brother told him not to worry.

Deng then told Bernstein what had happened, and she began laughing, but Deng didn’t think it was funny. She told him what “hot” really meant.

“I start thinking about that girl, a

SPEAKER ON P. 3

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sports 14

DECEMBER 11, 2019 VOLUME XXXVIII, ISSUE IV ONLINE AT DBBULLSEYE.COM

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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SPORTS

THE MORE THE MERRIER

VICTORIA ARTALE

Diamond Bar High School senior choir girls performed “Winter Wonderland” during the winter sports rally held on Dec. 6.

Mock Trial takes second Court ruling yielded the same results as last year’s competition. connor cho staff writer In a competition with 101 other teams, 18 members from Diamond Bar High School’s Mock Trial team competed in the finals at the Los

Angeles County courthouse on Dec. 4, losing to LA school James Monroe High.

Advised by head coach Latitia Thomas and assistant coach Margaret Ku, the team competed in the finals with the aid of Deputy District Attorney Angela Brunson and DBHS forensic science teacher Ken Carlson. This was the second year in a row that DBHS finished second in the competition.

This year’s case, “People vs. Matsumoto,” focused on the victim,

Taylor Matsumoto. In the case, the victim was found dead in the bathtub with a contusion to the back of the head. The prosecution had the burden of proof to show that the death was caused by spouse, Bailey Matsumoto, who struck the victim with the golf club.

The defense dismissed the prosecution’s theory and reasoned that the death was an accidental drowning with an argument based on the

mock trial ON P. 2

Reflecting on their time at DB Gee and Horton will be leaving at the end of the semester.

ABIGAIL HONG

DBHS art commissioners created backdrops for students to pose with in celebration of the school’s art department.

Visual arts week draws a crowd The USB-organized event displayed various artists and photographers’ work. anika yatawara asst. news editor Highlighting the different arts programs on campus, Diamond Bar High School’s USB hosted the third annual Visual Arts Week starting on Nov. 18.

The event, organized by art commissioners junior Julia Ruelas and senior Tori Kwon, was held in the upper quad, where a variety of backdrops were provided for students to take photos in front of.

Ruelas said the idea was to show-

case the variety of visual art classes at school, with each day featuring a new form of art.

The chosen artwork displayed throughout the week was submitted by art teachers.

Junior Yifei Hu had her crosshatch (shading an area with intersecting parallel lines) drawing of seashells displayed during the week. This piece was one of her projects for her AP Studio Art class.

She used a sculpture containing real seashells as a reference for her artwork, with the whole process taking her four days.

“I played around with ideas and created a unique composition with seashells,” Hu said via Instagram.

Hu said she faced several challenges, specifically incorporating new techniques.

“This was my first time doing cross-hatching with markers [and] it was extremely horrifying,” she said. “Once a line is down on the paper, it’s there. You can’t change your mind on how that line goes.”

Contrasting the different color values (a color’s lightness or darkness) and shading were other issues for Hu. She said controlling color intensity and shading was more difficult in this piece since it was all done in marker, which is much more opaque compared to pencil.

Despite her struggles, she was thankful she tried something new.

“Nevertheless, it was a novel experience,” Hu said.

Meanwhile, junior Maya Aragon

arts week ON P. 2

had originally planned to major in education at Whittier College but transferred to UCLA and received a degree in design.

Gee worked as a graphic and interior designer, later designing Emily koh boutiques on Rodeo Drive in Bevasst. feature editor erly Hills. After having kids, she took a break from designing and Saying goodbye to the art scene switched her career path once at Diamond Bar High School for again to teaching. a new one closer to home, AP art “Watching my kids learn to be teacher Coleen Gee will be leaving artists and assisting them with her job at the end of the semester. choosing colleges or art schools to Also leaving the Brahma staff is go to, helping them choose a career Assistant to the Principal Nancy path, keeping communication with Horton, who will be retiring in Dethem after graduation and finding cember. out how successAfter moving ful they are, that “A message I would to Carlsbad, in for me is pure joy,” like to leave my northern San Dishe said. students with is ego County, Gee She has taught always have a positive has decided to a wide range of attitude and never find work closer classes, includto home to shorting AP Art and ever give up." en her long comDesign, FundaCOLEEN GEE mute. mentals of Art, IB “As much as I Visual Art, Introlove my kids here and as much as duction to 3D design and AP Art I love being a part of the Brahma History. Gee was also a class advisfamily, the drive and everything er for two different classes. is just too much for me, so I’m not While teaching at DBHS, she able to continue any longer,” she taught and learned new aspects of said. teaching like how to differentiate She has taught art for 22 years at teaching strategies to help each DBHS, and although her ultimate student succeed. Gee said she will goal since graduating high school miss the Brahma family and being had been teaching, she endured retirement ON P. 2 many bumps along the way. She

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NEWS

DECEMBER 11, 2019

THE BULL'S EYE

Connecting through life lessons Artists show various works Brahmas talked about personal challenges and overcoming them at TEDx KELSEY WU CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Eighteen Diamond Bar High School students spoke on a variety of topics, ranging from cyberbullying to the importance of keeping up with politics, in the third annual TEDx DBHS event, which was hosted by the Wellness Center on Nov. 13.

Junior Kyra Ruiz began the event in first period, talking about how her brothers received more praise in karate than she did, even though Ruiz trained harder, and how upset this made her. She explained that she later learned to follow her own path instead of trying to be in her brothers’ shadows.

Sophomore James Wu spoke next on how often harmless insults are used and how some people can become upset, leading to a decrease in self-confidence and other factors.

Senior Arella Yang closed the first period of presenters by discussing how to look past a person’s race, seeing who a person is on the inside and taking the time to understand each person’s layers.

In second period, junior Ava Kayahara spoke about her struggles with cyberbullying. Opening up about the months of torment that affected her life and how she recovered, she also presented her

arts week from p. 1

Photo courtesy of KELSEY WU

Students of different grades and backgrounds open up about topics such as mental health and social issues on Nov. 13. story through a video that showcased her struggles of cyberbullying through dance.

Senior Brian Lee presented next.

Starting off his speech by telling a story about his left lung deflation and how it affected him mentally, he then spoke about how a person can repurpose their stress. He said there are three steps one must follow: identify the problem, ask “Is it worth my stress?”and create and implement an impactful solution.

Junior Anoushka Bhat concluded the period by discussing what true friendship is and that one must learn to appreciate themselves, be self-confident and find a good friend group.

During third period, junior Arthur Zhuang spoke about overcoming his fear of speaking due to his unintentional stuttering. He spoke about how stuttering hindered

the staff Editors-in-Chief News Editors Asst. News Editor

Maggie Liu, Elizabeth Peng Renee Elefante, Elizabeth Peng Anika Yatawara Grace Lee Reyna Wan

Opinion Editor Asst. Opinion Editor Feature Editor Asst. Feature Editors A&E Editors Asst. A&E Editor

Kate Zheng Somiya Jajieh, Emily Koh Josh Kim, Maggie Liu Josh Chou

Sports Editors Asst. Sports Editors

Ryan Lam, Johnny Wang Victoria Artale, Alex Chun

Photo Editor Asst. Photo Editors

Victoria Artale Abigail Hong, Tiffany Lee

Business Manager Asst. Business Manager Web Editors Asst. Web Editor Staff Writers

Nia Mitchell Ryan Chan Renee Elefante, Josh Kim Reyna Wan Connor Cho, Camille McCurry, Vera Wang

Adviser

Doug List

contact us Diamond Bar High School, Room 459 21400 Pathfinder Road Diamond Bar, CA 91765 Phone: (909) 594-1405 x33459 Email: eye.editors@gmail.com Business Inquiries: thebullseyebusiness@gmail.com

editorial policy The Bull’s Eye is a public forum that welcomes the views of our readers. Letters to the Editor and Op-Ed pieces will be accepted only if they are signed. The author may, however, request anonymity. The staff reserves the right to edit letters without changing content. You may forward letters to Room 563 or submit them online at dbbullseye.com.

his social ability greatly and how he used to be so afraid to speak that when waiters would ask for his name, he would just spell it.

Zhuang said that he finally wanted to break free from his fear and seek help, and he eventually overcame this obstacle. The message he delivered was to never let your personal struggles consume your life.

Also during third, freshman Hilal Balik shared the stereotypes she has dealt with as a Muslim, specifically when wearing a hijab (a veil covering a woman’s head) and freshman Autumn Miller spoke on “The Weight of Insecurity.”

In fourth period, junior Derek Wang shared his view on why the younger generation should pay close attention to today’s politics.

He presented his personal ideas and opinions of American leaders and multiple reasons as to why

current students should be more informed.

Also during fourth, sophomore Anna Chen spoke about the microaggressions she heard as a Chinese American. She revealed that she later learned to accept her heritage. In her presentation, she said America is like a salad bowl in that “each element adds harmony while preserving the unique characteristics.” Also speaking was Angel Zeng on boosting self-esteem.

Junior Yifei Hu presented in fifth period about being mediocre and how one should accept that. She talked about how the kids around her seemed to be better at her at everything, including social skills, taking AP classes and having amazing achievements in extracurricular activities; this made her

tedx talks ON P. 12

made a painting of a man being religiously anointed (a ceremony in which oil is poured and rubbed on an individual).

Aragon’s inspiration for the piece came from her involvement in her church for the past four months.

“I do live painting at my church, so it was based on my pastor’s sermon on the anointing,” she said via Instagram.

Aragon went through a much quicker planning process for her work, simply making a rough sketch on the canvas before diving straight into painting.

“When I do these live paintings, I am usually unsure of what I will be painting,” Aragon said. “So as time went on, I was making decisions.”

She completed most of the painting at church, taking two more hours to add some final touches.

According to Aragon, her biggest challenge was the time constraint.

“Towards the end of my painting, I was running out of time and still had much to do with the background, so I tried to finish as much as I could,” she said.

Mock trial’s final verdict mock trial from p. 1 fact that Taylor slipped on the bathtub’s trough.

To prepare for the competition, the team practiced Mondays to Thursdays from 3-5 p.m. since Sept.

13. The actual competition began Nov. 2.

At the semifinals, junior prosecution pretrial attorney Harris Daud started off the night with his pretrial argument. Although he was interrupted by the judge’s questions seven times, Daud still persisted through the pretrial motion.

“I give a four minute memorized argument arguing the constitu-

tionality of the search conducted by the detective in our case,” Daud said via text. “I prepared for this argument by working with Ms. Thomas to write it, and then gave my argument to Ms. Thomas, Deputy DA Angela Brunson and the Defense Pretrial Attorney Emily Chen.”

Junior lead detective Phillip Ma received support from Carlson in preparation for his performance at the semifinals.

“This year, I was Detective Micah Eisenberg,” Ma said via text.

“To prepare, I would memorize questions my attorney would ask me and read in detail the case.”

DBHS trial attorneys in the con-

test were sophomore Eileen Zu, junior Crystal Tsao and senior Courtney Chan.

Chan was named MVP by the opposing team.

In addition to the court case, senior Katherine Chang, one of three DBHS courtroom artists, was awarded second place during the Mock Trial award ceremony for the courtroom art contest, where she was given three hours to draw a scene from the night’s trial. “[The team] was amazing, but the night of the finals was definitely not their best performance,” Thomas said. “I think they were nervous and tired, but they still performed well, just not their best.”

Brahmas plan for retirement RETIREMENT from p. 1 able to interact with her colleagues and students every single day.

“I will really miss working with the students,” she said. “That’s the main thing: is to watch kids enjoy what they’re learning and assisting them to be successful and realize that they need time and work.”

Although her time teaching at DBHS has come to an end, that doesn’t necessarily mean she has completely retired from the profession. She plans on possibly becoming a tutor for students in AP Art History or AP Art and Design or possibly even working in an art gallery.

“A message I would like to leave my students with is always have a positive attitude and never ever give up,” Gee said.

Horton, who has been working at DBHS for 23 years, has been responsible for helping students and parents who come into the office and scheduling appointments for the principal. She also assists teachers with scheduling substitutes when they are absent. Horton

Photos by TIFFANY LEE

Coleen Gee, left, and Nancy Horton are pursuing new paths in their lives. has been involved in nearly every aspect of DBHS, from planning for activities before school begins to graduation night, while serving Principals Catherine Real and Reuben Jones.

Some of Horton’s fondest memories from working at DBHS include getting to know the students who are office aids, seeing their accomplishments and watching them

graduate. After retirement, Horton plans to spend more time with her family, travel and attend to her garden.

“I will miss the camaraderie with the staff and the students, I think that Diamond Bar is a great place to be and we’re very fortunate because we have a really good team of people that work well together,” Horton said.

THE BULL'S EYE

DECEMBER 11, 2019

NEWS

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Sprocketeers debut in recent competitions Robotics accommodates new arrivals by creating a lower-division group for the FIRST Tech Challenge. abigail hong asst. photo editor With almost 100 students wanting to participate in robotics this year, Diamond Bar High School’s Team Sprocket captains have decided to create a new, lower-level team, the Sprocketeers.

Despite having around 95 students on the original team, the Sprocketeers only have around 12 members.

“Everyone has a lot more of an impact on the team overall than on Sprocket, since each person makes up a higher percentage of the whole team,” sophomore Quang Phung said.

They were placed in a lower division of the FIRST robotics competition, similar to a junior varsity-level sports team. The original team remains in the FIRST Robotics Challenge, while the new group is a part of the FIRST Tech Challenge.

“We want to give as many people the opportunity to be on the team as possible,” senior co-captain Jes-

sica Yen said. “[What] we thought of was ‘okay, what if we start a younger team?’”

Yen explained that the members of the Sprocketeers would have less experience and expertise than the more seasoned Team Sprocket members. Yen said that if the Sprocketeers are a success, they hope to have around 120 members next year between the two teams.

“It’s something that we’re experimenting with so that maybe next year, the FRC team can actually

“We want to give as many people the opportunity to be on the team as possible."

JESSICA YEN expand the team, and the younger members can actually join the FTC team first before they go to the FRC team,” she said.

According to Yen, adding another competing team was fairly simple. All it took was a registration, looking for and receiving grants and purchasing another robot kit with all the parts.

The registration was an online process that included a payment for the kit and other requirements.

A few grants that the Sprocketeers

received this year were from the Arconic Foundation, Boeing and a rookie grant from the FIRST Tech Challenge program.

The rookie grant is designed to pay for team registrations for rookie teams. This grant and the Boeing grant were $500 each while the Arconic Foundation presented $1,000 to the team.

There are around 18,000 Tech Challenge teams registered globally, but only around 8,000 are competing. As a new group, the Sprocketeers are just getting started; they placed 5th in their first meet held in November at the Webb Schools in Claremont; 10th in their second, also at the Webb Schools, and, more recently, third in their third competition at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont on Saturday. Their next competition will take place on Jan. 11.

Like the original Team Sprocket, the Sprocketeers meet twice a week from 3-6 p.m. to work on their programming.

“The Sprocketeers have the potential to grow and grow through the next few years,” Phung said.

“My ideal vision of the team is that the Sprocketeers will eventually gain an equal presence in DBHS as Team Sprocket has.”

As the Sprocketeers season comes to an end, the Sprockets season will start in January.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY SEES DROPOUTS, ADDITIONS

Out of 15 Democratic Party candidates, only six qualify for the debate on Dec. 19. Not among them are California Sen. Kamala Harris, former Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, all of whom dropped out last week. Meanwhile, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick have joined the race.

MARIN SECURES PRIME MINISTER POSITION

Transportation minister Sanna Marin is Finland’s youngest prime minister ever. She was chosen on Dec. 8 by her Social Democratic Party and was the head of Tampere’s city council when she was 27 years old. Marin will replace Antti Rinne, who resigned after losing the Centre Party’s support.

MY DAUGHTER’S ARMY

U.S. AND NORTH KOREA REMAIN DIVIDED

With stalled negotiations, North Korea warned the U.S. of a “Christmas gift.” On Dec. 7, the country’s UN ambassador removed denuclearization as a negotiation topic, saying that talks with America are unnecessary. The next day, North Korea conducted a “very important test” at a rocket launch site.

STRONGER REPERCUSSIONS FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY

President Trump signed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, making animal abuse a federal felony, on Nov. 25.

This bipartisan legislation builds on the 2010 Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act and prosecutes people who drown, burn, crush and torture animals.

Students serving the nation Two DBHS seniors work with the U.S. National Guard one week a month. vera wang staff writer

Photo courtesy of LISA PACHECO

Author Alephonsion Deng, who shared his experience as a Lost Boy of Sudan with students on Dec. 2, shows how to say “Thank you” in his native language.

Civil war survivor shares his story speaker from p. 1 and I said ‘I missed out,’” he said.

After Deng’s speech, 10 AP English students attended a luncheon where they could ask questions about his experience in America.

Deng said that his favorite part about America is that you can develop yourself and reinvent yourself without limitations.

English teacher and Girls’ League adviser Lisa Pacheco met Bernstein through David Putnam, the former detective-turned-novelist who spoke at DBHS in February. Pacheco suggested the idea of Deng speaking at DBHS to instructional dean Julie Galindo, who said hearing his story would help bring it alive for some readers.

“I hope that students and teachers gained a sense of empathy for refugees of war-torn countries, and I also hope that they adopt a welcoming attitude towards these individuals when they enter our country,” Pacheco said via email.

Published in 2005, Deng’s first book, “They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky: The Lost Boys of

Sudan,” was co-written by Deng, Bernstein, his brother Benson Deng and his cousin Benjamin Ajak. The memoir focuses on the three Lost Boys’ experiences from the war to moving to America and adapting to American lifestyles and cultures.

His second memoir, “Disturbed In Their Nests,” was published in November 2018 and co-written with Bernstein again. It chronicles the first year of their friendship and their own personal struggles: Deng with living in a new nation and Bernstein with why she wanted to help the Lost Boys and how much she should help them.

After the event, students could purchase the books for $20 each.

All of the proceeds will support Deng’s little brother, who will graduate this month from Egerton University in Nairobi, Kenya.

Senior Michelle Aguerrebere attended the event and the luncheon.

“I thought [his presentation] was very inspirational and eye-opening because we take things for granted,” she said. “Our problems are not as big as his.”

With the number of military applicants dwindling since 2015, the U.S. Armed Forces have been collaborating with high schools in recruitment efforts. Inspired by the multitude of opportunities the military offered, Diamond Bar High School seniors De Angelo Flores and Kamram Pirmoradian have enlisted in the U.S. National Guard, a branch of the army that, for the most part, is mobilized by state governors in times of local emergencies.

The guard accepts citizens starting in their senior year of high school up until their mid-thirties and offers a variety of benefits ranging from college financial aid to healthcare.

As a sub-level of the army, the program maintains a ranking system consistent with other branches of the armed forces, with positions ranging from privates, private first classes and specialists to corporals and sergeants.

“I decided to enlist because I saw people were losing their homes to the wildfires here in [California], and the National Guard gave me the opportunity to provide disaster relief while I studied to become a firefighter,” Pirmoradian said.

Positions held in private and private first classes are earned by the time spent in the rank or referring acquaintances for enrollment, while specialists require a college degree and more time dedicated to the organization. On the other hand, corporals and sergeants achieve their positions through referrals from class lietenants.

As reflected in responsibilities and seniority, those of higher ranking receive higher pay, more ben-

efits and have the opportunity to lead a larger team.

Enlisting several months ago, both Flores and Pirmoradian currently hold the position of Private E1s.

The benefits offered by the National Guard served as the main appeal for Flores. “ I decided to sign up because it

“...you just have to have the commitment for it and think about hard becuase it is a big step; it’s the military."

DE ANGELO FLORES was a good opportunity to learn new things and has a lot of benefits, like being paid just to work out, the college help and the military benefits,” Flores said.

To apply, each was validated by a background check before taking a general education exam and Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a test that determines the occupation that best suits the

individual.

After completing both, applicants then reported to the military entrance processing station, where they performed a series of exercises to determine if they were physically fit for service. Once they met the prerequisites, the members were then sworn in with an oath.

“When I got in, I felt pretty accomplished, because I was actually doing something for myself when I usually just sit at home and do nothing,” Flores said.

Dedicating one week per month to the program, Flores and Pirmoradian are paid in intervals to train and exercise with sergeants on site and plan to continue to participate in the program throughout college.

They encourage their peers to join and agree that being a part of the National Guard is a large responsibility and not an activity one should join without contemplation.

“I would tell them there are lots of benefits, but you just have to have the commitment for it and think about it hard because it is a big step; it’s the military,” Flores said.

ABIGAIL HONG

Diamond Bar High School senior Kamran Pirmoradian, above, and De Angelo Flores (not pictured) started working for the U.S. National Guard in October.

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OPINION

DECEMBER 11, 2019

THE BULL'S EYE

EYE EDITORS

W

ith the pressure of a final test weighing down most students’ minds, it is always a cause for celebration when a teacher announces that there will be no final exam, but instead, a final project. Though final projects may seem like interactive alternatives, they do not offer the same value as final tests.

As the name suggests, final tests are meant to be the final measure of what a student has learned throughout the semester. Final projects, on the other hand, are not cumulative. Although projects like music videos can be informative and memorable, there is no way to cover an entire semester’s worth of material in a simple project.

The importance of final exams may not be clear at the end of the

first semester, but—especially in AP classes—students need extra motivation to remind themselves of the concepts they learned in the beginning of the year. When students are working toward an AP test, which is one gigantic final test in itself, final exams allow students to get a refresher of the material.

Students may complain about having to cram a semester’s worth of knowledge in the days leading up to the final, especially after retaining nothing from the beginning of the year, but in the bigger picture, it is much better to have them learn the material halfway through the school year than in the week before the AP test.

Another problem with final projects is that students will not learn from them. Most final projects are

- OPINION -

End-of-the-semester final projects do not offer the same benefits as final tests.

presented to the entire class and students are expected to absorb the information. However, when some projects consist of attempts to make the class laugh, the initial goal of reviewing material goes out the window. Students already have a hard time paying attention in class—they cannot be expected to learn from other students’ presentations.

In addition, final projects take up more precious time than final exams. In classrooms with around 30 students, presenting individual projects will take a few days. If teachers opt to assign group projects for the sake of time, it is possible that not everyone will pull their own weight, resulting in an unfair division of work. Projects also require more time to plan and make

than simply studying for a subject.

It’s not that projects should be banned. Projects allow students to explore various methods of learning, develop skills such as teamwork and apply knowledge. However, a project shouldn’t be the last determining factor of a student’s grade. Perhaps the best course of action would be to assign both a final project and a final exam.

While a final project alleviates the stress that students feel with their grade dependent on one last test, also having a final exam would encourage students to learn the material from the semester.

Although it ultimately does call for more work, this would be the best course of action for students to receive the benefits of both final projects and final tests.

From the

Brahma Perspective The Bull’s Eye conducted a survey of 350 Diamond Bar High School students on final projects and tests.

Do you think you learn from final projects?

NO

31%

31%

Final tests are more representative of what you learned over the year and require less time to do.

YES

69%

ZAYN SIDDIQUE (11)

Final projects are more creative and fun rather than just studying everything.

KRISTIN JOE (10)

69%

Do you prefer final projects or final tests?

PROJECTS

73%

TESTS

Do you spend more time studying for finals or working on projects?

TESTS

65%

PROJECTS

Projects allow me to assess a variety of skills, and they allow students to show their learning in a variety of ways.

EMILY CLARK (HISTORY)

Finals are a big thing in college, so students have to get used to taking finals and big tests that are comprehensive.

KERRY IWANAGA (BIOLOGY)

Extreme climate change advocacy

Renee Elefante news EDITOR

F

ed up with the lack of attention toward climate change, students around the world skipped school and took their homemade posters to the streets in September to participate in the Global Climate Strikes. It is understandable that they are frustrated, and granted, the world, environmentally, is not the same as it was decades ago. However, students must realize that striking can only do so much, and if they want change, the best way is to figure out how they can improve their communities and branch out.

The recent movement started in August 2018 when 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg decided to skip school on Fridays and protest outside of the Swedish Parliament with a sign in

Swedish that translated to “School strike for the climate.” Since then, there have been international strikes, which received widespread media coverage during the 2019 United States Climate Action Summit.

It is inspiring to see students take a stand on something that affects them and everyone else, like how Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School survivors led the “March For Our Lives” protest. But one thing to keep in mind is that teenagers are still kids, and many kids do not like attending school.

A handful of them do know what is happening with the climate crisis and are genuinely concerned about where the planet is headed. Yet, some are only protesting because they simply want to skip school. If a school allows students to attend the climate strikes, the students who want to skip school will say they are striking, but instead, they might be sitting at home playing video games or binge-watching Netflix. What student would say no to that?

Some schools, like Townsend Harris High School in New York City, have encouraged its students to cut classes to go strike and even cancelled classes so those strikers would not face any form of pun-

ishment. This is crazy—schools should not allow their students to skip school to strike.

Instead of skipping school and wasting the money set aside for educational programs, students should try to make environmental changes to their schools like inventing new, practical products that can be used there or even starting a class or club about environmental science. Diamond Bar High School has done all of the above in the forms of the Advanced Placement Environmental Science course, the annual “Your World” projects created by the APES students and the club Planet Arboretum, which educates its members about global warming and other environmental issues but also dis-

cusses possible solutions that can combat these problems.

If students feel this is not enough, they can still strike—just not during a school day. “March For Our Lives,” for example, was held on a Saturday. Students can still protest without missing school, and their attendance records won’t negatively affect them in the future.

All in all, climate change is an issue that does need to be addressed, but there are other ways students can still make an impact. They can make small changes in their schools and slowly branch out to their households and communities. People can’t go from Point A to Point C in one giant leap—they must take baby steps to get there.

Photo courtesy of LI-AN LIM/UNSPLASH

gracenotes

Voting without thinking

W

Grace Lee opinion editor

hen I first learned about straight-ticket voting in my summer school civics class, I was confused about why it existed. Even after I had read more about it and considered the opposing perspective, I still could not bring myself to understand why straight-ticket voting still existed.

Straight-ticket voting is a method of filling out ballot in which a voter can check one box, Republican or Democratic, to vote for all of the candidates in that party. As of now, Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah offer straight-party ballots. Pennsylvania is the most recent state to abolish straight-ticket voting this year.

According to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Pennsylvanian Democrats had opposed ending straight-ticket voting because “low-information voters,” mostly Democrats, would only vote for the presidential and governor candidates and overlook lesser known races, also known as voter fatigue.

Although it may speed up the voting process and get more people to vote for lesser-publicized races, voters should not sacrifice well-informed political participation for convenience. It is true that some voices will not be heard in smaller elections, but that would be better than having an outcome that misrepresents some views.

In a way, straight-ticket voting encourages the increasing polarizing political parties in the U.S. Offering this method of voting only paints the political field as a stark red or blue, Republican or Democratic. However, belonging to a political party shouldn’t have to mean that one cannot vote for members of the opposing party.

According to the Pew Research Center, Democrats and Republicans are more ideologically divided than ever, meaning that there is less overlap between the two parties. This is reflected in many of the political happenings, such as House members voting along party lines on the rules for the impeachment inquiry.

In this time of deep partisanship, we should be working toward being able to consider the benefits of voting for the opposing party and choosing a candidate from the opposing party if they happen to be what the times call for.

Straight-ticket voting, on the other hand, encourages voters to stick to party guidelines for the sake of convenience and speed.

Even under one general label of a political party, there is still a wide range of ideologies by individual candidates. If voters aren’t afraid to vote for a candidate who they believe in, even if he or she is in the opposing party, then the party as a group may change for the better.

Politics is much more complex than pitting Republicans against Democrats, Democrats against Republicans. Voters need to research their candidates before casting their votes, hopefully pushing the nation to enact what the people really want.

THE BULL'S EYE

DECEMBER 11 , 2019

OPINION

5

An illogical impeachment inquiry in Congress

A

Camille Mccurry Staff Writer

s the first leg of the impeachment process for President Donald Trump comes to a close, the question of whether Congress should actually impeach our president has arisen not only in the minds of his steadfast Republican supporters, but also among some Democrats.

It has become increasingly clear over the course of the several-month process, from the first

news of the plans to impeach to the inevitable Articles of Impeachment, that it is not in the nation’s best interest to proceed with the impeachment process.

Many of the impeachment’s proponents claim that if no inquiry is made, it will set a precedent that presidents can get away with whatever they want, consequence free.

However, this idea is misguided, because it disregards the reality of this specific inquiry.

It has nothing to do with Trump’s other misdeeds such as his alleged cooperation with Russia in the 2016 elections. He was allowed to get away with what went on during the campaign, so whether or not he is punished for the isolated case of using presidential power to interfere in the 2020 election, the aforementioned precedent has already been set.

It is more important to focus on

the impeachment process’ impact on the nation as a whole. The main result of the inquiry thus far has been increased polarization, in which both Democrats and Republicans entirely reject one another and believe in their party’s ideals so firmly that they refuse to cooperate more vehemently than ever before.

Since the start of the process, Democrats and Republicans have found themselves more unwilling to compromise than ever before, with each group villainizing and discrediting the other, thus widening the gap between our fractured nation.

In fact, the impeachment has actually increased his popularity with his supporters. If after impeachment, Trump is not convicted in the Senate—which he isn’t expected to be because of the wide Republican majority—the only re-

sult will be a nation more fractured than ever with Democrats bitter because of the loss of a valuable opportunity to oust a president they view as one of the worst in history and Republican voters upset over the mere attempt.

Assuming President Trump is impeached, though, the results could be even more disastrous. For one, just because the president is impeached, doesn’t mean he will be removed from office or prevented from running in the 2020 election.

The Senate, which decides whether to convict Trump and the punishment he will face, is expected to acquit him, letting him stay in office. Furthermore, on the off chance that they remove him, they may still allow him to run in the 2020 elections.

In either of these cases, it is more likely than not that Trump’s campaign will put a spin on the sit-

The most tiresome competition

I

VIctoria Artale Photo Editor

have heard that sleep is important for your physical and mental health, but in my opinion, it’s more important to win the competition of whoever gets the least amount of sleep. Trust me, I hold the school’s record for the most all-nighters in a row, have the most mental breakdowns and am a regular at the Wellness Center as well, but I’m just really competitive.

To be accepted into the Ivy League school of my dreams, I

need to up my game and sleep for only 30 minutes a night. Since I’ve won the school-wide award for having the least amount of sleep, I’ve qualified to move on to the state, or maybe even the international, level of this contest. To attend the best school you need to be the best, and to be the best you need to at least be internationally recognized for being sleep deprived.

Other students always brag about how little sleep they get, but that drives me to sleep even less. At school, you might see me sleeping during a lesson, but just remember that my GPA is probably higher than yours.

If you want to know how you can compete for the sleep deprivation award, here’s a rundown of my schedule.

On Monday, I need to study for my SAT that is in exactly five months, six hours and 11 minutes.

On top of that, in order to achieve a

No time for turkey

perfect score on my next math test, I need to teach myself calculus because I was asleep in class.

On Tuesday is Diamond Bar’s one late-start day a month, but it’s pointless. I’d rather wake up before the sun comes up and go out with my friends for breakfast. It’s good for my mental health to finally spend time with my friends, and I can’t have my growling stomach wake me up during English class.

On Wednesday, I sleep for two hours even though it’s not my fault that I have crazy teachers who give me assignments that conflict with my nightly binge-watching of “The Office.”

On Thursday, I wake up early to make it to my zero period class after getting my weekly Starbucks drink on the way. If I don’t get my grande caramel macchiato with no whip and three shots of espresso, I might as well just die from exhaustion at this point in the week.

SATIRICAL s t ra t e g i ca ll y

Cartoon courtesy of JAMES WU With my inactive club and my sport that I always find away to get out of (you don’t always need a doctor’s note), it’s hard to get anything done until I get home. On Friday, my coach said that we could do homework on the bus ride, but I would rather play Fortnite on my phone. I guess it was a good idea to do all of my homework after my late night game because I have a

new record of eight hours of sleep this week!

Even the weekend is a struggle.

I have to sleep in until noon to be able to stay home all day. On Sunday, I am able to finally find the energy to start my homework at 11 p.m. because I didn’t have the time to complete any of it with my busy schedule. Oh well, at least I will get a head start on my next record.

Nike makes empty promises

Reyna Wan Asst. Opinion Editor

#J

Cartoon courtesy of VALERIE CHAN

uation that paints Trump as a martyr who survived persecution from the Democrats and even from his own party members, the Republican senators who, in this hypothetical scenario, will have voted for his conviction.

Or, if Trump is removed from office, which is what the majority of Democrats are hoping will come from this, who takes his place?

None other than Mike Pence, which is far from ideal in their eyes. Removing Trump from office will not have magically placed a Democrat in office and restored Democratic majority in every legislative body.

Instead, the sad reality is that we as a nation will be left with President Pence, a still-divided Congress and an even more fractured voting body than ever. There are no real winners in the impeachment process, no matter the outcome.

ustDoIt. #DreamCrazy.

Both are notable campaigns created by Nike, a leader in the athletic industry.

Though these messages are meant to instill a foundation of perseverance and dedication for all, how much they truly strive to improve female athletics is close to nothing.

In a recent story by the New York Times, track athlete Mary Cain discussed how joining Nike’s Oregon Project, a training program for Olympic hopefuls, prompted her downward spiral from being one of the country’s top female runners to having little to no mental strength .

Though Cain was originally led by head coach Alberto Salazar to believe that her recruitment would lead to an Olympic gold medal, his training techniques proved detrimental as he limited the teenage athlete to a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day. With the physical and emotional torture Cain faced on a daily basis, her performance drastically decreased until she finally decided to quit the team.

Though the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency revoked Salazar’s coaching credentials for four years and Nike

CEO Mark Parker stepped down after shutting down the Oregon Project, this storyline is a never-ending narrative in the misogynistic culture of sports.

Similarily, female Olympic runners Alyson Felix, Alysia Montano and Kara Goucher have recently, in an opinion article in the New York Times, addressed their weakness within the athletic industry due to their commitment as mothers.

For many sponsors, including name brands Adidas and Under Armour, an athlete becoming pregnant means the termination of her contract, unless they maintain the same performance level as they did prior to pregnancy.

As a result, both Goucher and Montano intensely trained throughout their pregnancies in order to fulfill the haphazard requirements of Nike. Montano was forced to run a race eight months pregnant while Goucher participated in a competition three months postpartum. Though media outlets saw these actions as a solidarity to feminism, these women raced not toward female empowerment but rather to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads.

Despite the fact that Nike eventually responded to the backlash by increasing the allotted grace period to 12 months instead of 10, only responding after shows how ignorant and materialistic the company truly is. Instead of understanding and sympathizing with the fact that most women need time to recuperate and mentally stabilize postpartum, Nike prioritized its wants for glam and glory over the safety of

its female athletes.

As one of the biggest shoe companies and sponsorships in the athletic industry, Nike’s main purpose is to increase profits and stabilize its leadership in the industry, but having such a control over this current society comes with its own set of requirements.

While up and coming companies such as Athleta and Lululemon have proposed ambitious ideals that put more women into power and improve regulations regarding females, this supposed leader has done nothing except respond to criticism and only doing the minimum of what should be done.

All of the marketing campaigns and slogans that promote female rights should only be promoted, not for the value it brings, but because the company supports the causes they are fighting for. To add more resonance, the executive positions in charge of handling contracts in Adidas, Nike and Under Armour are almost all men.

The fact that the three international leaders of this industry are entering the conversation of feminism with a governing body that scarcely includes any woman makes the companies unable to truly connect with female athletes about the daily issues they face.

In an era where feminism and female empowerment are at the forefront, these companies have to choose between continuing the sexist culture of sports or inputting true changes into its systems.

If Nike wants to challenge girls to beat the odds, why don’t they do the same.

6

FEATURE

DECEMBER 11, 2019

THE BULL'S EYE

Student spreads cancer awareness elizabeth peng editor-in-chief

KATE ZHENG

Freshmen Chris, Amanda and Ben Holley, from left, were all born on Nov. 14.

Freshman trio takes on high school Ryan chan ASST. Business Manager Diamond Bar High School has always had a number of twins among its thousands of students, but this year’s freshman class offers a rarity: triplets.

Chris, Ben and Amanda Holley were all born on Nov. 16, 2004, each one minute apart, and share uncanny similarities along with some differences.

“Sometimes we would think of something altogether like the same song,” Amanda said. “Or one time in elementary school, we were all absent for a day and then we all took separate tests and there’s this one fill-inthe-blank question…and we all guess the same answer.”

Having two other twin siblings often can be a stroke of luck.

One time when the Holleys were still babies, Chris and Ben both helped to save their sister’s life.

“One night, I was wrapped up in the blanket and it was covering my mouth so I couldn’t breathe,” Amanda said.

At the same time, Chris hit Ben and by sheer “coincidence,” Ben’s crying woke her parents up to discover that she wasn’t breathing.

The Holleys celebrate their birthdays together, with the same group of friends that they hang out with at school.

“We usually go to a villa and we have separate rooms for the boys and girls, but we all hang out together as one big group,” Ben said.

Although many siblings in the same age group suffer from issues like finding their own individuality or arguing about conflicts, the Holleys claim to not face many problems. The only problem they said they occasionally argue over is sharing. For example, Ben and Chris often mix up and accidentally wear each other’s clothes.

The triplets have their own hobbies and talents. Amanda sings and plays the piano, Ben plays the guitar and Chris plays the drums.

In addition, all three siblings engage in sports: Chris plays tennis, Ben plays soccer and Amanda participates in jazz dance.

“We used to perform for our family members or just for our mom and dad and friends,” Amanda said. “It just helps us bond better.”

The Holleys agreed that the benefits that they provide each other outweigh the negatives.

“Well, you’re much closer and I could ask them for help on homework and stuff,” Chris said. “And also it’s not boring; if you’re an only child you wouldn’t have anyone to play games or hang out with.”

After witnessing the challenges her brother faced with leukemia, Diamond Bar High School junior Breanna Yang was inspired to support kids with pediatric cancer, creating the Sunshine Club last year.

The club has raised around $7,000 to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital since its establishment.

“Our mission is to brighten the lives of pediatric cancer patients and also raise pediatric cance1r awareness because people who don’t step into the hospital don’t know about what patients have to go through,” Yang said.

Her brother, Bryson Yang, was diagnosed with leukemia when Breanna was a freshman, and he passed away this January.

“My brother was a sixth grader at South Pointe when he was diagnosed, so now he would be in eighth grade if he was still here,” Yang said. “He was just this really nice, kind and funny person, but he was also someone who really liked to learn, and he was really into math and facts and history.”

Through the Sunshine Club, Yang hosts different events at hospitals to bring smiles to patients’

faces. Last year, Sunshine Club members brought Christmas gifts for patients on the oncology floor at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. One of the most well known events Yang helped organize was the Color Run at South Pointe Middle School. The event took place in September, which was also Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. At the Color Run, students earned one dollar for each lap they completed, and the event ended up raising over $4,000 toward pediatric cancer research.

“I’m really grateful for them and how they helped us out with that because not only did [the event] spread the news to people around the community, it also honored my brother,” the junior said.

Her efforts were recognized when Los Angeles television station ABC7 covered the Color Run and Yang’s work in raising awareness for pediatric cancer. ABC7 featured the event at South Pointe Middle School and interviewed Yang and her parents on TV. “It definitely really spread the word because afterward I got a lot of emails [from] people who wanted to help out, like not only here but like in other areas, so that was a really interesting and inspiring thing to see that other people also support the cause,” Yang said.

Members also raised awareness

and funds for cancer research from holding book sales throughout the month of September. In October, they brought Halloween desserts and gifts, including candy, small toys and rubber duckies, to the patients at CHOC so they could make their own goody bags.

More recently, Sunshine held a holiday toy drive, which lasted from Nov. 1 to Dec. 8, and club members collected new toys to give to oncology patients.

“The other aspect of our mission is also just to spread awareness and knowledge about this topic because right now there’s very little research funding for cancer,” Yang said. “[Out] of all the cancer research [funding], only like 4% goes to pediatrics, which is a really small amount.”

After high school, she plans to continue raising awareness for pediatric cancer, whether through the Sunshine Club or through a different organization with the same cause and mission.

“I do plan to pursue a career in the medical field, and I’ve kind of been set on this for a while, but I am still unsure about which field,” Yang said. “I’m definitely leaning towards pediatrics and oncology or neurology because that was what I also saw at the hospital when my brother was there, so that definitely interested me.”

Photo courtesy of WALNUT VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Junior Breanna Yang planned a color run located at South Pointe Middle School to raise awareness for pediatric cancer.

A wonderland of winter fashion trends As the temperature drops and a new season approaches, students can adapt to any outfit that they wear to school to stay current with these 2019 winter fashion trends:

CROPPED CARDIGANS These jackets were popular in the 1960s and have made a comeback this year. Online retailers such as Princess Polly carry various colors and blends of materials for these cropped cardigans. A pair of classic blue jeans is a great way to style this top for a casual vibe. A more preppy look can be achieved by unbuttoning your cropped cardigan and wearing a tank top underneath it. Pairing it with a patterned mini-skirt can make an outfit more stylish.

CHUNKY JEWELRY To transition to winter outfits, more people are gravitating toward chunky jewelry rather than dainty accessories to compete their looks this year. Among the jewelry pieces found in stores such as Urban Outfitters, necklaces with a lock charm are becoming one of the most popular styles. To execute a look with this trend, the key is to keep the outfit as monotone as possible, so it won’t clash with the statement piece. Another great tip is to choose one accessory so your outfit won’t look cluttered.

MIDI SKIRTS ANKLE BOOTS One fashion item that exudes confidence is ankle boots. Worn with leggings or jeans, these shoes are not only versatile but are a never-ending craze in the fashion industry. To further elevate this look, you can layer a cropped hoodie with a leather jacket, and complete the outfit with black jeans. For a more laidback look, you can wear a turtleneck long sleeve with any jeans to complete the outfit. Ankle boots can be found at most major retailers, including Nordstrom.

More students are switching out mini skirts for midi skirts, which reach below the knee as the holiday season approaches. Coming in different patterns and fabric, the satin leopard skirt is the most popular style for this year and can be found in retail stores like Brandy Melville and Princess Polly. A style tip is to wear a baggy graphic tee tied in a front knot or incorporate the cropped sweaters for a more cozy vibe. Finally, wear Doc Martens or chunky white sneakers to tie up this vintage 1980s look.

Story by: Tiffany Lee

FEATURE

THE BULL'S EYE

DECEMBER 11, 2019

7

Inspiring the next generation Maggie Liu Editor-in-chief Infusing dance with his motivational speeches, Diamond Bar High School class of 1994 alumnus Danny Vuong-Batimana travels across North America through his organization, Happiness Is Now. Prior to becoming an inspiration speaker, Vuong-Batimana had an extensive career. After he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cal State Fullerton, the alumnus became a professional dancer.

Voung-Batimana choreographed for NBA teams, including the Lakers, Clippers and Portland Trailblazers, and was a mathematics teacher at West Covina High School for eight years.

Vuong-Batimana changed career paths after fulfilling what he believed to be the American dream: achieving financial success, pur-

chasing a car and a house and getting married.

“I achieved all that early, but that was at a point where I was at my most depressed state in my thirties. I decided, ‘Look, I can’t do this anymore, and I need to find out what makes me happy,’” he said in a phone interview.

According to Vuong-Batimana, he began his journey of finding his true purpose at a Buddhist monastery in San Diego. There, he learned how to meditate, became vegan, studied positive psychology and watched numerous TED Talks.

Brene Brown’s TED Talk, in particular, galvanized Vuong-Batimana to have his own. In November 2011, he spoke at TedxYouth@ SanDiego.

“I was like ‘Okay, my path is to spread happiness to as many people as possible and youth,’ because I think a lot of people are jaded about what happiness is,” he said.

Also, Vuong-Batimana credits

a study, which ranked America as the 19th happiest nation, as his reason for motivational speaking.

“Our values are screwed up, and the things that we strive for don’t necessarily make us happy,” he said.

Vuong-Batimana’s first speech through Happiness Is Now was at Chaparral Middle School in 2011.

“I had a group of dancers to kind of back me up, and I knew that I wanted to dance and have the audience interact and learn the dance,” he said.

Most of the alumnus’s speeches are about his childhood and identity. As a first generation Filipino American, Vuong-Batimana’s mom raised him with traditional ideals and pushed him toward academic excellence, while his dad was a hands-off parent. In Vuong-Batimana’s sophomore year of high school, his dad was sent to prison for eight years.

He also battled with hiding

Photo courtesy of DANNY VUONG-BATIMANA

Danny Vuong-Batimana uses dance and motivational speaking to inspire others. his sexuality during this time.

Vuong-Batimana identifies as a gay man and is married to his partner, Westin Vuong-Batimana.

“I had some schools and parents revolt and complain to the school board about me sharing about how I got married, but there are a lot of kids who are battling something and especially sexuality or just like who they are,” he said.

Vuong-Batimana explained

that despite being a part of the LGBTQYA community, his faith in Christianity is his biggest motivation.

“I was always told in church I’m an abomination or like I’m a mistake and I would go to hell, but after my father passed away earlier this year, I saw God,” he said. “I feel like I have a larger purpose, and it’s bigger than me, so I need to help as many people as possible.”

Teachers bond over lunch somiya jajieh Asst. FEATURE editor

Photo courtesy of PATHWAYS

Pathways built a haunted maze for students with the help of Knott’s Scary farm.

Behind the screams of the haunted Pathways maze camille mccury staff writer As students filtered through the pitch black halls of the maze, the blood curdling screams of students and monsters rang out from each room.

In front of one, a woman with a bloodied face shrieked before retreating into a hall. Paintings of past principals lined the next hall over, and behind one waited a student who frightened all those passing.

This October, Diamond Bar High School Pathways students transformed the vacant 500 building into a haunted maze.

They pulled off this ambitious project through collaboration among students, teachers and directors from Knott’s Scary Farm.

For the past few years, Pathways had been constructing mazes in just one classroom.

However, this year they had access to the former humanities building. With more space, the Pathways leadership class had big plans but less than two months to pull it all off. They started their project by choosing a theme to work from while creating the maze.

“We started out with a story, and the story just didn’t quite fit each of our rooms, so we changed it so that each room was different,” Pathways teacher Ty Watkins explained.

“Within the last week, one of the Pathways students, Blade, came up with ‘Face Your Fears,’ and with that you can have different locations with different topics, so it wasn’t as much of a storyline.”

With each room being different, the students had more freedom to explore a variety

of scare tactics and styles. For example, one room utilized loud noises and jump scares to frighten attendees.

“One of the special items in our room was the use of a drop frame. The photo art of Principal Reuben Jones would be dropped from the wall making a loud noise with a scare actor revealing themselves from the hole,” senior Kevin Saiz said via Instagram.

In addition to the Pathways students, other groups and individuals on campus also contributed to the project, including Mario Enriquez’s Digital Video Production class, which helped create the final room in the maze. Two juniors, Madelyne Acuna and Mason Fox, also contributed their artistic skills, the former by doing makeup for the actors in the maze and the latter by making a lifelike dummy prop. “[The project] tested my skills and creativity. I loved learning the mechanics behind this prop, and creating the same illusion with a budget,” Fox said via Instagram.

The Pathways students also received inspiration off campus, in the form of a tour led by theme park directors across the inner-workings of Knott’s Scary Farm, a trip that Watkins secured through his connections at the theme park. There, they were allowed to see everything without actors and learned about the process of how their mazes are made.

“We walked through one of the mazes called Wax Works, both with and without the lights so we could see the tricks of the trade and certain features that made the kids think, ‘This is

PATHWAYS ON P. 12

Much like students, teachers often don’t recognize the sea of faces they walk past in the halls—even if it’s the face of their own coworker.

To bring the staff together, several Diamond Bar High School teachers have collaborated to create a club that focuses on getting to know their colleagues as a way to promote social-emotional learning.

Math teachers Dawn Daza and Maureen Baiz started the Grub Club in September. The club meets once or twice a month with the intent of bringing as many teachers together as possible, so they can have more casual interactions with each other. With music and craft-related activities, Baiz said the club is an outlet for teachers to have fun with one another.

“Ms. Daza and I were brainstorming about getting our teachers together and having them build great connections with one another, and so we came up with the Grub Club,” Baiz said. “It’s a way for us to get to know our staff and to also build relationships with our staff. It’s so great to see the people that come and… just to be silly.”

Courtney Corona, a DBHS math teacher, joined the club as a way to support her faculty members and spend time with her friends. She said that while teachers do speak with each other, it is primarily about work. The club, on the other hand, has allowed her to get to know her coworkers more personally.

“I think it’s a good way to build community within our staff,” Corona said. “A lot of the time when we’re here at work we are working and collaborating and doing our

Photo courtesy of MAUREEN BAIZ

The grub club meets once a month to bring teachers all over campus together.

jobs, so this is just another outlet to get to know your coworkers in a different capacity.”

The Grub Club has engaged in activities such as paper-flower making and 30-minute workouts, allowing teachers to step outside their comfort zones. With the variety of activities the club offers, teachers are able to share their interests and skills with their colleagues.

“I think it’s a really good opportunity for teachers to share… hidden talents that we didn’t know a certain colleague of ours has,” Daza said. “We teach students all day, but now we teach our colleagues or just share with them something that we’re passionate about.”

The activities are also providing examples on how teachers can incorporate social-emotional learning into their daily lives. According to Baiz, one of the psychologists on campus introduced meditation to the club as a way for the staff to work on their personal wellness.

As the club grows, it strives to bring teachers closer together and to create a sense of camaraderie among DBHS’ staff. In such a large school, the club has allowed Baiz to get to know the Spanish teachers that reside on the opposite end of the campus.

“I love being able to say ‘Oh, I know that person,’” Baiz said.

“Just building that sense of having a club and having a community that you can rely on.”

Sushi that’s not all that emily koh asst. FEATURE EDITOR All That Sushi, a new restaurant in Chino Hills, is nothing special compared to all of the other Japanese restaurants in the Diamond Bar area.

As I entered the restaurant, I noticed that the interior was clean and had a modern design, which was very appealing, but it was cramped with only a bar area and a few small tables. I was surprised at how empty it was considering it was the weekend and newly opened. My sisters and I sat down at a table near the back of the restaurant and ordered hot tea and water, which were both free. It took about 15 minutes for someone to finally take our order, which was disappointing considering the fact that there were only a few other people in the restaurant and more

than enough staff members.

I ordered a combination of beef teriyaki with a side of mixed tempura ($17), my older sister ordered the Ron’s Special roll ($14) and my younger sister ordered their udon noodle soup with a side of tempura ($10). All the dishes arrived in 20 minutes. My combination had a complimentary yet mediocre miso soup that had no unique flavors.

My order also came with rice, salad and an orange slice. The beef was tough and the sauce was bland.

The tempura was probably the best part of the dish. It was perfectly fried with a light crispy coating and a soft, juicy interior. The tempura included shrimp, kabocha squash, sweet potato and carrot.

On the other hand, the salad also disappointed me since the dressing left a bitter aftertaste and was closer to a puree in texture.

The Ron’s Special Roll came with salmon on the inside and yellow tail

on the outside. To my disappointment, the salmon didn’t taste fresh and was overpoweringly fishy. The yellow tail on the other hand was slightly cooked, which added another layer of flavor, making it my sister’s favorite part of the roll.

The best dish was the udon. It had a good amount of flavor and the noodles were chewy and not mushy. It also came with fishcakes on top, which were cooked perfectly. It tasted a lot better than the ones I had tried in the past, which did not have as much flavor.

All That Sushi did not live up to its name, as it was definitely not all that I had hoped it would be.

The combination and the roll were definitely not worth the amount we paid for them. I will most likely not be going again and would rather go to one of the Japanese restaurants in Diamond Bar than drive out to Chino Hills for a meal that is both lacking and disappointing.

FEATURE

THE BULL'S EYE

A world of Christmas C

Po t

C

I

l

T

painted smiling face and a red hat, Tio de Nadal is widely available in stores beginning in late November. Every day from Dec. 8 to Christmas Eve, children feed the log treats such as tangerines, nuts and candy and keep him cozy under a blanket.

When Christmas Eve arrives, things get a little weirder.

Children beat the log with sticks while singing Tio de traditional songs to Na encourage the log to discharge presents, place a blanket over and then go to another room to say prayers. When the children come back, the er blanket is lifted to Swip e g reveal presents for the kids and candy such as nougat. Finally, the log is thrown in the fireplace to provide warmth.

Logs became part of Catalan Christmas culture because they represented the gifts of warmth and light. Later on they were incorporated into the Catalonian nativity scene.

While the Three Wise Men are associated with big presents, the log is supposed to provide small trinkets and sweets. Over time, the log was given a face and legs and detached completely from the nativity Kra scene, becoming an independent mp tradition. us n other parts of the world, Santa Claus’ dark counterpart, Krampus, plays a major role at Christmas time.

Krampus, a halfdemon, half-goat beast who beats naughty children into being nice, originated in Germany as a fairy tale told to discipline children. While he can be found throughout much of Europe, in Austria, the local rendition brings this myth to life. Every year on Dec. 5, known as Krampusnacht or Krampus Night, young men get drunk and prowl the streets dressed as the monster. Those looking for fun spend the night being chased all over town by these costumed celebrators.

Other cities hold Krampus Parades and stage a Halloween-like festival to celebrate the demon. Either way, the next morning on Nikolaustag, or St. Nicholas Day, children will see if they’ve been left presents (for good behavior) or a rotten potato (courtesy of Krampus). da

hristmas traditions, passed down from generation to generation, give people the opportunity to create fun memories and connect to their culture. Wherever Christmas is commemorated, people have created unique ways to celebrate it. This holds true especially in Japan, Iceland, Catalonia and Austria, where quirky, tasty and even spooky traditions keep the festivities merry and bright, as detailed on the website whychristmas.com. he Japanese have not traditionally celebrated Christmas, where Christians are a minority. Despite this, many Japanese now commemorate the holiday FC K with an unorthodox Christmas f o r nde u day meal: Kentucky Fried Fo Chicken. Starting in 1974, KFC marketed its products during the holiday season to fill the lack of Christmas traditions, making KFC synonymous to Christmas in Japan.

The Japanese ate it up, literally and figuratively. People now end up waiting in long lines to get their KFC Christmas meals if they don’t preorder early enough. They pick from the classic KFC “Christmas Barrel,” which includes chocolate cake, salad and fries along with the chicken, or splurge on a whole roasted chicken and KFC branded beers. hristmas in Iceland can be chaotic. To start with, children are visited by not one, but thirteen different Father Christmases. Known affectionately as the Yule Lads, these mischievous troll-like figures are said to take turns visiting children over the thirteen nights leading up to r Christmas and place candy in their shoes ke lic if they’ve been nice, or rotten potatoes if they’ve been naughty.

Parents remain diligent in their candy gifting over the two weeks leading up to Christmas to keep this folktale alive. Each of the Yule Lads has its own unique personality and background. Depending on what night it is, you might encounter Stubby, Pot Licker or even Sausage Swiper. f you’re looking to experience the most outlandish of Christmas traditions, consider a trip to the Catalonia region of Spain. There you’ll find Tio de Nadal, the Christmas log.

Made from a hollowed-out log decorated with stick legs, a

DECEMBER 11, 2019

Sau sa

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Story by: Josh Chou

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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As we count the days remaining until 2020, it seems like a fitting time to walk down memory lane and reminisce about the best songs.

best of a decade

story by Josh Kim, design by Josh Chou

pop

hip hop

California Gurls, Katy Perry

CAPITOL RECORDS

2010

Hotline Bling, Drake

2011

OVO SOUND

Closer, The Chainsmokers

With its catchy, uptempo beat and head-bobbing lyrics, this was the first of many songs to inspire a dance challenge. In this particular case, it was shuffling. Easily taking the charts by storm, LMFAO left an imprint on the world for many months.

INTERSCOPE RECORDS

DISRUPTER RECORDS

Thrift Shop, Macklemore

MACKLEMORE LLC

2012

2013

UNIVERSAL MUSIC

Perfect, Ed Sheeran

SONY MUSIC

ATLANTIC RECORDS

2014

2017

“Despacito” was already a popular on its own, but Justin Bieber hopping on the track as a featured artist made it the song of the year. The guitar melody paired with an uptempo beat made it easy to try and sing along, even to the Spanish parts.

Characterized by its reggae yet upbeat tone, the song is easy to bob your head to, with a well-recognized chorus, pleading “Can I have your daughter for the rest of my life say yes, say yes, cause I need to know.”

Uptown Funk, Bruno Mars

2016

The Chainsmokers shot to the top of charts due to their dueted love song “Closer,” becoming the summer anthem of 2016. The EDM song featured head-rocking electronic instrumentals and a chorus that had listeners screaming “We ain’t ever getting older.”

Despacito, Luis Fonsi

This song can easily be recognized for its poppy beat that implements a trumpet and the infamous line: “I’m gonna pop some tags.” After this song dropped, the new trend became thrift shopping and having a nice fur coat like Macklemore in the music video.

Rude, MAGIC!

2015

There cannot be a Top 10 without Drake in it. “Hotline Bling” brought along with its catchy beat and mesmerizing melody a plethora of memes to laugh to, whether it was Drake playing tennis or putting pepperoni on a pizza.

Many will remember growing up to this song, belting the lyrics out at the top of their lungs, oblivious, at the time, to the actual meaning. Even so, the song’s widely recognizable pre-chorus and chorus are enough to make anyone sing along to this almost decade-old bop.

Party Rock Anthem, LMFAO

edm

It is no surprise Ed Sheeran’s heart-melting voice and wonderful acoustic guitar playing got him to the top of 2018. Already at the top of the charts in past years with “Thinking Out Loud” and “Shape of You,” “Perfect” is yet another great love song.

Old Town Road, Lil Nas X

“Uptown Funk” really embodied how to get funky. Featuring a clapping beat along with piano and bass, the song boasts a swagger that is unmatched by many songs today. In addition to its contagious vibe, it’s an easy song to groove along with.

ATLANTIC RECORDS

COLUMBIA RECORDS

2018

2019

Despite sparking much controversy over what genre of music it is, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” successfully combined two vastly different styles: rap and country. Disregarding all the controversy, the song was a smash hit for good reason: a catchy beat and an entrancing melody.

our top artists

Hip Hop Kendrick Lamar

Pop Joji

K-Pop TWICE

EDM Illenium

R&B Khalid

10 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

THE BULL'S EYE

DECEMBER 11, 2019

Taking a bow around the world Kelsey Wu Contributing Writer

Photo courtesy of RACHEL YANG

Sophomore Rachel Yang is a part of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and performs for the Los Angeles Opera.

Freshman hits high notes at

the opera house

Anika Yatawara Asst. News Editor As she stepped on stage with bright lights shining above her, Diamond Bar High School sophomore Rachel Yang began to sing in a style often forgotten by mainstream media: opera.

Yang has performed at various prestigious locations, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

After being encouraged by her parents to audition for an established choir, Yang found her passion for singing opera.

“My dad’s also a singer, he’s a tenor, and he wanted to put me in choir so we searched it up and I auditioned into a group,” Yang said.

Yang sings for the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, a professional choir based in Pasadena.

The choir has sung alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale for the “Mahler Symphony No.8” and “A Trip to the Moon,” among other pieces, as well as several productions for the Los Angeles Opera including the Nutcracker.

Her involvement in the world of choir and opera has taken a huge toll on her schedule, with daily practices for her bigger performances.

“We have a lot of practices, al-

most every day for one and a half to two hours,” Yang said.

“We just redo music and repeat and repeat again and again.”

The choir is separated into several divisions with the highest level being concert choir, which Yang is a part of, along with 60-70 other singers. Individuals are placed in their divisions by not only skill but also factors such as physical appearance.

“For opera it also depends on your physical traits like your height and your skills are also important,” she said.

From the entire concert choir group, members are selected to participate in special productions.

When invited to join productions for the choir, Yang explained that it requires o n e to two months

of preparation time and once the rehearsals begin, practices take place almost every day. Yang said that this can be difficult for her since the practices are held in Los Angeles, a long drive from where she lives.

“It takes a lot of dedication for someone like me though because I live so far away,” she said via Instagram.

The children’s chorus also goes on concert tours. On these tours, the groups perform at a famous music halls and chapels in different countries.

They collaborate with choirs from the areas they visit as well.

Next year Yang plans to attend her first one in Spain.

Productions have caused Yang to miss out on many school days throughout the year, although she doesn’t feel the need to be homeschooled and instead continues to catch up on schoolwork.

“I think time management is really important when you’re busy because I have to skip a lot of school and take challenging classes throughout the year,” she said.

Despite her background in singing, Yang said she has always considered herself more of a musician than a singer. The singer said that at the moment she wants to focus her time on more than just opera.

“Choir is just a separate thing, I focus more on playing the clarinet or studying, that’s like my main focus right now,” she said.

When Diamond Bar High School freshman Kaitlin Chow first started playing the violin, she never would have imagined her hatred for the instrument would evolve into a passion that would take her across the world and to the White House.

When Chow was just seven years old, her mother enrolled her in violin classes because her cousin also played the instrument. However, Chow disliked playing at first.

“I would throw a fit whenever I was told to play,” Chow said.

Despite this, she eventually developed a love for the instrument due to her family members. According to Chow, because of the constant encouragement from her mother and her admiration for her cousin’s violin performances, she continued to play.

“My favorite performance I ever saw was my cousin’s orchestra Halloween performance, the effects and his playing really had me in awe,” Chow said.

In 2012, Chow became a member of the Classical European Music Academy Orchestra, a youth orchestra based in Los Angeles. As the current concertmaster of the ensemble, the 14-year-old has been on three foreign tours, to Italy, Iceland and one to three Europe cities.

The first tour Chow ever did was in 2014, when her orchestra toured Italy. Four years later, she ventured to Iceland and performed at the Harpa Concert Hall in April. Her most recent experience was this summer, during a tour of Europe that included performances in Bu-

dapest, Vienna and Prague.

“My favorite performance ever is during the European concert tour, which is when I performed a solo piece in our last performance in Prague. It was really special because I could really feel that I was up there,” Chow said.

With the orchestra, Chow has given two performances at the White House and at famed music hall concerts such as Carnegie Hall in New York City.

“We were invited to the White House twice; both times we were placed in the entertainment room where we would play for the tourists who would pass by and watch,” Chow said.

At Carnegie Hall, Chow and the orchestra were invited to be a guest performance with other famed performers. Chow has also involved herself with the orchestra programs provided at her schools.

While she was a student in Chaparral Middle school, she partook in the ensemble all three years and is currently in the Diamond Bar High School Concert Orchestra.

Even so, Chow remains humble, saying that she is not even one of the top violinists in her grade.

“You don’t really don’t have to be the best,” Chow said. “I’m definitely not the best person considering this whole school. I’m not the top three, or one of the top people, but because of the work I put in and the people I’ve met and connections I’ve made, I’ve been able to do all these amazing things.”

Chow said she believes that the violin is an instrument that is all about how one applies themselves, that the amount of work put in is more important than how long one plays an instrument for.

Photo courtesy of KELSEY WU

Freshman Kaitlin Chow has played at the White House and Carnegie Hall.

CABELLO EXPLORES LOVE IN NEW ALBUM In “Romance,” the former Fifth Harmony member expertly sings in a variety of genres that appeal to all audiences, sharing stories of love and heartbreak.

Camille Mccurry Staff writer After years of releasing hit single after single, pop singer Camila Cabello released her third album, “Romance,” last Friday. In it, Cabello captures what it is like to fall in love through her raw, emotional lyrics that evoke a variety of styles.

Of the 14 tracks, only eight are new—Cabello published six as singles leading up to the album’s official release. This becomes a weak point, as most of the six appear towards the beginning of the album, so for Cabello fans “Romance” won’t sound new at first. However, this is entirely made up for by the

stylistic variation between these songs.

The opening track, “Shameless,” deviates the furthest from her usual style with a darker tone. The song begins with vocals and guitar accompaniment, but quickly switches to a more processed style that uses electronic instrumentals and warps Cabello’s voice. The song is about the desperation and obsession that come with falling in love, and how it feels to finally pursue that love. “Shameless” stands out as the best song in the album because of these honest lyrics and dark tone that make it more refreshing.

The next track, “Living Proof,” is light, high-pitched and breathy at times, varied in with her regular style of singing, which is less airy. The way the accompaniment pauses to emphasize certain parts of the song, as well as the classic set of pop instrumentals, make it slightly less remarkable than the other songs on the album in terms of production.

The next three songs on the album, “Should’ve Said It,” “Señorita” and “Liar” all have more evident Latin influences closer to Cabello’s signature style. The first of the trio has less of this style though, serving as an apt transition into “Señorita,” Cabello’s hit collaboration with Shawn Mendes released as a single earlier this year.

“Bad Kind of Butterflies” takes the dark tones from “Liar” and runs with them, with heavy post-production reminiscent of the first song on the album, “Shameless.” In this case, though, Cabello’s vocals are layered in a unique way, as she sings on three different pitches simultaneously that create refreshing variation.

“Easy” is another one of the album’s stars, with its slow pace, heavy percussion and heartfelt lyrics bringing the piece together as one of my favorites. A later song, “Cry For Me,” is also very catchy, with high energy and fast-paced lyrics about jealousy after a break-

up.

Following this, “Dream of You,” “Used to This,” “Feel It Twice” and “This Love” are all slow songs, though each expresses a different aspect of romance. The first two are about the positive side—how it feels to be completely infatuated with one’s lover—while the latter two focus on breakups.

Concluding the album is “First Man,” the most romantic all 14 tracks, a slow song about first true love and the joy that comes with it.

Across the entire album, it is evident that Cabello put a lot of work into each song. The amount of consideration for their order on the track list for optimal variety is also clear. With these considerations, I would highly recommend it to music lovers of any genre.

SYCO MUSIC

THE BULL'S EYE

DECEMBER 11, 2019

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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NOW SHOWING

Frozen keeps its charm

VIBE CHECK

FROZEN II Vera Wang Staff Writer

kingdom of Arendelle faces when the forces of nature threaten to destroy it.

When Elsa (Idina Menzel) beAmong the most anticipated gins to hear eerie sounds calling movies of the fall season this year out to her in strange tunes, she was “Frozen 2,” the sequel to the takes Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff record-breaking “Frozen.” While (Jonathan Groff) and Olaf (Josh the film was overhyped and feaGad) with her into the Enchanted tured a childish storyline, I walked Forest, which is filled with untold out of the theater awestruck by the mysteries and dangers. outstanding graphics and surprisUtilizing the six-year lapse to ingly engaging plot. refine the animation, storyline and Featuring the original cast six soundtrack, the movie is visually years after the breathtaking and superbly animatoriginal, “Froed. zen 2” deIn scenes such as the one featails the turing the Black Sea, the incorproblems poration of lightning flashes, that intricately detailed phanthe tom water horses and intense orchestral music display immaculate cohesion and intensity, fitting for the climax of the film. In addition, the meticulousness of the intricate facial movements and coordination of the characters are unimaginably realIdina Menzel and Kristen Bell reprise their roles as Elsa and Anna.

My stand vs. stans Josh Kim A&E Editor

DISNEY

Main characters, Elsa, Anna and Kristoff, leave Arendelle for a new adventure. istic. Balancing emotional scenes with ones offering comical relief, “Frozen 2” hits the perfect balance of heartfelt, warm, humorous and iconic notes that had me reeling in laughter one moment to quietly weeping the next.

While “Frozen” is about mending the sisterly bond that was broken as children, “Frozen 2” takes on a more mature theme than the first movie and still manages to keep its charm.

Despite being a children’s film,

the movie manages to incorporate subtle and contemporary approaches by addressing provocative topics such as colonialism and climate change through a simple plot, differing from the approach of the whimsical tale told by the first movie.

Showcasing spectacular graphics and an equally impressive, well thought out plot, “Frozen 2” arguably surpasses the original movie as well as the expectations of many critics.

Traditions kept alive through dance Maggie Liu Editor-In-Chief Staring into her own reflection, a wife fuses movement and rhythm to express her longing for her husband at war. This is the latest character Diamond Bar High School junior Jaclyn Lee will embody through traditional Chinese dance.

This genre is characterized by the utilization of props such as handkerchiefs, umbrellas, drums, long ribbons and fans to paint a narrative.

Lee began this style of dance in the third grade after dropping ballet. She started honing her skills at Jin’s Dance Studio in Diamond Bar as a way to connect to her cultural heritage. Lee has performed at competitions such as Showstopper and Taoli Cup and was featured on the Chinese television series “I Want to be Featured in Spring Festival Show.”

However, due to her heavy workload from school, Lee is now coached by an independent instructor, in a rented studio space. “[She] teaches me and other students traditional Chinese dances from all over China,” the Brahma said. “There’re special elements to each dance.”

Lee’s favorite dance, the one she is currently learning, is called “Pointed Lips,” which portrays a wife waiting for her husband to return from war. She looks at her reflection in a handheld mirror throughout the dance because she is afraid that by the time her husband finally returns home, her beauty will have faded.

“I wanted to do it for a long time, but my teacher told me I wasn’t mature yet,” Lee said.

The junior was drawn to this dance because of the emotional backstory.

“Her personality in it is so longing for him,” Lee said. “It’s just a really beautiful dance.”

Similar to this piece, the alluring stories expressed in Chinese dance is the reason why Lee favors this genre over contemporary.

“[For] modern dance, you usually just pick the music and then make up moves to it, but for Chinese dance, there’s a lot more of telling a story and a purpose to it,” Lee said. “[In] each dance, you need to become that person first in order to express it.”

Lee spends time studying the story and characters in every piece she performs to be able to convey the story.

“One dance might be very sorrowful or one dance might be really happy, and you just have to embrace it,” Lee said.

Although Lee prefers Chinese dance, she has come to appreciate contemporary as well. In middle school, the junior began to learn the style and now is a member of the Diamond Bar High School

Lee ON P. 12

Photo courtesy of TORI KWON

Tori Kwon’s piece, “History in Our Hands,” depicts aspects of Korean culture.

Weaving history into her art Kate Zheng FeaturE Editor

Photo courtesy of JACLYN LEE

Lee perfroms at competitions such as Showstopper and the Taoli Cup.

Blending in a fresh set of paint, Diamond Bar High School senior Tori Kwon sat down to begin her art piece, “History in our Hands,” two nights before the due date of the Korean American Art Contest.

As she continued to create each stroke and color in each space, what once was an empty canvas began to blossom into a painting rich with traditional Korean history.

The senior’s painting depicts her mother knitting a traditional Korean sponge, a susemi, used for washing dishes. Kwon said the painting was inspired by her mother and is a symbol for Korean events that happened, and her mother knitting the sponge depicted the process of making history.

Kwon referenced the creation of the Declaration of the Republic of Korea, the first female president, the sinking of the MV Sewol ferry and the 2018 Olympics event when North and South Korea flew under one flag in her artwork.

The senior credits her art teacher, Vianney Hwang, for introducing her to this competition and

made it an assignment in his studio art class.

Kwon said that the hardest challenge she had to overcome was the deadline. Preoccupied with her other responsibilities, the senior had a late start on her painting.

“I worked on it for two days probably four hours each night, so eight hours in total,” Kwon said.

Because of the rushed process, the senior had low expectations for the competition, but was pleasantly surprised when Hwang told her she won.

“I was mainly just surprised…”

Kwon said. “When he first told me I won the competition, I thought I got a participation award.”

The senior received $100 in prize money and her painting will be published in the 2020 Korean American Art Day calendar. Throughout December, “History in Our Hands” will be on display in two exhibitions, at the Galleria in Koreatown and the Cerritos Library.

It took many years of perseverance for Kwon to achieve her current level of mastery. The senior began drawing at the age of seven and has not stopped since. With a

kwon ON P. 12

More often than not, whenever I’m on Instagram or in the comment section of a recent music video, there are die-hard fans voicing their grievances against it. These obsessed fans, or “stans,” passionately reject the new style or approach to music the artist is going for, coming off as stubborn and annoying.

Especially in today’s music industry, this mindset of confining artists to a certain style has run rampant and is only making the experience for other listeners less enjoyable.

Stans are often quick to publicly announce their opinions and vehemently debate against anyone with a differing opinion or viewpoint. A classic example of this is Tyler, the Creator’s fanbase. Stans that originally fell in love with Tyler’s raw and vulgar approach to rap in “Bastard” and “Goblin” albums were quick to voice their complaints once he switched to a tamer style with “Flower Boy” and most recently, “Igor.” Firing back on Twitter, Tyler replied saying that his old music is still available for listening, all the while making fans sound dumb.

What fans fail to realize is that when artists create an album or song, those artists are going through trials and situations that are unique to them. It’s through these varying events that they are able to find inspiration to make music. Certain beats, melodies, hooks and more can all be birthed as a result of the artist’s unique experiences.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to fans when an artist will experiment with new sounds or styles as they are obviously different from who they were before. In the days that follow after releasing an album, thought processes, opinions and feelings can change. It’s ironic that in our 21st century society that is always changing with new trends and ideas that these stans can’t adapt or start listening to someone new.

Many artists have to deal with this mindset and hate. Seen more recently with Kanye’s release of “Jesus Is King,” the album was met with much criticism from fans due to the completely different style and Kanye’s surprise announcement of never making any more secular music.

As I read through all the comments, I couldn’t help but think of Kanye’s “I Love Kanye” from his “The Life of Pablo” album. Rapping about himself in the third person, Kanye talks about missing the old Kanye and hating the new Kanye, amusingly mocking his critics and haters in this song. In the same way, past content artists have released, whether it be music, interviews and more will always be there on the Internet.

There must be change in order to get rid of the detrimental stan mentality, which is so prevalent in the current music industry. Nobody benefits from this kind of mentality. The music that artists have released in the past will always still be there, ready to be nostalgically listened to by fans.

Josh Kim writes the Arts & Entertainment column every other issue.

12

THE BULL'S EYE

BUSINESS

Speakers share stories TEDX TALKS FROM P. 2 feel as if she was less than them.

“Well the truth is, you don’t need to be the best to be great,” Hu said.

Also during fifth, senior Serena Fu spoke on sexual harassment and Kelvin Wang on embracing opportunities.

In sixth period, senior Samuel Rojas talked about his struggles with child abuse. He showed everyone the long wooden stick that was used to hit him. He touched upon his experiences with abuse

and how it has shaped the person he is today. His message was directed to the future parents in the crowd when he noted that a parent’s actions truly affect a child’s life when they grow up.

Freshman Isabella Saeedy also spoke during sixth period about how her nerve removal surgery temporarily disabled her right hand, which completely altered her lifestyle. She discussed how doctors and specialists all told her she would never be able to surf again and how she simply could not accept that fate.

History comes alive in her art KWON FROM P. 11 family background in art, she grew up around it.

“My grandpa works in special effects in Broadway, so he has always been a part of art,” Kwon said. “My mom works in interior design, so art has always been part of my family.”

Because of her family’s history

with art, the senior views the activity as something that will always be fun.

“Art is not anything hard,” Kwon said. “For me it’s very relaxing and fun.”

Kwon said that one of the biggest obstacles in creating art is coming up with original, creative ideas that can be conveyed through various mediums.

Cultural dancer takes the stage LEE FROM P. 11 Dance Company. She finds solace in the performance group because of the supportive environment.

“The team is very loving, and we all help each other through our stress because when we dance, you can’t really focus on other stress,” Lee said. “If you’re distracted, you’re not doing it well.”

Lee is most excited about the upcoming competition season because it is a way to show off the countless hours of practice and hard work the group has dedicated to its dances.

“Everyone is here with the same mindset,” Lee said.

“We are here to win, but we are also going to appreciate other teams.”

Contemporary dance has opened doors for Lee to improve upon traditional choreography.

By adding technical moves such as pirouettes and leaps, Lee elevates and adds depth to the Chinese pieces.

“I also opened up a gateway for Chinese students to move into modern dance,” Lee said.

Even though dance is a large as-

pect of her life, Lee does not want to pursue it professionally due to past experiences with injuries.

The junior has struggled with chronic knee and back complications and had to endure months of physical therapy.

Due to this, her outlook on the way she dances has evolved.

“It was just eye-opening actually, because there’s a lot of things I did not think about when dancing that I should’ve thought about to avoid this,” Lee said.

“I appreciated more for conditioning...it’s tiring...but it made me realize I need that.”

Through traditional dance, the Brahma has been able to connect to not just her culture but also family members.

“If I meet my aunts and uncles or other relatives, I can tell them that I do Chinese dance, and I can get a conversation started with them,” Lee said.

Despite the fatigue she feels from dancing, she perseveres every day.

“When you dance, you forget you’re tired...it makes me more exhausted, but I would not want to not have it,” Lee said.

Students transform the 500 building PATHWAYS FROM P. 7 what we should do,’” Watkins explained.

With the experience of a professional haunted maze under their belts, the seniors were given the opportunity to work on finally building and implementing their own ideas, drawing inspiration from both past mazes and the ones at Knotts.

Not only did some students spend over 100 hours working after school and on weekends, but they also all contributed props.

The main donors, though, were Watkins, Pathways Dean Gabriel

Aguilar and Pathways academy teacher Eleanor Boruah.

By mid-late October, the students were finally installing the maze and moving walls around in the 500 building, and the maze was ready for entry by Oct. 29.

“My favorite part of the process was when we finished, because of the sense of accomplishment after not really knowing whether it was going to work… [or] if we were going to scare people too much,” Watkins said. “We had said from the very beginning that these seniors had a great opportunity with the 500 building to make a legacy that’s gonna be hard to match.”

However, she didn’t let her right hand take away what she loved the most and connected her story to how others should also not allow obstacles take away what they love to do.

Closing the TEDx Talks was junior Vivian Huang, who discussed the bullying she endured when she first came to America in the fourth grade and how she feared the same would happen to her in high school.

Renee Elefante and Grace Lee also contributed to this story.

DECEMBER 11, 2019

THE BULL'S EYE

DECEMBER 11, 2019

SPORTS

Driving for success in new division The Lady Brahmas feature a young team that specializes in threepointers and speed.

Noting their teamwork and communication, McCabe praised the team’s performance, especially since Northview was the run-

ner-up state champion last season.

“We got down 32 to seven in the first half and came back strong, but we were still down by quite a

reyna wan ASST. OPINION Editor Despite losing many skilled players to graduation, the Diamond Bar High School girls basketball team hasn’t missed a shot as they adjust to a younger, more skillful team.

Along with the return of head coach Tony McCabe, who took a break from coaching the team last season, the Brahmas are ready to surpass their accomplishments from last year.

“The freshmen, quite a few of them are very good basketball players, so it’s a really good basketball class and they’re making an impact,” McCabe said.

McCabe intends to come back stronger with the help of assistant coaches Erica Younge and Kylance Malveaux coaching the JV team and returning coach John Martin with the frosh-soph team.

The Lady Brahmas started the season strong with a 74-15 win over Nogales. Senior captain Juliana Callasan led the team with multiple three-pointers along with seniors Karen Shao and Amanda Vasquez, who both left strong impressions.

In their next two games, however, Diamond Bar suffered two consecutive double-digit losses to Northview and Wilson High School. The Lady Brahmas bounced back by winning two of their next three games, defeating the ladies of Bell Gardens 43-33 and South East 40-24.

The team has an even 3-3 record so far in the season.

VICTORIA ARTALE

Junior Sierra Griego full-court presses a Nogales player in a preseason game.

VICTORIA ARTALE

Junior Chelsea Wu anticipates her opponent’s next pass to prevent scoring.

bit,” McCabe said. “We actually in the third quarter got down 33 points and cut it [score gap] down to 12, but then they called two fouls and shot 24 free throws.”

Although the team may be filled with a mix of classes, the chemistry among the players is seamless, especially with their clear communication for passing and defense.

“The compliments we’ve gotten are on how the team moves the ball really well and they’re all unselfish; they sometimes even turn down shots,” McCabe said.

Despite their recent move from CIF Southern Section Division 1 to Division 4, McCabe is more than determined to see his team win state championships, hoping to defy the expectation of being an underdog with a younger, less experienced team.

“We’re not the favorite and [we’re] young, so we have a lot to learn, but we have a chance to win league,” McCabe said.

While height is, according to McCabe, the key attribute the team does not have, its strengths outweigh the weaknesses. Speed and consistent three-point shooting are at the core of the team’s success this season.

“The only thing our team is lacking a little bit of height, but we have speed and that’s as good as anything,” McCabe said.

Across the board, the team has averaged around 50 points from three-pointers per game, allowing them to limit their number of fouls while strengthening their offense.

“Everybody’s playing tough and fast,” McCabe said. “That’s how we want to continue playing, so we’re off to a really good start.”

The Lady Brahmas play next on Dec. 16 against Chino Hills High School.

An adjustment to a new style of play Having a senior-filled team last year, boys basketball looks to repeat their success with a new team. alex chun ASST. sports Editor Coming off an undefeated league season and an appearance in the second round of the CIF playoffs, Diamond Bar High School boys basketball is ready to replicate its success and become league champions for the third consecutive year.

With the graduation of eleven seniors, the Brahmas feature mostly fresh faces who, according to their coach, specialize in elite ball-handling and long-range shooting skills. Although expectations are high, the Brahmas are unfazed and focused on the upcoming season.

“Our number one expectation is to win league, regardless of the number of seniors or youngsters

we have or how well we did last have a lack of experience in playyear; none of that really matters,” ing Brahma style basketball. head coach Henry Frierson said. Frierson plans to emphasize the “It’s like starting from the ground necessity of full-court pressure up again.” to maximize Diamond Bar’s fastAlthough the team is starting break scoring opportunities in the from scratch, there already is a painted-area, where the Brahmas sense of unity within the Brahmas. are at their best.

Frierson said he believes that sim“What the team is lacking the ple adjustments need to be made most is not only floor experience, from a coaching but also the fastandpoint, in miliarity with us " Our number one terms of teachand the system expectation is to win ing the athletes and tempo we league, regardless about the basic like to play at,” of the number of systematic funFrierson said. seniors or youngsters damentals.

“We like to play “I’ve been at a breakneck we have..." spoiled for the pace, but some of HENRY FRIERSON past two years the kids are unon the terms of comfortable only exactly where the kids are as far because they’ve played at a differas their development, their knowlent pace from what their previous edge on our system,” Frierson said. coaches want[ed].” “ I just have to take a step back, emThe dominant success the Brahphasize all of the fine details, get to mas have had over the past two know them all at once and just be a years is credited to this long-esbit more patient myself.” tablished half-court press system, Moreover, the young athletes which causes problems for oppos-

TIFFANY LEE

Sophomore Jaden Perez attempts a layup during practice to prepare for the upcoming San Dimas Tournament this week.

ing offenses by forcing turnovers in the opponents’ half of the court.

The rapid pace they play at allows for dribble penetration toward the paint, providing multiple layup opportunities close to the basket.

“I always like to say there are a million different ways to skin a cat,” Frierson said. “This is just our way on how we skin it, and so getting them acclimated to the pace that we want to play at is definitely going to be a challenge.”

The relationship between the players and coaches is also another imperative factor that will determine the team’s success. Based on the rapid learning and development the team has already demonstrated, Frierson said he believed that last year’s goals aren’t farfetched.

“The kids need to be coachable and the coaches need to be flexible; we need to grow and be able to handle some of the changes that are happening within basketball in general,” Frierson said. “We have to adjust to some of the refereeing styles and be flexible to sustain the free-flowing pace of the game.

While we [coaches] need to be a bit more flexible, sometimes we have to be as demanding as possible on the details on what we want.”

As long as Diamond Bar controls the pace from the game’s beginning to end while sticking to their defensive principles, Frierson said the Brahmas will show no weakness regardless of the different personnel changes they have on the floor.

“The identity of our team should always be dictated by the defense,” Frierson said. “When someone sees a Diamond Bar team, I want them to think that they’re going to play extremely hard while pressing and defending, while playing fast on the offensive end.”

13

ON THE SIDELINE

WITH:

RYAN & JOHNNY

Lakers are back as contenders

C

hristmas is just around the corner, and the Los Angeles Lakers are once again looking like a championship-contending team, standing first in the NBA Western Conference with a 19-3 record.

Last Christmas, Lakers superstar LeBron James suffered an injury in a win against the Golden State Warriors, putting him out of commission for the next 17 games.

The team’s dreams of a playoff run disappeared after losing 11 of their 17 games during James’s absence.

However, things are different this year, with multiple veterans and superstars helping the workload on both ends of the court.

One of the team’s biggest pickups this season was All-Star power forward Anthony Davis, who has greatly contributed to the Lakers’ success this season. James himself has improved his game at the age of 34, leading the league in assists and moving up positions in the alltime lists for other categories.

In addition, the strength of the Lakers bench has improved, with Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso and Rajon Rondo contributing more to the team compared to last season. If James and Davis continue to stay healthy, there’s no reason the Lakers won’t make a deep run in the playoffs this season.

However, one of the biggest problems the Lakers will face is reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antentokoumpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Currently having the same record as the Lakers and coming off of a thirteen-game win streak, the Bucks remain a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference and continue to stay hungry after losing in the Eastern Conference finals to eventual NBA champions Toronto Raptors last season. In addition, Antentokoumpo is putting up even greater numbers this season compared to last season, averaging 31 points and 13 rebounds per game, despite playing fewer minutes this season.

With the Warriors experiencing the loss of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant to injuries and trades, the former NBA championship team has fallen to the bottom of the Western Conference standings and doesn’t look anywhere near playoff potential, leaving an open window for the Lakers to strike and capitalize on.

Though the Warriors have fallen off, other Western Conference teams have been picking up speed.

Some notable competition for the Lakers comes from the team they share the Staples Center court with. The Clippers boast two great duos in the NBA: Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as well as Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell. With two 19-plus point scorers coming off the bench in Harrell and Williams, their second unit can compare to some of the league’s starters.

This Lakers team has the potential to become our 2020 champions and even make history. But Christmas is also the season of surprises, and the Lakers have many more challenges to face before their trip to the playoffs.

14

SPORTS

DECEMBER 11, 2019

THE BULL'S EYE

Brahmas pin hopes on inexperienced squad Wrestling starts their season competing various tournaments before league matches. johnny wang sports EDITOR Coming into the 2020 winter season with fresh legs and new faces, the Diamond Bar High School wrestling team has two goals in their minds: reaching CIF for the experienced veterans and improving the spirits and skills of the younger athletes.

“This year’s team is young, and they need to learn what it means to have heart,” head coach Andre Bonafe said. “All I can do is teach them what hard work is.”

Since most of the team are inexperienced, Bonafe wants the new members to understand how to be great competitors. He has matched them based on their advantages early into their season because he wants the new wrestlers to experience their first win.

“Every match they get under their belt will build more and more confidence,” Bonafe said.

The team faced early competition at the Carter High School match on Nov. 22. Junior Ryan Wong found a place among the top wrestlers at the tournament, earning seventh place.

“The biggest struggle for me was to be consistently aggressive. I could’ve placed better in the tournament.” Wong said.

After the break, the team also attended their first tournament of the season. At Mater Dei, they played schools such as El Dorado and South El Monte. Brothers senior Dylan Wong and Ryan Wong both competed at the semi-finals,

but only Ryan moved on into the finals, where he lost by a pin. Dylan and Ryan placed in the Top 3, with Dylan in 3rd and Ryan in 2nd in their respective weight classes.

Even without a placement from every member, Bonafe is content with the team experiencing their first tournament.

“After our first tournament, … the kids are now seeing what I’ve been talking about. When on the mat, the person facing you wants to win and they will not give up without a fight.” Bonafe said.

Like previous seasons, Bonafe has placed a heavy emphasis on working with the wrestlers’ stamina and conditioning. Instead of mainly focusing on learning new techniques, he pushes his wrestlers to become better athletes in the long run.

“With always having conditioning, my athletes never have the excuse that they lost because they were tired,” Bonafe said. “In my mind, that is the worst way to lose, just because you were tired and couldn’t perform.”

With this new team, Bonafe will be focused on getting everyone involved and improving the team’s confidence.

“Our goal this year is to gain as much experience as possible and have everyone improve as much as possible,” Bonafe said.

The wrestlers’ schedule will be filled with more games, including the 3 day stretch against Montclair and against Servite High School.

Additionally, the wrestlers can’t catch a break, since they will be spending their winter at the Brea tournament.

Over the course of the rest of this month, the team will be met with hardships, with Bonafe leading the squad to a successful 2020 season.

Photos by ABIGAIL HONG

From left, senior Kaylee Robles gets pressured by Ayala defenders while junior Marisa Ruiz runs the Brahma’s offense.

Shooting to surpass last year Girls water polo starts their preseason with two wins and captain Arauz scores 7 points in a game. victoria artale photo editor After making it to CIF last season and finishing second in the Mt. Baldy League, Diamond Bar High School’s girls water polo team has high expectations for themselves; to become CIF champions.

“We really want to make it to CIF again, but we want to get further than we did last year,” junior Victoria Madrigal said. “ I think like a very high goal that we have is to like win CIF.” The Lady Brahmas suffered an 11-2 loss against La Habra High School in the first round of Division 4 CIF Southern Section playoffs.

So far, the team has played three matches this season, posting a 2-1 record. They won their first preseason game against Ayala High School 15-7. Madrigal, one of the starters on the team, injured her arm while helping her team emerge victorious against the Bulldogs.

“We had a lot of assists, and I scored three points but I ended up injuring myself,” Madrigal said. “I was setting and I went up to shoot the ball, and as I went down my hand ended up hitting the [other] girl’s face.”

Madrigal stated that she’ll be back on the playing roster later on in the season.

More recently, the team experienced a loss against El Dorado High School but faced up against Charter Oak High School and won 18-6.

Senior captain Katelyn Arauz came close to breaking the school’s record of most goals scored during a game.

The record is currently 9 goals and she scored 7, making it apparent that she will most likely break it later in the season. Arauz was also given the Academic All-American award last season.

“We like try to score a lot while trying to keep our defense ready,” Madrigal said. “A lot of the time like we had a lot of good defense, and we were able to counter a lot.”

After losing last year’s core players to graduation, the team has been focusing on their team chemistry. The Lady Brahmas showed sufficient team dynamic in

both their wins when they asserted strong defense throughout the entire games against the Bulldogs and Chargers, keeping them from scoring double-digit points.

A majority of the players on the team are juniors, including Madrigal, Ariana Moran and Phoebe Chu. Arauz, who has been on varsity for three years, is working on keeping the bond of the team close, Chu said.

It was also mentioned that a new captain is planning on being added to assist Arauz this season under head coach Devin Hunter.

“She [Arauz] has been on varsity for a long time and has been trying this season to keep the energy up,” Chu said. “She’s a good leader to have on the team.”

Over the summer, the girls practiced their technique and strategy around two hours each day, including morning practice at 5:30 a.m.

Now, the team practices during sixth period and after school for three hours each day. Also, some of the girls participated in club to get game time during various summer tournaments.

Their first league match will be against last year’s league champion Montclair High School on Jan. 7.

Running helped her make a teacher

DBHS Spanish teacher Kruger was on the crosscountry and track team at Irvine High School. connor cho staff writer

It was on the high school cross country team that Stacy Kruger was inspired to start her journey to becoming a Spanish teacher.

The Diamond Bar High School language instructor competed in cross country for three years at Irvine High School in the graduating class of 2006, changing her as a person and also made her more outgoing in her community.

“I was more of a shy person so [cross country] helped me to open up, and our team was a very small group but it tightened [our relationships] so it was very supportive, having a strong sense of a community,” Kruger said.

When she first joined the cross country team, she did not have an actual coach until her coach came to her school in 2002. Kruger’s cross country coach became her main inspiration to teach Spanish.

“My Spanish teacher was also my cross country coach, and he was one of my teachers that made learning Spanish fun,” Kruger said via email. “2002 was when my

CORRECTIONS

coach, Randy Rossi, returned to Irrunners. vine High School from Northwood “In preparation for this race, High School and he influenced my we trained at Peters Canyon Redecision to a certain degree to purgional Park as it is very hilly like sue a major in Spanish at college.” the Mt. SAC course,” Kruger said Because most of Kruger’s family via email. “We would train there played water polo, she tried out for every Friday during the summer water polo first, but found that it and periodically during the actual was not her passion. season and I believe that the races Kruger then became the first were separated by grade level, so person in her family to join the we were ninth graders, and it was cross country team after she disour first time running the course.” covered her enjoyment for runKruger also added that she had ning. many unforgettable interactions “I was originally going to do with her teammates while particwater polo two ipating in cross summers before country which I was in a wamade her high " I liked the team ter polo camp,” school years the aspect of the sport Kruger said. most memoraand also the idea of “But then I disble. being able to chalcovered that the “I liked the lenge yourself and sport wasn’t reteam aspect of to improve from it." ally for me and I the sport and STACY KRUGER really liked runalso the idea of ning in middle being able to school so I dechallenge yourcided to pursue with that instead.” self and to improve from it,” KruKruger lettered twice in the ger said. sport and competed on varsity for Although she enjoyed the sport, two seasons. She also recalls memKruger also admits that there were ories of her team placing third in a few challenges that she came a competition at Mt. San Antonio across while competing.

College during her first year of “My cross country coach told us cross country. that running was 99 percent mental Additionally, Kruger ran the 800, and one percent physical,” Kruger 1600 and 3200 meter cross country said. “So sometimes for me I would events in varsity. These events always push myself and practice, were common for long distance and sometimes I psych myself out in the races and not be able to push myself to the limit, so that would be a little frustrating at times.”

Since graduating from high school, the Spanish teacher shared that she still enjoys running and runs whenever she has free time available.

In the Novermber issue, a caption in the boys water polo story misspelled senior Everett Cheng’s last name.

Photo courtesy of STACY KRUGER

Stacy Kruger competed at cross-country invitationals including Mt. SAC.

TIFFANY LEE

Kruger participated as a three-year athlete in varsity cross-country and track.

THE BULL'S EYE

DECEMBER 11, 2019

SPORTS

15

Wong’s dedication pays off on the mat The December Athlete of the Month found his passion for wrestling through jiu-jitsu.

WRESTLING 1st - 2018 League Champion

Alex chun ASSt Sports editor With a spotlight honing in on the centerstage of the mats, two opponents are circling around amid the hushed whispers of the audience.

Standing 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds, Diamond Bar High School senior wrestling captain Dylan Wong eyes his opponent down and tracks every possible mistake, seizing his opportunity to pin the opposition and secure victory.

“I usually feel anxious but focused,” Wong said. “I usually stay low to the floor, control my opponent’s wrists, defend my legs and apply some pressure on the opponent using my forehead.”

Ever since he started Brazilian jiu-jitsu training in seventh grade, Wong found an enjoyment for grappling sports, which fuse hand-to-hand combat with martial arts. After pondering which sport to participate in, the senior captain chose wrestling due to its similarities to jiu-jitsu.

“I tried out for a wrestling camp in the summertime [before ninth grade] and I liked it a lot, so I decided to pursue it,” Wong said.

With his brother, sophomore Ryan Wong, also participating in the sport, the two siblings inspire each other to become better at their craft.

“Honestly, he has actually surpassed me in some ways because he made it farther in CIF than I did,” Wong said. “He was so close to advancing at the CIF SS Masters

3rd - 2019 Mater Dei Tourney 2018 CIF SS Quarterfinalist

DEC. AOTM: DYLAN WONG TIFFANY LEE

Senior Dylan Wong started as a freshman, becoming league champ and participating in national tournaments ever since.

Tournament.”

Since he first joined the sport as a freshman, Wong has become one of the top wrestlers in the Mt. Baldy League, winning league finals as a junior. He also turned in an impressive performance at CIF Southern Section, reaching the quarterfinals last year toward the end of the season.

Outside of school, Wong has also participated in renowned national wrestling competitions. He attended the 2019 Freakshow of Amateur Wrestling in Las Vegas, playing against other top wrestlers from across the country.

“Actually, I did pretty well considering how big the tournament was,” Wong said. “I placed in the top 24 out of 128 wrestlers.”

While he has earned multiple ac-

TIFFANY LEE

Wong practices sparring against a teammate to prepare for a league match. colades in wrestling, Wong has also faced challenges in the sport. This past summer, the senior broke the ulna and radius of his left arm, so

he had surgery and sat out for two to three months.

“This is basically my first month back,” Wong said. “I think that

[this injury] definitely hurt my potential growth in wrestling, but it’s in the past and I just need to move on.”

Moreover, the senior captain accredits a majority of his success to his dedication, which pushes him through the mental obstacles that come with wrestling. Despite contrary belief, the sport requires more mental strategizing rather than physical strenghth.

“You definitely have to be dedicated because, at least in wrestling, motivation doesn’t really mean anything if you’re not willing to put the effort and work in,” Wong said. “You have to take the time to get up on all the mornings and go for an extra run, lift some weights or get an extra practice session in.”

Wong also described how some of his losses were harder to swallow due to the higher standards he places on himself. Despite this, the senior said he copes with his defeats with his optimistic viewpoint.

“The hardest thing is just to keep going after you lose to someone you weren’t supposed to lose to,” Wong said. “I think you feel really bothered by it but you can’t dwell on it. You have to work around it and then learn from why you lost.”

The senior expressed pride in his wrestling achievements in high school considering how much he has accomplished in the past four years.

“It’s basically the hardest thing I’ve ever done just because it’s just so physically and mentally consuming,” Wong said. “It makes me feel a lot more confident about myself while I l ook back on my previous seasons.”

Wong is looking forward to continuing his wrestling career in college, considering Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as one of his options.

Boys soccer ready for turning point season With more dynamic chemistry and a deeper bench, the Brahmas are ready to improve.

TIFFANY LEE

Sophomore Isabelle Hurtado attempts to dribble through defensive backs in a 3-1 loss against La Serna High School.

Looking forward to progress Girls soccer begins the season with a rocky start but still has hope for more CIF success. abigail hong asst. photo editor After placing first in the Mt. Baldy League last season, Diamond Bar High School’s girls soccer team has set the bar high for this year’s season. No longer the underdogs, the team hopes to surpass last year’s accomplishment of reaching the second round of CIF Southern Section, where they were knocked out last year.

“I want the girls to go out every day with that mindset that we are the team to beat and not [to] be afraid of that expectation,” head coach Matt Franco said.

The Lady Brahmas had their first game on Dec. 3 against the La Serna Lancers, losing 3-1. The

team’s goal was scored by sophomore Samantha Marcello with an assist from sophomore Isabella Hurtado.

Their second match on Dec. 5 was a 3-0 win against Diamond Ranch. The goals were scored by Hurtado, senior Alyssa Ramos and freshman Janel Wilson. The three finishes were assisted by seniors Samantha Alba and Madison Bernardino.

The next day, they tied against Los Altos High School, holding both teams scoreless throughout the course of the game. Yesterday, the Lady Brahmas played against Wilson High School.

“I feel that this year’s team can be closer than previous years as we’ve all known each other for a while,” senior midfielder Marissa Vasquez said. “Hopefully we can use this to our advantage in building a stronger team chemistry helping us in the games.”

Last season, most of the team consisted of younger and newer

players, but this year, the majority of the players are returning. After learning each other’s playing styles last year, they were able to win league.

“Our team is really built to be a team, and the system that we play is designed to be the type that includes everyone on the field,” Franco said. “We don’t look to play to just one player and hope that they can do it all themselves.”

After having five freshmen on the team last year, there are only two this year: Shelby Ghiuzelian and Janel Wilson. They are both attacking players, with Ghiuzelian as a midfielder and Wilson as a forward.

“Both are very skilled players who can play multiple positions,” Franco said. “We are looking to have them step right in this year in different roles and make an impact.”

The team’s next game will take place tomorrow at Claremont High School.

According to Abboushi, the team will have a lot of depth on the bench this year, meaning that the substitute and reserve players will be similar in skill and strength compared to the starters, “A lot of the incoming varsity players have more talent than they RYAN CHAN did last year,” Abboushi said. “We asst. BUSINess manager will probably have two or three guys for every position, maybe After a disappointing 5-4-1 finnot defense, but two or three guys ish to last season, boys soccer has in each spot like offensively who hopes that they are in an optimal could actually help us move forposition to do well this season. ward and act as good backup.”

“There’s a lot more synergy this There have also been changes year because a lot of the players... in soccer coaches this year with all played together before,” senior the hiring on new head coach Pete Ricky Kuo said.

Orsoco. He replaced longtime head According to the players, this coach Kemp Wells who will be season will be a turning point due coaching junior varsity this year. to the improved In addition, the teamwork that junior varsity they have been coach from last “It’s going to be more working on. year, Bryce Fistrategic for sure, like They are also del, has been we’re going to pass trying to utimoved up to the more than lize more socposition of aswe usually do.” cer strategies sistant coach. and techniques, “I think ABDUL ABBOUSHI along with havCoach Pete defiing a better nitely brings a mindset. better energy to“It’s going to be more strategic wards the team,” junior AJ Mcelfor sure, like we’re going to pass rea said. “He [is] really smart and more than we usually do,” senior organized.”

Abdul Abboushi said. “Last year, They start off each practice with we kind of messed around a lot; a two-mile run as well as many this year, everyone seems way core exercises. more focused.”

The team’s main goal is to try to Despite their unwavering confimake it as far as possible in CIF. They believe that they are as predence, the Brahmas suffered backpared as they can be to win this to-back shutout losses in their first year. two preseason games against Brea “This is a true team, there’s Olinda, 3-0. and Walnut, 2-0. nothing to play around with,” AbThey proceeded to bounce back boushi said. “We’re winning this by winning 2-1 against Hawthorne year.”

High School.

16

SPORTS

DECEMBER 11, 2019

THE BULL'S EYE

CIF

Roundup

CROSS-COUNTRY After the girls team finished first in the Mt. Baldy League last year and the boys placing second, becoming the first team in 11 years to make it to CIF, expectations were high on the course. The DBHS cross-country team did not make it to CIF this season, with the boys placing fourth in league and the girls unable to score due to injury and illness. Though the team was not able to continue to CIF as a whole, top senior runners George Rosales and Lukas Amare were able to compete as individuals. Amare advanced to the second round and placed 19th.

GIRLS GOLF

DBHS.ORG

Seniors Lukas Amare and George Rosales with coach Malinalli Cooke after round one of CIF.

Following a 10-2 regular-season record, the Lady Brahmas scorched through their competition in the Southern Divisional and won their fourth consecutive CIF title. Diamond Bar continued its postseason in familiar territory, finishing third with an overall score of 386 at their fifth CIF State Girls Golf Championship within the past eight years. Senior Angelica Kusnowo placed 5th in the CIF Individual standings, shooting two-over-par. Junior Emma Han also had a standout season, honored as a San Gabriel Valley Tribune’s Athlete of the Week based on her even-par performance that enabled her to win the CIF Southern Section Individual Championship.

VOLLEYBALL

DBHS.ORG

Girls Golf placed third in CIF State championship by scoring 386 while senior Angelica Kusnowo placed 5th as a individual.

The young DBHS volleyball team was able to advance to the first round of CIF. The girls previously placed third in the Mt. Baldy League, losing to Don Lugo 3-0 and ending with a 7-3 record. Their season later ended on the CIF court after losing against Tustin High School, 3-0. The team was made up of only returning member, senior captain Faith Vasquez, and last year’s junior varsity team.

BOYS WATERPOLO

VICTORIA ARTALE

Junior Kailee Skidgel hits a winner in one of their first victories of the season against Don Lugo.

Standing on top of league undefeated, boys water polo team moved into the Division 4 bracket against San Juan Hills. The Brahmas lost to the top seeded team in the first round of CIF, 16-4. Though the boys didn’t find much success in CIF, they were awarded for their domination in their league games. Junior goalie Nicholas Chebat was honored as the Mt. Baldy League MVP, and most members of the DB starting lineup received all-league first team honors.

FOOTBALL

VICTORIA ARTALE

VICTORIA ARTALE

Junior Zaid Siyed leads the Brahma offense in a nonleague game against Corona, losing by a close margin.

Despite duplicating their 3-2 league record from last year, the Brahmas punched their ticket to CIF for the first time since 2013 after winning a three-way coin toss.

However, Diamond Bar suffered an early exit in the playoffs, eliminated in their first-round matchup against Alhambra High School by a score of 49-21. Senior quarterback Dylan Karanickolas had another stellar season and surpassed his previous achievements, throwing for 23 touchdowns and 2,500 passing yards at a 60 percent completion rate. Junior wide receiver Chase Wells earned the Overall Diamond Bar Football Player of the Year award, recording 77 catches for 946 yards while scoring eight touchdowns.

The Brahmas improved on their achievements from last year by reaching the first round of CIF.

The Lady Brahmas wrapped up their season with a league record of 8-2, with their two losses both from matches against league champion Montclair. On Nov. 6, the girls played against Maranatha High School in the first round of CIF and won 14-4. The team moved on to the second round but lost to St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, 11-7. For CIF Individuals, freshman singles player Chloe Cadelina made it past the first round but suffered a loss in the second round. Senior doubles players Elizabeth Peng and Kelly Tsao also defeated their first-round competition but fell in their second-round match.

GIRLS TENNIS

ABIGAIL HONG

Senior Elizabeth Peng rallies in a match against Ayala in the beginning of the season before reaching CIF playoffs.

Written By: The Sports Section Designed By: Victoria Artale