The Featheralist: Volume 04, Issue 3 (Senior Issue)

SENIOR ISSUE 2023 VOLUME 04, ISSUE 03

FOREWORD

Dear Class of 2023,

We have dreamt of this moment for so many years. That wonderfully bright Friday in June with the white fold-out chairs scattered across the football eld and sunburns across our arms. I have pictured our joyful graduating faces during grueling nals weeks and all-nighters when I questioned if I could weather another trimester. With friends, I have visualized our dress shoes marching across the stage, painting our futures in the brightest colors. I have waited my turn, leaning out of the car window and snapping photos of my sister as she graduated from this school three years ago during a pandemic drive-through ceremony.

When our parents said these four years would go by faster than we expect, we laughed, rolled our eyes, and waited for the speed to kick in. But, they were right (usually are); we are no exception. When I hear my peers in the hallways eagerly talking about donning NHS stoles, celebratory feasts, and their families ying in from all kinds of places for this occasion, I can no longer ignore that clock counting down, a ticking I o en confound with the pounding in my chest. 2023, a year so permanently lodged in the future, is drawing closer now. We once prayed for its quick arrival but now dread the goodbyes that come with it. Farewells to unlikely friends. To teachers who have turned classrooms into havens. To another status quo.

Since our rst day here, I have had the pleasure of witnessing my peers mature from terri ed pre-teens into skilled drivers, close con dants, brilliant speakers, intellects, and unapologetic young adults learning to survive on their own. The question “Am I ready?” has come up a lot, but I do not believe we ever will be. But isn’t the growing-as-we-go, the guessing and checking the exciting part? As we move from these suburbs into new bustling college cities, across city lines, across state lines, or maybe just a few minutes farther from home, we are shaping up for a remarkable metamorphosis. We may not be done growing up just yet, but I’m so grateful I shared even a part of it with you all. That our roots will be tangled this way.

I still remember watching High School Musical for the rst time, romanticizing how they jump and freeze mid-air as if their high school selves would exist forever in a perfect photograph of the past. Yet, the years somehow grow hazier as they pass. Perhaps our classes were full of fewer songs and more studying, but the cast teaches us a vital lesson about “breaking free” from our shells and trying something new however unconventional it may be. I am not sure how formal quoting Disney Channel is, so I will quote First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in this, “Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of competence.”

This foreword, this issue is a celebration of you and all the possibilities the next four years and the future hold. Let these pages be a reminder to never sell yourself short. For, you were once a freshman who had to learn the hard way never to sit at the lunch tables or run to class. You were once a sophomore, training yourself to take 10 min naps between periods and cramming calculus over Zoom. You were once a junior who didn’t know what the Common App was and wondered why high school felt so long. You are now a senior, shedding that too, with a formidable challenge ahead. One you will believe you are not suited for. But as you have conquered each of these stages of high school, so too will you overcome what lies ahead.

I hope you will remember this day for a long time and that this senior issue will help you do it. But keep in mind that you cannot be de ned by these pages, your college, or any one moment, so I encourage you, Class of 2023, to embrace each other and embrace yourself long and hard before embracing the unknown.

Yours truly,

Anna Feng Editor-in-Chief The Featheralist

TO THE CLASS OF 2023

Seniors, rst and foremost: Congratulations! High school is a battle, a warzone of tests, assignments, and stress. But every day we are amazed by your work ethic, tenacity, and the courage to persist and pursue.

To us, you are still the third graders who got to play on the big kid playground. But now, here we are, with stoles and caps and gowns and picnics. High school is behind you now, and ahead is the long trail of life. Awaiting you are jobs, careers, families, backpacking adventures across Europe.

With the weight of the world o your shoulders, here is some cheesy advice we hope you can nd some meaning in:

To the future doctors and nurses, you will go on to do amazing things. In your hands will be the beginnings of babies, the hearts of grandmas, the lives of children.

To the future programmers, the future of tech is in your hands. Of course, you guys will go on to make tons of money and live in nice luxury apartments, but in the spirit of high school, don’t forget to volunteer once in a while and contribute to the community.

To the future teachers, with you comes the future of our younglings, the next generation (generation Alpha, is it?). Teach well but most importantly, teach humanity.

To the future Wall Streeters, remember to take care of yourself (and don’t become Patrick Bateman!). Wall Street is brutal, and we hope you can nd that thin line of balance between stock broking (or whatever else is done on Wall Street) and a life.

To the future lawyers, Ms. Poli Sci, you will all become girlbosses with suits from Gucci and Chanel but when you look in the mirror to wipe your briefcase we hope you see a good human being. Hopefully litigation won’t make you too mean, and make sure to sleeep (when you can!).

To the future artists, with the advent of AI, we need you more than ever. Inject life and meaning into your work. We know you can be better than the soulless pieces generated in the Midjourney discord server.

To the future engineers, be creative and imaginative. You are a builder, a maker. Remember to think outside the box. The world is your workshop; just imagine all the things you can do and you will.

To the future writers, we know it seems that everyone wants you to fail and your major is a punchline, but we believe in you! We know you will go on to write beautiful things and use your Boosting Incitement Contraptions (and by that, we mean BIC pens) to right the wrongs around you.

And to everyone else we may have missed, don’t listen to what other people say and keep doing what you love! The best things in life are most o en also the hardest things in life, but like the Turtle, you will slowly and steadily get there.

We would like to end with a quote from Steve Jobs, “The journey is the reward.” There will never be an obvious, simple prize, but with the journey will come many successes and failures. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you won’t accomplish all you want in a day either. Ahead is a winding, arduous, but most of all, rewarding journey. Above all else, take care of yourself. You come rst. Remember to smile, and look back from time to time to enjoy the view of all the mountains you have climbed. Now on to greatness!

– Featheralist O cers, ‘24

Arizona

Arizona State University

Margot Courtoglous

Shreya Shahane

Grand Canyon University

Rylee Lemay

University of Arizona

Madison Bold

California

Biola University

Aliya Saleh

Cal Poly Ponoma

Abdullah Abdul-Aziz

CSU Fullerton

Rashmi Ashok

Chapman University

Eleni Huntalas

Diba Vazirian

Palomar College

Layan Elsayed

Nate Saracino

Pepperdine University

Anika Madan

Pitzer College

Emmy Luu

San Diego State University

Hailey Chau

Lovina Mai

Rachelle Wong

Stanford University

Ellen Xu

UC Berkeley

WHERE IS THE CLASS

Daniel Dolan

Shraddha Kadaba

William Li

Anya Sabhnani

UC Davis

Rubina Tabassum Sheeraj

Ava Meade

Ethan Yuan

UC Irvine

Lynn Choi

Rohit De

Luis Gama

Kristine Gonzales

Elliott Lee

Dylan Nguyen

Akshay Rohatgi

UC Los Angeles

Meena Annamalai

Ashwin Babu

Julia Belysheva

Jayna Davenport

Kevin He

Grace Kim

Joyce Meng

Hetvi Trivedi

Lucia Zhang

UC Riverside

Amitha Sanka

Pakhee Singh

UC San Diego

Kinish Sathish

UC Santa Barbara

Noor Grewal

Alison Gu

David Xie

UC Santa Cruz

Raquib Alam

Bram Matser

Aleezay Raheel

Mia Tokunaga

University of San Diego

Luis Gama

University of Southern California

Dominic De La Torre

Colorado

University of Colorado Boulder

Natalie Cleary

Molly Tsang

Conne cticut

Yale University

Andrew Zhang

Florid a

Nova Southeastern University

Hansi Parmar

Georg ia

Georgia Institute of Technology

Shreya Sapkal

Illino is

University of Illinois

Urbana - Champaign

Jun Lim

00

CLASS OF 2023 GOING?

India na

Indiana University

Alexandra Nelson

Purdue University

Arushi Bharadwaj

Prisha Boreddy

Soham Pawaskar

Allie Xiao

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Rohan Malipeddi

Massa chusetts

Boston University

Nicole Abrams

Brayden Lou

Boston College

Suyeong Tatum Lee

Harvard University

Anna Feng

Lesley University

Sophia Tasker

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Alicia Ji

Northeastern University

Vaishavi Jayashankar

Noah Jeng

Raegan Zachry

Michiga n

University it Michigan,

Ann Arbor

Eva Crickard

Misso uri

University of Missouri -

Kansas City

Arushi Rai

Washington University in St. Louis

Iris Yang

New Jers ey

Princeton University

Hannah Riggins

Audrey Zeng

New Yo rk

Columbia University

Nicole Pi

Ithaca College

Hanna Hafner

Parsons The New School

Daisy Warren

North Carolina

Duke University

Rishi Peddakama

Oregon

Oregon State University

Claire Bartlett

University of Oregon

Noah Israel

Teagan Schirmacher

Penns ylvania

Carnegie Mellon University

Samhitha Duggirala

Franklin and Marshall College

Karina Levinson

Thomas Jefferson University

Maya Davydov

University of Pennsylvania

Connor Wang

Washi ngton

University of Washington

Arnav Palkhiwala

Wisco nsin

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Sohan Sankuratri

Washington, D.C

Howard University

Kamilah Lige

The George Washington University

Surya Ambatipudi

Oth er

Mission for Church of Jesus

Christ

Karsten Chen

Gap Year

Iman Akbar

WHERE IS THE CLASS OF

Disclaimer! The data and statistics used for this college map was volunteered by 89 out of 674 students of the senior class.

OF 2023 GOING?

FROM OUR

I would like to congratulate the class of 2023. Although I know it wasn’t an easy, smooth, and fun start, but we all made it through and we’ve stride together. We made it to the end. Ending a chapter and soon to start a new one. I hope you all do well and succeed in the future. I hope you enjoyed high school while it lasted. Making new friends, memories, learned something new a long the way. One note to leave o with before graduation is that high school was just only the beginning of our journey on the big world. I would like to thank my friends, my family, my teammates, and coach for making my high school a wonderful experience and giving me the chance and opportunity to live life to the

yea boi

Lucia Zhang ‘23

“What you're searching for isn't out there, Hiccup. It's in here. Maybe you just don't see it yet.”

August ‘23

Best of luck to the class of 2023!!

Grace Kim ‘23

Thank you everyone who supported me through this long journey. A er 4 years of blood, sweat, and tears… I can nally delete synergy

Shreya Shahane ‘23

Where ever passion takes you, that’s where you’re supposed to be. That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned through out elementary, middle, and now high school. I wish everyone the best of luck in whatever they choose to pursue in life. Always be yourself

We made it, class of 2023! Just a reminder that life moves pretty fast, and while it's important to have goals to work towards, the journey is o en the most rewarding — Don't forget to stop and take in where you are once in a while, and appreciate what you have while you have it. Learning from your mistakes is important, but don't let yourself get bogged down regretting what you can't change. Good luck out there, and thank you to everyone who made my time here special!

William Li ‘23

I want to give a special shout-out to Priya Tantod, a senior who has always been so nice to me — keep being yourself! Another senior I wanted to shout-out is Allie Xiao — who has always been kind, thoughtful, and intelligent. Thank you for always being there for me. Lastly, I wanted to say thank you to Malia Pham — a senior I met this year. You are the most fun the be around and always brighten my day. Thank you for making my day by talking to me — continue to be you because you are amazing!!

Sophia Tasker ‘23

Thank you for the unforgettable memories

Anya Sabhnani ‘23

Lob City 2023

Ethan Yuan ‘23

“And I fell from the pedestal Right down the rabbit hole Long story short, it was a bad time Pushed from the precipice Climbed right back up the cli Long story short, I survived”

-Taylor Swi

Rachelle Wong ‘23

Stay classy, stay cool, and don't be a fool!

Soham Pawaskar ‘23

Good luck on all your future endeavors, Class of 2023! May you ful ll your dreams and achieve success in the years to come

David Xie ‘23

adios��

Noor Grewal ‘23

SENIORS

dear seniors, long story short, we survived. i had the time of my life ghting dragons with you.

Kristine Gonzales ‘23

Don’t play the videos games :).

Aaryan Kumar ‘23

"To my fellow seniors- we did it! Thank you all for an awesome four years at Del Norte and I can’t wait to see what amazing things each and everyone of you will accomplish in the future! Let’s keep in touch too of course!

-Dominic

Dominic De La Torre ‘23

The journey was a little more than rough, but I’m glad we all made it to this point. Good luck, everyone!

Hansi Parmar ‘23

I’m gonna miss you guys. Everyday while at school, I was reminded of how kind and caring the class of 2023 really is, especially during online learning. I will never forget the students who asked how my day was, helped me with my math homework, laughed with me, and emitted a positive light everywhere they went. I hope that we all continue to emit that energy of positivity and kindness everywhere we go, no matter where we end up.

Nicole Abrams ‘23

Surround yourself with the right people, learn from them, but never forget who you are and what you want

Rohan Malipeddi ‘23

This is Karsten Chen. My dear friends I will miss you all. ��

Karsten Chen ‘23

Congratulations to the class of 2023! So proud of our hard work!

Mia Tokunaga ‘23

We did it! Congrats on this epic milestone! I'm so glad for all the friends and memories I've made. Best wishes on your next chapter, and may it be lled with endless joy, success, and adventures. You've got this!

Rohit De ‘23

Class of 2023! You are all so brilliant, and I am so lucky for each minute that I've been able to get to know you all. The intelligence, humor, and determination of the people in my every class has motivated me to work harder each day. I can only imagine the phenomenal things we will do and unexpected places we will end up. These four years have been incomparable.

Anna Feng ‘23

Month 0000 | Volume 00, Issue 00

OUR

TO OUR SENIORS

"Dear Speech-Grandmama-Shreya, Even though we’ve only been with you a year- the speech team and I are going to miss your great humor and guidance as you make your way through college. We wish you the best, love you, and insist you visit :,~D Thank you for everything, grandmama.

Dear DECA leadership & Mr. Buxton, Thank you for everything you made possible for our chapter. I speak for myself and everyone when I say we’re so grateful for the opportunities you opened for us. I hope y’all seniors remember to get the edge in whatever you choose pursue a er high-school!

Congratulations!! We wish you good luck on your next journey, and whatever exciting things lie ahead. Thank you so much for being such an inspirational role model for us to look up to. You guys have been nothing but supportive and have provided the best advice for us to not fail. Please visit us next year!!

There are so many seniors I am endlessly proud of, and I had the opportunity to grow close with many of them in DECA. So to my DECA family, I really love you guys. I wish y’all only the best in life, and I know you’ll go so far! To my AP Spanish (and DECA!) lovelies, buena suerte! Y’all have been so kind to me, and I’ll miss you a ton next year. Congrats class of 2023!

Good luck to the many happy endeavors that await you beyond Del Norte!

To the senior class of 2023: When I came into

To all the seniors: congratulations! You've made it so far, with twelve years of school –

You guys are so awesome!! Thank you for cultivating a culture of kindness and acceptance. Congratulations on conquering high school :) Now you have your whole life in front of you! High school is just a place, and will become a distant memory as you face the world and do the AMAZING things I know you will.

To the seniors, the people we all adore and appreciate, I say this: embrace the future with open arms, chase your dreams with passion, and never forget the values that have brought you this far. You have the power to shape your own destinies, and I have no doubt that each and every one of you will acheive greatness in your own unique way. Congratulations, Class of 2023. You guys did it!

Hema Rajendran

“Success is not nal, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”

- Winston Churchill Michelle Wang ‘26

To the senior class of 2023: you made it out!

I am so incredibly grateful to have shared the nest with you guys these past three years. HUGE shoutout to the track seniors!! You all are amazing and I am going to miss you guys so much. I will always be cheering you guys on. I truly wish you all the best in whatever your future holds. Good luck!!

Anna Prasouvo

To the senior class, you have survived four years, and you will go on to discover your passions. Amazing job, and best of luck!

Congratulations for your hard work during your four years of high school. It must've been really rough. I wish you all a bright

Bhouvanamohini-Vrnda Kanhye ‘26 Vidha Yadav Ganji ‘26 Nikki Hekmat ‘24 Jocelyn Zhang ‘24 ‘24 Madeline Samrith ‘24 ‘24

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Thank you to our amazing sta :

Art

Andrea Wang, ‘24

Graphic Design

Daisy Zhang, ‘24

Writing

Anna Feng, ‘23

Ellen Xu, ‘23

Anna Feng, ‘23

Audrey Zeng, ‘23

Nicole Pi, ‘23

Anna Prasouvo, ‘24

Vinay Rajagoalan, ‘24

Nikki Hekmat, ‘24

Rini Khandelwal, ‘24

Tyler Xiao, ‘24

Cover art “citrus” by Andrea Wang ‘24

And our incredible advisers:

Mr. Thomas Swanson

Dr. Trent Hall

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