Dry Gulch Gazette 1.16.2019

DGG Dry Gulch Gazette

Arroyo High School | Volume 58 Issue 3 | Jan. 16, 2019

LIGHTBULB MOMENTS

34 stories of realizations that made students change the way they think, carry themselves and percieve others.

SPECIAL ISSUE

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Dahlia Khanthavong 5 Emma Purves 6 Charlie Reed 8 Ohara Bautista 9 Zion Michael 10 Nico-Elijah Veras 11 Marcus Garcia 12 Annie Tang 13 Jorge Arias 14 Alyssa Celzo 15 Christopher Nguyen 16 Brian Le

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

CORRECTIONS FROM ISSUE II:

2

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 29

Faith Maramag Bridget Tellez Catherine Nguyen Javen Eckels Jastyn Cortez Gian Calpo Alan Montesinos Ruhi Kumar Paul Paneitz Neha Giri Daniel Williams Jomar Gatmaitan

30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 40

Dear DGG readers,

1,815 stories and only six issues this year.

Each student has their own unique experience and at the DGG, we want to tell as many of those as possible. Although biographies seem like the most efficient way to do that, we wanted to tell a more profound story than what crazy thing someone did as a child. So, in this special issue of the DGG, we attempt to capture the “lightbulb moments” students have experienced in their lives. While coming up with the idea for this special issue, the DGG staff had to make the choice between asking people about a defining realization in their life or an experience where they were misunderstood. We ultimately decided on the topic of realization because we thought that a broader topic would encompass a more diverse range of stories, something we value at the DGG. While creating this magazine, the staff was able to see a different side of students.

High school students can often succumb to the monotonous routine of school; we go through our classes, socialize a bit and then go home. As a result, we rarely go beyond surface-level conversations with people we see every single day. Our goal for this issue is to bring the students of AHS closer together by sharing stories that our readers can relate

Lady-Abcedie Vinuya Elly Kung Nomaia Lane Cameron Weatherford Sophia Johnson Jumar Eugenio Yoshi Maeda Marlene Lindoro Miranda Rocco Evelyn Engen

to, or even learn from. Vivian Yan said she became aware of the different perspectives we have at school, and another writer, Samantha Wang, learned to be cautious when taking in others’ opinions from her story about the difference between school in the Philippines and the U.S..

This is the first time we are straying from our normal format of stories being categorized into different sections, so this was a new experience for all of us. From taking our photographs with only two lightbulbs as our props (one broke), to finding students who were open to sharing their personal stories, the DGG staff is glad to see that our hard work has translated so well in this magazine.

Hopefully, these stories will inspire you to reflect on your own experiences.

P.S. Special thank you to Jeff Baughman for allowing us to capture the light of the 34 featured individuals in his classroom.

Janice Lee Editor-in-chief of the Dry Gulch Gazette

In the story “The Price to Pay” on page 4-5, senior Jae-Len Santa Lucia was spelled incorrectly, and WACC is an acronym for West Alameda County Conference.

DGG Dry Gulch Gazette

is an open forum for students and does not necessarily represent the views of Arroyo High School or of the San Lorenzo Unified School District. We want to provide our readers with entertaining, informational, and relevant stories that will be worth their time.

We intend to produce accurate and unbiased reporting, and we will therefore work to correct any significant mistakes. You should contact us at AHSGazette@gmail.com if you can find such a mistake in this publication. You may also email us to submit a letter to the editor, but we reserve the right to edit letters for length or accuracy. Letters will be rejected or published at the discretion of journalism staff.

Editor-in-Chief: Janice Lee Managing Editors: Bethelehem Engeda, Jeanette Hernandez, Cassandra Yuan Campus Editor: Calif Chen Community Editor: Angela PeĂąa Special Feature Editor: Trinity Mai, Serey Nouth Opinion Editor: Vivian Liu Arts and Culture Editor: Andrea Marie Lomeli Dam Sports Editor: Steven Avalos Art Directors: Nanda Bean, Rizelle Jugarap Business Managers: Symone Stokes, Britney Torres Copy Editor: Samantha Wang Gazette Staff Writers: Taliilagi Agatupu, Olivia Leigh Doctor, Rafael Duran, Cruz Fragoza,Daniel Grafil, Makahla Knight, Anthony Martinez, Shaila Mendez, Joseph Meyer, Serey Nouth, Valentin Ochoa, Mirella Ramirez, Jacqueline Rico, Kayara Rocco, Anvin Tang, Melanie Thai, Michael Thornton, Wesley Waldrep, Vivian Wong, Christopher Yalung, Vivian Yan Staff Adviser: Samved Sangameswara

Cover Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

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By Vivian Wong

O

n the first day of school, most freshmen are filled with adrenaline from excitement and anticipation.

In contrast, freshman Dahlia Khanthavong dreaded the idea of high school as she carried the trauma of encountering judgemental people from her middle school experience.

Moving from the small Life Academy of Health and Bioscience to populated AHS only added to her angst.

“Walking into the school for the very first time was the scariest moment of my life. I didn’t really think that San Lorenzo was that much different from Oakland so I was extremely nervous coming to Arroyo.

I did not know anybody here and to me it is a completely foreign city with very different people,” Khanthavong said.

Throughout her life, Khanthavong has felt

prejudice for her multiracial background: Thai, Laos, Filipino, Chinese, and Korean.

“Because of our race people tend to think that we are foreigners and that we do not speak English,” Khanthavong said.

This was further negatively reinforced in middle school when Khanthavong experienced bullying and judgement from her peers for her speech delay.

“I had a minor speech delay which affected my speaking. People would bully me for my stuttering and mispronunciations. I remember in the seventh grade, they were making fun of me and mocking me for the way I was pronouncing words and I just broke down,” Khanthavong said.

As a result of these instances, it became extremely challenging for Khanthavong to be optimistic about the people in San Lorenzo.

At one point, she confided in her mother for reassurance and courage.

“I was able to overcoming it by talking to my mom about it. She told me that people here would be nice and welcome me. Even if there are people that are mean, there will be people who will be by my side,” Khanthavong said.

She wishes that people would treat others with respect because of her experience with people that judge others harshly over the tiniest mistakes.

“I used to isolate myself a lot because of the way people treated me, but now I don’t really care about it anymore because I feel better when I surround myself with people that I trust. I have found two great friends that have helped relieve all my worries and stress.

I have come to realize that I made the right decision coming to Arroyo,” Khanthavong said. •

OTHERS’ JUDGEMENTS DON’T DEFINE ME Freshman Dahlia Khanthavong

4

Photo Illustration | Jeanette Hernandez

ENJOY NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE

By Jeanette Hernandez

I

n a day and age in which technology and responsibilities take over most high school students lives, it can be difficult enjoying moments that high school can bring.

Junior Emma Purves’ school year has been full of her feeling like time was racing. ¨It feels like this whole year I have been holding onto the back of a truck that’s going 80 miles an hour down a freeway and I am just barely holding on, then it’s going to stop then I am just going to fly,¨ Purves said.

After a stressful sophomore year, Purves had to deal with the difficulties that it

Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

brought. One that was very difficult for her was not having a math teacher. ¨I really wanted to leave school, I hated it here. I didn’t have a math teacher last year and the subs[titues] I had in the class [were not the best], I really just wanted to leave.

I couldn’t stand it here and I had to keep coming back; it was horrible and I hated it.”

The end of her sophomore year, she got to relax over the summer to mentally prepare for the upcoming school year. She had one very vivid memory about one of her activities over the summer, with some of the people she loves the most. ¨Over the summer, my friends and I went

Junior Emma Purves

to the Alameda Beach and the beach was dirty.

Don’t get me wrong, we weren’t swimming, we were just sitting on the sand together and just talking about everything and we could see the city. It was a really clear day and we could see the city and we watched the sun set and it was the prettiest sunset I had ever seen and that, to me, is just the best moment because I was with my close friends and I was just seeing the most beautiful scenery,” Purves said.

Although Purves has had good and bad days, she knows when to not let all of her responsibilities and stresses get in the way of her experiencing her school year before she leaves high school. ¨I’m scared of looking back and regretting decisions I have made or being stressed about something that didn’t need to have all that energy. I want to be able to enjoy my time as much as I can because last year I went through a lot of depression and stuff because of school and I almost left school and was about to graduate early. But I kinda got through it. I’m still sort of stressing out about it this year, but going through that taught me I don’t want to waste my time here,” Purves said, “and not waste my time in a way and not worry about grades or things like that I can’t change, so it’s more important to me that I can enjoy my time, then worry about what my future could be when it’s things I can’t really change. ¨ Purves acknowledges the fact that others can relate to her struggles but advises that it will be best if students who are struggling remember that the struggle does not last forever. ¨I feel like a lot of people stress out about the future or a lot of people stress out about the past, about things they had done or could have done, and I feel like you should reflect on those but you also shouldn’t worry all the time; I’m such a worrier. Understanding when you are happy and that you can be happy again, like it’s not the last time you will be happy,¨ Purves said.

Eventually, Purves is hopeful for the upcoming school year and her future and is prepared for challenges to be thrown her way. ¨Coming to terms with that kind of stuff and having those revelations or self revelations makes things easier, it doesn’t make things go away but just makes coping with it easier,¨ Purves said.•

5

A NEW START

By Britney Torres

S

Freshman Charlie Reed

6

tudents from Arroyo High School do not always come from SLZUSD middle schools like Bohannon, Washington Manor, or Edendale. Many come from private schools like St. Felicitas or St. John’s, or middle schools outside of SLZUSD. Freshman Charlie Reed is one of the few students who is a public school student for the first time. From kindergarten to eighth grade he attended St. John Catholic School. Reed compared the two types of school to being very different than each other.

“I feel like going to Arroyo itself is a big impact because I came from a private school and that maybe had 300 students then switching to 1,800 students school,” Reed said.

The number of students in schools is not the only difference between public and private schools. Levels of education also are at very different rates. Since private schools have less students, it tends to be easier for students to learn. Some schools like St. John’s are Catholic schools so they practice their religion.

“Thats a big impact because not only is there more kids to talk to but like the whole environment is larger here and there is more teachers to talk to just about everyday life or even just about different subjects. So I could say this is what has impacted me in a very good way,” Reed said.

Reed also talks about how he notices that many students lack in managing time. Many do not realize how much time there is to get things done and they must take advantage of it.

“I feel like a lot of people do not realize like how much time is and how important it is. Everyone whines that they don’t have enough time but in reality we have so much time for everything. People could do whatever they want in life. People just don’t realize time is not a limit, you could see it more as a space that you could exceed in life and use it as a way to limit yourself,” Reed said.

During the first six months of his high school, he has learned a lot about the independent lifestyle and how people are.

“In the past six months I’ve learned a lot especially lifewise because I came from my Catholic school and they’re very closed up and from this I’ve learned a lot about life and hows it’s going to go in the future.” Reed said.

In spite of the changes, he is very excited for the future in his high school career. He hopes to make the best of the next few months.

“I hope these next three years are great. I hope I get good grades so I could have a good future. I want to have a good time with my brother here too and enjoy it because it is going to go by fast, a lot of people have been telling me that,” Reed said.• Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

By Bethelehem Engeda

C

hilly in the winters, hot and humid in the summers. Waking up in the morning, surrounded by children running around her bed, as her parents prepare the food for their family restaurant. These were the scenes junior Ohara Bautista grew up with when she lived in the Philippines before having to travel across the world to California.

When her family had to leave the Philippines when she was eight years old to achieve the American Dream, Bautista was crushed. She was going to have to leave her culture, friends, and the life she was so familiar with, and transition to a new one.

“I loved it there [the Philippines] and grew up there. Everything was new to me and I had a lot of friends that I had to leave behind and it was just a very emotional time for me. I was so sad,” Bautista said.

H e r transition to American culture and life w a s

difficult; a new language, new societal ideals, and other cultural traditions to get used to. She remember some of the struggles she endured trying to get used to American life.

“The language part wasn’t that hard for me because I was taught a little bit of English in the Philippines and I made friends pretty easily,” Bautista said, “But sometimes I did feel kind of isolated or lonely because I would just distance myself from people. I would just sit there and think about the Philippines and be homesick.”

Bautista still wishes to go back to the Philippines, to see how her home country has changed and to visit her loved ones.

“My most cherished memories are almost all from the Philippines cause that’s where I grew up in. I remember every weekend going to the beach because we lived like five minutes away, going to my cousins house up in the mountains, playing with my dogs because I miss them a lot, and just the thought of the food and the people there. People are always laughing about things and the area that I grew up in everyone

“It was a really emotional time for me. I was so sad.”

Junior Ohara Bautista

Junior Ohara Bautista said

knew each other,” Bautista said.

However, she is still very grateful her family had the opportunity to move to the United States.

“I have so many opportunities that I would have never received in the Philippines here, and I’m really grateful for that,” Bautista said.

From this experience, Bautista felt that she has learned how to stay independent and strong through in difficult situations. Moving to a completely different country, learning a new language, and having to leave some of her family behind has kept her resilient and changed her as a person.

“It made me more open-minded because this is a very diverse area. I learned about social issues that we have,” Bautista said.

She has some advice for people in similar situations, who feel lost and stuck in their new environments.

“Don’t worry about feeling uncomfortable or being too scared to tell someone how you feel especially like family or loved ones because everyone says this a lot but time goes by really fast and looking back I don’t have the same friends I did or surround myself with the same people,” Bautista said.

She also had some additional words of advice for people to help them take advantage of their new lives, just as she had.

“Instead of focusing on what you’ve left behind, just focus on the new things you can learn and discover in the new place that you are in and all of the opportunities you can get from it.”•

TRANSITIONING TO A NEW WORLD 8

Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

BOUNCING BACK Senior Zion Michael

By Joseph Meyer

S

enior Zion Michael was nine years old when he started playing baseball. He played with multiple different travel teams throughout his childhood before attending high school. This is his fourth year playing baseball at AHS and his second year playing on varsity as a pitcher.

However, he missed most of all of his junior year season.

“I’ve had tight legs for a while now because I’m an avid lifter,” Michael said.

During the conditioning for the 2017-2018 season, Michael was running sprints when he heard a loud pop which led him to suddenly fall to the ground. At this moment, he realized that he had injured himself. Michael had torn his left hamstring.

“It was not only a physical setback but it was a mental setback because I had put in so much work for the season and just to watch it all go away from one injury was really upsetting,” Michael said.

Recovery from injuries like tearing your hamstring can take a long time to get back from. This limits people from doing many activities because healing can take a long time.

Michael’s recovery lasted five months but he was able to play at the tail end of the season.

“I was not one hundred percent and I was not playing to the level I should be playing,” Michael said.

Not only had this injury affected Michael but it had also affected his team. “[My injury] made other players make up for what I wasn’t doing,” Michael said. “There are certain expectations on how I should provide for the team and I just physically couldn’t meet the expectations.”

During his recovery he had attended physical therapy for six weeks and then returned to the team. However, Michael had not fully recovered which resulted in tearing his hamstring again. This extended his recovery time to five months and consequently resulted in him missing the majority of the baseball season.

Michael was discouraged by the injury and the recovery, which was long. What Michael had realized is that he had more resilience than he thought, which was not selfevident at the time.

“I overcame it with a positive mindset and always trying to move forward and work towards getting better and going back to what I used to be and in doing so I think I’ve become a better person overall from that.” •

Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

9

By Michael Thornton

F WRITING IT OUT

reshman Nico-Elijah Veras wakes up everyday at 7 a.m., goes to school, goes home, does homework and, finally, gets some sleep. But, just like the rest of us, he is unique; he is a second generation immigrant from the Philippines, Leadership student, and a journal-keeper.

Veras goes through many struggles like the rest of us, including opening up to people, but, luckily for him, he found an ingenious solution before even starting high school. It all started back in seventh grade.

“Around two years ago I noticed I started getting a little bit lonely and I just started to write down how I was feeling,” Veras said.

This emotional outlet was not a one-time event, either. Ever since his seventh-grade year, writing has become ever more present in his life.

“Eventually it started turning into a habit,” Veras said.

Back at the start of his seventh-grade year, things weren’t so easy for Veras. At that time, he hadn’t started writing in a journal yet. Because of this, he lacked a crucial outlet.

When he can’t express himself, his feelings start to build up inside of him, which can lead to unexpected consequences.

“I feel like all these feelings are taking a little bit of a toll on my mental health,” Veras said.

It wasn’t random that he decided that his seventh-grade year would be when he started writing.

“Back in seventh grade, I started having problems with friendships. Trust started becoming hard to build between some people,” Veras said.

Although, upon first glance, this situation was undesirable, it led to an invaluable addition to his life. So significant in his life, in fact, that when asked about the one thing in life he couldn’t live without, Veras responded without hesitation: “a journal.”

Writing down thoughts don’t even need to be constrained to a dedicated notebook.

“I’ll often just take a piece of paper out and write down how I’m feeling,” Veras said.

Writing things down isn’t even something that needs to be constrained to an emotional aspect. There are many practical uses for a written list of some kind.

Especially in times full of struggles and burdens that everyone has to carry, Veras decided that he needed to find a way to deal with them. Keeping a journal is what worked for him.

“Just give it a try,” Veras said. “It could help you.”•

Freshman Nico-Elijah Veras

10

Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

TIME FLIES Sophomore Marcus Garcia

By Kayara Rocco

S

ophomore Marcus Garcia realizes his childhood was coming to an end. He realized this because of a house party that took place at a close friend’s house and the night didn’t go exactly as he expected it to.

“They were just doing like drugs and like really dumb stuff. I didn’t feel safe there and I was really far from home,” Garcia said.

Garcia previously lived in Sacramento before he moved to his current home in San Leandro. In Sacramento, Garcia would spend a lot of his time making plans and hanging out with his friends.

“I got a text about a party that was that night from my like best best friend,” Garcia said.

Now, Garcia just had to figure out how to get to the party. “... (I) used the window to get out and it was like 1 a.m.,” Garcia said.

Garcia snuck out of his house without his mother’s knowledge, but he was still a ways away from his friend’s condo.

Garcia didn’t have his wallet and he didn’t have money on his card, so as a result he walked to his friend’s house.

“I got there it started off nice there was just music, it was probably like 1:30 a.m.,” Garcia said He thought he was just going to have a fun night with his close friend but he didn’t have the same idea of “fun” as his

Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

best friend.

“It was fun and all but then they started bringing alcohol,” Garcia said. “ I don’t drink, I stayed sober the whole time, everyone was just acting dumb.”

As the night progressed with these new elements, so did the amount of people there, “It was like 60 and then it got to like 80 max.”

The party continued to grow into something more he didn’t expect, “ … and then someone brought drugs and um I didn’t know what it was,” Garcia said. “They had bongs and stuff like that then someone brought a spoon and lit it on fire.”

That’s when Garcia realized that the party he snuck out to be at wasn’t where he actually wanted to be that night. Garcia didn’t feel safe and that’s when he realized he needed to leave.

“That was when they were doing like the

intense stuff, probably like 2:30 a.m.,” Garcia said.

However, Garcia’s phone had died while he was at the party and he didn’t have money to order a ride, so he had to figure out how to get back home.

That’s when he decided he needed to call his mother.

“She was mad, but she was also just scared, and she was just glad that I called instead of just walking,” Garcia said.

This experience has affected the relationship between Garcia and his mom today. Garcia now sees how he isn’t as independent as he thought, he realized he still needs his mother.

“I think that if she hadn’t had picked me up that night I probably would have been peer-pressured to do something I didn’t want to do,” Garcia said.

Although, it did change the dynamic of their relationship a little bit.

“Usually now late at night she’ll lock my window and lock my door, there’s a little less trust,” Garcia said.

However, this experience caused Garcia to realize his friends aren’t exactly the people he thought they were.

“It just made me realize how cautious I need to be around those friends now and how I gotta watch them (...) make sure they’re safe,” Garcia said.

Garcia has come to the realization that this experience has overall strengthened his relationship between him and his mother. •

11

NOT AS EASY AS IT SEEMS

Junior Annie Tang Photo Illustration | Janice Lee

By Rizelle Jugarap

J

12

unior Annie Tang, who had attended a charter school during middle school, recalls the moment when she realized she could not slack off in a traditional public school. Tang had not studied much for her first test as she was confident in her knowledge of the concepts and assumed the test would be easy. However, she was dissatisfied with her results.

“When I did my first test… I thought the concept would be more easier than what I saw on the test,” Tang said. “I had to work harder for the next one.”

The National Center for Education reports 50.7 million students are enrolled in public school in the US, but the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools reports only about 3.2 million students in 2016 were attending charter schools. Students attend charter schools not by zone, but by choice. They are independently run and state-funded.

There is a stereotype that charter schools are more rigorous. Tang transferred from Downtown Charter Academy into a local

public school when she began high school, and explains that charter schools have higher standards.

“People just have high standards for each other,” Tang said. “Sometimes the teacher posts the class GPA, the average, [and] it would intimidate us. So like we just tried to work harder, ‘cause it would usually be above a 3.4 or 3.6.”

“When I came into this school, I didn’t think that I was gonna have to work as hard.”

Junior Annie Tang said.

Classmates at her charter school often held each other to high standards in their academics. Additionally, Tang cites a difference in workload. She recalls having homework for almost every subject in charter school, but having assignments for only some

periods at AHS. These experiences led to her believing that charter school was harder than traditional public school.

“When I came into this school, I didn’t think that I was gonna have to work as hard,” Tang said.

However, throughout the years, Tang’s perspective has shifted. Tang was one of a few sophomores enrolled in AP Calculus during the 2017-2018 school year. She explained that she was not confident in passing the AP test and a milestone was doing well in the class. She thought that she would not understand the concepts and that they would be complicated.

“I didn’t really have a hundred percent gut feeling,” Tang said.

She succeeded in passing the AP Calculus test, but still believes she needs to put more work into subjects such as math and history.

From her freshman to junior year, Tang has continued to put effort into her education.

“I took [education] more serious. I took it as serious as I always did. Now I need to work harder.” •

TOOLS FOR A STABLE FUTURE

By Janice Lee

W

hen you grow up, you’re going to college.

That’s what senior Jorge Arias’s teachers told him when he was in middle school - he has other plans, however. He wants to forego college, go to trade school, and dive straight into the workforce because he believes burdensome debt and four years in college are not necessary for a financially stable life. He was inspired by someone he met at his father’s construction site, who is well off without the traditional college experience.

“There was a dude there who I think was 19. He was an apprentice, but he was earning a lot of money. Right now, two of his friends were in college and they were sunk in debt, but him over here is already earning money.

He already owns his first car, like dealer car. It sounds like a good life,” Arias said.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 66.7 percent of 2017 high school graduates age 16 to 24 were enrolled in colleges or universities. However, that does not mean the other 30 percent cannot be successful. There are many other options besides college that can act as a stepping stone towards a future career.

“I’m going to become an electrician for this company called Helix… I guess you could say I have a hookup in ROP. Some days I’ll go to a shop where they show me some little things, and then some days I’ll go to work and I’ll be an apprentice... I won’t get to do everything because there’s some dangerous stuff I have to train for, but I will get to work and I’ll get paid. According to what they told me, it’s 35 [dollars per hour] day one,” Arias said.

Because of his participation in Eden Area Regional Occupational Program (ROP), Arias has already been offered a position at Helix Electric as a paid apprentice. Nevertheless, he was not always set on this career. He had some doubts about the construction industry stemming from his childhood.

“When I was a kid, I didn’t really think that construction was a good idea. I was like, ‘What do you do? Work for the rest of your life?’ But you can go up higher levels, you can become superintendent, supervisor, even a company owner, [or] you can be selfemployed,” Arias said. “It’s really not that hard, like out of my reach. I can do it; it just

requires a lot of schooling… so that’s what I’m going to [do] first: a job as a young dude and when I’m 30, I’ll start my own business.

I’ll have all the experience for it.”

This apprenticeship and his entrepreneurial spirit are his tools in the pursuit of his life goal: having a stable life. “[I want to have] something that I like to do while at the same time having economic security, so not being sunk in debt… just be working for me, getting a family later on, mainly having security.”

Opportunities like the ones Arias had do not come from luck, or even from just joining

Photo Illustration | Janice Lee

ROP. Work ethic and good study skills are essential for earning chances to advance in this lucrative industry.

“I suggest looking for things that interest [you] and instead of looking for colleges, try to look for internship opportunities in other places because that’s what I did. I was looking for internships in construction, and if you’re a good person, if you’re a good student, you’ll get noticed,” Arias said. “That’s how it is…

If you have good work ethic, good studying habits, they’ll be like ‘this person is a good person and I’ll take them.’”•

Senior Jorge Arias

13

SERVICE FOR YOURSELF

Junior Alyssa Celzo

Photo Illustration | Daniel Grafil

By Shaila MendezMendez

J

14

unior Alyssa Celzo is the Interact secretary. Before she joined Interact, volunteering didn’t have a big effect on her, she just thought of it as helping people who need assistance.

“When I first saw Interact during club rush, I honestly only knew that it was a club for volunteering and my older sister liked the club,” Celzo said.

In Dec. 2016, she volunteered to do Christmas caroling at a senior center in San Leandro. She went around four senior centers and sang Christmas carols.

“It was a great event that I always remember. The elders lit up with joy as we sang to them. [By doing this] I saw myself wanting to do more with the club. I wanted to be a part of that change and continue to change people’s lives like that,” Celzo said.

It was during this event when she realized she wanted to become an officer. She applied for co-event coordinator, but ended up as the fundraiser chair.

“When applying to become an officer, I was a freshman [that time]. I was so intimidated and scared because not only was

there upperclassmen trying to apply for the same position but I’m just a shy person in general,” Celzo said.

“I didn’t get my first choice, but when they asked me if I can become fundraiser chair, I accepted it because I thought to myself that they could’ve chosen anyone else to take that officer position, but they asked me. I saw that as an opportunity and [that the board] believed that I can handle the position,” Celzo said.

During her sophomore year, she went to a big event for Interact called Fall Leadership Conference.

“F.L.C. helped me grow as a person, because at every workshop there were times where we got into groups and said ideas to them that connected to what Interact is all about - helping the community. From that I learned to not be afraid of speaking up and that someone will want to hear my voice and thoughts,” Celzo said.

Her confidence grew in this event and she was more prepared to become an officer her junior year. This year she is Interact’s secretary.

“Applying to become an officer this year was easier than last year. I think because since I’ve been through the process already, I’m not going to be surprised about the questions I was asked. I also feel more confident in my answers,” Celzo said.

Throughout her three years of being in Interact, she believed that she did gain some leadership skills.

“I learned how to communicate to others better, to organize and lead big events, improve my work ethic, to be the leader at volunteering, and to be more patient. These skills do help me as an officer currently, inside and outside of school. I’ll definitely use all of the skills I learned in the past years to become a better leader and officer,” Celzo said.

She offers advice to those that want to ignite their interest for events.

“Some advice I would give would be to find an event that you find interesting. Go to it with an open mind and you might ignite your passion,” Celzo said. •

TRUE TO SELF

By Makahla Knight

A

Sophomore Christopher Nguyen Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

t the end of June 2018 the city of San Francisco held its 47th annual Pride Parade celebration. The parade featured events that included rallies, marches, and live performances on a main stage. A major artist that performed on the main stage was R&B singer Kehlani. She performed on Sunday, June 24th, 2018, and AHS sophomore Christopher Nguyen got to witness her performance.

“My happiest moment would be this summer at San Francisco Pride because I got to see Kehlani and I got to hang out with the most supportive people in my life,” Nguyen said.

SF Pride 2018 was Nguyen’s first time attending the celebration since he came out as gay in 2015. Nguyen first decided to come out as gay to the public when he was in middle school. He officially came out via an Instagram post the summer of 2015. He decided to come out because he realized he needed to be true to his own self. He felt he was living in lies and was forced to be acting like someone he was not.

“After watching a lot of people I looked up to on Youtube, I began to realize that I couldn’t live without being true to myself and those around me,” Nguyen said.

After years of knowing he was gay, and no one else knowing, Christopher knew for a long time that he had to tell the people around him that he is gay. He felt as if he could not live without telling those important to him about his true self. He was tired of lying to people about who he was and wanted everyone to see the person he really is.

“But my coming out story starts with the first person I told, my 6th grade [Washington Manor Middle School] English teacher, Ms. [Sara] Dinelli,¨ Nguyen said.

The challenges of him coming out led to him facing the reality of gay stereotypes. He had to face this popular general stigma of gay individuals being overly hyper. He still has to be super selfconscious of the way he acts in front of certain people. He feels more free, but still feels that he has to limit himself with certain groups. Nguyen also has to deal with the reality of not having full support from his mother. “ I told my mom, and ever since I told my mom like we’ve been kind of distant. This was 6th grade summer or 7th grade, but she completely refuses to talk about it,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen believes coming out as gay changed his life for the better. His whole life leading up to the moments when he decided to come out, he was programmed to shrink himself and put on a face that was not true to himself. It was a survival tactic so he did not have to face the ideal reality of people judging him because he is gay.

“Before coming out I felt like there was certain things I could not do. I could not express myself because I was just scared of people finding out I was gay,” Nguyen said.

Now that he has came out to the people in his world he finds more confidence in himself. He has more confidence to be himself in all areas and not letting who he is hold him back. He does not have to live in fear when it comes to those closest to him.

“I mean I still struggle with limiting myself, but I feel like I’ve become more confident in just living life and being expressive through my clothes, art forms, etc. With my friends, after coming out, I feel like I wasn’t lying to them about who I was anymore and my level of trust and honesty with my closest friends definitely improved,” Nguyen said. •

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ACCEPTING THINGS FOR WHAT THEY ARE Senior Brian Le

By Symone Stokes

S

enior Brian Le had a best friend named Alex throughout elementary school. They were always hanging out and having fun. They did pretty much everything together. Le remembers Alex as being very funny and genuinely kind.

“One day, my friend Alex and I were hanging out in the cafeteria during lunch. He pulled out his lunch to eat. He then realized that I did not have anything to eat and immediately split his food with me. He did not even have to think about it. Alex was my best friend,” Le said.

On what seemed like normal day at school, Alex was absent. Le did not think much about it at first. However, later that day, the school made an announcement that a student had died. They did not say any names yet, so Le did not think much about it at first. But then, they said the student’s name, and it was Alex.

“When I heard the announcement of my friend’s name, it was heartbreaking,” Le said

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The weeks following Alex’s death were very hard and difficult to process for Le. It was filled with confusion and doubt.

“It was about a month of confusion of how someone’s really gone and never coming back,” Le said.

A part of grieving Le went through was denial. In order to cope, he often made jokes in order to avoid the problem.

“As sad as I felt, I put him away for years. I made the death seem like it never happened, until I was asked about him during this interview,” Le said.

Le believes ignoring your emotions often can lead to bigger problems and it is important to face them head on. Losing a close friend at such a young age really impacted Le’s life. Moving forward, Le has learned it is important to not ignore things, but instead come to terms and accept them.

“I learned that I have to accept and let things go. I have to find a way to make my life and negative things that happen turn around,” Le said. •

Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

W

hile growing up, we believe in different things and have different values and morals from each other.

But once we grow up, we start to learn more on our own and view the world in our own perspectives. One of the values, junior Faith Maramag has is being a feminist. Maramag became a feminist when she saw the world around her was different.

Maramag talks about a specific social issue she is very passionate about which is Feminism. She brought up valid perspectives on feminism and the importance of it.

“Being a feminist to me means that women are being supported equally as men and are recognized as the same. We may not have the same physical features or traits as a man but we’re all still human and can basically be able to do whatever a man can if we put our mind to it,” Maramag said.

Maramag has gone through the ups and downs of being a feminist. Sometimes she sees the negatives when bringing up her opinions on feminism. Everyone is entitled for their own opinions of feminism but Maramag feels judged for being a feminist.

“Sometimes it feels like I can be judged on my views of feminism and being a feminist. I don’t understand why though, because I’m just saying that women are equal to men and that they shouldn’t be taken for granted.” Maramag said.“Women aren’t emotionally unstable, they’re people that are capable of doing anything they put their mind to. Sometimes it feels like I’m being judged by my friends that being a feminist is “too much.”

Maramag explained that when she was younger and growing up with her family, they would tell her that she should not wear those type of clothes or don’t do that because it was a something for boys. Sometimes she thought that her cultural values clash with her modernday values. Growing up in a society that is now so diverse and progressive, her views conflict with her cultural values sometimes.

“I guess you could say that I wanted to prove my family’s cultural values differently and see that women [or] girls and men [or] boys can do the same things or are the same,” Maramag said.

Even though being a feminist can have it’s negative moments, she still believes this is important. Maramag also realized how much power women and girls have: how women and girls can do anything they want to do or say whatever they want.

“I think feminism is important because it lets people know that women are a force to be reckoned with. Like in movies, they portray women as damsels in distress and need help from men or they portray women as just the housewives that clean and do house chores.”

Maramag said. “That’s why I really like the movie Wonder Woman because it strongly represents women as powerful people and they aren’t to be messed with. They can be strong and intelligent and so much more.” •

WOMEN EMPOWER Junior Faith Maramag

By Talilagi Agatupu

Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

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By Angela Peña

FRIENDS COME AND GO Senior Bridget Tellez

S

enior Bridget Tellez knew that eventually, she was going to lose contact with some of her friends during high school, but one that she considered a sister came as a complete shock to her.

“My sisters always told me that not everyone I’m friends with now will be my friends at the end of high school. I never believed them untill I actually went through three years of high school,” Tellez said.

In freshman year, there was rarely a time when she felt alone. As time went on, Tellez had less classes with her friends and became busy with playing soccer and eventually connections were lost.

“Only three people have stuck with me throughout my four years of high school and I’m glad they did because now I consider them as a family,” said Tellez.

Tellez has only had one friend that lasted her freshmen, sophomore, and junior year. This one friend eventually moved to another school and promised to still remain close.

“She told me we would keep in contact and that she would never ‘switch up’ on me even though she was in a different school. After the first week, she started distancing herself and I didn’t think much of it at first,” Tellez said, “She was the one person I never thought I would lose my friendship with but I eventually did. I had to accept the fact that she wanted me to no longer be there or look for her.”

Tellez’s friends throughout

the years have changed the way she is now. Instead of being more closed off and reserved, she now embraces who she really is and is more adventurous.

“I’m not as quiet anymore as I used to be.

Also for me my parents always told me ‘oh doing this is wrong, doing this is right’ but also I wanted to experience some things that I couldn’t experience through my parents or through my siblings,” Tellez said, “So my friends made me get out of my shell that I was always in and made me put myself more out there and talk to more people and meet different people.”

While Tellez has become more disconnected with people she would once talk every day to, she still cherishes the long-lasting memories she had with them. “[I enjoyed] movies parties, going over to each other’s houses, baking and doing random stuff,” Tellez said, “I think being in each other’s quinces were the best memories because we all partied together and danced and being a part of like the process of them planning it and then being there that day that’s special to them and their family it’s a good feeling, You feel like you’re part of the family too.”

Ultimately, while she has lost some friends in the process, Tellez realized an important lesson about friendships. “lt took me a while to realize that I can’t force a friendship,” Tellez said, “Yeah people come and go but if both of you put the same effort to stay friends and like to communicate and stuff then everything will be fine. It’s like a relationship because even though you’re just friends you guys still have to talk about what makes you guys mad at each other. If something bothers you don’t put it in the side because that could cause you to lose your friends.” •

Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING YOU

Sophomore Catherine Nguyen

By Olivia Doctor

S

ophomore Catherine Nguyen has an outgoing personality, as she is not afraid to show who she really is. She is able to not hold in what she has to offer to others.

“When I consider myself social, I put myself out there to people, I’m not scared to like tell them anything, I’m very out there, I’m not scared to like hold in what I have,” Nguyen said.

To Nguyen, being unique does not have to be so specific but it can really be something that sets you apart from the rest. To differentiate herself from others, Nguyen uses her sarcastic attitude to express her feelings towards certain situations.

“To be unique I’m just myself I don’t try to be unique, but I feel like I do things that other people don’t normally do and maybe thats like ‘oh’ I add sound affects or whatever,” Nguyen said.

When Nguyen is being herself in public she is able to be free and true to who she is as a person.

Nguyen doesn’t really have to worry if people will like her because as long as she is satisfied with who she is, she can be accepted for her true self.

“I feel like it’s a quality or qualities that stand out to you and make you different from the rest, even if it’s the littlest things that you cherish that other people may not cherish,” Nguyen said.

According to Nguyen, being herself enables her to her full potential in the public eye, not holding back her personality.

“I feel like if I wasn’t myself I wouldn’t ever be able to unleash my like inner self and who I actually am because I would always be so afraid to keep it all in and that’s not something I’d want to do,” Nguyen said.

Making friends for Nguyen isn’t hard when she is her true self. Nguyen befriended the people who responded well with her own personality, made Nguyen feel accepted, and didn’t feel the need to change who she is. Everyone is different, but when making friends and getting along, there are some who have it easier.

“I know that meeting my friends, I didn’t have to try to fit in, our personalities just like work well with each other, they kinda just fit like a puzzle piece,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen tries her best to be her true self when she is dealing with social situations. She finds it easier to be accepted by others for who she really is.

Nguyen thinks that people fail to be themselves and don’t stay true to who they are, and get lost in all the “social norms.” It’s important to be yourself because you shouldn’t want to be anyone else.

Being different is not a bad thing; it makes you special and one of a kind.

“I feel like because once you’re different, you’re true to yourself, people will always appreciate you that way and you don’t have to act like someone else so I think it’s very important,” Nguyen said. •

Photo Illustration | Janice Lee

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COMFORTABLE IN HER OWN HAIR

By Calif Chen

I

n the bustling classroom of students, freshman Javen Eckels sat next to a new tablemate. Usually, Eckels does enjoy her tablemate’s humor and presence. However, her tablemate caught her by surprise with the question, “Why is your skin so dark?”

Eckels came from a different school district transitioning from middle school to high school. In her charter middle school, she was self-conscious about her dark skin tone and her curly natural hair because she was surrounded by people who did not look like her. When Eckels was questioned about her skin tone, she was defensive and shocked because her appearance is a part of her that she can’t change.

“I already know about my skin color because I will be in class and I will be the darkest person in there. But the question still hurt me, like, what kind of question is that?”

Eckels said.

After talking with close friends and her family about what happened, Eckels begins to embrace her identity as an African American student despite knowing that there will be times when others perceive her based on her skin color.

“I was born this way. [I realized that] sometimes people base who you are from what you look like,” Eckels said.

Even though Eckels was in shock by this incident in her class, she does not want to change anything that happened because it allowed her to embrace different parts of herself. Moving to our school district and seeing other students wearing their natural hair, Eckels was encouraged to embrace her own natural hair.

“Before I didn’t like to wear [my hair] natural because I was the odd one out.

And then I came to different schools where everybody is wearing their natural hair. And I

was like why am I so ashamed to hide it? Now I just embrace it and wear my natural hair,” Eckels said.

Along with her change of district and the incident with her peer, Eckels realized that embracing self-identity comes with more equality in society. She developed a passion for issues such as women equality in the workplace.

“I want to become apart of equality [movements],” Eckels said, “especially women equality in the workplace, [they] are not getting the same amount as the men. I am passionate about equality for everyone.”•

Freshman Javen Eckels

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Photo Illustration | Janice Lee

DIRECT FOCUS TOWARDS GROWTH

By Cassandra Yuan

“A

fear should never hold someone back,” sophomore Jastyn Cortez said.

Cortez used to believe that being afraid of something is a viable reason for not chasing after your goals. However, this is no longer the case for sophomore ASB Class Vice President Cortez, who fought her fear of socialization to better her high school experience.

Cortez used to believe that avoidance would solve her problems until she realized that steering clear of socialization was actually something that was impeding her personal growth.

“That’s when I started to realize that me, hiding myself and not communicating with people was holding me back,” Cortez said. “I wouldn’t put myself out there and get the experience meeting new people or building new experiences.”

Cortez had a fear of socialization based upon her own insecurities. She felt hindered by her own fear from doing activities that involved talking to people or making new friends. Due to her own personal self-consciousness, Cortez felt as if people would judge her for her personality.

“I would see my own friends with other groups of friends. They would meet different people throughout the year and I would just be scared to talk to people because I thought they wouldn’t like who I was or even judge me,” Cortez said.

Once Cortez realized that this was holding herself back, she decided to make a change to better herself.

“I actually started interacting with people and started putting myself out there more,” Cortez said. “I had to introduce myself as sophomore vice president to my entire sophomore class, I had to get over my fear of talking to people and to an audience.”

After growing out of her insecurities, she began to realize the impact her decision was making on her self-esteem and her overall experience.

“Now that I overcame my fear I feel more happy and like a heavy weight has been lifted off of me because I was also scared that I would never be able to get over my fear,” Cortez said.

Though many people try to escape their own fears whether they range from fear of spiders to fear of abandonment, there are certain ways to get over the fear. Cortez elaborates on the ways she has gotten over her own fear and how her realization has put her in the best spot for more self growth.

“Just go for it! Don’t be scared and don’t care what people think because it doesn’t matter what you do, people will always have something to say.

Don’t let that hold you back and don’t let that prevent you from putting yourself out there because you never know [who] you can meet [that] will help you and be there for you.” •

Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

Sophomore Jastyn Cortez

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By Anvin Tang

S

adness, grief, but most poignantly, regret were coursing through the mind of senior Gian Calpo. On the very last day of September 2018, Calpo’s grandmother had passed away.

“I took my frustration out on people who didn’t deserve it….I never hurt her but I yelled at her and when she passed away a few months ago that is part of why I cried so much,” Calpo said.

After years of dictating his life around what other people thought, the passing of his grandmother served as an unfortunate wakeup call. The pain he felt in the weeks following opened his eyes to what truly mattered.

Other people’s opinions should be irrelevant to him and another person’s thoughts should not be able to affect the relationships he has with people that he cares about and with the people that truly matter to him.

From a young age, Calpo had to deal with rampant bullying and harassment in school.

Often, his frustration and anger towards his bullies would be bottled up and channeled into the people closest to him, like his grandmother. Although he regrets the way he treated other people, and especially his grandmother, it was a way for him to deal with the anger he felt from the things people said about him and the rumors spread about who he was.

“I would get mad....it becomes overwhelming…[I] felt trapped...I would call them names and it was a coping mechanism because if you’re the victim, you don’t want to feel helpless and you want to take that out on someone else,” Calpo said.

Because of all the built-up emotions, Calpo felt that he became trapped in his own head and was frequently hostile to the people who cared about him the most like his friends. Unfortunately, sometimes it was just too much for some of his friends to deal with.

“I took my anger out on friends, people who aren’t my friends anymore, because of who I am and what I did, and I regret that,” Calpo said.

For a very long time, what other people thought of him was a guiding factor in his life.

His emotions and his mentality would all be led by the opinions of others.

“If you’re making your decisions based on public opinion then you give them the power to control you - that’s the biggest mistake I made. I gave those who seek to tear me down the power to change me,” Calpo said. “Not everyone’s gonna accept you. There will be people who will hate you for what you stand for. They can hate me for the way I am, but ‘do you’. They don’t like me? Fine. Let me do my own thing.”•

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LEARNING FROM TRAGEDY

Senior Gian Calpo Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

F

STAND UP FOR EACH OTHER Freshman Alan Montesinos

By Melanie Thai

reshman Alan Montesinos has witnessed multiple forms of social injustice in his life. Contrary to how most people confront these situations, Montesinos takes action to fight for what he believes in.

“A few weeks back, I was bike riding with my friends and we were wheeling down the streets by Bohannon and this guy just rolled down his window and said ‘get out the streets Mexicans’,” Montesinos said.

In this instance, Montesinos did not do anything about the situation, but his friend decided to take action.

“He stopped and then my friend was like ‘I’ll be back’ so he went and he hit his tire on his car,” Montesinos said.

One day, Montesinos decided to do something about the racism that he frequently encounters in his life. He and his father were shopping at Cardenas, a Mexican grocery store in Hayward, walking in towards the middle section.

“This lady starts screaming at this Mexican lady and I remember she was cussing her out. Then, the other lady didn’t understand anything, so we started translating everything the other lady was saying,” Montesinos said, “I was like talking back to the lady and she was getting all mad at me and I kept talking back. And then security came and took her away.”

Montesinos believes that everyone should stand up for themselves as well as others because he believes that everyone should be kind to one another and sometimes people just need a helping hand.

He saw the woman needed help and stood up for her when he realized that she was lost and that she could not understand what the other lady was saying to her.

“Stand up for other people no matter [if] they’re your own race or not. Or whatever they are, just stand up for them.”

Freshman Alan Montesinos said

“You could tell by her facial expression. She looked like she did not know what was going on so my dad went up to her and was like ‘what’s wrong’ and she started explaining to my dad everything,” Montesinos said.

He empathized with the woman because being Hispanic, he also has had previous experiences with people who have been racist towards him. “[I felt] horrible cause like why can’t she speak her own language. It’s like a free country,” Montesinos said.

His negative interactions with people, specifically racism, has caused him to view people in a different light.

“It made me have a different perspective of other people ‘cause like why would people be doing that to other people.

They don’t have the right to do that,” Montesinos said.

Montesinos disagrees with how minorities are being treated in America because the things that America stands for conflicts the way that some Americans treat others. He does not like the fact that some people discriminate against minorities even though everyone is supposed to be guaranteed the same inalienable rights.

“They have the right to. They‘re in a free country they could do whatever they want. They could speak their own language… feel comfortable… and feel like they are in their own home,” Montesinos said. •

Photo Illustration | Janice Lee

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Junior Ruhi Kumar

ON MY OWN Photo Illustration | Jeanette Hernandez

By AndreaMarie Lomeli

W

e see a variety of racial identities on a daily basis, but there are groups that are underrepresented.

Junior Ruhi Kumar, who identifies as an Indian American, is one of the people who feels isolated on campus. She does not see students on campus who look like her. At first, Kumar struggled to appreciate her differences.

“A lot of my friends aren’t Indian. I have not overcome that obstacle yet; I face it everyday. I don’t see much Indian people at school, A way that I am working to overcome [this] is just accepting myself and my culture, knowing that I am kind of different,” Kumar said.

Ruhi Kumar has been in the San Lorenzo community all her life and has had mixed emotions on being the only Indian student in her classes. Kumar came from a small private school and then transferred to AHS for high school. This is an issue she has been noticing since she started elementary school, which has affected her school life and social life.

“I could probably name five other Indians at this school. But if you go to Union City or Fremont, you’ll definitely see more Indians,” Kumar said.

Kumar hangs out with people who do

not celebrate the same holidays or eat the same foods. There is no one who speaks her language or enjoys Indian events like she does. She finds it hard to relate with friends, but has managed to fit in.

At times, Kumar felt that she could not relate with anyone culturally, which made her feel left out. AHS is a part of a very diverse community with a collection of races.

“There is a little bit of every culture. You’ll see a lot of races but not many people in those groups,” Kumar said.

“A lot of my friends aren’t Indian. I have not overcome that obstacle yet; I face it everyday.”

Junior Ruhi Kumar said

She would walk through the halls, feeling insecure about her looks and her skin color thinking she is the only Indian girl some people have seen.

“You can find other people getting along and talking about their cultures together, but

I can’t really do that because my culture is very different, in terms of diversity.”

In the past, comments have been made towards her that made her feel ashamed and insecure of her culture. At one point, it began affecting her mentally; the feeling of being “left out.” Students fear being in the state of exclusion at school, whether it is for race.

“People would say stereotypical or racist things about each other’s culture,” Kumar said. “There are stereotypes about all Indians being smart. No one would really defend me when there is racist comments or stereotypes because no one really knows my culture.”

As she got older, Kumar grew to love herself but more importantly to love her culture. With the support of family and friends, she has began to not only appreciate her ethnicity but others as well. She realizes that looking unique outside, does not define who you are inside.

“I don’t let these little things get to me because I’ve become more and more proud of my ethnicity,” Kumar said. •

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MY HEALTH MATTERS Senior Paul Paneitz

Photo Illustration | Daniel Grafil

By Anthony Martinez

S

enior Paul Paneitz loves to weightlift.

However, one day while doing snatches, his leg felt tight, but he still kept going. Then in the middle of his set, he felt a snap in his leg and fell down. He was rushed to the hospital and soon found out he had torn his achilles tendon.

The achilles tendon is a band of tissue that connects the calf to the heel and if torn, has sharp, instant pain and can result in not being able to walk properly or at all. As a result of this tearing, Paneitz had to go to the hospital immediately After the surgery, Paneitz was unable to walk properly for six months. He had trouble getting used to his new injury, but he didn’t let that get in the way of his happiness.

“I had gotten it fixed about two days after I tore it. I was happy that I would be able to walk again, but I had to rest for a bit before I could do that,” Paneitz said.

Paneitz recounts the time when he

26

unexpectedly ended up hurting himself again not too long after his recovery surgery.

“When I first tore my achilles tendon on

“I ended up re-tearing my tendon because I was walking around four days after the surgery. I went back to get it fixed and I kinda regret it because it made the recovery process take a lot longer.”

Senior Paul Paneitz said

my right leg, I didn’t overcome it as well as I should have. The recovery plan was that I was supposed to stay off my legs for two months, but I was walking a week after my

surgery,” Paneitz said.

Only after the surgery did he realize that he wasn’t taking care of himself, which led to another month of recovery time.

“I ended up retearing my tendon because I was walking around four days after the surgery. I went back to get it fixed and I kind of regret it because it made the recovery process take a lot longer,” Paneitz said.

After this experience, Paneitz now understands the mistakes he’s previously made and how necessary it is to take care of himself. He now takes more cautionary measures when weightlifting, such as not pushing himself when he feels strained.

“I felt terrible after I tore it and then once again re-tore it; that’s when I realized that I should probably be taking care of myself more, more than what I was used to,” Paneitz said. “I stopped lifting for awhile to rest and when I did start again, I made sure to keep things slow just so I didn’t tear it again.” •

By Nanda Bean

EMBRACING DIVERSITY Sophomore Neha Giri

Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

S

ophomore Neha Giri is NepaleseAmerican who moved here from Nepal at the age of five. One of the things in America that attracted her was it’s many different cultures and ethnicities; this was an eye-opening experience for her.

Although diversity is not always a priority in certain parts of society, that did not stop her from viewing diversity in a positive light. She does notice that some of her family members are changing her perspective on the issue.

For example, when her uncle was on his way to a gathering, he was nearly attacked by a man who assumed he was Muslim.

“I notice that my other family members are a bit affected because of like all the ignorance that’s kind of going around, like they sometimes like shout really hurtful things. My uncle, he was on his way to like one of our gatherings, right and someone assumed like that he was like Muslim and called him a ‘terrorist’ and tried to hit him… but luckily the cops were there, they were able to get him in time,” Giri said.

Giri believes that there is more to the incident, other than the man attacking her uncle.

“I feel like there’s a lot of ignorance and it kind of surprises me at a time like this, where everywhere we have access to so much like diversity, it’s kind of shocking, not only at the fact that people like kind of like assumed he was Muslim, because he was brown, but also for the fact, that they were going to attack him for being Muslim,” Giri said.

This incident got her to think that there is violence out there, more than she originally thought. It is discomforting to see that people are displaying hatred towards people who value diversity in their lives.

Giri and her family practice Hinduism and after this incident it surprised her a little bit on how she sees society.

“I mean at the time it like scared me a lot, I mean now..it still kind of scares me, but like, at the time, I remember I was terrified because like ‘oh my God, I’m like brown-skinned too and how’s that going to affect me?’” Giri said.

After the incident, Giri has come to learn that not everyone will receive a positive reaction to the diversification of a community.

“For the most part, I feel as if I’ve been fortunate enough to grow up in a welcoming and diverse community, but that incident just reminded me that not everyone is going to be accepting and level-headed,” Giri said. •

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By Trinity Mai

I

nstead of at home studying, you can find junior Daniel Williams out doing community service work.

Williams does not study to maintain his grades. Yet with his As on in-class tests, Williams is a role model to some of his peers. However, Williams believes he is unworthy of the praise, nor is he on par with their high expectations.

“I don’t work for my grades. I don’t work too hard to get them. I don’t study before tests. I don’t really focus on the homework. I kind of just pass it,” Williams said, “so even though I pass by on tests and projects and stuff, I don’t feel that it’s respectable to have grades you don’t work hard for.”

Although Williams is satisfied with his performance in school, he does not think that straight As are essential for one’s future. While they may provide a better chance to succeed, they do not promise future success. He believes that maintaining good relations triumphs all achievements. While he understands the importance of academic achievements, he believes that being a kind person is more important.

“Try not to be mean—like if you’re angry, just try to let it go until later on in the day so you don’t carry that with you and affect other people with it,” Williams said. “I’m not great at it, I’m not perfect, but it’s my goal to just be able to be that person who can let things go and not have things dwell.”

Growing up, Williams was always taught to be humble regardless of his achievements and to always be kind.

“One thing I was always told growing up, through middle school, through elementary school, through high school, is that my mom would rather have a flunking student who is the nicest person than a straight-A student who is a snob,” Williams said.

He admits that being kind is not always easy. At times, his peers can be frustrating, but he tries to remain kind and keep his anger and frustrations to himself. With this goal in mind, he believes that it is more important for him to focus on himself and his goal rather than spending time on people he should not care about.

Similar to his lifestyle, he hopes that his peers will not excessiely stress over unsatisfactory grades and the judgement those grades may bring. Williams concludes that even if you decide to make your grades your top priority, as long as you remain kind and thoughtful to others, help will always be available.

“Grades aren’t everything and that if you can’t get the grades you’re looking for you can always ask people for help and at the end of the day,” Williams said, “if you’re nice to them, they’ll end up helping you, so I try to help anyone who asks for help and hopefully, someday that’ll come back around.” •

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LIVING WITH KINDNESS

Junior Daniel Williams Photo Illustration | Daniel Grafil

By Jacqueline Rico

J

unior Jomar Gatmaitan grew up in San Mateo County and attended San Mateo High School for his first two years. He moved to Hayward his sixth grade year but his father still remained in San Mateo county so Gatmaitan kept attending his original school. Until the past summer he made a fully switch to San Lorenzo and started to attend Arroyo this school year.

He traveled to the Philippines his sophomore year, while on his trip he realized something important about life.

“It’s not always going to have to be pretty so you have to accept what happens, move on and remember your identity as a person,” Gatmaitan said. “You can’t let the negativity of life get to you since you only live once. “ Traveling helped him with this realization.

He knows that friendships with people in school and balancing school stresses him out.

Gatmaitan believes he is going through the most difficult year of high school. ¨You’re not always going to have perfect days but it’s the way you perceive yourself and just continue to carry on with your life and treat other people well and eventually you will get the same energy,¨ Gatmaitan said.

He knows that meditation is key, he has to take time aside to pray and reflect to remember that relaxation is key to a better life. This helped him with his mentality since when he was in school the struggle of handling relationships and grades was hard because he did not want to let anybody down.

“Relaxation is part of appreciating hard work. You can’t forget that,” Gatmaitan said.

He believes that high school is a bad thing in a teenager´s lives since students devote their time mostly doing schoolwork. All this time getting spent in school can bring a student´s mentality down. The bad grades or bad projects causes stress to students but to him, ¨stress motivates me to perform at a higher level and look past the bad, so I can work hard and prepare better for the future,” Gatmaitan said.

He feels that the cause of stress can also come from the outside of school. Students try hard to not let their parents down, so they try to join extracurricular activities but sometimes they don’t end up in the place they want to end at. Later on, the parents put pressure towards the student as to why they are not trying as hard as they have before.

“For the most part it’s myself because you got to be your biggest competitor and push through those hard and stressful times to become greater than you once were before,” Gatmaitan said. • Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

IT’S A BALANCING ACT Junior Jomar Gatmaitan

29

CLASS RANKS DO NOT DEFINE ME

By Samantha Wang

“I

30

was disappointed with myself and humiliated because everyone saw.”

Senior Lady-Abcedie Vinuya attended a competitive school in the Philippines, where students are separated into different classes: “star classes” for top-ranked students and regular classes for average students. They also evaluated test scores in front of everyone in the classroom and displayed class ranks based on their grades on tests.

“Failure is mostly the thing that changed me. I have always been consistent with one [rank], so there was a period of time that I was felt down [because] I went from 1 to 17. I changed a lot of things [to improve]. It [was] more like I’m starting with a clean slate because back then, if that version of me isn’t working out, I am going to change myself,” Vinuya said.

Vinuya felt sad when she saw her rank go down significantly in her old high school. As Vinuya started to attend school in America last year, she was bummed out that she had to retake courses that she had already taken before since she almost finished high

Senior Lady-Abcedie Vinuya

school in the Philippines. Her class credits from there cannot be accepted outside of the Philippines. However, her perspective eventually changed as the environment around her changed.

“I had moments when I moved here, I thought I knew enough to be able to adapt really fast, [but] then you realize everything is different. My perception kind of changed [because] of what’s been happening in my life,” Vinuya said. “In the ‘star class,’ you can be friends with everyone, [but] there’s competition. There will be multiple instances where we are going to compete against each other to be a part of [a] certain competition.

In my case, I was so desperate to be part of the certain competition.”

Since everyone in her class was ambitious, Vinuya believed that it was not a fair game.

“I had to reach a certain rank for certain reasons, and I did things like betraying my friends just to get good grades and competition,” Vinuya said. “I didn’t tell my friends the criteria [and] didn’t tell them the full information even though the teachers asked me to do it because I wanted to do [the best on] everything,” Vinuya said.

Vinuya admitted that she did things like

hiding information to stay at the top of the ranks; after coming to America, she realized that the things she did were immature.

“If you think about it, it’s childish; it’s unfair. It’s like if you do those kind of things, it just shows how weak you are because you can’t do it properly. Those are my weakest moment[s],” Vinuya said.

Vinuya was also strict and set high expectations for herself. Her peers began to talk among themselves about her downfall.

“Mostly it was my classmates that were talking about me. Some of them were rejoiced that I am not the top one. People were like verbal bullying [me] because I failed something,” Vinuya said.

On the other hand, Vinuya thinks she became easy-going since she used to care what other people would say about her and hung out with people she did not like, but now, she just wants to be herself.

“It’s also part of the reason why I wanted to move from the Philippines to the United States. There were people who didn’t like me.

Back then, I used to think about what other people think about me, but now, I am more carefree,” Vinuya said. • Photo Illustration | Daniel Grafil

LEARNING TO LOVE MY APPEARANCE Junior Elly Kung

By Vivian Yan

I

magine feeling like an outsider in your own family.

This is exactly how junior Elly Kung once felt because of her appearance. Kung was born with oculocutaneous albinism, a condition that impedes her vision and reduces the pigment in her skin tone and hair color. She identifies as Asian, but her appearance prevents others from realizing that.

“I’m full Asian. I used to be really insecure because I don’t look fully Asian. When I go to my grandparents’ house, me and my brother are the only white people there,” Kung said.

A genetic condition, those with oculocutaneous albinism have poor vision because of the reduced pigmentation of the iris and retina. This lessens the sharpness of vision, initiates involuntary eye movements, and increases their sensitivity to light.

In addition to reduced pigmentation in the eyes, they have lighter skin tone and hair color, too. There are several types of this condition that range in severity. In Kung’s case, she resonates most with type oculocutaneous albinism 1B (OCA1B), in which she is born with light hair and skin, but the pigment develops as she ages. Those with this type also has 2/10 visual ability.

As a child, Kung always felt comfortable around her parents and brother, but that was not the case outside her home. Her unique appearance and condition became more conspicuous to her as she began school.

“When I first went to school, everybody looked at me because I didn’t look fully Asian and they didn’t know what I was,” Kung said.

Not only did she feel outcasted by her classmates, but also by relatives that were not her immediate family. Although they did not judge her in any way, Kung could not bring herself to rise above her differences and connect with them. She isolated herself every single time she went Photo Illustration | Janice Lee

to a family gathering at her grandparents’ house, allowing her insecurity to limit her interactions.

“I just kept thinking about how I looked different and acted different. Since I wasn’t comfortable, I was very shy and quiet and timid and wouldn’t talk to them [cousins].

I would just sit there and read or go on my phone,” Kung said.

“Now, I’m more openminded and accepting of others, and I’m more confident.”

Junior Elly Kung said

However, Kung’s sentiments towards her condition shifted once she entered high school. She encountered another albino student, whose appearance shocked her because she had never seen anyone that looked like herself or her brother before.

This moment sparked a change within Kung, and she began to accept herself.

“At the beginning of high school when a whole lot of different people came here, I actually met another albino girl. I realized

there was nothing to be ashamed about because that’s who I am and that’s what I was born with,” Kung said.

She began to view herself as normal, someone who was no different from the others around her - especially other Asians.

Several people in her life influenced her realization, but she was the one who built up the courage and confidence to change her mindset.

“It came from myself and other people like that albino girl and also my family told me it was okay, but ultimately, it was me who realized to not be insecure,” Kung said.

Since her realization, Kung has learned to appreciate herself in all aspects. She no longer feels held back by her condition.

Instead, she sees it as something special that has shaped who she has become.

“Now, I’m more open-minded and accepting of others, and I’m more confident,” Kung said. “I learned that each person, like even though they may look the same or look different, they all have something in them that makes them unique and special and they shouldn’t take that for granted. I would tell others to keep going even though it’s hard and one day you’ll realize that you’re the bomb.” •

31

By Vivian Liu

S

32

enior Nomaia Lane felt out of place when she first started her job. Being black, Lane did not see many people of her own race in San Mateo, where an overwhelming percent of the population is white.

“San Mateo is predominantly white, rich people, and when I first started working I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to work there or not. It wasn’t a lot of people of color working there. It was mainly—just mainly whites working there, like even people [who were the] head of charge that hired me,” Lane said.

It has been one year since Lane started working as a beauty team member at a local Target in San Mateo. At her job, Lane helps people test out makeup, restocks products, cleans up shelves, greets customers, and assists customers with anything they need help with.

Due to the racial demographics in San Mateo, Lane initially expressed uncertainty in staying at her job. However, with time, Lane’s view on that began to change.

“Later on it [San Mateo] started becoming more diversified and stuff like that so I ended up staying—I’m still working there—but now I’m more comfortable with San Mateo, I guess you could say,” Lane said.

Lane is among one in four high school students aged 16 and older who work, as stated by data provided by the 2013 U.S. Census, while simultaneously leading the life of a full-time student. With time, Lane has started to feel more at ease at her job, and expresses that customers are part of the reason for that shift in perspective.

In one instance, Lane describes her experience with helping a customer find Ziploc bags. The customer came on multiple occasions to buy Ziploc bags, but each time she was told that the bags were out of stock.

Upon talking to Lane and asking her to check the back, Lane discovered that there were indeed more Ziploc bags.

“Her grandma really wanted those Ziploc bags, and then she was like, ‘thank you so much, this is going to make her day,’ and later on that day I got a note saying, ’Thank you so much for helping me,’” Lane said.

With that occasion, Lane felt more welcomed because the customer showed Lane’s work was appreciated. Additionally, it reinforced her stance that she made the right choice in picking her job, and that her job was worth it.

Every city has its own set of rules and differing demographics. Due to such conditions, Lane gradually came to a realization while working at her job.

“Being an underrepresented minority, it made me realize I have to change how I present myself in certain situations,” Lane said.

Senior Nomaia Lane

CO-EXISTING WITH COWORKERS Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

As with any new environment, Lane believes it is crucial to adjust her attitude and behavior, and to adapt to her surroundings.

For example, Lane had to adjust how she speaks to her customers.

“Like I wouldn’t talk to my customers like how I would talk to my friends. I would say I change my voice,” Lane said.

She has also changed her opinion of her coworkers. Originally, Lane had misconceptions about her coworkers.

However, after working with them, Lane realized that they were good people. She and her coworkers now greet each other every

day, and attempt to make everyone feel included.

With her versatile outlook on life, Lane has turned her situation into a meaningful learning experience. Lane believes her realization and experience with her job at San Mateo has made her a more cautious person. At the same time, she believes parts of her character did not change.

“I’m still the same person because my environment hasn’t changed who I am personally. I’m adapting to certain situations depending on what it is, and then I’m adding it on to my personality,” Lane said. •

THE TROUBLE RACISM CREATES Senior Cameron Weatherford Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

By Steven Avalos

S

enior Cameron Weatherford recalled a time when he saw a security guard racially proflie an African American at Greenhouse.

“It was a couple of years ago at the Safeway in Greenhouse I saw a security guard start following a black customer with a white friend as they entered the store. When the guy was done shopping, the security guard stopped him to check his stuff. The man replied, ‘Why are you doing this to me? My friend has as much stuff as me.’ The security guard eventually let him go because it was making a scene,” Weatherford said.

This was a defining moment for senior Cameron Weatherford, who came to the realization that the issue of racism is still ongoing in society today.

Weatherford believes that racism is the biggest issue we face in society. In his lifetime, he has realized that certain people are stereotyped because of their race and not given the proper chance to show their true selves based on society’s preconceived notions.

“I think that racism is still a very big issue in society today; I feel like people are still being grouped into different situations, which shouldn’t be happening. I don’t like the situations where I would get treated better because I’m white but someone else gets worse treatment because they aren’t,” Weatherford said.

Weatherford had an idea on how people

“I feel like that if people are gonna be grouped up, it should be grouped up on by their personalities.”

Senior Cameron Weatherford said

should be treated instead. He feels that people should only be judged after actually getting to know them on a personal level, which would be much better than being stereotyped on sight.

“I feel like that if people are gonna be grouped up, it should be grouped up on by their personalities. In society, it’s hard to change it to that because everyone still has

certain ways of judging others simply based on the color of their skin, race, or other things,” Weatherford said.

Weatherford believes communication and equal opportunities are some of the key solutions that will contribute in fixing this complex and controversial issue. Having an open dialogue about it is necessary to produce change from both sides.

“Just being able to bring people together to create diversity and build communication among ourselves is best,” Weatherford said.

Weatherford believes that social media is one of the largest contributers to racism because it shows how extreme peeple can be when it comes to their beliefs.

“Social media is definitely one because it gives so many people a platform to say awful things to each other,” Weatherford said.

He feels that he has always treated every person equally and all that has changed since that incident is that he has taken more notice of society’s racial issues.

“All that has really changed for my views is that I’ve noticed it more as I have gotten older,” Weatherford said. •

33

LOVE THEM WHILE YOU CAN

Sophomore Sophia Johnson Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

By Christopher Yalung

“W

34

e were relieved that we knew what was going on because we had not known what was going on for so long, but at the same time we were sad, because obviously no one wants a family member to have dementia,” sophomore Sophia Johnson said.

It has been nine years since he was diagnosed, and the feeling of pain still lingers.

Dementia is a group of conditions that cause memory loss, social impairments, and problematic thinking abilities. The symptoms are so severe that they impair with daily functioning. It typically affects people 60 years old and over, and Jay Rosenthal, who is Sophia’s grandfather, was around 61-62 years of age when he started experiencing symptoms. He is now 70 years old. “[The hardest experience I had to endure was] my Papa being diagnosed with dementia, like, you have to watch someone kind of just deteriorate, and it’s really hard.

You have to watch someone that you love so much just kind of lose aspects of themselves,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that she did not know that he had dementia until the condition

progressed into a higher stage, where he started forgetting more important things and reacting differently.

“When he was first diagnosed, nothing changed atmosphere-wise. As it progressed though, we learned that chaos made him frustrated, and so we knew to be more quiet and less rowdy around him,” Johnson said.

“There were always situations before he was diagnosed where he would forget something out of the ordinary, but there was never a reason to think that he had dementia. I was heartbroken after hearing his diagnosis because I learned that a lot of the memories that I shared with my papa were shared while he had the disease.”

His condition affected the rest of her family as well. Because dementia affects thinking ability, he was unable to do the things that he had enjoyed before he started experiencing symptoms.

“We always did puzzles,” Johnson said, “but because dementia affects problemsolving, puzzles are a big challenge. Still, they are something that he enjoys doing, so we all learned to suggest different places the puzzle piece could go because if we didn’t, he would put pieces where they didn’t fit.”

While his condition is tragic for any family

to undergo, the family lives tightly-knit, and when visiting her grandfather, they spend as much time as they can with him, assuming the atmosphere that is required to help him be present. Sophia has put in necessary changes to help him live his life as close as it used to be before.

“We always went on walks when I was younger,” Johnson said, “but he doesn’t have the same comprehension anymore. I usually have to ask him to slow down or ask him to hold my hand because he doesn’t know how to walk at my pace.”

Rosenthal has played a influential role in Sophia’s life; not just as a grandfather, but as a person to talk to and let out all of her emotions. Now that he is not capable of doing those things anymore, it is something that she would consider a privilege now, a different meaning of what those times meant when she was younger. People change, people age; it is just a natural process. Those changes can be sudden, and Sophia knows now, because of her grandfather, that those times are limited.

“Don’t hold grudges, and take advantage of your opportunities,” Johnson said. “You never know what could happen next, or who it could happen to.” •

DON’T DOUBT YOURSELF Senior Jumar Eugenio

Photo Illustration | Daniel Grafil

By Serey Nouth

“I

’m just a happy person,” Eugenio said.

This was not the case just a few years ago for Senior Jumar Eugenio. Based on his current demeanor, you would never guess that he had been a subject of bullying.

But Eugenio is much different than who he was in middle school.

“I was pretty shy and quiet. I didn’t really talk to much people.”

Eugenio was subject to both physical and verbal bullying during his time at Bohannon Middle School. Eugenio described his bully as a mean individual who “threw his weight around” and was generally disrespectful.

He subjected Eugenio to both verbal and physical bullying, and although they were not seriously harmful cases, they did leave a distinct impact on him.

“I remember this one time - physical - it was like sixth grade right, ... [and] you know how when P.E. ends, we go to the locker room? So I was heading there, and my shoe was untied and I went to tie it, and I crouched down, and as I was tying it, I just felt this like quick stomp to my back, and my face went down to the floor. And I stood up and I saw him I was like ‘dang bruh come on bruh’,” Eugenio said.

The verbal cases had less of an impact on him, particularly because his bully did not really know much about Asian or Filipino

people.

“It was middle school, so I’m guessing that he doesn’t have a lot of knowledge about Asians, so he just made a lot of like dumb remarks like ‘Ching Chong’ or do his eyes like [he pulls his eyes in a chinky manner]. And he would make dumb Asian remarks.” Eugenio continued, “Obviously I did feel belittled. I think I didn’t want to be around him because I was scared.”

While many would expect that the fear would dissipate if the bully is removed, this was not the case for Eugenio. Eugenio still felt the effects of these incidents beyond middle school, despite attending a different high school from his bully.

“Academically, I realized it was time to boss up, and my GPA started rising.”

Senior Jumar Eugenio said

“It got pretty bad in my freshman year when I was at this school because his experiences were with me. In high school - he doesn’t go to Arroyo - his impact is still there.

Like whatever person I saw, I would imagine him...If I didn’t know anything about you, if I had no idea who you were, I see him.”

He did not talk to anyone about this for

fear that he would be looked down upon by his peers. But it was these struggles and the impact he felt from his bully that caused him to realize he could not continue to be the victim.

“In my freshman year, when my parents and I got into an argument about grades because they were alright but they weren’t the best and we kind of got into an argument.

At that moment I realized like bro, don’t let some guy [do this].” Eugenio continued, “[Now] I admire a lot of stuff that I didn’t admire back then. I put more effort into things [and] I saw passion in music. You know I didn’t see that when I got bullied. So I started branching out into other stuff[ and] I started playing tennis more because I like playing tennis and by my sophomore year, I became varsity. Academically, I realized it was time to boss up, and my GPA started rising..”

Eugenio has a new outlook on his life as a result of this affair.

“Don’t doubt yourself because the moment that you have a negative thought - it destroys your positive thoughts.”

Eugenio has some advice for anyone going through a similar situation: “Talk to someone, that’s not what I did, [but] talk to somebody that knows what they’re talking about and you guys may have similar experiences.” •

35

THE RIGHT TO BEAR CONFIDENCE

Senior Yoshi Maeda Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan

By Valentin Ochoa

“I

36

feel that as an 18 year old, I should be allowed to own a rifle, but I can’t, as of Jan. 2019. So, it kinda pisses me off,” Maeda said.

Senior Yoshi Maeda realized his passion for firearms at a very young age. While Maeda exercised and played sports for the physical benefits, he never really found them too interesting. Being an active member of his church group, Maeda found fun and passion through a shooting range rather than throwing a ball. Maeda would often go camping with the his fellow church youth and his father, and once he reached a certain age his father decided it was time to teach him to shoot, which is a rare experience for people in the Bay Area.

“I think my gun passion goes all the way back to third grade because I really enjoy camping. My dad asked me if I wanted to learn to shoot. I learned that I was good and at the same time I found guns fascinating,” Maeda said.

As a member of his church group, Maeda was taught about nature and the environment.

He had an outdoors instructor, Mr. Watanabe, who taught him how to control his breath and steady himself using his environment, but his father is the one who taught him how to hold

and use a gun. Most importantly, his outdoors instructors taught Maeda gun safety.

“Mr. Watanabe taught me range safety, ‘always point down range, always keep your hand off the trigger until ready to fire, safety glasses on, etc.’ Mr. Stair and Mr. Lapres taught me that we should respect firearms and always treat them as if they’re loaded and lethal, even if they otherwise aren’t,” Maeda said.

Maeda believes that his interest is controversial, but Maeda understands that most people do not share his passion and are not open minded about other’s opinions.

“I think that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. For people who are just disinterested I think they just don’t care either way so I’d probably find something else to talk about. I think everyone has their own reasons for liking or disliking guns. I happen to like guns because I had a good experience with them, most people haven’t, so it’s understandable,” Maeda said.

Maeda also described the difficulties of expressing his interest with his classmates and family. With the exception of his brother and his close friends, people were strongly against Maeda’s interest when he talked about it with others. Maeda didn’t face persecution until later in his teens, and by then he became indifferent to the disapproval of his peers, so he continued to pursue his passion.

“I never really felt any form of disapproval until I started advocating for more people to pursue similar hobbies, and by that point I was already in too deep to let go. At any rate, I never cared what other people thought about me because I knew that there would be similar people,” Maeda said.

When asked about whether or not he cares about others perception, he had this to say.

“I do in fact care what other people think about every aspect of my life, just only other people that matter, like my family. I don’t care what people I’ve never met think about me because they’ve never met me,” Maeda said.

“By voicing my true opinions I can make real friends who actually share the same interests as I do even if they do disagree with me, my true friends are more similar to me and care more for me than someone who would be my friend because he or she likes that I’m rich or that I wear nice clothes or that I say I have similar opinions as him or her.”

Maeda will not compromise his interests or beliefs to appeal to the mass opinion. He has respect for himself and his beliefs.

“Therefore, to me, it’s more valuable for me keep those friendships with a small amount of people then to stretch myself thin or compromise my beliefs to be friends with people who don’t understand or care about me anyway,” Maeda said. •

SMALL THINGS GO A LONG WAY

By Mirella Ramirez

S

enior Marlene Lindoro has been in a situation that changed life as she knew it. She was put in a difficult situation when she received a text. ¨Two years ago, an old friend texted me saying goodbye and at first I thought it was a prank because she was always overdramatic,” Lindoro said.

The text seemed a little off, so she decided to ask what her friend meant and it went on from there.

Her friend replied with a text stating, ¨This is the last day you will see me¨. In that moment Lindoro knew that this situation was serious and decided to take precaution and further help her friend. She said she didn’t ask her why she wanted to kill herself, but rather how she felt and if there was anything going on at home. Lindoro then sat down with her friend and asked further questions like what had happened and why she thought ending her life was the answer. Lindoro felt overwhelmed.

“I was shocked, I couldn’t believe it and sad at the thought of never seeing her again,” Lindoro said.

Marlene didn´t want this to become a reality and decided that maybe she should step up and do something to prevent this

situation from happening.

She went through the whole story and at the end said ‘thank you’ because no one had taken the time to actually sit down and listen to her. ¨We walked to the counselors office and she actually went in and got help,¨ Lindoro said.

Lindoro now takes precaution and believes that a solution can be found as long as you are willing to reach out and help another with problems they might be having at home, school or even just mentally. ¨I almost ignored the text but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong and ever since, I have not ignored a text...,¨ Lindoro said.

She knows now that we should never ignore any signs like that even if it is a prank or if they are just playing because maybe one day they won’t be playing around. After getting a message like that you should ask the person if they are okay and it will make a big difference. Lindoro made sure everything was okay and it changed the whole point of view for her friend and saved a lot of pain.

After this situation she knows what to do to handle a situation if she is ever put in a position like that again. •

Senior Marlene Lindoro Photo Illustration | Janice Lee

37

ASKING QUESTIONS AND GETTING ANSWERS

Senior Miranda Rocco

By Wesley Waldrep

I

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t is not common to find cases of students who find value in their teacher’s words as much as senior Miranda Rocco does. Rocco states that since elementary school, teachers have influenced the way she lives her life.

“I remember going into Mr. Fredin’s class, and I remember him going off about something random, like unicorns, and everyone was confused but nobody said anything; they stayed quiet. Afterwards he asked why nobody asked anything or questioned what he was saying,” Rocco said, “The point of the exercise was for Fredin to teach us that we needed to speak up if we had questions, or if something he was saying didn’t make sense.”

Rocco’s past experiences with teachers caused her to have a hard time coming forth and asking questions. Part of the reason stemmed from the fear of speaking up. As a student she felt silenced by authorities, causing her mentality about school to change.

She felt that throughout most of her life so far, she was unable to speak up or feel respected as a student. However, this experience with Mr. Fredin changed her way of thinking.

“The best thing that’s happened to me this year has been being able to break out of my shell,” Rocco said, “I came to a realization that it’s always important to speak up, and ask your teachers questions, because what they say isn’t always right.”

“I came to a realization that it’s always important to speak up... because what they say isn’t always right.”

Senior Miranda Rocco said

For Rocco, this realization did not impact her immediately. It took four years to finally be able to break out of her shell, but once she did so, her mentality was permanently changed. She felt as if she was able to speak her opinion without ridicule due to her teachers making her feel more valued as an

Photo Illustration | Janice Lee

individual, rather than another head to teach. Her experiences with teachers over time, like many others, shaped her personality and values today. She believes that her teachers are the main factor in her journey to break out of her shell.

“It’s taken me a long time to feel like my teachers are approachable. The few that have given me these experiences of feeling able to talk to them have impacted the way I view adults and authorities in general,” Rocco said.

Rocco has a strong belief that you should not be afraid to ask questions, no matter the circumstances. Having the experiences of going through school feeling afraid, she wants her peers to know that being able to free yourself from that fear is one of the best things you could experience in your entire student life.

“I wish I could just tell my freshman self to stop being such a pushover,” Rocco said. •

DGG Dry Gulch Gazette

WHO ARE WE? The Dry Gulch Gazette is the Arroyo High School campus publication of record. Founded in 1957 the publication had been brie�ly discontinued until the 2018-2019 school year when a campus club revived it as a newsmagazine. In 20182019 the club has transformed into a class that is working to produce 7 issues during the school year. The Dry Gulch Gazette is committed to telling the stories of the members of our campus and community

WHY SUBSCRIBE?

While we put copies into the hands of every student and staff member at AHS, subscriptions are a way of ensuring that a copy of each of our seven issues gets mailed directly to your home. Subscribing to the Gazette is a way to both support this new and growing program while also keeping a record of your student’s time here at AHS. The funds collected from subscriptions go directly to the costs of printing the Dry Gulch Gazette.

SUBSCRIBE If you are interested in subscribing to the Dry Gulch Gazette please fill out the form below and turn it in to room A9 or email AHSGazette@gmail.com for a digital form.

SUBSCRIBER INFO

Name of Subscriber:

__________________________

Email Address: ______________________________ Phone Number:______________________________ Mailing Address: _____________________________

_________________________________________ PAYMENT

The cost of an annual subscription to the Dry Gulch Gazette is $30 dollars.

After turning in this form you will receive an email linking you to an online payment sysem. Alternatively you can pay with cash or credit card at the AHS finance office.

If there any questions, issues, or concerns please contact faculty adviser Samved Sangameswara via email at ssangameswara@slzusd.org.

By Daniel R. Grafil

A DEEPER LOVE FOR MUSIC

J

unior Evelyn Engen’s first concert was a pivotal moment in her life.

She had a love for music, but she had never been to a live show.

Little did she know that this show would affect her in ways she didn’t expect.

“My first concert was 2015. It was at the Fox Theater in Oakland.

I saw Twenty One Pilots for the first time, and it was just surreal.

It was amazing.”

Engen was a fan of Twenty One Pilots, an alternative pop band from Columbus, Ohio, before going to see them in 2015. However, when it came time to see them live, her nerves seemed to have gotten the best of her.

“I remember going in. I was anxious because I was going into a room with a bunch of strangers.

But I was really excited because I was in love with the band,” Engen said.

Despite being nervous, Engen went into the theater in Oakland to see the band with an open mind and a love for music. When she saw them on stage, she felt as if she was not worthy of being in their presence. For her, they seemed almost immaculate.

“I didn’t think they were real until I saw them. But when they were on stage, I was like ‘oh my God, they’re like Jesus or something,’” Engen said. “It was mesmerizing.”

Engen came out of the concert having a deeper appreciation of music. She had realized that her love of music ran much deeper

than she had previously known, and had also shed her anxiety of being with strangers, finding a new love of live performances.

“It’s affected me now in the way that when I go to shows, I am more there for the experience,” Engen said. “It also expanded my thinking of music. Once I left that show, I went on YouTube, I bought a ukulele, and I really just dug deeper into music and my admiration for it.”

After the concert, Engen felt united with her fellow concertgoers. She felt as if she and these random strangers had found some common ground, all through music.

“When I left, I just felt whole.

I felt united with a bunch of strangers. We all had the same interests, we love the same band, we loved the same music. It was just a really good feeling,” Engen said.

From there on, Engen went into the world with a much deeper love and appreciation for music than she had before the concert.

That concert had changed her perspective on music, and also made her realize that music was her passion. She had realized that she was a music person, and that the feeling of unity she experienced at the concert was one worth revisiting.

“It kinda just told me that I’m a music person. I’m supposed to play, I’m supposed to love it. It was kind of like a door opener for me.”•

Junior Evelyn Engen

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Photo Illustration | Cassandra Yuan