Volume 54, Issue 6, April 25, 2024

elESTOQUE

VOLUME 54

ISSUE 6

PRESSING FORWARD

APRIL 2024

A behind the scenes look at El Estoque

LETTER FROM THE

EDITORS

When we set foot in A111 and began our journey on El Estoque, it was already sophomore year. Fresh out of the pandemic, we were initially scared because of our lack of vast journalistic expertise, but our editors helped us flesh out our ideas, taught us new skills and even became our role models. Junior year we became those editors, and whether it was sitting on a Zoom call to help a staff writer put together a cohesive story or accompanying them to a sports game to teach them the nittygritty of photography, we learned to extend a helping hand.

Our publication strives to uncover hidden stories within our community, and while we have been telling everyone else’s stories, we decided to finally tell El Estoque’s story in our Features package. We explore the inner workings of El Estoque, from the process of writing a story to the ethical discussions both the leadership team and the staff navigate. El Estoque typically doesn’t interview staff members due to conflicts of interest, however, we made an exception for these stories. For all three of us, sitting as the interviewee rather than the interviewer was an unusual and eye opening experience — we were put on the spot for responding to the curiosity of our reporters as they asked us key questions.

As our time as Editors-in-Chiefs comes to an end, we try to savor everything. Our last heads team meeting. Our last production night in our positions. The last stories we will edit. We thank the El Estoque community from the bottom of our hearts for bringing us closer to the people we can no longer even imagine being without and giving us memories for a lifetime — it has undeniably been our most pivotal high school experience. We are excited for our new leaders to continue our legacy — and of course, we are trusting El Estoque in the best of hands.

Editors-in-Chief:

Taryn Lam, Kalyani Puthenpurayil, Lillian Wang

Managing Editors:

Meggie Chen, Lauren Chuu, Sarah Liu, Michelle Zheng

Design Editor:

Sonia Verma

Graphics Editor: April Wang

News Editors:

Jason Chu, Brandon Xu, Alyssa Yang, Eric Zhou

Features Editors:

Kathryn Foo, Dahlia Schilling, Alan Tai, Mihir Vishwarupe

Opinion Editors:

Anika Bhandarkar, Crystal Cheng, Megha Mummaneni, Sagnik Nag Chowdhury

Entertainment Editors:

Samika Bhatkar, Ananya Chaudhary, Jami Lim, Aashi Venkat

Sports Editors:

Arjun Dhruv, Daphne Huang, Lily Jiang, Manas Kottakota

Staff Writers:

Abha Dash, Leah Desai, Sophia D’Sa, Ethan Eisler, Niveda Hari, Aletheia Ju, Jillian Ju, Ethan Kellogg, Isabelle Kok, Pranati Kotamraju, Corinna Kuo, Giljoon Lee, Joyce Li, Elizabeth Liu, Suhana Mahabal, Riya Murthy, Sania Nadkarni, Dylan Nguyen, Stella Petzova, Aidan Ruan, Trisha Sannappanavar, Arshiya Sen, Aaryan Sharma, Ananda Singh, Arushi Singh, Varun Singh, Amberly Sun, Lindsey Tang, Raj Thapliyal, Eshika Tiwari, Brandon Wang, Asha Wojciechowski, Ethan Yang, Shannon Yu, Kaia Yuan, Benjamin Zhang, Stephanie Zhang

Advisers:

Vennessa Nava, Julia Satterthwaite, MJE

Mission Statement:

El Estoque will accurately inform our community through well-researched, unbiased and in-depth accounts of stories of the student body and staff, local news and developments and taboo topics prevalent in and near the MVHS realm. By investigating a variety of voices and credible perspectives, we hope to foster active discussion, effect positive change and spread awareness of timely and relevant content. As a trustworthy, consistent and reliable source of information, we strive to be accountable, adaptable, and ready to correct and address our mistakes. Constantly striving for improvement, we will uphold integrity and ethics to be respectful and empathetic to one another, our sources and our readers. We will exercise our press freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment and California Ed Code 48907 while maintaining a community of reporters with a strong passion for our work and journalism as a whole.

Lillian Wang

Kalyani Puthenpurayil

Taryn Lam

PHOTO | KRISH DEV

Pressing matters

Mountain View High School student journalists sue district and principal over alleged censorship 19

Ethical crossroads

El Estoque staff discusses the mission and ethics behind the publication 31

Women detected, opinion rejected

Deconstructing misogyny on the internet and in the media

Quantity versus quality

El Estoque’s Arts & Entertainment section explores the differing opinions regarding quanitity vs. quality

Playing with pixels

MVHS students share their experiences with sports video games

PHOTO | GILJOON LEE

PHOTO | BENJAMIN ZHANG

PHOTO | ALYSSA YANG

Tick. TikTok.

House of Representatives passes a bill to seperate connections between TikTok and the Chinese Communist Party

BY JASON CHU AND DYLAN NGUYEN

TT Tick. TikTok. Tick. TikTok.

The House of Representatives united in a landslide vote of 35265 to ban the popular social media app TikTok on March 13, citing international security concerns with data privacy. The ban will take effect if the parent Chinese technology firm ByteDance does not sell TikTok within six months, resulting in the app being prohibited in app stores and other web hosting services.

“We have given TikTok a clear choice,” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers told the Associated Press. “Separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences. The choice is TikTok’s.”

TikTok has amassed over 1 billion monthly users since its launch in September of 2016, and it is currently the fourth largest social media platform in the world. Talks of a TikTok ban by the executive branch have spanned across multiple administrations.In 2020, former President Donald Trump attempted a similar ban on the app, which was vetoed after a lawsuit by the company. In February 2023, the Biden administration banned the app from federal devices. Since then several states have begun considering banning the app, starting with Montana.

ban represents an infringement of rights by the government, AP U.S. Government and Politics teacher Ben Recktenwald supports the ban. He is concerned not only about data privacy on social media, but also about the addictive and negative aspects of the app.

“TikTok is just as harmful as other social media apps — the idea is that the algorithms are designed to suck you in and keep you scrolling and keep scrolling,” Recktenwald said. “They’ve actually developed algorithms that are better at sucking in your attention and figuring out how to keep you on their platform so they can feed advertising into your eyeballs and make money off of you. And that leads to addictive personality behavior that leads to people having all kinds of mental health issues.”

Junior Julie Yu, who has amassed

she’s personally experienced on the platform as a creator.

“I think TikTok is a great platform to share ideas for people to understand each other, but TikTok is also very toxic because people will cancel you just by seeing a 15-second video,” Yu said. “However, if TikTok does get banned, I think I would be much more productive. I’ll be able to do a lot more with my assignments.”

Junior Anushka Kumaran also uses TikTok often. She emphasizes the importance of TikTok in spreading awareness, as TikTok can be a marketing tool for businesses to cultivate a market in and offer opportunities for jobs. As a result, Kumaran argues that TikTok’s harmful aspects aren’t substantial enough to warrant federal action. On the other hand, Recktenwald believes the government should avoid hypocrisy

by also regulating other social media platforms, not just TikTok.

“There are also people in Russia who operate on Facebook and social media platforms to feed misinformation into our society,” Recktenwald said. “How is this not a national security risk but TikTok is? It’s kind of hypocritical. All social media platforms should be held accountable for the content that people put up.”

Kumaran, meanwhile, believes banning TikTok would limit free speech. She believes it is not the government’s job to regulate free speech on social media platforms and that the dangers of using the internet should be addressed instead. In contrast, Recktenwald argues against Kumaran’s stance that social media companies already regulate the content on their platform. Although he understands how censoring social media could be controversial through issues of free speech, Recktenwald

accountable for their content’s effects nonetheless.

Recktenwald emphasizes an importance on the U.S. government taking action little by little to regulate social media platforms. He believes that taking a step towards action is better than ignoring the problem entirely.

“I would rather see them do something than not,” Recktenwald said. “The bill is a legitimate way of trying to make sure the social media companies aren’t as toxic as they are. For example, there was somebody who leaked documents from Facebook, saying they know exactly how harmful their platform is and they don’t care. That just blows my mind.”

While Kumaran believes that social media should eventually be addressed by the government, she does not support the House of Representative investigation into TikTok, claiming

number one issue, especially since there’s so many wars going on and things that are bigger,” Kumaran said. “The fact that the House of Representatives is arguing over banning an app is weird to me, because you can do so many other things. I don’t understand how that is our number one concern right now.”

Kumaran acknowledges that there are varying opinions when it comes to what the government should and shouldn’t intervene in. She believes that social media is something that can have a harmful effect on society, but that individuals need to understand the consequences behind social media themselves.

“Once you become so dependent on social media, it ruins your life, but that’s something you learn,” Kumaran said. “It’s a learning process, and everyone should be in control of their own awareness of how much they should use a certain app.”

38% of MVHS students use TikTok

38% of MVHS students use TikTok 38% of MVHS students use TikTok

GRAPHICS|DYLANNGUYEN

46% believe TikTok poses somewhat of a threat to user safety 22% would support a ban on TikTok

46% believe TikTok poses somewhat of a threat to user safety 22% would support a ban on TikTok

to classroom

BY SARAH LIU AND ALYSSA YANG

English Department Lead Monica Jariwala prepares to become a New Teacher Mentor for FUHSD

After 16 years of teaching, English Department Lead and English teacher Monica Jariwala will leave the classroom for the next three years to become a New Teacher Mentor for FUHSD. In her new role, Jariwala will guide teachers who are new to the district to work effectively within FUHSD.

Currently, FUHSD runs its New Teacher Induction Program to fulfill California’s teacher credentialing system requirement for public schools. Mentors lead newly hired teachers through a two-year program where they receive one-on-one support. Jariwala says her experience being a new teacher at different schools influenced her decision to apply for the New Teacher Induction Program.

“Leaving my students was always really, really hard for me to think about,” Jariwala said. “But after having been Department Lead this year and working with my colleagues, I wanted to work more with adults and support new teachers coming in, just because I remember how important it was to have a really, really good mentor.”

FUHSD Director of Leadership Development

“how I would do the role next year and things that I want to continue to learn.”

According to Maisel, the rigor of the process coaches successful applicants on how to teach other teachers. Unlike in a regular classroom, teacher mentors will not focus on subjectspecific topics, but rather on general teaching strategies and skills.

“

WHAT I DO MISS ABOUT BEING A NEW TEACHER MENTOR IS THE TEAM MEETINGS AND THE CAMARADERIE THAT WE HAD.

“The program is the mentors,” Maisel said. “They are at the heart of all that we do. It’s oneon-one support from a mentor. That means they meet with you just to talk about everything, so it could be an interaction with a student that didn’t go well, or struggling to figure out how to test a certain thing or to deliver a certain concept.”

I WANTED TO WORK MORE WITH ADULTS AND SUPPORT NEW TEACHERS.

John Maisel oversees the New Teacher Induction program, which includes teacher mentor training, recruitment and hiring. He says the application process is extensive, with the process starting in January, when applicants submit their resumes. Jariwala agrees that the application process is rigorous, but says that applying to become a Teacher Mentor was also a good learning experience for what the mentor role entails.

ENGLISH TEACHER

MONICA JARIWALA

“It’s not just someone coming to you with an issue and boom, you give them the answer, but listening and understanding the problem,” Jariwala said. “It was getting me to think about

miss about being a New Teacher Mentor is the team meetings and the camaraderie that we had. That constant support from a group of people that I just considered such incredible educational heavy hitters is something that I miss.”

SCIENCE TEACHER

POOYA HAJJARIAN

Hajjarian says that besides the professional coaching, being a New Teacher Mentor also allows teachers to reflect on their own teaching skills to improve on when they eventually return to the classroom. He adds that he is excited for Jariwala to join the community he was a part of.

Biology and Health teacher Pooya Hajjarian, who was a New Teacher Mentor for three years and returned to teaching at MVHS this year, says the opportunity to work with teachers who came from different backgrounds and had different experiences was a unique and insightful experience. While he is glad to return to the classroom and interact more with students again, he says he will miss the community he built with the coaching team.

“I’m so happy for Ms. Jariwala — I think she’s perfect for the position,” Hajjarian said. “I think she’s prepared for it. I can’t wait to hear from her how much she’s enjoying that position.”

Currently, Jariwala is teaching at MVHS while preparing to transition to her new role by meeting with other teachers and participating in training days. Ultimately, Jariwala says she looks forward to becoming a Teacher Mentor and the chance to try something new, outside of the role she’s occupied for over a decade.

SCAN FOR MORE COVERAGE

“I still get to experience being a mentor now, while I have a student teacher,” Hajjarian said. “What I do

“I think it’s going to be a really good opportunity,” Jariwala said. “I am definitely going to miss this and I’ll be coming back. But I’m excited to have a new role to learn and grow from because I think that’s what makes us stronger — we’re not necessarily doing one thing, but we’re putting our feet in and dabbling to continue to improve. So I’m really hoping that this will also continue to help me grow as a teacher.”

Mountain View High School student journalists sue district and principal over alleged censorship

BY ISABELLE KOK AND SUHANA MAHABAL

Teacher and student representatives of Mountain View High School’s news publication, the Oracle, filed a lawsuit against MVHS Principal Kip Glazer and the Mountain View-Los Altos Union School District, detailing censorship issues the school publication faced from the administration revolving around an article describing student experiences with sexual harassment from other students. Filed on Feb. 22, the lawsuit’s plaintiffs include MVHS senior Hanna Olson, MVHS ‘23 alum Hayes Duenow and Carla Gomez, the former adviser of the Oracle.

When the article was published in the April 2023 issue of the Oracle, it had already undergone revisions due to requests Glazer made after being contacted by the parents of an alleged perpetrator. Glazer spoke to the staff, including student journalist and current senior Siona Mohan, about the delicate nature of sexual harassment and her worries that the negative implications of the story might project onto the school’s reputation. She suggested that the writers delete the more

sensitive material in the story in order to protect the school.

“She was very intimidating in the sense that she was expressing her concerns with the article being published the way it was and asked for prior review, which we did grant,” Mohan said. “We felt pressured to implement the changes that she had suggested because she implied that if we didn’t, there would be catastrophic effects.”

SHE IMPLIED THAT IF WE DIDN’T IMPLEMENT HER CHANGES, THERE WOULD BE CATASTROPHIC EFFECTS.

SENIOR

SIONA MOHAN

The lawsuit alleges that the demands put forth by Glazer entail a violation of California Education Code 48907, which v freedom of high school student journalists to publish topics of their choice as long as the content is not explicitly libelous, slanderous or obscene and does not encourage students to violate laws or school regulations. The code has protected student journalist rights since its implementation in 1977. After the Supreme Court ruled on the 1988 Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case that school publications were not intended as public forums and were subject to school editing and prior review, additional provisions were added to the California code, including

protection for journalism advisers.

Jean-Paul Jassy, a partner at Jassy Vick Carolan LLP and one of the attorneys representing the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, argues that the code is especially applicable to the situation at MVHS.

“The code allows for very limited circumstances where an administrator can censor or restrict any portion of an article or publication,” Jassy said. “It also provides strong protections for advisers who are acting to protect their journalism students. The student journalists are bringing a claim for censorship under this provision because the administration did not have the legal authority to censor or pressure them into censorship.”

Following Glazer’s requests, the writers agreed to remove descriptions of the victims’ experiences, including details about the victims’ hesitancy to go on school trips with the alleged perpetrators.

“We had to take out language that described the sexual harassment more graphically,” Mohan said. “I think it took away from the impact of the story. I wish we hadn’t in hindsight.”

After the article was published, the Oracle’s adviser, Carla Gomez, was removed from her position and replaced by MVHS Drama teacher Zachary Pacho Morris. Gomez, a tenured educator, had been teaching in MVLAHSD since 2003. The lawsuit alleges this removal as a violation of California Ed Code 48907, which details that journalism advisers cannot

be retaliated against for protecting students against censorship.

Staff members of the Oracle, including junior Myesha Phukan — who was an author on the sexual harassment story — believe that this retaliation has significantly damaged the Oracle’s content quality and ability to serve its community as a publication. She acknowledges that although the Oracle’s new adviser is doing the best he can given the situation, he does not have the journalism experience necessary to lead student journalists.

Phukan said. “It’s really changed how we have to structure our cycles because the new writers have to be taught all of these different things and we can’t just stop a cycle for them.”

Last year, journalists from the Oracle reached out to Jassy Vick Carolan LLP seeking representation. According to Jassy, the process of filing such a lawsuit begins with filing complaints and seeking further information on both sides, eventually culminating in a court case.

ADMINISTRATIVE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WOULD BE SOME SEMBLANCE OF JUSTICE AFTER ALL WE WENT THROUGH.

“We were extremely shocked and disheartened because all of us love Ms. Gomez so much,” Phukan said. “She stood up to the administration for our rights as student journalists and that’s extremely admirable.”

JUNIOR

MYESHA PHUKAN

“It’s important to me to help student journalists, because that’s where a lot of people who become professional journalists start,” Jassy said. “It’s something that I take very seriously. I think that we’re going to win this lawsuit — there was a violation of our clients’ rights that needs to be remedied.”

When information is censored, both Jassy and Mohan assert that value in journalism is lost.

“Censorship is really dangerous, and the wider its scale, the more dangerous it gets,” Mohan said. “If the public can’t hear what’s truly going on, they can’t make informed decisions based on that. The integrity of journalism is lost with censorship, because you don’t know what to trust and whether the reporting that you’re seeing is truly accurate.”

Looking forward, Phukan hopes the lawsuit can stand as a means to reaffirm student press rights rather than pursuing a financial settlement. Regardless of the backlash her article faced, Phukan remains centered around the original objective of the story and what journalism represents to her.

According to Phukan, as a result of the article, the district also removed MVHS’ Intro to Journalism course, a previous prerequisite for the Oracle that specifically prepared students for being on staff. Phukan foresees this becoming an issue for the efficiency of the publication as new writers join the staff.

“Without that class, we have students coming directly into the Oracle with little to no experience with writing,”

Although California provides extensive protection for student journalists and advisers alike, when censorship does happen, according to Jassy, it can put students into a powerless position under people of authority or pressure them into actions they may feel uncomfortable with.

“The lawsuit’s demands are not asking for any financial gain, which I think in itself is a testament to our care for the paper,” Phukan said. “Even with everything that happened, our main goal remains to try and amplify the stories of these individuals who were brave enough to share their stories with us.”

WEARING THE WHITE HAT

Widespread acceptance of hacking leads to a rise in demand for ethical hackers

BY RAJ THAPLIYAL

Ethical hackers, people who hack into computer networks in order to test their security, are often misunderstood in the cybersecurity industry, with some cases even culminating in arrests due to the nature of the job. In order to differentiate between types of hackers, Rep. Nancy Mace introduced the Federal Cybersecurity Vulnerability Reduction Act, which invited ethical hackers to report vulnerabilities in government systems, in October 2023.

This is likely to aid the increase in demand of ethical hackers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of information security analysts — which includes ethical hackers — is expected to increase by 32% from 2021 to 2031.

Headspace Applications Security Engineer Michael Blake says the more positive change in the mindset of those who are not affiliated with ethical hackers leads to an increased demand for them. Blake specifically noticed the increase in bug bounty programs, which are deals offered by organizations in which individuals can receive recognition and compensation for reporting bugs.

“I would say before 2012, there weren’t really many bug bounty programs at all.” Blake said. “Ethical hacking wasn’t something that was on the minds of many people or many

companies. Nowadays, it’s almost more frowned upon to not have a bug bounty program, from a security perspective. The scene changed quite a bit just in the last 10 years.”

Junior Brian Deng says many computer scientists are now hacking for ideological purposes rather than the typical monetary reasons. For instance, Deng talked about the organization Anonymous, whose purpose is to protest online by illegally hacking into and exposing government institutions. On the other hand, many independent contractors are hackers who simply work for altruistic causes.

computer,” Blake said. “On top of that, it’s easier today to transfer money anonymously through something like cryptocurrency.”

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Freshman at UT Dallas Siddharth Narayan says that the battle between ethical and unethical hackers is on equal ground, as both sides use similar technology. However, Narayan notes that Personal Identifiable Information (PII) will be more susceptible to hacking as advanced technology in the future, such as quantum computing, will be able to break current encryption methods

“One of the Reddit co-founders, Aaron Swartz, hacked MIT and stole research papers from Journal Storage (JSTOR),” Deng said. “He released it for free, which is not a bad thing, especially because the research papers were created using government grants paid by the people, means that the people should get this research

Blake says the exploitation of companies gives more incentive for unethical hackers to hack as a job. Blake explains that as there are more improvements in computer science, it becomes easier for them to hack over time.

“It’s easier today to launch ransomware because there’s so much software out there to ransom a

“PII, such as banking details or social security numbers, are really important and are being sent across the Internet right now,” Naryan said. “If that information is stored anywhere then an unethical hacker can decrypt it 20 years later.”

Narayan says no matter how much effort ethical hackers put into guarding encryption methods, unethical hackers will find a way to match their effort. Although, one aspect of online security that Narayan states will not be affected by advanced technology is social engineering, techniques aimed at talking a target into revealing specific information for illegitimate reasons.

“Social engineering is really difficult to guard against, because it’s humans that are usually the most valuable part of any system,” Naryan said. “Calling the phone company and convincing the person on the other side they are ‘you’ is easy. What’s a lot more difficult is hacking into that telephone company’s systems. Educating people about security is the most difficult part of ethical hacking.”

PRESSING FORWARD

PHOTO | MIHIR VISHWARUPE

A behind the scenes look at El Estoque

BY MEGGIE CHEN, LAUREN CHUU, SOPHIA D’SA, NIVEDA HARI, DAHLIA SCHILLING, MIHIR VISHWARUPE AND ELLIE WANG

TURNING THE PAGE

Former adviser and editors reflect on their time on El Estoque

BY SOPHIA D’SA AND MIHIR VISHWARUPE

When MVHS alum ‘23 and former Editor-in-Chief Anna Jerolimov recalls her memories on El Estoque, one of the first things she remembers is the sense of community she felt with her fellow staff members. Jerolimov says she treasures those close friendships that started from distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and lasted through the end of senior year. Now a first-year student at the University of Michigan and a reporter for The Michigan Daily, she notes the numerous life skills El Estoque has equipped her with.

“Being on El Estoque forces you to interact with other people,” Jerolimov said. “When you’re interviewing, you are talking to people of all different backgrounds, people that you wouldn’t necessarily have had a chance to interact with if you weren’t interviewing them. Those are all amazing people skills, and I don’t think that I really would have had a place at MVHS to develop those skills if I wasn’t in El Estoque.”

Former El Estoque adviser Michelle Balmeo, who taught at MVHS from fall 2005 to spring 2016, says she had a similar experience with journalism. She notes that journalism was a special opportunity for her as a high schooler.

impact and real consequences. So it was a rush getting to do something that felt really meaningful.”

IT WAS A RUSH GETTING TO DO SOMETHING THAT FELT REALLY MEANINGFUL.

FORMER EE ADVISER

MICHELLE BALMEO “

“Out of everything I did in high school, it was the most real,” Balmeo said. “There aren’t a lot of things that kids are allowed to do that have real

Similarly, MVHS alum ‘10 and former Editor-inChief Samved Sangameswara also says he enjoyed his experiences on El Estoque. Now a current high school journalism adviser for the Dry Gulch Gazette and The Arroyan yearbook in San Lorenzo, Sangameswara believes that El Estoque opened up a whole new world in journalism for him. He aims to bring similar experiences to his own students, many of whom come from a low-income background.

“As a teacher, community is

something I pay a lot of attention to,” Sangameswara said. “El Estoque had such a tight community and I had a lot of real friends that I made there. So where I teach, I try to cultivate a similar experience for my students.”

Growing up, Balmeo also felt the value of a supportive adviser and community. Since her parents had a lower income and did not have the opportunity to pursue higher education until later in life, they encouraged her to go to college but weren’t sure how exactly she could get there. Balmeo credits her journalism adviser Pete LeBlanc with giving her the tools to forge ahead.

“My adviser was the first person, the first adult, who really put me on the path to go to college,” Balmeo said. “My parents always talked about college, but neither of them were college graduates at the time. My mom has since graduated college, but they were both working in entrylevel jobs. So for me, journalism was my path to opportunities that got me

Former El Estoque adviser Michelle Balmeo (left) poses alongside the El Estoque head editors holding the first issue of the 2011-2012 school year.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE BALMEO | USED WITH PERMISSION

beyond the economic situation that my parents were in.”

After college, Balmeo’s aspirations shifted from becoming a journalist to becoming a journalism adviser, since she was interested in teaching as well. The first staff she oversaw was El Estoque, and she remembers being impressed by how mature and driven her first editor team was. Balmeo emphasizes that the team had a lot of ownership and responsibility over the publication, and that it turned out to be a “memorable first year.”

According to Jerolimov, that ownership means editors frequently have to proactively resolve issues to keep the class on track. She distinctly recalls an experience close to the end of her first semester as co-Editorin-Chief, when she had to do extra planning to ensure that the magazine was submitted on time despite a special bell schedule.

“As Editor-in-Chief there was no set assignment for us to keep track of these things, and you have to always be on the lookout for what the class needs at the time,” Jerolimov said. “You have to anticipate what things can go wrong before they even happen, and I think that took the most energy and the most planning.”

Sangameswara believes this level

of responsibility and trust placed in editors facilitates a more professional relationship than students and teachers usually have with each other. He even recalls arguing with Balmeo at a late night work session over the best headline for a story, now valuing that opportunity as a way to respectfully challenge each other’s opinions.

“There are few opportunities you have in high school to debate or argue with your teacher and have a sense of [being] intellectually equal as adults,” Sangameswara said. “I think that’s a really formative experience to have when you’re 16, 17 or 18 years old. You’re not always just being told what’s right and what’s wrong by adults, even if it’s something silly and small and minor, like a headline about dodgeball.”

FORMER EE EIC DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF ON WHAT YOU CAN OR CAN'T DO. JUST TRY. ANNA JEROLIMOV

a current journalism teacher at West Albany High School in Albany, Oregon, Balmeo notes drastic differences between El Estoque and her current program, which she helped develop the newspaper. Although she later realized that students on every staff she advised had similar goals and interests, it was still hard for her to leave El Estoque.

Balmeo says these small moments made her time advising El Estoque not just memorable, but unique to the point that she worried she would never have the same experience again. Now

“I felt like those were my kids for so long, and you get rooted in that community,” Balmeo said. “You’re just part of kids’ memories of high school and there’s a whole alumni network that builds because of the connectedness between the generations and the overlap. There aren’t a lot of classes that have different generations crossing over each other. I felt very attached to the program because it really did feel like we had changed so much over the years we rolled through.”

Balmeo adds that those changes wouldn’t have been as smooth or even possible without the students who took initiative to build El Estoque’s first website, design the first magazine and generally break from tradition to create something new. In this way, Jerolimov believes that current El Estoque members should look past their own abilities and try to push their own limits.

“If you don’t take that leap the first time and you don’t try something, you’re not going to get any better at it,” Jerolimov said. “By the time I wrote a column, I wished that I had done it earlier, and I feel like that applies to a lot of different things that you can do on staff. So to all people on staff, don’t limit yourself on what you think you can or can’t do. Just try.”

Former El Estoque editor-in-chief Anna Jerolimov presents a mini-lesson on using Adobe Lightroom to edit photos ethically.

PHOTO BY JULIA SATTERTHWAITE | USED WITH PERMISSION

El Estoque shares its history and accomplishments

BY LAUREN CHUU AND DAHLIA SCHILLING

I THINK EE IS THE BEST THING I DID IN HIGH SCHOOL, EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE QUITE A FEW UPS AND DOWNS AND SOMETIMES IT WAS REALLY CHALLENING. I LEARNED SO MUCH FROM IT, NOT JUST FROM THE CLASS ITSELF, BUT FROM THE PEOPLE I MET.

SENIOR

LILLIAN WANG

since 2011

a SNAPSHOT

staff members

staff members

PITCH

PUBLICATION from to

El Estoque staff explains how the magazine is made

BY DAHLIA SCHILLNG AND ELLIE WANG

Hours after the bell rings for dismissal, the room A111 is filled with soft chatter and the occasional eruption of laughter. Papers strewn across desks and a list of impending articles are among the young minds hard at work. Junior Ananya Chaudhary, an Arts and Entertainment editor, works on her page design, editing the aesthetic of the page and sending it through multiple rounds of edits. She often stops to help other staff writers in the process. For many students including Chaudhary, production nights are the highlight of the Journalism course, representing the community behind the publication.

Each five-week cycle, MVHS’ newsmagazine publication El Estoque publishes a magazine containing content that spans five sections: News, Features, Opinion, Arts and Entertainment and Sports. Entering each cycle, El Estoque writers develop their pitches, which are potential topics and themes for stories.

“We generally expect people to come in with pitches,” Chaudhary said. “Everyone has the freedom to pitch whatever they want. It’s never assigned. It’s all their choice.”

Chaudhary acknowledges the importance of pitching, as ideal stories should follow important values such as timeliness, proximity and human impact. Chaudhary often looks towards pop culture to create a pitch relevant to Arts and Entertainment.

they’re not interested in.”

Sophomore Benjamin Zhang, a staff writer who is currently in the Sports section, often starts with a vague pitch that expresses a broad idea. He notes that he discusses his pitches with the rest of his section to narrow his focus.

“When it’s just yourself thinking, you might end up in a loop where you keep going back to the same ideas,” Zhang said. “But when other people are giving you feedback, it just makes the process a lot easier.”

Editor-inChief and senior Taryn Lam knows the value of collaboration. Notably, she says discussing pitches one on one with each journalist helps them approach every story with a nuanced focus.

does have a big role in how El Estoque runs. Something you might not see in other classes is that we plan lessons, so if someone wants to teach a lesson about media literacy, they’ll sign up for that. We always discuss things we might be unsure about, talk it out and discuss what the best decision would be going forward.”

“

JUNIOR EVERYONE HAS THE FREEDOM TO PITCH WHATEVER THEY WANT.

“There’s always some sort of media being produced, whether it’s current art scandals, music scandals with celebrities or just new movies coming out,” Chaudhary said. “We try to make our pitches relevant and based on what people are interested in because people aren’t going to read things

ANANYA CHAUDHARY

IT TAKES A LOT OF PEOPLE AND A LOT OF ROUNDS OF EDITING FOR A STORY TO BE GOOD. BENJAMIN ZHANG

“You can tell pretty early on if an angle is stronger or weaker,” Lam said. “If you notice right away that the angle is weaker, then you can work with the journalists and guide them into going more in-depth and building a stronger angle.”

Every two weeks, editors and El Estoque’s two advisers, Julia Satterthwaite and Vennessa Nava, hold a meeting to review each section’s progress and to identify and resolve quality and ethics issues.

“It really is a student-run class,” Lam said. “I feel like I didn’t really realize it before. The managing team really

SOPHOMORE

However, pitching is only the first step. Before a story is ready to be published, it needs to go through a series of copy edits. The edits include angle and section (handled by section editors), copy 1 (done by the managing editors), copy 2 (edited by the EIC), copy 3 (done by advisers) and then proof. Each round of edits follows a specific deadline, and as the deadlines are typically within a few days of each other, Zhang believes that it’s crucial to avoid procrastinating.

“It was hard at the beginning to meet the deadlines,” Zhang said. “Obviously, the final deadline for the magazine is a lot easier because you have that sense of urgency. So I started earlier and really treated each deadline as a big final deadline because if you do that, then you won’t have to end up rushing everything.”

Zhang notes that people who aren’t part of El Estoque are often unaware of how much time and effort goes into creating the magazine. He mentions that, even though he doesn’t have the same responsibilities as an editor, he still takes pride in the overall product.

“I think the biggest misconception is that we just write the story in one go and then publish it,” Zhang said. “But in reality, it takes a lot of people and a lot of editing for a story to be good. All of the edits and design might seem like a very strenuous process, but it’s really fun.”

ElEstoque (EE) has been a student-run publication at MVHS since it began in 1969 and aims to follow this current mission statement: “El Estoque will accurately inform our community through wellresearched, unbiased and in-depth accounts of stories of the student body and staff, local news and developments and taboo topics prevalent in and near the MVHS realm.” The processes and effort that go into fulfilling this mission are often unseen but play a prevalent role in EE’s reporting process.

Senior and co-Editor-in-Chief Kalyani Puthenpurayil explains the process that El Estoque uses to avoid bias and produce ethical reporting. When it comes to finding sources for stories, certain requirements have to be met. For opinion stories, writers need at least one supporting opinion and one dissenting opinion for the topic at hand. Interview stories are required to have an expert source, either an adult or a professional in the topic that is being covered, to make sure the information is correct

and unbiased. They also require a minimum of three interviews that provide different perspectives from the MVHS community. El Estoque adviser Julia Satterthwaite says this is to help prevent personal bias and write well-researched, informed stories.

“I think one of the critiques of modern-day media is that they have an agenda, and some publications do have a leaning that they’re going for and that’s likely connected to their advertising dollars,” Satterthwaite said. “So in any case, we try to be

viewpoint-neutral, and make sure that whatever we’re writing about, we really understand the issue.”

But getting multiple perspectives, or finding a way to ensure neutrality, is sometimes difficult, and these are grounds in which a story idea may be discarded. For example, junior and news editor Alyssa Yang explains that although the Israel-Hamas war is a relevant and important topic, EE chose not to cover it due to sourcing issues.

“One of the main reasons we didn’t cover it was that we decided it was too hard for us to stay unbiased,” Yang said. “We aren’t experts, and it would be very difficult for us to get expert sources. If we wrote an article, people would get hurt no matter what. It wasn’t something that our community really needed to be informed about by a student publication.”

sources were not interested in being interviewed about the topic.

“It felt really awkward and unethical,” Satterthwaite said. “So now we have this policy where if you’re going to be putting forth a name for a potential source for a story of your friend or someone you know, you have to check with them first before recommending their name to the reporter.”

WE WANT TO UPHOLD OUR MISSION STATEMENT BY ADDRESSING OUR MISTAKES, AND LETTING PEOPLE KNOW WE MADE THIS MISTAKE.

SENIOR KALYANI PUTHENPURAYIL

When sourcing gets difficult, EE reporters turn to the sourcing channel on Slack, where they can post inquiries to fellow reporters for specific sourcing requests – for example, if a reporter is writing a story about gun control, they may ask in the channel if anyone knows a student that has strong feelings both for and against gun control. Puthenpurayil explains that having the 68-person staff contribute to sourcing leads to greater source diversity.

However, Satterthwaite specifically notes an incident that occurred this year, which prompted some adjustments to the sourcing channel. The reporters were covering a sensitive topic regarding hidden illnesses, and a problem came up concerning staff members sharing sources they knew when those

Accountability is also a key tenant that EE seeks to uphold, according to Puthenpurayil. The staff does this by correcting any factual error or misquote with the correction is listed in the online version of the story so readers know what changes were made.

“As a trustworthy, consistent, reliable source of information we strive to be accountable, adaptable and ready to correct and address our mistakes,” Puthenpurayil said. “We want to uphold our mission statement by addressing our mistakes, and letting people know we made this mistake.”

Yang agrees and notes that false or incorrect information may be difficult to avoid, especially in cases where sources may tell reporters incorrect information that is not caught before the story is published. However, EE reporters often do extensive research, especially for sections like News, to ensure that the information that is published is trustworthy and ethically sourced.

In addition to being responsible for publishing truthful information, Satterthwaite also points out that reporters have a duty to protect their sources. Sometimes, reporters have to be careful in knowing when to quote a source and when to refrain from doing so.

“If a kid is quoted saying something that sounds ignorant, I don’t recommend using it because you may want to protect this kid from themselves,” Satterthwaite said. “At some point, they might realize they have a different perspective later on. So we want to avoid future situations where people are looking at articles back in the day and saying, ‘I can’t believe I said that.’”

Puthenpurayil emphasizes the importance of sources feeling comfortable when getting interviewed. For example, when sources aren’t willing to publicly talk about sensitive topics, staff can anonymize them. However, reporters try to avoid this when possible to maintain credibility, and it’s treated as a last resort and rarely used – such as when the topic being covered is illegal or when the source may face harm.

“When it’s a very sensitive topic, and the person doesn’t want their name used, then we anonymize them,” Puthenpurayil said. “And then we put like a little note at the top of the story that says, ‘This person is anonymous due to privacy concerns’ or whatever they’re worried about.”

Ultimately, despite the challenges, Yang believes that being on EE requires a lot of persistence, and with that comes learning important skills. She highlights the significance of the ethical decisions the staff has to make, like fact checking and covering stories that will not do more harm than good. But Yang says the unique opportunity and public nature provided to student reporters, and the chance for them to overcome obstacles is a valuable experience for the staff.

“We’re student reporters, people are willing to take chances on us,” Yang said. “I feel like as you get older and move into the real world, you have to start fending for yourself, but right now as a student reporter, this is a learning opportunity for all of us.”

Students need to be careful about what they post and who they interact with online

rom harmless skits to thirst traps with Kanye West’s “Carnival,” social media sites like TikTok have a wide variety of content. Even today, scrolling through the app will reveal multiple different trends, some more age-appropriate than others. If you’re unlucky, you may even stumble upon a 10-year-old posting her $500 skincare routine!

Yet more often than not, the comments are the problem, especially with younger content creators or parents who post content of their young children. A recent example of this is with preschooler Wren, whose mother has amassed over 17 million followers on TikTok by posting videos of Wren dancing, eating and acting like the toddler she is. However, the comments are what is concerning — people on the app sexualize Wren’s behavior, creating innuendos about her innocent actions. Furthermore, while Wren’s mother refuses to delete or address these comments,

she deletes the comments calling her out for continuing to post Wren despite the creepy messages. Wren is one example of many users who are sexualized on the platform and the behavior of her audience demonstrates the dangers of posting on social media, particularly on apps like TikTok where nearly anyone can view your profile.

While it is unfortunate that strangers choose to be creepy and invasive when viewing videos on TikTok, their actions serve as an important reminder for people who post on the app: don’t post anything on TikTok that is overly sexualized, especially sexual dances or thirst traps. Yes, creeps are the problem. However, social media platforms do not have the manpower to ban every person who posts inappropriate comments, let alone ban users with suggestive thoughts. Thus, by taking the initiative to monitor what you post and who can view your content — for example, you can make your account or the video private so that only your mutuals can view it — you prevent yourself from falling victim to the thoughts and comments of strangers on the internet. While it may seem scary to avoid partaking in certain trends and fitting in with those around you, this is ultimately the best way to protect yourself online.

STAFF

EDITORIAL OPINION OF THE EL ESTOQUE EDITORIAL BOARD

insensitivity — these jokes become attached to your name the second you click the “post” button they become a part of your digital footprint. Hence, even if you delete the post a few weeks later, that very comment can come back years later to haunt you, possibly preventing you from getting job opportunities or into college if the joke goes too far. The easiest way to prevent yourself from developing a bad digital footprint is to not post insensitive jokes or even text them to your friends — anything communicated on a digital platform contributes to your digital footprint, hence the safest route is to never post or voice problematic concepts online, even as a joke.

Memes on TikTok and other social media platforms like Instagram have also normalized dark humor, or jokes made in bad taste and about sensitive subjects. While these jokes may seem funny, the fact remains that they are insulting to others, and posting them on the internet memorializes this

While it may appear that your social media followers are your friends, you are not close friends with all 1,000 people following your Instagram, nor are you on a first-name basis with the people who view your TikToks on their For You Page. Thus, making responsible decisions and creating a barrier between yourself and social media is important, both regarding what you post and the audience you allow to view your account. Especially as a minor, having a private account or not posting can help protect you from strangers lurking on the internet. Growing up in the digital age allows us to interact with a diverse range of people, but taking precautions is the key to keeping this power. Thus, being responsible in our posting habits will ensure that social media remains beneficial rather than detrimental for us and the generations to come.

wrestling with WOMANHOOD

The MVHS community confronts gender norms that affect their daily lives

BY ANIKA BHANDARKAR, JILLIAN JU, MEGHA MUMMANENI, STELLA PETZOVA, KALYANI PUTHENPURAYIL AND SHANNON YU

PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS | MEGHA MUMMANENI AND STELLA PETZOVA

Opinion rejected

Deconstructing misogyny on the internet and in the media

BY STELLA PETZOVA

women detected, “O

nlyFans detected, opinion rejected,” reads the top comment on a young woman’s relatable Instagram Reel about backpacks. The implication of the comment is not hard to discern: something about the short video has convinced a slew of commenters that she is an OnlyFans model. Despite not actually being one, her joke is ignored by the video’s viewers, and her presumed lifestyle, criticized. “Women ,” reads the comment underneath, as though part of an inside joke against women as a whole, making fun of

them for being stupid. The a ected demographic of these derogatory, unoriginal comments are nearly always women, who are regularly on the receiving end of casual misogyny.

Virtual misogyny is only the most recent incarnation of prejudice against

women. Jokes at the expense of women are nothing new. For example, “boomer humor” infamously designates wives as nagging pests: fat, irritating, bad at cooking and stifling the men in their lives. “The old ball and chain,” a disparaging term for one’s spouse which once starred in wife-hating jokes, has evolved with the sentiment taking the form of comments bashing “women .” On the internet, men — and some women too — blast women in their lives for their stereotypically feminine interests, lauding the usefulness of manly interests over the likes of pop music, chick flicks, fashion, diets and makeup. Meanwhile, women who are seen as too masculine end up targeted by transphobic commenters, even if they aren’t actually transgender. In media aimed at diverse audiences, girls are sometimes seen as intelligent only if they can cleave themselves from such feminine pursuits, such as makeup, which are often demonized as vapid and shallow. “Harry Potter’s” Hermione Granger was a strong, smart character who sco ed at the series’ girly girls — the types of characters who were made to be fundamentally di erent from her and would never achieve the same level of popularity or respect. When millions of young girls read the books

PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS | STELLA PETZOVA

or watch the movies, Granger’s positive lessons of cleverness and achieving anything are distanced from femininity through her disgust with all thigs girly, and are thus lose their impact.

At the same time that femininity is scorned in popular media, deviating too far from the norm of thin, cisgender, conventionally beautiful and often white womanhood perpetuates a dichotomy where women are at once afraid to be seen as too feminine and thus stupid, or not feminine enough and thus unappealing. Invalidating common “girly” interests leads to shame and internalized misogyny, as girls are taught their interests make them seem vain and unintelligent. Girls may reject feminine interests to distance themselves from the typical woman to show they don’t try too hard. When done to gain male acceptance, they are subsequently mocked on social media for being “pick-me girls.” Thus, the perfect woman must exist in the awkward space of being naturally beautiful, thin, intelligent and feminine while being completely distanced from the pursuit of these traits and all feminine interests.

America

Ferrera’s Gloria said it best in

creates a culture where women are mocked for their behaviors by both men and women, misogyny — internalized or not — follows closely behind. As teenagers, the high school years of our lives are some of the most formative. Our constant exposure to the internet, pop culture and even friends or family members have a powerful impact on our worldview, and being regularly battered by casual sexism while we’re most receptive to it can shift our outlook on what we consider to be acceptable jokes and behavior.

75% of MVHS students

have seen online comments like “Onlyfans deteted, opinion rejected” and “women ”

*According to a survey of 109 people

harder for teenagers who are being influenced by misogynistic ideals to develop more self-awareness and dismantle them before they fester. Lacking the courage to stand up to or ignore such rhetoric, teenage girls who experience misogyny may simply internalize it and sometimes even turn it back on other women around them.

““Barbie:” “You have to be thin, but not too thin. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says ‘Thank you!’ I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us.”

Validation and peer pressure can be deceptively strong social factors, and when we see the people or media

e perfect woman must exist in the awkward space of being beautiful,naturally thin, intelligent and feminine while being completely distanced from the pursuit of these traits.

opinion rejected.”

When the internet and social media

Combating the issue of misogyny on social media and in popular culture is multifaceted and has no clear road map. When coming faceto-face with misogyny, it’s important to recognize it in its various forms. We must be vigilant in identifying and challenging these attitudes, whether they come from outside or from within, and whether they are overt or subtle. Before engaging with people on social media, or taking in media in general, examine it. Misogynistic comments, online or in person, can have disastrous e ects and must never be treated as a joke. Truly, the saying must be “sexism detected, we surround ourselves with peddling problematic ideas, it’s hard to not go along with them. It’s even harder to not turn around and spread the same rhetoric, becoming a bigger part of the problem. Comments like “women ”

rarely appear in isolation, and to a male reader, they reinforce being part of a superior group and having an immunity to foolish, womanly mistakes. Consequently, to a female reader or content creator, receiving comments like these emphasizes a feeling of degradation, making it

MADNESS

MVHS students share their experiences with their periods

BY ANIKA BHANDARKAR

Junior Hemani Kamarshi remembers walking into her final math test of eighth grade feeling confident, armed with hours of studying and her usual dose of Aleve for when she was on her period. Kamarshi, a participant in Kennedy Middle School’s hybrid learning program at the end of the 2020-21 school year, took the test in person, initially feeling assured in her ability to earn an A. But 10 minutes later, Kamarshi’s lower abdomen started cramping. She recalls struggling through her worsening period cramps as the pain compounded her stress, forcing her to work faster and take shortcuts when showing her work. Kamarshi ended up finishing the test in only half the allotted time, leaving immediately for the bathroom after she was done and breaking down when she got there.

“better at tracking my cycle, which made it easier to find out when to take painkillers, which has led to me missing school less. I also get a lot moodier and it’s sometimes hard to even have conversations with people. Because I’m part of a sports team, my performance also suffers when I’m on my period.”

THERE ARE STILL SOME PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT I SHOULD BE ABLE TO GO ABOUT MY DAILY LIFE AND NOT LET ON THAT I’M IN PAIN.

JUNIOR

HEMANI KAMARSHI

Kamarshi explains that the severity of her periods affects many aspects of her life. As a result of her heavy periods, Kamarshi also experiences migraines, stomach aches, nausea and period cramps that frequently interfere with her academic performance, particularly on tests, as well as her social life.

“I used to miss school every month because my periods gave me a lot of migraines and stomach aches,” Kamarshi said. “I’ve gotten

Menstrual issues have also disrupted junior Rajeswari Kenyan’s track and field training. Kenyan notes that the quality of her workouts worsened dramatically before she stopped training altogether after she lost her period for 10 months at the end of 2022. When she lost her first period, Kenyan remembers brushing it off, as she previously underwent another medical procedure involving radiation, and was warned that it might affect her period. But six months later, as Kenyan intensified her training after the track and field season, she remembers her symptoms worsening, as she started experiencing physical repercussions in addition to challenges training.

“I think what prompted me to start a conversation with my doctor was my hair loss,” Kenyan said. “I would pull it and it would just come out. Around nine months into not having a period, I went to the doctor and they told me

to decrease my training and increase food intake. I did that, but it was too little change to make a big difference, so I stopped training entirely and went on a 3,100-calorie diet. It took me around six weeks after I stopped training to finally get a little spotting, not even a period.”

The first time Kenyan stepped onto the track after losing her period would be 13 weeks later. She recalls her return to sports as a frustratingly slow process — after three weeks of not training at all, she was allowed to participate in weight training three times a week. When she finally did return to running, she initially struggled to run one day a week.

Kenyan and Kamarshi both found themselves hesitant to talk about their periods, with Kamarshi often emailing teachers about “stomach aches” — a moniker she has used in place of telling her teachers about her period cramps. Despite people at MVHS generally being accommodating, she has found herself more anticipatory of how teachers, particularly male teachers, may react when she tells them about her periods.

“I know that some people will brush it off and say, ‘It’s not that bad’ or tell me to get over it,” Kamarshi said. “There are still some people who think that I should be able to go about my daily life and not let on that I’m in pain. I would like to do that if I were able to, but there are some people who I don’t think understand that about women’s issues in general.”

Sophomore Natalie Pham, who takes birth control, notes that everyone has a different experience when taking birth control; she experiences shorter and more predictable periods with lighter flow but worsened menstrual

cramps, which have made it harder for her to focus in school. She has observed stigma around women’s bodies and sexual health, especially surrounding birth control, which is dismissed as “something for people who have sex.”

“I feel like a lot of people immediately think of sex when it comes to birth control,” Pham said. “But there’s a lot of reasons why people take it — birth control changes your hormones so it can help with acne and your period. When I’ve talked to my friends about it, I don’t think they even know that they have easy access to it, because you can just go to any Planned Parenthood and ask them for birth control.”

To alleviate some of the stigma surrounding periods and birth control, Pham proposes starting more conversations surrounding birth control as a form of period management. Kenyan, who found it hard to talk about her period, agrees that period talk must be normalized so that people can seek help. Kamarshi notes that the lack of conversation surrounding periods was far more apparent in elementary and middle school, where sex education courses did not adequately prepare her for her periods, in part due to going through her sex education course through distance learning due to the pandemic.

“There was supposed to be a sex education course at my elementary school, but they ended up scrapping it, which I think was quite detrimental for me and a lot of my friends who went to my elementary school,” Kamarshi said. “In middle school, I found the sex education curriculum woefully inadequate because of the pandemic, and

I don’t blame anyone for that. But I remember having to learn about my periods much earlier than any health courses had taught me.”

Kamarshi says that many teachers have been willing to make arrangements with her to accommodate her period cramps, often offering to postpone assignments if she was not feeling well. Ironically, she notes, most of her male teachers were very understanding about it. Still, some of her female teachers told her that they couldn’t do anything

about it and that she would just have to deal with the consequences if her periods interfered with her academics. But in general, Kamarshi says most teachers are very supportive, and the responsibility rests on students to ask for accommodations if they need it.

“I think some students are just so scared about what their teachers are going to say,” Kamarshi said. “Even if most teachers, from experience, wouldn’t say anything bad or would support students, students are still scared to talk to their teachers or seek help from anyone else. I don’t think teachers can do that much unless student perception about talking to teachers changes.”

55% of MVHS students have periods that interfere with school activities

*According to a survey of 75 people

beyond the birds and The bees

Education about menstruation should happen in elementary school

BY ANIKA BHANDARKAR AND SHANNON YU

Your first period is a difficult one to forget. Whether you were excited at the sign of growth and womanhood, plagued by fear at the bleeding, or simply exasperated by its inconvenience, menstruation likely marked the start of a tedious monthly process for you. If you were lucky and had already received a “period talk,” perhaps you were prepared — your thoughts may have immediately run to questions such as “Can you check me?” and “Do you have an extra pad?”

California state legislation currently mandates that students receive sex ed and HIV-prevention education at least once in middle school and once in high school, defining comprehensive sex ed as “education regarding human development and sexuality, including education on pregnancy, contraception and sexually transmitted infections.”

22% of MVHS students

For those who have never received such a talk, you were likely surprised, or maybe even scared when you had your first period. And that needs to change.

got their first period before the age of 11

*According to a survey of 72 people

A problem arises when initial conversations about periods are only limited to those who menstruate. Allowing those who do not menstruate to learn from friends, the media or unreliable sources encourages sexist jokes and the dismissal of periods as a “girl problem.” To fix these issues, we must implement sexual education curricula in elementary school that teaches students about the physical changes their bodies may experience and how students, whether they menstruate or not, should react to periods in a manner that does not perpetuate a stigma.

The “Human Growth and Development” (HGD) program at Kennedy Middle School was many MVHS students’ first experience with sex ed. While both the HGD program and the freshman Biology sex ed unit do a thorough job of covering topics such as consent and STDs, periods are rarely mentioned in depth before middle school begins. For schools to fully cover “education regarding human development” as they claim they are mandated to, formal education about periods must be implemented into curricula far earlier than middle school.

Unfortunately, some states are making waves in the opposite direction. Florida passed House Bill 1069 in July 2023, restricting sex ed and menstrual education for children below sixth grade. Also known as the “Don’t Say Period” bill, it has sparked

outrage across the country. University of Florida freshman Isana Schroder, an educator with Planned Parenthood’s LIGHT program, commented in an article in 2023 that, “Sex education should be both medically accurate and developmentally appropriate. Moving sex education up to sixth grade, limiting the ability to talk about it and limiting the materials you use to talk about it cannot have a positive outcome.”

Schools must prepare kids for the world around them, and starting conversations about periods early does exactly that. Children are experiencing puberty at progressively younger ages, starting as early as 9-11 years old, with 22% of MVHS students experiencing their first period before the age of 11. Students in third grade may already be having periods every month, but despite this, only 21% of elementary schools currently provide puberty education. Receiving menstruation education after students have their first periods diminishes the effectiveness of learning the content, as many of those who menstruate may have taught themselves already. Not only that, but students may experience jokes about their periods that they do not understand, which could cause long-term damage to their psyches.

Students must learn about the variety of period products available for them to use, different techniques to manage period cramps, mood swings and stress and how to deal with menstrual accidents, such as bloodstains on clothing and bedsheets. They can learn about women’s health conditions such as PCOS,

endometriosis and breast cancer, what to do if they miss many periods in a row or if their period doesn’t stop and how to handle a period that is too heavy or too painful.

Early education eases some of the awkwardness and confusion children may experience when their periods first start. Teaching also ensures students are well-equipped to handle period cramps and mood swings, positively impacting everyone, even those who do not menstruate. Education can help curb sexist jokes, discourage taunting phrases like, “Are you on your period?” and ultimately

Menstrual education can help curb sexist jokes and taunting phrases, as well as nurture generations of empathetic children. “

nurture generations of empathetic children who are respectful and aware of the fluctuating emotions of others. Additionally, implementing period education courses in school can be a powerful and effective way to introduce students to various social issues. They can offer a chance for students to learn about existing disparities in access to reproductive healthcare for women, especially women of color and historically disadvantaged groups. Raising awareness about these issues across all genders is the first step to fixing them. Truly comprehensive period education courses can teach students

to be inclusive to the LGBTQ+ community by acknowledging that not everyone who menstruates is female-identifying or a girl. Adding comprehensive period education courses into elementary and middle school curricula is a crucial step in preparing those who menstruate for their period and how to respond to any menstrual health issues they may face. But its impacts can extend far beyond menstruation: it can serve as a powerful tool to teach students about empathy, as well as a way two start conversations about gendered social issues and stigmas. After all, sex ed has only truly fulfilled its purpose when students are aware of how to perceive their developing bodies and are kind to others’ developments as well.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION | ANIKA BHANDARKAR

explaining Mansplaining

Students and staff share their perspectives on guys talking over others

BY MEGHA MUMMANENI AND KALYANI PUTHENPURAYIL

“T

hey won’t know the answer to a question, but they still act like they do,” junior Melissa Qin said.

In STEM classes such as AP Physics C, Qin notes that male students are reluctant to admit that they are wrong. Additionally, some of her male classmates tend to mansplain, which is defined as when a man explains a topic, usually to a woman, in a condescending way and under the assumption that they are unfamiliar with it. Many times mansplaining can take the form of interrupting a woman and telling her she’s wrong

or even completely taking over a task at hand. This is performed under the impression that the woman doesn’t know what she’s doing, or that she wouldn’t execute it to a man’s level of ability.

In contrast, when Qin tries to explain how to get the correct answer when her peers get a question wrong, she says they don’t listen — instead, they continue to claim they are right, when in reality, they aren’t.

“It made me feel very invisible because as a classmate, why aren’t you listening to me?” Qin said. “I’m telling you why you’re getting the

you’re doing it wrong. you’re being ridiculous. you need to calm down. let me explain. so basically...you’re doing it wrong. you’re being ridiculous. you need to calm down. let me explain. so basically... you’re doing it wrong. you’re being ridiculous. you need to calm down. let me explain. so basically...you’re doing it wrong. you’re being ridiculous. you need to calm down. let me explain. so basically... you’re doing it wrong. you’re

wrong answer and you’re not listening. And you’re still doing it wrong, which is going to hurt you in the future.”

Qin explains that mansplaining is a prevalent issue that can push women out of male-dominated spaces, especially STEM fields. There are also detrimental internal repercussions when she faces this behavior, such as a diminished sense of confidence in the courses where she has to deal with others’ mansplaining.

Additionally, junior Hursh Shah adds that such actions perpetuate, whether subconsciously or intentionally, the regressive notion that women are intellectually inferior to men. Similar to Qin, he correlates mansplaining to seeing more men in fields such as computer science and finance as it forms preconceived notions about women’s abilities. Shah believes that it can also lead men to only surround themselves with others who share the same views.

“It forms a subconscious bias that men are better,” Shah said. “I think the bias stems from a combination of when you see more men doing something you automatically assume they’re better in some way, and also a lot of guys who mansplain only hang out with guys who also mansplain, so then they don’t assume that a girl also knows the same amount as a guy.”

On the other hand, unlike in STEM classes, English teacher Derek Lu notices that his female students tend to participate more in his class, and he believes that if there were any incidents of mansplaining, the female students would stop it. Within his class, Lu likes to raise conversations surrounding gender, both connected to the pieces of literature the class discusses and

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION | MEGHA MUMMANENI

related to each student’s personal experiences. In one activity that he conducted, students had to write a journal entry about gender biases that they have faced.

“I was reading some of my female students’ responses, and they talked about being marginalized in their sport even though they were a team captain,” Lu said. “Another student talked about how she did a summer program for AI research and male interns were given a lot more attention. I can definitely see that kind of gender dynamic and gap in other classes.”

he admits that there are times when he unintentionally mansplained fields such as finance, which he is interested in, by oversimplifying the topic.

To address mansplaining in his classroom, Lu feels that the environment he has cultivated in his classroom allows for all voices to flourish and also delve into the intricacies of gender dynamics and other genderrelated topics.

58% of MVHS students believe they have been mansplained to before

*According to a survey of 100 people

Mansplaining, according to Shah, usually stems from a deep interest in a topic while assuming the other person has a lack of knowledge about it. Despite never having been called out,

“As a queer Asian American educator, I always want to strive to create that space of inclusivity for marginalized voices,” Lu said. “A lot of it has to do with how I was brought up and how I went through my schooling experience. Back then, the environment was just so much more stifling. There wasn’t any sort of acknowledgment of safe spaces for queer kids at all and so that really informs my practice as an

WAYS TO RECOGNIZE MANSPLAINING WAYS TO RECOGNIZE MANSPLAINING MANSPLAINING

educator. I always want to uplift more marginalized voices.”

By being more mindful when speaking to others and treating conversations more like discussions instead in non-casual scenarios, Shah strives to maintain an equal power dynamic and reduce the risk of making the other person feel demeaned. Qin also believes that men can practice awareness in what they say to prevent mansplaining. She says that denying its existence is, in itself, a form of mansplaining in which the individual fails to consider others’ perspectives.

“People should talk about mansplaining more,” Qin said. “They should keep it in mind as they interact with women and have a more open mind to what the people around them are saying. I think it’s very important to actually acknowledge this problem because yeah, a woman can mansplain as well [and be] condescending, but it’s the fact that men do it more, and it’s more of a gendered thing when men do it. I think that’s what we should pay attention to.”

WAYS TO COMBAT MANSPLAINING

1. Speaking for others, especially in regard to personal experiences

2. Associating different opinions with different levels of intelligence

3. Interrupting or being unwilling to listen to someone else’s perspective

1. Interrupting or being unwilling to listen to someone else’s perspective

Talking to women differently than to men — many

4. Talking to women differently than to men — many times in a watered-down fashion

*According to International Association of Women

1. Ask the individual who is mansplaining to back up their statements with evidence

1. Ask who is to up their statements evidence

2. Remain confident in your abilities and assert your opinions

Remain confident in your abilities and assert

Remain your and assert opinions

3. others who directed

3. behaviors directed towards them

3. Support others who may experience such behaviors directed towards them

4. Call them out (preferably in private settings)

4. Call them (preferably in private back up their statements with evidence

*According to Medium

THE ART OF LOSING

How I learned to redefine loss

BY JILLIAN JU

QUANTITY QUANTITY QUANTITY

VERSUS

QUALITY QUALITY

BY ANANYA CHAUDHARY, GILJOON LEE, ANANDA SINGH, VARUN SINGH, AASHI VENKAT, APRIL WANG, ASHA WOJCIECHOWSKI AND MICHELLE ZHENG

THE BOOK REVOLUTION

Members of the MVHS community reflect on young adult novels shifting in quality over the years

BY AASHI VENKAT AND ASHA WOJCIECHOWSKI

When English and AVID teacher Megan Choate was in high school, Stephenie Meye’s “Twilight” series was a huge phenomenon. “Twilight,” a four-novel vampire romance series released from 2005 to 2008, has sold over 160 million copies worldwide and spent 235 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Choate recalls the excitement around the books among her peers and the high praise for the series that inspired her to read it.

“

that just captivated the audience. It was almost like the quality of writing didn’t matter.”

Following the release of “Twilight” in 2005, other books categorized under the Young Adult (YA) genre have been steadily gaining traction. In the past five years alone, YA is now the fastestgrowing genre, with print unit sales having increased by more than 48% from 2018.

THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THAT STORY THAT JUST CAPTIVATED THE AUDIENCE.

ENGLISH TEACHER

“Everyone was like, ‘Oh my god, this is like the best thing ever,’” Choate said. “Reflecting and reading excerpts now, the quality of the writing is not as profound or great as other books I’ve encountered and read, but there was something about that story

Since the popularity of YA books has skyrocketed, sophomore Anika Ramachandran says that she has noticed an increase in the amount of YA novels published compared to when she was younger. Ramachandran says that this sudden spike has caused an oversaturation of the genre, leading to repetitive themes and cliches. She references the book

CHOATE

“Powerless” by Lauren Roberts as a recent read of hers that she found to be a close plot parallel to both “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins and “Red Queen” by Victoria Aveyard.

“I feel like I’m just tired of the same cliches repeated over and over and over again,” Ramachandran said. “And it’s not something that I’m willing to continue sacrificing my time for because it’s of no use to me. I like to stimulate my mind and I don’t think that repeating books is the way to do it.”

Expanding on Ramachandran’s point, Choate says a larger number of books in a series can correlate with lower quality writing. She notes that often as a series drags on, the story can get repetitive or boring, eventually taking away from the quality of the plot and causing readers to lose interest. According to Choate, the entertainment value of a series heavily depends on how well-written it is.

“Looking at ‘Harry Potter,’ I feel like the writing quality remains strong pretty much all the way through and I think that’s like a testament to J.K. Rowling having created such a complex world

THROUGH THE PAGES

“

and complex characters,” Choate said. “Whereas Twilight as a romance story was not as deep rooted or complex in nature. I think complexity and nuance in not just characters but also settings and supporting characters is what makes a series strong all the way through.”

MVHS Alum

‘23 Yash Thapliyal agrees with Choate, as he believes that quality is often rooted in the author’s plan for the entire series prior to writing the first book. According to him, authors with a thorough plan tend to write more engaging book series.

sake of adding more books.”

MVHS ‘23 ALUM SOME BOOKS DON’T HAVE INTENTION. THEY’RE ADDED FOR THE SAKE OF ADDING MORE BOOKS.

YASH THAPLIYAL

According to Thapliyal, the rising quantity of books in general compensates for how some books and series are lacking in quality. He believes that an influx in the number of active authors and thus books allows people to be more selective in the books they read by introducing more choice. Choate agrees and also admires how recent books are becoming more diverse, both with their authors and the topics they cover.

are integrating into their novels. She has noticed this in “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros, which she believes disrespects Welsh culture, with its audiobook mispronouncing names of Welsh origin.

“Authors use minority languages and minority cultures in their books as their book’s cultures and languages,” Ramachandran said. “I think that’s very predominant in the YA genre, because you want to be unique, but it falls upon the author’s responsibility to respect the cultures and respect minorities.”

“A lot of my favorite authors have a storyline planned out 10 to 15 years in advance, and they’re now trying to get that onto a page into an entertaining format,” Thapliyal said. “Maybe not all the aspects of the story are figured out, but they have a plan for where they’re going and that intention really shows because you’re able to connect things from the end of book five to the beginning of book one, where you could see there was some foreshadowing and some thought process there. Some books just don’t have intention. They’re added for the

“Right now, we’re reading ‘The Magic Fish,’ which is a new addition from last year,” Choate said. “We have a Vietnamese author and it’s a graphic novel, which is a different style of writing. There’s buy-in from the students, at least with what I’m seeing in the classroom — with ‘The Magic Fish,’ students are reading it and generally enjoying it.”

However, Ramachandran believes that many books execute diversity in an ineffective way, where it is clear that the author has not properly researched a given culture that they

Yet another shift is that authors are increasingly listening to their readers and audience, a byproduct of the internet connecting readers and authors alike. According to Choate, she appreciates how the internet has created a community for readers, even turning reading into a trend on platforms like TikTok’s “BookTok.” While she does not disregard the questionable quality of some novels, she opts to appreciate this influx of YA novels and their popularity rather than resent it.

“I think stories are meant to evolve and change with us,” Choate said. “Maybe it’s the English teacher and reader in me, but I think there’s a joy in reading. I think it’s a cool hobby and a special pastime. And I think if you have a community around that, I think that that’s awesome.”

CHOOSE YOUR PLATE

Students and staff discuss their preferred balances between quality and quantity of food

BY ANANDA SINGH AND MICHELLE ZHENG

QQuality vs. quantity is an ongoing debate of whether the portion of food or the healthiness of it matters more. However, U.S. History teacher Robbie Hoffman says it may not be so simple, highlighting that it’s more of a spectrum than a black-andwhite answer, with multiple factors contributing to people’s preferred balances between quantity and quality.

Hoffman takes his son to his favorite restaurant Red Robin to indulge in its bottomless macaroni and cheese, served with an orange and french fries. Though Hoffman believes the macaroni and cheese at Red Robin is no different than Kraft Mac & Cheese, he says his son values the never-ending aspect of the dining

the quantity of food rather than its nutritional value.

“He doesn’t have as much experience with food because he’s limited to what he’s able to eat, so for him something like mac and cheese is really cool,” Hoffman said. “I think the age of the individual and their exposure to food has an impact on what their preference would probably be.”

Senior Jayden Lim shares a similar balance between the quantity and quality of his food, specifically mentioning Olive Garden and how it might not serve food of the best quality but the meals are still enjoyable due to the unlimited breadsticks, salads and pasta. However, as he has aged, he comments that while he still appreciates the large quantity of food

he gets at Olive Garden, his balance has now shifted more towards the quality of his food.

Like Lim, senior Arnav Jadhav also focuses on the nutrients and calories he gets in his meals and takes extra note of them as a professional powerlifter. In an effort to limit his consumption of sugars, saturated fats and processed foods, Jadhav makes sure that the meals he eats are made from organic ingredients and consist of carbohydrates, proteins and fiber.

“I have a saying, ‘If it’s a white stay away from it,’ because that leads to bloating and excessive water retention, which makes you look chubbier or bigger,” Jadhav said. “Anything that has processed foods, you should stay away from it or limit your intake so your body stays healthy. I try to eat around

MVHS COMMUNITY’S PREFERRED BALANCE BETWEEN THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF FOOD

10 people

1 person

145 grams of protein every day to give me energy throughout the day.”

While Lim agrees with Jadhav about the importance of maintaining a healthy diet, he adds that high quality foods may not be available at all times. When Lim is hungry at a swim meet, he finds that the most easily accessible foods are oftentimes low in quality, like chips and bars sold at the vending machines. So, he says he has to eat more of it in order to get the same amount of nutrients he needs to keep himself energized.

“

special 59 cent hamburgers which were cheap and affordable for people and nowadays you go to a fast food restaurant and you’re spending 15 dollars per person,” Hoffman said.

STAYING HEALTHY SHOULDN’T BE SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO FEEL FORCED TO DO. YOU JUST HAVE TO EAT THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF CALORIES.

SENIOR

ARNAV JADHAV

“There come days where there is some sacrifice and I’m so hungry because I’ve been exercising,” Lim said. “I don’t have access to highquality food, so I just have to increase the quantity of my food and eat some more considerably unhealthier things just to be able to ensure that my body is satiated and not growling all the time.”

Similarly to Lim and Jadhav, Hoffman also cares more about the quality of his food but does not shy away from unhealthy foods, simply eating less if his meal is low nutritional value. Comparing his own preferences to Lim, Jadhav and his son’s, Hoffman points out financial, economic and age factors that have contributed to his preferred balance between quantity and quality. He notes that when he chooses to go to a restaurant with his kids, he has to think about the types of food it offers and their prices, especially since his kids are picky eaters.

“My high school buddies and I would go to McDonald’s to get the

“That’s why we go to Red Robin, because I know my sons are going to

of stuff, you’re going to feel very tired,” Jadhav siad. “I feel like as an athlete, you need time to let your muscles recover and your muscles can’t really recover if there’s no protein or fat or anything at all. Staying healthy shouldn’t be something you have to feel forced to. You can have a salad but you can also have a pizza too. Some days, you can eat more fat or

PHOTOS|MICHELLEZHENG

EXTRACURRICULARS EXTRA XTRA XTRA XTRA XTRA XTRA XTRA XTRA XTRA XTRA

Students and staff discuss the importance of quality in extracurriculars

BY GILJOON LEE AND APRIL WANG

When MVHS ‘23 alum Elizabeth Lee first joined MVHS’s literary magazine La Pluma her freshman year, the club was not producing physical copies of its issues consistently. During that time, Lee noticed that many of the officers seemed less invested in the club, as many participated not out of passion, but rather for the ability to put the club on college application resumes. She notes that MVHS students have a culture of cramming extracurriculars, which makes their school life a difficult balancing act.

“It’s not going to be healthy to try to prioritize every single thing that you’re trying to accomplish in your life,” Lee said. “I absolutely don’t think it’s any fault of theirs.”

According to Lee, from her experience in La Pluma, when a student is a part of many clubs, they become less involved in some of them. College and Career Counselor Rogelio Calderon estimates that MVHS students typically have four or more extracurriculars, but finds that large amounts of extracurriculars are often overshadowed by the stress of juggling limited time and resources.

“Your extracurriculars become what’s called diminishing returns,” Calderon said. “When including too

many or being involved in too many activities, the quality and all of those activities will diminish.”

Lee experienced firsthand the MVHS culture of aiming to join as many extracurriculars as possible. When she first started high school, she joined multiple activities, such as water polo, an internship at a magazine, local advocacy, Model United Nations and La Pluma, despite not having any interest in some of them like Model UN.

“I definitely fell into that thing of like, it’s just a mad dash to whoever can get the most stuff on their resumes,” Lee said. “But I think as I progressed through high school, I kind of just got tired of it. I naturally started to prioritize the things that I actually enjoyed.”

years, the 2021-22 officer team made a number of changes to the way the magazine was run. Lee views La Pluma very much as a passion project, naming it as one of the activities that allowed her to step away from the MVHS culture of rushing for quantity and explore her interest in the arts. Senior Sudhanva Deshpande has also noticed a recent shift to more cultural and creative clubs being created on campus.

38% of MVHS students

are an officer or member of three or more clubs

*According to a survey of 88 people

Lee later joined the officer team her senior year as the Lead Selections Editor and PR Manager alongside MVHS ‘22 alum Manasi Ganti who was the Editor-In-Chief at the time. Seeing the decline of the club in previous

“We see a lot of STEM clubs that are created or STEM clubs that apply: CS, sciences, math, and more. But we’re also starting to see a lot of cultural clubs or music clubs are starting to apply and be accepted,” Deshpande said. “This season, we, for example, had the Filipino Student Union getting created and we had a dance club, so new clubs like that, which are not just STEM oriented but also cultural.”

He notes that a reason many clubs stop their operation is due to a lack of interest, shown through insufficient

amounts of meetings, members or otherwise, hence making clubs with new focuses more successful due to their unique offerings.

“Creating a new community is one of the main things that makes a club successful because creating a new community means that you have a lot of people already interested,” Deshpande said. “Sometimes the presidents or the officers are just not the right people to run the club. Later in the years, someone else comes along, and the club itself is a good idea.”

“

academic extracurriculars is more stressful than it is successful for students.

“I think it’s really important when students look at things that they care about, their interests or motivations, because it really helps them practice this idea that you are more than just one identity marker,” Calderon said. “You are your whole self that has different parts of you that make up who you are.”

YOUR EXTRACURRICULARS BECOME WHAT’S CALLED DIMINISHING RETURNS.

Deshpande sees over 30 clubs proposed each year, with only 10 to 13 accepted. Self-run extracurriculars are something that Calderon often sees in MVHS students, although he finds that admissions officers often are able to see through ones that are simply for the sake of padding out a resume. He says quality, shown through dedication, perseverance, community impact and otherwise, matters more than quantity, which can be a biased measurement.

COUNSELOR

ROGELIO CALDERON

Calderon finds that a student’s ability to identify who they are beyond work or school is a life skill that translates beyond college and into their adult lives.

Lee found a similar joy through her work in La Pluma, especially during the pandemic. The isolation and stress resulted in her not having the mental capacity to handle the things she did not enjoy. She found herself reflecting on her own priorities and what would make her happy in such a stressful time, ultimately leading her towards her passions, such as writing.

“There’s a reason why colleges aren’t saying, ‘We want you to have 10 extracurriculars,’” Calderon says. “Because they know students have different responsibilities. They really care more about the quality, and so I do think sometimes students forget that and they think I need to have all 20 spaces filled up on the application for that.”

Calderon finds students who aren’t guided by their college applications to be compelling due to their authenticity shining through in their extracurriculars even if they don’t necessarily relate to any future paths. In his experience, extreme focus on

“There’s this feeling of ‘the more you start to do things that you enjoy, the more happy you are,’” Lee said. “Not only with the things that you’ve accomplished, but with your own self image.”

THE PERFECT BALANCE

Artists reflect on the time they put into their pieces

BY ANANYA CHAUDHARY AND VARUN SINGH

Adding the finishing touches on a human skull adorned with ram horns and fiery blue flames, junior and character designer Piers Boyer wraps up a lengthy artistic process. For Boyer, each of his art pieces is the culmination of hours of work — beginning with finding inspiration, sketching out numerous prototypes and mapping out a clear concept of the piece.

“In the character design industry, they want ideas, so it’s more quantity over quality,” Boyer said. “When we make art, we typically use a concept design to brainstorm. We call it the six plus six equals one method. You always start with six concepts. Choose one from those, take that one and make six concepts based on that. And then based on those, choose one. This is your font character.”

Boyer explains how creating a single character takes up to eight

hours on average to complete, with large chunks of time dedicated to finding inspiration and larger works with finer details. While he acknowledges the benefits of working faster for efficiency, Boyer values the quality that comes with dedicating more time to each piece. Senior Anqi Chen agrees with this sentiment, as they believe the process of creating art contributes to their learning as an artist.

“I can actually learn a lot during the time I take working on my pieces,” Chen said. “This makes the artwork better in the end, better than how I initially thought it would be. Whether it be using a new technique or finding a really good reference, it would not come through had I just finished the

piece without taking the time.”

However, senior and digital artist Anya Wojciechowski says spending too much time on the art can lead to perfectionism, which she finds to be a toxic trait. Instead, Wojciechowski says spending less time on her art has allowed her to explore more styles and create more pieces.

SCAN FOR MORE COVERAGE

“A lot of artists are perfectionists, and I think that can actually be detrimental sometimes because art is not about making it perfect — it’s more about being able to capture stuff better than something perfect,” Wojciechowski said. “For example, if you’re doing a gesture drawing, which is meant to specifically capture movement and tension, your anatomy might not be perfect, but

that’s OK because it’ll capture the tension. There’s a fine line between going at the right pace and going too fast or too slow. At the right pace, you’re allowed to fix things that are just a normal part of art, but if you’re going too slow, that means you’re just getting caught up in details without looking at the bigger picture.”

Similarly, Chen finds that dedicating more time to his artwork allows for a deeper connection to each of his pieces. As an artist, Chen says he has shifted towards a more timeconsuming approach to completing his art. He emphasizes the importance of taking the time in his art, as it allows for a greater level of satisfaction.

to create a lot more artwork in a much shorter time. I still do that, but now I have started to take a lot of time as well. I think maybe I had some sense of urgency back then, but now I like to take my time. When you spend a lot of time with something, you get attached to it. So, when I spend more time on my art, I like it more.”

as planes — it could be different anatomy, different styles, body types — it all depends. In the end, you feel proud of the piece, especially if it has taken hours, and even if it’s a small piece and it didn’t take as long, you still feel proud of it.”

Boyer explains how learning and playing with different elements of art increases his appreciation of the piece, no matter the time it takes. Wojciechowski agrees, as she acknowledges the elements of perfectionism can be beneficial to the artistic process, despite it taking a logner time.

“I didn’t always use to take this long,” Chen said. “I used to be able

SENIOR

ART IS NOT ABOUT MAKING IT PERFECT — IT’S MORE ABOUT BEING ABLE TO CAPTURE STUFF BETTER THAN PERFECT. WOJCIECHOWSKI

Chen explains howher attachment to her pieces grew with the time she spent on them. However, Boyer says that several factors can make him more proud of his work.

“Every part of my characters usually has some part of me to it, and I feel more proud of the ones that have a closer connection to me,” Boyer said. “A lot of times there’s also new concepts that I’m adding to them, playing with different elements such

“Perfectionism helps you learn in some ways,” Wojciechowski said. “It’s fine if your pace is slow, it’s fine if your pace is fast, if you’re proud of what you’ve made at the end it’s better than nothing. If you struggle with perfectionism, I still do honestly, I don’t think that’s ever gonna go away. But if you can learn to mitigate it in your own ways, and try to not care as much about it being perfect you’ll learn more.”

PHOTO | LIZ LIU

PHOTO | LILLIAN WANG

PHOTO | ALYSSA YANG

TWO PUCKS IN A POD

Sisters Alice and Gillie Ross share their experience playing ice hockey

BY TARYN LAM AND AARYAN SHARMA

From a young age, senior Alice Ross fondly recalls accompanying her family to Vallco Shopping Mall every Friday for skating lessons. Born to Canadian parents who enjoy playing and watching ice hockey, Alice believes that this simple weekly activity helped the family connect. Though Alice remembers enjoying her experience skating, she felt that an aspect was missing. That’s when she decided to begin a new sport — ice hockey.

“My sister Gillie and I have pretty similar interests and we both really like sports,” Alice said. “We both play physical games because we’re both big and strong, so wrestling and hockey, or really high-contact sports, aren’t really a big issue for us.”

Ice hockey has stuck with Alice and her sister, sophomore Gillie Ross, throughout their youth. Now, they both play for the San Jose Jr. Sharks, though on different teams due to their age difference. Alice plays the forward position while Gillie serves as the goalie. The sisters attend practice three to four times a week, and they often travel to outof-state tournaments in places such as Florida and Chicago.

just hung around the rink together.”

Archbishop Mitty High School junior Jasmine Shum has played on the same team as Alice and Gillie over the span of two different years. As a result of playing on the same team as Alice and Gillie, Shum has witnessed the positive interactions between the sisters.

“Alice and Gillie are really competitive with each other but in a positive way,” Shum said. “They always go to each other’s practices and sometimes Gillie jumps in for Alice’s practice. Alice really wants to score on Gillie but Gillie really wants to save a shot, so it’s fun to just watch and see how they interact with one another.”

SCAN FOR MORE COVERAGE

“Hockey really changed our lives,” Alice said. “When we get home from school, we eat quickly and then we go to hockey practice. Myself, my sister and my brother all play hockey. We learn to do homework quickly and time management was a really big thing. There were a couple of kids who were there for siblings’ practices and we

Alice explains that she and Gillie are able to bond over news updates in the hockey world, such as discussing their favorite pro hockey teams. In addition to strengthening their relationship, they say hockey has also taught them important values that they will continue to take with them throughout life.

“Hockey has taught me perseverance, grit, how to be a team player and how to take charge,” Gillie said. “I’m a captain on my team, it’s also about learning responsibility and leadership. Even outside of hockey,

being able to work with other people and communicate and being able to put your trust in other people and trusting them to support you back is important. Hockey has definitely made me a more resilient person, and it’s helped me to be tough, but also it taught me how to be part of a team and part of a family.”

Alice explains that though sometimes the teams change slightly, for the most part, people don’t leave the organization during their youth experience. As a result, Alice has had the opportunity to play ice hockey with the same girls for the past 10 years, which has strengthened the bond between them.

“In the end, there’s not much of a difference between a teammate and a sister when you’ve played so long together,” Alice said. “We have loyalty to our friends and loyalty to our team — it’s really been an experience. When I play with Gillie and I play with my teammates, we’re all a big family.”

PHOTO | ISABELLE KOK AND SONIA VERMA

PLAYING WITH PIXELS

MVHS students share their experiences with sports video games

BY LILLIAN WANG AND BENJAMIN ZHANG

Sophomore Erik Lewis first discovered the world of FIFA in 2013 when his dad introduced him to the football simulation video game on his old PS3. Lewis’s dad had been playing since FIFA 09, and Lewis credits him for some of his favorite memories from over a decade of playing together.

“We used to always play modded modes, so that was a lot of fun,” Lewis said. “This one time, I remember we were sitting in the living room, and I looked at my modifiers and saw I had the unlimited stamina one. I was really happy because I could just sprint the entire game without my players getting tired, so I was basically guaranteed to win.”

EA Sports launched the first game in the FIFA soccer series in 1993. Every year, a new FIFA is released with updated teams and players. What started as a simple pixelated game has now grown into the biggest sports video game franchise in the world, according to Forbes. In the past few years, EA Sports evolved with the

objectives,” Lewis said. “Then you put a team together using the cards you want and play games with it and try to game modes.

against people you don’t know, so oftentimes it can be a little bit boring.”

WHEN YOU’RE PLAYING IN CLASSIC GAME MODE WITH YOUR FRIENDS, NORMALLY YOU’LL BE IN THE SAME ROOM, SO IT CAN BE A LOT OF FUN.

SOPHOMORE ERIK LEWIS

“When you’re playing in classic game mode with your friends, normally

MVHS ‘21 alum Eric Zheng shares a similar sentiment. Zheng started playing NBA 2K, the largest basketball simulation video game according to Variety, when his friend introduced it to him in 2016.

NBA 2K, similar to FIFA, releases a game every year with updated rosters and new game modes. After graduating, Zheng stopped playing 2K as often but recalls that his favorite aspect of the game was being able to play with friends.

“It’s definitely something we looked forward to doing when we were hanging out,” Zheng said. “It was always something that we could just do. It’s really chill. We would just stay at home and play when we were super tired. We could play basketball with them outside in real life and then come back in and play 2K after retiring.”

Zheng remembers that his favorite team, the Golden State Warriors, was on a winning streak in 2016, which furthered Zheng’s interest in NBA 2K. As a basketball player himself, Zheng found excitement in simulating games and testing moves with his favorite players.

“It’s cool to play as players that you watch on TV that are super good and can do some crazy stuff that I can’t do in real life, like dunking with my favorite players,” Zheng

PHOTO|LILLIAN WANG

said. “In 2016, the mechanics were still pretty good, but definitely not as real as they are now, especially with the 3D models for the players and the face rendering, which looks so much more real now. It’s basically like you’re playing real basketball.”

However, sophomore Jason He disagrees. Having played NBA Live mobile and also being a basketball player, he believes video games are far from a real game of basketball, as people only choose to attempt fun things on a video game.

“I think there’s really no real connection other than the fact that it’s the same sport and that the game is emulated,” He said. “On NBA Live mobile, all people do is shoot threepointers or flashy dunks. But that’s not really realistic in the real world. No NBA team would do that. Another reason the game is not going to be realistic is because we’re playing against bots all the time, and bots are not the same as humans.”

He says he turns to sports video games for fun. However, this also became the reason why he quit NBA Live Mobile later down the line.

“I think that the game overall, in the end, made me more angry than happy,” He said. “I felt like it was just a negative in my life, so I cut it out. Sometimes, I work really hard for a chance to get a great player, but I don’t get him. And afterward, I just think I wasted all my time. I could have done something else that would have been more beneficial and that makes me really frustrated.”

Lewis agrees with this as well, saying that despite an overwhelming amount of the FIFA community being good sports, many still ruin the fun, which is the point of playing the video game in the first place.

“I think it’s pretty good for the most part, but then there’s a few people that are really toxic, and they’ll do things just to annoy you,” Lewis said. “I feel angry in those moments, but all I can do is suck it up.”

Nonetheless, Lewis, Zheng and He all agree that their favorite sports video games have given them many good memories throughout the years. For Lewis, FIFA reminded him of his time with his dad and brother. For Zheng, it was a relaxing game that he could play to calm down. And for He,

especially, NBA Live Mobile defined parts of his experience as a kid.

“I think it was a big part of my childhood,” He said. “There were good times, but there were also bad times. Maybe if I never touched that game, I would have found something else that would have been more beneficial. But in the moment, it made me very happy.”

MVHS

athletes

share how watching film of their opponents affects their gameplay

BY ARJUN DHRUV AND LILY JIANG

Before the football season starts, MVHS Football Head Coach Ceazar Agront begins watching films of previous games and filling the holes left by seniors for the upcoming season by finding new people to replace them. Watching films of past seasons was a tactic that Agront learned when he was a part of the football team at Homestead High School. He notes that watching films is vital to the success of the team, but he does not want to take extra time from his student-athletes, as they already have heavy workloads. He notes that it is difficult to watch film every day because other teams, such as band or field hockey, also use the field house.

Therefore, instead of having the team gather after practice, Agront utilizes the app Hudl to track that his athletes are watching the film he sends out. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Agront began recording lessons on how to play against opposing teams

through Zoom and posting them on “Huddle” for the athletes to watch on their own time.

Senior and Varsity Girls Basketball center

Sophia Lu says the Varsity Girls Basketball team also uses Huddl. She mentions that Head Coach

“

IT’S IMPERATIVE TO WATCH FILM BECAUSE HOW ELSE CAN YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE GOING TO GO UP AGAINST AND THEIR TENDANCIES?

“Before more difficult games, we would watch film reviews and try to gauge the opponent,” Lu said. “If we played the opponent before, we would review that game, point out our weaknesses and strengths and try to work on that.”

FOOTBALL HEAD COACH

Sara Borelli posts film of opposing teams on Hudl for the team to watch and take notes on. Lu adds that the team usually watches film before big games.

CEAZAR AGRONT

Agront notices that some students would watch films for hours on end while others wouldn’t at all. However, Agront notes that when the entire team consistently watches them, he can see a difference on the field since the team is more prepared.

“It’s imperative to watch film because how else can you know who

“you’re going to go up against and their tendencies?” Agront said. “It’s pretty much a blueprint and it shows you that the better the team is, the more prepared they are. The way it’s been to our students is, ‘This is your cheat sheet. This is your study guide to what you’re going to see in that game, so the more you study, the better you can be prepared.’”

Junior and Varsity Boys Soccer center Justin Chen also notes that watching film has allowed his team to improve in various ways. The Varsity Boys Soccer team watches films three times throughout the season when it has an upcoming game against a team at the top of the league. Watching the play-by-play takes an entire practice and sometimes additional time. Chen believes that this helps the team raise awareness on where it is weak on defense, but says it is not as beneficial for improving offensive play.

that are big, he can determine many different aspects. For example, he can determine what plays the opponents run when in a certain formation and which one of these plays is the best, creating a plan afterward for countering that play.

YOU CAN’T JUST GO OUT THERE LIKE, ‘WE’RE GONNA GO PLAY.’ LET’S TRY IT OUT, TRY TO GIVE IT OUR BEST. YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY PREPARE. IF YOU DON’T PREPARE, THAT’S PREPARING FOR FAILURE.

FOOTBALL HEAD COACH

CEAZAR AGRONT

“Say we’re playing Cupertino,” Agront said.

“I know that they run these plays. I know that some of these players are still playing. We have old film and I have two new films from this season. ‘What’s the difference from last year to this year? Who are their main key players and who was in last week? Who was doing well? What do I think that they’re going to do now against us?’ If I’m watching a film on us, ‘Where do we suck? And how are they going to try to kill that?’ So I’m

like, ‘Alright, so now how do I curb it a little bit and protect us but also put us in a situation where we can have an opportunity to win?’”

Lu says it is interesting to watch opponents they have never seen to determine their strengths and weaknesses. According to Lu, Borelli would send a summary of videos to watch. Then, before games, the team would go over their thoughts and plan strategies in the locker room, specifically focusing on the other team’s good players and shooters.

Agront, Lu and Chen all agree that watching film helps them perform well in games, as the team can implement specific drills to improve on what the team is lacking. Agront mentions that in addition to practicing based on the film they watch by incorporating new strategies, they mentally prepare for games by watching film, making them more confident in their plays.

“You can’t just go out there like, ‘We’re gonna go play,’” Agront said. “‘Let’s try it out, try to give it our best.’ You have to actually prepare. If you don’t prepare, that’s preparing for failure.”

After watching films, Agront finds ways to implement the team’s critiques into plays by emulating real games. He gives his players scenarios or what he calls “shadow-boxing,” where the players attempt to replay what they watched on film. He notes that for football formations

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