Volume 48, Issue 2, Oct. 18, 2017 by El Estoque

October 2017

Monta Vista High School

Issue I Volume XLIX

elESTOQUE

4 NEWS

14 OPINION

25 A&E

19 FEATURES

The effects of Cupertinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growing population

Students consider the effectiveness of offering a pre-ACT

Behind the scenes of Homecoming 2017

How different people approach the concept of death

IN THE FAMILY 32 RUNS Uncommon sports bring families together

NEWS

OPINION

Q&A

PRIVATE, NOT PUBLIC

A&E

FEATURES

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Department leads Scott DeRuiter and David Clarke reflect on their roles

95014 Residents discuss the effects of the growing population in Cupertino

HACKING AWAY AT TRUST Data breaches continue to raise concerns about security

NOT (IT) Russian Burger King accuses “It” of being a giant ad for McDonald’s

THE CHOP SHOP

Nothing on the internet is ever private

Senior Noah Soo-Hoo maintains his own barbershop business

TRUMP’S KNEELING GUIDELINES Pence kneels to Trump as Kaepernick kneels for justice

BEHIND THE SCENES: HOMECOMING Delving into the logistics of Homecoming

NO IMPACT Students consider the usefulness of a potential P-ACT

ENTANGLED ETHICS Students and teachers reflect on the ethics of DNA testing

ALL STITCHED UP The creative process behind making Halloween costumes

THE OFFICE OF MVHS An inside look into MVHS’ classified employees

WHEN DEATH COMES KNOCKING How different people deal with the passing of a loved one

MEASURE UP How different values affect self-assessment

THIS ACCOUNT IS PRIVATE The impact REPUTATIONS: of private NATURAL DISASTERS Instagrams on cyberbullying Students share their opinions on disaster preparedness

IN THIS ISSUE SPORTS TWO ARROWS, ONE TARGET Twins explain how they became interested in archery

RIDING WEST Siblings bond over their passion for horseback riding

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SISTERS IN ARMS Sisters fence at the national level

SPORTS FLASH A look at MVHS’ athletics over the past month

IN THE SAME BOAT A father passes on his love for rowing to his son

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS... E very week, our sports reporters travel to MVHS’ games on and off campus, taking photos, jotting down key plays and scores and tracking each team’s progress. At times, it seems like we never run out of sports content — there is always another game to cover, always another story to write. But there is a whole world of sports that goes unnoticed, not just by our reporters, but by our student body in general. By every definition, these uncommon sports are still sports that contain the same amount of athleticism and coordination as any other. And yet, they are not included on our list of games and athletes to cover. Perhaps the reason they go uncovered is because many of these uncommon sports are ones played outside of MVHS. The sports these athletes love are not something that MVHS has the facilities or capacity to support. There is no place to row a boat or ride a horse on campus. These MVHS students became passionate about their sports not through watching nationally broadcast NFL or NBA games, but through following in the footsteps of their family who first pursued the sport. The typical athlete can discuss their sport with their peers at school and talk to coaches on campus who have years of experience in their sport. The students that play these uncommon sports, however, don’t have the same opportunities. They talk to coaches who they go out of their way to train with, and it is rare for them to be able to discuss their sport at school. The faces they see on campus won’t be the faces they see in competition. Starting on page 32, El Estoque’s reporters explore four uncommon sports — archery, fencing, rowing and horseback riding — and look into the lives of its athletes. A father shares his love for rowing with his son, a junior bonds with her brother across the world over horseback riding, two sisters discover themselves through fencing and a pair of twins pursue archery. For these students, family and sports are inseparable. The sports they play are unconventional, but the bonds they forge within their families aren’t something new. We’ve grown up playing conventional sports — throwing a baseball or swimming at the beach — but they grew up shooting arrows and dueling each other with swords. The connection these students have created both with their families and their sports are ones that have extended far past childhood games of catch. These sports are difficult for us to cover — we have to drive to horse stables 45 minutes away and wake up at 4 a.m. to go to rowing practices. Yet as difficult as it is for us, it’s the norm for these athletes, and it’s that dedication that makes these sports remarkable.

Ananya Bhat

Ilena Peng

CORRECTION FROM THE LAST ISSUE “Tale of Two Frights” misspelled senior Darren Kopa’s last name.

elESTOQUE 21840 McClellan Road Cupertino, CA 95014 mv.el.estoque@gmail.com

Editors-in-chief: Ananya Bhat, Ilena Peng Managing editors: Aanchal Garg, Om Khandekar, Akshara Majjiga, Chetana Ramaiyer, Priya Reddy Copy editors: Emma Lam, Karen Ma, Andrea Schlitt Web editor: Daniel Lin Design editor: Elizabeth Han News editors: Claire Chang, Gauri Kaushik, ZaZu Lippert, Jai Uparkar Sports editors: Rana Aghababazadeh, Roshan Fernandez, Sannidhi Menon, Anthony Moll Entertainment editors: Sara Entezar, Shar Rahman, Michelle Wong, Himani Yalamaddi Opinion editors: Ruth Feng, Songjun Na, Mallika Singh, Nate Stevens Feature editors: Helen Chao, Vivian Chiang, Katerina Pappas, Karen Sanchez Beats editors: Bill Cheng, Anjini Venugopal Business editor: Shayon Moradi Public relations editor: Jennie Chen Visuals editors: Sunjin Chang, Ankit Gupta, Rajas Habbu, Stuti Upadhyay, Anish Vasudevan, Jacob Wee Staff writers: Robert Borrego, Anirudh Chaudhary, Charlotte Chui, Aditya Dash, Aditi Gnanasekar, Alyssa Hui, Zara Iqbal, Shuvi Jha, Ria Kolli, Sreya Kumar, Hannah Lee, Jasmine Lee, Carol Lei, Maggie McCormick, Andrea Perng, Jahan Razavi, Ishani Singh, Rucha Soman, Swara Tewari, Emily Xia, Claire Yang, Julia Yang, Sarah Young Adviser: Julia Satterthwaite Mission Statement El Estoque is an open forum created for and by students of Monta Vista High School. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the journalism staff and not of Monta Vista High School or the Fremont Union High School District. The staff seeks to recognize individuals, events, and ideas and bring news to the MVHS community in a manner that is professional, unbiased, and thorough in order to effectively serve our readers. We strive to report accurately, and we will correct any significant error. If you believe such an error has been made, please contact us. Letters of any length should be submitted via email or mail. They may be edited for length or accuracy. Letters cannot be returned and will be published at El Estoque’s discretion. We also reserve the right to reject advertising due to space limitations or decision of the Editorial Board that content of the advertisement conflicts with the mission of the publication. COVER PHOTO | SANNIDHI MENON

Residents discuss the effects of the growing population in Cupertino BY OM KHANDEKAR AND JASMINE LEE

ESIDENTS OF CUPERTINO SPEAK of its safe roads and scenic vistas. They talk about calm nights, quirky hideouts and maybe even early morning hikes through Cupertino’s Open Space Preserves. Now, wall-to-wall traffic has become a Bay Area mainstay. Streets like McClellan and Stevens Creek are crammed with brake-lights daily after waves of students disperse to the four corners of Cupertino. A mere mile away, De Anza Blvd absorbs traffic from businesses dotted along the streets. Even worse, the street seems to spit these cars onto gridlocked I-85 and I-280. However, in the classroom there seems to be mixed messages as to how the growing population impacts students. Senior Himeni Tammineni has lived in the Bay Area her entire life, and she believes that MVHS is going through a population swell. According to her, each passing year seems to add more students to each grade. Tammineni believes that a growing class population would negatively impact the school district. However, according to FUHSD’s analysis of school capacities, MVHS can support 2,410 students and currently has a student population of 2,380 students. FEA site president Bonnie Belshe can understand why Tammineni believes MVHS is gaining an influx of students, but also believes there are multiple reasons to explain why this is happening. “We do have slightly bigger classes, like class overall as in graduating classes, for sophomores and freshman,” Belshe said. “It’s actually that we had smaller graduating classes that are now juniors and seniors. That was actually a dip in enrollment, and this is back up to where we previously had been.” Another reason is that class sizes during freshman year are intentionally kept smaller, with a ratio of 23:1 teachers to students for freshman literature classes and a ratio of 28:1 students to teachers for every other literature classes. As students progress in grade levels, classes get larger. According to the United States Census Bureau, Cupertino’s population stands at 64,643 people as of 2016. Aside from a

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14,000 person increase since the 2000 more high-density housing has been built census, recent plans to develop the city, in Cupertino, it has been in the CHS area such as the Cupertino Main Street and causing administration at CHS to hire more the Apple Park, have begun to reach teachers to meet contractual ratios and completion. These developments set deal with the influx. the backdrop for a change in the sense “We have some high-density housing community that defines Cupertino. that’s in the MVHS attendance area, but Residents Grace and Ben Vong, who have lived in Cupertino for 25 CLASSROOM BALANCE years, are Cupertino mainstays who say The FUHSD mandated that they feel their community is slipping student to teacher ratio away from them. “I think it’s going to Social Science make it more like a city than it is a community,” Grace said. “I think English (9) there’s just too much building going on. I think it just changes the English (10-12) whole dynamic. We’re used to just families, schools and a very safe Math (Alg. 1) type of environment.” For schools in FUHSD, the population Math (others) has been affecting school attendance in a different way. Music According to an article published by the Mercury News, Physical Ed. on Jan. 12, 2016, the FUHSD administration reviewed the idea Science of shifting school boundaries to bolster class sizes at Lynbrook Special Ed HS, citing dropping enrollment numbers at the school as the primary issue. Ultimately the compromise was to offer middle schoolers at Miller MS the option to attend LHS for the 2017-18 school year, as opposed to diverting a neighborhood of incoming freshman from Cupertino HS to LHS. Although

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to be really wealthy.” Opinions are split about whether or not the growth in Cupertino has a positive impact on the community. Tammineni is glad that the city is revitalizing itself, whereas Kan can see the growth negatively impacting students who wish to live within MVHS’ area boundaries. Grace and Ben have been worried about this shift for a few years now. “I think you’ll see two polarized types of opinions,” Grace said. “Residents who have been here for many years, like us, where we’re used to Cupertino the way it was. We are happier to have fewer people in the city. We’re very comfortable the way things were. And then there is a large group of people that want to access Cupertino, they work here they want to be able to live PHOTO | OM KHANDEKAR

near work. [The] schools are great schools; they want their kids to be able to attend these schools.” As of now, FUHSD are addressing the educational capacities of its schools on a yearly basis by hiring outside consultants and hiring teachers accordingly. However, people still have the same fear that Cupertino will be difficult to become a resident still remains. “Right now home prices and rents, they keep going up — it’s like trying to catch a train that’s just pulling away,” Ben said. “That’s probably another reason we don’t support super fast rates or growth if it leads to a higher cost of living and a higher cost to buy a home or to rent here. That’s less chance that our kids will be able to have the freedom to come back here into their home if they were to come back to this area.” e

NEWS

we’ve had that for years,” Belshe said. “For us we’re pretty steady in that way.” Soaring housing prices, also mentioned in the report submitted to FUHSD by Enrollment Projection Consultants, is pressing concern alongside population concerns in Cupertino. Senior Hannah Kan can still recall the allure of MVHS and the hidden costs of living in the area. Kan previously lived in Virginia, and left after her sophomore year to come to California. She was drawn to MVHS because of its focus on academics, but at the same time, she remembers how her family had to get used to the high housing prices. “If prices keep increasing and they’re building more houses, I don’t know how many students would be able to come here,” Kan said. “Like families would have

SCAN FOR MORE COVERAGE

NEWS | OCTOBER 2017

AWAY AT TRUST

Data breaches continue to raise concerns about security

BY CLAIRE CHANG AND ZAZU LIPPERT

ocial security numbers, birthdays and addresses. These were some of the pieces of information that were compromised on July 29 in the Equifax security breach. The credit reporting agency observed suspicious activity on its servers that later lead to a massive security breach, compromising vital pieces of information which are used for everything from obtaining a mortgage to securing a job. On September 7, Equifax announced that over 185,000 records in the U.S. were accessed in the hack, affecting 143 million people. In recent weeks, Equifax has undergone many leadership changes, and the company has come under fire due to the breach. Two executives retired on September 12, the same day that the company’s CEO, Richard Smith, apologized for the breach in a USA Today article. The turmoil continued when Equifax tweeted out the link to a fake website, securityequifax2017.com, to its followers three times, believing it to be its own. This was announced on September 21, and Smith stepped down five days later. In the current information age, countless amounts of data are stored on servers trusted by the government. To some extent, American citizens are required to give information to them. As senior Shaurya Srivastava, a hopeful computer science major, points 0t

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out, students trust the CollegeBoard and CommonApp with sensitive information, such as addresses and Social Security numbers. Consumers trust Apple, which recently released a new iPhone with facial recognition software. According to Apple, those data are stored in a remote server. The heightened focus on the storage of data and personal records prompted AP computer science principles teacher Debbie Frazier to sign up for extra monitoring for her home business — just months before the Equifax hack. “The amount of extra information that I had to provide to them made me really nervous,” Frazier said. “Who’s to say they’re going to keep it secure — this extra stuff about me? And now, look what happened. I thought it was kind of silly, putting all these eggs in one basket. Makes you want to invest in the hollow mattress and shove all your money in there, right?” According to Frazier, breaches like this aren’t as far outside the realm of possibility as the general public believes: a network is only as secure as its weakest link. “We are humans and we make lots of mistakes,” Frazier said. “I think a lot of hackers are just looking for those mistakes.” Srivastava agrees, saying that one small gap in the armor of cybersecurity can lead to the downfall of an entire system. “If the hacker can manipulate their code to go through that small opening in the code, then they’re able to get all the information,” Srivastava said. “Or a small

virus can also do the same thing, breaking the system and then creating more openings for a hacker to get more information.” Situations like these are becoming increasingly common as people are spending more time with technology. According to CNN, Americans spend an average of 10 hours a day on their screens. As the amount of technology that is used every day increases, so does the amount of information being digitally stored. Information that was collected in the past in the form of paperwork is now collected on data servers, which are not as visible, according to senior Anisha Kollareddy, who also plans on pursuing CS. “I think a lot of our lives are online and we don’t even realize how much companies are tracking,” Kollareddy said. “Google knows everything about you. It’s kind of creepy, but honestly I’m so used to it that I don’t mind. I don’t think I’ll mind until something bad happens.” For example, iPhone’s Location Service leads to constant tracking of the position of that phone, which is usually synonymous with the location of its owner. Cars like Tesla’s newest model, the Model S, sense the world around them in order to perform functions. This use of technology is a seemingly confidential way to communicate or store information. But according to Frazier, even though a large amount of data are stored digitally, this hasn’t necessarily been the only reason for negligence regarding privacy. In many

ways, it’s just an outsourced past, like a three to four letters by her estimate in the past year saying that their credit has been physical card or paper. “When I first started working at 13, compromised, which was the reason they I carried my social security card around signed up for more Equifax security in the with me in my wallet, so it was with me first place. However, Frazier believes that breaches all the time and anyone could see it if I opened my wallet to show [my] ID or like these can be preventable if people stay something,” Frazier said. “Then when I aware of their surroundings and keep an went to university, your social security card eye out for potential insecurities around was your ID number, so you’d use that at them. One of the most common causes the cafeteria to get your food. So you’d of credit card fraud are readers inside tell someone the number or you’d type it of gas station machines that copy down in the machine, so it was readily used all card numbers. Frazier always checks the exterior before inserting her card, looking the time.” The difference now may be, as Frazier for any physical differences that she’s not says, the fact that people are constantly accustomed to seeing. “I think [hacks] can be prevented, but I looking for an opportunity to get inside the system. While Kollareddy is wary of think consumers need to take ownership of the problem the amount of too,” Frazier data that are said. “With being held in IT WAS KIND OF SILLY, PUTTING the right systems, in her ALL THESE EGGS IN ONE training ... opinion, there’s you can not much that BASKET. MAKES YOU WANT prevent can be done TO INVEST IN A HOLLOW most of to prevent the things MATTRESS AND SHOVE ALL that have the use of the YOUR MONEY IN THERE, RIGHT? happened.“ data. But, she APCSP TEACHER DEBBIE FRAZIER On the says, people other hand, can start being Kollareddy more safe with their use of the internet by simply being believes the use of data is a fine line, aware of the public nature of their actions. because while there are drawbacks in the “I think the main thing is being aware form of possible breaches, technology does that it’s online, because if you do have have its benefits. In Kollareddy’s eyes, the something to hide or if someone might be definition of privacy may have changed out against you, then you would want to given how much people share through be safer,” Kollareddy said. “It’s important social media and the sensitive information to know that, to be aware of what they given to databases, but maybe there’s a can take from you, and make that choice reason for it. “There’s more information [made yourself.” Frazier now wonders what this hack public] about you,” Kollareddy said. “But could do to trust in cybersecurity. Equifax it also lets you connect with people more, is trusted by the government with credit, and now the data agency has experienced a major hack affecting millions. She’s not alone. The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the hack, an investigation that was followed by several congressional committee hearings and that could lead to data privacy legislation from Congress. “They’re one of the three agencies [along with Experian and TransUnion] trusted with credit, and adults use credit for everything, so it’s going to prevent someone from buying a car, renting an apartment, even getting a job sometimes,” Frazier said. “If we can’t trust one of the three agencies, who can we trust?” Frazier herself has experienced other issues with her personal accounts being hacked. She and her husband have received

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and I think that’s important, to me at least. You have much more access to information and other people and stronger relationships because of that.” The question of how to protect data is still up for debate. But awareness might be the first step. e

3 TIPS FOR INCREASING PASSWORD SECURITY* 1. No repeats: use every password once 2. Avoid words that can be found in the dictionary 3. Opt for a nonsensical phrase *From PCMag’s advice on making good passwords

ILLUSTRATION | SARA ENTEZAR

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and this was a new challenge that presented itself and I thought I should try it. Q: What are some challenges that come with being a department lead? SD: Teachers, just like students, have a lot to do, and the administrators, like the students, have a lot to do, especially at a school like [MVHS] where there’s just a lot going on. Communication is very important, but it’s also difficult to make sure that everyone is communicating well, that [what the] administration [thinks] is important, that those [things] are communicated to math teachers, [as well as] what math teachers think are important and struggles and responsibilities that they have, to make sure that [they are] communicated effectively to the administration. It’s not always easy to do that.

PHOTO | OM KHANDEKAR

Q & A

David Clarke and Scott DeRuiter reflect on their roles as department leads BY ANDREA PERNG AND ANKIT GUPTA 0t

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Teachers Scott DeRuiter (left) and David Clarke (right) are department leads.

EACHERS ARE TASKED WITH MANAGING CURRICULUM, classrooms and students. While this is a large responsibility in itself, some teachers also fill a position which requires the overseeing of their respective department. The position, known as department lead, is a unique role that only one teacher in each department can assume. English teacher David Clarke and math and computer science teacher Scott DeRuiter reflect on their experiences as department lead. Q: What is your department lead?

role

SCOTT DERUITER: My role as department lead ... is to serve as a liaison between the math department and the administrative team. I’m responsible for getting information out to my 16 math colleagues, gathering data about a variety of things and then also making sure that the lines of communication are open between the math department and the administrative team. Q: What is the selection process to be department lead like? DAVID CLARKE: There’s a process for [becoming department lead], which is basically every three years, the position opens up and anyone who is full-time in the department and wishes to apply for the position is interviewed

Q: What is the biggest difference between and also maintaining the position of the department lead?

DC: There’s really two differences. The first difference is you have much greater visibility into the processes of and then the principal makes a your organization itself because choice. I have done it twice and you’re involved in meetings and both times there [was] only one conversations that a teacher person who has volunteered to who is not a department [lead] do it, and that’s me. The choice is generally not involved in, is essentially between me and no so you have more knowledge, one else. which is interesting to me. The other big difference is you have Q: Why did you want to become more responsibility. Part of the a department lead? responsibility of being facilitator SD: I like to think of myself as is being aware of not only what’s someone who is open to new going on in your own classroom challenges. So in my life as a with your own kids, but having teacher, I learned programming at least some knowledge — [and] I became a not a great deal — but some programming knowledge t e a c h e r. SCAN FOR MORE of what is Once I was a going on in COVERAGE programming ever ybody teacher, I e l s e ’ s became an A P classroom with their kids. Having Computer Science teacher, and a sort of a larger vision, I’m I was the webmaster for five required essentially as part of the or six years. I was interested in job to have a 10,000-foot view as technology, and so throughout opposed to being right down in my professional life I’d like to the forest. e take on challenges that are new

NOT ‘IT’

Russian Burger King accuses the movie ‘It’ of being an ad for McDonald’s

, like many other people, scrambled to see the horror film “It” during its (no pun intended) opening weekend. I have always been a big fan of horror movies, usually catching the most popular ones in theaters with my friends, and this was not an exception. Stephen King’s “It” has remained in the news much after its (I swear

this isn’t intentional) release, breaking to know if it hates Pennywise or loves him. records and maintaining the number one I think it’s clear that this may not spot in the box office for two weeks. So it be the most solid connection, but the was pretty normal when, weeks later, I saw Russian Anti-Trust Federation still told The a VICE news story about the film pop up Reporter that they were investigating any on my phone while I was waiting for my potential product placement or advertising ride after school ... or at least that’s what in “It.” Not exactly the Russian scoop I I thought. expected VICE to be reporting on, but I’m Reading the article, I learned that the not complaining — it’s rare that the news Russian branch of Burger King has been can make me laugh nowadays. trying to get “It” banned All joking from theaters in Russia. aside, it’s Why, you might ask? important for us, According to Burger King, as consumers, to the popular movie is a giant be aware of what advertisement for its largest our favorite competitor — McDonald’s. businesses They’re arguing that are doing. We Pennywise, the decide what dancing clown we do with our from “It,” money, and SENIOR NATE STEVENS is virtually c o n s e q u e n t l y, “identical” to what we are Ronald McDonald, citing his supporting. If our favorite restaurant starts “color scheme” and “the [balloons] doing things that we don’t agree with, it’s with which the clown lures children” up to us to tell them that’s not okay. as examples — and yes, before you The Burger King example may be an ask, this is real. I could barely extreme, but it is still representative of believe it myself. modern day competition. We shouldn’t Now personally I wouldn’t have to be debating the relationship think that watching a clown between a killer clown and a fast food who eats children would mascot because Burger King feels it could make someone want help out its competitor. I do understand to give their money to that Hollywood can be flooded with product another clown that’s placement, and that’s not inherently bad, trying to sell you fast food, but when it leads to censoring a movie but hey, to each their own. because it’s featuring a clown, it might be But wait, it gets better. time to take a step back. In response to “It” being so Personally, I loved “It.” The movie left successful, Burger King released me feeling a lot as I walked out of the a promotional ad featuring the horror theater. Excitement. Happiness. Fear. I was movie on October 5. Alongside the taken on a roller coaster of emotions, but Burger King logo, the company that ride definitely did not make a stop at a displayed its interpretation of the film in McDonald’s drive-thru, though I can’t wait several theaters in Russia: “The moral to see what Burger King will say about the is: never trust a clown.” In all fairness, upcoming sequel. e that’s a pretty smart marketing move and sure got a laugh out of moviegoers, but it also makes things really confusing. They even went as far as to call the horror film “Burger King’s longest ad ever” which is pretty ironic considering that just a month earlier they were taking legal action because they thought it was promoting McDonald’s. Kind of like myself, Burger King doesn’t seem

ILLUSTRATION | PRIYA REDDY

TAKING THE LEAD

NEWS | OCTOBER 2017

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TRUMP’S AMBIVALENCE Pence kneels to Trump as Kaepernick kneels for justice BY CAROL LEI

IN TODAY’S SOCIETY, KNEELING CAN MEAN VERY DIFFERENT THINGS. While Colin Kaepernik kneels to protest social injustice and racism, Vice President Mike Pence kneels to President Donald Trump in surrender.

TRUMP CANNOT DECIDE whether he favors kneeling or opposes it. e

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OPINION

PUBLIC

PRIVATE

HOW OUR PERCEIVED PRIVACY ISNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T REALLY PRIVATE

OPINION | OCTOBER 2017

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Private

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Percentage of private vs. public Instagrams accounts *FROM A SURVEY OF 10,000 INSTAGRAM USERS CONDUCTED BY VOICE POLLS

WE TAKE OUR PRIVACY FOR GRANTED. We create private social media accounts and post whatever we want – funny videos, rude comments, revealing photos. We don’t even think twice about who is viewing our content because, well, it’s private. Except that it’s not. And it’s usually the “funny” or “mean” things that get people into trouble because everyone has a different definitions about these things. There was a time when privacy existed, when people could walk around without surveillance cameras eyeing them. They could use their phones without worrying about being recorded and not feel concerned that their laptop was a looming eye watching their every move. A time when 1t

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things were simple. However, as technology of trust someone has in their friends and has evolved to provide instant comfort for their followers. us with up-and-coming inventions such as We kid ourselves into thinking we’ve self-driving cars and artificial intelligence, found loopholes to this, but really, we it has also made it easier for governments haven’t. Common among seniors applying and corporations to get their hands on our to college, names will suddenly start individual data without our consent. It can changing on Facebook to hide activity on all come down to the simultaneous click of social media. Suddenly people believe they two buttons, a screenshot capturing what are able to post and like whatever they one views on their screen. want online. This, however, can quickly As of recent years, privacy is a complex backfire when interviewing for colleges. topic. When we create a private Instagram Even if colleges don’t find your social media to post photos and videos that the public accounts on their own, admissions officers can’t see, it seems fine because only a can simply ask you to login into your select few of our “trustworthy” companions Facebook or Instagram without a second are following that account. What we thought. Changing your last name on don’t always Facebook c o n s i d e r, isn’t going however, is to help that it isn’t you get always the out of this government situation. OPINION OF THE EL ESTOQUE or different T h e EDITORIAL BOARD corporations p ro b l e m , hacking into h o w e v e r, our lives and is not snatching our information. All it takes is caused by a lack of awareness of our one friend to disagree with your moral code limited privacy; it comes from the fact and a simple screenshot and then you’re in that we don’t care – because we don’t deep trouble. understand. When people make private This is when some people try to Instagram accounts, even though they may reassure themselves that everything’s fine; know that their account isn’t completely certain apps will notify them if someone private to anyone who isn’t following them, has screenshotted a picture. But does it they don’t fully register how much trouble matter if you can see when someone has they could get in for the things they post. screenshotted one? Once they have the People post vulgar, inappropriate images as picture, your privacy is gone. More and well as posts indirectly targeted at others more apps are allowing people to take who may or may not follow them without screenshots without informing the other thinking about the ways it could get out. It person as well. Even without such apps that is a biological fact that teenage brains do notify the person if something has been not always have the ability to think about screenshotted, though, one can simply the long-term consequences that result take a picture of the screen using another from their short-term actions. phone and the person won’t know. Privacy, Nowadays, with the skyrocketing of in this case, only goes as far as the amount social media use, more internet users have

STAFF EDITORIAL

become aware that personal privacy has become a rarity. A survey conducted by statista.com in August 2017, revealed that only 17 percent of U.S. internet users think their personal information is very secure online. All the mystery is gone. Every person can be broken down into a series of likes and posts. You can find almost any person online in a matter of seconds. And this is regardless of whether or not they’re your friend on Facebook or following you on Instagram. We put our whole social life on the internet without thinking about the potential viewers. Privacy breaches can even come from within one’s own home. All these artificial intelligence devices can come back and bite us if we’re not careful. There have been speculations about phone cameras, Siri and the Amazon Echo acting as secret recorders through which the government or corporations can listen in on us. With the new iPhone X’s facial-recognition ability, more worries have surfaced about hidden video recordings by the government. For all who have the live feature that records a second before a photo is taken, go to your photo album, click on memories and play the videos your phone generates with clearly more than one second of video. It’s beyond creepy. According to socialmediaweek.org, over eight million people now own Amazon Echo devices. This means that over eight million people have voluntarily brought something into their home that could potentially be recording their daily lives and sending information about them to the cloud. Of course there are

ways to prevent this, because no one would buy one of these devices otherwise, and yet the possibilities of these machines are endless. Invasive is an understatement. It comes from our internet browsers too. Websites will display ads catered to your specific likes and dislikes. Our browsing history is never really gone. It’s always apparent. We can see it when there are recommended videos on Youtube, we see it when there’s a bar on the side of our screens informing us about a sale at our favorite store,and we see it on our Facebook feeds when things we like show up more. It’s hard to uphold privacy when when everything we say and do is monitored. The internet and technology were used in the past simply to make our daily lives easier, but now they have become tools used to exploit the information and privacy of others. It is extremely difficult to get away from technology completely in this modern era, but perhaps it’s time for us to begin minding our online footprint, and subdue the constant urge to pull out our phones on every occasion – after all, you never know who could be watching you. e

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION | NATE STEVENS

Over 8 million people own an Amazon Echo SOURCE | SOCIALMEDIAWEEK.ORG

OPINION | OCTOBER 2017

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N AT U R A L : REPUTATIONS DISASTERS MVHS students reflect on natural disasters and their preparedness for them BY AKSHARA MAJJIGA

DISASTERS EXPERIENCED

53% 13% 8% 2% 17%

EARTHQUAKE

TROPICAL STORM

HURRICANE TORNADO NONE

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

of students feel prepared for a natural disaster

*According to a survey of 427 MVHS students

*According to a survey of 410 MVHS students

GOVERNMENT’S SUPPORT

DONATIONS

of students’ families have an earthquake evacuation plan *According to a survey of 420 MVHS students

HAVE NEVER DONATED 47% 20%

LESS THAN $10

16%

BETWEEN $10 AND $50

of students believe that the government should be doing more for hurricane victims *According to a survey of 410 MVHS students

BETWEEN $50 AND $100

BETWEEN $100 AND $1000

6% 2%

MORE THAN $1000 *According to a survey of 417 MVHS students

EL ESTOQUE | OCTOBER 2017

NO ONE

OTHER

PRESSING ISSUES

BUSINESSES

CITIZENS

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION S

THE GOVERNMENT

DISASTER VICTIMS

ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR HELPING NATURAL DISASTER VICTIMS *According to a survey of 410 MVHS students

of students believe that climate change is the most pressing issue for the world today *According to a survey of 421 MVHS students

ENTANGLED ETHICS

Students and teachers reflect on the ethical questions raised by DNA testing BY ILENA PENG

he steps are easy. You order a kit “The genetic stuff ... could reveal some and spit into a plastic tube. Six to pretty frightening results that would cause eight weeks later, the results come you to think twice about your health and back. They outline your ancestry and you know, your future,” Otto said. sometimes health results as well, which An additional concern that Fallon raises tell you diseases you may be at risk for, is that sending in DNA also means that an among other things. But the simplicity of individual sends in the genetic information the process belies a complicated ethical of others family members. Even though dilemma that stems from DNA testing- she can consent to sending her DNA in based sites like 23andMe. to be tested, the rest of her family can’t. According to AP Biology teacher And they may not want parts of their DNA Renee Fallon, DNA testing can be a sequence stored online, or know what her slippery slope, although DNA results could suggest the concept behind WHEN YOU STUDY for them. companies like 23andMe YOUR OWN GENES, “When you study your are well-intentioned. own genes, by definition, These companies are BY DEFINITION, YOU’RE you’re not just studying part of a field called NOT JUST STUDYING your own and that’s the pharmacogenetics, which YOUR OWN AND main thing that holds me is the study of differences back,” Fallon said. “If in DNA that can impact THAT’S THE MAIN I could isolate and just an individual’s response THING THAT HOLDS study mine, I’d probably to various drugs. Fallon ME BACK. be willing to do that.” explains that if a drug For senior Sydney works on 20 percent of BIOLOGY TEACHER Olay, who took 23andMe’s the population, the goal of RENEE FALLON ancestry test a month pharmacogenetics would ago, the concern that be to find out which 20 percent it works on, Fallon mentioned was eased by the fact and why it works on those people. that her parents supported the decision to “Companies like 23andMe hold the take the test. Her father was the one who promise of finding that out, so you could purchased it after it came up jokingly over walk into a doctor’s office, get a genetic dinner. Olay’s mom plans to take the test in test for your specific whatever and get a the future as well. drug that we know works on you, rather Otto’s apprehension regarding the health than subjecting you to really nasty drugs testing was was alleviated when he received that aren’t going to do you personally any his results and found them unalarming. As good,” Fallon said. for his ancestry results, he said he’s always History teacher Eric Otto used 23andMe, been fascinated by family but for him, it didn’t pose as much of an history, and just seeing the ethical dilemma. Rather, his hesitations percentages themselves was a stemmed from deciding whether to use huge revelation to him. the health and ancestry package or just the “Usually, you take a look ancestry package. at like your grandparents 23andMe’s website says the health and say ‘ok well, you know, I have a testing is FDA approved to test whether a grandparent of Japanese ancestry, person is a carrier for certain conditions, I have a grandparent of German or how genetics may put an individual at ancestry, a grandparent of risk for certain diseases. The knowledge you know Mexican-indian of being at risk for a serious disease could ancestry,’ and then of course have a large impact on an individual’s that all translated to my lifestyle, but in the end Otto chose to pay parents,” Otto said. “And for the combined health and ancestry you would think based package anyways. off of that, you could

somehow in your mind say that ‘okay maybe I’m a quarter this or a quarter that or whatever but I guess it doesn’t work that way when you get a report like this and it’s like ‘oh there are actual percentages out there.’” Olay also found herself surprised by her results — she’d expected to be roughly half Chinese and half Filipino, since her mom was Chinese and her dad was Filipino, however that was not the case. “I was shocked, I was like ‘what?’” Olay said. “It was just so surprising to me, because I was like ‘How can I be 95 percent Southeast Asian when my mom’s full Chinese?’ so that’s what really shocked me.” For Olay and Otto, the knowledge of their own ancestry that they received outweighed their concerns, although they do recognize why DNA testing may bring up ethical questions. “You know there are other, I think, more important things out there that could get stolen and used against you, like your social security number or your identity for that matter,” Otto said. “And so, you know, just a little bit of spit for me wasn’t really that big of a deal.” e

SCAN FOR MORE COVERAGE

OPINION | OCTOBER 2017

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no imPACT Students express their opinions on adding a potential preliminary ACT BY ZARA IQBAL AND NATE STEVENS

t’s fifth period, and the daily announcements play over the NAME RHEA KARANDIKAR loudspeakers across campus. Among the daily sports games and TEST SUBJECT PACT A club meetings, a different type of NO. reminder is read off the bulletin. 10/14/2017 DATE “The PSAT test is scheduled PERIOD for Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. PSAT testing is for juniors and sophomores only. Registration dates are as Karandikar chose to take the SAT “I think that they should start having follows: juniors — September 5-22; instead of the ACT because of the different ACT prep, but most people just know sophomores — September 18-22.” type of math questions, but feels that if she about the SAT more,” Bagchi said. “It’s The PSAT, or the Preliminary were able to take a hypothetical PACT, it word-of-mouth, like, ‘Oh, I got this on Scholastic Aptitude Test, has become would have had no impact on her other the SAT,’ but you don’t hear, ‘I got this a popular test for many sophomores choices regarding standardized testing. on the ACT,’ [as much].” and juniors to take, but the purpose “Since I didn’t take the PSAT [yet], I don’t Even though she took the SAT in of taking it has become less clear. think I would’ve been motivated enough to seventh grade, Bagchi will take the According to College Board’s website, take [a hypothetical] PACT anyway, so I PSAT on October 14 to see how she the PSAT is supposed to test “the probably wouldn’t have,” Karandikar said. scores and where she stands before skills and knowledge at the heart of “I probably would’ve done the exact same going on to take the ACT. education.” thing and chosen the SAT anyway.” According to a survey of 432 Whether or not the standardized Like Karandikar, senior Edwin Peng also MVHS students, 45 percent took only test is actually able to serve its feels that a potential PACT would not have the SAT while eight percent took only initial purpose is helped him in any the ACT. These numbers suggest that debatable, but way. Peng took the students’ default choice is the SAT. what is clear is ACT in October of Of 326 students, 71 percent felt that taking the last year in lieu of that having a hypothetical PACT would PSAT has become the SAT, although be helpful. The PSAT has become a norm despite if he did not have significantly less important to students a student wants a specific reason compared to the SAT or the ACT, to take the SAT or for choosing to which colleges put emphasis on during the ACT. However, take both the ACT the college application process. So if a students don’t and the PSAT, hypothetical PACT were to be added have the choice as he considers as additional ACT preparation, many JUNIOR RHEA between a PSAT s t a n d a r d i z e d would feel as though they would do KARANDIKARf and a hypothetical testing to be just better on the test, even though the preliminary ACT a requirement to ACT is less popular than the SAT. like they do with the SAT and the ACT. complete before applying to college. Regardless of whether someone Junior Rhea Karandikar sees the Peng feels that adding a hypothetical is better at the ACT or the SAT, PSAT as more than just a preliminary PACT wouldn’t do much since he feels that preparation is important. It doesn’t test, considering the 2,500 dollar students don’t take the PSAT seriously as always come from College Board or merit scholarship that could be it is. He only took the PSAT because many a test-prep center, but Karandikar possibly earned from taking it as a other people in his grade did. He did not believes being well experienced and major factor. Karandikar, unlike most see many people study for or try on the ready for any test is half the battle. juniors, did not take the PSAT her PSAT, so adding another similar test would She feels that these standardized tests sophomore year, but instead chose be pointless in his opinion. are less about the “heart of education” to wait until after she took the SAT in On the other hand, sophomore Aadria and more about being prepared for a August 2017. Bagchi plans to take the ACT because she specific kind of test. “I knew junior year I’d have finished prefers the type of questions on the ACT “I think that standardized testing my actual SATs already, so I could use over the SAT. Though she is taking the ACT, is not really a measure of your that knowledge to [take the PSAT],” she still thinks that both tests are important knowledge or ability; I think it’s just Karandikar said. “And I wanted to take for college and believes that there should a measure of how well you’re able to it when I was actually ready for it and be equal emphasis put on the ACT as take the tests,” Karandikar said. “I I could score well because I wanted to well. Unlike Karandikar and Peng, Bagchi think if you prepare with that in mind get the national merit scholarship.” supports the idea of a potential PACT. you’ll be fine.” e

I WANTED TO TAKE [THE PSAT] WHEN I WAS ACTUALLY READY FOR IT AND I COULD SCORE WELL.

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EL ESTOQUE | OCTOBER 2017

PHOTO | HELEN CHAO

he high school experience is a whirlwind for some and a slow trudge for others. In lapses of nostalgia, seniors recollect their freshmen year as a blur, a culmination of fluctuating grades, a reminiscence of teachers’ and friends’ faces. Occasionally, there are the miscellaneous, but vivid tidbits: one’s disdain for the whole-wheat pizza crust or the mortifying slip-and-fall near the stairs of the B Building. Sometimes we remember the staff behind-the-scenes of MVHS, those who are, rather ironically, situated in the front office. From the frontline, right wing and left wing, the office staff takes on various responsibilities to ensure a smooth school day for both students and MV staff. Some wake up early in the morning and turn to surplus amounts of caffeine to jump start the day, others dedicate their time to creating the MVHS calendar and others are in charge of club finances. Whatever the task, they keep MVHS afloat. e

Halloween decorations on her desk, AP Secretary Deb Mandac looks through her papers. She came to MVHS 15 years ago.

Financial specialist Calvin Wong works at his desk, located in the right wing of the office. Wong manages student finances and also coaches the MVHS boys varsity basketball team. He was recently promoted to head coach of the team this year.

PHOTO | HELEN CHAO

Lisa Mueller works as a secretary for Assistant Principal Michael Martinez. This is her tenth year at MVHS. She took the job after being encouraged by her husband to do so and hasn’t regretted it since. “[Students will] come back after they’ve been gone for 10 years,” Mueller said. “[To] me that says something about the school because students want to come back and visit.”

SCAN TO READ THEIR STORIES

Joe Roan sees every student who walks into the office, ready to hand them a tardy slip in the morning or a sign them out later out in the day. He‘s been working at MVHS for three years. PHOTO | HELEN CHAO

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EL ESTOQUE | OCTOBER 2017

FEATURES FEATURES | OCTOBER 2017

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BY ANANYA BHAT, VIVIAN CHIANG, AND SWARA TEWARI

ophomore Yoanna Lee stood in front of her father’s grave in the cemetery, clutching a red rose. She looked around curiously at all her sobbing relatives and family friends, her four-year-old brain unable to comprehend why they were overcome with grief. People knelt over the grave and placed bright flowers around it, adding color to the muted cemetery. Lee’s mother gestured her forward, her own face streaked with tears. Lee approached her father’s grave and carefully placed a red rose on top of the grave. She remembered how much her father loved red roses and she studied the grave with her father’s name carved into it. “Daddy, when are you going to come back?” Although Lee didn’t understand it as a child, her father had passed away after developing skin cancer. Despite the doctors’ best efforts, they were unable to prevent the tumor in his lungs from spreading. They couldn’t risk attempting to surgically remove it. They could only attempt to prolong his life for as long as possible. “When I was four, I didn’t understand the concept of death,” Lee said. “I knew that things [went] away but I didn’t really understand what that meant. I thought that it was just a long sleep; that was my understanding of death for the longest time.” Her father’s passing nearly destroyed Lee’s family, making their lives seem hopeless. It took years for Lee’s family to pick up the pieces and continue on. The experience taught her a crucial lesson: death is inevitable and moving past death and continuing on with life is essential. Moving on from death is a heart-wrenching process. Over the centuries, death has become shrouded in myths, superstitions and cryptic beliefs — all created to

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EL ESTOQUE |OCTOBER 2017

ILLUSTRATION | ANANYA BHAT

help people cope with a loved one’s passing. one’s cremation. display so that everybody could see what John Lampe does exactly this everyday “Every religion, every culture, every [your] mom liked,’” Rubino said. “So, after — help people cope with death. As an nationality has different ways of doing the funeral, [the funeral guests] went out to embalmer at Alameda Family Funeral and things,” Rubino said. “[Some] Muslims for the cemetery and they handed out bells to Cre m a t i o n , example, they everybody. As the casket was being lowered a mortuary want to [bury into the grave, everybody rung a bell.” in Saratoga, their loved ones] While every person may have their own Lampe has within 24 hours way of approaching the death of a loved been dealing [after passing one, Lee feels the most important part is with grieving away].” learning to move past death and towards f a m i l i e s R u b i n o a brighter future, rather than dwell on on a daily explains that it’s heartache and loss. For Lee, her father’s basis since not easy for the death devastated her family. Lee was too he started funeral home to young to fully comprehend the implications working there a c c o m m o d a t e of her father’s passing, but she explains after high all the requests that her siblings were far more affected. school. An from customers. Her brother was 18 and her sister was 20, embalmer is The funeral home so they were able to fully understand what the employee must acquire a was happening, unlike Lee. who prepares permit from the Lee’s father’s passing turned her family’s bodies for city in order to entire world upside down and she explains the funeral legally bury or that picking up the pieces and continuing s e r v i c e . cremate a body, on with life is what saved her family from L a m p e ’ s but that process collapsing. This is the lesson that the entire work has can take two or experience and her mother’s struggle has SOPHOMORE YOANNA LEE exposed him three days. Still, taught her: to keep your head up and look to countless Rubino and the forward to a brighter future. religious and rest of the staff “A lot of people start giving up on life — cultural rituals and beliefs around death. try their best to meet all their customers’ they’re just done with everything,” Lee said. “We get people of every culture,” needs because they want to make them “What I learned from the whole experience Lampe said. “I’ve been doing this for so as comfortable as possible in the midst of was no matter how hard it is, you will always long, we see everything. That’s one of grief. come out of that situation, no matter how the things I like about this business, [that] Practically all religions that Rubino long it takes. It could be a week, it could you’re dealing with different kinds of has encountered be 10 years, but it will people of different religions. I’ve always believe in some get better. That’s what been interested in different religions and variation of I learned. That things how they handle death. So to get into the an afterlife. aren’t that bad and helping them out, it really is interesting.” According to you should never give Being Christian, Lee explains that her Rubino, many up. You should always religion served as an outlet for her anger cultural funeral have hope, even if you surrounding her father’s death, as it gave rituals prepare the don’t see it.” her something to blame for his passing. loved one for the Rubino explains Eventually, Lee’s religion helped her make afterlife, ensuring that he likes to take peace with her father’s death. that they are wella positive viewpoint “I was very angry with God for a very equipped for the on death, because long time,” Lee said. “My dad was a next world. after years of working pastor, so I thought, ‘He was a pastor, he “ [ S o m e ] in this field and was working so hard for you, how could Filipinos will go consoling grieving you take him away?’ I was really angry. I to the cemetery family members, FUNERAL DIRECTOR didn’t really know how to cope. But, when and each guy he has realized that MICHAEL RUBINO I got older, I decided that it was because has a white shirt death is inevitable, so my dad’s work was done and that he’s in on,” Rubino said. putting a positive spin a better place so it doesn’t matter. There “Before the casket on it makes the entire was a peace that came with that. It resolved is lowered, each guy takes his shirt off and experience far more bearable. some of the tension in my family.” drapes it on the casket so the person is “I believe it’s more of a celebration of Michael Rubino is a funeral counselor covered in clothing in the afterlife.” someone’s life versus the death,” Rubino at Alameda Family Funeral and Cremation. Rubino also describes that a meaningful said. “Death happens, but you want to His job consists of helping grieving families funeral should incorporate far more than celebrate the life they lived.” e cope with death and arrange funerals. He just culture and religious beliefs — it should explains that every culture has a unique capture the essence of who a person was SCAN FOR MORE approach to death, from the arrangement and communicate their life story. of tables at the funeral ceremony to the “One lady [used to] collect bells and COVERAGE praying rituals performed prior to a loved so I said, ‘Bring the bells and put them on

NO MATTER HOW HARD IT IS, YOU WILL ALWAYS COME OUT OF THAT SITUATION ... IT COULD BE A WEEK, IT COULD BE 10 YEARS, BUT IT WILL GET BETTER ... YOU SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE HOPE, EVEN IF YOU DON’T SEE IT.

I BELIEVE IT’S MORE OF A CELEBRATION OF SOMEONE’S LIFE VERSUS THE DEATH. DEATH HAPPENS, BUT YOU WANT TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE THEY LIVED.

FEATURES | OCTOBER 2017

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EASURE UP How different values affect self assessment BY CHARLOTTE CHUI AND EMILY XIA

PASSION GRADES RESPECT LOYALTY KIND COURAGE

PHOTO | EMILY XIA

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EL ESTOQUE | OCTOBER 2017

your self or being kind to other people — just all these happy things,” Yu said. For senior Kendall Yu, feeling content “People have told me I’ve helped them out. is what defines her level of fulfillment in I’ve helped them through hard times or I’ve life. Her overarching idea of contentment helped them changed their outlook on life is determined by several factors in her life, for other people.” Brostowicz also strives to spread ranging from her relationships with other these values into her role as a teacher, people to maintaining her personal values. A range of values play an integral part demonstrating this behavior for her in Yu’s character, serving as factors that students. Brostowicz implements this in she uses to assess how content she is with varying aspects, whether it be in her work herself. One value she stresses is remaining or personal life. “As a mother, I certainly try to teach open minded to others and not being quick to judge. This was especially prominent in those values with my own children and a situation that Yu encountered, when she there are times when perhaps you get cut someone out of her life after hearing frustrated or upset,” Brostowicz said. “You have to figure out how to work around this friend had spread rumors about her. “I just automatically [categorized] them those frustrations, to still think of others as a bad person,” Yu said. “That made me and carry on what it is that is important to realize I can’t just assume people are good you. We’re always going to face frustration or bad. What they do determines how I see — we’re always going to face challenges — but you still need to remember what your them and how they are.” Similar to Yu’s perspective, social studies values are and to act accordingly.” For Yu, a part of this is gauging the teacher Robyn Brostowicz also measures quality of her relationships with other fulfillment in life based on her values people and believes and character in daily that those standards interactions. However, she EVERYDAY, I POST must be achieved in also notes that in the midst ABOUT TAKING CARE order for her to feel of difficult situations, it can fulfilled in life. sometimes be challenging OF YOUR SELF OR “I’m not a very BEING KIND TO OTHER to carry out these values. materialistic person Even so, Brostowicz PEOPLE — JUST ALL so it sounds really emphasizes the cheesy, but I think the importance of stopping to THESE HAPPY THINGS. relationships and the assess one’s character. SENIOR KENDALL YU connections I make “I think that it takes a with people are the lot of effort sometimes, and we have to remind ourselves continually most important in order for me to be to be a good, kind, compassionate person,” content with my life,” Yu said. “I assess Brostowicz said. “We sometimes get very my relationships based on how the other bogged down with our work and what our person makes me feel.” Sophomore Rachel Millar’s opinion focus is that we forget to think globally and to think in the bigger picture in terms of mirrors that of Yu’s, believing that the strength of her friendships determine other people.” She upholds these ideals by spreading her contentment. A situation when happiness and managing an Instagram Millar grew distant from a friend due account, which she’s had for five years, to miscommunication and disloyalty reinforced the importance of values like solely dedicated to uplifting others. “Everyday, I post about taking care of loyalty in a relationship.

ontentment.

WEALTH FASHION HAPPINESS WEIGHT GPA KINDNESS

PHOTO | EMILY XIA

“I think when you feel like you have people,” Chen said. “But now I realized a strong community of people that you that swimming isn’t all about that. You trust, you know you’re well respected and express your passion through a sport, so you’re able to still function,” Millar said. you shouldn’t measure based on just a “Sometimes you get friends that hold you number, like a time.” back even though they’re good friends in Yu comments that though many are like other ways. I think that is definitely part Chen and measure themselves by numbers, of success — when you have a strong this mindset often has harmful effects. community built between you.” “A lot of people measure themselves For Millar, using her friendships as a by numbers, like grades and weight and it measure of fulfillment in life is a reflection plays a role in a lot of their lives,” Yu said. of her own character that extends past just “That’s really detrimental to their wellbeing the contentment it brings her. and their mental health. People tying “When you look at who your closest themselves to numbers and determining friends, who tend to stick their self-worth by you through anything, I THINK THAT IT TAKES A by exclusively that’s how you gauge those things LOT OF EFFORT SOMETIMES, what kind of person — it doesn’t you are,” Millar said. “A AND WE HAVE TO REMIND define them as lot of your qualities are OURSELVES CONTINUALLY a person at all. reflected through your That one little TO BE A GOOD, KIND, friends. There has to be rating can really some similarity there or COMPASSIONIATE PERSON. get them down a personality trait that so measuring SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER gets along. If you find themselves by yourself surrounded with ROBYN BROSTOWICZ one little thing really good people that is really bad for you enjoy being around mental health.” and they’re well respected, they try their Though Chen realizes that measuring hardest, then that reflects you as a person.” herself and her self-worth solely based on Unlike Millar, sophomore Kimberly these numbers isn’t ideal, she still struggles Chen looks to her athleticism and talent to fall out of the habit. in swimming instead. For her, success “I still find it hard sometimes to not and fulfillment in life were two closely gauge myself based on how fast I am intertwined items, with her definition of at swimming,” Chen said. “I used to success mainly based on her performance categorize it for each thing I did — how well in swimming. did I do it in comparison to other people “I used to gauge my success based on — like school, sports, extracurriculars, how well I performed at meets and if I beat sometimes even looks.” the people I was racing with — if I beat the Yu herself had the same difficulty times and the goals I set for myself,” Chen as Chen, measuring herself in a similar said. “I place my self-worth based on how manner. Eventually, she was able to shift well I did and my self-esteem dropped a her mindset and the method she uses to lot if I didn’t do well. The worse I did, the measure herself. worse I thought about myself and it was like “I also used to measure myself by what a vicious cycle.” grade I got but then I realized that was This drop in self-esteem was particularly really hurting my mental health,” Yu said. noticeable for Chen after sustaining a “Instead of measuring myself by a grade, shoulder injury. The combination of her I measured myself by if I tried my best, injury and an increasingly packed schedule then I was content with myself and I felt after entering high school resulted in much successful. Success is when I’m feeling less practice than she had before. content, when I’m feeling happy with what Once she did return to swimming after I’m doing and how I’m feeling.” e recovering from her injury, the time away from practice had taken a toll on her athleticism and her times during races. Since she measured her success based on her athletic ability and performance, having that taken away resulted in a revelation and shift in opinion for her. “In the beginning, I felt really depressed because I measured myself on how fast I was and I compared myself with other

FEATURES | OCTOBER 2017

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ALL STITCHED UP Students share the creative process and motivation behind making their own costumes BY JENNIE CHEN AND RIA KOLLI

enior Kavin Sivakumar’s “Maybe I get new inspiration and I restart. brainstorming process for his first It’s a time-consuming process.” handmade Halloween costume Rao dressed up as a woodland elf her began in June 2017, when Sivakumar sophomore year, making use of the latex was in India. After seeing images of Hindu elf ears that she purchased. She added gods everywhere, Sivakumar decided that foundation and different colors to the elf he wanted to dress up magnificently as the ears in order for them to blend into her Hindu god Krishna. skin, which was something she learned However, after encountering from the special effects makeup tutorials complications with purchasing crowns she watches. for his Krishna costume and his father Like Rao, sophomore Rachel Millar suggesting not to do a religious costume, also creates her own costumes because Sivakumar went to Party City instead to she feels limited by the selection of buy makeup for an alien costume. costumes available for purchase. Sivakumar tested out the silver, “My ideas are usually kind of far out black and white makeup over Labor Day there,” Millar said. “Or it’s something weekend, but specific that I wouldn’t negative where to find.” SCAN FOR MORE know feedback Millar’s previous from his little costumes have included COVERAGE sister led him a steampunk and a to scratch 1920s era flapper his second idea. As of now, Sivakumar girl, while Rao’s previous costumes have is fixated on a costume that he hopes to included Frankenstein’s bride and the reveal on Halloween. aforementioned woodland elf. While the “I’m inspired by a lot of music icons, final products were satisfying, both faced TV shows and movies, and I’ve [been challenges along the way. inspired by] a certain movie,” Sivakumar “The hardest part is putting your own said. “But I’m remaining secretive because twist on the costume,” Rao said. “If you’re I want everyone to be [surprised] by my making a costume, you wouldn’t want to stunning look on October 31.” copy someone else’s design — you would For other students, like junior Stella want to find your own plan.” Rao, costume planning for this year’s Besides originality, Millar emphasizes Halloween started the minute last year’s another challenge with making costumes Halloween was over. is making them look professional. “I’m very enthusiastic about Halloween, “Sometimes they don’t end up looking [and] I would make [different how you want them to look, which is a pieces] as time goes,” Rao said. little frustrating,” Millar said. “You have to figure out if you just want to go with that or if you are going to have to buy it.” Millar and Rao both advise aspiring costume makers to start small, first by thinking of ideas, then by looking towards DIY tutorials to help with the process. Art teacher Jodi Johnson also advises students to bargain hunt and consider altering pieces that they buy. She recalls buying a pair of slacks and

EL ESTOQUE | OCTOBER 2017

altering them to look like bell bottom pants for her Elvis costume. “I think it’s just so much more fun and it’s really rewarding,” Johnson said. “You go to the Halloween store and they make tons of money selling the same exact cookie-cutter costumes, and I really appreciate it when students have original thought, original execution and try to reach beyond what you can just buy in a store. It’s much more fun.” While Millar, Rao and Sivakumar all enjoy celebrating Halloween, they believe that most Cupertino students don’t engage in festivities as much. Millar expressed that although her peers may not appreciate Halloween as much as she does, they generally have positive reactions to her own enthusiasm and the effort she puts into making her costume. “[People’s reactions have] been pretty good,” Millar said. “I’ve always been a big holiday enthusiast and went all out, so there have been pretty big reactions.” Reactions to Rao’s costumes have included assumptions that they were store bought, which made her feel good that her stitching for her costume was to that level. Others questioned what her costume even was, critiques which Rao takes into account to strive to be more specific with her costume details. “I think that a lot of people don’t realize that fashion isn’t just pressing your opinion on someone else. It’s expressing yourself and letting people take in what they want to take in,” Rao said. “If someone doesn’t like [your costume], you have to accept [it] so that way conflicts don’t rise.” According to Sivakumar, a lot of reactions to his costumes question why he is so dedicated to the holiday and why he puts so much effort into dressing up. He doesn’t let the reactions bother him, and continues to celebrate his favorite holiday. “I am never going to stop dressing up. I can be on my deathbed. I could die on Halloween night, but I’m going to die covered in face paint,” Sivakumar said. “You have to have the guts to execute your costume. As long as you put effort and you’re passionate about what you wear, that’s creating a look for Halloween.” e

PHOTO | SHAR RAHMAN

A&E

BEHIND THE SCENES:

HOMECOMING BY KAREN MA AND CHETANA RAMAIYER

PHOTO | SHARJEEL RAHMAN

SKITS AND DANCES

Every weekend over the summer, officers brainstormed ideas, made props and wrote the script for the Homecoming skits. Dance coaches juniors Shirley Qi and Chloe Wong devoted a lot of time planning and choreographing the boys, girls and coed Homecoming skits. “Picking the music for the dances is pretty difficult because it should match the theme but also be pretty upbeat,” Qi said. “We also had to make a choreography that’s easy enough for the entire class to learn but still interesting for the audience to watch, which is [also] pretty difficult.” In addition to creating the dance, the class coaches worked closely with the leadership team and their respective class advisors to get the music and dance moves approved. Once school started, it wasn’t long before coaches began leading at least one weekly practice for each dance during lunch and occasionally after school. “My favorite part is probably the actual teaching process because it’s really exciting can be involved in the voice, the acting or the to see people with almost no dance experience dancing, so people who are good at different [performing] the dances really well,” Qi said. things can join and help.” “Just seeing everyone get the moves together ADMIN’S ROLE is really exciting.” Although ASB, class officers and student Qi believes the process for selecting volunteers worked almost three hours every music posed considerable difficulty, day to ensure a smooth, entertaining and whether it be overlaps between classes or — in the spirit of competition — victorious the extensive amount of time dedicated to Homecoming week, assistant principal and creating and coaching Leadership advisor the dance. However, Mike White works she recognizes the SCAN FOR MORE behind the scenes importance of having beginning the COVERAGE determined, skilled previous school coaches for a class, and year providing she enjoyed being able students with the to coach her peers and looks forward to the necessary tools, organization and support. final product on Homecoming day. “I start working with the students when “[Before], with quad decs, only a few they pick their themes,” White said. “My big people could be a part of making the actual role after that is to organize supplies. I order float,” Qi said. “But for skits, a lot of people everything [from] t-shirts [to] rally supplies; I 2 6

EL ESTOQUE | OCTOBER 2017

PHOTO | SHARJEEL RAHMAN

book the DJ. I make sure they have everything they need to make it happen.” To streamline the Homecoming process, White collaborated directly with Leadership co-advisor Jenna Smith, school financial specialist Calvin Wong and office secretary Debbie Mandac. By communicating with leadership through email and their respective class’ Facebook page and informing the rest of MVHS through Loopmail, White also made sure to keep the rest of MVHS posted about upcoming events, schedule changes and volunteer opportunities. “It’s a lot of fun, but it’s just a lot of details,” White said. “One year, the [dance] photographer didn’t show up [...] People get excited over those things because they don’t realize all this stuff that goes on behind, how long it takes to get things sometimes. It’s just getting on top of timelines and making sure people are doing the jobs they need to do.”

RALLY

“For the props and for rehearsing, class officers need to start in the summer,” Sivakumar said. “As the school year starts, we start tackling the stuff that affects more of the students on campus like dress up days and food drives.” Class officers created posters, came up with cheers and led their class to try and win the rally. ASB plans for the rally as a whole — the songs that each class has to sing, the rally PHOTO | SHARJEEL RAHMAN video playing in the beginning, the rally game that each class will compete in.

Two weeks ago, students received an email regarding Homecoming week, but little did they know that class officers has been preparing for the rally since June. At 10 a.m. on Friday, October 14, the bell rang and most MVHS students walked, or in some cases, ran towards the gym as the rally soon began. The Homecoming rally filled the gym with energy. For months, MVHS ASB planmed for these 30 minutes. ASB Vice President senior Santosh Sivakumar describes how as homecoming drew closer, they began to spend more and more time prepping for the rally.

HOMECOMING GAMES

When MVHS ASB leaders were elected last April, they had a conversation about what they’d like to change. ASB President Julianne Tsai describes how class involvement was one of the major differences. “Some people ... don’t like dancing and they don’t like acting,” Tsai said. “You can get involved in quad decs, but some people don’t like art. We’re just thinking of more ways to involve people.” That’s when they came up with the idea of the homecoming games. Everyday at lunch, there were “battle of the classes” in the rally

court where classes competed. From balloon pop to tug of war, there were a variety of ways for the class to become more involved. “If I wasn’t in leadership and I didn’t know what was going on, I would love to get involved in a quick game,” Tsai said. “There’s less commitment and it’s just a spur of the moment thing and a lot of people like that.”

ASB’S ROLE

After being in the leadership class for most of high school, seniors Tsai, Sivakumar, Sara Nordby, Andrea Chang, Samantha Millar and Stacy Park are now MVHS ASB Officers. Tsai describes how there is a significant difference between ASB and class officers because ASB plans for all four classes, whereas class officers plan for their respective class. “For ASB, [we] have a more bird’s-eye view of homecoming as [a whole],” Tsai said. “It’s more school-wide than [that of] class officers, [who] are in charge of the really huge skit and the dance and getting their class members involved.” ASB has been working on different drafts of homecoming for months. They completed a draft, reviewed it with their advisors and then shared it with the leadership class. The draft consistsed of plans for the spirit days, the newly implemented homecoming games and the rally itself. “For ASB, what we do is we just plan in the big picture,” Tsai said. “[Class officers] work with their [class] and for us we’re just thinking school-wide, what would be the best thing to implement for homecoming.” e

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THE CHOP SHOP 2 8

Senior Noah Soo-Hoo maintains his own barbershop business BY SHARJEEL RAHMAN AND MICHELLE WONG

EL ESTOQUE | OCTOBER 2017

PHOTO | SHARJEEL RAHMAN

or most high schoolers, part-time jobs conjure up images of afterschool tutoring or serving as a waiter at restaurants. But rather than working at an already established business, senior Noah Soo-Hoo decided to create his own: a barber shop in his garage. Soo-Hoo had never thought about barbering until his friend noticed the buzz cut Soo-Hoo’s father had given him the summer before his sophomore year. Although he hadn’t given himself the haircut, his friend wanted Soo-Hoo to cut his hair anyway. In order to prepare, SooHoo watched various Youtube tutorials the day before. He surprised his friend with a fade, even though his friend was only expecting a simple buzz cut. Although his friend had complimented the cut and said he should continue barbering as a business, Soo-Hoo did not take the idea seriously until more people began to ask him for haircuts. Sophomore year, he decided to put more time into the newfound business by buying new materials and setting up a permanent space for Noah’s Chop Shop. “My mom and dad [said], ‘[If] you can clean out half of [the garage], it’s yours to do whatever you want,’” Soo-Hoo said. “So I cleaned it out and turned it into a barber shop.” Soo-Hoo did not initially charge for his haircuts, partly because he did not believe that his skills were good enough, but also because it allowed him to escape the responsibility of making a mistake while he was still learning. Yet with the encouragement of his friends and family, he decided to start charging $5 per cut. As his business got more serious, it became necessary for Soo-Hoo to bump up the price to $8 to buy new materials. His main inspiration for his haircuts came from his friend Cupertino High School junior Skyler Santos, who had begun his own barber business Soo-Hoo’s freshman year. Soo-Hoo was inspired by his friend’s skill and the different designs that he was able to do. “Initially when I saw [his haircuts], I was like, ‘Oh it’s cool,’ but I never really considered [barbering] until [sophomore year],” Soo-Hoo said. “I’m glad I did.” Santos became interested in barbering after his experience at the barbershops where he got his own hair cuts. After watching other barbers cut, Santos found himself wanting to become a part of their culture and the community surrounding it. “It might not seem like it to people, but it’s practically art,” Santos said. “It’s just like drawing, but on somebody’s head.”

Santos, like Soo-Hoo, taught himself by watching Youtube videos. Although he has not personally gone to Soo-Hoo’s barbershop, he thought it was cool that Soo-Hoo had started his own shop within the MVHS community. However, this isn’t the first time Soo-Hoo has created his own start-up business. The earliest he began selling products to others was in sixth grade when he sold duct tape wallets to other students. Since then, he had joined his friends Gordan Iwagaki and Mich Inouye, both currently in college, in selling men’s clothing through their brand, Otoko Clothing. He also began selling paracord bracelets with senior Steven Ataee in 8th grade. While he no longer works in those businesses, he is currently paid by the MVHS football team to take pictures for them. Having experience in various businesses has helped motivate Soo-Hoo to keep up his barbershop business in the midst of balancing school and work. “I had to keep up — keep my grades up like everyone else wants to do,” Soo-Hoo said. “So I really had to prioritize homework over barbering, but then I’d figure out a way to get both on the top of my priority list.” What differentiates his barbering business from previous ones is the fact that he runs the shop on his own. With increased responsibility, Soo-Hoo has learned how to manage his time in order to continue. Although he initially found it hard to do tasks on his own, he realized the need to run errands by himself to keep his business running, and learned to be more

PHOTO | SHARJEEL RAHMAN

Senior Noah Soo-Hoo uses a razor to fade PHOTO | SHARJEEL RAHMAN the back of one of his client’s heads. SooHoo taught himself this skill through watching Youtube videos.

independent as he fulfilled the demands his job created. For the most part, Soo-Hoo has received a lot of positive feedback from his customers, who have complimented SooHoo on his skills and recommended him to their friends. Senior Jason Shen is one of these satisfied customers. “I trusted him so much, I got my haircut the day before senior portraits,” Shen said. Over the years, Soo-Hoo’s barbershop has picked up regulars who come to his shop monthly. Senior Justin Chan supports Soo-Hoo’s business by going to him

regularly, describing the atmosphere as fun and social. “I think [his business is] a good idea because he’s becoming independent, making money,” Chan said. Chan explained that the shop’s low price and easy accessibility keeps him coming back for haircuts every month. According to Soo-Hoo, the majority of customers come to him looking to try something new, so they end up with a different look that is easily noticeable by their peers. Instead of heavily promoting his barber shop, Soo-Hoo promotes it through word of mouth. “I never really promote it because I feel like that’s kind of like, in a way, cheating,” Soo-Hoo said. “I’d rather have it get around by word of mouth … I just like it that way.” Although there are days when he doesn’t feel like cutting hair, he still finds a way to push through. Soo-Hoo reasoned that with a real job in the real world, a worker cannot decide when they can do their job or not. They have the responsibility to do their work when it is asked of them. Yet barbering for Soo-Hoo is not merely a job used to create a profit, but also something that he deeply enjoys. “You know how it’s like you put in a lot of work and you see actual results and they’re super satisfied?” Soo-Hoo said. “It’s that.” e

A&E | OCTOBER 2017

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THIS ACC

“PRIV

Recent trends in creating private Instagram accounts cause cyberbullying issues BY HANNAH LEE, SHAYON MORADI AND CHETANA RAMAIYER

he made the private Instagram want to show on their public account, which account at the end of her typically has more followers. In a survey of sophomore year. At first, her 433 students, 39 percent said that they private account was a place have a private Instagram account. for her to post photos that Student advocate Richard Prinz explains did not make the cut for her that with privacy comes a sense of power public account. But that that could be abused soon changed after she at times. I’M A MEAN PERSON. was targeted on someone “There’s not that [PRIVATES ARE else’s private Instagram. To much that’s private POPULAR BECAUSE] maintain her anonymity, we anymore,” Prinz said. will refer to her as Kelsey. “Sometimes people PEOPLE CAN “I could see the think ‘Oh I’d think THROW SHADE LIKE comments people were it was funny,’ but THAT. PEOPLE DON’T saying [about me], and they’re not really every time a new comment taking the perspective HAVE ANY REGRETS. came up it would just hurt of the other person.” ANONYMOUS SOURCE even more,” Kelsey said. And that’s exactly He made the pr i v a t e what happened to Instagram account during winter break of his Kelsey. She was sitting in her living room junior year. At first, the account was a place in the middle of a heated argument with for him to post funny pictures of his friends. someone over text. As a mutual friend of But that soon changed after he made the the two, Bradley decided to post about the post that targeted Kelsey. To maintain his argument. Kelsey continued to go back and anonymity, we will refer to him as Bradley. forth in the argument, when she was sent “I’m a mean person,” Bradley said. a screenshot of Bradley’s post by another “[Privates are popular because] people friend. For purposes of anonymity, we will can throw shade like that. People don’t not describe the post in detail. have any regrets because usually the other “The picture wasn’t as bad. I know the person doesn’t find out.” effect wouldn’t have been as bad as it was if Many other students like Kelsey and it was just the photo, but the caption was a Bradley have private Instagram accounts. bit extreme. I regret it,” Bradley said. “I lost Commonly known as a “finsta,” a private a good friend in the process.” Instagram is a secondary account where Kelsey had seen these types of posts students can post photos that they do not before, but never thought she would be

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EL ESTOQUE | OCTOBER 2017

the target of one of them. Immediately turning off her phone, she left her house, telling her parents that she was going out for a walk. She found a place to sit down in a secluded area and once again turned on her phone, now flooded with notifications. “It wasn’t a very long post, but I kept looking at it. Maybe I thought something would change about [it],” Kelsey said. According to Instagram’s website, the company wants “to foster a positive, diverse community.” They intend to “remove content that targets private individuals to degrade or shame them.” Kelsey did not feel justified reporting the post, so it stayed up and was only taken down the next day by the owner of the account. By that point, many people had already seen the post. The following week at school, Kelsey had to face many of her peers who commented on the post. “It sticks in your head, and you’re [constantly] reminded of [the post],” Kelsey said. “It makes you feel very anxious and because you’ve seen that [people] can post these things about you, you don’t know what else could happen.” Kelsey described how most of the things that people commented expressed amusement towards Bradley’s post. “I feel like a lot of shade these days goes around disguised [with humor],” Kelsey said. “What about the people involved who are hurt? How can you just laugh at that?” Assistant principal Nico Flores gave a

COUNT IS

VATE“

ILLUSTRATIONS | SARA ENTEZAR AND MICHELLE WONG

presentation titled “The Power of Words” in person vary, private Instagrams allow the beginning of the school year following students to post pictures while avoiding the several incidents related to cyberbullying pressure to display more polished aspects last year. He explained that social media of their lives according to Tsai. gives students the courage to say unkind “I [can] post [a lot of] extra pictures that things about their peers. Prinz, however, won’t spam people’s news feeds,” senior described how the presentation was not Juliane Tsai said. “The freedom of [a effective for some students. private account] is just fun. You also have “It’s funny how you talk about the freedom on your main account, but you ‘Power of Words,’ but just don’t want to be that IT’S FUNNY HOW one person that posts 40 still, things go on,” Prinz said. “Some students YOU TALK ABOUT THE million thousand photos commented [on it] and it a day.” ‘POWER OF WORDS,’ sounded like they didn’t In contrast to main BUT STILL, THINGS GO Instagram tune into that assembly. accounts, They just made fun of it. private Instagrams are ON. SOME STUDENTS It takes time.” typically used to display COMMENTED [ON IT] content to only their Flores acknowledged AND IT SOUNDED LIKE friends, allowing students that the presentation might have not reached THEY DIDN’T TUNE to post more personal everyone present. aspects of their lives. INTO THAT ASSEMBLY. However, he believes Tsai first made THEY JUST MADE FUN her private Instagram that presentations like these are beneficial to account to document her OF IT. IT TAKES TIME. the student body. life in a more lighthearted STUDENT ADVOCATE manner, as opposed to “I think it would be RICHARD PRINZ naive of me to think her public Instagram that one 45-minute which she uses to presentation on cyberbullying would document bigger events such as vacations instantly change the the entire [student and outings with her friends. While many body], so I think it’s our job to continue to students only let their close friends follow have these conversations,” Flores said. “I their private accounts, Tsai is not selective think we’re headed in the right direction to about who is able to follow her account as help support everyone in our community.” she feels that both of her accounts reflect Although the specific uses for each the same personality. In addition, Tsai has

never made posts targeting specific people. “I post funny videos that I have and sometimes I even post covers,” Tsai said. “I also post birthday posts and concert videos and sunsets and photos of what I like, like cream cheese bagels.” While the uses of private Instagrams vary, Kelsey describes how the privacy of these secondary Instagrams allows cyberbullying to take place. With the popularity of social media platforms, cyberbullying has significantly increased in the last decade. According to the the Cyberbullying Research Center, which has collected data from over than 20,000 middle and high school students since 2002, cyberbullying has increased by 20 percent in the last 10 years. After a while, Kelsey recovered from the incident and continues to use her private Instagram, although she is much more conscious of what she posts. While Bradley continues to follow other accounts that target specific people, he does not post anything with intentions to bully others. “I’ve posted less now because I just feel like, even though it is a private account, [my posts] will be scrutinized, mostly by myself,” Bradley said. “[Private posts are] not really meant for the person to view it, so they can just keep on living their lives. It’s really [messed] up, but you know, it’s high school.” e

A&E | OCTOBER 2017

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PHOTO | ROSHAN FERNANDEZ

PHOTO | AANCHAL GARG

PHOTO | OM KHANDEKAR

RUNS IN THE 3t 2t

EL ESTOQUE | OCTOBER 2017

PHOTO | SANNIDHI MENON

SPORTS

E FAMILY

n the heat of the competition, archers draw back their bows and rowers get ready to push their oars in the water. They stare their opponents down, faces covered in helmets or masks. But the face they see isn’t one of a stranger’s, it’s one of their own. Family is the one they’re up against, but their relationship is not one of rivalry. It’s one of camaraderie. For these families, sports become more than just a hobby. It feels like the point of a sword pressing against the chest of sisters who discover themselves through fencing. It looks like dust being flung into the air by hooves for two siblings living 5,000 miles apart who bond over horseback riding. It tastes like the salt of the ocean on his tongue for a son adopting his father’s passion of rowing. It sounds like the zip of an arrow hitting a bulls eye for twins who discover their affinity for archery. The impact of these sports is magnified and driven by the influence of family. Whether it’s doing the sport together or passing down a passion, family and sports go hand-in-hand for these athletes. So it’s true: sports really do run in the family.

PHOTO | SANNIDHI MENON

SPORTS | OCTOBER 2017

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PHOTO | ROSHAN FERNANDEZ

TWO ARROWS, ONE TARGET Twins David and Karesa Hui explain their passion for archery

Karesa and David Hui prepare to shoot at the target at Stevens Creek County Archery Range. The twins head up to the range at least once a month.

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EL ESTOQUE | OCTOBER 2017

BY ROSHAN FERNANDEZ

or twin recreational. Due to the sheer amount of sophomores time that competitive archery requires, David and he knows that playing at that level in high Karesa Hui, school is not an option for him. Chow, everything comes however, plays competitively, and the twins in sets. When know that he is required to commit to David started around three hours of practice per week, piano, so did on top of competitions that often last Karesa. When entire weekends. he started “If you do it [recreationally], you can do badminton, so it on your own time,” David said. “Initially, did she. So when you need to be taught once, and that’s it. the two went to And then you just gotta keep on doing and Palomo Archery doing and doing until you get better.” Range in Palo Alto David and Karesa admit archery has with a couple of brought them closer. Karesa recalls one friends, it wasn’t a competition when she and David, along surprise that both were with one other friend teamed up to beat interested in pursuing Chow in a shooting contest. However, she the sport. does admit that it was three against one, “When we started we put with the odds stacked against Chow. balloons up, and it was just really “We made [Chow] take off all his satisfying to shoot stuff,” Karesa said. equipment, so he was ‘barebow’ just like all David and Karesa found themselves of us,” David said. “And we actually beat immediately captivated, and after learning him. Without [his] other ‘gadgets,’ we were the basics from the owner of the Palomo better.” range, they knew the sport was something Experiences like these are what drive they wanted to pursue. After trying both David and Karesa to continue their out other sports, Karesa says she was passion for archery. David is interested in particularly drawn to archery because it playing competitively in college, and he semed to be less of a hopes to attend mainstream sport. competitions SCAN FOR MORE “There’s a huge when he has community in [sports more free time. COVERAGE like] basketball and Karesa, soccer where you however, also compete with everybody, [whereas] you plays badminton, so she has to balance her can choose a smaller playing field and less time between the two sports. She doesn’t competitiveness in archery,” Karesa said. plan to continue archery in college as she “It’s really unique; that’s what I really like considers archery to be more of a hobby. about it.” When it comes to the downsides of the David explains that he appreciated the sport, David says that his least favorite part friendly environment. Karesa adds that the is shooting by himself. sport helped her get out of her comfort zone “If you go and shoot alone and you have and interact with more people. Sophomore no friends, then it gets boring,” David said. Zachary Chow, who introduced the twins to “It’s better to have friends in archery.” archery, shares the twins’ appreciation for Luckily for both David and Karesa, at the atmosphere at the range. least for the time being, they will always “No matter where you go, you can talk go to the archery range together, and they to anyone and they’ll be fine with it,” Chow will continue to pursue the sport side by said. “Especially if it’s your first time, they’ll side. As David said, “Since we’re twins, be more willing to help you, because it’s like everything is doubled.” e a welcome to the sport.” For now, David’s focus is mainly

IN THE SAME BOAT

PHOTO | SANNIDHI MENON

Sophomore Revan Aponso inherits love of rowing from his father BY ADITI GNANASEKAR AND SANNIDHI MENON

ophomore Revan Aponso wakes up at although he still rows recreationally. 4:15 a.m. every Monday. He needs “Rowing is the ultimate team sport,” to be at the Redwood City Port by 5 Bimal said. “If everyone in the boat does a.m. When he arrives, he grabs a boat and not row in perfect synchrony you expend a fixes LED lights onto the boat – it’s still dark lot of energy and get nowhere.” out. The crew rows for an hour, sometimes Revan’s coach, Lynn Gardner, echoed as far as twelve kilometers, and carries the this sentiment. boats back in, washes them and ties them “Everybody has to be totally in sync, up. By this time it’s 7 a.m. and Revan has and everybody has to be able to depend to leave for school. on the other people in the boat,” Gardner Revan is one of few MVHS athletes said. “You want to know that everybody is who participates in rowing. giving a hundred percent After playing both baseball EVERYBODY HAS TO just like you.” and basketball, sports that Despite all the BE TOTALLY IN SYNC, appealing he felt require athletes to aspects of start at a young age, Revan AND EVERYBODY rowing, Revan admits his wanted a sport he could pick HAS TO BE ABLE TO passion for the sport didn’t up later in life. His dad, who develop immediately. DEPEND ON THE used to row, encouraged “It was a growing-in Revan to join the sport. Even OTHER PEOPLE IN period,” Revan said. “At though he began last year, THE BOAT. the beginning, I remember he was able to transition getting up at four in the pretty quickly since his PALO ALTO morning and [thinking to teammates had similar levels ROWING CLUB myself], ‘Wait, why am I of experience. doing this? Is it even worth HEAD COACH “It’s easier for you to keep it?’” up with your teammates and LYNN GARDNER Now, he has learned the other people in your club or to love the sport, even league,” Revan said. if waking up early is still Revan soon realized that rowing was challenging. As a varsity rower, Revan has perfect for him. Unlike most sports, he was practices three times a week on the water: able to practice without feeling pressure Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays. Weekday from experienced athletes. Revan also liked practices usually start at 5:00 a.m., while the full body workout that rowing provided, practices on Saturdays start at 6:00 a.m. without applying excessive stress on his In addition to practices on the water, the body and causing any serious injuries. team meets in its coach’s garage twice a As a high school junior in Sri Lanka, week and practices on rowing machines, or Revan’s father, Bimal Aponso, got ergs, as the crew calls them. into rowing through a friend. He Every few months, Revan rowed through high school, competes in regattas, or and started up again a rowing competitions, with couple of years ago. his team. Local regattas Bimal no longer races, usually take place in

Revan cleans up after tying the team’s boat up at the dock. The team has to rinse off the boats after every practice, to prevent salt water from corroding the hulls.

Oakland or San Francisco on weekends and involve parents, coaches and rowers. Although regattas usually last the whole day, Revan states that for most of the time, he is not rowing. “A regatta is a huge team effort,” Revan said. “Most of the time is down-time between races so it’s a great way to get to know your teammates and bond with [them] and your coaches.” Through rowing, Revan has built strong relationships with people in his community that he wouldn’t have met otherwise, and his coach has seen him grow tremendously. “Personality wise, he’s become more confident,” Gardner said. “He interacts with everybody a lot more – it’s kinda pulled him out of his shell.” And on top of his personal growth, the hard work and discipline that rowing has taught Revan make him want to pursue the sport through high school and college. Experience is no limiting factor in the sport; everyone is in the same boat. e

Revan practices with his team in a quad, or a four-person boat. This year, Revan will be racing in a single, or one-person boat.

PHOTO | SANNIDHI MENON

SPORTS | OCTOBER 2017

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PHOTO | OM KHANDEKAR

Sisters in Arms

Sophomore Anika Soin fences against an opponent from her club, Academy of Fencing Masters. Anika, like her sister Aditi, competes at the national level.

Sisters Anika and Aditi Soin both participate in competitive fencing BY JAHAN RAZAVI AND ANJINI VENUGOPAL

hen MVHS class of 2015 alumna Aditi Soin was in fourth grade, she read the “Spiderwick Chronicles” and decided that, like the character Mallory Grace, she wanted to fence. Like some younger siblings do, sophomore Anika Soin followed in her sister’s footsteps and started the sport three years later. “I would go to all [Aditi’s] tournaments and I would go to practices. I would always watch her fence,” Anika said. “I feel like by studying her and her opponents, I’d get really into it … When I started fencing, I [already] knew so much from studying her.” The two are currently part of the same club, the Academy of Fencing Masters, where they learn from their coach Alexander Maximovich. He has observed the dynamic between the siblings during his three years teaching them. Ma x i m ov i c h’s responses were translated from Russian by his daughter, MVHS dance teacher Dasha Plaza. “Aditi was always a big source of inspiration for Anika,” Maximovich said. PHOTO | OM KHANDEKAR

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EL ESTOQUE| OCTOBER 2017

“They were lucky to [have] spent so much because of their connection with fencing, time together. [I] always observed a positive but their styles have diverged and they have interaction between developed into their two of them.” ANIKA IS MORE AGGRESSIVE own athletes. In fencing, “[We have] been [AND] OFFENSIVE AND opponents use learning a lot about USES MORE ATTACK one of three types [Anika] individually,” of swords — the Aditi said. “When we TECHNIQUES. ADITI IS épée, the foil do see each other at MORE RESERVED AND and the sabre. fencing competitions, DEFENSIVE. Typically, coaches I can see this whole are the ones who other person on the COACH ALEXANDER decide which of strip, which is really MAXIMOVICH the three weapons cool to see that she’s not a new fencer will use, just a mini me.” according to Aditi. Maximovich has observed differences “Fencing styles do embody a certain between the siblings, but he says they type of personality on the strip,” Aditi said. remain similar in some regards. Aditi “There’s a lot more taken into account agrees that she and Anika act differently on when deciding which weapon is going to be the fencing strip. yours.” “Anika is more aggressive [and] offensive Both Anika and Aditi are épéeists who and uses more attack techniques,” have competed at the national level in high Maximovich said. “Aditi is more reserved school. Aditi now is a junior at University and defensive.” of California at San Diego and fences for As sisters, Aditi advises Anika a lot. the NCAA Division IA team, meaning she is And with fencing, Aditi reminds her sister a starter on the travel team and has been of the importance of hard work, but since her freshman year. she emphasizes that such a practice is Since Aditi moved to college, she sees important for all pursuits. her sister as the main character, of sorts, “If you put in the honest effort, the at home. According to her, she and her result will come,” Aditi said. “Don’t go parents have been able to learn more about chasing the end result without the honest the youngest member in their family. As effort, because you’ll need to put in the time has passed, the Soins have grown close work. And the result is where it shows.” e

PHOTO | AANCHAL GARG

RIDING WEST Westelius siblings on opposite sides of the world bond over horseback riding BY SUNJIN CHANG AND AANCHAL GARG

he sun’s golden rays hit the 10 riders on horses cantering around an arena full of poles and ramps in Los Altos Hills. Their hooves fling dust in the humid air as they practice jumping two-foot poles and trotting around the rectangular arena fence. Among them is junior Ebba Westelius on Bojack, a dark-haired horse with a white diamond on his forehead. She and Bojack spend an hour practicing jumps and chatting with the other riders between their courses. On October 2, Ebba attended a monthly meeting for the Interscholastic Equestrian Association at Westwind Community Barn. A competitive equestrian, Ebba tries to teach herself how to ride unfamiliar horses, horses she hasn’t connected with, to prepare for show competitions where she’ll be in the same predicament. Although she is constantly surrounded by riders at the meetings, Ebba first sat on a horse at the age of six because of one person: her older brother Frej Westelius. “My older brother was always interested in horses, so he begged my parents to let him start and they let him,” Ebba said. “And because I worshipped everything he did, I also wanted to start.” In their family of five, Ebba and Frej are the only two who actively ride. Their dad used to but has dropped it since college, their mother wasn’t interested and their younger brother was kicked by one when he was little. Horseback riding is the one thing that only the two of them bond over, especially since Frej lives halfway around the world. Currently studying veterinary medicine at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Frej doesn’t have the time or money to ride, but he gets his fix through riding his friends’ horses or helping out at their stables. Regardless, he calls his family every weekend and never misses the opportunity to talk about horses with Ebba. They bridge the gap of thousands of miles between California and Sweden by talking about practices, upcoming competitions or Ebba’s horses. “The fact that we share that hobby, it’s helped us get closer,” Ebba said. When Frej visits during the holidays, the two head over to Ebba’s barn in Scotts

Valley and visit Kolo, her 12-year-old dark brown thoroughbred. Despite the fact that Frej can’t ride in the U.S. because of barn policy restrictions on Frej’s insurance, he feels content catching up on what he’s missed and watching Ebba ride Kolo. He adds that even though Ebba started riding to follow in his footsteps, she continues because of her love for horses. “They’re a good pair,” Frej said. “Ebba loves horses and is better at taking criticism and is better at riding [than me]. Her own passion [towards horses has] developed overtime.” Similarly, junior Kelly Marzolf has noticed the same about Ebba. Marzolf attends the same IEA meetings and competitions as Ebba, getting to know her and her riding style better. “[While riding], you don’t always look perfect,” Marzolf said. “You [have to] ride efficiently and she’s good at that. It’s an admirable talent.” Marzolf, who comes from a family of horse-lovers, has been riding since her mother signed her up at the age of four, and has pursued this hobby since. Though she’s has only ridden alongside Ebba a few times, she looks up to Ebba’s skills and her way with horses. Ebba doesn’t plan to stop horseback riding anytime soon, and neither does her brother. Being an equestrian, whether recreationally or competitively, is something both see themselves doing well into their adult lives, giving them a lifetime of stories to share with each other. “Both of us will continue to ride because we have the ‘bug,’” Frej said. “It’s more than just a sport.” e

Junior Ebba Westelius rides her horse, Bojack, at the monthly IEA meeting. She practices her jumps and walks along with other riders. SPORTS | OCTOBER 2017

SPOrTS flash On September 26, senior Florence Yang tracks the ball after a putt in a game against Lynbrook HS. Home games for MVHS take place at Blackberry Farm, where the team practices.

Freshman Bianca Young releases the ball before she serves in a game against Los Gatos HS on October 10. The MVHS team hopes to qualify for CCS this year, after missing out last year.

PHOTO | ANJINI VENUGOPAL

PHOTO | ROSHAN FERNANDEZ PHOTO | SUNJIN CHANG

Senior Sarah Tom drives towards the goal in a game against Santa Clara HS on October 5. Tom scored the first goal, and MVHS emerged victorious, defeating SCHS 10-7.

Senior Alia Johnson reaches for the ball. The team took home a 3-0 win in their first home game of the season.

SPORTS | OCTOBER 2017

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SPORTS FOOTBALL TEAM OVERCOMES PAST LOSS TO DEFEAT LYNBROOK HS

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ELESTOQUE.ORG THE BUZZER RINGS, SIGNALING HALFTIME. TWIRLS OF COLOR, POINTED RIFLES AND FLOWING PURPLE GOWNS TAKE OVER THE FOOTBALL FIELD. SUDDENLY, THE FIELD IS ALIVE WITH AN EYE-CATCHING DISPLAY OF RHYTHM AND COLOR.

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