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MINORITY MINORITY REPORT
It’s not what you think. SPECIAL REPORT 25 aspiring Musician
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OCTOBER 22, 2014 ISSUE I, VOLUME XLV
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NEWS
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OPINION Outwardly, no one suspects a thing Anxiety exacerbated by college applications
December 12, 2012 FUHSD institues new Code Red policy
Your vote matters. Out of the blue
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Applying yourself College applications are stressful, but they don’t have to be
And none of it worked Don’t blame Challenge Success; blame ourselves
So, what did you get? Academic elitism shouldn’t dominate our lives
I thought this would be harder...
A&E
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Makeup your mind Why girls use cosmetics
WitchCRAFT and Wizardry Senior runs pop-culture inspired jewelry business
Level Up Club unites elements to develop video games
Don’t make me laugh She’s the man
On higher ground
Letter from the editors Dear minorities,
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here are 15 males on our staff this year. And more than twice as many females. Now, this isn’t just a coincidence. The girls on campus didn’t flock to El Estoque in hot pursuit of its two ravishing and handsome Editors-in-Chief. (Although we may like to pretend that that is the case.) In fact, quite the opposite might be true. As the years have passed, we have the number of males on staff rise from a measly 13 to a whopping 15. (I guess that means we aren’t exactly attracting our intended audience.) 2
At least it’s a start. Neither of us are strangers to the apparent gender gap in educations. From being one of the three guys in Writing for Publication freshman year to being one of the _ guys in AP Lit senior year, we’ve been a part of it for the past four years. And so has everyone. According to our survey, only 46 percent of MVHS students consider themselves a minority within our community. That’s 54 percent too low. Sure, of the 2,373 students currently enrolled at MVHS, 79.8 percent are Asian, which would thus create a minority percentage of 20.2 percent.
But that 20.2 percent only concerns race. What about ASB? What about the students who aren’t planning on attending college? What about the LGBTQ students? What about the underclassmen student-athletes on varsity teams? What about the people on Homecoming Court? They’re minorities too. We all are. But why should you care, right? You already know that everyone is unique so what exactly is this issue about? It’s not just about the the fact that three out of four people working in STEM fields are men or that three out of five visual and performing arts majors are women (page 26). It’s about why we see that disparity. EL ESTOQUE
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SPECIAL REPORT
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21840 McClellan Road Cupertino, CA 95014 mv.el.estoque@gmail.com
Stretching the boundaries Students break class gender barriers
Younger and Wiser One 13-year old sophomore adapts to skipping grades
Her own tune Student pursues piano rather than STEM
SPORTS
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36 38 39
A majority of respondents to our survey even said they know that more men pursue STEM and more women pursue Literature and Performing Arts. But what caused this divide? Clearly, there is something about STEM that appeals more to men and something about liberal arts that appeals more to women. We’re sure that you have your guesses. Male dance student senior Ching Lam Yung and physics teacher Jim Birdsong have their conceptions about the gender gap too. But let’s take a step back for a second. Even though a majority of our respondents recognize the inequality in those fields, there are still people who don’t: another minority. Of course, it is one that isn’t apparent at all. OCTOBER 22, 2014
Across countries Two athletes volunteer in Kenya
Better off Players improve even when the season ends
The pit crew Behind the scenes with team parents
Playing with honor MVHS renews sportsmanship focus
Breaking the ice Rookie of the Year
What’s in your bag? Volleyball player opens up her bag
A lot of minorities at MVHS are hard to spot but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to be discussed. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to say that one of your classmates got to perform piano at Carnegie Hall (page 30) or that one girl in your freshman biology class last year was born in a different millenium than you were (page 28). But just because you aren’t an award-winning musician or have skipped two grades doesn’t mean that you aren’t a minority. For years we have been covering students who are different than their peers. In fact, for years, we have been the students who are different than our peers. And so are you. All of you.
Editors-in-Chief: Nathan Desai, Daniel Fernandez Managing Editors: Yifei Wu, Kathleen Yuan Copy Editors: Rahul Iyer, Jady Wei, Varsha Venkat Webmaster: Varsha Venkat News Editors: Elia Chen, Maya Murthy, Dylan Tsai Sports Editors: Alina Abidi, Amol Pande, Malini Ramaiyer Entertainment Editors: Christine Liang, Sarah Ramos, Lydia Seo Opinion Editor: Gabriella Monico, Pranav Parthasarathy Special Report Editors: Kristin Chang, Harini Shyamsundar, Mingjie Zhong Beats Editors: Ashmita Chakraborty, Avni Prasad Photo Editors: Justin Kim, Aditya Pimplaskar Design Editor: Rhonda Mak Graphics Editor: Rhonda Mak, Sharon Tung Business Editor: Claire Lu, Sarah Weinberg Staff Writers: Rabina Bisht, Brandon Chin, Aditi Desai, Brian Fan, Kalpana Gopalkrishnan, Pranav Iyer, Pranav Jandhyala, Trisha Kholiya, Elliot Ki, Anjana Melvin, Sanjana Murthy, Vishal Nagar, Colin Ni, Neha Patchipala, Vanessa Qin, Caitlyn Tjong, Anushka Tyagi, Joshua Tsuei, Emily Zhao Adviser: Michelle Balmeo Credits Some images in this publication were taken from the stock photography website sxc.hu. 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.
-Nathan Desai & Daniel Fernandez 3
NEWSS
How many target schools do you have?
When is your first deadline? How many supplements have you done? Do you have enough safeties What are your reach schools?
Where are you applying? Did you fill your award section? What is your major?
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It was in her math class when a senior, who asked El Estoque not to use her name to protect her medical privacy, began to feel strange. One moment she was concentrating on finding the derivative of an equation, and the next moment, she was paralyzed, unable to breathe, heart palpitating uncontrollably. She was suffering from yet another anxiety attack. The terror was so severe that the senior felt as if she were about to die or completely lose control. Gripping on to the sides of her desk, she tried to focus on breathing, but her lungs felt leaden as they refused to take in a breath of air.
SHE was suffering from yet another anxiety attack.
Outwardly, no one suspected a thing. BY CLAIRE LU AND DYLAN TSAI
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EL ESTOQUE
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It’s internal,
who feels like she or he is struggling to join growth mindset would seek to improve. Peer Counseling. Altmann suggests that students who suffer “[Students] look at other kids’ [college] from anxiety usually are stuck in a fixed People can’t tell when I’m suffering,” the profiles, don’t factor in additional mindset mode. senior girl said. While different people react circumstances and feel anxiety because If the stressors are great enough, a counterwith different levels of severity to anxiety they don’t measure up,” Jain said. “They, effective response can lead to anxiety and attacks, the terror is the same, and very real. t herefore, clinical depression. Her parents, counselor, teachers and t h i n k According to the most friends are unaware of her situation. they are “Diagnostic and She suffers alone, and in silence. reje c te d StatisTical Manual of Before this year, the senior, while and feel Mental D i s o r d e r often inundated with schoolwork and d e f e a t e d s, ” stress becomes extracurricular activities, never experienced before the clinical depression this panic. But today, whenever she hears p r o c e s s detachMENT from reality when patients show people talking about colleges, or asking her e v e n irritability, withdraw questions about college apps, she can feel starts.” from social the anxiety rise again, without control. relationships, have During these anxiety attacks — many O fficially, trouble sleeping, that are induced by the crushing pressure the Peer Counseling Club is an MVHS experience changes in eating habits or of college applications and deadlines—the service — which means that the anything that could be considered to greatly senior describes herself as often at a loss for administration recognizes the club’s interfere with the patient’s functionality. emotion. With millions of thoughts whirling ability to provide legitimate counseling around in her mind, it is hard for her to latch to students. Through an option on the Degree of Anxiety on to something real, or tangible. counselor request form, counselors can “True depression is felt by those who “Normally, people usually know what refer students to Peer Counseling Club, wake up in the morning and rather go back they’re feeling,” said the senior. “They’ll especially if they feel that a student will to sleep because they don’t want to face say ‘Oh, I feel calm, or I feel a bit sad. But benefit from talking to peers about social their day and what obstacles or challenges during anxiety attacks, you can’t grasp onto or emotional problems. that day holds,” Jain said. “Nervousness and anything. It’s overwhelming.” Students have also turned to MVHS stress is okay and normal, even beneficial While most seniors at MVHS student advocate Richard Prinz for aid in sometimes, but true depression needs help acknowledge the burden and seriousness times of anxiety and depression. from professionals.” of college applications, very few students Altmann includes that it is a matter of the suffer from genuine anxiety or depression. External Triggers degree of anxiety, and the ability or inability According to a survey of 42 seniors, 73% According to Altmann, stressful factors, to function. While everyone may seem have never experienced any sort of anxiety such as academic work and overbearing upset or down at some point in their lives, attack induced by college applications. parents, are abundant in students’ when one is unable to function normally or The other 27% of seniors, while exhibiting lives. However, these factors, known as not enjoying previously enjoyed activities, it smiles and carefree attitudes on the outside, stressors, have vastly varying effects becomes a serious issue. undergo internal turmoil. It is not a lack of a depending on the student. While there are While external and internal factors— support system, but rather a fear of reaching factors that have the potential to cause such as peer pressure, the fear of judgements out and stigmatization that accompanies immense levels of of others, one’s parents’ expectations, one’s mental health stress, a student’s own expectations and the deadlines—all THEY, THEREFORE, THINK issues. In a attitude towards account for stress during the college app survey of 138 THEY ARE REJECTED AND these factors can process, most students who don’t have people, more mitigate the effect someone to share those burdens with. FEEL DEFEATED BEFORE than half of and lessen one’s “That fear of not knowing if you’re good the students THE PROCESS EVEN STARTS. stress levels. enough can really get to someone,” Jain said. indicated that “There is an On a sunny Monday lunch, the senior girl Peer Counseling President senior Glory Jain they are not external trigger, appears fine. But as for now, she can only sit c o m f o r t a bl e which a student in silence and suffer. with reaching out and asking for help. then reacts to.” MVHS’ school psychologist c.lu@elestpque.org | d.tsai@elestoque.org Sheila Altmann said, “The thoughts Not Alone following a trigger and whether or not you MVHS offers a broad and accessible fall into depression is a reflection of one of support system for those struggling with two mindsets: a fixed mindset or a growth anxiety. Senior Glory Jain, president of Peer mindset.” Counseling Club, understands that students While someone who views the world are inherently prone to anxiety when through a fixed mindset would simply comparing themselves to others during this dwell on a disappointment or setback, a stressful period. She welcomes any student student who views the world through a
ANXIETY IS...
A choking sensation
lightheadedness
FEELINGS OF GRAVE DANGER
October 22, 2014
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F GHT r
FL GHT
FUHSD implements more flexible safety protocol with Run, Hide, Defend
BY ELIA CHEN, LYDIA SEO AND CAITLYN TJONG October 22, 2014
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December 14, 2012. The day shooter Adam Lanza entered the campus of Sandy Hook Elementary School and shot 20 students and six staff members. Although we may have believed the Newtown Massacre to be one among several rare tragedies, such incidents can potentially happen in any environment. On Oct. 9, 2014, a student from Mission Hill Middle School in Santa Cruz was arrested for being in possession of a loaded semi-automatic handgun at school. In the past 15 years, 323 total people have been killed in documented school shootings. As a response to these shootings at schools, such as Columbine and Sandy Hook, officials have used studies to devise a new safety protocol. Run, Hide, Defend The Code Red procedure was created after the Columbine shooting in 1999 – when two seniors killed 13 people and injured 21. U.S. History teacher Margaret Platt witnessed the evolution of the emergency protocol after the tragic event. “[The shooting at] Columbine really was the turning point,” Platt said. “We began to see … local sheriff’s departments and police departments getting involved with schools and helping them create protocol on how to deal with the possibility of a shooter.” However, it is evident from Columbine and the 147 school shootings that have followed that Code Red is not foolproof. Compelled to action by such events as the Sandy Hook massacre and the inefficacy of a procedure designed
to save lives, FUHSD decided to implement the new Code Red protocol – a modified plan of action referred to as “Run, Hide, Defend.” The Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service initially developed “Run, Hide, Fight” as a way for adults to protect themselves against an active shooter in a building. However, FUHSD and the local agencies in charge of protecting MVHS when an active shooter is on campus – the Santa Clara Sheriff’s office, the San Jose Police Department and the Sunnyvale Public Safety Services – have changed the name to “Run, Hide, Defend” and made it more applicable to school shootings, as staff members and students will only confront the shooter in self-defense. According to FUHSD Associate Superintendent of Administrative Services Graham Clark, studies have shown that the most effective way to remain safe from a shooter is to run to a secure location as quickly as possible. As such, the first course of action in “Run, Hide, Defend” is to attempt escape from the area. If escape is not possible, students and staff must initiate a lockdown by barricading occupied rooms with desks, chairs and other available large furniture, a holdback from the previous Code Red protocol. As a last resort, MVHS will utilize the newest addition to the procedure: Defend. Students should use any weapons available, even their own fists, and should attack the threat in groups.
What is the most effective classroom weapon?
*of 138 students surveyed
Fire Extinguisher
Heavy Book
Other
Stapler Writing Utensil Change in action FUHSD staff members were required to watch a video made by the sheriff’s department that details the safety procedure. Although only administrative staff were trained in physical self-defense at a district training session this summer, U.S. History teacher Margaret Platt expects role-playing
OLD Protocol: Code Red Faculty and students should stay inside classrooms and lock all doors
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UNTIL THE ALL CLEAR SIGNAL IS RECEIVED, THE SCHOOL MUST STAY ON LOCKDOWN
FACULTY AND STU-DENTS CAN LEAVE CAMPUS AFTER THE ALL CLEAR SIGNAL HAS BEEN GIVEN EL ESTOQUE
scenarios to be implemented for all cedures during future drills. However, staff in the future. junior Ally Tsvinev believes that more The San Jose Police Department guidance for the students would be created a presentation on the revised helpful. safety procedure for staff educa“I don’t think instinct always helps,” tion. It details how to detect danger Tsvinev said. “I think that there should beforehand and notice “red flag” be at least a basic level of training, so indicators – any suspicious behavior that students know … some safer opthat might forewarn the event of an tions that will distract or try to hurt the active shooter on campus, such as person that’s trying to hurt them.” overly aggressive behavior or verbal Tsvinev’s middle school, Kennedy threats. It also lists safe methods to Middle School, underwent a Code Red run, create barricades or use self-de- lockdown when the 2011 Cupertino fense. The presentation teaches how quarry shooting occurred. As a result of to correctly respond to any incoming her experience, she believes that while it police forces or “shelter in place” is important that students know how to situations in which there is no imme- protect themselves, the final judgment diate threat, but an indirect hazard, should be from the teacher in charge. possibly “I think that “I don’t think instinct it’s important from a da ngerous always helps. I think that that students incident at least know there should be at least a how to protect which has occurred in mselves basic level of training.” tinh ecase the school’s of an junior Ally Tsvinev vicinity. emergency beWhile cause you never Code Red involved a single response, know if it’s going to be a worse situation “Run, Hide, Defend” is more flexible. than it seems,” Tsvinev said. “But I also The established protocol allows for do agree that the teachers that have the judgment on the part of the staff and students in the class should be the ones students, but places more responsibil- that can decide to call the parents and ity upon individuals. They assess cir- tell [the students] to go home or keep cumstances of the situation and de- them situated.” termine whether they are far enough or safe enough from the shooter to Putting it into perspective run, or if the shooter is close enough Despite the importance of the proof a threat to hide and construct a cedure, Graham emphasizes the rarity barricade in the traditional lockdown of an actual active shooter on campus. procedure. According to NeighborhoodScout, This way, even when students there are 0.97 annual crimes per 1000 cannot reach a classroom when an residents in Cupertino: 2.93 below the active shooter is on campus, like dur- national median. MVHS and its neighing a football game or a dance, they boring schools have experienced few can still protect themselves. actual lockdowns – mostly as precauDespite the changes, Assistant tionary steps as a result of dangers off Principal Michael Hicks believes that campus. MVHS has never had an active the role and duty of the staff has not shooter on campus. changed: They still must continue to However, there is the likelihood that focus on the safety of the students. an active shooter will arrive on campus, “You have to really empower the and as such, there is still the need for a adults in the room to make those de- safety protocol. cisions,” Hicks said, “[but] the nice “If you ever have to implement it, thing about working at a high school and hopefully we never will … the good versus working at an elementary thing is that you’re prepared for it,” Graschool or a middle school is that the ham said. students are smart enough to make their own decisions.” l.seo@elestoque.org || c.tjong@elestoque.org || e.chen@elestoque.org According to Hicks, students will continue to follow old Code Red proOCTOBER 22, 2014
Run, Hide, Defend
Run if... You are in a classroom and near an exit You are on campus at a school event but are not able to get to a classroom You are outside and close to an exit
Hide if... You are in a classroom There is an active shooter on or off campus
Defend if... You encounter the shooter before barricading or if the shooter breaks through
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NEWS
Your vote matters.
Changing the status-quo on Asian-American voter participation
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hardest job was convincing people to vote n the months leading up to at all, rather than convincing people to vote the the 2008 presidential for his candidate. I could talk about how election, my mother liked every Indian get-together I have ever been to to joke that she had decided to eventually deevolves into an argument about become an American citizen in politics. They’re generally loud and insulting Japanese order to vote for Barack Obama. as different sides fling accusations like rotten Korean She didn’t. What actually eggs in an argument that gets more and prompted her to revoke more heated until someone’s spouse shuts it her Indian citizenship was down, citing an early morning hike. I could a particularly harrowing Chinese talk about how the people experience at the Americanin our area, regardless of Canadian border where, among ethnicity, tend to be amongst other questions, she was asked the most informed citizens among other intrusive questions, in this country. We’re highly about why she had come to educated, and apparently this country in the first place. ever so eager to announce I also know for a fact that she our political affiliations voted for Hillary in the Primary. to a crowded room. Regardless, my mother voted Unfortunately that for the first time in America Filipino eagerness doesn’t translate during the election cycle of 2008, into expressing our just like she has every two years opinions to the electorate. since. Every other November, I can’t vote in this she receives a packet in the mail election, just like the vast that reminds her of her civic majority of people at this duty and provides a summary of Indian school. There is no potion every candidate and topic she’ll that will magically make be able to vote on. As the years me 18 and honestly, even have passed and I’ve improved if there was, I’d have at filling in my mother’s used it for far better absentee ballot, she’s left the things than connecting vast part of the busy-work involved to me arrows on a ballot. — asking me to read and further summarize What I can do is say the summaries while she cooks dinner, that there’s a packet sitting or letting me fill in her name and address Native born American citizens at my house right now, when we realized I had better handwriting. just like there is at most Most importantly, she voted — a bit of yours. Maybe we can’t Foreign born American citizens of an anomaly where Asian-Americans make a difference this are concerned. According to the U.S. *Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2008 elections year, but our parents can. Census Bureau, 70 percent of the And really, if worst demographic was eligible to vote in comes to worst, just 2008, but only 50 percent actually voted. do yourself a favor and Just so you know, this is lower than get them to sign the the national average, though in general paper. After all, if you’ve minorities tend not to exercise their voting been reading the road OUT OF THE BLUE rights. In comparison, 67 percent of signs, our futures are white citizens voted in the same election. hanging in the balance. I could talk about how a political
70%
65%
81%
76%
68%
64%
78%
70%
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63%
Voters By Country
MAYA MURTHY
campaign volunteer once told me that his OCTOBER 22, 2014
m.murthy@elestoque.org
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OPINION
Applying Yourself Despite the stress associated with college application season, students should take advantage of the resources available to them
Rhonda Mak | El Estoque Illustration
By Anushka Tyagi
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hirty million users on College Confidential. Five million users on Naviance. Nowadays, college has created more anxiety for students than ever before. The pressure to get into the best colleges, obtain the highest degree possible and land a successful job is difficult to handle for a group of 17 and 18 year olds. In a rigorous academic environment such as MVHS, peer stress is an inherent part of the college application process. The application asks students to paint accurate depictions of themselves on paper, a task which is practically impossible. In an online survey, 27 percent of 41 seniors admitted to having anxiety attacks due to the college application process, or even conversations regarding college. The college application process is not likely to change any time soon, and this stress is going to be a sentiment most seniors have to deal OCTOBER 22, 2014
Therefore the problem does not lie so much in the stressor itself because inevitably all college bound students must fill out college applications. The only healthy solution to this problem is to change the way we percieve the stressor. In a TED Talk, health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University, Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D, said, “The people who experienced a lot of stress, but did not view stress as harmful, were no more likely to die. In fact, they had the lowest risk of dying of anyone in the study, including people that have relatively little stress.� Society often makes us ashamed to admit that we have difficulties coping with our daily stressors, which may be why 48 percent of 69 survey respondents said they are afraid to ask for help. This creates a destructive cycle of shame and anxiety. A cycle that can be broken if students realize that reaching out for help allows them to more effectively confront the stress they face and use it in a positive manner to benefit instead of harm them. Resources such as Peer Counseling club and student advocates like Prinz are here to help students get through the stress associated with not only college applications, but high school in genwith, but the way we approach this topic can eral . According to US News, college enrollment rates have increased from 26 percent change the way it makes us feel. According to one senior, the anxiety re- to 41 percent in the past three decades. In sulting from college applications is uncon- order to manage the increasing amounts of stress present and trollable. Anxiety future generations has led her to expeof students undAccording to US News, rience depression, outably face, Peer withdrawal from college enrollment rates Counseling creates a certain activities, healthy environment inability to sleep or have increased from 26 for the students and eat and lack of conpercent to 41 percent in promotes a supportcentration. Whenive community. ever she hears her the past three decades. Ultimately, it is peers discuss colup to the students leges, or whenever to make use of those resources and not althey ask her questions about college apps, her feelings are renewed. Student advocate low pressure and anxiety to get in the way Richard Prinz believes that how one reacts of their success. to the challenges he or she faces is a direct representation of how effectively he or she will overcome that challenge.
a.tyagi@elestoque.org
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OPINION
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why do we never seem to change An 8 a.m start time. An additional tutorial each week. Less homework. More collaboration in classrooms. Less testing. A life skills class. More student voice in campus affairs. Each year we offer our ideas to make MVHS a more nurturing community. And each year, despite prize money, surveys and unkept promises, we don’t see results.
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EL ESTOQUE
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hen our scho ol administered we see in Challenge Success, nothing is the Challenge Success sur vey going to change until we become cogat the end of last year, many niz ant of the fac t that some of the fault of us to ok the test lighthear t- is our ow n. T he vast major it y of us are uninedly, in spite of the fac t that the cost ran at nearly t went y thousand dollars. volved. We come to school with the To be fair, we lear ned a great deal. We notion that we are only responsible for lear ned that many of us have a paraly z- our personal exper ience and that our ing fear of failure. We found that only needs should be addressed immediatea quar ter of assignment s are seen as ly despite our failure to cont r ibute to academically enr iching. We discovered the communit y at large. L ast month hundreds of st udent s that on average, we sleep three hours f rom across the cit y of Denver took less than the recommended amount. A lthough these findings raise many questions, the editor ial board chose not to fo cus on these result s alone. We believe that while OPINION OF THE EL ESTOQUE raw dat a can be usef ul, EDITORIAL BOARD it cannot improve our scho ol on it s ow n. It come with ac tion. After all, we k new that many of to the st reet s, protesting a recent these problems ex isted long before scho ol board proposal that would proChallenge Success was administered. mote “citizenship, pat r iotism, respec t Each year we see that we have our fair for author it y, and individual r ight s.” share of problems, yet we rarely seem T hese outcr ies broke out at the same to change. Despite concer ning test re- time as the 50th anniversar y for the sult s, teacher policy changes and ad- Berkeley Free Speech movement, a seminist rative messages we remain ro ot- r ies of protest s that led to the for mal ed in our old ways. We say that we are est ablishment of st udent f ree speech commit ted to to creating a healthier and expression on the UC campuses. A lthough we aren’t bat tling against atmosphere, yet we seem content with high st akes testing, long night s st udy- a xenophobic cur r iculum and shouldn’t ing and an inordinate amount of home- t r umpet the Berkeley ma x im of “we don’t t r ust anyone over 30,” we ought work ever y night. It seems like our voices have no to t ake a greater role in the direc tion of weight because our cr ies often go unno- life on our campus. T hat do esn’t mean ticed. Our cur rent system of communi- walk ing out on classes that we deem cation is broken because it fails to br ing “unfair” or protesting the relevance of st udent s, st aff and teachers together in ever y homework assignment. But that a way that encourages open dialogue do esn’t exclude us f rom expressing our and f rank discussion. Our administ ra- concer ns in a const r uc tive manner. We should feel comfor t able aption is failing to respond to st udent s p r o a c h i ng request s our teachin a clear No matter how much potential we ers if we manner and as a see in Challenge Success, nothing is think an a s sig nresult our going to change until we realize we ment is student unreasonb o d y are part of the problem. able or an feels isoexam unfair. We should feel comfor tlated and uninvolved. Moreover, there is a disconnec t be- able expressing our to counselors. More t ween what we say we want and what than any thing else however, we should we ac t ually do. A nd that’s why, no mat- be empowered by the t remendous poter how much ro om for improvement tential to improve our campus for the
STAFF EDITORIAL
OCTOBER 22, 2014
bet ter. However, we cannot hope to change unless we t ake the initiative. We must recognize that each of us has the potential to be a cat alyst for change. But we must speak out. We have to t ake a leap of faith and be willing to car r y our problems beyond our conversations on the quad. We have to st and by our beliefs and have the patience to fight for things that impor t ant to us, to endure the often agonizing wait, k nowing that things will change if we stick with it. A lthough change will not be immediate, we will change for the bet ter if we have patience. So while the Challenge Success result s may be concer ning, the bigger problem is that we don’t seem to care enough about the environment that we st udy, collaborate and lear n in. T hat’s why the agenda at legislative council meetings is so sparse and why few, if any, st udent s willingly at tend P TSA or school site council meetings. W hen it comes to the overall st ate of our school, we congregate as byst anders, rather than difference makers, in spite of the fac t that we are a school f ull of diverse, intelligent and incredibly motivated st udent s. A nd let’s not forget how gifted of a school we are. In 2011, US News and World Repor t ranked our school second in math and science among public schools. Our business clubs routinely place among the highest in the nation. Our SAT scores average in the ninet y-four th percentile. Yet we have ar t s depar tment s loaded with t alent and an incredible ar ray of clubs and organiz ations to choose f rom. In our pursuit to improve we should not forget how for t unate we are. However, we must also recognize our room to improve. We have to make sure that in our ambition to succeed individually we do not abandon our communit y, because it’s our obligation to be at the foref ront of change. At the end of the day we are the ones who shape our school. A ll 2,373 of us. Without us there is no Mont a Vist a.
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OPINION
They have 4.0s. They have SAT scores in the top one percent of the nation. They have taken all the “right” classes. They are national merit semifinalists and club presidents. They are superior. Exclusive. Better. They are the elite. Elitism is different than outright arrogance or general condescension. Elitism is institutional. In fact, academic elitism is the most insidious form of bullying on our campus. It takes only one day wandering the concrete quads or sitting in fluorescent lit classrooms to see the subtle — and at times, not-so-subtle — indications of this cultural phenomena. How many times have we waited anxiously for a test to be passed back, only to hear a student next to us who rarely speaks ask the question:
“So, what did you get?” W
hat he really meant BY GABRIELLA MONICO AND VANESSA QIN was, “Did you do better than me?” There is a certain jealousy towards the student who sets the curve, not admiration. Yet we each covet that top spot because it is undeniable proof that we are the best and the brightest — and everyone else is not. With the top 10 percent of students earning a GPA of 3.97 or higher, anyone with a GPA of 3.1 or lower, the national average, falls in the bottom 20 percent of our school. Ironically at MVHS, the top performing students are the majority and those who are not excelling academically, are the mediocre minority. Analyzing second semester grades from the 2013-2014 school year proves interesting. While the percent of Ds and Fs in AP Bio and AP Physics C is 4 percent and 5.8 percent respectively, the percent of the same grades in Physiology and AP Environmental Science is 9.1 and 9.8 percent respectively. This inclined to avoid Ds and Fs as phenomena is even more prevalent in litera- they do not earn college credit, ture and history classes. AP Literature has with Fs not even earning graduno Ds and Fs while these grades comprise ation credit. Students in AP courses 9.7 percent of Myth classes. AP US History tend to be more geared toward attending has 0.3 percent Ds and Fs, while US history college as they are college-level courses. has 4.5 percent Ds and Fs. The same trend It is this underrepresented minority that follows, though not as obviously, in math suffers at a school built for high achieving courses. Thus, the more advanced the course students. While students are pushed to get taken, the less likely it is to get below a C. fives on their AP tests, 4.0’s on their tranThis suggests a few possible theories, the scripts and 2400’s on their SATs, the nonacamost obvious demic aspects of life of which is are often forgotten. that higher The student with the THE PERFECT STUDENT IS ach iev ing 2.0 GPA who writes students NOT THE PERFECT PERSON poetry every day typically after school or who take more rides her skateboard advanced classes. There could be more for hours on end is seen as less valuable to it, however. It could also suggest that than the robotically-studious student who teachers in higher level courses are more has a 4.0 and participates in 10 extracur-
14
riculars, yet lacks that spark of passion. Senior Michael Ligier participates in various extracurricular activities, while maintaining a strenuous course load packed with AP and Honors courses. He is an officer of FBLA and Speech and Debate, a member of DECA and the orchestra, has started his own nonprofit organization, spent his summer at an MIT incubator for entrepreneurship and plans to play soccer for EL ESTOQUE
Vanessa Qin | El Estoque Illustration
the varsity team this year. As high school progressed, he quit soccer and many of the other clubs he joined freshmen year, many of which he joined to impress colleges. “I’ve realized It’s not about how much you do, but the depth of the things that you do. That sort of logic is more prevalent [now] than the idea that you have to do everything,” Ligier said. “In that sense there might be some kind of motivation in that I strive to be the best, I strive to be SEPTEMBER 24, 2014
the best that I can be, if not for myself — even though most of it is for myself. It’s almost because depth is one of the factors of extracurriculars for college, I guess.” While Ligier is passionate about the extracurriculars he participates in, especially his entrepreneurial pursuits, he realizes that college admission officers are looking for certain criteria when evaluating students, and as evidenced by his depth of cocurricular business experience, he appears to be a stellar candidate for elite colleges. This model, which oftentimes values students like Ligier over less involved students is destructive and all too prevalent, destroying the self-confidence of the grade minority, while creating students who believe they are superior because of letters on a transcript. The idea that a simple letter written in red ink atop a test or assignment is a measure of personal worth is ludicrous. A person is no less valuable as a C student than an A student. And to think otherwise is the crux of an elitist model. William Deresiewicz, a former professor of English at Yale University, outlines this problem in his book “Excellent Sheep.” He believes that students at elite universities not only look down on those who do not appear to be as “hard-working,” but also have complete lack of empathy for those who come from different walks of life than their own. “The problem begins when… academic excellence becomes excellence in some absolute sense, when ‘better at X’ becomes simply ‘better,’” Deresiewicz writes. Someone with a higher grade is not better, more successful or even smarter than someone with a lower grade. It is rather narrow minded and short sighted to alienate a part of the MVHS student body because they do not fit the accepted norm of the academically flawless student. The perfect student is not the perfect person. The perfect student is not the perfect friend, family member or citizen. It is this mindset, one that equates academic excellence with some kind of moralistic virtue that makes MVHS an ostracizing environment. One student, who wished to remain anonymous, experienced this firsthand. The student aimed for A’s and B’s sophomore year but ended up with a 2.4 GPA first semester and a 2.7 second semester. When the student told a close friend about her grades, she recalls that friend being surprised and somewhat disappointed. She prefers not to tell people about her grades as she is ashamed of what they may think. Lost in a sea of honor societies — often just glorified status
symbols — whose memberships require a certain GPA, AP classes and SAT prep courses, the students with lower GPAs are often not involved in many enriching campus activities. These are the students whose voices are drowned out over the constant comparison between which AP and SAT subject tests look most impressive to college admission officers. These are the students who may not be destined to attend big name universities or the 16 percent of students who are not going to a four-year college at all. These are the one percent of students who are not pursuing higher level education, according the the MVHS school profile. The grade-oriented mindset is so ingrained in our culture, however, that our educational system seems to promote it. The school’s ranking and API scores are touted by administrators, teachers and students alike and are at times the principle reason many families move to this region. This promotes one kind of intelligence on campus — the academic. “Social intelligence and emotional intelligence and creative ability, to name just three other forms [of intelligence], are not distributed preferentially among the educational elite,” Deresiewicz writes. “The ‘best’ are the brightest only in one narrow sense. One needs to wander away from the educational elite to begin to discover this.” While the announcements congratulate science fair winners and math olympiads, the results of our Challenge Success survey, mentioned in this issue’s staff editorial, were never openly discussed amongst the very people who took it — us. The enormous pressure to succeed, the dangerous levels of stress and the alarming lack of sleep are talked about in hushed tones and with a wry smile: “Yes, high school sucks, but we’re going to be successful and that’s all that matters.” But where does that leave the students who are not academically successful? They are forced to live in a system built to oppose them, with colleges that do not bother looking at applicants whose GPA’s do not meet a benchmark or whose SAT’s are not up to par, classes geared for top performing students and friendships formed through participation in academically rigorous extracurricular activities. Yet, it’s empowering to realize that the alienating environment our attitudes promote can be changed if we are willing to recognize the pitfalls of grade elitism. And it starts with a simple response to a simple question. “So what did you get?”
“So why does it matter?” g.monico@elestoque.org, v.qin@elestoque.org
15
OPINION
I thought this would be easier... Breaking into executive mansions is overrated
Sharon Tung | El Estoque
PRANAV PARTHASARATHY
H
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terrifyingly-powerful and unrestrained governments on planet Earth. Did I mention he’s 18? I didn’t realize that toppling despots was the new way of getting into Harvard. However, as these protesters become more and more agitated, they’re starting to do some concerning stuff. People have protested outside the Chief Executive’s residence, threatening to bring down the government which has plummeted in approval ratings so catastrophically since Beijing’s power play. The people are going after their leader’s mansion. Interesting, especially since people have threatened to break into our leader’s mansion recently, with Omar Gonzalez jumping over the fence and running into the most guarded address on the planet: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House. The concerning part, however, is how far he actually managed to run. See, you would expect the Secret Service, the most elite security force in the world, to nab him at the garden. Or at the door. Or at least near the front of the executive mansion. But no, Gonzalez made it all the way into the East Room, the room where the president dines with foreign leaders, the largest room in the White House. And the more we look at the most “elite” bodyguard contingent, the more perplexing this becomes. The Director of the Secret Service Julia Pierson resigned days after the incident (surprise, surprise!), yet the scandal has done far more than reveal the Secret Service to be incompetent (I mean, the guys hired prostitutes in Colombia while they were supposed to be protecting the President); no, it has merely shown that even the most powerful government on the planet has its weak spots. So, Hong Kong protesters, your enemy definitely isn’t invincible. For if the White House is so easy to break into, surely the Hong Kong government can bend to popular will. p.parthasarathy@elestoque.org
EL ESTOQUE
Sharon Tung | El Estoque
Yup, this is a country that loves big business so much it would put America to shame. No wonder its leader, who is also selected by electoral votes (sound familiar?), is called the “Chief Executive.” Speaking of America and electoral votes, the 2014 mid-term elections are coming up. And we all know that America is the bastion of free, fair and clean elections, right? Well, let’s look at the projected results of this elections. Across the board, nobody apON HIGHER GROUND pears to think the Democrats have a chance at winning ong Kong is an interesting city. When a majority in the the British went to war against China House of Representatives. That wouldn’t be because the Chinese refused to buy a problem if we truly had a fair system of opium from them, they seized Hong Kong in electing representatives. But we don’t. order to keep some sort of permanent foot After the 2010 census — which followed in the mainland. the Republican-dominated 2010 elections And fairly permanent it was. See, the — Republicans in small, party-dominated British seized Hong Kong in 1841, and didn’t committees redrew Congressional district give it back until 1997. One hundred and fif- boundaries, making the urban-centric, ty-six years of British rule, and less than 18 ocratic vote virtually worthless. In Ohio, for years of Chinese rule. example, the Democrats won 52 percent of You might be wondering why I’m giving votes for the House of Representatives, yet some sort of a history lesson right now, but only received four congressional seats as opit’s pretty important considering the terrible posed to the twelve awarded to the Repubsituation in Hong Kong. People are protest- licans, effectively 25 percent of the repreing everywhere — with over 300,000 people sentation. A small, party-dominated council protesting on Oct. 1, China’s national day. effectively decided the election against the That’s one out of every 21 people in the city. whims of the public. Sound familiar? Out in the square. Protesting. But the public is incensed, at least in Hong And they have good reason to be pro- Kong. There the movement has reached testing. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive had through all of society, so much so that an always been elected by a small, party-dom- eighteen-year-old kid named Joshua Wong inated council, but Beijing has now rejected is leading the resistance movement. The kid any hope of having free elections for the isn’t even six months older than me, yet he’s city’s leader in 2017. This is a city which has leading protest movements with hundreds of the highest economic freedom in the world. thousands of people against one of the most
FREAK OUT Why we fear for fun BY CHRISTINE LIANG AND KATHLEEN YUAN
T
he camera pans towards her as she steps into the shower. T he water t ur ns on and she begins to bathe, for what she do esn’t k now is the last time. Behind her, a shadow approaches the curt ain and grows larger and larger as he comes closer. For a moment, only the sound of r unning water can be heard as the k nife finds it s mark, it s victim’s screams shar ply punc t uating the screech of violins — “I’m a hider,” senior Scarlet t Per r y said. “I don’t want to see it!” Like Per r y, many who are fond of hor ror films enjoy them for the at y pical themes, direc t conf ront ation with fear and simply the adrenaline r ush. However, some of us still can’t maneuver the mind games and quell our apprehension before the nex t scare. So why do some people enjoy scar ing themselves? “Sensation seek ing,” a charac ter istic of personalit y, may play a key role in decipher ing this fixation. “High sensation-seekers” tend to enjoy and be more responsive to high levels of dopamine released dur ing intense exper iences, explains Mar vin Zucker man, professor emer it us of psycholog y at the Universit y of Delaware, to LiveScience. T hese thr ill seekers are generally prone to enjoy dist urbing and macabre themes prominently represented in hor ror movies, as opposed to “low sensation-seekers.” In other words, the lat ter’s appetite for hor ror may already be satisfied when a “high sensation-seeker” would
53%
enjoy watching horror movies or TV shows *out of a survey of 138 students
OCTOBER 22, 2014
begin consider ing it ordinar y entert ainment. Conveniently, this pursuit of hor ror clima xes in teenage years. Per r y believes that hor ror movies appeal to younger audiences because of their off-limit s connot ations. “In middle school and element ar y scho ol, it’s more t aboo to watch a scar y movie because your parent s don’t want you to be exposed to it,” Per r y said. “You watch scar y movies so you can tell your f r iends, ‘Oh, it didn’t scare me,’ or to help your so cial st at us at that age.” Additionally, according to Glenn Spark s, PhD, a professor at the Br ian L amb School of Communication at P urdue Universit y, the post-film exper ience also cont r ibutes to how one ret rospec tively views hor ror movies, as told to PsychCent ral. T he physiologically elevated st ate of heightened blo od pressure, hear t rate and respiration intensifies emotions. T hus, enjoying time with f r iends after the movie may enhance positive feelings, and the viewer may remember hor ror movies fondly for the exper ience rather than the film it self. A lthough it may still seem counter int uitive to go against the grain of comfor t, English teacher David Clarke believes that people want to watch horror movies to diff use par ticular fears by seeing them ex ter nalized. “People want to be able to conf ront their fear and look at it out side of them instead of inside of them, so it cre-
ates a distinc tion bet ween you and the thing,” Clarke said. On the other hand, Per r y finds the novelt y in being completely engrossed in the film. “I can get immersed in a world that I’m not t y pically in; I’m not t y pically r unning for my life or being hunted down by a ser ial k iller,” Per r y said. “It’s fun to be scared. Just like how with watching comedy, it’s fun to laugh.” c.liang@elestoque.org | k.yuan@elestoque.org
Spookertino With Halloween right around the corner, here are two creepy things to do around the Cupertino area.
WI N MY CHE Fo STER STER Wi rmall Y HO the nche y ow USE wil San ster ned un l be Jos fam the tou guide ope e es ily, ne tate ing rs s d s t ele flas d fo his r h c mo t ev light nth ern .
HA Off LLOW rid ering EEN HA tra es a UN eve ction nd o ma T z Gr nt a s, th ther es, i e op at t San s ann aten t A un me a Cla ual til N rica ra ov. 1. is
44%
would make plans to watch a newly released horror movie
17
A&E
Makeup is a personal choice. 18
BY RHONDA MAK WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHARON TUNG
EL ESTOQUE
said Bemis. ake. Insecure. Trashy. Gauzy. Art teacher Brian Chow agrees as he These are the insults hurled sees people who use makeup as an art form. at women for wearing too “People make their face into a canvas, much makeup. Yet if women and some mix and match colors to bring out don’t wear makeup, they’re certain features,” Chow said. asked if they’re ill because But what about those who embrace “natlook pale and sickly. Every mornthey ural” beauty — that is, absolutely no makeing, before every meeting, every lunch date, up at all? As a photographer, Chow prefers every picture day, every party, women are faced with the decision: should I wear makeup? Junior Megan Bemis doesn’t even question it. Every morning, after she washof students es and dries her face, Bemis * surveyed puts on primer, foundation, wear powder, eyeshadow, eyemakeup brow liner, eyeliner, mascara contourwith finishes and ing. The effect is stunning. Her cheeks emit a rosy glow against her wispy blonde hair, and her face is flawless, free of any indications of pores or blemishes. Iowa Supreme Court “It may seem like a lot for judges voted that a some people, but I’ve been woman can be fired for doing it [since eighth grade], so it’s my normal thing,” Bebeing too attractive mis said. prettier feels Bemis when she wears makeup, and hence more confident, a confidence that arises from * inside her. “When I don’t have it on I have this pale face,” Bemis said. “I just feel more like of students myself when I have makeup believe on, which is weird because look it’s not my real face.” there is ranked Researchers in the U.K. such thing by men: conducted a study involvthe “no as too much ing men who wore scented and unscented body spray. makeup make-up Women watched videos of look” from both kinds of men — unable a survey to smell them — and judged conatmore were men which tractive. The general trend ducted by *from a was that women judged that survey BeautyRithe men sprayed with the of 138 ot.com body spray looked more atstudents tractive: the men felt attractive and carried their bodies as such, and hence appeared attractive, a quintessential case of “What you think, you become.” Confidence is attractive. Makeup to capture women as they are, free of any is just a way for women to help find that con- cosmetics, feeling that makeup hides one’s true self. Chow worries in the future that his fidence. It’s a form of self expression. “Wearing makeup is my form of art, and daughter may start wearing makeup for the my face is my way of showcasing my art.” wrong reasons.
out of
OCTOBER 22, 2014
“I don’t want her to feel like the culture wants her to look a certain way,” Chow said. Junior Katie Chen, who is influenced by Asian culture, wore eyelid tape nearly every day in an effort to make her eyes seem larger, like her idols: Asian singers and actors, most of whom have double eyelids. Eyelid tape sticks part of the eyelid to itself to create a double eyelid effect that lasts for about a day before being washed off. Chen notes that wearing the eyelid tape creates a dependency on the tape: seeing her single eyelid made her want to immediately put the tape on. Despite the culture’s influence on Chen, she asserts that her choices are for herself and not an act of conformity to the culture’s standards. “I think I would look better with double eyelids, so it would elevate my confidence,” Chen said. “It’s just for me, myself. People do better when they feel confident in themselves. They’re not shy as they were, so that’s definitely beneficial.” Natural beauty or otherwise, Bemis and Chen both agree that cosmetic choices are not anyone else’s choice but their own. It isn’t a friend’s choice. It isn’t a boyfriend’s choice. It isn’t the culture’s choice. It is only the wearer’s. “Wear makeup for fun,” Bemis said to anyone wondering whether they should wear makeup. “Don’t wear it because someone else told you you’re ugly. Don’t wear makeup because you think that you need to. Wear makeup because you feel empowered. Wear makeup because it makes you feel pretty, even though you already are pretty. It’s just for fun.” r.mak@elestoque.org | s.tung@elestoque.org
19
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Witchcraft and Wizardry
Senior Samantha Shieh sells crafts on a online marketplace BY ADITYA PIMPLASKAR
A selection of products from Shieh’s website. Price ranges from $5-$13.
E
ver since she was young, senior Samantha Shieh had a knack for making things. After seeing her talent for creation, one of Shieh’s teachers suggested to her an outlet for her to display her talents: Etsy. Etsy is an online marketplace where people can sell unique, artistic products of their own creation, to a variety of eager customers. Etsy mainly focuses on vintage and handmade items. At first, Shieh was hesitant about selling her products as she was worried about the time commitment. It wasn’t until high school that she decided to actually pursue the use of Etsy. Her online shop, OnsetofImagination, has been active for over a year and has been going strong. Her revenue is higher than expected and her customer base is growing. Having started from a personal business it has now grown to a customer base of over one hundred. But it’s Shieh’s approach towards selling her products that makes her service unique. Shieh’s products include hand-made shrink plastic necklaces, charms and other small doit-yourself items that usually reference books and TV shows, as they appeal to fandoms, or groups of people who are devoted to a particular series or saga of fictional works. A lot of Shieh’s products follow Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings and other popular cult universes. Personally a
member of a few fandoms, Shieh enjoys making things that relate to her fandoms of choice. “People tend to buy things that make references to books or other things that they enjoy,” said Shieh said. “Being a member of these fandoms creates a community that I love being a part of.” Etsy allows Shieh to satisfy her customers while doing something that she loves. Satisfied customers have even requested custom orders from Shieh, mainly around Christmas when people are purchasing special gifts for senior Samantha Shieh loved ones. “I particularly enjoy the holiday rush,” said Shieh. However, when Shieh is making her holiday products, she simultaneously must study for final exams. Shieh realizes the pressure in this, and acknowledges it as good life experience, as handling multiple things at once is an important skill. Working with customers can be difficult, as they try to point out flaws in the service. “There was one lady who bought a custom order from me and complained about its late arrival,” said Shieh. “I was able to work with her and let her know that it had already been shipped and would be arriving shortly.” With support from her parents, Shieh is able to keep her business running. Her mother and father are supportive of their daughter’s ambi-
It’s for fun more than anything. Yes, the money’s nice. But do I need it? No.
OCTOBER 22, 2014
tions in selling her creations. “Samantha is really independent, just like I raised her to be,” Shieh’s father Donovan Shieh said. “Hopefully her talent can contribute to the arts society.” Shieh’s business allows her to have real-world interactions with real people, rather than replicating them in a classroom setting. “Overall, it’s fun to put my work out there, interact with the community and make people happy,” said Shieh. a.pimplaskar@elestoque.org
21
Veteran developers shed light on teamwork in Game Dev Club STORY AND PHOTOS BY BRIAN FAN AND JUSTIN KIM
I
graphics. It just has to have its own style.” The final quality is storytelling. Sheu believes that a successful game draws the player into a simulated world, one they can identify with. Many games have repetitive gameplay, but what differentiates a good game from a great game is its storyline. Newer club members, like sophomore Andrew Getting started A game Chang, are looking team working on the forward to this first assignment - a opportunity to space invader’s game learn the ins and outs of game development and pursue goals in the field. As a beginner, Chang sees the club as a way to make his way into the world of game development. “I wanted to houselearn how to draw keeping Senior Wilcharacter concept liam Sheu explains art for video games,” Chang how to store games designers are responsible for Singing dragons said. “I was the game’s aesthetics. Senior Ray zhang interested in They create the character designs how people explains how to and models, environment and user in the create initial interface. In a way, according to Sheu, gaming graphics graphic designers turn the programmer’s industr y code into something recognizable to the do their players, a concept Sheu describes as translation. work, art Perhaps the least appreciated part of would work, and game design, and Sheu’s focus for integrating seldom be I wanted to with other fields, is writing. The writers are able to invest emotionally into the game.” learn how to do important because they create the story that Design is important as well. While many that.” emotionally binds the player to the game. believe that the more realistic the graphics and “Hopefully, we are For example, games like Telltale Game’s The textures are, the better the game looks, that is successful in our integration and students start Walking Dead are able to succeed despite not always the case. In some cases, style and thinking about the creation of video games having few mechanics and low graphics. They execution outweigh any need for realism. as the combined efforts of a wide variety of thrive due to emotional bonds that gamers “We still want to emphasize how important fields,” Sheu said. form with the main characters. an aesthetically appealing game is,” Sheu said. “These are the guys that make that relatable “It doesn’t necessarily have to have realistic t is the synthesis of thousands of lines of code, highly sophisticated graphic design and pages of gripping, inspiring narrative. Some say it is an art form in and of itself. Others claim that it is a way to express one’s self. Senior William Sheu, president of the Game Development Club, aims to show students that video games are not only a source of entertainment, but also a way for artists to tell a story. A game team’s technical skill comes from the two programmers. These members make up the project’s backbone, writing perhaps thousands of lines of code in order to make the game work. Ideas would not become realities without the programmers bringing them to life. The team’s graphic
character, that give him or her a personality. The guys who write stories that make players emotional,” Sheu said. “A lot of people aren’t certain of their importance, but without writers, a player
b.fan@elestoque.org | j.kim@elestoque.org
22
EL ESTOQUE
DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH Laughing, like any abusive substance, should be taken in moderation
A
s the first couple months of school and be the lighter fluid to another teacher’s come to a close, our classrooms are bad joke flame. And while I enjoy your (sucbecoming less like organized units cessful) attempts to liven up the room, I defined by the “ringing” of bells and more don’t want to catch myself laughing at terlike tightly-knit units of collective struggle rible puns next period because too much doand mental violation. Think about it: today pamine is pumping through my system. you’re more likely to smack the kid next to Since I have evolved into the student that you for snoring during a lecture than you were during the first week of class. The smack then would have meant, “I’m physically aggressive and have several (mugshot) SHE’S THE MAN restraining orders against me,” but now it’s more like, “This is for your own good. And your grade. Which to you are probably the same thing.” smacks the flies instead of joining them in I’ve come to realize how many of my their irritating voyages through classrooms, fellow students’ idiosyncrasies have frusit’s gotten increasingly hard for me to tell trated my easily-distracted mind. And with whether a Laugher is genuine or if they laugh that, I’ve also come to realize that maybe purely to kiss up to the teacher. I remember my quirky traits irritate my classmates. being constantly distracted by one student’s There’s one type of student that we all have extremely screechy giggle during a history in at least one of our classes, and the stuclass a few years back. I’d run out of class dent I used to catch myself epitomizing: The the second it ended, just to give my bloody Laugher. As I said that, I know someone, or ears a bloody break. I remember how horseveral someones, popped into your head. rifying it was to hear that same cackle out Whoever they may be, you know exactly at lunch. In my experience, if a Laugher can who I’m talking about. It’s really hard to cool the cackle out during lunch, chancignore someone who laughs at everything. es are those laughs are the butter to Don’t get me wrong, I love a good laugh your teacher’s burnt toast of a joke. just as much as the next guy, but I hate But if you do recognize that distincthinking that I might be the person picking tive laugh sometime outside of class, up all those irritated glares whenever someThe Laugher is no longer sitone cracks a joke, even the stupidest pun. uational — they laugh Let’s face it: teachers think it’s pretty aweperpetually. some to continuously make cringe-worthy Literally not evjokes during class. The laughs they get from erything is funny, their students, no matter how half-hearted but if your perthey may be, fuel the fire that is a truly terspective on the rible joke. A teacher will stop those painful world was seen puns if they are consistently met with crickthrough the ets. Yeah, kid-who-laughs-at-everything, blinders the anyou’re the reason the rest of the class’s ears noying kid in are bleeding out. So if the teachers are the your class has on, arsonists, The Laugher is the lazy firefighter you’d laugh your who got stuck sliding down the pole back at head off at the the fire station. prospect of muBut to the teachers that are genuinely tilating puppies. funny: keep it up. No matter how lengthy I would be the or monotonous lectures are, your jokes keep first person to students awake, which may just be a high admit to a pretschool teacher’s hardest task. Just be wary ty good joke, but of how hyped-up you get your students — they could carry it with them next period
the funniest liners are typically situational humor, and that’s not the stuff a Laugher tends to cackle at. I would know — I used to do it, too. Maybe next time a teacher makes a painfully horrible puns with the names of students in your class, and the kid next to you cackles like a hyena, raise your hand and blow your teacher’s mind with some thought-provoking spiel that potentially reveals how they’re using lame puns to hide behind the fact that their lecture is about as interesting as a piece of tissue paper. Hey, wrecking your teacher and that annoying student may just make the rest of your class thank you. I pose one last question to the student who chortles constantly through class: do you honestly think everything is funny? Please, don’t make me laugh.
SARAH RAMOS
OCTOBER 22, 2014
s.ramos@elestoque.com
El Estoque Illustration | Vishal Nagar
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COMPLETE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SERVICES http://www.megaprep.net 1072 S. De Anza Blvd. A207, A208, A209 Tel. (800) 738 - 1689
Kathleen Yuan | El Estoque
INDIVISIBLE This is a school of contradictions. On one hand, we are a single student population, a single organism made up of 2,373 individuals. Indivisible. On the other hand, we feel different, dwarfed. Invisible. A survey of 138 students reveals that 46 percent of students feel like a minority at MVHS in some way. Mathematically, you can divide 2,373 people into any infinite number of groups â&#x20AC;&#x201D; there are so many possibilities that we cannot label each one. Nonetheless, these groups exist. The boy in this photo is one of 2,373 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a member of a population, from one body of people, and yet he is reminded every day:
He is a minority.
OCTOBER 22, 2014
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SPECIAL
STRETCHING the
BOUNDARIES Examining gender disparities in class
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BY VARSHA VENKAT AND JADY WEI
Amidst the large mass of shoes in front of dance teacher Dasha Plaza’s third period classroom on Oct. 13 is a pair of large black Vans sneakers. Surrounded by colorful flip flops strewn across the floor, the shoes seem out of place, but to the students in Plaza’s class, this has already become a norm. The wearer of these shoes is senior Ching Lam Yung, and much like his shoes, Yung stands out — he is the only boy in his dance class. Yung represents a somewhat unrecognized minority at MVHS: in a survey of 138 students, 33 percent of respondents stated that they do not know of male minorities in various classes at MVHS. Although MVHS is known as a diverse school, both culturally and otherwise, there are prominent gender disparities in many classes. Some students claim that these disparities are rooted in their own beliefs, while others cite peer pressure as the main factor. Regardless, there appears to be a general subculture that makes certain classes more “suitable” for one gender than another. What exactly leads to these gender gaps?
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Anomaly in the arts
As Plaza teaches her class the basic dance movements of plié and grand battement, Yung sits alone in the back of room, somewhat separated from the girls who cluster at the front of the room. He diligently takes notes on the feet and arm positions, not saying one word for the entire duration of the class. When his class starts the dance routine, Yung towers over the five-foot tall girls around him. Clad in full black, Yung stumbles slightly as he does pirouettes in the back of the room. He appears distant from the girls in his class, but Yung enjoys the class and the personalized attention from Plaza. For a recent routine that Plaza taught the class, Plaza gave Yung freedom to adapt the dance to his own style. Instead of performing all the movements smoothly, Yung danced the ending with rigid moves. Interestingly, Yung almost didn’t have this experience at all. During Running of the Bulls, Yung decided to take the class because he sought more
exercise and wanted to be original. He said that while his friends are aware of his love for individuality and he has a female friend who has broken the supposed gender norms by taking weight training, they had doubts about his decision. “[My friend was] like, ‘You’re aware of the gender thing right...’” Yung said. “It’s like, ‘Yes, I’m completely aware. That’s exactly why I wanted to take it!’” Although Yung was able to ignore the stereotype that deters boys from enrolling in dance, he recognizes that a major reason why students stay away from certain classes is peer pressure. But this is not peer pressure in a general sense; he cites a very specific form of peer pressure as a major influence on students’ decisions. “It’s only the peer pressure from the same gender that’s stopping [people],” Yung said.
Class culture
While students like Yung believe that peer pressure and gender-based stereotyping are the main sources of the disparities EL ESTOQUE
Yifei Wu | El Estoque
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in classes, others, like senior Leon Rovner, a student in English teacher Scott Catrette’s class, find that the academic culture plays a bigger role in the gender gaps. Rovner thinks that the reason for the low male enrollment in AP Literature classes is more rooted in the heavy workload than gender stereotyping. He said that many of his friends opted to take a different class simply because they did not want to to take a harder class, instead hoping to focus on the college applications process. He said that another likely factor at the root of students’ apprehensions is the general teenage hesitance to be unique. “The main hill you have to get over is whether you want to stand out or not. A lot of people talk about how they want to
change the world and be special, but to do that you have to be different,” Rovner said. “And that’s terrifying.” Physics teacher Jim Birdsong’s AP Physics classroom is one that epitomizes the stereotypical gender gaps in the current education system. According to Birdsong, girls make up about 20 percent of his AP Physics classes, a low amount. Although some years are better than others, he usually does not see more than 10 females in a class of about 40 students. “Nationwide, there’s a perception that technical careers are tough on women,” Birdsong said. “Not that women can’t do it or can’t excel, but that the men in those field can be mean, juvenile and hard to deal with. Maybe [women] have heard about those stories and they don’t want to put up with that.” Birdsong believes that a major cause of the significant gender gap in classes like AP Physics is the faulty perception that careers in the physical sciences are uncommon for women, and thus remain reluctant to enter those fields. This stigma affects MVHS as well; from Birdsong’s personal experience, his strongest Physics Honors female students ultimately do not choose to take AP Physics as a continuation. Junior Meghal Gupta is an exception. Her love for mathematics and physics led her to take AP Physics this year. She is one of four female students in her class. Gupta notes that there is a significantly higher gender gap between the Physics Honors and AP Physics classes, but she has not let societal biases affect her; she continues to enjoy physics and
The main hill you have to get over is whether you want to stand out or not. And that’s terrifying.
OCTOBER 22, 2014
ble one: regardless of the desires and wills of teachers and administration, they ultimately cannot force an increase in female participation in classes like AP Physics, as that would be considered discrimination. “All [Administration] can do is offer the courses and encourage girls to take them,” Birdsong said. v.venkat@elestoque.org | j.wei@elestoque.org
Identifying the
GAPS
*
26%
Women work in STEM fields, as opposed to 74 percent of men
67.8% Female majors in literature and languages
senior Leon Rovner plans to major in something related to math or physics. Birdsong said that one possible source of the disparity is the gender-breakdown of the school. “There is some research into single-sex classes and that tends to improve learning for both genders,” Birdsong said. “But there are equity issues with instilling that in a public school. I know in some private schools — especially the all girl schools — their physics classes are full.” However, this solution may not be a feasi-
60.9% Female majors in visual and performing arts
*according to American Community Survey Reports Sept. 2013 27
A SPECIAL
Two years younger
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Shreya skipped only seventh grade. The social gap was greater than when she skipped kindergarten. “I had a lot of close friends from sixth grade that I had to really try to still keep in touch with and not leave behind,” Shreya said. “It was definitely a little more awkward, because I’m now a grade above them even though I was already a year younger than them.” Shreya remembers that a few of her
friends from sixth grade began treating her differently, as if she was a different person after skipping seventh grade. At the time, she wondered if it was due to envy, but realizes now that it also could have been the sudden difference in both grade and age. However, not all friends resent Shreya for her younger age. Sophomore Ankita Chatterjee, who became friends with Shreya at the New Student Barbeque held in Aug., says that the two-year age gap between her and Shreya has no effect on their friendship. Chatterjee initially discovered Shreya’s age when they were talking about and sharing their wallets. In Shreya’s wallet, Chatterjee found the numbers “2001” on Shreya’s MVHS student ID card in place of the expected “1999”. Shreya’s friends went on to banter with Shreya about her age, but Chatterjee says that having to overcome this age gap makes Shreya stronger. “I guess [age gap] is not that big of a deal,” Chatterjee said. “As long as the person is mature, I don’t think it matters much. Age doesn’t really factor into a lot of things.”
Making the most of it
On the other hand, Shreya says that there was still little academic challenge in eighth grade even though she skipped two grades. Shreya knows her dream of attending medical school in the future entails a great deal of education and as a result, she believes that her two-year head start in education will aid her in the long run. Her father Shikhar believes the same. “[In college and university], your age will really help because by the time you are 25, you could have two or three degrees,” Shikhar said. “It’s a matter of taking a slightly tougher route, but getting ahead overall when it comes college time.” Although some are skeptical about the worth of grade acceleration and the motives of students who do skip grades — sometimes students who skip grades are seen as
Kristin Chang | El Estoque
Age 11. Sophomore Shreya Parjan could have been a high school freshman. Age 14. She could have graduated high school. But Shreya chose not to skip three years. She only skipped two. Skipping three years meant that Shreya would not be able to drive until sophomore year of college. She would miss out on the coming-of-age moment associated with obtaining a driver’s license. In Hillsboro, Ore., Shreya passed an aptitude test in preschool and entered first grade at age five. At that time, skipping one year made little difference to her. She continued through elementary school, which she described as beneficial — in terms of education. As a result, she grew worried when she reached the end of elementary school in sixth grade; the middle school, South Meadows Middle School, offered a less challenging education. According to the Oregon Department of Education’s report card for 2012-13, South Meadows Middle School was rated “Below Average,” based on factors including standardized test scores in reading and math. Concerned for her own education, Shreya spoke with her elementary school counselor, who suggested that she take another aptitude test. She performed so well on this test that she was offered the choice of skipping middle school entirely and entering high school immediately after graduating from sixth grade. However, the potential three-year age gap between Shreya and the other ninth-graders troubled her family. Shreya’s father Shikhar Parjan recalls that he was worried regarding the social aspect of Shreya’s growth. “She was not getting challenged at the lower level, so we encouraged her to test for a higher grade,” Shikhar said. “But I think three years was where [her mother and I] drew the line. We didn’t want her to be [like] a child prodigy who does medical school by 15. People don’t take them seriously.”
and you are getting a chance,” Shikhar said. “In the global world, there are thousands of kids just as accomplished as you. They may not have the same choices or chances, but given half a chance, they would gladly be in your shoes. Make the most of it.”
In life, every day, every year is important, and you are getting a chance... Make the most of it. Shikhar Parjan
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“showing off” — Shreya and Shikhar both believe that in Shreya’s case, grade acceleration was the right choice. “In life, every day, every year is important,
As far as fast as possible
But Shreya’s Java teacher Debbie Frazier believes otherwise. Grade acceleration reflects a common mindset at MVHS — trying to get as far as fast as possible. When students fall into this pitfall, their end goal becomes reaching the final destination without traveling the whole distance. Frazier doubts the motivation behind this mentality. EL ESTOQUE
YOUNGER AND Age gaps challenge classroom norms
But Frazier also says that skipping grades may have made sense in Shreya’s case. “Maybe [Shreya] was reading ahead of everybody,” Frazier said. “[It’s] perfectly logical — she already did all the work, so maybe she didn’t have to do all the years.” Sophomore Rachel Zhou has chosen a similar route of grade acceleration. She took a biology course over the summer before freshman year and continued studying biology at MVHS in freshman Biology. After the two comprehensive courses, she felt ready for more and took a chemistry course during the summer before sophomore year. Zhou is currently taking AP Biology as a sophomore. Zhou says that the age gap in her class has not been a major issue. “When [my classmates discovered that I was a sophomore], there was nothing really OCTOBER 22, 2014
WISER BY MINGJIE ZHONG
negative or positive,” Zhou said. “After the initial shock, some of them said, ‘Oh, I wish I did that.’ For the most part, afterwards, they were really accepting.”
Age versus identity
Shreya asserts that a social gap is still present. She is not completely open with revealing her younger age as she doesn’t feel that age constitutes a crucial part of her identity — it only reflects the part of her that wants to be more immersed in learning. Nevertheless, attitudes towards Shreya still shifted when classmates discovered her younger age in ninth grade. “In ninth grade, [most classmates] didn’t find out until the year was already halfway over. It was kind of awkward. We weren’t on the same ground anymore,” Shreya said.
Shreya only moved to Cupertino this past July, and she says that the chance to learn with other talented, intelligent students at MVHS was the main reason her family decided to move. It was not entirely imperative that her family move to Cupertino, yet the tremendous pressure to succeed at MVHS appealed to Shreya’s dedication to learning. “What I really appreciate about MVHS is that the competition here really prepares you for the competition [for college],” Shreya said. “In my old school in Oregon, I was easily the best of the best. But MVHS really teaches you to work for the things you want to achieve.” m.zhong@elestoque.org
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A SPECIAL
At 3 a.m., she woke up. It was still pitch dark outside, but she soon dressed and walked around the house. She thought about what it would be like — in one month, she would be staying in New York and would wake up at the exact same time to travel from the hotel to Carnegie Hall, where she would perform a seven minute piece. She wondered what it would be like to have the spotlight drape on her shoulders as she sat under the grand arch of Carnegie Hall. In early 2013, sophomore Erin Chen, then an eighth grader, won two international piano competitions, the American Association for Development of the Gifted and Talented International Piano Competition and American Prodigy Competition, and gained the opportunity to perform in Carnegie Hall twice, on March 31 and April 20, 2013. The competition was simple: the contestants only had to send videos of them playing a music piece. Out of the thousands of contestants from all over the world, Chen ranked first. A month before her performance, she woke up every day at 3 a.m. to get used to traveling early in the morning. Then at 7 a.m., she practiced the music that she would perform so that by the time of
the performance in New York, she would be used to the jet lag and be used to performing early in the morning. “I am really serious about performances, so I want to feel ready, not only for this one, but [also] for every performance,” Chen said. Chen has been playing the piano since she was six years old, like many other students; and she enjoys playing the piano, like many other students. But unlike many other students, Chen aspires to go to Juilliard School and become a pianist. She is one of the seven percent of students on campus who plans to pursue one of her hobbies as a career. In fact, piano has long been more than a hobby. “Piano is my life,” Chen said. Her love for piano became even more clear when Chen gained experience with other instruments. She joined band in eighth grade not because of her interest but because her friends had joined. She disapproved of the band director’s attitude toward mistakes. “I played really badly, but the band teacher would be like, ‘Oh good job,’” Chen said. “And I cannot bear that.” Perhaps because of her strictness with herself, her mistakes
HER OWN
TUNE BY YIFEI WU
What she is doing may not be unique, but how she is doing it is
seemed overbearing. She tried to practice more, but she could not play as well as she expected. Chen soon stopped going to band and focused only on piano. Nowadays, despite her heavy course load and other activities, Chen practices piano for at least three hours every day, even if it means that on certain days she can only get two or three hours of sleep. According to author Malcolm Gladwell, one needs at least 10,000 hours of practice to excell at something. Chen is one of the few who have reached a 10,000 hour limit at such a young age. For years, the first thing that Chen does when she gets home is start practicing right away so that she will have enough energy to sustain her through the practicing. Chen usually warms up her fingers with several fast songs, then moves on to the “real practice” — eight pieces of romantic and classical music. But it is not something new to her. And every time she makes a mistake, she will stop, go back and practice the part over and over again until she gets it right. “My mom has always told me, if you make a mistake the first time, you have to correct it before it gets worse,” she said. Chen describes her experience with piano as a rather lonely journey. Outside of her close friend group, only a few people know about her commitment. “It’s not something to brag about,” Chen said nonchalantly. Even though she is aware that there are some other talented pianists in the community, she has not reached out to them. “It’s kind of awkward to be friends with your competitors,” she said. Because of this, Chen has a small group of people to rely on when she faces challenges. Her friend since seventh grade, sophomore Mei Li Ho, has given her daily support. Also playing the piano, Ho often tells Chen not to worry too much about her upcoming competitions and performances. “She tends to stress a lot because she cares so much,” Ho said. Chen’s parents, from the beginning of her journey in piano, have also given her full support, from driving her to competitions to encouraging her to pursue a piano major, her parents, especially her mother, have been her strongest support. Her mother, who used to cover up her ears during Chen’s performances to block out her anxiety and fear of hearing Chen play a wrong note, recognizes that Chen is different from most of the MVHS community. “She knows that piano has been my foundation, so she is okay with me not pursuing [a career in] STEM,” Chen said. Nevertheless, Chen has to face the stress and anxiety of performances and competitions alone, but she has learned to become strong and to play in the performances and competitions with confidence. “When you are on the stage, no one can support you [but] only yourself,” Chen said. y.wu@elestoque.org
GETTING the
GRADE An average MVHS student’s GPA is 0.5 points higher than the national average. That means that the top 10 percent of students have a GPA of 3.97 or higher and the bottom 20 percent of students have a GPA in the range of the national average, 3.1. As the desperate scramble for that top 10 percent results in a culture of academic elitism, those with nationally average grades are deemed the inferior minority. Here’s what members of the MVHS community have to say on the subject.
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“It got to a point where I should have asked for help, but I just felt so uncomfortable around [my teacher] that I didn’t want to.” Anonymous junior
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I can’t make you great at Math. I can’t make you a great writer. But if I can find that thing that interests you, I can help you get where you need to be.
Yifei Wu | El Estoque
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Counselor Nikki Berri
I try to make Biology accessible for every student. But if a student is still struggling, I try to find out what is going on. Then we can work from there.
Biology teacher Pooya Hajjarian
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SPORTS v
Two cross country runners make a second family on a service trip to Kenya
Photo used with permission of Madeleine Yip
ACROSS COUNTRIES
BY SHARON TUNG ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TRISHA KHOLIYA
T
he alarm set for 5:45 a.m. went off, feet; running has found a way into the heart As members of the MVHS cross country and junior Madeleine Yip and senior of Kenyans, not just as a sport, but as a way team, the relationship they forged as longJulia Chang opened their eyes to the of life. From the professional trainers to the distance runners is comparable to sisters. Yip mosquito nets that hung over their beds in Kenyan children that run miles from their and Chang first met out of respect to each the High Altitude training center. Outside houses to school, the will of the Iten locals other’s dedication to running, and the duo the windows, it was still pitch black, but the set precedent to Yip and Chang’s new outfollowed each other in practice ever since. girls were ready to slip into their training look in this year’s cross country season. The trip provider Chang chose targeted Iten, tights and windbreakers. It was summer in In December of 2013, Chang stumbled Kenya, for its popularity as the leading runAmerica, but on a different hemisphere, the across an ad for a service trip that would ning capital of the world. However, alongside girls were greeted by the chilly morning air place her in Africa. STRIVE is an organizathe polished running centers, there existed as they stepped outside the hotel. Jogging tion that gives groups of high school stua whole another face of poverty that never six miles around the facility track makes the flashy headlines. Anyone as their 7 a.m. ritual, they passed by can hear about the plight of the Afri“[The children] see learning as other out-of-country track stars. can children, but only a few as Yip and Yip and Chang were running in something more special. Nothing Chang have delved into the kids’ lives, Iten, Kenya, as part of their volunstraight into the classrooms where they is given to them. That’s why they learn their daily lessons. teer and training program. Famed for its 8,000 foot elevation, Iten has Chang and Yip got their first taste appreciate learning more.” become an increasingly popular loof Iten when they were driven on a seniorJulia Chang cation for runners to train in its actruck around the dirt streets to their hoclaimed facilities. The high altitude tel. Shops, vendors and animals spread is believed to be one of the secrets to out over the dust trails in the town. In how world-class Kenyan runners were able dents a chance to train and serve in counthe more rural areas, there were stretches of to make their name in the racing domain. tries from South America to Africa. Yip farms and several sparse mud huts. It was According to the New York Times, almost a heard the opportunity from Chang, and not long before they shed their outsider staquarter of Iten’s 4,000 residents live by their both agreed to commit to this trip. tus and felt the welcome of the Iten residents.
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EL ESTOQUE
OCTOBER 22, 2014
Photo used with permission of Madeleine Yip
Photo used with permission of Madeleine Yip
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FAR LEFT: Kenyan children bid volunteers farewell on their last day. TOP LEFT: Junior Madeleine Yip assist a child cross a hurdle. TOP RIGHT: Kenyan children at Kamariny Elementary School study where the girls volunteered. BOTTOM LEFT: The girls pose for a picture with David Rudisha (center), the current world record holder for the 800 meter. RIGHT: The girls run at cross country practice on Sept. 29 at the Cupertino Resevoir. around soccer balls made from trash bags and performed dangerous flips. Aspiring to be as hard working as the children, Yip vowed to complain less during the cross country season. Yip learned about the work ethic of Kenyan runners through reading, and gained perspective on what it means to “run like your life depends on it.” Kenyan runners train to gain enough recognition to run in world-wide events, so they can win prize money to build a proper house back in their home country. “[At cross country practice,] before a workout, we just groan, and are like ‘I don’t want to do this,’” Yip said. “Kenyan runners just take it. I should do that, too.” For Chang, the trip was more for gaining a global perspective. She enjoyed traveling to a new country and trying many traditional Kenyan foods, such as ugali, a doughy dish made of steamed maize flour and chapati, a soft flatbread.
Sharon Tung | El Estoque
Photo used with permission of Madeleine Yip
Photo used with permission of Madeleine Yip
“If I walk on the road with my friends in Kenya, a bunch of people would just say hi to us, as if we’re their friends,” Yip said. “Here [in Cupertino], people would be more wary. It’s a lot more community-based in Iten.” Then, they arrived at their destination. The High Altitude Training Center was designed for serious athletes, with straightforward rooms composed of only a bed, closet and bathroom. Unlike a regular American hotel, there was no TV, and the only way to access Internet was in a downstairs room. The rooms reflected the way Kenyan runners would train for races, by only focusing on their goal and nothing else. Each day, after the girls finished their morning run near the hotel, they arrived at the Karminary Elementary school to volunteer. On the first day, Chang and Yip opened up the textbooks to teach the children mathematics and English, but they came to the realization that any of the teachers there can teach those materials. What the children lacked was knowledge in subject-verb agreement and an English-speaking friend. To help the kids improve their fluency in conversations, the girls put aside the books and sat down at the desks to learn about each child. When Yip told them about America, about the computers in every room and the crowded suburban houses, the kids listened in awe. With a click on the Internet, anyone in America can get a picture of Iten, but the children could not imagine anything other than the dirt roads and spacious fields they grew up in. Every morning, grade-schoolers would wake up at 4 a.m. to do chores around their two-bedroom houses. One room was for cooking, another for sleeping. The kids not only shared the living space with their parents and siblings, but goats, cows and dogs. After finishing up their chores, kids ran to school at 9 a.m. in battered, donated shoes. Families owned no cars, so children relied solely on their feet as a way to run miles from home to school, then school to home for lunch. Their feet became hard and calloused over time, weathered by the sand and dust. Yet the kids arrived at school each day with a wide smile, ready for a new lesson. “[The children] see learning as something more special,” Chang said. “Nothing is given to them. That’s why they appreciate learning more.” During the break time, Yip and Chang sat down on the sides to watch the kids play. Running and bouncing, boys and girls rushed over to them to coax them out of their seats. Following the children’s instructions, the girls joined in on the kids’ version of dodgeball and Chinese jump rope. On the side, other children play hand games, kicked
“Be really open-minded, and don’t be afraid to try new things,” Chang said. “If someone asks you to try their food, or one of their activities, just do it. You’re never going to be able to do it once you come back.” After three weeks, the two girls flew back to Cupertino. On their last day in Kenya, the school held a farewell ceremony where everyone came together to hug and bid their farewells. Hot tears flowed down Chang’s cheeks when she said her goodbyes as the school children laughed at her show of emotion and the acknowledging teachers stood on the side. It is likely the girls will never meet the children again, but Yip and Chang will never part with their memories of their three weeks across the globe. “Teaching [at] the elementary school kids helped me form the connection with them,” Yip said. “They were like my little brothers and sisters.” s.tung@elestoque.org | t.kholiya@elestoque.org
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SPORTS
Better off
Students find that off-season training improves skill BY MALINI RAMAIYER
Malini Ramaiyer | El Estoque
True team practice At school tennis practice, juStarting a Racquet Junior Sarah Lim runs ahead niors Uma Kirloskar, Sarah Lim and Austin Chan hardly sweat. of junior Austin Chan on Oct. 2. Along with junior Uma Instead they end up laughing Kirloskar, the two trained at a clinic at Cuesta Park. and occasionally playing games. “School practice is more for agree that they wouldn’t have On Oct. 2, Choudhury placed [finding] who you work well made the school team if it fourth at a league-wide tournawith,” Chan said. weren’t for the clinic. The play- ment among 94 runners and first However, these three CCSers need to improve constantly at the Artichoke Invitational on level tennis players do sweat at so that they can remain competi- Oct. 4. His year consists of cross their clinic for 2.5 hours, four tive during the season. While country, off-season, track and times a week year-long. At Cuesschool practice focuses on team field and off-season. ta Park in Mountain View, their cohesion, the clinic emphasizes “Off-season training is recoach Daniel Schnapek runs this developing individual skills. ally important for running [beclinic for approximately 20 ath“It’s about improving so you cause] if you do not do it you’re letes. Each practice includes can make it to the higher level going to enter the season out of warm up runs, dynamic stretchduring the season ” Chan said. shape,” Choudhury said. “It’s es, more runs, games, punishalso a really good opportunity ment runs, to improve.” two rounds During the school season, of drills and Choudhury focuses on speed. It’s about improving so you matches, The team runs roughly 50 miles can make it to the higher with water per week, and it’s the fastest 50 breaks inmiles they can run. level during the season. terspersed “[In the off-season] you have junior Austin Chan throughout. a lot of time to do a lot longer K irloskar runs,” Choudhury said. “We and Lim began playing tennis Running ahead call that base mileage. If you in middle school. Then, in sevWhen senior Rohan Choud- do base, you’re building a lot of enth grade, Kirloskar introduced hury started cross country in muscle.” Chan and his brother freshman sixth grade, he didn’t take it While a run during the seaJustin Chan to the clinic. very seriously. son is five to seven miles, an “I’ve never been happier anyAs a freshman, Choudhury off-season run can be 13 to where else,” Kirloskar said. “It’s grew to enjoy cross country. 14 miles. Since these runs can easy to make friends when you Now a third-year varsity cross get long, he trains with a small have a common interest.” country runner, Choudury is group of people that can keep Chan, Lim and Kirloskar one of the fastest on the team. up with him. 34
Sharon Tung | El Estoque
A
lthough MVHS sports seasons only run three months of the year, many Matadors begin the season better than how they left off. Not only do they remain fit, they also improve their skill. Whether going through speed drills or running 60 miles a week, these Matadors find that off-season practice, especially with friends around, helps start the season off right.
Head of the pack Senior Rohan Choudury races in front of his teammates at Cupertino Reservoir on Sept. 29. Choudhury practices year round. Senior Akshay Thontakudi, on Choudhury’s off-season team, finds that training with Choudhury is inspirational. Over the summer, Thontakudi and others reached 55 miles per week, and Choudhury made it to 60. “I enjoy training with him because he is a goal that I always have in front of me,” Thontakudi said. Choudhury introduced Thontakudi to long distance running their sophomore year, and when they train together, Choudhury helps him keep his pace. 50 miles per week for two seasons, and 60 miles per week for two off-seasons may seem tough — for Choudhury, it’s relaxing. Choudhury is waiting to see if he can take cross country to college and make it a part of his future. “It would be kind of weird if I stopped,” Choudhury said. “I don’t know what I’d spent my time doing.” m.ramaiyer@elestoque.org
EL ESTOQUE
The pit crew The players receive most of the spotlight, but parents play a crucial role. By Kalpana Gopalkrishnan and Sanjana Murthy Avni Prasad | El Estoque
The Photographer
H
Brandon Chin | El Estoque
Sanjana Murthy | El Estoque
e’s learned that the lighting’s best on the opposite side of the bleachers. He’s found that players look a lot stronger from lower angles. He’s discovered that knee pads prevent the sores from turf. Arnold de Leon, father of field hockey goalie junior Amelia de Leon and the official field hockey team photographer, has grown since he first signed up for the job when his daughter was a freshman. “I’m kind of a little bit obsessed,” de Leon said. “I love it. I even stay for most of the JV games if time allows.” While most in the Bay Area follow the (Top) Field hockey paremt Arnold de Leon crouches down during MVHS’s game 49ers or the Giants, de Leon’s team is MVHS against Cupertino High School. De Leon’s favorite spot to take photos is on the field hockey. He’s there for almost all home and right side of the lower field. (Right) Ernest Hua prepares his camera to record the away games, and he shows his love through his photos, snapshots of time that remind play- MVHS varsity girls volleyball game against Palo Alto High School. (Left) Jill McDonough claps for her son sophomore Aidan Gottlieb as he runs during practice. ers of a single moment. “From game to game, there is progres- spired by his interest in volleyball and his de- Aidan Gottlieb and 2014 graduate Bridget sion,” de Leon said. “I get excited about sire to protect his children has made Ernest Gottlieb, loves the kids on the cross countrywatching [them play]. It’s like, wait, they’re Hua, father of sophomore varsity volleyball team. Though she wouldn’t classify herself as doing better!” player Amanda Hua, a vital part of the girls an “uber parent,” she notices how dedication As a child, de Leon never joined a sport. He volleyball team. can move kids to the front of the pack. didn’t see himself as an athlete. He was too Whether it’s capturing the game on video “[It’s interesting] seeing evolution in...the short, too uncoordinated. Now, field hockey for the players to review later or assisting the kids,” Donough said. “It’s not as obvious if fulfills his sports fantasy. Every year on Parent coach, Hua is willing to do whatever he can to you don’t go to the meets. It doesn’t mean as Playday, when the field hockey parents get the support the team. much when you just read about it.” chance to learn the game, de Leon gets to be As one of her main duties, McDonough “In the beginning, it really was just about on the field. helping my kids, but I’ve started to realize that chaperones the cross country trip to Los AnIn less than three years, he’s found a pas- this has become so much more than just that,” geles each year. She has just has much fun sion, a sport and an there as the athletes do. Hua said. extended family. “You’re still sharing a room with another As a former volI SOMETIMES COUNT THEM “I sometimes leyball player himself, parent, chatting all night,” McDonough said. count them all as my ALL AS MY CHILDREN. One of McDonough’s favorite aspects Hua understands the children,” de Leon pressure that comes about cross country is that you can cheer for field hockey parent Arnold de Leon said. with knowing that the runners on the different schools. The meet is Kneeled next to whole team is counting never a rivalry, but it’s still a competition. the opposing team’s “I [remember] I was rooting for someon you, which is why he does his best to help goal, de Leon’s presence is one of a father, a out at games and practice to make sure that body’s brother,” McDonough said. “And he photographer and an integral member of the the players and coaches can focus on bringing kind of looks at me like, ‘What?’” field hockey team. For meets, McDonough provides snacks, their best game. The Assistant As he watches the game, he never takes his eye off the ball. Not once. When the point goes to MVHS, he claps with a proud smile on his face. When it doesn’t, he looks down, disappointed, yet hopeful. What started off as a simple hobby inSEPTEMBER 24, 2014
“It’s not complicated,” Hua said. “I just try to do whatever I can.” The Super Fan In the last five years, she’s only missed two cross country meets, home and away. Jill McDonough, mother of sophomore
times, arranges carpools, or otherwise just cheers for the kids. “I think everyone likes that little bit of attention,” McDonough said. Though she may not believe she’s “uber,” McDonough’s assistance does not go amiss. k.gopalkrishnan@elestoque.org | s.murthy@elestoque.org
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SPORTS
PLAYING WITH
HONOR
MVHS refocuses on sportsmanship BY ALINA ABIDI
Sharon Tung | El Estoque
RUNNING THROUGH CHEERS Cross country runners cheer for their teammates after their own races on Oct. 2. supporting each other is an official policy of the team.
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Flores explained that this year, the orga- bonding activities with other players. Flores nizations Challenge Success and PTSA are and Assistant Principal Mike White felt that working to create a more open and respect- Hawkins’ athletic background and speaking ful environment at school. Although no con- skills fit well at MVHS. “Do not have an expectation of someone crete events are planned for other students so far, administration is working internally to else before you put that expectation on yourhighlight positive classroom behavior. While self,” Hawkins said, emphasizing that athan offensive name change in last year’s year- letes, specifically upperclassmen, have the book did contribute to the sportsmanship responsibility of setting an example. Girls water polo, one team that hopes to emphasis, Flores said that the main catalyst was working with Challenge Success and lead by example this season, plans on ending viewing the results of the stress survey stu- a cycle of internal problems. “We’re really lucky on our team this dents took last year. “Sixty percent of our kids feel a connec- year,” senior Kylie Constant said. “There’s tion to an adult, which means that 40 per- no seniority, which was a big problem last cent don’t,” Flores said. “Challenge Success year. That in itself makes me the most proud really exposed us to evidence that [commu- to play on our team.” nity building] is lasting and worthwhile.” He and Athletic Director Brian Sullivan were looking for ways to promote sportsmanship and integrity, and workshops for athletes seemed like the perfect opportunity. Athletes who attended the four-period-long workshop listened to Hawkins HANDSHAKE IT OFF Girls volleyball players high five speak about support and responsibilities Los Gatos High School players on Oct. 14. One of the before participating in team’s goals this season is increased communication. EL ESTOQUE
Joshua Tsuei | El Estoque
t the final point of a girls volleyball set, the line judge declares the ball out. The players on the bench, who are sitting right beside her, disagree and start to mutter under their breath, “Are you blind?” but they stop and look at each other. Sportsmanship, they decide quietly, and drop the issue. When a rally result seems skewed, juniors begin to boo before their class officers climb onto stools and shush them with their hands. Sportsmanship, they whisper, as the seniors run down the bleachers and celebrate. At the final whistle of a rough field hockey game full of uncalled fouls, players yank out their mouth guards and run to their coach, ready to yell. Sportsmanship, she says and reminds players to cheer for and high five their opponents before expressing their frustrations in private. Though sportsmanship has always been a focus at MVHS, administrators, coaches and teachers are pushing for it this year, starting with workshops for athletes. On Sept. 29, motivational speaker Keith Hawkins spoke to fall athletes about being positive influences. This was the first of three workshops this year that will target student athletes, who make up approximately a quarter of the student body. “[Central Coast Section], the governing body of our athletics, has been really focused on sportsmanship,” Dean of Students Nico Flores said. “We’re governed by character and pursuing victory with honor.”
to students — it can also come from parents. According to junior Karissa Mi, in club volleyball games, rowdy parents from the opposing team sometimes sit directly behind players. “It’s rare, but sometimes they say stuff to you,” Mi said. “Or they’ll cheer really obnoxiously. Parents will yell at refs and parents will get red carded.” This attitude spreads to players, and Mi explained that when teammates stop communicating breakdowns happen. Mi remembers one game her freshman year when the team lost to Ly n b r o o k High School, a team they had beaten earlier in the season. They felt that the loss indicated skill decline. During the postgame talk, which Mi thinks of every time she goes to LHS, ever yone was crying and players took out the loss on each other. Mi believes that PICTURE DAY Girls water polo seniors Maddie Lee and Gayatri when teams stop being Ketavarapu pose for a selfie with junior Nicole Deacon and encouraging coach Cyrus Kahangi on Oct. 15. The team prides itself on on the court, improved internal sportsmanship. it shows off junior varsity, played “summer polo” with the court, whether they snap at each other their new coach, Cyrus Kahangi. The team or stop talking entirely. One of Mi’s favorite parts of volleyball competed in the Junior Olympics together, giving them an opportunity to practice com- is the high energy huddle after each point, when the player either congratulate or competitively as a team and get closer together. “There was no seniority,” Deacon said, fort each other. “When we’re all cheering it makes a re“because we weren’t in a school environment, ally big difference,” Mi said. “The bench we were in a team environment.” Increased respect among players also too. The players on the court feed off the helps the girls stay sportsmanlike when fac- bench’s energy so much. If the bench is quiing aggressive teams. Ravichandran feels et, it makes the court more quiet.” This season, the volleyball team is focustheir team is diverse and that the different perspectives the team offers create a ing on talking more, and the whole team healthy sense of competition. Overly violent agreed that a surprising comeback in an earor rude teams fuel them to work harder, but ly league game was largely due to consistent the greatly increased support of their team communication and encouragement. Cheering on teammates can also play a keeps them from sinking to their level. Unsportsmanlike behavior is not limited large part in individual sports, according to
Justin Kim | El Estoque
According to Constant and returning varsity juniors Monica Ravichandran and Nicole Deacon, underclassmen were treated poorly last year, and the dynamic has completely changed this year. All three played on varsity during their sophomore years, and all three felt unappreciated by the team’s upperclassmen. In Constant’s sophomore year, one older player told her, “You’re the reason we’re losing this game.” Constant remembers how heartbroken she felt at the moment and cannot imagine that happening this year, due in part to the team’s summer training. Most of the players, including those on
OCTOBER 22, 2014
CHECK OUT COVERAGE OF KEITH HAWKINS’ WORKSHOP AT ELESTOQUE.ORG/ SPORTS freshman Derek Lee, who runs cross country. The various levels compete at different times, so each group cheers on another before and after their own races. “Our coach [Kirk Flatow] tells us, ‘You better cheer, because they need inspiration’,” Lee said. “He also tells us where not to cheer people on because after the hills, people are ready to flip you off if they see you, because they’re dying.” In each of Flatow’s meet sheets, detailed PDFs filled with inspirational quotes, parking instructions and a list of volunteers and organizers to thank, he writes in bold letters that all athletes should cheer on their teammates, because supporting the team is part of being on the team. Lee explained that runners often lose their voice cheering for their teammates, and even though he’s not on a team sport, he feels the support of his team and can tell that they care how he performs. Supporting teammates on and off the field was another main part of Hawkins’ philosophy. He concluded his workshop by offering the microphone to anyone who wanted to speak. People were discussing obstacles in small groups and occasionally someone would get up to grab a tissue from the boxes scattered around the gym. Everyone stopped talking when students walked up to the microphone and began to speak. Some shared personal experiences, like the loss of a loved one, and others apologized or forgave people in the room. Hawkins explained that although this presentation was for athletes, they weren’t just athletes, and they needed to learn about respect, and honor and compassion. “You are responsible for the energy you bring to those around you,” Hawkins said, as he stepped down from the stage and walked toward Flores, who was standing with principal April Scott in the back of the gym, quietly listening to the presentation. Flores explained that although only 150 of the 300 athletes they were targeting made it to the workshop, this was a start, and a good one. He hopes that student athletes will take the messages they learned and share them with the community, starting with friends and classmates, and ending with a slightly smaller focus on scores and a bigger focus on respect and honor. a.abidi@elestoque.org
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SPORTS
Breaking the ice
The Sharks game reveals the uncomfortable dance of ice hockey
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hile I waited on the doorstep of my friend Rachael Mathew’s house, all I knew about hockey was that the ball goes into the goal. At 6:40 p.m., ready to watch the Sharks game, I sat in the Mathew’s living room. Rachael recited APUSH facts, her brother Kevin played basketball upstairs and I nervously glanced at all the ESPNs on the television guide. After scrolling up and down to find the channel, we started to watch the game preview. “They’re playing the LA Kings,” Rachael said. “The Sharks suck.” Rachael was only upset because last season she had cheered for the Sharks, and they disappointed her in the end. The Sharks had started off the season tremendously well, but at the playoffs, the team started losing, and the Kings, who had barely made it to the playoffs, started winning. The Kings won so much that they took home the Stanley Cup, which seemed like a big deal until they showed Kings players eating Fruit Loops out of it. Rachael and I, with Mr. Mathew, sat through an hour of the Kings parading their victory from last season. They showed off their banners, skated around in circles and waved their Tiffany & Co. Stanley Cup rings. I was discussing Ebola with Mrs. Mathew when the game began. At first, the players’ motions seemed choreographed. They skated around the rink, and the play ended. They glided over to the middle with rhythmic breaths and the play started again. Everything made sense. The players try to score goals on the other side, simple. The teams seemed to have a system, a planned performance — until the fight.
From their hideouts, the referees blew the whistle after a good minute during which the players might as well have dove head first into the ice. The players were sent to their timeout spots and the elaborate dance continued. Except this time, I noticed the pushing, the shoving, the falling and the painting of the
rink wall with a Sharks player’s face. Kevin recounted another game in which a player’s four front teeth were knocked out. Daniel Alfredsson of the Detroit Red Wings just picked up his teeth, gave them to the bench and continued the game. Hockey is ruthless and scrappy, not graceful or synchronized. According to Mr. Mathew, the lineup changes every 45 seconds. Thirty seconds gives them no time to accomplish anything, but one minute is enough ROOKIE OF THE YEAR to exhaust and eventually pummel them. After 15 minutes, I started to look up picAs one commentator stated, hockey is untures of Nat Wolff when two players dropped comfortable. their hockey sticks and held up their fists. I The Sharks had scored two goals by the thought it was a part of the game because second period. Unfortunately, the goals were the referees kept their distance as the players made so quickly that I couldn’t even see them skated around each other. And suddenly, the in the replays. hockey game became a wrestling match. When the Kings tried to score, goalie Antti
MALINI RAMAIYER
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Niemi sat firmly in the goal or fell into splits formation. To the Sharks, defense was king. By 8:38 p.m., we got distracted by Mrs. Mathew’s kale chapathis and talked about the time she saw Patrick Marleau at Trader Joe’s. As I turned back to the game, the Sharks scored again, and I actually saw it! In the re-
Alina Abidi | El Estoque
play! Tommy Wingels broke away and scored right around the goalie’s splits. Ten seconds later, Marleau nudged another in. Ice hockey reminded me of the scene in Kung Fu Panda where Po and Master Shifu fight for the last dumpling with their chopsticks. The dumpling moves all around the rink as the pandas scramble furiously for the last bite. The Sharks team was Po. Everyone underestimated them, especially the esteemed Master Shifu, the Kings. After all, they lost to Shifu in their first round of the playoffs last season even with a 3-0 series lead. Throughout the game, the commentator’s words, the numbers, the names, they went over my head. Despite Mr. Mathew’s earnest explanations, I still don’t know what the blue lines are for or what icing is. I can’t even remember what the timeout spot is called. All I know now is that in this jarring dance of ice hockey, the puck goes into the goal. m.ramaiyer@elestoque.org
EL ESTOQUE
What’s in your bag? Senior Hannah Pollek’s essentials for volleyball PHOTO AND STORY BY JYOTSNA NATARAJAN
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Pollek receives a variety of reactions to her Spiderman socks. “Wearing the socks makes me happy and maybe they’ll help me channel the same strength and agility that Spiderman has!”
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Pollek created a first aid kit for any emergency. “One of my teammates...had really bad blisters in [her] palms. So she had to use four blister bandages as well as put tape over them in order to actually practice.”
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Pollek carries a tennis ball to stretch out her foot. “I have plantar fasciitis, which is tendonitis in the arch of my foot...I can set this on the floor and roll it to put pressure on my arch.”
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Pollek collects wristbands and keychains. “Those serve as kind of an inspiration as well as just being able to tell that this bag is mine.”
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Knee pads are essential for a volleyball player. “These are the ones I’ve had...since eighth grade. [This pair] is my favorite.”
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Pollek always keeps a snack. “One time, I thought I didn’t have anything, so I went through the different pockets of my bag and found the lone protein bar!”
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Pollek carries headbands to match with her jerseys. “If I didn’t wear headbands, I would be miserable because my hair would be in my face.” j.ntarajan@elestoque.org
October 22, 2014
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1 Senior Hannah Pollek is playing on the varsity volleyball team for her third consecutive year. For Pollek, volleyball is less strenuous and more enjoyable than the other sport she plays, basketball. She believes that “quirky” rituals, like the team’s cheers, makes volleyball different from any other sport. Whether it be a game or a scrimmage at practice, the contents of Pollek’s bag prepare her for any situation. 39
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