El Estoque will accurately inform our community through well-researched, unbiased and in-depth accounts of stories of the student body and staff, local news and developments and taboo topics prevalent in and near the MVHS realm. By investigating a variety of voices and credible perspectives, we hope to foster active discussion, effect positive change and spread awareness of timely and relevant content. As a trustworthy, consistent and reliable source of information, we strive to be accountable, adaptable and ready to correct and address our mistakes. Constantly striving for improvement, we will uphold integrity and ethics to be respectful and empathetic to one another, our sources and our readers. We will exercise our press freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment and California Ed Code 48907 while maintaining a community of reporters with a strong passion for our work and journalism as a whole.
LETTER FROM THE
Fall is a busy time for all of us. As August blends into October, students and teachers are still finding their rhythm, navigating new faces and expectations. Revised AP testing policies and highly anticipated Homecoming skits both buzz in students’ minds as we learn to balance academics with the excitement of being back in school. Additionally, California’s 10 finalized propositions are a reminder that the 2024 U.S. elections are creeping closer, amplifying the sense of urgency and stress we all seem to feel.
Instead of getting caught up in the moment, we’ve decided to take a step back and reflect on what’s happening around us. Our Features package explores the challenges of immigration and intersecting cultures that shape our community in ways many of us may not always see. Through these four stories, we highlight how each of us strive to make MVHS — and Cupertino — a home.
But it’s not just about the challenges. In this issue, we also want to celebrate those who work tirelessly in the background, often without recognition. We take a look at the parents and students who run the Snack Shack — work that funds programs like AVID and creates a sense of community during football games. We zoom in on the effort our classmates pour into Homecoming week, culminating in an unforgettable week of spirit. And of course, we celebrate our friends — like Kiana Mark, whose 1,000 volleyball kills remind us why we take pride in being Matadors.
It’s easy to get caught up in the moment, but sometimes, taking a step back helps us appreciate the unseen efforts and stories that make our school what it is. Take a look around. We’re off to an incredible start — here’s to an amazing year.
Alyssa Yang
PHOTO | LILLIAN WANG
Jami Lim
Ananya Chaudhary Kathryn Foo
Alan Tai
Samika Bhaktar
PHOTO | SANIA NADKARNI
PHOTO | MEGHNA DIXIT
A DIGITAL
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Students and teachers discuss the impacts of AP Exams going digital
BY STELLA PETZOVA AND APRAMEYA RUPANAGUNTA
Beginning in May 2025, 28 Advanced Placement Exams will transition away from paper testing. Sixteen exams will be held digitally on the Bluebook testing application, along with twelve hybrid Exams, which will have digital multiple-choice sections. According to College Board, the change occured to “ensure the continued security” of the exams amid a rise in stolen AP exam content.
FUHSD AP U.S. History teachers have previously held annual meetings on whether to use a digital or paper format on the AP exam, with their choice always being to continue with paper testing to prevent cheating. However, the College Board decision has mandated digital testing regardless of teachers’ preferences. To AP U.S. History teacher Robert Hoffman, this change poses a challenge in how
students will prepare for the exam in class. For now, the class will continue with on-paper practices.
“I can’t even fathom or wrap my brain around how I would do document-based questions, long essay questions and short answer questions online every three or four weeks,” Hoffman said. “It would take a lot of time to put all the sources online in addition to transitioning into doing that. The biggest issue for us in class would be how to navigate it. Everyone should have their own personal device and Lockdown Browser. Then there’s the issue of AI. There’s a lot of things to figure out, but we want to give the students the most authentic experience possible.”
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Junior Elaine Chen, who is currently enrolled in AP U.S. History and plans to take the exam in May, has
previously taken the AP Computer Science A and AP Chinese exams. She notes that the digital AP Chinese exam faced technological challenges, like connectivity issues, while the testtaking experience of AP Computer Science A, which was a paper exam but will transition to digital in 2025, went more smoothly. Junior Anika Ramachandran is currently enrolled in AP Biology and plans to take the exam, which will use a hybrid format. The multiple-choice questions will be held digitally on Bluebook, and the free-response questions will be handwritten. Ramachandran shares Chen’s sentiment, citing potential logistical challenges as obstacles to a smooth testing experience.
“My initial reaction was that it must be really tedious,” Ramachandran said. “It just creates a lot more work
for College Board because they have to vet all the devices, and things can go wrong. People all around the country, and probably outside of the country, are going to be taking the AP Biology exam at the same exact time. With that many people, the server is bound to crash, which is just going to cause more issues.”
While Chen believes that the perceived downsides of a digital format outweigh the positives, Ramachandran agrees with the change regardless of the downsides. Ramachandran’s ideal AP Biology exam would be fully digital rather than hybrid, ensuring that there is the ease of typing the free-response questions.
“I don’t really love the whole paper test taking process, especially with the free-response questions,” Ramachandran said. “My hand cramps up a lot, and it’s very hard to write, especially in pen, because you have a bunch of ideas going back and forth. Digital is a lot easier for typing and checking your answers. With a hybrid format, there’s a very hard switch that you have to make with your brain — to turn it off
from the digital world and start writing is pretty hard.”
AP English Literature and Composition teacher Randall Holaday prefers the digital format for the AP English Literature exam, which switched to digital last year. He doesn’t share Hoffman’s concerns about AI, as the exam tests students’ skills at interpreting texts rather than memorization of facts, which could be easily done by AI. As a teacher, Holaday favors grading digital rather than handwritten essays during his class, stating that the digital format “saved his life” by eliminating difficult-todecipher handwriting. In addition, he believes that students, who are often more comfortable typing rather than handwriting an essay, can write more in the given amount of time and edit
52% of MVHS students prefer AP tests with a paper format
“Writing is not linear — it’s recursive,” Holaday said. “So being able to edit and change things around is just part of the process. With handwriting, you would have to cross things out and there is always a risk of graders not
understanding your work. With digital testing, all that just gets simplified and it fits the whole writing process a lot better.”
According to Ramachandran, the AP Biology teachers, Julie Choi and Pamela Chow, have been integrating digital assignments into the course’s homework. While Choi, Chow and Holaday have made the transition to digital homework and practice essays, according to Hoffman, he and his fellow AP U.S. History teacher Bonnie Belshe have not changed their in-class practices to reflect the new format, choosing to stay with pen and paper for now.
Aiming to integrate digital aspects in class as the year progresses, Hoffman and Belshe hope to start off by assigning online practice tests and assessments on the College Board website. Regardless of the challenges that transitioning poses, Hoffman believes that through collaborative effort, the exam in May will go smoothly.
“It’s going to be a work in progress,” Hoffman said. “It’s going to be a trial and error kind of thing. We’ll see how it goes. But I don’t think it’s going to necessarily impact students’ scores or anything. When we come to May, we’re hopeful that students, even by just practicing on pen and paper, can transition really easily to doing it online.”
*According to a survey of 90 people John Locke’s ideology influenced Paine the control factor
86% of MVHS students who are taking an AP Exam will take two or more digital tests
*According to a survey of 72 people
ADMINADJUSTMENTS
FUHSD Administration changes results in two new assistant principals for MVHS
BY ETHAN KELLOGG AND DYLAN NGUYEN
The election of former HR Director Paula Robinson to the position of FUHSD assistant superintendent on March 12 triggered a domino effect of administrative change. Former assistant principal Nico Flores moved to an AP position at HHS as a result of the changes. Additionally former assistant principal Sydney Fernandez moved to Southern California, leaving two open AP positions at MVHS.
On July 1, former HHS Dean Anthony Nguyen took Nico Flores’ position as assistant principal at MVHS. Nguyen’s past experiences as a teacher and dean make him more aware of students’ needs, and he believes that awareness informs his assistant principalship.
“When I started teaching, I wanted to teach the same community that I grew up in, and I realized that there are so many students that have needs,” Nguyen said. “We have our English Learning population here, our low socioeconomic students here and there’s a lot of students in need, regardless of whatever the needs are. I want to actually make a difference when it comes to intervention.”
to assist the student body by checking student A-G readiness and eligibility to graduate.
“I don’t want students to be lost,” Nguyen said. “I don’t want students to not know that there’s always an adult looking in the background.”
Fernandez’s announcement to leave came later than Flores’, causing the spot to be vacant during the first weeks of school. Assistant principal Janice Chen covered Fernandez’s position temporarily for the first two weeks of school; however, Chen says she faced little increase in work due to the efficiency of the counselor team, referring to them as a “well-oiled machine.”
Taking charge of interventions, Nguyen says his actions are studentforward. According to Nguyen, before making any decision the MVHS administration must understand how the student body is affected and if they are properly represented by that decision. Furthermore, Nguyen helps
On Aug. 23, almost two months after Nguyen was appointed, MVHS principal Ben Clausnitzer released an email to MVHS staff, announcing Educational Options assistant principal Brian Dong’s position as a new assistant principal for MVHS, effective Sept. 3. Dong would officially replace Fernandez’s position within the administration.
Previously, Dong was an assistant principal at HHS, and most recently worked at the district office supporting the Educational Options Program. However, Dong started as a math and computer science teacher for eight years at MVHS.
Associate Superintendent Tom Avvakumovits retires Paula Robinson
Former HHS Principal Greg Giglio replaces Robinson
Former Coordinator of Data and Assesment Denae Nurnberg FormerMVHS assistantprincipal SydneyFernandez movestoSouthern California Educational Optionsassistant principalBrian Dongbecomes MVHSassistant principal
Former HHS dean Anthony becomesNguyen MVHS assistant principal
To Chen, Dong’s previous work experience is an asset for the administration team. Chen attributes Dong’s qualities to his experience in vastly different positions and environments throughout his career.
“Mr. Dong was a teacher and student here, and we were classmates, so we already have a great relationship,” Chen said. “It’s really cool to be working with him for the first time. But he was an assistant principal at HHS already, so he can just jump in since he knows a lot of staff already.”
Like Chen, Dong agrees that his past experiences helped broaden his perspective on what students need. Although he perceived it as a challenge at first, being relocated from teaching at MVHS to being appointed as an assistant principal at HHS turned out to be beneficial for him.
“I learned a lot about the diversity of our community,” Dong said. “My neighborhood was sort of a bubble, and so I didn’t get out that much. Being able to work at Homestead for nine
kids with very different backgrounds. I think that that part really helped me as a person.”
As new assistant principals, both Dong and Nguyen must learn to navigate working with new teams, communities and cultures. Chen advises her fellow assistant principals to take a step back to understand the aspects of MVHS that make it unique, so that as a team they are able to react accordingly. Dong agrees that taking a step back is important to immersing himself in the culture of MVHS.
“I want to know what everyone does here, and that also means being part of the culture: feeling welcomed here and creating a space where I’m here to support our teachers,” Dong said. “My door is always open for them, where I’m responsive, proactive and enabled to follow through with the things they ask for. That’s a lot of what I want to do in my first year here, be part of the culture of the school and be an observer on how things work.”
Former HHS assistant principal Susan Rocha replaces Brooke Chan Former assistantMVHS principalNico Flores takes the assistant HHSprincipalshipat
Nguyen’s goals come from a more personal backstory. Coming from a background where he wasn’t provided with many resources, Nguyen realized the abundance at which students have needs, varying from emotional struggles to socioeconomic challenges. Determined to help students battle their own challenges just as he did, Nguyen hopes to keep MVHS an equitable place where all students are given the opportunity to flourish.
“You are all doing great work already,” Nguyen said. “I see a lot of focus on anti-racist practices and mental health help that makes MVHS the forefront in our district. But for my teaching and leadership philosophy, it’s more about focusing on interventions. I want to make sure that I’m doing good for the community that I grew up with. I want to make sure that all students are represented. I want to make sure that there are no students that fall in the cracks.”
ABOUT ME
NAME:
Anthony Nguyen
FAVORITE FOOD: Lasagna
FAVORITE MOVIE/TV SHOW: The Big Bang Theory
3 ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE ME: Hard-worker, caring, above-and-beyond GOALS: Be a team player
ABOUT ME
NAME: Brian Dong
FAVORITE FOOD: Sushi
FAVORITE MOVIE/TV SHOW: The Matrix
3 ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE ME: Humble, easygoing, silly GOALS: Become part of the school culture
PROPOSITION 4: Authorizes the state to borrow $10 million to conserve natural resources and respond to climate change.
WHAT’S BALLOT?
PROPOSITION 5: Lowers the vote threshold that will allow local governments to borrow money for affordable housing projects from 67% to 55%.
$5M RAISED: Allowing one-third of voters to overrule two-thirds could be undemocratic.
$639K RAISED $0 RAISED
$29.6M RAISED: Local governments’ tabs are almost always put on property owners through higher taxes. The choice to issue a bond should be made only when a broad consensus exists.
PROPOSITION 35: Makes permanent an existing tax on health plans that provides funding for Medi-Cal and otherwise expires in 2026. It’s projected to earn $35 million over the next four years.
$48.7M RAISED: California has relied on this for decades to offset general fund spending on Medi-Cal.
$0 RAISED: No official argument has been submitted, but Gov. Newsom argues restricting how tax revenue is spent handicaps future legislators and governors’ ability to balance the state budget.
PROPOSITION 2: Authorizes the state to borrow $10 million for construction and modernization of public schools and community colleges.
PROPOSITION 33: Allows local rent control.
$31.2M RAISED: The rent is too high. Enough said. Really, though — in 2023, California accounted for 30% of the entire homeless population in the U.S.
$2.4M RAISED $0 RAISED
$53.9M RAISED: Adopting strict rent control legislation will make California’s housing shortage even worse. Property values will drop and developers will be less likely to build new housing, which, in turn, will drive up prices in existing rental units.
ON THE BALLOT?
PROPOSITION 3: Reaffirms same-sex couples’ right to marry by repealing parts of Proposition 8, passed in 2008, that limit marriage to between a man and a woman. This will have no actual effect on who can legally marry due to Supreme Court rulings in 2013 and 2015.
$3.9M RAISED $0 RAISED
PROPOSITION 36: Allows felony charges and increases sentences for certain drug and theft crimes.
$13.2M RAISED: Prop. 36 combats homelessness since drug dependence pushes people to the street. Increasing penalties for drug possession is the only way to force people into treatment.
$1.7M RAISED: Court and prison expenses will be costly, while no studies support the idea that harsher punishment prevents crime or gets people off the street.
PROPOSITION 32: Raises the state minimum wage from $16 to $18 per hour. Fast food workers’ minimum wage already increased to $20 an hour on April 1, and healthcare workers’ will soon become $25 an hour, by Oct. 15 at the earliest.
PROPOSITION 6: A constitutional amendment to end indentured servitude in state prisons. The California Black Legislative Caucus included this proposition in its 2024 reparations agenda.
$609.8K RAISED $65K RAISED
PROPOSITION 34: Requires certain healthcare to spend at least 98% of revenue from a federal discount program on “direct patient care.” The provisions (at least $100 million on expenses other than direct care, owning and operating apartment buildings, at least 500 severe health and safety violations in the last decade) mainly target the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a major player in state and local housing politics.
$30.1M RAISED $1.1M RAISED
$319.5K RAISED $0 RAISED
California voters decide on 10 propositions this November
BY ALYSSA YANG
SCAN FOR MORE COVERAGE
Will
New state legislation bans schools from directly notifying parents of students’ gender changes at school
BY ZAID NAQVI AND ERIC ZHOU
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the nation’s first law banning teachers from disclosing students’ gender identity changes to parents on July 15. This law came after a dozen California school boards implemented policies requiring schools to notify parents of such changes.
Conservative states have enacted similar policies as part of the parental rights movement, which has gained traction in Southern California. The Chino Valley Unified School District attempted to sue Newsom on July 17, arguing that the new law violates parental rights under the U.S. Constitution.
reason to not tell them,” Chang said. “I think it’s important for that discussion to be held on the students’ terms and not by the school.”
However, even with the new law parents may still be made aware of gender identity changes through educational documents, especially if students make official changes in Infinite Campus. Administrator Trudy Gross explains that changes to students’ names and pronouns via the FUHSD Records Change Request would be visible to parents.
64% of MVHS students are against notifying parents of gender changes at school
English teacher Lynn Rose, whose youngest child, Beck, identifies as nonbinary, understands that children can hesitate at being transparent with their parents. As a teacher who supported the addition of “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a novel about two gay adolescents, into the Lit/Writ curriculum and an avid demonstrator in women’s marches, Rose made it a priority to make home a place where Beck felt comfortable coming out.
*According to a survey of 115 people
“We do recognize that there are students who want the change and may not be in a position to either disclose it at home, or it is not supported at home, even if the parents are aware,” Gross said. “We have a process by which the student can go through the transition without a parent, but then they acknowledge that they are aware that parents would then have access to that information.”
ensure the district was not in violation of FERPA, district officials met with attorneys in the past.
According to Gross, FUHSD is not at odds with the new legislation, since staff have not been actively informing parents of students’ gender changes.
For students who submit gender and name change requests without parent support, FUHSD has a separate acknowledgment form to notify students that these changes are visible across educational records. Gross recalls that the district has seen instances where guardians, under FERPA rights, undo the changes their student made to names and pronouns.
“As a person who is gay, I know what it means to be outed,” Gross said. “Unfortunately, the way that records are maintained in a school system, people could have access to the information, but it is not actively outing somebody.”
According to Rose, Beck has plans to pursue a career in family therapy, as they believe that there was a shortage of therapists when they needed it in high school. Rose says she told Beck, who is currently studying at University of San Francisco, to consider never leaving the state for their safety.
“I understand the frustration on the parents’ part,” Rose said. “But I don’t think it’s anybody’s right to out a student without their permission. There are sometimes dangerous situations if students are outed to their parents before they are ready, especially depending on the family
According to the Trevor Project, in 2023, less than 40% of students nationwide believed their household was accepting of gender identity and orientation changes. Junior Rowan Chang, who identifies as transgender, believes this law would benefit students in possibly unsafe
“If the parents are not supportive, then maybe the student has a good
In the second semester of the 2023-24 school year, Chang changed his first name to Rowan and began using this name in classes. While he also came out to parents, Chang says that they do not want him to change his name officially on school records, which left him to unofficially go by his new name.
“Mainly the reason why I haven’t done that form is because I don’t want changes to show up on those records that my parents can see,” Chang said. “Students should be aware of that consequence.”
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA, is a federal law that comes into conflict with California state law, as it gives parents the right to view and request changes to educational records until their child is 18 years of age. To
From her experience as a mother, Rose does not believe that parents have a right to know their child’s gender change without proper consent. Gross affirms Rose’s sentiment and says no one holds the right to out a child.
“It’s your own personal decision around how you express yourself,” Gross said. “There’s always a great worry about ‘Will I be accepted?’”
CULTURE CLASH
The MVHS community discusses living at the intersection of different cultures
BY ANANYA CHAUDHARY, ETHAN EISLER, ALETHEIA JU, ERIN LIU, LIZ LIU, OWEN LIU AND ALAN TAI
THE PATH TO CITIZENSHIP
An inside look at the complexities of citizenship in the U.S.
BY ALETHEIA JU AND ALAN TAI
87% of MVHS students are U.S. citizens
*According to a survey of 119 people
ILLUSTRATIONS | ALETHEIA JU AND ALAN TAI
77% of MVHS students on a visa/green card
say getting a visa or green card is moderately difficult or difficult
*According to a survey of 23 people
32 MILLION PEOPLE
began the citizen application process in 2021
WORKERS FAMILY
*According to the Cato Institute
A CITIZEN’S CONUNDRUM
The MVHS community discusses the challenges with U.S. citizenship
BY ANANYA CHAUDHARY AND ETHAN EISLER
While vacations often signal relaxation, for Chinese teacher Zoey Liu, it was quite the opposite this past year. Liu was planning an international trip to Britain when she ran into a problem: because she was a Chinese citizen, she had to apply for a tourist visa, which required mountains of paperwork and an interview that impacted her work schedule. Unfortunately, the process took too long, and with her departure date coming up, Liu had no choice but to pay extra money to expedite her application.
expiration and renewal dates and hoped to gain greater residential stability by becoming a citizen.
The first benchmark an individual must meet when transitioning from a foreign citizenship to a U.S. citizenship is obtaining an immigrant visa. This can be done through family sponsorships, asylum
13.8%
the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (also known as the Green Card Lottery) which randomly awards up to 50,000 immigrant visas per year. The odds of winning this lottery are only 0.25%, which Liu admits can be a challenge for many teachers.
of the U.S. population
Immigrated from foreign
*According to PEW Research Center
“I know teachers who applied for the lottery and did not get it,” Liu said.
when you’re young or in your 20s. That’s something that’s always hanging over your head.”
Immigration visas lead to obtaining a green card, a visa which represents permanent residency has been granted for the person to live and work in the U.S. Getting a green card can take one to five years depending on the individual’s visa, country of origin, family relations and other information. After gaining permanent residency, the individual must live in the U.S. for five years, or three years if they’re married to a U.S. citizen.
According to senior H-4 visa Resident Hursh Shah, living on a visa is stressful (an H-4 visa is a special visa given to children or spouses of work visa holders). At 5 years old, Shah and his family came to America in search of opportunities and a better quality of life, which he defines as the perpetuated “American Dream.” Since migrating to the U.S., Shah’s family has been discussing getting American citizenship to replace the work visas the family currently resides on.
of the family’s primary visa.
“Because my mom has to support our family with the visa, it’s stressful because she has to keep her job,” Shah said. “I don’t think it would ever happen, but if she ever gets fired, then we’d have to go back. So it hurts her job prospects in some ways because she can’t really move jobs as much because you have to refile for the visa and not a lot of companies want to do that.”
Ma recognized this as an issue, which led to her renouncing her Chinese citizenship in exchange for American citizenship.
“ IT’S JUST MY PASSPORT; IT DOESN’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT MY IDENTITY AND DOESN’T DEFINE ME.
“I was a little sad to let go of my Chinese citizenship,” Ma said. “Being Chinese was always important to me, and initially I was feeling a little down and a little disappointed for renouncing it. Now I’m OK with it because it’s just a passport — it doesn’t say anything about my identity and it doesn’t define me.”
CHINESE TEACHER ZOEY LIU
“The fact that we’re still on a visa definitely hurts a little because, for Indian citizens there’s a huge backlog, and that’s not exactly what the American Dream is supposed to be,” Shah said. “Honestly, I would consider myself more American than Indian. I speak English and I associate more with American culture. I don’t know much about India, to call myself an Indian.”
“ I SPEAK ENGLISH AND ASSOCIATE WITH AMERICAN CULTURE. I DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT INDIA, TO CALL MYSELF INDIAN. H-4 VISA RESIDENT HURSH SHAH
Being on an H-4 visa, which is dependent on his mother’s work visa, Shah is unable to attain a job, which he believes limits his extracurricular opportunities compared to students with American citizenship. Along with his own occupational worry, Shah recognizes the pressures his mother experiences due to being the holder
Shah believes that the process of obtaining American citizenship is a stressful one. In fact, he is already looking for the quickest way he can acquire it for the future. He finds that his main options are studying to get a Ph.D. or getting married — he would prefer the former. “I need to get the citizenship when I grow up, because otherwise my parents are gonna have to go back, and they don’t want to go back,” Shah said. “Even if my mom works for 20 more years, she won’t get her citizenship because the line is way too long, so I’m going to have to sponsor her. That means I need to get citizenship before then. It’s kind of a waiting game and that’s just frustrating.”
As a senior currently applying to colleges, a significant issue Shah has encountered is that because he is on a visa, he has to mark himself as an international student, which introduces increased school tuition, less opportunities for scholarships and other issues. Freshman Emma
Similar to Ma, Liu continues to hold her Chinese identity close to her. However, Liu recognizes the potential outside pressures she may receive as a result of renouncing her Chinese citizenship. Specifically, she cites how her parents have warned her about the judgment Chinese Americans receive from airport workers and Chinese citizens.
“I’m jealous of people who have dual citizenship because I feel like they have the perfect situation,” Liu said. “It’s almost like I have to say ‘I’m American, I’m not Chinese anymore.’ But I still introduce myself to people saying that I’m Chinese because that’s the identity I associate with and nobody can take that away from me.”
UNACCUSTOMED TO CUSTOMS
MVHS students and parents share their experiences of culture shock traveling to their home country
BY ERIN LIU AND ALAN TAI
The moment sophomore Nikhita Srikanth stepped off the plane in India, she immediately began to sweat from a wave of hot, humid air. Trash sitting outside her door welcomed her return to India after three years away. As she walked through the bustling streets of Bangalore, attracting stares for her baggy, Western clothing, waves of noise bombarded her ears — a stark contrast to the peaceful quiet of Cupertino.
being changed and trying to be made better,” Jeleva said. “If you walk into someone’s house and they have this really old kitchen or their floors are creaky, you’d be like, ‘Oh, like what the hell?’ Obviously in Bulgaria, they have new buildings and skyscrapers, but I feel like they separate that into a different part of the city.”
of MVHS students have experienced culture shock when returning to their home country
*According to a survey of 98 people
Srikanth’s experience highlights what 58% of MVHS students recall experiencing when returning to their home country: culture shock. Defined as a feeling of uncertainty when exposed to an unfamiliar culture or environment, culture shock affects students who live in America when they travel back to their place of heritage.
“ I DIDN’T REALIZE IT WAS SO BAD TO THE POINT THAT EVERYWHERE I LOOKED, I WOULD NOTICE PEOPLE STRUGGLING.
MVHS parent Xiaoqiao Meng traveled to his home country of China over the summer. After living in the U.S. for 23 years
as an immigrant, one of the biggest differences he noticed was the amount of high rises and short walking distances to locallyowned businesses in Hubei, compared to the large, spreadout franchises in Cupertino.
lot of electric cars right now, the air pollution is much less compared to five years ago,” Meng said. “People tend to have a higher spirit when I’m meeting them in the street. So generally, I feel it’s better compared to five years ago.”
However, junior Margaux Mojica, who traveled back to their home country of the Philippines over the summer, recalls a more negative experience. Mojica says they felt shocked after seeing signs of poverty and economic downturn in the Philippines, a contrast to their experience in Cupertino.
“I expected there to be a
Junior Nicole Jeleva, who has visited her parents’ home country of Bulgaria every summer of her life, recalls experiencing a different standard of living there. She says many people, like her grandma, use old appliances and live in old buildings. Jeleva believes this would shock people accustomed to the newly renovated homes common in Cupertino.
“Here, it’s more like everything’s being modernized and constantly
Though he appreciates the convenience of Hubei’s high density of restaurants, Meng still felt that his quality of life improved when he moved to the U.S., highlighting the larger living space and easier transportation. However, going back to China this year, he noticed the overall conditions there have improved as well.
“The streets have become cleaner, and because they have a
homelessness crisis, because I know our economy has been struggling lately, but I didn’t realize it was so bad to the point that everywhere I looked, I would notice people struggling,” Mojica said. “I noticed there were a lot of broken-down buildings, which was really surprising. Next to me, famous hotels which used to be really populated became run-down and abandoned.”
While many people strive to stay connected to their culture, they may notice aspects of that culture differ between Cupertino and their home country. Jeleva notes that despite her efforts to stay connected with Bulgarian culture, she still didn’t fully fit in while in Bulgaria, as living in the U.S. influenced her culture.
“When I go back to Bulgaria and I’m talking to my Bulgarian friends, after they’ve talked to me for a while,
they can tell that I don’t live there,” Jeleva said. “In Cupertino, we still follow a lot of Bulgarian traditions, but I feel like our version of Bulgarian culture has become slightly Americanized just because we’ve been here for so long and I’ve had my entire life here.”
Mojica has also noticed that living in America has impacted how they experience Filipino culture, especially in cuisine. Dishes that are relatively common in the Philippines, such as pig’s blood, are unavailable in the U.S., so their family has explored new types of food.
“Here, since we’re surrounded by lots of other ethnic cultures, we kind of include that in our practices,” Mojica said. “For example, we’ve been trying new foods, which weren’t really available in the Philippines, because most of what’s available in the Philippines is Filipino culture and Filipino cuisine.”
year to get used to life in America, Meng now feels comfortable in both countries and is able to adjust quickly when traveling between them. Similarly, Srikanth says she gets used to the different culture after a few days in India, to the extent that she forgets toilet paper exists. She even feels that she’s able to express herself more comfortably while in India.
“ I FEEL LIKE OUR VERSION OF BULGARIAN CULTURE HAS BECOME SLIGHTLY AMERICANIZED JUST BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN HERE FOR SO LONG AND I’VE HAD MY ENTIRE LIFE HERE.
“I feel more able to voice my opinions over there than here,” Srikanth said. “I’m not a very vocal person, but if I go to India I can speak in both my native language and English. People are usually impressed that I can speak my native language, because people from there itself don’t speak it anymore, so that’s probably why I feel more confident.”
JUNIOR
NICOLE JELEVA
Although going back to a home country may be a different experience, ultimately, Mojica says it helps them feel more connected to their culture. The visits allow them to bridge the gap between their cultural practices here in America and in the Philippines. Jeleva agrees, seeing traveling back to Bulgaria as a necessity that she hopes to continue in the future.
However, even people who are able to maintain a close connection with their culture and expect cultural differences are affected by culture shock when visiting their home country. Srikanth, who identifies more with her Indian heritage than her American nationality, says that, while she had anticipated many of the differences between Bangalore and Cupertino, she did not expect how people were much less accommodating in India. Particularly, she recalls a driver refusing to seat her group of four in his car, despite there being a total of six seats. Still, people are able to adapt to differences in culture. Though it took him nearly a
“Going back to Bulgaria refreshes my cultural identity, and I love going back every year,” Jeleva said. “My parents were like, ‘Oh, I don’t even know if we’re gonna have time this year. We have this, this, this.’ I told them, ‘No, we have to find time. We need to go back.’”
CULTURE VS. CLASSROOM
Students discuss the differences between how languages are taught and how the language is spoken natively
BY LIZ LIU AND OWEN LIU
Having spent most of her life in China, junior Lindsey Niu was fluent in Chinese long before she set foot into Advanced Placement Chinese Language and Culture for the first time. Despite coming into class with far deeper knowledge of the language and culture than most of her peers, Niu still found every class interesting – AP Chinese even became Niu’s favorite class, which she attributed to finding enjoyment from helping other students as well as the class’s engaging learning style.
Maria Autran and Joyce Fortune,
both Spanish teachers at MVHS, also aim to make class interesting for all students, regardless of their level. The goals of the Spanish language program include not only preparing students for the AP exam, but also enabling students to hold conversations in Spanish-speaking countries.
“You have some students who want to be a doctor, those that want to travel, and some who just want to get two years so they can go to college,” Fortune said. “I want to build their vocabulary, practice their grammar and build their skills so that I can send
them on to the AP class, but that’s not my primary goal and it shouldn’t be anyone’s primary goal either.”
Although the AP exam in May marks the end of some students’ Spanish journeys, many students have found real life applications for the language. While Niu says the Chinese she learned in her AP Chinese class is useful for people wishing to travel to China, the Chinese they learn is limited to travels and not extended stays.
“If you were in China, you’d be able to use the Chinese taught in the AP
classes,” Niu said. “But in reality that’s not how a teenager in a public high school would talk. People are always using slang. They won’t talk like they would if they were in the Chinese class, because it’s just too boring for a high schooler, for a teenager.”
To Niu, subtleties like these often distinguish native speakers from nonnative speakers, accentuating the qualities of a different upbringing and heritage. Despite this, Autran strongly believes that the content and skills covered in her class will prepare her students to overcome such challenges and to embrace the diversity of not knowing another particular dialect.
“To go out there and explore any Spanish speaking country, there’s varieties of vocabulary,” Autran said. “Even I wouldn’t completely understand someone from Chile, maybe, but everybody will face that. Even as you travel to different countries, you’ll realize that vocab varies. Even native speakers have to struggle with that.
‘el camión’ or ‘el autobús,’ but maybe in some Caribbean countries, they say ‘el guagua.’”
Due to any culture’s vastness as well as its ever-changing nature, Autran acknowledges that it can be difficult to teach and correctly represent in a classroom. Niu agrees and says as a result, topics relating to culture in AP classrooms fail to depict the personal and individual experience, which threatens the distinction between customs and stereotypes.
“LANGUAGES CONNECT PEOPLE. LANGUAGES HELP CONNECT US AND MAKE US MORE ACCEPTING.
TEACHER MARIA AUTRAN
For instance, in Mexico, we say the word for the bus is
But for many Chinese people, like me, I don’t want to be humble at all. I would like people to just praise me, and I encourage them to praise me because I like to hear it.”
“CHINESE CULTURE DOESN’T HAVE A SPECIFIC SHAPE.
JUNIOR LINDSEY NIU
“Sure, AP Chinese covers Chinese culture, and it lets you have a basic view of Chinese culture as a whole,” Niu said. “But Chinese culture doesn’t have a specific shape. For example, the AP classroom teaches that Chinese people always pretend to be humble, or they’re actually humble, that they won’t accept praise.
Autran believes some of the content she teaches from the textbook is outdated, leading her to supplement textbook readings along with online articles. She further explains that the importance of current and modern events is their ability to develop and shape culture — a tool not only used to connect with others in a community but also to instill appreciation for language among kids.
“Kids that are in AP or higher language levels already value the importance of knowing another language,” Autran said. “But I wish we started earlier, even before high school, helping kids understand why knowing other languages could benefit them in the long run and benefit their communities. I wish we could instill this love for language and tell kids that it is valuable beyond the classroom. Languages connect people. Languages help us be more tolerant of other cultures and help us be more accepting.”
REPRESENTATIVE ARE MVHS LANGUAGE CLASSES OF THEIR LANGUAGE OR CULTURE?
*According to a survey of 91 students
PHOTO | ELLIE WANG
MISSING PIECES
TCurriculum needs to capture cultural diversity in world language learning often taught a Parisian variant of the language, complete with formalized structures and archaic greetings that feel detached from the way people actually speak today. Little attention is given to the fact that French is spoken differently in multiple regions across the world, each with its own distinct dialect, accent and cultural context. For example, Quebecois French, with its distinct expressions and idiomatic language, differs markedly from the French spoken in France.
he crowd on the movie screen flickers as they double over in laughter, sharing an inside joke that flies just beyond our grasp — in a language we should understand. That familiar sting of betrayal: after four years of study in a world language, we realize our hard-earned proficiency is no match for the cultural nuances and casual humor native speakers seem to wield so effortlessly, offering no aid for navigating the rich, informal layers of the language and leaving us wondering how we missed the memo on jokes that everyone else (the crowd in that movie) seems to get.
When it comes to language acquisition, schools do supplement syntax and lexicon by introducing students to national holidays, traditional customs and prominent landmarks. However, there is a shortcoming in how these cultures are represented: curriculum is often too generalized to capture the multifaceted aspects of the communities who speak these languages, a reductionist approach that not only undermines crosscultural understanding but also leaves students ill-equipped to navigate realworld communication in that world language.
The problem is not that schools neglect culture, but rather that they offer a narrow, sanitized version of it — one that flattens the complexity of lived experiences into neat, consumable lessons. Our high school French or Spanish curriculum might cover widely-known cultural touchstones, but these are often presented in a manner that suggests they are representative of an entire nation or language community. Such generalizations do not account for the vast regional and generational differences that exist within these cultures.
Likewise, the Spanish curriculum focuses predominantly on Latin American Spanish, neglecting the array of dialects across Spain and Mexico and the most common form of Spanish used in Spain, Castilian Spanish. Slang used in Mexico City is drastically different from the idiomatic expressions of Buenos Aires, just as customs in Chile diverge from those in Spain. By focusing on just one version of the language, the curricula presents a monolithic version of the culture and deprives students of the broader landscape, possibly leading to misunderstandings and reinforcement of cultural stereotypes.
shaped by globalization, technology, generational change or a combination of them. New slang emerges, old customs change and regional subcultures carve out their own linguistic spaces — and yet, many school curriculum treat language as fixed, likely because of outdated standardized AP tests. This rigidity leaves students less than prepared to engage with real people in different, diverse contexts.
Bonjour
Therefore, it’s important that schools work to broaden cultural education within language curriculum by incorporating contemporary culture — such as modern media and pop culture — into their lessons. At MVHS, this standard is met at higher levels, such as in the honors or AP course; however, it’s crucial to incorporate a colorful cultural curriculum at rudimentary levels as well.
For example, formerly conservative countries like China have evolved to more liberal younger generations, yet the Chinese curriculum presents a stereotyped, traditional semiConfucianism society. Therefore, students who are natively Chinese may feel misrepresented, and students who are not educated on the culture are fed an outdated and narrow version of China’s social culture.
In French classes, students are
The heart of this problem is the fact that language is not static; rather, it’s evolving, whether it be
It’s also true that curricula are already overloaded with grammar, vocabulary and exam preparation. Nevertheless, even if it’s not possible to cover every aspect of a culture in exhaustive detail, educators can still make an effort to acknowledge that these complexities exist. By emphasizing that the cultural elements presented in class are only facets of a much larger and diverse whole, teachers can erase stereotypes and breed cultural literacy by eliciting students’ curiosity.
Ultimately, language and culture are tightly linked — understanding one without the other results in a shallow grasp of both. So when the curriculum reduces culture to a few standardized lessons, it strips the language of its richness and only leaves a skewed and oversimplified view.
The MVHS community shares its experiences from the first month of school
BY SAMIKA BHATKAR AND CORINNA KUO
GETTING BACK TO IT FRESHMAN RESPONSES
48%
of MVHS freshmen
rate their first month of school a 4 or 5 out of 5
*According to a survey of 31 people
42% of MVHS freshmen
have made more than 9 friends
*According to a survey of 24 people
LIKES
It feels like the students are more disconnected from each other and into their social groups.
DISLIKES
I don’t like how students seem to not care about cutting the lunch line. They’re wasting time of all the students behind them when they cut.
67%
been to a rally or dance this year
*According to a survey of 24 people
been to a sports game this year
*According to a survey of 24 people
3.4 out of 5 is the average rating for freshmen of the first month of school
*According to a survey of 31 people
MY FAVORITE CLASS OR EXTRACURRICULAR SO FAR IS ...
I really like MVDT as an after-school activity! The girls there are super nice and I feel like I’ve found another family in them.
FRESHMAN NOAH GUAN
MY GO-TO HANGOUT IS ...
The Academic Quad or the top of the B Building.
FRESHMAN NIKOLAS LEE
MY GO-TO HANGOUT IS ...
The Student Union.
SENIOR MADELINE ISCHO
favorites
MY GO-TO HANGOUT IS ...
Hands down the Wellness Center.
JUNIOR JOHN DOE
SENIOR ASTER NYUGEN
MY GO-TO HANGOUT IS ...
The steps in the Rally Court or the MVHS Library.
81% of MVHS students have not pulled an all nighter this school year
FRESHMAN NIKOLAS LEE’S FAVORITE VENDING MACHINE SNACK IS THE SMARTFOOD WHITE CHEDDAR POPCORN.
JUNIOR ETHAN CHIU’S FAVORITE VENDING MACHINE SNACK IS THE ICE LEMONADE DRINK.
FRESHMAN AVNISH SHUKLA’S FAVORITE VENDING MACHINE SNACK IS THE RICE KRISPIES.
SENIOR KANCHAN KAUSHIK’S FAVORITE VENDING MACHINE SNACK IS THE SPARKLING GRAPEFRUIT SAN PELLEGRINO.
STUDENT BODY RESPONSES vending machine
The five tones of Mandarin in Chinese.
SOPHOMORE BECK POLTRONETTI
HOWMANYTIMES STUDENTS HAVEBEENLATE
*According to a survey of 111 people
IS LESS A LOSS?
Why the viral “underconsumption core” trend has a net negative impact
BY ANGELA POON
While scrolling through TikTok, you might come across a clip of a fashion influencer showing off her old clothes, clearly marked with stains or wrinkled. She tells viewers that despite these flaws, she continues wearing these pieces. This is the general idea of the “underconsumption core” trend that has recently gone viral on social media to promote sustainability. In fact, half of MVHS students admit to having purchased something because a social media creator was promoting it. Because of this, the trend aims to convince people to cut back on unnecessary purchases, reducing waste. Smaller creators were inspired to start “underconsumption core” because of the toll that overconsumption, which was caused by fast fashion and large influencers, takes on the environment.
While the intentions behind the trend are good, a closer look proves that the presence of “underconsumption core”
trend took off, a subtrend emerged: an influx of luxury minimalism, the idea that purchasing and keeping highquality items is better than constantly replacing cheap ones. Fast fashion companies have thrived because of their infamously affordable prices, but the products are of poor quality, leading to short lifespans and constant repurchasing. Twenty eight percent of MVHS students have bought from fast fashion brands before, and while this isn’t ideal, luxury minimalism isn’t as realistic or sustainable as the media cuts it out to be either. With the continuously changing cycle of microtrends on social media, luxury items won’t fit into those styles forever.
28% of MVHS students purchase non-necessity items weekly
*According to a survey of 104 people
students in the MVHS community purchase non-necessity items at least every month. While donating can alleviate our impact on the environment by reducing consumption waste, throwing things away still contributes to environmental damage — if the objects don’t break down properly, they produce dangerous microplastics. When social media influencers see this trend as an opportunity to throw away products to promote a falsely minimalistic lifestyle, sustainability is compromised. As trendsetters and content creators, these users are encouraging wasteful behaviors. Throwing away products for an aesthetic change is a quick fix to the temporary issue of keeping up with trends but neglects sustainability in the long run.
Moreover, “underconsumption core” is restrictive because it could convince us that we don’t need something enough to spend money on it. Douglas Boneparth, a certified financial planner and member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council, said in an article, “If you get too caught up in saving income by sacrificing current comforts, are you basically sucking the joy out of things? Are you not allowing yourself to actually partake in some of the more fun or frilly things in life?” He asserts that if people take minimalism too far, they could limit their spending so that they no longer find joy in smaller discretionary spending.
If you aren’t willing to spend money to make your life more enjoyable now,
what will make you want to spend that money later on? Beyond that, if you let “underconsumption core” become a larger force that controls your life, by devoting all your attention to keeping up with a trend and being too frugal to spend money, you could miss out on valuable experiences. Ultimately, “the key word in personal finance is personal,” Boneparth said. You should be able to spend your money the way you want to, and not keep it stashed away just because social media and influencers told you to.
“
IF YOU GET TOO CAUGHT UP IN SAVING INCOME BY SACRIFICING CURRENT COMFORTS, ARE YOU BASICALLY SUCKING THE JOY OUT OF THINGS?
of. However, Solitaire Townsend, a sustainability expert and co-founder of the change agency Futerra, wrote in an article, “Most of us who are following influencers really want them to help us make sustainable choices. We want them to model these behaviors,” which contributed to the rise of creators deinfluencing people from buying into certain products and behaviors.
Revenge spending, a result of minimalism and feeling restricted, surfaced after COVID-19. According to the Corporate Finance Institute, those who felt denied of purchases spent an excessive amount of money making up for what they believed they were deprived
FINANCIAL PLANNER
Even though survey results indicate that consumption at MVHS is relatively under control, with few students noting extreme overconsumption, we still need to recognize these prevalent issues and call for a healthy balance between the two extremities of overconsumption and underconsumption. Some alternatives to underconsumption include thrifting, which is more affordable and won’t
FAST FACTS
add another garment to the world, and investing in higher-end items that last longer, which could be more expensive but don’t necessarily have to be “luxurious.” Overconsumption alternatives can include mending old items instead of buying new ones altogether and keeping how much you spend on fast fashion in check. Essentially, by reducing, reusing and recycling, we can find a sustainable solution by being mindful of the environment. While this trend is seemingly effective because it attempts to convey messages of underconsumerism to counter our previously very overconsumerist lifestyles, “underconsumption core” is problematic as a whole because of its implications on the media, the environment and ourselves.
PRIDE OR PRETENSE?
The MVHS community shares perspectives on the pinkwashing marketing tactic
BY RADHIKA DHARMAPURIKAR
In 2023, Target faced serious backlash after anti-LGBTQ+ riots targeted their recently released pride collection. At one store in Columbus, Ohio, neo-Nazis carried swastika flags and shouted hateful chants while displaying a banner
AND YIXUAN (JOYCE) LI
that read, “There will be blood.” To appease these violent protesters, Target removed some of the clothing that generated controversy among protesters, a response that received criticism for conveying that the LGBTQ+ pride collection was simply
a business transaction rather than a show of solidarity.
This problem is not unique to Target: “pinkwashing” is defined as a marketing strategy typically used by large corporations to appeal to the LGBTQ+ community without actually committing to its values. According to junior and Gay Straight Alliance Vice President Archana Kakar, by releasing poor-quality pride merchandise and posting about pride on social media to raise engagement, brands have proven that their so-called support is more about the profit than the principle.
In addition to Target, H&M and Forever 21 have utilized pinkwashing in the past. In 2021, H&M announced that it would be releasing a “Beyond the Rainbow” collection and donating $100,000 to the United Nations Free & Equal Campaign. However, they were not fully transparent about how much they would profit off of the collection prior to the campaign. The company made over $1.5 billion from the campaign in 2021 alone, making their donation less than 0.001% of their overall profit.
Pinkwashing through menial efforts to support the LGBTQ+ community, according to Kakar, indicate that the priorities of these organizations lie in profit.
“It just looks like businesses put something out for the
sake of putting something out and not like they put any thought into it,” Kakar said. “It makes you feel like they’re just using it for marketing and don’t actually care about the history of the LGBTQ+ community. They just want more money. As a part of the LGBTQ+ community, we are not just your marketing helpers, we’re people.”
This trend of supporting pride simply for the exposure is especially apparent during June, dedicated to the celebration of all the LGBTQ+ community has fought for and the milestones they have achieved. According to junior Megan Yang, Pride Month has turned into a commercial holiday for businesses to profit off of merch and social media promotions.
“Making things rainbow doesn’t do much to put out a statement,” Yang said. “They change their logos to rainbow, they make things more colorful, maybe they put out some products that are related to pride. But that’s definitely more marketing than actually supporting the LGBTQ+ community.”
When looking at some of the products companies have put out in attempts to present themselves as allies, Kakar says corporations equate activism with a limited time sale on rainbow-colored clothing, which can backfire when their effort is minimal. This phenomenon, known as “slacktivism,” is indicative of how some corporations prioritize public image over support, according to Kakar. Biology and physiology teacher Lora Lerner agrees with this sentiment, calling for consistent efforts that are beyond just performative support.
“These companies need to actually be supporting the LGBTQ+ community and not having policies or even be supporting politicians and political movements that are not supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.”
However, according to Yang, amidst the criticism of corporate pride, it is important to recognize that there are still businesses that authentically represent and support the LGBTQ+ community. She recalls smaller brands and some quietly supportive organizations that maintain inclusivity yearround, not just when it’s profitable and trendy. These companies donate to and back initiatives that advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, such as the nonprofit organization GLAAD, to raise the voices of marginalized groups.
“ THIS PHENOMENON, KNOWN AS “SLACKTIVISM,” IS INDICATIVE OF HOW SOME CORPORATIONS PRIORITIZE PUBLIC IMAGE.
to champion, or are they simply leveraging social issues such as pride for profit?”
“Businesses are always going to take advantage of what they think is going to make people have a more positive view of them,” Lerner said. “If you care about supporting the right companies with your dollars, you have to be a little bit skeptical as a consumer of what’s really behind a brand and if they really mean what they’re saying.”
“ IF YOU CARE ABOUT SUPPORTING THE RIGHT COMPANIES WITH YOUR DOLLARS, YOU HAVE TO BE A LITTLE SKEPTICAL AS A CONSUMER BEHIND A BRAND AND IF THEY REALLY MEAN WHAT THEY’RE SAYING.
BIOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY TEACHER LORA LERNER
However, Lerner says that it’s important to recognize that pride has become so much more in the past decade, and she notices society is moving in a positive direction where it is no longer considered unwelcome to voice support for the LGBTQ+ community, and that pinkwashing means that companies are at least willing to show support, even if it is a pretense.
“It’s more than just having a booth at the Pride Parade,” Lerner said.
To navigate the blurry line between genuine support and opportunism, Lerner supports turning to independent organizations or watchdog groups that track corporate practices. However, beyond reliance on statistics and outside information, Lerner also recognizes the importance of skepticism and raises the question: “Are these corporations genuinely committed to the causes they claim
“It wasn’t that long ago that having a pride parade was a dangerous thing to do,” Lerner said. “The police had to guard people in the parade because there might be violence and right now, the police are there to keep the crowds down. Now corporations have jumped into that. Of course, that might be somewhat self-serving, but it’s a pretty strong statement that society has made that leap where it’s not controversial or dangerous anymore to be supportive.”
APPROPRIATE AUDIENCES ONLY
Mature content exposes students to adult themes at an early age
BY JONAH CHANG AND ARCHANA VENKATESAN
Sophomore and Marvel fan Ethan Lin vividly recalls walking into a theater in 2017 to watch “Logan,” 20th Century Fox’s film starring Hugh Jackman as the iconic Wolverine. Lin, who was only a third-grader at the time, was excited to see the conclusion of Jackman’s character in his final solo film. He wasn’t bothered by the fact that the film is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for brief nudity and intense violence.
“I’VE NEVER CARED WHETHER A MOVIE WAS R-RATED BECAUSE MY PARENTS DIDN’T CARE. SO IF A MOVIE LOOKS INTERESTING, I JUST WATCH IT.
SOPHOMORE ETHAN LIN
saw Jackman make his return in Disney’s Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Despite their family-friendly image — Marvel Studios generally produces PG13 films and had only used the F-word once up until this point — the film satisfied fan expectations by continuing the violent, raunchy style that characterized previous “Deadpool” installments, rated R for innuendo, severe violence and 118 F-bombs.
marketing.
“I didn’t pay attention to ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’s’ R-rating in advertisements, I only paid attention to the because they look cool,” Chen said. “I didn’t know that it was R-rated. The advertisement is pretty discreet as well as very convincing.
As R-rated movies find the spotlight, middle and high schoolers may engage with adult themes earlier. Lin found that exposure to these tones did not influence his childhood, since he could not fully understand them. However, as a parent, literature teacher Elly Brown handles mature content differently, believing that age restrictions are essential for the wellbeing of younger audiences.
”I’ve never cared whether a movie was R-rated because my parents didn’t care,” Lin said. “So if a movie looks like an interesting movie, I just watch it. I was pretty excited when I saw ‘Logan.’ I wasn’t surprised by the violence, because it was an R-rated movie. It wasn’t anything special”
In the the summer of 2024, Lin
Regardless of its rating, Deadpool and Wolverine” became the highestgrossing R-rated film worldwide, surpassing $1 billion at the box office and proving that R-rated films’ limited audiences aren’t an obstacle to box office success. According to sophomore Toni Chen, this was possible because of the movie’s
“I think cognitively, kids are just not ready for some material,” Brown said. “I don’t see a benefit in exposing them to something that is too mature because it might scare them or make them feel nervous about a certain topic, or have them speak immaturely about a certain topic because they turn something that isn’t a joke into one.”
For her children, ages 7, 5 and 3, Brown screens movies on a case-by-
William H. Hays becomes the first President of the MPAA and implements an internal censorship system, meant to combat government interference in movie production.
The original ratings included G for general audiences and M for mature audiences. Additionally, R meant audiences under 17 must have parental guidance, and X meant no one under 17 is admitted.
Following ratification, the MPAA created modern ratings, including G, PG (parental guidance is advisable) and R.
case basis to determine if they are appropriate. However, sophomore Toni Chen’s parents take a different approach. Chen is prohibited from watching all R-rated movies. According to an MPAA survey, 62% of parents restrict their child’s access to mature media, yet over 15 million teenagers engage with mature content without adult consent.
“
explore adult content themselves. To combat this, Brown resolves to discuss mature themes in a safe space.
SOPHOMORE TONI CHEN STUDENTS FEEL THAT IT’S BECOMING MORE NATURAL TO ACT A CERTAIN WAY. THEY FOLLOW TRENDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND WATCH MOVIES JUST BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ON SOCIAL MEDIA WATCH.
Because so much mature media exists online through forums, images and videos, teenagers interact with and share adult material early. For instance, social media plays a significant role in students’ media exposure, staging the success of R-rated titles such as “Oppenheimer” and “Joker.”
“Students feel that it’s becoming more natural to act a certain way,” Chen said. “They follow trends on social media and watch movies just because that is what other people on social media watch.”
According to Brown, serious topics require maturity to engage with. Still, even with parental oversight, teenagers
1991
“Terminator 2: Judgement Day” became a groundbreaking action film which paved the way for recognition of other R-rated movies.
“My 3-yearold would have a hard time grasping the fact that fighting scenes are not real, or something that she’s not going to encounter in her day-to-day life,” Brown said. “She might be nervous about that, whereas my 7-year-old
popularity, Brown finds that the ability to assess media portrayals of adult themes is key to healthy interactions with age-restricted material.
“I would rather my children not watch rated R movies until they’re much older,” Brown said. “But I also don’t want my children to be sheltered from certain content, and I want them to know that they will be exposed to things or hear things from their peers. As long as we’re able to have an open dialogue about some of the more serious material in the content they’re watching, I’d be OK with that.”
the norm of superhero movies shifting it away from a focus on catering only to young audiences. Its success prompted the release of “Deadpool 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
conclude Hugh Jackman’s career as Wolverine, offers a different take on serious cinema.
sets the record for the highest grossing R-rated film, earning more than $1.1 billion worldwide.
GRAPHIC | ANIKA BHANDARKAR
EMODIVERSITY
How descriptive terms can help us break into our feelings
BY JILLIAN JU
My drawers are a mess. From the free stickers that came with my Etsy keychains to the fifth-grade love letters I never sent, there’s a lot I can’t afford to throw away. But even though most of those items are busy collecting dust, there is one item I pick up every year or so: my childhood journal.
It’s strawberry-themed, fluffy, hopelessly garish and most importantly, the defining text of my preteen years.
Flipping back through the pages, I find myself struck by how weirdly endearing my childish perspective was. Despite being vaguely aware of my emotions, I didn’t know how to explain them. Why did I want to be liked so much? Why did all the advice I got seem to contradict each other? And why was there no word for how, suddenly, nothing made sense?
So as the fuzzy fruit-themed journal gave way to unnamed Google Docs in middle school, I spent more and more time trying to dig everything out of my brain. It took time, but I figured out a system for working through feelings — write them down, let them sit for a day or two and evaluate from a new perspective. And it feels easy when I summarize it that way, but it took a lot of bad poetry and self-loathing to get here.
would be clearer if they were linear, compartmentalized in their own little drawer.
But that condensed, Sparknotes version of my feelings would also be less genuine, less me — so how would I find balance between self discovery and self acceptance?
Through reflection, I found that there were two critical steps — embracing the diverse set of emotions instead of treating them like a burden, and taking the time to articulate them well.
There’s a word for this: emodiversity, which refers to the variety of emotions someone experiences. It’s a word I enjoy because it passes no judgment on the feelings themselves. It has been associated with better mental and
THERE ARE THINGS WE FEEL, AND SOMEONE OUT THERE HAS THE WORDS FOR THEM. EMODIVERSITY IS A START.
Often, there was just so much to process that the quantity became more overwhelming than the quality. Like a day with a bunch of small and prickly homework assignments, every individual feeling piled up in an uncomfortable heap. I found myself thinking that my emotions
articulate my thoughts when I was
I get the feeling that if I had been able to more clearly
where everything is, organization can happen when we’re ready.
ILLUSTRATIONS | JILLIAN JU
AS A HIGH SCHOOLER
I’m learning to prioritize my interests over others’ ideas of success
BY JONAH CHANG
My favorite band is AJR: Adam, Jack and Ryan Met. Though their work sometimes falls under the pop culture radar, their lyrics always ring true to me. Specifically, the following excerpt from “The DJ is Crying for Help.”
“Now I don’t know what to do with myself / (Da-da-da-da-da-da-da) / You got older ‘cause you’re good at life / I’m all seventeen at thirty-five / Now I don’t know if there’s anything else” (“The DJ is Crying for Help,” Track 8).
Why do these lyrics mean so much to me? After all, as a sophomore in high school, I’m two years from 17 and 20 from 35. Still, the beginning of this section, “Now I don’t know what to do with myself,” resonates with me.
Everything seemed straightforward through elementary and middle school. There was one way to do things and one path to follow: no expectations, no pressure. Now, despite having so much freedom in deciding my future, I feel confined: I don’t know who I want to be.
All my life, I was set on becoming a paleontologist. I loved dinosaurs and knew hundreds of their names. In seventh grade, I was intrigued to learn that my science teacher had shared my dream of digging for fossils across the globe. However, she acknowledged that paleontology was extremely competitive, requiring years of higher education, and would not have been a good fit for her.
Doubt for my future washed over me, and I dug deeper, only to find sources dismissing paleontology as a “starving artist” career. Financial success and fame in paleontology require extreme dedication. For these reasons, I feared commitment.
DON’T
KNOW
WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF
“Who are we to wonder where we’re going? / Who am I to tell me who I am?” (“Netflix Trip,” Track 11).
Aimless, I often wonder how much control I really have over my future. After all, the world is volatile, ever-changing and full of uncertainty.
As a high schooler, I feel as if the success and contentment I’m chasing are not my own, but expectations set by
When I began freshman year, I found myself overwhelmed by choices, pressured to pursue hobbies, discover colleges and contemplate careers. I carefully planned my four year course schedule and stressed over my GPA, hoping to preserve all my options. But, in the end, what would I do with seemingly endless possibilities? I needed to focus and find a niche, something to excel at — something to do with myself. I’ve tried many extracurriculars for the wrong reasons: not to inject passion or bring meaning to my work but to win. And when I inevitably didn’t, I felt stuck, frustrated by what I perceived as a lack of talent and effort.
However, I wasn’t missing skill, but drive and motivation. I found no enjoyment in doing things I thought I had to do. I don’t know what I want to do with myself because I’ve only known what I should want to do to succeed. But society’s success is defined only by achievement and validation; one can be successful but unfulfilled or be fulfilled but unsuccessful. I overstressed the former.
True success comes from actualizing your vision, not society’s. Our emphasis should be placed on fulfillment — on my love for dinosaurs rather than on financial opportunity — not on others’ standards but on the joy of your work.
I’m still finding what I want to do, and I’m not sure I fully trust my judgment. But this El Estoque thing is pretty cool so far. I’ll take it from here.
OCTOBER
HOMECOMING
homecoming from another lens
HOMECOMING MEMORIES
BACKSTAGE BUDDIES
BEGINNINGS AND ENDS
BY
MEGHNA DIXIT,
SANA KARKHANIS, JAMI LIM, SAGNIK NAG CHOWDHURY, AMBERLY SUN, ELIZABETH YANG AND BENJAMIN ZHANG
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BACKSTAGE BUDDIES BACKSTAGE BUDDIES
Choreographers
share the process behind planning the Homecoming skit dances
BY MEGHNA DIXIT AND SANA KARKHANIS
The buzz of excitement and commotion of eager classmates greets freshman Sophie Chen at the door as she enters the gym, ready to teach her peers a new piece of choreography for the class of 2028’s Homecoming skit dance. Meeting several times a week during lunch in the gym or fieldhouse, Chen says the skit dance rehearsals have become a forum for participants to socialize and get to know each other while working towards an achievement for their class.
While preparing for their first-ever skit dance, Chen says the dancers for the Class of 2028 have created a positive environment through encouragement and collaboration, with practices led by Chen along with her co-choreographer,
Dance Team, Chen understands the connection that dance fosters firsthand and witnesses friendships blossoming during the skit dance practices.
“Especially since Kennedy Middle School and Lawson Middle School kids are together now, seeing how they interact with each other gives them an opportunity to unify in one place during lunch and have fun,” Chen said. “They’re having a great time and I think they’re getting closer as well, especially when they ask each other about dance moves instead of just the choreographers.”
The value of building a strong community within dance is something MVDT coach Joy Lee also emphasizes. She says while she has only recently started coaching the team last year, she says she has seen their hard work pay off during the Homecoming performances of the past and has enjoyed seeing them apply their skills to other parts of their lives.
“I love watching the skits every year, especially because a lot of the dance team kids get really involved in it,” Lee said. “It’s something that I celebrate and encourage everyone to participate in because it’s a great mix of school spirit and dance techniques perfectly put together.”
As both a dancer and a class officer, Chen is familiar with creating a balance between the art of dance and school spirit. Although this is her first year on MVDT, Chen had her first experience with choreographing when she was in Leadership at Kennedy Middle School.
She remembered it as a positive experience and used the skills she honed to help her choreograph this
ILLUSTRATIONS | ISABELLE KOK
year’s freshman skit dance.
The choreographers in each grade put a lot of time and effort into coming up with the moves and soundtrack for the dances themselves, Lee explains. The process of choreographing looks different for each dancer, but the overall procedure is the same.
“I think a good way to start is to improv, which means to turn on your music and start moving in a way that feels like it lines up with the music,” Lee said. “And then it will build into a phrase, like maybe three eight-counts of something.”
From there, Chen says if the dance is for a large group of people, the choreographer will teach the group the moves to see how the formations look and workshops the dance from there.
“We found lots of hype and trending moves that would be very easy, uplifting and set a happy mood, so everyone would be glad to come to our practices and learn,” Chen said. “More and more people started slowly coming to our practices, and it became a big hit.”
However, although there are familiar moves present, for inexperienced dancers like junior Rocco Ling, the more complicated moves within the choreography bring an extra layer of stress into dance preparation.
“Some dances have simple choreography, so it’s pretty easy for us to pick up, but for others it’s harder,” Ling said. “It’s trickier for people who are inexperienced, like me, and although I’m trying to pick it up, it’s very fast paced.”
While teaching hype moves is a struggle, senior Lotus Wu faced a different problem of finding hyped dancers. As a current captain of MVDT and skit dance choreographer for the past three years, Wu felt compelled to do it again for the last time but has been struggling to get the dancers to dedicate themselves to the matter.
“It’s senior year, so I’m telling everyone, last one, best one, right?” said Wu. “We should try to make it as good as we can, because we’re gonna be leaving soon. So it’s really frustrating, because the people who are choreographing the dances put so much time and effort into it, and unfortunately that’s not being portrayed.”
The struggles Wu encountered
this year aren’t limited to her class, as the juniors have also had issues with participation in the past couple of years. Ling, who is taking part in the boys and co-ed dances, explains that only five or six junior boys are currently dancing alongside him, and in prior years there hasn’t been a boys dance at all.
“Now that we’ve gotten used to the environment here, we’re more willing to step out of comfort zones and participate in the dance,” Ling said. “Even so, people still aren’t very enthusiastic, which is why our choreographers have to try and entice people to come in and stay a little longer rehearsing.”
As participation continues to be a challenge, Ling believes these issues have the potential to change the final product of the dance, but only if the choreographers let it. Lack of commitment can hinder their progress, Wu explains, but she and the other choreographers don’t let it compromise the execution of
their vision.
It’s difficult to finalize formations since every practice, the number of dancers changes, and I’m under a lot of pressure since I’ve been doing it every year since freshman year,” Wu said. “But I think we can pull it through, and I feel like we can finish everything that we wanted to.”
Despite the unexpected challenges, the dancers and the choreographers remain hopeful that they can execute the plans. While Ling, Chen and Wu face different struggles, they all agree that the end result is always worthwhile. Lee explains that even though creating dances can prove to be stressful for some, the moves themselves aren’t the most important part — the experience and feeling are.
“I always tell my dancers that you’re never gonna remember the steps to every single routine you’ve ever done,” Lee said. “But you will always remember how your audience reacted and how you felt afterwards.”
Sophomore Saanj Rao struts her stuff as she demonstrates the new
The junior boys watch and learn as junior Sarah Yan demonstrates a new piece of choreography.
PHOTO | SANA KARKHANIS
The freshmen girls dance ends their choreography with a bang by celebrating, hoping to hype up their audience before leaving the stage.
PHOTO | SANA KARKHANIS
Sophomore Saanj Rao leads her peers through the completed dance for the first time at practice.
PHOTO | MEGHNA DIXIT
Seniors Selina Wang and Sunny Yao point to each other as they practice for the upcoming co-ed senior dance.
PHOTO | MEGHNA DIXIT
HOMECOMING MEMORIES HOMECOMING MEMORIES
MVHS staff share a glimpse into their Homecoming experiences
BY
JAMI LIM AND AMBERLY SUN
Ashley Voigt
For MVHS guidance counselor and MVHS ‘09 alum Ashley Voigt, some of her most palpable memories from high school are centered around Homecoming, especially the Homecoming dance. Voigt says during her time in high school, attending the dance with a date was more common than not. This led to the unfolding of a relationship with her then high school boyfriend — now husband.
“I married my high school sweetheart,” Voigt said. “And the first time I ever realized we were more than friends was when he asked me to Homecoming sophomore year, so Homecoming is special to me.”
As a freshman, Voigt recalls being enthralled by the decorated events and high spirit of Homecoming. While class skits were not yet a part of Homecoming, Voigt says the week was abundant in festivities and traditions, including elaborate Homecoming floats created by each class to parade with during the football game and a role-swap football game where girls played a flag football game against one another. The football team would coach the teams and cheer on the sidelines during the game using cheers they learned from the cheerleaders.
Voigt says she has particularly fond memories of the rallies, where spirit and camaraderie were highest.
“When I go to the rallies now it just really brings me back,” Voigt said. “Rallies were definitely something that I personally loved and really helped me feel connected to not just MVHS, but the Class of 2009 and our advisors. What I think of during the rallies is I hope that these are memorable events for current students and that they just feel that spirit. These are memorable events during high school that are not about the academics that you can really hold on to later in life.”
Rachel Cassar
When English teacher Rachel Cassar attended Oaks Christian School, she says students seized the events of Homecoming to let loose from the typical structured and sheltered routine of the Christian private school. As Cassar was homeschooled prior to high school, Homecoming served as an introduction to high school culture for her. Cassar’s Homecoming experience is relatively recent, being a Class of 2019 graduate. She says she looks forward to participating in dress-up days during MVHS’ Homecoming week and reminiscing about her experience “Coming into high school, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m a high schooler. This is the real deal,’” Cassar said. “I hadn’t been to school dances or football games, so I was really excited.”
Since uniforms were the daily attire, Cassar says she and her classmates were particularly excited to deviate from the monotonous outfits and dress up for homecoming festivities. Being involved in performing arts as a student, Cassar was particularly committed to dressing up for spirit days.
“It was a very welcome break from khaki and maroon,” Cassar said. “It
was a way to just wear the clothes that you wanted — some people just wore jeans and a T-shirt. It was really nice to see people outside the structured and monitored school environment. It was really fun to dance with people and chat casually and not be about school at all.”
Looking back, Cassar says the Homecoming dance wasn’t a typical experience, as she recalls efforts made by the school to maintain a sheltered environment. Curse words were redacted from music, leaving comical pauses, and many chaperones were present to maintain an appropriate environment. Afterparties were also held by parents to ensure students weren’t drinking and were under supervision.
“It had very iconic Christian School vibes,” Cassar said. “One of the DJs would just turn off the song entirely for three or four seconds every time there was a curse word so we’d all just stand there dead quiet. The experience was a little more unique due to it being a Christian school because they were trying to keep the students contained.”
Clay Stiver
MVHS guidance counselor and CHS ‘04 alum Clay Stiver made sure to attend every Homecoming football game. Despite not being on the team, his passion for the sport and friendships with the football players always drove him to show up.
“The game always seemed to be the most fun, the most packed,” Stiver said. “The team really wanted to win, and were very competitive. I enjoyed the other parts of Homecoming, the rallies, and activities, but I mainly enjoyed the sports and the football game.”
In his senior year, Stiver stepped out of his comfort zone and actively
participated in other aspects of Homecoming by dressing up during Spirit Week and dancing in front of the school during his class skit. Despite his dislike of dance and no prior dancing skills, Stiver recounts how proud he was of himself after learning the choreography for the skit.
“It was my senior year, my last Homecoming,” Stiver said, “I was like, ‘I’ll put myself out there. Give it a try.’ I had friends doing it, so that really got me into it. It made me wish that I had done more my freshman, sophomore and junior year.”
Stiver retains his love for Homecoming, often being involved in certain events. In the past, he has been an escort for Homecoming court, judged skits, worked the scoreboard at football games and been a class advisor. He says he enjoys watching students at rallies or the football game sharing their school spirit. However, he has noticed a decline in Homecoming attendance since he joined MVHS as a guidance counselor in 2009.
“I just wish more people would attend the football game,” Stiver said. “I feel the spirit, but a lot of people aren’t out there watching the skits like they would in the past.”
PHOTO | KRISH DEV
PHOTOS COURTESY OF RACHEL CASSAR | USED WITH PERMISSION
BEGINNINGS AND ENDS BEGINNINGS AND ENDS
Seniors and freshmen share their outlooks on Homecoming
BY SAGNIK NAG CHOWDHURY AND ELIZABETH YANG
Sydney Wong
Prior to coming to high school, almost all the information freshman Sydney Wong knew about Homecoming was from older relatives and media depicting high school life. This year will be Wong’s first time experiencing Homecoming, and after everything she’s heard above the event, she says she is more than ready for it.
“Before coming to Monta Vista, I was vaguely aware of what it was,” Wong said. “I knew that it was something about a big dance, and a big celebration where some people would be crowned as royalty somewhere at a football game. I’m just really amped to see everyone, really spirited, really happy and really motivated.”
Wong says that before high school, she’d always listen to her brother’s stories about Homecoming
Noah Guan
Going into his first year at MVHS, freshman Noah Guan had no idea what Homecoming was or what it meant at MVHS. Guan tried many things to gain an understanding of Homecoming — asking his upperclassmen friends, looking at the MVHS website and watching past Homecoming videos. However, he learned the most when he dove headfirst into the process of helping assist Homecoming preparations for the class of 2028.
“I was kind of pulled in by other freshmen,” Guan said. “The class
with interest. Through laughing with her friends during freshman skit dance practice, her enthusiasm towards the event has continued to grow. Wong decided to join the girls and co-ed dance routines and is particularly looking forward to the Homecoming dance, especially because her involvement in Leadership during middle school prevented her from enjoying a dance without having to plan and manage it as well.
Wong has immersed herself in Homecoming preparation, from joining the freshman skit to asking for votes after being nominated for Homecoming court. Since this is her first year in high school, Wong wants to try everything while she is still a freshman.
“From the perspective as a freshman so far, Homecoming seems like a really cool, really exciting
and new thing that I’d really like to participate in in later years,” Wong said. “I really can’t wait to recommend it to younger people when they come.”
officers got some information about it and pulled me in since I’m one of the guys on the dance team, they needed me to choreograph the boys’ dance.”
In general, Guan says he’s impressed with the progress of the grade, as Homecoming is a new experience for all of them, but he is especially excited to see how the boys dance turns out. Despite setbacks, such as limited practice time during lunches or struggles with coordinating routines, Guan looks forward to seeing what the Class of 2028 has in store for this year and beyond.
“Speaking from my own experience in choreography, I know that everyone’s been working really hard for it,” Guan said. “Just seeing all the effort and all of the hard work that the different grades put in is going to be really amazing. I think that over the years, we will improve. Sometimes I don’t see too much promise, but the fact that we actually have a boys dance is really good. The frustrating part was planning and getting people to join, but they’re doing really well and learning really fast, which is impressive for new dancers.”
Peter Chen
Senior Peter Chen recalls the Homecoming season of his sophomore year, where the theme for their class was “Jurassic Park.” Chen had been a part of the boys dance that year, and watching the dances come together along with the rest of the skit was an experience that made that year truly memorable for him.
Chen has been involved in Homecoming for the past four years, serving as a class officer since his freshman year. His responsibilities included creating skit decs — 20 feet by 30 feet painted cloth backdrops — as well as putting together the skit and dance for each year. However, as the PWresident of the ASB Executive Commission this year, Chen is taking on a different role.
“Now that I’m on ASB, I feel like I’m kind of more hands-off on Homecoming,” Chen said, “It’s a really weird feeling to me. I still try to help out my class with the backdrops, but in the end, it’s mostly them. Especially going into senior year, it’s more fun, and it’s less stressful. Honestly, it’s because a lot of that planning pressure is off my shoulders and I’m just more like an advisor.”
Chen feels that his sophomore year was the best year his class had for Homecoming, specifically citing the high participation that allowed them to have many dancers. Furthermore, he felt that “Jurassic Park” was the best theme that they have had yet. While Chen was disappointed that their class had to cut a boys dance his junior year due to lack of participation, he is
Maya Pullara
It was 2021, and the Class of 2025 freshman Homecoming theme was
“The Game of Life.” Senior Maya Pullara wrote her year’s Homecoming skit, and in her eyes, she believes that her first attempt at comedy was a success. While Pullara has written all of the Class of 2025 Homecoming skits, to this day, she still considers her freshman-year skit to be her favorite work.
“I will always be kind of nostalgic for freshman year one,” Pullara said. “It was the first one I ever did, and it was all pretty new and fun.”
Pullara has written Homecoming scripts for the themes “The Game of Life,” “Jurassic Park,” “Subway Surfers,” and now, “Phineas and Ferb.” She looks forward to seeing her script come to life this year, partially because of her belief that seniors get the best theme.
“I’m so excited for my skit,” Pullara said. “I remember last year after the Homecoming, I was like, ‘OK, next year, I’m getting my grind on, and I’m gonna make a really funny script.’”
Although she still believes that
the freshman script was extremely entertaining, she admits that it wasn’t exactly cohesive. She hopes that this year, being her last year at MVHS, she can write the most cohesive and hilarious script yet.
Being as experienced as she is in scriptwriting, Pullara says she knows how to develop interesting scenarios that are just the right amount of relatable. Over the years, she has also learned how to balance humor and sensitivity, allowing her to stay true to her writing without letting administrative feedback shape her creativity.
“The only thing about scriptwriting is every single time you have to worry about the admin just crossing out lines because they’re not schoolappropriate enough,” Pullara said. “But as Economics teacher Mr. Pelkey might say, ‘You gotta fight the good fight.’ So I don’t think I let that change what I write.”
hopeful about this year’s performance turnout, especially since it is their last.
“When you’re planning the skit decs, it’s pretty painful, especially to get participation,” Chen said. “I’m not starting to feel it yet, but I think when we actually run it and you see the skit in the moment, it’ll be like, ‘Yeah, wow. That’s our last Homecoming.’ But for now, the class offices are grinding it out. It’s hard work, but once you see that reward, you will really realize how far we’ve come.”
Maya Pullara
LEAVING HER
Kiana Mark reaches 1,000 kills in her high school Varsity Volleyball career
BY KATHRYN FOO AND ANANDA SINGH
lthough the Varsity Girls Volleyball game was a lengthy one the Tuesday, Sept. 17 match was a memorable night for senior and captain Kiana Mark. With spectators on the edge of their seats, Mark calmly hit the ball over the net, getting her 1,000th kill in her high school career.
“I was really nervous coming into the game because I was hoping that this kill would be a good kill,” Mark said. “The set was 20 feet off the net and I didn’t even jump, so I just tumbled the ball over. I found it funny that it was my 1,000th kill, but a kill is a kill and I had to celebrate.”
Following the hit, Mark’s friends, family and teammates raised decorated posters that went from 999 to 1,000. Unaware of the post-game celebration her teammates had planned for
her with balloons and tiaras, Mark emphasized how her teammates’ crucial role in reaching this record.
“I have to give a lot of thanks to the setters and passers for trusting me as a hitter,” Mark said. “We have a new team every year and [our success] shows our connection as a team. I can’t just get the kill alone. I need my teammates to get a good pass and set it for me, so it’s really cool that I was able to do that 1,000 times.”
During the volleyball season in her junior year, Mark suffered an ankle sprain, ending her season early. Mark says she’s appreciative of athletic trainer Myesha Taylor.
“I worked a lot with Ms. Myesha after my injury last season and she was really helpful to me,” Mark said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to recover fast enough to come back for the season ended, but club season was in the spring. I worked really hard to start playing in the back row and to play back in the front row.”
Mark says she also went through another pivotal change her junior year, since many starters had graduated. Mark made it her goal to make sure that her new teammates were comfortable with the team’s dynamics. Jenna Bergendahl, a junior and defensive specialist on the team, attests to Mark’s success, explaining how her leadership ultimately contributed to this milestone.
“Kiana’s leadership sets a really good example for her teammates,” Bergendahl said. “She is also very connected to the team and spends time getting to know each of her teammates. She ties the team together and brings the energy.”
PHOTO
Students and staff share about the unsung contributors behind the MVHS football games
PHOTO | MIA WETZLER
PHOTO | MIA WETZLER
HELPING HANDS
Student athletic trainers play a vital role in assisting the athletic trainer with her daily necessities
BY
KATHRYN FOO AND SIH YU (MELODY) LIN
As senior Royce Tse examined an athlete who’d just arrived at the athletic trainer’s office, he pulled from his growing experience as a student athletic trainer on campus to diagnose the athlete’s sore leg as a hamstring injury. Yet as he discussed his prediction with MVHS’ athletic trainer Myesha Taylor, she gently made fun of his confidence, explaining that the injured issue was in the I.T. Band rather than the hamstring. Tse says this experience was just the first of many learning moments.
“I like to try and assess things and see if I get it right to test my knowledge,” Tse said. “But I also love being wrong, because Taylor doesn’t try to make you look stupid at all, and corrects us in a way that helps us learn
and in a very playful way.”
Tse is one member of MVHS’ growing team of student athletic trainers. While the roles of student athletic trainers vary and are also dependent on the sport they are assisting for the season, they are generally required to be on the field or in the training office with athletes at least two to three times a week. Their role consists primarily of assisting Taylor with her everyday work. For instance, junior and student athletic trainer Keatin Lee says his daily responsibilities mainly consist of bringing water to different sports teams and helping wrap ice bags. According to Taylor, student athletic trainers are additionally responsible for pre-game preparations and
post-game clean-ups such as filling water in tanks and water bottles and preparing first aid kits. During games, they also have to keep an eye on the field in case of injuries where they need to run on the field to assist Taylor. Taylor explains that she usually brings around a student trainer during games, demonstrating how she keeps athletes safe.
“For example, with football, I’ll have a student that’s my shadow for the first quarter, and so if I have to run out on the field, the student has to run out on the field too,” Taylor said. “If I have four students, it’ll be a different student each quarter that shadows me and the others help on the sidelines with cramping or any injuries that come.”
Taylor says she has also put
Senior Royce Tse prepares an ice pack for an injured athlete.
immense effort into educating these student trainers alongside their normal responsibilities, sticking with the basics like taping different body parts to keep them more stable. Tse explains that the knowledge has taught him basic safety skills as a soccer player, learning to flex the athlete’s foot or open an athlete’s hand when taping to allow for better blood circulation.
Tse also expresses that his decision to join stems from his personal experience with Taylor, explaining how he had first noticed the trainer during MVHS soccer practices. From there, he explains that his curiosity has gotten him the role and the knowledge he has today.
“Being a soccer player myself and seeing the trainers out on the fields every time we’re playing, I feel bad when we get injured because it’s not easy for one person to carry them around or have to tape a bunch of people,” Tse said. “There’s usually five or six people asking for different things from Taylor at once, so I thought she could use a helping hand and I just wanted to learn what’s going on in the trainer’s office.
Lee echoes Tse’s experience, explaining that his motivation to join the team stemmed from his time with Taylor as she treated his injuries as a wrestler. Although it was initially the volunteer hours that piqued his interest, he explains that even the small things now gives him fulfillment in this role.
the trainer’s office to be extremely rewarding, spending most of his afternoons there. While sometimes the time commitment can be daunting for him, with certain days with football games going from around 4 to 10 p.m, says he is willing to sacrifice his time to learn.
“Sometimes, it can just feel long, but honestly I still stay because I know there’s something that I can learn and because I know I’m not perfect,” Tse said. “I don’t know everything yet, so even though some people would say ‘I’m wasting my time,’ I’d rather be there.”
and increase student interest.
“Athletic training is not a job for one; it’s a team job,” Taylor said. “I need students to help out, as there’s only one athletic trainer here. Many hands make light work, so it’s definitely a team effort.”
“ IT’S NOT A JOB FOR ONE; IT’S A TEAM JOB. MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK, SO IT’S DEFINITELY A TEAM EFFORT.
“ IT CAN SOMETIMES FEEL LONG, BUT I STILL STAY AS THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING THAT I CAN LEARN.
Still, despite their time in the trainer’s office, Taylor acknowledges that there is still much more to learn in the field that the experience of being a student athletic trainer in high school doesn’t cover. However, she believes that this program is a good head start for students who want to learn more about professional athletic training, as she hopes “this little taste of the field will encourage them to keep going.”
STUDENT TRAINER ROYCE
“Knowing that people are getting water now makes me happy because, in the past during my practices, when an athletic trainer wasn’t around, we would have to always bring our own water,” Lee said. “If we didn’t bring water that would just suck, because then we won’t have water the entire practice and it leads to cramping and injuries because of dehydration.”
Ultimately, Tse finds his work in
TSE
Taylor is currently working with athletic director Nick Bonacorsi on forming an official program for student athletic trainers. She’s optimistic they will create a system that will properly train and reward students for their efforts. As of the 2024 fall sports season, students can receive elective credits or volunteer hours for their work in the trainer’s office. In the future, Taylor hopes to partner with school organizations like Sports Medicine Club to help establish her program
TAYLOR
ATHLETIC TRAINER MYESHA
INSIDE THE
SHACK
Snack shack volunteers from various in-school communities help raise funds
BY LEAH DESAI AND MEGHA MUMMANENI
Half an hour before the Snack Shack opens for a home football game, Athletic Food Service President Rick Gallo stands behind the counter, filling water cups, melting cheese for nachos and heating chili for a long night of hungry spectators. As he fires up the grill, the aroma of hot dogs on the metal grate wafts into the packed bleachers, building anticipation for the kickoff.
The Snack Shack typically has seven or more people working inside or at the barbecue grill, with three or four adults managing the group. Everyone rotates through different sections such as preparing the cheese bags, handling the barbecue and taking orders. While any school-based
community can sign up to work at the Snack Shack to fundraise by earning a portion of the profit from sales, the AVID program, a four-year academic support elective for increasing students’ college readiness, frequently runs the show.
Gallo began working at the Snack Shack as an AVID parent four years ago alongside his daughter, senior Maya Gallo. He finds that his childhood expertise in cooking led to his passion for grilling. Despite his role in overseeing the Shack during the first football game of the season this year, he attributes most of the credit to Marcia Kearns, who has been running the Snack Shack for 20 years, but was on vacation at the time of the game.
“She does a lot of prep beforehand — she’s usually running around doing shopping before games, baking potatoes a lot of times, running to get a tri-tip and also cutting up tomatoes and onions,” Gallo said. “So there’s a lot that happens in the Snack Shack behind the scenes that Marcia does to get everything prepped and ready to go for game night.”
As a student in AVID 11, junior Savir Malhotra began working in the Snack Shack last year when he was a sophomore in AVID 10. He chose to participate because the funds go towards the annual AVID 12 Los Angeles trip, in which the class tours some of the University of California campuses, including University of
Parents, teachers and students volunteer at the MV Snack Shack, serving foods like burgers and nachos to customers.
California, Riverside and University of California, Los Angeles, and ends with a Disneyland trip.
Malhotra says working at the service station has not only been beneficial for the AVID program and given him self-satisfaction, but has taught him new skills such as communication, which can be applied to other areas of his life.
“The most memorable experience I had was getting to eat the nachos with all the AVID kids,” Malhotra said. “It was the leftovers, and we just felt so good about ourselves for working throughout the game. Working at the booth has taught me a little bit about how to work in a team, and it’s also helped me grow my speaking skills.”
“ TO ME, WORKING AT THE SNACK SHACK MEANS THAT I’M DOING SOMETHING FOR THE COMMUNITY.
her Varsity Girls Golf team, which participates to cover the expenses of practicing at local golf courses, attending competitions and buying new balls. The team usually plays on the course in small groups of six, and without the Shack, many of the girls wouldn’t get to spend as much time with all their teammates.
JUNIOR
SAVIR MALHOTRA
“I enjoy getting to hang out with my team because I love them so much,” Hwang said. “Doing team bonding stuff, like the Snack Shack, we get to hang out with the whole entire team, and not just people who only go on the course and people who practice at different times.”
is common among all school teams and communities who volunteer. Malhotra acknowledges that workers gain relationships with customers in addition to the growing bond between volunteers. He believes these moments are the most memorable interactions he takes away from the late nights.
“To me, working at the Snack Shack means that I’m doing something for the community,” Malhotra said. “More deeply, I believe that when you’re working with another person and when you’re helping a customer, face to face, it’s a much more meaningful experience and you can make an impact on people even from the smallest things.”
Junior Katie Hwang also enjoys working at the Snack Shack with
The sense of community among those who work in the Snack Shack
*According to MV Snack Shack
MATADOR SNACK SHACK
GRILLED ITEMS
4.00
Sandwich 4.00
Burger 4.00
4.00
BULLPEN
BLUEPRINTS
Leadership promotes spirit at football games through the planning of themes and decorations BY
SANIA NADKARNI AND ETHAN YANG
When planning spirit activities for a football game, a crucial part of an attendee’s experience is the surrounding atmosphere of the student body’s participation. The theme, the chants, the decorations, the free candy and swag all contribute to the MVHS spirit that flows through the stands, carefully curated by Leadership, in particular, the spirit commissioners.
Leadership starts with a brainstorming session regarding themes before voting to determine which one’s the best. Some common sources of inspiration for the theme include social media posts from other schools’ games and ideas from apps like Pinterest. Sophomore and spirit commissioner Saanj Rao mentions other metrics used to find the best
theme.
“We take into account previous themes that we’ve done and how well they’ve been executed by looking at the response from the student body,” Rao said. “And how much participation we’ll expect at that football game and make the theme to
“ WE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT PREVIOUS THEMES AND HOW WELL THEY’VE BEEN EXECUTED BY LOOKING AT THE RESPONSE FROM THE STUDENT BODY
plan ahead during the school year depending on how many other events they have to handle that week. Normally, she says, they come up with themes a week or two in advance and try to identify how the themes chosen relate to previous events Leadership had planned.
SOPHOMORE
SAANJ RAO
incentivize more people to show up.”
Rao says that leadership tries to
“For the first football game, we tried to connect the themes,” Rao said. “Mr. Gan had given us the advice that it would be easier
Junior Yuvan Kothari sets up posters in front of the bullpen.
for people to dress up if the rally and football game had the same theme. If we made the football game separate, people would have to put in more effort, so they would be a little more hesitant to come because they would have to spend more effort getting ready.”
Rao explains that when football games are held on Saturdays and Thursdays, Leadership foresees a lower turnout, and thus decides to save their best ideas for games with higher anticipated turnouts such as those held on Friday. However, Rao says that they still put in effort to create quality themes for smaller games in order to incentivize more people to attend. Despite planning themes for games a week or two in advance, Gan recognizes the difficulties when it comes to picking the perfect theme, with repetition being one of them.
we’re not repetitive — making sure that we’re trying to be fresh and come up with something that is engaging and topical,” Gan said. “I think it’s probably the hardest thing, because it’s not as fun when you’re doing the same thing over and over again.”
“ THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE IS MAKING SURE WE’RE NOT REPETITIVE — MAKING SURE THAT WE’RE TRYING TO BE FRESH AND COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT IS ENGAGING AND TOPICAL
ADVISER
KENNETH GAN
Junior and former spirit commissioner Courtney Masli, says that one example of a theme that worked well was the USA theme for the Olympics, as it was very easy to dress up for, but was also relevant to the student body. Masli says that Leadership tries to make the themes they choose unique by adding certain unique interactive elements to them.
“We try to get them excited, and I feel like the decorations help people feel pumped to be there,” Masli said. “If you look at the front of the bullpen, one of the games had a bunch of posters so people could take pictures with something cute.”
posters and decorations make a big impact on the students attending, Rao feels as though it’s the little things Leadership puts in that affect the students the most. Leadership includes candy, stickers, face paint and free t-shirts at games in order to make the students excited for the game and bring school spirit to the stands.
Overall, Gan says that he tries to foster unique personal connections among the leadership students. He wants the ASB commissioners to try new things and tries not to interfere with the theme picking process. He believes they should have the freedom to choose their themes and do what is best for the student body in order to create community and spirit, as long as it is not inappropriate.
“My favorite thing is being able to interact with kids in a fun and unique way,” Gan said. “Being able to see kids be passionate about things outside of their academics and their extracurriculars is really cool to see, so I want to try and foster that environment as best as I can.”
“The biggest obstacle is making sure
While Masli believes the painted
CROSSWORD @elestoque
BY ALAN TAI
ACROSS
Cow’s milk dispenser
YouTuber Mark Rober’s glitter bomb, for instance
Steamy room
Giggle sound
The range and nuance of feelings (pg. 30)
2000’s children’s novel
“Because of Winn-_____”
Simple green starter
Speakers’ platforms
Capital of Italia
The University of Utah, in brief Louis who wrote the 1998 young adult novel “Holes”
Where you might treat yourself at a football game (pgs. 44-45)
Something teachers might ask you to describe about yourself
Bridal jewelry pieces with bling
Like the passport on the Features cover (pg. 12)
“... to fetch _____ of water”
Mark who has left 1,000 marks (pg. 40)
Playing a video game on poor WiFi, for instance
DOWN
Take advantage of Hoover ___
Belshe and Hoffman, e.g. (pgs. 5-6)
Goal of Proposition 6 regarding indentured servitude (pgs. 8-9)
Footballer in Vegas
Danger
Summer activity for many academically inclined MVHS students
Yellowfin tuna found in sushi
Tennis court divider
Unnecessary tool in the locker rooms, despite its name
Six prefix
Immigrant’s travel document (pgs. 18-19)
Gender-affirming
“Wow, that’s cool!” Applications
Actor’s daring stand-in
Capital of Qatar, the site of the 2022 World Cup
Apple computer, informally
Biblical boat
Row with a large homeless population
Starlike
Pleasant smell
Walking stick
Former U.S. territory that’s now two states (abbr.)
“Don’t mind ___ do”
In the style of Bitter pub order, in brief Sagnik ___ Chowdhury (pgs. 38-39)
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CROSSWORD ANSWERS
A. TAI: This is EE’s debut crossword! A few months of doing NYT crosswords served me well when making this. The middle-left might be hard, but I hope it’s a fun solve!
