Issue 8, 2014

epitaph

the

HOMESTEAD HIGH SCHOOL

VOL. 51

ISSUE 8

the method to our madness

See Senior Pullout 2014

THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2014

21370 HOMESTEAD RD. CUPERTINO, CA

Staff members retire from Homestead

By Anthony Garcia

PHOTO COURTESY OF SAHIT YA ALTURI

Celebrating at Sapnay: The Homestead Raas team performs at Indopak’s annual dance show. See page 2.

Reinforced dress code inspires backlash and change After anti-dress code protest, students and Giglio meet to discuss the future of Homestead’s dress code

By Shiri Huber

Recent administrative decisions at Homestead have been met with both apprehension and backlash from the student body. Last month, an article published by the Epitaph discussing student reactions to these decisions, including enforcement of a stricter dress code and limitations on the Senior Farewell Rally, brought to light the accumulating tension between students and administrators. Protest reached a peak last week when students created an event on Facebook called “Anti-Dress Code HHS Friday”, calling for a protest of school dress code policies.

Principal Greg Giglio noted that the Facebook event was the first attempt by students to effectively make a difference.

“These were the first students who wanted to affect some change, not just complain,” said Giglio.

The Facebook event planned a dress code protest, encouraging students to wear clothes that mildly violated the dress code.

After the anti-dress code Facebook page was created, Giglio held a meeting with the four students involved in the page, including Junior Lucas Tecot, Junior Dolev Bluvstein, Sophomore Jason Lu, and Sophomore Isabella Muscettola, as well as with Homestead’s superintendent.

The meeting addressed problems the students had with the dress code, as well as

Freshmen address high school misconceptions See page 4

possible solutions. The students expressed discontent with the dress code being unfair to girls. “There’s a point where dressing a certain way actually does make others very uncomfortable,” said Tecot, “but in the context that it’s distracting to boys is simply not a good reason and a step backwards in terms of gender equality.”

Giglio added, “This group of students presented an a-ha moment for me. Students were reading a line in the dress code as calling girls a distraction to the educational process, and to be honest, that’s not the intent, but I see where they are coming from.”

After the meeting, students leading the dress code protest changed their goal in order to send a message more effectively.

Tecot said, “Mr. Giglio made it clear that he was doing everything in his power to help, but he can’t help us if we cause a mass violation of school rules.” On the Facebook page, student organizers then suggested that students wear black and write anti-dress code messages on t-shirts.

The meeting has also allowed Homestead’s administration to consider next steps regarding Homestead’s dress code. Changes to the dress code can be expected by the beginning of next school year.

Recent action by students, or lack thereof, has surfaced the issue of lack of communication . “I’m concerned that students don’t

Off The Grid food trucks visit Cupertino See page 6 Boy’s volleyball advances to CCS See page 7

feel like they can turn around and talk to us,” said Giglio. “People kept talking about fear of retribution. I don’t know where that’s coming from. You’re welcome to say something is unfair, but do so in an appropriate manner. There’s nothing you can get in trouble for for that.”

Tecot agreed that communication was an issue. “There was a lot of talk about [the dress code] but no one actually took a solid initiative,” he said. “Mainly it has to do with the students fear of punishment by accidentally doing something wrong, so they don’t voice their opinions freely.”

Giglio stressed the importance of communication, adding, “we were kind of confused why people were reacting so negatively. It started to make more sense when we understood the reason why people were so upset.”

In the future, the Homestead administration will be working on improving communication between students and the administration. Future developments may include a student advisory council with students and a way for students to log complaints.

Tecot added that at the meeting, it was decided that next year, students would be more involved in determining a revised dress code. “I’m glad to know especially that the administration and the students are now working together to fix this,” said Tecot.

Math teacher Jack Welc and Lead Resource Specialist in the Special Education Department, Judi Annan-Roberts, are retiring and will not return for the 2014-2015 school year.

Welc has worked at Homestead for 13 years and is currently teaching AP Calculus AB and Pre-calculus Honors. Welc explained why he originally decided to teach and the influences his professors had on his decision.

“I learned just as much from a professor’s own experience, as the subject he was teaching,” Welc said. “I [had] more to say about the subject [math], and I felt that I could make it a little more interesting.”

After working at Homestead for over a decade, Welc has become fatigued by the high school atmosphere.

“I am too old to deal with these students!” Welc exclaimed. “They drive me crazy. This is a young person’s job.”

When asked what he will miss the most about the school, Welc said he will miss “the emails and little messages I get from former students keeping me up to date on their life.”

Finally, Welc provided some advice for beginning teachers.

“Never ever ever fake it. Never try to be someone you’re not. Just be honest with the students. Treat your students as you would want them to treat you,” Welc shared.

The other faculty member retiring, Annan-Roberts, has worked for Homestead for 21 years and will pass on her reins to Stephanie Crosby, when she officially retires on June 14.

Annan-Roberts has been working in the field of education before she was hired for her position at Homestead.

“I had taught at Sunnyvale Middle School for 10 years,” Annan-Roberts said.

“I went back to college to get my administrative credential and Master’s Degree.

Upon completion of both, I was recruited to apply for a Dept. Chair position at Homestead. It seemed like a logical more, since HHS was a feeder school for SMS. Over the years, Annan-Roberts has developed a relationship with the people at Homestead, and she said she will miss “the adults [and] the friendships that were formulated over the years.” In addition, Annan-Roberts said she will miss her students because “they keep me current. How else would I know about hashtags and selfies?”

After leaving the campus, AnnanRoberts plans to be “volunteering in my daughter’s classroom, gardening, improving my golf game, traveling [and] going to the gym regularly!”

News

1

Entertainment 5

Opinion

3

Sports

7

Lifestyles

4

Last Word

8

PAGE DESIGN BY DIPSHIKHA K ANDEL

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news

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Google progresses in Sunnyvale fiber installation

Ultra-fast wifi speeds may come to Sunnyvale soon

By Greg Schrader

Google has in recent months announced their intention to attempt to bring their new Google Fiber to nine local metro areas, including Sunnyvale, with other locations including Palo Alto, San Jose, and Santa Clara.

The city of Sunnyvale however, has already submitted it’s Fiber Ready Checklist, the first in a multi-step process necessary for Google Fiber.

“Having the ability to get this kind of bandwidth would be huge for our residents,” said Sunnyvale Mayor Jim Griffith.

The average broadband speed is 9.8 Megabits per second in America. Google Fiber brings ultrafast internet, with speeds measured in gigabytes, up to 100 times faster.

“We’ve been impressed by how enthusiastic the City of Sunnyvale has been as we’ve worked with them over the past few months,” the Google Fiber Team said in a statement. “Next, our team will continue to work with [Sunnyvale], and use information from the checklist to start planning out what a local fiber network could look like.”

ABOVE: A fiber optic cable, which has the capability of bringing ultra-fast internet to Sunnyvale.

IMAGE COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Sapnay shines

LEFT: Ava Aslanpour, 11, (front, orange) performs bhangra, an energetic, fast-paced dance from the Punjab province of India.

Indopak hosts annual show

By Dipshikha Kandel Homestead Indopak hosted their annual dance show, Sapnay, on May 17. The goal of the show was to showcase the members’ hardwork and talent, celebrate Indian and Pakistani culture and to raise money to donate to Visamo Kids, an organization that aids children in need with food, shelter and education. “We donate to charity every year, and that inspires us to dance,” said Medha Narwankar, co-president of Indopak Club.

Despite the club facing hardships earlier in the year, the show was a riviting sucess. “Yes, there have been some difficult times. In order to create a successful show,

BELOW: Indopak, despite various club difficulties at the beginning of the year, was highly sucessful in their performance of bhangra

though, you have to go through some ups and downs and learn from your mistakes,” said Narwankar.

Besides Indopak, several other clubs participated, such as the Fremont High School dance team. The three-hour show covered many types of dance styles, including bhangra, raas and film-inspired dances.

Sapnay’s goal of celebrating Indian and Pakistani culture, and teaching the community about it lets people develop a deeper understanding and appreciation. Indopak plans to hold again Sapnay next year because of the awareness and charitable output it receives.

LEFT: Neeharika Muppa (11), Aarti Shah (11), and other members of Indopak perform Raas, a Gujarati dance utilizing sticks

Ending on a positive note

Jazz band and choir perform in spring concert

By Anthony Garcia

On Wednesday May 21, the annual Homestead Choirs Spring Concert took place in the auditorium.

The choir sang songs ranging from the Latin song “Ave,” to the jazz song “Blue Skies,” as well as well-known songs, including “What a Wonderful World.”

This year Choir Director, Jeff Morton decided to add small acapella groups that were assigned to sing their own songs. In addition, the choir also changed the overall content of their performance.

Of this change, Junior Raymond Zhuang, member of the mixed jazz choir, said, “This year we went with more mainstream, catchy songs because we performed at Disney this spring break.”

Zhuang also shared a memorable moment from the night when “the seniors presented Mr. Morton with a bouquet of flowers to thank him for his help and talked about about their four years in choir and

how that has shaped them into the people they are today.”

The next day, on Thursday May 22, the Jazz Spring Concert was held in the Homestead auditorium.

The event was broken up into two segments, with the jazz choir performing for one part of the show and the jazz band performing for the other. At the end, both groups joined together for the last piece: “Come fly with me.”

Band Director, John Burn, awarded both Green and White awards as well as the Louis Armstrong Award, which went to senior Jay Desai.

Jazz Band member, Josh Gu said, “The most memorable thing that happened at this concert was finishing the last piece and realizing that it would be my fourth and final jazz concert... Playing with this amazing group of musicians has been a great experience.”

ABOVE: The Mixed Jazz Choir performs at their concert on May 21 under the

direction of choir teacher, Jeff Morton.

SAPNAY PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF DIPSHIKHA KANDEL CONCERT PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF RAYMOND ZHANG PAGE DESIGN BY DONNIE DENOME

opinion

Thursday, May 29, 2014

3

Bubbling in the wrong answers epitaph the Chow \Matthew

By Rachel Hildebrand

Silicon Valley is home to some of America’s brightest minds.

Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Mark Zuckerberg, and many other well-known entrepreneurs all originated here, and have a reputation for finding success through innovation and dedication. Many students here at Homestead share their dream of creating the next big thing that will be their ticket to success, and believe a sky-high GPA and an accompanying perfect transcript is what will get them there. However, focusing too heavily on academics causes students to be unprepared for their future. Students must learn to balance school with activities they enjoy.

In the Bay Area, the stigma normally associated with being a nerd is rarely a concern, as nerdiness is now taken as hints of being a possible Silicon Valley success story, as opposed to the negative connotations of yesteryear. Students now submit to huge amounts of stress – giving up social lives and activities they enjoy —for a high GPA, rather than attempting to become a more rounded individual.

Students have begun to see GPAs as the “be all, end all” of their high school years, when in fact companies like Google now don’t use GPAs to dictate hiring at all.

“GPAs are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless [...] We’ve found that they don’t predict anything.” Laszlo Brook, a Google recruiter, said in a recent interview with the New York Times.

There is also an overzealous fixation on not only doing well, but also doing better than one’s peers, which has been creating a society of workaholics. Some students take on half a dozen AP and honors courses, often extracurriculars abandoning to keep up with the workload.

In reality, it is not necessary for us to spend all of our time in high school studying to compete with students around the country for the chance to attend colleges.

Part of the problem is the ingrained “need to succeed.” A college admission has become more than where one goes to earn one’s degree. It has become a bragging right for parents and students alike. What many forget is that a good school does not necessarily entail success. Multiple studies have proven that it is the individual, not the institution that determines how well

the s t u dent will do in the future. A study by the Andrew Mellon Foundation and Princeton followed the wages of students who were accepted into top-tier selective schools, such as Yale, and those who attended a smaller public university. The students who did not attended Yale ended up making the same as those that did.

A report by the National Bureau of Economic Research reached the same conclusion. Students with similar academic abilities who attended highly selective schools ended up doing just as well as those who chose only moderately selective schools.

It’s okay to take a break. Leave yourself some time to hang out with friends, or see that movie you’ve been dying to watch. One B won’t ruin your chance of getting into your dream school. The ability to bubble in a sheet or memorize a list of words does not guarantee success outside of the classroom. It is what you decide to do with the knowledge you have obtained that truely matters.

STAFF Senior Staff Khalil Bourgoub

Emi Kamezaki

Eugene Cheng

Anya Kishen

Matthew Chow

Camille Miller

Nicole Chung

Andrew Reyes

Grace He

Laura Tang

Editors Shiri Huber

News

Greg Schrader

Opinion

Marissa Lee

Lifestyles

Donnie Denome

Entertainment

Rachel Hildebrand

Sports

Reporters Anthony Garcia

Dipshikha Kandel

Production Team Priya Sodlapur

Business Manager

Nancy Zhou

Design Editor

Adviser

Natalie Calderon

epitaph

the

The Epitaph is a non-profit publication at Homestead High School, 21370 Homestead Rd, Cupertino, CA 95014.

The Epitaph is a forum for student expres-

Insight into internships

How unpaid internships are unfair and elitist

By Greg Schrader

In just a few weeks, students all across America will be stumbling out of high school, and into unpaid internships in the hope that they will be gaining experiences and advancing their career prospects. These hopes are likely to be dashed.

Unpaid internships not only rarely lead to careers, but they’re inherently unfair, and in fact, detrimental to the education process.

The rise in internships has been driven by convergence of the interests of colleges and businesses. With academic internships, businesses get labor for little to nothing, while collages get tuition to not teach their students. For-credit internships are free money for all parties involved, except for the student, who effectively is paying to work. Negative wages aside, it’s even more unlikely students are learning anything in these jobs. The work of most interns is menial and comes with little to no onthe-job training.

Even if internships were effective, by their very nature, unpaid internships are elitist, and further the divide between the Haves and HaveNots. The poor who need assistance the most can’t afford

sion and not subject to prior review, in accordance with Education Code 48907. The staff is comprised of Homestead Journalism students. Views expressed do not necessarily represent views of the school, its staff, or the district. Editorials are opinions of the editorial board.

The Epitaph welcomes all letters to the editor but reserves the right to edit all submissions. Letters should be limited to 300 words. Include contact information.

to work for free, nor can they afford to move to another part of the country for an unpaid job. Many middle class families stain their resources in the vain hope that their child’s unpaid internship will pay off in the end.

O n l y colleges and busin e s s e s benefit from the system of unpaid internships.

Colleges ought to stop giving credit for these internships, which do little more than reduce the amount of available paid work, without benefiting the students. Businesses should be required to pay interns for the work that they do.

Corrections

Unsigned letters cannot be published, but names will be withheld upon request. Send via homestead.epitaph@gmail.com, or drop letters in the newsroom or the office mailbox.

If The Epitaph has made an error, please send corrections to homestead.epitaph@ gmail.com. The corrections will be published in the corrections box for the next issue.

To reach the Epitaph staff in C-105: call (408) 522-2572 or fax (408) 738-8631.

Advertising One email and you can reach nearly 2,300 students and teachers from Northern Sunnyvale to Southern Los Altos. If your target market is between the ages of 14 and 18, contact The Epitaph at epitaph.ads@gmail. com and we can make it happen.

Let us hear your voice!

If you have any opinions, articles, or ideas you want to submit;

If you see any errors, please do not hesitate to let us know!

1. Send them to homestead.epitaph@gmail.com OR 2. Bring them to room C105

Donors Your ongoing support is appreciated.

Jing Xu Donna & Avi Huber Valerie Fermor Daniel Schrader

...and you might have your letter to the editor printed in the next issue!

Xiaoming & Holly Zhang Debbie Vanni

PAGE DESIGN BY GREG SCHRADER

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lifestyles

Thursday, May 29, 2014 From: Staff To: Seniors

From: Seniors To: Juniors

Top: “You should do what you want to do.

Don’t pick a major to please your parents or because you think you should.” Nancy Daffern, ASB Secretary

Top: “If you put time and effort into your education now, it sets you up for a better future.” Loic Maxwell Middle: “Start looking at colleges now; start college essays as soon as possible.” Andrea Tsang

Middle: “If you are going to bring your highschool girlfriend/boyfriend to college, be prepared for the ‘Turkey Drop’ (that’s when you get dumped over Thanksgiving break).” Greg Russo, History

Bottom: “Have more friends - they [have] a big impact. My friends motivate me.” Keane Virola

Bottom: “Establish good credit.”

Christy Heaton, History

ADVICE TO THE CLASSES

By Priya Sodlapur

From: Sophmores To: Freshmen

From: Juniors To: Sophmores

Top: “The most important thing between balancing academics and extracurriculars in flexibility. You have to balance - don’t focus on one thing; you’ll get stuck.” Eliot Park

Top: “[Time] management between sports and AP/Honors courses. You need to devote time to each to get to where you want to be...” Kia Naderi

Middle: “Make sure you develop time organization skills and section off time in your schedule for homework .” Matthew Schurz

Middle: “Stop thinking you’re better than others because [next year] you’ll sleep two hours and you’ll need to deal with it.” Nicole Rouleau

Bottom: “Don’t procrastinate... otherwise you get into that state of mind as a freshman and you are going to crash.” Sumedha Tadimeli

Bottom: “Don’t be afraid to get help from those who offer it.” Nathan Boone

Freshmen address high school misconceptions

By Marissa Lee

“A misconception is that [high school] will be the best years of your life. I feel like you can have better years than high school.” Caela Barnhart

“A lot of people think that it’s all about high school, but really you have your whole life ahead of you.” Ella Lewis

“On the first day of school, I didn’t know that there was advisory, so I was wandering around the school and did not know where to go. I found my class by walking by this classroom and I heard the name ‘Gabriella Jones’ being called out and I was like ‘Oh, wait that’s me!’” Gabriella Jones

“I thought I would lose contact with my friends who are going to other schools, like Fremont... I thought there would be a lot of drama, but there really isn’t unless you cause it.” Yu-Ying Chua PAGE DESIGN BY PRIYA SODLAPUR PHOTOS BY EUGENE CHENG

the method to our madn ss

e

SENIOR PULLOUT 2014

ILLUSTRATIONS AND PAGE DESIGN BY GREG SCHRADER, NANCY ZHOU AND EMI KAMEZAKI

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senior pullout

Thursday, May 29, 2014

1. Be flexible and willing to try anything - Ilina Bhaya-Grossman

By Emi Kamezaki

Bhaya-Grossman, IBG, Speedy Gonzales - these are just a few of the nicknames bestowed on this belo ved and strong young woman. As the co-president of Interact Club, vice president of National Chinese Hon or Society (NCHS), and activities dire ctor for The Differences Among Us club (TDAU), Bhaya-Grossman has applied her talents to community service organizations across the boa rd.

Her participation as an English Language Development (ELD) men tor and an academic tutor add to her already impressive resume; however , it is her unwavering passion for phil anthropy that sets her apart.

Because Bhaya-Grossman cam e to Homestead from a non-fee der school, she initially had trouble mak -

ing friends, and thus spent her time “branching out to see what Hom estead High School is all about,” calling high school “a time to expl ore.”

Thus, she began her four-year journey of self-growth and discovery.

“Interact I started my sophomore year and that’s a community serv ice club that I really found myself in, and I found a lot of people who are really really amazing,” said Bha yaGrossman, who began voluntee ring with Interact Club as a way to mak e friends.

Through TDAP, Bhaya-Grossman has found inspiration in the inhe rent humanity of homeless people as well as those with disabilities. The club, which Bhaya-Grossman joined this year, has provided her with the op-

portunity to volunteer at socials for those in need.

More than her involvement in community service, Bhaya-G rossman’s academic prowess, especiall y in terms of her Chinese lang uage abilities, have allowed her to conn ect with other students, explore Chin ese culture, and involve herself in the ELD mentor program.

Still, perhaps her most impressive accomplishment was Bha yaGrossman’s discovery of her role as a leader, getting out of her shell, and realizing that when she speaks, peo ple listen.

In the fall, Bhaya-Grossman will be attending the University of Cali fornia at Berkeley, majoring in Cognitiv e Sciences and minoring in Chinese.

2. Be happy by making others happy - Varun Yuhanna

By Eugene Cheng

“I’m a big deal.” Varun Yuhanna is no stranger to the spotlight. Ever since he first stepped foot onto the Homestead campus almost four years ago, Yuhanna has been making waves within the Homestead community. He is one of the most recognizable individuals on campus. But what can be attributed to his celebrated reputation among his peers?

It could be his involvement in clubs and extracurricular activities. “I am mostly known for being involved in Indo-Pak and just saying hi to people as they walk by,” he explained. “I also did Cross Country and Track [and Field] for two years.”

Another possible explanation is his

dreams and aspirations. Although legally an adult, Yuhanna “feels like I’m still fourteen, and by that I mean that I haven’t ever really grown out of my childlike desires and ambitions.” An example of his mildly callow goals: his plan after acquiring a degree in computer science, specifically video game design, is to be “the prime minister of India.”

Maybe the most likely answer as to why many Homestead students hold him in such high regard is because of how he treats friends, enemies, and strangers, alike. Senior Adil Siddiqee offered that Yuhanna “is unique in his ability to socialize with different types of people but still maintain his own

identity [...] He’s not cocky or annoying, really. He’s very friendly, very outgoing, very honest with most people.”

Junior Sophie Bandarkar also commented that “he’s really friendly and open and easily approachable. He also goes out of his way to compliment people on things most people don’t notice in others.”

Yuhanna said this about his approach towards social interactions: “As cliché and dumb as it sounds, really just making other people happy helps fulfill my self-worths, which is a huge issue for me, but it makes me happy which in the end is honestly a win-win situation for everybody.”

3. Find a passion and pursu

e it - Cooper Sloan

By Camille Miller

Cooper Sloan is not unfamiliar with life’s firsts and onlys. Coming into high school, he was the only freshman that made it onto the school’s drumline. As a sophomore, he flew to the Big Apple for the Homestead band’s first-ever participation in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In his senior year, Sloan and his teammates prevailed in the State Finals for drumline and went to Cross Country’s state meet for the first time in Homestead history.

With that said, there are two possible theories that explain the success that emanates from his presence on campus. The first: Sloan possesses some inexplicable mystical power that

draws victory to Homestead; and the second: he is an incredibly passionate, driven young man. Anybody who has ever known him could attest to the accuracy of the latter.

His life mantra - “find a passion and pursue it”- has been exercised through years of commitment to both the school’s drumline and cross country programs. “I try to not waste my time with anything so I only decided to do a few things in high school and I just really delved into them,” Sloan said.

When he is not busy getting first place titles at his meets or becoming a state champion drummer, Sloan enjoys his own company and finds joy in

spending time with others. “I like reading and I like going out in nature and just running and exploring,” he said.

His most recently completed read was “A Brief History of Time” by British physicist Stephen Hawking.

This fall, Sloan will be attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study Computer Science. His future plans include starting a family, establishing a career, helping people and being a good person.

Prior to his departure from our schoolhouse gates, Sloan delivers a message to his fellow Mustangs. “Find something you really enjoy and dedicate yourself to it,” he states hopefully.

h c n Ly a e n n Li y sl u rio se so s g in 4. Don’t take th

By Matthew Chow

Thespian Linnea Lynch also plays many roles off the stage. In addition to having participated in Homestead’s drama department for all four years of high school, Lynch has been a member of the swimming team for four years and the water polo team for three.

“Through water polo, I’ve gotten to know and be an influence to the underclassmen, especially those on the team,” Lynch said. “I think the most important thing I’ve tried to teach them is to have fun and have no shame about your decisions. You’re going to encounter hard and weird decisions that you’ll have to make, but you shouldn’t be afraid of making them, because that’s how you grow.”

For Lynch, growth through her four years at Homestead has manifested most significantly through her becoming more outgoing. “Coming into drama in freshman year, I was in this shell,” she said. “As cliché as it sounds, drama brought me out of that shell, and now I can be proud and confident in who I am.”

Now, Lynch is more comfortable with herself and more trusting in others. “I think this happened because I’ve made really good friends at Homestead, and these are people I hope I won’t ever forget,” she said.

Through these experiences and friendships, Lynch believes it helpful to “embrace the moment, because high school goes by fast. Stand up for

what you believe in. Be confident in yourself because that’s what matters at the end.”

As for navigating high school, Lynch has learned that it is most important to not “take things so seriously. I don’t necessarily mean to be immature, but to let things go,” she said, “to brush things off that aren’t so significant in the long run, even though they might seem so at the time.”

In the coming fall, Lynch will be attending San Jose State University.

As for continuing her athletic and dramatic pursuits, Lynch has no definite plans but will continue to “embrace the moment.”

ILLUSTRATIONS AND PAGE DESIGN BY MATTHEW CHOW

senior pullout

5. Know yourself, accept yourself, be yourself - Bennie Delumpa

By Eugene Cheng

“I’m just your average high school mess-up, I guess you could say.” Contrary to his own words, Bennie Delumpa is not your average high school messup.

If anything, Delumpa is someone who understands the importance of being weird. “I’m an oddball,” he said, “because I’d rather bounce different than not bounce at all.” He’s certainly different in terms of his ideas, which has led to him to establish creative outputs in art and music.

For Delumpa, the pen and paper is just another medium to express his thoughts. “I like to view life as very spontaneous and chaotic,” he explained. “I transfer that chaos into my art, which is

why it looks so wild. I don’t really think about what I do; I just kind of produce it onto the paper. It’s pure expression.”

Topics covered in his artwork range from from Salvador Dalí (“He’s a huge inspiration”) to the Third Eye (“I’ve been told often that my art reminds people of a dream realm scene, very vivid, kind of odd infrastructure and concepts.”)

Not only is Delumpa extremely skilled with physical artwork, he also creates music, specifically hip-hop songs. “It’s very intellectually expressive if you let it be,” he articulated. “I like to think that when I listen to an instru-

mental beat that it speaks to me and only I speak back. It’s like having a conversation with the music you have.”

While Delumpa is known for his creativity within art, his thoughts and ideas outside of it are equally demiurgic. Friends, in his eyes, can have the same ties and closeness as family. And he treats everyone as equals, in terms of talent and respect. He detailed, “We’re all given the same materials, you know, a brain and some hands, it’s just what you do with it.”

And in the end, “Just be yourself. If you happen to be the same as someone else, cool.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF BENNIE DELUMPA

ABOVE: Delumpa’s artwork incorporates intricate patterns and recurring elements such as eyes and hands. The piece portrayed above was drawn entirely in pen.

7. Leap into the unknown - Sarathi Garimella

By Nicole Chung

E: What are you involved in on campus? Outside of campus?

SG: At schools, I am very involved with the Choir Program. I have been in choir for all four years [of high school] and it is something that has made me who I am today. Outside of school, I take private voice lessons and do performances at Open Mics and competitions. I also love doing jam sessions and collaborations with friends.

E: Comparing your freshman-self and current-self, what’s changed?

SG: I was a total weirdo in freshman year and I cared so much [about] what people thought of me. I would

By Grace He

There are families that enjoy watching professional sports or partaking in recreational sports.

And then there’s Sydney Loutit’s family.

“Growing up, [my sister and I] played everything,” she explained.

“I realized how important that was for me to stay connected with my family, to really get involved with all the sports that we watched or just talking about sports with my family.”

Loutit’s high school journey is sprinkled with the average palette of condiments present in other students’ adventures: academics, friends, a few clubs and sports.

However, her plate’s decent-sized portions are dominated by the presence of sports in her life. She participates in horseback riding and plays volleyball for Homestead’s school team, although her senior year, she took on the role of JV assistant coach due to a shoulder injury.

It’s not just the sports themselves that bring Loutit joy; it’s also the communities participating in each physical endeavor. “I’ve met a lot of great people through both of those,” she said, “and they both just taught me a lot about how to deal with adversity, or how to be more courageous and find what makes you happy and kind of roll with that.”

8. Explore your identity - Cathy Huang

Her plans for post-secondary education are sports-related as well. She will be attending Texas Christian University (TCU) in the fall, a school that boasts alumni such as NFL running back LaDainian Tomlinson and MLB pitcher Matt Carpenter. As a sports broadcasting major, she is still unsure of her future, but Loutit has a general idea. “I want to either write, like do sports journalism, or work for ESPN or possibly even work for a Major League Baseball team.”

“TCU is kind of the first thing that’s been mine,” Loutit said. “I did it first in my family instead of following the footsteps of my sister [who went to University of Oregon].” No matter where she ends up in years later, it is sure that the same individualistic and loving attitude Loutit applied to high school will be prevalent in her future.

The Epitaph (E): What is the method to your madness?

Sarathi Garimella (SG): I believe that we need to understand ourselves and have experiences that will polish us to who we truly are. We need to venture out of our comfort level and meet people, explore places and find new things that make us happy. Throughout our lives we’ll get thousands of opportunities to do something new; what changes us is taking those opportunities.

SG: What sets me apart is that I know what I want to do and what I am passionate about. I have put a lot of thought into my future, what makes me happy, and what I want to do. After all, happiness and stability is what we strive for.

6. Carve your own path, but always find your way home - Sydney Loutit

3

By Nicole Chung

The Epitaph (E): What is the method to your madness?

E: What sets you apart from all the other students in the Class of 2014?

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Cathy Huang (CH): I always aim for satisfaction from my artwork, and I can only be satisfied when there is a certain level of skill and thought in my work. I admire old master painters and artists, and that is the level that I strive for.

E: What are you involved in on campus? Outside of campus? walk around acting like someone I wasn’t. It was difficult, but over time I stopped caring. I realized that I don’t need someone’s approval for being myself. The journey through the past four years was very bumpy, but I know who I am now and I am happy to be myself.

E: What lessons have you learned throughout your years at Homestead?

SG: Homestead has made me very grateful for giving me the opportunity to learn and advance myself in subjects that I love. It has steered me in the right path and helped me [to] realize that I have the power to control what my future will be.

E: What are your future plans? What do you aspire to become?

SG: I will be attending Berklee College of Music. I will be working to shape my voice into something that defines me for who I am. I aspire to be a performer on stage, entertaining and inspiring others to do what they dream of doing.

CH: I paint and I draw in and out of school.

Currently, I am in AP Studio Art and president of National Art Honor Society/Art Club.

E: How have your involvements changed you?

CH: The creation of my concentration portfolio for AP Studio Art has changed my perception of art a considerable amount. The central idea for my concentration is the exploration of identifying and understanding between one individual and another through art. Drawing or painting portraiture is to give special attention to a specific individual, understanding what truly sets him or her apart from a crowd.

Through the use of different techniques, mediums and settings, I have concluded that to create the best portrait does not solely rely on technical skill, but on understanding the person’s character. The experience I gained from learning this has driven me to decide that through art, I would love to learn more about different people and cultures in the future.

E: Comparing your freshman-self to currentself, what has changed?

CH: The desire of what I would like to do in the artistic field has become much clearer compared to what I enjoyed in freshmen year.

I feel that in these four years, I have come to know myself better through art.

E: What are your future plans? What do you aspire to be?

CH: I aspire to always gain new knowledge in the world as well as create spiritually fulfilling artwork throughout my life.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CATHY HUANG

ABOVE: Huang’s piece, entitled “An Av-

erage Day,” was displayed publicly in San Jose as a reward for her winning the 10th anniversary Downtown Doors student art competition.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MATTHEW CHOW PAGE DESIGN BY CAMILLE MILLER

4

senior pullout

Thursday, May 29, 2014

1. Academy of Art University Anonymous x2 2. Amherst College Matthew Chow 3. Arizona State University Mikaela Copley Anant Gogate Sara Hansen Sarah Hock Emi Kamezaki Adrien Pfister Laura Swendig 4. Berklee College of Music Sarathi Garimella 5. Biola University Ashley Choi Elaine Fung 6. Boston College Joel Kitchen 7. Boston University Rainia Lee 8. Brigham Young University Sheantala Abello 9. Brown University Anish Aitharaju Yuta Arai 10. Cal Poly Pomona Justina Basuthakur Tyler Evans Sarah O 11. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Kelsey Carpenter Casey Carroll Chelsea Convissar Clement De Hoe Nick Felipa Holly Hillegass Mary Rose Klein Tiffany Lam Jessica Lermant Brett Nelson Kristina Newton Rachel Poyer Josh Solomon Isabella Stavoli Troy Whitford Nina Yadlowsky Anonymous x1 12. CSU Chico Trey Arfman Brittany Kim Alex Metrulas Sarah Quick 13. CSU East Bay Angelo Serrano 14. CSU Fresno Alec Matsumoto 15. CSU Fullerton Keane Virola 16. CSU Monterey Bay Mei Jia Fang Bobby O’Connell

25. De Anza College (cont.)

Sadikshya Karki Itai Khen Anthony Koon Sravana Koppula Cameron Kwong Sui Sum Kwong Brandon Le Jiawei Liu Natalie Mardis Carla Martinez Diego Mejia Khachatur Mirijanyan Irvin Montes Hector Moreno Johnny Muaddi Haley Peterson Sunny Phan Justin Pi Daniel Pierini Yennyfer Ramos Marci Rosengren Alireza Sanayei Vladislav Serebryanskiy Chynna Sites Keven Su Anastasia Tentoglou Zoe Tentoglou Han Tint Katelyn Turner Francisco Villa Katie Vonner Jonathan Weinstein Kensho Yamamoto Yue Zhang Anonymous x34 26. DeVry University Deborah Allen

98 91 99 12 1

70

60

29. Foothill College Jordan Byrnes Erin Gallagher Gabe Garcia Prabhjot Grewal Ruby Hernandez Allison Inanoria Itai Intrater Marilyn Jauregui Joshua Allen Lucas Danielle Miller Lichelle Nelson Kevin Nguyen Sophia Ochoa Nitzan Orr Anna Phan Jaime Romero Rebecca Sagherian Palomita Samaniego Harpreet Setia Gursehaj Singh Gursimran Singh Michelle Walinsky Anonymous x11 30. Fort Lewis College Kevin Barnett 31. Fresno Pacific University Chris Chen

87

66 17

44 69 94 40 52 88 20 13 53 21 26 56 62 55 73 29 36 101 25 58 41 77 16 31 14 43

76

Cooper Sloan

43. Monterey Peninsula College Alicia Lopez 44. Napa Valley College Michelle Nuñez 45. New York University Cathy Zhang 46. NewSchool of Architecture and Design Tyler Napolitano 47.Northeastern University Francisca Finkel 48. Oberlin College Henry Greco 49. Pacific University Brynn Larry 50. Pratt Institute Jessica Chun

32. Furman University Asha Mehta

18. CSU San Marcos Caity Smith

33. Georgetown University Alexandra Genovese

52. Saint Mary’s College Drew Strotman

19. Chapman University Dana Lujack Adam McClaughry Megan Totah

34. George Washington University Sarah Lessing Sameera Kelkar

53. San Francisco State University Cherry Bhao Intr Wendy Chiu Thien Hoang Heather Lee Rubye Oh Charanpreet Kaur Jessica Uribe

21. College of San Mateo Christian Mateo Manjarrez 22. Colorado School of Mines Ariel Rickel 23. Colorado State University Kyana Henningsen-Dunn 24. Columbia University Samantha Rhoads Lane Robinette 25. De Anza College Sean Bobiev Khalil Bourgoub Henry Choy Gloria Dorame Gabriel Forrest Elva Garcia Meilun He Thomas Holm Qiaohong Huang De Von Johnson

36. Institute for Business and Technology Anonymous x1 37. Johns Hopkins University Dorothy Chen Aleksandra Popovic 38. Los Angeles Trade-Technical College Kourtney Dew 39. Loyola Marymount University Grace He Emma Tyrnauer Hannah Want 40. Mills College Anonymous x1 41. Mission College Marlen Maldonado Melissa Valdez Anonymous x1

61 84

86

97 8

79

23

83

80

54. San Diego State University James Lawrence Grace Kim Courtney Shattock Gabriel Simundac 55. San Jose City College Leanne Ax 56. San Jose State University Tuka Almamori Julie Bao Lusine Chibukhchyan Nicole Chung Dylan Dabel Milind Damani Daniel Jeon Nikhila Kodali Linnea Lynch Jonathan Melle Kittiphong Norasri Sahana Sankar Sophiya Sapkota Ravin Sardal

2 45

4 6 7 42 47 24 9 59

50 27

89

48

78

28

37

51

34 33

100

30 72 15 10

39 38 5 95 42. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 71

17. CSU Sacramento Michael Dittmer

35. Georgia Institute of Technology Jay Kamat

93 63

57

51. Purdue University Zoya Hsiao Anthony Pan Riley Viveros

20. City College of San Francisco Tim Cheng Bryan Erickson

90 103

82 11

5

85

22

27. Drexel University Stella Huang 28. Fashion Institute of Technology Kim Inenaga

Homestead High School Class of 2014

102

49

Thursday, May 29, 2014

75

92 19

32

74

18

35 3

54 46

68 64

56. San Jose State University (cont.)

Devika Shirpurkar Brandon Sutton Christian Wittenkamp Austin Yam Anonymous x2 57. Santa Barbara City College Tristhen Dadivas Kaitlin Simpson 58. Santa Clara University Derrick Chan Shima Dadashzadeh Gilly Dosovitsky Tasmine Hackson Alma Niu Yizhang Qu Allen Riddle Kevin Wu Anonymous x1 59. School of Visual Arts Seongwon Seo 60. Sonoma State University Emily Gonzales Emily Milesi Daniele Ortiz 61. Southern Oregon University Iryna Didenko 62. Stanford University Catherina Xu 63. Syracuse University James Shin Anonymous x1 64. Texas Christian University Sydney Loutit 65. Tulane University Sarah Holt 66. Universal Technical Institute, Sacramento Jourdan Weaver-Mariche 67. University of Alabama Emily Fickett Emma Sadowski 68. University of Arizona Peyjmon Ahmad David Almas Erik Krogstad Connor Quilici Dan Sipher Brian Willems

67

81 69. UC Berkeley Haruna Aridomi Rachel Bahr Paul Baik Ilina Bhaya Grossman Soumita Bose Rohit Braganza Divya Chandrasekaran Catherine Chang Jay Desai Nicole Hsu Ji Eun Lee Thao Luong Marie Maier Won Park Niki Peters Vaibhav Ramamoorthy Shirley Shao Min Tseng Samantha Wu 70. UC Davis Andrew Allen Damien Amzallag Yuki Arata Tristan Bala Ben Bright Kaela Han Carl Huang Deonnie Huang Sean Kao Alex Mirov Shahista Mollah Itai Ofir Lillie Oravetz Yume Rashid Christine Sung Morris Yang Vincent Yang 71. UC Irvine Anushree Bhimani Mardella Birondo Hansen Cheung Arnav Malawade Meghana Munagala Kameko Oshiro Jake Plewa Vida Pourmand Suneela Ummadi Sydney Wang 72. UC Los Angeles Katie Aspinwall Swagata Biswas

96

65

93. University of Rochester Theresa Xu 72. UC Los Angeles (cont.)

Jasmine Chen Kaela Cohan Andrew Kim Loïc Maxwell Min Kyu Park Parsa Rezvani Tabitha Sugumar Michael Wang Craig Young Hanphenie Zhou 73. UC Merced Agnes Kagiri Furkan Ozedirne 74. UC Riverside Ankita Chatterji Anonymous x2 75. UC San Diego Iniya Adhan Melody Allen Teva Bracha Vinh Doan Ori Gilad Shangway Hsu Jae Woo Kim Matthew Kim Sugath Madurawe David Moll Leslie Root Lakshmi Somasundaram Julie Wang 76. UC Santa Barbara Semira Amirkiai Benjamin Cheng Eugene Cheng James Choi Aaron Frankel Samantha Gerraty Helen Hwang Kerry Jones Hyeseung La Anson Lau Ryan Lee Sophie Lee Shiran Mamedov

83. University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign Edward Kim Patrick Wang 76. UC Santa Barbara (cont.)

Alex Nagase Arthur Pan Stephen Strawbridge Manushi Yapabandara Anonymous x1 77. UC Santa Cruz Helen Binding Jui Brahmapurikar Hana Chuang Ben Coulson Alizeth Gallego Ryan Gronet Josh Gu Christopher Hsiao Camille Miller Sharon Ostrer Jackson Qu Allison Rogan Saalini Sastry Kana Tanemura Andrea Tsang Varun Yuhanna 78. University of Chicago Laura Tang 79. University of Colorado, Boulder Jules Blackwell Shannon Flynn Lillian Klein 80. University of Denver Jillian Connolly 81. University of Hawaii, Manoa Francesca Muscettola 82. University of Kansas Christine Carey

84. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Paul Gudan Derek Lau Ayush Mehra 85. University of Montana Jeffrey Bilbrey 86. University of Nevada, Reno Jennifer Yeung 87. University of Oregon Giancarlo Alfano Niki Beccari Blair Biggar Alexa Cording Peri Langlois Jacob Mendelson Josh Sipher Derek Tahara Edric Wong 88. University of the Pacific Chris Chao Melissa Matsuura Clarence Olero 89. University of Pennsylvania Lucy Yao Diana Zhou 90. University of Portland Morgan Robinson 91. University of Puget Sound Sam Wagstrom Anonymous x1 92. University of Redlands Torion Oey Samuel Willhalm

94. University of San Francisco Anya Kishen Jessica Mazzarino 95. University of Southern California Austin Browning Irfan Faizullabhoy Eshita Mathur 96. University of Texas, Austin Arjun Gopisetty Allen Hwang 97. University of Utah William Frantz Jessica Yu 98. University of Washington Sarah Hillegass Alison Takahashi Karena Vongampai 99. Washington State University Sarah Lackey 100. Washington University in St. Louis Kara Wen 101. West Valley College Hassell Carranza Noemi Gonzalez Katrina Kluchnikoff Jun Won Hyun Brandon Read Jason Russum Steven Russum Anonymous x1 102. Western Washington University Stephanie Bednarek 103. Willamette University Ben Mendelsohn William Moylan Erin Tokutomi

Graduates serving in the military United States Air Force Joseph Alonso Andrew Berg-Tung Nicholas Ignazio

United States Marine Corps Mandap Bista Pratik Thapa Anonymous x1

United States Navy Eric Hadley

Graduates traveling overseas Israel

Israel Defense Forces Rehut Avrutsky Roebie Blech Gil Cohen Shai Katz Tomer Kringel Shaked Spillinger

Mexico

Universidad De La Salle Bajío Sharon Manosov

United Kingdom Undecided Anne Gahart

University of Cambridge Anonymous x1 University College London Hensam Bains

PAGE DESIGN BY MATTHEW CHOW

4

senior pullout

Thursday, May 29, 2014

1. Academy of Art University Anonymous x2 2. Amherst College Matthew Chow 3. Arizona State University Mikaela Copley Anant Gogate Sara Hansen Sarah Hock Emi Kamezaki Adrien Pfister Laura Swendig 4. Berklee College of Music Sarathi Garimella 5. Biola University Ashley Choi Elaine Fung 6. Boston College Joel Kitchen 7. Boston University Rainia Lee 8. Brigham Young University Sheantala Abello 9. Brown University Anish Aitharaju Yuta Arai 10. Cal Poly Pomona Justina Basuthakur Tyler Evans Sarah O 11. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Kelsey Carpenter Casey Carroll Chelsea Convissar Clement De Hoe Nick Felipa Holly Hillegass Mary Rose Klein Tiffany Lam Jessica Lermant Brett Nelson Kristina Newton Rachel Poyer Josh Solomon Isabella Stavoli Troy Whitford Nina Yadlowsky Anonymous x1 12. CSU Chico Trey Arfman Brittany Kim Alex Metrulas Sarah Quick 13. CSU East Bay Angelo Serrano 14. CSU Fresno Alec Matsumoto 15. CSU Fullerton Keane Virola 16. CSU Monterey Bay Mei Jia Fang Bobby O’Connell

25. De Anza College (cont.)

Sadikshya Karki Itai Khen Anthony Koon Sravana Koppula Cameron Kwong Sui Sum Kwong Brandon Le Jiawei Liu Natalie Mardis Carla Martinez Diego Mejia Khachatur Mirijanyan Irvin Montes Hector Moreno Johnny Muaddi Haley Peterson Sunny Phan Justin Pi Daniel Pierini Yennyfer Ramos Marci Rosengren Alireza Sanayei Vladislav Serebryanskiy Chynna Sites Keven Su Anastasia Tentoglou Zoe Tentoglou Han Tint Katelyn Turner Francisco Villa Katie Vonner Jonathan Weinstein Kensho Yamamoto Yue Zhang Anonymous x34 26. DeVry University Deborah Allen

98 91 99 12 1

70

60

29. Foothill College Jordan Byrnes Erin Gallagher Gabe Garcia Prabhjot Grewal Ruby Hernandez Allison Inanoria Itai Intrater Marilyn Jauregui Joshua Allen Lucas Danielle Miller Lichelle Nelson Kevin Nguyen Sophia Ochoa Nitzan Orr Anna Phan Jaime Romero Rebecca Sagherian Palomita Samaniego Harpreet Setia Gursehaj Singh Gursimran Singh Michelle Walinsky Anonymous x11 30. Fort Lewis College Kevin Barnett 31. Fresno Pacific University Chris Chen

87

66 17

44 69 94 40 52 88 20 13 53 21 26 56 62 55 73 29 36 101 25 58 41 77 16 31 14 43

76

Cooper Sloan

43. Monterey Peninsula College Alicia Lopez 44. Napa Valley College Michelle Nuñez 45. New York University Cathy Zhang 46. NewSchool of Architecture and Design Tyler Napolitano 47.Northeastern University Francisca Finkel 48. Oberlin College Henry Greco 49. Pacific University Brynn Larry 50. Pratt Institute Jessica Chun

32. Furman University Asha Mehta

18. CSU San Marcos Caity Smith

33. Georgetown University Alexandra Genovese

52. Saint Mary’s College Drew Strotman

19. Chapman University Dana Lujack Adam McClaughry Megan Totah

34. George Washington University Sarah Lessing Sameera Kelkar

53. San Francisco State University Cherry Bhao Intr Wendy Chiu Thien Hoang Heather Lee Rubye Oh Charanpreet Kaur Jessica Uribe

21. College of San Mateo Christian Mateo Manjarrez 22. Colorado School of Mines Ariel Rickel 23. Colorado State University Kyana Henningsen-Dunn 24. Columbia University Samantha Rhoads Lane Robinette 25. De Anza College Sean Bobiev Khalil Bourgoub Henry Choy Gloria Dorame Gabriel Forrest Elva Garcia Meilun He Thomas Holm Qiaohong Huang De Von Johnson

36. Institute for Business and Technology Anonymous x1 37. Johns Hopkins University Dorothy Chen Aleksandra Popovic 38. Los Angeles Trade-Technical College Kourtney Dew 39. Loyola Marymount University Grace He Emma Tyrnauer Hannah Want 40. Mills College Anonymous x1 41. Mission College Marlen Maldonado Melissa Valdez Anonymous x1

61 84

86

97 8

79

23

83

80

54. San Diego State University James Lawrence Grace Kim Courtney Shattock Gabriel Simundac 55. San Jose City College Leanne Ax 56. San Jose State University Tuka Almamori Julie Bao Lusine Chibukhchyan Nicole Chung Dylan Dabel Milind Damani Daniel Jeon Nikhila Kodali Linnea Lynch Jonathan Melle Kittiphong Norasri Sahana Sankar Sophiya Sapkota Ravin Sardal

2 45

4 6 7 42 47 24 9 59

50 27

89

48

78

28

37

51

34 33

100

30 72 15 10

39 38 5 95 42. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 71

17. CSU Sacramento Michael Dittmer

35. Georgia Institute of Technology Jay Kamat

93 63

57

51. Purdue University Zoya Hsiao Anthony Pan Riley Viveros

20. City College of San Francisco Tim Cheng Bryan Erickson

90 103

82 11

5

85

22

27. Drexel University Stella Huang 28. Fashion Institute of Technology Kim Inenaga

Homestead High School Class of 2014

102

49

Thursday, May 29, 2014

75

92 19

32

74

18

35 3

54 46

68 64

56. San Jose State University (cont.)

Devika Shirpurkar Brandon Sutton Christian Wittenkamp Austin Yam Anonymous x2 57. Santa Barbara City College Tristhen Dadivas Kaitlin Simpson 58. Santa Clara University Derrick Chan Shima Dadashzadeh Gilly Dosovitsky Tasmine Hackson Alma Niu Yizhang Qu Allen Riddle Kevin Wu Anonymous x1 59. School of Visual Arts Seongwon Seo 60. Sonoma State University Emily Gonzales Emily Milesi Daniele Ortiz 61. Southern Oregon University Iryna Didenko 62. Stanford University Catherina Xu 63. Syracuse University James Shin Anonymous x1 64. Texas Christian University Sydney Loutit 65. Tulane University Sarah Holt 66. Universal Technical Institute, Sacramento Jourdan Weaver-Mariche 67. University of Alabama Emily Fickett Emma Sadowski 68. University of Arizona Peyjmon Ahmad David Almas Erik Krogstad Connor Quilici Dan Sipher Brian Willems

67

81 69. UC Berkeley Haruna Aridomi Rachel Bahr Paul Baik Ilina Bhaya Grossman Soumita Bose Rohit Braganza Divya Chandrasekaran Catherine Chang Jay Desai Nicole Hsu Ji Eun Lee Thao Luong Marie Maier Won Park Niki Peters Vaibhav Ramamoorthy Shirley Shao Min Tseng Samantha Wu 70. UC Davis Andrew Allen Damien Amzallag Yuki Arata Tristan Bala Ben Bright Kaela Han Carl Huang Deonnie Huang Sean Kao Alex Mirov Shahista Mollah Itai Ofir Lillie Oravetz Yume Rashid Christine Sung Morris Yang Vincent Yang 71. UC Irvine Anushree Bhimani Mardella Birondo Hansen Cheung Arnav Malawade Meghana Munagala Kameko Oshiro Jake Plewa Vida Pourmand Suneela Ummadi Sydney Wang 72. UC Los Angeles Katie Aspinwall Swagata Biswas

96

65

93. University of Rochester Theresa Xu 72. UC Los Angeles (cont.)

Jasmine Chen Kaela Cohan Andrew Kim Loïc Maxwell Min Kyu Park Parsa Rezvani Tabitha Sugumar Michael Wang Craig Young Hanphenie Zhou 73. UC Merced Agnes Kagiri Furkan Ozedirne 74. UC Riverside Ankita Chatterji Anonymous x2 75. UC San Diego Iniya Adhan Melody Allen Teva Bracha Vinh Doan Ori Gilad Shangway Hsu Jae Woo Kim Matthew Kim Sugath Madurawe David Moll Leslie Root Lakshmi Somasundaram Julie Wang 76. UC Santa Barbara Semira Amirkiai Benjamin Cheng Eugene Cheng James Choi Aaron Frankel Samantha Gerraty Helen Hwang Kerry Jones Hyeseung La Anson Lau Ryan Lee Sophie Lee Shiran Mamedov

83. University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign Edward Kim Patrick Wang 76. UC Santa Barbara (cont.)

Alex Nagase Arthur Pan Stephen Strawbridge Manushi Yapabandara Anonymous x1 77. UC Santa Cruz Helen Binding Jui Brahmapurikar Hana Chuang Ben Coulson Alizeth Gallego Ryan Gronet Josh Gu Christopher Hsiao Camille Miller Sharon Ostrer Jackson Qu Allison Rogan Saalini Sastry Kana Tanemura Andrea Tsang Varun Yuhanna 78. University of Chicago Laura Tang 79. University of Colorado, Boulder Jules Blackwell Shannon Flynn Lillian Klein 80. University of Denver Jillian Connolly 81. University of Hawaii, Manoa Francesca Muscettola 82. University of Kansas Christine Carey

84. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Paul Gudan Derek Lau Ayush Mehra 85. University of Montana Jeffrey Bilbrey 86. University of Nevada, Reno Jennifer Yeung 87. University of Oregon Giancarlo Alfano Niki Beccari Blair Biggar Alexa Cording Peri Langlois Jacob Mendelson Josh Sipher Derek Tahara Edric Wong 88. University of the Pacific Chris Chao Melissa Matsuura Clarence Olero 89. University of Pennsylvania Lucy Yao Diana Zhou 90. University of Portland Morgan Robinson 91. University of Puget Sound Sam Wagstrom Anonymous x1 92. University of Redlands Torion Oey Samuel Willhalm

94. University of San Francisco Anya Kishen Jessica Mazzarino 95. University of Southern California Austin Browning Irfan Faizullabhoy Eshita Mathur 96. University of Texas, Austin Arjun Gopisetty Allen Hwang 97. University of Utah William Frantz Jessica Yu 98. University of Washington Sarah Hillegass Alison Takahashi Karena Vongampai 99. Washington State University Sarah Lackey 100. Washington University in St. Louis Kara Wen 101. West Valley College Hassell Carranza Noemi Gonzalez Katrina Kluchnikoff Jun Won Hyun Brandon Read Jason Russum Steven Russum Anonymous x1 102. Western Washington University Stephanie Bednarek 103. Willamette University Ben Mendelsohn William Moylan Erin Tokutomi

Graduates serving in the military United States Air Force Joseph Alonso Andrew Berg-Tung Nicholas Ignazio

United States Marine Corps Mandap Bista Pratik Thapa Anonymous x1

United States Navy Eric Hadley

Graduates traveling overseas Israel

Israel Defense Forces Rehut Avrutsky Roebie Blech Gil Cohen Shai Katz Tomer Kringel Shaked Spillinger

Mexico

Universidad De La Salle Bajío Sharon Manosov

United Kingdom Undecided Anne Gahart

University of Cambridge Anonymous x1 University College London Hensam Bains

PAGE DESIGN BY MATTHEW CHOW

6

senior pullout

Thursday, May 29, 2014

9. Work hard, sleep harder - Samantha Rhoads

10. Just do it - Ayush Mehra

By Laura Tang

else lies ahead.”

Ayush Mehra approaches life head-on, offering his mantra: “I do my best and try not to worry about the outcome, just persevere through it.”

This steadfast mindset finds itself in a variety of forms, particularly his involvement in computers, web and mobile app development. This passion stemmed from age three, when his father taught him how to operate a computer. “Right then, I knew I would one day like to make my own computer for others to play on,” said Mehra.

As Homestead’s Future Business Leaders of America competitor and Vice President of Technology, Mehra designed the club’s website and won first place for his graduation ceremony website at the 2013 State Leadership Conference. His Rhyme-aLine website, in which anyone can post and build on one another’s poems, currently has a patent pending, while his self-created iPhone application OnTask encourages productivity and receives rave reviews.

“I like making things that other people can use and enjoy, which is why I strive to become a successful entrepreneur,” said Mehra.

Hackathons abound in 2014, and he has definitely caught on to their growing popularity. His first hackathon was Codeday SF, where he won Best Application. “I liked the idea of being able to create apps and products in just 24 or 36 hours,” said Mehra.

He went on to win Honorable Mention at HackTech Pinterest for using Pinterest’s application programming interface, and helped organize HSHacks, the largest high school hackathon yet.

However, his interests extend beyond programming. He enjoys sports – especially basketball, and often unwinds by hitting the courts. He founded Homestead’s Research Club, which helps students participate in local and statewide science competitions, inspired by his winning the Synopsys Championship Science Fair last year with his research project on sound barriers.

Mehra will be attending the University of Michigan come fall, drawn to its strong entrepreneurship program and MHacks. “I will definitely keep building stuff,” Mehra said, “until I find that one product which can truly make an impact on the world by making life easier, effective and fun.”

By Anya Kishen

By Khalil Bourgoub

Iniya Adhan is not one for following stereotypes, in fact, she is most likely to be seen breaking them. To her, focusing solely on academics was not a priority and Adhan instead chose to explore other passions, more specifically, sports and volunteering, during her years at Homestead.

Though she felt pressure from family friends about her course load for high school, Adhan shunned the “nerdy Indian” stereotype, concentrating on sports. “I hated the SAT. I gave up on studying and I didn’t do that well, but for me, it doesn’t matter,” she said, smiling.

From the sixth grade, Adhan showed a penchant for sports, and after not making the basketball team at Cupertino Middle School, she “pushed [herself] to make the seventh grade team and [has] been playing on school teams ever since.” She also joined the Homestead golf team her sophomore year, after being convinced by a friend and “because they needed players,” she said.

The perseverance which got Adhan onto her middle school basketball team helped her pave the way to becoming National Honor Society’s (NHS) Vice President of Project Management this year. “I didn’t make NHS in my sophomore year, but after I got in my junior year, I applied for the secretary position,” she said. “They offered me the position of vice president instead.” Adhan appreciated NHS’s focus on “unique and locally based charities and programs,” making for more hands-on projects.

When Adhan “began to crave the feeling you get when you help someone,” she began to expand to different volunteer programs. Interested in becoming a doctor and unsatisfied with the volunteer opportunities in high school, Adhan looked towards outside sources, volunteering in El Camino Hospital’s Emergency Response (ER) department since sophomore year. On what her job entails, Adhan said “we’re not allowed to touch the patients or give them shots, but we clean the beds after surgery [...] I wanted to test myself to see if I could handle [blood], but I didn’t faint or throw up, so that’s good.”

Next year, Adhan will be majoring in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at University of California, San Diego.

From each day to the next, Kourtney Dew finds that learning something new every day, academic or something as simple as listening to music he’s never heard before, pushes him to explore something different on a daily basis.

By surrounding himself with a unique group of individuals that he considers smart, creative or innovative, he finds it helps him learn fresh and interesting things.

Dew wishes to dabble in a plethora of artistic careers as he leaves high school; he would love to open up a multi-complex boutique where he can design clothing and shoes for people that want to change the daily norm and break the mold of every day dress. There is another side to this boutique as well though; he wants it to have a “hip-hop” vibe from the moment someone steps through the doorway.

That’s where music plays into his life. Dew loves rap and hip-hop music, and also plans on pursuing hip-hop producing and rapping in selfcomposed songs as well as directing the music videos for his music and production. He loves “brain tickling” visuals that he hopes to bring to his music videos and films. His drive and motivation comes from his fear of failure and his overarching desire to make his mother proud. Dew’s hopes and dreams comes from a deep-routed creativity he possess and carries with him every day, with the way he dresses and the ongoing soundtrack that’s always running through his head. “Life is not about finding who you are, it’s about creating who you are,” Dew said, “I’ll be creating who I am until the day I die.”

This is the way he plans on directing the path of his life. Also, Dew says to keep an eye out for the company he is starting with fellow classmate Angel Feliciano called “Aspired Apparel,” which will consist of all of his future aspirations, clothing, music and impactful daily material.

By Laura Tang

“When I’m getting overwhelmed, I sleep. I have a phenomenal talent for becoming unconscious at any moment in the day; it’s basically a superpower. I like to think that it’s a way to recover from everything that’s been wearing me down.”

At first sight, Samantha Rhoads resembles the archetypical good student: strong academics and extracurriculars, well-behaved, cheerful and collected. But beneath her exterior lies a fiercely determined, independent individual whose strength propels her to overcome many of life’s obstacles past, present, and future.

“I can’t live life dependent on other people for validation,” said Rhoads. “I’ve been through quite a few family struggles, but my pervading mantra of independence has helped me thrive.”

Her self-determining mindset takes form in all areas of her life, with passions spanning across the board. “I always become extremely devoted to whatever is occupying my time while it’s in front of me, but I love dabbling in the sea of activities,” said Rhoads.

As varsity captain of Homestead’s field hockey team, Rhoads has been involved in the sport for all four years of high school, both at Homestead and club teams, and plans to play club hockey in college as well. In the summer after her junior year, she organized her own makeshift teams and entered them into numerous tournaments, such as one in Stanford and one at the University of California, Davis.

“The sport has been...a haven to escape into when life becomes too mentally taxing,” said Rhoads.

Additionally, she is an active competitor in Homestead’s Future Business Leaders of America and a private tutor at a college counseling center, where she helps grade essays and provide writing feedback for high school students.

Come fall, Rhoads will be attending Columbia University, double-majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior & Psychology. Looking to the future, “I honestly just want to find a long-term passion,” said Rhoads. “I’ve always functioned on a sort of internal drive. That should be enough to propel me through college and whatever

11. Go against the grain - Iniya Adhan

12. Don’t seek; create your own answers - Kourtney Dew

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MATTHEW CHOW PAGE DESIGN BY GRACE HE

senior pullout

13. One who organizes is

one who succeeds - Alex Mirov

By Eugene Cheng Here’s a common teenage disease that afflicts the majority of the adolescent to young adult population, except for Alex Mirov. A young child scribbles frantically on a worksheet that he had the whole weekend to complete, but instead waits until the last minute to finish. Not Alex Mirov. A puberty-stricken boy is dismayed when he misses his favorite television show because he didn’t keep time. Not a problem for Mr. Mirov. A girl who is nearing legal adulthood forgets her best friend’s birthday. Not Mirov.

“With all the crazy stuff happening in my life, I find it best to keep it all organized,” said Mirov, who can be commonly seen navigating the hectic waters of teenage life with either a video camera or his infectious personality. “I actually use my planner and write down everything I need to do. By

making a tangible list, I find myself more motivated to finish tasks.”

He described his penchant for organization as the result of “trial and error,” as well as the skills he learned as a Boy Scout.

“Ever since I was 12 I have planned events and camping trips,” he recounted.

His proficiency in sorting out his immediate future served a beneficial role in juggling the different activities he participates in, such as Cross Country, Spanish Club, and creating videos for ASB and Leadership.

One avocation Mirov is known for is his video-making pursuits for the student body. “For videos like the Senior Homecoming video this year,” he elaborated, “I had to organize a party with about 50 people that abided to all school rules, which was difficult to execute. Things like that were planned months in advance.”

And to supplement his chaotic schedule, Mirov relies on the closeby presence of the largest coffeehouse company in the world.

“To fight the lack of sleep issue, I drink a lot of Starbucks,” he said. “Caffeine is the best thing to have ever happened to me.”

But even a giant can fall, right? What happens when things don’t go according to plan? Mirov explained: “Yeah, so we normally do everything far enough in advance where we have enough time for a plan B if things don’t work out.” Oh, well maybe not Alex Mirov.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

14. Don’t follow the sheep near you. Look for your own shepherd - Deborah Allen

By Camille Miller

15. Passion is the key to the doors of life - Josh Solomon

By Eugene Cheng

If you don’t know Josh Solomon personally, you probably know him for his notorious affair with drums.

“It’s been a passion for me,” Solomon explained. “I used to spend five, six hours a day, practicing.” Currently a member of both Marching Band and Jazz Band, Solomon joined Homestead’s Marching Band freshman year, at the urging of a friend’s parent. “It was probably the best decision I’ve ever made,” he said.

Playing drums for Jazz Band, however, did not happen until his sophomore year. “I would go on really long bathroom breaks,” Solomon said, “and I would always go watch Jazz Band.” That led to an invitation from music teacher John Burn to audition for Jazz Band.

Although Solomon still gets a kick out of percussion-related music performance, his focus is not set squarely on snares and hi-hats. More hidden in Solomon’s repertoire of passions is his love for physics.

“MIT has this lecture series online, and I love watching it for fun. I don’t like to tell

7

people that,” he confessed.

Another area of importance is the people in his life. “I think the majority of who I am is the result of my friends,” he said. “Most of the really happy times I’ve had in high school is the result of my friends, because my friends, they’re just the best.” He also accredits his happiness to his girlfriend of over two years: “I feel like she pushes me to be a better human being, which is...what more could you ask for, you know?”

Above all, what Solomon should be recognized for is not his hobbies, social life, or accomplishments. It’s how he approaches the fragility of life. “What drumline taught me,” he said, “is that you have find the stuff that you’re really passionate about, and then you have to go after [it]. You can’t try your hardest in everything in life [...] you gotta find what’s really important to you.”

“That’s my recipe for happiness,” Solomon concluded. “It doesn’t matter what you do, as long you do it passionately, because then, no one can really take it away from you.”

She sits next to me, her legs crossed under a black skirt that reaches her ankles. Her posture is one of poise and sophistication, while her beaming grin radiates humor and easygoingness.

“Scared.” “Self-conscious.” “Different.” These are the words that Deborah Allen used to describe who she was going into her freshman year of high school. As a conservative Christian, Allen’s wardrobe consists of endless variations of ankle-length skirts and dresses, which she alternates each day within her minimalistic stylish outfits.

Although her selection of attire is merely one way in which she celebrates her religion, aside from attending church each week and conducting prayers, it was also a near determinant in choosing her educational path. Prior to the start of high school, Allen struggled with the decision between getting home-schooled or attending Homestead, ultimately choosing the latter. “I was afraid of how people would perceive me,” Allen said.

However, she showed no signs of regret when reflecting on her decision. “[Homestead] is very accepting,” she said with a bright smile on her face. “People respect your beliefs here.”

The religious influence that Allen experienced since her childhood has extended deep into her life as a Mustang.

“I think there are a lot of mistakes that I could have made, but didn’t,” Allen said.

“It’s given me a good foundation. I’m not lost. I’m not very vulnerable. I have my own values.”

In fact, Allen puts a heavy emphasis on individuality and being able to define oneself in life. “Don’t let other people determine who you are or what you’re going to be,” she said. “There’s always going to be peer pressure but if you can overcome that – giving into people – you can accomplish what you need to.”

Allen is headed off to DeVry University this fall to study accounting and will continue to exercise her passion for singing in her free time, as well as her devotion to her faith.

16. Do what you like and forget the rest - Jay Desai

By Matthew Chow

Jay Desai is a man of simple words and principles. “Do things that seem fun,” he said.

“I study what I like and don’t care too much about things I don’t enjoy, and I think that’s worked out pretty well for me.”

However, behind this straightforward mantra lies a fascinating character of diverse interests and admirable accomplishments.

In addition to having played trumpet in the marching band for all four years, Desai has found his interests in jazz band and science bowl, in which he has participated for the past three years. “Through high school, I’ve gotten

to find out what I like,” he said. “I came here with vague ideas and interests in math and music. But I’ve found out that I really do love playing the trumpet and I love the sciences.”

In addition to developing his interests at Homestead, Desai has also learned crucial life lessons. “I’ve learned to stop trying to compare myself with others,” he said. Four years ago, Desai entered Homestead as one who always competed with others and vied for the best academic recognition and chair placements for band and wind ensemble.

“Being competitive is fine, but at the same

time, you should always strive to do what you want to do,” Desai said.

To underclassmates and fellow seniors, Desai offered a piece of advice: “Find something you like to do,” he said. “That’s why I’ve really enjoyed my time here - because I’ve found things I love and have had four really great years.”

Following his own advice, this coming year, Desai will be studying computer science and mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley to hopefully enjoy another four great years of pursuing fun.

PAGE DESIGN BY ANYA KISHEN AND MATTHEW CHOW ILLUSTRATIONS BY MATTHEW CHOW

8

senior pullout

Thursday, May 29, 2014

17

By Grace He “Along your life’s journey there are going to be a lot of things that you can pick up along the way. You’re free to pick and choose what you want but throughout your entire journey there has to be something that is constant that keeps you grounded to your beliefs or else you’re going to get lost.”

Known to her friends as a focused, fun-loving person, Lucy Yao has impacted the lives of many through her constant dedication to Homestead and its community. Besides being the head of the nation’s top FBLA club, Yao is also a member of National Honor Society, the National

Chinese Honor Society, Japanese National Honor Society and badminton club.

In FBLA, Yao and the officer team have tried to break the cult image the club is often cast into. “I don’t want to change [people’s] perspective...but I would like to point them in the right direction and give them a more favorable idea of what FBLA is.”

When she’s not busy at school, Yao enjoys singing, listening to music, and exercising. In her last four years at Homestead, Yao has been a dedicated member of the school’s badminton team. In her first year at the school, she became one of the only freshmen to join the varsity team.

“Exercising is a huge thing that I like to do when I’m really stressed and need an escape.”

Something that she has always had an interest in pursuing but has never admitted except for those close to her, is a career in the military. With the discipline that is taught in the military, Yao imagines herself not only applying the teachings to her own personal life but also to her professional career. “I’ve talked to a bunch of entrepreneurs from all over the place, and all of them said that they had wished that they had the discipline you get in the military.”

This fall, Yao will be attending the prestigious Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in finance and management.

Eyes to the sky, feet on the ground - Lucy Yao

By Anya Kishen A quiet personality on campus, Andre Ordonez involves himself in the school without any pomp and circumstance— be it supporting the school’s sports teams by attending almost all games or through community service clubs.

Ordonez displays a refreshing uniqueness in a competitive age—instead of an intensive four-year program to pack his resumé; he focuses on activities he is interested in; “I just try to have as much fun as I possibly can [...] whether it’s studying, hanging out with friends, or working out,” he said.

After not being involved in

school-related activities for the first three years of high school, Ordonez wanted his senior year to be different, so he ran for English Language (EL) Commissioner, a position which his teachers and the former EL Commissioner suggested he apply for.

As EL Commissioner, Ordonez organizes socials for the English Language Department (ELD) students, and most recently, an ELD soccer tournament.

On his first year in leadership, Ordonez said, “I was worried that Leadership would be a hard class, but it was actually really fun to be part of. I got to improve my speaking, leadership, and time management skills.”

Ordonez said that being in Leadership left a positive mark on his

18

last year of high school.

In addition to his leadership role, Ordonez recently became involved in Interact Club, “one of my friends wanted to do community service,” he said. “I just enjoy helping people.”

Ordonez’s activities are not limited to within the school — he enjoys working out to stay healthy, saying that one of his favorite activities is “biking with a really good friend for hours.” Sometimes, he said, “[I will] go hiking with a friend, waking up early in the morning on weekends.”

In the future, Ordonez plans to attend Foothill Community College for two years and then transfer to a UC.

Find fun in everything you do - Andre Ordonez

senior staff

2013-2014

the epitaph

Dear Class of 2014, It’s been a blast to serve you this past year. Thank you for all the memories, stories and madness! Best of luck with your post-Homestead adventures!

The Epitaph Class of 2014

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Andrew Reyes, Nicole Chung, Laura Tang, Camille Miller, Khalil Bourgoub, Emi Kamezaki, Anya Kishen, Grace He, Eugene Cheng, Matthew Chow PHOTO BY NATALIE CALDERON AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY MATTHEW CHOW PAGE DESIGN BY LAURA TANG

entertainment

Thursday, May 29, 2014

5

Thou art most groovy

Shakespeare set in the age of disco displayed on the Homestead stage

By Greg Schrader

PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH HOLT

ABOVE: Actors Sarah Holt (12), Keren Benzion (10), Ronnie Cohen (11), Christian Wittenkamp (12), and Billy Moylan (12) act in the production of Two Gentlemen of Verona.

The pre-show music quiets and the show begins! On May 8, 9, and 10, Homestead’s Advanced Drama class put on William Shakespeare’s famous “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” a comedy of love and, in the Homestead adaption, disco.

The show stars seniors Christian Wittenkamp as Valentine and Billy Moylan as Proteus. “Two Gentlemen of Verona” is known for having the smallest cast of any of

Shakespeare’s plays, and is in fact possibly his first play.

The “Two Gents Adaption,” as the cast has taken to calling it, is about two men who find and fight for love in unexpected places.

It is set in the groovy 1970’s and directed by Homestead’s Theatre Arts Teacher, Leslie Lloyd. Snarky assistants, pompous lords, and even a mute bandit made appearances.

The show’s show’s three-day run was highly successful despite casting changes during the lead-up to opening night.

Students produce and perform plays at Homestead’s theater

By Greg Schrader

Several Homestead students are directing – and in some cases writing – plays.

Performances began last Tuesday, and the last run will be on Thursday, starting at 4:20 pm at the Homestead Theatre. The shows include “Bang Bang You’re Dead,” directed by junior Sahitya Atluri, “The Cagebirds” directed by junior Ronnie Cohen, and “Guns Don’t Kill People, Artichokes Kill People,” directed and written by both junior Greg Schrader and senior Gabi Haecky, respectively.

“Directing my play has been a rollercoaster of emotions, I love the script, I love the actors, I love how it’s relevant to today, but at the same time I have to deal with organizing rehearsals, getting people to memorize, costumes, blocking,” said Atluri. “It makes you wonder if it’s ever worth it, but

of course when you see how it transforms from paper to production you’re reminded of how much of a reward it is to see.”

Haecky said her play “has a few things going for it, like death by artichokes. Mystery. Revenge. Pigeons.” She went on to say, “I’m pretty sure nobody’s ever written a show about poisoned artichokes before.

You’re not going to find this anywhere else.

No, not even in Vegas. ESPECIALLY not in Vegas. If we performed in Vegas they’d probably run us out of town for being too revolutionary.” “[Directing has been] difficult, but rewarding,” said Cohen, “I got the opportunity to examine the larger picture for once rather than focus on representing a single character. It was very eye opening.”

The plays that have run were “Struck by Lightning,” directed by Stella Huang and “Goodbyes,” directed by Casey Bisted.

GREG SCHRADER

ABOVE: Actor and junior Anshuman Bhusal (11) waits on the back stage’s wings for a cue while director and junior Casey Bisted (11) looks over her script.

Little fault in “The Fault in Our Stars” A book review to the major motion picture

By Rachel Hildebrand

NOT YESTERDAY’S BEAUTY SCHOOL Admissions | 408 564 1767 Appointments | 408 261 9201 Show your student card and get $3 OFF any service

Young adult books have taken over Hollywood. With huge productions of bestselling teen books earning studios huge profits, every film producer is trying to find the ‘next big thing.’ One book seemed to perfectly match all the criteria for the next big movie. It had a large, mostly young adult fanbase, two loveable characters, and was staying high on the bestseller chart. But, one word set filmmakers running – Cancer. Now, the upcoming film adaption is eagerly anticipated by fans, and expected to be a huge success.

“The Fault in our Stars” by John Green has taken the world by storm. The novel, which is sold at every major book outlet, is the love story of two cancer-stricken teenagers, whose story of love and adventure have enthralled people around the world.

The New York Times Best Seller has over three million copies in circulation, and a film version that will be released on June 6.

“It’s different from any other love story,” said Freshman Kathleen Millendez, who first read the book after seeing the movie trailer. Though Millendez realizes the book may not be a precise description of what it is like to have cancer, she thinks it provides a new perspective to readers and teaches important lessons on life.

John Green, who was voted one of the 100 most influential people this year

by TIME magazine, has written multiple

bestsellers. Three of his books, including “The Fault in our Stars,” are currently in the top five of the New York Times Best Sellers Young Adult chart.

Green’s inspiration for the book came in 2010, when his friend, 16-year-old Esther Earl, died after nearly four years of fighting thyroid cancer. She first met the author at a Harry Potter convention, where they developed a lifelong friendship. Just like main character, Hazel, Earl had a breathing tube and the same middle name.

“After meeting Esther, I felt very differently about whether a short life could be a rich life,” Green told the website “Goodreads” in an interview. He credits Earl for inspiring him with “her unusual mix of teenagerness and empathy.”

When first approached about turning the book into a movie, Green worried that the movie wouldn’t be able to get across the real emotions of the characters. Now, after assisting in casting and being on set for the filming, he is very happy with the final product.

The movie will star Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as the lead characters Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters. The duo previously starred together as brother and sister in the recent film Divergent, a movie also based on a bestselling young adult novel. “‘The Fault in Our Stars’ is a beautiful film that’s really positive,” Elgort said in a recent interview with TeenVogue.

PAGE DESIGN BY ANTHONY GARCIA

6

entertainment Off the Grid is off the charts

Thursday, May 29, 2014

By Donnie Denome

BELOW: Off the Grid’s fleet of food trucks en-

deavor to deliver a variety of restaurant-quality food to locations all over the Bay Area.

DONNIE DENOME

DONNIE DENOME

ABOVE: Sam’s Chowdermobile, an offshoot of

Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay, serves New England-style seafood.

Patrons’ chatter and amplified guitar tunes issuing from the live music booth nearly drown out the rush of traffic on Lawrence Expressway. Nine food trucks, covering every kind of cuisine from clam chowder to Indian fusion, are parked in a U-shape along the back wall of Sports Basement. The crowds swarm near the trucks and then proceed to the curb near the expressway where they flop on the pavement or in plastic folding chairs to eat, drink, and be merry. This is Off the Grid, a fleet of food trucks that roam the Bay Area. Native to San Francisco, they recently started to come to Cupertino and Sunnyvale. Their mission is simple: bring the best of the bay in food, music, and atmosphere to people all over Northern California.

I first tried We Sushi’s chirashi. My hopes were not exactly high – it was, after all, food truck sushi – but they were easily surpassed with the first bite.

Unlike its grocery store counterpart, the fish wasn’t overwhelmingly vinegared and the rice’s consistency was perfect. The included

salad was fresh unlike my expectation of wilted greens from a truck that didn’t specialize in salad. Although I didn’t try the ginger, the rice under it was hardly spicy.

I also tried Gold Rush Eatery’s pulled pork sandwich. True to my expectations, it was flavorful without falling apart from an excess of sauce. The potatoand-egg bun was extremely moist and filling. Its ingredients did not overpower the rest of the sandwich.

What was overpowering was the amount of pepper used in the included cole slaw. It drowned out the cabbage and dressing, leaving the dish a mass of peppery cabbage swimming in vinaigrette.

Off the Grid’s impromptu restaurant style creates a casual atmosphere that attracts all types. Their fleet is much greater than the nine trucks that came to Sunnyvale and the variation is well worth a trip to their other stops. When one is there, one is surrounded by a great sense of community not often seen. Given the food, the music and the general good cheer, I would most definately recommend Off the Grid.

BELOW: Cupkate’s Bakery has a range of mouth-

watering flavors but beware – they sell out quickly.

DONNIE DENOME

DONNIE DENOME

ABOVE: Siam Loco Wraps fuses the burrito we

all know and love with Thai food. Such inventive fusion is common in Off the Grid’s smorgasboard.

Andrew Yamasaki pieces together PCs

MARISSA LEE

Give him enough time and the right materials, and Andrew Yamasaki can build himself a full functioning personalized computer.

The current junior first got his interest in middle school after watching his dad and brother develop and maintain early systems as a kid. To further his knowledge about computers, Yamasaki referenced YouTube and different forums such as PCPartpicker and Linus Tech Tips. Since then, he has made two computers in which one of them is his main gaming rig.

The other computer was for French teacher Madame Ronsheimer. With the help

of his French class, the French National Honors Society, and the Homestead Cancer Society, he was able to surprise Ronsheimer and lift her spirits during a difficult time in her life.

From the start of unboxing the components to the last minute touches of installing the OS and fixing any problems, Yamasaki can do it all within three hours. During this time span, he finds himself customizing the computer to meet his own personal standard, which unlike a computer you can buy at a store, a homemade computer can fulfill something store-bought computers

cannot do.

The difference between buying a computer and making his own plays a major factor in Yamasaki’s interest in the hobby: “The hands-on experience you get when building a computer as opposed to buying one from the store is invaluable, and to me is very fun.”

It is not all fun and games for Yamasaki. When making computers, he occasionally finds himself running tedious obstacles.

The main problem for him is cable management. “It is easy for a system to get cluttered and tangled with the huge number of cables strewn about the case to

Watching “Palo Alto” in Menlo Park

Hollywood actors’ portrayal of Silicon Valley drama

By Nancy Zhou

Location: Menlo Park, Guild Theatre, 28 miles away from Homestead. Surprisingly, not many showing times in Palo Alto.

Price: $10 Convenience: 5/10, Independent films are shown in special theaters. There is a certain kind of atmosphere you can not get at big cinemas like AMC; the showing at Guild Theatre felt very personal, seeing as they only had one room.

Acting: 7/10, The movie featured James Franco and Emma Roberts. Although Franco had minimal screen time, he succeeded in his portrayal of a mature and manipulative soccer coach. The scenes between him and Roberts were cringeworthy. Even the

feelings expressed by the newcomer actors were clear and cohesive.

Cinematography: 8/10, The use of cutscenes may have been abused a bit, but the lighting and camera movement depicted a dream-like nostalgia.

Plot: 7/10, Despite the “R” rating of this film, Palo Alto contained little to no shock factor. The scenes and situations from this film felt surreal, as it’s story portrayed the numbing and somewhat shallow teen. Given, not everyone had a party hard lifestyle, but the stereotype hits very close to home.

The teenagers portrayed in the film are misunderstood and dysfunctional, and felt relatable not by situation but emotion. Al-

though the humor in the movie was mainly composed of witty comebacks, some of the scenes had their share of angst.

If I were to apply “deeper thinking” to this movie (as many literature teachers advise their students), I would assume this is the somewhat dramatized reality that Franco remembers life in Palo Alto was like. The movie is loosely based on the book

by Franco of the same name, a collection of 11 other stories with similarly themed tales of parties, drugs, and sex.

How much I would pay for the movie: $3.65 Should you watch it? Sure. If you are into sad party movies.

power all the components and accessories.” In addition to this, computer components do not always work. This results in him buying new components to test and repeat.

With his endeavors, all of his hard work pays off: “Having it power on, and seeing the end product of all your effort and money become fully operational [is the most rewarding part].”

Yamasaki’s love of the craft has taught him to encourage people to “find a passion, and pursue it. Everyone has one, and once you discover yours your life can become much more fun and fulfilling.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF IMP AWARDS

By Marissa Lee

PAGE DESIGN BY MARISSA LEE

sports

Thursday, May 29, 2014

7

Homestead baseball field dedicated to Camuso

By Shiri Huber

PHOTO COURTESY OF SUE LARSON

PHOTO COURTESY OF SUE LARSON

On May 12, Homestead’s baseball field was officially renamed Camuso Field in honor of the late Carmen, “Chuck” Camuso, a baseball coach at Homestead for over 20 years.

Above left: the Camuso family and friends at the dedication ceremony. Above right: the Homestead varsity baseball team celebrates the dedication.

Boy’s volleyball advances to CCS

The varsity boy’s volleyball team victoriously defeats Leland High School at CCS semi-finals

By Priya Sodlapur

Homestead’s varsity boy’s volleyball team, with an impressive overall record of 26-11, made it all the way to the Central Coast Section (CCS) semi-finals.

They held a strong league record of 11-3, and ended their season with a victorious game against Leland High School.

Homestead initiated the game against Leland with a modest round, beating them 25-21. While the lead shifted back

and forth between the two teams, as the round continued, Mustangs pulled ahead to take the first game.

As the second game progressed, Homestead established an early lead, which they were able to hold on to all the way to victory. They defeated Leland in the second round 25-20.

At this point in the volleyball game, the crowd was amped up and ready to

Sports conditioning to take place this summer

Homestead athletes gear up for summer conditioning in August

see a final and victorious outcome for the Mustangs. One passionate member in the crowd, junior Nicole Rouleau said, “It was great to see the players using so much teamwork and cheering each other on to keep the team’s confidence up.”

With the intense support of the crowd, the Mustangs confidently entered their final round at their strongest point. Immediately, the boys scored against Le-

CCS UPDATE VARSITY BASEBALL advances to Round 2 of CCS playoffs SWIMMING AND DIVING

By Dipshikha Kandel Summer conditioning will take place in late August for the entire fall sports lineup, and will last about two to three weeks. The summer conditioning program is not mandatory to attend but is highly recommended by individual team coaches, who will be training incoming and returning students.

“This program was planned so that it would help incoming students get ready for practice, and especially the tryouts,” said tennis coach, Edmond Kwong. “We have summer conditioning for fall sports [because students often] don’t get enough time for tryouts and practice before their big games” Most students, in particular incoming freshmen, will be returning to school or starting at Homestead having practiced a

very small amount over the summer. This leaves students unprepared for the rigor of their sport, which can lead to injuries early on in the season.

As a way to alleviate this issue, the Athletic Board’s decision to implement summer sports conditioning was based on the idea that it will prevent students from “[getting] injured during the practice and the tryouts,” according to Athletic Director, Lisa Nakamatsu.

In addition to injury prevention, “We are trying to build up the team and create team chemistry before the tryouts and the practices start,” Kwong added, “so that the students can connect with each other and work well with each other during the games.”

land and created a safety net that ensured them the overall win. They won with a significant difference in score, 25-11.

The Mustangs’ confident spirit and constant support of the crowd drove the volleyball team to victory. Rouleau noted, “Homestead started off strong and was able to keep up their stride through first three games to give them a solid win.”

had multiple athletes place and broke several national and CCA records

VARSITY SOFTEBALL advances to Round 2 of CCS playoffs

PAGE DESIGN BY SHIRI HUBER

8

last word

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Meet the

epitaph

The

epadviser Natalie Calderon

family

The epistaffers

Matthew Chow (12) Editor in Chief

Grace He (12 ) Design Editor

Emi Kamezaki (12) Business Manager

Anthony Garcia (11) Camille Miller (12) Entertainment Editor News Editor

Eugene Cheng (12) Lifestyle Editor

Anya Kishen (12) Lifestyles Editor

Khalil Bourgoub (12) Laura Tang (11)

Donnie Denome (10) Greg Schrader (11) Reporter Opinion Editor

Sports Editor

News Editor

Andrew Reyes (12) Nicole Chung (12) Reporter Reporter

Marissa Lee (11) Reporter

Priya Sodlapur (11) Reporter

Shiri Huber (11) Reporter

Dipshikha Kandel (11) Reporter

Rachel Hildebrand (9) Nancy Zhou (11) Reporter Reporter PAGE DESIGN BY NANCY ZHOU PHOTOS BY NATALIE CALDERON AND NANCY ZHOU