Freestyle Academy 2021 Junior Documentary Articles Vol. 1
Freestyle Academy proudly presents
2021 Documentary Articles Junior students were challenged with:
“How do you creatively and truthfully portray a significant person, group, place, idea, or issue in the community?” For the Junior Documentary Project, students portray an intriguing person, group, place, idea, or issue, gathering primary and secondary research sources to develop a distinct perspective about their subject’s significance in the community and/or world. The research-based paper from English serves as the copy for the magazine articles in this publication. This unit emphasizes narrative-style journalism. Students in Digital Media learned to use Adobe InDesign for article layout, Adobe Photoshop of image editing, and Adobe Illustrator for graphic design to produce these articles. Each student in Digital Media also produced a documentary website. Film students additionally produced a Documentary Film. Animation students additionally produced an Animated Documentary. Design students additionally produced a Documentary Book. All documentary productions can be viewed through https://freestyleacademy.rocks/documentaries
Contributing Authors 2 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
A l a y n a L e e � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 4 Anjali Kamran ����������� 10 B r y n K e l ly � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 1 6 C a r ly W a t s o n � � � � � � � � � � � � 2 2 C h l o e B u r c e l l � � � � � � � � � � � � 2 8 Ev e ly n Ya s k i n � � � � � � � � � � � � 3 4 J o n a h Th o m a s � � � � � � � � � � � � 4 0 freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 3
Alayna Lee 4 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
The Hidden Art of The Journey of Wai-Hon Lee: learning the secrets of the old Chinese calligraphy masters
Chinese
Calligraphy by Alayna Lee freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 5
The Beginning
I
n Chinese culture, there remains one form of art that is not commonly talked about— calligraphy. Decades ago, starting to learn this composition was a challenge for WaiHon Lee, my grandfather. It was 1957 when he was first introduced to calligraphy. Throughout the years, he always kept one question in mind,
"How do you use the brush?" This kept up his motivation to learn this unspoken piece of culture. Lee continues the tradition of this ancient Chinese art and reflects on the work of old Chinese masters to improve calligraphy techniques. He remains an artist outside of doing calligraphy, also playing the cello, engineering for holograms, and doing karaoke. Being the creative spirit he is, he practices each of these daily, but spends the majority of his free time in his office doing calligraphy. Spread out across his giant desk, he has piles of rice paper and multiple pencil cups of Chinese calligraphy brushes. He is constantly inspired by the works of the old Chinese masters, and works to improve his own calligraphy. Lee works often, and he has been able to create two scrolls of his work to hang up in his living room and his dining room.
years, the perfection of this craft was important for Chinese calligraphers to express their language, since calligraphy continues to be a huge part of the beauty of Chinese character writing. However, perfecting this craft is not easy. According to Lee, there is not just one style of calligraphy, and almost all of them take years of practice to write consistently. He states, “there’s one master and his calligraphy was very strange. It was always lopsided, It’s long on the left side, and everything was squeezed up on the right hand side. We had to imitate his style. It’s very difficult.” Although calligraphy can be fun and enjoyable, having to learn it is more of a process than you may expect. Back in Lee’s time in middle school, he struggled trying to learn how to use Chinese calligraphy brushes in class. Each day, he found that the teacher only focused on teaching what was given, and stuck by the books of the great masters’ writings to teach their students. He soon found out that the teacher was unable to demonstrate in a way that wasn’t confusing. They got time to write calligraphy and got assessed on how well they wrote. This teaching strategy never went well though. The calligraphy teacher never examined the process of the writing and only gave criticisms. Lee struggled with calligraphy up
History
T
oday, Chinese calligraphy is still prominent in Chinese culture for its artistic significance in relation to the historical context of Chinese characters. For thousands of
Dragon ink stone
Lee’s calligraphy work bench
6 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
to this point, so he continued his search on how to use the brush on his own. Teaching himself, Lee was able to make his own rules. Being in his own world of expression, he was able to take control of his own work for what he wanted to do and how he wanted to write calligraphy. Lee was able to answer his question on his own. He chose to give himself freedom with his brush holding and how he wrote Chinese characters. Following the stroke order, he loosened his wrist, placed the brush on the paper, and drew. He says, “I remember the first year of holding the brush very tight. In fact, I practiced so much and I remember [that] that year… I [kept] writing [and] writing until my fingers [got all] stiff… Then I noticed, the finger has to be very loose, very relaxed. That was the first breakthrough in my understanding of calligraphy.”
Calligraphy brush hanger
Breaking Boundaries
T
aking his time with his own methods, he broke through the Chinese masters’ bad writing habits and created his own simpler way of writing. However, his point of view on Chinese calligraphy is unseen by most traditional calligraphers. Although this perspective Lee takes is unordinary, it makes calligraphy easier to pass on to later generations to continue this sole part of Chinese culture. It was not that Lee changed the course of calligraphy; it was that he was improving upon it. Although the grip of the brush plays a big part in this form of writing, it is also important for its history, which Lee continues to express through his own calligraphy. He continues to learn more about the history of Chinese characters; since all of them have changed as the language has evolved over time. He works on writing the old Chinese characters just as the masters do, to remember this part of Chinese history and to reflect upon the strokes created by them as well.
For the Future
W
hen working to create Chinese characters his way, he is motivated to continue calligraphy for as long as he can. He is still working on learning more works of the old masters and even improving upon his own style of calligraphy. Lee is focused on helping to create better writing habits for future learners so they can have the same motivation he does when he does calligraphy.
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 7
The emotions he involves in his work and finds doing is what makes Lee find calligraphy as something interesting. The amount of effort and struggle Lee went through to learn how to do calligraphy shouldn’t be as time consuming as it was, and he wants that to change. Although it is important to take that time for improvement, Lee hopes to help others in a way his teachers and masters were unable to do. Being able to grow his own methods of writing, he hopes to teach this to learners so they can better understand how to use Chinese calligraphy brushes. He pushes for this part of Chinese culture to be more appreciated as its own abstract artform.
After the Pandemic
A
s of right now, he is currently trying to find classes to teach, in an attempt to keep this piece of culture alive. Being a professor and parent volunteer, he hopes to continue to teach people and share his knowledge and wisdom with others. Sadly, Lee has been struggling to find a place to teach at due to the coronavirus pandemic. As schools return to normal, Lee hopes to teach at Mountain View High School. Chinese calligraphy— although it is not commonly spoken about— is something that should be enjoyed and remembered for future generations as a more prominent part of Chinese culture. Lee states, “Just as simple of a thing calligraphy [seems, it] can teach you a lot of ways of doing things in all areas.” He continues, “That is why I really want to teach calligraphy; because this perspective of how to teach calligraphy is what is not being done up until now… I want to find out whether I can have a class for the students or for the parents.”
Seal scripted scroll
Shelf of calligraphy scrolls
8 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
Alayna Lee About the Author: Alayna Lee is a junior at Mountain View High School’s Freestyle Academy. Lee is an artist who typically works on illustrations and watercolor but works as a design student at Freestyle. She has prior experience with digital applications including Photoshop, After Effects, and other drawing and video editing related softwares and implements her skills into her Freestyle projects. She hopes to continue her artistry in college/work but will either way continue her creative works as a hobby.
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 9
Anjali Kamran 10 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol # | freestyleacademy.rocks
Partition between India and Pakistan: how has it changed our outlook on humanity? Raj Khanchandani, retired, a survivor and refugee of the Partition between India and Pakistan. Written and designed by: Anjali Kamran
The sound of a cricket bat striking the ball echoes through Sindh, a province in Pakistan. Putting the bat down quickly, he runs from base to base and scores six runs. Having won the match, he and his friends ran back home, making it just in time for dinner. My grandfather, Raj Khanchandani, was a Hindu living in Pakistan before the partition. At a young age he became accustomed to a wealthy lifestyle. Mr. Khanchandani’s grandfather was a landlord and used to give land to the local people in exchange for a portion of their cultivated land. “He owned lots of land and also got an earning out of it. When I was a young kid I saw that he had so much money, it was unbelievable. He had, you know, kind of gold coins and other things. He was a rich person.” Taking a trip down memory lane, Mr. Khanchandani comes across his favorite memory in his grandfather’s bungalow, a mansion of sorts. He recollects, “The first fish killed would always go to my grandfather’s kitchen for us to enjoy. We didn’t know where the food was coming from but we didn’t care because we were just young kids just enjoying the food that came. I enjoyed that life.” At just seven
years old my grandfather became a refugee and was forced to flee his home and move to India. As tensions started to arise it was no longer safe for him and his Hindu family to continue living in Pakistan. Realizing this, Mr. Khanchandani’s family felt that they needed to move to India in order to escape the violence. He was outside playing with his friends when he found out he had to leave Pakistan. “I didn’t know why they [my dad, my grandfathers and sister in laws] were packing. Then I heard that we are going to be separated from this country.” Forced to leave behind his whole life and start fresh, Mr. Khanchandani and his family faced many challenges throughout their transition from Pakistan to India. He suffered a culture shock; from learning a new language to making new friends, he felt disconnected with his peers. Many of them didn’t understand how hard he and his family had to work just to build a new life for themselves. As he grew older, Mr. Khanchandani realized all that he had overcome and learnt from all his hardship. “We went from rich to poor refugees,” Mr. Khanchandani said, “and as a refugee we had to adopt a new language and
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol # | 11
culture. It was tough adopting a different culture and new people.” Despite the struggles he and his family faced when they migrated from Pakistan to India, he has kept the mindset similar to the younger generation of today. Mr. Khanchandani has accepted the past and is looking forward now: “Muslim and Hindu, we’re the same too.” The Partition of India and Pakistan is an important part of history that is often overlooked. Like the Holocaust, the Partition was a great genocide. However, this time, both Muslims and Hindus were pitted against one another. The British’s “divide and conquer” plan had taken a once-united country and broken it into two. With Muslims craving a leader of their own, the British saw the perfect opportunity to instigate them by turning them against Hindus and encouraging them to find a leader of their own. “The rulers changed from alien ‘’white’’ to native ‘’brown’’ sahibs. In the more than 40 years since then, there has been an increasing sense of frustration among the individual states that crave greater autonomy.” It’s crucial to see how much loss and hardship the Partition caused. However, there are also many things that it has taught us. The Partition is a piece of history that will never be forgotten but that doesn’t mean that today’s generation won’t be able to ever move past it. The bond between Hindus and Muslims was severed almost immediately after the Partition. Today, we see many of the younger generation working towards rebuilding their relationship with each other. We still see the scars today that the British left behind when they split India into two countries. “... Pakistan was created by the British government through the strategy of divide and conquer which is why India and Pakistan became separate countries,” my grandfather explains. When the border was created in 1947 the British didn’t declare Kashmir as part of Pakistan or India. Still to this day, arguments arise about who Kashmir belongs to. And due to these controversies, there are a lot of military personnel that populate that area making it hard for those that live there to have a sense of a “normal life.” The move to India was rough on Mr. Khanchandani and his family. They were accustomed to a wealthy lifestyle and now after being forced out of their home they were forced to start over in a new environment without the same resources. There was no room on the train for all their belongings so they could bring only what they could physically carry themselves, leaving them with no choice but to abandon their wealth and valuables buried in the walls of their bungalow. At the station, they were greeted by angry and impatient Muslims who were going through everyone’s bags and taking away their jewelry or nice clothes. There was so much commotion between fighting for seats to escape the many Muslims that had climbed aboard the train as well. 12 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol # | freestyleacademy.rocks
“They were slaughtering each other and I could hear the voices of all those people in pain. I couldn’t sleep for months and even years after. Still sometimes it comes in my dreams and I get scared or sometimes I see something like a movie and it gives me goosebumps thinking about it.” After being on the train for thirty-six hours with very little food in their tiffin (lunch box), they had finally arrived in Rajasthan. Afraid of how they were going to be treated, they were surprised how caring people were there. “As soon as we came to the Rajasthan border in India, we were given free food as a refugee. We accepted the food and ate it because we were very hungry.” Even today, there is an ongoing battle between India and Pakistan to determine which country Kashmir belongs to. However, we see the younger generation less bothered with the tensions created by the older generations. The friendships between Hindus and Muslisms of our generation provide hope that humanity still exists within us and we can’t let the past hold us back. Similarly, in Steven R. Weisman’s article about how cricket unites Pakistan and India, he writes, “Instead of fighting each other… Indians and Pakistanis in white flannels are nowadays delighting millions of fans by cheerfully competing in stadiums throughout the country.” It has been a long journey for Hindus and Muslims to get to this point in their relationship. We have seen that it can happen, we can become friends with one another instead of enemies. Progress is still slow between both countries but I have hope that one day, putting aside all borders, we will reunite as long lost friends and our countries will heal. Now retired, Mr. Khanchandani spends six months of the year in Indore, India and six months in St. Paul, Minnesota. He loves spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren who love hearing the stories of the past. Learning about the hardships he had to face has allowed for us to see things from a different perspective and help us understand not to take things for granted. My grandfather has taught me many things, but one that has always stuck with me was his view on humanity. “Man is a man you know, people are people, that doesn’t mean they should be disrespected. We respect each other and we should be friendly with each other, and we should be polite with each other also. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.” freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol # | 13
14 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol # | freestyleacademy.rocks
About the Author
Anjali Kamran is a proud Junior Design student at Freestyle Academy of Communications and Arts and Technology. She is 17 years old and has a passion for fashion that she hopes to pursue in college. In her free time she loves spending time with friends and family, traveling, reading, and running the Fashion Club here at MVHS.
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol # | 15
Bryn Kelly 16 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
THE POWER OF A
BY BRYN KELLY
A
dance mode with no music, with me standing awkward and amazed behind my tripod. I say fter teaching his teen intermediate hip hop something intelligent like “wow you are really class, 19-year-old dancer Zack Jot decides to do good at dancing,” and he replies with a laugh sayone last dance before locking up. Music echoing ing, “But that was just choreography!” — like I am through the speakers of his home studio in Santa Cruz, California, Zack locks into the song. Watch- being too generous with my praise. And then he humbly helps me pack up my equipment. ing him dance, I can only imagine what’s going On Memorial Day 2020, Zack posted his very first on inside his head. The music which is a tangled, TikTok. Like many of the rest of us, Zack joined multicolor, blended ball of yarn in my own mind TikTok on a boring day during those long COVID untangles as I watch him move. He pulls out each strand — the beat, the vocals, an accent, a word — months, that tense, dull period in which everyone at just the right moments, making me see the skein silently and collectively agreed to set aside their prejudices and embrace the app that was not long in a whole new light. Watching him dance, I feel enlightened, let into a little secret, able to see with ago viewed as a hub for middle school girls. While making that video, Zack thought: “I have nothing a clarity I do not normally possess. I am enrapbetter to do, it’s quarantine, I’m in my room, and tured. I don’t want to work on my homework.” Thinking After, I ask him if he can dance one more time so I can get some footage from a different angle. This only his friends and maybe a few other bored teentime, the studio is silent; the sound of his shoes on agers would see it, Zack posted a video of himself in his bedroom doing some “classic hip hop moves the wooden floor reverberates through the room, to an indie song, from I think 2003, called Fideldistinct and intentional. He snaps into full-out freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 17
Zack had created his own on TikTok. Happy, carefree energy radiating through the screen, Zack was a bright light in a time darkened with images of face masks, hospitals, hand sanitizer, Zoom meetings, tweets from the president, and toilet paper shortages. His comment section was filled with smile emojis. Zack describes that initial success as luck. There’s a certain threshold of skill and charisma that is necessary to attract an audience on TikTok, but there is also an element of chance, or rather, fate. The day Zack posted his video, the TikTok gods smiled down upon him, illuminating him with a golden light. He was one of the chosen ones. As David explained to me, the success of any given TikTok video largely depends on the immediate interaction of the first viewers. The first five minutes determine its fate: not five minutes of fame, but five minutes to earn a ticket to that ride. Zack hit the threshold level and was anointed. His very first video. Fate. Energized by his beginner’s luck, Zack started putting more time into Tiktok, trying to create dances ity by Regina Spektor.” In just a week, that video for others to replicate while still staying true to amassed around a million views. his own unique style. His fifth video was original When I came across the video on my own “For You” page on TikTok, I was not shocked to see that choreography to the 2006 hit “Smile” by Lily Allen. And that was the one. Zack still marvels at its sucZack, a dancer I knew through the community, cess: “I didn’t think it could get any better than the had blown up. Quite the opposite: I was elated to see his talent being recognized. As David Bortnick, first one!” You’ve probably seen the video. Your little sister Zack’s dance teacher, mentor, manager, videograhas probably performed the dance in front of you pher, crew director, etc (the list goes on) said to while you’re standing in line at the grocery store. me, Zack’s individuality, creativity, passion, and And maybe you rolled your eyes and looked away keen understanding of music made him stand in embarrassment, or maybe you said “Hey! That out in dance classes as early as the age of six. And dance is pretty vibey!” I’m going to guess the latter. even in just one 15-second video, that gift shined Zack’s full-out, full-body movement dance to through, and other people recognized it. Looking at viewer comments on the video, I could Smile was so vastly different from the quintessential TikTok dance that had dominated the app for see that fellow TikTok watchers felt the same way. so long: limited, overused arm motions backed by TikTok has not earned a reputation for being a yet another Doja Cat song. Zack’s cheeky caption, positive app. Rather, it has been regarded with a mixture of surprise and revulsion due to its toxici- “me watching all these racists getting exposed,” in ty, as evidenced by “cancel culture,” cyberbullying, reference to Allen’s lyrics, “when I see you cry, it makes me smile,” was a funny, honest glimpse into and biting parodies at the expense of creators’ Zack’s adherence to his morals and his beliefs. And mental health and well-being. But even on soabove all, his smile made others smile too. cial media there are rare communities that foster Within a day, the video had amassed a million inclusion and positivity, and with just one video, 18 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
views. Then a million likes. Then, people started recreating it. Big creators and big dancers. Emma Chamberlain. Bailey Sok. Then Lily Allen reposted the video on her own Instagram story. And now? The video has a staggering number of views.
iting also an understanding of music far beyond his years. Zack started choreographing dances of his own at nine or 10 years old, and by 11, his choreography was, in David’s words, “kinda cool.” That year, David gave Zack the opportunity to substitute teach one of David’s classes at Pacific Arts Complex (PAC), Zack’s home studio and the studio that David founded. Zack describes the experience as the moment he “ditched ‘lego set designer’ for dance choreographer.” Having fallen in love with choreographing and Zack laughs. “I don’t know, it’s really - whew!” And teaching, Zack spent years putting in the hours, then jokes, “Not 43 million likes though!” the work, and the research that is necessary to rise Even before he could walk, Zack was dancing. Muto the top. At David’s insistence as well as due to sic playing in the living room, his grandma once his own interest, Zack studied hip hop’s origins, scooped her two-year-old grandson up into her key figures, and distinct styles while also incorpoarms, and Zack’s floating feet kicked around, tap rating his knowledge of other genres of dance into dancing in the air. As he grew a little older, Zack’s his own unique style. He attended dance conveninterest in tap dancing did not fade. In fact, he tions and competitions, taught classes at PAC, cites the movie Happy Feet as “what really pushed practiced freestyling with peers, and took classes it over the edge.” Dancing penguins seem an apfrom a variety of choreographers. propriate inspiration for Zack’s organic and joyful During his junior year in high school, Zack avoiddance energy. ed college tours and meetings, set on his decision When Zack was six years old, his mother signed to attend the local community college, Cabrillo, in him up for dance classes at the same studio as his order to save money and pursue dance. However, sister. Even at that young age, says David, Zack senior year, a counselor convinced him to apply was the most focused student in the room, exhib-
“42...43 million?”
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 19
to three colleges from the University of California system. And to his surprise, he got into two. Suddenly, he found himself at a crossroads. To many others, it would have seemed a simple decision. Attending a four-year university is often seen as the clearest path to success, a paved path through the forest, an easier journey toward the shining castle of security - or rather, money. Attending Cabrillo in order to prioritize dance was a more winding pathway. Unpaved and uncertain, that path through the forest wouldn’t be easy. But on either path, there’s no guarantee of making it through the forest unscathed. And isn’t the winding path so much more exciting? Full of possibilities? Zack chose dance. And then he blew up on TikTok that same week. It was a beautiful sign from above that he had chosen the right direction. As of right now, Zack continues to teach at PAC and at On One Studios in San Jose. He is making TikToks. He is attending community college. He is a giant online but just 5’8” in real life. He has become a new kind of celebrity, a new feature in pop culture, but is still living at home, saving his pennies, and dreaming of more. As for the future, Zack plans to go down to LA as
soon as he completes his associates degree. Having accumulated a following of 1.5 million on TikTok as well as attention from people in the industry, Zack hopes to have some opportunities lined up right away so “it won’t be a thing where I’m working at Starbucks just trying to pay rent.” He names some of his inspirations — Ysabelle Capitule, Lyle Beniga, Marlee Hightower, and many more — and expresses his hope to collaborate with some of them. He tentatively expresses his dream to teach at a hip hop convention, “maybe someday.” Perhaps teaching at storied dance studios such as Playground...Millennium...Brickhouse? Or internationally? After being in a music video this year, Zack hopes to work more in the music industry and bring hip hop to a new audience. His eclectic taste in music, from Death Grips to Rihanna, has already attracted people to hip hop dance who may have not loved it before, simply because traditional hip hop music is not their preference. When Zack blew up, it was not only his dance that had become viral but his presence as well. Dancing to a song literally titled “Smile,” Zack brought joy to millions of people, a counter-virus spreading almost as quickly as corona. By showing his full, complex self — his wide-ranging tastes in music, his blend of dance inspirations, his androgynous style, his moral character, his earnest enthusiasm — Zack is bringing people together in a beautiful way. He is knitting together different threads of the TikTok community, creating a quilt that is expanding larger and larger to blanket the world in much-needed hope and positivity. For Zack, it’s still just the beginning. He is still just a 19-year-old from Santa Cruz doing what he loves. Only “now I sometimes have people come up to me and say, ‘Hey! You’re that kid from TikTok!’ and then I’m like ‘Yeah! ...Enjoy your coffee!’”
20 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
about me
Bryn Kelly is a Junior studying art at Freestyle Academy with a specific focus on film. Ever since she was a little girl, Bryn has loved telling stories, whether they be ones of her own imagination or ones found in the world around her. At a very young age, she began telling stories with a hot pink marker and Hello Kitty notebook. Over the years, she began experimenting with other forms of storytelling such as film and visual art, while still continuing to write. At Freestyle Academy, she has gotten the opportunity to learn and utilize technology in the creation of art, exploring digital art, video, photography, music, and more. When she isn’t studying TikToks (for school related purposes of course), she can be found writing, filming, dancing, hiking, cooking, and reading. She hopes to continue to bring magic into her own life as well as the lives of others through exploring her creativity and drawing inspiration from the world around her. freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 21
Carly Watson 22 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
Making Connections the Write Way by Carly Watson
Calligraphy and pen palling offer people of all ages opportunities for authentic human connection. Three people from three different generations, backgrounds, and cultures share their stories and love for calligraphy.
Surrounded by stickers, colorful
Jia Hiremath, who lived in the same neighborhood, but she never saw or washi tape, brush pens, and mountalked to anymore. When Hiremath’s tains of construction paper, Melody birthday was coming up and she was Xu concentrates as she carefully in Arizona, Xu decided to write her places the finishing touches on her envelope addressed to Israel. A stack a birthday letter. That letter is what of letters waiting to be shipped sits on inspired a genuine friendship that has the corner of her desk, each envelope grown stronger with each envelope designed with a different theme, color stuffed with letters, playlists, bracelets, and stationery products that they send scheme and painstakingly lettered to each other. Xu says spending so name. much time writing letters to each other When the Coronavirus pandemic is what brought them closer together. hit in March of 2020, the way we interacted with one another changed “When you are reading or writing pages “I wouldn’t have made and pages about your life and your drastically overnight. This was those connections certainly the case for Xu, a Palo Alto interests, that is when you really get High sophomore and now passionate to know someone when you have an otherwise” outlet to go in depth about yourself,” pen paller. After schools were forced to close and she shared. Not only does Xu feel like she can express herself through her words, but also with the life turned virtual, Xu soon came to decorations and art that surround the card and envelope. She realize that she was losing touch with elaborated, “There is also the art aspect. Someone spent an hour some of her friends and acquaintances making that for you. Having that, I think, is priceless.” Through she had enjoyed interacting with at this experience, both Xu and Hiremath fell in love with pen school. One of these friends was palling and began searching online for more opportunities to do just that. They encouraged each other to dive into pen palling fully and shared tips and experiences. Once Xu started her personal mail account on Instagram (@mailbymel), she was impressed with how quickly she was able to form genuine connections with people not only who lived in her neighborhood, but from all over the world. With pen pals in Israel, Hungary, and New Zealand, she was able to connect over something that everyone was going through: the Coronavirus pandemic. Through discussing this shared experience, she formed a bond with each person as she was able to explore their Xu writher favorite word- her name similarities and differences in culture and day-to-day life. Grateful for the opportunities pen palling has given her, Xu explained, “It really is cool because I wouldn’t have made those connections otherwise, like at all. I wouldn’t meet these people or become Pen Pal their friend if it wasn’t for us becoming pen pals.”
Melody Xu
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 23
Zeng Zhiyong 曾志勇 Chinese Calligrapher
Now more than ever, especially with the Pandemic raging on, calligraphy is making an ultimate comeback. Calligraphy, which literally means “beautiful writing” in Greek, has been around for millennia. Chinese calligraphy was found inscripted on turtle shells and animal bones a staggering 3,000 years ago. Indian calligraphy was often scratched into stone, palm leaves, or bark. In Greece, calligraphers used clay, wood, or wax tablets. Even though these mediums are largely outdated, the art still remains. This is not surprising, considering that calligraphy and writing letters is proven to boost happiness and ease stress, in addition to harboring deeper personal connections. More than half of the respondents in a USPS survey found that communication via snail mail fostered a “more meaningful connection to those they sent mail to.” Even though this study took place in the United States, people from all over the world, like Zhiyong Zeng, a Chinese entrepreneur, feel strong connections through calligraphy. Zeng moved from China to the United States five years ago and travels frequently back and forth for his business. One way that he stays connected to his culture is through calligraphy— something that he has been working diligently on since he was a small child. He pinpoints a defining moment to the time he visited a calligraphy wall when he was little. There, on the wall, famous calligraphers had engraved their work, which he said inspired him greatly. Growing up, he did not have enough money to regularly buy calligraphy
Zeng writing his name
Zeng drawing bamboo paper, so he practiced on newspaper and saved up to buy the real paper for special characters that he was able to write the best. Zeng made ink the traditional way by mixing water and small amounts of a brick-like substance. His motivations for wanting to refine his calligraphy came not only from himself, but also from his parents, peers, and teachers. His dad stressed the importance of good handwriting from a young age, telling him that, “There is a saying in Chinese that before a person knows you as a person, the first thing they will see is your handwriting, and if your handwriting is neat, they will know you are a good person.”
“Before a person knows you as a person, the first thing they will see is your handwriting, and if your handwriting is neat, they will know you are a good person.” Zeng was also motivated by a teacher and mentor with whom he developed a strong, almost parent-child relationship, through calligraphy. Even though this teacher has since passed, one of his childhood friends continues to stay connected with him because of calligraphy. He, too, had the same teacher and deeply appreciated the art of calligraphy, which allowed them to connect as children. Even now, when they are together, they discuss the art of calligraphy. Being apart, however, does not stop them from connecting in the same way. While traveling, they send each other photos of impressive calligraphy that they find around the world. Zeng recounted, “Sometimes these inspirations come while we travel around the world, and it is always really fascinating to talk about calligraphy and share our views on the great works and improve ourselves, too.”
24 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
Sullivan’s passion for art and her willingness to take time to appreciate the beauty and art around her. This background is what led her to major in graphic design. Although she has designed countless logos, magazine spreads, and different works of art, one of the most important of her works still
Graphic Designer Patricia Sullivan is also passionate about handwriting. Before she could even talk, she was writing small patterns and shapes in countless notebooks. She had no idea that she had done this until her mother showed her the notebooks many years later. As a Stanford University graduate who grew up in a small town in Montana, her childhood was filled with hours of handwriting practice. “It’s probably hard to even understand the importance of handwriting,” she smiled, a flood of memories surfacing. “We corresponded with our friends and passed notes in class. Our handwriting was part of being cool.” Being the cheerleading captain and school president gave Sullivan many opportunities to use her handwriting to create banners and signs to hang around school, but most importantly, she used her handwriting as a way to connect with her family, especially her mother. For as long as she can remember, Sullivan’s mother, Royette Macki, used her skills and generous heart to bless her family of eight. “She made such a loving home for us. […] She used her artistic talents to create a life of beauty
Young Sullivan writing remains the poem she crafted for her mother as a young girl. She describes how she went through a phase of making homemade framed poems for her family, and how she had meticulously made a very special one for her mom, complete with handdrawn graphics surrounding her thoughtful words. Her mother hung that poem in her room until eight years ago, when she was suffering with cancer and knew she would inevitably die soon. Right before she passed away, she asked Sullivan to take the poem to the church and read it aloud and then display it at her funeral. This was a heartwarming moment for Sullivan, and she points back to the importance of handwriting through this experience.
“So in the simple gesture of [my mom] making a little note in my lunchbox, it was painstakingly created, and all of that has inspired me.” for us,” she recalled, her eyes brimming with tears. “So in the simple gesture of her making a little note in my lunchbox, it was painstakingly created, and all of that has inspired me.” These gestures paved the way for
Sullivan writing her name
Patricia Sullivan Graphic Designer
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 25
Keepsakes and Friendships “This is definitely a friendship that will last a lifetime.”
Zeng displays his friend’s calligraphy stamps Not only can letters, calligraphy, and writing facilitate connections to the past and meaningful moments in the present, but they can also be wonderful keepsakes for the future. Sullivan holds onto clothes her mom sewed and cards they made for eachother. Zeng treasures bookmarks his friend made with calligraphic stamps. Xu keeps a box of letters with a stack for each of her pen pals and friends. These letters, she explains, are so important because they are tangible records of what she talked about with her pen pals and what their friendships looked like, “whereas texts, and emails, and calls, and even face-to-face interactions kind of fade away.” Xu wants everyone to feel this way. With a smile she urged, “Everyone should pen pal! Everyone should send letters to people. I think that even though everything is moving online
Xu’s letter to Israel at a rapid pace, making handmade letters and cards is still a meaningful thing to do.” These connections to the past, present, future, and even themselves are unimaginably important to each of them. And these connections aren’t going anywhere. Referring to his friend, Zeng smiles, “this is definitely a friendship that will last a lifetime ”
.
Xu’s letter to Hiremath Sullivan’s Valentine from her childhood
26 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
About The Author & Designer
Carly Watson is a Junior at Los Altos High School and Freestyle Academy. At Los Altos, she loves Biology and Chinese and at Freestyle she enjoys taking Film, Digital Media and English. Her favorite part about Freestyle is the Freedom it gives her to choose her own projects and find something she is passionate about. When she’s not editing a film, updating her website, or writing a short story, you can find her cooking and baking international dishes, being active in her youth group, or hanging out with her sisters.
Scan the QR code to visit Carly Watson’s Website and see the film form of her documentary.
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 27
Chloe Burcell 28 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
Skills We Need For Life By: Chloe Burcell
(How Covid-19 Affected Body Image in Teenagers) When Santa Clara County went into quarantine on March 13th of last year, high schooler and varsity athlete Amanda Gamble didn’t quite know what to do with herself. Prior to quarantine, Gamble was busy six days a week training and competing with her rowing team, hanging out with her friends and boyfriend, and keeping up with her studies at Los Altos High School and Foothill Community College. But much like every other teenager in the area, she suddenly found herself stuck at home with her family, and hours upon hours of free time to fill. The uncertainty of whether or not she would get to participate in club tournaments with her rowing team, go to concerts, and resume normal life in the summer consumed her thoughts. To keep herself preoccupied throughout the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, she scrolled through her social media feed.
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 29
It was on Tiktok and Instagram where she first encountered “glow up” accounts, social media platforms which promote and market intense lifestyle changes, diets, and workout routines to viewers as a way to improve oneself and become more attractive. Like many other teenage girls and women over quarantine, she had stumbled upon workout enthusiasts like Chloe Ting and Alexis Wren, who swore by grueling mat workouts as a way to achieve perfect, flat, hourglass stomachs. As an athlete who was not getting as much physical activity as she normally would, Gamble was eager to try these workouts out. What she did not realize was that instead of making her feel better, this decision would throw her into a darker place than ever before.
Amanda Gamble at rowing practice
Gamble soon began to compare herself to other girls on the internet—girls who had the supposed right outfits, the right bodies, the right looks. Girls who seemed to be so much happier because they “glowed up”. Suddenly, Gamble felt much worse about herself. As she admitted, “Because I had so much free time, I would just spend it scrolling Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. I would just see these images constantly, and I was like, I have to look like that” (Gamble). Gamble’s issues with her self image were not new. They were something she had experienced much of her life, but it has always been more of an underlying issue. Nonetheless, the idea of self-improvement preoccupied her mind, allowing it to become a bigger priority for her than it had been before.
30 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
What Gamble experienced over this past year is not uncommon. The additional anxiety and stress caused by COVID-19 was not manageable through the coping mechanisms humans previously have used to control negative thoughts, considering that reaching out to friends, family, and other support systems was suddenly much harder than it had been previously. The pandemic caused a greater desire for thinness among women due to the high levels of anxiety people were experiencing as a whole, and the pressure to maintain health and fitness. According to a recent study, “[During lockdown] women may have felt under greater pressure to conform to traditionally feminine roles and norms” (“COVID-19 Anxiety Linked to Body Image Issues”). Simultaneously, messages about self-improvement on social media may have led women feeling dissatisfied with their bodies and having a greater desire for thinness.
The Bottom Line:
Especially during this past year, when access to treatment has been limited and experts weren’t around to notice their patients’ changes, there has been less intervention to help those who are struggling. While body image issues may not seem like a serious problem, the Eating Recovery Center states that “Negative body image can segue into dangerous eating disorders, like anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia, or yo-yo dieting,” (“Body Image Issues Are On The Rise”). Unlike a licensed medical professional, it is hard for the average person to identify someone with an eating disorder, much less provide aid to them. Despite the common misconceptions about eating disorders, a person cannot determine if someone has struggled with these issues on the basis of body type, gender, or age alone. The stress and anxiety caused by isolation and change in routine over quarantine has affected all people, and as a result the virus has worsened mental health issues such as body dysmorphia, body image issues, and eating disorders. And because of the rules and regulations regarding public safety during the pandemic, it has become even more difficult to identify these issues.
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 31
Body image problems often come along with anxiety and paranoia, so maintaining trust with those who are struggling can help rebuild their sense of self worth. Looking back at her recovery, Gamble shared that it was important for her to acknowledge that our bodies need food not only to survive, but to continue to be the beautiful, strong individuals that we are on the inside. She added that what has helped her the most is acknowledging that no one can tell her how her body is supposed to look; in other words, every person’s body is healthy, so long as they feel good in it! As for managing her feelings while on social media, she urges her peers to surround and follow themselves with good influences, and to follow people who are real people.
“Your ED may hold you back sometimes, but you’ve just gotta learn that self love and self strength so you can learn your body again, and learn that your not just a number on the scale, you’re not just a Lululemon size, you’re not the clothes you wear, the image you see in the mirror. You are so much more than what your mind is putting you through, you’re so much more than what your mind makes you think you are.”
32 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
About the Author:
Chloe Burcell is 17 years old and a Junior at Freestyle. Along with Digital Media and English, Chloe studies film. In her loves to dance, write and direct plays, try new foods, and most importantlysleep. She is also a researcher for the Indigenous Foundation, which helps raise awareness about native issues on and offline. Chloe hopes to use the skills she learned in Freestyle to think and design creatively in any career she chooses to take!
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 33
Evelyn Yaskin 34 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
Steve Yaskin: Leading the Race in Clinical Health Records Have you ever noticed when you go to the doctor’s office, they have stacks and piles of paper lying around? Historically, health records have all been on paper, and of course, this can get very disorganized. Healthcare is a basic part of any developed society,from records to doctor-patient relationships. That’s why Health Gorilla, a health records database startup was created to bring revolutionary technology to the world of healthcare. This company was created five years ago by CEO Steve Yaskin to create an entire clinical health care journey for every citizen in this country, so that patients, doctors, and hospitals nationwide can access one’s entire history all in one
the pursuit of happiness. Don’t accept the status quo.” (Yaskin).
place, provide better access to medical care, and therefore provide better outcomes for your health. Yaskin had many inspirations when it came to the basics of starting up this company. For one, he wanted to help the underserved, those who do not have equal access to medical coverage. Sometimes these people will have to travel many miles to find a doctor or don’t have the same access to highquality medical care that many of us enjoy. Even more so, Yaskin was originally from
a small country that had limited access to healthcare. Moldova had no healthcare, and besides being an immigrant, he was able to look at things in US medicine differently from others, and envision a better future for the country. Having a unique perspective from outside of the US gave him an opportunity to become empowered and emboldened to improve healthcare.
“I was inspired by the beauty of equal opportunity and
Yaskin was also sparked by the idea that if the company became more successful, increased healthcare would benefit the general population. Being from a similar background to populations that the company focuses on today, he has always been dedicated to providing whatever it takes to benefit as many people as possible. As Yaskin describes, “healthcare is the biggest industry in this country, with 4 trillion dollars spent on healthcare, accounting for about 20% of GDP. This number is much bigger than all other industries, and a lot of industries combined.” With this knowledge, Yaskin knew that he had to work to improve upon this industry in any way he could. He explains,
“It’s simple: saving lives... Even though we’re not doctors, we are
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 35
actually impacting many people.” He goes on to say, “Everyone at some point has a relative diagnosed with a disease. If, for example, it is cancer, the first thing doctors struggle with is fully understanding their disease. If we knew all the information possible about cancer, we probably would have eradicated it a while ago. However, unfortunately, we don’t know even five to ten percent of associated events that happened during cancer disease progression and that’s what we do on a daily basis” (Yaskin).
Health Gorilla now focuses on painting a complete picture of a person’s health, both from clinical and diagnostic
perspectives. An
interesting factor that goes into the company’s process of data collection is something called social determinants of health. These are interesting factors that don’t seem to have any relevance on your health, but in reality, impact how long you live and how long you stay healthy. “These include various social factors: do you have a car, do you own a house, do you have siblings, and is your sibling more social than you. We combine this with the actual clinical and diagnostic history, and present a much more interesting picture of health, so we can better manage, or better, so we can better look at it” (Yaskin). This idea of social determinants
of health has largely been overlooked by previous healthcare records until recently when Health Gorilla uncovered the true importance of it. This further works to improve health records, and the health of different populations. Yaskin had been working directly with doctors. “I was working for a pharmaceutical company, several of them actually, and I learned a lot about the importance of data in providing treatments, also, I learned a lot about access to care, and how care is not proportionally provided to citizens living in cities, versus rural areas.” (Yaskin) He created a system of collective amounts of data for people having an adverse or normal
36 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
reaction to certain medications. He then became a co-founder of a company named Elite Medical Center, a medical facility that administered primary care for young adults and geriatric patients. From this, he learned a lot about the importance of data in providing treatments, access to care, making him realize that healthcare is not proportionally provided to citizens living in cities, versus rural areas. Furthermore, Yaskin spent 20 years studying theoretical physics and later earned his master’s degree. One may ask how can Physics be applied to the medical field. Yaskin explains, Physics gave me discipline for being in science for that long,
it also created a passion for technology, but more importantly, being in Physics, which is the science of nature, I learned how to take scientific discoveries and innovation and apply them to real life. With what I have at my disposal to fix this problem, I think about what I need to create something new, do I need to innovate, how do I use technology effectively, and how do I use basic laws of physics to impact change. It’s very interesting what you can build. Having this knowledge about the world, and how nature works, and the basic laws of physics will take you a lot further. In other words, Physics allowed him to use basic laws of the world around us to impact change, and use his knowledge to create something great. He
was now inspired to implement new, effective technology which would improve healthcare records for the whole nation. An article by VentureBeat explains thoroughly the goals and implementations of Health Gorilla to this day: Founded in 2014 by Steve Yaskin, Andrei Zudin, and former Stanford Healthcare business development executive Sergio Wagner, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Health Gorilla, which was originally founded as a marketplace for labs, aims to provide a secure and interoperable product that enables payers, providers, and digital health solutions to share health data and aggregate each patient’s clinical history in one place…. Health Gorilla ostensibly makes it
easier for providers to pull a patient’s information from a clinical records system. (Wiggers) The company has been provided to patients and doctors all over the nation, and even in other countries, too. Because of its improvements in medical records, it continues to help millions of people to this day. Before even starting up the company, Yaskin was aware that a lot of money is continuously being wasted on unnecessary medical care. With limited data between doctors, hospitals, ambulances, EMTs, nursing homes, labs, a big ecosystem of providers are disconnected from the lack of data between them. Doctors repeat unnecessary medical procedures, tests, diagnostics, and this creates a
really big waste of money, resources, and electronic systems. This is what’s called physician burnout, where doctors, instead of treating parents, spend more time working on their computers. Steve Yaskin explains “I’m very happy that my company is at the bleeding edge of making technology a lot easier for doctors and patients, and actually improving outcomes, and sometimes, even saving lives.” Health care affects all of us, we’re all patients, and everyone in this country will become a patient at some point, even doctors. Healthcare touches on so many aspects of all of our lives, from privacy to the ability to access data, equity, equality, and especially in providing high-quality medical
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 37
services. Steve Yaskin acknowledged this and reached further and now works with big organizations including the CDC, under which he works with Obama, Trump, and now Biden’s administration, the human health services in specific. Yaskin explains, “I’m happy to say we contributed a lot to the Cure’s act, which the government legislature passed a couple of years ago. They’re still passing amendments, which my company Health Gorilla, takes a very active role in, providing feedback, and a lot of things we ask them to do, actually find themselves in the legislature.” This company has even spread its influence so far as Latin American countries, such as Puerto Rico, to help the country in a state right after natural disasters, when severely impacted with storms and hurricanes. Health Gorilla takes an active role in providing equal access to health care that doctors must effectively administer care for all the people on the Island. “We’re making a really big change there.” Yaskin has taken his knowledge, and inspiration to create
something great. Success is not always easy to accomplish as an entrepreneur. For this reason, it’s important to have a specific motivation or smething to keep you going. In an article pu blished by Entrepreneur, different people are shown and descriptions about what inspired them to keep going. One of those is Chieh Huang, CEO of Boxed: an online Grocery Store website. He explains, “There are a lot of people counting on us to make the right decisions to make sure that we do well, so they can put food on the table and that inspires me.” This is one reason why Health Gorilla is also very successful to this day. The motivation to help people all around the world helped the company’s staff members battle the obstacles and do whatever it took to become successful. The next step was unpredicted, with the strike of Covid-19. Interestingly enough, the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 accelerated things for the company. In the first six months of the pandemic, there were a lot of unknowns: numbers of cases, symptoms,
and whether medications prescribed to patients worked or not. Additionally, their database did not identify who was tested for COVID, but they were motivated right away to start working with the government, and the CDC, to start getting things under control and compile data on COVID testing. However, once the company did start developing this database, testing took a lot more time than expected. The company had started working on the vaccination, an active work in progress to this day. Data is being collected about who gets vaccinated and when, and any symptoms they might encounter. The data is then collected nationally and even further into Latin American countries like Mexico and Brazil. To this day, since the pandemic hit, the company is better equipped to provide this data, research various studies about future pandemics, and be better prepared, should another pandemic come. In the future, Health Gorilla and its staff want to work towards making healthcare equally accessible, and for healthcare to
38 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
be of high quality to the entire population. Yaskin explains how they strongly believe that efficient and accessible health care is a basic human right, a commodity, and it should be available to everyone. Saving lives has always been an inspiration behind Health Gorilla and continues to be. Even though the staff members are not actual doctors, they save lives and impact people because of their effective technology. Yaskin continues to be an inspiration, leading the way in the era of digital healthcare. He strives to continue branching out the influence of Health Gorilla, helping as many people as possible.
“The more patients we can help, and the more doctors we can empower to provide better health, and a wider access to a broader population, regardless of their social state, income, and population like where they live, is our goal and we will continue to do that” (Yaskin).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Evelyn Yaskin is a Design student at a Freestyle Academy of Communication Arts and Technology, and a junior at Mountain View High School. She is a passionate leader in her Jewish youth group. She spends her free time playing tennis, and is the captain of her high school team. She participates in clubs including Model UN and started the Jewish Student Union club during her sophmore year. Evelyn loves Design and hopes to pursue it later on in college. She looks forward to her senior year and loves Freestyle so far. freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 39
Jonah Thomas
HOW TO LEAD A HAPPY LIFE A PROFILE BY JONAH THOMAS
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 41
It was 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War, when Mack Orick joined the Navy. The group of newly enlisted personnel was getting ready to leave when it was announced they had 15 seconds to change their mind. Even now, he doesn’t know why, but in these 15 seconds, Mack decided to head back home. He wasn’t scared nor did he suddenly stop supporting the military, in fact, the very next week he went to join the Army instead. This was a huge decision, made in a very short amount of time, but is not one he regrets but instead appreciates making. Mack Orick, also known as Poppie, is my grandfather. He has had a long life with many great experiences as well as very difficult ones. He has lived a life of loving and serving others and has found happiness in this. I think there are lessons to be learned from his life to help people feel as though they have made an impact by serving those around them. A major part of his service to others was spent in the military. This is a time of his life he is extremely proud of. When interviewing him, he told me a story back from his basic training. At basic, they were allowed to be sent letters, but no packages of food or candy. However, his wife had sent him a big box of candy so his drill instructor took a piece and ate it in front of him every single day. He became known as ‘Candy Bar’ to his superiors and told me this is what he was referred to as all throughout his training. He also expressed how hard they were on the new recruits, but despite this, you could tell how fond he is of the experience. There was a glint in his eye as he told the story. This was in 1969, just after the peak of the Vietnam war. In all, 9,087,000 military members served in active duty during this conflict. Many people were drafted, others, like my grandpa, chose to enlist. 42 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
Besides the military, he chose to work jobs that would support his community and country. Before he enlisted, Mack worked for the Highway Department of Tennessee as a surveyor. These individuals help map and design highways that would one day help the community have a more convenient method of transportation. After this, he worked at a government plant in Oak Ridge. While he is not authorized to say exactly what he did there due to government clearances, the Department of Energy says they “purified isotopes, conducted research, built weapons, and created environmental legacies” although this refers to the entire lifespan of the plants, not just the time he was there. However, his work experience and time in the military is far from the only thing he has done to serve others. Mack’s childhood is self-described as “great”. With 6 siblings, he worked around the house to make it easier for his parents. He forged very strong relationships with his family and to this day is as close as can be with his siblings. He was also raised in Church, which may contribute to his serving tendencies. He was taught to love all people and do what he can to help them in whatever circumstance they find themselves in and he does just this every day of his life. Christianity is actually what helps him get through some of his most difficult moments. Mack’s hardest moment was the passing of his wife. To get through this, he put faith in his beliefs and listened to the song “If You Could See Me Now”. One of the more impactful lines of the song is “If you could see me now, you’d know the freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 43
pain’s erased, you wouldn’t want me to ever leave this place”. He has strong faith in his religion and has adopted these beliefs in his daily life. He chooses to love everyone and help them out when he can. When asked what advice he would give his younger self, he emphasized the importance of religion in his life by saying “Just continue what I’ve been doing. Going to Church and helping other people”. Although Mack has found happiness in serving others, this is just one case, why would this apply to anyone else? According to Garret Gunderson, “You’re literally hardwired to help and serve others”. There is scientific evidence that serving others stimulates the same part of your brain as essential things such as eating food. We are made social beings and in order to find a purpose, many find success in giving back and helping those around them whether this be in a job setting, the military, or just family life in general as Mack has. Therefore, I believe that having the opportunity to look back on a life filled with examples of service is an amazing opportunity for someone who has not yet found a source of personal fulfillment. As Mack has gotten older, his goals and purpose have been shaped very clearly around family. When asked what he wanted for his future, he responded “My future is just watching them(his grandchildren) grow and do good… I’m 79 years old so I’m just wanting my grandkids to do good and have a great life”. He is such a supportive and loving character and truly wants the best for those around him. Starting from his childhood to all the way to his older age, he continues to prioritize serving those around him. I look up to Mack very much and am so blessed to have such a caring role model in my life. To learn how to serve others to the extent that he has is a privilege and I hope one day that I might myself with a similar focus. After all, Mack said it best himself: “I love people, I love to talk to people. I just love people!”.
44 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonah Thomas is a part of the class of 2022 at Mountain View High School and an Animation student at Freestyle Academy. He grew up with a passion for music, first starting to learn guitar at six years old. After living abroad for 5 years, Jonah loves to travel and finds inspiration in different cultures around the world. He uses this to create work he is proud of and to connect to his peers on an international scale.
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol 1 | 45
46 | Freestyle Academy Spring 2019 Vol 1 | freestyleacademy.rocks
freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2019 Vol 1 | 47
Information about purchasing this publication is posted on https://freestyleacademy.rocks/documentaries Thank you for your support!
