2020-2021
Senior Staff Genna Bishop Calvin Cai Sarah Chang Dori Filppu Jenna Han Devon Lee Kate Mallery Madison Nguyen Nikki Suzani Joshua Yang Zora Zhang
Adviser
Kristy Blackburn (KGB)
Letter From The Editor Dear Class of 2021, For the first time in many months, we’re cautiously traipsing into a new world—or rather, back into an old one. Many of us are emerging from our homes, vaccines in arms, to venture into gyms, libraries and restaurants again; to make a few final, precious memories with friends; to even abandon virtual learning hijinks (see page 30) and attend school in-person again. It goes without saying that the world we’ve returned to bears little resemblance to the one we left behind in March 2020—or even in May 2020. This time a year ago, we were still scrambling to adjust to a brand new reality, complete with FLOs and ROLEs. While things have somewhat returned to normal now—Obama and BTS won’t be speaking at our graduation, after all—the “normal” we’re returning to is hardly the one we’ve left behind. Perhaps there are no literal overgrown vines creeping over once-familiar locales,
but we’ve changed, transformed and grown so much in the past year: We breathed a collective sigh of relief as we clicked “submit” on our Common Apps; we mourned the loss of Airbands, Night Rally and Homecoming Floats; we made decisions that felt simultaneously trivial and monumental as we chose the paths our lives would take in the next four years and beyond. I want to end this note with an expression of hope—as uncertain and hectic as things are, the world has opened itself up to new possibilities, and it’s ours for the taking. So, let’s take a moment to flip through these pages, reminisce over all that we’re leaving behind and set our eyes on what’s next for the Class of 2021. As we once more venture out into this strange world of ours, here’s to exciting beginnings, terrifying beginnings, exhilarating beginnings—here’s to new beginnings. Class of 2021, I can’t wait to see where we’ll go. —Joshua Yang, EIC ‘20-’21
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Table of Contents 4
Staff Features
8
Staff Columns
16
Senior Features
22
Recruited Athletes
26
International Pathways
28
Memories and Thoughts
32
College Map
Graphics by Sarah Chang, Jenna Han, Mihika Sane, Zora Zhang
May 27, 2021
The Oracle Staff 2020-2021 (And what they were up to during quarantine)
Calvin Cai
Devon Lee
• Sports Editor • 3 years • Binge watched all 23 Marvel movies in two weeks
• Sports Editor • 3.5 years • Landed a job at Shake Shack
Dori Filppu
Genna Bishop
• Features Editor • 1.5 years • Became obsessed with baking banana bread
• Online Editor • 2 years • Went to the Farm of Eden nearly every day in the summer
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Kate Mallery
Joshua Yang
• Copy Editor • 2.5 years • Replayed all of Just Dance 2016
• Editor-in-Chief • 3.5 years • Changed his hairstyle three times in less than a year
Nikki Suzani
Madison Nguyen
• Managing Editor • 3.5 years • Became an Annie's Mac N Cheese Gourmet Chef :)
• Managing Editor • 3 years • Developed an unhealthy shopping addiction
May 27, 2021
Zora Zhang
Sarah Chang
• Graphics Artist • 1 year • Taught herself to play the guitar
• Graphics Artist • 1 year • Redid her room by herself (DIY Room Makeover-style)
Kristy Blackburn
Jenna Han
• Adviser • 17 years • Started growing things in her garden
• Graphics Artist • 1 year • Baked a mini cake for her friend's birthday
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Kate Mallery a letter to my younger self To Younger Kate: I would like to sincerely apologize for the way I treated you. I spent so much time thinking about what I needed to change, and almost no time acknowledging the things that I loved about myself. Even though you might not think it—and I know it sounds cheesy—you are beautiful. For most of high school, I didn't take any pictures of myself because I couldn’t stand the way I looked. Now, I regret not capturing all those memories: I regret always comparing myself to others as a way to tear myself down. It’s been really hard, but now I can realize that the person I saw in the mirror—that I previously couldn't stand before—was never the person that other people saw. Other people don’t look only at your flaws and those little things that you hate about yourself: In fact, nobody else really notices besides yourself. I would also like to tell you that you’re not the problem. For the longest time, I never felt like I fit in. I always had some friends, but no one that I really clicked with. I was unbearably awkward and self-conscious in social situations and had a hard
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time talking to people. I thought something about me made it so that no one wanted to get close to me. High school is socially stressful and people can be mean, but you will eventually find your people. Once you find them, it becomes so much easier and you realize that you were never an outcast or a burden. My advice to you is to be as nice to as many people as possible: Most likely, they are feeling just as anxious and self-conscious as you. My second piece of advice would be to fake it ‘til you make it. This applies to many situations, but most importantly to confidence. You can’t just tell yourself to be confident and then magically become the most positive person in the room. When you are constantly self-deprecating around others and make it a point to show how insecure you are, it doesn't attract people to you. If you act like you think you are pretty and smart but not excessively, people will believe you. People are attracted to confidence. High school is a grind and you can't do it alone. You need friends—not just people you chat in class with, but who you trust and connect with. Truthfully, I don’t remember a thing from freshman year English, but I do remember all of the jokes my friends and I made. Love, Kate
Madison Nguyen a letter to my future self
Dear Future Madison, If you’re anything like past-you, I can without a doubt say that you are stressing about every microscopic aspect of your life—particularly how far behind in life you believe you are. Past-you is an absolute, chaotic mess of a person: She doesn’t know what time she’s going to get her first, second or third coffee tomorrow, nevermind anything related to the future. But, I hope that hearing about what she’s accomplished will knock some sense into current-you’s brain. More than a year has passed since the start of the pandemic. You’re a complete stranger to March 2020 you: You’ve begun to accept your body and realized that complete self-love is unattainable, but self-acceptance is essential. You have seven friends that you love. You listen to your own voice, established some sense of identity and independence, meditate and journal, wear crystals and ponder about the universe, and most importantly, you recognized when something—like a job—has become so toxic that you up and quit to join a team that values you. You’ve recognized your worth over and over again and haven’t settled for anything less than what you deserve. You’re stronger than you think. But, with all this self-growth, you also developed an unhealthy habits. You spent hours tearing apart each detail of your body—from your little belly pooch to how disproportionate you felt your legs were compared to the rest of your body. You allowed these thoughts to consume your brain; you let it affect how much and what kinds of food you put into your body. You started counting calories and measuring food with a scale. You started exercising for
three hours a day. And, at some point, you started overeating those foods you deemed as “bad.” This grew into a vicious cycle. The growth you hoped to see in your fitness journey fell through: You felt stagnant, and more out-of-control than ever before. But, what you didn’t know was that no one noticed the things you did. No one turned to their friends on the street and said, “She’s so gross for eating that pastry and overeating today.” Only you allowed that mindset to grow. You shouldn’t hate your past self for these experiences: Every little criticism I had of myself didn’t define me then, and it shouldn’t define you now. Instead of shaming yourself for having self-destructive thoughts, recognize your feelings; find the root of those thoughts. You went through this lifechanging thing. And, it’s become the biggest part of your life because of the power you’ve given to it: Don’t let any thought or experience take away from who you are at the core. Everything in life is a difficult decision: to stay at a job that brings you unhappiness is hard, but to start a new one is equally as difficult; to prioritize yourself and is difficult, but so is continuing habits that harm your health. Choose your difficult path to take, and trust that each fork in the road will put you on the right path. With love, Madison
May 27, 2021
Nikki Suzani on finding your crowd I have mad Ping-Pong skills. I’m talking my-serves-are-illegal-but-hard-to-return Ping-Pong skills, my-dad-made-me-learnthis-at-age-8-to-get-computer-time PingPong skills. Okay: to be fair, they’re not all that great. Still, they’re my favorite fallback. Something to show whenever there’s a table ready. And that’s where my high school journey begins, surrounded by strangers at a Ping-Pong table in a dimly lit gym room during sophomore year homecoming. Let’s start with a little context. I moved to the Palo Alto Unified School District at the start of freshman year. I knew four people going into Gunn, and they all had their own friend groups. So I ended up latching onto this girl from SELF and sitting with her friends. Before long, I had to move to another group. Then, another. After a year, I left that one, too. Thus, in sophomore year, I sat alone. Sometimes in the library. Or a club room. But mostly in a back corner of Gunn where no one could see me. That brings us to the homecoming dance. There was an energy that surrounded dances for me, an unrestrainable happiness that came from losing your breath doing not-so-great moves with your friends. Even though I was going alone, I was certain I’d find people to dance with. It didn’t exactly work out that way. After scouring the floor for people I knew, I left after ten minutes. I immediately went to the food room where, luckily, there was a Ping-Pong table waiting
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for me to spend the rest of the dance with. To this day, I still tell people I voluntarily chose to play Ping-Pong for the entire night. After all, I did win eleven games in a row (but who’s counting?). The truth is, though, that I was another lonely 15-year-old girl who didn’t feel like she fit in. I would be lying if I said things immediately got better. There were certainly ups-anddowns, but in every community I still felt like I was on the outside-looking-in. It wasn’t until the start of quarantine that things started looking up. That’s when I met LNT, a group chat of 15 high school seniors started in July 2020 by a guy I met on the messaging app Discord. LNT—which stands for Late Night Thoughts—became my go-to chat for anything on my mind. They listened to my political rants and my breakdowns over anything tangentially related to math. I honestly think I spend at least two hours on the chat a day. It’s so strange to say that people who were strangers changed my life, but LNT helped me feel like I belonged somewhere. These people are always there to support me—just as I am for them. Last month, I met up in-person with some of LNT in downtown Palo Alto. We waited around awkwardly, walked in a loop in Stanford Shopping Center before leaving the area and had significant difficulties finding food. After lots of laughter and some slightly-bland food, we used a dented ball and some paddles we found to play Ping-Pong outside of Pizza My Heart. This time, I didn’t win eleven times in a row (honestly, I don’t even think I won three in a row); but I still enjoyed every second.
Dori Filppu
on dispelling toxic academic culture With my mother being a teacher in the district, I knew growing up that I had the ability to select my high school and avoid the district-approved dividing lines running through the center of Palo Alto. To me, there was no geographical Gunn side or Paly side, but rather the choice between two entirely separate realms: the party school and the nerd school. Of course, my mom wanted me with the nerds. Enter Gunn High School, known for perfect SAT scores and high GPAs. Now enter fourteen-year-old Dori, completely unbothered. I approached high school with a confidence and spunk that felt disingenuous to campus rumors. For years, I heard horror stories of the school where everyone studies religiously and competes relentlessly. Sure, a couple of my classes had the stereotypical tightly wound students; but my peers seemed just as carefree as I was. My priority freshman year was planning the perfect homecoming outfit. Despite my casual persona, Gunn had a perceived unhealthy environment, yet I never truly experienced such a culture. I got good grades without needing them to be perfect; I played a competitive sport without requiring that I be the best; and I spent time with my friends without disregarding my other responsibilities. Despite this, I felt obligated to reiterate what everyone believed Gunn to be: I preached about the school’s excessive competition without experiencing it. I started using words such as “toxic” in my daily colloquial, ignoring the fact that I was wholeheartedly exaggerating. What I didn’t realize was that my words
were contributing to the very “toxic competition” I preached. Words have the unique power of conviction—the moment something is said out loud, it’s believable. Though I never experienced excessive competitiveness at Gunn, I spent three years voicing that I had: I convinced myself it existed, and even further, I convinced myself I had to partake in it. My final year of high school was the first time I understood the infamous competition. With the pressure of college applications mounting, I adapted an extremely competitive mindset: I studied excessively, prioritized school over all else and lost the balance I spent three years working towards. While this may be typical for some, it was entirely outside of my character. I used the school’s competitive nature as an excuse to compare myself to others, believing that I was adapting the qualities of a true Gunn student. Now that the college process is over, I understand that my words had a monumental impact on my mindset. For three years, I convinced myself that Gunn was toxic, and by the fourth year, I became toxic. Gunn is a rigorous school filled with earnest and driven students. However, if we spent less time speaking in terms of competition and more in terms of learning, the culture could change. If I had not so fervently believed in the myths of Gunn, I would have not contributed to them. Now, I am no longer going to refer to Gunn as the nerd school, but instead as my school.
May 27, 2021
Joshua Yang on expectations for senior year
The first time I met a real, honest-to-god senior on a muggy, August 2017 day at Gunn, he was six feet tall. Naturally, as a (5-footsomething) freshman already agitating to graduate, I instantly set unrealistic expectations for my own high school growth spurt, among other naive fantasies about what the rest of my senior year might look like. I would blissfully cruise through high school, I thought, smoothly navigating college applications with barely a stumble. I would become more confident in my skills and abilities, more sure that everything I did was the right or at least the best thing to do. And, of course, I would have figured out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life by the time I walked across the Gunn football field in my cap and gown. Nearly four years later, I’m still barely 5’7—and more importantly, almost nothing I imagined for myself as a freshman came true. Even though I’m heading off to college in a few short months, it only seems as if the field of possibilities ahead of me has widened. People sometimes ask me what my major is. “I applied as an English major,” I mumble, though I know there’s about as much of a chance I end up actually being an English major as there is that I grow to be six feet tall in the next four years. Another popular question seems to be, What do you want to be when you grow up? “Well, I’ve done some writing and journalism work throughout high school...” I trail off again, leaving the rest of the question unanswered. Nothing is certain; nothing is set in stone. For much of high school, I eagerly searched for an a-ha, Eureka moment that would suddenly, in a blaze of thunder and glory, reveal
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to me my true purpose in life, only to come up empty-handed. What I have done is join my peers in exploring both newfound and longtime interests. I’ve competed as a fencer in a half-dozen states; I’ve traveled to Washington, D.C., Atlanta and beyond in pursuit of honing my reporting skills; I’ve learned how to evaluate triple integrals, pick out caesuras in poetry and calculate the forces exerted by a solenoid’s magnetic field. Some experiences have been formative; I learned that studying multivariable calculus wasn’t for me, nor was keeping the grueling schedule of a student-athlete. At the same time, though, I learned I did enjoy scrambling to write a 2000-word article on a deadline. Does any of that necessarily point to a particular future career? I’m not sure. I’m pragmatic enough to understand that passion doesn’t always smoothly translate to a livelihood for a variety of reasons: After all, one of my colleges even took the time to send me a pamphlet offering gentle disclaimers that being an English major doesn’t mean I’ll become a starving artist. So instead, these days, I keep the existential soul-searching on the backburner: I log into my Zoom classes (sometimes), I help put together issues of The Oracle, I laugh with friends, I consume boba in less-than-healthy amounts. I’ve come to realize I still don’t have all the answers, or even most of the answers—but I’ve made steady progress toward asking the right questions. I might not be a senior confidently riding off into the sunset with the rest of my life planned out, but in my final year at Gunn, I’ve realized that that’s just fine.
Genna Bishop on embracing alternatives
Two months ago, I believed that community college would never be in my future. It’s not like I thought it wasn’t a good option—it was the thought of staying behind while my friends went off to start their lives somewhere far away that left me feeling scared of missing out. So, I applied to schools with only two criteria in mind; I wanted to stay in California, and I wanted to go to a good school that people know the name of. However, after hearing that I didn’t get into the only two schools I wanted to go to, I was left in a sticky situation. My two options were to go to a school that I didn’t want to go to or stay in Palo Alto for another two years. Personally, both of those two options weren’t for me. Location is the biggest factor I took into account for this decision. Before I can think about doing well in school, I need to think about doing well in my environment. Also, as someone who knows close to nothing about college, being expected to make a huge decision that impacts my future for at least the next four years is really intimidating. I spent a long time thinking about what I really wanted to do. Each time I thought I had come to a final decision, it ended up sounding less and less appealing. I had my sights set on a goal that seemed impossible at the moment. The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I got; there seemed to be no perfect solution. For the longest time, I ended up hating myself for “not trying harder in school.” It felt as if everything I had done was not enough. This was even harder—for me and my fellow classmates—because of the pandemic. Internships and programs were all out of the question, and schools seemed to be getting double the number of applicants. Everything about distance learning—combined with the college application process—was frustrating. It did, however, force
me to spend time with myself, and helped me realize who I am as a person and what I need to be happy. Being away from an in-person school environment gave me a lot of mental ease and freedom when deciding what I want to do with my future. With this shift, I started working more, and started connecting with more people who planned on staying here and doing community college. This honestly was really reassuring to hear. At this point, community college was seeming like the way to go. My only issue was the location. After a bit, I realized that I could have the best of both worlds. My solution: share an apartment with my best friend and attend the local community college in Santa Monica. This way, I’d be saving money, living in my dream location and I would also be able to attend the school that I dreamed of going to in two years. Now, I know it isn’t going to be easy. I will be working, and I will have to work really hard in school, but at least I know I’ll be having fun. I have never been more excited about the future: These next few months will be full of change and so many new experiences, and I can’t wait to share them with someone who has stood by me everyday for a whole year now. This definitely was not the direction I thought I’d be heading in, but that’s life. Plans and goals change as you grow older, and it’s important to understand that a sudden change in plans is okay. Find a solution that fills all of your checkboxes, not someone else’s.
may 27, 2021
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Charlesy Chen Senior Charlesy Chen started drawing in elementary school. Now, 10 years later, Chen’s art account (@green_apple_jam on Instagram) boasts over 3,000 followers, and her sights are set on a future career in art. “I had these concepts in my mind that I was thinking about as a child, and I couldn’t find them anywhere,” she said. “So I wanted to learn to draw them myself.” Chen, who focuses on digital art but has experience with sketching and oil painting, puts considerable time into her craft. “I’m constantly drawing,” she said. “I’m planning to go into art and design, so these days I draw a lot to keep practicing and expand into more concepts.” Having an art account on Instagram has also taught Chen a lot about communication. “I’ve learned to talk to all different kinds of people,” she said. “I learn to compromise with people and work with them since I collaborate a lot these days.” (Collaborations are when Chen works with other art accounts to post pieces in a simi-
lar theme, promoting other accounts that also participated.) Although Chen sometimes deals with art block, particularly since she consistently tries to post a completed piece on her account (@green_apple_jam) at least once a week, she uses other mediums to overcome it. “It’s very easy to burn out since it’s a lot of time put in,” she said. “But I find a lot of inspiration from other artists that I follow, my friends and music.” For new artists, Chen suggests trying new mediums and styles to find what fits best. “I’d say, don’t stay in your comfort zone for too long,” she said. “Try to experiment as much as you can. You find your favorite styles by experimenting because if you hadn’t, you might never find out you liked it.” —Written by Nikki Suzani
Giovanni Lacerna Like the beginning of many careers in the Internet Age, Giovanni Lacerna learned to create music through dedication, hard work and the help of YouTube. What started out as a simple gesture to help his friend make beats to rap to in eighth grade has since turned into a lifelong passion. Prior to eighth grade, Lacerna had no background or experience in music but was able to learn all of the basics through YouTube. He has since developed the ability to produce music from scratch. One person that has helped motivate Lacerna in his craft is Kanye West. “I loved the fact that most of [West’s] songs are produced by him,” he said. “He’s the reason why I made the big leap to agree to produce for my friend back in eighth grade; having people listen to your music and be able to criticize it [as] good or bad is one of my favorite aspects of it.” As a producer, Lacerna has had the
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opportunity to work with Lil Zay Osama, an artist with 364,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and dozens of young and upcoming musicians. Currently, Lacerna is working on a beat for a beat battle as well as productions for unreleased songs. “I’m working on a beat that I’m going to submit for a beat battle that can make me win a major business connection,” he said. “A connection that’s worked with Billboard artists such as rod wave, polo g, lil tjay, etc.” In the future, Lacerna hopes to sign under a producer brand. “I have no intention of signing to a label in the future,” he said. “I want to sign under a producer because it’s more personal rather than business oriented.” —Written by Devon Lee
Harini Desikan Since the age of four, math has always been an important part of Harini Desikan’s life. Desikan was a member of the Gunn Math Circle, competed in Math Olympiad competitions and spent summers at Canada/USA Mathcamp, where she learned college-level math. Although Desikan excels at competition math, that’s not why she loves it. After qualifying for the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) in 10th grade, Desikan shifted her perspective. “That experience helped me realize that I’m not really into math for the competition structure of it,” she said. “I like math for what it is. The patterns and the way numbers work and fall into place has always been very pretty to me. It appeals to my brain. It’s like I’m chasing down this illusive result that I’m trying to discover. Once I do discover it, it just opens up more questions, and that’s extremely cool.” Desikan also enjoys teaching others, and wants to make sure there is an outlet for
other Gunn students who are also passionate about math. Math has given Desikan new perspectives on the world. “It’s taught me that sometimes things are not going to proceed linearly,” she said “I used to think that there was one set pathway to mathematical success that I had to follow. Then, as I started learning more math. I discovered that there is not one pathway to success. There are a million different paths I could take.” Desikan plans on majoring in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology next year, as well as exploring her other interests in political science, cognitive science, chemistry and choir. —Written by Kate Mallery
Sloane Emma Sloan, who goes by Sloane, began their photography career in a way many other artists may understand: After failed success in other types of art mediums such as drawing and painting, Sloan tipped their feet in the world of photography. Flash forward a few years, and they’ve placed first in the youth abstract category and won best in show in the Peninsula Photo Contest, along with a myriad of other awards garnered in past competitions within the last year. To top it off, Sloan will be attending the California Institute of the Arts in fall 2021. After taking their first photo class at Gunn, Sloan’s life was changed as they knew it. “I took the class, and it was history,” they said. “It was just so good. And honestly, there’s so many different ways to practice photography, with or without a camera. It’s so diverse and there’s this interesting science element. And I fell in love with it–it just fits me.” According to Sloan, at first they weren’t sure as to whether they wanted to pursue photography in the future. It wasn’t until partway into the college application
process that they realized that photography is their calling. “I just realized that I want to go for it,” they said. “I got so much advice that art degrees aren’t practical, but it’s the only thing I’ve been able to imagine myself doing for the longest time. I still feel an imposter and like I don’t deserve my spot, but I’m going to do it anyways: I’m going to go be an artist.” To them, photography isn’t just the art of taking pictures: it’s a therapy. “It’s given me a way to express myself,” they said. “I don’t want to sound cliche, but it has given me a voice. It has helped me see myself in a way that I was never able to: I see the world differently. Getting your picture taken is something that happens to us all the time, and it can feel so exploitative: It feels horrible and it’s super invasive. And, to be in control of what I look like has been so important to being able to see myself as how I actually want to be seen.” In the future, Sloan is excited to show more of their work. “I can’t wait for the fresh start, because I’ve come a really long way,” they said. “It’s so surreal to me to show my work in exhibits and galleries, but it’s really dope and I’m excited for it.” —Written by Madison Nguyen
May 27, 2021
Neil Rustagi Very few people will claim they are “good” at dancing, but for Neil Rustagi, dancing is no challenge. As an avid hip-hop and Bollywood dancer for more than a decade, Rustagi possesses dance skills unlike many others. In fact, one of Rustagi’s favorite dance styles is freestyling, one of the hardest disciplines. “When I know a song, it really speaks to me and it’s like, you get in the zone where you’re not really thinking about moving, but the music is moving [you],” he said. Rustagi attributes his skills to his dance teachers. “I had a really, really good teacher who had a very good understanding of the culture,” he said. “It’s a lot about culture because that’s where all the moves come from.” For Rustagi, the best aspect of dance is the community. “Dance connects people,” he said. “It’s definitely very true. Anytime I go to a workshop or a class with people the energy there is just always super supportive. Everyone’s supporting each other and showcasing no matter what skill level they’re at.” Down the road, Rustagi hopes to get back into Bollywood and one day become an
instructor. “I’m going to [study] computer science, but maybe down the line, I definitely do want to end up teaching at some point and kind of pass down the culture and the legacy that was passed on to me,” he said. —Written by Devon Lee
Payton Dick As Gunn Theatre Student Director Payton Dick looks back on her involvement in the class and extracurricular, she says it truly has shaped her high school experience to be the best it could possibly be. Dick joined theatre first semester freshman year, persuaded by her brother and his friends. Since then, the memories she’s made—especially during performance seasons—have been the fondest memories made at Gunn. “My favorite theatre memories are the moments right before and right after a performance,” she said. “Beforehand, everyone is super excited and nervous and we all get hyped together. Afterward, we’re all on an adrenaline high and we usually go to In-N-Out or get pizza to celebrate.” The impact theatre has made on her life has been allowing her to climb out of her shell more. According to Dick, theatre has introduced her to vastly different people—ones that she probably wouldn’t have met had she not joined in the first place. While she won’t be continuing theatre in college, she does hope to visit theatre classes and attend shows when coming back to Palo Alto. With all the hardships and craziness theatre has
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brought to her, the most valuable lesson Dick has learned will accompany her in each step of her future life. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t prepare for everything, but you have to be ready for the unexpected,” she said. —Written by Madison Nguyen
Richard Jackson Growing up as a San Francisco 49ers superfan, Richard Jackson IV has seemingly always been destined to become a star football player. After joining the Redwood City 49ers Pop Warner Youth Football League, Jackson fell in love with playing the sport and began pushing himself to become the best football player he could be. At Gunn, Jackson has earned a starting position as both a running back on offense and middle linebacker on defense. Constantly watching NFL football during the season has helped Jackson find inspirations on the field. “I really try and base my defensive game off of Kam Chancellor,” Jackson said, “And [I base] my offensive position after Adrian Peterson.” This past season, Jackson has been able to bring that same impact to the field for Gunn’s up-and-coming football team. His 854 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns in just five games lead all of the Central Coast Section (CCS), which consists of 152 high schools in the area. His stellar performance has resulted in an undefeated 5-0 shortened season for Gunn. Despite his dominant performance, the pandemic has affected
his immediate college football opportunities. With Jackson’s breakout season being played during the spring, he plans to wait before entering the National Collegiate Athletic Association stage. “I plan on going to junior college for a year to open my scholarship options for football, then going wherever the scholarships end up,” he said. Even with big plans in the future, the experience he has had for the past four years will forever stay with him. “The best part of playing high school football is being able to play the sport you love with people who support you and all push to see each other grow,” Jackson said. —Written by Calvin Cai
Rohan Bhave From the moment Rohan Bhave picked up a camera in elementary school, he’s been fascinated by the world of photography and videography. After joining the yearbook staff at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School and being promoted to Chief Photographer, Bhave got serious about his craft and brought his skills to Gunn. During his sophomore year, Bhave offered up his skills to the Student Executive Council (SEC) and began filming and editing events across campus. “I have been the Visual Media Commissioner in SEC for two years now,” Bhave said, “I produce the videos put up on the school YouTube and Instagram, such as Homecoming highlights, airband videos, theme reveal videos and many more.” During his junior year, as Bhave became the only editor on SEC, he was thrown in the deep end to figure things out on his own. One of his early major proj-
ects was the 2019 Homecoming Video. “The Homecoming video was pretty bad because I didn’t know what I was doing,” Bhave said. However, through the experience of developing the homecoming videos and other projects, Bhave’s next assignment became one of his best. “I used what I learned from [the Homecoming Video] when working on the prom video, which turned out a lot better,” he said. Although prom was cancelled, Bhave has been able to continue his work this year, including filming and editing the Homecoming Court video recently. Despite all the experience Bhave has gathered filming and editing, in the future, he sees it as a side pasttime. “Film has always just been a hobby, not a potential career,” he said. “But regardless of what area of study I plan on pursuing, film–and art in general–will always be one of those skills that are applicable due to the widespread reach of media.” —Written by Calvin Cai
May 27, 2021
Serena Li Gunn Robotics Team (GRT) Controls Lead Serena Li first found out about the team through a class she took in freshman year. “I took [Intro to Engineering Design] in freshman year and that’s where I met [GRT Advisor Kristina Granlund] who told me to apply,” she said. Li considers GRT to be, at its heart, a community of friends. “My favorite part was the general experience of working together with your friends on a robot [and] staying after school till nine,” she said. In fact, at the start of the pandemic, those same friends came together in a COVID-safe way to celebrate Li’s birthday. “A bunch of people on GRT created a Messenger group chat to say ‘Hey, let’s go to Serena’s house and sing to her,’” she said. “So they all came to my house socially distanced and stood in my garage and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me.” Outside of GRT, Li is also the President of United Computations, a club she only rejoined in her junior year, after originally quitting due to a lack of female representation. “In freshman
year, I went to United Computations, and I was the only girl which was very scary–being the only girl and hearing all the upperclassmen guys talk about their internships and summer apps,” she said. “Seeing people like [former GRT Controls Lead Audrey Xie] made me feel like I could do stuff, in a way. And so that’s part of the reason why I went back to United Computations and ran for president.” Now, Li’s leadership has inspired more girls to join the club, with two running for president/vice president this year. “I’ve definitely tried to get more girls just partially by being there,” she said. “I think it’s been pretty successful this year.” Next year, Li plans to study Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. —Written by Nikki Suzani
Elias Cervantes Though most know him as an avid basketball player constantly practicing on the courts, Elias Cervantes is also a first generation college student. The youngest of seven siblings, Cervantes will be attending Michigan State University this fall to major in electrical engineering. Pursuing a higher education was a priority for Cervantes. “I want to make my family proud,” Cervantes said. “My family has shaped me into who I have become and my goal is to use my education to better myself and be able to support and make my family proud in the process.” However, the process towards higher education isn’t always easy, particularly when the system is catered towards students with college-degreeholding parents, according to Cervantes. “The challenges of being a first gen [college student] were very apparent, especially during the college application process,” he said. “A lot of my classmates had parents that they could rely on for help whereas I found that my main support system came from my siblings, who
page 20 | Senior Features
had already gone through the process. I strived to be my best academically without the extra help that many of my classmates’ parents were able to afford. I did not have the extra SAT classes or the special summer programs others had, but in a way it kept me motivated to keep trying my best with what I did have.” For Cervantes, being a first generation student is more than a label: it is a responsibility. “I get to keep on passing the baton; I am thankful for the first gens who have already paved the way for many others, and I would like to keep that cycle going,” Cervantes said. “By keeping the cycle alive, I will continue to pave the way for future students and their community, just like my siblings did for me.” Cervantes also offered advice to fellow first generation students. “Don’t let the burden of being a first gen or your parents not having extra resources bring you down,” he said.“Own being a first gen student, stand up proud, ask for help when you need it and keep on passing the baton. As first gen students, we keep the resilience alive, we don’t give up and we know that being a first gen student is a special privilege to carry.” —Written by Dori Filppu
Lillian Fong Pandora’s Box Editor-in-Chief Lillian Fong has spent four years with the Gunn literary magazine—and it all started with a bulletin, as Fong recounts. “A couple days before freshman year started, I had to go to campus with my brother for something,” she said. “I was walking around, and I saw these posters for Pandora’s Box submissions, advertising them. And I was like, ‘Oh, that looks like something I’d be interested in. Maybe I’ll join it once school actually starts.’” Fong joined a club meeting, then another, and the rest is history. Now, as a senior, Fong has led Pandora’s Box through a unique and challenging year that has tested the magazine’s close-knit community. “Anything over Zoom is just hard when you’re used to doing it in-person,” Fong said. “One of the things I enjoyed [as an underclassman] was getting to sit in the graphic design room with the upperclassmen and do layouts with them. That’s not something that we get to do [anymore].” Yet Fong, who plans to major in Creative Writing at Pepperdine University, has used activities such as writing and drawing exercises to engage members—and continues to speak highly of her expe-
rience with Pandora’s Box, pandemic or not. “I think that [Pandora’s Box is] great for artists and people who just want to share their work,” she said. “We try to build community, and it’s a great community, and I’ve been really grateful to be a part of it for all four years at Gunn.” —Written by Joshua Yang
Isabella Pistaferri Isabella Pistaferri, co-founder of the Title IX club, has worked hard throughout her years to create needed changes within the Title IX system. Pistaferri knows how frustrating the whole process is, and has worked to help protect and educate anyone who goes to the school for help. “During high school, I dealt with reporting my own Title IX case and walked into the situation both clueless to how the process was supposed to work and what my rights were,” she said. “My case was mishandled, and I didn’t even realize what had happened until months past the resolution.” Even though the Tittle IX club has only been running for a year, Pistaferri and her team have been able to accomplish a lot. An overview of their activities include working with the Palo Alto Unified School District
(PAUSD) to draft new Title IX policies to ease the reporting process and working alongside Stanford, Los Gatos and PAUSD students to petition for the Santa Clara County Board of Education to implement a bill investigating Title IX mishandling within the County, presenting on “The Future of Title IX Legislation and Regulations” at a PAUSD board meeting and so much more. Through club activities, Pistaferri has also been able to embrace her creative side and love for art. Through using her own artwork to design sticker packs, she raised over $150 for club activities. She also participated in a mural painting at the Mitchell Park library in recognition for survivors, as well as organized an event at Mitchell Park called “Flowers for Survivors.” Pistaferri believes that there is still so much that needs to be done for the Title IX system. “It is our responsibility, as a student body, to hold the district accountable for their actions and inactions in order to better our schools for all students’ and faculty’s sake,” she said. “At the same time, it is also important to hold those we care about accountable for their inappropriate or immoral behaviors when we notice them, in this case, for society’s sake.” In college, she hopes to continue her work with Title IX. —Written by Genna Bishop
May 27, 2021
Recruited Athletes
Alexis Bromberg — Soccer Stats
Macalester University
Gunn Team MVP (2021) Varsity Soccer Team Captain (2019-2021) Central Coast Section D1 Champion (2020)
“I enjoyed playing at a high level and succeeding with my club teammates and then, in between seasons, I’d get to come play with my friends at Gunn and win trophies.”
Calvin Cai — Wrestling Stats 16U National Qualifier (2019) 4th Place Central Coast Section 145 lb (2020) Team Captain (2020, 2021) Team MVP (2020)
Case Western Reserve University “The support I’ve been given and the friendships I’ve built has allowed wrestling to become a huge part of my life.”
Cecilia Cai — Swimming Stats
Wellesley College
Swam for 11 years Four Time Central Coast Section Qualifier Specializes in Butterfly
“It was really inspiring and fun to be able to swim next to some of my best friends every day.”
PAGE 22 | RECRUITED ATHLETES
Kate Mallery — Water Polo Stats
Water Polo League Champions (2017, 2019) All-League First Team (2018, 2019) Central Coast Section D1 Champion (2019)
Princeton University “My favorite part of playing water polo in high school was competing at a high level and hanging out with my teammates.”
Mark Berlaga — Gymnastics Stats
Stanford University
Rings National Champion (2019) Has done gymnastics for 16 years
“[Gymnastics] allowed me to take a mental break from everything else going on to focus on doing what I love.”
Summer Steadman — Soccer Stats
New York University
Played on the MVLA Club Team for seven years Trained with National Team members Abby Dahlkemper and Julie Ertz
“My favorite part about playing in high school was the people I had the privilege to meet and the connections I was able to make.”
MAY 27, 2021
Recruited Athletes
Aastha Mehta — Swimming Stats
Columbia University
Specialized in freestyle and backstroke Central Coast Section qualifier in 100 free and 100 back
“My favorite part of swimming at Gunn was being able to meet so many new people and race for something bigger than myself.”
Cory Hallada — Football Stats Running back 112 carries for 1078 yards 15 touchdowns
St. Olaf College “My favorite part was the friendships I was able to make. My teammates will be my friends for life.”
Joey Cianfichi — Soccer Stats
Juniata College
Gunn Team Assists Leader (2021) De Anza Force 02/03 Club Team Central Coast Section D1 Champion (2020)
“My favorite part of playing in high school was having fun and being able to interact with others.”
PAGE 24 | RECRUITED ATHLETES
Melanie Julia — Swimming Stats State runner-up in 100 breaststroke French Junior National Champion in two events US Winter Junior Nationals 4th in 200 and 400 relay
UC Berkeley “My favorite part of swimming in high school was going to [the Central Coast Section tournament] and States.”
Morgan Cianfichi — Soccer Stats
Oberlin College
Varsity Soccer Team Captain (2020, 2021)
“I have watched our team grow and succeed at the next level as well as watched us overcome many challenges together.”
Valerie Peterson — Beach Volleyball Stats
University of Oregon
NorCal Class of 2021 point leader AVP America Grand Prix winner Ranked Top 25 in US
“I have been able to meet lots of people and create strong friendships, while also learning a lot about myself as a player.”
MAY 27, 2021
Seniors Pursue International Pathways Connor Missett Following high school, Connor Missett plans to enter into the Trinity College and Columbia dual degree program, meaning that he will spend his first two years at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and his last two years at Columbia University in New York City. For Missett, the Trinity Columbia dual program was always appealing. “I wanted an international perspective on the college lifestyle and an overall unique college experience,” Missett said. As the son of an Irish immigrant, Trinity College also holds connections to
home. “I wanted an opportunity to be close to my Irish family and learn more about my own culture,” Missett said. “I appreciate the fact that this program is different. In fact, I welcome it.” After a multitude of essays and extensive interviews, Missett was beyond excited to hear he had been one of just 300 students selected for the program. “The minute I opened my decision, I knew I was going,” Missett said. As he plans to enter into the field of political science, the program mirrored Missett’s interests. Focusing on the overlapping between European history, politics and emphasis on foreign language, Missett will study European Studies in Ireland and political science at Columbia. “I’m really excited to explore my interests,” Missett said. “It’s cool and a unique opportunity to experience something different.” —Written by Kate Mallery
Sasha Cohen Attending college in Australia sounds like a dream: warm weather and oceans and, of course, living right by the beach. For Sasha Cohen, this dream will come true in 2022. Due to the difference in hemispheres, applying to colleges won’t begin until later this year; the Australian school year begins in late January 2022. Cohen hopes to attend either the University of New South Wales or Sydney University. As both an Australian and U.S. citizen, the choice of where to attend college didn’t come easily. “I decided to go back to Australia because I really miss living there,” Cohen said. “With less COVID-19 restrictions, I also knew that I would be able to attend university in-person. The education is good and it’s a lot cheaper than it is in the U.S., so that definitely [shaped] my decision.”
Along with her desire to swim in the warm Australian oceans, Cohen is also excited to reunite with family and friends. In the meantime, Cohen will spend her time exploring different cities and diving into new experiences before moving. “I am definitely going to get a job because it’s super important that I start earning money since I’ll be living on my own,” she said. “My family is moving to New York this summer, so I also hope to be able to see the city and just chill.” —Written by Madison Nguyen
Page 26 | International pathways
What’s your favorite Gunn memory?
“The little things, like laughing
“Eating cup noodles with the yearbook staff
with friends during lunch :)”
in the P-115 kitchen during a code-red drill.”
“When the construction finally disappeared.” “Beating sophomores in Airbands freshman year.” “Singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Mr. Summers with the band three times in New York in March (his birthday is in December).”
What’s your most embarrassing Gunn memory?
“I walked into the wrong classroom
“Forgetting to flip over my chem
three months into junior year.”
final to complete the other side.”
“I showed up to Jazz CMEA three hours early because I thought Mr. McGinn told me to come at 4 a.m., but he actually meant 4 p.m. the day before. So I was 12 hours late.”
“I dove on top of a girl during a swim meet because I thought it was my turn to go in the relay (it wasn’t).”
“Falling asleep on the track and having Travis tell me I had to move.”
page 28 | memories & thoughts
What’s your worst online learning moment?
“Not showing up to my psych final because
“Making a TikTok with my camera on
I thought it was asynchronous.”
because I thought it was off.”
“Being the only one to start singing in calculus with Mr. Bautista.”
“Falling asleep and being the only person left in the class who hadn’t
“I tried to unmute to respond to my
joined a breakout room.”
teacher, but I misaimed my finger and left the meeting.”
What’s the funniest college app line you wrote?
“I must throw the puppies into the woods.”
“IM AN AMERICAN!”
“1/3 of a cup of common seashells sells for about $7, meaning Sally would have to sell 2714.3 cups of seashells to make the median annual income in Chicago.”
“I have what friends may consider a ‘sparkling personality’ and what teachers may “Now that I’ve demonstrated I can
consider ‘a lot of character in the classroom.’”
talk the talk, let me show how I’ve walked the walk.”
May 27, 2021
What’s your biggest regret from high school?
“Not eating enough ramen.”
“Dating literally anyone, I had 0 good experiences.”
“Picked up a cupcake from kids that I don’t know at lunch “I wish I spent more time exploring
in 9th grade.”
my interests than dwelling on boring classes I had absolutely no care for.”
“Saying I would go to the Night Rally my senior year and then it getting cancelled so I never got it go.”
What’s the best excuse you’ve given a teacher?
“I made an email that looked like
“That I had a doctor’s appointment (which I
my parents’ to excuse me from
didn’t, but I went home and scheduled
class and it worked.”
a doctor’s appointment for an hour later).”
“I used my elbow brace and wrapped it around my ankle and pretended I injured it to get out of running the two laps one day sophomore year.”
“One time I told my teacher that I accidentally drank laxative tea in order to excuse myself from being out of class.”
“Mildly gaslighting a teacher into thinking I had asked for an extension a few days ago and they had forgotten about it.”
page 30 | memories & thoughts
Teachers: what’s your advice for seniors?
“Buy a foam topper for the mattress in your dorm room. They are not comfy on their own (and not very clean).” —Warren Collier, social studies
“Avoid certainty. Hold strong to your values and beliefs, but keep questioning.” —Tara Firenzi, TOSA & social studies
“Practice saying ‘yes’ to the things you want to explore. If you say ‘no,’ there’s a pretty good chance you won’t get a second chance with it.” —Diane Ichikawa, English
“Don’t be afraid to do things you aren’t good at.” —Karen Saxena, math
“When you feel overwhelmed, take a walk. Things fall into place when you take a little break from obsessing about them.” —Liz Matchett, Spanish
“Don’t rush your life! Enjoy the moment and live life in the present, even if circumstances aren’t exactly what you hoped for.” —Cathy Cohn, science
“Always take the bus to the stop beyond where you are going. You can easily walk back half a stop, but it will save you from walking a long way if you got off too early.” —Heather Mellows, science
“While I think the head and the heart provide wonderful guidance—my advice is to follow your gut. It doesn’t lead you astray as often.” —Adam Yonkers, social studies
May 27, 2021
page 32 | college map
New destinations: in the fall, seniors are going to...
91 students responded. May 27, 2021
To our Senior Class of 2021, We are incredibly proud of you for pushing through hardships and unknowns. We hope you continue to find new passions, deep connections, and fitting places. — From the Gunn PTSA • Aarohi Gupta • Aaron Zhang • Aaryan Agrawal • Aastha Mehta • Abigail Mureithi • Adelaide Phillips • Adie Katzenelson • Adrian Contreras • Aidan Chi • Aidan Houston • AJ Gualdoni • Akiles Quarshie • Akul Datta • Alex de Lecea • Alex Bishop • Alexander Chang-Davidson • Alexander Thaik • Alexis Bromberg • Alexis Kwon • Alexis Marin • Alexis-Giovani Lacerna • Alexy Downer • Allison Chapovalov • Alperen Komban • Alson Chan • Amar Ranga • Amelia Lauher • Amelia Rande • Amelie Solis • Amy Suh • Ana Hom • Ana Tameifuna • Analise Pugh • Anand Sekar • Andrew Chang • Andrew Hu • Andrew Kim • Andrew Lum • Andrew Robinson • Andy Sandoval • Angela Guo • Angela Wong • Anika Lakhani • Anika Rao-Mruthyunjaya • Anirudh Patel • Anna Gersh • Anna Kruglikov • Annah Turner • Annalese McManigill • Annetta Venford • Annika Herndon • Anshika Agarwal • Anthony Shi • Anubhuti Deka • Anushka Shah • Aoi Maeda • Arlene Chu • Arman Miri • Arunim Agarwal • Arush Chhatrapati • Ashlyn Selvaraj • Aubrey Fife • Avinash Patni • Ayaan Rahim • Ayse Yazici • Ayush Nagrani • Banafsheh Hussain • Bartholomew Chu • Belinda Li • Ben Chen • Benie Cohen • Binh Minh Nguyen • Boris Bukchin • Boston Abrams • Boudewijn Van Breemen • Brandon Chung • Brandon Contreras • Breanna Aydin • Brendan Snow • Brian Eidson • Brindha Jaeger • Britney Hernandez • Brooklyn Seggie • Brooklyn Tory • Bruno Martins Goularte • Caitlin Wang • Caleb Kim • Calvin Cai • Camille Van Seventer • Carlos Padilla • Carson Kopper • Caspar Schulte • Catherine Fiorentino • Catherine Schmoller • Cecilia Cai • Charles Huai • Charlesy Chen • Charlie Alarcon Reyes • Charlize Chu • Charlotte Beard • Charlotte Froehlich • Charlotte Tsien • Chase Burns • Chase Johnson • Chitra Mukherjee • Chloe Li • Chloe Liu • Christina Siegel • Christine Kang • Christo Hristov • Christopher Burch • Christopher Ford • Christopher Mo • Christopher Tseng • Christopher Yao • Clement Colwell • Colin Chan • Collin Morrison • Collin Wang • Connor Ford • Connor Missett • Cornnell Chu • Cory Hallada • Cristian Salcedo • Crystal Yu • Daniel Barszczak • Daniel Cai • Daniel Luo • Danny Xu • David Burch • David Candes • Dayana Bazoco-Vazquez • Declan Lewis • Deen Parak • Dev Ghai • Devan Yu • Devon Lee • Dhriti Rajan • Dia Dhariwal • Diego Clarke • Diya Thukral • Dorathy Lam • Dori Filppu • Dylan Susbilla • Dylan Lee • Eden Frias • Eden Tzoore • Edmund Lam • Eileen Guo • Eileen Hung • Eirene Ang • Elena Creason • Elias Cervantes • Elijah Schacter • Elizabeth Kudriavtsev • Elizaveta Kozlova • Ellen Liao • Ellie Gleyzer • Elliott Tsui • Emilia Santos • Emily Deggeller • Emily Michaelian • Emily Wilkinson • Emily Zhao • Emma Lucke • Emma Sloan • Eric Tang • Eric Yu • Erik Fendorf • Erika Kodama • Erin Sampson • Esther Tok • Ethan Dias • Ethan Huang • Evan Cole • Evan Hutt • Evan Wiederhold • Felix Fonrobert • Felix Toft • Gabriel Kessler • Gabriel Woodbury • Gabrielle Montejo • Gaoheng Pei • Gavin Jiang • Gavin Kitch • Gavin Orr • Genna Bishop • George Zheng • Gil Klein-Cohen • Gillian Burk • Giselle Cornelio • Grant Cheng • Griffin Willard • Gurneha Singh • Guy Ben Zeev • Haleigh Brosnan • Haley Creason • Haley Parrett • Hanamae de Guzman • Hannah Schendel • Harini Desikan • Haviva Bradski • Hazel Hilbert • Helen Tian • Henry Moshfeghi • Henry Poole • Hyewon Ahn • Ian Zhang • Inga Gous • Inglebert Cervantes • Isabel Wang • Isabella Pistaferri • Isha Goyal
page 34 | advertisement
Ishaan Patkar • Isis Decrem • Isra Lari • Itamar Bar-Yossef • Jack Herrema • Jack Robinson • Jack Turner • Jackson Ta • James Chen • James Hao • James Talbot • Jamie Wei • Jamisen Ma • Jasmine Lesner • Javier Vizcardo • Jeffrey Maltz • Jeffrey Yang • Jenna Han • Jennifer Guzman • Jennifer Li • Jesper Macskassy • Jex Pearce • Jiaqi Lian • Jinbi Lee • John Burns • Johnathon Lu • Jonah Easton • Jonathan Fang • Jonathan Miradi • Jordan Cheng • Jordan Edwards-Zinger • Joseph Cianfichi • Joseph Safa • Josh Tanaka • Joshua Barkin • Joshua Chen • Joshua Osofsky • Joshua Yang • Julia Segal • Julia Zhao • Julien Crespo • Juliette Kilgore • Junwoo Kim • Justin Shen • Kacy Gao • Kaden Lau • Kaela Noik • Kai Park • Kaitlyn Clark • Kaley Chong • Kaliopeta Taufalele • Kate Mallery • Kate Williams • Katherine Friedland • Katherine Kane • Katherine Kudriavtsev • Kelly Wang • Kelly Zhang • Ken Erlan • Kennedy Yang • Kenneth Meng • Kenzie Chang • Kerawin Nelle Heaney • Keshav Dhir • Kevin Bao • Kevin Jump • Keyon Vossough • Kira Boutilier-Young • Kiran Flemish • Lauren Delman • Lauren Griffin • Lauryn Nakamitsu • Lennon Seiders • Leo Bailloeul • Leon Xu • Liam Blum • Liam Ford • Lila Agigian Sanchez • Lillian Fong • Lindsay Cuthill • Lisa Nieman • Lorenzo Boccio • Lotem Efrat • Luca Dal Cero • Lucas Wyss • Lucie Scheffold • Luke Flees • Luke McFaul • Lydia Hwang • Madeline Siu • Madeline Soh • Madeline Ta • Madison Nguyen • Maggie Tyson • Makena Browning • Malachi McKnight • Malavika Aiyer-Ramavarjula • Malek Jaziri • Malik Funes • Marcus Diaz • Maren Jacobsen • Margiris Balsys • Maria Morales Hernandez • Marion Okemwa • Mark Berlaga • Martin Chaperot-Merino • Mateo Xia • Matthew Lum • Matthew Taleghani • Max Gao • Max Hilding • Maxwell Robinson • Meena Shah • Megan Reyes • Mehma Jolly • Mehrzad Gandhi • Meijing Zhao • Meiting Zhao • Melanie Julia • Melanie Velasquez • Mell Santos Botehlo • Mia Hernandez • Michael Chen • Michael Xu • Mikayla Silverman • Miles Montegut • Mingjie Duan • Minoo Kim • Molly Wilkinson • Morgan Cianfichi • Morgan Tan • Nadia Chlala-Lubbe • Nathan Yu • Nathaniel Li • Navid Kianpour • Navya Lam • Neil Hanson • Neilesh Rustagi • Neo Patel • Nessa Kmetec • Nicholas Ferguson • Nicholas Mount • Nicholas Saunders • Nickolas Romero • Nicolas Wieczorek • Nikhil Shah • Nikki Suzani • Nikki Willemsen • Noa Dabbagh • Noa Shoval • Noah Biolsi • Nolan Wingard • Nuha Mozumder • Oliver Shah • Olivia Palmer • Omar Oropeza Cruz • Paige Singh • Patricia Liehr • Patrick Pak • Paul Duggan • Paul Nusser • Payton Dick • Peter Oh • Philip Oesterle-Pekrun • Philip Ward • Phillip Forden • Piper Chang • Rachel Sun • Raina Geum • Ranvir Singh • Richard Gao • Richard Jackson • Rishee Gupta • Rohan Bhave • Roland Liu • Romul Stativkin • Ronald Li • Roni Herschmann • Rory Cannon • Ryan Tabrizi • Ryan Truher • Sachait Arun • Safa Farooqui • Sam Sandigo • Samuel Lee • Samuel Love • Samuel Schube • Sarah Alvarez • Sarah Chang • Sarah Emberling • Sarah Sanders • Sarah Siemsgluess • Sasha Cohen • Sean King • Sean Yen • Sebastian Borbolla • Sengal Araya • Serena Li • Sergio Morejon Ramirez • Shannon Holtz • Shira Tamler • Shreeya Sethuraman • Simona Nemychenkov • Sione Fisiiahi • Skyler Hedblom • Stephanie Muggler • Steven Xue • Suhani Sethi • Summer Steadman • Suraj Sharma • Sydney Graves • Talia Ostacher • Talya Kass • Tanvi Raman • Tenzin Chimi • Tess Flinchbaugh • Thomas Lee • Thomas Li • Tiffany Chen • Ting Yang • Tomer Glazer • Tomer Sedan • Tomohiro Yamamoto • Tong Miao • Vaishnavi Sankaran • Valerie Peterson • Vasudha Ramamurthi • Vedant Arun • Vedha Mahesh • Victor Auyeung • Viktoria Sarmasi • Vivan Sinha • Vivian Becker • Walter Bergstroem • Wei-Lun Hsiao • William Xuan • William Yu • Winston Chan • Xiaolin Shen • Yang Xi • Yasmine Alonso • Yaya Lai • Yesenia Miranda Cruz • Yoni Nio • Yotam Elazar • Youbin Cho • Zachary Chang-Otanez • Zachary Dunn • Zachary Meyers • Zachary Solove • Zachary Wu • Zafar Khan • Zahra Azouggar • Zain Dhanani • Zhenghui Zuo • Zora Zhang •
May 27, 2021
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