August 2023 Issue

Donald (Trey) Brown III

Donald (Trey) Brown III ’25 was a devoted son, caring brother and beloved member of the school community. Although he did not arrive at Harvard-Westlake until the 10th grade, Trey quickly forged friendships and extended his warmth and kindness to everyone he encountered. Trey made a significant mark on our community immediately — in the classroom, in the ceramics studio and on the court. At the age of 15, he was one of five teenagers to have a personal narrative published in “Chicken Soup for the Preeteen Soul 21st Anniversary Edition.” Trey played baseball, football, basketball, soccer and track before discovering volleyball as his passion. His dedication to the sport led him to secure a spot as the starting middle blocker on the varsity boys’ volleyball team during his sophomore year — a rare distinction.

Trey generously dedicated himself to the service of others. Consistent with his commitment to helping people, Trey spent numerous hours volunteering with Teen Line, a hotline run by fellow teenagers to help support young individuals with their mental health. A walk will be held by the Didi Hirsch Center on Oct. 1 in his honor.

Trey will be loved and remembered by the Harvard-Westlake community.

School announces new Wellness Plan

By Alex Lee and Chloe Park

President Rick Commons and Head of School Laura Ross released the “Mental Health and Wellness Plan” in an email to students, parents, faculty and staff Aug. 1. The document outlines the school’s immediate and long-term response to three student deaths in the 20222023 school year.

In the introduction to the document, Commons and Ross said the goal of the Wellness Plan was to expand upon mental health initiatives and explain steps the school has taken thus far to promote mental health.

Councils bond and prepare for the year at retreats in Big Bear

By Camryn Banafsheha and Sammy Glassman

Prefect Council and Community Council traveled to Big Bear Lake for their annual retreats on Aug. 10-12 and 1213, respectively.

Head Prefect Bari LeBari ‘24 said the purpose of retreat is to help the Prefects get to know each other before working together throughout the year.

“The main goal of the retreat is to [build] community within Prefect Council, allow us to get to know each other and become closer, “ LeBari said. “I think we accomplished that goal perfectly.”

LeBari said he is looking forward to making a positive impact as a Prefect given the success of the retreat.

“From a Prefect standpoint, I’m very excited for this year,” LeBari said. “I know this past year has been very troubling for the Harvard-Westlake community, but I think that we have a great variety of people with a lot

of different strengths and backgrounds, and I think that we can truly make a positive difference.”

Junior Prefect Gideon Evans ‘25 said the trip was a rewarding weekend filled with helpful conversations regarding the upcoming school year.

“The retreat was both a bonding and productive experience,” Evans said. “We spent a good amount of time both thinking and discussing about this school year and any changes that would better the school community.”

Evans said he saw the retreat as an opportunity to connect with fellow prefects.

“The retreat definitely brought us all closer as a council,” Evans said. “As a new Prefect, it was the perfect opportunity to get closer with my peers. We played a couple games that definitely helped us get to know one another.”

Community Council member

Zoe Roth ‘24 said the students who attended the retreat benefit-

ed, yet the turnout was lackluster.

“I do think it made us closer,” Roth said. “I wish that more people had gone because it was only half the council. So I feel like in the future years, if more people go, it will have more of a benefit for the whole school year because it was a bonding experience.”

Roth said the trip was full of opportunities to grow closer with her councilmembers.

“We drove up,” Roth said. “Then we went and had a group lunch, which was so fun. Then we went swimming in Big Bear Lake, and then we kind of just hung out the rest of the night.”

Community Council member Sophie Shabani ‘24 said the retreat achieved similar goals as it offered the group time to learn more about each other.

“I definitely think the retreat helped us bond,” Shabani said. “At night, we decided to all play hot seat together and just talk about our lives, and I think that moment reflected a lot of bonding and growth.”

Mudd Library to remain closed until November amid renovation

By Eden Conner and Colin Ho

Construction on Mudd Library began in June following graduation and is on schedule to be completed after Thanksgiving break in November. The renovated space will house the school’s relocated Learning Center, making room for a new Wellness Center to be built on campus. For the duration of the construction, 5,000 of the 15,000 books will be available for use in the Feldman-Horn Gallery.

The renovation period cuts into the beginning of the school year, leaving students without a large work space on campus. President Rick Commons said students will have to make adjustments as the construction takes place.

“It’s going to be hard for us to have as many study spaces between now and Thanksgiving as we need,” Commons said. “We’re all going to have to cram ourselves into different spaces to

manage the construction.”

Head of Upper School Beth Slattery said students will have to be resourceful about finding other places to study.

“For a while, people will need to use the lounge and empty classrooms,” Slattery said. “The real challenge will be students with free blocks finding spaces to study, but we figure those kids can spread out between the quad and the lounge. I think it will also be hard if somebody wants to study during lunch, so I’m not positive yet where people would go to get away from the noise.”

Zoe Kramar ‘24 said she is upset about the loss of the library during college application season.

“It’s really frustrating that the library is going to be closed during our first semester of senior year due to the large amount of college applications we have to write,” Kramar said. “I normally spend a lot of time in the library, so I will have to find a new space in my senior year which is not ideal.”

“For more than a decade, Harvard-Westlake has been focusing on mental health and wellness, with a mission that emphasizes ‘the joyful pursuit of excellence’ and prominent visions for happiness, balance and a sense of purpose in the student experience,” Commons and Ross said. “Yet the nationwide adolescent mental health crisis has accelerated exponentially in recent years, with a multitude of factors affecting young people everywhere. Then in the spring and summer of 2023, we experienced excruciating tragedies in our own school community, moving us not only to profound grief, but also to more urgent commitment and more focused action.”

Immediate plans include partnerships with multiple mental health foundations along with providing mental health training for staff and student leader groups.

The plan also emphasized creating a culture of proactiveness and efficient communication when it comes to reporting student mental health struggles. Initiatives within the Wellness Plan include communication

with parents and school personnel about mental health concerns, encouraging parents to include mental health screening in yearly checkups and assigning a counselor to all upper school students, starting with sophomores.

Weston Fox ‘24 said he believes the effectiveness of the plan will depend on how well students take advantage of the resources they are offered.

“I think it’s going to vary a lot person to person with how it plays out, and some people will find the support they need within the school’s systems,” Fox said. “However, there definitely needs to be an option outside of talking to people who might have a legal responsibility to communicate what you say to others, a way for those who might not feel comfortable with talking directly to school counselors or teachers to receive help.”

Nicole Lee ’24 said she thinks the school’s response does not meaningfully improve the pressure students face.

“I think the Wellness Plan is not alleviating the immense stress that the school’s culture has ingrained but is trying to patch up the scars our school has created,” Lee said. “I personally would rather benefit from a 15 minute check-in from teachers everyday rather than an additional dean who will be just as stressed as the rest of the school, and [therefore] not make any deep progress in our school’s system.”

Pranav Iyer ’25 said the Wellness Plan is promising, but consulting student leadership is not sufficient in terms of receiving student input.

“I don’t think it’s fair to expect student leadership to know all the problems that each individual student is facing,” Iyer said. “The opportunity for us to provide feedback or insight as the school implements these interventions would be valuable.”

The renovated library will be structured similarly to a university library, featuring floors designated to noise volume level. The bottom floor will be a quieter area, with the traditional silent study room available during breaks. The lower floor will also include a multipurpose learning room and a reading room with beanbags and other seating. The second floor will house the Learning Center in the old Tech Center and have space for group work. Slattery said she is looking forward to the new “tree house” area that the construction will add.

“They’re building little nooks for people to study in,” Slattery said. “It’s going to be different levels, and you can climb in and have these little cubbies to hang out in.”

Ryder Katz ’25 said the new group work space in the library is a necessary addition.

“Classrooms fill up quickly at lunch, so having dedicated space for groups to do work together on campus will be a game-changer,” Katz said.

LEADERS AND LAKES: Prefects Gideon Evans ’25, Nyla Shelton ’24, Caroline Cosgrove ’26, Sarah Anschell ’26, Print Managing Editor Davis Marks ’24, Assistant A&E Editor Sasha Aghnatios ’25 and Ellie Borris ’25 pose.

SASHA AGHNATIOS/CHRONICLE

LOCKED LIBRARY: Mudd Library will be closed off until the renovation is completed in November. In the meantime, a temporary library has been created.

Speech students compete at nationals

By Iris Chung and William Liu

Five members of the speech team competed in the National Speech and Debate Tournament in Phoenix from June 11-16.

Co-president Nilufur Mistry Sheasby ’24 ranked 18 out of 300 in International Extemporaneous Speaking. Mistry Sheasby said her event involves speaking on pressing international issues.

Campus Operations completes parking

By Davis Marks

The school repaved and repainted the parking lots at the Upper School over the summer. As part of the renovations, numerous spots were removed from the Senior Lot in order to enlarge spots and create more space for driving, according to Plant Manager Ed Wormald.

Student Logistics Manager Megan Remo said it felt like the right time to change to the Senior Lot since it is repainted every few years.

“Our parking lots get repaved and restriped every so often,” Remo said. “So this was the right time to create a more efficient drop-off system with the help of a specialized parking engineer. The goal was to improve the functionality of the parking lot, provide a dedicated drop-off lane and minimize any space reduction.”

As a result of the removal of Senior Lot spots, many seniors were assigned spots in other parking

lots on campus. Remo said seniors are not entitled to receive spots in the Senior Lot as the school does not have enough parking spots to match the demand.

“The ‘Senior Lot’ is a misnomer as seniors have parked in other lots for many years as parking demand has grown,” Remo said. “With parking demand in excess of our limited parking supply, the transportation office has begun prioritizing carpool parkers and tandem parkers along with seniority. Assigning parking is a challenge given the competing interests and our location on the side of a canyon, [but] I feel fortunate that Harvard-Westlake has been able to create spaces with the room we do have.”

Boaz Maydew ’24 said he thinks it is unfair that there are students in younger grades that received a better spot than he did.

“I wouldn’t be upset if [there were not] juniors who are parked closer than I am to campus,” Maydew said. “I really dislike having to walk all the way from St. Michael’s Church [like] I did all [of] last year, and now that I’m senior it just feels disrespectful that I’m in the same spot again.”

Head of Upper School Beth Slattery said while she understands the frustration seniors placed in other parking lots have, the school felt it was important to prioritize driver safety.

“I can barely park in those spots, and certainly brand new drivers struggle with being able to park [in] those spots,” Slattery said. “It felt more important that fewer cars are getting damaged because we are all familiar with the Instagram account @hwparking, and there are many times that I get a phone call about

Publications merge into Media

By Hannah Shahidi

The Chronicle, Vox Populi and HWTV will be combined into one program, called HW Media, starting in the 20232024 school year. Now a part of the Interdisciplinary Studies and Independent Research (ISIR) department, HW Media will involve all school publications, including those at the Middle School campus.

Former Communications Department Chair and Current HW Media Director Jen Bladen said the combination of publications will help them share one another’s resources.

“When I first started here, the thing that was most shocking to me was that [school publications] didn’t share assets, we didn’t share lessons, we didn’t share all the things that communications should share,” Bladen said. “So much of what we do has overlap. [HW Media] came out of wanting to share assets.”

Bladen said the foundational goal of HW Media is to prepare students for journalism beyond high school.

“The deep reason [for HW

Media] is because when you leave [the school], this is what you’re going to be asked to do,” Bladen said. “When you go to a college, or if you were to get a professional job, or if you were interning, you would be asked to take your own photo, write your own story, edit it, post it online. Each individual reporter is responsible for their story all the way through.”

HW Media students participated in the inaugural retreat in Big Bear Lake from Aug. 14-15 where they participated in team building and bonding activities. Yearbook Editor-in-Chief Zoe Fribourg ’24 said she enjoyed the chance to get to know people from other publications.

“There were so many more Chronicle people than yearbook people on the retreat so it was really helpful to get to know everyone and start making those connections,” Fribourg said. “[The retreat] really made us feel like one team instead of a separate Chronicle and yearbook and HWTV.”

All communications students will be enrolled in HW Media I, II or III. These classes will be

randomly assigned compared to prior years when classes have been separated by publication.

Fribourg said she anticipates communication between classes to be a challenge.

“I think the hardest thing to adjust to will probably be the different blocks because I know that the Chronicle and yearbook people were split up between block five and block seven,” Fribourg said. “So, we have to really focus on communication.”

Chronicle Staff Writer Sienna Dall’Olmo ’26 said she would prefer to only contribute for The Chronicle publication.

“I think it’s cool that they’re trying to give everybody an opportunity to write whatever they’re passionate about,” Dall’Olmo said. “But I’m wondering if it’ll be confusing during the classroom period when there’s so many different types of media all working at the same time. I’m not really interested in yearbook or broadcast as much as I am in Chronicle. I was hoping that I could feel part of The Chronicle team and it doesn’t really feel like that.”

a scratch or a dent. We figured that it was worth it. I know seniors feel entitled to the Senior Lot, but the truth is it’s a little bit of a further walk, and everybody will be okay.”

Remo said although the number of parking spots has been adjusted, the transportation office has created policies to ensure students who apply for parking spots receive one.

“The repaving and restriping projects that took place over the summer reduced parking in some lots while adding space in others,” Remo said. “With a formalized tandem parking policy in place for [this school year], I expect to be able to accommodate all senior and junior parking requests. However, if parking applications continue to increase, it is possible that in the future some juniors may be waitlisted. I don’t want to put students on the waitlist, so I highly encourage students to think of carpooling or tandem parking with a friend in the future.”

“I do international extemporaneous speaking, which I love,” Mistry Sheasby said. “I get questions about anything related to a country that isn’t the United States, usually about climate, public health economics or foreign policy. The questions are usually based on current events, and then I get 30 minutes to write and memorize a seven minute speech to deliver.”

At the tournament, Mistry Sheasby said her role was both to lead her teammates and compete against other schools.

“As the co-president of the speech team, my role at the national tournament was twofold, both as a competitor and a leader,” Mistry Sheasby said. “It was my job to help other people on a team practice their events, boost their morale, make sure that everyone’s getting on to their rounds on time and know how to navigate the campuses that we’re on.”

Other members of the team competed in Duo Interpretation, Informative Speaking, Storytelling and Prose and Poetry. The speech team all practiced and travelled together for the competition despite competing in different formats.

BIGGER AND BETTER: After renovations and repainting over the summer, the Senior Lot now features larger spots and more space for cars to drive through.The Senior Lot has several less parking spots than before, and some seniors were assigned parking spots in the nearby Junior Lot.

KAYLA GRAFF/CHRONICLE

MEDIA MADNESS: During the inaugural HW Media retreat to Big Bear Lake, students participated in a team bonding game with counselors.

Behind the Wellness Plan

Members of the school community reflect on the schools new wellness and mental health initiatives being put in place this upcoming year.

By Hannah Shahidi and Connor Tang

The school is implementing new schoolwide wellness initiatives in response to recent student deaths in the community, as announced in an email from President Rick Commons on Aug. 1. The current Mental Health and Wellness Plan, which has been in development since early July, includes many steps the school is taking this upcoming year to improve student mental health. Among other efforts, the school plans on partnering with outside mental health organizations, assigning every upper school student a counselor and creating a wellness center at the upper school campus.

Commons said the current plan is still in development and will be edited frequently to accommodate the needs of students and members of the school community.

“We call [the Wellness Plan] a working document because it will expand, but it probably won’t contract much,” Commons said. “If we find that things are not functioning the way we expect them to, we will jettison those things. We will add new things that achieve the goals that we’re after, but it’s not a one and done. It will be updated daily as we think about what we can do to make sure that we’re taking care of every student and every member of our community in the best ways possible.”

Head of Upper School Beth Slattery said achieving student well-being would take reflection from not just the school but stu dents and parents as well.

“Students don’t want it to become less rigorous,” Slat tery said. “They don’t want you to accommodate ev erything, but they still want you to support them when they need support.

[It’s important] how each one of us thinks about our own role in the well-being of each oth er. Instead of just the school saying this is what we’re going to do to think about [student] well-being, do [students] think about what [they] do for the well-be ing of each other?

Parents, what is your role? What are our roles in the culture that we’ve created?”

Counselor Michelle Bracken said that the school will increase communi cation with parents regarding student mental health and hold conversations about mental well-being and stress manage ment with students.

“In the past, we would

reach out to a parent when there was a need,” Bracken said. “As far as contact from us, it was really only when there was an issue, like a safety issue with a student, and we had to contact them. Now, we plan to have many more [meetings] to have casual conversations about concerns that parents have surrounding mental health, sleep, social media and stress. [We’re] trying to have many more of those meetings, whether they’re on Zoom or in-person conversations where parents can have a discussion and feel comfortable to ask questions.”

In collaboration with the administration and counselors, Prefect Council worked on the new mental health and wellness initiatives over the summer. Senior Prefect Elizabeth Johnstone ’24 said she appreciated the administration taking student ideas into account when creating the Wellness Plan.

“Prefect Council met multiple times via zoom throughout the summer to discuss policies and initiatives that we believed the Wellness Plan should include,” Johnstone said. “We communicated those ideas with the counselors and administration, and many of those ideas ended up in the final Wellness Plan. From what they told us, it seemed like they were very careful about including various stakeholder groups, perspectives and needs when creating the Wellness Plan, so we were very happy with how they went about doing that.”

they arrive as a sophomore, and current juniors and seniors will also be assigned counselors. Bracken said assigning counselors would increase personal relationships between staff and students while reducing the stigma of seeing a counselor.

“Even if you’re not struggling, the idea is there are always ways you can improve your stress, your communication, your relationships [or] those kinds of things,” Bracken said. “[There are a lot of things] we can do with assigning the counselors, where all the rising sophomores will have a check-in with a counselor before the end of the first quarter, to transition to 10th grade.”

There are several organizations and resources outside of the school that serve to help teens with mental health. Among these is Teen Talk, an anonymous space where teens can reach out to others their age for guidance, according to teentalkapp.org.

Eric Lee ’25, who volunteers with Teen Talk, believes the counselors can reduce the stigma around mental health through gaining trust from students.

“Teen Talk is great because the whole platform is anonymous,” Lee said. “It’s a lot easier to say what you want to say because you can trust the system and it’s confidential, but [at school], people are still scared to use the counseling team, since there is a stigma around seeing a counselor. One of the most fundamental things that I think is important to any mental health system is trust. So if I were in the counseling team’s shoes, my first thought would be, how do I foster trust within

ulum on mental health. FAC Chair and Science Teacher

Heather Audesirk said faculty members have been working in a multitude of ways in coordination with the wellness plan.

“Some teachers are taking on additional responsibilities to help run the new sophomore advisory program that is starting this year and all teachers are getting additional [emotional] and mental health training as part of our professional development,” Audesirk said. “There are also several committees that are working on examining policies, philosophies and norms that we can bring to the school to help improve student emotional health and well-being.”

Johnstone said one of Prefect Council’s primary aspirations for the upcoming year is to provide a more lively and holistic student experience for everyone, instead of focusing solely on academics and college admissions.

get so much more than that.”

Audesirk said she wants students to know teachers are well-intentioned and hopes teachers will be sympathetic towards all students.

your relationships.”

“I hope that students know that their teachers genuinely want to help them as a resource to them in any way we can – to listen and help them get help if needed, whether it be academics, mental health and also emotional support,” Audesirk said. “I [also] hope that all teachers keep in mind that our students are still struggling with their mental health more than they ever were before the pandemic, that they are nervous about this year given the tragic events of last year and this summer and that they approach this year with compassion, empathy and thoughtfulness for all their students.”

“One of our main goals for this year is to really dive deeply into making the Harvard-Westlake experience a transformational one over transactional, where you drive through, do your schooling and get your diploma at the end,” Johnstone said. “That’s how a lot of people see it, but Prefect Council’s role should be helping to make student life more engaging for every single person, and then making it that transformative experience, even if you may

Commons said the current culture surrounding mental health at the school does not encourage students to ask for help but he hopes that students will begin to prioritize their health even if it means having to talk to someone.

“It’s not part of our culture right now that you stop everything that you’re doing to take care of your friend and get that friend to an adult that you trust,” Commons said. “If we can establish that as a norm, I think that the natural tendency that somebody in crisis might have to handle that crisis on their own will be combated by a culture that says you can’t do this on your own. You must talk to somebody, and that’s not allowed really in the way in which we now function in Commons said his long-term hope for the initiatives is that they help create a culture that values wellness.

“We’d like people to say, ‘yeah, [wellness] is definitely something you you feel when you’re at school,’” Commons said.

“You know where resources are, students are taking care of each other, teachers are taking care of students, counselors, learning specialists and athletics trainers. Whatever it may be, there’s this sense that when you come to school, there’s a culture of excellence and an equal kind of presence in the lives of all of us is a culture where we’re taking care of the mental health and wellness of everyone in the community.”

“ There are always ways you can improve your stress, your communication,

Michelle Bracken Counselor

L. Wood Rick Commons

Fellowship Features

Studying Energy on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation

By Justin Tang

The Kutler Center Junior Fellowship Program awarded Leo Craig ’24 a grant of $4,000 to travel to Uintah Basin, Utah to study the effects of green energy conversion on local regions dependent on the oil and gas industries.

Green energy transitions are transitions from natural fossil fuel based energy consumption methods to those that are more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Craig said he chose this project to explore the relationship between the energy industry and its environmental impact.

“I hoped to learn more about the green energy transition and the places it’ll impact the most to deepen my knowledge about how the energy landscape and infrastructure impact the environment, [which is] a particular interest of mine,” Craig said.

Craig looked at the industrial oil and gas region in the Uintah Basin, in which new renewable energy projects underwent construction recently. Craig said the indigenous Ute Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, who were economically dependent on the local oil and gas industry, would be most affected by the green energy transition projects.

“It’s an oil and gas producing region that also has multiple under-construction renewable energy transmission lines crossing it,” Craig said. “The region is also home to the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, and the tribe is heavily dependent on oil and gas leasing revenues and royalties for funding its government and providing assistance to tribal members.”

Examining Immigrants’ Living Conditions in San Francisco

By Max Turetzky

For her junior fellowship, Claire Wu ’24 visited San Francisco during the summer to research living conditions for Chinese immigrants. Her project was titled “Single-Room Occupancy Units (SROs) in San Francisco: Examining the Chinese Immigrants’ Living Condition and Debunking the Model Minority Myth.”

Wu said she first became aware of the poor living conditions faced by immigrants through social media.

“I saw a video on Instagram of the residents in an SRO talking about their living conditions,” Wu said. “There was a family of four people living in a pretty small room, and they were talking about how their living conditions were terrible during COVID [because] there was no room for them to quarantine. They were talking about how it was pretty stressful, and they have a lot of mental health issues.”

Wu said she primarily conducted her research by speaking with first-generation Chinese Americans.

“We went to San Fransisco, especially Chinatown, because that’s where most of the Chinese immigrants were located when they first came there,” Wu said. “I interviewed five people who were all women, and they had kids. So I feel like that’s a really important factor in my research. They just shared their stories.”

Wu said her observations refuted the model minority myth, which is a stereotype that portrays Asian Americans as uniformly educationally and socioeconomically successful, according to NPR.

Exploring the Effects of Microfinance in Tanzania

By William Liu

Print Managing Editor Iona Lee ’24 studied the effects of microfinance on rural women in Tanzania this summer as a participant in the Kutler Center Junior Fellowship Program.

Lee’s project focused on the impact small loans had on expanding female entrepreneurship in developing cities in Tanzania, Africa. She will present her work in a slideshow to school board members, faculty and parents at the beginning of the school year.

Lee said she first found the idea of Tanzanian microfinance on an SAT reading passage and ultimately chose it since the topic touched on the importance of female entrepreneurship.

“I got a lot of inspiration from different passages that I read in my SAT reading tests, and one spoke about traveling to Tanzania,” Lee said. “That ended up being the most interesting to me. The other ones, for example traveling to Korea, didn’t speak as much to me. I was really interested in the female empowerment aspect of microloans and also curious about visiting a completely foreign country that I never went to before.”

Lee said microfinance helps rural female entrepreneurs expand their ventures.

“Microfinance involves small loans that people can apply for and receive through various financial institutions,” Lee said. “Many of the people who received microloans were women, who typically had cottage-like businesses like sewing, fruit selling or jewelry making. These women could use those microloans towards building their business and buying better materials.”

Learning About Ancient Filipino Weaving Techniques

By Sabrina Hamideh

The Kutler Center Junior Fellowship Program awarded Zoe Fribourg ’24 a grant of $4,000 to travel to Cebu and Manila in the Philippines. Fribourg researched ancient weaving textiles that are still in use today.

During her time in the Philippines, Fribourg said she visited various factories. She said some made hand-crafted products, whereas others were more contemporary and used technology.

“One of the days in Cebu I went to this traditional factory, so they just had a bunch of women weaving on the traditional foot pedal machine,” Fribourg said. “I also went and saw a more modern factory with automatic machines to see how it progressed over time.”

Fribourg said her trip allowed her to learn more about the history of the Philippines and its ancient weaving culture.

“Obviously it just sounds like, ‘oh, that’s just how they made clothes back then,’ but there’s actually a lot of really cool history behind it,” Fribourg said.

Fribourg said she chose to study weaving because she enjoys crocheting and her mom is from the Philippines. She said she compiled her new knowledge and experience to create a magazine as her final project.

“I took photos throughout and interviewed a bunch of people and I’m putting that all in [the magazine],” Fribourg said. “It was really cool to learn about all of it.”

CheCk out the other junior fellowships!

Diego Godoy ’24 travelled to Mexico to study indigenous sports. His project was named, “Pok-tapok and Lacrosse: Ritual, Power, Life, and Death in Indigenous Sport in the Yucatan Peninsula and North America.”

The Summer Junior Fellowship program awarded seven juniors with a grant of $ 4,000 to fund an independent project based on a topic of interest they applied with.

WEAVING THREADS OF HISTORY: Weavers in Cebu City weave to preserve the history and culture through traditional weaving methods and hand-crafted techniques.

PROMISING PROTESTS: Claire Wu ’24 took pictures of local rallies for improving the housing conditions of first-generation Chinese Americans in Chinatown, San Francisco.

Jack Limor ’24 focused on Jewish history with a focus on the islands of Malta and Crete. His project was called, “Recovering the History of Mediterranean Jews: A Comparative Study of The Islands of Cyprus, Crete, Malta, & Sardinia.”

Arely Monterroso ’24 was selected for the Kutler Center Summer Junior Fellowship Program and received $4,000 as funds for an independent project. Her project was called, “The Growing Reach of Education In Guatemala.”

Sarah Miller: Upper School Dean

By A lex L ee

Sarah Miller joined the Upper School as a dean, replacing Sara Miranda, who left after three years at the school.

Miller worked in college admission and college counseling for 13 years before joining the Upper School dean team. Miller served as the Assistant Director of Admission for Centre College for eight years, then as Co-Director of College Counseling at Marymount High School, an all-girls school, for

Stephanie Chiang: English Teacher

By Erin Ryu

Stephanie Chiang joined the English Department this year to teach English II and Honors English III: Imagining America.

Chiang received a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and a master’s degree in education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Before coming to the school, Chiang taught at the Taipei American School for nine years.

Chiang said she credits her high school biology teacher,

Mr. Olson, for inspiring her to pursue teaching.

“[My] favorite teacher was my biology teacher because he created a safe learning environment that empowered me to do better,” Chiang said. “Up until today, we stay connected and go on hikes whenever we are in the same country. I wanted to be a Mr. Olson for adolescents navigating all that comes with growing up.”

Chiang said her teaching philosophy revolves around fostering an inclusive classroom to

ve years.

Miller said her favorite part of the dean experience is serving as a guiding gure to high schoolers.

“Helping students navigate high school and prepare for college is such a privilege,” Miller said. “Every day I feel incredibly lucky that I get to have a job that I care so much about.”

Miller said the largest di erence between her previous job and her new role is the amount of attention and detail she can provide to individual students.

“My new role as Upper

emphasize expression and dene individuality.

“It has always been important to create a loving environment that encourages play,” Chiang said. “I have always been interested in rede ning play in traditional learning spaces, ways for students to engage in creative processes that are simultaneously fun and cultivate moral responsibility, collaboration and belonging.”

Chiang said she enjoys teaching English because it encourages students to immerse themselves and connect with

Amy Stout: Math Teacher

yla K avanagh

athan Wang

Amy Stout joined the Math Department this year to teach Precalculus and Calculus and Statistics. Stout earned her bachelor’s degree in politics and women’s studies at New York University (NYU). Stout worked as a paralegal for eight years before returning to NYU to get an additional bachelor’s degree in math. She then obtained a doctoral degree in abstract algebra from the University of California (UC), San Diego. Prior to joining the school, Stout spent

John Garrison: English Teacher

By Tali Gurule

John Garrison joined the English department after 16 years as an English professor at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.

Garrison earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, an MBA from the University of San Francisco and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of California, Davis.

Garrison said he found his love for English when he discussed his favorite books with his high school teacher.

“[My teacher] and I found that there were lots of books we both enjoyed outside the assigned reading in the class,” Garrison said. “ at helped me see that reading books is a way to form a community and friendships with people. You can see what makes people who they are by learning about the books they love.”

Garrison said he discovered his passion for teaching when he once trained volunteers at nonpro t organizations.

“I trained volunteers who answered calls on the California AIDS hotline,” Garrison said.

eight years teaching at Polytechnic School and the Episcopal School of Los Angeles.

Stout said her past teaching experience has helped her develop a versatile teaching method that is accommodating of all students.

“Since I was teaching at a small school, the ability in my classes was so di erent,” Stout said. “I had strong kids mixed in with students that really struggled, and being able to see the way [that] everyone has a strength developed a way [for me] to recognize and highlight the di erent ways that students can be good at math. [It]

“It was really important to communicate information to di erent kinds of audiences. I really wanted to pass on what I learned about the value of being a strong writer and a strong reader in all di erent kinds of workplaces.”

Garrison said he enjoys exchanging ideas with students outside of class just as he did with his teachers in high school.

“Students often come to meet with me to talk about a text from class, but we end up talking about all di erent kinds of stu that we love to read and watch,” Garrison said. “In some ways, I’m experi-

School Dean will di er from my previous role as a Co-Director of College Counseling at my previous school, as I will have a smaller group of students to work with, and that work will be done in an even more holistic manner.” Miller said.

Outside of her job, Miller said she enjoys collecting maps, watching college basketball and traveling.

“I love maps, both new and old, both for their beauty and for their function,” Miller said.

“I really like NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association]

their surroundings, resulting in a more introspective outlook.

“[ e] English space is one that fosters inward re ection, compassionate curiosity and creative expression that can encourage young people to explore their identities,” Chiang said.

Chiang said she appreciates the school’s lively community.

“I love that there are so many opportunities for students to learn and grow to be their most full selves, and I love that the teachers here are so passionate about their work,” Chiang said.

forced me to think of di erent ways of being accessible to students.”

Stout said she decided to become a math teacher because it allows her to pursue her passion in a subject she loves.

“I enjoy math,” Stout said. “It’s the human connection [and] being able to see what students are thinking. I feel like I’ve learned things so much more deeply after teaching them. A student will think about [precalculus] a di erent way, [and that is] so much deeper.”

Stout said the most rewarding part of teaching is helping students navigate through the subject.

encing that very thing I loved in high school.”

Garrison said he often incorporates pop culture into the standard curriculum of his classes to emphasize the themes of the course.

“I bring a lot of pop culture into my classes,” Garrison said. “Students can expect to read what’s on the syllabus, but we’ll also be listening to lots of music and watching clips from movies and television shows to bring out the themes and ideas in the books, plays and poems we’re going to read.”

basketball. Like many people in this community, my husband and I are huge travelers. On any break from school, you can typically nd us riding metro in various countries around the globe.”

Miller said she’s always open to talking with students, especially through in- person interactions and meetings.

“I love a good one-on-one conversation,” Miller said. “I’ll always choose in-person [conversation] to e-mail, text, FaceTime or any other mode of communication. Come stop by.”

“It’s important to me that [students] have con dence in themselves,” Stout said. “I feel like math comes with a lot of anxiety and baggage. If I can create an environment where students can bring themselves and recognize that, I’m an expert.”

Outside of school, Stout said she enjoys hiking and spending time with family.

“I like hiking, and just being outdoors,” Stout said. “I grew up in Pasadena, so I’m partial to the San Gabriel Mountains and the canyons there. I like to play a lot of board games with my family.”

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF STEPHANIE CHIANG

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF SARAH MILLER

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF AMY STOUT

Jesse Rueter: Upper School Dean

By Connor Tang

Jesse Rueter joined the Upper School as a dean, replacing Celso Cárdenas, who departed after eight years at the school. Previously, Rueter served as a counselor at Loyola High School for seven years, a role similar to that of an upper school dean.

Before working at Loyola, Rueter worked in college admissions at University of Southern California (USC) as the Assistant Director of Enrollment Services. In this role, he reviewed student applications and processed nancial aid requests.

Michelle Martinez: History Teacher

By Colin Ho

Michelle Martinez joined the History Department for the 2023 - 2024 school year to teach e Rise of the Modern World, a history class designated for sophomores.

Martinez previously taught history to 8th through 12th graders at Pilgrim School in Los Angeles. Before teaching, Martinez received her undergraduate degree in Internation

USC (University of Southern California) and her master’s degree with the same focus from Claremont University.

Martinez said she enjoys history because it allows people to better understand the world around them.

“What I love about history is that it is a way for people to understand the present because it is all interconnected,” Martinez said. “Past events shape the systems, ideals, power structures, cultural norms and stories we tell

Rueter said he has long been acquainted with the school’s values and principles.

“Growing up in Southern California, I always knew about HW, and I’ve had friends who’ve attended and always spoke highly of it,” Rueter said. “I got to know HW better during my time in admissions at USC and at Loyola. I’m excited about the HW mission and fostering a joyful pursuit of educational excellence within my students. I’m a rm believer that education should be joyful, and I have developed a passion for helping students nd joy and balance in their lives.”

in the present. I also love the personal touches of learning about individual people’s lives and the universal human experience.”

Martinez said that one area of particular interest to her is the Renaissance.

“One of my favorite time periods is the Renaissance due to the growth in art, travel, innovation and transformations that were happening across the globe that have had long lasting impacts still today,” Martinez said.

Martinez said she is excited

Neelima Reddy: English Teacher

ydia Gugsa

Neelima Reddy joined the English Department this year to teach English II and English III: Living America.

Reddy earned her undergraduate degree at New York University (NYU) and started her career in advertising. Reddy then returned to NYU through the New York City Teaching Fellows Program and earned her master’s in Secondary English Education.

Prior to joining the school, Reddy worked as an English teacher on the East Coast. She

Nicole Stanton: English Teacher

By Ella Jeon

Nicole Stanton joined the English Department this year to teach English II and English IV Honors in the upcoming school year. Stanton received her master’s in literature at Breadloaf School of English at Middlebury College.

Stanton said she has always loved reading and writing, but she rst realized her passion for teaching after college with the help of two women she lived on a small farm with.

“ ey had both been teachers, and I saw them as people who

felt con dent in the experiment of gathering people together and seeing what might emerge,” Stanton said. “Teaching feels like a way to practice this belief [in sitting down together]. It’s messy and energetic and full of possibility.”

Before teaching, Stanton worked for a literary arts magazine in rural Colorado. After a few years, Stanton moved to Los Angeles and taught literature and writing at the Episcopal School of Los Angeles. Stanton spent last year working on a writing project before joining the school.

acted as the English Department Chair for St. Andrew’s School, a residential high school in Delaware, for 13 years.

Reddy said her interest in reading books began back in middle school.

“I had trouble making friends, and I could not gure out how to t in with the school culture,” Reddy said. “I navigated that di cult time by escaping to my room and reading excellent books.”

Reddy said she strives to create a classroom environment for her students that is intimate

Rueter said the biggest difference from his role at Loyola and his role at the school will be working with all genders instead of just boys.

“I’m coming from an allboys school, so the biggest difference will be working with girls,” Rueter said. “I’m excited for the change and have missed working in an environment inclusive [of] everyone.”

Rueter said he is excited to experience the traditional rivalry between Loyola and the school through sports.

“I’m looking forward to get ting out to some sporting events,”

to join the school’s faculty and sta and teach in a di erent academic environment than what she is used to.

“What drew me to [the school] was the great opportunity to learn from a variety of colleagues in a larger school setting, as I have worked mostly in smaller independent private schools,” Martinez said. “I’m excited to get to know the students and participate in many of the [school activities] it has to o er.”

Rueter said. “I’m a big sports fan and having been at a rival school for so long, I’m excited to experience these rivalries from a di erent perspective.”

Rueter said he is looking forward to collaborating with his fellow deans and meeting members of the community.

“I’m excited to be here and to work with such a great team of deans,” Rueter said. “I’m

Stanton said she spends a lot of time thinking about climate change and is interested in how this can be integrated into her classroom.

“I’m personally and professionally curious about what it might look like to hold the realities of a changing climate inside the rituals of the English classroom,” Stanton said. “[ is world we’re in and will continue to live in] will require adaptation, and I’d like to challenge myself and my students to use literature as a tool to pay sustained attention to this reality.”

As a teacher, Stanton said

and engaging.

“I insisted on creating a culture of compassion, empathy and understanding in my classroom,” Reddy said. “I continue to believe that love is the most important part of teaching and learning. Literature is the ideal tool for that kind of work.”

Reddy said she recognized similarities between the school and St. Andrew’s during her visit.

“Harvard-Westlake reminds me of St. Andrew’s,” Reddy said. “When I visited [the school] last spring, the energy of the students and teachers felt like

a warm embrace. It continues to feel that way, and I’m so happy I’m here.”

Reddy said she looks forward to collaborating with students at the school.

“I am excited to learn more about life and literature from the incredible students here,” Reddy said.

Outside of school, Reddy said she likes to spend time with her family.

“I love impromptu dance parties, playing with my girls (Leela and Maia) and eating my husband’s vegan meals, ” Reddy said.

she prioritizes teaching students how to read meticulously and with the purpose of re on oneself.

“I think paying attention these days is really di Stanton said. “Paying sustained attention to something that makes us uncomfortable or “un does” us in some way is even more impossible. I prioritize reading as an act of attention, or as a way for us to practice what it feels like to look at something with all of ourselves. It’s so rare, this type of attention, and it has so much to o er us.”

Crossword Craziness

Aidan Deshong ’24 cooked up Volume 33’s first crossword. Will you be able to figure out this issue’s humongous 70 question brain-teaser?

DOWN:

1. Brooklyn basketball team named after something on a basketball hoop

2. Feel sore

3. One-named “If I Could Turn Back Time” singer

4. Thelma’s partner in crime in a famous movie

5. CBS forensic drama with “Cyber,” “Miami,” and “NY” spinoffs

6. Residents of Canada’s capital

7. ____ Tavern (“The Simpsons” bar named after its owner)

8. Pizzeria near campus which claims to have “The Best Neapolitan Pizza”

9. They cool down buildings: abbr.

10. Like the surface of the Moon

11. Despise

12. Atop

13. Cancún currency

18. Org. for the Dolphins and the Lions

19. Offered one-on-one teaching

24. Unreturned tennis serve

26. MMA org.

27. Disney World attraction

28. Actor Reeves in “Cyberpunk 2077” and “The Matrix”

30. Mario’s brother in green

31. Cannot survive without

32. “You didn’t have to tell me that”

33. Aide: abbr.

34. Good for what ____ you

35. Philanthropist Gates who was married to Bill Gates

38. Pertaining to the Middle Ages

ACROSS:

1. The chemical formula for table salt

5. “Oxford” punctuation mark

10. Karate ____ (cinderblock-breaking move)

14. The sound rebounding makes

15. Showing little emotion

16. Great review, or great party

17. You are here (least specific): 3 wds.

20. The flourish on a font

21. Either of the blanks in “Do ___ say, not ___ do”: 2 wds.

22. In _____ (unborn)

23. What’s in a Raising Cane’s meal besides chicken, fries, Texas toast, sauce and a drink

25. Adorable

27. Barely make, with “out”

29. You are here (more specific)

34. Gibbon or gorilla

35. What is on many a QR code at a restaurant

36. Small streams where tadpoles may be found

37. What the “veni” of Caesar’s “veni, vidi, vici” means: 2 wds.

39. Drink slowly

41. Bible-inspired term for utopias

42. The feeling of isolation

44. “____ your loins!”

46. E, in Morse code

47. You are here (even more specific): 2 wds.

49. Direction opposite NNE

50. “You are ____ much trouble!”: 2 wds.

51. 1% of $1

53. Hyped (up)

56. Cry from Homer Simpson

58. First name of this puzzle’s creator

62. You are here (most specific): 2 wds.

65. Heron’s Formula calculates it for a triangle

66. AMBER _____

67. Cereal that’s “for kids”

68. “chat soon”

69. Not neat

70. Like an email once it’s made the whooshing

•

40. Big containers of ice water or lemonade, say

43. Casual greetings

45. Bread found in the title of a book HW students read in ninth grade

48. Overindulge

49. Elevators at a circus?

52. DC baseballer, for short

53. At the drop of ____: 2 wds.

54. Word in a store name with K or Wal

55. Food for a predator

57. Is indebted to

59. Thing that may be double-dog

60. Similar (to)

61. ____ of kin

63. Male sheep

64. Home for a literal or metaphorical pig

BUDDY CHRONICLES BY EVA PARK ’25

Editors-in-Chief: Averie Perrin, Ella Yadegar

Print Managing Editors: Jade Harris, Iona Lee, Davis Marks

Presentation Managing Editors: Kriste An, Chloe Park, Tate Sheehy

Executive Editors: Jackson Mayer, Grant Park

News Editor: Sammy Glassman

Assistant News Editors: Jayan Kandavel, Everett Lakey, Alex Lee, Hannah Shahidi, Connor Tang, Nathan Wang

Opinion Editor: Jackson Tanner

Assistant Opinion Editors: Eden Conner, Sabrina Hamideh, William Liu, Olivia Phillips, Max Turetzky

Features Editor: Dylan Graff

Assistant Features Editors: Alden Detmer, Alex Dinh, Zoe Goor, Georgia Grad, Saisha Kumar, MeJo Liao

A&E Editor: Caroline Plunkett

Assistant A&E Editors: Sasha Aghnatios, Crista Kim, Katelyn Kim, Olivia So

Sports Managing Editor: Jake Lancer

Sports Editors: Karsten Cole, Christopher Mo

Assistant Sports Editors: Hailey Cho, Justin Tang, Tiffany Wang

Satire Editors: Jade Harris, Davis Marks

Business Managers: Tate Sheehy, Grant Park

Art Director: Eva Park

Photography Editor: Olivia Suddleson

Artists: Annabelle Cheung, Amelia Chiarelli, Iris Chung, Alexa Liu

Executive Broadcast Producer: Jake Lancer

Assistant Broadcast Producer: Rohan Amin, Alexa Benitez, Hunter Bridgett, Eric Chang, Hudson Chen, Grace Coleman, William Coleman, Jack Limor, Aaron Milburn

Layout Assistants and Staff

Writers: Camryn Banafsheha, Eze Baum, Annabelle Cheung, Iris Chung, Emma Cohen, Sienna Dall’Olmo, Wynne Davis, Donna Enayati, Kayla Graff, Lydia Gugsa, Tali Gurule, Colin Ho, Ella Jeon, Yuna Jeon, Priscilla Johnston, Lyla Kavanagh, Audrey Wage, Connor Merrihew, Max Nam, Analeigh Nava, Alex Reisner, Andrea Ricabal, Olivia Roosa, Erin Ryu, Eila Shokravi, Aven Son, Celine Wang, Sophia Wiczyk

Advisors: Billy Montgomery, Max Tash

Layout Assistants: Jen Bladen, Lilian Suarez

Publication Information:

Founded in 1990, The Chronicle is the Harvard-Westlake Upper School’s student-led newspaper. Now in its 33rd year, The Chronicle strives to report stories accurately and to uphold its legacy of journalistic integrity. The newspaper is published eight times per year and distributed to students, parents, faculty and staff. The paper is affiliated with two school magazines, Big Red and Panorama. We are members of the California Newspaper Publishers Association and the Private School Journalism Association.

Emphasizing Every Voice

As we enter a new school year, there is always an opportunity for change on the part of administrators and students.

Over the past several years, the administration has made a concerted effort to further integrate student voices into its decision making, but there is still room for improvement with regard to student-administration communication. Especially at the start of a new school year, bolstering communication between students and the administration will further bring us together as a community.

During the summer, the school released its Mental Health and Wellness Plan, and while it is clearly a comprehensive document with professional opinions taken into account, there could have been a larger effort to include the student perspective. While Prefects were involved in the creation of the document, the larger student body was not provided the same opportunity to voice their opinion. In a similar vein, the issue of the library renovation, which has an impact on every student in the school community by removing a significant amount of study space on campus, had minor student body involvement.

While the Prefects represent the school community and serve as a connection between the administration and students, the nature of their role means that they won’t always have a perfect pulse on student opinions on issues, and even if they can figure out the majority opinion on a school-related topic, there will still be students whose voices are left out. Moreover, the opportunities for Prefects to voice their views on issues to the administration are somewhat limited, particularly in cases like the library renovation, where the school is handling logistical and administrative issues around the project such that the opinion of students takes a lesser priority. All in all, the student voice needs to be amplified to ensure that the student body remains aware

about us

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION:

The Chronicle strives to be a diverse and inclusive community that welcomes all who wish to contribute. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committewwe works to ensure that every member of the Harvard-Westlake community is recognized, included and given a voice.

The Chronicle's publications will aim to represent this diverse community and provide a variety of perspectives on the topics that they cover.

of changes the administration is making throughout the entirety of the process — not just when an official plan is released.

Admittedly, there are no easy solutions to this issue. With over 800 students at the Upper School, it is inevitable that some voices will not be heard, but there are ways to be able to better gauge student opinion on issues. Surveys have often been used by our own publication in the past to gauge interest in and opinions on topics and can certainly be employed by the administration. In addition, the administration should organize additional student focus groups on school issues in order to gain more diverse perspectives than the Prefects alone can provide.

In situations like the Wellness Plan, the school and the professionals it brings in are constructing policy largely independently, and although the Prefects were involved, their student body voice within the process of its creation was still insufficient. Once the plan is released, a formalized system for giving anonymous feedback must be introduced. There is no shame for the school to change existing policies or decisions they have already made, but simply not giving a forum for any sort of feedback does cause issues.

The administration and Prefect Council has undoubtedly worked to incorporate student voice — yet their voice can still be amplified and included. This increased communication will not only strengthen the school community by helping advance and bring forth new changes but will also build greater familiarity and trust between all school members. Most students would agree that the school has become increasingly responsive to student needs in recent years; however, there must be more clear and direct systems by which student voices can be integrated into the administration’s decision-making and policy-forming processes, so that more students’ voices can be heard clearly.

EDITORIALS:

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of staffers and are written by the Editorial Board, which is composed of the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors and Section Editors.

ADVERTISING:

Looking to place an advertisement in our paper? Questions pertaining to advertisements may be directed to The Chronicle's Business Manager Tate Sheehy at tsheehy1@hwemail.com. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or school.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

Letters may be submitted to chronicle@ hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City, CA 91604. Letters must be signed and may be edited to conform to Chronicle style, space and format. We are committed to uplifting the voices of marginalized or underrepresented individuals and groups in accordance with our efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

PUBLICATION

AWARDS:

- NSPA Pacemaker Winner

- CSPA Gold Crown Winner

UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS:

Though we always strive to be as accurate as possible, staff members identify inaccuracies and receive feedback from readers.

The Chronicle publishes corrections when we discover a factual error within a piece. We will continue to uphold transparency even in the face of mistakes following the publication of each issue.

MEMBERSHIPS:

- Columbia Scholastic Press Association

- National Scholastic Press Association

- Quill and Scroll Honor Society

Oceangate-Gate

By Hannah Shahidi

When Oceangate's Titan submersible lost contact with its mothership on June 18, news outlets around the world were constantly publishing updates, captivating viewers globally. The submersible had five passengers on board, each paying $250,000 to visit the shipwreck site of the Titanic ship. From the time the submersible began its trip to long after its fatal implosion, the media gathered around these five extremely wealthy men, with efforts towards their rescue and remembrance: the Coast Guard searched by air and sea for the missing submersible almost immediately and did not stop until the deaths of the five passengers were confirmed. Additionally, tributes were published on major news networks to honor the lives of those lost.

derstanding of the world and promote empathy and equality. Having equal representation of minority groups in the media is not only important to inform audiences. With the immense amount of power and influence news organizations have, simply bringing up issues that aren’t in the public focus can make drastic differences by shedding light on underrepresented groups. For the Titan submersible, several efforts were made to rescue passengers; this reaction can in part be attributed to the amount of coverage it was given. Finding effective solutions should be the norm after tragedy — however, without media attention, it’s difficult to see real-life results. While having media coverage might not have saved the ship, it would help with putting into effect preventative measures and long-term solutions. If issues regarding unfair treatment towards immigrants were more publicized, there would be more initiatives to pass policies and create safety protocols to actually address issues in a concrete and lasting way.

However, just a week before the submersible became an international news sensation, a ship of migrants from Syria, Pakistan and Egypt sank near the coastline of Greece, with over 700 adults and children drowning. This catastrophic event was completely ignored by the media and disappointingly went unnoticed by the rest of the world — unlike the submersible, there was no rescue mission, investigation or awareness spread for these individuals.

News outlets have the influence and power to do this — they can very easily educate and inform America's masses — yet in this case they chose not to. It's crucial for the American media to take a more global and more diverse perspective on the news. That we can foster a richer un-

Big news outlets should undoubtedly be leading the charge in making reporting more diverse and all-encompassing. Because ultimately, they shift focus when necessary and keep us informed. While this is true, we also need to recognize our role as individual participants in spreading information about current events. Each person possesses the ability to contribute to the advancement of diverse perspectives and narratives through personal conversations, social media platforms and other communication channels. Social media is able to give a platform to almost anyone to speak their mind. We should be using this to put pressure on large establishments and push forward different perspectives, as it is our responsibility to help guide the conversation.

ILLUSTRATION BY AMELIA CHIARELLI

Money vs. Athletes

By Eden Conner

The Pacific-12 (Pac-12) Conferenceholds the most national championships of any conference in the country and is referred to as the “Conference of Champions” by announcers and fans alike. But in the span of a year, the Pac-12 disintegrated as a result of television contracts, leaving in its ashes longstanding rivalries and the geography-oriented nature of conferences. The dominance of football in television revenue caused universities to shift their focus toward profit and away from rational decision-making for the benefit of

their entire athletic programs. This indicates a growing trend of professionalization in college athletics, which will create a small pool of high-performing athletic programs and harm the athlete experience.

The most powerful players in the game are not on the field or in the pool — they are those who hand out multi-million dollar contracts. Fox Sports is the majority owner of the Big Ten network. Four universities moved from the Pac-12 to the Big 10 for contracts worth more than double the television deals

ILLUSTRATION BY AMELIA CHIARELLI

Library Closes: Prospects and Pitfalls

By Max Turetzky

Mudd Library is an essential element of many students’ time at the upper school. It’s not just an academic space, but one where students relax and talk with friends. However, this year, the school is extensively renovating the building, and it’s important to be concerned about the effects of the ongoing overhaul on the community. Planned additions include a new classroom, expanded group study areas and a collaborative workspace near the Kutler Center. Additionally, the Learning Center will be moved into the current Tech Center and Language Lab room. This project has been in the works for several years, and with good reason. The remodel undeniably comes with immense benefits, and the library will be a better, more productive space once it’s reopened. Students will have more room to work collaboratively or alone; the Learning Center, which is important for students' mental health and well-being, will be in a more convenient location; and another multipurpose classroom is never unhelpful. It's a prudent update for one of the most essential spaces on campus.

Yet it’s important to consider how this construction process will

on the West Coast, according to CBS Sports. Networks are wielding their monetary power to poach specific high-performing teams, passing over institutions which they deem less valuable. The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Southern California (USC), University of Washington and University of Oregon have made significant financial improvements by joining a Power Five conference, but remaining Pac-12 schools are left scrambling to find alternatives.

The schools left out of the initial jumps to Power Five conferences are stuck: the majority of networks are unwilling to offer them good contracts and athletic department heads from other institutions do not want to lose any of their own contract revenues to new schools.

Stanford University has had a difficult time finding a future conference despite being an esteemed institution in both athletics and academics because its football program is not strong enough to be offered a large television contract. However, since football is one of the Cardinals' greatest recipients of alumni giving, they cannot afford to join a conference that isn’t willing to write a suitable financial

negatively affect students’ well-being. Until the library's doors open, the school plans to use a single room in Feldman-Horn Gallery as a temporary space. The school is surely working to make this substitute valuable for students, but such a small library is inherently limiting. Space for students will be limited, and only essential textbooks and research materials will be available. This arrangement misses the mark in replacing the library’s functions as a social and educational area.

With its uninviting concrete floors and sterile walls, the gallery lacks the ambience of Mudd Library. The provisional library will have only four tables, making it difficult for more than a couple dozen students to socialize at a time. This means closing the library will largely relegate students to the Quad, which is already extremely overcrowded. Whether it’s group-study, multiplayer gaming sessions or just hanging around, many avenues for interpersonal engagement will be lost for the entire first quarter.

Another impact will be the temporary elimination of silent study and other workspaces. The Feldman-Horn mock library will have no designated silent study room

agreement, nor is it attractive for them to join another small, non-Power Five conference.

The Cardinals' recent struggle is one example in a larger scope of National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) issues stemming from television networks' increased focus on the money grab. They have realized profit lies in picking out top football schools rather than paying for a whole conference of teams. The system’s sole focus on money will exclude many schools with highly successful Olympic sports and lesser football teams from strong contracts and potentially create two “super-conferences” in the NCAA, with everyone else hanging on the outskirts.

In an effort to maximize profit, universities have lost sight of the geographical challenges that come with coast to coast conferences. Now that the Big 10 spans from New Brunswick to Seattle, travel is going to cause significant problems

and might be so crowded that only a few students will be able to study there at a time on a first-comefirst-serve basis. This limited space, not to mention the lack of a silent study room, may hinder students' ability to work on campus.

There is no easy solution, and not a whole lot the school can do to compensate for the loss of the library — there aren't many other unused classrooms which could be used as a temporary library.

Instead, the school should allow and explicitly encourage students to study or hang out in empty classrooms during free blocks, like lunch or conference time. Many teachers lock their classrooms when they aren't teaching to prevent students from bringing in food or otherwise causing chaos, which takes away potential common spaces for students. If students are willing to minimize disruptions, teachers should open their classrooms when they're not being used. The librarians could designate certain classrooms for group study or silent study. This isn't a perfect replacement for the library, but it's a practical solution that encourages students to make the best use of their limited resources to continue their educational and social pursuits.

for many non-football sports. The football teams will play six away games over the course of the season, with a few against nearby universities. They also play on Saturdays, making it simple to fly out Friday and miss very little school. Alternatively, a sport like softball will travel every weekend, and Thursday night games will in some cases mean flying out Wednesday night and getting home very late before the next school day. Student-athletes have a maximum requirement of 20 hours per week for their sport, according to the NCAA website, but that excludes travel time. The changes flood already full schedules and show collegiate prioritization of the athlete in student-athlete.

According to its website, the University of Oregon’s mission statement says they “are devoted to educating the whole person, and to fostering the next generation of transformational leaders and informed participants in the global community." Those are all pleasant words, but institutions cannot claim to exist for the purpose of education if they make decisions entirely on money and at the direct expense of many of their athletes.

It's crucial for the American media to take a more global and more diverse perspective on the news.

The changes flood already full schedules and show collegiate prioritization of the athlete in student-athlete.

Reforming affirmative action

By William Liu and Olivia Phillips

For more than half a century, affirmative action spurred intense debate over whether it unfairly benefitted minority students or was a crucial check against structural inequities. On June 29, the Supreme Court overturned the ability for colleges to consider candidates’ race as a decisive factor in their admissions. However, colleges must still bolster diversity by considering another factor: socioeconomic status.

Socioeconomic status has vast impacts on one's educational experience: it can permit greater opportunities through access to private schools, tutoring and college counselors. According to Brookings, 89% of students from high-income families attend college, while only 51% of students from low-income families do. With education becoming increasingly important for skilled jobs, not having access to college may affect socioeconomic status later down the line. Researchers at Pew have found that college graduates are more likely to wind up in higher economic quintiles.

This new metric could also track many of the original benefits of race-based admissions. Socioeconomic status is historically influenced by racial barriers. In fact, according to the American Psychological Association, poverty rates experienced by African-American and Latino adolescents are more than double that of their White, Asian and non-Latino counterparts.

Socioeconomic admissions is not an unprecedented idea. California banned affirmative action back in 1996, yet many say schools in the University of California (UC) system have implemented measures to achieve greater equity. According to CBS News, admission officers at UC Davis take into consideration whether students are attending an under-resourced school, are living in a medically underserved area or are an English Second Language (ESL) applicant. In fact, 46% of students in the upcoming

STATS AND FACTS

class are first-generation students.

Although still in need of improvement, this system allows high-achieving, underprivileged students to access higher education despite obstacles that they’ve faced throughout their respective educational journeys. Colleges and universities need to follow in the footsteps of the UC system by conducting direct outreach and recruitment efforts toward schools and school districts that serve students of color and lower-income students.

The current application process still considers legacy, which is historically influenced by racial discrimination.

The current application process still considers legacy, which is historically influenced by racial discrimination. Legacy students tend to have high-achieving parents with more background in education, making it significantly easier to get into elite schools. Children of college faculty also receive this privilege. According to the Jul. 13 complaint filed to the Supreme Court opposing legacy admissions at Harvard, legacy applicants, nearly 70% white, were around six times more likely to be admitted than non-legacy applicants. Public universities, such as those in the UC system, are required to admit a certain number of applicants from their state, whereas private universities may rely more on legacy as a decisive factor in admission.

Socioeconomic admissions, by providing opportunities for low-income minorities, can offset the impact of legacy admissions as affirmative action once did. Without consideration of either socioeconomic status or affirmative action, the pathway to higher education would be extremely unfair — easier for upper-class white students and hard-

Letter from the Editors

er for disadvantaged minorities. As much as they are similar, socioeconomic admissions may even have certain advantages over racebased criteria. Traditional affirmative action hinges on the general idea that specific minority groups are historically disadvantaged in accessing higher education. This assumption doesn’t always apply, however — not all minorities are economically disadvantaged, and not all white and Asian students have access to a multitude of educational opportunities. Generalizing entire racial groups meant that selective colleges still drew from privileged economic backgrounds, even if the thestudent bodies were still notdiverse. According to the U.S. News and World Report, the achievement gap between lower and higher income students is twice that of white and Black students. Nevertheless, this solution is still far from perfect. An article in the Atlantic highlighted that a socioeconomic lens would overlook Black or Latino families that are considered middle or upper class but have still been impacted by generations of racism and inequality. In other words, although on paper socioeconomic status would help to determine those who have systematically been pushed down in the world of education, it would still brush over middle or upper class individuals who have also faced many obstacles based solely on their race. These students would have the assumption placed on them that they have 'enough privilege' to have avoided the negative impacts of discrimination, which may be incorrect. Despite flaws of socioeconomic admissions, providing some aid is inarguably better than providing none at all.

Although considering socioeconomic status in admissions isn’t a perfect and final solution, it’s one step towards a more inclusive educational world, and one that colleges can implement to better craft diverse classes and provide opportunities for all.

Prioritizing truthful reporting

By Averie Perrin and Ella Yadegar

In light of the recent losses at the school, administrators, now more than ever, are emphasizing strong and interpersonal connections between students, teachers and faculty.

At this pivotal moment in our school’s history, we all hold the potential to change our school’s culture as we heal and recover from a year filled with unfortunate tragedies. The Chronicle seeks to promote these changes to our school culture and be a source of truth and clarity in a time of uncertainty. While the school focuses on healing, we aim to revitalize friendships and bring greater transparency to all of our community.

Better relationships within our community require better channels of communication, and as the school’s student-run newspaper, we believe The Chronicle can play a crucial role in rebuilding mutual confidence.

For the first time in school history, The Chronicle stands

united with Vox Populi and HWTV under the broader HW Media structure, heralding an era of collaboration among all student publications. The creation of HW Media grants us access to new resources and an expanded staff, allowing us to implement a beat reporting system. This streamlined process enhances communication between our reporters and outside sources while establishing a central hub of information that remains consistent across all publications.

In past years of our publication, staff relationships with the athletic department have been marred by mistrust, partly due to our journalists’ insufficient dedication to establishing strong external relationships. For the new school year, our centralized beat reporting will allow journalists on The Chronicle to build stronger connections with coaches, athletic directors and athletes, working to ensure fuller coverage and accurate, timely reporting

for as many teams as possible. Our commitment to developing trust within our community extends to our academic and administrative departments as well. This year, our student journalists will be required to conduct interviews for all articles written in The Chronicle, including opinions and editorials, to ensure that facts are accurately represented and any conclusions made are based on reliable information. The Chronicle will additionally produce more short updates and briefs on all news subjects and utilize our social media platforms to quickly disperse important and breaking information.

We aim to cultivate trust within our community by also listening to all those who wish to be heard. To achieve this, we will introduce a survey on our website, hwchronicle.com, enabling community members to submit tips on topics they would like our journalists to further explore. Above all, we want to make

Are you a legacy student for an institution you plan on applying to?

Yes: 40.0%

No: 60.0%

Do you believe that legacy should be a factor in college admissions?

Yes: 23.4%

No: 76.6%

Do you think the decision to overturn affirmative action was right?

Yes: 39.6%

No: 60.4%

Should diversity be a factor when considering colleges?

Yes: 84.5%

No: 15.5%

Should lower-income students have an admissions boost?

Yes: 69.1%

No: 30.9%

*111 students polled

sure The Chronicle is a reliable source of information for the community. We want hwchronicle.com to be the first place students check when they need clarification on community news, when they can’t remember what was said at an assembly or when they would like to hear a student's perspective.

When people think of our school, its history of excellence immediately comes to mind.

The Chronicle, a nationally acclaimed high school newspaper, undoubtedly plays a role in maintaining this image of educational greatness. We want to help establish the school as a place of not just academic, athletic and artistic excellence, but also as a place where people consider connection and communication as notable, commendable, and important characteristics of the student experience.

TAKING CHARGE: Editors-in-Chief Ella Yadegar ’24 and Averie Perrin ’24 smile for a photo at the first Chronicle layout of the year.

LA City Planning to determine future of River Park

By Eden Conner and Davis Marks

The River Park project could be in its final stages of approval after a Los Angeles City Council hearing July 12 and a Los Angeles City Planning Commission (CPC) approval hearing Aug. 24.

During the City Council hearing in July, residents of Los Angeles and Council District Four, which includes the school, spoke about their support or opposition to the project. More than 200 people spoke at the public hearing before public comment was closed, leaving over 80 people in the queue ac -

cording to NBC Los Angeles.

Junior Prefect Victor Suh ’25 spoke at the hearing and said that being able to use his voice in a public setting about River Park connected him to the community more deeply.

“The opportunity for me served a dual purpose,” Suh said. “It gave the City Council an opportunity to hear our perspective on the project, but it also showed that students were able to contribute to a project we believed in and drove the community aspect of what makes this whole thing a community-wide project.”

Since the school first obtained the property in 2017, it has con-

tinued to allow Weddington to operate as it did before the purchase, and will do so until construction begins. President Rick Commons said this gesture of goodwill to the community has been overlooked.

“We could have shut it down and said that we now own the property,” Commons said. “We kept it going despite the fact that it doesn’t bring us profit for the benefit of the community until such [a] time [that] we can create a new recreational space for the benefit of the community as well as the school.”

Following the City Council hearing, a CPC meeting was scheduled to take place on Au -

Hurricane Hilary set to strike LA

By Sienna Dall’Olmo and Yuna Jeon

Hurricane Hilary brings heavy rains and abnormal weather to Southern California Aug. 20-21 as of Aug. 19. The hurricane originated in Mexico and is forecasted to bring possible floods to Los Angeles (LA), according to The Weather Channel. Hurricane Hilary has an average wind speed of 130 mph and is expected to escalate to a Category 4 hurricane as it moves up the West Coast, according to an article CNN.

Francesca Varese ’26 said she is concerned about how the rain will affect her access to roads around her area.

“I am worried about road closure due to the rain because I live in the hills,” Varese said.

Meteorologists recommended that residents prepare for heavy rains by obtaining supplies like non-perishable foods, chargers and flashlights to stay safe during Hurricane Hilary, according to CBS. Experts also advised residents to stay updated on weather patterns in the area and maintain multiple ways of

receiving weather related information. Milo Messenger ’25 said his family was getting ready for any possible scenarios.

“I’m preparing for the hurricane by barricading our windows and doors and moving objects off high shelves,” Messenger said. “We’ve also gone out to buy supplies in case of a worst-case emergency.”

Keira Chang ’25 said she had limited knowledge about the hurricane and is worried about the unusual change in weather.

“I’m mildly concerned that I didn’t even know [the hurricane] was happening,” Chang said. “Many people were not expecting flooding rains this early because we are only at the end of summer.”

Hurricane Hilary could bring California and other states the amount of rainfall in which they would typically receive in one year, which puts California in danger of excessive rainfall according to CNN. Upper School Science Teacher Nancy Chensaid she believes the hurricane will not breach land but will cause flooding.

“There is not a likelihood that

the hurricane will make landfall in Southern California,” Chen said. “[LA] will be feeling the effects of the hurricane such as heavy rain and increased wind speed. Due to the rain, there is a chance that we will have flooding and landslide events.”

Enzo Prochilo ’26 said he is nervous to see the impact of the hurricane on LA.

“I’m interested to see how [the hurricane] will play out in a place where we aren’t prepared for something like that,” Prochilo said. “The chaos will be concerning.”

The hurricane will be the first of its kind to make landfall in California in 84 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Micah Parr ’25 said he feels global warming has exacerbated the effects of hurricanes, and Hilary is no exception.

“We’re starting to see a pattern of non-normal weather events in the past few years,” Parr said. “I think climate change has certainly played a role in making the first hurricane to strike California in over eight decades.”

gust for final approval of the project. During the meeting, comments will be opened and supporters and opponents of the project will be able to speak to influence the vote.

Head of Upper School Beth Slattery said she cares about what River Park will offer not only to HW but to the broader community around the facility.

“We haven’t always been great about the ‘purpose beyond ourselves’ part of our mission,” Slattery said. “The fact is that as much as people on the outside don’t believe us when we say that we’re going to have it be open to people and invite people from the community, it’s

just true. To me, the idea that we might in the summers have a summer camp for elementary school kids at a low cost or no cost feels like our obligation.”

Dennis Mabasa, a speaker from Friends of the LA River (FoLAR), said the benefit to the environment was not to be dismissed either.

“I can think of no better place to do this important work than the River Park,” Mabasa said. “Not only will this project utterly transform this property into an environmentally sensitive open space, but it will also convey a huge number of environmental benefits for the surrounding community.”

LOOKING AHEAD: A rendering of the River Park gymnasium shows what the gymnasium would look like after construction. The gymnasium will be open to the public and have two basketball courts, along with running paths along the outside of the facility. However, the plan must be approved by Los Angeles City Planning through a meeting on Aug. 24.

Plastic? Think before you ACT

teenage rhinoplasty and the pressures that can cause it.

By Zoe Goor

When Clara Conrad ’25 was 14 years old, she began thinking about how she would want her nose to look if she was to get a nose job. She thought about who she would want to do it. She thought about whether or not she even wanted to do it. Conrad said she considered getting a nose job because of beauty standards propagated by the media.

“I remember thinking that being pretty was only for women with small, button noses, and a lot of that came from the fact that there aren’t a lot of it girls with my facial structure,” Conrad said.

Conrad’s parents, who were supportive of their daughter whatever her choice might have been, offered to fund the procedure as a birthday present. However, Conrad said she chose not to alter her nose.

“I ultimately decided against it because it’s my grandmother’s nose, it’s my father’s nose and it’s something that’s really representative of my family,” Conrad said. “ I think it’s really messed up societally to push teenage girls down the route of getting plastics.”

The pressure to improve one’s appearance has existed for a very long time. With the rise of social media and selfie culture, the effects of comparison and negative body image have only been augmented, according to the Dove Self-Esteem Project.

Additionally, the pandemic made plastic surgery a more popular treatment for perceived physical flaws, because people wanted to feel more satisfied with their appearances before going back to in-person activities, felt the stress of the pandemic had aged their features and had extra money that they would have used had they been going about their normal activities, according to a report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Of the 87,966 cosmetic surgical procedures performed on patients aged 13-19, over half were rhinoplasties in 2020, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

In medical ethics, there is a principle called the Child’s Right to an Open Future, first coined in 1980 by political philosopher Joel Feinberg. The principle states that parents should not make choices for their children that would prevent them from having opportunities in the future and should instead wait for their child to become mature enough to make choices autonomously.

By Alden Detmer

It was the big day. Months of practice tests, tutoring sessions and caffeine had all been in preparation for this moment. However mere days before the scheduled exam, Ellie Whang ’24 felt her stomach drop as she stared at the thermometer; she had a fever. With no choice but to proceed with the PSAT, Whang stepped into the cold classroom.

“It sounds like a terrible excuse, but it’s not an excuse,” Whang said. “I was really sick for both of the PSATs. For me, it’s also hard to sit down on my own and get through a long test. Even after talking with [Erik DeAngelis], we both felt my scores didn’t actually reflect what I could do.”

Luckily for Whang, over 85% of four-year universities do not require either the SAT or the ACT, a policy that gained traction in 2020 as testing centers shuttered due to COVID-19, according to a press release from anti-testing organization FairTest. Whang said the results of her final attempt will determine whether

or not she submits her scores.

“I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself for my upcoming August SAT because then it won’t turn out well,” Whang said. “I think it’s great that so many colleges now are test optional. It doesn’t put as much pressure on me to have to get the highest score possible. Obvious ly, everyone’s situation is different, so whether they submit or not is completely their decision. Personally, I know that if I submit it, the test can help my application, but it won’t hurt it because so many schools are test optional.”

While the majority of colleges are test-optional, only 4% of the nation’s colleges are testblind, meaning they will not consider any standardized test scores, according to FairTest.

Editor-in-Chief of the Princeton Review Rob Franek said the option to submit a score can be a key differentiation between two similar applications.

“I tell my students [to] just take the test,” Franek said. “If you feel that your scores are indicative of your prowess and feel they are of value in the application process, then submit them. If you don’t feel satisfied with your SAT or ACT scores, exercise your test-optional right to withhold. If students decide at the very beginning to not take the test, they’re just hobbling themselves. We are seeing students deciding that they are going to use the SAT and the ACT as a point to differentiate themselves from other students that don’t choose to submit those scores.”

Only 43% of college appli-

Decision Dilemma

By Georgia Grad and Hannah Shahidi

Clarissa Brown ’24 had to make a decision. Waiting behind the tee box for her turn at golf practice, Brown was approached by her fellow teammate. When her teammate asked her where she was going to apply for her Early Decision (ED) school, Brown paused to think whether or not she wanted to reveal where she was applying. After deciding not to share, Brown’s teammate became frustrated with her for being secretive. Brown said she has nothing against her teammate for being angry, and it is a personal choice for her to not tell anyone about her ED.

“I’m really good friends with her, I love talking to her and I trust her,” Brown said. “But I was like, ‘To be honest, I’m not telling anyone. It’s nothing personal.’ I remember them getting really mad at me and saying, ‘Do you not trust me?’ I genuinely don’t want to tell anyone.”

ED applications are binding: a student can apply early to their school of choice, and, if they get in, they have to attend that school and withdraw all of their other applications, according to The College Board. Some students who are planning to ED to a school typically finish that school’s application over the summer because the deadline is much sooner than

a regular decision application.

Brown said she wants to keep her ED private so she doesn’t have to deal with external pressure from her friends.

“I think when your ED is public knowledge, people are just going to constantly be bringing it up,” Brown said. “People will be like, ‘Are you ready for the decision day?’ That puts more pressure on [the result]. For me, it’s not a competition thing, but I just don’t want to stress myself out more than I already will be.”

Brown said there are many students at the school who become overly competitive and possessive over where they’re applying ED.

“I’ve heard of people mak ing spread sheets of ev eryone’s ED school. People definitely get competitive and want to gate keep schools,” Brown said. “I understand having a school you want to go to and trying to get a gauge of who else is applying ED there, but I think at Harvard-West -

cants submitted a standardized test score in the 2022-23 admissions cycle, which is far lower than the pre-pandemic share of 74%, according to data from the Common Application. Sarah Parmet ’25 is preparing to take two SAT exams this fall and said not submitting a standardized test may look suspicious on her application.

“I think there’s a pressure of feeling like you have to submit [scores for] the college admissions process in general,” Parmet said. “I know that by not submitting a score, the [admissions office is] probably thinking, ‘Why didn’t you submit a score?’ I definitely want to get a high score, so I can send it because it can’t hurt [my application]. I don’t think it’s because of Harvard-Westlake that I feel that pressure. I think people everywhere feel the same way.”

Another change that occurred as a result of the pandemic is the planned switch to an all-new digital SAT from the traditional paper exam, according to the College Board.

Students and faculty reflect on early decision college admissions and its impact on student well-being.

lake, it gets to a point where it’s like, I don’t want to talk to you because we’re applying early to the same school.”

While there are many students who decide to keep their ED school a secret, some students decide to be public about where they’re applying. Unlike Brown, Nathan Casamassima ’24 is comfortable with people knowing his ED choice. “I don’t really care if people find out where I’m applying,” Casamassima said. “A lot of people say it could be embarrassing if you

don’t get in early decision, but I don’t really care. l’ll get into some college eventually, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Casamassima said he thinks people are afraid of being judged for where they are applying for whether or not they will be accepted.

“It’s anyone’s personal choice to keep [their ED] a secret from people,” Casamassima said. “You have your own personal reasons. In the end, if you really are close friends with someone, you wouldn’t be embarrassed, and no one should judge you.”

Many colleges offer higher admission rates for the ED process compared to the regular application pool, according to College Kickstart. In 2022, Washington University in St. Louis’s ED admission rate was 27%, while their regular decision admission rate was only 8%.

Upper school deans play a vital role in the college admissions process, working with students on college applications and materials starting at the end of junior year.

Upper School Dean Sharon Cuseo said that there is a lot of competition among students at the school.

Members of the school community reflect on recent changes to standardized testing and the impact it will have on admissions.

Beauty is Pain

Students and doctors discuss the ethical, societal and medical factors that contribute to teenagers having elective cosmetic nose jobs.

Clinical Ethicist Joseph Raho said, depending on the circumstances, cosmetic surgery performed on a teenager could violate the principle.

“When you start talking about modifying a part of the body, you might worry that the intervention is irreversible,” Raho said. “When the minor becomes an adult, he or she might regret the earlier decision. Parents, as decision-makers for minors, ought to consider delaying the decision until the child reaches the age of maturity.”

Raho said a surgeon needs to consider the minor’s motives as well as the benefits and risks of the intervention before agreeing to offer a minor the surgery.

“Why does the minor wish to have this cosmetic procedure?” Raho said. “Why [do] they think it will help them? What do they think the benefits are? And I think parents need to carefully determine whether or not the child’s request [is] a legitimate request, or if it’s being unduly influenced by perhaps peers at school.”

For minors, whose brains and senses of self are not fully developed, surgeons have to take additional steps to make sure that their patients are psychologically and physically mature enough to handle a surgery. Facial Plastic Surgeon Manish Shah said he evaluates his teenage patients’ mental state to ensure that the surgery will have a positive effect on their futures.

“We interview [minor patients] pretty extensively to make sure that something like this would help push them in the right direction from a personal and a psychological development standpoint, because you don’t want to do anything that is frivolous on somebody so young, whose brain is maturing and whose sense of themselves in the world is a very im mature version of itself,” Shah said.

Facial Plastic Surgeon Behrad Ayneh chi said the anatomical and chemical dif ferences between teenagers and adults are another factor that he takes into account before performing a cosmetic surgery.

“The soft tissue and healing of a teenager is different than [that of] an adult, ” Ayne hchi said. “Teenagers typically tend to have more hormones, and they may have more sebaceous skin. They may have [a higher] likelihood of inflammation afterwards. Sometimes they swell longer afterwards than an adult rhinoplasty.”

Shah said he performs rhinoplas ties on males and females starting at different ages because of sex-depen dent rates of facial maturation.

“If [the surgery is] done too early, it can restrict develop ment,” Shah said. “[If] I’m doing a rhinoplasty, for young women, we wait until they’re at least 14 years old, [when] they don’t look like they’re growing extensively. For boys, because they can have a secondary growth spurt pretty late in life, we usually wait un til they are [around] 17 or 18 years old before we would do surgical procedures.”

Janice*, a student who had a rhinoplasty at age 17,

said her doctor decided she was ready to have the procedure due to her deviated septum, her age and her perspective surrounding the surgery.

“My doctor didn’t ask me questions about my mental health per se, but he did gauge why I wanted it done and got the feel for my mentality through those types of questions,” Janice said. “From there, he kind of figured that I was doing it for myself, and he saw that I had a deviated septum, so I would have to get it done eventually.”

Shah said he first and foremost evaluates whether or not his patient’s requests seem feasible and if he can see the deformity that the patient would like to be corrected.

“For a lot of [patients], it’s very easy to see why a change would be beneficial to them, whether [they have] a very large nose or a traumatized nose from playing sports, so making a smaller nose or nose that functions works well,” Shah said.

Unlike the majority of patients undergoing elective cosmetic surgery, minors do not have power to make medical decisions — their parents do. Aynehchi said that each child has a different level

who disagree with their guardian’s vision for the reconstruction to wait to have surgery until they are older.

“Even though [minors] may all be accompanied by their parents, some have a more autonomous tone and the parents are confident in what [their children are] requesting,” Aynehchi said. “Others, the parents are completely in charge and are kind of dictating what they think that the teenager would like and the teenager’s trusting of the parent, but there are situations where they’re at odds with each other, and those are the most difficult ones. Those are the ones that I may say, ‘We want to wait a little bit until the teenager is a little bit older,’ when they may be more on the same page with their parents.”

A Google search for celebrities with nose jobs yields mainly results about famous women. In 2020, only 18% of nose reshaping procedures were performed on men, according to a study from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Aynehchi said most teenagers who come in for rhinoplasties are female.

“Earlier in my career, it was more of a standard approach

the bump. They wanted [their nose] to be smaller and cuter,” Aynechi said. “It’s kind of trending as social media has been influencing things significantly. They want to go more aggressive, now they want to take down the bump even more, they want to bring the tip up even more [and] they just want to really heighten the effect of whatever they’re doing.”

Aynehchi said that men come in for the surgery with different motives and expectations than women.

“Males typically err on the much more conservative side,” Aynechi said. “The males that come in typically have a very obvious issue where they have a very big nose, a big hump, droopy tip, or they’ve had some kind of trauma from sports and they want their nose more straight and cleaner looking. They’re a lot more conservative, and they’re a lot less influenced by social media than females are.”

Conrad said she thinks a factor in the trend of plastic surgery for teenagers is the rise of social media and influencers.

“In the age of social media, there’s this very unattainable look that I think really came from the Kardashians and their normalization of plastic surgery,” Conrad said. “It’s just like a really casual thing to do. I’m not sure if that culture existed before, but I think social media and people like influencers and the Kardashians have made it more socially acceptable to [go under] the knife for cosmetic reasons.”

Janice said social media did not influence her decision to get a nose job.

“I had always been insecure with my nose, even before I was on social media,” Janice said. “Also, I was taught at a very young age that social media is not just fake but in no way translated to reality. So social media didn’t alter my perception of myself, especially my nose.”

Janice said the procedure positively affected her self-image.

“I definitely think that I have a lot more self-confidence,” Janice said. “My nose was definitely a large insecurity of mine. Having it done, I’m a lot more secure.”

Sara Segil ‘25 said she knows multiple teenagers who have had nose jobs, and she feels that beauty standards often affect decisions to get the procedure done at a young age.

“I think everybody obsesses over little features so much in this day and age,” Segil said. “There’s a stigma about your nose, and people judge you based on your facial features, but then people judge you again if you decide to change your facial features.”

Segil said societal pressures both cause people to get cosmetic surgery and create stigmas around surgery.

“I don’t care if people have a nose job, but there are many people who judge other people based on how they do it, but the reason that they’re doing that is because society as a whole, or maybe even just themselves, feels uncomfortable with their physical feature,” Segil said. “It’s a double-edged sword.”

*Name has been changed

SELECTION SECRECY

“It’s very clear people believe that college admissions is a zero sum game, that ‘my direct competition is my classmates,’” Cuseo said. “‘If [a school] takes them, they’re not going to take me,’ which is actually not true. There are no schools that have quotas. There is no maximum, so especially in early [decision], people start to really get very possessive. They’re like, ‘oh, but that’s my school, you can’t apply there.’”

Cuseo said the culture at the school often puts pressure on students to exchange information and not respect privacy.

“It’s really common where someone doesn’t tell,” Cuseo said. “Then their friends are so mad, even if they’re happy for them, even if it turns out well and even if they weren’t in the same pool. They feel like, ‘but you should have told me, that’s information I’m en titled to,’ and it’s not, because there is a culture [to not] say no when someone asks you for information, you seem like bad friend [for not telling].”

In the past, according to Cu seo, studentshave made spread sheets that list different stu dents and include where they are applying for ED. Cuseo said making such spreadsheets always has a negative impact on the student who made it.

“I understand why students make [spreadsheets], and I don’t want to shame,” Cuseo said. “I don’t think people should do it because again, why do you care? I could un derstand why someone might be interested in who else is applying to their school, but there is nothing that could come from knowing where everybody’s applying. That is simply trying to amass as much currency as possible, and it happens every year.

The mental health of the people doing it always suffers.”

Cuseo said parental pressure often perpetuates the culture among students regarding early decision and with college applications in general.

“[Parents] are so focused on where you’re gonna look [at colleges], what you’re gonna do, where you’re gonna apply and how’d that test go,” Cuseo said. “[Parents] send all these messages that they do care, but they’ll say, ‘Oh, no, my children know that they can go anywhere, and I’ll be totally happy.’ But it’s not why they chose to go to Harvard-Westlake. I’m not really claiming that there

[college recruitment and the regular college application process] are pretty similar because you’re being put against your teammates and they’re comparing themselves. A lot of people ask on the team which colleges have talked to you, but I like to keep my process private. Personally, I don’t want people getting jealous or hating on me for a college that I’m talking to. I don’t want to cause tension with a teammate.”

Idalis McZeal ‘23, Jaaziah McZeal’s older sister, is currently a freshman at Harvard University. Jaaziah McZeal said he tries hard to not let sibling pressure affect him.

“[Idalis and I] have always had different aspects,” Jaaziah McZeal said. “She’s academically very strong and I focus more on sports.

she tries to refrain from asking and trying to find out where others are apply ing to college because it does not respect students’ privacy.

“I like to know about [where others are applying to college], but for me it just feels uncomfortable,” Ryan said. “It feels like a little bit of an invasion of their privacy if I ask them or hound them with that question. I let whatever happens happen.”

Ryan said that every piece of information that is shared with others can potentially be spread.

“I think everything gets leaked to a cer-

matter how secret you think your information is, whoever you told, unless they’re your best friend in the entire world, [is] going to tell someone else. If you really want to keep it a secret, don’t tell anyone besides your parents and maybe your best friend. That’s it.”

Ryan said she believes people should be able to decide if to share their ED school with others.

“There is no harm in being more secretive about college applications because it truly is sensitive personal information,”

Ryan said. “However, I also believe that if someone receives a letter of acceptance from a certain school and feels compelled to tell their friends, then they have every right to do that.”

College Kickstart, the platform that the school uses to help students create a list of schools to apply to, categorizes schools into three cate -

gories: reaches, targets and safeties. Reach schools have very low acceptance rates and are typically extremely competitive. Target schools provide a slightly higher chance of admission to students who have the test scores and GPA that the school has admitted. Safety schools have high acceptance rates and students usually apply as a backup option. Lily Stambouli ’24, who is open about where she is applying ED, said she thinks there is judgment from students at the school based on where someone decides to apply.

“I think a lot of [Harvard-Westlake] kids view each other as their competition, especially for ED applications, ” Stambouli said. “There’s barely any other high schools other than [Harvard-Westlake] where people think you’re crazy if you don’t go or want to go to a highly selective school.”

Stambouli said everyone at the school will experience some level of criticism and judgement during the college admissions process because of the culture at the school.

“If you don’t want to go to a selective college, even if it is the perfect school for you, people say you’re not trying hard enough or are dumb for not wanting to go to an Ivy,” Stambouli said. “Then if you do want to go to a top college, you’re either a genius or not good enough for that college. Even though every single one of us is going to end up somewhere amazing, regardless of ranking, there’s definitely a lot of judgment along the way.”

The school community reflects on the culture of secrecy and gossip surrounding college applications and the extent of its impact on the student body.

Jaaziah McZeal ’25

• Continued from B1

“ There is nothing that could come from knowing where everybody’s applying.”

Sharon Cuseo Upper School Dean

Constructing

B y S aisha K umar

Following the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Sarah Parmet ’25 watched her eighth grade history teacher stray away from the pre-planned curriculum to instead lead a class discussion on Zoom about the violent insurrection at the Capitol.

“It was obviously necessary to interrupt the unit to talk about the major political event that was happening in real time and affecting the country,” Parmet said. “I remember being in shock [about] the news and wanting to be in an in-person class to have the discussion.”

The school enacted the Anti-Racism Plan in 2019 in response to student concerns

“Last year, my Spanish colleague, Ms. Riemer, and I decided to teach our two level 5 courses together for about a month to address the tensions between Israel and Palestinians through an Argentinian movie called ‘God’s Slave,’” Ghirlanda said. “The movie contained some segments spoken in French when Lebanese characters were involved, but more importantly, it showed tragic results of antisemitism, which affects many countries and communities.”

Ghirlanda said it was important for students to empathize with those affected by the Israel and Palestine conflict.

“For us [teachers] and our students, the real

understand natural processes and connect them to the different disciplines, especially in the social sciences. In the first part of every unit, we learn about the science of the hazard and then in the second part we dive into learning about historical hazards, how new policies came to be about or how the economics of the world are impacted by certain natural disasters that have occurred or are currently occurring.”

Chen also said she incorporates ongoing environmental issues within the curriculum of her course.

“In the first two units, I will be talking about how climate change affects wildfires and landslides and I will definitely bring up the wildfires in Maui that are happening right now and what the

“Most teachers make adjustments [to their curriculum] from one year to the next,” Goedde said. “Thinking of myself, in Honors United States History, I looked at [the curriculum] and really thought about where I want to spend my time. I know that if I increase time in one area, I have to decrease time someplace else. So it’s just kind of judicious, really thinking about things objectively and saying ‘do I need x number of days on the early 19th century or can I shorten that a little bit and increase something else?’”

Goedde said teachers face time restraints when incorporating current issues into a course.

“I think [discussing current political issues in class] can be really important, but we just have so much

Celia Goedde

L. Wood

Students, faculty and sta re ect on the impact that politics can potentially have on di erent courses at the school.

CURRICULUM

revised certain assignments to be more inclusive and to allow students to explore certain societal issues.

“We changed an entire essay assignment for that course to actually allow students themselves to pick a population within the early 19th century American history and kind of dig down into that,” Goedde said. “So [that essay] could be about the treatment of women, the treatment of Native Americans or the treatment of Black Americans.”

President Rick Commons said he intends for the school to be a place where students can safely express their views with an emphasis on constructive criticism.

“It’s important that reasonable and respectful views on all sides of a political issue [are] brought into our classrooms and into our commu nity culture,” Commons said. “We cannot be a place where thoughtful and respectful disagreement is not available. We’ve got to make a part of the education at Harvard-West lake understanding what you don’t agree with as well as what you do.”

Commons said it’s necessary for the school to intentionally incorporate di verse perspectives within the curriculum.

“We are committed to giving an equal sense of belonging to every member of the community,” Com mons said. “That requires that we make sure that students who are transgender, students who are coming from different so cioeconomic backgrounds or students that are com ing from different racial backgrounds all feel a sense of inclusion. [This] requires, in our curriculum, that we emphasize diversity and that we think about the ways in which ideas historical or current are be ing presented.”

English Teach er Eric Olson said the department made the choice to add in a poetry unit and omit “1984” and “The Hand maid’s Tale” from the 10th Grade cur riculum this com ing school year so that students would be more prepared for future texts.

“For sophomore year this year we made a really hard call in letting go of our dys topian books,” Olson said. “ was made because we really felt the loss of teaching poetry, especially in the Shakespeare unit.

We really felt like we needed to have more attention to that very compressed language in poetry before we got to Shakespeare. That sort of decision is driven more by how we’re teaching close reading and cognitive abilities of our student than having anything to do with social needs.”

Olson said that even though teachers will be unable to have discussions with their class about particular social themes in the context of one of the dystopian novels, the poetry units allows teachers to have freedom on what social issues they choose to address.

“I’ll really miss the opportunity to talk about ‘ e Handmaid’s Tale’

ucational aspects of courses.

“Some adaptations are good, but I think the most important thing is that we’re still reading quality books,” Parmet said. “I think [the teachers] did that really well because the books that we’re reading touched on social issues while still being really high quality pieces of literature. As long as the books are well written, having books that address social issues definitely isn’t a bad thing because English is about understanding everyone’s experiences and perspectives.”

uity (SLIDE) Co-Chair Cole Hall ‘24 said he can see how it can be challenging for teachers to be unbiased while facilitating conversations about relevant social issues but that just bringing up the social issue is beneficial to the class.

“All the teachers are supposed to come at social and political issues from the point of neutrality, which is a di cult place to put them in,” Hall said. “If a teacher really strongly believes something but they’re not really allowed to express that, it’s difcult to even pose

“When something urgent comes up, we stop what we are otherwise doing and tackle it in real time.”

- Simona Ghirlanda, French Teacher

Testing the SAT

The content on both the current and digital SATs will be highly comparable and will incorporate an adaptive testing model with a shorter test. Franek said keeping similar content should help alleviate some of the anxiety generated by the change.

“The College Board has been incredibly good about sharing information about the digital SAT in its new incarnation – they published practice questions in Aug. 2022 and published full-length practice tests in Nov. 2022,” Franek said. “I think it was a very sensible decision on the College Board’s part because having too much change at any one time causes so much worry and fear. The truth is that the content is essentially the same but with more difficult questions weighted more.”

In the annual College Hopes and Worries Survey, 12,000 students and parents were asked about their opinion of the digital SAT. 42% of respondents replied that they believe the digital SAT will be a better test, 25% think it will be more difficult and 24% are switching to the paper and pencil ACT, according to the Princeton Review. Senior Director at Compass Education Group Jon Lee

Others are jumping to the ACT, which remains on paper. Another concern about the new format is the ‘multistage adaptive testing’ format, which steers students into different sections depending on their performance. Although this sounds like a highly technical innovation, it is not something students should be thinking about when taking the test. They simply need to do their best on every question.” Parmet, who has taken both the digital PSAT and paper SAT, said the ability to mark up the paper was an important factor in deciding which version she preferred. “There are definitely pros and cons to both,” Parmet said. “I found that you can actually press a little X over the answer you want to cross off like on the paper version. It can be kind of annoying for the math section and even the reading if you can’t underline. Another small reason is that when you’re doing that digital PSAT, your neck hurts less because you’re not fully looking down at a page. I know that’s like really trivial, but I don’t want to be sitting there with a neck ache while I’m trying to solve a math problem.”

Upper School Dean Sarah Miller said she hopes the new format will result in a better test-taking experience for students.

quickly and that both user error and the ability to cheat will be minimized to an even lesser extent if not removed entirely. Almost no one loves taking these exams, but I can get on board with a new format that can provide the [student] with a cleaner and more streamlined experience.”

In addition to practice tests, Andrea Cruz-Vázquez ’25 said she plans to take the exam four times before it transitions to the digital format in January 2024.

“I really want to do well,” CruzVázquez said. “With a bunch of colleges adopting test-optional policies, the Supreme Court affirmative action case and essays becoming more important, the test probably doesn’t matter as much. It’s kind of just a great personal accomplishment after all of the studying and hard work I have put in.”

Franek said he recommends only taking either official exam twice as most students tend to reach their mental limit around the third test.

“I’ve learned from all of my students that you really shouldn’t take the test more than three times,” Franek said. “Some students are like, ‘I just want to improve this last couple of points.’ In my experience, after the third time, students tend not to improve much more. It’s not because of the content, but because of the confidence that they may have lost and the fatigue of taking that test again. I think the perfect number of times to take the official test is two.”

Beginning in September 2020, the ACT had planned to allow digi tal single-section retesting, provided a student had previously completed a full exam, but the plan was dis continued following the pandemic’s outbreak, according to ACT, Inc. Franek said the ACT was ready to go digital but is holding back in view of the SAT change.

“The ACT was already primed to [go digital], but now they have been eerily quiet since the announcement from the College Board,” Franek said. “It’s funny because if history proves correct, students will either flock to the current test before it chang es because it’s kind of the evil that you know, or they will select the other test in town like the ACT. So, the ACT might just be sitting there and waiting for those students to shift to the current pencil and paper test before they go to

a digital format.”

On top of standardized testing, the college application process typically includes a general personal statement and supplemental essays for each school. The personal statement is gradually becoming more important than standardized testing, according to U.S. News. Franek said he believes the future of college admissions will place more emphasis on essays and Advanced Placement (AP) exams.

“We actually just launched [a program] that uses AI for college essay review,” Franek said. “It’s not rewriting your essay but using AI for you to gain feedback on your essay. As we move forward, the college essay is going to become even more critical in the process as it’s a great way to differentiate yourself from other students academically. I also think AP exams are going to grow in importance. Pre-pandemic, there were 5.1 million AP exam administrations but there were only 2.2 million administrations of the SAT. It’s just incredibly more profitable for the College Board to run AP exams. [AP Exams] also are testing your ability to master the knowledge of that discipline, not just teaching for a test.”

Miller said every dean will contin ue to help support students with any aspect of their application.

on her past memories and embraces that as a part of the writing process.

“I’m personally someone who’s a lot better at writing essays than taking standardized tests,” Whang said. “I’ve spent a lot of time [this summer] just thinking and writing, even just really bad rough drafts, and seeing if I have any substance in them. I know it sounds kind of weird because everyone talks about how they hate writing college essays, but I kind of enjoy it. I like having to sit with my thoughts and really think about what makes me a person and what experiences have shaped me.”

Members of the community discuss the national testoptional trend in college admissions, the switch to digital standardized tests and increased pressure on students.

L. Wood

Ellie Whang ’24

Bar Charts vs. Liberal Arts

Students and faculty reflect on trends surrounding the liberal arts and humanities in high school and higher education

By Zoe Goor

As Lauren Park ’25 made her course selections last March, she scrolled through the curriculum guide, seeing offerings like Slam! Spoken Word Poetry, Mass Entertainment in America and Principles of Engineering. Park chose an elective called Criminal Law: Current Events and Public Advocacy because she thought it would be useful.

“It was very interesting to me,” Park said. “I don’t know if I want to pursue being a traditional lawyer, but I think that it would be useful information to have in the future. I feel like I could use that and intersect that with other interests I have.”

Park said when selecting courses she tries to strike a balance of courses that she is interested in and that will help her in the future.

“I tend to overthink a lot of my classes because I want the classes that I’m taking to be genuinely interesting to me and also balance that out with if it will be useful to me in the future, whether it’s just in life or as a professional career,” Park said.

Dean Sharon Cuseo said since the 2008 recession, she has seen a grow ing concern about students’ abili ties to get a job post-graduation, which influences many to focus on pre-professional disciplines, like en gineering or busi ness. Since 1970, the number of business majors has gone from 115,396 to 391,375 for the 2020-2021 school year, more than a threefold increase, according to the National Center for Education Sta tistics. The num ber of English majors over the same time peri od has declined by nearly half, from 63,914 to 35,762. On the other hand, bio logical and biomedical science majors have more than tripled.

The humanities, an area of study that dates back to Renaissance humanism, includes majors that focus on understanding the human condition, like English, history and philosophy, according to Encyclopedia Brittanica.

English Teacher Jocelyn Medawar said courses that deal with stories, like those in the humanities, are useful for commu-

nication and self expression skills.

“We’re a long way from saying that English isn’t one of the most valuable classes you can take, not just because of the command you gain over your own writing voice and your own speaking voice, but because you also get to know who you are,” Medawar said. “For students who are attracted to reading,they’re getting an invaluable tool to sustain them when life throws them those curveballs.”

Yet the humanities are experiencing a steep decline in popularity as opposed to pre-professional and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) majors, which have seen increases in enrollment.

Moreover, at the high school level, Cuseo said she sees students specializing more in STEM fields than in humanities fields.

“If we look at how many people are doubling up in one subject, it’s almost always math and science that we see the doubling up in, and it’s understandable,” Cuseo said. “Economics [is] being taught as a math class, when, in fact, most colleges would see it as a social science class, and computer science [is] something that maybe everyone feels like they should have exposure to.”

Cuseo said she thinks students often feel pressure to narrow their focus earlier on in their academic career, but the dean team encourages students not to narrow their focus.

She said she urges students to approach their schedules as a pyramid, emphasizing a broad, rather than specialized, base.

“A lot of times high school students, particularly Harvard-Westlake students, forget that they get to take classes in college,” Cuseo said. “So they come to us and they’re like, ‘I have to take three physics classes because I know I want to be an engineer’, and I am thinking, ‘do you realize you’re going to have four years of college where you will get to take even more in-depth courses?’”

History Department Chair Celia Goedde said many students and their families view a college degree as an investment, which is why they choose paths perceived as having more material outcomes, as opposed to the humanities.

“The pre-professional dominates,” Goedde said. “I think there are some students, and I’ve taught many of them in recent years, who are just interested in learning. They might have more practical plans as well, but they have their passions, and they’re going to pursue them. I just think it’s harder for students [and] for their families to swim against that tide.”

Dean Adam Howard said the perceived job security that comes with STEM and pre-professional focuses in

higher education makes those disciplines more attractive to students when considering options for college experiences.

“Practicality is a big part of it,” Howard said. “There’s a tangible type of job that is waiting for you on the end, beyond college. Whether you go to grad school or not, you’re being taught towards some sort of discipline. [The] humanities [have] always leaned towards more of a renaissance spirit: I’m gonna learn a little bit more about how everything operates, how I relate to the world and then maybe go suss it out for myself.”

Additionally, Howard said that higher price tags mean a learning for the sake of learning approach to education is no longer practical for many families.

“I do think cost of edu cation going up as much as it has, it’s a lot to say to somebody, ‘Hey, go spend four years trying to figure it out, you and then maybe throw some grad school in there,’” Howard said. “What’s the cost? What [are] the loans that then come after that? There is a sense that there is something waiting for me in the back end of this that I can go right into, and I can start to make some sort of really good income.”

Nilufer Mistry-Sheasby ’24 said she thinks high school students think about financial stability as it relates to college admissions, rather than future career.

“People are thinking about it from a more tan gential perspective,” Mis try-Sheasby said. “I think people are thinking about college because of the financial stability and connections that it provides. Right now it’s more, ‘this class is going to be the thing that pushes my GPA up by three points, it’s going to be getting me the teacher’s letter of [recommendation] I want, and then that’s going to get me to the dream school, and that’s going to get me to the dream job.’”

While starting salaries of STEM majors are, on average, higher than those of communications and humanities majors, starting salaries of those in communications and humanities are projected to have increased the most between 2022 and 2023, according to the National Association for Colleges and Employers.

Though practicality and income security play into certain students’ decisions, some also cite the recent technological and scientific climates when describing why they choose to focus on STEM fields.

Bjorn Walthers ’25 said technology’s prevalence in the modern world cultivated his interest in STEM.

“I have been doing robotics and been interested in technology my whole life, probably a lot due to the fact that, with the world right now, technology is the forefront of everything, and it interests me [to know] what’s going to happen in

the future,” Walthers said.

Science Department Head Melody Lee said she thinks STEM is appealing to students due to a combination of the career opportunities and new innovations.

“There are a lot of more lucrative jobs in STEM, so that is one of the main reasons people gravitate towards it,” Lee said. “Also, because science and technology are growing so rapidly and are so close to the present generation, it is more enticing.”

Howard said, while many perceive STEM educational backgrounds as necessary to careers in technology, companies like Google are also interested in hiring students of the humanities. “There are companies who actually are almost more inclined these days to hire humanities majors than they are computer scientists because they can find the programmers, [and] they can find the people who know how to input data,” Howard said. “It’s the humanities people that they’re sometimes looking at to be like, ‘What is our vision? How do we fit into this bigger world?’” Lee said that, at prep schools generally, there is a trend toward increased specialization at the pre-college level.

“There is a slight shift for many top high schools to offer more specialized courses,” Lee said. “For example, with the schedule change, we have now shifted from [Advanced Placement] biology to two separate honors biology courses. Another example is that we offer Organic Chemistry, Genetics and Biotechnology, and Human Anatomy and Physiology course[s]. Students are given the option to choose to zoom in on something that they are more passionate or interested in.”

Medawar said the push for students to specialize earlier can prevent them from exploring classes that they might enjoy.

“There’s an idea that to get into whatever definition of a good college you have, you have to be this fully packaged person who’s pretty much already gone to college before you get there,” Medawar said. “That can be potentially damaging thinking for some students who are just still trying to figure it out, and college needs to be that place where they figure it out. To feel that you have to be this fully formed human being who already knows all their likes and dislikes doesn’t leave room for surprise.”

Nilufer Mistry Sheasby

Chron-vocation

Libs

(From a Future Head Prefect)

Good morning, _________ (plural animal) of Harvard-Westlake! Welcome to the first day of this ________ (negative adjective) school year! My name is _______________ (celebrity who’s gotten canceled), and I’m speaking to you now because you were ________ (adjective) enough to elect me as your Head Prefect. Thanks, and you’re welcome. My journey at Harvard-Westlake has been a _______ (adjective) one. So now, I will be recalling a(n) ________ (adjective) memory from every single year I’ve been at Harvard-Westlake with lessons I _______ (adverb) learned along the way. The fact that I’m willing to share these shows how much of a(n) _______ (adjective) Head Prefect I am – and once again, my dear _______ (different plural animal), you’re welcome. Seventh grade: The air was ______ (adjective), the middle school campus was _______ (adjective) and in my backpack, I had my emotional support _____ (noun) with me. Holding my schedule in my ______ (adjective) little hands, I _____ (adverb) walked up the stairs to get to my locker and stuff away my _______ (adjective) ______ (same noun as last). As I walked down the stairs, I tripped in front of ______ (middle schooler teacher), fell all the way down the stairs, landed on my ____ (body part) and proceeded to be lectured at by the middle school trainers about the importance of ______ (skill). Lesson: Don’t trip down the stairs. It’s not _____ (positive adjective). Eighth grade: I was ready to come back from my embarrassing fall down the stairs until I, unfortunately, received detention for ______ (verb) back and forth with _____________ (your closest friend at Harvard-Westlake). Lesson: Don’t get caught doing something you’re not supposed to by ____________ (middle school dean). Freshman year: This was supposed to be my _____ (positive adjective) year. That was until I got a negative ____ (number) on a _________ (school subject) test which caused me to earn a ___ (number from 0 to 4) point 0 freshmen year grade point average (GPA) Lesson: Don’t trust _________ (celebrity) when they say their vitamin C energizer gummies will give you an A on every test. Only Goop can do that. Sophomore year: Because I didn’t understand how a block schedule worked, I accidentally ______ (verb) in my ________ (popular movie franchise) class that ____________ (Harvard-Westlake administrator) teaches in their free time. They got _______ (emotion) and threw a _____ (food) at me. Lesson: Always keep a _______ (object for cleaning) in your locker in case your teacher throws _____ (same food) at you. Or ______ (different food). That could be messy, too. Junior year: The only thing I remember is getting cancelled on Twitter for that time that I ______ (past tense verb) _____ (person in your grade) for _______ (embarrassing moment). Lesson: Try to hold in your tears when you get handed back a test in ______ (difficult class). Now, with all the ______ (adjective) knowledge I have gained over the past five years of this ________ (unusual adjective) journey, I am ready to embark on the ultimate challenge: getting through senior year without getting criticized in The Chronicle by __________ (Chronicle staffer). Thank you, and have a(n) _______ (adjective) year, Harvard-Westlake!

Blowing Up: Barbenheimer

Students discuss the viral “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, reflecting on the contrasting themes and impact of the films’ dual release.

By Crista Kim

Lying leisurely in bed, Micah Parr ’25 scrolled through his Instagram feed. Burrowed in a cascade of posts, one with a familiar blonde-haired silhouette amidst an explosion of hot pink mushroom clouds caught his attention. “Barbenheimer,” the post read, referencing the simultaneous release of two of the summer’s most anticipated movies, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” The stark contrast of two unrelated images on his screen brought a smile to Parr’s face. Parr said he found the concurrent release of the two films amusing.

“My friends and I made jokes about [Barbenheimer] long before it was a meme,” Parr said. “The idea of two completely different movies coming out at the same time was hilarious.”

Months before the debut of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” social media turned the shared release date of the films into the phenomenon of the summer. There were over 280 thousand mentions of “Barbenheimer” and over 1.4 million mentions of Barbie upon release, according to Brandwatch. Oppenheimer’s mentions, though a third of Barbie’s, still broke records.

People began declaring their allegiances to the movies on multiple social media platforms, debating whether to watch Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) enjoy her life in Barbieland, or the development of the atomic bomb through

the eyes of its creator, J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy).

Olivia Kong ’25 said she had seen multiple TikToks asking users to choose between the two movies as the release date approached.

“There would be a side for ‘Barbie’ and a side for ‘Oppenheimer’ with tally marks to keep score,” Kong said.

In order to match the hot pink aesthetic of “Barbie,” some moviegoers chose to dress in outfits reminiscent of the plastic doll. Kong said she found the trend exciting and dressed in pink with her friends.

“I saw girls and guys in pink everywhere,” Kong said. “I think after [COVID-19], something like this excited everyone. It was a nice event that brought lots of people together to do something fun.”

Maya Ray ’25 said she appreciated how “Barbie” illustrated the struggles that women face.

“It did an expert job of navigating heavy topics with lighthearted moments,” Ray said. “I went into the movie not knowing what it was about and left feeling a little more understood. Even though some people have strong opinions on it, I hope that everyone that watched it left with a new understanding of what peo-

ple can go through.”

Westflix Director of Media and Promotion Jacob Lutsky ’24 said though he appreciated the humor, sets and costumes in “Barbie,” there were areas for improvement.

“There’s the saying that goes ‘show don’t tell,’ and in terms of conveying the big themes of the movie, there was a lot of telling,” Lutsky said. “The messages were very on the nose and laid out word for word. It could’ve been done a little more naturally, but it still did a good job presenting important messages about sexism and equality. I’ve seen it twice and highly recommend [it].”

Cole Firshein ’26 said though they appreciated the cast and set design in “Barbie,” the movie itself left them disappointed.

“While I really liked the second half of the movie, I didn’t love the first half,” Firshein said. “There were too many musical cameos. I loved the production design, and Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were great. [The movie] was really funny, but everyone hyped it up so much, and I expected to like it more than I did. I probably won’t watch [it] again.”

Alexa Liu ’25 said she was impressed with the well-crafted world and sharp humor of “Barbie,” but its feminist message lacked nuanced messages regarding race and class she had anticipated.

“The movie was well executed

with its world-building and witty comedy,” Liu said. “However, I felt that the movie’s feminist message was a little obvious and lacked intersectionality for the characters that ultimately made the movie not as relatable as it was hyped to be in the media. All the Barbie characters only faced issues regarding being a woman, and I feel like people’s issues go beyond that. Even though the message is good, I think it reduces the root of many problems women of different races and classes face to just being a woman and not a woman of color.”

Though viewers are not dressing up for “Oppenheimer” in the same manner as “Barbie,” the movie has proved to be a critical success. Chris Marin ’25 said he found Nolan’s cinematic approach to the movie fascinating.

“As a fan of Nolan’s previous work, I really liked his interpretation of [this] controversial figure’s story,” Marin said. “I like how he gathered a lot of [different] perspectives on all those involved with the US’s secret mission and how he used black and white to differentiate the time periods,

blending two stories into one.”

Henry Wain ’26 said he felt “Oppenheimer” lacked the depth that he expected.

“The poor pacing and lack of focus made ‘Oppenheimer’ an unfulfilling experience,” Wain said. “[‘Oppenheimer’] didn’t dive deep into any of [the bomb’s] issues, even with its drawn-out runtime. Oppenheimer was a real person who lived a full life, and trying to condense all the problems and emotions that he had to deal with into three hours is simply not possible.”

Finn Slootweg ’26 said watching the two movies in one sitting prevented him from experiencing the movies fully.

“It’s a lot of content to consume in one sitting,” Slootweg said. “People can get a better sense of both movies if they watch them separately.”

Despite their differences, the dual release of the films led to an increase in favorable reactions, according to Brandwatch. Slootweg said he views the two films as companions rather than rivals for this reason.

“It seemed to be more of a joint spotlight, encouraging people to see [the movies],” Slootweg said. “The idea of both movies releasing on the same day seems to have allowed for a broader audience to watch both [of the] feature films, showing how their popularity didn’t dictate a rivalry.”

“ I went into the movie not knowing what it was about and left feeling a little more understood.”

Maya Ray ’25

This Summer Hit Different The Summer I Turned Pretty

By Katelyn Kim

The second season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” takes a significant turn and dives into a more mature and somber narrative that captures the delights, sufferings and changes of summer. The show’s protagonist, Belly (Lola Tung), finds herself navigating a bittersweet love triangle between her childhood friends, Conrad (Christopher Briney), Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and the aftermath of their mother, Susannah’s (Rachel Blanchard), recent death.

Susannah’s passing takes an emotional toll on the characters in

the show, including Conrad and Jeremiah who isolate themselves from the rest of the cast. Though this is a far step from the more lighthearted ode to summer that the first season is, it provides the cast a chance to further showcase their acting abilities. Belly’s (Lola Tung) close friend, Taylor (Rain Spencer), benefits as her character shifts from a minor presence to an essential part of the plot this season. Her growing romantic relationship with Belly’s brother, Steven (Sean Kaufman), stands out as they are – without a doubt – the most engaging and least toxic couple in the show.

The first half of this season employs a series of flashbacks to bridge the gap between the two summers and explores Belly’s relationship and subsequent breakup with Conrad. These flashbacks often interrupt the pacing of the show, making them difficult to follow, and the show’s excessive use of narrative explanation makes the new season less engaging than the first, where the audience got to see the action unfold.

A unique strength of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” is its willingness to portray its characters in an unflattering light. This season commits to showing grief

“Bad Idea Right?” - Olivia Rodrigo

By Analeigh Nava

Olivia Rodrigo released “Bad Idea Right?” as a pre-release to her upcoming album, “GUTS,” on Aug. 11. The track rose to the No. 3 spot on Spotify the day it was released and gaining over eight million views on YouTube within the first week of its release. Though “Bad Idea Right?” stands out from the rest of Rodrigo’s discography for its more experimental sound, Rodrigo remains true to her demographic of teenage listeners with relatable experiences of young love and raw emotion.

In “Bad Idea Right?” Rodrigo sings about the struggle to restrain herself from contacting an ex. Throughout the song, she tries to convince herself that it’s a bad idea, even as she’s planning to meet up with him. Rodrigo’s indecisiveness comes through in her lyrics as she changes her mind back and forth several times. The bridge features a change in the tempo, an electric guitar solo and feedback squeals, bringing about an edgier sound distinct from Rodrigo’s previous songs and symbolizing the intensity of emotion she feels when she sees her ex. Her voice gets louder as the

By Camryn Banafsheha and Donna Enayati

Self-described music mastermind, Taylor Swift, announced the anticipated re-release of album “1989 (Taylor’s Version).”

Eight years, nine months and 13 days after the original release of the pop album “1989,” Taylor Swift’s global fanbase is buzzing with excitement. To many, these seemingly random numbers may appear to be a strange cause for celebration, but Swift’s dedicated fans know the significance of these numbers all too well.

Swift, born on Dec. 13, 1989,

Bottoms

By Eze Baum

While they may not be the films recognized by the Academy Awards, some of the most remembered and cherished movies we’ve grown up with are comedies. Each decade has a raunchy high school comedy that evolves into one of its defining movies. For the ‘90s, it was “American Pie.” In the 2000s, it was “Superbad.” The 2010s had “Easy A,” and now, the 2020s are givven “Bottoms.”

“Bottoms,” the second film from writer and director Emma Seligman, follows PJ (Rachel

Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri). As the girls approach their senior year of high school, they hope to lose their virginities to the cheerleaders they’ve been crushing on for as long as they can remember.

PJ and Josie head to the backto-school fair, where they inadvertently spread the lie that they spent the summer in juvenile detention. This gains the attention of their crushes Brittany (Kaia Gerber) and Isabel (Havana Rose Liu). Capitalizing on their newfound popularity, they decide to start a fight club under the guise of feminism and group

music crescendos, and listeners anticipate a beat drop. Instead, there is a pause and Rodrigo says, “F**k it, it’s fine.” Though this may seem underwhelming, the impact is in the weight of her decision rather than the instrumental track. All of this happens in 10 seconds, depicting how quickly one can make a bad decision.

Though some fans have speculated that “Bad Idea Right?” is about Rodrigo’s ex and “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” co-star , Joshua Basset, Rodrigo said in an interview with The Fader that the song started as a joke about hooking up with an

ex-boyfriend and is fictional.

Regardless of whether this is true or not, listeners who enjoy Rodrigo’s storytelling will appreciate this new track. Rodrigo improved the way she writes in this new track, and her lyrics have more depth and nuance than in her first album, “SOUR” (2021), which was more simple and straightforward. “Bad Idea Right?” shows a versatile musical approach all while keeping Rodrigo’s relatable lyrics. This new release shows what seems to be an evolution in her music and leaves us all longing for the rest of her album to be released Sept. 8.

in its most unfiltered state, even if it means its characters appear less likable. Throughout the season, both brothers have continual outbursts of anger toward Belly, their friends and each other as they continue to mourn the loss of their mother. Belly makes some of her most questionable choices thus far, including lying to her parents, throwing a destructive house party and flirting with her ex-boyfriend’s brother. If the show is able to give her enough of a redemption arc going forward, the elevated stakes in this season will have paid off in taking the show to a new level of emotional depth.

“1989 (Taylor’s Version)”

has referenced the numbers 13 and 89 throughout her entire career in both clear and subtle ways. From release dates to upcoming projects, Swift has embedded a large amount of symbolism within her work, leading her determined fans to decode her hidden messages.

In 2019, the master recordings of Swift’s first six albums were sold, resulting in her losing the rights to her musical catalog. However, Swift owns the musical compositions themselves, so in an effort to regain ownership over her discography, she decided to re-record her first six albums and dub them with the moniker “Taylor’s Version.”

bonding get closer to Brittany and Isabel.

Any comedy that is able to satirize its own genre is destined for greatness, and it only gets better when its lead actors start beating each other up. Rachel Sennott and Emma Seligman craft a script that is able to poke fun at the stereotypes and clichés of the high school “rom-com” genre while having a story that gives a wholly original feeling, a feat very few high school comedies have accomplished. Notably, witty dialogue doesn’t make a movie. It takes expert delivery to turn good

Each revised album includes extra “vault tracks” that were written at the time but were not included in the original collection release.

Swift’s final U.S. Eras Tour date landed on the ninth day of the eighth month, leading to rumors that she would be announcing “her version” of her best-selling album “1989” during the show.

As Aug. 9 arrived and Swift prepared to take the stage for the final Los Angeles show, tens of thousands of Swift’s fans poured into SoFi Stadium, filling each chair with friendship bracelets, symbolic outfits and merchandise. Fans filled the space with a

lines into laughs, and “Bottoms” is full of them. Sennott and Edebiribi work well together and are backed by a great ensemble cast .

“Bottoms” fully commits to the absurd and heightened world it attempts to build with a finale that culminates in a shocking third-act turn. It’s the “Mean Girls” of our generation, delightfully hilarious and unexpectedly touching and will be remembered for years to come.

“Bottoms” will be released by MGM in limited theaters on Aug. 25 before expanding to a wide release on Sept. 1.

powerful sense of anticipation as they prayed their intricate theories would be true.

Sarah Segil ’25, who was at the concert, said she appreciates Swift’s calculated arrangements and how her hints unravel through time.

“I love how the puzzle [pieces] always fall together,” Segil said. “Sometimes it falls into place before [the actual announcement], and everybody figures it out. There [are] other times where, at the drop of the hat, something happens and then people look back and see this long-term planning that went into everything.”

• Continued on hwchronicle.com

the summer I became a concertgoer

The End of an Era

By Sabrina Hamideh

The Taylor Swift Eras tour was like no other concert. The tour began Mar. 17 and ended Aug. 9 at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The concert consisted of songs from each of Swift’s albums.

The experience of attending an Eras concert begins before the actual performance. First, an attendee must pick out the perfect outfit. Most people base their outfits on the aesthetic of their favorite Taylor Swift album. Second, a lot of Swift’s fans, also known as Swifties, make beaded friendship bracelets to trade with each other at the concert. Finally, everyone arrives at the concert to sing along to their favorite songs. The whole stadium is glowing with the camaraderie built in the hours before the show begins as attendees compare outfits, exchange bracelets and discuss their favorite songs.

The costumes and set designs of the concerts add an additional magical touch and the production value of the show remains true to the over-the-top nature of the tour itself. In transitioning from her surprise songs to her album “Midnights,” Swift dove into the stage, which was lit up to look like water and pretended to swim below it. During “Don’t Blame Me,” the set has lights and fire coming from the stage as a visual depiction of her anger.

Swift’s interactions with her fans during the shows make the Eras tour even more special. While performing her song “22,” she handed the hat she was wear-

ing to one lucky fan. She also performed two surprise songs that wouldn’t otherwise be on the setlist at each show. Many fans tuned into watch a live stream of the concert through TikTok LIVE, anticipating what surprise track Swift will perform.

In 2019, Taylor Swift’s discography was sold to her former producer, Scooter Braun, which prompted her to begin re-releasing her old albums in an attempt to regain ownership over her music catalog, christening these new albums “Taylor’s Versions.” Fans have been eagerly waiting for her next “Taylor’s Version” announcement since “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” was released on Jul. 7. During the tour’s last show on Aug. 9, Swift announced she will be rereleasing her album “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” on Oct 27. Now, in the aftermath of Eras, fans are looking forward to the rerelease of “1989” as well as Swift’s remaining albums.

HW Media retreat recap

By Davis Marks

In the midst of August, members of The Chronicle, Vox Populi and HWTV staffs embarked on a retreat to Big Bear to bond following the HW Media merger. Below is a recap for those interested in what happens when you bring journalists into the woods:

Vox and Chronicle kids argue about whose editor-in-chief selection process was more toxic while making s’mores.

Vox and Chronicle kids are forced to engage in a mediation activity led by a local couples therapist to prevent an HW Media divorce.

Black market frosted sugar cookie dealership discovered in Bunk 3. Cookie price inflation outpaces U.S. inflation by 780%.

Vox kids perform a song and dance about how yearbook is journalism. Chronicle kids livestream it and have former Print Managing Editor Claire Conner ’23 join virtually to do live commentary.

The mess hall begins to smell like the Weiler Hall sports room. Turns out, Chronicle kids bring their stench with them.

HW Media Teacher Billy Montgomery leads the “M-UL-T-I M-E-D-I-A” chant on the bus.

HW Media Director Jen Bladen reveals HW Media merch. Big Bear resident emails the school a week later announcing that they have found an HW Media sweatshirt in a local Goodwill.

Chronicle kids tell ghost stories in news article format.

HW Media Director Jen Bladen checks bags for prohibited items and finds that Assistant News Editor Hannah Shahidi ’25 brought former Print Managing Editor Lucas Cohen-d’Arbeloff ’23 to retreat.

Chronicle artists reveal they are going on strike at the closing campfire. As a result, Print Managing Editor Jade Harris ’24 is forced to do all the art.

HW Media Director Jen Bladen reveals her “TRANSPARENCY, ACCURACY, OBJECTIVITY” tattoo during lake day. Assistant News Editor Hannah Shahidi ’25 announces that she plans to get a matching one when she gets back to Los Angeles.

Chronicle kids sneak into nearby Prefect Council retreat to get a scoop on the Honor Board. They are caught, and Prefect Council blames former Opinion Section Editor

Features Editor Dylan Graff ’24 spends the entire two hour bus ride talking about how life-changing his journalism summer camp was.

HW Media class rosters drop. Even theater kids receiving their cast list do not complain as much as the HW Media kids do.

Sports Managing Editor Jake Lancer ’24 brings the new portable high tech recording studio in the News Room and records a podcast in the woods.

Chronicle kid asks a Vox kid what Jostens is.

*

*For the sake of journalistic decorum, the details of the reaction are redacted.

HW Media Director Jen Bladen leaves HW Media retreat early for an emergency Studio City Neighborhood Council meeting.

Students are caught kissing. Jen Bladen reads the “Journalist Code” and reminds students that they must pursue journalistic truth before love.

Big Bear Police Department is called by a camp groundsman after Chronicle kids talk about “killing orphans.”

Chronicle kids call kayaking “cama-yaking.” Vox kids roll their eyes.

HW Media Director Jen Bladen hosts traditional camp color wars but based on the mandatory HW Media personality tests.

Crossword Puzzle Solutions

European summer: Coldwater edition

By Hannah Shahidi

Scrolling through Instagram is my favorite extracurricular. I basically consider it an internship at this point, and before anyone asks, it WILL be the number one activity on my Common Application, but recently, Instagram has been making me sad. Sure, it was painful enough seeing the Class of 2023 on their European summer trips to Ibiza and Saint-Tropez, but seeing the @ hwschool countdown to the first day of school was the final straw. That’s when I decided I need to romanticize my junior year to stay sane. In the words of Olivia Rodrigo, it’s probably a “bad idea, right?”, but I don’t care! I will single-handedly make Studio City the new Italy. So, here’s the full list of ways I will be gaslighting myself into loving junior year. If I’m being honest, this is totally going to be my year.

1) The stairs: getting winded on stairs? Never heard of her! That sounds more like self-care. With all that walking, we’re basically in Europe. Throw in a stroll to the Sportsmen’s Lodge and my legs will be toned for life, and on top of that, I get to do all of it while holding a 20 pound backpack. Cardio and weightlifting!

2) Cafeteria food: What else could you even want in life aside from a cafeteria that sells chicken tenders at 10 a.m. and is sold out of everything except white rice by 1 p.m.? It is truly Michelin star material.

3) Parking lot: these spots are just so incredibly spacious they’re basically equivalent to being on a boat in Lake Como. Especially with the new renovations that forced me to park in the sophomore lot. Oh well, more walking for me!

4) The library: Now I’m not totally sure if the library will be open or not, but I see absolutely no downsides! If they’re open during construction: natural white noise. If they’re closed: no problem! I’ll study al fresco.

5) All nighters: this one is basically a no-brainer. I have no doubt in my mind that studying all night for a test will be equally as exciting as a night out on the town. It’s really just the vibes.

6) College Kickstart: being humbled by an app? Yes, please! College Kickstart telling me where I can’t go is basically the same thing as thinking you know the city then plugging in your address to Google Maps and realizing your confidence was misplaced! #cosmopolitan

7) The heat: frankly, what else screams summer more than the angry Valley sun shining its light upon you and giving you a farmer’s tan by the second day of school. Can’t wait to take a golden hour selfie when the sun sets at 4 p.m. Nature is truly beautiful.

Oreo no longer safe for vegans

By Zoe Goor

Yesterday, Oreo released its newest and first non-vegan product in a decade: Oreo Un der the Tuscan Sun. All I can say is, “Finally, a protein-filled sandwich cookie. Just what we all needed.” This was a real improvement from the zero grams of protein in the old vegan Oreos, so when I re ceived my package of the new Oreo flavor, I tore it open like a factory farmed cow would a bag of Skittles.

The packaging showed an image of a cow standing next to a smiling planet, and bold text read “Earth’s Favorite Non-Greenhouse Gas Emit ter” underneath the classic “Milk’s Favorite Cookie” (Oreo received a LOT of funding from Cattle Farmers of America).

The outer cookies looked like they were vanilla, but as I took a bite, I realized they were rounds of uncooked dried pasta. The Oreo website, which

I consulted later for background research, described these cookies as “al dente and toothsome.” The filling, on the other hand, was as

burnished red (thanks to Red 40 and sundried tomatoes). The flavor was deeply beefy and, when eaten without either the top or bottom cookie, left the tongue striped with turquoise.

After polishing off one of these bad boys, I had another. The crisp outer layer shattered into lesion-producing shards and the inner layer curdled into squishy balls of anonymous meat that transported me to

After the second Oreo, I couldn’t stop myself. I consumed the rest of the box.

Aside from a searing pain in my stomach that made me contort into the shape of an everything bagel-spiced pretzel, I really had no side effects.

While I may not purchase another box for a while because I am vegan, I will savor the flavor of Italy on my tongue and lacerations on the roof of my mouth from

A Quest for destiny

By Justin Tang

Intense heat scorched the face of safety Boaz Maydew ’24 on the floor of Hamilton Gym as he found himself sweating at 7 a.m. in neither the comfort of his bed nor home. The extreme soreness in his legs following the previous day’s squats made him want to go home even more, but the thought was cut short when Football Pro gram Head Aaron Huerta yelled loud and clear behind him as the team’s Football Overnight Camp resumed.

The team’s preseason training, a three-day period known as Football Overnight Camp, consists of morning and afternoon prac tices each day, as well as two nights of sleeping in Ham ilton Gym. Maydew said although most of the time is used for training, spend ing time with teammates strengthens bonds among the team.

“[Football Overnight Camp] is an iconic football tradition because it isn’t just a soul breaking, rigorous three days and two nights of hard work and dedication on the field,” Maydew said. “It’s also a time of bonding, which is essential to being a great team. Being together non stop for 72 hours does wonders for team chemistry, and we are definitely a better team because of this tradition.”

In their previous season, the team ended with an overall record of 6-4 and a league record of 3-1, losing to Grand Terrace High School in the first round of the Division VIII California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF-SS) playoffs Nov. 4. Wide Receiver Aidan Greenfield ’24 said the team hopes to

come back stronger from last year’s playoff loss.

“The early exit from last year has been motivation for our entire team throughout spring and summer training,” Greenfield said. “My main goal is to do my part in putting the team in the best place come October to make a playoff run. We have the roster, but we just have to execute.”

Maydew said he has confidence in the team’s ability to win games and a championship

“My ultimate goal this season is to win a [championship],” Maydew said. “We have a great group of players, and we have it in us to go far this year as long as we put in the work. We are a smart team, we can break down other teams’ offenses and defenses and we have to use that to our advantage. The plan is to just learn our playbook one week at a time and be ready to execute come gameday, which is going to bring us the most success.”

Maydew said he has accepted his new leadership role with the loss of last year’s seniors.

“Losing last year’s seniors had a big impact on us as a team, but that only gave us rising seniors more motivation to step up and be who they were,” Maydew said.

“I consider myself the fire of the team, meaning I bring energy and competitiveness, and that’s what I really lean on as a senior leader. I have full faith in all my teammates that they can play ball at a high level and sometimes they just need a little push to get going.

Cornerback Elijah Williams ’25 said

his personal goal is to earn his playing time as a rising junior with more opportunities to play at a higher level.

“My goals this season are just to prove to myself and [Head Coach Aaron Huerta] that I’m worthy enough to play on a varsity level, and I plan on accomplishing this by focusing in practice and really taking in all the information that my coaches tell me,” Williams said.

Huerta said the team needs to approach the season one week at a time and stay healthy in order to make the playoffs.

“This year, our goal is to get better every week,” Huerta said. “We’ve got a mix of a young team and an old team, but we’ve got to focus one week at a time. Another thing is staying healthy, taking care of our bodies, because last year if we’re healthy in that game eleven, I think we make a run.”

Another goal of the Football Overnight Camp this year was choosing a starting quarterback. Although the season has begun, Aaryan Mehdi Williams ’27 and Jim Coleman ’26 are still competing for the starting spot. Head Coach Aaron Huerta said limiting turnovers, protecting the ball and being an active facilitator will make these quarterbacks successful.

“A big thing is not turning the ball over,” Huerta said. “Taking care of the ball is most important, but they also need to adjust to the defense. Another important thing is not trying to make the big play since we’ve got a lot of athletes on this team on the outside, like a great running back duo. Let them do the work and be the facilitator. If they get the ball out quick, trust their reads and do the small things, then success will come for them.”

Greenfield said he will focus on his role as a receiver to make the job of quarterback easier.

“I believe both of the quarterbacks have worked hard to put themselves

and the team in a position to succeed,” Greenfield said. “My job isn’t to determine who is better, but to make it as easy and simple as possible for these young quarterbacks to make plays come game time. Whether that’s calming them down or making a big play, it’s on me to make up for the adjustment that any young player would feel in their first varsity season.”

Maydew said the two quarterbacks’ different styles will allow the team to have viable options depending on the situation at hand.

“I think both of them are easily capable of starting,” Maydew said. “They are just two different types of quarterbacks so I think it’s just going to be a matter of who fits into our game plan more week by week. [Coleman] has really showed up this past offseason and [Mehdi Williams] can throw a nice ball so the battle for starting quarterback won’t end anytime soon.”

Although Mehdi Williams received the first snap in the season opener, the starting quarterback for the season is still undecided. The team began their season with a 28-0 loss against Burroughs High School on Aug. 18.

Camilo Arroyo ‘26 said Mehdi Williams could improve his offensive awareness.

“I think [Mehdi Williams] could’ve been more organized on offense,” Arroyo said. “Knowing what his job is, knowing how to execute it and absolutely going full speed 100%.”

Arroyo said the defense’s coverage on opposing receivers was a positive takeaway from the game.

“Our coverage was decent,” Arroyo said. “Every time [Burroughs] ran for verticals, they couldn’t really get any receivers open. We kind of locked them up in that area. I think [Williams] and cornerback Kurtis Walter ‘27 locked up.”

The team plays Venice High School at home Aug. 25.

Aidan Greenfield ’24

Boys’ basketball starter plays for Chinese Taipei team

By Christopher Mo

Varsity basketball guard

Robert Hinton ’24 is representing the Chinese Taipei National Team in the 42nd William Jones Cup from Aug. 12-20. Robert Hinton is playing alongside his older brother, Adam Hinton ’20, who is entering his sophomore season playing for Cornell University.

Robert Hinton said playing internationally has given him an opportunity to reunite with family and supporters.

“Representing Taiwan is such an awesome and amazing feeling, especially because every game I was able to play not only in front of so many fans that show so much support but also play in front of so many of my family members and even my grandma who all live in Taiwan,” Robert Hinton said. “These are all people that usually never get to see me play in person, so the fact that I get to play on this huge stage representing Taiwan feels unreal.”

According to Team Pilipinas, The William Jones Cup is an international basketball tournament hosted by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association. This year marks its first return since the pandemic. It invites international programs, clubs and collegiate teams to compete in Taipei City, serving as a preface for other major tournaments such as the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup. Teams mainly from the North American, Asian and Middle Eastern regions have enlisted to compete in the tournament this year, filling up a bracket of nine total teams. As a result, all teams will play eight games against each other.

Robert Hinton won an Open Division State Championship last season being a part of the 33-2 Wolverine squad. He said his decision to play internationally gives him experience at the professional level that he can take back to high school.

“Being one of the youngest

people to ever participate in this tournament, I was able to pick up a lot of wisdom from my older teammates and competitors, who have all come from their own respective professional teams,” Robert Hinton said. “I was able to meet and be introduced to many people with a lot of knowledge and also become acquainted with many professional owners and managers.

The national team holds a record of 2-1, with wins coming against Japan and the Philippines. In an 85-59 win against Japan, Robert Hinton contrut-

Girls’ volleyball wins first game of season under new head coach

By Wynne Davis

With a new season beginning, the Harvard-Westlake Girls’ Volleyball team hopes to start the year on the right foot.

As the new school year begins, the girls volleyball team started off the fall 2023 season strong with a 3-2 win against Rancho Cucamonga. After finishing fourth overall in the Mission League standings last year, the team looked for a strong start this season. Despite their initial success, the team lost their next two games against Lakewood and Chaminade.

The team hopes to improve their record this year.

Chloe Dolkart ‘24 said the team is looking to bounce back from last season.

“Last season we definitely had

tons of talent but unfortunately did not make it as far as we wanted to,” Dolkart said. “Hopefully this year we will be able to further succeed in the playoffs and replicate the natural talent the team had last year as well.”

Along with a new season, the team is also welcoming new program head Mitchell Kallick.

Kelsey Kim ‘24 said while she is sad to see her old coach leave, Kallick has stepped up and taken the role of head coach very well.

“It was definitely bittersweet to see Natalie leave,” Kim said. “On one hand, we’re sad to see her go, but on the other hand, she is thriving at Long Beach State, so we’re super stoked for her. Mitch has done a great job of filling the role, and so far, he’s done a lot of good work with restructuring our team culture and

prepping us for success.”

Kallick, a former college level coach, previously worked for the University of Tennessee, Cal State Fullerton, University of Maryland, Central Michigan and the University of Hartford. Kallick also played volleyball for New York University.

With the beginning of a new season, Kallick said that he is excited for the experience with the new team.

“I’m so grateful to join Harvard-Westlake and lead the Girls’ Volleyball program,” Kallick said. “Harvard-Westlake is a special place with a well-earned reputation for academic and athletic excellence. I am honored to accept the opportunity to continue this tradition and take the volleyball program to the next level.”

ed 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals. In an 89-79 win against the Philippines, he scored nine points. The team faced its first loss against Qatar, which scored a last-second basket to win 71-69.

With a few more games to play against teams such as Qatar and Iran, Robert Hinton said he is taking in every aspect of the experience, especially the support from the team fan base.

“What I have been looking forward to the most was stepping onto the court in front of all of the fans who have been

showing me such love and support in these past months,” Robert Hinton said. “When I stepped onto the court and looked into the stands of over seven thousand, my heart almost jumped out of my chest. It was an awesome feeling.”

The Chinese Taipei team will play the remainder of the tournament with the goal of winning as many games possible. At the conclusion of the eight games in bracket play, the team with the best record will be declared the champions of the 42nd William Jones Cup.

Field hockey welcomes four new freshmen prior to season opener

By Eden Conner

The field hockey team started their 2023-2024 fall season with a 7-0 win against Great Oak on Aug. 14 with six different scorers in the game. Following the loss of multiple Division 1 players in the last few years, the team is heading into the season focused on building a strong connection between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen.

During pre-season, Head Coach Susan Hodgkins planned a three-day bonding road trip to Disneyland before their first two games. Hodgkins said the road trip helped connect the group to a shared goal and build a strong team identity.

“Spending that kind of quality time together translates into

our playing well together on the field,” Hodgkins said. “Two things we discussed on our pre-season road trip were earning our achievements through player responsibility and effort and taking ownership of our story, our identity and our mission. No opponent will ever lay down and let you win. You have to earn it.”

Four freshmen were given spots on the varsity squad, two of whom are starting. Center midfielder Margaux Schlumberger ’27 said the bonding trips the team took in the pre-season made her feel more connected to her teammates and boosted her motivation.

“We felt like so much more of a team coming out of the trip,” Schlumberger said. “[In

games], I was fighting to win with a team that I cared about with people that I wanted to win with.”

The team will play a majority of their home games on Friday nights before football games. Goalie Lily Stambouli ’24 said she hopes these home games will allow the team to connect with the student body.

“We’ve all been working so hard, and it would be so amazing to see it all pay off at the championship games in October,” Stambouli said. “It’s also really exciting that we’ll be playing home games on Fridays this year before football, so more people will have the chance to come cheer us on.”

The team faces Marina High School at home on Sept. 1.

REPPING THE HOMETOWN: Robert Hinton ’24 smiles as he hustles back on defense after scoring a basket for Chinese Taipei in their first win of the 42nd William Jones Cup against the Japanese national team.

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF ROBERT HINTON

SET TO SPIKE: During the 2022-2023 season, middle blocker Lauryn Lewis ’26 blocks the ball after a Marymount player spikes it over the net.

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF WOO SIM

PROTECT THE BALL: Romy Harari ’26 extends her stick to keep the ball inbounds on the sideline, protecting it agaisnt an opposing player.

Water polo looks for new leadership heading into season

By Justin Tang

The boys’ water polo team began preseason training in preparation for the upcoming fall season on Aug. 7. Last season, the team finished with a total record of 21-8 and a league record of 4-0, losing to Newport Harbor High School in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF-SS) Open Division Playoffs semifinal.

Water Polo Program Head

Jack Grover said the team’s main goal this season is self-improvement and for the players to hold themselves accountable.

“One of our biggest goals is to focus on ourselves over the teams that we play against,” Grover said. “We’ve made our training more about self-accountability than anything. We talked about the different types of leadership and that the first step in becoming a leader is [taking] ownership [over] yourself and leading yourself. That means making sure

you’re doing everything you can to be successful, holding yourself accountable, making sure you’re on time and doing everything to the best of your ability. If you’re doing those things, you can real ly graduate to the higher forms of leadership.”

Grover said leadership on the team is diverse because many players on the team step up in different ways.

“There are so many differ ent people that are team leaders without even realizing it,” Grover said. “Our senior class has all sorts of leaders: guys who lead by example, like Alexander Wiezorek [’24]. Or, Dean Strauser [’24], who’s more of a vocal leader. Or Alex Heenan [’24], who’s leading every swim set, which is a way of leadership too.”

Three of the players on the team are members of national teams; Connor Kim ’25 and Aidan Romain ’26 are on the USA Water Polo Men’s Cadet National Team, and Ben Oerlemans

ers gain significant experience competing on the national stage.

“We have three of our guys coming back from playing with their national teams,” Grover said. “[Romain], a young player, and [Kim], who got some really valuable experience playing in Greece. [Oerlemans] just came off several weeks of training in the Netherlands, training in Hungary and playing games in Turkey. We’re gonna look to him to bring some of

for the club water polo team, LA Premier. The 16-and-under team recently won first place at the 2023 USA Water Polo Junior Olympics, their second consecutive championship in two years. James Peace ’24 said the team will continue to play to their strengths as a whole team despite their particularly strong junior class.

“We have a lot of great guys on that roster, not only individually as individual players but

our strength is still in our entire team. There are some high school teams out there that are still good teams. However, their strength is just having a bunch of good individual players. The way we have been trained to play is to have our team as our strength, and I feel as though we have the potential to be the best by doing that.”

The team’s first game will be against St. Francis High School at home Aug. 2.

Girls’ golf player competes in national age group tournament

By Eden Conner

Ellie Koo ’24 swung a golf club for the first time next to her dad at Tregnan Golf Academy in Griffith Park when she was seven years old. Ten years later on Aug. 7, Koo walked across the grass at Bel-Air Golf Course where she was competing in the 2023 United States Golf Association (USGA) Women’s Amateur.

Koo is the first athelete from the school to make it to this level of competition, golfing alongside college and international athletes. She was one of six qualifiers from the Victoria Club in Riverside and one of 156 amateur women’s golfers worldwide to qualify. Koo said that qualifying was a moment she will never forget.

“I was really excited because this is my first USGA event,

Cross country prepares for fall season with trip to Big Bear Lake

By Justin Tang

The boys’ and girls’ cross country teams went on retreat to Big Bear Lake during their preseason for additional training and team bonding Aug. 8-13.

Cross Country and Track Head

Jonas Koolsbergen ’83 said the Big Bear retreat is a special tradition passed down every year.

“The trip is an important part of [the school’s] cross country tradition and a super memorable part of each season, including this one,” Koolsbergen said. “Many aspects of [the retreat] continue every year and are extremely helpful and important. Big Bear is very special.”

Cross country team captain Phoebe Hsu ’24 said the time spent doing activities and workouts helped the teams come closer.

“Spending nearly an entire week with the teams really allowed everyone to get to know each other,” Hsu said. “Our days were filled with intense card games, icing at the lake and of course the shared pain of hard workouts. All of that helped strengthen our team bond, and I definitely came out of the week excited to start the season with some of my favorite people.”

Cross country team captain Leo Craig ’24 said the teams are willing to put in the work necessary this season.

“My personal goals for the

season are to help lead our team to CIF Finals and the California State Meet,” Craig said. “While we missed out on going to state last year because of an unluckily timed sickness that swept through the team, we’re ready to go all the way this year. We have such a deep and talented team this year, and we all put in the hard work day in and day out to make our goals achievable. During the season, we’re working on strengthening our mental toughness along with our normal workouts so that we’re as prepared as possible come race day.”

Ella Graber ’25 said running with teammates helps her push beyond the mental boundaries of

and I’d never competed in anything like this before,” Koo said. “At the same time, I was a little stressed at first. I knew I needed to work hard in training because I really wanted to play well.”

Koo played the first two days of the tournament and made the cut with 64 others, advancing to Wednesday’s match. Koo said playing against women of all ages was daunting at first, but she focused on staying in the moment.

“A majority of the field was college girls,” Koo said. “It was a little scary because all of the girls have been playing golf their whole life and college golf is at a different level, so that was a little bit nerve-wracking. I tried to not think about that too much and just focus on the game.”

did not start to play competitively until recently .

“I didn’t start playing junior tournaments until I was 13, so I haven’t been playing the competitive amateur events consistently for very long,” Koo said.

“I was really excited about this because I feel like I’ve come really far in that sense.”

Koo said she is looking forward to the rest of her high school career and time in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) where she will she will play womens’ golf at Yale University.

“I think our team can make it all the way to the [California Interscholastic Federation] and beyond, because we have a really good group of people,” Koo said. “I can’t wait to hopefully go to the NCAA Championships and play at the highest

adversity in training.

“Running with a team helps you maintain an intense standard of training and helps you push yourself beyond your limits,” Graber said. “At times when I cannot motivate myself and feel like slowing down, the group of teammates that I am running with keeps me

going. I am so lucky to be part of an amazing and supportive team at [the school] that has contributed so much to my running experience and personal growth.”

The boys’ and girls’ teams first meet is the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Invitational Sept. 2.

LE Ellie Koo ’24 follows through on her first stroke of the round. The tournament took place Aug. 7 through Aug. 13.

Members of the boys and girls cross country team pose together for a team picture out in the wilderness of Big Bear Lake.

WOLVERINESONLY

BY

JAMES PEACE III

When I was 10 years old, my dad came into my room out of nowhere.

“James, I signed you up for a water polo camp!” he exclaimed. I asked, “Dad, what’s water polo?” He said, “You get to pull people underwater and drown them.” I became instantly intrigued and excited to try this new sport.

I attended a summer camp at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) which was held by several coaches. One of them was [Water Polo Program Head] Jack Grover, my current high school coach. I instantly fell in love with the sport and had so much fun that I joined the Bruin Water Polo Club that trained at UCLA. After playing at Bruin for four years, I switched to LA Premier, Harvard-Westlake’s club team. After my first high school practice at Harvard-Westlake, [former Head of Aquatics] Brian Flacks ’06, recognized that I was a growing 6-foot-3 freshman and asked me to switch to the goalie position. I was up for it, hoping it was best for the team.

I began goalie training alongside Baxter Chelsom ’23, who had started playing at Bruin with me. Though playing with Baxter allowed me to learn from one of the best high school goalies in the U.S., I rarely got to play in games as I was on junior varsity for the majority of my freshman and sophomore years and backup on varsity my junior year. Despite not having much playing time during my first three years on the team, I

still participated in the Olympic Development Program. Even then, I was not chosen in the National Team Selection Camp my sophomore year while Baxter made the USA Youth National Team. When rising juniors started reaching out to college recruiters in June, one of my top schools, the University of California (UC), Berkeley did not reply until the following April.

Despite being on varsity junior year, I continued to play very little, but that didn’t discourage me. I continued to work hard in practice and eventually earned a starting spot on the USA Youth National Team. It was an honor to represent my country and play in the USA Water Polo National League — a dream I had for years.

Three days later, sitting on the Quad with Baxter, I felt a buzz in my pocket. Expecting it to be an inane Snapchat notification, I was surprised to find an email from one of the UC Berkeley coaches, saying he would be at my games that weekend to watch me play in the Futures Water Polo League. After I received the email, I could not contain my excitement but knew there was work to be done. Although I was excited to showcase my abilities to one of my dream schools, I was also nervous to perform under pressure.

I ended up having one of my best performances to date, including a shutout in the first half. After the game, I talked to the coach who seemed impressed. He told me the other coaches wanted to get me on a call as soon as possible.

After numerous calls with the coaching staff, an official visit to UC Berkeley, and numerous conversations with my family and Coach Grover I ended up receiving a call from the head coach at UC Berkeley who officially offered me a spot. I committed right then and there, realizing my dream came true.

I can’t say that I’ve never doubted myself along my journey. When other juniors in my class began to commit to great schools, I truly didn’t know if I was good enough to play at such a high level. What I did know was that I was going to give my all to the sport that I love.

Water polo has given me so much in life, including some of my closest friends and the most valuable life lessons. If there's anything I’ve learned from playing water polo and being on the team, it is that you stay the course and never give up. No matter how many people doubt you or tell you that you aren’t good enough, you just have to shut out the noise and keep working hard.

This fall, I am excited to play one last season representing Harvard-Westlake and have the opportunity to compete for a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF-SS) Open Division Championship one last time. Regardless of the result, playing water polo at Harvard-Westlake has truly been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and if I had the chance to do it all over again, I would take it in a heartbeat.