Senior Issue | June 3, 2014 by The Talon

Graduation Speakers 3 ››

Looking Back in Time 4 ››

Recruited Athletes 6 ››

Senior Superlatives 9

“Be what you want to be. Friends change whether you are being yourself or not, so why waste time trying to impress people ?” — J E N N A GAV E N M A N

“My most embarrassing moment was when my swimsuit came off in front of the boys varsity swim team.” — K I M B E R LY N T I L L E Y

For all of us, the long halls of Los Altos High School are crowded with memories. Four years of teachers we loved, of classes we disliked and of friends to whom we’re not ready to say goodbye. After these few years together, the time has come to go our separate ways. We might have pretended that we were so sure of ourselves in the college essays many of us wrote last fall, but in truth, it’s hard to know what lies ahead. Yet whatever our plans for next year, we can take on the future with the knowledge that we’re more mature and wiser (or at least older) than we were a few short years ago in middle school. Here’s to us as we set off of each of our journeys—to infinity and beyond.

“I definitely believe that I have more direction and a clearer vision of what I want for myself.” — BARBARA GARCIA

“The number-one rule of LAHS is that you are officially invincible after an Evans class.” — WENDY WU

THE FINAL FRONTIER

M AY 2 0 1 4

BY AMELIA BAUM AND KATHERINE YEN

MEGHAN MCDERMOTT

Meghan McDermott’s years here at LAHS have been filled with numerous sports and extracurricular activities. She’s been a member of varsity volleyball and basketball for all four years of high school, a member of the track and field team for two years and an active participant in class council. She co-founded the Veterans’ Appreciation Club with Riley Soward, started the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club and was second semester president of the Haiti Solidarity Club. Moving on from high school, Meghan will be studying mechanical engineering at UCLA. Meghan has always loved math, but never saw it as a prospective major until she attended a summer engineering program at Santa Clara University. She realized that engineering is “all about problem solving,” which is something that Meghan loves to do. After her time here at LAHS, Meghan wanted to give a speech to say “thank you” and to share what experiences she has gained. In her speech, Meghan focuses on coloring outside the lines and comparing that to kindergarten, when students were taught to color within the lines. She believes that the idea of staying within a boundary was increasingly challenging in high school because “there’s not one ideal to conform to at Los Altos because we’re so diverse and there’s so many ways to get involved.” “I’ve been blessed to have such a wonderful experience,” Meghan said. “I’ve had great teachers who have made an incredible impact on my life... I’m definitely going to miss all my friends and our entire grade... it’s definitely a bittersweet graduation.”

DERRICK LU Derrick Lu is bringing a new analogy about high school to the table in his speech; the audience at graduation will hear him compare four years at LAHS to the life of a baby turtle. “It’s like hatching out of our shells, scrambling across the beach while you know everyone is out to get you,” Derrick said. “But you’re going for the ocean. You don’t know what’s there and you [have] to stick

your neck out all the time and keep going. You can’t just hide in your shell.” During his four years, Derrick Lu participated in years of public speaking activities such as Mock Trial, Model UN and Junior Statesman of America. Besides public speaking events, Derrick also played water polo

KATHERINE LIU SARAH JACOBS Katherine Liu and Sarah Jacobs decided to write their speech with a Harry Potter theme as it reflects both their love of the series and their fond memories of times in Los Altos. Both Sarah and Katherine were active in clubs and extracurriculars during their time here. “[In the speech,] we try to highlight the ‘magic’ we’ve found at Los Altos,” Sarah said. “We started writing and it just worked.” Katherine looks back fondly on the opportunities she has had to pursue her passions through participation in clubs like Future Business Leader of America (FBLA) and Women in Science. “FBLA is like my family…[it’s] been my home since freshman year,” she said. “It was the first club I joined and the only club I stayed with through high school.” Katherine plans to study computer science at Stanford University in the fall, where she hopes to take product design classes as well. “I have a lot of different options but I know I want to do something with science and art,” Katherine said. Sarah is headed to Duke Unifor four years and swam for three. Musically, Derrick took part in the school orchestra for three years. One of Derrick’s favorite memories of the school is his freshman class with English teacher Jonathan Kwan. He says that Kwan was different from all the other teachers that he had before. Halfway through first se-

versity as a biomedical engineering major and was involved in Green Team, Women in Science, ASB and FBLA during her four years at LAHS. She has trained to become a certified Emergency Medical Techinician (EMT), a skill she hopes to use as part of Duke’s student-run Emergency Medical System. In the future, she hopes to go to graduate school, visit New Zealand, own two cats and learn to use a laser cutter. Though they are excited to move on to bigger and better things in college, Katherine and Sarah view graduation as bittersweet. “I thought that making a speech would be a good way to tie together all of high school and bring back all the experiences we’ve had,” Katherine said. “It’s really sad to be leaving everyone, it’s a nice way to say goodbye.” mester, Kwan called him a “man of many talents,” which Derrick remembers to this day. Next year, Derrick will be attending Case Western Reserve University where he will be studying environmental engineering. Derrick will miss the unique sense of community that LAHS provided. Reflecting on his senior year, he describes it as “a bunch of ups and downs, [but] so is life in general.” His final words of advice to incoming seniors? “Go with the flow.”

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

The top five moments of the 2013-14 school year. JUNE 2014: DAWSON TO RETIRE After 14 years at the school, Assistant Principal and ASB adviser Cristy Dawson is set to retire at the end of the school year. Dawson will still be around—she’ll be working in the district 25 days a year for the next four years as part of her retirement process. She has pioneered many school activities such as dodgeball and movie nights that have become traditions, helping the entire school grow. Dawson’s presence at the school will be missed by many students and staff.

ONGOING: COMMON CORE Schools across the nation have begun implementing the new Common Core standards, nationwide education standards designed to better prepare future generations for college and beyond. With a focus on studying fewer topics with more depth, the Common Core standards have been integrated into the school’s core subject curriculums. The school has begun to prepare for the technology needed for next year’s juniors to take the Common Core assessments in May by attempting to upgrade the WiFi, purchasing more laptops and encouraging teachers to use digital tools like Edmodo and EasyBib to teach in-depth material. 4 THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

DECEMBER 2013: CLASS RANK REMOVED Beginning with the class of 2015, LAHS and MVHS will no longer ordinally rank students within their respective grade levels. The MVLA district was one of the last districts in the Bay Area to still use class rank, a system where students were assigned two ranks based on their weighted and unweighted grade point averages. The school board decided to remove class rank because they felt it unnecessarily promoted competition and lowered the rank of students who took non-honors electives. The district will begin using deciles instead.

AUGUST 2013: API SCORE GROWS The school’s 2013 growth API score reached a record 895 points, increasing six points from the previous year’s score. Since 2004, when the growth API was 791 points, the school’s API score has increased annually. API scores are aggregated from multiple standardized test scores and seek to measure a school’s overall academic performance.

AUGUST 2013: NEW BUILDINGS Voters passed Measure A, which the district used to fund the construction of new buildings in response to an influx of new students. The school spent 8 million dollar building 12 new classrooms at the back of the campus, which are equipped with state-of-the-art green technology and more storage space. The new classrooms have allowed for additional sections in language and art courses.

TEXT BY SOFIA GUO AND GRAPHICS BY PARMIS TAIDY THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014 5

A look at the seniors who will be continuing their athletic careers in college. COMPILED BY DANIEL ROSENBAUM, RILEY SOWARD, ALEX BARREIRA AND CASEY PAO

1. Kacey Incerpi, Lewis and Clark

Kacey Incerpi will be playing tennis at Lewis and Clark College next year after being a four-year varsity player at Los Altos. “I am really excited to be in one of the most beautiful and green places in the world,” Kacey said. “I am most excited to be in a small liberal arts school where I can easily talk to teachers.”

2 6

2. Christopher “Lambie” Lanman, Yale

Lambie will be playing Division I football as a Bulldog next year, and will attend Yale University as a potential history major. An athletic triple threat, having played football, basketball and baseball for three to four years each at the high school, he notes that the highlight of his sports career was “helping turn the football program around by going 8-2 this year.” Leaving behind a stronger football team, Lambie is looking forward “to meeting a lot of creative and intellectual students at Yale and learning more about the world.”

3. Marialena Ahern, Whittier

Marialena has been playing softball since she was four years old. The highlight of her high school softball career was when she helped the varsity softball team take the De Anza Division championship this year. Marialena was drawn to Whittier because it is a small private school where she can “get the most both academically and athletically.” “I’m beyond excited to be playing softball in college,” Marialena said. “It’s been the dream for me ever since I first started playing.”

THE FINAL FRONTIER

5 4. Julia Goupil, MIT

Next year Julia will be playing Division III soccer at MIT. A veteran of the highly competitive club team MVLA Lightning since she was 10, she chose MIT’s team for the opportunities she’d have as a prospective biology major and soccer player. “For science, it’s the place to be,” Julia said. “Plus, more playing time.”

5. Jenna Gavenman, Villanova

Jenna will become a Wildcat next year, playing water polo for Villanova. After four seasons of Eagles’ water polo, Jenna is ready for the competition and challenge of Division I. “Their team was amazing and they were so accommodating to everything while I was there and it was just so much fun,” Jenna said after meeting the team. “It just clicked, it was in my heart.”

JUNE 2014

7 6. Christian Beck, St. Olaf

Christian has played varsity tennis for four years and recently went all the way to CCS doubles semifinals with senior Braden Holt. He loves everything that St. Olaf has to offer, especially its location and small size. “Playing for the Eagles has been probably the best experience I’ve had in high school,” Christian said. “Continuing that in college will be a dream come true.”

7. Surya Ram, Johns Hopkins

Surya will play Division III water polo at Johns Hopkins next year in Baltimore, Maryland. For Surya, meeting players on and off the team and Hopkins’ reputation for rigorous academics were a major factor in his decision to apply early. “I’m really excited to get to meet all the new people and to begin doing some research,” Surya said. “Johns Hopkins is one of the premier universities for that.”

8. Alex Liua, UCSB

Alex will be heading to UCSB to join the Gauchos’ Division I soccer team. Describing UCSB as “the perfect fit,” Alex is excited to play for the school with “the most extensive fan base in the country.” He loves the campus and location as well as the opportunity to play in front of crowds as large as 16,000 people, an atmosphere “that cannot be found anywhere else in the collegiate game.”

9. Sophia Hyver, UCSD

Sophia Hyver will be a UCSD Triton. After graduation, she’ll be heading to the sunny coasts of La Jolla in San Diego where she’ll be studying public health and playing Division II soccer. Excited for the next few years, Sophia is ready to take on a great academic environment combined with a new level of athletics alongside her new team.

16. James Oleson, Westmont

10 12

James will be attending Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. He has been playing baseball since he can remember and competes at the varsity level for the school. “I am most excited about the new opportunities that college baseball has to offer,” James said. “I am also excited about the new friendships that I will make along the way practicing with the team year-round.”

14 16

15 18

17 10. Katie Tritschler, Carleton

Katie is taking her talents to Carleton College next year after playing for the school team for years. “I visited [Carleton] last fall and fell in love with the school and the students,” Katie said. “I’m looking forward to being in a completely different environment…and playing volleyball at a completely different level.”

11. Max Wilber, UC Davis

Finishing up his third year with the school’s baseball team, Max is now gearing up to play as a UC Davis Aggie. Max is particularly proud of the walkoff win against Mountain View this year and is looking forward to being in a new academic and athletic environment. “I decided on Davis because they have a great Division I program and it’s a really great school in a nice area,” Max said. “And it is close to home.”

12. Michelle Albright, Bowdoin

Next year, Michelle will be playing volleyball for Bowdoin, an NCAA Division III school. At the high school, she played volleyball all four years, notably playing in both CCS and NorCal finals. “I’m most excited about being able to continue to play the sport that I love at a competitive level,” Michelle said.

13. Joey Malgesini, Claremont McKenna

After four terrific seasons with the Eagles, Joey will bring his basketball talents to Claremont McKenna College in Southern California. The Division III team will allow him to find the ideal balance between basketball and his studies. “They provide an opportunity to get a masters in finance in four years,” Joey said. “If I were able to

cause she liked the campus, wanted a change from California and thought the diving coach, former Olympian Scott Donie, would be beneficial for her diving career. “I am way stoked for diving in college,” Austin said. “The other divers seem really cool so I’m excited to get to know them and dive with a new team.”

do that it would be incredible.”

14. Kelsey Kawaguchi, UC Irvine

Kelsey will be taking her golf prowess to the Division I greens of UC Irvine next year on a scholarship. Kelsey played varsity golf all four years at the high school and is excited to compete at the next level. Her highlight is the 67 she shot at the Santa Teresa Golf Course to qualify for CCS. “My favorite part about golf is just the fact that there is no end to improving,” Kelsey said. “Every time I go practice, I find something new to work on or some way to help my golf game.”

15. Austin Campitelli, NYU

Austin started diving her freshman year of high school. Since then, she’s been diving for Stanford Dive Club and for the high school team. Austin decided on NYU, a Division III school, be-

17. Elizabeth Fuchs, South Virginia University

Elizabeth is bringing her tennis skills all the way to the east coast as she attends SVU next year. Having played tennis at the high school for all four years of her high school career, she notes that her favorite part of it all was bonding with her teammates. Elizabeth is excited to attend her future school, already knowing that she’s got a team full of friends waiting for her. “I chose SVU because it’s a small, liberal college where I feel like I can really focus on my education and have help when I need it,” Elizabeth said.

18. Chase Eller, Occidental

Ever since Chase entered high school, he’s had his sights set on competing at a college level. Chase has been on the high school’s varsity team for three years and was voted MVP by his teammates for the 2013-2014 season. He looks forward to the academic and athletic opportunities that Occidental presents. “I always wanted to see how long I could play baseball and when the opportunity was presented to me, I jumped on it,” Chase said. “I am excited to play at the next level and continue playing this sport.”

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

IAN MACKEY

Football has turnaround season under new coaching staff, goes 8-2

“It meant the world to me to have such a successful season this year...It felt like we had finally found the missing piece to a complex puzzle: Coach Pruitt and his coaching staff. It was great that we had so much success, but it was unfortunate that myself and the rest of the seniors only got to experience one winning season. What truly made this season possible was the environment that the coaching staff created: a family-oriented environment in which everyone felt included.” - Quarterback senior Lambie Lanman

BRANDON HONG IAN MACKEY

Boys basketball takes De Anza by storm, makes it to CCS semifinals

“To have the amount of support in the stands that we did was great... No one on the team is going to remember CCS semifinals as a most memorable moment because of how tragic it was but in reality it was revolutionary for the program to go that far two years in a row.” - Captain senior Joey Malgesini

Girls soccer pushes Mitty to brink in CCS quarterfinals

THE FINAL FRONTIER

“Just the fact that we had two match points against the number one team in the country is enough for me...People in the volleyball world can [now] realize that public school teams made up of neighborhood girls have just as much potential (if not more) than ‘elite’ private school teams. We showed the volleyball world that school spirit and good teamwork and trust can be magical.” - Co-captain senior Hanna Koehler

PARMIS TAIDY

“I was really proud of the whole team for taking Mitty, the eventual CCS champions, all the way to penalty kicks. I felt it proved that last year’s victory over Mitty in the semi-finals was no fluke and that we were a team that could hold its own against the very best... I’m proud of all the freshmen and other young players who played a part in making this a fantastic season.” - Senior Sophia Hyver

Girls volleyball makes school history by advancing to CIF NorCal Championships

COURTESY PAM HARRIS

Boys, girls XC take third in CCS, qualify for States for second year

“[Qualifying] made the work we put into the season all worthwhile. We knew we had a very strong team this year and knew we had a good shot at making it to States. This year, I think as a team overall, we had a higher expectation to qualify for States. I cannot thank my teammates and coaches enough for getting us to states two years in a row.” - Sophomore Lauren Jacob

JUNE 2014

Softball wins league, advances to CCS quarterfinals

“This season’s been a real roller coaster. I couldn’t be more proud of the team for winning league. We weren’t expected to get first place in our league and this made us that much more motivated to prove everyone wrong and get the respect we deserved. We all work so hard and every moment has been worth it.” - Senior Marialena Ahern

BRANDON HONG MACKEY Girls basketball IAN dominates in league

“As a team, we did a great job all year of playing cohesively...I’m proud to say that I have been part of the team that [went from being] tied for last place in the bottom league my freshman year to [one] that is moving up to the upper league four years later.” - Captain senior Meghan McDermott

SENIOR S U P E R L AT I V E S CLASS OF 2014

C O M P I L E D BY E M I LY S I M S, C A S S I DY C R A F O R D, Z AC H CO H EN, R EB E CC A D ES H E T L ER, J A R ED EN G, A L I C E DA I, K AT H ER I N E Y EN, TO N Y S U N, J O E Y M A LG ES I N I, M AYA VA RG H ES E A N D A L E X CO RT I N A S P H O T O S BY I A N M AC K E Y, PA R M I S TA I DY A N D B R A N D O N H O N G

THE FINAL FRONTIER

M AY 2 0 1 4

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Most dedicated to learning KONRAD NIEMIC: I’m writing a book about anti-gravity... LAURA SHEA: I bet that will be impossible to put down!

Most likely to be late to their wedding DERRICK LU: We’ll need to approach light speed to make it on time! RIYANA BASU: Sorry, I was spacing out!

2 0 T HT E 1 H EF IFNI N AA L LF RFO RO NN T ITEIRE R MJAY U N2E021041 4

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Most sleepdeprived BRANDON SU: I was up late yesterday, just gazing at the moon. CASEY PAO: Look on the bright side: I was up all night!

Most changed since freshman year ALEX LEE: I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even remember freshman year. LAETITIA CABROL: I know, that was light years ago.

T HTEHFEI NF IANL AFLR FORNOTN I ETRI E R J U M N EAY2 021041 4 1 3 1

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Most likely to be president KAVI MEHTA: As soon as we’re done studying at the Universe-ity... ANICA NANGIA: We’ll zoom out of that black hole and into the White House!

Most opinionated YASHWANT PARMAR: I’m absolutely positive that Galileo’s theory was wrong. ZOE MORGAN: Well, you’re a luna-tic!

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Most likely to write a bestselling novel ALEX BARREIRA: My book’s shooting up to #1 on the list! CASSIDY CRAFORD: Who knew Martian novels were so popular?

Most likely to be a talkshow host MATT SEARS: Let’s give it up for the star of the show! EMILY SIMS: I want to go out with a BANG!

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Most artistic MING HUA: I put my brush to the canvas, and supernovas come out. EMILY SMALL: Do you think I could capture the universe better with pencil or charcoal?

Most musically talented ZACH GOSPE: Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been working on some new tunes lately. HANNAH SNEE: My songs will rocket to the top of the charts.

6 1 4 T HT EH EF I FNI N A LA LF RFO RO NN T I TEIRE R MJAY U N2E021041 4

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Most likely to save the world RILEY SOWARD: The weight of the Earth is holding me down! WENDY WU: The moon’s not much lighter, but who can resist the pull of gravity?

Most adventurous KELLY M c CONNELL: Yesterday, we rocketed to Mars, today we explored the stars. MIA MONTANEZ: Tomorrow, we’ll shoot to infinity and beyond!

T HTEHFEI N F IANLAFLR FORN OTNI ETRI E R J U M N AY E 20 21 04 1 4 17 5

University of Washington (6) University of Puget Sound (4) The Evergreen State College (1)

St. O Carle University o

Lewis and Clark College (1) Oregon State University (2) Willamette University (2) University of Oregon (1)

Unive

University of Idaho (1)

Universit Sierra Nevada College (1) University of Nevada, Reno (1)

Brigham Young University (1)

University of Denver (2) University of Colorado at Boulder (1)

University of California at Davis (12) California State University, Chico (4)

Sonoma State University (2) Dominican University of California (1)

University of New Mexico (1) Arizona State University (2)

Foothill College (43) De Anza College (16) University of California at Berkeley (10) Santa Clara University (8) University of California at Santa Cruz (8) San Francisco State University (6) San Jose State University (6) Stanford University (3) Mission College (3) University of San Francisco (3) California College of the Arts (2) California State University, Sacramento (2) California State University, East Bay (2) West Valley College (1) University of Cogswell Polytechnical College (1) Academy of Art University (1)Sacramento City College (1) College of San Mateo (1) University of California at Merced (6) California Polytechnic State University SLO (5) University of California at Santa Barbara (16) Westmont College (1) University of California at Los Angeles (8) University of Southern California (8) Chapman University (3) Loyola Marymount University (2) Occidental College (2) Claremont McKenna College (1) Pepperdine University (1) Santa Monica College (1) Whittier College (1) Soka University of America (1) Pitzer College (1) Scripps College (1) University of California at Irvine (1)

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

University of California at Riverside (2)

University of California at San Diego (3)

University of Arizona (4)

Baylor

Austin Co Co

Northeastern University (6) Boston University (3) Boston College (2) Tufts University (2) Bentley University (2) MIT (2) Emerson College (2) Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (1) Suffolk University (1) Becker College (1) Clark University (1)

Bates College (1) Bowdoin College (1)

St. Olaf College (2) Carleton College (1) niversity of Minnesota (1)

Cornell University (3) Smith College (1)

University of Michigan (3) Michigan State University (1)

Yale University (1) University of Connecticut (1)

University of Wisconsin, Madison (2) Case Western Reserve University (1) University of Chicago (2) University of Notre Dame (1) Northwestern University (1)

NYU (1) and Pratt Institute (1) Villanova University (1) Dickinson College (1) Bucknell University (1) Univ. of Pennsylvania (1)

West Virginia University (1) Xavier University (1) University of Virginia (1)

Denison University (1)

Scott Community College (1) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1)

Purdue University (2)

enver (2) olorado

Carnegie Mellon University (1)

Brown University (1) Rhode Island School of Design (1)

South Virginia University (1)

Washington University in St. Louis (1)

Duke University (3)

Vanderbilt University (1) Emory University (2) Clark Atlanta University (1) University of Alabama (1)

Johns Hopkins University (2) The George Washington University (1) Georgetown University (1) Howard University (1) University of Maryland, College Park (1) The Naval Academy (1) American University (1)

Baylor University (1)

Austin Community College (1) Rice University (4)

DIFFERENT PATHS University of British Columbia (3) Trinity College Dublin (1) Newcastle University (1) Gap Year (2) Undecided (1)

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

Aaron, Alec.........................................................................Cornell University Adams, Stephen...................................................................Foothill College Ahern, Marialena..................................................................Whittier College Albert, Jordan.....................................................University of Puget Sound Albright, Michelle...............................................................Bowdoin College Aman, Michelle....................................................University of Washington Arias-Lopez, Victor................................................................Foothill College Arnold, Jessica.............................................................Chapman University Arrouye, Charlotte....................................................Santa Clara University Ayat, Kian...............................................................................Foothill College

Badalyan, Emmanuel..........................................................Foothill College Baird, Emily..................................................Loyola Marymount University Bake, Aryamitra................................................University of San Francisco Barreira, Allison......................................University of Southern California Barreira, Alexander.............................University of California at Berkeley Basu, Riyana........................................University of California at Berkeley Beaulieu, Elena......................................................Northeastern University Beck, Christian.......................................................................St. Olaf College Becker, William.......................Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo Behar, Jacob...............................................................Willamette University Berrospe, Guadalupe..................................................................Undecided Bhagat, Vikram.........................University of California at Santa Barbara Bicker, Matthew.....................................................Northeastern University Bishop, Elizabeth..................................................................Tufts University Blasing, Corinne.....................................................Oregon State University Bliss, Max.....................................................................Trinity College Dublin Bousse, Nicholas......................University of California at Santa Barbara Branyon-Goodman, Margaret.........................................Baylor University Bray, Andrew.............................University of California at Santa Barbara Brinsfield, Lauren...................Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo Brocksen, Riley.......................................................Oregon State University Bronnikova, Anastassiya.................................University of Nevada, Reno Brunton, Maya....................................................University of Puget Sound Buenaventura, Natalia................................................University of Virginia Bustos-Serrano, Lucinda....................................................De Anza College Caddes, Jake.................................................................University of Denver Campitelli, Austin.........................................................New York University Can, Jake....................................University of California at Santa Barbara Carbajal, Gloria.......................................California State University, Chico Cardenas-Diaz, Vanessa.....................................................De Anza College Carrera Merales, Rosa...........................University of California at Merced Casas, Paige......................................................................Bentley University Casas-Garcia, Jovanni........................................................De Anza College Caylor, Christopher...............................................................Foothill College Charlton, Casey......................................................Arizona State University Chen, Alina..............................................................................Rice University Chi, Max......................................................................Santa Clara University Chin, Brett.....................................................................University of Arizona Choy, Amanda...............................................................New York University Chung, Royce.............................................................University of Michigan Chung, Zachary.........................................................Santa Clara University Clutario, Giordan Moses.......................University of California at Merced Colbert, Madeleine...........................University of California at San Diego Cole, Elaine...........................................Washington University in St. Louis Cooke, Marion........................................University of California at Merced Corona, Jennifer...............................California State University, East Bay Cortinas, Alex.........................................................................Foothill College Costa, Adrien...................................University of California at Santa Cruz Craford, Cassidy........................................University of California at Davis Cyron, Timothy...................................................................Xavier University

Damerdji, Salim........................University of California at Santa Barbara Dave, Shiktij.........................................University of California at Berkeley De La Torre, Juan..................................................................Foothill College Desai, Amaani...........................University of California at Santa Barbara DeShetler, Rebecca.......................University of California at Los Angeles Dexter, Jennifer...................................................Scott Community College Diaz, Carmen..........................................California State University, Chico Diaz, Alec...............................................................................De Anza College Drobny, Sophia.............................................................University of Denver

THE FINAL FRONTIER

Eller, Paige...............................................University of Southern California Eller, Chase.......................................................................Occidental College Elson, Ryan...................................................Loyola Marymount University Enecial, Alan.........................................................................De Anza College Eng, Jared..............................................................................Duke University Falsetti, Nicole........................................University of Southern California Farmer, Matthew.................................................University of Washington Farmer, Peter.....................................................................Purdue University Flemming, Tatyana..............................................................Foothill College Frangos, Lucas.................................University of California at Santa Cruz Fredriksson, Natalie........................University of California at Santa Cruz Fried, Eylam............................................................Northeastern University Fuchs, Elizabeth..............................................Southern Virginia University Fujioka, Remy....................................................................Suffolk University Gao, Richard..............................................University of California at Davis Garcia, Barbara.....................................................................Clark University Garverick, Steven..................................................Arizona State University Gavenman, Jenna.........................................................Villanova University Gomez Escobar, Katie..........................................................Foothill College Gomez Pacheco, Estefani.........California State University, Sacramento Gonzalez, Oscar.....................................................................Foothill College Gorfu, Abel........................................................................Howard University Gospe, Zachary............................................................Vanderbilt University Goupil, Julia..................................Massachusetts Institute of Technology Gross, Hannah.......................................................Northeastern University Gu, HangYi............................................................San Jose State University

Hacket, Terence................................................................................Gap Year Hamamoto, Kelly................................University of California at Berkeley Hanni, Casey......................................................................Boston University Hart, Nathan..................................University of California at Los Angeles Hastings, Benjamin.....................................................University of Arizona He, Max.............................................University of California at Santa Cruz Hernandez, Dafne......................................San Francisco State University Hernandez Menjivar, Mayra................................................Foothill College Herrera, Alicia...................................California State University, East Bay Herrera, Cynthia...................................................................Mission College Higgins, Katherine......................................University of British Columbia Hollenbaugh, Natalie..........................................University of Washington Holt, Braden..........................................................................Foothill College Hsu, Rebecca............................................................................Pratt Institute Hua, Mingyi.....................................................California College of the Arts Hua, Mike.................................................................................Rice University Huffman, David.....................................................................Boston College Hyver, Sophia....................................University of California at San Diego

Ibrahim, Margarita................................................................Foothill College Ikeda, Avery................................................................Santa Clara University Incerpi, Kacey..............................................................Lewis & Clark College Inouye, Trini....................................University of California at Los Angeles Iulio, Saumalama.................................................Sacramento City College Iwamura, Jenna.....................Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo

JUNE 2014

Jacobs, Sarah.......................................................................Duke University Jakubowski, Marissa............................................................Foothill College Jenab, Steven............................................................Sierra Nevada College Jones, Amanda...................................................University of Connecticut Jones, Haley,...........................................University of Southern California Jorgenson, Brett.............................University of California at Santa Cruz Jow, Owen...........................................University of California at Berkeley

Kaderali, Malika.........................................................Santa Clara University Katchman, Spencer...............................................................Pitzer College Kawaguchi, Kelsey...................................University of California at Irvine Kayhan, Shahab.......................................University of California at Davis Kelly, Aingeal...........................................................................Becker College Kidd, Jacob.........................................................................Emerson College Kim, Krystal.......................................................University of San Francisco Klein, David....................................................................New York University Klein, Kevin................................................University of California at Davis Koehler, Hanna.........................University of California at Santa Barbara Kolyer, Lauren..................................University of California at Santa Cruz Kristian, Margaret.............................University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Kunkel, Isabel...................................................................Bentley University Kuo, Jacob............................................................................De Anza College Kuo, Alex..............................................University of Wisconsin at Madison Lai, Bryan.................................................University of Southern California Lanman, Christopher.............................................................Yale University Lazareva, Lia..............................University of California at Santa Barbara Le, Samantha.........................................University of Southern California Lee, Steven...............................................................Georgetown University Lee, Jeremy...............................University of California at Santa Barbara Lee, Alexander.......................University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Lee Ramirez, Yumi...............................................San Jose State University Leon, Arely..............................................University of California at Merced Leon, Ana..............................................................................De Anza College Leung, Patrick......................................................San Jose State University Limbach, Cole...........................................................................Bates College Lisbonne, Samuel..........................................................Stanford University Liu, Katherine.................................................................Stanford University Liu, William........................................University of California at San Diego Liua, Alexander..........................University of California at Santa Barbara Lopez, Zuleyma....................................................................De Anza College Lopez, Hector........................................................................De Anza College Lu, Derrick...............................................Case Western Reserve University Lubet, Giulia...............................................University of California at Davis Lugardo, Recner..................................................San Jose State University Lynch, Kevin............................................................................Rice University

Machell, Tyler..........................................California State University, Chico Machell, Ariel...........................................University of Southern California Madhok, Dhruv.......................................................................Rice University Maeda, Kathleen.................................................San Jose State University Maghrajh, Rohan..................................................................Foothill College Mahoney, Aidan........................................University of California at Davis Mahowald, Austin............................University of Maryland, College Park Makower, Gabrielle......................................................New York University Malgesini, Joseph.........................................Claremont McKenna College Mancini, Shelby.....................................................................Foothill College Mark, Veronica.......................................................................Scripps College Markman, Emily....................................................................Foothill College

Plans are self-reported by students. Some students chose not to report their plans. The Talon is not responsible for any errors. Many thanks to Dawn Allen for her help in gathering the information.

Marshall, Eric..................................................................Bucknell University Martinez, Marco..........................................San Francisco State University Maslenitsyna, Lora...........................................Soka University of America Mathew, Leah..........................Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo Mayer, Jesse...............................................................Santa Clara University McConnell, Kelly.....................................California State University, Chico McDermott, Meghan.....................University of California at Los Angeles McKinney, Emily..................................Dominican University of California Medina, Elias.........................................................................Foothill College Mehta, Kavi..........................................University of California at Berkeley Mendoza-Fitz, Jovani...........................................................Foothill College Menjivar, Sireni......................................................................Foothill College Merrill, James..................................................................Occidental College Millar, Peter............................................................................Foothill College Miller, Haleigh........................................................................Foothill College Miller-Foreman, Audrey.................................................Denison University Moli, Loisi.................................................................Clark Atlanta University Montanez, Mia......................................................................De Anza College Morgan, Zoe..................................................................American University Mori-Sloane, Sabina.......................University of California at Santa Cruz Morrin, James.......................................................................Foothill College Motamedi, Nava.........................................San Francisco State University Munoz, Jose...........................................................................Foothill College Munro, Margaret.......................................University of California at Davis Myers, Alan.............................................................................Foothill College Myers, Matthew............................................................University of Arizona

Nangia, Anica........................................................................Duke University Naumovski, John.......................................................University of Chicago Nazak, Adam........................................................Sonoma State University Nero, Matthew...............................University of California at Los Angeles Newman, Haley..................................................University of Puget Sound Ng, Kendall.................................................University of California at Davis Nguyen, Cindy...........................................Cogswell Polytechnical College Nichols, Elizabeth.................................................................Foothill College Niemiec, Konrad............................University of California at Los Angeles

Oleson, James.................................................................Westmont College Orner, Emma......................................................................Emerson College

Padilla Avila, Manuel............................................................Mission College Palmer, Naomi........................Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo Pandit, Sanjana.........................................................University of Michigan Pantoja, Drianne........................California State University, Sacramento Pao, Casey.....................................................University of California, Davis Park, Hyung........................................................................Emory University Park, Kyung Sun...................................................University of Washington Parmar, Yashwant.......................................University of British Columbia Parra, David...........................................................................Foothill College Parsie, Yashar........................................................University of Washington Pati, Ofisa.....................................................................College of San Mateo Patmore-Zarcone, Leonardo...................George Washington University Pedroza, Jasmine................................................................De Anza College Perez, Kevin...........................................................................Foothill College Perez, Aylin............................................................................De Anza College Phan, Phi................................................................................Foothill College Poblete, Jeremiah Blue.......................................................Foothill College

Poltrack, Anna.....................................................University of Notre Dame Pon, Loren.............................................................University of Washington Porter, Juliet..................................................................New York University Preciado, Nathalie......................................San Francisco State University Preciado-Rivera, Gabriela........................................Santa Monica College

Quezada, Jendri..................................................San Jose State University Quijano, Ina Marie......................................San Francisco State University Quintana, Valeria.................................................Sonoma State University

Taglio, Gus...................................................................Newcastle University Taidy, Parmis..................................................California College of the Arts Takahara, Alexandra........................................Austin Community College Tan, Adrian...........................................................Michigan State University Tang, Caroline........................................................................St. Olaf College Thiem, Christopher.....................................................Chapman University Tilley, Kimberlyn............................University of California at Los Angeles Tippett, Dane..............................................................Willamette University Tochihuitl Bueno, Mirian....................................................De Anza College Torres, Jesus.........................................................................De Anza College Tran, Tony..................................University of California at Santa Barbara Tritschler, Katherine...........................................................Carleton College

Uppuluri, Raag..................................................Carnegie Mellon University Rabuzzi, Terence....................................................Northeastern University Ram, Surya..........................................................Johns Hopkins University Raman, Nikhil....................................................University of Pennsylvania Ramirez, Oscar.......................................University of California at Merced Reyes Lopez, Consuelo....................................University of San Francisco Rivera-Solis, Carlos...............................................................Foothill College Rodriguez, Areli.....................................................................Foothill College Rogers, Roxanne.......................................................Pepperdine University Ruehle, Matthew.........................Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Salcido Jr., Peter.................................................Academy of Art University Santos, Oscar.........................................................................Foothill College Sargent, Andrew...........................University of California, Santa Barbara Scheffer, Camille...................................................................Foothill College Scott, Timothy...........................................University of California at Davis Sears, Matthew............................................United States Naval Academy Selover, Patrick..........................................................Santa Clara University Seltzer, Ryan...................................University of California at Los Angeles Shannon, Amy..................................................................Dickinson College Shantz, Amanda.....................................University of Southern California Sharma, Nisha.................................University of California at Santa Cruz Shaw-Case, Kathryn...................................University of British Columbia Shea, Laura.........................................................................Brown University Silva Buenrostro, Alejandra...............................................De Anza College Simion, Chloe.......................................................University of New Mexico Sims, Emily..............................................University of Wisconsin, Madison Small, Emily................................................Rhode Island School of Design Snee, Hannah........................................................Northeastern University Sobrino, James..................................University of California at Riverside Son-Bell, Peter...........................................University of California at Davis Soo, Donna........................................................................................Gap Year Soto-Perez, Nathen..............................................................Foothill College Souders, Emma.......................................................................Smith College Soward, Riley.........................................................................Boston College Stafford, Marissa................................................University of Puget Sound Staufenbiel, Michelle............................................................Foothill College Steffens, Helena........................University of California at Santa Barbara Steffens, Isabel..........................University of California at Santa Barbara Stolorz, Fiona..............................................Rhode Island School of Design Stout, Jordan....................................................................Cornell University Su, Wei-Chi.........................................................................Boston University Su, Brandon...................................................................New York University Sullivan, Jack......................................University of California at Berkeley Sun, Tony.............................................................Johns Hopkins University Sutyipto, Monica.......................................San Francisco State University Suzuki, Aya...................................Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Valadez-Diaz, Jennifer.........................................................Foothill College Vanneman, Casey..............................................The University of Alabama Verber, Helen.........................................................................Foothill College Vohra, Karan..........................................University of Colorado at Boulder

Waarts, Michael...........................................................University of Chicago Wachs, Gabriella.............................................................University of Idaho Washington, Indigo...............................................Evergreen State College Williams, Sariah....................................................................Foothill College Williams, Joshua..........................................................University of Arizona Wilson, Angelica....................................................Northwestern University Winner, Kira.............................................................West Virginia University Winters, Katherine.......................................................University of Oregon Witham, Elise....................................................................Purdue University Woch, Madeline...........................................................Chapman University Wongpanich, Minnie..........................University of California at Berkeley Wu, Wendy...........................................University of California at Berkeley Wu, Tiffany.................................University of California at Santa Barbara

Xu, Kelsey............................................................................Emory University

Yang, Zhi................................................................................De Anza College Yang, Tony...............................................University of California at Merced Yau, Stephanie..........................................................Santa Clara University Yedra, Laura....................................................................West Valley College Yeh, Katherine...........................................................University of Michigan Young, Alison......................................................Brigham Young University Zaninovich, Yuki....................................................................Tufts University Zeitoun, Ranya......................................................................Foothill College Zhang, Yidan.....................................................................Boston University Zhao, Elaine.........................................University of California at Berkeley Zhou, Lillian...............................University of California at Santa Barbara Zhu, Michael...................................................................Stanford University Zib, Alannah........................................University of California at Riverside

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

The DMV’s most wanted KIMBERLYN TILLEY: They’re out to get me—I was driving faster than a shooting star. KIAN AYAT: Oh no, I forgot to pay my parking meteor!

Most likely to get arrested for standing up to the man

Most likely to institutionalize a teacher

SALIM DAMERDJI: I just can’t stand authority figures when they try to enforce the law of gravity.

ISABEL KUNKEL: Lightyears won’t be far away enough once they’ve had class with me! *Due to voting complications, there was only one winner for each of these categories.

8 2 0 TTHHEE FFIIN NAALL FFRRO ON NTTIIEERR

M J UAY N E2 2 00 11 44

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Most likely to win an Oscar TERENCE RABUZZI: I’d like to thank the whole planet for this award! EMILY BAIRD: We truly are stars!

Most likely to cure cancer RYAN SELTZER: I think I’m onto a cosmic discovery. KATHERINE LIU: Nothing will hold us back from pioneering this frontier!

T HTEHFEI NF IANL AFLR FORNOTN I ETRI E R J U M N EAY2 021041 4 2 9 1

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Most likely to take over the world RICHARD GAO: Psh… world domination is too easy. SARAH JACOBS: But taking over the universe is another story!

Most likely to become a billionaire SAM LISBONNE: One day, we’re gonna have more dollar bills… JULIA GOUPIL: Than there are stars in the sky!

1 20 2

THE FINAL FRONTIER

M J UAY N E 22001144

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Best dancer OSCAR RAMIREZ: I can moonwalk like nobody’s business. EMILY M c KINNEY: Yeah, well I can leap as if there’s no gravity holding me down.

Most athletic HANNA KOEHLER: I can run faster than the speed of sound. ALEX LIUA: Well, my biceps are out of this world.

TTHHEE FFI N I NAAL L FFRROONNTTI EI ERR J M UN AY E 2014

13 2 1

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Best hair CASEY VANNEMAN: That James T. Kirk haircut is out of this world. JAKE CADDES: Thanks, I did it myself. Cosmology— erm—cosmetology is my thing.

Best dressed STEVEN JENAB: Have you seen this summer’s collections? CASEY CHARLTON: I hear the space suits are stylin’!

THE FINAL FRONTIER 1 22 4

M AY 2 0 1 4

THE FINAL FRONTIER

M J UAY N E 22001144

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Cutest couple JAMES OLESON: You’re my earth and I’m your sun. MICHELLE ALBRIGHT: We revolve around each other, baby.

Should have been a couple JORDAN STOUT: You know we go together just like the moon and stars. EMILY SIMS: Get away from me, I need my space.

TTHHEE FFI N I NAALL FFRROONNTTI EI ERR J M UN AYE 2 0 1 4

1 23 5

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Biggest flirt WILL BECKER: Hey cutie, can I take you out on a launch date? HALEY JONES: Yeah, you can pick me up at my pad.

Friendliest RYAN ELSON: I wish I could wrap my arms around the whole world to give it a hug. ELAINE ZHOU: Life is all about having a good altitude!

THE FINAL FRONTIER 1 24 6

M AY 2 0 1 4

THE FINAL FRONTIER

M J UAY N E 22001144

S E N I O R S U P E R L AT I V E S 2 0 1 4

Class clown TONY YANG: What do planets like to read? SOPHIA HYVER: Comet books!

An unparalleled selection of quality yarns, books, patterns and needles for beginner and master knitters. Classes too! 293 state street, los altos, ca 94022 (650) 941-1815

TTHHEE FFI N I NAALL FFRROONNTTI EI ERR J M UN AYE 2 0 1 4

1 25 7

As we move on to what’s ahead, three seniors look back on their years at Los Altos High School.

Musings of a proud introvert BY YUKI ZANINOVICH

As the clock struck noon and the lunch bell blared, students fervently leaped out of their chairs and rushed for the door. However, I slowly packed up and plodded over to the pizza cart to order the usual: one Hawaiian, one Combo and a bottle of water. From there, I completed my daily

routine of eating while shriveled up next to one of the benches in the 600 wing, patiently waiting for the lunch period to pass. Needless to say, my social life in freshman year was pretty dismal. Coming out of a small private middle school, I only knew two other people out of the entire 1,600+ student population at first—a stark contrast to all the

At Mathnasium Learning Centers, our proven Mathnasium Method helps children clearly understand math by teaching it in a way that makes sense to them. When a child understands math, their confidence soars. With soaring confidence, your child is able to do progressively more –- more advanced work than they would have ever believed possible. Before you know it, your child could become crazy about math!

Mathnasium of Mountain View - Los Altos 2510 W El Camino Real, Ste. #4 • Mountain View, CA 94040 650-941 MATH (6284) mountainviewlosaltos@mathnasium.com www.mathnasium.com/mountainviewlosaltos www.facebook.com/mathnasiummountainviewlosaltos

K - 12TH GRADES • HOMEWORK HELP • SUMMER PROGRAMS

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

Egan and Crittenden kids who had lunch circles since day one. My rather introverted personality also made it challenging for me to take the initiative to approach and get to know others, exacerbating my social crisis. Though I got to know some people, my situation didn’t improve by much the following year, and my social confidence continued to deteriorate. It even began to affect my academic performance eventually, as I had lost all motivation for my schoolwork. I slowly began to feel like an outcast for not being able to master an everyday facet of high school. Though I initially judged myself heavily for my perceived failures, I now realize that fretting over my social life was unnecessary. Yes, I came to the school with a disadvantage, but the struggle to fit into high school culture exists for a lot of us at first, regardless of our social ability; in the end, both my social and academic life naturally improved as time progressed. But I think my mistake was not in setting social goals, but rather prioritizing them over my other sources of enjoyment. Though there is a lot about me that has

changed throughout my journey here, I still have fragments of introversion left within me. Sure, I usually have some direct social interaction every weekend now, but there are also times that I prefer working out by myself or reading a mystery novel within the sanctuary of my room. Forcing myself to act like an extrovert made me compromise some of these other passions, ones which inflicted little stress on me and provided me genuine happiness. If there is one thing that my high school experience taught me, it’s that fitting in isn’t as important as pursuing our own interests. Before heading to college soon, I have a lot to get done, from purchasing school supplies to getting a wardrobe fix-up. But regardless of what I shop for, whether it be jeans or pencils, I will make sure of one thing: I’m doing it not because my friends or parents like them, but because I do.

$2 MINI

MINI BURGERS K A E R B with your high school ID

MONDAY-FRIDAY 11am-6pm

Valid only at the Mountain View location. Expires June 15, 2014.

The function of high school in terms of me BY JORDAN STOUT

If there is one thing I remember from Algebra II, it is the equation for a line. The final value of an equation is regulated by both the constants, which stay the same day-to-day, and the variables, which are frequently changing. While this function has defined my high school life, the transition to college may violate some of its basic mathematical principles. When you spend four years in one place you develop a routine. At 6:45 a.m. I wake up, take a shower, get ready for school and eat a very long breakfast (usually Honey Bunches of Oats and a banana). I leave my house at 7:42 a.m. sharp, just before traffic builds up. When I get to

school between 7:50 a.m. and 7:55 a.m. the same group of five or so friends is always waiting for me. (This self-anointed “morning crew” is one of the many constants in my life.) Others include Ms. Greksouk’s Latin class, which I have taken

for all of my four years, and Mr. Moul’s smiling face in Talon. But next year I am moving to upstate New York. Every single one of my constants will change. When I go off to college—boom—no more morning crew, no more Ms. Greksouk, no more Mr. Moul. I have to start from scratch. I have to derive a new equation for the direction of my life, with a whole new set of constants. I want to remember the little moments, like getting pooped on by a bird on my first day of freshman year, or scoring the game-winning goal in a water polo game. Yet, looking back at my high school years and taking stock of all the constants in my life that will be no more, I can’t help but be a little dis-

appointed with myself. I now realize that I let my high school life be defined by the constants. I settled into my routine, and my high school career has become a blur. The days ran into one another—whether I had a chemistry exam or stayed up all night working on Tapestry, it was never especially memorable because all I remember are the things that happen every single day. But I don’t want the constants, I want the variables. The daily routines are not what are worth remembering; rather, it is the random events that make a day truly great. And maybe that is why, as seniors, we are so excited about leaving high school: from here on out, there are no constants, only variables.

What wakes you up at 6 a.m. during the summer? BY SAM LISBONNE

For the last three summers, I’ve gotten up, trudged off to practice every morning for two hours before the typical school day starts. And this was summertime, the time of laziness, sleep and a laissez-faire approach to activity—parents, just lay off and let the free market sleep in. For some, this kind of committment to athletics sounds ludicrous, more horrific than school itself. But I’ve loved every minute of it. In reflecting upon the last four years of high school, it’s apparent to me that the mentality which got me to every 6 a.m. summer practice is, at heart, an outlook which applies to the larger high school experience. “The actions we take in the name of personal fulfillment and gratification are ultimately the most rewarding,” many parents proclaim. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to convince myself of that dogma at 6 a.m. on those brisk summer mornings. We can choose to represent high school in a myriad of ways. At

graduation last year, speaker Michael Johnson likened his four year experience to a bacon cheeseburger. Fellow columnist Jordan Stout reflected by suggesting that high school is a mathematical formula, complete with its own variables and constants. The significant moments of my high school career stand out to me as choices—and not necessarily the ones I could predict would be significant. For example, several months ago a couple of friends and I began weekly poker night sessions. While the games began as merely cheap entertainment, they soon evolved to become a reliable time for us to decompress after a long week, discuss current events and relax in our own unique way. Poker night represents the idea that activities which are done for the sake of personal enjoyment often end up being the most rewarding. These choices arise within extracurricular contexts as well. I’ve tried to avoid choosing extracurricular activities and pastimes because they will look strong on an application. I’ve avoided the self-purported “honor societies” of NHS and CSF because

I resisted the pressures imposed by a competitive environment to conform, to accept obligations I knew I didn’t want. While some parents insist on a “maximization” approach to extracurriculars— like our four years can be distilled into some formulaic problem optimized by a simple procedure—I opted to do what sounded interesting to me. Instead of spending the summer padding my résumé with activities I wasn’t interested in, I taught six-yearolds to swim and restored a jet engine for the Moffett museum. As a result of pursuing my passions, high school has been a lot of fun.

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

Zoe Morgan

Dhruv Madhok

Carly Cohen

Parmis Taidy

IN-DEPTH EDITOR

MEDIA EDITOR

We really don’t know how Zoe puts up with us. We endlessly question her passion for the district’s alignment policy. We constantly wonder why she has gone to every board meeting for three years. We mock her spelling. We make fun of her tendency to eat everything in her path. Yet despite our lack of respect, she keeps chugging along like the Z-Train we know and love.

WEB MANAGING EDITOR

Parmis practically lives at her computer screen, always with a camera around her neck. Also known as Parm (for Parmesan cheese), Parmis is often sought after by frantic section editors during the last two hours of late nights when they realize they did not, in fact, assign photos to fill their pages.

Rebecca DeShetler

NEWS EDITOR

Affectionately known as CarCo, Carly can always be found in deep conversation with Mr. Moul trying to sort out the seemingly endless problems with In-Depth polls. Though she’s never been known to bite, don’t be quick to judge her diminutive stature—she’s more than capable of maintaining control of the classroom, which she’ll do as next year’s Talon Editor-in-Chief.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

iPhones and people alike can’t get his name right. He wrangles with photo galleries every other day. Whether he is assembling his web team to fix something on the website or looking for a writer to cover a fundraiser, Dhruv never fails to impart his quirky personality to the Talon classroom.

Tony Sun Out of all the editors, Tony Sun is the only one with his own fan club (it’s Facebook-official and currently has 79 members). When Tony isn’t being harassed by our editor-in-chief Zoe, he’s diligently working on laying out his section, one Common Core article at a time. Despite having to face the horrors of dropped articles and printer problems during late nights, he always manages to keep a smile on his face. Stay sunny, Tony Sunshine.

Zach Cohen

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR

Casey Pao

David Wu

With his shortcropped hair, Jared Eng (a.k.a Aang) keeps us on guard, for we’re never sure of whether he’s the Avatar or a tennis ball. When he isn’t being bounced around on the court or saving the world, Tbal is either fixing his computer or complaining about his deviated septum. Arguably the Selfie Olympics King, Talon will miss his absurd faces and multitude of minor health problems.

FEATURES EDITOR

SPORTS EDITOR

In the midst of all the chaos during late nights, we intermittently hear K-Pao singing. Of course, only if she isn’t gone teaching small children how to dance while everyone forgets to check her pages. She is greatly admired by all Talonites for her dedication and devotion to her work—even through drastic sleep deprivation.

You’ll see David roaming the Talon classroom with laptop in hand, at the ready to assign sports web articles. But he does it with style. From zipper pants to fetus sweatshirts, David is a regular on “Today in Talon Fashion.” With a passion for sports and a special love for InDesign, our D-Wu is all too excited to begin working on the Talon website next year.

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR The official InDesign Wizard, Rebecca has single-handedly transformed our newspaper. You’ll hear her name called out every five seconds during Late Nights because she knows pretty much everything. If Reeba-D doesn’t have an answer for you, then there really must not be one. Honestly, where would we be without DeShetler?

Jared Eng

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Zach is the co-founder and co-captain of the prestigious Talon Dance Team. He is the unofficial InDesign Wizard, though it is unclear whether he earned this title by his design prowess or his affinity for cone-shaped hats. It is his civic duty as the Entertainment Editor to watch every TV show in existence, and sometimes his inevitable fatigue leads to naps on the Talon floor.

Emily Sims SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Whether she’s sending a tweet or posting messages on Facebook, E-Sims has got Talon’s back when it comes to social media. There is a good chance, however, that you will find her arguing with her future husband Jordan Stout (though he may not know it yet) in a corner of the classroom. But all you really need to know about Emily is on her Twitter account.

Maya Acharya COPY/CONTENT EDITOR Maya is the co-founder and co-captain of the prestigious Talon Dance Team. She is known for her remarkable ability to recall the most minute AP Style Guide rules at any given moment, and for her intense shimmying technique that won the Talon Dance Team first place at its last competition (it was the only competitor). You can always find Maya at the nearest (high-quality) coffee shop or at any place that serves food.

Best wishes to the 2014-15 staff of The Talon: ED IT O R- I N - C HI E F Carly Cohen P R IN T M AN AGI N G E DI TO RS Maya Acharya, Zach Cohen W EB M AN AGI N G E DI TO R David Wu N EW S E DI TO R Sofia Guo F EAT URE S E DI TO R Katherine Yen Left to right, top row: Michael Moul, Dhruv Madhok, Jared Eng, David Wu, Zach Cohen, Parmis Taidy, Zoe Morgan. Middle row: Ariel Machell, Yuki Zaninovich, Tony Sun, Steven Cui, Rebecca DeShetler. Bottom row: Casey Pao, Carly Cohen, Maya Acharya, Perla Luna, Sitara Sriram

Steven Cui COPY/CONTENT EDITOR Talon late nights are trying times—whether it’s due to Zoe’s slow transformation into a volcano or the printer problems that seem to always plague our publication, we editors are always stressed. Steven is the exception to the rule. His upbeat and cheerful nature makes him a credit to the team, but don’t ever anger him—like the other Copy/ Content Editors, he’ll ruthlessly cut you (and your ever-too-long articles) to the size they have to be. Keep smiling and cutting, Mister Steven Cui.

Yuki Zaninovich COPY/CONTENT EDITOR Yuki’s titles in Talon are endless: officially, he’s a Copy/Content Editor, a Webmaster, and a writer (with a few columns on the side). Unofficially, he’s known to many as the food provider, the pun maker, and the Pokémon master. Yuki can be seen passing out Mama Shizu’s homemade rice balls, making sure his fellow Talonites are well fed. His silly shenanigans often keep our Web and Man-

aging Editors from doing their work, but it’s hard to stay mad at the goofball for long.

get the job done.

Ariel Machell

BUSINESS MANAGER

COPY/CONTENT EDITOR Being a mermaid in a fairy tale movie, Ariel is naturally a passionate writer for the Entertainment section. Whether it be Frozen or Sherlock Holmes, she can whip out a 5-star quality review in no time, but we all know that she just wants an excuse to plop on her couch and turn on Netflix. However, that isn’t to undermine her contributions as a Copy/Content Editor: one can see her cutting articles at late nights with fervor and enthusiasm, all while scarfing down dinner.

Perla Luna BUSINESS MANAGER Perla can often be found harassing editors to include just that one extra ad on their pages. Known by some as “Pluna,” Perla’s known for her incredible tenacity in getting businesses to purchase ads. Don’t let her quietness fool you—behind that silent gaze is a funny, sassy individual who isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to

IN - D EP TH E DI TO R Amelia Baum EN T ERTAI N M E N T E DI TO R Alice Dai S P O RT S E DI TO R Daniel Rosenbaum

Sitara Sriram

M ED IA E DI TO R Noy Anisman

Out of all the Talonites, Sitara is the one who should get her own reality show (Sitara Takes N.Y.C., coming this summer to E!). Whether it be her love of Queen Bey or her ability to relate her emotions with phrases like “ratchet” and “not cute,” Sitara always brings a special type of hilarity to her work.

Michael Moul ADVISOR Mr. Michael Moul is not only known for his perfectly groomed goatee, but also as the glue that holds the Talon classroom together. Mr. Moul is loved and appreciated by all of the Talonites for his expert advising and precise knowledge of our rights as student journalists. One may think that he is really just present in Talon for legal reasons, but Mr. Moul enjoys his time in Talon and is always willing to help out a Talonite in need. When he isn’t sitting at his desk in room 409, you can either find him at House of Bagels or breaking his femur snowboarding in Tahoe.

C O P Y/ C O N TE N T E DI TO RS William Jow, James Sun, Maya Varghese, Kevin Yen S EN IOR WRI TE RS Robert Chin, Perla Luna, Johnny Scher, Sitara Sriram S TA F F WRI TE RS Emily Aoki, Claire Bai, Tedy Chmyz, Hannah Craford, Spencer Dembner, Chris Dudoh, Annie Gaffney, Anneliese Gallagher, Olivia Jerram, Hanna Khosravi, Jessica King, Josh Kirshenbaum, Eric Kopps, Elaine Lee, Emily Terada, Eric Thiem, David Lisbonne, Leonardo Wai P H O T OGRAP HE RS Brandon Hong, Elvis Li, Ian Mackey, Allegra Maeso, Noah Tsao GR A PHI C ARTI S TS Vanessa Mark, Amanda Mell

THE FINAL FRONTIER

JUNE 2014

“Since freshman year, I have gained greater maturity, greater discipline and greater awareness of myself.” — PETER SON-BELL

“Since freshman year, I’ve lost any dignity I had… especially after coming to school dressed as an asparagus.” — ANICA NANGIA