Octagon 2022-23 Issue 2

Testing in a test-optional age

BY WILLIAM HOLZ & DANIEL HOLZ

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) testing sessions have become harder to find and the schedul ing less reliable at a time when students are scrambling to get their hands on any open spots available be fore college applications are due.

With the development of online SAT availability, there are fewer in-person testing sites available.

The College Board’s website of fers this warning: “Remember, test centers may close or make changes on short notice, including on test day, and they may even close for the scheduled makeup date. Test center data is updated every three hours—be sure to search any closings the night before and morning of your scheduled test.”

Therefore, many students are ex periencing scheduling conflicts.

“The College Board is likely so fo cused on the fact that they’re going digital that they overlook these prob lems because they figure an online format will make them go away,” said Alicia Perla, Country Day’s college counselor.

Another reason for the shortage of SAT testing sessions is that all pub lic California universities have gone test-blind, resulting in fewer tests in the region.

The lack of testing sessions has pushed some students to look for tests out of state.

Senior Callister Misquitta took a last-second spot in Las Vegas on Aug. 7 after the availability of sessions in California dried up.

Flying in the day before the test, Misquitta had to pay for his own plane ticket and was lucky that he could stay with an aunt.

“It was more stressful for me because I spent time and money on a plane ticket; it made me feel more pressure,” he said.

Misquitta was able to attend a second test at Jesuit High School on Oct. 1 along with fellow class mate senior Ryan Paul, who was not as fortunate as Misquitta back in August.

Paul, along with four other se niors, properly registered for an Aug. 27 test and landed a seat at Mira Loma High School. However, that test was canceled, and only one student was able to resched ule a test for the same date. Paul and the other seniors were forced to arrange sessions at later dates.

“They didn’t even have the courtesy to send me an email,” Paul said.

To ensure a smooth testing experience, Perla recommends starting early and avoiding schools with histories of canceling last minute.

“If you’re really serious about having a particular score and that score is within your reach, it would make sense for you to start looking for tests in March of your junior year at the earliest,” Perla said.

“Look to possibly take it again in August of your senior year.”

Most testing preparation ser vices recommend at least five weeks of studying in advance to be properly prepared, and free resources are available on Khan Academy.

For seniors who have been un able to take the test, Country Day is providing an SAT session on Oct. 27. Juniors and sophomores take the PSAT on Oct. 25.

For more information about standardized testing, contact Ali cia Perla at aperla@saccds.org.

Heavy workloads lead to student burnout

BY GARMAN XU & GARRETT XU

Amid school work, research projects and the college appli cation season, many students are feeling the effects of burn out. Researchers who study high school students have described burnout as the result of too much stress, leading to exhaus tion, a feeling of inadequacy and cynicism, which can have nega tive impacts on a student’s men tal and physical health.

College application stress

Although many high school seniors have had full schedules throughout high school, the upcoming deadlines for college essays and applications have impacted their workloads and stress levels.

Seniors Savanna Karmue and Shakhzoda Khodajakhon ova said they feel pressure to maintain their grades because of their significance in college

admissions.

“People only see you for your grades,” Karmue said. “So, whenever I mess up, I feel like I am a mess-up. College is around the corner, and colleges just sees people as their grades.”

In order to look good for col lege applications, some seniors are hesitant to drop activities or classes and prefer to hang on with the status quo even though the workload is stressful.

Both Khodajakhonova and Karmue are the leaders of their own clubs and have other extra curricular commitments in addi tion to schoolwork.

In addition to running the choir and philanthropy clubs, Khodajakhonova is a co-pres ident for the philosophy club. She also plays girls varsity vol leyball and does a lot of work as an attorney on Country Day’s Mock Trial team.

Karmue is the president of her non-profit, Happy Heart Advice, and also serves on the Sacra mento County Youth Advisory board of Mental Health.

“I feel like I’m just grinding

through, and it’s just another thing for me to put on my apps,” Karmue said. “It just sucks be cause I started these extracur riculars because I actually had a passion for it, but now I feel like I’m just trying to finish it for col lege.”

Tough balancing act

In addition to balancing mul tiple academic courses, senior Amaya Anguiano’s experience with burnout left little room for socialization.

“I found it hard to find the time to talk to my friends be cause I felt school was so im portant even though it was hard for me to get schoolwork done, “ Anguiano said. “I needed to get that out of the way first and then I could go and have fun with my friends, but it never really hap pened that way.”

Burnout is not just a senior problem, however.

Freshman Jaq Howes said he

PHOTO BY ADAM AKINS

LAST MAN SITTING In the first Country Day pep rally in two years, students, teachers and Baxter compete in a game of musical chairs. Freshman Jackson Whited claimed victory as the crowd cheered. PHOTO BY REHAN AFZAL

Stichery club weaves into the club network Learn about how junior Mia Crowder discovered her passion for stichery and founded her own club.

PRINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Simone DeBerry Garman Xu

ONLINE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Adam Akins

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SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF

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CONTRIBUTOR Baxter ADVISER Bonnie Stewart

The Octagon is the student-run news paper of Sacramento Country Day high school. The print edition is published eight times a year, and the website is updated daily. The Octagon is com mitted to unbiased and comprehen sive reporting, serving as a source of reliable information for SCDS students and the school community. The Octa gon will publish all timely and relevant news deemed appropriate by the ed itors-in-chief and adviser. We seek to highlight high-school-related events and spotlight the voices of those with a story to share. Further policies can be found on our website or by scanning the QR code below.

Sacramento State internships worthwhile

BY EMILY COOK

Whether their job is to help feed a bearded dragon or study dozens of fruit flies, three SCDS seniors are start ing their internships at California State University, Sacramento.

These three seniors are Shakhzoda Khodjakhonova, Ibrahim MoheyEldin and Grace Eberhart.

Khodjakhonova interns in CSUS Vivar ium management and animal care under Samuel Curtis, who runs the CSUS Vivari um. Khodjakhonova spends her time feed ing and caring for some of the more than 30 species of reptiles, amphibians and vertebrates. The school uses the animals to enrich curriculum and participate in outreach activities, according to the CSUS Field Biology Group website.

“Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are our main animal care days,” Khodjakhono va said. “I get everyone their food and refill their water. Sometimes I have to shove the earthworms down the frogs’ throats to get them to eat them.”

MoheyEldin and Eberhart are interning in the biology lab, researching the effects of aging by studying fruit flies under the tutelage of Johannes Bauer, assistant pro fessor of chemistry.

MoheyEldin and Eberhart both analyze the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster

“Work in fruit flies was instrumental in elucidating the principles of modern genetics and developmental biology,” ac cording to Bauer’s CSUS faculty website profile.

“Right now, I’m analyzing the data that they’ve accumulated over a period of time, and then we’re going to figure out conclu sions from that data,” Eberhart said.

The scientists are studying flies with a mutation that increases aggression. They want to see if that mutation leads to an in creased rate of aging, especially in relation to social environment and behavior, Eber hart said.

“We look at how fruit flies age, and we work with fruit flies because they have a short lifespan. We can get the results of how breed and gender affect the fly’s lifespan quicker this way,” Eberhart said. “We’re also testing the sociability of flies and how they interact with each other.”

For the past two years, CSUS in terns have had to be fully remote due to COVID-19. The internship program began in 2016 when SCDS student interns paired with CSUS professors to assist them with their research.

Typically, four students intern each year, each with one of the four CSUS professors. However, this year, there is one less posi

tion available due to associate professor Michael Wright’s sabbatical.

To apply, students must have complet ed biology. If selected, they will complete a for-credit internship under a professor in either a lab or the CSUS Vivarium. Interns begin in July and end in May of the follow ing year.

Whited and Robin Altman, an associate professor in biological sciences, lead the internship program.

Whited coordinates with the interning students and with CSUS, while Altman handles the safety paperwork and helps keep the program running smoothly.

The two first met when Altman was a long-term substitute teacher for Whited when she was on maternity leave. This marked the beginning of a friendship be tween the two.

When the two decided to create the pro gram, they had two goals.

“The first goal was to provide opportuni ties for high school students to experience research and an academic environment earlier in their educational journey than typically possible, and the second goal was to strengthen collaborative ties between our two academic institutions,” Altman said.

The program is a rare opportunity for students at the high school level, Whited said.

“I always will sit down with students and have a discussion with them about why they’re interested in it and make sure they understand the scheduling demands,” Whited said.

In some cases, when students do not reach out first, Whited finds students she thinks will be a good fit for the program. This is how MoheyEldin and Eberhart were introduced to the program.

“It just sounded really interesting. Last year during one of the Leadership Lunches, Sanjana Anand, who interned last year, was talking about it,” Eberhart said. “I thought it would be something cool to try out in high school before going off to college, so when Whited reached out, I accepted.”

Senior Khodjakhonova, however, was in troduced through an interview with Vivian Conner, ’22, who interned at the CSUS Vi varium last year.

“For my AP English Language and Com position class, we had to interview some one for an essay. It started from that, and I went into the vivarium to write Vivian’s profile, and she showed me around,” Khod jakhonova said. When Whited later sent out an email a few months later about the internship, Khodjakhonova decided to en ter the program.

The internship, while an exciting op portunity, is difficult to manage with high school classes and extracurriculars.

For example, Khodjakhonova had to choose between AP Computer Science A and AP Art History in order to have enough time for the internship.

“It’s a lot to handle,” she said. “I have to have two free periods stacked just to be able to have enough time to go to the vi varium.”

But, she said, it was worth it since she gets to work with incredible people and gain skills that will be essential in college.

MoheyEldin is also glad he became an intern.

“I get to work in a lab environment prior to college and get that class experience,” he said. “I would recommend it to anyone who would also like to work in a lab envi ronment and try out research.”

Overall, the new interns participating this year are fabulous, Altman said.

“Many of the restrictions that were in place previously during the pandemic have relaxed this year,” Altman said. “This puts us in the great position of largely return ing to pre-pandemic procedures. It’s really nice because it feels more ‘normal’ again this year!”

Whited said the professors were amaz ing considering the internships had to be fully remote in 2020-2021 and had restric tions in 2021-2022.

“They all figured out how to make it re mote and how to make it a meaningful ex perience for the students,” she said. “I’m so grateful to them because this is 100% vol unteer work. They all do this because they really believe in training the next genera tion of research scientists and getting stu dents excited about research.”

A SHELL OF A TIME Senior Shakhzoda Khodjakhonova refills water for the three-toed box turtles in the CSUS Vivar ium. PHOTO COURTESY OF KHODJAKHONOVA

DRAGON ALONG Alumni Vivi an Conner shows off a bearded dragon.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAKHZODA KHODJAKHONOVA

Burnout: Students struggle to find motivation

(continued from page 1)

feels pressure to perform well academical ly. Burnout has been a problem for him this year because his school and his extracur ricular work have been stacking up.

“I have a lot of lessons when I get home from school, three Chinese lessons, one math and one Spanish per week,” Howes said. “It gets kind of difficult to multitask everything.”

Missing motivation

Burnout does not happen overnight. Rather, the accumulation of different fac tors including expectations to succeed, busy schedules and developmental chang es can build up overtime.

As a result, Khodajakhonova said she has a general loss of motivation in her attitude toward maintaining her classwork.

“This pressure just shrinks the energy and motivation out of you. So now it’s not that you’re doing it to learn, you’re just do ing it to finish it,” Khodajakhonova said.

Health impacts

In addition to impacting motivation and socialization, burnout can cause potential concerns for the well-being of students as well.

Researchers have found that when stu dents endure long periods of stress they can suffer from physical, affective and cog nitive impacts.

Freshman Howes said it is easy to tell if he’s burned out—there are several obvi ous indicators he displays, both visual and emotional.

They include bags under his eyes and bad posture along with an overall irritable and grumpy mood.

His negative mood drastically changes his productivity when it comes to getting his work done.

“Whenever I feel upset in general, I start procrastinating a lot which makes me even more upset in general.” Howes said. “If I don’t get my work done, I can’t do any of the other things I like to do when I get home.”

Khodajakhonova has similar experiences in regards to her mood being impacted by burnout.

“You’re just too tired to feel anything,” she said.

Both Karmue and Khodajakhonova recognize the importance of taking care of their well-being. However, they both haven’t found much success in their efforts to alleviate that stress amidst their busy schedules.

In the past, Khodajakhonova used to follow her own weekly tradition: self-care Sunday, dedicated to help her mental health. Every Sunday, she would do a com bination of maintaining a skin care rou tine, treating herself to acai bowls, exercis ing and journaling, among other activities as stress relievers for a mental reset. Un fortunately, self-care Sunday has not hap pened in two years.

Similarly, Karmue added that she used to have a motivational, self-reflective podcast she would regularly release every Monday. But, because of college applications, extra curriculars and keeping up with school, she said she no longer has the energy to do it anymore, even if she wanted to.

“You don’t even want to have fun be cause having fun is so much work and en ergy,” Karmue said.

Stress reduction tips

Students have had varying experiences reaching out for help with balancing their schedules.

In the past, Howes talked to the school’s social and emotional counselor for help, but has since lost the time and motivation to seek help on campus. Instead, he decided to shoulder his mental burnout by himself.

Even so, Howes said it sometimes is hard to deal with burnout all by himself. He feels like he is trapped in a constant cycle of stress stemming from not getting things done quickly.

Beginning with a bad mood, he said it leads to constant procrastination, which leads to the loss of personal time, which impacts his mental health.

“By sacrificing that time, you kind of get stuck in that hellhole,” he said. “There’s not much I can do about it.”

Senior Anguiano was able to find more success in consulting the SCDS Academic Resource Center while battling timemanagement challenges presented by CO VID-19 in her junior year.

Although, last year, she had a rough start enrolling in a rigorous schedule and returning to in-person classes after the pandemic, Anguiano said working out a focused work schedule with Country Day Learning Specialist Tara Adams helped her manage her academics and decrease her stress.

“When I was at school, I tried to get as much work done so that when I got home, I could finish up what I needed to and have the rest of the day to relax,” Anguiano said. “Ms. Adams helped me with planning out a schedule for the weekend for different as signments for each day.”

A plan to plan

To combat stress that leads to burnout, Adams suggested students become proac tive planners.

In addition to documenting goals and writing a physical planner, she encour ages students to make the effort to break up their schedules and study sessions with designated breaks.

Adams strongly recommends planning activities and then completing each task in multiple blocks. She said taking the time to

make a plan and follow it might help many students get a better control of workload management.

“It’s such a simple task, but for some reason, it’s really tough for students to just find that time to sit down and chunk up what their day looks like,” she said. “But when you have an overview of what your day looks like, what your week looks and even your month, you’re able to visualize what you have going on.”

Adams suggests using a timer to build strong habits. Whether it is for a reminder to write down goals or to take a break, she said having them planned for a longer pe riod of time will greatly improve getting work done consistently.

“It takes 90 days to build a habit,” she said. “So if you’re going to try a strategy, try it for three full months.”

“Set an alarm and go through your schedule and write out what you have,” Ad ams said. “Hold yourself accountable every single day and then see if that improves your habits. But you have to give it time.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with and or has questions about burnout, contact tadams@scdsstudent.org or go to the Academic Resource Center on campus.

LOW BATTERY Students feel drained from juggling many classes and extra curricular activities. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY GARMAN XU, ADAM AKINS AND WILLIAM HOLZ

(Koçak & Çakır, 2020)

Running club returns

BY ANDREW BURR

After a multi-year hiatus, Country Day has finally caught the running bug again. The running club has made a return with the help of both students and teachers.

Reinstated by senior Adam Akins, junior Ike George and Dean of Student Life Patricia Jacobsen, the club will provide students with the practice and instruction needed to run the Shamrock’n Half Marathon in March.

The Shamrock’n is a Sacramento running event that began in 2005. It offers a half marathon, a 10k and a 5k. There are typically over 7,000 runners in attendance, ranging from professional athletes to walkers.

Last year, when George was training to run the California International Marathon, he wanted to put together a group of students to train for and run the marathon with him. At that time, it was too late to start a club, but the idea has stuck with him since.

Jacobsen told them about the Shamrock’n Half Marathon on March 11-12, 2023. With the idea of starting a running club now in their heads, the Shamrock’n sounded like the perfect fit.

Since Shamrock’n takes place in the spring, there is time for anyone of any athletic ability to join the club with the goal of completing the half marathon.

Currently, the club has eight members. Training will start in November and consist of runs ranging from 3 miles to 10 miles, depending on the day and a runner’s ability level.

“We’re going to start doing some training during lunch, flex and after school. We can access a 5k loop near campus because we’re allowed to run independently off campus,” Akins said.

There are many people in the running club who have different motivations and reasons for being part of it. Some people want to push the limits of their bodies, some want to build mental strength, some want to stay fit and some just want to have fun.

Akins said, “No matter what your previous experience with running is or what your goal for the half marathon, 5k or 10k could be, there is definitely a spot and a reason for you to join the running club.”

Aakash Arumugam enhances Country Day XC team

BY LAUREN LU

Junior Aakash Arumugam collapsed and sprawled out on the ground, exhausted after running a race. It was one of then-sophomore Aakash’s first cross country races after COVID-19 quarantine, and he

While he lay resting, Aakash thought about all the training he had done — all the 5 a.m. runs, after-school practices and diet modifications that had led up to

He didn’t even know that he made it through the qualifiers until his father, Arumugam Sivasubramanian, ran up to him cheering and saying

“It was so surprising, and it’s a good feeling to see your hard work paying off,” Aakash said. “It was such a special

Aakash’s passion for running began at the early age of 7.

“My dad and I would go on runs together,” Aakash said.

“One day, he noticed that I wouldn’t really break a sweat, even after I ran around 6 miles, and eventually he realized that I was really talented at it.”

Still, it was not until a trip to the Golden Gate Park that his father decided to enroll him in the local running club.

At the park, young Aakash spotted a group of marathon runners.

“He saw them running and just directly went to them. He was asking if he could race with them,” Sivasubramanian

One week later, Aakash started his competitive running

Over the years, Aakash has practiced with several running

“Because we had to move and there were a lot of changes in our lives, we constantly had to move to different teams,” his

The first club Aakash joined was a sprint team, but with his strength in distance running, he transferred after a couple of

The new club practiced about 45 minutes from the family’s home. This was clearly a far larger commitment and created some problems for the family. Despite this, the club was still very good for Aakash's development in running.

“We used to drive him all the way there for practice, but it was worth it because that team provided very good training for him,” Sivasubramanian said.

Aakash attributes a great deal of his success as a runner to the unconditional support he receives from his parents. His parents provide help for him in every possible running-related

and is the emotional support,” Aakash said. “It’s not just about the physical running — it’s also mental.”

Last year, Aakash achieved one of his greatest accomplishments yet, placing 11th with a time of 16:35.3 in the San Joaquin Sectionals, the qualifier race for the CIF State Cross Country Championships. He competed in that statewide meet on Nov. 27, 2021 and ran a time of 16:15.6 which was a personal record at the time.

Sivasubramanian was filled with pride when he learned of his son’s final results in these races.

During his freshman year, many of Aakash’s races got canceled due to COVID-19. As a result, he did not begin competing in high school races until his sophomore year.

“As a parent, I didn’t really know what his true potential was until then,” Sivasubramanian said.

“I’ve always known that he likes running and is good at it, but I didn’t know how he compared to other athletes.”

Aakash trains with his personal trainer, coach Anthony Mallory, who has been mentoring and working out with him since May.

Mallory has always been impressed with Aakash’s pure athletic prowess and ability to keep “his mind and body relaxed” while running long distances or exerting himself to the limit. This ability to push beyond the point where most people give up

Aakash’s determination and focus on his passion has also contributed to his “success in the sport of running and in academics,” Mallory said. “Aakash is really eager to be the best in practices and races. He is extremely competitive and tends to push himself really hard.”

Sivasubramanian said that Aakash has always been a “self-propelled, self-motivated person.”

“All he needs is some guidance,” Sivasubramanian said.

This season, Mallory hopes to help Aakash improve his understanding of his aerobic threshold pace, which will allow him to conserve energy during big races and use that energy later in the race to achieve better times.

Aakash is also a member of the Country Day cross country team, led by coach Joe Hartman.

Although Hartman has only known Aakash for a short amount of time, he commends him for his coachability and work ethic.

“He trains so much on his own, and it shows because he is one of the fastest juniors in the Sacramento-San Joaquin region,” Hartman said.

On Oct. 8, Aakash competed in the Asics Clovis Invitational, his first major meet with the Country Day team. There, he placed 16th in the Men’s 5,000 Meter Varsity - Small race with a time of 16:13.6.

RUNNING RAMPANT Aakash Arumugam races to the finish line at the William Jessup XC Invi tational. PHOTO COURTESY OF JEREMY BURR

While his mother helps him maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle, his father drives him to most of his practices and races all around Sacramento and beyond.

“He really cheers me on

With performances like this, Arumugam is on track to improve his times befor the end of this season.

Moving forward, Aakash is eager to see just how far he can progress in his junior year and beyond, aiming to “go as far” as he possibly can.

HIGH SCHOOL TRIPS RETURN

Students travel across the West Coast to Tahoe, Death Valley and Ashland, Oregon

STORY BY SAMHITA KUMAR; PHOTOS BY REHAN AFZAL, LAUREN LU, GARRETT XU AND SIMONE DEBERRY

Freshmen traveled to Heavenly Val ley Lodge in South Lake Tahoe, where they participated in team building activities, learned about the effects of the Caldor Fire and prac ticed basic camping skills.

“On our first night, we teamed up to make a dish to present to our instruc tors and whoever won would get a prize on the last night of the week,” freshman Daniel Holz said. “Rehan (Afzal) and I made some amazing tacos and got sec ond place.”

Freshman Ava Dunham, along with her roommates Ashly Omalu and Lillian Wang, prepared pasta dishes. Dunham made risotto, while Wang presented spa ghetti.

“I’m not bad at cooking, and I make it every Sunday,” she said. However, she ran into some problems. “I ended up burning two batches of my grandmother’s risotto, which infuriated me to no end because I wasted all my green onions.”

After a third try, Dunham was able to present a successful risotto.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said.

The sophomore class visited multiple sites across Southern California. They spent days in Death Valley, the Manzanar National Historic Site — the site of a Jap anese internment camp — and the Paiute reservation in Bishop.

“The visit to Manzanar was really eye opening,” sophomore Cara Shin said. “It really gave me a new perspective on the people who lived there.”

Sophomore Irene Jung enjoyed the trip to the Paiute reservation, where students visited a museum.

“We could make bracelets and stuff out of the wood,” she said, referring to activ ities inside the museum. “We could also do a little scavenger hunt inside.”

However, Jung’s favorite part of the trip was the sunrise hike in Death Valley.

“It was tiring, but the view was really cool because the sunrise would be really

pink and orange and blue,” she said. “It would be all sorts of colors.”

The upperclassmen saw five plays from various eras at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. They also explored the small town, with free rein to enter the shops and restaurants of down town Ashland.

Junior Julie Tsoi, a tarot enthusiast, had her cards read for the first time.

“I was walking down the street, and I saw a store that said ‘Vintage something and Oracles,’” she said. “I was like, ‘Wait, what if they do readings?’”

Tsoi was escorted to the basement of the shop, where a woman used three tar ot decks to read her future.

“I told her what I was thinking,” she said. “I was like, ‘I feel like my life is re ally chaotic right now. And, I just need to know what’s going on and like how to move forward.’”

The reader had her place her hands on the cards and think about the questions

she had asked, Tsoi said. The first two decks the reader used answered her ini tial questions.

“I had to decide, ‘What memories do I need to let go of and what memories do I need to keep?’” she said, recounting the words of the tarot reader. She was ad vised to take time for herself and focus on the ripple effect of positive actions.

The reading closed with advice for any upcoming decisions in Tsoi’s life.

“Then she drew a couple of cards that helped explain what I should do to make these decisions and what would help me make the right decisions.”

Students also had time to bond with classmates.

”My favorite part of the trip was get ting to hang out with all my friends,” se nior Shakhzoda Khodjakhonova said.

“It was one of the freest feelings. I met so many cool people and got really close with so many people in our grades.”

Students recently traveled throughout California and Oregon to participate in cultural experiences ranging from Shakespeare plays to sand dune hikes. The trips, from Oct. 11-14, offered hands-on learning and gave students an opportunity to build stronger relationships with their classmates in new environments.

With college application deadlines approach ing quickly, seniors are beginning to look toward the future, so we asked teachers to look into the past and recall their own ap plication experiences.

Computer Science Coordinator Charles Farris, High School Dean of Student Life Patricia Jacobsen, English teacher Jason Hinojosa, Director of College Counsel ing Alicia Perla, math teacher Jo French, Jr., chemis try teacher Victoria Conner, Assistant to the Head of High School Grace Strumpfer and biology teacher Kel lie Whited share their experiences with undergraduate college applications.

STORY BY AVA EBERHART; PHOTOS BY ADAM AKINS AND COURTESY OF MUGSYCLICKS

turning back

Q: How was your college ad missions experience?

Farris: A lot of my admissions process looked like this.

First, do I want to continue education and go to college?

Then, if I wanted to choose that path, how could I make that happen? There was kind of a lot of angst as to what I wanted to do post-graduation.

Then, I did a lot of researching different universities.

Researching liberal art schools was almost like a joke to me; I didn’t really think any thing of them.

Someone suggested to me that I should apply to a liberal arts school, and I was like, “What’s that?”

I put down Wesleyan University because I had heard of it from the show “How I Met Your Mother” and because it was on a coast. Its location was something I was looking forward to because I wanted to move out of Minnesota, so I could see other cultures and feel like more of an individual.

Eventually, I ended up going to Wesleyan — I got the news when I was alone outside of a Starbucks.

I was almost disappointed because I didn’t even remember what state it was in, but then it ended up working out really well. I liked my time studying there.

Conner: I had an older brother who went through the whole process before me, so that was kind of an advantage because I got to go with him on college visits. That was very helpful, as it helped me narrow down the kind of school I wanted to go to.

Once I did that, I went on my own college visits, and I found my dream school. When I found that, I decided to apply early decision, and that worked out very well for me.

The big difference from today is the fact that everything I did was on paper, so ev erything had to be typed or handwritten. I actually got a physical letter — a “welcome to college” kind of thing — as my admissions letter, which is very different from these days.

I liked the anticipation of waiting for that letter in the mailbox. I know there’s still an ticipation waiting for the email to show up in your inbox, but there’s still something about having that in your hands that makes it feel a little bit more real.

Jacobsen: It was very different back then. If you had a really good report card, you didn’t also have to be curing cancer and making rockets on the side or building Teslas in your spare time.

So, I applied to three schools, all of which I liked. I picked the one that I think was best suited for who I was at the time. I felt like I belonged in New York City.

I was so excited that I got in that I did cart wheels across my front lawn.

Strumpfer: It was a wild, crazy and hectic time.

I was in an interesting spot because I knew that I wasn’t going to get into the super top-tier schools, and I was okay with that. That took a little bit of the stress off of me.

Then again, there was just so much writ ing and things I had to make sure that I got all done correctly, and that was a little bit of a nightmare.

Personally, I didn’t have my heart set on a major or a program or even a certain school. All I knew was that in order to keep myself sane, I had to be somewhere with decent weather.

I know that sounds a little ridiculous, but if you think about spending four years in a location that you hate, even if you love the school, that would be kind of miserable. At

least, it would be for me.

Whited: I graduated high school in 1996, and it was a different world back then.

For every college, you had to request, in writing, an application, and then, you were sent a paper application that you had to fill out with a typewriter because they had to be typed.

So, you lived in fear of hitting the wrong button because then you would have to re quest a new application; you couldn’t use whiteout.

I mean, college applications are so stress ful, and then you add in no room for human error, and it was pretty awful.

People just didn’t apply to as many schools as we do now. I also went to a private high school, and so, we had a college counselor, and that was really helpful.

My counselor was great at helping me nar row my colleges, but there was no reading essays for us and all of that extra help. We were very much independent.

ery college says that they do, but I wanted a school where I knew I would be pressured and expected to learn a lot, so that drew me to St. John’s College.

St. John’s has a reputation of being a school that changes people’s lives, and I wanted that too. I just wanted to be kind of immersed in the learning community.

Conner: I knew I wanted to major in bio chemistry, so I was looking for a school that had that program.

Also, at the time, biochemistry was an ex tremely male-dominated field; it still is. So, I wanted a place that would allow me to be more hands-on and more involved with it earlier.

Mt. Holyoke is a small school, and it’s also a women’s college. They have also been very strong in the sciences, historically.

So, that enabled me to learn about chem istry and, specifically, biochemistry.

Perla: I grew up just outside of New York City, so while I did not only apply to New York schools, my priority was, ideally, to live in New York and go to college in New York. So, that was a big driver for me.

Whited: The school had to have a veterinary medicine program, and I really wanted to be somewhere close to the West Coast.

Farris: For me, I wanted to go and continue studying math and languages, among oth er things. So, I wanted to find a school with good resources around that.

I also wanted to find somewhere new to learn about a new community and for the name of the school to mean something when people said it. However, the more down the line of education I get, the more I don’t feel like the name of a school matters.

Hinojosa: The main thing was that I want ed a place where it seemed that the institu tion took learning seriously. I know that ev

I love Davis. I’ve always loved Davis, and I’d always wanted to go to Davis. I went there twice!

Q: Looking back, is there any thing that you wish had gone differently?

Conner: It would have been much easier to write all my essays with the modern technol ogy that we have now.

I think it’s much more streamline these

Q: What aspects did you prior itize while searching for col leges to apply to?

back the clock

days, especially with the essays, since you can check your grammar and make correc tions.

It’s a lot better these days than it was back then.

Hinojosa: I wish I had been a little bit more honest with myself about where I belonged and where I would be happy. There’s a temp tation that I think maybe all students feel to aim high, even if it’s the wrong school.

I think it’s sort of hard to know who you are and where you belong before you get there. I think I should’ve been a little gentler with myself about some of the other schools that I was applying to because St. John’s was clearly the right place for me.

French: I basically did everything on my own — it was a lot less organized. I think they may have told me about some dates, but even those I think I had to figure out on my own.

My college counselor was dealing with 300 other students, so there wasn’t a lot of oneon-one discussion. It’s nice that the seniors now have that much support, but on the oth er hand, it’s also that much more stressful because everything is so much more selec tive.

Perla: I just wish I would have known more about the process in general and understood the difference between different types of colleges.

The U.S. News & World Report was barely in existence at that point; it wasn’t what it is today. So, it never would’ve occurred to me to apply to schools on the other side of the country. How would I get there? How would I learn anything about those schools? I didn’t even know what it was like in that part of our country.

Jacobsen: We didn’t have college counsel

ors. So, no one was really counseling me and suggesting anything about reach or target schools.

So, I chose to go to NYU based on location. I thought New York City would be really cool.

But, I always wondered,“would I have got ten accepted into a more selective school, had anyone pushed me?” I never had anyone really pushing me.

I always thought that maybe, had someone encouraged me to reach a little bit higher, I could have gone to Harvard for undergrad.

That’s why, years later, when I decided to go to graduate school , I made the decision to only apply to the top schools. So, I applied to Harvard and Columbia Teachers College. I got into both.

But, I think taking the risk and saying, “okay, this school is weird, and not everyone has heard of it. It doesn’t have the prestige of a school like Pomona, but it’s perfect for me,” is something I hope all students expe rience.

I think I did that right, and I encourage our students to do the same thing — to be honest with themselves.

Strumpfer: I think it’s good that I didn’t overly stress about getting into every specif ic school.

I think that it’s good that I lost some of that pressure by thinking, “okay, I might not get my first choice, but I like everywhere I’ve applied.”

Even if the school might not have the ex act program that you want, you might find a really good teacher or a really good group of students, so you can make your own experi ence wherever you go.

to seniors who are working on their college applications?

Farris: Make sure to research colleges that you don’t know and maybe even have heard negative things about.

Also, keep your options open, and don’t worry about what your friends are doing.

French: Be true to yourself. Don’t try to paint a picture just to get into a college. If it’s not you, it’s not going to be a good match.

Find the school that’s right for you, not just because it’s the top rank school.

Jacobsen: Don’t worry about the name. I think a lot of people, especially at our school and schools like ours, are kind of name-driv en. As in, they are motivated by the college name and reputation.

French: I spent a lot of time thinking about my essays and trying to give a good picture of myself. I felt like I presented myself in the best way, and if it wasn’t going to be a good fit, I understood that. This is me, and if the college doesn’t think it’s a good match because they’re looking for something else, that’s sort of out of my hands.

So, I tried not to get stressed out about that, and I had faith in the process that I would find a good match for myself, even if it wasn’t what I felt should be my No.1 choice.

Hinojosa: I think applying to St. John’s was the right choice.

It was scary since I applied to Pomona, Occidental and other schools that were a little bit more conventionally well-respect ed. I think I would’ve been happy at those schools, too.

Whited: I’m glad that I didn’t let other peo ple influence me. I knew what I wanted, and even though my school was really pushing for me to pick the big-name colleges, I was true to who I am and what I wanted with my life. I chose the school that I really knew was right for me.

I always tell my students that one of the greatest lessons I ever learned was from my AP Art History teacher, who was one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met. He taught me that you can’t pick your college for the name on the sweatshirt. You have to pick the college that’s going to give you the education that you want. You need to pick the college that lets you learn from the people that you want to learn from. Oth erwise, at the end of the day, your degree is just a receipt.

Q: What advice would you give

For example, I think what I did with NYU was finding the best fit for me at that time. To contrast that sharply, Harvard has a pret ty recognizable name, and I hated every day I spent there.

Perla: They really need to look at the col leges closely and think about more than name and reputation and really figure out what it is that makes this particular school appealing if you take out prestige and rep utation.

There are a lot of seniors who have all of the UC schools on their list, and they are all very different schools. Yes, they’re all under the same umbrella, but you don’t need to ap ply to every single one of those in order to eventually get to a UC.

Strumpfer: You have to just power through. I know that it’s a pain, but as soon as it’s done and sent in, that’s it.

You don’t have to worry about it until de cisions start rolling in.

Q: Is there anything you’re glad you did? In other words, is there something you think you did right?

FARRIS

HINOJOSA

FRENCH

Stop littering, respect our campus

Country Day’s campus is clearly a pleasant place.

At this time of year happy music abounds, and students often find shade in quads around school.

Don’t ruin it.

As of late, Country Day’s campus has been a victim — a vic tim of gross negligence and plain disrespect.

Our typically idyllic quads have become derelict sites, dis gusting to the eye. Half-eaten meals fester on lunch tables, drinks lie forgotten under lockers and wrappers can be found in any nook or crevice.

Junior Juliette Zúñiga recognizes three problem areas: the freshman quad, junior quad and area surrounding the pingpong table.

Zúñiga recalls realizing the scope of the problem one after noon after school, when she decided to pick up trash.

“Once I started, I couldn’t stop because there was so much of it,” Zúñiga said.

Zúñiga’s experience indicates a much larger problem.

Our pristine campus, where students come to learn, has be come a cesspool.

It has become commonplace to see pizza boxes and other trash scattered about.

“I see it all the time,” senior Samrath Pannu said, as he gestures to a toppled Boudin box resting on the quad table.

Surprisingly, the sites where Pannu sees the most waste are within only a few steps of trash cans.

And, at times, this “nonsense,” as Pannu puts it, can be seen in even more appalling places.

Recently, students had a perfect view of pizza slices draped across the roofs of campus.

Some students are already working to address the problem.

Junior Kaitlyn Dias, the vice-president of the Environmen talist Club, often spends flex periods and cleaning up trash.

“I walk through school after everyone’s left,” Dias said. “It’s absolutely disgusting.”

Dias reports that, although people are receptive, often the message to pick up after yourself is not received.

If each person makes the effort to clean up their trash, the problem would quickly be resolved.

Freshman Arjun Kamra has also taken note of the increas ing quantities of waste scattered around the tables his grade often frequents.

Accordingly, he takes the small effort to pick up the trash he leaves and encourages others to do the same.

There is a common phrase likely familiar to those who fre quent our campus: “leave your area cleaner than you found it.”

To attend Country Day, students enter a sort of social con tract. To enjoy the benefits our school offers, we each must take action for the good of everyone.

High school chemistry teacher Victoria Conner adds that the school is a community, and students are the stewards who should maintain and preserve it.

“Think of people other than yourself,” Conner said. “By cleaning up, you’re helping everyone on campus.”

If students pick up after themselves, we can avoid the un

wanted outcomes.

Not only does waste make the campus gross, it also attracts vermin and creates more work for our cleaning staff.

It is important to remember though our small campus af fords us liberties unimaginable elsewhere. Where else can students relax with ping-pong during breaks? Where else can students go off campus with such ease?

We should not ruin that by allowing drinks and forgotten meals to sit abandoned under lockers and on ledges.

It is also important to remember that we are at school to learn.

In order to learn, we must preserve the quality of the learn ing environment we are privileged to have.

“We spend like seven hours here every day, it just doesn’t make sense,” Pannu said.

Not only is a well-kept environment pleasant to the eye, it’s also conducive to learning and intellectual discovery.

It all lies in the details.

Be mindful of the trail you leave, and make the small sacri fices to maintain the pristine environment we have.

So, when you leave your space, take care of the simple things. Check your surroundings for leftover food or belong ings, bring reusable water bottles and encourage others to do the same.

“It’s worse than it’s ever been,” Dias said. “But, people just need to take a tiny bit more action, and it will resolve itself.”

The rationale is clear, but the burden to take action rests entirely upon us.

“I’ll

litter

by Brynne Barnard-Bahn

is back

BY BAXTER

“Baxter! Baxter! Baxter! Bax ter!” the voices of several children cried out as they entered the doors to the school gym.

That is right, Country Day: I am Baxter the Owl, and I am back.

My white feathery face, my brown body feathers, and my yellow talons once again make their mark on Country Day.

After two years, I have returned to grace the school with my presence during its first pep rally since 2019.

As I entered the gym, I was immediately swarmed by a mass of children.

The first boy rushed toward me. He gave me a giant bear hug, and I returned with a warm embrace. My heart melted with joy. He was the first of many, so many hugs, high-fives and photos as the Coun try Day students and faculty filled the gym.

As the Mega Band, a school band composed of players from various grade levels, played its first song, my talons thumped against the ground. The music coursed through my feathers like electric ity; I had never been so excited before.

I glided past rows of children, ranging from lower schoolers to high schoolers. I ran around the gym floor, high-fiving as many of them as I could.

However, my many layers of feathers trapped heat within my body.

My movements slowed down and glit tering beads of sweat soon coated my feathers.

Although it was intense and tiring, the smiles and shouts of delight across the gym floor made it more than a worthwhile sacrifice.

Then, the pep rally games began.

The games included racing on scoot

ers to collect gym balls and screaming contests, but the most important one was musical chairs.

Mustering my remaining energy, I joined the participants in a round of chair hop ping with a combination of lower school ers, high schoolers, middle schoolers and faculty members.

I danced my way through the first few rounds, even eliminating high school Mathematics Chair Patricia Jacobsen.

Unfortunately, her colleague, U.S. History teacher Christopher Arns avenged her several rounds later by shoving me off my seat and out of the game. I felt betrayed. Before the game, Arns and I shared a friendly chest bump. However, there is more than one side to history, and there are also multiple sides to a history teach er.

As the event came to a close, I gave my regards to the Cavaliers one last time

by waving to the crowd, then I quietly de parted the gym to roost in my nest.

Of all my years as the mascot and all my years as a highlight of the pep rallies, I have never felt so proud of the Country Day community.

Country Day has maintained its spirit in the joyful, energetic cheers and numbers of students happily participating in the games. I am back, Country Day, and I am here to stay.

MY ANGLE: You are never too old to trick or treat

years old again, jumping up doorsteps and screaming at scary clown decorations that pop-out when you walk too close to them. And when you finally reach the door, ex citement fills your lungs as you yell “trick-ortreat” for grocery store candy.

As you get older, you have a chance to enjoy the activities you couldn’t indulge in before. Getting older gives you the cour age to go to more haunted houses and go up to the creepy houses with almost all the lights turned off.

Last year, a couple of friends and I started Halloween night by playing games at the house where we all planned to stay.

During each new scene, a new facial expression would spread across the room. Our eyes were glued to the screen as we all ate the sugary sweets we had collected the entire night. Once the movie was over, we played Truth or Dare and Hide and Seek until we had to go home.

You’re never too old to trick or treat be cause there is no age limit. As long as you have a costume and a bag to hold your candy, you can easily walk around your neighborhood, grabbing candy from every door. And the fun only grows when you add your friends into the equation.

BY ZEMA NASIROV

BY ZEMA NASIROV

With Halloween on the horizon, some teenagers would rather party than trick or treat, but why? Well, one of the main rea sons is because it seems too childish. But the truth is, you are never too old to enjoy this Halloween festivity.

Halloween is meant to be a night full of excitement and fun, not just posting your costume on social media and sitting at home. Trick or treating allows you to have fun with your friends, receive free candy and release your inner child.

If you are still not convinced about going trick-or-treating this year, think of all the free candy you will get. It’s always best to find houses that are decorated because they are more likely to have better candy or even king-sized bars.

I have always gone trick-or-treating, and I don’t intend to stop just because I am in high school.

Trick-or-treating lets your inner child run free. It’s like traveling through a time machine. It makes you feel like you are 5

Once the sun began to set, we grabbed our pillowcases and ran outside. We ran door to door, laughing and chatting and as we strolled through the street. We saw lights hung on houses, skeletons sitting on trees, and heard songs like “Thriller” and “The Monster Mash” blasting from the speakers of houses that went all out for the holiday.

We made sure to scare each other in the spirit of Halloween, and it only made the night better.

One time, as my friends and I raced to houses full of pumpkins, fog machines and ghosts, we saw an opportunity to scare oth ers who were falling behind.

We were about to reach a corner, so we sprinted and quickly ducked into the bush es full of fake spiders and spiderwebs. Once we saw the rest of our friends round the corner, we jumped out with a scream and saw terror fill their eyes. The surrounding chil dren in princess and superhero costumes jumped, too, and we all came out of the bushes laughing.

Once we finally filled our bags with kingsized candy bars, we walked back to the house to watch a scary movie. We sat in the living room with costumes on and can dy in hand. Everyone got comfortable and decided to watch “Old”, the perfect horror movie for the night.

If you go trick-or-treating on your own, there is no doubt that you will still collect and enjoy candy, but going trick-or-treating with friends completely changes the entire experience.

When I was a toddler, I would go trick-ortreating with my family, and while it was still very fun, I never had the opportunity to trick or treat with friends of my own. Then one year, a friend tagged along with me. We laughed and talked the whole time without a pause to breathe.

Throughout the night, we pranced and shrieked until we were practically sleepwalk ing. From that day on, I continued to trick or treat with friends by my side because the people we surround ourselves with make the little things in life more enjoyable.

While going trick or treating with your friends, the entire night will be flooded with jokes, jump scares and games. And, once you all go back to your house, you can all trade candy and watch a scary movie.

Trading candy is one of the most import ant events of the night. My friends and I all sit in a circle, dump out our candy in front of us and organize it into good and untrade able piles. There were offers all around until the only candy left was the candy that no one wanted. But every time, there would always be one person to take the pile of un wanted candy.

When I was 7 years old, I went into a haunted house with my friends. Just as we stepped foot into the maze, we all screamed at the top of our lungs, closed our eyes, and ran. We never even got to see what the house looked like, but a few years later, I tried going into a haunted house again, and it was not so scary. I still cringed at the screaming in the next room and jumped at the hands that grabbed my ankles, but most of the time, I was laughing. And, I could easily say that the experience was much more enjoyable than it was sev en years ago.

Every year while trick or treating, my friends and I would avoid the houses with lit tle to no decorations and mysterious people sitting inside. Now, those are the houses we make sure to stop by. Sometimes we start up a friendly conversation and even dingdong-ditch.

One of the best interactions I encoun tered was when we went up to a house that the owners had forgotten to turn off the lights. The street was mostly empty, but when my friends and I walked up to the door, the people inside rushed to turn the lights off. Seeing their dilemma, we still rang their doorbell. After ringing and knocking too many times to count, they eventually gave up and opened the door. They ex plained that they had no candy, and every one laughed at the story as they apologized for hiding away. Although we never got any candy from that house, we were still able to meet some very kind people that night.

No matter the house, it’s always fun to see what you will encounter at a stranger’s doorstep.

In the end, Halloween is a night of fun and freedom when you can enjoy your time with your friends and eat candy. There is no age limit, so why miss out?

“OWL STILL BE TRICK-OR-TREATING” by Garman Xu

Time to BeReal.

BeReal Breakdown

Quick! It is time to BeReal. Regard less of the drool on your face, puffy eyes and fresh set of bed head, the bolded notification in vigorates you to push past thoughts of judg ment to capture you and your surroundings in a selfie, no matter your environment.

Released in 2020, BeReal, the Apple Store’s most popular app in the month of July, cur rently ranks in the top 10 social media apps among Apple users.

Gaining tremendous notoriety in the early months of 2022, BeReal has become an inter gral part of the lives of those who have it.

With college and high school students as its primary audience, BeReal shoots to end the misleading nature of social media.

According to the Business of Apps, a data analyst website, BeReal’s usage has grown 315% in a year with a 1000% increase in downloads over an 11-month span.

Since launch, the app has been download ed 28 million times worldwide, with only 500,000 active users at the beginning of 2021.

Through the months May until July, 2021, BeReal pulled in 921,000 monthly users.

One year later in 2022, the BeReal app amassed an average 21.6 million monthly us

ers and 2.98 million users per day.

Preaching authenticity, a single random notification throughout the day prompts users to take a picture within a two-minute time frame.

The app’s most notable, set-apart feature is its camera function, simultaneously encap sulating a photo using your front-facing and back-facing camera.

This function gives room to show off any thing and everything you are doing at that time, supporting the app’s vision of keeping things real.

Once posted, your photo goes into a gen

eral feed along with your BeReal friends’ for everyone to see.

However, posts are not visible to those who haven’t posted that day.

Limited to one post a day, when the next notification ends, your last post is deleted.

Don’t fret, however, because BeReal’s memories section stores every photo you have ever posted.

Going up against other photo-capturing platforms like Instagram or Snapchat, the app’s casual and relaxed nature proves to be a focal point of its mission to eliminate su perficial, filtered photos. So, just be real.

Shakhzoda Khodjakhonova

2 min left to read Octagon’s BeReal story and see what your friends are up to!

“BeReal gives me a full glimpse into all of my friends’ day. It serious ly crushed the stigma of always looking your best for social media.”

is one of my favorite apps. Seeing you and your friends everyday posting ca sually is a refreshing break from apps like In stagram or Snapchat.”

Story

by Jacob

Brooke Barker

ST I T CH E RY C L U B

When junior Mia Crowder arrived at this year’s Movie Night, she only expected dinner and a movie. Instead, she stum bled upon an idea: the stitchery club.

“During our movie night, I saw two freshmen girls crocheting, and I realized that there were other peo ple with the same interest as me,” Crowder said.

The freshmen were Claire Gemmell and Morgan Hansen, both veterans of the crochet scene.

Thus, when Crowder founded the stitchery club a few weeks later, both were excited to join.

“I didn’t expect there to be a club like this, and I really didn’t feel like starting one. So, it was re ally great seeing that there was a club that aligned so closely with our interests,” Hansen said.

The stitchery club is an open community for people of all skill levels to explore yarnand thread-based crafts.

“Embroidery, sewing, cross-stitch, knit ting, they are all welcome,” Crowder said, encouraging students to attend one of the weekly Thursday meetings at flex in Room 5.

At a typical meeting, calming music plays from a phone in the center of the room as stu dents whisper to one another. There is a ball of yarn and a needle in every pair of hands, and Crowder functions as an instructor, switching from person to person to help anyone with questions.

Crowder learned to crochet as part of the curricu lum at Waldorf School, but said she never really loved it. Because crocheting was required, it felt less like a passion and more like an obligatory assignment.

This summer, however, one of Crowder’s elemen tary school friends began to crochet again, inspiring Crowder to also take up the craft.

“She made this really cute purse,” Crowder said. “Then, I realized that I could make fun projects and

clothing like that too.”

For Crowder, fashion, unlike crochet, has been a life-long passion.

to experiment with different patterns and colors, but today, she has settled into her style: a combination of her mom’s old clothing and thrifted finds.

However, this summer, Crowder adapted her style to incorporate her new crochet creations: a hat, a top, a vest and a pair of little gloves.

“My friend helped me a little bit with the top be cause that was the first one, but since then, I have mostly just followed YouTube videos,” Crowder said. That was until her most recent creation, the vest.

After learning the basic stitches and how to take measurements, Crowder began to freehand crochet, meaning she followed no directions.

“I sort of just tried different things out until I found something that worked. I had to redo a lot over and over again, but eventually, I

To a non-crafter, this process of trial and error might be infuriating, but for the cre atively-inclined Crowder, it is just a part of

“I always have some sort of project go ing on,” she said. “It keeps me sane and gives me something to work toward.”

Crowder’s friend, fellow junior Juliette Zúñi ga, describes Crowder as a “very crafty per

“I think it’s always been a part of her person ality, and I would like to be able to share that with

For this reason, as well as her own interest in explora tion, Zúñiga decided to join the stitchery club.

Despite her lack of experience, Zúñiga has been pleasantly received.

“I think I always dressed very interestingly in my child hood,” she said. “My mom gave me a lot of freedom in what I wore, so I would always just wear whatever.”

In elementary school, Crowder used that freedom

STORY BY SIMONE DEBERRY; PHOTOS BY ADAM AKINS; GRAPHICS BY AVA EBERHART

“Through the stitchery club, I am hoping that I can find other people who also like to or are interested in different forms of stitchery so we can come up with different ideas for projects together,” Crowder said.

Indoors! Touching grass is not my thing.

No, definitely not. Halloween is meant for chilling and relaxing.

Plus, the couch and the TV are my best friend, and I’d rather be watching a movie with them.

“US” (2019, R)

“Us:” A story of gore and more, where Adelaide Wilson and her family visit the home where she grew up, but run into strangers that they must fight to the death.

This is a good movie to watch on Hal loween because it varies from screaming to laughing, getting you into an emotion al roller coaster that is enjoyable and cre ative.

One of the scary scenes is in the very beginning — every beginning of a horror movie should have a scary opening — when Andre Hayworth wanders through the neighborhood and gets stuffed into the truck by someone in fencing gear. Another scene is where Adelaide is walk ing through the hall of mirrors and looks in one of the mirrors, getting an unexpected surprise as it is really just her doppelgang er instead of herself.

It is an intense game of suspicion, blood and mayhem with creative scenes that will bring you to the ground in fear. It will be a very good choice to watch on the spookiest night of the year.

Where are you on Halloween Day?

Outdoors, obviously. Is that even a question?

Are you in the mood to do something active?

Are you going out with a big or small group of friends?

Yes, I’m dying to move around. Give me something exhilarating!

Go to a Escape Room

Craving an experience full of fear and laugh ter? Try an escape room! Filled with puzzles and different tasks you try to complete in order to exit the room, this activity is a good way to spend Hal loween with friends and family. But, will you make it out in time?

Red Door Escape Room is an escape room located next to the Old Spaghetti Factory on Fol som Boulevard. Going from Prison Break all the way to The Gift, the levels range from easy to hard.

In the rooms, the typical layout is the same, but you can decide whether you want different en trances to be harder to find or easier. In different rooms, there are different clues that will guide you through a different route — if you can make it. Dun dun dun!

I’m going out with all my friends. Go big or go home.

Visit a Pumpkin Patch!

In that case, Pumpkin Patches are the best fit for you and your friends! One of the places you and your friends can go to is Zitzel Farms, a pumpkin patch in Folsom that is open almost daily. The atmosphere is friendly and the workers are very nice and help ful. It is typically easy to navigate throughout the pumpkin patch. The farm offers many pumpkins to purchase and take home to carve with friends as well. They provide carving supplies at the store for a reasonable price, so you can enjoy it with people and take it home to keep as a memory. Going to a farm is a great way to socialize while making everyone laugh with the different designs that you make.

I don’t have many friends; I’ll just go with the few I have.

Trick or Treating with friends!

Trick or treating! It is tradition for everyone to go out at night and knock on doors to ask for candy! It’s also a good way to socialize. You can walk around in your Halloween cos tume with your friends and neighbors. You can dress up in match ing costumes or nor mal costumes! Some costume ideas: gory vampires or fluffy uni corns! Matching ideas include ketchup and mustard or peanut but ter and jelly.

Having trouble figuring out what to do on Hal loween? Don’t fret! This flowchart will help you find a fun and spooky activity you’ll be sure to love! STORY BY IRENE JUNG; GRAPHICS BY GARRETT XU