Octagon 2022-23 Issue 4

Shelter animals desperately need forever homes

Three local shelters took in 18,128 dogs and cats in 2021

BY AVA EBERHART AND ZEMA NASIROV

Amotion sensor flashes the lights on when visitors walk into the dog kennels at the Sacramento Front Street Animal Shelter. Inside each room, visitors are greeted with the distinct smell of dogs. In kennel after kennel, huskies, pitbulls, shepherds and mixed breeds of all kinds jump on the wired gates, pushing snouts through to lick any hand they can find. Some bark and whine as visitors move along the corridor. Others sit in the back of their kennels, shaking, but never getting up.

“We’re feeling very full,” said the shelter’s Public Information Coordinator Haley Waugh. “We’ve got lots of dogs, so we’re trying to get them adopted as quickly as we can.”

Front Street is responsible for taking in sick, injured and abandoned animals found in the city of Sacramento. In 2021, the shelter filled its kennels with 3,386 dogs and 2,765 cats. Most were strays.

“If an individual finds an animal, they can call 311 or come to our shelter,” Waugh said.

Sometimes animal owners surrender their pets to the shelter. Sometimes they ask to have their pets euthanized. In every

circumstance, each dog and cat has a story.

Once an animal is accepted into the shelter and has not been reclaimed by its owner, the shelter staff may transfer the animal to a rescue group or determine if the animal is safe to adopt. At that point, the public can come in and visit the animal.

“They will go through a meet-and-greet process with one of our adoption counselors who will figure out if it’s a good fit, and if it is, then they get to adopt that animal and take it home,” she said.

One method the shelter uses to determine if a dog is a good fit for a potential owner is by assigning a “dog handler level” label for each dog.

The levels range from one to three. Level one is for dogs that are good for people who may have never had experience with caring for a dog, while three is for more advanced dog handlers who know how to work with high-energy dogs.

“It just helps to guide people to figure out the dogs that they’re comfortable working with,” Waugh said.

In 2021, people adopted 3,324 dogs and cats from Front Street. They also adopted 3,086 from the Sacramento SPCA, and 3,675 from Sacramento County’s Bradshaw Animal Shelter, two other local shelters.

The repercussions of Elon Musk’s recent Twitter takeover

BY GARMAN XU

Since his Oct. 27 takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk has made radical changes to the popular social media platform. However, under the rule of the multi-billionaire and self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” many people, including users at Country Day, are worried about the new content moderation policies.

In an April tweet before he took control of Twitter, Musk said, “By free speech, I simply match that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask the government to pass laws to that effect.”

Senior Brynne Barnard-Bahn, a Twitter user, disagrees with Musk’s free speech argument.

She said although social media is a fun way

CAMPUSCORNER

UBER ELF

On Dec. 15 and 16, the High School Student Council will host the Uber Elf event on the high school campus. Students will bid against each other between Dec. 12 and 14 for a chance to get carried around to classes in a Christmas-themed wagon towed by elves.

WINTER BREAK

From Dec. 19 to Jan. 2, students will be off campus for winter break. It’s the perfect time to spend time with friends and family, relax, travel and have fun! Happy holdiays!

to converse with others online, companies should take extra care to foster a safe and inclusive space for its users.

“I think fun should definitely be involved, but fun shouldn’t involve discrimination,” she said. “Elon Musk is using the government as a shield for making a public stance on hate speech.”

Despite heated public discussion about the company’s role in content moderation, Musk followed through with his approach,

immediately imposing a massive near 50% layoff of Twitter employees across various departments, including those responsible for accessibility, content moderation and human rights.

Before the layoffs, Twitter already was struggling to take down posts users had identified as problematic, according to a Nov. 24 European Union study.

REVIEW

Chand’s Christmas Check-in

After tackling chicken sandwiches last issue, Jacob Chand ventures into the realm of Christmas traditons. (PAGE 2)

PHOTO BY ADAM AKINS

HELP A HUSKY Dakota the husky from the Sacramento Front Street Animal Shelter was in need of a home on Dec. 2, 2022. PHOTO BY ZEMA NASIROV

STAFF

PRINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Simone DeBerry

Garman Xu

ONLINE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Adam Akins

Samhita Kumar

NEWS EDITOR Ishaan Sekhon

FEATURE EDITOR Ava Eberhart

SPORTS EDITOR Jacob Chand

A&E/OPINION EDITOR

William Holz

PHOTO EDITOR Adam Akins

PAGE EDITORS

Andrew Burr Jacob Chand Emily Cook Simone DeBerry

Ava Eberhart Saheb Gulati William Holz Lauren Lu Ishaan Sekhon Garman Xu Garrett Xu

BUSINESS STAFF

William Holz, manager Aaryan Gandhi Saheb Gulati, assistant Garrett Xu

SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF

Samhita Kumar, editor Ava Eberhart, assistant Lauren Lu

REPORTERS

Rehan Afzal Siri Atluri Eesha Dhawan Aaryan Gandhi Daniel Holz

Irene Jung Sophia Monasa Anisha Mondal

Anika Nadgauda Zema Nasirov Ryan Xu

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rehan Afzal Adam Akins Simone DeBerry Anika Nadgauda Zema Nasirov

MULTIMEDIA STAFF

Garman Xu, editor Jacob Chand Simone DeBerry Ava Eberhart Irene Jung

GRAPHIC ARTISTS

Brynne Barnard-Bahn Lauren Lu

ADVISER Bonnie Stewart

The Octagon is the student-run newspaper of Sacramento Country Day high school. The print edition is published eight times a year, and the website is updated daily. The Octagon is committed to unbiased and comprehensive reporting, serving as a source of reliable information for SCDS students and the school community. The Octagon will publish all timely and relevant news deemed appropriate by the editors-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.

Class of ’22 adapts to university life

BY SAHEB GULATI & ADAM AKINS

As the class of ’22 transitions into college, some students encounter differences between Country Day’s tightknit community and large public universities. Three former students from the class of ’22 answered questions about their experience transitioning to bigger communities.

Arikta Trivedi ’22 attends the University of Washington, which enrolls 42,616 students, and intends to major in neuroscience on a pre-med track.

Dylan Margolis ’22 attends the University of California, Berkeley, which enrolls 32,479 students, and plans to major in Computer Science and Business Administration.

Miles Morrow, one of the few Country Day lifers in the class of ’22, attends University of California, Santa Cruz, which enrolls 17,209 students, and is unsure of what major he will declare.

Q: What are some differences between Country Day and college that have jumped out to you?

Trivedi: At Country Day, you know every single person. It really is different because you don’t talk to any of the professors, unless you go to office hours regularly. I have more contact with my TAs (Teaching Assistants) in my classes than professors.

Your teachers don’t know you at all, unless you make it very obvious you exist. Beyond that, because we had such a small class we were able to be close to everyone in our classes.

Margolis: Because there are so many students in each class, it’s your own issue if you don’t do something.

You’re not a name, you’re one in 2,000. There are so many people, so you have to hold yourself accountable.

It’s not a bad thing , but it’s different and difficult.

I think going to a big school is a great experience, because even though it’s big, it’s still

smaller than the real world.

It’s a step though, in the sense that it’s a lot bigger than high school. At smaller schools, I might not have that gradual transition.

Morrow: You just have to put in a lot more effort to build those relationships with your teacher. At Country Day, it was a given that you had a relationship.

I thought I wouldn’t have access to my teachers a lot, but that’s been the opposite for me.

People don’t take advantage of the fact that teachers are there for us; office hours are super useful to have.

Q: Has going to a larger college impacted your living situation or day-to-day routine?

Trivedi: It’s definitely a lot more fun in the sense that you’re more independent. You can do whatever the hell you want, which can be pretty problematic if you’re not responsible.

But, since you’re around students all the time, the atmosphere is very academic.

Margolis: No, it’s totally chill. My friends are in my room with me right now. That’s why we named our room the ‘Hotel California’ because people are always here.

I’ve transitioned to that (socially) quite easily, because I like holding events like Student Council all over again, talking with people and having friends around.

I haven’t felt like I need that separation where I go home for the day.

Morrow: With Santa Cruz, where they over-admit students every year, we have a real housing crisis. So all the common rooms are now quads, and they turned all of the doubles into triples.

We don’t have much personal space. The last thing I want is to be someone that my roommates wouldn’t want to live with again.

I subconsciously go to the extreme, where I try not to make any noise or do anything that could disturb them.

In this new situation, I feel

like I don’t have the same opportunities to just be myself and relax.

Q: What has your experience been with making friends in a larger environment?

Trivedi: I’m in the smallest dorm. We have 50 people on a floor, so I know my floormates pretty well. I guess I got lucky because we’re all friends.

It’s weird because at Country Day, your friends inside and outside of class are the same. You only see the same set of 20 people.

Here, I have friends in chemistry, biology and psychology and also friends I hang out with outside of class.

It’s only been two months for me here, so I don’t expect to have any super deep connections yet.

I have good friends, but my best friends are still the same people from Country Day.

At Country Day, you build those connections really fast because there are only 30 people in a class.

Here, if you want to maintain a relationship, you have to actively find time. If you don’t want to see someone, you’re never going to see them. It’s just such a big campus.

Margolis: It started with Golden Bear Orientation. I met some really cool people, and a bunch of those people are still in my friend group.

We picked up a couple more people on the way to the point that nine of my friends organized a camping trip.

Maybe it’s because I’m sort of a social person, but to me it’s all really the same.

My group size at Country Day is pretty much the same size as it is now, plus or minus two people. Just a new chapter and all.

It’s sort of up to you to put the effort in to socialize and make friends.

I think to an extent, I’ve done that, which is why I can say I have friends in college.

I wouldn’t say it’s more difficult, but it requires a lot of time. It’s different in high school because it’s so structured.

Here it takes more time to schedule a lunch together, organize an event some night or something along those lines.

Morrow: If you’re a social person, then you’ll meet people easily, but if you’re not, it’ll all happen in due time. It’s a process.

I was at Country Day for 14 years, right? So in many cases I had the same friends for 14 years. If anything, it’s really difficult for me to make new friends.

I met a few people who I feel good with. But it’s not the same. I’ve never had the need to make new friends.

It’s been weird for me; I have some social anxiety and I’m not good at meeting people and talking to people. I keep to myself a little bit more now.

I’m fine with that because it’s how I operate and what I’m comfortable with.

Q: Overall, how has attending a school so much larger than Country Day been for you?

Trivedi: I like it. I’ve been at a small school all my life, and I’m a fairly independent person.

I’m fine with being on my own, and there’s a lot more freedom and independence.

Margolis: I think college really works for me. It is very different in the sense that during high school, when you finish school you’re done. You can talk to them on the phone or play video games with them, but it’s not the same.

I’m constantly with my friends, and it really works for me. When I want to have fun, I have fun, and when I want to work, I work hard. It allows me to constantly be doing something. I love that life, and college makes it easier to do.

Morrow: For me personally, it’s sometimes nice to be able to blend into the crowd. But I’m still finding myself in scenarios in class where I’m put into groups where I know everyone’s names, which is comforting and like what Country Day offered. Being such a small part of the school is a new perspective.

ISSUE 3 CORRECTIONS

It is The Octagon’s policy to correct factual errors and to clarify potentially confusing statements. Email us: octagon@scdsstudent.org

Page 1 photo caption: Junior Kaitlyn Dias’ last name was incorrectly spelled as “Diaz.”

Page 3 “SDLC: Students to explore identity in Texas”: The IDEA Committee was misidentified. They are the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Alliance, not the “Identity, Diversity, Equity and Activities” committee.

Page 6 “SCDS XC team sets high hopes and expectations for upcoming years”: Junior Aakash Arumugam’s last name was incorrectly spelled as “Arugam.”

Page 7 “Cavs varsity boys soccer team finishes season placing fifth in league”: The varsity boys soccer team placed fifth in the section, not the league.

Page 8 “Editorial: Add a greater variety of voices to the curriculum”: The list of junior-year books did not include English 11 book “Catcher in the Rye.”

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Akins family, Chand family, DeBerry family, Intel Foundation, Monasa family, Xu family

Twitter: Decreased moderation leads to chaos

(continued from page 1)

Now, Musk’s drastic cuts decrease the number of employees responsible for reviewing content that users report. content ranging from hate speech to child pornography. Musk’s decisions are a part of his larger plans to reform the work culture, cut perceived waste at the company and generate more revenue through Twitter Blue, a newly introduced monthly verification subscription for its users.

Senior Karabelo Bowsky, who occasionally uses Twitter, said she could understand Musk’s staffing changes from a business perspective but is concerned with the implications of a reduced moderation team.

“He’s only seeing this from a business side and is not seeing it from the humanity side,” she said. “The influence social media has on how we interact with each other is so insanely huge.”

The U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protects a general expression of opinion or belief, but includes exceptions for statements calling for incitement, defamation, obscenity, child pornography, threats, fighting words or fraud.

Since hate speech and slurs do not fall under these exemptions, there has been a sharp rise in their use on Twitter under Musk’s leadership.

Assistant to Head of High School Grace Strumpfer disagrees with the loosening of Twitter’s content moderation. Strumpfer said more manual and specific review on a caseby-case basis is needed to protect against hate speech and evaluate certain gray areas regarding the use of slurs under general law.

“I think it would be great to have policies against hate speech, but then you run into censorship problems of whether we should ban books written by people in those minorities who are reclaiming those words,” Strumpfer said. “There’s a certain kind of danger in allowing hate speech, allowing people to throw slurs around for targeted harassment.”

Hate speech

Musk revisited his vision for free speech in a Nov. 18 tweet, stating negative or hate tweets will be deboosted and demonetized. In a separate Nov. 23 tweet, Musk claimed that overall Twitter engagement with hate speech decreased by a third.

However, despite his claims, reports from the New York Times and the Center for

Countering Digital Hate found a significant increase in both the engagement levels and quantity of hate speech on the platform.

Under Musk’s takeover in late October, the average daily usage of the N-word on Twitter increased to 3,876 from the 2022 average of 1,282.

In addition, the report found a 58% increase in slurs toward members of the gay community, a 33% increase of misogynistic slur usage and a 62% increase in hate speech directed toward transgender individuals on the site.

Although Strumpfer takes care to choose who they follow in an effort to curate the content they see on their Twitter feed, they still have seen instances of hate speech occasionally.

“I go on Twitter for a specific reason, and that’s to look at cute cats and cool art. I don’t go on there to get my news because it’s a social media website,” Strumpfer said.

Even though Strumpfer doesn’t seek out the political side of Twitter, they have noticed that the bigger art accounts, especially those belonging to people of color, have had to deal with hate comments and troll accounts.

In recent months, viral antisemitic rants of rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, caused additional controversy and online discussion. Ye has repeatedly used his Twitter account and media presence to highlight antisemitic conspiracy theories and sympathize with alt-right and Nazi figures.

Bowsky, who is a part of the Black community and a follower of Judaism, is concerned with the general rise of hate speech throughout all of the social media platforms she uses, including Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

“As a Black woman in this day and age, I get nervous engaging in such conversations, just out of fear for myself. It might not be the best way to go about it, but it’s just what makes me feel safe,” Bowsky said. “I think with this hate speech, it’ll make me less inclined to want to engage in such discussions over social media.”

Although she said celebrities and notable figures with influence have a moral obligation to positively shape their online spheres, Bowsky said there is more to be done to get to the root of conflict instead of putting the weight of social change on celebrities.

“Putting all the blame on them is also unfair, no matter how much I do or don’t agree with them,” Bowsky said. “I think the biggest issue is cancel culture, because the issue isn’t addressed when a post is deleted.”

Twitter suspended Ye’s account on Dec. 2 after he posted an image of a swastika merged

with the Jewish Star of David. Although Musk said Ye violated Twitter policy for inciting violence, many users raised their concerns for consistent rule enforcement.

Barnard-Bahn agrees with the decision to deplatform Ye. However, she finds the vague qualifications for a ban problematic.

“It’s hypocritical for Musk to stop things like that, but not stop racism, homophobia or transphobia,” Barnard-Bahn said. “You can’t pick and choose which minorities you are cool with protecting.”

Barnard-Bahn said that, in addition to following the law, social media companies like Twitter should actively curate posts to minimize harm.

“Freedom Friday”

In addition to changes in content moderation, controversial decisions in bringing back formerly banned Twitter accounts caused disagreement among the community.

Musk dubbed Nov. 19 “Freedom Friday,” and reinstated former president Donald J. Trump’s Twitter account which had been taken down due to worries of inciting violence in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Musk also reinstated the Twitter account of kickboxer-turned-personality Andrew Tate who had previously lost his Twitter account in 2017 as a result of his remarks against victims of rape.

Musk’s decision to reinstate Trump and Tate angered many Twitter users, especially because Musk used a public poll on his personal Twitter account to decide whether

New APSA club hosts Bollywood Night

BY ANDREW BURR

The newly-formed Asian Pacific-Islaner Student Alliance recently held its first fundraiser in the form of a school Bollywood Night.

Led by juniors Siri Atluri and Lauren Lu, the club’s primary goal is to address Asian Pacific-Islander student issues on and off campus via organized events.

Drive dedicated to this. Finally, we organize with the faculty to realize our ideas,” Atluri said.

This organization and member involvement level is important to a successful club, Atluri said This collaboration with members helps her develop events that will be popular among them.

The first major APSA event this year was Bollywood Night, a movie night

ited to just Country Day high school students. However, Lu and Atluri hope to branch out beyond Country Day to grow both APSA membership and donations.

This growth would allow the leaders more freedom in choosing which events they would like to plan.

Alturi is looking forward to planning the Asian Pacific-Islander culture fair, which she hopes to plan as an inter-school event with Asian student alliances from other Sacramento high schools.

“We want to emphasize diversity with a culture fair by having people from many different cultures participate. To do this, we want to have a really big event with lots of people,” Alturi said.

With these events, one of the main goals of the APSA is to debunk myths that harm the Asian Pacific-Islander communities. These stereotypes are very common among people with limited experience with these communities, Atluri said. Through education, these negative views can be fixed.

“An example of one of these issues is the ‘model minority’ myth of Asian Americans being role models for other groups of people. We just really want to get rid of myths like this,” Atluri said.

Trump’s account should be reinstated.

“I think, for somebody who has a business, that was really unprofessional of him,” senior Karabelo Bowsky said, pointing to the flaws of Musk’s one-step process. “People who follow him will probably believe him too; that creates a skewed perspective.”

Strumpfer said Twitter should restore the number of staff on the company’s content moderation team, state the platform’s rules with more clarity and improve consistency in enforcing rules going forward.

“I think the rules should be clear and written,” she said. “I think a great start to this whole mess is not firing the entire content moderation team and paying your workers their money.”

club, none could be done without the leaders’ brainstorming sessions.

“Lauren and I brainstorm for ideas and events such as podcasts, cultural fairs and fundraisers. If any of our members want to help by posting their ideas, we have a Google

security.

“We chose the Dyer-Kelly school for a few reasons. We wanted to focus on education, and Ms. Jacobsen had a contact at the school and said a lot of West-Asian refugees attend the school and need help,” Lu said.

So far, involvement in these events is lim-

Atluri added that collaboration between different clubs and communities is important in making the Country Day campus safe and inclusive for all.

As the Sacramento Country Day community grows, the need for clubs promoting inclusivitiy and tolerance grows, too, Atluri said.

REPORT RUNDOWN Anyone can report content. GRAPHICS BY GARRETT XU

Read more about the reports referenced in the article

Arijit Trivedi, ’22, joins the Purdue Space Program

BY AARYAN GANDHI

Arijit Trivedi, ’22, attends Purdue University and is majoring in first-year engineering with the intent to apply for aerospace engineering.

Q: Why did you choose to go to Purdue University?

A: Well, it has a really good aerospace program, and that’s what I’ve always wanted to do. Out of all the schools that I got into, Purdue promised the best opportunities for aerospace research and the best extracurriculars to support that.

Q: Why did you choose to major in aerospace engineering?

A: All the readers should watch “Interstellar” and tell me why they wouldn’t want to do aerospace engineering.

Even before I watched “Interstellar,” I enjoyed the idea and challenge of it. The idea of getting stuck in space and figuring out a solution to get back home spoke to me, and I decided I wanted to do something related to space and figuring out solutions.

The advanced topics calculus class with Ms. Jacobsen really reinforced me to become an aerospace engineer. Besides taking the class, we got to do the Solar Regatta competition.

Q: What classes are you taking for your major?

A: That’s an interesting question because my major isn’t aerospace engineering right now. It’s first-year engineering.

The way Purdue works is that you have to apply as a certain engineering major like biomedical engineering or chemical engineering. Once you get in, your major becomes first-year engineering. At the end of the year, we have to apply to our respective majors again.

So for the first semester, I’m taking Engineering 13100, Math 26100, PSY 20000: introduction to cognitive psychology, SCLA 10200 (communications class) and Physics 17200.

Q: What is your favorite class and why?

A: My favorite class at the moment is Engineering 13100 because it’s pretty interactive, and I like the professor. The class teaches us the basics of the engineering process.

We use Excel to model stuff and come up with descriptive data for data sets. I also like that the class is more team-based than individual-based, meaning that my grade is dependent on the projects I do with other people.

Q: What career in aerospace engineering do you want to pursue?

A: Right now, I want to be a propulsion engineer. However, I realized by talking to a lot of older engineering students here, there’s so much diversity within that one niche aerospace engineering field. But I guess that’s the point of doing projects and internships to find out what you really love.

You can specialize in any one or multiple of the components involved in propulsion. So that could be injector design and engineering, chamber design – doing stuff like regenerative cooling, or you could also specialize in the fluids systems that deliver the propellants to the engine in the first place.

Q: Are there any extracurriculars and internships you’re a part of?

A: As far as internships go, I’ve only been in college for two months so those usually go to the older aerospace kids. In terms of extracurriculars, I joined the Purdue Space Program, which is a rocketry team split into different teams responsible for different parts of the rocket.

I’m not doing anything else because it takes up a lot of time, but I’ve really enjoyed working with the rocketry team because they take it seriously.

Q: What are you responsible for doing in the Purdue Space Program?

A: I’m part of the Hybrids and Liquids team. There are seven different teams on campus.

There are a lot of differences between the teams such as what they want to do and what vehicle they operate.

For example, the liquids team operates a bipropellant rocket which is different from all the other teams, which operate solid propellant rockets.

They launched their last rocket about a year ago. It was a 20-foot rocket that used liquid methane and liquid oxygen, so similar to SpaceX in that regard, which is pretty awesome.

I’m currently working on the propulsion, developmental propulsion and fluid systems subteams. I get to do cool work like implementing burst disks in the lower plumbing of the rocket and designing a new jet for the engine.

I’ve also worked on some code that sizes the cavitating venturis – used to establish a constant mass flow rate for rocketry applications inside the rocket.

Q: How are your professors at Purdue?

A: It’s hard to say because all of them are decently chill but strict on certain things. They expect you to be responsible, independent and mature.

For example, my professor for Math 26100 is very chill, even during disturbances.

On the other hand, my engineering professor

is literally one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, but he grades so strictly.

Q: How is your housing situation at Purdue?

A: It’s been good, but there’s been a hiccup with what happened recently.

The homicide that happened in the same building was shocking and disturbing to hear about.

Other than that, it’s been super fun and easy to transition into college with Ethan Monasa, ’22, as my roommate.

Everyone in the building is super helpful. There are communal bathrooms on every floor, and the dorm is spacey enough for two people.

At this school, no one cares if you live in a pigsty or not, but I try to keep my dorm clean.

Q: How’s the food on campus?

A: First off, I was raised mostly in California where there’s some great fruits. Secondly, I’ve had Indian food almost every night of my life, coming from an Indian household. Both of which I miss.

The food at Purdue is hit or miss honestly. I’m surprised by how greasy and fried the food is along with a really sad selection of fruits.

They try to mix up cuisines by serving Jamaican, Chinese, Korean and other options. But I know they mostly miss on Indian food.

I only eat at the Ford Dining Hall because it’s closest to my classes. However, they all serve different things, which might be why I don’t like the food too much because I don’t go anywhere besides Ford.

Q: What’s your advice to the Class of 2023?

A: I’ve heard a lot of people say it doesn’t matter where you go, and I agree with that.

I think you’ll still enjoy going somewhere you want to go or even don’t want to go because the university experience is the same.

In terms of applying, take a step back so you don’t overwhelm yourself if you’re one of the seniors beating themselves up over an application. Keeping a clear head ends up being easier to write essays and it gets so much better in February.

Q: Do you have any tips for college life?

A: I’ve heard a few dumb ones in the past about sleeping in or whatever, but my tips would be to maintain your schedule, a healthy diet and your hygiene.

For the people that are a little more introverted, my advice is the same as the thousands that came before me.

That would be to put yourself out there. Don’t feel bad if you aren’t invited to certain events or people already have their friend groups.

Don’t be afraid to have a conversation with the person behind you because it’s great practice for making friends.

Q: Have you made any freshman mistakes?

A: Oh, yeah. Wash your water bottle. It’s so gross, but I didn’t wash my water bottle for two weeks and then I got sick. Another freshman mistake I made was sleeping through my early morning lab.

So, not making a schedule was a mistake. Because there are a lot of events and stuff going on in your classes, you need to open your phone and put it on your calendar.

Q: Do you think Country Day prepared you for college?

A: Yeah, big shoutout to Ms. Bauman, Mr. Kuipers, Mr. Mangold, Ms. Jacobsen and Mr. Hinojosa. They did a phenomenal job. Ms. Nellis and Ms. Bauman are two teachers that taught me to conform to a strict rubric, which is really helpful in college.

Ms. Jacobsen and Mr. Mangold, I still have their notes for AP Physics C and AP Calculus BC, which I brought to college. I’ve been having such an easy time in Calculus 3 so far because of the stuff Ms. Jacobsen taught me.

Mr. Hinojosa’s class also helped me in SCLA, my communications class, because we get points for participation. Going through Mr. Hinojosa’s class and getting used to participating in that environment helped me out in SCLA.

Q: How is the Country Day environment different from college?

A: Anyone who’s been at Country Day for a long time is in for a shock at college. It’s interesting that I’ll never know everyone in my grade, whereas, at Country Day, you can meet every freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.

So that’s interesting, and I’m going to miss the close relationships I had with my teachers at Country Day.

NEIL BEFORE GREATNESS (Left to right) Arijit Trivedi, ’22, poses by statue of Neil Armstrong. The Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering on the Purdue University campus is where Trivedi attends his engineering classes. PHOTOS COURTESY OF ARIJIT TRIVEDI

Award-winning singer embraces her musical passions

BY GARRETT XU

Music is more than a hobby to freshman singer and multi-instrumentalist Jessica Kravchenko: it is a way of living.

It all started when 5-year-old Kravchenko discovered her hidden talent: singing.

Growing up, Kravchenko listened to her mother sing all the time, oftentimes choosing to sing along.

“After a while, she was like, ‘you know what, you’re actually good at this,’ and my dad and everyone around me thought that as well,” Kravchenko said.

said. “So, my parents made sure that when I was growing up, I would have the ability to pursue my dreams, to do what I love.”

For Kravchenko, that is singing and music.

“I feel like I have a genuine connection with mu sic,” Kravchenko said. “Everyone has their strong side, something they’re passionate about and something they like a lot, and music was that for me.”

Her love for singing and music has helped her get through the difficulties of being diag nosed with asthma, a medical lung condition.

“As a child, I wasn’t necessarily the most healthy. I had to go once a week to a doctor for medication, and although it wasn’t easy at first, overtime, singing really helped my lungs get better and get over it,” Kravchenko said. “I had this good memory of singing from the start.”

But not every memory was as positive as this one — especially with the piano.

together and really making our own music is just so soothing and satisfying, she added.

Kravchenko, who is also part of the high school choir, said she feels the same way singing with the group, particularly the coordination involved in choir.

“Choir is all about teamwork,” she said. “There’s just something beautiful about it, and I try my best to work with everyone.”

Fellow choir member and singer Jordyn LaPlaca said plenty of positive things about Kravchenko.

“She’s one of the loudest in the group, and you can tell that she’s really, really confident in what she’s doing,” she said.

Confidence is something choir teacher Kamilyn Davis said she appreciates in a choir setting.

Kravchenko’s confidence and outgoingness carries through to her peers to become confident in their own singing, Davis said.

JESSICA KRAVCHENKO

So, as an easily flattered 5 year old, she said the encouragement made her think that she really did have a knack for singing and should try singing seriously.

So, that is just what she did.

Kravchenko started taking singing lessons and eventually classes for piano and guitar something her mother did not have the chance to do growing up.

“My mom and even my grandma were both great singers, but at that time, when they were still in Ukraine, they just did not have the money to play piano, play guitar and

“I had trauma from the piano for a little while from a teacher that used to tell me I wasn’t good enough,” she said. “And, as a child, it’s sort of something that you believe, and so that kind of left a kind of scar within me.”

That negative feedback almost made her quit the piano.

“You know, at the end of the day, I look back and I’ll just realize that I really, really love the piano, even though I feel stressed out

esica K ravchnk o

Kravchenko’s love of the piano was what caused her to begin classes. She was playing for herself, not for others, and as long as she was having she intended to continue play-

Now, Kravchenko is the lead pianist for the local Sacramento

“I play piano there with five guitarists, three drummers, a few bassists and other singers and guitar players as well,” she said. “It’s a whole lotta fun.”

At the end of the day, playing together, working

Her easy going and approachable personality makes her a reliable leader within the group.

“She’s so nice,” LaPlaca said. “She makes it her goal to compliment everyone around her, and I think that’s just so valuable to the team.”

Davis said she too has noticed that in her experiences working with Kravchenko.

“Her sensitive and thoughtful compliments to her peers really bring this great energy, and it’s just an awesome characteristic to have,” she said, “especially when it comes to teamwork.”

And, to Kravchenko, a key member in the soprano group, that teamwork aspect is one of the best feelings a musician can experience.

“You will never, ever feel alone.”

That feeling from playing with the band and singing with the high school choir made her realize all the more just how much music means to her and the meaningful experiences made along the way.

That includes singing as a soloist in front of an audience of 5,000 in July at the annual 2022 Ukrainian Cultural Festival at the Soyuzivka Heritage Center in Kerhonkson, New York. The festival was a fundraiser to aid Ukrainian soldiers wounded in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

“That was probably the most meaningful and happiest day in my vocal career so far,” Kravchenko said. “You know, I have never seen 5,000 people in the audience before, let alone sing in front of one, so it was such a life changing experience.”

Holding the Ukrainian flag in one hand and the microphone in the other, she said she felt so happy and proud of her culture and heritage.

“I love Ukraine, and I’m proud to be Ukrainian,” Kravchenko said.

“That’s why I sang about Ukraine in my performance.”

The song, “San Francisco - Kyiv,” expressed her desire to visit and sing in Ukraine again. She recorded that song, which, a few months later, received the International Internet Film Festival Independent Star award for best music video.

But, Kravchenko’s journey to become the musician she is today has required a lot of hard work and dedication.

Regardless of how much homework she has or how busy she is, Kravchenko said she tries to use every opportunity to fit in extra practice.

“I’ve learned that no matter who you are, as long as you work hard, you can always do it if there’s a possibility of you achieving it,” Kravchenko said.

So, she typically practices two to three hours a day, sometimes losing track of just how long she spends perfecting her craft.

“It’s just so fun to me that time just goes by so fast,” Kravchenko said.

Her practice routine consists of 30 minutes of piano practice, two hours of vocal training and 15 minutes of guitar.

On top of that, she has music lessons virtually every day. That includes vocal lessons for typically four days a week and piano lessons for the remainder of the week.

Although she does not currently take guitar lessons, she continues to practice regularly.

“I practice so much in all of these things not because I have to practice, but because I love it so much,” she said.

And, to Kravchenko, moving forward, her talents may lead to a career one day.

“We’ll see where it takes me,” she said.

“Who knows?”

“Everyone has their strong side, something they’re passionate about and something they like a lot, and music was that for me.”

“

Adoptions do not always work out. In some cases, animals are returned to their shelters, often due to compatibility issues between the owner and the animal or the relationship between other animals in the household.

“There are lots of things that we learn when they go out into adoptive homes, and if it’s not a good fit, that’s totally okay, because then we get a lot of information back from the adopters that can help them get placed into a better home the next time,” Public Information Coordinator Haley Waugh said.

In 2021, Front Street experienced a total of 193 adoption returns and Bradshaw had 361.

Many of the animals that were not adopted left the shelter under other circumstances. Some were returned to their owners, some were euthanized and others died in the shelter or in foster care.

Ways to Help

The ultimate goal of shelters is to find every animal a forever home, but not everyone can commit to care for a dog or cat for life. So what can you do to help, even if you can’t adopt?

One way is by volunteering, either at a shelter or by becoming a pet foster parent. Front Street holds a program specifically for high school volunteers to perform community service

hours. Students 16 or older have several opportunities to work with animals in the shelter and do chores around the shelter.

“We need help every morning cleaning our kennels, doing laundry, washing the dishes, all of these things that make it so we’re able to provide the best quality care for our pets and make sure that they have clean bowls to eat out of and warm blankets,” Waugh said.

Donating is another way to help out. With the money, shelters are able to purchase medical care supplies and other resources needed for animals.

Along with money donations, shelters are also looking for physical donations such as toys, food, leashes and lots of blankets.

During the winter, dogs are in dire need of blankets to not only keep them warm, but to give the dogs a better home setting during their stay at the shelter before they are sent to their forever homes. Donated items are given to pets in the shelter and to pet owners who need help with their own pets.

Fostering

Eight kittens named Boba, Lychee, Horchata, Polyester, Flannel, Satin, Pringle and Cheeto lived with Assistant to the Head of Middle School Marisa Christie in 2021 until they were adopted from the Front Street animal by their forever families.

Graphics by Garman Xu

Story by Ava Eberhart

& Zema Nasirov

These five dogs were photographed at the Front Street Shelter on Dec. 2. PHOTOS BY NASIROV

“That was really insane, but a lot of fun,” Christie said of her kitten fostering experience.

In order to foster, Christie had to take a basic training online class for fosters. The two to three hour class goes over pet care, such as what to expect from your foster pet, how to deal with medical emergencies and how to clean up after them.

So far this year, Christie has fostered three dogs from Front Street. She took in two of the dogs after receiving an urgent email from the shelter asking for any foster to take them in because the shelter was overpacked with dogs.

After passing the course, Christie has fostered nine cats and three dogs since last spring.

“They become a member of the family,” Christie said.“I just think the foster program is fantastic because you have a better chance of placing the animals in a home,” she said.

Another Country Day animal lover, senior Liz Cook became a foster parent for the Sacramento SPCA.

Before she was able to hold the title, she had to take a few classes and meet household requirements to ensure a safe space for the fostered pets.

Once all the paperwork was filled out, she was able to foster

several dogs and give them the love and care all pets need.

The first dog she fostered was a pitbull dachshund mix named River, who was a medical foster that had been diagnosed with kennel cough, a highly infectious respiratory disease. Because of the cough, he was unable to stay in the shelter with the other dogs. Cook and her family took him in until he was healthy and ready to be adopted.

Once River was ready to be adopted, Cook wasn’t very sad or upset when letting him go.

“You kind of realize that they’re going off to an actual forever home, whereas your house is kind of like a little stepping stone so that they can socialize or get healthy again,” she said.

Along with fostering dogs from the SPCA, Cook participates in a program at the SPCA called “Foster Fur-lough.”

Through the program, certified foster parents are able to take adoptable dogs on field trips or overnight fosters to give pets a break from the shelter life before they venture to their forever homes.

Recently, Cook took a dog named Snoopy out for a day foster. They were able to play around and relax at home, giving Snoopy a look at what his forever home might be like.

Adopting

Adopting a shelter pet is good for the animal and good for the people who give them forever homes.

Junior Grace Zhao adopted Cricket, a German shepherd border collie mix, from the Sacramento SPCA in 2021.

Cricket loves to play fetch, especially with his favorite toy in the whole world: a squeaky vodka bottle.

“We looked at the dogs on their website where they have profiles of all the dogs,” Zhao said. “We found one that my mom really liked, which was Cricket.”

After booking an appointment, she went to the shelter to play with her soon-to-be adopted dog. Zhao signed some paperwork, and Cricket was ready to be taken home.

Before Cricket was brought to the shelter, he was a stray found on the street. However, he most likely had a previous owner, as he responded to the command to sit.

“He was very nervous at first, but he gained weight after we brought him home, probably because he started to relax a bit more,” she said.

During COVID-19 quarantine, Zhao enjoyed Cricket’s companionship.

“I mean, it really is nice having a dog,” she said. “I think the reason we got him was, like a lot of people who got dogs during COVID-19, for the companionship.”

Senior Liz Cook also has adopted animals of her own.

In 2012, she adopted her dog, Rudy, when he was an adult from a spaniel rescue.

A few years later, she adopted her cat Daisy when she was 3 months old from the Bradshaw shelter.

After taking out a few cats and playing with them, Cook was set on a small black and white tuxedo cat after an adorable interaction.

“She nibbled on my fingers and I was obsessed with her,” she said. “She was really little, like she was a baby who was just over two pounds.”

At most shelters, kittens must be over 2 pounds in order to be adopted, so this kitten was in perfect condition for Cook to take home.

Cook said she chose to adopt her pets because there are too many animals in shelters that need a home.

“Everyone wants purebred, and I don’t think it’s dumb, but I think it’s short-sighted because shelter animals are just as good, even if they’re not purebred,” Cook said.

Source: Sacramento Front Street and Sacramento County Bradshaw animal shelters websites

EDITORIAL: SCDS high school needs a life skills elective

With Country Day juniors and seniors rapidly approaching the end of high school, many are becoming increasingly aware of their lack of practical life skills.

“I feel like I could be better prepared for college,” senior Jackson Fox said. “I could really use a touch-up on taxes and personal finance.”

A lack of preparation for college life and life outside their parents’ homes can set students on a collision course with stress and anxiety in their early years of adulthood.

A practical solution to this problem would be to add a practical life skills elective into Country Day’s curriculum.

Topics covered in the class could be anything from personal finance and self-care to home economics, transportation and automotive skills.

“Once you turn 18, you’re left in college to support yourself financially,” senior Samrath Pannu said.

It is important that students be ready for these new responsibilities.

As for personal finance, students would learn the skills required to be fiscally responsible.

“Some topics I’d really be interested in would be investing, sustaining yourself economically in college, finding a job and tips on buying property,” junior Orlando Ponce Blas said.

Students could also learn money-related skills such as managing taxes, taking out loans and maximizing future economic success.

For self-care and home education, students should learn skills such as basic first aid like CPR and how to save someone from choking. They would also benefit from a curriculum about maintaining a healthy diet and even how to schedule doctor appointments.

Additionally, the class would cover tasks such as how to cook dishes from scratch, how to sew and even how to repair a mal-

functioning sink without calling a plumber.

Students would also learn key transportation automotive skills, such as navigating a subway, traveling by bus, checking car fluids, troubleshooting engines and knowing what to do in the case of a car accident.

“Learning about how to jumpstart a car and how to change a tire would be very important,” junior Liam Kaschner said. “We just need a class that can teach us.”

Although Blas has begun to educate himself on these important life skills, he still thinks an elective would be beneficial.

“I feel like in a class it would be way easier to understand and comprehend topics,” said Blas.

When these practical life skills are taught through a curriculum with engaging activities, students are more likely to retain the information rather than learn it on their own.

Still, we recognize this has been attempted before.

Up until 2012, biology teacher Kellie

Whited taught “College Health and Nutrition,” which covered personal budgeting skills, dorm life, nutrition and even laundry.

Unfortunately, the class had to come to an end when Whited started managing Sacramento State internship programs for students.

“I think the elective (if added back) would be really valuable,” Whited said. “Once you get to college it becomes a little late to start thinking about learning life skills. You’ve gotta get those nailed down beforehand.”

Additionally, adding a practical lifeskills elective would have a net positive impact on the school’s public perception.

Not only would Country Day be known for being a diverse, academically challenging school, but it would also be known for properly preparing its students for the real world, allowing them to dodge typical stresses as they pursue and achieve their dreams.

EDITORIAL: We must choose to address politics in sports

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 marked the U.S. Men’s National Team’s best World Cup campaign in a decade.

The nation was filled with excitement and anticipation — and Country Day was no exception. For a crucial match against Iran, students piled into the library and televisions were brought out to broadcast the game across the school.

As the game came to a close, cheering was audible throughout campus. The U.S. had made it through the group stage for the first time since 2014.

However, underneath this victory lies the current social unrest wracking Iran, and the protests, boycotts and corruption that have marred the 2022 World Cup.

The countries on the field cannot be divorced from the humanitarian and political issues that affect their citizens.

Sports has always been inherently political, just as the World Cup was this year.

The Iranian women’s rights movement, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of police, took center stage during the country’s matches. The Iranian players bravely refused to sing their national anthem in their first match, and many Iranian fans protested in the stands.

These actions are as much a part of the

World Cup as Iran’s victories and losses on the field and should be treated as such.

As an international community, we have a duty not to look away. As a result of those protests at the World Cup, the Iranian government threatened to harm the families of players. In fact, BBC World News reported that an Iranian man was assassinated for celebrating the loss of his country’s team.

Iran’s oppressive practices were not the only human rights issue plaguing the 2022 World Cup.

The construction of the World Cup venues in Qatar relied heavily on the Kafala system, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan membership organization and think tank.

The Kafala system gives private companies nearly absolute control of their migrant workers’ employment and citizen status. Migrants often have poor living conditions, poor labor conditions, low wages and employee abuse. Employers confiscate employee passports, and employers have the power to invalidate the status of their migrant workers.

Major news organizations documented the abhorrent conditions immigrants

worked in during the World Cup preparations. Their suffering must be recognized, along with the critical issues brought forth by Iranian players and fans.

It is easy to dismiss these concerns and blame modern culture for the influence of global politics on sporting events. However, that’s far from the case.

At the 1936 Olympics for instance, American track and field athlete Jesse Owens defied the eugenicist propaganda of the “Nazi Olympics.” His performance — he won four gold medals — cannot be divorced from the context in which that performance was held.

The same is true for the 1968 Olympics, where Black American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists while receiving their awards on the podium. Their act of protest was met with widespread condemnation by both American sporting organizations and ones abroad.

Still, they stood tall for the Black Power movement, using their athletic performance as a soapbox to force conversation on important issues.

High school English and Spanish teacher Diego Panasiti recognizes the importance of politics within sports.

While he enjoys watching the World Cup, he believes that contextualization is important.

“When I watch World Cup games in school, I don’t say anything. I just let the game play. When we’re reading about immigration and the abuses of day laborers, then I’ll mention the World Cup,” Panasiti said.

Conversations like those are crucial to social change. According to NBC Sports, this World Cup is expected to be the most viewed tournament in FIFA’s history with as many as 5 billion viewers. This accessibility and reach across conventional borders of language and political lines makes sports an obvious and necessary platform for activist.

“If you want to fight for civil rights, and you want to make a gesture, if you need to bring out an issue that’s happening in the world, that’s why politics should be included. It’s making your voice heard,” Panasiti said.

Global politics will always be intertwined with an event the size of the World Cup, and when players are brave enough to use their platform to bring a movement to the forefront of international discussion, we must join the conversation.

“Sidelined Student” by Brynne Barnard-Bahn

ADVICE: Friendships and social anxiety

BY ANONYMOUS

This is an advice column that responds to questions from anonymous Country Day students. To submit, send in a question to the Google form sent out on Nov. 30. Responses are not guaranteed, but all submissions are welcome.

Q: I feel like sometimes I’m only a backup option for my friends; I’m never their first option. They have a lot of inside jokes and don’t tell me things, but I don’t have any other close friends. What should I do?

No one deserves to feel like a last resort, especially when it comes to friendships. Luckily, you have overcome the greatest barrier: recognition.

For many people, pride prevents them from recognizing when they are not being valued, when their contributions are not being appreciated to the fullest extent.

In those cases, denial prevents the pursuit of meaningful friendships; however, since you are not battling to come to terms with reality, you can jump right into fixing the situation.

It appears that your friends are not inherently bad friends.

As far as I am aware, they are not insulting you or purposefully ignoring you; instead, they are simply not as close with you as you would hope.

As a result, I suggest you not confront them about the issue because they have not actually done anything wrong. These people are still your friends, and you cannot force them into being closer friends.

However, this does not mean you should just accept that you will forever be a second choice. Rather, you should begin to broaden your horizon, seeking out close friendships elsewhere.

Now, I realize that is easier said than done, but if you follow these three steps, you will be well on your way to making other close friends.

Begin by surrounding yourself with new, unfamiliar people.

Maybe this means joining that sports team you have always wanted to join or attending that club meeting you have heard so much about. Whatever it is, it will be important to surround yourself with new people.

Next, you will begin to socialize with these new people.

At the club meeting, spark up a conversation with the person nearest to you. It might just be complimenting the person’s outfit, but it is important you start getting to know these new people.

Finally, once you have begun to familiarize yourself with these people, start going out of your way to talk to them.

If you pass them in the quad, say hello. If you sit near them in class, ask to work with them on the next in-class activity.

Soon, you will find that you are increasingly less bothered by your lack of closeness with your original friends, and eventually, you will form that much-desired close friendship with someone else.

Q: How would you deal with social anxiety? I have always had trouble with socializing. When I talk to anyone, even friends and classmates, I freeze and clam up. It’s not that I don’t want to develop stronger relationships with people; I just can’t control it. Any tips on how to try to overcome my social anxiety?

In a time in your life when it seems like every move you make is being watched by all of your peers, it is completely natural to feel a sense of social anxiety.

Even the most confident people always deal with social fears in the back of their minds.

However, what separates them from most is the way they deal with these concerns.

Fortunately, there are countless ways to overcome the barrier that is social uncertainty.

My first and most legitimate tip is understanding the situation you’re in.

Anytime I feel angst about embarrassing myself, I try to take life a little less seriously.

In reality, we are a floating organic pebble with lives irrelevant to the grand scheme of things. Even less relevant is your time in high school.

Although not always true, the friends you meet and make in high school will most likely be gone in the next four years. So, why not leave it all out on the table?

The fact is, an understanding that we’re all on the same boat with limited time amongst each other should push you to be yourself in front of others with little worry of the consequences.

In addition to this realization, knowing what makes you anxious is a crucial step to combating social discomfort.

Whether it be you think the way you talk is funny, your personality is different or you feel what you add has no substance, understand that those around you share similar feelings of discomfort.

In contrast to what might make you feel like an outsider, building confidence in your special qualities is a necessity when it comes to dealing with social anxiety.

Take time to really pinpoint ideas, concepts or hobbies you’re passionate about. The more you find out about yourself, the better you’ll be at finding a group that prioritizes you and your interests.

Once you find a group centered around your fascinations, it’s integral that you are an active listener during your conversations. Time worrying about what you’re going to say next is nothing but time wasted.

If your social anxiety is rooted in conversation, listening to what others are saying allows for both deeper exchanges and connections between you and your new friends. Finally, my last point of advice would be to take things slow.

Take a deep breath when you feel your anxiety sparking, remember what you read above and know that although making friendships take time, you have plenty of time and people in this community to help. If all else fails, fake it until you make it.

MY ANGLE: Being an only child is really not that bad

Growing up, I constantly heard judgments floating around about how spoiled only children are. I cannot say how much I live up to that expectation, but, I certainly do not want to be associated with its negativity.

Another assumption, that being an only child means being lonely, is not much better, and in my case, it is just plain wrong.

Having lived in the Bay Area for the early part of my life, I grew up surrounded by the many cousins in my large family. I slept over at their houses and shared nostalgic childhood memories with them.

During the holidays, my entire family would gather at my grandparents’ house.

Traditional wintertime celebrations were transformed into festive, warm, multi-generational gatherings that everyone excitedly anticipated.

cousins have declined, replaced by messages from friends instead.

I feared that I was drifting further and further apart from my cousins, who also had their own lives away from the phone.

My only opportunities to spend time with my cousins were during holidays, and even then, I felt a cold distance that did not exist before the move.

I was again reminded that I am an only child. All I could pay attention to was the unfamiliar awkwardness that was telling of how far our friendship had deteriorated.

Yet, miraculously, it was rekindled thanks to quarantine. With the abundance of unfilled time, we reconnected through daily calls and messages to play games, and, of course, Zoom calls that included the entire family.

a snuggle attack for my dog, who was likely sleeping until my greeting, I flop on the couch to drink water and message some friends before starting my homework.

The quiet environment at home is relaxing and comforting — a nice contrast from the long, chaotic days at school.

I do not mind that no one is home except me for the first few hours, as I enjoy the solitude after school. It is a brief moment of pause and privacy in my day and an integral part of my routine. I was also able to develop a strong sense of independence and an appreciation for privacy and boundaries.

Of course, both are possible to achieve with siblings, but I believe it would have taken me much longer to realize it.

BY LAUREN LU

The shocked looks on my friends’ faces were comical, their eyes bulging. It looked like I just revealed that I had a secret 11th toe.

“You’re an only child?” they asked. “Really? You?”

That I am an only child is not typically mentioned in casual conversation, but when it does, I can expect an entertaining, over-the-top reaction.

I was surprised that what I thought was only a trivial fact mattered so much to my friends and acquaintances , leaving them stupefied.

What does an only child look like, anyway?

Apparently, the telltale sign is a spoiled attitude.

I remember the joyous shrieks of my younger cousins and the music of the karaoke machine that filled the house while the adults chatted and ate.

Agewise, I am the middle cousin, which allows me to relate to relatives both older and younger than me. Because of our friendship, I am able to confide in them the way I imagine siblings do.

They are like siblings to me. Even with my quiet life, my cousins ensure that I do not feel alone.

When I lived in the Bay Area, we would see each other almost daily.

Once I moved to Sacramento, near-daily correspondence via FaceTime and text messages were the norm in my household, which helped me sustain my close relationship with my extended family.

However, growing older is accompanied by more responsibilities and obligations.

As I have begun broadening my social circle and busying myself with schoolwork, the frequency of notifications from my

However, I understand that cousins and siblings are not quite the same.

As the only cousin in the family without any siblings, I know that the bond between my cousins and their brothers or sisters is much closer than that of my cousins and me.

We do not live together or see each other daily anymore, and I faced most of my “firsts” without my cousins physically with me.

While I view my family as the closest thing I will ever experience to siblings, I am probably only seen as the favorite cousin, the grandchild that lives so far away from everyone else.

Although it sounds sad, I hold no resentment toward this fact of my life because it is not all gloom and unhappiness. I like being an only child!

Returning home after school looks like unlocking the front door to the cool temperature of the interior, the smell of dinner wafting from the kitchen.

After a “Hey Alexa, play Chet Baker,” and

The quiet is a source of comfort and re-energization after a long day of socialization for me, helping me relax and escape the fast pace of daily life.

So, a In fact, I believe it is because I have no siblings that I can focus on enriching my other relationships, such as with my friends and parents.

Being an only child has pushed me to find a stable, supportive group of friends who I can relate to and trust.

It has also permitted me to spend more time with my mom because my mom does not need to divide her attention among multiple children.

We have more time to do various activities together, whether it be binging television shows, tasting new desserts from various bakeries, or simply sharing stories about each other’s day.

So, although I have always wondered what my life would be like with a sibling or two, I am content with my current place, and I would not trade my experiences as an only child for anything.

CHAND’’S CHRISTMAS CHECK-IN CHAND’’S CHRISTMAS CHECK-IN

BChristmas Check-in sits as a supplement to the previous Octagon story, Chand’s Chicken Check-in. Moving away from the spicy heat and into times of bitter cold, this review hopes to not only bring in the season’s greetings but that seasonal something to fill your holiday.

REVIEW BY JACOB CHAND; PHOTO BY ADAM AKINS; GRAPHICS BY AVA EBERHART

Sleighing into the Chand’s Christmas Check-in list, Elf on the Shelf sits high on the shelves of my favorite Christmas traditions.

Bringing magic to kids across the globe, Elf on the Shelf gained extreme notoriety in the early 2000s.

Based on a children’s book by Carol V. Abersold and Chanda Bell, this holiday tradition came with a toy elf and a tale of its mission.

Its rising popularity forced my par ents to ring the North Pole, bringing our elf, Bob, to our doorstep on Dec. 1, 2012. Getting past the initial creepiness of a random elf in my home was tough at first. However, his day-to-day mischief around our house for 25 days was enough to buy into his charm and believability.

From fishing for goldfish crackers in our toilet bowl to holding my stuffed animals hostage, waking up each day to see the chaos Bob brought seemed like every day was Christmas morning.

Additionally, each year not only brought the return of Bob but one of his friends, as well. Making our way up the list, our household carried Betty the girl elf, Blitzen the reindeer and Barry the Saint Bernard.

Their added presence brought even more pandemonium, as all members of the Elf on the Shelf crew still join my household every December — even after I found

items on this list, the gingerbread house is friendly to all skill levels.

With simple frosting and candy decorations, beginners who don’t want to put all their effort into an evening’s work of constructing something with little substance, don’t have to.

Yet, the beauty of gingerbread houses is going all out — and I fit right into that category.

For years, I have been reigning over my family as the gingerbread king, constructing gingerbread homes only fit for the hills of Calabasas.

From beach-front properties to log cabins, my gingerbread houses might bend the rules of edibleness, but check off all the marks to win my family’s yearly competition.

Like I said previously, rules and regulations are out of the picture, meaning there’s room for your house to do whatever you want — adding a gingery way to mix up

coming together every year for multiple generations to put together a spectacle for the residents of this county, is nothing short of heavenly. This is why I recommend at least seeing the lights once throughout your life.

Still, the two most dreaded text messages I receive during this time are for holiday card pictures and “Fab Forties” viewings.

As a yearly tradition, the joyful light inside my heart for the “Forties” has dimmed more and more, as long lines have killed any sort of amusement this tradition used to bring.

However, if you plan on going, I recommend creating a long holiday song playlist, bringing some special treats, surrounding yourself with loved ones and definitely not making the mistake of taking a horse-drawn carriage — a warm heater is crucial for your time in the “Forties.”

full of songs that got old quicker by the minute.

Following tradition, our caroling crew traversed from house to house by foot. And just like our songs, walking got old just as quick.

However, unlike what we might have envisioned, many families weren’t as willing to hear a bunch of teenagers with stuffy noses wail pathetically on and on outside their homes.

Nevertheless, a few houses that were occupied and, more miraculously, willing to accept carolers on their porches, displayed loads of festive enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, our enthusiasm didn’t translate into holiday cheer. Our singing carols sounded more like shrieking howls, as viewers gave us figgy pudding, not as a reward, but as a bribe to get us to leave.

In conclusion, leave caroling in the past and save your time and voice.

CAN AN EGGNOG HATER BE CONVERTED?

BY SIMONE DEBERRY

Like many people, I have long been repulsed by the pungent bubblegum odor of eggnog, the infamous egg-based holiday drink. When the cool, winter air comes rushing in, I overlook the sticky concoction, instead opting for a steaming mug of hot chocolate. But this holiday season, I decided it was time to overcome this aversion of mine. Over one week, I sampled four different types of eggnog, in an attempt to convert myself from an naysayer to an enthusiast.

TRADER

JOE’S O’NOG NON-DAIRY OAT BEVERAGE - 1/5

Going in, my hopes were not high for this vegan eggnog alternative. But, somehow, Trader Joe’s O’Nog Non-Dairy Oat Beverage still managed to fall short of my rock-bottom expectations.

As a life-long pescetarian, I have dabbled in the realm of vegan alternatives, so it was not the overwhelming absence of milk and egg that turned me off to the idea of this. Instead, it was the main ingredient that made my heart drop to my feet: water.

Now, I love water just as much as the next person, but when I am sitting at my dining room table preparing to take a sip of an unfamiliar concoction, I do not want to see an ingredient list topped by water, oats and sunflower oil.

Still, I took a deep breath and persevered.

As it poured from the carton, the eggnog looked more reminiscent of a sandy puddle than a holiday treat. With its light brown, slightly gray coloring, it reminded me more of sewage than a festive holiday drink. Still, I maintained the slightest inkling of hope.

That hope was misplaced. As soon as the beverage touched my lips, I regretted every decision leading up to this point.

To describe this taste in its entirety would be entirely useless because there was none. Really, it was much more of an essence. It felt almost like there was nutmeg and cream a few moments prior, but they disappeared shortly before I took a sip, so I was left with a mouthful of nothing.

I spent $4 on nutmeg water.

Safe to say, I left this tasting hating eggnog more than I did when I began.

TRADER JOE’S LIGHT EGG NOG - 1/5

I try to give credit where credit is due, but for this chemically-infused pasteurized egg concoction, I struggle to come up with anything even remotely reminiscent of a compliment.

Looking at the liquid in the cup, I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach.

The eggnog was yellow, and not a pale yellow that could be mistaken for cream. It was probably three shades removed from the color of an egg’s yolk — a bright, viscous yellow.

But, the color was not even the worst part. As soon as I got a whiff of the drink, the pungent smell of nail polish seared my nostrils.

Still, despite all of these red flags, I chose to close my eyes and take a sip, and immediately, I was punished for my blind faith.

Upon initial contact with my taste buds, the far-tooliquidy drink reminded me of liquified eggs with a dollop of sugar and a sprinkling of nutmeg. But nothing could have prepared me for the aftertaste that came just one minute later.

It was awful. It tasted like I had coated my tongue in putrid, chemical filth.

In mere seconds, I had downed a glass of water in a desperate attempt to rid my taste buds of this horrible flavor.

All I know is if I was Trader Joe, I would be ashamed of myself and the state of my company.

SACRAMENTO FOOD CO-OP EGGNOG - 2/5

Unlike the two previous Trader Joe’s attempts at something edible, this eggnog was not spectacularly bad, but it was not good either.

In terms of its looks, it was exactly what I expected from the holiday drink. With its light cream coloring and little speckles of seasoning, it definitely had potential for something great.

However, its runniness became apparent as I began to tilt the cup in my direction.

When it comes to beverages like smoothies, shakes, and, of course, eggnog, I tend to look for a thicker consistency, something more like heavy whipping cream.

With this drink, that hope was squashed. It was only slightly thicker than milk, and the telltale bubblegum scent of eggnog was somewhat overwhelming.

When it came to the flavor itself, I was left wondering how exactly eggnog maintains its dedicated fanbase of fanatics.

It was overpoweringly sweet, likely due to its 18 grams of sugar, and the hint of chemical preservatives was evident.

Of course, the nutmeg and cream were pleasant in contrast, but they could only manage to do so much. The drink was mediocre at best, and I was growing increasingly certain that I would never find myself buying eggnog again.

LAUREN ALLEN’S HOMEMADE EGGNOG - 4/5

By the time I came around to making this eggnog, I had lost complete hope in the sweet winter drink. But, as soon as I took a sip of this delicacy, I converted into a fan.

After scouring the pages of Google, I decided on Lauren Allen’s Homemade Eggnog recipe, a last-ditch attempt to incite a love of eggnog.

The recipe was fairly straightforward, and its common ingredients were already in my pantry.

So, after 20 minutes of whisking, pouring and waiting, I was ready to put my concoction into the fridge to let it chill. The following morning, I returned for a taste test.

Upon first glance, my eggnog looked like sludge, but when I poured it from the pitcher to a cup, I found it had just what I was seeking all along.

It was a light tan coloring with a smooth but thick consistency.

When I took a sip, I was greeted with a creamy nutmeg flavor, and I could not help but notice the absence of bubblegum fragrance.

At this point, I realized that my dislike for eggnog stemmed from its overly sweet and synthetic flavoring. But, by making it at home, all of that was prevented. Now, it was just a good old-fashioned, silky smooth refreshment, and I was hooked.

After what seemed to be an uphill battle, I have found the eggnog to beat all eggnogs. Lauren Allen’s Homemade Eggnog recipe surpasses the rest, and although I would not go so far as to call myself an eggnog enthusiast, I definitely will not be hating quite so aggressively.

Lauren Allen’s Homemade Eggnog from her blog, Tastes Better From Scratch

INGREDIENTS

6 large egg yolks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 pinch of salt 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

RECIPE

1. In a medium bowl, mix the egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy.

2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cream, milk, nutmeg and salt. Stir frequently until mixture achieves a slight simmer.

3. Add a large spoonful of hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking as you add. Repeat until all milk has been added.

4. Pour the mixture of milk and eggs back into the saucepan

5. Whisk until mixture is slighly thicker, at which point remove it from the heat and pour into a separate bowl.

6. Add vanilla.

7. Pour eggnog through a mesh strainer and into a pitcher and cover with plastic wrap.

8. Refrigerate eggnog until chilled.

9. Once thickened, serve.

GRAPHICS

BY BRYNNE BARNARD-BAHN AND CANVA

the pop 10

THE RISE OF WORDLE

Wordle, a five-letter word guessing game, was released in October of 2021, but exploded in popularity during 2022 after it was bought on Jan. 31 by the New York Times. Three hundred thousand people play Wordle daily, according to the New York Times.

JOHNNY DEPP V. AMBER HEARD DEFAMATION TRIAL

Celebrity divorcees Johnny Depp’s and Amber Heard’s defamation lawsuit began on April 11. Depp sued Heard, saying she defamed him by accusing him of domestic abuse. Heard countersued Depp for $100 million. The jury ultimately reached a verdict on June 1, resulting in Depp being awarded $10.35 million in compensatory and punitive damages, while Heard was awarded $2 million in damages in her countersuit. Heard’s lawyers filed an appeal, claiming that court errors were made. Judge Penney Azcarte denied Heard’s request for a mistrial. On Nov. 23, Heard appealed the verdict again.

KIM KARDASHIAN AND MARILYN MONROE’S DRESS

Celebrity Kim Kardashian wore a Marilyn Monroe dress to the Met Gala on May 2. Monroe wore it when she sang happy birthday to President John F Kennedy. When Kardashian wore that dress to the Met Gala, she enraged fashion historians and enthusiasts who feared she had damaged the dress. However, Kardashian claims that she did not.

THE SLAP HEARD AROUND THE WORLD

On May 27, actor Will Smith slapped comedian and Oscars host Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, actress and talk show host Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith is now under a 10-year ban from attending the Oscars.

“TOP GUN: MAVERICK”

The movie “Top Gun: Maverick” landed in theaters on May 27. The movie is the long awaited sequel to the hit movie “Top Gun,” which aired on May 16, 1986. Both movies star Tom Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. The movie has made more than $1.4 billion, making it the sixth highest grossing movie in cinema history.

THE DEATH OF TAKEOFF

American rapper Kirshnik Khari Ball, better known as Takeoff, was shot and killed on Nov. 1 in Houston, Texas. He was best known for his position in the hip hop trio Migos. Patrick Xavier Clark was arrested for the murder on Dec. 1.

THE DEATH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, II

Ninety-six-year-old Queen Elizabeth II of England, famed for her long reign, died on Sept. 8 from natural causes. The queen was celebrated and honored for taking serious interest in political and governmental roles and modernizing the monarchy.

ELON MUSK’S TWITTER PURCHASE

Businessman Elon Musk bought the social media company Twitter on Oct. 28 for $44 billion. Following his purchase, Musk proceeded to fire half the workforce, or 3,700 jobs, including Twitter executives. Musk also reinstated accounts that had been banned for violating twitter rules, including former president Donald Trump.

PETE DAVIDSON’S LOVE LIFE

Eight months after her divorce from Kanye West, celebrity Kim Kardashian dated West’s friend, Pete Davidson, an actor and comedian, during 2021. After a nine-month relationship, the two called it off in August. Dating rumors emerged about Davidson and model and actress Emily Ratajowski in November.

THE REDEMPTION OF USMNT

On Nov. 29, the U.S. men’s national soccer team, or USMNT, advanced to round 16 for the 2022 World Cup after failing to qualify for the international tournament in 2018. USMNT tied Wales 1-1, tied England 0-0 and beat Iran 1-0. The team then lost 3-1 to Netherlands in round 16, eliminating USMNT from the World Cup tournament.

The year 2022 has made its mark on pop culture history. Here are 10 of the most memorable events.

STORY BY ISHAAN SEKHON; GRAPHICS BY LAUREN LU