June 2019

THE MUSTANG

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VOLUME 23 ISSUE 7

06.06.19

INDEX

ROLL CALL Editor-in-Chief Taylor Rudman Design Editor Simmone Stearn

COVER ARTIST

RACHEL FAY KANEVSKY

News Editor Aiden Fullwood

Senior Rachel Fay Kanevsky has been doing art ever since she was young. Currently, her favorite medium is watercolor. “It’s really relaxing and I can get a lot of detail in...I can accomplish a lot of different effects with it,” said Kanevsky.

This piece is inspired by the television show “Doctor Who” and is an interpretation of the fifth regeneration of the doctor. “The costume piece is the fifth doctor and the celery is a piece that he wears on his collar.” The clock face also shows five o’clock in reference to the doctor’s fifth regeneration.

To see more of her art, check out her Instagram, @faydoodles.

Opinion Editor Sophie Hughes Features Editor Sylvia Young Taylor Rudman Arts Editor Linnaea Erisman Humor Editor Sylvia Young Sports Editor Yari Sequeria Photo Editor Jaden Hauptman

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

M

IN N D D EE XX 02

y god, it’s nearly all over.

Every once in a while I think about all the story ideas that never become more than just that. I regret the stories that were never written.

It is weird to think where those ideas will go now that I’m leaving. Where do unfinished ideas float off to? How many little things have disappeared in my dust? I regret those stories that were never finished, but I am more grateful for the stories that were. There are so many things that I got to write about, so many people that I got to be. For all of the little things that I never got to do, there are so many things that I did.

I love that I have had the opportunity to write. The opportunity to make memories here. I hate that these memories will fade. I will learn to love the new memories that take their place. Only bits and pieces will stay in my head, but the feelings will last forever. And maybe they’ll be twisted. Good memories have a way of sticking around, while bad ones fade. In the past four years, I know I have had my fair share of both. I don’t want to say “I’ll always remember just how special SDA was,” because I might not. A few years down the road, I might not be able to remember the exact way that my calculus teacher sang the birthday song, or why we laughed so hard in journalism. I might not be able to recall what song I sang karaoke to at my very last prom. There are other things I won’t be able to remember. Maybe I won’t remember how things ended with my first boyfriend. I won’t remember the screaming matches I had with my

family. I won’t really remember what made all of the tears come, and I probably won’t remember what made them finally stop. However, regardless of how many details stay, I will always remain a person shaped by those memories, even if I don’t remember them. I have been shaped by these people and these experiences.

Honestly, I have no idea where I am at right now. It’s a strange emotional limbo that I have suspended myself in. I’m not ready to close this chapter of my life, but I also think I am ready to open a new one. That’s the trouble, I think. Life isn’t written into chapters.

Emotions are not felt in some sort of simple-to-follow linear storyline. It’s all messy. Sometimes I’m doubtful as to if the story is even all written in the same language. Other times things can make so little sense that I am certain there must be a few pages missing. That’s okay, though. Because, at least for me, the stories that are harder to understand are the same ones that are so satisfying to finish. I’ve enjoyed reading so far. I still don’t have any clue as to how my story is going to end. I want to know, and I want to see the ending of everyone else’s. Things change and people leave, but it is going to be okay.

That’s what I’m telling myself, at least. I want to see how everyone’s stories go.

In the end, none of it matters too much.

At least no one individual thing. It is the collection of all these little moments, all the little choices and movements, that have made our stories what they are so far. They will continue.

Forever grateful, Taylor Rudman, Editor-in-Chief

Business Manager Ally Joelson Online Editor Devlin Ott Shayna Glazer Online Sports Editor Alexis Price Staff Writers Aeon Benford-Combs Alex Storer Cade Culbertson Carolina Gutierrez Hunter McGahan Jeffrey Furgerson Jenna Weinhofer Joice He Kate Paxton Lauren Martinez Manelle Touzni Max Vennemeyer Maya Janaswamy Peter Gao Piper Ligotti Piper Nilsen Rayelyn Burrell Victoria Lee Advisor Tim Roberts The Mustang is the student newspaper of San Dieguito Academy.

Advertisements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the newspaper.

The Mustang is an open forum which welcomes letters. Letters can be submitted to room 42, or emailed to sdamustang@ gmail.com.

San Dieguito Academy Room 42 800 Santa Fe Drive Encinitas, CA 92024

JUNE 2019

Students are smoking weed (legally) At least, 18-year-old students with medical marijuana cards. Getting a card is relatively quick, easy, and inexpensive, students say. Some get it for recreational use, others medical.

Regardless, officials are concerned about the effects of marijuana on brain development, it being a "gateway" drug, and students with medical marijuana cards selling to others.

By Taylor Rudman.

THE MUSTANG

O

NEWS

n your 16th birthday, you pop out of bed with an extra bit of enthusiasm. Sixteen is the day you get one step closer to adulthood by having the chance to get your driver’s license.

By the time you turn 18, rites of passage have changed a little. Your mom isn’t driving you to the DMV. You don’t even need to get out of bed.

Because on your 18th birthday, you could go online and get a different kind of ID, as some SDA students have done. Instead of your driver’s license, you could get your medical marijuana card, or doctor’s “recommendation,” which allows you to legally buy marijuana at a dispensary.

A senior boy, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “I think I actually got it on my birthday.”

It is easy. Simple. No medical records required. Not even a face-toface interaction. “The process for me felt shockingly easy,” said a senior girl, who wished to remain anonymous . “You could really list any medical problem and say weed helps you and you can get a recommendation.”

A 2018 graduate, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “My goodness, it was one of the easiest medical procedures, or processes, I’ve been through in my life.”

“It was actually really easy. I just filled out an application online and I think a doctor called me, like, 20 minutes later, and he just wrote me up for one and, you put in different health conditions you have, and they see if you are eligible to get it,” said a senior boy, who wished to remain anonymous. “Yeah, it was really easy. I got my whole certificate in under an hour.”

The phone call with the doctor took him five minutes.

Medical marijuana cards are available to 18-year-old students, and the process to get them is relatively quick, easy, and inexpensive, with most online recommendations costing an average of about $50. Some SDA students who have medical marijuana cards said they see it as a safer way to purchase marijuana for recreational uses rather than through “sketchy dealers,” while others use their card for medical purposes. Some use it for both.

School and law enforcement officials, though, see problems with 18-year-old seniors having such easy access. Although it is legal for 18-year-olds to obtain a medical marijuana card, it is still illegal to possess marijuana on campus or be under the influence at school, with repeated offenses resulting in expulsion. And school and law enforcement officials worry about the negative effects of marijuana on young adults’ developing brain and fear it can lead to further drug use. Also, they say 18-year-olds use the medical cards to buy marijuana and then sell it to others.

A quick Google search will yield dozens of results for websites advertising the “guaranteed lowest price,” and ways to get a “card online (in minutes).” Click on a link and services are advertised: “Easy online process.

No appointment needed. Billed only if approved,” and “Only $39! Approved in minutes.”

The medical examination process can be rather minimal. Services do not require patients to submit any sort of past medical history, only a checkbox form of ailments and copy of their ID to verify age, students said. A detective sergeant, who works in Narcotics at the San Diego County Sheriff office, said, “The screening process varies from doctor to doctor, however based on the experience of detectives who investigate theses type of cases, the screening process is very minimal.”

The San Diego County Sheriff Press Office provided the detective’s comments without a name.

Since no official documents are needed, it isn’t difficult to present symptoms that could be approved for medical marijuana, students said. A senior boy said, “I put anxiety, pain, and even with that he let me have it.”

Another senior boy, who listed similar health problems, said, “It would have been easy just to lie.”

Officials are doubtful of marijuana being used for legitimate medical purposes among teens. The detective said, “From a subjective standpoint, I would say the percentage of people who legitimately use marijuana for a medical issue is very, very low.”

Counselor Ann Nebolon said, “I think the times when an 18-year-old might need medical marijuana are really far and few between. So, in those cases, with real diagnosed illnesses and things that need to be treated, ok, maybe. But other than that I don’t know that that’s how it’s really being used, a medical marijuana card.”

While some students only use the card for recreation, others said that it helps. “I put down anxiety, chronic pain, and insomnia,” she said.

“My card really does address these problems. I’ve had surgeries in the past and marijuana helped when I didn’t want to take prescribed opioids. I used CBD (the non psychoactive part of marijuana) everyday for anxiety.”

A 2018 graduate said, “In some instances, it is for just recreation, and then there’s also times in which I do use it for medicine. The THC doesn’t help as much in the medical regard, at least for what I’m desiring, but what I have noticed, is for mental health, it’s calming.”

Students who sought out cards for recreational purposes said they find that the safety of purchasing from dispensaries comes as a great benefit.

A senior boy said, “Being safe is a perk that comes with it.”

Before getting a medical marijuana card, some students had dealt with purchasing marijuana from other questionable sources. A senior girl said, “The weed from a dispensary will always be safer than weed you can buy from that kid that you met at an In-N-Out.” “I did have a past in picking up off of, you know, ‘the high school plug,’ or, you know, the shady black market, and, I mean, there are some people out there who are looking to give you a quality product, obviously there are those who aren’t,” a 2018 graduate said.

“I know I’m getting a quality product when I go through a dispensary.”

According to students, reselling dispensary products seems to be

relatively common. A senior boy said, “Yeah, because, I mean, I dunno, it’s easier to get it from your friend than to get it from some random dude.”

A 2018 alumnus said, “That’s a very frequent thing, and it’s the same thing with alcohol, you know. People will buy alcohol and distribute it out. It is very rampant.”

Some officials are aware of this.

Joseph Olesky is the district Substance Abuse Counselor and head of the READI (Recovery Education Alcohol Drug Instruction), the district’s drug and alcohol education program. He said, “We have more 18 and 19-yearold seniors in our district, and a lot of the individuals that come through READI have been very open with me. When they were 18, they did not tell their parents they were getting a medi card and then they are buying products at a dispensary and then they have admitted that they are selling on school grounds for profit.”

However, since products from dispensaries tend to be more expensive, the detective was doubtful of how widespread the problem really is. He said, “I’m sure it does happen but I would guess it would be very rare because the cost of marijuana in dispensaries is too high to be able to resell for a profit.”

If a student is found with marijuana on campus, regardless of whether they have a medical card, they will face the same treatment. Olesky said, “It’s the same, if they have medical marijuana or regular marijuana, you know, without a card, on campus, it is either a five day suspension or they have to go through the READI program and complete the READI program to get it off the record.”

Medical marijuana is legal for 18-year-olds in California, but officials are concerned about the effect that it has on the teenage brain. The detective said, “Many studies, one of them from the National Institute of Mental Health, shows a human brain is not completely developed until the age of 26. That study says that any mind altering drugs can have an effect on a developing brain so from the standpoint of neuroscientists it's a problem.”

Olesky said, “When you’re 18, you’re an adult, so the only thing I can do in the READI program is teach them the hazards of marijuana on the underdeveloped brain and the connectedness. Marijuana is a very dangerous drug to the underdeveloped brain. After 18 years old, if they decide to go get a medi card and they do their business off school grounds, I can’t stop that, but they’re not allowed to bring it on school grounds.”

Marijuana as a “gateway drug” is also a concern. Counselor Ann Nebolon said, “It is a way for 18-year-olds to get use of marijuana for recreational, and then it scares me that they might use marijuana recreationally and it could lead to other things. Because it does open the door to other drugs.

It absolutely does. And fairly easily.

The biggest thing is that possibility of it leading to other things and it being misused not for medical purposes.

Because your brains are still growing, and it is documented that marijuana does affect brain growth in kids.”

03

NEWS

SDA ranks high in nation This year, U.S. News’ annual academic ranking gave San Dieguito Academy a high score.

By Aiden Fullwood

S

an Dieguito Academy placed as the 816th best school in the nation in the 2019 U.S. News Best High Schools Rankings with an overall score of 95 out of 100 points.

U.S. News ranks high schools based on educational factors like college readiness, students’ proficiency and performance level in math and reading, the number of AP exams both taken and passed, and the graduation rate. They also take into account the test scores of students who are “black, Hispanic, and from lowincome households,” according to the U.S. News website. Those scores are then compared to students who may have had more opportunities.

Principal Adam Camacho said that SDA’s ranking is “reflective of how awesome our school community is. I think it’s reflective of the hard work that goes into really delivering a solid curriculum and providing an experience for all of our kids.It’s nice to have that opinion and that ranking...that validation.”

Although the ranking does demonstrate SDA’s academic skills, for Camacho it’s not a true representation of the school’s culture or community. “We’re also a school that is very independent and strong in its beliefs and its culture,” Camacho said. “At the end of the day, we know best how we serve kids and we know the experience of the kids because we hear it directly, we see it, we get to experience it. We’re about the entire experience, a holistic student experience, and that’s what we really pride ourselves on.”

According to Camacho, part of what makes SDA culture so special is “how we are able to lift one another, engage in the hard conversations, support one another in the challenging and the ugly, in the good, in the not-socomfortable.”

04

A STUDENT PREPARES for his upcoming SAT exams, using his prep book to study. Photo by Aiden Fullwood.

Facing adversity College Board is adding the SAT adversity score to make college admissions more equal. By Aiden Fullwood

S

ome San Dieguito Academy staff and students are conflicted over the potential benefits and drawbacks of the College Board’s new SAT adversity score.

For the past three years, the College Board has piloted the adversity score with over 50 colleges and universities. According to the College Board website, the purpose of the score is to help spot students who have “demonstrated resourcefulness to overcome challenges and achieve more with less.”

The adversity score will provide environmental context surrounding a student’s application and SAT scores in effort to create a fairer and diverse admissions process. The score is dependent on two specific categories: neighborhood and high school environment. The categories include data on the poverty rate, family income, education level and job of parents, and kind of housing unit in the area.

Starting in 2019, the College Board will be expanding the program to more universities.

For junior Thomas Pickering, the adversity score “could be beneficial to lower-income students applying to colleges interested in expanding their socioeconomic diversity….I think the goal of the

score is well-meaning especially because socioeconomic background is a larger hindrance to academic success than race. Whether or not it accomplishes greater diversity, I think, depends on the extent to which college admission officers value it,” Pickering said.

According to English teacher Robert Ross, promotion of campus diversity is likely a driving factor behind creating the score. “I think [colleges are] realizing that since affirmative action went away, on many campuses diversity has been going down...The elite schools are becoming increasing white and Asian. It’s not a reflection of our society at large,” Ross said. “I think [the score is] gonna be more like a slight nudge in a certain direction.”

The concern for socioeconomic inequalities within college admissions is one Ross also shares.

“Some people are gonna claim it’s not fair, but I think a lot of times people in the preferred classes don’t always see the advantages they have, they privilege they’ve had, and they think ‘oh, everyone’s just on a level playing field,’” Ross said. “My time in education working with different students, it’s very clear to me [that] it’s not a level playing field at all.

Grades, SAT scores, not a level playing field.”

Additionally, giving students

a score based solely on his or her environmental context could help lead admissions officers away from considering test scores and GPA too heavily, Ross said, a practice that in itself could be discriminatory to lessprivileged groups.

“Where you come from, are your parents educated, do they have resources...that is determinative of basic access to higher education.

That’s the strongest factor,” Ross said.

“The people on the top are staying on top and the people on the bottom are struggling more and more with access to things and costs of things... some people have a lot of resources to do a lot of test prep and some people have nothing and no time.”

Ross’s experience as an application reader for UC San Diego has led him to believe that although colleges do look at environment, “they don’t weigh it enough. The overwhelming majority...is GPA and test scores. Everything else kinda adds a little weight past that.”

In fact, Ross says that the test scores are only predictive of how well a student will do in the first year of college and barely accurate beyond that.

Although contextual scores like this one may be a help for some disadvantaged social groups, just another number-based score is not enough for English teacher Ruth

Magnuson. “I think [colleges] need to give students an opportunity to talk about themselves,” Magnuson said. “Some sort of written component where a student can talk about diversity they’ve experienced and how they overcome those things because I think that could really demonstrate resilience and work ethic versus just a number.”

For Magnuson, the potential loopholes in the design of the adversity score could undermine the score a student receives. “On paper, it could look like ‘hey, they live in a great neighborhood,’ but maybe they’re low income themselves, or you know they’ve dealt with a lot of other personal difficult issues in their life,” Magnuson said. “I don’t think that takes into consideration.”

Ross does acknowledge the possibility of flaws within the score.

There’s bound to be mistakes in interpretation. The score is a system, and there’s always going to be people trying to game the system, Ross said.

An anonymous junior expressed similar apprehension that the adversity score “may lead to further discrimination” and that although a student’s background is always important, “misinterpretations can be made that don’t always accurately represent a student...academics are more important.”

JUNE 2019

OPINIONS

Letters to my freshman self Graduating seniors reflect on their high school experience and give advice to their past selves.

DEAR FRESHMAN JADEN,

P

eople always say that high school flies by and now I can tell you that they are 100 percent% right. It feels like yesterday when you were a “little” freshie that looked up, or down, to the intimidating seniors. Now you are one of those intimidating seniors, getting ready to graduate from a school that you call your second home.

I am so proud of who you have grown to be. The freshman Jaden never would’ve foreseen herself joining leadership positions for several activities in and outside school. You have spread your wings and gone outside your comfort zone to dramatic extents. You will meet your best friends here and experience amazing moments that you will forever hold close to your heart.

My main advice for you is to enjoy your time at SDA, and try not to dwell about the future too much. I’m not going to sugarcoat this: the SAT kicked your ass. However, don’t get discouraged because you’re going to end up going to a college you love. Just keep getting involved in the things that make you happy and don’t be afraid to show people who you are, because you’re pretty awesome.

You did everything you needed to succeed here Jaden, so hats off to you! Even though I am going to cry my guts out on graduation, I am genuinely excited for our next chapter!

Love, Your future self

DEAR FRESHMAN SYLVIA,

O

kay. So I kinda hate this type of thing. I’m out here reflecting on myself, and doing it publicly doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable. I’ve blocked out most of the past four years, so I’m being reminded of all the bad things, and thinking about the good times is also a downer, because it’s all about to end. But we’re gonna power through this because self-reflection is important and I didn’t have any other stories to write for the last issue of the paper.

I don’t really know what to say. There were a lot of parts of high school that were really bad. I cared way too much, then I stopped caring completely (spoiler alert: neither of those things makes you feel great). It’s easy to look back now and write everything off. But the truth is, most of the time when I wasn’t feeling horrible, I still felt bored and numb.

The thing is, I don’t think there’s much I can change. I feel content now. I’m able to feel good, and I can handle it when I feel bad. We’re shaped by the events we experience, and I am in a good place now because of everything that happened throughout high school. I could probably avoid some things, and I’m not trying to glorify struggle. But I did learn a lot from bad things that happened.

Well, here’s some advice, I guess. Despite my best efforts, I’m going to be really cliche. But maybe you’ll listen because I’m the one telling you.

1. Get involved (with a caveat that I feel is often ignored): You should participate in things, but do stuff you’re actually interested in. Getting out there is good in any sense, but it turns out picking a club that you don’t care about just because your friend is joining the same one doesn’t exactly result in a sense of fulfillment. Yes, it’s scary to do things on your own, but you can, in fact, meet new people (some people might even argue that it is the purpose of participating in extracurricular activities). And part of why I lost so much of my motivation during high school is because everything felt worthless and uninteresting. In other words, keep doing Mustang Minds. You really liked it, and you shouldn’t let your fear of public speaking

and being alone stop you from doing something that fits perfectly with your interests.

2. It gets better (I hate hearing it too. But it turned out to be true, and I can’t really be mad about that): I know it sounds stupid, and it feels like it doesn’t really mean anything. It feels like that doesn’t apply to you, and why does it even matter if things might get better in the future if they feel so bad right now? Well, whether you believe it or not, it’s worth it. Because soon enough, you’ll truly enjoy life. Your struggle was not useless -- it helped you to grow. But you don’t have to stay in that struggle forever. It’s okay to feel okay, and not suffering doesn’t mean that your life doesn’t have meaning.

3. It’s okay: That’s what I really want to say. It’s okay now, and it will be okay in the future. Don’t give up, but know that things take time. Everything won’t get better suddenly, and it won’t be perfect. But you won’t be in the place you are forever.

So enjoy the good moments and let go of the bad ones.

4. Join journalism: Take Mr. Roberts up on his offer and join the class. It’s okay that you don’t know what you’re doing (or that you spend more time watching Netflix and doing homework than actually writing stories). You need to take your time, and I get that. But once you start worrying a little less about being judged, you’ll start to learn what you’re really interested in. Eventually, you’ll start writing about politics and realize that it’s something you’re passionate about. Appreciate Mr. Roberts (even if he won’t let you write about him in the final issue of the paper). I’m gonna say thank you anyway Robdog. You gave me a community and you gave me space to grow, and it changed my life.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this self-indulgent attempt at giving advice. At the very least, it made me uncomfortable (and Brene Brown says that’s supposed to be good). And since I don’t really like any of the things you can write at the end of a letter, I’ll just use the classic dash cop-out.

-- Sylvia

DEAR FRESHMAN SIMMONE,

T

his is you, but from the future. Strange, I know. Anyway, I am writing you to give you some important advice to aid you throughout high school. My first piece of advice is don’t your hair short. Ever since second grade you’ve cut your hair short every other year. I think you liked the satisfaction of seeing the hard work of your hair follicles destroyed. But, I am here to tell you that the satisfaction of cutting your hair short will never be worth the pyramid-shaped mass it gives you on your head. It just isn’t.

Secondly, please stop wearing the same two sweatshirts every day. Don’t be afraid to wear a third sweatshirt OR (crazy idea) something other than a sweatshirt. Try out a sweater or something. You’ll like sweaters, trust me, Kiddo.

THE MUSTANG

Thirdly, don’t be afraid to meet new people. You’re a shy person...a very shy person. You’ll always be reserved, but sometimes you should just try a little harder to make a little conversation. Very scary, I know. Trust me, future you is still bad at it so do yourself a favor and start practicing. You’ll need some conversational skills for the future because you have to “be able to communicate” and “collaborate with your peers.” I don’t know, something like that.

Also, life is fleeting so enjoy childhood; it’ll soon be taken from you.

Have a nice day, Simmone Sr.

05

OPINIONS DEAREST ALEX,

I

write to you four years in the future. Over the course of high school you made many mistakes, which I am here to correct.

SDA is an awesome place. W, we have so many unique events and activities. I wish that you would’ve taken part in more of these. You could’ve sold something at Eexhibition Dday or joined an air band. You’ve only gone to one comedy sports games and two dances over the course of four years. Now looking back on the years I spent here I would’ve loved to participate more and make a stronger mark on the school. It would’ve been super cool to get published in the Tthread. I’m so thankful I joined The Mustang jJunior year, because this is something I can fondly look back on in the future.

In retrospect you should’ve focused on actually appreciating your awesome friends. Speaking of friends, you should’ve been more outgoing and talked to more people. I, if you lock yourself in your room and don’t talk to anyone, you aren’t going to make many friends. Another thing:, tell your friends how much you appreciate them. T, there’s nothing embarrassing about it and I’m sure they’d love to hear it.

Last but not least, Alex, you really should’ve focused on your grades. This year was the first time you’ve gotten straight A’s. I’m disappointed, but not surprised.

Yours Truly, Alex

DEAR FRESHMAN TAYLOR,

O

h, dear, dear, freshman Taylor. Do you have a lot to learn.

And I don’t mean book-learn. I mean life-learn.

Before I completely rip you apart, I’m going to give you a little bit of credit. You made the right choice in picking SDA. Remember? It was the night of the selection deadline, when you were writhing around on the ground and eventually just said, “To hell with it! I’ll try SDA.” That was a good decision.

SDA is a place where you are going to be able to find your passions and your people. Over the next four years, you are going to make a lot of good choices and a lot of less-good choices, but that was a good one. (Side note: you will find that you do some of your best decision-making while lying exasperated on the ground. Also, you are awful at making decisions. Just entirely unskilled. And you don’t get better at it. Let’s just say you may have also been on the ground a few times during your college decision process.)

All right, now for the advice part. Knowing you (and I am you), and knowing particularly that this is freshman you, you will not listen to any of this. Believe it or not, some people actually know better than you. A lot of people know better than you (that’s advice nugget number one). But knowing me, and my/ your enthusiasm for giving unsolicited advice, I am to give my two cents anyway.

Firstly, you need to stop taking everything so seriously. *Spoiler alert* you don’t get into Harvard. You don’t even apply to Harvard. So you can release a bit of your Harvard-level quantity of stress. Not everything needs to be perfect, and nothing ever will be, so stop trying to make it so. It is ok to get a B on a test. It is ok to miss an assignment or skip a practice now and then. Just stop trying to please everyone else, at least until you figure out how to make yourself happy.

Next piece/plea of advice: please, for god’s sake, stop caring so much what people think about you. Because guess what?

They aren’t really thinking about you. At least not as much as you think. It’s gonna be ok. The only thing people are probably judging you on is how much you care about what others think.

(And, yes, that part is real-- they can smell it on you.)

I have a bit of bad news now. Things are going to get harder before they get easier. A lot harder. Through sophomore and junior year, you start to hold in all that stress and anger and sadness and trash-compact it into a little ball until it just cannot fit into your frame any longer. You break. It sort of sucks. But it ends up being a good thing. Because broken things can be repaired. It takes some time, but it’s worth it. And it is better that you broke than just persisting on the edge. It hurt, but the hurt was good. The hurt makes you feel again, and it reminds you what is really important. I don’t think this breaking is avoidable.

That’s not how it works. Not for you. Just know that when it happens, it is going to be okay. Things will get better and you will realize that it is okay to let go.

So, for the time being, relax a little bit. Talk to strangers.

Don’t be afraid to cut your hair. Try new things. Heck, keep trying new things until someone gets hurt. (I think I might get a letter from my future-future self about how the “well, doingthat-hasn’t-ended-badly-for-me-yet” system doesn’t end up working out. We’ll see about that.) Spontaneity is your friend.

It isn’t about how well your activity was planned, or how nicely the photos could fit on your feed. It is the actual experience and the people that you are with. It is always going to be the people.

It’s the people who will swim with you in the ocean at night.

The ones that will go to Vons at midnight to buy strange fruit.

The ones that agree to go to concerts for obscure bands with less than 24 hours notice. The people who let you talk through the entire movie. The ones who you can die laughing with while trying on awful vintage nightgowns in the cramped thrift store dressing room. It is those memories that you are going to keep and those people who you are going to miss.

I’m already definitely over my word count. Something else you’ll learn about yourself is that you are terrible at goodbyes.

This is as close as I’ll get. Here’s to wishing that this letter doesn’t ripple the space-time continuum (or some other sci-fi thing my brother would know way more about.)

Best of luck, Senior Taylor

DEAR FRESHMAN SHAYNA,

D

isclaimer: these are spoilers about your future!!!! Shayna be warned if you don’t want to learn about your upcoming four years of life then stop reading here!!!!

I see you didn’t stop reading… well, welcome to the next chapter of your life. High school is going to be pretty cool, here’s some things to look forward to: 1. The first person you ever meet is a six foot tall, stubble already growing in, freshman named Lazlo and you two become great friends.

2. You learn to love your body.

3. You learn that Buffalo Wings are really good.

4. You learn that carpooling is really fun.

5. You can’t place your finger on just one area of study for college.

6. Grades are everything to you until senior year when

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you realize it’s okay to live a little.

7. You can choose to stop playing soccer and the world won’t crash down on you.

8. You become extremely interested in the environment and its’ decline.

9. You learn to love and in turn learn how to accept love.

10. High school is a strange place.

There are plenty more events, people, and moments I could tell you about but these 10 should be exciting enough.

To be honest, I think the most amazing part of your four years of high school is the growth you make. You went from a school with eight people in your whole grade to about 400. It’s a wonder how well you bloomed under the pressure of a changing world. I’m proud of you.

-Shayna.

JUNE 2019

OPINIONS DEAR CRINGEY FRESHMAN LEX,

I

am writing to you on this sunny Wednesday afternoon, to tell you to chill out dude. It’s freshman year and you’re freaking out because your grade in math dropped a little. Yeah, it’s unfortunate, but move on and stay on that grind. I’m gonna give you some more advice.

1.Stay weird kid. Your goofy smile and Tarantino sense of humor will not change, and your friends accept it. Four years later, you’re still a huge dork. It doesn’t matter. Heck, you’re going to one of the nerdiest colleges, so embrace it.

2.Never stop playing soccer. It’s your passion, and if you stop, you’ll get hella depressed. I guess you can call yourself a bit of an endorphin junkie. Also, go bike with your dad more. I regret not spending more time with him because you decided to study instead of go outside. There will be a cycle of injury and illness between the two of you, so the window to bike is small.

Get out and ride you adrenaline junkies.

3.Continue to pester people about the environment. You will discover how much the Earth means to you and a cool gal

named Shayna. She’s awesome just wait till soccer camp.

4.Take a break every once in a while you crazy nut. Skipping a day of running is important. Your stupid ankles will pay for it in the future. Also, go to sleep earlier because your immune system is weaker than that of an 80-year-old grandpa.

You’re sick, no really.

5.Stop tripping over your own feet. You’ll trip on the stairs, walking both up and down them. There will be some days you will completely eat it, getting mud all over your jeans. (cough* third period English in front of room 16 cough*) People will laugh and so will you. Clumsy fool.

Anyways, have fun in high school Lex - it goes by faster than you think. Enjoy the wonderful people who come in and out of your life. Be nice to your brother ;) and always thank mom for putting up with your teenage attitude.

With great concern, Senior Lex

HEY FRESHMAN ME (LINNAEA),

J

ust to give you a little preview of what’s happening right now, I’m sitting on a train (a two and a half hour late train I might add) and suddenly I remember that I have a letter I was supposed to write today. Sorry, but you never stop procrastinating. So here I sit watching trees rush by under a blue sky full of clouds starting to glow as the sun just starts to reach down towards the ocean, and I thought well, there’s no better time than the present to reminisce (and mostly cringe) about my freshman self. Don’t be mistaken, I see myself getting sentimental as hell but I still intend on giving you a stern talking to. That’s right, I’m going to watch this sun set and rain my 18 year old barely adult half wisdom all over you, so here goes.

I’m so excited for you to spend these next four years at SDA. I know you can’t help laughing out loud when you hear someone say high school will be the best years of your life (and that’s totally justifiable), but they turned out to be pretty damn good.

Don’t let your old friends go too easily because they’re always there to keep you grounded. But at the same time don’t be afraid to find new ones. There are plenty of other awkward little freshmen just like you trying to find a friend, you just have to be open to them.

Surround yourself with people who bring out the best side of you and love you for who you are. Then you can grow into yourself and not who someone wants you to be.

Stop trying to hide who you are. Honestly, just stop it. The only way you’re going to be happy is if you’re not afraid of being yourself. If you love something, love it, if you feel something, share it, and if you think something — and I can’t impress this enough — say it. The worst that could happen is some people won’t understand you, but you know what, that’s their problem.

You and the people who do understand will find each other.

In my experience SDA is kind of a magical bubble of all sorts of unique people who’ve been thrown together onto one old, strange, colorful, amazing campus. If you feel out of place

right now, don’t worry, because you’ll find your own little home at SDA. Those weird parts about yourself and those random hobbies that you have, they might just lead you to making your own mark on the school. Trust me, following what you’re passionate about with the help of a school and teachers that support those passions will make all the difference. You might even find something you love so much, you want to do it the rest of your life.

Take advantage of the opportunities that are being waved right under your nose. Don’t take a class just because it’s easy or skip a club because it takes commitment. Find something you love and act on it. It’s as simple as that.

Don’t forget to notice all the beautiful things in this world.

A moment taken to appreciate some small flower, or sunset, or breeze that comes out of nowhere is never a moment wasted.

I know the world can be a hard place, but don’t let that stop you. It’s all about perspective, and sometimes changing it can really make all the difference. There are amazing people out there. Look for them. There’s fun to be had. Take the leap. And whenever you find that happiness, be sure to spread it around.

I know that was a lot I just threw at you. Don’t think you have to do it all at once. Everything takes time and you can’t always rush it. But make sure you don’t wait too long. Put your mind to something and I promise you, you’ll go far. And maybe in four or so years you’ll be sitting on a train watching the sky get dark and the lights rhythmically pass you by. Maybe the ocean will roll by and you’ll think about how much you’re going to miss that ocean next year. Maybe you’ll be watching it all slowly pass by, and even though you know it’s not the last time you’ll be seeing this corner of your world, you know that a lot is about to change. After all, we’re about to be a freshman yet again. So I think both of us should take this advice. Thank the past for what it’s taught you. And embrace the change. Who knows what you might learn?

DEAR CRINGEY FRESHMAN HUNTER,

W

e made it, so take that for what it means. Everything we asked for turned to a twisted reality, and in a way, I’m content with it. Even now I still feel the remnants of our racing gut, our contrived fears, none of that will fade away, but I don’t consider that bad anymore. It helps us make me, and that’s all I really wanted.

The thought of reliving the nightmares of high school scare me, but we always held onto the bad, didn’t we? If anything I want to tell you to focus positively. There is a beauty in each beachy summer sunset and cloudy winter night we shared with our friends and family. Find joy found during your burrito dinners, with our family, and your restless mornings after procrastinating too long on homework.

I miss the time I had as you. I don’t know how I’ll survive without our Mom being there to take us on those long walks, to talk out our problems, and to share a stupid joke with, but college demands that, right? She’ll always be there for you, remember that. I know you’ll love her, you have to.

Don’t let these happy times blind you from the many not so great ones. Needless to say: we mess up a lot. Hey, you’re a Freshman, it’s your job. Let the hateful people destroy them-

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selves, they always do. Karma, you will find out, is 100% real on both sides.

Depression will never leave us, depression will sculpt our character if we let it lead, but don’t let it control you. Fear those who want to abuse you, love those who love you, and veer far from those who manipulate and lie to you.

I am honestly scared for us. Scared for you and all the things you will be forced to do, scared for me and all the things I foresee. So I guess it’s good luck to both of us. It feels like each time I find comfort, something’s gotta shake my shell. Mais c’est la vie et je l’aime. It all pretty much sums up by preparing for what lies ahead, by first grasping hope in one hand and will in the other. I truly believe in your ability to succeed, you weird, little Freshmen you because I know you do.

-Senior Hunter P.S. You’re gay, stop pretending. AND please for the love of God take a shower after your water polo and swim practice, your hair is disgusting, and you smell like old chlorine. I know this kinda defeated my ambiguity, but seriously.

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OPINIONS

The pencil revolution There’s been a pencil revolution. And no one’s talking about it. Art by Jenna Weinhofer

R

emember the wooden #2 pencils that you would get in a pack of 30 while shopping for school supplies? Yeah, those. No one uses them anymore. During class, instead of asking for an extra pencil, people ask for extra lead. If you see someone with a normal pencil, Ding dong, it’s surprising. your opinion is Because, now, wrong. everyone has mechanical Kate Paxton pencils that let you add more lead and erasers when you run out. And it sounds great, but let me explain why normal pencils are better.

I can see the whole hype with these mechanical pencils. There’s no need to sharpen them. While that sounds great, sharpening normal pencils is actually better. First off, you only need to sharpen them all the time if you write super hard. And that’s not my problem if you do. Also, it gives you a break from class to get up and stretch your legs. When you have two hour long classes, that can be really refreshing. And replacing the lead for the mechanicals can be a hassle. You have to go out and buy the graphite separately. Normal pencils have it built in. Doesn’t it annoy you when you drop your lead and have to pick it up piece by piece?

And don’t even get me started

on how mechanical pencils are made of plastic. Plastic is terrible for the environment. I understand that wooden pencils kill trees, but they actually end up using less energy to make than the mechanical ones.

Plus, they’re biodegradable. Plastic sticks around forever. Even though mechanical pencils are reusable, the amount of times students lose them totally outweighs that. So unless you can make your mechanical pencil last for years, the normal ones are obviously the environmentally-friendly choice. I know that some of the mechanical pencils are made of metal, but the one’s that most students use are made of plastic.

But here’s the thing. I’m not telling you to buy wooden pencils, because you shouldn’t. There’s been such an epidemic that it doesn’t make sense. Classrooms are beginning to get rid of their sharpeners and no one has an extra pencil anymore.

I, my hypocritical self, even use a mechanical pencil. So, unless you can start an uprising and have a bunch of people buy them, it’s pointless (no pun intended). But I will tell you this, normal, wooden, #2 pencils are ultimately better than mechanical ones.

As freshmen, this is our first summer as high schoolers. And with all our experience, we put together a list of things we do when we’re bored.

A tropical debate Though it may not be everyone’s favorite pizza topping, pineapple doesn’t deserve the hate. Wrap your head around this: pineapple is in the top 10 most popular pizza toppings. Give pineapple a chance.

I

’m a pineapple pizza lover. I know, may not and that’s okay, but some I know. Don’t murder me yet. I’ll people take it over the line. It’s crazy make it even worse. Out of all the how many disgusted looks I get when pizzas out there, if I could choose my I order pineapple pizza at a restaufavorite, I would choose pineapple rant. It’s insane. You’re probably pullpizza.... Now ing out your hair I’m an international with disgust but let murder me. model, coming to tBut I really me try to persuade mobile stores soon. don’t underto at least accept it stand the exas a topping.

Piper Nilsen treme hatred First, the idea directed to of pineapple on this topic of pizza started with putting sweet a combination of fruit on pizza. ham and pineThe Hawaiapple. Personally, ians do it. So it must be fine.

I just like pineapple, but the fact I know it’s not my place to say that it’s Hawaiian pizza makes it feel you have to like it. Personally I like tropical. Like you’re on a tropical the taste of sweet and salty. Others beach, in a hammock, drinking a

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21 things to do when you’re bored over summer

piña colada, and eating pineapple pizza. So when I’m sitting alone in my house, eating my pineapple pizza, it makes me happy because of the tropical feeling.

Second, I’m so tired of hearing “It’s fruit, fruit doesn’t belong on pizza,”. Don’t attack me but tomatoes are fruit. I know, I know, touchy subject but according to every internet website the simple answer is, “Yes, a tomato is a fruit.” So, being against pineapple pizza because it’s a fruit isn’t a valid reason.

Another thing I hear is that pizza shouldn’t be sweet, but sweet and savory is a famously loved, taste combination. I mean, everyone loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

When you dip your fries in your

milkshake, it’s the same sweet and savory desired taste, and it’s delicious.

So why is sweet and savory pizza so taboo?

Looking at the data, pineapple is the ninth most popular pizza topping just above spinach, according to the internet (and the internet is always right.)

Whether you like it or not pineapple pizza shouldn’t be such a hated subject. You have whether or not fruit salad is a salad, cereal is a soup, or a hot dog is a sandwich to argue about in the time being. But, pineapple on pizza is an amazing, delicious topping.

1. Perpetuate the cycle of existence 2. Hack the Pentagon 3. Dye your eyebrows 4. Find Andre 5. Discover the power of friendship 6. Adopt a bearded dragon 7. Do a trick 8. Hunt the Duolingo owl 9. Conspire against the galactic empire 10. Grill 11. Cut your own bangs 12. Spray unsuspecting strangers with a spray bottle 13. Finish a game of Monopoly 14. Time travel back to school because you miss it so much 15. Make a pet rock 16. Color 17. Go to McDonalds and ask for a Happy Meal with extra happy 18. Yell at strangers and try to guess their names 19. Practice your math skills 20. Put up missing flyers for a missing pet fruit fly 21. Cut off the shoelaces from your family’s shoes

By Piper Nilsen and Kate Paxton

JUNE 2019

OPINIONS

Podcasts: the most underrated media Entertainment as we know it has always been focused around movies and TV shows. That’s about to change.

“H

ere’s something odd: there is a cat hovering in the men’s bathroom at the radio station here,” says the man on the radio.

“He seems perfectly happy and healthy, but it’s floating about four feet off the ground next to the sink.

It’s nice to have a station pet. Wish it wasn’t trapped in a hovering prison in the men’s bathroom, but listen: no pet is perfect.

It becomes perfect when you learn to accept it for what it is,” he continues.

If Netflix shows are the mainstream radio songs of the entertainment industry, podcasts are indie music. Podcasting is easily the most accessible way to create a low budget show; as long as your computer can run a recording program and you can afford to buy a $15 microphone off Amazon, you can make a podcast. This means that podcasting has become the domain of amateur content creators, and like all indie genres, there are bound to be a few golden nuggets to be found.

The excerpt about the floating cat (named Khoshekh) is from an episode of “Welcome to Night Vale,” a podcast about a radio station from a strange desert community straight out of the Twilight Zone.

When it released in 2012, WTNV spearheaded the resurgence in popularity of audio dramas, and many members of the voice-acting community responded by trying their hand at writing.

Seven years later, the podcasting scene has evolved into a quickly growing and close knit community.

There’s everything from murder mysteries to celebrity drama; just to name a few: “Serial,” the crime podcast that unfolds weekly like a serial TV drama; “My Brother, My Brother, and Me,” a comedy podcast by internet funnymen the McElroys; “Critical Role,” a Dungeons and Dragons podcast created and performed by professional voice actors, and “The Penumbra Podcast,” a story about a jaded private eye Press f to named Juno Steel pay respects and his corrupt Martian metropolis.

Joice He But I’ve just given you facts.

Here’s the opinion part of this opinion piece: podcasts are just as good as, if not better than, TV shows as contemporary entertainment.

First of all, podcasts are entirely audio so you can listen to them while you’re doing your homework. The problem of procrastination goes away when you can just multi-task instead of having to watch your phone and your math homework at the same time. In addition, they take up less space on your phone to download, drain less battery than watching videos, and don’t require you to sit down to enjoy One of the most notable advantages of podcasting, however, is that podcasts are generally made completely by small teams or individuals and aren’t connected to any big company. This means that listening to podcasts is completely free, and creators can produce their content free of censorship.

“Welcome to Night Vale” featured multiple LGBTQ+ characters, breaking the ice early and blazing a trail for other audio

dramas to come. Representation of marginalized groups and relationships have come a long way in mainstream media, but it’s still nowhere near the level of podcasts.

In mainstream media, people cheer when the queer community is properly represented. In podcasts, it’s been normalized to the point where proper representation is basically a given. While TV shows like “Steven

Universe” fight tooth and nail to air a scene with a same sex kiss, podcasts have been casually dropping nonbinary, disabled, and gay characters into their stories for almost a decade.

Furthermore, unless specified by the show, the races and appearances of characters remain open to interpretation, leading to a wide variety of artwork and frequent collaborations between the fan base

and the show’s creators.

If you’re curious, most podcasts are available on Spotify or the Apple Podcasts app. Podcasting is still an obscure art, but it’s growing fast. As for the question whether podcasts will become mainstream media in the future or not, we’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, why not check it out for yourself?

Rules of the road

Just because we’re not in cars doesn’t mean I won’t run you over if you’re in my way. To avoid this, obey the following rules.

H

ello everyone. Please learn how to walk.

up about 75 percent of campus. It’s just too crowded, right? It’s not our fault…

I’ve wanted Wrong. It’s to write this been a full four Whatever floats opinion for years of this your boat. four years nonsense and here now. I think we still are.

Sophie Hughes I had some This isn’t just shred of hope me being picky or telling me irritable. I’m not the situation the only one who might get has this issue. And better, it was just a one-time thing, it’s certainly not just because I’m a it was just because senior court was senior, because my senioritis isn’t closed and the construction took exactly rushing me to get places

THE MUSTANG

faster.

Here’s the issue: people at this school need to figure out how to walk in an efficient manner.

What does this mean? It means don’t stop in the middle of the sidewalk to talk to a friend. It means don’t abruptly turn around because you forgot something. It means don’t walk FOUR PEOPLE WIDE on a sidewalk with two-way traffic and barely enough room for Leslie’s cart to fit on.

Be courteous, people. It gets really obnoxious when our already crowded sidewalks are blocked by

people who couldn’t give a damn about people actually trying to get places. Have any of you roadblocks tried getting from the P building to the 120s in five minutes? Didn’t think so. Give it a try and once you’ve successfully completed it with no close calls, then y’all can block the road. Just kidding, you still can’t.

Like seriously people, walk how you drive. And for people who can’t or don’t drive, walk like your parents’ drive. Walk on the right side of the sidewalk. Look over your shoulder before making a sudden turn. If you need to stop or slow down, move to

the side until you’re out of the direct flow of traffic, then complete your action. And most importantly, match the speed of traffic around you. Don’t walk at a snail’s pace if the rest of the people around you are cruising at a normal speed.

Be mindful of others. Don’t hinder anyone’s commute to class.

And be careful. Summer is so close and tempers are flaring, so if you don’t pay attention, you might be subject to some road rage.

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OPINIONS

Let’s make college affordable - or maybe free Colleges have made it impossible for the lower and middle classes to enroll without life-changing debt, must stop.

The ever-increasing price tag on college and higher education makes it hard for students to achieve their academic dreams.

A

Y

n educated mind is an absolute necessity in this modern era. However, that point is completely neglected as we branch into this mush of corporate greed that leaves lower and middle class citizens in the dust.

It makes you ask: do they even care about us anymore?

I am talking about the education system in alliance with less fortunate peoples. The middle class and education are two of the main cruxes in a healthy society that we have completely ignored. College being just out of the reach for seniors at SDA has left some of us with horrid debt, loans, and more. Now I am all in for some capitalist mischief, but our education system should not be as consumed in it as it currently is.

Seriously, what a corporate joke. The nickel and diming is one thing, but the rest blows me away. Fees, forced two-year dorm requirements, even mandatory food cards are jacked way too high for anyone who doesn’t wear a monocle for fashion. I am not saying we should make college free in any means, nor am I against the idea for some to follow that route. I am against students being forced in debt for the rest of their lives, I am against students having to take loans without a proper education on the subject, and I am against parents being forced into debt because of their children.

Foremost, which genius decided to lock away these big named colleges, even colleges in general, behind these paywalls?

Education, psychological aid, and so many other necessities are a basis in creating a healthy society, and America decided to close it away from the lower to middle class behind ridiculous practices. Seriously, mandatory food cards?

Meanwhile, we got Professor Nobody living in a mansion while his teaching as-

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sistances do all the “teaching.” THEN we have elementary, middle, and high school teachers being laid off, underpaid, and most importantly underappreciated. These people are educating our youth, setting a foundation for us, and we frankly treat them like shit compared to the amount of work they must put in.

Why are we forcing the corporate greed to strictly college level? Why aren’t we paying for new textbooks for elementary kids, or making high school have a mandatory food card (I’m still upset about that). I mean if we’re goI never ing all out, then we should gather go all out. I know there is some technical answer for -Hunter this whole shebang by, but McGahan it pretty much chops up to: we can squeeze the pockets of older teens because they are now adults, and if these adorable kids were charged then mothers would freak out, the main excuse being they ‘can’t handle real life’. Well, now that they are sheltered we, logically, must have students required to file loans, pay taxes, hell even be drafted, yet can’t differentiate between life insurance and health insurance.

The solution to these problems can be as simple as negating some of the ridiculous mandatory requirements and substituting it with minimal government assistance to all levels of the education program. I don’t want too much socialist bull. I just want education to be affordable to the middle and lower classes, so I can go to my preferred college without suffering for a lifetime due to buying a textbook that didn’t seem like it was thrown into a tornado. Additionally, schools should provide new, more in depth, programs for students to learn basic life lessons that aren’t electives, but are actually enforced. These are very elementary requests that used to be enforced in the older generations, but slowly went out for God knows why. So let’s start bringing it back, let’s start making college affordable, and let’s be fair to all teacher for their work.

ep, college is expensive. To those of you going there next year: good luck. People spend all their lives studying, testing, and passing up fun with friends in order to prepare for this education that many cannot even afford.

And by many, I mean 83 percent of America’s population, according to thinkadvisor.com.

The average cost of tuition in 2016 was $24,367 for a two year private college, according to the federal education department. Add to that the cost of housing, food, travel expenses, textbooks, plus the general personal expenses, and the I can’t decide if total skyrockets immensely.

I’m indecisive That means that high or not. schoolers, if they make $12.50 an hour, have to -Manelle Touzi work two hours a day, every single day of the year, for 975 days, only to cover the cost of tuition.

And who do you know who never skips a single day of work? This side job would distract students from working hard and studying to the full potential at school, which is necessary in order to be accepted into a desired university, and students who aspire to get into top schools have to work extra hard in terms of AP classes, SAT and ACT tests, and extracurricular activities to ensure their acceptance. Finally, Ivy League schools and other top colleges are extra pricey, so students would have to work even harder to earn money, which means that they have little after school time to study and increase their reputation with extracurricular activities.

Education should be a right for all, not something for the elite. There are plenty of intelligent people who cannot pay for college and therefore cannot put their skill and talent to work because a lot of high paying jobs require a college education. As a result, they cannot make the money they deserve, which is unfair. Also, people would not be as knowledgeable which is ultimately a detriment to society.

Several European countries already offer completely free or much cheaper education. For

example, there’s Germany, Sweden, Norway, Austria, France, Finland- trust me, I can go on. In the United States, we are starting to take a few steps towards cheaper education, but not enough. For example, recently, MiraCosta College now offered free tuition for the first two years. Additionally, US senator Elizabeth Warren proposed to eliminate all public university tuition, should she be elected in 2020, and proposed measures to make up for the cost. Bernie Sanders, also a presidential candidate, agrees that college tuition should be free.

People should not have a limit to what they can learn. If you want to learn five languages, you should be able to try it. If you want to be a calculus professor, you should be able to do it. If you want to make a global difference, you should be able to go for it. But don’t expect to go far without the proper education in which money plays such an important role of. You shouldn’t have to move to Norway if you want to afford life (although that’d be cool). If America wants to be an innovative country with analytic, intelligent-minded individuals, we should follow the lead of so many European countries and make college free.

Art by Junna Weinhofer.

JUNE 2019

OPINIONS

Stereotypes shouldn't define us You cannot look at someone and know who they are based off of your preconceptions. Art by Jenna Weinhofer

W

e categorize people every day. it regardless of where their interests We put strangers in boxes lie. Blond girls, who are stereotyped as and mold their personalities dumb, might feel like they cannot go to fit our ideas of what they should be into a field that requires more intellect. because it makes us feel more in control; Stereotypes can also cause stress we think we can anticipate their actions. because people feel pressured to go Countless movies and books against them. When I was at a debate portray the camp over the sumidealistic theme mer, I overheard Honey, you don’t of “don’t judge a conversation know the half of it. between two of my a book by its cover,” but we male competitors.

Maya Janaswamy still make judgeBefore they ments about had even seen our people based writing, they were on their status, saying that if they appearance, competed against gender, race, the only girls team, sexuality, and they would win. countless other factors.

Experiences like this cause stress Often people are not aware of because then people feel like they have these biases; they arise through socialthe responsibility to stand up for their ization and culture. Stereotypes, even entire gender or race. The girls don’t positive ones, can h ave a variety of want to conform to negative stereotypes, negative impacts on other’s lives. and the boys don’t want to lose to the The positive stereotype that Asian girls. students are smarter than their peers, No one should feel like they have for example, puts unfair pressure on the to work harder because they don’t want Asian student to be smart. to enforce other people’s negative biases.

One problem with stereotypes is It is unfair to ask women and minoritheir effect on people’s behavior; some ties to work harder because they need begin to act out the stereotypes placed to defy stereotypes, and it is unfair to on them because they feel pressure to make them feel like they have let their fit in with society’s views of what they community down if they fail. should be. They are then limited by Remember to keep an open their belief that they must fit a certain mind and be mindful of stereotypes; image. awareness must precede any change in This can also happen with positive behavior. Stereotypes will never be truly stereotypes. If someone believes that gone, but we can try to give them as they are better at something because of little power over us as possible. their race or gender, they may pursue

A message to internet activists It seems as though both sides of the political spectrum value rhetoric over truth.

W

ith the controversies of the on social media is worrying, to say Special Report on Global the least.

Warming and the Alabama According to Pew Research abortion ban, there has been a Center, registered Democrats and noticeable increase in activism on Repbulcians are disagreeing more social media to give these issues on important issues now than they attention. were 20 years These short, ago. The growth Dota - Basshunter brief posts are of social media intended to cater only strengthens Aeon Benford-Combs this divide. The to the modern American average amount attention span, of time one estimated to spends on social be at most 12 media is just seconds. short of two and a Unfortunately half hours a day. for those seeking rational solutions Almost two-thirds of Americans to important policies, there are get their news from social media many reasons why complex issues outlets. According to Pew, 31 percent such as foreign policy, abortion, of the people on social media worry economics, etc. can’t be summarized that they recieve false information. in a Snapchat story, or in someone’s What are the prospects for us caption underneath a politically in the future if we are so vulnerable motivated photo. to misinformation on the internet?

The widening divide on People who follow politically partisan issues combined with the motivated social media accounts, increased amount of time one spends for the most part, don’t get enough

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of the information that they need to understand the issues that they have become so passionate about.

What is even more worrying is that these followers assume that they are informed on issues that could consume the entire lifetime. of an extremely educated person because they continuously have political posts in their feed.

There is a reason why I am not content with the “Vote or Die!” mindset. It’s because it sets a precedent that can be basically summarized as follows: “Regardless of you being misinformed and unaware of the issues that are pressing our country, it’s more important that your feelings are represented because your vote can contribute to our policies being implemented.”

There are few things more dishonorable than misinforming the youth, but social media has every incentive to exacerbate the issues at hand to give their cause more justification.

It should be no surprise to anyone, that in the wake of the internet connecting the corners of the world on common platforms, millions of chat rooms being hosted across the globe, that the most fallacious and misguided solutions to world affairs are being spread to those who use the internet the most: Teenagers.

A study across generations has concluded that younger generations disproportionately use the internet more than generations before them.

Of Boomers, 48.2 percent use the internet, compared to 77.5 percent of people who belong to Generation X, followed by an astonishing 90.4 percent of Millennials according to Emarketer.com.

Political groups marketing their ideas to the public can be explained as follows: First, they make the ideas caterable to the following they are posting to.

It can then become compatible with the electorate over social media, and then becomes acceptable as a

rational policy that becomes adopted across half of the electorate.

It’s disappointing to think that future generations will be tasked with guiding the country to success, even though they can’t seem to get the facts about the political issues that they have become wildly passionate about, and has ultimately led people to become more apathetic about finding the facts.

Because they believe they are getting factual reporting by the accounts they follow.

How can one mute the effects that polarize the political debates we have with one another? One solution can be finding facts from institutions that focus on conducting studies, or finding common statistics that multiple news outlets report on.

In the age of social media it is hard to seperate the rhetoric from the facts. It is our responsibility as the future voters of this country to remain informed, and to not let our political biases become an inhibitor to seeking progress.

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OPINIONS

Thanks for caring, kids To those who care for our planet, the Earth thanks your environmentally conscious self. To everyone else, please read. Thank you.

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WOW, WE GET to live here. Photo courtesy of NASA.

lright, the time is still now.

Although it is time for me to graduate and for my opinion articles to come to an end, I write to you, SDA students. I ask for a little selflessness. Not for me, but for our Earth.

Over the course of my time here, I had hoped to reach a few of you about how crucial our individual impacts are on the health of the earth. I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, some of you could make a small change to your daily habits -- whether that is taking shorter showers or drinking from a reusable water bottle. And many of you have, so thank you. :) But, the problems we are facing are growing. The planet is overpopulated, there is too much plastic in the ocean, and deforestation is destroying precious habitats. Also, more species of animals are being put on the

endangered species - recently, my favorite animal, the Giraffe, saw two subspecies put on the list.

Global warming is ruining our atmosphere; temperatures are going to increase by four to eight degrees by the end of the century. It’s going to get hot, too hot. In a recent Earth rules John Oliver’s HBO my dudes! program, “Last Week Tonight,” Bill Alexis Price Nye snapped about carbon pricing and global warming in the environment focused episode: “What I’m saying is the planet’s on fucking fire. There are a lot of things we could do to put it out — are any of them free? No, of course not. Nothing’s free, you idiots.” Even though we were not alive before the problems began, we need to do everything we can to fix them.

To sum it up -- we are running out of water. Running out of space. Running out of trees. Out

of clean air, cool temperatures, and time.

However, we still have a chance to slow down the process! If everyone does their part, we can solve a lot of problems.

Think about it - if everyone uses one less straw, or one less plastic bag, you will save hundreds to thousands of them from ending up in a landfill.

Bam, you saved a turtle, or some other important species. Carpool with your friends to places - save money, have fun, and less hassle.

Or better yet, get on your bike and ride. If you eat a lot of meat, try to cut back because raising cattle takes a lot of water. Instead of buying new clothes, try shopping at retail stores or thrift shops. There are so many other ways you can help.

Remember - none of us are too good to pick up our trash or care about the planet. Being environmentally conscious isn’t weird -- caring about where you live should be a given. Give a damn about the planet because this is the best one in the galaxy. It’s incredibly beautiful.

Thank you.

Be(e)fore the end This opinion is very self explanatory; afterall, it’s been the same all year- save the bees! Illustration by Jenna Weinhofer

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ads, we’ve come to the most monumental time of the year; I’m talking about graduation.

While you might be happy to stop seeing the monthly bee articles in the newspaper after I’m gone, you should realize something. Although It’s been a good I might be leav- four years. ing, my whole point in writing -Shayna Glazer the articles is to show that SO ARE THE BEES and that’s a bigger statement than any grand exit I could try to pull off.

You’ve heard it once by now, twice, three, four, maybe a hundred different times. There is no human race without the bees. So while you run and swat and smash these little insects beneath your synthetic flip flops and pout when you hear their buzz in your flower garden, remember that this little creature is more important for you than any cellphone or designer product.

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The values you hold dear to you of equality and love should be given to animals in as equal measures as you’d give to people in general. You can preach to save the giraffes, sea turtles, bald eagles, whatever, but none of it matters if you can’t save a little insect the size of your pinkie toe.

Here’s the game plan, and if you pay attention I think you’ll realize you might really like it.

So, what’d I tell you? Easy, right? You betcha.

Also, your fear of bees? Honestly it’s kind of pathetic. It’s only rational if you’re deathly allergic, I mean that makes sense! Your whole life is affected by one sting; however, people that aren’t allergic and just go running and screaming the moment they see a bee on a bush… it’s sad.

Get a grip and hear me out. It seems that every time I hear about someone getting stung by a bee it’s

because they stepped on one by the pool, accidentally brushed one against a plant, or they put their hand on a pool floatie right where a bee was sitting. How many people do you know were actively hunted by a bee and then stung? I can name probably two out of the swarms of people that I know.

So I beg of you, think before you speak and careful what you say about “hating bees” or being “so scared” of bees. It’s a shame. They’re so beneficial for the environment.

You’re only likely to be stung when you’re in a swarm. This is because their whole purpose is to transport and protect their queen. It makes sense that they would attack any threat on their queen.

My one wish for leaving SDA would be for people to take a second and realize how neat bees really are.

Help them out once in a while and for heck’s sake, realize they aren’t as scary as you’ve built them up to be.

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OPINIONS

Space: it’s not a waste

Why space is awesome and how it could ensure our survival as a species.

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pace, an unimaginably least some part of humankind will massive vacuum with trillions survive on a different planet. It’s like of unexplored planets and a copy save of a file. If the original unseen stars both with fascinating is lost or corrupted, there is always anomalies to discover and solve. backup data; however, instead of Some people, maybe even you, losing your Minecraft world you’ve don’t care too had since 2012, much about it’s the survival Your subjective space. Maybe of everything opinion is objectively you think humanity has wrong. that there’s worked towards. not much In the 1960s Max Vennemeyer interesting people wanted to out there. But beat the Soviet you should Union to the care, because moon and prove our future to the world how is among the stars. We will live in advanced the U.S. was. JFK himself colossal ships that soar through famously announced that America space for hundreds of years, and selfwould put a man on the moon by the sustaining colonies that rely on the end of the decade. But after landing technology that we as a civilization on the moon, funding for space are working towards every day. exploration plummeted. In 1966, If people remain confined to NASA received 4.41 percent of the Earth and disaster strikes, (maybe total U.S. budget. But in 2019 the US an asteroid, a climate change causing only gave 0.49 percent of its budget oceanic pH change, or a zombie to NASA according to the U.S. apocalypse) then humanity as we Office of Management and Budget. know it could be doomed. However, Fortunately, the private sector has if we become an interplanetary allowed for space exploration that is species, survivors could be evacuated unhindered by bureaucracy, but at off world in the event of a disaster. the end of the day these companies But even if we all get zombified, at need to turn a profit and therefor

their priorities are not ideal for human advancement.

Recently, NASA announced that they would be sending people to the moon to stay by 2024 using their new launch vehicle called the Space Launch System. But I didn’t know until six days after it was announced.

Me! A UY Scuti (the largest known star in the galaxy) sized space nerd didn’t know that there will be PEOPLE living on the moon when I’m in college (hopefully) until I stumbled across a YouTube video a week later. This should be in the major news; people should be talking about this! But they aren’t.

Okay, maybe you don’t personally take interest in small bit about the survival of the human race. Why else should you care about a big empty void? Cause space is heckin’ awesome! There are stars of unimaginable sizes, entire galaxies moving at 98 percent the speed of light relative to Earth, moons with underwater oceans protected by a layer of thick ice, black holes that eat light and yeet Hawking radiation, neutron stars spinning at hundreds of rotations per second, and maybe even extraterrestrial life on planets that could behave in ways we can’t

THE SPACEX CRS-14 rocket launching to resupply the International Space Station. Photo courtesy of NASA. even imagine (possibly even as close as Europa).

I’m not saying we shouldn’t care for our own planet. It’s important that Earth remains habitable as our home that we are adapted to and it will always be easier to live here than millions of miles away. But the reality is that we can’t rely on the human-supporting Earth we know now. Our planet has a long history of mass extinctions, and according to Oregon State, New York Times, and numerous scientific journals, we are in the Earth’s sixth

mass extinction event right now, with levels between 100-1000 times the normal extinction rate. Climate change is happening, and is not being adequately dealt with.

It is our destiny to live out there in the great expanse using humanity’s extreme resourcefulness and ingenuity to survive. I’d go on until I sound like an ad for a space video game but the gist of what I’m saying is space is cool, we should talk about it more often, and maybe go there too. Peace.

Crime and punishment

Since Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ruling on the death penalty in March, nobody’s been executed in California. And that’s a good thing.

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n March, Gov. Gavin Newsom suspended the death penalty in California for as long as he is in office. This means that the current 737 prisoners Who’s that over on death there? I can’t row in the read. state face a temporary Aiden Fullwood reprieve from execution.

And like every political decision ever made, this one sparked controversy between Democrats and Republicans.

My vote? I’m with Newsom. The death penalty should be abolished, and let me tell you why.

First and foremost is the issue of morality. We as human beings have no right to execute hundreds

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of others, especially when there are innocent among them. Honestly, executing people is hypocritical considering that most death penalty cases involve murder. We tell the world that murder is wrong and punishable by death, and yet we do the same thing with execution.

How does that make us better? It doesn’t. The moral holds that no individual has the right to the life of another under any circumstance.

Regardless, I know that people aren’t often swayed in favor of an issue through emotional appeals.

Facts are more important and trust me, there is plenty of evidence to

support its repeal.

It’s no secret that the death penalty has failed to serve its purpose, at the very least in California. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2016 there were a total of 2,814 prisoners on death row, and 26 percent of those in California. They are still sitting there. In fact, no one’s been executed in California since 2006. This is a waste of resources, and since I doubt there will ever be any change to way the process is conducted, it’s a better decision to eliminate the death penalty.

Speaking of resources, having the death penalty as an institution is surprisingly costly. The 2008 Report of the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice estimates the annual cost of the death penalty system to be $137 million.

All of that is taxpayer money. If there were to be a switch to lifetime incarceration as an alternative punishment, than the annual cost would only be $11.5 million. That’s a pretty drastic difference if you ask me, and it can’t be ignored.

Life without parole is just as effective of a punishment as the death penalty—it keeps criminals off the streets permanently without ridiculous expenses.

Earlier I mentioned that part of reason I oppose execution is because there are undoubtedly innocent men and women among the criminals.

One hundred fifty-six people on death row have had their convictions overturned. That’s 156 lives that could have been unjustly taken.

Take the case of Anthony Graves. In 1994, he was sentenced to death row for being an alleged

accomplice to Robert Carter in the murder of six people, four of them children. The kicker? No evidence was ever found that connected Graves to the crime and his conviction relied on Carter’s testimony.

Or what about Juan Roberto Meléndez-Colón, who spent 18 years on death row for 16 murders after an extremely corrupt trial? MeléndezColón couldn’t afford an attorney, evidence that would have proven him innocent was withheld, and once again there was no physical evidence.

He wasn’t even exonerated until the real murderer confessed.

These two cases are just examples of the death penalty’s clear abuse of power that needs to be stopped. Newsom just took the first step toward that.

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FEATURES

Where are you headed?

Cabrillo College Nolan Fell Sophie Scholl California Institute of Technology Joshua Pawlak California Institute of the Arts Emma Kuhlmann California Lutheran University Dylan Herrera Cal Poly Pomona Michael Sturman Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Julian Boyer Alex Bright Jack Butler Aiden Clark Connor Ellis Jennifer Eng Ashley Fischer Sam Fraser Sophie Getty Shayna Glazer Nicholas Goldschmidt Erin Grady Ella Hasty Lena Hoover Alexandra Joelson Genevieve Kessler Cami King Merek McGill Drake Mothe Naomi Peeler Erin Reilly Caeden Schlosser Logan Thralls Gabriella Vonder Cal State Chico Ashley Bartlett Emma Green Liam Horan Cal State Fullerton Joshua Castrejon Ryan Schove Katherine Zuniga Cal State Humboldt Zachary Simpson Cal State Long Beach Eryn Broughton Taylor Cannon Anna Engel Colin Harabedian Jenna Price Carlos Velazquez Cal State Los Angeles Joshua Arm Cal State Monterey Bay Viviana Martinez Cal State Northridge Nicholas Camaratta Cal State San Marcos Roxana Albino Campos Reily Allen Sean Allen Aliya Andahazy Corinne Andrus Omar Arango Selina Bautista Billy Bengoechea Bryan Brizuela Malissa Camacho Kayla Canseco April Diaz Caitlyn Dow Maria Eusebio Eva Geronimo Gregorio

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Dhayra Gomez Gutierrez Bertha Hernandez Taylor Hughes Josue Lopez Emily Martinez Jesus Matias Jared Miller Renee Miller Jaidy Moreno Zachary Nantz Edward Nava Dylan Owen Kassandra Pinto Evey Ruvalcaba Trevor Sandberg Kenia Turrubiates Rico Jorge Vasquez Sergio Vizarraga Aguilar Mason Weikel Joseph Whitlam Eduardo Zamora Cal State Stanislaus Jared Sanchez Chapman University Ian Dewart Joelle Mojonnier Joseph Paez Colombia College Hollywood Quinn Vondle Cuesta College Gianni Denson Franchesca Finley Dylan Ouellet Feather River Community College Kelly Powers Loyola Maramount University Lucy Ryall Mira Mar College Camera Zamora Miracosta College Jaime Adame Aaron Altona Kylie Alvarez Miles Ambrogio Kira Anderson Andre Aragon Luis Arroyo Ryan Azevedo James Beach Aeon Benford-Combs Julian Bernal-Sevison Sam Billing Marina Breight Laken Brower Jory Burrell Alanna Carrasca Saray Casillas Chase Chytraus Bayron Cifuentes Juan Contreras Cade Culbertson Makana Cummins Annelle Cusac Henry Defibaugh Jeremy Durazo Conner Edwards Melia Ennis Abigail Esposito Alijah Figueroa-Johnston Gavin Flowers Collin Freundt-Sokolow Gerardo Gonzalez Luis Gonzalez Vianney Gonzalez Ethan Gordon Patrick Grosse Eric Guerra John Hamala Molly Hamilton Trevor Harrison

Jackson Hartz Joao Havelange Brian Hernandez Chloe Hollingsworth Nathanael Hougard Malia Kerstetter Kristin Komar Clara Kovacs Chloe Kuhlmann Rainy Kuhlmann Timothy Kushner Grant Laren Ireland Lawrence Kobe Lete Madison Logan William Lovette Monica Luong Cecilia Martinez Joe Martino Alison Mazza Logan McCarty Ethan Merritt Regan Nightingale Kiersten Noonan Maggie Nowlan Emmanuel Nunez Anthony Osterwalder Sebastian Peters Samantha Pettit Briana Pino Marisa Prange Tristan Price Anthony Puccinelli Jillian Reed Emily Ridenour Sebastian Rodriguez Mondragon Elle Salas Justin Salmon Zane Schafer Jack Schapira Alana Schultz Nicholai Shtam Brittany Simpson Brianna Stangeland Ari Steffens Sophia Stoffels Lukas Sumabat Mia Stanzione Madison Tain Taylor Thompson Nathan Troeber Alexia Trujillo Cooper Waite Hannah Weber Max Weber William Whitmore Harold Williamson Hunter Vertongen John Walker Hannah Yellen Melina Zambrano Cooper Zvegintzov Palomar College Lenora Alpert Rosemary Babcock Stephen Baker Parmeet Bhandal Garrett Brown Theodore Caligiuri Louis Casillas Enzo Cortellessa-Hale Sofina Ermolieff Lisette Galindo Edward Garvey Naomi Guillen Rika Howard Ana Huerta Midory Montes Hanna Nelson Beatrice Ong Nathalia Padron Jennifer Perez Santiago Joshua Woodworth Northwestern Polytechnic University Olivia Bell

Pitzer College Natasha Gardiner-Feldman

Luke Walker Devin Walsh

Point Loma Nazarene University Aliyah Holmen

UC Riverside Sammy Hernandez Amber Tse

Riverside City College Spencer Price Sacramento State University Connor Hultgren San Diego State University Sarah Colson Chase Combs Luke Duncan Connor Gilliam Evan Miller Benjamin Myers Ethan Nichols Kevin Rojas Kyle Serbin Kiomi Yamada San Francisco Academy of Art Dana Journey San Francisco State University Allexis Dean Parker Gross Cody Sparks San Joaquin Valley College Arianna Anaya San Jose State University Kai Flood Santa Barbara City College Jakob Allen Ellen Goldblatt Ava Jakubowski Santa Clara University Nicholas Sando Sonoma State University Shane Gunderman Ryan Shumate Stanford Zack Edwards UC Berkeley Drew Atkins Owen Doyle Alexander Dryland Zachary Hall Janette Jin Jenna Levin Sarah Parkes Jack Read Jana Roper Taylor Rudman Simmone Stearn Gracie Williams UC Davis Troy Eaton Karl Ensberg Gabriella Glener Katie Hostetler Julian Isacescu-Bernard Alexis Price Kaitlyn Simmons Jenna Weinhofer UC Irvine David Detweiler Madelyn Duesler UC Los Angeles Matthew Cheng Blue Flood Dylan Lee Lauren McCormick Ethan Posard Niklas Van Der Wagt

UC San Diego Isabella Beckman Alexander Berryhill-Williams Lazlo Gfelner Ethan Harris Sophie Hughes Erik Hultenius Blake Iwaisako Jason Kovalsky Benjamin Loren Benjamin Noon Kaden Quinn Jason Reed Ethan Shane Sahil Singh Gage Tanzman Elliot Varon Matthew Wilson Mark Wulfert UC Santa Barbara Adriana Billante Cade Matherly Julia Mendoza Sophia Papalia UC Santa Cruz Gage Clisby Mackinsey Creagan Chloe Farber Joshua Hutton Delaney Stewart University of San Diego Jaden Hauptman University of San Francisco Linnaea Erisman Callan Grah University of Southern California Ian Broadbooks Ariyana Kim Evan Wright University of the Pacific Alexander Overton Westmont College Nancy Saltamachio Other Plans Liam Allyn Ran Arbib Yarin Arbib Emily Ayala Geneveve Bilben Holly Cook Brendan Crow Taya Dervetski Adam Kharsa Riley Lenahan Isaac Lopez Aspen Mercurio Javier Perez Ruiz Cameron Prince Mark Rios Barrett Smith James Soulie Jillian Strattman Lauren Woodley Editors’ Note: We attempted to contact every senior, but those that were undecided or unable to confirm where they were going were not included. An updated list will be online if and when we receive more information.

JUNE 2019

FEATURES

Feather River Community College Humboldt State University

Cal State Chico

Cal State Sacramento

Sonoma State University

UC Davis University of the Pacific Cal State Stanislaus Berkeley City College UC Berkeley

San Francisco Academy of Art San Francisco State University University of San Francisco

Stanford University

Pitzer College Cal Poly Pomona Chapman University

San Jose State University Santa Clara University North Western Polytechnic Institute

Cal State Fullerton

UC Santa Cruz Cabrillo College

UC Riverside

Cal State Monterey Bay San Joaquin Valley College University of Redlands

Santa Barbara City College UC Santa Barbara California Institute of the Arts California Lutheran University

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Cuesta College Westmont College California Institute of Technology Cal State Los Angeles

Loyola Marymount University UC Los Angeles Cal State Northridge University of Southern California

Cal State Long Beach UC Irvine Palomar College MiraCosta College Columbia College Hollywood Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego State University UC San Diego University of San Diego MiraMar College

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Cal State San Marcos

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FEATURES Seattle University DigiPen Institute of Technology University of Washington

Columbia College Chicago DePaul University Northwestern University

Western Washington University Washington State University

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

University of Montana

Purdue University

Colorado State University Montana State University University of Colorado Boulder

Lewis and Clark College Portland Community College University of Portland

University of Notre Dame Miami University

George Fox University Willamette University

Boston University Northeastern University

Ohio State University

Syracuse University Adelphi University Fordham University Manhattanville College New York University The New School

Oregon State University University of Oregon Boise State University Southern Oregon University

Drexel University Bryn Mawr College Villanova University Loyola University Maryland

Utah State University University of Utah University of Nevada, Reno

American University University of Virgina

Northern Arizona University The Savannah College of Art and Design

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott Arizona State University Grand Canyon University

University of New Mexico Texas Tech University

University of Arizona

Spring Hill College University of Arkansas at Millsaps CollegeAuburn University Little Rock University of Dallas Texas Christian University

Adelphi University Angelina Saunders

Drexel University Valerie Telnack

American University Julia Herold

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Alexander Walsh

Auburn University Cassidy Hart Makenzie Moe

Fordham University Amelia Marotta Chloe Pejouan Sarah Rapp Summer Terry

Northwestern University Louis Milne Oregon State University Teddy Hulle Qwen Landis Portland Community College Dallin Hendig

George Fox University Jacob Bear

Purdue University Brian Magnuson

University of Dallas Anastasia Dominguez University of Hawaii Malia Faramarzi

Boise State University Caroline Brittain

Grand Canyon University Charis Hagen

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Kyle Brownell

University of Montana Hunter McGahan

Boston University Cole Benowitz Maya Goldschmidt

Hawaii Pacific University Shannon Wylot

Seattle University Savannah Hyndman

University of Nevada, Reno Garrett Dahl

Lewis and Clark College Janie Overland

Southern Oregon University Olivia Waldas

University of New Mexico Julie Magnuson

Western Washington University Nathan Parker Samantha Smith Thomas Weinzierl

Loyola University Maryland Jeremy Romero

Spring Hill College Wyley Sharp

University of Notre Dame Cruz Martinez

Willamette University Maddie Garcia

Manhattanville College Charli Shinstine

Syracuse University Christina Tarangelo

International:

Miami University Eoin O’Leary

Texas Christian University Alyssa Fisher Julia Lucero

University of Oregon Sydney Becker Edward Burrell Sorenne Cuffari Eddie Dalton Caden Fager Jordy Feffer Christina Jacobsen Jeremy Leung Torrey Platenberg Lanie Weingarten

Arizona State University Avalia Bilben Matheus Gensler Austin Lloyd

Bryn Mawr College Sylvia Young Colorado State University Emmanuelle Abel Roni Burk Griffin Clark Andrew D’Alessandro Nolan Dulich William Farkas Tess Gardner Riley Haupt Jake Holland Rebecca Lampl Colin Liska Isaac McLaurin Amelia Young Columbia College Chicago Tyler Clayton DePaul University Agnes Lin DigiPen Institute of Technology Mitchell Roenker

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Millsaps College Fiona O’Brien Montana State University Madeline LaRoche Kate Moore Michaela Pocius New York University Wyatt Clay Colin Gasperoni Northeastern University Maya Hamson Northern Arizona Univeristy Olivija Berry

William Busic Jayce Cannon Noah Shotton

Texas Tech University Ethan Wilcoxson The New School Remy Grossman The Ohio State University Evan Davies The Savannah College of Art and Design Isabella Knipe University of Arizona Andrew Katzfey Jordyn Mitchell

Joshua Tashoff University of Arkansas Little Rock Maile Levy University of Colorado Boulder Laurel Cheney Sydni Frankel

University of Portland Elise Boutelle Ava Lee Meyer University of Utah Benjamin Cavanagh-Thompson Diana Butch Raymond Fitchett Peter Gagne Logan Matherly

University of Virginia Callie Hartzog University of Washington Angelina Courtney Emma Worthington Utah State University Brighton Forsgren Villanova University Yarizette Sequeira Washington State University Carlos Murrieta Webster University Jenna Steinberg

American University in Paris Bridget Brightfield Anna Miller McCall Roy Carleton University, Ottawa Neel Hebert Franklin University, Switzerland Alex Storer International Christian University, Tokyo Ken Yamazaki Univeristy of British Columbia Eden Anbar Gabriella Goco University of Chile

JUNE 2019

FEATURES

THE MUSTANG

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FEATURES

Ask a college freshman There’s been a lot of talk about what going into high school is like but no one tells seniors what going into college is like. Why doesn’t anyone ever give us advice? I figured I’d give it a go and see what some college freshman have to say about their first year in the big leagues. Story by Shayna Glazer.

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ith college right around the corner for the graduating class of 2019 here at SDA, I figured it was time to reach out to some college freshman about what their first year of college was like.

In the following interviews, you’ll hear from Tom Amoroso (Mira Costa), Nadia Ballard (UC San Diego), Ryan Cohen (UC Davis), Mallika Sesadri (UC Berkeley), Emma Toscani (Western Washington University), and Kieran Zimmer (UC Berkeley).

Q: What’s the best part of SDA that prepared you for college?

Ryan Cohen: Being on the quarter system is somehow even faster in college than it was in high school, but SDA prepares you better than any other high school. Any SDA grad at a quarter system school has a leg up.

Emma Toscani: I feel that SDA’s culture prepared me for my college pretty well. There are a lot of similarities between the two schools, and both are fairly accepting of uniqueness (at least to me). Going to a school like SDA has prepared me for the sheer weirdness that can happen at school, and I’m a lot less likely to judge someone based off how they dress because of SDA. Nadia Ballard: The quarter system at SDA has genuinely been such a god send. UCSD (most of the UC’s really) runs on the quarter system instead of the semester system and the fast pace that the SDA quarter system helped so much when it came to adjusting. Most incoming freshman really struggle with adjusting to the fast pace nature of the classes, but at SDA you’re used to it.

Q:What did your first day of classes in college feel like compared to classes in high school?

Mallika Seshadri: In many ways, my first day of classes in high school and college were oddly similar as I had moments on both days where I was shocked at the increased freedom and flexibility I had in comparison to my previous school experiences. I distinctly remember walking out of my last lecture at noon on my first day of college, looking out at the Campanile (the giant bell tower on our campus) surprised that I didn’t have any more lectures that day. The classes also felt so much more indepth, interesting and eye-opening.

Cohen: The first day of classes in college was surreal because, unlike the first day of high school, I didn’t know anyone in any of my classes.

It can be overwhelming sitting in a

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class with 500 people but at the end of the day, learning the material isn’t much different than anything you’ve done before.

Q: Was it easy to make friends in the big world of college campus life?

Kieran Zimmer: I got really really lucky making friends that I really love. On the third or fourth day of orientation I met a bunch of kids at a sample lecture for Arts and Humanities that I ended up getting lunch with, and now a lot of us are the best of friends! The first few days everyone tries to be super aggressively social cause no one really knows anybody, but I didn’t actually make any friends by just walking up to people I hadn’t met and asking for their snapchats.

Ballard: Given the ungodly amount of students from SDA who also went to UCSD I came in with a good amount of built-in friends. I also did a summer program before coming to UCSD so I already had a solid friend group that I’ve stuck with. UCSD is known for its shitty social culture and while its true to an extent for others I’ve never felt lonely at UCSD. Given I’m also pretty active on campus. I work as a lab assistant in a biology lab, I’m technically still apart of a biology organization because they still send me their emails, I’m apart of the Associated Students student government on campus, and I’m going to be an RA next year. I’ve met a lot of people because I’m just that extra, but not everybody is like that.

Q: Is college food any good?

Seshadri: I’d put college food between a 3 and a 6, depending on the day. Within that, though, is its own little spectrum, as some days are way better than others. Over time, though, everyone gets to know the more reliable stations and menu items.

Cohen: College food does not compare to my dad’s cooking, but apparently UC Davis is way better than other schools so I consider myself lucky.

Toscani: At least at my school, the answer is no. The company that our school’s contract is with is called Aramark, which is also a major supplier to prisons in the United States.

We are fed actual prison food, and everything is always a little off.

Luckily, my dorm building has a full kitchen on the ground floor lounge and I make my own meals about once a week and I have to say that it is considerably better. When

PICTURED ABOVE IS graduate Ryan Cohen with his grandmother at a fundraiser gala through UC Davis for Camp Kesem. Courtesy of Ryan Cohen. you can, cooking for yourself is best, and learning how to use the microwave to its full advantage is recommended.

Q: Overall how would you rate your college experience from 1-10?

Elaborate if you care to!

Cohen: So far, my college experience is around a 7. The transition was tough. Really tough. Going from the comfort of SDA, my best friends, and my family to this big school was a lot to deal with, and that’s before the school work even started.With time, however, you make friends.

Everyone does. It’s hard at first for sure, but it gets better and better as the months go by. At this point, I feel like I’m really getting into a groove and I’m happy almost every day.

Kieran: I’m gonna go crazy and give it a 9. I love my classes, I love my friends here. I love the area. I got really lucky to be honest, I don’t think everyone else at my school feels the way I do.

Amoroso: I wasn’t proactive enough about college during senior year [in high school] and ended up going to a school that I didn’t ever get “that feeling” about. I came into it expecting a typical college experience and was immediately disappointed. I went into something with no context of what it was going to be like and high expectations, so of course it makes sense that I would be disappointed.

Q: Any interesting stories?

Seshadri: I really did not comprehend the idea of school spirit when I got to Cal. As you probably, know UC Berkeley is a pretty spirited campus, especially when football games draw close— even though we all know we’ll lose. Before some of our major games, the cheerleaders, marching band and spirit rally committee tour all of the residence halls to hype everyone up. So, I figured I’d open my blinds and peek outside to see what was happening. The next thing I knew, a giant mob of mob of people were waving to me and trying to get me to come outside to join in.

I was too lazy and felt so mean for doing this, but ended up closing my blinds and falling asleep to our fight song “Fight for California.”

Toscani: At my friend Kathleen’s birthday party, we passed around my friend’s large metal toaster to give “toasts” and talk about how much she means to us all.

My boyfriend’s twin brother came down from Alaska for a weeklong visit and he brought a large amount of Dungeness crab that he had caught. We cooked it all, which was enough food to feed twelve people, despite there only being six people present.

We ate so many crab tacos that our stomachs hurt and invited as many people in the vicinity to have some. It was arguably one of the best meals I’ve had since coming to college.

add?

Q: Anything else you’d like to

Amoroso: I don’t have a lot of fun college stories that are also appropriate unfortunately. Instead, I want to talk about the merits of not forcing yourself to go somewhere you don’t believe is the right place for you. Towards the end of my first semester I was spending a lot of time in my room. I didn’t have a lot of motivation to do my work or even go outside and socialize with people. I withdrew and enrolled at Mira Costa for my second semester with the intention to transfer to a good school down here. So far this has been an incredibly positive transition for me.

I want to stress that there’s no shame in going to Mira Costa or a community [college] right out of the gate; there’s definitely no shame coming home to a familiar place in order to invest yourself in a school you truly want to attend. People also don’t take Mira Costa seriously enough (something I was guilty of), because the classes there are easily more difficult and engaging than the four-year I previously attended.

Cohen: Enjoy every second at SDA. Talking to people who went to high schools around the country, very few sound like they went to a school nearly as amazing as SDA. Love your school!

JUNE 2019

FEATURES

What Sunset is really like Sunset High School, the district’s continuation school, will be moving into the P-Quad next year. Do SDA students really know what it’s like at the nearest SDUHSD school? By Taylor Rudman.

S

unset High School, a block and worlds away. You may have heard the whisperings. “It’s where the troubled kids are sent.” “It’s full of stoners and criminals.” “Kids who are failing have to go there.”

According to Sunset staff and students, their school is often labeled as the “bad kids” school and left at that . But it sure doesn’t seem like just “the bad kids” school for Craig Williams, the math teacher who said, “The very first day I came here, some kid that looked like a gangster rushed to the door and opened it for me because my hands were full, and I went ‘that’s kind of cool.’ And I realized that it’s very family oriented.”

It doesn’t seem that way for Carol Eliel, the social science and culinary arts teacher who, during a meeting with the principal, saw that “ Kids came in and gave him hugs; a kid came in and said ‘I’ve got 30 days sober!’”

It didn’t seem that way for Eliel when she was writing a recommendation letter for a senior, who works at a tech startup and is applying to Harvard.

Sunset, the SDUHSD continuation school, is sometimes characterized by misconceptions. In reality, it is a school that offers an alternative to the traditional learning structure, according to Sunset Principal Rick Ayala. While their campus is under construction next year, Sunset, a school of 8 teachers and about 145 students, will be temporarily moving into the P-buildings. Students typically attend Sunset in order to catch up with or accelerate their coursework, or for the small school environment (classes of about 25).

They value close connections with their teachers- connections similar to the ones SDA students and staff describe among themselves.

SDA Principal Adam Camacho has also taken note of the negative impressions unjustifiably associated with Sunset. He said, “I think the stigma that you get, you can ask anybody what they might think of a continuation high school, and more importantly who they think goes there. And there’s a misconception with that. It’s all kinds of kids that go there.”

Despite a widely hel d belief that Sunset is a “dumping ground” for “bad kids,” most students come to Sunset by choice, according to Ayala.

He said, “I think sometimes there’s that inaccurate perception that kids come here because they’ve gotten in trouble. That is far from the truth.

Kids are here because they want to be here.”

Camacho does not anticipate

THE MUSTANG

any problems with Sunset moving onto campus for one year. “You know, they’re our neighbor anyway.

There’s no challenges or issues with bell schedules,” he said. “They’re coming when we’re in class, we’re going and coming for lunch when they’re in class, they come in after and they’re actually done before we’re done at the end of each day.”

Some SDA students have expressed concerns regarding overcrowding in the parking lot and having their spaces taken by Sunset students. Camacho said, “Just to be clear on that, they do have essentially two lanes in the lower lot…. And then when they’re done after next year, so in 2021, all those P-buildings get scrapped and it goes back to parking lot.”

Ayala said that the most common reasons students come to Sunset are to accelerate their coursework and graduate early, to catch up on credits they fell behind with, or because they prefer the setting of a smaller school.

Sunset offers resources for a variety of students’ needs. Math teacher Craig Williams said, “This school is really developed to help kids in both their highs and their lows. You take a student that wants to just go fast in life, we got you. You take a kid who’s had struggles and can’t go super-fast, we got you covered too.”

“It’s a really diverse learning population, in that it offers a lot of students the ability to not only catch up but also excel in ways that maybe they were struggling with before,” English teacher Emily Clark said.

“We have some students who are behind in credits, some students who are ahead in credits, some students who graduate early, a lot of students going straight to a four-year, some who are going to trade schools. I think Sunset for a little while had a reputation of being where the bad kids went and I don’t think that’s accurate. It’s a mix of students who have already found success and students who are working on finding success. It’s definitely a mix.”

Switching to Sunset from a traditional high school, such as SDA or LCC, has helped students get back on track. Senior Julian Hernandez, who has attended Sunset for a year and a half and is on track to graduate, had fallen behind at his old school after an injury. “I was enrolled in an online school and it was not working very well for me. Before that, I broke my ankle at Torrey Pines, so I fell super behind, and the online school didn’t work, so I came here, following that,” he said.

Other students find that the

small school setting is more accommodating to their needs. Senior Kennedy Klosterman, who has been at Sunset for three years, said, “I went to Torrey Pines before and it was just a really large school and I was used to going to smaller schools so coming here was a lot easier. When I was at Torrey Pines it was really hard to get used to the big campus and moving around all the time, all the people, and not having that one-onone attention with your teachers, so coming here, that definitely made me like it a lot more.”

Sunset is able to provide this specialized attention through a combination of small class sizes and a unique structure of learning. In contrast to the traditional classroom experience, students at Sunset work through assignments at their own pace, with an advisory period once a week to help keep them on track.

Ayala said, “Our teachers are here to teach, they are leading kids through the same curriculum they lead at the other schools, but it’s the pacing that is independent.”

While the structure can present challenges for some students, it benefits most. Science teacher David Main said, “Small class sizes, not having to be on the same page on the same assignment on the same day that everybody else in the classroom is on, I think for lack of a better way to put it, gives students the opportunity to kind of breathe. Reduce their stress level a little bit.”

In order to help keep students on track, Sunset provides an advisory period once weekly in which students meet with their advisor to discuss their progress and goals. “I have a group of 20-25 students who are my advisees and I can help them track their progress, look at any obstacles that may be in their way, communicate home, just gives a little more accountability and support,” Clark said. “I can support students on an individual basis a little bit more than traditional school format allows.”

Advisors not only provide academic support, but emotional support as well. Williams said, “The advisor is someone who ideally gets to know the kids and uses that relationship to create a bond where the student will want to do well at Sunset. They’ll want to please their advisor. They’ll want to do well in their classes. Ideally, they’ll fall in love with themselves again and realize how special life is and take the gift and run with it.”

Class sizes at Sunset are generally kept to under 25 students, which allows teachers more of an oppor-

STUDENTS AT Sunset High School have a way of forming connections among themselves and staff. Photo by Kennedy Klosterman tunity to get to know them. Social science and culinary arts teacher Carol Eliel said, “A lot of times students here, as they’re leaving, say, ‘I’ve never felt like teachers cared so much.’ Well, teachers do care so much everywhere, they just don’t have the space to be able to check in as much as we can.”

Being able to form a deeper teacher-student relationship allows for more leniency and understanding for students that may be struggling.

Williams said, “Now I know a little bit about you, a little bit about what makes you tick. As I’m assigning classes, as I see you come late some days, I know how to deal with it in a supportive way, not in a you’re busted way.”

Students, too, said the environment allows students and staff to remain close. Klosterman said, “I just feel so much more connected to my school. I’m really close with all the teachers, I know pretty much every student here, whether I just really

know their face or don’t really know their names, everyone here is super close and comfortable around each other.”

Junior Amber Cassiamo, who has been at Sunset for two and a half years and will return to SDA next fall, said, “It kind of has a weird, like, when you hear about kids going to Sunset, they’re like ‘oh, what’d you do.’ It’s not as scary as everyone makes it seem. It’s not just a place people get sent if you’re expelled from your school or get in trouble, people come here willingly to catch up on their work or graduate early.”

Eliel said, “‘It’s all burnouts and the bad kids.’ People say that all the time. When I tell people that I work at a continuation school, they go ‘Oh, wow, that must be really hard.’ And actually, it’s really not hard. It’s really easy because you get to have space to have a relationship with kids, and when you do that makes all the difference.”

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IN

FEATURES

TEN YEARS

We asked seniors where they saw themselves in 10 years.

Here’s what they had to say. Photos by Linnaea Erisman, Jaden Hauptman, Devlin Ott, and Sylvia Young.

Lucy Ryall “Giving people emotional advice but not following my own.”

Maya Goldschmidt “Laugh-crying”

Sergio Miragliotta “Hopefully I will have finished reading War and Peace by that time.”

Gage Tanzman “Probably in debt from pursuing my PhD.”

Michaela Pocius “I’ll be a nurse but I won’t be able to get out of bed.”

Javier Perez “I’m gonna be a Cardiff dad.”

Aliya Holmen “I hope to be an elementary school teacher, hopefully in the Encinitas/ Cardiff area.”

Drake Mothe and Miles Ambrosio “Hopefully I still like dogs”

David Detweiler “Fake my death and move to Switzerland”

Maya Hamson “I will be living with Linnaea and we will have a snake named Fluffy.”

Cooper Waite “God emperor of Mars”

Mason Weikel and Henry Defibaugh “I will be arresting him”

Julian Boyer “Overthrowing the God emperor of Mars”

Amber Tse and Ken Yamazaki “Trying to find Ken” “Somewhere”

Jenna Levin, Erin Reilly, Gracie Williams* “Living in a sustainable log cabin on the coast of Nicaragua with three pugs and our fish Bubs.”

Blue Flood “Ideally in the witness protection program or something else that lets me be a secret agent. I want to be in the CIA, but I don’t think they will let me in in ten years”

Above: Grant Laren, Alex Walsh, Colin Harabedian “Don’t worry about it”

Nick Camarata “When I grow up, I want to be in the Marine Corps”

Kevin Rojas and Bryan Brizuela “In a slim-fit navy suit owning a clothing business” “Man, I just want a job”

Naomi Peeler “The thought of me in ten years gives me anxiety”

Right: Saray Casillas, Ana Huerta, Olivia Waldas “Still cute and chubby” Below: Kayla Canseco, Emily Martinez, Maria Eusebio, Evey Ruvalcaba, Roxy Albino, Jaidy Moreno “Still be friends”

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Ava Jakubowski and Emma Worthington* “A live action remake of “The Road to El Dorado”

Eva Geronimo “I’ll still be 4’11” and getting my doctorate degree.”

Brian Magnuson “In the year 2029”

Hunter Vertongen “I’ll be graduating college”

Wyatt Clay “I will be a scuba diver”

Olivia Bell, Fiona O’Brien, and Amelia Young, “All still being called Amelia by Mr. C”

Evan Davies “Military king of Ohio”

Sammy Hernandez “I will still be listening Blackpink.”

THE MUSTANG

Gaby Vonder “I hope to be working as a veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo”

Elliot Varon and Delaney Stewart “A semi successful Soundcloud rapper with my own shoe line” “I want to be scuba diving”

Drew Atkins “I will be frolicking abroad, in the country, I don’t know where I am going to be, but I am sure I will be frolicking around”

Niklas Van der Wagt “Hopefully, I will have finished reading War and Peace by that time.”

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FEATURES

You’re gonna miss her when she’s gone Linda Park, who has taught at SDA for 19 years and taught various classes and clubs, is retiring this year. Story by Maya Janaswamy.

“I

’ll miss grading, isn’t that weird? I wish I had more time to do it. I love doing it because...it’s evidence of learning.

It’s not so much looking for what they did wrong, but really celebrating what they’ve learned and what they’ve done right,” said Linda Park, math and science teacher along with Mustang Minds coach.

Park, who has taught at SDA for 19 years, is retiring in June. She has taught a total of 17 courses: P.E, Computer Programming, Web-page Design, Geometry, Algebra 2, PreCalculus, CPM Geometry, Math 1, Math 1 Support, Earth and Space, AP Environmental Science- just to name a few.

“What I’ve taught is really the students, because I’ve taught so many classes, but the most important thing is the students,” said Park. “The students are really kind. They’re really nice people, and they’re fun to be around. I love coming to work every day because it’s not work. It’s home.”

Park has always known that she wanted to be a teacher. “I was super advanced in math… so there weren’t math teachers at my school who could teach me any math. They would send me during math class to go help younger classes, and that’s when I really became aware of how much I enjoy[ed] helping other people learn. I’ve been teaching math since I was in sixth grade, and I love doing it.”

Park likes a lot of aspects of teaching. “I like it when I see a kid understand something that they didn’t understand before -- that applies mostly to math... For science, it’s just knowing that more people are aware of the planet and how to take care of it, and helping people reach their potential of really being good students for this planet.”

Park has been involved with clubs and sports during her time at SDA. She has coached Mustang Minds, both the boys and girls volleyball teams, and led the environmental club; she has also aided the robotics team. “Coaching Mustang Minds, and helping with robotics, you can’t beat that stuff. And I love going to the plays and the dances; the first 10 years, I never missed a dance, never missed a play, and went to every sporting event that I could.

Mustang Minds I’ve been doing since even before I was a regular teacher, when I was subbing. That’s been fun all along, I’ve coached at every level.”

Park can still remember her first day teaching at SDA. “My very first days of substituting with my brand-new teaching credentials [at SDA], I was in a math class, on Halloween. [Math teacher Darlene]

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Blanchard came running into the classroom in her Halloween costume that looked like an escapee from an insane asylum, carrying a rubber rat, and saying loud, incomprehensible things. She ran around the room, and ran out again. I was alarmed, so I looked at one of the girls, and she said, ‘Oh don’t worry that’s just the teacher next door.”

Park plans to go on a cruise in the fall. “My husband booked a cruise in October, so we are going over to see the fall colors on the east coast, and visit parts of Canada... he knew that if I had something to look forward to, it would be easier to get through the months where I’m watching you guys start school and I’m not there.”

Park is retiring for the same reason as a past teacher: “Someone asked him why he decided to retire, and he said that he was less patient than he thought he needed to be. I think I’m getting a little less patient with the kids that are doing things they know they shouldn’t do. It just seems right.”

Her students greatly appreciate her teaching.

“I love how dedicated Mrs. Park is to teaching students and helping them reach their best potential, and really bringing good into the world,” said Ava Barbano, freshman.

“Not only do I love how devoted Mrs. Park is to the school and nurturing the community that SDA offers, but she’s also very dedicated to making sure her students are on-task, and that those who participate, in her clubs also, learn as much as possible,” said Emilia Neyer, freshman.

Teachers are also greatful for her work.

“She is not just a fellow teacher that I have worked with for 18+ years, but is like a big (older) sister to me,” said science teacher Trish Hovey. “She was my long term sub for me when I had each of my two children and I could not have entrusted my students with anyone better. Her caring and commitment to her students’ learning and to them as individuals is and always has been steadfast and from the heart. Her students’ struggles, frustrations, and pain were hers too and she never gave or gives up on them...They always came first.

“She goes the extra mile for her students and truly wants all of them to realize their potential and find success.”

She hopes to continue coaching Mustang Minds in the future. “This is just a really neat place, and I will keep coming back, even after I’ve retired,” said Park.

LINDA PARK (far right) and her Mustang Minds team. Photo courtesy of Linda Park.

JUNE 2019

FEATURES

A

ccepted into some of the most prestigious universities in the world, Zack Edwards can serve as an inspiration to young SDA students who have yet to apply to college.

Edwards applied and was accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, USC, and the New England Conservatory of Music. Each of these universities have extremely low acceptance rates, admitting only the most impressive applicants from around the globe.

So how did Edwards make himself stand out? With everything from his passion as a bassoonist to a UCSD bioengineering internship to Origami Club. Also a participant of youth orchestras, solo performances and competitions, honor bands, Japanese Honor Society, Cross Country, and Track and Field, Edwards has proven himself to be worthy of his acceptances.

Edwards plans to attend Stanford University in the fall of 2020 after taking a gap year.

To get an inside perspective into Edwards’s college application process and everything that has led up to his success, we asked him a few questions that can give some advice to aspiring college students.

Q: When did you start thinking about the college application process?

A: “It had been in the back of my mind since probably sophomore year. I’d just been thinking about it and then I would, every once in a while, watch random Youtube videos.

And then junior year I was getting educated about it and kind of preparing myself for applying.”

Stanford?

Harvard?

Someone has to get in.

He did.

Zack was accepted to the best schools. Learn how he did it.

By Alexis Price and Simmone Stearn. Photo courtesy of Zack Edwards.

THE MUSTANG

Q: What advice would you give students about the college application process?

A: “First and foremost, be completely genuine in your applications and just be super honest. Don’t do things just to try and get into college because it’s really obvious when kids do that... schools can sense when kids aren’t genuine.

“Do things you want to do, but work hard at them and try to pursue them. And also just don’t underestimate yourself.

“The more time you spend, the better you want it [getting accepted].

Especially with your essays because you can convey what you really want to convey about yourself in the most accurate way possible.

“Don’t be afraid to try to get into Ivy’s and schools even though the acceptance rate might be really low. They still have to accept like 2000 kids every year. Someone has to get in and just try to be genuine.

“Don’t sell yourself short. Then, it’s definitely going to take a lot of work, like you’re definitely going to have to work really hard, but if you just do things you’re interested in and try to convey yourself honestly.

Then, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

Q: How has the college application process changed your views [if] about the college system?

A: “That’s interesting because when I was applying to Harvard, there was all this stuff going on with discrimination and it’s like Asian applicants.

Also, there has been all these scandals like kids buying their way into these schools. I was kind of going in kind of cynical. I was applying to these Ivy’s and stuff, but I wasn’t really expecting anything. It definitely seems super rigged and kind of against people who aren’t legacies, or those who aren’t super weird or rich. Then I got into this school so that kind of changed things. I felt like I didn’t cheat me way to get anything done, so that kind of gave me a sense that they are maybe overall genuine systems and they just have these minor scandals going on.

“I think you should just not worry about it [acceptance rates]... apply to schools you think you can get in to, but you shouldn’t be afraid to apply just because of the acceptance rate.”

Q: Why did you choose to attend Stanford?

A: “I chose Stanford because the location is really nice...has nice weather and I thought that since the application for Stanford was so in depth, “You got this right.” I really feel like I’ll be surrounded by amazing people there.”

Q: Why are you taking a gap year?

A: “Even though Stanford is giving me a lot of financial aid, it’s till a really huge investment and so I want to go in completely refreshed and ready.

Cause I felt kind of as if I imagined myself going in the fall, I might burn out. I don’t want to be burned out.

Also, I just felt kind of not as excited as I hoped I would be because I had to say no to so many school that I really wanted to go to. Then, I was not super excited and if I just wait a year, I will be able to put everything in perspective.

“It won’t be going so fast. Yeah I don’t want to just do high school, college, job, and then die. We need more time to be introspective.”

Q: What do you plan to do during your gap year?

A: “I’m planning to spend a lot of time with family, spend time with my grandma, then continue my internship I’ve been doing it at UCSD and I would like to hopefully get more involved in that. I’m going to go to the beach, and hopefully work and make money so I can travel various places.”

Q: Tell us about you internship.

It’s bioengineering internship at UCSD. A: “Right now I’m not doing anything super intense. I started it a few months ago and I’ve just been doing menial labor. In the fall I can start doing actual scientific research and help them in the next year.”

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Students without borders While many students are afraid to leave their home state, some students have opted to go to another country for college. Story By Alex Storer

A

lot of students feel pressured to follow the traditional college track, whether it’s going to Miracosta and transferring to one of the UC’s or going to any of our local state schools.

Some students have decided to broaden their horizons by going to schools overseas. Senior Ken Yamazaki is going to attend International Christian University in Tokyo and senior Anna Miller will attend the American University of Paris.

Both of these universities are drastically different from anything you might experience in a U.S. school.

Miller chose AUP because, “I really liked ‘The Aristocats’ as a kid, and I got the soundtrack on vinyl (yeah I was that cool). I would

listen to it and imagine this magical childlike vision of Paris, and when I went there for an exchange program, it actually fit my expectations more than you would think, and it felt like home somehow.”

Yamazaki decided to attend International Christian University because he was interested in the difference between the U.S. and Japan, “I felt like I have experienced a lot of culture in Encinitas, so I wanted a drastic change that would motivate me to study and have fun in a new environment. I knew that I wanted to do this since middle school because of my parents’ influence and my own goal of utilizing both of my native languages to my career.”

It also might be daunting to think about applying for colleges

FEATURES

A VIEW OF International Christian University, in Tokyo, from above. Photo Courtesy of Ken Yamazaki abroad, but it’s easier than you think.

For Miller, the application was as simple as adding another school on her common app portal. She was also aided by her EU Passport, which made tuition and the enrollment process easier.

Yamazaki had a similar process: everything was in English and was straightforward despite being for a Japanese school. Ken even said, “In my opinion, my college apps were easier than my peers’ because I wrote fewer essays and applications compared to the people around me.”

Going to college in another country presents unique challenges and experiences. Students going abroad often have to learn another language, and assimilate to an unfamiliar culture. Yamazaki is well prepared: he’s taken twelve years

of Japanese school, which teaches students about Japanese tradition, culture and history, in addition to teaching Japanese itself. Although Miller didn’t go to a French school, she did take four years of French while at SDA. You don’t need to have experience with a language to go abroad, Yamazaki said “I chose to attend a university in Japan, but colleges abroad do not expect a fluent native speaker. Many schools throughout the world offer a basic language program to support students’ college life on campus. The barrier of a language that you do not know of should not prevent you from pursuing your interests.”

Regardless of future plans, studying in a new environment, whether it’s a new city, state or

country, is an experience you should take into account when making your decision.

Miller gave input for those of you about to enter the college selection process, “For juniors out there, my advice would be to really ask yourself where you will feel happiest and most inspired when considering plans after high school.

If you don’t think a typical four-year college will do that for you, then don’t be afraid to explore some other options! ... Maybe what will make you happiest is to just start a project, make a film, or take a year to do an internship! College will always be there. You don’t have to commit now.”

Aeries: 50 shades of green The color-coded system in Aeries makes a lot of students feel bad about their grades. Story By Manelle Touzni

Y

ou frantically log into Aeries hoping you got 100 on that easy math test you took a few days ago. The first thing you see when you reach the page is the color yellow over your math class.

That test dropped your grade to a B. Technically it is still a B plus and you had an A minus before, so it only dropped two percent. But it is still yellow instead of green.

Also, there is still that annoying, red missing assignment box for an assignment you already turned in but your teacher still hasn’t graded yet because she’s grading it last because it was late, even though it was technically an excused absence. So, your grade looks much worse than it is at first glance, which you think is misleading and unfair.

Although the majority of students relate, some find that the color-coded system motivates them to improve.

Last year, most students used the grades app to check Aeries, which assigns a color for each class.

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After it shut down last year, people started using a new Aeries app.

The overall class grade is assigned a color: green for A, yellow for B, going down to red for F. “This helps to provide you with additional ata-glance understanding of student progress, without having to deeply analyze the class summary,” says the Aeries support page. Some students disagree, though, saying that it gives the message that they should be perfect.

“It’s definitely aggravating that they’re saying that getting a B is not okay and that above average isn’t good enough. When you have an A, you have an A. It shouldn’t matter if it’s an A minus or an A plus, and when they put that lower color it’s not motivational or anything. It’s just there to make you feel worse about your grade,” freshman Hanna Waite said.

Sophomore Annabelle Breider said, “In my opinion there is no such thing as failing. You either succeed or

you learn, so I think it’s very harsh to say you’re failing, especially with the color red. That kind of just adds that extra anxiety touch.”

“It kind of tells students that having a lower grade, even if it’s a little bit lower, is not okay, and it really accentuates the distinction between the higher grades and lower grades by the color, which is really frustrating, especially if you’re working hard to get your grade up,” freshman Jocelyn Brandon said.

“The red missing assignment boxes freak me out because a lot of the times you can’t turn in the missing assignments; you can talk to your teacher but it’s just kind of there.”

Some think that the colors motivate them to do better and help notify them when they need to study harder, especially if they often forget to look at their grades.

“If you can go from a B which is yellow to an A which is green… and when you see that the A is a better color it makes you feel good,

so I think that it does help a little bit because it gives me that motivation and that good feeling of looking at my grade and seeing that it’s green,” senior Anastasia Dominguez said.

“When I do see a red box in Aeries, I think ‘why didn’t I turn that in, why is that missing’. It makes me jump on it more rather than if it wasn’t there and it was just blank or something and then I think maybe they haven’t put it in yet or something. It makes me more aware of it.”

Senior Parmeet Bhandal said,“I think it helps students that colors are distinguished by grades because it helps them visualize their grades, and I’m more of a visualizer.”

Interestingly enough, both the aeries app and the grades app claim that with their design, students can see all of their grades in one glance, so is the color-coded system really necessary? Or does it even matter?

James Hrzina, the AP psychology teacher, said that the reason why some students are

concerned about the color of their grades is because of positive and negative associations, but surprisingly, since certain colors are known to represent several different things, students are creating these negative and positive associations in their brains. He says, “The purpose of the colors I think is interesting because of the connotations and associations we have with different colors, but the shading of it, I’m okay with the idea of the shading of it as you see it as you go higher up, but I don’t know how much it matters because on transcripts, the color of it doesn’t matter. Whether you have a B minus or a B plus you still have a B, so whether it’s a different shade is kind of irrelevant. The particular connotations and associations we have of green and red, especially with stop lights are what is affecting our feelings on it.”

JUNE 2019

ARTS

I

t’s only a couple of days until summer, and you know what that means. It’s that time of year when we start mentally checking out of class and instead plan for what we’re going to do in the upcoming vacation. So if you want to start zoning out early, we’re here to help.

We have a list of movies, TV shows, and concerts coming this summer. They range from Disney to horror, classic rock to R&B, and absolutely free to “borrowing” your parent’s money.

As much fun as it is to start of the summer sleeping 14 hours a day and refusing to put on real clothes, eventually we all go stir crazy. So start looking for that reason to change out of your pajamas here.

Welcome to the 2019 Summer Preview.

We hope you find a great way to spend your summer.

- LINNAEA ERISMAN, ARTS EDITOR

THE MUSTANG

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JULY

ARTS

DARK PHOENIX

4

H

ere it is, the culmination of milking nearly 20 years’ worth of X-Men movies. Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, and Jennifer Lawrence return as members of the iconic team of mutants that captivated your childhood as well as your dad’s.

Taking place nearly a decade after “X-Men: Apocalypse,” the film follows one of the franchise’s most beloved characters, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), as she grows to become the notorious Dark Phoenix. Her powers become uncontrollable, nearly tearing apart the family of mutants we have all grown to love as she struggles with her inner demons as well as her otherworldly abilities.

If you’re interested in witnessing how Grey’s emotional constipation nearly rips the world apart, watch out for “Dark Phoenix,” because who doesn’t love to see a lovable, self-disciplined, all-powerful character go off the deep end?

STORY BY CAROLINA GUTIERREZ Sophie Turner as Jean Grey in this final X-Men movie. Photo courtesy of Fox Movies.

MIB: INTERNATIONAL

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I

f you like aliens, action, and a man named Chris Hemsworth, then I have the movie for you. The Men in Black are coming back this summer, but Agents K and J, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, are not the focus for this movie. Agents M, played by Tessa Thompson, and Agent H, played by Chris Hemsworth, are the newest recruits. Fighting irritable aliens from outer space, the agents are back in black, adding a dash of witty humor to every fight and foreign encounter in order to save Earth. However, the public will never need to know about these agents. In fact, I’ve said too much, but you won’t remember I told you any of this, so don’t worry about it.

STORY BY ALEXIS PRICE Tessa Thompson (left) playing agent M and Chris Hemsworth (right) playing agent H draw their weapons. Photo courtesy of the official Men in Black website.

TOY STORY 4

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Y

ep, you guessed it, yet another Toy Story story is brewing upon the horizon. Not one, not two, not three, but four movies have been made about the secret life of your childhood toys. This will make you paranoid about your younger siblings’ dolls but also to make you cry for the fourth and final time. While the toys embark on a road trip with their new owner, Woody and the gang meet a new toy, Forky who is in denial about identifying with his toy-ness. The adventures roll on and a slight detour takes Woody on a stroll down memory lane. It leads to finding his long lost friend Bo Peep along with a sweet remembrance of the good ol’ days and a sour taste of the future to come.

STORY BY PIPER LIGOTTI They’re rounding up the gang for (hopefully) the last time.

Photo courtesy of Pixar.

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JUNE 2019

YESTERDAY

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W

hat would happen if you woke up and your favorite music artist never existed?

Would you claim their music as your own and become famous? Probably not. You’d probably just cry that you can’t listen to their music anymore, but that’s not movie worthy.

“Yesterday” tells the story of Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), a Beatles fan and an aspiring musician. Jack gets into an accident and when he recovers, he begins to play “Yesterday” by The Beatles. The song is unrecognizable to everyone, and Jack realizes that suddenly it’s as if The Beatles never existed. He quickly rises to fame with their songs, The plot is an interesting one, it’s definitely unique. The movie has lots of familiar faces making cameos, like Ed Sheeran, James Corden, and Kate McKinnon. If you want to see Ed Sheeran make some questionable lyric changes to The Beatles classics (he suggests changing ‘Hey Jude’ to ‘Hey Dude’), then you should watch this movie.

Jack re-creates the famous Beatles shot that the world of “Yesterday” doesn’t know. Photo courtesy of “Yesterday” official site.

STORY BY DEVLIN OTT

2

JULY

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

“E

ndgame” spoiler free: Get ready for another Marvel movie; they’ve been making these bad boys so fast that they actually had to wait for “Endgame” to come out before they released the trailer for “Far From Home.”

The second Marvel cinematic universe appearance of Spider-man kicks off with Peter Parker, in Venice, struggling to manage the double life of being an Avenger, and a high school student. Far from his home, Peter meets a superhero from another universe, tries to confess his feelings for MJ, and sends a familiar face to voicemail.

With multiverses and the prepubescent face of Tom Holland this blockbuster is sure to attract anyone from the Marvel nerds who saw “Avengers: Endgame” on opening night to the girls (and guys) who want to gawk at Tom Holland.

JUNE

ARTS

Spider-Man poses on a crane above Venice in his snazzy, sleek webslinging suit. Photo courtesy of Spider-Man official Facebook.

STORY BY MAX VENNEMEYER

MIDSOMMAR

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This is Gertrude and she is sad becuase she missed her chance to watch “Midsommar.” Don’t be like Gerturde.

Photo courtesy of A24 official site.

THE MUSTANG

A

re you into somewhat strange, niche horror movies? The kind with a message that takes you longer to dissect than watching the movie itself? Well, have you always wanted to join a cult? No? No to both?

Well, you should still carve out 90 minutes of your summer and watch “Midsommar.”

“Midsommar” is director Ari Aster’s second film, with his first, “Hereditary,” having made waves among critics last summer.

Be sure to expect a return of disturbing visuals and a bone-chilling storyline in this “Scandinavian folk horror” about a couple who travel to a remote Swedish village for a rare summer festival. Frankly, if you were a fan of “Hereditary,” then you should be as excited for “Midsommar” as I am. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then drop this paper right now and go rent “Hereditary.” Then come back, pick up this paper, and get excited.

Now, let me make this clear. If this summer, all you want is to gasp at a few jump scares and marvel at how far Hollywood movie magic has come, then go see “Child’s Play.” But if you want a horror movie that actually uses fear to make you think, consider “Midsommar.”

STORY BY TAYLOR RUDMAN

27

JULY

ARTS

THE LION KING

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he Lion King. That one movie with the animals and the singing hog? Yeah, that one where we secretly all cried when Mufasa died. They’re making a live action of it. And guess what? Beyoncé’s in it, so it better be pretty good (and she had better have a singing number). Also, remember the guy who plays Happy Hogan in all the Iron Man and Spider Man movies.

Well, he’s directing it. He did alright at babysitting Peter Parker, so hopefully he’ll be good at making this kid movie. Not that it’s really a kids’ movie, considering that a big part of the audience will be all of us teens who loved the original when we were younger. The biggest difference of this movie will be that the animations are really realistic animals, including some cute lion cubs. So, if you’re ever in the mood for a classic, go ahead and see it. Then, you can decide if the remake is better or worse and freak out about how Disney has no new ideas on social media.

The latest live action remake is exciting because it’s not actually live action, it’s just hyperrealistic animation. Also Beyonce. Photo courtesy of “The Lion King” official Facebook.

STORY BY KATE PAXTON

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

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D

o you remember when you watched Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo and Juliet” in freshman English? Do you remember the pounding of your heart and the dilation of your pupils as Leo walked on screen? Well now you can relive this feeling with Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” a drama/thriller following a washed out television star (DiCaprio) and his stunt double (Brad Pitt) as they try to make their way in the movie industry at the end of Hollywood’s golden era. Sure Leonardo DiCaprio has gotten a lot older, but so have you. And besides, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. And oh yeah, did I mention Brad Pitt? Oh and Margot Robbie?

Oh, also Al Pacino. TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY. Perhaps less romantic and perhaps exponentially more violent than “Romeo and Juliet,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” explores the ever-changing Hollywood and the struggle of its actors to adapt while also containing the famous Tarantino-patented action. What more could anyone ask for? The film will be released July 26 so get excited and get ready.

AUGUST

STORY BY SIMMONE STEARN

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Movies about real-life murders should be handled delic ately, so they gave it to the guy who uses blood as toothpaste. Photo courtesy of “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” official Facebook.

ANGRY BIRDS 2

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Because the sequel of a movie about an app definitely doesn’t scream ‘capitalism.’ Photo courtesy of Angry Birds official site.

H

a ha! It’s angry birds time. They are coming back with a sequel, guys. A sequel. Now are app based, cash grabbing, “friends” face a new enemy -- holy cow -and they are as bad as ever. Evil, blue, ice birds who want to destroy both pigs and birds alike. But oh my, this threat calls for a unique approach, get this: the pigs must work with the birds to defeat a common enemy. I am QUAKING with anticipation. As a humongous fan of the original, I am happy to see the same stupid humor and cartoon shenanigans. I saw like two poop jokes in the trailer, so I am hoping that was only a little taste for the best to come. We have famous actors like Josh Gad from Frozen and the small dude in Game of Thrones from Game of Thrones. The original directors are probably in deep sorrow, so to replace them the corporate masterminds hired two completely new directors; one of which is John Rice who doesn’t even have a picture on his Wiki page. A mystery figure… I am intrigued. Save August 16 for some movie seats cuz this movie is going to be flocking awesome (this joke is credited to the original Angry bird’s film who used it in at least five separate times throughout the movie and is not a HUNTER original, apologies).

STORY BY HUNTER MCGAHAN

JUNE 2019

STRANGER THINGS SEASON 3

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In season three, a “dark secret” will haunt the sleepy little town of Hawkins. But who cares about the plot? You’ll watch it because it’s “Stranger Things.” Photo courtesy of “Stranger Things” official Facebook.

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umor has it that the long-awaited sci-fi series, “Stranger Things,” will return this Independence Day. Is it possible? Well, stranger things have happened.

In season three, a “dark secret” will haunt the sleepy little town of Hawkins, and bring with it a new character, Robin. No stranger to dark secrets, Hawkins has previously experienced many supernatural phenomena, including but not limited to: a demon, a Jedi (basically), and a ‘shadow dimension’. Of course, things are gonna have to get even stranger in Season three with a gigantic shadow demon on the loose and a new mystery surrounding a, drum roll please. . . lifeguard?

Have a great summer, and prepare to have your life turned Upside Down.

JULY

ARTS

STORY BY PETER GAO

MARVEL PHASE 4

M

arvel Studios’ most recent juggernaut movie “Avengers: Endgame” marks the end of a storyline spanning 10 years and 22 films.

But now that the Infinity saga is finally over, some fans are wondering: what’s next for Marvel?

The Marvel movies, collectively called the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU,) are organized into phases; the third phase will end with the upcoming summer movie “Spider-man: Far from Home.”

Phase four of the MCU will shift focus away from the original six Avengers to the newer additions to the team: Black Panther, Spider-man, Doctor Strange, Ant-man, and Captain Marvel. Furthermore, phase four will expand into the Marvel comics universe and the “multiverse theory,” but there will not be an overarching storyline like the Infinity saga.

The speculated villain for the next phase is Norman Osborn, a powerful conglomerate CEO from the Spider-man comics.

Because phase four hasn’t quite arrived, there are mostly only rumors circulating about what Marvel intends to do and when. However, a few films have been confirmed. Among these are a prequel Black Widow solo movie and several movies that will bring heroes from the Marvel comics into the MCU such as “Nova,” “Shang-Chi” and “The Eternals.”

“Guardians of the Galaxy 3” has also been confirmed and will be directed by Guardians director James Gunn, who has been officially rehired for Guardians 3 after losing his job over offensive social media comments.

Sequel films have been confirmed for newer heroes such as Black Panther and Doctor Strange.

Though a second Captain Marvel movie has not yet been confirmed, there is no doubt that Brie Larson will be back in phase four given the strong box office success of her first movie. In addition, Chris Hemsworth has expressed interest in doing a fourth Thor movie past the end of his Marvel contract, possibly to be directed by “Thor: Ragnarok” director Taika Waititi.

The rights to making Spider-man movies are shared between Sony and Marvel which may complicate plans for any Spider-man sequels, but a third Spider-man movie taking place after “Spider-man: Far from Home” has been teased.

Finally, Disney CEO Bob Iger has hinted that fans should not expect “Avengers: Endgame” to be the final Avengers film. Reddit has predicted three new Avengers movies to be released. They speculate

THE MUSTANG

The Marvel Reddit community has speculated possible movies, titles, and release order for phase four of the MCU based on leaks and the Marvel comics. Photo courtesy of the Marvel Reddit. that the films will revolve around the “new” Avengers, led by Captain Marvel, the “young” Avengers, featuring Morgan Stark as Iron Woman and Kate Bishop as the new Hawkeye, and the “dark” Avengers, about whom we know little to nothing about.

These predictions are all based on events in the Marvel comics.

Phase four of the MCU will also include TV shows set to premiere on Disney’s new streaming service, Disney Plus, when it launches on November 12. Marvel has confirmed that Tom Hiddleston will be reprising his role as Loki in his solo series titled

“Loki,” as well as Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany for their series “Wanda Vision,” Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan for “Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” and Jeremy Renner for “Hawkeye.”

Disney has also been working on acquiring 21st Century Fox assets, which means the MCU would have access to characters such as the X-men and the Fantastic Four, but it is not likely we will see any of these characters until phase five.

STORY BY JOICE HE

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AUGUST

ARTS

SHAWN MENDES

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es, yes! The time has finally come. The hot, Canadian who sings is coming to San Diego. If you don’t already know what I’m talking about and somehow live under a rock, I’m talking about The Shawn Mendes tour. The Mendes army has already bought the most expensive, closest to the stage seats and the date is almost here… kind of. His album, “Shawn Mendes,” is filled with popular songs everyone has heard, including “In My Blood,” “Lost in Japan,” and “Youth,” featuring Khalid.

He will be doing some of his old bops aswell, like “Stitches,” “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back,” or “Mercy.” Alessia Cara is opening, which is encouraging even more people to get tickets. The tour’s stopping at Pechanga arena, July 8. It will be a showstopper and a perfect night out with your friends.

STORY BY PIPER NILSEN He’s more than just a pretty face -- he’s a pretty face surrounded by flowers. And a singer-songwrtiter, I guess. Photo courtesy of Shawn Mendes official Facebook.

PAUL MCCARTNEY

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E

The Beatles music shaped my childhood. I’ll always be able to look back on the fond memories of listening to songs like, “Hard Day’s Night” or “Live and Let Die” with my family. Paul McCartney, who wrote both of those songs, will perform in Petco Park as part of his Freshen Up tour. This is one of the last chances to see any member of the Beatles live! The Concert is on June 22, and tickets can only be purchased online, so make sure to purchase yours before they sell out. Maybe you or your parents are longtime Beatles fans or maybe after reading this you’re giving them a listen for the first time. Regardless of your relation to the band, you don’t want to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity.

STORY BY ALEX STORER

I mean he’s no John Lennon but I guess he’ll do.

Photo courtesy of Paul McCartney official site.

KHALID

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U

p-and-coming R&B artist Khalid is coming to San Diego! After the release of “Free Spirit” in early April, Khalid has only grown in popularity as the new album hit number one on the Billboard 200. Already making a name for himself at age 21, Khalid recently dethroned Ariana Grande as the most listened-to artist on Spotify.

Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of Khalid, this concert is worth it just for the opener. Clairo, who blew up on YouTube with her first low-fi hit, “Pretty Girl,” will be making a special appearance.

Ticket prices range from $60-$100, which, on a high school budget, let’s be real, isn’t great. But hey, this might be your last chance to see him before his concert tickets are just entirely and absurdly overpriced.

STORY BY TAYLOR RUDMAN

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You’ll want to stand on a trashy old van after seeing R&B up-and-comer Khalid. Photo courtesy of Khalid official site.

JUNE 2019

SPORTS

All the way up... and back Mountain biking - a sport uncommon to many, but popular with adrenaline junkies.

It requires a fearless attitude, stamina, and hard work. Story by Alexis Price.

“I

TOP: Ringdahl, Schwartz, and Delonge celebrating a climb a mountain. Photo courtesy of Delonge MIDDLE: The boys after a race together. Photo courtest of Delonge.

BOTTOM: Delonge catching some serious air after taking a jump. Courtesy of Delonge.

THE MUSTANG

think it’s a lot of fun. Sometimes it’s a little bit nervous, but it’s still like fun just to do it. Even if you’re not racing and just doing it on the weekends,” freshman Cole Ringdahl said.

Sweat, occasional blood and tears, and a lot of crashing – that’s one way to describe the mountain biking, the sport that Ringdahl finds fun and nerve-wracking.

Falling requires a bit of a finessing action. So even after bad falls, bleeding excessively becomes less of a worry. But, because good bikes can be worth a few thousand dollars, the typical mindset of many bikers is to “save your bike then save yourself.” A good climb, and an even greater descent down a mountain makes a long ride worth the risk.

Riders don’t have to be extremely skilled to have fun. Nor do they need a single sensible bone in their bodies. In fact, it is best to forget about the potential of breaking bones while riding.

Freshmen Curran Delonge, Zack Schwartz and Ringdahl each have a love for the sport. Though they have different levels of experience and different bikes, they all have a good time together. Delonge and Schwartz both race a couple times a month, with the number of participants.

Delonge has been riding for six years, rarely taking time off from the sport. Riding a full suspension ‘G Troy mountain bike,’ he would consider himself to be an “aggressive” rider, attacking uphill and downhill climbs with intensity. He typically riding about three to four times a week.

His favorite trails include water tower, whiplash and NASCAR, which are all located on the Rancho La Costa Preserve. Delonge also rides for the North San Diego Coastal Composite Mountain Bike Team -- which is unaffiliated with SDA -- and says that riding for a bike team helps push you to ride harder. “When you’re on your own, you’re not necessarily as dedicated to go as fast,” said Delonge.

“But when you are with other people and they are going faster than you, you’re thinking ‘Oh crap, I have to catch up to them.’ Then it keeps rubbing between everyone until you go faster.”

After Delonge introduced Schwartz to riding in seventh grade, he was inspired to try it. He even bought his first bike from Delonge’s dad, who is an avid rider, but not as extreme as Delonge, since rock

climbing is his main gig. He rides a haro bike with dual shocks, allowing him to absorb a lot of impact; he typically rides about three times a week. Like Delonge, Schwartz’ favorite trail is located in the Rancho La Costa Preserve, specifically the water tower climb, which includes a steep uphill section on a paved road that leads to the rocky trail section. The trail finishes with a view of the land from Del Mar to Carlsbad Lagoon at the top.

Ringdahl has been riding a few times a month since he was 13. Like Schwartz, mountain biking is not his main sport, as he is on SDA’s water polo and swim teams. His favorite trails include the water tower climb, like Delonge and Schwartz, as well as the “horned lizard trail,” which is located on the same mountain, but wraps around the backside.

“Mountain biking is like putting in a lot of effort going up and then being able to have the fun of going down the mountain. And just being able to have fun with friends,” Schwartz said.

Mountain biking is a rigorous, fanatical sport that requires a person to find satisfaction during the “worst” of times. The worst of times for many are the best of times for me -- a solid 40- minute climb that makes me want to fall over at the top of the mountain. Other sports require a field, a ball, and are much more confined, but mountain biking is different because the mental and physical effort required is much more demanding.

Etiquette is also an extremely important part of mountain biking.

Riding past hikers and runners can be a hassle, and as many tend to stand right in the middle of the trail without paying attention to their surroundings. Bikers also need to watch out for horses and let them pass by, according to Ringdahl.

Another problem riders encounter are injuries. “Unless you’re extreme, it’s kind of hard to get major injuries,” said Ringdahl. Injuries are not extremely prevalent in mountain biking, unless you count broken bones. Pulling a hamstring or getting shin splints are not huge concerns, but once a rider overcomes the fear of falling, and begins to ride more carelessly, injuries become more likely. Riding down steep hills at 20 miles per hour becomes more fun than scary as any rider gains more confidence. However, if their brakes fail and a person is thrown over their handlebars, lots of bones have the

potential to break.

The impact mountain biking can have on a person’s body is minimal when pedaling up hills and bracing your body for downhill treks.

“My feet hurt whenever I run it and do other stuff,” said Ringdahl. “When I mountain bike, my legs do hurt, but it’s more like they’re sore, than it’s like they are actually feeling bruised.”

Despite the challenges mountain bikers face, the sport brings people together. Schwartz’s favorite memory was competing in a 70-mile charity race with friends. “There’s a good community,” Ringdahl said. “It’s very easy to get a hold of a bike even if you’re not buying one. Someone will loan you one.”

Although a small percentage of people ride up mountains, roughly 12 percent of US population are mountain bikers, according to the International Mountain Biking Association.

According to Singletracks, a mountain biking website, the sport may not be declining in popularity, but most riders are white males -- as 15 to 20 percent of the riding population are female, while about 90 percent are Caucasian. About 12 percent of riders are the under the age of 18. The largest population of riders, however, is between the ages of 24 and 44, making up 49 percent of the riding community.

“I don’t really think it’s a dying sport. It’s more of a growing sport, mostly because more and more people are showing up to races every single time I go,” said Ringdahl.

For many new riders, a giant climb or a downhill drop can be quite daunting, however, by gaining experience riding a few times a month, as well as learning from someone who is more familiar with the sport, enjoying the adrenaline rush becomes easier and more worthwhile.

“If you have a person to take you, and if you’re with someone who knows what they’re doing and won’t take you down, [cliff drops] it’s fun,” said Delonge, who added that borrowing a good bike can improve the experience of new riders.

Compared to an ice cream sundae, uphill climbing is like the base: boring, but it tastes pretty good on its own. Downhill riding is like the hot fudge or your favorite topping: it spices it up. Every skill learned is an additional topping or flavor, and the right tools are the cherry on top. It doesn’t get much sweeter than that.

31

SPORTS

LEFT: Eddie Lara and athletic aid Kiomi Yamada at the stadium. Photo courtesy of Kiomi Yamada. RIGHT: Lara tapes athlete’s ankle before lacrosse game. Photo courtesy of Celeste Barnette.

Always a mustang SDA athletic trainer and alumnus Eddie Lara has made a great impact on the SDA community and will be missed in the training room by many. By Alexandra Joelson and Yarisette Sequeira.

A

fter seven years of inside jokes, friendships, and Karina’s burritos, San Dieguito athletic trainer and alumnus Eddie Lara will be leaving SDA and furthering his career locally. Starting this summer, Lara will continue working with Gaspar Physical Therapy along with treating athletes at Carney Training Facility. To many, Lara has made a huge impact on SDA athletics and will be missed by students and staff.

“Eddie is my favorite person on the planet,” said senior athlete and athletic aid Kiomi Yamada. “There truly isn’t enough money in the world or words in the dictionary to truly express how grateful I am for him and how much he’s done for me throughout the years. When I grow up I really do want to be Eddie Lara aka Charlie.”

Yamada has been an athletic aid for Lara for 10 seasons. As an aid, she attends many sports events, helping Lara with ice bags, inventory, set-up, and other athletic needs. Yamada is a part of the athletic aid program which Lara has implemented to share

32

his knowledge and give students exposure to what it is like to have a career in athletic training. “I’ve enjoyed the heavy amounts of exposure into a field that I want to pursue as my career,” said Yamada. “I’ve been able to make a lot of connections in the professional world and the small world of SDA.” Lara has built the athletic aid program that gives students interested in the sports medicine a taste of what it entails. “Eddie taught me a lot of wonderful things and showed me that I want to be involved with health care,” said freshman athlete and athletic aid Simone Boutelle.

Between teaching his aids and treating athletes, Lara is constantly on the move and that’s what he is going to miss most about working at SDA. “It is a halfway battle between the students: teaching athletic training meanwhile being able to have a high volume of athletes come to see me and keep me busy, keep me on my toes, of assessing injuries and making sure that they’re pain-free,” Lara said.

Lara is not only an athletic

trainer, but he is a friend and mentor to many, students said. “I’m going to miss everything about Eddie. He’s truly become a father figure in my life, who’s my role model and friend,” said Yamada. “I’m going to miss his funny jokes and the altruism he practices everyday.”

When he joined the San Dieguito staff, varsity baseball coach Carlos Fletes developed an immediate friendship with Lara. “You feel like family with him,” Fletes said.

“He takes you in no matter what you do and he just cares, yo u know, just cares so much that you enjoy him on and off the field.”

Once when Fletes had a high heart rate during a baseball game, Lara watched over him closely. He directed Fletes to sit on a bucket, eat food and not move. “He put me in a time out and treated me like a baby,” Fletes said. “It’s a funny story.”

In the eyes of many, Lara has a genuine passion for what he does which is a main reason why he has been such an impact to students as an athletic trainer. “He cares so much about each athlete and their injuries,”

said junior Morgan Busick, a soccer player and track runner. “And he is always looking to put his athletes first and help them.” According to senior Emma Worthington, a soccer player and athletic aid, Lara came to campus on weekends, although he did not have to, to tape injuries for the girls soccer team before an away game. He also drove out of his way to attend the girls soccer CIF game at Grossmont because the school did not have an athletic trainer on duty that day, she said.

“I wouldn’t have been able to make it through without him taping my ankle before every single [soccer] practice and game,” said Worthington. “Eddie has played a massive role in helping me with my own injuries during my four years of playing soccer at SDA.” The attitude and personality that Lara brings to the training room is something unforgettable in the lens of many students and athletes.

“The thing I’m going to miss the most about Eddie is all of the inside jokes, more specifically yelling ‘poppet’ from across the room and

hearing ‘power’ in response,” said Worthington. “I can’t count how many times we’ve had constant spells of laughter in the training room and that’s something I’ll miss very much.”

For Busick, it’s the little things she is going to miss most about Lara.

“I’m gonna miss him calling me a freshman when I forget to sign in on the sheet. I’m gonna miss him trying to convince me to take an ice bath.

I’m gonna miss being able to go in before practices and sit and talk with him,” she said.

In his years at SDA, Lara has impacted many people. “Eddie is one of the best people I have had the pleasure of meeting and working alongside. He has not only helped me with injuries but has helped me grow as a person,” said SDA alumnus Philip Belman. “Without him, many other students and I at this school would not be where we are now... I am truly grateful for him giving back to his high school and impacting the lives of his co-workers and the student-athletes of SDA.”

JUNE 2019

SPORTS

If Eddie...

Photo courtesy of Kiomi Yamada.

won a million dollars, how would he spend it?

Lara with Emma Worthington (left) and Ava Jakubowski (right). Photo courtesy of Celeste Barnette.

were to injure himself, how would he do it?

“He would buy everybody what they wanted. He wouldn’t spend it on himself, that’s what kind of a guy he is.”

- Carlos Fletes, baseball coach

“Doing an ice bag. He would inhale ice and choke or something.” - Worthington

“He would buy Karina’s and upgrade the training room.”

- Emma Worthington, soccer player and athletic aid

He would [injure himself by] walking because no one would expect it. And then I could call him a freshman.” - Sophomore Olivia Alcantar, lacrosse player

Photo courtesy of Emma Worthington.

Photo courtesy of Philip Belman.

were famous, what would he be famous for?

were stranded on an island, what would he bring?

“He would be famous for curing some incurable paralysis or something.” - Simone Boutelle (above), soccer player and athletic aid

“Burritos, definitely Karina’s burritos. Carlos and burritos, that is all he needs.” - Worthington

“Definitely dancing. Have you seen his breakdancing video?

Pretty iconic.” - Worthington

“He would probably bring his whole little training staff because those are his people.” - Fletes

THE MUSTANG

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CAF

34

JUNE 2019

THE “MUSTANG” HOROSCOPES

CAF

WARNING! Side effects may include: brain death, normal death, realizing you have nothing to live for, getting divorced, inexplicable crying...

The stars will set us free. By Sylvia Young

Aries The key to your happiness is air freshener. That’s it. That’s all I got.

It smells nice.

Taurus What is the weird est dream you’ve ever had? Double it and make it the length of an epic poem. That’s what will haunt you every time you close your eyes. I hope you’ve been keeping a dream journal, because that way you can make it into a bestselling book.

Gemini +*/*-+*/. That’s a sneak-peak of the new language you’re going to invent and use to communicate with aliens. I just hope that when you become our supreme ruler, you remember that SDA was a cool place and maybe don’t smite it.

Cancer In high school, people often try to learn what they’re passionate about and figure out what they want to do in the future. Well I’ll give it to you for free. Just make a Buzzfeed quiz for every random thought that pops into your head.

Somehow, you’ll make money off of it.

Leo To those of you that are graduating: congrats!

Now you get to be in the spotlight of your family (and if you’re lucky, get some cold hard cash from your great-aunt Linda). Oh yeah, I guess there’s also the whole ‘celebrating your accomplishments thing.’ And, to those of you that aren’t: you get the opportunity to sabotage someone else’s joy, and can you really be truly happy without knowing that you made someone else sad?

Virgo Summer is a scam and you’re the only one that knows it. No one will listen to you when you tell them, though. But if you write it on your back in sunscreen, the lie in the sun for eight hours, it will be impossible for them to avoid.

Libra I feel like what the world is really missing right now is art about the weighing of your heart against a feather when you enter the afterlife. Could you do a modern take on that? I think it might fix our problems. Egypt lasted for a pretty long time.

Scorpio You will feel happy at the beginning of summer.

But slowly, the monotony will set in and you’ll realize that your life

is a mess of sleeping and boredom without the structure that school provides. Sorry, but that’s the way it is. Summer is only really good as an idea.

Sagittarius Do you want to know where you’re going when you die? Just try running. If it feels good and you get endorphins, you’re headed to heaven. If you feel extreme suffering and struggle to breathe...well that sucks for you.

I’m sure this is the only explanation (physical fitness is completely irrelevant).

Capricorn You look like the kind of person who would want to go scuba diving, then realize that you actually need to train to do that, so then you give up and just snorkel instead. Not saying that you would actually do

that. But the spot on your left cheek and your right incisor really imply it.

Aquarius A lot of people spend most of their life not having a nemesis.

Not you, though. That squirrel that lives in a bush at the local park is your Joker (the Heath Ledger one). One day, you will defeat him, just like Batman (if that’s what happens in the movie (I haven’t actually seen it, what do you expect) otherwise, you’re screwed).

Pisces Do you ever think about how losing teeth was fun and exciting when you were a kid, but then as soon as all your baby teeth were gone it became one of the most disgusting and terrifying things in the world? Or is that just me? Either way, if you’re kind to nature (and don’t do meth) your teeth probably won’t fall out.

COOKING FOR ONE

This week on Blogging with Debra, a deluded 28-year-old spinster: Food baby, or baby baby? By Shayna Glazer and Taylor Rudman

H

ey ladies, it’s me again, Debra! I know you were all really looking forward to this week’s recipe, but first I must divulge. Brad and I have been having problems. Well, he doesn’t know it, but trust me, we’ve been having problems. I don’t quite know how to explain it, and I don’t know what to do. I did a little research on the internet, and from what I’ve gathered from friends and romcoms, I think what I need to do is get pregnant. It worked for my parents, and I grew up in a happy healthy household, so it’ll work for me, right? I’m just still a little hesitant, because it is such a big commitment. Maybe just a food baby could solve our marital discord?

I honestly just don’t know how to make things better. My life has felt like a meal . The kind of meal you’ve been looking forward to for a really long time, and you’ve been eyeing it, and tasting it in your head, but when you finally get to bite into it, you realize it’s on whole grain. And all that really delicious-looking sauce was covering it, and all your friends were telling you that it did sound really yummy, and your parents told you that it was a wise menu choice, but then when you finally taste it, it is undeniably whole grain. And no one likes whole grain.

THE MUSTANG

People pretend to like whole grain, and they eat it for years and years pretending that they are satisfied, but they aren’t. No one can ever be happy eating just whole grain for that long. Even if it was nice at the beginning, and you felt good about making a healthy, socially-acceptable life choice, it just isn’t natural. Basic human desire won’t allow it. Sure, maybe whole grain was working for you at the beginning. But guess what? People change. Feelings change. Tastes change. I don’t like the taste of whole grain anymore.

I want to remember what it is like to taste a sandwich on sourdough bread. I want pumpernickel.

Maybe some pita. Hell, maybe I want see what it would taste like to eat a slice of pumpernickel and sourdough at the same time. I really miss blueberry bagels. Sure, I was pretty skeptical at first, but blueberry bagels knew how to have a good time. I’ve never even tasted rye! How can I commit to whole wheat for the rest of my life when I haven’t even experimented with rye?

Even though I am really pretty much over whole wheat, I’m not ready to give it up quite yet. It’s been my dream since I was a little girl to make it work. This is where I thought I would be. It’s where my parents

desperately hoped I would be. It’s the me. I mean, ladies, come on, you’ve field of Debbie thoughts… so I guess place that bitch at pilates kept insistbeen following my blog for close to that’s really the biggest issue. It isn’t ing I would never get to. I can’t prove two years now. Anyone who reads that the whole grain has gotten stale her right. Not yet anyways. this would know I’m a wonderful, (which it has), or that I want to try Okay, but since I’m considering out-of-the-box thinking, renaissance all different types of bread (which I this whole pregnancy card, girls, I woman who won’t bow down to do), or that monogamy is an unremight as well explain a little deeper previous societal constraints. alistic social construct (which it is), into why our relationship is going Brad said he read all of my blog it is that he just doesn’t understand downhill (besides of course just beposts and he claimed that he was a me. And that is the real deal breaker. ing unsatisfied with… whole grain). huge fan of my quinoa recipe but I’m Oh well, time I expand my horizons There’s plenty of issues with my realizing now -- he couldn’t ACTUfrom whole grain and go to the store relationship right now that require ALLY have read my posts! My zesty to pick out some sweet new banana me having a pregnancy to fix them, and fantastic spirit comes through bread to cling onto. and the most important being that in my blog and he seems to lack I’m losing time to blog! I’m supposed understanding in the to be cleaning up Brad’s dishes and washing Brad’s clothes. my Do I seem like a lady dwich n a s J needs? til death who can function PB & o fast doing the traditional s housewife chores? ick the re to p Absolutely not. Does Make su bread. of es use ic Brad expect me to be h, beca r two sl life wit are you of your 1.) Prep st re the perfect housewife? e d th t to spen nut ou wan Yes. It’s not working. bread y tbs pea 2 .

FECTOf course, I hapgo PER ng back s no goi nd jelly e’ a er r er e th tt t u pily pretended when but nut b It is jam that pea umed? the idea just ass jelly or we were dating to be is that 2.) Isn’t y h - 2 tbs W ch d? ead ntiquate ct for ea the loving and caring her so a be per fe es of br LY toget ings can th - 2 slic o woman who absolutely tw at ey. elieve th like hon ive to b drooled over getting people just na d some n A . ct is per fe to wash his dishes and othing other. N cook him special meals, but I figured he would know that’s not the real

35

CAF

THE “MUSTANG” From Yee Haw to Ye Home

WARNING! Side effects may include: brain death, normal death, realizing you have nothing to live for, getting divorced, inexplicable crying...

And all in between. By Hunter McGahan. Art by Lola Taylor.

T

here are great tales of men who ride the toughest steed, who wrangle the gnarliest bull, who farm the biggest potato; I like to think my father was one, or at least could hold a light to them.

You see, I was born in Montana, it’s hardy blood is in my very veins. It causes me to act sportically sometimes. Ever so often I get this craze in my eye when I see a gallon hat, it’s like an urge to gather my spurs, saddle up, and ride. I used to ride these empty wheat fields for days, mountains in the horizon, and the crisp pine air in my lungs. Oh my, I feel… ecstatic already.

As I reminisce, I also remember the horrid days of change. It all started the day when I was forced away, stripped from my steed, and thrusted into this liberal piss bin known as California. Born in the land of buffalo and forced in the city of San Diego. Ironic way to go, if that is what irony is; I never learned it.

We reached ground after a gutturnin’ flight. With cowhide bags in hand we stepped out of the revolving doors. I was immediately blasted with the moist wind of California. It was mucky, I was sweating, my lungs hurt, and my eyes watered from the salt that combined with the air.

There was not a woft of BBQ at all, and I was dead scared.

My Pa let out a hardy “yee hawww,” and spat out his chew that he kept stored from the six hour plane ride here. We were immediately starred at for some reason. It was miserable, we were foreigners on the verge of outcasts. I thought that one more “yee hawww” would have us thrusted out on the streets with the city folk’s racoons and Yerba bottles.

Once we got in our rental Ford 51 pickup Ma let out a sigh. Her eyes watered up and Pa held her.

She spoke her worries about finding a bull fighting job here.

Pa reassured her saying, “If you must, there are book clubs that probably talk about bulls sometimes. Make someone read it to you or somethin’ I dunno,” he said.

That greatly reassured her because she liked listening and would never read, as reading was forbidden in this household. He took the que and revved the hardy boy up and geared it into action.

What I saw on the ride was… frightening. “Palm” trees planted in lines, paved roads, and Target; these were all things that made me quiver. Who thought it was a good idea to name a store after a thing we shoot at? Do you want me to fear

36

for my life? I shook my fist in the air on the ride to our new house, and cursed this place. “Grrrr,” I thought and would continue to think till we reached home.

“Fellers we made it!” father finally said after three grueling hours.

It was a small house of four rooms,

three bathrooms, and a measly acre of yard. I stepped on a mat that dared me to “wipe my paws” and entered through the cherrywood door. Worse than the salty air was the synthetic taste that tainted my palette once I inhaled a gulp of my Californian home air; it was like burnt lavender and a Albertsons’ plastic bag evaporated into a gas.

I unpacked my two boxes of belongings that included Scott our singing mounted fish and Jerry our elk head. That was all I brought,

they were my friends, and that’s all I needed. I laid down next to Scott and pressed his little red button and let the melody take me back. I held him close to my heart so when he flailed his little fin about I could pretend like I actually had someone to care about. I mean Ma and Pa are great, but they wanted this change, and I couldn’t accept that. I just wish they knew how bad this piss bin is. With each flip of a fin, I wished for my real home, and with sweet dreams I fell asleep against the cold wall.

The days went by faster than a galloping steed. I hung up my friends and got a sleeping bag. It was starting to feel like some horrid camp trip. Summer vacation with none of my riding friends nor horses to ride, I wanted to talk to somebody, I needed to. Ma was busy that day, so I chose Pa. He sat me down. I told him about how scared I was, how much I hated it, and how much I missed home. I started to tear up a bit, but cowboys don’t cry, period? He held my shoulder then hugged me, patting my bowel-cut hair.

He went close to my ears, and said exactly what I needed to hear: “I do too.”

Pa told me his own horrid experiences, and said we needed to devise something so we feel like we are at home. After much discussion we compromised on simply bringing the country to San Diego. The only rule: we could not tell Ma. She was already fitting in with these people by joining

a book club to “read”. Unacceptable.

Pa began bringing home not-soalive elk he found off the road, and even a racoon. We stapled them to the wall, and I moved their paws as if they were running to Montana. It was nice and even Ma started to join in with the roadkill she found. She

didn’t know what we were doing, but she liked it. Then, it began to finally smell, look, even taste like home.

I was still scared about the outside, hell I was even scared of my own mother. She kept coming in with more and more books, I was quivering again. Or that was till she came home one day book in hand.

She sat me down as Pa did, and showed me the book. It was actually just pictures! A “picture book” she

said. Ma gave me a hug, and said there was no need to fear because I am here. I told her that rhymed and she slapped me saying there is “no english terms that involve reading in this house.” So screw irony, I guess.

But she wasn’t done. Ma smiled and revealed a big box she hid behind her back. It was a gallon hat, I was so happy when she put it on me that I jumped up and pretended to ride ol’ Stanley (my steed). Things were really looking up, so I went outside to face my fears.

It was odd, really odd. I seemed to have new eyes, like what Grandpa had to get after he shot his out. It almost seemed normal after a few days of isolating myself. It was just a typical farm field, but the houses were really close to each other. It was amazing! The only notable thing was a van with a man yelling “child protective services!” Pa scared him away with a shot from our family civil war era cannon. With the noise gone, we started playing. California was really starting to look up, even though it is awful, but I was ready for every awful bit! Hell, we even unbanned reading, which I was against, but if you’re going all in, you need to go all in.

And for my parents, they are the real ones to thank. They made this place special. More special than any wrangling steed or huge potato.

Thank you Ma and Pa for making this place almost feel like... home.

JUNE 2019

CAF

THE “MUSTANG” TAG YOURSELF: SPIRIT ANIMALS

...looking up when your friends say ‘gullible’ is written on the ceiling, speaking in old English, laughing out loud, cravings of sardines

Match yourself with the animal that correlates with your personality traits! Story and art by Jeffrey Furgerson and Victoria Lee Wolf

-Dominant -Grey -Eats meat -Snarky -Snap me @poopiedoopie123

Cat -Lactose intolerant -Drinks milk -Independent -Hates roaches -Great hygiene

Frog -Moist -Quirky -Energetic -Weird -Likes to jump -Really long tongue

Horse -Plays coolmathgames.com -”tHaNk YoU nExT” -Uggs -Many keychains on backpack -Used to watch dance Moms

Bird -Vapes -Cringey -Loud -Attention-seekers -If they poop on you, it’s good luck

Cow -A little slow -Thicc af -Boring and/or vegan -USE BAMBOO TOOTHBRUSHES -Stans Ariana Grande

Roach -Crusty -Fake eyelashes -Thinks they can sing -Annoying -Posts their fav songs on their insta stories (usually Frank Ocean)

Fox -Sly -Snatched -Flexes too hard -Creative -“Ask me a question, I’m bored” -Vsco

Rat -Compatible with roach -Fast -Eats -Anti-vax -Owns a secret meme page

Salmon -A snack -Salty -Slimey -Indecisive -A little thiccah than the rest

CABLE NEWS CONUNDRUM

In case you missed it, the following is a description of events that transpired during The Mustang’s first ever cable news broadcast. Story by Cade Culbertson

Y

esterday, at 8:47 AM, Senator Dianne Berenstain committed the absolutely atrocious and heinous crime of jaywalking. Since there’s absolutely nothing else going on right now that’s important, we decided to sit down people that disagree at a table and have them yell at each other instead of interviewing people individually like a rational person would do.

Among our guests were Whitehouse Press Secretary Sarah Colonel-Sanders, SDA political correspondent Blitz Wolfenson, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McDonalds, political pundit Kellyanne Conwoman, and talk show host Carl Tuckerson.

“It’s a real shame that just because these people are elected, they think they can get away with breaking the law,” Conwoman said.

Tuckerson chimed in, “That’s exactly my point! These political elites are out of touch with today’s

THE MUSTANG

society and they are making their money off of the backs of taxpayers.

I say she should be removed from office for this or at the very least be publicly condemned for her behavior.”

Before he could finish his statement, Wolfenson said in the calmest of voices, “Perhaps you should evaluate your own six figure salary before criticizing others for theirs.” The argument that ensued afterwards went on for several minutes and contained absolutely nothing relevant to the actual story, but our viewership seemed to increase during this segment, so we let them go on for as long as they wanted to.

Only when Sanders interrupted them did they finally stop. She said, “This is obviously a very serious situation and, like the Vice President, I stand shoulder to shoulder with the President when condemning this gross act of misconduct by a United

States Senator.”

Majority Leader McDonalds added, “I think we can all agree that those big red, electronic signs that say, ‘Don’t Walk’ should be obeyed at all costs. In fact, I am pushing for the Senate to pass a bill that would make crosswalks nonexistent and criminalize jaywalking all-together.”

Wolfenson glared at McDonalds for several awkward seconds of absolute silence, but still his facial expression did not change and he seemed to stare into the very being of the majority leader, burning through his soul and continuing onwards into the void.

Finally, he said, “With all due respect sir, wouldn’t abolishing crosswalks make it even more dangerous for pedestrians? I propose that we instead make crosswalks everywhere. And by everywhere I mean literally everywhere. Heck, let’s just get rid of cars. Who needs them anyways?”

With a gasp of disbelief, Tuckerson yelled, “Do you know how much that would cost the taxpayers?

I am sick and tired of the other side draining good, old-fashioned patriots like myself of their hardearned income.”

He continued, “Do you know how expensive it is to maintain a yacht? If we were to expand this government handout program to these entitled pedestrians, everyone would go broke! Millennials think they deserve to have everything handed to them. My family made their fortune the old fashioned and respectable way; through selling delectable TV dinners!”

After a brief moment, Conwoman said, “There’s also no doubt that expanding this crosswalk program will also hurt the economy, which is something that the President is certainly against.”

“That’s exactly right,” said Senator McDonalds. “Just think

about those poor oil tycoons who wouldn’t be able to brib… I mean show me how much their industry is suffering?”

It was still unclear whether or not Wolfenson was angry because none of his facial features or tone of voice had changed in the slightest after all this time. “This is why your party is stupid,” he said with a neutral expression on his face.

“No you’re stupid,” said Sanders.

This went on for quite some time and brought us all the way to the end of our allotted time.

If you are interested in catching The Mustang’s next show, tune in weekdays at five.

On the next episode, we will be discussing plants: are they made by corporations to control our food supply, or are they a liberal plot to destroy the oil industry?

Find out next time when we return!

37

THE “MUSTANG”

CAF

WARNING! Side effects may include: brain death, normal death, realizing you have nothing to live for, getting divorced, inexplicable crying...

ASK A SENIOR Just for once you’ll get real advice. Sorry, we’re just getting kinda nostalgic.

By Alex Storer. Art by Cade Culbertson.

How to be cool?

None of us are cool! Just be yourself, and don’t change for others.

Also, real talk, not changing yourself doesn’t mean ignoring criticism. It means that you shouldn’t try and change your interests and personality to match someone’s ideals. You can be an individual and unique, while also striving to be the best person possible.

one person who was filming. I have no idea what was going on, but I got out of there as fast as possible.

The second one was probably my freshman year. I was walking behind the PAC and I saw a couple of people sitting in between the dumpster and the wall. That’s the last place I would ever want to sit at SDA, so I avoided that spot for the next year out of fear of seeing them again.

Weirdest thing you’ve seen at SDA? That’s a tough one. SDA is a really weird place. I’m torn so I’ll just tell you both. Last year while I was in the bathroom some crazy freshmen ran in and started kicking over trash cans and making a mess. There was

How do I survive AP classes?

I’m not the best at studying, but I am kinda ok at giving advice sometimes. Everyone deals with this stress in high school and regardless of how well you do, one test doesn’t define you! It’s ok to take time to

take care of yourself. There’s so much pressure to perform nowadays, but I think more emphasis needs to put into taking care of yourself, while also focusing on your studies.

How do I get through finals when my brain is on summer mode?

I know it’s super tough, but I’d just focus on getting it done. There’s only a few weeks left, then freedom!

I struggle with this a lot myself and I always have to force myself to study even though it’s really draining. It’s ok to take breaks to regain some mental stamina. Just keep your eyes on the prize

SAYING GOODBYE AS ONE DOES

You know those DVD extras with deleted scenes that no one watches because streaming services dominate our media consumption?

Yeah, this is like that. Check out all of the best bits of the stories we were never allowed to print. By Simmone Stearn and Sylvia Young.

British flag factory: On St. Patrick’s Day, we address issues of identity.

23andme reveals some harsh realities about genetics. This will be very relatable if you’re a super patriotic Brit. If not, you’ll probably think it’s kind of weird.

I was fundamentally and absolutely British. There was no question about it. So why, you might ask, did I spend £70.88 on a DNA test? Well, it’s quite simple. I wanted to delve into the information surrounding my maternal and paternal haplogroups.

All those years that I had loved Britain seemed so far away, like the chronological distance between the Magna Carta and the Spice Girls. I wrapped my British flag blanket around me and toppled to the ground, squirming like a slug clambering against the wind. The world was the muddy boot that crushed my slight, slimy body, then flicked my remains off without a thought. Then, my crumpled figure landed in a nearby bog that is Ireland. It seemed to be eating me alive, swallowing me up into its muddy depths and asphyxiating my hopes and dreams. How was I to build my own British flag factory

38

if I was nothing but a mere Irish peasant?

It was St. Patrick’s Day. Or as I call it, the day when old Irish men hoard gold like rats.

I took one last glance at my lifesize poster of Queen Elizabeth II. Sighing, I left my house and drove down to Ol’ O’Brien’s Pub. I had avoided it like the Emoji Movie, the most disgusting piece of visual literature ever borne, ever since it opened. But now, I needed a home and there was only one clan that could help me.

20s Saint Patrick’s Day: Oh look, another story about St. Patrick’s Day. But this one, get ready, is set in the 20s. Wow. A crowd of Irish immigrants decked in green peered at me from the packed tables. But I only had eyes for Coco Opal Olive, the young Irish flapper who named herself after food and minerals.

Antoi and the Caravan: We know you were on the edge of your seat just waiting to hear what happened to the guy that hated Valentine’s Day. Well, he’s out here being sacrilegious.

Also, we really like Glenn Close.

But it always makes one ask themselves “What’s the theme?” And by this I don’t mean what kind of party favors and decorations that are being used. No, I don’t mean what shape the pinata is in, you fool. By theme I mean theme, like theme, like theme statement. Ask yourself (in preacher voice) what is the meaning of the work as a whole. I bet you thought that was gonna be on the AP test. But you were wrong :/.

Allow us to begin, just like the movie “The Wife” ultimately begins.

By the way, Glenn Close is very likely God. I stood up and wiped my slick-with-margarine palms on my blue tailored sailor slacks. I inhaled sharply, like a knife stabbing a gourd (the roundish type, not the longish type). I began to Hillary-Clintonpower-walk up the aisle towards the church-stage where “husband” stood.

The preacher-man interjected with the fire and fury of Glenn Close herself. The preacher slapped me back and forth, back and forth, back and forth (with his words, of course.

Jesus doesn’t condone violence (unless it’s a crusade, then I guess it’s okay)).

I placed that bright red sphere

on tip of my nose. And just like Fiona in Shrek, I transformed.

Taking down Santa’s Fascist Regime… As One Does: You’ve always wanted to get into the mind of a bitter elf with daddy issues, right?

Now you can.

Shocker: all the credit goes to the old white man Santa, at the time, was the jolly father I never had. He, to me, was all I wanted. I wanted his love. And, as one does to win the love of a large bearded man, I showed him the very first toy I ever made. ‘Twas a darling little train, wobbly in the wheels, lacking a caboose, but nevertheless it was full. Full of love.

He left me high and dry like California during the Santa Ana winds.

I met my dear frenemy, Elvinboy, who is such a babe -not!, and we began to stage a coup.

Elvinboy had a fiery passion...for arson.

I snatched the candy cane shiv right out of his hands and marched away. Whatever, Elvinboy!! I was just using you for arson.

“Oh hello, [elf ’s name]--” SHANK SHANK SHANK. If you

know what I mean.

And with that, I flung my harpoon at the white whale; that’s right, I’ve read Moby Dick.

Leprechaun Patricarchy: The patriarchy is everywhere, and it’s rearing its ugly head in leprechaun prison. Also, is capitalism evil?

Depends on how rich you are.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the smelliest of times, it was not the smelliest of times. It was a patriarchy, it was a matriarchy. Just kidding. It was most indubitably a patriarchy.

What have I just described? America.

Just kidding. It was Leprechaun Land™ (patent pending).

Her name: Gaivlis Uoyewad.

Her age: newly 18. Her height: 15.24 centimeters. Her charge: grand larceny.

And also, she was the greatest woman I have ever known. Aside from Madonna, of course.

Her thick Irish brogue was a creamy fog that covered the city that is the English language

JUNE 2019

CAF

THE “MUSTANG” SURFER VS SKATER

...looking up when your friends say ‘gullible’ is written on the ceiling, speaking in old English, laughing out loud, cravings of sardines

Skater Eli Jones (left) and surfer Caitlin Currie (right), freshmen, answer these relevant questions. By Kate Paxton and Piper Nilsen. Photo by Piper Nilsen.

T

he worst part about summer is…

Skater: “When your friends are all traveling and you’re the only one left, so you have no one to hang out with.”

Surfer: “Nothing is bad about summer.”

Surfer, thank you! 100 percent agree. If anyone has a worst part about summer it has to be about summer school or going back to school because otherwise, there no such thing. Surfer, I award you 20 points.

Skater, that made me sad just hearing you say that… don’t you like alone time or hanging out with your family? Plus, your friends aren’t on vacation all summer. Negative points for not realizing that there’s nothing bad about summer. I’ll give you an unfortunate 4 points.

The best ice cream flavor is?

Skater: “Cookie dough” Surfer: “Cookies and Cream” Skater, cookie dough ice cream?

Isn’t that a little counterintuitive? I mean, just have some cold cookie dough. And don’t say it gives you salmonella or E. Coli or whatever, we all know you’ll be fine. No one cares about how you skaters break all your bones when you fall. Scientists need to leave cookie dough alone.

Although, I do appreciate that you didn’t say vanilla or something bor-

THE MUSTANG

ing. So you get a few points there.

Skater. I’ll let you have 10.

Surfer, shouldn’t you have something beachier? Like coconut or I don’t know, is fish a flavor? Cookies and cream sounds like more of a skater thing. And going against your own team is plain old bad sportsmanship. Negative points for that.

Surfer, you get 3 points.

Is life a simulation?

Skater: “For sure okay so our universe made up okay wait never mind.

Our DNA is the universe and inside of that is the earth.” *claps* Surfer: “Um I don’t really think that far ahead.”

Skater... What? I think you need to rethink your argument. I’m pretty sure human DNA isn’t the universe because that makes about zero sense,.

But, I do appreciate the effort. Surfer didn’t contribute much. Skater, you get 7 points.

Surfer, wow, that’s a stereotypical surfer attitude. But to be fair, I don’t know either. I mean is it possible, but I don't think I have the necessary imagination to think that far out of facts and science. I mean, I do watch the Shane Dawson conspiracy YouTube videos, so who knows what’s real or not. Surfer, you get 2 points.

Are people animals?

Skater: “Yes, definitely”

Surfer: “I mean like if I’m roasting them.”

Skater, wow, a very straight tothe-point answer… I was expecting something philosophical like your “world a simulation” question. I do agree with you, I do believe humans are animals because we certainly aren't plants, but wasn't expecting such a complete, assertive answer in two words. I’ll give some points, but not too much for a plain, boring answer. I was expecting more… Skater, you get 9 points.

Surfer, Ummm… I’m a little confused with you answer. I need a little bit of an explanation. By roasting do you mean teasing or insulting someone. I mean, I could see how you would call someone an animal as an insult. On the other side, if it’s the other roasting, meaning you’re physically roasting a human… you may be a cannibal...I’m hoping the first one. But I’ll give you an extra couple of point for the unique, imaginative answer, wouldn’t have thought of it myself… Surfer, I’ll give you 4 points.

What’s your favorite exotic animal?

Skater: “A Dodo bird, even though they’re extinct. They’re pretty sick.

Their name kind of explains me cause it’s a dodo.”

Surfer: “I like iguanas. Cause they just kind of gross me out.” *imitates iguana running*

Skater, interesting reasoning, although I’m pretty sure “Dodo” doesn’t count as an adjective. Unless you mean that in a self-deprecating way. In which case, you should know that Dodo birds are amazing, adorable creatures. Either way, your opinion is incorrect. But, you do get bonus points for the animal being extinct. Goodish job. Skater, you get 11 points.

Surfer, Iguanas? Yeah yeah, they’re exotic. But, you can get one at a store and make it your pet. It would

definitely be domesticated then.

Minus points for that. Although, you did give me a pretty good iguana imitation so I’ll give you a few extra points. No sound effects though, but I guess iguanas don’t really make any noise. I’ll give you one more point for that accidental accuracy. So, Surfer, you get 15 points.

Surfer: 44 points (Winner) Skater: 41 points (Loser)

39

BOTTOM LEFT, THE CAR TRADITION lives on as SDA students paint

doodles throughout the day

TOP RIGHT, JUNIOR JACKIE SEDLOCK gets silk tinsel in her hair at a

student held booth by freshmanLara Perry.

TOP LEFT, SOPHOMORE NOAH JAFFE, freshman Jackie Perez, and

sophomore Ella Isachen were selling their home-made art

BOTTOM RIGHT, SOPHOMORE ALEJANDRO CARDENAS looking at his large display of t-shirts that he made

Exhibition Day, not Expedition Day A freshman’s view on her first Exhibition Day. By Lauren Martinez. Photos by Devlin Ott

Y

es, I know it seems like you are exploring all through campus, but please its EXHIBITION DAY, not expedition. Well, whatever it is, it’s awesome and really fun. As a freshman this was my first Exhibition Day and it was so cool to see the whole school come together and celebrate everyone. Although… speaking of EVERYBODY, I did notice there were many different types of people at expedition day. Here are a few: The person who comes up to the front of every booth pretending that they are best friends with the seller in hopes of getting a discount. Just a little bit of advice: STOP. You’re not special. Sorry, that was a little harsh. You are special in your own way just not at the front of the line.

The person who spends their money on cookies in the first 10 minutes and has to sit on the grass for the next four hours because they spent all their money.

The booth that doesn’t have any change. Sorry, but can you please split

my 20. It’s all I’ve got.

The teachers spending money on their students’ merch just because they feel bad if they don’t. It’s not weird if your male teacher buys a bathing suit from you, even if he doesn’t have a daughter.

The quesadilla, nacho, yakisoba, and sandwich stands. You guys should be more like the bake goods stands. They’re sweeter to each other. (No pun intended.)

And please don’t be the person who cries after they lose to their best friend in the jumpy obstacle course. Please don’t. It’s awkward for both of you and everyone else.

Overall, hope you all had an amazing Exhibition Day and somehow didn’t eat too much food so that you can’t fit into all the new clothes you bought.