The aztec may 2015 issue

THE AZTEC VOLUME LXXVII NUMBER IX

ALHAMBRA, CA 91801

May 21, 2015

GEORGINA ABUEDE ANTHONY ACOSTA MATTHEW ADAMS KANANI AGONCILLO MELISSA AGUILAR SAMANTHA ALBA MAYRA JOANA ALCALA SAUL ALEMAN JESSICA ALFARO NAR- MEEN ALMOMANI BETELIHM AMARE NICOLE ANG CERGIO ANGEL ARLENE ANGUIANO CORINA ANI KEVIN ARAGON TRISTAN REY ARCELO ALEJANDRA AREVALO IVAN AREVALO JESSE ARREOLA MONICA AU MONIQUE BACA THALIA BALDERRAMA DENISSE BARAJAS YUSUF BARD ALEXIS BASA AMBER BATCHELOR PAULINE BAUTISTA ZAYNA BEARD EDWARD BENAVIDEZ KELLIE BENSON VIRAJ BHAKTA ZIXI BI JOE BUDIMAN ANNETTE CAI ZHI FENG CAI LUIS CALINGO HAILEY CANDELARIA JIE CONG CAO XIAN QIN CAO XUEER CAO AUSTIN CARIGGA ROBERT CARRASCO LOGAN CARVAJAL AZIREL CASINO LEYNA CEDENO ANTHONY CHAN EMILY CHAN ERICA CHAN JAYME CHAN JULIAN CHAN JUSTIN CHAN KELLY CHAN TRACI CHAN VERONICA CHAN WAI CHAN AMY CHANG JASON CHANG CASSANDRA CHAU DIANE CHAU HENRY CHAU JOLAN CHAU TIFFANY CHAU JAMES CHAVEZ BELINDA CHEN BRIAN CHEN EVAN CHEN JAIMIE CHEN JIAWEI CHEN SALLY CHEN SHAN NI CHEN SHIJIA CHEN SHUPING CHEN SIHAO CHEN XIAOJIE CHEN XUDIAN CHEN ZE CHEN IVY CHENG TERESA CHENG MICHAEL CHEUNG JOHN CHHOA DAVID CHICO LAUREN CHIN CINDY CHING DER- EK CHING CHRISTOPHER CHINN TOMMY CHO HALIE CHOI MAGGIE CHONG DEREK CHOW KEVIN CHOW BEN J A M I N CHU BRIAN CHU CHEUK YIU CHU CHRISTOPHER CHU MATTHEW CHU RUTH CHU EMILY CHUI NICOLE CHUNG JESSICA C O R R E NO-HOLGUIN DARLING CORTES FREDIRICK CUARTEROS HAO CUI BINH YEN DAM

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Students recognized for Festival of Learning accomplishments at Senior showcases students’ work Awards Night ERIC LAM Staff Writer

From left to right: Seniors Joshua Kwa, Sherman Dong, Kevin Khuong, Kimberly Tang, Chaney Tse, Esther Law, and Tiffany Peng receive awards for the math honor society, Mu Alpha Theta.

BRIAN YEO & DARWIN TSE Sports Editor & Co-Asst. Editor-inChief, The 2015 Mark Keppel Senior Awards Night was held on Tuesday, May 20, to recognize the accomplishments of students from this year’s graduating class.

The ceremony, which was hosted by Master of Ceremony Ms. Rosso and coemceed by Principal Cisneros and Mr. Devaughn, lasted from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

Prior to the commencement of the actual Awards Ceremony, seniors and their families were treated to a dinner cooked by the PTSA in the cafeteria starting around 5:45 pm. Following dinner, the seniors moved to the auditorium, where the awards took place.

Over 15 scholarships were handed out for more than $40,000 this year and many other seniors were recognized for their accomplishments. Senior Joshua Kwa was one of the most awarded seniors of the night, earning four scholarships for a total of $2300, as well as numerous other

THE AZTEC/DARWIN TSE

recognitions.

“I am honored to receive so many awards,” said Kwa. “Each award represents all of the hard work I’ve done in high school. The scholarships will definitely help me pay for the cost of college including textbooks and meal plans.”

The biggest winner, in terms of scholarship money, of the night was Alex Wong.

Wong won the Michelson-Morley Scholarship and will receive $25,000 per year for 4 years for a total of $100,000. He was unaware he had even applied for the scholarship before he received it during the ceremony.

“For the most part, I was a little humbled because I was so grateful to receive the scholarship, and everybody was congratulating me,” Wong said.

According to Ms. Rosso, most of the scholarships were available through applications on the student bulletin. “A lot of times, organizations will call the school with available scholarships,” said Rosso, “while a lot are repeat scholarships that are given every year.”

Keppel participates in Kindness Project IDA LAM Staff Writer The Kindness Project was conducted throughout the week of May 11-15 by seniors in Ms. Sutton’s Contemporary Themes classes.

The Kindness Project is a school-wide, weeklong endeavor to promote kindness and forgiveness throughout the students at Mark Keppel. During this week, the students of Ms. Sutton’s classes performed a variety of Kindness Week activities.

Ms. Sutton, the Kindness Project organizer, said, “Being kind is multifaceted, and it requires humility and service.”

According to Ms. Sutton, the ultimate goal of the Kindness Project was to have everyone on campus become mindful of their actions and the impact that students have on one another.

She said, “When we are practicing kindness, we also apologize for our wrongdoings, and we practice forgiveness too.”

Ms. Sutton credits much of her knowledge to the book, The Power of Kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life, by Piero Ferrucci.

This book gave Ms. Sutton many of the ideas of kindness that she teachers to her classes.

During each day of Kindness Week, Ms. Sutton’s Contemporary Themes students wore cardboard signs that said “Free Hugs,” and gave hugs to people that requested it.

On Monday of Kindness Week, a hand hug booth was set up in the A, B, and C buildings. On Tuesday, Kindness Project students passed out informational index cards with facts about kindness written on them after periods 1, 2, and 5. Presentations held by the Kindness Project students were held in select 9th and 10th grade classes on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday, May 15, was Be Kind To Yourself Day, where students were encouraged to challenge negative self-talk and replace it with positive messages.

Ms. Sutton’s students also decorated the school with Kindness Week festivities, including decorating doors with information about the benefits of kindness, putting up signs encouraging kindness on lockers, and putting up card stock quotes.

This year’s Festival of Learning, which is a showcase for teachers to show what they have taught this year, was held on Thursday, May 14 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Festival of Learning is an annual event that occurs near the end of the school year and features opportunities to learn about what each department has to offer. Students and parents from all over are invited to attend and participate in the activities that will be held.

Many of the departments hosted specialized festivities. The Spanish department had Spanish students prepare food that will be served in the cafeteria. Band and orchestra had an open rehearsal for all

spectators who were interested in watching music students perform their graduation repertoire, and the choir also had an open rehearsal session right across the hall. The science department had different groups of student-run presentations in every subject of science and offered extra credit to students in other classes who attended, similar to previous years. Some teachers also used the Festival of Learning as an opportunity to talk to parents and answer any questions parents had in regard to their class.

The Festival of Learning is an opportunity for Keppel’s students to show off what they’ve learned throughout the year and gives parents a rare opportunity to experience and learn what their kids are learning at school.

Dance Company holds fourth annual dance show EDLYN WONG Staff Writer

This year, Dance Company will be holding its fourth annual Spring Dance Concert, “See You Again,” on Friday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at the auditorium. Pre-sale tickets will be sold at the student bank for $6, tickets at the door (general admission) will be $9, and VIP seating, which are reserved for the first five row, will be sold for $12 at the student bank. VIP seatings will be sold limited on a first come first served basis.

Sophomore All Male member Edward Tsai said that this year’s theme, “See You Again,” was “mainly for the seniors leav-

ing as well as our director, who might be leaving.”

As of the many hours spent in preparation for the showcase, Tsai hopes to “have a good show and have the audience leave being entertained and satisfied with what they saw.”

Senior Dance Team member, Lily Nguyen says, “I hope everyone still has that competition season spirit to dance all out and just show all the hard work we put into this year’s company.”

Nguyen continues to share that she hopes for everyone, the audience as well as the performers, to have fun.

ASB organizes Teacher Appreciation Week TAMMY LEE Staff Writer From May 4 to May 8, Mark Keppel High School participated in the nationwide celebration of teachers.

ASB organized teacher appreciation week two months prior to the actual week.

ASB decided this year’s theme was going to be an Ocean theme. Following this theme, the members designed posters for each and every teacher with the teacher’s name and an aquatic design.

ASB also organized a barbecue luncheon on Wednesday, May 7th, sponsored

by PTSA where teachers had a nice meal.

At this luncheon, select teachers were awarded sashes for the funniest, strictest, best dressed, most spirited, nicest, happiest, helpful, challenging, best hair, and faculty member. ASB had 4th period classrooms take a poll to see which teachers came first in the categories. Students voted for Mr. Chin, Mr. Riley, Mr. Tom, Ms. Carmona, Mrs. Hoang, Ms. Bhakta, Ms. Castro, Ms. Ling, Mr. Luk, and Tom respectively.

ASB member and sophomore Janet Chung showed her enthusiasm for this week and stated, “Having a week dedicated to appreciating teachers and staff members reminds students to be more thankful

for teachers that educate and serve as outstanding role models.”

Other students show their appreciation such as senior Jack Gu. He appreciates the teachers that “always give me volunteer opportunities and good college preparation tips.”

Teachers are there to teach students not only about the subject, but also education about the outside world. With this additional education, students can grow more and have a better chance at succeeding and thriving.

Students appreciate teachers for more than their knowledge, such as showing an interest in students’ well-beings.

Senior Jonathan Tse states, “I appreciate teachers the most when they care about students’ academic and personal life.”

Teachers play a key role in a student’s life, as they are one of the few people that build students’ knowledge and character.

To show their appreciation, students can do more than giving gifts.

Freshman Nathan Ho says that students can show their constant appreciation by “be[ing] nice to teachers and help out during lunch.”

In light of Teacher’s Appreciation Week, students can give thanks for teachers and other faculty members to celebrate the end of another school year.

PHOTOS IN THIS ISSUE COURTESY OF CORY MAK & VICTORIA RAMIREZ

Valedictorian:

Chaney Tse LYDIA XIE Co-Copy Editor, Asst. News

Well known for his intelligence to Keppel staff and students, Chaney Tse is this year’s valedictorian. With a GPA of 4.68, he will be attending Johns Hopkins University in the fall and is currently deciding whether to pursue molecular and cellular biology or biophysics as his major.

In terms of his future plans, Tse is considering all careers related to science, which includes the possibility of becoming a doctor.

Tse’s academic achievements are laudable. He is a National Merit Scholar and has ranked the third highest scoring competitor in Los Angeles County’s Acadec division. He also received the Presidential Volunteer Award. Not only is Tse immensely involved in academics, he also dedicates his time to extracurricular activities, including Math Team, Math Club, Science Olympiad, and Academic Decathlon. In addition, Tse also has over 400 volunteer hours from working in two hospitals and a free clinic where he accompanies patients. When he isn’t immersed in school or volunteer work, Tse enjoys playing the piano, browsing Twitter, and playing video games.

Contrary to popular belief, Tse’s greatest accomplishment is not related to academics. In-

stead, he says, “My greatest accomplishment would have to be opening myself up a little more and socializing a bit more.” Tse’s enjoyment of high school mainly comes from his time spent with his Acadec teammates. He says, “Acadec is like my second home because I spend literally all my hours there, and they’re like a second family.”

Keppel’s environment, according to Tse, has helped him better understand the academic competition he may face in college. Despite the competition to become valedictorian, Tse says, “I’m happy [being valedictorian] and quite satisfied with the results.” Tse would like to give a shout out to his parents, Mr. Tran, his entire Acadec family, his sister Chanel Tse, his favorite junior Justin Ho, and his favorite sophomore Christina Tran.

Patrick Trieu

Patrick Trieu began his freshman year at San Gabriel High School with a GPA of 0.2. Sophomore year he obtained a 2.6.

Trieu moved to Mark Keppel during his junior year and received a 2.4. Finally, in his senior year he was able to achieve a 3.4. Trieu states, “[Winning the Soar Award] was surprising because I was chosen not by nomination but by statistics. It reflected the change that went on during high school.”

Trieu said that the reasons that he was able to raise his GPA were through trying harder in school, no longer solely focusing on finding friends and trying to fit in, and setting goals for himself.

Daniel Ho

VIVIAN TO Co-Asst. Editor-in-Chief, Focus Editor

Soar Award: BONNIE GRACE WONG A&E/Features Editor

Co-Salutatorian:

During his high school career, Trieu participated in A.A.’s 12step program, Christian Youth Fellowship, and Speech and Debate. Trieu identifies his biggest accomplishments as “maintaining sobriety, finding quality friendships, and learning how to be myself and not worrying too much about what others think.”

Trieu plans to go to East Los Angeles Community College and later on wants to major in biology stating that he “wants to become a psychiatrist to help people because medicine helped me change my life.”

In addition, Trieu’s also offers a word of advice to underclassmen to “get motivated, stay motivated, set goals, work hard but don’t put too much on your plate, establish a daily routine, join a well known club and stay active in it. Don’t worry about not having too many friends [and] focus more on the quality of relationships.”

Trieu states, “I want to thank my mentor and counselor Art Araujo, Mr. Chin, Mr. Garcia, Ms. Bostwich, Bonnie Wong, Raul Jonathan Vasquez, Jack Gu, James Ruan, and all my real friends who were there for me.

I want to thank God for [helping] my life get better. God bless Mark Keppel High School.”

With a rank GPA of 4.63 and a cumulative GPA of 4.52, Daniel Ho has been recognized as this year’s co-Salutatorian.

Ho will be attending UC Berkeley double majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. After taking Physics B in his junior year, Ho realized that a major in engineering was the most suitable to his academic interests.

Some rigorous classes that Ho had taken over the span of four years include AP World History, AP U.S. History, AP Calculus AB & BC, AP English Language & Composition, AP Physics B & C, AP Environmental Science, AP Chemistry, AP Economics and much more.

Through high school, Ho feels that learned how to manage his time more efficiently and that learning is more than just memorizing. With this mindset, Ho was able to get through junior year with all of the work and projects from AP Environmental Science, in which he felt was his greatest accomplishment. On top of this, Ho has also received a few of awards including a couple of first place trophies in Kung Fu competitions, Sportsmanship Award for Science Bowl, AP Scholar with Distinction, as well as being one of the National Merit Scholar Finalist standing.

Ho is active in clubs and extracurricular activities, such as Track & Field (High Jump and Long Jump), National Honor Society, California Scholarship Federation, Robotics Club, Math Team, SAVE, Science Bowl, and

also Kung Fu. Besides academics and clubs, Ho enjoys taking naps, watching TV shows and movies, playing pool, sparring, and browsing for new music.

He advises underclassmen “to not participate in too many extracurricular activities and instead just be really passionate or dedicated to one or two things.” He would like to give a shoutout to his family, friends, and teachers, who have helped him get through high school.

Co-Salutatorian/Science:

Leo Luo

VIVIAN TO Co-Asst. Editor-in-Chief, Focus Editor

With a rank GPA of 4.63 and a cumulative GPA of 4.46, Leo Luo has been recognized as coSalutatorian as well as the the science department senior spotlight. Luo will be attending UC Berkeley and will be majoring in Chemistry with the mindset of being a chemical engineer. He was inspired by the manga, Liar Game, and the anime, PsychoPass.

He said, “This department has made a big part of my high school life both exciting and enjoyable.” The science courses that Luo has taken up to senior year include Biology, Chemistry Honors, AP Physics B, AP Environmental Science, AP Biology, and AP Physics C. Luo believes that his biggest accomplishment is learning the

English language. Not only that, but he has also won a number of awards from competitions.

Luo won 1st Place Disease Detectives (Science Olympiad Regionals), a bronze medal in Math (Acadec State), a gold medal in Interview (Acadec Regionals), and a silver medal in Economics (Acadec Regionals).

Besides academics, Luo has

also participated or is currently participating in Academic Decathlon, Science Olympiad, Math Club, United Sciences, and CSF. He also enjoys watching anime, cooking, and reading manga and novels. Luo said, “Before I joined Acadec, I mostly enjoyed being alone. My Acadec friends, however, encouraged me to become more sociable. So did my closest friend, who has known me since freshman year.” He said that he will miss the experiences in Academic Decathlon and Science Olympiad the most when he leaves high school.

For underclassmen, Luo advises to not skip breakfast or lunch and to sleep early so that you can get more self-esteem points.

He would also like to make a shoutout to El Psy Congroo, lab mem.0010. Luo added, “Thanks for the great memories made, my pac-man pen friend via trigonometry papers.”

Iron Aztec: Yida BRANDON CHUNG Historian

An amazing combination of both athletic and academic prow-

ess, Yida Wang has been named this year’s Iron Aztec.

Wang’s four-year career on the Aztec Swim & Dive Team was marked by exceptional performance in a team that has maintained an Almont League championship for over 18 years.

Swimming for both the Mark Keppel Swim Team as well as the Monterey Park Manta Rays club swim has also allowed her to qualify for CIF as well as naming her the MVP for Keppel’s swim team two years in a row.

Wang was surprised that she was chosen, saying, “[there was] no warning; I had no idea.” However, her athletic track record, coupled with a 4.43 cumulative GPA, as well as high performance in classes like AP Calcu-

Wang

lus BC, AP Physics C, and AP Chemistry speak for her ability to balance athletics and academics.

In her spare time, Wang enjoys reading, doing puzzles, watching British TV shows, and sleeping.

She is particularly proud of being able to sleep an amazing 9 hours every night. Wang is also involved in many clubs at school, including CSF, NHS, and Masayume Japanese Culture Club.

In the fall, Wang will be attending MIT; she is listed as a major in Physics, but she plans to change to something else.

Wang would like to give a shoutout to Coach Perez, her club coaches, Coach Joy and Coach Scott, as well as Ms. Ling and Crosley Wong, for “putting up with [me].”

Phoenix Award: Michael Ung

AMBER BATCHELOR Editor-in-Chief

Senior, Michael Ung, was awarded the Phoenix award, an honor given to the student of the senior class who has shown the most improvement in their academics throughout his or her four years. Michael almost doubled his GPA from freshmen to senior year going from a 1.9 to a 3.6 GPA. However, Ung’s success did not come without adversity. After struggling as well in sophomore and junior year, Michael began to change his mind set on academics. Michael started to keep track of his work and regularly checked PowerSchool. He also went into counseling and within two months, with one visit every week, he came up with a plan for the upcoming years of college.

“I didn’t expect it, but I am truly honored by Ms. Sesztak because she acknowledged my improvement and chose me for this award.”

Michael would like to thank his parents for always believing and supporting him and working so hard. He would also like to thank his counselor, Ms. Sesztak, for always believing in him and helping him throughout high school.

In Michael’s free time, he enjoys reading mangas, playing League of Legends, and watching game streams.

Some advice Michael would like to give to underclassmen who were in the same situation as him is “to stay focused and not do anything dumb.” At some point, it’s not all about having friends. It is about how well you do in the future.

Next year, Michael will attend Rio Hondo College with a major in accounting. He plans to transfer to a university that fits his major after his General Education courses where he plans to get his bachelor’s degree as well.

Michael would like to give a shout out to his parents, Ms. Sesztak, and his friends Tommy Cho and Tennyson Lee.

English: Carmen Ma

BRIAN CHEN Asst. Viewpoint Editor, Web Editor The 2015 senior spotlight for the English department is awarded to Carmen Ma. She will attend the University of California, Santa Barbara this fall, where she will be majoring in communication. She stated, “I feel very gracious to receive the recognition because I feel like many of my peers are really good at English, but I

am thankful because I try very hard in the subject and thoroughly enjoy it.”

Over the past four years, Ma has participated in various extracurriculars including cross country, track and field, Math Club, CSF, FBLA, and Journalism. During her spare time, she enjoys reading, watching TV, volunteering, and trying new restaurants.

She has been recognized for many awards during her time at Keppel, including National Merit Commended Student, 2nd place mile in track on the frosh team, and most improved runner on the cross country varsity team. She believes that her success can be attributed to her family and twin sister, Cally, for helping her be able to prosper academically while maintaining solid family relationships.

To the underclassmen, Ma suggests, “Choose to challenge yourself in the subjects you enjoy because if you don’t like it, you won’t be as motivated. Grades are very important, but try to have fun in high school because you only get to experience it once.”

She would like to give a shoutout to her past teammates, the Lunch Bunch, and her sister for always encouraging her to do her best and keeping her in check.

Inspirational Award: Leyna Cedeno AMBER BATCHELOR Editor-in-Chief

The Inspirational Award is presented to the student that has overcome the most adversity while managing to keep his or her grades and citizenship high. Leyna Cedeno transferred from Ramona Convent high school to Mark Keppel at the beginning of her junior.

Leyna says, “Keppel pushed me outside of my comfort zone. It was more diverse than I was used to. I was also shocked by the school’s’ competitiveness.”

After adjusting at Keppel, Leyna joined

Math: Sherman Dong

DARWIN TSE Co-Asst. Editor-in-Chief, Viewpoint Editor

This year’s senior spotlight for the math department is Sherman Dong. Chosen by Mr. Piero Gualcherani and Ms. Shirley Ling, Dong has taken every level and type of math class Mark Keppel has to offer.

Dong has taken Geometry Honors, Algebra II, Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus Honors, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, Computer Programming, and Accounting.

This fall, Dong will be attending the University of Southern California (USC) with a 4.26 GPA from sophomore and junior year. Dong enjoyed playing video games ever since he was a child, which led to his interest in computers. Consistent with Dong’s passion for computers, Dong will be majoring in Computer Science, hoping to eventually go on to medical school and become a robotic surgeon. Sadly, Dong will not turn into a robot because robotic surgeons help develop robotic and computer assisted surgery.

In addition to Dong’s math ability in the classroom, Dong is also a member of Math Club’s Tutoring Committee, a piano player, a member of California Scholar-

Social Science: Lydia Xie KAREN IP Co-Copy Editor, Asst. Focus Editor

Senior Lydia Xie has been recognized for her achievements in the Social Science Department for the past three years. Some of the classes that she has taken related to the field include AP World History, AP U.S. History, AP Economics, and AP Psychology.

This upcoming fall, Xie is planning to attend the University of California, Irvine with a major in Cognitive Sciences and a minor in English. When she was younger,

“[she] always loved writing fiction and coming up with random scenarios,” and she had a dream of wanting to be a published author, but still wants to explore her options.

In addition to taking rigorous courses throughout her high school years, she also participated in extracurricular activities such as CSF, NHS, Speech and Debate, Journalism, and Crown and Sceptre and was recognized as an AP Scholar. Some advice Xie gives for underclassmen is, “Don’t let the stress get to you. You shouldn’t let others’ opinions sway you in

the soccer team and played on varsity her junior and senior year. Leyna also played shotput on the varsity track and field team her senior year. Her hobbies include swimming at home, texting, watching Netflix, eating, and running.

As the school year comes to an end, Leyna plans to attend Whittier College in the fall. She plans to major in Chemistry and receive her Bachelor’s degree at Whittier. Following this, she hopes to obtain her Master’s degree at another college and she may attempt to gain a Doctorate’s degree. She wants to be a criminologist and work for the FBI. Her biggest role model is her mom for teaching her to strive for the things she wants in life even if it’s not easy.

Leyna also looks up to her counsellor, Ms. Duanes, for inspiring her to always believe in herself and never give up. The advice she offers to all underclassmen is to “always make time for yourself. Don’t overstress and make sure you find time to relax.” Leyna says she will mainly miss all the friends she made at Keppel.

Leyna says, “Shout out to my boyfriend Jimmy for being the best boyfriend ever.”

She would also like to give a shout out to DB, Vanessa Rodriguez, Claudette De la Vega, Lindsay Kui, VHo and her other soccer seniors, Georgina Abuede, and Amber Batchelor.

anyway.”

Aside for academics, Xie says that she’ll “remember making the best memories with [her] APUSH group.” In addition, she’ll miss seeing her friends everyday.

She mentions that “school is really that one thing that keeps your friends close and once you go to college, it won’t be the same.”

Lastly, she would like to give a shoutout to her Lunch Bunch and J-crew and thank them for being in her life. She would also like to thank the “teachers who nominated [her] for this- it’s a dream come true!”

ship Federation (CSF), and a four year member of the swim team. Dong says that he will miss swim and that the swimmers were very nice to him.

Dong encourages students to try taking as “much math as you can,” although he acknowledges that math is not for everybody.

“Dong describes being chosen for the spotlight as “pretty cool” and would like to give out a shout out to his math friends, Tiffany Peng, Yida Wang,Julian Chan, and Kimberly Tang.

Foreign Language: Vocational: Alexis Basa SALLY CHEN Asst. Business Manager Heading off to Cal State LA in the fall to study Biochemistry, Alexis Basa is this year’s Foreign Language Senior Spotlight.

Basa took regular Spanish courses from her sophomore to junior year. For her senior year, Ms. Ortega, Spanish teacher, recommended her to skip Spanish 5/6 and went straight to AP Spanish. Basa said, “I feel honored to have been chosen because I am representing those who know a second language besides English and those who are trying to open their minds and to think in another language because it takes a lot of patience and time.”

Basa’s current GPA is a 4.0. Besides academics, Basa has played volleyball,in which she was awarded the coach’s award, and volunteered outside of school.

When Basa graduates from Keppel this year, she said,” I will miss the friendships that I have created between the teachers and myself.” For her, being at Keppel put her in the same boat as all the other students where competition is the same level for everyone, but it will change in college.

“College is a whole new level and a totally different pace[compared to high school].

College is like the real world,” said by Basa.

As a student at Mark Keppel, Basa has learned to become more competitive and independent person by being more proactive in grabbing more opportunities and taking on more risks. Basa’s greatest accomplishment “is being a high school student because it takes so much time to be

on top of things while helping my younger sister to improve on her studies. I am so proud of her because she has come a long way from not caring about school to being proficient with her studies, so her happiness is my happiness.”

Basa’s advice to underclassmen, asquoted by Steve Jobs, is, “Stay hungry, stay thirsty, and stay foolish, because high school will teach you to test the waters before you get to college.”

She would also like to give a shout out to Ms. Bhakta, Ms. Ortega, Susan Heng, Kim Nguyen, Azirel Casino, and Matthew Tom. She would also like to add, “I have always thought that the lines at Citi Bank were horrendous; someone should fix that.”

ESL: Rebecca Liu

YANG LU Staff Writer

Just a couple years ago, Qiwen Liu, known as Rebecca to her friends, found it difficult to adequately express herself in English. However, with much diligence and support, Liu has made significant progress in the field of language development. After completing Structured English Immersion (SEI) classes 1/2 and 3/4 during her sophomore year, followed by SEI 5/6 in her junior year, Liu has moved on to regular language courses such as English 1/2 this year.

Even though Liu did not select any honors or Advanced Placement classes during her previous years at Keppel, she is took the AP Chinese Language and Culture test this month. With her current GPA of 3.3, she plans on entering East Los Angeles College to pursue a career in law or nursing. She said, “I kind of like to read detective books so I just like to be a lawyer to find out things. I’m kind of good at biology and chemistry, so I thought that I’ll probably do good at that [nursing].”

Liu indicated that she enjoyed her experiences at Keppel even without any presence in clubs and sports teams. She would dedicate her leisure hours to reading books, watching movies, and listening to music instead. Liu’s fondest memories of her Keppel years would involve her friends and her teachers. She added, “When I came here, I didn’t have any friends, and I didn’t speak any English.

I’m kind of shy. My friends made me more outgoing.” Out of the many Keppel staff members whom she encountered, she would like to thank Ms. Arzarte in

Bianca Lau

SARAH McCORMICK News Editor

Senior Bianca Lau has been awarded the vocational spotlight because of her unique and consistent interest in the business field throughout high school. Next year she will be attending Cal State Fullerton as a business marketing major with a minor or double major in graphic design.

At Keppel, Lau has participated in the International Business Academy and has taken different business and CTE classes such as Digital Media, Entrepreneurship/ Econ, Accounting, International Business, and Graphic Design to further explore her interest in business. She credits Keppel with helping her prepare for college by insuring that she stayed on track with her A-G requirements, as well as allowing her to discover her interest in business through the classes that were offered.

Lau’s goals for the future include starting her own design/marketing firm to help businesses develop graphics and marketing strategies.

Outside of Keppel, Lau enjoys arts and crafts, and makes plush creatures and foods from felt. She also enjoys making clay charms, practicing calligraphy, designing on Photoshop or Illustrator, and binge watching Netflix. Other extracurricular activities that Lau participates in are International Business Academy, the Korean Cultural Club, CTE class competitions, and other volunteer work. She is president of the student board for the International Business Academy, an active member of the Korean Cultural Club and has been a board member for two years, and took home a bronze medal in a county CTE competition for graphic design after being nominated for the competition by graphic design teacher, Mr. Hong.

Lau believes that her greatest accomplishment in high school was either creating a spirit card program to increase spirit within the International Business Academy, or even being able to make it through the four years of high school.

When asked what she will miss most about Keppel, Lau said, “I think I’ll miss seeing the teachers the most. I have known some of the teachers for three plus years and all of them have always been supportive of me and made themselves available to talk. They’ve taught me so much from academics to career tips and even little tips on life. All of the Keppel teachers genuinely care about their students.”

As a final note, Lau added that her advice for underclassmen would be to take advantage of the great resources offered by the Career Centers and guidance counselors, make connections with teachers, and try not to stress by taking a break every once in a while.

VAPA: Jonathan Lay

JOANN KONG Staff Writer

particular. She said, “Because when I was in her class, when I was like SEI 5/6, I was kind of nervous about my English.

She’s, like, very outgoing and just funny, and she just always talked to me, saying, ‘Rebecca, you are going to be better, you can do better.’”

Liu also named Ms. Lee, another English development teacher, as one of her key supporters.

Liu encourages fellow English learners to actively practice the usage of the language, ““From my own experience, when you don’t know any English, you need to try to talk, you can’t just not talk to anybody. You have to talk, then you get better English skills.” Liu found the class assignments to be very useful, and her communication with her friends supplemented practice in her daily life. She believes that she learned more in the classroom than anywhere else.

From freshman to senior year, Jonathan Lay has taken part in helping bring Keppel’s productions to life. Jonathan Lay manages the lighting on stage and in the audience, the set-up of the props, the creation of the sets, all part of his job as a member of the tech crew. Lay says that the best moments of Technical Theater is getting to meet a lot of new people and working with them. For his work in the theater community, he received several awards, such the Thespian, Honor Thespian, and Honorable Mention for Set and Lights in a competition.

Lay has participated in the Mark Keppel community beyond just managing the Technical Theater crew.

L a y is also in Boys Scout, having reached the highest rank attainable, Eagle Scout.

Additionally, he is a part of Keppel’s

Speech and Debate team, helping them with fundraising with ideas like a popcorn stand during Winter Festival.

After graduating high school, Lay plans

to attend Pasadena City College in the fall as an undecided major because he hasn’t decided yet what he wants as a career. He says that the teachers and counselors were all very helpful in his high school career, which in turn, helped him prepare for college. He also says being part of a play has had a great impact on him as it has helped him learn to work as a team. When asked what he would miss about Mark Keppel, he says he will miss the people and the theater the most.

People that he would like to give a shout out to are Ms. Phillips, Ms. Matsuo, and Mr. Gillette. As for some parting advice to the freshmen and sophomores, Lay says, “Don’t procrastinate.”

Like Shakespeare says, “With Mirth and Laughter Let Old Wrinkles Come.” You’re officially old, you seniors!

Chin!! I love Be Mirthful! you and good -Mrs. Flores luck in college :)

Congratulations Class of 2015!

-Mrs. Cisneros

Farewell Keppel!

Class of 2015 leaves you.

Congratulations

Brian Vuong!

L OTG

Smoogles

To My AP Students: Thank you for welcoming me to Mark Keppel and for all your patience. Have an amazing summer full of new experiences.

-Mrs. Schmalz

TO OUR BELOVED TIFFANY AND BOBBY, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE FUN TIMES WE’VE HAD AS A SECTION. WE LOVE YOU AND WILL MISS YOU DEARLY NEXT YEAR. BEST OF LUCK IN COLLEGE AND BEYOND!

ALL OUR LOVE, ALEX, RAYMOND, AND ANDY

Greetings your majesty,

I hope at this point you aren’t too terrified by the photos that we put together for you, please don’t judge. Now that you are finally retiring, I could get rid of you, like woo~. But before that I should let you know some of my nasty thoughts: Pretty much at this point we could all agree that you are a selfless loaf of crazy poop, and that’s fine by me. You are a fun teacher, and you just make the school a brighter place. Not only have you’ve been a teacher, but also an advisor of Garden Club. But really you were like a mom to me, you treated the garden like your babies, and you were the chill parent that everyone could’ve dreamed for. Throughout the years of being around you has made me learn many valuable lessons, such as how to be responsible, committed and still have fun at the same time.

I want to represent the people that know you and say: Thank you!

It was an honor to have you as our advisor, and words cannot describe my gratitude towards you. You were selfless and always did meaningful things for the club, and you just always been cheerful about everything.

I’m certain that there were many times where I was annoying to the point your head would explode, but you still dealt with it. The club members would always piss you off because of their horrible excuses, and yet you still forgave us. You are always complaining about how you are such a hobo, but end up buying a crap ton of stuff for the club anyways. All these little things are forever kept in our hearts, and we just really want to thank you for all you have done.

But seriously though, this thing is starting to sound like you are dying so uhm, how was your day?

No, but really, thank you very very much, and we just want to give you a little surprise. This one page of random stupid stuff from us isn’t even enough to make up for all you did for us, but I still hope you will like it.

After retiring please do come back and visit us, or I will hunt your house down and just bother you daily. Have an amazing summer, or really have an amazing life and we promise to be better people and treat your babies better!

Once again, thank you for everything, and we love you! I’m just kidding, only I love you, no one else does. -Winnie He Hey Ms. Heredia. You were the best PE teacher I ever had, and I'm so glad that you introduced me to Garden Club. Keppel won't be the same without your crazy ways. Thanks for being such a great teacher and advisor for the Garden Club. Have a great summer! – Samantha Pineda See you next year and thank you for all that you have done for the club -Jay Wang Happy retirement Ms. Heredia! I love your aerobics class and I think you are an amazing teacher! I LOVE YOU! : ) – Zhuo Zhou

Photo by Winnie He

Ms. Heredia, thanks for doing so much for garden club this year. Like all the donations and the events that you helped us get, see you next year and happy retirement! – Josephine Siu Thanks Ms. Heredia for the great and amazing year doing gardening with you!! We'll keep gardening alive and active, so you better come often to watch us. I hope you have a happy retirement! No more students to frustrate you and free from work: D I bet that sounds super-duper nice after dealing with us for years and years. Thanks, we all really appreciate the time and effort you put into the club especially getting us into bigger projects that incorporates us with helping the community becoming more beautiful. Also, stop wasting your money on us! – Lily Trau Photo by Carmen Cheung HAPPY BIRTHDAY~! Just kidding! I'm not close to you at all but I have always seen you as a very cool very nice teacher. During freshman year, I would see you giving out lemons and plants to people, and I thought that was really nice of you to do that. I don't have much memories of you so I don't really know what to write about but I hope you appreciate this mini message anyway. Happy retirement Ms. Heredia and I hope you stay chill and happy for the rest of your life. Best wishes!! -Kelly Chin Ms. Heredia, you're an amazingly wonderfully kind person who accepts anyone who needs a place and I can’t thank you enough for that great personality of yours. You're incredibly nice and you make everyone feel welcome and it's sad to see you leave but at least you'll visit us. I can't say I know you well but from how our friendship stands right now, I can say that you're an amazing person that I'm glad to have met. I appreciate all you've done for gardening club. Thank you for all you've done and don't forget to visit us next year!

– Jasmine Lee Ms. Heredia, thank you for everything you do for the Gardening Club. Without you, the club would never be so free, fun, and random. The potted plants I got just grows and grows, and I love all the activities that we get to do. I think Keppel looks just beautiful with all the neat plants that you've planted. From staying afterschool to dig to donating so much of your gardening things to planning fun activities for all the members, Ms Heredia, thanks for being the best gardening club advisor ever!!!!!!!!! – Lilly Huang Photo by Nhien Van

Photo by Lawrence Lee

On Your Mark...G COLLEGE DIRECTORY TOP 10 UNIVERSITIES/COLLEGES 1. Pasadena City College.....................................................................................................32 2. California State University Los Angeles.....................................................................31 3. East Los Angeles College..............................................................................................30 4. California State University Fullerton...........................................................................18 5. California State University Northridge.......................................................................12 6. University of California, Santa Barbara......................................................................11 7. University of California, Riverside...............................................................................10 8. University of California, Berkeley...................................................................................7 8. University of California, Irvine.......................................................................................7 10. California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.....................................6 10. Rio Hondo Community College............................................................................... 6 10. California State University Long Beach.....................................................................6

OTHER UNIVERSITIES IN ABC ORDER Azusa Pacific University.........................................................................................................2 Boston University.....................................................................................................................1 Butte College............................................................................................................................1 Brigham Young University of Hawaii.................................................................................1 California State University East Bay...................................................................................1 California State University Monterey Bay........................................................................2 California State Polytechnic University, Pomona............................................................5 California State University Sacramento State...................................................................1 California State University San Bernardino.....................................................................1 California State University San Diego State.....................................................................2 Carnegie Mellon......................................................................................................................1 Case Western Reserve University........................................................................................1 Cerritos Community College...............................................................................................1 Citrus College...........................................................................................................................1 College of Winterhold............................................................................................................1 Cypress College........................................................................................................................2 Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.............................................................1 French Foreign Legion...........................................................................................................1 Fresno Community College..................................................................................................1 Fullerton Community College.............................................................................................1 George Washington University.............................................................................................1 Johns Hopkins University......................................................................................................1 Knox College............................................................................................................................1 La Verne University.................................................................................................................3 Le Cordon Bleu......................................................................................................................1 Loyola Marymount University..............................................................................................1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology...............................................................................1 Mt. Saint Mary’s University...................................................................................................1 Mt. San Antonio College......................................................................................................5 New York University...............................................................................................................1 Occidental College..................................................................................................................1 Reed College.............................................................................................................................1 Riverside Community College.............................................................................................1 San Jose State University.......................................................................................................1 Sonoma State University........................................................................................................1 University of Alaska, Anchorage.........................................................................................1 University of California, Davis.............................................................................................3 University of California, Los Angeles................................................................................4 University of California, San Diego..................................................................................4 University of California, Santa Cruz..................................................................................2 University of Nebraska-Lincoln...........................................................................................1 University of Notre Dame....................................................................................................1 University of Redlands...........................................................................................................1 Univeristy of Southern California.......................................................................................3 University of the Pacific.........................................................................................................2 Whittier College......................................................................................................................1 Williams College......................................................................................................................1

1

Mack, Lightning McQueen’s Truck: “Good luck on the road!”

2

3

MILITARY Army..........................................................................................................................................2 Marines......................................................................................................................................1 Navy...........................................................................................................................................2 254 seniors were polled.

Get Set...College 7

8

Ramone: “Follow your dreams and drive your way to success.”

10 Flo: “Take time to recharge and practice self-care.”

Mater: “Live life to the fullest!”

4

6 Luigi: “Don’t be afraid of change because it’s part of growing.”

5

Courtesy of Google Images

CONGRATULTIONS

Skills USA seniors on graduating!!! These students have been active members of Skills all year and have helped with all of our events, unfortunately we do have to say goodbye to them. Thank you to Chris Hernandez, James Chavez, Mariela Pena, Michelle Ojiri, and Saul Aleman for all your help, go show the real world your skills!!!!

NEWS EDITOR: SARAH MCCORMICK

CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER: CORY MAK ASST. PHOTOGRAPHER: VICTORIA RAMIREZ

BUSINESS MANAGER: AREN LIM ASST. BUSINESS MANAGER: SALLY CHEN

CO-COPY EDITOR & ASST. FOCUS EDITOR: KAREN IP CO-COPY EDITOR & ASST. NEWS EDITOR: LYDIA XIE

SPORTS EDITOR: BRIAN YEO ASST. SPORTS EDITOR: EMILY MU

The Aztec Editorial Board & Staff 2014-2015

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: AMBER BATCHELOR ASST EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & VIEWPOINT EDITOR: DARWIN TSE ASST. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & FOCUS EDITOR: VIVIAN TO

Back row (left to right): Kristin Chingburanakit, Jonathan Lou, Karli Cheng, Bradley Dea, Rodolfo Arias, and Yang Lu Front row (left to right): Edlyn Wong (Head Cartoonist), Tammy Lee, Stephanie Tran, Christie Hui, Selina Huang, Carmen Ma (Asst. Features), and Joann Kong Not pictured: Alex Dea, Eric Lam, Ida Lam, Maliah Pierribia, Stephanie Robles, Ingrid Rodriguez Photos Courtesy of Andy Pham

FEATURES & A&E EDITOR: BONNIE WONG ASST. VIEWPOINT EDITOR: ALEX BEAUMONT

JOURNALISM ADVISOR: MS. BRADLEY

HISTORIAN & ASST. BUSINESS: BRANDON CHUNG WEB EDITOR & ASST. VIEWPOINT EDITOR: BRIAN CHEN

What advice would you give to the underclassmen?

“Quit playing League.” Derrek Leeha “Step it up.” Aren Lim

“Make the most of your time here, because you won’t have a second high school life.

Never forget to have fun.” Hanson Liew

“Don’t throw your grades away.

They matter.” Cecilia Trejo “Everything worth doing is worth overdoing. Only you determine what is worth doing. “ Brandon Van

“You don’t have the right to get senioritis if you’re not a senior.” Andrew Iwamoto

“Sleep enough. How? Stop reading fanfiction and manga. Mwahahaha.” Esther Law

“No advice can help you.” Mason Wong “Get involved and don’t miss out on high school events.” Christian Rubio

“Don’t associate yourself with the wrong people.” Victoria Phun “Do good, stay in school, don’t do drugs, enjoy high school.” Matthew Gonzales

“Take classes you are genuinely interested in.” Amber Ho

“Choose a club and/or sport you enjoy and commit to it!” Alex Wu “Don’t express yourself if you don’t want to get in trouble.” Nathan Inocencio “Stop trying to make everyone happy or else you’ll never be happy.” Isac Pizana “Be prepared for the unexpected.” Alexis Basa

“Do not use roller backpacks.” Hailey Candelaria “Figure out your priorities ASAP.” Annnette Cai “Stop running.” Raymond Tseng

“Run.” Justin Subintr

“You will probably only have like 3 close friends by the end of senior year.” Sally Chen

What is an embarrassing moment you've experienced at Keppel?

“Getting caught by Mr. Garcia as I was drawing him. I didn’t even finish.” John Chhoa

“I hit a teacher in freshmen year in front of his class as a joke. I got lectured for 10 minutes.” Alvin Ong

“Freshmen year, sat in room 225 instead of 252. Stayed in a senior english class for 25 MINUTES.” Tiffany Hangse

“There were no embarrassing moments, just learning experiences.” Nicholas Sato

“I thought Mr. Lien was a student dressed up in Halloween. I stroked his beard ask- “Being a freshman.” Colleen Huynh ing him how he made it so real.” Emily Mu

“Losing homecoming vs. Alhambra.” Javier Vasquez

“You trying to blackmail people?

This survey shady.” Arthur Tran

“When I couldn’t find my seat for 30 min. during an AP exam.” Vivian Quach

“Crossdress for Halloween. Doing Gangnam style in Mr. Gangnam style in Mr. Tarr’s class.” Daniel Zeng

“I ripped my jammers and exposed my butt during swim practice.” Joshua Huynh

“Afterschool, I made up an APES test. I was so concentrated and focused on finishing that when I got up, my entire left leg fell asleep. Every time I took a step, I fell on the desks next to me...it took three whole minutes just to turn in my test. The teacher asked what was wrong with me.” Kimberly Thai

“Thought there was a pool on the roof.” Chris Lam

“Trying to ask out Cindy Ching in freshman year with flowers and cinnamon cookies.

She’s allergic to cinnamon.” Luis Calingo

“2nd floor of B building girl’s restroom: 3 other girls and I got locked in because the door handle fell off. We spent 10 minutes screaming for help before I thought of trying to stick back on the handle.” Amy Oshiro

“I got pantsed in P.E. and my friend got [charged with] sexual harrasment because of that.” Jimmy Lopez

“When I walked up to a car that wasn’t my ride.” Azirel Casino

“Went to hug a friend from the back, wasn’t my friend.” Jonathan Tse

“I almost came to school without pants. I chose to grab my taco over pants.” Ryan Louie “Using the boy’s restroom in the C building for the entire year and not knowing it until second semester.” Vanessa Minie

“When Mr. Luong asked me who our ‘neighbors down south were’ and I said South America when he meant Texas.” Amber Batchelor

What will you Miss most about Keppel?

“Nacho bowl.” Jie Hui Situ

“Short people- they make me feel tall.

Asians - white people scare me (except Ms. AP of course).” Michael Ye

“How close it is to Banh Mi. Actually, it’s not even close. “My woes.” Raymond Morales Banh Mi isn’t even good.”

Amy Chang “Free education.” Evan Chen

“The tater tots.” Leon Sy

“All the locked restrooms in my times of peril.” Jeffery Wong

“The infamous Mark Keppel River.” Julian Chan “The free Wi-Fi, of course!” Andy Fung

“Dr. Bartlett and band and Ms. Ng! I love being her TA.” Tiara Daniels “My locker.” Raul Vasquez

“Girls soccer <3.” Leyna Cedeño “Grinding.” Michael Toki “I will miss the welcoming faculty, the courses and other opportunities given.” Cynthia Hernandez

“Making music.”

Destiny Jackson

“The Physics C backroom.” Vincent Lin “I will miss the video game design class.” Kevin Tang

“Routined schedules and asian majority.” Alan Kwok

“Mr. G and how he’s so sweet and caring. I will also miss all of Ms. Baca’s funny stories.” Jasmine Han

“Basketball though... and Danny Moreno.”

Bailey Kikuchi

“Obviously the school lunch.” Kevin Lam

“Coach Perez and the Swim and Water Polo teams.” Fion Gu

Girls Swim:

Boys Swim:

MALIAH PIERRIBIA Staff Writer

KRISTIN CHINGBURANAKIT Staff Writer

Yujeong Kim is an Aztec Swimmer who started swimming on the varsity team this year. She joined swim during her sophomore year, and has been on water polo for two years.

Kim stated that when she started, she was the slowest swimmer on the team because she knew nothing about swim, but said she improved by being dedicated, building stamina, and by following her Coach’s critique.

Kim decided to join swim because she disliked being on the track and cross country team, and didn’t want to join again. When asked about what is takes to be a great swimmer, Kim said that “it takes a lot of effort and dedication to be a great swimmer...the only way you can drop time is by being consistent at practice, and not letting negative thoughts get to you.”

Kim’s regret this season is “not joining swim freshman year”, but said that at the same time she doesn’t really regret that because “based on my prior experience with cross country and the track team, I truly know how incredibly lucky I am to be a part of this team. I’m also able to appreciate Coach Perez and Coach Sam more because of their hard work, and commitment they put for this team.”

Kim says that she enjoys swimming at Keppel because “we are always winners, and we never forget to display good sportsmanship, and are very humble”.

Though Kim has thought about giving swim up, she said that “my friends in swim motivate me to keep pushing and

Senior Andre Liu is a four year swimmer with a GPA of 4.0 . In the fall, Liu will be attending University of California, San Diego, majoring in computer science. He hopes that he will be able to swim in college.

Liu states that to be a great swimmer, “you will need to sacrifice, dedication, and hard work. In addition, you have to love swimming as a whole.”

Liu also swims outside of school with a club team called Rising Phoenix Aquatic Club (RPAC). In RPAC, Liu wakes up at 5 AM to practice or lift weights, goes to school, goes home to do homework, then back out in the afternoon to practice for 3 hours, and back home to do homework and sleep.

This is a daily routine that is repeated for many months. Liu’s weekends consist of practicing and attending swim meets that can last from 6 AM to 9 PM, and on occasions, the meets can last for 4 to 5 days.

At swim meets, Liu says that, “if I know I’m racing someone faster than me, I get nervous but excited. And when I’m swimming, all I want to do is beat my opponent.”

The team has been first in the league for all four years that Liu has been swimming at Keppel and he has been to CIF all four years. During his freshman year, boys and girls swim won CIF, which is his proudest accomplishment. In addition, he was named rookie of the year during his freshman year and received a medal for being 8th out of 36 in CIF. Now, Liu is the captain of the boys varsity

Yujeong Kim

Andre Liu

to go to practice everyday. Without them, I don’t know if I would have stayed in swim”.

Kim plans on going to Cal State Long Beach to major in biology. Although she isn’t going to be swimming competitively during college, she says that she will keep swimming.

For upcoming swimmers planning on joining the varsity swim team, Kim says to “work on your endurance, because varsity events will be tougher and longer than junior varsity.” She also says “to always work on making it to CIF”.

Cross Country:

T rack& F ield:

AREN LIM Staff Writer

CARMEN MA Asst. A & E Editor

Senior Kylie Mah started running cross country in the summer of eighth grade.

As a fall sport, Cross Country is mainly practiced in the extensive summer heat. A cross country race involves running over a distance of three miles. To train for this, Mah said the team often ran five to six miles daily.

However, through the intense training, Mah found cross country to be somewhat relaxing. “It can be a stress reliever in some ways. It just gives you time to think when you are running.”

Training paid off for Mah freshman year, when she won first place in all three frosh/soph league races. Throughout all the running, Mah said that she enjoyed the company of her friends more than the running. “I like how we’re all bonded. After practice or after a race, when everyone is stretching, we would just talk and stuff.

Everyone was friendly.”

Mah got her inspiration to run from her parents, “When I started running, my mom started running too. They (my parents) are the ones that pushed me to keep going. I did it for them.” Mah’s teammates also played a role in her success as a cross country runner, for they helped trained and pushed her to get better.

Mah was in cross country all four years of her high school career, and track and field for three. Alongside her athletic career, Mah was also involved in extracurricular activities such as yearbook and watching Netflix.

Mah plans to attend Cal State Channel Islands next year to study business and

Anjin Huang is one of the few seniors who has participated in Mark Keppel’s track and field team since freshman year.

Huang’s niche in competition is in the jumps category. “When you jump it’s freeing. You get a different viewpoint [in the air], especially if you’re short like me.”

After spending four years honing her skills in the sand pit, Huang has managed to place in the top three for the varsity triple jump event throughout the entire 2015 preliminary season. Huang also hit her personal record of 30 feet 7 inches this year, a feat she deems her greatest accomplishment.

The jumps competitor enjoys track because “you learn how to relax after you get nervous.

You get confidence because you think you can’t do it but end up being able to.” One piece of advice Huang would like to give to future competitors is, “Don’t work too hard that you injure yourself like I did.”

While succeeding in her events is rewarding, Huang said the best part of her final year in track was bonding with her teammates. “We have fun when we stay behind [after practice] to talk a n d eat together and talk about our

team.

His coach motivates and inspires him because “she’s just always there for me and never gives up on me even when I have given up on myself.”

To improve his swimming, he would like to focus more on training since school takes up a lot of his energy; therefore, he can’t fully dedicate himself to swimming.

However, he is very excited for the summer season. He enjoys seeing his team working hard and stepping up knowing that Gabrielino is a tough team to beat.

During practice, Liu says, “I crack jokes with my teammates and they just make practice more fun and enjoyable. It wouldn’t be what it is without them.”

Furthermore, he says, “Swimming has definitely taught me to manage my time with all the practices and meets.” Lastly, Liu would like to give a shout out “to the main bae Chris Lam and side bae Kelli Benson.”

Anjin Huang

Kylie Mah

marketing. Alongside her departure from Keppel, Mah stated, “I’m going to miss the team the most. I’m going to miss the family feel of the team, seeing everyone every day, the team bonding, the bus rides, and being in shape.”

Mah would like to make a shoutout to the coaches, the lunch bunch, og coco, and the cross country family.

performance. We cheer each other on at meets.”

Huang dedicates a lot of time to her sport, but she invests her time in her other activities as well. The jumper enjoys baking in her free time and takes part in Keppel’s Leo Club and Masayume Japanese Culture Club.

Huang will major in Biology at the University of California Riverside in the fall. “I actually didn’t like science for the first two years [of high school],” said Huang. However, taking Microbiology class sparked her interest in the life sciences.

When Anjin graduates at the end of May, she will surely miss the environment at Mark Keppel “because everyone’s so friendly.” Huang would like to give a shout-out to her lunch table and to future roommates Judy Wu and Regina Li, to whom she says, “Let’s have fun in college.”

B oys V olleyball: SELINA HUANG Staff Writer Christian Rubio is this year’s boys varsity volleyball captain.

He has been on the volleyball team since freshmen year, playing one year on junior varsity and three years on varsity.

Rubio loves playing volleyball because the concept of working together with a team and succeeding brings him great joy.

Volleyball also helps him hone his focusing skills since concentration is also a major factor for the sport.

When playing, Rubio feels very calm and collected because volleyball clears his mind and it’s something he looks forward to after school. Throughout his high school career in volleyball, Ru-

B a sebal l :

C h r i st i a n R u b i o

bio says he can proudly say that he has “done it all”.

Rubio says, “We came in as underdogs with a new coach my sophomore year and we beat San Gabriel High School, the number one team in our league, and we also went to CIF. Another thing I feel accomplished about this year was beating the number two team in our league, Alhambra High School.”

He also says that this year’s team is by far his favorite team that he has had throughout his whole four years in high school because “the whole team gets along and no matter how many times we make each other run, we still love each other and have each others’ back.” A professional volleyball athlete that Rubio admires is Charles Kiraly or

“Karch” Kiraly.

To be a great volleyball player, Rubio says that “you have to know how to work as a team and trust yourteammates and you also have to have the dedication and the desire to not let the ball drop.”

To improve his game, Rubio says that he feels that he should have focused more to be more precise in setting the ball. Rubio’s greatest accomplishments in volleyball are that he has missed almost no practices in all of his four years and has never been subbed out of the game once this entire season.

Rubio is a lifetime member of CSF, NHS, and Key Club and is also a three year ASB member.

Besides eating, breathing, and volleyball, he likes to spend as

much time with his friends since senior year is coming to an end.

Rubio is majoring in Political Science at George Washington University in Washington D.C. in the fall with a 4.2 GPA. He is planning to obtain his undergraduate degree and then a masters degree in Political Science and he would also like to achieve a Juris Doctor degree in the end.

Rubio would like to give a shout out to “Mrs. Carmona and ASB, my wild red sand brothers and paw sisters, the whole volleyball program, especially Mr. Chu, the lunch box gang, all of my former teachers who have helped me come this far, and my best friend, Shiva Taghdis.”

Ke o ni Yo u n g RODOLFO ARIAS Staff Writer Aye Batta Batta Swing!! Here comes Keoni Young .He is one of Keppels finest left handed player and 1st baseball . In his Freshman year he made it onto the junior varsity team.

He says “ it all started when I was 5 years old”. Of course the tale of this legend starts with his parents strongly encouraging him to play much to his dismay. However now he says “I can’t see myself playing anything else”.

His current plan is to graduate

W restli n g : AMBER BATCHELOR Editor-in-Chief

Georgina Abuede joined wrestling her sophomore year in order to stay in shape for her next football season. She is the only senior on the wrestling team.

Abuede says, “I joined the team to get stronger, but I loved the fact that [wrestling] is an individual sport. I don’t really need to depend on other people, but my team is there for support when I need them.”

She also appreciates how the team was united and supportive towards one another. She also

Mark Keppel High School with his 3.2 GPA and hopefully attending Cal State LA to majoring in nursing.

Young says that he loves baseball because it’s a sport in which “[you] need to have commitment and a desire to play”. He says “[baseball] is hard, but its alot of fun and I have to thank my teammates for that.”

“When I hit the field all I feel is confidence, more than usual.

I’m excited to get there and win.”

Truly inspiring, Young definitely talks about the rush and excitement he gets when he plays the

G e o rg i n a Ab u e d e says, “There weren’t a lot of people on wrestling so we got oneon-one attention.”

As a wrestler, Abuede loved the adrenaline rush and excitement she gained from the sport.

She also believes being a wrestler takes a lot of practice and technique.

She says, “You have to have your moves down and be conditioned.” Over the time she has played this sport, Abuede believes that she has obtained strength and discipline.

In her free time, Abuede enjoys playing basketball, dancing, exercising, and hanging out with

G irls S o ccer:

friends. Throughout her time at Keppel, she played for multiple sports teams.

Her sophomore year Abuede was in volleyball, soccer, and track, her junior year she was in volleyball and track, and her senior year she was in football and track. She also is a general member of the ALAS at Keppel and the Alhambra Police Department Explorers.

Her biggest accomplishment was not quitting the sport when she had opportunities to. She says, “[It] taught me to finish strong. Balancing sports and classes was very challenging but

sport There are many things Young says he is grateful for because of baseball. “Its definitely made me faster, I’ve lost weight and its helped develop the skills to become an even better player.”

Young says that this year maybe his favorite because “all the player, my teammates, we’ve gotten so much closer. We’re more than just players at this point, almost brothers.”

Young believes that baseball has prepared him for college and all of his future plans. “Baseball has improved my mentality. It helps me get my priorities straight and

has given me a drive to do better and to try and always achieve better.”

Young is a without a doubt a very dedicated player and someone who loves to immerse himself in the sport. His advice for up and coming players is to “practice what you need to and stay focused. Make an impact.”

He is excited to finish high school and see what new things the future has to offer for him.

Young would like to thank all of the baseball team and shout out to his wonderful girlfriend Claudette. “You guys are the best!!”

so is college. I can’t just give up because it is difficult.”

With a cumulative GPA of 3.5 Abuede will be attending California State University Los Angeles this fall. She plans to major in criminology with a minor in psychology. She strives to receive a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and wants to attempt to transfer to a UC for her Masters.

Abuede would also like to give a shoutout to “Amber Batchelor, Tiara Daniels, Hailey Candelaria, Denisse Barajas, and Leyna Cedeno for supporting me and being cool.”

L i n ds ey Ku i

EMILY MU Asst. Sports Editor Senior Lindsay Kui has been playing soccer since she was six years old and has been on the Mark Keppel Varsity soccer team for four years.

As a child, Kui began playing many different sports, trying a little bit of everything. She loves playing soccer because of the challenge the game brings and the opportunity to accomplish great things on the field.

What she believes makes a great soccer player is “having endurance, strength, motivation,

experience, and giving maximum effort.” While playing soccer, she has been part of a club team that has won their league three years in a row.

Throughout her four years on the Keppel team, she has enjoyed the chance to play with her sister.

This year, she enjoyed getting a new coach and bonding with the team. To improve her game for the future, she would like to become more physically fit, and get better at finishing when it comes to scoring goals.

Kui, with a 3.8 GPA, has also been recruited to play soccer at Knox College. She will be at-

tending Knox in the fall majoring in Biology where she hopes to become a veterinarian technician.

She is very proud of getting the chance to continue her soccer career through college. She says, “Through the eleven years that I have played, I have been able to become a better soccer player and person. [When I play,] I feel unstoppable and exhilarated.”

Kui stays motivated because she wants to become a better soccer player. She received the MVP award her junior and senior year.

Kui wants to make her dad proud.

Her biggest inspirations are the U.S. Women’s Soccer team, and

mainly Alex Morgan. She says, “Soccer has taught me a good work ethic and to never give up in the face of adversity.”

Kui’s hobbies include taking/ editing pictures, snowboarding, being outdoors, and going on new adventures.

She would like to shout out to “my family for their unconditional love and support, especially my sister Nicole. I also would like to give a shout out to Julie Uthenpong, Shiva Taghdis, Vivian Ho, Leyna Cedeno, Denisse Barajas, Kara Chuang, Tatiana Garnett, Halie Choi, and Kellie Benson.”

Girls Tennis: Asama Rungseriruch

Boys Tennis: Chris Wu

STEPHANIE TRAN Staff Writer

ALEXANDER BEAUMONT Asst. Features Editor

Senior Asama Rungseriruch has been playing on Keppel’s tennis team since the summer before her freshman year at Mark Keppel. She was awarded Most Improved Player during her first year on the soph/frosh team and now plays in varsity.

Since then, she has won the Most Valuable Doubles award and placed second in the Almont League Doubles final.

This year, she and her partner, senior Nikki Wang, held a record of winning a total of 20 games and losing only 4 in the Almont League. She also made it to round two of both CIF Indivduals and CIF Teams. She happily said, “Overall, I feel proud of my performance this year.”

Rungseriruch explained that what she likes most about tennis is its competitiveness. She added on to say that it is a good s t r e s s reliever when she is “on the court, running around-- smacking that ball.” She also enjoys g e t ting to meet new people and most importantly, playing tennis games with her friends.

On the side, Rungseriruch enjoys watching movies and playing badminton. She is also involved in Keppel’s Math Club Tutoring Committee as well as the Science Field Day Club.

Rungseriruch plans to attend Pasadena City College and then transfer to a 4-year university afterwards. She wants to major

While he is known for his scholarly achievements throughout his high school career, Chris Wu has also been selected for this years’ boys varsity tennis senior spotlight.

Having played tennis since he was ten years old, Wu believes that finesse is key in order to be a successful tennis player. Wu says, “ It doesn’t matter how good you are.

If you don’t look good playing tennis, you aren’t great.”

As a four-year member of tennis, Wu really enjoys how everyone on the team is very close with one another and appreciates how everyone on the team is willing to support each other.

Leaving Keppel, Wu has really enjoyed being part of a tennis team that is known for a long history of excellence.

As an incoming freshman to California Polytechnic University-San Luis Obispo with a major in Economics, Wu feels that tennis has helped him prepare for college by teaching him to learn how to work with others since he played doubles this past year.

In his four years at Keppel, Wu felt mo-

in biochemistry. She said, “Hopefully, I’ll be able to work in the science field after college because I enjoy science more than any other subject.”

She explained that she will not play for a team during her years in college; however, she will continue to play tennis for fun whenever she has time. Tennis taught her many valuable things including determination, perseverance, and hard work.

Rungseriruch would love to give a shout out to all her tennis teammates for continuing the tradition, to her friends for being such great friends, to Nikki Wang for being the best partner she could ever have (even though they fight all the time), and, most importantly, her family for always supporting her in whatever she does.

Boys Basketball: Bertram Mak

Badminton: Julian Chan

JONATHAN LOU Staff Writer

KAREN IP Copy Editor

Senior Bertram Mak has been playing basketball for Mark Keppel at the varsity level for the four years he has been here and has been playing basketball since seven years old.

He says, “Being a great basketball player takes hard work, listening to coaches, and having your teammates push you.”

During his four years playing basketball for Keppel, he has also gone to CIF all four. He is 6’3” and plays center position.

He likes basketball because it is fun and competitive and enjoys the thrill and excitement from a close game.

Mak is also capable of dunking on a regulation height rim. Since being on the team, Keppel has won four league titles, and Mak has received MVP his senior year. He is inspired by Kevin Durant and strives to reach a similar game level through hard work.

Mak has really enjoyed this year’s team and said, “Just being a team is fun because we all get along.”

Mak’s dedication is not only on the court.

Besides playing basketball, Mak has been in-

Julian Chan is being acknowledged as a great component and member of Keppel’s badminton team. This upcoming school year, Chan will be attending the University of California, Berkeley, where he plans on making lifetime friends and start developing his ideas for his career.

His hobbies include playing badminton, shopping, hanging out at boba joints, and playing video games.

Chan has been playing badminton since the summer before his high school career began. For him, it was the coach who taught the badminton class that he attended who “motivated [him] to keep improving and fueled [his] passion for the sport.”

He also mentions that his inspiration is Lee Chong Wei, a star badminton player from Malaysia. During his freshman year, Chan was selected as a substitute player for the varsity team when they were CIF Division 1 runner-ups.

Throughout the span of the three years he has been with the team, Chan personally “enjoys spending time with the team during practices and games as [they] work towards improving [themselves] as badminton players.”

Even with the achievements that he has gained as a badminton player, Chan also faced the challenge of not being respected as an athlete when he first started playing badminton. People did not know what the sport exactly was, as “they imagined something along the lines of setting up a net in the backyard and hitting [the birdie] around.” Despite this, Chan says that he

volved with Keppel by joining ASB and helping organize organize student activities and events. His hobbies include playing video games, such as his PS3, and “going to Trey’s house.”

He has received a scholarship to Cal Poly Pomona and plans to play college basketball while striving for a degree in business.

Mak would like to give a shoutout to his basketball family for being supportive of the four years he has been here.

tivated to play tennis through his love of both the sport and competition, compounded with inspiration of professional tennis players such as Novak Djokavic and Roger Federer.

He considers one of his greatest accomplishments, not only as a tennis player but as a high school student as well, to be winning first place in doubles at the Almont League Boys Tennis Individuals Championship. Looking back on his past four years of tennis, Wu feels that “the best kind of practice for tennis is to play a lot of practice matches so you can practice the skills you need when in competition”.

Before Wu leaves Mark Keppel, he would like to give a big shout out to all of the people who have supported him throughout high school.

still continued playing the sport as “the most important thing is how [he] feels about the sport and what [he] does with that passion.”

When asked about how badminton has prepared him for college, Chan mentions, “I wouldn’t say playing badminton necessarily helped me prepare for college, but I definitely was looking for a school where I could continue playing the sport.”

Drill Team: Color Guard: Leanne Deng & Shanni Chen Diana Tran

Cheer: Arlene Anguiano

CORY MAK Co-Photographer

VICTORIA RAMIREZ Co-Photographer Senior Arlene Anguiano’s is the captain of this year’s cheer team. Starting at the age of seven, Anguiano has spent almost all of her childhood and teenage years participating in this sport.

“It’s always cheer,” said Anguiano when asked what she enjoys most. She explains that it takes a lot of spirit, experience, and dedication. Anguiano goes on to talk about how this year’s team is a lot better and how they are a lot more open to learning new things.

Everyone works well and doesn’t feel any negativity towards different ideas. Cheer is a sport that she has always wanted to do, and it’s one of the things she is most proud to be a part of, as well as better improving her team. Being a member of the cheer team has helped Anguiano become more open and outgoing.

Not only is Anguiano greatly satisfied with her team’s accomplishments but she is also quite proud of her academic progress.

She wants to advise all underclassman to work hard on their studies, saying “Don’t slack off and always keep your grades up.”

Anguiano is largely influenced by her parents and their teachings. Her parents encourage her to be respectful towards others and to focus on school. Anguiano is who she is today because of her family., and she feels that that her parents are there for her when it comes to her dreams and what’s right.

In the four years that she has been in high school, Anguiano feels that it has been filled with good memories and lessons learned. Not being able to see her friends everyday is what she will miss most about graduating high school. Anguiano is graduating with a 3.0 GPA and will be attending ELAC in the fall.

Senior Diana Tran has accomplished so much in so short of a time period during her four years at Keppel.

As a student, she is soon to join the Cal State University Northridge family, but will remain a leader at Keppel.

Not only has she been an original member, but she rose up from a new member to lead the team as captain.

As a senior on Drill, Tran says, “I feel like I brought unity and friendships, and greater coop-

DanceCo:

eration from a higher perspective. But as a captain, I feel like I pushed the girls hard this year, and set them on the road to success by pushing the team to strive for success, and we even started competition which involves a lot of new routines.”

Tran has also tried to help the team grow by allowing everyone to voice their concerns and opinions to reduce drama, and she feels that the team will grow stronger and better in the years to come.

When asked what her biggest influence was, Tran responded saying that she would definitely have to say her family is her greatest influence and most importantly, her sister.

This is largely in part because her “sister has helped me follow through with the legacy of becoming captain and I really feel like she pushed me to become the person I came to be.”

After graduating at Mark Keppel, Tran plans to attend Cal State University Northridge, and she will be departing Keppel this year with a 3.8 GPA.

Collin Kukamoto & Kalyn Inunza

INGRID RODRIGUEZ Staff Writer Collin Kumamoto is a senior who has been involved in All Male for four years.

Kukamoto began dancing in 7th grade and joined All Male his freshmen year.

Kukamoto describes dancing as involving “creativity, hard work, charisma, and self-motivation.”

Kukamoto has competed in a few street teams and has placed well at regional, state, and national competitions for All Male.

“I currently focus on All Male but I was part of Marvel’s Dance Company. He is most proud of receiving 2nd place at Miss Dance Drill Team USA in the medium hip hop category.

Kukamoto says, “My team motivates me because they are like my children! They’re hilarious. Never an awkward moment with my boys and I wouldn’t trade them for the world!”

To improve, he would like to take more dance workshops to become more familiar with his body.

Kukamoto explains “Although dancing isn’t the hype at Keppel.

I love dancing here because I understand, support, and respect the work that goes into our art.” Kukamoto will be going to ELAC. Kukamoto’s goal is to transfer to USC in a year.

“Shout out to Dance Company and everyone who has supported me and helped me become who I am today!” Kumamoto says.

Kalyn Inzunza is a senior who has been involved in MKHS Dance Company for four years.

“I like dancing because I never danced before. I made the team my freshman year, so every time I dance, I feel like I’m pushed to be better.” Inzunza described.

Inzunza says a good dancer needs “commitment and time”.

“I always feel like I’m being pushed (in a good way) because I dance with so many talented people each year,” Inzunza says.

“I am really proud of the fact that over the course of 4 seasons we’ve been able to establish a really well respected name for our school in the dance community,” Inzunza describes proudly.

Inzunza’s motivation is her team because they each have individual talents.

Some of the things she feels really proud of is becoming captain and earning the first spirit award and state competition with the team.

Dancing has taught Inzunza to manage her time and be an individual. “I’ve learned that if I love what I’m doing it doesn’t really matter how hard it is because somehow it workouts,” Inzunza says.

She will be attending Santa Monica College and plans on transferring to USC in a year.

She said, “Shout out to Collin Kumamoto for being so darn swagalicious and DT leaders for always helping get things together and my team for being the absolute best team I’ve ever worked with! Come see Dance Show on May 22, 2015!”

CHRISTIE HUI Staff Writer Seniors Leanne Deng and Shanni Chen have been a part of Color Guard for the majority of their high school years. Chen had joined as a freshmen; Deng as a sophomore. Seeing how much fun the Color Guard members had performing together made them want to try out in the first place. Since then, Color Guard has become a second family to them.

Deng and Chen’s favorite part of being in Color Guard is being able to perform with their team and Band. According to them, becoming a great Color Guard members takes courage, confidence, and determination. Deng hopes that she can improve her Color Guard skills by being more creative in order to create more new moves. Chen believes in practicing more to improve her skills.

One of Deng and Chen’s biggest accomplishments in Color Guard was the choreography for the field show. They have also won first place in ID banner. The girls thought this year was Color Guard’s best field show and APR Both Deng and Chen’s most memorable Color Guard memory would have to be the time they won first place in 4 categories with Band at the nighttime Christmas parade.

Though this is their last year in high school, Color Guard will always have a place in their hearts.

In college, Deng will be majoring in Health Science, while Chen will be majoring in Child Development. oth girls love collecting things such as anything Totoro or cute fluffy plushies. They hope to make their last year in Color Guard memorable by enjoying their last performances.

They would also like to give a shoutout. Deng says, “Thank you 2014-2015 team! You guys are amazing and I’ll miss you when I leave! I hope CG gets better and better! I hope all your wishes come true!” Chen says, “Thank you 2014-2015 team. I’ll miss all the fun, memorable times with you girls. You girls are the cutest and most amazing team! I’ll miss you girls. Hope CG gets better and better every year.”

Band: Saul Aleman STEPHANIE ROBLES Staff Writer Most students go into band just as an elective, but Saul Aleman joined the marching band with a passion. He started off playing the flute, but switched to the tenor trombone during his freshman year.

He said, “95% of my trombone skills I have today are because of my mentor who is also a mark Keppel band alumni and I proudly call my close friends, Jason Bang.”

Aleman enjoys many different things about playing in Keppel’s marching band like learning to play all styles of music and learning different technique and styles in the art of marching. “The most important part is that you become friends at the start, but in the end the band becomes your second family.”

Aleman receives a lot of motivation from his friends, family, and especially his passion for music.

“When performing I put all my energy, emotion, and focus into every note I have on the music sheet,” and to Aleman, “Music is more than what’s written.”

During his many years in band Aleman has made several accomplishments he is very proud of. “I gained leadership roles like becoming section leader of low brass in my junior year and assistant section leader in my senior year.” Aleman also noted, “My most proud accomplishment is

all the memories and bonds I was able to create with band, color guard, and orchestra.”

Aleman has received many awards for his amazing talents.

“I have received 3 certifications of participation and completion for band. I have also received 3 band pins, 2 orchestra pins and 1 section leader pin. Most recently, I have received 2 certificates from both band and orchestra in the last concert of the year ‘Some Enchanted Evening’.”

His plans for college are getting a career in Civil Engineering, while also expanding his knowledge in the music arts.

Lastly, Aleman Aleman would like to give a shout out to his good friends in Band, Orchestra, and Color Guard. “You guys have shaped me into the person I am today and will always cherish it.

Also JOIN Band & Orchestra!

And most importantly JOIN low brass!”