Issue 9 2013

Eesha Khare wins Young Scientist Award for nanochemistry research at the Intel Science and Engineering Fair

BY LAUREN TAI

O

n May 17, senior Eesha Khare won the 2013 Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award, the second highest award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Khare, who is also the content editor for the Epic, competed with over 1,600 other finalists from more than 70 different countries around the world.

Khare was honored with $50,000 for her research on the improvement of a supercapacitor energy-storage device, which charges faster than normal while storing a large amount of energy and can last for many more charge-recharge cycles than the conventional battery.

“Winning one of the top awards at the Intel ISEF was unbelievable. When they called up my name, I didn’t realize what was happening. I only actually realized I won when I saw the confetti pop up behind us,” she said.

She also won the Best in Category Award for Chemistry and First Place in Chemistry. She won Second in American Chemical Society. From these three awards she won a total of $11,000.

Khare’s research is rooted in nanochemistry applied to energy-storage. She

realized that it has become necessary to develop more efficient energy-storage devices to address the needs of a rapidly growingelectronics industry.

She conducted her research project at UC Santa Cruz starting last April, working on the development of a new composite nanomaterial (titanium dioxide-polyaniline nanorods) for improving existing supercapacitor technology by making it more efficient.

In her research, her biggest challenge was in optimizing the new nanomaterial to determine its practicality as a supercapacitor.

To test its practical application, Khare charged her new supercapacitor for a short amount of time to power a light-emitting diode, or LED. She said, “My work involves developing and improving upon existing supercapacitor technology. The new nanomaterial I developed for use as a supercapacitor electrode has shown promising energy-storage characteristics.”

In the future, she hopes to implement her work into greater technological advancements including improving cell phone batteries, electric vehicles and green technology.

Khare was first exposed to the field of nanochemistry in 2011 when she worked on a team project synthesizing nanoparticles for applications related to energy and lightemitting diodes.

“I learned to appreciate the subject a lot more so when I was looking for research internships this past summer, I looked specifically at this field,” she said.

“One of the biggest limiting factors in many budding technologies are the lack of a good energy-storage device to efficiently capture and store energy for later use,” she said. “I am really interested in energy-storage because of its relevance in so many daily applications. It’s this motivation for the overall field of energy-storage that has driven my work.”

In addition, Khare attributes her successful work to an interest in expanding beyond the traditional boundaries of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects.

Her exposure to more than just science allows her to more easily identify and tackle real-world problems that people face in their everyday lives.

Khare stresses that, “as a researcher, you learn that you are adding to a much larger body of work of the scientists that have worked on this before you. My project is taking incremental but significant steps in the right direction.”

Khare plans to attend Harvard University in the fall, using the money awarded to her, to expansively pursue her research interests in chemistry.

GRAPHIC BY JACOB ANTONY & NIKITA DHESIKAN

Eric Wong named as new assistant principal

BY DHIRAJ NALLAPOTHULA

F

remont High School’s dean and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) teacher, Eric Wong, has been hired as Lynbrook High School’s new assistant principal after the retirement of Assistant Principal Sydney Marsh.

Wong was born and raised in Palo Alto, Calif. and attended Gunn High School. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1998 with a B.A. of Psychology. Upon graduating from Michigan, he was unsure of what to pursue for a career and did not consider teaching at the time.

“When I got out of college I never thought that I would go into education or teaching,” Wong said. “And it’s probably because I had an older sister who wanted to be a teacher and [I] didn’t want to be [a teacher].”

Wong then decided to go to Shanghai due to his passion for traveling and meeting new people. He ended up teaching English there

for two years. The experience left a strong impact on him influencing the rest of his life.

“I’m a firm believer in [that] traveling and seeing different cultures and experiencing different people is a great thing for anyone to do. Personal growth is going to come out of it. It’s about just understanding that people are different around this world,” said Wong.

In 2004, Wong was hired as a history and economics teacher at Fremont High School.

After five years of teaching, Wong became the dean at Fremont in 2009.

After his AVID students graduated and after his third daughter was born, he decided it was time to “reevaluate [his] life.” An assistant principal position opened up—the school had not been disclosed at the time— and Wong applied. Around two weeks after he submitted his application, Wong was offered the position. He accepted the position, and was later told that he would be working at Lynbrook.

“After spending my last nine years at Fremont, I have made relationships and invested a lot into the school and students,” Wong said. “I’m really going to miss it. I don’t know much about Lynbrook, but I am going to try to bring everything that I have learned from my experiences at Fremont.”

He said, “I want to get familiar with as many students, community members, teachers and programs as I can. I also plan to learn about all the great things at Lynbrook but see what needs to be changed. Any new administrator has to honor and respect what has been done but also come in with fresh ideas to sustain what has been taking place.”

Wong is beginning his transition to work at Lynbrook. He recently met with new principal John Dwyer, and is also working closely with Marsh to get acclimated to the position.

“Lynbrook should be excited,” Marsh said, “I’m sure the students will like him—he’s warm, kind and a positive human being.”

Sports: Year In Review •pg. 14

Clark concludes her story at Lynbrook after 18 years

BY HENRY SHANGGUAN & YONI ZEMLYAK

A

fter teaching at Lynbrook for 18 years, English teacher Nelda Clark announced her decision to retire earlier this month. During her tenure at Lynbrook, Clark has taught a wide variety of English courses ranging from English Language Development (ELD) to AP English Literature and Composition (AP Literature). Clark has also been the English Department Chair since 2004.

Clark’s career in education began in 1982 began when she became a teacher at South Bay School. After 10 years at the school, Clark took some time off from the classroom before joining the Lynbrook staff as an ELD teacher in 1995.

“I’ve always just wanted to discuss really interesting ideas from literature with groups of interesting people,” Clark said. “And that’s what I’ve been able to do.”

Most rewarding for Clark has been t h e

opportunity to enrich students’ understandings of literature, unearthing what lies beneath the surface of a text.

“Anytime I’m able to take students into a text, and really show them the under-thesurface subtleties, I see that light bulb go off.

The students really begin to see that a book is consciously constructed,” Clark said.

Students and fellow English teachers who work with Clark recognize her joy and expertise in teaching literature.

“Mrs. Clark is fascinating and asks questions that help to further my understanding of the literature I am teaching. Yet, she is never pedantic nor condescending,” said English teacher Maggie Welsh. “Her personality is warm and supportive while also dignified and professional; she is an example to our department of how to best interact with the students. She has been the perfect mentor.”

Because of Clark’s efforts to help students delve into texts, many have found importance in a subject they once found trivial.

“Her ability to guide us through discussions and help us see the deeper meaning of the text really helped us gain a love for reading texts closely,” said senior Pranay Patil, who had Clark as a teacher for both AP English Language

and Composition and AP Literature. “I felt like I would be cheating myself of a proper education if I didn’t take AP Lit” Beyond the realm of high school, graduates have realized the far-reaching importance of Clark’s teachings.

“Clark’s AP Lit taught me the most important skill for college thus far - always question everything,” said Class of 2011 graduate Aditya Majumdar.

As Clark explained, however, teaching for her has always gone both directions.

“Students don’t realize the impact that they have on teachers. When you have great students, they push you to grow and stretch your limits,” she said.

As English Department Chair for the last nine years, Clark has worked tirelessly not just to further the education of her students, but also to ensure the well-being of her department members.

“She always finds the time to listen to her department members on an emotional level,” said Welsh. “I have always felt supported, even nurtured, by her as a department chair and as a friend.”

Assistant Principal Maria Jackson said that Clark “has been instrumental in bringing the European Literature course to Lynbrook.”

With Clark’s departure, students, teachers, and administrators all believe that the school will be at a loss.

“With her retirement, the school loses a great mind and

the chance to have a truly rewarding conversation with a truly fascinating woman,”said Welsh.

Jackson agrees.

“The teachers are going to lose an amazing mentor and a good friend. She helps them see that literature is connected to all humanity, and she helps us see a snapshot into the world and our souls.”

English teacher Fritz Torp said, “Nelda is a wise woman, with compassion for the joys and sorrows of life.

We lose a great teacher, an inspiration to her students and to her colleagues.”

Although Clark looks forward to the relaxation and opportunities that her retirement will hold, she has yet to map out her plans for the next chapter of her life beyond her desire to tour the world.

“I’m really not sure what my next goal is going to be. It’s because my job has been my passion, and it consumes me,” said Clark. “After I lie on a beach for six months and recover from grading so many papers, maybe something will emerge.”

JOEY LI—EPIC

of families’ decisions to immigrate and apply for citizenship in the United States.

After a year packed with League wins, CCS Championships, and even a trip to the Sacramento Sleep Train Arena for the Nor Cal Girls’ Basketball Championship, check out page 14 for a Lynbrook Athletics’ year in review.

Letter from the editors As the school year comes to an end, we celebrate retirements, look forward to new staff members and congratulate ourselves on another great year.

First off, we would like to recognize our staff’s content editor, senior Eesha Khare, for juggling not only a year of dedicated research eventually recognized by Intel Science and Engineering Fair (page 1) and her journalism duties, but also for surviving a week of media frenzy.

After two weeks of AP testing earlier this May, we responded to students’ frustrations with balancing school and testing. Take a look at page 5 for our staff’s recommendations to ease the stress of AP testing for students.

With summer vacation coming up, students should take a shot at senior Fleford Redoloza’s mechanical puzzles. Turn to page 9 to learn more about his passion.

Flip to page 11 for an in-depth package

As our seniors reach the end of their high school careers, you can check out the seniors’ favorite memories and notable regrets on the front page of the Senior Pullout, located after page 8. We have also compiled their bequeathals and parting words inside the fold. Find out where your favorite seniors will be heading off to college by taking a look at our senior college map.

While we were unable to include the responses of the entire senior class, we congratulate the Class of 2013 on four years of hard work and hard play.

Finally, we would like to take this moment to thank the students, parents, staff and faculty for following us throughout the year. Don’t forget to check us out online on lhsepic.com, before we take a break for the summer, and leave us any questions, comments or suggestions.

Congratulations to all for reaching the end of a great year.

Happy Reading!

Shannon Chai, Irene Hsu, Sabrina Shie

Lynbrook recognized as California Distinguished School for sixth time

BY KATHY JANG

F

or the sixth time in 23 years, Lynbrook received recognition as a California Distinguished School. The California Distinguished School is an award presented by the California Department of Education (CDE) to public schools within the state that possess stellar educational programs.

In past years, all California schools were open to apply for the distinction, but this year, only schools nominated for by the CDE were permitted to submit applications. Lynbrook and Monta Vista were chosen as eligible candidates in FUHSD. This year’s application featured Lynbrook’s high-achieving academic performance in two areas: Oral and Written Communication and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The application that schools submit includes key academic statistics. Lynbrook’s summary showed a consistent increase in academic scores spanning the past three years, boasting- an API of 946 among the many achievements listed.

In addition, schools were required to identify two signature practices, defined as a “program, strategy, practice, event or activity” that contributes to student achievement. The two practices listed were Oral and Written Communication and STEM. Oral and Written Communication encompasses the school’s effort in improving communication skills, particularly in the English Learners Department.

STEM was comprised of the school’s achievement in the area, with special mention of Lynbrook’s comprehensive science program and school-wide support of STEM-related clubs and competions.

Following the CDE’s recommendation. a three-week period took place, in which a support team led by Assistant Principal Sydney Marsh readied the school for examination by the CDE. Although the application process was hectic, Marsh said, “It is so worth it. The award itself doesn’t come with anything aside from a name--no money comes from it or anything. But the process provokes so much self-assessment and growth.”

Changes to be made to content filter

BY PRASANN RANADE

Yearbook Delay Yearbooks distribution has been delayed by one day due to travel damage and printing errors. All errors have been fixed, but distribution will now take place in room 75 on Friday, May 31 instead of the original date, Thursday, May 30. Senior yearbook pick-up begins after the senior rally, junior pick up begins at 1 p.m., sophomore pick up begins at 2 p.m. and freshmen pick up begins at 3 p.m.

Baccalaureate, Church of the Ascension

Senior Baccalaureate will take place on Monday, June 3 at the Church of the Ascension at 7 p.m. to recognize accomplishments made by the Class of 2013. Haziq Saddiqi and Shaelyn Silverman will be speaking on behalf of the senior class, along with several other admin and community speakers. This ceremony marks one of the last opportunities that the seniors have to be all together in one place.

Graduation

The graduation ceremony for Lynbrook’s Class of 2013 takes place at Lynbrook’s football stadium on Friday, June 7 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Daniel Sun and Soumya Kandukuri will be speaking at the ceremony.

S

tudents will be able to access websites such as Facebook and YouTube beginning the 2013 to 2014 school year. Students will also continue to be allowed to bring their own devices to school to use at their teachers’ discretion, as part of an effort to allow all schools in the district to keep up with changing technology and social media usage.

“Technology is changing faster than any organization can track or manage,” said Assistant Principal Maria Jackson.

“The key to harnessing the power of technology is to educate students and staff on the benefits and pitfalls of living in a technology-rich environment. The goal is to have students become knowledgeable and wise cyber-citizens.”

After years of deliberation, the changes to these policies reflects a growing consensus among teachers about the applicability of technology in the classroom.

Though teachers can opt out of using the sites, the change benefits teachers who use YouTube videos and Facebook groups as means of recording lectures and providing additional help.

For example, Math Teacher Sarah Kraemer creates videos on YouTube to teach students. Kraemer employs a technique known as a flipped classroom, in which students view

lectures or read the subject matter at home and do the homework at school. With the change to allow YouTube, her students will be able to view her lectures at school as well.

“I think that it puts them at a disadvantage right now that they have to watch them at home or on a cellphone,” said Kraemer.

“I’d like them to be able to view them at school if they need to.”

Junior Roy Kim, a student in Kraemer’s AP Calculus AB class, agrees with Kraemer’s viewpoint toward allowing YouTube and Facebook at school.

“Rather than updating on School Loop, many teachers such as [History Teacher Esther Lee] do it on Facebook,” said Kim. “Using it at school is a big help as it provides information on tests, Google Forms [to complete for homework], and interesting articles.”

“Any tool can be distracting, and I think a lot of times we think of YouTube and Facebook as such because a lot of times when we use them, it’s for non-academic purposes, but there is some real value in those tools,” said Library Media Specialist Angela Estrella.

In the end, the decision to use Facebook and YouTube responsibly rests in the hands of students. The changes allow students open access, but students themselves must decide what to do with it.

By Izzy Kipnis

“We teach students how to cross the street, but we don’t prevent them from going on the street because it’s dangerous,” said Estrella. “Similarly we see that for these tools, it’s important to know how to use them if we’re going to use them in school.”

ART ILLUSTRATION BY FRINA REDOLOZA

New homework policy to be enforced

BY SABRINA JEN

A

majority of the staff approved on May 16 a new set of revised homework guidelines to be included in the student planner for the 2012 to 2013 school year. The new guidelines include the school’s suggestion to teachers about the appropriate amount of homework, as well as students’ expectations of of the work load and type of work. The current guidelines were approved in 2005 and are located on page 20 of the student planner.

“Since that time there has been faculty turnover,” said Assistant Principal Maria Jackson. “There have been so many changes to classroom practice due to technology. It seemed like a good time to revisit the guidelines.”

The new set of guidelines focuses on the concept of “meaningful assignments” that have a purpose. They have also increased focus on awareness of amount of homework given for AP and honors classes, especially since the classes have grown in popularity in the past three years.

The guidelines encourage teachers to communicate “with other teachers across departments” in order to ensure that students are not overloaded with too much homework, among other activities.

Although teachers are suggested to give reasonable amounts of homework, the guidelines also focuses on the responsiblity of students when they sign up for certain classes, since they should be aware of the amount of

workload for their classes in advance.

The administration hopes that the new homework guidelines will encourage teachers and students to work together to plan meaningful homework that is appropriate for the level of the classes, said Jackson, who was one of the first to suggest the revisions.

In September 2012, Jackson and a group of teachers attended an event hosted by Challenge Success, a program founded at Stanford University. Challenge Success encourages the quality of assignments over the quantity, which motivated Jackson to conduct a miniature study.

On Oct. 11, Jackson carried out the Lynbrook Homework Snapshot study, in which she asked 14 students in every grade to track how long it took to do their homework, record the clarity of the assignments and take down their bedtimes.

Jackson later presented the information she collected to teachers, giving them a better understanding of their students’ lives outside of school. The study gave teachers an idea of what types of homework assignments would be more meaningful and relevant to the students.

With the provided information, Jackson met up with department chairs, and began discussing what would be appropriate to include in a revised set of homework guidelines. Teachers were encouraged to offer requests they hoped to see in the new revision.

After five different revisions and various suggestions from different teachers, a new set of guidelines was finalized.

Do you know where your clothes come from?

Sweatshops and the truth behind cheap manual labor

BY ANAND CHUKKA Last month on April 24, a sweatshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed, killing over 1,200 garment workers. Primark – a clothing brand similar to H&M – was the sweatshop’s largest customer. A sweatshop is defined by the US Department of Labor as a factory that violates two or more labor laws.

Utilizing cheap sweatshop labor to produce their products, suppliers such as H&M are able to sell clothes at extremely low prices. This cheap sweatshop labor occurs in third-world countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. Many students who buy from these retailers, however, do not realize that the majority of their clothes are made in these sweatshops, where children work anywhere from sixty to eighty hours a week. Rather than allowing these inhumane practices to continue, the student body needs to make the change towards a more humane future.

The first step in making the change is awareness. Many companies including sportswear giant Nike, Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, have been discovered in the past couple years. In the early 2000s, when

consumers applied pressure to Nike to switch out of sweatshops and towards ethical manufacturing, Nike complied. Nike has since made several changes to their production process including an intensive examination of all of their factories overseas.

Sophomore Sunny Zhang said, “Through researching sweatshops for a project, I’ve learned much more about child labor, and I’ve been making an effort to keep track where I buy my clothes from.”

Unfortunately, making the switch to a completely sweatshop-free wardrobe is near impossible because according to “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of High Fashion”, almost 98% of all retailers use cloth or clothing from a sweatshop.

Junior Vidur Sanadan said, “I don’t think that we should stop buying clothes from sweatshops. Rather, we should be aware that the majority of our clothes come from sweatshops.”

Even so, many companies such as American Apparel, Diamond Supply Co.

and Everlane make the majority of their clothes in the U.S using ethical procedures.

In fact, American Apparel advertises on its website, “We are vertically integrated, and operate the largest apparel manufacturing facility in North America, right in Downtown LA. Though it’s not the easy road to travel, this has always been our business model.” These companies have priced their clothes at a higher rate than many foreign based competitors, yet these companies follow American laws, pay their workers at minimum wage, allow them to form unions and have proper work hours, which is more than can be said about the slave-like work conditions in third-world countries.

Zhang said, “Americanmade clothes are expensive for two reasons. First, ethical production, and second, the quality is second only to Japan.”

In addition to shopping at ethical manufacturers, another possible solution is to thrift shop. By buying clothes that come from sweatshops and reselling, consumers help keep the amount of clothes in the market at a minimum, removing the profit for the companies. This reduction in profits also pressures the com-

panies into stronger regulations.

As much as an individual can do, the companies are the ones that need to make the change at the top of the hierarchy. On May 3, Avaaz, a leading human rights group, started a petition to jumpstart major retailers to sign a financial agreement to prevent these kinds of disasters. The petition garnered over 1,000,000 signatures. Following that pressure, retailers such as H&M, Carrefour, and Inditex—the parent brand of Zara—have all signed a labor deal agreement, to prevent such disasters from happening again.

As one of the biggest consumers of clothing, we, as students, should start placing pressure on the companies to change their production standards and refocus on ethical manufacturing.

ART ILLUSTRATION BY JESSICA CAO AND ANAND CHUKKA

Drop the act, remove the mixed façade and fix the mixers

BY MICHELLE SU

M

ixers, essentially outside-of-school dances with attendance from various schools, have become an increasingly popular way for school clubs to raise large amounts of money—though not without a cost. Not only are there numerous legal complications with holding a mixer, but there are also many scams that take place, turning a well-intentioned charity event into a distasteful and dishonest endeavor.

Due to the stress and grueling work that goes into planning a mixer, organizers often wrongly cheat their attendees, and profits go into students’ pockets rather than to charitable organizations.

Senior Tejas Konduru, who recently planned the “Scream and Shout” mixer with a Monta Vista student, said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if most people have actually stolen from the profits they earn because at the end of it all, you’re so drained from having to deal with all the stuff that happens at a mixer and you feel like you invested so much of your life into this one event.”

Konduru split 2500 dollars in profits 50-50 with his partner from Monta Vista, donating his half to charity for a friend’s of-

ficer campaign. After an exhausting day of overseeing the actual event, however, he had thoughts about taking some money in order to compensate for his hard work.

“Honestly speaking, I would have taken the money, or some money, but my parents wouldn’t let me, after seeing things that happened at the mixer. If it weren’t for them, I probably would have pocketed some of the cash,” he said. Konduru’s experiences show how easy it is for the students who plan mixers to want to steal from the profits. Rather than waiting for an outside source to prevent the scams from happening, students should stem the temptation of stealing by not even holding the charity mixer in the first place.

Other than the questionable money handling that occurs, because mixers are associated with drinking and drugs, they are inappropriate events for clubs to advocate.

“I don’t think people should hold mixers for charity. If something illegal happens at a mixer—which is bound to happen—then the organization could be associated with that kind of inappropriate behavior,” Konduru said. Not only would mishaps give the charity a bad name, the clubs would look bad too.

Another large area of concern is liability.

Since many students who hold mixers are

holding them under the name of clubs on campus, there is a potential problem that the school would have when dealing with liability.

Assistant Principal David Erwin said, “When problems arise between the event and the venue, vendors or attendees, they seek a remedy to the situation from the school; however, the school or district had nothing to do with the event.”

This causes unnecessary complications for mixer coordinators and school administration.

Students holding mixers without any school affiliation should make it clear to attendees that the event is not sponsored by the school or district in any way.

Clubs that do hold charity mixers under the name of the school need to actually follow the procedures stated in the “Fundrais-

ing” section of the Club Handbook in order to properly handle planning and profits.

Questionable intentions of holding a mixer come to light when marketing strategies become geared toward entertainment rather than donation. One example is cheaper ticket prices for girls. Meant to encourage more female attendance, this tactic takes away from the purpose of holding the mixer: raising money for charity.

Otherwise, students who plan mixers should have total transparency. One option that is currently used by many mixer planners is posting a picture of the donation receipt in the event group. At least in that case, attendees can see how much money went to the cause that was originally advertised.

Kang said, “The problem is, people aren’t held accountable for donating or not donating to the charities they say they will give the money to. In the end, most people just go to the mixer, have fun and forget that it’s for charity, and that just makes it easier for the organizers to pocket the money without feeling guilty.”

Let students rest after AP tests

A

P testing is one of the most stressful times of the year for students, but oftentimes administrative functions merely get in the way. If all teachers have different policies for making up work, it becomes difficult for students to keep pace with their classes while juggling AP exams.

Instead, a uniform policy should be put into place that excuses students from class and allows them to make up work during AP testing.

Senior Shaelyn Silverman was unable to complete classwork that was assigned during several AP testing days she missed. “I had no idea what was going on, but it was still due for me the same day as everyone else,” said Silverman. “It’s just a lot of stress on students to catch up on work that they miss, and I know sometimes it affects people’s AP tests too as they’re stressing during the test about everything else they need to do.”

French teacher Valerie Amzallag’s current policy allows students to make up for-credit work missed during AP testing, but the work is due the same day it is for students who attend class. “It’s an excused absence, but it’s not an excuse to not do work. It’s not different than any other missing days.”

Despite teacher efforts, students that take multiple AP exams have difficulty completing days worth of work in less time than usual. A uniform policy would allow students to have one less thing on their minds. Considering that the school expects students to take AP tests, score well and maintain our good reputation, it should provide students with a more suitable environment to do so in return.

“I think they shouldn’t do work that’s going to be counted as points or for credit

[during that week] because it’s just a lot of stress on students to catch up on work that they miss,” said Silverman.

Other teachers do not allow students to make up work for absences during AP testing if their parents have not called in to the attendance office. Much of the time, the policy for making up work is up to teacher discretion. “It’s up to the teacher,” said chemistry teacher Jon Penner. “Legally you could say that you’re getting a zero for that assignment.”

Some teachers believe that a uniform policy would not make a beneficial impact.

“Every AP teacher is a little bit different,” said Penner. “They all want to do their own thing. They don’t want anyone telling them what to do.”

But since many teachers excuse student absences and allow them to make up work for credit, students expect other teachers to do the same. When these other teachers refuse to excuse students from class and assignments, an uncomfortable rift is created between them and their students.

This problem could be remedied by introducing a uniform policy, so students would not criticize teachers’ decisions.

A uniform policy would establish a clear understanding of the school’s expectations for students during AP testing and avoid arguments between students and teachers over making up work.

Furthermore, the timing of AP tests is often variable and subject to change, making students incapable of attending class at the expected time. For example, the AP Chemistry exam ended late at 12:30 p.m., prompting some teachers to treat studet absences as cuts.

Because of these inconsistencies, it is difficult to know which classes students should be expected to attend. A uniform policy ensures that students would not be marked down for absences that are out of their control.Junior Michael Sheng said, “If the teacher punishes the student for not showing up and missing important information, that’s counterintuitive because why would they put important information during AP testing? They’ll know that some students will be absent regardless.”

“It would be a lot easier on students if they didn’t require us to go to class after. Everyone’s just too tired to learn,” said Silverman.

It is unrealistic to expect students to be mentally prepared for class after testing.

“After three or four hours of AP, if you’re in my class, you’ll be a zombie,” said Amzallag.

Combined with the mental stress and the huge load that students take on, AP testing is often too unwieldy of an ordeal to handle with school at the same time.

In order to make it easier to deal with student absences during AP testing week, the school should issue a uniform policy excusing students from class after AP testing.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KHAYA BHATIA

Cords are the lone reason I’m still excited for graduation

W

ith graduation season in full swing, I feel the need to address an issue that has been tossed around recently. The argument that I am referring to is centered on cords, those lovely loops of colored twine that graduating students adorn themselves with to display their accomplishments for all to see.

The problem is, there seems to be an idea being spread around that cords are not very important. This rumor says that cords cause more trouble than good. The creators of this viewpoint even have the audacity to imply that cords should be abolished at Lynbrook.

Fortunately, I am here to put an end to such nonsense. Cords are an absolutely vital part of the graduation experience, and to think otherwise is ridiculous.

Cords make for an excellent fashion statement at graduation. The cap and gown look nice, but are a little on the plain side. The whole outfit just pops when a cord or two is added to the ensemble. Getting rid of the cord system would deprive graduating students of an opportunity to look their best.

More importantly, cords cannot be done away with because they are a tradition.

These lovely pieces of twine have been worn

by Viking graduates for decades. How could such a deeply rooted system be flawed?

For example, the Ptolemaic model of the universe, with Earth at the center of the solar system, was accepted by scientists for millennia. When Nicolaus Copernicus suggested that the sun might be the solar system’s focal point, the world rightly shunned his outlandish theory.

As we all well know, Copernicus’s idea is foolish and incorrect, since extensive research over the last few centuries has unanimously supported the Ptolemaic system.

Similarly, overturning the established cords system would be the wrong move to make.

Now, there are people who disagree with my viewpoint, despite its unassailable logic.

These irrational grumps believe that cords are misguided and affect students negatively.

“Cords motivate people to join clubs for the sake of getting a cord, not getting something out of the activity,” these people whine.

“Cords become a status symbol, and students that have less of them feel ashamed when they stand in front of everyone on graduation day,” they continue. I readily acknowledge these points and even admit that they hold truth to them when applied to other schools.

When applied to Lynbrook, however, these arguments lose their validity. For the sake of disproving the case which these malcontents make, let us pretend that the assertions listed above are legitimate. This implies that Lynbrook students join clubs just to look more involved. Also, this line of reasoning suggests that Lynbrook is an insanely competitive school in which students are judged by solely the results, not the process. Neither of these statements remotely correlate to the environment at Lynbrook, so clearly the elimination of cords is not a relevant issue at our school.

While I have unquestionably pounded the opposing view into a pulp, I realize that there are still radicals out there who think that cords are not the right thing for Lynbrook.

To these thick-skulled individuals, I can offer only a laugh. These poor souls will spend their high school years developing interests, finding passions and becoming leaders.

In 2015, I will graduate with some of these misguided students. When we walk across the stage and receive our diplomas, those blockheads with their heads full of knowledge and me with my plethora of brightly colored thread, it will be clear who among us is right.

Sleep deprivation ≠ academic excellence

Y

ou hear it almost everyday: groups of people with bags under their eyes comparing the lack of sleep they got the previous night studying, each jockeying for the least amount as if it were a good thing.

As of late, students have adopted the mindset that less sleep one gets, the more academically dedicated one is—a mindset that is completely false.More often than not, sleep deprivation is not the result of hard work, but rather that of a lack of time management, something that students should attempt to fix.

Students who get inadequate sleep every night claim it is because of their large workload or their many extracurricular activities.

While this may be true in some cases, the majority of the time a lack of sleep is the result of a lack of time management and efficiency.

Even with a heavy workload, the majority of the student body should have no problem finishing all that they have to do in the nine hours they have between the end of school and midnight on an average day, leaving plenty of time for an acceptable amount of sleep. Despite this, you still see students frequently complaining about a lack of sleep due to their APLAC research papers and endless APUSH notes, revealing that they are not making full use of the time spend working, and are most likely wasting their time with social media and similar distractions The bottom line is that students who claim to be up all night working are most likely spending more time browsing gag sites than working.

And although some students, such as those in the notorious junior year, might legitimately have enough work to lose out of sleep, some sophomores and even freshmen talk about pulling all-nighters to study, which is frankly ridiculous.

The real problem, however, lies within students’ views towards depriving themselves of sleep due to schoolwork, independent of whether or not they legitimately have the need to do so.

Ironically, a lack of sleep, brought about by a lack of efficiency, has become associated with positive attributes, such as a good work ethic.

It has even gone to the point where sleep deprivation has become something to be proud of in the eyes of students, with the students who get the least sleep viewing themselves as busier than their peers.

This view is completely false, as those who get less sleep are most likely less efficient, not busier or better students. It is also harmful to students, inevitably leading to students getting less and less sleep each night, leading to the many physical and mental problems associated with fatigue.

To combat this, students should ideally focus on efficiency rather than the time spent working to maximize the amount of work done in the least amount of time. This entails avoiding distractions such as social media and instant messaging, prioritizing tasks and managing time well.

But for many students like me, this solution is impossible (I’m chatting with three different people and have Facebook open as I am writing this), so I’m not going to just tell you to work harder.

It’s fine if you aren’t the most efficient worker and miss out on sleep, but what isn’t is coming to school the next day and complaining about it.

Ultimately, breaking the mindset that less sleep equates harder work and focusing on more efficient ways to get work done will help push students’ lives in a better direction.

Don’t hate the k-pop idol, hate the label

BY PRIYA RAVURU

A

t the mention of K-pop, or Korean pop music, many think of plastic surgery, auto-tune and excessive promotion. K-pop celebrities, however, should start being recognized for the blood, sweat and tears they pour into creating the best entertainment they can. Unfortunately, Kpop record labels are often known to lure fans with artists’ physical features rather than anything else, and this gives people the perception that the artists themselves are not talented.

Sophomore Anthony Lee, who is very musically involved, thinks that K-pop music is catchy, but believes it to be overrated.“It does not deserve the craze it gets, since most of the fan girls and boys are attracted to their looks rather than the quality of their songs,” Lee said.

Junior Tiffany Lin is an avid fan of K-pop, and at a certain phase, she was so crazy about it that she blogged about it. “I agree that idols’ images are the number one factor on how many fans they have. ‘Uglier’ idols definitely get hate and fewer fans, but I don’t think they’re talentless. They definitely have talent,” said Lin. In the K-pop industry, image is valued more than talent, but not many know exactly what goes on behind the scenes.

What most people do not understand is that the artists are at the mercy of their record labels, and they do get to make many decisions. So rather than blaming the idols for not being talented, it is actually the record labels that should take the blame. “I actually like K-pop music because it’s catchy and fun to sing along to, but I don’t really like the system of it,” said sophomore Sarah Kim, who auditioned for a Korean record label called YG. Unlike American artists, there is not much freedom of expression for artists under Korean labels when they debut. They do not get to choose how they are portrayed to the public. Artists are also trained heavily for at least two years before being allowed to debut, and along the way, they can be dropped as well.

“Although K-pop artists don’t have as much talent when they first start training, they train really hard [along the way], and I think that it is something to admire,” Kim said.

K-pop idols spend a lot of time and effort in this career. To maintain their images, whenever the artists have to make a public appearance, they are required to wake up as early as 6 a.m. to go to the salon. Then, they spend the rest of the day trying to complete their impossibly busy schedules. Even at 11 p.m., once the artists have completed their

schedules, they must return to the studio to rehearse their performance routines.

In an interview taken from (x)clusive!, Park Jae-Hyun, the General Department Head of Rookie Development Division of Cube Entertainment said, “By the time they head back to their dormitory, they probably only have two hours of sleep, and they repeat their schedules again. It is really tough, so you have to be strong mentally and physically.”

K-pop idols live incredibly stressful lives, and they do it all to bring their best to the stage. Not only is it a challenging career, but it also does not pay much. The majority of profits go toward managers and the record labels.

An incident with a K-pop group called DBSK portrays the unfair practices of these record labels well. The group’s label, SM Entertainment, was over-scheduling these members and it reached a point where three members could not handle the work load. They decided to drop out of the label, despite the act being a breach of contract.

K-pop artists go through so much just to make an honest living, and they deserve more recognition for their hard work and talent. They deserve much more than the hate they receive, since they are only the faces of the performance the label orchestrates.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE SU

Teachers should utilize student input to improve their courses

BY KASTURI PANTVAIDYA

E

ducators are constantly trying to find new ways to better their students, and many feel that the key to this lies in bettering the educators themselves. Lynbrook teachers have implemented teacher evaluations in the past to measure their teaching ability, and although many teachers have found that this strategy is helpful, some feel that it doesn’t affect the students’ education in the long run. Teacher evaluations can prove to be extremely useful in the way that they give teachers a chance to directly address student needs, but these questions must be specific in order to achieve answers that can lead to change.

“Teacher evaluations tell me what helps the students in the most effective way, and using this information, I can adjust my curriculum and approach to better suit their needs,” said French teacher Denise Schang.

Schang not only conducts end of the year evaluations, but also has her students submit smaller evaluation forms every couple of weeks to determine where they are at in the class and what she can do to help.

“When I first started the system, I took the students’ comments personally,” said Schang. “Then, I realized that teachers are not perfect. There is always some way to refine yourself and this worked well for me.”

Similarly to Schang, business teacher Andrea Badger believes that students are the ones who can provide the most valuable insight for the topic, given that they are exposed to a variety of teachers and teaching styles during their time in school.

“As a business person, I view my teaching as my product and students as my target market,” said Badger, Typically, she asks students what their favorite and least favorite parts of the class were, what ideas they have for activities related to the content they learned and what she did that was helpful.

On the other hand, English teacher Connie Willson does not require students to submit evaluations because she feels that they do not always help in the long run.

“Many students don’t take it seriously, and I have experienced that sometimes the teacher takes the comments more personally than he or she should,” said Willson.

Though evaluations can help improve a

teacher’s skills and curriculum, the evaluation itself must be effective and comprehensive to focus on teachers’ development in various instructional areas. Evaluations must pose questions pertaining to the way specific units were taught, rather than how the student felt about the whole year. This way, staff members obtain direct input about how they can better teach certain topics rather than vague, general feedback about the whole year. Questions must ask what method or activity works best for the student, what works the least, what learning style is the most helpful (visual, auditory, etc.), and what are some specific improvements that the teacher can make.

It is beneficial for faculty members to have a shared understanding of what kind of teaching best suits students’ needs to gauge how to best engage them in learning. Teachers can improve evaluations with consistent feedback from students, classroom observation and discussion among staff. When conducted with the right specific questions, these evaluations can help shape a teacher and his or her curriculum for years to come.

I

t was a Wednesday evening when I met my demise.

My heart pounded as I walked into Smoke Eaters. I was nervous, yes, but still wasn’t sure how bad the widely feared Hellfire Challenge would actually be. After I informed the cashier of my intentions, he gave me a look that pretty much said, “You have no clue what you’re in for.” And how right he was—those wings destroyed me. Despite the numerous YouTube videos I had watched of people suffering, I felt somewhat confident in my ability to handle the spice. I don’t think I’ve ever been more wrong in my life.

Before leaving home, I loaded up on yogurt to protect my stomach from the impending storm that would take place. But to no avail, as the wings were merciless as soon as they entered my mouth.

As soon as I placed the order, I made my way, halfstumbling, to a bar stool and took a seat. I sat there, waiting, trembling inside. I looked up at a TV in the restaurant to take my mind off of what was to come and decided to watch some basketball—only to discover that the Miami HEAT was playing. I looked back toward the kitchen to see if my order was almost ready, when my eyes met those of an employee’s, who smirked and shook his head at me. He had probably seen countless, cocky others like me try the challenge only to be served a fat slice of humble pie minutes later. But being the ignorant person I am, I was determined to challenge that.

After what felt like an eternity, my buzzer finally vibrated on the table. At that moment, my stomach fluttered and I did not quite know what to do. Eventually, I thought “Oh, what the hell, how bad can it really be?” and went to get my food (if those spice-coated monsters can even be considered food).

Then I saw them. It was not until I got close and smelled them that my morale plummeted. It was hard to believe that there was actually chicken among the pure habanero pepper paste smothered everywhere.

Also, I don’t think I will ever forget their putrid scent .

I returned to my seat, set the plate of wings down and waited while one of the employees prepared the

timer (participants have 10 minutes to eat all 12 wings, followed by a five minute “burn” period).

Initially, the wings were not as bad as I thought they would be. Once I finished the third one, however, my entire face and throat were on fire. I let out a heavy roar (as captured in the main photo to the right), as if it would help me power through the remaining wings, only to squeal in pain a couple bites later.

As I began the fourth wing, I knew I was approaching my threshold for such physical suffering. After I forced the last bit of the wing down my throat, I decided to call it quits.

Perhaps I could have had a fifth one, but I wanted to spare myself from more agony.

I quickly grabbed several napkins along with a nearby jug of milk. While chugging the milk, I headed straight for the bathroom to wash my hands and face. The thick sauce took a while to wash off my fingers, and I noticed in the mirror that my eyes were bloodshot and tears were rolling down my face. At that point, I couldn’t even feel my eyes anyway, so I wasn’t too worried about them.

After repeatedly taking gulps of milk, moaning and hating myself for putting my body through all the misery, the heat calmed down a little, at least enough to let me clear my senses and decide to head home.

As I made my way to my car, I felt a rumble in my stomach, and I suddenly knew what was about to take place. I proceeded to violently vomit out everything I had eaten, including the yogurt I had eaten as a precautionary measure (haha). And, to quote Ron Burgundy from Anchorman, “milk was a bad choice.” It certainly did not sit well in my stomach with all those wings.

The stomach ache that ensued was one of the worst parts of the whole ordeal. As soon as I arrived back at my house, I took some Pepto Bismol, crawled into a ball on a couch and napped for an hour or so.

My taste buds were impaired for a day or so afterwards, and the smell didn’t leave my fingers for a couple days. All I know is that I’ll probably never do that again in my life.

I would recommend anyone who previously considered attempting this challenge to not do it, and to those of you who still remain undeterred, all I can say is that you better know what you’re in for. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

JOEY LI —EPIC

BY VIK WAGHRAY

BY SHOUVIK MANI

I

nteract District 5170, which includes Lynbrook, raised $98,000 and worked 68,000 service hours in an effort to stem illiteracy in Bangladesh this year. The Lynbrook Interact Club itself raised $2,500 and contributed 1,200 hours towards the effort through various events such as the Walk, the Inter-Key Dance and International Night.

Interact District 5170, which includes high school Interact clubs from all over the Bay Area, is the largest Interact district in the world. In addition to providing local community service, District 5170 organizes an international project in partnership with a charity organization every year. This year’s partner was Room to Read, an organization that tackles various educational issues in developing countries by promoting literacy and gender equality. Through this partnership, Interact decided to combat illiteracy in Bangladesh, a country with a literacy rate of 56.8 percent, which is one of the lowest in South Asia.

“Room to Read is a global organization that is not just limited to Bangladesh. But we decided to focus our efforts into Bangladesh because you can really see the fruits of your efforts when they are focused,” said Interact Area 12 Representative junior Akruti Gupta, who coordinated fundraisers with other Interact Clubs in the Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD).

Interact District 5170 funded three distinct projects in Bangladesh through Room to Read: $10,000 for building a library, $75,000 for constructing a school and $15,000 for publishing a book. In total, this amounted to a fundraising goal of $100,000. These programs are geared towards making both a short and long-term impact at the local level. For instance,

the book will be a local language publication developed by Bangladeshi authors and illustrators. It will be written in Bengali, Bangladesh’s national language.

“While the tangible, short-term impact would be to have a library built and a book published, in the long-term, these kids will have the education they need to get out of the vicious cycle of poverty,” Gupta said.

Funds for the project were primarily raised through areawide events like the Walk, the Inter-Key Dance and International Night. International Night, which was Interact’s biggest event of the year, raised $6,000 towards the effort. At this event, there were performances from various groups in Interact Area 12, which consists of the Interact clubs in FUHSD. “International Night has become sort of a tradition now since we have been doing it for nine years. Each year we have a different theme. This year, it was ‘Under the Sea,’” said Interact Webmaster junior Michael Lin. Although the project was intended to have a global impact, it has had a local effect as well. Officers and members alike have benefited from being part of an effort larger than themselves. For example, members developed leadership skills by organizing fundraisers for the project.

“As Area 12 Representative, I worked with a lot of Interact members on planning and executing the project,” Gupta said.

“So naturally, I was able to learn about my strengths as well as my shortfalls as a leader and a team player.”

According to Interact Co-President and Area 12 Director senior Dylan Chiu, the coordination and teamwork required to execute such a large-scale fundraising effort has built character among Interact members. “We do the international project not just to serve our global community but also to develop leadership skills among our members,” Chiu said.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY PRASANN RANADE

Interact fights illiteracy in Bangladesh

High school, high fashion How to not be bored over the summer It’s summer. You don’t know how you could feel this way—it’s the break you’ve been yearning for since August—but you’re out of things to do. Chronic online shopping (a.k.a adding things to your cart and then closing the tab) has sustained you for so long, and now it’s time to get out of that house and do something that involves muscles. You feel ready to go out and carpe the crap out of that diem. You just need that push before what should’ve been an unforgettable summer turns into another one of the “what-could’vebeen”s that you’re already too familiar with.

So here’s a list of things, in no particular order, that’ll keep you from being bored during the summer.

Learn to cook anything

You finally have the time. This challenge includes mixing drinks (read: virgin) or at least making sure you know how to identify your powdery white substances by something other than the label. Odds are you’ll thank me for this when you’re in college during finals week, barricaded in your fortress of a dorm with the knowledge of this dish to keep your body performing its most basic functions. Otherwise, it’s a great way to broaden your skill set and give you that sense of accomplishment that getting through high school can barely compare to.

Write Paula Deen a letter using only butter She’ll thank you by using it in her next special, “Every Paula Deen Recipe.”

Go to Kohl’s and ask for coals

Bring a friend and count how many people roll their eyes at the two of you. This is one of those items on the #bucketlist that doesn’t have any real life application besides causing some justified, angry tweets.

PHOTOS BY JOEY LI

BY KHAYA BHATIA

Z

andra Rhodes Unseen. Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Valentino: Master of Couture. These are among the most famous fashion shows held around the world. Every year, many acclaimed fashion designers host fashion shows to showcase their new designs.

Because fashion shows are crucial to the fashion industry, InDesign and ASB gave Lynbrook students a similar experience through Metamorphosis: A Trip through the Seasons, this year’s fashion show.

Inspired by the themes of fashion shows in London and New York, InDesign officers and the ASB social committee made this year’s theme the seasons of a year, a broad topic that can encompass the designers’ pieces. There were five sets of designs being displayed—Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring and New Year’s Eve, in which each set is defined by its pieces. For example, the summer set of designs includes bright colors, while the winter set comprises of furs, knits and outerwear.

Designer and Special Teacher of InDesign, Rachel Tu, made the most designs with 23 pieces.

“I made my favorite design, which is a dress with duct tape lining and a collage of cutouts from fashion magazines and I

made a giant skirt with cones of newspaper,” said Tu. ASB has increased publicity in the hopes of encouraging more students to attend.

“ASB has done a lot more advertisement, including a photo-shoot with some of the designs,” said junior and InDesign treasurer Jessica Wu. InDesign’s strong relationship with The Academy of Salon Professionals and The Tuxedo Warehouse has been beneficial in helping the club prepare for the show. This year, the Tuxedo Warehouse donated 12 old tuxedos, six of which have already been transformed into new designs.

“The relationship with Academy and Tuxedo Warehouse has been really beneficial,” said Tu. “We can take a line of different tuxedos that no one wants and turn them into something new. ” With unique designs, an increase in advertisement, help from the Academy of Salon Professionals and the Tuxedo Warehouse, InDesign and ASB was well-prepared to showcase Lynbrook student’s creative designs.

“Our vision for the show is like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly,” said Wu. “We start the show subtly and finish with a grand ending.”

To read the full version of this story, visit lhsepic.com

HIGH FASHION|Top: June Hong, Natalie Popescue and Rishi Debnath. Bottom: Caitlyn Liao.

Take a nap in the bed section of Bed, Bath and Beyond

You can pretend you’re Gatsby, owning all these fancy beds, admiring your wealth. Lie down and reach dramatically for the ceiling lights as if they were green.

Watch those movies everyone else has seen, especially the classics

I’ve never seen Star Wars. Or Trek. I spent my childhood watching cartoons about this monkey dude who followed a priest dude so the priest could read a book that would make him live forever. It’s actually a classic. But make sure to catch up with all those classic films, so when you go to college and people quote these movies, you’ll be able to deftly fake laugh your way out.

So there you go! A nowhere near complete list of things to do to make your summer worthwhile. With those magnificent two months of liberation, I hope you have a good time choosing from the above list as well as making up some of your own to get the most out of your break.

On that note, it’s time to say goodbye to the great run we’ve had this year. I can’t express how grateful I am for this column and the readers and staffers who encourage my monthly snarking.

Thanks,

Yunqing Chen

BY KELSEY HURWITZ

O

h, Gatsby. Let me qualify this review by saying that I had high expectations for this movie. Having just finished the book and seen all of the dazzling trailers they’d been pumping, I was super psyched to get my Gatsby fix.

Yet, when I walked out of the theatre I realized that I didn’t really have strong emotions toward the film. It wasn’t exactly good or bad, it was just okay.

To begin, the cinematography was excellent. Every color was its boldest, jewels shined a little more, and I felt the riches of 1920s New York all around me.

The characters seemed to glow in the same way that models tend to in luxurious perfume ads. However, the beautiful picture was sometimes a bit over-edited and made me cynically think about how much of the movie was computer done.

The music throughout the movie threw me off a bit, and it made this version distinctly different than the original film. The songs were modern with jazzy undertones that made it work with the era in an odd way. Though the beats worked and fit for the feeling of the film,

the lyrics were too modern at times and clashed with the feeling of the era.

The costumes in this movie were absolutely gorgeous. The suits were tailored and the dresses were decorated from neckline to hem with fringe, beads, feathers--the works! Everything had all of the glamour that one would imagine to find at a Gatsby party.

For me, the acting started off a bit rough. It took some time to accept that these actors were the characters they were playing. The scene that finally convinced me to believe in them was when Nick invites Daisy over for tea so Gatsby can talk to her. Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as Gatsby totally stole the scene and that was the first time that I felt like he was really into the part. Another thing I enjoyed about DiCaprio was that as many times as he was forced to say “Old sport” it didn’t bother me nearly as much as it did in the novel.

Overall, I thought that the movie stayed true to the novel. There weren’t any major plot changes and the characters looked and acted as you would imagine them to. On the downside, Jordan’s character was barely developed in

the movie--she golfs, but all the complexities of her character are left out.

But on the bright side, Gatsby’s desperation definitely comes through, and he’s as suave as he’s depicted to be in the book. Daisy’s voice was just the right pitch and she used phrases like “he’s an absolute rose” without sounding too ridiculously absurd.

In the movie more attention is given to her eyes whereas the novel gives more description to her voice. Nick may have seemed more adventurous in the movie than his book character, but I’d say he fit the role well. Tom looked the part and had the stature of the man that Fitzgerald portrayed in his novel; however, I felt that he wasn’t forceful or aggressive enough.

Wilson and Myrtle, were both portrayed very accurately to the book, and made large impacts with smaller roles.

Overall, the movie didn’t leave me feeling much of anything. Some characters drew me into the scenes, yet despite the good acting in many of the scenes, I was left lacking emotions toward the movie as a whole.

O

nce you break someone’s pride, they’ll do everything they can to get it back,” said senior Fleford Redoloza. Since last year, he has been designing and creating what his friends call “confidence crushers,” or simple, unassuming mechanical puzzles that turn out to be much harder than they seem.

Redoloza’s fascination with puzzle making began while trying to solve a simple wire puzzle last year. After being stumped for hours, Redoloza tried a different approach.

“I suddenly thought, ‘Why don’t I try looking at it from the point of view of the puzzlemaker?’” said Redoloza. “‘How would I make it?’”

Within the next 30 minutes, Redoloza had solved the puzzle and discovered his new favorite hobby: puzzle making. Starting with simple wire puzzles, Redoloza realized that the opportunities for creativity were endless.

“No matter how many times I bend and twist this wire I know it’ll still be solvable,” said Redoloza. “You can make art in whatever way you want because you know it will always work.”

Beyond wire puzzles, Redoloza also crafts more complex 2-D and 3-D puzzles with simple tools and recycled materials. To make one of his tray puzzles, for example, Redoloza simply constructed a tray out of a used wood board, super glue and popsicle sticks and reused old Pentomino pieces. For his 3-D burr puzzles, Redoloza uses the 3-D Art room’s band saw.

As he began showing his puzzles to friends, however, Redoloza discovered that the true joy lies not in making the puzzles, but in watching others as they try to solve them.

“I don’t make puzzles for myself – I make puzzles for other people. The thrill comes from giving it to someone and watching their reaction,” said Redoloza.

“I have seen everything from profuse swearing to standing up in class and cheering,” said senior Gogol Bhattacharya. “My favorite part of the reaction is the moment of pure shock as everyone who solves one of his puzzles realizes, ‘Oh my God! I found it!’ Then, people just go crazy.”

To design each of his puzzles, which can take from weeks to months, Redoloza follows a three-

SAVE $100

Fleford Redoloza, Puzzle Maker

BY HENRY SHANGGUAN

PHOTOS BY JOEY LI

WHEN YOU CALL BEFORE 06/30/2013

7335 Bollinger Road, Suite A Cupertino CA 95014 (408) 996-1200

step process: goal, restrictions, and design.

“I am currently pursuing simplicity. I want to make puzzles so simple that anyone would be willing to play with them,” said Redoloza.

Because his tools have limitations, however, Redoloza must set restrictions on his designs to ensure that they are feasible. With his goal and restrictions in mind, Redoloza turns to software such as Burr Tools which, with given parameters and constraints, will run for hours to generate all possible puzzle layouts.

“The most time-consuming part is figuring out the structure and waiting for the computer,” said Redoloza. “You have to tell it exactly what you want. It’s like debugging when you program.”

Finally, Redoloza sifts through the designs and picks the one that best achieves his goal. To create puzzles that seem simple at first glance yet are much more difficult to solve, Redoloza focuses mainly on designs that challenge conventional thinking and stump those who refuse to think outside the box. In doing so, Redoloza discovered that at the most basic level, puzzle making is simply psychology.

“People think that just because you have square pieces, the pieces have to touch at 90 degree angles. The real solution is putting them at different angles,” said Redoloza. “People think there won’t be enough space but in reality it’s the only solution.”

While most simply admit surrender to Redoloza’s “confidence crushers,” some have prevailed.

“I was actually able to solve a few,” said Bhattacharya. “I am always curious as to the caliber of the mind that creates these puzzles.”

About a year and a half since he began, Redoloza now has 25 custom puzzles under his belt. With one made as a birthday gift and another dedicated to his former math teacher, James Bradac, each puzzle carries its own unique story.

Although Redoloza does not plan to pursue puzzle making as a career, his decision to study geology at UC Santa Cruz stems from the same interest in the magic behind how things work.

New puzzles or not, the thrill of watching others battle his puzzles will not be getting old for Redoloza anytime soon.

PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION OF KATHLEEN SUN

PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION OF LAUREN TAI

PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION OF LAUREN TAI

PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION OF AUSTIN YU

Freshman year: lost, snuck on campus to claim the perfect locker, ambitious about the future, eager to begin a new journey, fascinated at how cool uppermen were, tried out everything, short, awkward, shy, slept before midnight, worshipped cafeteria food, PE, no idea what homecoming was, first Valks baked potato, baby blue, long block periods, the glorious food club days, overall fascination and excitement

Sophomore year: SATs, slightly more knowledgable, still immature, integrated, the beginning of a Homecoming legacy, facepaint at 7am, white on white, chemistry, honors classes, discovering passions, jump jump jump like a kangaroo, new field, sophomore powderpuff win, movember, flex lab, building up good study skills, responsibilities, sitting behind the wheel for the first time, anxious about junior year Junior year: stress, APs, cars and off-campus lunches, little sleep, questioning the meaning of life, discovering personal identity, striving to be the best, competition, survival of the fittest, tests and more tests, homecoming football victory, teenage angst, independence, for you I will, learning to prioritize, link crew leaders, upperclassmen, pushed like we’ve never been pushed before, made it out alive

Senior year: the last of everything, bittersweet, college applications, lots of writing, research papers, second semester, feeling of closure, looking towards the future, passing on resposibilities, role models, 18 #legal, first row parking, red, last final moments, seeing those you probably won’t see again, tears, letting go, growing up, relief, finally, relfection, everlasting memories and friendships, unforgettable

I, Aaron Chien, bequeath Nancy to Divya, my work ethic to Annie, Betty, and Jessica, my spoon of champions to Vincent, negative points to Jane and Michelle, thumb kisses to Dara, my best wishes to Claireric, the Prophecy to Sophia, and the Will of Fire to Ryan.

I, Aaron Yuan, bequeath SciClub to James Ma, my high release to Steven Hao, scibowl skillz to Nithin Buduma, Sniffer to Emily Su (or the highest bidder), Sock tan to Andy Wang, Name Recall to Allie Young, perfect pitch to Jeffrey Chang, and my house to Dolly and Josh.

I, Abhishek Fatehpuria, bequeath a lemur to keep Shritama company throughout senior year, the laps and bleachers I refused to run this season to Eric Chuu, and a calendar to Lynbrook Speech and Debate to stay on schedule.

I, Adam Sciupac, bequeath Tim Lincecum to Jessica Wu, my virtuosic guitar skillz to Ryan Lin and Jesse Wang. Guitar Club 4 Lyfe. My torque wrench to Brian Esquivel, my pimp van to Jasmine Johnston, and Huy Bui to Quyen Bui.

I, Albert Chang, bequeath my CSF sweater to Elsie, Soonho Kwon to Andrew Lee, the power of ƒ5.6 and VR to Dara and Joey, my full frame sensor and fast glass to Reggie, a free breakfast to Monica, color matching skills to Sarah, and computer duties to Jerstern.

I, Albert Xu, bequeath my senioritis and #swiftlyfe to Jess, late night chick flicks to Cat, “real” to Brandon/Real, singing skills and airbending to Anna, swag to Tim, and the powers of the Avatar to Keffrey: I believe he can save the world.

I, Alex Lee, bequeath FBLA and hopefully snobby east coast hangouts to Angela Kong and Sarah Tang, best wishes and good luck being the last one left to Eric Zeng!

I, Alexander Lin, bequeath my brotherhood to Hubert and lab perfection skills to Alex and Vik. I, Alex Tsai, bequeath the reminder in Jeremiah 29:11 of God’s awesome plans to Joseph Zhang, Michael Wong, Wesley Cheng, and Winston Lan,as well as a cool little buddy next year to my cool little buddy this year,Caitlin Lee.

I, Amanda Lu, bequeath Canada to Jenny Xie, my derp to Nanxi Wang, my twisted eternal love to Katie Lam, my ladder to Ziqi Chen, my badminton Commanda status to Anna Her, my spidey-senses to Davis Catolico, and my battle cries to the Lynbrook Badminton team.

I, Amy Lien, bequeath apples to Nancy, unicorns to Kirsten, Ven Conmigo to Prachi, nice phrases to Melody, doors to Wes, last-minute song changes to Jamie, Realidades fun to Aly, Tee-hees to Esther, hugs to Holly, Monica, Sandra, and Krissy, and all love to my soccer girls and CIA family.

I, Anamika Kumpawat, bequeath Priyanka Chandra for a long life with her tennis racket, all my polo peeps for making this season awesome, Kavvya and Marnie for reminding me how I broke the fetling knife, to Andrea Hofman for being the best friend I could have ever asked for, to Alex for being my 4th period friend, and to me for making it through all these years of high school.

I, Andrea Christensen, bequeath DP to Stella Ambers, my amazing memory to Alisa, all my remaining sass to Sana, my pitch perfect singing to Freya, the city life to Nathan, love for In-N-Out to Neil, and my drama prowess to Rags & Lauren.

I, Andrea Tucker, bequeath my title and knowledge to Sharon, my sabor skills and love for food to Annie, my free time to read fanfics to Tasha and my rifle muscles to Valerie.

I, Andrew Wang, bequeath my mandou buns to James Lee, my arm/leg hairs to Reo Shibatsuji, and boba to Jenny Ho.

I, Andy Tsai, bequeath more JSA close shaves to Michael and Amy, my glorious falsetto to the choir boys, my classroom dancing to the sopranos, block period naps to Patrick and Victor, and our link crew kids to Niknaz.

I, Aneesh Sreedhar, bequeath being all the protection to Divya Saha, the Giants snap with paint to Jessica Wu 55 to Jr,. Daps and Big ups to Dara. The King fanship to ducks and the wholesome goodness of Five guys to Kasturi who flakes!

I, Anish Dhar, hereby bequeath to Eloy Fernandez all my love, Adhiv Dhar my tennis rackets, Mark Lee my Yu-GiOh! cards, Safwan Siddiqi my doo rags, and Rahul Iyer my swaaag.

I, Ann Xu, bequeath my buzzer smashing and all my love to the Japan Bowl kouhai, pointed feet to color guard, hugs to Jessica Lin, a free PMT to Tasha Tchetchetkine, and the color murple to Angela Qiu. I, Anthony Huang, bequeath my compilation of sand, track niblettes, and bib pins to my track folks and my rock collection to Anjali.

I, Arjun Manimaran, bequeath my devilish good looks to Aneesh Vempaty, my half-court shots that vaporize the competition to Ajay Subramaniam, and my super stealth to Adhithya Kannan.

I, Arnold Tao, bequeath my courage in the face of slenderman to Eric Wu, lack of tanning abilities to Kathy Jang, deep conversations to Ethan Lai, hatred for recycling projects to Roger Chen, math gossip sessions to Elsie Wang, and stellar driving skills to Pamela Tao.

I, Arun Giridharan, bequeath the drumline to James Nishijima and Frank Lee, the percussion section to Emily Su and Arijit Majumdar and the blue table to Vidur Sanandan, in

hopes that they can continue the traditions that we leave behind.

I, Ashley Shak, bequeath my good times to Neil, my Nice to Nathan, my love for Freshmen to Dara and Negin, my quirks to Sam, my hugs to Barbara, my piano playing skills to Carlo, and nothing to Stella. Just kidding, my street smarts!

I, Austin Yu, bequeath Sam, Vik, and Joey a year free of rocks and stones and many triumphs. To Sasha, I bequeath successes and a boost in confidence; to Monypls I bequeath more sass; to J.Wu, I bequeath great music, and to Jsung, I bequeath stress relief and true happiness.

I, Brandon Wei, bequeath my outstanding work ethic and sense of responsibility to Alexander Romanovsky, my Most Outstanding Marcher Award to Ethan Wang (he better win,) my coolness to Nancy Zhou, all of my food to Lucy Li, and my cool clarinet to Patrick Kim. I, Brian Axelrod, bequeath my hope for the future and vocal voice in robotics to Raphael and Rahul. To Anurag, Miles, Angela and Patrick I bequeath a crazy, rewarding build. And most importantly, to Philip Axelrod, I bequeath all my luck and willingness to take on challenges.

I, Brina Woolhiser, bequeath my unleaded heart to Alisa Milman, my fight for equality to Raj Chanda, my love of art to Harriet and Vasudha, my open mind and some what intelligence to Sneha Mohidekar, My Riddles to Susie Mallison, and lastly my tech skills to Sam and Sauna.

I, Bruce Zhang, bequeath my intense XC aptitude of 1 year to Ben, Reggie, Andrew, and Joey, my attention span in the morning to Jessica, the Blue Pearl Bar to my minio- I mean apprentices Eric and Michael, and something that I’ll figure out later for Allie.

EVOS, memberdeca, and yololsen (please not yoloswag) in DECA to Henry Shangguan and Timothy Lin; and warm fuzzies in Interact to Akruti Gupta and Gaby Chan. Make it great! <3

I, Dylan Chiu, bequeath my passion for Interact to Akruti and Gaby and the rest of the officers. My potent hatred for stupidity to Tiffany. My consulting skills, NCHS, Meimei and integrity to Holly. A gravitational sharp object to Andrew Huang and driving skills to the three stooges!

I, Edward Yeh, bequeath my awesome baking skills to Tilly Nguyen, my japanese prowess to Albert Yang, my height to Sabrina Fan, my power to believe to Gianna Wu, my randomness to Kimberly Zee, and the high jump mats to William Hao and Reyjay Conners.

I, Eesha Khare, bequeath my love, passion and optimism to the most amazing person in the world who doesn’t even need all these bequeathals—Somya Khare. I know that she will be successful and happy in whatever she does and I hope she continues staying so caring and so sweet. Thank you for being the best sister I could ever ask for. To Kristina Okamoto, Lillian Wu and Jocelyn Cheung, I bequeath my field hockey jigs, my lovely songs and my “wall” skills.

To Prasann Ranade, I bequeath my angelic nature and my Indian heart. To Yamini Patibandla, I bequeath love for helping others and my Pre-Med club presidency. To Neha Sharma, I bequeath my love for Spanish and enthusiasm for its culture. To Sam Chang and Vik Waghray, I bequeath my Epic love for not food and all of our friendly fighting spirit. To Lynbrook High School, I bequeath my enthusiasm and utmost gratitude to an amazing four years here in high school—explore and build friendships and you will always be happy.

I, Eileen Chien, bequeath Jialin Lee unlimited visits to see me next year and my love for all types of food.

I, Chap-Long Lau, bequeath our late night philosophical talks and not so philosophical ones to Sid Malladi, my catchphrases and love of good food to Janselle Justo, and a pack of AMC tickets to the art group of period four. Thanks guys :)

I, Emily Fong, bequeath my polo girls my ability to keep Kenny cool during practices and games; to my Lady Vikes, my energy during games; to Elaine, my dance moves; to my swimmers, my persuasion to get coaches to give us food and my impeccable driving abilities; to Paige, my dribbling skills and fabulous singing voice.

I, Cheryl Sun, bequeath 1D and parades to Katko, singing Celine Dion to Victoria, Spanish adventures to Elsie, CDA to Amy and Allie, bluebird anger to Joan and Annette, bumpy gloves to Rachel, and infinite amounts of love to my baby sister Shirley.

I, Eric Xu, bequeath my life advice to Emily, a single sock to Linda, chess captaincy to Edward, my cramming skills to Jesse, a year with Mrs. N to Sarah and Ruchi, dinner party conversations to Helen, all of my meanness to Nancy, Kenny’s legacy to Eric, and Gilbert’s eternal friendship to Angela.

I, Charlene Chen, bequeath my bubbliness to my carrot baby, Caroline Lee, my diligence to my lil bro, Reo Shibatsuji, my glamour and planning skills to Amy Lin. My fearlessness to my soccer girlies: Monica Ou, Kirsten Chai, Taylor Basin, Prachi Jha. And my personality to my minime, Eunice Ko.

I, Chinmayi Manjunath, bequeath to Nikki Girish my Sleeping Beauty barbie doll, to Manasa Padmanabhan, my impeccable taste in [censored], and to Christine Wang, absolutely nothing.

I, Christina Day, bequeath Leeteuk’s famous quote and turtles to Cathy; mad FYCO skills to Catherine, Amy, Adam, Cheyenne; Suona power to Matthew Blackburn; MBLAQ, SHINee, EXO peeps to Rachel, Jessie, Claire, Tiffany; fun baddy times to Medha, Crystal and Jenny; neighborly love to Chloe; Cathy to Marian and Katie I, Christina Zhu, bequeath my siblings Eugenie Zhu, Angela Zhu, Patrick Zhu, and Annie Zhu my APLIT skills so they know how to delve; to Jessica Shi and Emily Liu, my DECA experience in hopes it helps win big fat trophies; Eloy Fernandez, my Pokemon mastery. Remember to use sunscreen!

I, Christopher Wong, bequeath whales to my freshmen Merm, Ali, Nikhi, EJ and my 21 Jump Street and Mean Girls referances go to Sierra. Annie I give you food from all the times went to grab a bite. I still continue to go deeeeeepa with Ali Patrick and James. Love you guys.

I, Clarence Tan, bequeath an apple to Jacob, my Statistics knowledge to Alex, Daniel, and Jesse, time management to Victor, a house in Illinois to Connor, right stuff membership to Eric, physics jokes to Andrew and Andy, and my beloved room and car to Valerie. Have a great 3 years!

I, Daniel Sun, bequeath my voice cracks/drill-downs to Emily, dancer facials to Claire, sprinter work ethic to Gianna/Kathy/Claire, purple+neon4lyfe to Davis/Andy, pride in plastic bassoons to Margaret/Tvisha, all things JSA to Amy/Michael, ghettodancemoves to Jenny/both Amys, spirit, shameless rally facepaint/hairspray and love for my class to Emily/Claire.

I, Danny Nguyen, bequeath Rishabh, Gary, DP, and Matt the team room. And to my angels Grace and Elle a free pass to heaven.

I, David Tsai, bequeath to Karen Hao the ability to embrace awkwardness with open arms, to Joey Li, bacon and lettuce, to Raam Nachiappan, Eric Chuu, Eloy Fernandez, and Andrew Huang, a set of tangos to fight over, to Connor Chen, my work ethic, and to Gianna Wu, mild irritation.

I, Derek Lou, bequeath to Steven Hao and James Ma better luck next year, to my swim team boys more of that begrudging appreciation for swimming, and to Sarah Tang, may the force be with you, always.

I, Diane Kim, bequeath drama-filled stories and postchurch hangouts to Esther Kim, love and hugs to Sarah Kim, another year of leadership fun and the NY family name to Caitlin Neyoung Lee and paint markers and tons of luck to the upcoming ASB PR’s.

I, Diane Wang, bequeath my polycarbonate management skills and expertise of Wangerbend Manufacturing in Robotics to Miles Chan and Anurag Makineni; Maiyu Fusion,

I, Emily Pang, bequeath to the baddy kids, my amazing driving skills; to Reo Shibatsuji, my attractive faces; to Anna Her, my ladylike manners; to Brandon Chou, my sass; and finally to Wes, my love and support. If you ever need me, I gotchu baby bro. Have fun in high school!

I, Erica Wang, bequeath my vast knowledge of physics to Jialin Lee and Jenny Sung and my love to Princess Annette Ma. I, Erika Ho, bequeath my laziness to Kevin Qian, Divya Saha, Roy Kim, and Andy Wang, my knowledge and sneakiness to Alexander Zee, my managerial problems to Selin Toprak, my smiles to Jialin Lee, and my forever love to Joanne Her.

I, Ethan Chiou bequeath to Amy Lin my stuffed cow Kalbi (you wish) and K-pop dancing skills, to Joey Li smarminess and an incessant flow of Facebook and Tumblr links, to Valhalla Yearbook the best of luck for next year, and to Track and Field our post-invitational Red Robin’s.

I, Farhaan Khan, bequeath Gianna Wu and Eloy Fernandez CAH, Ajay Shenoy my spontaneity and Lynbrook longboarding, Kimberly Zee and my Java, William (Billy) Lu my anti-jokes, and Abhishek Johri my bridge.

I, Franklin Lee, bequeath my optimism, passion, and noodle to my brother, Edward, and my voice to both Edward and Kevin Schoenfeld, the bass foundations next year. I wish the future Jazz Choir the best, and I bid the past Jazz Choir a fond farewell! Love you all!

I, Frank Wang bequeath: To Joey, his freedom, a live mountain lion, bleachers, and margin; to Cheralex, a seaotter; to Guothrust, Hwangbeast, and Joseph, the music computer; to Msu, a 6th period buddy; to Soonho and Jessica, the Crosby Club, to the valhalla family, restraint in the consumption of food.

I, Grace Miao, bequeath Annie my hella beast DECA skills, Ted my awesome Key Club spirit, Karen and George with a lifetime of Candy Crush lives, and Kavya all my sass and math knowledge.

I, Howard Hsieh, bequeath my good tech skills to Han Chong, Ryan Eckert, Alex Chen, and Wesley Cheng. I’m sure you guys will rock the house every concert.

I, Hyun Kang, bequeath to the underclass men of XC to continue the long 5 year tradition of ditching practices and the 2 year tradition of Sketch Fridays. Insiya, Lahari, Nishna, Ali Khan, Esther, Christine, and Caroline, have fun and don’t stress.

I, Inga Liu, bequeath my ability to focus and be not lazy to my sister, Freya. Also, I bequeath my ability to look crazy attractive in my taupe suede Clark’s desert boots to Joey Li. I, Irene Hong, bequeath every “cha cha cha” birthday song to the beautiful Amit Pasupathy. Amit, make me proud.

I, Irene Hsu, bequeath to Janto: rocks, late-night music; Sam: this man; Anand: fan-dom; Jessica: Wes; Nikita: health; Kelsey: sass; Izzy: Eesha’s&my college apps; Don: turn signals; Joey: hz, -.-, LEGendary puns, friends; Kassi: Krew; Sarah: heart of steel; Vik: Johnny Rockets, longer

columns; Victor: my [shattered] iPhone, habits, Joules; Andy: Instagram; Patrick: sleep; Connor: merp, reminders, friendship; APLit: late-night revelations; Vertigo: passion; ENCs: goodluck.

I, Isabel Yang, bequeath to Sarah my lying ability, “awks” situations, and endless picture taking, Vincent my iPhone games, Joey my photography skill, Hwangbeast my Valhalla sweatshirt and food deals, Patrick staying awake, my yearbook babies a second home and #valhallafamily, Claire&Hana matchmaking and storytelling, and to my Link cuties four amazing years.

I, Jack Takahashi, bequeath the quest for more bokeh to Dara Jovkar, my sarcastic cynicism to Vidur Sanandan, the speaker input cable in the band room to Khushal Gujadhar, and my infinite love to Joey Li.

I, Jacqueline Lin, bequeath my cheekiness to Ms. Cao. My hipster bobsled goes to Steph, every survival skills to innocent Ziqi, and goofy backstage memories to my dance buddies. Finally, all the C goes to Jane - use it!

I, James Wang, bequeath my magic skills, my fashion taste, my humor, my height, my manly man muscles, my pf debate skills, my romantic side, my joy and my love to Christine Wang as she has given me my identity.

I, Jamie Askari, bequeath to my brother Adam my hangout spot (the blue table), a legacy that probably won’t escape you anytime soon, and a mountain of old assignments in case you ever need some extra inspiration ;).

I, Jane Jun, bequeath an abundance of ornamented earings and deep discussions to Aishwarya Nene, many late night fatty snacks and deadline-met issues to Steven Chao, my talkative nature and many more meaningful homeless outreach to John Park, the glorious future of Aletheia to Nishna, Kassi and Divya, and classy interview wear to Jessica Cao. To Jesse Chou, my “morals” and “humanities mind”; to Jerry Luo, eloquence, open-mindedness and structure; to Jane Lee, many baking ventures, my hatred for yaks and philanthropic trips to Asia; and to my AGAPE underclassmen, much AGAPE. I bequeath two beloved clubs to Esther Kao, an on-time (wow!!!) Vertigo Production Schedule to Jeffrey Yang, many organized, colorcoded Google spreadsheets to Jefferine Li, fun Wednesday lunches and enthusiastic members to Emily Su, my hastily annotated APLAC and AP lit books to Marian Park, a ton of food to Sam Chang and Vik Waghray, my capacity to avoid injuries and illnesses to Sarah Tarter, and eternal InDepth love to Frina Redoloza, Prachi Laud and Shouvik Mani.

I, Jasmine Chou, bequeath my homecoming mess to Emily Su, my marimba racing skills to Steven Chao, my tetris trailer packing skills to Nadine Javier, my college app-ing skills to Renee Huang, and my cheering and yelling to the girls varsity basketball team.

I, Jasmine Dioguardi, bequeath my love and my lunch table to Stephanie Li, all my awesome cooking skills to Renee Huang, and my ravishing good looks to Darya Charkashyna.

I, Jason Chi, bequeath my appetite to Patrick Zhu, my muscles to Medha Korwar, my chicken to Jeffrey Yang, my can of chips to Angela Hu, my trickery to Edward Ding, my wisdom to Jenny Ho, my pet snake to Jason Xie, and my sweet potato fries to Lucy Li.

I, Jason Feng, bequeath my big caring heart to my favorite junior - Jessica Zhang, my beauty to Malka Kausar, and my artistic talent to Nathan Toh. I, Jeffrey Luan, bequeath my love of dope music to Vidur Sanandan.

I, Jeff Pea, bequeath my sleeping skills to Andy Shen, my running abilities to Shawn Silverman and Ryan Sadjadi, my dodge-ball techniques to Justin Robison, my compliments to Monica Ou, my Pokémon intuition to Rohit Sarathy, my black heritage to Eloy Fernandez, and my brotherly love to Brian Pea.

I, Jennifer Tan, bequeath a great last year to Tiffany, April, Amy x2, my shortness to Brandon, my matchmaking skills to Abby, my best wishes to Sally and CFCC people at Lynbrook, and my advice and wisdom to Victor, Jon, my Link Crew kids, Ms. Ball’s 4th period, and my XC friends.

I, Jerry Wang, bequeath the greatness of the name Jerry Wang to Jerry Wang. To Nathan Kastle I bequeath “Python Speed Reloader”. To Ryan Lin and Frank Lee I bequeath my incredibly epic (not really) guitar skills. To Pranav Vaish I bequeath nothing. Sorry, bro. Finally, to Jesse Wang, I bequeath lots of love.

I, Jessica Fan, bequeath my running prowess to Aruna Menon, Kathy Jang, Grace Ling, Rachel Kim, Elin Chee, Urmila Venkat, and Anna S. To Cathy Day and Michelle Chang, I bequeath my love for trios. And lastly to my useless brother Alvin Fan... I leave my endless support and faith.

I, Jia Gao, bequeath Shritama Ray, Jennifer Liaw, Elsie Wang, Sarah Tang, and Eric Chuu my burning passion for Spanish. I bequeath Joey Li all of the elephants one could possibly dream of. I bequeath Anupriya Tripathi and Mel Brouillette my amazing sense of humor and ridiculously good looks.

I, Jin Choe, bequeath my awesomeness and my smart brain to Sera, Choe in hopes that she will use them wisely; Racket Sports skills to Harold Chu and Patrick Shih; my sense of fashion to David Kim; Pineapples to the future LEO officer team; and my impeccable looks to Roy Kim. I, Jocelyn Lin, bequeath my seemingly never ending energy and to Emily Su, my baking skills and happy songs to Allison Tam, seike survival skills to Allison Tani, Benedict Chua, and the Metron boy and never ending puns and loveable quirks to Allie Young.

I, Johanna Wu, bequeath to Steven Chao and Zach Charif my saxiness; to Leroy Zhang, my saxiness and forbearance (for next year’s sectionals); to Elle Kagimoto and Grace Lim, my discus title; and to my JNHS officers, my Senioritis. To Terminaylor, I bequeath my black sass.

I, Jonathan Chen, beqeauth to Andrew Huang a gravity knife, my badminton skills to Reo Shibatsuji and Edward Ding, my poster making abilities to Caroline Lee, my PMT stained car to Lucy Li, my sketchiness to Patrick Zhu, my envied snapchats to Jennifer Lee, my CookieDance to Andrew Bae and Victor Wang, and my towering height and beauty to the trio Annie Zhu, Grace Paik, and Kimberly Su. I, Jonathan Uesato, bequeath my eyebrows and proper key signatures to Cheryl Chang, “third point wins” to Steven Hao, Josh Yuan, Bryan Malone, and the rest of the Frisbee gang, obnoxious singing and close harmonies to Jesse Chou and Jeffrey Chang, and the trutils to the LD team.

I, Joseph Wei, bequeath my doubles one spot to Brandon/ Reo; winning with JUST drops and lifts to Keffrey; my leadership/class-spirit swag to Amit, Sophia, and Tara; publicity stunts to Divya; spare change to Anna, the baby vending-machine; and everything I hate and don’t want to Rani.

I, Joy Shen, bequeath a growth spurt to my baby girl Sabrina Fan, nonexistent Cafe LaTTea adventures to Hana Kim and Sabrina Jen, a whole lot of cha-ching/a bombdiggity good time as head honcho of Social to CLee, my spirit/”yeah blue” to the Lady Vikes, a boot-wearing southern handyman to Sarah Tarter, and last but not least: many more PRs and all the lessons I’ve learned as the guinea pig child to Andy Shen--you’ll be just fine.

I, Juliana Yau, bequeath my awesome balancing skills in ballet to Cheryl Wang. Also I bequeath my punctuality to Aly Cai because you always seem to be running late.

I, Karen Lee, bequeath Disneyland foods to Victoria, Honey’s dog tricks to Kat and Oakie :3 the “For Sale” sign to Stergiana, Crystal, Annie, and Srinija; coupons to Elsie, fist bumps to Amy and Allie, my free work period to Angela, and coffee/concentration skills to Sarah.

I, Karen Ouyang, bequeath to Steven Hao my prowess in QWERTY, to Julia Huang my pronunciation abilities, to Tony Jiang 94 distractions, to Freya Liu lots of love, to Jun Seo Park prep books, to Jesse Chou violin skills, to Michael Sheng new jeans, and to Angela Li infinitely many hugs.

I, Kathy Dong, bequeath my brilliant sense of humor and intriguing storytelling skills to Angela Kong and Sarah Tang so they can incorporate it into Lynbrook FBLA. I also bequeath editing photos during proof seasons to Andrew Lee and Soonho Kwon.

I, Keya Patel, bequeath my resourcefulness and my fish, Bartholomew, to Esha Patel.

I, Kimberly Tan, bequeath my beloved Speech and Debate team to Medha Sinha and Sohil Sathe, city-wide issues and foot problems to Tara Pichumani, and humility to Daniel Park.

I, Kimberly Vaz, bequeath my turtle-love to Aishwarya Nene and Medha Sinha, the perpetual power of #5/6 to Jackie Kim, a clearly amazing sense of humor to Somya Khare, PMT love to Melody Hsu, mini-me swag to Divya Narayan, my “unclaimed” food to Kenneth Vaz, and incredibly cOOl adventures to the Oratory team!

I, Kyle Williams, bequeath my fear of ladybugs to Eric Day, my perfect complexion to Divya, my love and smiles to Grace Lim, my dreams to Sur Ge, my bananas to Simonson, my leg hair to Carlo, and my papa bear hugs to Joelle.

I, Ladina Thoeny, bequeath to Broadway/Punk/Lexi/l’Bro my humor and excellent study skills. May you make it through the next two years in one piece. I love you...conditionally.

I, Lakshana Senthilkumar, bequeath my ability to have conversations with kids to Rohan Khasgiwala, my creative basketball phrases to Sara Dyslin, my smile and optimism to Elaine Ma (so she’s not whining all the time), my coffee runs to Kristina Okamoto, and my drive to attain my goals to Sonia Raghuram-because you remind me so much of myself.

I, Landi Luo, bequeath a hat hair clip to Stephanie Li, a bibcock and a banana to Alice Tang, and the lunch table and all of 2ne1’s signatures to Leigh Williams.

I, Lauren Tai, bequeath my growing panoply of music anto Jessica Cao, my love of Time magazine and up-to-dateness of current events to Anand Chukka, a soon-to-be-life without braces to Michelle Su, impeccable taste of frozen yogurt and academic excellence to Vik Waghray, a life of humor and smiles to Khaya Bhatia, the skill of spreading I hope to pick up one day to Henry Shangguan, all the Think Gum in the world and intelligence to Jacob Antony, my appreciation of button ups and movies to Joey Li, a world of renewed nature and beautiful scenery to Sarah Tarter, friendliness of heart to Kelsey Hurwitz, the ability to go above and beyond to Nikita Dhesikan, and my dressing to impress to Dara Jovkar.

I, Lucas Ranieri, bequeath all my Java knowledge and good looks to Clark Ma, Ryan Chien, Aniruddha Rajesh and Daniel Peterson.

I, Lucy Matveeva, bequeath to Elsie Wang my online shopping prowess, and to Joey Li my cat, so that he can send me snapchats of Kitty while I’m at Rice.

I, Mackenzie Shimojima, bequeath to my soccer girls my ability to stay calm on the field and my love of Avatar.

I, Marshall Cheng, bequeath the league of legends legacy to the skype group, the title of BestKatarinaNA to Eddie

Fu, the title of BestDCerNA to Shirley Sun, my many pairs of Elites to George Lu, my flamboyant dancing to Patrick Zhu, and my condelences to anyone taking APLit next year.

I, Manisha Sriram, bequeath the softball team the good luck and skill we’ve had this season to continue next year, as well as both Prada’s and my “beautiful captains” powers! Love you all!

I, Max Dunn, bequeath Christine Wang to James Wang, Andrew Huang the torch of sketch friday’s, Jason Guo my awesome tennis skills, and Monica Ou the second semester lifestyle :P

I, MG Chi, bequeath my support for Keegan and rats to Somya Khare, an angry hobo to Ryan Chien, senioritis to Tony Jiang, a star to Steven Hao, JETS to Andy Wang and Rohit Sarathy, a wet planner and awesome study habits to Angela Kong, and a pair of nice and warm flip-flops to Linda Doong.

I, Michael Luo, bequeath the Classes of 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 the entirety of my painful, miserable and depressing experience throughout the last four years. May you all experience the cost and sacrifices of going to such an environment and conforming to such a stupid mentality.

I, Michelle Lee, bequeath my screen printing skills to Julia Wang, my criss-crossing skills to Kevin Qian, my spoon “holding” skills to the swim team, and my ability to live on less sleep to my brother Patrick.

I, Michelle Shieh, bequeath the drumline to James Nishijima, the pursuit of happiness to Emily Su, bro-hugs to Michael, legit workouts to the jumpers, faith to Andrew Lee and Joey Li, love for living to Emily Chen and Nansters, wisdom to Anshuman Dikhit, 500 Days of Laughter to Rexy Yun.

I, Mike Lewis Zhong, bequeath everything I have to Cyrus Cheung and Margaret Chien.

I, Miranda Ashland, bequeath my entire drama empire to Nathan, Barbara, Kelly and Neil, love it as much as I do, make it even stronger next year and lead the future generations, and to Alisa, my little Spanish knowledge, and to Justin Robison, my exuberance and awesomeness.

I, Morgan Chang, bequeath the Lynbrook Leo Club to Ryan Lin, Mel Chen, Ali Chen, and Christina Chang, concavity and general epicness of name to William Morgan Lu, Lil’ Lion Designin’ to Sierra Chen, y un abrazo fuerte a Sr. Esquivel. To Lynbrook Longboarders; lid it before you skid it. Yeeuh.

I, Neeti Angal, bequeath my sassy attitude, funny jokes and clever use of hashtags to Shreya Kumar and Mrinal Nag.

I, Nikhil Unni, bequeath my pringles can to Jacob Antony, my jazz improvisation skills to Vidur Sanandan, my trumpet to Austin Holland, and my physics knowledge to Pramod J.C. I, Nikitha Adira, bequeath my comfortable hugs and spazzy, klutz like experience at lynbrook to Sonia Raghuram and my secretary position of Viking Buddies to Marion Lynch in hopes that she will learn, prosper, grow and love the people that surround her a lot more! :D

I, Nisha Udupa, bequeath to Nikhila Udupa my extraordinary sense of humor in the hopes that one day she is as funny as me. Chances are low.

I, Nitya Dhanushkodi, bequeath my TV show list to Ervin and Sneha, a smile to Ishaan, and the knowledge that I am actually Indian and an apology to Aaron.

I, Niveditha Achanta, hereby bequeath my name to the United Debates of Medha, all the awful puns in the world to Aishwarya, a pair of pants to Prachi, a GPS to Sneha Annamaneni, and a huge shoutout to Akruti, Sonia, all my spont kids, music class survivors, and everyone unmentioned on account of this word limit.

I, Noopur Gosalia, bequeath my love for Viking Buddies to Madhavi Kuthanur; my duo interpretation skills to Amrita Iyer, Kavya Nambiar, Akansha Mukherjee and Aayush Gupta; and my four years at Lynbrook High School to Raj Gosalia.

I, Philip Chen, bequeath normalcy to the Alexa-AsterKatie-Tvisha gang, my kind heart and honesty to Connor Wen, my cash-money float serves to Youngsub Lee and next year’s volleyball team, my “junior status” to Aaron Huang, and my best wishes to Zach Charif, Steven Chao, and all my alto kiddos.

I, Pranav Singh, bequeath knowledge to all those willing to roll around the muds of brain and consciousness, those prepared to dive into the depths of a diamond simply to find themselves surrounded in carbon atoms. Many men have paced the earth pondering amany questions; contemplating complex metaphors, metaforce and metafours.

I, Pranay Patil, bequeath my love for complaining to Shritama Ray, my knowledge of flavored water to Dara Jovkar and Joey Li, my stats broship to Vibhav Altekar, my awkward face expressions and anorexia to Izabella Kipnis, my late night essay editing skills and advice on life to Anna Her, my ability to forgive and not be a bully to Divalicious Divs, and my room and eternal use of the computer to Gauri Patil.

I, Rachael Chambers, bequeath all choir good times to Kevin Schoenfeld & Sara Dyslin, specifically in the jazz choir.

I bequeath years of happiness to my sister Hannah, who I hope enjoys herself as an upperclassman. To next years barbershop members: may you always have harmony, love you guys!

I, Ramya Auroprem, bequeath my shipping skills to Alice Tang, soul sister love to Allison Tam, MT love to Deeksha Kohli and Sanjna Arvind, defense team to Divya Saha, French enthusiasm to Sidney Li and Vishnu Murthy, Indian pride to Shashank Gudla, and love of chemistry to Steven Yang.

I, Rachel Chang, bequeath to Jonathan Chang at least a few minutes dedicated to my studies each night (*hint hint*, bro).

I, Rebecca Yang, bequeath Amy my best hopes for the future, Andrew my fab neopets skillz, George my impeccable driving abilities, Brandon my non-senioritis study habits, Vik my bomb dot com attitude, Anjali my Maroon5 singing capabilities, Elin my love forever, and the XC/Track team my legit truth or dares.

I, Reena Sheth, bequeath Amnesty International to next year’s officer team and members, my Snapchatting skills to Paige, and all my neighborly love to Monica.

I, Renny Ko, bequeath my joy, laughter, and love to Eunice Ko and her friends, my smiles to Shirley Sun, my passion for music to Alice Zhu, my hyperness to Julia Huang and Alyssa Chen, and my thoughtfulness to Anthony Lee.

I, Reo Sato, bequeath my unparalleled coding skills to Vincent Yao, my ability to not die to wraiths while jungling to Stephen Yang, my knack for scoring high test scores with little to no studying to William Hu, and the status of being the senior Reo to Reo Shibatsuji.

I, Rishi Debnath, bequeath my excessive compliments/ apologies and fashion sense to Dara, my random introspective moments to Vibhav, my unconditional love to Alex Zee, and my “soccer prowess” to Andrew Bae and Alex Wong.

I, Rohit Muralidharan, hereby bequeath Dave Broquard to Vik Waghray, my name to the United Debates of Medha, and Mr. Bingo Ball to Billy Lu and Amanda Sze.

I, Ruhi Sharfuddin, bequeath Sana Sharfuddin my endless smile, my optimism that will help her shine each new day, my Snowy bunny that has been forever by my side, my love for pretty shirts, and most importantly, my tumblr dog dance.

I, Sabrina Shie, bequeath good accessories and elegance to Cheryl; the ability to pick better guys to Angela; the future of LHS Swimming to Malka, Ariela, Angela and Zoe; CCS times to Anu and Nisha; afternoons watching Jesse the mermaid man to Elora and Julia; gluck this fall and bouncing on the pool bottom to Jesse; bananas, well written essays and endless car rides to Hubert; lots of sour cream to Danyel; infinite snacks and not talking like a Valley Girl to Renee; the end of swim season to April & Jamie; fysiks fun to Vik; legitimate statistics to Nikita; eyedrops to Jacob during production week; a continuation of Epic love to the retiring Anand; goodluck to the ENCs. I, Sara Wen, bequeath my boy problems, love for country music, messy eating, nonexistent licenses, no sense of rhythm, hatred for animals, being the best third wheel, and having no friends to Jialin.

I, Shaelyn Silverman, bequeath Anjali my comebacks, Andy my sleep, Alice and Evita my jewness, Elin my wild side, Dara my jokes, Imani my innocence, XC girls my flats and inspiration, Justin and Ryan my love for running, and Shawn my superior lying skills and undying sibling love.

I, Shannon Chai, bequeath sweet freedom to Sam; a sensate and sweatshop-free future to Anand; backstage tickets to every concert in existence to Jessica and Kathy; an Assassins-proof home to Khaya; a mid-Atlantic education and fiery passion to Joey; a pair of musically-inclined twin cats and gold twerkable shorts to Vik; the ability to identify uncannily unflattering doppelgangers to Sabrina; a volleyball scholarship and the entire inventory of North Face to Sarah; tolerance of Chinese food and the life of a working girl to Kassi; my unrivaled parking skills to Michelle and Yoni; a year abroad in Spain to Izzy; eternal brotherhood to James and Dhiraj; good times and goodluck to the ENCs; and the audacity of hope and a lifetime subscription to People to Freya.

I, Shirley Fang, bequeath to Victoria Li my dorky, overdone facials; to Amy Wei and Allie Young my derping around during CDA classes; to Kathleen Ko my hilarious memories of Novelty; to Elsie Wang my tendency to buy too many swimsuits; and to the Valkyries all my love.

I, Shirley Kiang, bequeath Danyo Park the ultimate swag, to Amit Pasupathy my monkey dancing skills, to Sarah Tang my tireless hours spent in office as VP and yearbook editor, and to little (soon to be big) Sophia Meng the joy of a thousand suns!

I, Shouvik Neogi, bequeath the power of godly social attraction to Fujia Luo, volume of the alphamale brass section to the trombones, gr11ness and a falling squirrel to Lucy Li, keepin the club in order to powerheads+duy/Tyson/jeff, and Vidur to make racial odds in favor.

untied. But it needs a new group to take it over and take on the traditions.

I, Soumya Kandukuri, bequeath the best club in the universe a.k.a. Viking Buddies to Madhavi Kuthanur, the Spont team and my fondness for current events to Aishwarya Nene and Prachi Laud, and my insatiable hunger for Speech tournaments to Akruti Gupta and Ratna Jadhav.

I, Stacy Jeong, bequeath to Joey Li a lifetime supply of peanut butter, a baby red panda and a future of helicase x narrator jokes, to Daniel Park lunches with more cuties and scandalous stories, and to Aishwarya Nene and Jefferine Li the future of WiSTEM.

I, Stephanie Hahm, bequeath ASB love to Divs, T.X. to Sarah, Monday nights to Arnav, “B” to Amit, awkwardness to Sophia, LC family to Aaron, Vik, and Niki, JSA security to Amy and Michael, Quixey shirt to DRAKES, and hair straightener, horrible cooking skills, and Hahm legacy to Jasmine.

I, Stephanie Marcus, bequeath my love for music to my talented and beautiful Dolcissima girls: Benita, Vidya, Nikita, Tanvi, Malvika, Alice, Claire, Grace, Jamie, Caroline, Elora, and Jennifer. Rock it next year girls!

I, Stephen Lee, bequeath the LHS weight room to Joseph Chang, Daniel Peterson, and all other current/future members of the BBC.

I, Tammy Taller, bequeath the title of #1 Avatar/Korra fan to Aruna, a Hawaiian coconut to Imani, my earrings to Aishwarya so you have even more, an endless supply of my loving hugs to Shawn and Ryan, my Jewness to the Babins, and many future mile PRs to Anna, Elin, and Urmila!

I, Teja Muvva, bequeath my hair and skin to Niknaz Oghabian, my love of bows to Sana Sharfuddin, my hyperactivity to Shritama Ray, my patience to Hannah Chambers, my passion for food to Aniksha Mehta, my awesome lying skills to Ryan Lin, my charm to Ayesha Khan, my motivation to sing to Chris Hong, and my absolute weirdness both mentally and physically to Kavya Munnangi!

I, Thejas Kamath, bequeath the need to parler français and all of France to Monsieur le President, Vishnu Murthy, my ability to find useful things to Benjamin Nguyen, my backhand and love for not doing bleachers to Ashwin Srikant, and an endless supply of cranberry mayonnaise to Anchit Malwankar.

I, Thomas Kim, bequeath my intense love for FBLA competitions to Patrick Zhang and Hana Kim, my lingo and drive to Angela Kong, and my late night philosophical broodings to all students who will take AP Lit in the future.

I, Varsha Cidambi, bequeath my hilarious/corny jokes to the field hockey team. I also bequeath my awesome singing during trips to Kavita Krishnan.

I, Victor Xu, hereby bequeath spiral similarity and my eternal reciprocation to Steven Hao, Steven Hao to Julia Huang, my respect for democracy to Connor Wen, an entire assembly of women to Don Kim, a new face for Youngsub Lee, the ghetto life to Ali Khan and 1000 McChickens to Sarah Kim.

I, Viviana Yee, bequeath Fat Amy with my aegyo, Reggie with my lifetime of mooses, Elora with schlaff, Nancy with my niceness, Andrew with my love for Kpop, Ted with my height, Willie with my ability to talk to girls, and all my baby runners and swimmers with my awesomeness.

I, Weian Wang, bequeath my love for objections and Mitty defense attorneys to Deeksha Kohli, my role as Mark’s punching bag—I mean, team captain to Divya Saha, my ability to print erratas in a timely fashion to Eric Wu, and my “lazy chic” sense of style to Christine Wang.

I, William Wang, bequeath my ornamentless face to Jennie Bang, my big eyes to Small Eye (Jennifer) Lee, my nicknaming skills to Tubaca (Rachel) Tu, my good looks to Patrick Zhu, my instahoing to Roger Chen, my candy crush skills to Karen Hao, my normal-looking-toes to the 3 stooges (Annie, Kimberly, Grace).

I, Winston Liang, bequeath to Kaki-chan all remaining senpai-ness I have left. I bequeath to Ohime, Gazeru, and Pengin and all current and future Japan Bowlers my pro tele-art skills to make up for the black hole that Sensei is.

I, Yash Shah, bequeath good luck for the rest of high school, my room, and China Moon to my sister, Radha. I also bequeath sleep and a lack of stress to Susmitha Bhat.

Finally, I bequeath beating Monta Vista to next year’s varsity football team!

I, Yuka Sugino, bequeath my inner samurai to Chloe Lyu, my Japuhneez blood to Chris Hong, my love for choir boys to Alice Tang and Sara Dyslin, my manliness to Rohit Sarathy, my come-hither dancing skills to Kevin Schoenfeld and Michael Lin, and my perpetual “hatred” to Alexis Thoeny.

I, Silvia Signore, bequeath Justin my BIB title, Ryan & Shawn my stories, Sasha my 16 on the scale, Connor my stash, Niknaz & Jessica my sass, Aaron my espanol pro title, Yamini my eyebrow raises, Amit my poetry skills, Anjali my Jake translator, Divya my Indian accent.

I, Yunqing Chen, bequeath my inexplicable genius to the impressive Opinion section of the mind-blowing school paper, The Septic. To Michelle, Jessica, and Khaya, you’ve had the honor of knowing me. To Anand and Henry... yeah.

To Joey Li, I bequeath the interest in the chaste, familyfriendly Game of Thrones.

I, Skyler Greenberg, bequeath to all the students the Boat.

It is a place of fun, friends, and public display of a school

I, Zoë Pennington, bequeath Japanese club to Amy and Ashley and my hair braiding skills and perfectly turned out feet to Marnie.

I, Sindhu Addepalli, bequeath SHOK to the amazing and beautiful Yamini, Nadine, Jane, Whitney, and Sriharsha. I bequeath my laziness to Sonia, my movie taste to Toshitha, and stamina to Priya. And lastly, I bequeath the happiness and freedom of senior year to the class of 2014.

I, Zareen Tasnim, bequeath happiness to Mridhula Venkat, my eccentricity to Rochelle Gatus, my humor to Stephanie Li so you’ll always be smiling and two Snickers bars to Davis Catolico. Don’t drop them. Go eat a bag of chips.

Translating the music lingo Students discuss their rare experiences with having absolute pitch

L

istening to music is simply hearing a progression of notes and melodies from an instrument. But for some people, listening to music is a completely different experience. Pitches are more than random sounds—they are arrangements of notes. Those with the capacity to recognize specific pitches and reproduce them at will have perfect pitch, also known as absolute pitch.

Perfect pitch is defined as the cognitive ability to identify specific pitches and tones in musical notes. While researchers are still trying to determine how perfect pitch originates, it is believed that perfect pitch develops through critical years during early childhood or another factor in a person’s genetics. Though often developed during childhood, perfect pitch can be developed later on through intensive training so that the listener can recognize by ear the notes being played. Some people with perfect pitch can even sing back the note being played.

There are many different ways a person can identify the note. For some, each pitch corresponds to a different feeling, or “tension.” Senior Aaron Yuan, a violinist and pianist, said, “It’s association—a feeling with a letter representation. When I hear certain note, I feel some sort of tension like it’s all mental tension.”

For others, the pitches are recognized by word association. Solfège is the singing of syllables assigned to certain notes in a musical scale. Senior Helen Jun, who has played flute for Wind Ensemble for three years, said, “I hear words. It’s not like there’s a moment of translation, though—no calculation or evaluation.

It’s instantaneous; it literally seems as if the song is directly singing different words to me.

Specifically, I hear do, re, mi. I can recognize the pitch-

es because each pitch sounds like a different word.” The ability to recognize tones by solfège has shown to improve ear training and the way musicians associate musical notes when playing and hearing them.

It is unknown why forms of pitch recognition differ. This may have to do with the fact that people are wired to think differently, and the way they process the pitches reflect their way of perceiving the world.

“I love words,” said Jun, who is also the editor-in-chief of Lynbrook’s literary magazine, Vertigo. “I have a fascination with just how words sound, and how we can string together a variety to create different connotations and meaning. I’m thinking perhaps this

has affected my perfect pitch. Maybe my inclination towards words is why I’ve subconsciously associated different pitches by their solfège name.”

Perfect pitch is more common among people who speak tonal languages, such as Chinese and Vietnamese; a study from UC San Diego has shown that among those who speak a tonal language are more likely to possess perfect pitch. As a result, it is shown that people of Asian descent are more likely to develop perfect pitch. Senior Albert Xu developed perfect pitch for piano and bassoon because he learned to play them for many

years and has also had experience speaking the tonal language, Mandarin, since childhood.

He said, “I always had it, but it probably developed because I learned Mandarin alongside English for a long time and Mandarin has a focus on tonal differences like how changing pitch changes the meaning of words. I was sensitive to pitch. As I learned piano, it just developed as I recognized the pitch differences. [First] I thought of it as just a good memory.”

Yuan, who also speaks Mandarin, recognized that he had perfect pitch when he began more easily recognizing certain notes that were being played.

“Over the years I’ve learned to associate names with those tensions,” he said. Yuan developed this sense of perfect pitch when he was around 10 years old, a critical period in his ear and auditory training.

Being able to recognize notes is beneficial in different musical applications.

Many students with perfect pitch have used their abilities to an advantage to score higher on various music exams and improve personal performance. Yuan took a piano exam, Certificate of Merit (CM), and realized that having perfect pitch made him more comfortable with the test.

“In the CM tests for piano you’re not allowed a piano but they give you a paper printout keyboard,” he said. “I remember I would hum every major scale until I hummed one without sharps or flats so I knew that starting note was ‘C’ so that’s how I began to associate names with notes.”

Perfect pitch may also translate to the ability to sing or compose music in tune. Having the ability to instantly recognize certain musical notes and sing them back has changed the way many students at Lynbrook view the world.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY THE INDEPTH SECTION

BY EESHA KHARE

The words of music I started playing piano in Korea when I was four, and I loved it. So I practiced a lot, and over the years, I noticed that the notes stopped sounding like random pitches.

They sounded more like words, or specifically, an arrangement of “do, re, mi, fa, so, ra, si.” So “Rondo,” a Beethoven piece I played in 3rd grade, literally sounded like: “do re do si ra si ra so fa ra so fa fa” (the last being a bit of an uncomfortable “fa,” more like “fi” meaning it was an F#).

In Korea, musicians teach by the “do re mi” scale, or the solfège technique, a naming system for the notes of musical scale. Perhaps that’s why I somehow subconsciously associated a pitch by their solfège title. But honestly, I was absolutely perplexed when I came to the United States and they told me to use the English “c, d, e,” scale. I thought, “But that’s not how the notes sound like.”

I was convinced that solfège was invented because those words were how pitches sounded like in nature. (Now I know this isn’t the case; solfège is actually derived from some 1600’s Latin hymn.)

But when I finally realized all the words were all in my own head, I realized I could use my perfect pitch to my advantage, especially during those long, dreaded Certificate of Merit exams (you musicians know what I mean). I easily aced all of my ear training exams. When I had to identify intervals, I’d write down the two pitches I heard, then calculate how many whole steps and half steps apart they were. I’d go down the whole exam just writing down pitches and fill my answers once the recording ended.

Key identification was a breeze; I’d write down which notes were played in sharps and flats, then match which key that belonged to. I started memorizing my songs by singing the pitches to myself, which I could do even when a piano wasn’t around.

But having perfect pitch wasn’t all picnics and roses.

Learning clarinet in ninth grade was one of the most dreadful and backwards things I had ever done. I’ve played a lot of instruments in my life (and quit all of them... to all Asian mothers, I’m sorry for setting a bad example). The problem with clarinet was that while piano and cello are in concert pitch, clarinet is in Bb pitch. This meant that every note on the clarinet music was written a full whole note below what I heard. It was incredibly disconcerting—actually horrific. I’d play a Bb, but I’d hear a C (or a “do”). Doc Felder would signal at me to play a clarinet G, and I’d have to do a mad dash calculation in my head to remind myself that no, it’s not a G that he’s asking for, but an A (which was a “ra”) and that was by doing this other fingering...

Another quirk is that I can’t recognize pitches in songs sung by human beings. I have a hypothesis as to why: I can’t hear “do, re, mi” when there are other words being sung, because I hear the words of the lyrics over the “words” of the pitch.

Anyhow, even with the quirks and inconveniences, I love that if I hear a song on the radio, I can come home and play it in its key. It’s kept a connection between me and music alive, even though I don’t play an instrument rigorously anymore. With this weird link I have to notes, I know I’ll always share something special with what I love.

The cause and effects behind immigration Parents and students talk about experiencing a new life overseas

S

ince the 1980s, the immigration rate into the United States has nearly doubled, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The diversity at Lynbrook is a manifestation of the exponential increase in immigrants.

Like most immigrants, Praveena Varadarajan, mother of sophomore Malvika Sriram, immigrated to pursue higher education and better job opportunities in the United States.

But part of the reason for immigration was her fascination for the Western world. “I don’t think anyone growing up in India is exempt from that fascination,” said Varadarajan.

While she was raised in a family that did not expect her to conform to rigid social norms, she had still been more dependent on her parents before emigrating from India. “[Immigration] has developed my confidence,” she said. “If I was sheltered in India, it would be different, and I would go back asking my parents for help or opinions for my decisions.”

The family dynamics differ in the United States. Parents have observed this, and adjusted the way they raise their children accordingly. Father of sophomore Frina Redoloza and senior Fleford Santos Redoloza, Fleford Silao Redoloza emigrated from the Philippines and has experienced that.

Despite these differences though, F. Redoloza feels that his kids have benefited from immigration. “They are enriched by the mixed culture,” he said, possessing the cultural values of the Philippines and the confidence of American children.

Varadarajan and her husband, Sriram Krishnaswami,

raised their daughter differently than they were raised. said. “That’s something that I always feel, that maybe if I was Krishnaswami remembers that when he was a child, he spent there I could have done something.”

Another challenge immigrant parents have experienced more time playing with friends and neighbors, and less time with his parents. In many communities in the United States, is discrimination. For instance, Fleford Silao Redoloza’s wife, children have a stronger relationship with their families Marichu Redoloza, has had multiple experiences with disthan with community friends, and spend more time at home. crimination ever since her immigration.

“You have to work with them for months before you get Krishnaswami’s daughter, being an only child, spent more respect,” she said. “Your opinion does not really matter at time with him than with friends.

“I felt that you were a kid more [in India],” he said. “The first. Every time I have started a new job, I have had to go parents have to become the brother and sister” as well as the through that hurdle to be treated equally. If you have that disciplinarians. This changed relationship changes the re- accent, even though you’re able to express yourself, you are spectful relationship between parent and child, and makes it viewed as inferior.”

Having been raised in the United States, children of immia more casual relationship than in most Asian cultures.

“There it was very clear; you can’t question your parents,” grants are often more appreciative of the safe lives they live he said about his native culture. “Now its confusing for chil- compared to other people throughout the world.

“When I visit India, there’s very little freedom that I can dren because sometimes parents have to be strict, and somehave,” said sophomore Sanjna Arvind. times they shoot hoops with their kids, so the lines blur.”

You want to be very careful about Despite immigration, their parents still play a role in what you wear in public.” Arvind has Varadarajan and Krishnaswami’s lives. When they immigrated, they often been forbidden from wearing were surprised at how parents lived in retirement homes instead of short clothing in public for her own with their children. In the Asian culture that they were raised in, to protection, to make herself less of a take care of parents in their old age is an honorable duty. target.

“Many times I feel guilty,” said Krishnamswami, whose mother In the United States, children of imlives in India and has arthritis. “Sometimes I think, ‘What is my migrants are able to build new lives for mother doing today? Can she walk? Will she be thinking, “I wish my themselves and have, as Arvind said, the son were here to take care of me?” Am I a good son?’” “freedom to be myself and be proud of Varadarajan has suffered because of the distance from her family. “I who I am.” lost my dad a few years ago, and I wasn’t there—I just got the news,” she GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY THE INDEPTH SECTION

BY PRACHI LAUD

I mm i

rly ea

ts m a ke u p n a n gr

Students make the decision between nationalities

BY HIMA RAJANA & HENRY SHANGGUAN

I

pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America...”

While those who were born in the United States take the privileges that come with citizenship for granted, immigrants must complete the United States’ “path to citizenship” to earn the same status.

To begin the process, students must first apply to become Green Card holders, or permanent residents. After receiving and maintaining permanent residence status in the United States for five years, immigrants must pass a civics test regarding American government, history and holidays, as well as an English test and apply to become citizens.

Immigrants under age 18, like sophomore Divyya Munshi, whose parents became U.S. citizens, receive U.S. citizenship as well. Munshi, her older sister and their parents became citizens in November 2012.

“I’ve been more American my whole life than I have been Indian,” said Munshi. “I’ve grown up more on Thanksgiving and Christmas than Diwali and Holi.”

Senior Helen became a citizen in October 2012, and had to take the test on her own because her 18th birthday was 10 days before the day her parents became naturalized citizens. After passing their tests, Jun and her twin sister, who is the management editor for the Epic, attended a ceremony, which included speeches and certificate presentation.

“It was ironic when our previous countries of citizenship were called and people were cheering for their countries—maybe not the biggest display of our United States loyalty,” said Jun. “In general though, people seemed really happy to receive citizenship.”

Immigrants coming from countries permitting dual citizenship, may apply for U.S. citizenship while maintaining their previous ones.

Due to federal laws, Munshi had to reject her Indian citizenship for a period of time before reapplying for dual citizenship. The whole process left Munshi wondering about her true nationality. “I was born in

India and my parents are pretty traditional,” said Munshi. Until I was 12 years old, I wasn’t really sure if I could truly be considered American, even though I had lived here for most of my life.”

Others, like senior Clarence Tan, opt not to maintain their citizenships with other countries due to commitments like military service.

Tan lived in Singapore for 13 years before immigrating to the United States. “I would have to go back to Singapore for two years of service,” said Tan. “It is more beneficial to attend college in the United States.”

Giving up citizenship in Singapore, however, is also a sacrifice for Tan, who would be drafted if he returned to Singapore after skipping service.

“I have family members there and I won’t be able to go back,” said Tan. Although the entire citizenship process can theoretically be finished in just over five years, it can last longer due to application waiting times.

Nonetheless, students persist in their efforts to become citizens through naturalization because of the rights and privileges citizenship provides.

Junior Eric Chung’s family members, who immigrated from Korea, waited over 10 years just to receive their Green Cards. Because South Korea does not permit dual citizenship with the United States, Chung’s parents do not plan on pursuing a U.S. citizenship. Chung aims to apply for U.S. citizenship independently once he turns 18 because of the comparative benefits.

“American citizens have more job opportunities than those who are just permanent residents,” said Chung. “There are also a lot of college scholarships and grants available only to U.S. citizens.”

Jun, on the other hand, chose to become a citizen partially because of the potential benefits in international travel.

“U.S. citizenship is handy for protection in foreign countries when on trips, like overseas missions,” said Jun. In the face of any danger in a foreign country, the U.S. embassy will protect the citizen and fly him or her home, out of danger.

While the path to citizenship is neither swift nor simple, many students believe it is well worth it.

Financial aid: a helping hand

BY JAMES WILHELMI

T PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOEY LI

Conquering stage fright

BY JOEY LI & YONATAN ZEMLYAK

I

n his freshman year, junior Daniel Park stepped up for one of his first debate speeches in high school.

“I remember just blanking out in the middle of my speech because I didn’t know what to say and I was really nervous,” Park said. “It was really too much for a freshman.”

For sophomore Khushal Gujadhur, who performs saxophone at jazz concerts, stage fright has become an expected occurrence before any important event. “Every time I play I go through stage fright before and after, especially right before,” said Gujadhur. “I once had to play before a large number of parents, and I was just really nervous. I figured out I had to close my eyes while playing, and pretend that nobody is there.”

Sophomore Kevin Chen, who is a member of Lynbrook’s Science Bowl team and plays cello at concerts, experiences similar feelings before major events. He realizes that stage fright “has negative effects on his performance,” but is immune to it by now. Chen said, “I understand I need to focus, and tune everything else out.”

Biologically, stage fright is a manifestation of the body’s fight-or-flight response in the sympathetic division of hormonal response, when the body releases chemicals in response to what is perceived to be a dangerous situation.

“Essentially all the nuances and faults in our daily functions become exaggerated and more apparent,” said senior Rishi Debnath, who has been faced with stage fright throughout high school. “I would take up a detached persona in fear of being judged, as superficial as it sounds.”

Junior Divya Saha, who has practiced the Indian classical dance odissi for over eleven years, was given the opportunity to perform a solo at the Odissi International Festival in India when she came to realize how to work through her stage fright. “I had nervous breakdowns a few days prior, but what I’ve learned is just to enjoy your moments on stage, which calmed me down and gave me the confidence I needed,” she said. “Instead of

treating it as the first time dancing as a soloist on an international arena, I pretended that it was just another one of my practices.

But the effects of stage fright are not only confined to the podium—they influence students’ self-image entirely. An effective way to deal with this problem revolves around the concept of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) which originated from psychologist Albert Ellis. Based on the principle that humans become upset due to beliefs we hold, not events that take place, methods of confronting stage fright are often intrinsic and personal. These beliefs often exacerbate the effects of stage fright.

“Initially stage fright stemmed from my insecurities about people not caring what I was saying or messing up and not being appreciated,” said Saha, who regularly presents with large groups as part of ASB. “Stage fright has definitely led me to be introspective, feel socially inadequate, and express ‘excessive humility’,” said Debnath.

He has taken to gradually exposing himself to his fears through class leadership positions and drama performances.

“Overcoming stage fright allows you to be more social, step out of your comfort zone, and do what you previously weren’t willing to do before,” said Park. “For me personally after being in debate for 3 years since my freshman year I think i’ve been more willing to go talk to people that I don’t know. It’s a positive change.”

Demoralizing though it may be, stage fright can be of a dual nature with potential benefits as well. The anxiety may be enough to motivate the performer to break previously unknown barriers, and put forth their best effort.

“The fact that I was nervous showed that I actually cared deeply about what I was doing, and I convinced myself that I was prepared,” said Gujadhur of a past experience. “Then, I pulled through and put forth a great performance.”

“I still tremble, get cold feet, and feel that incessant beating in my chest,” Debnath said. “But I’ve become more confident in my own abilities, and I don’t fear the aftermath of social/public events. I’m comfortable with who I am and what I do.”

he price to receive a college education is constantly rising. To combat this, collegebound students and their families are always searching for new and creative ways to pay for it.

Tuition at Georgetown, Harvard, Emory, Notre Dame and other selective private universities costs over $40,000 annually, which is a daunting amount for most families.

Fortunately for students and their families, options for financial help do exist. The application for government financial aid is called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Additionally, individual colleges and universities often present financial aid packages tailored to accommodate accomplished students. Finally, College Board runs the College Scholarship Service (CSS) which produces the PROFILE, an application for independent scholarship funds.

The FAFSA collects extensive information on each applicant, ranging from demographic statistics to W-2 tax forms to family income numbers.

The federal government inputs the information collected from the FAFSA into a formula in order to determine an Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is an amount of money that the student’s family is expected to contribute to the student’s education per year.

Based on the EFC, the government determines the amount of financial aid that a student will be awarded. Varieties and types of government aid lie across a wide spectrum.

“The federal government provides Pell Grants, Student Subsidized Loans, Student Non-subsidized Loans, Work Study, and Parental Loans,” said College and Career Advisor Gretchen Hinderer.

Aid from the California Board of Education is also based on the EFC. The state provides funding to students with higher EFCs along with an excellent academic profile. These monetary awards are known as CalGrants.

Data from the PROFILE is distributed to various private scholarship foundations, who then use their own processes determine financial aid packages to offer students.

Financial aid can play a large role in a student’s admissions procedure and college decision. For senior Sarat Calamur, the process started in the first few months of his senior year. Because the release of EFCs was still several months away, Calamur had to weigh the risks and rewards of stepping into an unknown financial future.

“I started thinking about financial aid pretty soon, when I was deciding whether or not to apply for early decision,” said Calamur. “I decided not to apply early for multiple reasons, financial aid availability being one of them.”

After filling out his FAFSA on Jan. 1, Calamur and his family received their financial aid statement several months later.

“We initially did not receive much financial aid, but we have filed an appeal that is still processing,” Calamur said.

Calamur chose to attend Georgia Tech, swayed by its unique opportunities as well as the financial aid that will make out-of-state tuition less costly.

Battling cheer’s mental block

BY IRENE HSU & VIK WAGHRAY he cheer team placed sixth nationally in the Large Varsity Show Cheer Novice division of the United Spirit Association March 2013, but it wasn’t all flash and flair.

In cheer, things go wrong fast. Because of the high-risk for injury cheerleaders must overcome discipline beyond physical ability—mental blocks.

Junior Veronica Baban, who began tumbling and cheerleading as a freshman, was unable to stick her back handspring outside of her tumbling class. She would wind up for the handspring, but picture herself falling on her head.

At the time, she was under the pressure of performing for the team’s routine at nationals and in the end, was unable to nail the O CA A stunt in time.

IC S S JE Muscle memory largely deBY N O pends on the establishment of TI RA neural pathways. Robert WinST U LL TI ston’s series, “The Human AR Brain,” on ABC TV explains that visualization builds neural pathways and can increase confidence. Senior Krysteena Snyder, who was a her team members and her coach were ingymnast for 10 years and a cheerleader for sufficient. She quit gymnastics, shifting her three, used to review a stunt 10 times to focus to cheerleading. Since then, she has commit the stunt into memory. cheered at Los Altos High School for a year, Overcoming mental blocks isn’t as easy as at Lynbrook for two and for Nor Cal Elite Alljust visualizing success.

Stars for one year.

Snyder mastered difficult gymnastics Cheerleading stunts are one of the most stunts at a young age, but towards the end dangerous maneuvers in the sport. And yet, of her gymnastics career, she experienced stunting builds trust between team memincreasing frustration with stunts, especially bers. A mutual trust must exist between flydismounting off the high bars, a skill she ini- ers and the back spots and bases to succeed. tially had difficulties with.

“When you’re in a stunt group for most When she broke her foot in 2008, she of the year, you become closer friends with took a break from the dismount for three them,” Baban said. “You are more confident.” months. Upon attempting it, she discovered Junior and flyer Malia Servito’s first basthat she had “created something in my mind ket toss, a cheerleading stunt in which the that told me I just couldn’t do it.” flyer is launched into the air, was a catastroSimilar to Baban, she would go through phe. Her body shifted so that she landed on the steps of dismounting, but when it came the back of her neck, which made it difficult time to release the bars, the mental block for the bases and back spot to catch her in. would grip her.

In the end, Servito overcame the block “My mind wouldn’t process,” she said. through forcing herself to repeat the stunt “My mind and body were giving up on me.” again and again—but ultimately, it was the In the end, even the encouragement from support of her teammates that gave her con-

fidence to overcome the block. Teammates spotted around her stunt group in case her stunt veered off. Due to the buildup of trust, she also gained confidence.

But stunting requires trust in the entire team. When there is tension within the team, Snyder noticed that it worsened their performance during practices. Servito, who has also played other sports, described cheer as one of the more stressful sports because “it’s a group of girls, so there’s more tension.”

Yet when it comes down to it, the pressure to perform becomes a pressure as a team rather than just an individual effort, often leading to a determination that wouldn’t be found individually.

“I usually start to fear something if I know I can hurt my stunt group,” junior and flyer Selin Toprak said of performing as a flyer.

“I’m not that worried about hurting myself because I know my group will catch me no matter what.”

“I feel the pressure of having the responsibility of the flyer,” said Snyder, who is usually a base for stunts. “The person could be getting hurt because of me—and the pressure of that helps me perform.”

Overcoming mental blocks through encouragement and focus results in a mindset that Snyder describes as increasingly positive and trusting. As a gymnast who had overcome dozens of blocks before her difficulties with dismounting, she said, “I’ve learned to be supportive of everyone—and when we all give each other advice and corrections, we feel that we can trust each other more.”

Snyder works at Gold Star Gymnastics, where she teaches basic gymnastics such as cartwheels. Though she doesn’t have to deal with mental blocks as often, she employs the same encouragement on her students.

She said, “When there is really not much else you can do yourself, it’s the people around you who really get you through it.”

than by electronic scoring.

A kenshi is the Japanese term for someone who practices kendo, and they are meticulous about properly folding and tying their uniforms. Appearing confident is often just as important as smoothly executing moves.

As the first kenshi up during that disastrous Nationals match, Sugino had the responsibility of bringing up team spirit by displaying good fighting spirit during her match. Losing meant that her two teammates had to go in with the pressure of having to win their matches for a team win.

Now, though, the only thing the girls can do to prepare for the next time Nationals are held is to work hard by training often.

“You practice moves many times so that it becomes muscle memory since there’s no time to think in a match,” explained Lyu. “How well I do in a tournament depends on how much I practiced leading up to it.”

Lyu, who started kendo when she was 6, experienced difficulties when she began competing because there were not enough

girls her age to form a separate competition bracket. Instead, she competed in the boys’ age 11-13 bracket until she turned 14 and could compete in the women’s age 14-17 bracket in larger tournaments.

“I still have to compete in the boys’ 14-17 bracket at smaller tournaments since there just aren’t enough girls, and since boys are stronger, it’s difficult for me to win,” she said.

There isn’t just a lack of girls. The number of people who practice kendo is declining. According to Sugino, it is unpopular “due to the fact that you sweat a lot because there’s no air conditioning, it ends up smelling, which is natural; and people complain that getting hit hurts, which you get used to.”

Despite the sport’s complexities, winning the competition is not what kendo is about.

For both Lyu and Sugino, their dojo in San Jose is like their family.

“Kendo taught me how to control my mind and how to live life,” said Lyu. “We are very bonded as a dojo and always support each other.”

T

Let all the pigs fly

A

ll eyes are always on the flyer, as though the girls pushing her up don’t exist and she has magically risen to those heights—a true flyer.

So I joined cheer to fly.

When I tried out as a sophomore, I was 5’3” and weighed around 100 lbs. On any other squad, I would have been a flyer. At Lynbrook, I had been a back spot, a front spot, a base—everything but a flyer.

The first and last time I flew, I knew it wasn’t for me. I didn’t panic in a basket toss, or fall from a full. There was one reason why I couldn’t fly: I was ticklish.

After that, my block was something else, a belief that my role in the stunt was trivial. Like underappreciated workers who end up dissatisfied with their jobs, I began to lose interest in stunting.

Then, my first rally in August: it clicked.

In my adrenaline rush, I saw that stunting wasn’t about the individual because in reality, there was no individual. I’ve played a lot of team sports, but stunting for cheer takes “team” to a whole other level. And that was the exhilaration.

It didn’t matter for whom the crowd was cheering. Once the stunt was in motion, we became the stunt. Like how hands don’t complain about not being feet, I stopped griping about not being a flyer. Starting from the moment we set— flyer’s foot in cupped palms, pressure on the left shoulder—we were a unit. We breathed in unison, we counted in unison.

The fluidity of motion was unplaceable.

Did it start from the back spot’s push? The flyer’s spring? The bases’ bounce?

After I quit mid-junior year (for the Epic, ironically), cheer didn’t remind me of spirit or pep. It reminded me of halfs, fulls, twist ups, full downs, the swivel of the wrist, the toss from the core. Silly me.

I had been everything at once—the back spot, the front spot, the base, the flyer.

Two students discuss their experiences in a unique, foreign sport

BY JESSICA CAO

A

t the Kendo U.S. Nationals in 2011, senior Yuka Sugino earned 3rd place in the women’s age 14 to 17 yet had never felt more dejected in her life.

“I got points taken off during my round and I just couldn’t get them back,” she explained. “I think it was my fault we didn’t make it into the finals because I messed up Chloe’s mentality.”

Freshman Chloe Lyu, who has been practicing kendo for seven years, was on Sugino’s team at that particular tournament and had her match right after. The points ended up being extremely close, but the match resulted in a narrow and disappointing loss.

“We were literally bawling our eyes out afterward,” Sugino admitted.

Kendo, which means “way of the sword” in Japanese, is a traditional sport often referred to as Japanese fencing. Like western fencing, kendo involves armor, swords and speed, but is still scored by judges rather

PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION OF CHLOE LYU

DELIVERING A BLOW| Freshman Chloe Lyu tries to strike her opponent with her shinai, or sword.

Smashing the competition

BY PRIYA RAVURU

SAMUEL CHANG — EPIC

SERVING UP A STORM| Senior Howard Chen delivers a jump smash to his opponent.

W

ith several key players injured, a successful season was daunting for the varsity badminton team. However, the team ended the season as co-league champions with Monta Vista for the first time in eight years.

For the second year in a row, the JV badminton team won the league championship title as well, achieving their goal of defending it. The varsity team was hoping to improve on last season’s 8-4 record.

This successful season proved to be a challenge since most of the varsity team’s experienced players had graduated or were injured, which forced a major change in the team’s usual line-up. By strategically rearranging the line-up, the team lost only one match throughout the season, against Monta Vista.

Co-head coach Evan Blomquist said, “Realistically, I knew it was going to be hard to beat Monta Vista the second time around, but we focused on beating Saratoga and going for co-champions.

Lynbrook emerged as co-champions alongside Monta Vista. They both ended the season with a 10-1 league record, each losing one match to the other.

OVER I

A triumphant splash

PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION OF DARA JOVKAR

BY KHAYA BHATIA

L

ynbrook’s’ swim team finished the season by winning first place in the El Camino League Championships and with a perfect record of 6-0.

Head coach Patrick Ellington believes the pivotal aspect to this year’s winning team was having athletes who put hard work into practices. The girls’ 200 freestyle relay qualified for consolidated finals at CCS, placing in the top 16 teams out of 58 schools.

“I was proud with our relay team because we worked hard; we were surprised to make it to consoles,” said freshman Angela Sun. According to Ellington, the meet against Cupertino on March 29 was a turning point in the season. Many swimmers believed the team had no chance of winning, but Lynbrook won by two points. This triumph allowed the swimmers to realize that they had the abilities to succeed.

When asked what he thinks the key to winning is, Ellington said, “In order to win Leagues, it takes elite swimmers and a team that has considerable depth. This year we had both, enabling us to score well in each event.”

After a proud finish to the season, the swimmers hope to keep the motivation for next year’s swim team.

CELEBRATING VICTORY| The Lynbrook swim team celebrates their league championship.

BY VIK WAGHRAY

t truly has been a remarkable year for Lynbrook sports, marked by countless tight wins, tough losses, emotional comebacks, lasting friendships and other such memorable moments.

When the time came to start thinking of what to do for this last issue, I knew I wanted to recount the feats achieved by teams throughout the year. Of course, it is impossible to include every single sport, for which I apologize, but I selected the sports I felt were not necessarily the most successful, but also experienced significant breakthroughs for one reason or another.

Starting clockwise from the top right, the original reporters for each sport have written analyses recounting season highlights for: football, field hockey, boys’ water polo, girls’ basketball, swimming and badminton.

Not only has there been an improvement in play, but also in the Lynbrook community’s attitude toward the athletics program. The new and redesigned field complex helped renew a zeal for Lynbrook athletics, an aspect of our school that has been dormant for a while. Be-

Making Viking history

BY IZABELLA KIPNIS

JOEY LI — EPIC

T

he Lady Vikes had a victorious season. They were co-league champions with Wilcox High School, ranked third place in Central Coast Section (CCS) championships and achieved second place in NorCal championships.

“It is cliché to say that we poured our blood, sweat and tears into this season, but every word of it is true,” said senior Emily Fong.

“This season, a committed group of girls seized moments, as preparation met opportunity to prove that they were one of the best teams in the state,” said varsity coach Cynthia Ting. The team made Lynbrook history when they won second place at NorCal Championships.

Each player had a distinct role on the team. “The seniors each played unique roles on and off the court, and left their mark on their younger teammates. The juniors showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with next year. And the two sophomores worked their butts off and added a new dynamic,” said Ting. As their bonds flourished off the court, the girls’ success on the court grew as well.

“We have great chemistry on the court,” said Fong. “What people may not see is that we have better chemistry off the court. We are always having fun.”

The girls left an impact on their fans. They created “memories not only for themselves, but for their entire community,” said Ting.

GUARDING THE OPPONENT| Senior Emily Fong looks to steal the ball in a game against Harker.

Moving ahead one play at a time

W

COME

ing events, whether it be football games on brisk Friday nights, afternoon baseball and softball games or the action-filled track meets.

Most importantly, however, more people seemed to care about our teams, thus contributing to our school spirit as a whole, which is something many believe to be lacking at Lynbrook (when it isn’t Homecoming week, of course).

It has been an honor to serve as your sports editor this year. I have had the unique opportunity to experience various sporting events through both the lens of an editor and a spectator, whether it be actually playing as a member of the varsity football team, watching the girls’ basketball team make history, or see the boys’ water polo team win a CCS game against Monta Vista.

And let us not forget our beloved Valkyries, who won first place in two categories, and cheer team, who won sixth place overall nationally.

Given how successful Lynbrook athletics has been this year, I can only imagine what the future holds. After a large step up this year, we can only go up from here.

DRIBBLING TO SUCCESS| Senior Jackie Pratt dribbles the ball past her Branham opponent in hopes of scoring a goal.

The sweep into CCS

BY KELSEY HURWITZ

A

fter a seven-year dry-spell, the field hockey team re-claimed their former glory by once again making it to CCS after a buy-in game vs. Los Altos on Nov. 3. Their constant mentality of striving for CCS brought the team closer together, and it was that combination of hard work and stellar team dynamics that allowed them to power through.

When asked what she remembered most about this season, Coach Jenny Dumas said, “Our team chemistry. Everyone supported one another and worked together to accomplish our goal of getting to CCS,” also adding, “The team dynamics were amazing. Our team is truly supportive of each other.”

Also helping the team to get as prepared as possible for CSS was the new field. Having turf to practice on prepared them to play games on it at other schools, and it changed their style of play, to where they passed more and worked together more as a solid unit. With the addition of the new turf field, the players were able to leave behind the days where the ball was constantly stuck in muddy divots and uneven grass, and develop a smoother style of play.

On how this season will affect next year’s team, junior Kristina Okamoto said, “It’ll make us more serious since we know we want to represent this year’s seniors and what we did this year.” Though it will be difficult to replicate the success of this season, Okamoto comments, “As long as we are motivated it should be a good season.”

KELSEY HURWITZ— EPIC

CHARGING AHEAD| Senior Tim Wallis streaks toward the endzone while outrunning James Lick defenders.

ith a new coaching staff, a new field and many new goals in mind, the varsity football team began their season with high hopes and determination to succeed. Although they ended the season with more losses than wins, both the players and the coaching staff believe that the team responded to the changes in coaching technique positively, and that it was overall a good learning experience.

“We finished 4-6 on the season, but I feel our record did not reflect the success we had as a team,” said head coach Jim Grassi. “The coaching staff could not be any more proud of the effort, attitude and dedication of last year’s team.”

The team’s goals for next year are to win at least 5 games, or to have a final record of .500, and to win the homecoming game.

“Even though we didn’t end this season with a over 500 record, we still fought and played hard,” said junior Joseph Chang. “Because we didn’t win our homecoming game this past season, this gave the team a lot of motivation to lift hard and work during the off season so that we can win our homecoming game this year and be a over .500 team.”

JOEY LI — EPIC

BY SARAH TARTER

Gaining the upper hand

BY JACOB ANTONY

TAKING THE SHOT| Senior Steve Hahn shoots at the goal while evading a defender.

JOEY LI — EPIC

T

he boys’ polo team finished the 2012 season with an undefeated 13-0 league record and an overall 20-4 record, establishing themselves as one of Lynbrook’s finest sports programs this season by securing their fourth consecutive league championship and Lynbrook water polo’s first CCS win in 16 years.

Changes from last year’s style of play were evident this year as the team shifted from an emphasis on junior Rishabh Hegde to more balanced scoring capability, giving the team flexibility to exercise other options. Junior Gary Chen said, “The experience from our seniors and everyone from our bench stepping up helped us come out on top in tight games,“ as in games against Saratoga and Fremont High.

After storming through the regular season and an excellent performance at the El Camino League Championships against Saratoga High, the team faced Monta Vista in the first CCS round. The game was exceedingly close, going into overtime and ending with a last-second score by senior Danny Nguyen for a 15-14 victory.

With the departure of quite a few seniors next year, the boys’ streak of dominance could be put into question. Summer practices will begin in August, but for now, the Vikings can take pride in their unparalleled success for a bit longer.

BY JOEY LI

P

roducing a newspaper is no small task, and for a week each month the staff spends nights in room 611 bonding, working, and racing to complete the Epic for your viewing pleasure.

Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a look at what really goes on during production week.

Clockwise from top, staff members (from left) Kathy Jang, Nikita Dhesikan, Jessica Cao, and Shannon Chai enjoy their dinner during a break from work.

Right, ex-

hausted senior and editor-in-chief Irene Hsu peruses layout possibilities as she edits printouts from various sections.

Below, staff members Dhiraj Nallapothula and Nikita Dhesikan conduct an interview with new assistant principal Eric Wong.

Left, photography editor Joey Li (yours truly) works on feature shots in the studio lit by strobes. And despite the work, sophomore Anand Chukka has fun in every part of the Epic.