Volume 59 Issue 8 | May 20, 2024
100 years of FUHSD honored in district-wide celebrations pg. 3
Colleges have become a battleground for students’ freedom of speech pg. 5
Adrian Philip carves a path towards success pg. 15
Redlining: forming urban and suburban divisions pg. 16
Rohin Saharoy surpasses limits in the dojo pg. 18
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Lynbrook High School, 1280 Johnson Ave., San Jose, CA 95129
Fighting the newest outbreak: test u STAFF
VOICE OF THE EPIC
The phone rings in the main office — another absence call for a supposedly sick student. Coincidentally, multiple teachers are giving tests on that day. Spikes in absences on days when tests are administered have become a rising concern. This phenomenon has been dubbed “test flu”. While many students are genuinely sick, some students miss school just to skip exams. At a school like Lynbrook, academics often weigh students down. Though not taking a test on the chosen day may seem like a quick and simple solution to avoid facing an obstacle, this habit of avoidance poses detrimental effects on students, affects their classmates and negatively impacts the teacher’s lesson plans. Instead, students should prioritize communication with teachers and recognize the multiple consequences of test flu to ensure effective learning.
There are many reasons why students may choose to miss class on the day of a test. One reason is that the student does not feel prepared due to a lack of studying or not prepared enough to do well on the test. A factor that may create this course of action is the amount of stress that students may feel from a heavy workload or procrastination leading up to the test. Some students come to school with minimal sleep while dealing with constant pressure to achieve high grades. In the long run, these students risk and sometimes cope with their anxiety by avoiding taking tests to have more time to study and potentially get a higher grade.
“Testing anxiety and academic pressure affects students,” sophomore Susanna Khubchandani said. “Without good grades, some may think that their future prospects are ruined and that they’re not going to get anywhere in life.”
story continus on page 4 || opinion
100 years of FUHSD honored in district-wide celebrations
BY AUDREY SUN AND OLIVIA YUANFUHSD commemorated a century of providing education at Fremont High School and the FUHSD Adult School on May 11. Through events like a war memorial at Fremont and tours of new classrooms at the Adult School, the commemoration both honored the past and looked toward the future of the district.
“Our goal for the celebration was not only to celebrate our school’s 100th anniversary but also to invite new students and spread awareness about the Adult School,” Adult School principal Lori Riehl said.
The opening ceremony in Fremont’s Shannon Theater kicked off the centennial at 10 a.m. with the Fremont choir. Their performance was followed by speeches from Riehl, as well as Fremont principal Bryan Emmert, Fremont senior Lia Kamhaji and Fremont alumnus and teacher Jason Townsend. Additionally, current district superintendent Graham Clark, former district superintendent Polly Bove and district board of trustees president Jeff Moe were present as speakers. Sunnyvale mayor Larry Klein, congressional aide from District 17 representative Ro Khanna’s office Jordan Tachibana and district director representing assemblymember Evan Low’s office Patrick Ahrens also contributed addresses.
At the podium, which was adorned with ikebana (the traditional Japanese art of floral arrangement) from Adult School instructors Connie Chen, Mayshine Huang and Fusako Hoyrup, the speakers recounted their involvement in FUHSD, expressing their hopes for the district’s future and honoring significant figures in its history.
“Listening to the speakers, some of whom are former students and people that I knew or worked with, talk about Fremont was wonderful,” former Fremont teacher Richard Canavese said. “It was very emotional to listen to their recollections of people, my colleagues and friends, who have either passed away or moved away.”
senior comic: pg 7
bequeathals: pg 8-9
columns: pg 12-13 senior map: pg 10-11
Hey Vikings,
This is Myles and Susanna, your Editorsin-Chief, and welcome to Issue 8, our special senior issue!
Celebrate your graduating classmates on pages 7-13 with the Epic’s annual senior map, bequeathals and comics, as well as columns from our very own senior Epic staffers!
In News, celebrate FUHSD’s 100th year anniversary at the centennial celebration; in Opinion, learn about the common phenomenon of “test-flu”; in Features, join sophomore entrepreneurs in the world of crocheting; in In-Depth, explore the history and effects of redlining in the Bay Area; in Sports, step into the Dojo with a black belt in karate; in Web, experience unforgettable senior trips to foreign countries.
We would like to give out a huge thank you to the wonderful Epic staff for making all of this possible. Thank you to our fantastic adviser Mr. Miller for guiding us through our ups and downs. Last but not least, on behalf of the entire publication, we also want to thank you for your readership and support all year. Enjoy your summer!
Signing out,
Myles Kim & Susanna Tang
Editors in Chief BY MEADOW SHEN
Amajor campus construction project is slated to start during the summer of 2024. The plan features a new Voyager program facility consisting of a therapy courtyard and a multi-use classroom. The undertaking also includes a new maker space for the Funky Monkeys robotics team as well as more science labs.
Utility upgrades and measures toward sustainability and modernization will also be implemented. In addition to improving existing water and sewage systems, the construction project will install solar panels and update heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in new buildings.
Following the Cupertino City Council’s approval of a $9 million budget cut in Cupertino on April 9, the city is revising certain services and amenities. In 1998, Apple signed a deal with the city, agreeing to give it a 1% stake in Apple’s sales tax. Last year, the deal was deemed improper by a federal audit, meaning Cupertino would need to pay an estimated $56.5 million of its profits from the deal to the state of California.
Due to the budget cut, Cupertino plans to roll back city events like the Fourth of July and Shakespeare in the Park celebrations, decrease the number of public works contacts and vacant positions and raise prices of some recreational services.
The tumultuous rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid data pushed many students to forfeit colleges that they could not afford. Normally opened to seniors in October, the 2023 FAFSA application process was not available until December. As a result of persisting technical difficulties with the online form, the release of FAFSA results to colleges was delayed greatly.
Many universities, including the UCs, pushed back their commitment deadlines past May 1, which is usually known as National College Decision Day. However, others, like the Juilliard School in New York, did not. Consequently, the FAFSA delay compelled some students to withdraw from certain colleges and reconsider their post-secondary paths.
The Swiss company Climeworks launched the Mammoth on May 8, a direct air capture plant in Iceland that extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. An advancement in the fight against global warming, the Mammoth is currently the world’s largest direct air capture plant. It has the potential to extract almost 10 times the amount of carbon dioxide as its predecessor, the Orca, at a yearly estimate of 36,000 tons. Climeworks aims to have the Mammoth extract carbon dioxide in the megatons by 2030 and in the gigatons by 2050. As of now, the plant is still in progress as engineers continue to add final touches and improvements. Climeworks is also currently working to implement more direct air capture plants across the globe in countries such as Canada, Kenya and the United States.
The Lynbrook ASB Student Wellness team hosted an online webinar on April 30 titled “Are Lynbrook Graduates Ready for College & Adulting?”, inviting Lynbrook students and alumni to address what to expect and the skills needed for life after high school.
The webinar covered topics ranging from alumni’s post-high school experiences to the preparations that current Lynbrook students need to fulfill to live on their own. The panel of speakers included five current seniors who shared how they developed independence while living with their families. The majority also shared that they did not experience pressure when searching for jobs. Since Lynbrook students generally have access to many resources, the alumni believe that it is better for students to obtain degrees for jobs that suit their interests instead of being motivated solely by money or peer pressure.
dorms, can be overwhelming at first.
“One thing I learned is that there is great diversity in what opportunities Lynbrook students take after high school,” senior and student panelist Aakash Choudhary said. “That was really interesting since you often hear very similar stories or you’re in your own bubble, but it’s good to step back and see all the interesting things people can do and experience.”
“When you go to college, you realize you have to do all these little things to live a healthy life, including fnding time to eat a meal, buying groceries and taking care of yourself when you’re sick.”
Gio Cabaltica, Senior and Student Wellness team lead
“It’s better for you to do something that you are passionate about,” Lynbrook alumnus Keerthana Babu said. “Especially in the Lynbrook community, there is pressure to major in specific fields. However, at the end of the day, if you have a degree in, for example, computer science, you will most likely be pursuing work in a similar field. If you don’t want to do that, then just having a degree isn’t going to help your employment, and it’s better to do something that you’re both good at and enjoy.”
The majority of the panelists were found and chosen through the survey, while some current students were contacted in person by the Student Wellness team. Drawing from their individual experiences, three alumni from the Classes of 2019 and 2023 joined the panel and shared an array of tips for students and parents on navigating high school and college. For example, they recommended that students actively reach out to college professors for opportunities such as internships and research that may be difficult to find elsewhere. They also advised students to set boundaries and allocate personal time since being constantly surrounded by people, especially while living in
After high school, the alumni noticed an increase in the amount of free time they had. They especially emphasized the summer after graduation as a time to relax before college. They noted that in college, students would have the time to pursue many nonacademic activities of their choosing, find their passions and build new valuable relationships.
“At first, I didn’t really know what to do because having so much free time was foreign to me,” Babu said. “Over time, I started figuring out my hobbies and what I want to do for myself. I started joining a few different clubs for fun and spending my free time without focusing on productivity.”
The alumni shared that the environment transitions to become less competitive compared to high school. High schools, and Lynbrook specifically, are especially rigorous, oftentimes resulting in additional pressure and stress for the students, but college tends to be less competitive and offers a more supportive community.
“I had to get accustomed to the fact that people in college are less competitive,” Babu said. “You’re not really directly competing with your peers because we are all doing different subjects and have different goals in mind. I felt like people were a lot more collaborative and came into friendships looking for mutual benefits and to have a good time, rather than seeing friends as mere competition.”
In the transition to living alone, the alumni spoke about managing aspects of life that, having been taken care of by parents in the past, are frequently overlooked but crucial to consider. They highlighted basic skills, such as cooking, cleaning and doing the
laundry, that students should learn on their own. One thing that an alumnus emphasized was finding healthcare and arranging appointments with doctors, which many students likely haven’t done on their own before.
“There’s always things that your parents do for you that you take for granted,” senior and Student Wellness team lead Gio Cabaltica said. “When you go to college, you realize you have to do all these little things to live a healthy life, including finding time to eat a meal, buying groceries and taking care of yourself when you’re sick.”
A few weeks before the evening of the panel, the Student Wellness team sent out a survey to Lynbrook students, parents and alumni to gather data about different topics that the webinar addressed. After collecting much of the information, the team crafted questions for the panelists to discuss based on the trends shown by the data. One discrepancy was that only 56% of the students surveyed felt that they were prepared to live on their own — a belief that was shared by 70% of parents.
Although the Student Wellness team has hosted mental health panels in the past, this was their first panel focused primarily on college and adulting. After seeing the success of the webinar, the team hopes to approach more collegerelated topics in the future.
“We hope to cover college applications or other collegerelated topics next year,” Cabaltica said. “We’re also trying to host in-person in the auditorium, where people can go up to microphones and ask questions.”
of parents think their students are ready to live independently after
FUHSD commemorated a century of providing education at Fremont High School and the FUHSD Adult School on May 11. Through events like a war memorial at Fremont and tours of new classrooms at the Adult School, the commemoration both honored the past and looked toward the future of the district.
“Our goal for the celebration was not only to celebrate our school’s 100th anniversary but also to invite new students and spread awareness about the Adult School,” Adult School principal Lori Riehl said.
The opening ceremony in Fremont’s Shannon Theater kicked off the centennial at 10 a.m. with the Fremont choir. Their performance was followed by speeches from Riehl, as well as Fremont principal Bryan Emmert, Fremont senior Lia Kamhaji and Fremont alumnus and teacher Jason Townsend. Additionally, current district superintendent Graham Clark, former district superintendent Polly Bove and district board of trustees president Jeff Moe were present as speakers. Sunnyvale mayor Larry Klein, congressional aide from District 17 representative Ro Khanna’s office Jordan Tachibana and district director representing assemblymember Evan Low’s office Patrick Ahrens also contributed addresses.
At the podium, which was adorned with ikebana (the traditional Japanese art of floral arrangement) from Adult School instructors Connie Chen, Mayshine Huang and Fusako Hoyrup, the speakers recounted their involvement in FUHSD, expressing their hopes for the district’s future and honoring significant figures in its history.
“Listening to the speakers, some of whom are former students and people that I knew or worked with, talk about Fremont was wonderful,” former Fremont teacher Richard Canavese said. “It was very emotional to listen to their recollections of people, my colleagues and friends, who have either passed away or moved away.”
Midway through the ceremony, a video retrospective featured clips of students from decades of Fremont’s graduating classes, beginning with the Class of 2024 and stretching back to the Class of 1950, as well as archival images of Fremont’s past.
“It’s nice to celebrate the entire history of Fremont, from a school of 40 students in 1923 in a mostly agricultural community to the 2,200 students in Silicon Valley we
are now,” Fremont assistant principal Andy Walczak said.
“There are not a lot of things in Santa Clara County that have been around this long.”
Subsequently, both the Fremont and Adult School campuses held open house sessions until 1:30 p.m. Booths representing the Science Olympiad and Firebots robotics teams were present at Fremont, as well as an art exhibit organized by the school’s art department. Student ambassadors guided attendees through Fremont’s buildings, which have recently undergone extensive renovations. Its newly built student center, finished in 2022, presented the school’s history through local and school newspaper clippings, photo albums and other memorabilia. A photo gallery of several graduating classes was displayed in the main office.
Pops Concerts, May 22-23
“My class, specifically, had a hard time coming back on campus after the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kamhaji said.
“I think both the district and Fremont have been so helpful in guiding our recovery from the pandemic; the support system has been great all four years.”
At the Adult School, they had an art showcase along with interactive class demonstrations to introduce their classes. Many FUHSD families and friends came together to celebrate the occasion and enjoy the exhibition.
“I loved reconnecting with the current students by seeing the artwork that they created,” said Faye Hane, a parent of an FUHSD alumnus.
Further down the street, the open house sessions at the Adult School introduced attendees to the latest home of its relocated facilities, which finished construction in 2022 and also includes the district office.
Concurrent with the open house sessions, scheduled events showcased the district’s historical significance and modern developments. A war memorial dedication on the Fremont campus paid tribute to FUHSD students who died in service during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The Fremont Marching Band opened and concluded the dedication ceremony with school anthems like “Go Big Red” and “Firestar.” Fremont sophomore Daphne Emmert’s rendition of “The StarSpangled Banner” and a speech from Walczak honoring significant fallen students followed the band’s initial performance. The ceremony ended with a commemoration of all the names on the memorial.
“It was really heartfelt for me to be
able to sing the national anthem because my grandma attended school here, and I have grandparents who fought in the wars,” Emmert said. “I feel like this memorial is really special because it talks about all these people who might not have been known otherwise.”
The centennial also spotlighted progress on new and ongoing projects at Fremont. Currently, their biggest project is the construction of a field house, as they are the only campus at FUHSD without one. Slated to be ready for student use by the start of the 2025 school year, the field house will be multifunctional, serving as not only a second gym but also a wrestling room and a space for robotics.
Classroom tours at the Adult School highlighted opportunities to explore a multitude of unique skills, including Argentine tango, Zumba, memoir writing and knife painting. Each of these skills represent the five Adult School programs: painting fundraisers, the English as a Second Language citizen program, the career technical education program and the Graduate Education Diploma program for people who have not yet obtained their high school diploma.
“We have about 11,000 people in the broader community who do not have a diploma or equivalent,” Riehl said. “We’re always trying to do outreach to get to people who did not get a diploma in high school.”
In addition to the GED program, they hosted demonstrations for the certified nursing assistant program. They taught the foundations of assisting seniors with personal care, such as equipping wheelchairs, and conducting blood pressure checks for attendees. They also promoted their healthcare interpreter classes, which allows students with a multilingual background to pursue careers as interpreters in the healthcare field.
“Some family members do not have any medical background,” said Dora Liu, a teacher assistant for the certified nursing program.
“Our in-person classes will teach students step by step how to care for seniors.”
Preparations for the centennial began two years ago
Hear the music department perform movie and musical classics, as well as the senior musicians’ skit. Tickets are available online or at the door. The concert begins at 7:00 p.m.
Indesign Fashion Show, May 24
Explore Ethereal Realms with models walking the runway in student creations. The pieces will fall into the subcategories of “Enchanted Eden,” “Celestial,” “Frostbitten Whispers,” “Mirage” and “Inferno.”
Senior Prom, May 25
The class of 2024 will close off their high school journey with a night of excitement at Senior Prom, which will take place in Levi’s Stadium United Club from 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm.
Memorial Day, May 27
Enjoy a day off of school in observance of Memorial Day.
Last Day of School, June 6
with a collaboration involving staff from the Adult School, Fremont and FUHSD. Planning included creating a physical brochure, determining the venues and coordinating between the three teams. While communication across the different campuses proved a minor challenge, they organized meetings and collaborated to ensure the event’s success.
Fremont and the Adult School were ultimately chosen as the venues for the centennial because of their weight in FUHSD history: founded in 1923 as West Side Union High School, Fremont was the first school in the district to be constructed. Soon after, the 1924 establishment of the Adult School was the start of its storied history.
Like the rest of the district, both schools have changed much in the decades since: demographics have diversified, campuses have transformed and opportunities have expanded. However, many of its core principles have remained constant.
“The expectation that a student’s experience in high school goes beyond the academics has been a driving force for our district for many years,” Emmert said. “A real commitment to the arts, athletics and activities has continued to this day. Ever since the district’s opening, the focus was on creating comprehensive high schools that support a wide range of students.”
The district’s centennial celebration acknowledges its extensive legacy as a vibrant cornerstone of the broader community, while also presenting a glimpse into its future development.
“I hope the district continues to retain all that they’ve been doing, but also to build new things and to keep reaching out and being inclusive,” Canavese said. “I want to preserve as much of the diversity, the goodwill and the wonderful nature of all the different people in our community as possible.”
The phone rings in the main office — another absence call for a supposedly sick student.
Coincidentally, multiple teachers are giving tests on that day. Spikes in absences on days when tests are administered have become a rising concern. This phenomenon has been dubbed “test flu”. While many students are genuinely sick, some students miss school just to skip exams. At a school like Lynbrook, academics often weigh students down. Though not taking a test on the chosen day may seem like a quick and simple solution to avoid facing an obstacle, this habit of avoidance poses detrimental effects on students, affects their classmates and negatively impacts the teacher’s lesson plans. Instead, students should prioritize communication with teachers and recognize the multiple consequences of test flu to ensure effective learning.
There are many reasons why students may choose to miss class on the day of a test. One reason is that the student does not feel prepared due to a lack of studying or not prepared enough to do well on the test. A factor that may create this course of action is the amount of stress that students may feel from a heavy workload or procrastination leading up to the test. Some students come to school with minimal sleep while dealing with constant pressure to achieve high grades. In the long run, these students risk and sometimes cope with their anxiety by avoiding taking tests to have more time to study and potentially get a higher grade.
Staf Editorial The Voice of“The more we respond to anxiety or fear by avoiding it, the stronger this response becomes in our brains,” school therapist Jenna Starnes said. “We start to believe that our only option is to avoid, and thus, we become even more fearful and uneasy when we face a situation that makes us uncomfortable. This can generalize to other performative tasks in our lives, and the consequences may be more severe than those found in high school.”
and go over it.”
It is important to strike a balance that respects students and educators by prioritizing their well-being while holding them accountable for their academic responsibilities. Students should be able to take mental health days when needed but should not abuse that system to miss a test.
“Mental health days are important for students when they feel overwhelmed but should not be used to skip a test,” sophomore Brian Lee said. “It’s okay to feel overwhelmed but avoidance should not be the solution that we turn to.”
“It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, but avoidance should not be the solution that we turn to.”
Brian Lee, Sophomore
“Testing anxiety and academic pressure affects students,” sophomore Susanna Khubchandani said. “Without good grades, some may think that their future prospects are ruined and that they’re not going to get anywhere in life.”
For the student, feelings of unpreparedness can grow with the extra time before taking the makeup test, inducing more stress and creating a cycle of procrastination. Students will also find themselves needing to make up missed classwork if asked to make up a test in class. If they develop the habit of avoiding a test, they will find themselves fostering unhealthy habits such as avoiding responsibility, which can hurt them in the long term as they move on to college and the workplace. These harmful habits may influence students’ way of dealing with future problems negatively: by avoiding them.
Integrity is often cast aside when students resort to habits like test flu in hopes of getting a higher grade. Students may circulate information about a test to their peers who have yet to take it, causing some students to gain an unfair advantage over others, in addition to the fact that they will have more time to study. If there are too many absences during a test day, teachers may be inclined to increase the difficulty of the makeup test.
“I think what students should do is to drop the extreme fear of failing,” physics teacher Anshul Agarwal said. “Most of the classes allow for some sort of retake and a chance to recover. Avoiding things creates a negative spiraling effect because it disrupts the teachers’ plans and the student’s chances to learn from feedback in a timely manner. Moreover, for future success, students need to learn how to deal with their fears as they come and be able to face the outcome, whatever it may be.”
It is also important for students to consider the plethora of problems test flu can cause for teachers. If many students have yet to take a test, the teacher must communicate with them all to find suitable times for each of them to make up the test. In addition, teachers need to make multiple versions of tests in order to maintain test security, further adding to their heavy workload. This can push back plans for lessons and affect the rest of the students because most teachers will be unable to pass back tests or go over answers before all students have taken the test. This delays the schedules teachers plan ahead of time.
“One of the negatives is that I can’t go over things from any of the tests until everyone has taken them,” math teacher Sarah Kraemer said. “Students who have to make it up are holding back from me being able to hand off the test
Rising test flu cases also affect the workload of attendance clerks who find themselves taking phone call after phone call about students feeling ill. This phenomenon has increased significantly around AP testing season as more students find themselves stressed about AP tests and wanting more time to review.
“My workload has increased around 40% to 50% because of calls coming in early in the morning,” attendance accounting specialist Jena Rajabally said.
Of course, students are encouraged to stay home when they are actually ill, yet another reason why students faking illness is detrimental to their peers. Those who are actually sick may be disadvantaged during retakes because some teachers are inclined to make a retake more challenging when they think students are skipping tests.
With busy schedules, including demanding extracurriculars and the pressure to achieve success academically, mental health is often neglected. It is imperative that students find a balance between work and rest. Students should address the test flu’s root cause: stress. This can be achieved through effective time management and actively seeking assistance when needed. Teachers can reciprocate such steps by posting clear makeup work policies and fostering classroom cultures that allow students to express their concerns about test schedules.
“I think we have to be respectful of one another and not take advantage of the shared trust,” language arts teacher Terri Fill said. “High school is training for college and career life in which you do need to do your share of work and believe in yourself. All of those things will be needed in the adult world too. Trust the process; students don’t have to be perfect to do well and it’s okay to take a test or write an essay that they may not feel 100% prepared for. We as teachers have to encourage students to be okay with a reasonable amount of struggle because that is how we can help them grow.”
the Epic staff voted 35-0 in favor of this stance with 4 abstaining.
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BY ALEX COTTEREL AND APURVA KISHNAMURTHY
“We were screaming over the barricade at the police that were supposedly sent to protect the students,” Lynbrook alumna and freshman at UCLA Jasmine Lu said.
Under the darkness of night, violence broke out on the UCLA campus as fireworks thrown into a protest encampment illuminated the surrounding chaos.
“We were screaming at them, ‘Protect us! Do your job!' but they laughed and took pictures,” Lu said. “They were being useless on Tuesday night, but on Wednesday, they were pepper spraying and shooting rubber bullets at people. My friend got a rubber bullet shot at her head and had it not been for the plastic helmet, she probably would have sustained lifelong injuries.”
In recent weeks, student arrests, suspensions and expulsions have risen across college campuses in light of demonstrations in support of Palestine amid the ensuing war in Gaza. While many universities have complied with students’ requests, peaceful protestors at other campuses have been met with hostility from police, academic punishment and probation. Despite the complexity of this conflict, students should be allowed to exercise their First Amendment right to freedom of speech and voice their opinions without fearing for their safety and academic future.
Through these demonstrations, many students have rightfully called on school administrators to sever ties with the Israeli government — as their tuition funds the university’s donations. At UCLA, the students are proceeding with a 5-pronged approach. The first prong demands that the administration disclose investments and increase transparency about the allocation of tuition and donations. The second point is to divest aid, or rescind investments, in
forms such as funding for arms and other military equipment. The third demand is to abolish policing on University of California campuses and reconstruct different task forces to take on the roles of the UC Police Department, as many students no longer feel safe around campus law enforcement. In the fourth point, students are calling on the university to end their silence on the issue and formulate an actual stance on the matter. The final demand is to boycott the various institutions with academic ties to Israel, such as the UCLA Nazarian Center.
Encampments have taken center stage at campuses such as Columbia University and Vanderbilt University, where students have set up tents in solidarity with the arrested protestors. Despite the justification for law enforcement to be on campuses for student safety, a number of demonstrations have led to violence between students and law enforcement officials, creating a hazardous environment and failing to protect campus safety.
encampment, reportedly using flash-bang grenades, following a lack of intervention as counter-protestors sprayed bear mace, launched fireworks and otherwise physically attacked the encampment. Police stood by for hours before intervening the night prior.
The university’s claims to protect students have not been reflected in their severe disciplinary actions, which have led to greater violence.
“The university claims that they are trying to protect safety and then we're not seeing that same thing being translated into real life,” Lynbrook alumna and UCLA freshman Katie Chung said. “It's mind-boggling. How can they say something that's so different from what their actions are doing? It feels a bit like betrayal because, obviously, it doesn't matter to them.”
BY ELLIU HUANG//GUEST COLUMN
e harsh reality of a Bay Area Asian male
N“You should be able to protest anywhere,” Los Angeles-based activist Jared Rice said. “That’s free speech, and it's one of the founding pillars of our country. The line is drawn beyond peaceful protests, but the problem is that it allows the institutions being protested against to define what ‘not peaceful’ means. Many times, that's whatever is against the institution’s wants. Even if we're being peaceful, they’re in the business of protecting their property, not our rights as people to protest.”
“It's really important to listen to what the students are saying because they are going to shape and change the future.”
Katie Chung, UCLA freshman
This consistent contradiction between UCLA’s stated ideals and actions shows a lack of true care for protecting student safety and the sanctity of their education — something that a university should prioritize. Moreover, several universities such as Columbia and UCLA have transferred all classes to hybrid learning for the time being. Many campuses have even gone as far as canceling graduation ceremonies. At the University of Southern California, valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s graduation speech has recently been canceled for pro-Palestinian sentiments on her personal social media accounts. The university rationalized this decision with fears for Tabassum’s safety, despite a lack of evidence of any explicit threats to her or the university. She wrote in a statement that USC also expressed that while they did have the resources to deal with any safety concerns, they did not intend on using them, because “increased security protections is not what the University wants to ‘present as an image.’” To cancel a class’s graduation ceremony due to a student’s personal beliefs shows that they value their ideal public perception over the intellectual exploration of their students, which is the foundational purpose of higher education.
othing can prepare you for your first week of college. Scrambling around orientation, trying to match faces and names, figuring out the best food on campus. Then there are all the parties, deciding what classes to take, introducing yourself for the thousandth time. College is where people redefine themselves, and I believed that until I started my first week at the University of Pennsylvania.
A typical introduction follows these lines:
“Hey, I’m _____, what’s your name?”
“Oh cool! Where are you from and what do you study?”
In my case, my answer to the first question is always followed by a confused but polite look as they try to spell it out.
The second question I’ve come to dread.
Too many times my answer to the second question is followed by a smirk and a nod, as they subconsciously file my personality into the growing bucket of Bay Area Asian males who study computer science.
It wouldn’t be so bad if the judgment stopped there. We all have preconceptions about people from other places, which may or may not be correct, but it really stings when people persist in holding these stereotypes over your head.
When I first met my neighbor down the hall in freshman year, he told me that the key to getting a computer science degree was finding some genius from the Bay Area and sticking with them. While oddly flattering yet offensive, needless to say, I didn’t see him very much after that.
For example, in a UCLA statement on April 30, Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said that the university would penalize any students and faculty that remained in the encampment on campus. At the same time, she emphasized UCLA’s intent to make the campus a place where people will “treat one another with respect and recognize our shared humanity — not a place where we devolve into violence and bullying.” Despite the statement, UCLA campus police arrested more than 200 people while clearing the encampment on May 1. Local authorities declared the student encampment to be an “unlawful assembly” after a violent attack by counter-protestors on the encampment the night before. Police utilized severe methods to clear out the student
“It's in the university's best financial interests to not let someone who is going to tell the truth about the situation speak,” Rice said. “Because they weren't going to risk letting her rile everyone up and paint the school in such a way. She is one of the top performers in this hub of education in one of the highest-ranking schools in the United States, and they weren't going to let that tarnish their reputation by allowing her to fight against something that the school actively invests in.”
This tension between protestors’ right to voice their concern and the blocking of access to educational facilities is what has made this issue so divisive.
Other people joked sarcastically about how special I was for my major, my hometown and my love for tennis, which was seen as a typical Bay Area Asian sport. Throughout my first semester at UPenn, I would constantly be subject to Bay Area jokes, comments about my original background and even suggestions that I have little to no personality.
To countless people, I was just that guy from the Bay Area — a stereotypical face in a stereotypical major looking for a stereotypical job with stereotypical interests. I may have grown up under the intense pressure and scrutiny of academics at Lynbrook, but that isn’t all that I am. It doesn’t define who I am today.
Growing up as a TaiwaneseAmerican in the Bay Area studying STEM-related subjects, playing tennis and building Legos, I now study computer science at UPenn and have developed a passion for trains, transit and urban planning. I design custom Lego builds, sew plushies and follow the professional tennis tour around the world. We all grow up in a temporary mold, influenced by the variables in our environment, but ultimately, we decide who we want to be.
It started in an unprecedented way...
...at home and apart...
...but we fgured it out.
...then lost on campus as a sophomore...
Through homecoming traditions...
...junior prom...
...and the crowd favorite, college applications...
...we found our way to some exciting upcoming plans!
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY CHELSEA LEE, DAEUN
CHUNG, SARAH ZHANG, VALERIE SHU
I, Angelina Wu, bequeath clean single leg takedowns to the Wrestling team, a dubs clutch up for my neighbor ryan chen and anas gadelrab, and fun filled years for all the future students.
I, Aahaan Bandopadhyay, bequeath Ashwin Kamchetty Mock Trial President, Vasist Karthik DECA President, and Sagar Bhatia a full plate of food.
I, Aakash Ozarker, bequeath Madhav to get on the 1000 pound club, for Mr.Signore to continue to teach seniors, and Neil to keep missing assignments at a all time high and enjoying senior year.
I, Aarya Aluri, bequeath wearing the right colors at hoco to Meena Yaralagadda, a stress-free senior year to Vidhya Grace Nair, flashy highlight reels to Tanya Wang and Suchita Chittharanjan, endless freebies to Arnav Kodavati and Sagar Bhatia, 0 strikes in CSF to Dishita Aeron and Sandhya Padmanabhan, a memorable year in Link Crew to Badger, Bee, and Bale, and all my love and support to Ms. Kirsh, Ms. Salazar, and Ms. Tao.
I, Abhinav Pala, bequeath robotics success to Pranav Popuri, highest Clash Royale rank to Mr. Tsai, worryfree days to Anish Bhethanabotla, a Lebron jersey to Mr. Signore, peppy beats to Snehil Kakani, a poop emoji hat to Mr. Bale, Praggnanandhaa’s chess skills to Vasisht and Bob Raja, Pryor’s stand-up abilities to Mr. Blaschke, a perfect perm to Neil Nimmala, a Netflix subscription to Rishabh Sahoo and beaming success to Dhanush Pala for his next 3 years at Lynbrook.
I, Adarsh Iyer, bequeath Still Fly and traffic cones to Agastya Pawate, malding to Aiden Kato, footlong cookies to Vijay Krishnamoorthy and Nick Kong, goofiness to Harold Wang and Steve Yang, ambitious engineering projects to Patrick Huang, scenic biking to Coach Luca, pasta feasts and PRs to the track team, enjoyable classes to Mr. Iams, Mr. Seike and Mr. Fulk, Dynamical Systems and Neural Network theory to whoever will listen, and success to Raghav and Keshav Iyer — however they define it.
I, Adi Kewalram, bequeath many more books and stories to read to Krithik Mohan and, a better taste in music, with which he will finally find good songs, 3 more years of stress-free classes and a breezy college-app process to my brother, Arnav, better skills in Frisbee to Pranav Popuri, to Steve Yang, more grass to run fast, more troller-bowler runs to Joshua Li, and an alarm clock to Vasisht Nishtala so he’ll stop being late.
I, Adit Kantak, bequeath a Bigxthaplug feature to Akash Anand, swimming speed to Kevin Zhu, a date with an Italian man to Hisham, a win over Hisham to Michael Fan, chemical and computer prowess to Nithya Kanagala, a sub 3.13 comp 3x3 single to Nathan Yu, a grove of apples to Steve Yang, a 5 on AP Physics to Harold, and twin turbos with quad titanium exhaust that goes sutututu to Ilan Garcia.
I, Adithri Sharma, bequeath show-stopping karaoke sessions to Saakshi, cleats like Neymar’s to Sophie, Vidhya, and Tishneet, math problems that make sense to Shifa, random doodles on scripts to Emily, late night zoom study sessions to Irene, pristine goalie gloves to Zeynep, and a career on broadway to Akshara.
I, Adrina Tran, bequeath study sessions in the sun room, fun frequent visits to Mrs. Goldstein, and getting croutons at the lunch line, Class of 2024.
I, Agastya Pawate, bequeath apple slices and a not-musty Sunroom 1 to Steve, speed and a new hand to Harold, locker #1771 and sunrises to Jenn, a big bunda to Riley Gu, FE!N to Akash and Abhi, my mile PR to Leo Mu, a 225-pound bench to Joshua Li, max moments to Max, Still Fly to all the clarinets, switchbacks to my XC teammates, and my best wishes — and big shoes to fill — to Anasuya Pawate, Class of 2027.
I, Aiden Kato, bequeath apples and bananas to Steve Yang, good outfit=good days to Jennifer Chua, PRs to Nathan Kato, a chill junior year to Nithya Kanagala, good food to Bryan Zhao, a fan club to Michael Fan, 9:10 to Hisham Mohammed, lots of trolling to Harold Wang, early 5 stars and 40 CV pieces to Alex Liu, sub 11 to Tevin Kim, cool bike rides to Mr. Signore, and PRs and fun memories to the XCTF teams..
I, Aimee Tran, bequeath a 30-60 minute zoom meeting to Jessica Lee, a handmade pop-up card to Kiara Ha, 12 too many ivy leaves to Eliane Juang, a heaping spoonful of wasabi to William Tai, a single brain cell and all of my sick dance moves to Alex Tran, and a big hug to anyone who needs and/or wants one.
I, Alan Fu bequeath some clash royale skill to Sid, at least 7 inches of height, infinitely better E-war skills, and less cringy comebacks to Kasturi, all my worldly assets to Lilly and Sriya, MIT to Regis, my Chinese legacy to Chai, a good physics grade to William, Jaz, Sophie, and Adi, and my eternal gratitude to Mr. Seike.
I, Alex Lee, bequeath my height, vertical, and scoops to Austin Liou, cheese to Avril Chin (so she doesn’t need to scurry around), MIT 2029 (stay away from CMU) for Regis He, watermelon for Chaitanya Atmuri, a v6 climb for Aristotle Tse, and an unforgettable season to the next LHS Mens Varsity Volleyball.
I, Alexis Giaquinta bequeath organized cables and perfect sound quality to Colin Chow and Daniel Wan, extraordinary senior seasons to the 2025 field hockey girls and everyone after, incredible productions to Studio 74, amusing meetings to the s74 officers, attentive actors to Gen Yates, Audrey Zhu, Himani Kunjal, Ellie York, Saakshi Athreya, and future stage managers, less stress to Snehil Kakani, disposable Broadway income to Charlie Dai, and exciting but not exhausting upperclassmen years to Audrey Giaquinta, class of 2026.
I, Alison Ho, bequeath Niharika a terabyte of graphics and a more drama free sophomore year, 100 more kpop concerts and whats left of my butterfly ability to Katelyn, and some fast, even underwater dolphin kicks to Karen.
I, Alita Huang, bequeath energetic volleyball games to future Varsity players, air conditioned practices, a successful senior year to Suchita, Tanya, and Felicia, fun teaching swim to Juno and Pranita, smoother freshman lit classes, more time to do makeup in class to Anya and Harita, and more class spirit to future Lynbrook students.
I, Allison Lin, bequeath yummy baked potatoes to my underclassmen Valks, beautiful literary pieces to the Vertigo staff, adorable cats to my bio partner Valerie, and endless love to Dorothy, who will absolutely slay her senior year :)
I, Anagha Shanker, bequeath a concussion-less future to Akshita Dadi.
I, Angela Wu, bequeath a dynamic Lynbrook music career to my string orchestra friends, a memorable and meaningful remaining two years at Lynbrook to my brother, Andrew Wu, and luck on college apps to my physics/stats junior friends.
I, Angie Wu, bequeath three more laughter-filled years of high school to my sister Amie.
I, Anika Sundararajan, bequeath La Cueva lunch runs to AJ and Samay, pre-IDC boba and yapping to Calvin, Samay, and Nina, long Silsilay planning meetings to Athreya and Kimaya, pinning Jalwa costume tops to Sanaa, Tamil reels to Athreya, and year-round ASBO bondings to Calvin, Colin, Nina, Samay, Kimaya, Sid, and Amy.
I, Anil Duvvuri, bequeath Wing Stop Fries to Sanjana Kamath, bequeath Taco Bell Nacho Fries to Sanjana Kamath, and finally bequeath Anderson Crimps to Shannon Shiao.
I, Anna Ding, bequeath the Public Art Club to Effie Wang, Yuyao Wen, Qia Zhang, Amelia Chi, and Carol Chien, pre-AP Bio In-n-Out cram sessions to Ayla Feng, and an endless supply of chocolate chip cookies to Riley Yang.
I, Anshul Singh, bequeath Parli/PWB success to Calvin and Kasturi, TOC trophies and taco bell to Ashwin and AJ, one goal to Rayyan (no pens), CCS champions to the Preston-Diego-Reagan dream team, comedy gold to Sagar and Amine, Harvard acceptances to Arnav and Sid, the chemical formula of climbing chalk to Mr. Leung, a koala exhibit to Mr. Howden, one day of peace to Ms. Robledo, CIA retirement checks to Mr. Roy, and a United league trophy to Mr. Pugh.
I, Anushka Anand, bequeath a boba company and library ramen to Alyssa Wang, word hunt wins to Ashley Huang, laughter-full pitch calls to Emily Pedroza, and a chemistry stress free year to Dishita Aeron.
I, Apurva Krishnamurthy, bequeath a flourishing Miller Garden and blossoming Earth Day festival to Medha, Daphne, Jennifer and Charlene and epic playlists and music-filled productions to Olivia.
I, Ari Rich, bequeath a full house on opening night to Mr. Wenner and Studio 74, adequate sleep to literally every junior, the future of the GSA to David Merriam, and a great time at Lynbrook to some of my favourite drama underclassmen, Shalaka Dolas, Emily Xu, Charlie Dai, Saakshi Athreya, Ellie York, Audrey Zhu, and Gen Yates.
I, Arya Pathak, bequeath lots of Wings to Ryan and Regis. A successful sports analytics club to Vihaan, Akash and Varun. A 6 inch growth spurt to Anurag and a constant wickets for Himmy.
I, Aryan Agarwal, bequeath many more papers to grade, beakers to clean, and boxes to move to Justin Zhang, Class of 2025, to continue the legacy of 3rd period Chem TA’s.
I, Ashwin Subramanian, bequeath many goosechase victories to Aryan Patnaik, my superior sense of smell to Natasha, (non-existent) rizz to Athreya Iyer, DECA glass to Arnav Shah, chronic senioritis to Vasisht Kartik, Maturity to Vasisht Nishtala, stress free college apps to the buffoons, plentiful membership for chess club, econ competition glory for the econ club and a memorable 4 years of high school for my little brother, Pravin class of 2029.
I, Aspen Cheung, bequeath bequeathful bequeathals to the bequeathed. I bequeath good songs to the choir folk, good shows and broken legs to the drama folk, good arrows for Emily and bad arrows to the rest of the archery folk, rubix cube records to Melody, plane trading cards to Elliot, good blind boxes, motorbikes, (rich husbands?), and sleep to the physics folks, braincells to the rest of the stupid trio, good concerts to chamber, and oranges to Hannah.
I, Audrey Sun bequeath more panda express and inperson senior centers to Medha Nalakonda and the rest of MFC, a stress-free econ year to Irene Chung, and 100 pound weights to Amy Tang and Anya Gupta.
I, Austin Wu bequeath Colin Chow a FX3, an academic shark mindset to Irene Chung, driving skills to Angelina Feng, Harvey Mudd acceptance to Lilly Wu, a high Valorant winrate percentage to Amine Ali Chaouche, remarkable art skills to Aris Chen, an absolutely convergent mind to Ashley Huang, infinite boba drinks to Yvonne Shen, 25 hours a day to Gary Pan, a very mechanical year to Sophia Chen, and a union of Austins who protests for retirement to ASB Tech.
I, Ava Tse, bequeath fun pasta parties, jamba runs, and an injury-free season to the field hockey team, lots of Ws, cooking adventures (or catastrophes), and not picking troll comps last second in ASG to Ethan, Jacob, and Quintus, late night debates (where I am right), rainy days, Yuki, and Doodle to Ryan, and an
amazing three years of being an academic weapon, a menace on the court, and enjoying high school with friends to my little brother Aristotle.
I, Ayan Chaudhry, bequeath a 2 AM sleepy McDonald’s run to Sammy, the legacy of tank tops to Sagar, more Aelfric Eden clothes to AJ and Arnav Shah, a Lightning McQueen autograph to Colin, a new Dro Kenji mix to Arnav Singhal, an inaccurate and atrocious portrait to Shreya, a very shiny and pointy fork to Riddhi, a new mix-maker to Sanaa and Vidushi, and Jungkook himself to Lex.
I, Ayanna Beberg, bequeath my cheer poms to Alessandra Wong, the CardioMed instagram to Ilan Garcia, my Spanish skills to Ziqi Zhou, my math class food to Adithya Jain, my half indian heritage to Aryan Phelan, my blonde hair to Alisa Closson, my SAT knowledge scrolls to Adithya Venkataraghavan, and Lynbrook High School to my brother, Avi Beberg, class of 2028.
I, Benjamin Ching, bequeath my cannon of an arm to Chai Atmuri, height to Iriya Chou, intellect to Regis he, namesake to Daniel Chen, and Chinese skills to Kitchen Sensei.
I, Bob Zhu, bequeath 30 Tang poems and funds for a Blacksmithing Club to Ethan Chiu, more time for weight room to Joshua Li, continued Science Bowl success to Steve Yang, easy math problems and a shiny Groudon to Brian Bi, rank 30 Mortis to Ryan He, and another amazing season to everyone on the XC team.
I, Carrie Chern bequeath a red card and a healthier mindset to Aristotle, a filter to Tanya, another target to bully to Calvin, uneven braids to Amie, unlimited brunch to Keyi, my dog barking skills to Felicia, a clean and organized cabinet to ASB Social, and the ability to set up/tear down the nets to the girls volleyball team.
I, Casey Fung bequeath late night rides to Bryan Zhao, a phone to Nathan Kato, amazing ARK ideas to the future ARK team, arcadia and the 4 by 4 to Sean Tat, sub 54 to Jason Wu, endless fun and good music to Cyrus Cao, healthy hamstrings to Tevin Kim, cars and car to Xiaoya Gao, rock paper scissors luck to Roy Pei, Mcdonald trips to Michael Fan, and CCS and dried mangoes to the jumps team.
I, Chelsea Lee, bequeath ArtReach lore to Brigitte Au, corsage-making speed to Daphne Zhu, a design media arts future to Elle Gasper, symbolism-rich graphic inspiration to Valerie Shu, many Valeries to new EdBoard, historical NYT front pages to Mr. Miller, taking a swing at it (with two hands up) to Colin Chow and Daniel Wan, and Adobe Lightroom to Tanishka Sharma.
I, Chitrini Anand, bequeath infinite hugs and a better sleep schedule to Nitya Singh, dad sunglasses and Fritos to Brigitte Au, an iPhone to Audrey Lee, a million strikeouts to Tia Somadder, less hit batters to Calia Lim, a boarding school boyfriend to Ariel Bowers, an amazing season to both Lynbrook Field Hockey and Softball, and an eventful next four years at Lynbrook to my brother, Devesh Anand, Class of 2028.
I, Claire Lin, bequeath Lizzy a hair salon, Janhavi my cracked rifle, Charlene tiktok dance skills, Clara a whole orange peel, Valerie some apples, Lauren gains from the weight room, Yamani baby yogurt melts, Vibhuti good gacha pulls, and Michelle, Marie, and Chloe a fire year as captains.
I, Claire Lucas, bequeath the Orange Sisters Baking Channel and spanish Peppa Pig videos to Charlotte Lucas, and infinite matchas, redbulls, and snowboarding days to Delaney Hong.
I, Crystal Lee, bequeath relaxed lunch periods and no flaky company reps to the Valhalla family, less ugly, bald, old male delusions to Valerie Liu, mental stability to Elliot Yang, all the bio knowledge in the world to Selena Yang, yellow everything to Sophie Mak, chem success for Zenita Yang , Chloe Chung and Jenny Suh, and a head of purely black hair to Mrs. Robledo.
I, Cyrus Wong bequeath pack luck in Fifa to Brian Kao and good deals for cleats to Joshua Pu.
I, Daniel Yang, bequeath less absences and tardies to Mike William’s students, big strong biceps and lungs to the marching band baritones, and a fun, exciting, stress-free and band-less senior year to my fav, Grace Wang.
I, Daphne Chao, bequeath James Fan and Helena Ho to a successful season and fullfilling senior year!
I, Dara Lin, bequeath a stress-free and happy senior year to Lilly Wu, fun-filled EDS classes to Aileen Rong, bustling rdps and ravens attendance to Iris Xu, Luthien Wang, and Abigail Chen, and an amazing time at Lynbrook to my little brother Ezra Lin, Class of 2034.
I, Deeksha Raj, bequeath an enjoyable senior year, smooth college app season, happiness and love to Eileen Zhu and Vidushi Upadhyay.
I, Elisabeth Shin, bequeath a successful weapon and injury-free season to Janhavi, my taps and jellyfish high fives to Michelle, an amazing final season as captain to Marie, endless door-dashed goodies and safe chauffeur duties to Yamani, silly gossip sessions to Lauren, free rides and drivers licenses to Charlene and Clara, many pokes and solid catches to Valerie, a stress-free senior year to Layla, and my endless love and support to Lynbrook Colorguard <33
I, Empress Ming, bequeath Elizabeth Jiang a fun filled social marching band year, meet ‘n greet tickets with Taylor Swift to Sylva Scott, unlimited Tea Top boba to Brandis Olguin, weekly (not monthly ;D) sticker sheets to Lauren Li, the best flag senior season ever to Janhavi Gowaikar, a packed YAK
meeting to the future YAK officers, lots of balloons to the Girls Who Code officers, and the next best 4 years to my brother Taj Ming, Class of 2028.
I, Erika Wu, bequeath a stress-free senior year and DECA glass to Athreya and Nina, endless love to Nithila, loving parents to Eileen, a Duke acceptance to Arnav, ICDC dubs to Narain, state office to Shreshta, free Artic Monkeys concerts to Chloe and an amazing 4 years to Ethan Wu, class of 2030.
I, Esha Rai, bequeath talented jalwa stunt men to Sanaa Gada, a concussion free swim season to Irene Chung, cheerleading lessons to Alyssa Wang, short drylands to Juno Hong, free taco bell to Lucas Yee, all the bananas in the world to Tanay Ubale, belp and unlimited welches to Austin Liou and Robert Mcleod, and pain-free bellyflops to William, Misha, Ruxi, Tanya and Emma.
I, Ethan Park, bequeath a successful season to boys water polo, highlight reels and newfound charm to Tanay Ubale, fresh cuts and ranked dubs to Jayden Jeng, unparalleled gym gains to Deniz Genc, mountains of KBBQ and boyfriend(s) to Alyssa Wang, books with “lots of plot” and Word Hunt mastery to
Yu, all my writing expertise to Charlene Wang and Eliane Juang, and a non-stressful courseload to Brandon
I, Evan Xu beqeauth boba tea to all of Ms. Chen’s future students, energetic juniors to Mr. Seike, and an easy AP Lit prompt to Leo Zhang, class of 2025.
I, Gauri Jain, bequeath a boat to Vidushi, bananas and rizz to Nidhi, Somi Somi ice cream and muscles to Aanya,
Gio Cabaltica, bequeath a non-jobless presidency to Arnav, a VIP Viking to Aristotle, proper walking form to Lauren, injury-free Geometry Dash to Seth, an open Polar Play Zone to Amie, academic career highs to Parth, Abhiram, and Ashton, yap sessions to Chelsea, generational VP terms to Sid and Kimaya, the face of Breakdance Club to James and Aarit, tutorial freestyles to Mr. Nguyen, an FX3 to Colin, and a comfort zone-breaking freshman year to Audrey Cabaltica, class of 2028.
I, Haley Tamtoro, bequeath many yummy delicious food runs and a driver’s license to Michelle, endless rides to Clara, boba for every new trick to Charlene, many more walks together to Apple, and super shying and manifestations to come true to Valerie. To Michelle, Marie, and Chloe, you guys will be amazing captains and I wish you the best senior year seasons; to Qianzi, a thriving FPS and perfectly exposed photos!
I, Hanwen Zhang, bequeath unto Kitchen sensei whiteboard drawings, Steve Yang success in AP Physics, Joshua Li fulfilling bike rides, Jenn Chua the title of Taylor Swift historian, Ishana gaiety and dyed hair, and Mr. Seike constancy for the fantastic teacher and friend that I trust he will continue to be.
I, Harsha Anand, bequeath a new club to Akash Anand, Varun and Vihaan Patel, another disappointing Warriors season to Mr. Leung and Mr. Ngyuen, and lots of happiness and Pad See Ew to Lehem Atsebha.
I, Hoeun Lee, bequeath long restless nights of assignments and tests, riveting rallies, vast friendships and endless possibilities to my younger sister Haeun Lee, Class of 2029.
I, Hongyu Ma bequeath a successful journey to Eagle to Leo Zhang; first chair in County Honor Band (someday) and a love for jazz to Benjamin Oh; my signature (should he ever want it) and always being a chair higher than Benjamin to Ian Chen; a continuing passion for technology, fun Eb Clarinet solos, and eternal Max days to Max Luo; and all my clarinet skills and passion, self-confidence, and some sleep to Daphne Zhu.
I, Ian Neyens, bequeath a FX3 to Colin Chow, baseball skills to William Tai, higher velocity to Noah Bowers, a stronger arm and height to Cameron Chao, in-person and spirited events to Arnav Kodavati, speed to Monesh Ponduri, better standards to Ryan Chen, unlimited food to Diego Perez, and a league win to Calia Lim.
I, Janhavi Venkatesh, bequeath my red swivel chair to Kimaya, a lit final two years of high school to Samay, endless drip to Aarav Anand, and the best club in the world to the Indesign Officer team.
I, Jeffrey Gao, bequeath the Tech basketball hoop to Ojas, more gains to Brandan, all of A4O’s meeting slides and minutes to Kylie and Nina, the rally gym lighting to Susanna, some McDonalds to Saggy, nonbuggy Chess code to Singhal, a big chungus to Ethan Shih, my love for Badtameez Dil to Amine, FlightDeck adrenaline to Calv, the ability to fight on to Colin, and a fun-filled high school experience to my brother, Jerry Gao, incoming class of 2028.
I, Jeslyn Mi, bequeath word hunt wins and fire fits to Angelina Feng, endless fun and gossip to Sakurako Esaka and the tennis team and Clash Royale wins to Coach Tsai.
I, Jonathan Choy, bequeath Mr. Nguyen his easing and serene adventures toward his four-o-five incline bench. May his Journey be steady, like a trend line whom I been taught by MistaBale.
I, Julia Xu bequeath more “Yippee!” usage opportunities to Sensei, kanji and 2.5jo to Andrew Kao, fish and ghosts to Isaiah Sit, infinite prefectures and bacon to Darren(se) Gao, aging and MAHJONG but no yaku to Brian Chi, gundam to Seungwoo Kang, infinite batsu game ideas but no games to Claire Okamoto, less one-on-ones to Adwita Sharma, successful ball shoulder rolls to ‘Lexis Luo, and three
more fun filled years to Theresa Xu (2027).
I, Justin Ngo, bequeath a trip to nationals for the Asgardians Valorant Team, happy lives for all my favorite teachers, and better cafeteria food for the future classes.
I, Kaawon Kim, bequeath all naps to Sophie, plastic spoons to K. Howden, beach trips to Briana and Rilyn, a waiving of a long overdue debt to Athreya Iyer, car rides to Ainai and Carlynda, all my witness personas to Mr. Pugh and the joy I experienced at Lynbrook to all Vikings :))
I, Kimberly Yang, bequeath an unlimited supply of granola bars and guava candies, a new doubles partner, and a stress-free senior year to Grace Wang, many science experiment ideas and easy application essays to Sanya Badhe, and good luck to my brother Zachary Yang.
I, Krish Agarwal bequeath the Taco Bell on Prospect to Aidan Phattanaphibul and Justin Tan.
I, Kyrsten Su, bequeath all my love to the future of the Mock Trial team, my sonny angel army to Lauren, many 85C strawberry cake slices to Amy and Amie, creative inspiration and fulfillment to Bethanie and Emily, jobless pre-IDC boba to Calvin, lots of bondings to next year’s ASBOs, endless good books to Rebecca, and an incredible high school experience to my little brother Warren, Class of 2028.
I, Laasya Kolli, bequeath the role of amazing photo editor to Elliot Yang and an amazing senior year to Alyssa Wang.
I, Lauren Liu, bequeath respite from his multiple delusions to Elliot, anything she wants to Jessica, some more f’s to give to Omkar, better taste to Valerie, a manageable period of separation from Harry to Keigo, 100s on all her tests to Selena, all the art inspiration to Annie, cute animal cuddles to Adwita, all the gacha luck I never used to Luthien, luck and happiness to the 23-24 yearbook staff, and stellar mental health to all the above.
I, Lauren Yoon bequeath resident booty smacker to Caroline, a successful season to Dorothy, infinite Brawl Stars trophies to Riddhi, all my lippies and Mr. Potato Head to Angela, baddies from DECA hotel lobbies to Andrew, a successful girls dance to Bethanie, endless supply of nerds gummies to Elle, un-jobless nights in the park to AJ and Samay, kawaii senpai tiktok dances to Sagar, abs of steel to the Valks, and many many warm and fuzzy morning practices to Jalwa.
I, Lily Fang, bequeath more playing time to Aidan Fang, an injury-free season to Austin Shu, new legs to Aris Chen, height to Alice Wu, Just Dance skills to Brian Lee, PRs to Everett Lian, easy ice cream scoops to Harold Wang, a 104 dive to Ishika Shah, sub-1 400 to Joshua Li, winnable bets to Vidhat Kartik, less screen time to Vincent Qin, speed to Ziqi Zhou, and an enjoyable high school experience to Ryan Fang, Class of 2028.
I, Maddie Badger, bequeath the best of luck to Lynbrook volleyball, a memorable senior year for my favorite junior Tanya Wang, an exciting and passionate experience at Lynbrook for my little brother Lucas Badger, and many more fun filled years of teaching to my mom Mrs. Badger.
I, Manank Doshi, bequeath winning nationals to Aryan and all of Scioly, more first places but less wings to Natasha, fire graphics and more roasting to Shreya, better towers and real experiments to Chaaruhaas, circuitry and unfortunately chemistry to Vyaas, future space endeavors to Johnathan and Abhiram, winning TOC to Bolang, Om, Vikrant, Yule, more food to Juno, productive debate meetings to Nilesh, my tiny biology knowledge to Selena, taylor swift love/hate to Sanya, and physics quandaries to Chris.
I, Manit Mathur, bequeath my sax to lil Izzy, low winds section bozo status to Omkar Patel, unlimited pass the plate food and coconuts to Nina Pan, comedy club to Sagar, Abhiram, and Lex, my rightfully owned days to Kimaya, academic prayers to Chelsea Guo, the key to my heart to Calvin, my unmatched height to Ojas Kothari, ASDRP trauma to Amine, my lack of physics knowledge to Arnav Singhal, and unlimited math answers to Medha Nalakonda.
I, Maple Leung, bequeath a fulfilling and dedicated “spirit” for planning rallies to Shreya Somani, unforgettable Model UN conference experiences to Sid and Elizabeth, the future of SPS and my love for psychology to Mahati, success to Natasha in running a gratifying year with ASAP, and the best and most memorable year at Lynbrook to my best friend, Arnav Singhal.
I, Marc Melikyan, bequeath further flaws in Pfizer data to Mr. Iams, populist allegories to Mr. Howden, copious amounts of cuprous oxide to Mr. Leung, many more poetry Mondays to Mrs. Chan, endless basketball wins to Mr. Bale, many prospective publications to Vrishank Chandrasekhar, successful beatboxing albums to Zachary Pan, PlantSTEM lectures to Sambhu Ganesan, at least 1 non-USACOrelated meeting to the members of CS Club, and infinite compute, RAM, and AWS credits to all members of ML Club.
I, Meenakshi Mukkamala bequeath an amazing 3 more years of high school to my sister Shwetha Mukkamala.
I, Meghna Rai, bequeath meetfresh trips and night drives to Athreya Iyer, wingstop trips and a drivers license to Ashwin Kamchetty, and amazing dance and deca years to Riddhi Maharana.
I, Mehr Kambo, bequeath a successful singles career and good memory to Olive, a healthy, funfilled season and naps to Chang, confidence and eavesdropping to Cinra, post-practice food runs to
Grace, a doubles partnership to Cassie and Catherine, the ability to avoid a certain someone to Sanaa, better bottle flipping skills to Brian and Ethan, another undefeated season to the best badminton team, and a wonderful high school experience to my sister Myra, class of 2027.
I, Melisa Ferhatovic, bequeath to Sarah, to drink more Red Bull, Chloe, to continue adding new phrases to her vocabulary every week, and Anas, to discover his mute button. I will miss you guys.
I, Michelle Zhou bequeath silly GIFs, helium balloons, and a wonderful year of Girls Who Code to Audrey, Dishita, Medha, and all my other girls, who I know will achieve nothing but greatness in the future; a stress-free and successful senior year to Vishrank; and a fun high school experience to Benjamin, Clara, Rithvik, and Sergio! <3
I, Mina Chiang, bequeath choir class 2048 games to Jenn Chua, U-turn skills to Shefali, a stress free and fever free school year to Kiara Ha, candy crush to Ashley Huang, and ice-cream truck snack breaks to Dolci choir!
I, Minchae Kim, bequeath amazing paper sorting skills to Mrs. Chan, new injuries from stunting to Rhea Lalwani and Olivia Hu, weekly K-pop updates to Tiantian Chai, half-finished Stats notes to Mary Sarah Philip, endless support and love to Carol Chien, real senioritis to Omkar Patel, and a warm hug to Alessandra Wong, Sia Gupta, Ahana Mangla and Kimaya Pantvaidya.
I, Minjun Seo, bequeath rizz (and height) to Tanay and Alyssa, a 6 5 east asian dorito build boyfriend to Iris, better brawl stars ranked drop luck to Jayden, a Stanford acceptance to Amine, multiple goals to Deniz, afternoon practices to the swim team, and lots of sunscreen to the water polo team.
I, Myles Kim, bequeath many awkward staff-ed conversations to David Zhu, late night officer bonding to Chelsea Guo & Vikrant Vadathavoor, hearty conversations about niche military tech to Steven Hong, a senioritis-free senior year to Alyssa Wang, delectable production night snacks to Taek Kim, a fruitful remaining two years at Lynbrook to my sister Shelby Kim, a fun-filled high school experience to my brother, Walker Kim, Class of 2029, a squatty potty to Mr. Bale, star wars bobbleheads to Mr. Miller, and the three most memorable and influential years of my life to the Epic staff.
I, Nachiket Joshi bequeath unlimited granted motions and Fortnite wins to Ashwin Kamchetty, Ike’s sandwiches and a right foot to Rayyan Ghafoor, senioritis and a shorter neck to Calvin Zhou, plenty of soft potato tacos to Athreya Iyer, a SciLynk subscription and McNuggets to Sagar Bhatia, an eventuful junior year and Empire wins to Samay Sikri and an exciting 4 years and lots of CCS championships to Arjun Joshi, Class of 2028.
I, Nandini Ravi, bequeath easy enough, but still fun, band music to Emma Tang, Qia Zhang, and Apurva Sistla, and a good-rep-filled, stress-free time with Cantabile to Ceira Motoyama.
I, Neale Pathak bequeath grandpa pants to Aidan Phattanaphibul, a stress free time to J.Diddy, crocs to Gauresh Stivastiva, and Mr.Bales house address to Mr. Roy.
I, Nicholas Kong, bequeath robber stopping powers and big, strong arms to Harold Wang, infinite fruits and amazing haircuts (low taper fade!) to STEVE YANG, visibility and rivalry superiority to Yajat Nagaraj Kiran, juicy plums and goofy pics to Michael Fan, yummy korean meals and Mr. Highland Cow to Jennifer Chua, native plants to Daphne Zhu, and an amazing year to CAA and Lynbrook XC/Track.
I, Nicole Ge, bequeath an injury-free basketball season to Aris Chen, dominance on the court and in math proof-writing to Alice Wu, and an amazing basketball season to the girls’ basketball team.
I, Nimay Shankar, bequeath binder paper, pencils, and pens to all the poor people I borrowed from throughout this year, an honorable society to Amine, a drum feature to Scott, and the weight of a family’s expectations along with big shoes to fill to my brother Mihir!
I, Nithyasree Ramamoorthy, bequeath a JOB application to AshwinK (indeed.com), my love + a prosperous life to AkshitaK, h9’s atrocious dancing skills to lehem, doing hw on time to tanisha, a treadmill to nish, a diet to sammy, taco bell to narain, a 3:00 mile split to nithya, a perm to maaveer, 3 bottles of flowberry fizz to taichi and aiden, and my wedding ring and lots of money to my glorious king janhavi LEBRON JAMES.
I, Nuraan Qureshi, bequeath fewer yogurt land incidents and less food poisoning to Layla Olguin.
I, Patrick Huang, bequeath bench press and Umunhum to Joshua Li, libre runs to Ethan Chiu, frisbee club to Pranav Popuri et al., perspective to Mr. David Clarke, and freedom to Sean Huang, class of 2028.
I, Peter Aguirre, bequeath Arepa enjoying and Andean Spanish to Paula Martinez Alburja.
I, Rasul Abdullayev bequeath neck crank-free jiu jitsu rolling sessions to Mr. Seike, consistent incline bench press gains to Mr. Nguyen, an unlimited supply of coffee to Kitchen Sensei, and a joyous high school journey to my brother, Fuad Abdullayev.
I, Ravi Sevalia, bequeath 40 feet to Chaitanya Taraniganty, Andy Chen, and Ojas Kothari; a new foot to Ryan Bansal; a date to Sean Tat; an easy math class to Eva Wen; dried mangoes to Carol Chien; ATLA-InConcert tickets to Xiaoya Gao; a healthy season to Tevin Kim; PR’s to all the track team; successful DECA conferences to Matthew Ju; 10+ members to the 24-
25 Breakdance officers; and a bluetooth speaker, 42 feet, and a football to Cyrus Cao.
I, Reema Vanwari, bequeath a growth spurt to Sakurako Esaka, a completed Goodreads goal to Anusha Shringi, ducks to Daisy Wen, a prom date to Juno Hong, turtles to Chang He, starface patches to Angela Zhang, a new pair of shoes to Bryan Zhao, neck bandages to Brigitte Au, a new favorite basketball player to Amrit Rihal, the book I never read to Nitya Singh and an amazing season to lynbrook field hockey.
I, Rickey Chiu, bequeath my motivation and goofiness to Kylie Liao, 5s on all AP tests to Brian Kao and Regis He, JNHS presidency to Shefali Gokulnatha and Charlene Wang, hatred of tennis to Keigo Kamata, good time management to Sean Kin, college acceptances to Iriya Chou, self-confidence to Enzo Huang, an injury-free season to Hao Gu, a full Japan trip to Amie Wu and ten Common App activities to Aristotle Tse.
I, Riki Murase, bequeath baking prowess to Samay and AJ, a 20-piece-fueled journey across Barack Obama Boulevard to Sagar and Arnav Singhal, epic backflips to Arnav Shah, fearless mineshaft expeditions to Sanya, lat drops to Haruto, Bryan, and Robert, an acoustic guitar to Alyssa, cold water to Justin, and an absence of sauce to Aidan.
I, Riley Chen, bequeath robust healthy ankles and a huge butt to Chloe, three stepping and confidence in hurdles to Audrey, Maddy, and Joyce, grades above 50% to Jason and Sean, amazing makeup looks and lengthy gossip sessions to Riddhi, Angela, and Bethanie, better rizz with girls and copious amounts of food to AJ, Sammy, and Sagar, and lastly, seasons of endless fun and prs to the amazing track team.
I, Rishma Khandelwal bequeath a treadmill to Sammy Sikri and Ashwin Kamchetty.
I, Rohan Patel, bequeath elite genetics health wealth and prosperity to Vihaan Patel, library sunroom #2 to Narain Abhiram Avani and Suchita, blood free haircuts to Shreyas, MLK r6 lay rizz to Anish, unlimited flares to James, better top rock to Aarit, my 3 extra inches to AK, a job to all of Vihaan’s friends, and more waffles to Ilan.
I, Ryan Zhou, bequeath the skills to beat me in Brawl Stars to Isaac Sun, good luck in AP Lit to Brian Bi, a 10% rise in stocks to Nick Patel and Diya Subrahmanyan, and MIT acceptances to Brian Xue, Daniel Kim, and the aforementioned.
I, Sahana Tiru, bequeath countless future wins for Arsenal and Depop offer acceptances to Rayyan Ghafoor. To Nishka Shah, peace of mind, success and many cats. A Tiktok rizz party invite and football dubs to Justin Kim. To Aadit Prayag, red dot Margiela gats and a New York Knicks championship.
I, Saket Kelkar, bequeath CCS cuts and endless personal records to Jayden, Deniz and Tanay, successful seasons for both the boys swimming and water polo teams, and being completely lost in science class to Preston and Nishchay.
I, Samuel Wang, bequeath an isopod upon the 2025 science olympiad team, an isopod upon Mr Leung, Selena, Steve, Jianyu, Sohil and the rest of next year’s Nsb team, an isopod upon Mathias and Ethan, a (pirated) copy of Marshak (and an isopod) upon Isaiah and Ian, and finally to Brian, Brian, and Isaac, a singular rare star drop and, of course, an isopod.
I, Sarah Zhang, bequeath drool-worthy falafels to Melody Chien (+no more chem/chamber!!!!), boyfriend(s, imaginary) to Alyssa Wang, a REAL boyfriend to Yvonne Wu, pirated movies (RATATOING!!) and 15< min bathroom breaks to Taek TIMTAM Kim and Xinhao Ling, MEOWS :3 to Emily Chen, blackmail cessation and nerd activity to Calvin Zhou (Kevin!), FRENCH nerd activity to Alan Yu, and impeccable rhythm to the cello section (+hexes on janet).
I, Shaumik Kalwit, bequeath a chipotle bag and lots of resistance bands to Monesh, the strength to take kanji quizzes every two weeks to Deniz, the skills to go more than 0/7 from the field to Ashwin, the chipotle bag after Monesh is done with it to Chinmay, my basketball abilities and gains to Yuvi, the ability to stay on task in class to Rohan, the determination to keep Rohan on task in class to Rohit and Aakash.
I, Sean Thomas, bequeath my amazing clash royale skills to Rangy, my patience to those who have to deal with batman, my good fortune to the people of choir and band, my infinite pencil pouch to those in need, my prodigious math skills to those who are failing AP calc, and good high school years to my brother, Samuel Thomas.
I, Shubham Parab, bequeath a React pill with Idli Sambar to Snehil Kakani, a get out of jail free card to Abhinav Raja, a display: flex; flex-direction: vertical element to Rohan Fernandez, an endless supply of tissues to Hemang Singh, track and cs success to Bruhath Batla, a spherical triple integral calculator to Rishabh Sahoo, ivermectin fishies to Mr. Iams, an always-working doceri desktop subscription to Mr. Kwong, successful projects and a height=100%; width=100% canvas element Lynbrook Web Dev Club.
I, Sindhuja Bokkisam, bequeath a functional printer and Cricut machine to 24-25 Virtuosity Officers, new clothes to Charlotte Lucas, a gluten free buffet to Meghana Babu, 4.0 GPAs to Tishneet Chhabra and Sophie Huang, turf to Nithya Kanagala, a 5 on all AP exams to Adwita Sharma, and flower bracelets of my love to Vidhya Grace Nair.
I, Siri Ratnam bequeath all the badminton skills and chipotle in the world to Aarush Channapragada and Samay Sikri, no more auditorium tech issues to the CSF officers, a year of completed deadlines and not giving Mrs. Robledo grey hairs to the yearbook
editors, knowing how to hold car keys to Tanay Ubale, photography dubs to Elliot Yang, my wingman abilities to Sanjana Kamath, and freedom from carpool karaoke, stolen clothes, and sneaky food bites to my sister, Sruthi Ratnam.
I, Sophia Yang, bequeath safeway cookies and pen pal letters to Alice Wu and Meadow Shen, pretty dresses for Yamani Huang and Grace Ker, snacks for away games to Catherine Cheng, my Saturday shifts at Omeej to Lauren Li, and the best senior year to Calvin Zhou.
I, Spencer Eppstein, bequeath David Merriam to run GSA smoothly and to learn more music, Avery Zhou to be a supportive officer who always helps those who need it, Charlie Dai to have time to relax sometime, Vikrant Vadathavoor and Ishana Subrahmanyan to grow and become someone they can be proud of.
I, Srushti Chaudhari, bequeath unlimited french fries and a beginners guide to humor to Sanjana Kamath, Class of 2025.
I, Stephanie Li, bequeath third downs and braving THE dungeon to Amine Ali Chaouche, a healthy sleep schedule to Sagar Bhatia, the absolute best senior year to these two and Amy Tang and Angelina Feng, rolling chair rights to the one and only Arnav Kodavati, a memory-packed next 3 years to Amie Wu and Niharika Emani, and adorable tiny stickers + Omeej2 paychecks + all the happiness in the world and senior year successes to the love of my life Lauren Li.
I, Surya Saraf, bequeath the end of Oxford commas to Emily Pedroza and Qianzi Loo, and an amazing next three to Class of 2027 Saavan Saraf.
I, Susanna Tang, bequeath sending pages to press before 9:30pm to Ashley Huang and Alyssa Wang, Wimbledon strawberries to Yvonne Wu, root beer floats to Brigitte Au, Daphne Zhu, and Elle Gasper, swimmingly days to Suzanne Das, more science breakthroughs to Shripriya Kalbhavi, 6-0 6-0s to Keigo Kamata, longer water breaks to Lynbrook girls tennis, and non-pizza production dinners + Taek’s yogurt buffet to Mr. Miller and the Epic staff.
I, Tanvi Chukka, bequeath a fun senior year with endless walking sessions to Valerie Liu and Selena Yang, and my amazing spanish speaking abilities to Sandhya Padmanabhan.
I, Timothy VanWiggeren, bequeath fun practices to the club, smooth sailing and good luck to our new officers, and my lukewarm humor to Sai. To the rest of you all, I bequeath an enjoyable stay at Lynbrook, and for anyone who wants it, our now-open lunch spot, the best on campus.
I, Vaishnavi Kunapuli bequeath the tippy coalition of Women’s volleyball to Jacey Tseng, Erin Fitzpatrick, and Chelsea Li, freshmen domination to Ivy Kuo, stellar college essays to Claire Okamoto, and an epic senior year to my brother, Sasidhar Kunapuli.
I, Valerie Eng, bequeath insane highlights and FIRE pregame music to Lynbrook Girls Volleyball, easyclean labs and kills to Suchita, matcha brownies (for me!) to Felicia Huang, inches to Jacey Tseng, viral reels and 0 strikes to Lizzy and Sid, no car accidents to Sarah Wei, mega-enthusiastic linkies to Deniz Genc, atrocious doodles to Saarang Mallipeddi, block parties to Chaitanya Atmuri, unlimited connect-thedots to Justin Zhang, photogenic boba to Lu/Leung/ Nguyen, and sincere love and success to LHSMUN.
I, Vansh Mathur, bequeath Bob Ickes’ 11 Affirmations for Orators to Ahana, Rucha, Rebecca, and Arnav (check your messages). I bequeath Gummy Clusters and STRRRIKES! to Chelsea, Ojas, Nina, and Calvin. To AK, Riddhi, and Athreya, I bequeath a hilarious and sentimental Silsilay. To the Jalwa Babies, I bequeath all the smiles I’m so lucky to have shared with you. To my beloved Mock Trial team, I bequeath the feeling of family I could’ve only found with you all.
I, Vijay Krishnamoorthy, bequeath fruit and vegetables to Steve. A gold medal for Bekele in the Olympics to Harold. Many wins against Harold to Yajat. Gacha luck to Everett. And many more speedy end of race kicks to Josh.
I, Vipra Bindal, bequeath endless crumbl cookies on Silsilay day to Kimaya Paintavaidya, Meet Fresh rajmaa to Athreya Iyer, night drives blasting redrum to Riddhi Maharana, a statistics textbook to Ashwin Kamchetty, and lots of love, happiness, and spiders to my little brother, Vairaaj Bindal.
I, William Jiao, bequeath a goofy yet attentive trombone section to Kinti, a good band to James Cathy and Helena, trombone sl to Sourabh, extra calc HW to Harvey, Immortal in valorant to Wonho, hat tricks to Brian, transformers to Annabelle, a 225 bench to Brian, a 315 bench and many pins to Jayden, knockouts to Sai, height to Chancie, a Sam Sulek’s physique and guitar skills to Suffi, infinite rizz and heavyweight strength to Gary, states to Aidan, and heavyweight weight to Robert.
I, Zachary Leong, bequeath a fruitful career to Steve Yang, 19 medallions to Harold Wang, a hairstyle to Michael Fan, good photos to Joshua Li, height to Everett Lian, a fixed bell schedule to Mr. Reynolds, 8-ply toilet paper to Mr. Bale, butter, sugar, flour, eggs & chocolate to Ms. Willson, and a true Raiders season to Ms. Robledo.
I, Zayan Azom, bequeath success and senioritis to Shreya Somani, W rizz to Lex Huang, level 10 brainrot to Alden James, library “study” sessions to Qianzi, fire math skills to Khang, crazy martial arts and filming to Sai, the title of Host to Hashim, a raccoon-free career to Ms. Kirsh, the future of CDC to Meryem, and the future of Gotham to Arnav Kodavati.
California
California Institute of Technology
Priyanka Supraja Balaji
California Polytechnic State
University, San Luis Obispo
Casey Fung
Elisabeth Shin
Empress Ming
Madison Guan
Chapman University
Reema Vanwari
Claremont McKenna College
Kyrsten Su
Myles Kim
De Anza College
Jonathan Choy
Justin Ngo
Newman Xing
Foothill College
Phoebe Tucker
Harvey Mudd College
Leah Uriarte
Loyola Marymount University
Gio Cabaltica
Ian Neyens
Pomona College
Nimay Shanker
San Jose State University
Aakash Ozarker
Aspen Cheung
Hoeun Lee
Jacey Shuieh
William Jiao
Santa Clara University
Nate Mitchener
Scripps College
Ava Tse
University of California, Berkeley
Adithri Sharma
Allison Lin
Annie Yao
Anshul Singh
Austin Wu
Claire Lin
Dara Lin
Deeksha Raj
Jefrey Gao
Manank Doshi
Maple Leung
Mihika Rajadnya
Nicholas Kong
Radhika Goyal
Rishma Khandelwal
Samuel Wang
Sanika Iyer
Sarah Zhang
Sindhuja Bokkisam
Valerie Eng
University of California, Davis
Carrie Chern
Minjun Seo
University of California, Irvine
Adit Kantak
Arnav Saharan
Ava Roohipour
Nachiket Joshi
Rasul Abdullayev
Timothy VanWiggeren
University of California, Los Angeles
Anne Xu
Chelsea Lee
Isaac Chang
Tanvi Deshmukh
University of California, Riverside
Aarya Aluri
Esha Kamath
Nandini Satpute
Laasya Kolli
Sahana Tiru
University of California, San Diego
Angela Wu
Pranaad Rane
Saanvi Gireesh
University of California, Santa
Barbara
Aarush Narang
Aiden Kato
Rickey Chiu
University of California, Santa Cruz
Apurva Krishnamurthy
Gauri Jain
Harsha Anand
Meenakshi Mukkamala
Rohan Patel
Srushti Chaudhari
University of Southern California
Ethan Chen
Hanwen Zhang
Jeslyn Mi
University of the Pacifc
Jinhyun Park
West Valley College
Alex Diaz Garcia
Cyrus Wong
Spencer Eppstein
Colorado
University of Colorado Boulder
Daniel Yang
Georgia
Emory University
Cherie Zhou
Kimberly Yang
Rutvi Pota
Georgia Institute of Technology
Crystal Lee
Hawaii
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
Jalen Iwami-Asamoto
Illinois
University of Chicago
Aahaan Bandopadhyay
University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign
Adi Kewalram
Agastya Pawate
Alan Fu
Alison Ho
Aryan Agarwal
Ayan Chaudhry
Brandon Zhang
Harry Chiu
Meghna Rai
Micah Wang
Stephanie Li
Indiana
Indiana University Bloomington
Atharva Rayan
Purdue University
Daeun Chung
Esha Rai
Kaawon Kim
Nolan Wong
Samir Mehra
Tanvi Chukka
Tristan Li
Kentucky
Somerset Community College
Gabriel Farmer
Massachusetts
Boston University
Adrina Tran
Number of respondents according to a voluntary survey with 205 respondents. Many seniors are pursuing more than one feld of study.
Technology Adarsh Iyer
Northeastern University
Anushka Anand
Ayush Bhanushali
Celine Li
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Alexis Giaquinta
Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
Chitrini Anand
Manit Mathur
Hongyu Ma
Pranav Satyadeep
Sanchitha Dinesh
Vipra Bindal
Zayan Azom
Johns Hopkins University
Lucky Jain
Minnesota
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Shaumik Kalwit
Fashion Institute of Technology
Anvitha Athreya
New York University
Angelina Wu
Anna Ding
Erika Wu
Harsha Kadiyala
Mahati Raja
Neale Pathak
Nithyasree Ramamoorthy
Shreya Arun
Shubham Parab
Parsons School of Design
Janhavi Venkatesh
Ohio
Case Western Reserve University
Anagha Shanker
Ethan Park
Mehr Kambo
Miles Lim
Minchae Kim
Oregon
University of Oregon
Nuraan Qureshi
Tanya Vanwari
Pennsylvania
Carnegie Mellon University
Alexander Lee
Elli Stoyanova
Evan Xu
Krish Agarwal
Saket Kelkar
Suchir Vyasamudri
Vinay Venkatesh
Ainai Habtom
Anika Sundararajan
Zachary Leong
Texas
Rice University
Angie Wu
Katie Chin
Susanna Tang
Texas A&M University
Zihan Gong
The University of Texas Austin
Advait Phadke
Bob Zhu
Lori Liu
Nandini Ravi
Siri Ratnam
Utah
Brigham Young University
Ayanna Beberg
Washington
University of Puget Sound
Maddie Badger
University of Washington
Aayush Talluri
Abhinav Athreya
Anna Chiang
Ashwin Subramanian
Daphne Chao
Maggie Lam
Mina Chiang
Ravi Sevalia
Riki Murase
Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Marc Melikyan
International
Canada
MicGill University
Claire Lucas
The University of British Columbia
Benjamin Ching
University of Toronto
Audrey Sun
Spain
IE University
Peter Aguirre
Australia
The University of Sydney
Lily Fang
Niharika Emani
Aconversation between different versions of myself, split between the characters ME and her inner voices, RISKY, CAUTION and WHY, who all respond to FRIEND. ME is the main character, trying to find balance in the midst of conflicting thoughts.
ACT 1
[RISKY, CAUTION and WHY guide ME in her conversation with FRIEND. ME is conflicted with who to listen to]
FRIEND: Do you want to sneak out to watch a movie?
RISKY (in a hushed voice): Go out now. Everyone’s asleep, you can do whatever you want. Get your bike quickly and quietly.
ME: Let’s go.
FRIEND: I can’t hang out anymore, I don’t feel too good.
ME: It’s okay, I’ll go to Safeway. I’ll get you a basket of food. I’ll download a movie. We can watch a movie together. I’ll fix whatever problem you are going through. I’ll help you.
FRIEND: It’s too much, I need space. Scan the QR code to read more.
Queen to G3. I sat with my arms crossed on a table too tall for me, the black and white queens and kings looming ahead. One move to checkmate. He would be forced to capture with his pawn. Pawn to G6. The sequence of moves drawn on the blackboard flashed across my mind. I was going to win, of course. I had it all planned out. It was simple to my prepubescent mind. Know the game to know how to win. Strategy, my parents repeated, was a valuable indicator of competence and the single greatest key to success. I studied the Bird’s Opening, the Sicilian Defense atop fading fabric chess boards. I learned specific intersections of tiles in Catan that would send resource cards flooding into my hands. In Dominion, I would never take an Adventurer card because it wouldn’t be gold well-spent. There were fatal flaws, and there were moves that would guarantee me the win — I just had to know which was which.
The strategy I learned, snaking between makebelieve canyons and warring soldiers, soon fled the confines of the game board and became intertwined in my life. My parents continued to explain: logic and rationality were what separated the good decisions from the bad. And I thought, what was life if not a series of decisions? What was life if not a game? Games seemed to resemble reality, complete with monetary resources, a litany of choices to be made by each player and the bluffs amid opponents. Scan the QR code to read more.
Reading between the lines
BY SURYA SARAFIthought I wanted to be a romantic — or even a communist — after indulging in the passionate, Marxist-inspired writing of Sally Rooney. Or possibly a philosopher, after burning through JeanPaul Sartre’s “Nausea,” plunging into a mind-itching reverie of the pain of choosing my future. Books have been my most cherished companions since childhood, the sources of my lifelong indecisiveness and sporadically evolving ideas. They have characterized (what I have viewed as) the most difficult or heartbreaking points of my life, the times when rejections turned me into a bumbling, brooding Jack Kerouac, or, merely failing an English essay made me embody the deep depression of Sylvia Plath.
Through reading, I’ve been able to escape from the turmoil of daily life, basking in sunshine and crinkled pages on the beach in a somewhat hallucinatory trance. Vicariously losing myself in fictional stories, I’ve stumbled through the maze of purple hills and factories of Johannesburg, South Africa; felt the hopeless desperation of a pianist striving to conduct an orchestra; witnessed the psychosis of an Englishman throwing himself over his dead wife’s grave; accompanied a woman losing her sense of self, enraptured with an indifferent man on the streets of Paris.
Scan the QR code to read more.
IIt’s 10 a.m., and a deathly silence permeates the air at the tarnished wooden dinner table. A halfeaten Trader Joe's Mochi Cake lies messily wrapped in aluminum foil, beside a nearly empty bottle of Tabasco sauce. My eyes lock onto the packaging label, avoiding even a momentary gaze at my siblings to the left of me, and my parents to the right: “Three Simple Ingredients,” it read. The silence reminded me of the time I learned about life on the frontlines of the first World War during my World History class — periods of long, tension-filled silence, except for the scattering mice below and circling vultures up above — violently broken by the sudden impact of artillery shells and subsequent whistles and yells, a sign that the enemy line was trying their hand at a new offensive attack.
Scan the QR code to read more.
Surviving is not the same as living
As a child, your firsts are always celebrated.
Your first word, first steps, first day of school. But no one truly knows when it may be the last time doing such beloved activities that define your childhood. The last time you played outside with your neighbors or dolls, the last time you carelessly danced in the rain, or the last time you really lived
Throughout my childhood, I did Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance. I vividly remember focusing on the complicated dance steps and trying to keep up with the fast music. As the music slowed, I struck my finishing pose, lifting my right leg and holding it with my right hand as I glanced at my left hand above my head. My heart was beating out of my chest as I tried to catch my breath and hold my pose until the curtains closed and the lights dimmed. The difficult routine always stole my breath, yet ironically, those moments on stage breathed life into me; I had never felt so alive
When I started my junior year of high school, my parents took me out of dance class — despite my pleading about how dancing gave me life and purpose —because they claimed I was now “grown up” and that “I had more important things” to focus on.
Yet, I wondered, Are grown-ups not allowed to have passions too?
Scan the QR code to read more.
MMy ordinary morning routine starts in a dreary, colorless bedroom, where I wake up facing blank walls and bare floors aside from the occasional dusty Lego set. I sift through my clothes either in my beaten carry-on suitcase sprawled open by the door or the pile of clothes I’ve lazily ignored from the previous night’s laundry atop the bed. I grab my toiletries bag from the side pocket of my suitcase and bring it to the closest bathroom to clean up and prepare for the day. Once I’m ready, I return the bag to my suitcase and attempt to stuff the rest of my belongings back into their respective spots, trying my best to keep everything tucked away before heading out.
I’ve gotten pretty good at this kind of spare living. Since my parents’ divorce, I’ve moved between different living situations on an awkwardly inconsistent and often frantic schedule. I’m never certain about the timing of my next switch, so I’ve learned to be prepared for sudden changes at a moment’s notice. Thus — in nomadic fashion — my wardrobe, school supplies and other necessities fit snugly into my suitcase, backpack and whatever spare grocery bags I can fit over my shoulder. As I’ve adjusted to my minimalist lifestyle, the walls of my luggage have become just as familiar to me as the walls of any apartment or house.
Scan the QR code to read more.
BY APURVA KRISHNAMURTHY“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”
These were questions that had been posed to me on numerous occasions, yet my response was the same every single time:
“I’m not sure yet,” I would sheepishly smile back. Like a shadow without a body, I had no sense of what would become of me. The one thing I was sure of was that I would not succumb to societal pressures. I was not going to take up a major just because my parents wanted me to, follow a path that was deemed to be the social norm or do something simply because it was expected of me. I couldn’t. I was too afraid of picking the wrong path at 18 and ruining the rest of my life.
I wanted to find a career that was authentically me — something that was intellectually stimulating and one that I could envision myself enjoying long term. So I tried new things, activities I swore I would never do and challenged the perception I had of myself. Yet, in my pursuit to find my true self, I found nothing at all. I did not have a single idea as to what passion was most important to me or where my life would take me. Each college application became a grueling test of my identity.
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Fingers moving in rhythmic fashion, carrying the crochet hook through every loop and pull of the yarn, sophomore Aviva Iyerkhan transforms the simple strand into an intricate art piece. Iyerkhan began her crocheting journey in sixth grade when distance learning started during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the extra time on her hands, she picked up a crochet set her grandmother had gifted her years before and started learning the craft.
“My grandmother and her mother both did a lot of crocheting,” Iyerkhan said. “We have many of their intricate pieces hung up around the house.”
To learn how to crochet, Iyerkhan watched videos from a YouTube channel teaching crochet called “forthefrills”, which provides guides on various clothing items such as sweaters and tank tops.
Like other forms of art, crocheting comes with its own set of challenges, including learning the stitches and getting the hang of the process.
“Different types of yarn have different thicknesses, so you must use different sizes of hooks,” Iyerkhan. “I only had one size hook, and I was using a very thin yarn, so the sweater I was making had a lot of big holes in it.”
Despite starting with clothing, Iyerkhan later began to create various stuffed animals such as crabs and otters.
“When school started again in eighth grade, I would make people crochet stuffed animals as birthday gifts,” Iyerkhan said. “They encouraged me to sell my items, and I always thought it was something I would do when I was a little older.”
During Thanksgiving break in 2023, Iyerkhan officially began her crochet store called NovaKnitz. Although she does have an Etsy shop, her main method of selling is through word of mouth to the people around her.
“I made one of my friends a pink top,”
Iyerkhan said. “She drew a picture of what she wanted, and I made the shirt based on her drawing.”
Aside from being an art form, crocheting can also be a very therapeutic process, slowing down the nervous system and reducing stress hormones in the body.
“I like to crochet whenever I have free time,” Iyerkhan said. “It’s good for when you need a brain break from studying, but it’s not as draining as scrolling on social media.”
Today, Iyerkhan has a diverse range of products, including headbands, leg warmers and keychains, which is her most commonly sold item. Despite already making it so far, she has more goals for the future of her business.
“I plan to expand my store a lot more during summer break,” Iyerkhan said. “I definitely want it to reach a larger audience of people, not just at my school, but also around the country.”
In elementary school, sophomore Ellie Wang picked up a crochet hook for the first time. Through the teachings of her grandmother, Wang began to learn this skill that would follow her for the years to come.
“I remember she showed me how to do it, and I just copied her movements,” Wang said. “My grandma is really artistic and I like being creative with her.”
Previously engaged in other art forms having similar skillsets to crocheting: weaving rainbow loom and friendship bracelets during her childhood,
Wantg’s creative experiences were able to aid her journey.
Despite taking a break from crocheting for a few years, Wang returned to her old hobby after seeing the popularization of crocheting on social media during the COVID-19
pandemic. She began working on many crochet projects, sometimes even selling them to people around her.
“When I was in eighth grade, I gave my friend a little turtle as a gift,” Wang said. “Other people saw and were interested, so I began selling to them.”
After many suggestions from her friends and family, Wang officially launched Loveleigh Crochet, her crochet store on Etsy in April 2024. The products listed on her shop include stuffed animals from puppies to dinosaurs, with prices ranging from $13 to $40. Customers also have the option to make customized orders from the shop.
“I crochet almost every day whenever I have any sort of downtime,” Wang said. “On average each project takes one to two hours, and I tend to charge my products based on how many hours I worked on it.”
During Wang’s crochet journey, her biggest obstacle was finding the courage and motivation to begin the shop as she was afraid that nobody would purchase her products
“When I was talking with my friend about my store, he said that he would want to buy my stuff,” Wang said. “It made me feel really happy that there are people who think it is worth spending money on my products.”
Wang’s store consists mostly of stuffed animals, but she is expanding her range to other items such as clothing. In the past, she has crocheted a sweater for her mother and she is currently working on a cardigan for herself.
As for the future of her store, Wang hopes to look into nonprofit organizations and donate some of her products to hospitals. Furthermore, she hopes to expand her store and reach new heights.
“I recently had the idea to start selling keychains because that is more affordable for more people,” Wang said. “I hope that in the future I will get more customers, and I also want to start selling my stuff at markets like the Craft Fair.”
Scribbling notes, interviewing people around the community and reflecting on moving personal experiences. This was how freshmen Hafsa Gunes and Lino Longtin prepared for the annual FUHSD speech contest, where English Language Development students from all schools in the district harness their strengths in the English Language to create meaningful presentations showcasing what they have learned.
The English Language Learner program aims to help non-fluent speakers progress toward mastery of English as a second language. Specifically, the curriculum is designed to enhance students’ literacy and comprehension of English and facilitate their transition into mainstream courses. As part of the ELD program, the English Learner speech contest was initiated by program director Welton Kwong in 2007 to help students improve their speaking skills, and has only grown ever since. The contest requires participants to present a 3- to 5-minute memorized speech on a topic of their choice in either the Persuasive or Informative category. A variety of student, teacher and community judges then select the top speakers to advance to a final round, where the top three in each group are chosen.
While usually 25 percent of Lynbrook participants make it to the final round every year, a recordbreaking 60 percent qualified from Lynbrook this year.
“Beyond these honors, I loved that the participants in my class and I created a memory together, in which their endless support and
respect for one another was more clear than ever before,” ELD teacher Julie Morelos said. “I’ve always had a team mentality, and I was so lucky to get to be the leader of this team of ELD students this year. Seeing them smile, fist bump, high five, and embrace each other was the biggest reward of all.”
Freshman Hafsa Gunes found herself speaking about a topic she was deeply connected to: Islam. Gunes aimed to use her speech to raise awareness about Islam, which she feels can be underrepresented in the United States.
“I was really surprised how not many people talk about their religion in the United States, so that’s what inspired me to speak about a religious topic,” Gunes said.
Gunes admit that they felt a rush of nervousness when it was their time to speak.
“For me, I normally don’t find it too hard to talk in front of a large group of people,” Gunes said. “However, the feeling of nervousness did catch up with me during the first round.”
“I wanted to do all that I could to be sure they all had a positive experience and felt well-prepared.”
Julie Morleos, ELD Teacher
Meanwhile, freshman Lino Longtin’s interests in the physical and chemical traits of foods led her to explore the different flavors and nutrient values in foods and how they affect the body.
“I was tasting artificial foods, and it felt different than the organic ones,” Longtin said. “I started to question what was in the artificial foods that made the difference.”
With distinctly personal ties to their topics, the two competitors explored various research processes to collect more information. Using her cultural connection to Islam, Gunes extended her knowledge by interviewing different members of the Turkish community. Meanwhile, Longtin relied on experiments with food, taste-testing organic and artificial foods. Through various creative approaches, Longtin and Gunes were able to gain a deeper understanding of their topics, which ultimately helped them deliver strong presentations.
Nevertheless, both Longtin and
As the presentation went on, Longtin and Gunes found that their initial feelings of uneasiness were soon replaced with joy, as they skillfully presented their unique research to a captivated audience. The pair also enjoyed watching other contestants give their presentations as it allowed them to observe public speaking skills from their peers.
“I saw lots of uses of body language by other contestants, which I would love to try out in the future,” Longtin said.
Throughout their journey, both contestants were thankful for the help they received from Morelos, who offered valuable one-on-one feedback on their speeches and provided useful research avenues.
“I may have felt more nervous than the students did about the competition as a whole, being that it was my first time preparing students for it,” Morelos said. “Like them, I did not know entirely what to expect and wanted to do all that I could to be sure they all had a positive experience and felt well-prepared.”
Through the combined effort of teacher support and individual persistence, the ELD students turned obstacles into learning opportunities, delving deeper into intriguing realms of food science and culture. The students’ hard work paid off as they achieved top awards at the FUHSD speech contest, and they now feel more prepared to tackle a variety of writing and speaking tasks in the future.
“Attending the speech contest was no doubt the highlight of this school year for me,” Morelos said. “I felt so proud of them all. Watching them courageously and successfully do something they may not have believed they could do at the onset of the school year, was a really rewarding experience.”
Amid the electrifying buzz of the robotics arena, an All Girls Rookie Robotics Team excitedly watched their robot rush around the course, witnessing their countless test runs and hours of debugging paying off. Completing a successful robotics season, The Chaotic Calibotz from Lynbrook consisting of freshmen Sruthi Chetput, Diya Narayanan, Shreshta Ramji, Sathvika Siva and Ellanya Sivasubramaniam received the Judges Award — the third highest award — at the VEX VRC Robotics World Championship held in Dallas, Texas from August 24 to 27.
The team bonded through the November Supernova hackathon — a 12-hour all-girls hackathon held in Santa Clara County — and realized that they worked well together after their randomly selected team placed first. When they learned they all had a common interest in robotics, they decided to form a team and compete.
Both middle schoolers and high schoolers compete in the VEX VRC division, but only high schoolers can compete in state competitions and the world championship, also called Worlds. In competitions, teams engage in individual skills challenges and alliance competitions, where pairs of teams face off, strategizing to gain an advantage over their opponents for the year’s designated mission. In 2023, the mission dubbed “Over Under” tasked teams to create an optimal strategy to place as many triballs — plastic scoring objects with rounded pyramidal shapes — as possible into the opponent’s zone and goal.
“Realizing the importance of collaboration, we spoke to other teams before matches, gained different perspectives and learned from others’ experiences,” freshman and team programmer Chetput said. “We also used critical thinking skills to tackle problems.”
Throughout the season, the team competed in a total of nine competitions, advancing from regionals to Worlds by earning numerous awards and high scores. Despite placing 40th out of 44 in their first competition of the season, The
Chaotic Calibotz were able to apply what they practiced and learned to their future competitions, winning the Build Award at the Bionic Bruins event, the Excellence Award at the Indian Community Center competition and finally the Judges Award at Worlds. The award was a way for judges to give the team recognition for having skills spread across all areas, from teamwork to design.
“We’ve come a long way from the very beginning to qualifying for Worlds,” freshman and team builder Siva said. “I’m so proud of how far our team has come and of our ability to quickly acclimate ourselves to the competition.”
The team was amazed by the sheer magnitude of the competition as they observed the parade of nations at Worlds, where each team proudly showcased their flag on stage, and gained insights from more experienced teams.
able to explore what each of us could contribute to the team. We don’t all have the same skill sets, but our different strong suits allow us to successfully execute our goals.”
“Everyone comes with varying levels of experiences at Worlds,” freshman and lead designer Ramji said. “Since it’s our first year as a team in high school robotics, we learned a lot from collaborating with teams with higher calibers of experience who have been doing this for years on end.”
While Sivasubramaniam and Narayanan had experience in robotics back in middle school, the rest of the team was new to the field. Regardless, they brought diverse skill sets with them. Their varied backgrounds helped them pinpoint and resolve issues efficiently and effectively.
“Since we are an all-girls team, I think we got to see firsthand how daunting it can be in such a male-dominated field to try something new and enjoy that passion,” Ramji said. “By bonding over our passion, the five of us were really
When the mission for the season was released in April 2023, the Chaotic Calibotz quickly organized brainstorming sessions and four-hour-long online meetings twice a week. However, they faced initial challenges in figuring out how to start building and coding the robot. To overcome this hurdle, they decided to hold additional meetings outside of their regular schedule specifically dedicated to programming. During these sessions, the team learned to consider various factors, such as the robot’s turning radius in degrees, and incorporated these variables into their coding efforts.
“Before we put any subsystem into the robot, we tested it with our previous robots to see if it was sturdy enough for gameplay before the competition,” freshman and team leader Sivasubramaniam said.
Through this experience, the Chaotic Calibotz enjoyed the collaborative aspect of robotics, appreciating the opportunity to socialize with so many different teams of differing backgrounds. Furthermore, their achievements throughout the season — and especially at Worlds — not only validated their hard work but also inspired them to dream bigger. In the future, they aspire to create a club for VEX Robotics exclusively for girls.
“Our success has really helped us boost our confidence and inspired us to help other girls pursue their own passion as well,” freshman and team driver Narayanan said.
The stale aroma of earthy lumber mixed with the impermeable presence of sawdust creates an atmosphere that makes sophomore Adrian Philip feel right at home. Traveling from Lynbrook to Monta Vista High School’s carpentry workshop for interminable hours each week, he carves out a unique path for himself in woodworking and selling pens.
His initial exposure to the field began by watching carpentry videos on YouTube. Those short clips invigorated his curiosities and desire to begin woodworking.
“I liked how they could craft whatever they wanted out of material as simple as wood,” Philip said. “Many of the materials you could get at your local Home Depot.”
At the onset of his journey, Philip constructed his first project of a wooden workbench in fourth grade. He gathered his father’s power tools, a saw, screws and twoby-four cutouts of wood to do so.
“I learned that woodworking isn’t as hard as it seems,” Philip said. “After that first project, I felt motivated because I knew I could do it.”
With more self-discovery and experimentation, he
year. Featuring a completely painted shed, which includes a door with miniature windows, the shed acts as an occasional workshop and storage unit.
“I am proud of what I was able to create,” Philip said. “It works great because it has the practical aspect of storing all my tools.”
His primary workshop is still at Monta Vista, where he has access to almost industrial-scale tools and resources. As a Lynbrook student, he must make a daily 9-mile roundtrip bike ride to Monta Vista to attend his carpentry class. Since the carpentry classes are designated to sixth period, Philip travels to Monta Vista every other day of the week; on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“Although it’s far, I still wanted to do it because woodworking is something I’ve been doing for a long time,” Philip said. “It’s something I’m really passionate about.”
Most of his current projects consist of wooden pens as he finds satisfaction in the ability for such simple projects to produce a diverse variety of finished products. The pens hold unique sizes, shapes, functions and finishes — all individually and carefully crafted.
Being completely self-funded, Phillip holds a part-time job to pay for all the expenses of his carpentry endeavors. Along with a part-time job, he has also begun to sell personalized handmade pens to friends and classmates. With less than a dozen pens sold and still at the premise of its creation, Philip’s small business was inspired by one of
“I was using them in class and my friends noticed,” Philip said. “They said, ‘Oh, that’s a cool pen. Where can I get one?’ I told them I made it and they asked if they
Although currently an influential aspect of his life, Philip does not plan to pursue woodworkwing as a profession;
setting up a website for his small business to create and sell more pens.
“I am uncertain if woodworking would be an actual career for me, but I don’t plan to stop selling pens on the side,” Philip said.
In any case, the experience in Monta Vista’s carpentry course has taught him multitudes of priceless new skills and knowledge in the field of woodworking. Unfortunately, Monta Vista is currently the only high school in the entire southwest Bay Area that has sustained its woodshop class due to declining enrollment and interest in woodshop.
“This trend is ultimately part of a broader shift away from traditional vocational skills and towards a greater emphasis on higher education,” Philip said. “As a result, kids often find themselves with limited time to pursue their hobbies or explore other electives, which has been seen by the gradual disappearance of other optional courses as well.”
Individuals who plan to pursue woodworking but do not have access to a carpentry elective course can follow a similar path to that of Philip’s. Through his self-taught journey of carpentry, he has observed how valuable online tutorials are for beginners who are interested in the field.
“Beginners can try finding inspiration online,” Philip said. “Find something that you don’t need many tools for so it’s less expensive and easier to get started.”
From the literal red lines that encircle dated communities to invisible socioeconomic barriers, redlining is characterized as the discriminatory practice that refused minority groups the same financial services and home ownership offered to their white peers. It has plagued the country, including the Bay Area, since 1934. Although the practice has technically been outlawed, its shadow continues to loom through the segregation and inequality that persist in the present day.
“It’s the less spoken about or less obvious element of the civil rights movement,” history teacher Kyle Howden said. “It’s not that visible — it’s an underlying thing that’s there.”
Dating back to the United States under President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration, the National Housing Act of 1934 created a Federal Housing Administration and Home Owners’ Loan Corporation to combat the national housing shortage by increasing America’s housing stock. In prioritizing the flourishing of suburbs, which they viewed as incompatible with minority residents, they created segregated areas on maps ranging from red for “hazardous” neighborhoods to green for “affluent” suburbs. Red neighborhoods usually consisted of minorities while green areas that were considered to be profitable were largely populated by white communities. Their logic surrounded a belief that because African Americans or other minority communities were deemed “undesirable” at the time, it would put their loans and investments at risk. Consequently, financial institutions enforced higher down payments or interest rates for the loans of those in lower socioeconomic income areas and deflated appraisals on their homes.
Although the HOLC and similar estate corporations explained redlining as a way to protect them financially from those who may not be able to repay loans, the factors considered in marking a location red held
inherently negative connotations. For instance, HOLC described redlined Area D11 inhabitants in San Jose, as an “infiltration of Slavs, Portuguese and Mexican” people. An extensive interactive project mapping inequality in America by the University of Richmond demonstrates multiple instances of prejudice in redlining maps, listing categories for “favorable influences” and “detrimental influences” in each region. Yet, many of the “detrimental” influences were what they called “heterogeneous development” — to them, diversity was unfavorable.
Likewise, while the HOLC aided middle-class Americans with generous mortgages, minorities, who were denied access to affluent communities
based on race, didn’t receive the same offers. In contrast to white Americans who purchased homes at lower prices and saw their home values appreciate, African Americans were trapped in less established neighborhoods. Without the privileges of accumulating assets that would ensure generational wealth, misnomers about those trapped in these conditions being lazy or unwilling to work hard began to spread.
“Redlining, to some degree, explains the wealth inequality between different racial groups,” Howden said. “It has nothing to do with being ‘lazy’ — it has to do with opportunity along the way to amass more wealth.”
Even if minority groups were fortunate enough to purchase houses, these homes generally did not appreciate due to the area’s lack of investment; the majority ended up in vicious, high-marked cycles of rent-controlled by landowners, who inflated prices knowing that minorities likely had no other neighborhoods to go to. With less invested-in areas came lower incomes, fewer work and education opportunities, increased policing and a cycle of lower-grade infrastructure that restricted their social mobility. “In the suburbs, the school districts are great,” said home loan officer Christina Lozano at Crosscountry Mortgage, who specializes in working with minorities. “Most people are well educated — our tax dollars go to repairing a lot of the infrastructure, which means more families want to move there. Conversely, in previously redlined areas like West and East Oakland, your cars get busted from driving through the damaged potholes and it’s tough in that area.”
racial discrimination that separated groups of people from each other was largely a product of redlining.
In attempts to remedy the consequences of redlining, policies such as the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 were enacted, which put added pressure on financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of communities including low to moderate-income neighborhoods. These programs helped pave the way for additional government efforts to take on subsidized housing projects or provide certain minorities with additional resources for
attaining housing. Still, the undoing of 40 years of redlining would require the long-term enforcement of nondiscriminatory real estate practices.
In the present day, areas including West and East Oakland, as well as the San Francisco Metropolitan Area are seen as hallmarks of the negative effects of redlining. West Oakland was entirely encased in highways that divided neighborhoods dominated by people of color, restricting possible interracial encounters. In the process, over 5,000 homes were demolished, creating the highest rates of pollution per capita in Calif. and causing immense detriments to personal health. Populations in previously redlined areas were twice as likely to go to the emergency room for asthma and more susceptible to cardiovascular disease, maternal morbidity and adverse birth outcomes — trends that still continue today.
Larger, more apparent impacts of redlining involve the general atmosphere within the communities created. Many were built on broken foundations, making them less desirable for future improvements in outsiders’ eyes. Investors saw them as
“Redlining has long-lasting effects in modern day. Among them are modernday segregation and lack of access to wealthier neighborhoods and their resources.”
Vanessa Otto, English Teacher
Indeed, while the Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited redlining and tasked federal financial regulators — primarily the Federal Reserve — with enforcement of the policy, the effects of redlining still linger across the nation. Upon further examination of redlining maps, it is common to find discrepancies between the color grade assigned to an area and its actual racial makeup. Faced with the physical and economic barriers of redlining, many groups moved out of redlined neighborhoods in waves once they were financially able to. In response, white communities expanded outward, leaving their original neighborhoods following the increase in diversity. The result, as seen in cities like Detroit, was “white flight,” in which large groups of white Americans moved out to mostly federally subsidized and racially homogenous suburbs.
Thus, even without strict lines on a map,
unattractive or unworthy, with some of the most consequential effects being worse public schools or hospitals, leading to less funding and public access. The expectation that these neighborhoods are worse off raises the alarm for increased police presence, which only heightens the chances of violent encounters between the local police and people of color.
“Redlining has long-lasting effects in modern day,” English teacher Vanessa Otto said. “Among them are modern-day segregation and lack of access to wealthier neighborhoods and their resources. Even the houses that were negatively impacted by redlining today are still in locations where they’re closer to dangerous chemicals with less access to better-funded schools.”
Despite this, teachers and educators alike create American history and literature curricula that raise awareness of the cycles of redlining, decreasing the probability that redlining or similar modes of segregation respawn.
“It’s part of the lingering effects of redlining where African Americans were just segregated into ghettos, they weren’t able to leave,” junior and American Literature student Matthew Tanaka said. “They weren’t able to find the opportunities, the education. In school, I think it’s good that it’s taught and learned in order to understand how impoverished places emerged in American society.”
Since 1923, FUHSD’s Adult School has provided learning opportunities for adults looking to learn new material, find jobs and earn high school diplomas — all for free. Throughout its years of service, this institution has helped thousands of adults forge new paths.
The FUHSD Adult School’s overarching goal was to provide adults with lifelong learning opportunities that enable them to achieve their goals. When it was established, the primary goal of the Adult School was to offer English as a Second Language classes, because many residents of the Bay Area were immigrants who were not able to speak English.
“They used to call them Americanization classes, which basically taught adults how to speak English,” said Andy Walczak, Assistant Principal of Fremont High School. “This community had a lot of Japanese families, as well as Croatian, Spanish, Mexican and Western European families.”
In 1945, the Adult School established a reputation of being accepting toward all groups, as they welcomed veterans of World War II to return to classes and earn their high school diplomas. Unfortunately, many FUHSD students lost their lives in the war effort, but the Adult School readily welcomed back those who had survived so they could complete their education.
“During the centennial celebration on May 11, we dedicated a war memorial to all of the Fremont students that died in WWII and the Korean War,” said Walczak. “Students read the names of all the veterans who lost their lives.”
For veterans, the Adult School was especially lifechanging because it allowed them to start a second career after their service in the military. Instead of having to educate themselves, they were able to seek guidance from classes and learn more about their career options.
Two decades later, the Adult School started to expand its program, holding classes at 10 locations in Sunnyvale and Cupertino. Because of this, from 1964 to 1972, its students received over 450 high school diplomas, an impressive increase from prior years. Previously, the school was mainly concentrated in Fremont, but the increase in locations allowed adults from across the Bay Area to take advantage of classes.
“The first class I took was a watercolor painting class,” said Machiko Sato, a student of the Adult School since 2009. “After that, I've been taking lots of exercise classes to maintain my health. I started taking English classes a couple years ago, during the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. I appreciate all my teachers and the people I met in the classes.”
In the late 1900s, the Adult School rapidly grew. Due to its rising enrollment, staff created new classes and increased the amount of staff members on campuses. Among the classes they offered were machine tools, electronics and business communication. Such classes were open to any members of the community who wanted to
increase their depth of knowledge. The presence of vocational classes, such as mechanics, were especially important to those who were not interested in academic pursuits. In the career development classes, students met three times a week and sessions were two to three hours.
“Our coordinating teachers work very hard and are passionate about their programs,” said Lori Riehl, Principal of the FUHSD Adult School. “Without the support for programs we have here, we would not have been able to get to where we are today.”
Although the history of the Adult School was relatively smooth, that is not to say that there were no obstacles along the way. One obstacle that the FUHSD adult school faced was the numerous location changes. At first, the adult school was located at the FUHSD district office site in portables.
The adult school then relocated to Vallco Mall in 2018 and there for a few years.
“They moved the adult school into what used to be the food court of the Vallco Mall and renovated it to hold 11 classrooms,” Riehl said. “We had a big atrium space where students could meet, and also had classrooms and offices all the way around.”
In the summer of 2021, the adult school relocated once more — this time back to the FUHSD district office. The new site has now been in use for almost three years and will continue to be the home of the school for the foreseeable future.
In recent years, the school has also faced a dramatic drop in enrollment due to the rise of COVID-19. During the chaos of the pandemic, the number of graduates and attendees plummeted. The amount of diplomas dropped from around 80in past years to around 30 in the 2022-23 school year.
“COVID-19 cut our enrollment in half,” said Riehl. “We lost $730,000 in revenue during that first March because we had just started the spring quarter and then had to cancel all our classes.”
Although the school still has not fully recovered from the loss it suffered during the pandemic, it is bouncing back steadily, increasing its enrollment by seeking students around the Bay Area. During the at-home quarantine, all in-person classes were suspended, but now, the adult school has brought back in-person classes and continues to serve the community.
FUHSDestablished the Adult School toadultsprepare for citizenshipU.S. and to teach ESL.
WWII,theadultschoolwelcomed andveteranstocompletetheireducation explorenewcareerpaths.
Specifc career preparation classes started to be ofered, including machine tools, technology, and business communications.
COVID-19 was a major obstacle for the adult school, resulting in a a of all in-person classes and a loss of $730,000 in revenue. Enrollment hit a massive low as the amount of diplomas earned dropped from 70-80 in past years to 25-30 during the pandemic.
classes.”
The centennial celebration2024onMay11, brings membersof thecommunity togetherto celebratethe historyoftheadult school.
“The adult school offers classes community interest,” said Superintendent Graham Clark. “After COVID-19,
great job of conducting engaging and informative
In addition to the adult school, the program also includes two suborganizations: The Bright Beginnings Preschool and the Community Education Program.
The Bright Beginnings Preschool has grown significantly since its debut in 1978, growing from four classes to 25 preschool classes today. While nurturing children, the preschool concurrently trains parents with the skills they need to be successful. In addition, parents are taught about the different aspects of their children’s development, including cognitive, social, speech and language development.
“The main focus of Bright Beginnings is to give adults important parenting skills,” Clark said. “Essentially, their kids are coming into preschool, but they're also getting parenting education simultaneously.”
Similar to the Bright Beginnings Preschool, the Community Education Program is another segment of the FUHSD adult school that has grown tremendously since 1923. The Community Education Program focuses on teaching skills to anyone in the community, regardless of age. Some of the classes offered in the program include exercise, art and dance. Many of the participants in the program include senior citizens, who enjoy spending their time learning new dances or perfecting their arts and crafts.
The adult school’s importance is obvious through its work in providing important opportunities for the community. Not only does it provide adults with diplomas and ESL classes, but it also ensures that adults in the community feel safe and are taken care of.
“My number one goal is for everyone to feel welcome here,” Riehl said. “There are preschool students at our school who are as young as six months old, as well as 80-to 86-year-old teachers and students in our classes. It really is an important part of the community to be able to serve people from different backgrounds, and hopefully give them something they find joy in.”
When freshman Rohin Saharoy steps foot on the dojo, he doesn’t focus on the crowd of audience or judges intensely staring at him. Instead, he visualizes the dozens of kicks and punches which he has practiced over and over again, executing them with immense precision against his opponent. He lets nothing prevent him from trying his hardest to win the match. Over years of training, karate has become one of the biggest parts of Saharoy’s life, a lifelong passion in which he has amassed numerous accomplishments.
After his mother signed him up for local karate classes in kindergarten, Saharoy started attending the California Karate Academy. Initially,
he found no real interest in the sport; however, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Saharoy was stuck at home with little to do, so he began seriously pursuing the sport.
“I trained as much as I could, and when lockdown ended, I had earned my blackbelt,” Saharoy said.
It wasn’t until the summer before eighth grade that Saharoy competed in his first official karate tournament, the International Karate Federation Tournament. At this event, Saharoy went up against the Pan American World Champion of his age group in the very first round and an opponent on the United States National Team, resulting in major losses.
“After the tournament, I quit for a few months,” Saharoy said. “Later, I started training again and attending some local tournaments, which I did well in.”
Unfortunately, in the fall of that year, Saharoy suffered the loss of his karate teacher. As a result, Saharoy started attending the Okaigan Dojo, where he trained alongside a team of coaches and teammates who provided a support system and motivated him.
At the start of freshman year, Saharoy set many goals for himself, with his top goals consisting of making the US national team and becoming a Pan American Medalist. In order to achieve the latter, Saharoy would have to place at the US Team Trials, which will be happening in July.
This school year, Saharoy competed at multiple prestigious tournaments, placing highly in almost all of them. In September, he competed in the Fall Classic, taking home a gold medal in his age division and a silver medal in the older division.
The biggest tournament that Saharoy attended this year was the US Open where he competed in the lead division, going up against US national team members, Mexico national team members and competitors from Venezuela and Canada. At the US Open, Saharoy won every
Over the past few years after evolving from a niche form of exercise to a global phenomenon, Pilates has captivated the attention of many. Pilates gained recognition for its innate ability to improve flexibility, strength and overall fitness. As its popularity continues to grow and become more mainstream, Pilates has proven its ability to bring more awareness to improving physical and mental fitness.
Pilates — first coined by its inventor Joseph Pilates, a German circus performer — has been practiced since the 1920s. Pilates was inspired by the cats who roamed the circus with energy and agility, chasing mice and birds.
Many of Pilates’ exercises are influenced by cats’ movements, such as their stretches. He developed a method called contrology, a set of rehabilitative exercises designed to create total balance of the body and mind.
Ma said. “So I think it has a pretty positive impact on society.”
However, this rise in popularity has brought a multitude of misconceptions. One of the most common ones today is that Pilates is an “easy” form of exercise, when in reality it is an exercise that focuses almost entirely on core strength, requires an immense amount of control and concentration.
“Pilates is really different from what you would typically do for working out because it’s more low impact and slower-paced compared to weightlifting and cardio,” Ma said.
single match until the semifinals — losing to the reigning national champion. Competing against extremely talented opponents presented a challenge for Saharoy, but he enjoyed the tournament. His bronze medal match was his greatest experience from the tournament.
“My opponent was beating me for the majority of the two-minute match, but in the last ten seconds, I secured a point to win,” Saharoy said.
While competing in a local tournament in the spring, Saharoy suffered a serious injury after his opponent illegally kicked him in the throat, causing him to pass out for 20 seconds. After regaining consciousness, Saharoy chose to continue competing, fighting through the pain of a throat contusion.
“I felt like I couldn’t even breathe for a while,” Saharoy said. “But after I woke up, I wanted to keep fighting, and they let me. I finished the tournament with a gold medal, winning every single round after my injury and winning the finals 8-0.”
This year, Saharoy competed in Karate tournaments at the local, national and international level, including the US Open and the West Coast Championships. Saharoy placed highly in many of these competitions even while competing against some of the strongest opponents in his age group and older. Saharoy has many personal goals lined up for the future — making the US national team and becoming a PanAmerican Medalist are his top priorities.
Saharoy’s experiences training karate helped him to realize the importance of effort and discipline. Although he previously encountered many devastating losses and setbacks in his time on the dojo, Saharoy hopes to learn from them in order to better himself.
“Karate has made me much more disciplined in everything else I do, and it helps me focus,” Saharoy said. “I’ve also realized that if I actually want to be good at the sport, I have to consistently put in the time and effort.”
our posture forward,” lead Pilates instructor at West Valley College Victoria Piatt said. “Finding that balance through Pilates helps us open up and bring us back to ideal alignment.”
“You can do Pilates anywhere,” Piatt said. “It’s so simple to learn the foundational pieces to Pilates, which you can incorporate into whatever activity you want.”
“It’s so simple to learn the foundational pieces to Pilates, which you can incorporate into whatever activity you want.”
Victoria Piatt, Lead Pilates Instructor
While Pilates used to be a more niche exercise, it has recently become more mainstream as an exercise favored by celebrities and models alike. Between 2010 and 2023, the number of participants in Pilates has shot up by over 3 million people. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Pilates has surged in popularity due to its accessibility, allowing people to work out at home, with or without equipment. Through social media platforms, influencers have promoted Pilates as a way to achieve the desired body with toned muscles. The positive effects of Pilates have also become widely known — it’s an excellent way to improve sleep and cognitive function, heal injuries and boost immunities.
“I think it’s good that influencers are promoting Pilates on social media because they show healthy bodies, something many people are looking for,” junior Victoria
Nevertheless, movement in Pilates is deliberate and precise, a shift from exercises that emphasize pure strength or explosive power, presenting a heightened learning curve for beginners.
Pilates also requires slow and controlled movements, which may be more challenging than other forms of cardio exercise that require more explosive movement. In turn, Pilates emphasizes a build-up of endurance and strength, while using your body weight as resistance.
“Through my experience of actually doing pilates myself, I realized it’s definitely more of a workout than just stretching,” Ma said.
Many harbor the misconception that Pilates is just another form of yoga. Although the two share similarities, yoga and Pilates are built upon different foundations. Yoga specializes in connecting with the spirit and using movement to tap into flow and universal energy, an esoteric belief that life exists all around us, while Pilates is primarily focused on relaxing and strengthening muscles. In addition, Pilates improves balance and likewise posture.
“Especially in today’s world, we’re always on our computers and everything is pulling
Despite its benefits, many are reluctant to try Pilates due to an incorrect assumption that Pilates requires large and expensive equipment to perform. The most common equipment that one may think of is called a Pilates reformer, which was invented by Joseph Pilates himself. The reformer is a bed-like platform that rolls back and forth on wheels within the frame of the bed. Reformer Pilates is a subgroup of Pilates that is designed to engage every muscle in your body, using weight resistance springs, moving carriages and other accessories. Contrary to popular thought, all basic Pilates exercises can be done on a mat, and exercises that require springs, pulleys and bars are for more intense sessions, but not necessary when practicing Pilates on a less strenuous level. Pilates is widely accessible to people of all ages, genders, shapes and sizes.
39% increase in Pilates participants from 2010 to 2023 according to Statista.
As Pilates continues to rise in popularity, it is especially important for individuals to be aware of the misconceptions surrounding Pilates and look to professionals for concerns and advice. There are plenty of resources created by professionals that are widely available online that students can access easily, like YouTube or online paid classes. Students can educate themselves on its accessibility and benefits through actively participating in Pilates and discovering what the exercise has to offer.
“I would highly recommend trying pilates at least once in your life,” Ma said.
“My favorite moment from this season was...”
league finals winner; I may have lost, but I learned a lot through the process,” freshman Vincent
“Senior night when I played my match and learned that all the seniors won their matches too,” sophomore Keigo Kamata said.
“The qualifying meet for CCS. Despite initial disappointment, I heard I qualified,”
“At our first competition when we opened the score sheet and found out we made it to Nationals in Anaheim,” freshman Madison Chan said.
“Thowing my first ever complete game as I was not a pitcher before this season or pitching a complete nine inning game under 110 pitches,” senior Ian Neyens said.
“We went against Cupertino during their senior night and won even though they expected a victory,” junior Hao Gu said.
“It was really nice celebrating our seniors and the other team’s seniors during the senior night,” sophomore Audrey Lee said.
“When I yelled ‘Band hunt ten’, everyone yelling ‘One’ back as loud as ever,” junior Helena Ho said.
USED WITH PERMISSION FROM ADITHYA VENKATARAGHAVAN
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“I was able to play great matches with the top-ranked Palo Alto team. That win meant so much to us as it was also senior night,” junior Adithya Venkataraghavan said.
“The season in general was nice because the team was really supportive, and they always cheered when we got a new dive,” sophomore
“When we got first because it was unexpected since we were against a lot of good teams,” sophomore Clara Yan said.
“During the last meet, when we were finally able to use our pool after many weeks of going to other schools,” junior Jayden Jeng said.
Stepping into his fifth-grade classroom for the first time, senior Dylan White felt that his life was going to change forever. Several months into the year, his fifth-grade teacher, Andrew Ryan, who witnessed White’s athletic potential from the beginning, encouraged him to sign up for school sports. Almost a decade later, White’s passion for football and baseball still burns strongly. After an 8-year football journey, he has committed to the University of Puget Sound, joining their football team this fall as an outside linebacker.
“I love the team aspect of football,” White said. “Everyone is working together toward a common goal of scoring, meaning if you mess up, there will always be someone else that can offer support to you.”
White’s football journey first began when he started to practice flag football with his friends in fifth grade. For years, White practiced with a group of friends, until he joined the varsity football team the summer before his sophomore year. Unfortunately, after playing his first three
games of the season, he broke his thumb and underwent surgery, where several pins were secured in place to repair his displaced fracture.
“Being injured makes me want to get back stronger and faster,” White said. “The rehabilitation of my injuries encourages me to stay consistent and overcome my challenges.”
Despite his injury, White’s football career continued through his junior year. However, he strained his knees multiple times during the 2022-23 season. Later on, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament on his left knee, preventing him from playing football again until the fifth game of the 2023-24 season and White underwent extensive physical therapy. After recovery, White gave an outstanding performance, throwing several touchdowns as a quarterback and leading the team as a captain. One of the games White was able to showcase his renewed strength in was during the Homecoming game against the Monta Vista Matadors.
“This year’s homecoming game meant a lot to me since it was the first homecoming I actually played in,” White said. “Although the final result wasn’t amazing, I was able to throw
White is excited to immerse in the vibrant community of Puget Sound as a pre-engineering major and hopes to continue his academic interest in mechanical engineering.
