Epic Issue 8, 2018 by the Epic

Senior Bryan Chiang places third at ISEF Competition BY WILLIAM GUO

ut of more than 1,700 students, senior Bryan Chiang won the third place award of $1000, as well as the award of $750 for best in his category, Computational Biology, at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) this month. From May 13 to 19, Chiang headed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for Intel’s worldwide science competition. Each year, students from more than 75 countries compete in this competition after receiving an invite from a quali�ier science fair. His project involved computational algorithms that use arti�icial intelligence and statistics to identify disrupted transcription sites in cells that control cell growth and death. Using the frameworks he developed, Chiang analyzed more than 50 million genomic regions to better identify misaligned switches in transcription sites and improve current clinical treatment for cancer. “I was always very interested in computer science and arti�icial intelligence, and after taking biology last year, I wanted to try using my knowledge in those two �ields and apply it to the medical �ield,” said Chiang. “I reached out to a few Stanford labs, and actually one of the professors I talked to help set me up on a similar project to this one.” The experience and resources that Chiang accessed proved invaluable, as they set the groundwork for his ISEF project. Being at the university gave Chiang access to many papers that he would usually have to have licenses for. This helped him a lot when he was getting started that way he could get up to date with the current work established by previous work. While Chiang researching during the summer, he worked under a professor and with an undergraduate student to create the technical tools needed to analyze the data. He usually spent an hour or two sifting through previous research, before spending three to four hours working on the actual algorithm. During the later

stages of his project, he ran lots of analyses and veri�ication of his results instead. Chiang spent 60 hours in the lab a week during the summer and did further research at home. Afterwards, Chiang continued to improve his algorithms and implement better methodologies to make his project more ef�icient. “I worked more on the technical aspect side of things while I was at the lab, but afterward I worked more on the statistical part of what the data I analyzed meant,” said Chiang. “That meant looking at whether the switches I identi�ied had any statistical signi�icance, and also biological characterisation.” In order to qualify for ISEF, Chiang had to win at the Synopsys Science Fair, an ISEF af�iliated regional science fair. ISEF is different from most competition in that invites are given to winners of the regional level. Chiang won the grand prize at

WILLIAM GUO—EPIC

Synopsys, as well as best in his category. The science fair at Synopsys was similar to ISEF, but attendees at ISEF were given additional opportunities including visiting the Steelers football stadium, watching a documentary at a science center near the fair and listening to panels led by Nobel laureates and ISEF alumni. “One of the things that I really enjoyed about my time there was just meeting with other students who have similar passions and interests as you,” said Chiang. “We also got to see how some of the science projects that were presented here in the past became ideas for companies and how they developed further afterward.” On the day of judging, Chiang was on the �loor speaking with judges and answering their questions about his project. “It was really nice to talk to these judges that had a lot of expertise in the �ield and being able to exchange ideas and talk about the work you’ve done,” said Chiang. “However, they also ask really challenging questions about your project, and limitations of your work and how you can overcome or improve that. It was a very rigorous but rewarding experience.” Chiang’s project was a culmination of countless hours of hard work and research. While his project was time consuming, he learned a lot during his journey to placing in ISEF. “It’s been very rewarding to be making discoveries that can help us better understand the mechanisms of cancer progression, and to be able to make contributions to a much larger cause,” said Chiang. “I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is that you have to be able to work around problems. Don’t be afraid to talk to others or contact others to get help. I talked to Mrs. Della Santina to get started, as well as a lot of other professionals and graduates to get more information.” Though Chiang achieved success at ISEF, ultimately, it is his impact on the world that matters more to him. Looking to the future, Chiang plans on continuing his research and starting his own projects at labs to make greater contributions toward science that can help more people.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY DIVYA NELAKONDA

Changes to be fulﬁlled for the next school year BY SRINIDHI SESHADRI

ew Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a new homeroom time and homecoming in the tennis courts are just a few of the changes to be implemented in the 2018-2019 school year. NGSS is an adjustment in the science curriculum that has been in the works for the past few years and will be in place for the following school year. Earth science and space science will also be integrated as requirements into the three core science classes: biology, chemistry and physics. Some teachers such as chemistry teacher Jon Penner, however, are not in favor of these new standards. “[NGSS] may be bene�icial for a majority of schools in California, but I don’t think it is necessarily bene�icial to Lynbrook because it’s hard to �it something into the curriculum that students may not need,” said Penner. As a part of NGSS, students will also have to take a standardized test in the spring that requires an earth and space science background to score well. The NGSS curriculum places a heavier emphasis on applying concepts learned in class to real-

world problems by integrating various scienti�ic practices, like engineering, into the courses as grounding practice in research. “I love the opportunity to teach space science in physics but it comes at the expense of losing some of the topics that I currently teach, like optics,” said physics teacher Thanh Nguyen. “It would be nice if we could all teach what we wanted, but part of being a teacher is realizing that that’s not necessarily the best for our students.” Earlier this year, the district and staff decided to change the schedule for next year in response to a California law that required school to start after 8 a.m. The new bell schedule includes three tutorials weekly. The staff decided to instead have “homeroom” on speci�ic Fridays throughout the year where students will have a space to build a community and discuss various topics. “The reason we’re having a homeroom is because we want students to feel connected, we want them to feel valued and we want to make sure that they have an opportunity to discuss issues that are important to them,” said Principal Maria Jackson. Students will be randomly placed into a homeroom class with other students in

their grade level, and they will meet on most Fridays during the year. Some Fridays, like rally days or those near the end of a grading period, will instead have tutorials. Changes will also be made to homecoming, the biggest spirit event on campus. Due to the construction taking place in the quad and the cove during next school year’s homecoming, all homecoming skits will occur on the asphalt area near the tennis courts. Another difference in next year’s homecoming are the dates, since homecoming will occur during a week with no school on Monday when freshmen homecoming skits are usually held. This causes scheduling con�licts, as the usual four class homecoming days and the �inal rally day will not be able to �it into a single week. The solution for this is to have the rally during lunch on the senior homecoming day, the Friday of that week. With changes in the science curriculum, a new homeroom and the homecoming location and schedule, Lynbrook is readily adapting to growing trends and needs of its students and community. Although some of the changes may not be ideal and opinions are divided, staff are working together to provide students with the best opportunities.

KELVIN CHONG// pg. 13

Science clubs host ﬁrst STEM Day BY RISA MORI

collaborative effort of all STEM-related clubs on campus, Lynbrook STEM Day was primarily organized by Science Club with the objective of unifying students with STEM interests. Held on Monday, May 21, from 3 to 5 p.m. in Rooms 001 and 007, the event, open to Lynbrook students and incoming freshmen, featured guest speakers, science competitions and club booths. Although Science Club hosted the event, the club reached out to other STEM-related clubs to plan and organize the event as well. “The initial idea was an inter-school event, where schools’ science clubs come together,” said senior and Science Club President Abhinav Naikawadi. “The last two years, we were too overwhelmed with the idea. That’s why this year, we started off smaller by expanding it to all of the science-related clubs on campus.” During the event, experts and professionals shared their experiences

in the STEM �ield. Later, event attendees were able to walk around club booths while enjoying food to learn more about STEM opportunities at Lynbrook. Additionally, a competition was held in a Science Bowl-style format, where teams of two or three people participated in a buzzer-based jeopardy contest. STEM Day drew Lynbrook students as well as students from Miller Middle School, who learned about the event through science classes and clubs. Interested middle school students and parents were able to explore their club options in high school. “Science Olympiad has 23 events covering subjects ranging from the nature of science to engineering,” said freshman and Science Olympiad Club president Michael Zhao. “I hope people are able to get more exposure to STEM and �ind people who share similar passions as them through this club and program.” Communication throughout the planning process was conducted primarily through the presidents of the participating clubs. The coordination between clubs, however, was not always seam-

less; the club of�icers met some obstacles along their way. “One challenging part was getting all the clubs on the same page, because it’s so dif�icult to make sure that everyone understands exactly what we’re doing,” said Naikawadi. “Initially, it was kind of dif�icult to get the idea across to other clubs about what they would get out of this experience, so we had to explain to them where they would �it in.” Nonetheless, with the success of STEM Day, Science Club is looking to continue such events in the future. “This year, our goal was to get something established and have a successful event where people learn more about other communities,” said Naikawadi. “However, in the long run, the goal is to eventually expand this to invite other schools [in our district].” After weeks of planning, the organizers have �inally seen the product of their hard work. As one of the largest club collaborations at STEM Day connected students and provided a welcoming atmosphere for learning.

News in Brief Yearbook Distribution Valhalla is releasing their yearbooks starting from May 24. Seniors will be able to pick up their yearbooks between 1:30 and 2:15 p.m., juniors between 2:15 and 3:00 p.m. and sophomores and freshmen between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. Yearbook distribution will also be available from May 29 to 31. Make sure to clear your library �ines and have your ASB card ready!

Memorial Day There will be no school on Monday, May 28. On this memorable day, take some time to remember and honor the American soldiers who have died in military service. Baccalaureate Ceremony On May 31, PSTA will be hosting the annual Baccalaureate ceremony from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Sacred Heart Church. Seniors will have the opportunity to re�lect on their time at Lynbrook before they graduate.

Graduation Ceremony Come out to celebrate the Class of 2018 graduation ceremony on June 1. The event will take place between 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on the football �ield. Track and Field CIF State Finals Lynbrook track and �ield athletes will be participating in the CIF State Finals at Fresno from June 1 to 2. Good luck to the athletes! by Jocy He GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JOCY HE

CHLOE LEE — EPIC

Clubs collaborate to host beneﬁt concert

Have a fun summer, Catherine Huang and Eshani Mehta

EP I

—

Dear readers, We would like to welcome our two new Editors-in-Chiefs for the upcoming school year, Justine Chen and Michelle Lum, who we believe will successfully continue the legacy of the Epic for the year to come. We would like to take this time to say goodbye to the members of the class of 2018. Despite the stress and struggles we have faced, the past four years have brought us amazing homecomings, incredible dances and unforgettable memories that we will take with us as we continue to pursue our dreams beyond Lynbrook. Enjoy the senior issue by reading the bequeathals and celebrating the future with us on the senior pullout. (pg. 7) For this issue, check out our opinion articles about the backlash comedian Michelle Wolf received from her speech (pg. 3), features on the different food spots you can go to after �inals (pg. 6), an in-depth article on the privacy concerns regarding dna testing (pg. 12), and a sport article on the success of baseball this year (pg. 13). Thank you for reading our stories this year. Best of luck to the current students and the graduating class of 2018.

beyond the local community and impact the lives of those half a world away,” said Du. The Bene�it Concert was the culmination of a vision by MFC for the past three years, and it hopes to collaborate further with other clubs and host similar projects. “Ultimately, MFC’s goal for the future is to get in the school, the local and hopefully the global community,” said Feng. “We’re still looking for new ways to make that happen.” This year’s Bene�it Concert proved a great success and will help MFC reach into the community. SA

Letter from the Editors

sweet melody �loats off the stage as the violinist draws his bow across the strings. The lively program comes to an end, and thunderous applause meets the departure of the performer off the stage. On May 19, Lynbrook clubs Music For Community (MFC) and Me to We (MtW) teamed up to host the �irst annual Bene�it Concert, “Notes of Love,” to help raise $10,000 for MtW’s fundraising campaign to help build a school in Totoras, Ecuador. Neither club had collaborated with the other in the past to host an event of mutual bene�it, but organizers Joy Feng, Andrew Lin and Vivian Cheng were excited to to do so for the �irst time. In partnering with MtW, MFC received further exposure and was able to experiment with more than just the usual performances at senior centers while helping a notable cause. “Previously, MFC’s activities were limited to performing at senior centers, but this year, MFC expanded its activities and made an impact on the extended community,” said MFC president a n d

senior Joy Feng. Performers sent in tapes in order to audition to perform at the concert. Instrumentation and pieces varied greatly, ranging from classical piano concertos and dynamic woodwind groups to pop melodies. “The concert wasn’t a formal event, and it wasn’t nerve-wracking like other recitals,” said performer and junior Emily Du. “It was just a good time helping a great cause.” The concert featured performances by groups such as the Lynbrook Jazz Band, student musicians and vocalists from Lynbrook and other schools throughout the Bay Area. Du performed a �lute trio composed by Bill Dobbins, “Meet Me At Dreamland,” along with students from Saratoga and Homestead High School. “By performing, I hoped to use my talents and my passion for performance as a way to reach o u t

BY ERIC WU

GRAPHIC

N BY AILEEN

ILLUSTRATIO

XUE

Comedians cause an uproar at White House BY SADHANA SARMA

omedian Michelle Wolf’s opening words perfectly re�lected her attitude toward her performance at the 2018 White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD) on April 28: “Like a porn star says when she’s about to have sex with a Trump, let’s get this over with.” With the amount of backlash she received after the show, her opening remarks must resonate with her more than ever. Wolf has continued to stick by her jokes, however, since it is in her job description to poke fun at people. The WHCD is the annual gathering of the White House Correspondents’ Association, an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the President of the United States. Typically, the President and Vice President are in attendance, but in both 2017 and 2018, President Donald Trump did not attend. In his place this year was Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, for whom Comedian Michelle Wolf had some pointed jokes. Historically, the WHCD has not been a widely sought after gig for entertainers. In 2017, comedian Hasan Minhaj opened his performance by explaining that he was only there because “no one wanted to do this so, of course, it lands in the hands of an immigrant. That’s how it always goes down.” His feelings are justi�ied. Performing at the WHCD is no easy feat. For starters, the audience is usually very dry-witted. A combination of being on television and being very tense makes for a group of people who seldom laugh. On top of that, making fun of prestigious politicians and journalists must be done in a very cautious manner. Though Minhaj and those before him faced considerable backlash from crowds that could not take a joke, Wolf faced far worse criticisms after her speech. “I think the only difference between

this year and previous years is that there has been a lot more to make fun of about the President, speci�ically, and his administration, which is perhaps why there was more backlash this year than previous years,” said Improv Night participant and junior Zayhaan Batlivala. Wolf told provocative jokes, making fun of everybody from President Trump and the media to Kellyanne Conway. Her use of obscene language and references left many viewers uncomfortable and angry. “There might have been points where she did push it too far, but that is kind of what comedians do,” said U.S. Government teacher Mike Williams. “It is a roast. Even if it was too obscene, I would argue that the Trump Administration and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as a representative at the mouthpiece, have put themselves in this position for people to talk out and communicate the level of disgust they feel.” Though there are numerous jokes to which the public is reacting negatively toward, the strongest reactions are to the one directed at Sanders. “I actually really like Sarah,” said Wolf. “I think she’s very resourceful. She burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye. Like maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies. It’s probably lies.” The backlash surrounding this comment focuses on many feeling that it is wrong to criticize Sanders’ appearance. Sanders was so angry that she refused to take photos with Wolf after her performance. President Trump even tweeted calling Wolf a “so-called comedian” who “bombed.” But the public is missing the point of Wolf’s speech; the joke has underlying meanings that go beyond Sanders’ appearance. “Typically speaking, people wear makeup to make something appear different than how it would otherwise appear,” said Williams. “In that sense, the comment is pretty wicked smart as it is not putting down her looks, but rather is a comment on the administration’s lies. People are missing the

satire of it and are trying to dumb it down so it means something different for people who don’t want to think critically about what was said.” Wolf’s critics need to recognize that she was doing her job as a comedian. She was hired to go up on stage and make fun of various politicians and news outlets. Entertainers at the WHCD have been doing just that for many years. The audience is always unresponsive so that it may uphold its reputation. Since the President is usually there, the backlash toward the event is typically sti�led by the fact that the President is not responding negatively. By not attending the WHCD, President Trump has opened up the door for vast criticisms of Wolf made by people who forget that she is a comedian. “The comedian at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is there to make you laugh, but also comedy is about responding to political issues in a funny way to spread awareness,” said Batlivala. Comedians Michelle Wolf and Hasan Minhaj provided speeches to prompt positive change from the in�luential people in their audiences. Instead, the on-looking politicians and journalists responded with a lack of enthusiasm and, in Wolf’s case, hate. As comedian Stephen Colbert pointed out, “being mad at [Wolf] for doing her job is like accusing the valet of brie�ly stealing your car.” Wolf accomplished what she was hired to do: be funny, tell the truth as she sees it and make powerful people feel uncomfortable so that they may make positive change.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY OPINION SECTION

Michelle Wolf sparks unease at Correspondents’ Dinner despite doing her job

The pros and cons of decorating grad caps Staff Editorial The Voice of the Epic are already made public by the time of graduation day. Weeks before graduation day, most students have shared where they are going to college, whether it be through social media or wearing clothing with college logos. Since students already know about

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY OPINION SECTION

fter four years of hard work and perseverance, seniors rejoice in their �inal shining moment of high school: graduation day. Weeks before the graduation ceremony, seniors carefully pick out their stoles, medals and cords. Beginning in 2017, Lynbrook seniors have been able to decorate graduation caps to their personal liking. The graduation cap �inishes off the ensemble, a canvas that displays the distinct personality of each student. It is often adorned with students’ college logos, while other times it can be decorated with an inspirational quote or a “thank you.” Although decorated caps are a longstanding high school tradition, they can have a negative impact on students who are not attending “big name” colleges for various reasons, personal or �inancial. Some seniors are discouraged after seeing their peers’ top-tier college decisions. Although larger stigmas exist in regard to what college a student does or does not attend, they can be especially ampli�ied during graduation day. “I think the stigma is a larger issue, and decorating graduation caps just highlights this stigma,” said assistant principal Brooke Chan. “If people are comparing themselves to others, I think that is the nature of social media and other factors.” Another case is brought up when talking about sharing college information on graduation caps: most college decisions

each other’s college acceptances before graduation, it begs the question of whether cap logos are necessary. While their decorations must adhere to school regulations, students have considerable freedom in expressing

themselves. Since the seniors’ gowns are the same color and style, graduation caps are the only part of their out�its that seniors can make unique. “[Decorating graduation caps] allows people to show a more detailed insight of who they genuinely are in their personalities, passions and what they love,” said senior Sharon Noelle Lee. Not only does decorating graduation caps allow seniors to add a unique aspect to their graduation uniform, but it also encourages them to spend time with one another during their �inal weeks of high school. “Being able to decorate our caps is an opportunity for the graduating class to show each other their future homes one last time and adding the college is becoming a Lynbrook tradition,” said senior Joshua Chiang, who will be attending Harvard University in the fall. “Oftentimes, students feel a sense of pride in displaying their college of choice, an image that represents the culmination of their high school journey.” Providing seniors the option to represent the college they are attending on their graduation caps has its pros and cons. Given both the potential rami�ications of the stigma around colleges and the bene�its of allowing students to express themselves, the issue of permitting students to decorate their grad caps will remain something to carefully evaluate in future years.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN YE

The consequences of celebrities voicing their political stances BY TZEN-HAO NG

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY MICHYLA LIN

n especially egregious cases, it may prove dif�icult to separate artists from their creative work. In recent news, high-pro�ile actors such as Kevin Spacey and Bill Cosby have been accused of sexual assault, and consequently, television networks have pulled their shows. However, not every instance of celebrity controversy carries the same weight. Although Kanye West has been scrutinized for his public support of Donald Trump and other conservative �igures on Twitter, this is far less destructive than the actions of others who harass or assault. If celebrities are merely expressing their own opinions without harming others, they should not receive such levels of criticism. The Kanye West Twitter drama seemingly appeared without warning. Beginning on April 21, West expressed his support for the views of conservative �igure Candace Owens, who conveyed disappointment at modern African-American sentiments toward historical slavery at a discussion with Black Lives Matter protesters. “Victim mentality is not cool,” said Owens. “I don’t know why people like being oppressed. It’s the weirdest thing I ever heard: ‘I love oppression. We’re oppressed. 400 years of slavery, Jim Crow.’ Which, by the way, none of you guys lived through. Your grandparents did.” West expanded upon his support for Owens’ views a few days later, tweeting that “self-victimization is a disease,” that “there was a time when slavery was the trend and apparently that time is still upon us. But now it’s a mentality” and that “constantly bringing up the past keeps you stuck there.” These tweets seem to imply that West

believes slavery was a state of mind and that many slaves were trapped by their mental rather than physical circumstances. Subsequently, there was much public outcry regarding these statements. “In this country, words matter,” said teacher Mike Williams. “If you say ‘slavery was a choice’ with no explanation, people will take it at face value.” These sentiments seem to contrast with the themes of oppression that many of West’s songs contain, and as a result has many observers puzzled as to the purpose of West’s recent tweetstorm. Some have hypothesized that West is merely drawing attention to himself in order to spread awareness about his upcoming album to be released in June, while it appears to others that West has had a true change of heart. “I’m of the mindset that [attracting controversy] is a bit of a cynical move to get coverage in the press,” said West fan and senior Daniel Israel. “We’ve known that Kanye likes to stir up controversy, especially before dropping a new album. I think that Kanye could be attracted to Trump based on personality more than anything. I think that when it comes to policy, he doesn’t really know anything.” This public airing of his opinions has caused �lared tempers and mixed reception, with many in the music community divided; some, such as John Legend, counseled West against further support of Trump, while others, such as Chance the Rapper, argued that West is entitled to his own opinions. This begs the question of whether or not private citizens expressing their opinions should be subject to such intense levels of scrutiny. Were West the average U.S. citizen, very few would care if he were to opine one way or another on social media; he would be a voice lost among many. Due to the permanent spotlight placed upon him as

a celebrity, however, his statements have been magni�ied in proportion, and con�lict has arisen over what should be merely a man and his thoughts. Some argue that as a representative of the African-American community, West’s words should be more seriously considered. However, in making these statements, West was not seeking to represent African-Americans. In the past, great African-Americans such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King, Jr. made sweeping statements of hopes for blacks in America in their capacity as leaders of the Civil Rights movement. West, on the other hand, is neither seeking such a role in making these statements, nor is such a leader even necessary in the modern age with the relative equalizing of civil rights. Furthermore, one should view an artist’s personal life and beliefs as separate from his or her work. Indeed, such criminals as Cosby and Spacey are, rightly so, dif�icult to separate from their works. For artists such as West, however, his actions are not inherently insulting on a basic human level; he is merely stating his beliefs. Thus, it should not be undoable to keep his persona and his music separated in the mind. “I think it’s de�initely a gray area,” said Israel. “Many artists have done bad things. I think particularly in hip-hop, where you’re listening to somebody rap about their experiences and life history, it’s extremely dif�icult to separate the artists and the art.” In the wake of the controversy, West has not made any more overtly political statements. However, West should not be cowed by this strong showing of opposition to his statements; though controversial, his opinion remains that of a single man, with no more or less weight attached to it. Thus, he should not be afraid to let his thoughts be known to the world.

DIANA XU//IN MY OPINION

Sending my sister off to college

ver since my sister committed to the University of California, Berkeley, I realized that I would soon become the new target of my parents’ expectations. This didn’t excite me at all. I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid them anymore as all their undivided attention would be on me. I realized that once my sister left for college, the dynamic of my life would change drastically. Because we are just two years apart, my sister has been in my life every step of the way, whether I liked it or not. A lot of the time, I hated it. Whenever we did something together, it always seemed like I ended up with the shorter end of the stick. We stubbornly fought over random things such as not allowing each other to borrow the other’s clothes or makeup. We would sometimes talk for hours, ranting about our problems and catching up with one another. Other times, we would lie leisurely on my bed and watch K-pop on Youtube — funny compilations of our favorite boy bands or attentiongrabbing music videos we would obsess over. Starting next year, I will no longer be able to do any of those things with her on a regular basis. Losing a sibling is like losing a partner in crime. Once my sister leaves, I won’t have a source of comfort at home anymore; there won’t be anyone to spill my secrets to or rant about my problems to when I’m upset. When I am in desperate need of help, I won’t be able to run to the room right down the hall from mine to get advice. Despite our constant bickering, I always knew, in the back of my head that my sister and I would stick together and annoy each other until she left for college. I never thought, however, about the actual day when she would pack her bags and leave to live somewhere other than our home, only visiting during holidays and breaks. How much she is a part of my life won’t hit me until she really does leave. There will no longer be anyone sitting next to me in the car when I go to school, and there will be an empty room next to mine down the hallway. I won’t have anyone at home to complain to or keep me company when my parents aren’t home, even if it’s just by blasting music from a different room. Although I am now extremely grateful for everything my sister has done for me — taking care of me by teaching me lessons from experiences she has had and taking charge whenever our parents were not around — I wish I was able to realize this earlier. Siblings see each other every day and sometimes take advantage of the fact they have one, thinking they will always be there for you. However, it isn’t long before they will separate, stressing the importance of creating a strong bond beforehand. Siblings must cherish their relationship with their brothers and sisters before it is too late. Despite our separation, I know my sister and I, through all the hardships we have had together, will continue to have the same relationship as we had before. Even though she won’t physically be by my side next year, she will continue to be a part of my life. She has shaped me into the person I am today, and I am grateful for all the times she has helped me by setting an example and giving me advice. I am extremely proud of her and excited for her future endeavours as well as the many things we will do together in the near future. I love you, Evalina.

ASHLEY SONG–EPIC

HATIM SAIFEE–EPIC

Random, Casual, Comfortable

hen I stepped into Goodwill, I headed to the men’s section, a tiny corner compared to the women’s section. This already put me at a disadvantage, as I would have limited options to choose from. I didn’t let this dissuade me from trying to �ind the right out�it for Andy, however, who told me that comfort is the most crucial factor while shopping. I looked for cargo shorts, a plain tee and sneakers, all of which I thought would be simple and comfortable. Not knowing which clothing items would �it him, I picked out shirts and shorts of varying sizes and had Andy try them all on. None of the shorts were his size, but he agreed to wear a pair of baggy black shorts since there wasn’t enough time to �ind another pair. As for shoes, Andy wore �lip �lops, which I paired with a gray Nike shirt. The out�it gave off a beachy vibe, so we topped it off with sunglasses. Overall, the challenge wasn’t as dif�icult as expected; contrary to my earlier apprehensions, I realized that a larger variety makes choosing an out�it more challenging.

oing into the challenge, I did not have the vaguest idea about what out�it I wanted. I thought I might have an advantage, as I had been thrift shopping before. I was wrong. Main concerns were that I would be unable to �ind clothes in Joycelyn’s size or style. I began to gather any items of clothing that looked promising. Joycelyn told me that she liked big cardigans, but I couldn’t �ind any. I settled for a long gray-to-white ombré cardigan and then chose a white cold shoulder top, as Joycelyn likes light colors. I wanted her to wear shorts, but �inding a pair of shorts that weren’t an awkward length her size proved to be a challenge. I picked out two pairs of shorts. When the �irst pair of shorts didn’t �it her, I had a bad feeling about the pair of backup shorts I had chosen. They were an awkward length and didn’t match the out�it’s color scheme. Though my out�it may not have been the most fashion-forward, this challenge was a lot more dif�icult than I had initially envisioned. Regardless, it was de�initely a challenging yet memorable experience.

HATIM SAIFEE–EPIC

Casual, Trendy, Pastel

Casual, Trendy, Comfortable

was the �irst to arrive at Goodwill, so I had a look around the store. Hoping to spot some items to snatch as soon as the challenge began, I was dismayed to �ind the store too overwhelming. I had not been thrift shopping before, so I was pretty intimidated when Belinda revealed that she had gone several times in the past. As a jacket can really make an out�it, I �irst went to the coat section, where I was pleased to �ind a beige puffer jacket. To make the challenge as simple as possible, instead of picking out individual pieces, I went straight for a dress. I liked the dress that I picked a lot, except it was beige as well. Knowing that these two pieces were both beige, I was skeptical. At the last minute, I snagged a black jacket to pair with the dress, but in a moment of poor judgement, I paired the two beige pieces together and handed the out�it to Shriya. She ended up really liking the dress, but was unsure about the pairing with the jacket, con�irming my suspicions.

rom the start, I knew I wanted to go for vintage or retro vibes. A white and blue-striped shirt immediately caught my eye as I looked through the �irst rack in the men’s section. The shirt �it perfectly, so I decided to build the rest of the out�it around it. I settled for a pair of light wash jeans with a rip on the knee. The jeans perfectly contrasted the shirt, and although they were a little baggy around the waist, the shirt was long enough to mask that. I �igured out my out�it within the �irst �ive minutes of the challenge, but I forgot that we were also supposed to pick out shoes. Finding shoes in the right size that went with the out�it was a monumental nightmare. I spent more than half of my time looking for shoes that would match his out�it’s retro vibe and he could actually walk in, and in the last minute, �inally decided on a pair of tan suede oxford shoes. I was very satis�ied with the �inal result, since I managed to �inish the challenge just in time, and his out�it came together so well that it had the power to completely change his vibe.

ASHLEY SONG–EPIC

Conventional, Simple, Utilitarian

BY MEDHA UPADHYAY

round this time of year, you can surely feel the impending apocalypse of second semester �inals. Studying for stressful exams can leave you feeling exhausted, and being tired can make you feel grumpy, frustrated and unproductive. This is a vicious cycle, but there are some simple things that can be done to give you a natural boost of energy during this especially taxing time. This �inals season, follow these easy steps to avoid becoming a �inals zombie!

MICHYLA LIN // OH WHALE!

Advice for high school students

1. Collect Bodily Fluids Healthy humans should be drinking at least two liters of water every day, which is about 67 ounces. Anything less than this, and you are stepping into zombie territory. Dehydration is a major cause of daytime exhaustion, and drinking more water can lead to better productivity. A simple way to keep track of your water intake is to drink from a measured water bottle. Check how many ounces your bottle is, and re�ill accordingly to make sure you meet your minimum daily intake.

y favorite part of the end of school aside from summer break is the opportunity to hit the reset button and think of ways in which I want to improve myself. At the beginning of this year, I created a bucket list of things I wanted to accomplish before the end of the year. However, as 2017 came and went, I discovered that goals are not always one and done decided to take time to re�lect on how I’ve grown throughout the years. Ever since I was young, I wanted to impact the world. I thought at �irst I would achieve this by being a singer or actress. However, my experiences in school taught me that there are different ways of achieving this aside from being well known. This column was one way I could make my mark by sharing what “wisdom” I’ve collected throughout my four years. So now I will write my �inal advice to everyone. Dear Freshmen, Congratulations on making it through your �irst year of high school. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of spending another three years here, I get it. I did too. School is about challenging your mind to think in different ways so that you can continue to grow in the future which can include getting outside of your comfort zone by joining a club or a sport for the �irst time. I did that by joining the Epic, but everyone is different. Don’t feel rushed to �ind your niche. I’ll tell you a secret: even some upperclassmen have yet to �ind where they �it in, so don’t think that you have to be part of a group. Sometimes those who go solo discover more about themselves. Dear Sophomores, The �irst round of Honors and AP courses are the toughest, and I commend you for getting through it all. Some of you may have found your place, while others may feel caught in a weird limbo between groups. Some of you may be thinking about what you want to study in the future, while others may still be a little unsure. As the stress builds, remember not to become lost in your work moving forward. Dear Juniors, One year left. It’s an exciting prospect and by now you may �ind yourselves taking on more responsibilities as you assume leadership positions in clubs or participate in more programs. Though exciting, it can be overwhelming. At times it may feel like you’re drowning, but it’s okay to slip up. After all, we’re human. What is more important is that you �ind a way to grow from all these extracurriculars. If you don’t feel like you’re growing, �ind something that challenges you rather than buries you under work. The magic of maturing is that we gain the skills needed to initiate change. To my fellow seniors, We did it. It’s time to thrust ourselves into the real world and see how we fare on our own. Rather than advice, I’d like to extend a �inal farewell. Many of us have seen each other grow up since elementary school and watched each other become the people we are today. Hopefully, we keep in touch after we leave Lynbrook and inspire one another as our lives progress. So here is my �inal goodbye. Goodbye to Lynbrook, goodbye to the Class of 2018 and goodbye to my primary youth. We had a good run, and if we never meet again, Oh Whale, I hope you will continue to grow and wish you all good luck on whatever path you �ind yourself going down in the future.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY CLARA FERNANDES

How to avoid becoming a finals zombie

2. Chase Zombies When you are tired and pressed for time, it can be easy to skip exercise. Low-intensity exercise, however, can help people suffering from fatigue or displaying other zombie symptoms. Something as simple as 10 to 15 minutes of walking can leave you feeling more energized by increasing the blood �low throughout your body and carrying oxygen to your muscles and brain. The next time you feel like you are not able to get anything done, leave your desk for a few minutes of light exercise. For bonus points, step outside to get a breath of fresh non-infested air and a change in scenery. As long as you avoid any freshly-turned graves, you should be �ine. 3. Play Dead Short naps are proven to improve cognitive functions, so a 20-minute nap can help your brain function more efa�iciently. You’ll feel more energized and focused, your mind will be fresh and your concentration will heighten. Beware though, as sleeping for more than 30 minutes will leave you feeling groggy — the more you sleep, the closer you come to becoming a reanimated corpse. Be sure to set an alarm before you sleep, and refrain from hitting snooze!

4. Level Up When stressed, your body triggers cortisol, a hormone which burns through large chunks of energy. Meditation limits cortisol levels and will help clear your mind. It is not dif�icult and can be done in just a few minutes. All you have to do is sit up, relax, close your eyes and try simple breathing techniques. One exercise is to breathe in through one nostril and exhale through the other nostril. Whichever exercise you choose, the goal is to focus on breathing in order to clear the mind. Although sitting around may put you at risk for a zombie attack, you really must try to empty your mind of all thoughts to reap the bene�its of meditation. You will be all the more alert once you are done!

Hidden food spots for summer BY MICHELLE ZEMLYAK

he last school bell rings as students spill out of their classrooms, celebrating the end of �inals and saying their summer goodbyes. They head out to grab a bite or a drink with their friends, but places such as MOD Pizza, Cicero’s and TeaTop quickly become crowded with familiar faces. If you want to grab a quick bite but don’t like waiting in long lines, here are some food spots nearby to help you welcome in the summer. Rio Adobe Southwestern Cafe, though often overshadowed by its more popular counterpart, Chipotle, offers novel takes on Mexican food. The menu includes cultural classics like tacos and enchiladas, but with different proteins inside, such as chicken, beef or shrimp. If you’re feeling adventurous and looking for something new, this spot makes chicken tortilla soup and chocolate empanadas. Instead of bread, the restaurant serves tortilla chips along with a bar of toppings to choose, including salsa verde or corn and beans. Be sure to come hungry and with plenty of friends because the portion sizes are very large!

Located in a yellow building, Falafel Stop is hard to miss. This partially outdoor spot is a great place to go for falafel, house-made pita or shawarma, a Mediterranean take on grilled chicken. Falafel Stop’s signature falafel plate comes with an array of salads with various in�luences: the Israeli red cabbage salad, the Levantine babaganoush and the German sauerkraut. This place is also great for picky eaters or people with allergies, as there are plenty of options that allow for customization of salads and toppings. With vegetarian options costing around seven dollars and meat dishes around ten dollars, Falafel Stop is the perfect spot for those looking for great food and a casual atmosphere.

Just off El Camino Real, Cocohodo is a treat. The unique coffee shop has a minimalistic but tastefully-decorated interior, with the Cocohodo logo on every table, several leather and black chairs to relax at and Cocohodo wallpaper adorning the walls. There is a coffee drink for everyone, from plain espressos and cappuccinos to green tea, hazelnut and even sweet potato lattes. Cocohodo’s signature dish is a walnut-shaped pastry with a sweet �illing and walnuts baked inside. For those allergic to nuts, Cocohodo offers a variety of delicious shaved ice desserts that vary in �lavor and are sure to please anyone with a sweet tooth.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY FEAUTURES SECTION

ogether we stare out at the morning sky, wrapped in warm blankets and surrounded by our closest friends. Mellow blues and pinks blur together as the sun inches above the horizon—the dawn of our �inal year. As scattered light illuminates our faces, we ready ourselves for the challenges ahead and reminisce about the unforgettable journey that led us here. 2014. Clueless, nervous and excited for a new chapter in our lives. We were freshmen, struggling to recruit enough dancers for Homecoming Boys’ Dance, trying to keep our rolly pollies alive in Biology class, and striving to perfect the Do-si-do in P.E. square dancing. The year passed by quickly and with each new experience, we became better equipped to face the rest of high school. 2015. We started off sophomore year strong, taking everyone along on a spectacular adventure through the land of Sweet Dreams and Nightmares. It was a year �illed with both setbacks and achievements, from experiencing the true rigor of high school through Chemistry Honors �irsthand to defeating the upperclassmen on the football �ield and taking home our �irst Powderpuff championship. 2016. In junior year, our class migrated to

libraries and cafes to study for the AP classes and standardized tests that came �looding our way. When we weren’t busy memorizing the names of all 44 past U.S. presidents, we were driving our friends illegally with new licenses in hand, relishing in our newfound freedom. We dress stressed during prom season then danced the night away under the stars, bringing us one step closer to the much anticipated �inal year. 2017. Senior year. Balancing college applications with hours of Homecoming dance practices and decs setup was a taxing feat. We ended our Homecoming saga strong, delivering a powerful �inal performance playing the Game of Love. Second semester, we reinvented the senior game, posing in front of crazy locations and taking pictures with strangers, forming new friendships in the process. Months later, we watch the setting sun cast its golden rays on the clouds, dyeing them a �iery red, marking the end of our �inal days at Lynbrook. As this chapter of our lives comes to a close and we go separate ways, we can take pride in knowing that we, the class of 2018, have each contributed our individual talents to shape a class unlike any other. You wish you were a senior. USED WITH PERMISSION OF MARIA JACKSON

USED WITH PERMISSION OF MARIA JACKSON

I, Abhay Gujadhur, bequeath my long attention span and passionate love for math to Anurag Vedagiri and Michael Kao, and my dry wit and superior sense of humor to Arnav Gupta and Manoj Soundararajan.

I, Abhinav Naikawadi, bequeath second place to Charlie, Milan, Michael, and Krishna, Sciclub cringe to Leslie and Kavish, “like” to Jason and Pranav, blocking to Lucas and Ethan, rompers to Allison and Aditi, Shrek to Austin and Stanley, “NICE!” to Will, Joantyan to Phoebe, Phoeberuary to Jonathan, mousetrapping to Chinmay, and my “Due tomorrow? Do tomorrow!” lifestyle to Mike Wazowski. I, Albert Chen, bequeath my blood, sweat, and tears to the depths of ELO hell. May thine rage be salty, and may thine aim be true. Don’t let anybody put you down, for Challenger lies within you. Glory to Bronze 5, and glory to the weaboos.

I, Albert Han, bequeath my school spirit to William Chu, powderpuff and homecoming dance experience to Gavin Wong, first row formations to Jeffrey Han, math intellect to Danielle, Jessica, Tobey, Nancy, Rei, Austin etc., mad napping skills to Yutong, and college acceptances to Ashley Gong, Aina Ichiba, and Sandy Matsuda. I, Alina Wan, bequeath splitting meals and face masks to Emily and Tania, relevancy to James, the art of subtle note passing to Ben and Meera, good hair days to Raka, cross examination skills to Zoe, Aneesha, and Kanav, eternal babyface to Niranjan, the end of “small” to Akhil, and all the love and success to the entire Mock Trial team.

I, Alison Chen, bequeath my tech knowledge to Brandon, Ryo, Brendan, Austin, and Megan; my strong-willed ways in IDC to Aneesha, Amrit, Indali, and Emily; and lastly, my lack of understanding of psych and socio to Michelle Lum. I’d also like to wish a good luck to next year’s link crew commissioners. I, Aliya Saiyed, bequeath myself to my future.

I, Amber Hsu, bequeath anime marathoning skills to Michelle, love and appreciation of good plot to Alexis, chill pills to Shinda, popcorn chicken to Aikido Club, and sexy stripping take your marks to Frank and Justin.

I, Amber Lee, bequeath all my love (and reminders to keep the string taut!!!) to Sarah Sotoudeh, Selena Jeong, Dianna Shen, Erick Shimabuku, Sinja Sanandan, and Nicole Ong. I, Amity Chen, bequeath my streaming skills to Megan, golf skills to Jessie, accounting skills to Angel, physics skills to Mahi and Audrey.

I, Amy Steinmetz, bequeath my hops and massiveness to Anson, my vball skills and height to Aayush, my basketball skills and pick up lines to Kavitha, A’s in math to Diya, skills on talking to girls to Pranav, my lip-biting techniques to Shannon, and my good looks, driving skills, math skills, and happiness to Angela. I, Andrew Chang, bequeath my 3 point shot to Kevin Le and Tatsumi Eng, photography skills to Daniel Huang, car to Ryan Kawamura, terrible calc skills to Manoj and Anurag, clutchness to Neil Warke, and non-existent dunking skills to Snehith.

I, Andrew Chen, bequeath my flawlessness to Alec Chen, a mute to Radence, Som, and Richard, my biology skills to Jason, popcorn to Emily, Jeremy, and Tsunami, a body pillow to Alisha and Allison, and 50 bags of Hi-Chews to Michelle. I, Andrew Huang, bequeath my room and PC to Albert, my THICCness and consistent Long Jump to Andy and Nick, safe driving skills to my favorite freshman, and my car to Hannah.

I, Andrew Destin, bequeath my katching skills to Aaron Jew and Kathryn Huang, my free throw routine to Ian Tai, my sight reading ability to Michelle Pugh and Annie Niu, my height to Ryan Kawamura and Jonathan Huang, accuracy to Alex Chang, and my snide comments to Ashwin Pasupathy. I, Andrew Li, bequeath my riddles, random knowledge, and height to Akshanth Srivatsa.

I, Andrew Lin, bequeath Math “Club” and its associated effects to Austin and Stanley, soup to Charlie, bears to Aditya, palindromes to David, engineers to the other David, sketchy sight-reading to Emily, monkey thumbs to Milan, one-third of the remainder to Jonathan, and everything else to Phoebe. I, Andrew Shao, bequeath my hurdle speed to Ian, no u to Nick, sub-40 to Robert, actually showing up to practice to Matthew, being better than Chacko to Vincent and Cosmos, and pool skills and safe driving ability to Zoe.

I, Andy Cai, bequeath my back row homecoming boys dance skills to Austin Zhang, my roasting kills to Jamie Chang, my amazing Spanish skills to Simi, Larry, Jaeson, Kaitlyn, and Shreya, and finally, my boundless love for Brunch Squad to Rick Zhang.

I, Angela Liu, bequeath my parked car McDonald’s sessions to Vincent Peng, strong female independence to Erin Gao, hardworking running habits to Oostin Chen, IceJJFish slaps to Seiya Otani, one more inch to Gaby Tran, and Sweet Tomatoes dinners and better luck in the game “Odds” to my talented distance girls. I, Angela Zhang, bequeath my driving skills to Nick Ho, boba runs and Taco to Nicole Cheng, and a ton of needed maturity to Leo Shaw.

I, Angie Cheng, bequeath the Girl’s Golf Team to Megan Yang and Jessie Wong, responsibility for orchestra secret pals and any other things to Emily Hsu, and drive to do great things and always be happy to Rita Chen.

I, Anisha Kirpekar bequeath friends to Iman, prom date to Manoj, favoritism to Rithwik, motherlike qualities to Shruti, funny “banter” to Paritosh, java homework to Snehith, only true statements to Arnav, chipotle to Yash.

I, Anna Morris, bequeath my ability to persevere through the judgement, rumors, and discrimination to anyone else still left at this school who has to endure this, and my skills at not giving any cares to what others think to everyone. I, Ariana Lin, bequeath my daily wallet-bringing talent, Eric Chou and JJ Lin, Crystal Children’s Choir track pants, love for poke, spontaneous car rides, and stale Taurean sense of humor to Dianna Shen. I also bequeath my impeccable cooking skills and flawless basketball technique to Olivia Lin. I, Arthur Zhang, bequeath my mad prom pulling skillz to James, bad relationship decisions to Aayush, scrumptiously suggestive puns to Kunal, and CAD wizardry abilities to Sam. I, Aruna Priya, bequeath my complaining abilities to Sohum, tutoring ability and calc skills to Sandy, stressfree lifestyle to Amy, love to my fav link crew/fh kid Rhea, bujo addiction to Evan, love for salad to Tiphaine, and nonexistent math skills to Ellie.

I, Ashely Lin, bequeath my four-hour naps to Stephen Yang, extra credit to Carrie An, and undying love and fondness for homecoming to Michelle Lum. I, Ashley Chen, bequeath my punctual church attendance to Austin Wang, legendary badminton skills to Leo Shaw, my food to Sarah, Amy, and Natasha, biology grades to Nicholas Ho, patience to Emily Leung, superb dance skills to Rick Zhang, UCLA admission to Kevin Le, and airbowing skills to Radence Tsow.

I, Ashwin Nathan, bequeath my boostedness and love for Doge to Emily Zhang, the susness of JETS to Andrew Ng, and my amazing Taara facials + horrible attendance record to Shruti.

I, Athena Chen, bequeath my high school struggles and a ton of memes to my sister and incoming freshman Sophie, my love of art and collection of gifs to Character Design Club, and whatever hope for the future I have left to the entire school. I, Aubhro Sengupta, bequeath my studying skills to Trisha Sengupta.

I, Aurelia Yang, bequeath SHS to Noela, Zoe and Margarita; The Buddy Organization to Lauryn; Content Editor skills to Jessica and Noela; poorly organized medley performances to Daniel and Denver; and family ski trips and cousin privileges to Diana. I, Avinash Jain, bequeath a Clash Royale victory to Chinmay, badminton skills to Justin, 0.00001 Litecoin to Eric, one icy Baja Blast to Riti, one long lost iPhone to Abi, hope in love to Amrit, an unpaid internship to Manoj, frooti to Shrooti and one TeaTop drink to Nyna.

I, Bill Zhu, bequeath my sight reading skillz to Sean Wu and Justin Choi, Sports Analytics Club to Ashwin and Amrit, Roy Long to Wind Ensemble, even more extra thiccness to Darren Huang, more pepper to Emily Du, well wishes to Mihir and Sakin, and absolutely nothing to Jason Dong.

I, Breanna Lau, bequeath all things water polo related to my getting ice buddy Allison Lui (especially not getting majored ahem), my shorts-wearing abilities to Nishita Katere since I can’t quite use them in Boston, and my senioritis to Maxwell Wang (almost SSS stranger!!). I, Catherine Huang, bequeath mustard pants to Lydian Li and Sara Ho, every J. Cole album to Kavitha Thirumaran, “I believe” to the KT’s, rose water to Julia Lin, christmas decor to Arul Gnanasivan, my love/passion/drive for physics to Eric Yang, cute kids to Joshua Wong and Jennifer Yang, aromatic dissections to Heather Kong and Tanvi Narvekar, opinion whiteboard to Aileen Xue, aesthetics to Sadhana Sarma, beef squashing to Hsinyen Huang, MVHS packages and gym meets to Patricia Wei, many oxford commas to Noela Bae and Jessica Li, the future of the Epic to Justine Chen and Michelle Lum and all of epic staff (send me subscription flyers!), and the best of luck, sleep, and fun for the next several years to William Huang. I, Catherine Jin, bequeath my (non-existent) stats skill to Jessie Wong, my punctuality in choir to Divya and Priyanka Pereira, my ability to focus in physics to Sweta Conjeevaram, International Club to Nick Chen, and all the good luck to Twisha Sundararajan.

I, Celina Day, bequeath my hobo skill to SALTY, momness to Sarah Cheah, and loudness to Amy Sun. I, Charita Mangina, bequeath my love for kdrama and awesomeness to Samveda Pagay to have an epic senior, good wishes and smiles to Gehna Gupta to survive through junior year, my optimism and brains to my younger brother Charan so that he can survive high school as an incoming freshman, and happiness for all Lynbrook students to have the time of their lives. I, Chelsea Li, bequeath a lit high school experience to Sunny and her friends, a good time contenting to Jessica and Noela, and a year of no more Oxford commas to everyone on the Epic. I, Chloe Lai, bequeath my multisport finesse to Erin, underwater wopo trix to Erika, birdcall to Bertha, extra coffee orders to Margarita, egg vacuuming skills to Sonali, capping and headbutting abilities to Cosmo, Angela’s red tractor to Vincent, French culture and 2wk goalie expertise to Linusbrotherandrechandlermaboi. I, Chris Wang, bequeath Devon and Dashan to Dianna Shen, “Daemon Irrepit Callidus” to Leo Shaw, and my writer-induced anxiety to Namrata Vajrala, Anjani Patibandla, and Ian Au.

I, Cindy Pham, bequeath my low voice to my dearest Estella, my Spanish “skills” to Meghna, my extra, unnecessary savageness to Jessie and Nyna, and the rest of my love to the Dolci girls.

I, Danhee Kim, bequeath my driver’s license to Aaron Yen, my eyebrows to Kaitlyn Kim, eyeliner to Ankitha Girish, Gucci shirts to Rick Zhang, A’s on math exams to William Chung, and every single flute that exists to Emily Du and Ashley Gong. I, Daniel Israel, bequeath my Alzheimers to Seiya Otani, lack of finishing abilities to Luka Mandic, raman noodles to Michelle Lum, commitment to FTC to Kathryn Huang, Google Drive to Ethan Israel, depression to Patrick Phelan, and all my Baysic designs to Yash Godiwala and Brendan Plunkett. I, David Xu, bequeath an abundance of good luck to anyone who needs it, and my terrible sense of humor to Selena.

I, Davin Tjong, bequeath the baritone section to Shruti, the shiny new Yamaha 321 to Alvin, my tolerance for marching band to Iryl, Jay, and Matthew, my violence and therapy sessions to Jennifer, my best friend #1 to Phoebe, and my perfect attendance to robotics meetings to Rin.

I, Edward Choi, bequeath my high jump form to Andy, Adam, and Serena, sparkling personality to Aneesha, Nicole, and Sandy, timeliness to track practice to Vincent and Cosmo, chicken nuggets to Eileen, and amazing sense of humor and naps to Michelle. I, Eileen Choi, bequeath my Dolci-babies for screeching Broadway songs with me, Jessie for being my annoying puffle, Nyna for literally being my support when I feel troubled, Navya for never failing to make me laugh, and Justin Choi, my best friend, who spiced up my life with quality memes.

I, Eileen Tzng, bequeath my marching skillz to Einzo Tzng, will to do school to bestest buddy, KLM to my beloved band, flute mom love to my flute babies, struggle to mello/ cool handshakes to my mello fam, ice cream and sass to Stephen Yang, and more but no words left. I, Elyssa Yim, bequeath my español capabilities to Emily, starting lineup position to Sohum, BTS obsession to Shannon, and avocado toast for Joyce.

I, Emily Gu, bequeath love to Coby, smol beans to Sara, ddod to Lydian, dictionaries to Julia, Stephanie to FloRIda, B-in-PE to Kavitha, punmaking to Allison, height to Samiksha/Arya, sarcasm to Priya/Tanvi/Aileen, Bio grade to Sohum, wedding vows to Morris, bass-splits to Aileen/ Sakhin/Chris, triangle skills to Aaron/Jennifer, circlegame to Andrew, tardiness to Arjun.

I, Emily Wan, bequeath the J-bowl art team, my bonsai outlines, and procrastination skills to Chris Tang aka juice; all of my (non-existent) diving skills to Roren Okamoto; my mangoes to Celery Li; my teatop card and 2 cents to Elissa Shih (feelsbadman); my puns, LIFE lessons, and a new frog tag to Kaeru Yu; and best wishes for junior year to all the J-bowl kohais. I, Emma Chase, bequeath my defensive responsibilities to Amanda White (my savior), any soccer skill I have left to the Lynbrook girls soccer team, my FH skillz and defensive woes to Sandy Matsuda, an unlimited want for vegan cookies to Amy Tse, and my obsessive game communication (yelling tbh) to Rhea Chowdhury.

I, Eshani Mehta, bequeath 8pm deadlines and finaling stories to Justine and Michelle, no oxford commas to Jessica and Noela, cool web design to Patricia, choosing pretty fonts and colors to Sadhana, successful social planning to Hsinyen, a successful year and lots of awards to the entire Epic staff, more fun experiments to Medha and Michelle, sending out colored weekly emails to Shannon, tour organizing to Leslie, collecting even more donations to Emmaline, more followers on the GWC insta to Eileen, future Jafael shipping to Aileen, the patience to deal with middle school antics to all GWC officers and interns, and best of luck for the next four years to Radhika Mehta. I, Eugene Yang, bequeath the burden of the viola section to the rest of the viola section(now all of you go practice).

I, Gabby Nguyen, bequeath a second ‘b’, better spelling, and two inches of height to Litle Gaby, better pronunciation and a pair of real Crocs to Alisha Naidu, a box of wheat thins to Alisha Yang and lots of trips to Sweet Tomatoes to the XC girls. I, Garrett Riley, bequeath Alex Rust for being the boy, Jay Lee for being the boy, Anuroop Thomas for being the boy, Dex squad for being the plug, and Jonathan Leslie for being the dawg. I, Hanna Lee, bequeath all of my AP class and junior year struggles, as well as my extra sleep time to Claire Kim, and my procrastination and essay writing skills to Pranav Saravanan.

I, Harsh Chobisa, bequeath unlimited Guac to Abinya, mean president to Cindy Shoe, unlimited Frootis to Shruti, tight pants to Mango, slapping skills to Varun Agarwal, rapping skills to Vennela Chukka, unlimited athleticism to Mihir Madhira and Snehith Nayak, jumper to Treymol, and Rick Appler’s blessing to 2019 Varsity Basketball. I, Hayden Ito, bequeath my mad running back skills to Ashwin and Rahul, wrestling skills to Zay and Gunner, and everything else to Jamie.

I, Helen Sun, bequeath HBV to Hsinyen and Nick; JUMP to Alicia, Andy, Megan, Eric, Isha, Melody; JLU to BJ, Mich, Sel, Joyce, Du, Emzy; weird noises to EmLeung; Soviet cat spy to Mark; JoTess to Lia; hoods to Jennifer; messenger waves to Tobey; my discontinued DT journey to EmLu.

I, Holly Masterson, bequeath my feminism rants to Mia, my french skills to Aditya, my I-won’t-put-up-with-this attidtude to Mohini, my fashion sense to Sonali (guurrrl), Mrs. Savage’s wig to Srikari, my lack of art skills to Sanjana, my life advice to Arika, my violin skills to Abdullah, my ninja hugs to adam, my mom jeans to shubrah, and my thespian spirit to those I missed in drama. I, Isaac Hou, bequeath my dancing skills to Aayush Shah, my wisdom to Patricia Wei, and my enlightening times to Ryo Hatanaka.

I, Isabella Lopez, bequeath Thespian Society to Mohini and Shubhra, and my headset and “hey-heys” to Mia.

I, Isha Mehrotra, bequeath lots of luck to Kavish, cringeworthiness to Charlie, and ocean puns to Leslie. I bequeath Science club leadership to Chinmay and Milan. I bequeath lots of good wishes to Patricia! I bequeath my lack of art skills to Krishna! I bequeath biology memes to Jonathan, and my ability to row reduce to Austin. I bequeath my Instagram-abilities to Alisha. I, Ivana Chou, bequeath my last minute art making skills to Chloe Lee.

I, Janette Light, bequeath my Culinary Skills to maybe becoming a private chef and writing poems and my life as a way to express myself. I, Janie Kwong, bequeath my babysitting duties to Jennifer “Poot” Yang and Steven “Stephen” Tao with a special shoutout to the children: AA insurance Yen, tiMATHy cho, doremi naomi, bryan lulu, XD sung, and heidi linlinforthewin. I, Jason Chang, bequeath my practice-ditching skills and car rides to Tony Jin.

I, Jason Gu, bequeath my undying dedication to drumline to Arjun Kaushik, Andrew Chen, Aileen Mi, Morris Chang, and Chris Kim, in hopes that they will become bigger clowns than I was. I also bequeath my superior fashion sense to Jayson Lee, in hopes that he will burn his denim jacket. I, Jasper Huang, hereby bequeath our league-champion, CCS-qualifying, SCVAL-winning varsity tennis team to “I’ll eat your cookies” Vishal, Pranav “the Castrator,” Ryan “Kim Jong Yoon,” Samyak “the Brown Panther,” Jaeson “Pyeon Yang’s Yellow Mamba,” “Black-eyed” Rajiv, “I won the fight” Justin, “I’m on varsity” and “I don’t like girls anymore” Evan, “Most Improved” Gavin, “Put me on the line-up” Aayush, “Dictator” Amrit, and “Big (like really big)” Ben. I also bequeath our fallen former singles player Jason “sing a song to my” Dong the entirety of Project Euler Honor Society LLC. I, Jeffrey Chou, bequeath my godly cs and badminton skills to Yingeng.

I, Jeffrey Tao, in terms of Volume 53 Issue 8 of the Lynbrook Epic, hereby formally tender my bequeathal of the Harker Programming Invitational to Jonathan Y. Huang with immediate effect.

I, Jennifer Su, bequeath my amazing fh messenger reminders skill to Nora and Selena, the art of always bringing the same drink to pasta parties to Amy, and my procrastination skillz to Annie and Julie. I, Jennifer Sun, bequeath love to wopo, bball, and softball, eyebrows to Allison, grass pulling skills to Kathryn, nonexistent diing skills to Becca, Amy, and Azra, confidence to Chew, cupcake in 4 years to Ellie, admiration to Bre, health to Miya, height to Evan and Katie, non-existent rap to Kavitha, everything orange to Sara, maturity to Lydian and Julia, and a million thanks to the chuang/ho fam. I, Jenny Wang, bequeath my life to Karel J. Robot.

I, Jesse Dai, bequeath my OCD of organizing yearbook photos to Eileen, my monstrous tan lines to my ‘brother’ Robert Dai, my weird passions in Dybdahl to Darren, and all the burdens of Lynbrook to Kayli’s little brother Anthony.

I, Jessica Feng, bequeath my angst and unruly love for Kale Duprey to Emily Du and Ashley Gong (good luck busy bees!), my procrastination and clutchness to Arya Ranadive and Sonakshi Khanna (stay sic), and my fake sleeping skills and breakfast oatmeal to legendary jfeng #2 (venmo: feng_jessica). I, Jessica Luo, bequeath my love for Wisdom, inefficient dance learning, cute Wisdom kiddies, and endless love advice to Kelly Chu; cute Wisdom kiddies and the name Ian to Brian Chou; love for track girlies for my track baby Serena Li; leadership (?) for the future track tyrant Jocelyn Chern; and entertaining Wisdom memories for Aaron Cho. I, Jessica Peng, bequeath my jumps to Serena Li, shin splints to Nicole & Caroline, handoffs to Aaysuhi & Jocelyn, timeliness to Adam Katz, dance skills to Aaron Cho & Michael Yang, link swag to Aanand & Kyle, DECA cram seshs to Abinaya Srikant, hugs to Alex Chen, and good looks to Michael Peng.

I, Jocy He, bequeath my ability to focus to Aileen Xue, Rafael to Jessica Li, spanish homework passes to Arul, my excellent dummy ideas to Michelle Zemylak, my siblings to Jodi Wong, and my fast replying skills to Manoj.

I, Johnnie Teng, bequeath pumpkins to Allison Lui, good karma to Isha Sharma, EJ to Cookeville, 6 poles to Alex Chang, sure yes to Max Smith-Uchida, and the doghouse to the rest of the baseball fam. I, Jonathan Hung, bequeath my physical and mental success to Vincent Peng and Cosmao Cao, the ability of being not washed up boiz to Maxwell Chien and Derek Han, infinite fashion god wisdom to James Jiao, godly CS skills to Varun Agrawal, and prosperity to my little brother Wesley Hung.

USED WITH PERMISSION OF MARIA JACKSON

I, Jonathan Li, bequeath my respect to Margarita Sokolenko for her ability to predict the future.

I, Jonathan Xu, bequeath my work ethic in korsunsky and a lifetime supply of donut holes to Nikita, my Agape secretary duties and driver’s license to Austin, my legendary league skills and HS2 homework center to Rick, and my weekly mcdonalds runs and gym membership to Eileen. I, Joseph Liow, bequeath my parking spot to Tatsumi Eng, Spanish vocab to Daniel Huang, a new pair of jorts to Manoj Soundararajan, my vocals to Ryan Kawamura, my amazing magic tricks to Kevin Le.

I, Joseph Pang, bequeath my Future Business Leaders of America skills to Emily Zhang and Tanvee Joshi (good luck next year!), my current business leader skills and love of Fish Tacos to Brian Ruan, and BEAR to Jason Yang. I, Joshua Paaske, bequeath Agape Christian Club to Austin Chen and the Agape core team, AP Chemistry (and my car) to Anna Paaske, pumpkins to Rita Chen, and guitar to Kathryn Huang and Alex Chen.

I, Joy Feng, bequeath Chamber Orchestra Memes for Hejjy Teens to Radence, Richard, and Som; Rachman-enough puns for next year to Phoebe, Rhea, Aditi, and Catherine; gwabbits/enchantedbirdies/cellocats to Phoebe and Jonathan; Nathan Chen to Ysabel, espèce d’andouille to Petit Nicolas, KLM/KMS to Emily Hsu, and BioEHSC to Jason Dong. I, Joyce Zhang, bequeath my hand-holding eccentricities to Cynthia, my deep talks to Emmaline, my remaining pens to Vertigo, my flyaways to guard, and my half-eaten lunch to the gulls. I, Juhi Thomas, bequeath my extreme frustration with lsd to Nyna, bipolar sense of style to Aditi Rao and Thishi and Saisri, Mr. Leung to Aditi Raja, expansive vocabulary in all adult concepts to Tanvee, unconditional love for sense8 to Arnav, and newly found fashion designer skills to Zoe. I, Julia Tu, bequeath my Taiwan pride to Angel, my squishy cheeks to Emily and Sarah, my napping hours to Sanjana, my quirkiness to Catherine and Jennifer, and the best of luck to the baddy team. I, Kai Tsao, bequeath my height to Rohan Goel, sss to Robyn Lee, ability to reply within five years to Diya Jain, “suna” to Aaron Tai and Amanda Zhu, Link Crew status to Anna Paaske, Word Hunt skills to Emily Zhang, and hair colors to Annie Gao and Megan Yang. I, Kasey Chuang, bequeath vocab to Julia and Lydian, diving catches to Amy and Becca, pitcher’s circle to Miya, confidence to Chew and Ellie, a non-swollen-hand to Azra, eye-rolls to Kat, height to Evan, softball team to Bre, bball team to Kavitha+Katie, bad cooking skills to Sandy, old glove to Aditi, softball to Christine, chattiness to Allison, hugs to Sara, Lauren, and Coby. I, Kasper Cheng, bequeath my anime list to all my fellow weaboos out there. I, Katherine Cai, bequeath my amazing grades to Nick Ho, and bad mobile games to Leo Shaw.

I, Katherine Li, bequeath my ability to remember when quizzes are to Hansen Lillemark, talent in karaoke to Katie, Sara Ho, Lydian, and Kavitha. I, Katherine Shaw, bequeath my constant fatigue, low stamina, inability to smile, favorite song (you know what I’m talking about), infinite pizookies, and Michelle Lum’s mango to the girls’ tennis team.

I, Kayli Chan, bequeath safe handoffs to Nicole and Caroline, my boba and popcorn chicken runs to Serena, good times in CCC to Michelle, and everything else to my little brother Anthony. I, Kechao Tang, bequeath my Penn State and UC Santa Cruz admission to Nicole Cheng and my non-existent bio skills to Aishwarya Atmakuri and everyone taking AP Bio next year.

I, Ken Pflaum, bequeath my ASB tech skills to new tech, my try hard conditioning skills to Jay Lee, the ability to relax and unwind to the night sesh crew, and my geese chasing skills to Peter Fan.

I, Keontrye Hsieh, bequeath the ability to be quiet to Pranav Saravan, and permission to continue the Ryan’s legacy to Ethan Lin.

I, Kevin Liu, bequeath to my brother and friend, Kyle, my independent spirit, hope, and discipline; thank you for your companionship. Sincerely, I wish you the best in your future endeavors. I, Kevin Peng, bequeath my refined skills in “Soccer 2000” and “Zoo-wee-mama” to Denver Yu, limited goal-scoring opportunities to Justin Wang, pre-performance jitters to Daniel Kim, and anything I don’t take to college with me to Edward Wang. I, Kimia Ghasemian, bequeath my skinny legend status to Alina Wan, my passion for medicine to Pre-Med Club, my love for gossip to Saumya, my mad makeup skills to Jessica, and my fiery political side to Mr. Bale.

I, Lilian Chen, bequeath my music “talents” to Kathryn Huang, slime socials to Mahima Sinha and Selina Li, wooden pencils to Allison Li, my favorite tea top drink (#5 taro sago) to Elwing Gao, and all future “ASB Moments” to Emily Zhang and next year’s ASB class. I, Lucas Hong, bequeath my slide whistle prowess to Andrew Chen (dlkjsdf), my spladles to Mark Blackburn, my wrestling technique and diego translate to the wrestling underclassmen, my soft, supple lips to Rahul Ravi, and my duts to Morris Chang and Sakhin Selvamani.

I, Lynn Fernandez, bequeath my last name to Nisha Fernandes, the Baskit business to ZoKo and Kiana, dedicated leadership of Me to We to Amanda and Kavitha, my math textbook to Shruti, and my birdie to Nicole, Natasha, and Catherine. I, Maggie Yuan, bequeath adequate sleep and a positive outlook on life to all underclassmen.

I, Malaika Khan, bequeath my love for Silsilay to Mahima, Tanvee, and Shubhra, #teamD2 to Rohan, Zay and Rhea, Philz dates to Diya, all my hoodies to Aayush, post-work boba to Arjun, physics memes to Kathleen, Denver, and Pranav, and my spicy love life game to Manoj (he needs it). I, Marcus Perlas, bequeath my shot put ability and practice attendance to Rahul Ravi, and my non-existent art skills to Aaron Cho.

I, Mary Zimmerman, bequeath my title of “Math Genius Extraordinaire” to Margarita, my everlasting support, gratitude, and the trademarked phrase “Who is She?” to Aditi, Arnav, and Tanvee, and all of my creative talents to Rashmi and Terence.

I, Matthew Tran, bequeath tuning responsibilities to Hali Wu, Ls to Allison Lui, and neon running shoes to Gaby Tran. I, Maya Sabatino, bequeath the tradition of 20 Questions to Margarita Sokolenko (Remember to always ask if it’s living and if it’s Jonathan). I, Maya Shah, bequeath my breakfast time skills to Sinja, amazing joe skills to Abi, dealing with Aunty skills to Nyna, shoe throwing abilities to Shruti. I, Meera Srinivasan, bequeath my life to Karel J. Robot.

I, Michyla Lin, bequeath my passion for Epic to Patricia Wei and Srinidhi Seshadri, Spidypool and ded memes to Nicole Ong, earsplitting carpool karaoke to Ashley Song and Hatim Saifee, kpop obession to Kelsey Lu, Justine Chen and Risa Mori, boba runs to Clara Fernandez, sardonic humor to Michelle Zemlyak, meme dancing to Belinda Zhou and Diana Xu, and roll as design editor to Sadhana Sarma. I, Ming-Li Tran, bequeath my stubborn passion for art to Carrie An, my large stomach to Wesley Ma, my nonexistent hearing abilities to Eunice Leung, and all my weirdness to my Aikido underclassmen, also wishing them the best of luck in recruiting new members.

I, Mohan Bhakta, bequeath my love and captaincy to Seiya Otani, English to Haruya Tatsumi and Konosuke Takase, Niagra Falls to Joyce Feng, IDC rep to Ethan Jean, dog nurturing to Denver Yu, DL test passing to Kavya Balaji, and luck for the next 3 years to Navya Bhakta. I, Myra Cheng, bequeath naps, salt, nicknames, and bureaucracy to Anusha; questionable puns and a fit, healthy lifestyle to Emily Zhang; EEG struggles and boxes of raisins to Ameya, Samiksha, and the neurdz; and my artistic abilities and lots of fulfillment to Elizabeth.

I, Naren Yenuganti, bequeath Viking Daddi and helicopter making skills to Chinmay Lalgudi, Kaiser volunteering skills to Pranav Saravanan, dancing skills to Arnav Gupta and Manoj Soundararajan.

I, Natalie Woodmansee, bequeath my photoshop knowledge to Allison, spot in the 200 free to Trisha, and my ability to swipe cards to Amanda.

I, Nathaniel Lee, bequeath my choir skills to Daniel Kim and Allison Lui, polo stats to Luca Popescu and Fabio Peralta Costa, sprinting skills to Erin Gao, Tianyi Zhang, Alvin Tsui, and my love for hot cheetos to Kathleen Yang,

I, Navya Rao, bequeath my TV addiction and hilarious pun skills to Hatim, doggie pics and sassiness to Nikash, talent for cancelling shifts to Ashwin, singing skills to Sai, excessive use of GIFs to Maithreyee, SFL love to the officer team, and happiness and my room to my sister Nadya. I, Neha Palvai, bequeath my poise to Diya, speech skillz to Nyna, Aditi, Thishi, Saisri, Melody, Natasha, Arushi, Namrata, Nidhi, and Abhinaya, lack of French knowledge to Jchoi and Sel.ina, CPC ideas to Maanvi and Mahima, hair and music to Ishika, math homework to Simran, and flaking to Tanvi.

I, Nicolas Rios, bequeath to Jacob Lee my notoriety as a host, to Kavya Balaji my penchant for math and prom, and to Ryo Hatanaka my incredible tolerance and tendency to flake. I, Nikhil Ajjarapu, bequeath lilnikkivlogs to Shruti, treeing to Vishal, shouting at debate freshman to Hsinyen and at other debate members to Rachana, Nisha, and Cindy, upside-down-ok signs to Manoj, snapchat snakery to Amol, secret admiration for studygrams to Selina, and my SHS sweatshirt to Sadhana, Anika, and Ananya. I, Nikhil Vytla, bequeath my love and my memelord skills to Jeff Liu, my Neanderthal.io coding prowess to Nikash Walia, actual good taste in people and music to Rhea Kamath, my spreading abilities to Ian Chiu and Nicole Waring, and last but not least, my gaming godliness to Arul Gnanasivam. I, Paul Nguyen, bequeath some warm feelings to anybody who’s been a friend these past 4 years, especially Nick though.

I, Rachel Cheung, bequeath non-existent fences to JayT and Iryl, “lowkey” hip bumps to Shruti, attempted boba fasts to Matthew, a gbf to Jayson, picking up hitchhikers to Janice, BM strugs to Tiffany, Aaron and Maitri, guitar skills to Kat, memes to Akshata, and curving tricks to Kleo and Ankitha.

I, Rachel Tatley, bequeath Women’s Senior Varsity Captain to Amanda White, my Varsity Wasian status to Amy Tse, my amazing sense of humor to Rei Trujillo, and my (sometimes) awesome football field goals to Danielle Ma.

I, Raj Mehta, bequeath a pod and tiltedness to Anson and Varun. My apathy to Sakin. Endless harassment and slapping people appropriately to Hansen and Aayush. My love of degenerates to Ashwin and Arjun K (s/o to slack attack). And nothing of value to Sinja and Rhea.

I, Raksha Narasimhan, bequeath smolder faces to Kavitha, hawaiian shirts to Katie, car-finding skills to Kavya, overture to Divya, vertigo to Caitlin, Joyce, Grace, Ria, Yiu on, Suphala, & Cynthia, peace signs to Julia, ankle breakers to Lydian, the best day ever to Sara, and salons to Adam and Michelle! I, Ram Damodaran, bequeath my affinity for taking Ls to Pranav Saravanananan , Octagon to Rhea and Kulsoom, Regency Park to Kavish, and my room + dog memes to Lakshmi.

I, Raman Gupta, bequeath my driving and running to Michelle Lum, relay handoff skills to Roy Chien, my dabbing to Rhea Chowdhury, and my workout skills to Arjun and Ashwin Kaushik. I, Ravi Varma, bequeath my robotics knowledge to Aayush Shah and James Jiao, my flair for flares to Tim and Enzo, my meme collection to Sunhoo An, and my UberEats giftcard to Nivi Madhan (who desperately needs it).

I, Raymond Lau, bequeath my craziness and bubbliness to AMY SUN, my annoyingness to Jocelyn Churn, my powderpuff addiction to Lydian Li, and my slowness to the entire Track n Field team. I, Rhea Arora, bequeath memories of our walks, my horrible humor, my driving skills, the new Taylor Swift, my brain, senior year and college estrés, and ap french and spanish to Arya Ranadive and her nice friends. I, Richard Wang, bequeath all of Anime Club and its title as the most popular club on campus to President Alisha Yang and the rest of the weeb officer team of 2019.

I, Rita Wang, bequeath my debate skills to Ian Chiu, my bubbly personality to Nicole Waring, my humor to Lynbrook, and my likability to Uday.

I, Ritik Batra, bequeath my dance skills, Jalwa love, and smiles to Mahima, Aayush, Sinja, Brandon, Varun, Diya, Aneesha, Zahra, Nivi; crazy Asian-Indian pride to Mahima, Shubhra, Tanvee; school spirit to Aayush, Brandon, Diya, Aneesha, Nivi; JUMP love to Alicia; and life advice to Rhea C, Sinja, and Mahima. I, Robert Yang, bequeath my philosophy kahoots to Santosh, Bryan, Benjamin, and Sachin; and random time management strategies to Jonathan, Hsinyen, and WeiHan.

I, Rohan Dhesikan, bequeath the basketball courts to Bryce, singing dedication to Daniel Jang, and my bike parking spot to Charlie Huang. I, Rohan Koodli, bequeath my astronaut aspirations to Aditya Munshi, Irish accent to Owen “Goldfish” Semersky, hairstyle to Connor Markert, and design skills to Peyton Chiang. I, Ruchira Krishnamurthy, bequeath my complaints about life and limited math skills to Joshua Wong, fun homework center study sessions to Patricia Wei, and suturing and presentation abilities to Arya Ranadive and Sonakshi Khanna.

I, Ryan Nishimoto, bequeath doing dumb things/cooking up spicy memes to Vincent Shen and playing the opening to Rhapsody in Blue to Darren Huang, and the ability of standing so incredibly still that I become invisible to the eye to Richard Chiu.

I, Saba Sharfuddin, bequeath my rojoz wraps and guinea pigs to Mohini Adkar, my corsage to Adam Katz, my laughter to Selena Jeong, my Stranger Things obsession to Shubhra Dubey, my Office obsession to Aditya Venkatesh, and my ability to sit backstage for 6+ hours to Mia McCormack and Zay Batlivala.

I, Saif Kausar, bequeath my dance moves to Mahima, Varun, Aayush, Brandon, Nivi, Zahra, Diya, Aneesha, and Sinja, thongs to Erin Gao, a banana to Anna Paaske, my poppin off skills to Ben Shapiro, and Saifphire to Lynbrook High School. I, Sally Kim, bequeath clubz legacy and my height to Robyn Lee, my humor and ability to run out of rooms to Rohan Goel, VP love to Brandon Qin and Diya Jain, boostedness to Emily Zhang, my love for La Cueva to Zainab Nasir, and yeehaws to Selina Li.

I, Sammy Nguyen, bequeath an unforgettable & fun trip to Hawaii to the XC team, the ability to touch the locker room ceiling & chicken noodle soup to little Gaby, ALL-monds & my extensive knowledge on the Barbie: Princess and the Pauper soundtrack to Alisha Naidu, and a lifetime supply of frozen strawberries and wheat thins & crocs to Alisha Yang. I, Sameera Aluri, bequeath my CS skills to Vivian Cheung, Pauline Lu, and Maya Abiram, my awkwardness to Kerry Wong and Kelly Chu, my math homework to Simran Nagshain, my procrastination to Tanvi Narvekar and Anjani Patibandla, and my excessive kpop knowledge to Ishika Kamchetty and Megan Banh. I, Samhita Honnavalli, bequeath !CS to Ishika and Namrata, CSF love to Selina and Mahima, being a junior to Maanvi, lack of badminton motivation to Nidhi, requests to Abinaya, dance love to Shruti, talking robo to Atharva and fam parties to Aditya.

I, Sara Mandic, bequeath my mad hops to Kavitha, Kelly, Sophie, Maddie, and Anastasia, my passing abilities ;) to Daphne and Angela, my butter sets to Shannon, my physics problem solving skillz to Patrick, Annie, Pauline, Aditya, and Ronit, and lastly my unconditional love and smartness to Luka. I, Sasha Williams, bequeath JNHS leadership to Patricia Wei, Alicia Wu, Medha Gelli, Ashley Gong, Amy Tse, and Ryan Kawamura; server skills & senpai status to Ryan Kawamura; my kindness to Sandy Matsuda; and Japanese skills to the Japan Bowl team.

I, Shadaj Laddad, bequeath my hacked solutions to Kunal Sheth, procrastination skills to Andrew Ng, coding memes to Jason Dong, and love for robotics to Team 846. I, Shannon Changizi, bequeath my speed to Jocelyn, Aayushi, and Jessica, my rebounding skills to Kavitha, my awesome dance moves to Katie and Kavitha (stay lit my dudes), my love for Hawaiian shirts to Julia, Lydian, Sara, and the girls basketball team, and my favorite, the prayer circle, to Jocelyn.

I, Sharon Noelle Lee, bequeath my heart for Korean food to Kevin, my love for corgis at Corgi Con to Anna, my bear hugs to Allison, my Kung Fu Panda pinky to Anson, my “”accent”” to Daniel, my affection for British people in the UK and their charming accents to Eli. I, Shrila Senthil, bequeath my quality memes to Dianna, my water to Nishanth, and literally any utensils to Ronit.

I, Sophia Ling, bequeath my undying love and support to my ASBabies (Kanav/Selina/Nicole/Emily), a Mighty Mango juice to baby Denver, daily snacks to my calc buddies Serena and Kerry, lots of hugs and kisses to all my DECA underclassmen (if you don’t take practice tests before States next year, I will know), and mind-numbing conference registration responsibilities—but hopefully some sleep—to Abi.

I, Surabhi Madadi, bequeath good decisions and the ability to be a fat fish to Mohana, the stress of a pre-pre-med and a better sense of humor to Tanvi, and excitement of being a senior and hate for passive-aggressiveness to Shruti. I, Surya Auroprem, bequeath my insane French skills to Nikash, lack of sleep to Jeff, and spaghet memes to Justin.

I, Susan Zhou, bequeath a memorable (warm-ish?) Snowflake Ball to Lauryn and Chloe, fun (not scary, balloon-popping) experiments to Medha & Michelle, bad mistakes & a good time to Arushi & Hsinyen, and my best wishes to Mr. Richmond’s wonderful 3rd per class.

I, Tanya Goel, bequeath my lack of volleyball skills to Sohum Indarapu, extensive vine knowledge to Anjani Patibandla, AP Bio struggles to Priya Ram, Alg2/Trig hatred to Riddhi Somani, my nonexistent love-life to Eesha Deepak, and my 85C obsession to Trinity Yue.

I, Tejasvi Kothapalli, bequeath my obvious DECA successes to Manoj, getting carried in Fortnite to Mihir, premium to Akhil, stanfordrejects.com to Jason, third-wheeling to Mohana, undeniable dance talent to Arnav, incurable senioritis to Shruti, nonexistent spanish skills to Arjun, flaking to Amol, and being a living meme to Sakin. I, Timothy Yang, bequeath the Tech box to Shannon Ding, fancy LEDs to Kunal Sheth, the big bad bass trombone to Krish Govi and the trombone section to Ariel Wang.

I, Tru Do, bequeath my love for most things humanities to Eugene Doh, my excellent ability to relax to Arron Cho, my true love to Vincent, Nick and Austin, and my loving vibe to Shane Kim and Jack Griffith, and my need for sleep to Kerry and Serena.

I, Tzen-Hao Ng, bequeath my dry humor to my section members at the Epic, and I bequeath unto my brother, Tzen-Chuen, the ability to write competently.

I, Vidushi Somani, bequeath violencia to Kavitha and Aditi, “that’s funny!” to Shubhra, Stephen, Raghav, Michelle, and Mia, adorableness to Selena, taara to Shruti, aarathi tsunami to Ananya, Anika, and Sadhana, participación to Emilia, and krunky roasts to Jacob. I, Vikranth Srivatsa, bequeath my impromptu skills to my brother Akshanth Srivatsa.

I, William Guo, bequeath the next Epic staff efficient productions and harmony, Arul better equipment and answers to his questions, Noela and Divya strength and patience, Hsinyen better “mom”-aging than I did, Justine lots of snacks so you won’t be hangry, Michelle Japanese noodles, Diana higher metabolism and back massages, Ashley boba and hot Cheetos, Aileen Christmas all year round, Belinda great Staff Ed discussions, and the Lynbrook Boys’ tennis team good luck for next year. I, Winona Kong, bequeath my happiness to Lynbrook, knowledge from Mr. Miller and friendly classmates to the Epic.

I, Yichen Zhu, bequeath the future of MUN to Indali, Amol, and the rest of the team; an excellent gag reflex to Mihir; good looks and a driver’s license to Manoj; lit dance moves to Becca; an endless amount of senioritis to Noela; cocacola to Ian (and Ethan wya); anger management tips to Akhil; and lots of love to all the women in debate.

I, Janabelle Wu, bequeath listening and ranting skills to Pooja, status of fav senior to Nishita and Michelle, all my salt to Salty AF (should have been your senior shirt), role of stepmom and cluelessness of when my curfew is to Leslie and Kat, and my sometimes meme face to the tennis team. I, Zackary Bowyer bequeath baseball skills to my dad. NPO/FSU!

ARIZONA Arizona State University University of Arizona

CALIFORNIA Cabrillo College

Brian Jin Anna Morris

Kevin Arndt

California College of the Arts Annika Javier

Ariana Lin

California Institute of Technology Daniel Israel Myra Cheng Cal Poly Pomona

Talha Khan

Aliya Saiyed Andy Chun Janette Light Marcus Perlas

Ming-Li Tran

Anisha Kirpekar

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Aishwarya Shirahatti Holly Masterson Jessica Luo Leslie Chan Mohan Bhakta Rachel Cheung Raj Mehta Zahra Attarwala Chapman University CSU East Bay De Anza College

Foothill College Harvey Mudd College Bill Zhu Elissa Hou

Lauryn Ito

Amber Lee

Loyola Marymount University Ambuj Bhatnagar Isabella Lopez Pomona College Sacramento State University San Diego State University Alexander Lynch Bailee Tan San Francisco State University Saba Sharfuddin Shannon Changizi

Abhay Gujadhur Joshua Paaske Katherine Shaw Nikesh Thadani

Albert Han Andy Cai GEORGIA Calvin Kung Georgia Institute of Technology Aubhro Sengupta Eugene Yang Kris Satya Hannah Faris Harsh Chobisa Ivana Chou ILLINOIS Jennifer Su University of Chicago Catherine Jin Kevin Peng Jonathan Tang (class of 2023) Matthew Tran Yichen Zhu Raksha Narasimhan Ravi Varma Ryan Lin

George Washington University Sultaan Ahmad

MASSACHUSETTS Harvard University

Boston University

University of Maryland

Joshua Chiang

Kristie Wu

Joshua Chin

Johns Hopkins University Saumya Nimmagadda

MARYLAND

Jing-Chen Peng Amy Steinmetz University of the Paciﬁc Kechao Tang Daniel Roh Eileen Choi Roy Chen Jennifer Sun Emily Su Tina Han Jessica Liu Vidushi Somani Jonathan Hung West Valley College William Guo Zackary Bowyer Justin Hu Moosaa Jalaldin Kasey Chuang INDIANA Kimia Ghasemian Purdue University Nihal Mahajani COLORADO Aruna Priya Raman Gupta Colorado School of Mines Tanya Goel Saketh Muvva Hayden Ito Sameera Aluri Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Thomas Wakuta DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Meghna Allamudi Vikram Miryala

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign University of Southern California Andrew Chang Ah Young Joo Angie Cheng Andrew Chen Celina Day Anushka Srivastava David Xu Eric Zhong Edward Choi Floria Yi Hanna Lee Jonathan Li Helen Sun Tiffany Hsia Isa Dash

Sarah Zhang Scripps College Angela Liu Wendy Zhang UC Riverside Veronica Martin Shasta College Hailey Strong UC San Diego Cindy Pham Davin Tjong Stanford University Lydia Chen Advait Patil Meera Srinivasan Andrew Li Nathaniel Lee Catherine Huang Raymond Lau Emily Wan Rhee Kang Robert Yang Rohan Mehrotra UC Santa Barbara Alina Wan UC Berkeley Angeline Zhang Aarushi Agrawal Anvitha Aluri Amy Doo Ashley Chen Andrew Kou Bala Pichumani Angela Liu Eric Wu Athena Chen Johnson Ku Aurelia Yang Lucas Hong Avinash Jain Philip Axelrod Bhuvan Basireddy Rachel Tatley Ellen Xiong Ruchira Krishnamurthy Emily Gu Samhita Honnavalli Eshani Mehta Sara Mandic Evalina Xu Vedika Shenoy Jeffrey Tao Jenny Wang Jesse Dai UC Santa Cruz Avaneesh Samudrala Joe Zou Charita Mangina Joseph Pang Janie Kwong Kayli Chan Jonathan Xu Kevin Liu Kevin Chacko Maya Sabatino Navya Rao Naren Yenuganti Neelam Sharma Neha Palvai Ravi Gupta Rajita Pujare Ryan Nishimoto Rita Wang Saif Kausar Ritik Batra Surya Auroprem Rohan Koodli Tru Do Shadaj Laddad Tejasvi Kothapalli Vikranth Srivatsa University of Redlands Mary Zimmerman Vincent Hwang Matthew Zhou Yanru Zhou UC Davis

UC Irvine

San Jose State University Anna Jacoby Gabby Nguyen UC Los Angeles Isaac Hou Jocy He Julia Tu Sammy Nguyen Timothy Yang Santa Clara University

Edison Yang Katherine Li Kristin Lee Michelle Zhang Sophia Ling

Case Western Reserve University Amber Hsu Tiffany Wong Michyla Lin

OREGON

Lucy Euler

TEXAS

Baylor University

Joseph Liow

JAPAN

Waseda University

Sasha Williams

Rice University Massachusetts Institute of Technology NEW YORK Reed College Anney Tuo Andrew Lin Paul Nguyen Columbia University Johnny Wang Andrew Shao Chris Wang Maggie Yuan Isha Mehrotra Jessica Peng University of Oregon Surabhi Madadi Jessica Zheng Ken Pﬂaum Susan Zhou Joy Feng William Luo Cornell University University of Texas at Austin University of Portland Catherine Kim Emma Chase Abhinav Naikawadi Jason Gu Northeastern University Alanna Zhou Malaika Khan Nathan Cheng Eileen Tzng PENNSYLVANIA Nikhil Ajjarapu Jeffrey Chou Carnegie Mellon University Tufts University Alice Cai Melissa Wei Breanna Lau Angela Zhang WASHINGTON Gautam Kapoor University of Washington New York University Janabelle Wu Alex Minooka MICHIGAN Alison Chen Joanna Miao Elyssa Yim University of Michigan Andrew Huang Lynn Fernandez Katherine Cai Arthur Zhang Chelsea Li Maya Shah Keontrye Hsieh Juhi Thomas Diana Magnusson Rahul Khare Raina John Joyce Zhang Rohan Dhesikan Leo Sha MINNESOTA Shrila Senthil WISCONSIN Richard Wang St. Catherine University Tzen-Hao Ng University of Wisconsin-Madison Kennedy Miedema Vivian Cheng University of Rochester Harini Narayan Juney Lee MISSOURI Vidit Katyal Pennsylvania State University Washington University in St. Louis OUT OF COUNTRY Andrew Destin Johnnie Teng CANADA Kenneth Peng NORTH CAROLINA University of British Columbia University of Pennsylvania Ram Damodaran University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Griffon Gemmell Ashwin Nathan Nikhil Vytla Jasper Huang OHIO NEBRASKA Lilian Chen CZECH REPUBLIC Mythili Bhethanabotla University of New York in Prague Vinay Kumar Senthil Kumar Kai Tsao Creighton University

NEW JERSEY

Princeton University

Lydia Yi Lewis & Clark College

Orthorexia: When healthy eating becomes toxic An unhealthy obsession with eating the right foods

BY DIVYA NELAKONDA AND NICOLE ONG

n a media culture where various diet trends and exercise regimens are easily accessible, orthorexia, de�ined as an obsession with proper or “healthy” eating, has become increasingly prevalent and dangerous. What can so easily begin as well-intentioned efforts to be healthier and develop more mindful eating habits can become obsessive, psychologically and physically damaging. Though not formally recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, a book published by the American Psychiatric Association that provides diagnostic criteria for mental disorders, orthorexia can have permanent negative effects. The effects of orthorexia mimic the long-term consequences of other eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia. “Many people think that this manifestation of undernourishment is not as dangerous or life threatening as other eating disorders, especially because it appears that people are simply eating ‘healthy,’” said Kristine Luce, a psychologist and Clinical Associate Professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. “[Eating disorders are] much more complicated. People [with eating disorders] begin to fear food, eating and fat. When people are underweight, it takes about 18 months after returning to a healthy weight for people to see their own body size and shape accurately.” Orthorexia is usually categorized as either a stand-alone eating disorder or a variation of anorexia nervosa or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The term, derived from the Greek word “orthos,” meaning correct, is analogous to the disorder’s symptoms of perfectionism

and cognitive rigidity. Those who suffer from orthorexia are often obsessed with healthy eating, and symptoms can range from an increasing concern about the nutrition of ingredients to showing distress when healthy foods are unavailable. “I think orthorexia isn’t recognized by the DSM yet because no one can yet accurately describe what it is,” said host of the Finding our Hunger podcasts, and former recovery coach Kaila Prins. ”In addition, ‘eating healthily’ is still lauded in a lot of medical circles, and many people don’t see the distinction between following a rigidly ‘clean’ diet and a mental health disorder.” While many of orthorexia’s symptoms parallel with those of OCD and anorexia, certain aspects of orthorexia differentiate it from those disorders. Although both anorexia and orthorexia can cause restrictive eating habits that may lead to severe malnutrition, anorexia is characterized by a focus on the effects of food on body image, while orthorexia is characterized by an obsession with the effects of food on one’s health. Further, although people with OCD and orthorexia exhibit similar behaviors, orthorexia is speci�ically an obsession with healthy eating and an eating disorder, while OCD is a broader term that covers a wide range of behaviors. Orthorexia is considered similar to OCD because both of

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS BY ARUL GNANASIVAM AND KELSEY LU

the disorders’ symptoms consist of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. The clean eating obsession has been interpreted as an ideal of purity within a world of nutritionally substandard food. Historically, wealthier nations have developed a better understanding of the rami�ications of mass production of food, causing a collective anxiety around diet. In response, some individuals have offered approaches to food that assure wellness and health, coining the term “clean eating,” associated with a myriad of diets. Such an idea of wellness began to spread rapidly through various social media platforms like Instagram or Twitter, in which hashtags such as #eatclean have been trending. “I have many friends who choose to skip meals or make drastic changes to their diet to lose weight,” said senior Raksha Narasimhan. “I jumped into the trend of clean eating a few years ago, using healthy food choices as a means of insatiably trying to better my body image. I grew up hearing that you are what you eat, and it was this twisted thinking that led me to self-hatred and guilt when I let myself indulge in anything that wasn’t considered healthy.” The recent increase of orthorexia cases

may be a result of the increasing social media in�luence. According to a 2017 study conducted by Pixie Turner and Carmen Levefre of the University College London, increased exposure to and usage of Instagram correlated with higher orthorexic tendencies, af�irming that healthy food and lifestyle trends promoted on social media channels can affect an individual’s psychological wellbeing. Instagram “in�luencers” promote healthy food movements through an image-based platform that may proliferate advice that fosters mental disorders regarding food. “We see people getting rich off of diet cookbooks or ‘foodie’ Instagram accounts,” said Prins. “As language around fatness gets increasingly ominous, people get scared and go to the opposite extreme. When people get rewarded for being ‘good,’ or restrictive, through money and social capital, they are more likely to want to keep getting rewarded. You have to go to greater extremes to reap more rewards over time.” When an interest in the nutrition of spirals into obsessive, restrictive behaviours regarding food, it can become life-threatening and physically dangerous. With increasing access to social media promotion of different diets and clean-eating regimens, drawing the line between healthy and obsessive has now become overwhelmingly important. “It comes down to this: Is this lifestyle disrupting your life or those of the people around you? Does the thought of eating certain foods give you anxiety?” said Prins. “Sometimes it’s hard to notice it in yourself because people may be validating your behaviors, but if it’s disrupting your life, then it might be time to ask whether you’re contributing to your health or taking away from it.”

KELSEY LU — EPIC

DNA genetic testing poses privacy concerns BY MEERA BALAJI & ESHANI MEHTA

near-match on a genealogy website called GEDmatch. The detectives uploaded the DNA fter more than 40 years of arduous sample in question to the website, and even investigations, the notorious went as far as to check a box certifying that Golden State Killer — a serial the DNA was their own. Although the matches killer, rapist and burglar who terrorized found were relatives of the suspect, through California in the 1970s and 1980s the site-provided family trees, detectives — was �inally caught in late April were able to �ind genetic information about through DNA matching on a the suspect and other relatives who had not public genealogy database. personally uploaded their data. Although celebrated as a “I’m impressed that they’ve solved a lot of success, the case also brought cold cases as a result of genetic testing and up several previously ignored matching, so I think it’s an enormous asset privacy and ethical issues. to the police department,” said government The search for the teacher and Mock Trial adviser David Pugh. Golden State Killer “If the police are conducting a legitimate recently resumed when search with good intentions, the evidence police found a DNA they �ind is legal and fair game.” sample from one of the Consumer DNA genetic testing, an crime scenes. Matching increasingly popular service, offers users the the DNA found at the chance to look into their ancestry and genetic crime scene with the health risks. Companies such as 23andMe individual in question was and AncestryDNA sell testing kits starting made signi�icantly easier at $100, including a saliva collection kit and with the wide range of detailed reports that are sent to customers DNA databases available. six to eight weeks after the company receives Detectives eventually the sample. Reports include information found a about one’s ancestry and whether customers are at risk for several cancers and other diseases; wellness factors such “Golden State Killer” as muscle Name: Joseph J. DeAngelo composition and lactose Age: 72 Hair: Blonde intolerance; Sex: Male Eyes: Blue and physical traits. There are undoubtedly bene�its to

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ARUL GNANASIVAM AND RISA MORI

ART ILLUSTRATION BY CHLOE LEE

taking DNA tests: they can enable people to have become a growing concern. For learn about diseases they may be genetically instance, 23andMe guarantees customers predisposed to and provide information that only they will be able to choose how about one’s background. In the case of certain to share their data and with whom they diseases, such as breast cancer, �inding a share it, with the exception of providing predisposition to the disease before the information to law enforcement with a subpoena or court cancer poses a more order. More than 75 harmful threat would percent of its users give one the option of agree to having their taking precautionary “I’M IMPRESSED THAT data, which is �irst measures. For other THEY’VE SOLVED A LOT de-identi�ied, used diseases, however, OF COLD CASES AS for research. This �inding out early may A RESULT OF GENETIC offering cause needless worry. TESTING AND MATCHING.” voluntary of information “I’ve thought about continues on �inding out what my chances of getting David Pugh similar platforms GEDmatch, Alzheimer’s are,” Mock Trial adviser like where individuals said senior Ruchira upload their reports Krishnamurthy. “To be honest, I don’t want to know because if anonymously to learn more about overall I knew about it, I would just be anticipating user data. “If my genes are being put into a that moment when I’m diagnosed.” As family trees become increasingly database without my consent, and there’s complex, the intricacies of one’s genetic a possibility of them exploiting my information, then I wouldn’t get the test,” makeup are a cause for curiosity. “Although my parents told me that all of said Krishnamurthy. “If I’m guaranteed our relatives were Romanian, I have always anonymity, however, I’m all for furthering been really interested in knowing if I may science and research. I’d be glad to help a be of another race, or even be related to scienti�ic cause.” An unintended consequence of using someone from another country,” said junior such websites, however, is that one’s Luca Popescu. Popescu, however, has not used or sent genetic information can be used to create in his DNA sample. He is concerned as to family trees. As a result, family members what his DNA information could be used for may �ind that parts of their genetic data and is hesitant to give personal information are public on sites such as GEDmatch, that could be potentially sold or used in despite never providing consent. As shown from the case of the Golden unscrupulous ways. As consumers become more aware of State Killer, DNA testing may be the how their personal data can be used and future of crime scene investigation and shared, privacy issues relating to DNA tests lighten the burden on the justice system.

Kelvin Chong: Junior Nationals champion BY ASHLEY SONG

he bleachers are �illed with onlookers, enraptured and invested in the battle on the court. Apart from the contact of shoe to �loor and birdie to racket, silence pours through the gym. As freshman Kelvin Chong’s wrist snaps, all eyes are on him. Chong’s love for badminton began when his father introduced the sport to him at the age of seven, immediately feeling a connection to the sport. A year in, he began to practice seriously at the California Badminton Academy (CBA) and eventually moved to Synergy Badminton Club. “Badminton is my life,” said Chong. “I train four times a week outside of school and train around four hours on those days.” His commitment to the sport has certainly paid off, considering he is ranked second in the nation in Boys’ Doubles under 17, although Singles is his main event. Despite his high rank, Chong has not let the numbers dictate his love for badminton. Chong plays on the Lynbrook team as well. “The school team is fun, and I enjoy playing with my friends and during seasons,” said Chong. “I am happy and having fun.” Chong’s Synergy coaches, Coaches Bob Malaythong and Raju Rai, and Lynbrook coaches, Coaches Karen Christiansen and Gordon Ho, have been cornerstones in Chong’s badminton journey. Not only are Chong’s coaches mentors to him, but they are also a constant source of morale and endless support. “[My coaches] are very helpful and have guided me throughout my career, helping me achieve goals that I never thought I would

get to,” said Chong said. But his most enthusiastic fans are his parents. They have put in extensive time and effort for Chong, going on round-trips to take him to practice, and also encouraged his passion for the sport. Aside from his coaches and his parents, his fellow Lynbrook teammates are also very supportive. “They are my competitors, my teammates, but most importantly my support system,” said Chong. “We learn from each other and get better.” Chong actively learns from his teammates, and they also learn from him. “I admire that Kelvin can spend so much time on badminton,” said Shaw. “He has spent over 7 years playing badminton and has gone to Junior Nationals 5 times. Even though he lost the �irst couple rounds in Junior Nationals for the past 4 years, last year Kelvin won �irst in Singles and Doubles.” Most players strive to place in the annual Junior Nationals, the largest badminton tournament of the year, generally held in June or July. Last year, Chong �inally reached his goal of placing �irst in Junior Nationals. “For the past �ive years that I attended Junior Nationals, I would lose in the �irst round and end up watching other people play,” said Chong. “Not last year though — I was playing under 15 and I was seeded number one for Boys’ Singles. People thought I would lose to number two seed, and every time I played him, I lost in two sets. Day by day, I started playing better and better, until the �inals came up. Thanks to support from my teammates, I came through and took home my �irst ever Junior Nationals �irst place trophy.”

ASHLEY SONG—EPIC

Baseball hits it out of the ballpark to CCS

BY JONATHAN YE

olding navy blue helmets, the varsity baseball team runs onto the baseball �ield as players cheer and jump on top of each other. The team had an overall record of 18 wins and nine losses and a league record of 10 wins and �ive losses this season. This season is the �irst time Lynbrook baseball has quali�ied for CCS in 25 years after winning 11-1 against Gunn High School. “It was by far the most memorable moment of this season,” said senior player Andrew Destin. “We were dog piling on each other in celebration.” Unfortunately, the team lost the �irst round of CCS Division I Baseball Tournament in a close 4-1 game against Homestead High School. Lynbrook was able to hold off Homestead, a Division I team, 0-0 until the sixth inning. “We won 6-4 against Homestead previously, a come-frombehind win,” said junior player Anurag Vedagiri. “We went into the CCS game with the mentality that we could beat them

once again, but unfortunately, we came up a few runs short.” The game that allowed the team to enter CCS, however, was not the toughest game of the season, but the Saratoga game. Saratoga brought out its best pitcher, but Lynbrook eventually won the game. Sophomore pitcher Max Uchida threw a shutout, preventing the other team from scoring a run. Senior Martin Thurman and sophomore Peter Fan both scored runs in the second and third innings, defeating Saratoga 2-0 in Saratoga’s only league loss. Many factors contributed to the team’s success this year, including a diligent practice routine and a form of conditioning introduced by the new assistant coach. On practice days, the team holds batting and �ield practice. Pitchers warm up their arms with catchers through a routine of throwing bullpens when they are near gamedays. The team’s new assistant coach, Mike Ryan, introduced a new conditioning program called Six Poles, which consists of running from one pole to another on the baseball �ield. This conditioning started out as a punishment or a cooldown, but

as time passed, the team began joking about this punishment so much that the players created an inside joke about it. “Six Poles is the team’s favorite [program],” said senior player Johnnie Teng. “Each time we run, it is a memorable moment. It’s a huge part of the team and really brings us together.” Many seniors on the baseball team hope to either walk onto a National Collegiate Athletic Association college baseball team or play on a junior college baseball team. Regardless of whether they are continuing their play in college, the seniors will miss the team and their high school baseball careers. “It’s all about the teammates for me,” said Destin. “I’ve bonded and made some of my greatest friendships with my teammates. I’ll miss all of them dearly, and I have deeply cherished our time.” Although the team was defeated after the �irst round of CCS, qualifying for CCS was an excellent achievement. The players are extremely happy that their hard work, determination and commitment led to such a memorable and successful season.

USED WITH PERMISSION OF TINA WANG

USED WITH PERMISSION OF JANICE CHIU

MICHELLE ZEMLYAK—EPIC

PATRICIA WEI—EPIC

DIANA XU—EPIC

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SPORTS SECTION

Boy’s golf team in the green BY HATIM SAIFEE

is putter gently touches the ball and sets it in motion. His eyes light up with hope and con�idence as the ball rolls toward the hole and slides in, translating into yet another victory for the Boys’ Golf team, who have been performing exceptionally well this season. The team is currently halfway through the season with a record of six wins and four losses, a major improvement from last season’s record of three wins and eight losses. In addition to head coach Art Zimmermann, the players have a new Assistant Coach, Lynbrook alum Khoa Dinh, who has helped improve the team’s performance by making sure to focus on each player’s weaknesses and strengths. “Coach [Zimmermann] wasn’t able to break down everybody’s swing because there are many players,” said senior Vikram Miryala. “With the addition of Coach Khoa, both coaches can give more individual attention to our swings, which has helped us a lot,” said senior Nihal Mahajani. This season has had great successes, with one of the highlights being the two consecutive gold medals won by sophomore Madhavan Anbuchelvan. “I am always expecting to get the gold, but I keep my feet on the ground,” said Anbuchelvan. “There are players who will perform better than I do and if that is the case, then they are indeed the ones that really

deserve the medal.” At the match against Los Altos High School, senior Evan Huang scored a hole-in-one. “Evan’s hole-in-one is a major achievement,” said head coach Art Zimmerman. “A hole-in-one is a holy grail for a golfer. There is a 1 in 12,000 chance for an average golfer to get one.” In Boys’ Golf, the team that has the lowest combined score of all the players wins the game. The Lynbrook team has usually been able to win games by ten strokes throughout the season. In their game against Homestead High School, however, the team achieved a very close win by defeating their Mustang opponents by only a single stroke. Even though the players play individually, the team dynamic plays an important role and greatly in�luences their performance. One such example is when they eat fries together. Coach Art buys fries for the whole team after every game as a ritual. “Golf is a solo sport, and the only team aspect is that we play in a team,” said junior Dave Lawrence. “However, it de�initely helps to be around people who are playing golf because there’s a sense of competition and they push you to do better. We also give helpful tips to each other when we’re struggling.” The team’s brilliant performance has taken Boys’ Golf to great heights this season and all players hope to carry this excellence forward to the following season. Their �inal game is on April 26, at the Deep Cliff Golf Course against Santa Clara High School.

ARUL GNANASIVAM–EPIC

THE HIGH SCHOOL JOURNEY

BY ARUL GNANASIVAM AND MEERA BALAJI

BY MEERA BALAJI AND ARUL GNANASIVAM

“I’ve changed my mindset. I used to be sensitive about how people perceived me. If I’ve learned anything in high school, it’s that its not worth stressing over what people think of you.” - Senior Andrew Chiang (Top Left)

“I have greatly improved my clothes, style and appearance in general. Specifically all of us have learned the art of the fade hairstyle.” - Senior Vikram Miryala (Second from right)

“I’ve learned to surround myself with positive people. Spending time with supportive people has really allowed me to become happier and more productive over the course of four years.” -Senior Katherine Li (Left)

“Honestly, I still keep changing every year, slowly discovering my true personality. I could not have done it without the ones I love.” - Senior Jennifer Sun (Second from right)

“I’ve learned how to reflect on my experiences.” - Senior Leia Chao (Right)

“I’ve learned how to get those eyebrows done.” - Senior Saumya Nimmagadda (Left)

Epic Issue 8, 2018

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