Pointing the way Compass Point helps students navigate toward academic and personal success by
danielleLERNER
College fever is in the air more so than ever as anxious seniors make final decisions this time of year. At Lynbrook, students are particularly invested in the college process. Possessing firsthand experience with this intense environment, Lynbrook graduates have created a mentor program called Compass Point Mentorship to help guide current Lynbrook students through the college application stage. 2010 Lynbrook graduates Kavya Shankar and Carl Shan created Compass Point Mentorship to connect Lynbrook graduates with rising juniors and seniors to provide them with college advice as well as opportunities for leadership development and personal growth. The program matches current Lynbrook upperclassmen with alumni who are working or majoring in their desired field. On founding Compass Point, Shan says, “Both Kavya and I are dedicated to helping others who were once in our position. Both of us came to the same conclusion separately that high school students could benefit greatly from being connected with mentors who are only one year apart and have many similar interests. I think we can both acknowledge that we both have undoubtedly benefited from speaking with Lynbrook alumni older than us [during our own high school years].” Shankar adds, “I think that there’s something really powerful about Lynbrook students helping Lynbrook students that made me want to start this program… I really want to be able to give back to the high school that gave me so much.”
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GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY CLAY SONG
LHS holds walk for lupus support in honor of Eric Lin by
eeshaKHARE
Five million people around the world have some form of lupus, a chronic disease in which the immune system, the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria and germs, cannot tell the difference between safe human tissue and “foreign invaders.” As a result, the immune system starts to attack the body’s healthy tissues. On Feb. 12, 2009, Eric Hao Lin, a Lynbrook student who would have been a senior this year, passed away from lupus—he was only a sophomore at the time. The Lynbrook Teen Health Awareness Club will host an awareness walk for lupus on Saturday, April 30 from 1 pm to 5 pm at the Lynbrook track. Each lap that students complete on the track will raise money based on how much their sponsors pledge. All proceeds from the Lupus Walk will go to the research at Lupus Foundation of America in Eric Lin’s name. Students can get involved by picking up an envelope from the office, getting sponsors and participating in the Lupus Walk to raise money. Students can also spread awareness for the cause by coming to support the walkers and telling all of their peers and family members to attend the walk. The money raised will be matched by corporations throughout Silicon Valley. The Lynbrook Teen Health Awareness Club will also be creating a webpage titled Page of Hope, where people can donate to the cause online at http://donate.lupus.org/ goto/LynbrookLupusWalk. In order to organize the Walk, Lynbrook Teen Health Awareness Club went through extensive planning; the president of the club, senior Jeffrey Chen, says, “Putting up a walk requires the support of the school, students and faculty alike. You need an idea of what the walk will be like, and you slowly work backward to think of ways you can achieve those goals. Sometimes when things don’t go your way, you just look for alternatives.” Although the club was originally involved in raising awareness to teens about Hepatitis B, Chen decided, along with other officers, to expand the horizons of the club to various other problems afflicting teens today. He says, “I just felt it was overdue that nothing was actually done in [Lin’s] memory. Eric Lin was a classmate that was respected by his peers. He was a great guy that exemplified the traits of a leader and potential.” Chen states that students should participate in the walk even if they did not know Lin personally because the walk “is for a good cause that will help you recognize something that is not in our everyday bubble.” Be sure to come out and support lupus research while honoring Eric Lin at the Lynbrook track on April 30 at 1 pm.