The Lowell Newsmagazine May 2019 by The Lowell

Lowell The

May 2019

Cheating: Can we face the truth?

ONLINE CONTENT Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just students: how UCs game the admissions system by Rae Wymer LAUREN CALDWELL

XARIA LUBENSKY

HIDDEN GEMS OF LOWELL: Baker Kathryn Gao by Kate Green

Fencing wins fourth consecutive overall championship by Allister Xu CHRISTINA JOHNSON

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDITORIAL: SICK CULTURE: WHY YOU SHOULD STAY HOME

COVER: CHEATING AT LOWELL: CAN WE FACE THE TRUTH?

NEWS: ARCADE TO BE REPLACED WITH STUDENT UNION CLASSROOM

COLUMN: SEEING THROUGH THE SMOKE: HOW THE CAMPFIRE SHOOK MY WORLD

NEWS: A CLOSER LOOK AT LOWELLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NUT POLICY

SPORTS: TWINNING IS WINNING

OPINION: IN DEFENSE OF LAZINESS

Editorial Board

By Elyse Foreman and Allison Jou

By Joelle Chien and Io Gilman

By Olivia Sohn

By Kate Green and Allison Jou

By Io Gilman and Anita Liu

STAFF Lowell

NEWS EDITORS Michelle Kim Emily Sobelman Olivia Sohn SPORTS EDITORS Susan Wong Jocelyn Xie OPINIONS EDITORS Allison Dummel Sofia Woo COLUMNS EDITOR Olivia Moss ASSISTANT EDITORS Crystal Chan Joelle Chien Elyse Foreman

ASSISTANT EDITORS (continued) Kate Green Allison Jou Anna Kaplan ART MANAGER Valentin Nguyen ILLUSTRATORS Jasmine Liang Amy Marcopulos Valentin Nguyen Warren Quan REPORTERS Jordi Barrientos Shannon Chang Pierre Dayon Seamus Geoghegan Io Gilman Trevor Higgins Hana Lee Sasha Nakamura

REPORTERS (cont.) Isabella Paterson Tess Randall Sophia Shen Jacob Thompson Christy Vong Lee Wilcox Rae Wymer Allister Xu Kristen Yeung MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Christina Johnson ASST. MULTIMEDIA EDITORS Lauren Caldwell Anita Liu PHOTOGRAPHERS Zephyr Anderson Lauren Caldwell Christina Johnson Christina Kan

PHOTOGRAPHERS (cont.) Xinglin Li Anita Liu Xaria Lubensky Andrea Tran Susan Wong Kimberly Yee Nathan Yee BUSINESS MANAGERS Eleanor Paik Jacquline Ruan Anson Tan WEB MANAGERS Brandon Bui Connie Liu SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS Ashley Franco Richard Soong ADVISOR Eric Gustafson

SPREAD DESIGN BY LAUREN CALDWELL AND SUSAN WONG

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Olivia Sohn Susan Wong

The

Cover: Photo by Lauren Caldwell

By Sofia Woo

EDITORIAL

Sick Culture: Why You Should Stay Home

t was winter finals of her freshman year, and current sophomore Lilo Bergensten-Oliv found herself throwing up in the math wing bathroom. Feeling she could not afford to miss a day of finals, she had come to school despite suffering from a bad cold. After a P.E. final consisting of two and half hours of handball, her fever and nausea had caught up to her. For Bergensten-Oliv and many fellow students, coming to school sick is seen as a necessity to keep up with Lowell’s workload and academic pressure. As a school we need to address this mentality and make a concerted effort to prioritize our community’s health. Since coming to Lowell, attending school despite illness has been a recurring issue for Bergensten-Oliv. She lives with chronic fatigue, meaning the symptoms of minor illnesses are amplified by underlying tiredness and nausea. From the PSAT to this fall’s finals season, the times she’s dragged herself to school despite feeling under the weather are numerous. She attributes this detrimental pattern to our school’s heavy workload. “The consequences of missing school at Lowell are a lot more severe than at other schools because it all adds up so quickly,” she said. “That really weighs on you when you’re sitting at home coughing, not able to do anything.” Though her parents are understanding of her medical needs, staying home from school still does not feel like a viable option. “Even if I’m trying to catch up on homework while I’m at home, there is always something in the back of my mind, like how much am I missing?” she explained. Last December when Bergensten-Oliv was out of school for four days, she returned to various assignments and two tests she had no idea were happening. “It all really hits you in the face,” she said. Junior Helen Ludé, having had similar experiences, such as attending school while dizzy and light headed from the flu, feels Lowell’s unique, all-consuming academic pressure is to blame. When weighing the pros and cons of resting at home versus going to class, Ludé says doing well for college and keeping her grades up are at the forefront of her mind, as well as pressure from teachers. Once, when she opted to stay home from school and emailed her teachers about making up work, she received very curt and dismissive responses. School Nurse Vanessa Compagno agrees the issue of Lowellites attending school while ill is both a “huge problem” and Lowell specific. “I see a lot of sick students just coming in and out and I think one of the hardest challenges is convincing them to actually go home,” she said. Compagno is provided with a list of symptoms that are cause to send students home (such as fevers above 104 degrees and coughing up blood) from the school, yet when she explains these guidelines to students, they argue their tests and projects are too important to miss. This dedication to classwork is so extreme that Compagno has several times been called

due to students passing out in class from high fevers. “It happens more often than people think,” she said. “They just won’t check in with me because they know if they have a fever I will send them home.” Compagno says Lowellites’ behavior is baffling to other nurses in the district whom she talks with at monthly professional development meetings. “I’ve had new nurses shadow me; they’ve always been mind blown like, ‘That took 20 minutes to get that student to even think about going home and then another 20 minutes to actually talk with parents,’” she said. Though Compagno realizes students are under tremendous pressure, she stresses the need to understand the extent of the health risks created by attending school sick. At school when you cough into your hand or wipe your nose, you go on to share pens and turn knobs on the bathroom sink, which in turn leads to many other students coming in contact with your germs. This is especially problematic for Lowell’s staff and students who are immunocompromised. “It’s just not fair to those people that are trying so hard to stay healthy,” Compagno said. “[Staying home and resting] has every benefit possible,” Compango said. “You’ll heal so much faster, it’s good for your physical health, your mental health, your stress in general.” She urges students to honestly assess how well they can perform on their tests and projects while ill and how their academic performance can be negatively influenced in the long run when recovery from a minor illness ends up taking ten days instead of two. Despite the medical explanations, simply telling students not to come to school sick has proven unsuccessful. One alternative solution is teachers being more understanding and flexible when helping students make up work. For example, when Bergensten-Oliv was sick in February, her geometry teacher Mr. Nghe was incredibly understanding and allowed her to both retake the test a few days later and study in the library while her fellow students were being tested. If other teachers picked up similar approaches opposed to harsher policies, like ensuring make up tests are harder than the originals and deducting significant participation points, students would have less incentive to attend school while ill. Additionally, teachers and staff can model safe behavior. “I know when I first started working, I would still come to school sick,” Compagno said. “And I was like ‘I can’t tell my students to not come to school sick when they see me with a cold.’” If teachers set the example of staying home when they are sick, it will make it clear they will be understanding and enforce the behavior in their students. There’s no questioning that Lowellites need to stay home if they are ill. Students throwing up and fainting on campus should not be commonplace. Our community needs to reevaluate what’s more important: test scores and classwork, or basic health and well-being. v

Accolades 2018 NSPA Print Pacemaker Finalist, 2014 NSPA Online Pacemaker, 2012 NSPA Print Pacemaker, 2011 NSPA All-American, 2011 NSPA Online Pacemaker, 2009 NSPA First Class Honors, 2007 NSPA Web Pacemaker, 2007 CSPA Gold Crown, 2007 NSPA All-American

v The Lowell May 2019

CARTOON

Yesterday at therapy...

ILLUSTRATION BY JASMINE =

JASMINE LIANG

FROM THE EDITORS Dear readers of The Lowell, Unfortunately, this is the last letter that we will be writing to you. We leave the publication in the capable hands of the next generation of editors. For this issue they brainstormed story ideas, wrote and helped edit many of the articles and designed the magazine layout. What you will now read is a product of their work and dedication. This school year was one of growth for our publication. We launched a new website, increased our presence on social media and diversified our content. We grew from within as well, expanding from 34 to over 50 staff members. We entered this year with a renewed commitment to publishing content that would best serve our readers, so we started doing breaking news on social media, started “Freshman corner” to help educate incoming students and released an SBC voters’ guide for the first time. In addition, we welcomed guest writers to submit works to be published on our platform. To finish off the school year, we present to you our last issue of The Lowell, where reporters Elyse Foreman and Allison Jou ask us, “Can we face the truth?”, uncovering just how bad the cheating problem is at Lowell. For a sneak peek of what’s to come in the new year, flip to Page 12 to read all about the new Student Union classroom to be built in the rcade this summer.

The Lowell is published by the journalism classes of Lowell High School. All contents copyright Lowell High School journalism classes. All rights reserved. The Lowell strives to inform the public and to use its opinion sections as open forums for debate. All unsigned editorials are opinions of the staff. The Lowell welcomes comments on school-related issues from students, faculty and community members. Send letters to the editors to thelowellnews@gmail.com. Names will be withheld upon request. We reserve the right to edit letters before publication. The Lowell is a student-run publication distributed to thousands of readers including students, parents, teachers and alumni. All advertisement profits fund our newsmagazine issues. To advertise online or in print, email thelowellads@yahoo.com. Contact us: Lowell High School 1101 Eucalyptus Drive San Francisco, CA 94132 415-759-2730 or at thelowellnews@gmail.com

The Lowell May 2019

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SPREAD DESIGN BY KATE GREEN

Editors-in-Chief, Olivia Sohn and Susan Wong

The Lowell May 2019

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Cheating at Lowell:

Can we By Allison Jou and Elyse Foreman

Illustration by Amy Marcopulos

face the truth?

COVER

VALENTIN NGUYEN

82.6% of 266 students surveyed have admitted to cheating before. Of the students who have

cheated, 35.7% say they’ve cheated on a test

and 51.4% admitted to cheating on homework

VALENTIN NGUYEN

v The Lowell May 2019

“S

eatbelts fastened?” Tom, an upperclassman using a fake name to remain anonymous, asked before launching into his story. “I remember walking in that Tuesday...and nobody was in the room,” he said. “I asked my friend to watch the door and I remember giving her a pen, and instead of her telling me when [my teacher] was coming, I told her to drop the pen on the floor so I could hear it fall. I saw the final there and I literally took it, shoved it down my pants and left. I remember I got into another room and my hands were shaking.” Tom wasn’t caught while swiping his semester final off of his teacher’s desk. He wasn’t caught while completing it at home, while copying his memorized answers onto the exam or while looking over his 82 percent score, which he purposely lowered to “make sure it wasn’t suspicious,” on a test he said he definitely would not have passed a few days before. His teacher questioned students the next day about the missing test, but Tom had taken precautions to make sure it couldn’t be traced back to him, telling his friend to “delete the [text] conversations, delete everything,” before burning the paper final. On a wall of the same classroom where Tom stole the final, a poster reads, “At Lowell, we CARE,” in which “A” stands for “academic integrity.” The acronym is overly optimistic: Tom’s story is just one extreme example of how some Lowell students have been shifting away from academic honesty. Whether it is pressure to achieve, a shrinking social stigma, a lack of oversight or all three, something within Lowell’s culture has blurred the lines between honest collaboration and outright cheating, leaving students conflicted over the importance of academic integrity. In a survey of 266 students conducted by The Lowell in April and May of this year, 82.5 percent admitted to having cheated before in one way or another. The statistics aren’t black and white: of students who have cheated on a test before, 76 percent agreed or strongly agreed that cheating on a test is morally wrong. Tom is among the minority of cheaters who don’t believe that cheating is morally wrong. “I feel so great if [cheating gets me] a good grade, like morality [is] out the door,” he said. He listed off different methods he has used to cheat with an air of nonchalance that only a seasoned veteran could muster, some of which included hiding his cell phone inside of his pencil bag to

read answers, concealing a sticky cheat sheet in his calculator case and writing notes and answers on his arm. His methods have even extended to once paying a peer $20 for answers to a final. Tom has a clear idea of what cheating is and how he uses it to his advantage, but other students are more conflicted about what exactly constitutes cheating. As seen through The Lowell’s survey, what students “consider to be cheating” varies greatly. Responses to a question asking just this revealed that only 25 percent of students believe that “all of the above,” including copying homework, plagiarism on an essay or project, receiving answers from students in earlier blocks and sharing answers, counts as cheating. For dean David Beauvais, the definition of cheating is simple, albeit ambiguous: “It’s not telling the truth, it’s not giving an accurate representation of what you’re doing.” Regardless, students maintain countless justifications for cheating, such as teachers who assign unreasonable amounts of work or unhealthy competition between students to get high grades. Some blame the education system itself: If colleges evaluate the character of a student based off of a sheet of statistics, why should students care about anything else? John, an upperclassman using a fake name to protect his identity, bases many of his decisions on his desire to attend a topranked college. When asked if it is more important to get a high grade than to learn a subject, he simply responded, “To get into college, of course [it is].” This ideology follows him through his daily life, as he chooses to copy homework and notes for some subjects–despite being caught by a teacher on one occasion–to prioritize other classes, a practice that has contributed to his above 4.3 GPA. “I find no justification for me actually doing homework when not doing it still gets me [an A],” he explained. A campus-wide focus on grade point averages in order to get into elite colleges is a problem that Beauvais finds himself combatting on a daily basis. He believes that many students measure their value through their grades, and can feel pressured to use dishonest means to keep up their GPAs. When confronting students who have been caught cheating, he attempts to reset their priorities. “I don’t want [students’] sense of self-worth to come from grades, but from what kind of human being they are,” he said. John is aware that there are downsides to

“I don’t want [students’] sense of self-worth to come from grades.”

INFOGRAPHIC BY SUSAN WONG DATA FROM A RANDOM SURVEY OF 266 STUDENTS (3 REGISTRIES PER GRADE) CONDUCTED BY THE LOWELL FROM APRIL TO MAY 2019

and are willing to openly discuss it. In turn, this normalcy can contribute to more students cheating, as it did for Hanna. While she used to believe that cheating was a “terrible thing that never really happened,” after witnessing it in almost all of her classes, she now occasionally copies homework herself and allows others to cheat off of her during tests. “[Because cheating] happens so often, I don’t think it’s as that big of a deal, which I know is a bad thing, but it just seems a little bit more justifiable,” she said. With the increasing normalization of cheating comes rising pressure on students who don’t cheat to “help out” their peers. According to The Lowell’s survey, out of students who have cheated before, 13.6 percent felt pressured to do so. For Hanna, this pressure comes in the form of not wanting to be the student who says “no” when others want to copy her answers during tests. Like Hanna, Anne, a junior who is using a fake name to remain anonymous, feels conflicted when turning down friends and peers who send her unsolicited photos of tests and other forms of “help.” “I never know how to respond to it,” she said. “Would it be perpetuating the cheating culture if I thanked [the senders], even if I wasn’t going to use their answers? You can look at it as something nice

INFOGRAPHIC BY SUSAN WONG

that could benefit me in the short-term, but I don’t want it. Especially not when they expect reciprocation.” The destigmatization of cheating has been noted by students and teachers alike. Citing the recent college admissions scandal as evidence, AP physics teacher Cy Prothro believes that cheating might be destigmatized for an entire generation. “If everybody is doing it–Hollywood stars, hedge funders, lawyers– then it’s just expected,” he said. He believes that this way of thinking motivates students to cheat so that they are not at a disadvantage. “It pains me to say this out loud, but the culture now has gotten to this place where [reaching success is] by whatever means necessary,” he said. Overall, it seems as if cheating is not uncommon, especially among high-performing, competitive students. A well-documented case of widespread and organized cheating occurred at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, an elite school with demographics similar to those of Lowell. In March of 2012, Stuyvesant’s school newspaper, The Spectator, revealed through a survey of over 2,045 students that 80 percent had cheated before in one way or another. The problem at Stuyvesant still persists today, with a New York Post headline in April of this year declaring cheating a “huge issue” for the school, and a 2018 survey reporting that 58 percent of its students had cheated on a test before. In 2012, The New York Times pointed out an issue that both Stuyvesant and Lowell face: a lack of clear policies and punishments surrounding cheating. According to The Lowell’s survey, less than half of students know what Lowell’s cheating policy is, which is understandable considering that Lowell’s official campus policy on academic honesty is simply that cheating “in any form…will not be tolerated.” On the Lowell High School website, only Lowell’s English department provides a clear statement regarding cheating, calling for punishment “to the fullest extent of the school’s policies, including suspension for

The Lowell May 2019

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SPREAD DESIGN BY JOELLE CHIEN AND SUSAN WONG

cheating, such as becoming reliant on a bad habit, but he holds no reservations against helping others to cheat. Whether it’s looking up answers online, which he has done on “probably almost every test,” or “letting people know what’s ahead” for upcoming exams, he continues to encourage his peers to use whatever means necessary to keep up their grades. Students like John and Tom are members of what Tom called a “little community” of cheating, which they say fosters a sort of camaraderie in questionable activities. “We want each other to succeed and we show that through cheating sometimes,” Tom said. “People here care for other people, they understand that an ‘F’ is literally the worst possible thing in the entire world, and people don’t want you to go through that.” During tests, Tom has gone to great lengths to help other students copy off of him; in return, his peers have often held up papers for him or whispered answers his way. Collaborative cheating at Lowell creates a self-perpetuating cycle that normalizes the issue, allowing students to speak openly about cheating and further lower the stigma behind it. Hanna, a sophomore who has also elected to use a fake name, has noticed that she and other students have become desensitized to cheating

COVER

INFOGRAPHIC BY SUSAN WONG repeat offenses.” The statement also adds that “neither pressure for grades, inadequate time to complete an assignment, tests not adequately proctored, nor unrealistic parental expectations justify cheating.” According to the SFUSD student handbook, cheating and plagiarism are punishable by point deductions, zeros on assignments, lowered grades, detention, rescinded teacher recommendation letters or reports of cheating on teacher letters to colleges. Cases like Tom’s that include “stealing or attempting to steal school instructional materials” and receiving stolen materials are punishable by suspension or expulsion under California Education Code 48900. While getting the administration involved is an option, Lowell teachers often elect to handle instances of cheating using their own discretion. As of now, Beauvais has not dealt with a single reported case of cheating since being reinstated as dean at the beginning of the spring semester. He believes that teachers are well-equipped to handle situations of cheating, and can account for factors that administrators might not be aware of. Conversely, this policy INFOGRAPHIC BY SUSAN WONG

v The Lowell May 2019

(or lack thereof) can also lead to confusion and difficult decisions for teachers who are faced with serious instances of cheating in their classrooms. Last school year, Prothro had to navigate a sticky situation after being tipped off by a student that a sophomore had “stolen” a final and distributed it to others. The College Board AP Physics test that he was using was meant to be a confidential teacher resource, but it had been leaked online and found by the student

retake exams. Last school year, Tom was a part of a group text chat of precalculus students who sent photos and answers for their tests between blocks. This semester, his former teacher, who declined to comment on the situation, chose to have multiple blocks of her class retake an exam due to the persistence of this form of cheating in her classroom. Similarly, in early May, English teacher Stephanie Crabtree made her AP English classes retake a test after being made aware of cheating. In an emailed statement to

in question. Without clear guidelines to follow, Prothro “agonized” over how to punish the student, who ended up with a zero on the final and a C in the class that he was set to ace. While Prothro decided that the stolen final was an isolated incident, other teachers have dealt with more widespread or ambiguous cases of cheating that have caused entire classes to

The Lowell, Crabtree wrote that, in following the English department’s policy on plagiarism and academic dishonesty and the AP Exam security guidelines, she felt that a retake was the fairest way to address the matter. Nevertheless, this decision proved to be controversial. Junior Kelly Ye, a student in her seventh block class, felt like she was being unfairly punished for the wrongdoings of other students after being satisfied with her self-earned score, and was angry with any students who cheated for not considering the consequences of their actions. Some teachers have more rigid cheating policies. Retired social studies teacher Steven Schmidt taught at Lowell for over 20 years, and in a statement to The Lowell he expressed his belief that all students who cheat should be expelled. “If Lowell is truly preparing students for college, [students who cheat] should be forced out of Lowell’s prestigious environment to enroll in a different school,” he wrote. He believes that following this policy would force students to recognize the risks of sacrificing their academic honesty. According to Schmidt, the last two students who were caught cheating in his AP United States History class were offered an ultimatum: earn an “F” on their semester grade, or drop his class to enroll in regular US history. “Neither of them ever came back to my class,” he wrote. While many teachers have their own

“I feel so great if [cheating gets me] a good grade, like morality [is] out the door.”

VALENTIN NGUYEN

For students, the punishments for cheating are inconsistent, but for teachers, the mental conflict of punishing students can take a consistent toll. When she catches students cheating, Melvin struggles with her perception of both her students and herself. “[Confronting students about cheating] turns you into an evil person,” she said. “I don’t like the person I’ve become and I know [students] don’t like it either. When we catch cheating, all of us feel so dirty. But it exists here.” There might be disparities in how cheating is punished, but Beauvais doesn’t believe that a harsher or more uniform policy around cheating would resolve the issue. His guiding principle is that people who don’t cheat do so because they recognize the deeper consequences of cheating, not because it’s against the rules. “I think we all know that cheating is wrong,” he said. “We all knew it was wrong when we were [children], and we will know that it’s wrong when we’re 75 years old. Consequences be damned, people will do what they want.” Additionally, he has found that something as simple as a sit-down chat with a student can yield positive results, as he is able to recommend tutoring, negotiations with a teacher and a chance to discuss “what grades actually represent.” One way to reduce cheating might be increasing communication between students, teachers and administrators. Melvin has long been calling for a “deeper conversation” about the emphasis on grades and the amount of homework given at Lowell, which she believes will shed light on sources of student stress and

INFOGRAPHIC BY SUSAN WONG

The Lowell May 2019

SPREAD DESIGN BY JOELLE CHIEN AND SUSAN WONG

cheating policies worked out, some believe there is room for more oversight by the administration. AP Environmental Sciences teacher Katherine Melvin gives around 2030 zeros to students that she catches cheating each semester. While she believes that this system works to discourage students from cheating, she says that she would be “surprised if she caught 10 percent of cheating. Melvin thinks that the school should instate clearer policies for teachers to follow. “I don’t feel that there are clear guidelines or clear support at any level,” she said. “It’s unfortunate because it would be really nice if every teacher really clearly understood what the steps in the process are.” According to Melvin, this lack of support leads to “tremendous variation” in control over cheating between teachers. According to Hanna, her world languages teacher has witnessed widespread cheating in her classroom since her freshman year, but has done little to stop it. In this class, Hanna has long been a source of answers for other students due to her fluency in her foreign language. Though her teacher has moved Hanna closer to her desk, Hanna still finds herself surrounded by cheating classmates during tests. “There have definitely been times where people will be blatantly looking over my shoulder and just be standing there, looking at my test for long periods of time, or will come up and take a picture, and my teacher won’t say anything,” she said. Tom feels that he and other students are more willing to cheat in classes with teachers who provide lax punishments or who don’t look out for cheating at all. He doesn’t attempt to cheat while his teachers are actively supervising classrooms; in contrast, he described his experience last school year when his teacher was absent during a final: “We were like, ‘I guess we’re cheating today, guys,’” he said. “We went in a clockwise position exchanging tests and we all got like an 80 percent on it.” Beauvais described a lack of teacher supervision as an “attractive nuisance,” explaining that teachers who don’t actively look out for cheating can be encouraging academic dishonesty.

consequently lower levels of cheating. Similarly, Beauvais believes that there should be more than the minimal amount of collaboration currently happening between administers like himself and teachers in dealing with the situation. For now, teachers like Prothro and Melvin have been experimenting with less grade-focused curriculums, such as a self-grading program that Prothro tested out last year. While few teachers have found success in such strategies, there are ongoing efforts to change what educators like Prothro believe is a flaw in the culture of both Lowell and outside society. No matter the justification, rationalization or excuse a student gives for cheating, Beauvais wants to remind them that they are responsible for their actions. “The opportunities for cheating are myriad, but whether or not you cheat is not necessarily dependent on that,” he said. “It ultimately resides with [your] choices about [your] character or life. Winning at all costs is not worth winning. It really is not. At the end of the day, you’re empty. You’ll never know your true potential. What you earn is not who you are, you’re buying a trophy and saying you won, it’s not the same.” It is difficult to pinpoint the perpetrator and the victim in the game of cheating. Are students playing against a broken system or are they cheating themselves out of an education? Is cheating simply an immoral deed, or as freshman Taytum Wymer puts it, “dumb [and] against the rules,” or a necessary evil, as Hanna rationalizes due to the pressure and workload that she endures? Either way, Lowell’s student body’s view of cheating seems to have changed over recent years. “I mean, how did the culture evolve the way that it has?” Prothro asked. “That’s sort of the million-dollar question.” v

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NEWS

Arcade to be replaced with Student Union Classroom By Joelle Chien and Io Gilman

he arcade is always full of students eating lunch, listening to music, doing homework, cramming for tests and socializing with their friends. But soon, this area will be renovated to serve a new purpose. This June, construction will begin on a new building in the arcade area, which the district refers to as a “Student Union Classroom.” According to SFUSD project manager Mary Fung, it is now estimated that the building will cost $942,000 and the district has hired construction company Angotti & Reilly to complete the project. The renovated area will consist of an enclosed space that will be able to accommodate one or

12 v The Lowell May 2019 ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF SFUSD

two classes at a time. Fung says that the building is set to be completed by December of 2019. It is still mostly unknown what the space will end up being used for. However, one possible use for the space is as a classroom and conference room. According to Angotti & Reilly Project Manager Anthony Reilly, the building has classroom features and includes whiteboards and display boards. Though the space could be used as a classroom or conference room, principal Andrew Ishibashi envisions the student union as a space that will facilitate the sharing of students’ personal stories about overcoming

adversity in the hopes that it will help educate the Lowell community. “The purpose of the student union is that cultures could learn from each other,” Ishibashi said. “I won’t be here [when the student union classroom is built] but that was the vision I had.” Ishibashi hopes that the main feature of the area will be the display of prerecorded anecdotes from people of different backgrounds. A visitor would be able to pick up a headset, click a button on a laptop and listen to a recorded personal narrative. According to Ishibashi, the stories will cover a wide range of issues, including immigration, coming out and stories about overcoming adversity. “This [will be a] place to hear authentic stories from our students, from our community and even from other students from other schools,” he said. Ishibashi hopes that hearing these stories will help connect people with each other and educate them on the diverse backgrounds and histories of the people in their community. “To have the face of a person, telling you their story and

their frustration, and how thankful they are for whatever it may be [is very powerful],” he said. Ishibashi’s vision for the student union was born in 2016, when Lowell’s Black Student Union (BSU) led a walkout after photos they deemed offensive were taped to the library window. The images included pictures of several black rappers along with former President Barack Obama under the title “Happy Black History Month #GANG.” Shortly after, Ishibashi was given a list of demands by the BSU. One of the demands was the student union classroom. According to senior Alexa Coleman, the demands were made with the intention of increasing student awareness of African Americans’ experience at Lowell. “We just wanted people to know and

ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF SFUSD

implemented. Ishibashi is retiring after this year and will not be able to oversee the opening of the student union. Instead, he will be trusting the project to other people who will hopefully implement his vision. According to Ishibashi, the project will most likely pass on to assistant principal Orlando Beltran who is currently in

“This [will be a] place to hear authentic stories from our students, from our community and even from other students from other schools.” charge of Lowell’s grounds. Furthermore, the school has yet to make any concrete plans about where the stories will come from. According to Ishibashi, he has identified several possible sources for the stories, including sourcing preexisting stories from community centers in the Bay Area and acquiring them through student submissions. However, he has not taken any concrete steps toward contacting those organizations or recording students’ stories. “I usually do not start work until I see movement on it,” he said. When The Lowell contacted the district and the San Francisco Board of Education to find out what they think the building is going to be used for and why they decided to fund it, The Lowell did not recieve responses. Whatever the building eventually gets used for, it will be a significant change for Lowell’s campus. v

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recognize the things we go through to be at this school on a daily basis,” she said. Three years later, Ishibashi is following through. “I couldn’t make it happen immediately,” Ishibashi said. “But I told them that I’ll do my best. And what ended up happening is that it’s been approved.” Coleman thinks that just building the student union classroom will not be enough to make Lowell students more understanding of the experiences of African Americans at Lowell. “I only think it’s going to help or impact if other students of different races are willing to come and hear their stories and act on them,” she said. Ishibashi also knows that the success of the student union depends on Lowell students’ reactions to it. “I think it will impact Lowell students the most if they walk in there with an open mind,” he said. Though Ishibashi has good intentions, it’s hard to know if his vision will actually get

COLUMN

Seeing Through the Smoke: How the Camp Fire Shook My World

By Olivia Sohn

fter several hours of driving and a quick Starbucks run, we drove past the flashing lights and police cars that marked the restricted area where civilians and even property owners were not allowed. Only Search and Rescue (SAR) vehicles, fire crews and PG&E trucks drove these roads. Already we were driving through blackened fields that seemed to stretch into infinity. Charred trees dotted the horizon, partially concealed by the thick smoke. We were in Paradise now, a short week after the Camp Fire had largely destroyed the small town. Marin County Search and Rescue had brought me to many places around California to search, but I had never been to an area ravaged by fire before. Driving into Paradise, I thought I had signed up to spend several days there, but little did I know, Paradise wouldn’t leave me for months. I went to Paradise along with hundreds of search and rescue members from across California. We participated in some of the largest searches in California history, helping clear Paradise of hazards, as well as searching for human remains, before the residents could return to their homes. Paradise felt like another planet. The smoke was as thick as fog, turning the sun bright red. It was unnervingly silent and completely deserted except for the occasional cat or blackened deer roaming the desolation. This was a world of grey, black and white, everything dusted with a layer of light ash. Large holes of burning soil formed smoking craters in the ground. Some stumps and fallen trees were still flaming, but that didn’t worry us. What surrounding them could they catch on fire? A pile of ashy rubble? I was constantly aware of the hazards facing us. We had received a warning from the leadership on our team about our exposure to carcinogens, but that was the last thing on my mind. Power lines with only the bases charred tilted precariously above us, their wires hanging low above the road; those that had fallen formed tangled messes on the ground. I scanned the trees above me, searching for PHOTO COURTESY OF MARION MATHEWS “widow-makers”—stray branches blown into neighboring Searchers wore tyvek suits, hard helmets, rubber gloves, clear goggles and masks to trees by the strong winds of the fire. If they fell on us it could protect themselves from the hazards facing them. At the end of every day, searchers be fatal. were required to clean off in decontamination stations and change their clothing. One of my team’s assignments was to help search all blackened forms frozen in their position of death: paws outstretched of the cars for human remains, firearms and other hazards, so that and curled, mouths open. I concluded that death by fire had to be the they could be cleared from the roads. With about 50 other searchers most painful. we achieved this in one day. Melted aluminum streamed away from As we searched houses the next day, we sifted through the ashes of many cars in bright ribbons and the windshields formed warped green people’s lives. We could recognise what used to be a refrigerator, a gun moldings on the dashboards. Some of them appeared to have swerved safe or a metal cabinet, but what would really offer a window into the to the side of the road, with their doors open, as if people had thought who the homeowners may have been were random untouched objects it better to run than drive. I contemplated where those people had gone. found amidst the rubble. I found what appeared to be children’s pottery: In another car? Was it that bad that they had to run for it? a candle holder and pinch pot, completely intact, resting in the ashes. Once, as we searched some cars in a driveway, I came upon two Outside another home, I found a beautiful untouched statue of a crane dead cats laying on the concrete. The cats weren’t piles of ash, but

v The Lowell April 2019

inside a charred sculpture garden. It was the last thing left standing besides their chimney. When our work was done, I was ready to leave Paradise, but I wasn’t ready to leave my team, the ones who understood the world I had just been immersed in. The color, vibrancy and standing homes of the towns we drove through on our way home felt foreign. I wasn’t at home for more than two hours before I hopped onto a plane to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. In the following weeks, I realised my relationship with Paradise hadn’t ended when the searching was over. When I was in Paradise, I felt relatively untouched by the destruction that I was witnessing. I knew it was a horrific situation, but I had a job to do, so I didn’t allow it to affect me. But now in North Carolina, I found myself deeply sad about everything I had just witnessed. My family showing me copious news articles about the fire didn’t help; learning about the people who died running from their cars or sleeping in their beds made me attach these victims to all the objects that I had seen. OLIVIA SOHN

“I began to feel like Paradise was tacked to the back of my eyes, like a filter overlaying reality.”

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SPREAD DESIGN BY OLIVIA SOHN

When we were driving around Charlotte, I began to feel like Paradise was tacked to the back of my eyes, like a filter overlaying reality. I’d see burnt houses everywhere, their bathtubs full of rubble, the beds reduced to blackened springs and the warped kitchen appliances. The images overwhelmed me, trapping me in the grey space between reality and memory. I thought that when I returned to San Francisco I would feel better, but I didn’t. The bouts of anxiety and the images didn’t leave me. On my first day back at school, as I was walking on the smooth grey concrete, I was reminded of the sidewalk we found two dead cats on and I saw them lying before me. My brain hurled back to images of them, then to images of Paradise. And while I knew where I was, again, I felt stuck in the grey space. My entire body became tense, my breathing and heartbeat rapid. The rest of the week didn’t get better. Classmates and teachers asked where I had been, as I had been gone for a week. But each time I told them, my heart seized up and I felt trapped all over again. In the weeks following the search, my existing depression was reaching new lows. I felt trapped in a dark hole I couldn’t get out of. I tried to talk about my experiences with close friends and loved ones

but talking about it didn’t help because it caused me so much anxiety. I felt isolated from everyone in my life. It became difficult to sleep. A seemingly random fear of being murdered would shock my body awake every time I turned off the light, so I slept with it on. Even when I did sleep, it was restless. Dreams about Paradise visited me nightly. I struggled to keep my grades up and things I used to enjoy now scared me, so I stopped doing them. Would I have a flashback if I started a bonfire or went on a walk on the beach? Even when I was relaxed I felt like the feeling could end at any second; I was constantly aware that beneath the surface lurked Paradise, threatening to show itself. After around a month of this, I called my best friend’s mother who is a therapist. She referred me to a specialist in treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is categorised as an anxiety disorder caused by trauma. According to the National Center for PTSD, four symptoms of PTSD include avoiding reminders of the trauma, feeling anxious or on edge as well as hyper-vigilant, re-experiencing the trauma through dreams or flashbacks and suffering from negative thoughts and feelings. PTSD is the dysfunction of two parts of your brain: the amygdala, which triggers your flight or fight instinct, and the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that makes decisions. According to Psychology Today, people with PTSD have a hyperactive amygdala and a less active prefrontal cortex, which means that their brains overreact to their environments, while their prefrontal cortex is less able to mediate this stress response. The therapist that I went to specialises in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR), an eight-stage process designed to help the brain naturally heal from its trauma. EMDR helped me, and eventually I stopped having flashbacks and learned how to deal with the anxiety that I was experiencing. The last flashback I had was in late February. The bad dreams rarely visit me, and it’s now unusual for me to have nights where I have trouble sleeping. The hypervigilance, however, was slower to leave and I felt it for months after I ended therapy. I had difficulty coming to terms with my PTSD. I felt weak for getting it because I didn’t find human remains, or fight the fires. I carried a sense of shame about it, but slowly that lessened as I accepted that I had no control over it. Recently, after months of feeling unable to participate in search and rescue, I went to a Monday night meeting and now I’m considering starting to search again. My case of PTSD was mild because the trauma that I experienced was a short and isolated event. For people who experience trauma repeatedly, or more intensely, PTSD is something that can haunt them for years, for some until the ends of their lives. I am very lucky to have been able to receive support and quality treatment so quickly. While I feel that mentally I have healed, the experience has left scars that have shifted my values. I say scars not in a good or bad way, just to say that my experience with Paradise and PTSD have deeply changed me. Both the issues of climate change and PTSD have become very important to me. In California, because of climate change, the magnitude and frequency of wildfires is predicted to increase drastically. We’re already seeing this damaging pattern in the Northern California fire storm of 2017 and the Camp Fire last year. I have now experienced first hand the horrific death and destruction that climate change is already bringing, leading me to question my career path in the social sciences and consider switching to a STEM major to study climate change. In the months following the Camp Fire, Paradise clouded my mind, but I’ve emerged from the smoke with a clearer understanding of my values, ambitions and the ways in which I want to make a difference.v

NEWS

A closer look at Lowell’s nut policy By Kate Green and Allison Jou

t can take as little as 15 seconds for a teacher to announce that a classroom is nut-free. That’s also how much time freshman Nikhita Law has to use her Epipen before she could die. Law is deathly allergic to tree nuts. Even airborne peanut particles can cause an anaphylactic reaction, where her throat swells and impedes breathing. She is in danger every time she is in the vicinity of a nut product. “Anaphylaxis can be like five minutes and then I’m dead, so it’s very very fast, everyone would have to act quickly,” Law explained. Despite the immediate consequences nut allergies can have, education about them at Lowell has been a slow process, with many Lowellites unaware of students like Law and the policies in place to protect them. According to assistant principal Holly Giles, Lowell’s current policy is that any student who has a severe allergy is recommended to discuss their medical information with the school nurse, who can then notify teachers on how to manage their classrooms. Additionally, school-wide events that involve food are asked to be nut-free when students with severe nut allergies are present. Because the severity of allergies can vary greatly, the policy is somewhat ambiguous, as every student is accommodated on a case-by-case basis. This current policy feels insufficient to Law, who has only been able to attend Lowell through her mother’s efforts to ensure her safety in her classrooms. Law is originally from Toronto, Ontario, where nuts are banned in public schools, partly due to a 2005 incident where a student died

v The Lowell May 2019

WARREN QUAN after nut exposure. However, when Law was in fourth grade, she moved to San Francisco and no longer had access to nut-free public schools. Law and her parents struggled for months to find a school that could accommodate her nut allergy before deciding on Garfield Elementary, which, according to Law, had “some level of a nut policy.” As a safety precaution, Law’s mother trained all the school staff on nut allergy safety, and put up nut-free signs in every classroom Law had a class in. She did the same at Thomas Edison Charter Academy, the middle school Law attended, as well as at Lowell. “She’s done it so many times at different schools,” Law said. “So she knows what needs to be done.” Thanks to Law’s mother’s continued efforts to keep her safe, she has avoided any allergic reactions at school. However, she still has concerns about the way nut allergies are treated at Lowell. Lowell’s large class sizes make nut-free classrooms difficult to enforce. “Lowell is a much bigger school,” she said. “My middle school was actually a K-8 school, and they had like 60 kids in each [grade] so everyone knew me and everyone knew about my allergy.” In addition to the larger student body, the risk of being exposed to nuts is much higher at Lowell because there is no designated lunch area for students. As a result, they are allowed to eat in class and around campus. Because of this, Law goes through a complicated routine everyday to prevent any exposure to nuts. She places a “nut-free” sign at every desk she uses and also wipes them down throughout the day.

“It takes a little bit of time but it’s better to be safe than sorry,” Law said. Law’s situation isn’t unique; nut allergies are on the rise among children in the United States. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that food allergies have increased in children by 18 percent from 1997 to 2007. In a study published by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, peanut allergies in children have increased from 0.4 percent in 1997 to 1.4 percent in 2008. According to a survey of 62 Lowell students, 12.9 percent of them have a nut allergy. Although sophomore Kwynsky Miguel also has a severe nut allergy, she hasn’t been as careful about being exposed to nuts as Law. She says that she has never seriously discussed her allergies with the school nurse or her teachers, instead choosing to advocate for herself by asking classmates to put away certain foods and keeping her Epipen with her at all times. When Miguel first noticed that some of her classrooms were coincidentally nut-free, she was thrilled that there were measures in place for students with nut allergies as severe as her’s. “I was happy because [the administration] knew that there’s kids around here that have allergies that are severe,” she said. “At least I know these teachers know about it.” Several times since coming to Lowell, fellow students have tried to “test” Law’s allergies. Although most of her classmates are respectful about putting away food when asked, it’s the few instances where students don’t take her allergy seriously that can have potentially deadly consequences. “[Peers testing my

VALENTIN NGUYEN Vanessa Compagno believes that a nut ban at a high school like Lowell is unfeasible. “We can’t be an entirely nut-free school,” Compagno said. “Since we have almost 3,000 kids and then almost 200 faculty members, that doesn’t really work, but what we can do is in specific classrooms, we can have those be as nut-free as possible.” At the district level, the current SFUSD policies in place require all food sold at schools to be nut free, however, many of the food items offered could potentially have traces of nuts and other allergens in them.

of announcements to my classes but someone’s bound to forget or miss out on it.” In cases where teachers haven’t been as proactive as Tran about enforcing a nut ban, the risk for exposure runs even higher. Junior Sarah Berman, who works as a teacher’s assistant in a nut-free classroom, says that the “nut-free” sign in one of her classrooms is barely visible, which has led to instances when her and other students have eaten nuts without knowing that they were banned. “I know a lot of people make similar mistakes just because there isn’t a lot of advocacy about no-nut policies,” she said. Her experience is similar to that of many other students. According to The Lowell’s survey, 44 out of 62 Lowellites had a class in a nut-free classroom, but only 48 percent of those students had ever heard an announcement about the nut ban. Forty-six-point-eight percent of all the students did not even know if they had ever brought nuts inside a nut-free classroom. Overall, Miguel believes that making students understand the severity of allergic reactions and what they need to do to prevent them will prove impactful. “I’m OK with [people eating nuts] because it’s a common thing to eat, but I also want them to be caring about others around them, to know their surroundings and to be sure that someone who isn’t severely allergic is around you,” Miguel said. v

“Some kids wouldn’t think I was serious about having severe allergies to peanuts and they would stick their peanut butter sandwich to my face and my friends would be like, ‘She’s deadly allergic to peanuts!’” Even with all these policies and protocols, students with nut allergies are only safe if their classmates actually follow the rules, which is difficult when some students aren’t aware that they exist. In a nut-free classroom for the first time last semester, math teacher Robert Tran taught and spent a lot of time monitoring his classroom and reminding students not to bring nuts. Although his students mostly stopped bringing them to class, he still couldn’t guarantee that his classroom was always nutfree. “I think the thing I worried about the most is managing everyone.” Tran said. “I made lots

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SPREAD DESIGN BY VALENTIN NGUYEN

allergies] has happened many times, to be honest,” Miguel said, visibly uncomfortable. “Some kids wouldn’t think I was serious about having severe allergies to peanuts and they would stick their peanut butter sandwich to my face and my friends would be like, ‘She’s deadly allergic to peanuts!’” Although Law has never experienced this form of harassment, she agrees that people need to take allergies more seriously. “I doubt it would happen here because everyone at Lowell is so nice, but some people don’t take it seriously or don’t understand it,” she said. Although Miguel believes that she is just as responsible as the school in managing her nut allergy, she wishes that the administration was more proactive about making sure Lowell students know about the severity of nut allergies. Giles anticipates future discussions about enacting more policies about food allergies, as the bulk of students with severe allergies have only arrived in recent years. As of now, with no serious complaints or concerns having been raised, Giles, who personally has a nut allergy, has seen no need for a nut ban at Lowell. As dangerous as nuts are to many students, it is unlikely that SFUSD will take measures as drastic as Ontario’s to completely ban them. Although some schools like Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy and San Francisco Public Montessori School are nut-free, school nurse

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SPORTS

TWINNING IS

TWO PAIRS OF TWINS SHARE T ALYSON “ALY” AND KATELYN “KD” LEE, BASKETBALL By Anita Liu

PAGE DESIGN BY ANITA LIU

t all started with a Fisher-Price basketball hoop in senior twins is knowing exactly what play the other will perform. Alyson “Aly” and Katelyn “KD” Lee’s backyard. They started playing The twins had played on teams together throughout their lives, but basketball with it when they were just four, quickly earning them during their sophomore year, they split up. Both Aly and KD had the the nickname “young ballers.” The two have continued to shoot option to move from the JV girls basketball up to varsity, but while Aly hoops together ever since, and they recently wrapped up their final decided to stay behind in JV, KD decided to take the leap and play for season with Lowell’s varsity girls basketball team. varsity. Both said that it was a good experience, but that it was weird. They Aly and KD look almost identical, but they differ in two main ways: were used to always playing in games together, but now they were watching their heights and personalities. each other play. “I think that KD is two inches taller than Aly was the right option for both and much more reserved, while of us,” Aly said. She was Aly is more outgoing. When able to gain confidence and they were younger, coaches and be challenged as a leader, teammates used to confuse the whereas KD was at a higher two. “When they were subbing skill level and ready to pick us in, [they would call] ‘KD! No, up more difficult plays. Aly!’ If you’re looking at me, I’m Aly and KD have also going in,” Aly said. “Sometimes used their advantages as it’s like ‘Get your sister.’” twins off the basketball Unlike many siblings, the court. KD once had to be twins get along together and at a meeting, but she was work as a unit on the court. busy playing at basketball “When we’re thinking about the games for colleges in Los same thing, we’re both going to Angeles. So, Aly volunteered get it, like no saying no to us,” to pretend to be KD at the KD said. “We don’t work against meeting. “In my head, I was each other.” like, ‘You’re not Aly, you’re However, the twins are also not Aly,’” she said. “I got up ANITA LIU very competitive against each in front of the class and was Senior twins KD (left) and Aly (right) have been balling since they were 4. other off the court, which helps like ‘Hi, I’m Aly.’” Several to push their performance as a duo to a higher level. For example, Aly people became suspicious, but no one could tell for sure if it was Aly or once completed a workout slower than KD and had to run a “suicide lap.” KD. According to Aly and KD, playing on a sports team with a twin is In the 2018-19 season, KD won the title of California Interscholastic different than just playing with an ordinary teammate– there is a stronger Federation San Francisco Section’s “Player of the Year” and Aly earned type of chemistry present. On the court, Aly will tend to pass the ball to a spot on the All-League First Team. Both Aly and KD are planning to KD even if there are other teammates around her, because she knows attend UC Davis next fall. Although KD was scouted to play for college that KD will get the ball. “There’s just a different amount of trust [on the teams, she decided to not play college ball and instead see what else life v court],” Aly said. One of the most rewarding parts of playing with a twin has to offer. However, both hope to at least play intramural basketball.

Timeline of teams Aly and KD have played on:

Bay City

Catholic Church Union Bay Area Asian Sports (Dragons) YMCA Co-Ed Kindergarten 1st grade

2nd grade

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Saint Gabriel 3rd grade

4th grade

5th grade

6th grade

Lowell 7th grade

8th grade

9th grade

10th grade

11th grade

12th grade

EDITORIAL

S WINNING:

THEIR ATHLETIC EXPERIENCE

DAKOTA AND DYLAN O’BRIEN, TRACK AND FIELD By Io Gilman

Dylan’s personal records: 100m - 11.40 (2nd fastest on the team) 200m - 23.38 (2nd fastest on the team) 400m - 55.18 (6th fastest on the team)

Dakota’s personal records: 100m - 12.08 (8th fastest on the team) 200m - 24.02 (5th fastest on the team) 400m - 53.99 (4th fastest on the team)

(Records as of May 13, 2019)

Running in the 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, and 200m dash (seeded 1st) at All-City Finals

Running in the 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, 200m dash (seeded 8th), and 400m dash (seeded 1st) at All-City Finals The Lowell May 2019 v 19

PAGE DESIGN BY SUSAN WONG

ophomore twins Dylan and Dakota O’Brien were born a they heard Dylan and Dakota talking to each other in the middle of the minute apart. But, since they are fraternal, people don’t always night. “Apparently we were passed out and sleep-talking to each other,” know that they are twins. Dylan’s hair is light brown and curly, Dakota said. In addition to living together, they also spend much of their whereas Dakota’s is darker brown free time at school with each other. This and straight. Their interests and semester, they share an off block with their personalities are not all the same either— group of friends. Dylan plays the violin; Dakota plays the According to Dylan, many people trumpet. Dylan is more reserved; Dakota is only know that they are related when they more talkative. However, they are united by see their track hoodies with the same last their athletic talent. name on them. “Mostly the first thing they Dylan and Dakota have both been think is cousins and then we tell them, running track since middle school, when and then they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, wow,’” Dylan ran the 200m and Dakota ran the Dylan said. 400m. When they started high school Though siblings can often be track, Dylan started running the 100m in competitive, Dylan and Dakota aren’t. addition to the 200m. This is partially because they are good at In addition to their individual events, different events; Dakota typically excels in they also run relays on the Lowell track longer distance events and Dylan in shorter team together. This year, Dylan will be distance events. Since they are rarely in running the third leg of the 4x400m relay direct competition with each other, when in the Frosh-Soph division at All-City they are competitive it is mostly in a joking Finals, and will be handing the baton off to way. “I’ll sometimes be like, ‘I’m going to Dakota to finish off the race. Additionally, run your event and beat you,’ but I know they will be running the 4x100m relay that I’m not going to beat him,” Dakota together at All-City, Dylan as the second said. leg, and Dakota as the anchor in the fourth This year, for the first time, Dylan and leg. Dakota will be running against each other Not only do they run, the twins have in the same race at All-City Finals. They also been playing on the same soccer team will be competing in the 200m, which has since they were three, so they have lots of typically been Dylan’s event. As of now, experience working together. “I think it during practice, Dylan is a second faster helps that we’re related. We just know each than Dakota, which is a considerable SUSAN WONG other really well, so it’s easier,” Dakota said. difference in a sprint. Even though it seems Sophomore twins Dylan (left) and Dakota (right) are “I know him so I know what most likely as if Dakota is not going to place as high not often recgonized as twins. he’s going to do.” as his brother, Dakota is not upset about it. The twins describe their relationship as “pretty close.” One time, “Most likely he wins, unless I pull something out of vthe hat and beat him,” when they were around six or seven, their parents woke up because Dakota said, “I’m okay with that, I can accept it.”

OPINION

In Defense of Laziness By Sofia Woo

LAUREN CALDWELL

y winter break, the first wave of symptoms started kicking in: pushing back homework, decreasing performance on tests. By spring break, I was fully diagnosed with senioritis. I began counting down the days until graduation. I tried figuring out which classes I could potentially skip for a day. I stopped studying for tests. I have one goal for the rest of senior year: to not fail and get rescinded. Now, I’m not promoting seniors to be couch potatoes and truants. As concerning as my recent bout of relaxation and renewal may be to my parents and teachers, senior-year laziness gets a bad rap. In fact, these weeks of relaxation have actually made me a better person. As the stress of college applications has

worn away and as I look forward to graduation and the future, not having to care as much about grades has made me a happier person and has allowed me to focus on my passions that were previously pushed to the back burner. For the past four years, I had been quarantined in my room with my head buried in textbooks, studying until I forgot whether it was morning or night. I have spent the last few formative years of my life concerned about numbers, acceptances and rejections without any concern about my own or others’ happiness and wellbeing. Now that high school is coming to a close, I have become not just more self-aware, but more in tune with my friends and family.

“The pressure cooker atmosphere at Lowell makes it so that students don’t see the difference between completely failing your classes and taking a more relaxed approach to academics.“

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In fact, my attitude towards grades and scores now is what it should have been during my earlier high school years. I no longer get disappointed in myself for getting a B on a quiz and dwell on it for the next few days. The pressure cooker atmosphere at Lowell makes it so that students don’t see the difference between completely failing your classes and taking a more relaxed approach to academics. What students, teachers and parents need to understand is that the diminishing stress has allowed me to enjoy my last few months of being a kid before adulthood. After all, isn’t making mistakes, having fun and learning for enjoyment also part of one’s teenage years? Us seniors have a finite amount of time before we have to say goodbye to our families and face adulthood.

Why shouldn’t we be able to enjoy these few months we have left before burying our faces in textbooks for another four years? While I have spent a lot more time watching reruns of “The Office,” I have also been able to do productive, social activities to make up for the times when I have had to stay home studying. I can go to restaurants on weeknights with my family without worrying about not having enough time to finish homework, and I finally have the opportunity to start reading books that I bought last summer. Seniors don’t necessarily just fall into a vegetative state once second semester hits. I know plenty of seniors who continue to do productive activities, and they have even more time to pursue their interests. I have

friends doing internships at political offices, working at museums, and volunteering at tutoring centers. When I was in the throes of applying to college, adults would tell me to relax, not to stress out over grades and to get more sleep. But the moment I started to loosen the reins on academics, a blaring red alarm went off in my head. Although my senioritis is putting me in a less academic mindset, it’s just a side effect of having studied for hours everyday for four years. If we want to prevent the effects of this illness from getting too strong, we need to start seeing students not as factory machines, but rather as humans who have the capability of working hard, but who sometimes need to take a break once in a while as well. v

SPREAD DESIGN BY ANNA KAPLAN

The Lowell May 2019

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