The Matador: Issue 9 - May 25, 2022

MATADOR SAN GABRIEL HIGH SCHOOL

THE

SENIOR ISSUE VOLUME 67, ISSUE 9

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022 | THEMATADORSGHS.US 801 S. RAMONA STREET, SAN GABRIEL, CA 91776

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA PHUNG

2 NEWS

THE MATADOR

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

Leaked Supreme Court Roe v. Wade review provokes response from students

“Supreme Court IMG_1062” CC/BY NC ND, OZinOH

The leaked Supreme Court decision was a draft on Mississippi’s strict abortion law.

If the draft opinion is the Court’s final opinion, it would overturn past decisions securing abortion rights, such as Roe v. Wade and Planned v. Casey.

ANDREW LAM AND TRISTAN ING EDITOR IN CHIEF, PRINT AND OPINIONS EDITOR

T

he case of Roe v.

Wade reduced state interference in a person’s right to have an abortion and was a landmark case that allowed people to have a legal and safe abortion without the fear of arrest or death. On May 2, a draft opinion from the Supreme Court was leaked which would eliminate the precedent set in its ruling.

Part of Roe v. Wade’s controversy stems from issues of individual freedoms.

Its overturn would nullify people’s guaranteed right to an abortion, leaving the decision up to states.

“I think that it is a choice of freedom,” senior Maritza Brundige said. “I firmly believe ‘your body, your choice’; if you believe that abortions aren’t a good thing, then that is your option. If you think that abortions are [good], then I think that’s your decision to make. I don’t think that anyone should control your body except for you.”

With abortion being such a dividing issue in America, multiple aspects of life are

rife with conversation about it. Senior Alondra Zubiate believes that some news and media sources are not providing the most factual information on abortions, leading some to develop an anti-abortion stance.

“I feel like a lot of misinformation is [spread about] the whole process of abortion,” Zubiate said. “A lot of people believe that the [during the] process, the fetus is cut into pieces, starved, or suctioned out.”

Students also believe that if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the effects will not entirely eliminate

abortions but, rather, make it more difficult for women to get safe abortions.

“I think that it’s not going to stop all abortions,” sophomore Brandon Pham said. “Women are just going to have unsafe abortions that [are] just going to lead to dangerous health consequences. I [also] think that we’re going to experience a growth in population as a result of it.”

After almost 50 years since Roe v. Wade established the right to abortion in 1973, its overturn was shocking to some. Brundige believes that undoing Roe v. Wade

will discredit the progress of women’s rights.

“I think that we are going back to trying to control women again, and I don’t think that’s okay,” Brundige said. “But I think people are very outspoken about the fact that they don’t like abortion, and there are also people who are very outspoken about how they really do want abortions to be legal.”

The Supreme Court has been explicit that the leaked draft is not necessarily the Court’s final decision on the matter. Its final opinion is expected to be published in late June.

Celebration of senior success during Decision Day event Continuing tradition, counselors held Decision Day for all seniors, congratulating them on their future success.

XIAOYU FAN FEATURES EDITOR

On May 19, college adviser Jennifer Gomez and the school counselors held a celebration, Decision Day, at the Arena during lunch.

Decision Day celebrates seniors’ accomplishments thus far, from going to college or trade school, to entering the workforce or joining the military.

Decision Day is an annual tradition at the school with a new theme every year. This year’s theme is inspired by the story “Oh! The Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss. By holding this event, Gomez hopes to make students aware of their achievements and inspire them to start a new exploration in the near

future.

“Before the pandemic, previous advisers also held this event for seniors,” Gomez said. “Even during distance learning, advisers found a way to celebrate your accomplishments.

[During the event,] students were celebrated for their accomplishments and, hopefully, gained a sense of realization that they are reaching such an important milestone in their lives.”

Such a milestone was celebrated with pizza, a slideshow of senior achievements, and a raffle (with a tower fan as the grand prize). The grand prize was won by senior Tien Nguyen.

“I went to the event to have fun with my friends,”

Tien said. “I felt good because I was not expecting to get a fan. I had a good time there. I really liked this event.”

Gomez has worked with the Class of 2022 for a year.

Now, seeing that the seniors are about to graduate, she is grateful for their company. “‘Oh the Places You’ll Go’ was inspired by you all,” Gomez said. “All your talents, skills, and attributes that will take you all wherever you want to go. You all have endured so many challenges and have faced many obstacles in the last four years; you are still here, fighting to get to the finish line. I am beyond proud of each and every one of you. Congratulations Class of 2022! I can’t wait to see the ‘Places You’ll Go.’”

PHOTO BY KEN YU

“Oh! The Places You’ll Go!” was the theme of Decision Day 2022. The theme comes from the title of a Dr. Seuss book.

NEWS 3

THE MATADOR

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BRIEFS

Drama Club elects new cabinet, celebrates at end-of-year banquet

BY JEREMY GUTIERREZ NEWS EDITOR

D

rama Club held its endof-year banquet on May 13 where the members gathered, ate, performed, and reminisced on the past year. The club used the banquet as a way to finish up outstanding club business, relax, and prepare for the next year. Several students were also the recipients of trophies.

“I think everyone wants what is best for the club, and people truly do vote for who they think did the best job, not necessarily who their bestie is,” Drama Club adviser Kelsey McNeilly said. “So, overall, I trusted this group of students to vote responsibly, and they did!”

Eleven students received awards in different categories, such as Best Lead Performer in a Play or Best Lead Performer in a Musical. In addition to performance awards, five seniors were awarded with cords for their participation in Drama Club. In order to qualify for a cord, a student must participate in at least four shows. Following

the award show, several members of the club took turns singing karaoke.

“The performances, I feel, were fun and really let people relax and be themselves,” Samantha Martinez, senior and vice president of Drama Club, said. Everyone was always so respectful and gave their attention that it was really easy to just enjoy the moment and be able to connect with one another.”

Among the performers was McNeilly who, amidst solos, duets, and group performances, sang “Somewhere That’s Green” from Little Shop of Horrors, the show the club was meant to perform before the lockdown in March of 2020. McNeilly, who views performing as something scary, wanted to model vulnerability for her students.

“Our table centerpieces were all props from the past 4 years of shows to represent where we have been,” McNeilly said. “The drama club is all about coming together and having a good time! So I think, overall, it was an amazing way to end the year and everyone left feeling full!

Important Grad Night regulation information for seniors

BY ANDREW LAM

Senior Class Council has organized the 2022 Grad Night which will be taking place at Universal Studios Hollywood from 3:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. Although seniors are encouraged to make the most out of this send-off, there are still regulations.

Face coverings will be required at all times both indoors and outdoors regardless of vaccination status.

Students can wear “Class of 2022” and any senior-themed attire as long as they do not make mention to any schools.

PHOTO BY JEREMY GUTIERREZ

(Left to right) Seniors Vivian Phan, Tien Nguyen, Kelly Hoang, Samantha Martinez, drama teacher Kelsey McNeilly, Hilary Ung, and Win Aung. The 2022-23 Drama cabinet surprised their adviser with a bouquet of flowers to show their thanks.

Full of love and full of pizza!”

Before the party could begin, the Drama Club cabinet for the 2022-23 school year was revealed. Presented by McNeilly and members of the current cabinet via slideshow, the six new positions were filled. The students were decided by a vote prior to the banquet.

“I really like the new cabinet,” Martinez, senior and vice

president of Drama Club, said.

“I personally know a majority of them, and I feel they will do great in continuing to create this safe and creative environment.”

The new cabinet includes freshman Elijah Luna for president and junior Sofia Chavarria for vice president. The majority of the new positions are held by freshmen, although the cabinet is varied.

Returning caps, gowns, diploma pick ups for seniors

BY KEN YU

Senior cap and gown rental returns as well as diploma pick-ups will be held next Wednesday at school from 1 p.m to 4 p.m.

Time windows for the return and pick-up are alphabetically grouped into six sections: A-C, D-H, I-M, N-R, S-V, and W-Z. Each group has 30 minutes, and the pick-up location has yet to be decided. For any further questions, contact the Business and Activities Office at (626) 946-6820.

School administration adds new bathroom rule PHOTO BY LYNDA LAM

Cafeteria manager Roxanne Venegas aims to stop food waste across campus in order to keep the campus cleaner and to better the environment.

Venegas reveals campus food waste policy LYNDA LAM FOCUS EDITOR

Due to the pandemic, the cafeteria staff needed to indefinitely discontinue their programs aimed at reducing the school’s food waste. Instead of being able to have food be donated to different needy communities and having bins where students can pick up leftover food, Venegas tracks the amount of food given out to students.

“I have a big calendar to put how many students we’re anticipating to eat the school meals,” Venegas said. “This is in the case of a school event, and it allows me to tighten the menu so that we don’t have 10 or 20 meals leftover. Ten to 15

minutes before lunch ends, kids can go ahead and get seconds if there are some left over.”

The cafeteria staff acknowledged that students play a big role in the reduction of the school’s waste, so they replaced the old utensil packages with paper dispensers and individual forks to prevent students from hoarding the old utensil set. Students are also encouraged to save food.

“It is important for us to give out a nutritious meal with carbs, fiber, and calcium, but if there is food left over, students can save them for later or give them to their family,” Venegas said. “We sometimes add recipes to the breakfast bags to encourage students to make a smoothie or protein shake.”

Venegas hopes next year’s food regulations allow for their pre-pandemic food programs to make a comeback. She also wishes to collaborate with more organizations to promote food waste prevention and healthy nutrition.

“It would be nice to get involved with the Environmental Club or maybe make a video on SGTV to let more people know about our services,” Venegas said.

“Next year, we want to try to collaborate with the Alhambra Teacher Association and give them leftover fruit and stuff like that to help the community.”

Students are able to give feedback and suggestions by communicating with staff directly or through district

events. As of right now, the cafeteria staff are considering bringing the pho and ramen bars back. They are also in the process of trying brand new dishes for the school.

“If you go to Food Services on the [district] website, there’s recipes, the menu, and a bunch of different things that you can utilize,” Venegas said. “There is also a [district] food fair where students can come in and test different food that we have available, and [the district] researches which food students like and don’t like.

The cafeteria staff hopes for students to take advantage of the free food the school provides and that they are open and planning new additions to the menu.

BY LYNDA LAM

On May 4, the school administration issued a new policy for student restrooms in response to concerns about the increasing drug use and loitering. From now on, no more than four students can be in a restroom at all times during the day.

Signs near restrooms can be seen notifying students of the new rule as well as reminding students that tobacco use is forbidden. Additionally, everybody must be within eyesight of their teachers during breaks.

Celebrating the retirement of Mark Juarez and Karen Keller

BY RICHARD TRAN

AP Psychology and U.S History teacher Juarez and Ceramics teacher Karen Keller will be retiring this year. Teachers will be throwing a retirement party for both. The celebration will be held on Tuesday, May 24 at the Library at 1:15 pm. Sadly, once Keller retires, there will not be another ceramics class, meaning it is the end of it at our school for the foreseeable future.

To read the full articles, visit www.thematadorsghs.us

4 WILLS

A ALONDRA ZUBIATE

Future Plans: Major in Forensic Science: Physical Evidence at Virginia Commonwealth University Will: I, Alondra Zubiate, of dyed hair and impeccable style, bequeath my love of Takis to Gael, my peach gains to Laura Cai, my music taste to Sebs, my love for Sanrio and daily hugs to Suki, my Peer Assistant skills to Karen Gutierrez, my non-proneness towards injuries to Assahel, my strong lungs and long walks to the shop to Christi Nguyen, my W lat pulldown form to Aaron Hampton, my weird TikTok FYP and McDonald’s Doordashes to Isaiah Olivares, my attitude to Tjay, my love for hot older men (aka Johnny Depp) to Hailey Bailey, my Magcon phase to Katy Ho, and my post track practice ice baths to Tammie Huong.

Quote: “Life is too short to spend it with people who annoy you,” - Red Forman, That 70s Show.

Memories: Dancing el payaso rodeo in the quad, track meet bus rides, and paying Gael to eat random stuff Predictions: Kai Marroquin will be in the Olympics, Alexis Alas will own multiple houses throughout the world, and Ashlee Hernandez will sell her first house as a real estate agent to me.

Thanks to: The goat Coach Weaver, Coach Morales, Ms. Jung the mom of SCC, Coach Rosas, Mr. Hinojosa, Ms. Wong, Mr. Hendrickson, la despampanante Ms. Deniz, Mr. Tobias, Ms. Vergo, the lovely office staff, and my dawg Mr. Galan

ALVIN YE

Future Plans: Business Econ at UCSD Will: I, Alvin Ye, of green bananas and creator of the <o-, will hand my secret techniques to the badminton team, my famous cup noodle making skills to Academic Decathlon, my pizza and other various snacks to FBLA members, and my tic-tac-toe knowledge to those I have defeated such as those in AP statistics Quote: “It’s never the technique’s fault, but if you score, it was because of the technique <o-.” - Alvin H. Ye Memories: Binh keeps giving aggressive hugs during lunch. I stole my sister’s orange juice a lot. I took Aiden’s water bottle. Bird noises during section competition.

Crazy guy and pool duck at state competition. Acadec stuff. Making <o-. Jason’s house. Apple on wall. Late night calls and LoL. Predictions: Aiden hits Diamond in LoL. Richard finds his bike. Binh almost gets canceled. Jason is going to switch majors. Eric will hate his job. Steven gets a gf first at college. Ken: going to become top of his industry. Kenny never hit plat. Zhanqi: 180 personality. Ivy: works with kids. Sharon will become a cat lady. Sydney: a top gymnast. Tammy gets a weird hobby. Vincent: famous. Justin: rich.

Thanks to: Vincent, Aiden, Eric, Zhanqi, Kenny, Jason, Justin, Richard, Steven, Binh, Ken, Ivy, Sharon, Tammy V., Sydney, Andy, Johnson, Andrew, Bethany, Yao, Brian, Tien, Sandra, Tammy S., Anna, Tyrone, Mickley, Lisa, Viann, All of Acadec, Mr. Ma (and the rest of my teachers), and people I have waved to

ANDREW LAM

Future Plans: I plan to attend UC Santa Barbara and major in physics to become a pilot. I will travel all 193 countries and come home with odd souvenirs from each country, from sand from Cancun to a scrap of tree bark from South America’s Amazon forest. I will double as a US Air Force reserve pilot and become top of my class and a menace in the skies in whatever air war the U.S. wages in its imperialist agenda across foreign waters. Afterward, I will own my own private jet and fly at my own leisure with Betsy and family.

Will: I, Andrew Patrick Lam of Star Wars and Academic Decathlon superstar powerhouse of San Gabriel High School, bequeath my 7000 flashcardlong Quizlet set to the Acadec team, my room to my dog Betsy when I leave for UCSB, and my Illustrator

THE MATADOR skills to Laura Cai. Quote: “Beep boop boop!” - R2-D2 Memories: Maintaining my one-guess streak in Heardle with Mytam, making sure all the pages are 100% black, issue planning with my awesome coEIC Ken, my eyes burning after 4 hours straight of watching TikTok, being burned alive in 90 degree weather in the basketball courts, and listening to Yao’s controversial opinions in APES Predictions: Ken will become the next Anderson Cooper, Tristan will create the next Steam bestseller, Andrew will go to UCSB, Mytam will find Senor Jalapeno in 2050, and Nan will be SCOTUS. Thanks To: Ms. Jalawan, Betsy, Ken, Justin, Mytam, Nan, Lynda, Xiaoyu, Adwik, Chelsea, Tristan, Mrs. Wright, Richard, Mr. Vogel, Jeffrey, Albino, Mrs. Tran, Ms. Vergo, Mr. Ma, Tony, Mrs. Vasquez, and my parents

ANGELYNA TAN

Future Plans: Double major in Finance & Marketing at Cal State Long Beach Will: I, Angelyna Tan, of greatness and glory, bequeath my procrastination skills, good health, and rest to Zhimin Yu; my endless support, hugs, and love to Jocelyn Chau & Yvonne Ho; my iron-fist leadership and ambition to Annie Hwang, Richard Guan, & Stephanie Loo; my sharpness and dance style to Katie Vong & Cynthia Van; my charisma and jokes to Jayden Chow; my positivity and patience to Kimberly Truong; last but not least, my lifelong friendship to Rachel Young.

Quote: “Surpass your limits. Right here, right now.”

Memories: Feasting before games with my best friends, running around at football games between Band & drill, dancing awkwardly in a kickline with my drill Team to the Alma Mater, volunteering at 5am with my friends every weekend, the comforting lunch & study dates with friends after busy school days, and all of the spontaneous plans and hangouts that relieved all of the stress Predictions: Annie Hwang, Richard Guan, and Stephanie Loo will lead Key Club to greatness and strengthen my legacy. Jocelyn Chau and Yvonne Ho will be friends forever and do great things together.

Jayden Chow will lead Choreo to greatness and slay the school with his dancing.

Thanks to: My best friends for life, Eric & Peter for dealing with me all these years, my besties for resties Jamie and Sokse, Mr. Gin for being a real one, Ms. Rodriguez and Ms. Lee for being so supportive and understanding, and my Key Club ‘21-’22 cabinet for the best term ever

AYDEN HALLUM

Future Plans: I plan to work Cybersecurity somewhere, hopefully military or government. Life is unpredictable by definition though. Maybe I’ll be homeless. Maybe I’ll be a billionaire. Maybe you’ll attend my funeral after I am attacked by a rogue seagull on December 6th, 2063. Nobody knows, so I plan to make the most of it.

Will: [So I can do anything with this will?] /Yup.\ [Can I copy the bee movie script and stop it after 400 characters?] /You could, if you wa-\ [Can I write something creative that everyone will remember?] /Well yeah, uh-\ [Can I be indecisive and type a conversation between two people and decide to go with that because I really have no ideas?] /Uh... maybe?\ [Well, I’ll see when I hit submit at least!]

Quote: “They talk about necessary evil these days.

Like that’s always been the case. But I always thought... at the very beginning, I believed that we would be an objective good, I sincerely believed that. I know a lot of things were -- are -- necessary, but this...” Tanhony’s Proposal, SCP Wiki. Humanity is terrible, if you’re reading this, be a good person. Improve everybody’s life.

Memories: I was only here for a year, but the thing I’ll remember most about this school is the abysmal line management at the start of school. Looked like people were trying to get into a concert during lunch.

Predictions: 90% of the other predictions will be incorrect.

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

Thanks to: YOU for being a good person. Unless you’re rude, in which case, come on. It’s not that hard.

Take a deep breath, clear your mind, and pay the kindness forward

B

BELINDA THAI

Future Plans: Major in Education at UCR and help kids/victims of abuse and/or neglect, move away from Alhambra, find a sugar daddy if my plans don’t work out.

Will: I, Belinda Thai, of sparkly eyeliners and anime, kdramas, and manhwas (especially Choi Ung from “Our Beloved Summer” and like every other hot manhwa daddies or mommies), bequeath my fangirling skills to Zixin (Justine) Ye and liquid eyeliner skills to Chelsea Kha. I also promise to block Vivian if she tells me another pun or pickup line.

Quote: “I’m here for a good time, not a long time.” me Memories: “Let It Go” duets with Vivian Zhou and everything Predictions: Kassidy will be my 24/7 on call private doctor, Ann and I will become Riverside sisters, Vivian and I will leech off Chelsea, Binh will become a K-pop idol and get all the women, Justin will become the world’s top 10 wealthiest, and Ella and I will live off other people’s wealth as well as find and marry a rich, old dude who’s dying soon.

Thanks To: Ella for being my personal therapist, Ms. Wong for dealing for my emotional mess, Vivian for being my ex-wife, Ms. Vergo for my endless questions, Ms. Barbie, Ms. Beta, and Ms. Perla for feeding me, and Ms. Zhao, Mr. Vogel, Mr. Hendrickson, Mr. Nong, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Tobias, and all my other teachers for putting up with me

BETHANY MACZ

Future Plans: Live an enjoyable life.

Will: I, Bethany Macz, leave my photography skills Jackie Wu and my patience for next year’s yearbook staff to Vanessa Chandra.

Quote: “I may be big brained, but I’m also smoothed brained.”

Memories: I’ll never forget Acadec banquet, the many yearbook deadlines, and 2am Discord therapy.

Predictions: I predict that Jackie gets accepted to MIT and doesn’t break the multiverse in the process.

Thanks to: My family, Jackie, Ashley, Anna, Alvin, Britney, Alyssa, Mr. Ma, Mr. Gin, Mr. Li, Mr. Schreiner, Ms. Lee, my lunch buddies, the rest of the yearbook staff, and the rest of the Acadec team.

BINH TO

Future Plans: To become a computer engineer at CP SLO, to become the greatest Maple Warrior (I mean the greatest Mage of the Mushroom world), to get people “Bruh wut” with my badminton deceptions.

Will: I, Binh To, of the mighty Toes, will bequeath the pinnacle of my skill and “Total Concentration: Badminton Breathing, Eleventh Form, Fancy Wrist Control” to the badminton team. I, BinhToChallenger, who failed to live up to the quote, will also bequeath them the copium mentality to make them believe every game is winnable.

Quote: “GO HARD GO HOME” - Kaya Luong Memories: Playing League in AP Calc, Alvin’s dabs at me <o-, the almost-360 backhand smash, going to McDonald’s with kiddos every night for two months straight, the 11:59 P.M. clutches Predictions: Jason will develop anti-Hason behavior (talk more to humans). Richard will open his eyes.

Steven will buy new glasses. Alvin won’t stop yeeting and dabbing. Tuan will lose weight. Kenny will hit Challenger. Justin will lose his money holding stocks to the moon. Tom will be Tyler1. Belinda will get me free McDonald’s. Vivian might grow taller. Ken will buy me coffee after I carry him to Challenger.

Thanks to: My friends who go along with my bad jokes, helping me with pretty much everything, and

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

reaching out to me. Special thanks to the friend who allows me to punch him and make weird jokes to.

C CHARLOTTE YU

Future Plans: Major in English Education at Cal Poly Pomona Will: I, Charlotte Yu, formerly known as Ivan Yu, give my Balisongs to Brandon Bui, my cosplay supplies to Yadanica Rodriguez, my Cursed Jojo memes to Zaira Fraijo, my playlist of cool “Undertale” songs to Giniyah Contreras, and the “hellos” I was too awkward to say to Michael and Marco.

Memories: Joining in on Anime Anonymous’s meetings, being a part of Cross Country and Track and Field, forming a band with friends, cosplaying during the school day, spontaneously breakdancing, countless hours monster hunting with friends, and finding love.

Thanks to: Ms. Burkhart, Anime Anonymous, and my gang of friends who always meet up by the trees during the morning

CHELSEA KHA

Future Plans: Live in the mansion Vivian Zhou bought with her six figure salary as a neurosurgeon Quote: “The thing I’ll miss about u most would be ur fluffy hoodie.” - Vivian Zhou Memories: Finding out Vivian Zhou’s last name was pronounced “Zoe”, not “Z-Ow”, after 11 years of friendship.

Predictions: Vivian Zhou will finally give me back my llama and get better sleeping habits, Belinda will become a famous celebrity make-up artist, Kassidy will open a bakery and specialize in lettuce-shaped carrot cookies made of 99% celery and 1% cookie dough, Grace will live by the beach and go snorkeling every day, and Johanna will own 1279821 more parrots.

Thanks to: Vivian Zhou for inspiring me to write my senior will :)

CLAUDIA LIM

Will: I, Claudia Lim, lover of dogs, cats, and ice cream, hand down my leadership to my superstars Ashley Van and Adreena Cuevas, my toe touch and facials to my goofy baby Jayden Chow, my firebird to Lancy Zhou and my little Tiffany Diep, my school spirit to my spirit baby Leslie Sanchez, my flexibility and leaps to Audrey Tran, my love for falsies and eyeliner to the lovely Amy Lac, and my car and license to both Amy Lac and Audrey Tran.

Quote: “yeah girl” Memories: Coming to school late almost every day because I slept in, but it’s okay. a lot of my friends did the same :) Predictions: Washington Nguyen and Nancy Ho will become nurses. Ashley Van and Adreena Cuevas will bring Choreo to competitions and win 1st place.

Britney Ly, Emily Tu, Ashley Macias, Phuong Luong, Nancy Ho, Catherine Lam, and Chloe Khem will all be successful women with their dream jobs and dream lives! Washington Nguyen, Eric Dam, and I are still going to bother Mr. Wong.

Thanks to: My friends and all my amazing teachers

D DAVID VOONG

Future Plans: Travel the world Quote: “Why worry about everything when you can just happy go lucky?”

Memories: Playing with fire in Chemistry, merking other schools in badminton, and having fun discussion in Mr. Gin’s class

THE MATADOR Predictions: There will be a Season 2 of No Game No Life Thanks to: All the people I met in this chapter of my life. This chapter won’t be the last.

DIANA WANG

Future Plans: I plan on graduating from CSULA as a Kinesiology Major and go into either physcial therapy or somewhere along that route. I will take all your aching pains away.

Will: I, Diana Wang, of hoodies and surprises, bequeath my tennis skills and my “love” for lizards to Trescia Loo, my mom’s cooking to Kassidy Huynh, and my snacks to Lisa Banh and Silvia Wu. Quote: “Life goes by too quickly. So laugh, love, and try new things. Forgive, forget, and don’t hold grudges. Choose to be HAPPY.” - unknown Memories: Afterschool spending sprees with my dear friends, playing tennis all 4 years, crying chain reaction with the team, making new friends and so much more Predictions: I predict that Trescia Loo will be MVP tennis player; Coach will have a great girls varsity tennis season; Silvia Wu will be successful, rich and independent; Lisa Banh will find a successful partner; Kassidy Huynh will meet her sea otters; Jamie Chan will have enough money to buy her corgis.

Thanks to: All my teachers and friends, especially Coach Steve who has done a lot for the tennis team for all of his years at SG

E EMILY LUU

Future Plans: Major in Accounting at Cal State Long Beach Will: I, Emily Luu, bequeath my awkwardness to Assahel, crippled knee and shin splints to Laura, height to Nikki and Quyen, amazing Game Pigeon skills to Allyson, and horrible sleeping habits to Erin.

Memories: Running in the hail with my team, getting asked if I’m Laura’s little sister, Mr. Wong telling me boys suck, skipping all the questions on the online AP Chem exam with Victoria, and trying to fix my broken glasses during class Predictions: Victoria will continue being late, Jessica will become a horse girl, Kelly will spend all of her money, Joey will find the tennis boyfriend of her dreams, Katelyn will start wearing jeans, and Sandra will disappear without notifying us.

Thanks To: Mr. Wong, my track team, and my 4lyfers: Victoria, Katelyn, Joey, Jessica, Kelly, and Sandra.

ERIC TON

Future Plans: Going to PCC and transferring after 2 years Will: I, Eric Ton, want all the underclassmen to share the same experience that I had.

Quote: “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!’” - Audrey Hepburn Memories: Hanging out with friends near the Pancake and swimming with a team sophomore year.

Thanks to: Mr. Gin, Mrs. Sugiyama Saucedo, Mrs. Mar, and all my friends throughout high school.

H HAU PHAN

Future Plans: Major in Mechanical Engineering at Cal State LA. Will: I, Brandon Phan, of the high, long, and triple jump, bestow all my jumping ability to Chris Gomez, Josh, and Asael. One of you three will go on to be the greatest jumper in all the land, but that is still a mystery that you three will see unfold.

Quote: “The price of a great vertical is abnormally large quads.”

WILLS 5 Memories: Jumps practice while singing to songs on the speaker, taking pictures with all the other jumpers, running the 4x4, having the greatest time of my life on the track team Predictions: Chris will go on to win a DOTA tournament, Asael will clear 6’ 6 his senior year, Josh will also clear 6’ 6.

Thanks to: Coach Morales, Coach Weaver, Coach Rosas, my track team, my drama class, the boys volleyball team, my best friend for the rest of time Tommy Truong

HILLARY TIEU

Future Plans: Undecided Will: I, Hillary Tieu, leave my intelligence to Ivana Wu, my cramp-free body to Amy Lac, my driving skills to Audrey Tran, and my snacks to Jayden Chow.

Quote: “Stressed is spelled desserts backwards” Memories: I will always remember winning Homecoming court and late night adventures with my friends.

Predictions: I predict that my friends and I will be able to achieve our dream careers.

Thanks to: Ms. Mar for being so patient with me, Ms. Jung for always being there to listen to my rants, Ms. Revilla for watching over me for the past 4 yrs., and Mr. Gin for giving me life advice.

HUY LAM

Future Plans: Major in Computer Science at Cal State LA. Will: I, Huy Lam, am so rejoiced that I will present my luck to all my homies and hope that they will be successful in college.

Quote: “People cannot change the past. All we can do, is accept our own actions.“- Kirei Kotomine Memories: Prom at LA Zoo, Anime Cafe, hanging out at the stairs, woodworking competition Thanks To: Mr. Mason, Ms. Boettcher, Angel, Bryant, Dominic, Noah, Michael, Jett, David, Eric, Alan, Ryan

I IRENE YUE

Future Plans: Go to PCC and transfer to UCLA, study abroad, hopefully get into a medical school, and work in Doctors Without Borders.

Will: I, Irene Yue, of Netflix addiction and procrastination, bequeath my struggle to cope with procrastination and love of boba to Eunice and the rest of the Jr. gang.

Quote: “A good idea is meaningless without the courage to act.”

Memories: Swim meets, having a blast with Newspaper, and the cherished quality time I had having Korean BBQ with friends Predictions: Ashley Macias will become POTUS, college will be easy, and Ivan will continue to be the coolest anime fan I know.

Thanks To: Ms. Parra, Ms. Revilla, and all my other teachers for making HS fun.

ISABEL OLACHEA

Future Plans: Get into clubs and take on different classes in college, not just focused on my major.

Will: I, Isabel Olachea, would like to will all my troubles to the next sucker who wants to follow in my footsteps.

Quote: “You only miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” - Wayne Gretzky Memories: Having random talks at the lunch tablePredictions: Life after high school might not be that bad.

Thanks To: My parents, counselor, teachers, and friends

6 WILLS

THE MATADOR

J JAMES SAN

Future Plans: Transfer to SLO, intern at a software company, make enough money to live comfortably with my family and corgi, and hit Apex Predator with Andy and Peter.

Will: I, James San, of tallness and being mistaken for being white, bequeath my amazing club management skills and stress to Julia, my driving skills to Jennifer, my Calculus knowledge to Katrina, my drowsiness to Kaitlyn, my Valorant rank to Megan and Mindy, and my trumpet skills to Kimberly.

Quote: “I don’t want to donate my Stanford blood to these kids.”

Memories: Randomly leaving class to walk around the school campus, being tardy to almost all of my classes, faking being sick to use the restroom in the nurse’s office, hanging out with friends after school, and our yearly Minecraft summer and winter servers.

Predictions: Andy will get a girlfriend, Julia will finally attain inner peace and happiness, Sophia will become my future boss, Samantha will become a popular and loved artist, Lisa will have a successful Minecraft career, Silvia will continue to develop her talents and become a celebrity, Ken will have his photographs and artistic talents displayed in museums, Jamie will continue to be her energetic and hyper self, Johnson will explore his passion for the arts and become a photographer, William will become a college e-sports player, Sokse will cure cancer and keep his blood safe, Vincent will finally get everyone on to play Valorant or any game, Peter will finally get to play with me in games again, Angelyna will continue to maintain an intimidating aura, and Chris will become a professional actor or real life villain.

Thanks to: All my friends who have stuck with me during my high school career especially my science/ math partner, Andy Duong. Another thanks to my amazing teachers Mrs. Tran, Mr. Nong, Mr. Li, Mr. Woo, Mrs. G, Mrs. Kohl, Mr. Ma, Mrs. Schecter, and Mr. Osborne for providing me a fun yet stressful learning environment.

JASON TRAN

Future Plans: Major in Math-CS at UCSD on the road to become good teacher that students like, get a house, and live life happy.

Will: I, Jason Tran, bequeath my badminton skills to Joseph and Zhuoqian (Z), my stylish fashion sense to Leimin, my “leadership” skills to the badminton team, my honor to underclassmen that knew me in Ms. Brown’s period 5, and everything else but especially my singing, dancing, and my photogenicity to my sister, Cindy.

Quote: “Whatever events that may unravel from here on into the future will find a place in the haven of my Google doc.” - Jason Tran Memories: FBLA regional/state competitions (Richard’s RP), playing badminton and CIF competitions, weekly McDonald’s runs and after school food runs with the bois, late night Discord calls of talking + League, Binh’s hair attempts and his uncle’s house, going out to the arcade, spocha, and ice skating with the homies, the laughter and cringe from many photos/videos, and a baffling bad attempt at a confession Predictions: Binh uses Maplestory to find his ideal gf; Richard finds his long lost green bike; Steven gets a little sister, and his love for basketball is rekindled; Ken becomes a renowned photographer and treats his caffeine addiction,; Alvin goes viral for the secret move technique; Justin becomes famous for a new Calculus theorem, everyone gets swole, and the badminton team makes it back to D1.

Thanks to: Mr. Zaragoza for being laid back, Ms. Tran for being a fantastic calc teacher, Mr. Hester for improving my sophomore mental health, Ms. Boettcher for letting me do math homework in her class, my homies: Steven, Binh, Richard, Alvin, Ken, and Justin, the badminton team, my sister Cindy, my

parents, and everyone else that knew and interacted with me in making high school memorable

JESSICA HU

Future Plans: Major in Biomedical Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Will: I, Jessica Hu, bequeath my doubles tennis skills and sore forearms to Jocelyn and my sleep deprivation to Jinzan.

Memories: Screaming at Katelyn on the freeway to Glendale for going too slow, having a once-a-year hangout with my friend group at the park, yelling at Katelyn for almost hitting two underclassmen in the parking lot and almost causing an accident in front of Target, and winning 2nd place in doubles tennis with my Carl’s Jr. Super Star partner Predictions: Katelyn will stand up to her mom, Victoria will become a realtor after quitting college, Joey will meet Roger Federer, Kelly will continue to ask her friends for rides, Emily will continue to have boy problems, and Sandra will disappear and live her life in NorCal. Thanks to: Mr. Wong for his wise words and my besties, Katelyn, Victoria, Joey, Kelly, Emily, and Sandra, for dealing with my bluntness.

JHOZIBEL MEDINA GONZALEZ

Future Plans: Make a livable wage doing something fulfilling. And if that fails live off my friends’ rich husbands.

Quote: “Our Kelly” - Sandra L. Memories: When Mytam broke the green thing outside the E-building. Gossiping and having the entire conversation echo into the classroom. A very specific Spanish presentation that a guy gave sophomore year. The cute little blue boxes I used in biology to take tests. Laughing really hard with Rosalyn in our Spanish classes, and her cute hairband she wore to school once.

Thanks to: All my teachers, especially Ms. Deniz and Mrs. Wright, and Ms. Gomez and Mrs. Jong for helping me with college. Also, my friends who always made me laugh

JUSTIN FANG

Future Plans: Major in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and minor in Law, Accounting, or Economics.

Will: I, Justin Fang, of “sound” mind and not acting under duress or undue influence, bequeath my paranoia and anxiety to my sister, my rage to Thing 1, my “singing” voice from a year of Choir to Thing 2, my meticulousness in copy editing to Jeremy, my black wardrobe to Adwik, and my academic knowledge (or lack thereof) to Joseph.

Quote: “Are you alone, ‘cause...” - me and Adwik Memories: Shabuya, walking the Westlake High School stage during FBLA section competition, hotel moments at FBLA state competition, Yao expressing his (often controversial) political opinion in APES, running away from HS life and that one person who’s a day older, anticipating a pop quiz every time I walked into AP Calc, Mrs. Tran’s “bro” moments, “What follows a linking verb?” moments with Myers.

Predictions: Binh and Jason will be deadlocked for international badminton champion, Alvin will be a full-time Twitch streamer, Belinda will get a sugar daddy and off him for his money, Andrew and Ken will be my income sources, Vivian will deem her custody battle victory as her pride and glory, Nan will remake America, Welton and I will finish remaking Titanic, and Richard will come back as an English teacher.

Thanks to: Mrs. Tran, Mr. Woo, Mr. Wong, Mr. Myers, Mrs. Wright, Ms. Manalang, Ms. Revilla, Ms. Zhao, the waiter at Shabuya who asked me why I said “9123” rather than “1239” when I was ordering meat, and everyone that I encountered in my 4 years

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

K KASSIDY HUYNH

Future Plans: Major in Biology at UC Riverside and travel to all the European countries.

Will: I, Kassidy Huynh, of sarcasm and corgis, bequeath my baking/cooking skills to Jamie Chan, my amazing sarcasm to Leane Che, my Boiling Point rewards to Lisa Banh, and my mom’s love and affection to Diana Wang.

Quote: “You can’t have a better tomorrow if you keep thinking about yesterday.” - Taylor Swift Memories: Trying to bribe my tennis coach with boba because my friends and I were late for practice and all the after school food trips with Lisa, Diana, and Leane Predictions: Chelsea will become the greatest K-drama actress, Grace will become a fashion icon, Belinda will be financially supported by a VERY wealthy man ;), Lisa will find a boyfriend who meets all her expectations (tall, smart, nice, and rich), Diana will open a fruit stand at a farmers market, and Leane will raise 10 guinea pigs.

Thanks to: All my wonderful friends, both old and new, Mrs. Wright, Ms. Lopez, Señora Schecter, Ms. Boettcher, all the other teachers I’ve had, and Coach Steve for believing I can hit a tennis ball. Also my parents who have always been supportive and my annoying, yet loving older sister.

KATELYN LAU

Future Plans: Have many trips with friends, make money, be rich, have a house full of pets, live, laugh, love.

Will: I, Katelyn Lau, of sleep depravity and awful luck, would love to give the Oli London shrine Lynda and I made to whoever sits in the window seat in H2 and my statistics skills that she would never want to Melva Deng.

Quote: “Eggs, rice, and a meat!” - Kelly Tang, 2019 Memories: Meeting all the good friends I have now after coming here, filming projects for Myers, having coaches scold me for hitting balls over the fence, Coach Steve buying snacks for the team, comfort in the library, staying at school at night time, 4 a.m. calls with friends to finish work, picnic after quarantine, Homecoming, Emily and her broken glasses, prom at the zoo, the drive to Glendale Predictions: Sydney Kho will mail me potatoes from Idaho, Tien will be the number one shady businessman, our friend group will never be able to decide on hangout plans the day of, and I will sneak into UCLA to eat their food (please swipe me in Kelly and Joey).

Thanks to: Ms. Tom, Mrs. Wright, Mr. Myers, Mr. Gin, Mr. Wong, Ms. Jalawan, Coach Steve, Coach Kevin, Coach Cheng, tennis team, the newspaper team, PAWS cabinet, my mom, my brothers, my grandma, my aunts, and of course, all of my close friends for keeping me sane and being kind enough to stay to help me out throughout these 4 years

KELLY TANG

Future Plans: Major in Microbiology at UCLA. Will: I, Kelly Tang, bequeath my humor and amazing lunch table to Maribelle Chavez.

Memories: Lunch time jokes, night group study calls, bugging Mr. Wong for 3 years, free shirts at volunteer events, and spontaneous after school trips Predictions: Joey Lin will become a famous cat-mom surgeon, Emily Luu will be a good driver, Victoria Chong will build me a house, Jessica Hu will be rich on a different level, Sandra Chuong will become a CEO and help me deal with my finances, Katelyn Lau will become a traveler/food critic, Samantha Phung will become the best president, and Brittney Chan will become a world genius with good humor.

Thanks To: Mr. Wong, Mrs. Tran, Mrs. Wong, and the crew: Joey, Jessica, Sandra, Victoria, Emily, Katelyn, Brittney, Samantha, Sharon, Bernice, and Valerie

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

KEN YU

Future Plans: Study comms at UCSB, become a worldtraveling photojournalist, come back to SGHS and become a journalism, English, and/or photography teacher to give back to future students and share my love for words and stories.

Will: I, Ken Yu of extremely questionable coffee habits and all-nighters, bequeath my ability to stomach black coffee to Adwik Chaturvedi, Jeremy Gutierrez, Laura Cai, Kylie Chung, and Joseph Cho for their eventual newspaper all nighters, my mediocre League skills to Cindy Tran, and my poetry and performance to Linh Dinh.

Quote: “What do you mean you can’t fix it with coffee?” - Ken Yu Memories: All 20,000+ photos I’ve taken this year, newspaper deadlines with the staff, post-deadlines with Nan, Richard, and Justin, issue planning with my awesome co-EIC Andrew, all the sports game I’ve covered as a photographer whether on assignment or on off-time, and all the unpredictable late-night talks with Katelyn, and the prom ride home with a nauseous Brandon, concerned Tommy, and confused Emily Predictions: Mytam will become a high profile, wealthy lobbyist for environmental issues, America will become a world famous doctor in neuroscience, Van will become the engineer who finally figures out how to colonize Mars from her K-dramas, Richard will never go to Shabuya again and will come back to SGHS with me as teachers, Andrew will eventually develop a tolerance to coffee as he spends another four years with me at UCSB, and Katelyn will finally get sleep and good artifacts over the summer. Adwik and Laura makes CIF as Olympic level athletes.

Thanks to: Andrew, Katelyn, and Sandra for helping me keep my sanity together, Ms. Jalawan, Mr. Wong, Mr. Osborne, Ms. Burkhart, Ms. Manalang, and Mr. Vogel for being there for me in every way possible; Richard, Jason, Binh, Nan, Adwik, and Justin for making senior year memorable

L LAYLA DAVIS

Future Plans: I plan to attend Texas Southern University, majoring in business.

Will: I, Layla Davis, send prosperity and well wishes to the classes that come after.

Quote: “When writing the story of your life, don’t let anyone else hold your pen.” - Drake Memories: Friday Night Lights, Homecoming, Prom, performing at pep rallies, Powderpuff game Predictions: I predict that the senior class will flourish and rise to their full potentials.

Thanks to: My family for supporting and believing in me and my friends for never holding back

LISA BANH

Future Plans: I am going to major in nutrition at Cal Poly SLO. I hope to find a nice, rich comp sci nerd to date.

Will: I, Lisa Banh, of Minecraft and boba, bequeath limited edition Squishmallows to Kassidy Huynh, lots of yummy food to Jamie Chan, admission to a dream school to Silvia Wu, a money tree to Diana Wang, a rich man to Mytam Le, and a million Twix bars to Emily Zhang.

Quote: “In Quizlet we trust.”

Memories: I remember trying to serve a tennis ball. I hit something when I extended my arm to reach for it. Suddenly, a girl was on the floor and clutching her aching head. Sorry again, Kassidy! I love my lunch squad that stayed strong for 4 years. I love you Silly Silvia, Jaja Jamie, Kaka Kassidy, and Deedee Diana.

I’ll never forget my struggles with Emily Zhang in AP Calculus BC. Predictions: Kassidy will be a rich aunt. Diana will be a single cat lady and continue to spoil me with a million snacks. Silvia will be so over me when I complain

THE MATADOR about all my boy problems to her at Cal Poly. Jamie and I will be broke after eating out whenever we visit each other.

Thanks to: Ms. Cha for being the best counselor ever; Ms. Vergo, Ms. Wong, and Mr. Tobias for being amazing peer advisors; Ms. Manalang for inspiring me and encouraging me that I can make a difference; Ms. Hernandez for always being so understanding; my amazing friends, Silvia, Diana, Kassidy, Jamie, Katie, Chris, and James

LUIS GUTIERREZ

Future Plans: Get a 4-year degree at Cal State Fullerton.

Will: I, Luis Gutierrez, of smiles and sunshine, bequeath my PE T-shirt to Gilberto Venegas.

Quote: “Learn as if you will live forever, live like you will die tomorrow.”

Memories: Pep rally, football matches, and soccer team Predictions: The soccer team will rise from the ashes.

Thanks To: Mr. Schreiner for pushing me to do my best and always answering my questions

LYNDA LAM

Future Plans: Go to college and get a degree, marry rich or become obnoxiously rich, potentially adopt a fat cat, gaslight, girlboss, gatekeep.

Will: I, Lynda Lam, of constant negativity and cute sparkly star emojis, bequeath my Focus Editor position and seat in front of H2’s very own Oli London Shrine to anyone that wants it.

Quote: “Bye sister.” - Ms. Jalawan Memories: Crying over my grades, worshiping Mytam the InDesign god, creating journalism memes with Katelyn and Mytam, Chelsea harming my poor innocent ears with her dirty humor, attending Drama Club’s performances with my friends, stealing candy from the office, making a wooden duck as a freshman, Adwik dedicating his mind, body, and soul to Workout of the Month, Ken talking about coffee, Ms. Jalawan’s eating Baked Hot Cheetos, watching Andrew transform into an e-boy, not being able to use a restroom because they are closed during late deadline hours Predictions: Nan will become besties for life with Samuel from George Washington University; News and Features will continue to beg for people to write for their section, the pho bar will make a comeback; I will go into massive debt because of college and will have to resort to sketchy business to pay them off.Thanks to: Madam Rose, Madam Smith, Ms. Fujimoto, Mrs. Sumi, Mrs. Johnston, Mr. Ma, Mr. Tran, Mr. Zaragoza, Mr. Mason, Mr. Nguy, Mr. Bruce, Mrs. Kanik, Mr. Li, Mr. Nong, Mr. Myers, Mr. Osborne, Mr. Hendrickson, Ms. Jalawan (Big J), Mrs. Ulloa-Ruiz, Mrs. Bishop, Mr. Gin, Ms. Jung, Mr. Vogel, Mrs. Vergo, the cafeteria staff, Course Hero, Spark Notes, The Organic Chemistry Tutor, Heimler’s History, Juan Pablo, my mom, and all my classmates that helped me throughout my high school career

M MICHAEL TRAC

Future Plans: Get a 4-year degree in Automotive Technology at Cal State Fullerton Will: I, Michael Trac, of smiles and sunshine, bequeath my PE shorts to Gilberto Venegas.

Quote: “Rest in the end, not in the middle.” - Michael Trac Memories: Pep rallies, football matches, and other things Predictions: Xander will be the soccer senior captain.

Thanks to: My teachers, Mr. Schreiner, and Mr. Encinas for always pushing me forward

WILLS 7 MICHELLE WU

Future Plans: Major in Global Studies at UCSB, join The Daily Nexus & become a newspaper kid, sell my soul to the school system for another 3 years to add the letters Eqs. after my name, then travel the world as a human rights attorney for the UN. Will: I, Michelle Wu, of broken spit valves and long Instagram stories, bequeath my section leader position to Byron; all my romantic advice to E. Huynh; my love for gingers and gacha luck to V. Nguyen, my bone skills to my babies J. Lopez, T. Loo, M. Wu, & K. Mendez; my baby fever to Sam Sou, my deadline tears to my new EICS V. Chandra & J. Wu, my stage presence and love for poetic repetition to S. Lin & Linh w/ an H, and offer my oversharing tendencies up for grabs.

Memories: Being the last runner at band camp with Gug, Bio with the two Sandras; every single parade, festival, and football game I spent with my section, All my boba runs & adventures with spooky.ana, Listening to “Starships: Canon in D” in H2; Discord karaoke during deadlines; Marching in the Rose Parade & at Disneyland Predictions: E. Huynh will finally get a boyfriend; L. Huynh will find a rich husband after standing outside the UCSD comp-sci-building every day; the floor in Tse’s room will be visible again; someone will finally take Chuong off the streets; Gug will become a professional band uniform model; All of spooky. ana will move in with Ngo and mooch off his income when he makes it rich after graduating USC debt free; SG’s poetry team will take home the Get Lit cup again, Yearbook will keep the sweepstakes trophy; Band will finally learn how to stay on step Thanks To: Tse, Thai, & Ngo for being my rocks since elementary; my portable calculator L. Huynh; my side chick Chuong for being my favorite Kohl’s employee and first high school friend; my second favorite bari player Lopez; my girl gang Phung & Quach for all the tears we shed together; E. Huynh for the giggles & screams in the Baskin Robbins walk-in-freezer; my fellow drummies Tran & Bustamante, all my yerds & bone babies; my poetry team for being my safe haven; my coaches Mr. Vogel & Mrs. Burkhart for their undying love and support; Mrs. Wong for being there through every single bad math grade I collected along the way; and Veena, Mr. Schreiner, Mrs. Vasquez, Mr. Osborne, & Mrs. Keller for everything else

MICKLEY NGO

Future Plans: Major in English at Cal Poly Pomona.

Become an English teacher and write short stories on the side.

Quote: “We’re not normal, not right in the head / But we’ll turn into a precious family” - “SEEDS” from Chikage Utsuki Predictions: Queer Peers Club SURVIVES. Thanks To: Ms. Wright for hosting Queer Peers, Ms. Burkhart for pushing me to be QP president in my sophomore year, and Mr. Myers for dealing with my silly person for 2 years in person and educationally braining me with lots of grammar rules.

8 OPINIONS Over "rew"minating

Irrational fears ANDREW LAM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, PRINT

I

've always been the type of person to overthink things. Every future situation must be perfectly calculated in my mind, every possible outcome considered. I have the unshakeable feeling that if I do not try to plan for each situation, something is bound to go wrong. The worst part is, it usually does go wrong.

A situation where my risk-averse behavior really shined was when I started to learn how to drive in the summer. The night before, I was planning for the very worst. What if I scraped the rims on the curb? What if I could not brake fast enough? What if I accidentally reversed into a puppy?

These irrational fears continued to race through my mind and left me with a jittery feeling of anxiety the next day.

As I rolled into the parking lot of Big Lots!, I was rapidly replaying every maneuver and turn I would do. However, I did not account for one thing: the parking lot security. A guard stormed toward my car with an officious strut. He had a physique similar to a Hellenistic statue; the buttons of his uniform struggled to restrict the layers of muscles beneath, and his sinewy neck exploded from his tight collar. He reached toward his belt—I thought he was reaching for his gun—and pulled out his phone to call the police. I was terrified.

"Get out!" my dad shouted. "We've got to get out of here!"

I scrambled out the car, switched seats with my dad, and we punched it.

Since then, I have tortured myself over reliving that memory and how even though I planned out everything, it didn't go right. Even though I should’ve learned from that traumatic memory that it’s impossible to account for every situation, my tendency to overthink things only worsened.

However, as I graduate and go to a college that’s two hours away from home, I have realized that I need to stop my overthinking. College is going to have so many unknowns. Even right now, as I do all the paperwork to enroll in college, I am realizing that there will be so many unknowns: where to eat, what to do andwho I will make friends (or enemies) with.

I have been trying to improve my overthinking by accepting the motto of “go with the flow.” Whenever something goes awry, I still take a moment to gripe about it, but then I try to move forward. Eventually, I will be in control of my risk aversion and will truly be able to go with the flow.

THE MATADOR

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

Letters from the editors When I joined the newspaper three years ago, my only reason for joining was to improve my writing skills. I can confidently report that newspaper has improved my writing skills. But newspaper has also given me so much more: insane skills on Adobe Illustrator, leadership experience, and—most importantly— lifelong friends.

Each issue had its obstacles; there is no denying that, but I am proud that we were all able to come together as a team to overcome them and submit our PDFs on time (kind of). I have so many people to thank for my experience in journalism, so I’ll go down the list.

Thank you Ms. Jalawan for being such a supportive adviser and fueling the staff with Starbucks and Domino’s. Thank you to the staff and the hard work you put into your articles, graphics, and layouts. I am very grateful to have had Ken as my co-EIC. You’ve been helpful every step of the way and someone I could always count on. I wish next year’s staff the best of luck, you can do it!

Andrew Lam

2021-22 Editor-in-Chief, Print

I write this letter on what may be my second to last deadline in newspaper. I’m crunching everything at the last minute and I feel like everything is going to start falling apart at any time.

But, in the brief lulls of sanity that come much like Southern California rain, I take a look around. I am not alone and I realize that nothing will fall apart. Not when my staff is here with me.

Admittedly, we’re all not perfect. We’re a group of kids who put the "fun" in dysfunctional, scraping together an issue month by month in all our disorganized glory. But that’s the beauty and fun of my time with you guys. I would not have exchanged the three years of memories made in this staff for anything else.

Thanks to Ms. Jalawan for feeding the staff when I forget to.

Thank you to my staff, my second family, for continuing to be a home that I can safely say is where my heart is. Thank you to Andrew, for putting up with my EIC antics and for always being a steadfast co-EIC I can rely on. To next year’s staff, stay strong and persevere—I swear I’ll visit. Good luck!

Ken Yu

2021-22 Editor-in-Chief, Print

Portraits of the editors the day after graduation

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ZHOU YE LIN XIN

College ranking does not determine success

BY TAMMY VUONG BUSINESS MANAGER

B

etween the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) systems, the UCs have always been known by students as the prestigious colleges that they should be aiming to attend. Most UCs are at the top of many rankings of the best universities in the nation. However, each college, regardless of rank or prestige, has its strengths and resources that can allow students to thrive. It is not about which college a student attends, but what they achieve or do during their time there that counts.

Each college has its unique strengths which will lead students to success. Although UC San Diego has one of the best engineering schools, Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Northridge have some of the greatest undergraduate journalism programs in the state, proving that the ranking of a school does not automatically mean it is better for everyone. It depends on what a student wants to study. Additionally, every college has the same or similar resources that are accessible to students who are enrolled.

Students can attend any college and still have an equal chance to succeed.

Even though UCs, privates, and some out-of-state colleges are known

ILLUSTRATION BY LAURA CAI

on the higher side of the rankings, everything depends on what the student does at the institution. For example, networking is all within the students’ abilities to socialize and work hard to achieve success.

Furthermore, the courses provided in any of the colleges are just as rigorous as the next, implying that students have a chance for accomplishment anywhere they choose to go.

As a result of the rankings on the internet, students have become prone to believe that going to a prestigious college is the only option for them to “succeed”. CSUs and community colleges all have an equal chance of allowing students to flourish as long as they put in their best effort. A key part of it is changing their mindset to one where they know that they can achieve success at whatever college they plan to attend.

OPINIONS 9

THE MATADOR

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

STEM majors overshadow humanities majors THE MATADOR Editors-in-Chief, Print News Editors Opinions Editors Focus Editors Life and Art Editor Sports Editor Features Editors Copy Editor Business Managers Digital Editor Reporter Adviser

Andrew Lam Ken Yu Jeremy Gutierrez Richard Tran Tristan Ing Nan Jiang Chelsea Lam Lynda Lam Adwik Chaturvedi Joseph Cho Xiaoyu Fan Mytam Le Justin Fang Laura Cai Tammy Vuong Katelyn Lau Kylie Chung Hanna Jalawan

The Matador is published monthly on print by the journalism class of San Gabriel High School. 800 copies per issue are published at CA WEB PRINT Inc. The Matador is a public forum for student expression and highly encourages responses in reaction to issues discussed in the paper. The opinions expressed are those of the writers, not the faculty or administration. Articles without bylines are the opinion of the entire staff. Submit comments as a letter to the editor, signed (anonymity is guaranteed if requested) to Ms. Jalawan’s email.

BY MYTAM LE FEATURES EDITOR

A

s many science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) career opportunities continue to rise, many seem to believe that humanities majors, such as English and history, no longer play an important role in our day-to-day life. However, that is far from the case.

Humanity majors encourage critical analysis of the world around us, providing different solutions to many of the world’s issues.

While STEM is an incredibly handson field, humanity majors allow students to focus on theoretical learning. Some may prefer analyzing and questioning the different aspects of society, so a liberal art major would be ideal. Students should not be forced to learn the different chemical properties of water if they would rather read about the history of the Mongols. It does not make sense to take the enjoyment out of learning because one does not grasp knowledge like their peers who excel in STEM.

Furthermore, humanities focus on rationalizing unique ways to solve the issues of the world. The essence of the humanities is to interpret the human experience, which STEM cannot do. An engineer cannot propose a bill to fund schools more, nor can they psychoanalyze a person who is going through a depressive episode. The culture that people have created can only be understood by other people, not by a computer.

Many bring up the fact that STEM is a more difficult field and thus needs to be more respected. However the foundations of our everyday lives are held up by STEM and humanities. Without humanity majors there would be no one to take on jobs like human resources specialists, travel agents, sign language interpreters, and therapists.

STEM and humanity majors are both equally important in our lives. Both work together to make life easier; thus it is disrespectful to only give credit to STEM. While the future continues to be filled with questions and curiosity, liberal art majors and STEM majors need to work hand-in-hand, finding solutions and innovating.

ILLUSTRATION BY TRISTAN ING

2022-23 schedule brings confusion to students RICHARD TRAN NEWS EDITOR

In the upcoming school year, the school will once again be changing its schedule.

The schedule is a mix of previous year’s schedules along with new additions such as Matador Enrichment time and a Nutrition passing period. However, with all of these newly added events squished into the school calendar, along with inconsistent periods it leaves next year looking very messy and indiscernible for students next year.

Unlike block schedule, which has an easy even/odd pattern to work with, next year’s schedule has none. No day is similar according to the next schedule, not even Mondays and Fridays, which although have all six periods, have different leaving times for students.

Many will say that although this new schedule seems complicated, the same thing was said about this year’s schedule. As even though people had said the schedule for this year was complicated, it eventually became the new norm for students. Because we were able to adapt to a new schedule this year, it would make sense that we would be able to adapt to a new schedule next year even if it seems complicated.

Along with being really complicated, the

ILLUSTRATION BY CHELSEA LAM

new schedule will force students to change another part of their life. With COVID and distance learning, students have already gone through stress and changing the schedule only adds on to that. Keeping the status quo will make it easier for students to settle in and sticking to the schedule is the easiest way to do it. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Changing the schedule will only make things more complicated for students, especially ones who have gone through a lot of schedule changes over the years. Instead, the school should keep the current schedule used this year and be the one constant between the roller coaster of changes students have gone through from distance learning.

K'offee boy

Unwarranted addiction KEN YU EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, PRINT

I

used to wake up to the smell of richly brewed coffee everyday. It was the kind of comforting smell that gently prodded at me to leave bed, reminding me that the day had begun for my parents and me. Of course, at such a young age, I didn’t get to taste that sweet, sweet beverage just yet—not until I was in middle school, where my mom finally relented in letting me order a cup of coffee.

For years prior I’ve been limited to orange juice or iced lemon tea.

I absolutely hated my first coffee. I jumped the gun a bit too quick, ignoring my mom’s delayed reminder to start off with some condensed milk. I was utterly convinced that coffee was truly just an adult drink that only adults seemed to be able to handle—because who else could handle something as bitter as coffee if not the adults who had two decades of living on me. That is, until I reintroduced myself to coffee through Starbucks canned drinks. From there, my love for coffee truly ignited.

I didn’t love it for the taste as many would think, though.

I fell in love with coffee because it kept me awake. I could stay up longer and wile away the hours through texting and gaming with friends. My sleep schedule expanded by miles, whether for better or worse, and I suddenly felt like I could take on the world. I felt I could take on the world until I realized that I was nothing like Atlas. I crumpled under the weight.

Being able to stay awake longer didn’t mean I’d keep my friends closer any longer than I thought. Being able to crunch through work on a caffeine high didn’t mean it would be sustainable for years, no matter how often I’d drink coffee.

It’s a bit of a far fetch, but when I hit my breaking point after pulling consecutive near-all nighters, I started to realize why the coffee I drank began tasting bitter. I had moved away from creamer and sugar, from syrups and whatever I loved to put in my coffee. Straight black coffee was my go-to. I hated the taste but I loved the way I could work a little longer, keep from nodding off for just another minute. I had tried filling in the space in my social life with more work and the coffee I had relied on for so long to make it function, had spilled over into relentlessly sleepless nights. Suddenly, life took on a more bitter flavor.

Even as the year draws to the end, the bitterness hasn’t quite gone away just yet.

I’ve made memories and friends that offset the taste, and I’m glad that it feels more bittersweet than bitter. Life doesn’t have to always be black coffee. It can use a bit of creamer and sugar to make it a bit more smoother and sweeter to go through.

10 FOCUS

THE MATADOR

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

HISTORY Teacher Appreciation Week has been around since 1944 but has not been widely implemented until educators and the National Education Association (NEA) negotiated with Congress to make it into a national holiday. In 1980, school boards and the NEA cooperated to convince Congress to make it a national holiday. In present day, teachers worldwide are getting honored from May 2-6 for a whole week. Teachers usually receive letters, gifts, and sweet treats.

Educator in the making: Samantha Martinez

BY MYTAM LE FEATURES EDITOR

I

n 2021, the RAND Corporation—a nonprofit organization dedicated to research—surveyed teachers , and approximately 25% of them stated that they will most likely quit their job. Senior Samantha Martinez hopes to mitigate the rising teacher shortage.

In her freshman year, Martinez remembers her English teacher Virginia Vazquez’s Lord of the Flies unit being one of her favorite lessons. Being in an academic environment that encouraged critical analysis and working

with her peers furthered Martinez’s love for English and learning.

“Ms. Vasquez did a survival team activity during the Lord of the Flies lesson,” Martinez said. “It made me really love the type of lessons that could be introduced to make kids more involved in the classroom.

What really got me hooked was finding out that teaching isn’t just giving out worksheets.

It’s having the teacher become a part of the lesson and interacting with the kids.”

Throughout her high school career, Martinez began to fall in love with English, specifically poetry, and the power it had to relieve

confusing and difficult emotions. In her sophomore year, her class did a poetry unit where she ended up writing a poem about her grandfather’s passing.

“My mom's dad passed away when she was 15 and in high school,” Martinez said. “Even though he's not with us, all the grandkids know him, and whenever we go visit his grave, we all talk to him, and that's what I wrote about. Through poetry, I got to talk about something I don't talk a lot about in my family.”

As Martinez soon graduates, she plans to graduate from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona’s education

program with a Major in English. She hopes to become a high school English teacher, providing a safe environment for her future students to grow academically and emotionally.

“I want to have the kind of impact my ninth and 10th grade English teachers had on me,” Martinez said. “As an English teacher, I want to help students enjoy reading and find ways to express themselves. I want them to look at reading not as a task, but as something that they can enjoy. I’m going to be the teacher that is there for my students. I want to be the type of teacher that makes kids excited to learn.”

TEACHING APPREC WRITTEN BY TAMMY VUONG

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

THE MATADOR

FOCUS 11

Questions with Canzano WHAT IS ONE COMMON Q: MISTAKE YOU MAKE?

A:

I know I took a lot of work home with me when I started teaching. I remember that it felt like I was teaching 24/7 because of that habit so I try to limit myself on how many work-related tasks I complete outside of the workday.

Figure out what works best for you and your work-life boundaries.

WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO Q: BECOME A TEACHER?

A:

I was lucky enough to have many teachers throughout my life who served as role models for the profession. As a student, I didn't necessarily like all of my classes, but I liked the learning experience and structure that comes with school. I never thought about being a teacher but I decided to become one while in college. I thought it would be a good career path for someone who was interested in teaching a subject they loved and wanted to help students learn and grow as they navigated their lives.

HAVE YOU EVER REUNITED Q: WITH A FORMER STUDENT?

A:

I’ve run into former students or have talked to former students when they stop by to visit SGHS. I like to hear about how they're doing and what they are up to after leaving high school. I think it made me regret not going back to visit my high school teachers after I graduated.

Now, I have a better understanding and appreciation of all the work that they put into their lessons, grading/ feedback, and school activities, and I wish I had gone back to say, "Thank you."

Dear all SG teachers, With the first year coming back on campus after distance learning, we would like to thank you all for your patience. Putting in the effort to motivate students must have been extremely difficult after a year and a half of students attending classes while in bed. Although we do not appreciate the mountain loads of work given to us, we do appreciate the care most of you have shown for your students’ well being.

To the teachers who have taught here for a long time and had our older siblings or even parents in their classes: thank you. Thank you for staying with the teaching staff for so many years to educate to the best of your abilities. At home, we have heard many stories about being in your class, whether it be complaints or compliments.

As the younger sibling or even the child, we are either anxious, excited, or possibly both. From the students who are the first of their family to come through, we hope to see our little sibling’s class schedule with your name on it, hoping they share the same experience with you as we did Of course, we also appreciate the newer teachers. We hope you felt welcomed on our campus and that teaching at SG has proved to be a positive learning experience as you grappled with adapting to new students, technology, resources, and a new environment.

We know that everyone has terrible days. Thank you to the teachers who put aside their negative feelings to show up with a positive attitude for the classroom environment on top of the grading, lesson planning, and meetings. Teenagers are difficult to handle sometimes (looking at you, freshmen). Even teenagers are scared of other teenagers; most of us cannot even fathom how you stay collected in a room full of 30 of them, prone to mood swings and late work. Your attitude through the day can greatly affect your students, so thank you for putting up with us.

The Matador would not be possible without teachers, whether that be through inspiring articles, supporting our paper through your readership, and by guiding the very students who are a part of our staff.

From, The Matador

CIATION 101 WRITTEN BY KATELYN LAU INTERVIEW BY TRISTAN ING GRAPHICS BY TRISTAN ING, LYDNA LAM

12 LIFE AND ART

THE MATADOR

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

Half court, Full out A

fter a two year hiatus due to the pandemic, the dance groups—Choreo, All Male, and drill—performed at their first Dance Showcase on May 13. For seniors, it was the last performance of the year, making it an emotional one.

The showcase started off with CHOREO which was the majority of the event. Choreo demonstrated solos, duos, trios, quads, and whole team dances. They performed smoothly due to their hard work and practice.

One in particular, solo dance sophomore Yao Li, performed with enchanting moves,

spurred by the desire to not mess up.

“I was really nervous about being offbeat,” Li said. “I didn’t hear anything and was thinking, ‘Do they not like my performance?’ I think I performed decently well.

Personally, there were a lot of things I could have improved on.”

(Left to right) Seniors Ivy Lu, Angela Nguyen, and Emily Vong form a heart pose together. “Honestly the showcase was really bittersweet because it was my last performance with the team, which is crazy,” Lu said. “Reminiscing on those thoughts and experiences during the showcase is very surreal.”

The All Male team begins their number with an explosive start. “[When] I dance, I feel very energetic and happy,” junior and All Male member Benji Huang said.

“When I struggle with peace or something, dancing with [the team] makes me pretty happy.”

At the end of the Showcase, DRILL put on an amazing show, performing the same routine from the Academic Pep Rally (APR) at the Showcase. The crowd screamed some of the members’ names and watched in awe at the fascinating performance. With pompoms in both hands and a positive attitude, all drill

members danced majestically.

Sophomore Katie Vong was one of the members who worked hard, juggling school work with team practice.

“We had a lot of assignments due at that time, we also had three-hour practices, we had to prepare really hard, and it was very stressful,” Vong said. “I know I struggled, [but] in the end, I was okay. I just kept going.”

Toward the middle of the Showcase, ALL

MALE made their

presence known. Their dance made the audience go wild due to their hip hop style and improvement in their synchronization.

Junior and All Male member Benji Huang was recovering from his injury.

However, Huang did not let

his injury distract him and he danced happily.

“Due to my injury, I was more stiff than usual, and my frequent headaches made it hard to focus,” Huang said. “I was a bit anxious; as I was dancing, I immediately became less and less anxious but I was like, ‘I am going to do amazing.’”

With pom-poms in hand, senior and drill member Ashley Macias nails a move, in sync with her team.

“My favorite part of being in drill is being in the team with other people and making memories with them,” sophomore and drill member Katie Vong said. “It’s a positive environment for other people to make friends.”

WRITTEN BY JOSEPH CHO PHOTOS BY KEN YU

THE MATADOR

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

LIFE AND ART 13

SG EATS

In the course of a single year, we have been to a number of restaurants, whether to burn free time or to end a deadline day with a bang. It is our greatest pleasure to leave behind our personal top picks of local small restaurants to our underclassmen who are sticking around longer than us and maybe, just maybe, might need a good lunch or dinner to take the edge off of a long day.

Dear dream school rejects, This letter is for college rejects and college rejects only.

So, you got rejected from your dream school, what now?

Punjab, or officially Punjab Indian Market and Cuisine, has been the cornerstone of my SGHS dine out experience.

Located on Las Tunas Dr., it is just a few minute’s walk from San Gabriel and was always affordable for a broke teenager. For just $9, a student can get a lunch combo with two entrees, rice, a dessert, and bread. Even with the affordable price, the quality of the food has always been top tier. The food is always served with a smile, and students can also visit the conjoined market for some traditional Indian snacks.

Road to Seoul is not exactly a small business, but it definitely deserves a chance.

Being across from the street from Gen has definitely not helped its customer flow, as it is a less modernist take on Korean BBQ. However, I think RTS actually has higher quality meat than Gen, and in the 2022 economy, a $26.99 dinner is more than fair for more than 20 choices of meat in an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. Not to mention their excellent self-serve bar, with some of the best mac salads out there. RTS definitely should not be overlooked for the ones craving KBBQ.

Located on a snug corner on Valley Blvd. and Monterey St., a short walk away from Ding Tea and other student favorites, Savoy Kitchen is my most recent visit. It is also one of the few restaurants that immediately jumped straight up as one of my top ten places for a go-to meal. Although it sits in a moderate price range, their Hainan chicken rice is well worth the $13 and deserves its status as one of the hottest ones around. Offering a cozy warm atmosphere in its patio area, a meal here is always a well-deserved one to reward yourself.

Well-known for its decadent stewed beef that cameos in many of their noodle dishes, Mr. Dragon Noodle House is nestled in the Lucky Plaza on Valley Blvd. and Walnut Grove Ave. They serve high quality soup dumplings and absolutely have me sold on their popcorn chicken. The prices do not justify weekly visits but they are justified by the care put into each bowl of noodles they serve you, rich with umami and comfort.

Sporting modest decor and a friendly staff, this is no place to leave out of consideration for a group outing or noodle craving.

Address: 618 W Las Tunas Dr, San Gabriel, CA 91776

Address: 1 W Main St, Alhambra, CA 91801

Address: 138 E Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801

Address: 8526 Valley Blvd #108, Rosemead, CA 91770

WRITTEN BY NAN JIANG AND KEN YU GRAPHICS COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

Spy X Family is undercover rom-com hit KEN YU EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, PRINT

In an anime season that has been drenched in mediocre quality shows hailing from the same genres and templates of plotlines and character types, a particular spring season show stands head and shoulders above the rest in its quality production and wholeheartedly engaging story. Spy x Family reintroduces meaningful romantic comedy into the scene, adapted from the long-running manga series that began in 2019.

The gist of the story essentially lies in a Westalian spy Twilight’s mission to prevent a potential war by spying on a high profile political party leader.

Under the alias of psychiatrist Loid Forger (voiced by Takuya Eguchi), the spy takes on the mission with a catch to it: the key to success is by starting a family. In an oddly miraculous series of events, Loid ends up adopting an orphaned adorable young girl named Anya (voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki) and marrying Yor Briar (voiced by Saori Hayami), a city clerk, within the span of weeks. Unknown to Loid, Yor is actually a professional assassin.

Anya herself is not ordinary—she is a telepath who can read minds. Between the three of them, only Anya knows their true occupations and identities, making for a humorous dynamic

within the makeshift family.

Spy x Family sells its over-thetop humor distinctly through its characters’ interactions, taking advantage of the very real gap in common sense in its unique cast.

Yor is the most endearing among the three with her struggle to grasp what is “normal.” Constantly reacting to situations in the frame of her nature as a cold-blooded assassin, I found myself laughing and slightly worried to see the clashing contrast between her regularly sweet nature and murderous side. This running joke is pushed along by Loid’s attempt to rationalize it, practically seeing nothing wrong with it, in part due to his inexperience with the standard of what should be “normal.” The frustration I felt bordered more toward a fond exasperation, leaving me smiling at the antics of these characters.

Despite its focal point of romantic comedy and slice-of-life, Spy x Family brings to light some issues to consider through its characters even if it is not its intention. Each family member’s motivation to perform their best in their role is driven by motivation that hit a little closer to home than most would expect. Anya faces abandonment issues, exacerbated by her telepathy that she has little control over. Loid adopts her, seeing himself in her as he himself was orphaned during

PHOTO COURTESY OF COLLIDER.COM

Spy x Family is adapted from the manga, which has seen widespread success and popularity with up to 18 copies in circulation as of May 2022. a war, motivated by his desire to never see any child go through what he had. Yor strives to try and be normal, recognizing that her current life as an assassin will eventually pose a danger to her younger brother.

All these elements are tied together by powerhouses Wit Studio and CloverWorks, giants in the animation industry. The movements are crisp and varied, taking on different styles depending on the situation. Serious situations were characterized by more fluid stiffer movements that keep the atmosphere solemn and suspenseful.

More lighthearted situations were characterized by more emotive expressions that did not necessarily

stick to the main style. I found that the production quality was above average animes, and I enjoyed Anya’s expressions the most, making for some major laughs.

To current anime fans who have not yet gotten a taste of Spy x Family as a manga I would definitely encourage watching it. The show flows through its scenes with little hiccups, keeping its viewer engaged through comedy, action, and a budding romance. The highlights of the show are undoubtedly its characters and their dynamics are sure to make watchers feel right at home, pulled straight into their shady shenanigans of navigating a family life.

I can’t really tell you, or anyone for that matter, how to react.

You can be sad, mad, or even a combination of both--“smad” I’d like to call it. The emotions you experience are 100% valid.

Although I don’t know what each and every college reject has faced throughout their high school career, I know that it was not an easy ride. High school in itself is a crazy roller coaster and the fact that you made it this far is amazing. You have probably heard this a couple of times already, but if you haven’t, I am here to tell you that getting rejected does not define your worth. This year, colleges nationwide read thousands of applications in the span of a few months. On average, admissions officers take less than 15 minutes to look through your application.

After you sent in your application, there was so much that was based on luck, and it is not your fault you were not considered “lucky.”

What is more important from this is the experience that you gained.

Even if you took months or days to finish your application, you were able to learn more about the higher education system which may come in handy if you pursue graduate school or academia as a career.

Additionally, the fact that you are even working toward getting a higher education is impressive. I hope that motivation continues to thrive within you as we graduate.

Furthermore, it is important to note that going to a “good” college does not guarantee that you will be successful in the future. Your success is defined by what you do in college. This means working hard in your academics and taking advantage of what is available at the college, such as internships and research opportunities.

Build a good relationship with your professors and take time to understand what you are passionate about.

Nonetheless, at this point, you can spend the rest of your high school experience moping and being angry at yourself, or you can spend the last few weeks making some of the most spectacular memories. The choice is up to you, and I truly wish you the best in your future, whether that be at a four-year university or a community college.

Best wishes, A fellow college reject

14 WILLS MYTAM LE

Future Plans: Major in Environmental Engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and either become a high school science teacher or an urban planner. Also I will either marry a comp sci/engineer major or Emily Vong.

Will: I, Mytam Le, of “that’s what she said” jokes and frequent Target trips, bequeath my sunscreen to Vivian Li, my Framed and Moviedle skills to Adwik Chaturvedi, my “ur mom” jokes to Emely Quezada, and MFOLSG to Jaqueline Lopez.

Quote: “430.089cos(12)” Memories: Watching Barbie during deadlines; making memes in newspaper; helping Andrew cheat in Wordle; not getting a table during lunch, last-minute cram sessions before WHAP and math; meeting most of my friends in freshman PE; falling on the L-building stairs when it was raining; Chromebook guy recording events; meeting my favorite staff member: Mr. Clean.

Predictions: I will learn how to swim; Jhozibel Medina will go to Harvard and become our very own Elle Woods; Kelly Du will meet a rich white man and give me his money; Chelsea Lam will solve climate change; Emily Vong and I will get married and live on a farm; Sandra Lopez will stop blushing; Kamsy will win the Lasker Award; Andrew Lam will become a famous pilot; Ken Yu will become a New York Times best seller; Katelyn Lau will have her own forensic TV show; Lynda Lam will fall in love with stats; Justin Fang will become Elon Musk in another universe,;Nan Jiang will become the president of his own island; Richard will teach Nan’s kids on the island, Lina Tieu will have a good relationship with her sister; Lisa will meet Connor at SLO; Diana will make new friends,;Katie Yu will meet Lisa again.

Thanks to: Ms. Wright, Ms. Parra, Mr. Osborne, Ms. Bishop, Ms. Jalawan, Ms. Vergo, Ms. Gomez, all of my other teachers, my family, my friends, newspaper peeps, Senor Jalapeno (rip), your mom

N NALLELY SOSA

Future Plans: Major in Law & Finance at Cal State LA. Will: I, Nallely Sosa, with my outrageous and extroverted personality give my perseverance and motivation, to Kerah Johnson.

Quote: “You will go through so much, but you’ll come out stronger; I believe in you, always will.”

Memories: The musical Predictions: Kerah Johnson will become what she wants and see through many people, like I have with them.

Thanks to: My years in high school

NAN JIANG

Future Plans: Save the world after graduating from George Washington University with a degree in International Affairs.

Will:I, Nan Jiang, of Punjab, bequeath my LARTs editing skills to Joseph Cho, my love of Punjab to Adwik Chaturvedi, and exactly $67.86 to Jeremy Gutierrez to purchase “Bayonetta 3” when it comes out.

Quote: “Badabang Badaboom Mr. Worldwide as I walk in the room.” - Pitbull Memories: Playing “Basta” or getting la multa in Ms. Deniz’s class, getting a 4 on the APUSH exam, CT Day, doing anything but newspaper in newspaper class, the things we did in Schecter’s class, and a million other things I play back in my head every day Predictions: Justin Fang will manipulate the US economic system to the point of creating a second Great Depression. Andrew Lam will create the sesequel trilogy of Star Wars. Adwik will jump over some more hurdles. Richard will own his very own Shabuya franchise while teaching as a side hustle.

Mytam will destroy any remnants of the patriarchal

THE MATADOR world, as she truly gaslights, gatekeeps, and girlbosses.

Ms. Jalawan will become a cowboy/pit master. Chelsea will become the #1 ranked “Clash Royale” player in the world, and Xiaoyu will become the Chinese drama version of Lin Manuel Miranda. Jeremy will reestablish the Mexican Empire all while not speaking any Spanish at all. Tammy will exploit Latin American nations for cheap labor as she creates the trendiest fashion items of the season. Kylie will be the female version of Gordon Ramsey, and Katelyn will take a break from uploading 100,000 articles a day. Joseph will continue to Joseph. After transferring from PCC, Lynda will major in Stats at Georgetown University and fall deeply in love with a man named Samuel at 10:56 PM on Thursday, November 7, 2024. Tristan will go on to direct Season 6 of Breaking Bad where he also stars as the lead character. Ken will dye his hair blond and engage in delinquent physical altercations in the city streets, mainly against a Japanese man named Ryu while they both master the ancient art of Hadoken.

Thanks to: Ms. McPherson, Salvadoreña Tramposa Schecter, Ms. Deniz, & Mr. Garcia for teaching my favorite classes, every year. Ms. Parra for being everything that you were, but also you’re welcome for the coolest, most honest student you’ve ever had.

Maximum Hinojosa, Hendrickson, and Osborne for being always cool. My friends and my newspaper people for being highlights of my SG experience.

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

Quote: “I always felt like I lived vicariously through the books I read, giving me an escape from the real world. I lived as a knight, a magician, and a war refugee, rather than a kid with no friends.” - me :) Memories: I’ll always remember Steven being too busy :jasonsadge: our first hangout at Ben’s uncles house, the award ceremony where we got fire pics. Hanging out at jason’s house. Winning at FBLA, the Ontario trip, and the pool duck (that I did not scare). Late nights at deadlines. Tutoring at Ms. Wu’s class. Trying to ice skate. Late night “League.” All the multiplayer rougelikes and messing around at lunch.

Predictions: Justin will take Calc ABCDEFG over the summer. Ben will learn how to walk straight. Alvin will dab on national television. Jason will learn how to do the secret technique from Alvin. Steven will become the next Wall Street broker. Ken will write a million haikus. Nan will force me to go to Shabuya for the 5th time.

Thanks to: Ms. Wu for reality checking me, Ms. Bishop for having a really interesting class, and to the both of them for writing my letter of recs, Ms. Manalang for giving great advice and being a fun class, Ms. Jalawan for staying late in deadlines and pretending not to hear our bad jokes, friends for always being funny, brothers for helping me every step of the way, and my parents who have taught me the most

RYAN GIBERTI

PINGDA SU

Future Plans: Planning to transfer, I don’t know where I will end up, but we’ll see what will happen in 2 years.

Will: I miss all my friends.

Quote: “SGHS Class of 2022, I’ll see you guys in tne future.”

Predictions: Princeton Math Major??? Maybe!

Thanks To: My AP Calculus teacher Ms. Tran and my AP Gov. teacher Ms. Manalang

Q QIFENG SHEN

Future Plans: Go to college.

Will: I, Qifeng Shen, of smiles and sunshine, bequeath my homework to my friends.

Quote: “Time is money.”

Thanks to: All

QUYEN GIANG

Future Plans: I’m planning on getting into college and finding a job. After that, I’ll start using my money to rent an apartment.

Will: I, Quyen Giang, of shyness and quietness, bring loneliness to no one.

Quote: “Don’t run by the clock. Work hard until you can’t breathe.”

Memories: One of my best memories is being able to discover my superiority.

Predictions: I predict that everyone will at least graduate high school.

Thanks to: All of my teachers and San Gabriel High School

R RICHARD TRAN

Future Plans: Attend Occidental College, major in English, and pray to God I find a job somehow.

Will: I, Richard Tran, of bad jokes and awkwardness, bequeath my great newspaper writing to Joseph, waiting 5 days till deadlines to start writing to Adwik (although he already does that), my insane InDesign skills to Jeremy, and my lack of friend making skills to Leimin (God knows he needs some).

Future Plans: I plan to go to college and possibly get a teaching degree.

Will: I will leave behind memories a plenty for those to see.

Quote: “Man, a watermelon.” - Kanji Tatsumi a kid with no friends Memories: All the times I would hang out with friends as well as the grueling work that had to be done.

Predictions: I don’t got many, I’m focused more on me than others as of now.

Thanks to: My friends for staying with me along this journey

S SAMANTHA PHUNG

Future Plans: Sell my art, open up a cute cafe with my best friend Sammi Chai, world domination.

Will: I, Samantha Lee Phung, of energetic bursts and the finest of eye bags, bequeath my undying optimism and dance skills to Julia Quach, my playlist-making skills to Apple Trieu, my love for arguing and good poetry to Josephine Oetomo, my funniness to Andrew Adam, and my passion for helping freshmen to Jenny Le, Laura Cai, and the future leaders of Link Crew.

Quote: “My favorite time to nap: during PE.” Memories: Playing the ukulele around campus, beating Solida at UNO in H2, PUFO team dinners after comps, dying in Calculus BC over Taylor series, and boogeying anywhere and everywhere @ LA Zoo w/ Sophia and Julia Predictions: Ken Yu will thrive as a journalist. Sophia Quach will become famous in the world of STEM. Kelly Tang will marry rich and become mutuals with Eric Nam. Michelle Wu will publish a piece of writing for fun and get highly recognized for it. I will be as tall as Julia Quach!!!

Thanks to: the kids in S&D for trying their best; the entire Yearbook team; Andrew Adam for being the first freshman to open up to me as a Link leader; Mrs. W, and Ms. Revilla for the guidance and support; Ms. Boettcher for all the fun talks; Michelle for being the funniest person I know @ SG; to my lunch group, Sophia, Julia, and James— I look forward to talking to y’all every day

SANDRA CHUONG

Future Plans: I will be majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology or Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley and hopefully become an EMT or do clinical research.

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

Long term, I want to be a physician assistant in either Family Medicine or Pediatrics.

Will: I, Sandra Chuong, of smiles and weirdness, bequeath my spontaneity to Assahel J., my detachment skills and hatred for clinginess to Laura C., my tenacity and excitement to Nathan M., and my hatred for hurdles and the 300m hurdles to my 3 granddaughters.

Quote: “Wait, does rushing mean...like joining a frat really fast?” - Joey G. Lin 2K22 Memories: Car rides/dates with Tasia, going out almost every day once I could drive, late-night trips to CSULB, making the pit for triple jump, failing my first math test in A1, any and all dissections, spilling chemicals on Valerie’s hand during a chemistry lab, scratching the bottom of my car on the speed bump in the south parking lot, and bothering Mr. Wong every chance I could Predictions: Assahel, aka “Cooper,” and Laura, aka “Louder,” will place top 3 in all of their events at league finals; Jackie T. will PR over 4’ 4” in high jump, Nathan, aka “Napkin,” will continue being awesome, Emily will turn into an Asian baby girl; Tasia will become a great architect; Joey will find a tennisplaying boyfriend; Kelly will finish her “want-to-try” bucket list.

Thanks to: Mr. Wong, Ms. Gomez, Mrs. Keller, Mr. Osborne, Mrs. Wright, Ms. Wu, Mrs. Tran, Coach Morales, Coach Rosas, Coach Weaver, my lunch groupmates, my track team, the little green men, my best friends, and my platonic gf, Tasia Nguyen.

SHANE PRENTICE

Future Plans: Major in Business Administration.

Will: I, Shane Prentice, pass down my hurdle skills & knowledge to my little hurdlers, Nathan, Adwik, Andy, John, Juan, Allyson, Alicia, Amy, & Josephine.

I also pass down my amazing driving skills to Brian Huang, Philip Chu, & Kandy Mao. Lastly, I pass down my knowledge of making & selling spam musubi out of a drawstring bag to Chris Gomez.

Quote: “If you were a food, you’d be a rice cracker.” Brian Huang Memories: Teaching the hurdlers how to hurdle, SCC meetings with Ms. Jung, sleeping on the floor of the Peer Assistant office during third period, running my last high school race with not only my hurdlers, but also my favorite & best 4x4 team I’ve ever had Predictions: I predict that Nathan Moran will beat my hurdle record for the 110 mH. Connor Lei will get bigger & stronger than Jason Lei. The little hurdlers will no longer stutter before each hurdle. Alan Heng & Jordan Wen will get married & have 3 kids. Jason Lei will get too hungry & accidentally eat one of Kai Marroquin’s koi fish. Chris Gomez will try hurdles one day & fall on his face. Sammy Lee will finally peak Radiant on “Valorant”.

Thanks to: Coach Morales & Coach Rosas for being role models & strong individuals that I will always look up to in life. All of my hurdlers for always checking up on me, making sure that I am not too stressed before races, & always reassuring me that I will do great in whatever I do in life. Brian Huang and Brandon Chie for always pushing their hardest whenever I asked them to & always giving 100% of their effort. To VC, Alan Heng, Jordan Wen, Sammy Lee, Jason Lei, & whoever shall join next. To Ms. Jung & Ms. Revilla for always being strong individuals that I could always rely on & could always go to for anything <3

SOKSEREY SUN

Future Plans: Major in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford and become a stay-at-home dad.

Will: I, Sokserey Sun, of innuendos and bad dad jokes, bequeath all my bad luck to Stephanie Loo, my somewhat functional sleep schedule to Alton Wu, my prayers to Eric Tran, my procrastination skills to Ronald Phung and Tony Lei, and my nonexistent treasurer skills to Vivian Nguyen and Brandon Pham.

Quote: “YO, this is better than In-N-Out!” Christopher Lam eating a school cheeseburger Memories: Dying in Rose Parade, pulling my first all- nighter to do a Calc project, sweating profusely

THE MATADOR during volunteer events, raiding restaurants with the homies before football games, Andy having the time of his life in AP Physics, arguing with Ms. Vasquez about Comic Sans (the best font), Ms. Tran and her K-dramas, and starting my college essays two days before they were due.

Predictions: Angelyna Tan will own half the world, James San will still be tall, Christopher Lam will never not be a bum, Peter Chinh will always be the homie, William Chung will forever be good at any video game, Vincent Kang will still love cars, Andy Duong will be swole as hell, and Eric Dam will still be a cutie.

Thanks to: Ms. Vasquez, Ms. Wu, Mr. Vogel, and Ms.Tran for being amazing teachers, and william’s kids for being the wackiest friend group I had the pleasure of being a part of.

SOPHIA QUACH

Future Plans: Be the rich comp-sci-husband.

Will: I, Sophia Quach, of heavy sleeping and refusing to play Val, bequeath the title of Best Quach to Julia, my PR for Tam^2 - Tammie Chen and Tammy Huong to beat, my stories and excessive gesturing to Nikki Tang and Erin Shin, my house keys to Churro, my money management mastery to Brandon Pham, my poetry prowess to Linh Dinh, and my flashcardworthy explanations of InDesign tools to Vanessa Chandra.

Quote: “It’s ok, it’s ok. America rich.” - P.E. student after losing a tennis ball Memories: Runs with Emily and the Lilys. Karaoke sessions on bus rides home. Sidelines project work sessions that turned into hangout sessions. Late night discord deadlines as I struggle to draw a line with Lily, Kenny, Michael, and Peter. Walking around to get food after ELAJEA comp (pt.1 and pt.2). Getting attacked by hail during track practice. Trips to get food on main with Samantha, Julia, and James.

Predictions: Ken Yu will go insane working on this issue; Vanessa Chandra and Jackie Wu will become the very best EICs; Samantha opens up her cute sticker shop, and I buy out her whole stock.

Thanks to: Samantha and Julia for being the being the sweetest friends, James for the moral support, Serena, My, Welton, and Jennifer for the entertaining lunches, my cross country and track & field teammates. All my teachers, Mrs. Tran, Mr. Schreiner, Mr. Vogel, Mr. Nong

STEVEN PHUNG

Future Plans: Major in Economics at Skidmore College and learn how to ride a horse while listening to the “How to Train Your Dragon - Flying” theme.

Will: I, Steven Phung, of food coma and insomnia, bequeath my weebness to the homies in Art, my hezi to anyone who wants it in basketball, my FBLA study sets (and basically everything else) to Raymond.

Quote: “Despite everything, it’s still you.” - Undertale Memories: Guarding the admission’s table with Bliss at basketball tournaments, Shenandoah runs and eating at Noodle World with the rest of the team, catching dubs with the boys at FBLA comps, building a prosthetic arm at Jackson, finishing Mr. Wong’s lab reports at 3 am, doing gacha rolls in class with Tyrone, spamming :benkek: in chat Predictions: Jason will inspire his students to become chill Math teachers. Richard will write his own generic cultivation novel. Binh will continue being a tsundere. Justin will be a high roller. Ken will have influencers in his DMs asking for photoshoots. Alvin will continue to make people laugh. Welton will join Luffy’s crew and find the One Piece.

Thanks to: Ms. Vasquez for making distance learning memorable, Ms. Lee for not letting me slack off, Ms. Hernandez for being the absolute nicest, Ms. Boettcher for putting up with me and Jason, Mr. Vogel for giving me confidence, and the Outing Peeps - for making my high school experience both a bit more memorable and bearable

WILLS 15

T TAMMY VUONG

Future Plans: Major in Business Economics and minor in Marketing at UC San Diego.

Will: I, Tammy Vuong, bequeath my style and business skills to my favorite partner, Laura Cai. Quote: “Life is a long lesson in humility.” - James M. Barrie Memories: Random study dates, craving hotpot literally every week, impulsively buying boba, newspaper boba fundraisers, AP Stats group stressing before every test, sitting next to Laura every day in newspaper, bringing acai bowls almost every week, drinking Viet coffee three times a week, stressing every time I go to AP Chinese class, sitting next to Brittney in AP Chinese and ranting about everything, lastminute hang outs with Amber, sleeping in AP Psych and Badminton class every period, procrastinating until 3 a.m., retail therapy every month, crying over UC rejections, selfies with Ivy during English, ranting about my diet but never going through with it, craving Popeye’s chicken sandwich every week, AP Chinese group getting into amazing UCs and ranting about assignments Predictions: Leyna will become a vet, Ivy will become a dancer and date super cute guys, Brittney will become an engineer, Amber will become a successful business woman, Nicole will hangout with me soon, Xiaoyu will become a Speech and Debate master, Phuong will be a famous influencer, Laura will become a fashionista and will also hang out with me soon, Christy will be able to get into Berkeley, Jobeth will finally be able to put on contacts under 5 minutes, Sesylia will become a dancer, and I will be able to successfully lose weight and make new friends at UCSD. Thanks to: Coach Encinas, Newspaper crew, AP Stats group, AP Chinese group, AP Psych group, Ms. Wong, Ms. Jalawan, my bestie Leyna, the whole lunch group for an awesome four years, and new friends this year

TASIA NGUYEN

Future Plans: Major in Architecture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Will: I, Tasia Nguyen, of the mats and sandpits, bequeath my injured quads and incredible nicknaming skills to Assahel “Cooper” Jimenez, my professional level aim and ability to approach women to Christopher “Lil C” Gomez, my immaculate taste in music to Nathan “Nate Dogg” Moran, and, finally, the worst tan lines to ever exist to Lucy “Furball” Luu. Quote: “CSGO?!?!” - Aidan Phan Memories: Track meets and the bus rides, spontaneous trips with Sandra, and 4th period breaks with Angela.

Thanks to: Sandra and Cooper for being the best financial advisors, Ms. McNeilly for always welcoming me into her class, and Coach Weaver for putting up with the jumpers and all the crazy stuff we got into this season

16 WILLS

THE MATADOR

TIEN NGUYEN

Future Plans: I am going to attend CSU Fullerton in the business department for Marketing. But I hope that I will create many new friends along with retaining connection with my current friend group as we grow and move on toward college or other separate destinations. I hope my passion for theater will continue to burn as I grow. Also my ambition will continue to fuel as I become the rich uncle in my family by my 30’s (gotta keep it realistic cuz no one gonna be rich with those student debt in their 20’s).

Overall, I wanna enjoy life to the fullest as I plan to hang out with my friends and be who I am.

Will: I, Tien Nguyen, beings of bad jokes and obnoxious laughter, bequeath my dark humor to the future generation of Drama kids.

Quote: “Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth” Memories: Track meets and the bus rides, spontaneous trips with Sandra, and 4th period breaks with Angela.

Thanks to: Ms. McNeilly, Ms. Revilla, my friends, my family, alumni, my classmate, and all those who have tolerated me and my jokes!

TRISTAN ING

I want to get off this dirty rock we call a planet and travel through space. Trailblazing through the cosmos.

Will: In case of my untimely death, I would like my body donated to science. All of my wealth equally distributed amongst my family,and a very cheap funeral.

Quote: “You’re insanely interesting. You never change, and you dance like you have no bones.”

Memories: Breakdancing during Homecoming Predictions: I’m gonna be rich.

Thanks to: Mom, Dad, Big Brother, my friends, my teachers, my mailman, Mr. President, cats & dogs, the color blue, water, nice skies, pizza and myself.

TYRONE RAFANAN

Future Plans: Member of the United States Marine Corps.

Will: I, Tyrone Rafanan, bequeath my lunch spot to Bliss Truong, Caden Giberti, or anyone else who somehow knows where I sit.

Quote: “Find someone to believe in, and find it for yourself. When you do, pass it on to the future.” Solid Snake (MGS2) Memories: Cheering for my teammates during basketball games. Going out to eat with them after games.

Predictions: I’ll see someone from our year in the news within the next 4 years, whether their reason for showing up there be good or bad.

Thanks to: All of the basketball team, and my nerd friends Ana, Lisa, Mickley, Alvin, and Alejandro.

V VALERIE NG

Future Plans: Open a preschool or after school and study abroad.

Will: I, Valerie Ng, of bad jokes and trendiness, bequeath my good luck to Ivana Wu, my driving skills to Jasmine Luong, my neatness to Audrey Tran, my funniness to Amy Lac, and my brain to Matthew Ng. Quote: “vlogger life” Memories: Sitting at lunch, eating during lunch, going to class, crying because of math Predictions: FBLA First Place Sweepstakes; Old Nine will be the most liked flavor of meat sticks for years to come; Jasmine, Audrey, Amy, and Ivana all make FBLA nationals.

Thanks to: Brittney Chan, Erika Cong, Sandra Chuong, Nicole Ly, Kelly Tang, Michelle Tu, Britney Ly, Nancy Ho, Joey Lin, Mrs. Vasquez, Mr. Vogel, Ms. Tran. Ms. Zhao, Mr. Gin, and everyone else who was my friend

VIVIAN LAM

Future Plans: Go with the flow in river during college to see where it takes me.

Will: I, Vivian Lam, the local dancing emo, grant my nonexistent youth to Victor Valentino Kim Lam, dance crew to Yadanica Rodriguez, my dancing skills to Zaira Fraijo.

Quote: “You feel like you’re going to die some days, but don’t worry. You don’t die.” - SOLAR of MAMAMOO Memories: Dancing to K-pop at the Quad, Pancake, and Prom Predictions: Ana will start an animation YouTube channel, Yadanica will be the President of Anime Anonymous, and Zaira will be joining dance crew at least one more time.

Thanks to: Ms. McNeilly, Ms. Revilla, all 3 clubs that I participated in, and all the people I met along the way

VIVIAN ZHOU

Future Plans: Leech off Chelsea and Belinda and live in the mansion they bought with their six figure salary.

Will: I, Vivian Zhou, bequeath my beautiful puns to Chelsea Kha and my practical pick up lines to Belinda Thai.

Quote: “I’m the restroom” - Chelsea Kha Memories: I shall always remember constantly being on high alert because I provoked so many people that at any moment someone may whack me.

Predictions: Belinda will become a beloved teacher and acquire a glucose father. Chelsea will become a renowned neurosurgeon but will lose her custody battle over a llama. Justin will become a wealthy aerospace engineer minoring in law. Binh will get all the ladies he so desires. Ashley will become the greatest lover and supporter of the color pink. Andrew will get married and buy fifty million board games.

Thanks to: My counselor and my PODER teachers for all their support throughout high school.

W WELTON CZHANG

Future Plans: Own a cat, major in Environmental Horticulture and Urban Forestry at UC Davis :>, stay relevant LOL, own cats, kickflip and not be a poser, possess an NA Miata, own multiple cats, keep making for-life friends, spam cat photos on instagram to the real ones, slide into those dms, have pets, and ESPECIALLY a Sun Conure!!! <3 Will: I, Welton Czhang, to whomst’d’ve’ly’ it may concern, bequeath my name in every bad memory a teacher has of me, the “Wel” in my first name to Sandra Lopez aka “Sandy,” aka “Weldra,” my last few brain cells to Mindy Hoang, Julia Quach, Amy Quach, and Linh Dinh—aka “cursi”—(from most important to least) in hopes they survive their classes next year, new bell schedules, and anticipated AP Exams.

Quote: “This story is the tale of me starting to walk.

Not in the physical sense … but in an adolescence to adulthood sort of way” - Johnny Joestar, SBR Memories: Freshman Bio, French 1/2, dreading pop quizzes and tests for Mrs. Wu, nervously sharing daily prompts in Parra, lockdowns and fire drills, getting my butt wiped by Win for sitting on raisins, introverted me until Zoom HS, “Papa Schreiner”, stalling lesson plans in APES with the homie Dylan along with Mrs. Wright, reintroducing myself to EVERYONE when we came back in person, and lots more!

Predictions: More than half the school clubs will be dead once we leave, waffles will now expand to Ramona St. after remaining supreme at the four corners and gain significant territorial outreach, I’ll still be single and simping, I’ll have fixed my diet and made significant weight gains and gotten ripped, I’ll own CATS, I will expire at the age of 30 and disappear, to be found in a ditch. THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT!!

Thanks to: Ms. Hernandez, Madame Rose, Mr. Schreiner, Mr. Tran, Señora Schecter (my fave teacher!), Mrs. Parra (my other fave teacher…), Ms.

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

Suñe, Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Dominguez, Mr. Vogel, Mrs. Lee, and Mr. Gin. Special thanks to the friends that rlly count (if you’re here, you’re important!) Nicole Le, Chelsea Kha, Mindy Hoang, Steven Phung, Sandra Lopez, Eric Dam, and an endless ocean of ppl. i love y’all sm!

WINGYAN LEUNG

Future Plans: Major in Japanese at the University of California, Irvine Quote:” The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” Dalai Lama Predictions: I will become a kindergarten teacher.

Y YAO WEN ZHENG WU

Future Plans: I want to be rich as Elon Musk, colonize Mars, and major in Gender Studies.

Will: I, Yao Wen Zheng Wu, of Godly and Almighty, give love to everybody.

Quote: “Hayaaa, why you no doctor? Very disappointing.” - Mom Memories: We got hold on to what we got, it doesn’t matter if we make it or not, we got each other and that is a lot for love. We got give it a shot. Vivia Colombia.

Kobe. What’s poppin. AP exams.

Predictions: I will colonize Mars.

Thanks to: My mom and my dad for always supporting me, all my teachers for being there for me when I struggled academically, to my friends Andrew Lam, Andy Duong, Jack Harlow, Drake, Bon Jovi, Alvin Ye, Alan, David, Jessy, Erick, Justin Fang, Johan Oetomo, Ken Yu, Richard Tran, Pingda Su, Tristian Ing, Welton, Simon Peter, and my imaginary friend Yevtushenko.

THE MATADOR

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

GAMES 17

CROSSWORD This issue’s crossword theme is “So Long Seniors!” As the school year ends, The Matador would like to celebrate the next steps for our seniors in continuing their education. The answers are all universities, community colleges, or organizations the Class of 2022 is going to. Read through the Senior Wills to find out who is going where!

1 4

2

ACROSS

5 6

7

8 10

11 12

13

9

DOWN

3 Sokserey Sun

1 Sandra Chuong

5 Nallely Sosa

2 Tyrone Rafanan

7 Charlotte Yu

4 Angelyna Tan

8 Tien Nguyen

6 Nan Jiang

10 Eric Ton

7 Tasia Nguyen

12 Wing Yan Leung

9 Kelly Tang

14 Steven Phung

11 Tammy Vuong

15 Michelle Wu

13 Belinda Thai

16 Alondra Zubiate

15 Welton Czhang

14 15 16

WORD BANK

3

Cal Poly Pomona Cal Poly SLO CSUF CSULA CSULB George Washington

Marines PCC Skidmore Stanford UCB UCD

UCI UCLA UCR UCSB UCSD Virginia Commonwealth

The Matador Staff, 2021-22

The Matador would like to extend some thanks to those that make our publication possible.

Thank you to our advertisers and donors for funding student journalism and to our printing company.

Thank you to the teachers, staff, and administration for putting up with our interview requests.

Finally, thank you to all our readers. You make our paper and the stories within meaningful!

The Matador will return next fall!

18 FEATURES

THE MATADOR

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

Avila’s job well done in welding Although the welding program was canceled, senior Alan Avila’s love for the craft is unbending.

BY KEN YU EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, PRINT

O

ne wrong jerk of the hand, and the weld would be ruined. Eyes glinting through the welding helmet, he directs the torch into a painstakingly slow line, watching with anxiety.

Seconds pass into minutes, and the torch finally makes it to the edge. The booth is swallowed in heat, but a tide of excitement and pride swallows senior Alan Avila his freshman self as he finally gets down an arc weld.

Welding had never occurred to Avila as a potential passion until a spur-of-the-moment decision to take the class as suggested by Get Focused, Stay Focused teacher Bruce Pardee.

Unsure of whether or not he would like it, Avila dove into the unknown regardless.

“I learned so many things like how to weld properly,

different specifics about the gas tanks, how to make napkin holders, cubes; you name it, we did it,” Avila said. “To me, it was so special and unique because not only did it give me so much creative freedom, I had a great time doing all this hard work and having it pay off.”

However, it was not always smooth sailing for Avila. The difficulty varied among the several different types of welds he had to learn and make.

Among them was arc welding, a type of welding that makes use of an electric arc to melt and join metals together.

“I was learning how to make the specific lines for arc welding in class,” Avila said. “I sat at my table and worked on it for a month or so because I was learning how to create the lines. When I got the technique down, I was so excited, I ran to Mr. Bruce and went ‘I did it!’”

To Avila, welding is more than just a practical tool. It

Tapia gets reeled into film, inspired by father

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SARINA TAPIA

(Top) Junior Sarina Tapia refines the work that she filmed with her friends, asking her dad for help when needed. (Bottom) Tapia’s most recent short film, "The Break-up of Winnifred Hut Jr. III and Daphne D'nutz," is an investigation of a semi-famous couple breaking up in a high school.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALAN AVILA

Before the pandemic, senior Alan Avila would enter his welding class with excitement. Through much hard work and determination, Avila found welding as a way to push the envelope on his creativity.

acts as a creative outlet and a world of exploration that he can jump into and get lost in. He also has a newfound appreciation for working hard, fulfilled by the way his effort and work can pay off.

“Welding is one of those things where if you have the intuitive feel, you just go for it,” Avila said. “When I go at it, I go at it. When I finish what I’m doing, I’m like, ‘Look at all

LAURA CAI BUSINESS MANAGER

“You did a bad thing for a good reason.”

“You did a—you did—you— you—” If you were just listening from outside her door, you would think her laptop was broken with the audio cutting in-and-out. But junior Sarina Tapia is perfecting a scene by syncing the dialogue to the video for a personal film.

Tapia began helping her dad in film at the age of 13. She has been surrounded by film her whole life. With her father being a television editor who loves cinema, Tapia’s love for film also grew.

“I know some people would hate to sit in a chair listening to the same line of dialogue all day,” Tapia said. “But to me, sitting down and trying to put together a dumb video nobody will ever watch is what’s fun to me.”

Tapia constantly looks up to her dad and his talent in film editing. She spent much of her teens assisting her dad with tasks such as titling media, syncing up audio with video, or cutting clips. Sharing the same

the hard work I did.’ There’s a way more joyous, more lively feeling I get when I finish something I love doing.”

Although the welding program has not made a return after the pandemic cut his second year short, Avila still brims with the same passion and energy he had for the art.

Eyeing any chance to get back into welding, he is ready to push the limits of his abilities

as far he can.

“The biggest thing I learned is that if you’re passionate about something, you’re willing to go as far as you can and as far as you want to explore and learn more about it,” Avila said. “In my two years in welding, I definitely learned my limits. I’m wondering how far I can take this. I’m still looking at how high I can really, really go.”

passion for film has brought them closer and built a positive relationship between the two.

“My dad is definitely my biggest inspiration,” Tapia

that I wanted to do editing as a future career.”

There are a lot of worthwhile aspects that attract Tapia into the film industry, but the main one is the creative process.

Although time-consuming and confusing at times, it is the audience's reactions that enchants Tapia to film.

“To me, making films feels like a puzzle that needs to be solved, and it feels amazing to finally put the pieces together,” Tapia said. “I love the gratification of hearing people laugh at my videos. It pays off after slaving away behind a computer trying to determine if what I made was funny or not.”

Tapia is adamant with her decision to major in the film industry. Her unwavering support from her dad and the unique experiences that she has indulged in over the course of her high school career has definitely prepared her to enter this industry.

“I'm sure film is what I want to do in life,” Tapia said. “I would like to become an editor like my dad. I don’t care if I'm a television or movie editor, I just want to create things with and for people.”

" To me, making films feels like a puzzle that needs to be solved, and it feels amazing to finally put the pieces together.

I love the gratification of hearing people laugh at my videos."

Sarina Tapia Junior said. “He has always inspired me to try different things and practice different procedures to better my skills. He’s been so supportive after I told him

FEATURES 19

THE MATADOR

thematadorsghs.us WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

Academic Awards Phoenix Award The Phoenix Award recognizes students who have overcame personal struggles.

William Hogan

Sarah Ly

Q: What does the Phoenix Award mean to you?

A: It serves as a reminder that I’ve accomplished something big that I didn’t think was possible. It made me aware that I was one of the first ever students here to be really off track and was able to get back on track.

Q: Is there anyone you want to thank?

A: I want to thank my family because I wouldn’t have been on track to graduate today without them. When I first got here, I didn’t even try to do my work. I would’ve given up on school, but now I actually try to focus and I’ve been getting my work done.

Q: If you had to choose a superpower, what would it be?

A: I would choose teleportation. I would like to get to places quicker. It inspires you to explore and it’s not cost heavy.

Q: What does the Phoenix Award mean to you?

A: I am very proud of the award and what it represents. But even without the award, I would still be proud of myself.

Q: Is there anyone you want to thank?

A: I would thank my teachers, especially Ms. Jung because she really inspired me to go towards my artistic dream. Also, my family but especially my friends for bringing joy to my days. Them just being themselves brighten my day without them even knowing Q: If you had to choose a superpower, what would it be?

A: If I could have a superpower, I would choose healing. I would want to heal others to help others in need.

Renaissance Award The Renaissance Award honors students and their dedication in extracurricular activities.

Ashley Macias

Jesse Ngo

Q: Who were your main supporters in high school?

A: Mr. Vogel and Ms. Burkhart who were advisers for the poetry club and team. Ms. Deniz and Ms. Vasquez who taught me that my ethnicity shouldn’t stop me from participating in things I know I would excel in. Ms. Revilla’s positive attitude made my days bearable. Their support gave me reassurance, motivated me, and made me feel understood.

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d give to other ambitious students?

A: Don’t overexert yourself and learn your limits.

Q: If you had to be an inanimate object, what would you be?

A: I would be a clay frog bowl. I would help others by being a useful place to leave keys or rings.

Q: Who were your main supporters in high school?

A: Definitely my family and friends. My friends helped me escape from school and not stress too much about stuff. My family acted as my everyday support when I’m stressing out or need help with anything.

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d give to other ambitious students?

A: I would say that anything you do is enough.

You shouldn’t stress too much about not doing enough to show who you are.

Q: If you had to be an inanimate object, what would you be?

A: If I had to be an inanimate object, I would want to be a fork. It’s something everyone uses, and it’s used to eat.

Student-Athlete Award The Student-Athlete Award celebrates students’ achievements in athletic and academic activities.

Nicholas Duong Q: How were you introduced to sports?

A: I’ve always liked football, but I didn’t want to try out at first because I thought I was too small.

But my friend, Jose, convinced me to try out.

Q: Which was harder to stay on top of, sports or academics?

A: I think academics is harder because I feel unmotivated sometimes. There isn’t any fun in academics, in my opinion, but when I go to practice, I get to feel more relieved after all the stress I endure from school.

Q: Would you rather have back-to-back final exams or matches?

A: I would want to have back-to-back matches.

Matches are tiring, but I don’t like sitting down in a class taking a test.

GRAPHIC BY ANDREW LAM PHOTOS BY KATELYN LAU, KEN YU

Kai Marroquin Q: How were you introduced to sports?

A: I was introduced to sports by my family. My mom is the one that put me in multiple sports when I was younger to see what I liked and was good at. I was able to commit to sports because I truly enjoyed playing and running Q: Which was harder, sports or academics?

A: Both are equally hard because of time management, but I think sports are harder. I had multiple practices, and going to school the next day to do it all over again was exhausting.

Q: Would you rather have back-to-back final exams or matches?

A: I’d rather have back-to-back matches.

Even though it’s tiring, I love competing and bonding with my team.

INTERVIEWS BY KYLIE CHUNG, KATELYN LAU, KEN YU

THY STATELY WALLS, DEAR ALMA MATER, RISE PROUDLY IN THE GOLDEN WEST, INSPIRING ALL THY SONGS WITH COURAGE TO MEET EACH CHALLENGE AND EACH TEST. TO THINE IDEALS WE SHALL BE FAITHFUL. OUR LOYALTY WILL NEVER DIE. WE LIFT OUR VOICES NOW IN TRIBUTE TO THEE, SAN GABRIEL HIGH.

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA PHUNG