STUDENT LIFE

Over the summer of 2021, junior Meghan Ke took up crocheting as a way to pass time following a surgery on her torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Previously, Ke spent her time on active hobbies–dancing and surfing-but while recovering, she turned to YouTube to learn about crocheting and Pinterest to gain inspiration for her creations. As Ke’s creativity and interest in crocheting flourished, she bought yarn from stores such as Michaels and JOANN Fabric and Crafts to dive into her new hobby. Ke was familiar with using a hook to create various stitching patterns due to her prior experience with the bracelet-making kit, Rainbow Loom. The hooks used in these two activities are similar in shape and function, which made the transition to crocheting easier. The first project that she worked on was a bucket hat, which allowed her to practice foundational stitches; Spending time working on her projects has allowed Ke to discover how crocheting benefits many different aspects of her life.

“[Crocheting] is kind of like meditation,” Ke said. “Your mind is focused on doing one thing at a time, [which] calms me down. It distracts me from things like school work [and] offers a nice little escape.”

The items that Ke creates are inspired by patterns she sees on various social media platforms. She occasionally tries to add her own flair to these styles and create items that correlate with people, patterns and characters that she is currently interested in. Recently, she has been working on recreating Baby Yoda, a character from a Disney+ television show “The Mandalorian”. She is also giving by nature, which has led her to share her creations with others. In July of 2021, she started crocheting blankets to donate to the Torrance Memorial Hospital, a project she partook in as a member of Novas–a volunteer program open to high school students in Palos Verdes and Torrance. Ke also creates thoughtful pieces for her friends, and one of her favorite items to crochet and gift are produce bags, also known as french market bags. One of Ke’s friends, junior Jessica Spencer, has seen Ke crocheting at lunch and finds it inspiring to see her constantly striving to improve. Spencer admires Ke’s commitment to her craft, as well as the community outreach that she has achieved through her projects.

“Meghan is so creative [with her work],” Spencer said. “She is always coming up with new patterns and is very passionate about it. She likes to share [her passion for crocheting] with others and I think her crocheting makes everyone around her so happy. Seeing her doing something that [she cares so much about] inspires the people around her.”

To create her projects, Ke has many options when it comes to types of crochet hooks and yarn. Hook sizes can range from 2.25 to 30 millimeters, with different lettering and numbering systems depending on the country (Craft Yarn Council). For yarn, there are a variety of thicknesses, referred to as weights. There are also recommendations on the ideal hook size to use for the specific weight of the yarn. When Ke first started crocheting, she used acrylic yarn, but as she gained more experience, she started to experiment with yarn of higher quality. The acrylic yarn that she previously used mimics the cotton and wool fibers of natural yarns at a lower cost for more mass production, making it lower quality. She purchases kits from Wool and the Gang, a shop that sells yarn, tools, kits and patterns for crocheting. Ke hopes that by producing high quality projects as a young crochet designer, she can encourage others to break through the age stigma surrounding crocheting.

“I want people to [see] that crocheting is cool [for all ages],” Ke said. “Even if you are not doing a full-on business, it is still a nice hobby. Spending time making good quality things for yourself [is fun].” Despite feeling slightly self-conscious about her newfound hobby, Ke was able to fight the stigma surrounding crocheting. She reminded herself that it did not matter what others thought because she liked it and that was all that mattered. Seeing other people around her age who share the same passion on social media made her feel more comfortable with crocheting. Crocheting has raised her competency level in matching colors and patterns, as well as honing her eye for flattering shapes regarding her own personal clothing style. Ke is now able to disregard the criticisms of others and proceed confidently on her adventures with crocheting.

Due to a lack of free time, Ke has not been crocheting as much as she would like to, but she tries to make up for it on the weekends. Occasionally, Ke will experience briefly discouraging mental blocks over not getting the right stitch, accidentally dropping a stitch or adding an extra one. When this happens, Ke remains patient because she understands that her first try will not always be perfect. As she does not let herself become discouraged by minor setbacks, Ke continued to pursue her passion and decided to create the Instagram account, @saltydazecrochet, for her crocheting content. In the future, Ke hopes to open a shop on the platform Etsy, where handmade items are sold, as an extension of this Instagram account.

Ke’s friends and family fully support her ambitions with crocheting and what she will do with it in the future. Ke’s mother, Emily Ke, is proud of what her daughter has done so far and hopes that Meghan Ke can even create her own patterns at some point. Emily Ke has also noticed the influence that her daughter has on others through her work, as she has inspired her friends to crochet and her grandmother to start knitting again. Seeing how far her daughter has come and how much determination she possesses, Emily Ke is excited to see the development of Megan Ke’s plans with crocheting.

“It makes me happy to see how she can find happiness staying at home, reading books and crocheting,” Emily Ke said. “Her personality is kind, generous [and] detail-oriented, and [she always] strives for perfection. She has the perseverance to never give up on one project, even if it takes her six months to complete.”

Since its release in 2015, the video game “Rocket League,” developed by the company Psyonix, has gained 75 million players. In the game, which can be compared to virtual soccer with cars, players compete in teams of rocketpowered vehicles to score more goals than the other side before the five-minute time limit is up. Among these players is senior Tyler Schmitz, who has created a career from two of his hobbies: video editing and gaming. He operates under the name “Lumin” online and edits the videos of creator Wayton Pilkin, a “Rocket League” YouTuber who currently has 416,000 subscribers.

“Rocket League” is the first video game Schmitz ever thoroughly enjoyed. After seeing other people in the gaming community create montages using gameplay clips backed by music to promote teams and celebrate significant achievements, Schmitz reached out to some of these montage editors and began learning their techniques and processes, which he practiced by creating his own gameplay clips and creating videos of his own. Schmitz then made friends in the editing community and began editing for the YouTube channels of the “Rocket League” teams Nixus, SwiFT and FreeZ. In December of 2019, Pilkin reached out and offered Schmitz a position as an editor for his videos after watching his edits on YouTube, which Schmitz accepted; He left his teams to fully focus on editing for Pilkin in January of 2020. Schmitz’s friend, former Peninsula student Lucas Arden, admires how Schmitz created a job stemming from his passion.

“Ever since [I have] known Tyler, [he has] had a passion for editing,” Arden said. “When I found out that he had found a job under a creator that I [was familiar with], I was both proud and impressed. I definitely support his decision to follow his dreams, as [I have] seen the things he creates and he [has not] failed to impress me.”

In addition to his experience playing “Rocket League”, Schmitz’s interest in technology and music also helps him advance his editing career. He uses two softwares for efficiency–basic work in Adobe Premiere Pro and more complex processes in Adobe After Effects. The first step in Schmitz’s editing process before uploading footage is choosing the music, which determines the mood and style of the video. After selecting a piece he thinks suits the project, Schmitz uses tools like ReShade, Simple Replay Editor and BakkesMod to record and change the appearance of gameplay footage. Then, he combines the footage and music, as well as other effects that improve the appearance of the video, in Adobe After Effects. Schmitz’s mother, Kris Bernhardt, believes that editing “Rocket League” videos provides Schmitz with a creative outlet to combine his various passions.

“I [did not] know that [the creative aspect of ‘Rocket League’] was something he was interested in,” Bernhardt said. “He was playing [the game] and was interested in music from a young age, but watching him put that together and seeing his excitement [is] fun to watch. I [am] thrilled that he [has] a creative outlet that he [enjoys].”

As this is not enough to make a living, Schmitz considers his editing as more of a hobby than an actual career. Additionally, Schmitz plans to stop editing for Pilkin’s channel when he enters college; he has discovered that having an editing job is a time commitment that makes it difficult to balance school and work, and he wants to fully commit to his education. Schmitz believes that though it is tiring at times, being able to spend time bettering his craft through his hobby is an enjoyable experience.

“While [editing videos] is fun to share with people and get positive feedback, it is more about personal improvement,” Schmitz said. “It is nice when people enjoy it, but [it is] just a way for me to let out my creativity. I stay motivated because I want to make something better that I can feel happy with once [I am finished creating it].”

10

A SCORE FOR PENINSULA SOCCER

On Feb. 2, the girls varsity soccer team defeated the Palos Verdes High School (PVHS) girls varsity soccer team 1-0 for the first time in four years in their final Bay League match of the 2021-22 season. Bay League is an annual high school athletic conference in which various sports teams from the South Bay compete; the league also includes PVHS, Mira Costa High School, Culver City High School (CCHS), Redondo Union High School and Santa Monica High School. By the end of each season, the team that wins the most matches receives the title of Bay League Champion. The team’s final match was played against PVHS, which is significant because they are considered to be Peninsula’s primary athletic rival. Junior Madison Woodward, who scored the winning goal, believes that the victory against PVHS was an emotional moment for the team and is happy that she made such an important contribution to the team’s success. “It really meant a lot to us to win this game,” Woodward said. “It was so emotional when we all stormed the field after the game finished and ended our season on a high note. It felt especially great to make such a notable impact in this rivalry game by getting the goal and making sure that our seniors leave Peninsula with a great memory.” The last time Peninsula won a girls soccer game against PVHS was in the 2017-18 season. Earlier this season, the team competed against PVHS twice, losing both games with scores of 0-1 and 0-2. Apart from these losses, they had notable victories throughout the season, which allowed them to build their confidence leading up to this final game; this includes the win against CCHS on Jan. 28, which ended with the score of 1-0. Varsity and junior varsity girls soccer coach Alli Ruvalcaba sees this victory as a learning experience for each player on the team and recognizes how special this particular win is for the team as a whole.

“This victory is something that this group of girls will remember throughout their soccer careers because they never got to experience what it is like to be on the winning side in this rivalry game,” Ruvalcaba said. “This really shows that these girls make a great team and they can take away some confidence that they can compete with any team in the future.”

After losing the first two games to PVHS, the team approached this final game with a more positive and fearless attitude, which helped lead them to victory. Recently, spectators were allowed back into the stands due to the loosening of coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols, which many players feel improved their performance for this final match. The team finished the 2021-22 season earning two victories, seven ties and four losses, and they ended fifth in the Bay League standings. To sophomore Sophie Lin, this game was incredibly important, as it means a lot to her and the team to end the season on a high note.

“The victory over PVHS was basically a redemption for us because they have been beating us previously in many matches,” Lin said. “Our team worked really hard this year to change our mindsets and try to play games with a fearless attitude. For the seniors, this win completes their high school career, and it is something that can inspire the upcoming players to work hard.”