May 2022 by tjTODAY Online

TJTODAY vol 7 issue 7 may 2022

thomas jefferson high school for science and technology 6560 braddock rd. alexandria, va 22312

g n i n Tur ge a P e th

ILLUSTRATION// E. Li

One chemistry textbook, nine alumni stories.

ABSTRACT Spreading his arms, senior Jason Zhong celebrates his game-tying goal against Mount Vernon in the boys’ soccer district semifinal on May 18. Jefferson would go on to win the game 3-2, fighting back from a two goal deficit. “Although we were at a 0-2 deficit, we knew we had the skill to beat them. Ending the half with a goal kept our morale up and strengthened our confidence that the goals would come if we kept putting in the work and effort,” Zhong said. “As it turns out, we were right.” PHOTO// A. Khemka

STAFF

EDITORIAL BOARD Advisor: Erinn Harris

Print & Online Editors-in-Chief Broadcast Executive Producer Staff Writers Aafreen Ali Annika Duneja Anuj Khemka Rachel Lewis Christina Lu Nathan Mo

Sahishnu Hanumansetty Elaine Li

Team Leaders Eric Feng Aarya Kumar Sai Mattapalli Robert Stotz

Abraham Agbota Alyson Granchi William Henry Ashley Hwang Ayesha Khan Asmitha Koneru Nicole Liu

Marcus Nance Anuska Pandey Anya Raval Keertana Senthilkumar Grace Sharma Xixi Song

Eli Tillemann Max Vetter Zoe Viterbo Harry Xiao

tjTODAY is the official newsmagazine of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. The staff is deeply committed to a code of journalistic ethics that demands the exercise of accuracy, good judgment, and impartiality. The content of tjTODAY is determined by the editorial board. Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the staff of tjTODAY, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.

tjtoday.tjhsst

@tjhsst_media

@tjtoday_news

tjTODAY

CONTENTS tjTODAY vol. 7 issue 7

12 cover story 06

BEYOND THE BOOK Jefferson owners, all previous owners of the same chemistry textbook, stream into vastly different paths in the professional world

features 12

OUTSPOKEN OPINIONS Three Jefferson students express their opinions on education curricula to national newspapers

sci-tech 14

sports 4

entertainment

SPRING SPORTS STANDOUTS Spring athletes stand out from the crowd

opinion 18

DESTINED FOR TOXICITY For the Jefferson destinations website to be more helpful than stressful, it must geared more towards giving advice for underclassmen

EVERYONE DESERVES TO SHINE AT TJSTAR Non-seniors should get the opportunity to present at future tjSTARs

PROBLEMATIC PARKERS Parents need to be more mindful of the effect that problematic parking habits can have on others

RE-IMAGINED CLASSICS Classics are staples in English courses throughout America, but are often very problematic—here are three examples of reimagined classics that are not

FAMILY LEGACY Some family legacies break down through generations, while others continue to pass down

ACADEMIC ATHLETES Jefferson’s academic clubs prepare and compete in competitions throughout the season

May 2022

DIVING INTO DIFFERENTIATION By incorporating differentiation, teachers make it easier for students at Jefferson to excel in their classrooms

FAMILY LEGACY

Some family legacies break down through generations, while others continue to pass down

by Ayesha Khan

enior Paul Appler and junior Katie Jiminez sit in their boats, nervous but ready for the race to begin. For both Appler and Jimenez, their parents sat in those same boats over two decades ago. FAMILY HISTORY “I started rowing as a freshman in Jefferson. I heard that it was welcoming, and that anyone could

row. I decided to give it a shot, and a number of my friends were doing it as well. I still continue to volunteer with the crew team regularly,” Tony Jimenez, a Jefferson alumni from the class of ‘97, said. Rowing on the crew team at Jefferson is a tradition for the Jimenez family. For Katie Jimenez, her family legacy in crew inspired her to take up an oar when she came to Jefferson.

“My main inspiration to start rowing was my dad. He had rowed for the Jefferson crew team when he was there. Also, there is a strong connection when you join the rowing community. You make really good friends, and you spend a lot of time together. You are out there on the water, having fun,” Katie Jimenez said. Like Jimenez, Appler’s family has an enduring

legacy in the Jefferson crew team. “My dad, Matthew Appler, was a member when the crew team was founded at Jefferson, in ‘89 - ‘90. He rowed his junior and senior year of high school, as well as his freshman year of college,” senior Paul Appler said. Paul’s older sister, class of 2020 alumni Amy Appler, did crew at TJ as well. “My sister rowed for

SPORTS 5

PHOTO // Colin Harbison

Tony Jimenez started the tradition of rowing for the Jimenez’s family his freshman year at Jefferson. “My dad’s coach gave him this picture. Ron Lim was the coach for my dad when he was on the team. This is them after getting third place in nationals,” Katie Jimenez said. PHOTO //Ron Lim

two years at Jefferson. I rowed my freshman year, and for as long as I could my sophomore year of high school. During my sophomore year, COVID hit and quarantine started, so I wasn’t able to continue rowing,” Appler said. BONDING GENERATIONS The crew team practices five times a week. Tony and Katie Jiminez believe that these countless hours of helping each other out and practicing brought them closer together. “It has definitely brought us all closer as a family. It’s a shared interest, that we can talk about to each other, and we always understand what we are talking about like no one else

can. There are also many special memories that we develop,” Katie Jimenez said. The Applers believe that joining the crew team has also affected their relationship as a family with one another. “You could say that it has definitely affected our relationship with each other. My parents have been supportive of the high school sports that I have played, however, I think my dad enjoyed me doing a sport that he knew more about, like crew,” Appler said. LONG LASTING Even decades later, Tony Jimenez still remembers the way the crew team impacted his life. “Part of the process is that it becomes a part of your everyday life. You have to go to the river every day, and even when

it’s off-season you still have those friends that you made, as well as those memories. It applies to your day to day life even after you decide to not continue. Crew taught us to be able to go out and do what is hard, to work together with others, and to have that ultimate teamwork. You learn lessons that are applicable throughout your life,” Tony Jimenez said. For the Jiminezes, the lessons they learned throughout rowing were valuable in real life settings as well. “I’ve gained resilience from rowing. Sometimes it can be hard to keep going, and at the end of a race you’re tired and you want to stop, but you keep going. If you want to win a race, it takes a lot of effort, commitment, and an entire community,” Katie Jimenez said.

Katie Jimenez poses for a picture with her team. “We raced in states, and then got medals afterwards for winning,” Katie Jimenez said. PHOTO //Colin Harbison

ILLUSTRATION// A. Ali

CHAPTER

COVER STORY 7

Beyond the Book Jefferson alumni, all previous owners of the same chemistry textbook, stream into vastly different paths in the professional world

by Aafreen Ali, Anuj Khemka, Annika Duneja, and Nathan Mo

t the start of every school year, students crack open their textbooks, flipping through it for the first (and maybe last) time, adding their names to the lengthy lists on the inside cover. For one chemistry textbook from Ms. Sandra Chhabra’s class, the alumni inscribed inside the cover have embarked on unique yet consistently successful paths since leaving Jefferson.

ERIC DALE

Self-employed as a one-man graphic design creative, Eric Dale enjoys the independence his career has given him. “I love, you know, on Monday, designing a logo; on Tuesday, going out to do a photoshoot; on Wednesday, writing a museum display panel for an aquarium; on Thursday, designing a website; on Friday, going into a client’s office to edit photos for them,” Dale said. “I really love doing a different thing all the time, so I want to continue saying yes to interesting things that come my way.” After earning degrees in geology and environmental science from William and Mary, Dale pivoted to his passion for graphic design, which he fostered during his time with Jefferson’s Threshold Literary Magazine. “I actually [initially] joined Threshold as part of an anthropology project. We had an assignment to be a participant observer in a social group, observing them and writing up a piece, and at the end of it, I was like, “Well, that was really enjoyable. I think I’m gonna keep being a part of Threshold,’” Dale said.

PHOTOS// Courtesy of Eric Dale

CHAPTER

2 ANDREW CORZO

HAEMEE KANG Jefferson class of 2011 alum HaeMee Kang has an impressive resume spanning major companies like Deloitte and PwC. However, she initially was unsure what she was looking for in a career. After getting her degree in government from William and Mary, she networked her way into consulting, then explored other avenues of work. “I went and worked as a project manager at a software company for a couple of years, which was a lot of fun. But I realized I missed the consultative aspect of what I used to do and helping people problem solve instead of managing engineers,” Kang said. “So I decided to go back to Booz Allen [where she started her career] and now work on a project with NASA and I love it.” When she thinks back to Jefferson, she remembers a tight-knit and fun community, particularly in her chemistry class. “For a lot of extra credit assignments, [our teacher] made us make these music videos. I remember my partner and I had made this parody to a Vanessa Carlton song, we put chemistry words to it and filmed this video in the locker room,” Kang said. “The memory I have of that class is great. We got tons and tons of extra credit, and we got to watch other people’s rap videos.”

Kang as an adult compared to her senior photo from the 2011 Techniques yearbook. TOP PHOTO// Courtesy of Haemee Kang

As a rule, current tech consultant Andrew Corzo upholds academic and personal integrity in his community. “I was never the person to like, turn in something late, you know, or skimp out on studying. I always tried my best. If I got a B, whatever, but I tried my best to earn that B,” he said. “That’s something I took with me because if I can achieve this just on my own accord, then I think I’m in a good shape.” Outside of school, he made an effort to stay aware of the world around him, noticing issues in his hometown and in the country in general. “Growing up in the DC area, it’s something that you want to take for granted being so near to the center of the entire country. For me, it was something that really leveled my perspective on what goes on in the world.” Recently, Corzo realized that working to fix those issues is what he wants to do as a career. Next year he will be studying law at New York University, focusing on anti corruption and antitrust law. “I can do consulting for however long I want. It’s great pay as well. But is this something that I want to build my legacy out of now,” he said. “I feel like now more than ever, you need people who have integrity in those positions where you can actually act and make change.”

Corzo posing in front of a sunset in 2021 juxtaposed with the Class of 2014 graduate during his senior year homecoming. PHOTOS// Courtesy of Andrew Corzo

COVER STORY 9

Dina Ajalli (far left) on a medical service trip. PHOTO// Courtesy of Dina Ajalli

DINA AJALLI PHOTO// Courtesy of Sam Veroneau

SAM VERONEAU PhD candidate Sam Veroneau’s journey into chemistry started not with a mindblowing revelation nor a sense of purpose, but with love. “My ex girlfriend from TJ was really into science and we had broken up before college. I remember very vividly thinking, ‘If I join a science lab, when I see you at Thanksgiving, you’re gonna be so impressed with how well I’m doing in college,’” Veroneau said. Afte working with a professor at the University of Chicago to investigate solar energy conver

sion, Veroneau briefly renewed the romantic relationship over winter break. Eventually, though, the Class of 2015 graduate found himself falling head over heels for something else — his undergraduate research. “The way you can think about interesting problems and then address them in interesting and still-practical ways is always what’s kept me really interested in chemistry,” Veroneau said. Veroneau is now pursuing a doctorate degree in chemistry at Harvard University. While there, he crossed paths with a face from the past. “[My ex-girlfriend from TJ] is actually also at Harvard now. I just saw her on the street one day, which is just bizarre because we hadn’t planned it. But we’re very friendly now,“ Veroneau said.

Of the memories that medical school student Dina Ajalli has associated with Jefferson, her chemistry textbook is not one of them. “We signed that textbook, and then [Ms. Chhabra] said, ‘Now put your books away because we won’t ever use it,’” she said. But that doesn’t mean Jefferson didn’t leave a lasting impression on Ajalli in other ways, and vice versa. “I sat next to one of my friends [in chemistry], and we had started the Persian club at [Jefferson]. We planned a lot of fun dances for international night. That was one of the best nights of the year. I remember one year it sold out in eight minutes.” Just as Jefferson still feels her impact years later, Ajalli’s experience in the Biotechnology research lab shaped the path she took with her career. “[My partner and I] decided to do a project on vitamin D and multiple sclerosis,” she said. “And since then, I did my master’s project on multiple sclerosis. If I were to go into neurology, multiple sclerosis would definitely be a specialty within neurology that I would look into.”

SHARING THE

Following in Nguyen’s footsteps, Jefferson students craft their own musical masterpieces

SPOTLIGHT RYAN LIEN

FRENCH HORN GUITAR PIANO

KING OF MOUNT VERNON PHOTO// A. Khemka

Senior Ryan Lien can write a song about anything. And by anything, we mean everything. To Lien, everything means a lot of things. It can mean an entire album about processing animal death (titled “Animal Death”). It can mean a 40 second track about going to 7/11 just for the sake of going to 7/11 titled “Do you want to go to 18 with me? Oh, it’s what my family calls 7/11”. He doesn’t bother with trying to make his music conform to certain ideas, a philosophy he’s developed after creating 10 albums and counting over the last four years. “Art inherently is going to have the voice of the artist,” Lien said. “So no matter how hard you try to write in someone else’s voice, it’s still always going to be yours.” When Lien does sit down and write, he isn’t focusing on the idea of creating an album or a certain kind of song. “So songwriting, usually it’s an idea for one part of it, whether it be the drum part, or a chord progression, or the idea of I’m going to write a song about eating apples and cheese for lunch, ‘’ he said. “And I put that down on paper or record the melody and then the rest kind of comes with it. “ At the end of the day, he is making his music for himself, to share stories that no one else but him will be able to tell. “Art doesn’t discriminate. A song doesn’t need to be on Spotify. You can write a song and play it just for your dogs. And that is a song which exists and is just as valid as any other,” Lien said. “Nina Simone said we always have a story, and that’s true. And everybody deserves to have a voice in any form that they desire. For it to be heard. Even if only by yourself.”

KAI WANG MIND OF THE VIRTUOSO PIANO CELLO COMPOSITION

PHOTO// A. Khemka

TORO PUNK CROC GUITAR ACOUSTIC GUITAR

PHOTO// A. Khemka

COVER STORY 11 Eyes on the sheet music, the students of Jefferson’s orchestra let their bows slide across the strings. From their instruments emerge the sounds of Chinese folk music, which emanate through Nobel Commons during lunch to mark the Lunar New Year. Behind their performance is sophomore Kai Wang, who composed the piece for the orchestra in just a few weeks. “I was listening to some Chinese music and I was like, ‘I can make music like that.’ I asked Ms. Bailey whether we could play the piece if I composed it, and she said that’s fine,” Wang said. Wang — who had never previously composed a full piece for an orchestra — started with a singular melody in his head. Then, through repeated experimentation on the piano, that melody eventually blossomed into a full-fledged orchestral arrangement. “Every melody or idea has to come to your head. Then I’ll go sit on a piano and see where I can revise it or how I can transition from one idea to the next idea,” Wang said.

In 2012, Lonesome George — the last Galapagos tortoise of his kind — would unexpectedly die. Yet, his story wouldn’t end there. Ten years later, a man would venture back in time to rescue Lonesome George and keep the species alive. Or at least, that was the premise of senior Ignacio Toro’s album Extinction (The One Where He Saves Curious George). Across six whimsical yet tragic songs, Toro tells the story of learning to let go. “I wanted to explore deeper themes through a very silly lens. The point [of the album] was you can’t just stop [death]. If Lonesome George doesn’t die, then the struggle means nothing, right?” Toro said. Over the span of a month, Toro crafted his album using inspiration from storytellers both in and outside of music. “The story comes first and foremost. I don’t want to just do music, I want to do movies as well. The only thing that’s different is you’re putting music to the story while with a movie, you’re putting visuals to the story,” Toro said.

outspoken

opinions by Marcus Nance & Ashley Hwang

Three students express their opinions on education curricula to national newspapers

fter passing high school history courses that barely touched upon the Holocaust, junior Gabriel Ascoli knew it was time for a change. Ascoli was among three students — joining senior Micaela Wells and junior Prasidha Padmanabhan — who expressed their opinions on diversity in education curricula to newspapers such as the LA Times or the Washington Post. “I don’t think our school, and really the entire state, is doing enough to cover the events that led up to the Holocaust,” Ascoli said. Preserving History Ascoli has seen the rise of antisemitism in our nation and is alarmed by its increase. “I’ve noticed that antisemitism is on the rise across the country - the experiences that I mentioned in my article are only a fraction of the antisemitism that I’ve seen over the past couple of years, and I know it’s way worse in other places,” Ascoli said. While Ascoli was able to express his opinion to thousands of readers, he was also left frustrated by the op-ed publication process, as the LA Times changed his title from “The Holocaust

is Dying,” to “At my high school, the Holocaust is barely taught in history class. That scares me.” “I get that the editors changed [my title] to make the piece a bit more attention grabbing, but I felt like it put blame specifically on the school when I meant to criticize our Holocaust education state and nation-wide,” Ascoli said. Writing for Representation Wells, meanwhile, wrote to the Washington Post about the underrepresentation of women in the high school history curriculum. “This topic is important to me because too often women’s history is treated as something “other,” marginalized, or ignored completely,” Wells said. Wells feels that the underrepresentation of women in high school history courses is a major factor in gender inequality. “Women’s history IS history - it shouldn’t be optional, but all too often women are left out of the narrative completely, which perpetuates harmful misconceptions that contribute to the gender inequity we experience in our society today,” Wells said. “Many fail to understand the deeply-rooted causes of today’s gender inequity and are at a loss for how to rectify it.”

In the Papers Bringing up a similar issue about the lack of women in our curriculum, Padmanabhan created Women for Education, Advocacy and Rights (WEAR) to work for gender equality in curriculums. “I always felt a little out of place when learning about history at school because I never saw women and especially not women who looked like me in what I was learning. This idea that women have done or contributed less in history, and the overall lack of women represented in education, especially diverse women, really made me both motivated and upset,” Padmanabhan said. Being published in a myriad of news sources such as CBS News, the Today Show, NPR, the Washington Post, and more, Padmanabhan and her organization are actively making an impact on the community. “Along with our Civil War curriculum being taught in Fairfax County, and our Indigenous Mini Books also being a part of curricula, WEAR had an amazing Women’s History Month and had a great event in Washington DC on the Washington Monument,” Padmanabhan said.

FEATURE 13

ns PHOTOS// A. Duneja

Gabriel Ascoli, 11

Micaela Wells, 12

Prasidha Padmanabhan, 11

STEM COMPETITIONS

ACADEMIC

by Anya Raval, Harry Xiao & Nicole Liu

Jefferson’s academic clubs prepare and compete in competitions throughout the season.

ATHLETES QUIZBOWL With questions from all sorts of different genres, Quizbowl allows its players to have fun while learning about a variety of interesting topics. During each round of Quizbowl, each team is asked a series of questions called tossups from different topics such as fine arts, history, and literature. “Quizbowl rounds are 20 tossups of assorted topics,” sophomore Brian Zhou said. “Typically a ‘packet’ will have at least one question from each subject area, and if a team gets a tossup, they get a three point bonus as well.” Usually, members of Quizbowl study together by answering tossups. However, studying for Quizbowl is a highly individualistic process depending on what people like and what they want to learn. “Quizbowl members usually prepare by going through old tossups to study,” Zhou said. “Some members may also create flashcards.” Throughout their weeks, since most students are busy, it is tough for most students to prepare more than a few hours each week. “Studying really depends on how much time you have and how much you want to study,” Zhou said. “Some people study as little as zero hours outside of school and some study up to six hours a week at their peak, and

the vast majority lie somewhere in between.” Currently Quizbowl has both its national championships coming up, the HSNCT and PACE on May 27-29 and June 11-12, respectively.

“A lot of really competitive rounds get down to the wire, so it’s really exhilarating,” Zhou said. “Our team has worked really hard to qualify and send everyone to in-person nationals for the first time since 2019 and we can’t wait!”

1. Buzzers in hand, members of Jefferson’s Quizbowl team attempt to answer questions before their opponent. PHOTO// H. Xiao 2. Huddled around their creation, students navigate through a Science Olympiad challenge. PHOTO// A. Raval

3. Jefferson’s Academic Decathlon team poses for a photo. PHOTO// N. Liu 4. Staring at the computer screen, Science Olympiad members rack their brains for solutions to the problem. PHOTO// A. Raval

ACADEMIC

SCI-TECH 15

SCIENCE

DECATHALON OLYMPIAD Ten events with broad topics ranging from art and economics to math and science is a lot for one person to study for. Students have to learn about each and every subject in order to do well in the events. “The Decathlon is this competition with 10 events, you take these tests from each event then add up all of your scores in the end. There are events where you participate as a whole team, and some individual events,” sophomore Laura Zhang said. Since there are many events and topics to study, preparing for the Academic Decathlon can be very difficult as there is a lot of memorization involved. Fortunately, there are methods to help students prepare. “To prepare, I looked at study guides and took a lot of notes. We also had a website that was made by our coaches which was a lot like Quizlet so I basically just tried to memorize as much as I could,” Zhang said Decathlon teams usually are in groups of nine, but the Jefferson Decathlon team was already a few people short. When a team members didn’t show up, it hurt the performance of the team. “The Decathlon Nationals didn’t go very well for our team. One of our team members didn’t show up so we lost a bunch of points. I personally didn’t do the greatest either,” Zhang said.

From ornithology and cryptography, to lab, build, and study events, Jefferson students compete in regional, national, and state competitions as a part of TJ Science Olympiad. “During the season, we have a bunch of invitationals like the Carnegie Mellon Invitational (CMU), BirdSO, and the National Science Olympiad invitational to name a few,” junior Richa Misra said. Preparations for competitions start in the fall as soon as team decisions are made. “During the season I spend anywhere from 5-6 hours a week, in addition to meeting with partners 4 and team meetings to prepare. In the meetings specifically, my partners and I work to prepare any materials like binders, cheat sheets, and do a bunch of practice tests,” Misra said. Along with the competitive aspects of TJSO, teamwork is just as important as each team consists of 15 members and events are with team members or partners. “I prepare for competitions in mainly two ways. One, I make sure to read from books, textbooks, websites, and watch videos about the topics/ subtopics I need for my events. And second, I meet a lot with my partners to take practice tests and simulate test day conditions to make sure we are ready,” Misra said. Winning five state titles over previous years, the Science Olympiad season wrapped up this year’s season at the state competition in UVA becoming state champions in Astronomy, Environmental Chemistry, Ornithology, Ping Pong Parachute, Remote Sensing, and Rocks & Minerals while placing second overall.

Lexie

Jeremy

Avery

Soccer

Track

Lacrosse

Skeen Senior Lexie Skeen first touched a soccer ball at the age of two. Now, she finds joy in meeting new and talented players every year on Jefferson’s team. “I’ve always loved playing team sports, you get to meet a lot of new people. Now that I’ve been on the team for four years, my teammates are some of my closest friends and I get to keep meeting new players every year,” Skeen said. A veteran player, Skeen has been through the ups and downs of playing a sport at a STEM school. Her journey culminates with a spot in the district championship as well as a place on the list of all-district girls soccer recognizees. “It was definitely harder as an underclassmen, but it’s all about making time for what’s important. I’ve found time after and before practices, in between games, as I have always given priority to academics,” Skeen said.

West From freshman to senior year, Jeremy West has enjoyed the exhilaration of running past his competitors during track meets. Throughout the season, he has found excitement in every aspect of the track team. “You get to hangout with friends and get great exercise. I find track fun because you get to run anywhere you want, even off school grounds. It just becomes a lifestyle; hopefully if you’re in [track you] enjoy it. I definitely enjoy it,” West said. From his massive success all four years, a love for both the sport and the program at Jefferson has arisen. West hopes that interest in the sport will increase in future years, having seen growth on the team during his time on the team. “I hope the team will get bigger for next year, have even more team spirit, further commitment from players, and hopefully we’ll do even better,” West said.

Park

In addition to her time in the fall with field hockey, sophomore Avery Park finds success as a starting midfielder for the lacrosse team. Though she’s participated in club leagues for the sport, her time with Jefferson’s lacrosse program has provided completely unique experiences. “It’s funny when we go to away games and they have a student section full of people screaming, ‘Go do your homework,’” Park said. “People underestimate us, but we are having a really good season. A lot of our players are very strong athletes.” With 27 total goals this season, playing for a school for science and technology has not held her back competitively. “It’s an experience that’s a lot different than I would have at my base school, but it’s tons of fun because I love TJ,” Park said. “[Lacrosse] acts as an outlet for de-stressing after school, and not having to worry about workload. It’s really good to just go outside and play.”

STAND Spring Season

By Willie Henry, Asmitha Koneru, & Abraham Agbota

Ryan

Michelle

Madhav

Baseball

Softball

Tennis

Dwyer Senior, shortstop, lead-off hitter, the list of Ryan Dywers leading roles on the varsity baseball team is never ending. Dwyer, who boasts a 0.370 batting average, and 17 hits on the season, feels one of the biggest things he brings to the team is experience. “Not many people at TJ play baseball in the offseason. So I have my perspective having played travel baseball and knowing the game a little bit more closely than they do,” Dwyer said. Even in the face of adversity, having torn his UCL in his right arm, forcing him to learn how to throw with his non-dominant hand in his freshman season, Dwyer works to become a better baseball player. “In my mind, I’m nowhere close to a great player. I can always work on my fielding. I can always improve my swing. I need to make sure my pitching motion is better. All different aspects of my game that I need to improve on,” Dwyer said.

SPORTS 17

Boisvert Samudrala Having played since fourth grade, Michelle Boisvert is a skilled softball player, championing an impressive eight runs batted in (RBI’s), and a 0.321 batting average this past season. Boisvert’s motivation comes from her love for the sport, and pushing herself. “I think just enjoying the sport, and having that as a motivation. And finding fun with friends,” Boisvert said. Boisvert has been the starting shortstop on varsity since freshman year. With this experience under her belt, Boisvert helps lead the team and coach new players. “Since freshman year I’ve been able to coordinate the field in that sense and explain and help other students that are also playing, and learning as they are playing,’’ Boisvert said.

National District Player of the Year and senior Madhav Samudrala has played around a decade’s worth of tennis. Despite the workload Jefferson offers, he still manages to fit in time for tennis. “Tennis means a lot to me. It’s helped me learn a lot about myself as a person and taught me qualities such as patience, discipline, and resilience because you need to be mentally tough to succeed,” Samudrala said. With an undefeated record on the season, Samudrala regrets his decision of not joining Jefferson’s tennis team earlier. “I didn’t play my freshman year because I wanted to settle into the school and I think that was a mistake. Tennis at Jefferson has been like a stress reliever when times are boring or busy. The team has also given me another way to interact with friends that I never would have had if I didn’t play on the team,” Samudrala said.

DOUTS Spring athletes stand out from the crowd

DESTINE TOXIC FOR

s you scroll, a mix of checks, crosses, and waitlists fill the page. Dense walls of text about extracurriculars, essays, and the college application process cloud your focus, while GPAs and test scores seemingly blur by. The annual senior destinations page is a familiar sight to many Jefferson students. Every year, outgoing students populate the page with their application statistics, college decisions, and thoughts ranging from extracurriculars to the contents of their essays. As the site puts it, the site is a resource for ”seniors to share their achievements and college destinations” and for “other classes as they prepare to apply for college.” And while the site does accomplish those goals, its frameworks have unintended consequences. Firstly, the site’s purpose for seniors to ‘share their achievements’ creates a negative feedback loop which feeds into toxic competition. Some students may focus on impressive achievements, while others flaunt their acceptances to elite colleges. But in doing so, students who read these profiles may in turn replicate the actions of other students in hopes that doing so will net them the same outcomes in the admissions process.

In its totality, this phenomenon encourages Jefferson’s notorious workaholic culture as students feel as though they need to be ‘doing something’ to keep pace with their peers. In addition, the current structure of the site can fuel misinformation surrounding an already dubious admissions process. When students can self-report everything from grades and test scores to acceptances without any sort of accountability, the possibility of inaccurate information increases significantly. Examples of this can range from things as simple as only reporting college acceptances to outright lying about decisions or application statistics, skewing perceptions about applicants and how profiles correlate with results. Admittedly, the risk of such occurrences is low, but nonetheless, the very possibility of this occurring damages the integrity of the site itself. So what can be done to correct destinations’ flaws? Omitting stats entirely from the website entirely is a good start. The destinations site is meant to be a place for

seniors to share their advice and experience with the application process - GPA and test scores hardly play into that. Furthermore, Naviance serves as a perfect alternative for students simply looking to see how their stats will impact their chances across different schools. Additionally, seniors who share their thoughts on the site should be cognizant that there is no cookie-cutter formula to the admissions process, and their advice should reflect that. While sharing work experience, internships, and awards is helpful, discussing how students can get involved in such work or how students can find clubs to get interested in is more applicable to a wider range of students. The destinations page has proven, time and time again, to be an invaluable resource for students navigating their way through the application process. And with simple steps in the site’s structure and how students approach it, its merits can be strengthened even further.

NED ICITY For the Jefferson destinations website to be more helpful than stressful, it must be geared towards giving advice for underclassmen over anything else

ILLUSTRATION // R. Kwon

LEAD-ED 19

PHOTO // K. Senthilkumar

Everyone Deserves to Shine at tjSTAR Non-seniors should get the opportunity to present at future tjSTARs

Alyson Granchi Staff Writer TjSTAR is one of the best and most unique parts of this school. It allows students to present months of hard work to classmates and teachers from all different grade levels. Traditionally, students of all grades could participate in these presentations, yet this year was unique.

Due to organizational and communication issues, there were no freshmen presentations. Some people have found this to be delightful news. Now upperclassmen don’t have to hear yet another person go on about the same project that was done year after year. Freshmen can learn about what they truly enjoy and not just attend a presentation because their friends are in it. While this may be true, it doesn’t nececssarily mean that freshmen can’t gain

experience from presenting at tjSTAR or that their tjSTAR presentation would’ve been a redundant snooze. After all, why did they allow freshmen in the first place? This is the first year since 2009 that freshmen have not been allowed to present at tjSTAR. A freshman doesn’t have the experience a senior has, but maybe that’s a good thing. If we want tjSTAR to be a very prominent part of Jefferson, it must feature students from a variety of grade levels. For Jefferson seniors to give world-class

presentations, they must first have prior experience presenting at tjSTAR. Overall, freshmen should have the choice to present if they really want to. If quality of presentations is really an issue, IBET teachers could have the power to approve or deny freshmanlead presentations at tjSTAR based on their performance in the IBET-wide event. This would enable teachers to curate a greater variety in presentations and create a higher standard of quality than in years’ past.

OPINION 21

Diving into Differentiation

By incorporating differentiation, teachers make it easier for students at Jefferson to excel in their classrooms

PHOTO // K. Senthilkumar

Problematic Parkers Parents need to be more mindful of the effect that problematic parking habits can have on others

Xixi Song Staff Writer The after school minutes are the most chaotic minutes of the day, as parents, students, teachers and other faculty all hurry to their next destination. This is when teacher-designated parking areas come in handy. A section of the school’s parking was mapped out for teachers so that they could develop a steady and routine parking in the morning each day instead of having to spend time searching for parking spaces. However, the system has also allowed for many parent drivers to stubbornly park side by side with the teachers and staff, causing severe traffic jams every other day and affecting the majority of the school. Parents need to realize how their actions affect the daily lives of others at Jefferson. Each parent may believe that they’re

having a minimal impact — given that they control just one car — but the effect snowballs, until dozens of cars are clogging up Jefferson’s parking lots and making the daily commute difficult for students and teachers alike. The goal here is not to accuse parents of being selfish, but rather to say that each individual has a large impact on the surrounding community that should not be underestimated. Some of the responsibility for solving the issue falls on the Jefferson administration as well. The school assigns staff to patrol the parking areas and to enforce parking restrictions, but the growing number of objections from teachers and upperclassmen shows the school needs to better address the issue and enforce regulations. One solution would be sending a clear and stern announcement over a schoolwide communication system, such as email. This would help parents realize that parking in teacher-designated areas is more harmful to the school than they may think.

Zoe Viterbo Staff Writer Differentiation is to make or become different in the process of growth or development. By creating differentiated lessons, teachers can tailor general instruction to meet student needs. This boosts the performance of all students, no matter what stage they are in understanding a certain topic. In my experience, many of my teachers do not incorporate differentiation. Teachers can incorporate differentiation in at least four areas of instruction: content, process, products and learning environment. Content Content is what is actually being done and taught in class. Teachers can meet with small groups of students to re-teach an idea for those who are having a hard time, or to extend the skills of the advanced learners. Process Students each have their own learning style and it is imperative that teachers give more freedom in

this section. This can be providing textbooks for visual and words learners, an interactive assignment for kinesthetic learners, or verbal explanations and audio resources for auditory learners. Product Product is what a student creates at the end of a lesson to demonstrate their understanding of the lesson. Giving students assignments where they are not held to a standard of getting one “right” answer is a great way to adapt in this area. Learning Environment The conditions of an optimal learning environment include physical and psychological elements. Most times, having a flexible classroom layout can help students have more freedom. A psychological factor could be using class management techniques that support a safe and supportive environment. All in all, different teaching methods should be flexible enough to best fit all learning styles. By identifying student needs, understanding how to meet this and applying methods of differentiation, students of all abilities have the opportunity to learn in the best way possible.

TRUST the

“In high school, I told my dad that I wanted to be a teacher and he went, “No, no, no.” Like many other first-generation Americans, my dad wanted me to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. I couldn’t think of anything better at the time, so I said I’ll do chemical engineering at Virginia Tech. A year into it, though, I switched to teaching. The professors had taught us that engineers were the noblest of professions, but when I looked around me, engineers-to-be were cheating left and right.” “I called my dad to tell him I was switching and he said, “Good for you.” In my world that was the definition of the American dream. It’s not what I own or achieve. It’s the freedom to choose what I want to do and to pursue it at the highest levels.” “My advice, for an 18-year-old or 16-year-old, might be to relax and embrace all possibilities. You are trying to figure out who you are. You’re not a final product. Don’t get pigeonholed by preconceptions and don’t get locked by expectations. It took me until my mid30s to figure out what I enjoyed and made life fun and meaningful.” “I’m more of a guide than an authority figure. Telling someone what’s right and making them do it is a futile effort. If I want someone to change, I show them what they could or should do, and let them choose to be that person or better.”

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

TRA-CESS

PHOTO by Anuj Khemka REPORTING by Anuj Khemka

Dan Tra