November 2019

TJTODAY vol 5 issue 3

nov. 15, 2019

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

With college season in full swing, we explore unconvential college routes via the military, study abroad, and accelerated academic paths.

The ROAD LESS

TAKEN ILLUSTRATION DONE BY MUHIB ZAIB

ABSTRACT

By chance, junior Sophia Troshinsky walked into a Minds Matter Halloween event and found herself challenged to move an oreo from her forehead to her chin without using her hands. Minds Matter’s goal is to provide an environment for students to de-stress, and Troshinsky agreed that the activity had done a good job of achieving that. “It was actually kind of hard, and [my friend and I] got crumbs all over faces,” Troshinsky said.

“It was nice to have sort of a moment during the school day to do something fun that didn’t require thinking.”

PHOTO//Elliot Lee

STAFF

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editors-in-Chief Justin Chang Irina Lee Grace Mak

Broadcast Executive Producer Ashley Huang

Online Managing Editor Sonia Kanchan Pratika Katiyar

Social Media Manager Sid Ram

Team Leaders Vikram Achuthan Aumena Choudhry Stuthi Gupta Anuj Khemka Minjoo Song

Staff Writers Aafreen Ali Nidhi Chilukuri Nirja Divekar Alexander Kuebler Christina Lu Zia Sun

Adviser

tjTODAY is

of accuracy, good judgment and

Erinn Harris

the official

impartiality. The content of tjTODAY

newsmagazine

is determined by the editorial board.

of Thomas Jefferson High School for

Unsigned editorials reflect the majority

Science and Technology published by

opinion of the staff of tjTODAY, but not

the journalism staff. The staff is deeply

necessarily the opinions of individual

committed to a code of journalistic

editors.

ethics that demands the exercise

tjtoday.tjhsst tjhsst_media

@tjtoday_news

tjTODAY

CONTENTS tjTODAY vol. 5 issue 3

16

nov. 2019

20

4 22 cover story 06

THE ROAD LESS TAKEN

6

26 sports 18

features 04

10

sci-tech electric kart

14

A DREAM TAKES FLIGHT With years of experience, Kevin Gu builds model planes with the UAV club

DANCING ON ICE Figure skaters Maria Dorodnityna and April Tian recout their entrance into figure skating

opinion 24

ANSWERING IN THE AFFIRMATIVE A look at the SFFA v. Harvard case and the racial disparities in Jefferson’s admissions process

26

STANDARDIZED TESTING IN A NON-STANDARDIZED SCHEDULE Standardized testing places additional stresses on a student’s schedule

27

NEW TEXTBOOKS ON THE SHELVES Dissatisfied with the school-issued precalculus textbooks, Aidan Witeck writes his own

16

22

FULL SPEED AHEAD Automotive Engineering Club takes us through the process of building an

SYNCING UP WITH SYNCHRO After attempting num erous sports, junior Emily Song has found her place in synchronized swimming

TWO CAN MAKE A HAT TRICK With her blog Hat Tricksi, Andrea Silva interviews top female soccer players

12

20

CAPTURING THE MOMENT Experimenting with film and digital cameras, Anderson Moffitt redefines photography

FLIP THE SCRIPT All-girls wresting team hits the mat

Exploring unconvential college paths

VOLUNTEERING FOR GRADUATION Why volunteering should be a graduation requirement

27

VOTING ON VOTING AGE The voting age should not be below 18

entertainment 28

TIKTOK TAKES OVER As this trendy app gains global attention, Jefferson students are also becoming “TikTok famous.

30

HOW TO HALLOWEEN Photos of Jefferson’s first annual Halloween Costume Contest

p

capturing moment

by Pratika Katiyar

the

Experimenting with both analog and digital cameras, sophomore Anderson Moffit redefines photography in his own way

analog versus digital When it comes to his choice of photography, Moffit uses both digital and analog photography to capture shots around him. However, he prefers analog photography for photos like these, as it offers a more meticulous way to take photos. “Personally, I like film better because you get a physical photo and it makes me pay more attention to the actual photo because you only get so many shots in a roll of film opposed to the unlimited amount of shots you get with a digital camera,” Moffit said.

travelling

Several of Moffit’s photos aim to highlight lesser known areas in Northern Virginia and D.C.. He has travelled as far as West Virginia and the Shenandoah to take photos, but he mostly prefers the local area as a setting. “I took this photo in D.C., and the guy in the photo is named Josh.

He’s probably the reason I got into photography. He asked if I wanted to go take some photos on film cameras in DC, so we went into the not-sophotographed parts of the city and tried to make do with what we had,” Moffit said. “But most of my favorite photos are from around my local area.”

editing Moffit sometimes polishes his shots to fit his perspective. He also utilizes the natural lighting at different times of day to create various effects. “The night is my favorite time to take photos because the background doesn’t take away from the subject,” Moffit said. “When I edit digital photos, I use Photoshop for any major changes and then I use Lightroom to fix up colors.”

H sin ga ad di Ca bu fo re go Ic ph ju

past experiences Having started photography since middle school, Moffit has gained a lot of experience in addition to publicity. Not only did he have a photo reposted by Canon, the camera company, but he also has more than 10,000 followers on Instagram. “Getting reposted by Canon felt pretty good, it gave me a realization that I could probably make taking photos into something more than just a hobby,” Moffit said.

FEATURE

5

artistic expression

Taken under a bridge in Southern Virginia, this photo portrays a sentiment that Moffit felt was odd at the time, For Moffit, taking photos like these is a way for him to share his vision. “Photography’s really the only way I express myself artistically.

It lets me go out and have fun and see what I can make out of something pretty ordinary,” Moffit said.

“Getting reposted by Canon felt pretty good.

It gave me a realization that I could probably make taking photos into something more than just a hobby.”

exposure

candids

To vary the types of photos he takes, Moffit takes candids of his friends.

“This was in an abandoned house near my neighborhood, it kind of just sat there for a while, so my friends and I decided to go check it out. I explored tons of places like this and they are some of the coolest to take pics of, so as we went through and checked it out I just snapped candids,” Moffit said.

Exposure is a tool that takes into account the amount of light in a certain setting. Several photographers experiment with long and short exposures depending on the photo they want to capture, and Moffit is no different. “This photo was taken almost right behind my house. I put steel wool in a whisk and attached it to a dog leash and spun it around while my camera was taking a long exposure, and it actually turned out cool,” Moffit said.

UNIQUE a

way to

UNIVERSITY

COVER STORY 7

Katherine Hughes

Photo courtesy of Katherine Hughes

STUDYING ABROAD

B

Illustration by Muhib Zaman

From studying abroad, to enrolling in military academy, to applying to college early, in the midst of college application season, some students choose the road less taken.

by Jutin Chang, Irina Lee and Grace Mak

oston, Chicago, Los Angeles.

Chisinau. While her fellow classmates typed 250 word essays on why they wanted to go to college, class of 2019 alum Katherine Hughes was writing about why she wanted to study Russian in Moldova. As a senior, Hughes applied for a languagelearning scholarship through the National Security Language for Youth (NSLI-Y) program, in which the State Department gives fully funded trips to countries where languages important for national security are spoken.

“I first thought about it after coming back from Russia junior year,” Hughes said. “Even though I was only in Moscow for 6 weeks, my Russian got so much better and being there was one of the coolest experiences of my life, so I figured it was worth a shot to apply to the academic year version. Once I was accepted, I decided to do it because if I passed up the opportunity, I knew I would always be disappointed with myself for not taking it.”

Because the application process stretched from October to December, requiring multiple 250-word essays and teacher recommendations, Hughes had

to balance the pressures of applying to college with the stresses of applying to the NSLI-Y program.

“Looking back, I actually have no idea [how I handled the stresses of completing all my applications]. I only applied to one school early so that probably helped. The application for NSLI-Y is fairly long and complicated though, and it was super different from other applications because NSLI-Y asked about why you want to learn a language, so none of the prompts were remotely similar.”

Next year, Hughes will return to her studies in the US, participating in the Joint Degree Programme between William & Mary and the University of St Andrews. For now though, she will spend the rest of her gap year improving her Russian and learning how to be a true local “Moldovan.”

“I’m definitely really glad I decided to apply again and then choose to come here - it’s nothing at all what I expected but I’ve already learned so much and grown so much, and we’ve only been here for two months, so I’m really excited for the next seven.”

William Gutierrez Military Bound

Sam Kim Accelerated

Alyssa Gorbaneva Accelerated

Ankit Gupta Accelerated

COVER STORY 9

MILITARY BOUND

ACCELERATED

It all started with a Spotify ad. Freshman William Gutierrez Applying to MIT during junior year. Taking AP Physics and knew his dream school was the United States Naval Academy.

Multivariable Calculus as a sophomore. Giving a TEDx Youth As a young child, Gutierrez’s dream was to become an talk on revolutionizing medical diagnosis with deep learning. engineer, but an advertisement about the Marines he heard by These are the incredible tales of several students at Jefferson. chance on Spotify re-directed his love for the sciences.

After interning at Harvard’s Department of Mathematics, “I’ve loved math since I was very little, and I wanted [to do] senior Sam Kim applied to MIT during his junior year hoping something that combined STEM [and the military],” Gutierrez to open up his possibilities and perhaps attend a university said. “The Naval Academy is the best school to do that.” renowned for its advanced STEM curriculum, particularly While the advertisement merged Guiterrez’s two interests in computer science and math, all of which Kim has done together in a single instant, he had been exposed to the military research and internships in. for most of his life as well, with his father an alumnus of the “I was ready to make the commitment to [MIT] because it Naval Academy. is that top level, and in no way was I confident that I would “My family would take trips there to just look at the campus be accepted. It was more of rolling a dice and trying to give because it’s absolutely beautiful and [revisit] all the landmarks myself as many opportunities to end up in a program that I and important events,” Gutierrez said. liked and MIT was just one of them,” Kim said. “The main Senior Caleb O’Cain shares Guiterrez’s reason I did apply early was that I thought the deep roots in the military. Both of his I was ready. It’s a big commitment to apply parents graduated from the Air Force early because you’re telling yourself you’re Academy, and he grew up on a United States ready to leave high school a year early and military base stationed in Okinawa, Japan. join upperclassmen.” class of 2019 took O’Cain’s great-grandfather was also a gunner Undoubtedly, many strive to pursue In last year’s tjTODAY senior on the USS Ticonderoga during the Battle of extracurriculars and take rigorous courses issue, 322 class of 2019 seniors Okinawa in World War II. pertaining to STEM, whether it’s to shared their post-graduation plans: “[By] reading history, I know all the impress colleges or to simply pursue a atrocities that happened, but being able to passion. Currently, enrolled in AP Physics see my little brother born on a free Okinawa, and Multivariable Calculus, sophomore it’s just really great and I want to be a part of Alyssa Gorbaneva decided to take these indicated that they planned on that,” O’Cain said. classes in an attempt to academically taking a gap year before starting Living overseas allowed O’Cain to challenge herself and be more active in their freshman year of college appreciate America’s STEM. core values and “I took [AP Physics and Multivariable inspired a sense of Calculus] mostly to use the stuff I already patriotism for his learned. I decided to push myself to country. advance to higher classes, and AP Physics chose the conventional route “I want to make appealed to me because of the high of enrolling in a traditional sure that [America] amounts of calculus, and I’ve known university immediately after continues to be as calculus from a young age but never used graduating high school great as it is,” O’Cain it for anything, and I felt like that was said. “The best like a waste of opportunity,” Gorbaneva said. “So I applied to way to do that is through the military those classes to really get a challenge.” because you’re on the front defending Like Kim, senior Ankit Gupta also partook in several freedom, defending what we have.” internships including one at George Mason University and O’Cain’s goal is to become a pilot, another at Blue Cloak LLC. Gupta first came across AI so his first priority when considering in Jefferson’s Machine Learning Club and was recognized potential universities is the presence of for his research, receiving 3rd place at the State Science/ Military Bound an Air Force ROTC program as well as Engineering Fair. Later on, Gupta gave a TEDx Youth talk on a rigorous academic program. revolutionizing medical diagnosis with deep learning, hoping to For Gutierrez, he looks forward to being part of the military share his research with a wider audience. and gaining personal skills that will enable him to be a better “When you’re researching and presenting to someone, you’re person. actually presenting to a scientific audience, but you also don’t “Looking at all the incredible things people from the military get the experience of being able to talk to a general audience,” are able to be to have: great discipline, public speaking, and Gupta said. “The thing with a TEDx talk is you’re able to other skills,” Gutierrez said. “[The military] is something that’s communicate with people from an outsider-type perspective, bigger than me and something that I want to be a part of.”’ so I took it as a challenge to make these highly concentrated scientific ideas become clear to a general audience.”

PATHS 3

319

Caleb O’Cain

TWO

CAN MAKE A

HAT TRICK

Empowering female athletes through their blog Hat Tricksi, Sophomore Andrea Silva and her twin sister Avril connect their audience with professional soccer players and coaches

by Vikram Achuthan and Aafreen Ali

I

t began as a summer project. Now it’s grown more than she ever could have imagined.

For twin sisters Andrea and Avril Silva, soccer has become much more than a favorite extracurricular activity. Rather, it has morphed into a passion that goes beyond the limits of the field. Andrea and Avril devote much of their spare time to run Hat Tricksi, a blog dedicated to sharing the experiences of female soccer athletes.

THE START Avril, who attends South County High School, began the site as a side project in late 2017 to merge her interest in journalism and soccer. As the project continued, Jefferson sophomore An-

drea became more involved until Hat Tricksi became a group effort, which included the whole family.

“We both grew it into something that helped us pursue our passion for soccer and outreach to a bunch of people that we met,” Silva said. “[Initially] we saw this as an opportunity to expand the passion project of ours into something bigger.”

THE MISSION The twins, who started playing soccer at the age of seven, aim to show the world what the community of women’s soccer is about and what the members of the community have to say.

“A lot of what we do is through interviews,” Silva said. “In the beginning we were just interviewing players on our teams, but now we’ve interviewed professional players, head coaches and members of great teams."

One interview with Yael Averbuch, star midfielder on FC Kansas City in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), gave the sisters details about what it’s like playing soccer professionally and how to juggle her soccer career and her company, Techne Futbol.

Another interview with Richie Burke, head coach of the NWSL team Washington Spirit, provided a perspective on the world of NWSL, and the importance of women playing soccer at a professional level.

These interviews, along with many others, gave Andrea and Avril a unique insight into the world of women’s soccer, and they wanted to share it with young athletes with similar interests.

“We want to get their information, what they have to say and what they see, out to the world, and really unite people, not just in women’s soccer but in all sports,” Silva said.

THE CONNECTIONS In terms of running the site, Silva stresses the importance of connections and building a social network with professionals from the major leagues, as well as athletes at the collegiate and high school level.

“What we get in terms of interviews and information comes from our connections that we had established before even starting Hat Tricksi,” Silva said. “For example, when we interviewed players of the Washington Spirit, that came from my sister having a coach who is now the CEO [of the Washington Spirit].”

In addition to posting interviews with players and coaches, Andrea and Avril frequently write and post articles about their experiences and current events in the world of soccer.

Andrea and Avril are optimistic that they can continue to adapt and grow the blog using inspiration from their travels around the country to various soccer tournaments, as well as the people around them.

“Some of it comes from our parents saying, ‘Oh, maybe you should try this, or try that’” Silva said.

“And because we compete at such a high level for soccer, we go to a lot of amazing places [in the US]and meet people there who we can [learn] from.”

To learn more, and check out Hat Tricksi on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, or at hattricksi.com

FEATURE 11

1

2

3

1. Both Andrea and Avril play for the BRYC Elite Academy in Northern Virginia, and aim to play Division 1 soccer in college. Their interest in soccer and journalism motivated them to form Hat Tricksi. “We want to bring the community of women’s soccer closer together and help inform other people what successful people in the community have to say.” 2.

Posing together at Audi Field earlier this year, Andrea (left) and Avri (right)l watch a National Women’s Soccer League match between the Washington Spirit and the Orlando Pride. The twins, in addition to being competitive athletes, are passionate fans

of the game and frequently travel to watch and play in soccer tournaments. 3. Sitting down with Washington Spirit head coach Richie Burke for an interview, Andrea and Avril learn more about Burke’s experience coaching at different levels, as well as his advice for young athletes who want to play professionally. “He had a lot of great stuff to say, and its important, especially coming from a coach's perspective, which is not taken into account often.” Silva said.

PHOTO // Andrea Silva

1

3

2

by Minjoo Song

Full Speed

W

Automotive Engineering Club builds an electric kart

AHEAD

hen presented with the task of building a fully-functional electric vehicle from scratch, most people wouldn’t know where to start. But a group of ambitious students at Jefferson have not only started—they are well on their way to completion. Automotive Engineering Club, created by seniors Ayush Jonnala and Zach Lafeer, is building a kart that they hope to be finished with by third quarter. Jonnala and Lafeer started the club in November of 2018 due to their shared interest in automotives.

“We wanted to do something that reflected us, and that we felt was necessary at school to fit a group of people,” Lafeer said. “So we’re filling a void in everything [Jefferson] does. They have all these STEM-related clubs but haven’t done anything automotive-related with it yet.”

Currently, the club is in the process of building an elec-

tric kart in competition with the Energy Systems lab, obtaining the funds for their materials through the Jefferson Partnership Fund. Lafeer emphasizes the importance of communication and collaboration that comes with building a functional kart.

“We chose a team of roughly fifteen people that are going to be working on the electric kart this year,” Lafeer said. “If they’re not all on the same page about what [they’re] doing, you end up with a product that doesn’t fit together. Collaboration is really important, especially because this big of a task just cannot be done [without it].”

Jonnala believes that the project derives some of its value to him from its tangible aspect.

“Whatever is in that room—whatever’s on the kart—it’s something that we can prove we’ve done,” Jonnala said.

“It’s like a visible, tangible, product that shows progress.”

FEATURE 13

A MULTISTEP PROCESS The kart-builidng process can be split up into the building and attachment of four main components

Step 1: The chassis

1. Jonnala works on a roller under the chassis in order to screw on the sidepod to the kart. “My fascination with cars started when I was younger,” Jonnala said. “[I would] watch videos of cars, watch videos, and read magazines, and everything just amounted to this.” 2. Freshmen Tejaswi Koduru, Nidhish Mahesh, and junior Sudhish Chimaladinne attach the front panel in order to make the kart more aerodynamic. “It’s really fun to learn about car mechanics and racing strategies,” Chimaladinne said. 3. Sophomore Sai Thirupati and Chimaladinne screw on a bumper to the right side of the car. “[I enjoy] just the building in general, getting down and putting the kart or vehicle together,” Thirupati said.

The team stands by their finished chassis while preparing components for their next step.

“A chassis is the main structural component of a kart and mainly consists of welded metal tubes; it’s what most of the forces will transfer through,” Lafeer said. “So how good of a chassis you have will affect how the kart turns and how much traction it can have.”

Step 2: The body panels/bumpers

3

Chimaladinne and sophomore Saideep Katragadda screw on plastic bumpers to the side of the kart.

“The body panels are important for safety and aerodynamic efficiency of the kart for drag reduction. We’re putting [them] on the side pods for side impacts,” Lafeer said. “The idea is for them to cave in on impact so it absorbs force.”

Step 3: The wheels

Juniors Jason Xu and Dabini Muldoon attach a wheel to the back of the kart using a drill.

“The wheels [have] special ‘slick Tyres’ that don’t have any tread, which makes them have better traction in dry weather but [are] completely unsafe in the rain,” Lafeer said.

Step 4: The engine

Lafeer attaches the engine that will move the back wheels to the kart’s rear.

“Internal combustion engines ignite gas and use the force of the expanding exhaust gasses to power moving pistons that move the wheels of the kart,” Lafeer said.

NEW TEXTBOOK ON THE SHELVES

by Nidhi Chilukuri and Alexander Kuebler

Senior Aiden Witeck writes precalculus textbook tailored to Jefferson math curriculum

M

cGrawHill precalculus textbook: 217 pages.

Senior Aidan Witeck’s textbook: 157 pages.

Accordingly called “Everything you need to know in less than 200 pages,” this new precalculus textbook is specifically tailored to Jefferson’s Math 4 and Math 5 curriculum.

“It’s focused on Math 4 and Math 5 concepts but from a more proof base viewpoint and then we have

Senior Aiden Witeck sits with his self-made Pre-Calculus textbook.

While some of the problems included modified versions of problems he found online, many were completely made by him.

“I use a lot of content from my book when I instruct in pre-calc club,” Witeck said. PHOTO// Stuti Gupta

rigorous problems for Jefferson level tests. I got a lot of the problems from online and changed them a little bit to make them harder, but there was a decent amount of them that I came up with,” Witeck said.

THE REASON

“When I took math as a freshman, I struggled a lot,

SCI-TECH 15

and I felt there was this inherent unfairness between the kids who took summer classes to prepare, the kids who had this rigorous math background, [and those who hadn’t],” Witeck said.

Additionally, he noticed that the practice he received, such as the test review, often did not meet the level of difficulty on the following tests.

“We didn’t receive a lot of resources to help adequately prepare for these tests,” Witeck said, “the main thing was [that there were] just really hard problems.

THE SOLUTION

Many pages of senior Aidan Witeck’s textbook include graphics. Witeck decided not to print the textbook and have it remain online accesible online as he wanted it to be free, and he found this to be the most cost-effective way to do so. “I posted the textbook on Reddit, and one of the people who commented was a math teacher from the UK, and he said he is using it for his class,” Witeck said. PHOTO// Stuti Gupta

However, Witeck decided not to sit back and be discouraged by the lack of challenging practice problems in his textbooks. Instead, he worked to eliminate this issue for future Jefferson math students by designing his own textbook, choosing to focus on mathematical proofs to help the reader gain an in-depth understanding. “[My textbook] is proof-based and it’s dense, so you don’t have to read a whole lot, but you can get a lot out of it. I have maybe 20 problems per chapter,” Witeck said.

One of the biggest challenges Witeck faced was finding time during his junior year to write.

“It took over a year, and about every page took an hour. So [it took] around 160 hours,” Witeck said.

Although most of the feedback he received was positive, a few people had some suggestions for improvement.

“I’ve gotten some good feedback, but most of it’s been positive.

I posted this on Reddit on the math forum and a lot of people commented, but the main thing

they said needed work was chapter three, which was matrices,” Witeck said.

THE NEXT STEP

In addition to creating a textbook for Math 4 and 5, Witeck is also responsible for the Precalculus Club, which meets during eighth period on Wednesday. In the Precalculus Club, Witeck tries to help Jefferson students understand the reasoning behind precalculus, rather than simply how to find the answer. He uses proofs and higher difficulty problems, just as he did with his textbook, often beginning by proving a key concept and then applying the concept in problems afterwards.

“The club is for students who are looking to get a deeper insight into precalculus and be better prepared for the tests,” Witeck said.

Witeck does not plan to stop here. In addition to his precalculus textbook and the Precalculus Club, he is interested in writing a calculus textbook.

“I would [want to] write a calculus textbook. That’s probably the next thing on my list. I hope to start second semester,” Witeck said.

THE IMPACT

Jefferson students can access Witeck’s precalculus textbook online. He hopes that his textbook will make a difference in the Jefferson math community.

“I hope it will impact [Jefferson students], and they’ll be more prepared for tests, especially students who can’t afford the time or monetary commitment to go to summer school because it does help you get prepared,” Witeck said.

A DREAM TAKES

FLIGHT

Junior Kevin Gu designs and builds his own model airplanes through the Jefferson UAV Club

by Zia Sun

“In the future, I’m probably going to design my own model airplanes, or at least take more of the process into my own hands,” Gu said. “I could maybe even build one from scratch for my senior research project. I’ve always had that general passion for aeronautics, and I hope I’ll be able to build my own plane one day.”

1

I

lluminated by the setting sun, junior Kevin Gu holds his breath as he guides the foam board plane into a sharp dive, his fingers nimbly pushing the joysticks of the transmitter to their proper positions before letting go.

TAKE-OFF The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) club stands behind him and watches the plane pull out of the dive safely and comes to a gentle stop. As the crisp autumn air echoes with cheers of delight and exhilaration, Gu walks proudly to pick up his model airplane, his footsteps following the same path as the one he admired in his bedroom three years prior.

“In eighth grade, I came across this channel called Flite Test,” Gu said. “They’re a hobbyist group [that builds and flies model airplanes]. In their videos, they look like they’re having so much fun, and I guess I just kind of wanted to have that too. I thought it’d be cool if I started building planes myself.”

CRUISE The task of building a remote-controlled plane from scratch is an intimidating one, and Gu started with the help of the very

SCI-TECH 17

1. Using his laptop, in the robotics lab, junior Kevin Gu designs his next model airplane. Gu always starts with a sketch on CAD before he brings his creation into the physical world. “The construction process starts with formatting the pdf plans into something a laser cutter can understand,” Gu said. 2. Working diligently, junior Kevin Gu, arranges the parts of his new model airplane for it to be cut. Gu designs and builds every plane himself.

1

“The largest laser cutters at TJ are 18x24 inches and sometimes some pieces are too large and have to be hand cut,” Gu said. 3. With a look of pride, junior Kevin Gu holds his newly constructed model airplane up. He examines it to ensure everything is as it should be. “Building a plane could take a whole day at first, but with experience it can take just two hours to go from pieces and electronics to a fully working aircraft,” Gu said.

2 channel that sparked his passion. Flite Test designs model airplane plans that consumers can order. The kits contain plane-building plans that Gu could then use to cut different parts out of foam board, a material consisting of foam surrounded by a layer of paper.

“I built my first plane in eighth grade,” Gu said. “It could stay in the air for 10 seconds, and then since I didn’t tape down the wires, it just cut its own wires with the propeller and then fell out of the sky. But you know, it’s an experience to work off of.

Flying might look easy but it’s actually really difficult and so I got simulators to try to get a feel of how to fly at first.”

Since that first success, Gu has built three model airplanes, each time working off of his previous mistakes and failures. He believes that building model airplanes follows a learning curve; it’s hard to get started, but becomes much easier over time.

“In the beginning, it was just me like figuring everything out myself,” Gu said. “but when I came to TJ, there was the remote control (RC) club, which eventually became the UAV club.

Everyone helps each other out, and we extend the projects so that the planes can fly themselves.”

3 DESCENT The UAV club meets during 8th periods every Wednesday in the robotics lab. Students have access to facilities such as 3D printers and laser cutters, which greater improve the precision and efficiency of the building process.

“This year is the UAV club’s second year attending a competition,” Gu said. “The competition is about designing and testing your own unmanned aerial vehicle. Instead of a person controlling it, the plane tries to fly autonomously while accomplishing several tasks like identifying objects on the ground and checking letters with the camera.”

LANDING Gu feels excited about pushing his abilities as well as nostalgic for the feelings that began his journey.

“In the future, I’m probably going to design my own model airplanes, or at least take more of the process into my own hands,” Gu said. “I could maybe even build one from scratch for my senior research project. I’ve always had that general passion for aeronautics, [and I hope I’ll be able to build my own plane one day].”

FLIP THE

SCRIPT All-girls wrestling team hits the mat at Jefferson

C

by Anuj Khemka

rouched, hands ready to react, junior Brianna Ta rocks back and forth, looking for an opening. Suddenly, her eyes flicker up with promise, and she lunges forward at her opponent’s knees.

Within seconds, he’s on the ground, locked in Ta’s taut grip.

Pushing up on the gym floor, he attempts to power his way out of her grasp, but it’s to no avail. Ta adapts her position, masterfully countering her opponent’s every move, and before long, it’s over. Hesitantly, her opponent taps his hand and Ta stands up triumphant, one arm raised high in the air

by the presiding ref. For Ta, who placed third in the conference last year and was deemed by coach Charles Phillips as one of the best in her weightclass in the country, such victories are commonplace.

However, most girls struggle to find success in co-ed wrestling, the only form of the sport found at most high schools today.

NE W T E A M

In response to this issue, Jefferson is now fielding an all-girl’s team as well, which will ensure that female wrestlers do not have to wrestle their male counterparts if they don’t want to.

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2 1. Leaning forward, freshman Lise Bejtlich tackles sophomore Isabel Nevarez into the wrestling mat as part of a drill to learn a new attack.

2. Pushing up against the mat, junior Brianna Ta leads the team in practicing sprawls, a defense against takedowns. “We have this drill routine to the song, ‘Bodies by Drowning Pool’ [that] helps us get cardio by drilling moves really quickly,” Ta said. “Usually Coach calls on people to lead in the front and ppl copy that.” 3. Developing a new defense mechanism as part of a practice drill, freshman Rachel Rozsa holds freshman Nick Ta down on the mat. PHOTO// Forrest Meng

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“Usually when I wrestle against guys, they’re a lot stronger because of testosterone and muscle growth and everything. And I think going against girls will help girls become more confident, [because] usually, a lot of girls are afraid of being hurt. A lot of injuries happen in wrestling, and with the guys, sometimes they’re a little rough,” Ta said.

“But [with] girls only, they might feel more comfortable.”

In addition to attending all-girls tournaments around the state, as girls on the coed team did in the past, the team will have competitive meets with other schools with girls teams.

“Before, we had the co-ed wrestling team, where guys and girls could wrestle on either varsity or JV, and the varsity team would consist of 14 people for each of the weight classes. The girls team is modeled after that, so we would have a girls team of 14 people, and we would go to other schools and compete against their girls teams too,” Ta said. “It’d be just like like varsity but instead of being coed, it’d just be girls.”

BENEFITS

With the changes to wrestling at Jefferson, the team has seen an influx of girls, with the number jumping from two at the

SPORTS 19 beginning of the summer to six now. “[I joined because] I wanted to defend myself. Especially for me, since I’m a small female, it’s very important to know how to defend myself, and also just in general, like you never know what’s going to happen, it’s always good to be prepared and know how to defend yourself,” freshman Rachel Rozsa said. “[Wrestling] is also a really good outlet for stress, because for me, specifically, fighting someone helps relieve stress.”

Students on the team also cite increased confidence as a benefit of the all-girls wrestling team.

“At a school that is so heavily dominated by male presence, it’s important that we remember to empower women,” freshman Hannah Friedman said. “Wrestling shows girls that you can protect yourself without having to be bigger than your opponent. It allows us to show our inner strength.”

Finally, Rozsa stresses that an all-girls wrestling team gives her not only a better chance of success, but more individual attention.

“I think it’s really great that there is an all girls wrestling team, because the fact that there is a girl’s wrestling allowed me to make it to varsity, so I’m really excited about that. Also, [wrestling is a way to get] scholarships because not many girls do wrestling.”

RI GO R

For the newly formed girlsonly team, practices will remain the same, with both the girls and boys teams practicing together as one group.

“Girls will wrestle [both girls and boys] unless there’s an issue with a girl’s parents being comfortable with her wrestling boys. But if you look at a martial arts field, girls go against boys all day. It’s a respect thing. In this day and time, you have different genders going against each other all the time. And it just gives girls a better chance to compete on a more equal basis when they go against other girls,” Phillips said. “So if my girl can train with her big brothers and little brothers, imagine what she’s going to do when she’s in competition with another girl. That’s our vision of it.”

Wrestling is a notoriously rigorous sport, but according to Phillips, the challenges are not only neccessary for success, but welcomed by the girls who join.

“Most of the girls came up because they wanted to be challenged. We have a saying that comfort is the enemy of success. So, I make my kids very uncomfortable because we want to be successful,” Phillips said. “So we train very hard, and the girls kind of like the fact that they’re being pushed in a different way.”

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by Sonia Kanchan

After attempting numerous sports, junior Emily Song, has found her place in synchronized swimming

SPORTS 21

HYBRID In this transition, swimmers go underwater and do a choreo where the legs are acting above the water.

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ou need to look good.”

For the past eight years, junior Emily Song has been an avid participant of what can be considered an uncommon sport. For her, synchronized swimming just hit differently.

“Before I did synchro [synchronized swimming] I did a lot of other sports. I did ballet and soccer. But then I’d tried I tried out synchro, and it was kind of like a combination of performing all the things I liked about other sports,” Song said.

She appreciates the opportunity that synchronized swimming specifically, offers for unity, speed, strength, flexibility, breath control, and of course, looking good.

“I think synchro is super different from competitive swimming because we don’t just need to be fast. You need to be flexible you need to be strong, you need to be up out of the water,” Song said.

TEAM ASPECT In addition to her appreciation for the numerous skill sets that synchronized swimming puts to use, Song also enjoys the quirky team dynamic that comes with synchro. Synchronized swimmers have the option to compete in solo, duet, or team competitions. Song prefers ‘team.’

“I like team most because you have

LIFT

One or more people (not pictured) will launch a flier out of the water.

a lot more options with more peoplecooler lifts, cooler patterns,” Song said.

However, the team event does have a downside. Unity is at the core of synchronized swimming.

“There’ll be some difficult times when one person can’t get it, and then we have to focus on that because if one person is off, it looks different from everyone else.

And that person gets all the attention,” Song said.

COMMITMENT It didn’t take long for Song to figure out that synchronized swimming was going to be her passion.

“At first it was because I was pretty good at doing some of the basic moves and then I kind of wanted to see how

1 Standing with her team, Song (second row, middle), smiles for a picture. Even through tough practices, Song has found that her team remains close. “We are also super close because of all theteam bonding,” Song said. 2 Mid-routine, Song (left) and a teammate are completing a move that will turn into hybrid choreography. The hybrid choreography is known to be a common transition between moves. In order to master these moves, Song attends nine hours of practice each week. 3 Participating as a duet, Song and her teammate complete deckwork as part of their routine, before getting into the water. Synchronized swimming does, in fact, have different events. “For younger girls, there’s figures which is individual, but I’ve been swimming on team and duet,” Song said.

DECKWORK At the start of a routine, teams will do up to ten seconds of choreo before diving into the water.

much better I could get, because you can visibly see the results,” Song said.

Scoring by judges was not the only result Song saw though.

“There’s a more quantitative way to see, easy things like how high can you get under the water and how strong you can lift,” Song said.

Song has also found some of her past experiences helpful.

“I think before I was already doing music which helps me learn rhythms and counts more easily,” Song said.

And now, she sees her synchronized swimming experiences helping her out in other areas.

“It’s like the areas I use in synchro can also apply to other areas for like, dance, or running more. So, doing synchro makes me or helps me in every other kind of category,” Song said.

As time has gone by, Song has realized how rare this sport really is.

“Sometimes when people refer to me they’d be like, ‘Oh, the one that does synchronized swimming,’ because nobody does it,” Song said.

However, this rarity has never made her question the love she has for ‘synchro.’ Eight years ago, when she first dipped her toe into the cool water of the pool, Song knew that she’d found her sport.

DANCI NG Figure skaters senior Maria Dorodnitsyna and sophomore April Tian recount their entrance into the world of figure skating and share their love for the sport

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kates clash on ice and figures twirl in the air. The rink erupts in applause as the music ends. Standing in the spotlight aren’t Olympic figure skaters, but senior Maria Dorodnitsyna and sophomore April Tian.

Both avid figure skaters, Tian first began skating in the first grade after signing up for group lessons at her local rink, though she began competitively three years ago. Dorodnitsyna was also inspired to pick up the sport after watching a video of Yuzuru Hanyu’s Grand Prix Final performance, realizing the beautiful duality of skating.

“I had a friend who was a figure skater. She was one of my best friends in elementary school, and her mom showed me a video of Yuzuru Hanyu’s Grand Prix Final performance and I thought it was the most amazing thing,” Dorodnitsyna said. “I thought that figure skating was very delicate but also underneath that it had power.”

Initially a accustomed young age and skating after sport.

“When I was and so I think sports and also the aspect of [figure skatnot only just it’s difficult how tech-

so much skier, Dorodnitsyna was to winter sports from a switched over to figure falling in love with the little I did slalom skiing, I’ve always liked winter the speed and cold, and I like the performance aspect with ing],” Dorodnitsyna said. “It’s a sport, but it’s also artistic and to make progress because of nical it is.”

ICE

by Justin Chang, Irina Lee, and Grace Mak

Balancing Life Though balancing a time-consuming extracurricular activity with coursework at Jefferson is no easy feat as students spend hours every day completing various assignments, Tian and Dorodnitsyna find time in their busy schedules throughout the week to be on the rink.

“Usually, I wake up around six, and then I have an hour of practice before school from seven to eight, and then my mom drives me [to TJ], and then I go home,” Tian said.

“That’s just during the weekdays, but on the weekends, I practice anywhere from two to three hours.”

nitsyna, on finds time to practice notes the challenges staying on top of her “Most figure skatmorning but that’s hard the schedule at TJ is train in the afternoons, of difficult because practice starts right to my bus stop, so I all my figure skating straight from the Dorodnitsyna

had

skating tired, or a bad day so

Dorodthe other hand, after school, but of doing so, while assignments. ers train in the to do because very packed. I which is kind the last after I get have to take stuff with me and go bus stop to practice,” said. “One of the hard things is after you will be very you could have doing your

homework after that is more difficult than doing it before.

So on weekends, I usually do my homework in the morning before skating so that I can be as efficient as possible without staring up like a piece of paper for two hours because I’m too tired to do it.”

“Figure skating is a very technical sport and it’s very difficult, so it requires 100% of your attention and concentration. So whenever I go skating, I have to forget everything and push aside everything that’s bothering me at school or at home and be 100% present.” - Maria Dorodnitsyna

Living the Moment To reach and attain a level of proficiency seen among fellow figure skaters, Dorodnitsyna outlines what is required of skaters during practices and explains how she approaches them.

“Figure skating is a very technical sport and it’s very difficult, so it requires 100% of your attention and your concentration,” Dorodnitsyna said. “So whenever I go skating, I have to forget everything and push aside everything that’s bothering me at school or at home and be 100% present and think of ways to make my training more efficient.”

Despite the perseverance and dedication required, both Tian and Dorodnitsyna find fulfillment and enjoyment in figure skating, especially with the sport’s free and relaxing nature.

Additionally, Dorodnitsyna finds pleasure in spending long periods of time crafting a technique.

“It’s a very liberating activity where you focus on something else. I like the speed, and also there’s something about working on like a certain element for a very long time,” Dorodnitsyna said. “Even if it’s a difficult jump, you can spend over a year working on it.”

Overcoming Hurdles Though practice makes perfect, the rigor and intensity of the sport makes it difficult to do so. Dorodnitsyna acknowledges the challenges of figure skating, but notes how her peers serve as inspiration to continue skating and pushing for better results.

“Sometimes while practicing, you just keep falling and falling, but you also see other people falling and how they overcome themselves and stand back up to keep practicing, and that’s very inspiring,” Dorodnitsyna said.

uphill battle.

Sports 23

After months of training to perform a specific maneuver, whether it’s landing a toe loop or a double axel, Dorodnitsyna describes the feeling of finally mastering the technique and the thoughts rushing through her mind, after what seemed like an

“Some amount of time will be trying to accomplish something like landing a jump, and then all of a sudden you land it and that moment when you land it is amazing,” Dorodnitsyna said. “You think to yourself, I’m so glad that I kept doing this, even though it was very hard and sometimes you think that I’m not making any progress, that I haven’t been making any progress for such a long time, and that maybe I should just quit.”

With years of experience in competitive and recreational figure skating, Dorodnitsyna gives advice on how to overcome various difficulties as the nature of the sport requires skaters to constantly adapt and improvise to their surroundings and situations.

“Take different approaches,

and maybe even different mental approaches, because I think figure skating is at least 50% mental,” Dorodnitsyna said. “If you’re doing an element, and you’re putting so much strength into it, but it’s just not working, you’re thinking about it wrong. If you keep thinking of new ways of approaching it physically and mentally, then you will get better, even if it seems like you’re not getting better. It’s just because there’s a process and sometimes it’s very slow, but you will get better, and eventually you will be skating with people who are very good, and you can learn from them.”

HARVARD SFFA With the case SFFA v. Harvard making headlines, Jefferson must re-consider its own racial disparities in the admissions process

ASIAN STUDENTS DOMINATE ELITE PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL

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NATE ADMISSIONS TO BEING 1.5 IN 100

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ANSWERING IN THE AFFIRMATIVE

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dmissions based on merit. But when the line between merit and privilege blurs to nonexistence, this simple statement can become nearly impossible to achieve.

When considering college admissions, we must combat the assumption that academics alone are enough to grant a student entry. Diverse backgrounds bring diverse perspectives, a quality that can’t be quantified yet, is so important to the development of a student’s mind. Often, the “merit” shown through high standardized test scores and a strong resume of extracurricular activities masks the privilege of parents willing to pay for tutors and better resources. The current debate over affirmative action centers around race, but a more accurate way to construct the context of a student should take socioeconomic status or income into consideration.

Whether we consider affirmative action as a problem of income or race, Jefferson fails in both regards. Although programs to improve the school’s diversity have been present since the 1990s, huge disparities still exist within the student population. Demographics taken in 2019 indicate

that approximately 70% of the students at Jefferson are of Asian descent, while less than 5% of students are of Black, Hispanic, or Latino descent.

Furthermore, less than 2% of students qualified for free or reduced lunch meals.

The racial disparity at Jefferson can be attributed to the racial breakup of the students who apply, but this reason cannot be used to absolve the county of responsibility.

While the high percentage of Asian-American applicants can be attributed to cultural values supportive of a STEM education, we cannot write off the low number of Black and Hispanic applicants as due to lack of interest. The lack of Black and Hispanic interest in Jefferson as seen through applications is not just a cultural issue, it is a county issue as well.

From kindergarten through elementary and middle schools, the county should provide Black, Hispanic, and Latino students with the resources to pursue advanced classes to foster increased interest and confidence in STEM. Merit and privilege are not as separate as we believe them to be. For diversity in universities and at Jefferson, we must answer in the affirmative.

OPINION 26

Standardized Testing in a Stratified Schedule Standardized testing places additional stress on student schedules

Aumena Choudhry wherever a student would like is helpful in choosing a quiet place to study, such as the library, rather than being confined to the cafeteria.

During 8th periods, the huge variety of activities offered and teachers available for every subpen math, reading, writing, and subject-specific knowledge and skills (such as the SAT Chemistry Test).Also, with the rigorous content taught in Jefferson math and science courses, studying becomes more effective as students have already been exposed to the topics in the classroom and have had their knowledge reinforced multiple times. Additionally, there 1. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is a standard exam that high school students take for admission into most colleges are prep books available at the and universities. The SAT often requires at least several months, if not years to prepare for. Students study for the SAT during library as reference books, which ofthe school day in 8th peiored,s lunches, and before/after school. ten aid students during 8th periods such as through their school. Varying Wake up at 4 a.m. and cram studying available for studying in the library. Yet, for the SAT in the morning. No, do ACT advice on how to prepare can also further studying is not limited to books only - a complicate studying for standardized tests prep at night after finishing homework. wide variety of websites are available to in addition to maintaining other responHow about during lunch? 8th period? study as well, which are often publicized sibilities. How does one prepare for Fitting standardized testing and prepato students through teachers and social standardized testing, then? ration in between a myriad of homemedia. Further, simply making flashcards work, tests, projects, and extracurricular At Jefferson, there are multiple opto study during small breaks, such as activities is becoming increasingly harder portunities to prepare for standardized on wwthe bus ride to and from school, as the pressure to do well mounts upon testing. For example, the Class of 2020 also helps with memorizing content as students. The rising difficulty of standard- held a practice SAT for students in Oct. research shows that studying in smaller ized testing and their importance in the 2019, hosted by the Princeton Review. sessions is more effective than a late-night college admissions process, for example, This followed a long-standing tradition cram. With the opportunities available at is a daunting prospect that can deter even of different classes hosting practice SATs Jefferson, studying during the school day motivated students when it is difficult to from various prep companies, and with a becomes more feasible, making it easier to know where to start. low cost ($20), it provides students with fit studying into a schedule everyday.

With the mounting demands on the time an opportunity to test themselves with With the support and help available at of students, different methods of study- practice exams at a convenient time and Jefferson, fitting standardized testing into ing have emerged - studying with Barron’s location. an already full schedule does not have to on the bus, attending prep classes on the Another opportunity is the availabilbe so difficult - it can be easier, and make weekends, and taking online classes after ity of lunches and 8th periods to not that one more task checked off on the school. Yet, this preparation may still not only study, but to ask peers and teachchecklist. be enough - especially for those students ers for help if needed. For instance, who lack the resources for additional help, during lunch, being allowed to eat/study

OPINION 27

Volunteering for Graduation

Voting on Voting Age

Volunteering at a local shelter, helping at soup kitchens, cleaning up a local stream with Habitat for Humanity - there are so many ways to volunteer as teenagers that it is overwhelming. Sometimes, volunteering is instilled from a very young age, where our parents encourage us to volunteer at church, for example. However, today, it has become a requirement for graduation in school systems across the United States, including Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).

Turning 16 gives the right to obtain a license and drive. Turning 17 provides opportunities to do more kinds of jobs. Turning 18 provides the right to vote. The debate between lowering the age to vote and leaving it at 18 remains tied between statistics and personal opinions. Yet, a significant amount of research into different factors influencing voting suggests keeping the voting age to 18.

Requiring community service as a part of a student’s high school experience is important since it provides students with another perspective on their community. Not everyone is privileged with basic rights, such as attending school, and helping young children learn in a shelter gives them a glimpse of hope and opportunities. It also emphasizes the basic duties of being a responsible adult and citizen - having empathy for others, and working towards giving everyone access to opportunities to lead a rewarding life.

As teenagers, our brains, specifically the prefrontal cortex, are still developing - which is significant, since the prefrontal cortex is responsible for weighing situations. This is especially important in voting on complex issues - which requires adequate knowledge of current issues and the stances of different political entities. Research demonstrates that teenagers generally have less knowledge of issues, and lack the experience needed to participate in elections. Yet, it doesn’t have to remain this way - getting involved with different activities and campaigns can expand one’s knowledge of elections and the importance of voting. At Jefferson, political activities, such as the Young Democrats and the Young Republicans, offer insight into the complex workings of democracy - making it easier to develop habits of staying informed on issues - which will help once you do turn 18.

Volunteering does not have to be big - even small moments, such as helping for 30 minutes at a soup kitchen can leave a big impact on those who you help. At Jefferson, it is easy to fit in, with 8th periods devoted to various service opportunities, such as the Red Cross Youth Task Force, Recording Audio for the Disabled (RAD), and Learning and Inspiration for Everyone (LIFE). Through these activities, volunteering can be more about giving back, and less about doing it for graduation.

Packaging peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, making food packages for homeless shelters - these are all activities that Jefferson’s United Nations National Fund (UNICEF) club does in 8th period sessions. Throughout the year, different activities are planned depending on the theme for the month, such as Convention on the Rights of Child for Nov. 2019.

Filling out voter registration forms for voting can be done through online or paper and pencil. In the AP Government classes, students registered for voting if they were turning 18 before the November elections.

TIK TOK O O over

by Christina Lu & Nirja Divekar

takes

As global users become popular on this trendy app, Jefferson students are also gaining thousands of viewers around the world.

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all it a trend. A momentous experience. A revolutionary invention. Call it TikTok. TikTok is an app-based video platform where 500 million people - watch and create short videos. From comedy to dancing, lip-syncing to vlogging, the range of genres of TikTok videos is endless.

OVERVIEW It all started with Musical.ly, an app predominantly used for lip-syncing

by Generation Z. Musical.ly launched in 2014, and in just three years, its platform had expanded to 215 million users (commonly known as “musers”).

Musers would post 15-second clips of them lip-syncing, dancing, or pulling stunts. In November 2017, Chinese company ByteDance bought Musical. ly and rebranded it. On Aug 2, 2018, musers woke up with a different app on their phone in replacement of Musical. ly - TikTok. TikTok has many of the same features as Musical.ly. When the app is opened, your feed shows featured videos by default, even before creating

1 The Jefferson boys pose for a picture together

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on the evening of Jefferson’s Homecoming. The juniors, Niko Economos, Arjun Dhumne, and Rashad Philizaire, have found that their fame has spread to other users’ posts. “A lot of the time and you can see our comments on other people’s videos, and they’re sorted by likes, and we get a lot of likes on comments - 40,000 likes on one comment on someone else’s video,” Philizaire said.

“Some people like your personality, some don’t and that’s just how life is.”

-Arjun Dhumne, 11

an account and following other users.

To see videos from only the users you follow, you can click on the “follow” tab above. The videos are tall and fill the entire phone screen. To view another video, you can scroll up or down.

Hashtags play an important role on TikTok, helping organize challenges, jokes, popular formats, etc. For example, users put the hashtag “#foryou” in their captions, so their videos can appear on the featured page. This gives them the chance to expand their platform and gain popularity. Popular challenges are also spread through hashtags - users post videos of them doing the challenge with the corresponding hashtag (e.g. #DabChallenge).

Every TikTok video will show its maker’s username, the caption, the name of the song and its artist at the bottom. A side bar will display the number of likes and the number of comments.

Similar to Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok offers pre and post-production changes such as filters, emoji stickers, and more.

TikTok and Musical.ly have countless similarities, but the main difference lies in the content posted by its users - TikTok videos usually feature comedy and dancing, while Musical.ly videos were predominantly lip-syncing.

The successful app has traveled across America, and even to the homes of celebrities. Reese Witherspoon was recently introduced to TikTok when her 15-year-old son gave her a tutorial on viral TikTok moves.

The #YeehawChallenge was a challenge that spread on TikTok where people danced to “Old Town Road” for the first few seconds, then suddenly appeared in cowboy gear after the beat dropped. The song went viral in early 2019 because of this popular challenge.

Old Town Road eventually climbed to number 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, drawing attention from the record company. In March 2019, Lil Nas X officially signed to work with Columbia Records.

JEFFERSON BOYS Even at Jefferson, students are becoming “TikTok famous.” The Jefferson

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ENTERTAINMENT 29

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2 During lunch, freshman Sahiti Kota records a new Tik Tok. Kota is slightly surprised that she hasn’t had any offers for sponsorship. “I haven’t found someone to sponsor my videos. Believe it or not, most people don’t find me terribly dancing to songs as a super good way to advertise,” Kota said.

3 Creating a TikTok to song “Save That”, by the rapper, Rich the Kid, the Jefferson boys complete some choreography for their fans. The boys don’t just credit their success to their posts. “A lot of it was luck too, maybe at first. But once you build a fanbase…” Philizaire said.

“Tik Tok has made me a lot more confident.”

-Sahiti Kota, 9 Boys is a group of three juniors - Arjun Dhumne, Niko Economos, and Rashad Philizaire - who created their account last spring and as of October 25, have a platform of 44.3 thousand followers.

“People would just make them [TikToks] as jokes, and that’s what we started off doing. We just wanted to have a little fun on the app,” Dhumne said.

The Jefferson Boys were already ecstatic with the 580 likes their first video received, where the Boys danced to an original song by TikToker @trvpandre.

In their next video, the Boys danced to Bhad Bhabie’s “Geek’d,”. This caught fire and has gotten 64.2k likes as of November 1. After the release of their second video, the first video got up to 33.4k likes. Despite what may seem like massive numbers to an outsider, the Jefferson Boys remain humble about their success.

“We still don’t consider ourselves famous. There are people with 100k, 200k [followers].” Economos said. “But I will say that we have some type of presence.

People who are bigger will say, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ve seen your videos.’”

The Jefferson Boys made a point to mention that followers aren’t always the best way to measure popularity or fame on TikTok. “There are a lot of really famous

people with more followers than us, but some of their videos get almost no likes.

But we’ve pretty much consistently gotten this many likes,” Philizaire said.

The Jefferson Boys used their diversity to increase their fanbase and number of likes.

“At least, at first, the big thing that we played off of was the fact that we’re diverse because we’re white, black, and Indian. So that might have been a little responsible for starting things,” Economos said.

The Jefferson Boys always make sure to maximize interactions with fans by responding to comments and going live.

“I randomly go on the profiles of people who like our posts, scroll through some stuff and like some stuff. Just because I know it makes people happy,” Dhumne said.

The Boys have advice for aspiring TikTokers.

“Do something different. Find something that you actually like, not what everyone else is doing,” Philizaire said.

As their journey continues, the Jefferson Boys reflect on their success and open up about the lessons they’ve learned.

“There are two ways to become famous: looks and personality. It’s all 100 percent luck at the end of the day. Some

people like your personality, some don’t, and that’s just how life is,” Dhumne said.

JEFFERSON GIRLS Inspired by the Jefferson Boys, freshman Sahiti Kota created a new TikTok account - the Jefferson Girls.

“I thought it would be funny to recreate their videos of three guys doing dances, but instead it’s just me dancing terribly,” Kota said.

It was rumored that TikTok would die after a few months, but the app has remained standing for three years now and has an expanding influence on teenagers by the day.

“Normally I wouldn’t find myself doing random things in public, so TikToks have made me a lot more confident,” Kota said.

TikTok continues to be popular among teenagers. In fact, 41 percent of users are between the ages of 16 and 24.

“People know a lot of music just because of TikToks. At homecoming, they just played TikTok songs and people knew them,” Kota said.

The @JeffersonGirlss account has had a slow start, but she has accepted this in humor and remains optimistic.

“I’d also like to thank my 33 TikTok followers; I wouldn’t be where I am without them,” Kota said. My goal is to be TikTok famous and it’s clearly working.”

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ENTERTAINMENT 27

How How to: to:

Anushka Molugu

halloween halloween

1. Looking dead at the camera, Junior Shristi Nadkarni shows off her “It” makeup. 2. Getting into the Halloween spirit, Junior Jenalyn Dizon created a look inspired by TikTok. “It’s super cool to see people go all out and be creative, especially when their costume is really clever and can make other people smile,” Dizon said. Dizon went to a Halloween party hosted by the International Thespian Society the day after Halloween, where she helped set up decorations and participated in activities like a costume contest. 3.

Inspired by Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, Sophomore Rae Trainer dressed up as a vampire. “Very few believe the collective myths of vampires or zombies, but impersonating creatures from our favorite horror stories is an entertaining way to explore our fears,” Trainer said. She spent her Halloween playing board games and reconnecting with her friends. 4. Using the last two costume pieces he found at Target, Freshman Cyrus Rivers uses his creativity to make a Burger King costume. “I like the scary spirit, because it’s a great way to lighten the mood of the season when it would otherwise be gloomy and boring,” Rivers said. He spent his Halloween going to Field of Fears, which is held at Cox Farms during October, with some of his friends. 5. Emulating Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, Senior Howard Malc covered his face with clown makeup. “I really like dressing in costume and goofing off with friends. The whole atmosphere of Halloween is really unique and a nice break from the regular life,” Malc said. Him and his friends spent their Halloween at a concert called HalloQueen,

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where band members dressed up as members of the band Queen and performed covers of their famed songs. 6. Posing in costumes that are unique to them, Freshmen Grace Guan and Emma Cox aim to send a message. “I really wanted to wear something that would help me stand out. If you didn’t know, I’m pretty short so visibility is important for me. I used it as an advertisement for my campaign to help spread the word that I would be running,” Guan said. Guan is running for treasurer and is so passionate about it that she spent her Halloween handing out candy and working on her campaign. 7. Cultivating a costume revolving around him playing a melodica, Junior Nathaniel Kabigting dressed up as the “Musicultist” to increase the spooky spirit. “I feel as though sometimes these costumes reveal a different aspect about the person that you might not have known before.

Maybe they’ll be dressed up as a character from a movie, game, or book you like and now you know that you have something in common. Halloween lets us take off the mask of the “no-time-for-hobbies” student and put on the mask of... anything, I suppose,” Kabigting said. Not being much of a trick-or-treater, he enjoys seeing the creative costumes of the people who participate in the Halloween activity. 8. Dressing up as fighter pilots, Senior Caleb O’ Cain and Thomas show off their army green jumpsuits. 9. Inspired by Medusa, Senior Aria Moss completes her look with sunglasses and snakes in her hair. 10. The TJ Admin team dresses up as the characters from the second season of “Stranger Things.”

“

BOTS BTS

I’m in the automation and robotics lab. I’m doing my internship at George Mason University, and their autonomous robotics laboratory. My project is to get a flock of robots to be able to have some sort of interactive behavior to complete a task together.

& BAKED GOODS “

PHOTO by Ashley Huang REPORTING by Sid Ram

I got into K-pop during sophomore year, when BTS released their ‘Love Yourself: Her’ album. It just became another thing that I could use for relaxation and escape from school. A lot of the songs in their albums are really about school kids and escaping from stress.

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[I] wanted to do something special for [my friend’s]birthday. I decided to bake her a pan of pineapple upside down cupcakes.

I guess that’s where the tradition started and [now] we bake each other cupcakes so everyone has their chance to feel a little special on their day.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

Senior

Rachel Fernandes