Reporters maintain friendship through animal nicknames March 23, 2021 — by Christina Chang, Anjali Pai and Carolyn Wang Photo by Graphic by Anjali Pai Do not mess with the inhabitants of the Discord Pets Channel. If someone were to observe the newspaper staff during remote learning, they would know that much of the class’s activities occur over Discord voice channels. Sure, there are channels dedicated to the editors-in-chief (EICs), section editors and adviser Michael Tyler, but one channel undeniably stands superior to the others. The Pets Channel. Originally created to broadcast EIC senior Allison Hartley’s golden retriever Merlin to his large fan base consisting of just about everyone on the staff, the channel has now been conveniently taken over by three particularly chatty “pets” every class period: Anjali the Monkey, Carolyn the Seagull and Christina the Weasel. However, the history of our “Pet” nicknames began long before that voice channel. In middle school, Anjali was known for doing competitive gymnastics, which was associated with monkeys, and thus the nickname Monkey was born. Carolyn, who moved to Saratoga in seventh grade, made friends by tricking people into looking in random directions by pointing in the air and saying “Look! There’s a seagull!”, hence earning her the nickname Seagull. Christina earned the nickname Weasel as a roast for being short (in reality she’s 5 feet 2 inches, which is extremely tall for a weasel). Our unlikely trio began in the murky depths of seventh-period P.E. class, and we originally bonded over card games, which we all had no clue how to play. After two years of crunching leaves in the fall, avoiding worms that flooded the school campus during heavy rains in the winter, being disgusted by fuzzy caterpillars in the trees in the spring and failing to follow through with planned Great America trips in the summer, we became closer than ever. Then came freshman year, when we all took Journalism 1. By then, we were known for randomly hollering each other’s pet nicknames across the school hallways and classrooms, thoroughly confusing people on campus. During tutorial, we would either find ourselves in English teacher Erick Rector’s classroom or the Journalism Room, studying for endless biology exams or negligently procrastinating over inverted-pyramid worksheets. Now, however, the pandemic has hindered our ability to convene in-person, so we have resorted to alternatives, including the taking-over of the Discord “Pets” channel during period 4 newspaper. It was like fate — the heavens (or unknowing EICs) had dedicated a Pets voice room specifically for us to tell inside jokes, make wishes at 11:11 am and brag about having a “Pets” story to accompany our “Pets” channel. Even though we’re usually friendly, don’t mess with us or steal our voice channel. If you do, we will (quite literally) attack from the sky, the ground, and the trees, although an exception may be made for Merlin the dog, the original keeper of The Pets channel. 4 views this weekAbout the contributorsChristina ChangChristina Chang, Class of 2023, is an Editor-In-Chief of the '22-'23 Falcon staff. Previously, she served as a Sports Editor and local events beat writer for the '21-'22 staff and a Reporter and Layout Artist for the '20-'21 staff. During her time with The Falcon, she covered community news like the breakdown of city budget allocations and the first Blossom Festival post-COVID; wrote a series addressing mental health; profiled teacher friendships amid the pandemic; reported on the return of in-person learning and sports after shelter-in-place; and authored a narrative reflecting on her own basketball journey of eight years. Christina was named one of four finalists for Youth Journalism International's 2023 Student Journalist of the Year and one of seven finalists for the National Scholastic Press Association's 2022 Writer of the Year. She has received 23 journalism awards at the international, national and regional levels; her works have been recognized by Youth Journalism International, National Scholastic Press Association, Journalism Education Association of Northern California, Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and Santa Clara University. To further her journalism experience, she attended workshops during summer 2022 hosted by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, California Scholastic Press Association and Stanford Daily. She will fondly remember The Falcon as a highlight of her high school years, and will forever cherish the memories created during monthly deadline nights, enjoying catered food and chatting with fellow staff members while rushing to finish each print edition. Outside of the J-room, she enjoys getting involved in the community through volunteering with local nonprofits and school clubs as well as exploring her interests and creativity through art.Carolyn WangCarolyn Wang, Class of ‘23, is an Editor-in-Chief of the Saratoga Falcon for the 2022-23 school year. Previously, she was the School Scope Editor between 2021-22 and an Assistant Graphics Editor, Layout Artist and Reporter between 2020-21. Over her three years on staff, she has covered stories ranging from inflation's effects on senior citizens to the current state of the journalism industry, anti-vaccine protests, the history of Saratoga's principals, Cross Country and Track & Field beats, and other local and schoolwide news. She's been recognized for her journalism work by the Journalism Education Association of Northern California and Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Outside of the J-Room, Carolyn enjoys all-things music, running and Disney-related.