Columns

Spring is here! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and … the juniors are stressing. With the SAT, the ACT, subject tests, summer program applications and AP tests piled on top of one another, it’s no wonder the junior class comes to school each day looking more and more like they’re walking in straight from the battlefield.

San Francisco Bay: home of the Hyphy movement, Silicon Valley and fault lines threatening massive earthquakes every day.

Since kindergarten, we’ve learned how to duck under a table and cover our heads if the ground starts shaking. We know where to meet our families in case of an emergency and what should be in our emergency-aid kit (canned foods, water bottles and first aid in case you’re slacking).

There seems to be a trend among the YouTube community of people starting their own daily video blogs, or “vlogs” for short. These intriguing videos are snapshots of many popular YouTube stars’ lives, which create a vortex that I’ve been trapped in.

It was an intense wrestling practice. The room felt like a sauna. Sweat was steaming off of the hard-working athletes. The team was preparing for a tough tournament that they would attend the following weekend, and everyone was anxious. The only thing I remembered from that day was the face of the person I was wrestling. The rest was a blur.

In a lone lit room at the corner of the house, the clock reads 3:42 a.m. Sprawled on the lamplit desk are several papers, an open textbook and an open capped pen. Ripped Tootsie pop and Hershey’s kiss wrappers also scatter the surface of the desk. A teenage girl sits in front of her work. Her eyelids slowly begin to close. On the left side of her computer screen sits an almost blank Word Document that reads “Healthcare Bill Research Paper” across the top. On the right side of the screen, an intense game of Connect Four continues as the girl struggles to focus her eyes on the pieces. Wait a second, let’s start at the beginning.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, it’s easy to get caught up in the wave of finding true love. But I haven’t just gotten sucked in by its current, I’ve been completely smothered by the maelstrom of “The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love.”

“Get moving, senior!” said physical education teacher Yuko Aoki.

I hustled down the track—fists clenched and heart pounding—before my mind did a double-take, and I realized that, once again, my name at birth had been one-upped. Jokes and references aside, I’ll make it known here: I am a senior enrolled in physical education.

Conducting post-game interviews with players, running into former center and current Sharks development coach Mike Ricci (twice!) and receiving an inspirational speech from radio play-by-play voice Dan Rusanowsky comprised the stuff of dreams for an avid Sharks fan like me. That is, of course, until all of those seemingly impossible products of a teal-tinted imagination came to fruition on Nov. 10.

I have a twin.

This does not mean that we love the same things, do everything together and wear the same clothes. We are not identical. This is mostly because my twin is a boy.

Usually, when there are football games at school, my friends have to drag me to them. Watching any kind of sports game is extremely unexciting for me, which is why I was surprised to somewhat enjoy watching the San Antonio Spurs vs. Dallas Mavericks NBA Basketball game.