Features

No matter how many academic courses a student takes during his or her high school years, perhaps the most valuable lessons are taught not in textbooks but by experience. Students who participate in student government positions gain valuable leadership skills that invariably benefit them in the future.

What’s the point of high school? So often we roam the halls of the science wing pondering the significance of the anatomy of a frog in our own lives or leave the math quad wondering why we need to know how to graph a parabola. Why do we read “Of Mice and Men” in freshman year, and who cares about the causes of World War I?

In short, these necessary high school lessons serve as building blocks for later in life, perhaps stepping stones for a future career. Just ask Lynn Chouw, a 2001 graduate and current aerospace engineer at Lockheed Martin.

While riding his bike uphill last summer, freshman David Zarrin decided there had to be a more efficient way to switch gears.

“First I switched to a different gear, but it wasn’t quite working, so I switched to another one,” said Zarrin. “However, that didn’t feel right either. I realized that there is something between those two gears that is the best option, so I was inspired to try and build something to fix that.”

Although senior Drew Hsieh has never been to a rave, he is well learned in the art of light shows, a type of entertainment common at raves where performers use a special type of gloves with colorful lights to dance with their hands, creating a brilliant spectacle for their audience.

“People usually do them at raves,” said Hsieh, “but I just do it for fun just because I liked the experience of receiving a light show.”

Since 1995, one summer tour has remained the place to be for upcoming and underground rock bands: the Warped Tour.

Starting every June, a tour of about 100 bands travel across the United States and Canada to showcase their talent. The event, sponsored by the skateboarding shoe brand Vans, was originally founded to feature only punk rock bands but has since included a wider genre of music such as reggae, hip hop and alternative rock. The tour ends in late August and is a popular summer event at every tour location.

Transitioning from middle school to high school itself can be a huge ordeal. Then add in the stress of moving to a completely different country. Junior Ramiz Sheikh has experienced this situation when he moved from Germany to California before he started high school.

Sheikh compares both cultural atmospheres and notices several fundamental differences between the two places.

Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson’s decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post.

“A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students,” said Anderson. “That’s a big deal.”

The music department can finally heave a sigh of relief as soon as April is here.

The entire month of March was filled with concerts and competitions such as the California Music Ensemble Association for all departments, after preparing the pieces since January.

In the week of March 15, Symphonic Bands and Orchestras held concerts on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The Wind Ensemble played a complicated yet fun piece by a contemporary composer, Mazlanka.

Among the countless presents that sophomore Kellie Chiou receives on her 16th birthday, the one that stands out the most is from sophomore Connie Wang. The present is a topsy-turvy, three-tiered cake made from scratch, each layer embellished in different pink and purple patterns—stripes and polka dots—and completed with a purple “16” and a large bow at the top.