Features

It is the first day of school for freshman Paul Sung Yoon Choi. Spanish 1, his second period, has ended. Not one for many words, he quietly gets up and grabs his backpack.

During the summer, junior Eric Wang attended a camp where he met a lot of people in Taiwan. After making many new friends, he was worried he would never be able to talk to or see them ever again. Thanks to free video chat services such as Skype, Oovoo, and Tokbox, Wang is able to continue communicating with his new friends.

Most students will attend three—at most four—different schools by high school graduation. Then there is sophomore Aashna Mukerji, who is currently on her seventh.

Redwood Middle School students get a head start on many high school classes.

For every academically rigorous high school, there must also be an equally rigorous feeder school. Such is the case in the Saratoga school district.

The school boasts one of the highest API (Academic Performance Index) scores in the state: 933 out of 1000. Given that this standard of excellence is established at the lower levels, it's no wonder that Saratoga's feeder schools also boast abnormally high test scores.

Commitment, enthusiasm and friendliness are just some of the qualities that guidance counselor Frances Saiki looks for when selecting Link Leader applicants, qualities that are also important in Redwood Middle School's WEB program.

But Link Crew, which pairs upperclassman leaders to a group of eight to 10 freshmen, it is not many students' first mentoring experience. Many current Link leaders and applicants participated in a similar program called WEB, or Where Everybody Belongs as 8th graders at Redwood Middle School. WEB trains student leaders to welcome in coming sixth graders at Redwood.

Who knew five years ago that people would make household names for themselves from right in their bedroom, but with YouTube, hundreds of people have found this success as the website celebrates its fifth anniversary. Two of many people who use this method to broadcast themselves online are Kevin Wu (known online as KevJumba), a sophomore at UC Davis, and Ryan Higa (or Nigahiga), 19, who attends the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. Both of them upload videos as often as they can in order to gain more subscribers, which further increases their popularity.

"And I was like baby, baby, baby ohhh, like baby, baby, baby noo, like baby, baby, baby ohh, I thought you'd always be mine, mine."

This over-played jingle stuck in many teenage girls' heads is sung by Justin Bieber, the squeaky-clean 16-year-old Canadian sensation. After being discovered on YouTube and signing a deal with Usher, Bieber rapidly rose to become an international phenomenon. He released his first single "One Time" in 2009, and soon enough, many people worldwide found themselves diagnosed with the contagious "Bieber Fever."

As summer draws near, the sun, sand and waves of the beach beckon to students in need of relaxation. Although the beaches of the Bay Area are not as glamorous as those in southern California, there are several local beaches that are less than an hour away from Saratoga and can satisfy the needs of stressed students.

As almost any freshman will tell you, high school is a daunting experience. Fresh out of middle school they are suddenly faced with a new campus, new classes, new teachers, new people and shockingly, grades that matter. Even though it is a frightening transition, most incoming students are fortunate enough to bring their old friends along, giving them a support network to survive the first few brutal weeks. Imagine being a student without that support system, thrust into a new environment but with the added burden of not knowing anybody there. For quite a few students, this was the harsh reality.