Volume LXXXVVV, No. 9 www.thebearcat.net Friday, May 20, 2011

An Award-Winning PublicationSANMATEOHI

The BEST NAME IN SCHOOL NEWS SINCE 1922

Seniors go mad for SADSeniors’ final bow

Artistswin big

Bounce House! Jousting! Bungee Run! These activities were provided at Senior Activity Day (SAD) last Friday. Obstacle courses, mist machines, and food, were also available to congratu-late our seniors on four years of hard work. After four years of working hard to get into a good college, the seniors finally got a day to relax and enjoy themselves. “It was so much fun!” said senior Lucy Duran, “I went crazy on the

SMHS students have been winning art competitions all over the state lately. Four different competitions have all been won by our students. Last month, Edgar Banuelos, Ta-tiana Chua, David Genkin, Masafumi Kawakatsu, Faranak Keshmiri, Kath-erine Lau, Diane Liu, Jessica Panian, Emma Phillips, and Betty Shen were all chosen to participate in Congress-woman Speier’s 12th Congressional District Art Competition. This competition takes students from San Francisco to Redwood City with artistic talent and honors them for their skill. One student, Emma Phillips, man-aged to receive 2nd place for a Scratch-board of her dog while another student, Betty Shen, received 3rd place for her marker self-portrait. Two SMHS students also won a contest to receive admission to the California State Summer School for the Arts. These two students are ninth grader Savannah Liu and eleventh grader Jessica Panian. By winning the contest, they have received free admission into this pres-tigious school, which normally costs $1,550 for four weeks. This is the first time that SMHS students have won this contest. This contest took entries from all over California. Three SMHS students also won the California Landscape competition, which is a county-wide contest. Ten artworks were chosen from 300 by Ms. Stock and submitted, and three of them won. Eleventh grader David Young, elev-enth grader Shawn Yang, and ninth grader Lucy Dai-He were the winners of this competition from SMHS. There will be a reception and awards cer-emony for them and the other winners on May 24. It will be at 6 PM at the San Mateo County Office of Education in Redwood City. A fourth art contest was also won by an SMHS student, ninth grader Sarah Wilson. Sarah won the California Coastal Art Contest and because of her victory, her paintings are travel-ling through California to be seen by other people. Sarah Wilson will receive a $100 gift card to an art store and free tick-ets to the Aquarium of the Pacific as her prize. All of this is in addition to the City Arts winners featured on the front page of the last issue. SMHS artists have been truely dominating this year all over the state. Go Mateo!

Vikash MorarNews Editor Around 265 seniors will proudly

walk the stage of the PAC on May 26, both looking forward to college and looking back on their four years at San Mateo High. Around 1400 people are expected to show up to watch the graduation at 7 PM. However, this graduation will be special because the class of 2011 will be the last class to graduate in the current PAC before it undergoes renovation and remodeling. Rehearsal for graduation is on Wednesday, May 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be performances by stu-dents, awards will be given out, and the valedictorians will be honored, but as Ms. Rapaido said, “It’s a se-cret…All I can tell you is that there’s five valedictorians.” “I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be very sad, because you’ll look back and remember all those good memories, but in general it’ll be a very happy event,” says Morgan Babbs, current Student Body President. “I’m looking forward to everything about college like living on campus, meeting a lot of new people, and getting to take classes on all sorts of different subjects,” says Jeremy Venook. “It’s a huge accomplishment. Some people start their new adventures of going to college or the work force, so it’s like a farewell to your childhood and moving on towards adulthood,” added Ms. Rapaido. Congratulationsto the class of 2011!

Once again, Mateo Media—specifi-cally, Mateo Journalism—managed to rack up awards at the annual San Francisco Peninsula Press Club’s High School Journalism Awards on May 20. In a competition involving 15 Pen-insula high schools, 459 entries in 12 categories, and 221 students, The San Mateo Hi, and its website, The Bearcat managed to win four different awards. Morgan Babbs took home first place in the Sports Photo category for a photograph of the San Mateo football team making a catch mid-air at the Little Big Game, Jeremy Venook won second place in the Column category for various opinion stories, Victoria Xiao won an honorable mention in the Features category for her story on the Egyptian revolutions, and The Bearcat won First Place for Website Design.

The Hi awarded

Alex ChenStaff Writer

Victoria XiaoWeb Editor

Bungee Run.” Fellow classmate Ann Zeng agrees. “I sat the whole time, but it was still exciting.” The seniors were partying on the football field from 8:30 to 2pm. Sur-prisingly enough, this event was com-pletely free. How was this possible? It was a gift from the Senior Class Coun-cil, after four years of fundraising, to their class. Juniors and sophomores, mainly those in Leadership, ran the event in efforts to celebrate the seniors’ achievements. “It was a lot of work, but it paid off to see so many people happy,” said junior Natalia Osipchuk. “I remember I gave a lot of massages!” she adds.

“I liked all the food,” Susan Lok said with a smile. Sure enough, there were seemingly endless amounts of cuties, watermelons, hot dogs, and hamburg-ers for six and a half hours outside. “The Leadership people were really thoughtful; they set up tents to keep us in the shade,” said Ann, “It was still really hot, though.” “Yeah, it felt like I was walking on lava!” Lucy added. After this amazing day on the field, the seniors were also able to end their day at the boat dance. Good luck, seniors! We’re glad you enjoyed your day off, and hope this makes your high school career more memorable!

Karen CheeStaff Writer

Abbey LondaStaff Writer

ACADEMICS LEADERS ARTS ATHLETICS STANDOUTS2-5 6-9 12-14 16-18 19-20

PHO

TOS

CO

UR

TESY

OF

DIA

NA

BR

EW

ER

PHO

TOS

ED

ITE

D B

Y V

ICTO

RIA

XIA

O

All

PH

OTO

S BY

mO

Rg

AN

BA

BBS

SANMATEOHI Friday, May 20, 2011Page 2

AcademicsELISE LIMA leader in the classroom and beyond

BY JEREMY GOFMAN

MICHAEL NECHAYEVMateo’s green graduate

BY JORDAN BUSCHMAN

A varsity tennis player playing dou-bles number one, Sonoko Kawakatsu, not only dominates the court but also academically. Sonoko is recognized as someone who excels in academics. “I’m really excited because I never thought of myself on the top of the class,” Sonoko commented, surprised at having a GPA among the highest in her class. “I think I might be a little talented at managing time. I’ve never stayed up past midnight doing homework!” shared Sonoko. Not only focusing on academics, she is also actively involved in the senior class council as class treasurer.

tutoring younger children but she enjoys it because it’s fun. Besides her tutoring, she reads and spends time with her family and friends. She also loves to shop. “She is a great role model to follow because she is such a well rounded person. She is very focused and hard working at any task she is trying to accomplish. She shows leadership and independence both inside and outside of school. Most of all she is a great friend who is always there to share those good and bad times,” said Michelle Wong, a close friend of Sonoko. As the end of senior year approaches, she will always remember her high school experience. “It was so much fun and it’s so much easier to get involved,

I actually wanted to go to school,” commented Sonoko. In the fall, Sonoko will be attend-ing UCLA, where she plans to major in molecular cell and developmental biology. She wants to pursue in a pharmacy career but is also looking into biochemistry. In college, she is looking forward to “meeting a whole bunch of people, a bigger campus, and living by myself.” At UCLA, she also wants to play a sport for fun, try something new, and get more involved in the community. She wants to continue playing tennis in college. As she takes her leave to college, she will remember the priceless memories that she has cre-ated throughout high school.One of her favorite memories at San Mateo was “Seeing the piles of money as I was counting the Canned Food Drive money”--$56,000 in total. “I’ve never seen that much money in my life,” said Sonoko, smiling. Sonoko will soon be saying good-bye to high school, but will miss her “friends because a lot of them are going out of the state,” and adds “my teachers too, because I had some really interesting ones.” “It’s okay to not be good at every-thing, just know what you want and what you’re good at. But still try, it might turn out that you’re actually a lot better at something than you thought,” advised Sonoko, offering inspiration to the underclassmen.

SONOKO KAWAKATSUAcademically-achieving Bearcat heading to UCLABY JOEY WONG

The oven rack clinks with the touch of metal as the cookie dough feels the

oven mitts, placing them in a little drawer, as she races to the mixing bowl to scrape up any remaining traces of dough, because these cookies aren’t for Elise Lim, but for the residents of Raphael House, the shelter she volunteers for. Every weekend, Elise, with her warm heart, speeds over to the city in her little Toyota Prius, or as she enjoys calling it, a “Preeeeeeus.” Elise hasn’t been a Bearcat for all four years--she transferred from Crys-tal Springs Uplands to SMHS in the middle of her freshman year because she didn’t feel at home there--but she has established herself as a superstar, maintaining an unweighted 4.0 GPA all four years and graduating as a valedictorian. Elise attended biotech classes after school her sophomore and junior

year, and is now enrolled in the bio-tech Independent Research program. Sophomore and junior year, she was

leader of the clarinet section. Along with clarinet, Elise is an accomplished pianist, playing in Jazz Band and as part of the ensemble that competed at the CMEA competition. She is also the founder and leader of the Ukulele club, “but that’s only a hobby,” Elise states. Her leadership extends even further, to posts on Senior Class Council and her position as pre-trial attorney in the school’s Mock Trial team. With such excellence come great re-wards--in her case, a full scholarship to Berkeley to study materials science en-gineering and perhaps get into pre-law studies. There, Elise is excited about “being independent and working with so many driven and talented people,”

great success, she is also leaving her beloved high school behind, where she fondly remembers, “being able to walk through the hallways and saying ‘hello’ to friends and random people”, she said. She’ll also dearly miss all of the great teachers, marching band, and the new biotech building. “She is a fantastic person. She helped us reach third place in mock trial in the county, going against the hard hitters of Hillsdale High and Menlo Atherton, which went on to State. She is very intelligent and fast on her feet. It was a pleasure to know her.” Ms. Fergus-son, Elise’s freshmen year English teacher and Mock Trial team mentor said without hesitation. “Senior year kind of crept up really fast”, Elise says, smilling wistfully as she thinks of the memories--and the legacy--she will be leaving behind as she leaves San Mateo High School.

When he learned about this year’s Prom proposal competition, Michael Nechayev hatched a plan. Collaborating with

-ning entry was much more than the word “PROM” in purple in a Petri dish; it was a demonstration of the many

characteristics that have helped Michael stand out as a student at San Mateo High School.-

terested in chemistry and the environment. In fact, he considers himself to be something of a budding environmentalist, something that he said began at an early age on bike rides through the outdoors with his father. With his exposure to the outdoors came a love for the environment and awareness of

its deteriorating condition. He wanted to help protect it, so his dad helped him get involved with local community service events. During his time in high school, Michael has led the Green Team and signed up for AP Environmental Science, and joined Leadership so that he could advocate environmentalism and get other people involved.

One thing that Michael is known for is his ability to pick things up quickly. When he saw the dance show in his freshman year, the dancers’ talents amazed him. He later took dancing and became

an avid tap dancer. He also describes himself as very romantic in the original sense of the word. He likes to detach himself

from the hustle and bustle of everyday life when he hikes, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. He does the same thing when he plays piano, ignoring the world around him and taking

in the music. Over the summer between his junior and senior years, Michael had a choice of Bio-

technology industries to take an internship at. He decided to go with the one that entailed

and applying it to his passion: the environment. Fellow senior Ann Zeng says that Michael is the kind of person who doesn’t

look like a hard worker. He procrastinates like everyone else, but he works hard when it matters most. He also does many things he doesn’t have to,

including helping anyone or anything that needs help. Ann describes Michael as a person who is not just good in academics, but a good

person all around. Next year, Michael is going to major in chemical en-

gineering at Berkeley. He hopes to connect his academic passion of chemistry with his interest in the environment.

Over the next four years, he wants to join outdoor clubs because, in his opinion, college shouldn’t be all about

the classroom. Michael’s experiences at San Mateo have left him with a word of advice for those to follow: “Take advantage of every opportunity. You don’t want to miss out on opportunities. Who knows

where they might take you?”

“Liiiine up!” His deep, gravelly voice resonates throughout the gym, and all the students clad in their P.E. uniforms scramble to their positions. Pulling out his trusty clipboard, Mr. Clayton begins to mark o! the attendance, lightheartedly cracking jokes with his students as he checks to make sure they’re dressed properly. A much loved teacher on campus, Mr. Clayton is known for having the ability to make P.E. a class that students look forward to. But like all good things come to an end, Mr. Clayton is "nally retiring from his long time profession after an impressive 34 years. “I’ve wanted to be a teacher since my high school basketball coach told me to take up coaching and teaching,” he says. “And I always listened to what he told me.” A graduate of San Mateo himself, Mr. Clayton can honestly say that he loves this school. Even though the time when he was a student was “a very, very long time ago,” Mr. Clayton says there always has been an immense amount of school pride and Bearcat spirit. “It’s wonderful watching and listening to all the enthusiasm sur-rounding the clubs and teams. San Mateo is de"nitely the most spirited campus I’ve been to.” His love for the school stayed strong even after his graduation. He hoped to return to this campus as he got older. He said, “I used to teach at St. Lawrence in Santa Clara. I told my wife, the only way I was going to leave that school was if I was o!ered a job here. And I was!” “Thank goodness for that!” exclaims Kiana Woodward, sophomore. “Mr. Clayton is a really understanding person, and he’s such an entertaining teacher to have. We’ll all miss him very much, but I do hope he has fun.” As for fun, Mr. Clayton has his retirement already planned out. “I’m going to take up sailing,” he declares proudly. Finally going to have the time to pursue a long sought-after hobby, Mr. Clayton will be busy substitute teaching and sailing in the bay in his retirement. Looking forward to the next step in his life, Mr. Clayton made sure to o!er some advice to those of us not yet his age: “Enjoy. Enjoy life along the way - ” (here he proceeded to stick his tongue out at a giggling student) “Because one day you’ll wake up and "nd that you’re old and about to retire. And it’s good if you’ve enjoyed your life so far.”

Mr. Ishizaki, better known as Mr. Ish, adamantly paces in front of the white board, explain-ing a mathematical equation. The class of students struggles to focus on the lesson. Mr. Ish pauses, and cracks a joke to cheer them up. They laugh, and he smiles, knowing he has their attention once again. Mr. Ish has taught at San Mateo High for "fteen years, and is retiring this year after being a teacher for a total of forty years. He started out teaching math in a Japanese high school, but Mr. Ish always hoped to go to the U.S. and learn English and teach math here. After seven years, he left Japan for America; upon arrival, he took a post as Assistant Director in a Japanese bilingual program in San Francisco. He then taught math in San Francisco for two years before continuing on to Je!erson High School, where he spent "fteen years. “Learning English was di#cult for me in the beginning, but math is like music. Everyone understands it despite their native language,” Mr. Ish said when asked about learning a second language while teaching math in America at the same time. Besides teaching, joking around with his students is his favorite activity. Last year, he joined in on his students’ enthusiasm for Halloween and donned a fake mustache, grin-ning every time a student noticed it. Mr. Ish will miss his students, because being able to teach young people was one of the reasons he took this job. Students may remember his excellent performance in last year’s rally video. “My favorite saying from his is, ‘Your grades will sink like the Titanic,’” said fellow math teacher Mr. Rainaldi. “I remember he mentored me when I "rst started teaching precalc, and he was just really awesome about it.” It’s not only his fellow math teachers that will miss Mr. Ish’s infectious attitude; sophomore Vikash Morar said, “He’s a really cool teacher and he taught me how to be a ninja,” and Joey Wong, also a sophomore, will “miss the humor that he brings to class.” Now that he’s retiring, Mr. Ish hopes to travel more and see places he hasn’t seen yet. He also wants to visit his family in Japan more often. He wants to devote more time to his hobbies, like "shing, and he intends to challenge Mr. Ikeda to a few rounds of golf. “My dream was always to teach in this country. So many nice people helped me along the way, and I’m very thankful to them and I’m very happy to be here,” Mr. Ish said.

MR. CLAYTON“Runners, to the track!”

BY KAREN CHEE

MR. ISHIZAKISan Mateo’s resident ninja retires

BY TALIA GUREVICH

Friday, May 20, 2011 SANMATEOHI Page 3

ACADEMICS

MS. IRAHETA“Her patience with seniors runs out.”

BY DARREN FONG

Ms. Sara Iraheta is known for her sense of humor. “Teenagers are funny, and I enjoy them most of the time,” she says jokingly, “but I’m sometimes surprised at the affection they show me when I’m not feeling that fond of them at all.” Perhaps her appreciation of humor is what inspired Ophir Gam to give this hyperbolic quote about one of his favorite teachers. “The only thing more beautiful than Ms. Iraheta is her personality. Her classroom is a learning sanctuary. She inspires us all to become better people,” he said. “On one of the rare occasions that Ophir made an appearance in class, it was interesting that he made such a comment,” said Ms. Iraheta with a laugh. A veteran teacher with one year at Aragon and 23-and-a-half at San Mateo, she knows where her loyalty lies. “I’m a bearcat through and through,” she said. Every year about this time, Ms. Iraheta feels ready to retire, because her “patience with seniors runs out.” This year, though, she’s really making the leap. After she retires, Ms. Iraheta plans to work on her piano skills, learn more about photography, read, spend time with her children and husband, and travel to Italy. She looks forward to taking it easy and not having to grade papers when she gets home. “She treats all her students with respect and gains the love of every class. She’s an experienced teacher whose students often come back years later to say hello,” said fellow English department teacher Patsy Fergusson. The craziest time in her life was when her children were in high school because she would have to deal with teenagers day and night. She enjoys spending time with her husband, Car-los, and attending jazz concerts and museums. Some of her favorite moments are when her students come back to visit her and she realizes how much they’ve changed in a couple years. “Sometimes you have to laugh at yourself, always have a sense of humor,” is Ms. Iraheta’s parting advice.

“Does anyone know what happened in 1948?” Mr. Wilke asked during his explanation on the inaccuracy of exit polls. For a second, the room was quiet I looked around to see all the students with confused looks on their faces--well, all but one. “Dewey defeats Truman!” a voice called out from the back. We turned around. With his arms crossed, thick-

nose, and a knowing look, Jeremy Ve-nook explained, The Chicago Tribune used exit polls to publish their paper early, and announced that Truman lost the presidential election. Which turned out to be completely wrong.” It’s safe to say no one was surprised

and one of this year’s valedictorians, Jeremy’s brain seems to retain every-thing he hears, sees, or reads. (It’s true. Ask him about Seinfeld or last night’s Colbert Report, and he’ll recite to you his favorite scenes line for line. Don’t believe me? Just mention “The Soup Nazi,” next time you see him.)

Jeremy’s also successfully managed to keep an unweighted 4.0 GPA even with nine AP’s and a number of extra-curriculars like Model UN and theatre, the latter of which made his name well known throughout the school. He’s played many prominent roles in our school’s performing arts pro-ductions, and was featured singing, acting, and dancing on stage in a total of fourteen shows here at San Mateo, including every musical and all four dance shows. They’ve been a major part of his high school career, as he fondly remarks: “I’m really going to miss the Drama Department. I loved being a part of theatre here.” Fortunately, theatre looks like it will continue to be a part of his life, at least for the next four years. “I plan on trying out for an a capella group, and being in as many shows as possible,” he says. Although he excitedly antici-pates college, Jeremy is still holding on to and enjoying his last few weeks of high school. When I asked him what he’ll miss the most, he answered right away: “The people.” Then, with a grin,

he added, “And wearing shorts.” After all, heading for the prestigious Harvard University located beneath the mounds of snow in Cambridge, Massachusetts, means that Jeremy will have to trade in his trademark cargo shorts for long pants. When I asked his friend Austin Chua about him, Austin immediately re-plied, “Jeremy’s a WordsWithFriends beast,” referring to the popular iPhone Scrabble App. “He’s beaten Mr. Johnson, Ms. Kalinski, and probably everyone he’s played.” Maybe his skill with words will

the editor of the Opinion section in our school paper, Jeremy also has a lot of - well, opinions. But when I asked him what he’d like to major in, he says he has no idea. “I’m going to use college as a way

explains. “I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, either. Whatever I end up choosing, though, I can’t wait to keep pursuing my interests at col-lege and beyond.”

You will usually hear her before you see her, whether it is her classic British accent, or a “purposely terribad” ren-dition of a love song. When she talks you will see her “Ann face,” as she calls it--eyebrows scrunched, nostrils

-and hear her trademark “Ann speak” as she tosses around fun phrases of her own devise. Having taken 8 AP courses, Ann passed 9 AP tests throughout her entire high school career. Along with

Ann always strived to be her best and excelled in everything she did. Captain of the Mock Trial team, president of the San Mateo High School choir, and future UCLA Bruin, Ann Zeng was a role model for every student here at San Mateo High. An amazing musician, Ann credited her choir and piano teacher for her musical talent, “If it wasn’t for Mr. R. and my piano teacher, Ms. Louie, I wouldn’t be doing music and any more; I would have stopped a long time ago.” Always captivating and enthusias-tic, Ann Zeng greeted everyone with a smile and every obstacle with a determined mindset. She faced all of her problems with a never-back-down attitude and overcame all challenges. Many of her close friends appreciate the infectious energy that Ann brings to every activity she participates in. “Ann is my little Asian girlfriend, who

is a multi-talented and determined enigma,” said Monica Boles, a fellow choir member who had been singing with Ann since day one. As a senior, Ann realized that music had been in her life ever since she could remember. She certainly knew that she couldn’t stop practicing music, and Ann will be going to UCLA with a plan to double major in Linguistic Anthropology and Music, with an em-phasis on vocal performance. Along with these majors, she plans to study to become an anesthesiologist. She dreams of not having to work for her whole life, but hopes to travel around the world and provide medi-cal service to people who need it. Her

personality that won her “Most Ran-dom” in this year’s Senior Polls: along with her thoughts on careers, she de-clared, “I wanna be that crazy 70 year old who is still singing in choir.” As she walked through San Mateo High School over the years, Ann be-came more mature and more like the leader we all need. Ann was content with being just another face in the crowd before she came to San Mateo, but we all knew she was much more than that at San Mateo High. Having left her mark on San Mateo High School, Ann is now transitioning from Bearcat to Bruin. When asked if she had any advice for underclassman, she responded in typical Ann fashion: “Oh boy, what should I say now?”

ANN ZENGAn infectiously “Ann”-imated ball of energyBY VICTORIA AGUILAR AND RACHEL WAN

JEREMY VENOOKJournalism’s resident Sporcle-!end

BY KAREN CHEE

Friday, May 20, 2011 SANMATEOHI Page 4

ACADEMICS

Click, click, click from a pencil as Arun Asundi taps on his desk trying to equate his most recent academic adventure. His face is focused, concen-trating on how to conquer it. Finally, he understands what he needs to do and starts writing frantically. Arun hasn’t always been the ex-celling super genius he seems to be today. To him, excelling in academics is not about getting a good grade on a test. It is about learning beyond the material taught. Prior to middle school,

until seventh grade when he started pursuing higher levels of math that his curiosity spiked. “Curiosity has always been my motivation. I always want to know ‘why’ whether it be the reason for the historical event, or the science beyond a natural phenomenon,” he says.

every subject easy, but he likes work-ing hard, and is willing to put in the

topics. Arun’s passions aside from academics include playing the piano and violin and musical composition. He says he feels most comfortable at the violin and piano. “Arun is a truly hard working person. His focus and determination for suc-

cess is complimented by his natural talents in the subject of math. He’s got plenty of humor, and an entire stock of witty jokes in store,” says Larry Chew, Arun’s close friend and classmate. In the future, Arun wishes to pur-sue a career in nanotechnology. He is fascinated by the research being done to treat illnesses by coupling medicine

diseased cells. Arun is also interested in efforts to create nanomaterials that generate energy from the body. He works towards this career by prepar-ing to study electrical engineering at Caltech. He is planning to look for research opportunities so he can study nanotechnology. Regarding academics, Arun has had many accomplishments. For example, he is a National Merit Scholarship Finalist, he received a perfect score in California Math League, he has quali-

and received the McConville Science Award to name a few.

-derclassmen are,“Don’t worry about grades. Don’t worry about AP scores. Don’t worry about GPA. Focus on understanding the subject and retain-ing your knowledge, and good scores will naturally follow.”

SHAYNA CAVEBrilliant bearcat biotechnician and dancer

BY JOEY WONG

ARUN ASUNDIMateo’s mathematics mastermindBY CHANDINI RAMESH

As the curtain closes, Shayna Cave stands backstage, ties her shoes and

treads carefully to center stage, mak-ing as little noise as possible as she prepares for her solo--the famous Bill Robinson Routine. The music begins and her feet effortlessly keep time to the rhythm in the tap dance that serves as the culmination of her four years in San Mateo High School’s dance program. In fact, it was her partly her participa-tion in the school’s dance classes that Shayna chose to attend UC Irvine in the fall, where she will be following not just one but two of her passions: dance and biology. Shayna is recognized as someone

who excels in academics and one of -

ing class. “It’s something I’ve always put effort into. My dad has always said that academics was the way to go and I took that to heart,” she said, adding, “I know myself and I know what I can handle.” At UC Irvine, she will be in the Honors Program and she is excited to work with her fellow colleagues in that program. “It’s going to be a new perspective,” she said. “Find out what you love because a lot of people go into college not knowing,” advises Shayna to the underclassmen. When Shayna’s not dancing and pursuing her academic passions, she enjoys playing video games. She also likes to hang out and relax with her friends. Over the four years she has been here, she has created many memories and her best memories include being part of the cast in 42nd Street and Mateo Motion. She loves the dance program that is offered here and will forever remember the experiences she had. “San Mateo is not a normal high school because we don’t have a social ladder. There’s something for

everyone. I love San Mateo,” shares Shayna. “I feel like I can talk to her about anything. She has a really good per-spective and I’m glad I got to know her,” said Katherine Lau, a friend of Shayna since second grade. In college, she plans to major in biol-ogy and minor in statistics. “I love life sciences and knowing how the world around me works. It’s fascinating,” said Shayna. As her high school journey ends and college life will begin, she looks for-ward to “taking care of myself” but she is “nervous about having a roommate.” In college, there will be many big transitions, and “it’ll be weird having huge classes and not getting to know the teachers.” UC Irvine offers the best dance program out of all the UCs and

Leaving high school is not easy and college is going to be a complete new experience, “I’ll miss all my friends and my teachers, especially Ms. Tribuzi and Mr. Teague,” said Shayna. She is excited for the new opportuni-ties and experiences that college has

many great memories.

MARISSA SAVOIESwimming to success

BY VIKASH MORAR

Friday, May 20, 2011 SANMATEOHI Page 5

ACADEMICS

SAMANTHA HUANGServing up success on the court and in the classroomBY RACHEL WAN

Immersing herself in biology-related classes and contests, Shirley Jiang, friendly and down to Earth, excels at everything she sets her heart to. Taking advantage of all the great classes offered here at San Mateo, she furthers her education by expanding her horizons and taking classes such as biotech. Reaching for the stars is an understatement when it comes to Shirley; she won’t give up on anything until she accomplishes her goal. Competing in various science and public speaking competitions

cure to pulmonary hypertension. She participates in these competitions because “it’s a great way to meet some really cool people, including people who have earned Nobel Prizes or have started their own companies. I get the chance to personally connect with these people who have asked me to keep in touch with them. By participating in competitions, I get immersed in a community of scientists and businesses that help to inspire my own work,” she adds. “Science has always been a passion of mine yet no matter how hard something is, I work at it and eventually become good at it,” Shirley commented. Enjoying the outdoors, Shirley kayaks on the lagoon by her house, hikes in the mountains, and goes to Great America with her friends. Splashing in the pool on the swimming team freshman year, smashing the birdie on the badminton team as a sophomore, Shirley tried out some of the school sport teams until she became too busy to stick with it. Also one of her favorite memories from San Mateo is going to the school plays, especially The Wedding Singer, where she shared many laughs with friends. “She is smart and caring friend. In addition, she helps me on everything and supports me,” said her friend Annie Shih. Ultimately aiming to own her own science-related or management company, she sets her standards high as a more realistic option, in her mind, would be a doctor or dentist. After graduating from San Mateo High School, she will be attending Stanford University in the fall. She plans to pursue her pre-med requirements along with studying the management of science and technology with a focus on

For Shirley, attending Stanford has been a dream for many years, thanks to an environment that she hopes will foster her goals. Focusing on business and medicine there, she feels “ that she can achieve whatever she wants to.” Just after the Admit Weekend, she has started working on ideas with other future students and “it has already been the college experience I have always dreamt of.” For current San Mateo students, Shirley has a piece of advice: “Take advantage of everything around you whether it is teachers, resources, or friends. Have fun in high school.”

SHIRLEY JIANGBiotech graduate bound for greatness BY ABBEY LONDA

Gliding through the pool at a breakneck speed, senior Marissa Savoie dominates the competition, wearing her orange SMHS bathing suit, at one of the school’s swim meets. Marissa’s talent at swimming faster than anyone

else is unmatched. Marissa has been a part of the swim team since she came to SMHS and she credits it to helping her learn about having a good work ethic. “Swimming taught me that it’s important to work hard to receive long term results,” said Marissa. She used this knowledge to help motivate her with her studies and become one of the most academic students at SMHS.

-dictorian of her graduating class and is going to be graduating after taking 5 AP classes in senior year, bringing her to a total of 10 AP classes overall. Marissa has received a 5 on every single AP test she has taken so far, an achievement she is very proud of. In addition to all of these AP classes, Marissa is also proud that she has taken seven science classes in the four years she has been at SMHS. However, even with all of these science classes, Marissa still feels like she has taken a variety of subjects during her time at SMHS. In her freshman year, Marissa won the McConville Award for English and in her sophomore year, she won the same award for Spanish. Marissa also went to Oregon through a biotech internship during the summer of 2010. During that time, she went to the forests to investigate the organisms that lived there. Besides all of this academic achievement, Marissa is also an amazing swimmer. She was MVP of the swim team both her sophomore and junior years and she won PALs both years as well. Marissa

After leaving SMHS, Marissa will be attending Colombia University in the fall. She is un-sure of her academic path, but she is currently hoping to pursue premed, environmental biology, or

sustainable development. She is also considering getting a PhD in French or getting a minor in European History.

For her future, Marissa hopes to work in the government on environmental policies, work in a lab on environmental research, or become an impactful environmental

speaker. Marissa’s dream job would be to assist in creating environmentally friendly

cities. It is very clear that Marissa has a very big passion for helping the environment and hopefully, after she graduates from college, she will be a very big part in helping the development of more environmentally-con-scious lifestyles. Proud as she is of her academic accomplishments in high school, Marissa has a single piece of advice she would give to future bearcat graduates: “Remember to have fun in high school and do stuff you love doing because in college it is important to look back and be proud.”

Going from class to class throughout the day, Samantha Huang may not strike you as much more than another dedicated student with top-notch grades. In fact, you might not ever suspect that, on the court, she could beat anyone and probably everyone at a game of singles tennis. As one of the valedictorians for the class of 2011, Sammy has had straight A’s throughout her whole high school career. Not only was Samantha captain of the San Mateo High School tennis team, but she was also one of the valedictorians this year for the class of 2011. To be valedictorian, one must have straight A’s during all the four years at high school, and Sammy did exactly that. “I think I’ve really grown since I came to San Mateo; being on the tennis team helped me become more open to people and really made me feel like I was part of a team,” Samantha said when asked about her experience at San Mateo High. Along with being a good student, Samantha has been one of the top 25 tennis players in her age group in northern California since she was nine years old. Not coincidentally, she has also been the number one tennis athlete at San Mateo High for the past four years she’s been playing for the school. “Sammy’s really friendly to everyone and she’s really good at tennis,” said Abbey Londa, a sophomore who was on the tennis team led by Sammy. In the fall, Samantha will be heading off to UCLA to study biology. After taking AP Bio, her favorite class, she says that she realized that science was her passion. She hopes to one day combine her love for science with her desire to work with kids and pursue a career as a pediatrician. As she wraps up her academic and athletic careers at San Mateo, Samantha has been looking back on her time in high school. “I’m going to miss my friends and the tennis team; it felt like we were a big family together,” said Sammy as she thought about the great memories she’s had over the past few years.

SANMATEOHI Friday, May 20, 2011Page 6

Leaders The leader and one of the masterminds behind the biggest school events, Morgan Babbs is still able to balance her life in every aspect. Morgan Babbs, the student body president and one of the editors in chief of San Mateo HI, has the talent to do the things she loves and is able to handlethe work load. She has often spent a 15 hour days at San Mateo High. But she loves it. Whether she is leading her leadership class or kicking off events, Morgan is a natural leader. “I love being in leadership because I get to be a part of the events that our school is known for,” Morgan comments. When Morgan’s not running the school as the student body president, she enjoys singing, photography, trying new things, and hanging out with friends. “Honestly, I don’t have too much free time. Everything that takes up my time are things I like to do,” she said. “Morgan Babbs works nonstop. She is one of the most dedicated people at this school – if not the most dedicated. She is genuine and funny. “I know she’ll move on to do terribly wonderful things,” said Austin Chua, one of her closest friends. High school is finally coming to its end for Morgan as senior year has a only a one week left, Morgan will always look back at the good memories and accomplishments she made the past four years here. “I’ll miss being a student here be-cause I absolutely love San Mateo. I may be a little sad, but I alway s look forward. Bigger and better things will come in the future- they always do,” she said believing in being open-minded and enthusiastic in any situation life puts you in. As Morgan moves on to college, she will always treasure one of her best memories during senior year. She was walking out of the leadership room by herself, singing Fireworks by Katy Perry as she was approaching Bryant Chow, “I jumped on him, but he wasn’t ready to catch me so, we both fell.” Her embarrassing moment will be a great memory. Morgan will be leaving the west coast and attending Tufts University. In college, she plans to double major in inter-national development and environmental science. She plans to be an active student there as well and looks forward to joining an acapella group, the newspaper, and exploring every opportunity available. She also wants to get involved in her field of study by researching with her professors and fellow students. Moving from the West Coast to the East Coast will be a new experience to Morgan. She thinks the funniest thing is the reaction people have when she tells them she’s going to Tufts University. “Everyone tells me that it’s so cold over there but then why do millions of people live there? I think it’s bearable,” she said, and added “I’m excited to hear people’s reaction on the East Coast when I say I’m from California.” As Morgan continues her future on the East Coast, she’ll look back at high school and all the good memories and leave with satisfaction.

MORGAN BABBSThe “Tuftest” leader at San Mateo

BY JOEY WONG

“My dream job? I’d love to be ruler of the universe with Charlie,” claims Austin Chua. “But Morgan would be jealous.” Nominated for leadership, Austin Chua certainly would make a good candidate for ruler of the universe. He currently is the Vice President of Interact and was the Treasurer and District Treasurer last year. He is the Club and Class Commissioner and also co-editor-in-cheif of this newspapaer along with Morgan Babbs. Austin is going to UC Davis next year and will be majoring in Techno-cul-tural Studies, although he’s currently trying to change it to biotech. He looks forward to new faces and a new experience at UC Davis and expects to fit right in. In ten or twenty years, Austin has a very vague goal of “doing something science related.” During his free time, Austin enjoys playing tennis and has been playing at San Mateo High for four years. He’s been honored with the title of being MVP and plays doubles with Peter Lebo. Austin has also been in San Mateo’s Journalism program for four years now, as well as a member of Interact. “My favorite high school memory was winning the paw last year,” said Austin. Careful not to pick favorites, Austin also declared that all of his classes and teachers are his favorites. Austin is also extremely modest. Although he most likely will be remembered as a great leader and as the comical person that makes friends extremely easily, Austin chooses to be remembered “as that one Asian kid with the cat pencil bag and terrible handwriting.” Commenting further, he says, “I have a pencil bag named Charlie. He’s popular among teachers and even more popular than me.” He also dedicates his nomination for Leadership not to his great leadership itself, but instead says that “Morgan and Ms. Catalli liked my application.”“Austin is a pretty likeable and easygoing guy. He gets along with everyone well,” said Morgan Babbs. As for the underclassmen, Austin offers a bit of senior wisdom with a couple tips. “It might sound really cliché, but enjoy high school, because it goes by really fast. Don’t piss off your teachers,” advised Austin. “And, in the event of a crisis, consult Ms. Kalinski.”

AUSTIN CHUA Charlie would be proudBY ALEX CHEN

Callie is an extremely hard working, bubbly, and fun person who is in love with Buster Posey (among other things, too). “I feel like I’ve definitely grown to be a part of this school, and I love it, and I’m glad that I’ve gotten as involved as I did,” Callie comments on her career at San Mateo High School, where this past year she has been the president of the Interact Club and the Kindness Commissioner in the Leadership class. Callie loves investing her time in community service. She’s put on such events as Movie Night Under the Stars, Eighth Grade Night, and Freshman Orientation. She recently received a Jefferson Award. “I’m now more confident in the kind of person I am and what I do. I’m not as reliant on the people around me and I’m more comfortable with myself. I know that I’ve come out of my shell and that I’ve met more people and gotten to know more people and gotten better people skills,” Callie states. “I think that some of my best moments have been events like Movie Night…we wanted to do a new project and we made it happen. Freshman Orientation was another huge event that I had a hand in planning and it just shows that hard work really pays off, which is a skill I’ll carry through my life,” Callie concludes. This fall, Callie will be attending Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, intending to study business. Although the future is unclear, she does plan to return to California after college. Along with rooting for her Giants, having fun in Calculus with me, and hanging with friends, Callie adores SMHS. “I’m really excited to graduate, but I’m really sentimental about everyone and the fact that I’ll be going away next year,” Callie comments.

CALLIE PARMELESan Mateo’s Samaritan

BY MORGAN BABBS

Sameera Moinpour literally radiates sunshine--well, happiness, that is. I would highly doubt that one person in this school has missed one day of seeing her stroll the halls with her contagious smile. Sameera Moinpour has served as the Student Body Vice President for this school year and ifs off to UC Santa Cruz next year--her major is still undecided, but “marriage, family, and lots of traveling” definitely lie in the future, she adds. Sameera has been a well known cam-pus figure since her freshman year; she has been a member of the soccer team all four years, was Health and Beauty commissioner her junior year, and then stepped up to Vice President her senior year. “Extra curriculars pretty much made my high school experience because without them I wouldn’t have learned so many of the things I’ve learned. I’ve gotten to see how much I really love everything I do and have gotten to plan lots of different things,” she notes. This year, Sameera kept up the tradition and planned the third

annual Talent Show where her efforts raised over $2000 for the non profit Rebuilding Together. She has also had a large role in the club Future Leaders of San Mateo, where you used her en-thusiasm, passion, and friendliness to reach out to underclassmen and other peple to help them get involved in the dynamic community of San Mateo. In April, she was honored as the Rotary Student of the Month. “Definitely try as many things as you possibly can and don’t be afraid to meet new people even if they’re outside of your friend circle. Don’t be afraid to go do something on your own,” advises Sameera. Without a doubt, Sameera has followed her own advice. As her good friend, I have been introduced to dozens of people by Sameera--people I have formed close friendships with. Her ability to go out and converse and connect with others without effort is highly admirable. “I really like being able to meet new people and see what their opinions are and help them become friends with them, and see if they need any help

If Monica De Leon is in the room, you’ll probably hear her before you see her. Her laugh is unmistakably unique: at times a child-like giggle, other times a loud guffaw that echoes throughout a room. Either way, Monica is infec-tious, in the best sense of the word. While she is most often known for her charisma and sense of humor (win-ning Class Clown in the senior polls along with Peter Lebo), Monica’s most important contributions to the school have been behind the scenes. As a member of Tech Team in Leadership, Monica is responsible for putting to-gether all of our school’s fabulous ral-lies and making sure everything runs smoothly. Bryant Chow says working with Monica has been a dream, be-cause she “makes everything easier, she knows what she’s doing and she’s very good at her job.” Monica takes this responsibility very seriously, and says her favorite experience at San Mateo has been “being a part of rallies and leaving a legacy.” One of her proudest moments

and just make sure that they always have a familiar face they can go to,” she comments. Reflecting on this upcoming week, Sameera thinks about the things she’ll be leaving behind, yet the exciting fu-ture that awaits her: “I’m really excited but I’m also really sad because SMHS was really fun and I got to meet a lot of cool people, but I’m excited to start a new chapter in my life. There are honestly too many memories. Going to Camp Everytown was something I’ll never forget. I feel like during my time here I was always laughing so much which is just great because I was always so happy. I’ve really enjoyed my time here at San Mateo I’ll never forget these four years.” A wise man once told me that you need to surround yourself with people that express values and characteristics that you would like to bestow on yourself, on your kids; “Be and art-ist,” he said, “steal from those around you.” Sameera is a fantastic person to steal from.

in high school was the encouragement she received after the last rally, which many considered to be the best. “When people told me the last rally was the best, I was really proud,” she says. In addition to being a school leader, Monica is also actively involved in athletics. She has been on the school soccer team for three years and this year also joined the track and field team. She discovered a natural talent for shotput, and won several medals for competing in this event. After she graduates, Monica will at-tend University of Oregon in the fall, majoring in Environmental Science with a minor in Film. In ten years we can see her working for a big produc-tion company and being able to attend major film festivals such as Sundance and Cannes. Though she is often busy with athlet-ics and other school activities, Monica always makes time for her friends. Fiercely loyal, often stubbornly so, Monica will continue to fight for her friends and what she believes in.

“She sticks with her ideals no matter what,” says Bryant Chow. She lives with a tenacity that is evident to all those around her. If you ever got into a sketchy situation, Monica is who you’d want backing you up. Ms. Kalinski, one of Monica’s favorite teachers, has only the best to say about her, “Monica has a positive attitude and unique opinions. She’s brought a lot of life and spirit to my class, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her as a person.” Monica has no doubt left her mark on San Mateo High, but the school has also left its mark on her. “I’ll miss the positivity, the acceptance, and just being able to have a different high school experience than the norm,” she says. Whether she’s out on the soccer field, working tirelessly into the night on a rally video, or simply fulfilling her duties as Class Clown, Monica’s positive impact on everyone she meets is undeniable.

SAMEERA MOINPOUR The extracurricular queen

BY MORGAN BABBS

MONICA DE LEONFierce like a lion

BY AURORA KASTEN

Alyssa Leonard radiates excitement from her short curly hair to her flip-flops. It fits her job as Senior Class Ac-tivities Coordinator. She is perky and interested in getting to know people, which helps with her job. Alyssa has been in leadership during freshman and senior year. She was elected as freshman class president and in middle school was Student Body President. Despite not being in leadership sophomore and junior year, she was always lending a hand. “I love the dance and theater com-munity. I have been in a lot of plays and I love the people who work with me,” saidAlyssa. Alyssa gracefully leaps across the room with a determined look on her face. She is one of the students in sixth period Advanced Dance with Mrs. Tribuzi. “I love the dance community and the way we’re all so close. Some of my favorite memories have been

Don’t let her small stature fool you. Michaela Campos is a force to be reckoned with. Filled with boundless energy, Michaela injects her signature enthusiasm into everything she does. As San Mateo High’s dance com-missioner, it has been her duty to plan events like the Welcome Back Dance and Grid. The success of these events is due largely to Michaela’s vivacious and hardworking personality. Spend-ing many hours working on decora-tions and making countless phone calls to make sure these dances went off without a hitch, Michaela won’t rest until she sees everyone having a good time. Getting off to a semi-rough start her freshman year, Michaela regrets “not trying harder, and wasting time on people that didn’t matter.” But she didn’t let it get her down. Since then, she’s “grown up so much. I’m more independent, more confident, more observant, and I don’t depend on oth-ers to make me feel good.” Her independence is certainly one of her most well-known characteristics. She has managed to work two jobs and still maintain her commitment to her school work, leadership responsi-bilities, and friends. As a dependable employee of Yumi Yogurt, Michaela can often be seen serving customers yummy frozen treats with a smile. “Michaela is always super bouncy. She always has something to say to

cheer you up or to make you laugh. She’s a really unique, creative, hard-working person that I know will do fantastic in any situation. She’s done an incredible job with the dances this year. It was by far the best Grid and Welcome Back Dance I’ve ever seen at San Mateo, and it was such a pleasure working with her. She has so much drive and passion and I know that will really take her far,” says fellow leader Morgan Babbs When asked what she will remember most about San Mateo, she replied with “helping out at school events, and all those countless hours spent in the leadership room.” She remembers her favorite moment of all of high school, from the last day of school junior year. “It was pouring rain, everyone was in a bad mood, and Monica De Leon and I just took off our shoes and socks and started running around in the rain. We were literally dancing in the rain.” This free-spirited nature is something fondly recognized by her friends and family. She loves nature, and likes to be outside as much as possible. Michaela has some ambitious goals for the future. She will be attending Oregon State University in the fall, and is excited for what the future may hold. “I want to graduate in four years, learn to speak Italian, and get my mo-torcycle license,” she says. There is no doubt that her positivity, determina-tion, and swag will take her far.

while doing dance.” “Alyssa never fails to make everyone laugh and her smile is infectious,” says Grayce Ujihara, Alyssa’s best friend. “Alyssa and I quickly developed a stronger connection last year because of her matrurity, honesty, sophistica-tion and humor. It has been such a pleasure getting to know her over the last couple of years. I can’t wait to see where her incredible talents and charm take her,” comments Ms. Kalinski. Alyssa is excited to go to North-western. She is majoring in secondary education (teacher). When asked when if she knows where she wants to work she replies with a large smile on her face, “San Mateo High School.” “San Mateo prepares you to be a well-rounded individual. Not only do you have educational skills but life skills as well. I feel like I can go and do anything,” she comments.

ALYSSA LEONARD Radiant future teacher

MICHAELA CAMPOSAlways super bouncy

BY AURORA KASTEN

BY JASMINE BALSARA

SANMATEOHIFriday, May 20, 2011 Page 7

With flawless dark hair and a fashionable wardrobe, Maile Unga is a great leader ready to give a hand to anyone that needs one. She has a shining smile that can light up the day, and she delivers a soft and humble attitude when she speaks. In a school where we find rash students hastily making their way to their destinations, Maile stands patiently, a friendly smile ready to greet friends. President of the Polynesian club here at SMHS, Maile has gotten involved in school activities worthy enough to call her a true leader, like Renaissance Leadership. “I try to stay active with school activities,” says Maile. “And lend a hand whenever possible.” San Mateo High School sure has benefited Maile well. She states, “Because there is so much diversity, I’m so used to interacting with people ,and it makes friendship easier.” Maile’s interests involve using her people-skills and confidence. “I try to show people that being yourself is okay,” says Maile. “I [also] like to sing a lot.” As she heads out the doors, Maile reaches out to me and asks for my name. I tell her, and she returns with a smile, then heads towards younger sister Michelle and patiently waits for friends. Her friendly smile and attitude has gotten her far, giving her the opportunity to gain charisma throughout the years, earning her lots of friendships, and keeping close relationships with friends and siblings. “[Maile] stands out to the rest of us,” comments younger sister Michelle Unga. As for being a great leader, “She’s very straightforward with people, and she doesn’t follow the crowd.” Maile has decided to use her people-skills to her own advantage in the future. “I want to do something that has to do with kids, or counseling. [Something] that is beneficial to everybody,” comments Maile. She seems to be on a great path, and her younger sister agrees. “She has high standards and she’s very smart,” Michelle says. “She’s a good example.” “I’m up for anything,” says Maile. “I say ‘yes’ to anything if somebody asks me for a favor.”

BY ALEX CHEN

Wearing a hot pink top and blue jeans, Adriana Fernandez seems like your average graduating senior, or another students on campus, but her friendly attitude says there’s much more. As she enjoys the good weather, her dark hair let down on this perfect day, you can tell what a happy and confident person Adriana is. Adriana Fernandez has accomplished much more than graduating at SMHS. A real people-person, she has been involved in school activities such as La Raza Unida and Leadership, and joined volleyball, swimming, and basketball. She tries to spread school information to students that don’t know what goes on and gets them involved so that they get the feeling of high school life, as she puts it. “She set up pizza parties for the Osogatos, and she tried to get the ELD students more involved in school.”, Kim Bautista, a friend of Adriana’s, comments. “I don’t see myself as an actual leader,” said Adriana in a humble way. “I like to help people out a lot.” She also states, “To become a leader, you have to act like a leader and give a hand to people and do what they like.” Being a leader “is about helping out other people.” Adriana walks back to her friends, speaking to them like the confident leader she is. She enjoys life, school,

and people. It isn’t just her politeness and friendly smile that earn her respect and recognition, it’s the effort she puts into helping out her fellow students every day and not asking for anything in return. “I met her at Camp Everytown,” comments Kim Bautista “Ever since then we’ve become friends. She’s very sweet. She’s friendly with everyone. She doesn’t hold grudges. That is a good example of a leader.” High school, according to Adriana, has given her the experience she needs to pursue a great future. She hopes with this experience in leadership, she will pursue something that involves helping or simply being around a lot of people, but she has yet to decide what she will do. “I don’t know what I want to major in,” comments Adriana. “I feel like reaching out to people.” Hoping to transfer from Cañada Col-lege, Adriana dreams of a future where she can continue her work as a leader, giving a hand to those in need. It seems as though San Mateo High School has benefited her well. San Mateo High School “-has been awesome,” Adriana says. “There’s a whole bunch of diversity. It’s a great feeling to hear other schools are so segregated and here it is diverse.”

ADRIANA FERNANDEZAthlete and polititianBY ANDREA CACERES

Page 8 SANMATEOHI Friday, May 20, 2011

MAILE UNGA

MALÚ ALEGRIAYes, that is spelled with an accentBY ALEX CHEN

Eric Miramon, wearing the standard orange shirt of a Renaissance mem-ber, sets up a perk table. When the bell rings he stands behind the little foldout table, handing out packages of cookies, fruit snacks, and raffle tickets to the hordes of students crowding around him. It’s perk day, and at lunch, Renaissance Leadership gives prizes and treats to students with GPA’s of 3.0 and above. Eric is a prominent member of Re-naissance Leadership, and a member of the ‘rally squad’. The rally squad is a certain faction of Renaissance that is in charge of the visual aspects of Renaissance. They organize the little celebrations and raffles that encourage students to work harder at their grades. He is also called an executive leader, which means that he not only carries out the philosophy of Renaissance, which is to try your hardest to achieve your full potential, he embodies it. “I have participated in a police train-ing program. The program, which was nine weeks long, taught me discipline and leadership skills. It allowed me to make all kinds of friends all around the bay, and it gave me a sense of confidence. I graduated as a young cadet in the academy’s 65th class in 2007.” Said Eric Miramon, about an important experience in his life.

Dressed in the standard young cadet’s uniform of the Foster City Police Department, light blue to differentiate from officers, Eric hurries around the Arts and Wine Festival in Foster City. He and the other young cadets are in charge of maintaining security around the celebration. Security is one of the many tasks young cadets have in their job description. They also train daily, do administration work, and work on the Safe Streets. “Honest, enthusiastic, and inspira-tional.” Are the words Ms. Catalli uses to describe Eric. “He is the go to guy in class, and we’ve really appreciated his help in class this year. I wish him the best in his goals in the future.” She adds. After graduating in a few weeks with A’s in all his classes, Eric will start classes at CSM. He hopes to get his general education courses completed before transferring to SF State and majoring in Criminal Justice Studies. He wants to keep training all the while, and after five years, he hopes to finally become one of the “men in blue”. “If I had to leave you guys with one thought, it would be to love what you do, don’t settle for anything else. Always be true to yourself.” said Eric Miramon.

ERIC MIRAMONOfficer Miramon!

BY TALIA GUREVICH

Her friendly smile takes her far

LOURDES PEREZThe people’s queen...

BY JEAN FAN

Ten seconds on the clock. Nine. Eight. Seven. Bam! She snags the ball in the final seconds of the game, hurling it to her team-mate on the other side of the floor. Perez is a member of the basketball team, the guard, defend-ing the team from fierce opposition. Those three years have been coupled with leadership classes where “everyone’s really

close.” She and fellow leadership member Grayce Ujihara man the spirit store bolstering school spirit with mountains

of black and orange apparel. Clearly, she enjoys it here at San Mateo. Five seconds to go, and the game is still close. Perez and her teammates anxiously wait and watch their oppo-nents, who have just been awarded two free throws. The game went overtime, yes, but the game was over, and the game was won. Heading back to the locker room

post-game, the team starts analyzing the match. Lourdes Perez reminisces about her experiences in high

school, but doesn’t hesitate to look into the future: after spending some time at the College of San Mateo, she hopes to transfer to San Jose State and work on computer

engineering. “I really like technology,” she says. Of San Mateo, Perez says her experience has been

amazing. “It’s my second home,” Perez notes. “I spend more time here than I spend at

home. I’m really going to miss it.”

She absolutely despises it, but must do it anyways to stay in the running. Malu Alegria finally sighs in relief as she sets the final piece on the gigantic poster board. She’s done, and her work pays off. Malu Alegria won the election, and so is the Senior class president of 2011. But her success does not end with her presidency, but also proceeds with her kind-hearted personality and generosity to the world. Malu is a girl scout, participating in fundraisers and all sorts of activities, having a fun time while helping out the community. In congruence with her open-mindedness, she teaches kindergarteners dance and also gives music lessons to homeless children and serves them dinner in a program called To Kids From Kids. Her career at San Mateo High school has been a great one, as she enjoyed and struggled thorugh some favorite classes like Calculus BC. Her struggles, again, paid off in the end, as Malu plans to attend UCLA in the fall to study mathematics to pursue teaching. Malu will soon be another helping hand in our society. There in Los Angeles, she will surely miss all of the comfortableness of be-ing with her friends, but she most definitely will love to be without the “crazy amount of homework in AP classes, and poster- mak-ing,” she said.

Page 9SANMATEOHIFriday, May 20, 2011

Q: Talents?A: I’d consider myself to be a people person.

Q: Turning point in your high school career?A: There were several…I wasn’t always following the same path.Q: What would you do on a free day?A: I would definitely be outside; swimming, playing soccer, and pwning noobs in COD.Q: How does it feel being Spirit Commissioner?A: I feel like the role itself is artificially hyped up. What we do is hard work and time consuming and I think it’s a ton of fun. I think making movies was a cool way to showcase creativity. Q: Did you always want to be Spirit Commissioner?A: I had people telling me I was going to be it since freshman year.Q: And how did that feel?

A: Simba.Q: Favorite memory at SMHS?

A: Playing in the dodgeball club as a freshman, being Spirit Commissioner, and my time playing water polo and tennis.Q: Future plans?

A: I’m going to the University of Victoria in Canada; I’m planning on studying Computer Science and Business.Q: Puns. Go.

A: I think the development of my and Bryant’s jokes is pretty punbelievable. It started when we were pundering ways we could inject our brand of comedy into our roles.Q: Would you like to reveal the source?A: Well, it’s a metaphorical ping pong game between me and Bryant. I hit one, he hits back and eventually…we strike gold. It’s like this: Bryant and I are two crafters dealing with a mound of clay- we shape it into something beautiful and hilarious.

Q: What’sthe best thing about being a spirit commissioner?A: Being able to wear orange skinny jeans without getting too many funny looks. Also the kickass dental plan.Q: What do you think of Peter’s puns?A: No comment. Well no, I actually do have a comment. They are awful… just terrible. I’m sorry you had to find out this way Peter.Q: What will you be doing next year? A: I’m heading south for the next four years to UC Santa Barbara, majoring in Environmental Studies, maybe attempting minors in Astrophysics or Film if I’m not busy enough.Q: Any extracurricular activities?A: I used to play Tennis, but this year I ran distance events in track. I’m the Webmaster of the Interact club, it’s pretty bumpin’. I’m also the Military Coordinator of Green Team; Don’t mess with Motha Earth.Q: What was your most embarrassing spirit commissioner moment?A: There are no embarrassing moments as Spirit Commissioner; everything we do is potentially embarrassing. If I had to pick something though, it would be ripping off my shirt in front of the entire quad last year; I hadn’t grown into my six-pack yet…Q: Favorite semester rally video?A: I would have to say our Harry Potter themed video during the Little Big Game/ Canned Food Drive rally. Although I do love all of our videos, being able to dress up as Bryant Potter to defeat Panthermort was exhilarating.Q: Favorite high school memory?A: Definitely Little Big Game 2010. The amount of spirit that was present on that day is indescribable; being able to summon the shouts of hundreds of Bearcats on a whim made that moment in time one that stuck with me through the year.

Q&A With your Spirit CommiSSionerS

BRYA

NT CH

OW

PET

ER L

EBO

The zoom lens of his Nikon D300 extends several inches in front of his face as Gregor Orbino focuses the viewfinder on the action. The Little Big Game, band concerts, lunchtime rallies, Senior Takeover Day—you name it, you’ll see him there with his camera documenting every moment of the event. His shutterbug tendencies and the quality of the photos he takes have made Gregor a fixture on campus, but are only a small part of what makes him a major contributor to the sense of spirit and pride that makes San Mateo High School special.What makes Gregor such a unique and integral part of the school environment is his combination of passion and perfor-mance, his pursuit of many talents along with his academics. He is perhaps best known on campus for his photography, but he could also be seen this year in both the marching band and the school’s drum line. He has spent many years honing his skills with graphic design (a hobby he says he “started in middle school just to pass the time”); his handiwork can often be found on myriad posters on the school walls, and can be seen on the cover and many interior pages in this year’s yearbook. And he can be found helping Ms. Furgiuele and Ms. Fenech in the Career Center in both his free fourth period and as an aide fifth period.One of the lesser-known projects that Gregor was involved with this year was an ongoing campaign to streamline the school’s web systems, an endeavor that demonstrates both his passion for the school and his involvement on campus. Rather than the current wide array of websites—Schoolloop, Naviance and the main school site, to name a few—he envisions a single, unified portal, “much like what universities have,” with student services that “encourage more involvement and participation, academically and otherwise.” Though the project is currently still in the planning stage, he hopes to be able to get it off the ground in a few years to leave a lasting benefit for future students.Having left his mark on San Mateo High School through his myriad activities and passions, Gregor will soon be leaving the school to study Political Science at University of Arizona in the fall. Though he will miss San Mateo’s unique environment and the many teachers who have helped him grow, academi-cally and otherwise, Gregor knows what to look forward to in college—namely, “hav-ing lunch with The Warriya himself, Matt Erlick! In all seriousness, though, I’m looking forward to being in a totally different environ-ment, both physically and culturally, and just being a part of the college experi-ence.”

GREGOR ORBINOAn avid photographer and techie

SANMATEOHI Friday, May 20, 2011Page 12

ArtsBETTY SHENDesign All-Star

Drawing like there is no tomorrow, artistic supplies in hand, Betty Shen sculpts her life through her beauti-ful paintings and charcoal sketches. Long, black hair, kind attitude, she reflects on her early connection to the artistic world. “As a child, I used to draw with crayons on the wall, so my mom decided to sign me up for lessons at the East Art Studio in San Francisco,” where she attended classes for seven years. Putting her artistic skills to use, Betty has been publicity officer on student council from ninth to eleventh grade as well as designer for logos and t-shirts around campus such as swim team, music, and green team. Her biggest accomplishment however is running her own design company, Design Sparks, to build advertising materials

for nonprofits that don’t have the funds to hire their own marketing teams. Expanding on her experience from running her own company, she says, “By working with organizations from California to New York, I have met tons of inspiring people who are truly appreciative of my work. The real-world experience that I’ve gained from running my own freelancing site and managing clients has taught me what it’s like to be an independent artist and an individual.” Truly inspirational. From hitting the tennis ball across the court to strumming the ukelele, Betty has made her high school years enjoyable and ones to remember. On the weekends and over break, you will often see Betty having nerf-gun or wa-ter balloon fights with friends, hiking in the mountains, checking out new

art exhibits, and watching The Office or Colbert Report. Her favorite way to pass time, however, is taking a run to let off steam in the evening. “First I knew her as perfect Betty. Then I got to know her and now she is quirky and a dork and that is what makes her such a good friend and art-ist,” Elise Lim comments. Attending UCLA in the fall, Betty is going to be a Design and Media Arts major, possibly with a minor in business and computer science. After getting her college degree, she wants to run her own design company and collaborate with organizations from around the world. If that doesn’t turn out, she would work for a technology company that uses graphics and com-puting to create marketable products.Good luck, Betty!

BY ABBEY LONDA

RACHEL BURKERT“Master of her Craft”

As the bell rings and the last few students trickle in, she begins lead-ing the daily warm-up, performing a series of plies, tendus, and sautés with unparalleled grace and familiarity, cultivated by years of coaching and discipline. Her willowy figure skill-fully leads the audience-- in this case, her classmates--through complicated routines. It is evident that she is a master of the craft. Still a few months away from adulthood, Rachel Burkert has a resume in the arts that would impress even the most accomplished of her peers: she pursues an im-pressive combination of dancing, singing, and acting, while still maintaining a high grade point aver-age and making a m -p l e

time for friends and family. While yes, Burkert was the only freshman in her year to make San Mateo High’s advanced dance class, her resumé boasts so much more. In her high school career alone, she has taken part in over a dozen shows. Just last year, Burkert artfully played a wide range of roles, from the scandalous Holly in The Wedding Singer to know-it-all Marcy Park in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. To top it off, she somehow manages to squeeze in private vocal lessons and dance classes in San Carlos multiple times a week. Her life revolves around her passion, the arts. F o r many dancers, dancing is a big deal. For Rachel Burkert, dancing is every- thing: “I guess a lot of people’s biggest fear is being alone or dying,”

she says. “My biggest fear is breaking my leg and never being able to dance again...I couldn’t imagine [it].” Lost in thought,

she continues sadly,” I would have to find something new to live for.”

And watching Burkert perform on stage, it’s obvious that her work is her pride and joy-- she would never be able to live without it. In her performance as Ronnie Spector in Leader of the Pack, Burkert, radiant, braved the stage in a daring number. When Rachel Burkert took the stage, stunning the audience with her sublime vocals and radiant confidence, the whistles and the cheering became unbearable as the audience showed their appreciation. However, her remarkable resume has not de-tracted from her social life. Close friend Rachel Monasch notes her “trustworthy” and caring per-sonality, saying that although she’s a dedicated dancer who has a lust and a passion for the arts, “she’s [also] a great person”. This is the girl who will one day originate a role-- she’s the girl who will star in the shows in which the songs and the numbers will be tailored to fit her talents, and her talents only. Travel to see Broadway a couple years from now and you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Burkert belting out the newest songs in a shiny, sparkling dress. But beyond the glitzy

show of music and dancing will be a girl with substance, a girl that will grow old with

a happy family by her side. “I hope to get married, have kids, and be an

amazing mom and wife,” says Burkert. “You need something else besides your job to keep you happy,”

she continues wisely. “I want someone... I can come home to.”

BY JEAN FANMaster of her Craft

Tippity-tappity-tap. The sounds of metal against a wooden floor echo through the room as David Visini tap dances. You might see him tapping away in Advanced Dance, but that’s not the only place that you can expect to find him. David also takes dance classes at Dance Arts Center in San Carlos. Regardless of the class, David describes the typical tap routine to be a bunch of sounds that often tell a story. The sounds start slowly and build up to a climax and a nice ending. David has been taking dance classes since he was four years old. However, he only took these classes casually, cruising through them on autopilot until the summer before his junior year. That’s when he got into a tap show in Oakland and met two profes-sional male dance teachers. David was blown away by the talent and finesse that these two dance professionals pos-sessed. The two told him that he had potential and should practice more to “tap” into it. “He really goes out of his way to takes classes out of school to im-prove,” said senior Elena Gryaznova, who took dance with David. “He goes above and beyond.” David’s goals for the future are modest and simple. He wants to make dance his profession. His dream is to do something with tap, whatever that something may be. I asked David for one final piece of advice. He told me, “No matter how good you are, training never stops. There is always something new to learn. Anyone who disagrees with that is not thinking.”

DAVID VISINITip Tappin’ Away

2011-2012 Season:

Side By Side by

Sondheim

October 28-30, 2011

Guys and dolls

JANUARY 29 -

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

12 angry men

May 3-6, 2012

VISIT SMHSDRAMA.ORG

FOR MORE INFO

CONGRATULATIONS

TO THE

GRADUATING

SENIORS OF THE

DRAMA

DEPARTMENT!

BY JORDAN BUSCHMAN

If you walk into the choir room during tutorial, you will find Monica Boles lying on the floor sleeping. She will most likely have her face in the car-pet, her hair in her face and her body ignoring most human interaction. But underneath this sleepy exterior lies a true diva. Monica started singing in elementary school, when some of her friends and family would tell her she had a great voice. Throughout middle school, she thought she could maybe, just maybe sing, but high school was the start of her “diva moments,” she says. “I’m glad that I started to pursue my singing while still at a young age in San Mateo because it allows me to see all the potential I have ahead of me.” Monica informs. Monica says that she has learned a lot in choir. Not only about singing, but other things, like being patient. So there she is in the choir room, singing her heart out and understanding all of those fermatas and all of the time signatures more and more everyday. By her side is Ann Zeng who has been in choir with Monica since their fresh-man year. “We’re the same shade of peas, but in two different pods,” Ann comments, while giggling. According to Monica, she will be at-tending Canada College for two years. There, she will be taking classes to be-come a phlebotomist, and is currently planning on majoring in psychology, a passion of hers. She says she has learned a lot about life, especially that, “the only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing - Socrates.”

MONICA BOLESFuture PhlebotomistBY VICTORIA AGUILAR

Friday, May 20, 2011

Arts Eli Habeeb enters the San Mateo Performing Arts Center. The lights all shine on him as he slowly walks onto the stage. The audience quietly sits in their seats waiting for him to start singing. Eli opens his mouth and a melodious voice emerges. After a few minutes, Eli finishes the song and the audience is giving a standing ovation to the amazing actor and singer, Eli Habeeb. Throughout Eli’s life, he has been involved in drama, leadership and sports. In his freshmen year, he was in Westside Story, sophomore year, Peter Pan. During his sophomore year he won Best Male Chorus Number. In his junior year he participated in Leader

ELIAS HABEEBFor the Love of Eli

BY JEFFREY GE

of the Pack where he was the support-ing actor. He won the Best Supporting Actor role during his junior year. In his senior year he was in the Wedding Singer and the Spelling Bee. He has been in Interact for 4 years, Leadership for 3 years, Marching Band for 4 years and the Golf team for 4 years. Eli Habeeb is smart, sociable and amazing at singing. He is very talented at academics, music and drama. He is an extremely spirited person, too. Wherever you see Elias Habeeb, he is always working hard on academics, singing, playing golf or talking with his friends. Eli is an amazing singer and student who definitely commits a lot of his time to San Mateo High School to make it a better place in

drama and leadership. “Eli is a very trusting and wonderful friend, his ability to go with the flow will bring him far in the future and that is an amazing quality that I admire,” said Natalia Garcia In the future Eli wants to have a job that he loves but also wants to make a lot of money from that job. He wants to buy a big house for his parents to live in. “I am a very smart and talented per-son but also pretty lazy, I like talking to girls,” laughs Eli.

Swished blonde hair, standing tall, Cameron Pituley, a devoted basketball player, pursues the trombone, origi-nally his mom’s dream and now his own with the bass trombone. Whether he is listening to music or working out at the gym, Cam enjoys life, inspiring his future. Master of the trombone since fifth grade, he continues to pursue his in-strument and actively stay involved in the band department as band council president and pep band director as well as playing in the school marching band and jazz band. Involved in school sports, he expand-ed his leadership skills to becoming captain of the varsity basketball team, in addition to playing on the varsity track and field team and dodgeball club. “For fun I enjoy playing trombone as well as Monster Hunter on the PSP. I have also been told that my bright personality and ability to talk to anyone makes me who I am,” Cam commented. Eating a bandwich (band term for sandwich), or taking a drive with friends just for the fun of it, Cam makes the best of every situation. Enjoying the thrill of being a senior, he spends his last days here at San Mateo, cherishing the days he has left

as a student here. “He is a dedicated person, who is good at what he does,” Lauren Ohira, one of Cam’s good friends, com-mented. “Cam is an extremely talented musician, and works very hard at his craft. He has improved tremendously over the years on his trombone, and he became a fine conductor this year as our Pep Band Director. Cam has always been a fun and relaxed person to work with, and has strong leadership abilities as well. He is going away to Canada for school, and I will miss hav-ing him around,” Mr. Tribuzi said. After attending University of Leth-bridge in Alberta, Canada, Cam plans on becoming a personal trainer during the day while advancing his music career with gigs in the evening. He “has always been interested in the human body and enjoys working out with friends” and sees his major, kinesiology, as a way to continue with both. “My favorite recent memory at San Mateo was conducting the ‘What’s up with that’ skit and I will definitely miss seeing certain people every day.”

LARRY CHEWFrom Larry the Bear to Larry the Bruin BY KAREN CHEE

Eyebrows set in a firm line of con-centration, fingers moving swiftly and surely across the fingerboard, his horsehair bow meets the steel strings to produce a warm tone. The music fills the entire room, creeping out through the half open window, tempting walk-ers to stop and savor the mellifluous sounds resonating from within. The instrument? A viola. The musician? A Larry Chew. Well, the Larry Chew. An accomplished violist, Larry first began his musical career with the violin when he was only eight years old. He tried playing the viola out of curiosity and decided to switch over when he realized he’d fallen in love with it. Since then, he’s been playing the instrument for five years. “I’m confident that I’ll never grow tired or bored of it,” he says. “I love how expressive it is, and it thrills me to know that I’m the one creating all the beautiful sounds.” Tiffany Ho, a friend of Larry’s, says, “Larry himself is a really modest, soft-spoken kind of guy. Sometimes a little hesitant to say something, you know? But his viola… that’s a differ-ent story. It can be loud and booming, or even cute and delicate. It’s always sure of itself.” As a fellow musician and orchestra

member, Tiffany commented on how hard Larry works, saying, “I don’t know of many people who work quite as hard as he does. He’s very serious about viola, and you can definitely hear his passion and endless practice hours when he performs.” Playing as much as two to six hours each day, Larry says the trick to long practices is a combination of relaxing but not being too lenient on your self. While some days are easier to practice than others, Larry says he gets through the more difficult days by thinking of his inspirations: “John Williams, Leonid Kogan, Yuri Bashmet, Yoko Shimomura…” He lists the names of many musi-cians, family members, and friends, ending with “...and Maestro Klein. He’s the conductor and director of the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, which I’m proud to be a part of.” He shares advice with those who hope to play an instrument profession-ally – “You’re going to really have to set your mind to it, and stay focused. It’s a challenging path, but it really is one of the most rewarding ones.”Larry’s advice seems to be of good value – he himself is headed to UCLA to major in Viola Performance, and says with a shy grin: “I plan to stick with it for quite some time.”

ANNA CROSETTIMateo’s Musical Mistress

BY JEREMY VENOOK

As she stands before the piano in rehearsal, her voice moves through a wide range of notes, pitches and emo-tions. Her low notes register with force and depth before flowing gracefully to light and resonant high notes as she moves with the music. She inhabits a wide range of charac-ters as well--over the past few years, Anna Crosetti has brought depth and sincerity onstage in unique and diverse roles, from the domineering Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street to the young and headstrong Nora in Brighton Beach Memoirs to the clever but shy Olive in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. In fact, her presence has become something of a fixture in San Mateo High School theater in her four years at this school as she has brought her talent to not only musicals but to plays and the dance show as well. For Anna, the attraction to the stage has long been something of a singular influence--when asked how she became interested in theater, she responded, “I remember the very first Broadway musical I saw was The Lion

King, and everything about that musi-cal sparked an interest in me. I wanted to learn how to dance, sing, and act like the cast did on that stage.” She has found that one show stands out as her favorite as it typifies what she has enjoyed about theater at school: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which was “very relaxing, and the cast couldn’t have been closer. It was made up of about 15 of the kids who have consecutively been in shows, so we were all close friends to begin with.”In keeping with her love of theater, Anna will be attending Cal State Fullerton next year as a part of the school’s highly selective Theater and Dance department. She hopes to be among the program’s finalists, ten students in each year who are able to graduate with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from the college, after which she plans to continue pursuing her passion and hopefully make musical theater her career. Already Anna’s work is gar-nering attention and impressive acco-lades—both this year and last year, she

received nominations from the Stage Top Honor Awards, a program honor-ing outstanding high school theater in the Bay Area, first for her performance as Dorothy Brock and more recently as Julia Sullivan in February’s The Wedding Singer.As she prepares to leave San Mateo High and the PAC behind, Anna has already begun looking for ways to express the importance of the school’s theater program in her development as an actress as and as a person. After four years of participation, Anna says that she has just recently “realized the amount of time I have invested into my four years at San Mateo, and it makes it very difficult to think of leaving a school where I managed to make some of my strongest bonds to not only my friends but the theater program.” And, while she looks forward to the vast opportunities that await in college and beyond, she feels she owes a debt of gratitude to San Mateo, which “has allowed me to love every aspect of the theater, ensemble or lead, not just the glory of the limelight.”

SANMATEOHIFriday, May 20, 2011 Page 13

CAM PITULEY

BY ABBEY LONDA

Expert Tromboner

Gustavo Argote twirls in front of a full-length mirror, keeping perfect balance while spotting. He comes to a perfect stop, and proceeds into a dance routine in perfect time with the beat of Lady GaGa. He finishes as soon as the music stops. Gustavo has been a member of the dance team for two years now, and has taken dance classes all four years of high school. In that time he has been in six productions including three Mateo Motion shows, two musicals, and one play. Gustavo enjoyed the musicals best because he likes combining his two passions: acting and dance. Along with dancing, he’s also produced short films, including a seven-minute long interpretation of Hamlet, which had choreographed fight scenes. “Dancing: all day, every day! It’s improv everywhere!” said Gustavo about his love. Gustavo takes the stage with the dance team at yet another rally. The lights blare on him and the team. He and the other three guys on the team are staggered with all the girls. He gets into first position, and the music starts to play. “Gustavo is always positive, and he has a great attitude at practice. I’m glad we’re on the dance team, because we’ve become really good friends.” said fellow dance team member Al-lison Lim. Gustavo plans on attending Foothill Community College to get his GED done and finish all his other standard credits. He then hopes to transfer to UCLA and major in film, while still dancing as a hobby. Gustavo wants to pursue his other passion as a potential career, hoping to first become an actor and get useful experience before be-coming a director. He wants to direct movies and participate in all kinds of fields in show business. “Do you like my haircut?” Asked Gustavo, who takes his hair very seriously.

GUSTAVO ARGOTEMagnificent Mane

BY TALIA GUREVICH

AJ DE LAS ALASBaby J

BY JORDAN BUSCHMAN

Albert de las Alas, better known by his friends as AJ, can often be found in the sanctuary that is the music building. Away from chatting friends and clut-tered hallways, he is free to practice what he is best at: the trumpet. He’s been occasionally known to dwell in the music building, relaxing and clear-ing his mind. More likely, however, AJ will be practicing notes, scales, or songs, either in solitude or with other musicians. Unlike many with his talent, AJ was not truly involved with practicing the trumpet until more recently. In fact, he didn’t practice a lot of music during his freshman year. It was only when he was a sophomore that he joined ad-vanced band and marching band with his group of friends. He took both of these classes again in the subsequent two years to further hone his skills. AJ tells me that he is very well known among other musicians for his chari-table attitude. As the trumpet section leader in marching band, it is his job to aid other trumpet players. He tries his hardest at all times to be helpful and feels remorse if he ever misses a note. AJ continues, telling me that this never stops him from setting goals for himself and improving. In marching band, AJ has one main goal: staying focused. His focus allows him to play at his best and keep his line in order. He hopes to set an example for the other trumpet players. Senior Arjun Natarajan said that there were so many things to say about AJ. You can always count on him, as a friend and a musician. He possesses a lot of talent. He is also very perceptive and insightful. Next year, AJ is going to UC Davis to major in chemical engineering. He plans to bring his trumpet there so as not to let his talent go to waste. He is hoping to look into their music pro-gram and join the marching band. “If you want something, don’t be afraid,” said AJ. “Go for it.”

SANA YAMAGUCHIBackstage Boss

BY JEAN FAN

Lights? Check. Camera? Check. Ac-tion! The stage lights go on and the audience bursts into applause. She quickly checks to make sure everyting is working properly, that all the sets are ready to be moved onstage, that all the behind-the-scenes materials are just right. Then she can finally let out a sigh of relief. Her name is Sana Yamaguchi, and she loves to manage the stage. A girl with an unusual talent, Yamaguchi develops her creativity not on the stage, but for it. In her high school career, she has been a part of dozens of productions, never as the center of attention maybe, but always as one of the most important –yet sometimes overlooked—parts of theatre: stage management. Her life revolves around it, and since she started working in theatre, she’s grown to love and rel-ish it. “I love stage managing,” Yamaguchi says. “I get to be in charge”—she’s re-ally good at yelling at people—and “I get to be a part of the production from start to finish.” “She’s a hard worker when it comes to stage managing… and she’s a really fun person to be around. I’m really glad I got to know her,” said Sopho-more Kathrin Neyzberg, close friend and fellow stage member. An aspiring freshman at Boston Uni-versity come fall, Yamaguchi will con-tinue manning the stage and making sure every production runs smoothly. For her, it’s not just a hobby—it will be her career. She dreams big, hoping to run the shows on the Broadway if she can snag the opportunity. If not, maybe she’ll become a photographer, or work in the marketing industry. “I don’t know where I’ll be in ten years,” she says. But even as a girl with big dreams and a big future, Yamaguchi will definitely miss her experiences at San Mateo: “it has been the best learning experience of my life.”

Oh So SpicyNATALIA GARCIA

SANMATEOHI Friday, May 20, 2011Page 14

Everyone knows Natalia Garcia. You know, that one girl who always does flips during Dance Team performances, that one girl who’s not as tall as some, that one girl who’s been dancing for more than a few years? Natalia Garcia started dancing young, performing when she was only three years old, taking a break when she was 12 years old, but picking it up again when sophomore year of high school hit. Ever since, she’s been an integral part of the Dance Program here at San Mateo, involved in the Advaned Dance class since sophomore year, and becoming a senior member of the award winning Dance Team. She is also involved outside of school, finding time to squeeze piano into an already tight schedule, one that involves going to her job at Peninsula Gymnastics, something she was involved with before her days here at San Mateo. Natalia has been involved with gymnastics for ten years, but couldn’t find the time to continue after sophomore year. She still retains her dexterity and flexibility however, putting it into use through dance. Watching Bones is one of Natalia’s most favorite hobbies, in fact, Natalia likes “watching TV in general, I practically know every TV show known to man!” She also enjoys karaoke and going out to Teaway, claiming an “addiction” to Asian drinks. “Natalia is one of those people who, at one moment, can make you laugh hysterically at some off-color remark and then turn around on a dime and break your heart onstage. She’s a big personality in a pint-size package. I’ll miss her a lot, especially the fact that I’m taller than her!” said Mr. Friedman, drama teacher and director of our school plays who has had the opportunity to direct Natalia in a number of school shows. Another staff member who has had the opportunity to see Natalia grow these past four years is Ms. Tribuzi, the dance teacher who has had Natalia in her Advanced Dance class for three years. “Natalia is one of the most energetic, versatile dancers I’ve ever experienced in all of my years of teaching. When I met her Freshman year, she was a quiet, hard working member of the ensemble of “West Side Story”. Now, after four years, she’s become a force to be reckoned with! She’s a leader in my Advanced class, a positive role model for my younger dancers, and one of the most creative student choreographers in the program. She will certainly be missed next year.” Ms. Fergusson remembers her fondly as the girl who asked her to “lavish a splendor” on a star given on a whiteboard sentence diagram. “It’s a reference to The Odyssey--what Athena does to Odysseus when she makes him bigger and stronger and more charismatic. I liked it so much, it’s become part of my white board routine.” Next year, Natalia will leave for SoCal, where she’ll be chilling at UC Irvine, majoring in Dance. Natalia leaves San Mateo with a few words of advice to the underclassmen, “If you want to do some- thing, just go out and do it. If you want to be in the play, go and audition; if you want to dance, enroll for a class; if you want to do something that makes you happy, then just go and do it, don’t let anyone tell you that it’s dumb or that you should maybe change your mind for something safer. (I definitely felt the doubt when I first told my parents I was going to major in dance.) And if there is that doubt, just prove them wrong, s h o w people what gives you reason for living, what makes y o u thrive, what makes you human.”

BY AUSTIN CHUA

Intensely sprinting after the ball, senior Naoki Nakamura, dressed in his orange SMHS soccer uniform, flawlessly protects the goalie from oncoming offenders on the soccer field. However, don’t let Naoki’s sheer focus fool you; he’s actually a very comical, friendly person. Two years ago, as a sophomore on varsity, Naoki helped the team go to CCS and this year he was a crucial member of the team all season. In addition, Naoki was named the best defender on the team this year. Naoki’s love for soccer began before he came to SMHS and he hopes to continue playing in college. Naoki even hopes to continue playing soccer with his friends after college and keep playing the sport until he no longer can play. “The best part of soccer is the com-petition against other schools and the chance to meet new people.” Not only does Naoki love the game of soccer itself, he even loves the thrill of com-peting and the excitement of getting new friends,” he says. Naoki runs as a sprinter on the track team when soccer season ends. However, if he had to choose, Naoki would pick soccer over track. Naoki’s passion for soccer is incredible, but he is also passionate about other things

as well. One of his other passions is aeronau-tics. Naoki is going to be attending the University of Michigan this fall and he hopes to receive a major in aerospace engineering there. He wants to spend the rest of his life working to develop new types of aircrafts and aircraft parts that can be flown around the world. Naoki also wants to minor in busi-ness or economics in college, as he is also interested in the more legal side of aeronautics. If Naoki could have his dream job, he would be the CEO of Boeing, one of the biggest companies that produce planes and plane parts. Being a CEO would combine his interest in business with his love of aeronautics. With all of these interests, Naoki also has a very friendly personality. One of his friends, senior Jordan Wong, commented, “Naoki is a very helpful person. If he sees a friend in need, he will go help them no matter what. He also laughs a lot and his laugh is very contagious.” Naoki’s friends are very important to him and he said that leaving them be-hind will be the worst part of graduat-ing from high school. Naoki admitted that, “Spending time with my friends was the best part of being at SMHS and it will forever be my favorite memory

NAOKI NAKAMURANaokiHokiPoki: Find him on Words With Friends

BY VIKASH MORAR

ATH

LETIC

S

Friday, May 20, 2011 SANMATEOHINEWS

Page 15

Check out

the Hi online

atwww.the-bearcat.

net

Wednesday June 15:

FREE until 3pm

Thursday June 16:

$5 from noon-5pm

for Teens (13-19 yrs)

NEW!Fair Season Pass:

Only $22

for 9 days of Fun!

Air Supply SAT ★ JUNE 11The Four Tops SUN ★ JUNE 12

Battle of the Bay MON ★ JUNE 13WAR TUES ★ JUNE 14

Tower of Power WED ★ JUNE 15Tower of Power THUR ★ JUNE 16

Grand Funk Railroad FRI ★ JUNE 17Pablo Cruise SAT ★ JUNE 18

Dia De Le Feria SUN ★ JUNE 19

presents

★ ★ ★

★ ★ ★

★

Only $22

for 9 days of Fun!

All concertsstart at 7:30pm

and are FREEwith fair admission!

Winter ‘11 - Begins January 22Summer ‘11 - Begins May 28

We Would Like To Thank Our Wonderful Sponsors!

Learn how to improve your singing voice!Take voice lessons over your Summer Break!

Lindsey McLennan Vocal Arts StudioNow accepting new students for Summer or Fall!

Private and group lessonsBeginners through Advanced

All genres: Classical, Pop, Jazz, Rock, Folk

(415)497-7736lindseymclennan@gmail.com

SANMATEOHI Friday, May 20, 2011Page 16

Athletics

KATELYN TURTLETAUBGoal-Scoring Machine

BY DEWEI ZHENG

Turtletaub the happiest is on the turf

defenders left and right. As she loses

and gets in front of the goal. She kicks, GOAL! Turtletaub has just scored her

-dence and leadership skills to lead the team to a victory. Turtletaub has been playing soccer

then, she’s loved playing the game and showing off her talent. Here at San Mateo, she’s been playing since her freshman year. Turtletaub quickly advanced to varsity and excelled and proved to the coach that she was a

-teo, Turtletaub took on the leadership role of being captain, which took a lot of responsibility to give the team

nice towards me. Because it was my freshman year, I made a lot of mistakes

drastically improved my game. Not only is she nice and funny, she has a

Walker. Her favorite moments here are when she runs past people and scores a crucial goal. Turtletaub exceeds in many aspects of life, not only soccer, but volleyball and school as well. In volleyball, Turtletaub was also team captain. She is often found making those clutch kills and saves in order to put Mateo on top. Her favorite memory last year was when they beat the undefeated Burl-

at home. It was a big accomplishment and Turtletaub played a key role in

rounded person. She is outgoing, fun to be with, competitive at sports and in school, and helps people a lot. She has been a role model to me because she has such an outgoing personality. I love her and I wish her the best of luck as she moves onto college,” says fellow teammate and friend Alexis Quinney. The person who has helped Turtle-taub to be who she is today is her fa-ther. She credits him for coaching her and teaching her the game. Her father has shown her love and the competi-tive talent that she has today. Turtletaub will be taking her outgo-ing personality to UC Santa Barbara. At UCSB she will not be continuing her career in sports, instead pursuing a career to be a doctor for athletes. She will hopefully be successful as she moves on to college, taking on the real world.

BY PERRY LIU

Taking her talents to Tufts

ALEXIS OKASINSKI

Alexis Okasinski subs into the game, pumped and ready to show her skills. As one of her teammates sets for her, she spints to the ball--everyone’s on their toes--jumps up, spikes, and SCORES a point for the home team of San Mateo. Everyone cheers for her and the team roots her on. Standing well over six-feet tall, Alexis Okasinski is a very noticeable athlete. Her skills at the volleyball net won her a recruitment visit from Tufts, where she will be attending college and playing volleyball in the fall. Alexis is one of the best on her team at Mateo, getting the 2nd team all-league for varsity volleyball this year and last. But volleyball isn’t everything. Alexis likes to play Just Dance on the Wii, and trying new foods. She also taught herself how to juggle and can touch her nose with her tongue. “Alexis has always been such a kind-hearted and absolutely hilarious person. She’s is so fun to be around, and I think she’s going to be so suc-cesful at Tufts- academically, socially,

and athletically. I’ll be proud to say that I know a star volleyball player on our Tufts team,” comments Mor-gan Babbs, who has been Okasinki’s classmate since the 6th grade. Despite being a talented athlete, Alexis is also very academic and intel-ligent. In AP Environmental Science. Alexis sits in her desk and cleverly an-swers Mr. Appleman’s questions. Her dream for the future is to work with animals and combine environmental science with her job. She is inspired by Jane Goodall’s tireless efforts to protect animals and the environment through her work with Africa’s great apes, and hopes to be just as inspira-tional as Goodall. She has also been a part of Renaissance leadership this year, working hard to recognize indi-viduals at Mateo. As she prepares to walk across the stage May 26, she leaves us with an inspirational quote. ““Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” Thanks, Alexis. And don’t forget to say hello to our Editor in Chief Morgan Babbs at Tufts!

GRAYCE UJIHARA“Grayce-ing” our school with record amounts of threesBY AUSTIN CHUA

Grayce Ujihara is usually found sinking threes at basketball practice, getting her stroke perfect so that she can translate her success from the practice courts to game time situation. From her many awards and accomplishments over her 4 years at San Mateo, we see that her practice and experience on the courts have turned her into a scoring machine. She’s been on varsity all 4 years of her high school career for a reason: “Grayce’s skills on the court are exquisite compared to other high school players- she’s Superwoman,” says Boys Basketball Warriya Matt Erlick. Grayce has been named to First Team All County, which basically means that the league recognizes her as the best point guard in the county. Grayce is also the MVP of the Bay League, meaning she is also considered the best player in the League. The crown jewel on her list of achievements is the breaking the record for most three’s in a game. Grayce dropped 10 threes in a game against Terra Nova, not only leaving her with 39 points in the game, but just beating the old record of nine threes previously set by her coach, Ms. Dinges. Grayce attributes her success to those close to her, saying “I love my family and friends so much. They got me through tough times and I wouldn’t be who I am without them.” Some of those close to her also see Grayce as an inspiration; “Grayce is an amazing person,

always admired. She is welcoming to everyone and has great leadership skills, on and off the court. She loves helping people, especially her teammates. The way that she has lead the team since freshman year has shown her growth as a person; and made those

Sameera Moinpour, also one of Grayce’s close friends at San Mateo, only has positive words to say about the star basketball player: “Witnessing Grayce breaking the 3 point record this season was absolutely incredible. I’ve had the amazing privilege of watching Grayce play basketball for 4 years on varsity at San Mateo, and this year was no different. Her outstanding work ethic, drive, and lets not forget our awesome Grayce shirts, al-

awesome and I will never forget that. Grayce is one of those people who can always make you laugh. She is smart and clever and always

past four years, and I will miss her greatly next year! Luckily, we will only be 2.5 hours away from each other! Woohoo!”

Friday, May 20, 2011 SANMATEOHIAthletics

Page 17

MATT ERLICK“The Warriya”

BY DEWEI ZHENG

Matt Erlick steps up onto the rubber, winds up for the pitch... “Strike three, you’re out!” Erlick steps off the mound with a smile, knowing he just secured another victory for the Bearcats. Erlick has loved the game of baseball ever since his father introduced it to him, and will always treasure his time playing here as a Bearcat. Not only has Erlick been able to contribute to San Mateo, baseball has had an astounding impact on his life. Erlick came to San Mateo as an average teenager who let wins and losses just slip on by as if they were no big deal. That doormat motto of a person was soon transformed into the person that he is today. Erlick has had four successful seasons with the baseball and basketball squads here at San Mateo, including being

game win over Terra Nova his junior year. His success would be nothing without the guidance from his coaches and former teammates. “Coaches Velez and Hudson taught me discipline and how to compete. I owe a lot of my success in both sports to them,” commented Erlick.

to his academics, which earned him a partial academic scholarship to college next year. He is also known by the students and staff as very friendly and fun to have around. “Matt goes a little bit over board with his aping of Brian Wilson... but then again they both have that persona of someone who is on the very precipice of sanity. It works for them and because of Matt’s sense of humor and easy-going manner, he is a valuable member of my class and of the school in general,” said Mr. Reoutt. During winter, you would have found Erlick in the gym playing basketball. As captain, Erlick was known for his hustle as well as his outside jumper. He was also known for guiding his younger teammates and sharing his experiences and knowledge of the game with them. “Basketball wasn’t my main sport here, but I cherish all the memories and experi-ences I had with my teammates and Coach Hudson,” said Erlick.

school. Monday through Thursday of every week right after brunch you’ll hear the voice of Erlick, as he gives the school announce-ments. During home football games, Erlick is like the John Mad-den of the school, announcing the games with great creativity and enthusiasm. By helping out the school, and being captain of both the baseball and basketball teams, Erlick is a perfect example of a a well-rounded student-athlete. As this year wraps up, Erlick will be graduating and taking his talents to the University of Arizona. There, he will be majoring in Business Management with a minor in Sports Management. After leaving Arizona, Erlick

franchise, preferably the San Francisco Giants. “No matter where my talents take me, I’ll always be the true Warriya. In nine years, be sure to turn your TV sets to ESPN and see me being named the youngest General Manager in Major League Baseball History. It’s time for me to go, but I’ll never forget my time here at Mateo,” he concludes.

JESSE WONGRunning on the track to greatness

The gun goes o!; Jesse Wong darts out of the gate. He jumps hurdle after hurdle with stellar form until he crosses the "nish line. He then stops to tie his shoe, and as he "nishes tying, he sees the rest of the runners cross the "nish line, long after he did. Jesse Wong, the fastest man on campus, has graced our track with greatness during his four years at San Mateo, which includes qualifying for the CCS playo!s the past three years in Track and Cross Country. “Running is a passion that I have, and my time running at San Mateo has prepared me physically and mentally for life after high school,” explains Wong on his high school athletic experiences. Wong, who specializes in the 300m hurdles, and the triple jump has transformed into the ultimate competitor since he started here in 2007. “My coaches have instilled in me my work ethic and helped foster my love of running. Over the summer I ran 524 miles, and I have not missed a day in over a year,” says Wong on his transformation into the phenom-enal athlete he is today. Aside from starring on the track, Jesse served as the Community Service Commissioner, in which he, along with Marissa Savoie conducted such activities as the Canned Food Drive. He and Savoie took the whole school on their backs, and did an amazing thing for the community. “The canned food drive was the biggest undertaking I have ever tackled in my life, it was so much fun working with students, sta!, and faculty to make an impact,” explained Wong “Jesse’s energy and enthusiasm over the last four years has a tremendous impact on San Mateo. His wit, charm, and genuine personality will truly be missed,” said History teacher Ms. Kalinski, who taught Wong during his senior year. With the spring sport season coming to a close, Jesse Wong is "nishing up another outstanding Track season. He placed "rst in two events, and third in two others in the PAL "nals. As of May 16, Wong had quali"ed for those four events in the CCS playo!s. He was also recently featured ihe San Mateo Daily Journal as the athlete of the week. As Wong graduates, he’ll be attending Occidental College. “2016. You better be watching the Olympics and listening to my boy Matt Erlick announcing my name as I represent the United States Track Field team.”

The starting point guard on the San Mateo High School Varsity basketball team, Darren Fong, dribbles up the court, taking advantage of the fast break, and zips a lightning pass through the defense to one teammate, who "nished the play for the easy layup that gives the team the lead. Darren says that he broke out of his shell between his freshmen and sophomore years. Instead of being shy and conservative, he learned just to be himself. He is now outgoing and exuberant. He’s a well-rounded person who livens up everyone’s spirit around him. Darren Fong was baptized in his sophomore year, started playing baseball in his junior year, and won the Most Improved Player on the basketball team in his senior year. He thinks of himself as a unique and diligent person. He’s got an interest in Nike and Jordan sneakers. ‘I’ve had a passion for basketball since elementary school and it will always be my "rst love,” said Darren Fong. Darren Fong can either be found sitting around at his desk concentrating on work for Journalism or up out of his seat with a heap load of energy conversing with his classmates. When he does play around and have fun, he is very humorous. “Darren is my boy, whose creativity in all phases of life will take him very far,” said Matt Erlick, a classmate, teammate, and great friend. In terms of his college plans, Darren Fong is planning to go to Sonoma State University. He wants to major in business. After college, he wants to travel around the world to experience the diverse cultures and lifestyles. He would like to spend some time in China, Japan, Amsterdam and Costa Rica where he can enjoy the wonderful cuisine, the sights, and just relax and have a good time. Closing words from Darren? “I never knew life could be this sweet. It got me cheesing from cheek to cheek.”

By JEFFREY GE

DARREN FONGLiving life to the fullest

EDUARDO TRUJILLOMr. Clutch

BY DARREN FONG

Darren "nds Eduardo Trujillo open for a split second cutting to the hoop and dishes him a quick pass. He catches and throws up a shot before the time expires, it rolls around the rim and… SCORE!! The Bearcats defeat the Cherokees by one with a buzzer beating shot by Eduardo Trujillo. Eduardo, also known as “Eddie” looks big and intimidating, but when you get to know him, he’s humble and humorous at heart. Eddie plays basketball, football, and baseball and is an athletic presence in each sport. His most memorable accomplishment was winning the Paw and going to CCS in football. He was awarded the MVP for the varsity basketball season this year. His life changed after going to Camp Everytown, which caused him to become less judgmental, stronger as a leader, and more sociable. Eddie said that when he entered high school, he was shy and was afraid to speak up, but these four years helped him break out of his shell. Eddie gets along with everyone and he has a loving personality and respects others. He can also lick his elbows. “Eddie is truly one of a kind. He has a big heart and a great sense of humor. I’m proud to call him my teammate,” says Ophir Gam. “He is so funny and such a genuine person. I- along with everyone- love him to death,” says Morgan Babbs. After high school, Eddie plans on going to CSM and then transfer to Arizona State or Oregon. He wants to study in the "eld of sports or language. When he’s done with college, he wants to travel around the world after maintaining a stable job. Eduardo’s closing quote: “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it” - Michael Jordan We wish Eddie the best of luck in the future, and we will miss him a lot!

HALEY KONGTaeKONGdo, anyone?

BY JOEY WONG

Walking down the hall in between classes, Haley is a calm and friendly girl, but when it -

ally high pitched scream,” and she adds, “It sounds really bad but I like to beat people up.”

garden, bake, and sing along to Disney songs. She also enjoys volunteering at Mills Penin-sula and Glide Memorial Church. Along with spending time with friends, she loves to just relax and eat dim sum. “Haley is a giggly, athletic, modest, and super nice friend. She’s a down to earth girl,” said Alexis Okasinski, a good friend since kindergarten. As high school is reaching its end, she won’t forget her amazing experience spent in the last four years. “I love all the lunch time rallies and spirit because it made all the homework and tests seem less stressful,” she said. One of her favorite moments at San Mateo included sitting in the quad as a senior and marching with the band at the Little Big Game and “seeing everyone cheering with their black and orange pompoms,” she comments Haley will be attending Stanford University where she may study engirneering. She wants

people, learning to better herself intellectually, and discovering herself as a person. She can’t wait to experience the freedom and independence in college. As Haley leaves San Mateo High School, she will always remember the memories she has had. She’ll miss San Mateo and her friends “because it takes a lot to get back together again.”

BY RACHEL WAN

Friday, May 20, 2011 SANMATEOHIAthletics

Page 18

CHRIS ZOGRAFOSSwag through the roofBY MATT ERLICK

Chris Zografos, our beloved varsity quarterback, and catcher with a cannon for an arm, will always be remembered for his success and leadership in bearcat athletics. “I am thankful for having the opportunity to play sports at San Mateo High School. It has taught me how to be a good role model and student,” said Zografos. Zografos, who has dreamed of playing quarterback since he was a young kid, has experienced it all, whether it’s throwing a touchdown, or getting a clutch hit, Chris will be leaving San Mateo with many unforgettable memories. “ I remember beating Burlingame my junior year, and Aragon my senior year. Those games were emotional. All these experiences have been a dream come true,” explained the quarterback when asked about his favorite sports memory at San Mateo High. Aside from being the quarterback, Zografos is also a stud catcher and good leader on the baseball diamond. He was the team leader in RBI’s with 15, and threw out nine base runners during his successful senior baseball season. “ I became such a smarter player on the diamond because of Coach Velez,” com-mented Zografos on his wonderful Mateo baseball experience. Zografos is also known for being a great teammate and friend. He is loved my many. He is a person that always wants to win, and he has been my boy since little league when we were very young,” said senior teammate and friend Eduardo Trujillo. The senior two-sport athlete leaves the high-school gridiron with an impres-sive football resume, which includes eight touchdown passes, and over 800 pass yards. Zografos was named to the second-team all-PAL for his performance dur-ing the 2010 season. As he graduates and moves on, he looks to take his football talents along with him. “ I want to play football at a community college,” said Zografos, who is considering CSM, Chabot, and Foothill College. “Got a lot of love for San Mateo, thanks for the memories. Shout out to my football

San Mateo for the next chapter in his life and successful career.

Darting back and forth on the court, Jordan Wong, dressed in black like always, runs past all of the members on the other team. He does some fancy moves, throws the basketball, and it sinks nicely into the basket as the crowd cheers around him. The timer runs out of time and Jordan wins the game for the San Mateo High basketball team. Excelling in schoolwork and sports, he wasn’t only a basketball star, but he was also the captain of the San Mateo High badminton team. After learning how to play basketball in !rst grade and badminton in seventh, he spent years and years perfecting his skill in and out of school. All of that practicing helped; in 2010, he went undefeated in badminton and went on to CCS. “My favorite sport is badminton because everything’s all on you and there’s no one else to blame for mistakes except yourself,” Jordan Wong said of relating to the sports he played. Jordan smiled triumphantly after beating another team in doubles badminton. As captain of the team, he encouraged the other members of the team to do their best and helped them perfect their badminton skill. He inspired the other team members to do well and get better at the sport. “Jordan has a humorous character and looks like an anime character. I’ve taught my son so much these four years. Im glad he’s !nally growing up.,”said Darren Fong After graduating from high school, this Michael Jordan fan plans to go to Cal State Fullerton in Los Angeles, majoring in business. After graduating from college, he wants to get a job and go on to live in an urban area in Los Angeles, racing cars on the side. “High school was a journey that helped me deal with many life problems,” said Jordan as he reminisces about the past four years of his schooling at San Mateo High School. As Jordan moves on, we wish him the best of luck in the future!

for San Mateo’s Varsity Softball team during her freshman year. SMHS Varsity Softball will be going to CCS for the second time over the past two years. “Softball is one thing that changed my high school experience in a better way. I adore my coaches and the players who make the team a wonderful squad to be a part of,” said Cohen.

Soccer team. “Being involved in sports and other activities throughout freshman year made the transition to high school much better.” She has also liked to ski and snowboard since a young age. She said that she “has a house in Lake Tahoe, so one of my favorite things to do is snowboard.” Some of Francie’s icons are Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj. “They change my life and obviously change other’s too,” she claims. She also looks up to her two favorite teachers, Ms. Cintas and Mr. Nor-man, “Ms. Cintas was always there to help me and I always came in when I had a free period. She was more than willing to help me out. She has a great personality and was always wanting her students to do their best. Mr. Norman was a fantastic addition to San Mateo, with his funny stories and

succeed.” As Francie moves on, and graduates, we know she will succeed. Next fall, she will be attending San Diego State University. Although she now is leaving San Mateo, her softball skills, and her fun and easy-going personality will always be remembered.

JORDAN WONG“Basketball and badminton star”

BY BRYAN OKADA

Running, jumping, and catching on

he is hitting, catching and sliding out

tell, Rj Asuncion is a very athletic, tal-ented, and successful student-athlete.

receiver. On the varsity baseball team,

hitter as well, making him a big threat on offense and defense. Asuncion is a well rounded athlete who puts a lot of his time, and energy into contributing to our school’s sports teams. His favorite memory was in his junior year back in 2009 when the varsity football team won the Little Big Game and took the paw back to San Mateo. He also loved being on the baseball team out there with his friends and having very funny and memorable experiences. “Playing football shaped me into the person I am now, it taught me about hard work, commitment, what it means to look out for one another, what brotherhood is all about, and what family means. It was all pretty dope,” said Asuncion. Young Ralph is also very talented

He plays the Ukele with charm, and enjoys jamming during school with his friends out in the courtyard dur-ing break and lunch. During football season, he reps his school team by wearing the black shirt and orange tie along side his teammates which indicates that it’s game day. “He’s a special pinoy boy who always keeps me laughing. He is a kid at heart and is very determined when it comes to sports,” said senior Darren Fong. After high school, Rj plans on going to The Col-lege of San Mateo for two years to get his EMT, and then transfer t o a f o u r-year college to further his education. Rj would like to sign o ff a t San Mateo with this enlight-

“Never l e t anyone who isn’t working harder than you ever start over you,” sa id Asun-cion. The Bearcat family knows Rj will per-form in the future in what ever he does, and will cher-ish the four years that he was on our campus.

RJ ASUNCIONThe young stud

FRANCIE COHENThe Buster Posey of softball

BY DIANA BREWER

SANMATEOHI Friday, April 22, 2011Page 19

SENIORstand-outs

Some of the best hair around campus can arguably be found adorning the head of Blake Wilke—over 12 inches of the yellow stuff, usually pulled back into a ponytail. Though nothing as shocking as an electric-blue Mohawk, it’s a subtle, yet eye-catching, statement. When paired with his usual headbanger’s attire of a shirt advertising a metal band, jeans a tad too long for his stature, and Converse with laces worn gray, his overall appearance is maybe not so subtle. And though society has been taught that superficially judging people is a terrible thing to do, Blake’s appearance can, in fact, say quite a lot about him. Like it, he’s a study in paradoxes, an enigma: the kind of person you’ll spot in a crowd and want to get to know immediately. “The most trivial **** will turn into the most interesting conversation,” observed David Zych, his friend. You can start with a banal question and end up pouring Haterade on the Westboro Baptist Church. He’s an opinionated guy, and he likes that fact. “He doesn’t care what anybody thinks about him, he just goes out to talk to people how he deems they should be talked to. He doesn’t ******** anything,” mentions David. He admits to insulting people, and laments the fact that half the time he does so, it’s not taken as a serious insult. But he’s not prejudiced, unless it’s a prejudice against prejudiced people. He hates humanity as a whole, but he can point out dozens of friends in a crowd, and despite his straightforward, unapologetic manner of telling others exactly what he thinks about them, he’s certainly affable.

BLAKE WILKE

Jason Wood spends some of his time in his garage, his fingers flying along the neck of his guitar like a pair of erratic fiddler crabs, slamming out vibrating chords and notes that when listened to, will make your spine shudder. He’ll either be wearing a typical black shirt and jeans, or nothing at all, depending on his mood. You see, Jason is being profiled because he is not a conformist, and his actions and demeanor show it. Some people view him with a small amount of anxiety, or caution, worried about this tall man, clad in black with a Metallic view on life, and how he might react to their presence. In actuality, Jason is an easygoing outgoing guy, easy to get along with, and with a sense of humor that will always manage to understand yours. When I asked Jason to tell me about himself, and a few of his talents, this is what he told me, eyes hidden behind a pair of reflective aviators. “Partyplanet was attacked by an asteroid that was inhabited by scene kids. I had to leave, and so I came to Earth, in the Milky Way, the nearest galaxy near Wangtagh. I can tectonic dance, and I can play several musical instruments beautifully. I can

BY VICTORIA XIAO

“All about the hair, metal and band.”

BY IAN THOMPSON

“Blake is a mean person, mean, mean, mean,” quipped his friend Jason Wood. “Just kidding,” laughed Jason. “Once you get past his crustacean shell, Blake’s really a tenderhearted guy.” Funnily enough, Blake wasn’t too opposed to the mean-person comment getting printed in the paper, but he was a little averse to the secretly-a-nice-person comment being printed for the whole school to see. It’s something that few people should know about him, he claims. Yes, just maybe four people—no, actually, only two people off the top of his head, four’s just assuming he can think of two more. Blake Wilke’s a pretty private person, but he’ll readily share with you the unimportant facts of his life: his support of animal rights but aversion to PETA, his love of metal but disgust with metalcore. He also stays in the public eye of the school with his performances of headbanging at rallies. Blake’s doesn’t just passively enjoy metal, though there are a few upcoming shows that he’d like to go to, including a Children of Bodom concert. He’s the bassist for Aeglyss, a band that opened for Death Angel. Also, he wants to get a tattoo emulating one that members of his favorite band, Testament, have. So who is Blake Wilke? He’s a guy to have an interesting conversation with, a guy who isn’t afraid to tell you what he thinks of you, a guy who enjoys his metal, and secretly, yes, Blake Wilke is a nice guy. Take it how you will.

knit, too. I also know how to use the force, and am highly trained in the combat style of Metal.” Jason also works at a café in the SM public library, an environment one wouldn’t expect him to enjoy. And alternatively, in his band MUD, he is the lead vocalist. In his singing, he tries to embody a Phil Anselmo style of vocal. In an interview with David Zych about Jason, David was more than happy to comment. “He’s the coolest dude I know, probably, in the whole school. And we have a lot of stuff we like to do together, and we’re pretty much gonna go out and mess stuff up.” When asked what his plans were for his future, Jason gave a simple, albeit long answer. “I want to be a psychologist, lawyer, professor, cult leader, rockstar, death star assistant manager, philosopher, social worker, and Jesus/other messiah.” Well said, Jason. “Screamo is not really metal.” Jason said while sagely stroking his nonexistent beard. “You call that metal black, spastic, lame, and weak.”

Senior David Zych can always be found in a pair of sunglasses, no matter indoors or outdoors, and always clutching a big-gulp of Mountain Dew or Rockstar energy drink. Usually representing one of his favorite bands on a t-shirt, David towers through San Mateo halls with self-pride and a positively chill attitude. It takes a lot to put David in a bad mood, and he always has something to be excited about. He’s never hard to find at lunch rallies, he’s the one slapping air guitar and head-banging. It doesn’t matter what type of music’s playing or what the atmosphere is, David brings the party with him wherever he goes. On top of everything, David is most passionate about music: both making and listening to it. He’s a very dedicated guitarist and plays in the band MUD with his friend, Jason Wood. Along with playing guitar and making music, David also enjoys working out, martial arts and BMX biking. Whatever he does do, though, he makes sure he enjoys himself in doing it. David has a unique and nonchalant style, and is confident in who he is and what he does. His main inspirations are Jason Wood, Blake Wilke, Chris Pontius of Wildboyz, and Steven Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. However David considers Dimebag Darrell a major icon of his. David is greatly appreciated among his peers, especially his close friend and band-mate Jason Wood who says, “David usually talks about how he wants to go pirating, do pirate stuff and have pirate adventures and many people think he is trying to be humorous but he is actually quite serious. He

BY ZACH LORENZINI

is actually a pirate and he takes pirate things quite seriously. Also he usually has a 100oz Mountain Dew at his side at all times. The caffeine rush makes his fingers very fast on the fret board. He is the best guitarist I know personally when it comes to overall skill and creativity. He gets me out of a lot of jams too.” As he makes his way towards the adult-life and graduation, David looks back on his high school career with an overall positive attitude. He says, “It was pretty fun for the most part, although it was boring at times, I had a really good time.” One thing he would change if he had the chance, he says, is trying out for the football team in sophomore, junior, and senior year, rather than in just freshman year. After he graduates this May, David will be attending the College of San Mateo with intentions on keep his music career strong. He hopes to eventually get signed to a record label and become even more of a rockstar than he already is. Another possible goal of his is to get his own personal TV show, where he can “film David Zych style”. If anything, David definitely has the potential to become an endorser for Rockstar Energy Drink as he informally is one already. When asked for his finals thoughts, David said, “Hi, I’m David and I drink Rockstar Energy Drink.”

JASON WOOD

DAVID ZYCH

Friday, May 20, 2011 SANMATEOHISTANDOUTS

Page 20

If you sit in class behind a mon-strously tall senior rocking jeans and a San Mateo High School Football sweatshirt, you are probably sitting behind the 6 foot 4 inch frame of Zach Merkel. Intensely bent over to get a good glimpse of what’s on his desk, you can’t tell if he’s massively concentrating or just taking a nap. Zach has been giving back to the school for years, involved with football for four years, band for four years, and leadership senior year. He has excellent academic standing in all of his classes, earning him the opportunity to enter the elite viticul-ture program at Cal Poly (more on that later). “I don’t have any special tal-ents…I’m great at nothing, good

at everything! Hold on, I’m actually great at being tall,” Zach said when asked what makes him unique. Fellow 5th period Econ-er Daniel Martins says “Zach’s number one!” A very good pal of Zach, Matt Erlick, Sports Editor of the Hi, says “Zach is a very good pal of mine, we have unbelievable conversations about the world, especially about Brian Wilson. His brilliance is evident in all areas.” Zach also has another good friend in Journalism in Francie Cohen, who says “Zach is always there when you need someone to cheer you up. He’s a great student, classmate, athlete, and a best friend. I’m going to miss him so much when he goes to college, but I know he will be very successful and our friendship will last a lifetime.

ZACH MERKELGreat at nothing, good at everything

Love you Zachy bear! <3333” Zach will graduate this year and move on to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to study wine and viticulture, basically the science of growing grapes and making wine. Zach cites the movie “Bottle Shock,” a comedy film made in 2008 about a California wine beat-ing out a French wine in a blind taste test as the inspiration to pursue such a unique major. Along with UC Davis and Fresno State, Cal Poly SLO has one of the top viticulture programs in the country. For those future wine aficionados, Zach hopes to own a “multi-million dollar vineyard, making wines with my boy Charlie [the pencil bag] for everyone to enjoy.”

An aspiring journalist and passion-ate entertainment critic, senior Aurora Kasten emanates self-expression and swag as she graces SMHS with her royal presence. Since she was little, she always had a passion for music and food. She began piano lessons at the age of six, and has been jamming ever since. Exposed to diverse types of foods as a child, Aurora has always had curious infatu-ation for trying new and exotic dishes. Aurora embodies all the qualities of a leader with a unique and savvy confi-dence in whatever she does. Aurora has been the Arts and Enter-tainment section editor for the school newspaper for two years. Although playing piano and music in general is a main aspect of Aurora’s life, she’s equally as passionate about fashion and being herself. She idolizes Mor-rissey, ‘Ol Dirty Bastard, and Mars Blackmon, and recognizes Debbie Harry as one of her main fashion icons.

Putting a strong emphasis on fashion, Aurora believes that the way you dress is an external way of expressing your internal self, and says “whether you like it or not, your outside appearance says something about who you are. I have an obligation to myself and for my own self respect to try and not be lazy and express myself with what I wear.” Aurora describes her high school experience as enlightening. She says, “I have changed a lot, and I’m leav-ing feeling a lot more positively than I did coming in. I’m going to miss all the lunchtime rallies, classroom shenanigans and being with friends. I think I’m mostly going to remember meeting new people and making un-expected friends. People at this school have surprised me, in a good way.” Sophomore Angie Baltor says, “Aurora is one sassy chica. Her eat-ing skills are impeccable and she has unique dance moves! What a glorious woman.” Senior Monica DeLeon says,

“She is a super passionate person. She fights to the end and her thrive for life is crazy; nothing really brings her down, she’s really strong.” After she graduates this May, Aurora, her major undeclared, will attend UC Santa Cruz for four years and plans to move on into the journalism business. More specifically, she hopes to get a job as a writer for one of her favorite magazines, Vogue or Rolling Stone, and review restaurants and fashion. In the future, Aurora has high hopes to become triumphant in a bar fight. When asked if she regrets anything looking back on her time at San Mateo, “I think it’s impossible to live without regrets, but I’d rather live my life regretting the things I have done than the things I haven’t. I do wish I was initially more open-minded, because I developed all of my best friends this year instead of earlier.” Her final retort came as effortlessly as she portrays it: “SWAG.”

With a smile on his face, scruffily beard, and unbreakable mindset, Ma-son Junkin sits isolated in the back of his AP statistics class with nothing but a pencil on his desk. Unlike the rest of the class, he decides not to take down notes on today’s lesson, but instead sits back and jots down notes in his head. Although he has never turned in a homework assignment, he again aces today’s test. Mason Junkin is a familiar face on San Mateo High School’s campus, known for impersonating Jesus on Halloween and for growing out intimi-dating beards. With an elevated state of mind, Mason decided to take 3 APs his senior year because he believes he is a good listener who absorbs information like a sponge. Despite the rigorous classes he’s taking this year, he doesn’t want to be held down to school because there’s more to life then education. On two occasions, he walked into class with a two-foot pizza and shared it with his teacher. He wants to live life differently than everyone else, not following the social norm that society puts on high school students. “I’m pretty good at a lot of things:

Hacky sack, Mario Kart, math, video games, sports, I’m adaptive… like a chameleon, I can front flip, solve a Rubix cube, I got bars for days, I can cook and because I think in different points of view, I analyze situations and solve any problem that gets in my way.” Usually seen kicking around a hacky-sack during lunch, he easily relates to every person and walks around the amphitheatre conversing to with every clique. “A very down to earth math wiz who does no homework, yet does fabulously on tests,” said classmate Monica Boles. “Muy intellegente!!” added Ms. Stanley. Mason plans to go to SBCC in the fall and is interested in the fields of math, engineering, psychology, physiology, and glass blowing. “I don’t really know what I want to major in yet, but I’m going to study whatever interests me.” In the summer, he’s planning on backpacking across Europe with the soviets, his close group of friends. Exercising the characteristics of an Aquarius, says that he will, “go with the flow, and keep my expectations low.”

AURORA KASTENSWAG.

MASON JUNKIN

BY AUSTIN CHUA

BY ZACH LORENZINI

BY DARREN FONG

Opinionated, talkative, and thor-oughly well-versed in the ways of mo-tion photography, Jordan Buschman fiddles with a video camera in the media lab. As the sole videographer of Mateo Journalism, he has taken quite a few videos of events such as Spirit Week and Prom. “I like video-editing because it’s a way of showing, it’s not just a way of reporting. It’s a way of capturing emotion. And I like the challenge of trying to sum that emotion in one or two minutes,” said Jordan. Lost in the rapture of video-edit-ing, he talks of the music, the effects, the length of each clip. He compares and contrasts—and bashes—various video-editing software programs. (He advises avoiding Adobe Sound-booth.) “I thought his prom video was beastly,” mentions Ian Thompson, his friend. Jordan’s passion for video does indeed carry over into his videos; often they possess some transcendent yet dreamy quality about them, tinted with the taste of teen spirit.

But Jordan is not a one-trick horse. Besides a passion for video-editing, he also knows his way around Photoshop and writes the monthly “What Grinds My Gears” column. “I keep wanting to tie my shoelace, but then I realize these shoes don’t have shoelaces,” grumbles Jordan. He could fire off a rant about any subject, from people that drive on the shoulders to people that can’t use Photoshop properly. Yeah, he’s a pretty wry guy, at the ready with cynical comments on society at any moment. Nevertheless, Jordan isn’t cynical about his future. This fall, he will head off to Santa Clara University; though he is currently undeclared about his major, he plans to major in computer science. Also, he plans to intern with Digital Media Academy. Already he has taken classes there on Adobe After Effects and Photoshop, as well as Final Cut. The position of videographer at times is an underappreciated one, but please put your hands together for Jordan Buschman.

JORDAN BUSCHMAN

BY VICTORIA XIAO

What Would Mason Do?

A new take on reality