VOLUME 55, SENIOR ISSUE THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2012 CASTRO VALLEY, CA 94546 WWW.CVHSOLYMPIAN.COM Aug. 2008 Class of 2012 enters CVHS as freshmen. Jan. 20, 2009 Barack Obama inaugu- rated as 44th president. Oct. 2009 Alameda County Castro Valley Library opens. Oct. 2010 Class of 2012 wins Homecoming as juniors. March 2011 “Aeries” student information system implemented. May 1, 2011 Osama Bin Laden killed. Sept. 2011 Occupy Movement sweeps throughout the nation. Oct. 2011 Class of 2012 wins Homecoming second time as seniors. Jan. 2012 CVHS solar panel construction begins. Jan. 2012 “Penis Inspection” flyers spread through- out CVHS. June 14, 2012 Class of 2012 ends its last day at CVHS. Freshman year Sophomore year Junior year Senior year What was your favorite thing about high school? By SangEun Choi A&E Editor “I got to make friends and find out who I am.” -Calvin Cheng “My favorite thing was learning that no bond is stronger than that of those who have watched The Human Centipede 1 and 2 together.” -Kayla Ferrell “I loved being on the swim team and in the band for all four of my years.” -David Gresham “What I enjoyed most was geing hugs from my friends and being able to throw shoes at annoying people.” -Esther Han “My favorite thing about high school was everything about high school, as cliché as that seems. But honestly I wouldn’t change a thing about the time I’ve spent at CVHS.” -Jeremy Lawrence “My favorite thing about high school was that I grew into my true self.” -Addie Ma “One of my favorite moments in high school is when I realized if you’re unsure, go with your gut, and if you don’t have even that, just make stuff up. It’s more fun, and you learn a lot about yourself and other people. Once in a great while, you’ll end up being right, and it feels good.” -Travis Maas “To put it simply, growing up. These four years of high school were almost like loose barriers set to aid in helping you grow up and now, we’re ready to free fall.” -Tiffany Tse Seniors offer advice to other classes By Jane Hong StAff WritEr With only a few days left of school, I’ve been forced to reflect upon this past year and ask my- self if I’m truly content with my last year of high school. In order to aid future seniors, I’ve arranged a bucket list: things that you should do during your senior year to make it the best it could possibly be. 1) Fill out an application and aend the interview to become an outdoor school counselor. I guarantee that spending a week away from reality and surround- ing yourself with excited kids and supportive peers will do you some good. 2) Aend at least one basket- ball and one football game. I myself had never aended a game prior to this year. Experiencing the thrill of the Trojan Den and expressing school spirit for the last time is a must! 3) Go to senior ball, with or without a date. The boom line is that this is your last high school formal and one of your last chances to hang out with your senior class again. Take advantage of that. 4) Participate in Song Girls, Male Skit, and/or Float during Home- coming. It’s your last chance to seize the opportunity to meet new people, be crazy, and help be a part of a team effort. 5) Go to the senior events such as Senior Awards Night and Senior Sunset. Staff members and your class officers organize such events just so you can spend more time with your peers and celebrate your class going different ways. 6) Watch Mr. CV, sponsored by Boosters. It’s a fun experience to watch the talents of the daring guys in your class and see who gets crowned! 7) Become a member of a club on campus or participate in as many extracurricular activities as pos- sible. Our campus offers a plethora of different clubs and one is bound to fit you. A club is a great way to meet new people and help a cause while you’re at it. 8) Participate in Senior Cut Day, the school day after senior ball. You will never have another opportunity when parents and teachers alike understand you cuing. Use this day wisely. 9) Spend a day with friends at Lake Chabot. As Castro Valley residents, we underappreciate the natural beauty of our town. With college approaching, adven- ture throughout Castro Valley and go to places you’ve never been. You’d be surprised at where you end up. 10) Meet people you’ve never met and do things you’ve never done. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to see your classmates on a daily basis again, and that your senior year is an opportune time to experiment and experience. So there you are! Ten things that you should do during your senior year in order to make it the best it could possibly be. In short, take advantage of the school activities offered to you because you won’t have them again in college. Most importantly, have fun. As obvious as it seems, it’s something that we often forget amidst college applications and academics. So have a great time with family and friends and ap- preciate staff members! I wish you the best of luck. MEgAn HickMAn’s Sekret SAuvAnnE PAttiSon’s AngelinA Jolie kArinA ng’s ABC UndA dA SeA MEgAn XiAo’s dArlie Artwork from the Senior Art Show stun spectators during Senior Awards Night on May 30. rEbEccA fong And JAnE Hong Class of 2012 Senior Issue Senior Ball at the Academy of Sciences stuns seniors.
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VOLUME 55, SENIOR ISSUE THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2012 CASTRO VALLEY, CA 94546 WWW.CVHSOLYMPIAN.COM
Aug. 2008Class of 2012 enters CVHS as freshmen.
Jan. 20, 2009Barack Obama inaugu-
rated as 44th president.
Oct. 2009Alameda County
Castro Valley Library opens.
Oct. 2010Class of 2012 wins
Homecoming as juniors.
March 2011“Aeries” student
information system implemented.
May 1, 2011Osama Bin Laden killed.
Sept. 2011Occupy Movement
sweeps throughout the nation.
Oct. 2011Class of 2012 wins
Homecoming second time as seniors.
Jan. 2012CVHS solar panel
construction begins.
Jan. 2012“Penis Inspection”
flyers spread through-out CVHS.
June 14, 2012Class of 2012 ends its
last day at CVHS.
Freshman year
Sophomore year
Junior year
Senior year
What was your favorite thing about
high school?By SangEun Choi
A&E Editor
“I got to make friends and find out who I am.” -Calvin Cheng
“My favorite thing was learning that no bond is stronger than that of those who have watched The Human Centipede 1 and 2 together.” -Kayla Ferrell
“I loved being on the swim team and in the band for all four of my years.” -David Gresham
“What I enjoyed most was getting hugs from my friends and being able to throw shoes at annoying people.” -Esther Han
“My favorite thing about high school was everything about high school, as cliché as that seems. But honestly I wouldn’t change a thing about the time I’ve spent at CVHS.” -Jeremy Lawrence
“My favorite thing about high school was that I grew into my true self.” -Addie Ma
“One of my favorite moments in high school is when I realized if you’re unsure, go with your gut, and if you don’t have even that, just make stuff up. It’s more fun, and you learn a lot about yourself and other people. Once in a great while, you’ll end up being right, and it feels good.” -Travis Mattas
“To put it simply, growing up. These four years of high school were almost like loose barriers set to aid in helping you grow up and now, we’re ready to free fall.” -Tiffany Tse
Seniors offer advice to other classesBy Jane Hong
StAff WritEr
With only a few days left of school, I’ve been forced to reflect upon this past year and ask my-self if I’m truly content with my last year of high school. In order to aid future seniors, I’ve arranged a bucket list: things that you should do during your senior year to make it the best it could possibly be.
1) Fill out an application and attend the interview to become an outdoor school counselor. I guarantee that spending a week away from reality and surround-ing yourself with excited kids and supportive peers will do you some good.
2) Attend at least one basket-ball and one football game. I myself had never attended a game prior to this year. Experiencing the thrill of the Trojan Den and expressing school spirit for the last time is a must!
3) Go to senior ball, with or without a date. The bottom line is that this is your last high school formal and one of your last chances to hang out with your senior class again. Take advantage
of that.4) Participate in Song Girls, Male
Skit, and/or Float during Home-coming. It’s your last chance to seize the opportunity to meet new people, be crazy, and help be a part of a team effort.
5) Go to the senior events such as Senior Awards Night and Senior Sunset. Staff members and your class officers organize such events just so you can spend more time with your peers and celebrate your class going different ways.
6) Watch Mr. CV, sponsored by Boosters. It’s a fun experience to watch the talents of the daring guys in your class and see who gets crowned!
7) Become a member of a club on campus or participate in as many extracurricular activities as pos-sible. Our campus offers a plethora of different clubs and one is bound to fit you. A club is a great way to meet new people and help a cause while you’re at it.
8) Participate in Senior Cut Day, the school day after senior ball. You will never have another opportunity when parents and teachers alike understand you cutting. Use this
day wisely.9) Spend a day with friends at
Lake Chabot. As Castro Valley residents, we underappreciate the natural beauty of our town. With college approaching, adven-ture throughout Castro Valley and go to places you’ve never been. You’d be surprised at where you end up.
10) Meet people you’ve never met and do things you’ve never done. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to see your classmates on a daily basis again, and that your senior year is an opportune time to experiment and experience.
So there you are! Ten things that you should do during your senior year in order to make it the best it could possibly be. In short, take advantage of the school activities offered to you because you won’t have them again in college. Most importantly, have fun. As obvious as it seems, it’s something that we often forget amidst college applications and academics. So have a great time with family and friends and ap-preciate staff members! I wish you the best of luck.
MEgAn HickMAn’s Sekret
SAuvAnnE PAttiSon’s AngelinA Jolie
kArinA ng’s ABC UndA dA SeA
MEgAn XiAo’s dArlie
Artwork from the Senior Art Show stun spectators during Senior Awards Night on May 30.
rEbEccA fong And JAnE Hong
Class of 2012 Senior Issue
Senior Ball at the Academy of Sciences stuns seniors.
Alameda Beauty CollegeHilary Cook
American Health EducationSydney Kidwell
Appalachian State Univer-sity
Carolyn Kawada
Arizona State UniversityPatrick Brown
Art Institute of SFNatasha Henry
Azusa Pacific UniversityMikah Johnson, Paige Nor-
mann
Berkeley City CollegeJasmine Bushehry, Jessica Cal-
estini, Francisco Canto, Steven Davidson, Zackary DeRose, Ra-hel Endalkachew, Kevin Finerty
Bethel LearningDomonik Benjamin
Biola UniversityNicole Braski, Trinity Bustria
Brigham Young UniversityEmma Hancock
Bryn Mawr College Janna Coles
Butte CollegeDakota Kleven, Stephen Mu-
rakami
Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA
Grace Caploe, Colin Nalezny, Karenna Weber
Cal Poly PomonaRachel Miller, Zachary Peter-
son, Devin Situ
Cal Poly San Luis ObispoErin Cathey, Priya Chopra,
Daniella Fonseca, Carlos Garay, Dayshawn Garcia, Christopher James Garma, Robert Ghereben, Victoria Griego, Gerson Guillen, Jackson Guo, Hubert Ho, Zanah Johnson, Jared Jukich, Crystal Kawano, Haroon Khan, Sulina Kho, Oleg Khomyak, Jordan King, Bethany LaBarge, Ma' lia Leines, Patrick Louie, Ariana Love, Raelenna Love, Yiyun Lu, Jennifer Mays, Brandon McWil-liams, Arian Mere, Elizabeth Merk, Fernando Miramontes, Karley Moi, Johnna Murch, Motez Musa, Valeria Najera, Thien Nguyen, Tung Nguyen, Leticia Nieves, Debbanie Nieves-Reed, Keon Oh, Shivani Pabbi, Dannika Pestana, Jacqueline Reis, Breyanna Richardson, Em-ily Rivera, Joelle Rude Lemming, Mick Saxton, Luther Sayaseng, Jesse Sellers, Avtar Singh, Logan Smith, Travis Sparaco, Ryan Swanick, Benjamin Tang, Shaun Thiers, Cortney Valente, David Valladares, Juan Vazquez, Maria Villalobos, Donisha Williams, Olga Yakovleva, Nadine Zokari
Chapman UniversityTara Steward
College of AlamedaDawit Gebremedhin, Igor
Kahane, Dustin Reid, Alejandra Rubio Vega, Joshua Wilson
College of San MateoMaria Morgan
College of the SiskiyousBrandon Bremer
Colorado State UniversityRobert Barney, Haley Gilham
Columbia UniversityVictor Castano
CSU Channel IslandsMelissa Cortez
CSU ChicoBriana Azevedo, Annaliese
Herren, Allen Saylor, Marc Stiver, Matthew Zaleski
CSU Dominguez HillsDavid Barnum
CSU East BayRaymundo Alarcon, Dani-
elle Benjamin, Austin Bruckner, Jessica Bryan, Danielle Bush, Alex Cardoze, Mickey Cardoze, Laura Carrillo, Rachel Fox, Cody Fuentes, Stephan Glavin, Ryan Gray, Anjulhy Guin, Steven Heinsma, Bradley Heusdens, Megan Hickman, Jaroslaw Ja-goda, Breana Lastiri, Richard Le, Jerrald Loche, Jose Luna Lopez, Anthony Luu, Jessica Magallanes, Lisa Mai, Ronald Marasigan, Gina Markette, Eric Martinez, Amin Mayar, Jesse McAuliff, Sean Miller, Alexander Morales, Courtney Peterson, Khadija Raz, Jennifer Robbins, David Robertson, Jack Rosendall, Kymerly Saechao, Sabreena Sa-hota, Anthony Salvato, Christina Sanchez, Michael Sanchez, Mark
Schantz, Ankush Sharma, Mel-anie Slife, Luke Teyler, Zachary Torres, Jerry Tran, Christopher Tsang, Benjamin Tseng
CSU FullertonCandice Haight
CSU Los AngelesDolores Bianchini, Christo-
pher Martinez
CSU Monterey BayKatherine Jouthas
CSU NorthridgeMatthew Doggett, Nahjae
Upshaw
De Anza CollegeAngelica Birdsall Hernandez
Delta Community CollegeJames Day
Diablo Valley CollegeElena Ala, Paloma Chavez,
Soi Chun Choi, Jacqueline Fisher, Trevor Hubbard, Li-angzhen (Karen) Lin, Rebecca Linde, Gerald McPartland, Kayla Mercurio, Alec Otten, John Patterson, Philip Patton, James Ray, Jun Ming (Jimmy) Tan, Kai-Chieh Yang, Qi Yang, Yu Yang, Sarah Zunino
Dillard University, New Orleans
Maya Chissell
Eastern Washington Uni-versity
Erin Callihan
FIDMMiranda Brommer, Natalie
Gonzalez
Finlandia University, Hancock, Michigan
Gabriella Soares
Foothill CollegeKevin Osorio
Franklin College, Swit-zerland
Melissa Fain
Fresno Pacific UniversityAlexandria Jackson
Georgetown UniversitySeamus Guerin
Golden State Baptist Col-lege
Francisco Sanchez Garcia
Hawaii Pacific UniversityCharlotte Crespin
Heald CollegeJenee Taylor
Holy Names UniversityBianca Arias, Carlo Barroso,
Jessica Rusu
Humboldt State Univer-sity
Michael Dangler, Georgia Hamer, Patrick Hassett,Andrew Mitchell
Jacksonville University
Lauren Cruz
Lake Tahoe Community College
Kiana Hawk
Laney CollegeAnalicia Kapellas, Aaron Lin-
en, Renee Lopez, Jean Benoit Njike, Anthony Viveiros
Las Positas CollegeTrisha Ajimura, Gabriela
Avalos, Zeidan Azraei, Phillip Bannister, Staesy Barillas, Re-becca Barrera, Malcolm Batte, Alan Bolanos, Marla Bradford, Christine Bray, Taylor Brazil, Jen-nifer Brisco, Samantha Briseno, Derrick Buckhanan, Emily Burn, Scott Caires, Brandon Carrizo, Francisco Cervantez, Lillian Chau, Jia Jun Chen, Dustin Ches-ter, Stella Cheung, Kevin Chong, Alec Conway, Austin Conway, Ian Cornelius, Elijah Davis, Al DelaCruz, Kaela Domin, Brennan Dominguez, Christopher Flores, Alexis Flores-Padilla, Courtney Frank, Elaina Garcia, Austin Gayle, Wesley Glaser, Vanessa Gonzalez, Andy Ha, Thomas Heinsma, David Ibrahimi, Jef-frey Jacques, Shane Johnson, Darshun Khatri, Dillon Khatri, Dennis Konrad, Joseph Kruse, Karli Lacome, Emily Lassalle, Austin Leonard, Brianna Lewis, Tamara Lo, Phillip Loghry, Addie Ma, Eron Magnus, Walter Mako-pondo, Jonathan Marsh, Robert Martinez, Wyatt Melton, Denton Murphy, Hailey Murphy, Yousef Nasser, Paul Noguchi, Kelsey Olivetti, Favian Oseguera, Kim-berley Pereira, Morgan Prause, Nicole Prior, Christian Ranard, Ryan Rathbun, Jaylen Reliford, Camilo Riveros, Luis Rodriguez, Daniel Rodriguez Peccorini, Jor-dan Rolle, Sheba Sharifi, Dylan Shew, Kyle Simsek, Harneet Singh, Ga Bin Song, Georgina Sousa, Samantha Souza, Alex-ander Stanford, Noah Stone, Na-than Tavares, Michael Thomas, Ian Thornton, Kevin Timm, Ash-ley Torres, Tiffany Tse, Steven Valdespino, Adam Vance, Kelvin Wang, Lillian Wang, Ryan Welch, Fadi Wissa, Derek Wright, Paul Zaballos, Andrey Zherebnenko, Kevin Zuluaga
Le Cordon Bleu, SFKaitlyn Goode
Lewis & Clark CollegeAurora Bailey
Lone Star CollegeTrevor Sarap
Los Medanos Community College
Ashley Rhoden
Loyola Marymount Uni-versity
Victoria Owens
Mahidol University, Thai-land
Ngamsuda Inchaiya
Marinello Cosmetology School
Kaleen Perez Hernandez
Merritt CollegeJenna Brady, Becky Ghita, An
Pham, Kari Wesley
MilitarySean Benson, Calvin Bleth,
Daniela Cortez, Michael De-laRiva, Justin Gehrke, Gregory Grigsby, Lucas Heuer, Alex John-son, Coriana Johnson, Anthony Juliani, Jason Knudsen, Jayson Koishor, Guocong Li, Russell Magwili, Nasir Nasir, KSandra Overdorf, Griffyn Pina
Bundgus, Andrew Coulter, Kayla Ferrell, Nicole Fong, Nicholas Leonardo, Kenneth Livings-ton, Cinthya Paguaga, Zachary Wong, Erik Wood, Alexandria Adkins
San Francisco City CollegeAshley McGovert, Siobhan
Powell
The Class of 2012
Farhad Akbar-pour, Farzad Ak-barpour, Adam A l e m a y e h u , Marlene Arevalo, Emaun Barfeei, J u a n B a r re r a , Ivan Lester Bay-lon
San Francisco State Univer-sity
Allison Ashley, Justin Bell, Josh-ua Braze, Cheng Chen, Joseph Costa, Angelica Hamill, Kyler Knox, Petra Martins, Miriam Mo-rales, Danielle Oh
San Jose State UniversityAlvin Chan, Jessica Connors,
Dante Dianda, Scott Fang, Michael Fong, Malik Foster, Samantha Fu-kui, David Gresham, Jesse Han, Jin Huang, Natasha Kiani, Yuya Kono, Melissa Lau, Jonathan Liang, Kyle Linayao, Candice Lozano, Enrico Maglaya, Nikole Martin, Karina Ng, Laura Portillo, Reny Ramil, Kelly Schmid, Bradley Sutedja, Da-vid Tong, Jarrus Tsang, Jaylan Tse
Santa Clara UniversityJonathan Tung
Santa Monica Community College
Dawson Johnson, Taji-Mikal Mekki
Scottsdale Comm. CollegeYibo Loving Fubara
Shasta CollegeLindsey Matheney
Skyline CollegeNelson Alvarenga
Sonoma State UniversityMonica Gamez, Emily Gar-
cia, Richard Lindberg, Michelle Miyamoto, Samuel Weaver, Emily Wirdzek, Amanda Young
Southern Oregon Uni-versity
Heidi Harrison
St. Mary's CollegeCassandra Grima, Valerie
Lim, Rachel Nemy, Phung Southisone
Stanford UniversityBright Zhou
Swarthmore CollegeHolden Parks
Syracuse UniversityJane Hong, Young (Michael)
Lee
Texas Southern UniversityDomonique Rodriguez
The Salon Professional Academy, San Jose
BriAnna Castro
The University of KansasColby Wright, Abbey Con-
nolly
Tulane University, New Orleans
Jessica Ellis, Holly Talmadge
UC BerkeleyNikyra Adams, Anna Balas-
sone, Calvin Cheng, Esther Han, Gabriel Koo, Mason Kwan, Dana Lin, Cindy Ma, Celeste Martore, Gyan Rusconi-Rodrigues, Kayla Turney, Beryl Wang, Brian Zhang
UC DavisBetty Chen, Tiffany Choi, Sarah
Dimitratos, Rebecca Fong, Emily Han, Sarah Law, Connie Leung, Alan Liang, Victoria Liang, Genie Ma, Jasmine Mangabay, Mat-thew Michel, Joshua Ng, Michael Nguyen, Steven Park, Tanya Senna, Andie Smith, Isabella Tang, Di Tran, Sydney Wong, Xin Ru Xiao, Lillian Xie, Jessica Yee, Jason Yu, Amanda Zen
UC IrvineAditi Bhatia, Darren Liu, Sierra
Mathias, Philip Shmelkin, Jessica Woo, Nicole Yee
UC MercedDong Kang, Aimee Stewart
UC RiversideKelly Brown, Andrew Hender-
son, Purnima Kalra, Jamie Lu, Amna Sisic
UC San DiegoYusef Abouremeleh, Kyle Kole,
Sirinya Phakoom, Diana Salnik, Lauren Taiclet, Jasmine Tat, Kath-ryn Weese, Matthew Woo, Lor-raine Yeung, Jay Yu, Jessica Yu
UC Santa BarbaraSangEun Choi, Sina Edalat-
javid, Brendan Korbas, Jeremy Lawrence, Brenda Liu, Travis Mattas, Peri Ouyang, Andrew Pang
UC Santa CruzAria Alokozai, Ming Chan,
Gabriel DelCastillo, Elyse High-street, Raymond Ho, Danna Huang, Andy Li, Lilian Liang, Cordelia Lim, Jack Mei, Ken-dra Morris, Christian Supriano, Jamie Thomas, Nicole Torres, Arianna Weingarten, Elena Will, Cassandra Wong, Choi Wong
UCLANatalie Chin, Samantha Fong,
Ye Seong Kim, Timothy Pak
University of ColoradoDaniel Wohlner
University of CumberlandsPamela Crosby
Universi ty of Hawaii Manoa
Matthew Shimizu
University of North DakotaTyler Reince
University of OregonKelsey Donovan, Rebecca
Howard, Sean Meehan, Christina Montes
University of Puget SoundNoelle Donnelly
University of RedlandsMelissa Hosman
University of San FranciscoJose Cisneros
University of So. CaliforniaArad Margalit, Eshed Margalit
University of the PacificJonathan Wummer
Ursinus CollegeTianYu Gao
Vanderbilt UniversityLauren Quan
VIP Nursing SchoolJanela Love Nartates
Whitman CollegeSarah Blacher
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plans for the future
For the past two years, Natalie Chin or “Nat King Cole” has been arriving to school at 7:05 am for Journal-ism class. Waking up when it’s pitch black and cold has been a struggle, but to Natalie, it was worth it to be in Journalism. Rising from a staff writer junior year to the News Editor her senior year has been a fun, exciting expe-rience for Natalie. She will never forget the first awkward interview she conducted or the back room laughs she shared with her fellow staff members. Along with choir, Journalism has been the class that inspired Natalie the most and taught her the most valuable lessons. She will miss her Journalism family as she embarks for UCLA next year under an undeclared major, but thanks them and Mr. J for all the experience and memories.
Betty Chen has truly enjoyed her last year in journal-ism. Being a part of The Olympian staff has allowed her to talk to certain people that she otherwise wouldn’t have. The last four years of high school have really flown by, but the memories will always stay with her and she wouldn’t change anything about the friends she has made. Betty will be attending UC Davis in the fall and will be part of the womens golf team. She can’t wait to see how life will unfold in college. She would like to tell her fellow seniors that, “Even though the high school chapter of our lives will be ending, the memories will be remembered forever.”
For Bianca Arias, high school was a time in her life she'll never forget. She was a part of journalism for two years and during her second year she became photo editor. High school was a time for exploring and learning. Bianca thought she wanted to become a veterinarian, but as time passed things changed and she came to realize nursing is what she wants to do. With this desire to become a nurse, Bianca will go to Holy Names University majoring in nursing. She's excited to continue her education and reach her goal but is sad and will miss all the friends and great people she met.
Matthew Barney has been here a long time but really only a very short time with perspective. The school as a whole has perhaps not changed dramatically but in small imperceptible amounts. Teachers have retired, classes have been removed, and programs changed. The biggest change Bar-ney has experienced here would have to be either the elimination of the eight period day or the “optional donations” required for sports teams. Both of these lost effects were thought to be pillars vested in time and never to be re-moved but Matthew soon learned the folly of that overestimation. Life changes. School transforms without permission. Absorbing these changes is the hardest part of school so Matthew Barney would advise walking out of a classroom with a respect for the momentum of life but a determination to stand fast in the sands of time.
Seventeen and three-quarters of a year ago, Alex Gao was born into this world. Armed only with a pen, he quickly set out to conquer the known world. After four long years of high school, he is now ready to rise to the rank of a college student in order to further advance his goals. In the fall, Alex will be attending Ursinus College, a small college tucked away 20 minutes or so from Philadel-phia. Although he will not be doing anything journalism-related in college, he knows that the knowledge he has gained will help him immensely in whatever challenges that may come in the future. The journey has been tough, but with the lessons he has learned from this class, he is sure that he will be able to move on and adapt.
Ever since Anna Balassone read her first issue of The Olympian, she wanted to be on the paper. Writing for publication had always been a dream of hers. Finally, last year, Anna joined the newspaper staff as a staff writer. From there, she became the A&E page editor and finally the editor-in-chief. Some of Anna’s fondest high school memories have taken place at The Olympian, from writing controversial columns to hanging out in the back room to interviewing Rachel Maddow. Anna would like to thank Mr. J for introducing her to the incredible world of journal-ism and for creating a constructive learning environment. She also has undying gratitude for her fellow editors, who had to put up with her blasting classic rock in the back room every morning. When she isn’t writing, Anna can be found drinking green tea, making snarky comments, and going on occasional political rants. In the fall, Anna will be heading off to UC Berkeley. Go Bears!
If you are one of the ten or so people who have been fortunate enough to hear Holden Parks speak, count yourself lucky by whatever deity in which you be-lieve, not because it’s a particu-larly wonderful experience, but because it’s so rare that it just has to be noteworthy. Over the course of his four years at CVHS and his two as a member of the journalism staff, Holden has enjoyed his time about as much as is possible for a sleep deprived student. In the fall, he will be attending Swarthmore College because he wishes to learn without worrying about the practi-cal applications of his education. No word yet on how much he will regret this decision.
Few people in the world are as lucky as Dana Lin. Blessed is she not only with the chance of writing and editing for the journalism class for three years, but also the wonderful experience of doing so at Castro Valley High School. When Dana is not preoccupied with journalism matters, she can be seen linking arms with her friends while walking two miles per hour, thus backing up hallway traffic. Dana’s many talents include eating for four hours continuously after she returns home, caring for a cute but crazy dog who squirts poop in fear upon receiving shots, and typing at 120 words per minute, which may seem easy to some people, but is actually double the speed at which some administrators at CVHS type. Next school year, Dana will continue to impress at UC Berkeley and without fail, bring down Stanford’s reputation with her gallant accomplishments.
Tim Pak was born academically challenged; he never did well in his studies and always fooled around in classes. He never understood the reason for school, until he began his time in Journalism. During his first year, he discovered his passion for photography so he became a photo editor during his second year. Through the class, Tim has gained so many awesome skills that will help him in life. To name a few, he can talk to strangers, take pictures of people without them knowing, and also edit photos. As his time closes, he hopes that future generations will be able to shar his experience. Tim believes that journalism is an amazing opportunity at CVHS where one can gain the nec-essary skills to live life. Timothy will be attending UCLA in the fall and he knows that the skills Mr. J has taught him through Journalism will carry him far in the City of Angels. And always remember, Peace and Love, Brotha!
Rebecca Fong is torn between two extremes: a thrill to begin a new life at UC Davis next fall, and heartsickness from leaving behind what has been her second home these past four years. She hopes she won’t embarrass herself too badly at graduation when she starts the waterworks. As much as Rebecca enjoys writing, she has also always had an interest in photography; working with both mediums in Journalism has been a fully satisfying experience. Though the early hours were brutal, she will miss the teamwork involved in producing such a high-quality newspaper. Her fellow staff, with whom she bonded through sleepiness and missing deadlines, has put in so much effort this year. She thanks them all for their work and will miss them, too. She would like to attribute her accomplishments as co-photo editor to Bianca Arias, her pre-decessor. To her own successor, Natalie Fazeli, she wishes good luck! Working on the paper for two years has familiarized Rebecca with the power of the press and the importance of ethics in report-ing. She will carry that knowledge with her wherever she goes.
Andie Smith enjoyed working on the Olympian staff for a year and a half, first as a staff writer in her junior year, then as opinion editor her senior year. She loves to draw and paint, and had the lucky opportunity to draw car-toons to go with opinion articles that other students wrote. Andie swam on the CVHS swim team all four years of high school. She plans to continue working hard in school while going to the Univer-sity of California in Davis to study aerospace engineering. She also plans to complete a Batman comic book project with Mr. Johanson in the near future, possibly drawing while on her plane ride to Europe this coming summer.
Camilo Riveros is glad to reach the end of his high school career and even happier with the person he has become over the past four years. Having lettered for four seasons on the boys varsity soccer team, he plans to play at Las Positas Community College with the goal of transferring and playing at the Division-1 level after one season. His passion for writing and informing the public about the truth in today’s world is what drives him to pursue a career in journal-ism with the hopes of one day being able to say he wrote articles for The New York Times. Not only does he want to do investigative journalism, but his love for sports and his ideal broadcasting voice may also lead him to pursue a career as a sports broadcaster with the dream of calling games for the FIFA World Cup. Keep your eyes open for this guy in the future, although it’s his goal to make sure you don’t have to look too hard.
Jane Hong decided to follow the path of broadcast journalism because of her high school experiences; she was constantly inspired to instigate positive change within her school and community by keeping others aware of current events. This same passion also led her to become a staff writer for The Olympian, and she could not be any more grateful for the one year she served her school as a student journalist. Jane is especially known for also being in choir and leadership, two other extracurricular activities that she has thoroughly enjoyed during her high school career. Being involved in these three major activities on campus has made her senior year the best it could’ve possibly been. She is headed to Syracuse University in the fall to major in broadcast journalism and hopes that you’ll see her as an anchorwoman on television someday. Jane will be remembered for her enthusiasm, optimism, and the inspiring roles she played at CVHS.
As a first year journalism student, Lillian Xie has realized that writ-ing is not her calling. Her experi-ence at The Olympian has been enlightening; among other things, it has taught her that writing is not her forte. If you’re wondering what Lillian does in her free time, most of her days are spent attempting to solve problems like world hunger, dolphin killings, and coral bleach-ing. This summer, she hopes to spend the rest of her free time work-ing, which probably means she won’t have time for naive thoughts about affecting global change. Lil-lian Xie has a bright future ahead of her at UC Davis. She is not sure what she wants to be in the future, but she is open to any options. Stand-up comedy, however, is completely off the table. She much rather do sit-down comedy.
At the end of her sophomore year, SangEun Choi reluctantly signed up for Journalism at the very last minute and was lucky that Mr. Jwas been kind enough to allow her into the class. It seemed that the only downside to being a part of the newspaper was losing an hour of sleep and considering the fact that sleep was nonexistent in her life, it was all a-okay. After a year as a staff writer, SangEun became the A&E editor and quite enjoyed the past year of designing pages. She learned a lot within two years, from grammar to how to properly shake someone’s hand. In her free time, SangEun likes to eat massive amounts of food, col-or-code her pens, and draw flowers. Next fall, she will attend UC Santa Barbara and spend her time building a house of daisies. She also hopes to receive her long overdue pizza from Tim Pak. Peace and Love, Sista!