Senior Tribute Magazine | Issue 2 - Part 4 | May 2022 - Tonitrus & Flash Joint Production

EDITOR NOTESEDITOR NOTES

The Senior Tribute magazine highlights Rocklin High School (RHS) seniors undercovered in the school yearbook. This year’s Senior Tribute theme is focused on the “defining moments” of high school for RHS students. While RHS seniors haven’t had a “traditional” high school experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, the end of the 2021-2022 school year has finally brought back a sense of normalcy. With this, we encourage you to read their stories.

Jillian Andrew (pictured on cover)

Rocklin High School senior Jillian Andrew discussed the biggest challenge she faced throughout her time in high school. “Since middle school, everyone assumed I had an eating disorder because I’m skinny. People bullied me a lot. I wanted to gain weight, but it was hard and I was lazy. I felt like if I ate too much, my body wouldn’t be able to handle being over 100105 pounds,” said Andrew.

“I wouldn’t eat food that was sitting out or looked weird, and I would only eat food that I or my family got in the past 3 days. I went into a program at Kaiser, and I talked to a dietician and a therapist weekly. Over quarantine, I was eating more and gaining weight, and finally happy,” Andrew said. I remember this particular day, I was really happy with the amount of food I ate. I was like, “heck yeah, I ate all of this!”

CONTENTS

Acke, Austin 34

Adao, Marisa 52 Alfaro, Grace 52 Allin, Aidan 61 Andrew, Jillian Cover Andrews, Victoria 52 Azavedo, Alyssa 57 Baddley, Mariah 22 Bal, Jasleen 50 Baptista, Brooke 30 Barbieri, Ryan 50 Basle, Vincent 51 Blair, Logan 09 Blanco, Sidney 19 Botrous, Sandra 42 Boyd, Genevieve 47 Calia, Jacob 55 Carrillo, Emiah 29 Charles-Rambally, Meshack 36 Cissna, Tommy 06 Cissna, Tony 37 Clough, Kennedy 33 Cooke, Gavin 08 Cunningham, Sheyenne 33 Daley, Liam 10 Daniels, DJ 03 DeLaby, Julia 05 Domino, Alexander 17 Doran, Maddy 20 Dugarr, Brandon 13 Dunievitz, Mason 60 Dutt, Ronnit 21 Eaton, Madi 23 Eiras, Jordan 16 Ellis, Reece 38 Estonactoc, Niccolo 55 Fagan, Tristan 44 Fajardo, Audrey Joan 07 Finley, Hannah 40 Francis, Katie 41 Gad, Mary 47 Gamba, Connor 36 Garcia, Andrea 38 Garcia, Bella 11 Garcia, Bernardo 63 Ghazizadeh, Parastoo 51 Gilsdorf, Joshua 35 Gober, Gannon 43 Gonzalez, Camila 10 Goodman, Owen 61 Gould, Dylan 13 Green, John 35 Grenfell, Emma 28 Guter, Emily 35 Hawthorne, Maci 25 Hernandez, Aby 15 Higginbotham, Ethan 46 Hill, Nash 19 Hopkins, Hope 29 Huerta, Brycen 14 Ja, Isaac 37 Jain, Advik 14 Jeffra, Olivia 59 Johnsen, Rylee 59 Kapanen, Nina 26 Kinser, Everett 43 Laflaur, Ellie 20 Lamb, Jacob 17 Lanto, Lily Ann 47 Larson, Brandon 22 Le, Ryin 31

Lebedev, Vlad 45 Lee, Justin 09 Lee, Megan 38 Leiper, Sarah 48 Lennig, Parker 12 Lew, Mason 37 Lomeli, Sierra 43 Martinez, Priscila 49 Mason, Ryan 11 Mcdonald, Lauren 48 McKevitt, Reilly 24 Meyers, Kevin 62 Miller, Zachary 16 Moniz, Owen 54 Morales, Carlos 44 Najafi, Yasi 30 Paulson, Sydney 02 Pelly, Aloysius 23 Piacentini, Katie 56 Picart, Audrey 33 Pineda, Nyah 39 Pojda, Quinn 35 Pompa, Eva 05 Price, Riley 28 Purkiss, Hanna 46 Rakkar, Maneet 63 Ramirez-Flores, Malena 63 Rekers, Karson 31 Robertson, Marissa 32 Robinson, Dawson 17 Rodier, Lexie 41 Russo, Aidan 62 Ryu, Eric 27 Sadiq, Alisha 41 Salvotti, Seth 60 Samba, Tejan 15 Sanayev, Markel 55 Schaack, Jake 03 Schmidt, Margaret 21 Scott, Keke 56 Sieber, Ben 59 Singh, Arun 12 Smith, Adrineh 05 Smurthwaite, Carla 04 Staebler, Helaena 06 Stice, AJ 39 Swaleh, Zaynah 07 Szeremi, Taryn 02 Tew, Claire 57 Thomas, Jack 58 Tolentino, Zehavi 24 Torres, David 42 Tyukayeva, Leila 40 Vaishnav, Zankar 31 Vandre, Hunter 06 Varner, Elizabeth 49 Vasques, Hailey 26 Verma, Shayla 52 Vo, Jayden 36 Voelker, Paige 03 Watkins, Lorelei 49 Watts, Brian 19 Watts, Cheyanne 18 Weber, Kylee 10 Wells, Kayla 22 Wetteland, Becky 32 Wiebe, Austin 41 Witte, Zach 27 Wuelfing, Mary Kate 46 Ybarra, Nathaniel 08 Ziminske, Rohan 09

Taylor Aubry and Teagan Van Biber

Carlos Morales

Majority of students and teachers hated the nation wide lockdown, but not Rocklin High Senior Tristan Fagan. Tristan recalled his favorite moment of High School, “The moment I found out that my whole Junior year would be inside my house, I was thrilled. I could wake up basically whenever I wanted, had so much more freedom, and got to choose when and what I wanted to work on.”

Even though Tristan loved being able to work alone indoors, he also regrets not going to more Rocklin sports events. Tristan explained, “One thing I would’ve told myself before entering High School, would be to attend more sports events. Looking back on it they actually sounded prettty interesting and fun.”

All boys know how competitive and personal PE sports games get, especially flag football Super Bowls. Unfortu nately for Rocklin High Senior, Carlos Morales, he has been on the losing side of this. “My biggest regret has to be losing the Super Bowl in team sports for flag football...twice. I had to retake the class so I lost it back to back years.”

Even though Carlos had his regrets, he also gathered some very memorable mo ments. “One of the last days of school when everyone was out in the amphitheatre, my friend Sean went out there and started twerking in front of everyone. Shortly after, he started a whole dance battle and everyone was like getting into it which was pretty mem orable,” said Morales.

Tristan Fagan

Vlad Lebedev

Rocklin High Senior, Vlad Lebe dev has a heart full of excitement. In an exclusive interview on May 4th, Vlad expressed that he loves having fun and making enjoyable moments out of life by using the objects and conversation topics around him to have a blast. Vlad enthusiastically said,

He has a strong opinion that no matter what you are doing, you always need to have fun because laughter is the best medicine.

Vlad also stated in his interview that he is hard on himself about how he may have been rude and impolite toward his teachers in his high school years. Vlad told me,

“One time I took a little pink toy car and I drove it around in the parking lot. I was just cruising around.” Vlad enjoys having fun and entertaining other people around him. Last year, when he took a pink toy car and drove it around the large parking lot at Rocklin High, several stu dents, teachers, and even parents gathered around and took videos and pictures of him driving the little car.

“live everyday like it’s your last, just send it everyday.”

School Senior recalls in an in terview on April 25th, 2022 that when she was in high school a moment that changed her was when covid hit. She was a Sophomore at the time and ev eryone had to be quarantined. She said she learned how to be a lot more independent and get her work done. She real ized how much she appreciat ed going to school in person. “I missed the social aspect of school and being able to see the people I normally wouldn’t see outside of school”. Hanna also talked about how her fa vorite memory wasn’t just one specific moment. Instead

in all her four years spent at Rocklin High School. She said: “My favorite memories would be all the friends I’ve made in classes that I normally wouldn’t have talked to outside of class.”

Hanna said in our interview that if she could go back in time and change one thing about high school, it would be to stop stressing about all the little things that you can’t control. You need to enjoy life because it does not last forever and it goes by way faster than you expect. “So overall just en joy the small moments more”.

MARY KATE

MARY KATE WUELFING

Mary Kate Wuelfing, a senior, deals with the same things all students do: trying to get good grades, homework, and the always present stress about college; but there is one thing she says people just don’t talk about. “Not wanting to get up and come to school every day,” she says. “You come and you do it every day, but kind of the routine of it, and just how annoying it can be.” Mary Kate also talked about how she experienced so many new things at Rocklin High. Between taking unique classes and meeting different types of people, she changed a lot, but she says her favorite thing from all of high school was something much simpler: “Just spending time with my friends at lunch,” she says was her favorite memory.

Ethan Higginbotham, a Rocklin High School Senior mentions in an interview on May 5, 2022 that one of his favorite memories of high school have been going to the Rocklin High School football and basketball games. Ethan said that it was a really cool atmosphere to be a part of because of how many people showed up to support our teams. “The amount of people there supporting the teams made it a really cool atmosphere to be a part of”. Higginbotham also says in that interview, that a moment in high school that changed him was taking business classes. Higginbothum said it was a really good way to learn how to put good ideas into something and then make money out of it. “It really opened my eyes to how easy it is to put my ideas into action and make money”.

LILY ANN LANTO MARY GAD GENEVIEVE BOYD

GENEVIEVE BOYD MARY GAD LILY ANN LANTO

Rocklin High School senior, Lily Ann Lanto, has overall enjoyed her high school experience, but considers Breaking Down the Walls earlier this year as a defining moment, and regrets not doing it in years past. “I feel like it really changed my views on some things,” Lanto says. As Lily Ann looks forward to her future, she also looks back on her high school years, knowing that she will miss them greatly, look back on them fondly, and wish she hadn’t taken them for granted. “I think I will gen uinely miss being a kid,” she says, “going out and doing things every single day, having fun, not having to worry about huge responsibilities.”

Lily Ann also talks about her regrets from her four years spent here. In her freshman year, she remembers not interacting as much with her peers, and she really regrets that.

“This year I was definitely a little more social and put mysefl out there,” she says, “but I wish I had done that sooner.”

Rocklin High School senior, Gene vieve Boyd is a very social person. Online classes made it especially hard for her to interact with her friends, classmates, and teachers. It also made it harder for her to learn because, as she said in an interview, “I learn better by being present in a classroom and not through a screen but it was great that we were able to come back this year.” Genevieve is also a very outgoing person. She likes hanging out with her friends and the rallies at Rocklin High School gave her the perfect opportunity to do so. These rallies had entertaining, stu dent-led games and chants which were perfect in bringing class mates together and having fun. She mentioned this in a previous interview, “I also loved the rallies and dances that happened be cause it was a fun way for friends to get together and create some core memories.”

Rocklin High School senior, Mary Gad is an extrovert. When she went to the school event Breaking Down The Walls, she learned more about the people in her class es. She mentioned in an earlier interview the many things that she gained from this event, “Overall I would say that event allowed me to be open-minded, and truly realize that you never actually know what someone may be going through.” Mary went through high school stressing about her classes. She described the consequences of this in an interview, “One of the hardest things I went through in high school, was being under a lot of stress due to always over study ing even when I did not need to. This led to me going through some very hard times and constantly feeling sick and overwhelmed.”

After a little while, she learned how to manage her schoolwork/grades and also have fun.

Lauren

McDonald is an exuberant and fun-spirited person who shares her liveliness with others. She recollects a time when she attempts to cheer up a friend, and ends up starting something unexpect ed. “My freshman year, it was the last Friday before spring break, and she (Kat, a friend) was kind of feeling like in a funk. But I was absolutely hyped on energy for no reason. There was music playing, and we both just ended up dancing like insane people on the side of the amphitheater, and we basically started a dance circle.” Lauren gives advice about speaking up for yourself and your needs; without fearing it. She seems to know what it may feel like to be in a tricky situ ation but encourages pushing through that. “Ask for stuff. It’s hard. It’s awkward, but it’s not as awkward as you think. The teachers usually don’t actually hate you. They just occasion ally hate being here as much as you do. Whatever it is, ask for the thing.” Lauren’s wise, simple, yet precise perspective is a distinct thing you cannot miss when speaking with her. When asked if she would like to say anything else at all, she responds with, “Comparative thinking is a trap. Stop com paring things to other things; yourself, others, achievements. Just like things, and don’t like things. You don’t actually have to have an opinion on everything to the point.”

Senior

Sarah Leiper is a musically inclined intellectual. Not only that but she has also faced many aspects of self growth during her time here at Rocklin High School.“Looking back at my high school experience, I have to say my favorite part was meeting people and the extra curriculares I did. I was apart of the mu sic program for the time we weren’t in COVID, and wrestling freshman year. They were some of the best memories I have of Rocklin and I know the lessons I learned within, wrestling especially, will stay with me for the rest of my life. Working in a few environment was very productive and inspiring to be in!” To continue, Sarah struggled to understand the necessities of friendship. She says, “For me anyway, I didn’t know how essential my friends were going to be. I don’t feel like I would’ve become the person I am today without the people I’m surrounded by. Even the friends I had grown apart from, I still appreciate the times we had together and the emotional maturity I’ve gained from them.” Lastly, Sarah regrets not being more socially involved with the school. “I wish I had put myself out there even more than I did. Music and sports were so fun while I was participating in them, and I wished I could’ve looked into some clubs or other types of classes during my time here to get a more rounded experience of the school.”

Priscila

Martinez leaves a considerate and kind-hearted impression on those that crossed her path during high school. Not only did she care about others deeply, she expressed it through acts of service. Priscila found meaning when she took part in community service, and hoped to have made a positive impact. “The experiences I’ve had that were the most meaningful to me was when I was involved with community service. For a few months during senior year, me and 3 of my friends started a local chap ter for Letter for Rose. This is basically a non profit organization where teenage volunteers get together and write letters or make artwork for seniors in care homes. When we were involved in a few rounds, I found satisfaction in knowing that we made someone’s day just a little bit better.” Priscila Martinez also expresses that she valued the privilege of relaxation in high school, and will miss the leniency of flaws being accepted more often. She knows that when it comes down to it, the mistakes she once made can still be forgiven and forgotten, but her future decisions may be taken more heavily. “I’ll also miss the amazing freedom in high school to make mistakes and that it does not matter in the long run. Most of the mistakes that keep you up at night can either be fixed or won’t affect your adult life much, if at all.” Priscila also values the importance of keeping a positive and confident attitude, despite others and their o pinion. She keeps a “bigger picture” perspective, and is kind and understanding as much as possible. When asked what advice she would give to other high schoolers, she answered, “Get out of your comfort zone! It literally doesn’t matter what other people think of you. As long as you know that you’re the best version of yourself and treat other people kindly, what other people say or think doesn’t matter. High school may seem like your entire world, and that is only partially true. There is so much more to life than your popularity or how many people like you. Of course, be nice and kind to everyone but don’t get obsessed with how others view you. Most of these people, you’ll never see again, so just live your own life!”

Lorelei

Watkins is a very well-rounded game developer. Her skillful tal ent allowed for the once in a lifetime experience of creating a video game in Unity. COVID struck, but contributed to Lorelei’s dreams be coming a reality. “At first, leaving was great for me. I found my passion for game development right after we left school for distance-learning. It was a well-needed break, giving me enough free time to be creative and have fun. I liked distance-learning because it gave me this free time. I did feel, though, that I wasn’t being challenged as much and I missed seeing my friends in real life. Now, I’m just tired. Since my senior year started, I’ve largely detached from school for reasons outside of it—COVID’s effects on the world being a large part of that.” Even while being drained and feeling suffocated, Lorelei is thrilled to start school next year. “I’m excited for college and can’t wait to leave. I was accepted into UCSC, visited the college over spring break, and now have been itching to get out and live my life. Since things haven’t been great lately, UCSC is the light at the end of the tunnel for me. I am somewhat nervous about the job market and game industry, but I won’t have to worry about that for at least another couple more years.” And to finish off her jour ney at Rocklin High School, Lorelei would like to say to her future self, “Have some empathy for me—for past you. I know I’m probably doing things you wish I didn’t and not doing things you wish I was. Remember how hard it was to be me.”

Rocklin

High School Senior Elizabeth Varner recognizes both the good and unreasonably stupid parts of high school. She was brought to an abnormal obstacle in her high school ex perience and says, “I won’t lie, school since COVID has been pretty difficult but it has gotten easier as the years have gone on. But the entire experience has given me the opportunity to embrace new changes like being online for classes.” Yet, the complexities of college still linger at the back of her mind. It is scary to know you are moving on into another chapter of your life. Elizabeth, when talking about this, says, “I am both nervous and excited for college. I am going to Sierra College next year and I am still trying to grasp the concept that I will be leaving Rocklin High soon and going on to big ger things but I am really looking forward to being a college student.” To finish off high school during a global pandemic is an extraordi nary thing. If Elizabeth could tell her future self one thing she said, “I would like my future self to know that I should not worry about the petty things and know that failure does not define you.”

“because of COVID that definitely like changed everything...”

“Did you have the cliche high school experience or no. And can you explain that?”

“I want to say at a very cliche high school experience, for starters because of COVID that definitelychanged everything. It’s really a lot different than it would have been So I feel like I’ve had a pretty unique high school experience and I’m glad that I’ve went through what I have.”

“Do you think there was like any hardships with the whole Covid thing? Or do you think like it wasn’t that bad?”

“I think it was pretty hard going through, COVID not because of the virus or anything for me spe cifically, but it just like, it was really a big tran sition period for my life for my beliefs and stuff and just everything. So coming back to school after that almost one year period was really a big shock for me because it was completely different from when I was in school sophomore year.”

“What did he think was one of the toughest challenges you face in high school and how did you deal with?”

“When coming back to school from Covid I had to balance my job and heavy AP classes, that was really tough because it was just really stressful. Every time I came home from work, I didn’t really Ryan Barbieri

“What was a highlighting moment in high school?”

“The Quarry Bowl, it was really really big and we were all having fun. It was really more about the people I could care less about the game. The student section was really hyped up and I feel like everyone had a lot fo fun.”

“What moment in high school do you think changed or shaped you and how?”

“I went to graduation the end of my freshman year and I feel like that really gave me a whole new perspective on high school because I could feel how fast it went by for those seniors and how happy they were and how bittersweet that moment was. It made me want to cherish every moment and that I can’t regret anything by the time I am done.”

“What is your biggest regret regarding high school?”

“One of my biggest regrets is not trying new things, now looking back on it with one month of school left. Although maybe I wasn’t interested or it’s just not my thing I still wish I got involved because I feel like the experience was fun and would have benefitted me.”

“What do you think was the toughest challenge for you in high school?”

“...I moved here; didn’t know a single person…everybody knows each other from middle school and they have all these stories to tell from middle school and you’re just sitting there like, ‘...yeah I

Parastoo Ghazizadeh

Vincent Basle

“Was your high school cliche? Like something out of Netflix?”

“I felt like I was in a Netflix show, it was so funny! From an outside perspective, you know, everybody in Europe for sure sees America as all this cool high school dances and like the ‘mean girl group’ and all that stuff, you know, it’s funny! It’s really funny because it’s actually true.”

“Quarantine really helped find who I was, just like … I don’t know, just being with your self a lot, it just really, like, helped figure out who you wanna be.”

“What do you think was the toughest challenge you faced in high school?”

“Quarantine really helped find who I was, just like … I don’t know, just being with yourself a lot, it just really, like, helped figure out who you wanna be.”

“What is the main thing you will miss from high school?”

“The thing I’ll really miss about high school that really makes me sad thinking about is that…those friends that you have that you don’t hang outside [of school]...not being able to see them ‘cause you know, you’re not gonna talk to them outside of school so it’ll be like the last time we ever go to school with each other again.”

Where’d All the Time Go?

Marisa Adao, a senior at Rocklin High School, shares her experiences and her love for the school. She said, “High school was great for me and I loved getting involved, meeting a bunch of new people that I didn’t know before, experiencing a bunch of different classes and teachers, and trying different outside activities.” Since there was Covid-19 and a year of online school Marisa “really ap preciated all the extra stuff we got like rallys, dances, and football games, and [learned] to not take advantage of the experiences we did get. It really made me realize life without it was super boring and lame.” Marisa’s biggest regret was not taking every opportunity. She said, “I re gret not taking advantage of [everything] given to me, high school is only 4 years long and you are never going to get it again.” And finally Marisa shares some insight to good advice. She said, “I would say don’t be afraid to come up to people and talk to new people, and every one is trying to make new friends so it is really important to get out of your shell and reach out to people. Don’t be scared to find your group for who you truly are.”

Rocklin High School Senior, Victoria Andrews, shared that her favorite memory from high school was “first get ting here, becoming a freshman, it was a really big chap ter in my life going to a different school and meeting new people” She said, “I think just finding friends helped me come along in high school and help me fit in better even the teachers made me feel welcome.” She added “[ There is] definitely, way more people, way more classes, just the environment was totally different, I felt like I had more freedom.” Victoria shared her toughest challenge in high school and said, “I think the whole pandemic was the hardest, I know everyone went through it but I had to switch to RVC and I had to adapt really quickly and keep my grades up no matter what so anything that was thrown at me I had to adapt quickly.” After asking if she was excited to go into college she said “When I was a freshman I definitely was not looking forward to pro gressing but looking back it went by so fast, it’s definitely [going to be] different for me but I like stepping into new chapters in my life and learn ing new stuff so it’s exciting.”

Rocklin High School senior, Grace Alfaro, shares valuable life lessons that all people should know. She said, “Don’t be afraid of change because throughout high school you will meet a bunch of new peo ple and you are going to have some bad experiences and you are going to have some good experiences. But just put yourself out there and honestly have fun.” Grace had a “very good high school experience” and even accom plished her goal of going to SDSU. She is excited to meet new people and “branch out” but “[is] going through it now and thinking man I am never going to see them on a daily basis I will miss it.” Grace really didn’t have regrets but wishes she wasn’t so sad when her boyfriend broke up with her. She said,“When I got broken up with in my junior year I was absolutely crushed and I let that take up a lot of my mind space. I regret being so depressed, but in the long run I realized I would not have made all those fun memories I made with my current boyfriend. Don’t dwell as much.” Grace opened up and grew ma ture throughout high school. Her most important lesson she learned was “Not everyone is looking out for you… you have no control over that and it wasn’t your fault.”

Shayla Verma is a graduate in the late spring from Rocklin High School. She shared the highlight of her high school years. She said, “I think that dance team is my favorite memory as a whole because I loved every second of it.” Not only was the dance team a fun aspect but taught her many things. She said, “Dance team has forced me to become responsible because the older you get on the team the more responsibility you have.” However Shayla’s biggest struggle was homework and “...finding the motivation to do my school work because all I want ed to do was do the fun part about high school. I just wanted to hang out with my friends but that is not all what high school is about.” Shayla really does not have many regrets and said “things happen for a reason.” But some advice she would give to others is, “worry less as a whole because I kind of just worried about things more than I should have. And it affected me, how I was pres ent in certain situations.” Finally, Shayla is really going to miss her friends. She said, “I am going to miss having all my friends in one place. I have friends not just in my grade but in other grades too. So it is going to be weird to be so far away from everyone. I know I will have new friends but it won’t be the same.”

ANDREWS

“I realized not everyone has the same intentions as me and not everyone is going to be a good person; you just have to come to terms with it... you have no control over that.” -Grace Alfaro

Owen Moniz liked the social aspects of high school the best, his favorite memories all involving fun times with friends. When he first came to Rocklin high school he was in his Digital Arts class where he met his current best friend and was introduced to how fun school could be. He is mostly going to miss “the friends I made that I am not close enough to stay in contact with.” He works a job, hangs out with friends, and in his free time he plays guitar, skateboards, and builds car audio systems for friends as well as his own car. When asked how he manages to balance it all out, he said “there isn’t really a secret, you just put your mind to it and get to work.” When school isn’t in session he likes to go camping, and goes on big trips each year with his family speedboat. “We take the boat out every morning, {we go} tubing, wakeboarding, jet skiing, barbeque… it is just a nice little camping experience” Going into high school, one thing that nobody tells you about are the “good parts.” Everyone talks about the bad parts because… the negative definite ly sticks in our minds… but there are a lot of valuable things you learn such as learning about keeping a schedule, and the social aspect definitely teaches you a lot about yourself.”

“I’ve been interested in directing music, videos and stuff like that.”

“Guitar I started doing quarantine and drums was last year and then I played piano when I was eight years old.”

“I just started taking lessons, but I started with teaching myself.”

“I just went online on YouTube and just searched up songs to learn and play.”

“I think guitar, it just fits me more and it’s more fun to write songs on guitar.”

“I don’t really have a favorite song, but I have a favorite genre of music which is blues.”

“It calms me down and whenever I’m feeling down, I just play guitar and it helps a lot.”

JACOB CALIA

“I’m going into aviation”

“Growing up, we went, we did a lot of traveling and I always loved traveling and flying on airplanes and I think it would be really interesting to see how that worked from the perspective of actually running it, like air traffic control or something like that.”

“What I liked most is just experiencing the different places around the world. So, you know, pictures only go so far to actually see what it’s like and experience it. It’s the best to go to the actual destina tions and everywhere in the world is just so different from Rocklin.” “One of my favorite places was the Mediterranean. We went on a cruise there two and a half or three years ago. And we went to a couple of the Mediterranean countries. I thought that was really neat.”

“I have family from over there that came over a while back to the U S a while back and it’s really cool to see the area that they came from.”

“It was actually kind of funny because the sidewalk we walked down in Rome was built right on top of the ancient city from 2000 years ago.”

“I’ve always had an interest in history. It’s something that’s just cool to know and cool to understand.”

MARKEL SANAYEV

“I made even more friends over the years, especially Junior year after COVID because that’s when everyone felt like we should just socialize more in case stuff like that happens again.”

“I just found out I’m a really social person and just staying at home during quarantine was really tough because I didn’t get to see any of my friends for a long time”

“It was fun, Football especially. Love the coaches, love the atmosphere. You just feel like it’s a brotherhood, I loved it. Yeah, I wish I started way earlier.”

KATIE PIACENTINI

Katie Piacentini a senior at Rocklin High school is saying a sad goodbye in just a few weeks, but fortunately enough for her she has much to come! Attending college in the fall, Katie is excited for new beginnings.

Moving on to college insites mixed feelings for Katie. She said she “is excited to move to a new place and meet new people but it’s going to be hard to leave all my friends and family.”

When asked what her favorite grade level was, Katie said. “I loved my senior year because my schedule was so great, and my friends and I had the same classes. Senior year was by far the easiest year out of all four years.”

Katies favorite high school memory is “Lacrosse... because of all the great and fun people I met, and the relationships I built.”

Katie said the things she will miss most are “Friends and family, and all the friend ships I have built here at Rocklin.” Though it is hard to say goodbye, everything comes to an end.

KEKE

Keke Scott, a senior at Rocklin High School went over some of her favorite memories and some of her struggles of highschool. Keke had two favorite grades and couldn’t pick between sophomore and senior year. But, her current year as a senior she wished she got out more and wasn’t such a “homebody”. Keke did not attend any senior field trips, and does not regret that.

When asked what her favorite memory was from senior year she men tioned basketball. “During my junior year, I got cut off a lot. Not a lot of views from colleges, everyone was getting offers and I was like where’s my offer? But I stayed patient and senior year my offers started coming. My very last offer was from Cal Poly, and I am so glad I waited.” Keke is now going to attend Cal Poly in the fall.

One of Keke’s favorite memories from highschool was getting her license and her own car. Said she had a “sense of freedom” One of Keke’s strug gles in high school was junior year. She spent her entire year at home and said she had “zero motivation to do anything.” That was during our covid year and I believe many can agree.

advice she hasfor incoming freshmen, she said “Get out and do things with your friends and participate in events, athletics, and clubs, because you will regret it when it is all gone.” Keke is excited to go on to more things, she said “I am very excited to go to college and play basketball with my full ride, and I couldn’t thank my coaches enough.”

ALYSSA AZEVEDO

Soccer player, Lacrosse player, and so much more. Senior Alyssa Azevedo will walk across the stage in just a few weeks. With her cap and gown, onto more exciting things in her life. Alyssa will be attending college in the fall!

Some of Alyssa’s favorite things from high school were all her senior nights, “with my crown and sash I felt like a princess.” Al yssa said she loved playing sports for the high school with all the people she got to meet.

“The trip to six flags was by far one of my favorite memories from high school. I had been looking forward to that trip the whole year.” On top of that Alyssa loved to attend the dances, but Senior Ball was her favorite. “My boyfriend and I went to senior ball and we had an amazing time.”

“I am excited to move on to college, but I will deeply miss my friends and family. But I know I can come and visit.” Getting to see Alyssa walk across the stage will be a sappy sight.

CLAIRE TEW

Claire Tew, an amazing senior and person. Though we are all sad we have to see her go, we get to spend a little more time with her before graduation. In honor of graduating we inter viewed Claire to get some ups and downs on her four years at Rocklin HIgh.

“After four years of being here on campus I am glad to say I am moving on successfully.” Claire is attending BYU in the fall! Claire is very excited to be graduating, though she is sad to be moving away from all her friends.

Two things Claire loves: Redbull, and Lacrosse (loves redbull more than the other). One of Claire’s favorite memories was playing Lacrosse for Rocklin High. “Playing with all my friends and getting to spend with people I like playing the sport I love.”

Claire attended the Senior field trip to six flags and enjoyed it tons. “Waiting all this time to go on trips with my friends after I accomplished so much, is the best feeling. I am so glad I went on that trip and I won’t ever regret going.”

Claire is full of joy and there is never a time there isn’t a smile on her face that lights up the room.

One of Jack Thomas’s first memories from high school is his freshman year quarry bowl. “Rocklin’s community and presence was super energetic and fun to be a part of.” During Covid-19, everyone had a chance to reflect on themselves. For Jack Thomas, that was a shaping time for him. “Covid-19 gave me a lot of time to understand myself and be able to live my life the way I want to. “ Jack has experienced different places with his friends. “The most memorable trips I’ve taken in high school would either be my time shooting the music video Hobo John son, or the concert I went to in San Francisco. The music video shoot was a great way to meet a lot of new people and learn a lot about music.” Jack will miss, “all the great people I’ve met and the memories that have came with it.”

WHAT WE TAKE

WITH US...

Olivia Jeffra, preparing for her future, has taken the route of working with children in a classroom setting. She says, “It has been amazing being able to be with little kids especially since I want to be a teacher in the future.” High School consists of many learning and growth opportunities. Olivia sees the time of quaran tine and COVID as a time of personal growth. “I had to constantly rearrange my schedule, so it taught me to be more organized with not only my school work but also at home.” The one thing Olivia says she will miss most from high school is her senior parking spot that she painted with her cousin. “It’s been very nice being able to come to school later and just pull in to park and I love the de sign that my cousin and I came up with.”

When looking back at high school, Rylee Johnsen recalls her favorite memories. “My favorite memory would be my first rally at Rocklin. I moved here soph omore year and it showed me how great the school spirit was.” She says being a student during COVID has inspired her to make every moment count. She made the most of going out of her comfort zone for her senior trip. “For our senior trip we went to six flags. I’m terrified of roller coasters so my friends forced me to go, but I had such a great time.”

Ben Sieber will take a lot with him from high school. “The main thing I will miss from high school is the friendships I made and not having to worry about adult things.” One memory he will remember forever is a trip to Lake Tahoe with friends. “We snowboarded and had a good time.” Laughing with friends are the moments which are most joyful.

“My favorite memory from high school is definitely when my friend Sonny puked all over the garage floor after choking on something.”

CLICHE EXPERIENCES?

If Seth Salvotti could describe his high school experience in a song, he would use “It’s Still Rock ‘n Roll to me” by Billy Joel. High school is the time to try new things and possibly develop lifelong hob bies. For Seth, he joined the e-sports club freshman year. “Doing it has really made me more interested in e-sports and doing tournaments.” He plans on continuing e-sports in college. What is a cliche high school experience? Seth argues he never felt his experience was cliche. “I’ve spent lots of time with a lot of different groups, I never really found myself sitting down and chilling with one group.”

High School is all about making hard choices that’ll depict our future. For Senior Mason Dunievitz, “...choosing to leave sports behind [to] get a job instead” was a hard decision to make. “It took a lot of thinking but in the end [he] knew [he] couldn’t spend [his] time playing basketball anymore.” He will never forget the great friends he met and all of the hard work he put in. “I’m going to miss my friends that I’ve seen 5 days a week for years.”

REMINISCING MEMORIES

Memories fill seniors’ minds as they get ready to graduate and move on with their lives. A memory close to Aidan Allin’s heart is a throwback to freshman year when “the whole baseball team would have to run over to twin oaks after school so that [they] wouldn’t be late to practice, the camaraderie that came with that team was a real gift.” The friends Allin has been able to make have had a great influence on his high school experience, “this sounds corny but I would never have become the person I am without my best friends and I am forever grateful for them.” Reminiscing on high school, Allin will miss being a part of the Rock lin community, “it sort of feels like I’ve grown up in a bubble, and leaving that is both insanely exciting and absolutely terrifying” Although we all make mistakes, Aidan Allin admits he’s had his fair share but wouldn’t change anything. A powerful sentence given by Allin “Every success was heartwarming and every mistake [is] a lesson.”

High school is the time to branch out and be in dependent. Owen Goodman reminisces of the moment he got his driver’s license. “I got it about a year ago and being able to have the freedom to drive anywhere with my friends and family is amazing.” Leaving his friends is what Owen will miss the most, “we have become so close over the years through different school events.” Overcoming obstacles is also an important life lesson in high school. “I think keeping good grades was one of the toughest chal lenges. Being able to stay on top of your assignments is crucial.” Owen will cherish his high school memo ries forever.

KEVIN MEYERS

While Kevin Meyers nears the end of his senior year, he looks back on watching classmates grow and going to sports events. When asked what he’ll miss from highschool, Kevin said he’ll miss “seeing everybody you kinda got to see grow in a way, cause when we go to college, you know, we don’t know all of those people from when they were little kids.” Kevin faced a lot of challenges in what he said was not the cliche highschool experience, but he is excited to see where the future takes him. “A part of highschool no one really talks about is the development stages, you know” says Kevin, “we come in here 14 to 15 and leave 17 to 18, and that’s a huge jump.” Being effected by the pandemic in the middle of his highschool year, he says that “the toughest challenge I faced in highschool was getting myself to do the Zoom classes. Because you know, when you’re at school you don’t really have a choice.” Kevin later said, “it was on us now. We had to take full responsibility.” Kevin’s experience with self-directed learning was a widespread problem with both his class and the other highschool classes during the age of the 2020 pandemic. After graduating highschool, Kevin plans to attend Cuesta Community College where he’ll play basketball.

AIDAN RUSSO

ATHLETICS AND MENTAL HEALTH

Aidan Russo, an experienced water polo player and section champion, has been through a lot during high school. Although Aidan has had amazing success in his athletic career, he was not shy to admit the struggle both himself and other high schoolers face every single day. “I had some mental health challenges Sophomore year” Aidan says, “I almost dropped out of high school because of it.” Aidan, like many other class of 2022 students, faced struggles in their Sophomore year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As far as moving forward with highschool, Aidan is also considering the possibility of losing some of his high school friends.. “Going to col lege, there’s a high chance I’ll be separating from my friends,” says Aidan. Looking back on the educational side of high school, Aidan is regretful of his academic performance. “I could’ve been a better student. I was a pretty bad student” Aidan continues, “Just enough to barely pass, pretty much a 70 on the dot.” When asked about the side of highschool nobody talks about, Aidan was quick to present the problem with expectations on mental health and workload. “I was actually told by middle school teachers and parents that high school actually has less work than middle school,” says Aidan, “and this year that’s definitely the case, this year was a breeze, but Junior and Sophomore year you get more work than, like, your freshman or senior year.” Aidan’s high school experience highlights the undercovered struggle thousands of students face every year.

REAL

BERNARDO GARCIA

“YOU’RE NOT ALONE”

As Bernardo Garcia moves on from highschool, he looks back on the fun times and hardships he’s faced throughout high school. When asked about his favorite high school memories, Bernardo said “sticking to like, my close friends” Bernar do continued, “having the best help that I needed to succeed in life.” Bernardo, along with hundreds of other Rocklin students, faced a lot of challenges and successes that shaped them into the people they are today. Bernardo is thankful that he had the support he needed to help him through his own personal hard ships. “I feel what shaped me most was just knowing that I wasn’t alone in a few personal pains” said Bernardo, “I knew that people were there for me.” Bernardo also explains just how much he’ll miss his incredibly supportive teachers here at Rocklin, saying “I think what I’ll miss is all of the teachers I’ve met in these four years” Bernardo continued, “they were all really caring and really thought of helping us going further.” When asked about topics that aren’t really discussed when talking about highschool, Bernardo was quick to say that “no one really talks about how you feel like you’re alone.” Bernardo continued, “Not many peo ple talk about how you feel like you’re alone, but you get to high school and see all of these people who really, truly want to help you. It’s the comfort of knowing that you aren’t really alone.”

Bernardo’s message to upcoming high schoolers is that “there’s always a place where you can be needed.”

MALENA RAMIREZ FLORESMALENA RAMIREZ FLORES

CHEERING ON THE TEAM

When Malena Ramirez Flores was asked to look back on her favorite memory, she was quick to express her liking towards her freshman year quarry bowl. “The quarry bowl freshman year was a good way to start the school year” says Malena, “I was going to all of the games cheering on the team.” Outside of attending sports games, Malena also reflected on experiences that shaped her high school experience, giving credit to “meeting new friends and getting to know people.” When asked about what she’ll miss from high school, Malena expressed how she’ll miss the Rocklin High School environ ment and events set up by the school. “I’ll just miss the environment, going to dances,

MANEET RAKKAR

FEELINGS + FRIENDSHIPS

Maneet Rakkar has a lot to take away from her highschool years. While she prepares to move forward to a life after high school, she is mindful of all of the lessons she has learned. When asked about her favorite highschool memory, Maneet says “definitely meeting, like, my friends that I’m with right now. I feel like they are definitely the people I would have never found at Rocklin.” Maneet continues to talk about her friend group when reminiscing on the affects the Covid-19 pandemic has had on her social and educational life. “I’ve really had the time to decide what I want with my future,” says Maneet. “Ob viously with like, relationships, I think that was a big thing for me, learning how to just kinda maintain them especially when you’re not continuously seeing them.” When asked about her regrets, Maneet says “I regret not telling people how I honestly felt, always continuously hiding my feelings.” Maneet contin ues “I think that’s something I’ve learned too.” Moving forward, Maneet hopes to use these high school lessons in college and beyond.