TJTODAY vol 7 issue 4 jan. 2022
After a year and a half spent behind virtual barriers, it’s time to reveal and explore our
F AC E S PHOTO // A. Khemka
ABSTRACT Leaping into the air, senior Erin Brodnik struggles with her opponent to claim a loose ball. Despite the hustle, the Jefferson varsity girls’ basketball team would go on to lose to Edison High School by a 55-41 scoreline. “I think what we could have done better is staying calm and getting out of our own heads. It’s really easy to start panicking when you get down, and that greatly affects how we play,” senior Kailyn Pudleiner said. “We definitely had the skill to win. We just needed to stay more positive.” PHOTO // Elliott Lee
STAFF EDITORIAL BOARD
Print & Online Editors-in-Chief Aafreen Ali Annika Duneja Anuj Khemka Rachel Lewis Christina Lu Nathan Mo
Broadcast Executive Producers Team Leaders Sahishnu Hanumansetty Elaine Li
Social Media Manager Yoo-Bin Kwon
Eric Feng Aarya Kumar Sai Mattapalli Robert Stotz
Advisor: Erinn Harris
is determined by the editorial board. Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the staff of tjTODAY, but not tjTODAY is the official newsmagazine necessarily the opinions of individual of Thomas Jefferson High School for editors. Science and Technology. The staff is deeply committed to a code of journalistic ethics that demands the exercise of accuracy, good judgment, and impartiality. The content of tjTODAY
tjtoday.tjhsst @tjhsst_media
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tjTODAY
CONTENTS tjTODAY vol. 7 issue 4
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26 4 cover story 08
FACE VALUE
18 features 04
opinion LET’S FACE IT
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Nov. 2021, “Right on the Money”: The grade level of an interviewee, Rae Trainer, was mistakenly reported as 11 instead of 12. tjTODAY apologizes for this error. It has been fixed on the Issuu publication of the November issue.
FACES PLACES Inspired by Agnes Varda’s documentary “Faces Places,” tjTODAY explores the faces of Jefferson artists and their places of inspiration.
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Facebook may be considered a quintessential part of the Jefferson experience, but is it as important as we make it out to be?
corrections
IN YOUR FACE Doubling down in the face of challenges, Jefferson students work hard to win.
Taking inspiration from family and friends, Jefferson students battle through their facial insecurities.
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jan. 2022
FALLING ON YOUR FACE Sometimes you feel the satisfication that comes with perfect results. And sometimes, you fall flat on your face.
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FINDING FACES Walking around Jefferson, students see faces in countless different inanimate objects.
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F A C E
Grimacing, senior Rahel Selemon grapples with her opponent as she looks for a shot to gain leverage. “I’m trying to get under her arm and get a good grip on the neck so that I can tie up and get the upper hand. That’s probably why I’m struggling, because I need to use my training in cardio, strength, and endurance to get in tight and get low,” Selemon said. PHOTO // K. Senthilkumar
Junior Shrina Pyakurel and freshman Abigail Lee corner an opponent during a girls JV basketball game hosted by Jefferson. “Whenever I’m blocking an opponent, I’m usually fo-
cusing on their eye movements so I can try to predict what they’re going to do with the ball, and prevent them from doing that,” Pyakurel said. PHOTO // A. Agbota
Driving to the basket, senior Franco Scartascini attempts to maneuver around his teammate. The move came during a drill in the lead-up to a match. PHOTO // A. Duneja
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Nearing the end of their chess game, junior Kisna Matta (left) and senior Garrett Heller (right) think of their next moves. Heller is co-captain of Jefferson chess club, which meets every Friday during 8th period. “I was pressured [because] of time, but I think I ended up losing the game,” Heller said. PHOTO // K. Senthilkumar
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During the ping pong tournament hosted by Jefferson’s SGA, senior Rick Yoon serves the ball to senior Joshua Golden and freshman Hudson Keeler. “In between points I focus a lot on my partner and my team—like what’s our
strategy, but in the middle of the point, I’m not thinking about anything,” Golden said. “Everything simplifies down to the ball, your paddle, and their paddle.” PHOTO // G. Sharma
by Anuj Khemka , Aafreen Ali, Annika Duneja, and Nathan Mo
F A C E U E L V A The face we know best is our own, but it is also the one we most criticize. Taking inspiration from their family and friends, Jefferson students battle through their facial insecurities.
Glancing at her reflection, freshman Charlotte Minnigh analyzes her features. Insecurities can stem from many places. In Minnigh’s case, they come from the portrayal of women in the media. “A lot of times women in the media just don’t have the same exact face shape as me. I guess in movies the women look a very certain way,” Minnigh said. “I do get a lot of body positivity stuff on my Instagram feed, but there’s a lot of other things too. I don’t think [my insecurities] were caused by any one person, more just like over a period of years.” PHOTO // A. Khemka ILLUSTRATIONS // A. Song
COVER STORY 9
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1. Golden was once insecure in the shape of his nose. However, by
recognizing the family roots that form his face, he has come to terms with his features. “I was uncomfortable with my nose because it looked kind of squashy from certain angles,” Golden said. “Knowing that it comes from my Jewish background helped my insecurities die down because it helped me accept my face.” PHOTO // A. Khemka
2. Kneeling down, Golden splashes water on his face as part of his
morning routine. Of the insecurities that have plagued Golden over the years, one of the most significant is his struggles with acne. “Insecurities about ourselves is such a personal journey. There’s no advice that’s just going to be like, ‘Now I know how to solve this.’ They’re just such a complex thing, and it’s such a tough battle that’s different for every person,” Golden said. PHOTO // A. Khemka
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challenging to like some parts of her face, noting that her overall insecurities often stem from more feature-specific ones. “I don’t love my side profile. Something just seems off about it to me when it’s all put together,” Schwartzkopf said. “It might be my nose, honestly, I don’t like my nose, but I think we all secretly hate our noses.” PHOTO // A. Ali
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4. Observing herself carefully in the
mirror, Schwartzkopf applies sunscreen to her face as part of her thorough skincare routine. Schwartzkopf, who is biracial, partially attributes her relationship with her skin to family members’ perspectives she was exposed to as a child. “When I was younger, my white grandmother would always tell me ‘oh my gosh, you’re so tan and pretty.’ And my Indian grandmother would tell me ‘oh my gosh, you’re so fair and pale, it’s so pretty,’” Schwartzkopf said. “They were just telling me that my skin color was better or worse, but in completely opposite directions just because of their different beauty standards, and that was confusing.” PHOTO // A. Ali
COVER STORY 11
5. Looking through a magazine,
Charlotte Minnigh comes across many faces that aren’t like her own. While she’s had problems comparing herself to what she sees in the media, Minnigh understands that differences between her own face and others’ are always going to exist. “It’s human nature to just see other people and kind of wish for things that you don’t have,” Minnigh said. “It is in part to movies and social media, but it’s also in part to interacting with other human beings on a daily basis. You’re just gonna be like ‘Oh, I kind of want to be able to do that or be like that or look like that.’” PHOTO // A. Khemka
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eloise minnigh, 9 6. Though many of our insecurities seem only skin deep, they depend on how we view ourselves, regardless of how we actually look. Eloise Minnigh used that knowledge to think about and change the
way she viewed herself. “I think most insecurities kind of stem from personalities, not the way you look because a lot of people may have the same exact face, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to
be insecure about the same stuff,” Minnigh said. “Because that stems more from your brain and not from how you actually look.“ PHOTO // A. Khemka
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1. To everyone else, Charlotte and Eloise Minnigh may have the
same face, but their experiences are entirely different. Because of this, they are able to separate themselves from one another, “I do see parts of myself that I don’t like reflected back at her, personality-wise, and body-wise. [At the same time], we’re twins, but we have had different experiences. We’ve seen different things, we’ve interacted with different people,” Charlotte Minnigh said. “I think insecurities develop over time based on what movies you watch, who you talk to, who you see, where you go. We have the same face, but we find different things to obsess over. It goes to show that no matter what features you have, you’re gonna find something to not like about it.” 2. Surrounded by his two parents and his little brother, many of Golden’s facial features are a reflection of those around him. “I think it’s cool how I see both my parents in my face,” Golden said. “I see the Filipino features of my mom and the Jewish features of my dad. The shape of my eyes, for example, has both white and Asian roots. I like having that reminder of who I’m from.”
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COVER STORY 13 PHOTO // A. Khemka
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PHOTOS // A. Khemka
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Jefferson students show tjTODAY the contrast between masked and maskless faces created by the COVID-19 pandemic
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3. Nestled in a corner
of the music hallway, Golden eats lunch with a group of friends. Golden finds facial security in the consistency with which his friends act towards him. “My friends treat me the same way, whether I come into school with perfect hair and a clear face, or if I come into school with a lot of acne and I look like I rolled out of bed,” Golden said. “I would say that the way they treat me has shown me that, at least to my friends, the way that I look doesn’t really matter.”
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PHOTOS // A. Ali, A. Khemka
Covering half of one’s face using a mask brings both positive and negative possible effects for Jefferson students and staff. “Seeing people with masks on doesn’t affect me too much. It’s only when I see them take it off that I’m a little taken aback by how much of their face was
hidden, and how different they actually look, compared to what I imagined,” senior Aiden Zurcher said. “Masks obviously hide their wearer’s faces, so I can definitely understand how those who are insecure about the way their face looks would like to wear masks.”
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Faces Place by Robert Stotz
Inspired by Agnes Varda’s docuentary, “Faces Places,” tjTODAY explores the faces of Jefferson artists and their places of inspiration with a self portrait.
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Evelyn Li Admiring the atmosphere, sophomore Evelyn Li incorporates the feelings of her environment into her drawings. “Whenever I do creative pieces, I use other arts like music, TV shows, and movies to get the creative juices flowing. When I’m drawing, the ambience of the environment affects my mood, either giving the drawing lighter, warmer tones, or giving it a more cooler tone,” Li said.
PHOTO // R. Stotz
Ridhi Pendyala Junior Ridhi Pendyala sits with her sketch books and vast collection of colored pencils. “I took a long gap from art because TJ got really busy, but then during quarantine, I kind of got back into the craft. I started doing more portraits of myself, family members, and celebrities,” Pendyala said. This year, she works to find time after school or during breaks to destress with art,
taking inspiration from the styles of colored pencils in her drawings. “With colored pencils, you have to take a lot more time, which is kind of what intrigues me. It helps me hone my skill better because I end up focusing on a lot of details. The finished product ends up looking a lot better because you have multiple layers,” Pendyala said.
FEATURE 17
Alice Ji
Standing in front of a crowd of people, senior Alice Ji poses with her acrylic self portrait. “When I start with a painting, I have one main subject that I want to be the focal point, and smaller things I want to draw with it. Paintings become a cluster of these two. Around the person, I like to have more fantastical elements,” Ji said.
Several of her portraits focus on people due to the level of depth and detail she can invest into them. “As for what inspires me to create art, I paint people because I feel it’s a lot easier to express emotion or tell stories when there is a person in it. For me, it’s just the fundamental idea of making something that you love,” Ji said.
Eric Zeng Laying on the grass, sophomore Eric Zeng appreciates his moments in nature. “[Nature is] irreplaceable, right? There are some things that you can’t replicate, and you see that in nature. It’s a great thing to draw, it’s a great thing to see, and it’s a great place to be,” Zeng said. Spending time during art class on his pieces,
Zeng prefers both the effort and final product that comes with painting. “It’s difficult. When you’re painting, you usually never get the first layer correct. It’s the process of starting with the first layer, and to keep on adding until it’s a completely different painting,” Zeng said.
PHOTOS // R. Stotz, A. Duneja
Cyrus Rivers Reflecting on his work, junior Cyrus Rivers contemplates the meanings behind his portraits. “In AP art class, you’re supposed to choose a theme for our portfolio, so my theme was genetic predetermination. The larger portrait of myself [right] is supposed to look stressed out, on the backdrop of the stress
susceptibility gene. The portrait with my body inside a picture of my face [left], represents being limited by your intelligence, which is determined by your genes,” Rivers said. Beyond class, art becomes more of a pastime. Inspired by faces, including his own, Rivers sees a lot of himself in his works. “I doodle on everything.
Any paper that I get for any class ends up being covered with doodles, including tests. I found that I enjoy drawing faces more than anything else, which is why all of my pieces will have some kind of face in them,” Rivers said.
fall down by Eric Feng and Chris Yoo
fall down fall down fall down
Sometimes you feel the satisfaction that comes with perfect results. And sometimes you fall flat on your face.
start again
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start again During a home game on Dec. 10, 2021 against McLean High School, freshman Marcus Nance (number 10) watches on as a member of the opposing team falls backwards while attempting to heave the ball away. “In the heat of the moment, the only thing I’m worried about is winning. Whether I take a hard hit or not, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win,” freshman Daniel Etuk, number 23, said. PHOTO // G. Sharma
FEATURE 19
stumbling sequence While practicing a motion on a balance beam, senior Justine Chu loses her balance and starts to fall backwards. For Chu, falling in gymnastics has both mental and physical implications. “Even though it can be disappointing to fall during a competition, it just gives room for improvement and I try to stay positive for myself. I just have to think to myself that I need to practice more, and it encourages me to work harder,” Chu said. “Physically, I could be sore the next day, and if it’s a bad fall it could result in injury. Luckily that’s never happened to me.”
Junior Raghav Tirmale is hard at work to perfect his magic tricks. Tirmale has been practicing this waterfall flourish for several days. Even after hours of practice mastering a move, it is not uncommon to see cards drop. “I’ve probably dropped a pack of playing cards over 100 times for every trick, but that makes me feel all the more satisfied when I perform it correctly.” Tirmale said.
magic magic muggled muggled
FEATURE 21 After negging questions (answering incorrectly) in Quizbowl, juniors Daniel Lian (lower) and Brian Lai (upper) express their frustration. “Don’t worry about negging too much. If you let it impact you for the rest of the game, you might see yourself buzzing less, which is bad. Points per game is not what matters. You can be a person like me who might not contribute as much point wise but will help on bonuses, which do count for more points,” Lian said.
quizbowl qualms
PHOTOS // E. Feng, C. Yoo, and A. Duneja
thunderous thunderous three-crown three-crown Playing a quick game after finishing his lunch, sophomore Shreyan Dey comes to the realization that he has just been soundly defeated in Clash Royale, a popular mobile game. Dey, however, isn’t phased. “Sometimes you win and get to enjoy three whole seconds of subpar happiness. Other times, you lose and think ‘let’s get that back,’ only to lose again. Lately, I’ve been rocking the latter,” Dey said.
FINDING FACES by Eli Tillemann & Sai Mattapalli
Walking around Jefferson, students see faces in different inanimate objects.
“The orange signs on the door is what I think is the final piece that was needed to complete the look and trigger our brain's facial recognition capabilities," sophomore Sritan Motati said. PHOTO // E. Tillemann
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“One object I often associate with faces are things like helmets, probably due to the instant association our brains subconsciously makes,” sophomore Srihan Balaji said. PHOTO // E. Tillemann
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t first it may seem odd as to why faces are the first thing that comes to mind when drawing comparisons betwee humans and inanimate objects; however, science has an explanation. "Faces are something we’re used to seeing a lot and paying attention to, although the masks this year have made it harder than usual. Regardless, this familiarity with faces is what I think allows our brain to visualize faces on things like doors and in clouds where a sort of outline of a face is visible,” sophomore Omkar Kovvali said.
This is facial pareidolia, otherwise known as the phenomenon of visualizing faces in everyday objects. Researchers at the University of Sydney attribute this instinct in humans as a byproduct of humans possessing instant facial recognition capabilities. The brain is able to recognize faces so quickly due to having a template-based matching process, which is initiated even with everyday objects that contain facelike features such as eyebrows, eyes, and a mouth.
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4. Tables and chairs in the Nobel
Commons form a variety of expressions when viewed from above. Though they are only a collection of circles, viewers organize them into a face. “If [you] look closely [you] can see two eyes and a mouth,” sophomore Jordan Hadjimichael said. PHOTO // E. Tillemann
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papers, a pair of doors becomes a face. A lunch notice that’s been on the planetarium so long it looks like part of the door can be seen as a misaligned eye. “It shows our creativity as humans,“ junior Nimesh Rudra said. PHOTO // E. Tillemann
2. Some faces, such as the front of cars, are harder
to see than others. A loose collection of boxes and lines won’t always spark recognition, but when prompted by others, people’s perceptions can change. “If someone points out a face in an ordinary object I’ll see [the face],” junior David Jagga said. PHOTO // E. Tillemann
3. Angle matters when looking for faces in the world around us. A different viewpoint turns a fountian from a metal box to a weary face. “If someone [points out a cloud] and says it looks like a cat you might not have noticed it until they say it,” junior Nimesh Rudra said. PHOTO // E. Tillemann
5. The eternally haunted face
of the charging port stares back at all those who would dare to draw upon its electrical lifeblood. Those who have sought to maintain productivity must add a load to their conscience as they drain the lifeforce of the all-too human outlet. “It makes me feel bad when I plug in my charger,” junior Eric Feng said. PHOTO // E. Tillemann
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ILLUSTRATION // A. Song
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acebook has long been an integral part of the Jefferson experience - everything from information about clubs to pictures of bananas and other consumables can be found in various Jefferson-focused Facebook groups. It’s considered a rite of passage - one of the first things an underclassman will hear is to “get a Facebook” or “you need a Facebook.” However, with recent events involving Facebook, from the intrusion of outside influences into Jefferson groups to general breaches of privacy facilitated by usage of Facebook, it becomes important to ask - does Jefferson really need Facebook? While Facebook may be a hub for communication, it’s also proved to be a hotbed of controversy. Notably, discussions surrounding the PTSA have embroiled students in heated discussions surrounding issues not even
involving TJ itself, such as LGBTQ+-related subjects, creating hostility even for those not directly affected by the discourse. The Jefferson bubble on Facebook is meant to be a safe one, for Jefferson students to share news about clubs or events, and these discussions put that in jeopardy. Additionally, Facebook itself presents its own security concerns. The app has been known to track users’ data extremely closely for various ends. While some of those may be more positive, others, like tracking users’ tendencies even outside of Facebook to curate advertisements, are much more questionable. Facebook also requires its users to establish and maintain an online presence, presenting difficulties regarding safety and privacy concerns, which are a major deterrent to users joining the platform in the first place. However, overreliance on Facebook also creates a cul-
ture that encourages its use. Many students at Jefferson feel forced to get a Facebook because they felt left out of clubs they want to join. Quite simply, too many clubs rely on Facebook as their sole method of sharing information, leaving out students who don’t yet have the platform. And for those same students, being encouraged to get Facebook by peers in addition to knowing that they’re missing critical information about their clubs creates a mounting pressure to join the site. But what other options are there for a platform as central as Facebook? Chat platforms like Discord or Slack allow clubs to have centralized communication in addition to general discourse with members, without all of the additional noise on Facebook. On the other hand, implementing these features into ION would allow circumventing third-party software entirely, allowing club environments
to be entirely under the TJ domain, making it more accessible, as all Jefferson students have Intranet accounts. When it comes to our overreliance on Facebook, we can use or implement more methods to share information besides Facebook. For example, using email lists or making announcement requests on the weekly news or morning announcements not only allows for more coverage, but also allows students without Facebook to hear about events. Groups like TJHSST Bananas can live on, but the necessary information for students should be available elsewhere. While Facebook provides multiple benefits unrivaled by other platforms, given its flaws, it should not be a necessity for any student. The Jefferson community should begin to utilize platforms to supplement Facebook’s usefulness while allowing students without an account to stay in the loop.
“Most people at TJ want to have higher GPAs, and all [the] art classes are weighted 4.0. Either you do what you like and what you’re passionate about or you take a class so your grades can be higher.” “[My] least favorite subject [is] still life photography. The subject is so inanimate, because you place the objects where you want them to be, and they are arranged to look a certain way.” “I like candid photos [because I can] preserve the moment for both me and the subjects in the photograph to look back on in the future, and it shows the emotions at the time of the shot.” “I think photographers and artists are known [for] being able to notice the beauty in things. I [see] a lot more of the world around me that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t taking pictures.”
WHAT I’VE LEARNED
in fiona focus Rachel Lewis
“Some shots during really fast-paced sports games, such as soccer or basketball, are hard to capture. Good moments are gone in a flash, so it’s hard to take a picture in that instant.” “I recently became more interested in shooting birds, because I feel less pressure to produce good images and have to show my pictures to other people, especially compared to commission events or even sports games. I just do [nature photography] for fun.”
Senior
Fiona Zheng