2019 November Eagle Eye

HAPPY

THANKSGIVING!

VOL 34, NO. 2 NOV 2019

Savoring the Process → By Kaycee Nakashima (‘20) & TJ Halemano (‘20) EDITORIAL

The holiday season is finally here: Christmas decorations are set up at Ala Moana Shopping Center, Starbucks cups are now red, and students are bringing blankets to school.

At this time of the year, many of us are looking for the best deals while we shop for gifts for family and friends.

On Black Friday, it has become commonplace for people to postpone or do away with Thanksgiving gatherings in order to get in lines for “doorbuster” deals.

In the frantic pace of this season, it is easy to forget how to live in the moment and enjoy it. Everyone’s always on the go and thinking about the next thing. Even when people are at home, they’re often preoccupied on social media, their minds virtually somewhere else. In this mode, people tend to gravitate to the most convenient ways to completing a task. For example, store-bought Thanksgiving dishes are increasingly popular. From pies in disposable containers to giant pans of Chinese noodles wrapped in Saran wrap, Thanksgiving classics nowadays are looking a lot more like Thanksgiving take-out.

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In the spirit of slowing down and taking time to enjoy the process, we decided to do something the slower and less efficient way. Since it’s Thanksgiving week, we decided to make a pumpkin pie from scratch, even though there are many delicious and cheaper store-bought options out there. While a trip to the store can be completed in 30 minutes, our pie took us more than three hours to complete, including waiting times for chilling and baking.

Was it worth the time, the cost and the effort? It depends on what’s important to you. We discovered that making something from scratch gives it more meaning and value. We also enjoyed the satisfaction that comes from creating something ourselves.

And to our delight, when we invited folks to compare our pie to a store-bought one, our offering came up as the winner. (See pie reviews on page 5 by Marina Vorderbruegge, wife of English teacher Dawson Vorderbruegge, and retired HBA teacher Maurine King.)

Before you rush through another holiday season, do take the time out of your busy schedules to slow down with your loved ones—bake something, make a gift, or just take a walk. Savor every moment and forget about the next thing, till you’re at the next thing. Happy Thanksgiving!

Cover Photo & Illustration

Submissions

CO-EDITORS

ADVISOR

By Kaycee Nakashima (‘20)

The Eagle Eye encourages students, teachers, and staff to submit letters, essays, opinion columns, and artwork on current school and social issues.

Submissions should be sent to esim@ hba.net. Opinions expressed in letters and columns are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hawaii Baptist Academy or the Eagle Eye staff as a whole.

TJ Halemano-Reed (‘20) Kaycee Nakashima (‘20)

Eunice Sim

STAFF

Follow us @hbaeagleeye on Instagram www.hbaeagleeye.com

EAGLE EYE Hawaii Baptist Academy 2429 Pali Highway Honolulu, Hawaii 96817 Hawaii Baptist Academy’s Eagle Eye is a student-run and studentcentered publication.

Jarin Ashimine (‘20) Cameron Chee (‘20) Timothy Dixon (‘20) Michael Garces (20) Daniel Jurek (‘21) Brent Low (‘20) Johanna Seng (‘21) Lance Tasaka (‘20)

Locker Rooms Underutilized → By TJ Halemano-Reed (‘20) NEWS

Lines of students stretching out the door of the high school bathrooms (particularly the girls bathrooms) is a common sight after school.

Student typically rush to the bathroom once the last bell rings to change into their athletic wear, posing an inconvenience to those who actually need to use the bathroom. For many athletes, the rush is completely warranted as they need to catch the bus at the middle school to get to various practice sites. In contrast, at the D building, the high school campus’s newest building, pristine locker rooms sit empty as they remain locked outside of P.E. class times.

Athletic director Deren Oshiro explained that due to liability reasons, the school can only keep the locker rooms open when they attended by an HBA staff person. Oshiro believes that this policy of requiring that locker rooms be staffed is consistent with many other schools.

However, Maryknoll senior Kyla Neumann tells the Eagle Eye that the locker rooms at her school are open any time the school is open, when there’s a home game or when an athlete wants to shower. At Mid-Pacific Institute, Athletic Director Scott Wagner says locker rooms are officially open from 7:15 a.m. till the end of sports practices Monday through Friday. “PE teachers have an office connected to the locker rooms during the day, and coaches are around for sports practices and games,” he said, explaining how the school keeps their locker rooms staffed.

When the D building first opened in 2013, students were excited about the new locker rooms, which features multiple shower stalls and lockers.

Unfortunately, many students, especially athletes, have not been able to use the facilities as much as they had hoped. During basketball season, junior Andrew Ota, who practices with his team before school, said that the team always needs to look for a staff person to open the locker rooms for them. However, if they cannot find someone to help them, the will have to forgo their showers before school.

HBA Cross Country runner Johanna Seng believes that HBA locker rooms could be much better utilized. For one, Seng believes it will help to decongest the traffic in the bathrooms immediately after school. It would also benefit athletes that need to go to another practice afterwards or to another event. Seng suggested, “We have so many dedicated student athletes at school that it would actually be pretty effective if we operated by an honor code to take care of the locker rooms.”

Senior Ka’imi Duncklee, who participates in three sports throughout the year, has not had access to the locker rooms after practices. “What’s the point of having locker rooms if we can’t even use them for sports because that’s when people get the most sweaty and need to use it the most,” she said.

While Oshiro appreciated Seng’s innovative idea, he said, “It’s a great idea, but institutionally I don’t think any school would be able to enact something like that because of the

Continued on back page

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(Left) This sign attempts to keep one bathroom stall open for those who actually need to use the toilet facilities immediately after school.

(Right) Immediately after school, a long line forms at the A building girls bathroom. PHOTOGRAPHS BY TJ HALEMANO-REED (‘20)

Navigating Your Way to a Driver’s License → By Lance Tasaka (‘20) FEATURE

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When it comes to acquiring a driver’s license in Hawaii, most parents and students will find that the process requires more steps than they would expect.

The Eagle Eye hopes this article will help guide prospective drivers through the process.

Students must attend at least 30 hours of classroom instruction at a driving school and log at least six hours with a behind-the-wheel instructor. Classroom hours are broken up into about a week’s worth of classes. HBA offers a Driver’s Ed course during its summer school and it is discounted for HBA students. Driving schools charge from $30 to $60 per class and each class period is about 2 hours long. “I enjoyed HBA’s driving class, because I was in a familiar The State of Hawaii follows a gradual licensing place. I liked how spread out the classes were, program that ensures new drivers gain adequate because I have a hard time focusing for a long driving experience before getting their full period of time,” said senior Jordyn Kobayashi. license. The beginning step is getting a permit.

The youngest age you can get your license is 15 By the end of the course, students will need to years and 6 months. In order to get a permit, have logged a total of 50 hours of driving, 10 of prospective drivers are required to schedule an which have to be done at night. Students get a appointment at the DMV and pass a 30-question certifcate for completing the class and then go on to earn a second certificate for driving with quiz on the Hawaii Driver’s Manual. a behind-the wheel instructor.

Making an appointment to sit for the quiz is a bit of hassle due to the long wait times.

Appointments can be made at the DMV or online. At the DMV, there are automated kiosks for scheduling appointments, but the DMV is known for its long lines. To avoid the lines, make your appointment online at alohaq.honolulu. gov. Either way, appointments are often booked up for a few months, so plan accordingly.

Once the permit is acquired, the student is allowed to drive only under the supervision of a licensed adult over the age of 21. Driving is prohibited between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless students are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The next step is getting a certificate of completion from a driving school (commonly referred to as Driver’s Ed) and from a behind-thewheel instructor. Along with your permit, this certificates is what you need to schedule a road test, which is what you must pass in order to get a provisional driving license.

Once both certificates have been obtained and notarized, and the student has held the permit for six months, the student is ready to get a provisional license. Just like the permit, an appointment is needed for the road test. This appointment is not scheduled on AlohaQ, but on another site: www12.honolulu.gov/csdarts.

Road test appointments are just as booked up as the permit appointments, so plan ahead.

Students must provide their own car for the road test. It is good to practice ahead of time on the car that they plan to use for the test. The car must have an up-to-date safety check and valid insurance. It must also be fully functioning with no service light alerts.

The road test is known for being the most difficult part of getting a license. It is not unheard of for a student to fail and take the test multiple times.

Senior Tanner Weeks got his license only after his third try. He said, “The road test is a 50-50.

You have to be good at driving but it takes a

lot of luck with the person who is testing you.

They seem very emotional about it. If they are having a bad day and you drove to perfection they might not pass you.”

Senior Kaycee Nakashima recently failed her road test. She took the test at the Kapalama location, known for being one the hardest testing sites. She said, “There were a lot of bike lanes and my tester was very technical (which is understandable), so I would say, always head check for everything.” She also offered this tip: “When you drive into the DMV, make sure that you reverse into the stall, so that when you have to drive out for the road test is easier to get out of the DMV.” With a provisional license, students can drive unaccompanied except between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. If they want to drive during those hours, they must have a written letter of approval signed by their parents.

Weeks has had his license for more than a year and is one of the first HBA seniors to get one.

Weeks said, “Driving is a big responsibility, but it is fun to have that freedom to become more independent. The worst part is the other people on the road.”

English teacher Jennifer Duncklee, parent of senior Ka‘imi Duncklee, summed up her advice to new drivers this way: “Don’t use your phone while driving. Turn the ringer off or notifications off so that it doesn’t distract you.” She added, “We all know that crash accidents happen, so to avoid them we need to take the responsibility of driving seriously.”

→ By TJ Halemano-Reed (‘20) FEATURE

On this page: Senior TJ Halemano-Reed rolls out a pie crust dough before placing it into a pie dish.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY KAYCEE NAKASHIMA (‘20) THANKS TO THE VORDERBRUEGGE FAMILY FOR THE USE OF THEIR KITCHEN.

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NOT BUT EASY STILL AS WORTH PIE A TRY

THE BEST PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE From Cook’s Ilustrated Magazine INGREDIENTS Flaky Pastry Shell

There are lots of affordable store-bought options out there if you’re craving a pumpkin pie: Costco’s feed-a-crowd sized pie will set you back by just $6, and even Whole Foods’ freshly baked pie is just $10.

With those options in mind, we set out to find out if it’s still worth making a pumpkin pie from scratch. From the start, it was obvious that it’s cheaper to buy a ready-made pie, unless you purchase one from a boutique bakery. But can a home-made pie win over fans through flavor and texture? Our answer is yes. We also discovered that the joy of making something from scratch for your family and friends makes it well worth the cost and effort.

1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour ½ tsp table salt ½ tsp granulated sugar 10 tbsp unsalted butter (1 ¼ sticks), chilled & cut into ¼-inch pats 3 - 3 ½ tbsp ice water

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Pumpkin Filling

2 cups plain pumpkin puree (16 ounces), canned or fresh 1 cup packed dark brown sugar 2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg 2 tsp ground cinnamon ¼ tsp ground cloves ½ tsp table salt ⅔ cup heavy cream ⅔ cup milk 4 large eggs

1 ⅓ cups heavy cream (cold) 3 tbsp confectioners’ sugar

NOTES If you do not have a food processor, you can cook the pumpkin, sugar, and spices together before pureeing, then whir the mixture in a blender, adding enough of the cream called for in the recipe to permit the pumpkin to flow easily over the blades. Heat the pumpkin with the (remaining) cream and milk, as indicated, then slowly whisk the mixture into the beaten eggs.

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Whipped Cream

YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY PIES STRAWBERRY

BLUEBERRY HAUPIA CUSTARD

Earlier this month, the Eagle Eye polled 220 HBA high school students on their favorite holiday pies. Pumpkie pie took the largest slice of your responses, with apple pie in close second.

ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL JUREK (‘21)

APPLE

PUMPKIN

We asked two veteran pumpkin pie tasters to compare our made-from-scratch pumpkin pie to a Costco readymade pie. Here’s what they had to say:

MRS. MARINA VORDERBRUEGGE

“The homemade pie by far exceeded the store-bought pie in both taste and presentation. It’s flaky, buttery crust gave the homemade pie a better structure and did not taste mushy as its store-bought counterpart. The filling in the homemade pie was fluffier and had a much more natural taste. I also loved that I could taste the cinnamon a lot more in the homemade pie. (I really LOVE cinnamon.) The storebought pie wasn’t horrible; in fact, I enjoyed it, but the crust crumbled easily and the pumpkin filling was much more saltier. Nothing truly beats a dish made from scratch, especially a warm, fresh pie. Not to shame Costco, but the homemade pie will always be insanely more delicious, and worth the time and effort.”

MS. MAURINE KING

“Thank you for the pies. The homemade one was more interesting, though the cloves overpowered the other spices. It had slightly less sugar, and I liked that.

The crust was nice and crunchy. The Costco pie was OK, but rather bland. The main flavor was sugar. The crust was slightly soggy. I still recommend putting in a bit of vanilla, a trick I learned from Cafe 100 in Hilo.”

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OUR TASTE TESTERS

THE CRUST

1. CORNMEAL CONSISTENCY

1. Mix flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

Scatter butter over dry ingredients; process until mixture resembles cornmeal, 7 to 12 seconds. Turn mixture into a medium-sized bowl.

NOTE: In Hawaii’s warm weather, it is crucial that the butter is wellchilled in this step, or you won’t achieve the cornmeal texture.

2. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of water over flour mixture. With blade side of a rubber spatula, cut mixture into little balls. Then press down on mixture with broad side of spatula so balls stick together in large clumps. If dough resists gathering, sprinkle remaining water over dry, crumbly patches and press a few more times.

3. WRAP & CHILL

3. Form dough into a ball with your hands; wrap in plastic, then flatten into a 4-inch disk. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (Can be refrigerated for 2 days or, if sealed airtight in a plastic bag, or frozen for up to 6 months.)

4. Generously sprinkle a 2-foot square work area with flour. Remove dough from wrapping and place disk in center; dust top with flour. (If it has been chilled for more than 1 hour, let dough stand until it gives slightly when pressed, 5 to 10 minutes.) Roll dough in all directions, from center to edges, rotating a quarter turn and strewing flour underneath as necessary after each stroke. Flip disk over when it is 9 inches in diameter and continue to roll (but don’t rotate) in all directions, until it is 13 to 14 inches in diameter and just under 1/8 inch thick.

5. Fold dough in quarters and place the corner in the center of a Pyrex pie plate measuring 9- to 9 1/2-inches across top. Carefully unfold dough to cover pan completely, with excess dough draped over pan lip.

With one hand, pick up edges of dough; use index finger of other hand to press dough around pan bottom. Use your fingertips to press dough against pan walls. Trim dough overhanging the pan to an even 1/2 inch all around.

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5. PRESS DOUGH w/FINGERTIPS

6. Tuck overhanging dough back under itself so folded edge is flush with edge of pan lip. Press double layer of dough with your fingers to seal, then bend up at a 90-degree angle and flute by pressing thumb and index finger about 1/2-inch apart against outside edge of dough, then using index finger (or knuckle) of other hand to poke a dent through the space. Repeat procedure all the way around.

6. MAKE FLUTED EDGES

7. PRICK CRUST

7. Refrigerate for 20 minutes (or freeze for 5 minutes) to firm dough shell. Using table fork, prick bottom and sides — including where they meet — at 1/2-inch intervals. Flatten a 12-inch square of aluminum foil inside shell, pressing it flush against corners, sides, and over rim. Prick foil bottom in about a dozen places with a fork. Chill shell for at least 30 minutes (preferably an hour or more), to allow dough to relax.

NOTE: Don’t cut short the chilling times in this recipe as the shell becomes unmanageable and will fail if the butter begins to melt.

If you don’t have a large chunk of time to bake, you can break up the recipe into two parts, stopping at this point. Store the crust in the freezer until you’re ready to continue. You can put the frozen crust directly into the oven in the next step.

8. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 degrees.

(Start preparing filling when you put shell into oven.) Bake 15 minutes, pressing down on foil with mitt-protected hands to flatten any puffs.

Remove foil and bake shell for 8 to 10 minutes longer, or until interior just begins to color.

9. PROCESS PUMPKIN w/SPICES

THE FILLING 9. Process pumpkin, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade for 1 minute.

Transfer pumpkin mixture to a 3-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan; bring it to a sputtering simmer over medium-high heat. Cook pumpkin, stirring constantly, until thick and shiny, about 5 minutes.

NOTE: It’s important to cook away as much moisture as you can without burning the pumpkin mixture. This ensures a not-too-wet pumpkin filling that will firm up well in the oven. Make sure to stir constantly to prevent burning.

11. WARM FILLING INTO HOT SHELL

10. As soon as pie shell comes out of oven, whisk heavy cream and milk into pumpkin and bring to a bare simmer. Process eggs in food processor until whites and yolks are mixed, about 5 seconds. With motor running, slowly pour about half of hot pumpkin mixture through feed tube. Stop machine and scrape in remaining pumpkin. Process 30 seconds longer.

11. Immediately pour warm filling into hot pie shell. (Ladle any excess filling into pie after it has baked for 5 minutes or so — by this time filling will have settled.) Bake until filling is puffed, dry-looking, and lightly cracked around edges, and center wiggles like gelatin when pie is gently shaken, about 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour.

THE TOPPING

Beat cream at medium speed to soft peaks; gradually add confectioners’ sugar. Beat to stiff peaks.

Accompany each wedge of pie with a dollop of whipped cream.

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NOTE: It’s important that the warm filling is going into a hot pie shell.

This ensures that the filling firms up quickly in the oven before it soaks into the pie shell. If you’re topping up the pie with excess filling after it’s gone into the oven, don’t wait past 5 minutes because the additional filling will leave a mark on the firming custard. While not disastrous, it doesn’t make for a good-looking pie.

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SHE’LL GO THE DISTANCE FOR YOU ATHLETE PROFILE: KACIE KWAN → By Johanna Seng (‘21) SPORTS

Though it may be surprising, senior Kacie Kwan, one-time cross country ILH champion and one of the top distance runners in the state, describes her relationship with running as “love-hate.”

You might expect someone who runs nearly every day to enjoy the sport entirely, but Kwan has a more ambivalent perspective: “[There are] times that running is the only thing that will make me happy and brings a genuine smile to my face... but, at the same time, running just comes with so many challenges.” These challenges include both physical demands of the sport—during the Cross Country and Track seasons, Kwan runs 30 to 40 miles a week in workouts ranging from intense short sprints to eight-mile runs, and completes leg, core, and upper body strength workouts daily—and the mental.

Of course, this type of success doesn’t come without incredible commitment. “When you run, it’s literally your life. You have to sleep well, eat well, rest well. You have to devote so much time to recovery and training,” said Kwan. “The mental part of it affects everything in my life,” she added. “It can be overwhelming at times.”

Even in her free time, Kwan can be found browsing the internet and Youtube for running content. Cross Country runners will agree that it is a sport that requires one to be vulnerable and strong simultaneously—when a cross country athlete steps on the startline, she must be prepared to give her all, a scary prospect and something Kwan is acutely aware of.

Running a race well requires the athlete to push themselves to their limits, something that strips them of pretense and may not look pretty.

Though, at first, this aspect of the sport daunted her, Kwan now sees that she’s been able to grow as a person because of Cross Country’s mental demands. Notably, when asked to elaborate on the specific lessons running has taught her, Kwan rattles off a list that mainly focuses on things related to her team: “Leadership, the importance of PHOTOGRAPH & ILLUSTRATION BY JOHANNA SENG (‘21)

Kwan’s dedication to her HBA teammates is rooted in her experience as a young runner in her freshman year. At the time, Kwan’s was drawn to Cross Country for social reasons. She remembers how the 2016 girls varsity team made her feel welcome as a freshman. Since then, the HBA Cross Country program has evolved to be far more rigorous, but Kwan firmly believes that her 2016 teammates did their best in every race and to support each other. Having experienced this sense of community at a young age sparked Kwan’s present desire to give her younger teammates a similar familial community. She is determinedly dedicated to the well-being of the HBA Cross Country team, even though runners’ are mostly noticed and remembered by individual places and running times. In fact, Kwan seems to perform best when leading a team. In junior year, as an upperclassman on the team, Kwan began to seriously see herself as a leader on the Cross Country team.

It was also during this year that HBA won its first girls state title and Kwan won her first ILH title. Since then, Kwan has made her team’s well-being a priority. “They just became a part of my life, so much more intimately than just being teammates. They became closer and closer to me, from friends to sisters,” Kwan said.

Part of Kwan’s success as a leader comes from her attention and care to individuals. “Kacie is one of my few close friends,” said senior Trinity Halemano-Reed, one of Kwan’s Cross Country teammates. “She knows if you ever need to talk. Just looking at you, she’ll understand if you’re going through something.” The two met in elementary school, and through the years, Kwan has helped Halemano-Reed to be more optimistic, and to “look at the bright side even when things are dark.”

Halemano-Reed also attributes the beginnings of her relationship with God and her openness to Christianity to Kwan’s influence.

Senior Lindsay Sasaki, another teammate, also highlights Kwan’s positivity: “Kacie has always been my and the whole Cross Country team’s biggest cheerleader. Without her, HBA’s excellent team sportsmanship reputation would be non-existent.” Kwan is often found enthusiastically cheering on the intermediate and JV teams, giving out dozens of homemade cookies at the end of each season to not only the HBA team, but to her competitors, and turning right around after crossing the finish line to give sweaty hugs and congratulations.

Sasaki and Kwan have been close friends since their freshman year after meeting in a theatre class, and Sasaki picks last year’s Cross

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Kwan initially joined Cross Country in eighth grade as a means to condition herself for soccer, an early passion, which she no longer plays competitively. Though she had been involved with Cross Country at Windward Nazarene Academy, where she was before transferring to HBA in seventh grade, her experience consisted mainly of tearful races and a hatred of running. However, in her first season with the HBA Cross Country team, Kwan finished as runner-up at the ILH girls intermediate championship, marking a pivotal point in Kwan’s attitude toward the sport. Cross Country eventually took centerstage and Kwan continued a streak of top ten ILH and state finishes each following season. She went on to win last year’s ILH women’s varsity championship at Punahou, and recently finished runner up at this year’s championship. Kwan has also been successful in Track, with various top ten ILH and state finishes in the 800m, 1500m, and 3000m events.

preparation, eating right, recovery, kindness and encouragement—a high five and a ‘good job’ can go a long way.”

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Kacie Kwan makes her last push to the finish line at CORP on September 7, 2019. The was the first ILH race of the season and the girls varsity team finished in first place. PHOTOGRAPH BY SEAN MALINGER. Country states meet as her favorite moment with Kwan. “This race was the first where I kept Kacie in sight and allowed her to pull me through the race every step of the way,” Sasaki recalled. She describes the moment as both “glorious” and “a tangible representation of how it is the best of friendships that lead people down tough and painful roads to beautiful endings.”

Despite her optimism, Kwan is grounded and self-aware. “[During] moments of doubt, the lingering fear and nervousness about the workout, the race, the future, I look back and recognize God’s grace and how He used those situations to build my faith and strengthen my relationship with Him, shaping me into the person I am now,” she said. A self-confessed “recovering” perfectionist, Kwan has learned to stay positive through relying on God rather than herself. This attitude is shared by many of her teammates. Every day after practice and before every race, the team can be heard shouting a clear “For Him!”, dedicating their athletic performance to God. Recently, the HBA girls cross country team won their second Division 2 state title, with Kwan and freshman Ashley Kodama leading the way.

“Racing with [Kacie] is a whole different level: she is serious, motivated, strong,” said Kodama. “[She] is a humble runner, that encourages others with a positive attitude… having Kacie Kwan on the cross country team this year has been such a blessing.”

LOCKER ROOMS from Page 2

liability.” Oshiro said that the school has to consider the legal risks involved if they leave the locker rooms unattended. He said that in the past, there have been serious incidents involving students in unattended locker rooms, making the school administration more

With her final high school Cross Country season behind her, Kwan says that her freshman year is the first thing that comes to mind when she reflects on the last few years.

It was a memorable year because of “the smiles and laughs, the success (both personal and team), and the hard times—when it was a struggle to just show up to practice.” She recalls how she used to idolize the seniors on the team, and how everything about the sport felt “terrifyingly yet excitingly new” to her. “All these memories, experiences, and friendships paint the picture of what my high school cross country career was like,” said Kwan fondly. Inspired by her role models and supporters, older athletes, coaches, and parents, Kwan hopes to leave a legacy of gratitude and respect as she departs from HBA. She urges returning athletes to fully appreciate the time and energy invested by others in the sport, and to never take for granted the change in lifestyle required for families and coaches involved in Cross Country.

Looking forward, despite her success as a runner, Kwan holds her future plans loosely and knows nothing is for certain. “Will I run in college?” she mused. “Will I experience similar struggles and success? Is the team going to be as great as the team I’ve had for these past four seasons?”

Although Kwan may see the future through a blurry lens, she says she clearly sees God’s hand in her life and trusts Him to guide her through the next chapter of her life.

cautious about its locker room policy. However, Oshiro states that if students need to use the locker rooms to shower or change, they can make a request to his office a day in advance.