take AP classes.) This is a likely factor that contributes to the perception that HBA students have “no life” outside of school. Yamanoha said, “I spend a lot of time on academics, around five hours between a few days or so… I don’t really get to go out too often, but I spend a lot of time with my friends at school.” Science teacher Issac Duncklee observed HBA students are just too busy. “I do see a lot of students who over commit themselves to academics, clubs, and extracurricular activities which may lead to that stereotype of them,” he said. Similarly, Low noted, “The majority of students tend to stick with just doing homework or extracurriculars from HBA instead of meeting and interacting with friends or more people from other schools.” The popularity of video gaming also plays into student stereotypes. Nick Niwa, a junior, said, “There’s like two sides to HBA: the weebs, like me, and the social sports jocks… but yeah, I spend about 24 hours a week on gaming, more or less.” Fai Steffany, senior who does not play video games, had the same observation. “A lot of the people here play video games too much… they need to experience life outside of HBA because when you’re in HBA it’s just HBA culture and it can really really suck,” she said. Kaneshiro-Takeuchi summed his observations up this way: “Video games, card games, anime, or work out. I bet you can’t find someone at this school who doesn’t do one of those things.” Even if students don’t belong to social circles outside of HBA, Duncklee points out that at least, one unique strength of the HBA community is that it is faith-based. “In my opinion, what I see here at HBA is that there is a sense of belonging to something bigger, which does lead to more positive social interactions.”
“College Decisions” Continued from Page 4
Lee applied to UC Irvine and wishes to major in international business. Lee was drawn towards UCI due to their student population. “Many schools on the mainland are majority Caucasian, but UCI has more Asians,” she said. Lee is also excited to experience new freedoms. “I’m looking forward to having more independence and also having the ability to figure things out by myself. Out of all the options, UCI is my perfect match!” she added.
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ultimately I chose the college that would be the best fit for me academically, athletically, and socially,” she said. The University of California schools are popular options among HBA seniors. According to the University of California, they received a total of 250,436 applications for the fall 2024 admission. And by March 31, all applicants will be notified of the status of their applications. Michelle
SPRING SPIKE NITE 2024 March 14, 2024 Varsity 2 vs. Hanalani 5:00 p.m.
Varsity 1 vs. Mid-Pacific 6:15 p.m.
Tonight’s food and drinks are sponsored by the Hawaii Baptist Academy Athletic Booster Club. A big mahalo goes out to these Athletic Booster Club sponsors: