2 SENIOR ISSUE
JUNE 3, 2022 HIGH TIDE
Nothin’ But Net
After being team captain of the varsity basketball team, Bradley Bennett will attend Yale University in the fall by ETHAN CHI
T
Bennett goes up for a dunk during a basketball practice. PHOTO BY FARLEY ANUNCIACION
hree. Two. One. The game has begun. Within the first minute of the game, Bradley Bennett gets the ball. He crosses up the defenders, moves to the side, bends his knees and angles his feet and elbows to the basket. Hands firmly on the ball, he jumps straight up and shoots. He watches the ball arc into the basket flawlessly with a satisfying swish. Getting into Yale was Bennett’s swish, but it’s not just about Yale’s acceptance letter; it’s about everything Bennett did to get there. Bennett’s journey to Yale started in seventh grade. At this time, Bennett was a social kid who loved playing basketball and got good grades. But, he notes that when he was in middle school, he wasn’t the most well-behaved student. “My teachers would send me outside, or I’d have to stay after class and talk to them,” Bennett said. “But it wasn’t in a bad way; I was just a kid.” Luckily, it was his seventh grade math teacher’s understanding that guided him into high school. “Bradley was very bright; he was just a little squirrely, but I always knew that he was capable of great things,” Bennett’s 7th grade math teacher Cassie Waddell said. “I always wanted him to reach that potential that I knew he was capable of.” Like a giant defender, life rammed into Bennett unexpectedly freshman year,
Michael Lee-Chang reflects on his social media presence and advocacy work by MIA DOWDELL
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Did you see Michael’s post about it?” This is something many RUHS students say in reference to Michael Lee-Chang’s Instagram account, @ michaelmousestar, whose stories reach upwards of 1,000 views per day. His account serves as an “information hub” for the student body, giving updates on school events, schedules, student resources, and the occasional drama around campus, often shouldering him with responsibility. The @michaelmousestar account began both as a means of giving back to the school for their support, but also as an act “of spite” due to much of the confusion during distance learning. Students and administration felt conflicted in what procedures to follow or what rules remained as the world shifted alongside the pandemic, and Lee-Chang saw that “students needed someone to rely on for stability.” “Initially I started it because I saw that we have around 12 school Instagram accounts, but not a single one was really providing students with useful information. It was usually just school spirit pro-
paganda. I stepped up to the plate and basically said, ‘This is how it should be done.’” His advocacy for student concerns extends further than just social media. Lee-Chang works with Protect Us, a collaboration of student-led organizations that works directly with legislators to propose and support COVID-related bills. With this group, he helped push forward the California Senate bill 866, a bill that lowers the vaccine consent age to 12. “It happened after the COVID walkout happened and [after I was featured in the LA Times article], someone from the organization found me through the article. They contacted me and basically said, ‘This is great that this happened at your school. We want to work with you to get your story out to help support our legislation to ensure COVID safety at schools,’” Lee-Chang said. Lee-Chang made efforts to contribute both inside and outside the school’s community. As a South Bay Parkland Conservancy member, he worked to conserve, restore, and activate public use of open spaces in the South Bay region. At Redon-
sending him to the floor. Bennett’s dad went into a coma for three months due to sudden medical complications. With everything happening so fast, Bennett didn’t have time to be ‘squirrely’ in class. Instead, he had to grow up in order to provide for his family. With this said, Bennett’s life completely changed. Life fouled him early in the game, knocking him down. “There was a lot of stress and the uncertainty of like, ‘Wow, I don’t know if my dad is going to come home at all,’” Bennett said. “I had to grow up, and I couldn’t be a kid anymore.” Even though life knocked him down, Bennett got back up, knowing the game wasn’t over yet. “It’s cliche to say, but that experience built the foundation of the person I am today. It definitely made me better. In class, I was more focused. I matured a lot in terms of being able to communicate, especially when I needed help,” Bennett said. Now Bennett is back in the game. He has his rhythm back as he’s hustling up and down the court, scoring points left and right. “After my dad got sick I had a new perspective on life. As for sports, I used basketball as my outlet,” Bennett said. Bennett put his all into basketball, which is why he was team captain of the varsity basketball team, two years in a row. Bennett put his all into everything. He al-
ways wanted to be the best, whether it was in his community or in school. But, this is the moment where Bennett finds out if it was all worth it. Thirty seconds left in the game, and all his hard work, blood, sweat and tears; all of it led up to this one moment- this one shot. Bennett moves to the side, bends his knees, angles his feet and elbows to the basket, hands firmly on the ball, jumps straight up and shoots. As the ball leaves his hands and flies into the air, he knows he has done all he could. The ball misses. Although Bennett was ‘disappointed’ in not getting accepted into his first-choice college, MIT, he got the rebound. Bennett is going to Yale. “I am so lucky to be going to such a good college like Yale,” Bennett said. “The college is so diverse, which is one of the reasons why I chose it. I was there for three days, and even just being there, for that period, I met people who have completely different perspectives and point of view from me from all around the world,” Bennett said Going to Yale is a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity not many get to experience, but from an outside perspective, people only see the flashy headline, that acceptance letter to Yale, that buzzer-beater he made in the last second, but it wasn’t that one shot; it was the 99 other shots Bennett took that lead to the one perfect swish. Now the real game has begun. “I’m graduating soon, and moving on to the next thing. Even though I have faced heavy challenges, I have pushed myself to be the best, whether in basketball or school. I am ready to apply everything I have learned in high school to the real world,” Bennett said.
do, he spoke with a previous ASB advisor and crank out a ton of emails to a bunch of to allocate more funding for the band pro- people just to raise awareness on certain gram to further promote their achieve- things,” Nix said. “I’m very proud of him ment. He also helped establish eSports as for what he does, and I think sometimes he a legitimate competitive sport for students. wishes he got more recognition.” When Lee-Chang finds an issue he Lee-Chang will attend California wants to pursue further, his first instinct is State University, Sacramento’s Honors Proto “get people to gather about it,” by spread- gram to study political science. He hopes to ing the word about a protest or an upcom- become a lawmaker or federal official and ing walkout. Although planning such things implement real change in the world. can be daunting, he no longer sees it to be “I don’t do these things to gain anyas difficult as it once was. thing out of it. I just think when there’s an “It’s definitely a struggle when you’re issue, someone should speak out about it. trying to do it for the first time ever. But It inspires and encourafter you’re there and the [connection is ages others to do the made], I mean, I’m just casually texting same, and that’s the mayor on my phone,” Lee-Chang said. what I hope for. “It gets way easier after that to reach At the most, peoout to them and get them inple see things as a volved because at that point, group issue that can they’re just acquaintances be tackled together you know.” as a community,” Watching Lee-Chang Lee-Chang grow as both a student and said. a person, senior Zoe Nix said that once he sets his mind on something, he “really throws himself” into getting things done. “ I ’ v e seen him sit As part of homecoming royalty, Lee-Chang poses with girlfriend Zoe Nix after the homecoming football game. PHOTO BY INGRID SOMMERER
KATELYN NGUYEN
KAYLA GARCIA
Activities Debate Club. Model UN
Activities Theater
Plans Attend UC Riverside to major in creative writing
Plans Attend DePaul University to major in film and television with a cinematography concentration
PHOTO BY TREASURED MOMENTS
PHOTO BY TREASURED MOMENTS
Advice for Freshmen
Greatest Achievement
“My biggest advice for freshmen would be to take risks in attempting to gain opportunities available during high school in anything they desire. Lastly, start the college writing supplements during the middle of junior year to save time if possible.”
“My biggest accomplishment this year was being the sole lighting designer of our school’s play ‘Anatomy of Gray’, as I’m the second student to fully design a main stage production’s lighting. It was an amazing experience to lead a crew and watch my thoughts translate to the stage.”