KELP

KELP MAY 2022

What We Want To See KELP interviews West High athletes about body image in their sports COVER BY: McKenna Stephens

PHOTO FEATURE

Kenadee Showalter ‘22 takes a shot at quaterfinals agaisnst Davenport Central.

GIANNA LIU

We asked members of West High’s new investing club, “West High Bets” some questions, here is what they said.

BY ANNA SONG AND MARIE STIER

DESIGN BY ANNA SONG

WHY DID YOU START WEST HIGH BETS? “Mainly in my own interest in business related topics, such as investing and I guess also entrepreneurship, but that’s kind of different from this club. So then, I also participated in the Wharton investment competition this year. And I’m been trying to assemble a team that will represent our school for next year, because I actually did pretty well this year and it was a good experience. So I’d like to try again next year.”

- Junze Sun ‘25, President and Founder of West High Bets

Junze Sun ‘25, president of the West High Bets, converses with club members Richard Yang ‘25 and Michael Lee ‘24.

WHY DID YOU JOIN WEST HIGH BETS? “I joined because he [Junze] forced me to.”

- Derek Hua ‘25 “Because my friends are in it.”

- Aaron Das ‘25 Junze Sun ‘25, Richard Yang ‘25 and Michael Lee ‘24 discuss stock trading.

04 PROFILES MAY 26, 2022

HOW DID YOU GET INTO STOCKS? “I had some friends in the stocks club and like I initially thought that I would go support them, but I did learn some new stuff because I literally didn’t know what a stock was before I joined the club.”

- Jessie Li ‘25

“My grandma’s rich.“

(Right) Brady Olsen ‘25, Aaron Das ‘25, Derek Hua ‘25, and Richard Yang ‘25 discuss about the investor simulator.

- Derek Hua ‘25 (Left) Richard Yang ‘25 watches Neil Houston ‘25 trade stocks on an online simulator.

WOULD YOU RECOMMEND INVESTING TO EVERYONE ELSE? “Certainly, yes, if you have the time I guess. It’s a good thing to pick up.”

- Junze Sun ‘25 (Below) Michael Lee ‘24, Brady Olsen ‘25, and Aaron Das ‘25, trade stocks using an online simulator.

“Like, like real life? Yeah if you want to be richer.”

- Aaron Das ‘25

“Everyone should know how to invest in stocks.”

- Derek Hua ‘25 PHOTOS BY ANNA SONG, MARIE STIER, AND GIANNA LIU

PROFILES MAY 26, 2022

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udents. achers and st te of es tiv ec sp h from the per g at West Hig tin ea ch to in A look

*All names of students have been removed to protect their anonymity.

06 FEATURE MAY 26, 2022

The Spanish Cheating Scandal. Infamous at West for the large group of students collectively cheating on a test. Considering people still talk about it now, something must have stirred up dramatically if this was the cheating occurrence that is still mentioned, while most blow away in a couple days.

Cheating is an age-old occurrence in school.

Cheating on tests, giving homework, writing essays; it seems people find ways to work around doing their work. Whether it is a one time “check” or if it’s a constant copying, cheating comes in many forms. And with that, many opinions and experiences.

The Spanish Cheating Scandal for example, had major emotions formed around it. Even now, people still reference it when thinking about an example of students cheating on a test. Spanish teacher Jamie Sandhu, recalls the scandal it caused, even though she wasn’t the teacher administering the test.

The new teacher who made the test, has now left, made it on Canvas. The test, Sandhu said, wasn’t locked, so the students who had the class

“ON LI N E , I CH EATE D ON EVE RY SI NG LE TEST I HAD.” -STU DENT #2 later in the day had access. Amy Seidel’s Spanish 4 class was allowed to use a notecard for information they felt they would need for it. As Seidel checked her students’ notecards, many had the exact information as what was needed for the test. It became clear that students had unfairly used this, persuading Seidel and the other teachers to forfeit the entire test.

This incident could have easily blown over, but there were many emotions bubbling to the surface. “But apparently it was huge, because some kids wanted to fight that they hadn’t cheated,” said Sandhu. Teachers, students and parents all became involved, creating the scandal that continues to be remembered.

Sandhu said she didn’t think it needed to be as huge as it became.“I think it got blown out of proportion because kids were mad and you know, parents,” said Sandhu.

The students faced no punishment as it was impossible to prove who had or had not cheated. This example highlights the emotions brought up through cheating, but it is not the only one.

Teachers especially face strong emotions about

“ [I FE E L] LI KE AN ACCOM PLICE I F I ’M H E LPI NG SOM EON E CH EAT.” -STU DENT #1 their students cheating. “I feel upset. I feel like someone only cheats when they don’t know.

And so I feel upset that they never got to know and it makes me question whether I asked them enough questions, made myself more available.” said Ms Stumpff. More than just making a teacher upset because they feel as though their students don’t know it, teachers may interpret it as disregard for their teaching.

“So if I catch a kid cheating on the test I am angry. I’m very angry… I see it sometimes as a sign of disrespect towards me,” said Sandhu.

Students may also feel the act of cheating weighs upon them. “[I feel] like an accomplice if I’m helping someone cheat,” Student 1 said.

Despite how cheating affects them, teachers often share understanding with their students.

“I think they cheat because of desperation purposes, so they just really don’t know what they’re doing and they just feel like they need to get it done,” said Stumpff.

The divide between how students and teachers view cheating may not be as wide as people think. “[I have cheated] because I don’t study beforehand and then I’m not prepared. Then I like back myself into a corner. Procrastination.”

Student 1 said.

“I don’t feel confident. I usually study for tests.

I’m pretty good about that. The fact that I have a whole test, I look at someone with the same answer [is] so reassuring” Student 2 said.

Cheating varies between students, in the way they do it, how often along with what

would be considered cheating.

“I’ve gotten the answers from other people.

Maybe use my phone, maybe use notes when I’m not supposed to,” Student 1 said.

“Online I cheated on every single test I had,” Student 2 said.

Online school was a challenging adjustment for many students, but one subject stood out in particular. One subject faced the brunt of the discrepancy due to lack of face-to-face interactions. Language.

“I think that COVID has worsened this problem, big time, because of all the online learning that happened… You know, I might have done the same thing [used google translator]” said Sandhu.

Sandhu follows a Facebook page for Spanish teachers, which confirms her own experience.

“Every Spanish teacher struggles with kids googling how to say things.” Senora Sandhu said.

Since COVID, students have identified that they cheat more. A survey from the 19-20 school year found that 70% of seniors at West had cheated on a test. A survey sent out last year by the West Side Story found that the percentage had risen to 85% of seniors who said they had cheated on a test.

The concept of cheating itself is subjective, so what one may consider cheating, another might not. Just as cheating can be viewed as a loophole such as “using your resources”. In essence, cheating has always, and will continue to exist wherever the opportunity arises.

“ [I HAVE CH EATE D] BECAUSE I DON ’T STU DY BE FO R E HAN D AN D TH E N I ’ M NOT PR E PAR E D. TH E N I LI KE BACK MYSE LF I NTO A CO R N E R . PROCR ASTI NATION .”

-STU DENT #1 FEATURE MAY 26, 2022

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What We Want to See BY: GIANNA LIU DESIGN BY: MCKENNA STEPHENS

S

omething makes us different from everyone else.

What we look like, our features. It is something that we look at every single day from the second we wake up and at the end of the night. It is something we take with us everywhere we go and that keeps us alive in this world. But what if the thing that you need to cherish in this world needs to fit a certain standard, it needs to look a certain way simply because other people tell you it has to be this way?

Female Athletes. Picture one in your head. What do you see?

Is there a feature that stands out the most? Maybe a super fit body and toned legs and arms?

Now is there something that you wouldn’t see in an athlete?

Maybe loose skin and rounder waist. Whatever you picture, there is a body image stereotype among female athletes. A stereotype that has tight lines drawn around. You either are in the line or you aren’t. “(In dance) You want long legs, long arms. You want to be very thin, very flexible, and very small,” said MD Gross ‘25.

Although every sport emphasizes having a good body, dance is one of the most punctilious.

As the dance is also a form of art, being the best also means looking the best. “(In ballet) You want to be lifted on stage, so you want to be small. In costumes and performances, you want to look good on stage because everyone else is watching you. You want to be perfect,” said Maryn Reimers ‘25.

For dancers like Gross and Reimers, their body is the art.

Unlike most other sports like basketball or soccer, the attention is on them and not on the scoreboard. The pressure of having the ideal, perfect body is so great that dancers are 12% more likely to develop an eating disorder, and ballet dancers are 10x more likely to develop an eating disorder than non-ballet dancers (according to TeenRehab).

Runner Ijin Shim ‘24 also addresses the issue of this “perfect ideal body”.

“(In ballet) You want to be lifted on stage, so you want to be small. In costumes and performances, you want to look good on stage because everyone else is watching you. You want to be perfect,” -Maryn Reimers ‘25 “I mean most (body standards) are just being super skinny.

Unrealistically skinny. It makes the people who want to run for fun say things like “I’m too fat to join” or “I can’t run” but it’s high school sports honestly, [body image] takes the fun out of the sport.” said Shim.

When it comes to the diet of a runner, Shim has been heavily influenced by fellow runners.

“People [other runners] would be like “oh I don’t eat lunch, I only ate a granola bar”. That influences other people, many

would wonder to themselves “Should I do that?”. There is nothing wrong with losing weight, but do it in a healthy way that won’t hurt your body.

Freshman year, I passed out because I didn’t eat enough,” said Shim.

For wrestlers, stepping on the scale is nothing new. Wrestling sorts athletes into different weight classes. You could lose or gain weight if you think the competition in your weight group is too intense. “[The stereotype] is you’re fit and you’re in shape, you physically look like an athlete,” said Jannell Avila ‘24, “When you are wrestling, you wear tight fit forms (singlets) and it is usually a self conscious thing,” When asked if “how athletic you look” matters on the mat, this is what Avila said, “Not at all, there are some people that you would not expect to be as good just based on their appearance and look.”

For the athletes, maintaining your body and health is the priority, but are these body standards realistic to maintain?

“I don’t think being muscular with little weight is realistic. I don’t think that they are necessary to maintain either to be a decent athlete. You are going through so many changes in Highschool, with puberty and how your body is going to change naturally,” said basketball and volleyball player Krisha Kapoor ‘23. Even though many know it is hard to maintain that picture perfect body, it still gets to them at some point. When Covid-19 struck, lockdown

spurred many online exercise and home workout videos and body goals started to trend online, such as the famous fitness Youtuber Chloe Ting. This trend also hit Reimers.

“In the beginning of quarantine, I thought “this was my chance to change my body”. I tried to workout every single day and eat stuff that was healthy but I didn’t like. It never worked because I was doing it in the wrong way but I just wanted to follow the trends.” said Reimers.

Trends, social media, and the people around athletes are what keeps the healthy body and the ideal body very different. What is healthy might not look perfect and what might look perfect might not be healthy at all.

Because Gross has been dancing for as long as she can remember, everyone in the dance room influences her.

“You are in tight clothing, you are staring in a mirror. You have someone yelling at you, telling you to suck in, telling you to fix your arms, legs, feet. Some of my instructors would tell me “don’t eat too much turkey over break” or “don’t eat this”. Although they mean it in a joking manner, it is still negative,” said Gross.

While coaches and instructors can play a huge role in body insecurities, social media is another huge player. Photoshop or other editing tools are used to tweak any imperfections and influencers can completely change the way they look. Teenage girls see these popular influencers, with lots of comments and likes, and want to be like them.

“Influencers are so fake but

they influence everyone. They use photoshop, get surgery, and have personal trainers. It’s not their body, it’s their money,” said Shim.

Although social media does seem to be filled with photoshop and “unrealness”, many body positive influencers are also gaining popularity. Victoria Garrick, a former D1 volleyball player for USC, opened up about her eating disorder and the mental health issues she dealt with being a D1 athlete.

Many fitness youtubers also go on social media to show their real body, stretch marks, acne, loose skin, or the belly after a big meal.

Society has always pushed women into a glass box. They must look proper, beautiful, and for display. A woman with defined muscle does not get the same reaction from society as a man does.

“There is always this thing in my mind to not look too masculine but chances are that it is never going to happen. It is difficult to put on muscle and I think right now, I kind of want more muscle,” said Minou Emmad ‘23, teammate of Shim.

Shim agrees, “No, I think it’s really sexy to be ripped,” Although being unhappy about your body and your appearance is normal, there are little things that can help.

“Surround yourself with supportive people as much as you can. Just realize that your body should not overlook your athletic ability,” said Kapoor.

Many girls think that just building up your own confi-

Unlike most other sports like basketball or soccer, the attention is on them and not on the scoreboard.

dence and being strong mentally is key, “The confidence thing is you got to hold yourself high. No matter what, there are always going to be people judging you. The girls in your sport will always judge one another. Have confidence in your own body and no one can walk you over,” said Avila.

“Surround yourself with supportive people as much as you can. Just realize that your body should not overlook your athletic ability,” -Krisha Kapoor ‘23

PHOTO FEATURE

GIANNA LIU

Jada Dacthler ‘22 walks alongside Coach Dave Rosenthal after a team hustle.

Gianna’s Top 6 K-Drama Picks

BY GIANNA LIU

Penthouse War in Life There is a big reason why the penthouse has 3 seasons, usually most just have one. A poor mother and daughter get involved in the lives of rich families that live in the extremely rich luxurious Hera Palace apartment. The mother tries to fight against the rich families to give her daughter a better life. It incorporates murder, crime, suspense and love all in the entire show and I got so addicted to it. There were so many twists and turns throughout the show and it is my literal fav.

Business Proposal SO. CUTE. I usually hate cute romance and cliche ones but it was so adorable and the actors pulled it off so well. Kang Taemu, an extremely rich, handsome, and tall guy is the CEO of a food company which Hari works for. Hari only knows that her boss is ruthless (so cliche I know) but ends up meeting him at a blind date. Hari had the plan to scare him off so he wouldn’t come back but Taemu makes an irresistible offer... for Hari to be his fake girlfriend. I watched Business Proposal with a friend and it was hilarious.

Twenty-Five Twenty-One Gold medal fencer named Heedo and the show tells us the story of her teenage years. I really liked it because it brought the audience to the 1990s in Korea. The show mainly shows two things, one of which is Heedo and Yi-Jin’s love story. It does a lovely job telling a story about how two people love each other in a friendship. The second thing is about Heedo’s fencing hardships, and how much she has to do to prove herself to everyone around her. The ending was was bittersweet but it portrays a realistic and healthy relationship.

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OPINION MAY 26, 2022

Snow Drop Student Yeongro finds a bleeding Sooho whom she met on a blind date (he ghosted her after flirting with her btw) in her dormitory. The ASNP are looking for this Sooho but Yeongro believed that he was protesting against the government and that was why he was being chased. Yeongro took him in to heal him and both of them developed feelings. What Yeongro didn’t know was that Sooho was a spy from North Korea and was involved with a big money trade between the South and North. I enjoyed this show because it was so exciting and suprising.

Crash Landing on You Yoon Seri, a beautiful rich and successful business woman in South Korea goes paragliding on a sunny afternoon that soon turns into a tornado. The tornado blew her over the border and into North Korea. Captain Ri found her, and at first, he was going to turn in Seri but she blackmailed him so he takes care of her until she can safely get her back to The South. During many failed attempts to bring Seri back home, they slowly fall in love and face the future of not seeing each other ever again. During this entire thing, Cho Cheol-gang (big thirst for power guy), finds out that Captain Ri is hiding a South Korean woman and tries to kill both of them.

The drama is funny at parts because Seri is taken care of by a group of light hearted soldiers and suspenseful at other parts.

Fun Fact

Son Ye Jin (Seri) and Hyun Bin (Captain Ri) starred together in a movie before called “The Negotiation”

Making it Offical

Son Ye Jin (Seri) and Hyun Bin (Captain Ri) got married in 2022!

This is literally straight out of a kdrama!

Arn’t they cute??

Vincenzo Vincenzo Cassano is a Korean-Italian lawyer and consigliere adopted by the mafia Cassano Family.

He goes to Korea to run away and sell a building but meets the father of Hong Cha-young.

Cha-young is a successful lawyer who doesn’t have the best relationship with her father. On the night Vincenzo has a drink with her father, a truck got driven into the building and killed her father. Together, Cha-young and Vincenzo avenge her father’s death. Vincenzo a wonderful show if you want a laugh but also lots of action.

OPINION MAY 26, 2022

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