Octagon 2023-24 Issue 6

Senioritis helps students connect with friends, find hobbies

BY SAHEB GULATI

Most students have heard of “senioritis,” a colloquial justification for low second semester grades.

It usually hits upon completion of college applications or early acceptance — when there is seemingly nothing left to study for. It’s no joke.

In a poll sent out to all Sacramento Country Day seniors on Feb. 12, 20 out of 26 respondents indicated they were

experiencing some form of senioritis. However, the way students perceive and deal with senioritis is far from uniform.

Some don’t believe in senioritis at all, while others associate it with a relief from academic burden or an increased availability to socialize.

Senior Zoe Genetos thinks academic senioritis is fake.

“I just don’t think it’s real,” Genetos said. “Why would I not keep doing what I’ve been doing?”

Genetos expresses confusion regarding fellow students who claim to be experiencing senioritis, as their academic performance and attendance seem to have largely remained constant.

Another senior, William Holz, shares a similar viewpoint.

“Senioritis is overexaggerated. People want to quit everything because of college,” he said.

William largely views this as an excuse used by students experiencing a bit of laziness.

Junior Cara Shin disagrees with this sentiment. According to Shin, just because senioritis isn’t experienced by some people, that doesn’t mean it’s nonexistent for others.

Regardless, William’s experience with senioritis has been markedly different than the traditional sense.

“It’s not that I’ve been putting my academics off. I just want to make the most of my time left with other people,” William said.

SENIORITIS page 3 >>

Controversy surrounds safe sex education at Country Day

BY ISHAAN SEKHON & ANIKA NADGAUDA

Throughout the 2022-23 school year, senior Zoe Genetos and junior Cara Shin proposed a safe sex education program — to provide support and information to Sacramento Country Day students outside of mandatory sex education and biology classes.

However, their proposal was ultimately rejected.

CAMPUSCORNER

WALDORF-SCDS DANCE

On March 8, Sac Waldorf is hosting a joint dance with Sacramento Country Day from 7:30-10 p.m. at Linden Hall, located on Waldorf’s campus. The theme is Space Jam — students are encouraged to wear metallic, sequined and glittery clothing.

Genetos and Shin hoped to implement safe sex resources, such as access to a sexual health clinic and informational pamphlets on campus with the help of Patricia Jacobsen, Mathematics Department Chair and Dean of Student Life, and Kellie Whited, Science Department Chair and biology teacher.

Although the proposal was rejected, Genetos and Shin still believe Country Day needs to improve their sex education resources and provide readily-avail-

AUCTION AND GALA

The Sedona Nights Gala & Auction is happening on March 16 from 5:30-11:00 p.m.

The event will be hosted at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel. Tickets are $150 each. A lucky winner will recieve $5,000 off one year of Country Day tuition.

able information.

Traditionally, sex education classes are co-ed and occur over a single week each year for sophomores and seniors. They are scheduled during flex, a 30-minute period in the high school’s daily agenda.

Jacobsen wants her children to receive unbiased scientific information on sex, that is not targeted to any specific gender.

According to Whited, her sexual education classes discuss various topics in

detail, such as how students can protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases and where they can find contraceptives.

The material covered in the sex education classes varies every year to adapt to prior knowledge of the students, said Whited.

However, topics such as reproductive physiology, pregnancy and safe sex are

INSIDE ISSUE

the

SENIOR PROFILE: IKE GEORGE

Read about how senior Ike George nurtured his passion for climbing. (PAGE 5)

PHOTO BY REHAN AFZAL

SENIOR SPIRIT After enduring the exhausting college applications season, Country Day seniors enjoy their final months in high school together.

PHOTO BY ZEMA NASIROV

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Ava Eberhart

Lauren Lu Garrett Xu

COPY EDITOR

Saheb Gulati

NEWS EDITOR Zema Nasirov

FEATURE EDITOR

Eesha Dhawan

SPORTS EDITOR

Andrew Burr

A&E/OPINION EDITOR

Ishaan Sekhon

PHOTO EDITOR

Rehan Afzal

HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY

Siri Atluri

PAGE EDITORS

Rehan Afzal

Andrew Burr

Ava Eberhart

Aaryan Gandhi

Rebecca Lin

Lauren Lu

Anisha Mondal

Anika Nadgauda

Zema Nasirov

Ishaan Sekhon

Garrett Xu

BUSINESS STAFF

Saheb Gulati, manager

Aaryan Gandhi, assistant

Daniel Holz

SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF

Ava Eberhart, editor

Lauren Lu, editor

Anika Nadgauda, assistant

Anisha Mondal

REPORTERS

Kate Barnes

Elisenda Bota

Siri Atluri

Jesse Dizon

Aaryan Gandhi

Saheb Gulati

Daniel Holz

Ava Levermore

Rebecca Lin

Luke Scripps

Lillian Wang

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rehan Afzal, editor

Daniel Holz

Rebecca Lin

Anika Nadgauda

Zema Nasirov

MULTIMEDIA STAFF

Zema Nasirov, editor

Andrew Burr

Jesse Dizon

Anika Nadgauda

Luke Scripps

GRAPHIC ARTISTS

Lauren Lu, editor

Claire Gemmell

Rebecca Lin

ADVISER

Andrea Todd

The Octagon is the student-run newspaper of Sacramento Country Day high school. The print edition is published eight times a year, and the website is updated daily. The Octagon is committed to unbiased and comprehensive reporting, serving as a source of reliable information for SCDS students and the school community. The Octagon will publish all timely and relevant news deemed appropriate by the editors-in-chief and adviser. We seek to highlight high-school-related events and spotlight the voices of those with a story to share. Further policies can be found on our website or by scanning the QR code below.

Tennis team sets sights on championship

BY AARYAN GANDHI

It’s 7 a.m. at Rio Del Oro Sports Club, the home of Country Day’s tennis team, rackets vigorously whack the ball back and forth as players put their minds towards one goal: winning the Delta League Championship.

The team fell just short of the league championship last year — placing second, said tennis coach Jamie Nelson.

“We definitely have the talent to win the league championship. Last year, we fell short on a couple of matches because we didn’t have a full roster,” he said.

This year, the team consists of 17 players offering substantial depth, with senior Liam Kaschner and junior Ashley Lattyak as co-captains.

To have a full roster, the team needs to bring in 14 players. Each match has two boys’ and girls’ singles games, two boys’ and girls’ doubles and a mixed doubles game.

“We have a pretty solid and experienced team this year since we’re pretty comfortable playing with each other,” Kaschner said.

On the boys’ side, Kaschner said that senior Delsyn Beaton as well as juniors Henry Wilson and Parker Byers will give the team a strong chance for both the league and section championships.

Additionally, Wilson was the singles section champion for the past two years, said Nelson.

“Henry and Parker are probably our best two players. However, Delsyn has also been our go-to player because he’s always willing to play singles or doubles on any given day,” Nelson said.

For the girls’ side of the team, Lattyak said that a lot of the players are either new or usually just play during the season.

“This year, we lost two valuable players on the girls’ side, Cecilia Wilson, who was also one of the captains and Samhita (Kumar),” Lattyak said. “So, that opens up a new girls’ doubles team since that’s what Cecilia and Samhita played.”

Despite this, Lattyak is still optimistic about the girls’ side of the team, pointing to sophomore singles player Rebecca Lin and a new doubles team with sophomores Itzel Zamora and Ellie Josephson.

“Rebecca played with us last year and

she’s a pretty strong singles player, so I’m looking forward to playing with her this year,” Lattyak said. “I also hope that Itzel and Ellie play, but they’re unsure because they’re new to tennis.”

As the season’s league matches continue, Nelson advises Country Day’s tennis team to be more prepared for historically hard-to-beat schools. This primarily includes Forest Lake Christian School and Highlands High School.

“The main reason Highlands has been a problem for us is because they have a full roster. Similarly, Forest Lake has been our fiercest rival over the years because their players are often very skilled,” Nelson said.

This resonates with Kaschner as he remembers facing Forest Lake for the past three tennis seasons.

“One time we’ve especially had an intense game against Forest Lake was during my freshman year,” Kaschner said. “Delsyn and I were playing doubles, and we got absolutely smoked by some seniors.”

Nonetheless, Nelson has strong faith in the team’s ability and plans to send especially talented players to the section championship to represent Country Day.

Mock trial team defeats NP3, heads to states

BY KATE BARNES

The Sacramento Country Day varsity Mock Trial team won the final round of the Gordon D. Schaber Mock Trial Tournament, meaning the team will move on to the state championships.

After four preliminary rounds, the team competed in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds on Feb. 10 and the county championship round on Feb. 15.

Country Day won against Sheldon High School 492-424 in the quarterfinals as the defense, and against Jesuit High School 498-461 in the semifinals as the prosecution. Both trials took place in the Sacramento County Superior Court, and for both rounds, Country Day won all three ballots.

The team competed against Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep High School in the championship round as the prosecution and won 649-619. The trial took place in the United States District Court Eastern District of California. Country Day won 2.25 ballots to 0.75 ballots.

Multiple students on the varsity team won awards, including senior co-captain Grace Zhao, senior co-captain Eshaan Dhaliwal, junior Saheb Gulati, junior Garrett Xu, junior Ava Eberhart, sophomore Ike Reynen and sophomore Annabelle Do.

Zhao, who won an outstanding attorney award, was given a perfect score by three out of the four judges for her closing argument and her cross examination of the defendant.

Both Mock Trial coach Rick Lewkowitz and Gulati praised her performance at the county championships.

“They say that no Mock Trial round can be flawless, but hers was pretty damn close,” Gulati said.

Gulati himself won two awards, one for prosecution pretrial attorney and one for defense pretrial attorney.

Zhao said that she was motivated by the fact that the championship trial could be her last.

“That pressure ended up helping me perform better because I wasn’t concerned with winning, only with being in the moment, having fun and doing the best that I could with everything I’d learned over the past four years,” Zhao said.

This is the third time the Country Day Mock Trial team has made it to the county championships, the most recent time being last year. Lewkowitz said that the team has improved since.

“The whole program is better because we have more veterans who’ve seen it or who’ve done it before. We have more depth,” Lewkowitz said.

Dhaliwal also won an outstanding attorney award, as well as being named the team’s Most Valuable Player.

Dhaliwal said he is happy with how much he has improved, especially since this year he had a more active role.

“Last year, I had no real experience doing opening or closing arguments. This year, I just became more smooth in terms of public speaking and presentation,” he said.

Lewkowitz said the team’s biggest weakness was in listening to the judge’s instructions. However, he added that the witnesses’ performance was a definite strength.

“The witnesses don’t always know what’s coming on cross examination, and they have to think fast. But I think all of our witnesses did much better; they maintained the same demeanor and the content was good,” Lewkowitz said.

Reynen, who is a witness, said that while the role is underrated, it takes effort and preparation to make it seem realistic.

“One of the most important things as a witness is making sure that you’re not only likable, you’re also clear and you enunciate

your words,” Reynen said.

Lewkowitz plans to expand the number of attorneys next year from three to six, three on defense and three on prosecution. He said that this is partly so the attorneys will not have such a heavy workload.

“We have enough talent to spread it out, and I think that this will help develop the attorneys’ growth when they don’t have to focus on as much as Eshaan and Grace had to,” Lewkowitz said.

Bringing on pretrial coach David Hill is another change that has been made to the team recently. Lewkowitz credits Hill with helping the pretrial attorneys on the varsity and the junior varsity team win awards.

Gulati also recognized the effect Hill had on his performance.

“I think he’s had the biggest impact on my performance this year with all the expertise he brings,” Gulati said.

The team will be travel to Los Angeles in March to compete in the state championships. The trials will start on March 22, with the championship trial for the two final teams on March 24.

Senioritis: Decreased workload, increased free time

(continued from page 1)

In contrast, senior Ted Lipper-Sagehorn has experienced senioritis in an academic sense, driven by a simple reality:

“If you’ve already been accepted to college, there’s not really as much of a point to the upkeep.”

Lipper-Sagehorn has been experiencing some senioritis since junior year — when he decided on taking a gap year after high school.

In the past, Lipper-Sagehorn would typically attempt to study for exams with at least a day or two of notice ahead of time.

Now, he usually only crams material the day before.

To Lipper-Sagehorn, senioritis doesn’t create new habits, it exaggerates behaviors people already exhibit.

“The shenanigans this year have been absolutely top-tier,” he said. “There’s always a certain amount of goofing off in class, but now people have started doing it a little bit more. I guess it’s just been senioritis making it so that we all feel more free.”

Shin has noted a few of these changes in her friends who are seniors.

“I hear from people saying, ‘I have a 78 in this class and I’m an A- student. I’m not used to this, but it’s just how I am now,’” she said.

Although Shin still has around a year before she completes her college applications, she expects to experience a slight lack of motivation herself in senior year.

Shin has also noticed a few of her senior friends taking on lighter coursework and being less present on-campus compared to previous years.

Mathematics Department Chair, Dean of Student Life and Student Council Adviser Patricia Jacobsen has also noticed changes in her students.

In certain years, the dedication of senior student council officers slightly declines in the second semester, Jacobsen said.

Jacobsen also recently started teaching Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus BC to both seniors and juniors and was surprised by the dynamic compared to her Advanced Topics in Calculus class.

“When it’s only seniors, everyone has the same vibe. But in a class like AP Calculus BC where it’s mixed, it’s not very easy,” she said.

As long as seniors surpass a certain grade threshold, they are not required to take final exams. According to Director of College Counseling Alicia Perla, by May 15, seniors are no longer required to attend class.

However, as May AP exams approached, Jacobsen was initially surprised by the number

of seniors who weren’t as determined to perform on the test as she expected.

Even so, Jacobsen isn’t at all concerned about seniors’ academic performance.

“Country Day students might slip, but they’re not going to slip too far,” she said.

This year, senior Annalucia King chose to take some classes online — because the work is asynchronous, it allows for more free periods.

King described an academic burden being lifted her senior year, especially after getting accepted into Babson College in December.

“I obviously still care about my grades,” King said. “But in certain classes I haven’t put in the same amount of effort as previous years.”

Meliksah Demir, the Rekhi Singh Endowed Professor of Happiness at California State University, Sacramento, recommends certain practices for students to maintain motivation and happiness.

“Having other side projects and contributing to your community in different ways is likely to keep your motivation very high,” he said.

Demir also emphasizes further developing positive relationships and spending time with peers, especially for high school students.

According to Demir, there’s a growing body of research suggesting that students’ actions, behaviors and cognitions can concretely impact their outlook.

He encourages students to find activities that fit them, and to maintain participation in those activities.

“Find what makes you happy. Whether that’s practicing humor, engaging in random acts of kindness or mindfulness,” he said.

So what activities has King filled up her time with?

“I’m leaving with a bang,” King said. “I joined the tennis team and helped out with the pep rally. I’m even doing the Rome trip soon.”

King even hopes to get back in touch with her artistic side, through hobbies such as pottery.

However, motivated by academic obligations, King has still performed well in her classes.

According to Harvard’s admissions page, applications can be rescinded if “the admitted candidate did not satisfactorily complete any courses.” Similar clauses are in place at other colleges.

According to Perla, colleges want to see that there has not been a significant decline in a student’s performance, though this can have different meanings at different schools.

“It is a fear in the back of my mind that if my grades slip, Duke could rescind my application,” William said.

William was recruited to join Duke’s fencing team in March 2023. However, force of habit has kept him on track with schoolwork.

A similar inertia has driven Genetos to maintain her academic performance.

“I still have the same expectations, so I’m going to meet the expectations,” Genetos said.

Perla reminds students that although college applications may be complete, some graduation requirements might not be, such as community service hours.

“There are always a handful of students who draw it out to the last minute,” Perla said. “I spend a lot of time reminding students that you will be picking up trash on graduation morning if you aren’t getting your hours done.”

In contrast, senior Liam Kaschner has been able to maintain — and in some senses, improve — his performance and study habits.

Kaschner has taken more of an intellectual interest in his classwork and improved his time management.

“It might seem like your second semester of senior year doesn’t hold a lot of weight, but if you can maintain good habits to carry into college it’ll be much easier,” Kaschner said.

Perla also encourages seniors to keep trying to motivate themselves and maintain momentum.

“There have been studies that show students who do not succumb to senioritis tend to do better when they start college,” she said.

Like King, Kaschner has taken advantage of the time that was occupied by college applications in the past, allocating his time to different pursuits.

Kaschner is taking on an increased role on the SMUD Solar Regatta team, competing in two spring sports and has recently started marketing for his 3D printing business.

“Personally, I don’t like to have a ton of relaxing time,” he said.

Jacobsen believes that any relaxation would be well-deserved.

“Country Day students are full-force on everything from the beginning,” Jacobsen said. “After you’ve put in all of that time and effort, it’s totally natural for you to take a semester and just breathe a little bit.”

Jacobsen emphasizes the often undervalued importance of friendships, and encourages students to use the second semester to maintain and repair any friendships from their time at Country Day.

William has enjoyed the newfound free

time with friends.

According to William’s younger brother, sophomore Daniel Holz, last year William stayed home to study more often, back when he was still determining where he would attend college.

William said that he will miss friendships and family back home.

“I want to make sure I have strong, healthy relationships before I head off to college. That’s my senioritis,” William said.

Lipper-Sagehorn uses the term social senioritis to describe this, and he has noticed a changing dynamic in the senior class.

“The rules of engagement change a little and people are more willing to make big moves because consequences are not going to be as long-lasting,” Lipper-Sagehorn said.

According to Lipper-Sagehorn, this had led to an uptick in romantic relationships and the dissolution of cliques, as people branch out socially to peers they otherwise wouldn’t talk to.

This has also led to the realization that school friends are more temporary than those outside, said Lipper-Sagehorn. As a result, his friend group has branched out more.

Additionally, he believes most students are realizing that everything Country Day-related won’t matter as much in only a few months.

As more college admissions results are released, Genetos has increasingly found herself thinking about college.

“There’s a lot more romanticism about the places you’ve gotten into.” Genetos said. “Even when I get dressed in the morning, I start thinking about whether I want to bring those clothes to college.”

William has similarly been coming to terms with the fact that he will be living outside of California and far from his family.

“At the same time, I’m excited to spread my wings and become my own person,” William said.

Daniel hopes to appreciate the time they have together now as much as possible before William leaves.

Although senioritis can traditionally have a negative connotation, King feels differently.

King loves senioritis and believes the word is misconstrued. Senioritis isn’t just about blowing off classes, not caring and not putting in any effort, she said.

“It’s more about closing a chapter, and realizing you’re only here for one more semester — so engage with the community as much as possible, try the things you’re embarrassed to try and have fun.”

(continued from page 1)

consistently part of the curriculum.

From a teacher’s perspective, Jacobsen believes it would be great to provide resources such as pregnancy tests and condoms on campus.

As a parent, Jacobsen hopes that she has provided an environment for her children to approach her instead of teachers for any questions they had, however she acknowledges not all families are subject to the same situation.

The idea for the program was formed because Genetos and Shin believed the sex education classes weren’t enough for high school students.

According to sophomore Rya Allen, while the sex education curriculum covers a lot of material, she believes that the length of the class is too short to accommodate deep education on the topic — as other schools tend to have semester-long mandatory health classes.

Sex education classes are too quick and don’t provide in-depth information, Shin believes.

Similarly, according to Genetos because the sex education classes are condensed into a single week, time to learn is limited.

Another issue with the sex education classes that Genetos highlighted was its group setting.

“No one wants to ask serious questions,” she said. “You’re with your entire class.”

However, Whited stated that her safe sex

education extends beyond the curriculum of her sex education classes.

Whited mentions how even when the official class is over students are welcome to approach her with questions at any time.

“Many students take me up on that offer and I am thankful that they feel comfortable coming to me with these important questions and trust that I will always tell them the truth.”

As a teacher, Jacobsen believes that she cannot control what people will do. All she can do is help people be safe, she said.

Genetos and Shin met with Whited and Jacobsen to discuss what the school would do to improve sex education on campus and what would be appropriate to include.

“The goal is to give students easy access to safe sex protection,” Shin said.

Genetos said they asked the school for condoms and pregnancy tests. In addition, she wanted to include three pamphlets.

One would cover sexually transmitted diseases, sexual assault and where to find helpful resources. The second would include the locations of relevant information about nearby clinics. The third would include how to have and ask about safe sex.

Head of High School Brooke Wells said having a health center provide materials such as condoms and pregnancy tests would make him feel more comfortable instead of having teachers give the resources out.

Ultimately, the plan was canceled due to a concern with the school’s optics, according to Genetos.

According to Genetos, the school was worried the program could incorrectly portray Country Day as an institution encouraging students to have sex.

Shin disagrees with this reasoning, arguing that providing safe sex information and resources would do the opposite — the school would be represented as taking measures to protect its students and prepare them for the outside world.

Head of School Lee Thomsen said Country Day asked other private high school institutions in California whether they supplied contraceptives. This informed Country Day’s decision to not provide contraceptives.

“Boarding schools tended to supply contraceptives. Day schools often didn’t, especially day schools without a nurse, like ours,” Thomsen said.

The decision to cancel the program was also made out of respect for the Country Day community, according to Thomsen.

“We have a variety of familial and cultural values at Country Day. We should honor those beliefs and values because making the decision to be sexually active involves both emotional and health consideration,” Thomsen said.

According to Genetos, all California public high schools are required to provide safe sex information and resources, as mandated by the California Healthy Youth Act.

“I have a friend who goes to River City. They [the school] have a relationship with a nearby clinic,” Genetos said. “So whenever a student asks the nurse for a pregnancy test or

birth control, the nurse helps bring the student to the clinic.”

Genetos said the clinic would inform and support the student at no cost.

“It was a little crazy that our school, which we pay a lot of tuition for, isn’t giving us anything similar,” she said.

Although sophomore Jaq Howes understands the need for sex education, he doesn’t believe school-provided protection is necessary.

Howes believes school-provided protection would encourage students to have sex rather than protect them.

“It doesn’t feel appropriate for a school setting,” he said. “I feel like there are other ways [to receive safe sex resources] that are more appropriate, like going to a pharmacy.”

Allen stated that while she does not mind having these resources on campus that she would not want to approach a teacher to receive them but rather get them from somewhere else like an open locker.

However, Genetos still believes that the school should provide safe sex education pamphlets.

“Are we not a school that educates?” she asked. “Let’s go educate our students.”

Although Country Day will not provide safe sex resources, it will still educate students about sex, Thomsen said.

“I’m never in opposition to information. The more we can educate kids about safe sex, the better.”

RJ Vargo, ’23, finds community with Linfield men’s soccer

BY SAHEB GULATI

RJ Vargo, ’23, attends Linfield University in Oregon and is majoring in finance. Vargo also competes on the men’s soccer team.

Q: How did you decide on your college? What factors played into your decision?

A: I wanted to get out of California or the Sacramento area. I wanted to play soccer too, and my coach gave me a great point. He said that if you visit a college and you wouldn’t just go there for school, don’t go there just for soccer because you won’t like it.

I loved Country Day and the small school vibe, so that’s why I chose Linfield. The education, location and soccer team are great. It has exactly what I need.

Q: How has the location been for you?

A: McMinnville only has, like, 30,000 people. We don’t even have a Target. There’s a Walmart, two McDonald’s and a Safeway. It’s a college town, but we’re only an hour from Portland so I’m not missing much.

The food is okay, you just have to know the spots. The best spot in town is this place called Muchas. It’s a Mexican restaurant open 24 hours a day that makes great food. If you’re studying at 1 a.m., you can just drive three minutes, get a supreme burrito and down that.

There’s also a lot more rain than I expected. I don’t think I’ve seen the sun since I was last in California in February. Rain isn’t that bad when you’re walking to class, but it’s not great when you’re playing soccer everyday. At night, I’ll practice from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. and it’s just rough. I don’t mind it that much compared to friends I have from San Diego and the Bay Area, though.

I know everyone says this, but make sure you look at location and weather. That includes what’s in the area, because you’re not just going to stay on campus. Campus gets boring quickly. Within the first month you know where every single building is, have walked down every single path and tried all the food within a mile radius. If you don’t bring a car, make friends with people who have a car.

Q: What is your housing situation like?

A: I’m in a two-person dorm in the basement of a pet-friendly hall. It’s an all-guys floor and the rest of the floors are girls, but

my dorm is at the basement level. Right now, my chest is at ground level and the windows are pretty high.

I think I have the coolest room on campus. I have a big walk-in closet that I think might have been a storage closet. I’ve never seen anyone else have a dorm like mine; it’s really weird, but I love my roommate and the room is great. A really good on-campus experience is one of the things they like to cultivate, so Linfield makes you stay on campus for the first three years.

When you’re an upperclassman, you can have an apartment, but most of my senior friends still live on campus. It’s great, you get to see everyone every day.

Q: What major did you choose and why?

A: I’m a finance major. I actually took an accounting class this year and I’m definitely not going to be an accountant, it was way too hard. I haven’t really taken a super hard finance class yet, but the easier ones I’ve taken so far are fun. I really enjoy it, so I’ll probably stick with that.

Q: How do you manage your time between studying, extracurricular activities and social life?

A: Soccer helps me manage my time super well. It’s the structure. After classes, instead of having nothing to do, you have a practice, team meeting or maybe a oneon-one with the coaches. Your whole day is planned and you realize you only have two hours to do your homework, so you just do it.

My time management has probably gotten better since high school with all the structure I’m provided.

Q: What has the experience been like on the men’s soccer team?

A: When I was playing at Country Day, I was playing for more than the badge. I’m with my friends, so I play so much harder. For example, if you watch the World Cup, players try so much harder because it’s for their countries and with friends who they’ve been playing with for years. But if those players play club, they’re not trying as hard because they’re playing for a paycheck and have only been there for two years.

Linfield and Country Day are very similar in that sense — I feel like I’m representing the school with my friends and playing for more than the badge.

The coaches, team and team morale are great. I’ve only been on teams with maybe 25 or so kids before, but we have over 40.

It’s very interesting to play soccer with a

bunch of people who you’ve never played with or against, who’ve played soccer in so many different areas around the country.

We have kids from Kansas, Chicago and even the Netherlands. Playing sports with people from different walks of life is really beautiful and you get to connect with them on a different level.

We have a dude who’s a fifth-year senior and he’s 23. As an 18 or 19-year-old freshman, that’s intimidating. Especially making friends within the first week, it’s intimidating to go up to the table of 22 or 23-year-old men eating lunch, you know?

Now it’s nothing — I talk trash to them all the time on the field or when we’re eating. But it was definitely something I didn’t think about, that now I have to play with full-grown men.

Playing time was a bit of a worry. I didn’t know how my skills would stack up or what the adjustment would be.

Fall sport athletes got to campus two weeks before everyone else did, and one of the first nights we arrived, our captain called everyone out to the fields to play. We were out there and just played for two hours, and I did very well. On the way back, I called my dad and told him, “I think I’m going to be able to play here.” Then I ended up with the second-most minutes on the team, which was great.

Q: How are the facilities for the team?

A: They have a whole training center and athlete-specific weight room. I’ve been in the weight room for the general population and it’s not great. But when you go to the athlete weight room, it’s got 20 squat racks or powerlifting racks and it’s awesome. There are ice baths and people to help stretch you out and tape you up 24/7. It’s really because of our football team, which is really good.

It’s catered toward them, but as a soccer player, you get to use those benefits too.

Traveling is not always the best, though. The buses are taken by the football team when they travel, so we have to take the vans. Our farthest game is in Spokane, and eight hours in a van is not super fun. When you’re with your friends though, it makes the time go by easier.

Q: What have been your most memorable soccer experiences so far?

A: I can think of a couple.

We went down to LA to play CalTech and La Verne for the season. We were two weeks into school and I didn’t really know many of the guys, so it was a good bonding experience. We went on the boardwalk and played football on the beach, so that was

really fun.

On a Wednesday at 7 p.m., we beat our rival Willamette at home 4-2. Our coach had never beaten them the whole time he was there, since 2007.

During senior night, it was pouring rain — probably the most I’ve ever had in a game. We played Puget Sound at home and it was 2-2 till I scored a buzzer beater at the end of the first half.

Q: What have been your most memorable soccer experiences so far?

A: They have a whole training center and athlete-specific weight room. I’ve been in the weight room for the general population and it’s not great. But when you go to the athlete weight room, it’s got 20 squat racks or powerlifting racks and it’s awesome. There are ice baths and people to help stretch you out and tape you up 24/7. It’s really because of our football team, which is really good.

It’s catered toward them, but as a soccer player, you get to use those benefits too.

Traveling is not always the best, though. The buses are taken by the football team when they travel, so we have to take the vans. Our farthest game is in Spokane, and eight hours in a van is not super fun. When you’re with your friends though, it makes the time go by easier.

Q: What are some of the things you do for fun on weekends?

A: You do dinners with your friends, movie nights and on the weekends, you can sometimes go out to party. This sounds depressing, but even study sessions are fun. When you have a test coming up, all the homies come over and crank out some studying for three hours and chat it up. I have my PS4 here so I can play video games with the guys or cook in the kitchen.

We can even drive to Portland. I have friends on the soccer team from Portland and we can just go and have dinner at their house. During Halloween, we did one of those scare parks in Portland and it was some of the most fun I’ve had at Linfield.

FIVE STAR OR SUBPAR?

Quality of classes:

School Spirit:

Social Scene:

Food: Location:

Student-Teacher

Interactions:

BUZZER BEATER RJ Vargo, ’23, scores a buzzer beater in the final seconds of the first half against University of Puget Sound. PHOTO COURTESY OF VARGO

IKE GEORGE

Atrust in his strength, his fingers grip the first minis cule hold. Moving from one hold to another, mentally tracing out how to get to his final destination, George propels his body upwards until he grabs the final hold with both hands.

Moments later, with a final heave, he clears the wall, chest heaving but eyes alight with the thrill of another conquered climb.

For George, rock climbing isn’t just a sport — it’s a source of pure, unadulterated joy that makes him feel fulfilled as a person, as he is always seeking to challenge his mental and physical limits.

His love for rock climbing began long before he ever stepped foot in a climbing gym.

“I’ve been climbing ever since I could walk,” George said.

He became addicted.

Whether it was oak or maple, George would climb any tree he could find.

“Climbing just calls to me,” George said. “If I see a nice, big tree that looks climbable, you can bet that I’m climbing the hell out of it.”

That included the 100-foot family cork oak tree he and his older brother used to climb in their backyard ever since he could remember, and a pine tree in South Lake Tahoe which, at 9 years old, he scaled 50 feet before descending.

The only thing stopping him from climbing even higher was neither fear nor a lack of skill; it was his mother.

“We would put strings up and tie ropes on a tree to convince our mom to let my brother and I climb past the first couple branches, but she had a bad feeling about us being so high up in the air,” George said.

Instead, seeing his love of climbing whatever he could get his hands on, his parents decided to bring him to the Sacramento Pipeworks Gym, introducing him to rock climbing at the age of 7.

Although he loved climbing trees — and still does — it wasn’t until he stepped into the climbing gym that his passion truly soared.

“There’s just something that feels so right about rock climbing,” George said. “It’s exhilarating, exerting and exhausting. I just feel so good about myself and after every session, I feel stronger and better than I was before.”

As exhilarating as the sport may be, the actual climb requires calmness and patience due to the nature of slab climbing, a type of rock climbing George primarily specializes in.

Slab climbing is a form of climbing that involves scaling steep rock faces characterized by an incline slightly less than a vertical angle with few prominent holds. Unlike other types of climbing that rely on overhangs or cracks for grip, slab climbing requires climbers to rely on delicate footwork, balance and precise weight distribution to navigate the smooth surface of the rock.

On the wall, that means experimenting with new grips, holds and body placement. Off the wall, that means doing pull-ups on the doorframe at home or studying the techniques of famed Sacramento free solo rock climber Alex Honnold, and Norwegian competitive rock climber Magnus Midtbø on YouTube videos to apply to his own skill sets.

“Rock climbing is almost like a game where I test myself against yesterday’s self,” George said. “The nature of that is that I keep winning day after day.”

Alumni Adam Akins, ’23, who regularly climbs with George, said George’s creativity in coming up with new ideas on the wall, combined with his willingness to always look for things to improve on makes him such a fun person to climb with.

Akins said one of George’s greatest skillsets is his ability to employ a drop knee which involves bending and dropping one knee while using the opposite foot for stability, enabling climbers to pivot closer to the wall and reach holds efficiently.

“It’s kind of insane. He drops knees like a champ because he’s very flexible. His moves are very dynamic for his size because of how intrepid he is and how he’s able to use his body.”

Even so, with these skill sets, in the sport of rock climbing, facing challenges is part of the course.

For George, it was one V6 purple slab at Pipeworks.

In rock climbing, the V scale is used to rate the climbing difficulty of bouldering rocks from one to 17, with higher numbers indicating greater difficulty in their completion.

A V6 rating signifies a fairly high difficulty rating, and for George, the V6 purple slab at Pipeworks became his personal Mount Everest, something he could never quite conquer.

The rock required a seven-step process to completion. George mastered the first five, but struggled with the sixth and seventh steps.

With tiny crimps at the top and scant footholds that required him to almost do two one-arm pull-ups in a row to reach the top as the rock had little to no foothold to stabilize his body, he said he came in day after day in hopes of completing it.

“In the end, I never did get it. It became my personal white whale,” he said.

As frustrating as not being able to clear a wall may be, to him, climbing isn’t just about conquering peaks; it’s about the journey of self-improvement and growth, he said.

That’s part of the process.

“You never feel like you failed, but you do feel like you’ve learned or you’ve gotten stronger,” George said. “And even in failure, you’re still bettering yourself, making yourself a stronger person.”

Besides self-improvement, George said through rock climbing, he has also strengthened his friendships — with Akins.

“We were already good friends, but rock climb-

There’s just so many things to bond over.”

With Akins going off to Pitzer College last fall, that bond over a common interest was especially important to them.

“It was something in common we have and something to lean back on for a long time,” Akins said. “It was sweet to have that connection with him through rock climbing, so even when we had each grown differently, at that same time we still had climbing together.”

So the day Akins came back to Sacramento during winter break, George texted him, “Ready to climb?”

“Sure,” Adam said.

In the future, the two of them hope to go on an outdoor trip together at places like Emerald Bay or Yosemite to try outdoor rock climbing.

George hopes to maybe even free solo one day, meaning climbing without ropes or safety gears.

“The thrill, the adrenaline of it really appeals to me,” he said.

However, along with the thrill of the sport comes the risk of injury.

But to an adrenaline junkie like George, the idea of injury is “complicated.”

Although he said he obviously doesn’t want to be injured, he doesn’t want the risk of injury to hold him back from enjoying himself to the fullest.

“My mentality has always been that scrapes and injuries will buff out, but memories live forever,” George said. “The injuries never stopped me because they were never debilitating enough for me not to want to keep climbing.”

With the nature of rock climbing, it’s very common for these injuries to involve the deterioration and scraping of finger skin in some cases, and in other cases, the rupture of finger tissue bands in what’s known as a finger pulley tear.

These symptoms can range from mild to sharp pain, with swelling and decreased mobility best characterized by the inability to form a fist.

“But hey, one of the great things about our fingers is that we have 10 of them,” George said. “I scrape one? I can just put athletic tape over it and climb right up again.”

After all, whenever George sees a tall tree, a slab of rock or any climbable structure, he’ll ask himself the same question he’s always had and always will ask himself.

“Could I get to the top of it?”

Smiling, tensing his muscles, he’ll fix his eyes and reach out to the first hold, pulling himself upwards to the top.

STORY BY GARRETT XU; PHOTO BY REHAN AFZAL

Cuts, Curls, Colors

Diversity is proudly displayed on the Sacramento Country Day campus by the wide variety of hairstyles and hair types. Students and staff showcase their personalities, identities and cultural influences in the way they style, color or wear their hair.

Amid the diversity at Country Day, junior Jackie Washington unravels their complex relationship with their hair — a lovehate dynamic.

In middle school, Washington had trouble accepting their hair.

“I wanted long, straight hair, which was kind of the norm because everyone with long, straight hair would see you as pretty,” Washington said. “I used to put it up in ponytails or buns because I didn’t really like my hair, so I kept it restricted.”

Washington would flat iron their hair constantly to the point where their hair started breaking off and their curl pattern was damaged.

“I didn’t have curls anymore. It was just boring and plain. I was like, ‘I don’t really like this, though.’ It made me look like everyone else, but I did not like the way it made me feel about myself,” they said. “I wanted to conform to what I wanted to be and not what other people wanted me to be.”

As Washington grew older, they started putting their hair in braids and twists to maintain it for a long period of time.

“My hair correlates to my gender identity. Sometimes I feel more feminine, so I put my hair in braids,” they said. “Other times, I feel masculine, so I put them in twists. It gives me a different feel to my personality.”

Washington changes their hair color depending on their mood, incorporating a wide range of colored extensions into their braided hair, though they avoid directly dying their hair with bleach as it can be damaging for darker hair tones.

Over the years, Washington has sported orange, blue, green, white, pink and rainbow braids.

“It helps me express the color I feel like most relates to me in the current moment. I feel like that tells a story and just reflects my personality during those times in my life,” they said.

Washington recalled themselves constantly changing haircuts and said that every adjustment brings the thrill of a first

Changing the way they style their hair not only gives them more self-assurance but also embarks them on a transforming path. Washington’s hair provides an outlet for them to express many sides of themselves, which helps them explore their identity.

“It makes me feel more comfortable in my own skin,” they said.

Sophomore Grace Mahan has always embraced her natural curls, but she didn’t learn the right care methods until seventh grade.

Mahan used to brush through her curls and wear her hair in a neat, pulled-back bun.

Even though she eventually discovered a curly hair routine, she saw that she was becoming less and less attached to the look. So, she started a regime of constantly straightening her hair.

“I feel like I look better with straight hair. When I wear my curls, I don’t feel as pretty, so I like to straighten my hair,” Mahan said. “I feel older and more confident with straightened hair.”

Mahan felt her straight hair was easier for her to manage. Waking up with curly hair, she never knew how it was going to turn out. To her, that was stressful, so having straight hair took some weight off her back.

“Often, I think people want what they don’t have. A lot of the time, people with curly hair like their hair straightened better, and people with straight hair like their hair curled better,” Mahan said. “It’s a common thing where people appreciate what they have but long for something they don’t.”

Junior Max Weitzman recently got a perm af ter growing up with short, straight hair his entire life.

The process began when Weitzman started grow ing out his hair in March 2023. Finally, this January, he opted for a more drastic change.

“I went to this perm salon and they said, ‘Hey, let’s do a perm right now.’ I was like, ‘Oh, let’s not do it yet,’ and then I thought, ‘You know what, screw it. Let’s do it,’” he said.

Weitzman feels no different since getting his perm but his friends have commented on how his hair exudes confidence.

Sophomore Kai Hirahara has also noticed the changes in public opinion of his hair.

Hirarhara had a buzz cut for his whole childhood until seventh grade when he began growing it out.

“Going from buzz cut to longer hair, people kind of tend to like you better. A lot of people don’t really care, but some people do. It’s kind of like your image and their perception of you, like how they see you, you know?” Hirahara said.

English teacher Jane Bauman is happy to defy societal norms with her chic, prematurely white hair.

“I know several other women who decided to go all white because they felt encouraged by the fact that it was all white. A number of my friends stopped coloring their hair because I supposedly inspired them,” she said.

Bauman is surprised by how many compliments she gets on her white hair.

“People have stopped me in the grocery store and said, ‘Wow, you have great hair,’ or young people will stop me in and say, ‘Is that your real color?’ Well, yes, this is my real color,” Bauman said.

When you are a young person, you are often trying to figure out who you are and perhaps something that you aren’t, but as you get older you just embrace who you are, Bauman said.

Senior Gulzar Sohal displays his Sikh heritage through his turban, which serves as a continuous reminder of his faith while also expressing his personality.

Sohal began wearing a turban at an early age. He grew into it since his uncle, grandfathers and cousins wear turbans.

“My turban is one of the main things people see when they see me. I’ve been asked about it a lot. I realized how much people can learn about me from that. I express myself through wearing a turban,” Sohal said.

Sohal is very influenced by wearing his turban. Every time he makes a decision, he thinks about his turban. It’s like a constant reminder of what his religion means to him, Sohal said.

Sohal frequently wears a black turban to school. It is the one of the simplest to tie and takes five minutes, but for some events, he will wear a lengthier turban in various colors and styles that are different from what he normally wears. They often take 20 to 25 minutes to tie, depending on the occasion.

Colors and Cultures

Sophomore Ferishta Halim proudly wears her hijab as a statement of her religion and identity.

Halim made the decision to start wearing a hijab in seventh grade.

“It makes me feel proud because I saw that a lot of my Muslim friends wear it which makes me really feel connected to them, my own family and my village,” she said.

On a normal day, Halim wears either a white or black undercap because that is what’s comfortable for her. Based on the color of her outfit, she will try to match her hijab. Usually, she goes for the more neutral colors like baby pink.

“I found my own way of wearing a hijab because everyone has their own special way of how they wear it, what style they

want it on a regular daily basis or what kind of material they want to use,” Halim said.

On special occasions, like weddings, Halim wears a brighter-colored hijab. It expresses that she is going to a big event rather than a regular day of life, she said.

“In middle school, most of my classmates were Afghan and Muslim. We would talk and say, ‘Let’s style our hijab like this tomorrow.’ Some days, like Eid, we would all dress up and match our hijabs, which was a kind of part of a celebration for Eid,” she said.

Wearing a hijab does not cover beauty. Instead, it brings out the beauty of a woman and makes them feel empowered and proud of themselves, Halim said.

STORY BY EESHA DHAWAN; GRAPHICS BY ANISHA MONDAL

EDITORIAL: We need more rainy day shelters

Sacramento’s recent winter storms have flooded streets, knocked out power for numerous communities and schools — including Sacramento Country Day — and worsened travel conditions throughout the area.

However, aside from the obvious implications of the worsening weather, the past months’ increased rainfall has shed some light on another problem: the lack of school spaces for students to spend their free time during rainy days.

Country Day’s high school area mainly consists of small, single-unit classrooms connected by covered outdoor hallways. Areas like the quad or main walkways around the school are exposed to wind and rain, making them uncomfortable to navigate during bad weather. Of the numerous outdoor tables set up for high school students, only three — located between the library and the locker rooms — are sufficiently protected by the waterproof awning.

These spaces, though convenient in times of fairer weather, become increasingly impractical with rain. During lunch, students who normally would place their backpacks along the planter boxes in front of the library, around the lunch tables in the quad or even on the tables themselves must compete for space atop the lockers or face carrying their backpacks with them as they search for a dry place to go.

The library and quiet room can provide space for students to take shelter during the rain, but have strict rules on food, noise and behavior. For larger groups with higher energy, adhering to library rules during the largest shared free period in the school day can be a challenging task.

Additionally, the library hosts an array of student clubs and panels throughout the week. When panels are occasionally scheduled for rainy days, students must silently attend or look elsewhere for cov-

er. As a result, the library’s utility as a rain shelter is serviceable for free periods but unpredictable and impractical during lunch time.

Classrooms are another place that students can turn to when the weather gets worse, but have their own drawbacks.

First, Country Day policy requires students to have the supervision of at least one teacher when inside a classroom. This decreases the number of available classrooms as some teachers leave and lock their classrooms during lunch.

Of those that stay, some choose to hold test retakes during that time, leaving only a small fraction of classrooms available during lunch. However, even classrooms with a teacher willing to open their doors for lunch must sometimes accommodate those studying or testing next door, requiring students once again to be mindful of their noise.

As with the library, the unpredictability and conditionality of the classrooms make them an imperfect solution for the lack of indoor space to escape the weather.

The third and final available space for students to stay dry when not actively in class is the gymnasium. Similarly to the library, however, Country Day’s gym tends to have a packed schedule.

Students looking to play a game of basketball in the gym often are turned away due to reservations made by lower school P.E. classes, student-organized sports tournaments, team photos or recently, boys’ volleyball practices.

On top of sharing the blacktop and back fields with the larger middle school student body, high school students looking to use the gym are once again kicked out. On days where there are no schedule conflicts, students must still find a teacher willing to supervise them in the gym to gain permission to use it.

At its worst, the process leads to an underutilized gym and an overfilled library

with restless students hoping for physical activity.

Faced with these issues, SCDS has a few possible avenues to provide a better experience for students during these early months.

First, the school can change the policies around the use of the library, classrooms and gymnasium during rainy days. By opening designated classrooms with assigned staff or faculty supervision, students can have a clear understanding of which options they have available to them during lunch instead of having to ask around for themselves.

Conversely, classrooms can be used exclusively for testing and student clubs, while library restrictions are slightly lifted, allowing more students to spend their lunches there instead.

The yard duty system used on the black-

top and fields behind the school could be implemented on a much smaller scale in the gym, allowing students to continue to get exercise and use excess energy productively, even when the weather outside is poor.

If existing spaces remain unavailable, portable shelter solutions like extended awnings and umbrellas can add more cover to outdoor spaces. This could also be used as a means of converting areas like the hallways into covered spaces where students are not as exposed to the elements. However, this solution may prove too costly to justify implementation for only a few months out of the year.

Country Day’s poor infrastructure conditions in the winter weather severely impede student experience. It is in the school’s best interest to pursue solutions for the rainy day issues it faces.

“Soggy Lunch” by Claire Gemmell

MY ANGLE: One semester. One senior. One sickness.

Dear Reader,

As the writer of this piece, I must warn you that I have a severe case of senioritis. Worse yet, I’m contagious. Everything I touch becomes infected with exhaustion. The air I breathe is polluted with the stench of procrastination.

Even the story you are reading was written with senioritis-plagued hands, which means every word could poison your mind with fatigue on a nuclear scale.

To the few brave readers who are still reading this piece, I thank you. You have my eternal gratitude.

Before reading my tragic tale, I advise that you complete all the work you have, in case you are infected by my senioritis.

I was diagnosed with senioritis on Feb. 13, 2024. I’m not an asymptomatic individual. I did suffer from early signs, but I ignored them.

On the 13th, I could no longer ignore the symptoms.

I sat in the library with sheer discomfort. It wasn’t the fear of being ousted by the librarians for some trivial infraction, nor was it a ploy to evade my work.

In fact, it was the opposite that bothered me. I had absolutely nothing to do.

When you have senioritis, even doing nothing is exhausting.

My eyes briefly flickered open, absorbing rays of light through the library’s window before closing and engulfing my mind in darkness.

Although the situation was irritating, I thought it was

a perfect metaphor for senioritis: a motivation-eating virus that corrupts every hardworking cell in your body.

This went on multiple times as I adjusted myself in a chair to get comfortable. Unfortunately, trying to become comfortable in our library was nearly impossible due to the wooden chair I sat on.

Despite the odds, I managed to fall into a deep sleep. I still don’t know what’s more surprising — falling asleep in our library or staying asleep in our library.

Regardless, I know I would have stayed asleep if my friends hadn’t woken me up.

After realizing my next class was about to start, I rose to my feet. That was when disaster struck.

As soon as my right foot touched the ground, it bent to the side, causing me to trip and fall.

Even my foot had been infected by senioritis.

As I walked to class, something felt off. The grass felt a little too green, the ground felt a little too earthy, my textbook felt a little too wordy and the wind felt a little too breezy.

Although these seem like petty complaints, which they are, I was still disturbed by their differences.

But I realized it was I who changed.

There was only one major difference between the second semester of my senior year and the rest of my high school experience: college.

The goal of getting into a college has always influenced the effort I put into an activity. College was the source of my motivation for anything related to school, whether it involved grades or extracurricular activities.

However, I have completed the college admissions process. The moment I hit submit on my last college

application was the moment I lost all motivation to continue working.

There are countless stories in pop culture and history of people who overcome incredible hurdles to achieve their ambition. But rarely are we told what happens to those individuals after they accomplish their goals.

Senioritis is what happens to them. Senioritis is not a disease (I apologize for the deception), it’s a condition. It’s a state of being that occurs when you lose motivation to continue excelling — or even staying — in school or any activity in general. It’s more than laziness; it’s an example of genuine post-success fatigue.

Fortunately, the solution is just as simple as the problem. To cure a lack of motivation, you obviously have to motivate yourself.

To combat senioritis or any form of post-success fatigue, you need to set new goals. They don’t have to be grand, they just have to be something to occupy your mind to prevent it from deteriorating.

One example is getting a job with the goal of gaining work experience or just making money to buy anything your heart desires.

For me, I’ve set the goal of improving my writing skills to become the very best writer I can be before my school year is over.

Another way to prevent senioritis is to savor every moment you have left in high school. Don’t be upset that you’re still stuck in school, be happy that you still have time to appreciate the community around you, such as spending more time with friends.

Instead of complaining about the grass being too green, I’ll just appreciate the grass for staying green.

ADVICE: Breaking free from addiction to love

BY ANONYMOUS BY ISHAAN SEKHON

This is an advice column that responds to questions shared by Sacramento Country Day students anonymously. To submit, send a question to the Google form sent out on Feb. 15. Responses are not guaranteed, but all submissions are welcome.

I struggle with not being in a relationship. I’ve been in and out of relationships for a few years, but they always end poorly. I can’t handle being single, and I feel like I always need to be with someone. Because of that, I just end up getting in more and more toxic relationships and it’s a never ending cycle. What should I do?

It appears as though you’ve fallen into the trap of using romantic love as a measure of your value.

No one wants to be lonely. Whether it be romantic or platonic, part of the beauty of building human connections is experiencing life’s battles and victories with a partner.

However, you should not rely on a relationship to grant you purpose or to gain constant attention.

When you jump from partner to partner, you prevent yourself from properly healing from the emotional

wounds caused by previous relationships. As a result, you carry that baggage into your new relationships, decreasing their quality.

Perhaps you find yourself clinging to your partner in an attempt to ensure they don’t leave; however, trying to control them and avoiding vulnerability causes toxicity to infiltrate your relationship.

Yes, breakups are painful, but avoiding the heartache is drastically more detrimental than allowing yourself to experience the solitude.

In order to truly devote yourself to a relationship, you cannot run away from your emotions. The key is learning to be comfortable in your own company, to embrace being alone.

I encourage you to seek out what gives you individuality.

Without your partner around, who are you? Indulge in new hobbies, develop aspirations and explore your identity outside of your relationship.

Your grand purpose is not to meet all of your partner’s needs to the point where you forget about your own. In a truly healthy relationship, both people should feel fulfilled. I suggest you rediscover those desires.

If you ever become single again, you might find that it’s not so difficult to live without them.

While you may feel sad and miss the rituals attached to being in a relationship, you have the support of an

enriched, colorful life to fall back on.

Remember, being single is better than being in a toxic or unhappy relationship. You deserve someone who truly understands and cares for you.

Whoever you choose to cultivate a relationship with, I advise you not to settle for the first person who approaches you.

You need to find the right person for you — someone who you love unconditionally for their character, not for how their presence fills a void in your heart.

They deserve a committed partner as much as you. Your partner is not a temporary placeholder to avoid your emotions, so do not enter a relationship to escape your loneliness.

And while there will be struggles in any relationship, the overall tone of it should be positive.

You should feel relaxed, refreshed, motivated and happy after talking to your partner, not drained, empty or lost without them.

Strive for personal growth and independence, treat yourself kindly and surround yourself with people who do the same.

Being single has its difficulties, but so does being in a relationship. It’s learning to love yourself and to embrace any situation that makes the difference in abandoning this destructive behavior.

MOBILE MASHUP

Cookies, football and crowns.

Three mobile games have taken over Sacramento Country Day’s campus: “Cookie Run: Kingdom,” “NFL Fantasy” and “Clash Royale.”

These games have become more than just pastimes for students: by leading to new clubs and connections, they have become an integral part of students’ campus interactions.

STORY BY LILLIAN WANG; GRAPHICS BY AVA EBERHART; ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANIKA NADGAUDA & ZEMA NASIROV

CLASH ROYALE COOKIE RUN: KINGDOM

The Log, Valkyrie, Firecracker, Knight and Fireball are some of the popular cards in “Clash Royale.”

vorite mobile game since then.

“Cookie Run: Kingdom” is a mo bile game released on Jan. 19, 2021 by Devsisters.

Players try to expand their land, gather resources and defeat ene mies using their cookies in order to bring peace back to their land.

Gems are a crucial part of the game, as they allow players to pull for new characters, eliminate waiting time and buy buffing ob jects to increase their team attack abilities.

Recently, primarily across the freshman and sophomore grades, there has been a surge of students playing “Cookie Run: Kingdom.”

Freshman Kimberly Yin has been playing the game since seventh grade.

“I really like how it’s easy to get gems in this game so I can constantly do ten pulls,” Yin said.

A “ten pull” happens

when the player earns three thousand gems. Players can draw common, rare, epic, super-epic, legendary and ancient cookies. In most cases, the rarer the cookie, the more power it has, which makes it better for the player’s team.

Sophomore Rya Allen has been playing “Cookie Run: Kingdom” since eighth grade.

“This game has helped me interact with people that I wouldn’t have talked to before,” Allen said. She has become friends with the freshmen in her Algebra 2 Honors class who are fellow players. One of her favorite memories was when she pulled a legendary Pure Vanilla Cookie costume right before her math class.

NFL FANTASY

Fantasy.”

“NFL Fantasy ” is a mobile game based on real NFL football, where players draft a league using real players for their digital team.

Each week, different players in the league play against each other until the top teams compete in playoffs and eventually a championship round.

The starting lineup consists of about 10 players: one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one flex player, one kicker, one de fense and six people on the bench. Even though the player’s only job is to set up their team, they have a lot of stake in what’s going on in the actual games.

Launched in March 2016 by Supercell, “Clash Royale” is a strategy player vs. player mobile game with the goal of knocking down as many of an opponent’s three towers as possible within a three-minute time period.

Players collect and upgrade numerous cards but can only create a deck of eight to cycle through in battle. Each card is unique, with different types such as troops, spells, buildings and tower troops all with different rarities — common, rare, epic, legendary and champion.

Each round unfolds differently, depending on the cards that the player and their opponent have chosen for their deck.

Sophomore Isaac Reynen has been playing “Clash Royale” since 2018, when he was a fourth grader, and has been his fa-

“I love ‘Clash Royale’ for its variety and the control I have over the game,” Reynen said.

After playing the game for over five years, Reynen loves to try to get others into “Clash Royale.” Moreover, there’s one thing that he makes sure to teach new players.

“My advice to beginners is to not become a ‘Mid-Ladder Menace,’” Reynen said.

A “Mid-Ladder Menace” is someone who gets stuck after winning the easy rounds as a beginner, with the ladder being the ranking system in Clash Royale.

Each round a player wins earns them more crowns, which helps them climb the ladder. A “Mid-Ladder Menace” has a deck of cards that are boring and easy to play against, so no skill is required to win.

Aside from helping others, Reynen has also made many fond memories while playing “Clash Royale.”

His favorite memory is when he was playing against his friend, sophomore Jake Genetos.

He used a deck consisting of three cards: Miner, Wall Breakers and Snowball.

Normally, this deck doesn’t destroy all three enemy towers, but one time, he destroyed Genetos’ King Tower within the last 10 seconds of the game.

“That was just that one time. My favorite part about ‘Clash Royale’ is beating Isaac in other rounds,” Genetos said. Reynen and Genetos have been playing “Clash Royale” together since 2021, when they were both in eighth grade.

Even now, they always play during free periods and lunch.

To Scripps, devoting a lot of time and effort into teaching new members how to play the game has been worth it with all of the joy that has come out of it.

“I definitely got to know a lot more people better and make a lot of fun memories from fantasy football,” Scripps said.

Senior Luke Scripps has been playing the game since 2020 and is the president of Country Day’s Fantasy Football Club.

“I only started getting into fantasy football during quarantine and I wanted to bring it to school since I thought many people would be interested in it, just like me,” Scripps said.

Senior Kaitlyn Dias has been a member of Scripps’ Fantasy Football Club for two years.

“I really like going to his clubs. Luke always presents a slideshow to show the stats of the previous rounds we played, but he makes it funny so it isn’t like a lecture,” Dias said.

Through “NFL Fantasy,” Scripps has made more friends across grade levels, whom he often invites to his farm for football watch parties.

Scripps’ favorite memory is when his friend, senior Delsyn Beaton, lost his game on Halloween by a fraction of a point to senior William Holz.

“That night, we all celebrated like crazy because someone finally beat Delsyn,” Scripps said.

Many Country Day juniors and seniors are playing “NFL

Avatar reboot: mixed feelings

BY SIRI ATLURI

Nineteen years after the original Nickelodeon debut of the animated show “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” Netflix released a long-awaited live-action adaptation of the beloved series on Feb. 22.

Being a huge fan of the original show, I felt the adaptation did a decent job overall, making some interesting choices throughout its first season based on Book 1 of the animated series. However, while some new choices work, others fall flat in execution.

During the original first season, 12-year-old main character Aang is the Avatar — a rare being who can manipulate, or bend, the four elements: water, earth, fire and air. After being discovered and broken out of an iceberg he was trapped in for 100 years by the sibling duo Katara and Sokka, Aang must master all four elements to stop the war started by the Fire Nation when he initially disappeared.

Overall, the show shines when it provides new nuanced takes on the development and relational dynamics between its characters — an example being Azula, princess of the Fire Nation.

I enjoyed exploring the reasoning behind Azula’s cutthroat nature especially since the character herself is 14 years old, being rather young for someone so unapologetically conniving and vicious.

Seeing the linking of Azula’s obsession with perfection to how such traits have been instilled in her by her father Fire Lord Ozai — who pits her against her own brother — was an interesting way to explore the dynamics in the Fire Nation’s royal family.

The show chose to deviate from the cartoon by having the sibling dynamic between Azula and Prince Zuko contribute to Azula’s paranoia and vicious nature.

Another intriguing departure from the original that I liked seeing was the stronger feature of Avatar Kyoshi — a previous life of Aang born originally as an Earthbender (the Avatar is reborn after the previous one dies into the next sequential nation, the sequence being fire, air, water, and earth).

In the second episode, Kyoshi’s elemental bending proved a treat to watch, and the show made a point to dive into her merciless approach and impact as an Avatar.

Other character depictions and changes, however, felt confusing and left me wishing for more development.

With the adaptation’s dynamic between Aang and Gyatso, played by Lim Kay Siu, the mentorship aspect of the relationship is confusing in its development.

Gyatso acts as a caring mentor figure towards Aang, advocating for the Council of Elders to wait to tell Aang he is the Avatar, in hopes of preserving his childhood.

However, in this same episode, Gyatso tells Aang that he

RATING:

will always be his friend, and this theme of friendship in their relationship is emphasized throughout the season, making for a weird contrast between the physical and verbal demonstration of Gyatso’s dynamic with Aang. Which is he: an authoritative mentor or a friend?

The show should have shown more of the nuances of their relationship by instead displaying that while Gyatso acts primarily as a mentor figure, Aang feels comfortable enough with him to approach him honestly — which was apparent in the original.

Additionally, Katara’s storyline throughout the season felt underwhelming. The feistiness of her original character is almost completely watered down, and her originally climactic fight with waterbending Master Pakku turns into a surprisingly non-compelling scene, with the motivations of both characters and the resolution of the conflict feeling muddled.

Overall, Katara’s arc is underdeveloped, which was a big letdown for me as she was one of my favorite characters in the original show.

In the original, Katara’s feistiness, stubbornness and strong will to stick to her morality and help others were key parts of her character that coexisted with her maternal and feminine nature.

This fiery part of her original character is severely neglected in the adaptation, where she is instead subdued, soft-spoken and restrained in expressing her passions — a far cry from the multidimensional personality Katara possesses in the original show’s first season.

However, there were still some other standout performances that I enjoyed watching.

Suki, the Kyoshi warrior, played by actress Maria Zhang, steals almost every scene she is in. The scenes in which Suki practices martial arts and demonstrates her skills with her metal folding fans are highly memorable. I loved the depiction of her style of fighting on screen, and the fans’ weaponry elements and in-combat usage were especially well-executed.

I also felt that Ian Ousley, cast as Sokka, did a great job displaying the character’s sarcastic humor and charm throughout the season. Overall, Ousley effectively balances humor with the show’s more serious moments.

Zuko’s trademark angst was on point. Actor Dallas Liu’s faithful depiction of Zuko’s struggle brought depth to his motivations, displaying Zuko’s feelings of turmoil relating to his family, his banishment and his inner battle between gaining his father’s approval and finding his true purpose.

My biggest gripes with this adaptation are the clunky dialogue moments.

For example, in the first episode, Aang, talking to his pet sky bison Appa at night, declares that he is scared of being the Avatar and facing the responsibility of his role. Not only does

this moment obviously lack subtlety, it does not convincingly demonstrate to the audience why Aang feels this way.

The show struggles with similar telling-instead-of-showing issues and awkward exposition throughout the season.

Early in the first episode, Gran Gran, played by Casey Camp-Horinek, is awkwardly utilized as an exposition machine when she clunkily delivers the show’s famous introductory monologue of the history of the hundred-year war and its impact.

There was also clunky acting in parts of the show, not only in Gran Gran’s aforementioned monologue, but in another moment, where Gyatso dramatically screams Aang’s name during the Air Temple attack. Both felt awkward and contrived.

In general, I also felt that Aang, Katara and Sokka weren’t together as much as I had wished throughout the season. It felt like Sokka and Katara were mere side characters compared to Aang, while in the animated show, a crucial reason the group’s relationship felt compelling was because the development of their bond throughout the first season was highly prioritized.

I also enjoyed viewing Iroh and Zuko’s bond, though I did wish that Iroh’s character was depicted with much more of his classic coy and relaxed nature.

Overall, choosing to go into this series with an open mind is key. Not expecting it to be a scene-by-scene adaptation helped me appreciate some of the new character depictions and lore developments as a viewer.

This adaptation is not better than the original, but it was almost guaranteed that it was never going to be, since the original animated show is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest animated shows of all time, and by many fans as an almost perfect series (though this new live-action series is definitely better than the infamous movie adaptation by director M. Night Shyamalan).

Those who expect a shot-by-shot remake of the original show, with all of the same charm and story beats, will be disappointed as there are deviations from the original events of the series.

Additionally, those who have not watched the original may feel caught off guard by the pacing of events or get lost in the lore of the show’s setting, as the show does suffer from a telling instead of showing issue, especially relating to expositional information.

Overall, with some questionable character decisions and some other interesting changes to explore between character dynamics, Netflix’s adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” is one that generally works as an intriguing watch meant for a viewer interested in exploring a new version of the Avatar world.

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SCREENSHOTS FROM ANONYMOUS STUDENTS; GRAPHICS BY ANIKA NADGAUDA