GAME OVER To wrap up the 2025-2026 boys varsity season, sophomore Parsa Salari drives the ball towards the goal.
Social media causes teens to desensitize multiple real world issues
BY NOOR ALAMERI & ETHAN MINTON
On Sept. 10, at 12:23 p.m. MDT, right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed onstage at a Turning Point USA speaking event, held outdoors at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
“Instantly,” according to CBS News 24/7, videos of Kirk being hit by the bullet spread across social media with “millions of views” within the hour it happened. The video was available “in slow-motion and from different angles,” according to Public Broadcasting Service News (PBS News).
The videos ran on social media platforms
BY REHAN AFZAL & RYAN XU
On Sept. 22, the Sacramento Country Day high school quad bustled with students dressed as a viral internet trend known as “performative males.” Adorned in baggy jeans, wired headphones and tote bags stuffed with feminist literature, the student body kicked off the Homecoming Spirit Week. However, that wasn’t the whole picture. When Student Body President Gavin Wang
CAMPUSCORNER
BLOOD DRIVE
On Nov. 7, Country Day’s annual blood drive, led by senior Zema Nasirov and sophomore Mayuri Kasturi, will take place in the Benvenuti Gym. Students who are 16 and older are able to donate, but 16-year-old students must have their parents sign a consent form.
“with no content moderation,” said David Bauer, Media Writer for Associated Press, who appeared on the CBS program on Sept. 17 to discuss the coverage of the shooting.
That afternoon, during their lunch hour, Sacramento Country Day high schoolers rushed to their phones trying to uncover the facts and deduce whether the assassination was real or fake.
Junior Ajeeth Bains watched the video of Kirk being shot on X.
“I was disturbed in the sense of seeing someone lose their life. It’s a weird emotion. Once he got shot, he’s like a shell. So in that sense, I was disturbed, but it didn’t linger. I would say it was a very instant thing,” he said.
announced the spirit day theme of “Performative Male Monday” six days earlier on Sept. 17, students erupted in cheers and laughter. At the following morning meeting, it was announced that the theme was cancelled. What was originally named “Performative Male Monday” was suddenly changed to “Gavin’s Matcha Shop Monday” (referring to senior and student body president Wang).
According to a Forbes article titled “The Ripple Effects of Performative Masculinity”
TURKEY DRIVE
To support the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, Country Day is hosting the 14th annual Turkey Drive on Nov. 14. Volunteers will be accepting frozen turkey donations from 8 to 9 a.m. during morning drop-off. The goal is to raise 430 turkeys in total, which is one turkey per family.
Media cycles — cycles of distribution and consumption across different media platforms — and news cycles — cycles of breaking and reporting news — have shortened due to the growth of the internet.
“When people are not seeing what they want to see on traditional media, they go online,” Bauer said, “where there’s no gatekeeping.”
The rush to get videos online is not only unregulated, it’s incentivized.
“Social media rewards extreme content, and re-sharers are making money and gaining followers,” Nicole Hemmer, professor of History at Vanderbilt University said in a Sept. 20 National Public Radio (NPR) interview. According to her, the thinking
published Aug. 25, performative males are “tote bag-wearing, iced matcha-drinking, Sylvia Plath-reading gentlemen who have found a way to balance their heteronormativity with a more nuanced sensitivity.”
behind sharing the video immediately was that “I’ve seen the most horrible thing in the world, and you need to see it too because this is the only way you’re going to grasp what’s happening.”
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Constructive Communication found in an analysis of 1,694 news events from 2019 to 2021 found that news both breaks faster and disappears faster on X.
In the past, a similar event stayed relevant for a longer period of time.
In Jan. 2011, then-Arizona representative Gabby Giffords was shot in the head
DESENSITIZATION page 6 >>
The article also identifies another possible motive for being performative: “Detractors of the Performative Male see his existence as a construction, where the reality of his interests lie more in the women he is trying to attract versus the book he’s carrying to the coffee shop.”
As leader of student council, Wang has a lead role in organizing spirit events, which are prepared for the week of homecoming to raise school spirit. When planning spirit weeks, student council assigns dress-up themes to each day of the week, like sports jersey day or monochrome day.
In August, Wang proposed the idea of a
MATCHA MONDAY page 3 >>
Read a story in honor of administrative coordinator Erica Wilson.
PHOTO BY MAGGIE NUÑEZ-AGUILERA
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
Rehan Afzal
Eesha Dhawan
Anisha Mondal
Zema Nasirov
COPY EDITORS
Maddy Schank
Ryan Xu
NEWS EDITOR
Kate Barnes
FEATURE EDITOR
Jacob Rabe
SPORTS EDITOR
Parsiny Nijher
A&E/OPINION EDITOR
Anika Nadgauda
PHOTO EDITOR
Rehan Afzal
TECHNOLOGY STAFF
Ryan Xu, manager
Sid Shukla, assistant
PAGE EDITORS
Rehan Afzal
Noor Alameri
Lukas Chung
Jesse Dizon
Vivian Li
Anisha Mondal
Anika Nadgauda
Zema Nasirov
Jacob Rabe
Sid Shukla
Zachary Vando-Milberger
Andrea Yue
BUSINESS STAFF
Sid Shukla, manager
Ammar Hussain
Parsa Salari
SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF
Anika Nadgauda, editor
REPORTERS
Chloey Fang
Trisha Gandhi
Lucas Holz
Ammar Hussain
Ethan Minton
Maggie Nuñez-Aguilera
Parsa Salari
Maddy Schank
Khivi Singh
Susie Wang
Brenden Yu
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Rehan Afzal, editor
Zema Nasirov
MULTIMEDIA STAFF
Ryan Xu, editor
Rehan Afzal
GRAPHIC ARTISTS
Claire Gemmell
Zema Nasirov
Gavin Wang
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 regularly. 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.
The Octagon wins 27 CNPA journalism awards
BY SUSIE WANG
In February, The Octagon submitted selected articles and photos published throughout 2024 for the California News Publishers Association’s California Journalism Awards. On May 31, the results were released. Out of the 29 works that were submitted, 23 won category awards.
The Octagon was awarded a total of 27 individual awards, including work reported by teams. The California News Publishers Association (CNPA) has been celebrating “outstanding California journalism” since 1944. The Octagon participates in the campus publication division, competing against publications by Santa Rosa Junior College, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and San Jose State University. Last year, The Octagon won more awards than the Sacramento Bee.
This year, The Octagon won the top two awards in profile writing, feature writing, sports action photo and opinion/ column writing.
Senior Rehan Afzal won seven individual awards for both his writing and photography.
Senior Anisha Mondal won first place for her story “Country Day Collections.”
Senior Eesha Dhawan won second place for her profile on Michelle Myers. Aaryan Gandhi ’25, and senior Ava Levermore won fourth place for their story on Sacramento Country Day Athletic Director and “Sac-Joaquin Model Coach” Matt Vargo.
Sophomore Zachary Vando-Milberger and senior Anika Nadgauda won first place for their opposing opinion columns on lowering the voting age. Ava Eberhart, ’25, and Garrett Xu, ’25, won second place for their advice columns.
Lauren Lu, ’24, and senior Nasirov won first place in “Enterprise News Story or Series” for their story on out-of-control beauty product consumption by teens. Mondal, Afzal and Nasirov won third place for their story on Rick Singer, the man behind the ‘Varsity Blues’ admissions scandal, and senior Ryan Xu won fourth place for his report on campus bike theft in the same category.
In the “Sports Action Photo” category, contributor Simon Lindenau, ’25, won first and fifth place, while Afzal won second place. Additionally, Afzal won first, third and fifth place for his feature photos and first and third place for his news photos.
Senior Claire Gemmell won second and fourth place for her illustrations.
Gandhi and junior Jacob Rabe won second place for their reporting about the 2024 national election.
Rabe also won first place for a story on viral TikTok music in the “Writing” category. Ishaan Sekhon, ’24, and Nadgauda won second place in the same category, and Nasirov won fifth place for a feature on the death of dating.
The submitted pieces were selected by the co-editors-in-chief at the time: Xu, Eberhart, Saheb Gulati, ’25, and Nasirov. All schools are allowed five entries for each category. Sacramento Country Day typically competes against schools with larger staffs, such as Archbishop Riordan High School. The school’s paper, The Crusaders, for example, lists ninety-two staffers on its website. The Octagon has twenty-eight.
Current co-editors-in-chief Afzal and Nasirov both expressed that they weren’t particularly expecting to win awards.
“I’m never one to already assume that
I won something, so I was a bit surprised, but obviously, I can understand why we won,” Nasirov said.
“The Octagon has taught me a lot about the impact of your writing — not just on your peers, but on your community as well. Writing enables me to express my voice and winning means a lot to me, as it’s recognition for the work [the entire staff] put in,” Nasirov said. Afzal added, “Winning doesn’t matter a whole lot to me. What matters most is that someone appreciates my work.”
Co-editor-in-chief Mondal expressed that she was very proud of the staff’s accomplishments.
“I’ve seen our staff improve throughout the years — myself included. Our newer staffers got opportunities to show off their skills, and they were rightfully rewarded for them,” Mondal said.
While her students were happy, The Octagon adviser Andrea Todd had a bit of a different perspective.
“Frankly, I was disappointed. What happened with the entries we didn’t win?” Todd said.
However, she quickly added, “I’m joking! It’s incredible to see these talented journalists repeatedly win these awards. They work hard all year to put out great papers, and it’s awesome to see the work rewarded.”
Former teacher Alexis Covey helps inmates released at night
BY SID SHUKLA
Sacramento Country Day’s former second grade teacher Alexis Covey now volunteers each month outside the Sacramento County Main Jail, handing out food, clothing and bus passes to people released after dark.
Covey, ‘02, is one of several volunteers working with the Anti Police-Terror Project and Decarcerate Sacramento. Both organizations have been organizing jail-support efforts for more than five years.
Covey said the group typically sets up between 6:30 p.m. and midnight outside the jail, offering donated snacks, hot drinks, bottled water, transit passes and clothing.
“We’re out there because people still need help long after the doors close,” Covey said. “Even a meal, a jacket or someone to listen to can make all the difference when you’ve just been released. So we’re doing what little we can to fill that gap.”
The groups typically spend between $75 and $120 on food for each event, Covey said, while most clothing and other supplies are donated.
Despite working in the same spot and providing the same services they always have, during their shift on Aug. 27, around 7 p.m., Covey said Sheriff Jim Cooper ordered them to leave.
According to Covey and her colleague had been outside for about 30 minutes
when Cooper arrived with three deputies.
When Covey asked for a reason, she didn’t get one. “He said, ‘I’m the boss, and I’m not going to argue about this.’”
Covey and her fellow volunteer felt threatened.
“We interpreted this as our choice was to leave or risk arrest. We decided to move across the street rather than risk arrest and continued offering supplies to people being released that night.”
The incident, first described in reports from The Sacramento Observer and CBS13, drew attention because volunteers claimed deputies threatened to cite or arrest them. On Sept. 16, The Observer reported Cooper told the volunteers they “needed to not block the sidewalk.”
In both reports, sheriff spokespersons denied the incident occurred. Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office, also directly disputed Covey’s account.
“That never happened,” Gandhi said. “They’ve been out there for years, longer than I’ve been with the department. As long as they don’t block sidewalks or doors, they’re allowed to be there. Our job is to protect their right to do that.”
“I don’t think there was really any communication. I think most of the story is fluff, and made up, to be perfectly frank,” Gandhi, who was not present at the scene, said.
No video or body camera footage of the incident has emerged. Gandhi questioned why no one recorded it.
“If someone’s goal was to create a tumultuous interaction with a highly publicized official, do you think they’d be smart enough to record it?” he said.
The Sheriff’s Office did not respond to follow-up questions about whether any body-camera or surveillance footage exists by press time.
Covey said neither she nor her colleague had time to record the incident.
A 2023 Board of State and Community Corrections report found that 27% of Sacramento County jail releases occur between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., amounting to about 565 people per month. The Sheriff’s Office said detainees are offered cold-weather clothing, medication and Regional Transit passes upon release, and may stay until morning if they ask.
Covey disputes this, citing her group’s 24-hour survey in July that found most people reported receiving none of those services. In the survey, Decarcerate Sacramento volunteers recorded 71 people released and interviewed 58 of them about available services.
“Almost no one said they were offered clothing, transportation or access to a phone,” Covey said in a follow-up email. “About 40% were released after business hours, and many said they had no say in when they were released.”
She added that the findings matched those of a 2023 Sacramento Community Review Commission survey, which also found that many people were released
WINNERS CIRCLE CNPA award winners: seniors Rehan Afzal, Ryan Xu, Eesha Dhawan, Anika Nadgauda, Zema Nasirov, Claire Gemmell and Anisha Mondal, junior Jacob Rabe and sophomore Zachary Vando-Milberger.
PHOTO BY ANDREA YUE
Matcha Monday: Student leaders react to last-minute change
(continued from page 1)
Performative Male Monday spirit day theme, wanting to use a lighthearted trend that poked fun at a certain “aesthetic,” not a group. Wang noted that institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Amherst College have also hosted similar events.
“I thought it would be a great trend not only to boost engagement but also to encourage reflection,” Wang said. “A big part of it on social media is dissecting gender norms. I think Country Day high schoolers are mature enough to see the nuance behind it.”
Wang was enthusiastic about bringing the performative male trend to Country Day. But student council advisor and the High School Dean of Students Patricia Jacobsen had initial reservations, Wang said.
“Ms. Jacobsen was worried at first, as she didn’t know the full context of the trend, but she did research during our meeting and came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be offensive. That was part of our decision-making process.”
Prior to this announcement, Country Day’s High School Instagram account posted an announcement regarding the theme. According to Wang, the account is run as a joint effort between junior marketing intern Diana Haus and the marketing department. The marketing department then requested that the announcement be deleted as it was deemed “unacceptable,” according to Wang.
According to Student Body Vice President Liam Donohue, a meeting was held where he and Wang had a discussion regarding the change with Brooke Wells, head of high school, and Charity Frempomaa, director of equity and belonging. Both Wang and Donohue voiced complaints that their opinions about the change were not heard and their viewpoints were dismissed without proper consideration.
“The school tries to make it seem like student voices have power, but it seems, at least in this case, that we don’t. If the administration says something, then that’s what it is,” Donohue said.
Wells explained his viewpoint on the change. “Some people have seen it as having the reverse impact of the original intention. A community event is designed to bring everyone together. So if people are finding it uncomfortable, then we shouldn’t do it,” he said.
Wells said that the original theme was
not fitting for a spirit week event.
“If we did an educational panel discussing the sociology behind performative males, then that’s an excellent discussion. But it’s different if you’re trying to do a community bonding event.”
Frempomaa responded to requests for comments via email, stating that “our goal isn’t to please everyone — it’s to uphold our mission of creating a community where every student feels they belong. When feedback signals that even a few students felt alienated, we pause to consider whether the benefit of keeping something as-is outweighs the harm.”
Wang said that the student council was also informed that it needed to coordinate with the middle school with regards to spirit week this year three days before spirit week started. According to Wang and Donohue, parts of the pushback against the Monday theme arose from middle school.
“I was told this information after it had already been planned,” said Wang.
Donohue said that the attempted collaboration with the middle school was not beneficial.
“I know it’s good for marketing if everyone dresses the same, but personally, I don’t want to dress the way the middle school wants, and the middle school doesn’t want to dress the way the high school wants.”
Jacobsen shares this sentiment.
“The high school shouldn’t have to pick something that’s suitable for grades K-12,” she said.
Wang stated his belief that the change was not in line with Country Day’s principles of critical thinking.
“If we are meant to be prepared for university, where critical thinking is a basic requirement, we’ll inevitably encounter challenging ideas, right? If Country Day’s mission statement is to prepare us for those colleges, why are we being sheltered from these ideas?” Wang said.
According to Jacobsen, despite the sudden name change, the day unfolded as planned.
“Essentially, it wasn’t different, but the fallout from how it was communicated to the students on the student council was unfortunate,” Jacobsen said.
The addition of a food stand serving matcha-based drinks and snacks was originally intended to be a surprise but was announced at the morning meeting before spirit week began due to the change.
“The matcha shop was going to take place regardless. I was just waiting to announce it,” Wang said. “People dressed as they would have for the original theme. The only difference was the name of the day.”
With regards to the final implementation
of the day, Student Council Spirit Chair Justin Lawson shared that “people enjoyed the matcha. I didn’t hear any complaints about it, and it was successful in my opinion.”
Donohue stated that it was the largest turnout for a spirit day that they had seen, with many dressing in a “performative male” style.
Despite the success of the spirit day, some students were concerned about the implications of the name change. Senior Morgan Hansen, who dressed as a “performative male” that day, stated their opinions on the subject.
“I gathered that people were confused why it was being so heavily debated, especially since it was from faculty who might not have understood it the way the student body viewed it,” they said.
Despite this, Hansen recognized the possible offense that the name could have caused.
“I know some teachers really didn’t like the idea of Performative Male Monday since they viewed it as a way to make fun of women and women’s rights.”
Student council appeared to adapt to the change well, Hansen said.
“They handled the situation well, and the turnaround was quick, but I think there was just a lot of confusion about everything.”
Helping Hand: Former SCDS teacher aids released detainees
(continued from page 2)
late at night without access to basic support.
“We see this pattern regularly during our jail support shifts,” Covey said. “Sacramento County must do better.”
Before turning to community work, Covey taught second grade at Country Day from 2012 to 2021. As a teacher, she tried to center her classroom around curiosity, empathy and critical thinking, she said.
“I loved having deep conversations with seven-year-olds. Watching them grow as people, that was the best part of teaching,” Covey said.
Covey attended Country Day for high school before heading to Skidmore College in upstate New York, where she earned her undergraduate degree in psychology. In 2012, she received her teaching credential from California State University, Sacramento, and recently added a preschool-teaching qualification from American River College.
Her parents also taught at Country Day: her mother, Lois, taught middle school biology and her father, Michael, taught high school chemistry and AP Chemistry. He later managed the school garden.
“Both of my parents taught me to push back against assumptions about people,”
Covey said. “That curiosity leads to empathy — and that’s what all of this work is rooted in.”
She said her time in the school’s theater program under longtime director Corrine Cleary deeply influenced the way she approaches both teaching and volunteer work.
“She always listened to us in a way that showed our experiences and ideas were as serious and important as any adult’s,” Covey said. “She never responded with judgment and created a sense of community that lasted decades — I’m still close to friends I met in that little theater.”
Covey said she hopes to return to the classroom in the future.
“There’s nothing more fulfilling than helping young kids learn how to think about the world,” Covey said.
Since the August encounter, Covey said the volunteers have continued their monthly presence outside the jail — sometimes across the street, sometimes closer — and plan to expand.
“We haven’t changed what we do,” she said. “We just want to make sure the first hours after release aren’t the hardest.”
The group’s next goal is to offer two jail-support nights per month and increase volunteer turnout.
“We’d love to be able to offer what
little we have to more people,” she said.
“Every little bit makes a difference.”
Despite Gandhi’s denial of the incident, he said he supports peaceful volunteer activity near the jail as long as sidewalks and entrances remain clear.
For Covey, the work is as much about awareness as it is about aid.
“I know I’ll probably never see the full results of this work,” Covey said, “but these are seeds worth planting.”
“If these organizations can help keep people from coming back to jail, let’s figure out how to make that work,” he said. “At the end of the day, everyone wants people to get home safe.”
HOPTCHA! Senior Gavin Wang paints the menu for Monday’s theme for the Homecoming Spirit Week using watercolor to display the variety of matcha flavors offered at “Gavin’s Matcha Shop Monday.” PHOTO COURTESY OF WANG
REMEMBERING HER SPARKLE:
SERICA WILSON
acramento Country Day is quieter these days. Yet in every smile shared between friends and every act of kindness passed along, Erica Wilson’s spirit lingers — a reminder of how someone’s warmth can last through an entire community.
Erica was a part of the Country Day community for 24 years as the administrative assistant. She was also the mother of junior Nolan Wilson, a lifer at Country Day.
Erica passed away the afternoon of September 22, 2025. A moment of silence was held during morning meeting, and a musical tribute was conducted during lunch in honor of her. up in the standard black and red colors, Country Day encour
aged both students and staff to wear the color pink, Erica’s favorite color, in honor of her.
Erica’s presence continues to be felt and resonates throughout the school. Several staff members recalled how Erica made everyday moments special.
She was one of the first people that High School Science Department Chair Kellie Whited met at Country Day. According to Whited, Erica immediately felt like family and was a part of many of Whited’s life moments.
“She was one of the first people I told I was pregnant with both of my sons, and I’ll never forget the joy on her face when
ing countless hugs, encouraging each other when times got tough and sharing deep belly laughs over the “silliest things.”
According to Whited, Erica gave the best hugs.
“She’d stand up, hands on her hips and exclaim that I owed her a big hug. They just gave you strength, and she truly hugged you from the heart,” Whited said.
Whited described Erica as a sparky person — “the embodiment of friendship and loyalty.”
“I deeply miss seeing her curly little poof of hair pop over the front desk, followed by her million-watt smile. I miss her more than words can express,” Whited said.
Ever since Strumpfer attended Sacramento Country Day as a Pre-K student, they say Erica was always there with a smile on her face.
“I’ve never met such a genuinely selfless, kind person that is actually caring and not just putting on a front. Even her moments of snarkiness are good-hearted. When she was in the hospital, she was texting people to see if they were feeling better from a cold,” Strumpfer said.
Strumpfer described Erica’s laugh as iconic, incredible and something that made her stand out.
They remembered that when they and Erica went to lunch at Sourdough & Co., the latter befriended the owners of a place that used to be part of the school lunch program.
“Just think how special one must be that we have to go through our catalog of people who used to do the lunch program to let them know the news, because we know she made such an impact,” Strumpfer said.
Strumpfer catches themselves remembering aspects about Erica every day since her passing, especially sparkles and the color pink.
“Someone dropped a small, pink macaron charm on the ground, and I thought of how she would’ve loved it,” they said.
Middle and High School Librarian Jo Melinson knew Erica since she came to Country Day. Melinson recalled interviews of guests who visited Country Day, accentuating how a brief check-in with Erica put visitors at ease when they were nervous.
According to Melinson, Erica set the tone for the experiences of prospective parents. Erica remembered visitors after years, including detailed information about their children, such as grades, interests or special talents.
Melinson was one of the staff members who interviewed Erica during her hiring process. Afterward, Melinson was firm
in her belief that Erica would be the perfect addition to Country Day.
“She would come in every day and do that job with the same enthusiasm that she had 20 years ago — and that’s the thing that I think was extraordinary about her,” Melinson said. “Even during moments of struggle, she made the choice to be positive and ready with a smile.”
Senior Graycen MacNeill first met Erica in ninth grade, before signing out to leave school. Throughout the rest of high school, he became Erica’s “little buddy,” having positive conversations and interactions with Erica before signing out.
“Every time I went to the front desk and she heard me, she gave me a hug, and she called me her little buddy. She was a kind, sweet and heart-warming person that always brightened my day a little bit,” MacNeill said.
Whenever he was feeling upset or sad before signing out to go home, Erica attempted to cheer him up. She would offer him things like snacks to help him feel better.
“Talking to her throughout your day is very small in the timeframe, but if you’re having a bad day, there is always that one person who, no matter what, is gonna be positive — and that was Ms. Wilson,” MacNeill said.
Department of World Languages and Cultures Chair Pepa
Novell remembers Erica’s Friday emails, sent to all faculty and staff of Country Day, without fail.
“At the end of the day, we got an email saying, ‘Happy Friday’ and ‘Together We Are Country Day’. She sent those emails every single Friday of the year, even during the summer, with a picture of a puppy. I think that says what kind of person she was,” said Novell.
Head of School Lee Thomsen calls Erica Country Day’s “secret weapon,” because she was the nicest person one could meet, and was often the first person people would encounter at school, whether it was in person or on the phone.
Thomsen and Erica both shared a love for music, including bands like the Kinks and Rolling Stones. In 2024, Erica took Nolan to a Rolling Stones concert at Levi’s Stadium — accomplishing one of her lifetime dreams — where Thomsen also attended the concert with his daughter Stevie.
Thomsen also added that Erica had an uncanny ability to recognize voices, and — even if she had only met you once — she would greet you by name and ask how you were doing and how your family was.
“It will be impossible to replace her 24 years of positive energy and history at the school,” Thomsen said.
In fact, when Octagon adviser Andrea Todd returned to Country Day for the first time in a decade to interview for the job, she recalls how Erica — still seated there — knew exactly who she was.
“She remembered my name, and she asked about my kids by name who both attended lower school here. I was astonished,” said Todd.
Across generations of students, teachers and staff, Erica’s influence continues to shine in the small, everyday moments she helped shape — a smile at the front desk, a shared laugh or a piece of candy from her jar.
STORY BY JESSE DIZON & VIVIAN LI; GRAPHICS BY JESSE DIZON; PHOTOS COURTESY OF COUNTRY DAY
The week of Oct. 6–10, the freshman, sophomore and junior classes embarked on their annual class trips. According to Assistant to the Head of High School Grace Strumpfer, the class trips, while not mandatory, are very well-attended and a unique experience to Sacramento Country Day. The seniors worked on their college applications and took a break from the classroom. The seniors will go on their trip in the spring.
Freshman Trip: South Lake Tahoe
The freshman class headed east to South Lake Tahoe’s Heavenly Valley in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where they took part in a Food Network-style cooking competition, explored the area’s beaches and attempted rope courses at Tahoe Treetop Adventure Park.
Students said they liked the ropes course best, but they also enjoyed the free time and the cooking competition.
“I liked the ropes course because we got to zipline a lot,” freshman Dhani Dumisani said.
The ropes course was freshman Vivian Lang’s favorite, although she hadn’t ziplined before. Lang also enjoyed the free time the students got on the trip and the lack of supervision. She expected the free time to be controlled and structured, but it ended up being very flexible.
“I expected a lot more drama and forced proximity, but it ended up being very chill,” she said.
Dumisani was surprised at the quality of the hotel rooms.
“The rooms were way better than I expected. The last trip I went on was my seventh-grade trip, and those cabins were not very good,” he said.
He was disappointed about the weather outside, however.
“It was always really cold, and I was always wearing pants and a sweater,” he said.
At the beach, students participated in a sandcastle-building competition and, despite the temperature of the water this time of year, waded in the lake.
“The water was very cold, but really clear, which was great,” Dumisani said.
On the first day of the trip, the students and their suitemates prepared a meal for the teachers to judge and pick a winner. They went to a supermarket and were given a certain amount of money to spend. Students brainstormed the dishes they would make and bought the ingredients. Then, they went to their rooms and cooked the meal with their suitemates and presented it to the teachers.
Dumisani enjoyed this aspect of the trip, but recommended that next year’s students bring extra money.
“You will probably go over the budget,” he said regarding the cooking competition.
Lang, Rory Barnes, Maricela Hanes and Maya Rajuan won the cooking competition by making tacos.
“They made the most divine tacos. Instead of tortillas they used thinly sliced jicama. Shrimp. Chicken. Vegetarian. The flavoring was incredibly tasty and robust,” High School Dean of Student Life Patricia Jacobsen said.
Lang recommends that students branch out with the opportunities given to them on the trip.
Sophomore Trip: Greenhorn Ranch
Sophomores spent four days at Greenhorn Ranch in Quincy, Calif., participating in activities such as horseback riding, archery and fishing. The trip also offered opportunities to tie-dye, try leather-working, shelter-building and line-dancing. There were wilderness survival competitions and karaoke. The final night featured a bonfire, s’mores and ghost stories.
Students dined together at the Chuckhouse, a building at the ranch, and stayed in cabins of three to six people.
Linda Wang enjoyed being in a cabin with five
of her friends.
“It was really chaotic, but that also contributed to the fun,” Wang said.
“The adult chaperones were a lot more hands-off, versus the freshman trip,” sophomore Marcelo Zlotlow said.
High School Science Department Chair Kellie Whited considered the trip to be relaxing.
“We all get the chance to separate from technology a bit and just do ‘outdoorsy’ things together,” Whited said.
Regarding the weak internet connection, “You kind of were forced to be more present,” Wang said.
The students were split into groups and rotated through the stations, taking a break for lunch.
Wang enjoyed horseback riding, although she was expecting to have more control over where the horses went instead of just sitting on them as they walked in a single-file line.
Wang had no idea what to expect from the shelter-building activity.
“I had no clue of what it actually was. But then when we actually did it in those small groups, collecting stuff, it was much better than what I expected,” Wang said.
Students also enjoyed having free time. For Zlotlow, that meant hanging out in the game room and playing pool with friends. Wang would tell next year’s students that the food is really good, and also to avoid trying to fit all of their friends in one cabin.
“If you guys are like, six people, it’s fine to split up into three, because the cabins aren’t super big and there’s not a lot of restrooms,” Wang said.
To Wang, the trip was very fun. “There’s the trip itself, but also the opportunity to be with your whole class in a setting outside of school,” she said. “Definitely go on it.”
Junior Trip: Ashland
The junior class traveled the farthest, to Ashland, Ore. They visited a makerspace in Talent, Ore., about a 10-minute drive away from Ashland. In Ashland, they saw several plays: “Shane,” “Julius Caesar,” “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “Into the Woods,” all as part of Ashland’s renowned annual Shakespeare Festival. Finally, new this year, a scavenger hunt allowed juniors to scour the city.
Students stayed at Flagship Inn, where they were put into groups to share rooms.
“In my room, with Lukas [Chung], Carson Yu and Nolan Graham, we stocked up on a bunch of pizza rolls and soda and played Super Smash Brothers,” junior Jacob Rabe said. “The rooms were pretty lit.”
As part of a ‘behind-the-curtain tour,’ students were able to learn how the plays were set up, how quickly sets needed to be changed between viewings and about the development of the plays and adaptation from the original text.
“The coolest part was seeing the set getting put together on stage in between shows — especially because during the switch from ‘Shane’ to ‘Julius Caesar,’ they had to replace the entire floor with massive individual tiles,” said junior Hayley Clark.
Her favorite plays from the trip were “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “Into the Woods.”
“I went into it just like, ‘Into the Woods’ because we did it here at school when I was in eighth grade, so that was fun,”
Clark said.
One highlight from “Into the Woods” was when volunteers from the audience were invited to play a part. Junior Niam Patel was chosen for the role of golden goose.
“They gave me a chicken hat and told me that they would tell me what to do when the time came, which was just to walk on stage, and then they guided me there, with a golden egg in hand of course,” Patel said.
The audience also enjoyed it. “That was really cool. We were laughing in the audience and recording him and stuff,” Clark said.
Out of all the plays, Patel liked “Shane” the most, a Western set in 1889 in the Wyoming Territory about a mysterious drifter. Despite not reading the book, he found it more enjoyable than “Julius Caesar,” which was covered as part of the AP English curriculum.
Each year, different plays are shown. High School Math teacher Jo French gauges a play’s success by student conversations about the performance.
“I like coming out of a play and hearing the kids talk about it. If it’s kept their interest enough for them to be discussing it, it’s great,” Jo said.
The students also visited a makerspace, Talent Maker City, which was founded by Jo’s sister, Alli French. There, the students got to work hands-on with ceramics, felting and screen printing. Clark made a felted mushroom and a clay teacup.
“The makerspace was fun, but I kind of wish we got to choose what activities we wanted to do, because we only got a limited time at each station,” she said.
For the junior trip, there is also a lot more free time than on the freshman and sophomore trips.
“It’s our first acknowledgment that we trust you to be independent,” Jo said.
During this free time, students had the option to participate in a scavenger hunt around Ashland, where they needed to find certain landmarks and take pictures. The students broke up into groups to compete against each other, and Patel’s group won the scavenger hunt. As a prize, they received an eraser, a pin and a sticker, all Shakespeare themed.
While they enjoyed having free time, they were not allowed to return to their hotel rooms without a chaperone present, as the inn was over a mile away. This resulted in some students, like Clark, carrying everything they needed for the day around.
“We had to get all of our stuff, sometimes for the day, because we couldn’t go back to the hotel. Luckily, they let us put some stuff on the bus.”
She hopes that next year, they will find a solution to this issue, such as keeping the bus around for students to leave their belongings on.
Clark also says that finding things to do without prior planning in Ashland was a bit difficult, as the town is pretty small. A lot of it was shopping and restaurants, so her group spent a lot of time sitting in the park.
Overall, the students enjoyed the trip.
“The addition of the scavenger hunt and other events during the time helped make it a more enjoyable experience,” Patel said. “I think it definitely exceeded my expectations.”
Sophomore
STORY BY ZACHARY VANDO-MILBERGER & MADDY SCHANK; GRAPHICS BY LUKAS CHUNG; PHOTOS COURTESY OF ETHAN MINTON, MELISSA STRONG, BROOKE WELLS & BRENDEN YU
Easily accessible violent content affects youth on social media platforms The Octagon
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(continued from page 1)
during a meeting with constituents in a Safeway supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Ariz.
Videos of the shooting were caught on security cameras but never released. Mobile phones were not used widely for video recording at that time.
Before the shooting, Giffords had campaigned with gun rights as part of her platform. After surviving the shooting, she became an advocate against gun violence.
Similar to Kirk, media coverage of the event exploded. But the internet was still relatively new. Twitter (now X), launched in 2006, had grown to 100 million users worldwide by 2012. TikTok had yet to be introduced and Instagram was barely a year old. The amount of content on each platform was less than it is today although there was less moderation on social media, fewer people were on it. Since 2011, X’s number of active users went from 68 million to 586 million.
U.S. Google Trends data shows that the search term “Gabby Giffords shooting” was still relevant almost two years after the incident, receiving a score of 57/100 in January 2013. A score of 100 indicates that the term is at the peak of its popularity. This means that two years after the shooting, searches about the shooting were half as popular as they were the day of the shooting. For the three weeks following her shooting, the search term “Gabby Giffords” maintained a score above 15.
In contrast, the same Google Trends data
shows that the terms “Charlie Kirk” and the topic “Assassination of Charlie Kirk,” which had spiked to 100 the day after the shooting, had dropped to 5 by Sept. 20, just 10 days after his death. This means that the search was overtaken in popularity by other search terms.
Along with the acceleration of the news cycle, exposure to violent media has increased. A survey of 10,000 teens aged 13-17 conducted by the Youth Endowment Fund found that 70% of teens surveyed had seen “real-life violence” on social media in the past year.
The moral panic about the media’s “corruption of the youth” is not a new phenomenon. What is new is social media.
The amount of time spent on social media is significantly higher than that spent on TV in its peak: The American Psychological Association reports that on average between 1995 and 2000, teens ages 13-18 years old were spending 2.52 hours per day watching TV. Today, teenagers spend an average of 4.8 hours on social media per day.
Desensitization to violence, experts say. A 2015 National Institute of Health (NIH) study titled “Desensitization to Media Violence” found connections between “habitual violence exposure” and “aggressive cogniting and aggressive behavior.” NIH studied psychological and physiological response (such as pulse and breathing rates) to violent material as compared to other forms of entertainment (such as comedy). It concluded that desensitization correlates to exposure to violent material.
The NIH website defines desensitization as “a process involving changes in physical and emo-
tional responsiveness and a reduction in this responsiveness.” The natural human reaction to violence, the study concluded, is fear, but with increased exposure, subjects became less fearful and more “aroused.”
Junior Matthew Inman has tried to limit his time on social media platforms like X and Instagram for this reason.
“[I feel like] I’m starting to become desensitized, which is the reason why I’m starting to take a step back from social media. I’ve put on time limits,” he said.
Screen time limits are a tool that allows users to set boundaries on how much time or when they use certain apps or devices. They do so by blocking the app behind a password that the person who set up the limit chooses.
According to a 2024 Pew Research study, 96% of 13-17 year olds use the internet daily. This includes YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. While most social media requires users to be 13, 64% of kids 8-12 use YouTube and TikTok every day.
Limiting screen time on social media is increasingly relevant, as young users’ access to social media is growing, and along with it, exposure to violent or inappropriate content.
According to Folsom-based child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Manish Aggarwal, social media usage is different from other forms of visual recreation, such as television.
“Television was more passive; you were watching whatever content was being displayed. There wasn’t a large amount of variety available in the media,” he said. “With social media, it’s more interactive, and those
interactions aren’t always positive.”
According to Aggarwal, online trends can encourage harmful or risky behavior in adolescents.
This is despite the fact that many social media platforms have policies prohibiting violent or harmful content.
According to their community guidelines, “[TikTok does not] allow threats, encouragement or glorification of violence, promotion of crime, or instructions on how to commit harmful acts.” These community guidelines also include a statement about shocking and graphic content: “We don’t allow extremely graphic, violent, or disturbing content — especially when it could cause viewers emotional distress.”
It is virtually impossible to enforce them. According to the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a non-partisan policy analysis group focused on technology advancement, this is in large part due to the volume of content and users that each site has. CIGI explains that the algorithms that monitor social media platforms are highly developed, but things can slip through the cracks.
“The scale of social media today is unprec-
edented … adding up to a level of impact and complexity in communications that has never been seen before in human history,” CIGI researcher Susan Etlinger wrote in 2019.
A 2022 study in the medical journal “Psychology of Popular Media” found that “social media use was found to be negatively associated with empathy and positively associated with narcissism and alexithymia (traits typified by a lack of empathy).”
Aggarwal treats adults and teens for mental health issues, and he has found the same thing to be true in adolescents with high, unrestricted social media usage.
“Self regulation alone, unfortunately, doesn’t always work, so we create a media plan. You can set up a family media plan contract where there are dedicated times to use social media. If we implement that successfully, then it has more chances of actually regulating media use,” Aggarwal said.
Adolescents are especially vulnerable due to the critical period of brain development going on in the prefrontal cortex, which occurs at an accelerated pace at this time, according to the 2023 U.S. Surgeon General’s Social Media and
Youth Mental Health advisory report.
“Teens have intensified sensitivity to the nature of social media,” the report said.
According to a 2018 University of Pennsylvania study, anxiety and loneliness increased among high-use teenagers when access to social media is restricted. Greater Good Magazine, an online resource published by University of California, Berkeley, suggests “mindful use” of social media, with practical ways to limit the amount of violence one is exposed to online.
These include having a reason to look or watch and attempting first to get the information elsewhere (a newspaper or news site, perhaps), as well as turning the sound off while viewing and making the screen smaller, scrolling through the thumbnails first to prepare yourself, discussing upsetting material you have seen with others and “moving your body” away from the computer afterward for longer periods of time.
Crucially, the article suggests connecting with communities offline, “intentionally away from technology as a way to reset.”
Google search frequency of search term “Assassination of Charlie Kirk”
This video may contain graphic or violent content
Widespread violence on social media
According to a 2024 report by the Youth Endowment Fund, 70% of teanagers aged 13-17 encountered real-world violence online that year.
EDITORIAL: American sportsmanship needs time on the bench
BY EDITORIAL STAFF
Is American sportsmanship dead?
Youth sports have always put a focus on congratulating the opponent and not being a sore loser. Essentially, to win with grace and lose with dignity. These values have been consistently reinforced by coaches, teachers and parents. If kids are expected to do it, why can’t adults?
When attending sporting events nowadays, how many rowdy fans have you seen? They’re everywhere, shouting hateful comments at the players, coaches, referees and even the other fanbase. Is it just accepted now, within the sports world, for people to act like this?
On Sept. 26, the 45th biennial Ryder Cup was held at Bethpage Black State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y. The location of the golf tournament traditionally switches between America and Europe, attracting fans from all over the world.
At this year’s event, Rory McIlroy, a Northern Irish professional golfer, was subject to harsh criticism and crude heckling from American fans.
Some of the abuse was directed towards McIlroy’s family as well, including his wife, Erica Stoll. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that on the second day of the tournament, while McIlroy was being subjected to verbal abuse, “his wife Erica was hit by a drink thrown by an American fan on the 17th tee.”
Frustrated American fans taunted the physical appearances of McIlroy and Irish professional golfer, Shane Lowry. Eventually, the torment got to a point where McIlroy directly eyed a fan and shouted “shut the f*** up.”
The previous day, Europe was ahead of the United States with a score of 5.5 to 2.5. As a result, tensions were high on the second day of the tournament, and the taunting continued. On the third day, the U.S. team staged a comeback, but lost 15 to 13.
Ryder Cup fan behavior started making headlines in 2021, at the event held in Wisconsin, (considered the ‘friendly midwest’) where former European captain Pádraig Harrington noted the hostile behavior of fans.
In a 2023 interview with The Telegraph, a week before the 2023 Ryder Cup at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy, Harrington said, “the wives and families of players are being singled out by hecklers as well … I’ve heard of people being spat at, and some of the taunting is unrepeatable.”
In the interview, he recalled how McIlroy nearly “jumped into the crowd” to confront an “abusive Amer-
ican heckler.” Harrington added that fans on both sides of the pond were behaving badly, and that Europeans should “bear that in mind at Rome.”
At international tournaments and games like these, American pride is shown through spirit and loud cheering. But this cheerleading is reserved for certain sports at certain moments and there is no need for repeated vulgarity every time the opposing players merely appear.
According to Golf Digest, at least “thirty-something f-words had been hurled at McIlroy in the first four holes alone” on Sept. 27. According to a National Public Radio report, acting emcee Heather McMahan led the f-word chant over the microphone at the event. She later apologized and stepped down.
This not only tarnished America’s image but ended up creating more mess for Ryder Cup officials to clean up.
Chief Executive of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of America, Derek Sprague said, “there’s no place for that at the Ryder Cup, no place for it in the game of golf, and we are not happy with what happened last week,” according to ESPN.
ESPN additionally reported that Sprague said he planned to send an email to McIlroy and Stoll with “heartfelt apologies because of what occurred.”
Sending emails isn’t enough. It doesn’t diminish the fact that sportsmanship was triple-bogeyed, so much so that European Captain Luke Donald had to step in. Donald told BBC reporters that many Americans had told him “how embarrassed they were for some of their fans” and “this issue needs to be addressed.”
U.S. captain Keegan Bradley downplayed statements made about bad American fan conduct. According to GOLF.com, Bradley said, “I thought the fans were passionate. I mean, their home team is getting beat bad. You know, they are passionate fans,” he said. “I wasn’t at Rome [at the previous Ryder Cup], but I heard a lot of stories that Rome was pretty violent as well.”
According to InsideGOLF, Italian fans earned praise for their behavior at the Rome event. Bradley is likely referring to a personal confrontation between McIlroy and the American team’s caddy that took place in the parking lot. America needs to take action and fix their sportsmanship and the way their fans behave. And that starts with coaches, players and other American team leaders believing that this change needs to happen.
Europe’s behavior is not our concern. Ours is. Our American sportsmanship is lacking because we refuse to hold ourselves accountable. And on an international level, we look rowdy, classless and cruel. If we were kids in
Sacramento Country Day’s Afterschool Enrichment Program, we would get a timeout.
When other countries come to play in the U.S., no one — not the athletes, not their families, not the fans — should have to deal with American fans who let their “pride” become brawls, fights, jeering and abuse towards players. It’s unacceptable, yet evidently commonplace.
A 2023 survey conducted by Sportsbook Review gathered information from 3,200 football fans regarding violence at National Football League (NFL) games. According to a Trine University survey 39.2% of NFL fans have witnessed a crime at or around an NFL stadium. These crimes include physical violence, public intoxication and disorderly conduct.
Additionally, 7.2% of NFL fans have been a victim of crime in or “around an NFL stadium,” including verbal harassment, physical violence and sexual harassment.
This same survey detailed that 77.2% of parents don’t feel comfortable leaving their children alone in a sports stadium and that 44.7% of women don’t feel comfortable alone at their team’s stadium.
Furthermore, much of the bad behavior at youth sporting events is from the parents: “Poor behavior by adults” was the top-cited reason for the “mass exodus” of 50,000 high school referees between 2018 and 2021, reported the National Federation of State High School Associations.
If American fans continue to be unruly and display unacceptable (and illegal) conduct at international sporting events, the International Olympic Committee might steer clear of the U.S. That’s a lot of money down the drain. More importantly? It’s disgraceful.
The 2028 Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles, the first time an Olympic game has been held in the U.S. since 2002. As more countries obtain more resources and better infrastructure, it might be harder for the U.S. to host another Olympic Games in the future.
Disorderly fans won’t help those chances to host again. With the Olympics in our near future, we have to ask some hard questions. Are American fans able to control themselves? How many insults are going to be thrown at the other countries? And how badly is this defacing the image of the U.S.?
A plea from those of us who have to live with what you fans do, who were taught “good sportsmanship” before we started kindergarten: Please don’t embarrass the U.S. further and drag our reputation into the gutter of arrogance and vulgarity.
“Ball Off Course” by Gavin Wang
MY ANGLE: Too many clubs, not enough meaningful impact
BY JACOB RABE
Please stop making all these clubs. My inbox can’t handle both McDonald’s campaigns and club invites. Seriously. Why are we so obsessed with creating clubs? Do you think admissions officers would jump for joy, seeing another “founded xyz club” on a student’s application?
I know that I’ve just angered a lot of you, but stay with me for a moment.
Let’s zoom out for a moment and face the truth: college admissions is one hell of a rat race. No matter what college you apply to, you’re always competing against a bunch of Bay Area kids who took a billion Advanced Placement classes and have an extracurricular list that reads more like a Wikipedia page.
Here at Sacramento’s “number one private high school,” a good majority of us are obviously stressed about college applications. Parental pressure on top of that sucks. But trying to fill your lackluster college application with “leadership” in an unimpactful club makes your application no different from a bag of chips (80% air, 20% chips).
By the way, doesn’t a 179 to 22 students-to-clubs ratio sound concerning?
The disproportionate ratio shouldn’t even be surprising, given that the hardest part of founding a club is hunting down the phone numbers needed for an iMessages group chat. Obviously, I’m not attacking all 22 clubs at Country Day
(that count came straight from my inbox). I respect the clubs that actually push people and even compete seriously, and I do not criticize the clubs that mainly exist as spaces for belonging.
What I am addressing are the students who frame their clubs as leadership spikes without having any real, tangible impact on the community. Admissions officers can smell these a mile away. It’s unoriginal, ineffective and potentially poisonous for your college applications.
I’m not alone on this. Dr. Rachel Rubin, who holds a doctorate from Harvard University and founded Spark Admissions, says that “what often distinguishes one applicant from another is the depth and quality of their extracurricular activities.” And that’s exactly what separates you from the Bay Area try-hards: extracurriculars with real substance, not another flimsy “founded xyz club.”
James Fisher, a former admissions officer at the University of Southern California, puts it best: “avoid simply ‘checking the box,’ as counselors can easily spot it.” Once your leadership starts looking like box-checking, aren’t you really just exposing your inability to take initiative? Extracurriculars can set you apart from other applicants, but they can just as easily poison your application if the substance isn’t there.
Tell me: how do you explain on your college application that you ran a math club that met once a week during lunch, signed everyone up for the American Mathematics Competition and sheepishly watched everyone fail? You can’t.
There are many ways to channel your “college-hungry” energy without turning every cause into a club. If you truly care
about providing welfare to underdeveloped communities, why not join successful existing organizations?
Sure, being a founder sounds much cooler than being a volunteer. But which actually ends up making an impact? (Hint: not the one that meets once a week during lunch.)
Leadership just doesn’t have to mean starting your own club. It means working your way up the rungs of a pre-existing ladder. You could organize a one-time event, take on a bigger role in an already-established organization or create a project of your own without having to hide behind a fancy club president title.
Hey, even Rubin recommends “unique initiatives, such as starting a nonprofit, conducting research or building a business.” If you won’t take my word for it, at least take hers.
If you’re truly passionate about your cause, and you have real, authentic stories to share — whether it’s the community you’ve fostered or the failures you’ve overcome (or didn’t) — you’re already ahead in the admissions rat race. After all, leadership and initiative are less about holding a fancy title and more about making something real happen.
And honestly, if you were in my shoes, would you be more interested in a two-for-one McChicken deal or an invite to a club that’s more performative than impactful?
I think the answer is obvious.
If your club is less life-changing than that McChicken deal in my inbox, maybe you should rethink the club idea and redirect your energy toward the means to an end that means something to you.
MY
the most of our sunny days, step outside
BY KATE BARNES
A bird was staring at me. Holding an acorn in its beak, it peered into my soul, mere feet away from where I sat one October afternoon at a table in Sacramento Country Day’s garden. I broke eye contact first, somewhat uncomfortable, and waited for other students’ noise to inevitably scare it off. The bird lingered.
I looked around, frowning as I realized: there were no other students in the sun-drenched garden — just me and the damned bird.
The day before I saw that bird (my spirit animal?), I went on a mission to find out exactly how many students were spending time outside. I wandered around campus during my free period, counting. Zero in the garden. Six in the quad. 30 in the library.
These numbers bring to mind statistics from the National Recreation and Park Association finding that one-third of Gen Zers (ages 13 to 28) spend less than 10 minutes outside per day. That’s less time outside than any other generation measured.
Picture this: it’s been a long week. Tests, quizzes, papers; they’re starting to overwhelm you. And then, a literal beacon of light in the dark; the sun breaking through the clouds. With the amount of beautiful fall days we have left dwindling, students should take advantage of our outdoor campus and garden. It’s not about connecting to nature on a spiritual level — I think we can agree that that is easier said than done. It’s about reaping the actual health benefits that being outdoors can sow.
When it comes to improving mood and mental health, the sun is the star of the show (pun intended). In an article published by Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience titled, “How to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs,” researchers found more exposure to bright light — usually meaning sunlight — results in higher levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is sometimes called the body’s “feel good” chemical.
Serotonin regulates mood, meaning that normal levels of serotonin cause people to feel happy and calm.
Low levels of serotonin are directly associated with depression and anxiety, according to research published by the Cleveland Clinic. These low serotonin levels are also present in people who have winter-pattern seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or winter depression, according to research published by the National Institute of Mental Health.
A common treatment of winter-pattern SAD is light therapy, which involves sitting in bright light for at least half an hour every day in order to boost serotonin levels during the dark winter months.
So what does this mean for students?
If you capitalize on the clear days we have left by sitting in the sun for the same amount of time, you too could increase the serotonin in your body, which would improve your mood and help you feel more relaxed (a must when midterms are right around the corner).
And I have a question for those of you who do spend at least a half hour in the sun most days. Why settle for the bare minimum?
Obviously, with our outdoor campus, many of us are probably soaking up plenty of sun during lunch and break. But what matters most isn’t the amount of minutes in the sunlight, it’s how we spend any amount of time outdoors.
In other words, there is a difference between being hunched over your laptop, desperately trying to study for a test you already know you’ll bomb (all while happening to be outdoors), and actually experiencing being outside.
It turns out that being in and around natural scenery helps focus and concentration — but only when a person is in tune with their surroundings. In an article titled “The great outdoors? Exploring the mental health benefits of natural environments” published in the Frontiers in Psychology journal, which publishes “the latest advancements in psychology,” the authors reference the idea of “being away,” or the idea that being outside allows people to disconnect.
It is possible to feel restored and refreshed by just being
outside, but usually, people need to feel like they’ve actually escaped the stresses of everyday life first.
This means that tackling your pile of homework outside with the goal of feeling less overwhelmed can be counterproductive for your outdoor-time goals.
This is not to say that any amount of time spent around fresh air, light and natural scenery isn’t helpful — in fact, just hearing natural sounds can help reduce stress hormones, according to an article published by Psychology Today titled “Can the Sounds of Nature Help Heal Our Body and Brain?” If you want to spend your free period in the garden being productive, I still strongly encourage you to do so.
But my main suggestion is this: don’t hesitate to just sit with yourself, more often than you would usually. The fall weather is practically begging you to notice it, so take a break. Leave your study materials behind. Look at the leaves changing color and the puffy white clouds. Feel the finally not-toohot sun on your shoulders and try to “be away.”
Chances are, you’ll feel better and be even more productive in the long run.
You might not feel the need to spend additional time outside now (despite my best efforts to convince you), but what about when it starts raining? You might find yourself trapped in your room, wishing you had gone outside when the weather was nice — at least, those of us who don’t like being constantly damp will wish.
On a totally unrelated note, what’s that one line from Passenger’s “Let Her Go”? Oh yeah. It goes, “Well you only need the light when it’s burning low / Only miss the sun when it starts to snow.” Or, when it starts to rain. Just saying.
I’d be remiss not to point out that you don’t have to practice fall-reveling (as I’ve decided to call it) at school only. While the garden is a fantastic resource, if there are parks or hiking trails near your house that are accessible to you, try taking a walk. Light exercise would benefit your physical health, as well as your mental health.
The important thing, though, is to enjoy every second of touching grass (while you still can).
ANGLE: Make
“Being Away” by Gavin Wang
85°C Bakery Cafe
ONLINE ORDERING
OLOCATIONS
n a quest for the perfect boba and exquisite baked goods, two reporters from The Octagon traveled to a tucked-away corner of Arden Fair Mall, where they discovered 85°C Bakery Cafe.
85°C Bakery Cafe’s first store opened in Taipei, Taiwan in 2004, and now there are over 1,000 locations worldwide, according to the company website, 85cbakerycafe.com. Their mission? To provide gourmet pastries and drinks at an average price in “not an ordinary cafe.”
Ham & Cheese Bread
The Ham & Cheese Bread is a simple yet classic snack that combines two savory flavors: a comforting ham and a warm, melted American cheese. Off the bat, the bread was golden brown, which gave it a tasty, homemade look. When I bit into it, the cheese stretched and revealed the thin slice of ham tucked into the bread. The taste did not disappoint either; it was a combination of salty and slightly sweet. The bread was soft and fluffy, while the ham
added a bit of smokiness that paired well with the melted cheese.
Every bite felt balanced. It tasted best when warm, as the cheese stayed melted and gooey. What impressed me most was the quality of the ingredients. The ham tasted fresh and not processed. The bread had a nice, freshly baked texture. Both of these factors were surprising, as the sandwich was packaged.
I would eat this as a snack every day if I could.
5/5
Passion Fruit Green Tea
This drink was revolutionary for me. Pairing the refreshing, tangy and sweet passion fruit syrup with the bitter tea was a great combination. The tea flavor was a six out of five, out of this world.
The green tea was strong, meaning it could still be tasted with the sweet and sour passion fruit syrup. If you don’t love the taste of green tea, do not try this drink.
I often find friends who claim their drink from a boba tea store tastes “too much like tea,” but what’s the point of ordering a tea drink if you only wanted the toppings or flavorings?
I also highly appreciated the syrup, which did not taste artificial or over-thetop sweet, a perfect pairing to the green tea.
Overall, this drink was perfect for anyone that dislikes the sharp crunch or taste of passion fruit seeds, since the syrup in-
cluded in the drink had none.
In terms of toppings, the mini crystal boba were too small, even for a mini-sized item. I prefer regular-sized crystal boba, which unfortunately is not offered at 85°C Bakery Cafe. Other than that, it was good, almost reminding me of sago, but with a bounce.
The taste was outstanding, and the whole drink came together as the definition of refreshing. The bright and pure tea flavors were unobstructed by dairy, creating a clean-tasting drink.
This would be perfect for any warm summer day, or even a cold one. I would recommend this for anyone willing to embrace strong flavors of tang, tart and the natural fragrance of passion fruit.
After trying the passion fruit green tea, it is my go-to favorite drink at 85°C Bakery Cafe.
MENU
AT HOME
85°C arrived in Sacramento in 2017 and now has three locations in the area. Sophomores Ammar Hussain and Brenden Yu tested both the Asian-inspired baked goods and the boba shop style drinks, with Hussain rating the food and Yu sampling the beverages.
The drinks were rated on three factors. First, the tea’s presence and quality, second, the topping and what it contributes to the drink and finally, overall taste and how the drink comes together as a whole. The pastries were also rated by three factors: appearance, texture and taste.
Boba Milk Tea
This drink is usually a true boba store original. After piercing the snap-on lid with the boba straw, wide enough for the toppings to fit through, I took my first sip. Nothing stood out, other than how it was lukewarm rather than the full-iced version I had ordered.
In terms of the tea itself, the black tea base was pronounced. It was not too strong but also not overpowered by the milk.
The toppings, however, were mediocre. It was a standard tapioca pearl boba, but larger than its counterparts I’ve tried
in Asia. The larger size makes the boba consistently stickier and more chewy. The pearls were also soft, gummy and mushy, signaling that it might have been slightly overcooked.
The overall taste of the entire drink, however, was good. It came together and I could taste every element. It was a classic I would finish but probably never order again. Maybe the hot version (which is also offered) would be better. I would not recommend this to anyone because you can get better boba milk tea in many stores.
1/5
Hokkaido Custard Bun
A Hokkaido Custard Bun, traditionally, is a milk bread filled with custard. It is soft, sweet and filled with creamy richness. This, however, was not the case with the 85°C Bakery Cafe custard bun.
The item looked appealing enough, but after I took my first bite, everything was disappointing.
While the bread had a nice texture, it still kept its savory flavor like the ham and cheese bread, which does not pair well with a more sweet-oriented treat.
The custard was more slimy than creamy which threw the whole thing even more off-course. A good custard bun should feel soft and slightly warm,
but this one was cold and dull. It seemed like it was made with low-quality ingredients and little care.
The custard bun’s unappealing texture and unbalanced flavor made it an unpleasant eating experience. Custard buns can be delicious when made well, but this one failed to deliver.
It was a reminder that freshness and ingredient quality all play an important role in creating a truly satisfying pastry. Bad texture and unbalanced flavors doomed this pastry from the start. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever eaten, and it smelled good, so I’ll give it that.
STORY BY AMMAR HUSSAIN & BRENDEN YU; GRAPHICS BY ZEMA NASIROV & VIVIAN LI; PHOTOS COURTESY OF 85°C BAKERY CAFE
The Avengers as Zombies? Yes, you heard that right. “Marvel Zombies” answers the question: ‘What if earth’s mightiest heroes were turned into zombies?’ (SPOILER ALERT: this review contains major plot details from the show “Marvel Zombies.”)
The “Marvel Zombies” show expects viewers to be familiar with the characters’ backstories, including the events of films like “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and “Avengers: Infinity War.” However, I believe that if you were to watch with minimal knowledge, you can still enjoy this show.
Episode 1
The first episode of “Marvel Zombies” starts off five years after the events of the initial outbreak in “What if…?” It begins with main protagonists: Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), survivors scavenging through a ruined New York City in search of supplies.
to the main characters and gets us excited for what’s next, earning a 5 out of 5.
Episode 2
Episode two begins in San Francisco, with Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Katy Chen (Awkwafina) running through a horde of terrified people and zombies. Fortunately for Shang-Chi, Chen and Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), a swarm of helicopters that belong to Shang-Chi’s father, Wenwu (Feodor Chin), come to save the day. Shang-Chi stares in awe, not expecting his father to come to his aid.
Off the bat, this choice of main characters interests me, considering that the original comic series had more well known characters. Compared to “heavy hitters” like Spiderman and Hulk, characters like Khan and Bishop could easily be outshined later on.
I also immediately noticed the style that the animators at Marvel decided to use for the apocalyptic New York. It noticeably draws many similarities with Will Smith’s “I am Legend,” a 2007 film with zombie-like creatures that took over the world.
Once I noticed this, I started to see what the producers at Marvel were thinking. By paying homage to classic horror and zombie films, it makes watching these films a little more predictable. This leaves viewers (like myself) more open to major plot twists, which I personally enjoyed. It is a great way to keep viewers on their feet and guessing what is going to happen next.
Eventually Khan faces a zombie attack while alone, and she is saved by Blade Knight (Todd Williams). Khan and Knight reach the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, where we are introduced to Melina Vostokoff (Kari Wahlgren), Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh).
While watching these three characters’ interactions, I found myself making comparisons regarding their chemistry with the 2021 film “Black Widow,” a prequel about Avenger Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) confronting her history as a spy. In this film, these characters have such a good family dynamic, which I really appreciate.
This first episode was not what I expected at all; the plot twist that the writers at Marvel decided to go with really caught me off guard. However, it helps set the tone for the rest of the series and tell the viewers that you can’t trust what you see.
This solid first episode effectively introduces us
As a result, he ends up getting bitten in the arm and very effectively grabs my attention five minutes in. Once Wenwu sees this, he gives his son his magical weapons of immortality — the Ten Rings, a magical set of rings from years ago. By wearing this, the spread of the virus is paused and infection is limited to his right arm.
It’s moments (and twists) like these that really capture my attention and make me worry.
As someone who really enjoyed “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” I was delighted to see the two main characters of the film (Shang-Chi and Chen) done justice in this show, from their character designs to their interactions with other characters. This makes them by far my favorite characters in this show.
One complaint I do have about this episode is that it was a little lackluster and left more to be desired. Action wise, it left me wanting more once the episode was over, earning this episode a 3 out of 5.
Episode 3
The third episode picks up right where “What if…?” left off. After finding the mind stone and realizing the healing capabilities it had, a team consisting of Spider-Man, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Black Panther go to the fictional city of Wakanda, the future site of a pivotal Zombie battle. Once the three arrive, they immediately try to stop a zombified version of Thanos.
This eventually leads to what is probably one of my favorite fight sequences in the series.
As Lang, Spider-Man and Black Panther fight Thanos, we hear Spider-Man narrating the fight in a somber, gloomy voice. This was very unusual for the character and a great way to show how grim the situation was. The situation was so dire that Thor, Groot and Rocket all show up to try and help.
First things first, I have to say this really was a great way to bring us up to speed on what went on after the original episode of “What if…?” However, I would have preferred an actual interaction as opposed to the narration we got.
The narration, while it showed how much the apocalypse changed such a usually happy character (Spider-Man), lacked any emotion. While the tone of voice Hudson Thames used was solid, the dialogue felt bland and left more to be desired.
In this episode, one critical exchange kept me hooked. When Valkyrie immediately shuts
down any interaction with Thor (Greg Furman). Baron Zemo (Rama Vallury) asks who provided all of the food for the feast around them. When Valkyrie responds that it was provided by ‘the queen of Sokovia,’ the group gets concerned. The fact that the fictional country of Sokovia does not have a queen frightens the main characters.
It is moments like this that keep me hooked to the duller, not-as-action-packed scenes. The twist of Sokovia not having a Queen was a great “wait what?” moment to keep the viewer’s attention. However, after the plot twist at the end of the episode, it did leave me thinking, “Now what?”
Despite a confusing conclusion, this episode deserves a 4 out of 5. Otherwise, it did a very good job of catching us up on what previously happened.
Episode 4
The bloody finale of “Marvel Zombies” starts with all of our characters now united and starting to plan a final stand. Their plan is centered around The Hulk, who survived and absorbed the energy from the infinity stones that went out into the world after the Wakanda explosion.
After seeing all of this, I remember thinking to myself for the first time, “Well now what? What could they possibly do?” I mean, they have no cure, an entire horde of zombies to fight and no reason to fight, let alone live. And frankly, plotwise? It goes downhill.
A horde of zombies is now trying to get this ‘Infinity Hulk power,’ attacking him. After our heroes gather their thoughts, they head to the person formerly known as Bruce Banner. Immediately, we see just how powerful the Infinity Hulk is, clearing several football fields worth of zombies with a single punch.
What really confuses me is that if he could do all of this, then how was he weakened so much to the point where he had to rest? I honestly was not expecting an inconsistency this big, this far into the finale. That is why it disappoints me to say that the finale of “Marvel Zombies” is a 2 out of 5.
Final Thoughts
Overall, “Marvel Zombies” was good, but it could have been great. With quite a few inconsistencies, some iffy plot decisions and the “Nightmare on Elm Street”-esque ending (with Freddy surviving to kill again), I am hesitant to rank “Marvel Zombies” above a 2.5 out of 5. It had its moments. The acting was great, the plot twists kept me on the edge of my seat and the action sequences were nothing short of spectacular. It’s possible my mastery of all things Marvel renders me a tad subjective, but I am giving “Marvel Zombies” a solid 3.5 out of 5.
JCampus InfluenCers
Campus InfluenCers
Nolan WIlson
unior Nolan Wilson is determined to pursue a career in content creation.
Wilson is a competitive Fortnite player who runs a YouTube channel called NolaBii.
“I think splitting my attention between different platforms could take longer to grow an audience,” Wilson said.
Growing up, Wilson would see montages on YouTube — shorts of different people making edits of their Fortnite clips. This inspired Wilson to create his own account in 2022.
His channel now has over 600 subscribers. Wilson enjoys being able to have full independence in what he does and hopes he will reach his goal of 10,000 subscribers by graduation. He wrote this goal in a letter to his senior self at the start of high school.
“I struggle to find the motivation to post long-form content. that’s not in the form of live streaming, just because it takes so much effort. But also the hard part about that is, I know I have to do it, because that’s how you make the big bucks,” he said.
Wilson’s favorite part about
being a content creator is that it’s a “self-run business.”
“I don’t make money yet, but I have all the creative decisions over what I post on my channel. If a video doesn’t perform well, I have only myself to blame, right?” he said.
So far views have not been a problem for him, seeing that he has made three huge hits of over 1,000 or 2,000 views.
“Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a YouTuber. So, Fortnite just happened to be the game that I really fell in love with,” Wilson said.
SARAH ZARAGOza-SMITH
Matthews Library isn’t just filled with books — it’s filled with young student readers thanks to Sarah Zaragoza-Smith.
Zaragoza-Smith posts on behalf of the Matthews Library Instagram account with over 2,000 followers. Her goal, she said, is to “show our students and our community that reading is accessible and fun.”
Zaragoza-Smith creates content along with Jo Melinson as part of their duties as Sacramento Country Day’s librarians. They are inspired to make reading feel less like a burden, and more like an
Riley Ruttan
Senior Riley Ruttan has created a content channel, “Riley Grubs,” where he expresses his passion for food, posts food reviews of eateries nationwide — fast-food, restaurants, bakeries — and gives his true review of the meals and treats served.
Ruttan has been posting on his TikTok account three to four times a week for the last three months, garnering more than 200 followers.
Ruttan also collaborates with other content creators and stu-
dents from Country Day. He has worked with another content creator named Arnia who also does food reviews in Sacramento.
Currently, Ruttan said that the majority of his food reviews have been on American foods.
“I always take recommendations from people as well,” Ruttan said. “People have asked me to do Crumbl Cookie and Dave’s Hot Chicken review. I did that.”
Ruttan has recently done a
experience that can be “silly, fun and interesting,” Zaragoza-Smith said.
Zaragoza-Smith uses trending audios to make a connection with students and books.
For example, she posted the social media trend of asking your partner for an orange — seeing whether they peel it or hand it back — comparing it to what Mr. Darcy does for Elizabeth in “Pride and Prejudice.” This became a hit with over 2 million views.
Even though Zaragoza-Smith enjoys spreading her love for books online, she does feel that it can be diffi-
review with Country Day basketball coach David Ancrum, where they went to Jack’s Urban Eats at Loehmann’s Plaza. They reviewed the fried chicken sandwich and fries.
“Overall a great experience,” Ruttan said.
Ruttan has had a high of up to 3,000 views, and on average, about 900 to 1,000 views. His next goal for his channel is to hit 1,000 followers.
“It would be a huge milestone for me,” Ruttan said.
cult to connect with the same content that students connect with.
“[Teens are] having a very different conversation on social media from the conversations that twenty and thirty somethings are having that I tend more to be part of,” she said.
What encourages her to influence kids to read is that, “reading can be a very modern activity. Reading can be silly and fun and interesting, and there’s a lot of interest that goes into books. It’s not some stuffy thing that only academics in armchairs do.”
STORY BY TRISHA GANDHI; GRAPHICS & PHOTOS BY REHAN AFZAL