The Perennial | March 2025 by Pinewood School

Riya shares Joy Blalock’s journey from discovering art to shaping Pinewood’s creative curriculum.

Sports

Harry previews the baseball team’s season, highlighting new leadership, fresh talent, and the team’s goals.

Basketball Teams Push Through CCS Playoffs Girls Advance to Open Division Final & Set Sights on State Title

JAKE REYNDERS Staff Writer

Chants of “I believe that we just won; I believe that we just won.” reverberated in the Panther Pit after the Pinewood girls basketball team defeated Woodside Priory 48-32 and qualified for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Central Coast Section (CCS) Open Division Championship. The team took the CCS Open Division playoffs by storm, winning by an average of over 27 points in their opening three games against Sacred Heart Cathedral, Saint Francis, and Priory.

“We need to play with no fear knowing that we deserve to be there and give everything out on the floor.”

Their dominant performances earned them a spot in the championship against Archbishop Mitty at Santa Clara University on Feb. 28. Junior Caitlyn Kramer spoke about what the team needed to do in order to win.

“It feels great to play in such a high stakes game and have the opportunity to play for a championship,” Kramer said. “We need to play with no fear knowing that we deserve to be there and give everything out on the floor.”

After falling behind by as many as 23 points behind Mitty, Pinewood cut the deficit down to five in the final minute of the championship. While they lost 59-51, head coach Doc Scheppler was proud of the team nonetheless.

“We’re all proud of our effort for the last three quarters of the game,” Scheppler said. “We need to start games with more energy and unconditional belief.”

Despite the close loss, the girls are still in contention for a state championship, as they have been selected as the sixth seed in the Northern California Open Division state playoffs. Their opening round matches will

be away from home. Scheppler spoke about what his team needs to execute if they are to win in tough away environments.

“We need to really contain … high percentage finishes and wide open three-pointers,” Scheppler said. “Offensively, we need to create good shots for ourselves and we’re excited to compete in hostile environments.”

On the other hand, the boys team, led by head coach Chris Jackson, were selected as the ninth seed in Division V CCS playoffs. Their road to a championship began with an opening round matchup against The Kehillah School on Feb. 21. Heading into the game, Pinewood’s starting guard, junior Josh Tian, spoke about the importance of humility throughout the postseason.

“We’re excited to compete in CCS playoffs this year,” Tian said. “We beat Kehillah earlier this season, but we can’t go in with that mindset or our season will be over.”

Just as Tian warned against, the team started the game poorly and fell behind 21-9. However, they were able to regather themselves and clawed their way back to a 72-62 overtime win. The team advanced to the second round of CCS Division V playoffs, but unfortunately lost 60-45 to Basis Independent Silicon Valley School.

After the hard-fought matchup, Jackson and Tian both looked ahead to the upcoming 20252026 season.

Tian expressed his excitement for his senior season. Jackson spoke about the measures that they need to take in order for the team to improve.

“Our culture of effort needs to be more established,” Jackson said. “I’m going to put us in a position to continue to make growth, and the team’s improvement will go from there.”

New Courses in Advanced Coding & Personal Finance Pinewood Prepares Students for Future Careers In STEM

LUCAS

GUAN Staff Writer

Want to learn advanced coding or how to manage your credit? Next year, Pinewood is offering two new courses to help students do just that.

AP Computer Science A will be taught by computer science teacher Christine Tran, and business and French teacher Stéphanie Gervais will teach Personal Finance.

“These courses prepare students with professional skills,” Head of Upper Campus Eve Kulbieda said. “It’s a signature part of what Pinewood does.”

Tran said that the AP Computer Science class will go beyond the College Board curriculum and will include a multi-week project where students work on different components of a coding problem and learn to collaborate, similar to how software development teams work in the real world. Tran said that she hopes this course will serve as a stepping stone for the future of the computer science department.

“I hope to further expand our offerings by adding

more design and engineering courses, giving students even more opportunities to develop their technical and problem-solving skills,” Tran said.

Another way Pinewood is preparing students for the real world is by offering a Personal Finance course in order to promote financial literacy. After polling students in her Business and Tech class, Gervais said that students were excited about the possibility of more course offerings in business and finance.

“Most of the students that joined Business and Tech liked how they learned about the real world,” Gervais said. “So that’s why I felt like Personal Finance would make sense.”

In the class, students will learn a diverse range of topics about financial decisions, including about credit cards and comparing different job opportunities and housing. Gervais plans to integrate artificial intelligence into her course to aid students with a simulation project where students manage their finances in a virtual world.

Gervais wants students to know about their finances

so that they don’t have to learn everything themselves.

“I came to the U.S. not that long ago, and all of this was brand new to me,” Gervais said. “I failed to learn about the financial system, and I just want to make sure that our students start life with the right information so that they can thrive.”

“We’re trying to keep up with the way the world is changing. We want to get ahead of where we think the world will be when students graduate.”

As Pinewood introduces these new courses, Kulbieda and the faculty remain committed to adapting the curriculum to meet students’ needs and help achieve future career success.

“We’re trying to keep up with the way the world is changing,” Kulbieda said. “We want to get ahead of where we think the world will be when students graduate.”

PINEWOOD SCHOOL, LOS ALTOS HILLS, CA

Pinewood girls place 2nd in CIF CCS Open Division in the 2024-25 season and hope to advance further.

Photos by SAM JEZAK

Students cheer on the Panthers as they face Archbishop Mitty at Santa Clara University.

How Are Books Chosen for the Lit Curriculum?

From renowned American classics like “The Great Gatsby” to the eccentric, contemporary Japanese novel “Convenience Store Woman,” the books read in literature classrooms across our small campus span vast distances, cultures, and time periods. In order to achieve this, the literature department places great care in selecting books for the curriculum in hopes of enhancing the worldview of students.

One of the primary factors literature teachers consider when choosing books is the importance of constantly exposing students to new perspectives so that they can see themselves reflected in the characters.

“We should have more voices of color,” English Department Head Patricia Welze said. “We should have more distinct experiences.”

Teachers also pay attention to the current relevance of a novel while considering how students should be looking at the books critically. As a result, the process behind selecting books is lengthy. Teachers often read upwards of 15 books when deciding on a new piece of literature to add to the curriculum as they try to balance the literary depth of the novel, the maturity of the content, and the personal connection they hope students will be able to form to the story. For example, when the teachers were searching for a new book with a more diverse voice to add to the eighth-grade curriculum, they spent a year reading almost 20 books before finally deciding on “In the Key of Nira Ghani.”

“I’m always looking for the perfect lineup, like a playlist,” Welze said. “It’s hard work, and it’s disappointing, and sometimes there’s something really beautiful that you want to add in that you can’t. It’s sort of an endless puzzle.”

Rotating the curriculum content helps teachers maintain interest in the books as well. Teachers reread and re-annotate the books they teach every year until the copy falls apart, so switching out the books every now and then keeps them from going stale.

However, Welze also explained how she perceives books differently over time.

“Books change,” she said. “The older you get, you read the books at a different time, and depending on where you are in your life, you see things differently, and you can teach them differently.”

Thanks to the meticulous book-selection process, the care that goes into crafting the curriculum is repaid tenfold by the emotional impact the chosen books have on both teachers and students.

“We were going over all the changes we’ve made, and we felt really proud about it because it’s important to us,” Welze said.

One student even emailed her eighth grade literature teacher to say that “In the Key of Nira Ghani” changed her life.

Literature is truly the eyes and ears of the world, and every new story told by another narrator opens more eyes for people from different places to look through and see one another, more ears for people to hear each other.

“It reminds you of how much there is out in the world to read,” Welze said.

Walking Through the Light: Joy Blalock's Journey of Creating Art

RIYA KOLAPPA Staff Writer

The paint brush hits the canvas, and the creative process begins. Every stroke counts toward the final art piece. Similarly, every part of Art Department Head Joy Blalock’s journey has helped her get to where she is today.

Blalock hadn’t always planned on pursuing art. In fact, she originally thought about becoming an archeologist, or even pursuing something in fashion or law. This all changed, however, when one specific art piece in Houston, Texas, caught her eye. The work, a piece by artist James Turrell, is a light installation that changes colors as one walks by it, shifting from magenta to blue to red.

“I didn't know that art could look like that, and I felt like it cleansed me,” Blalock said.

After taking a gap year and working at her own music radio show, Blalock went to the University of Virginia to study art and art history, becoming the first in her family to graduate from college. Soon after, she studied photography and video installation in graduate school.

Blalock’s passion for art also connects to her love for teaching, which all began in her college's learning center where she taught students how to effectively take notes and run efficient study groups. As her study groups became more popular on campus, the idea of teaching for a living became more appealing to Blalock. Ever since then, she hasn’t looked back and has now taught art at Pinewood for the past three years.

“I make these really big videos that I install in rooms, and you walk through them,” Blalock said. “To me, that always feels like an extension of my painting practice, which is based on the emotional experience of color, which brings you full circle back to James Turrell and walking through the light. I feel like that's kind of how the journey has been for art.”

In addition to all this, Blalock is excited about the potential of a new user interface design program that she is working on incorporating into the school’s curriculum. Although typically a skill only taught at the college level, Blalock aspires to bring UI design to Pinewood, making the school one of few institutions to do so nationally.

“I used to be a college professor before I was a high school teacher, so I feel like I bring some of that with me to Pinewood, and I kind of reverse engineer what my students need for college and high school,” Blalock said.

Today, Blalock still explores art outside of teaching by creating video work and taking photos with her film camera. Some of her work has been showcased in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for their book fair, and some were even published in Vanity Fair.

Blalock’s favorite thing about art is that it showcases different cultures and tells a story.

“I think that art also has this really powerful ability to help people change their minds and to think, and that's what gives it its power,” Blalock said.

Jordans, Kobes, and More: Braxton Kimura's Sneaker

ADDISON PARENTI Staff Writer

Some fathers pass down names to their sons. Some children inherit their parents’ businesses. And some sons take on their parents’ passion for collecting shoes. This is the case for junior Braxton Kimura. Over the past few years, Kimura has been collecting various styles of shoes, inspired by his parents who’ve done the same.

“Both my mom and dad are sneakerheads, so it’s part of my DNA,” Kimura said.

However, it wasn't until high school that Kimura gained interest in starting a collection for himself.

“I didn’t really get serious about it until I got my first pair of Kobes when I was a freshman,” Kimura said. “And it really just started from there.”

Collection

case each of his shoes either when playing basketball or throughout the school day.

“I try to wear all of them when I can,” Kimura said. “If you see me in practice or a game, I’m always wearing different shoes I have just so I can show each one of them some love.”

Kimura’s collection continues to grow as new shoes are released or old pairs resurface. He waits patiently to find the right shoe or a shoe for a good price.

Since he bought his first shoe, Kimura has developed an affinity for Kobes, inspired by his love for shoes and basketball. Kobes are a line of basketball shoes designed by former basketball player and NBA hall-of-famer Kobe Bryant.

“I like Kobes because I play basketball, and Kobe was a great basketball player,” Kimura said. “I think Kobes are known to be the best basketball shoe, not just for the way they look, but for their performance, which I think are the two most important aspects of a shoe.”

With a large collection of shoes, Kimura tries to show-

“I don’t have a schedule of how often I buy a pair of sneakers,” Kimura said. “Shoes are like art. There is a story behind each pair, and the one that resonates with me and looks good is the one I add to my collection. Every single pair I own is a personal and fashion statement.”

As he has gotten more involved in sneaker collecting, Kimura has grown to appreciate the sneakerhead culture. He immerses himself in the community by entering raffles or attending sneaker events, such as Sneaker Con, a global convention where people can sell or trade shoes.

“Whether it’s waking up at 7 a.m. in the morning to get into a sneaker drawing, or waiting in a long line for a lottery ticket, or finding a seller who copped on release day, that’s what sneakerhead culture is to me,” Kimura said. “There is a community out there that does this all the time, so it’s fun and competitive.”

CLAIRE WU Staff Writer Illustration by JENNIFER LI

Photo by BILLY LLOYD

Photo courtesy of JOY BLALOCK

JOY BLALOCK at video installation and custom neon at Mint Museum.

Baseball Team Swings for Success

Hit after hit after hit. The crack of bats in the batting cage signifies the start of baseball season. This year, the Pinewood baseball team faces much change with the addition of Head Coach Matt Keelan and several new players, some of whom are completely new to the sport.

The three captains, seniors Alakh Kapadia and Jamie Burton and junior Bill Cui, said they are excited about the new season and look forward to playing with the team’s latest additions.

“One of our biggest goals this season is getting the guys who haven’t played a lot of baseball used to the game and getting them to have fun,” Kapadia said.

throwing motions and our body stances and works on them with us in practice. The practices are very serious, and I think that this culture shift is good for us to try and win some more games.”

Along with the new players, the team is excited about the new coaching staff. Keelan, the new head coach of the team, was the former Woodside Priory junior varsity baseball coach. While his coaching style is very different from Pinewood’s previous coach, the players are optimistic that this change will lead them to victory in the coming season.

“He’s very technical,” Cui said. “He films our

Beyond merely winning games, some of the team’s favorite memories have come from the little moments and joys that are often overlooked when playing a team sport.

“My favorite memories on the team have been in practices and warmups where everybody is laughing and having fun,” Alan Skelley, a junior in his third year of playing baseball for Pinewood, said.

For others, like Kapadia and Jayanth Ananth, a junior who has played baseball for three years, their favorite moments are concentrated within a single game—senior night against Thomas Moore in 2023.

“Pinewood baseball, at its core, is about the guys coming out, laying out for some balls in the outfield, hitting some home runs now and then, and everybody in the dugout getting louder than you’ve ever seen,” Kapadia said.“It’s about fellas screaming at the top of their lungs for the program.”

Arjun Ari: From Eight Man to College Football

NEIL KULKARNI Staff Writer

From playing eight-man football at Pinewood School to committing to the University of Rochester for Division III football, senior Arjun Ari’s journey has been exceptional, marked by hard work and perseverance.

Before Ari came to Pinewood, he was nothing like a typical football commit.

“I was your stereotypical anti-social, Dorito-eating, video game-playing nerd,” Ari said. “When I was gifted with a fresh start at Pinewood, I wanted to be a better version of myself, and I accomplished this through trying new clubs, sports, and extracurricular activities—the most memorable being football.”

Initially, Ari faced challenges when starting football at a new school. For starters, his parents didn’t fully support his dream of playing football, and it took a while until they did.

some field work and conditioning,” Ari said. Ari had several motivations to pursue college football.

“It has always been my dream to get recruited for a sport because very rarely do you see Indians playing at the collegiate level,” Ari said. “Furthermore, to do so from an eight-man football team would be an incredible achievement that would get cemented in Pinewood history.”

Photo by MEI MIYAHARA

Ari’s recruiting process with the University of Rochester was smooth, but it still required a lot of persistence and determination.

“The University of Rochester was already a school that I was going to apply to, so I thought that it wouldn’t hurt just to shoot my shot to get recruited to play football there,” Ari said.

However, the main thing that stood out to Ari was how the football team interacted with each other and how they behaved off the field.

The Big Stage to the Pinewood Gym: Dancers Lead Lip Sync

KAYDEN GE Staff Writer

Whether performing a rigorously rehearsed routine on the national stage or a swiftly assembled piece of choreography in front of peers at school, the art of dance demands a keen sense of rhythm and unshakable composure. When it comes to the annual lip sync competition at Pinewood, the school’s competitive dancers call on their outside experience to showcase their outstanding talents on the gym floor and also take the lead for their grades behind the scenes.

Junior Sophia Lee has been dancing since she was three years old and has been doing it competitively since she was eight. Aside from her numerous top-placing performances on the national level, Lee explains what aspects of dance she finds the most rewarding.

“It’s a really good mix of doing a sport and also doing something artistic,” Lee said. “It’s also really great having a really good support system with my team.”

As the lead choreographer for the juniors, Lee is confident that her dance experience will not only help her teach her grade more effectively, but also make performing feel more natural.

“Having competed for much higher stakes on stage hundreds of times makes it a lot less stressful,” Lee said. “It’s honestly just like a performance for fun, so I think it really takes all the nerves out of it.”

Similarly, sophomore Alisha Ramani, a member of Panther Dancers, Pinewood’s very own dance team, has also been an avid dancer since she was five years old. Ramani started taking dancing more seriously when she was about nine, starting out with hip-hop and experimenting with more styles of dance as she matured.

As one of the lead choreographers for the sophomores, Ramani highlights her approach to introducing potentially challenging choreography to her grade.

“When we choreograph, we just try to make moves simple enough so everyone can get it in a short period of time,” Ramani said. “We try to do things that impress the audience and are easy to do at the same time.”

“My parents weren’t supportive at first since I tricked them into letting me play; they thought I was playing soccer, European football, and I didn’t correct them,” Ari said. “It wasn’t until they caught me carrying shoulder pads and my helmet that they confronted me and were upset.”

In addition, playing a new sport for the first time presented challenges in itself.

“I made so many mistakes during practices and games that enraged [footall coach Yong] Kim and the other coaches,” Ari said. “I remember needing to search up ‘Football for dummies’ and other tips on YouTube because I had never played football before.”

Ari soon improved on the field, and it wasn’t long before he started preparing for the college level.

“I trained everyday, which included hitting the gym, having specific football workout splits, going to my local public school to run routes, and getting

“When I visited Rochester and saw their team play, I loved how everyone on the team supported and cared for each other,” Ari said. “They weren’t just teammates; they were brothers.”

This brotherly culture on the Rochester team reminded Ari of his strong connection with his football teammates at Pinewood.

“Everything from overnight trips, to bus rides back from games, regardless of winning or losing, team dinners, and brutal conditioning practices were key moments,” Ari said. “I loved every second of being a part of Pinewood football.”

All of this has left Ari with a lot of knowledge and advice that he hopes to pass down to the younger athletes at Pinewood.

“At the end of the day, hard work and obsession beats talent,” Ari said. “Goals aren’t given; they are earned.”

Additionally, freshman Nerea Amezcua has been a dancer for about 10 years and has showcased her talents in various public locations, including some big shopping malls. Currently, she performs at different locations on top of helping out with dance classes at her dance studio as a teacher. When it comes to teaching her grade choreography, however, Amezcua encounters similar challenges as Ramani.

“I try to test the waters, so I’ll give them something I think they are capable of getting, but is a little bit more on the challenging side,” Amezcua said. “If they start to tell me they don’t really get it, I’ll make it easier.”

As the long awaited lip sync assembly nears, all grades are hastily reviewing their choreography in hopes of putting together a clean performance in front of the school. Ramani trusts that her prior experience will help her shine bright in the lip sync.

“I’m going to put 110% of my energy into lip sync and use the skills that I’ve learned from dancing since childhood,” Ramani said.

HARRY YANG Staff Writer

Junior Trevor Koo steps up to the plate.

Photo by MEI MIYAHARA

Photo courtesy of SOPHIA LEE

Junior Sophia Lee competes in a dance competition.

Senior Arjun Ari plans attending University of Rochester as a football commit.

Derrick’s Recommendations for Home-Remedied Confidence

How Confidence Has Shaped His Athletic

DERRICK HARRIS Staff Writer

Athletes need confidence like celebrities need Ozempic. Like Ozempic, confidence has been taking over the market. Whether it’s LeBron James scoring 40 points while 40 years old or Steph Curry raining down threes, confidence is on full display. In essence, confidence and excellence go hand in hand. Confidence is not just a mindset, but also what you make of it. If you’re willing to take a risk, confidence can be a weight loss drug or a tattoo of SZA at the Super Bowl under your armpit. Although it may seem like every shot goes in for athletes like Angel Reese and Nika Mühl, every layup, three point shot, or buzzer beater is nothing without confidence. Sports are nothing without confidence.

Some may ask, “Derrick, why do you love confidence so much?” I am trying (struggling) not to be appalled because I do not just love confidence — I need confidence. We all need confidence, especially if you play sports.

it the most. Before basketball games and cross-country meets, I was fighting an internal war. I was more worried about how people perceived my appearance and actions on the court rather than my performance.

Naturally, this reflected on how I performed on the court. I airballed wide-open layups, never spoke in

Accomplishments

gotten last place in the 100-meter sprint and had the 200-meter race next. I kept telling my teammates I would get last again. Suddenly, the clouds split and something had changed in the air. Jesus Christ descended onto the track in the form of my peer Alex Watanabe.

Before I found confidence, I was struggling with self-image problems, indigestion, and, most notably, anxiety. It was a dark time, so dark some may compare it to the five-year gap between CTRL and SOS or when Anthony Davis was traded to the Mavericks. I was lacking confidence when I needed

Photo by SAM JEZAK

class, placed dead last in the 100-meter dash, and ran an eight-and-a-half minute mile. I felt like D’Angelo Russell in a Lakers jersey.

My discovery of confidence was cinematic. I had

“If you don’t believe in yourself, you will fail,” Watanabe said. This made me realize in order to succeed I must believe in myself. Confidence saved me.

The results were extraordinary. After I first started taking confidence, I started to do better in basketball. When I shot the ball, it hit the rim many times as if it would not fall, but it went in. My literature teacher could hear words I spoke in class more than 25% of the time. Most shocking of all, when I put one leg in front of the other quickly, I started to run. This was truly revolutionary. Don’t just listen to me; try confidence yourself. Disclaimer: confidence is not a one-way street to success. Confidence is a journey with many trials and extreme public embarrassment. Unlike Cooper Flagg, confidence is not a one and done. If you still don’t believe me, believe the world’s greatest athletes. Michael Jordan once said, “Confidence comes from my preparation. Becoming a champion takes resolve and courage, but remaining a champion takes consistency and humility.”

Moana 2: The Fall of Disney The Madness of Meritocracy

ARETHA LIU Staff Writer

We all know Moana as the adventurous teenage girl who sails across the ocean with the demigod Maui on a daring journey to save her island. However, how many of us have heard of the lesser-known Moana 2? Aside from one or two trailers and the occasional TikTok, I certainly didn’t hear a lot of buzz about it. Turns out, this lack of media coverage happened for a good reason.

I stepped into Theater 13 expecting a movie with the same catchy songs that I could hum all day and a seat-gripping story that left me yearning for more, but I left with a wasted hour and 40 minutes and strained eyes.

It was underwhelming, to say the least, but one of the biggest problems for me was the characters. Aside from Moana and Maui, the crew adds three more characters to help man the ship. However, the added crewmates only play one role: comedic relief. And in a 100-minute film, there’s not a lot of time to flesh out three whole new characters to make them memorable. In fact, I couldn’t even name one of them right now if you asked me.

The plot was also disappointing. Moana’s call to adventure was seemingly directionless and missing the usual magic that is present in most Disney movies. While past movies like Frozen and the original Moana embody the classic Disney magic and childhood nostalgia, Moana 2 is lacking in almost every aspect. Not to mention, I walked out of the theater not remembering a single song. Aren’t songs one of the main selling points of Disney movies? Maybe it’s the absence of songwriter Lin Manuel Miranda that contributed to the lackluster songs, but I think it may reflect a bigger issue with Disney movies as a whole. Nowadays, Disney movies are only a shell of their former glory. The live-action remakes of their classic animated films are only subpar retellings of the original story hidden under the guise of better and more realistic visuals. Instead of creating more creative and original stories, Disney has resorted to shabby remakes, which is a disappointment to say the least.

This reliance on past legacies continues. With movies such as Toy Story and Zootopia getting a fifth and second part respectively. Even Snow White and Lilo & Stitch are getting live-action renditions with seemingly no other point than to simply release something. With all these remakes, it really seems like Disney has finally lost their magic touch.

YICHEN WANG Staff Writer

In track and field, every contestant runs the same distance under the same conditions. Ability — the speed and endurance of an athlete — determines the winner. But what if a small group of participants wore rollerblades and received a head start while the rest were chained to leg irons from the beginning? This is the reality of meritocracy.

We have been taught that if we work hard, we will succeed. Thanks to our privileged background, this message resonates with us. However, this concept of meritocracy is inherently flawed because people are born unequal.

Take education as an example. According to Yale Insights, the American elite can raise their children through prestigious schooling while the middle class is compelled to rely on public education that pales in comparison. Additionally, college admissions are sullied with bias because acceptance is often based on qualities other than merit. The difference in education alone will lead to disparities in job opportunities, income, and the starting points of future generations on the race to success.

While it’s not impossible to advance in our “meritocratic” society, relying on merit alone won’t get you far. A person’s connections and access to resources have a major impact on their success. People with successful parents, for instance, can

receive a preemptive start in their respective fields. Wealth also impacts how far your merit can be carried. Money provides access to exclusive opportunities such as internships and summer programs.

But even without resources, it’s still possible to achieve success in our pseudo-meritocratic society. Though it sounds cliché, attaining success in an unfavorable circumstance requires you to work smarter and harder. Chasing after your dreams on the meritocratic racetrack will feel like running on a treadmill that never stops. You may work for days, months, and years, only to realize you’re exactly where you started.

However, when you’re about to give up, imagine you’ve almost made it to convince yourself to keep going. You’re going to feel like Sisyphus — endlessly pushing a boulder uphill just to watch it come crashing back down. But if you’re willing to adapt and persevere, you’ll eventually get lucky; examples include a chance meeting with the right person or being early to an industry. Luck paired with skill and perseverance will create the rocket rollerblades that melt away the chains and send you gliding down the racetrack.

Hopefully, when you’re freely gliding ahead, you won’t forget those who struggled alongside you. Take a moment to reach out a helping hand and break the “meritocratic” cycle for another.

Derrick shoots a basket for Pinewood boys basketball.

Jolyn Ding: Chasing Perfection in High School and Missing the 11th Second

JOLYN DING Editor-in-Chief

Just this past week, out of boredom and, truthfully, to avoid studying for a calculus exam, I started mindlessly scrolling through the 11,544 photos in my camera roll. In doing so, I discovered not only a gold mine of photos I have stashed away in my phone but also an invaluable observation that I wouldn’t otherwise have noticed: so many beautiful moments, mere flickers of seconds, are captured by our phones, stored away, and forgotten about the next day. Sure, we might get a giggle or two out of a photo one minute, but merely a second later, life moves on, and these little flickers of light lose their second to shine. Moments that once brought us so much joy quickly become distant memories, floating deeper and deeper into the unexplored depths of our camera rolls, poised to be forgotten. It wasn’t until this past break that I realized how hypocritical I actually sound. Much like everyone else, my life feels like it moves at a million miles an hour, juggling sleepless nights and school, basketball practice and extracurriculars, a social life and family time. I pour every ounce of everything I have into everything that I do, charging forward at full speed, hoping that one day, when I achieve perfection, when I accomplish everything I set out to accomplish, when I somehow manage to get an A in that class, that I’ll feel completely satisfied, that all my problems will wash away, that all the high grades and scored points will act as a bandage for all my struggles. But no, unfortunately, life isn’t that simple. Sure, we can work as hard as we want, put our heads down in constant pursuit of the next biggest and best thing, but what’s the point of all this if we lose sight of what’s right in front of us? The journey unraveling before our eyes. The people who have helped us get to where we are. The moments we’ll never get back.

What’s the point of staying up all night to study for a test, just for it to be over in one hour and for you to get the grade back, beaming with happiness — for 10 seconds? 10 seconds that cost a lifetime of memories, a lifetime of moments.

Now, you may be thinking, what’s not to love about all these accomplishments, all these high marks and achievements? Well, it’s not the sleepless nights that

you’ll regret; instead, it’s the relationships you’ve put on the back burner, the experiences you’ve said no to, the time you’ll never get back, all at the expense of 10 fleeting seconds of validation.

Even though I, myself, am guilty of chasing this feeling, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that time won’t stop for anybody; the world will always keep spinning, and there will always be an 11th second. An 11th sec-

ond after the 10 seconds of bliss have worn off. An 11th second where you’re left feeling empty, realizing that what you thought you wanted wasn’t exactly what you were expecting. An 11th second where the photo you stumble across randomly in your camera roll no longer sparks a vivid memory, but rather draws an alarming blank.

All of this, I’ve learned, is a result of chasing perfection without having a sense of direction, of chasing something without knowing why you’re even doing it. While it’s amazing to be in constant pursuit of your goals — as that means you have a purpose, a determination to do something meaningful in this life — you cannot forget to live life itself, to live in the moment, to cherish it, to appreciate the good times but also the bad, to find joy in the little moments, to take advantage of the time we can never get back.

As my time in high school comes to a close, my one regret is that I didn’t realize this sooner, that I didn’t learn to prioritize the memories, the experiences, the people that truly bring me the most joy. That said, mistakes aren’t truly failures until you’ve failed to learn from them, so a lesson learned must be a lesson shared, and I’m being serious when I say this: figure out what you value most and prioritize it. As someone who has experienced the highs of great achievement and the lows of great failure, the regret of missing out on opportunities to grab dinner with your teammates or go to the movies with your closest friends one last time will always be greater than the regret of one bombed test. My advice to you is to live life to the fullest, and have no regrets in the 11th second. Have no regrets when you walk across that stage and receive your diploma in the spring, for you only ever have one high school experience. So, enjoy it.

Costco’s Chaotic Culture: An Exclusive Cult or Just Excellent Marketing?

MICHAEL SHTROM Staff Editor

To paraphrase Dr. Seuss: oh, the places a senior whose mind is rapidly unraveling from the all-consuming stress of finishing his college apps will go. My freshly ravaged mind, as may constitute no surprise to some, led my feet straight into my car and down to the nearest Costco. As I courageously navigated through the bustling warehouse, braving a more intense environment than any Everest climber or War of 1812 veteran before me, I began to reflect on so-called “Costco culture.” Why is it that Costco is so structured like a city, as each customer is forced to constantly keep moving or face a shopping cart stampede? Why do so many people rely on its food court for their daily meals? Do its membership cards create a feeling of exclusivity for its members that preys on the worst excesses of human nature? These are all fair questions, none of which I have definitive answers to. But, alas, for no clear reason, I suppose I shall venture a guess.

Anyone who has ever, from what must have been a severe lapse in judgment, chosen to go to Costco on a Saturday will know how congested it gets. The parking lot fills with the rowdiest drivers known to man, and every aisle fills with shopping carts swerving out of each other’s way. At times, a Costco, with its towering warehouse shelves and bustling aisles, can seem like its own metropolis. The popularity of this shopping behemoth can be fairly attributed to a variety of factors, but I attribute it to the famous requirement that all Costco shoppers must pay for a membership. While seemingly an annoying hurdle put in place by greedy managers, Costco’s membership program serves a greater purpose: promoting brand loyalty. Knowing that one is a mem-

ber of some sort of exclusive club boosts their ego and makes people feel special, and people in such a heightened state of perceived superiority love to spend money. If they are already paying for a membership and deciding between Costco and Trader Joe’s for this week’s groceries, they might as well go with the brand they have already spent time and money supporting. This way, Costco does get some revenue from membership, but they simultaneously get something far more valuable: loyal customers who will always choose them first.

I would be remiss in covering this topic without mentioning the converse of the relationship between Costco and its customers, namely the loyalty the corporation shows them through shopping experiences like the food court. The prices at Costco food courts are so famous that I need not even mention the price of its hot dog, as your brain can probably conjure it by itself. Keeping food prices this stable and this low in the face of rising inflation represents an interesting decision for Costco, one that sees a worldwide corporation prioritize happy customers over potential profits.

Through this practice, Costco shows customers some of the dedication that customers show to Costco. I will stop short, however, of romanticizing this as some sort of consumer-corporation love story. This strategy still intends to maximize profit, designating Costco’s food court as something called a “loss-leader,” based on the idea that Costco is willing to lose money on the food court so long as it attracts customers and shoppers for its other products. If someone enters Costco to pay $1.99 for a slice of pizza, Costco management hopes that their eye will catch one product they like, then another, and another. One shopping cart of impulse buys later, they exit having spent $400.

Costco’s membership fees and food court, just as everything it does, are very intentionally and specifically planned out. Every tiny aspect of its products, store layout, pricing, and memberships target different parts of human psychology and are meant to inspire complete devotion and love for Costco. Next time you go to Costco, think about everything you see, hear, touch, and feel, and remember that all of it has been carefully designed to be that way.

Illustration by ELIZABETH LIANG

Juniors Compete on iNaturalist to Identify Species

You may have noticed students peering under rocks and searching in the trees to take pictures of birds, bugs, plants, and other organisms around Pinewood’s Upper Campus. Every year, the 11th grade class participates in the iNaturalist competition as part of their biology curriculum. The goal of the competition is to track as many wild species as possible, such as animals and native plants. Biology teacher Monica Ventrice started the competition in 2021 as a safe way for students to spend time in nature during the COVID pandemic.

“I wanted students to get outside, observe the nature around them, and also learn biology,” Ventrice said. “I hope that they become more observant of the organisms around them. I think that’s a really important skill.”

Students track species by taking pictures and uploading them to the iNaturalist app, which uses artificial intelligence to identify them. The images then get reviewed by experts, and the crowdsourced data is stored on a global map that is accessible to users worldwide.

Junior Alan Skelley has been enjoying the competition so far and appreciates the opportunity to learn about new species.

“ iNaturalist is great because you get to learn so much about the environment,” Skelley said. “You see these animals every day, like ants, but you don’t actually know the scientific name for them.”

On average, Ventrice reports that each student logs around 75 observations and 40 species during the four months that they participate. The student with the most entries of all time was alumni Makena Matula from the class of 2024, who logged 560 observations and 296 species in 2023.

As an added incentive, Ventrice is offering a prize of boba gift cards to the class with the highest average number of species logged per student.

For students looking to boost their entries, Ventrice has recommendations for the best local places to look for species.

“ The Palo Alto Baylands and the Pescadero Marsh are great for bird watching,” Ventrice said. “ I also love going tide pooling on the San Mateo and Monterey coasts.”

She also shared strategies to keep in mind when searching for species.

“For techniques [you should] go to new places and really work on your observational skills… look under logs, under rocks, through the grass, through the bushes, and in the leaves,” Ventrice said.

Reflecting on his participation in iNaturalist last year, senior Jonathan Detkin still remembers the positive impact of the competition.

“ I thought it was pretty fun last year,” Detkin said. “It kind of gave me a reason to go out and explore a little bit, and go out of my way to appreciate nature a little bit more.”

We Who Code Works Toward Increasing Accessibility in Coding

DAVIN TERNUS Staff Writer

The gender gap in any coding environment is massive, which can make it difficult for some to find their place and thrive within the industry. We Who Code works towards bridging that gap.

Junior club leader Soha Budhani said that We Who Code’s mission is to ensure that everyone feels represented and inspired in computer science fields.

learned. On top of this, We Who Code recently held a fundraiser for earthquake relief efforts in Syria and Turkey. The club also encourages members to partake in hackathons as well as contests, which give students opportunities to grow and explore while facing minimal amounts of pressure.

“We wanted to create a space where experimentation is encouraged, mistakes are celebrated as learning opportunities, and everyone feels they belong within the world of technology,” Budhani said.

At We Who Code meetings, students are encouraged to be curious by asking questions to expand their learning and often collaborate on various projects for a more well-rounded learning experience. The club starts with a brief discussion of future goals and projects, workshops, or activities, and then proceeds with the actual activity. The meetings are supportive, helping everyone feel comfortable both contributing ideas and requesting help when needed.

We Who Code has had a variety of different initiatives in the past, such as hosting various speakers from different tech fields, including a producer at LEGO, an AI specialist, and a data scientist at a startup. The speakers give students a view of numerous potential career paths that apply the coding skills they have

We Who Code recently hosted a workshop at Pinewood’s Lower Campus to introduce the younger students to coding. Members taught Lower Campus students the algorithms behind technology they use frequently. Using games and mini-lessons, the club taught concepts like patterns and logic to the students in a fun and engaging way.

This workshop, alongside many of We Who Code’s projects, were made possible by the club’s advisor, Christine Tran. Budhani said that Tran is truly inspiring, and that she consistently offers thoughtful advice as well as sharing her own experience.

“Her enthusiasm and dedication make every meeting a place of learning and growth, and we are so grateful for her mentorship,” Budhani said.

We Who Code continues to work towards bridging the gender gap within coding. They also hope to hold more cross campus workshops and participate in competitions as a club.

“We invite anyone interested in exploring technology, whether a beginner or a seasoned coder, to join us on this journey,” Budhani said.

Opinion: The Integration of AI in the Workforce is Benefical

The concept of artificial intelligence in the workforce is often framed through a simplistic standpoint of “human versus machine.” However, I believe what many fail to understand is that AI is far too complex to be generalized as being inherently against humans.

As the use of AI becomes increasingly integrated into various work environments, the blurring lines between human intelligence and technological capabilities raise more and more questions regarding the ethics behind it. Despite popular belief, AI hasn’t led to significant job displacement; rather, it has improved efficiency within companies.

While there are many concerns about AI dominating certain fields, such as transportation or customer service, the medical industry offers a perfect example of balanced cooperation between AI and humans. Currently, doctors leverage AI-based technology to assist in making diagnoses, predictions, and transcribing medical documents, all of which significantly improve efficiency within clinics and hospitals.

Dermatologists use AI to classify skin cancers more effectively and swiftly. Moreover, AI technology provides 24-hour assistance for scheduling purposes or providing answers to drug-related questions. Despite its rapid development, AI’s capabilities have not yet surpassed those of doctors or nurses. Whereas the use of AI may displace jobs in other fields, I think its integration in the medical industry maintains current jobs while enhancing productivity in workplaces.

As for the integration of AI in the corporate world, applications of AI in this field seem far less prominent. Beyond its assistance in identifying patterns for data analysis, AI is primarily used for customer service or

marketing purposes. While AI can provide constant assistance for customers, it lacks a lot of the empathy or adaptation skills that human workers have. Like the medical industry, AI in the corporate field is still most notably used as an assistant for data analysts — it isn’t advanced enough in its current state to work with full autonomy in these roles.

In the manufacturing industry, AI is used in several roles, including equipment maintenance and the management of assembly lines. Because the usage of AI in these instances emphasizes the importance of efficiency in the manufacturing processes, it improves existing jobs while also creating new opportunities for AI engineers and programmers.

Lastly, the development of AI has taken a prominent role in the tech field. As it has continued to grow, software engineers have incorporated AI technology into developing even more advanced machinery and software.

Rather than displacing current jobs, AI has opened a window for new occupations and shifted our focus toward using this new technology in the best way possible.

TIFFANY AU Staff Writer

RYAN CHOU Staff Writer

Photo by SEAN SIRHAN

BUDHANI and her brother Rafay collaborate on a computer science problem during a club meeting.

Illustration by JIA LEE

Photo by SEAN SIRHAN

JUNIOR RIYA KOLAPPA takes a photo of a wild mushroom for the competition.

PPA Visits New York, New York!

ESHA JOSHI Staff Writer

As our group of hungry, tired, Californians hurried into our hotel in the bustling heart of Times Square, the first thing I noticed about New York City, which I’d never been to before, was that it was very cold. Thanks to the wide range of classes we attended, neighborhoods we toured, and shows we watched, however, I ended the six-day Pinewood Performing Arts trip learning much more about the city’s rich artistic and cultural history.

On our first night, we visited the Top of the Rock, an observation deck at Rockefeller Center that gave us a panoramic view of the city’s soaring skyscrapers at night and a taste for the area’s strong, biting winds. Afterward, we skated around the Center’s ice skating rink, where I managed to fall backward five times, before attending our first Broadway show of the trip, “The Great Gatsby.” The show examines the lives of the newly wealthy in the 1920s. At the end, we had a chance to meet Ryan McCartan, who played Gastby and became popular in the show “Liv and Maddie.”

Our experience with “Gatsby” continued the next morning, when we had a dance class with the show’s dance captain, Mariah Reives. We learned a Gatsby-inspired routine to the catchy and upbeat song “New Money” before learning about Reives’s journey in the musical theater industry and her dreams of creating a business to teach dance. We explored Chinatown and Little Italy, trying delicious desserts and buying gifts,

before our second show, “Operation Mincemeat.” The British musical, recently arrived on Broadway, told the fascinating story of how a corpse was used to send false information to the Germans in World War II. I was holding back cackles for the majority of the musical,

but the few poignant moments in the otherwise catchy and upbeat show almost made me cry.

On Wednesday, we started the day with a stage combat class with Jared Kirby, who has been choreograph-

“Alice by Heart” Arrives

NEREA AMEZCUA Staff Writer

As the Queen of Hearts chops heads off and Alice Spencer tells the tale of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” the Pinewood Performing Arts is preparing for the musical “Alice by Heart.”

Inspired by the novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll, the story is set in 1941 during World War II in London, where Alice Spencer and her best friend Alfred have to take shelter in a tube station with many other civilians who are seeking shelter. However, Alfred is suffering from tuberculosis, and Alice feels sorry for her friend. She decides to tell him the tale of “Alice in Wonderland” by heart. The characters sheltering in the tube station all become different actors for the story, and Alice and Alfred take on the adventure of Wonderland.

other. Prior to the casting of the musical, Hannelly and sophomore Zachary Gill, who plays Alfred, didn’t know each other well. As the play has been progressing, they are getting closer in order to portray their characters in the play.

“Lola and I didn’t know each other before these roles, and our character’s chemistry is very important to this. Gill said. “I think that’s the most important thing, that we can connect as actors to portray it.”

Freshman Lola Hannelly is debuting in her first high school production playing Alice Spencer.

“I’m having an amazing time getting to know everyone, and it’s a really amazing experience for me,” Hannelly said. “I am a little nervous, but I am more excited for it, and I think it’ll be really amazing.”

During the musical, the relationship between Alice and Alfred grows, and they end up falling in love with one an-

The musical involves a large ensemble of students dancing and following a creative choreography. Hannelly enjoys the beauty and complexity of this choreography.

“I find the choreography so entertaining, to watch everyone move around and seeing it all come together.” Hanelly said.

Gill agrees with Hannelly, and particularly enjoys the scenes and songs that the play has to offer.

“It’s a barrage of beautiful scenes, beautiful songs,” Gill said. “And just there’s always something to look at and I want the audience to leave with a wow, more than anything.”

“Alice by Heart” is a musical full of mystery, curiosity, and love and will be performed April 24-26 and May 1-3.

ing and teaching stage and screen combat for decades. We enthusiastically pretended to punch and slap each other for an hour. Then, we made our way to the August Wilson Theater, which was transformed into the Kit Kat Club, the setting from the next show, “Cabaret,” a classic musical, which follows the lives of members of a club in 1930s Berlin against the backdrop of increasingly popular Nazi ideology.

On Thursday, we attended an improv class hosted by the Broadway Comedy Club. Afterward, we had the chance to speak with Larry Rogowsky, a producer for the final show we were seeing that evening, “The Outsiders.” He told us how it felt to watch the years-long development and performance of a show, as well as his personal story of how he got involved in the industry. After a few hours of shopping in Times Square, we spoke with Hailey Hyde, sister of Pinewood Athletic Director Hannah Fanaika. Hyde, who recently joined the cast of “The Outsiders” as an understudy and booth singer, shared her experience breaking into the industry, auditioning for her role, and building a life for herself in New York City. The evening ended with an intense, gut-wrenching performance of “The Outsiders,” which only felt more powerful after we watched the actors persevere through some technical issues.

Although we only saw snippets of New York City on our trip, we still saw many of the ways it bustled with life and energy. It was still extremely cold, but sitting crammed together on the plane home, sharing highlight reels of memories, I’d never felt more warm.

Pinewood Plays Jazz

RISHI CHEN Staff Writer

The confounding paradox of jazz is that no one, especially not jazz players, can coherently describe what constitutes jazz. It is better defined by the feelings it exudes: feelings of thrill, confusion, or sadness. Yet these emotions are best expressed by jazz players themselves. There is no shortage of these talented artists at Pinewood.

Senior Leo Shang initially found little enthusiasm in music. Beginning on the piano, Shang quickly developed a disinterest for the classical music he was taught.

“Classical is just kind of boring to me,” Shang said. “It’s always trying to fit some sort of a consistent template.”

Abandoning the piano, Shang found greater creative freedom in the staple genre of his newly-adopted saxophone.

“It’s a lot more fun, and I can express myself,” Shang said. “Jazz is more fluid.”

After six years of practice on the bass — not to mention the guitar, drums, and a little virtuoso ukulele work — Matula subconsciously developed the skills and ear required for jazz.

“You kind of start out with the simple stuff, and once you figure that out, you can expand an opportunity, and that’s when you can discover jazz,” Matula said.

Matula believes that jazz’s special quality lies in its freedom to traverse untrammeled over uncharted musical territory.

After many years of refined practice, Shang provides insight into what sets the creativity behind jazz apart in his mind.

“You have to have a personality to play jazz,” Shang said. “There’s not really any boring jazz.”

Meanwhile, sophomore Ellis Matula followed a similar progression for jazz music. Like Shang, Matula grew disenchanted with the classical music that introduced him to musicianship.

“I always hated classical music because it was too strict,” Matula said.

Enter rock and roll.

“I got bored of that because I had issues with it just being a bit too rigid,” Matula said.

“It’s just a different language,” Matula said. “The reason why it’s difficult is because the things that we’re already accustomed to are those kinds of things that we listen to on the radio or the top Billboard hits.”

Finally, junior Jerry Yan describes his journey to jazz and musical fulfillment as a pianist — despite initial hiccups.

“I had bad memories of being forced to practice as a kid,” Yan said.

However, Yan soon discovered jazz through his teacher.

“Jazz is so special because each person’s playing is unique to them,” Yan said. “You have so much freedom for expressing yourself in your chords, voicings, rhythms, solos, and more.”

Jazz is unlike any other genre. It cannot be boxed into any sonic palette, characteristic instrumentation, or tonal feel; instead, jazz is any and all music that puts the core of its creator on vivid display, exhilarates the listener past their beliefs, and shatters our conceptions of what music can be.

Photo courtesy of PINEWOOD PERFORMING ARTS

Photo courtesy of SAM JEZAK

Photo courtesy of KATIE LINZA

PSP Updates: Shaping a Generation of Leaders

NONA BROZELL Staff Writer

The Pinewood Scholars Program is a three-semester-long social entrepreneurship course that provides students with valuable experiences and skills, such as the confidence, work ethic, and passion needed to be an entrepreneur. These traits lay the groundwork for a future in business and beyond.

During the first year of PSP, which takes place during junior year, students conceptualize, refine, and launch projects aimed at addressing and solving problems in their communities.

Junior Kyle Ma was drawn to PSP by a desire to utilize his skills to help others.

“My biggest goal in life is to help those who are less fortunate than I am,” Ma said. “I applied to PSP because I wanted to make a difference in the world through my project.”

On the other hand, junior Caitlin Yamaguchi largely joined PSP because she wanted to learn more about what it takes to run a business.

As for their projects, Ma and Yamaguchi were both able to form their ideas around hobbies that they were passionate about: cooking and art, respectively.

Overall, both Ma and Yamaguchi are excited for the future of their projects and have already gained many skills from PSP.

“The class has been super helpful so far because it teaches me skills that you wouldn’t necessarily learn in

ly were among the seniors who finished PSP this year, and both believe that they benefited from the variety of topics that were covered in the senior semester, from learning about new business tactics to exploring how they could have improved their projects.

“I picked art as the focus of my project because I’ve loved it since I was a kid,” Yamaguchi said. “However, art supplies can be expensive and not everyone has the money to buy them, and I wanted to address that issue.”

Inspired by her love of art, Yamaguchi has created two art supply distribution sites. Ma, on the other hand, offers free, weekly cooking lessons, which are open to anyone who is interested in learning how to cook.

other business classes, such as communicating with organizations and growing your connections,” Yamaguchi said.

In the second half of PSP, which takes place during the first semester of senior year, students reflect on their projects and explore the more nuanced aspects of entrepreneurship. Seniors Alakh Kapadia and Ruby Hannel-

“PSP gave me a small taste of what entrepreneurship really means, and it taught me how to create a business from the ground up and how to run it,” Kapadia said.

In addition to projects and lessons, guest speakers and field trips are also vital parts of the PSP curriculum.

“Not often do you get to talk to someone who has real experience in entrepreneurship, so the guest speakers allowed us to gain a lot of valuable insight,” Hannelly said.

Aside from the structure of the course, Kapadia and Hannelly also appreciate what PSP stands for at its core.

“The number one idea that I took away from PSP is that it’s possible to get up and do something,” Kapadia said. “In the modern day, a lot of people will just repost something or agree with a statement and act like that’s enough. But actually taking action on an issue that you care about is powerful, and it has the ability to change our world.”

Pinewood English and history teacher Michelle Gannon runs the PSP class. Gannon’s favorite aspect of the course is its ability to make an impact on students.

“Everything that students learn in PSP gears them towards the next step that they choose to take,” Gannon said. “In the end, all of these skills will be applicable and important for their entire lives.”

Braxton Takes Initiative: Fighting for Allergy Awareness

BRAXTON KIMURA Staff Writer

Peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish.

These are the words I repeat every time I’m at a restaurant, school, airplane, or friend’s house before eating my meal. If I consume even a molecule of a peanut, my body will instantly go into anaphylactic shock, starting with an itchy throat, a hard time breathing, and then finally collapse and die. That is why I must always carry an epinephrine injector, a device used to treat severe allergic reactions, everywhere I go. However, I am not alone in this silent epidemic. This is what 33 million Americans who suffer from food allergies live with every day.

“I always have to carry my EpiPen, just in case anything happens at a restaurant or a friend’s house,” junior Lara Parikh, who has a life-threatening peanut allergy, said. “No matter how many times I check, I just have to be careful.”

My own family found out about my food allergies unexpectedly when I was 14 months old. One afternoon, my sister spilled a jar of peanuts, and like any toddler would, I put one in my mouth. Luckily, my mom instantly knew something was wrong and rushed me to the emergency room.

That was the day everything changed. I had my first near-death experience and was diagnosed with a

life-threatening peanut allergy.

Growing up, birthdays and play dates were most difficult for me because I sat in sadness watching my friends enjoy baked treats that I couldn’t eat. Many people who

don’t understand the severity of food allergies tend to think I’m a high-maintenance eater or that if an allergic reaction happens, it’s not life-threatening. What they

don’t realize is that any bite of food could be my last.

“Food allergy is a disease. It’s not a diet or a preference,” Food Allergy and Research Education CEO Dr. Sung Poblete told me in a recent interview. “Everyone needs to understand that when someone says they have a food allergy it doesn’t mean that they are picky eaters. It is a disease in their immune system.”

Up to this point, I’ve been quietly managing my food allergies. Recently, however, through the Pinewood Scholars Program, I’ve been able to find my voice and passion, becoming a food allergy advocate who empowers individuals by educating them and helping them navigate their journeys. That’s when Beyond The Shell was born. The initiative includes three components: a peanut allergy web platform, a practical pamphlet series, and educational campaigns and fundraising walks hosted throughout the year.

Food Allergy Awareness Week is from May 11 to May 17. The new Food Allergy Club at Pinewood, that I also founded, will be hosting a pop-up table throughout the week, handing out allergy-friendly snacks and informational pamphlets. In addition, Beyond The Shell, in collaboration with FARE and other sponsors, will be hosting a Food Allergy Awareness Fundraising Walk on May 10 at 10 a.m. at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto. If my advocacy work can potentially save a life, then it’s all worth it.

POBLETE (LEFT) AND KIMURA (RIGHT) discuss food allergies.

Photo courtesy of MICHELLE GANNON

MA (LEFT) PITCHES his project to Heidi Wang (right) during PSP Brainstorming Lunch.

Illustration by ELIZABETH LIANG & Photo courtesy of MICHELLE GANNON