Students present research at 2023 Alameda County Science and Engineering Fair

By Jiyun Guo & Ashley Pang Staff Writers

On the morning of March 25, around 450 students gathered at the Ohlone College Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology to present months of research in the annual Alameda County Science and Engineering Fair (ACSEF). By the fair’s end on March 26, four MSJ teams had qualified for the California Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF) or International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), with numerous others winning category and sponsored awards.

First hosted in 2012, ACSEF encourages students in grades 6-12 to explore their STEM interests, ranging from fields of animal science to mechanical engineering. Each year, Alameda County students present their science or engineering projects to judges with the chance of winning a sponsored award, category award, or qualification to CSEF or ISEF.

In late September, students began brainstorming projects to address real-world problems. “The inspiration behind my project came from a cloud burst that destroyed all of my grandfather’s banana plantations. So, I thought about how I could develop an artificial intelligence (AI) application to solve this issue,” Sophomore Meenakshi Nair said. After topic selection, students started to dive deeper into their respective fields — researching references, gathering data, and carefully crafting a prototype to present

others won category and sponsored awards.

During the process of development, student researchers had to overcome technical issues and human errors. For Nair’s project, a localized dataset was necessary to produce an accurate AI model, but most of the weather data she discovered came from national sources. As a result, she traveled to UC Davis every weekend to gather data from the campus’ local flux tower. Additionally, prototypes that required high precision could easily be damaged or misplaced. For Freshman Victor Luo, his team frequently ran into obstacles with broken parts of their 3D printed, origami-inspired, and AI-driven millirobot for targeted drug delivery. To circumvent this issue, Luo’s team had to produce numerous backup prototype pieces.

After teams had finalized their projects and presentations, they were prepared to showcase their efforts. At 9 a.m. on March 25, students waited by their booths, consisting of a project board and prototype, while judges initiated rounds of impromptu questioning. During the interviews, judges sought to understand each team’s experimental process, project impact, and potential future research. “It’s trying to take something that you’ve worked on for months, have read complex literature to even try to approach, and then making that accessible to the common person ... and then also being able to sell yourself and try to win,” Junior Arushi Dinker said.

Once judges completed their rounds, projects were open for a public gallery walk. While conversing with parents, mentors, and fellow students about their research, students had the opportunity to appreciate the work of their peers. “I think the highlight was being able to interact with other student researchers ... it was really cool to see all of [their] knowledge being applied in the real world for real problems,”

Luo said.

Following the day of presentations, students and teachers arrived at the Dublin Unified School District Center for Performing Arts & Education to attend the awards ceremony. Notably, the teams of Freshman Isaac He and Juniors Shohini Sarkar and Dinker qualified for CSEF, while Luo’s team qualified for ISEF. Advancing forward, finalists plan to further improve their projects. For instance, He hopes to add features for his group’s project, VectorAuth, an app which enables users to regain control of their online security, and Dinker aims to purchase more protein needed to synthesize her novel cyclic peptide-drug conjugate for non-small cell lung cancer therapy.

As the fair came to a close, one final recognition, ACSEF’s Teacher of the Year, was awarded to Chemistry of the Earth Systems Honors Teacher Katy Kuei for her emphasis on innovative problem-solving. “I wanted to be a facilitator to expose [students] to uncertain things. Whether [the student] can go very far, it’s [their own] doing. I only show [them] the map,” Kuei said. ▪

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Arriving with the fresh bloom of spring, come other, more highly anticipated seasonal events: college decisions, AP testing, and summer programs. Stepping into any classroom of juniors or seniors reveals a disturbing callousness in students’ attitudes towards these significant academic endeavors. “Why would anyone even go to Merced? It’s the worst UC.” “I only got a 3 on AP Physics C! I’m so stupid.” “Why would you go to Berkeley Summer Sessions? Stanford Summer Session is so much better.” In the moment, statements like these may seem like only harmless banter or selfdeprecating jabs, but in the grander scheme of things, they can instill a discouraging sense of competitiveness in MSJ’s already stressful academic environment. ese ignorant one-off remarks are a key indicator of a serious issue: the lack of empathy amongst students when it comes to academic performance.

As it stands, discussions around college decisions, APs, and summer program results remain highly topical. Although most schools have released admissions decisions, it’s still an everyday occurrence to see flocks of seniors fervently discussing their choices. It’s a never-ending cycle of making fun of schools not highly ranked on www.usnews.com and complaining about not getting into the Ivy Leagues. Beyond college acceptances, summer programs are weighed against each other as younger students share their conflicting perspectives on the best program to

The healing power of creative pursuits

By Annika Singh Opinion Editor

In the midst of finals, AP exam prep, and summer program decisions, students often look for ways to relieve their stress and anxiety. For some, this includes making tea, putting on comfortable clothes, playing with their pets, or meditating. For others, this involves more time-consuming and unconventional activities such as experimenting with makeup, making origami, creating intricate patterns with crochet, or freestyle dancing to music. While the latter group of creative pursuits are beneficial for our mental wellness and help us develop new skills, they are often viewed as frivolous activities.

Personally, I often find myself spending my study breaks in my room meticulously brushing colorful eyeshadow onto my eyelid or swatching my collection of lip balms. For those ten minutes, I’m completely relaxed — the simple act of tapping on blush interrupts negative thoughts about others’ expectations and my self-worth, allowing me to cope with my feelings of sadness or uncertainty. Unfortunately, because makeup was viewed as an activity reserved for special events throughout my childhood, it took me a long time to acknowledge it as an acceptable form of self-care. Over the years, I’ve attempted yoga and meditation, only to keep returning to makeup, as it was the most peaceful and empowering form of relaxation for me.

Recognizing my interest in makeup as a tool to relieve anxiety and promote mindfulness has allowed me to maintain a more optimistic and motivated mindset. Whether or not makeup is your escape from anxiety, this principle can apply to your life, too. Instead of viewing certain stress-relieving practices as wastes of time, we should encourage people to adopt the activities that make them feel positive and prepared to tackle future obstacles. When we dismantle one-dimensional perspectives of what uprooting anxiety and stress can look like, we’re able to create more space for mindfulness, reflection, and wellness in our daily lives.

For example, Talkspace licensed professional counselor Katherine Glick found that makeup can cause a positive neurochemical response in our brain, helping our bodies relax and regain a sense of control when positive results feel out of reach. Makeup can also facilitate creativity and healing, especially in situations of trauma or high stress. Similarly, other creative acts such as folding a paper crane can make us happier, more at peace, and a little less anxious about impending deadlines.

Learning how to deal with stress and anxiety is a long-term process, but that doesn’t mean we have to conform to typical methods of wellness that may not work for us. Acknowledging the activities that empower us and help us cope is a step closer to dismantling stigma in mental health.

Whether you enjoy makeup, dance, or any other method of relaxation, take pride in it — it’s not a waste of time, because your mental health comes first. ▪

question of empathy: academic success turns toxic

spend thousands of dollars on. In terms of APs, these rigorous collegelevel courses have driven many to sleep deprivation and mental exhaustion from an overwhelming amount of tests, quizzes, and homework. According to the Challenge SuccessStanford Survey of Student School Experiences administered to MSJ students in 2021, students across all four grades received a weekly average of 26.9 hours of homework, both in and outside of school. is immense workload is exacerbated by the toxic emphasis placed on academic excellence by parents, peers, and students themselves. e survey also revealed that students’ most significant worries (rated out of 5) were getting into their college of choice (4.3), the possibility of not doing well in school (4.2), the pressure to do well in school (4.2), and taking assessments (4.2).

Furthermore, research by King Saud University and Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University found that excessive levels of academic stress can result in an “increased prevalence of psychological and physical problems like depression, anxiety, nervousness, and stress-related disorders.” In MSJ’s high-pressure environment, there’s often an unspoken expectation that students achieve top academic accolades. Unfortunately, the voices that are amplified are those that follow the status quo, overshadowing the minority. Perhaps, the college you woefully complain about “having” to attend is someone else’s dream school that they eagerly swoon over every day. For them to hear a friend, a peer, or even a stranger dismiss the school that they’ll be spending their next four years at may give rise to feelings of inadequacy. While it may not be our intent, these comments diminish others’ accomplishments by downplaying the result that they put tremendous effort into achieving as an “inferior” outcome. e personal standards we set for ourselves do not apply to everyone else, and by deliberately approaching our disappointments from a more empathetic perspective, we can ensure that we aren’t perpetuating any toxic standards, but rather, encouraging a supportive educational environment. ▪

Whether it’s getting rejected by a dream internship or scoring lower than anticipated on a test, it’s inevitable that we won’t always achieve the results we were hoping for. It’s human nature to feel disappointed, but we must also be careful about processing our emotions in a way that doesn’t hurt those around us. Our own perceptions of academic performance can a ffect others’ perceptions of themselves.

To avoid making inadvertently backhanded remarks, we should deeply consider the impact of our words before speaking and challenge how we perceive academic success.

Not your typical Earth Day column

By Esther Lau Opinion Editor

Every April, Earth Day brings a slew of Instagram infographics and awareness campaigns encouraging viewers to adopt individual practices to help the environment. Whether it’s becoming vegan, using reusable bags and straws, or starting an at-home composting system, these calls to action are almost always accompanied by statistics that show how dire the climate situation is.

No matter how much you care about the environment, it’s easy to admit that some of the frequently encouraged practices are hard to fully implement. For example, veganism can seem una ffordable to low-income communities because of its depiction in modern culture as an upscale lifestyle. Moreover, www.wanderlust.com reports that “sustainable fabrics are, on average, two and a half to four times more expensive in comparison to more commonly used fabrics,” making truly eco-friendly clothing options out of reach. When these inaccessibilities are coupled with the worsening state of the environment, putting in effort to reduce our individual carbon footprints feels like a pointless pursuit.

But, the truth is, the information on our own ecological footprints we see is often misrepresented, as large countries and corporations are the leading cause of climate change. According to e World Bank, China alone emits a third of the world’s greenhouse gases, and CDP's 2017 Carbon Majors Report found that “just 100 com- panies have been the source of over 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.” Ultimately, these statistics all point in one direction: the power to create lasting environmental change lies in policy.

So this April, I’m not asking you to use less plastic, eat more plantbased foods, and drive an electric car, although those are all great habits. Instead, I encourage you to invest your time and energy into lobbying your legislators for more progressive climate policies. In particular, current CA bills AB 285 (Pupil instruction: science requirements: climate change) and SB 253 (Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) require climate change to be taught in schools and mandate corporations with billiondollar revenues to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, respectively. Urge your elected officials to vote in favor of these measures by calling their offices to express your support, submitting a written comment, or meeting with their sta ff to voice your opinion.

Finally, it’s important to engage in advocacy and adopt our own sustainability practices, but let’s not forget to enjoy the earth — go out and hike mountains, chase sunsets, bask in the sounds of a redwood forest, or visit CA’s many state and national parks. By immersing ourselves in the wondrous world of nature that surrounds us, we gain more appreciation for it and thus, are more driven to preserve it through advocacy. ▪

By Chahak Gupta & Nessa Tong