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Senior Spotlight
Thursday, June 3, 2021
Somehow, we did it. We made it to the finish line after four years of constant trials and tribulation. Each one of us will leave a far different person than we came in. Take a moment and step back, look at everything you have accomplished in the last four years. It’s okay to get nostalgic. Surround yourself with pictures and memories of your favorite moments throughout the years. Sure we never get a proper prom or homecoming, but no other class can boast of spending their entire senior year in pajamas. We were put in a situation that no other class has had to face, and we adapted. And through the past year and a half, we didn’t falter once. We took the pandemic head on: shopping for senior citizens, creating makeshift masks and tutoring elementary and middle school kids who were falling behind because of the online circumstances. We advocated for ourselves, whether it was about national or local issues. The strength of this class is our ability to adapt. In a time of need, friends banded together to support one another in dealing with WiFi and power outages. Twice in our high school career we were forced to deal with fires raging around us, anxiously waiting to return to normal once the smoke cleared. And yet, our normal was everchanging, through different schedules, platforms and teachers. We got our first experience of life earlier than most, and we are stronger for that. We learned no matter what, the ability to adapt is key in not just surviving, but thriving. Because we thrived during the pandemic. As you go off into the world, remember that when facing change and adversity, you are most powerful.
To: The Senior Class From: The Epitaph Staff
Photo courtesy of Kaitlyn Chow
Photo courtesy of Jackie Khuong
Photo courtesy of Sahil Venkatesan Photo courtesy of Allen Zhang
Photo courtesy of Claire Chen
The business of baking
Caravan helps
Senior turns passion into business
Senior uses CS, business skills
By Allen Zhang
By Allen Zhang
If you ever stumble across the Instagram page @adelis_patisserie, you will see an assortment of gorgeous baked goods, ranging from carefully constructed hazelnut and almond tiramisu entremets to beautifully arranged pineapple, apple and rum deconstructed tarts. No, the account does not belong to a professional pastry chef, but rather Homestead’s very own Adele Basturk. Basturk, a senior, has been baking for as long as she can remember. “As a kid, I watched a lot of Food Network; that was my go-to entertainment,” Basturk said in a Zoom interview. “From that, I was most into the baking. I would [also] be watching ‘The Great British Baking Show’ or ‘Cupcake Wars’, and then I would try to imitate [them].” Basturk’s bakes began getting more
Come autumn, senior Raj Ragunext couple months, but we still need lan plans to continue working with to find investors and a bigger team to Caravan, a startup he helped comake it a full-on launch,” he said. found, instead of attending college Because of this, Ragulan chose to like many of his peers. take a gap year to continue to help “In the most basic sense, [Carathe company grow in his position van] is a company that is trying to do as the chief technical officer, which good for local businesses,” Ragulan means he helps develop and manage said in a Zoom interview. “Our whole the platform that hosts the sales. tagline is, ‘Caravan brings the prodAlthough they are just getting ucts to you.’” started, Ragulan said he has learned After noticing that people starta lot already from working at Caraed ignoring local businesses in favor van. of ordering products online from “The biggest thing is you need to multi-million corporations like Amaremember what you’re fighting for in zon during the pandemic, the founda lot of cases,” he said. “Even though ers of Caravan wanted to find a way it’s slowly painful and maybe it’s a to help local businesses compete hard task to do, it’ll be worth it in with them, Ragulan said. the end. It’s okay to fail, but you can’t The struggle of local busigive up. You have to learn nesses hit home for Ragulan, from your mistakes and get who said his friend’s family back up.” struggled with during the pandemic. “One of my friends [from] Danville was struggling a lot [because] his family business was doing really badly, and nobody was coming in to help them,” he said. Caravan helps by serving as a platform for local businesses to display their products and even helps them with shipping and delivery. “The great thing about Caravan is your sale goes directly to [local businesses] through our platform. We don’t take a dime of your money; your money goes straight to the local business,” Ragulan said. After being started in the spring of 2020, Caravan has helped facilitate over 4000 sales from about 25 local businesses during its prePhoto courtesy of Raj Ragulan launch phase, Ragulan said. ASSISTING LOCAL BUSINESSES: Caravan “Launch is coming up in the aims to help local businesses sell products.
complicated, starting off from the basics like cookies and cakes then moving on to harder techniques, she said. “I would always bake, [but] the failures never deterred me from trying again,” Basturk said. “Maybe like 10% of the things I would make when I Photo courtesy of Adele Basturk was a kid were good. There were some realway she likes it, she said. ly bad ones, but I kind of Basturk said she found just kept going with this a market selling the surdesire to create a desirable plus bakes, so about once product.” a week, she bakes a brandAfter submitting her new creation and sells the college applications, Basextras. turk said she suddenly While managing her found herself with a lot own business, Basturk of free time and turned to said she has learned many baking again. That’s when things that she wouldn’t she started experimenting have learned by baking with her most complicatalone. ed bakes yet, chock-full “Advertising and marof intricate layers and keting are personally outmouth-watering fillings. side my comfort zone be“The second I finished cause I tend not to bother my college apps, my brain people, but I definitely exploded in a say use it as a useful skill sense,” Basturk in business,” she said. “I said. “[Baking] was [also] learned how to effecthe one avenue tively present a product, where I felt like because I’ve noticed that a I could express good photo will often lead myself and be to better sales.” creative, and so I Basturk said she plans went crazy.” to continue selling her Basturk debaked creations over the scribes her cursummer. “I’ve had a great rent baking as time with this; I don’t re“over the top” and Photo courtesy of Adele Basturk member the last time I had ORANGE MACARON DELIGHT: having “as many this much fun with anySenior Adele Basturk makes unique components as thing,” she said. baked creations. possible.” That’s the
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