Senior Issue

M AD

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/T HE P EN

SENIOR ISSUE

SENIOR W I L L S 2 0 2 1 The Pen Newspaper’s seniors give their final farewells to the 2020-2021 staff.

KAITLYN HO I, Kaitlyn Ho, will Hannah Corr a great editor experience and senior year. I loved being your editor this year and can’t wait to see what you do for newspaper next year. To Riley McAlpine, I will even better articles than you already write and hope that you continue to become an even better writer. To my seniors who are graduating this year and who have been with me since I started newspaper, I will the best of future experiences and opportunities. I love you all so much and will miss newspaper and the family that we’ve all become.

LINA KUGAYA I, Lina Kugaya, will for Makayla Lui great success leading The Business Team with her kind and diligent nature.

I will for Victoria Rhodes high accomplishments in the Leadership position specifically created for herself! I will the members of Leadership and The Business Team happiness and success in their future. They were always supportive and created some of the most impressive issues I’ve seen throughout my years in Journalism. Thank you everyone!

MADDIE YEH I, Maddie Yeh, will Shai Becker and Sakura Sasaki beautiful cover designs that catch everyone’s attention, a full graphics team that you can meet in person, and all the Procreate skills I know you already have. You are both incredible artists and I can’t wait to see what you create next year! To Caitlyn Lee and Keila Bara I will amazing issues and the most communicative staff and least stressful year possible. To Helen Huang I will widespread recognition of your line art talents and all the outfits that I will continue drawing with my highlighters. You are the best co I could have asked for and there’s no one else I would rather decipher graphic requests and discuss drawing feet with.

Thank you to JJ and everyone on staff–I wish I would have joined two years earlier but I’m grateful for all of the people I met and the memories I made while I was here. :)

HELEN HUANG I, Helen Huang, will Sakura Sasaki and Shai Becker a thousand fancy Procreate brushes, early graphic requests, new members to mentor and transparency files that always work. To Keila Bara and Caitlyn Lee, I will beautiful articles and layouts, easy exports and heartfelt emails from community members. To my partner in design Maddie Yeh, I will a lifetime’s supply of Muji pens and Mildliner highlighters, new sticker inspiration and a rad summer. To Fiona Yang and Fiona Andersons, I will a summer of relaxation and an incredible college journey. To Lina Kugaya, I will new Snapchat games for us to play together and infinite cute Chelsea photoshoots. To JJ, I will passionate writers and designers joining the newspaper family and a wonderful summer vacation. Thank you to everyone in The Pen for dedicating time and love into creating a publication that will forever touch the hearts of students and families in PV.

FIONA ANDERSONS I, Fiona Andersons, will Keila Bara and Caitlyn Lee sleep, good food, no reprints, lots of writers, the juiciest of articles, and miraculous breaks from your phone buzzing while leading the paper incredibly as I know you will. To the other half of Fiona squared, Fio, I will thee the ability to cut fruit, Among Us dubs, that u see a pink moon one day, endless anime to keep your expectations for *ahem, energy to walk to the Pen Plaza, a 5 on AP Lit, that you learn steel cut is the inferior oat, no future lawsuits from spiciness, the credits to graduate, and success living the ultimate city girl existence (please don’t die). To Keila Bara, I will thee sanity, being able to keep the font size 10, not setting ur hair on fire playing with flames, the energy of MGG and SS watching over you next year, sending messages in the right chat, joy watching every Wes Anderson film, and that you find everlasting happiness living in places based on astrocartography.

I can’t wait for all of us to own lots of cats, move to Europe and become the cool aunts, I appreciate you work wives more than words.

To the unreal Maddie and Helen, I will thee making graphics for the New York Times one day because y’all are just too talented, and will you all of my love, gratitude and admiration for carrying the paper. To Lina the ads queen, I will thee relaxation after not having to dash to Pen to pick up papers or find back covers. To Caitlyn, the CEO of layouts, I will that you keep your insane drawing skills and redeem leadership’s sketching ability. To Maddy, I will thee a British accent (even though you’re already such a hottie). To sweet Tilly, I will the all of my thanks for always promoting the paper and being the opinion column MVP. To Jeremy, I will thee good health and all the stress relievers out there smartie. To Kaitlyn, I will thee no PTSD about making new layouts. To Emma, I will thee a new computer and all of the K-pop the world has to offer. To JJ, the best multitasker, ultimate boss woman, and coolest teacher on this planet, I will thee success in putting Rylee to sleep, and all of my thanks for putting up with me in both programs, making H52 my home, and helping me become who I am today. To all of staff, I will you all of my pride in your ability to overcome all the odds this year and for making the newspaper such a unique and beautiful place. To The Pen, I will thee all my love for being my obsession and passion project these past few years, I will never forget you. See you again soon!

FIONA YANG I, Fiona Yang, will Keila Bara and Caitlyn Lee the strongest of caffeinated drinks to get them through senior year, because it won’t be easy. But in the time I’ve known both of them, I know that they’ll be fine, caffeine or not. To Keila, I will you on-time pasteup schedules, responsive staff members and wonderful editorial ideas to keep the fire going. I also will you a chance encounter with MGG one day in the future as you sip tea from your windowsill somewhere in Europe. To Caitlyn, I will you beautiful front cover ideas, a well-balanced school-life and everlasting appreciation and love for journalism (which I know you already have :)). For my co, Fiona, aka the second half of Fiona²—truly, you’re an enigma. As frazzled and exhausted as we both are literally every day on call (AP Stats anyone?), the fact that you can so purposefully crank out passion and editorials in one day never fails to amaze me. Although we have our differences, ranging from article topics to the way we make oatmeal, just know that I’m so grateful for your presence this year, as both a co-EIC and a friend. To Kaitlyn Ho, I will your Depop to go viral and make you bank to satisfy your shopping addiction. To Helen and Maddie, I will you possibly every single good thing in this world because truly, our newspaper would not have been this wonderful without support from your phenomenal graphics. To Maddy, I will you sunshine in your heart for the gloomy UK weather—they truly aren’t ready for you. To Tilly, I will you French lessons and more beautiful stories to tell, just like the ones you’ve given to our publication. And to everyone else, because this page isn’t enough to hold all of my sentiments—I will you courage and a love for life as you move forward, even if your first steps taken next year will not be at H52. You have all worked so incredibly hard, and each of your contributions are meaningful—our paper is proof of that. Even if you find yourself not doing journalism in the future, just remember that we (me and everyone in The Pen) will strive to support you as best as we can as a member of the family.

Last but not least, to JJ: I will you the strength to welcome us back in your black, rolling chair in H52 when school is back in-person.

I will you peaceful nights and cheerful days with Riley and your husband and wonderful, fresh faces to build up our H52 family once more. Thank you for the past 4 years, everyone.

TILLY SAFAVIAN I, Tilly Safavian, will Clara Reckhorn the headspace and inspiration to continue seeking ways to meet new humans and share their unique stories. Clara, I can’t wait to see you thrive senior year by continuing the tennis-opinion legacy! I am so proud of you. I will Maddy Christen three years in England brimming with self-discovery, travel and some cute London blokes. Maddy, your empathy, patience and genuine care for others is so admirable, and makes me feel certain that your next life chapter will be filled with genuine communities and lasting memories. I will Fiona Yang the motivation and courage to change the world one case at a time; I can’t wait to see it! Fiona, you are one of the most dedicated and persevering people I have ever had the privilege of knowing, and I am so grateful for our years of friendship through newspaper and Mock Trial (Tortellini forever). I will Fiona Andersons a summer full of more aesthetic Tik Toks and surf sessions. Fiona, I greatly appreciate your willingness to stay true to yourself, speak up for others and make the most out of life. I’ll miss you so much next year! I will Victoria Rhodes, Jami Galdones and Hannah Corr a confident, humble and altruistic spirit as you all step up as student leaders on campus next year, and continue to give back to our community in whichever ways you can. Lastly, I will JJ a beautiful life with Riley filled with smiles and contentment. JJ, you are an inspiration to so many, myself included, and I am incredibly grateful for everything you have given me over the past three years. Thank you The Pen for it all!

MADDY CHRISTEN I, Maddy Christen, will JJ for your continuous support and compassion towards me throughout my many ups and downs expressed inside and outside of the newspaper room. To Ana Willoughby, who was nothing less than a lasting mark in my life. I miss all of our little jokes and flirtatious comments towards one another, I truly felt an emptiness this year without you. To Casey Syal, I will your fashion sense, your many boy subjects, and many memorable trips to the bathrooms to sing, scream, and attend our duties. To my previous editors Fiona Andersons and Jacci Engler, will you both for not giving up on me even though my articles were questionable at times. With your guidance, my writing style and skill were drastically improved. To my child Keila Bara, will your energy and sense of sophistication and intelligence. My child, you are going places. To Fiona Yang, will the many instances of you nearly in tears of laughter from discussion in the room or over Teams. I will your many talents and abilities, enabling you to achieve greatness. To Tilly Safavian, will your dedication to the program on top of the many activities you have in addition to Newspaper. I still am fathomed by how you were doing all of it. I will Clara Reckhorn to continue the Opinion Section to the best of her abilities, creating a voice for not only the Pen Newspaper, but leading others to express their own individual voice. Thank you to H52 for withstanding me for the past two years. You will be dearly missed.

AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY Weston Bragg

BIOLA UNIVERSITY Nicolette Fernandez

CALIFORNIA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY Delaney Meyer

CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Aksh Garg

CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY Ryan Kramer

CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY-POMONA Ashley Berger Daniella Giron Theodore Ige Anju Leach Dylan Michalak Dean Watanabe

CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY-SAN LUIS OBISPO Emma Brenizer Kelsie Burruss Ella Captain Christopher Hata Jake Ide Marcus Kim Benjamin Lappinga James Porter Ryan Wang Ashley Ward

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, CHICO Jackson Rados

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, DOMINGUEZ HILLS Case Gabelich Joseph Skoblar

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO Joseph Berlin

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FULLERTON Ryan Flores Azul Lin Luke Makishima Nina Nguyen

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH Brenna Bobich Kosei Chetanna Kathryn Chiu Christina Kim Carter Murray

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, MARITIME ACADEMY Luka Bilaver

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, MONTEREY BAY Julia Wagner Shanna Ziobro

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Sofia Therese Ang Paris Blankenship

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO Evan Endo

CERRITOS COLLEGE Rory Howard

CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY Jack Fischer Jeannie-Rose Men-Martin

CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE Caleb Chang

EL CAMINO COLLEGE Esteban Aguirre Gonzalez Cassandra Bautista Dean Branger Timothy Chan Daniel David Annelise Espinoza Christina Naya

Michael Prenger Liam Sellahewa Ryan Sung Christian Ziobro

EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY Ethan Barsky

LA SIERRA UNIVERSITY Reagan Ezpeleta

LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE Sharon Celine Iporac Ryan Rapoza Dylan Seiter

LOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE Alexandria Standart

LOS ANGELES HARBOR COLLEGE Madison Maltz

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY Aren Aune Eric Hwang Brandon Mar Saqib Rawda Collin Wolf

OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE Sofia Lauro

PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY Keala Kato

POINT LOMA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY Katelyn Lem Cole Marr Tobias Wakefield Carl

SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY Francesca Genato

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY Aidan Armstrong

SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY Kody Lee Joshua Leung Jacob LuVisi

SANTA MONICA COLLEGE Kyra Cvitanich

SCRIPPS COLLEGE Melina Durre Allison Kwon Lauren Mar

STANFORD UNIVERSITY Ian Miller Danny Park

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

Amy Asher Mondonna Ashraf Andrew Blair Jamie Chiu Sooyun Cho Jackson Frankwick Elana Ho Rachel Hong Makenna Leung

CLASS OF 2021

HELEN HUANG / THE PEN

SENIOR DESTINATIONS Manke Luo Victoria Oginski Drew Shinozaki Michelle Tombu Nathan Wang Jolie Witkowski Joel Yamada Madison Yeh

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

Ali Abdelnaby Jade Chi Sarah Dawes Miya Kaiser Kia Kiasatpour David Kwon Alexandra Nho Layne Oschman Samantha Schmidt Kenna Takamiya

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Kurtis Chan Ryan Eurich Landon Fujimoto Sara Hansen Cassidy Hooks Hee Jean Kwon Justin Lin Thomas Liu Makua Nweke Caroline Rivera Kareem Shaheen Arthur Sigsbury Daniel Song

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES Sidney Campbell Ronjini Chatterjee Lauren Cho Nicholas Chu Nicholas Constantino Michelle Jeong Skylar Lo Ewan Macfarlane Arisa Matsuzaki Sarah O’Malley Peyton Ott Nahla Quazi Lauren Whang Jillian Yamada Brianna Yi

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED

Jamie Au Helen Huang Chaebin Lee Nicholas Liang Nima Pourafzal Ethan Shen Zhiyu Wu Tina Yu

Fiona Andersons Emilee Casey Connor Gorsuch Ava Jensen Daniel Kent Kaitlin Lee Owen Park Rosstin Safavian Allison Spiegel Samantha Su Tatiana Tabazadeh Christopher Wang

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ Alicja Dzikowski

UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO Emily Nguyen

UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO Erika Baumgartner Kelsey Lee

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Paulina Garmute Kelsie Groenleer Amy Huang Tara Labisi Maya Masaoka Melissa Qin Amanda Roberts Andrew Sinsioco Qiantong Wu Fiona Yang Grant Zane

UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC Youngseo Kim

Steven Reveche Cristina Valeri

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE Michael Abudy Valentina Cutri Prema Parks Varun Pradhan Yashu Sun

*299 of the 583 students from the Class of 2021 agreed to be included in this map*

BARNARD COLLEGE Alyson Yook

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Alexis Soriano

CORNELL Erin Suhr UNIVERSITY Jacob Thomas

Phoebe An Jianting Wu Gabrielle Pack RENSSELAER

UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY WEST POINT

SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE Katin Sarner

Jessica Ho

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF Roxana Berentes ROCHESTER

POLYTECHNIC Kai Francis INSTITUTE Julia Kahen

BRYN MAWR COLLEGE

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE PARK

Kaitlyn Ho

VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY Riley Giffin Katharine Lewis

YiFan Shi

FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE

Emma Rioux

Ivan Victoroff

Yuyao Huang

BOWDOIN COLLEGE

Jeff Lee

BERKLEE COLLEGE NORTHEASTERN WELLESLEY UNIVERSITY OF MUSIC Andrew Blair Kylie Young COLLEGE Ananya Chaudhari Juliana Mytko BOSTON Annika Daniel UNIVERSITY Jiwoo Yoon

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY

Sophia Daniel Jason London Julia Osborne Gabrielle Sampras Ema Straser

Brian Hulbert Aidan Kaneshiro Amanda Steigh

Bryce Hiraoka Yangxiaoya Wan

Julia Kate Bradley

STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Eli Somers

Nolan Rand

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY Tenley Shepard

ARIZONA STATE GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY

Elle Babich Ryan Glover Connor Krock

Cara Tao

Aaliyah Davis

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY Daniel Ansarah Julia Gazdik Noah Hecker

Riley Matsuda

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA Emma Persson Graham Stalker Brandon Weiner

INDIANA UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON Jake LaBreche Nikhil Shah

INDIANA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Tayvahr Wright

PURDUE UNIVERSITY

J. Calvin Kim

Samuel Ahrens Stetson Martz Erin Nimick Sean Peters

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

PACIFIC UNIVERSITY

Julia Abele

Lauren Sams

Eric Brust Carson Burrage

Ethan Wang

Emma Hashimoto Brian Hung Greyson Leach Olivia McKissock

Aidan Flynn Caroline Horn Aidan Musgrave

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, FORT COLLINS

Sean Bythewood

Ethan Nicolls

Payton Esposito

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT MANOA Charlotte Edler Jonathan Nakagama Jacob Wong

COLLEGE OF WOOSTER

Colton Beaudoin

CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY Joseph Rhodes

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER Tyler Thymes

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA, CHAMPAIGN

NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Devin Gilbertson

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON

Jocelyn Moreno

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, COLORADO SPRINGS

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY KNOX COLLEGE Shoichiro Ogura CHICAGO Tiffany Cha UNIVERSITY OF DEPAUL UNIVERSITY CHICAGO Taliesa Fortis

DUKE WAKE UNIVERSITY FOREST Alexandra Chi UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON Rachel Meyerhoff

UNIVERSITY OF Alexis Ferguson Megan Hwang MICHIGAN Lauren Billnitzer Ryan Cardinali Lauren Donatoni

JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY

Christin Lee Julianna Panetta Braden Patterson Nicole Siembieda

UNIVERSITY OF Kaixuan Yang WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Thy Do STATE Brandon Iseri UNIVERSITY Francesca Malit Nanako Tanisaka

Mackenzie Peyton

UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH Madeline Christen

Allyson Harder

TULANE UNIVERSITY YALE UNIVERSITY Jason Apostol

EMORY UNIVERSITY Yuqing Cao

Felicia Huang Kylie McLoughlin

WASEDA UNIVERSITY Airi Sakamoto

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY Nicholas Hama

Dear Class of 2020-2021, When we took our first step on campus in freshman year, we never expected to be exiting that same campus only two and a half years later.

Last spring, the tides turned with simply no warning. With one eventful email on March 13, everything we once knew about school, friendships, relationships and our aspirations were swept aside in the blink of an eye.

We spent last spring braving the seas; classes managed to get by using the platform Zoom and Microsoft Teams to stream lessons and have some form of human contact. Little by little, though, text messages, emails, and Microsoft Teams chats slowly replaced paper and pen, and cameras on during classes became some of the only reminders that others existed outside of the microcosm of our rooms. Undeniably, coronavirus (COVID-19) left no life untouched. Yet, in this moment, we find it appropriate to commemorate and remember the unprecedented hardships and struggles that the class of 2021 braved.

We may have had our “practice” as juniors, but we are not sure anyone ever truly mastered the art of online learning.

Nor did anyone know how global events would begin to develop, as the entire world experienced the shutdown of small businesses, witnessed or endured grave health circumstances, felt the fear surrounding the rise in hate crimes and discrimination, noticed a decline in mental health, and struggled with any number of personal circumstances.

This past year has been sobering, to say the least. We have been told that 17 and 18 are the years when we are

supposed to embrace the spring of youth and live our lives to the fullest. Instead, we were forcibly thrust into the harsh realities of our circumstances and society’s injustices.

Taking responsibility—it is a phrase that we have learned is far more easily said than done. However, no matter how these events challenged us in indescribable ways, sailing into uncharted territories together allowed us to understand empathy in a far more intense and meaningful light.

By feeling for others around us and establishing deep ties within our community, this class experiences a bond entirely unique to our high school career and its finale. We may not have gone to Disneyworld, or traveled to Europe. We did not watch football or attend all the school dances, have a true senior sunrise or play Wanted.

We may not have even left our beds for class some mornings. However, none of us have been alone in that. We share in pain, yet also share in hope in a way that no other high school class will ever fully understand. Though not in the way we imagined, developing this connection has given us the ability to create a senior year where none thought it existed. We anticipated planned events with conviction, dreamed of future plans with an open mind, but most importantly, focused on allowing even the smallest of present moments to make the biggest splash. Capturing photos for senior walls and memory boards, making special playlists or meeting at school to watch a movie may seem mundane

in nature, but we found that sometimes, simpler moments are those we unexpectedly cling to the most.

Like the tide recedes and returns each night, we continue to get back up and overcome our obstacles. This year may have been one of the lowest tides we have ever experienced, but we must always remember how the tides rise again in the light of the sun. Seniors, we have been raised to believe in “delayed gratification”—that our last year in Peninsula was supposed to be our best, so the suffering and difficulties we have experienced in the past three years would be redeemed. COVID-19 may have taken away that traditional high school senior experience initially promised to us, but we still persisted, and most importantly, we learned. We know now to not look forward into the future so often that we miss the present right before our eyes. We know now to cherish the people in our lives and empathize with others.

We know now to make the most out of even the darkest situations before us. Our senior year was nothing short of unconventional and arduous, yet here we are today, ready to wave our last goodbyes; only this time, we will not be looking down in despair— we will be searching for the horizon, ready to make waves in the present and the future.

With Love, Fiona Yang & Fiona Andersons