The Bridge Brothers: Brandon and Kayden Ge

RACHEL FARHOUDI Staff Writer

Place yourself at a table in a foreign country, and try to sit there for three hours as you navigate one of the most challenging card games. Pinewood brothers Kayden (eighth grade) and Brandon Ge (eleventh grade) do this every year as they compete in international Bridge competitions.

The brothers started playing bridge with their father, who learned in college and got their whole family involved. They also attended a pizza party when they were younger at their youth organization where they met other players their age. That inspired them to pursue the passion and compete on a more serious level. Their commitment takes rigorous practice.

“Because we are so competitive, we train most weekends with our teammates and juniors,” Kayden said.

“We met a bunch of friends [through playing] Bridge as it is a pretty social game,” Brandon said. “Also, winning competitions and doing well is very satisfying.”

Now, the pair follows a regular competition schedule. They go from sectionals to regionals, and then to nationals in the summer.

It is no secret that bridge is one of the trickiest games out there, but the two say it takes much more than a strong understanding of the rules to beat an opponent.

“You need to be able to remember what happens throughout the hand,” Brandon said.

“You have to have a good understanding of probability so you know what are the chances of this or that happening,” Brandon said. “Another important skill is the mindset. You have to stay patient and not get frustrated or nervous. Tilting is what they call it.”

The two have found a real dedication to the game and plan to continue it beyond high school.

“It feels really good to win and it’s also a really fun experience,” Kayden said.

This past year, the pair went to Italy, where Kayden earned a silver medal in the group round. Planted around that table, they battled it out just as they had learned to do.

Myles Fox: Why We Celebrate Black History Month

MYLES FOX Staff Photographer

In the moment, my hands were clenched together. The swelling tears in my eyes turned my vision into a kaleidoscope of blurred motion. Quickly, I shut my eyes. I buried myself deep in the confines of my mind. When my eyes opened, I saw the crescent marks of my fingernails ingrained in the palms of my hands. Calling the attention of the teacher, I asked to be excused. From the cold metal seat in my third grade classroom, I ran. Straight to the bathroom, I ran as fast as I could as my palms became damp from wiping the tears off my face.

As a child, it was hard to hear about slavery. Everytime I looked in the mirror, I could only see the sheer terror that fell across my face when I thought of the history I held within me. Slaves beaten! Whipped! Stripped of their humanity, all because of the color of their skin.

When I looked down at my hands, I wondered. I wondered if we, as a people, would forever bear the chains that our ancestors once had to on the slave ships to the Americas. In a day and age where our freedoms as people are still withheld from us, we use Black History Month to remind us of how far we have come and the work still left to be done.

During Black History Month, we are able to rejoice in the examples of Black excellence present in today’s society. Black achievements have been made across all different areas in America, from politics, to entrepreneurship, to sports, and more. We as African Ameri- cans have not only worked to be included in society’s achievements, but also to be recognized as leaders in our respective fields. For example, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, is a world-renowned African American astrophysicist. When looking at the Greatest of All Time, names like Tiger Woods, Serena Williams and Michael Jordan often come up. Even recent Black history is still being made with actress Viola Davis winning a Grammy, earning her one of the most esteemed titles in the performance industry with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony: The EGOT. During Black History Month, we, as a people, have a chance to be recognized for our great influence and accomplishment in American culture.

Unfortunately, in the U.S. and in schools, our history is often portrayed as one-sided with the most prominent subject being oppression. From slavery to Jim Crow, our past seems one-dimensional, and, at first glance, the depth of our culture might go unnoticed. There are numerous examples of our culture present in today’s society, starting with the birth of hip-hop culture, an expression of the day-to-day African American experience through music. From the food we make, to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities that take center stage in Black excellence in education, Black culture stays present in society. With the media and the world around us portraying the horrors of being Black, our beauties and strengths can often find themselves overshadowed by the thick tear gas released on protesters labeled as violent and extreme on our televisions.

Black History Month is also a way to keep our history and culture alive, so that it is not drowned out by the media portrayal of African Americans. Granted, a part of why we celebrate Black History Month is ugly. The necessity for change in our country is grave. The violence that crosses your late night TV is a reflection of the pain and suffering of a history that has more often than not hindered us rather than encouraged us.

But we must not let our mark on history fade. People like Madam C.J. Walker, a former slave and the first Black woman to be a millionaire, are significant in our cultural story. As Pinewood juniors, we read “The Right Stuff,” a book about launching the first manned spaceship, and its pilot, Al Shepard, to space. Unfortunately, we do not read about the first manned orbit in space, which envolved three key mathematicians required to calculate the trajectory of the aircrafts, Katherine Johnson, Dorthy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, all Black women. This is the history that is celebrated in Black History Month, the greatness that has been a part of our identities for generations.

The most important thing about Black History Month is that it is a movement of people who are determined to overcome odds. From obtaining the right to vote, to diversifying governments and earning equal opportunity in the workplace, we have come so far in our fight for equality. Our true strength is shown not through the pain we have suffered, but through the strength that it took to overcome past barriers and the current ones ahead.

Hungarian Basketball Transfer Betti Hamori Adapts to California and Pinewood’s Environment

MAILEY WANG Staff Writer

Imagine leaving your family and what you call home at 16, coming to the U.S. alone, and going to a brandnew school. Junior Betti Hamori has done exactly that.

Hamori a 6-foot-1 basketball player from Hungary, was recruited by the Pinewood basketball coaches. In Hungary, Hamori played basketball on her school team with just boys for two years before she got recruited on the second best girls team in Hungary.

“[Playing with boys] gave me a lot of energy to play more aggressively because they said you are just a girl. . . and then I started scoring a lot,” Hamori said. “. . . I just wanted to show them that even if you’re a girl, you can play as hard as a boy.”

Leaving her home country was a tough decision, but she decided to come to the U.S. for the opportunities in basketball and in her studies in English.

“[Coming to the US] was a big step. . . I was 16, and I was alone,” Hamori said.

She was not alone for long, though, as she was wel- comed to the Pinewood community and made friends easily. While she miss- es her parents and in Hungary, she in the U.S.: the wanted sisters, four,” Hamori amazing and ing me with

With the Ellis family, Hamori has traveled across the U.S. in the past few months. She went to Los Angeles and Disneyland, and they plan on going to New York this summer. Traveling really opened Hamori’s eye to the rest of the world. In June, Hamori will go back to Hungary to see her family; she will be back in August to continue high school as a senior at Pinewood.

In the beginning, playing basketball for a new team was difficult for Hamori because basketball is played differently between the two countries. “[The girls on the Pinewood team] are playing [basketball] so much faster,’ Hamori said. “The form [is different], and everyone is shooting a lot of threes. . . In Hungary we had more slow plays. . . But it was easy [to adapt] because everyone was so nice.”

Although Hamori cannot play varsity basketball for one year due to transfer policies, she is grateful to be able to practice with and cheer on the team.

“I’m just looking forward to next year,” Hamori said.