Stephen, 16

Stephen was all about the ride down hill.

Shirley had just joined wrestling her junior year and Stephen decided that inviting her for a bike ride would be a great way to start a forthcoming relationship. Yet he did not predict that the bicycle accident that had occurred that first day they went on a ride would lead to a series of perpetual bike-riding accidents.

Once they reached the top of the hill, Stephen sped down as fast as he could, achieving the excitement that downhill biking can bring you. But left straggling behind her to-be boyfriend was Shirley.

Stephen’s comfortable thrill ride down was interrupted with a “STEPHENN!” He was too far down to see what had happened, so he stopped where he was and ran back up, only to find that Shirley was stuck in a ditch with scrapes and bruises. The guilt that followed him from her fall was intensified once he found out that those scrapes were soon to become infected.

Despite the experience they had with biking this incident, Stephen invited Shirley for her first time mountain biking, where she again fell down to a painful collapse. This same incident reoccurred up to five more times, and yet even still the couple continues to go bike riding.

Life Observation: Though the incidents themselves do not affect Stephen in a profound manner, he laughs that he hurts Shirley “that way.” The fact that the same accident perpetually took place provides for a funny, while ironic, anecdote for Stephen to reflect back on in future years to come. Overall, it makes one think , what memories will be saved when thinking back to time at High School? What memories have been created with people?

Vinay, 17

Freshman year for the class of 2010 was not a thrilling year. In between losing the spirit competition and dealing with all new high school troubles, our premature minds were in no mood to look at the big picture. For Vinay, however, the best memories from his high school experience were rooted in the confusion that high school brought us.

As the class of 2010 student council president from the years 2006-2007, Vinay did not know what he was getting into. “I thought it would be fun in terms of spirit and planning different outings for the class, but later on I realized it was a lot more than that,” he said.

Despite the fact that high school flooded our freshman minds with an entirely new lifestyle, Vinay appreciated the struggle of learning the nuances of the upper school life with the rest of his class.

“I think throughout my experience as president I was able to probably meet everybody who I had not known before in my class and work with them on a some level, whether that be for a spirit rally or for a fundraiser. That was probably part of the reason that I can actually say I can relate to almost everybody in our class and I think that is just because I was able to connect to them through that position. That was one of the things I really liked during the role kind of looking back on it.”

It may not have been the most successful year for our class’ pride (what with reconstructing star wars themed homecoming booths), but for Vinay, “some of my best memories I have from high school are probably from freshman year, just based on how much fun I had working with people–a lot of it had to do with what I had to do in student council.”

Life Moral: Passion can heavily impact a person through his or her life. High school should be a time to explore different pursuits until that passion is found. Vinay found that drive in student council and said, “A lot of people do it for the title, just for being able to say that I did this, this, and this…I feel I got so much more out of it–that’s why I’ve consistently wanted to be on student council. I just think that probably shaped the way my personality is and shaped my goals and [plans]I have for the future.”

[No Post Today]

Due to some inconvenient circumstances regarding laptops, internet, and timings, I was unable to interview someone for today.

But do not be discouraged! I have a wisdom to share:

It is easier to to see the bad than good, but always more valuable see the good over the bad. Friends can be difficult to handle sometimes, but if you run away from them upon finding their flaws, then you’ll only remember them to be miserable people and will lose what could be valuable relationships. So when you say “OMG I hate that person for blah blah blah,” most probably that person has a lot of good in them too. The problem is that once you have  an impression of someone, it’s hard to break free from that. But do so. Otherwise you’ll end up bitter, lonely, and perpetually angry at everything by the time you hit 18.

Sanaz, 17

zealous a, (zls): intensely earnest; actively enthusiastic

The girls soccer team had a tradition this season. They would end each game and practice with a one-word cheer: [word], on the count of three: ready? one-two-three-[WORD]! But as the appointed cheer thinker-upper, Sanaz decided that the word she would use for the last game they played in the league really had to embody their soccer experience. Having to anyways sit out due to an injury, Sanaz literally was “thinking of it the entire game.” After such concentrated effort into finding  a word, Sanaz was extremely eager to share one. The game ended, and she ran up to the huddle:

“OK you guys, the word is zeeelous!”
“You mean zealous?” her teammate said, correcting her pronunciation in a vituperative manner.
Sanaz didn’t say anything, “I just kind of smiled to myself,” she said.

Life Lesson: In that moment of time, Sanaz held back her natural response to confront her teammate about it: “Usually I would get offended at things like that,” she said. Though the comment itself was rude, Sanaz said, “I couldn’t really be mad at her– I did say something wrong.” The incident made her realize that, “If I take myself too seriously, then I’ll never really learn anything.” And even beyond that, the acrid comment was just a reminder as to the non-sequential manner life seems to follow. “You learn new things in the most random of situations,” she said. “Like vocabulary on the soccer field.”

Hassaan, 15

As events and time pass by year after year, one idea that remains a constant is that of the Harker community. Yet as a student, it is easy to overlook the impact that the trite phrase embodies. For Hassaan, the effect is too prominent to disregard.

When the school heard of coach Olsen’s daughter Riley, the news heavily weighed upon the conscience of student’s minds. Athletes stepped up by hosting the “Run for Riley” event while the sophomore and senior classes took initiative by making 1,000 paper cranes. “We really embraced this,” Hassaan said. “He had a really hard time in his life, and [these initiatives] really embodied the Harker spirit.” On a lesser scale, this same form of spirit is reflected in friendships too. “I like to think I’m there for my friends,” Hassaan said.

Life Moral: “No matter all the hardships in the Harker community, we are all in it together,” Hassaan said. As one of the student council members sponsoring the paper crane folding event, he was constantly approached by people with a desire to help support the cause even more than they already had. “I have learned a lot from the way the Harker community interacts,” Hassaan said. “It’s the wonder of the Harker community.”

Anthony, 18

The Lions club promised to provide enough food for 3,000 homeless and hungry people, but arrived with 2 grocery bags for Thanksgiving, 2007.

At the regional training conference (RTC), Anthony attended a Thanksgiving dinner from which he will always recall a powerful anecdote that captured and reemphasized his passion for Key Club service.

A homeless shelter in half moon bay was guaranteed food for the Turkey drive  it was hosting that Thanksgiving. Though they were guaranteed enough food for 3,000 people, representatives of the Lion club came and left with two grocery bags. Key club members and Kiwanis, adult members of the same program, were called upon short notice to provide for the missing food. One can only imagine the last minute frantics when there was a line of homeless and hungry people leading out the door. The industrial sized refrigerators at the homeless shelter were filled only with ice to provide to the needy. Two U-haul vans eventually came packed with food enough to feed the quota and more.

A small girl pops her head in front of the truck. “You probably won’t remember this,” she said and she embraced the Kiwanis club district governor, Dan Connolly,  in a hug. “You don’t know how much this means to me.” He responded with the typical, “No problem at all,” and “Anything to help.” But it was not a typical situation. “You really don’t understand,” she said, “that this is the first time I’ve eaten in two weeks.”

Life Lesson: Anthony was truly inspired by this anecdote. He said that, “they can tell you they need help, but you will never know how severe their situation is.”

Pratusha, 18

Four years ago, Pratusha predicted that at this stage in her life she would have been accepted early to Harvard, arriving to prom in a limo, and enjoying a stress free second semester. But, “it’s definitely not the picture I envisioned,” she said. “Little did I know that everything would end up changing.”

It is the perpetual theme nowadays. Change in politics, in faces, in experiences. But change was a process for Pratusha. The 10 senior girls who she knew would be “static and stable in her life,” were not the only people she grew close to. She soon met 7 people of which 4 are junior boys to also share some of her life experiences with. People she marked as annoying and naive soon turned out to be the people she would end up sharing her high school experiences with. She can’t help but “laugh at those expectations” when reflecting on the past. “‘I’ve definitely broadened my horizons, and looking at me now, I guess a lot of things I expected for myself are different,” she said. “I built myself on what I wanted to be.”

Life Lesson: All these variables in her life have not made her focus on her past as much as they aid her in analyzing the future. “For me, it’s about accepting the unknown of the future,” she said. “Expectations will be destroyed and nothing will be the way it seems.”

Jeremiah, 15

Nothing can beat the feeling of biking down hill will three or four friends on your trail.

Despite the effort it took to battle gravity and bike uphill to the Malaysian restaurant, Jerry relished every minute of ride. “The best part of being this age right now is because almost every Saturday, me and three or four of my friends go biking around Cupertino,” he said.

If anything in high school has inspired him, it has been the time he spends with his friends. Truly taking the concept of “hanging out” to heart, Jerry savors every moment that passes at a friend’s house or eating Chinese food with them. “I really appreciate being with my friends because I probably won’t be able to do that when I’m older,” he said.

De Anza Blvd. has its own significance to Jerry and his friends. Eating froyo and watching Slumdog Millionaire each has a memory attached to it. And for the bike ride down hill- “It was green lights all the way,” he said.

Life Moral: If we don’t enjoy life now, we won’t enjoy life later. It’s easy to pass over spending time with friends in favor of studying for that big exam, but life speeds by faster than you think and your friends will soon turn into acquantinces and then into “people I went to high school with.” Truly being able to appreciate the moment is a treasure.

Ashish, 16

There was no point in competing when Ashish already knew that he had lost. But it was only after he gave his half-hearted speech that he realized the proximity he had to success at the elimination rounds.

Ashish had won five rounds and lost only two, making way for a strong start during the debate tournament at Berkeley this past February. His team, however, was headed to the elimination rounds with a lack of confidence. They had low speaker points and were clearly the underdogs during this elimination debate. The opposing team boasted award winning speakers to the opponents having won 1 more debate than them in preliminations, leaving Ashish doubtful about winning.

Having presented his speech, Ashish was able to persuade one of the three judges to vote for his team, yet the 2/3 majority against him led to his loss at the tournament. Yet, the loss itself was not as troubling as the news that followed. Had Ashish placed even the slightest bit more effort into his speech, he would have been able to win. After having won the entire tournament, the coach from that opposing team too admitted that the round between their team and Ashish’s team was the closest competition they had. “I could have easily won if I did a couple of things,” Ashish said.

Life Lesson: Overwhelmed with frustration, Ashish said, “I felt it was an instance when I could have pulled through. It was an easy opportunity for us to do well, but I messed it up.” He now realizes that he should not have predetermined the outcome of the debate. “I took the easy way out,” he said. He has learned to not rely on previous impressions of people and to approach each situation with confidence. Overall, he realized that it’s always better to  “step up to the challenge,” rather than assume defeat.

Kevin, 17

“Dude, David, he’s super man,” is all that Kevin could utter out when he heard the news.

Coach Deron Thorp was, “a different kind of coach.” He was the kind who would stay with you after practice and make sure you are feeling OK. He was the kind who would pull you aside if you were having a bad day just to talk about it. He was also the kind who would prefer to jog next to the bus to pump up the players for their big away game rather than sit on the bus and simply drive over to the enemy territory.

To Kevin, Coach Thorp was an inspiration. So it was no wonder that Kevin scoffed at his friend’s phone call a couple of nights after their last away game. It was a week later during Thorp’s funeral when it actually occured to Kevin that his inspiration was dead. “I don’t think I ever cried that much in my whole life,” Kevin said.

A month later Kevin looked through his old emails to find one from Coach Thorp, hailing him for his enthusiasm and effort during practice. It left Kevin saying,

“I miss him so much.”

Life Moral: Coach Thorp was able to relate to Kevin on a personal level and inspired him at every opportunity he could. Imagine how many people you can inspire too, or learn from people and gain insight from them.