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      Musical Mad Libs

      Paolo Dimacali, Reporter
      April 12, 2019

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      Paolo Dimacali, Reporter

      Paolo Miguel Dimacali is currently a junior in his first year of journalism. Paolo loves all food, with freshly baked cookies being his favorite smell....

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      Aquila Magazine Vol. IX, Issue II
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      Senior Charlene Pham started sewing in middle scho Senior Charlene Pham started sewing in middle school because she wanted to make her own plushies, which are soft stuffed toys. When she could not make a plushy to her liking, she decided to try sewing actual clothes instead. “I enjoy sewing because I’m kind of stressed and feeling down all the time,” Pham said, “so sewing and all the planning and thinking that goes with it helps distract me.” Pham is self-taught, learning most of her skills from YouTube videos and through trial and error. She sometimes will not sew for months at a time if she gets frustrated with a project. “When I make something that turns out decent, I really like the feeling of accomplishing something all on my own,” Pham said. Pham hopes to make plushies again in the future. She currently has 15 plushies in her collection and has always loved stuffed animals. First photo: Pham’s most recent sewing project is a skirt she made from scratch. Second photo: Pham’s favorite plushy in her collection. Reporting by Jenna Plasschaert. Photos courtesy of Charlene Pham.
      Every day that passes not only represents the inev Every day that passes not only represents the inevitable end of the school year, but the eventual beginning of a new stage for every senior: life after graduation. For one UPA tradition, the senior countdown, each of the 95 seniors is assigned a number and creates a poster to represent how many days, excluding weekends and breaks, are left until their graduation. The assignment is given in Senior Seminar and can be done individually or in pairs. The first poster posted on Feb. 1 depicted the number 78, representing the 78 days left until graduation. Before the outbreak of COVID-19 and ensuing quarantine, these posters were hung up on a wall up the stairs in the Learning Center. Now they can be seen posted on Schoology by Senior Seminar adviser and math teacher Esther Chen and on ASB’s Instagram, @upa.asb. “I had a lot of fun making the poster,” Anneke Nijmeijer, whose number in the countdown is two, said. “The inspiration behind it was that I really wanted to say ‘peace out’ to high school.” Photo: The artwork above is by Annalisa Kim (12). Her number in the countdown was 59, so she drew characters Tanjiro and Nezuko from the hit anime and manga series “Demon Slayer” in between the five and nine. Reporting by Christian Tucker-Allen. Photo courtesy of Annalisa Kim.
      Many shifted from takeout food to home-cooked meal Many shifted from takeout food to home-cooked meals as a result of the pandemic starting in March 2020. According to the Food Industry Association, the average amount of money people spent in grocery stores in an eight-month period prior to the pandemic was spent in one month with the onset of COVID-19. A wave of people rushed to buy toilet paper, rice, sugar, water, gloves, hand sanitizer and masks. The shortage of products like rice caused science teacher Vivien Chern to wonder what she was going to eat with her food. When grocery shopping now, Chern is cautious not to touch too many items in the store. “I don’t want to touch the cart, so I just use a reusable bag,” Chern said. “That way I don’t have to touch anything besides the items that I want. I just put them in my bag and go to self-checkout because I don’t want people touching my stuff.” Photo: Costco has self-checkout kiosks for anyone who prefers to check out their items themselves. There are also workers nearby to help if there is any trouble. Reporting and photo by Shayna Tran.
      A timeline of the year in quarantine: March 13, 20 A timeline of the year in quarantine: March 13, 2020 to March 15, 2021. Click the link in our bio to look at the timeline. Reporting by Julia Wong. Design by Abhishek Mynam.
      Senior Kenneth Luong is a teacher assistant at Vă Senior Kenneth Luong is a teacher assistant at Văn Lang, a Vietnamese school in San Jose, who helps students to learn Vietnamese culture, such as language, history and mythology. After being part of the program himself since kindergarten, Luong graduated to become an assistant during his sophomore year, tutoring 20 to 25 elementary school students. “I really enjoy the experience of going back and connecting with other people, and becoming culturally immersed in my Vietnamese heritage,” he said. Vietnamese culture is a large part of Luong’s life, as he enjoys teaching and sharing it with other students. “[Teaching the Vietnamese language] has helped me to connect with the younger kids in my generation, and to practice the language so I don’t lose it,” he said. Throughout his time as a teacher’s assistant, Luong has developed a greater appreciation for teachers, especially during the pandemic. “Teaching online has been eye-opening...I feel like I didn’t understand the pressure and how difficult it is for other teachers to teach virtually as well,” he said. “The amount of care teachers put into their lessons is underappreciated.” Photo: Kenneth Luong poses for a photo at Martial Cottle park on March 11, 2021 Reporting by Tyler Yuen. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Luong.
      (2/2) In 2017, Pettit assigned her Math, English a (2/2) In 2017, Pettit assigned her Math, English and Seminar 8 students to write a letter to their future senior selves and planned to give them their letters at graduation, but she decided to hand out the letters during the Senior Fiesta since the event was more casual and social. “At the time, [my family and I] were moving to a new house and before we moved, we did a time capsule at our old house, so I thought the letters would be fun to capture a moment in time for the students like a time capsule,” Pettit said. When Evelyn Lopez-Perez (12) received her letter, she was confused as she had forgotten about the letter. Once she opened the envelope and read her letter, she was on the verge of tears. “I remember being at such a low point during that specific grade, so reading what I wrote and how far I’ve come made me emotional,” Lopez-Perez said. “I’ve grown a lot as a person, and I didn’t really ever think that senior year would come so fast since it just seemed like a blur at the time, but now we’re here and it's real.” First photo: Lopez-Perez (center) expresses her gratitude for Pettit (left) after reading the letter she wrote to herself in eighth grade. Second photo: Julia Khinno (12) picks up her box of tacos from the truck. Reporting and photos by Chelsea Nguyen.
      (1/2) While the Class of 2021’s senior year has (1/2) While the Class of 2021’s senior year has been virtual, the Senior Fiesta on March 19 gave seniors a day to meet with their friends and classmates after a year of distance learning. The seniors were divided into two time slots, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., which they signed up for two weeks prior during seminar. At the Senior Fiesta, seniors picked up their senior shirts, caught up with classmates they had not seen in person in over a year and munched on tacos from Fish Taco Wabo’s food truck and baked treats from Zuleika Cruz (12). Music played as teachers dropped by to greet the seniors in person and chat with students they previously taught. Math teacher Liz Pettit surprised the seniors with letters from their eighth grade selves, which she had kept for the past four years. First photo: Niko Rajani (12) and Zuleika Cruz (12) enjoy their tacos after catching up with friends. Second photo: From left to right: Economics teacher Katherine Poltorak talks to Rajani and Cruz about her 2-month-old daughter, Quinn Poltorak. Reporting and photos by Chelsea Nguyen.
      As March 2021 marks a year in quarantine, students As March 2021 marks a year in quarantine, students reminisce about pandemic life and anticipate going back to school in person. Although some are content with continuing distance learning, others wish to resume in-person learning. Allison Charbonnet (11) is one of these people. “I just feel really disconnected [in distance learning],” Charbonnet said. “It’s harder to get help. It’s harder to stay focused in class. At home, everything’s more casual. You don't have the same motivation that you do in school.” Allison Huang (10) misses the in-person interactions with teachers and friends. “I do go to office hours to talk to [teachers], not necessarily just about schoolwork,” Huang said, describing how she deals with the isolation of quarantine. “I also call my friends at least once a week to maintain those kinds of social interactions.” Photo: Allison Charbonnet works on her homework during distance learning in this photo illustration. Reporting by Amanda Reboredo. Photo courtesy of Allison Charbonnet.
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      The Student News Site of University Preparatory Academy
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