Category: Opinions

By Sean Tseng

The second hand moves far too fast.  Time slips away with every blink, and your hands hover, trembling, over the keyboard.  The bold words stare at you at the top of your near-empty page: UC Personal Insight Questions.

These are the horror stories that strike a little too close to home.  But Halloween’s over, and the time to frantically finish UC applications is here!  As the November 30 deadline approaches fast, students are struggling with one of the most daunting parts of the application.

As senior Tina Tran explains, “A challenge of the new personal insight question format is just actually being the first pool of applicants to be using it.  Since we’re the first ones to use it, we don’t really have samples to look at.”

Now that applicants must respond to four of the eight prompts provided on the UC website, some students are scrambling to figure out what colleges are looking for.  Some assume that the old samples which use the previous format are no longer any help as guides.  However, some fundamental tips still apply to this new personal statement format.  Whether you’ve finished your drafts or haven’t even started, be sure to check off these important steps:

Choose your prompts wisely.  With this new system, you get four chances to present yourself in a favorable way.  Think very carefully about the prompts you choose.  You can have several different approaches to choosing prompts.  A person with a wide variety of deep and insightful experiences may want to pick prompts that show a different side of him or her at a time, while someone who is truly passionate about one particular subject may want to choose prompts that all have a single overlap on their passion.  Whatever the reasoning may be, make sure you have a reasoning behind the four prompts you choose.

Brainstorm and decide your topics wisely.  The simplest yet most critical element of a good personal statement is an apt topic, one that not only answers the prompt, but also reveals significant character in the writer.  One good way to brainstorm is to work backwards from the prompt.  After you’ve chosen your four prompts, break each of them down until you know what each prompt essentially seeks to understand about you.  Then, brainstorm possible essay ideas that you can fit into this prompt.  You may also want to think about what angle you want to take on your particular topic.  How can you structure your essay to tell a compelling story?  What conclusions do you want your admissions officer to draw by the end of your essay?

Be specific!  A general essay adds nothing to your application.  In fact, it likely may even detract from it.  Admissions officers go through thousands of essays, and if yours isn’t specific enough for them to get a good grasp of who you are, they won’t remember you as an applicant.  Depth, not breadth!

Talk about YOU.  Too often, personal statements read like a summary of a book.  The actual significant insight might come only fleetingly in the last couple of paragraphs.  Don’t forget that this essay must show who you are.  Colleges want students with personality and character on their campus.  Don’t shortchange the personal introspection for a laundry list of what you’ve accomplished.  Talk about what you’ve learned, how you’ve grown.  Describe the impact an event had on you.

Edit, edit, edit.  After you finish your first draft, let it sit for a day or two.  Detach yourself, get your mind off the essay so that when you go back to edit it, you can see it through fresh eyes.  Read it critically.  Edit at least three times.  Check once for technical errors like spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  Then read through again for the content.  Make sure everything you want to say is there.  Lastly, edit for stylistic details.  Try to make your writing concise, and make sure the tone of your writing fits your topic.  As a final filter, ask people proficient in writing to read over your work.  Tell them to read it as an admissions officer might, and when they finish, ask them if they came to the conclusions you wanted them to.

At the end of the day, as long as your essay is a good representation of who you are and who you want to be, you will succeed.  Comparing your essay to someone else’s will not be helpful, as everyone will have a slightly different perspective.  Just be sure your work does justice to your own character.

One thing is for sure–if you were planning on procrastinating until the last minute, don’t.  As former admissions officer Breanne Tcheng advises, “Start NOW!  Begin writing and edit later.  Start writing well before the deadline!”  You can’t polish up your work if you have nothing on the page!

 

By Sommer Fowler (Special Columnist)

Officially, there are about 70 clubs that exist on campus. Each club has at least one advisor, assigned meeting space and president. There is not a single weekday without multiple club meetings happening during lunch. Club officers harass their innocent Facebook friends to attend copious fundraising events at just about every possible teenager-approved eatery. Clubs at PHHS manifest student lives, but with so many available the line between valid and illegitimate blurs.

Becoming an official ASB club entails finding a willing teacher to assume the role of club advisor and donate classroom space for meetings—at least twice a month—yet only requires ten members and four officers. This allows a small group of friends to occupy a teacher’s precious time, preventing students from approaching their teacher for help. Although club advisors are not required to participate in club meetings, it is rather difficult to consult a teacher about an essay while chirpy officers are grabbing for their members’ attention and bellowing out announcements.

With such a low required count of members, a student can easily become president of their own club then do the bare minimum to maintain official status; most club officers are only looking for a shiny title to write on college applications. After the officers graduate PHHS, the club descends to the cemetery of forgotten causes. If the requirements for official clubs were tightened, it is doubtful every prospective club president would be passionate enough about their club to pursue ASB status still.

Many clubs are twins. They are nearly identical, but just different enough to distinguish after a close inspection. As a result freshmen filter potential clubs, especially with the abundance of similar community service clubs, through criteria more often than not unrelated to the club.

This is not to say PHHS should rid itself of all clubs. They are a vital component of student life and bolster friendships that a classroom never could. That being said, perhaps potential clubs seeking ASB status should be looked at more critically than in the past. Those looking to share a hobby may wish to consider gathering outside of school hours, on their own time. These conditions are suggested not to discredit smaller clubs, but rather strengthen genuine clubs that wish to positively impact PHHS.

By Sommer Fowler (Guest Writer)

The first Friday of the school year I was stopped by an administrator and told my skirt was too short. It was the first time I had been stopped for a dress violation in my life. I wasn’t upset, I actually thought it was a misunderstanding. I checked this outfit last night. It’s fingertip length. It has to be. I made sure. I can’t get in trouble for this, I never get in trouble.

I was calm. I apologetically told her I thought the rule was fingertip length. My arm shot down my side for proof. Sure enough, I could feel the fabric of my dress underneath the tips of my fingers. She took a quick glance at my arm and told me maybe my arms are too short, or something. Huh? Words became a jumbled mess of anger and embarrassment as I heard fellow students whispering in the background. Out of pure shock, I apologized and continued to get lunch– an act I would regret immediately after.

Yeah, I do have short arms. Like the rest of my body! I’m 5’2”! The rest of lunch was spent in an angry mumble and ranting to anyone who would listen. Concentrating in class for the remainder of my day was impossible. After sixth period, I visited the office wearing the cursed outfit to check with a different administrator if I was scandalously breaking any rules. I was incredibly relieved to be assured I wasn’t—and even happier to be talked to, not talked down to.

My anger and embarrassment turned into resent. Fingertip length applies to everyone, not just those who the school sees fit. I was humiliated in a crowded space because someone did not respect guidelines, even when I did. Since the incident, I’ve paid close attention to the dress code, and unfortunately received mixed messages.

Being a TA meant I had the privilege of hearing two talks regarding basic school rules in the first month of school. In the first speech, supervisors explained the dress code almost identically to the previous three years’ rules, but one point stood out. They told us to dress in clothing acceptable to a workplace. How would we feel if teachers came to work in inappropriate dress?

Would I turn away in disgust if a teacher stood in front of me exposing her sensual shoulders? No, because I recognize that someone’s clothing, as long as I can’t see beach-worthy amounts of skin, is their choice.

During my second presentation of the same information, a supervisor alerted students that teachers are not withheld to the same dress guidelines as students. Wasn’t I just told yesterday that it’s inappropriate for teachers to dress how they’d like? It seems that PHHS believes if a boy, or even worse, teacher were to see a student’s legs or midriff or chest, chaos would ensue and babies would fly from the heavens and we would lose our beautiful standardized testing record. However, if a teacher standing directly in front of students for hours every day were to dress revealingly, all is calm and well. The dress sweeps are uncomfortable to say the least, it is no wonder why many male teachers have opted to ignore the announcement.

A member of male cheer informed me they are not allowed to wear shirts or yoga pants because it objectifies women. Male cheer is the one opportunity for the school to objectify men, right or wrong. At the same time, PHHS introduced dress sweeps this year. How does men wearing tight bottoms objectify women, yet having students stand up while their teachers stare at their bodies to decide if they are dressed appropriately does not?

These events led me to question the motives for such a dress code. How about to keep the focus on lessons, not legs? If a student is being distracted by a classmate’s dress, perhaps the underlying cause has more to do with the student that can’t focus, not the classmate. If someone can get sidetracked by a skirt, maybe that person just does not care about school in the first place.

Maybe it exists to protect the girls from unwanted advancements by hormone-induced high-school boys? That’s an excellent reason, because then all the boys will be revved up for college, where the untaught respect for others’ bodies mixed with newfound freedom can cause all sorts of trouble that Eastside isn’t responsible for anymore. No one cares what high school Brock Turner attended, right?

PHHS has helped me achieve so much more than I imagined myself doing; it has pushed me to flourish in all aspects of my life, which confuses me even more when I see such ridiculous and condescending treatment of its students on an issue that doesn’t seem to affect classroom attention.

I made up countless excuses for the administrator who stopped me that Friday. Heels make legs look longer, that had to be the reason she thought my dress was too short. Maybe from her angle it really did look too short. I dress differently. I drew too much attention. Truthfully, none of my excuses hold up. My extended fingertips should have ended the conversation, and I know it. There is no excuse for the response she gave me, even if she did think my dress was too short initially. So I must ask you, PHHS, how are students expected to follow the dress code if the faculty trusted to maintain school-wide integrity cannot follow it themselves?

By Jen Luu

As October comes to a close, the need to refine college applications intensifies.  It’s true you can’t change objective statistics such as GPA, test scores and class rank; however, you can still enhance your admission chances by honing one of the most dominant aspects of your holistic application: the personal statement.

1. Understand the purpose of the personal statement.  Colleges are seeking those who embody their values.  In trying to select the upcoming class, admission officers want people who can actively engage and contribute to the diversity of their community.  They don’t necessarily want cookie-cutter perfection; they’re looking for an authentic person.
2. Address all parts of the prompt.  English teachers always stress this.  It can be devastating to write a beautifully articulate essay but fail to meet the criteria because you misread the question.  Save yourself the regret and spend those extra seconds carefully annotating the prompt to understand what is expected.
3. Show, not tell.  Be descriptive and specific.  Think of a single pivotal moment that encompasses your curiosity, quirks, and personality.  Why is it memorable?  How is it important and relevant to you?
4. Be yourself.  Try to avoid overdone clichés such as writing about the death of a loved one, merely listing your achievements, or elaborating upon community service.  That isn’t to say to completely shun them, but keep the admission officers’ perspective in mind.  If you’ve lived a fairly average life, then the topic doesn’t have to monumental.  You can still find significance in commonplace occurrences, as long as you’re
5. Have confidence.  Trust in your abilities to wield a powerful voice in your writing.  Having the right mindset can make the difference between a mediocre essay and a phenomenal one.  Convince yourself of your potential, and the admissions officers will see that too.  Good luck!

By Justine Afalla

On a cold chilly autumn night in November, the idea of college always lingers in the minds of both students and parents.  They often ponder about agonizing college applications, tedious financial expenses and the dreadful thought of independence.

Not all of this may apply to our current and future generation students, nor will it apply to select parents, but there will always be a time in life where children age and subtly crave to spread their wings to fly into the sky of independence and adventure.

Now, not all parents intend to make their children suffer or feel bad about themselves, but their constant questioning about whether their children are capable of living on their own leave students to doubt their ideals and dreams about independence (or maybe spark an interest).  It is tough, students are often prejudiced with the thought of parting with their loved ones just for their own personal reasons.  Sometimes the thought of selfishness may cross their mind, but that is not always the case.

In reality, students have to consider that they are not entirely independent. Young students still rely on college funds and other expenses contributed by their own parents or guardians.  Students may have had a taste of the ‘real-world’ through a part time job or activity and consider themselves to be mentally mature; and there is nothing wrong with maintaining a positive mindset about adulthood.  In fact, it is good to stay optimistic in order to make a first step into independence.

Some students and parents often have a negative perception about growing up, yet sometimes they fail to acknowledge the reasons behind such opinions.  Parents and guardians often fail to realize that it is okay to trust their children and let go.  It is up to their better judgment to determine whether they are mentally ready to realize the small adolescent they have raised is capable of caring for him or herself; and vice versa to young aspiring students.

Overall, both students and parents should come to a mutual understanding and create an establishment of trust in order to move forward in life.  It is good to keep a positive mindset on the subject and obtain confidence in order to eliminate dreadful tensions between student and parent; not only will it develop trust and compassion, but being able to communicate will form a stronger bond.

By Jacqueline Nguyen

It’s spring.  The blossoming flowers spray their perfume and joy across the campus, the sun is no longer already setting by the time Homework Center closes up and friendships are breaking.  It’s the most wonderful season, filled with lots of laughter and excitement for the nearing end of the school year.  This is especially the case for the seniors.

“OMG guys I got into MIT,” enthuses Britney as she whips out her phone to show the pristine e-mail to all her friends.

“I totally don’t hate your guts right now for getting into my dream school,” exclaims Christina, her head turned down with burning emotions because of Britney’s joy.

Oh but it gets even merrier!

“She only got in because she’s famous,” Felicia assumes.

“OMG!  Bye Felicia,” Dana dismisses Felicia.

Don’t believe me?  Ask Natalie Portman.  This is exactly what Natalie Portman felt was going on when she started attending classes at Harvard University.  She thought she wasn’t smart or serious enough to be amongst America’s finest and more, and after tiring herself out with serious Hebrew literature and other super serious courses, she eventually rekindled her love for acting during her four years anyway.  It’s that little voice in her head that told her she wasn’t insert adjective enough for insert top school name that perfectly illustrates what’s wrong with our society.  We, moreso teenagers and parents at Senior Honor Night who clap only for the kids who are heading to prestigious and—wait for it—top schools, weigh far too heavily some ranking based on random factors (graduation rates, selectivity, purpose, etc.) to “objectively” quantify the quality of education.  Most people don’t even know how companies such as US News and Forbes rank universities.  There’s no reason to use rankings as something more than an aid in the college search, like the popular determinant of one’s worth.  These companies will tell anyone the same thing.

However, it’s when the Felicias come and spoil the fun for whoever got into insert school name that really irks me.  Why can’t we all be happy for Britney for the fact that she got accepted into a school that she wanted to get into?  What happens if Britney decides to go to a state college or some school nobody’s really heard of?  Is Felicia going to just patronizingly say “oh you poor thing” as she looks away in absolute disgust?  I have witnessed all of these situations with friends and acquaintances before and they all prove one thing: we care more about where other people go to more than where we’re going ourselves, and all it does is bring out the ugly in us.

I think it’s unfair to blame ourselves for instigating this type of behavior.  I think it’s mainly nurture, some nature.  We grow up in a world where our parents tell us to work hard to get straight A’s and the perfect SAT score in order to go pre-med at Stanford, at least for most of us.  That kind of rubs off on us subconsciously.  It’s still completely unfair to compare the girl who got into Harvard to the girl who got into San Jose State.  The girl who Harvard accepted isn’t a god and will tell you such random worshipping is bogus.  The girl who got into San Jose State isn’t a mere plebeian among the inferior masses.  They’re just people.

Why is it so extraordinary and rare that someone got into one of the top three schools in the nation?  It doesn’t mean anything besides the fact that insert school name sees his or her awesomeness.  And even then, not getting accepting into US News’s top ten schools does not mean one isn’t awesome, just like how the fact that Chris Evans’s abdominal muscles have never achieved People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” title does not mean they aren’t the sexiest man alive.  Although the students are notorious for having the class make time to give the girl who got into insert top school name a standing ovation, sometimes even the teachers and adults subconsciously get a little too excited about their students.  I realize that it’s all in good intentions.  However, it does more harm than good when the teacher or adult takes time out to congratulate the one senior who got into insert top school name, but doesn’t for all the other seniors.  For the many other students in the class, it doesn’t promote a healthy image of going to college.  The action is effectively reinforcing the notion that us students have to get accepted by these schools in order to somehow impress society.  Either congratulate them all or leave it up to the students to announce their acceptances to whoever they choose.

The way top schools pick their students is more random than it is some arithmetic formula for quantifying the perfect student.  Of course there are the test scores, GPA, essays and all that jazz.  But what happens after an applicant makes it through the door?  Ex-interviewer for and alumnus of Yale University Ben Orlin explains, “With so many uber-qualified students lining up, top colleges don’t—as you might expect—look for the ‘very best.’  They don’t even operate on a single, well-defined notion of what ‘best’ means.  Instead, they pick and choose.  They go for balance.  They’re just trying to fill their campus with a dynamic, diverse cohort of freshmen.  Consistency and ‘fairness’—whatever that would mean—have nothing to do with it.”  Ex-University California at Berkeley application reader Ruth Starkman quit his position because of how hair-rippingly confusing the arbitrary process of admissions really is.  It all boils down to a rapidly increasing population reaching for a set number of spots.  They’re just looking out for own interests.

I know it’s hard to not be a Felicia and be a good person.  Most people just don’t have the kindness in their hearts to feel good about someone else when they’re not doing as well as they’d like.  College acceptances can be a horrible experience for most.  I know.  I get it.  By the time this is published, I probably am going to be in the middle of inputting my name and address for all the UCs I’m applying to.  I’m not asking everyone to fundamentally change who they are.  I just expect everyone to have the decency of at the very least applauding, even if one has to force it, and congratulating the girl who got into Harvard AND the girl who got into San Jose State at Senior Honor Night.  We don’t need to start wars over something that has such a trivial impact on our lives.  No one really wants to end high school, or the school year, on a negative note.  Save your energy for the next four or ten years of your lives.

All students, repeat after me: The college I go to does not define my mental ability, my future jobs (well, for the most part) and most importantly—my worth.  It does not elevate me above others.  It doesn’t mean I’m not smart enough or whatever enough.  Now’s the time to focus my energy on the future.

And to the seniors: It’s our last year.  Let’s not make it a bad one.

 

Author’s Note: Britney and her friend group are all fictional characters and do not represent specific individuals.

By Tiffany Lee

Accompanied by a six-digit price tag and constant parental nagging, undergraduate education must be important.  And yet, these first four years of “adult” life, the next big step, the taste of upper education, don’t guarantee a job, let alone a high paying one.  This lack of profit begs the question: How much does college actually matter?

The average starting salary right out of high school is around $30 thousand.  Not bad, but nearly impossible to live on in the Silicon Valley.  A bachelor’s degree adds on average around $15 thousand, which still doesn’t meet the estimated $64 thousand minimum requirement to live in the valley.  However, these numbers don’t account for the fact that other than the first job, all other jobs are based on previous work experience, not which college you went to.  But just based on money, college matters as much as $15 thousand does.

Excluding computer engineers, people straight out of college tend to struggle when finding a job.  If and when they do, only 27% get one related to their major, according to the Washington Post.  So college does matter about 27% of the time, and as much as $15 thousand does.

So far we’ve calculated how much undergraduate education matters, but we haven’t accounted for its irrelevance compared to graduate school.  For many careers, especially those in the medicinal field, undergraduate school is just the preliminary round.  Graduate school is where you actually get education relevant to your future job.  Neurosurgeons learn how to perform on the brain, and medical students participate in clinical rotations to gain real-world experience.

Disregarding graduate school, the biggest determinant of college value isn’t jobs, or even money.  What matters most is what others think of you.  Parents need to be able to brag about their children’s acceptance to Ivy League schools.  Friends need to hide uncontrollable rushes of envy as their peers display famed letters of acceptance to Harvard.  Relatives who have spent lifetimes asking college-related questions, waiting with baited breath for your answer, need to feel a mix of shock, joy, amazement and jealousy that their kids aren’t you when you finally manage to get accepted into a high ranked school.

So yes, college really does matter.  Sure, it matters 27% of the time and as much as $15 thousand, but most importantly, it increases your chances of feeling some sense of superiority.  You can finally say you’re better than all of your friends.  You can finally name-drop your school into any and every conversation.  The academic elitism given by four years of finding new ways to hide alcohol is truly priceless.

By Walt Leung

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue—so the rhyme goes.  Most students in the United States know that Columbus was actually searching for India when he stumbled upon the Americas.  Some know that Columbus landed on San Salvador and never even touched North America.  But nearly none know that the people he labelled as “Indians” were actually Tainos.

From childhood, we have always visualized Columbus in a positive light; we see him as an explorer, courageously venturing into the unknown.  We learn about Columbus as the spearhead of the age of exploration, the discoverer of the Americas.  However, history books never shed light on his greed and abuse.  There is never information about his enslavement of the Tainos upon arrival, his insistence on their conversion to Christianity, his introduction of new diseases to the Americas.  We never learn about the massive suffering he inflicted upon the Native Americans.

The extent of Columbus’s damage to the native population has never been accurately documented.  Although we may be committing the butterfly effect fallacy to solely blame Columbus for the near-eradication of the entire Native American population, the death of nearly 250,000 Tainos within the first half-century upon his landing in present-day San Salvador can certainly be attributed to his brutish attitudes toward the natives.  The Atlantic Slave Trade that occurred in the early days of American colonization has another name, perhaps one with a deeper connotation: the Columbian Exchange.  Named after Columbus, who pioneered this triangular trade, the Columbian Exchange introduced not only food, culture and animals, but also slavery and death.

For a country that has been so progressive in championing civil liberties, LGBT rights and gender equality, the United States of America has largely ignored the plight of its indigenous natives.  In 1937, the United States adopted Columbus Day as a national holiday, perhaps one of the greatest insults to Native Americans by honoring the man who arguably started the greatest genocide in recent history.

Although it can be said that our beloved United States of America would never have come into fruition had Columbus not sailed the ocean blue, it is important to remember that Columbus was never the angelic man we often portray him as.  It’s time our nation follows in the footsteps of cities such as Berkeley, Calif. and instead renames this day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, in an attempt to honor the natives who originally inhabited what we now call home.

By Jacqueline Nguyen

On the tranquil morning of June 6, my mom and I innocuously decided to make a quick stop at the Starbucks on the corner next to James Lick High School on the way to Mount Pleasant High School, my test center for the day.  I hadn’t slept as early as I hoped because of the anxiety of getting anxiety from the gravity of the test, so the plain vanilla latte should’ve done the trick.  I was also hungry, so she got me a Bacon Gouda sandwich as well.  Though I can’t recall how the latte was, I vividly remember the bacon, cheese and regret I tasted from consuming that demonic sandwich.

During the test, my stomach would not stop grumbling.  My face was paler than bleach on white out as I was working through section 4.  I can’t even remember what type of section it was because of my stomach’s incessant demands.  This continued throughout the entire test, and even the plentiful bathroom breaks would not stop my stomach from attempting to leap from my body.  At around the later sections, I was ready to pass out from the horror of the grumbling and holding in the farts.  I was sweaty, pale and a hot mess.  I knew I wasn’t going to get a good score on my first try at the SAT, and I didn’t.

Though, as much as I blamed Starbucks (and College Board if you remember that train wreck) for that repulsive number, I now realize that I was trying to deflect blame off of myself for my incompetence and laziness.  I came into the classroom not taking the test all that seriously.  I only did three and a tenth practice tests and spent all my free time on Netflix.  I was stressing out over the fact that this one number had some weight on the next several years of my life that I ended up doing other things.  Not only did I walk into that classroom with terrible stomach pains, but also with stress, an attitude and a desperate need to cry.

The takeaway from this is to prepare now, stay calm and keep a positive attitude, even if feigned at first.  Get as much sleep as you can the night before the test, which means at most minimal preparation only the night before.  Discipline yourself to work your way through those tests.  Finally, remember that you can achieve the score you want as long as you work hard for it (unless you’re reading this the night before then good luck).