Our fingerprints might fade...Our faces may be forgotten...

But the footprints we leave will forever be imprinted in our journey through life.

We are...

PAVINGthe way...

Moving to three cities in three dif-ferent states all throughout high school, cutting a tendon while sliding through a window, and losing the ability to do what you love to do. Sounds like some-thing that would happen to a character in a dramatic TV series. But for Shakiya Sargent, this is reality. From the time she was 3 years old, Sargent found a passion for ice skating and wished to someday pursue a career. But unfortunately in the eighth grade, rushing to leave the school’s gym dur-ing a fire drill, Sargent slipped, fell, and crashed through the glass and wire win-dow of a door. Before realizing what had happened, she was in complete shock, lying on the floor with her right leg covered with blood and shards of glass. A major tendon in her right leg was damaged. After surgery and physi-cal therapy, Sargent was able to walk on her leg again; however, due to the physical strain it demanded, she could no longer ice skate. “I was really sad about it because I wanted to make it into a career,” she said. Since her stepfather’s job as a weld-er requires her family to move about the West Coast, Sargent has moved to three different cities. As a fresh-man she moved from her hometown of Portland, Oregon then to Ephrata and Moses Lake, Washington which were both small, community-oriented towns. Yet in Ephrata, where a majority of the population was white, Sargent faced racism. During the first month,

she suffered racial slurs from neighbors, peers, and even store clerks. Neighbors ignored her, peers would tag her desk with racist remarks, and workers would follow her around stores thinking that she was a thief. She wasn’t at all used to living in a place where ev-eryone assumed that her and her family were gangsters and criminals. Now she lives here in Stockton. Moving from city to city requires con-stant adaptation, yet Sargent sees it as an experience that has made her well-rounded. As for racism, “Even if you bully me and call me names, I’m still going to smile in your face.” And despite her inability to ice skate, she has found a new career path as a marine biologist and wishes to study at the University of Maine. De-spite the seven scars she has on her legs, Sargent is still standing strong.

“Onceuponatime,wewere‘normal.’” For now, Julian Nevarez calls living with his aunt, uncle, and little brother, Anthony, home. His older brother, Tye, has already moved out. His father has been a faint detail in his life for years now. His mother stops by every now and then, and ev-

eryone in the household dreads when they hear her screaming for them to open the door. However, it hasn’t always been this way. Although his younger brother would be too young to recall a time when home was a functional version of the tra-ditional mom, dad, and kids, Nevarez has the slight-est memory. His mom used to help with homework and they’d take family trips to the movies, but slowly things began to change. “She just stopped caring,” he said. “Tye really had to raise us.” By the time Nevarez was 7 his older brother Tye had to keep things together. From get-ting everyone to school on time to making sure his younger brothers had a meal every day, Tye had to

do it all while his dad was always at work. But Tye couldn’t keep this up for too long, especially after his dad left because he “couldn’t do it anymore.” After all, Tye was a child himself, trying to make his own bright future. “One day,” Nevarez said, “he was just like ‘Come on we’re leaving’ and took us (him and his brother) to go live with my grandma.” Nevarez was 9 when his grandmother took the boys in. “Man… I love my grandma, she did every-thing for us.” For a while their mom joined them at their grandmother’s house, but things came up miss-ing and the family began to guess that she was on drugs. She had to go. However, mom wasn’t completely out of the pic-ture, like they’d wished. Every now and then she’d come to the house and wreak havoc. Asking for rides. To be let in. She’d sometimes lie outside by the front door and scream. She is merely a sour taste in the fam-ily’s mouth, Nevarez said. As he grew older, Nevarez quickly learned that his mother was just another issue in his life and he ac-cepted this. However, during his sophomore year his situation at home began to finally weigh his mind down and eventually led to stagnancy. Like his moth-er, he just stopped caring. He began to skip school and when he did come to school, all he really did was fill an empty desk. His family caught on to this behavior. “They woke me up,” he said. They questioned what he was doing and why, and Nevarez asked himself the same. He realized this was not the way to better his situation. His plans to go to a college in Vegas with his best friend, who has been through everything with him, would never become a reality if he were to keep this up. His mind began to move forward again. Nevarez does not dwell on the problems and re-sponsibilities he has in his life; instead, he counts his blessings and takes every opportunity by stride.

Success despite hectic homelife

Skating through troubles

Sophia Davidson

2 SENIOR EDITIONthe Stagg Line 05.11.12

Kristin Acevedo

Julian Nevarez works on first semester project for his Advanced Placement English class, brainstorming ideas along with fellow senior Alfredo Aguirre.

photos by Harmony Evangelisti

photo courtesy of Shakiya Sargent

Shakiya Sargent displays her early achievements as a young figure skater. Now, she talks about the pride she still has in her accomplishments even though she no longer skates.

photo (left) by Mikeala Axton

Dramatic accident, frequent moves cause senior to reevaluate life

AlthoughtwinsMelissa(left)andMi-chelle Galindo have similar facial fea-tures,theyinsisttheirpersonalitiesdif-fer. Melissa favorsheracademics,whileMichelleenjoysbeingwithherfriendsorplayingonthevolleyballcourt. “Schoolismyescape,”Melissasaid.“Iput somuchpressureonmyself toescapeallthehardshipsinmylife.” Melissa ranks third in the seniorclass with a grade-point average of4.3.However,shehasn’talwaysbeenthestrongstudentsheisnow.Sheadmits tohavinghada significantanger problem. It was because ofherfatherbeingabsentfromherlifesomuchcausedthepain. “It used to be really bad,” shesaiddescribingheranger.Howeverher AVID teacher was a big partof helping her improve her anger.“Mrs.Hayeshelpedmea lotwithmanagingit.” English teacher Thongthip

Duangsawat agrees that Melissa hasgrownfromnowtothepointwhenshegotkickedoutofAVIDduringherju-nioryear.“She’soneofthemostcom-mendable students,whatever happensin her life,negative orp o s i t i v e ,s h e

triestolearnfromit,and99.9percentofthetimeshedoes.” Her close friend, senior SamanthaWang, notices Melissa’s improvementwith her anger towards her father.“She’s become more determined andactuallywantstogosomewhereinlife,”shesaid.“We’vebeenbestfriendssinceseventhgradeandshe’s learnedtoun-derstandaboutherfather.”Anddespitetheirfather’sabsencetheirgrandfatherhasbeenamajorinfluenceintheirlives.

“Mydad was never there and Ididn’t understand

why,” Melissasaid.

They weren o t i f i e dthat he

wasin

thehospitalinacoma.Whentheyvis-itedhimitwasthefirsttimetheysawhimandthelast.“Eventhoughwesawhim,hecouldn’tseeus,”Michellesaid. Whenhedied,hervolleyballteam-mates helped her cope. “They werewhat helped keep me on track withschool.” Senior Angelique Wilson,Michelle’sclosefriend,talksaboutherfriend. “Michelle still has respect forhim.Eventhoughhewasneverthere,shestilllovesherfather.” The girls have always had differentfeelingsabout their father.Michelle ismore forgiving towards him. “It didaffect me that he wasn’t there, but Ialways thoughthe’dcomeback. Ihadfaiththathewould,”shesaid. MelissaandMichellerecognizethattheyhavedifferentoutlooksonthings.Michelle says her sister has become adifferentperson. “She’snowhardworkinganddeter-mined. She’s become a better person

andismoreopennow.”Melissa’s feels Michelle has-

changedaswell. “She used to care about

whatothersthoughtabouther but now she’s abletothinklessaboutthat

andbecomemore in-dependent.”

Loudcheersandthescreamsfromfellowstudentsringferociouslythroughthefootballstadiumandintotheearsoftheplayers.

ThefeelingsthatgointoplayingfootballandplayingitwellareexpectationsthatBrian(right)andRyanWoodhavetoliveupto.KnownastwoofthebestfootballplayersatStaggisareputation

theyhavetoconstantlymaintainfortheirteamandschool.Theseexpectationstotaketheteamtoanotherlevelarethingsthattheyprepareforthroughouttheyear.Asseniors,theirdedicationhasbecomeevidentintheirhardworkbothonandoffthefield.“(We)runtrackduringthespringseasonbecauseitbuildsup(our)speedandkeeps(us)inshape,”thetwinssaid.Trackisawaybothofthemcanstayactivethroughouttheyearandget“faster”forfootball.Althoughplayingsportsisbasicallytheirlife,theyalsohavetoprepareforcollege.ForRyan,it’salittlechallengingbecause“(he)messedup(his)gradesandnow(has)totakealotofclasses.”

Forsomestudents,thattaskaloneishardtodealwithbutsomecol-legesanduniversitieshavedecidedtoworkwithhimacademically.Although

theyareexcitedaboutcollegethereismorestressforthemtobesuccessful.“Wewillbethefirstonestogotocollegeinourfamilysothereismorepressuretodo

well,”Briansaid.Withallofthechallengestheygothrough,theyhavepeoplearoundthemconstantlysupportingthem.“CoachNortonpushesmeandmotivatesmetostayinschooland

getgoodgrades forcollege. He is likeaparent,”Briansaid.LikewiseRyansaid,“CoachNortonisalwaysonmeandtellsmewhatIcandointhefuture,ifIstayontherighttrack.”Alongwiththeircoachhelpingthem,theirfatherhasalwayssupportedthem.Football for them isn’t just a school sportbut an everydaypriority.Their

father pushes that idea to the maximum with constant workouts andpracticeplaysathome.“Wegototheparkanddoplaysandwego

tothegymalmosteveryday,”Briansaid. Because they are twins, they get to experience what

it feels like tohave someoneencourage themall thetime.“Icantalktohimathomeandgooverstuff.Wemake eachotherbetterplayers,”Brian said.Onechallengeinparticularthattheybothdealtwithinthebeginningoftheirfootballcareerwas

beingateamplayer.“NowI’mateamplayerinsteadofanindividual,I’m more focused to win than just my personal

stats,”Ryansaid. Byworkingtheirwaythroughschoolandstayingcom-

mittedtofootballtheyhavebecomebetterplayers.TheirhardworkhasessentiallyenabledthetwinstosignafouryearcontracttoChadronStateCollege,inhopesofdevel-opingtheirtalent.Becausetheybothsignedtothesameschooltheystillwillbeablesupporteachother. “We have each other now,” Ryan said. By going tocollegeandgettingahighereducationalongwithplay-ingfootball,theyareonestepclosertobeingtheNFLplayers theyhavedreamedofbecoming since child-

hood.

KentaleyMcCurdy

MiaTorres

TWINS: Similar faces, different perspectives

Brothers struggle3SENIOR EDITIONthe Stagg Line05.11.12

BrianandRyanWoodworkthroughacademicobstaclesinhopestomakeittotheNFL

4What doYOU

want toaccomplish?

The Mesoamerican Long Count Calender is said to end on Dec. 21, 2012. Some suspect this will be the end of life as we know it. However, whether the world ends or not, everyone has goals they wish to accomplish as they venture out — leaving high school and entering “the real world.” Ten seniors shared their most prominent life goals they wish to accomplish before they die. So what do you want to accomplish?

5

“I want to achieve my dream of being a pro-fessional BASEBALL player so that I make my grandmother Marge (R.I.P) proud”-Andrew Urbistondo

“I want to go into a career in the VETERINARY field and travel to Europe.”-Alex Edmonson

“Something I want to accomplish before I die is completing COLLEGE because no one in my family has.”-Aaron Vega

“Something I want to accomplish before I die is to have my own LOVING FAMILY.”-Angelo Robles

“I want to accomplish buying my PARENTS a house because they’ve been there for me and supported me.”-Cindy Louangkeo

“Before I die I want to have kids and I want to explain to them what the impor-tance of having an EDUCATION is to their lives so that they won’t make the same mistakes I did in school.”-Claudia Jauregui

“Before I die I would like to see the majority of my family SAVED and living for God.”-Diamond Hart

“My accomplishment will be own-ing my own BARBERSHOP some-where in Stockton, working with family and friends and making it less like a shop and more like a home.”-Joey Sem

-Abigail Lopez

“Before I die I want to live in New York and pursue PHOTOGRAPHY.”“Before I die, I

want to tour the WORLD and witness the end of racism.” -Steve Lotte

SENIOR EDITIONthe Stagg Line 05.11.12

The American Dreamconsistsofahappyfamily,adesirablejob,acomfort-ablehome.Thisideallifeis somethingmany strivefor. However, the Ameri-can Dream for JuanMares means becomingacitizenandovercomingthemanystruggleshehasfacedsincebirth. Mares was born inChihuahua, Mexico and,atjustafewmonthsold,heandhis familymovedtotheUnitedStates.Hisstruggles began early inchildhood. While most4-year-oldswere learningto read or playing withtoys,Mareswasdrinkingalcohol. The alcohol was inthe house because of his

father’s drinking prob-lem, he explained. As aresultofhis father’salco-holabuse,Maressufferedfromphysicalabuse. “Weweresopoorandmy father so apathetic,that when my siblingsand I were thirsty andthere was no water, ourfather would simply giveusadrinkofhisbeer,”hesaid. Mares grew a deephatred towardshis fatherbecause of the abuse,but his sister providedhim with an escape. Shetaught him how to dosimple math computa-tions and introduced theideaofschool. “By the time I wenttoschool,Iwasatathirdgrade math level,” Maressaid. Helearnedatayoung

agethathehadtheabilitytoexcelacademically.Butthe imprint of his child-hood never left him. Heexplainedthatbecauseofhis harsh upbringing, hewouldfrequentlyfightinschool. In 2006, his fam-ily moved to California.Mares said that oftentimes his internal angerandhostilityoverpoweredhisintelligence.“WhenIinteractedwithanyone,Iwouldalwaysresorttovi-olence:atschool,inpub-lic,evenwithmyfamily,”hesaid. Despite his roughstart, Mares managed toimprovehisbehaviorandultimately rise above hiscircumstances. He be-gan applying himself tohis academics, earninghighergradesandbecom-ingmore involved.He iscurrently involved withtheJerryMcNerneyCon-gressionalelectionswherehetakespartinvoterout-reach. “It’s kind of given mesome sort of idea as towhat my future careercouldbe,”Maressaid. Along with the ideashe has gained from hispolitical experience, healso has a desire to be-come an engineer. Thethree fields he is inter-estedinarechemical,me-chanical,andelectrical. Some of his friendswhoaremechanicalengi-neers have truly inspiredhim, he explains. “Theykind of proved to methat regardless of yourbackground or ethnicity,youcanaccomplishyourgoals.”

Another responsibilityMares is dealing with ishiscitizenship;he iscur-rently in the process ofbecoming United Statescitizen and has alreadyobtainedhisbirthcertifi-cate. His aspirations to at-tend college make ob-taining his citizenship acritical component. “Be-comingacitizen isnotaquick and easy process,”hesaid. While struggling tobecome a citizen, he isalsoateenparent.Whilefinishing his senior yearis crucial for college, henow has a child he’s re-sponsiblefor. However, he is deter-mined to be successfuland provide for his fam-ily. “I am committed tobethebestfatherIcanbeformychild,”hesaid. Handling multipleresponsibilities, Maresmanages to keep per-severing. “Nowadays, Ihave much progressedfrommypreviousselfbutI make some mistakes,”he said. “After all, thetransition was not easyandIamhuman.”

She wondered why she looked slightly differentthanothersinherfamily.Whyshewasalittledarker.Whyshehaddifferentfacialfeatures. LaurinOrtegawas2yearsoldwhenherbiologicalfatherwasshotandkilled.ShespentmostofherlifewithRayOrtega,whotookontheroleofbeingherfather. Whenhermothertoldheraboutherbiologicalfa-thershewasabout9yearsold.Notquiteabletoun-derstand, she sat there holding the funeral programandthinking. “WhenIfoundoutIfeltconfused,”shesaid.“Youhaveawholeother family (biological father’s family)thatyouthinkmaynotacceptyou.” However, shedidnot exactly feel sadbecause shereallyneverknewdifferent.“Mymomand‘dad’alwayskneweachotherandmy ‘dad’ said ‘nomatterwhat,this is my kid,’” she said. “When I was a newborn,(Ortega)wasonmybirthcertificate;Ineverknewanyother.” AlthoughgrowinguphasbeendifferentforOrtegashehasalwaysworkeddiligentlyinschoolandhasnev-erallowedhersituationtoaffectherworkethic.“Ihadacleargoal:I’mgoingtodowell,”shesaid. Ortegaplanstoattendcollegeandpursueacareerinadministrationinthemedicalfield.Hercareerchoicewasinfluencedbyherfamilybecausetherewillalwaysbeaneedformedicalworkersanditisasafecareer,sheexplained.SupportisastrongcomponentinOrtega’slife;shereceivesitfrombothhermother’sfamilyandherOrtegafamily. They’realwayshelpfulandtheyneverexcludeher,shesaid,withtearsinhereyes.“Idon’tfeellikeI’mtheonlyblacksheepofthefamily,”shesaid.“Theydon’taccepteveryone,buttheyacceptme.” SheisappreciativeandfortunatetohaveherOrtegafamily.“NomatterwhoImeet,orwhereIgo,orwhatconversationsIhave,theyaremyrealfamily.”

AngeliqueReyes,likealotofgirls,wearsskirts.Thedifferenceis:Reyesalwayswearsskirts.Sheworeaskirtevery day of kindergarten, and every day of schoolsince.Ona family trip to themountains,playing inthesnow,sheworeaskirt. “Idoeverythinginaskirt,”Reyessaid. Reyes and her family are strong Christian Apos-tolics, a religion inwhichwomen are encouraged todressmodestly,toshowthedifferencebetweenamanandawoman.“Whenyouseeabathroomsign,howdoyoutellthedifferencebetweenamanandwoman?”sheasked.“Theguyiswearingpantsandthegirlisinadress.” Reyes’beliefiscircumscribedaroundJesusChrist’steachingoftheBible,thewordofGod.“WhenIwor-shipIfeelfire,Ihavethisunexplainablepower.” DuringSundaynight service, the congregationofApostolicTabernacleChurchgatherforworship.“Wespeak intongues,a languagethatnoonecanunder-standexceptGod,”Reyessaid.“Noteventhedevilun-derstands.” Throughout the service, people unite around thealtarandraise theirhands,dance,andsing inhonorofGod.Reyesisusuallythelasttoleavethehouseofworship. “WhenIworship,themusicjusthelpsgetmegoingbutGod’sspirittakesoverme.”

Outside of church,Reyes advocates her be-liefswithherappearance. She not only wearsskirts every day but alsonever cuts her hair be-yonda trim,neverwearsmake-up, never polisheshernailsandneveracces-sorizeswithjewelry. “Whenyou see abirdit’sbeautifulandnatural;you never see a paintedbird,”saidReyes’mother,Lisa, as she flattens outherskirtacrossherthighs. Lisawasbornintothechurch and has worn askirteversince. “Being raised in thishouseholdhelpedmestayawayfromallthewickedstuffoftheworld,”Reyessaid. Reyeshasbeenraisedtoembracethislifestyleout-sideherhome.However,withadulthoodrightaroundthe corner, dedicating her life to religious customsbecomesapersonalchoice; shecoulddecide towear

pants,forexample.Hermothersaidthatshewillsup-portanyofherchoices,butReyesplansoncontinuingtofollowthebeliefshewasborninto. “(Mylifestyle)hasbecomeapartofmethatIdon’twanttoletgoof.”

AngeliqueReyesliveslifediligently,followingandembracingherreligionFollowing the path

Student accepted by extended family

Senior battles family problems for a brighter future

HarmonyEvangelisti

photo by Harmony EvangelistiThe Reyes family get together at Christian Life Center for a Sunday night service where they worship God by speaking in tongues, dancing, and other ways.

photo by Harmony EvangelistiJuan Mares leads a club meeting as the president of the Interact Club.

TaylorHurles

TaylorHurles

photo courtesy of Laurin Ortega

The Ortega family at dowtown Stockton waterfront to take a family photo.

They kind of proved to me that regard-less of your backround or ethnicity, you can accomplish your goals.JUAN MARES

6 SENIOR EDITIONthe Stagg Line 05.11.12

Withasmileonherfaceandherpom poms in the air, Olivia Reilleyshowcasedherprideandspiritthroughthesoundofhercheering.Cheerlead-ingwashersanctuary.Shelovedit—

the rush of adrenaline she felt whenwatching the football team play, thefeeling of unity she shared with hersquad, and the satisfaction of tak-inghomefirstplaceinthe2011JamzCheer Championship. But unknownto many, the smile she confidentlyworeonher facebecameamask that

was covering up searing pain. “I feltnauseous,”shesaid.“Mystomachwasactingup.” Overthesummer,Reilleydealtwithepisodesofnausea,vomiting,andoc-casional pain in her abdominal re-gion.These“attacks”occurredoverthecourseofoneweekanditwasnotuntilhermothercheckedherintoahospitalthatshefoundoutshehadbeenexpe-riencing symptoms of stomach ulcers— a hole in the gastrointestinal tractcaused by hydrochloric acid, destroy-ingtheliningofthestomach.Despitebeing diagnosed, Reilley continuedwhat she loved doing, ignoring thepainasbestasshecould.Butonetrau-maticdaymadeherrethinkthisdeci-sion. “Ihadanulcerattackforsevenanda half hours,” she recalls. “It was myworstattackever.Ikeptthrowingup.” SeniorBrianHamiltonwaswithheratthetimeandcouldrememberitjustas clearly. “I felt helpless,” he said. “Icried,IfeltlikeIcouldn’tdoanything.” During her hospitalization, Reil-leywashookedontoanIVandgivenfourtofivehydrogenbags.Herdoctorwarned her that any type of physicalactivitywasn’tthebestideaandcanpo-tentiallyworsen theulcers, leading todeath.Stomachulcer-relatedcomplica-tions,accordingtomamashealth.com,takethelivesofabout6,000Americans

everyyearandReilleydoesn’twanttobeoneofthem.“It’seithermyhealthorcheer,andIchosehealth,”shesaid. Thiswasaneasydecisiontomake,butonethatwashardtoaccept.Reilleyfirst became a cheerleader during hersophomoreyear,but itwasforonlyabriefamountoftimeduetohergrades.Onceagain,her time inuniformwasshort-lived. “Ihaven’tcheeredsincemysopho-more year,” she said. “I finally got tobeoncheer thisyear,butnowIcan’tbecauseof(theulcers).” Reilleysaysherconditionhasn’tre-allychangedher,butshe’s“notasoutthere”assheusedtobe.Onceloudandoutgoing, she is now more reserved.Shemakessuretobemorecarefulandavoidsputtinganystrainonherbody.She has not had any “big attacks”eversincethattraumaticday,butgets“small, tinyones”every twoweeksorso.BesidesthefactthatshenowhastotakePepcid,whichisadrugthatpre-ventsthestomachfromproducingtoomuchacid,herlifewithoutcheerisn’tmuchdifferent. With her uniform and her pompomsnowtuckedawayandhermem-oryofcheerleadingstillremaining,lifegoesonforReilley.“I’mglad(mydoc-tor)found(theulcers),”shesaid.“I’mdonewithcheerleading.I’llmissit,butthat’slife.”

SeymaTap

FaithHarris

7SENIOR EDITIONthe Stagg Line05.11.12

Shewas outrunningerrandswithhermother.TheywalkedintoaCambodianstorenearherhouse,bothofthemsmil-ing and enjoying their day.AngelLimnever predicted that she would soonhear something thatwould change therestofherlife. Limrecallstheincidentandtellsthestoryasifithadjusthappenedminutesearlier.Sherememberseverydetail.“Wewentto the counter andthe cashier lady saidto my mom, ‘I can’tbelieve you had anugly fat daughter likethat.’ Even though Iwasyoung,Istillknewwhatshe(wassaying).” This was said in amatterofsecondswithcarelessness, but it af-fected Lim for yearstocome.Astimewenton, she began to feelmore insecure abouther looks. “The sum-mer before freshman year, I went to aparty with a few friends. We were sit-ting with these guys and one of themwastellingfatjokes.Iwastheonlyoneoffended…Hesaid ‘If Iwasthatugly,I would have committed suicide al-ready.’” Limrecallsgoinghomelaterthateve-ning. “Thebadthingis,Iactuallybe-lievedit.Iwenthomeandlookedinthemirror.ThenIsaidtomyself,‘Maybeheisright.’”

Shortly after this, Lim looked forthings that would make her feel bet-ter about herself.What she found washairspray,perfume,outfits,andcosmet-ics. “I thought if I wore makeup andchanged my hairstyle once in a while,peoplewouldn’tlookatmybody.” Limadmitsthatshewastoofocusedonwhatshelookedlikeontheoutside.“Itbecameanobsession.BeforeIwouldcome to school in sweats andnot care

what I looked like.But(inthebeginningof freshman year)therewasn’tadayyouwould catch me withmy hair not done. IwouldcometoschoollateifIhadto.” Lim said that sheeventuallycametohersenses.“Irealizedthatjust because societyseesfatasuglydoesn’tmake it true.As longas I like who I am,that’sallthatmatters.” Shegoeson to talkabout how she has

matured.“IthinkpeoplenoticethatI’vegotten comfortable in my own skin,”Lim said. “I’m happy with who I amnow.” Lim learned a lot through her ex-periences and now hates that girls feeltheurgeto lookperfect.Togirlsgoingthrough a similar situation, she offersapieceof advice: “Justbe comfortablewith who you are and don’t care whatothers think. What they think doesn’tmatter,itneverdoes.”

AngelLimmakesdecisiontovalueherselfmorethanthe

opinionofsociety

FIGHTING IMAGE

Cheerleading interrupted by health

Olivia Reilley shares her excitement for cheer even though she no longer partici-pates in the sport.

photo by Mikeala Axton

photo by Harmony EvangelistiPart of Angel Lim’s resolution to accept herself is to be healthy.

I realized that just be-cause society sees fat and ugly doesn’t make it true; as long as I like who I am, that’s all that matters.ANGEL LIM

OUR SENIOR STAFF

“I want my parents to be comfortable with my SEXUALITY.” -Mia Torres

“I want to build a stronger BOND with my parents by becoming fluent in their language.”-Seyma Tap

“I want to make my mark on the world by starting my own COMEDY series, writ-ing, directing, producing, and acting in it–changing the entertainment world forever!”

-Taylor hurles

“I want to study COSMETOLOGY and later start my own business in Los Angeles.” -Faith Harris

“I will achieve complete SELF-ACCEPTANCE and focus on the ap-proval of myself and not others.”-Harmony Evangelisti

“I want to de-vote my life to my children and INSPIRE them to follow their dreams. -Kentaley Mccurdy

“I want to work for PIXAR as a storyboard artist.”-Sophia Davidson

“I just want to be HAPPY. I don’t have huge ambi-tions. I just want a life that, by my own standards, is worth something.”

-Mikeala Axton

“I want to be on BROADWAY. I want to play the leading role in one of those timeless plays like ‘Chicago’ and tour the world.”-Kristin Acevedo