By Trevor Andrews, Reporter
My sophomore year was marked with a lot of new friends and memories.
As the year began, my favorite class would have to be Multimedia. Instructor Chris Holton, had a more relaxed style of teaching that fit well with the class. I am in the Multimedia Pathway as I really enjoy doing anything related to video editing.
Holton allowed students to experiment with Adobe software and my favorite Adobe application is Premiere Pro as it allows the user to make videos and it’s something I really enjoyed.
I was never exactly sure if I only saw the Multimedia Pathway as anything more than a hobby, or if I wanted to go into the pathway myself. At one point I thought about making educational videos about topics I’m interested in like history, culture, and geography but I later realized I really dislike the sound of my voice.
My favorite project we worked on in my class was the film project. Despite the film being slightly rushed, I really enjoyed the process of working on it. I had done the project with Eric Rios, someone I had known for a few weeks before we worked on the project. Eric and I had made a podcast, where we talked about the Mandela Effect.
Eric, who I had just made the film with, had a massive impact on me this year. I met him when I was invited to go to the YMCA by two of my friends John Clark and Elias Cardenas. Before I was invited to go to the YMCA the only time I had spoken to Eric was when he asked me for help on a history assignment.
When Senior High temporarily stopped having school on Fridays, Elias, Eric and I went to the YMCA every Friday. One of the most common things I’d do with them was to play basketball. Despite being horrible at basketball Eric and Elias didn’t care too much, they both just wanted to hang out.
After a couple of weeks of going to the YMCA I had decided to get a membership. I had started doing more than just playing basketball, I had started working out as well. It was common for me to do cardio. A couple of my friends had started making fun of me for this. I was called, “cardio boy,” despite running only a mile at a time. After two months of working out at the YMCA, I had lost 23 pounds.
Darius Cruz, someone who I became very close with this year, had taken notice of the amount of weight I lost. Darius had motivated me to keep going further. I am really grateful for the friendship I have developed with Darius.
After a while, Darius had become someone I deeply trusted. Whenever I needed to talk about something with someone Darius was always there for me. While I had no classes with him, we talked a lot during lunch or in the hallways. Darius and I have a plan to possibly make a video game in the future.
Near the end of this year – out of boredom – I decided to start learning how to code.
Python was my coding language of choice. I chose it because it was easy to learn for beginners. I spent a lot of my free time learning Python.
A friend of mine, Farouk Farouk, had helped me get started with learning how to code. After a week I had programmed simple things like a timer/stopwatch, and a rock paper scissors bot.
Learning how to code has been something that has given me a lot of pride in myself. While I still only know the basics, I hope to learn more. I hope to get a job as a software engineer if my attempt at coding goes well. The development of the game with Darius is a goal I would like to achieve at some point as well.
My robotics teacher Eric Sell, had let me program my robot after block coding wasn’t working. He led me through the coding process of the robot. I appreciated this a lot from him, even though he may not know it.
Mr. Sell is a teacher who I have a lot of respect for. I once asked him a question about where the JAG class was so I could interview Sherah Piercy for Journalism. Even though Sell didn’t know where the class was, he took me out of the classroom to help find out where The JAG class was.
Another teacher that had a positive impact on my year was Roger Holsinger, my Journalism teacher.
Holsinger is a teacher that has actively made me feel happy. He had reawakened my passion for writing. Even though I am not the greatest at writing, Journalism has become my favorite class. Holsinger was probably the first teacher I felt comfortable speaking to. Holsinger has made me continuously laugh. If I had another teacher for Journalism, I don’t think I would enjoy it quite as much. I admire the positivity Holsinger gives off as a person.
I learned that my English teacher, Leah Wissmann, had also written for her school newspaper when she was a college student. Wissmann is someone who cares about her students. She often checks up on her students to make sure they know what’s going on. She has also put up with my tomfoolery.
For some odd reason she has allowed me to smuggle Raul Garcia into Grant Jonas’s Islander Time. My reasoning for why Raul should go to Jonas’s Islander Time never makes the most sense. Some of my reasons were, “Raul should go to Jonas because looking at his face motivates me to get good grades,” and “Raul should go to Jonas’s class because he wants to see his girlfriend.” For one reason or another, Wissmann has agreed with my reasoning.
Jonas is someone I appreciate having as a teacher.
Even though I have bothered him quite a bit he doesn’t, for the most part, despise me. One of my favorite memories was when I came into his class in the morning before school started, and we both learned about the Norman Conquest of Southern Italy.
Since kindergarten, history has been a subject I’m extremely passionate about. I really like talking to Jonas about history. My only complaint would be that he won’t let me retake the test on WWI that I had missed two questions on. Jonas has also complained about me quite a bit. For some reason he really does not like me doing other people’s homework. Jonas is not only my World History teacher, but also my Islander Time teacher as well. Because of this he has been forced to suffer from my appearance to class every day.
As I look back on my sophomore year, I appreciate the friends I have made and the memories that have been created.
The Islander 