Author: Viking Scroll

 Written by: Bryan Estrada

Nesly Perez will attend Cal State LA for its Urban Learning Program. The Urban Learning Program is an undergraduate major for students who want to earn a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential at the same time.

“My former teachers inspired me to become a teacher myself,” said Perez. She plans on becoming an elementary or middle school teacher after college because she said she prefers working with younger students.

At MVHS, she has participated in extracurricular activities including basketball, FCA, MEchA, and Teachers Preparation Academy (TPA).

Through her involvement in TPA, Perez tutored students at local middle schools. She said that her TPA experience helped her decide if she wanted to pursue a career in teaching.

“[The first-hand experience] helped me [understand] the learning ability of each student and what I can do to help [them],” said Perez.

What have you learned that you wish someone had taught you/shared with you while you were at MVHS?

Laura García, MVHS Class of  ‘08, UCSB Class of  ‘12: 

While at MVHS, I wish someone would have told me that the commitment, hard work and progress I make towards accomplishing a goal, is just as important as reaching a goal. I wish I would have known earlier in life that it is critical to have check-ins with yourself and ask yourself “what am I learning from this? How have I become better because of this?” and “what new things have a I discovered about myself through this experience?” When you reach your goal and reflect on everything you gained in the process, it will make your accomplishment much more meaningful- not only did you reach your goal, but you also gained empowerment, new knowledge, and wisdom.

Tina Ortiz,  MVHS Class of  ‘09, UCSB Class of ‘13:

[How to] manage your money, learn to cook, be kind, and enjoy life smartly. You are young and have so much potential, so don’t limit yourself. Also, appreciate your common sense. That is one of the many things I left high school with and learned not everyone had this.

Edgar Corona, MVHS Class of ‘08, Georgetown Class of  ‘12:

The experience at MVHS is an insightful time to acquire unique skills that will stay with you through both your personal and professional journeys: time management, decision-making, continuous learning, adaptability and resilience. Your time as a Student does not end once you leave MVHS. Treat every experience as a learning opportunity and continue to remain curious, thoughtful and ambitious. These traits will keep you on the path to success.

Adam Carranza, MVHS Class of ‘04, La Verne Class of ‘08:

I wish someone would have shared with me that relationships change over time and in order for me to grow as a person it means that the people around me will also need to grow or change.

Karen Fuentes, MVHS Class of ‘17, (Sophomore at CSUF:

One of the main challenges I have encountered in college is time management. I struggled with balancing class assignments and work. All the guidance given to me helped me understand what I was about to face in college, but I don’t think it prepared me. Hearing teachers talk about college is like hearing someone tell you a good story, but once you are in college, you begin to understand that those stories mean something. You begin to understand the meaning of the advice your teachers are giving you, and hopefully, start to put into practice all the knowledge they shared with you. What I have learned is that the advice my teachers gave me prepared me mentally but not emotionally. Being emotionally prepared is something that every student has to experience on their own, or at least that is how it was for me.

Kimberly Caal Garcia, MVHS Class of ‘16, UCLA Class of ‘20:

I wish I would have learned about how to deal with stressful situations better. In high school, I was able to balance schoolwork, clubs, and cross-country and kind of thought that college would be easier. But college culture is mixed in with things like anxiety, depression, and a lot of pressure for a first generation student like me. Not to mention that at UCLA there is a lot of competition for letters of recommendation, internships, and research positions. While I knew that I was going at the only pace that I knew how, all of that kind of made me snap in a way that made me really believe I made the mistake of being at this institution. This isn’t a rare phase as other first generation and latinx students have mentioned that by their 2nd year, college doesn’t seem worth it anymore. Now as I am about to enter my fourth year, I regret having had that mindset affect my work, and whenever those thoughts come around I just take a moment to hype myself up and really acknowledge that I am doing the best I can.

What did you learn at MVHS that has been most helpful to you?

Edgar Corona, MVHS Class of ‘08, Georgetown Class of ‘12:

On the academic side, I benefited most from taking the challenging courses at MVHS, including but not limited to, Calculus, English AP, Economics, Physics and Physiology. The material was stimulating. Once I arrived at Georgetown University, I did not necessarily use all the content that I learned in these courses but I did reflect on how studying for these courses in high school taught me discipline, resilience and determination.  This approach was similar once I thought back to the sports that I participated in at MVHS. No job is too big or too difficult. You will get results as long as you put in the time and effort.

Kimberly Caal Garcia, MVHS Class of ‘16, UCLA Class of ‘20: 

I think my favorite lesson that I have learned from MVHS and my overall high school experience is always asking myself questions:

Did I make it to all my classes this quarter? Yes.

Did I ask for help and or found a way to figure it out on my own? Yes. I learned this whenever I made small accomplishes in whatever I was struggling in.

Did I beat my Bonelli Park (xc reference) time? Yes.

Was I the fastest runner? No, but I finished my race.

Am I good at computer science? Not at all, but I did make something that I think is pretty cool.

Am I proud of what I have done? Yes.

Using this mechanism, I have been able to motivate myself to keep trying (even though most of us don’t know what we’re doing here!)

Adam Carranza, MVHS Class of ‘04, La Verne Class of ‘08:

I learned from a mentor at MVHS that the words “please” and “thank you” are free, use them freely. People like to be acknowledged for what they do and these two phrases are easy to let people know you appreciate them.

By Myrna Angulo and Marla Sanchez

On March 8, the Renaissance Assembly recognized 10 students from each class with highest GPA in the school. One student who was recognized for her academic achievement was Nikki Ma (‘21). Ma is ranked number 1 in the sophomore class and ranked 8 in the school with an unweighted cumulative GPA of 3.92.

Ma keeps herself busy by being a member of three 3 clubs: Link Crew, Pacific Horizon, and Key Club. Before recently being elected president of Key Club, Ma was previously the vice president. Ma is typically an outgoing person, and she enjoys her free time by either going out with friends or staying home and relaxing.

Jenny Chen (‘20), former Key Club president said, “I think Nikki deserves her spot as rank 1 as she is hard working, outgoing and a fun person to be around.”

Ma is hoping to attend a 4-year university or a medical school. She hopes to be a cardiothoracic surgeon, which is a medical doctor who specializes in procedures of the heart, lungs, and other organs in the chest.

Ma maintains her grades by making sure she understands the subject thoroughly and getting her school work and homework done on time. Ma says, “School is important to me because it gives us more opportunities for life and to explore.”

By Mayumi Lemus, Digital Editor

The last play of the school year was “Peter and The Starcatcher,” a humorous musical directed by drama teacher Mr. Scott Bier and Jen Gonzalez (‘18). “Peter and The Starcatcher” is a prequel that shows how the characters in the famous Disney movie “Peter Pan” became who they are, with a musical twist. This makes “Peter and The Starcatcher” the first musical and choreographed play at Mountain View since Mr. Bier became adviser.

The play started off with all the characters coming up on stage explaining what we would see in the play mentioning love, action, humor, and the power of imagination. They introduce us to the two ships that will be important to the play: The Wasp, the fastest ship in England, which had a trunk full of Starstuff, and the Neverland, With an identical trunk full of sand.

The first character introduced is Slank, played by Melissa Escobedo (‘18), the captain of  Neverland, who had bought three young orphans; Prentiss, played by Jimmy Santos (‘21); Ted, played by Kathy Caal (‘18); and a nameless boy who would later on be known as Peter Pan, played by Hector Pulido (‘21).

While Captain Slank is boarding the Neverland he marks the Queen’s trunk with an X in white chalk and while nobody is looking he switches the trunks moving the Queen’s trunk on The Neverland and his trunk full of sand on Wasp.

One of the main characters, Molly Aster, played by student director Gonzalez, is first introduced when she’s saying goodbye to her father. Her father, Lord Leonard Aster played by Zaid Mendoza (‘20), was entrusted by the Queen to board Wasp and take her trunk to the island of Rundoon and destroy it. Lord Aster pays Captain Slank to take care of Molly and her nanny Mrs. Bumbrake, played by Ariana Reyes (‘19), who would both be boarding The Neverland instead of The Wasp with Lord Aster.

Black Stache, played by Armando Sandoval (‘18), did not appear until halfway through the first act (when he kidnaps the captain of the Wasp and steers to a collision with the Neverland), yet still managed to steal the show. Lezly Hernandez (‘20) went to the opening night and said “The whole play was really good and I really enjoyed it, the Black Stache was definitely the character that made me laugh the most.”

At the end of the first act, the ships collide and the main characters swim to a nearby island, seeking safety.

The second act started off with what Mr.Bier said was one of the hardest parts of the play to prepare for, “I did not have any experience with directing musicals, and it came out great thanks to Jen [Gonzalez] and Armando [Sandoval] who were in charge of the choreography and the singing portions of the play.” The cast came out dancing in handmade mermaid costumes in a musical interlude.

After the interlude, the characters find themselves on the island, where the play reaches its climax. The boy with no name becomes Peter, we learn that Molly will be Wendy’s mother, and Tinkerbell is born.

On closing night, Gonzales, student director of the play and play-choreographer was honored with an award and graduation stole for being the first 4-year drama student since Mr. Bier became adviser. Seniors Sandoval and Escobedo were also recognized for acting in multiple plays.