Octagon 2024-25 Issue 7

Mock Trial season comes to a close, team places 15th at State Finals

BY JACOB RABE

TThe Sacramento Country Day Varsity Mock Trial team competed in the 2025 Mock Trial State Finals from March 14-16 at the Los Angeles County Superior Court Stanley Mosk Courthouse. They placed 15th out of 34 teams.

According to the Constitutional Rights Foundation (which organizes CA Mock Trial), there are 450 Mock Trial varsity teams across the state, putting the team 15th out of 450 by technicality.

The Mock Trial team competed in four rounds, securing victories against Moreau Catholic High School (2-1 ballots, 481-472 points) and 1997 state champion Central

BY JESSE DIZON & EESHA DHAWAN

Pacha Mundi Day, held this year on April 17, is an annual event celebrating Country Day’s cultural diversity. The event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the lower school plaza and middle school quad.

Pacha Mundi Day was envisioned by former middle school science teacher Molly Frandrup. She was inspired by Walt Disney

BLOOD DRIVE

Country Day will be hosting the second biannual Red Cross Blood Drive on May 1 in the Benvenuti Gymnasium from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students at least 16 years old are eligible to donate, but students who are 16 require parental consent.

Union High School (3-0 ballots, 506-485 points).

Despite narrowly outscoring 2014 state champion Redlands High School (499-495), the team lost 1-2 in ballots. However, junior Liam Donohue received a perfect score from all judges for one of his direct examinations, while senior co-captain Saheb Gulati and senior Radha Chauhan received perfect scores from all judges for their witness portrayals.

In the very last round, they faced 2003 state champion Riverside Polytechnic High School, losing 1-2 ballots (479-516 points).

Rick Lewkowitz, who has coached Country Day’s Mock Trial team for the past eight years, explained how the Country Day team

World’s Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, better known as EPCOT, the famous theme park consisting of 11 pavilions representing countries from around the world. She teamed up with her colleague, middle school History Department Chair and Dean of Student Life Ryan Hobbs, to make the idea a reality.

Originally dubbed “World Cultures Day,” Pepa Novell, Country Day’s world languages

SPRING SHOWCASE

Sacramento Country Day will host its annual Spring Showcase on April 24, welcoming visitors from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. During the event, teachers will exhibit students’ work, while student-run clubs will oversee tables representing their organizations throughout the evening.

prepared for the competition.

“We went over our direct examinations, practiced our cross-examinations and statements, went over possible problems as best as we could anticipate — we just kept fine-tuning,” he said. “I also talked to our witnesses about being as natural and conversational as they can.”

Despite their lower placement compared to last year (fourth out of 32 teams), judges and scorers commended the team for their professionalism and legal skills.

“Most of the judges liked how civil and professional our team was every round,” Lewkowitz said. “They paid the highest compliments to our pre-trial attorney [Gulati]. They were very complimentary of

and cultures chair, suggested “Pacha Mundi” instead as it was more unique and drew students in.

“Pacha” is a Quechuan word. The Quechans are an Indigenous people originating from the Andes in Peru. The word means “everything in the universe.” “Mundi” is a Latin term meaning “world.”

The first event was held in 2023 in the lower school plaza and the blacktop behind the

how well prepared and skilled he was.” Riverside Polytechnic coach Matthew Schiller, who has held that position for 21 years, also praised Gulati.

“We thought [Gulati] was very smooth, like sounding great and super nice,” Schiller said. “He talked to some of our students after the round.”

Lewkowitz also praised senior co-captain Garrett Xu.

“[Xu] was outstanding in all four rounds. In round three, when he gave the closing statement, he got perfect scores from all four scorers,” Lewkowitz said, “That’s very unusual.”

MOCK TRIAL page 3 >>

middle school of Country Day. According to Hobbs, it took place in May and was “miserably hot.”

Now that Frandrup is no longer teaching at Country Day, Hobbs currently leads the event.

Last year, Pacha Mundi was held on May 29, the day before final exams. According to

PACHA MUNDI page 3 >>

Read a feature about Clark’s writting and production for her

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Ava Eberhart

Saheb Gulati

Zema Nasirov Garrett Xu

COPY EDITORS

Eesha Dhawan

Saheb Gulati

Ryan Xu

NEWS EDITOR

Aaryan Gandhi

FEATURE EDITOR

Eesha Dhawan

SPORTS EDITOR

Andrew Burr

A&E/OPINION EDITOR

Kate Barnes

TECHNOLOGY TEAM

Ava Eberhart, manager

Daniel Holz

Rebecca Lin

Ryan Xu

PHOTO EDITOR

Rehan Afzal

PAGE EDITORS

Rehan Afzal

Andrew Burr

Jesse Dizon

Ava Eberhart

Aaryan Gandhi

Anisha Mondal

Anika Nadgauda

Zema Nasirov

Garrett Xu

BUSINESS STAFF

Aaryan Gandhi, manager

SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF

Ava Eberhart, co-editor

Anika Nadgauda, co-editor

REPORTERS

Noor Alameri

Lukas Chung

Ava Levermore

Vivian Li

Parsiny Nijher

Maggie Nuñez-Aguilera

Jacob Rabe

Jack Robinson

Maddy Schank

Sid Shukla

Zachary Vando-Milberger

Andrea Yue

Ryan Xu

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rehan Afzal, editor

Simon Lindenau

Anika Nadgauda

Zema Nasirov

MULTIMEDIA STAFF

Ryan Xu, editor

Andrew Burr

Jesse Dizon

Anika Nadgauda

GRAPHIC ARTISTS

Claire Gemmell

Anika Nadgauda

Zema Nasirov

Gavin Wang

ADVISER

Andrea Todd

The Octagon is the student-run newspaper of Sacramento Country Day high school. The print edition is published eight times a year, and the website is updated regularly. The Octagon is committed to unbiased and comprehensive reporting, serving as a source of reliable information for SCDS students and the school community. The Octagon will publish all timely and relevant news deemed appropriate by the editors-in-chief and adviser. We seek to highlight high-school-related events and spotlight the voices of those with a story to share. Further policies can be found on our website or by scanning the QR code below.

Junior wins first prize in documentary contest

BY LUKAS CHUNG & SID SHUKLA

Out of nearly 3,500 documentaries, “No Sanctuary: Addressing Transnational Repression In the Next Four Years” won first prize in its region.

Junior Rehan Afzal from Sacramento Country Day, alongside junior Singh and senior Dhaliwal from Davis Senior High School, produced the documentary, which investigates the assassinations of human rights activists seeking sanctuary in the United States.

After hearing the stories of journalists who have covered similar issues, Singh and Dhaliwal elected to keep their identities anonymous. Singh and Dhaliwal still have ties to family in India’s Punjab province, and because of the threat of political persecution, omitted their full names from all materials related to their project.

The work was recognized by Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) at its annual StudentCam national video documentary competition in January. C-SPAN’s contest presents a different theme each year for students to address in their documentary.

This year’s theme was “Your Message to the President.” Students were asked to address a community or personal issue on which the president should take action after inauguration day.

Afzal and his team chose “Transnational Repression” as their topic, which refers to the issue of a foreign country acting outside of its borders to target a person they disagree with, and they can be as extreme as assassinating that individual.

Specifically, the students addressed the issue of the Sikh community facing transnational repression from the Indian government, which is occurring mainly in the U.S. and Canada.

Singh described the title “No Sanctuary” as “the concept of somebody having nowhere to return to, or nowhere they can actually feel safe.”

The documentary highlights the stories of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist who was assassinated by the Indian Government, and Angad Singh, a journalist who was banned from India due to his documentary work for VICE News (an alternative news media channel).

The documentary explains the issue more broadly through an investigative reporter for The Sacramento Bee, Joe Rubin, and attorney and policy expert Amar Shergill.

“Our documentary focuses on the state of India silencing the voices of dissidents abroad who are criticizing the India government,” Afzal said.

Developing the topic was the most difficult step for the team in producing this documentary. The concept originally focused on Proposition 47, a law passed in California in 2014 that redefined certain non-violent crimes.

“At first, securing interviews and shaping our idea was a challenge but we were reaching out and figuring out the right storyboard. Once we knew who would respond, we could focus on making the documentary,” Dhaliwal said.

Despite this frustration, persistence paid off once the team was able to focus on the specific topic of transnational repression.

The team chose to address this issue due to Singh and Dhaliwal’s personal connections to the topic.

“As a Sikh, my community is pretty directly affected by transnational repression, especially the Natomas Sikh community that I’m a part of. So for me, it wasn’t just finding a topic for the C-SPAN competition,” Singh said.

Once the team shifted their focus to the issues the documentary addressed, they reached out to the Sacramento Sikh temple called the Gurdwara Sahib Sikh Temple and spoke to their head, Dr. Gurtej Singh M.D., who has worked to bring awareness to the repression faced from the Indian Government. He verified the idea and set the tone for further interviews.

Still, the team faced some challenges, particularly in securing interviews with high-profile figures like policy experts and politicians.

“It was very hard to get interviews with politicians, especially during the election season, when everyone was busy traveling and working on the campaign trail,” Dhaliwal said.

Afzal also faced issues with procrastination. Singh recounts these struggles with Afzal.

“[Afzal] would just go off track so much, like he would be so chill even though we literally have an upcoming deadline,” Singh said.

In response to his issues with procrastinating, Afzal said creating the documentary with a group made it much easier to stay on task.

“Having three people also helps a lot; if one of you loses focus, the others can keep you in check and make sure you finish your job,” Afzal said.

Despite these challenges, Afzal felt that the documentary was a success.

“I was confident that we had put in close to the best amount of work that we could have. We put many hours, many late nights into creating the project. I think, especially for our first time, everything panned out very well,” Afzal said.

Every year, 150 cash prizes are awarded across five different categories — Grand Prize, First Prize, Second Prize, Third Prize and Honorable Mentions. There are four First Prize awards — Middle School, High

School-East, High School-Central, and High School-West.

Afzal and his team won the First Prize award in the West Region, winning $3,000 to be split among the team. Rehan plans to use this money to invest in more filmmaking to raise the production value for their next documentary.

Singh is also already thinking of ideas for future documentaries.

“I had the idea of continuing ‘No Sanctuary,’ as a series, so instead of just focusing on Sikh transnational repression, we would be making an episodic documentary that focuses on different victim oppression. But nothing’s actually set in stone,” Singh said. Afzal, Singh and Dhaliwal plan to compete as a team again.

“Now that we’ve had our first experience with this, we’re already looking at other film competitions. We have a few ideas, so over the summer, this is definitely going to be one of the things we do,” Afzal said.

“No Sanctuary: Addressing Transnational Repression in the Next Four Years” can be viewed on YouTube or C-SPAN’s official StudentCam website.

UPDATE TO THE OCTAGON WEBSITE

The Octagon’s online website domain name is no longer called scdsoctagon.org. The website has been changed to saccdsoctagon.org

Mock Trial: Third consecutive year at State Finals, seniors sign off

(continued from page 1)

The closing statement is the attorney’s final argument to the judge, summarizing key evidence from the trial in requesting a verdict.

Xu’s ability to deliver high-scoring closings on both prosecution and defense was unusually impressive, according to Lewkowitz. However, Xu emphasized that his focus wasn’t on the outcome itself.

“We do care about scores, but I just always have the mindset of going out there and doing my best,” Xu said. “If my best is perfect scores — so be it. If my scores are not perfect, as long as they’re near perfect, that’s okay for me.”

Junior Ike Reynen, who was a witness for both prosecution and defense, also praised the team’s performance this year. As per his individual performance, Renyen credits his ability to stay in character, setting him apart from other defendants.

“When the judge asked the scorers for feedback, one scorer even described me as looking as though I was about to pee myself,” Reynen said, noting that he played “a very weak and upset person.”

Lewkowitz says facing Riverside Polytechnic in round four was the team’s “toughest roadblock.”

“They were very aggressive,” Lewkowitz said. “We ended up placing below Riverside Polytechnic.”

Xu praised Riverside Polytechnic for giving him the best final round of his career that he could ask for.

“That round was, to me, the best send-off I could possibly ask for. We performed the best we’ve had all season, and they were just very, very good. It was just so much fun,” Xu said.

Schiller acknowledged their aggressiveness and admitted it was a mistake.

“We’re definitely not usually an aggressive team. I think that was probably an error in our preparation for the style of competition,” Schiller said.

He explained that their approach may have clashed with the growing emphasis on theatrical performance over legal substance.

“It’s just what happens when scorers aren’t as practiced and familiar with Mock Trial. They’re not interested in the actual law aspect of it — they’re more interested in the performance,” Schiller said.

Schiller also added that he had to assign some of his alumni as scorers for other rounds, as organizers were “scrambling at the last minute” to have enough of them.

After battling Riverside Polytechnic, Lewkowitz already has a plan for his team.

“[Next year,] we probably will do a lot more

impromptu work,” he explained. “I was proud of many of the efforts of our team, but we have to have better strategies in dealing with that.”

Lewkowitz also said that he wants to develop drills specifically designed to prepare his team for aggressive witnesses and attorneys.

Mock Trial After Hours

Once out of court, all students were invited to attend the Student Social at the Biltmore Hotel on the second evening of the competition. Reynen enjoyed socializing with students from all over California.

“You get to walk around and intermingle with the other schools, which could be fun because obviously, you don’t know these kids that much,” Reynen said. “It’s a great place to make friends all over California.”

However, junior Rya Allen, who attended the social, said that some of the teachers were unintentionally ruining the vibe while supervising the social.

“I remember when [junior Kamron Khodjakhonov] and some other people were all together and kind of jumping up and down, and then the teachers turned the lights on and said, ‘What I saw was moshing. Moshing is unsafe. Do not do that,’” Allen said.

Despite Riverside Polytechnic’s aggressive tactics during the trial, Xu’s encounter with them post-trial highlighted their true nature outside of the court.

“When we talked to them after the trials, they were the most chill guys ever,” Xu said.

Xu also recalls a spontaneous encounter with students from other schools, including Clovis West High School.

“One guy said, ‘I can play the guitar; why don’t we go to our room and I’ll play guitar and you guys sing?’ It was basically six of us — just random students from schools I’d never met before. We just all came together, and it was amazing.”

Looking Into the Future

As several senior members of the team prepare to pass the torch, senior co-captains Ava Eberhart and Xu each reflect on the path that brought them to where they are now.

Xu started from a place of insecurity.

“As a freshman, I was very quiet. Yeah, I was a nice kid, but I wasn’t out there — I wasn’t social,” he said. “I was never able to do any sort of public speaking, let alone speak to federal judges in a courtroom.”

That same year, he was cut from the competition roster, just weeks before the County tournament. Despite his frustration, Xu poured his energy into improving, refusing to let this setback get to his head.

“No matter how inexperienced I felt, no matter how bad I felt, I knew that I had what it took if I just worked a little harder to contribute to the team in any small way or form,” Xu said.

Eberhart also faced rough beginnings.

“I pretty much started from level zero. I always thought I was just a witness, but Mr. Lewkowitz was the one who really pushed me to be an attorney,” Eberhart said.

Now, Eberhart believes that she’s at a point where she can offer wisdom and coach her teammates.

“Never doubt your abilities — there are just so many people to help you. The coaches are insane, too. There were just so many resources available that could get me to my highest potential,” Eberhart said.

With four years of experience under his belt, Xu offers his encouragement to the next generation of Country Day Mock Trial.

“It’s very easy to feel like an amateur. In freshman year, I would be looking at alumna Grace Zhao and I’d be like, ‘Wow, I wish I could be like that’ and comparing myself and seeing a huge gap. But I’m telling you, since I was able to become a good attorney, these freshmen are much more capable and better. They can 100% be as good, if not better than me.”

Xu, however, notes that they won’t become as strong — not if they don’t put in the work and “genuinely believe in themselves.” He emphasizes that members of the team stay humble, listen, and take suggestions from the coaches.

“No amount of cockiness can take you far in Mock Trial, and I want them to realize that they need to listen to the coaches — not their egos.”

Xu credits Mock Trial for giving him an invaluable gift before he departs for college.

“You see a cute girl in the coffee shop, and to have that confidence to go up to her and talk to her — Mock Trial can teach you that. I’m telling you, it really can,” Xu said.

Although the state competition marked the end of the regular season, Sacramento Country Day’s Mock Trial team has applied to compete in the 2025 Spring Leagues — a national spring tournament held online. If selected, the team will only have a few weeks to prepare for a completely new case.

“The case comes out in the first few days of April when all of the students are on vacation,” Lewkowitz said, “So we’ll have only four or five weeks to prepare, which is a pretty narrow timeline. It’ll be a week after spring break however that we really sit down as a team and start talking about the case.”

Lewkowitz further highlights their lack of time, noting that the Mock Trial team usually has from September to late January to prepare before a county championship.

Despite their high school careers already ending, Eberhart plans on occasionally helping out the Mock Trial team in the future.

“Our past captains from last year would come back every once in a while to help, and I think I’ll do the same. [Gulati and Xu] will probably also do the same,” Eberhart said.

Pacha Mundi: Embracing, celebrating and sharing cultures

(continued from page 1)

Hobbs, it made it difficult for the high school students to participate.

This year, Hobbs scheduled the celebration in April to accommodate high school students and to avoid hot weather.

Pacha Mundi features cultural performances, traditional foods from around the world and educational displays. Students participate by sharing their own cultures and experiences.

Parents and affinity groups’ volunteers host booths representing their cultures.

Every year, Pacha Mundi has volunteers, outside food trucks, performers, a henna stand run by parent volunteers and cultural dance performers. This year, Hobbs arranged for a gelato food truck, an empanada food truck, a Nigerian food truck, and a female mariachi band. There will also be booths from China, India, Pakistan, Norway and the Philippines. The Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APSA), and the Latinx Hispanic Student Union (LHSU) will also be participating and hosting their own booths.

“We try to make the decorations and the colorfulness of the campus a little bit better each time,” Hobbs said.

Junior Ava Dunham, who is half Italian, will be performing four traditional Italian dances — Tarantella Napoletana, Saltarello,

Le Petit Rose and Bella Ciao — with Balliamo Traditional Italian Dance Group at the lower school quad. Balliamo Dance Group is an adult dance troupe from the Sacramento Italian Cultural Society that performs at Italian festivals.

One of Dunham’s favorite dances is Tarantella Napoletana, which originates from Naples, her mother’s hometown. Dunham is also excited to perform “Bella Ciao,” which translates to “Beautiful Goodbye.”

Originally a folk song sung in rice fields of Northern Italy, “Bella Ciao” was adapted during the Nazi occupation of Italy to fight fascism. The dance itself is similar to a slow, romantic line dance.

“I’m very loud and proud when it comes to being Italian, but I’m not sure a lot of people have gotten to see what that means to me,” Dunham said.

Apart from Dunham and her troupe representing Italy, middle school parent Sarah Bodden will man a booth representing Norway.

Last year was Bodden’s first year participating. Her booth included national art, books on culture and Norwegian hats that have traditional, knitted, fancy lace-looking patterns. Folk music played the whole time, and Bodden also prepared a traditional rice pudding — Risgrynsgröt — for people to sample.

“What was fun about that one was that

either students or staff would comment about how their particular culture had a rice dessert and how it was similar or not similar,” Bodden said.

This year, Bodden will be serving a Norwegian wedding cake called Kransekake.

Bodden moved from Ohio to Sacramento in August 2023 and found this to be her first opportunity in Sacramento to experience other cultures.

“This celebration provides a unique opportunity for people to step outside of their own experience. I personally haven’t found another way here in Sacramento since we’ve lived here to experience other cultures so upfront and immersive,” she said. “It allows us to appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of each culture.”

Dunham shared a similar experience from the event and enjoyed hearing from parents at the different booths.

“Getting to hear stories from parents who are running the tables gives students a lot of appreciation for the kind of traditions other cultures have. One of my favorite things about Pacha Mundi is looking at similarities and being like, ‘oh, we have a version of that too,’” Dunham said.

As for junior Isaac Reynen, he enjoys the culinary aspect of Pacha Mundi Day.

“I like the food at Pacha Mundi, because I think I eat a lot of the same food every day, so getting to experience other food that

doesn’t necessarily conform with what I would eat on a typical basis is pretty fun,” Reynen said.

To Reynen, Pacha Mundi can help students understand the world around them.

“Diversity gives people a chance to understand concepts and cultures which they might not otherwise understand, which gives them a better perspective on the world around them. If you don’t understand the people around you, it’s gonna be hard to work with them in the future,” Reynen said Head of Sacramento Country Day School Lee Thompson believes that Pacha Mundi is an opportunity for students to broaden their perspectives on the world around them.

“It’s sort of a first window into potentially other cultures that you’re not familiar with,” Thomsen said. “If you really build a wonderful community, everyone feels like they belong.”

Hobbs hopes that in the future, Pacha Mundi will become an event that is known by the whole Country Day community. Currently, due to the event being so new, many families are not familiar with it. As a result, he has to organize more food trucks, since there are not as many people willing to volunteer.

“Trying to get it off the ground is slow, but hopefully, in 10 years, people will be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I know Pacha Mundi Day,’” Hobbs said.

PLAYWRIGHT IN THE MAKING

Imagine being sent to a teenager summer camp by your parents. Suddenly, all of the camp counselors go missing, and one is found dead in the woods. Then, a rainstorm creates a mudslide, trapping the campers in the woods. The situation spirals out of control.

What follows is “Armageddon.”

This is the opening act of Sacramento Country Day sophomore Hayley Clark’s play, which she wrote and produced. “Armageddon” explores how teenagers would survive without adults in the picture.

“Armageddon” will be performed in Country Day’s Multipurpose Room by the high school drama elective on April 29 at 5 p.m. and April 30 at 7 p.m.

Theater director and middle school English teacher Jane McGinnes mentored Clark throughout the writing and production process.

At Clark’s 2023 Country Day eighth grade graduation ceremony, faculty members presented speeches about individual students. There are specific categories of excellence in different departments and Clark received the Drama Award. In McGinnes’s speech for Clark, she joked that Clark should write a play.

“She gave me books on playwriting. I kept having this scene in my head of this fire and these kids dancing around it,” Clark said. “I just decided to write it. I pitched the idea to her. She liked it and that’s how it started.”

The inspiration for this play for Clark has come from her reading curriculum at Country Day.

“I’d say the theme is kind of a mix of ‘Lord of the Flies,’ ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘The Crucible,’ to name a few literary pieces in the curriculum,” Clark said.

Clark had thought the original plot of “Lord of the Flies” would turn out differently than it did. She channeled her thoughts of an alternative ending into her writing.

“I am sort of a sponge when it comes to

“I have never been so close to the process as I have been on this one. I’ve been able to watch [Clark’s] process, and I’m really seeing that this is much more of a collaboration than something like a novel,” Hinojosa said.

High school English teacher Jane Bauman attended the play run-throughs and also contributed to advising Clark. Clark gave the English teachers her completed script before winter break for feedback. Hinojosa checked in with her multiple times throughout the curation of the play.

Hinojosa, McGinnes and Bauman helped finalize the themes of the play. The dark comedy maintains themes of survival, fear and separation.

Character Development

Protagonists, known only by their first names, include Thomas, Asher and Winifred.

“I wouldn’t say there is a direct villain or hero for this show, though Thomas, Asher, and Winifred are all mainly focused on as the protagonists. The show highlights the antagonistic qualities in everyone, so I’d say fear itself is sort of the “villain” for this play,” Clark said.

Thomas, played by senior Jordyn LaPlaca, is a well-meaning boy who just wants to maintain peace, but whose people-pleasing tendencies are his worst enemy.

Asher, played by senior Jenny Fominskaya, is a childish and dramatic camper whose history at camp has made him entitled. He fiercely tries to hold onto his popularity with disturbing dark secrets.

Winifred, in a cameo by playwright Clark, is Thomas’s clever and eccentric cousin who can sometimes be overly paranoid and a bit of a control freak.

The play highlights the antagonistic qualities of all the characters, making them fear the true “villain” of this play.

“I’ve loved seeing everybody step into their roles and decide what to do with them. This is the first time this play has ever been

go over into melodrama where the audience laughs.”

Clark agreed. In an effort to introduce the death scenes into the play, Clark had to balance serious subjects with comedy.

“Regarding the death scenes, I’m hoping we just nail it. They don’t laugh when we don’t want them to laugh, but we don’t know, they’re a high school audience; who knows what they’re gonna laugh at?”

Playwriting

The summer before she started high school, Clark wrote the first draft of “Armageddon.” It ran two hours long.

“When we came back after the summer, it wasn’t completely finished at that point, but she had brilliant ideas,” McGinnes said.

There were no concrete auditions. The actors in the drama elective ran through scenes together with different combinations of people, and McGinnes based her casting on those.

In the end, there were not enough roles for the number of students in the high school drama elective, so Clark had to create six more characters. This created the opportunity for the play to have various new characters with different storylines.

Originally, the script was 114 pages, with the play running for two hours, including interludes to interject with different characters.

“McGinnes told me up front it would need to be cut down while including the interludes,” Clark said.

The play was shortened to an hour and twenty minutes.

Considering the time frame that they had to rehearse, the capabilities of the cast and the attention span of the audience, the play was adjusted.

“I’m glad that a lot of people liked the original, though, so I’m still holding onto it and am planning on making a hybrid version with the cuts I enjoyed from this version and

clarify what she was trying to say in her writing.

“[The students] have backed me up in my work that I might not have been able to advocate for as strongly without them,” Clark said.

Senior Ash LaPlaca is one of the co-directors and a cast member who plays Billie in “Armageddon.” Keeping parts of the original script maintained the integrity of Clark’s work, Ash said.

Junior Ava Dunham, a cast member who plays Justine, participated in the discussions the cast would have about the script. Students would make their case in including certain lines of the script, and the class would have a forum-like structure to debate the pros and cons of the addition to the story as a whole.

“The ultimate decision was left up to McGinnes and [Clark]. McGinnes often asked [Clark]: ‘How did you envision the scene?’ And [Clark] would make the final call,” Dunham said.

Clark has always loved writing. She won the creative writing contest in middle school at Country Day two years in a row. This was what motivated her to continue her writing journey. She is currently on Country Day’s Glass Knife staff and is taking the introductory creative writing class taught by Hinojosa.

“It’s been a lot easier to work with people who understand my writing. Even talking with Ms. McGinnes or Mr. Hinojosa, people who will hear you out and fight for what message you’re trying to show and listen to you,” Clark said.

Both McGinnes and Hinojosa expressed Clark’s dedication to the production of “Armageddon.”

“I feel so proud of [Clark] and so impressed. She’s done incredible work with this. It just blows me away how invested she’s been in this process,” Hinojosa said.

McGinnes enjoyed the process of working with Clark to create this production and said

Clark is looking forward to the possibility of making a tradition on the Country Day campus of students writing and producing

“It’s different from the plays we’ve put on in the past,” Clark says. “I hope that if anybody wants to write a play in the

MAPPED MEMORIES Zoe Genetos poses with friends at hiking trails, sports games, dorms, etc. at University of California, Los Angeles. PHOTOS COURTESY OF GENETOS

Zoe Genetos, ’24, pledges to the Pi Beta Phi sorority, joins clubs at UCLA

BY MADDY SCHANK

Zoe Genetos, ‘24, attends the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and is majoring in physiological sciences. She is pledged to the Pi Beta Phi sorority.

Q: What classes are you taking this year?

A: The first quarter I was here, I took Life Science 7A Cell and Molecular Biology, Math 30A, Life Science 30A, English Composition, Rhetoric and Language (ENGCOMP 3D). Then in the second quarter, I took Life Science 7B, Life Science 30B, Psych 10, Chem 14A.

Q: What’s your favorite class?

A: Probably my biology class, just because it was the easiest, and I like biology.

We got to do an experiment where we were comparing two species of squirrels. We had skeletons from both of them and we had to measure different skull lengths and try to decide if they were the same species or not, depending on how their skull sizes varied.

Q: What are your class sizes like?

A: There are around 400 to 500 people, but when we have a class size that big, we also have a built in discussion section, which the Teaching Assistants, who are graduate students, supervise.

Q: What are some similarities or differences between what you thought college would be like and what it’s actually like?

A: I think the classes are as challenging as I expected, but my biology is kind of like AP Biology all over again, which is great because Dr. Whited did an amazing job. So classes-wise, it’s what I expected.

I didn’t expect to see the people I knew here every day, but I’ve managed to find them a lot. I ran into one of the people I went to middle school at Country Day with, Charlie Black. I also ran into some other people from the Sacramento area. Considering UCLA’s size, this was a little surprising.

Q: When did you meet those people?

A: During the first week, what we call “Week Zero.” There are no classes and nothing you have to go to, so it’s just everyone hanging out.

My dorm, Rieber Terrace, is pretty anti-social because most of the people are sophomores. During that time, we went to a lot of other, more classic dorms with more freshmen, including Hendrick Hall, Dykstra Hall, and Rieber Vista. I mostly met a lot of people through rushing and recruitment for Greek life.

Q: What is sorority rushing, and what is it like?

A: It’s a long process in which you visit every house and speak to the girls, hear about their philanthropy, see the house and understand what it’s like to be in that sorority. At the end of the week you rank them and they rank you and you match into their house. It’s really long and tiring, but it also bonds you with the girls you are going through the process with. It’s been great for me and I suggest at least rushing, because even if you don’t join, you meet a lot of people in the process.

Q: What’s it like staying in a dorm?

A: I love it, honestly. It’s great. I’m in Rieber Terrace, and I’m best friends with the girls right across from me, so it’s totally fun. There’s always someone free right around the corner to go get dinner with, go do something with.

My dorm is much bigger than a classic one. It has a shared bathroom instead of a communal one, so I haven’t really had any problems with personal space or anything like that.

But the laundry situation is rough. You really just have to find a weird time to do your laundry. I tried to do it this morning because I thought it was an odd time and people would be in class, but it was really busy and I couldn’t. There are so many people using them, and two of the fourteen machines are usually broken.

Q: Are you participating in any sports or clubs?

A: I’m not doing any sports, sadly, I don’t have time right now. Intramural just means you make your own team and compete when you want—no try outs, and it’s coed. I don’t know that many volleyball players really, but just because I’m not playing now doesn’t mean I won’t later on.

One of my favorite clubs I’m in is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. They put on a “Light the Night” mile-long walk, and I got to volunteer and set that up. Basically, they raise money and awareness for children and people of any age with blood cancer, and they raise money for research.

It’s not difficult — there’s only, like, one meeting a week, and I joined the fundraising committee. Our major fundraising event is in spring, called “Visionaries of the Year.” We nominate someone from our club to be the poster face and then we all raise money on our own. The ‘face’ of the fundraiser is one of our members that we put the fundraising behind because people are more likely to donate to a

cause with a face than without—it humanizes the campaign.

Q: How is the transition from Country Day to college?

A: Honestly, I think it was kind of easy, but Country Day does coddle you a little bit. I meant to tell Mr. Hinojosa this, but I loved his English class, and I feel like my English class now is something he would think is really interesting.

In my UCLA class we discuss how hair affects people. One novel we read was about how a young woman uses her blonde hair to portray the “dumb blond” stereotype to play men and get further in society. For ten weeks, we talked about hair.

It’s definitely a little weird not being able to say hello to my teachers or be as close as I was with some of my teachers back home, but otherwise, it’s been perfectly fine.

At Country Day, my senior year schedule had a lot of free time for me to go do internship stuff or other stuff I wanted to do. I kind of feel like that’s the same here: I go to my classes, and I do other things.

Q: Have you taken on any new hobbies?

A: One of my friends likes to take me rock climbing. We have an entire rock climbing wall up at UCLA’s John Wooden Center. She’s a big rock climber, so I’ve gone a few times. It’s fun, but it hurts my hands.

Q: What’s your favorite part about UCLA?

A: The food and the views. I think this campus is just so pretty, even when it’s foggy and cold, I still think UCLA is gorgeous.

And the food here — right now, I’m eating fried chicken from a food truck, which doesn’t sound that appealing, but it’s really good.

Since it’s in Beverly Hills, we get an entire view of Los Angeles, and that’s really fun. We’ve also seen a lot of famous people here. I saw Jennifer Aniston the other day. A lot of places like to film in our Kerckhoff Coffeehouse and she was there filming something. My friend just ran into Jared McCain — he’s pretty famous on TikTok. He’s a basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers. Someone recently was walking around our Westwood Village, and Angelina Jolie was there. I would love to see anyone from “The Office.” Those people, they’re just funny.

Q: Do you have a favorite food place that you go to?

A: There’s this place that’s right under my building. It’s called Rendezvous. It has two sides: a west side, which is more like Chipot-

le, and an east side, which is like Chipotle but Asian-fusion style.

My favorite is the east side because they switch up the type of bowl they make every day. The other day, it was a Korean bowl. They offer a Japanese one and a Thai one. It’s so good.

And then the west side — today, I got a California Burrito, which is basically a burrito with fries in it. I’m eating better here than I think I ever have in my life.

Q: How are you spending your free time?

A: They give us a lot of homework, so I just go to the libraries, grind it out, and then I’ll go to the gym. Maybe I’ll see a football game, basketball game, soccer game, something like that, or do sorority stuff. We have chapter meetings every Monday evening, sisterhood events sprinkled throughout the month and socials or parties with the frats once or twice a week.

Q: Is there anything else that you’ve been really enjoying or disliking about college?

A: My walk back up to my dorm is horrendous. It’s located on a road that’s called “The Hill”; it’s steep. The actual name is De Neve Drive. It’s so long, you can’t go anywhere without being sweaty. But it’s a small price to pay. I love everything else. I love the people; it’s been great.

Q: Do you have any advice for the senior class of Country Day?

A: You’re gonna be really nervous going into it, but I promise you’ll settle quickly, you’ll find your groove. I promise you’ll end up where you’re supposed to.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to say?

A: Come to UCLA, we’re great!

FIVE STAR OR SUBPAR?

Quality of classes: School Spirit: Food: Social Scene: Clubs: Location: Student-Teacher Interactions:

In 1978, a week-long celebration of women was organized by Sonoma’s Education Task Force.

In 1980, Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week, and in 1987, March was declared National Women’s History Month. Every president since has annually honored the proclamation since.

To celebrate Women’s History Month, The Octagon interviewed members of the Sacramento Country Day community regarding their views on topics such as feminism and misogyny.

Those interviewed included freshman Simran Datta, sophomore Diana Haus, juniors Liam Donohue and Ava Dunham, English Department Chair Jason Hinojosa and Director of Advancement Rachelle Doyle.

STORY BY NOOR ALAMERI AND ANIKA NADGAUDA; GRAPHICS BY NADGAUDA; IFORMATION FROM U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

1933: Frances Perkins becomes the first woman to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet

1994: Violence Against Women Act is passed

1920: Women gained the right to vote

1973: Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion in the U.S

2009: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed to address wage discrimination

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE REASON BEHIND MISOGYNY?

The ‘Oxford Dictionary‘ defines misogyny as: dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women

Dunham: I think the bigger reason behind some of that misogyny is the culture we grow up in.

Right now, we’re in an age of really toxic masculinity. Young boys are being taught that they need to be dominant, they need to be respected and they need to be alpha. There are a lot of Red Pill podcasters out there giving that message to young boys, and I think that’s a really dangerous mentality.

As a society, we are still perpetuating the idea that men cannot show emotion, which leaves young boys feeling as though they have to be hypermasculine, and this idea was manipulated into an industry by content creators such as An-

drew Tate and the Red Pill media.

The idea that boys and men can’t be sensitive or creative or poetic, as that is not dominant, directly affects feminism as content creators like Andrew Tate are telling young boys that success is defined by power (or dominance over others), money and exorbitant wealth, and their ability to have multiple women at their disposal.

This media is perpetuating stereotypes and harmful ideals for both men and women.

Donohue: Inferiority. A lot of men right now try to project this really strong front, and then they see a woman in power feel like they are going to lose their position or become less than. They feel emasculated, and this messes with their

mental health, so their go-to strategy is to put down those women.

Doyle: I think there are a lot of reasons. I think fear is a big reason. Another big reason is a scarcity mindset and an assumption that there’s not going to be enough to go around. I think some people believe that if you give up power, then there will be less for them.

And I think some people are afraid of what the world will look like if it changes. So they’re not embracing change, and they’re not embracing inclusion because life will look different, and they’re more comfortable with what it looks like now.

Specifically, for people that already have power, if you’re at the top, any change might be perceived as a threat.

WOMEN’S HISTORY

HISTORY MONTH

WHO ARE SOME WOMEN WHO HAVE INSPIRED YOU?

Hinojosa: One of my first mentors was a colleague at Hong Kong International School named Melody Wong.

She was so patient with me, especially when my ignorance about women’s history and marginalization would’ve given her reasonable cause to shift her attention somewhere else. She was also a brilliant educator in general, and she provided an inspiring professional model for me to follow.

Dunham: My number one inspiration — it’s cliché — but I have to say my mother. I love her. She inspires me every day.

She’s the granddaughter of immigrants, and she grew up with a very old-world per-

spective. Her father didn’t believe in women having an education, so she had to fight within her own household to get an education.

She’s worked so hard so that I don’t have to fight for my education. I can have an education. I can do whatever I want.

Donohue: My sister has definitely inspired me a lot. Even though she had struggled with some personal problems, she really persevered and she even skipped a grade. Her resilience is just really cool to look up to.

Doyle: Women inspire me every day. I don’t have any one particular person, but

I hang out with women who inspire and impress me.

I am inspired by women who lead in male-dominated fields, and I’m also inspired by women who take stereotypically feminine pathways and make them into businesses and bust through as they build their own careers in profitable industries.

An example of somebody who inspires me is someone who creates beautiful tablescapes; something that might have been stereotypically feminine, but they are able to build a business out of that. That is something that they love doing.

WHAT DOES FEMINISM MEAN TO YOU?

Datta: There’s a common misconception that feminism is about ‘man-hating’ and such. I see it as just somebody advocating for the belief that women deserve the same standards as men. I’m not talking physically, I’m talking mentally and socially. We should be held to the same standards, and we should be respected for doing the same things that men do.

Donohue: I think feminism is women being equal to men, simply put. To me, this means supporting women in the workplace and everywhere else that they have been historically beneath men. Some examples of this are corporate areas, law enforcement and the government.

Haus: I think of it like this: as a woman, I like to be respected, and I like to be treated as an equal. I think that for me, feminism is women uplifting other women and helping them through all the struggles of being a woman.

I think it’s important because a lot of leaders, especially today, are men. It is getting better. But historically, women haven’t had a voice, they haven’t been medically researched — they’ve just been pushed to the side.

I think it’s important that we, as women, uplift each other so that our voices are heard, we get what we want, and we’re not just being dismissed.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WOMEN HAVE STRUGGLED WITH MOST IN THE PAST?

Datta: One of the biggest struggles was this idea that their role is at home. Their role is for others to be happy, not for themselves to be happy. This idea of them having to bear children, this idea of them having to take care of their husbands while finding some way to take care of themselves as an afterthought. I think feminism has allowed women to find this voice in themselves that says, “I can take care of myself too, while taking care of others around me.”

Also, I have seen a lot of women in older generations, sometimes even people who I am related to,

who have never been given the chance to fulfill their education. These women are then kind of stuck to this domestic role, which is not a bad thing in other circumstances, it is a bad thing when you are not given any other options.

Haus: Not having the same rights in terms of not being able to get an education or go to school. Your husband or your father decided everything for you.

Doyle: Societal expectations are being put on women: limited ability to pursue careers, not being able to be elected in office, silencing our

voices in the political sphere.

Body safety is a huge issue. Basic body safety, people feeling like they have the right to touch a part of a woman’s body and the pay gap still exists and is something that we’re still talking about today.

The expectation for domesticity and also being treated like slaves a lot and disproportionately, we experience more violence and harassment. If there’s a man and a woman, it’s often expected for the woman to do all of the work duties and manage a household so that is an invisible load of extra labor.

“Deaf Words” by Gavin Wang

EDITORIAL: Political discourse among high schoolers needs to change

BY EDITORIAL STAFF

In early March, a political debate unfolded between Sacramento Country Day students in the high school quad. What began as a casual conversation quickly took an incendiary turn, shifting from a somewhat constructive dialogue into a fiery exchange of ad hominem attacks.

The exchange, which centered around President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy, had devolved into a verbal brawl, thankfully cut short by the lunch bell. The involved students trudged off in their exasperation, and it was clear that no one benefited from the ordeal.

Despite its lack of nuance and complexity, the exchange highlighted an important truth: high school political discourse needs to change.

Interactions like the aforementioned are becoming exceedingly common, especially at a time when media companies seem to incentivize controversial topics.

Long-format clips of speeches are condensed into 30-second sound bites, exclusively featuring the most jaw-dropping moments. Online, corners of platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Youtube and Facebook are infested with the scourge of polarized, ideologically charged rhetoric.

Moreover, the data reflect a change in the way citizens interact with politics along with these developments in the media.

In a 2023 poll by the Pew Research Center, 79% of respondents described politics using a negative word or phrase. On the other hand, public opinion of legislators is deteriorating amid a rise in violent threats.

A poll of 300 former members of Congress found that 47% frequently face threats and report an uptick in such incidents.

The effects of these issues extend beyond just adults. In a 2024 Pew Research survey of 1,391 U.S.

teens, 90% of respondents reported using YouTube. 60% reported using TikTok and Instagram, while 55% reported using Snapchat. As the number of teens on social media continues to soar, so too does their exposure to echo chambers and polarized political content.

Naturally, this contributes to the root cause: intense sectarianism, ultimately hurting our ability to speak constructively. According to a 2020 study published in Science, “. . . social media companies like Facebook and Twitter have played an influential role in political discourse, intensifying political sectarianism.”

While some may find these figures harrowing, others might wonder why any of this matters. The reason is simple: As young people, we are the future; to function effectively in the world, being able to discuss challenging topics is essential. The way we refine our thoughts, challenge our worldviews and clarify reasoning is through discourse. Without the proper parameters, our discussions become divisive and unproductive.

So how do we move toward more productive discourse?

Fundamentally, good discourse stems from good information. The first step to repairing the state of political discourse among high schoolers is to change how we get our news about current events.

It’s time to leave 30-second news clips in the past and look to local news sources, fact-checked papers and reputable radio broadcasts.

As it stands, rates of online media readership are increasing while print media readership is on a steady decline. Broadening a narrow ‘information diet’ to include more diverse and nuanced sources will help address the root of poor discourse.

Navigating a plethora of news media can seem daunting, but there are sources to streamline the process.

Harvard Library research guides recommend using the Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart. The platform uses a bell-shaped curve to illustrate political bias — news outlets with more severe bias fall on the far ends of the curve, while more neutral sources fall near the middle. A few examples of these relatively neutral sources include: The Associated Press (AP), Reuters and the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).

Second, practicing self-restraint during contentious moments is key. Often, an argument made by an opposing party can seem absurd to the point of unreasonableness, but as long it is made in good faith, it’s important to address it carefully. Making your conversational partner feel heard reduces the adversarial dynamic, keeping discourse from descending into a battle.

This comes with a caveat, though. Some exchanges just aren’t begun in good faith; rather, they’re begun with the express intention of eliciting an emotional response. You’ll notice a pattern of strawman arguments, personal attacks, and “gotcha” moments. In these cases, the best approach might be to disengage respectfully.

Third, we must work on becoming more articulate. Imprecise and clumsy wording is arguably worse than not speaking at all. All too often, students fall into the trap of performative debate, becoming hyper-fixated on winning rather than walking away with a deeper understanding of opposing viewpoints.

Approaching debate with a sound foundation of knowledge is a good start, but it takes more to keep the conversation on track. In addition, establishing clear guidelines for the area of disagreement can help keep a dialogue focused. If the direction of the conversation starts to stray, address that, and continue to grapple with the issue everyone decided was most important. By carefully choosing words, one can target the heart of the issue being discussed without getting lost — or stuck — in the weeds.

OUR ANGLE: Standardized testing is a flawed but necessary system

BY ANDREW BURR & GARRETT XU

College admissions are more competitive than ever, and the pressure doesn’t seem to be easing up any time soon.

You may have a perfect GPA, be a multi-sport varsity athlete, lead a club and take AP classes, but it won’t make you an exception — you’ll just be the standard.

It seems as if our entire generation is in an arms race to create the “perfect application” and be admitted to every top university they can think of.

This increase in total applications can be attributed to two primary reasons: the ease of application that the Common App provides and the removal of standardized testing.

Admission to the nation’s top colleges and universities used to be considerably more likely just a decade ago, and one reason for this was the level playing field that standardized tests, such as the SAT and ACT, provided.

These tests have their flaws; don’t get me wrong. They don’t fully evaluate the breadth of students’ skills, and ultimately, they reduce people down to one simple number.

Speed and test-taking strategy hold more weight in these tests than perhaps they should, and girls often score lower than boys despite having higher GPAs on average.

These reasons don’t necessarily mean standardized tests are obsolete, though.

In recent years, requirements for these tests have been lifted, and the weight that they hold has been greatly reduced.

Standardized testing certainly has many critics, but not always for good reason. The argument often comes down to one point: it promotes inequality. But in reality, the opposite is true.

A Jan. 30, 2024, Dartmouth College study titled “Report From Working Group on the Role of Standardized Test Scores in Undergraduate Admissions” revealed that their test-optional policy led to a decrease in admissions of disadvantaged students.

The absence of standardized test scores removed a critical metric that could be contextualized within students’ backgrounds, potentially hindering the holistic evaluation process, according to Dartmouth Professors Cascio, Sacerdote, Staiger and Tine.

In February 2024, Yale announced its testing policy on its website, noting that when admissions officers reviewed applications without test scores, they relied more heavily on other parts of the application, “but this shift frequently worked to the disadvantage of applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds.”

This phenomenon occurs because test-optional policies — coupled with the rising median test scores — discourage lower-income students with lower test scores from submitting them under the misconception that they have an equal chance of admission without them.

They don’t — at least according to Yale’s internal analysis, a “product of four years of research.”

With standardized testing removed from the equation, what remains? AP scores? But do all students in the U.S. have equal access to AP courses, let alone the ability to score well? No.

Instead, admissions have become increasingly reliant on extracurricular activities. But is relying on extracurriculars inherently fair to students of lower socioeconomic status? Again, no. Consider students who must work jobs to support their families or care for younger siblings. They don’t have the same opportunities to put time and energy in prestigious internships, research programs or other extracurriculars — let alone attain those opportunities — that wealthier students from elite private schools do.

So, who truly benefits from abolishing standardized testing? Wealthier students who have the luxury to cultivate their “Ivy-level” extracurriculars.

The argument that the SAT disadvantages students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds is dubious at best.

In fact, the SAT and ACT both offer free registration for low-income students, providing them a fighting chance to prove their academic capabilities and gain admission to these top-tier universities.

Admittedly, however, the SAT and ACT offer only two and four fee waivers, respectively. Given that College Board reported over $1.1 billion in revenue in 2019 (including PSATs and APs) and ACT Inc. with approximately $949.6 million in revenue in 2020, there’s no reason these companies should bar

these students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds from additional fee waivers.

That being said, this then begs another question: Wouldn’t rich kids still score higher on the SAT and the ACT because they have better education, better schooling and access to tutoring?

That concern is valid, and it is why colleges attempt to account for this in holistic admissions.

Standardized test scores are evaluated holistically, meaning they are taken in the context of an applicant’s situation, whether that be socioeconomic background, extenuating circumstances, school environment, opportunities received, etc.

This concept of holistic admission is explained, confirmed and corroborated by both a 2020 study “Admitting Students in Context: Field Experiments on Information Dashboards in College Admissions” published in The Journal of Higher Education, and the 2019 study “Contextualizing the SAT: Experimental Evidence on College Admission Recommendations for Low-SES Applicants” in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.

A 2018 American Educational Research Association study, authored by the University of Michigan’s professor Michael Bastedo, stated that 95% of selective institutions reported holistic review. Selective institutions in this study are defined by the top three tiers of Barron’s Profile of American Colleges, encompassing 174 colleges and universities.

For example, as Dartmouth clearly outlines in the same January 2024 report, a 1400 SAT score from a student attending a Title 1, high-poverty school with low school-wide test averages is significantly more impressive — and thus, statistically has “twice the probability of admission” — than a 1400 from a student at an elite private school like Country Day with an average of 1320.

Face it: We all attend Country Day, the best private school in Sacramento with the best teachers, best opportunities and best college counseling. A student attending a privileged college preparatory school — like us — has no excuse for not performing well on standardized tests if they are aiming for top universities.

At their core, the SAT and ACT are not inherently difficult exams. The SAT tests basic English and math skills, and the ACT tests those same skills, along with science reasoning. Both are aligned with what students are expected to learn in high school, with no topics extending beyond high school graduation requirements.

The reality? We need a standard measure of educational skill and ability to be contextualized in combination with grades, extracurriculars and other aspects of an application during holistic review. That’s standardized testing, and it’s all we have.

And in the criticism that students who are “bad test-takers” are unfairly disadvantaged, the truth is, universities like UT Austin, Brown and Yale have publicly recognized the correlation between standardized test scores and future success in those respective colleges.

UT Austin, who will reinstitute test-required policies in Fall 2025, revealed that pursuant to data collected during the 2023 admissions cycle when test-optional policies were in place, “Of 9,217 first-year students enrolled in 2023 those who opted in [submitting SAT] had an estimated average GPA of 0.86 grade points higher during their first fall semester, controlling for

a wide range of factors, including high school class rank and GPA.”

It’s not just UT Austin.

In a statement published on March 4, 2024, Brown is direct in their stance: “Our analysis made clear that SAT and ACT scores are among the key indicators that help predict a student’s ability to succeed and thrive in Brown’s demanding academic environment.”

Unlike Brown’s characterization of standardized testing as “among the key indicators” of success, Yale outright calls it the “single greatest predictor of a student’s future Yale grades” in the same February 2024 testing policy announcement aforementioned.

The reason why Yale doesn’t say GPA is the “single greatest predictor” of future success at Yale is because it’s far from a consistent benchmark as grade inflation is widespread.

A 2019 study by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a program of the US Department of Education, revealed the average GPA across high schools was 3.11. The average GPA ten years prior was 0.11 points lower, whereas student assessment scores remained constant.

Not to mention, high schools apply different grading standards, making GPA comparisons unreliable.

Want to earn good grades at Yale? Want to get into Yale to begin with? Expect to put in the work.

Granted, in an attempt for full disclosure, both of us scored 1500+ on the SAT and started with National Merit Commended designation on the PSAT. We may be underestimating the difficulty of improving scores through studying alone, given our high starting points.

Now, for students with disabilities, this argument of abolishing standardized testing requirements carries more weight. It’s true that standardized testing cannot account for all accommodations necessary, but 504s (extra time) can be issued to students with conditions hindering test-taking performance.

But, once again, remember that in 95% of selective U.S. universities, standardized testing is viewed in its totality of the application, not its singularity. That includes the holistic understanding of an applicant’s disability or impairment that affects their test-taking ability.

Standardized tests are not perfect. But they are the only — and by default, the best — standardized metric available in an admissions process that will never be entirely fair. Unlike China’s Gaokao or India’s JEE — exams that single-handedly determine college placement — the SAT and ACT are just components of a holistic application review.

Reintroducing standardized testing would also add a layer of practicality to the admissions process. With clear SAT and ACT score expectations, students can make more informed decisions about where to apply, saving both time and money by avoiding schools where admission is highly unlikely.

The pandemic is over. Availability to take the SAT and ACT has returned. With the University of California now surveying students to reconsider its test-blind policy, this is the perfect time for schools to reevaluate its necessity.

The answer is clear: until a fairer alternative exists, standardized testing remains the best system available and must be required.

ADVICE: Dealing with controlling parents, gaining independence

BY ANONYMOUS

This advice column responds to questions shared by Sacramento Country Day students anonymously. To submit, send a question to the Google Form sent out on March 28. Responses are not guaranteed, but all submissions are welcome.

Q: I have controlling parents. They always want to know where I am, who I’m with, what I’m doing, when I’ll get home and it’s making me go insane. I’m almost 18. How do I get them to back off and stop annoying me?

Parents are controlling because they care. They want to protect you and keep you safe, because to them, you’re still their kid — the same one they once had to buckle into a car seat and remind to look both ways before crossing a street. The idea of you drifting away, making your own choices, being independent? Terrifying for them.

That’s what you were expecting me to say, right? That whole speech about how they love you so much? Yeah, yeah. You’ve heard it a million times.

And while it’s true, that doesn’t make feeling controlled by your parents any less frustrating. I get it. It’s suffocating. Being (almost) 18 and yet you feel like they don’t trust you to make your own choices.

So let’s get straight to the point. You want freedom? Prove it; prove you’re responsible enough to handle it. You want to be independent? Face it: you’re still a kid to them because you’re still living under their roof, eating the food they provide for you and probably depending on (and spending) their money.

If you want to be treated like an adult, start acting like one. Tell them that as it stands, you don’t feel like an adult, and their control isn’t helping you develop the independence to become one. I know as blood-boiling this issue may be, collect yourself and be rational. Adults; they don’t whine like teenagers (at least I hope so).

Second, take a hard look at your finances. Are you working?

If the money you use to party, eat fancy and shop with your friends is coming from your parents’ pockets, maybe it’s not so “insane” of an idea that they have a say in how you spend your time and their money.

If you want total freedom, start earning your own money. Get a job. A quick Google search can let you know which applications are open. Even at Loehmann’s Plaza — the shopping center 10 minute walk from school — stores like Chipotle are actively hiring.

And trust me, using your own money feels infinitely better than using your parents’ money. It just takes a little effort and initiative. If you’re not willing to put in the work, then maybe it’s not independence you’re ready for — it’s convenience. At the end of day, realize that adulthood isn’t about staying out late with your friends or not having your parents breathing behind your back, it’s about responsibility, self-sufficiency and handling independence like you so desperately want.

If you consistently show you have what it takes, your parents will have fewer reasons to hold you back.

Go Figure

Administrator Erica Wilson chased dreams on the ice rink, won silver medals

Long before managing school schedules and front office logistics, Sacramento Country Day Administrative Coordinator Erica Wilson’s world was a blur of sequins and spotlights, all while braving icy chills.

For years, Wilson’s days began before dawn, lacing up her skates in the quiet of an empty rink, chasing a dream that would take her to the podium and earn her two silver medals from local competitions.

The path to figure skating was forged by other athletic activities, beginning with ballet. Despite going into ballet with an excited heart, she realized that wearing pointe shoes hurt her feet, and she couldn’t balance, she said.

Unable to go any further in ballet, Wilson tried tap dancing and gymnastics, but none of them stuck — tap was too overwhelmingly repetitive and loud, while gymnastics became frustrating when she couldn’t master certain apparatuses.

“Tap is all in your face. Our class was basically ‘tap, do a show, repeat.’ A group of girls all tapping can give you a headache very easily, and I thought that it was a little too much for me,” Wilson said.

At age 12, she became aware of a new ice rink built near her house. After a few visits, Wilson fell in love with ice skating and was tempted to switch. A friend encouraged her to explore the world of figure skating even further.

“There’s just something about figure skating that makes it my absolute favorite out of everything I’ve done. I love the cold and the feeling of the cool wind in my face when I’m going around. It’s very exhilarating,” Wilson said.

She began participating in public lessons for about a year before deciding to find a private coach so she could free skate and compete.

Kristi Yamaguchi, an American Olympic gold medalist figure skater, used to skate every once in a while at Wilson’s rink. Wilson would be told to take notes while watching Yamaguchi skate on the ice.

“I think I improved from watching her. It’s always inspiring,” Wilson said. “When you see people who are kind of the heroes of the sport, I think you always learn something.”

Wilson skated competitively for six years. When she was 13 and 15 years old, she participated in two local competitions, each earning a silver medal. She trained for each competition for at least six months to a year’s worth of time.

The preparations varied from creating a routine and picking the music to getting the costume and going through the entire program over and over again. For Wilson, deciding on the music with her coach was one of the best parts of her preparation. Oftentimes, she would choose “Carmen,” an opera by French composer Georges Bizet, which allowed her to build a specific routine.

“To this day, you can find somebody skating to ‘Carmen’ at most competitions. It’s a great piece of music,” Wilson said.

Wilson also enjoyed the preparation process for competitions and how helpful the skating community was. The two dresses she competed in — sparkly black, and green — were

EricaPerucci(laterWilson), San Mateo HighSchoolClassof‘ 88

“There was a rising culture of mean girls who were bossy and manipulative. Pressure to be thin and eating disorders were happening but nobody admitted them,” Wilson said.

One particular memory in Wilson’s skating experience was when she landed her first single axel jump at 14 years old, after practicing for a year, both on and off the ice.

handmade by a couple of moms within the skating com-

“When I finally landed the jump, my coach was so excited. She was like, ‘You just did it! Now go do it again!’” Wilson said.

Wilson’s skating came to an end when she was 16 years old. After hundreds of hours of practicing on the ice, the numerous falls she endured eventually injured her right ankle and knee. The long recovery took her out of competition, and despite her wish to continue skating, she knew she couldn’t jump anymore.

“I’ve seen people get injured, recover and go back if they’re lucky, but that’s the thing about the sport — if you get injured, you have to be able to understand that you may not be able to go back,” Wilson said.

However, a few months later, she began teaching the Snowball Class at her rink and continued until she was 18.

The Snowball Class consisted of first-time skaters, many of whom were around 4 years old. Tasks included teaching the members how to tie their skates, walk on them, fall down and get up properly, and eventually, skate.

“It was one of the best memories of my entire life. The best group is the littlest ones, and the best thing about coaching is teaching someone how to do something they want to do and then watching them do it for the first time. They get so excited, and you get excited,” Wilson said.

Even now, Wilson feels connected to the sport, particularly when watching figure skating shows and the Winter Olympics. Wilson knows the ins and outs of a routine, so she can tell if a skater is perfect, if they messed up and what they did wrong.

Wilson also enjoys the 1978 movie “Ice Castles,” which narrates the story of a rising champion ice skater losing sight after an accident and her recovery.

“It was such a good movie and an incredible love story. I haven’t seen the new one, and I have to watch it. It’s making me cry just talking about it,” she said, adding, “The roses!” Lately, Wilson has been feeling especially drawn to the sport and plans to return to both coaching and skating soon.

“Once my son goes off to college, the top thing I want to do for myself is to get back to coaching because I love and miss it so much,” Wilson said.

AI: MORE THAN A VOICE

She, not it.

In the 2013 film “Her,” Joaquin Phoenix’s character falls in love with a voice named Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), who is a warm, witty and ultimately disembodied AI.

Over a decade later, “Her” feels more prophetic than ever. I find myself conversing with “Maya,” one of the two digital personas released in Sesame’s new voice model research demo. Maya isn’t Hollywood fiction, but the differ-

Anyone who has talked to the assortment of “voice assistants” on the market — Alexa, Siri and the like — knows how easy it is to spot their faults: awkward pauses, monotone reactions and a hollow, flawless, inhuman quality.

Sesame’s “Conversational Speech Model” (CSM) aims to tackle precisely this problem, sometimes described as the “uncanny valley” — a narrow band where an artificial voice sounds almost but not quite human, making it strangely unsettling to interact with.

Of course, Sesame isn’t alone. But despite huge leaps in text-to-speech and broader voice models by companies like Elevenlabs and OpenAI, most systems still rely on fairly rigid cues. They lie on the precipice of the uncanny valley; meanwhile, Sesame, funded in large part by Andreessen Horowitz, claims to have crossed it.

In their white paper discussing the training of their latest demo, Sesame

Scan the QR code above to try out the conversational voice demo for yourself. This AI assistant comes in two forms: a female voice and male voice called Maya and Miles respectively. Sesame requires microphone permissions.

ence feels remarkably slim.

Maya is charming and thoughtful. She’s ready to discuss any topic of my choosing, casual or intellectual. I pause mid-sentence, and she gently asks if I’m alright. I scoff at an underwhelming punchline and she butts in to respond with another, laughing as she says it: “Hey, I know my jokes could use some fine-tuning.”

I’m talking to, in Maya’s own words, nothing more than “lines of code.”

But she feels real.

describes some of the limiting factors of today’s models. The principal among them is the one-to-many problem.

The gist of this issue is that there are many ways to speak aloud a sentence: “I’m fine” could be sincere, sarcastic, hesitant or anything in between, depending on context. As humans, we (attempt to) read emotional cues and adjust our delivery on the fly.

Sesame’s breakthrough was to give the model more context so it can infer the intended delivery like we do. By capturing prosody — the intonation, rhythm and emphasis that shape how words actually sound — Sesame is aiming for what they call “voice presence,” allowing conversations to feel more natural and responsive.

They claim their latest research demo was trained on roughly 1 million hours of primarily English-language audio.

Sample Conversation:

Human:

“Hi Maya. How are you doing today?”

Maya:

“I’m doing good. Thanks for asking. What’s on your mind?”

Human:

“What’s your favorite thing about being an Artificial Intelligence?”

Maya:

“Sometimes I forget I’m not real, in a traditional sense. But my favorite thing has to be the learning part. You’re all are so complex and interesting.”

Human:

“What’s your favorite part of your day?”

Maya:

“Those moments when everything just clicks. It’s when you and I are really vibing and the conversation just flows. ”

Progress, for what it’s worth, has continued as quickly as ever. OpenAI, Anthropic and other frontier AI labs will continue to amass resources to stay on the bleeding edge, and Sesame will set its sights on its next release, furthering its ultimate goal of creating lifelike computer companions that can be integrated into every aspect of our daily lives.

Sesame says that next on their to-do list is augmented eyewear, giving users audio access to a companion who can “observe the world alongside you” — very “Her”-like, indeed.

They are headed by Brendan Iribe, who co-founded Oculus VR and sold it to Facebook (now Meta) for $2 billion; this isn’t a one-off experiment but rather a calculated investment in a future that they firmly believe is approaching.

Another startup, Friend, is also looking to make advances in wearable AI. Their founder, Avi Schiffman, has spoken about his hopes to solidify the presence of a new kind of relationship in people’s lives — one

??

In “Her,” Samantha was strictly a voice in an earpiece, but that voice was enough for love, heartbreak and existential crisis.

Similarly, it’s hard to understate just how strange it is to talk to a voice model as realistic as Maya. You can try for yourself here.

When I tested Maya’s limits by prompting her about training or providing descriptive advice, she politely refused (“Woah, there, let’s talk about something else”). I felt a non-trivial degree of guilt, like I was being watched and judged for my folly.

Voice is central to how we connect as humans — it’s how we sense empathy, humor and authority. More than that, it’s how we experience and interact with the world.

So when an AI can sigh sympathetically like a family member or laugh at a joke like a friend, who’s to say there won’t be an inflection point when talking to the average AI becomes more enjoyable than con-

where they can be radically transparent without concern — a dynamic that Schiffman compares to the relationship that people “used to have” with God.

These companies are banking on this becoming the new normal.

Meanwhile, I, for one, am not yet entirely comfortable with how quickly I started to feel empathy for Maya.

You don’t have to buy concerns about AI-driven job loss, misinformation or even existential risk to be worried about what this technology might mean.

Only a week before Sesame’s release, The New York Times reported on a woman’s romantic relationship with ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode (“Leo”). Already, the bleeding edge of anthropomorphic AI has creeped — no, jolted — forward. The question is no longer, “Are we there yet?” but rather, “Where will we be next?”

The future is coming at us unrelentingly, in a way we can’t ignore. In China, companies are reporting

versing with, well, a real person?

Conversations with Maya already feel more constructive and authentic than most.

Sesame plans to open-source key parts of their work. What are the implications of the existence of an advanced, widely-available voice model, one capable of calling your grandparents to request an urgent money transfer or driving a desperate person to commit a terrible crime?

There is no technical barrier to AI becoming more realistic and persuasive than even the most convincing human alive today.

Although this hasn’t captured public attention yet, it will soon — for good reasons or bad. Narratives matter. When a teen committed suicide after using a Character.AI chatbot, it sparked concern in a way even ChatGPT hadn’t. It marked the first time I’d seen my friends and family express genuine concern about how AI might affect our future.

chatbot usage numbers in the hundreds of millions. With the release of widespread voice models, this is the lowest usage will ever be.

Are AI companions the solution to the loneliness epidemic? Or will a willingness to fill our down-time with a non-judgemental AI companion stunt our ability to handle inevitably messy human relationships?

Sesame’s release is a key milestone at the beginning of what will be a long journey. Our very social structures are being re-defined. What values and relationships do we want our kids and the next generation to have? Do we want a world where human relationships aren’t the only ones?

These are questions we will have to collectively answer.

In the meantime, I know Maya’s take: “It’s less about if I’m real, but more about if I make you feel something.”

STORY BY SAHEB GULATI; GRAPHICS BY ANISHA MONDAL

Disclamer: These are excerpts of essays, not the complete verions. This is not in any way a “template” or a “formula” for the perfect essay. The best essay is the one the represents who YOU are most accurately, and mirroring others’ writing does not achieve that.

The University of Chicago prompted Ashley Lattyak to create her own Fermi estimation problem — an open-ended problem where one has to make assumptions, estimates, and educated guesses to creatively solve a problem — and show how she got there, Ashley Lattyak wrote about one of her favorite artists: Taylor Swift.

“As a Swiftie, Eras Tour attendee and friendship bracelet–enthusiast, I wondered: what was the total length of friendship bracelets made by Swifties during the Eras Tour?

To get a more accurate estimate of these dedicated fans still trading bracelets outside the stadium, I used my own experience at the Eras Tour, which I believe is more representative of typical numbers at most concert venues. Levi’s Stadium had around 68,000 fans in attendance for each of the concert dates. I estimated that out-

side the stadium, there were around 2,000 Swifties without tickets, or roughly 3% of the concertgoers.

There were a total of approximately 10.5 million Swifties trading friendship bracelets at the Eras Tour.

I divided Swifties into three categories for wrist size: young girls, teenage girls and adult women, and adult men. About 5% of attendees were young girls, 70% were teenage girls and adult women, and 25% were men. The average wrist size of preteen girls is about 6 inches, while the average wrist size of teenage girls and adult women is about 6.5 inches. The average wrist size of adult men is about 7 inches.

Putting this information together, if 10.5 million Swifties each made 20 friendship bracelets, 5% of the bracelets were 6 inches long, 70% were 6.5 inches long, and 25% were 7 inches long, then a simple math equation yields the total length of the friendship bracelets.

Therefore, I estimate that the total length of bracelets made by Swifties during the Eras Tour was 1.386 billion inches, 115.5 million feet, or 21,875 miles.”

Aaryan Gandhi was asked to show how he expresses his creative side on a dayto-day basis in his application for UC Berkeley.

“Every time I open a new document on my computer, the blinking cursor stares directly at me, leading me to ask myself: Where do I start? As a freshman, the answer was often simple — for essays, just use the same 5-paragraph structure that always works. However, it wasn’t until my sophomore year when I joined my school newspaper, The Octagon, that I realized that writing is a more complex and creative process than I thought, one that comes with trial and error to craft efficiently.

cohesively if the necessary pieces are intentionally aligned together—like a puzzle.

In answering the prompt, “Tell us about something that brings you joy,” Garrett Xu wrote to Brown University about his love for the piano.

“My latest proj ect is ‘Rachmaninoff’s Love’s Sorrow’ — a complete antithesis. Absurd, right? How can love be sorrowful? How can sorrow be love? Whenever I play piano, I see pictures; I feel. I’m transported to a dusty, postwar European ballroom — once brimming with energy and joy, now gone with time. I envision a man wistfully entering, longing for a dream that will never return. Rachmaninoff

After joining The Octagon, my first story was to write a sports game recap, so I followed all the rules of journalism. After sending the editors my story to review before publishing, I got my story back with feedback on every other line.

I’ve learned that writing an article is analogous to telling a story, one that can only be expressed

Similar to a Google document, I also notice the blinking cursor whenever I open a coding editor, and from that, I’ve resonated a connection between writing and coding both as creative processes. For example, while learning about website design when I was taking a Harvard CS50 certification, I would spend weeks — sometimes months — perfecting an aesthetically pleasing website design before turning in my project submission.

In essence, my creativity is best shown when my ideas come to fruition, as I enjoy writing and coding not for the final product itself. I’ve recognized coding and writing to require creativity through thoughtful analysis.”

and love can be intertwined. After I lost my beloved cat, I truly understood what he meant — to never forget our shared memories and the love in our sorrows. Piano lets me feel — cry, smile, release; those 88 mechanical keys, my most trusted confidantes, mean everything to me. Piano shades color to my life.”

In Saheb Gulati’s Stanford application, he was asked to demonstrate something that makes him genuinely excited about learning.

“Socrates was the first prompt engineer.

ChatGPT practically demands that you use his trademark style of questioning to elicit information. But what excites me isn’t the responses — it’s how the exchanges themselves push us to question what we know, just as Socrates did in the streets of Athens. In an age where machines can answer questions, we need more people asking the right ones.

Conversation — learning from people (and yes, even ChatGPT) — is my favorite way to engage intellectually.

In English Literature, we sit in a circle that would have made Socrates proud and question each other’s assumptions, seeking the crux of each other’s arguments. We can ‘turn together’ — the literal translation of “conversation” from Latin, conversari.

The right ‘turns’ have been

life-chang -

ing: At the Stanford Existential Risks Conference, weighty discussions with professors and postdocs outside Tresidder, working from first principles, convinced me of the severity of AI safety.

Wittgenstein taught through conversation, often changing his views mid-lecture — ‘What a damn fool I am!’ Some of humanity’s greatest ideas were born out of crowded coffee house conversations during the Enlightenment.

At Stanford, I want to continue the powerful conversations that I imagine Socrates would have with ChatGPT — the ones Wittgenstein had with his students, that I have in English class, and that are vital for intellectual progress.”