Category: Uncategorized

The Gaslighter

By: Ireland Harrington

The Santa Catalina Football Team ended the night with another exciting win! Friday, October 13th, the Cougars hosted their rival school, the Santo Catalino Mountain Lions, from the Bay Area. This was definitely a game to remember. It was tough, and both teams put up a great fight, but only one proved to be driven and technical enough to finish on top. This win put Catalina first in their division.

The statistics for this game were like no other. Catalina’s offense includes several talented and dedicated players that all contributed to the win. Special mentions include star quarterback Sophia Tonini ‘24 who threw twenty touchdowns in the first half of the game. She is currently being recruited by the University of Texas, Penn State, and the University of North Carolina to go Division 1 for football. She has yet to announce her commitment, but wherever she ends up, we expect great things to come in her future career. 

The defensive lineup is just as impressive. From sacks to interceptions, they kept the Mountain Lions in check. Linebackers Emily Diaz ‘24 and Emma Kim ‘24 earned a total of thirty-five interceptions this past game alone. Santa Catalina could not be more proud of how their players have stepped in and shown their resilience. “We’re a solid team. We have had an amazing season this far, and there is no doubt in my mind we will continue to do so,” says punter Layla Borman ‘24. This season has truly made a memorable impact on the Cougar community. Running back Jayla Ballesteros ‘26 says, “People come and go, but football is forever.” The dedication and competitiveness of these players makes them a team like no other.

Everyone is expecting another successful season for the Santa Catalina football team, and the Cougars are crossing their fingers for another year undefeated.

By Piper Butler and Isabell Fujita

The 2023 fall sports season was exciting, with volleyball and water polo tournaments, tennis and golf matches, and cross country meets filling the busy calendar. In addition to these, the field hockey games were exhilarating. With a strong defense, fast offense, and talented goalie, the team worked together and had fun, with a record of 3 wins, 3 ties with overtime, and 1 loss. The team persevered through challenging games and always worked together. 

With a 6-0 win against York School and a 0-0 tie in overtime to Carmel High, the 2023 team had a promising start. The Carmel game was long and tiring, but the players showed their resilience and stamina by persevering, especially in the seven minutes of six-player overtime. The next game, against Stevenson, was an unfortunate loss, but the players bounced back for an exciting 0-0 tie to Hollister, ranked first in the league. Regarding the game against Stevenson, senior Cora Derbin says: “We knew we could play better.” The team focused on preparing for the game against Hollister, Cora describes, saying that “[they] came back stronger.” 

This year’s team was led by head coach Julian Salas, assistant coach Evan Schu, and captains Megan Barry-Schoen, Bianca Fritz, and Cora Derbin. With junior Sofia McHugh in goal and top scorer Skyler Smith ’24 on offense, the games never lacked excitement and dedication. Regarding this year’s team, Assistant Coach Evan remarked, “What impressed me the most was how hard [they] fought in all these intense games that we had and the spirit that [they] had to shut out opponents time and time again. [They] only had five goals against you, which says a lot about [the team’s] defensive tenacity.”

One of the team’s strongest elements was the defense. “We have a solid defense that people can barely get through.” said junior Sawyer Vogel. The defense showed strong unity, keeping possession of the ball for most of each game. 

“Although impacted by our difficult schedule, our team seems cohesive and better than ever!” exclaimed junior Olivia da Silva. Although facing tough schedules and a lack of extra time, the girls came together to create a strong bond on the field hockey team, facing every new challenge together as a community. 

The team continued to work together and showed their utmost determination, going on to compete in the CCS (Central Coast Section) first round against Presentation High School. They tied the game 1-1, going into two rounds of 0-0 overtime, then lost after two rounds of shootouts. This game showed the team’s determination and stamina as they held their own, even in overtime and throughout the shootout. The team is proud of their exciting season and can’t wait to play again next fall!

By Delilah Fujita

Throughout their rise to stardom, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have frequently been compared by fans, media, and the public. Although the two icons have competed for achievements and acknowledgments in the music industry, they have shared nothing but mutual respect, admiration, and displays of friendship. As these two prominent, leading forces of pop culture have gone on their record-breaking world tours, Beyoncé’s Renaissance and Taylor Swift’s The Eras, they have simultaneously continued to support one another. 

The relationship between the two stars began in 2009 at the Video Music Awards. Taylor Swift, only nineteen at the time, was accepting the award for Best Female Video when Kanye West took to the stage, interrupting to declare that Beyoncé “had one of the best videos of all time,” leaving a crushed Taylor. Later on in the award show, Beyoncé, after winning Video of the Year for her hit song “All the Single Ladies,” brought Taylor Swift back on stage and gave her a chance to finish her speech. The respect and kindness Beyoncé displayed at this event was the foundation of their relationship, which has continued as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have become powerhouse performers in the music industry. 

Throughout this past year, Taylor and Beyoncé have dominated, becoming cultural forces who continue to inspire millions around the world. As fans dressed up for Beyoncé in silver with cowboy hats and boots, and Swifties got decked out as Taylor’s different albums, decorated with friendship bracelets, the two icon’s world tours have broken records, crashed Ticketmaster, generated millions of dollars, and boosted economies. Their support for one another has continued throughout the years through social media posts, attending each other’s birthday parties, shout-outs at speeches, and references in songs. Most recently, Beyoncé showed up to the premiere of Taylor Swift’s box office record breaking concert film on October 11. Throughout this all, Taylor and Beyoncé, the biggest names in the music industry, have developed a friendship that has continued as they shatter records, inspire millions around the world, and create incredible music. 

By: Abigail Jung

Freshman year is hard. Whether navigating through a new campus, making new friends, trying to adjust to a new schedule, or remembering what a coefficient is––we’ve all been there. Like I said before, Freshman year is hard! So, here’s the big question: “How do I make it easier?”––Short answer: It probably won’t if I don’t try. Long answer: Getting used to things and building constructive habits takes time. For example, when I was a Freshman, I struggled a lot with time management, which most students still struggle with even after graduating! However, even though I’m still learning how to manage my time, it made Freshman year and my Sophomore year so much easier! When it comes to time management, most people don’t have time for it. Now, that might sound like a joke, but it isn’t. And many people get scared or confused when the topic is brought up, mainly because they know deep down that they don’t have it. Believe me when I say that probably no one does. But you can work on your daily habits to improve your time management skills! For example, I started writing a schedule of the things I needed to do every day. And yes, this is a given if you are going to school, but surprisingly, I did not get the memo somehow. In my freshman year, I decided that I would just remember. It was as simple as that. Just remember that I had ten pages of notes due on Thursday and to bring everything from the study hall home. It did not work out well… especially when I forgot a textbook at school. That was the worst part. 

Now, one thing I did other than start writing in a planner was keeping all of my books at home and only bringing the ones I needed for the day. And this does work if you are a boarder, too! From my second semester of freshman year onward, I never used a crate again. I’m not saying that you should do this. I have a lot of friends who I know would actually forget their books at home, but it worked out for me, so if you’re struggling, try it out! One quick tip is NEVER to bring your textbooks to school unless you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO! Your back and shoulders will thank me later. What I did when I was a freshman, on top of keeping my books at home, was keep everything in my backpack the whole day. Okay, I’m just saying that I had a really good backpack with thick straps so my shoulders and back don’t hurt, and I DO NOT recommend this if you (1) have a weak back or (2) have a backpack with spaghetti straps. Honestly, I think those things should be banned. But always having everything in my backpack made it easier for me to get to class earlier. The perks to getting to class early are: (1) you can study for a test/quiz in that class, (2) you can relax knowing that you won’t be late, (3) you can read, etc. Another amazing time saver is always being on top of your work, no matter what. I didn’t start doing this until my Sophomore year, but it will help you so much you might cry (or it will prevent that). Utilize your weekends. Now I know that most people like to relax and go out, but in my opinion, like Rory Gilmore, school will always be first! I’m not saying don’t spend time with your friends but make sure you finish your work without staying up until 2 a.m. All in all, time management is one of the most important things you can do, especially in your Freshman year!

Netflix has always been a great place for me to go to find new releases or discover new thrilling TV shows. This year, Netflix has been releasing a couple of shows that have become more familiar to people. As a studious Netflix-watcher, I was really interested in the release of Riverdale. During the fall, other shows such as Stranger Things 2, American Crime Story, Narcos, BoJack Horseman, Greenhouse Academy, American Vandal, Fuller House, and Alias Grace have been released in the past few months.

When I was growing up, I read Archie Comics for fun. Archie Comics is a continuous comic strip that shows comedy in the fictional life of an average red-headed teenage boy, Archie Andrews from Riverdale, his best friend Jughead Jones, and his two girlfriends Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge. Other characters are part of the comic as well. When the show Riverdale was released early this year, I was really excited and surprised that there was a show based off of a comic. After I saw Season 1 in about a week, I was totally surprised as to how well it was directed.. The plot was thrilling and the cast was well chosen. In general, Riverdale is about Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, and Veronica Lodge’s adventure of solving different problems that arise in the town of Riverdale. There are thrills, mystery, and some romance. Cole Sprouse plays Jughead in the series, and I think he was the reason why Riverdale became so popular, but after people realized what a great show it is itself, they don’t watch just for Cole Sprouse alone. As the second season starts, the plot starts to thicken. I don’t want to uncover any events that happen, so I suggest that you watch at least the first season on Netflix if you haven’t already. Each episode gets uploaded onto the CW website for weekly episodes. I suggest Riverdale as your go to on Netflix. It is not scary, but it is an exciting thriller. Somehow, you will not only get pulled into the show, but also enjoy it.

Bad things are going happen in life whether they are just little bumps in the road or sink holes. There is always a way out. God doesn’t throw anything at you that you can’t handle. He will guide you and help you through every hardship you encounter; you just have to be humble enough to listen and to follow what He says.

 

This has been the hardest part for me–listening. I usually have the answers and don’t need to listen to what anyone tells me. I don’t read directions, and I go through life like a bull in a china shop, eyes dead ahead and no looking back. This has served me well in my life. Moving around a lot, I always knew that if I looked back I would be sad. If I stopped I would be trampled. If didn’t act like I had the answers, I would be caught up in my own ignorance of the things around me. However, coming to Catalina, I have been able to slow down and not act as if I have all the answers. I have found out that I don’t have all the answers. It took me a really long time to realize that. It took a lot of wrong answers and a lot of patience to finally realize that being wrong is okay and that putting yourself out there even if you aren’t right or sure is okay, as long as you are gracious and humble whether you are wrong or right, and as long as you listen to those around you. I still move through life like a bull in a china shop, but now I know that to slow down isn’t to dumb down or be trampled by the pace of life. To slow down is to reflect and understand. Don’t get caught up in what everyone else thinks, because what is important is what you think, and what you feel. Being yourself, and knowing that you don’t know everything, gets you further than acting like you do know everything.  

 

I have matured into the person I am today because of the endless support of friends, family, and teachers. I have connections that I have never had before. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, Catalina–for allowing me to fail, to succeed, to challenge myself, to be a leader, to be a follower, to be a scientist, to be a historian, to be a writer, a musician, a philosopher, and an artist. Also thank you for letting me be a friend and a sister to these amazing people who have changed me for the better. I hope I never forget what Catalina has allowed me to become.

 

I still remember the day of my eighth grade graduation, how after the ceremony, I looked at my parents and said, “I can’t believe my next graduation will be high school, but that’s not going to happen for a long time.” Lo and behold, here we are, four years later, and I have exactly one month left until I go off into a new journey. Being asked to write this senior reflection was probably harder for me than the research paper we had to write sophomore year in Mr. Oder’s class. I tried to think, “What am I going to miss the most about Catalina?” and here’s what I came up with:

 

I’m going to miss eating warm chocolate chip cookies surrounded by my friends in the dining hall while sharing laughs and stories. I’m going to miss watching the fog roll over the hills as Dr. Kapolka sings away on his guitar every Friday. I’m going to miss sitting outside in the sunny courtyard surrounded by friends, wearing sunglasses, listening to music, and doing math homework. I’m going to miss the bright red flowers dotted around campus, and the water bubbling over the fountain. I’m going to miss playing tennis as the sun sets, and the bustle of the theater as students and teachers alike prepare for opening night. I’m going to miss packing admissions decisions in the red parlor, and sharing snacks and life advice in Sullivan Court. I’m going to miss how quiet and peaceful the library is every Thursday during the flex period and going on marine field trips to end the day every Friday. But as I rattled on about little things that I was going to miss, I realized there was one thing in common with everything I had thought about: the people. To me, if there is one thing that I prize the most at Santa Catalina, it’s my friends, classmates, teachers, and faculty. Thank you to my friends who love me almost as much as I love you. Thank you to the teachers who believed in me and cast me to dance in a show even though I was convinced I have two left feet. Thank you to all 64 of my classmates that have become more like 64 sisters, and thank you for the infinite amount of love and support they have given me. Thank you for breaking me out of my comfort zone and making me try new things, and for making me more socially-minded and optimistic about the future. Thank you for making me laugh until I cried or dancing away to smash hits from 2008 ’til the wee hours. For all the smiles, tears, sleepovers, movie marathons, study sessions, birthday dinners, shopping sprees, coffee dates and so much more, I will forever be grateful. Thank you to the teachers who have inspired me and made me fall in love with learning. Thank you for believing in me when I couldn’t believe in myself and for supporting me when I needed it the most. Thank you to such a dynamic student body for making the seniors truly feel like the queens of the school. Thank you to my friends for sticking by my side and loving and cherishing me for exactly who I am, and for making me learn to have confidence in myself–something I have always been looking for–and for the amazing advice they’ve given me regarding some of the most important decisions I have made in my life. For sharing every moment of their life with me, whether it be the happiest or the saddest, the funniest or the most embarrasing, I always end up realizing a little bit more exactly why I love them so much. From the jam sessions in study hall, to lining up to paint our faces for Spirit Day, to screaming our senior chants at the top of our lungs, to the jokes during morning announcements, all the way to having chariot races through the halls for Ring Week, thank you for making me so happy. I don’t know how they do it, but somehow, some way, only the kindest, most selfless, most amazing people end up at Catalina. None of this would be the same, or mean as much as it does to me without the people I call my bestfriends, my classmates, my sisters.

 

So, if there’s one piece of advice I can give to you, before the rest of you have to give your own senior reflections, it would be to appreciate the little things at Catalina. Remember the bright cherry blossoms and the birds singing in the afternoon, or how beautiful Study Hall sparkles the night before KK’s. Participate in EVERYTHING, and have no regrets throughout your four years. Because sooner or later you’ll be trading in your worn out coffee-brown Converses for a pair of white shoes, your kilt stained with spaghetti sauce and acrylic paint for a white gown, and your mechanical pencils and ballpoint pens for a bouquet of red roses. After that, Catalina will just be another part of you. So before I do that, I just want to say: Thank you, Catalina. Thank you for the smiles, the joy, the knowledge, the opportunities, my friends, my classmates, my teachers, the sunshine, the comfort, the confidence, the second home, the memories, and the barbecue sliders. Thank you for everything. You’ve made me exactly who I am today, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

How do you start one of the last papers you will write as a highschooler, let alone a paper about the last four years of your life? I still remember sitting in the freshman pews in the chapel during the first mass and sitting in row one, desk four in study hall, glancing over at where the seniors sat, wondering how different things will be in four years, when I would be a senior. One of the earliest memories I have about the thought of graduating from Catalina was when I was at summer camp here. I believe I was about 13 years old, so I still was not sure where I was going to high school, but a few friends and I found an open door into study hall during one of our breaks. I ran up onto the stage and I turned to my friends saying, “One day I will be standing up here in my graduation gown, ready to graduate high school.” That day is fast approaching.

 

I have experienced some of the lowest and highest points in my life while attending Catalina. While I may still be trying to find the good in a lot of things that have happened to me recently, Catalina has helped me grow as a person. I have learned so much about myself over these past four years. I have learned that everything happens for reason, even if you find that reason a year later. I have learned that no matter what, you can really only count on yourself do get things done, but there will always be the same few people cheering you on in the crowd. I met some of my best friends at Catalina summer camp and even more in the MERP program. I am so incredibly thankful for the opportunities like MERP that Catalina has given me. I feel ready and confident for any science labs that I will be placed in at college, and I am ready to be able to look in all the right places in order to help accomplish my future goals. I am also grateful that I am able to paddle board and play in the Monterey Bay.

 

I do wish that someone would have told me how difficult the college decision process was. I knew that you may not get exactly what you want or planned for, but nobody told me how often it happens and the fact that you may be completely at a crossroads for what to do, whether it’s because you didn’t get into any of your top schools or you just didn’t get that financial aid you were hoping for. If you got what you wished for, you are very lucky, and I am also very happy and excited for you. As I am trying to think of some original advice to give to the underclassmen, I am realizing that there’s no way you can really prep or brace yourself for the next four or so years. There’s going to be a whole lot of highs, but at times, you will also find yourself on a bumpy road with some real lows. The good news is that, once you get to the end of that road, you will be ready to take on a whole ’nother set of bumps and turns, with the help of your family, friends, and the education and experiences you’ve had at Catalina.

As April comes to an end, I realize that my four years of high school are wrapping up. In between preparing for AP exams, online shopping for my future dorm room, and battling senioritis, I find myself thinking about the things I’ve done and the things I haven’t done in high school.

 

When I look back on my four years, what I recall most are my friends, teachers, classes, Catalina milestones such as Ring Week and senior prom, and investing my time into my academics and extracurriculars. I’ve laughed and cried the hardest in these four years. I’ve tried new things and followed old passions, and I’ve picked things up and left things behind. And although I have no regrets, sometimes I wonder what things would’ve been like if I had done them differently. That AP Statistics course I didn’t take—what if I’d taken it? That track manager position that I decided to take on last-minute—what if I’d never taken it? What would’ve changed if I’d done or not done these things?

 

Yet, the things done and not done have collectively brought me to where I am today – anxious to graduate high school and start attending my dream school. The worries of things I could’ve done are no more, and instead my thoughts turn towards the things I will do and the places I will go. My next stop is college, and needless to say, nowadays it’s all I think about.

 

Years ago, I wanted to attend a large college in a major, bustling city such as New York or Boston. However, half a year ago, I set foot on the campus of Williams College, and my perspective completely changed. As I walked through Williams, I realized that although the scenery was unfamiliar, the school felt like a second home. I wondered why this was, and it hit me—the community was so close-knit and welcoming that even though I didn’t know the people in it, the atmosphere was so similar to the one here at Catalina that I instantly felt at home. I wished with all my heart that this college would be my new home, where I would be surrounded by beautiful hills and mountains while I grew in my liberal arts education. My wish came true, and I feel at peace because I know it’s home, just like Catalina has been my home for the past four years.

 

I want to end my reflection with this: Never take your education for granted. Yes, have fun, explore the world, follow your passions, and involve yourself in many, many things—just don’t forget to learn some valuable life lessons along the way. Although you might think at times that high school is never-ending, as you celebrate each passing year, just know that the end of your time here at Catalina isn’t all that far away. In fact, you’ll find that soon enough, you’ll be presenting your senior reflection, too. So in between times of studying for AP exams, online shopping for your future dorm room, and perhaps not-so-successfully battling senioritis, just remember not to worry about the things you haven’t done. It’s the things you will do from now on that count.