The Good Old Days: High School

Reminding myself of times in the past

I am someone who likes to reminisce about what has happened in the past for better or worse. As I finish college and start to move onto a job, I want to look at how I got there. This is especially true as someone who has autism and OCD, which makes my experiences a lot different than most. This article will give me that opportunity to go in detail about the highs and lows in life.

2017 Summer: This was the 4 camps in 4 weeks type of summer. I CIT’d at Prime Time and UCLA camp(my camp name was Lizard). I did coding camp at rolling robots with my best friend Greg and created YOSOYUNPINA. I also did basketball camp at Penman. led by the legendary MAC JOHNSON with another close friend, Ryan. Man, that exhausted us!. I had a fun time in Toronto and Quebec on our annual family vacation. Times were good before worrying about this thing called “employment”.

2017-2018 school year: pretty awesome year not gonna lie. I was kicking butt in both algebra 2 and chemistry. Mr. Kung was really funny. I had dreams of majoring in STEM. I was in a music humanities class(very interesting, up and down). I enjoyed my Dodger-loving Spanish Teacher for 7th period(Mrs. Mills). I played violin for the orchestra(Stoyanovich, you suck) I joined human rights watch(was interested in helping the world) and Model UN(yay helping the world)? I kept playing the piano and did karate outside of school. I ranked up in karate. I did my first ever model UN Conference at Gahr High School. I found a lunch group that I sat with every day(Gil, Jack, Maxwell, Jackson, Michael) I probably should’ve joined the sports journalism club, but you live and you learn.

I also enjoyed the Dodgers making the World Series. After 4 years of disappointment, it was great to my team make it so far. They almost won, but lost in a tough best of 7 series versus the Astros. I remember wanting to stay up for game 5 but my parents not letting me. At the time, it looked like a tough-luck loss, but there was a shocking surprise a couple of years later.

Finally, this was the year I decided to be a Chargers fan. I was a Cowboys fan the year before thanks to Ethan that introduced me to the team, but Jerry Jones drove me away. I guess I was the first bandwagon Chargers fan of all time. They started 0-4 but eventually turned out to be 9-7!!! WOOHOO!!!! Legend lives that Ethan is still unhappy about my decision.

2018 Summer: MORE UCLA CAMP!!! I got thrown into an art camp. And outdoors. People loved(and nagged) me. I felt like an outcast at times. One camper, Roy, kept asking me if I worked at prime time. Couldn’t forget some prime time as well. Also, went on an amazing trip to Spain and saw lots of awesome things there. Went to a family friend’s bar mitzvah and talked about baseball with a Padres fan. Entertained some friends as well. The only annoying part was having to do a whole packet for AP Chem. Got to see LeBron James join the Lakers. It was still chill boy hours, as we were far from worrying about this thing called “employment”.

2018-2019 school year: OH SNAP. Things were about to get real. My ego stated, “Why not take AP Chem?” I did, despite multiple red flags(not getting an A in honors chem spring semester, lazy study habits, Mr. Kung being SUPER easy).

That pretty much ruined everything. It was a nightmare from the beginning, as I was failing the class for most of the year. The studying was too much. I couldn’t pay attention in class. I stopped putting effort into extracurriculars. I barely cared about the Dodgers World Series run. It took a Herculean effort to pass first semester.

At least, I got a trip to New York that winter break. I got to see my cousins. I saw a huge Lakers upset. It was a much needed relief from the chaos of first semester.

If that wasn’t a big enough deal, second semester started off with a nightmare. After getting a perfect 100 on my first AP Chem test, I had the worst news of my life the next day.

My amazing grandfather passed away at 95. I sobbed and cried, as it was the first time I had to deal with death up close.

Continuing AP Chem after that was a nightmare. I remember having to do homework the day of my grandfather funeral. I was able to plow on for 2 weeks until…

I got 11% on a test. You heard that right. ELEVEN PERCENT. My grade was an F again. I felt like a failure. Awful. I remember the day that happened. Leaving from English class to talk to the academic advisor. Sobbing throughout the day. I went home and watched some eurocup games before I anxiously talked to my parents about AP Chem.

After a long discussion with my parents, I had to drop out. It was tough, as I sent a heartfelt message to APCHEMNATION. But, it was important to move on. It felt relieving to be able to do other things. I remember joining model UN again. However, this choice led me to think that a career in STEM is doubtful.

Even with this difficulty, I never had bad blood towards my chem teacher, Ms. Smith. I understood how difficult the class was to teach. The college board put so much pressure on her.

Luckily, AP World gave me some light in a very dark year. I crushed every single multiple choice test and survived the essays. I got a 4 on my first ever AP Exam. I got close with my friend Chase(thanks APWORLDNATION). I gave Mr. Burr a hard time for liking the Steelers(go Bolts). Most importantly, I loved the class. The history. The competitiveness. Mr. Burr. It looks like I found a new area of interest.

Spanish class was awesome(yay Ms. Bachrach). I enjoyed the Olvera street field trip. English, Math, and PE were not. Ms. Hataishi was a jerk to me for no reason(thanks bad handwriting and weird personality). That people in that class(mostly) sucked as well. Mr. Henderson let a circus run his class. I was one of 5 guys in PE(yikes).

Other notable details were that I was the VP of human rights watch, went to an in person Model UN conference at USC(I created an article called YEET). I downloaded twitter(very bad idea in hindsight). I quit violin as well, as it made no sense to continue private lessons when I had so many other things on my schedule. I also joined fantasy football with the lunch group, and made it to the title game, just to lose in the end. It grew to something that I learned to love over time.

Also couldn’t forget getting into EuroLeague that year. Most people don’t care, but the Maccabi Tel Aviv team of Scottie Wilbekin, Alex Tyus, Angelo Caloairo, DeAndre Kane, Tarik Black, Michael Roll, Johnny O’Bryant, and Deni Avdija was a fun one to watch. I still hate Neven Spahija. Ioannis Stairopfoulos saved the season. Screw Panathinaikos and CSKA. LOL At Buducnost and Darussafka. Nobody else at my school cared, but those highlight videos were so fun to watch at the time.

Other fun parts of EuroLeague and EuroCup were watching the highlights. Fact Campazzo buzzer beaters and passes. Edy Tavares blocks and dunks. Vasilije Micic being a magician. Shane Larkin and Mike James hitting insane shots like it’s nothing. Nick Calathes finding ways to choke. Tons of insane game winners. The passion was off the charts. I loved the local rivalries as well.

In EuroCup, guys like Eric Buckner, Elijah Clarance, Jaime Fernandez, Yakuba Ouattara, Pierria Henry, and Mathias Lessort were super fun to watch. ALBA Berlin and Valencia were elite and made the finals. Valencia won! Oh, what a time to be alive!!!

I somehow still decided not to do sports journalism. Lame.

2019 Summer: That was the summer of biology at SMC so that I could qualify for AP Enviro. My parents probably wanted me to work, but summer school kept me busy.

That class was a fun ride. Lots of cool labs. A couple of field trips. A good amount of homework. Lots of Pokemon go and the last fun NBA free agency(PG-13, Jimmy, Kawhi, Kyrie, DK, Kemba, Klay, Middleton). I had some anxiety during the class, but ended the year with an A. Mr. Bland was a great teacher!!! WOOHOO!!!

I also had a bunch of classmates from Pali. Most were pretty chill. One goes to UW with me(Mark). Except for the one lab partner I had that one day who complained that lab was going on for too long and got frustrated. He was known as a so-called cool and chill guy. Turns out, he was an awful person.

I couldn’t forget about Friday Prime Time. That was fun as well. I got to spend more time with my friend Ryan. It was a bummer that it turned out to be my last year as counselor there.

I got to go on a 5 day vacation to the Bay Area. I saw Stanford and the Monterey Bay. Pretty cool, not gonna lie.

I also did Link Crew, where I got to help a bunch of middle schoolers adjust to Pali. It was fun, and I enjoyed being around the group. It was the start of my interest in leadership and helping others.

2019-2020 school year: This was the year of recovery. I needed to find my identity and figure out what I would do long-term. College was around the corner.

Welp, one of the first things I did was get instagram. I wanted to share events for Human Rights Watch and be able to stay in touch. In hindsight, not a great decision, but I had lots of fun moments on there.

My brother and sister also had their B’Nei mitzvah this year. CONGRATULATIONS TO THEM!!!

Anyways, I had lot of good classes that year. English was awesome. Thank god I didn’t do AP Lang. Ms. Ramzi was special. She was funny. She swore in front of the class. She taught in a way that wasn’t stupid memorizing. We learned so much, from Native Americans to complex words. The class vibe was awesome. She really knew how to connect with people in ways that most people couldn’t. Her classroom was a safe space for her kids, and you could tell why. She made ENGLISH enjoyable for me. She’s my favorite teacher ever. I still try to email her today, here and there.

AP US History was pretty awesome too. Most people were tired, but Mr. Miller brought the ENERGY to first period. He was super funny and an effective teacher too. The class was quiet but otherwise chill. I learned a lot, and continued my love for history and politics. Long live APUSHNATION.

AP Enviro wasn’t half bad either. Mr. Engelmann was a chill guy and he taught us well. He cares deeply about the environment, which I respect. It was a mixed class, with some nice people and some annoying people(including one person I was in class with for the third year in a row). In all honesty, it made sense at the time. I’d probably not take the class now, as I think that it gives a very narrow view on what environmentalism should be like. They should talk about stuff like regenerative farming, cleaning up litter, and teach people how to become their own food system.

Home living class was fun. I learned how to create cool items, met cool people, and learn about finances.Health was meh. Calc was up and down. Mr. Aguilar had a temper that was difficult to manage at time. Spanish sucked, as Ms. Perez was INCOMPETENT. People SLEPT in her class. EMBARRASSING. She sucked my love out of a language that I enjoyed.

I couldn’t forget about the bus. There were so many fun and crazy days. Some days it was loud. Other days I talked with my homie Krishna. It was one of the experiences of all time, for better or worse.

I also started throwing the ball around with my friend James. This was because I wanted to do more things in the Palisades with my friends and felt like I was missing out. We had a good time doing it, for the span of 6 weeks.

This was the year I knew Wembanyama was good btw… That’s how you know when someone is a true ball knower.

Everything was going relatively fine this year until…

January 26,2020. I was at a meeting with a Jewish World Watch describing world issues. During the middle of the meeting, there was a shock. The room went silent.

KOBE DIED. Via helicopter crash. He was 41 years old. It was totally unexpected. The LA hero was gone… Just like that. The whole city was mourning, missing the man who made the Lakers so great.

If that wasn’t bad enough…

COVID was incoming. FAST. It was one announcement after another. Sports leagues were getting canceled. People were getting sick. After a couple of weeks, everyone decided that the best thing to do was Go Home. I remember almost being ready for a Model UN competition and that being canceled at the last minute.

School wasn’t the same online. The face to face interaction and camaraderie were lacking. There were no more crazy bus rides. Or football games. It was just school and hoping people didn’t get sick.

One thing that helped was daily FaceTimes with a close friend groupfriend group: Cody, James, and Chase. We talked sports, did FaceTimes, and planked. We did uno on our phones. We talked a lot about life. I’m grateful for all the time we spent, as it helped us all get through the chaos of the pandemic.

Another thing that helped was creating polls on instagram. I did this in a way to share my creative side and keep people involved with one another. It became a big hit, with hundreds of people answering each question.

All I gotta say is that I definitely got scarred socially from COVID. I was far away from most of my friends. In some ways, things haven’t felt the same since. It felt like our freedom got robbed and a technocracy is coming soon. I was very much restricted by my parents due to my mom’s job. As a neurotic person, I was very worried about the safety of everyone, especially my mother. When looking at it now, it reminds me of how authoritarian governments can be. It will be important to see the social damage that has happened over the years from these measures.

Doing online AP tests was weird. The format was shortened. There was no proctor. It felt weird. Regardless, I passed both of my exams.

During this time, I picked up another foreign sports league: the CPBL. Going a week without baseball felt like too much. It gave me hope in times of chaos. Plus, the cheerleaders and noise made it more fun to watch than the MLB. Long live the Wei Chuan Dragons.

I also quickly gained a following on twitter, for better or worse. I became intrigued with Andrew Yang’s ideas of universal basic income, importance of supporting the average American, and strong bipartisan message. I joined slack and started canvassing for votes. It was a time where I got to unite with many amazing people all across the country.

Times were getting weird, and people were unsure on when things would return back to being in person.

2020 summer: It was one of the summers of all time, for better or worse. I wasn’t able to do that much because of COVID. This was especially true because of the job that my mom had. I did get one rank closer to black belt in karate. Plus, I got to go to San Diego and see UCSD and UCI. Pretty cool, even if Chase annoyed me about the eucalyptus trees. Honestly gotta give a huge thanks to karate for keeping me mentally sane during these crazy times.

This was also the summer of BLM. As someone who was informed about the world and wanted to go into politics, I started taking a HARD leftward turn. I hated on the police. I wanted to stand up for justice and protect the oppressed. I did not like the status quo. I followed the status quo, for better or worse.

2020-2021 school year: This was one of the school years of all time. Some people hated online school. Others loved it. I was blessed that both of my parents had a stable job and that I could continue karate. On the other hand, it was very difficult to be away from everyone for such long periods of time.

Regardless, it was far from an ideal year of school. The fun marine bio class that I took got ruined because I couldn’t do any field trips(still a big fan of Ms. Sharfi though). Doing AP Spanish online was very difficult. I did like Ms. Cervates though. AP Gov was cool but meh. English was bleh. Ms. Rosenthal was too quiet for me. My EAST elective projects were way more difficult to do online. And AP Stats. Ooooh boy. Ms. Hataishi found a way to ruin the subject I loved by continuing to disrespect me.

For extracurriculars, I was vice president of both Model UN and Human Rights Watch. For Human Rights Watch, I helped with voter registration and renewable energy. For Model UN, I tried keeping the club alive during crazy times. I joined JSA on a whim and loved it. I also ranked up yet again in karate, only being one step away from black belt. I kept playing piano. Finally, I did some musical composition, and had an orchestra publish my composition.

This was also the year I did my first NBA draft board. It was bad, but fun to learn more about the sport by doing my own research. I also made a ton of mock trades on baseballtradevalues. I wrote about the EuroLeague on reddit. Ahhh, needing to let time fly by.

Even still, there were big decisions having to be made. I spent a ton of time doing college applications. Lots of long days and longer nights. It was exhausting. Draining. By the time January ended, I was glad to be done with everything. I remember spending most of my Big Bear vacation applying to schools.

When it came to the school I wanted to go to, Georgetown was my dream school but I didn’t think I would get in. UC San Diego and UC Irvine were next up. I wanted to stay in California, but leave LA. I honestly had very little idea where was going, and therefore applied to 21 schools.

In the end, I got into 8 schools, waitlisted by 5 schools, and rejected by 8 schools. The schools I got into were: CSUN, SF State, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly SLO, UC Riverside, UC Merced, University of Washington, and American University.

After lots of soul-searching, I cut down my university list down to 3: UC Riverside, Cal Poly SLO, and the University of Washington. I decided to stay on the West Coast after getting rejected by Georgetown and waitlisted by George Washington. Being far away from family felt difficult at this time.

I visited all 3 campuses. UC Riverside’s was located near a freeway in the middle of nowhere. Blegh. Time to move on. The decision came down to two places: University of Washington and Cal Poly SLO. I really enjoyed both campuses and felt like they would be good fits.

However, one place stood out. Its campus felt special the day I stepped into it. It felt like a world of opportunity. It was in a big city. It had the D1 sports I knew that I badly needed. My best friend Greg was going to school a mere 2 hours away.

That was the WASHINGTON HUSKIES. I even got a fancy commitment image made by my friend Cody.

I was excited but a bit reluctant. It was a big move and shock to me at the time. Party of me didn’t feel mentally ready for college. I wanted a gap year. Plus, moving from my sheltered home environment made things difficult. Especially as someone neurodivergent(I have autism and OCD), there’s a chance I’d be a fish out of water.

I couldn’t forget more online AP exams. I flunked AP Spanish due to poor preparation while I barely passed a very difficult AP Stats class. On the other hand, I aced AP Gov

By the end of the year, things were(somewhat) normalizing. I had a prom(and danced a lot there). I got a full in person graduation. Even if the year was far from ideal, it was definitely better than nothing. Goodbye Pali?

To be honest, I always felt like an outsider at Pali. I never lived in the neighborhood. I never went to any of the parties. I barely spent time at the Village. Even still, I’m grateful for all the experiences and teachers. It’s definitely bittersweet looking at this a few years later, as the school burned down.

I also couldn’t forget about the Dodgers and Lakers winning the titles during COVID. It was great to see my favorite teams win during such hard times.

2021 summer: Stuff was happening. At least some things were. I got a volunteer opportunity to work with the LA City Council(yay!) thanks to Mr. Engelmann’s help. I remember one of my coworkers driving me there. It was honestly pretty cool to see how everything worked at the time. I had some pretty cool coworkers too.

The biggest W though was not career-related. On August 21, 2021, I got my black belt in karate. This was after 9.5 years of hard earned training. I never quit during COVID. Or any of my lowest points. I am beyond blessed for the effort Sensei Jason put into me as there were times I struggled with discipline and self control. I have to thank everyone I competed with, which made me the person I am today. To this day, it’s one of the best accomplishments I’ve had in my life.

On top of that, I went to Hawaii to see family. It was an okay trip. My favorite part was seeing the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. I got my own tent. I remember waking up at 5 am to explore the place(and check NHL free agency). I also remember the fun breakfast and hike! This made me really enjoy camping, which I want to do again soon!

The toughest thing about that summer was saying goodbye. Goodbye to David and piano. Goodbye to Z Ultimate. Goodbye to my friends and family. It was very tough, as I remember crying that my parents were gone when I arrived at UW.

Yet, it was the time of a new start. I got to live on my own for the first time ever. I got to figure out what I wanted to do for a living. I moved to a city to make new friends. It was both exciting and nerve-racking.

When I look back at high school, I see a lot of positive things I did. I led clubs. I met lots of amazing people. I learned a lot about the world and found things that I was interested in. I succeeded and I failed. I’m grateful that I’m remembered for being someone who brings positivity and treated others with respect instead of gossip. It

Yet, I also feel like I missed a lot of opportunities in high school. I was very sheltered socially, which caused a lot of issues in college. I never worked out, which caused me to struggle with muscle and self confidence as I hit college. I never learned the importance of making money, which left me behind in that regard. I never got to explore the Palisades or other areas, which led to a lack of independence. I was often influenced by groupthink instead of being independent minded. I felt forced to go to college even with other options around.

The most important thing is that you live and you learn. Everyone makes mistakes. Especially during high school. Hormones are changing. People are figuring out who they want and what they want. All I’m gonna say is that please don’t peak in high school. There’s more to the world than your time as a 14-18 year old. Hopefully you use that time to develop and enjoy the journey called life.