The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

Do YOU know them?

Do YOU know them?
Learn some things you may not have known about this year’s Homecoming Court.

The week of Oct. 20 is a week of not only Homecoming spirit days and an anticipation of the Homecoming rally and the floats, but also the time to vote for the Homecoming King and Queen. It would be hard to vote if you barely know them, though, so before casting your vote, indulge yourself with the unique things about each of the senior nominees that are important to know—not just their contributions to the MVHS community, but fun bits of their personalites and other things that you won’t see in their written blurbs.

2008-2009 Homecoming Court
Connie Ng & Brian MillerConnie Ng & Brian Miller
Favorite food:
Ng: Any form of potato, I could eat it.
Miller: Italian food, fettuccine alfredo…delicious.
Favorite pizza topping/pizza:
Ng: Pesto.
Miller: Margherita pizza (basil, cheese and tomatoes).

Favorite movie:

Ng: Movies that evoke emotions, movies that make you cry are good movies.
Miller: “The Mask.”

Most embarrassing moment:
Ng: I was playing on the monkey bars and we were playing chicken – not good. My mom used to make my clothing, so they were “floofy” clothing. My pants fell off. It wasn’t that cute.

Miller: There are a lot of things.
Ng: Oh my God! The one time Brian asked me to [junior] prom.
Miller: I guess having my junior prom date not show up on the day I have an elaborate plot to ask her is embarrassing. It was a Wednesday during star testing and the periods we had were two, four, six. We both had band but [Connie] was the teacher assistant and I was actually enrolled in band. Before school there was this college thing so I’m like I’ll ask her on this day because she’ll be at school because of the college thing. I get everything done and everything is happy and she’s not there.
Ng: It’s really funny, I was just at home reading a book and I get four thousand calls like “Can you come to school now?”, “Connie where are you?” and so I’m like “Mom can you drive me to school now.”

Advice to underclassmen:
Ng: Get to know your teachers before you judge them.
Miller: Support MVHS. People are all like “Oh MVHS, I hate my school, I have to take all these tests” but look at all the cool things MVHS has to offer.

Something interesting about yourself:
Ng: I have an affinity for dying my hair.
Miller: I wear a green article of clothing everyday.

Vrinda Gupta & Neil RainaVrinda Gupta & Neil Raina
Favorite food:
Gupta: Anything with green tea.
Raina: Rogan Josh, which is really spicy lamb or lamb curry.
Favorite pizza topping/pizza:
Gupta: Veggie pizza.
Raina: Bell peppers.
Favorite movie:
Gupta: My favorite of all time is probably “Hocus Pocus” or “Aladdin.”
Raina: “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (translation: “Those with a true heart will take the bride”).
Most embarrassing moment:
Gupta: I was performing this dance with a couple of my friends and I realized I was out of alignment so the curtain went down and I was in front of the curtain.Raina: So in eighth grade in U.S. History, me and the person that sat next to me were talking about something, talking during class, and she said something ridiculous and I said “What!” and I yelled it really loud. Not only did everyone go silent in my class, but my voice cracked.

Advice to underclassmen:

Gupta: Be optimistic! Take time to relax, enjoy your time and see what’s going on around you.
Raina: Don’t get carried away with what everyone else is doing. People often forget their high school experience is about them. Do things that are interesting for you. Do things for yourself. It’s about you.

Something interesting about yourself:

Gupta: I have a little brother. He’s six years younger than me. I’ve never called my brother by his actual name. Even the first couple of days he was born, I always had some other name for him. I tend to nickname people I am close with. Right now [his name is] Jojo, I don’t even know where [the nicknames] come from. I like nicknaming. He’s embraced it.
Raina: I’m really into composing rap lyrics

Adrienne Young & Keaton ChiuAdrienne Young & Keaton Chiu
Favorite food:
Young: I like Vietnamese Food, pho specifically.
Chiu: I get paranoid over what I eat during cross country, [so] generally just healthy stuff.

Favorite pizza topping/pizza:

Young: I don’t like pizza. As a kid I used to order pizza without tomato sauce.

Chiu: Barbecue. [Also,]  at Jake’s [Restaurant] also I like something called Gilroy Special.
Favorite movie:
Young: I LOVE Audrey Hepburn movies and 1980s teen movies like “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles.”
Chiu: A lot of my favorite movies have numbers in them, “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Twelve,” and “Thirteen.” [And I like] “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man.”

Most embarrassing moment:
Young: I’m embarrassing all the time, but it’s those little moments when I’m dancing around in class and the teacher looks at me. The very first time would be freshman year. I was dancing in the back of class while we were doing the pig practical and [former science teacher Joanne Shimoguchi] gives me the scariest stare ever. It’s just been tidbits of my entire life.
Chiu: This was near the end of last year. Me and this other guy were talking about this one person, not necessarily very good things about that person, but we didn’t realize she was 10 feet away. We were just going crazy because we didn’t know if she heard us. So until this day I still don’t know if she heard us.

Advice to underclassmen:

Young: Get involved while you can. For me, I gradually got more involved. If you start off early it’s amazing and changes your attitude of MVHS.
Chiu: Get into the right mindset of working hard while also balancing everything else because it does get difficult later on.

Something interesting about yourself:
Young: I don’t have a TV at home and watch everything on my laptop.
Chiu: I don’t really enjoy Asian food that much.

Sofia Liou & Tarun GalagaliSofia Liou & Tarun Galagali
Favorite food:
Liou: Sushi in general, and especially fruits, mangoes, grapes, and watermelon.
Galagali: Cicero’s Pizza— thin crust Cupertino pizza.

Favorite pizza topping/pizza:

Liou: I always liked Hawaiian, so ham and pineapple.
Galagali: Pineapple, jalapeno, and bell pepper.

Most embarrassing moment:
Liou: My most embarrassing moment is probably the time I hit my head on a really, really clean car window while I was trying to stick my head out of it.
Galagali: When I was in fourth grade, we were playing basketball and I was part of this league. Well first of all I didn’t get a lot of playing time, but this time I got playing time and I shot it at the wrong end of the court. My teammates tried really hard to be nice to me. Luckily I didn’t make it. That was really really really embarrassing. I didn’t feel like playing basketball for a while after that.

Favorite movie:
Liou: “She’s the Man,” “Hitch.”
Galagali: “Cinema Paradiso.” It’s an Italian movie—definitely my favorite movie.

Advice to underclassmen:
Galagali: It doesn’t matter what it is—if you want to do it and want it badly enough you can do it. Be open-minded.
Liou: I agree with Tarun. Find the balance between academics and fun.

Something interesting about you:
Liou: Every day, I bring to school a different colored Starbucks’ water bottle. I have them in all colors of the rainbow.
Galagali: I like to take songs that sound similar and put them together and sing them to my friends over the phone like “Apologize” with Blink 182 or something. I don’t have technical proficiency to combine it actually. I just sing it and my friend listens.

Natasha Desai & Ryan SatterleeNatasha Desai & Ryan Satterlee
Favorite food:
Desai: Caesar salad and chocolate cheesecake.
Satterlee: Potatoes and cereal.

Favorite pizza topping/pizza:
Desai: Olives and pineapples.
Satterlee: Veggies with chicken.

Most embarrassing moment:
Desai: We [Ryan and I] were visiting Kennedy Middle School and we were going up the ramps in the breezeway and I jumped up to try and touch the ledge but I slipped on the painted arrow and I landed right on my butt.
Satterlee: One time my mom was cutting my hair with a razor and she didn’t set the measurement right, so she ended up shaving a strip of hair totally off my head. I figured it didn’t really matter because I had a baseball game that day so I could wear a hat… but then the National Anthem happened.

Favorite movie:

Desai: “She’s the Man,” “Life is Beautiful,” “Airforce One.”
Satterlee: “American History X,” “Elf.”

Advice to underclassmen:
Desai: Try not to get caught up in things, grade-wise and pressure-wise. Sometimes it’s hard to see the bigger picture, but when you get to be older you start to see that one day of not getting a good grade, it’s not a deal breaker.
Satterlee: Take advantage of all the opportunities you have, even if it means being proactive to go find them. Don’t just sit back and wait for things to come to you.

Something interesting about yourself:
Desai: I throw up when people crack their knuckles for a long time. It makes me really queasy.
Satterlee: I am obsessed with office supplies.

Connie Wu & Brad ChewConnie Wu & Brad Chew
Favorite food:
Wu: Blueberries, but tomorrow it might change.
Chew: Steak.

Favorite pizza topping/pizza:
Wu: Mushrooms, veggies.
Chew: The everything one with peppers and four different kinds of meat. Combo pizza. I feel like I’m eating a meat salad.

Most embarrassing moment:
Wu: Once in this public place I thought I saw [my twin], Annie, go into this family bathroom and 10 seconds later I started banging on the door and a guy comes out. That was kind of awkward.
Chew: There was this one time in preschool when I peed in my pants…. Oh! I peed on my grandma’s carpet one time. I told her I really had to go to the bathroom and I just started peeing on her carpet.

Favorite movie:
Wu: Any Disney movie. I can’t pick.
Chew: I like independent short films. Ones that aren’t  produced, like film festival films.

Advice to underclassmen:
Wu: Get enough sleep and do what you love. If you really like something go ahead and do it: make it something bigger.

Chew: Make the best of your high school career. Meet new people. Do a lot of things in classrooms.
Something interesting about yourself:
Wu: I love making sandwiches and I sleep really early, from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., and I have for all four years.
Chew: The first time I ever left campus was last Tuesday (Sept. 30) [during lunch]. Also I have an obsession with jeans. I’m good at putting checks on myself—I only buy one pair a year.
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