Co-written by Hannan Waliullah

Beginning in 2016, CollegeBoard will offer a new version of the SAT with a revamped vocab section aimed to dissuade students from using flashcards to “memorize obscure words.” Instead, the test will focus on common and useful words offered in a broad context. As we say goodbye to the copious agglomeration of enigmatical lexemes, we will choose one SAT vocabulary word each day and discover the word’s meaning to MVHS students.

Check out the photo essay to see students explain their unique shoes.

Sophomore Sian Yongyuth

Her friends scream the responses that sophomore Sian Yongyuth gets about her shoes.

“I love your shoes!”

“I’m gagging!” Another girl screams, ending up in a fit of giggles.

Although this was Yongyuth’s Christmas present, she knew of the surprise before it was even put under the Christmas tree. As the family’s only effective wrapper, she has to wrap everybody’s presents, including her own, and put them under the Christmas tree. And because of this, she always knows what’s inside everybody’s “secret” gift.

“My mom gets mad because she hates gift wrapping,” Yongyuth said.

Sophomore Jagruthi Kolla

For some people, choosing footwear in the morning means finding the right balance of comfort to aesthetics. Sophomore Jagruthi Kolla’s primary concern, however, is comfort.

“I wake up really early in the morning, yet I don’t have time, so I put these on,” Kolla said. “They have little massage-y thingies in them, so it massages you through the day.”

The fuzzy-pink cow socks keep Kolla warm through the cold winter mornings. She finds herself wearing them at least twice a week.

Sophomore Danette Loo

Sophomore Danette Loo bought these red, shiny shoes in a spur of the moment buy at a mall in Hong Kong. Although many people stop to stare at her shoes, Loo doesn’t think that they’re gawking at them as much as looking at them in envy.

“People just come up to me everywhere and they’re like, ‘Oh, I like your shoes,’ and then they walk away,” Loo said. “[I just think], you took time out of your day to come and compliment me. I wish more people complimented each other.”

Sophomore Nathan Ang

When Sophomore Nathan Ang spotted these Adidas Zx- Flux’s with Birds of Paradise at the Adidas Outlet store a month ago, he thought they looked stylish and sleek. His mother, however, did not.

“My mom thought [the flowers] were marijuana, I told her that it wasn’t marijuana, just a pink flower,” He said. “I guess you could look at [the flowers] like that because they have leaves on them. So she asked the guy who worked there, who actually had a tattoo of the flowers. And he told her [that] they’re birds of paradise.”

Although they were on sale for 15 dollars under the original price, 90 dollars, his mom was still not convinced. 75 dollars was pretty expensive. But the store had mislabelled — the shoes weren’t 15 dollars off, they were 15 dollars.

Ang left the store with the shoes in his hand.