Junior Ridhima Katare grew up in a close-knit community, where she remembers playing with the other kids in her neighborhood. Climbing trees, riding scooters and playing games with her friends took up most of her days. Katare remembers living a relatively carefree childhood, indulging in creative activities like painting and finding other ways to entertain herself when she was not with her friends. 

“I never had any big [concerns or worries]. It was daily concerns like, ‘I haven’t had Magi in so long, when is my mom [going to] go to India Cash and Carry and restock the Magi in the house?’” Katare said. “Now I feel like I just have a lot more stress because of my future. I’m scared for all aspects of my future, [even though] I know those fears are not really tangible.”

Katare feels that her amount of free time has decreased over the years, she now has less time to devote to artistic activities. She has also noticed her relationship with her once-close group of friends has changed over time. Rather than hanging out every day, Katare says that their interactions are limited to catching up on weekends. However, to Katare, their less frequent meetings make their time together more memorable. 

“I know our experiences were shared and we learned lessons together and grew up together,” Katare said. “The relationships you have with some of your oldest friends [are] maybe not the [same as the] friends that you speak to every single day. But at the end of the day, they’re the friends that matter.”

Sophomore Vulture Boyer recalls their old neighborhood to be a place where people suffered poor living conditions, with welfare and drugs both prevalent in the community. 

“The landlord had to chase people out of the apartment complex that were trespassing,” Boyer said. “People tagged our walls [and] there [were] constant car crashes.”

Boyer moved to Cupertino in 2021, leaving their apartment behind for a house in the hills. They say that moving has given them five acres of space to house their 19 pets –– three dogs, two cats, 13 chickens and a horse. Although Boyer sees their move as an improvement from their previous circumstance, they miss living close to their cousins, whom Boyer considered older siblings. Boyer also recounts differences between their peers at their former school in San Jose and their peers at MVHS. 

“It was a fresh start from where I was to where I am now,” Boyer said. “The school system is completely different there because we have kids that are literally doing drugs [instead of] kids that are doing study groups. You can see the difference.”

Boyer still visits their old landlord and apartment complex with their mother from time to time. They also stop by the Dona Maria, a Mexican restaurant close to their regular car mechanic, when getting their car repaired – a tradition they have continued since their childhood. 

Although Boyer misses not having power outages in the mountains, they believe that their time in Cupertino and at MVHS has been positive overall. 

vulture boyer 2: code1:: “I’m really happy here,” Boyer said. “If I stayed there, I don’t think I would be able to pursue what I want to as I’m doing right now.”

Sophomore Dylan Nguyen remembers running around the house evading his nannies. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of loneliness and boredom caused by his father’s frequent business trips and lack of involvement in his life. 

After Nguyen’s mom passed away when he was 5 years old, Nguyen’s father frequently went on business trips. He specifically recalls one night when his father was in China on business and Nguyen was sitting on his dad’s bed, struggling with the overwhelming feeling of loneliness. Despite knowing his father was in the middle of a meeting, Nguyen decided to call him on FaceTime. 

“I just started bawling,” Nguyen said. “I just remember I started crying so hard, and I’m like, ‘Please come back. I miss you so much. I don’t even know who you are.’ And then my dad was like, ‘I wish I could come back, but I can’t.’ And then a week after I found out that he’s retiring [since] I didn’t have anyone to take care of me. After that, I felt way more connected to him and I was able to feel loved.”

Following his father’s retirement, Nguyen and his dad began playing golf together and entered a father-and-son golf tournament. He remembers winning first place in their bracket, describing it as an incredible moment.

“I was really proud of myself, even though now that I look at it, my dad carried me so hard,” Nguyen said. “That was a really good bonding experience with my dad.”