Interviews by Jamie Wang, Kayla Li, Naomi Vanderlip, Alyce Thornhill and Justin Im
Jump to Each Student:
Hannah Flynn
Holly Fletcher
Laurel Bolts
Jenna Heath
Graham King
Stefan Veizades
Madeline Yeh
Pranav Viswanathan
Maia Bhaumik
Hannah Flynn
Foothill College
How did you get into film?
I would guess that the influence came from my uncle — he’s an actor — and since I was little I’ve been fascinated with film and how movies are made and how you can basically make any movie in your own version.
Why did you choose Foothill?
I decided to go to Foothill over somewhere like CSM because Foothill has a really good athletic program; they are one of the better community colleges in terms of athletics. I tend to get injured a lot, which probably isn’t the best as an athlete, but they have really great training facilities and trainers to help with rehabilitation, so I’ll be going there a lot.
Which sports are you planning to participate in at Foothill?
I’m excited to play water polo — that’s the sport I got recruited for. They don’t have a goalie, currently so they’re very excited to have me, and I’m very excited to play there.
What will the next five years of film look like?
The film program is fairly new at Foothill. It covers a wide variety of topics from film in video games to cinema film. Basically I’m going to get all of my [general education classes] out of the way for college, and then for my major I’ll be learning different genres, different ways of filming, all the equipment, editing [and] all the fun stuff, and that will be my course for two years focusing on that major. There will be internships set up probably field trips to LA, maybe some exchange at schools.
Holly Fletcher
University of South Dakota
What do your plans for the future look like?
I am going to go to the University of South Dakota to play softball and major in Medical Biology.
Why did you choose to pursue Medical Biology?
I knew I wanted to do something [with] a lot of lab work, because I enjoyed working in the labs that I have done at Aragon. I was drawn to that.
What do the next five years look like for you?
Well, hopefully I finish my degree in four [years] and start graduate school. Maybe at South Dakota, maybe not. I’m not sure yet, honestly.
How do you plan on juggling academics and studies?
There’s a lot of great counselors at the school, and I talked to a lot of the athletes that are currently in [the program]. I just know I need to make sure all my stuff is done before I go to sleep — that will help me balance it. And then working on the weekend to juggle everything.
Are there any challenges that you foresee in the future?
A lot of time issues because I am going to be taking harder science classes, and then playing a Division I sport is going to take up a lot of my time, too. I just have to write down what I have to do every day and cross it off as I go.
What are you looking forward to the most?
I’m definitely super excited about playing a sport that I love and doing it at a school I love, too — it’s just icing on the cake. And I’m getting to study what I want to study; it just ties everything together.
Laurel Bolts
Academy of Art University
What are your plans for the future?
I will going to Academy of Art University next semester for acting. They also have a summer immersion program which introduces me to all of their programs of singing, dancing and acting, so it allows me to see their true whole area for acting. It’s seven and a half weeks of probably everything I’d do in all my four years all at once to help me figure out what I want to do.
What will the next four years of your life look like?
At school I’ll mainly do core classes, so it’s all focused on everything I’ll need to graduate. I don’t take a math class. I don’t take a regular English class, but I take a literature class on Shakespeare. I take History of Art and Acting, so I’ll have all of performance theatre throughout the years. I take an improvisation class and a singing class.
How did you decide to do this?
I have a scholarship where I get free tuition for school. I got it from a church. At first I got into the pre-college program which introduced me to different arts. At first I was on the verge of architecture because I liked building things, but I also really liked acting so I took both of their classes and what I loved the most was their acting classes. There was only five of us but the teacher really worked us to love ourselves and express in the best way we can, and all of us became really close friends. It was just the safest place to be because you could be from everywhere and come together.
It’s scary and my parents are worried about me, but they know if I want to do this, I have to put in my whole heart and just do what I can.
What challenges do you see in the future?
Getting a role because I know that time’s time and [actresses] work really hard. You have to push yourself to that level and do what you can. One of the people I saw from “This is Us,” she said she had 81 cents or less in her bank account and now look where she is. If you work really hard and you want this to happen, you can excel to thousands of dollars.
Jenna Heath
College of San Mateo
What are your plans after high school?
My plan after high school is to go to CSM in the fall of 2019.
What will the next five years look like for you?
I [want to] transfer from CSM into either Berkeley or Davis and then probably doing an internship for my major, either communications or child psychology.
Why did you decide to take the CSM route?
I decided to go to CSM mainly because I wanted to save money, and I know how many people are in debt. I really, really didn’t want to do that. And my main focus is to travel; travelling has been one of my dreams. So I want to save as much money [as I can] so I can do that. So I decided that this was the best path, and I’ll get my degree at the end of it. Because that’s all that matters.
Why are you interested in communications?
I like communications because I get to work with different people around the world. I also get to run a business and help other people. You know, learn more and try and market as well when it comes to a business.
Graham King
University of California, Los Angeles
What are your plans for the future?
I am attending University of California Los Angeles, majoring in theater with a focus in “integrated studies.”
What will the next four years of your life look like?
I will be performing, directing and designing for student-run and staff-directed theatrical productions as well as developing my skills in those areas under the mentorship of working Los Angeles theater and film artists.
What does a theater and integrated studies major entail?
The idea of [integrated studies] is that students in the concentration will have the most creative freedom to build their own education and will have the ability to enjoy every element of a theater program. An integrated studies major could, for example, build a “musical director” focus within integrated studies that would allow them to take more music classes to supplement their education and work towards their ultimate goal of being a music director for musical productions.
What is one non-academic thing you are looking forward to?
UCLA has a really amazing variety of student run organizations that make me more excited about my future there. There student theater companies are extraordinary and will allow me to create more outside of academic constraints and create even more valuable connections.
What are you looking forward to?
While I am sure that I will receive an amazing education at UCLA, my real excitement for college comes from the infinite number of new personal and creative relationships that I will forge over the next four years. Meaningful exploration of relationships what drives me as a creator and human.
Stefan Veizades
University of Edinburgh
How did you decide to go to Edinburgh?
I applied to colleges and at first I was just looking at the ones that were good for biology and the University of Edinburgh is really good for biology. I already knew that I wanted to apply to schools in the United Kingdom, and I think on the application you get to pick five, so I just picked the top five schools for biology in the UK. Then a couple of weeks ago, I went to the UK to visit the schools and I just really liked the University of Edinburgh compared to the other ones. I was really just deciding between a couple of schools in London and the University of Edinburgh and I just vibed with the [University of Edinburgh] a lot more.
What made it so special?
Well I think that the Scottish degree program is different than the one in England or even the one in the states where everyone can only take three classes per semester, and I really like that because it’s a lot more chill. I see a lot of schools that were like ‘oh its work hard play hard’ but [that] sounded awful to me, and I wanted somewhere where I would have the opportunity to do other things outside of school and not be overwhelmed with school. The University of Edinburgh really focuses on you going into societies or sports and your development outside of the classroom.
How did you decide you wanted to pursue biology?
I took a lot of biology classes in high school and I really liked them, and I also took a couple at community college. I really like being in the lab working on stuff. It’s a very hands on subject unlike a lot of other sciences aren’t. You can see what you’re doing and it’s right in front of you. It feels important because as long as there are sick people there are always going to be careers in biology. I like how biologists can make people’s lives better. I’m doing biotechnology and it’s finding ways to help humans by manipulating organisms in many different fields.
What do you think your future plans will look like?
I really like the city. It’s a chill city and it’s not as crazy as London but it’s also not in the middle of nowhere. It’s a very student centered city, a good proportion of people in the city are students so its has strong student life. [I’m also looking forward to] the hummus society. That’s one of the many pluses that they have. They have a society just for hummus and hummus appreciating. They also have an American society, U.S. students are I think the second largest international group and when I’m aboard I’d like to have at least some people from the U.S.
What do your next five years look like?
I got approved to skip the first year so I’m going to spend the next three years at the University of Edinburgh. My second year I’m planning on studying abroad and then after that maybe do a one year master and then I should finish up with a Ph.D.
Madeline Yeh
Wellesley College
What convinced you to go to Wellesley?
My mother went to Wellesley, she graduated in 1990. Initially I was quite skeptical going to one of my parents’ alma maters, but ironically I ended up choosing between both of them. I went to open campus for admitted students at Wellesley, and it was an interesting experience. It was weird to go to a college and have them talk about housing, classes and student life and then also talk about how being in an environment with all women affects that because it honestly seems like it affects every part of life there. I initially wasn’t sure if that would be a negative or positive thing.
What aspect of an all-female population do you like best?
I attended a chemistry class when I went to Wellesley open campus and it was very strange; it was the most diverse science class I have ever been in my life. Despite the fact that half the population was missing it. Seemed like there was just as many Asian women as there were white women as there were Hispanic women as there were African American women, and it shouldn’t be shocking to see that [diversity], and it shouldn’t be shocking to see women openly speak and raise their hand and feel like talking to the person next to them and have that open discussion during class, but it was. It kind of went to demonstrate what an all women’s college experience would be for me, a collaborative diverse experience with a lot of smart and intellectually curious women.
What are you looking forward to most?
For a while I’ve had this idea that I’d really fly the nest when I go to college, like go to a completely different environment. I think that right outside of Boston is a really great place to start my academic career and my life post San Mateo. It would just be a new environment and I’m excited to see the seasons change.
Will you be playing music at Wellesley?
Wellesley is a smaller school but there are a lot of schools around it, so I’ll either play in the [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] orchestra or I’ll play in the Wellesley-Brandeis orchestra which is an orchestra that includes the two campuses.
Pranav Vaswanathan
University of California, Berkeley
What do your future plans look like?
During college, I’m going to be majoring in industrial engineering and operations research. I’m going to try and double major in electrical engineering and computer science so I can go into a career that’s more robotics focused.
Why did you choose Berkeley?
I chose Berkeley because in the beginning I was looking for a college that would have really good student to faculty ratio, so it would be easy to get help if needed, and the major I’m interested in only accepts around 12 students per year while the have 5 faculty. Also, one thing Berkeley does with industrial engineering is that they combine operations research as well, so when you graduate you’re not just restricted to an engineering job, but you can also get a job in finance or become a business consultant.
What is robotics? What do you do?
Robotics is just building robots to do certain tasks, for me, my main focus when doing robotics is just designing the robot mechanically and pretty much just creating something that is capable of doing whatever features I want it to once it is programmed.
What kind of robot would Berkeley be?
I think if Berkeley was a robot it would be a pretty large robot made up of lots of cost-effective materials, and it would function at a really high level at whatever task it is trying to do.
How did you get into robotics?
I started doing robotics through FIRST Tech Challenge around four years ago because it seemed really interesting. My motivation for doing FIRST Tech Challenge in the first place was entering small competitions when I was young and building things.
Maia Bhaumik
Cornell University
How did you decide to go to Cornell?
I decided on Cornell because I just felt like it was the perfect choice for me and for my major. It’s one of the best schools for food science [which], is basically all the sciences such as biology, chemistry, physics all related to food. I ended up applying early decision [to Cornell] when I had never actually visited the school, but I watched so many videos and looked at so many pictures and read so many articles that I just had this feeling that Cornell was the right place for me. After going there for admitted students day, I feel like it was the right choice because [after] meeting some of the people that go there and seeing the school it really reaffirmed everything that I thought because I just felt like I could be friends with every person that I met.
What are some of the challenges you foresee in the future?
I’m honestly very scared for organic chemistry, but also all the problem solving that’s going to happen because I’m going into a field where there’s not a ton of research, and its kind of a new frontier which will come with its own challenges. It’s going to be hard but I really can’t wait to try and fix the problems that I’m trying I don’t even know what I don’t know yet and what I want to solve. I’m really looking forward to how I can help the Earth.
