Juniors

Etsuka Tomonaga

Halfway through her sophomore year, junior Etsuka Tomonaga moved from Japan to the United States. Now a junior, one of her biggest goals for the upcoming year is to try and improve both her English as well as her understanding of the social norms at MVHS. She is also excited about the recent influx of Japanese immigrants to the MVHS community.

“My goal is to be [a] more fluent English speaker and make more friends and have fun,” Tomonaga said. “[I plan to make more friends] by speaking for myself to someone and get to know each other.” “It’s very beginning so I don’t know what’s going the next day or the future, but I think this year is going to be very awesome,” she said. “I’m excited…to improve my English.”

Satoshi Ueda

Motivation is the driving force of improvement for junior Satoshi Ueda. Anticipating the difficulties of junior year has compelled him to practice better academic and athletic ethics.

“I’m studying more and trying to be on top of things,” Ueda said. “I was pretty lazy [the last two years.]”

“I do judo and wrestling competitively; I have been doing [judo] for about eight years,” he said. “I think [what’s important this year is] competing, because for the past two years, I’ve been going to tournaments. I want to train so that I can go [to] new national tournaments and qualify, so I can maybe go to the Olympics one day. [I want] to tell my future self when you interview me again — I want to say that I won the nationals.”

Angelica Lopez

Junior Angelica Lopez has heard lots of rumours about junior year — about the difficult courses, strict teachers and the stress of the SATs — but she continues to maintain high hopes for her future.

“People say that junior year is going to be the worst, hardest year out there, but so far it’s okay because it’s the beginning of the school year,” Lopez said. “Hopefully I’m doing okay in the future — not struggling and making it through. I want to be more social and be out there. I have always been kind and helpful and I hope to be positive throughout the school year.”