Here are the week’s top stories… 

 

1. Asian American students fight or flounder at the toughest STEM contest prep courses in the Bay Area 

by Mathew Luo

Sunday morning, 9 a.m. 

The suburbs of Fremont are quiet, but Tang Academy’s inconspicuous classroom, a converted garage, is bustling with cars and drop-offs. Still painted a fading white and framed by cypress trees, the garage shows no exterior signs of change.

 

2. ‘I can’t afford to live where I teach’: Teachers discuss the rising cost of living in the Bay Area

by Manasi Garg and Jessica Wang

In 1992, as a young history and English teacher, Mike Davey managed to get a loan to buy a house in Campbell for $225,000. Today, nearly three decades later, he said that the property is worth $1.7 million.

 

3. Dance team resumes practices over live video calls using Zoom; tryouts postponed until summer

by Andrew Lee and Kevin Sze

Given the shelter-in-place order and health precautions due to the potential spread of the novel coronavirus, the dance team is continuing to meet over live video calls.

 

4. The not-so-glamorous side of competitive sports 

by Anjali Nuggehalli

Crouching over the cold steel bench on the sidelines last November, I knew there was a problem when I couldn’t remember why I was still playing soccer. I was fed up with being yanked out of games over a mere incomplete pass, and my willpower slowly drained.

 

The Falcon also provides live updates on COVID-19 cases in the area and event cancellations.

 

Looking for other fun reads to end your week? Here are the editors’ favorite columns.

 

1. In dreary times of quarantine, senior reveals his family’s secret instant ramen recipe

by Allen Chen

It is said that no two families have the same instant noodle recipe. From the brand of instant noodle used to the toppings put into the soup and the amount of time spent meditating before cooking, every household guards their own recipes and techniques and passes them down from generation to generation. It’s almost as if receiving the family instant noodle recipe is an important step in one’s coming-of-age if you grow up as a Chinese American.

 

2. Leave Safeway alone please; they've been through enough

by Allen Chen

As the quarantine enters its midlife crisis and the not-really-novelty of staying at home all day and actively avoiding social interactions begins to stale, you might be tempted to don a mask and head down to our local Safeway for some sushi.

Frankly, don’t. It’s important during this period of uncertainty to stay away from others as possible. Flatten that curve, folks. But if you decide to go against that advice, you might find something at Safeway that reminds you of an elementary school math problem.

 

3. 20/20 by genetics, bespectacled by choice: Junior braves the contempt of the obligated glasses-wearing world to keep her eyes feeling funky fresh. 

by Allison Hartley

Despite the flack for donning unprescribed glasses, purchasing blue light blocking glasses was a moment of personal revelation. 

 

4. Boys' basketball: Not like this . . . how one junior's season ended in pain 

by Justin Guo

Even after I knew what had happened, I never thought that it could have been that bad. 

 

5. The Players’ Tribune: A Harvard-bound golfer learns to take it one shot at a time

by Kevin Sze

It was the summer of 2010, and I was 7 years old playing in my first golf tournament ever at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento. I had no idea what to expect.