Apeksha Sharma

Apeksha’s take: The smell of warm Nutella and baking batter fills the air in Bonjour Crepes, a small bakery located in Cupertino. The menu, which offers a range of sweet and savory crepes to grilled sandwiches and beverages, has the perfect recipes to satisfy any craving.

As I surround myself with the various college applications, one question seems to appear on every one. Who inspires you the most? My first thought is Batman, with that catchy jingle and amazing batmobile. However, upon further contemplation I have reached my final conclusion, my mom. Before you call me out on how cliché my response is, take a moment to see why exactly my mom can be credited with such an honor.

Imagine this. Lady Gaga wearing a pair of jeans and Ke$ha without glitter all over her face. One would say that this is normal, whereas I would say that this is madness. Although the outfits are not something a normal student would graciously decide to wear to her prom, they do their job in turning heads and getting recognition.

Senior Uttara Sivaram was the only SHS golfer to qualify for the individual CCS tournament last month, with younger golfers falling short of qualifying. At CCS, Sivaram started out strong but fell short of her goals on a tough course.

Brightly colored clothing and loud traditional Indian music filled the Redwood Middle School gym as dozens of members of Saratoga’s Indian community gathered to participate in a traditional dance called Dandiya on Oct. 15.

In the midst of college applications and the everyday school load, seniors Lauren Mather and Shir Nehama both manage to spend their evenings doing one thing, dancing.

For No. 4 player Hallé Champion, playing on the golf team this season has solidified her hopes to excel at the game, plow her way to perfection and develop lasting friendships. With the young team losing their most experienced member, No. 1 player senior Uttara Sivaram, next year, the freshman just may become the exemplary golfer for her peers in upcoming years. Having played golf for two years, Champion would like to hit the ball farther and be better at putting. Though she admits she has some ways to go, her acquired skills and talents remain admired by her peers.

After a disheartening series of losses, one tie and a solitary win, the girls' golf team pitched in together for an victory against Lincoln High on Sept. 24 at the San Jose Municipal Golf Course.

Compared to the enormous efforts put in by The United Nations to relieve the victims of hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Chile, the international community was nowhere to be found when Pakistan was hit by a devastating flood this summer.

The girls' golf team has an all-time high of 19 players this season. Though only six girls play in matches, all have been meeting together since school started. Most are new to to the game, but the young team prides itself on a promising future of 10 freshmen, eight sophomores and one senior. The senior is Uttara Sivaram, who coach Casey Hall is counting on to help lead the team.

Varsha Ramesh (10)- I've fallen off a ski lift 1. What's your best pickup line? -I wish I were sine squared and you were cosined squared, because together we could be one.

As proms come and go, many students are getting geared up towards finding the perfect everything for the dance. The perfect dress, the perfect shoes and perfect hair are common, but for a Mississippi student named Constance McMillen, 18, prom means having to go to court to fight for her right to attent.

Saratoga 2007 alumnus Varun Sivaram, a junior at Stanford University, was recently named the recipient of the Truman Scholarship, which provides up to $30,000 for graduate study to college students who plan on playing an active role in the government. To be eligible for a scholarship, students must be citizens of the United States, attend a college creditable to the U.S. and have a grade point average of "B" or higher within their junior year of college.

In 1895, one man by the name of George Vernon Hudson had the idea to turn night into day. It was a seemingly ridiculous task at first sight, yet he accomplished it with one simple concept: daylight savings. Most of the time, clocks are set forward in spring and backward in autumn. However, the government decided to move the date up to the end of winter, leaving many restless upon the new change.

Many students walk in on the first day of school not knowing what to expect when taking a seat in an AP class. This is no different for junior Lexie Mullaney, who often uses personal study guides to help her in her APUSH class. Mullaney, along with many other students, relies on their own notes to help them advance in a class.

As AP tests and SAT registration deadlines approach, students often find themselves in a frenzy when seeking the details of these tests.

When the bell rings, students hustle through the hallways trying to avoid being crammed between students.

While the Falcons may have lost their CCS semi-final game against Valley Christian High School on Feb. 27, they did accomplish something else. The 62-42 loss marked the furthest any Saratoga High girls' basketball team has made it in the CCS playoffs.

In the week leading up to February break, students and staff entering the office found themselves faced with a puzzle while looking at a big display with baby pictures. They asked themselves questions like, "Is that picture of Mrs. Ritchie or Ms. Brown?" These guessing game was inspired from the new competition started by the spirit commission in which students tried to match each staff baby picture to their corresponding name.

“I’m obsessively opposed to the typical.” Truer words have never been spoken by Lady Gaga, who created an unprecedented change in the entertainment industry by reshaping music for the new generation. Unlike many of today's popular musicians, Lady Gaga can give an eye-opening performance that is always completely different from what other artists offer .

In the week leading up to finals, teachers are "strongly advised" to not assign homework or new material. However, many teachers bend this "suggestion" and continue to assign homework, projects and sometimes a test. This is a policy that needs to be enforced strongly so students can get the time they need to prepare for their final exams.

The Pioneer defense wasn't the only thing that got shattered during Saratoga's 59-54 win against the Mustangs on Dec. 8. In addition, senior forward Nicole Gragnola broke the school record for most points in a girls' game putting up 42 points along with 15 rebounds, three steals and an assist.

Eric and Will’s Infinite Playlist, a Facebook group started by sophomore Eric Wang and junior Will Tang with over 150 members, gives students the opportunity to share music through wall posts and discussion boards. Although still lacking the abundance of song suggestions that the group hopes for one day, this concept of an online playlist is useful any time students are in need for something new to listen to. "You open yourself to different types of music that other people listen to," said junior Kaitna Shankar. "Music also shows a person's personality."

When most people hear the term “Feng Shui," their thoughts are immediately drawn to rooms being rearranged by experts of the practice. However, Feng Shui is much more than that: It is a culture. This tradition has impacted the lifestyle of junior Nina Mohanty as she recalls her first interaction with the art. “My mom is Chinese, and she's into feng shui, so we're definitely into that in our household,” said Mohanty. “We even had a professional ‘feng shuier’ come and arrange our furniture when we first bought our house as well as when we got a lot of new furniture.”

As the girls' basketball season commences, the players plan to work on certain weaknesses, but overall have high expectations on how they will do this season. Coach Mike Davey is shooting high, aiming for the girls to “play as hard as [they] can, win as many games as possible and to have fun." The team is steadily working to overcome early detected issues, such as talking to one another on defense. "Improving on communicating on defense is important," said sophomore guard Shriya Nagpal. "But we have some amazing shooters and a lot of posts, so this will be a good season."

As students geared up for the various activities associated with Homecoming last month, administrators armed themselves with flashlights, breathalyzers and a new, school-wide dance policy.

Some people know Kanye West as the rapper with record-selling songs and white shutter shades, but many know him for his notorious outbreaks. From his criticism of other celebrities to the apologies posted on his website, West has proven many times how outspoken he is—most recently at the MTV Video Music Awards when he took the microphone from Taylor Swift to proclaim the greatness of Beyoncé.

By 7:40 a.m., the school's front parking lot is overflowing with seniors and juniors trying to park their cars in time to make the first bell. Just as they turn off Herriman Ave. and breathe a sigh of relief at seeing the school, they find a sea of parents parked in minivans and other cars blocking their way, seemingly content with where they are and reluctant to move an inch.

As the school year begins, the 2009-2010 spirit commission is looking to bolster school pride along with a little competition. In addition to the institution of frequent spirit days, the commission is planning to “bring back the class competition by giving points to those who dress up for their class,” said junior head commissioner Shir Nehama. Awards will be given out to those who are the most spirited throughout the whole school.

As the school year begins, the 2009-2010 spirit commission is looking to bolster school pride along with a little competition.

Link Crew is undoubtedly a great program for guiding freshmen through a very intimidating stage of their lives. Although the positives of Link are evident, the adjustments that need to be made to the program are equally obvious.

If there was only one symbol that you could choose to represent yourself, what would it be? This is the one question that faced most of Genevieve Garcia’s Chemistry Honors students. Garcia offers extra credit to students who make their own personal quilt square which she will later sew together into a quilt and hang around her classroom.

After several years of consideration and a couple months of installation, students can now wirelessly log on to the Internet on their own laptops and iPods. Students now have the ability to conduct research for a school project on their laptop or check their e-mail at lunch.

Girls’ Soccer: The JV girls’ soccer team ended its season on a six-game winning streak and placed second in leagues. Freshmen Antara and Meghana Rao led the Falcons, who lost only two games all year. Boys’ Basketball: Despite a 4-8 record, the JV boys’ basketball team had a fairly successful season. The underclassmen improved greatly and should bring solid talent to the varsity squad in the upcoming years. Standout players include sophomores Kent Paisley and Chris Guengerich.

On Feb. 25, 40 total students from both Yerba Buena and Saratoga High School exchanged places as part of Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program. This experience was a way for the students to explore a different academic world.

Ever find yourself stuck at home on a Sunday night spending your time cramming for the upcoming biology test while trying to multitask and finish off a practice write for English? For many students, this is an almost weekly occurrence thanks to the partial block schedule that requires students to attend all classes on Monday. As the school debates the pros and cons of moving to a full block schedule, the time is ripe to finally do away with the unpopular partial block system and solve the “Monday problem.”

With a recent $5,000 grant from the School Site Council, librarian Kevin Heyman is determined to bring the school into the 21st century. The library is introducing two new online databases called OPAC and a bibliography generator as part of its mission to improve its resources. The new databases have been used by many other high schools for about 10 years. Students can also use these systems to familiarize themselves with other databases in preparation for research at the college level.

Every year, the National Charity League (NCL) a mother-daughter organization, holds a special event that honors the seniors who have spent as many as six years donating dozens of hours to a variety of organizations. This year, the event will be held March 14 and take place at the Double Tree Hotel in San Jose. The theme of the gathering is “Unwritten,” a song by Natasha Bedingfield. It is meant to reflect the girls’ feelings that even though this event is the culmination of their years in NCL, they are standing on the brink of their future as adults.

While most seniors were busy filling out questionnaires and writing essays for colleges this past fall, a few took a different path. Seniors Vivian Fu, Candace Kao and Lisa Clark are among the handful of students who have decided to pursue a career in the arts, meaning they had to send portfolios to colleges.

As Winter Ball comes nearer, the ASB is putting the final touches on their plans for the Dec 13 event. The dance will be held in the gym.

After learning of their tie with the freshmen in decorations, the sophomores hoped to redeem themselves with their quad day dance on Oct. 1, in which they showed Julius Caesar’s daughter getting ready to marry one of several contenders who are fighting for her love.

Imagine walking down a dirt road barefoot among shards of broken beer bottles. Imagine losing a friend to enemy fire every day. Imagine not being able to see your family again. Imagine all this when you’re only being nine years old. In Uganda, 1.8 million children are being forced from their homes to fight against the Ugandan army. For them, it’s either kill or be killed. A rebel group named the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony has taken most of these kids from their homes at the ages of 5 to 14.Not only has Kony destroyed lives, he has destroyed schools. Most of the kids in Uganda don’t have a plan for the future. Lucky for them, hope is on the way.

Students at Saratoga High: There are more of you than you think. This year, many teachers at SHS are students once again. As of January 2008, the state of California required teachers to hold the California Teachers of English Learners (CTEL) certification. Teachers have the option of passing either three tests or completing four graduate level courses—either online or in a weekly class that last until mid April. English teacher Cathy Head became aware of the certification three years ago but did not know that it would be required of all teachers at the time.

Students at Saratoga High: There are more of you than you think. This year, many teachers at SHS are students once again. As of January 2008, the state of California required teachers to hold the California Teachers of English Learners (CTEL) certification. Teachers have the option of passing either three tests or completing four graduate level courses—either online or in a weekly class that last until mid April.