Cindy Phung, Staff Writer
Pronouns: they/she
Grade: 10
Years on staff: 2
What was your favorite childhood TV show? I love Phineas and Ferb! Their songs still slap.
What is your favorite book? One favorite of mine is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
What motivates you? I'm wondering the same thing tbh
![Raising her drink for a cheer with sophomore Sally Peters, sophomore Alessia Taranda tries the Lemon Galaxy Flower Tea at the boba shop Hitea. As the popularity of classic milk-based boba tea grows, many people remain unaware of the additional variety of drinks that boba shops offer, such as fruit teas or smoothies. “My favorite place used to be Hitea because my sister and I always went together, but Hitea is expensive,” Taranda said. “My favorite drink at Hitea is the strawberry milk tea, but Im lactose intolerant, so I dont get it very often. Instead, Ill usually get a strawberry smoothie. [This time], I tried the Lemon Galaxy Flower Tea, [which] is pretty good and cool to look at.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image13-900x600.jpg)
![With the sun setting in the background, English ASC Kristen Witt and her husband, Aaron Witt, wear matching team shirts for the Siesta Key Crystal Classic International Sand Sculpting Festival. In 2021, they ran out of time for matching team shirts and instead wore ‘West is Best’ shirts, while in 2022, they made custom couple shirts. “This year, [Aaron] decided to have them made. On the front, it said ‘Team Witt,’ and on the back, it had ‘24,’ for how many years we have been married, and it [reads], ‘24 years of playing in the sand together,’” Kristen said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20221112_174031-1-Edited-900x675.png)
![Peeling off her gloves after examining a healthy lung compared to the lung of a smoker, junior Ione Cornelius explores High School Heroes training. High School Heroes is an organization that teaches middle school students about drug prevention that focuses on the dangers of e-cigarettes, marijuana and CBD. “When I was in sixth grade I thought [High School Heroes] was really fun and interesting. I learned a lot from it and looked up to the high schoolers who taught me. [I knew] I wanted to do that one day,” Cornelius said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_9746-900x600.jpg)
![Holding her nose, senior Kennedy Whitaker peeks out of a porta-potty. Porta-potties were created to save time as temporary toilets — perfect for cross country meets. “They are very [beneficial] for my running because they allow me to feel good and not have to go to the bathroom when I run,” Whitaker said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_3943-900x633.jpeg)
![Sticking her tongue out playfully, 3-year-old Clara DAquino Lazarini tightly holds her sister. In Brazil, when the two shared a bedroom, many fun memories were made — however, there were the occasional light-hearted disputes. “I would always try to sneak into her bed at night because she had [the] top bunk, and I was so upset that I didn’t have it,” Clara said. “I used to talk while I was sleeping, and every morning she would tell me the things I said or did, and she would always pretend to be mad at me, but in the end, shed laugh about it with me.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_6818-900x637.jpg)
![Right foot in and arms wrapping around her teammates, freshman Hayden Oakley mentally prepares to race. Oakley ran in the freshman race in the Stan Nelson Invitational at the Northwest Early Childhood Center, Sept. 10. “Before [the race,] I was a little nervous because it was only the second [meet,] it was bigger, and there were a lot of people there. When we went into the huddle, that helped motivate and calm me down. [Also,] it was nice because it just made me feel more confident about the race,” Oakley said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Hayden-Oakley-900x600.jpg)
![Setting up the tent, sophomore Sydney Etchason holds the center pole in place. To assemble the tent, the team followed a routine that required cooperation and communication. “Putting up the tent was very important to our team, [the tent] was very big and everyone worked together which was why I loved setting up the tent,” Etchason said. “I guess the most fun part was when it all came together. In the beginning, it was just some fabric and stakes you put in the ground, and [when] it was all put together you could see the hard work that we put into it. It looked beautiful and made everyone happy.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Sydney-Etchason-900x600.jpg)
![Striding across the turf, senior captain Lexi Etchason sports a hat for Fun Friday. To come up with theme ideas that made running more exciting, the captains took suggestions or searched TikTok trends. “Its a thing the coaches didn’t tell us to do and when someone forgot something, someone always had an extra. When you shared, you got to talk to that person. It brought us together because the more people who participated, the more fun it was,” Etchason said. “My favorite [Fun Friday theme] was the white lies. My sister and I had a really funny one, she and I both had The fastest Etchason on our shirts. It was fun because she and I got to make it together.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Lexi-Etchason-hats-900x600.jpg)
![Throwing her hands up, freshman Isis Anable Montague engages in a chat with freshman Addie Smith. Team dinner was hosted at the Etchason’s the Friday evening before the Stan Nelson Invitational. “It was a great way to bond with the team, and I’ve never done it before. [Without the team dinners,] I probably wouldnt be as close to the team and everyone was there to talk and to motivate each other for the race. [The best part of the team dinners were] probably the conversations because they got so wild. They went all over the place and I had a lot of good laughs,” Anable Montague said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Isis-Anable-900x600.jpg)
![Sharpie in hand, junior Inaya Chishti signs this year’s pumpkin, a symbol of girls cross country. After this years pumpkin was revealed, everyone signed their name to promise a good season ahead. “The pumpkin was our mascot. Shes been with us since day one, [and] I think she keeps us going,” Chishti said. “The most exciting thing about the pumpkin was just the fact that it brought the team together. It was something that we bonded over and even if youre really fast, or if youre slower, everybody could be included in loving the pumpkin. Everybody took turns carrying the pumpkin and everybody bonded over the fact that our mascot was an inanimate object.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Inaya-Chishti-900x600.jpg)
![Greeting students with a poem and a smile, junior Nicole Imral hands out one of many pocket-sized poems in her stack. Spread out near the school entrances, Imral and several other National English Honors Society (NEHS) members informed students and staff about the day and handed out poems. “I love poetry. I was excited about [Poem in Your Pocket Day] because its fun to read a bunch of different poems youve never read before, especially short ones because its easier to get through them,” Imral said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/DSC_0093.JPG_-1-900x600.jpg)
![“[The best piece of advice I have received was] to let people do what they want. I think that would be the most impactful piece of advice Ive ever been given, [by] my partner at the time. Its something she would say a lot whenever I would get upset. Eighth grade to freshman year was that whole period where I was really judgy and had really strong opinions on things that I shouldnt have. I was too much. I think if I met myself my freshman year, I would punch me in the face, but I think a lot of people would probably say that. I grew up in a household where [if] you’re a girl, you wear this and if you’re a dude, you wear that. And so all my ideas were just copy and pasted of [my family’s] ideas. It was just a preference that was embedded in my preteen years and that I ditched when I realized it was stupid. Look at me now. Im not at all dressing stereotypically feminine. So Id say that would be an example of gender roles and clothing being something I used to really be a badger on. Now I’m like whatever. I think [this advice] really helped me build character and become my true self. Because a lot of my judging people for what they were wearing was almost a projection of myself and being upset that I couldnt wear what I wanted to wear because of the way that I was raised. [I] took it out on other people that were able to do what they wanted. Getting this advice to stay in your lane was just good [for me], I took it and now I’m living better.” – Mac Winter, 12](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_3160-900x675.jpg)
![Sophomore Inaya Chishti shows her cow, Rosie, at last year’s Washington Town & Country Fair, where she won first place. After having a great season with Rosie, Chishti has looked forward to showing Rosie and her baby, a cow-calf pair, because she has never shown the same animal twice in a row. “It’s just a lot of work that you pour into this one animal, and then you dont get to show them again because its a lot on the animal. And so we normally just let them go into the field, but Rosie was a really good show animal. She showed herself, [and] I didnt need to be there. I could let go of the halter and just scratch her, and she would just stand there,” Chishti said. “Im excited [to show her] because I love her, and shes actually named after me. My middle name is Rose.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/image000000-1-e1650295193713-900x638.jpg)
![Celebrating her journey, freshman Alexis Briner beams brightly with her family. Briner appreciates her parents greatly for their support during her journey with anorexia. “I was still in the depths of [the eating disorder] around the holidays. So there were a lot of meals and I remember I kind of panicked at a few of those. And so I would have to take time out and sometimes wed have to leave the parties early. And then my parents would be upset because it was very time consuming, [but] they were troopers,” Briner said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/briner-feat-900x705.jpg)
![“[The best piece of advice I have received was] to let people do what they want. I think that would be the most impactful piece of advice Ive ever been given, [by] my partner at the time. Its something she would say a lot whenever I would get upset. Eighth grade to freshman year was that whole period where I was really judgy and had really strong opinions on things that I shouldnt have. I was too much. I think if I met myself my freshman year, I would punch me in the face, but I think a lot of people would probably say that. I grew up in a household where [if] you’re a girl, you wear this and if you’re a dude, you wear that. And so all my ideas were just copy and pasted of [my family’s] ideas. It was just a preference that was embedded in my preteen years and that I ditched when I realized it was stupid. Look at me now. Im not at all dressing stereotypically feminine. So Id say that would be an example of gender roles and clothing being something I used to really be a badger on. Now I’m like whatever. I think [this advice] really helped me build character and become my true self. Because a lot of my judging people for what they were wearing was almost a projection of myself and being upset that I couldnt wear what I wanted to wear because of the way that I was raised. [I] took it out on other people that were able to do what they wanted. Getting this advice to stay in your lane was just good [for me], I took it and now I’m living better.” - Mac Winter, 12](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/kwinter-1-900x675.jpeg)
