A University Team

 

 

Claire ’18 

The University cross-country and track teams have played a vital role in shaping my high school experience. Ask me as an eighth grader, and I would’ve told you that running was a purely individual sport. This is a belief that has been thoroughly disproven by my experience on the UHS cross country and track teams, which have shown me what a true team should look like. I have learned an extraordinary amount from my academic classes over the course of two years, accumulating knowledge that I will take with me for many years to come. But perhaps the most valuable lessons I have learned have stemmed from my participation on the cross-country and track and field teams, made possible by our very own athletic program.

 

Being a member of University’s sports teams has been a blessing, and I honestly don’t know what I’d do without the athletics program. All of my coaches have been committed to their sport and supportive towards each one of their athlete’s successes and failures. Running with University has taught me a multitude of lessons, most importantly the benefit of fostering a tightly knit, supportive team environment. I have learned that a team’s success is not rooted in the performance of one or two superstars, but rather in the joint contribution of each of its members. A true team does not exist without collaboration, friendship, and support, all of which I have experienced through my participation in University athletics.

 

In our most recent cross-country meet, our Coach encouraged athletes to write a word on each hand that would serve as motivation during the race. Among the many choices of words, I noticed that “team” was one of the most popular.

 

I firmly believe that this word “team” is a consistent theme throughout University’s academic and non-academic programs. While every student is motivated to succeed individually, we come to function as a single body and community that support each other’s endeavors and accomplishments. I feel very grateful to be part of a community that values collaboration and team spirit like UHS does. 

 

Big Red UHS

 

 

Maddie ’18

 

Something I look forward to more than almost anything else during the UHS school year is Oracle Day, where both of our varsity basketball teams play Lick’s varsity basketball teams in Oracle Arena. What stood out to me when I first went my freshman year was how excited everyone was for Oracle starting from the first day of school. It’s an event that is talked about all year round because we all can’t wait to show off our school pride. The morning before Oracle, we all come wearing red everything and do face paint and body paint. Then we go to a pep rally where we watch videos and learn cheers to get pumped up for the big game. One of my favorite parts of the day is getting on buses with everyone in the entire school because we cheer, sing, and laugh the entire way there. It unifies all of us, building a strong community bond. And once we arrive at Oracle, it’s game faces on and loud voices ready. I’ve always been shocked by how loud such a relatively small school can be. We have spirit captains that lead us in cheers ranging from “she’s a freshman” when a freshman makes a play to “I believe that we will win.”

While we show huge school spirit on Oracle day, we also continue that pride and energy throughout the school year during Big Red Fridays. Every varsity sports team in the school has one Friday a year where the entire school is encouraged to come out and watch. Each team has the freshmen on varsity make an announcement during All School Meeting sometime that week to let everyone know when and where the game will be. The teams play funny videos of themselves after the freshmen make their announcement. Big Red Fridays are my favorite days of the year because you feel the support of your entire school. It’s amazing as well to be involved as a spectator because you can feel how much the teams love having you there. Even when teams don’t have their Big Red Friday, we receive weekly emails and announcements about important games, and our fields and courts are packed with students. I can’t count how many times I’ve been packed into the Devil Dome squished together with the rest of the school for a Friday night game.

What makes UHS’s school spirit so powerful is that it demonstrates the school-wide passion that students have for everything that they do. The students put everything they have into academics, art, sports, and the success of others. We’re not only dedicated to being the best that we can be on our own but also encouraging the passions and happiness of others.

Making Friends

 

 

 

Matthew ’18

 

Coming into freshman year at University, I was one of two people from my middle school, San Francisco Friends School.  Although I knew some other classmates through sports and other activities, I was nervous about the prospect of making almost all new friends.  However, I’ve found that at University, making new friends is easy because everyone is really inviting and open.  A few things that helped me to make new friends were the mentoring program, sports, and just my classes in general.  The mentoring program gives you a cluster of around 15 kids, and my cluster has become really close-knit over the years.  In freshman year, it was an opportunity to get to know some fellow students and share in our new experiences at UHS.  Some of my cluster-mates are my best friends today.  Cluster also gives you two upperclassmen peer advisors, who became good friends.  Sports were also great for making new friends.  Playing baseball has given me another community of really close friends which includes students from all of the grade levels.  I also played freshman basketball, and although I wasn’t very good, it is still a shared experience between me and some other guys in the grade.  In my classes, especially some of the smaller ones like drawing and music, I got to know some people I wouldn’t otherwise get to know.  Just one shared interest can spark a special bond at UHS.  I now have so many friends at UHS, many of whom I wouldn’t expect to become friends with, but ended up getting to know through various classes, extracurriculars, and community activities.

My UHS Story – You’ll Know it When It’s Right

 

 

 

Sam ’18

 

Since I had only gone to one school before coming to UHS, I was extremely nervous over the idea of choosing the school that I would spend the next 4 years of my education at. I felt completely overwhelmed by the process, although I felt especially apprehensive for my visits to prospective high schools. I had no idea what to expect.

UHS was one of the first visits I had scheduled, and I distinctly remember my mom telling me to relax on the ride over to the campus. “Just have fun”, she said, “You’ll know it when you find the right school for you”. This simple piece of advice stuck with me throughout the whole high school process. Instead of worrying over every statistic at each school, I took a step back and looked simply at what school would be the best fit.

From the moment I stepped onto the UHS campus I knew that it was the right school for me. My visit took place on the day of the championship game for the Boys’ Soccer team. The game was on a Thursday, and even though it was a school night, everyone made time in their schedules to make sure that they could support their team. The atmosphere around the school was electric. The fact that everyone in the school could come together and rally around a unified cause was something that I didn’t see anywhere else.

I chose UHS not just because of our strong academic program, but because of the fact that I knew that no matter what extracurricular activity I participated in, I would have the support of my peers. This is a school where we all rally as one.

I wish you all the best of luck the best of luck in the upcoming months and I hope to see you visiting on campus sometime this fall.

Diversity of Interests

 

 

 

Emily ’18

 

What is really unique to University High School students is our diversity, not just in ethnicity and middle schools but also in interests. I remember as a 9^th grader thinking math and science were my favorite subjects, even though I still enjoy them, now I really love all my classes. Throughout all four years at University, students are given a chance to chose different courses and find what truly interests them. For instance I had taken Spanish all three years of middle school but decided I wanted to learn French. Now I am in French III and can speak it fluently. In freshmen and sophomore year we are given a several mandatory classes to give us a basis of understanding and instruction that would help us succeed in later years. As an underclassman I took Latin American, Middle Eastern, and Western Civilization History, which helped develop my interest in American foreign policy. Now that I am an upperclassman I look forward to taking classes that pertain to this topic, like Modern Middle East and Peace and Conflict Studies. For sciences I took Chemistry and Biology with Molecular Emphasis, finding my interest in biomedical sciences. As an upperclassman I can take more specific classes that delve into my area of interest. This semester I am taking Physiology and look forward to taking Microbiology and Molecular Biology.

The plethora of classes University offers has no limit. Students who are interested in a subject that is not offered can create their own syllabus with a sponsored teacher in an Independent Study. Many students at University will take an Independent Study, this semester over 60 students are participating in one. This semester I wanted to learn more about scientific research, so I designed an Independent Study about scientific writing and clinical statistics where I gather data from a private office and write a scientific article on the success rate of a surgical procedure.

Outside the classroom, clubs help us grow and follow our passions. It is incredible that a school of 410 students has over 40 student led clubs, whether it is an activity, issues or identity club. An activity club is where students come together to have a good time and create something. For instance as a result of my English teachers at University I love writing, so now I am an editor and writer for the current events section in the school newspaper. I think learning more about one’s identity is extremely valuable, so as a Middle Eastern student I created a Middle Eastern Students Club.

I am grateful that at University I can pursue my interests in and out of the classroom. Here at University High School we challenge ourselves to learn more and discover our passions.

 

Cluster and My Adjustment to UHS

 

Grace ’18

 

I came into UHS only knowing two girls who I had gone to school with for nine years prior. Every incoming freshman is assigned a cluster, which is a group of about 12 people with a faculty member who is our ‘mentor’. When I first met my cluster, I was excited to have a group of people I could get to know easily during the first weeks of school. Coming into UHS I was nervous about making new friends, but as the year went on, I found it easy to find people who I enjoyed spending time with because I knew I always had my cluster as well. Cluster provides a space where I can relax and have fun just playing cards, eating snacks, and hanging out for about an hour a week.

It’s amazing how a group of people with such diverse interests can come together and have a great time. During cluster, we start out by sharing our rose and thorn of the week- one good thing and one bad thing that happened to each of us. Most of the time we then disperse and play games like apples to apples, heads up, or Pictionary. Each week one or two members of the cluster bring snack for the whole group, so throughout the hour we chat, eat, and play games. It’s a nice stress release after a full week of school and I enjoy having these people who will always be there.

Occasionally we will discuss current issues as well. For example, after the presidential debate, we spent some time debriefing it. Last week, we watched a TED talk by the author of our summer reading book on inequalities in the criminal justice system, and this week we are going to be debriefing the TED talk as well as the book. Our discussion is going to be within our cluster but will also include another cluster that meets right next to us. I love cluster and the time I get to spend with people I might not have gotten to know otherwise.

My first weeks at The Oxbow School

 

Christina ’18

 

For my junior year I am spending the fall semester at The Oxbow School in Napa, which is a semester school with a focus on studio art, as well as an interdisciplinary academic class called Connections, which combines English, US History, and Environmental Science. I’ve been here for a month and I feel extremely fortunate and grateful to be in such a beautiful place getting to meet so many new people from all over the country while being able to dedicate most of my day to making art. The classes that I am taking while at Oxbow allow me to stay on track with my classes and graduation requirements at UHS, which alleviates the stress of being at a new school and enables me to focus all of my attention and energy to being fully engaged with my classes, peers, and teachers here.

We spent the past three weeks rotating through each of the three studios: painting, sculpture, and new media. Each week there was a different theme starting with observation, then place and finally narrative.

My favorite project was in sculpture where as a class of fifteen people we imagined and constructed a sculpture with the theme of place in mind. We began with the assignment of envisioning what we thought the world would be like in the future and what we hoped it would be. After our initial brainstorming we moved into research about pertinent issues that we thought were relevant to being able to achieve the type of future we hoped for. I chose to research living wage vs. minimum wage and gaps in access and quality of education as it relates with the goal of learning about how solutions to these problems would physically manifest. After doing research individually we came back together as a group to share our findings and then the challenging process of bringing our individual creative visions into one cohesive final product.

After many sketches and discussion of possible iterations we ultimately came to the decision to create an 8-foot wide half dome to represent the dystopian remnants of the earth with a crater in the middle. Suspended above the half dome is a utopian world that we imagined to be torn out of the earth, leaving the crater behind. We used simple materials such as cardboard, hot glue, dirt and foam core to construct the sculpture.

This week we began a ten-day visiting artist residency with Tucker Nichols. We have been doing assignments that focus on the act of creating a high volume of work with the mindset that art shouldn’t always be precious and we should feel free to destroy the work we make if we aren’t happy with it.

In Connections class we began a project based in the text of Thoreau’s Walden for which had to come up with an essential question and then design our own weeklong “experiment in living”, drawing inspiration from Thoreau’s experiment in living deliberately by living at Walden Pond for two years.

I’ve already learned so much in terms of new knowledge and skills as well as gaining a better understanding of myself and my place in the world. Even though I miss my friends and teachers at UHS, I am excited to take on all of the challenges and exciting experiences that I know I will be faced with during my time at Oxbow.

 

 

Why I Chose UHS: The Community As a Whole

 

 

Anise ’18

 

Being an eighth grader and having to a choose the school you are going to be at for the next four years is a huge step. I personally didn’t decide I was going to UHS until the day the decisions were due. A big reason I decided to go to UHS was the sense of community present. During my shadow visit, people would come up to me and introduce themselves, looking excited to see me. In the classes, the teachers would stop the class for a short time to have the students go around and say what they liked most about the school. While walking around, I saw students of multiple grades sitting together in the courtyard, laughing and having a good time. There was a feeling of warmth  and unity throughout the students, teachers, and faculty.

Now, reflecting on my experiences at this school, I can say that there is deeply ingrained sense of unity. I know I could go up to any person on this campus and they would support me with the best of their ability. There are so many events that allow the whole school to come together and have a good time. From friday sports games to community days where we all learn about different issues in our community to when the whole school goes to oracle arena where we play Lick-Wilmerding High School in basketball, there are so many opportunities to get to know your peers and support your school. We have many sports that students can join to better their skills and meet new people along with clubs that they can join to discuss and bring awareness towards an issue, have a space to reflect upon their identity, have a good time, or further their knowledge on a topic.

Now, as a junior at University High School, I can honestly say that this is one of the safest, most open environment to learn and grow as a student and an individual. Because of the welcoming environment here, I was able to meet so many unique individuals and thrive in this rigorous learning space. Overall, I am so glad I became part of such an amazing community and this has been such a privilege to have.

 

How Field Hockey helped me to become part of the UHS community

 

 

Phoebe ’18

This past Friday was my Field Hockey teams Big Red Friday. A Big Red Friday is a  UHS tradition where each varsity team has one game where the entire UHS community comes out to show their support. Our peers wear red and cheer on the team.  A typical Big Red Friday would be full of loud cheering, bleachers busy with red-wearing supporters, and lots of free pizza. Big Red Friday is a really big deal for me and to see my friends and family in the stands supporting me, makes me play that much better.

As an international transfer into my Sophomore year, I was extremely nervous about fitting into a new school and all of the pressure and stress that surrounded that. I decided that a good way to make some new friends was to join a sports team. The great thing about UHS is that even if you’ve never played the sport before, you can join the team as a Junior Varsity player and learn how to play the sport along with other beginners. And that’s exactly what I did! I learned how to play Field Hockey alongside other freshmen and sophomores, who soon became close friends, and therefore making the transition to UHS school life much easier.

Not only did I make lots of great friends through the team, I also learned to love a new sport. Being a swimmer for the majority of my sports career, I wanted to try something new yet still incorporate it into my school life. Field Hockey was the perfect sport for this because we were able to practice close to school and many of the girls from my grade were also interested in the sport.

I really believe that the ability to try out something new without having any previous knowledge made my transition to UHS pretty effortless. I’m glad I put myself out there as a transfer and joined the Field Hockey team as a complete newbie. The friends I made through Field Hockey are the ones who helped ease me into the UHS community, and they are friends I will have for life.