![Holding up T-wolves, the tour group poses for a picture in the Chinese classroom. Sophomore Lydia Ou, junior Phu Trung and senior Yushan Pan gave a tour to Taiwanese diplomat Andrea Yang on Nov. 8. “I was so excited when I heard I would get to give the tour because it’s a big deal,” Ou said. “She’s from the US embassy for Taiwan, so she’s really important. I’m so privileged [to get this opportunity] and I’m so excited.” Photo by Skyler King](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Main-Taiwan.jpg)
![Students drew chalk art in honor of Veterans day. This is just one of many things the school does to show appreciation to veterans, and the art will remain in the courtyard as a reminder of all of the veterans who served their country. “On veteran’s day, I think it’s a great thing we do at school to honor people that served [who are] at our school or family members,” English teacher and cheer coach Nadira King said. “It makes me feel proud, and it makes me remember the [veterans].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Capture.png)
![Sucking in a breath of air, freshman Lily Pope competes in the 200 yard individual medley. On Oct. 25, the swim team competed in the AISD Swim Invitational. Overall, the girls team took second place and the boys team came in eleventh. “My favorite stroke is butterfly because I do the best in that stroke,” Pope said. “I feel like [butterfly] can test how [your ability] to convince yourself to keep going. The hardest part of swimming is convincing yourself to stay strong and keep pushing during a hard race [when] everything is tired.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/POPE-1200x804.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, Author Ehigbor Okosun, members of Page Turners, and other students reflect on the author's visit. “I thought the visit was great,” Senior Amia De Leon said. “It was interesting talking to her and [getting to know] her process and her thoughts and books in general. But I think the reason it went well [was that] people got to ask questions. I'm glad that she said so much in response to the questions and it wasn't just one and done. [The author’s responses] felt very articulate.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Sebastian-5-1200x800.jpg)
![Standing in front of the field at a freshman football game, cheerleader freshman Jacob Gaudreau along with teammate freshman Bella Gibson pose for a photo during halftime of game. “[Cheer has] definitely given me a much more outgoing personality,” Gaudreau said. “I used to be very introverted, so it's definitely made me more extroverted towards people.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ingrid-204-1200x800.jpg)
![Holding a wooden pizza toy, senior Taylor Peterson plays with small children in Bucaramanga, Colombia. During the summer, Peterson traveled to Colombia to help build an elementary school that only had two classrooms but five or six grades with one teacher. “We add[ed] two more classrooms,” Peterson said. “It’s kind of hard when you have two or three grades in one classroom and you only have one teacher. It’s very hard to actually get some beneficial learning. [The extra classrooms will give the students] a better quality of education because they’ll actually have a place specific for their learning.” Photo by Taylor Peterson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Taylor-P.png)
![Swinging with his arm extended, senior Nolan Park hits the ball smoothly over the net and to the opponent’s side. Park is one of four varsity tennis captains and helped the team win district championships. “Winning district champs was a pretty awesome feeling,” Park said. “We had lost to Liberty Hill a couple of weeks before, but when we played them [again], we came out and really took care of business. We took them out and it was just a really awesome night.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kassidy-419.jpg)
![Standing proud, varsity senior athletes Rafael Escobar, Griffin Jacobs, Jakob Martin, and juniors Jackson Springer and Jack Morris pose with their newly earned medals. The varsity team finished third out of 14 teams on Sept. 25. “The team's primary goal is to win the district championship,” head coach Cody Price said. "We're confident that with our action plan in place, we can accomplish this mission. [For the next tournament], our preparation involves assessing our strengths and weaknesses, celebrating milestones and creating individual development plans." Photo courtesy of Cody Price](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/golf.jpg)
![The cross country team poses for the camera after finishing the district meet. The varsity boys, JV boys and JV girls all placed third and the varsity girls placed fourth. “Coach put in the right training for us for this season, so I think we will be peaking this week and the next couple of weeks,” varsity runner and junior Nathan Kukla said. “The chances of making it to state are very high, but we don’t settle for the lowest and there is always going to be that chance, so [we] race for the best.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Heidi-831-1200x900.jpg)
Expectation vs Reality: Fish Edition
Freshmen Compare Thoughts From Before and After Entering High School
From Mean Girls and Clueless to High School Musical, there are many films to blame for students’ perceptions of high school. Going into the second month of school, it is time to compare the expectations and realities of high school from none other than the freshman class.
Freshman Keelin Garner said that there were several things she was anticipating when going into high school.
Expectation
“Before I started high school, I was expecting a more free environment and to have more fun than in middle school with pep rallies and more advanced learning within science classes,” Garner said.
Reality
“High school is way more free and the teachers treat us better,” Garner said. “There aren’t as many rules such as needing to raise your hand during lunch, and our science labs are more advanced.”
Aside from freedom, students such as freshman Anthea Cruz said that she was worried about balancing band along with school work.
Expectation
“I thought I would get lost in the huge environment, and that the classes would be super difficult,” Cruz said. “I was also expecting band to be super fun and easy going.”
Reality
“There are lots of people here to help and I’ve been able to find my way through school,” Crus said. “My classes have been going well so far, however it has been hard for me to keep up with completing homework and going to band practices, as I didn’t expect band to be as intense and time consuming.”
Freshman Luke Labrador said that he also had some thoughts on band clashing with his other high school activities.
Expectation
“I was expecting to be pressured non-stop about grades and homework,” Labrador said. “Especially with band, I was worried it would be more difficult to manage my time with projects and assignments.”
Reality
“Unfortunately, marching band hasn’t given me much time for homework,” Labrador said. “I haven’t been stressed about it so far because DEN makes it easier to get work done. The only thing I would wish is for band kids to be able to participate in school events such as Homecoming this year.”
While the previous few freshmen went to Cedar Park Middle School, freshman Adam Long moved from Houston to Austin just this year.
Expectation
“Before I got here, I was expecting a large, open campus and decent teachers with lots of homework in subjects like math,” Long said. “I was also expecting lots of textbooks and many people walking and biking to school.”
Reality
“Cedar Park turned out to be a closed campus, and I wasn’t expecting a courtyard,” Long said. “I’ve also gotten lots of science homework, and didn’t think we would have school provided laptops as well.”
From the excitement of learning, the stress from band and even the transition to an entirely new city, every student had a different vision of how high school would differ from their previous academic years. While there may not be food fights and spontaneous dance numbers as there are in movies, there are still many more things that freshmen are looking forward to.
“I’m looking forward to the freedom and activities high school will bring, like clubs, football games and dances,” freshman Aashna Ravi said.
“Parties and BOA competitions,” Labrador said.
“Homecoming, football games and volleyball games, “ freshman Evelyn Maib said.
“[Meeting] more friends and [joining] a club or two,” Long said.
Nithila is a senior here at Cedar Park High School and this is her first year on The Wolfpack staff. She is involved in multiple honor societies, and holds an officer position in DECA. She primarily enjoys writing articles that people will be able to relate to, or learn something from. Outside of school, she enjoys participating in productions by her dance school, and is currently working on becoming a student teacher there. She also loves playing with little kids while she volunteers at Thinkery Children's Museum. Finally, she hopes to study Architecture in college and will most definitely take her passion for writing along with her.
Jordan Deyo is a senior that has been in the journalism department for her entire high school career. She currently is the Multimedia Manager of The Wolfpack, and a staff member of the Tracks Yearbook. Jordan loves her eight animals! She has four cats, two dogs, a lovely hedgehog and a chinchilla. Jordan is going into the Air Force after high school to pursue her dream of working in law enforcement, just like many others in her family.
