![After placing second in their respective LDEs at the Capital District contest in early November, freshman Jesus Jaramillo-Gallegos and freshman Wyatt Pickett will compete at the Area XII LDE contest in Georgetown on Nov. 23. Jaramillo-Gallegos is competing in Greenhand Spanish Creed Speaking, while Pickett’s LDE is Greenhand Creed Speaking. “Honestly, [I’m excited for] just traveling around, maybe meeting more people,” Jaramillo-Gallegos said. “And [I’m] nervous about probably just not being able to define my weak areas. I feel like I did decent for my first time ever doing this. I just think it’s fun.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Navy-and-Yellow-Simple-Group-Project-Presentation-1200x675.png)
![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)
![Sitting at a desk past the rows of books laid out for the Book Fair, senior Kimberley Walters assists people in purchasing books and finding titles. The Book Fair is taking place Dec. 16 through Dec. 20, and is an annual event during which students and faculty have the opportunity to go and purchase books and other trinkets in the library. Kimberley said she encourages all to go to the Book Fair, even if they think they don’t like to read. “If you make reading something that is fun for you and you find the things that you like to read, it will never be a chore,” Walters said. “So [the Book Fair is] a good opportunity to find something that will respark your want to read [like] when you were a child and you went to the book fair and you loved the ‘I survived’ books. Maybe you'll find your ‘I survived’ books of your high school experience, and it'll re-spark that kind of love for reading that may have died out.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Addie-L-47-1200x800.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, sophomore Olivia Mahlmeister and seniors Samantha Jameson, Adhit Eswaramoorthi and Justin Khadavi celebrate completing first chamber in the Congress Meet. All four students advanced to the final chamber. “Out of the 20 kids in the final chamber, we had a seventh, ninth, 11th and 13th, and they took the top four to move on to state,” AP US History and Debate teacher Josh Marsh said. “[Even though] we didn't make state this year, all four of them moving on [and] placing is phenomenal.” Photo courtesy of Josh Marsh](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-Regional-Congress-Team.jpg)
![Standing in front of a small audience, senior Kimberley Walters shares a social criticism poem titled “Pity the Nation” by Lawrence Felinghetti. Every month, sponsored by the poetry club, the library hosts a poetry reading. “I never thought I would be interested in [poetry readings] because I’m not the biggest poetry fan,” Walters said. “I think poetry is a very succinct way to express feelings and get a story across. Whereas lots of books have a span of a whole story, but it’s put in a lot of words. The power of poetry is that you can be so succinct within, and there’s a lot of power within the words that are used.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KIM-1200x800.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)
![Holding the Grand Nationals trophies, drum majors Helashi Wijayawardhana, Abigail Pettey and Eddy Kim pose for a photo. The BOA Grand Nationals competition took place in Indianapolis on Nov. 14-17. “My favorite thing was just looking back at the field, and I was like, ‘Oh, crap. I know all of their names, I know who all of them are’,” Wijayawardahana said. “It's just insane to me that I was able to make so many connections. [Being a drum major] taught me how to build relationships with people who I’m not really that similar to, and how to juggle a ton of things all together.”
Photo courtesy of CPHS Band SmugMug](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AJC.GrandNatsFinals-169-1200x801.jpg)
![Delicately placing the string to form the shape of a cornucopia, seniors Haley Burton and Avery Nelson create the November arrangement for the Flower of the Month Club. This club is led by Advanced Floral Design Students and provides a monthly arrangement to community members who subscribe to receive them. “I think flower of the month club is a really impactful way to show your loved ones ‘hey I really care about you,’ or even if they’re just for yourself, they’re a little pick-me-up throughout the month that [say] ‘I’m doing ok, and these flowers make my day a little bit brighter,” Nelson said. “I like giving people flowers because people value the flowers more and they value themselves more.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ava-Holmes-3-edit.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)
![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)
![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)
Jumping into the Matrix
Senior to Continue Education at Institute of Technology in Washington
![Standing in front of the DigiPen Institute of Technology sign in Redmond, Washington, senior Simon Moss visits the college campus on a trip to Seattle. While visiting the school, Moss got to see what different programs DigiPen offers more in depth and meet new people. “[DigiPen] is going to be great because everyone that was accepted got invited to a discord [server] and everyone has been able to talk to each other and get to know everyone,” Moss said. “I don’t want to be in a campus where they have too many fields and people have different interests, but here everyone is very like minded.” (Photo courtesy of Simon Moss)](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/simon-moss-900x675.jpg)
Standing in front of the DigiPen Institute of Technology sign in Redmond, Washington, senior Simon Moss visits the college campus on a trip to Seattle. While visiting the school, Moss got to see what different programs DigiPen offers more in depth and meet new people. “[DigiPen] is going to be great because everyone that was accepted got invited to a discord [server] and everyone has been able to talk to each other and get to know everyone,” Moss said. “I don’t want to be in a campus where they have too many fields and people have different interests, but here everyone is very like minded.” (Photo courtesy of Simon Moss)
May 25, 2023
All it takes is a few seconds to be transported into a digital world. With video games providing an outlet for countless hours of endless creativity and imagination, it’s incredible to think that a team of people created the sequence of numbers behind the screen. While the average player just stays behind the controllers, senior Simon Moss is ready to press start on his new journey through the infinent world of technology.
Moss will be furthering his education at DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Washington this fall and will be studying Computer Science in Game Design.
“What made me interested in the school [is] it only lets you study majors in the field that I love,” Moss said. “I can get along with everyone and we all have the same interests, which is definitely a school filled with nerds, but those are my kind of people [and] are the best. I don’t have to worry about dumb parties or people smoking or drinking, and to top it off, Seattle is the kind of weather I love. I want to leave the hot, hot Texas.”
With DigiPen being Moss’s top school, it was important to him to perfect the application process to better his chances. Other than the standard information needed to be submitted, Moss was also required to complete two essays, along with providing two teacher recommendations. When decision day finally came, Moss’s hard work paid off.
“When I heard I got in, I didn’t believe it, like I really didn’t, but I saw the confetti after I refreshed [the page],” Moss said. “I screamed during a class, and told my mom first, then my dad. My dad said ‘bull crap no freaking way.’ Everyone in my family was so happy for me.”
DigiPen offers a variety of degrees centered around computer science, animation and game design. With the school’s main focus being different varieties of software technology, it aligned with the everyday hobbies that Moss enjoys.
“My hobbies are of course playing video games, but I also enjoy game soundtracks,” Moss said. “I love playing games that use my creative ability. I also loved making films with my green screen, so that entire school is the creative field and it aligns perfectly for me.”
Moss plans to start his career after college in the field of game development and produce video games of different genres and varieties.
“I have a ton of ideas for games, but have not been able to start any, as that’s what I hope to learn in school,” Moss said. “I want to create a game my mom requested, which is a Candy Crush like game, but it insults you as you’re playing. I also want to make my own PVE game, along with an airport upgrade sort of game. I have a major idea that I can predict will come in 30 years time, and it will be one of the best gaming experiences anyone has played, no details about it though, super confidential.”
DigiPen is a small university compared to other schools with a student body of 1,120 students in the 2022-2023 school year. With the teacher radius from students to faculty being 10:1, Moss will have plenty of time and expertise to learn all he can about the world of Game Design.
“After college, I hope to join a larger game company and help practice my skills, and hope to raise enough money to start my own company and make my dream project,” Moss said. “[My project] will bring so many people together and enjoy something truly amazing that everyone is going to enjoy! It will be my life goal as of course it’s a game, but not just any game. I really hope to make it with people I get to know along the way.”
Claudia • May 27, 2023 at 9:50 pm
This Young Man is leveling UP!!!!