Cathy and Kevin are the editors-in-chief of the Sentinel Sun. Both in grade 12, having experienced four years at Sentinel, the two shared some insight on the premise of the Sentinel Sun as well as other life tips and experiences!
What is the Sentinel Sun? The Sentinel Sun is a school publication “run by students, for students.” The newspaper aims to cover a wide variety of informative and engaging news for students as both an accessible and entertaining resource, delving into everything from breaking news reports to fun book reviews. This year, the Sentinel Sun will open itself up to creative writing from students as well! In this article, we sat down with the editors-in-chief of the Sentinel Sun, Cathy Xiong and Kevin Cho, to get to know them a little better.
Cathy and Kevin have been with the Sentinel Sun for two years. Outside of the Sentinel Sun, the two of them are also a part of the Sentinel Music program. Cathy plays the piano for the RnB Band, and Kevin plays the violin for the Orchestra. One of their shared musical endeavours is volunteering with the Keys for Seniors, a student-led group that aims to provide seniors with music. “We originally went to the actual nursing home in person [to perform],” Kevin explains. “But because of COVID, we’ve turned to using a virtual platform to share our music with the seniors.” You can click here to watch their most recent performance. Cathy also took part in a summer jazz workshop offered by the VSO, whose concert you can watch here.
With the two of them having spent four years (and counting!) at Sentinel, and we asked them to tell us a bit about their time here:
What is your most memorable experience at Sentinel?
Kevin: The process of campaigning [for student council president] was super fun. I got friends to help me put up posters and campaign and I brought my [Kaori] cosplay to school. The thing is, I lost my wig, so I used an Albert Einstein costume wig instead. I hope I didn’t look like an elderly grandma!
Cathy: Academics wise, my best memory is participating in the engineering activities in Physics class. (Shoutout to Mr. Gibson!) And otherwise, I would say during band performances, the solos are pretty good. There’s like that adrenaline leading up to it and then you pull it off and it feels great. And every concert, when your friends come and bring you flowers and stuff, it’s like, really heartwarming.
What advice would you give to your Grade 8 self?
Kevin: For me, I’d say just enjoy your time more. I was so serious in Grade 8, and I wish I made more memories and made new friends. I came from a really small Catholic school, our entire grade was 30 people. I didn’t know anyone at Sentinel, so I wish I connected more and had more fun!
Neeka: Sidenote, if you didn’t make friends in Grade 8, and you’re in Grade 10 or 11 now and you’re like “Oh my god, I missed my shot,” no you didn’t. You can meet your besties like literally a quarter of the way through 11th Grade, and you’re going to have a great time!
Cathy: I think surrounding yourself with people who care about you is important. Because I feel that if you have good friends who can help you grow as a person, and people you can talk to, it can first of all motivate you to be a better person, but it also motivates you academically and to keep on going.
Emma: Yeah, I feel that if you are actively looking for a bosom friend, it’s harder. Just go with the flow and pay attention to the people who make you feel most like yourself. Let relationships happen naturally; don’t worry or force it too much. At the end of the day, although it may sound cliché, a lot is up to fate, timing and chance.
What would you tell someone who wants to improve their writing?
Cathy: Don’t be too hard on yourself while you write. Get the words out, and don’t worry about it being good until you edit it. Also, have people to share your work with! Sometimes an outside perspective makes all the difference, especially when editing since cutting things down may feel like you’re wasting work.
Kevin: Yeah, sometimes you just have to kill your darlings. One of the things I struggled with was writer’s block, where you just can’t start it; you don’t know what to write, and you don’t have any ideas. So, sometimes you just have to take a break. Take a walk, go play with your dog... just do something fun and take your mind off of it. Or if it’s late, just sleep on it, and then come back to it. And if you really can’t get any ideas, just start making a rough outline and write. It doesn’t have to be good, just write your ideas and it will eventually formulate into something you want. And read books!
Do you have any book recs?
Cathy: A great book on writing as a craft is On Writing by Stephen King.
Kevin: I really like Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
Last question.. As students who’ve gone through a COVID year and a half, what advice would you give for when things get really hard?
Cathy: Knowing that it won’t be permanent, and that this is just a super small chunk of your life.
Kevin: Just envisioning the end of the AP exams and the start of summer. This is mostly for when things start to really pick up in April and May.
Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Cathy and Kevin! We are excited to have you guys lead the Sentinel Sun this year!
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