Tag: Long beach High School Newspaper

  • An FAQ Focused on College Degrees

    With the end of every school year comes the idea of uncertainty of what’s next, and how you might get there, epically for the seniors of the 2020-21 school year. Steps can be taken to complete a college application or file for student aid or loans, but choosing what to do for the rest of your life is a strenuous decision that will have an impact on the rest of your life. Questions fly through the air and, sometimes it’s hard to find answers.

    Listed below are ten general questions that might help you choose which degree you might pursue to get the job you want:

     

    1. What are the levels of college degrees?

    College degrees have four major categories for degrees: Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral. The degrees on their own can take two to eight years to complete depending on the degree you chose, and the field you’re going to study. Associates Degrees usually take around two years to complete. Both Bachelors and Masters Degrees can take anywhere from two to a cap of six years to complete, and a Doctorate or Ph.D. takes at least four years to complete.

     

    2. Which college degree should I get for my field of study?

    The college degree you get is based entirely on what you want to do with it, and how far you think you’ll be able to go with it. Some are content with an Associates Degree, and the limited knowledge that might come with it. Many, however, would recommend a Bachelor’s Degree at least, to gain the basic knowledge of the field you’re studying. A Master’s degree is also a decent choice to achieve for any field of study, and would only require an extra year or two of study. A Doctorate of Ph.D., however, is usually reserved for medical degrees and those going into the intensive or extensive field of study, and would not be recommended by many to achieve.

     

    3. Is it good to get a Doctorate degree?

    Of course, you can get a doctorate degree, but whether you should is an entirely different matter. By getting the credentials you affirm that you know exactly what you’re talking about, but in most cases, while you’re working on getting your doctorate or Ph.D., your peers who only went for a bachelor’s or master’s degree may have already advanced and established your careers. All-in-all a doctorate or Ph.D. is not recommended. For many medical professions, however, and professions like researchers and college professors, a Ph.D. is mandatory.

     

    4. Can/Should I Double Major?

    Double majoring is a popular choice if both majors you want to obtain are close to are nearly the same profession, Like a Finance and Accounting double major, or the majors for Engineering and Mathematics. Having this extra knowledge for your field can help with gaining an internship or a job. 

    Many colleges have a chance of double majoring as well, as well as pre-made schedules for classes and possible internships to allow students to complete a double major within four/five years. Double majoring is a good idea if there’s a second major that you may need to make it further into your career.

     

    5. What is a Minor?/Should I Get a Minor?

    A minor is a second, smaller degree that you can achieve along with your major. If there is a second topic or set of classes that you may want to take that does not pertain to your chosen major enough to consider double majoring, a minor is a good choice. On its own, it’s possible to gain a minor in three years, but it is impossible to obtain a minor without simultaneously participating in a degree program of some sort. A minor cannot be obtained on its own. You can, however, obtain multiple minors as long as you’re actively working towards your major.

     

    6. What happens if I drop out of my degree?

    Dropping out of a degree program can have a very selfish or selfless reason, but regardless of why, not many hear about the aftermath unless they drop out themselves, or they hear it first or second hand. If you drop out of a degree program, you still have all the credits of any classes you finished and passed while getting your degree, but under no circumstance can you claim that you completed your program. It also might be a small scuff on your academic record, but if you dropped due to personal or familial reasons, it doesn’t matter why you needed to drop. However, getting back into school to finish your degree may be difficult, and transferring your degree to a different school may be even more difficult.

     

    7. Can I get a third Major?

    There is no limit on how many degrees any person can get, regardless of what they are or what they may be used for. The pursuit of education is a noble goal, and no college can bar you from getting as many degrees as your heart desires. However, after you fulfill graduation requirements for a bachelor’s degree, you will no longer be eligible for federal education grants.

     

    8. How would my degree be useful?

    The main goal of getting a degree would be proving to your employer and your peers that you understand what you’re talking about and that you can be trusted with the part of you job that pertains to your degree What you get your degree for, or the broad ways you can use your degree, can also be useful. If you get a degree that can be used for a wide variety of jobs, it gives you the option to choose which job you want to do. 

     

    9.  Can I continue to the next degree if I stop at an AA or Bachelors?

    If you stop at an AA or Bachelor and take a break from schooling, it’s possible to go back and advance your knowledge or the degree and your knowledge to a Bachelors or Masters. Each degree is a type of “stepping stone”, meant for the knowledge you earn to lead you to the next step. It’s always a recommendation to advance your degree to your own desire. Though the time you may take between getting one degree and taking the step to get the next degree may hinder the knowledge you remember and can affect how fast you may be able to obtain a Bachelors or Masters. It can also make it harder to go back to school because in the time off you might get a job, get married, or have kids, all of which makes it harder to go back to school!

    10. Do I Have to get a degree if I want to take college courses?

    Some colleges and universities may require you have the main goal of earning a degree to take classes at their school, but many community colleges have no requirement of getting a degree to expand your pool of knowledge, though not an ivy league school, any Community college or university is a good source of higher-grade classes for young adults wanting to take leisure classes, adults who want to expand their knowledge, or elders who want to get back into studying.

  • New Dog in Town

    New Dog in Town

    Kelly Rodriguez, center, with Zion, left, and King, right.

    This is Zion, my dog. The small dog is my sister’s dog, named King. We are going to talk about King first. We got King when he was two weeks old. My mom got him from my grampa for $50. We have had him for two years now. He´s really smart and we don´t have to put a leash on him. Also, we never trained King or Zion.

     

    Zion is a really good dog. We got him when he was two months old. Zion was my brother’s dog at first. My brother’s name is James. He paid $400 for Zion he was supposed to pay 800, but my tia’s girlfriend was friends with the girl who sold Zion to us. James and I agreed that I would take care of Zion when he’s at work.

    Zion when he was a puppy.

    So I took care of Zion and my brother would come home and not give him any attention because he was tired and Zion would make a lot of mess, so my brother decided he wants to sell him and my mom was okay with it because she doesn’t want him. After all, he’s going to grow big but I told both of them no I’ll keep him since I take care of him more than my brother since he’s always working. My mom said no I can´t keep him but I begged her to let me keep him and she said okay.

     

    Now Zion is seven months. He’s a husky mixed with a   german shepherd. Zion still makes a lot of mess. I walk him every day for like 30 minutes or less. I take him everywhere with me because my mom doesn´t want him in the house. Sometimes when I try to go somewhere I can´t because of him since my mom doesn´t want to babysit him, so I just stay home or try to figure out something.

    Zion is in the festive Halloween spirit.

    Zion is an indoor dog because I live in an apartment and my neighbor has other dogs outside and they don´t want Zion close to their dog because he’s big so I try to take him out when I go somewhere.

     

    Zion loves meeting new people and kids, he is so nice to them. One day we went to the dog beach and he lay down next to someone and tried to hug them – I got a little jealous.

     

    Zion is my whole world, the only one who makes me happy. Also, dogs are better than people.

     

    Kelly Rodriguez with Zion.
  • Humans of Quarantine: Chilling, Exhausted, and Not Missing the Beach

    Humans of Quarantine: Chilling, Exhausted, and Not Missing the Beach

    “Lately I have been feeling extremely exhausted and overwhelmed by not only school and distance-learning, but from my community being torn apart and all over the place from past/recent tragedies.”
    —Mahogani Sogules-Corbin

     

    “Quarantine just means I don’t have to worry as much about wearing sunscreen.”
    —Sophia DelBello
    Reymar Santos, High Life Staff Writer: “This is my Uncle Eddie, he’s been chilling and pushing through this quarantine and he said, ‘Make the most of the time spent with your family because that is all that we can do. Enjoy life that’s it.’ “
    “Life WAS like a box of chocolates, but now its as uneventful as a Kit Kat Bar from the 99¢ store.”
    —Christian Gisborne

  • Ready for the Real World?

    This week, I and many other seniors will be given a diploma and moving on into whatever kind of life we want to live. It is up to us to determine if we will continue education, have jobs, or just do nothing.

    I’ve been waiting for the moment to finally graduate and have my life set. But as that day is approaching closer, I dread it more and more. Why was I so excited for this as a kid and what made me think I would have everything figured out by then?

    If anything I feel more confused and overwhelmed than ever before. What exactly is in store for me? And why does it seem like I’m being pushed out into something I’m not really prepared for? Yup that’s right, adulthood. This has been a long struggle, being in in school, for SO many years. It’s routine and what I’ve been doing the past 13 years. In these 13 years what have I learned? Maybe some social skills and how kids can be cruel sometimes. The basic subjects such as math, history, english, and science. But what about managing my money? That’s only something that I’m really learning and investing in my senior year. Why does everything cost so much anyways? Applying for jobs, it’s a struggle, especially when I’ve been trying for months to get a job. Hello? I’ve been calling for so long now. Please give me a job, please.

    I’ve decided for myself that I will continue to do even more education, all in the favor of trying to have a career that will hopefully keep me stable. Good luck to me and all the other seniors who are going to struggle and try to survive.

  • Tree Planting

    On January 26, from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM Poly’s Reserve Officer Training Course (R.O.T.C) participated in Operation Jumpstart’s Beautification Project by planting sycamore tree seeds in the neighborhood of Alamitos Beach Senior Center.
    The beautification project took place along the Long Beach Senior Center which marks its 25th tree planting anniversary.
    Fifteen R.O.T.C cadets put in three and half back-aching hours digging up plots for seeds to be planted in and any litter around the neighborhood.
    The R.O.T.C program seized the opportunity to participate in this grand event as it hopes to offer its cadets volunteering events to give back to the community and add to their resume when applying for a job.
    Jasmin Jallorina, one of the cadets present during the event felt, “humbled,” to be part of such a, “wholesome, heartwarming event.”
    Jallorina hopes to continue the event with the remaining two and a half years left in high school.
    After witnessing how, “jubilous the volunteers and the pedestrians passing by with a smile from eye to eye.”
    Not only does this open up R.O.T.C to another one of the several volunteering events, but also opens up the Operation Jumpstarts scholarship and mentoring program.
    Just from last year, 2018, Operation Jumpstart has railed in $50,000 of scholarship money, 1,500 hours of mentoring hours, and has served 410 students.
    After all the dust has settled, OJS has calculated a 98% of students involved in there program, had a 98% college attendance rate, an astounding figure especially in today’s college tuition.
    Over the course of the year Poly’s Reserve Officer Training Course has participated in many events serving the community in any way possible whether it be tree planting or helping out local schools with there science fair, R.O.T.C does it all.

  • Even Moore League Titles

    Even Moore League Titles

    On October 20th Poly’s Girl’s Tennis defeated Wilson High School 13 to 5. And more recently the Poly’s Girl’s Tennis Team dominated the Moore Leagues, finishing the regular season with an outstanding 19-0, ranking them third in the division 3 playoffs

    As of October 30th Poly’s Girl’s Tennis won the Moore League girls doubles finals, at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. It was no ordinary game, with much adrenaline pumping and the crowd cheering.

    The game was came down to Poly juniors Mey Phy and Sarah Soderburg vs Poly freshman Ava Deguzman and sophomore Kate Johnson, the match was fierce yet a good display of sportsmanship and friendship. The match was won by the youngins Deguzman and Johnson, with the score being 6-3 and 7-6.

    So what’s next in store for the Girls Tennis Team? With the Moore League out of the way the team can focus on the CIF playoffs, whilst keeping the grind centered on winning a  championship.

  • Time for City Corps

    JROTC is preparing to start off strong this year with their City Corps competition coming up on October 4 at Cabrillo High School. City Corps is an event between four schools: Lakewood, Paramount, Cabrillo, and Long Beach Poly. At the event, the top four cadets will be interviewed by all the instructors from each school.

    The commanders have chosen their top four cadets to represent Poly, which will be senior Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Justeny Arias, senior Cadet Major Shaina Tudayan, senior Cadet Major Matthew Sann, and junior Cadet Command Sergeant Major Carina Ayala. These four cadets will be answering questions to see what position they will be able to hold on the Junior ROTC Staff.
    “This is nothing they can really study for,” Senior Army Instructor Sergeant Major Wright explained. “It’s just gonna be military knowledge on how they would handle certain scenarios.”
    As for cadets being chosen, they were carefully picked to represent Poly.

    “The cadets are very dedicated to the program of ROTC and the needs for Poly High School,” Wright said.

    Junior Cadet Carina Ayala explained how she is very excited to be attending and feels honored to be the only represented junior out of the four chosen. Ayala dedicated her 3 years at Poly to Junior ROTC and is looking forward to potentially hold a higher position for her senior year. “I love ROTC because it has pushed me to be the full potential version of myself, and as well, I know I will do great in the competition,” Ayala said.

    After this event passes, JROTC’s next event will be the Veteran’s Parade on November 11.

  • Softball Starts Off Rough

    Softball Starts Off Rough

     

    The Long Beach Poly softball team has started their season with a rough stretch with a 2-4 record. Against Tustin High School Poly won 8-2 and unfortunately St. Anthonys beat us in a 7-1 loss this past weekend.
    3 year varsity player and returning shortstop  Evelyn Sablan said, “our defense did a good job, we hit the ball hard but it wasn’t the outcome we were looking for.” The girls have been playing well but some teams are better than others, but that’s not a problem for our Lady Jackrabbits they are ready to face the Moore League teams and hope to win Moore League.
    Their next game is not until March 25 which gives the team time to practice harder and improve on their communication skills. Returning catcher, senior Crystal Cepeda says, “I’m looking forward to playing with the team after taking a year off and enjoying my last year playing softball as a senior.”
    Another key point is that the team needs to work together as two year returning varsity catcher Alexis Durand said “I’m looking forward to everyone playing together as a team, I think we can be better than last year if we put in enough hard work we can succeed.” The team has a lot of potential this upcoming season after moving players up from junior varsity. “There is a lot more talent on the team, which should lead to a Moore League title,” said senior Jaclyn Pangelinan.

  • Spring Sports 2017 Preview

    Track:

    As track season is rapidly approaching, the Trackrabbits are getting ready to dominate. In order to prepare for the season they are “training for two to three hours after school and on Saturdays,” said senior Lauren Fillipow who is committed to Southern Oregon. This is a tight-knit team whose goal is to “just push each other to do our best, so that we can all improve together and since a lot of the team is seniors, we want to have a great last high school season,” said senior Melissa Tanaka.
    Nate Cooper, a junior who recently participated in a cross country race in Oregon, stated, “My personal goals for the season are similar to everyone else’s goals on the team. I hope to make my times as fast as I personally can, and to help my team as much as possible.” Hopes are high for the Trackrabbits, and we can be positive that they will live up to their expectations.

    Swim:

    The next sport for the Poly Jackrabbits in the upcoming spring season is swim. Last season for girls swim, junior Tevykah Pouv coined the Varsity group as the “dream team.” Looking back on last year, junior Priscilla Long said, “Last season for Moore League we won and it was such an amazing feeling” and for this coming season Long wants to “work towards the same goal we had last year. I’d like our team to continue to work together and stay united no matter what the outcome is.”
    For boys swim, Poly came in second with Wilson in first. Junior Ethan McCarthy stated, “This year I think we have high hopes for beating Wilson at Moore League and that’s the goal, too.” Both girls and boys swim are looking towards a bright, ambitious season.