December in Retrospect

Another year and come and gone and while some students are anxious for the end-of-the-year holidays, other wonder where all the time has gone. Along with the holidays and the onslaught of frenzied holiday shopping, December signifies the end of another eventful year. The year 2009 has been filled with many firsts in history, but it has also been a continuance for many other trends and traditions. Even in AHS itself, 2009 was filled with many achievements by students and teachers alike. So as the year draws to an end, students share the various aspects of 2009 that they will genuinely miss.

2009 has been another successful year for the AHS band and as the members commend each other on another year of hard work and dedication, senior Nathan Young reflects not only on how memorable his four years of band were, but on how memorable his final season was. He will miss “going through all the rehearsals and competitions with the marching band.” But this year for the graduating seniors is special, “knowing this is our ‘last time.’”

Senior Amy Qiu will also miss the feelings and adrenaline that accompany another cherished activity in AHS: tennis. It is likely that she will “never experience something like that again” and she will miss “being the one who mostly helped organize things,” “going on away games,” and “bonding with the team.”

As some students will miss the trials and tribulations that exist in team efforts, others will miss one-time classes. Senior Jocelyn Huey simply states that “I will miss being in chem[istry].”

Another year and (change to: has..?) come and gone (insert: again) and while some students are anxious for the end-of-the-year holidays, other wonder where all the time has gone. Along with the holidays and the onslaught of frenzied holiday shopping, December signifies the end of another eventful year. The year 2009 has been filled with many firsts in history, (change comma to semi colon) but (delete: but) it has also been a continuance for many other trends and traditions. Even in AHS itself, 2009 was filled with many achievements by students and teachers alike. So as the year draws to an end, students share the various aspects of 2009 that they will genuinely miss.

2009 has been another successful year for the AHS band and as the members commend each other on another year of hard work and dedication, senior Nathan Young reflects not only on how memorable his four years of band were, but (insert also) on how memorable his final season was. He will miss “going through all the rehearsals and competitions with the marching band.” But this year for the graduating seniors is special, “knowing this is our ‘last time.’”

Senior Amy Qiu will also miss the feelings and adrenaline that accompany another cherished activity (sport) in AHS: tennis. It is likely that she will “never experience something like that again” and she will miss “being the one who mostly helped organize things,” “going on away games,” and “bonding with the team.”

As some students will miss the trials and tribulations that exist in team efforts, others will miss one-time (reword) classes. Senior Jocelyn Huey simply states that “I will miss being in chem[istry].”

Second draft, first revision


Another year has come and gone again and while some students are anxious for the end-of-the-year holidays, other wonder where all the time has gone. Along with the holidays and the onslaught of frenzied holiday shopping, December signifies the end of another eventful year in culture, trends, media, as well as daily life. The year 2009 has been filled with many firsts in history; it has also been a continuance for many other traditions that will be equally missed. Even in AHS itself, 2009 was filled with many achievements by students and teachers alike. So as the year draws to an end, students share the various aspects of 2009 that they will genuinely miss.

A milestone in pop culture, the Kanye West debacle will remain an incident truly unique of 2009. Junior Jonathan Solichin light-heartedly reflects on how “Kanye said Beyonce has the best music video of all time and everyone parodied and quoted it.” Likewise, senior Dana Chang will an experience of another pop culture close at heart as she talks about how “I would miss May 9, 2009 because that was my first time going to the Korean Music Festival. I was able to watch my favorite band perform live so it's a day that I'll always treasure.”

For many, a coming new year signifies not only a new beginning, but also a new growth. For both freshmen and seniors alike, the goodbyes of 2009 only welcome the hellos of 2010. As freshman Tricia Xu states, “I’ll miss the stupid things I did, because I’m going to grow up now.” Likewise, senior Tiffany Wong admits “I will miss being in smaller classes since I’m applying to public universities.” Unfortunately, juniors like Matthew Chua will miss “sophomore year because it would mark the last time I would be able to sleep early.”

2009 has been another successful year for the AHS band and as the members commend each other on another year of hard work and dedication, senior Nathan Young reflects not only on how memorable his four years of band were, but also on how memorable his final season was. He will miss “going through all the rehearsals and competitions with the marching band.” But this year for the graduating seniors is special, “knowing this is our ‘last time.’” Senior Amy Qiu will also miss the feelings and adrenaline that accompany another cherished activity in AHS: tennis. It is likely that she will “never experience something like that again” and she will miss “being the one who mostly helped organize things,” “going on away games,” and “bonding with the team.”

And for other students, a new year will simply indicate a change in habits so accustomed to during the past year. A new year to sophomore Amy Wen would mean no more “writing the number 2009 on my papers.”