With less than three years until the faithful day, the day is coming closer and anxiety is increasing. It can be frightening, but it can be thrilling also.

“It’s scary because the world might be ending, but it’s exciting because it might not but something else might happen.” senior Rosa Quispe said.

While Quispe believes something might happen, other people are not as quick to join the bandwagon.

“It’s all lies,” senior Patrick Kelley said. “All it is is the Mayan calendar ending, that’s all it is.”

Such unenthusiastic views are not uncommon among the student body.

“Nothing’s gonna happen in 2012,” junior Nathan Shayan said. “It’s just a bunch of people doing a bunch of new-age hippie stuff that’s not going to matter.

But 2012 might just be another event that is all hype and when the day actually comes, everyone will all be disappointed, it’s not like it has not happened before.

“It’s kind of like the year 2000,” senior Erika Vasquez said. “When everyone was like ‘Oh! Everything that’s electronic is gonna stop working, we’re all gonna die! But then, the new millennium came, and nothing happened.’”

This theory is not uncommon and a lot of people seem to reiterate the occurrence in the year 2000.

“Everyone was so scared, watching the clock turn from 11:59 PM to 12:00 AM anxious to see if everything was going to shut down,” senior Yeaji Seo said. “But the clock turned 12, and nothing. Talk about disappointment of the millennium. The same thing is going to happen in 2012, so nobody should worry.”

Mayans predict that in 2012, the plane of the solar system will line up exactly with the plane of the galaxy, the Milky Way. This cycle has taken 26,000 years to complete. Virgil Armstrong also says that two other galaxies will line up with the galaxy that the earth is in the same time. A cosmic event. Nothing in this prophecy discusses the possibility of the annihilation of Earth. But the prediction is that something indeed will occur, whether it be a disaster, or a coming event.

“This year the pep rallies have more spirit because the groups that put it together work more with each other,” senior Radnall DelaRosa said. “Because of this, there is more creativity in singing and dancing during the rally.  Last year, since the football team didn’t play well, there wasn’t much spirit to encourage the players.  But now, because of the upbeat teamwork, rallies seem to be influencing students to cheer on the players more.”

Spirit wear starts to heat up in style each week as the football team scores more touchdowns. T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, scarves and more continue to sell out each game day.   The pep rally and game stands become swarmed with students as they learn how well their football team is doing. This drastic change in school spirit led to new fans and supporters in addition to the old.

According to junior Stephanie Martinez, she was barley interested in coming to any pep rallies before she came to this school. She now comes to every rally, thinking they host better ones than her last secondary school.

“At my other high school everyone just stood there at pep rallies,” Martinez said.  “Here at PESH, the students are more involved. People actually wear spirit wear and cheer on their team. The cheerleaders and drill team are really cool too. They ask you to participate in the chants, so it gets the crowd pumped for the game.”

Sweat and blood spilled out on the field combines with screaming, nail-biting fans on the stands. As football influences students and teachers, a rise in spirit hits the school. With a close streak of football wins, fans become more anxious and excited for each game.  The saying goes, “winning isn’t everything,” but it certainly is to these panther students!

As Spencer tried to understand the ways of the native South African people, he found that communication was a barrier between him and many of the adults. While Spencer tried to understand the adults and younger children, he discovered education left a gap in foreign communication.

“The teenagers spoke good English, but the adults and young children didn’t know how to communicate as well,” Spencer said, “There was a communication barrier, but the teenagers could translate.”

While these differences remained at the back of his mind, Spencer looked forward to the things he felt comfortable with. He easily found ways to relate himself to the teenagers in his new surroundings.

” Teenage life seemed to be pretty much the same.” Spencer said. “We all just wanted to be ourselves and we have all been in similar situations.”

Coming from a place where anything is available at the press of a button, there was a few things Spencer needed to get used to.  The food in South Africa allowed Spencer to see how food can be changed all around the world to reflect their culture.

” They served us a traditional South African dish, and it was very odd,” Spencer said, “Even though it was chicken and rice, it wasn’t American chicken and rice. I couldn’t eat very much.”

Looking back on his trip, Spencer realizes this trip affected him personally  and changed his opinion  on the world around him.

” Now I can see how small the world is,” Spencer said.” I was thinking South Africa was going to be very different, but I realized how alike teenagers can be, and how relationships between kids and parents can be alike no matter where you are amazed me the most.”

Going on this mission trip with his church has impacted Spencer in ways that will stay with him for a lifetime. He has learned many life lessons and has even changed his opinions on things he once thought were fact.

“These experiences will be with me forever,” Spencer said.” I do want to go back, just not soon.  It was a lot to deal with, but when I’m mentally prepared, I’d love to do it again. It put a lot on my heart, and it was stressful, but in a good way. To go back again I would need to be open-minded again. In the end it really affected me because I started to feel their pain.”

“Last year, my goal was basically just to pass junior year, no matter the grade,” senior Nageen Mir said. “After first semester, anything above a 70 satisfied me. But now, as a senior, I realize that barely getting by won’t cut it anymore. I have to set my standards high and push my limits to be the best that I can be.”

‘High school years are the most important years.’ Yes, students hear it all the time either from parents, teachers or counselors. It becomes so cliché that students fail to realize that they really do spend their most important years in life in high school. Elementary school provides the building blocks of life and middle school bridges the gap between transforming from a child to a teenager, but high school prepares this generation for the future. The classes students take, the choices they make and the relationships they build now all contribute in shaping their lives after college. High school allows students to have a little taste of each career field before choosing what they want to do after graduation. It provides a foundation for future goals and jobs. Whether taking home economics, clinical rotations, athletics or more, high school offers an endless list of choices.

“School is worth it and it is necessary because once you have that basic foundation, then you know you can go do anything,” junior Nikki Sachdeva said. “You can take a leap of faith; you can take risks.”

One common goal of students includes finding a balance between good grades and a good social life. Students can make the best grades but have miserable lives, and that’s not being successful; on the other hand, they can have great social lives and neglect their academic duties. With that said, high school lessons include not only educational lessons, but also teach students how to manage time academically and socially.

“I think once you realize time management, your routines, and how to get back to normal, you understand there is time when you can have fun and play but you really have to focus also,” Sachdeva said.

When students make good decisions and goals, they not only benefit themselves but also generate a better school environment, which then creates a stronger society. These choices do not pertain solely to school life. Even though the decisions made in school influence many aspects in students’ lives, the decisions they make outside of school have an even greater impact.

“School is important, but at the same time I try not to let it dominate my life,” Xiong said. “I try to let myself take control of my life rather than have my life control me. I think that high school experience is super important, and not just the school part, but the socializing and how you have to interact with so many different people.”

As students cross the bridge from high school to senior high, they begin to realize that the goals the make now aren’t just for themselves. The idea of getting that 100 on the test to be the best succumbs to gaining knowledge to help society. Students learn not only the what but also the why.

“Sometimes you’re sitting in class and you’re coloring the ocean and thinking what am I doing?” Sachdeva said. “Why is this important? But I realize that because of our education and the way we’ve been brought up, we have these thoughts and desires to go and meet our goals and help people. If you go out into the world, if you travel, if you interact with others, you’re going get that sense of being clever, and knowing your way around as opposed to what a textbook can tell you.”

As individuals, students need to make choices that will yield greatness. Students need to assure not only parents and teachers but also themselves that they can stand on their own. And as one, united student body, students should take upon what they learn and experience in high school to figure out how this knowledge can benefit the community.  Most important of all, society calls for the class of ’10 and ’11 to be great examples for the future student body.

“I think when we look back on it, I think a lot of us will say that in high school we probably ended up accomplishing quite a bit,” Xiong said. “I think everyone one of us can each leave some kind of impression on the community, be it whether through academic success, community service, extracurricular activities or involvement with the student body. There are a lot of things the class of ’10 and ’11 has to offer for both the school and community.”

Hardly a student or parent in PISD fails to remember Zachary Schrah, the Clark sophomore who passed away unexpectedly during the spring of 2009. Family, friends, teachers and teammates loved Zachary, an active member of the football team on campus. Zachary’s life was taken due to SCA, a condition that shows little or no symptoms and that sports physical exams do not test. Students and parents created Living4Zachary in an attempt to reduce the lives lost to SCA.

Andrew Cochran, one of Zachary’s best friends helps run the teen division of Living4Zachary, Zac’s Team. Members of Zac’s Team, such as Andrew and Zac’s sister Sarah, help raise awareness among their peers and meet monthly to discuss more ways to let people know about their cause.

“We started Living4Zachary in memory of Zac, and basically it’s to raise awareness for Sudden Cardiac Arrest in youth,” Cochran said. “We’re trying to get a law passed to where when you go in to get a physical you have to get an EKG, which checks your heart. Hopefully by this we can save a lot more lives in youth.”

An EKG detects 99% of heart problems. Through making EKG inspections a requirement, Living4Zachary hopes to catch more symptoms of SCA before it’s too late. The organization’s success serves as motivation for the members of Living4Zachary to keep persevering and working toward gaining awareness for the prevention of SCA.

“So far we’ve been to the mall and we have been talking to customers during tax free weekend and we’ve been selling a lot of bracelets,” senior Yasmina Chalhoub said. “Almost everyone at Plano East has one and if they don’t then they should, and all the money goes directly to the charity and to help athletes that need to get their heart checked.”

The morning of homecoming, Living4Zachary will host a 5K run and walk in order to raise funds and awareness to help prevent SCA in youth. The fundraiser allows individuals of all ages to take part in Living4Zachary.

“Anyone can participate, they just have to go to the website www.living4zachary.org and there’s going to be activities, booths, things to buy and food,” Chalhoub said. “It’s a way to go out there and exercise and do it for charity.”

Zachary’s friends and family continue to work hard for this cause. In order to help people understand the devastating affects SCA can create and the desperate need to prevent it, members of Living4Zachary attempt to educate the public. Getting involved in Living4Zachary benefits the organization in helping towards its goal and those that volunteer. The organization further educates students on this life-threatening condition that if detected, remains relatively easy to eliminate. Living4Zachary not only helps prevent deaths from SCA in the future, but also allows Zachary’s friends and family to continue acting on Zac’s behalf.

“Just raising awareness about it will help prevent other people around America, and hopefully, eventually throughout the world to not have to go through what we had to go through,” Chalhoub said.

Regardless of the time and effort it takes, the members of Living4Zachary continue to persevere in an attempt to let Zachary’s memory live on through saving the lives of others.

“You’re always going to feel the same way about Zac,” Chow said. “But it makes it feel a little bit better helping other people.”