CV track and field athlete junior Levi Walker and his family had to be evacuated due to the fire.
“It was scary,” Walker said. “When we came back, our neighbor’s hillside was all charred. I think that was backfires set by the firefighters, but it was scary to see how close it was. It was kind of surreal, because that happened to someone else in Tujunga, that happened to someone else far away, but to see that could happen to me, it was very . . . surreal.”
Now that the major fire emergency is over — at least in La Crescenta — it’s time to get back to academics and enjoying the beginning of the school year. Walker says school gives him something else to focus on.
Student body President Wayne Park is looking forward to his new role as a senior this year.
“I’m sure every senior remembers their last year at CV,” Park said. “You go to college, and they can look back and say ‘Senior year was fun.’ They don’t say ‘CV sucks’ or anything.”
Kate Thomas said her senior year will be about working hard, and she looks forward to filling out all those college applications.
Huh’s goals are to get straight A’s and get into a good college. For Huh, sophomore year was difficult, but her experience in taking advanced placement courses has prepared her for junior year.
“I know I have a lot on my plate, too, so I have to manage my time,” Huh said.
Park hopes to attend USC, as does Danielle Matosian, who gave Park a high-five upon finding out.
Thomas hopes to attend UC Santa Barbara.
Walker’s goal for the new year is to build school spirit among and unify his track team, while compensating for the loss of track star Zack Torres, who graduated this summer.
“I’d love to go to APU [Azusa Pacific University] for college. They have a really great track team,” Walker said. “That would be fun to pursue, track and field in college, but I’m still not exactly sure where.”
Sophomore Molly Shelton is taking “some really hard classes,” including AP chemistry, math analysis and honors English. “Just a few,” she said with a laugh.
By summer 2010, Shelton will be halfway through her high school career. She admits her freshman year was tough because she kept getting lost all the time. It took her two months to get used to the school, but said “most people were nice.”
“I thought freshman year was over really fast,” Shelton said. “So I think that’s a good sign. We’ll see how this year shapes up.”
