Alumni: Kianna Quach

Interviewer: Sabrina Quach

Interviewee: Kianna Quach

Interviewer: ​Today I will be interviewing my sister Kianna Quach, who is an El Camino Alumni.

Interviewer: ​What year did you graduate?
Kianna:​ “I graduated in 2013”

Interviewer: ​Did you enjoy your high school experience at El Camino High School?
Kianna: ​“I really loved Elco, um, overall my experience at El Camino was pretty enlivening. I met a lot of people. I joined a lot of extracurricular activities while I was in high school. Um, at like the very first extracurricular activity I did in high school was yearbook and in yearbook I started off with photography because at the time I wanted to learn more about it. And then moved on... I continued to stay in yearbook for the next three years of my high school years and then I moved on to leadership along with yearbook and um that was that was very very that was a very interesting experience for me. I was able to find my passion through leadership but also find find and learn more about the journalism field through yearbook. As I’ve said I found my passion through leadership and yearbook, but I also learned a lot about myself. I learned to stand up for myself and to believe in the things I do. In high school we had homecoming where we can go to different people's’ houses where we can make props for homecoming day for our class and I thought that was very fun. And I only participated in that during my senior year of highschool because i was more focused on yearbook before and part of the requirement in leadership was to help our class with um homecoming. And because i kind of obligated to I went to one of the homecoming meetings and found that was very very fun because you get to work with different people because you get to draw, and paint and have sleepless nights with them.”

Interviewer: ​Did you like being in leadership?
Kianna: ​“Yes, leadership was awesome. This class shaped who I am now. Um a lot of things that Padilla taught us was to delve deeper into who we are as an individual and to be passionate about what we want to do and in leadership I kind of found that like I found a place for myself. Like I felt like I was making a change in the community I really wanted to start doing more extracurricular activities that involves community service because my position in leadership was ASB Chairperson. And, as ASB Chairperson I kind of oversaw the different clubs.. Different organizations in the school and by doing that you kind of mentor the different club officers and um I learned how to be a mentor through leadership and um I’m really thankful for all the support that has been given to me by the leadership class and the leadership advisor. Um I really learned to appreciate the people around me and my friends and my family and yeah I really felt like I was making a change in the world at least in high school.”

Interviewer: ​Do you have any regrets um when you were in high school?
Kianna: ​“I definitely have one or two regrets. I wouldn’t want to call it regrets but I just wish I
participated I actually focused more in school. I felt like I was I had a responsibility to yearbook and
leadership and I put that before my own academics and that wasn’t good because you know like after high school you have a life. You have college and you need to get a job after college and you need to know at least which direction you want to go so definitely focusing more on high school is something I wish I did more. Um yeah I just wish I managed my time more and focused on my grades.”

Interviewer: ​Um, what was one or two things you did not like about El Camino?
Kianna:​ “I didn’t like the instability of El Camino during my time in the school. There was a lot of
conflict between the teachers and the staff because a lot of the teachers got laid off or just on the verge of not wanting to stay because there was too much going on during the time. I don’t know if it was through the administration or anything but there was just a lot of instability. Um, El Camino overall felt like was very prideful. Um that’s what El Camino is known for, their pride and that’s why we always win the radio um challenges. But, I don’t know I don’t really have things I don’t like about El Camino.”

Interviewer: ​What high school hard for you?
Kianna: ​“High school was very hard for me, um, but it was also very rewarding because of the stuff I
participated in liek I said um. I thought that high school was much more fun and um more challenging than middle school um overall I would reccomend high school to any student because in the future you do need to go to high school and also try to participate in those extracurricular activities.”

Interviewer: ​Do you think Elco has improved since you last graduated?
Kianna: ​“Um yeah, El Camino has definitely improved. Um the mural that is actually on by the courtyard by the red stage um it’s actually i think it was made by someone from my class. Um, I thought it was really cool that it was painted onto the wall um I Think the person from my class developed the design for that mural, but someone else painted it. I also heard that the red stage isn’t going to be a red stage. In terms of aesthetics there was a lot of change. In terms of pride I would say that it’s about the same. I heard that last year you guys won the radio challenge I was talking about earlier um and Sabrina Carpenter came. I think during my year Ariana Grande came but I’m not so sure if that’s a correct source of information but I think it was Ariana Grande. I also see that El Camino’s administration and staff is a little bit more stable. A lot of the old teachers during my year aren't there anymore which is kind of sad to me but um change is always going to happen when you’re in high school.”

Interviewer: ​What do you miss most about high school?
Kianna: ​“I miss that I was I miss that I was I miss the things that I was participated in like the
extracurricular activities I was in. Um I was in those extracurricular activities I felt like I a part of a big something bigger than myself. I felt like I was making a change. DUring my last year in El Camino I was trying to um implement some changes in the clubs as ASB Chairperson and um I don’t know if they followed through in terms of binders and being organized for the clubs but um that’s what I miss just being involved in um leadership and in um yearbook. And being a mentor to different people uh yeah.”

Interviewer: ​Do you have any advice for my next four years?
Kianna: ​“I hope you make um that you focus on your academics because academics is very important. Like I said, there’s a life outside of high school and um beyond high school there is college and after college if you want to go to graduate school or medical school where ever you want to go um it’s very important that you have the grades for it and have the mentality for it. Don’t get overpowered by all the people that tell you um what to do or get peer pressured into things you don’t want to do um yeah.”

Interviewer: ​So um you recently graduated from college um do you have any advice for getting into a four year college or anything?
Kianna: ​“Um yes, looking into your future is very good at least right now in high school because getting into high school is getting harder and harder every year. I would say focus on taking classes over the summer whether it’s in college or within the high school just take summer classes, don’t stop learning and um look into what colleges you want to go to at least by your juniors and during sophomore year take the PSAT and I would say take a lot of AP classes because they do raise your GPA and gives you college credit. Even though when I was in college the AP classes didn’t count as college credit they do want you to retake it when you go to medical school or like any other school. They just don’t take the AP Classes. But yeah just focus on yourself and don’t let anyone tell you what to do, except for the teachers of course.”