Oscar Ramirez

Oscar Ramirez is a 15-year-old sophomore from Mexico. He was born on October 1, 1992. Seemingly shy at first, he had a lot to say about his move to the United States. He moved from Mexico last year and he loves living in the U.S. because "it has more opportunities." When he was in Mexico, he lived on a ranch. "I used to ride horses. It was one of my hobbies over there." He now lives in San Mateo with two of his brothers while another one of his brothers lives in Mexico.

His other interests include soccer. "My favorite team is Guadalajara. It's a Mexican team." He isn't in any clubs but he used to be on a sports team until he quit. Oscar's favorite movie is The Mist and although he couldn't pick a favorite music artist, his favorite music is Hip Hop and Rap. He really likes his ELD class that is taught by Mr. Faber.

Oscar really wants to finish high school and go to college so he can get a good job.

Welcome Oscar!

Sasha Chiu

Raquel Ann Sasha Chiu, better known as just Sasha Chiu, recently moved to the United States from Toronto, Canada. She is a 17 year old senior who was born on September 29, 1990. She is also an only child and loves it.

Sasha enjoys many extracurricular activities such as attending the survey club. She just donated her hair to Locks of Love, something she has been wanting to do for a while. She likes to shop and go to crazy, wild parties. When asked what her favorite movie was, she responded with "I have so many, oh my god," but finally settled with two holiday favorites, Halloween and Christmas Carol. Her favorite type of music is classical but her favorite musicians are Hilary Duff, The Spice Girls, and Britney Spears. Sasha is also a vegetarian and hasn't eaten meat since February of this year. She aides for Mr. Faber's ELD class and really enjoys it. "I love Mr. Faber because he's nice. He has a large attention span and a great amount of patience."

She lives in San Mateo now with her mother and her stepfather. She enjoys living here better than living in Canada. She thinks the weather is better and it's more diverse. On the differences between Canada and the U.S., Sasha thinks "Canada is more liberal and democratic. There is free health care and gay marriage is allowed." She loves San Mateo High School because of the campus. "I like how we embrace all different cultures and I love the spirit." Sasha attended Etobicoke Collegiate Institute before transferring to San Mateo High.

Sasha plans on going to college, preferably San Diego State, and then getting married. She wants to adopt two kids and she hopes to get twins.

Jessica Hu

Jessica Hu is the cousin of fellow bearcater Monica Shao. Jessica is a sophmore and was born on November 7, 1990.

She moved here from Taiwan three months ago during the summer. Jessica lives in Foster City with her brother and aunt. She prefers living here in the U.S. On the differences of living here and in Taiwan, Jessica says "the people are kinder here and school is fun." She loves San Mateo High School because of all the school spirit. Jessica's favorite class is P.E.

Jessica enjoys hanging out with her friends and shopping. She is in colorguard where she is in the flag line. She doesn't have any favorite movies but she prefers "scary and funny movies." She hasn't yet decided on what she plans to do in the future as far as college and careers go.

Angel Padilla

A recent transfer student from Aragon High School, senior Angel Padilla likes to spend his free time eating, chilling, and watching television.

Angel was born on January 13, 1990 in Miami, Florida. Although he only lived there until he was one, he periodically returns to his birth place. He enjoys living in San Mateo more, claiming "The trees are greener over at San Mateo." Before attending Aragon his junior year, he went to Hannah's Boys Center up in Sonoma. It was a boarding school which he spent his freshman and sophomore years before he got kicked out. He got kicked out for stealing snacks from the kitchen and then selling it to the kids who were always hungry. He liked going there but he thought "It was up in the boonies. There was nothing up there." On whether he likes San Mateo or Aragon better, "San Mateo High is less cracking" according to Angel.

His favorite movies are Half Baked and New Jack City, both made in the 1990s. He likes to listen to Husalah and The Jacka. Angel also likes to rap in his free time. He has one older sister who is 27 years old. He kind of skateboards but "not so much anymore."

In the future Angel would like to "do something in psychology" or work with people.

Sean Hwang

Although this fifteen year old sophomore is new to San Mateo High, he is not new to the San Mateo/Foster City area. Sean Hwang used to attend High Tech High Bayshore which closed down earlier this year. "It's a bit of a funny name but it was a great school. It closed down at the end of the year last year due to lack of students and therefore, funding." He currently lives in Foster City with his parents and his five year old brother Ian.

He likes San Mateo High because, "there's always new people to meet." ? was a lot different than San Mateo High. "My old school didn't really have PE. They had substitutes for PE, like dance, or yoga, or even Tae Kwon Do. The classes were different too. They had a Math Physics and Humanities instead of the traditional Level Math, Physics, Social Studies, and English. The teaching format was really casual but you learn a lot. Most teachers had us call them by their first names which was just really cool."

In his free time Sean enjoys a long list of hobbies and activities including reading, drawing, video games, debating, and hanging out with friends. He is also in many clubs at such as the D&D Club, Chess Club and he is in Colorguard/Winterguard. His favorite movie is The Matrix because it "teaches a lot about belief and reality." His favorite class is either drawing or English. "Drawing because I learn stuff, English because its just a goof off class, but I still get good grades in it."

Sean wants to get into a UC college or an Ivy League after graduation. "I want a job that will make me want to get up every morning to go to it."

Milton Carrillo

Milton Carrilo is a seventeen year old sophomore in Ms. Cronin's ELD class, which also happens to be his favorite class. He was born on July 5, 1990 and came here in April of 2006 from El Salvador.

Soccer seems to be popular among the new comers because he is the third person to have said that soccer is their favorite way to past time. His favorite movie is Spider Man and he loves Reggae. You would think somebody who likes to party would be excited about the upcoming Grid dance but Milton isn't. "I don't like to dance."

Milton currently lives in San Mateo with his uncle. He has one brother who also goes to San Mateo High and a younger sister who is eight years old. He prefers to live in El Salvador but he says San Mateo is better because there are "many choices."

In the future Milton plans on graduating and continuing on his pursuit to become a professional soccer player.

Moon Soo Park

Wearing a denim jacket and glasses, Moon Soo Park is a sophomore from Korea who just came here 6 days ago, but you probably wouldn't be able to to tell because he speaks almost perfect English. He is sixteen years old and was born on May 8, 1991.

Moon Soo loves soccer and his favorite team is The Manchester United. He does enjoy other hobbies like watching movies, his favorite is the Pirate of the Caribbeans trilogy.

He spent one semester in a high school in Oregon last year and then he went back to Korea over the summer before moving to Foster City. He has one younger brother whom he lives with. He really likes Foster City and he thinks its a beautiful city but he misses Korea.

He thinks Korea is very different than Foster City, education wise and environment wise. "The studying is a lot harder. It's very hard living in Korea. Also most of the living areas in Korea are apartments. If you look at the sky, there is very little of it because of all the high rise apartments and buildings. Here there are lots of small houses so the sky is really big"

Samantha Taylor

Looking at Samantha Taylor, better known as Sam, you wouldn't think she just recently transferred to San Mateo High School from Lane Tech College Prep in Chicago, Illinois. Sam is a seventeen year old senior who moved to San Mateo in June of 2007. Although she likes the weather here in San Mateo she prefers living in Chicago, "her home." She lives with her mom and fiancee. She also has a stepbrother who lives back in Chicago. She says about San Mateo, "Everything is different.. scenery, atmosphere and people."

In her free time, Sam enjoys photography, lacrosse, and playing and writing music. Her favorite movie is The Crow because "A strong lesson about karma is in the plot. I'm a strong believer in karma." She doesn't have a favorite class but she's really good at English because it usually comes easy to her. You can probably find Sam in Teague's classroom at lunch, laughing hysterically at Teague's witty banter.

In the future she would like to move back to Chicago and go to medical school to become a nurse and then go on to minor in photography in art school.

"Moving here has been an experience, but I miss everything I had at home. Something like this is what makes me the person I am!"

Jose Pleitez

Jose Pleitez, a senior at San Mateo High School, is wearing a gray T-shirt that has El Salvador written on it and denim shorts. He currently resides in San Mateo. He smiles and stands awkwardly as he starts to answer questions.

He really likes San Mateo High and his favorite part is the classes. His favorite class is English.
Jose is from El Salvador and he came here in February 2005. He prefers living here as compared to living in El Salvador, stating "The houses are different. The classes, the community. Everything is different."

He was confused about what "hobbies" meant, but after he understood it meant what he liked to do, he answered quickly. He enjoys watching soccer and he's also on the soccer team. He has been playing on the team since last year. It's clear he is a dedicated soccer fan, especially when asked what his favorite movie was. He thought for a while and then said, "I don't like movies. I like soccer."

Jose plans on getting into the car detailing business after he graduates. Welcome Jose to the bearcat nation!