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!