Q:  What is your usual coffee order?

A:  I usually brew my own coffee at home in a pot, and put it in a cup for school.  Just normal coffee, just average coffee, nothing special, nothing fancy.  Coffee is coffee.

Q:  What’s your guilty pleasure?

A:  Mine would have to be food.  I have a terrible sweet tooth, the worst of its kind.  Do I have to say more?  I don’t have a favorite candy; I can’t help myself around sweet stuff; I have to really, really to work to avoid it.

Q: What high school did you go to?

A: I went to many different high schools.   In my freshman year, I went to CoalingaHigh School in California.  After that my parents and I moved to San Diego, where I attended Kearney High School for one year.  So in total I only went to high school for ninth and tenth grade.  After tenth grade, I passed a special test, the California High School Proficiency Exam, which allowed me to graduate early.

Q:  What were you involved in?

A:  I joined the basketball team, where I was a benchwarmer when I was a freshman.  I wasn’t really good at basketball – I wasn’t tall enough.  I got on the team because Coalinga High is a small school with only 750 students, so they do not turn down anyone, and I was advised that I should try out for a sport because I was studying too much.  But later I quit the team to join the cross country team; I did better there and won some medals for it.

Q:  What advice would you give to your high school self?

A:  The same advice that I would give to my students:  be involved with school.

Q:  What was your most memorable high school experience?

A:  For me, it was doing two math classes at the same time and acing them both.  What stood out for me is that I sat in a geometry class in tenth grade and never took notes.  I aced every test; you can say that I really love math.