Senior Spotlights
By Varun Roperia
There are few among us who can lay claim to the level of accomplishment and variety that is indicative of Taylor Hughes I. He manages to fuse academic aptitude, social finesse, and athletic prowess in one chiseled, masculine package. These attributes allowed Mr. Hughes to attain election to the lofty post of Senior Class Lt. Governor, as well as allowed him to secure a nomination for Homecoming King. There is no one who comes in contact with the venerable Taylor Hughes and walks away without a sense of fulfillment, and speaking to him brings some sort of spontaneous enlightenment at every possible occasion. He is an integral part of the ESHS’s unique tapestry.
Birthed in Torrance on September 26, 1991, and moving to El Segundo when he was 2, Taylor Hughes I had an anything but ordinary childhood. Speaking in full sentences at 6 months old, his parents knew they had cultivated an extraordinary child. He was immediately enrolled into gifted programs in school and excelled in them. He quickly earned the respect and love of all the teachers who had the pleasure of teaching him. Overshadowing his peers in middle school, he soon entered high school. Taking leadership positions in clubs such as Chief of the Native American Club of El Segundo, he soon gained the esteem needed to become the Senior Class Lt. Governor, and quite possibly the most beloved student of all of El Segundo High School.
Taylor, as any such accomplished student would, plans to attend a prestigious college. He hopes to eventually attend MIT, and is applying to UCSB, Cal Tech, Occidental, and UC Berkeley. He hopes to pursue a future in which he invents prolific nanotechnologies, or perhaps work to cure cancer. In preparation for this, Mr. Hughes works with tireless academic agility to attain entrance into such a competitive institution. He has taken a plethora of AP and honors courses, such as AP Biology, AP Language, AP Calculus, AP Physics, AP Economics, and English Honors grades 9 through 11.
Taylor’s time at El Segundo High school has also been peppered with not only athletic participation but achievement. A member of the Varsity Swim team, he has tried his best to contribute to the victories of our beloved school, and contributed to our athletic program by being manager of the Varsity Waterpolo team. Mr. Hughes’ exploits into exploring the rich variety of student life at the high school include being a member of the Junior Statesmen of America and Interact Club, as well as holding the positions of treasurer of the Scuba Diving Club, treasurer of the Ping Pong Club, and former vice president of the Backpacking and Woodland Survival Club. Clearly, such varied interests stand as a testament to the commitment, diversity, and myriad of skill sets Taylor Hughes I brings to the table.
His responsibilities as Senior Class Lt. Governor include assisting in planning school events, ten year reunions, and organizing senior activities. The style and grace with which he manages to do this is astounding. He plans to “break free of the past, and set up new and dynamic forms of governance.”
Upon introspection, Taylor comments that his friends and family are very important to him. His family is, “very close-knit…we have family dinners every Sunday night, and I can always rely on them for support…we enjoy board games and they strengthen our caring and compassionate familial ties.” His friends, such as seniors Sam Nusbaum, Alex Richardson, James Meyerhoff, his half-brother Nic Curcio, Zack Reed, and Cathy Broderick complement and bolster his already admirable personality and desirable accomplishments, and he extends this love to all his classmates. “My friends and family keep me going, as inertia keeps the earth in orbit.” This quote is a heartwarming example of the friendly sentiment that empowers Taylor.
Seeming to fit the social connotation of "well-rounded", Taylor Hughes is a true gem, and greatly contributes to the wellbeing of all around him. A philanthropic, informed, active, logical, and rational young man, he will undoubtedly continue to do great things in his life, and we are fortunate to have him with us in the Class of 2009.
When high school came, Quincy had his first performance in his mother’s homeland, Indonesia, in front of 300 people. In the crowed was a local hip-hop group and they introduced him to many promoters and producers in Indonesia which helped him get noticed throughout the Asian music market. When Quincy got back to the states he recorded a twelve track album which he called My Level, which got in the hands of a music promoter in Brooklyn, New York. She told Quincy to go to a music festival, MIDEM, so they could meet. She showed Quincy to a record label in Japan which is very interested in Quincy’s music. While Quincy was in MIDEM he was the youngest artist there and he became a well known artist at the 30,000 artist populated festival. While the contract with the Japanese record label was going though its processes, Quincy went on tour in Barcelona and when he returned to the US, he was ready to sign his finished contract. Now, Quincy has to produce a new twelve track album which is to be released in Japan next summer.
Today Quincy is a senior in high school and was recently titled as senior homecoming prince. He enjoys the high life with his best friends’ seniors Eric Kattan, Casey Hernandez and Vince Colbert. Eric Kattan says that Quincy “was really devoted to what he loves to do best and he succeeded.” At school Quincy keeps to the double H’s, hungry but humble, and doesn’t try to stay in the lime light. Quincy keeps his school performances to minimum, with only one performance at last year’s coronation assembly.
Quincy’s father and producer say that Quincy “has a strong love for hip hop music, he has not limited his talents to a single genre. He has a natural gift for writing and producing in multiple styles. Quincy is not afraid to step out of the norm and blend his international heritage with his love of beats and hip hop grooves. He is always interested in collaborating with different artist and producers from around the world. Quincy enjoys his success with his peers and is grateful for the amount of support he receives from them.”
Through his search for stardom, Quincy developed into an entertainer and a roll model for the future stars in the music industry. As a strong, rhythmic, and humble young man, we are lucky to have a senior like Quincy in the class of 2009.
When Kevin was five, he joined a recreational basketball team in Torrance, (when did you stop?). Participating in a plethora of sports, Kevin and Bret joined AYSO soccer when they were ten. And two years later, Kevin joined the Torrance Pop Warner team. He and Brett, who played Pop Warner for El Segundo, played football on opposing factions. Kevin played quarterback and receiver on offence and safety on defense throughout his Pop Warner career. “Being a third generation football player, and my brother playing football,” Kevin said, “influenced me to want to continue to play football once I got to high school.” Kevin’s parents supported his football playing. His mom and his dad, a former college player for the University of Nevada, supported Kevin’s path into football stardom.
In middle school, Kevin became friends with Alex Merced and Chance Cooper. Two years later, Kevin moved to El Segundo from Torrance when he was 13 due to his parent’s divorce. And the following year, his older brother was diagnosed with cancer. “It was a tough time in my life but even though it was difficult my family remained close and that helped my get through it a lot easier.”
Kevin pressed on into high school and joined the frosh/soph football team, the freshman basketball team, and the baseball team and created his frame as a year-round athlete. The following year, Kevin dropped baseball and picked up track where he was awarded as MVP of his sophomore year, but that award couldn’t stack up to the two MVP awards he got his junior year in football and basketball.
Last summer, Kevin attended two football camps, one at San Diego State and the other at USC to improve his skills. This year, Kevin helped bring the football team into the CIF tournament, the farthest they have gotten since 1987. “The football team was great; it was one of the greatest experiences of my high school career. I’ve made most of my friends though football and hopefully I can go to college to continue my football career.” Kevin applied to several CSUs including San Diego and Long Beach but is being recruited for football by UC Davis, Wesleyan University, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. If his future were up to him, Kevin wants to play football for UC Davis and graduate with a degree in business, and then attend the Art Institute and major in music production to pursue his career as a producer.
Rudy brings with him an interesting history: Birthed on March 5, 1991 in Hollywood, he lived with his grandmother in Guatemala from the age of 10 months until he was 9 years old. In 4th grade, he lived with his godparents for a year in the San Fernando Valley. He once again moved, and started the 5th grade in Hawthorne, before going to middle school in Dana, and finally coming to El Segundo for his freshman year. Interesting information from his past include the fact that he survived a motorcycle accident while visiting Columbia, and that on a personal level although Rudy doesn’t find himself very religious in an organized sense, he considers himself very spiritual.
He says his family and friends are an important part of who he is, and they are a source of inspiration for him. He takes pride in his heritage, with both his mother and father being from Guatemala. He currently lives with his mother, Ingrid, sister, Katherine, and Columbian step father. In regards to his friends, he says that having “Clowns for friends, but at the same time they are a very big inspiration" and further that "my motivation every day to see the fearsome foursome for being such an exciting group of people."
In addition to friends and family, Rudy cites other role models as having a pronounced influence on him, “at Dana I found my original inspiration to pursue drama in Ms. Abby” and further asserts that “Mrs. Hedayat and the drama family inspire me.” He is very fond of Amy Lee and Chris Evans, and an “insanely and embarrassingly” big fan of the Joker.
A focused individual, Rudy’s short term goals include performing well in the Fullerton Festival (an acting competition) with a scene from Richard III, as well as in Little Shop of Horrors, the upcoming musical here at ESHS. With college preparations including applying to Cal State: Fullerton, San Diego, and Long Beach, but he has yet to hear back from them. For the future, he really wants to go to New York, a decision influenced in part by the praise he has received. Praise has also motivated him to further try his hand at directing, “because of what people tell me, I’ve been motivated to be a director, and it is something I want to try out in the future.” A goal he has kept more of a secret is an aspiration to try his hand at writing, hoping that he produces something “worth people’s time.” On a grander scale, he one day wants to adopt two kids and be a single dad with a house somewhere in California.
As far as drama goes, Rudy began his involvement in the ESHS drama department because he was, and still is, considering it as a career path. It was while here at ESHS that he also found that he had a passion for singing. The list of works Rudy has been involved is extensive: Macbeth at the Fullerton Festival in 2008 (which is also the first time our school has won first place with a student directed scene), DTASC (where we once again won first place for the student directed scene “I Never Saw Another Butterfly”), and the recent ESHS production of Noises Off “the most fun he has ever had on stage,” Parade (a memorable production in which he was covered in make up in order to play a black man). His acting dream is to play Sweeny Todd or the Phantom of the Opera.
Rudy clearly represents a varied and unique individual with much to offer his peers. He has had a great career here at ESHS, and it is assured that he will continue to prosper in his future endeavors.