Page 19 - Priorities #63- Winter 2016

Monica Mallon ‘16 ‘The Candidate’
On August 15, 2015, most students were en- joying their last few days of summer before school began. Not Monica Mallon. Using social media, Monica announced her candi- dacy for District 5 Supervisor of Santa Clara County. Monica made her announcement public on her 18th birthday at her exact time of birth, thereby making her possibly the youngest candidate ever in the state of Cali- fornia. She has been pleasantly surprised at the media attention after her campaign an- nouncement. “I thought maybe some of my friends and family would be interested in it. I didn’t think I was going to get this much attention.” she says. Within the first week of school, several news stations including CBS, KNTV, and NBC visited the Priory to inter- view Monica and capture her daily school life. Monica explained how she has been able to manage her campaign and school. “All of my teachers and all of my friends have been very supportive and understand- ing throughout this entire campaign.”
Monica’s campaign surprised a lot of people. “Well, people were pretty surprised because I’m really young. I’m only 18. Most 18 year olds aren’t running for office. Most 30 or 40 year olds aren’t running for office. So people were surprised, but I have always been interested in politics.” she says. While voting doesn’t happen until June 2016, Mon- ica is taking things one step at a time. “My goal is to actually get on the ballot. Right now I can be a write-in.”
Monica has a message for all the young voters. “I want people to realize that their vote matters; no matter what their age is, you have a vote. And you can use that to change policies with your vote.”
While Monica’s political future is un- known, her passion for politics is clear. “Re- gardless of the outcome, I plan to stay in- volved in local politics. It’s something I have always been interested in.”
Brooks Royals ‘16 ‘The Eagle Scout’
Relief. That’s the single word that comes to Brooks Royals’ mind when he thinks about finally becoming an Eagle Scout on Septem- ber 27, 2015. Brooks always knew he would earn his Eagle Scout. “ I felt it wasn’t a mat- ter of if I will become an Eagle Scout, but rather a matter of when.” It took Brooks 13 months to complete his extensive project. Brooks proudly explained, “I built a display for a 150-year-old, 400-pound bell for St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in San Mateo.”
With help and donations from Bill But- ler, of W.L. Butler Construction, the base was fashioned from a 150-year-old first growth redwood beam. The bell sits in a bottle cap, and the display was placed in the main vestibule of St. Matthew’s Catholic Church. “I spent a couple of months doing my research and designing a few bases that would be able to hold a bell that heavy. I even asked for the help of a structural engi- neer to ensure the base would be structural- ly sound. The last thing we wanted was for a heavy, cast iron bell to slide off during an earthquake and fall on somebody.”
Brooks joined the Scouts at the age of six. He is a third generation Scout, following the footsteps of his father and grandfather. “My dad inspired me to become a Scout. After hearing stories about my dad’s experiences in scouting and the morals and life lessons he picked up along the way, and knowing that I could be a third-generation Scout, I felt it was only fitting that I joined the Boy Scouts.” His father and grandfather also earned the Eagle Scout rank. When Brooks’ father was asked about his Eagle Scout project, he said, “Eagle Scout projects didn’t exist back in my day. It was a pure meritocracy where once we got certain merit badges and exhibited some leadership in the troop, we became Eagle Scouts. We had it easy.”
As the ASB President of the school, Brooks has learned a great deal of leader- ship from the Scouts. “Scouting has taught me to be a confident leader. Scouts gave me responsibility and the opportunity to lead others, something that gave me a huge amount of confidence at the time and has stuck with me to this day.”
Candy Yin ‘16 ‘The Pianist’
“Share Music with Others” was the theme of Candy Yin’s piano concert, and she did just that for a packed concert hall. On August 11, 2015, Candy delighted the crowd with a full classical piano concert at the Shenzhen Concert Hall in China. “I decided to do the concert in May 2015. I had played all of the pieces since February to prepare for music school auditions.” Candy used the concert as a way to rehearse for her college auditions in front of a live audience—an audience of 500, that is. “I already knew the pieces because they were all pieces that I had done before. I memorized all of the pieces except for two that my dad had requested I add to extend the concert.”
Candy’s piano skills come after 13 years of hard work. But it wasn’t until she came to the United States to attend the Pri- ory, that she became serious about playing the piano. She has also taken her music to the next level. “I go to the San Francisco Conservatory once a week to take 4 lessons in Instrumental, Musicianship, Choir, and Chamber lessons.”
While Candy may be a master classical pianist, she is also a teenager. Her fun teen- age side peaked through during the encore of her concert. “The last piece I played was 20 minutes long, and I saw people getting sleepy. I wanted to wake up the crowd so I played a well known Japanese anime song called ‘Senbonzakura.’ I noticed that people sat up and enjoyed the change in style from classical to an anime tune.”
Candy would like to do another concert this coming summer, perhaps even two. She would like to put together a concert for her Senior Project and also another concert in China. “I won’t have college apps to worry about, so I’ll have time!”
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT