![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
Legacy
Kristine Nagayama
A family portrait from 2019. My dad taught me how to laugh. My mom taught me how to keep going. My sister taught me how to be responsible. But most of all, they taught me what it meant to love. I am who I am today because of their influence and am all the more better because of it. Cutline by Emily Velasco.
March 3, 2023
People like to romanticize scars, both physical and mental, but no one could have prepared me for how much they hurt. I will always carry that in my heart, invisible scars on my soul.
I’ve read so many books about tragedy and legacies that they felt like foreign concepts to me, things only featured in books and glamorous Hollywood movies. It took the greatest tragedy of my life to make me realize how important and absolutely crushing the two are.
To be honest, the idea of legacies never really bothered me until the day my dad died.
My dad, who was always a person who could always smile, laugh, and joke, left this earth far too soon. It wasn’t easy to stomach the fact that his smiles could have hidden so much pain.
My dad’s death left us with so many questions and so few answers. Everything became a whirlwind of comparing my own memories of my dad to the person others thought he was.
Later came questions about what would come next: who am I, and who can I be because of the legacies I now carry?
The day my dad died, I lost my already fragile relationship with my dad’s side of the family. Everyone was so ready to play the blame game that it didn’t matter what had actually happened. No one cared about anything other than assigning blame and pointing fingers.
But my God is stronger. My faith is stronger than their pride. He got me through pain and is still guiding me through it.
But it doesn’t mean I still don’t feel the loss of my dad deeply. Sometimes I have days where I break down or days when I feel like screaming. Sometimes I don’t feel anything at all. Those days scare me the most.
I’ve learned a lot these past few months. One of these lessons was when I had to come to terms with the fact that I don’t need to achieve perfection to be enough. I can fall just as long as I get up again.
I wish I learned this lesson when I was younger.
Legacies are more than what is left behind. They are living, breathing things passed down from generation to generation.
I am the legacy of my dad, my mom, my sister, my grandparents, my aunty and uncle. Who they are has influenced me, and I am proud of who I am.
But I am stronger now. I know who I am: a daughter, a sister, a friend. I don’t need to be perfect to be enough, and I certainly don’t need validation from academics or people who aren’t good for me. I am loved and wanted. I am enough.
This story was originally published on Ka Leo O Kalani on February 28, 2023.
