The student news site of Portola High School

Portola Pilot
The student news site of Portola High School

Portola Pilot
The student news site of Portola High School

Portola Pilot
Akshay Raj

Akshay Raj, Editor-in-Chief

Akshay Raj is your co-editor-in-chief of the Portola Pilot this year. In his final year as Portola Pilot staff, he is beyond excited to help bring the paper to new heights. While he’s not working on journalism, you can find him (virtually) hanging out with friends, playing tennis, messing with tech, and constantly losing track of time.
All content by Akshay Raj
Freshman Belan Ngo’s crochet designs are heavily inspired by fashion trends she sees on social media platforms, whether it be TikTok, Pinterest or Instagram. “I saw videos on TikTok, actually. There was this one girl who was making a heart crochet hat, and I couldn’t find a tutorial on YouTube, so she helped me with it and sent me different videos to learn off of,” Ngo said. “I also check people’s Instagrams and see what’s most popular at the moment and see if I can turn it into a crochet item.”

Student Small Businesses: Freshman Belan Ngo Crafts Business with Homemade Apparel

Lauren Hsu and Akshay Raj | April 5, 2021
Many classrooms across campus have experienced significantly lower in-person attendance as students opt to take their hybrid courses from home under the “otherwise present” attendance code. Literary and language arts teacher and newspaper adviser Brianna Rapp had only five students attend her second period Cohort B class in person on Jan. 14 while remaining Cohort B students attended class via Zoom.

‘Otherwise Present’ Attendance and Second Semester Health Concerns Spark Plans to Strike

Akshay Raj and Ryne Dunman | January 25, 2021
Playing team-oriented sports while being physically distanced can create some disconnect between team players. “I think the biggest thing would be playing against each other as a team and going to the games and having that adrenaline rush and experiencing the program and playing in a competitive environment, as opposed to just getting better,” junior varsity volleyball player and sophomore Sarika Menon said.

Orange County Moving into Purple Tier and its Impact on Student Athletes

Akshay Raj, Krisha Konchadi, Aryan Mittal, and Erin Choi | January 20, 2021
Physical education equipment custodian Noe Belmudez cleans the sinks in one of the restrooms during second period with a special disinfectant. During each period, the custodial staff must clean every restroom on campus, as well as any other area classified as a high touch point.

Custodial Staff Wipes Away Student Concerns

Akshay Raj and Kelthie Truong | January 13, 2021
Hours before the album’s release, Swift took to Instagram on Dec. 11 to post promotional pictures for “willow,” the lead single off her surprise album “evermore.” Just five months after the release of her previous album, “folklore,” Swift treats fans to a similarly-styled journey in her second surprise drop of 2020.

Taylor Swift’s Genre-Defying Skill Lasts ‘evermore’

Claudia Lin and Akshay Raj | January 4, 2021
At socially-distanced wrestling practices, very few new freshmen join returning upperclassmen at daily after-school practice. New wrestlers have time to communicate and ask both athletic-and academic-related questions to their team as they wrestle against social distancing guidelines.

Freshmen Wrestle with Pandemic Setbacks

Akshay Raj, Co-Editor-in-Chief | December 15, 2020
Project Success specialist Gil Carey organizes his schedule of student meetings after school. Carey constantly sorts through new appointments and emails in order to make room for several sessions with students throughout the day during breaks, lunches and before school.

New Project Success Specialist Propels Students Forward

Michelle Kim and Akshay Raj | December 9, 2020
All departments are working on their own equity and social justice based goals to audit their curricula. This is reflected in social studies classrooms through lessons and activities on Black contributions to philosophy, major world events and American culture, according to social studies department chair Jon Resendez.

Teachers Adopt Racially-Diverse Curricula to Support Anti-Racism

Akshay Raj and Dheeksha Bhima Reddy | September 28, 2020
The audition information meeting was held on Sept. 14, during which Sanford released information regarding the audition process and future dates for all theater members to be aware of. The technology crew and design team information meeting will be held on Sept. 21 on Google Meet.

Standing Ovation for Theater Community as Fall Play Goes Virtual

Akshay Raj and Claudia Lin | September 14, 2020
Nine students were inducted into the International Thespian Society on May 20 for their commitment to performing arts. Despite the event being held on Zoom, the traditional ceremony of lighting a candle for inducted members when their name is called was preserved.

International Thespian Society Recognizes Performers Online

Manan Mendiratta and Akshay Raj | May 22, 2020
At schools like University High, students are allowed to take AP classes a year earlier than at Portola or Northwood high schools, giving them a figurative head start in following their passions at a collegiate level.

District Unity for Course Progression is Key to Equity

Akshay Raj and Manan Mendiratta | May 15, 2020
With a screen size of 8 inches, the Huawei Mate X is larger than an Apple iPad mini, but the flexible display technology it utilizes allows it to brand itself as a phone. While the ability to reduce its physical footprint is impressive, manufacturers are using new technology to bend the definition of a smartphone to unnecessary proportions.

Manufacturers Must Avoid Mindless Expansion With Foldable Phones

Aaron Sha and Akshay Raj | April 9, 2020
Sophomore Kevin Lu carefully and determinendly putts the ball with the hole in sight. With a focus on minimizing the overall score, even a slight error on one shot can drastically affect team performance.

Boys’ Golf ‘Putts’ in the Work

Akshay Raj and Aaron Sha | March 27, 2020
Notable individual awards include seniors Simrat Singh for first place in Sports Writing, Farhad Taraporevala for third in Critical Review, Shawyan Rooein for third in Newspaper Layout, Ki Joon Lee for fourth place in Sports Writing, Ajinkya Rane for sixth place in Editorial Writing, Maya Sabbaghian for ninth place in Editorial Writing and Tiffany Wu for seventh place in Feature Writing.

Portola Pilot Secures Super Sweepstakes Award at Orange County Write-Offs

Akshay Raj and Erin Choi | March 12, 2020
Members of CHOC Club gather a few times each semester at the Ronald McDonald House to host activities such as making dinner for families in the house, as well as bonding with the children there. Aside from these events, the club also organizes fundraisers to provide direct relief to affected children and families through making blankets, kits and more meals.

CHOC Club Promotes Community-Driven Caring for Children

Akshay Raj and Manan Mendiratta | February 25, 2020
With the current music rating system, songs like Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks,” which express the ambition to start a school shooting, are in the same category as childrens’ songs like “Baby Shark.” As a result of this lyrical neglect, thousands of songs with vastly different messages and levels of intensity are grouped together under the blanket terms of either “explicit” or “non-explicit.”

Music Should be Rated by Lyrics, not Language

Akshay Raj and Manan Mendiratta | February 13, 2020
As the air grows tense and the timer ticks down to its final seconds before the big race at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 finals, the varsity girls’ cross country team gathers in a circle to lock hands in prayer to boost their spirits and calm their nerves. Junior Kaeli Smith leads the prayer, which has been a tradition of the predominantly Christian varsity girls’ team for a year.

Practicing Religion and Athletics

Akshay Raj, Assistant Features Editor | January 31, 2020
The soulful tones of senior Yash Menon’s guitar and lyrical style of senior Shivank Gupta’s saxophone fill the air as their unique sounds come together in their rendition of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” The exciting combination of smooth jazz and striking rock forms melodious versatility that could not be accomplished with just one instrument.

Musical Duo Creates Harmony Through Contrast

Manan Mendiratta and Akshay Raj | January 30, 2020
Thanksgiving lands on the fourth Thursday of November, which means that depending on the year, the date of the holiday can differ by up to a week.

A Definite Date Will Dismiss the Turmoil of Thanksgiving

Akshay Raj and Aaron Sha | December 11, 2019
Campus Control Assistants Kathy Elgohary and George Mares supervise the drop-off line to keep a constant flow of traffic. This year, there are more student drivers at Portola High than ever, causing more traffic to build up around campus and on Irvine Blvd. in the morning.

Road Safety Concerns on Campus Pile Up

Akshay Raj and Manan Mendiratta | December 5, 2019
As a solution to the academic honesty problemon campus, some teachers have created multiple forms of exams for their students. Math teacher Eric Graham created nine different versions of his AP Statistics midterm in order to prevent students from cheating.

IUSD Plans to Update Academic Honesty Policy

Akshay Raj and Helena Hu | December 2, 2019
With California SB-328 coming close to pushing back the school start time 30 minutes, students and staff alike should carefully consider the implications that come with the push, such as the possibility of later end times and shortened breaks.

Portola Cannot Sleep on Pushing Back School Start Time

Manan Mendiratta and Akshay Raj | November 8, 2019
As students nationwide grow concerned over the rising price of AP exam fees, the United States Department of Education has to step in and cover some or all of these expenses to ensure fairness in the college admission process.

Cutting Down AP Exam Fees Will Help Students Make the Cut

Akshay Raj, Assistant Features Editor | October 31, 2019
Head basketball coach Brian Smith receives the Coach of Character award at the OCADA Fall Awards Dinner, held at the Anaheim Convention Center on Sept. 30, accompanied by athletics director Katie Levensailor and principal John Pehrson. The Fall Awards Dinner is the first time in the year when one coach from each Orange County high school can be given this award for excellent character.

Basketball Coach Brian Smith Honored with Coach of Character Award

Akshay Raj, Assistant Features Editor | October 8, 2019
Burger King’s Impossible Whopper is a vegetarian spin on the regular Whopper, retaining the same familiar tomatoes, onions, pickles and lettuce while substituting the beef patty with an Impossible Meat vegan one.

Impossible Vegan Meat Goes Beyond Typical Fast-Food

Manan Mendiratta and Akshay Raj | September 25, 2019
Water now always costs an additional dollar, regardless of whether it is purchased with a meal.

One Dollar for Water is a Small Price to Pay For the Environment

Akshay Raj, Assistant Features Editor | September 17, 2019
Level Up: “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” revamps the free for all play mode with new characters options while keeping fan favorites like Mario, Sonic, Cloud and Ryu. Stages like the Battlefield arena receive a makeover with improved visuals and jaw-dropping scenic backgrounds.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a Smash Hit

Akshay Raj, Collaborating Writer | February 12, 2019
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The student news site of Portola High School
Akshay Raj