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The official student news site of Westview High School

The Nexus

The official student news site of Westview High School

The Nexus

The official student news site of Westview High School

The Nexus

Zeina Nicolas

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor

All content by Zeina Nicolas

Letter to freshman self: Zeina

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor May 31, 2024

Dear 14-year-old Zeina,   I know your number one question for me is, “are we happier?” And my answer is yes. I hope that gives you a bit of solace. What else has changed, you ask? So...

Graphic compiled by Zeina Nicolas

Late FAFSA forms disrupt college applications

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor May 31, 2024

Trinitee Latimer (12) jumped for joy when she received her acceptance email from her dream school, Xavier University of Louisiana. But she plans not to attend after all. On May 14, just one day prior...

Kuo and Shetzer pose for a photo together after cheer senior night, Oct. 5. Courtesy of Marcella Lee

Kuo, Shetzer cheer through the years

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor May 31, 2024

It was a Thursday after cheer practice, and then 10-year-olds Kyla Kuo (12) and Daisy Shetzer (12) sat in the corner of Wendy’s that they called their own as a weekly tradition. The two laughed...

Player or Pawn?

Player or Pawn?

Macey Naritomi and Zeina Nicolas May 3, 2024

When Alex*, now a senior, made his first online sports bet in winter 2022, he was wracked with nerves at the uncertainty of how the Warriors would perform. Five dollars quickly disappeared as the plays...

Atri Pandya (12) shows a novice tennis player proper backhand form. Pandya coaches privately and as a volunteer for Westview’s tennis clinics.

Pandya serves community by coaching tennis

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor March 15, 2024

Atri Pandya’s (12) coaching style is simple: keep it fun. During a tennis lesson, Pandya weaved sarcasm with praise while hitting the ball back and forth with his 13-year-old student, who responded...

Classroom phone holders

Classroom phone holders

Zeina Nicolas and Phoebe Vo February 16, 2024

Yes Zeina Nicolas I couldn’t tell you the number of times I’ve been in class and could see someone near me on their phone playing a video game or scrolling on social media. Whether...

Vanessa Lee (12) holds a small silkie  chicken named Mabel, Jan. 16. Lee's  family cares for chickens and recently  adopted three different breeds of chicken to raise.

Chillin’ with chickens

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor January 26, 2024

Vanessa Lee (12) was waiting for a chicken delivery. Specifically, a pet chicken delivery to her home, Jan. 10. She anticipated the soon-to-be pets with excitement and nerves. Lee had her first...

The Nexus and Currents staffs attended the National High School Journalism Convention in Boston, Nov. 1-5. Nine students earned awards in the National Student Media Contests ranging from write-offs to design work.

Boston convention inspires Nexus, Currents

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor November 17, 2023

As The Nexus Editor-in-Chiefs Jillian Sinder (12) and Grace Tseng (12) sat down at the round table with other publication editors from all over the country, Nov. 3, they immediately felt an unspoken...

Courtesy of Liliana Musgrove

Izzy Cruz (‘23) remembered as loyal, caring

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor November 17, 2023

Ismael “Izzy” Cruz-Heredia (’23) passed away on Oct. 28. He was the second youngest in a family of nine people. His sister, Liliana Musgrove, said that he was a bright spirit. “Being raised...

Mackenzie Huynh (12) prepares for next week’s Homecoming rally, Oct. 1. ASB is preparing Spiderman-themed decorations and props for the Homecoming dance.

ASB seniors plan their last Homecoming rally

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor October 6, 2023

[metaslider id=14632] As they plan their last rally together in ASB, Mackenzie Huynh (12), Kaya Nepomuceno (12), and Julia Oshiro (12) said they look back on their years of working together bittersweetly...

Courtesy of Sean Jewett

Solar panels lower facilities costs

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor September 15, 2023

Poway Unified School District’s (PUSD) resources are being spread thin to cover the upkeep of many campuses due to a lack of funding for facilities. To replace every single maintenance need in PUSD...

Thoughts Trickle Down

Thoughts Trickle Down

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor September 15, 2023

The Shower Effect On a gloomy day in May, Gray Clink (12) was walking his dog in his canyon when an idea spontaneously struck for an AP Photography project. “I took a picture of my bedroom and...

Jamie Fusaro-Mobley (12) sings "Sunburn" by Muse in the School of Rock practice studio, Aug. 17. Music is a shared passion for their family and one that Fusaro-Mobley wishes to continue pursuing with their band.

Lyrical Legacy

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor August 25, 2023

Jamie Fusaro-Mobley (12) didn’t always look like a rock star. “I went from being a shy kid who sat in the corner of a room, talking to nobody, to who I am on stage in my everyday life,” Fusaro-Mobley...

Sustainability is multi-faceted

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor June 2, 2023

Climate change is a concept that presents extreme juxtapositions: scorching droughts and raging forest fires alongside howling storms of increasing frequency and magnitude. Although the exact timeline...

Graphic by Ella Jiang

ABE hosts panel on environmental careers

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor May 5, 2023

Before Earth Day, this year celebrated April 22, executive members of Advocates for a Better Environment (ABE) Club saw an opportunity to spotlight future career paths in the environmental field. Co-presidents...

Photo by Zeina Nicolas

Kim joins hip-hop dance teams

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor May 5, 2023

In the low light of her gray garage, Rebecca Kim (11) ran through her dance routine once again. She began moving to the rhythm of K-pop megagroup Twice’s bubbly song, “More and More,” trying...

Photo by Zeina Nicolas

Remer joins pro color guard

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor February 10, 2023

Mia Remer (12) steeled themself for the trick that would either make or break their routine—six rifle rotations with a double turn. They’d already been trying to catch the rifle to no avail, but...

Art by Maddie Comstock
Photo by Zeina Nicolas

Volman leads committee in Mock Congress

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor January 26, 2023

Ideas flew around the group of students sitting at the table, and Ronnie Volman (12) was quick to respond to each point of discussion with political insight and specificity. On Tuesday, January 3,...

Seeking solace

Seeking solace

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor November 18, 2022

Using religion to overcome challenges During quarantine Sutchin Somanathan (11) experienced a hyperfixation associated with  obsessive-compulsive disorder. When the space bar on his keyboard made an...

Art by Ella Jiang

Please dance at Hoco

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor October 14, 2022

A DJ blasted pop music in the quad, an indie band performed live in colorful attire by the theater, volunteers passed around silent disco headphones next to the gym, and students milled about. It was...

GOLD's Drumline is a Standout Act

GOLD’s Drumline is a Standout Act

Zeina Nicolas, Final Focus Editor September 16, 2022

It all began one fateful August evening, in 2021. There was chatter, there was laughter, and there was a lingering question in my mind—what am I doing here?—because frankly, I was bored. It was...

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