Movers and Shakers

BY: JEREMY SHISHKIN 25' AND TAHSIN TAHIA 23'

SOCES is a place full of talented students. Aside from being hard working, SOCES students are high achievers in personal life and who influence other students with their progress and accomplishment.

Samir Suleymanov, a sophomore at SOCES, is on the path to success. Samir takes tons of college classes while still maintaining a GPA above 4.0. He takes economics, marketing management, computer science, and statistics. “I want to major in economics because the topic fascinates me. Economics is a great skill to learn in life.” Samir says.

Samir is also the President of the Physics club. This club is new, as it only started last semester. Samir says that he plans to improve the physics club. He and the cabinet have plans to “improve and assemble a team for the bridge competition. We are in the process of doing that.” Samir says that “the annual bridge competition has always existed at SOCES and now physics club has teamed up with science club to improve the competition teams.” The competition is a fun way for students to collaborate with each other while using science, engineering, and hands-on learning.

When asked why he created the physics club, Samir responded that: “Many SOCES students are interested in STEM, Science, and hands-on projects.” Which is why Samir decided to run the bridge building competition. “It also flourishes design, innovation, and creativity in students.”

As for sports, Sam goes to the gym whenever he can and also participates in SOCES’s SRLA (Students Run LA). Sam likes to run marathons and exercise in general.

Finally, Samir says that he doesn't really consider himself a motivation to others, as he is still trying to motivate himself sometimes. “Many friends ask me for advice, but mostly I try to motivate myself. It is my future and only I am responsible for making it happen.

Sanzhar Satenov is also a sophomore at SOCES who aside from being a great student academically, is the president of Chess Club. He says that right now, Chess Club is moving along but he plans to expand the chess club community and even start after school meetings. “My goal for Chess Club is to establish competitions with other schools and to make a competitive team which will require after school meetings.” Many people at SOCES enjoy playing chess as it is a game that makes you reason and think logically. It is also a hobby that people enjoy. Sanzhar has been wanting to start a chess club for years now, and just started last year. “It is a new club and that's why we still have a lot to work on.”

Sanzhar also is on the SOCES Varsity Tennis Team. He has been playing tennis for a while now and is happy to be on the team. He practices almost everyday and works really hard to reach his goals.

As for volunteering, Sanzhar volunteers in his Church every Sunday: Awaken LA Church. He has been doing this for almost 3 years. “I help the media team with the live stream and lyrics of the church sermons.” Sanzhar volunteers because he wants to give back to his community and because he is religious. Sanzhar loves volunteering.

Julianna Babayan, a sophomore at SOCES is also a straight-A-student who has tons of hobbies outside of school and volunteers a lot. Julianna says “I do dance outside of school as a hobby. Multicultural and hip hop.” Julianna is also really good at piano. She has been playing for 4 1⁄2 years now and really enjoys it.

She also participates in SOCES Speech and Debate. The SOCES Speech and Debate team has been doing really well in their meets. Julianna says that she loves giving speeches. “It has also boosted my confidence when giving presentations.” She feels that public speaking has become a “breeze” for her. It also ties into her future career interest as she wants to major in Law, and become a lawyer. Julianna has also won an award for one of the events for Speech and Debate and wants to stay a part of the club.

Julianna volunteers at her Armenian School every week. “I am extremely passionate about volunteering there since I used to attend the school and I was one of the students. I have been volunteering for 2 years now.” Julianna says that she volunteers because it is a part of her identity but also because she loves to be active in the community. “I like volunteering in my community especially when I know I can try and contribute more. I help many students with their reading and writing. It's just something I enjoy doing.”

Julianna is a great role model for these kids as she has helped them improve their fluency. Many kids have even told her this. “They’ve told me that I push them to want to work harder and to know their mother language better.”

Another extracurricular that Julianna leads is organizing fundraisers to send money to Armenia. This money goes to aid soldiers who have been injured in warfare and to families that lost homes and cities due to the war. “I am advocating for the ethnic cleansing that going on in the nation and trying to create opportunities to help the villages in need.” She does this all through her Armenian school’s community and loves to be a part of it.

Barbara Ortiz, a Senior at SOCES, has devoted an equal amount of time to her extracurriculars as well as her academics. Along with maintaining exceptional grades in her school courses, she has been doing dual enrollment and will be finishing her associate degree before graduating. She also participates in various medical programs over summer break to gain experience in the medical field as she wants to major in Biology and go to med school. She has been in AcaDeca since her junior year of high school and made it to the comp team both years.

Barbara has also been running the K-POP Club for four years. She mentions that her main goal was to create a safe environment for anyone who enjoys K-POP or any different genre of music. She is also the president of the Running Club. She says, “Running continuously for 26.2 miles is not an easy thing, but I love seeing the faces of younger students finish the race and feel accomplished.” She ran three marathons with SRLA and hopes to continue doing so after graduating. When asked how she manages her time, she says, “I have my little gudetama planner, where I write down what I need to do for the day. Also to make sure that I don’t stress myself at school, I read during my free time.” She also likes to crochet and give them to her friends and beloved ones.

Hannah Brard is another Senior who took many opportunities to give back to the community, while maintaining her academics. She is the president of Tri-M and has been part of it for four years. She has also been in band for 8 years and plays five instruments. Through Tri-M, she and the cabinet are helping fundraise money for Wind Ensemble’s trip to Seattle this year. When asked about her favorite part of Tri-M, she mentions their annual event at the retirement home for elders where they get to play music for everyone. She shares, “it is also the community, it has been nothing, but uplifting and a blast to be a part of.” She is also the president of Mock trial and has been part of it for four years. She has rebuilt the club after many complications as she is very passionate about providing a platform where students can gain real-life experience of a court.

Hannah has also helped continue Model UN as a Co-President along with Lailah Karagyulleyan. She has expressed that following Covid-19, interest in worldly matters that are crucial have gone down. Through this club, she encourages people to come out of their comfort zone, discuss, and speak out about the matters that are going on in the world.

Max Azumi is a Senior who is also involved in various activities that inspires the underclassmen around him. He has been attending a Japanese Saturday school since kindergarten for 13 years, where they learn the basic curriculum followed by schools in Japan. His favorite part of being a part of the school is being able to teach underclassmen traditional games and more about the language. He says, “I like being around people who share the same culture as me and strengthen our bonds on a common ground.”

Max is also part of the Cross Country Varsity team, where he gets to inspire the younger runners to get out of their comfort zone and try becoming a better version of themselves. He says, “Since I’m the senior, I try to put my best foot forward even during the warm-ups to cheer them up. Running under extreme conditions and pressure can be a lot for them, but I try to create an environment where it is okay for them to stumble sometimes.” He is also part of the Running Club, where he ran a marathon last year and training to run it again this year. His passion for running only grows stronger when working together with his teammates.

Marli Galdamez is another one of our successful student athlete, who successfully showcased their passion for soccer. Marli has been playing soccer since she was a child at the age of four to carry on her father’s legacy. Ever since then she fell in love with the sport and worked through tremendous hardships to improve. She was part of Hollywood FC until she was 10 years old and later joined Tudela FC. She says, “They taught me a whole new way to play soccer, and from there I excelled to my greatest potential…I was taught to never give up or back down when something gets in my way, and so I live by that.” Marli has also been part of the SOCES Girl’s Soccer varsity team for all four years of high school. As one of the captains of the team, she has shown great leadership skills. She expresses, “making my teammates feel welcomed makes them perform better since they feel more comfortable and arent nervous. It brings out their confidence.”

Along with being an athlete, Marli is also a coach in the “Little Champions Soccer” program, where she trains little kids during the weekends. She says, “It is awesome training other little kids on what I know and to develop them into great athletes.”

Marli has also committed to TCU with a full ride scholarship and will be continuing her soccer career with the team. She shared that the recruiting process was difficult and she had to perform to the best of her ability at the showcases. Just as she is inspiring to young athletes, she has also expressed her gratitude toward her coach, Jacob Tudela, who has always had faith in her. Her hard work and dedication paid off at the end. She closes off saying, “ I achieved my goals by working hard, practicing, and never giving up. The journey was difficult, but I made sure to keep going, no matter what.”

These are just a few SOCES students who have power and influence others, which is great SOCES spirit. Many strive to be successful and we thank these people for being an inspiration for them and for doing what they do. Keep up the hard work!