Spartan Scroll

HE SAID

by Jacky Shum

What started off as a forced partnership became a close friendship that I never thought I would share with Crystal Huang.

Although we worked together the previous year during our time in the yearbook program, it was not until this year that I really got to know Crystal, as we worked together as co-editors.

When we first started working together, I was not sure we would make a good team because I generally liked to work and carry the responsibility alone. While I had gotten along relatively well with her before, I always thought she was in her own little world full of sunshine and rainbows, and most of the time she was.

One time, she texted me at 3 a.m. about a video she just saw about tortoises and how cute they were and how badly she wanted one. I thought she was crazy.

I reluctantly shared the workload with her in the beginning, as I thought to myself that I could handle the responsibility alone. That was only until she got fed up with my “lone-wolf” act and she insisted I share the burden with her.

As we slowly started to work together more, I found out that we had a lot in common, such as our music taste or even our shared love for “The Flash.” Mixing work with fun, her amazing personality made working on yearbook much more bearable, and as we got closer I started to text her at 3 a.m. about tortoises, too.

In time, she became the “Iris West” to my “Barry Allen” and we started to talk about everything from how our day went, to our aspirations for the future, and soon I could not imagine a time before I had met her.

Looking back, her kind, caring personality made the dreary days bright, and sure enough, even I started to live in her world of sunshine and rainbows. Approaching graduation, it saddens me that I will soon have to part ways with her, as I have grown quite accustomed to her companionship. Working with her was an unexpected blessing, and although we will be going our separate ways, I am sure that I can count on her, even if she is miles away.

SHE SAID

by Crystal Huang

My first impression of Jacky Shum was that he was a quiet and reserved, and I later had the incredible chance to discover he was someone who loved to crack jokes all the time and was an easy person to talk to.    

Jacky and I met through being on the same team for Journalism. With no prior experience, Jacky was reliable and dependable. He was the editor of the sports section junior year, and he not only finished his section first but also helped the others with their own sections afterwards.

With the worry of trying to complete the yearbook and the happiness I felt while getting closer to Jacky, I discovered that he was someone I could rely on throughout my journey working on yearbook.

One of the things Jacky and I bonded over was our love of superheroes. We talked for hours on end about how Barry Allen continuously made the same mistake of messing with the fabric of time in “The Flash” or how “Supergirl” consisted of the most dramatic fights.

This past summer, Jacky and I were announced as the Co-Editors in Chief of the Spectrum. I was elated; I would get the opportunity to work on the yearbook with a trustworthy partner.

While I thought being co-editors would be a year of fun, working with Jacky became quite difficult as the year progressed. There were moments when I would grow irritated at him because he could never decide on anything, even trivial ones. However, I soon understood why Jacky was and still is so indecisive. He never decides because he doesn’t want to hurt others’ feelings by choosing something that could cause pain for others. While I still wanted Jacky to decide on matters concerning the book, I learned to sympathize with him. He was just being himself and trying to make everyone around him happy.

I cannot imagine planning this yearbook without Jacky. He has spent more hours than I could count working on the book and helping the editors. One of the things I have always envied about him is his compassion for others and willingness to help. I will also miss those precious moments we have shared such as singing along to Shawn Mendes in the car as we drive to collaborate on the book.

While two years may not seem like an extensive time, Jacky and I have grown close with one another in, what has felt like, several years. I am going to miss his knack of making witty, comical jokes. Our bond has shown me that having someone to work with will always ease the burden of completing the task at hand.