Asking questions is a part of everyday life. Everything humans do is the result of answered questions, ranging from small ones like “what is the weather like today?” to complex ones like “is there life on Mars?” Asking questions is equally as important as the answers we get, even if they are just simple, thought-provoking questions. They enable us to think about ourselves and how we relate to the world around us. We can learn about others’ experiences, likes, and dislikes. They may even help inspire open-mindedness about others and push us to think.

Ask it Forward is a Q & A chain intended to connect the community and serve as a platform for MSE students and teachers to voice their opinions, thoughts, and experiences. In this issue, we feature the Echo staff! Participants here answer a question from another person, then ask a question for the next person. 

Here is the series of questions and answers I’ve gathered:

Q: “If you could meet your younger self, what would you tell them?”

A: “Go with the impulsive ideas. It’s worth it.” — Sanjida Sultana, 12th

Q: “What part of the high school experience would you delete if you could?” — Sanjida Sultana, 12th

A: “Meeting people who didn’t appreciate my true self and made me believe there’s something wrong with me.” — Taiyabah Sadiah, 12th

Q: “If you could change your name, what would it be?” — Taiyabah Sadiah, 12th

A: “My name is Adeola and it means crown of wealth. It is a Yoruba name usually for people of royalty. No, I wouldn’t change my name because I couldn’t imagine bearing anything else. If I had to, I’d change it to Lola.” — Adeola Oke, 12th

Q: “What’s the best sound in the world?” — Adeola Oke, 12th

A: “The Colorado Avalanche goal horn. It just sounds awesome, even though I’m not a fan of that team. The low tone makes it sound powerful.” — Gareth Reis, 10th

Q: “If you could go to one place in the world right now, where would it be?” — Gareth Reis, 10th

A: “I’d go to Sri Lanka! I’m a firm believer that Sri Lanka is one of the most gorgeous countries in the world, but I may be biased because I’m Sri Lankan.” — Ella Devi, 11th

Q: “What’s your favorite cuisine?” — Ella Devi, 11th

A: “My favorite cuisine is Thai food because it’s really yummy and it’s my comfort food. When my friend, Etta, and I were little munchkins, we used to munch on Thai food together.” — Willow Mintz, 10th 

Q: “Have you ever almost died, what happened?” — Willow Mintz, 10th 

A: “I had back surgery and during the operation, I almost bled out and died. I was incapable of moving for a week. I was shocked that that happened and glad I made it out.” — Noah Kim, 11th

Q: “Who was your favorite teacher?” — Noah Kim, 11th

A: “My 6th grade science teacher. He also happens to be my father. It was an experience to have a parent as my teacher, but it was nice to see him in class.” — Elizabeth Raikes, 10th

Q: “How did your parents meet?” — Elizabeth Raikes, 10th

A: “My parents were neighbors and lived across the street from each other. One day my dad was trying to get rid of a watering can with a hole in it, and my mom decided to take it. We continue to use the watering can today (it still has a hole).” — Siona Lewis-Coffey, 11th

Q: “What’s a conspiracy theory you believe in?” — Siona Lewis-Coffey, 11th

A: “I believe that Trump won the 2016 election. ” — Zoe Otto, 12th

Q: “If you were stuck in a fire, and could only grab one thing, what would it be and why?” — Zoe Otto, 12th

A: “If it were me in that situation, I would grab the fire. If I could throw the fire outside like a bouncer at a club, I would be able to save all of the stuff that would have burned, and anybody else stuck with me.” — Adonis Capellan, 10th

Q: “If you could speak with any inanimate object, what would it be?” — Adonis Capellan, 10th

A: “I would want to talk to one of the big trees in Central Park. They’ve probably seen a lot of crazy things and I would want to hear about all the squirrels and shenanigans.” — Maddy Grosso, 12th

Q: “If you were a cupcake, what flavor would you be? What frosting would you have? Would you have sprinkles?” — Maddy Grosso, 12th

A: “I would probably choose to be a chocolate cupcake with caramel frosting: slightly sweet, slightly salty, kinda how I would describe myself, but also kinda how I would describe my taste in cupcakes.” — Julian Nguyen, 11th

Q: “If you could go forward in time 100 years and read your biography, what would you like the first sentence to be?” — Julian Nguyen, 11th

A: “Emily Dow (born December 21, 2007) was an American.” — Emily Dow, 11th

Q: “If you could have a single fictional animal as a pet, what would you have?” — Emily Dow 11th

All in all, we’ve gained insight into the minds of HSMSE students who contribute to the ECHO newspaper, through random questions, from silly ones like the flavor of a cupcake to ones like love stories. We’ve learned about the cool experiences in people’s lives and things they’d like to do. 

And this doesn’t end here! We hope to continue this chain into future issues with more thoughtful questions and answers. In the meantime, consider the last question: If you could have a single fictional animal as a pet, what would you have?