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. Participants here answer a question from another person, then ask a question for the next person. The next person is randomly selected from a grade that hasn’t participated as much or the grade/teacher that may be better able to answer the question. For example, questions about HSMSE classes can be better answered by a senior who has had experiences with each class.
Here is the series of questions and answers I’ve gathered from HSMSE:
Q: “What’s the best thing you have ever made?” — Adeola Oke, 12th
A: “The best thing I ever made were macarons. Macarons are so time consuming, so stupidly specific, and so expensive. They took me a whole day to perfect, but when I finally learned to fold the batter just 30 times in just the right way, when I finally found the almond flour that had been evading me for ages, I got it! They were so good and I regret to say I ate them too quickly. ” — Gabriela Picazo, 12th
Q: “What’s your most recent happy memory?” — Gabriela Picazo, 12th
A: “My most recent happy memory is when I was sitting at lunch with my friends. It was fun and I enjoy being around them.” — Aidana Zhanuzakova, 9th
Q: “What is the best school subject you ever learned?” — Aidana Zhanuzakova, 9th
A: “My favorite school subject I have had is Science in 4th grade because the teacher was very nice. She let us talk and have fun during the lessons even though we were still learning things in class. She also had a pet lizard and fish that we could take home over the weekend. She made learning fun compared to math and English at least. ” — Alexander Moore, 10th
Q: “What was your weirdest dream?” — Alexander Moore, 10th
A: “When I was around 10 years old, I had a dream that I was on an alien spaceship, being chased by these scary looking aliens. I’m pretty sure this dream was a manifestation of a horror movie involving aliens that I watched earlier.” — Mr. Liu
Q: “If you could visit any destination, what would it be? Why?” — Mr. Liu
A: “I would like to go to Mexico to work on my Spanish and also because it’s close to the U.S. I would like to visit a city, eat some food, and interact with other people. I prefer vacations where you meet other people over vacations where you do nothing. — Astrid Clayton, 11th
Q: “If you had the ability to see the future, would you use it? Why?” — Astrid Clayton, 11th
A: “No because it would give me existential dread and it’d be a spoiler for my life. It’d take the fun out of living.” — Nasid Anowar, 11th; Eli Gologanova, 11th; Asher Moskowitz, 12th
Q: “What aesthetic do you like the least?” — Nasid Anowar, 11th; Eli Gologanova, 11th; Asher Moskowitz, 12th
A: “I like the streetwear aesthetic the least because of the lack of pastels and soft color. Also since it consists of jeans and baggy clothing which can be comfortable but just not my personal style. I am biased though because my favorite aesthetic is the pink girl coquette aesthetic that involves lots of shades of pink with feminine skirts and makeup.” — Evelin Hernandez, 10th
Q: “Which class at HSMSE would you replace with another class?” — Evelin Hernandez, 10th
A: “I would replace AP Bio with AP Macroeconomics because it sounds more interesting. It would also be more useful than bio as an adult because it’s economics. ” — Gisselle Reinoso, 12th
Q: “How would you describe human society to an alien?” — Gisselle Reinoso, 12th
A: “I would tell them that society mostly tries to dictate how people should/shouldn’t live. It tells women, men, students, children, workers, etc different harmful things. People are self-centered, and think that everyone should do what they think is right, which has negative effects on small to big scales like work, government and international affairs. I would also tell them that I think they’re doing a better job than us.” — Adeola Oke
Q: “What would your dream job be if money didn’t exist?” — Adeola Oke
A: “I would want to be a superhero because I want to help people, and have powers. During the day I would be a normal civilian however, during the night I would be batman.” — Vihaan Parikh, 9th
Q: “What do you wish you invented?” — Vihaan Parikh, 9th
A: “I wish I invented Tesla because then I would be Elon Musk. Therefore, I would be famous, rich, and a well-known person in the STEM world.” — Daniel Sharif, 9th
Q: “What do you wish you to accomplish in life?” — Daniel Sharif, 9th
A: “My goal is to answer this question.” — Mr. Swenson
Q: “If you were a giraffe, what color shoes would you wear? Why?” — Mr. Swenson
A: “I would wear a yellow-brown shoe because it would fit the color scheme of a giraffe and make it not stick out so much. And if someone looked closer, they would be surprised that a giraffe is wearing a shoe.” — Jason Huang, 10th
“I would wear red high heels because the red would contrast with the yellow of the giraffe and it would pop out. It would also make me taller so I could eat more leaves that I couldn’t eat before.” — Adonis Cedano, 10th
Q: “If you were an appliance, which one would you be?” — Jason Huang, 10th; Adonis Cedano, 10th
A: “I would be a stove because that would mean I provide food for the family” — Ms. Rasuk
Q: “If you could meet your younger self, what would you tell them?” — Ms. Rasuk
All in all, we’ve gained insight into the minds of HSMSE students and teachers through random questions that they normally might not answer in a class setting, from silly questions like the color of a giraffe’s shoes to harder ones like describing human society. We’ve learned about the differences in clothing aesthetics and activities people can do on vacation. These questions have linked people in the community who may not have interacted otherwise.
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 meet your younger self, what would you tell them?