Jason Hatfield
Entertainment Editor

The Mission Viejo marching band hosts their annual competition

     It was a cold October morning when an array of students from different high schools across southern California began to show up to Mission Viejo’s home marching band competition. Students were required to gather at school at 10:00 am to begin setting up, warming up, and practicing. 

      “It was very stressful leading up to the competition,” Geneva Bjornestad, Class of 2025 stated. The marching band had been working for this competition for quite some time, a week before school started in fact. 

     Despite the fact that Mission Vieijo had had experience with hosting competitions in the past and excelling in doing so, this environment was quite different. Jackson Deberard, class of 2022, explained, “Two classes of people had never had a competition before, We weren’t sure if they were able to step up.”

     The band put in a lot of effort and hard work leading up to the competition. They had 2-4 hours of practice Monday through Friday, as well as a band camp the week before school started.

      Brice Kirk, class of 2022, elaborated on the atmosphere leading up, explaining, “There was a lot of nervousness, for people doing it again, it was the first comp in two years, and many people had never done it before.” Despite this, the band had done quite a bit of preparation and was ready for the day to come.

     Since it was a home competition, Mission Viejo was not only required to perform but also to host and set up the entire event. Thanks to a large fleet of volunteers, the event went exceedingly smooth. 

     Despite the stellar crew that helped out, this didn’t prevent all of the  setbacks for the band. Brice Kirk adds, “We were a bit worried that our show was too short and that we were going to be penalized.” 

     Another worry was that the weather. “It was cold outside and difficult to tune, it being cold made it hard to march” Gavin Hemmrit, Class of 2023 recalled. 

     Regardless of these circumstances, the musicians knew they had a job to do; to seize a victory for Mission Viejo High School. Eventually, the ensemble’s time to perform came around the corner and the students knew exactly what to do.

      Brass bursted with expression, woodwinds filled the air with beautiful melodies, percussion held a strong pulse, and colorguard performed their visually stunning routine. The ensemble was satisfied with their performance and only awaited results.

     Eventually, results were announced and Mission Viejo received the good news they were waiting for; they had won 1st place in their division. “I felt accomplished that we got first place at our competition,” Jackson Deberard exclaimed.

     There was a sense of accomplishment and relief amongst all of the members of the band. Brice Kirk recalled, “I felt incredibly hyped after our visual tech told me I was carrying the band.”

      In the end, the Mission Viejo High School marching band home competition was a massive success. David Parsons, class of 2025, encapsulated Mission Viejo’s success in one of the students commonly used quotes. “Sweat like pigs, work like dogs, march like gods.”

Jim Marsoobian & Rebekah Choi
Staff Writers

     Last weekend on October 2nd, Mission Viejo High School’s color guard and marching band won the high auxiliary award, which means best color guard, at a home competition against other high schools. The marching band also won best percussion. The team practices from five to nine PM most nights, so this award shows how rewarding their dedication is. This was the first home competition of the season, since COVID started.

     In an interview, Madelynn Foulkrod, a member of color guard, describes it as being hard but very worth it. She explains how the team is almost “like a family” because of how much time they spend together. She says, “It’s hard to not get close to people you spend four hours a day with.” “Even if you and your teammates are very different people, you kind of find the certain thing that makes you click which makes the whole team click,” she explains. One of her favorite things about being in the color guard is spending time practicing with her friends. It was seeing the color guard perform at her middle school, with their “pretty” and “intricate” moves, that compelled Madelynn to join. Her favorite skill to practice is sabre, which is a sword-like prop.

     Right now, the color guard is working on their fall shows with the marching band. In the winter, the color guard does shows on their own. They are looking forward to upcoming championships, although they are disappointed about not being able to go to Fresno for competition this year.

     When asked about balancing school and color guard, Madelynn said it was “really, really hard,” because of their five-to-nine PM practices and lots of time spent cleaning up their props. This takes away from homework time, and has an on and off idea when it comes to joining next year, but Madelynn manages. Color guard has made Madelynn a more confident person, saying she is a “completely different person than I was last year.” Outside of color guard, Madelynn participates in the MVHS Agriculture program, journalism, and yoga (which she says actually helps with color guard.) She talked about how she was planning to go into color guard next year, as well, and even though it is a lot of hard work it “pays off in the end,” and makes you “feel good about yourself.” It gives her confidence, and she is very passionate about it.

     Unlike other sports and activities, the main goal of color guard is not just to win and be strong, rather each member has their own personal goals. Also, color guard uniquely involves dance incorporated with flags. As Madelynn states that color guard isn’t like other sports. She says “Color guard is a lot different from other sports because usually other sports have the goal to just win, or do good, or be strong, but color guard is a lot different because it involves dance, your flag skills, your rifle skills, and sabere skills.” 

     Overall Madelynn enjoys color guard and MVHS is lucky to have such a great color guard team.

Judd Karn & Jason Hatfield 
Online Editor and Entertainment Editor

The Marvel Film excels as an origin story but is held back by the MCU formula.

 With many questions  as to how the Marvel Universe will continue through a new generation, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” has garnered high expectations.

     A typical complaint with Marvel Studios movies, as well as superhero movies at large, is that they contain formulaic plots, cliche characters, and a lack of self awareness. Luckily, Shang-Chi thrives and excels at avoiding these pitfalls for the most part. With a stellar cast, great choreography, and phenomenal CGI, the Marvel film not only meets, but exceeds expectations.

     It’s ironic how one of the biggest compliments that can be given to a Marvel film  is that one forgets they are watching a Marvel movie at all. Marvel superfans, in fact, praise the film for its ability to deviate just enough to give a (somewhat) different experience. In comparison, Marvel’s previous outing, Black Widow, felt stale and unimaginative. While it hit much of the same notes one would expect, it didn’t feel entirely necessary. 

    With Shang-Chi, Marvel has succeeded in making a unique experience. Much of this should be credited to a unique atmosphere, unlike much of Marvel’s other movies.  The welcome inclusion of Marvel’s first Asian-American superhero added to Marvel’s goal of creating a wide variety of heroes for their fans to identify with, as well as creating an entirely different setting then other films. 

     Sure, Shang-Chi does throw some of the same punches as previous films, but that’s usually for the better. Why exactly would someone become a Marvel fan if it was not for the iconic fight scenes, underdog setup, and otherworldly powers? Shang-Chi has all of those elements, and they are executed particularly well.

     While Shang-Chi has plenty to love, some elements are either unnecessary or underbaked. The jester’s character, played by Ben Kingsley from Iron Man 3, was rather rushed and felt like a mediocre element to fill in a role. 

    Morris, a cute and loveable pillow creature, felt sort of out of place and filling a role that didn’t need to exist. The two were probably the most forced characters in the film, like a comedic character quota they had to meet. With that being said, these characters were a significant part of giving the film a completely different tone than it would have had, for better or worse. 

     Another thing peculiar about the film was Shang-Chi’s role in it. While previous Marvel outings spent much of their time developing the main character (think of Iron Man, Spiderman, and again, Black Widow), Shang-Chi himself seemed less involved, while the surrounding characters took larger roles. I saw this as an interesting, but successful change of structure, but others may find Shang-Chi’s lack as the main character  comparably less compelling. 

     Katy (Awkwafina) and Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), felt less like supporting characters and more like counterparts to Shang-Chi. Katy’s lackluster reason to be in the later half of the movie is a bit distracting, but she is a good grounded comedic relief and without her the movie would feel too serious. 

     Xialing, is reasonably apprehensive about helping her brother, Shang-Chi, throughout the movie and serves as a much needed helping-hand to Shang-Chi that is portrayed very well by the actress.
    The film gives the audience a stellar soundtrack, new set of characters and a unique atmosphere into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s no wonder people love the divergent Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.  

Final score: 8.1/10