Written By: Simranpreet Kaur, Staff Writer
As senior year rapidly approaches its end, one of the seniors this year that really stuck out was none other than Poly’s ASB President, Kyle Rodillas. Not only has he been involved with many of the clubs and extracurricular activities that our school offers, such as being the ASB President and being an athlete on the swim team, he has also been an active contributor to the campus even before his freshman year began. Kyle is not only a phenomenal student, but also a great peer and friend to many fellow students.
Now let’s take a step back in time and talk about Rodillas’ freshman year.
When asked what his first impression of high school was, he said that he wasn’t nervous. Thanks to ASB, he had already had the opportunity to get familiar with the campus and environment before school had even started. Not only was he able to get comfortable with the layout itself but also stated that he made friends through ASB that helped with the freshman nerves and “made it [the first day] a lot more of a digestible experience.” This really goes to show how the clubs around campus not only looked good on college applications but make high school itself a lot more enjoyable. Funny enough when asked how his first day of freshman year compared to his first day of senior year he told us that “the difference was that freshmen year was a mix of excited and nervous and senior year was more like alright let’s get this over with,” saying that yes he was happy to start senior year but motivated to get the last year done while emphasizing it was a “cool parallel” for him to experience.
As the topic of college majors sprang up Kyle informed us that during freshman year he wanted to be a “plastic surgeon” and to not get him wrong as he still has interest in the medical field his priorities on the other hand have reasonably changed. He has shifted from that to business where he plans to pursue a career in Real Estate and Property Development, which he thinks is funny looking back because his interests have changed so dramatically. In response to what his favorite club was on campus he said that he had two, ASB and Puente. He explains that both clubs gave him the opportunity to build connections with people around him and his friends. Rodillas explains that when it comes to just “float-building and late nights at football games and planning things” with ASB and “learning about his culture and going on field trips” both clubs have really impacted him and his experience at Poly positively and feels that he resonates with them the most. He tells us a funny story from ASB where while looking at Prom Venues him and four other members made a stop to In-N-Out and as they were eating their burgers his drink fell out of the car from the cup-holder,they never found the drink, and him and the passenger in the front started laughing and then the entire car started laughing not because of the drink but because everyone’s laugh was contagious. It really brought light to the little moments that are remembered and the experiences that we create and how they shape our highschool experience.
During his time reflecting on high school Kyle was asked questions about his overall thoughts,feelings,and last words of advice and messages to send off. Starting lighthearted when prompted with “who his all time favorite teacher was” he responded with Mr.Schiller or Mrs. Avila. He said that Mrs. Avila was “really nurturing , flexible and taught me alot about my culture and overall taught me life lessons that are valuable.” For overall academics he said Mr.Schiller because “he taught the subjects really well and made sure that we had all that we needed to pass the class and prepare us for the AP tests.” Kyle still feels genuinely appreciative of all of his teachers over the years but especially these two that have taught him treasured values that apply inside and outside of strict academic achievement. When prompted if he could give one piece of advice to his freshman self what would it be and why, he explained that he would tell him to “value the friends that are close with and to not worry about having too many,” further explaining that he is a social person and believed that he had many friends but that it narrowed his perspective, he began to focus on wanting a lot of friends as freshman though after realizing that he didn’t have a lot of close friends he learned that having a small circle of people you really trust is much more important that a larger circle of people you can not be authentic with.
Something that Kyle is the most proud of, that he has accomplished in his four years is maintaining healthy balance. When it comes to social, athletic, and academic experiences, he expands that “balance is really important, the high school experience is all about balance, being able to have fun while also maintaining those grades and doing what makes you happy.” He appreciates having found that footing of being in both worlds and walking on all different types of paths knowing that his view is centered. If he could give incoming freshmen one piece of advice he would encourage them to get involved and he knows that sounds tacky but that “the more involved you get the more people you meet and the more people you meet the more fun your experiences in high school will be.” Acknowledging that school is not all about having fun but that having those connections within your school makes every class especially the ones you might not like more fun was one of Kyle’s fundamental lessons from his time at Poly High.
He is finally asked what his personal message would be. He responds that it is critical “to always be genuine, be yourself, and don’t worry about what other people think!” He elucidated that his personality is diverse and that he personally feels that he has something to offer to everyone, and being able to be flexible and have so many attributes that make you, you is what makes everyone different. “You will find people you get along with and that’s great, being yourself is amazing.” As we say goodbye to our Senior Class of 2025 we hope that this article of many can highlight the amazing personalities that will be entering a new chapter of their lives. Kyle is off to UC Berkeley in the fall, so let’s all wish him the best of luck.