Giselle Jap (12-2) Senior Spotlight

What is your favorite book?

I really like this book called Gu Daoist Master. It also goes by another title called Reverend Insanity which is how I usually refer to it. Anyway, rather than being a physical book, Reverend Insanity is actually a Chinese web novel and it has over 2k chapters! The plot of the novel is pretty hard to explain but it’s basically about a villain named Fang Yuan and his journey to obtain eternal life. Something I really appreciate about Fang Yuan is that he is an actual villain. He is literally evil. He’s so evil to the point that a lot of readers stopped reading because they were so disturbed by a certain infamous scene I shall not describe. Oh, there are gory scenes but nothing terribly explicit. Hollywood mature content is way worse than anything in Reverend Insanity. Anyway, aside from Fang Yuan, the writing of Reverend Insanity is just plain good. There’s poetry, structure, and most importantly, meaning in it. I feel like the problem with a lot of literature nowadays is that there’s just no meaning to the writing. Reverend Insanity has a lot of meaning in the writing to the point that it even got banned by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party, long story short the political drama mirrored the CCP a little too much). Well, would I recommend reading Reverend Insanity? Absolutely not! After reading this novel, I don’t think I’ll ever read anything better than this (at least among similar novels), so my perspective towards reading anything in the genre is just ruined now…

What is the worst book you read?

Besides anything written by Ayn Rand, I’d say Parable of the Sower [by Octavia E. Butler]. None of the events had any consequence to them. Everything felt meaningless and the story’s conclusion just felt so anticlimactic and pointless. The main character Lauren is also extremely unlikeable. She has a condition called hyperempathy which allows her to feel the pain of other people but she ends up being the least empathetic person in the novel. I really tried my best to understand the author’s purpose in writing this story but I genuinely could not see how it was all supposed to fit together. I even read the SparkNotes and reviews but I really just could not see how this novel is so critically acclaimed and praised.

You’re a member of National Honor Society. What is NHS like?

Things are difficult because we no longer have a sponsor but we’re trying our best. Right now, we’re organizing tutoring. We hope to work on future projects like Career Day which is basically a day where people of different occupations come in and host workshops explaining what they do. Currently, Career Day is planned for March 1st so stay tuned for more info! In NHS, the part I enjoy most is just seeing everyone and working together on service projects. 

What is your favorite subject?

AP physics. It is the most challenging course I’ve taken even compared to AP Calculus BC. I like it because it’s like solving fun puzzles.

What is your favorite memory of high school?

I don’t have a favorite memory but the most memorable time for me was the Calculus BC midterm. Not because I enjoyed it or even did well on it, but because after taking the exam, I remember asking Mr. Ostrikov to drop to AB. He told me that I belonged in BC though and to keep trying. For some reason, that memory is what I remember most looking back at high school.

You played golf in 10th and 12th grade. What did you takeaway from your experience playing golf?

I learned to play golf in 7th grade. I remember Mr. Gilken told me that with every other sport you can’t play when you’re old, but for golf, you can play when you’re old.

What would your eulogy say about you?

I’m not the brightest star in the universe but I try my best… [I’d] rather be remembered as a good person than smart person.