Spotlight On: Daniel Pimentel

 Daniel Pimentel is a senior in his final semester at Helen Bernstein High School and is a favorite student among his peers and with his teachers.  Though he began high school at Fairfax High and found it a bit challenging to switch as a junior, in retrospect he feels quite lucky to have studied with Bernstein teachers, expressing particular admiration and gratitude toward Ms. Aclufi, his AP Psychology teacher, and Mr. Chomko, his Physics teacher.  I, Ana Regalado, interviewed him on Monday, May 23, 2011.  Here is what he shared with me.
   
Ana:     Where do you see yourself in five years?
Daniel:  Graduating from UCLA.

Ana:     What courses in college are you looking forward to?
Daniel:  Physics or psychology.

Ana:     How has your experience in high school been?
Daniel:  My experience in high school started at Fairfax High School.  That was originally the school I belonged to for the first three years.  I started at Bernstein High School this year as a senior and at first I didn't know what to think because being new at an unknown school seemed somehow frightening, but now I can easily say that moving to this school was one of the best decisions of my life.

Ana:     How do you want people to remember you?
Daniel:  I just want my teachers and all of the students who knew me to remember me as the guy who always knew the answer to every question that most people just wouldn't know the answer to.  I am sure that my Physics teacher, Mr. Chomko, would agree to this.

Ana:     What do you hope for in the future?
Daniel:  Well, this upcoming year I am moving to Northridge to go to college and around two years from then I hope to transfer from there to either UCLA or to UC Berkeley.  If I get accepted to UC Berkeley, I would like to become a lawyer.  If on the other hand, I don't get into UC Berkeley, then I will just go to UCLA and study either Psychology or Physics.