By Stephanie Vi, staff writer
Galileo the Academy of Science and Technology has finally been here for 100 years meaning it’s held many generations of students. My family is part of this generation of students as my father, uncle, older cousin, and I all went to Galileo High. My father went to Galileo in the 80’s, my uncle in the 90’s, my cousin in the 10’s, and me in the 20’s. As Galileo gets older, the trends and hangout spaces change throughout time. What is considered cool and trendy right now in the 20’s, may have been weird and embarrassing in the 80’s.
Over the course of time, Galileo has expanded and had more diverse options within electives as well as become better as a school that it started leaving a positive impact on kids. But there’s also been things that haven’t changed, such as the fact that every generation thinks Galileo is in a good neighborhood and loves how it’s so close to everything or that every teacher made learning easier for the kids.
My dad, Donald Vi, went to Galileo High School in the 1980’s. He claimed Galileo was known as the cool school as it was so close to Chinatown, which was where everybody would go out and eat after school. The spot during lunch in the 80’s that he and his friends would always go to was “China Express”. It was located at the corner of North Point across from the Football Field. Though no longer in business anymore, all the kids back then went there to hangout. Back in school, elective classes consisted of guitar and piano class. He remembers one time in algebra class he got called on while dozing off, “It was embarrassing but it sure did teach me a lesson to not fall asleep during class.” Although he remembers this story, throughout his time in Galileo, he claims that Galileo has not changed or shaped him in any form.
My uncle, Mikey Vi, tackled Galileo High School in the 1990’s. He claims that Galileo was considered cool as it was right next to the pier, which was where a lot of his friends and he would go to after school to mess with the birds and run around. During lunch, the hangout spot consisted of small restaurants like First Cup or Cafe Le.
Outside of those restaurants, there were benches at school his friends and him named, “Ctown Bench” and “TL Bench” where they’d sit down and eat at. He remembers “China Express” but nobody also remembers nobody eating there.
He stated, “School was really easy but I cut so much I almost had to graduate in the summer!” Though Mikey did not do any elective classes, he remembers there being piano and guitar. All around, he mentions that the friends he met in Galileo shaped him into the person he is today but not so much of Galileo itself.
My cousin, Krystal Vi, attended Galileo High School in the 2010’s. She recalls Galileo being a nice school as it was close to downtown, where her and her friends would go hangout and shop after school. During lunch, her spot that was really popular was actually Mr. Ring’s class, a math teacher at Galileo. It was really efficient as her friends took his class so they’d all just meet there and eat together. Krystal was in Health Academy, which restricted her from elective classes so she only recalls piano, guitar, journalism, and art.
“School was’t hard, at least for me it wasn’t. To be honest, I could claim it was “hard” all I want, when in reality it was because I chose to procrastinate the majority of the time.” From her beginning at Galileo to the end of Galileo, she claims that it has changed her for the better. She wouldn’t say the academics that were taught there shaped her but definitely the social life. The teachers she became close with made her feel safe and made her almost call Galileo her second home. But, most importantly, the friends she surrounded herself with encouraged her to attempt new things such as participating in school activities or going to bonfires, which makes her reminisce about her years there.
As for me, Stephanie Vi, I’m attending Galileo in the 2020’s. Galileo is a proud and well known school as it’s close to everything; the pier, chinatown, and downtown. After school different people go to different places. Same goes for lunch, I wouldn’t be able to pin ‘the spot’ everyone went to, as there are so many options. The courtyard, cafe le, In and Out, Quickly’s, the corner stores, Chipotle, etc. Currently, the elective classes are diverse and include so many options, like journalism, art, piano, guitar, orchestra, creative writing, yearbook, photography, web workshop, band, computer art, digital communications, and so much more.
Because of the Coronavirus, school has been hard on me personally as well as many of my friends, but before the Coronavirus, school was not hard at all. From what I experienced in my 3 years in Galileo, it has shaped me in so many ways, from academically to socially.
When I came to Galileo there were so many classes to choose from and it comforted me knowing I had that freedom. All the teachers I’ve had, have all been so heartwarming and pushed me to do better including talking to new people. Before I came to Galileo, I was really shy and introverted and still am, but after I came to Galileo I’m not as shy and introverted anymore.
