Half Moon Bay High is an interesting school because of its rather touristy location. The city is typically thought of as a place to visit rather than a place to settle down and live. This vacation-like atmosphere is apparent in the very relaxed, easy-going attitude of the school; it is much calmer and less intense than Gunn.

The small, cozy public school is right off Highway 1. The forestry surrounding it is stunning and the beach is practically across the road. Still, the weather hardly reaches 90 degrees in the summer and most days are foggy, so at least we have them beat weather-wise .

The immediate difference is the laid-back attitude the students and teachers exhibit at the school. In a pre-calculus class, one girl announced she was cold, so the teacher told her to go run—and she did! She went out and started running up the nearby hill as the whole class got up to stare at her through the window. She was eventually sent back by an administrative officer, but the class was distracted by the event for at least 10 minutes. “This doesn’t usually happen, but, yeah, we get off topic a lot,” Half Moon Bay High senior Chelsea Michaels said.

The school is quite small, with a population of about 1,000 students—almost half of Gunn. “It’s okay, except you don’t meet new people,” junior Allyson Dahl said. A small population seems nice, because it is close to impossible to meet everyone at a larger school like Gunn. However, with more people, there is more variety and more freedom to choose who you want to spend each day with. It seemed like Half Moon Bay High definitely needed some new blood, as most of the students admitted to knowing each other since kindergarten. “Everyone kept staring at us, like, wow, newcomers!” Archbishop Mitty junior Nina Aquino said. Also, with such a small population, there is very little ethnic diversity. “We have like three Asian kids and like one black guy,” senior Lyja Stadlen-Brown said. “You are basically either a white kid or a Mexican.” She said the school is basically divided between the two races, and that fights break out every couple of weeks.

There is a strong theater pull, and the turn-out to the school’s production of Grease was huge. The performance was not bad, and the enthusiasm was very impressive.

The social hierarchy is quite divided, perhaps because the student body is so small. The number of people allows students to have a few large groups of partiers, stoners, smart kids and theater kids. The groups mix around; they are not completely defined, but people definitely feel like they have a status. “I hate to say it like this but there is a ‘popular’ at our school, and it is basically the partiers like me,” said junior John James. James has a fun, inquisitive attitude; he also skates and listens to rap music. He says parties go down about every Friday and Saturday night.

The school is beautifully enveloped by trees and rolling hills and the beach can be seen from the soccer field. The school has interesting architecture; the color scheme is an odd turquoise-orange combo. The Half Moon Bay students happen to agree that Gunn isn’t quite beautiful. “I went to Gunn for a wrestling meet, and, no offense, it looked like a jail cell,” junior Eric Chin said. A little harsh, but we are currently under construction for some improvements.

The school tries to win the high school club scene with multiple different groups, including JSA and Interact, but struggles at keeping enough active members. Still, the students are very fun and colorful group, with more of a mind toward fun off campus. I think Gunn students are much more focused on getting into college and succeeding in life the conformist way. Half Moon Bay students seem less afraid to take alternative paths and find other ways to succeed. As I already have Gunn morals ingrained in my head, I would probably prefer to stay at Gunn, but I still visit my friends at Half Moon Bay on weekends and love the escape.