Every year, Time Magazine asks its readers to vote for the world’s 100 most influential people. As a tradition, The Paly Voice asked students to share who they think qualifies as most influential in the Paly community and why. These are their responses:

“Ms. Lassen because she always gives really good advice and makes you want to do something good for the community.” -Chloe Hunter, freshman

“Ms. Van Der Burg’s son [Nick Vanderburg] because he’s both a teacher and a coach, and he’s sharp at school, and after school he turns into a gangster guy with a gangster hat.” -Davis Jeon, senior

“Chirag Krishna because he’s always there to help others and he’s a really good student. He always takes time out of his own schedule to
explain stuff to people, and he’s really nice.” -Jimmy Vandiver, freshman

“Carolyn Benfield because she always takes care of people, like if you’re hungry, or you need a scholarship or a yearbook.” -Jovan Bennett, junior

“Ms. Nangia because she encouraged me to do better in math, and she’s
just really influential.” -Kristina Guzman, freshman

“Susan Schultz because she touches the lives of most students at school, and she just does so much behind the scenes.” -Jeff Billing, Paly mathematics teacher

“I’m still deciding on who I want a college rec[commendation] from.” -Jackie Rossiter, junior

“Michael Fortune because he has an amazing body, and he’s a super student athlete because he balances his workload like a samurai warrior.” -Neal Ketchum, senior