Senior Spotlight is a Cascadia Daily News annual series, highlighting the lives and experiences of graduating seniors from Whatcom County high schools.
DAVID RABANG
David Rabang considers himself to be a bit of a socialite. He knows most of his classmates (many of whom are also family) and has been involved in leadership and events. Much of the end of his senior year has been spent organizing the Salmon Ceremony. He hopes to become a marine biologist or work with salmon or in aquaculture, and plans to take a year off to work and do internships locally before pursuing college next year. He enjoys cooking, reading, making art and playing video games.
What do you like about attending Lummi Nation School?
It’s easier for me to get attention and help. I was struggling when I attended Ferndale for a bit, and it was such a big public school. There were so many kids in classrooms. When I started attending Lummi, there were like 15 kids that I knew because they’re all family, basically. Everyone, from what I know, is really nice.
Can you tell me a little bit about the Salmon Ceremony?
It started up again three years ago. I got to be a witness, and that’s when I first learned it. Being a witness, from what I remember, they’ll have three people sit up front, watching closely [over] the Salmon Ceremony. They’ll have the Blackhawk Dancers go out and dance on the floor. They will have us watch as they cut the salmon and hand it out to people. We return the bones, and then they bring us down to the Stommish Grounds where we put the bones back, so they can tell the Salmon People about us.
For this current salmon ceremony, they wanted us to go big, because this is sponsored by us seniors. We are organizing the whole thing. My job I picked was culinary arts.
What made you want to be a marine biologist and work with fish?
When I was a kid — this is going to be cheesy — but cartoons kind of encouraged me. One of my favorite cartoons would be ‘SpongeBob.’ It got me really thinking about what fish are. Then there was this other cartoon called ‘Octonauts.’ These little animals go underwater to help fish. Then they show us what fish do and how they look. I started to learn about more fish, which got me really passionate about underwater life. I used to canoe paddle when I was in elementary school. We would see little fish swim under the canoes. I always tried to reach out and grab them, but they would run away. They’re part of our life out there. It’s something our ecosystem needs to live.
Is there a teacher or staff member who has impacted your high school experience?
I have a group of them. Mrs. [Cara] Carbone — she is one of our math teachers. She’s very encouraging and trying to make sure that we’re all in good shape and know our math. There’s Mrs. [Sandra] Kellar. She was an English teacher. She still checks up on us even though she’s [an instructional coach]. There’s also William Hill, but we call him Billy Hill. He is a history teacher who [taught] us about our Native rights, and he really showed me how our ancestors really fought hard for our lands. There’s also Michael Andrews, who is one of the newer teachers here. He’s much younger, so he relates to us more. He understands who we are, so it’s easier to talk to him. There’s also Lauren Vasquez. She’s my current English teacher. She is very encouraging and helping us through the Salmon Ceremony.
LIVIA KAMKOFF
After leaving a difficult home situation, Livia Kamkoff has found joy in friendships and through writing, drawing and acting. While at Lummi Nation School, her smiling face regularly appeared on the morning announcements — Blackhawk Talk — or in the media arts classroom. After graduation, she plans to work and pursue her love of acting.
Tell me about your involvement with media arts.
I am involved with Blackhawks Studios with Mr. [Lorne] Gripp and Mr. Nate [Kamkoff]. We are doing a project, a mini movie. It’s going to be a horror comedy. I’m one of the main characters, Darwin. What I like about it is I can’t stop smiling. Each time we’re doing a shoot for the video, when I’m being chased down by Bigfoot, I feel the natural need to smile.
It was my main purpose to learn animation, since I do a lot of drawings. Ever since I’ve been doing the Blackhawk Talk, I just found there’s a new version of me that I never knew about myself. I am very shy, but I like to smile to bring people together.
What do you like about being in front of the camera?
I feel like being a different person, where I can be someone who people want to watch. I have that [instinct] to bring people together.
Do you have a favorite memory from your time in high school?
I have to say when I asked my friends if they wanted to play Uno, and that was fun. Everybody started to see that I have a really true smile.
Is there a teacher or staff member who has impacted your high school experience?
I have to say my cousin Nate [Kamkoff]. He really impacted me because he made me push my boundaries. He [says] to me, ‘You can do this’ and ‘You really did your best in there.’ He makes sure I do great because I overthink a lot.
What obstacles have you overcome in high school?
Some obstacles I’ve been going through is that I don’t need to hide my feelings, instead of keep holding it in until I can leave the class. I can go somewhere to talk about my feelings. Not a lot of schools do this, except for here. They let me go to the counselors or my therapist once I get my work done.
How do you feel about graduating?
I feel happy about it, but at the same time, I feel sad about it because I’m leaving my favorite teachers and my younger friends.
What do you look forward to most after graduation?
I have to say that I am finally getting my life plan together. After I’m stable enough and have the right mental health, I want to have kids in the future. That’s one of my dreams. What I’ve learned from my life is not a lot of people take their mental health seriously when they’re having their family because it can lead to a really bad situation at home. I want to be better for my kids.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Yes, you’re angry for not getting the childhood that you wanted, but you can always make a good life out of it after you leave a bad home. You don’t have to be like what your family is to you in your eyes. If you don’t know what’s going on with your homes, just know that you got friends who support you outside your home. You can live for them and live happy.
Visit CDN’s Senior Spotlight page to learn about Whatcom County graduates from other schools. New profiles will be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until June 19.
Hailey Hoffman is a CDN visual journalist; reach her at haileyhoffman@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 103.
