Seniors of CPS: Kobi Thomas

Interview conducted by Emnet T.

January 29, 2026

Emnet: Okay, so we're going to start off with rapid-fire questions.

Kobi: Sounds good.

Emnet: So, what is your favorite Trader Joe's snack?

Kobi: I actually had the dark-chocolate-covered cherries today. Because in advisory, they took us down to College, yeah.

Emnet: I don't think I've ever had those. I keep getting recommendations from these interviews.

Kobi: Yeah, you should definitely try those.

Emnet: Okay, Freshman Physics or Asian Worlds?

Kobi: I would definitely go with Asian Worlds. Because Freshman Physics was really, really difficult. In Asian Worlds, although I didn't get a great grade, I had Miss Gumbert. She's a really, really good teacher, yeah.

Emnet: That's good. Okay, gym deck or Student Commons?

Kobi: If you asked me two years ago, I would say gym deck because we weren't allowed in the student commons. But I guess, because of my grade now, I would say Student Commons, yeah.

Emnet: Okay. What is one thing you regret spending money on?

Kobi:  This is definitely a tricky one. I don't have anything recently. I do go to like Gordo’s a lot, but I would say every single purchase made there is worth it. I used to be that kid who would spend a lot of money on iPhone games.

Emnet: Oh, yes!

Kobi: Yeah, and I had, like, I memorized my parents' little pin number on the back of their cards. So at some point, at like eight years old, there was a little bit of an intervention of like, you gotta stop spending money on Green League soccer or something random like that.

Emnet: I think those are great answers! Okay, next, what Disney character would you be? 

Kobi: I always really loved that little dragon in Mulan. You know who I'm talking about?

Emnet: Yeah, I do. The cartoon one, right?

Kobi: I have no reason for that whatsoever, but that's the only one I could remember, to be honest. And it's the one Disney movie that connects to my heritage more.

Emnet: Yeah. I think that's, that's a great answer. Okay, this one's more of a funny one, but can you freestyle rap?

Kobi: No.

Emnet: No?

Kobi: Please, no.

Emnet: Okay. I'm going to ask another question.

Kobi: Are you going to find somebody who's going to say yes to that?

Emnet: I really hope so.

Kobi: Please send me the interview where somebody says yes to that question.

Emnet: I will! I'm going to ask a different rapid-fire question to make up for that. Some of them are kind of odd, but how tall are you?

Kobi: I'm like six foot one, maybe. I was about the same height freshman year, too.

Emnet: Really?

Kobi: I felt really tall freshman year because I came here and I was tall, and then it appears that I stayed the same height while everybody else got taller, so.

Emnet: That is crazy. And this is going to be our last freestyle rapid-fire one, but what's your favorite shape of pasta?

Kobi: Shape of pasta? Oh, I always like the really long and skinny ones.

Emnet: Yeah.

Kobi: You know what I'm talking about? And then I have a friend who's Italian, and we'll make dinner together sometimes, so I'll piss them off by cracking them in half. It's kind of cynical, but it's pretty fun.

Emnet: That's a great response. Okay, so we're going to ask some longer response questions now. What is something that not a lot of people know about you?

Kobi: Oh, that's interesting. I'm glad this isn't going to show how long it takes me to think about this.

Emnet: Yeah, take your time.

Kobi: I would have to say that I think I give off this persona where I don't really care a lot about what happens. I think a lot of people don't think I care a lot about my grades, but I've actually found, especially coming from an Asian household, that I hold a lot of meaning in the letter grade I get on the report card, and it can be pretty frustrating sometimes when I don't get the grades I want. I would also say I think people don't see that I'm pretty scared about college and the future in general. I think there's just a lot of uncertainty, especially in the first semester when we didn't know anything about what was going on. Oh, you're going to have to go through hell next semester. I'm so sorry.

Emnet: Okay. Not very reassuring, haha!

Kobi: You'll get through it. Because in second semester, the reward is that you get to just hang out with your friends, and it's a really good time.

Emnet: I think that was a really deep answer, but it was a good one. If you could say thank you to one place on campus, what would it be?

Kobi: Thank you to one place. Definitely the science office. I spent so many hours with Cameron, with Alex, even with Ms. Stanton. I've never been a gifted student in the science department, and I had to work so hard to get the grades I got, with meetings with them every single week. So I think I would definitely say that little round table. That was my home for a long time during my free periods. Even when I didn't have science to do, I would just go and hang out in there. Because I always had a good connection with all those teachers.

Emnet: Yeah. I love the science department so much. They're so helpful. Next one, what is one of your favorite CPS memories?

Kobi: I would have to say sophomore retreat. I think that might be controversial because our retreat was freezing cold. But I brought my own wetsuit, so I had a long-sleeve wetsuit, and everybody else was in a little cut short-sleeve wetsuit. So while everybody else was suffering, I was actually having a pretty good time. I've always loved rafting and stuff, and especially being able to do it with…like, I had a group of people on my boat crew that I had never talked to before, and at the end of it, I don't know if it was trauma-bonding because they were all freezing, but I still go up to them and talk to them today, which was a really, really cool experience to have.

Emnet: Yeah. I really liked sophomore retreat, too.

Kobi: You guys had a warm sophomore retreat. I heard about that.

Emnet: Yeah, we did, I think that is probably why I enjoyed it. If you could give advice to your freshman self, what would it be?

Kobi: I've always been a very self-critical person, and I would definitely tell myself that everything happens for a reason. Every mistake I made was just redirecting my trajectory to where I am today. I got to this school coming from a public middle school, and I struggled a lot academically, and it made me pretty academically insecure because of it. I had this very narrow-minded vision of what made someone a College Prep student, and I thought it was somebody who was really good in STEM and was on the nerdier side. And because I didn't fit my vision, I neglected this community because I didn't think I fit well into it. But Evie's a genius, every single person is admitted for a reason, and they're all supposed to make up a part of this community. And I think because I thought I wasn't smart, I didn't act smart, if that made sense. I would just tell myself to cut myself some slack. It's a new environment, and it's all going to work out, and everything happens for a reason. And to definitely stay confident in who I am, because despite not maybe having skills that align with the “typical College Prep student,” I have skills that will benefit me in the future.

Emnet: I think that is really good advice. My freshman self probably would have wanted to hear that, too.

Kobi: I think everybody has a little bit of a shock when they get to the school. It's a completely new environment.

Emnet: Okay, this is our last question. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Kobi: Five years, so I'll have graduated from college. If all works out, I'll be in the military. I hopefully will be living somewhere very cool in the world. I assume I won't have a lot of money, because military salaries aren't crazy. But I hope to be wealthy in the sense that I still have a lot of people in my corner, and I have a lot of friends and a lot of people I can call. I want to be really close with my sister in five years. She's in college right now, and I think we'll have a lot more similarities once I get there. She's two years older than me. I hope to just have a lot of friends and people in my life who care about me and that I care about.

Emnet: That's actually such a touching answer. I really like that answer. Okay, those are all our questions, thank you!

Kobi: Thank you.

Kobi in freshman year taking a photo with a tripod for his beginning photography class.