Bruins of Rock Bridge

“What is your most heroic moment to date?”
“I don’t know…Probably saving my boyfriend
from his journalism homework. I even let him
take my picture, too.” – Javan Whitney-Warner,
Senior. Photo by Tyson Jamieson 10/8/15

“What was your most heroic moment or memory?” “I can think of one student in particular who went through a really terrible, terrible, traumatic life event and I worked with her a lot. So when she kind of recognized me for that and let me know how much I helped her, I would say that would be my most heroic memories." Mrs. Kersha Photo by Jaehyung Rhee 10/07/15 — “What was your most heroic moment or memory?”
“I can think of one student in particular who went through a really terrible, terrible, traumatic life event and I worked with her a lot. So when she kind of recognized me for that and let me know how much I helped her, I would say that would be my most heroic memories.” -Mrs. Kersha. *Photo by Jaehyung Rhee* 10/07/15

“What’s your favorite part about this week?” “Since everybody gets to dress up this week, it makes class more interesting because you get to see everyone else’s costumes. And it makes walking in the hall fun, just because you get to look around." Photo by Jaehyung Rhee 10/1/15 — “What’s your favorite part about [Homecoming] week?”
“Since everybody gets to dress up this week, it makes class more interesting because you get to see everyone else’s costumes. And it makes walking in the hall fun, just because you get to look around.” -Catherine Maring, Senior. *Photo by Jaehyung Rhee* 10/1/15

“What was your happiest moment?”
“When I was adopted. I was in foster care for 6 years and then I was adopted when I was going into 6th grade, so I mean like, that’s a long time to be in foster care. So I finally got adopted and it was a really happy day! I’m going to get a tattoo of it.”
-Selma Zweifel, Senior
Photo by Jaehyung Rhee, 9/23/15

“What’s one goal you’d like to accomplish during your life?” “One goal I would like to accomplish in my life is to have a good family. I want to have a loving wife and great kids. I want to have a family that we love each other and care for each other”Photo by Devesh Kumar 9/18/15 — “What’s one goal you’d like to accomplish during your life?”
“One goal I would like to accomplish in my life is to have a good family. I want to have a loving wife and great kids. I want to have a family that we love each other and care for each other” *Photo by Devesh Kumar* 9/18/15

“What’s one goal you’d like to accomplish during your life?” “I’d like to go to Egypt and go see the pyramids, that would be pretty cool.” — “What’s one goal you’d like to accomplish during your life?”
“I’d like to go to Egypt and go see the pyramids, that would be pretty cool.” -Skylar Topash, Sophomore. *Photo by Jaehyung Rhee, 9/15/15*

What do you want to be when you grow up?
“Kanye West. I love his warming soul. He really warms me as a human being. He’s just such a great person, like at a fundraising wheelchair basketball game he scored 106 points… Against them. So yeah just stuff like that.” -Griffin Strong. Photo by Cassi Viox, 9/14/15

“What is your favorite memory of Rock Bridge?” “One of my favorite memories is from last year. Despite giving birth to her first child during the school year, she managed to get all of her acadmics in order and graduate as a young mother and I was very proud of the effort she put foward to do so."-Jordan Alexander. Photo by Caylea Erickson, 5/15/15 — “What is your favorite memory of Rock Bridge?”
“One of my favorite memories is from last year. Despite giving birth to her first child during the school year, [name withheld] managed to get all of her acadmics in order and graduate as a young mother and I was very proud of the effort she put foward to do so.”-Jordan Alexander. *Photo by Caylea Erickson, 5/15/15*

“Tell us about your butterfly for the Thankful Tree.” “Well, it has Ashwini Mantrala plastered all over it. And flower petals.” “Are you thankful for Ashwini?” “...No.” -Tina Coe, Senior Photo by Sury Rawat — “Tell us about your butterfly for the Thankful Tree.”
“Well, it has Ashwini Mantrala plastered all over it. And flower petals.”
“Are you thankful for Ashwini?”
“…No.” -Tina Coe, Senior
*Photo by Sury Rawat*

"Doing something in computers would be good for me, like programming or A+IT. I'm in a few classes here at the career center like C++ and A+IT esstentials. We learn how to program in C++ and in A+IT we learn how to diagnose computer problems and talk to costumers."-Royal Sanders, junior. Photo by Caylea Erickson, 5/8/2015 — “Doing something in computers would be good for me, like programming or A+IT. I’m in a few classes here at the career center like C++ and A+IT esstentials. We learn how to program in C++ and in A+IT we learn how to diagnose computer problems and talk to costumers.”-Royal Sanders, junior. *Photo by Caylea Erickson, 5/8/2015*

“The last time I cried was sophomore year at wrestling districts in the bowels of the Jeff City High School gym. Then my dad went down there and found me and then I just sat there and cried with him for a pretty long time. I was crying because I had lost in the blood round match to go to state and being a state qualifier was my goal that year and I fell short of that goal. It had kind of been a rough year because I had started out cutting a ton of weight… At 145, I was pretty undersized, and so it was a real heartbreak to lose in the blood round." -Graham Ratermann, Senior Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 5/5/15 — “The last time I cried was sophomore year at wrestling districts in the bowels of the Jeff City High School gym. Then my dad went down there and found me and then I just sat there and cried with him for a pretty long time. I was crying because I had lost in the blood round match to go to state and being a state qualifier was my goal that year and I fell short of that goal. It had kind of been a rough year because I had started out cutting a ton of weight… At 145, I was pretty undersized, and so it was a real heartbreak to lose in the blood round.” -Graham Ratermann, Senior
*Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 5/5/15*

“A career that I want to go into is the medical field because it seems interesting. I am taking Biomed right now, and it seems really interesting. I think it would be something I would be interested in doing.” Photo by Devesh Kumar 4/30/15 — “A career that I want to go into is the medical field because it seems interesting. I am taking Biomed right now, and it seems really interesting. I think it would be something I would be interested in doing.”
*Photo by Devesh Kumar* 4/30/15

"Can you tell me about one of your happiest memories?" "One of my happiest memories was doing baseball as a kid. It was a cool experience all around. I was the catcher, and I was in All Stars. I think that it was a really fun time and it also helped shape how I was as a person... because being the catcher you're like in charge of the team and just having that responsibility was both fun and inspiring." -Matt Hoeppner, Junior Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/29/15 — “Can you tell me about one of your happiest memories?”
“One of my happiest memories was doing baseball as a kid. It was a cool experience all around. I was the catcher, and I was in All Stars. I think that it was a really fun time and it also helped shape how I was as a person… because being the catcher you’re like in charge of the team and just having that responsibility was both fun and inspiring.” -Matt Hoeppner, Junior
*Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/29/15*

“What is your favorite moment at Rock Bridge that you’ve had” “One of the craziest, scariest, and weirdest thing for me was that last year was my very first year and there is a man here who is a retired teacher who is the announcer for the football team. He announces the games. The very first football home opening game last year, he could not announce the game and they asked me to do it and I did it. That was the most exhausting, nerve-wrecking, crazy thing I’ve done in a long time and I read 62 commercials that night. I read one about hy vee so many times that I had a dream that night when I went home that there was a helpful smile in every aisle because I had to say that 62 times.” Photo by Caylea Erickson 4/28/15 — “What is your favorite moment at Rock Bridge that you’ve had”
“One of the craziest, scariest, and weirdest thing for me was that last year was my very first year and there is a man here who is a retired teacher who is the announcer for the football team. He announces the games. The very first football home opening game last year, he could not announce the game and they asked me to do it and I did it. That was the most exhausting, nerve-wrecking, crazy thing I’ve done in a long time and I read 62 commercials that night. I read one about hy vee so many times that I had a dream that night when I went home that there was a helpful smile in every aisle because I had to say that 62 times.”
*Photo by Caylea Erickson* 4/28/15

"Can you tell me about your happiest childhood memory?" "Going on a Disney Cruise when I was younger for my grandparents’ anniversary. It was really fun. It was fun to go on the cruise and spend time with my family. It was my first time ever traveling out of the country and doing stuff like that, so it was an interesting experience." -Brandon Rettke, Sophomore Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/27/15 — “Can you tell me about your happiest childhood memory?”
“Going on a Disney Cruise when I was younger for my grandparents’ anniversary. It was really fun. It was fun to go on the cruise and spend time with my family. It was my first time ever traveling out of the country and doing stuff like that, so it was an interesting experience.” -Brandon Rettke, Sophomore
*Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/27/15*

“Can you tell me about one of the people who has been kindest to you in your life?” “Well probably one of my oldest friends... I met her during elementary school during first or second grade, and she’s probably one of the first people I met where we liked the same kinds of things and we just had a lot in common. I was really shy and didn’t like talking, but she helped me be more open and outgoing. She always respected me and was just a really nice person I could talk about anything with. She’d always understand me, and I sometimes still talk to her too!” -Nadia Raza, Senior Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/23/15 — “Can you tell me about one of the people who has been kindest to you in your life?”
“Well probably one of my oldest friends… I met her during elementary school during first or second grade, and she’s probably one of the first people I met where we liked the same kinds of things and we just had a lot in common. I was really shy and didn’t like talking, but she helped me be more open and outgoing. She always respected me and was just a really nice person I could talk about anything with. She’d always understand me, and I sometimes still talk to her too!” -Nadia Raza, Senior
*Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/23/15*

“What’s something you’ve learned in your life?” “Probably to be honest. When I was younger, there was a time when I had lied to my parents about my brother because there was my eldest brother, me, and my little brother, and there was a bruise on the side of my little brother’s head. It was because I dropped him, but I blamed it on my other brother. Yeah, it’s really bad! Then my older brother got in trouble because they didn’t think I’d be the liar in the situation, so he got punished. It was really sad.” -Katie Gadbois, Freshman Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/21/15 — “What’s something you’ve learned in your life?”
“Probably to be honest. When I was younger, there was a time when I had lied to my parents about my brother because there was my eldest brother, me, and my little brother, and there was a bruise on the side of my little brother’s head. It was because I dropped him, but I blamed it on my other brother. Yeah, it’s really bad! Then my older brother got in trouble because they didn’t think I’d be the liar in the situation, so he got punished. It was really sad.”
-Katie Gadbois, Freshman
*Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/21/15*

“What career are you interested in?” “I would like to go into something along human resources because I really enjoy helping people and being around people in an environment where I can talk to them and help them figure out their problems, and just make the workplace a better place for everyone.”—Grace Robertson, junior Photo by Devesh Kumar 4/20/15 — “What career are you interested in?”
“I would like to go into something along human resources because I really enjoy helping people and being around people in an environment where I can talk to them and help them figure out their problems, and just make the workplace a better place for everyone.”—Grace Robertson, junior
*Photo by Devesh Kumar 4/20/15*

“One of the people that’s influenced me the most in my life has been Mehlan - or Melissa Coil - she’s my golf coach. Since I’ve known her, which has only been four years, but it seems like a long time, she’s just such a great role model but also keeps you in line, if you’re straying off the path. She’s not only a great golf coach but just a great person in general. She’ll be there if you need help with anything...and she can be a really great friend if you need her to be, but also if you need the authority figure, she’ll whip you into shape real quick. She’s just a great person, and you can count on her for anything. She’s one of the people you can genuinely trust, and it’s good to have relationships like that, especially through high school, because high school can be cray cray.” -Sam Farmer, Senior Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/18/15 — “One of the people that’s influenced me the most in my life has been Mehlan – or Melissa Coil – she’s my golf coach. Since I’ve known her, which has only been four years, but it seems like a long time, she’s just such a great role model but also keeps you in line, if you’re straying off the path. She’s not only a great golf coach but just a great person in general. She’ll be there if you need help with anything…and she can be a really great friend if you need her to be, but also if you need the authority figure, she’ll whip you into shape real quick. She’s just a great person, and you can count on her for anything. She’s one of the people you can genuinely trust, and it’s good to have relationships like that, especially through high school, because high school can be cray cray.” -Sam Farmer, Senior
*Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/18/15*

“What did you think your life would be like now when you got older?” “I had no idea. I knew I didn’t want a job where I’d do the same thing every day. I was always kind of spastic and crazy, and so I wanted every day to be different... My life has turned out okay at this point. I’m pretty happy.” “Is it what you expected? No. It’s never what you expect, anything, right? It’s not necessarily good or bad, it just is what it is. We’re really good at pretending we have plans, but then they never play out the way you think.” -Mr. Reed, Social Studies Division Chair photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/17/15 — “What did you think your life would be like when you got older?”
“I had no idea. I knew I didn’t want a job where I’d do the same thing every day. I was always kind of spastic and crazy, and so I wanted every day to be different… My life has turned out okay at this point. I’m pretty happy.”
“Is it what you expected?
No. It’s never what you expect, anything, right? It’s not necessarily good or bad, it just is what it is. We’re really good at pretending we have plans, but then they never play out the way you think.” -Mr. Reed, Social Studies Division Chair
*photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/17/15*

“I would like to be a psychiatrist because I like to help people and I care about them. I am interested in that kind of aspect of communication and community. When I am a junior, I am going to try to take AP Psych and do other classes to prepare for that.”—Lydia Lawrence, Freshman 4/16/15 Photo by Caylea Erickson — “I would like to be a psychiatrist because I like to help people and I care about them. I am interested in that kind of aspect of communication and community. When I am a junior, I am going to try to take AP Psych and do other classes to prepare for that.”—Lydia Lawrence, Freshman
*Photo by Caylea Erickson, 4/16/15*

“Can you tell me about someone who has been a role model in your life?” “My brother because when I was little I always looked up to him. When he started soccer, I started soccer, and I’ve just always tried to be like my older brother. I think it’s really changed who I am and shaped the person I’ve become. ” -Kaelyn Kovarik, Freshman Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/15 — “Can you tell me about someone who has been a role model in your life?”
“My brother because when I was little I always looked up to him. When he started soccer, I started soccer, and I’ve just always tried to be like my older brother. I think it’s really changed who I am and shaped the person I’ve become. ” -Kaelyn Kovarik, Freshman
*Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/15*

"What has Rock Bridge taught you?" "The students have taught me a lot, I guess Rock Bridge in general has taught me a lot as a whole. I don't come from a very diverse area and so I feel like I learned a lot from being at Rock Bridge. I never met a Muslim person until I came to Rock Bridge and which was, as a social studies teacher, that's really important for my understand of the world. It's taught me a lot of different perspectives. My experience isn't the experience, that there are a lot of different ways to go about life, what to value in life, and different ideas as to what happiness is." Photo by Caylea Erickson, 4/13/15 — “What has Rock Bridge taught you?”
“The students have taught me a lot, I guess Rock Bridge in general has taught me a lot as a whole. I don’t come from a very diverse area and so I feel like I learned a lot from being at Rock Bridge. I never met a Muslim person until I came to Rock Bridge and which was, as a social studies teacher, that’s really important for my understand of the world. It’s taught me a lot of different perspectives. My experience isn’t the experience, that there are a lot of different ways to go about life, what to value in life, and different ideas as to what happiness is.”-Bryn Orton
*Photo by Caylea Erickson, 4/13/15*

"Why did you choose to have your head shaved?" "Well, Brendan Fish asked me to because he couldn't get anyone else to do it, so he got me to do it. I thought it was a good idea and for a good cause, so I signed up and then I won... So then I got my head shaved..." -Dalton Nunamaker, Freshman photo by Sury Rawat, 4/13/15 — “Why did you choose to have your head shaved?”
“Well, Brendan Fish asked me to because he couldn’t get anyone else to do it, so he got me to do it. I thought it was a good idea and for a good cause, so I signed up and then I won… So then I got my head shaved…” -Dalton Nunamaker, Freshman
*photo by Sury Rawat, 4/13/15*

“Before taking any big tests such as the AP tests, I think the most important thing is confidence in yourself and be aware of your skills and know that if you work hard and stay calm, then you will do well.”—Dallas Hannick, Junior Photo by Devesh Kumar 4/10/15 — “Before taking any big tests such as the AP tests, I think the most important thing is confidence in yourself and be aware of your skills and know that if you work hard and stay calm, then you will do well.”—Dallas Hannick, Junior
*Photo by Devesh Kumar 4/10/15*

“Can you tell me about one of your best childhood memories?” “Would it be cheesy to say my dog? I was in second grade. I’m an only child, so I don’t have siblings, so it was a big deal for me to get a companion. And we’d gone through a lot of different animals, we went through rabbits and cats and fish...but we never really stayed with any of them. And then we got Charlie! He’s a little Schnauzer, and I still have him to this day.” -Gabi Georgieva Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/9/15 — “Can you tell me about one of your best childhood memories?”
“Would it be cheesy to say my dog? I was in second grade. I’m an only child, so I don’t have siblings, so it was a big deal for me to get a companion. And we’d gone through a lot of different animals, we went through rabbits and cats and fish…but we never really stayed with any of them. And then we got Charlie! He’s a little Schnauzer, and I still have him to this day.” -Gabi Georgieva
*Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/9/15*

I'd say twp of my favorite memories of being at Rock Bridge would probably be being able to go to MMEA state conference with the Wind Ensemble and being able to play clarinet for that. It was a very, very prestigious thing that I didn't know I would be able to get into and it was kind of a surprise. They kind of said, "Hey, we've got a good enough band to audition so lets audition, so we made a pretty big spot in there. It was a once in a lifetime thing for me to do and I'm extremely grateful for being able to do that. My second favorite memory would probably be the choir department and being apart of the show choir combo. This year I'm playing guitar in the combo, and I've met pretty much all of my friends through doing that, so it's really cool tight-knit group of people and I couldn't really see myself being anywhere else as far as doing that.-Mickey Jamieson, Junior, photo by Caylea Erickson — “I’d say twp of my favorite memories of being at Rock Bridge would probably be being able to go to MMEA state conference with the Wind Ensemble and being able to play clarinet for that. It was a very, very prestigious thing that I didn’t know I would be able to get into and it was kind of a surprise. They kind of said, “Hey, we’ve got a good enough band to audition so lets audition, so we made a pretty big spot in there. It was a once in a lifetime thing for me to do and I’m extremely grateful for being able to do that. My second favorite memory would probably be the choir department and being apart of the show choir combo. This year I’m playing guitar in the combo, and I’ve met pretty much all of my friends through doing that, so it’s really cool tight-knit group of people and I couldn’t really see myself being anywhere else as far as doing that”.-Mickey Jamieson, Junior,
photo by Caylea Erickson

“Can you tell me about one of the people who has been kindest to you in your life?” “Well definitely Sonia. She’s one of my best friends, and she’s always been there for me and is always taking care of me. She would drop anything to make sure I’m not dying or something... If I need something she always gets it, and, if I’m sad, she always brings me food and stuff...[Points to boyfriend by water fountain and giggles] But definitely not that person over there! Can you please put that in there? Definitely not my boyfriend [boyfriend walks over and hugs her]!” -Minna Oba, Senior photo by Sury Rawat, 4/7/15 — “Can you tell me about one of the people who has been kindest to you in your life?”
“Well definitely Sonia. She’s one of my best friends, and she’s always been there for me and is always taking care of me. She would drop anything to make sure I’m not dying or something… If I need something she always gets it, and, if I’m sad, she always brings me food and stuff…[Points to boyfriend by water fountain and giggles] But definitely not that person over there! Can you please put that in there? Definitely not my boyfriend [boyfriend walks over and hugs her]!” -Minna Oba, Senior
*photo by Sury Rawat, 4/7/15*

“I can’t possibly answer that question without saying my children. They are wonderful, and when I got into the teaching profession, I didn’t realize how important it would be to me at some point to have summer and to have breaks with my children. And so, I have always enjoyed my job and loved teaching and loved working with kids, but this also allows for me to be a better parent. Now both of my kids are in school, I am able to be with them pretty much any time they are out of school, and so I’m absolutely grateful for that because they are going to give back to me for a long time.” - Mrs. Cleppe photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/3/15 — “I can’t possibly answer that question without saying my children. They are wonderful, and when I got into the teaching profession, I didn’t realize how important it would be to me at some point to have summer and to have breaks with my children. And so, I have always enjoyed my job and loved teaching and loved working with kids, but this also allows for me to be a better parent. Now both of my kids are in school, I am able to be with them pretty much any time they are out of school, and so I’m absolutely grateful for that because they are going to give back to me for a long time.” – Mrs. Cleppe
*photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/3/15*

“The thing that I like best about Rock Bridge is the freedom with the stuff like AUTs, open lunches, and iPads. Although I feel like the school really shouldn’t have bought them. All these things correlate well with their motto of Freedom with Responsibility.”—Connor Fitzmaurice, Junior Photo by Devesh Kumar 04/02/15 — “The thing that I like best about Rock Bridge is the freedom with the stuff like AUTs, open lunches, and iPads. Although I feel like the school really shouldn’t have bought them. All these things correlate well with their motto of Freedom with Responsibility.”—Connor Fitzmaurice, Junior
*Photo by Devesh Kumar* 04/02/15

Something that I've learned is just that high schoolers are so prone to tunnel vision in a way, where when we want something like relationships, school, college, grades, we tunnel vision into that. And if something doesn't go our way then we freak out, we don't look at the big picture. Tomorrow is going to be better, and just look at the big picture. -Margie Crosby, Senior, Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/1/15 — Something that I’ve learned is just that high schoolers are so prone to tunnel vision in a way, where when we want something like relationships, school, college, grades, we tunnel vision into that. And if something doesn’t go our way then we freak out, we don’t look at the big picture. Tomorrow is going to be better, and just look at the big picture. -Margie Crosby, Senior
*Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 4/1/15*

“The most important advice I would give to freshman right now is that in order to be successful in high school, you have to learn how to manage your time. Right now as a freshman, if you think you have a lot of work, you go home and you spend a lot of time on things and you think it is a lot, it is only going to get more. It is only going to get heavier when you get older. So you have to set your priorities and you have to learn to evade distractions and to take responsibility. I think the best way to manage your time is to get involved with various activities. I would advise freshman to get involved with clubs in school, as many as they can do. Just be active and just keep yourself busy so you don’t get lenient to your own responsibility. Also, stop standing in the hall and socializing when people are trying to get through in the morning. Good luck!”—Boon Palipatana, sophomore photo by Devesh Kumar 3/31/15 — “The most important advice I would give to freshman right now is that in order to be successful in high school, you have to learn how to manage your time. Right now as a freshman, if you think you have a lot of work, you go home and you spend a lot of time on things and you think it is a lot, it is only going to get more. It is only going to get heavier when you get older. So you have to set your priorities and you have to learn to evade distractions and to take responsibility. I think the best way to manage your time is to get involved with various activities. I would advise freshman to get involved with clubs in school, as many as they can do. Just be active and just keep yourself busy so you don’t get lenient to your own responsibility. Also, stop standing in the hall and socializing when people are trying to get through in the morning. Good luck!”—Boon Palipatana, sophomore
*photo by Devesh Kumar* 3/31/15

“I would like to think that my greatest accomplishment is ahead of me. I don’t know. I don’t really think that at this point I can call anything a particularly big accomplishment. I honestly can’t think of one. I would like to think I haven’t peaked yet in terms of moral, emotional, and physical capacities, so we’ll see. It’s always ahead. It’s always the next thing.” -Ashwini Mantrala, Senior
*photo by Madelyn Stewart, 3/30/15*

“My favorite thing about art is that it provides me an outlet to - no, that’s stupid, ‘cause everyone says that. ‘An outlet to express myself.’ I like it because...I don’t know. When I think about what I have to offer in my life, like, what my purpose would be, I think it would be to create things for other people to look at and enjoy and take something from. Because that’s what I enjoy, I enjoy looking at art and watching movies and stuff, so I want to be able to provide that for other people and fill the world with more beauty.” -Alex Isgriggs, Senior Photo by Madelyn Stewart — “My favorite thing about art is that it provides me an outlet to – no, that’s stupid, ‘cause everyone says that. ‘*An outlet to express myself.*’ I like it because…I don’t know. When I think about what I have to offer in my life, like, what my purpose would be, I think it would be to create things for other people to look at and enjoy and take something from. Because that’s what I enjoy, I enjoy looking at art and watching movies and stuff, so I want to be able to provide that for other people and fill the world with more beauty.” -Alex Isgriggs, Senior
*Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 3/19/15*

"I've actually been really happy with my foundations art class, I just sort of got into it as an alternate but sticking with it has helped me bring out artistic abilities, along with doing show choir this year I've been able to work with my talents in performing. I've felt myself coming out of my shell this year and becoming more creative." Photo by Caylea Erickson — “I’ve actually been really happy with my foundations art class, I just sort of got into it as an alternate but sticking with it has helped me bring out artistic abilities, along with doing show choir this year I’ve been able to work with my talents in performing. I’ve felt myself coming out of my shell this year and becoming more creative.” -Liz Koopman, Sophomore
*Photo by Caylea Erickson, 3/18/15*

“My biggest ambition in life is to probably get a Ph.D in some sort of science career. I’ve always wanted to be a scientist, and my family are scientists, and I want to be the first doctor in my family.” -Ben Clinton, Freshman Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 3/17/15 — “My biggest ambition in life is to probably get a Ph.D in some sort of science career. I’ve always wanted to be a scientist, and my family are scientists, and I want to be the first doctor in my family.” -Ben Clinton, Freshman
*photo by Madelyn Stewart, 3/17/15*

“Global Village is always one of my favorite school days of the year, but this year was really terrific because not only were we celebrating Global Village, we were also celebrating Pi Day a day early. So, pretty much this ranks as one of the best school days! ” -Mrs. Weaver, EEE Division Chair Photo by Madelyn Stewart — “Global Village is always one of my favorite school days of the year, but this year was really terrific because not only were we celebrating Global Village, we were also celebrating Pi Day a day early. So, pretty much this ranks as one of the best school days! ” -Mrs. Weaver, EEE Division Chair
*photo by Madelyn Stewart, 3/13/15*

"After high school my plan is to go to The University of Kansas in order to study architecture. The plan was to possibly do an internship to go with that to speed up the process and earn some money during that time, and see what comes after that. "Why do you want to be an architect?" "I just like making things, creating things, anything like that just really makes me super happy." -Tyson Washington, senior. Photo by Caylea Erickson — “After high school my plan is to go to The University of Kansas in order to study architecture. The plan was to possibly do an internship to go with that to speed up the process and earn some money during that time, and see what comes after that.
“Why do you want to be an architect?”
“I just like making things, creating things, anything like that just really makes me super happy.” -Tyson Washington, Senior photo by Caylea Erickson, 3/12/15

“My advice for freshman is that when you are a freshman, don’t think like middle school kids. It’s high school and everything has changed. Focus on your grades and learning. Focus on improving yourself. Don’t just do what you do would in middle school. Become and act like an adult and be mature.”—Jiaming Ji, Junior photo by Devesh Kumar — “My advice for freshman is that when you are a freshman, don’t think like middle school kids. It’s high school and everything has changed. Focus on your grades and learning. Focus on improving yourself. Don’t just do what you do would in middle school. Become and act like an adult and be mature.”—Jiaming Ji, Junior *photo by Devesh Kumar, 3/10/15*

“My thoughts on life? Live it to the fullest, man. You know, like as cheesy as that’s gonna sound in black and white on your website, if you’re not doing what you enjoy, then what’s the point of living? Gosh, I’m gonna sound so cheesy.” -Emily Vu, Senior Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 3/9/2015 — “My thoughts on life? Live it to the fullest, man. You know, like as cheesy as that’s gonna sound in black and white on your website, if you’re not doing what you enjoy, then what’s the point of living? Gosh, I’m gonna sound so cheesy.” -Emily Vu, Senior
Photo by Madelyn Stewart, 3/9/2015

“How does religion affect your everyday life?” “ Religion is a part of my life because we pray everyday and we are always conscious of our religion. It’s just part of our everyday life. Our morals are different from other people. It just defines me, you know.”—Noah Mefrakis, Junior Photo by Devesh Kumar — “How does religion affect your everyday life?” “ Religion is a part of my life because we pray everyday and we are always conscious of our religion. It’s just part of our everyday life. Our morals are different from other people. It just defines me, you know.”—Noah Mefrakis, Junior *Photo by Devesh Kumar*

ADVICE TO ALL: “You may think that this is the most important part of your life and all the little stuff that is going on in your life, outside of school, seems very important and in some ways it is but compared to the bigger picture, they are somewhat trivial. Don’t let those things distract you. Try to focus on things that will actually benefit you in the future. Try to benefit from that.”—Victor Topouri, Senior *Photo by Devesh Kumar*

“What is your biggest regret in life?” “Probably agreeing to this interview... No... Probably being a pretty big douchebag in junior high. I was kind of awful. I was not a good person. I thought a lot about how to further my own life not other people, and I was always thinking about myself and kind of maybe trying to put others down for my own gain... Now I realize it’s pointless and it’s not a good thing to do...” -Daniel Shi, Sophomore Photo by Madelyn Stewart — “What is your biggest regret in life?”
“Probably agreeing to this interview… No… Probably being a pretty big douchebag in junior high. I was kind of awful. I was not a good person. I thought a lot about how to further my own life not other people, and I was always thinking about myself and kind of maybe trying to put others down for my own gain… Now I realize it’s pointless and it’s not a good thing to do…” -Daniel Shi, Sophomore
Photo by Madelyn Stewart

"What color do you see when you look at the dress?" "I see white and gold, I don't understand how anyone sees anything else, but either way, that is an ugly dress and it's gross looking." Photo by Caylea Erickson — “What color do you see when you look at the dress?”
“I see white and gold, I don’t understand how anyone sees anything else, but either way, that is an ugly dress and it’s gross looking.” -Ronel Ghidey *Photo by Caylea Erickson*

“Well, since I was seven, I always wanted to open a business. It started with shoes, but I don’t really want to do that. My sister wants to be a fashion designer, so we want to have a family business together and make millions and billions. I think it would be fun because I like to work with my family, and it’s fun having money because you can buy a lot of things.” “What would you buy?” “Smoothie King, and puppies, and cars.” -Kanisha Green-McClain, Freshman Photo by Madelyn Stewart — “Well, since I was seven, I always wanted to open a business. It started with shoes, but I don’t really want to do that. My sister wants to be a fashion designer, so we want to have a family business together and make millions and billions. I think it would be fun because I like to work with my family, and it’s fun having money because you can buy a lot of things.”
“What would you buy?”
“Smoothie King, and puppies, and cars.” -Kanisha Green-McClain, Freshman
Photo by Madelyn Stewart

"So I was at a Days Inn in Phoenix. There was this one really weird guy that came up to us while we were standing in the lobby. And it was just my cousins who were all teenagers and he comes up and asks us for like a pack of cigarettes. He said, ‘Do you have some cigarettes’ and we are like, ‘No, we don’t.’ Then he continues talking saying how he has hyperglycemia and how he can’t eat sugar but he was carrying a coke with him. He was really weird so we all just waited until he left and then we left the lobby because it was getting really weird."—Vishal Patel, Sophomore — “So I was at a Days Inn in Phoenix. There was this one really weird guy that came up to us while we were standing in the lobby. And it was just my cousins who were all teenagers and he comes up and asks us for like a pack of cigarettes. He said, ‘Do you have some cigarettes’ and we are like, ‘No, we don’t.’ Then he continues talking saying how he has hyperglycemia and how he can’t eat sugar but he was carrying a coke with him. He was really weird so we all just waited until he left and then we left the lobby because it was getting really weird.”—Vishal Patel, Sophomore *Photo by Devesh Kumar*

“There are a lot of dreams.. As for working, I want to go to a really good business program and I have a lot of colleges in mind, but I want to work in, my dream would be to work for Vogue and Cosmopolitan and these big magazines in New York City and I want to be in their business and production department. So I would go in and they would hire me to figure out their sets and how much money they have and the designers and things like that. That’s what I want to be, I want to be like a production manager. And then a dream that’s random. My dream would be to be a Disney princess in Disney World and just live in Disney World for the rest of my life and get fat off of Disney food. So that would be my fun dream and my practical dream would be like a production manager... Dreams are fun!” -Selma Zweifel, Junior Photo by Madelyn Stewart — “There are a lot of dreams.. As for working, I want to go to a really good business program and I have a lot of colleges in mind, but I want to work in, my dream would be to work for Vogue and Cosmopolitan and these big magazines in New York City and I want to be in their business and production department. So I would go in and they would hire me to figure out their sets and how much money they have and the designers and things like that. That’s what I want to be, I want to be like a production manager. And then a dream that’s random. My dream would be to be a Disney princess in Disney World and just live in Disney World for the rest of my life and get fat off of Disney food. So that would be my fun dream and my practical dream would be like a production manager… Dreams are fun!” -Selma Zweifel, Junior
Photo by Madelyn Stewart

"What's your favorite Rock Bridge memory?" "What's my favorite Rock Bridge memory? Ah! Okay um. I have no idea. There are so many things that I really enjoy each year. Are you recording me right now? But I think really any of the school assemblies are some of my favorite. I just really enjoy the school assemblies because as a whole we are very supportive and encouraging and I think that you can really see just how much people are valued during the assemblies. Yeah." — “What’s your favorite Rock Bridge memory?”
“What’s my favorite Rock Bridge memory? Ah! Okay um. I have no idea. There are so many things that I really enjoy each year. Are you recording me right now? But I think really any of the school assemblies are some of my favorite. I just really enjoy the school assemblies because as a whole we are very supportive and encouraging and I think that you can really see just how much people are valued during the assemblies..”-Michelle Ebberts, Photo by Caylea Erickson

"So every day there are a dozen different things I have to do for like a dozen different people and a dozen other things I want to do for a dozen different reasons. And so, at the end of the day, I think what I want is just for my life to be one thing. One thing that I want. Not something I feel obligated to do or something somebody's told me to do... Just something that I'm passionate about. One thing that I can define myself with and put all of my heart and soul into." -CJ Phillips, Senior Photo by Madelyn Stewart — “So every day there are a dozen different things I have to do for like a dozen different people and a dozen other things I want to do for a dozen different reasons. And so, at the end of the day, I think what I want is just for my life to be one thing. One thing that I want. Not something I feel obligated to do or something somebody’s told me to do… Just something that I’m passionate about. One thing that I can define myself with and put all of my heart and soul into.” -CJ Phillips, Senior Photo by Madelyn Stewart

Levi — “I always mess with my hair all the time cause it always has to be perfect cause I’m a perfectionist.” Photo by Renata Williams

"If I could meet anyone from history it would probably have to be Ottovon Bismarck. He's pretty cool. One, I like Germany, and he kind of creates Germany. I also like his realpolitik because his political strategy gets things done, which is something very different from what's happening in our current nation where not much gets done." -Robby Schmidt Photo by Sury Rawat — “If I could meet anyone from history it would probably have to be Ottovon Bismarck. He’s pretty cool. One, I like Germany, and he kind of creates Germany. I also like his realpolitik because his political strategy gets things done, which is something very different from what’s happening in our current nation where not much gets done.” -Robby Schmidt
*Photo by Sury Rawat*

"From the great Sam Baumer, I learned that on the way to every cross country meet, you should steal toilet paper from the bathrooms of restaurants so when you run out of toilet paper at that meet, then you are not stuck in the porta-potty, tearing apart the cardboard toilet paper roll just so you can wipe your butt. We stole toilet paper many times. Actually one time from Macy's, I stole one that was 4.5 pounds."— Sophomore Jack Allen Photo by Devesh Kumar — “From the great Sam Baumer, I learned that on the way to every cross country meet, you should steal toilet paper from the bathrooms of restaurants so when you run out of toilet paper at that meet, then you are not stuck in the porta-potty, tearing apart the cardboard toilet paper roll just so you can wipe your butt. We stole toilet paper many times. Actually one time from Macy’s, I stole one that was 4.5 pounds.”— Sophomore Sam Speake *Photo by Devesh Kumar*

“My biggest dream and goal in life is to help people. My whole career aspect and everything... like whenever I’m going to college I know that at the end of my life if I haven’t served my purpose in the world and been helping people and making their lives better than I will feel like I wasted my life. That’s probably why I’m choosing to go into the medical field and trying to help people and that aspect...” -Megan Stober Photo by Madelyn Stewart — “My biggest dream and goal in life is to help people. My whole career aspect and everything… like whenever I’m going to college I know that at the end of my life if I haven’t served my purpose in the world and been helping people and making their lives better than I will feel like I wasted my life. That’s probably why I’m choosing to go into the medical field and trying to help people and that aspect…” -Megan Stober
Photo by Madelyn Stewart

“One time, it was really snowing and we had a snow day. I couldn’t get out of my cul-de-sac and we waited like three days for the people to come and actually plow it out because nobody goes there. Eventually this plow comes down. He is sweeping up the snow and he is backing up and he backs into my neighbor’s mail box. I am like, ‘Oh, no’ and the mailbox fails over. He was like, ‘Oh, no big deal. It’s only a mailbox.’ He pulls back forward and he comes back again and he knocks over a light pole and the light pole fell over on my neighbor’s yard. The dude drove away and it was pretty sad. They didn’t fix that light pole for a really long time”—Nick Wright, Sophomore. Photo by Devesh Kumar — “One time, it was really snowing and we had a snow day. I couldn’t get out of my cul-de-sac and we waited like three days for the people to come and actually plow it out because nobody goes there. Eventually this plow comes down. He is sweeping up the snow and he is backing up and he backs into my neighbor’s mail box. I am like, ‘Oh, no’ and the mailbox fails over. He was like, ‘Oh, no big deal. It’s only a mailbox.’ He pulls back forward and he comes back again and he knocks over a light pole and the light pole fell over on my neighbor’s yard. The dude drove away and it was pretty sad. They didn’t fix that light pole for a really long time”—Nick Wright, Sophomore. *Photo by Devesh Kumar*

"Today I broke a chair and cut my hair all at the same time all before second hour so that's how my day's going." — “Today I broke a chair and cut my hair all at the same time all before second hour so that’s how my day’s going.”-Stephanie Gregg, Junior. *Photo by Caylea Erickson*

“If you’re ever trying to decide whether to do something you’re afraid to do, you should just do it because otherwise, you’ll be disappointed in yourself later.” “Was there a time you didn’t do something because you were afraid?” “Yes.” “Do you want to talk about that?” “No.” — “If you’re ever trying to decide whether to do something you’re afraid to do, you should just do it because otherwise, you’ll be disappointed in yourself later.”
“Was there a time you didn’t do something because you were afraid?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to talk about that?”
“No.” – Shelby Yount, Junior *Photo by Madelyn Stewart*

"When I was younger, I was exploring the world of food. You know those biscuit cans, like Pillsbury Doughboy, that come in the paper tube and have a metal plates at the end. I didn't know that you were supposed to hit it on the table and then it pops open and you unravel it. So I tried to peel it off and it wasn't working and one of the metal plates went under my thumb so I didn't tell my mom that that happened because at the time, I was really young and I wasn't allowed to cook. I got an infection under my thumb and now my thumb is like larger than my other one because it was really infected. I finally told her because my thumb looked like the thumbs that happen on animations that swell when a cartoon character gets hurt. So I told my mom and she finally took me to the hospital two weeks after and my thumb had an infection inside of it. The doctor said that if I would have never come and told her in advance, they would have had to amputate my thumb. So I would've had nine fingers right now."—Milanne Bell-Fox, Junior — “When I was younger, I was exploring the world of food. You know those biscuit cans, like Pillsbury Doughboy, that come in the paper tube and have a metal plates at the end. I didn’t know that you were supposed to hit it on the table and then it pops open and you unravel it. So I tried to peel it off and it wasn’t working and one of the metal plates went under my thumb so I didn’t tell my mom that that happened because at the time, I was really young and I wasn’t allowed to cook. I got an infection under my thumb and now my thumb is like larger than my other one because it was really infected. I finally told her because my thumb looked like the thumbs that happen on animations that swell when a cartoon character gets hurt. So I told my mom and she finally took me to the hospital two weeks after and my thumb had an infection inside of it. The doctor said that if I would have never come and told her in advance, they would have had to amputate my thumb. So I would’ve had nine fingers right now.”—Milanne Bell-Fox, Junior *Photo by Devesh Kumar*

“One time, when I was in like 2nd grade, there was this 10 foot slide, and me and my friend were jumping off of it over and over again. We lasted in the air for like two seconds and it felt like we were flying. Then, he fell down and landed on his back and I jumped, not knowing that he was right there. I ended up jumping onto him and broke my leg, but he was fine. And it was still fun so we went back and did it again, but this time no one broke their leg. I’m still glad I did it because the rush of free falling 10 feet was really fun and worth the broken leg.” Photo by Sury Rawat — “One time, when I was in like 2nd grade, there was this 10 foot slide, and me and my friend were jumping off of it over and over again. We lasted in the air for like two seconds and it felt like we were flying. Then, he fell down and landed on his back and I jumped, not knowing that he was right there. I ended up jumping onto him and broke my leg, but he was fine. And it was still fun so we went back and did it again, but this time no one broke their leg. I’m still glad I did it because the rush of free falling 10 feet was really fun and worth the broken leg.” – Hassan Kacem, Freshman *Photo by Sury Rawat*

“So one time, many years ago, my brother and I were playing in the front yard. I was pitching him random things out of our garage that he could hit with a baseball bat, and the final thing I threw was a basketball. It turns out a basketball is highly inflatable, which creates bounce. So he made solid contact with the basketball, and the bat bounced off the ball and whipped around and hit him in the back of the head and he had to get stitches... I had to call my parents because they weren’t home, so we went to the kitchen. He demanded to talk to them and, therefore, got blood gushed all over the phone. It was dripping in the sink. That was back when we had pagers, so I actually had to page my dad first with a 99 that meant emergency, so they called right away. They said I handled it wonderfully. That’s why I’m the best big brother anyone’s ever had!” — “So one time, many years ago, my brother and I were playing in the front yard. I was pitching him random things out of our garage that he could hit with a baseball bat, and the final thing I threw was a basketball. It turns out a basketball is highly inflatable, which creates bounce. So he made solid contact with the basketball, and the bat bounced off the ball and whipped around and hit him in the back of the head and he had to get stitches… I had to call my parents because they weren’t home, so we went to the kitchen. He demanded to talk to them and, therefore, got blood gushed all over the phone. It was dripping in the sink. That was back when we had pagers, so I actually had to page my dad first with a 99 that meant emergency, so they called right away. They said I handled it wonderfully. That’s why I’m the best big brother anyone’s ever had!” -Ben Schirmer, *Photo by Sury Rawat*

“Last year, I had this lucky spoon. I would carry it around with me all the time, and it would always be in my pocket. I’d use it to eat yogurt every day, and everyone knew about it. Sometimes it would fall out during P.E. and stuff, and my coach would be like, ‘Holly, come pick up your lucky spoon!’ So then, I was in EEE, and I had my lucky spoon, and one day I left it in there and it was a Friday. I thought I would just come back in on Monday and pick it up! Then I went in, and my teacher had thrown it away!! IT WAS A METAL SPOON, AND SHE THREW IT AWAY. And I was very sad, and I hadn’t had it for a couple months. Then, this year, we did secret santa in advisory, and my lovely friend Megan gave me a spoon that was engraved to say ‘Holly’s Lucky Spoon’ on it.” -Holly Hughes, Freshman *Photo by Sury Rawat*

“I was in the Bahamas and I decided to go diving and it was with Stuart Co. which is like people who arrange this and do it. We did this shark diving. The first dive in, you just swim around sharks but you didn’t really get to be within a feet of the shark whereas the second dive was most interesting because they were feeding sharks in the middle of the circle. We were arranged in a circle and in the circle, he had food in the middle. The sharks realized that it was dinner time so then they came and ate the food and a couple sharks brushed past my face and shoulder and it was really cool. Honestly, I wasn’t scared because they weren’t extremely big sharks but they could still eat your arm. I wasn’t really scared because they were drawn to the food in the center. Not a whole lot of people get to say that they dived with sharks and got to like touch one. I am pretty sure that for spring break, we are going back to the Bahamas and this time instead of diving at Caribbean Reef sharks, I am going to dive with Tiger sharks. Tiger sharks are like 8 to 10 feet in length. I really want to do that.” Taran Ramadoss, Sophomore *Photo by Devesh Kumar*

Right next to the atrium is the EEE room where kids gather and people study and talk about their experiences and their day. It's just a time for people to share their contributions and to connect with others. And at the same time, we can also enjoy a cup of tea, courtesy of Mrs. Weaver and other students who bring in the food for us to enjoy. It's a time for us to settle our minds and take time to relax and just enjoy the moment while dealing with classwork and stress and life. — “Right next to the atrium is the EEE room where kids gather and people study and talk about their experiences and their day. It’s just a time for people to share their contributions and to connect with others. And at the same time, we can also enjoy a cup of tea, courtesy of Mrs. Weaver and other students who bring in the food for us to enjoy. It’s a time for us to settle our minds and take time to relax and just enjoy the moment while dealing with classwork and stress and life.” -Amy Gu, Sophomore *Photo by Madelyn Stewart*

“I really like to travel, and I like traveling with my mom. I’ve been to London with my mom. Actually I went to London with my mom and my grandma when I was younger in like second grade. It was a lot of fun except we got stuck on the subway system and neither of us knew what we were doing, so that was interesting. Then last May I went to Athens with my mom and my step-dad, and that was a lot of fun. I got to see the Parthenon, and I just really like going to the old places. Europe is so cool because there’s so much history, and you don’t really find that a lot here in the United States. I just found out yesterday, and it’s official, I’m going to Italy for my birthday! We’re going to go to Pisa, and then we’re going to spend the week in a town called Lucca in Tuscany and the next weekend in Rome. I’m super excited!” -Sydney Tyler, junior Photo by Madelyn Stewart — “I really like to travel, and I like traveling with my mom. I’ve been to London with my mom. Actually I went to London with my mom and my grandma when I was younger in like second grade. It was a lot of fun except we got stuck on the subway system and neither of us knew what we were doing, so that was interesting. Then last May I went to Athens with my mom and my step-dad, and that was a lot of fun. I got to see the Parthenon, and I just really like going to the old places. Europe is so cool because there’s so much history, and you don’t really find that a lot here in the United States. I just found out yesterday, and it’s official, I’m going to Italy for my birthday! We’re going to go to Pisa, and then we’re going to spend the week in a town called Lucca in Tuscany and the next weekend in Rome. I’m super excited!” -Sydney Tyler, junior *Photo by Madelyn Stewart*

“My mom, when she was like, 15 or so, her parents were in a lot of trouble, they had to move to Mexico just to get away, I don’t really know why. I don’t really know much about my mom’s childhood because apparently she forgot a lot about it. She moved to Mexico, and she lived there and that’s where she met my dad. They’ve been together since they were 15. So I was born there like 3 years later. She was only 18, so she was a young mom. She hid the pregnancy because she was terrified my grandma would be mad at her, so nobody knew she was pregnant for the whole nine months except my dad. It was a big surprise when I was born. She had to tell my grandma and stuff and she was surprised that my grandma wasn’t upset because she immediately moved back. She came down to Mexico because she left her there and she helped her take care of me. I lived there until I was 5 or 4. I spoke only Spanish then, and my mom was beginning to get worried because that was when Mexico started to become a lot more dangerous, with gangs and politics, and things were going downhill. She wanted me to get a good education...Technically I was born abroad but she was an American citizen, but she didn’t know how to figure all the paperwork out, so she got me a haircut and dressed me up in some nice clothes and she went to the border, and since she was an American citizen, she just walked over with me. After that, she paid all the fees to make me an American citizen, and I lived in California for like 9 months just to figure things out. Then we moved to Missouri because my mom thought California was dangerous as well...We’ve lived here ever since then. One of our main goals was to get a good education, which was mainly the reason they came back to America. So, she’s always told us that, if anything, all my siblings and I have to finish high school because they sacrificed their whole childhood and young adulthood just to keep us happy and make sure we had a good education. I’m gonna be finishing high school this year, I’ll be the first one out of my whole dad’s family because no one in his family has ever finished high school. My mom, she didn’t finish high school and only one of her sisters did, so none of them have gone to college. So I’ll be the first one to finish high school. It’s really scary because my mom doesn’t know what to do...and my dad doesn’t know what to do...and I don’t know what to do.Half the time I’m just trying to figure it out by myself or with teachers or something... I could do art maybe... It’ll just be exciting and scary to finish high school and go to college.” — “My mom, when she was like, 15 or so, her parents were in a lot of trouble, they had to move to Mexico just to get away, I don’t really know why. I don’t really know much about my mom’s childhood because apparently she forgot a lot about it. She moved to Mexico, and she lived there and that’s where she met my dad. They’ve been together since they were 15. So I was born there like 3 years later. She was only 18, so she was a young mom. She hid the pregnancy because she was terrified my grandma would be mad at her, so nobody knew she was pregnant for the whole nine months except my dad. It was a big surprise when I was born. She had to tell my grandma and stuff and she was surprised that my grandma wasn’t upset because she immediately moved back. She came down to Mexico because she left her there and she helped her take care of me. I lived there until I was 5 or 4. I spoke only Spanish then, and my mom was beginning to get worried because that was when Mexico started to become a lot more dangerous, with gangs and politics, and things were going downhill. She wanted me to get a good education…Technically I was born abroad but she was an American citizen, but she didn’t know how to figure all the paperwork out, so she got me a haircut and dressed me up in some nice clothes and she went to the border, and since she was an American citizen, she just walked over with me. After that, she paid all the fees to make me an American citizen, and I lived in California for like 9 months just to figure things out. Then we moved to Missouri because my mom thought California was dangerous as well…We’ve lived here ever since then. One of our main goals was to get a good education, which was mainly the reason they came back to America. So, she’s always told us that, if anything, all my siblings and I have to finish high school because they sacrificed their whole childhood and young adulthood just to keep us happy and make sure we had a good education. I’m gonna be finishing high school this year, I’ll be the first one out of my whole dad’s family because no one in his family has ever finished high school. My mom, she didn’t finish high school and only one of her sisters did, so none of them have gone to college. So I’ll be the first one to finish high school. It’s really scary because my mom doesn’t know what to do…and my dad doesn’t know what to do…and I don’t know what to do.Half the time I’m just trying to figure it out by myself or with teachers or something… I could do art maybe… It’ll just be exciting and scary to finish high school and go to college.” -Alex Carranza, Senior *Photo by Madelyn Stewart*

"There have been numerous times that my friends and I have gone to Wal-Mart and once at 3 am, my friend Noah and I went and he wanted to buy a child sized skateboard and while we were there, we saw kid sized bikes. So we got on the tricycles and started jousting around Wal-Mart with giant foam swords. We were so glad no one was there at that time of night, and we realized how dumb we were being so we left, and Noah bought a pinata." — “There have been numerous times that my friends and I have gone to Wal-Mart and once at 3 am, my friend Noah and I went and he wanted to buy a child sized skateboard and while we were there, we saw kid sized bikes. So we got on the tricycles and started jousting around Wal-Mart with giant foam swords. We were so glad no one was there at that time of night, and we realized how dumb we were being so we left, and Noah bought a pinata.” -Sam Hiebert, Junior *Photo by Caylea Erickson*

"I was in the bathroom today...and then, I just went out to wash my hands, and there was this other girl. We kinda made that awkward eye contact through the mirror, like you just kinda glance up and you're looking at the other person, and she just looks at me and goes, 'Your dress is really cute!' and I was like, 'Oh my god thank you so much! You're really cute!' And then she's like, 'Thank you!' And I said, 'I'm so sorry, I'm just so awkward when people compliment me...!' And she's like, 'No, it's okay, I'm awkward too!' And then...we left. And that was a good feeling. To be told I looked cute." -Emily Mertens, Senior Photo by Madelyn Stewart — “I was in the bathroom today…and then, I just went out to wash my hands, and there was this other girl. We kinda made that awkward eye contact through the mirror, like you just kinda glance up and you’re looking at the other person, and she just looks at me and goes, ‘Your dress is really cute!’ and I was like, ‘Oh my god thank you so much! You’re really cute!’ And then she’s like, ‘Thank you!’ And I said, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m just so awkward when people compliment me…!’ And she’s like, ‘No, it’s okay, I’m awkward too!’ And then…we left. And that was a good feeling. To be told I looked cute.” -Emily Mertens, Senior *Photo by Madelyn Stewart*

"... Coming from a privileged background, my parents have always nudged me towards a scholarly job to get in the future, but I’ve always had two dream jobs. I’ve always wanted to be the lead singer of a rock band. I’ve always thought that would be awesome! I mean I guess that’s partly because the media glorifies that job, but I really think that would be fun… but I don’t really have the voice for it. I’ve also always wanted to be a satirical writer for animation. You could say South Park, or something like that, but it doesn’t have to be that! I’ve always thought that would be a really fun job, and I guess I would get to explore my creativity through that.“ -Alex Parks Photo by Madelyn Stewart — “… Coming from a privileged background, my parents have always nudged me towards a scholarly job to get in the future, but I’ve always had two dream jobs. I’ve always wanted to be the lead singer of a rock band. I’ve always thought that would be awesome! I mean I guess that’s partly because the media glorifies that job, but I really think that would be fun… but I don’t really have the voice for it. I’ve also always wanted to be a satirical writer for animation. You could say South Park, or something like that, but it doesn’t have to be that! I’ve always thought that would be a really fun job, and I guess I would get to explore my creativity through that.“ -Alex Parks, Senior *Photo by Madelyn Stewart*

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