Hats off to the Class of 2021

He’s only 18 and hasn’t even graduated high school yet, but this senior has already turned a COVID quarantine hobby into a company. But even though he is passionate about his music production company, Starlight, Ryan Schneider, senior,  says he has no big plans for the future other than growing his skills. “I’m still very new to photography and videography because I picked it all up when qua...

Racism is about silencing victims. But when senior Melissa Rodriguez was told to ‘go back to her country’ at the age of nine, she says she discovered something that was waiting to be found: a voice. “I would say [I found my voice] after that encounter because I noticed how my mom advocated for me, and that made me feel not so laid back when people were discriminating against me,” Rodrigue...

“Why be mean, when you can be nice?” This motto is what Sara Webster, senior, lives by from the time she wakes up, until she returns home after a day of school, work, and volunteer experience. “Being positive is second nature to me,” Webster said. “Ever since I was a little kid, I always felt warm and happy whenever I helped someone, or was kind to a person that I may not have known w...

This senior turned his passion into a hobby, and now that hobby may turn into a career. Val Zarkh, senior, wants to own an automotive restoration shop one day so he can restore damaged classic cars to their former state. “[My inspiration] was mostly my grandpa because, even back when I was three years old, we used to play ‘garage’, and he'd say, ‘What's wrong with it?’ and be a mechani...

Flip the page into a story full of imagination as well as new beginnings, and along the way you might just find Bella.  Bella Brunke, senior, has taken inspiration from many books and developed a love for writing throughout the years. In hopes of continuing her writing career, Brunke has made the decision to attend college in the United Kingdom.  “I got the [idea to go to England] very last mi...

It was during a visit to her sister that finally gave her an idea for what her life could look like after high school graduation.  Lauren Polsdorfer, senior, is moving to Wilmington, North Carolina in June, not just for her love of the sun or for a college, but for a family bond and for a passion.   “We visited North Carolina in August in the summer, and I was talking to my sister about...

Being an immigrant comes with its own challenges and barriers. That was especially true for senior Alice Draghici. who moved to the US from Romania a few weeks prior to the beginning of her freshman year of high school. “When I [first] came here I didn’t speak any English and I couldn’t understand anything so it was really hard for me. The most difficult thing was that I couldn’t commun...

Art isn’t just a dream or a hobby for this passionate senior. Art is her life and is about to become her livelihood as well, and she wants to make an impact. “I have such a desire to make sure that everybody I meet feels really comfortable and feels really accepted. So, [with art,] I think I most want to create a safe space that I feel like I have inside me that I want to offer the world,” M...

When people are asked what defines them, that can be a hard question to answer. Especially as a teenager, how can you know what makes you unique? Is it a sport? A personality trait? A hobby? Music? But some people know exactly who they are and can easily come up with the answer. For Katie Glazbrook, senior, that answer is relatively simple. Her answer comes from one of the hardest losses a person c...

Seen as two parts to a whole – in the same sports, extracurriculars, most classes, clubs, and much more –  twins Katie and Madelyn Zolneirek have been with each other their entire lives, and will soon begin to discover themselves- without the other person. The Zolneirek twins will be attending separate colleges in different states, studying for different degrees, and will have a completely diff...