Picture This

BY DELIA BINETTI, CARMEN JOHNSON AND CATE WEISER

Jenna Jarjoura gives us a glimpse of what her asynchronous days look like. Almost every Wednesday ,Jarjoura spends her time at a friends house with her pod consisting of four other people.

“This photo was taken on a Wednesday. So it was an asynchronous day, and on Wednesdays, me and my friend group have a class that we do together [the history of the 1960s with Ryan]. We’ve kind of created a pod, where we come together on Wednesdays and do our zoom in the basement. Jarjoura uses her camera for many different captures, “I brought my camera that day because I wanted to test out my skills. I had watched so many videos, like 30 minutes worth of videos on YouTube, probably longer than that. Basically how to take good photos and how to change the settings on my camera, so I came in that day, and after class I knew I needed to take photos of them outside just for lighting purposes.” Jarjoura captured a beautiful photo of her friends that day.

“This was just a really fun moment because Cy is not a huggy touchy person so Leah was definitely having a ton of it in this photo, but I just think that this is a photo that is really special because it is two of my favorite people on the planet in one photo together. Jarjoura best describes this moment as if being “on cloud nine.”

Nikolai Tang, a CHS senior, spent most of his summer fishing with friends. He found Argo dam most nights in July peaceful and gratifying. Tang and his friends took advantage of the warm nights enjoying many hours relaxing. Tang has enjoyed fishing for a lot of his life and found that teaching others how to fish was a fun bonding and learning experience. Tang loves the gratifying feeling after catching a fish and feels as if he outsmarted nature.

“Fishing this summer was a good way to be with my friends and social distance,” Tang said. “It’s a good way to go out and connect with nature during online school.”

With everything being online and having to sit at computers all day, Tang finds that spending time outside during this time is the best thing for his mental health.

Madison Bell, a junior at CHS, has been working towards her pilot’s license for over a year. Bell grew up traveling with her family, and she wants to continue that tradition as she grows older. She thought the easiest -- and cheapest -- way to do that would be through being able to fly herself wherever she wants.

After her first flight at the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport, Bell was hooked; she knew she had found a new passion. Her parents signed Bell up for four more flights and lessons immediately after.

On the day the photo was taken, Bell and her instructors practiced grass landings before circling an airport to watch the sunset. Her instructor offered to take a photo of Bell flying, and she agreed.

Bell has witnessed more beautiful scenes than she could count; on one of her flights with her instructor, they landed at an airport near a lake. The runway was short, and it required a quick takeoff.

“We flew right over the lake and I looked down and saw people tubing, and people on their boats, and families swimming,” Bell said. “It was really beautiful to see.”

This past summer, Chloe Durkee and her friends organized a special tradition: backyard sleepovers and breakfast every Saturday. Durkee, a senior, duals between CHS and Skyline.

The group, which stuck to four to six people in size, would rotate backyards every weekend. They pitched tents and filled them with blankets and pillows, stretched extension cords outside and once put up LED lights.

The Fleetwood Diner became the home of their weekend meals. Durkee thought that the outdoor seating and uncrowded environment provided the perfect spot for a pandemic breakfast.

Durkee always got a side order of French toast. One of her friends consistently ordered a type of seed toast that spurred an argument at every meal; many of Durkee’s friends thought the toast was in poor taste. That memory was only one of many funny moments.

“Luke would always get a giant sweet tea,” Durkee said. “He literally only would take one sip of it. He did it every single time, without fail.”

Carmen Johnson, a CHS senior, was strolling around in search of the perfect senior picture spot. She and a friend spent time together walking the streets of Ypsilanti that day in hope to find that perfect destination. Johnson had this picture taken of her during the beginning of the school year. She describes how she was feeling that day as any ordinary day.

“I was downtown Ypsilanti near the bus station. This big mural is right by the parking lot next to GO! Ice Cream,” Johnson said. “Basically, I was just there with my friend, Sadye. We were looking at places that we can take our senior photos downtown because her mom wanted an urban feel for the pictures. I was feeling okay. It wasn’t too hot or too cold. It was a nice day and we had some free time, so we got together and we got some ice cream. We were in the area, and then I just walked over to the mural because I thought it was cool. I started posing and she started taking pictures of me. It was a super cool mural. I edited the colors to be more vibrant.”

One of Johnson’s favorite editing apps is VSCO.“I used VSCO to make the colors pop more. I really liked how this mural showed family and kids and how it is connected to Michigan and small businesses,” Johnson said. “It just has a lot of stuff and color that represents what’s going on in that area.”

“That’s me in forum — our zoom call,” said Charlie Rosenfeld, a freshman at CHS in the Hamstra forum. “We’re making pumpkin muffins over Zoom, and I’m combining ingredients. I’m personally not the biggest muffin fan, but they were good.

Every Friday in the Hamstra forum, a student or guest teaches the class how to do something over Zoom.

“Fridays are very enjoyable, whether it’s cooking or learning how to juggle with Max [Klarman],” Rosenfeld said. “I definitely just like the collective activities — they’re very fun.”

Rosenfeld describes how CHS has met aspects of his expectations in his first few months of being a student, as well as what he’s looking forward to:

“I’m probably most excited to go back to school and get to know people, or at least find more of a community at Community,” Rosenfeld said. “I definitely feel like there’s some more inclusivity and kindness.”