CHALLENGING THE CREEPING CULTURE OF SOCIETY Spring 2018 | Geneva School of Boerne
BEHIND THE COVER For Issue three our theme is “Challenging the Creeping Culture of Society.” Jacqueline Knox photographed junior Andrew Delunac and Anna Riedlinger drew images on him that represent the issues featured. Trees represent the growth and change of society’s views and the way it winds its impact on us. The TV, phone and the apple all represent technology; the apple of course, being Apple produts. While teacher recommended books are not a bad thing, books do have an impact on how we think. The crown is how we idolize society, specifically celebrities as discussed in “Following Fatal Footsteps.” The wrist bandages represent the self harm story, and in a bigger sense the harm society can cause. And finally the ring represents the story about marriage, and the snake, the evil temptation that lurks its way into our hearts and minds.
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This is a publication for: Geneva School of Boerne 113 Cascade Caverns Road Boerne, TX 78015
SCHOOL INFO:
The Geneva School of Boerne exists to provide a classical education from a Biblical worldview, to equip students with a lifetime of learning, service and leadership to the glory of Jesus Christ. RHETORIC SCHOOL POPULATION: 212 RHETORIC FACULTY: 32 MAGAZINE SPECIFICATIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Created in InDesign and printed by SchoolPrinting.com. Font families: Pier Sans and Plantagenet Cherokee.
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ABOUT US: All verbal and visual content is solicited and selected by the Quarterly Staff. Approval is garnered from the adviser and Headmaster, Rob Shelton. All writing is subject to byline approval for accuracy and integrity. If you have any complaints or see any errors, please contact rryden@genevaschooltx.org. We are proud to announce our four-year membership to the Columbia Association of Scholastic Press, where we have won the Crown Award the last two years and received a Gold Medalist rating for the last four years. We are also members of Texas Interscholastic Press Association where we have been awarded the highest rating of Award of Distinguished Merit for the last four years and have been members of the National Scholastic Press Association in the last year and received an All American rating, and have had students enter and win the Pacemaker award.
EDITOR THOUGHTS Dear reader, Welcome to the fourth quarter! I hope that when you flip through these pages you will see all the creativity and brilliance put into this issue of the Geneva Quarterly. Thank you for being a great audience and taking the time to enjoy the magazine. I hope that in some way, the Geneva Quarterly has impacted you or has influenced this community. I am greatful for all the support the Geneva community has shown and all the hardwork the GQ staff has put into creating this magazine. Although, this is the last issue I will present to you, I could not be more proud of the Geneva Quarterly staff or of this publication. I will miss you all and I pray that you will all finish this school year strong!
Carissa Georgelos, Chief Editor of Design Dear reader, What a fast and amazing year it has been; as this is the last issue I will present to the Geneva community, I hope it is impacts you as a reader and represents our school well. The Geneva Quarterly staff has worked hard this quarter to illustrate the theme of comparing our perspective as Christians to perspectives of the world outside our community through their writing, design and photography. As my senior year comes to a close, I would like to thank the talented journalism staff for all their hard work. It has been an honor to have the opportunity to lead you all this year and I will miss you next year. I also want to thank you as the reader for taking the time to read our publication. It has been an incredible opportunity to be a part of a publication that impacts so many beyond our small community. I will miss this school, community and so much more. This beautiful school will forever hold a special place in my heart. I hope you enjoy issue three of the Geneva Quarterly!
Emme Owens, Chief Editor of Content (Photo by West Vita) Dear reader, Wow! Third quarter has flown by and we are already headed into the fourth quarter. As a senior this last semester is very sentimental and I want to thank you, the reader, for taking the time to see the Geneva community through the eyes of our magazine staff. I am proud to present this third issue of the Geneva Quarterly which compares the perspective of world to our views. I hope our stories intrigue, entertain, and encourage you throughout this last quarter. Since this is my last issue to help lead, I would like to say I am extremely grateful for the Genenva community and especially this hardworking journalism staff. I will miss this place and the people dearly.
Ruth Wacker, Chief Managing Editor
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SPRING 2018
BOARDWALK TALK 8 | REST IN PEACE PARKER 18 | IT’S DRAMA: DON’T SUGAR COAT IT | FEATURE
BIG PICTURE 51 | FOLLOWING FATAL FOOTSTEPS | FEATURE 54 | PUT TO THE TEST 60 | FACING LUPUS WITH FAITH
GAME FACE 28 | WELL PLAYED 37 | OUT FOR THE SEASON | FEATURE 40 | GO SPURS GO
ISSUES 64 | IT CUTS DEEPER THAN THE SURFACE | FEATURE 68 | MAKING A MEANINGFUL MARRIAGE | OPINION 74 | THE POWER OF FANTASY | OPINION
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OUT OF THE BOX 80 | GOT CHICKEN? | REVIEW 85 | CUTTING IT CLOSE | FEATURE 91 | THE TALON | SATIRE
EXECUTIVES
Chief Managing Editor, Ruth Wacker Chief Editor of Content, Emme Owens Chief Editor of Design, Carissa Georgelos
94 | FACING YOUR FEARS
EDITORS
Photoshop Editor, Anna Riedlinger Indesign Editor, Aisling Ayers Photography Editor, Jacqueline Knox Editorial Editor, Nathan Young
INDESIGN STAFF
Lauren Jarvis Jayne Goodman Alexa Georgelos Ryanne Fitzgerald
PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF
Taylor Tippitt Luke Bower Braden Hall Ashton Landis
PHOTOSHOP STAFF
Anson Eggerss Audrey Ryden Sydney Dennis Nathan Zuniga
STAFF MISSION
EDITORIAL STAFF
The Geneva Quarterly, a student-led Rhetoric School publication serves to provide Geneva and surrounding communities with relevant and accurate news, opinions and entertainment centered around our student culture. Our staff strives to instill boldness, creativity and excellence through our published work. We aim to discover truth in our community and to write all pieces from a Biblical worldview to the glory of Jesus Christ.
Matthew Schroder Gabi Griffey Jackson Young Gracyn Freiling
MARKETING
Daniel Grover
ADVISER
Becky Ryden
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PAINTING A PICURE OF THE STUDENT CULTURE PHOTO BY ASHTON LANDIS
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BOA R DW ALK TA L K
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REST IN PEACE PARKER POOF! After years of providing Geneva with fabulous uniforms, Parker is gone. BY ANSON EGGERSS
Layout by Aisling Ayers Photos by Ashton Landis
PARKER SCHOOL UNIFORMS, the official supplier of the Geneva School of Boerne school uniform, has permanently closed its 36 stores nationwide. That’s right boys and girls, our uniform provider is officially deceased. This sudden catastrophe has sent many mothers into a panic, and baffled local authorities. The company has been in business for over 80 years, making the tragedy of Parker’s termination even more shocking. According to the Better Business Bureau, many customers have filed complaints dating back to 2015 that Parker School Uniforms was not providing customers with the items they have paid for. The customer service has also been reportedly poor in the past, with examples of failure to communicate via email, and long holding times on the phone.
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Parker has been providing uniforms for Geneva for years but its closing is a sign for a new change.
“I can’t guarantee we’re going to have exactly the same uniforms but we’re working on it,” said Development Director Amy Metzger when asked about the future of the uniforms. “We have met with a local rep from Land’s End…and there’s a couple other national companies out there pursuing us. Thankfully this didn’t happen in August, cause then we would have a real problem.” However, the whole incident begs many questions: What will Geneva’s uniforms actually look like in the coming years? Will students be allowed to wear whatever they desire? Will everyone be wearing onesies to school? We’re not exactly sure right now, but in the meantime, here are some possible future uniforms.
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UNIFORM SUGGESTIONS GOSSIP GIRL
Senior Sara Beth Stolle: “[It should be based off] Constance from Gossip Girls. You get like three things and you can add on to it…it’s super relaxed. The shirts need to be shorter though. I’m not saying crop tops, but honestly that would be fine. Also, we should just have one skirt because I always lose my plaid one.” SUPREME
Sophomore McLain Brock: “Here’s what I’m thinking: some nice plaid pants with a clean white polo topped off with a Gucci belt…and maybe a supreme headband. Supreme for the win. Load the kids up with cold, cold ice.” GUCCI
Sophomore Mackenzie Fitzgerald: “I feel like if we all wore Gucci that would really bond us all together and make us look boujee. The girls would get those classic Gucci socks with the triple stripes, and then we would all wear boujee Gucci scarves and look super classy. A Rolex wouldn’t hurt either.” HAMMER TIME
Senior Harrison Redd: “Why should Genevians move on from their preppy, classical uniforms? I believe that it is time for Geneva to step out of their shell, to move on from the classics and embrace the new generation. With that being said, I honorably propose that we move from the preppy polo shirts and khaki pants to a new and improved uniform for the young gentlemen attending Geneva. This new uniform would consist of the full outfit that MC Hammer wore. It includes the MC Hammer pants along with the lame vest. This classy uniform is not only a sight for visitors, but it also serves as a comfortable uniform that can be worn for both formal and casual events. Not only that, but the metallic gold reps the beautiful Geneva spirit. Moving on, understanding the religious aspect of our school, we ought to have a proper uniform for such instances. Considering that, students will wear dark navy occult robes in these events to show sincerity and reverence. Because of all this, I urge Geneva to step out of its comfort zone and make this change.”?|
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ADDING MELODY TO THE CULTURE
Mrs. Evans has been at Geneva for 12 years and continues to do amazing things for the school.
As one of the founders of Geneva’s great music program, Evans has made her mark in the world of music.
BY GABI GRIFFEY
Layout by Gabi Griffey Photo by Ashton Landis Graphics by Ruth Wacker MRS. GRADI EVANS has been with Geneva since the beginning and is a hero on campus. Evans has become an integral part of the school and spurred the Fine Arts program on to consistent success. She has orchestrated countless Benefit programs and Christmas programs. With the help of many others, Evans has practically built the Fine Arts program from the ground up. But how did she really find this tiny school in the middle of nowhere? Here is an inside look into Evans’ career at Geneva.
God screaming in my ear, CALL GENEVA CALL GENEVA. So, I ended up calling them on a Sunday and they got back to me the following Monday and I had an interview on Tuesday. GRIFFEY: How big was Geneva when you first started working here? EVANS: Well there were only around 200 kids in the entire school and the school only went up to eighth grade. There wasn’t even a band, choir or theatre department the first two years.
GRIFFEY: What brought you to Geneva? EVANS: I initially heard that there was a job opening at Geneva from Libby Lunsford. However, I already had a great job at Northside where I was getting paid almost full time and I was working every other day. Transferring really made no sense for our family, since we were already getting great benefits at Northside. But, one night I woke up and I felt
GRIFFEY: What were some of your favorite parts about teaching Grammar School students? EVANS: The whole experience is so rewarding. One of the most amazing moments was when we gave a bunch of second graders Handel’s “Messiah,” that was split into two parts, and it was a beautiful performance. Normally second graders would never
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have the focus to do this. Only at a place like Geneva would it be ordinary for this to happen. I love the Benefit programs at the end of each year and how much God speaks to us through the song choices and their meanings. GRIFFEY: What sets the Geneva fine arts program apart from other private schools? EVANS: What makes Geneva so different from the other schools, is its diversity within the faculty. To have this many talented and creative teachers, from so many different walks of life, in this tiny place, is incredible. It’s truly a joy working with them. Being the Fine Arts administrator means I get to serve them, and it’s nice to be able to be used and help them out any way I can. The Holy Spirit just lives and moves through this place. GRIFFEY: When did your love for music begin? EVANS: I was always involved with music, it was in my family. My grandfather was a musician who played in a jazz band; my dad wrote music and started a jazz program there. He would practice all the time, which was my lullaby going to bed. But I had a music teacher in elementary school who made music so fun for me; I always wanted to be her. This sparked my love for music education. GRIFFEY: Did you always know that you wanted to teach music? EVANS: Well, I originally wanted to be a wildlife biologist. But then I failed chemistry in high school, so that didn’t work out too well. But I did have a teacher who hated me, so that was never going to end up too great. GRIFFEY: Where did you grow up? EVANS: I lived a lot of places. I was born in Cateman Courthouse, New Jersey. Then we moved to UT Austin because my dad was a student, and I knew the campus like the back of my hand. After that I moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where my mom had her internship. Then moved to South Carolina, then Indiana my senior year. Finally, I moved back to South Carolina and finished college there; then did graduate work in Arizona before I got married. GRIFFEY: What has it been like to help build Geneva? EVANS: It’s been very rewarding. I feel very privileged to be a part of seeing God grow this place. I love seeing the students grow into people who defend their faith. GRIFFEY: When you do eventually leave Geneva, what will be your biggest takeaway? EVANS: I have grown in my walk with Christ, because of Godly leadership. Mr. Shelton and Mr.
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Ryden are just awesome leaders, and it is such a privilege to work with them and to work here. Geneva isn’t perfect, that is for sure, but this is Narnia. GRIFFEY: What instruments do you play? EVANS: I play lots of different instruments: oboe, English horn, saxophone, clarinet, flute, guitar and recorder. Also, I am working towards learning the bassoon and more brass instruments. INSTRUMENTS PLAYED BY EVANS
BASSOON GUITAR OBOE SAXOPHONE FLUTE CLARINET ENGLISH HORN RECORDER
GRIFFEY: When did your kids come to Geneva? EVANS: Mikaela (‘16) started my first year, which was second grade for her. Then she went all the way through her senior year. Nate (‘11) however didn’t start when I did. But after a year at Geneva and seeing all these kids having to get on stage and learn how to stand in front of a mic, was really impressive. That year when Nate was saying the prayer and giving announcements at Cibolo Creek, I saw that he was this joyous and outspoken person I hadn’t ever seen. That’s when I knew that Geneva would be the perfect fit for him. GRIFFEY: Where are your kids now, after graduating from Geneva? EVANS: Mikaela is in college at Texas State. Nathan was actually in the first graduating class. Now he is back substituting at Geneva. GRIFFEY: Are there any facts about you that people may not know? EVANS: I went to school on a music scholarship. Also, when I was hired I took everyone’s picture and made a book out of it. So I used this to memorize all 185 student names (Geneva now has almost 700 students).|
GENEVA’S ALMA MATER “Mrs. Joanne Thornton (a founder of Geneva) and I wrote the words to the alma mater, while my Dad wrote all the music for it. He also wrote the music to the fight song. The Alma Mater was introducted the night of the capital campaign, when money was being raised for the Rhetoric School campus.” -Evans
GRACE TO YOU GENEVA LAUD HIM IN ALL YOU DO WISDOM TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE STEADFAST AND TRUE AND TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOREVER KEEP SHINING BRIGHT AND MAY GOD BLESS GENEVA WITH HIM AS OUR GUIDING LIGHT
Not only does Evans teach, but she even plays with the band on occasion.
JUNIORS JUTTING OUT
BY ASHTON LANDIS
Layout by Braden Hall Photos by Ashton Landis Graphics by Anson Eggerss
Look at what has the Junior class has been up to after three years of walking the high school campus.
WHILE CLASSES AS a whole have a unique impact on the culture of the Rhetoric campus, it is always interesting to look deeper into the individuals who add a certain flare. This issue, we take a look at a few of those students in the class of 2019 who make a special contribution.
Junior Xanthis Barthel shows off her unique style of jewelry. G | 14
XANTHIS BARTHEL
bones). Honestly, I’ve been playing with bones for a long time. I swear this is not nearly as odd as it sounds.
LANDIS: What is the name of your company? BARTHEL: My company’s name is “Beautiful Again.” I decided on this name because the whole idea is taking something that is usually seen as disgusting, weird and worthless and kind of bringing it to life and making it beautiful again.
LANDIS: How long have you been making jewelry? BARTHEL: I’ve been making jewelry since 7th grade when I bought myself some jewelry pliers and found some beads at a garage sale. LANDIS: Where did you learn to make jewelry? BARTHEL: I’m actually self-taught. It was a little frustrating at first, but I guess I just figured it out.
LANDIS: What do you sell? BARTHEL: I make necklaces, bracelets and earrings out of bones. I paint them and put beads and or wire on them. On occasion, I work with other materials such as dolls heads that I find in thrift shops.
LANDIS: How can people buy your jewelry? BARTHEL: I have an Etsy shop right now called, “Beautiful Again by Xan.” But I also do custom orders.
LANDIS: What inspired you to start Beautiful Again? BARTHEL: I have always loved making jewelry and I have always loved nature, so in my eyes, anything about nature is cool (even the weird parts such as
LANDIS: Interesting tidbit? BARTHEL: I raise chickens.
AIDAN HAMILTON
Being a fan of dinosaurs, junior Aidan Hamilton is not afraid to show it.
LANDIS:What sparked your interest in dinosaurs? HAMILTON: Honestly I don’t really know. Ever since I was a little kid, I just thought that they were the coolest things ever and honestly; I still do. They’re just so massive and cool looking. I guess that my love just never faded. LANDIS: How long have you been drawing Dinosaurs? HAMILTON: I have been drawing dinosaurs for as long as I have been able to draw, so since I was two or three years old. LANDIS: Do you love dinosaurs because of drawing or do you love drawing because of dinosaurs? HAMILTON: My love for drawing actually stemmed from my love of dinosaurs. LANDIS: Has your love for dinosaurs impacted your plans for the future? HAMILTON: Absolutely. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to become a paleontologist. I plan to get a PhD in the subject. LANDIS: How much do you know about dinosaurs? HAMILTON: It’s kinda hard to say. I don’t want to seem braggy or anything, but it’s pretty extensive. I mean, contrary to common belief, I don’t actually know every single dinosaur species by heart, but it’s a fair number. LANDIS: Interesting tidbit? HAMILTON: I broke my rib at 3 years old when I fell down the stairs.
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Not only does junior Amber Bormann love to sing but she writes songs too.
lessons with Andy Garcia to help me transfer what was in my head to reality. LANDIS: When did you start writing songs? BORMANN: It wasn’t until 4th grade that I started writing legitimate music. LANDIS: How many songs have you written? BORMANN: Probably about 30 songs that are fully formed. But I have about four journals full of other song ideas and fragments. LANDIS: Have you won any awards for your songwriting or music? BORMANN: Last year, I got first place in Hill Country’s Got Talent. This year, I got second place in the same competition. Both years I competed with original songs.
AMBER BORMANN LANDIS:How long have you been playing guitar and singing? BORMANN: I have been singing for as long as I can remember. I started playing when I was in middle school. I picked up guitar because I wanted to be able to write and play songs for myself. Then, about a year and a half ago, I started really getting out there and playing more gigs. I also began taking
AUSTIN DENNIS LANDIS: What made you want to try to be a kicker? DENNIS: Previously, I had played soccer, but my favorite part of soccer wasn’t passing; it was always just kicking the ball as hard as I could. One day, I went out with one of my friends and I tried kicking a football, and it turned out that I was actually pretty good.
LANDIS: What is your proudest moment in your music career? BORMANN: I don’t know if it’s necessarily an accomplishment, but in 8th grade I had a song I wrote that I got the chance to record in a studio. It was just awesome to get to see how the whole process works and then get a song back in your hands that sounds exactly like what you keep repeating in your head. LANDIS: Interesting tidbit? BORMANN: I am a tap dancer. LANDIS: Interesting tidbit? DENNIS: The longest field goal I’ve ever made in practice was from 60 yards.|
LANDIS: What is the hardest part of being a kicker? DENNIS: All of the pressure is definitely the hardest part. You can practice all day, but once it hits game time, it is just a totally different experience. LANDIS: How did you learn to kick? DENNIS: For the most part, it has just been a lot of coaching. Recently, I went to a camp in Las Vegas where there were about 900 kickers, punters and long snappers trying to compete for college exposure. Even though it was more of a competition, I still learned a ton. LANDIS: How does football fit into your plans for the future? DENNIS: I am definitely trying to get a college scholarship for football and I guess I will just see where that takes me.
The varsity football kicker junior Austin Dennis just finished a successful first year.
KIDS IN POLITICS We found out what kindergarteners know about some of the key “buzz” words in politics.
BY DANIEL GROVER
Layout by Ashton Landis Photos by Ashton Landis Graphics by Ashton Landis
THE CURRENT STATE of the American political scene is an interesting one to say the least. This is true from the current controversial presidency to the rising tensions between pretty much anything in America. So we decided to go back to the basics— the very basics. The kindergarten classes answered questions concerning the current political status in the United States. WHO IS OUR VICE PRESIDENT? ”I don’t know.” - Gracie Aderholt “George Washington” - Finn Finley “Donald Trump” - Jaxon Frantzen “My mom” - Caroline Mitchell WHAT IS NET NEUTRALITY? “Is it a tennis court?” - Finn Finley “A tennis net?” - Gracie Aderholt IF YOU WERE PRESIDENT WHAT WOULD YOU DO? “I would work.” - Finn Finley “I would want to be a kitten.” - Caroline Mitchell “I would do anything I want: like eat candy all day. I would make a law that no one else could eat candy so that I could have all the candy.” - Gracie Aderholt WHAT IS THE SUPREME COURT? “Is it a person who stands there?” - Gracie Aderholt “Is it a picture of mittens?” - Finn Finley WHO IS KIM JONG UN? “A singer” - Luke Abuzeid “A person who owns a place.” - Ayla Hans WHAT IS POLITICS? “Acrobatics” - Luke Abuzeid “Math” - Claire Halinski “Art” - Ayla Hans WHAT IS THE BIGGEST POLITICAL ISSUE OF TODAY? “Homework” - Luke Abuzeid “Getting hurt” - Claire Halinski “Asahd stepped on my foot on accident.” - Ayla Hans DO YOU KNOW WHO OUR MAYOR IS AND WHAT HE DOES? “No, almost like the president.” - Luke Abuzeid “No, he helps the town.” - Claire Halinski “A guy who decides what we build.” - Ayla Hans
First grader Elijah Arnold feels confident he could asnwer the questions asked of the kindergarteners.
IS VOTING IMPORTANT “No, if you vote who is better, you are wrong because everyone is the same.” - Claire Halinski “Yes, because different people have different answers and some can be right.” - Caroline Mitchell|
IT’S DRAMA: DON’T SUGAR COAT IT
Lights, Camera, Chocolate! Students are finally bringing The Greatest Chocolatier to Geneva’s stage.
BY ASHTON LANDIS
Layout by Aisling Ayers Photos by Ashton Landis
“INVENTION, MY DEAR friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butter-scotch ripple.” That adds up to 105%. That seems about right for all the people putting on the spring musical. This year Geneva will perform “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Originally this decision was debated, because this will be the second year in a row to perform a musical. There were a few different shows Geneva considered, but in the end, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” was the perfect match. In the musical, there is an underlying theme of faith which lines up with Geneva’s theme for the year.
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“We considered a few Jane Austen adaptations, and “Oliver Twist,” drama instructor Mr. Rick Poole said. “There were MANY other shows we looked at but those were the ones that made it to the short list. We chose Willy Wonka because it seemed like the best fit for our community and because it also supports our school’s theme this year which is Faith. Incidentally, it turns out that it is also requiring a good deal of faith from those of us working on it,” Poole said. The biggest challenge to a production like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” will be the
Geneva has had many impressive plays and Willy Wonka has the potential to be one of the best.
technical aspect. Theater tech is responsible for setting the mood in the theater. They design and build the sets, run lights and sound, change the scenes, and ensure that the cast is dressed to impress. Without theater tech there is nothing to see. Theater tech instructer Teri Bomgaars said, “We need to squeeze 100 sq.ft of sets into a 50 sq.ft space not including Oompa Loompas. We don’t know how most of the props will work. We would love to know in advance if a specific set will work, however, we do not have a traditional theater space so we must be creative and flexible. That’s part of the fun.” The Multi Purpose Building will be transformed into a sugar-filled chocolate factory, a chocolate river, massive candy pieces, and a gumdrop tree forest. There are more complicated things to work out, like the Wonkavator, and a cylinder that will suck up Augustus Gloop (senior Connor Tyra). “How will we suck a child up a tube, fill a girl with the juice of 100,000 blueberries, make grandparents fly? Trade secrets.,” Poole said. “I will say that Mrs. Bomgaars is working overtime trying to find a straw big enough for Augustus Gloop and the Wonkavator
is keeping me up at night. If you see either of us frantically talking to ourselves at least you will know what the conversation is about.” “This has to be the most challenging technology that we have ever attempted,” Bomgaars said. “When something is designed in the tech shop everyone gets a chance to give their input. I do rely on their fresh eyes as a springboard for ideas. Our students are amazing. I am most excited to see the end product.” This is Geneva’s first musical with a live band, orchestra, and choir. “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is different from the past musicals because it has a substantially larger cast than any former Geneva shows. This production has over 100 Geneva students, faculty and parents. This production will also include all three schools: Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric. “We’ve never tried anything like this before but it seems like a great way to include every part of our community at Geneva. In fact it feels a bit less like a school play and more like a community theatre production because of the broad range of talents that we are drawing upon,” Poole said.
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A new addition to the faculty working on this production is the choir director, Mr. Benjamin Vis. Vis has been working with the Grammar School to have a choir and has incorporated that into the production. Many of the Grammar students will be Oompa Loompahs. “We have around 20 Oompas per show (40 total, spread between the four performances.) Their ages range from 9-14,” Vis said. “Scheduling has been the biggest issue thus far. Each piece or part is being prepared independent of one another, so it will hopefully “jigsaw” together with minimal growing pains!” In year’s past, the drama department has done a junior version of a play. “Beauty and the Beast, Junior,” “Into the Woods Junior,” but this year, Geneva is bringing the exact same version of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” that people would see on Broadway around London. These junior versions came with rough instructions for props, lighting, and costumes. “Usually we rent costumes but since we are also performing this show for the Benefit, we are unable to rent for that span of time,” Bomgaars said. “So, we are going to have to purchase the majority of the costumes, but others will be made from
scratch or recycled from past years.” As the music director, Vis will choreograph the musical alongside senior Sara Beth Stolle. Vis has had countless hours of experience in the music field performing in over five musicals and directing 11. “The music is already fairly familiar to many of the students who know the original movie well, but there are many additional songs that were not featured. Those pieces are the ones students are rehearsing the most,” Vis said. “I believe Ms. Thomas and our musicians will have to rehearse over 53 separate pieces... Yikes!” Poole said. Opening night is Friday, April 6 at 7 pm. There will be a matinee on Saturday, April 7 at 2:30 pm and a nighttime performance at 7 pm. The final performance will be Sunday at 4 pm. Tickets will go on sale after Spring Break. A portion of the performance will be done for the Rhetoric Benefit Saturday, May 5. “I hope that we can capture a tiny bit of the magic and imagination of childhood. This is a story that is loved by generations of people and we really want to do it justice. I am excited about seeing our students do what they do best when the curtain goes up, opening night,” Poole said.|
WHAT ARE YOU THE MOST NERVOUS ABOUT?
EVERYTHING. I HAVE NIGHTMARES THAT OPENING NIGHT NO ONE WILL SHOW UP AND I HAVE TO EAT ALL THOSE WONKA BARS MYSELF.
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MEET THE CHARACTERS
WILLY WONKA
Kenny Kidd, senior
CHARLIE
Mattie Sue Arnold, 7th
VERUCA SALT
Eleanor Galbreath, junior
GRANDPA JOE
Killian Richardson, senior
VIOLET BEAUREGARDE
Gracyn Freiling, sophomore
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At GENEVA, parents and volunteers usually decorate the venue for prom.
At CHAMPION, class officer students decorate their venue for prom.
WE CAN DANCE IF WE WANT TO Taking part of the junior/senior prom is a rite of passge most students look forward to in high school. How does renowned Geneva prom differ from that of a public school? BY AISLING AYERS
Layout by Aisling Ayers Graphics by Anson Eggerss
MANY HAVE HEARD the tales of the notorious Geneva prom. Whispers in the hallway, encrypted notes and Morse code exchanges are only a few of the highly secretive ways information about Geneva prom is released. Because only a few high schoolers a year—87 students to be exact, according to Ms. Chelsie Jacobson’s census—enter the hallowed halls on this “night of nights” to experience how these Genevians “turn up.” Public school students and parents around the diverse city of Boerne are dying to take a
look into what occurs on this famous night. Do they really rave to ‘Non Nobis’? Does the legendary Humanities teacher, Mr. Paul Johnson, really crowd surf the entire night? So, amidst the numerous rumors, here is what a Geneva prom really looks like compared to one at Champion High School. I have only been permitted to release a few details, but take a look at how these two proms nights differ. The information on Boerne wChampion High School’s Prom was gathered from Champion High School alum, Maddie Starks (‘16).|
GENEVA
CHAMPION
There is no form of security check for students entering the dance.
Students are breathalyzed upon entering the dance
CHAMPION GENEVA
ticket prices:
$50 $25
GENEVA
It is split pretty evenly between students with dates and students without (with friends).
The majority of the students go with dates.
CHAMPION
At GENEVA, there is a dinner for juniors and one for seniors. At CHAMPION, students just eat with friends and dates.
GENEVA
vs.
CHAMPION At GENEVA, most girls wear corsages on their wrists. However, some have bouquets.
LO N G
At CHAMPION, there is a fairly even mix of bouquets and corsages.
At both schools, the girls wear long prom dresses.
GENEVA has
CHAMPION has
87 300
students attend prom.
students attend prom.
At GENEVA, most people ride to prom in private cars.
At CHAMPION, most people take party buses, some take limos, and a few take private cars.
THE
EVOLUTION
Walking around campus, you see what seems like a million different sweatshirts. They seem to cover about the entire color spectrum. How dated and out of style is your daily sweatshirt? Layout by Aisling Ayers
Graphics by Anson Eggerss Photos by Taylor Tippit
1999 2004 2012 G | 24
OF THE
SWEATSHIRT As Geneva grows, so does the variety in sweatshirts you can wear to school.
2014
2015
2017
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CHEERING ON THE WINTER SPORTS SEASON PHOTO BY JACQUELINE KNOX
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GA ME FA CE
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*speaking telepathically* Joel. Joel. JOOEEELLLL!
WELL PLAYED
Take a look inside the heads of the Geneva coaches.
BY LUKE BOWER AND JACKSON YOUNG
Layout by Jacqueline Knox Photos courtesy of Smugmug
This gym is so full yet I feel so alone.
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Hey wait the gym is closed!
Yes David, it’s all your fault.
What have I done?
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Talk to the hand.
Should we put Corvin in?
Good one Julius.
Hey coach can I get a hug?
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NO.
EVERYBODY’S WORKING FOR THE SEASON For all sports, the off-season is critical. Here is a glimpse at the dedication of the student athletes at Geneva.
COMPILED BY CARISSA GEORGELOS Layout by Carissa Georgelos Graphics by Carissa Georgelos
FALL
FOOTBALL
In season: August 1 - November 24 Pre-season: started December 11 Weightlifting: Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 A.M. Strength and Agility: Tuesday and Thursday afternoon
VOLLEYBALL
In season: August 1 - October 31 Morning practices: 6:45 - 7:55 A.M. February 5 - May 18 Camp: June 11 - 14, July 16 - 20 Summer Workouts: June 18 - 21, June 25 - 28, July 9 - 13
CROSS COUNTRY In season: August 12 - October 1
WINTER
SOCCER
SWIMMING
In season: November 1 - February 8
In season: November 1 - February 7 Pre-season: All year club practice (not required)
BASKETBALL SPRING
In season: November 1 - March 3 Pre-season: End of September - March 3 Morning practices: 6:45 - 8:00 A.M.
TRACK
In season: January 29 - May 5 Pre-season: End of November morning weights twice a week until season starts
TENNIS
In season: February 12 - April 25
GOLF
SUMMER
In season: February 26 - April 12
Pre-season practice for fall sports (Football, Volleyball and Cross Country).|
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They are always smiling, happy and proud. The cheerleaders are the one constant at pep rallies and key games to keep everyone’s spirits lifted.
BY ALEXA GEORGELOS
Layout by Alexa Georgelos Photos by Jacqueline Knox Graphic by Nathan Zuniga
ENCOURAGEMENT IS A big part of sports. Family and friends gather together in bleachers for sporting events and cheer on the athletes to show their support. But friends and family are not the only ones who are cheering. Along the sidelines, leading the crowd in chants and supporting the players are the cheerleaders. However, there was a time when cheerleading wasn’t around. Cheerleading began in the late 19th century when a student from the University of Minnesota named Johnny Campbell directed the crowd in cheering for their team, making him the first cheerleader. Before long, a yell leader squad was organized with six male students. This practice eventually spread to other universities. Cheerleading was only a male activity until the 1920s when women began cheerleading. Today in America, 90% of cheerleaders are female with the other 10% being male participants from yell squads. In 1948, a cheerleader from Dallas, Texas named Lawrence Herkimer (“Herkie”) founded the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA). Many of the cheerleader’s fundamental moves derive from Herkimer, including the “Herkie Jump.” Herkimer jump-started the cheerleading industry and has done more than anyone to make it what it is has become. Geneva has not always had a cheer program. Cheer began at the middle school level in 2006 with coaches Marsha Babic, Shawn Wolff, Chelsie Jacobson, Christian Srp, Lauren Brooks, Kelley Hartis and Amber Jonas. Later, in 2010, incoming freshmen Emma Rudkin (‘14), her mom Kathy Rudkin and Julie Standerfer wanted to organize Geneva’s first official Varsity Cheer Squad. “Julie coached the varsity squad for two years while I coached the Logic cheer squad,” Jonas said, “Then I came on board to coach the varsity squad in 2012 with the goal to continue the awesome cheer program which included promoting school spirit through pep rallies and game-day sideline cheering.” Cheerleaders are a great aspect of any game. Their cheerful attitudes show school spirit and elevate the atmosphere in a gym or on a field. Cheerleaders help get the crowd involved. “If we say the same words a lot, it usually gets the crowd to notice that we want them to join in,”
junior cheerleader Hailey Hallmark said, “But it really depends on how your face looks. If you look really bored the crowd won’t want to join you. But if you look really excited and happy to be there then they will join in because they’ll be happy to be there too.” Sporting events are enjoyable on their own, but when the room is full of excitement from the cheerleaders and the crowd and everyone is yelling, it makes it even better. Games are such an incredible experience when all the spectators are involved and cheering for the players. It affects not only the players, but the cheerleaders as well. Hard work and dedication can come from any athlete, especially a cheerleader. Cheerleaders spend hours during practice to perfect their tricky routines. Every jump and facial expression has a purpose. Each stunt must be practiced to insure the safety of the flyer. Four years ago TAPPS started a dance and cheer competition, which Geneva has competed in every year. In competitions the cheerleaders perform a two-and-a-half minute choreographed routine which includes dance, cheer, stunting,
PROMOTING SCHOOL SPIRIT THROUGH PEP RALLIES AND GAME DAY SIDELINE CHEERING. tumbling and jumps. In 2017, Geneva cheerleaders competed in this state competition against twelve other schools and placed third. Hallmark shared her experience at state, saying that the whole team was so excited when they were announced third place. Jonas says, “I love the girls. I love trying to be an influence of positivity in their lives. When they’re having a bad day, I try to teach them that you come in and you show up and you’re expected to do your job, but it’s cheerleading and you’re supposed to have fun.”
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At this game last year, the student section got rowdy cheering for the varsity volleyball team.
The student section is an important part of every atheletic event and boosts the morale of the players. WE ARE DOWN by one. There are five seconds left in the game. The other team has the ball and is dribbling down the court towards their basket... four seconds. We intercept a pass and get the ball... three seconds. Now we are dribbling down the court towards our basket... two seconds. The ball is passed to our best shooter... one second left. He shoots. As the ball flies through the air the overwhelming sound of the buzzer is heard. The ball hits the rim and rolls around before it goes in. We did it. We won the game and the crowd should be going insane… but wait, there’s no crowd?
USUALLY, THE STUDENT SECTION IS KNOWN FOR BEING THE LOUDEST AND PROUDEST PART OF THE STANDS.
Instead of everyone screaming and jumping the underwhelming sound of a few moms cheering for their kids echoes in the gym. This is a home high school basketball game, not a fifth grade spelling
BY JACQUELINE KNOX bee. Where are the students who should be jumping up and down yelling for their peers? Why isn’t it loud and crazy? Where are all the posters that turn players’ names into funny puns? The purpose of a student section is to support the athletes who have been working so hard to be able to play their best. Usually, the student section is known for being the loudest and proudest part of the stands. But recently, Geneva’s student section has been lacking. “Our student section is really sad. You just don’t know who is going to show up,” said senior varsity basketball player Henry Vina. “I feel like some people at Geneva are kind of stiff-necked when it comes to cheering at basketball games,” said sophomore and JV basketball player Jack Cupit. “I have seen worse before where there are only five people in the stands and they just sit down and don’t say anything the entire game. But it’s a game, you’re supposed to get loud and have fun.” The student section and the energy of the crowd do have an affect on the game, according to the players. “The crowd helps out with the overall energy and enthusiasm,” said Vina. The way the crowd acts during a game can help turn what looks like a loss into a win and help the players be more confident in what they have been practicing for days.
“One game, we were playing against a really good team; there was a small crowd. About halfway through the game, the boy’s team showed up. They were loud and cheering for us. Then it was just a completely different atmosphere,” said freshman and varsity basketball player Riley Tippit. Even though it was a small group of boys, they completely changed the atmosphere of the game, bringing way more energy into the equation. Sophomore and JV basketball player Anson Eggerss agrees, “If there are more people who are yelling for us, it makes the overall experience better.” The opposite goes for when the crowd is smaller or just really quiet. “When there is a small crowd, everyone’s energy level is really low and the game just seems really slow,” said junior and varsity basketball player Kensi Parker. However, it has not always been like this at Geneva. “I remember last year the student section was packed during home games. There was barely room to sit down during some games. This year, there are only a couple rows filled with students,” said Tippit. This seems to be an issue specific to basketball because during volleyball season, there were huge crowds for some of their games. “The best crowd I have seen was the home volleyball JPII game. Everyone was going nuts. Everyone was going crazy. Nobody was on their phone. It was super loud,” said Cupit. “But the one thing I noticed was that there were people there who had no connection to volleyball. People just wanted to come watch the game and have fun as a student section. And not only that, they were getting into it and having fun.” So if volleyball was pulling out a huge crowd, why is basketball unable to do the same? Headmaster Rob Shelton attributes this lack of attendance to the timing of this year. Since football ran later than usual and Christmas break was pushed back a week, it was hard to get students excited for a basketball game. But still, even with the weird timing of this year, we should rally together as a student body to show our support. The players have spent hours training to be able to perform their best during games. Not only are they glorifying God but they are also representing our school and we should be there to support them. “I would love if the majority of the students would come to our home games and that they would enjoy being there supporting us,” said Parker. However, it would be nice for students to do more than just show up. The players want fans who are going to be loud. They want to hear their names being yelled and see their friends in the stands. One thing that the players have noticed that has really been disappointing to them is seeing
their friends who have made the effort to come to the game with their eyes practically glued to their phone. “To look up during a game and see my friends— who I think are supporting me—on their phone is really disappointing. I mean, seriously, why are you here? Watch the game. Support your friend,” said Eggerss.
THE PLAYERS WANT FANS WHO ARE GOING TO BE LOUD. THEY WANT TO HEAR THEIR NAMES BEING YELLED AND SEE THEIR FRIENDS IN THE STANDS.
Besides, if you are on your phone, you are going to miss all of the action anyway. Why come to the game if you are just going to sit in the bleachers and stare at your phone? I am sure that you would be much more comfortable doing that in your own home where there are not loud buzzers. So how can we get out of the rut we are currently in? “There is not much that the school itself or the administration can do to bring the spirit, it would have to be the actual students loving the school enough, loving their friends enough, and loving to support each other enough to actually get super into it,” Cupit said. It is going to be up to the students to help fix this lack of school spirit. But how do we do that? Shelton believes that “It really only takes one or two upperclassmen, usually guys, to get the crowd going. Once they start going, then the crowd usually follows.” It doesn’t have to be the entire school. It just has to be a small group of people to start it, and then everyone starts getting into it. Eventually, even the people who come to the games and sit on their phone will catch on as well. Shelton went on to say, “When you look at a student section where the kids are really into it, they don’t have their phones out. They are actually watching the game. Not everyone is completely interested, but they are still watching the game thus there is more noise.” Students have also noticed that sporting events at other schools seem to have a better atmosphere. There is more excitement in the air, if you will.
Head of Rhetoric School Mr. Rob Shelton leads students in the famous rollercoaster cheer to boost the energy in the student section.
Sophomore varsity basketball player Joel Calderon explained what it was like being at one of Champion High School’s football games. “The stands were full. Everyone was yelling. Even though I didn’t go to that school, just standing there and being at the game was so fun,” said Calderon.
ALTHOUGH OUR STUDENT SECTION MAY BE LACKING CURRENTLY, ONE THING FOR US TO BE PROUD OF IS OUR CULTURE.
Of course, Champion is much bigger than Geneva and we are still young and growing; with this growing process comes a lot of learning. “We are still a young school. People are still learning how to behave at games and such. Now, that’s not an excuse, because JPII is the exact same age as us. They have seemed to tap into something where there is a little more school pride,” said Shelton. However, although our student section may be lacking currently, one thing for us to be proud of is our culture. Geneva students can be proud to know that our attitude during games is not only
something that the administration is proud of but also something that athletes on the court take pride in. “It’s very rare that I have to tell kids to knock it off. Our students rarely cross over the line during sporting events,” said Shelton. Although overall participation has been down, there are some students who try their best to bring the spirit. I think this comes without a shock to say that Jack Cupit and Anson Eggerss have been named “Fan MVPs.” At every game, they are dancing, yelling and going crazy in the stands. “If my voice isn’t hoarse by the end of the night I count it as a loss,” said Cupit. Both boys constantly try to get others involved to make sure the players know that we are there supporting them. Cupit believes that “people feed off your hype-ness so as long as you are hype, everyone else will be hype.” The next game you are at make sure to take some notes from Cupit and Eggerss and in the words of Eggerss himself, “Get hype, turnt, lit and pumped.” Now while the thought of a student section full of Jack Cupits and Anson Eggerss all wearing neon colors and simultaneously dabbing sounds awesome, it would be nice to have a student section full of kids from every grade who are at the game to support their peers. “What I always say is that unless you have a wedding, a funeral or a plane ticket there is no reason to not be at the game cheering, having fun and supporting your friends and fellow classmates,” said Cupit.|
Sutton Houser (‘17) and others get overly excited about scoring a point at a JPII volleyball game. G | 36
OUT FOR THE SEASON Injuries can be truly devastating. One staffer talks about what it is like to deal with an injury and overcome it. BY GABI GRIFFEY
Layout by Jacqueline Knox Photo by Jacqueline Knox Graphic by Nathan Zuniga
IT WAS PAINFUL, BUT I JUST THOUGHT THIS WAS SOMETHING I COULD EASILY BOUNCE BACK FROM.
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THE GAME HAD barely begun. The clock started running for the second quarter, and the score was tight. Then, POP! I heard a scream from the defender next to me, and the ref blew his whistle. What just happened? Shocked by the pain, adrenaline pumping, I just walked off the court. I really had no idea what had just happened. It was painful, but I just thought this was something I could easily bounce back from. The next day, I was sent to the hospital. Up until this appointment, I hadn’t cried. But when the doctor told me that I had definitely torn my ACL, the tears fell. I didn’t cry from the pain, but from the fact that all the hours I had spent preparing to make this a great season were for nothing. About two weeks later, I would have to get surgery. Up until then, I just ignored the pain. The worst pain (or at least I thought) was the initial tear. Then the morning of surgery came. It had snowed the night before, and we drove to the hospital the next morning with the soft white remnants still blanketing the ground. The rest of that day and most of the following couple of days were pretty much a blur. Now I had begun the most physically painful part of the process. The first week, post operation, was beyond frustrating. I couldn’t do much of anything on my own. So, I had to rely on my family to help me with everything from getting food to getting dressed.
YOU WILL NEVER FIND JOY IN LOOKING AT THE THINGS YOU CAN’T DO. YOU HAVE TO SHIFT YOUR FOCUS ONTO THINGS YOU CAN DO. IF THAT MEANS BEING A WATER-BOY; THEN BE THE BEST DANG WATER-BOY YOUR SCHOOL HAS EVER SEEN.
G | 38 | FEATURE
Finally, around ten days after the operation, I was able to walk(ish)! Now I could begin physical therapy. Easy, right? I had passed the peak of physical pain. Little did I know, the hardest part to overcome would be the mental element. Physical pain, with an injury like this, is something you can fight through. It’s temporary and you can see the timeline of recovery. However, no one can give you a timeline for the mental pain or stress. That is set by you. My entire summer was devoted to perfecting my game. Sometimes, I would even spend six hours in the gym, but I loved every second of it. Over the summer, I thought hard about going into collegiate level sports. I was told that if I just put in that much more effort and pulled out a great junior season, I would be there. Out of God’s grace, before the season had started, I decided I wasn’t going to enter college level athletics. I felt that it was just not where God wanted me after high school. Little did I know that I would be stripped from playing for my entire junior year of basketball, after one fluke injury. Even though I don’t want to play in college, I still love the sport. Basketball is my outlet. At times, it’s all I think about. Running through games and plays in my head excites me, not to mention actually playing in the games. Now I had to create a new outlet: physical therapy. The first day, I went into physical therapy quite unaware of how weak I really was. No more popping squats with 400 lbs. I guess. After surgery all my quad muscle had practically vanished. The first exercise they asked me to do was leg lifts, with zero weights. At the time this seemed like the hardest exercise I’d ever done. Finally, I got my leg up to about an inch off the mat. Frustration and disappointment are the words I can think of to describe how I felt in this moment. We repeated these boring and elementary exercises hundreds of times. This was my hell. Then, about eight sessions into physical therapy something clicked. I realized how much I was improving. Even though these were the smallest bits of progress, it was and has been something that I could hold on to. Every day, I stepped into physical therapy remembering how excited I was when I was first able to put one pound weights on my ankles. I was a total beast with those. I was one step closer to reaching my goal of getting back on the court. My next job was to be a great teammate and….water-boy. I never would have imagined how difficult this part of the process would be. It was easy to cheer for my teammates. I love them! But it’s unimaginably depressing to sit on the sideline and watch all the excitement happening on the court and not actually be a part of it. As ridiculous as it sounds, watching basketball
Griffey defends the basket, calls plays and makes shots before her injury.
PHYSICAL PAIN WITH AN INJURY LIKE THIS IS SOMETHING YOU CAN FIGHT THROUGH. IT’S TEMPORARY AND YOU CAN SEE THE TIMELINE OF RECOVERY. HOWEVER,
NO ONE CAN GIVE YOU A TIMELINE FOR THE MENTAL PAIN OR STRESS. on TV is still a difficult thing for me to do. I remember the first time I walked into the gym after my surgery. I had been avoiding the entire building for a few weeks and finally decided to suck it up. I walked across the court and all I could do was cry. I had so much pent up emotion, and it all came out. It’s an absurd idea to believe that I am no longer a part of the game. There are so many parts to basketball, and sports in general, other than playing on the court. Think about the coach. He never actually touches the ball during games. Yet, he is a vital part of the team. I just had to realize what my new role was. Every team needs great bench-players. They need great teammates to encourage and motivate them from the sideline. How awkward would it be
if no one actually cheered in games? Half of the excitement would be lost. Every day, I spend time thinking about my recovery and what I can’t do. But in the words of my dad, this is “LOSER TALK.” You will never find joy in looking at the things you can’t do. You have to shift your focus onto things you can do. If that means being a water-boy; then be the best dang water-boy your school has ever seen! The process is still far from over. It is a daily struggle for me not to be able to do something I love, but I will be back. As annoying and cliché as it is to hear in the midst of this situation, the saying remains true: all things happen for a reason. God is working behind the scenes to create something eternally good.|
FEATURE | G | 39
SPURSGO
GO
The Spurs are a big deal in and around the San Antonio area. What makes them so special?
BY JACKSON YOUNG
Layout by Jacqueline Knox Graphic by Nathan Zuniga THERE’S SOMETHING DIFFERENT about the Spurs. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but it separates them from all other NBA teams. Every year, other teams and their fans think, “This has to be the year that the Spurs don’t do well.” But, every year, they’re wrong. Some of it is the coaching style, some of it is the fans, but one of the really unique things about them is their variety of players. They have old and wise veterans like Tony Parker, young and promising players like Dejounte Murray and foreign players no one has heard about like Davis Bertans. Most NBA teams these days are built around a couple of all-stars and many role players, but the Spurs have a lot of underappreciated players who are smarter than most other players. Some people would say the Spurs have too much of this; that they are too old and can’t keep up with these young teams like the Golden State Warriors or the Houston Rockets, but the Spurs are not aging too fast. They have plenty of young talent learning from the older wiser guys. G | 40
THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS UNDER
COACH
GREGG POPOVICH
5
(OR BETTER KNOWN AS POP)
NBA CHAMPIONSHIPS 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014
20 20
YEAR STREAK FOR ALL-STAR GAME APPEARANCES
CONSECUTIVE PLAYOFF APPEARANCES
2005
The Spurs also have a future in the up-andcoming star Kawhi Leonard. He achieved backto-back Defensive Player of the Year Awards, two All-Star appearances and contended for 2017 MVP. Leonard seems unstoppable. He also replaced Duncan in the Spurs’ “Big Three.” For about 20 years Parker, Ginobili and Duncan were a dangerous dynamic trio and brought the Spurs five championships. But, two years ago, Duncan retired from the NBA. Possibly the greatest power forward of all time, Duncan was a fan favorite and everyone was devastated when he left the game. When Spurs head coach Gregg Popoivich saw that Duncan would retire soon, he knew he needed another franchise player. He saw potential in young Leonard, so he traded one of his key players, George Hill, to the Pacers to get him on the team. Clearly the Spurs came out on top in this trade: yet another one of Popovich’s genius moves. Easily one of the greatest coaches of all time, Popovich has a career record of 1181-524— winning an astonishing 69% of his games. He is sixth on the all-time list of most wins by a coach. Popovich also led the Spurs to the NBA Playoffs for 20 years in a row. This is the longest playoff streak in all major North American sports. But what makes him a truly amazing coach is how much his players love him. Yes, you will see him yell at his players or pull them out of the game, but most players who play for Popovich want to remain a Spur for life. Popovich even makes friends with players on other teams, and they love him too. Fans everywhere admire him. Anyone who appreciates basketball understands that what he has done with the Spurs is truly amazing. Popovich has made Spurs fans across the country and even around the world. Of course, the majority of Spurs fans reside in San Antonio, but most people in and around San Antonio would consider themselves loyal Spurs fans who love the game and love the team. The fan base is a family united through the love of basketball. That is exactly the kind of community a successful professional sports team needs, and the Spurs players love their fans and their community. You receive discounts at local stores or gas stations when the Spurs win a playoff game. Watching a Spurs game gives families and the whole city a reason to come together. 2018 has been yet another successful season where the Spurs are more than likely to make the playoffs and have a shot at the championship. So, go home, watch a Spurs game, become part of the family and celebrate another year of Spurs basketball.|
THE YEAR THE SPURS' COYOTE MASCOT WAS EJECTED FROM A GAME, BECOMING THE ONLY MASCOT TO EVER BE EJECTED
7
HALL OF FAMERS LOUIE DAMPIER, GEORGE GERVIN, ARTIS GILMORE, MOSES MALONE, DAVID ROBINSON, DENNIS RODMAN, DOMINIQUE WILKINS
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WHEEZY STUFF GIVE ME A PUFF As junior Nathan Zuniga jumps, cheers and flies high with the cheerleaders, he shares his near-death experience.
BY NATHAN ZUNIGA
Layout by Alexa Georgelos Photos by Jacqueline Knox DESPITE MY LAST sport rant ending in a very… soggy mess, I actually got some great feedback. I received comments like, “Wow! You really are something,” and “Oh, so they didn’t leave you face down in the pool? Thank God!” Some people didn’t even need to use words to express their opinion; they just face-palmed while reading it or silently shook their head. Hey, I must be doing something right to get that response. So, let’s do something very wrong. “Nathan, what could possibly be more wrong than you trying to spike a volleyball or…God forbid…swim?” Oh honey, you have no idea what I am capable of. I really wanted the next sport to scream “manliness” or make people ask the question, “Is Nathan ok?” So, I decided to join cheer. You wish I was joking. I don’t know if you are aware of this, but cheer is some serious business. Good thing you have me to give you the inside scoop. I have to say that this is the most involvement I have had in any of the sports I have done so far. Not to say I wasn’t involved in the other sports; I just wasn’t very good at volleyball and well, in all seriousness, I spent half the swim practice
like a little wet clam on the edge of the pool. But surprisingly, I did almost everything in the cheer practice.
I THINK I FOUND THE ONE SPORT THAT I’M GOOD AT. We started off the practice by doing a warm-up and some stretches, which was neither a warm-up nor were they stretches. The “warm-up” was like a short, full body workout, and the stretches were just an excuse to show off how far you can bend a certain way. The only way I can bend is down to the ground when I accidentally drop some food and the fivesecond-rule is still in play. They were bending over to the side, forward, backward, then splits, then somersaults and back flips and contorting themselves into pretzels; all the while, I’m just trying to touch my toes. I’m almost there guys, don’t worry.
Zuniga practices stunts with the varsity cheer squad. G | 42
I DON’T KNOW IF YOU ARE AWARE OF THIS, BUT CHEER IS SOME SERIOUS BUSINESS.
The cheer squad shows Zuniga how to make a game face.
I think my incapability to do the stretches may have had something to do with my lack of shorts. Yeah…I was wearing my khaki pants. I’m surprised they didn’t rip. After the warm-up, we practiced cheer jumps. Most of y’all out there might not know the common cheer jumps, so let me teach you. Let’s see, there’s the “Pike” where you basically try to slam your face as hard as possible into your knees while jumping. There’s the “Herkie” where all you have to do is make one of your legs look like it just got ran over by a car while jumping and sticking out your other leg. Then there’s the “Toe Touch.” Try to imagine two people you hate on either side of you, then try to kick and punch them both in the face at the same time while also trying to rip your khaki pants. Pretty sure I nailed that one. We then practiced a dance number to the song “Y’all Ready for This” which I was definitely not ready for and then went straight into stunting. If you don’t know what stunting is, it’s that cool thing that cheerleaders do when they stand on top of each other or fling themselves up to the ceiling and drop into a basket made of arms (aka: likely death). Yeah, I did that! Well, not the flying in the air/death part, but I was the base for actual living, breathing people. They actually gave me the responsibility to let people stand on my shoulders, which was a terrible decision because I almost dropped Shelby Skidmore. You shouldn’t put your life in my hands; things tend to drop out of my hands frequently. Remember when I said that cheer is some serious business? Well, it’s also some dangerous business. If flying in the air and hoping that the people below you are going to catch you isn’t
dangerous enough, did you know that you can’t wear jewelry in cheer? Apparently, it’s extremely dangerous, because when they noticed my necklace, everyone gasped. After hearing what happens if you leave it on, I immediately took it off. Basically, if you wear jewelry while stunting— especially if it’s a necklace or a piercing—the person on top of you that is trying to get back to the ground can get their foot stuck in your necklace or bracelet. This, as you can imagine, could end very badly. Just imagine if you had a belly button ring and someone’s foot rips it out while trying to get back to land. Apparently, that’s happened before. Good thing I took out my belly button ring before practice. At the end of the practice, I was forced against my will to lead a cheer, which I think I did a fantastic job doing. If you want to lead a cheer, all you have to do is scream at the top of your lungs. Try to reach the volume level of three jet engines, or at least the point where the other cheerleaders get really upset and sign a petition to kick you off the team. And that’s kind of what happened; only I decided to kick myself off the cheer squad. At the end of the day, Coach Jonas gave me a solid 10/10! I think I found the one sport that I’m good at. Unfortunately, I like having my belly button piercing in at all times, so I’m not sure if it would work out. Also, if you put the lives of people in my hands, we’re bound to have some cheerleader funerals. It ain’t easy being wheezy, but this asthmatic will keep cheering until he makes the cheer squad.|
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Even coaches listen to music while working out. Here are the top 14 workout songs from three of Geneva’s beloved coaches. COMPILED BY JACQUELINE KNOX
Layout by Jacqueline Knox
JAMS
ROB INGLISH “LOW RIDER” War
TRACK COACH
“LET IT ROLL” Velvet Revolver
GENEVA
“MY HERO” Foo Fighters “AMERICAN GIRL” Tom Petty “WHOLE LOTTA ROSIE” ACDC “ALL MY LIFE” Foo Fighters “DO YOU WANNA DANCE” The Ramones “SATAN PULLS THE STRINGS” The Avett Brothers “SATISFACTION (I CANT GET NO)” The Rolling Stones “CHOCOLATE JESUS” Tom Waits “GLORIA” Van Morrison “SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME” Audio Slave “AIN’T TALKIN’ BOUT LOVE” Van Halen “MYSTIFY” INXS
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KAREN WRIGHT
PHILIP BOENITZ
“YOU CAN’T STOP ME” Andy Mineo
“MY BEAT BANG” Black Knight
“I BELIEVE” KB
“JUMPED OUT THE WHIP” Tedashii
“GOD IS ENOUGH” Lecrae
“CHAINSAW” Family Force 5
“POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE” Natasha Bedingfield
“SAIL” AWOLNATION
“#LITO” Press Play
“DON’T LET ME DOWN” Chainsmokers
“EYE OF THE TIGER” Survivor
“THE CAVE” Mumford and Sons
“MOTOWNPHILLY” Boys II Men
“LITTLE LION MAN” Mumford and Sons
“CRAY BUTTON” Family Force 5
“SHAKE IT OUT” Florence + the Machine
“CHURCH CLAP” KB feat. Lecrae
“ROLLERCOASTER” Bleachers
“HAPPY” Pharrell Williams
“CAN’T STOP ME NOW” Lecrae
“THE SAINTS” Andy Mineo
“FOREVER” Trip Lee
“I WILL SURVIVE” Gloria Gaynor
“WAITING ON THE WORLD TO CHANGE” John Mayer
“IT WAS FOR FREEDOM” New Life Worship
“BELIEF” John Mayer
“GAMEFACE” KJ-52
“MY LIFE BE LIKE (OOH AHH)” Grits
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH
BASKETBALL COACH
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BIG PICT GETTING A BETTER PERSPECTIVE AT A FAST-PACED WORLD
PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE WALKER
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U RE
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The Radcliffe Camera is an iconic, domed, palladiumstyle library in Oxford. G | 48
WALKER ROUND THE WORLD
Appearances. Whether in school, work, church or halfway across the world, what you see is not always what you get. Charlotte Walker continues her year long trek in Europe. For this article she was at Oxford.
BY CHARLOTTE WALKER
Layout by Jayne Goodman Photos by Charlotte Walker
WHEN WALKING THROUGH the quaint streets of Oxford, England, it feels as though you are walking through a movie. Cobblestones pave the way into town center through overgrown cemeteries and majestic churches, while London cabs whiz by your clicking feet. Among the endless historical buildings, countless bookscented libraries full of creaky staircases, handcarved ceilings and English oak make their way into sight. Every few feet a new college emerges from the mist and surprises you with its striking resemblance to a castle. And in each college, a chapel occupies a central position on the quad, equipped with stained glass windows, ornately carved pews and often a majestic organ. With churches around each corner holding daily concerts, evensongs and masses, Oxford is many a Christian’s dream. But as we’ve scratched the surface of the city, we’ve discovered that God is not necessarily as preeminent in the University as this abundance of sacred buildings indicates. For example, my sister Callie has encountered difficulty attaining certain theologically conservative materials from the University’s Bodleian library whilst studying for her masters in Theology. Since the Bodleian library is a copyright library that receives a copy of everything published in the U.K., this proved to be a perplexing complication. Experiencing a willingness from faculty and library staff to order certain books and not others based upon the particular views the books expressed was enlightening.
When later touring the original Bodleian Duke Humphrey’s library, we noted that each tile over our heads has “The Lord is my light” intricately painted on it. Comparing this to Callie’s experience, I began to think the University culture has strayed from these original proclamations from the 1600s. After researching a little further into the subject, I found that according to Oxford Mail, “Oxford is the agnostic capital of the UK and one third of the city has no religion at all….The city, which has a population of 151,906 according to last year’s Census, also has the third highest percentage of atheists in the UK”. Additionally, the Oxford City Council says, “Between 2001 and 2011, the number of people describing themselves as having no religion grew by 18,000. The number of people identifying themselves as Muslim grew by 5,000, whilst the number of Christians fell by 8,000”. While many churches still thrive in the city today, the religious buildings and symbols spread throughout the city obscure the growing agnosticism of the university town. Our personal experiences from the past several weeks confirm this as well. One night, when confronted by a few men in The Rose and Crown pub about our Texas roots, we were given the opportunity to talk about our faith and discuss their varying views. When asked about their worldview, four out of five men described themselves as atheist or agnostic. While these men might have not shared
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This historic tree was mentioned in the original Domesday book in 1086.
One of the youngest buildings, the Randolph Hotel, has stook in Oxford for 150 years.
This bike sits on the center of Broad Street which runs through the center of Oxford.
Holy Well Street is another picturesque site in Oxford. G | 50
the same views as us, they were extremely receptive and open to discussion. If this conversation had occurred in America, from my experience and observations, about four out of five Americans would refer to themselves as Christians. But, if prompted to speak in detail about their faith and beliefs, the select few would put up barriers and become defensive of the topic. When first presented with the religious statistics of Oxford, I was rather surprised and disappointed. However, after further thought and observation, I realized non-believers and skeptics must feel much more liberated in England than in America. Since Christianity isn’t their default position, they have no pressure to say they’re Christian and become defensive. While in America, especially in the South, people become more defensive of themselves since what you see isn’t necessarily what you get. When describing the difference between the English and Americans, Callie’s British friend explained that they don’t feel obligated to greet or speak to everyone and would consider it false if they did so. It must be liberating to not have unrealistic societal expectations of others. Not only have our experiences with nonbelievers been authentic, but so have our experiences within the church and Wycliffe Hall. Since the spiritual dryness of the city is overwhelming, the church bodies we have encountered are powerfully steadfast in their faith and filled with authentic Christianity. After receiving many genuinely warm welcomes from three separate churches, we quickly felt a part of each community. We also experienced the same kindness and realness from the people in Callie’s college, Wycliffe Hall. Whether from students, friends, cooks or ordinands, we were greeted with happiness and sincerity. Obviously, genuine faith that backs up all appearances should be every Christian’s goal. But in the absence of such an ideal, which is better? An appearance of Christianity, like we’ve observed in Oxford, where people honestly express their faith or lack thereof, or an appearance of Christianity so easily found in our Texas Bible-belt which may or may not be backed by genuine faith, but often inhibits open discussion of doubt? Over the course of the past month, it’s been enlightening to see the intense sincerity of faith from authentic believers as well as the unhindered expression of doubts by agnostics and atheists. These experiences have caused me to rethink the preconceived ideas we so often develop and instead focus on the hidden truth underlying the appearances we present.|
FOLLOWING FATAL FOOTSTEPS Celebrities in the media are nearly impossible to avoid. Despite their influence, though, it is difficult to find stars who are positive role models for today’s youth. BY GRACYN FREILING
Layout by Jayne Goodman Photos from Internet Graphic byAnna Reidlinger
GOOD ROLE MODELS are essential to the growth and development of a child. While parents and caretakers are influential, many youth also emulate their favorite celebrities in the media. Their behavior, dress, word choices, likes and dislikes, decisions, and relationships are based on celebrity influence. Because we live in an age where technology is abundant, everything celebrities do is broadcasted for all to see. These stars live their lives under a white-hot spotlight of scrutiny. Human nature dictates that they will make mistakes just like the rest of us. However, due to the interest they generate with consumers of media, their faults are magnified and put on display. The more spectacular, shocking, or inappropriate the actions are, the more headlines are made. Because of this, there is a serious lack of positive role models for children and teens depicted in the media. Unfortunately, it’s not just the bad deeds that celebrities do in their free time, but also the scripted antics that they execute on-screen. It is not uncommon nowadays to find teens, and even children, who are allowed to freely watch movies and sitcoms that contain sensitive content. These shows and movies contain scenes that glamorize premarital sex, alcoholism, and drug use. The more that children watch these scenes, the more acceptable and common these bad habits become to them. Because of the media and entertainment today, a large-scale desensitization of our youth is occurring right before our eyes. It is sometimes the little things, which may seem insignificant at first, that prove to be the most damaging. Disrespectful and rebellious children, lying, cheating, casual sexual innuendos, and unrealistic body standards are heavily dispersed through television and all other forms of media. Disney Channel and Nickelodeon each have an audience of millions of children, yet they broadcast shows with characters that often disregard authority and do whatever they please. When children see their favorite characters ignore their parents’ instructions, take part in rebellion and dishonesty, and get away free of punishment, they slowly start to imitate these actions in their day-to-day lives. In many hit TV shows, premarital sex and drinking are rampant and uncensored. These shows are often hilariously entertaining, so we overlook this part because we do not want to stop watching.
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However, these images are toxic for young minds because these shows normalize these actions so much. Everyone on these shows either takes part, or is mocked for their abstinence. What kind of message does this give to young viewers? These shows instill in young minds that in this day and age, if you are not willing to drink or have sex before marriage, you are weird and abnormal. Unrealistic body standards are also extremely detrimental, despite being heavily endorsed by the media and many celebrities. From magazine covers to social media platforms such as Instagram, images of both men and women alike are being constantly retouched and perfected through various filters and editing softwares. Whether it’s a woman posing in a swimsuit with perfect curves and flawless skin, or a man with extremely defined muscles and chiseled facial features, retouched images are everywhere. People see these pictures and naturally compare themselves to the models. This is an unfair comparison, though, because these models and celebrities have undergone expert styling, are placed in perfect lighting environments, and are highly edited after the photos are taken. No one looks like that when they roll out of bed in the morning. This creates unrealistic body standards for people to follow, establishing insecurities and self-loathing among men and women. Besides these examples, there are always the obvious examples of celebrities being poor role models. Celebrity drug use, nudity, racial slurs, hateful comments, provocative outfits, and reckless behavior constantly make the news. There are countless examples of child stars who fell from grace such as Lindsay Lohan, Macaulay Culkin and Miley Cyrus. These used to be actors that children could relate to. However, it seems like growing up in front of a camera has a way of backfiring for these celebrities. With the extreme lack of positive role models portrayed in the media today, it’s difficult for children to know who to look up to and who to steer clear of. Media should focus their attention on highlighting the good ones rather than glorifying the bad. Parents should engage in healthy discourse with young children to explain the difference. And at the end of the day, we as consumers need to cast our vote via our spending and viewing habits.|
MEDIA SHOULD FOCUS THEIR ATTENTION ON HIGHLIGHTING THE GOOD ONES RATHER THAN GLORIFYING THE BAD
Clockwise starting at the top right: Ariana Grande, Jon Bellion, Justin Bieber, Angelina Jolie, Zendaya, Zac Ephron, Kevin Hart, Miley Cyrus, Beyonce Center top to bottom: Tom Brady, Lebron James, Lindsey Lohan
PUT TO THE TEST Two crucial tests that determine your future await you. Here are some basic facts about both tests to help determine which one you should take.
BY ANNA RIEDLINGER
Layout Anna Riedlinger Graphics by Anna Riedlinger
THE PRESSURE IS on and you’re worrying about the SAT and ACT, trust me, I am too. What is this whole SAT or ACT thing anyway? Maybe you already know which test you want to take, or maybe you have no idea. Perhaps you’re somewhere in between. Whichever category you fall into, there is no need to worry because we are about to get to the bottom of this. I know how overwhelming these crucial tests can be. In fact, I have yet to decide which test I will take myself, so hopefully this is helpful for the both of us. When discussing these tests, most people seem to already have an opinion and many people swear that one test is easier than the other. However, the main thing to remember is that the solution is different for everyone. While both tests have similar content, there are several slight differences. The biggest differences between the tests are that the ACT has a science section which the SAT does not. Also there’s one SAT math section on which you cannot use a calculator. Most colleges require one of these tests. While many don’t necessarily prefer one test over the other, some will weigh one more heavily in the admissions decision. One perk of both tests is that you can take them as many times as you want and submit your best score. Because of this, there’s no pressure in getting your preferred score the first time. Another thing that many students forget is that you can receive accommodations if you have learning disabilities such as ADHD or Dyslexia. You can send in requests for extra time and even extra breaks (talk to our college advisor, Mrs. Shelly Ward, for more details). The table to the right compares and contrasts the tests. Hopefully this helps you make a decision on which test is right for you.
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Questions
SAT
ACT
154 Total Questions in 3 hours
215 Total Questions in 2 hours: 55 minutes
1 Optional Essay in 50 minutes
1 Optional essay in 40 minutes
Test Structure
Reading Writing & Language Math Essay (Optional)
English Math Reading Science Reasoning Essay (Optional)
Length
3 hours (without essay) 3 hours, 50 minutes (with essay)
2 hours, 55 minutes (without essay) 3 hours, 40 minutes (with essay)
Reading Science Math
5 reading passages 52 Questions None
4 reading passages 40 Questions 1 science section testing your critical thinking skills
Covers: Covers: Arithmetic, Algebra I & II, Arithmetic, Algebra I & II Geometry, Geometry and Trigonometry Trigonometry and Data Analysis 60 Questions (Calculator on all) 20 Questions (Without Calculator) Key Formulas not Provided 38 Questions (With Calculator) Questions require less reasoning, more Key formulas Provided focused on speed. Questions require more reasoning, less focused on speed.
Calculator Policy
One section doesn’t allow you to use a calculator.
Essays
Optional. The essay will test your comprehension of a source text.
Optional. The essay will test how well you evaluate and analyze complex issues.
How It’s Scored
Scored on a scale of 400–1600
Scored on a scale of 1–36
Section
Alotted Time
Alotted Time
Reading
65 min
35 min
Writing
35 min
40 min
Math
No Calculator: 25 min Calculator: 55 min
60 min
Science
N/A
35 min
You can use a calculator on all math questions.
*Infomation gathered from College Board and the ACT organizations.
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GRADUATE
STATS Geneva aptly preps their students for life after high school. Three classes have graduated from college. Displayed below are stats about where they are now.
Layout by Gracyn Freiling IF YOU HAVE ever wondered what happened to the first graduating classes of Geneva, then here is a stats page for you. With only 55 graduates of Geneva who could have already graduated college, there are some interesting percentages you may not have known.
COLLEGE 27% Went to Graduate School
91%
2% Went to Law School graduates 2% Went to Med School ofhaveGeneva graduated from college 25% Went out of state for college 24% Went to Texas A&M University 18% Went to Baylor University *These statistics are only for the classes of “11, ‘12, ‘13, the ones who could have graduated from college at this point. G | 56
After
%
%
Military
Teaching
Business
%
Work at Geneva
7 9 9 4 9 %
Music
COLLEGE %
While 27% continued their education beyond college, some of those in the work force are grouped above.
By the
YEAR
College graduation rates
2011: 2012: 2013: (95%)
23% of the Class of 2013 14% of the Class of 2012 53% of the Class of 2011 25% Total are married
16/19 have graduated (84%) 13/14 have graduated (93%) 21/22 have graduated
31% of Geneva graduates are married or engaged
MARRIAGE
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A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST Many Geneva families call Boerne their home, but how much do you really know about the town and its origins? BY LUKE BOWER
Layout by Jayne Goodman Photos by Luke Bower*
BOERNE, IT’S THE place most Geneva families call home. In general, the town seems familiar and virtually unscathed by time, but behind this little town is a lot of history. Here is a glimpse of what some of Boerne’s most iconic landmarks looked like 100 years ago.
MAIN STREET
The date this picture was taken is unknown and aside from the fact that there are traffic lights and cars instead of horses, the overall structure of the buildings remains unchanged.
* All historical pictures taken from the internet.
CIBOLO CREEK BRIDGE
The original date this picture was taken remains unknown. Over the years this bridge has undergone many renovations, the latest being in January 2013. The bridge was remodeled to make the streets of Boerne more pedestrian accessible.
ST. PETER’S CATHOLIC CHURCH
The first picture ever of the Catholic Church in Boerne was taken in 1918. After being completely renovated, it is now noticeably larger and still holds on to its Catholic roots. |
FACING LUPUS WITH FAITH Sophomore Natalya Pedraza shares her personal testimony about her fight against lupus and how God has given her peace despite the pain. BY NATALYA PEDRAZA
Layout by Jayne Goodman Photo by Luke Bower Graphic by Anna Reidlinger
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I HAVE ALWAYS heard people say, “Everyone carries their cross in their own way.” This phrase was meaningful in every generic way until I finally learned what it really meant. My life up until seventh grade had been a normal one that revolved around family, friends, school and a very close tie to my faith. That fall semester, I began a journey that took me from loving life to hating life and eventually back to really loving life once again. This was the pivotal year when my faith was tested. Before this point, I was unfamiliar with pain. I began having moments of aching joints which eventually lead to days of debilitating pain. This left me unable to perform normal daily activities such as getting out of bed, standing on my feet or even holding a pencil. After four months of testing everything under the sun and seeing every specialized doctor on the pediatric floor, I was finally diagnosed with lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect any organ in the body, and in my case, it affects my joints, liver and other organs. I cannot say that I turned my back on God, but trying to stop the damage that this disease was causing my body did become the priority, and because of this, my faith quickly became secondary. Seventh grade soon became eighth grade. On top of lupus taking away my ability to dance, cheer and attend school, this disease made me angry, made me smile less and made me cry more. Little did I know that while I was becoming more fearful, I was
simultaneously becoming less prayerful. My parents have always said that “it takes an army to raise a child,” and I was blessed with a fantastic army that year. I had my family, friends and doctors all by my side. On top of that, I had one very important person that entered my life, thanks to Geneva: my Historical Theology teacher, Dr. Bracy. In the past, I have been asked how Dr. Bracy impacted my life, and my answer was pretty simple. I listened to him tell his story about the pain he experienced when he lost his son, and he explained that it was his faith that got him through the saddest time in his life. Hearing his words impacted me greatly in the hardest time in my life. He strengthened my faith in God during my most challenging moment. It was because of his class that I learned how important it was to let go of the fear I was holding on to. I discovered the importance of releasing my anger and learned how to smile again. I am still a work in progress, but when you realize that God is your biggest cheerleader, you can find a way to make your challenges seem less burdensome. Matthew 16:24 says,“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone should come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’” Although the cross in Jesus’ day may have been a symbol of death, I have chosen to put my fear to death and turn to Him for life. I gladly carry my cross because by doing this and putting my fear to death, I have received the biggest gift in return, my faith.|
INTERVIEW BY JAYNE GOODMAN GOODMAN: What was the farthest place you went to see a specialist? PEDRAZA: Although I travel to Austin to receive my monthly treatments, the farthest I have traveled is Boston Children’s Hospital. GOODMAN: You said that you initially struggled with your pettiness, what helped you realize that it wasn’t as big of a problem as you thought? PEDRAZA: I struggled with letting go of my fear. It wasn’t pettiness, it was fear that lupus was stronger than me. I had to surrender my fear but the only way that would be possible is by allowing God to take over. GOODMAN: Looking back, what is one thing you wish you could have told yourself? PEDRAZA: The one thing I wish I could have told my 13-year-old self is that there is no greater power than the power of God. When I realized that God had never left my side, the so called “lupus giant” lost its power over me. I learned how to shut out thoughts that weren’t from God and by doing this; I put my fear to death.
GOODMAN: Can you pinpoint a certain time when you felt God tell you everything was going to be okay? PEDRAZA: I can remember exactly where I was when I knew everything was going to be okay. I was in the first few weeks of my treatment (nine months after being diagnosed) and I remember I had my first rough infusion. The newness of this disease had worn off and I realized this was something that wasn’t going away like a cold. I was sad. I missed my friends. I felt very alone. I remember being on my way home from Austin and closing my eyes not understanding the “why.” Then the words of a song crept into my mind, “...I lean not on my own understanding, my life is in the hands of the maker of heaven...and I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open...I give it all to you God, trusting that you’ll make something beautiful out of me.” This song has helped my family and I through the hardest times yet. Every word has been engraved in my heart.|
ISS UES DIVING INTO THE ISSUES OF MODERN SOCIETY PHOTO BY TAYLOR TIPPIT G | 62
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IT CUTS DEEPER THAN THE SURFACE
Self harming has become more and more prevalent in a society that is continually becoming more brutal. BY AUDREY RYDEN
Layout by Audrey Ryden Graphics by Audrey Ryden
G | 64 | FEATURE
STORY IS mostly based off of a true story of a current Geneva THAT THIS student. The author took an artistic license with the story. I first self-harmed in eighth grade. I was in class, overwhelmed by thoughts flowing in my head, so I grabbed my pencil and stabbed my SUMMER, the hand with it. It wasn’t too deep, but it was enough to pull me back into I needed that reality check badly. MY MIND reality.I wasn’t doing well in school, mostly because I didn’t care about school at the time. I also was being bullied in the Geneva sense of WAS BARELY bullying; certain people would vaguely insult me with a fake smile. wasn’t mean enough to go talk about it to any teachers, or even my HOLDING Itparents, but it was enough to make me feel worthless. I also was dealing with issues at home: mainly about my grades ON IN THE because they weren’t high enough. I felt like I was useless. Those terrible thoughts—the “I’m not good or smart enough” kind of thoughts— In the beginning, that’s all the self-harm consisted of: little SEA OF dampened. cuts here and there whenever I needed to feel some sort of pain to me from the unbearable pain in my head. I felt like everyone THOUGHTS distract had it figured out. Everyone was ready for high school and I was left to my middle school life. AND STARTED behindThatclinging summer, my mind was barely holding on in the sea of thoughts and started to drown. My best friend at the time suffered a terrible loss: TO DROWN. a loved one close to her committed suicide. She was devastated. She
FEATURE | G | 65
grew depressed, started having suicidal thoughts and would call me late at night or in the early hours of the morning. I had to “talk her off the cliff,” help her sleep after she would wake up from her awful nightmares and calm her down when she was threatening to kill herself. I was her go-to person, her emotional punching bag. Eventually, as the summer went along, her attitude rubbed off on me. I grew depressed as well and started to question whatever was good and right in my life. I was not prepared to deal with any of these thoughts or these problems. I went through crippling loneliness and depression, which led to suicidal thoughts. If I killed myself, I wouldn’t have to feel lonely. I wouldn’t have to feel sad; I wouldn’t have to feel anything. I would be free from these unwanted emotions. At that time, I also started questioning my faith and wondering if it was my own and if I was truly a Christian. I had no grounding whatsoever. I started questioning my sexuality. I started thinking that if God exists, nothing really matters. I understood nihilism pretty well for a 14-year-old. I told myself that if nothing matters, why don’t I just off myself? As these thoughts circulated my head, I took to self-harming more. It was almost done in an effort to punish myself. It eventually just became a compulsory act that I put little to no thought into. I became addicted to cutting, like some people become addicted to drugs or alcohol. I grabbed ahold of it and let it ground me. It allowed me to feel pain and allowed myself to look at my life from a different point of view. I was on the path to suicide, and would’ve gone through with it one day if it wasn’t for my friends. I had one particular friend who knew about my self-harming, but he never brought it up. He was always there for me, and would talk to me whenever I needed strength. He let me direct the conversation and he would listen. If I ever was sad or lonely, I knew I could go talk to him and he would drop everything to be there for me. He carried me out of that horrible time with his love and friendship. I stopped cutting two days before New Year’s Eve freshman year. Looking back on it, I definitely regret ever starting it. While a lot of my scars faded away, some of the deeper ones are still there. People sometimes notice them and point them out, but I have backstories about each one to hide the truth. I hide the truth because I am ashamed of that part of my past. What I mean is that everyone has something that they used to do that embarrasses them. I used to never wear shorts because of my scars. I was scared of anyone seeing them. But, it’s been long enough now that I can reflect on why I did it, and while I may not be proud to show my scars, I’m not scared of them any longer. I don’t hide them anymore. I want people to see them and know I survived that part of my life, and I want to give hope to others that they can get through it too. Anyone can have scars G | 66 | FEATURE
WHILE A LOT OF MY
SCARS
FADED AWAY, SOME OF THE DEEPER ONES ARE STILL THERE...
SIGNS OF SELF-INJURY MAY INCLUDE: Scars Fresh cuts, scratches, bruises or other wounds Excessive rubbing of an area to create a burn Keeping sharp objects on hand Wearing long sleeves or long pants, even in hot weather Difficulties in interpersonal relationships Persistent questions about personal identity ("Who am I?" "What am I doing here?") Behavioral and emotional instability, impulsivity and unpredictability Statements of helplessness, hopelessness or worthlessnessww *According to the Mayo Clinic
under their clothes, but it’s important for those people to know that they are not alone. There are always people who are struggling. And even though that phase of my life is over, I’m sure for another student here, it is just beginning. For any student who is struggling with selfharm, talk to somebody. Don’t let yourself be alone with those thoughts. Don’t just ignore or internalize your feelings. Listening to sad music doesn’t help, as much as you may be drawn to it. Whether you need to go to your parents, a counselor or a close friend; do it. Even if it is someone online, just tell someone about it. Talking to people about it is the best advice I can give. I also just want to tell you, it is not worth it. Even now, I still get those thoughts that I’m sure you get, but there are better ways to deal with it. Don’t internalize it. It is not a healthy way to live. It’s just not worth it.|
I WANT TO GIVE HOPE TO OTHERS THAT THEY CAN GET THROUGH IT TOO.
FEATURE | G | 67
Blurring the lines of marriage from a different worldview. G | 68 | OPINION
MAKING A MEANINGFUL MARRIAGE It is essential to consider the constantly changing definition of marriage to understand how our culture relates to the institution. BY NATHAN YOUNG
Layout by Ryanne FitzGerald Photo by Taylor Tippit Graphic by Sydney Dennis “MAWIAGE. MAWIAGE IS what bwings us togeda today.” This classic remark from the priest in “The Princess Bride” still “wings twue” at every wedding. However, marriage has also become a point of dissent in modern America. With recent studies suggesting that around 50 percent of marriages in the U.S. ending in divorce, the purpose, meaning and significance of marriage is changing. This is a shocking statistic when you think about it; statistically, any given marriage has a 50:50 chance of failure. Even more shocking is the fact that the statistics for the Christian community show no significant difference. This may seem disheartening, and the truth is that this is not the way it should be. But that doesn’t mean that we cannot strive to do better in a world where the meaning of marriage is constantly shifting. Marriage seems to have become contractual. Its parties can opt out at any time when it becomes inconvenient. And why not? People change. The person you married may seem different after a new job, children, college or other circumstances. Why not move on when it seems like that is the thing to do. The only thing that might cause hesitation is the desire to align with traditional values, and what power do they hold? In an era of novelty, marriage has become another thing that does not have to be the way it used to be. However, as Christians, we have an obligation to be different. Although the numbers show that this has not been happening as of late, the commandments of the Bible are clear in their disapproval of divorce (Mal. 2.16, Matt. 19.9, Mrk. 10.11-12). God’s purpose for marriage is for a man and woman to complete each other, and to live in complement of one another. Ephesians 5:25 commands husbands to love their wives like Christ
loved the Church: that is, to be willing even to die for her. The basis of a Christian marriage is a pact between two people that is upheld before God. Dr. Rodney Lloyd teaches chemistry at Geneva, and he has kept this pact with his wife Lawanna for 57 years: a sign of his dedication. He takes this very seriously and firmly believes that an intentional commitment is crucial when choosing who to spend your life with. He said that he felt God steering him towards his wife initially, and that He has not stopped directing his marriage. This, he said, is what has kept them together for so long. Lloyd said that marriage is not all smooth sailing, as it can be depicted on movies or TV shows; it requires sacrifice and perseverance. Selflessness is a big part of this. “We can create a kingdom of ‘me’, where ‘I’ am the center or the kingdom…” Lloyd said. “The solution is to have God’s kingdom.” Lloyd said from experience that marriage forces you to make decisions based on other people’s interests, and this is something that changed him for the better. Lloyd cautioned against the culturally popular idea that marriage comes with an option to be dissolved with a swap. Advising a way to avoid this, he stressed the importance of choosing initially who you want to spend your life with. Another societal trend is the tendency to get married later in life. The average age to get married in the U.S. is 28. This number has steadily increased for half a century, and it is now at its highest. Jack Ross and Emily Shelton are both graduates of Geneva’s class of 2016. They are engaged to be married this July after four years of dating and just their second year of college at Calvin College in Michigan.
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“Despite being younger than the average couple, we know that the timing is right,” Shelton said. Although just beginning their journey together, Ross and Shelton seem to have a grip on what it is to be committed to each other in relationship while being held accountable to God. “We understand that the point of marriage is not just feeling in love,” Ross said. “Marriage is a promise that we will make before God.” Ross went on to explain the gravity that marriage holds for him. He said that the nature of this promise makes it binding even if it becomes inconvenient.
EPHESIANS 5:25 COMMANDS HUSBANDS TO LOVE THEIR WIVES LIKE CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH: THAT IS, TO BE WILLING EVEN TO DIE FOR HER. The primary motivation behind a marriage is love. Love is what initiates the desire to spend a life with the object of that love. However, the Christian idea of love can differ from the standard idea portrayed in film and literature. Love as defined in these contexts is often dependent on physical attraction or how well they are treating the recipient. This is the basis of marriage that is often shown—a shaky foundation. The Bible employs many different words that translate to English as “love.” The Biblical definition of the love required in the Christian lifestyle and in marriage is sacrificial, active and modeled after Christ himself (1 Jhn. 3.16-18, Jhn. 15.12). Deborah Georgelos teaches Spanish at Geneva and has been married to her husband, Marco, for almost 22 years. “Society tells us physical attraction is love,” she said. “God tells us it is not.” Georgelos believes that the way one partner may feel at a certain time is not relevant when it comes to staying in a marriage or not—what matters is the covenant they have made before God. Georgelos is cautious of accepting what she sees as the modern perception of marriage. She commented, “We say our wedding vows and promise to be with this person ‘For better or worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.’ But G | 70 | OPINION
what we really mean by that is ‘Until I am no longer satisfied in this marriage,’ or ‘Until I decide we have irreconcilable differences,’ or ‘Until I no longer feel like I love this person,’ or ‘Until something better comes along.’” Georgelos holds that it is nearly impossible to sustain a healthy marriage unless God is present in the relationship. She admits that “I am by no means an expert on this topic,” and feels sympathy for all those that have struggled with their marriage. It is the commandment of a Christian to be like Christ in all things, but we constantly fall short. She also believes that the Christian definition of marriage should remain constant despite the changing definition in culture. As Christians, we have a high calling: Christ-like love and faithfulness. This applies to all areas of our lives, but especially to marriage. In a time where the popular conception of marriage is shifting, Christian and secular ideas will continue to differ. It’s up to us to decide which values to uphold.|
50% of U.S marriages end in divorce
14.5
months
average engagement length
28
years old
average marriage age in U.S
FINDING
The internet’s most challenging subject is explained (hopefully for the last time).
NEUTRAL GROUND
BY MATTHEW SCHRODER
Layout by Lauren Jarvis Graphics by Audrey Ryden
AMERICA IS A free country. When America was first created out of the interest of preserving freedom and equality, this was an absolute (technically). However, with the massive overhauls that our country has been a part of since its inception, and the massive amounts of intelligence that are now available at the wave of our fingers, that statement is no longer a certainty. Specifically, what I am referring to is the current outcry concerning the uncertainty of the freedom of the internet; namely, Net Neutrality.
WHAT IS NET NEUTRALITY? As this is a hot topic facing the USA today, there is a very good possibility that you have already researched what in fact Net-Neutrality is. However, if you reached the Wikipedia definition and decided that it was sufficient and left it alone as I did, then you may be caught in an awkward position when you claim to know what you’re talking about. Nevertheless, I, as your self-appointed Goodwill Ambassador, realize it is my duty to help pull you out of the void and give you a fully structured idea of your own concerning the subject. Soon, you will be able to give a well-informed argument to put your peers in their place. Although it can be a very tricky subject, Net-Neutrality has the ability to be really simple before all of the confusing muck that gets heaped on top of it muddies the water. Take for example this definition from Merriam-Webster: “The idea, principle or requirement that internet service providers should or must treat all internet data as the same regardless of its kind, source or destination.” Although it may seem simple enough upon first glance, let’s break it down just in case. To begin with: “The idea, principle or requirement...” This is essentially saying that it is an inherent truth or an essential liberty. Similar to the Declaration of Independence in which all men are “endowed with certain unalienable (not able to be taken away) rights,” Net-Neutrality exists in order to protect the freedom of the internet that belongs to all users. Next up: “...that internet service providers must treat all internet data as the same...” This by all means is referring to the speed of internet and that no website, documents or any other piece of information or dealer of such information is to be put above the others. That is to say, all data on the internet is to be equally efficient and secure. Lastly: “...regardless of its kind, source or destination.” Piggybacking on the last explanation G | 72
in which all data should be handled equally, there really shouldn’t be any picking and choosing when it comes to which ought to be more equal than the rest. Although you might think that you wouldn’t need to specify that equal means that all things must be evenly proportioned over all other things, you’d be awfully surprised. Ultimately, the principles of Net-Neutrality indicate that there is never any reason, no matter how well articulated or how good it would be for a certain company, to damage the integrity of the freedom of all users on the internet. Altogether, the idea of Net-Neutrality was first brought about based upon the same general system concerning phone systems before the time of the internet: a common carrier being a supplier of goods or services to the populace, such as public utilities or the aforementioned telephone systems. The general rules of these common carriers were that it was up to the government to give authority and keep them in check, and the main guidelines were set up to say that there should be no discrimination on who received what service.
PRO VS. CON Most people have very strong opinions. On what, for what reasons and how devoted they are may depend on the person and the topic, but we all have them. If someone were to ask us how sure we are that we were to believe a certain thing, we would most certainly stand our ground and maybe even spit in their face because we are so sure of ourselves. But people are more clever than that. It all depends on phrasing. For instance, if I were to ask “have you stopped cheating on your tests yet?” you would be stuck. If you answered “yes” you would be confirming that you are in fact a cheat, while if you say “no” you would be saying that you are still currently cheating. Along those lines, most people claim to be adamantly in opposition of Net-Neutrality. That is until it is actually explained to them. For instance, many Republicans may oppose Net-Neutrality because some Democrats may be for it. However, as noticed by pollsters in their surveys, TIME Magazine reporter Haley Edwards said, “The Republican voters often say they don’t like ‘NetNeutrality,’ but they say they like it when the issue is explained instead.” Thus, they may be led to believe one thing by those who convince them that Net-Neutrality is a terrible thing for America, while they themselves are against it completely—all because the wording of what it actually is may be contorted from time to time.
NET NEUTRALITY...
Before going much further however, let me answer a question that may or may not have been floating around in your mind, but nevertheless furthers the conversation and is the conversation. The question being: “Is net-neutrality the right way?” The answer may actually be more complicated than it may seem to be. One response is held by the American people, the backbone of our country, who lie in support of Net-Neutrality (internet freedom) and another, the internet service providers (such as Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner etc.) who aim to repeal it in order to rid the internet of government control…among other reasons. The first of the two sides, the populace, uses the constitution as the main argument for keeping NetNeutrality. For what right do the internet providers have to block, slow down or require extra payment for the services they provide? There is no basis for giving favor to certain websites, such as the certain ones that the service providers may own, and giving a much slower connection to their competitors’ websites just as it is not just for phone companies to make a call’s signal worse if they disapprove of the person on the other line. As this itself is a fairly convincing argument, the internet providers have promised that they would not take the ability to charge whatever they wanted for a certain person’s internet connection lightly and would be decent about it, but that doesn’t seem to be a binding contract in which there is no way they could go back on their word without legal repercussions. On the other hand, those in favor of the repeal of Net-Neutrality may, and have, pointed out that Net Neutrality itself is the government controlling and meddling in the internet. Throughout history, the greatest innovations have always come about due to the government backing out, rather than butting in. Along those lines, if the government would get rid of net-neutrality, there would be companies that would have to be able to compete with others by offering cheaper, and or faster ,internet than their competitors—thus helping to speed up the innovation process. All in all, while some Democrats may make the claim that they are all for Net-Neutrality, and some Republicans may seek to oppose them, everyone’s side ought to be for America’s founding principles, namely: to provide equality to all. Therefore, no matter if the internet service providers promise to be good with their power, the main goal of our country shouldn’t always be to please the most powerful. Sometimes it ought to be to ensure freedom for all people, despite the potential “creativity stifling” that may be occurring (which in all likelihood isn’t at all affected by not allowing companies to charge more money for services).|
IS •A law that says that the Internet must be the same speed for all users without extra charges for faster connection •A common carrier, which means that companies must treat it as a service like your mail •Like a railroad in which all train cars (data) is/are at the same speed to help maintain equality •Government control of the internet— which according to whom you are speaking may be a bad thing •What has always been the case in the United States
ISN’T
•Based off any constitutional amendment •An issue that only one political party agrees with—both sides are conflicted. •Like a freeway in which everything travels at different speeds to help efficiency •Something that has ever been tried in the United States •The idea that a fishing net shouldn’t be able to decide what fish to pick up (despite the confusing wording)
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THE POWER OF FANTASY Many people are against fantasy literature, but are they against it for the wrong reasons or reasons that don’t exist?
BY BRADEN HALL
Layout by Lauren Jarvis Photos by Braden Hall
I THINK IT is funny how the topic of whether or not Christians should read fantasy literature is an issue, since I have read fantasy literature at a Christian school since I could read. I read all “The Chronicles of Narnia” in Grammar School and when I entered Logic School I was quickly immersed in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien with all his rings and hobbits, who live in holes. G | 74 | OPINION
There are two different views for whether or not Christians should read fantasy literature. Some believe Christians should not read fantasy literature because morally they believe that wizards, witches and magic do not coincide with Christian morals. The flip side is that Christians should read fantasy literature because it addresses topics that are relevant to the real world. I believe that Christians
Although they are fiction and fantasy, this genre stiill holds great potential to influence readers.
should read fantasy literature because it gives a different setting for the same world issues. Fantasy literature reveals different topics and issues by blowing them out of proportion. It reveals the inner struggle of characters fighting with temptation ,and shows the evil in others. It shows that temptation is not inherently evil, but the people in the stories who continually act against their better judgment turn out to be evil. Take Sauron the evil power in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy for example. His hunger for power drove him to create the one Ring which started J.R.R. Tolkien’s entire world. The Ring symbolizes power and those who continually subject themselves to the power of the Ring are subjected to more and more temptation the longer they wear it.
This could be a mirror to any type of sin that leads to addiction. People hand over their will to numerous things like drugs, alcohol or even things less sinister like technology or gossip. Like the Ring, the more you give into it the more control it has over your life. Gollum became addicted to the power he had with the Ring and the evil he could do with it that he became a shadow of his former self. I think the biggest problem that people have with fantasy literature are books like the “Harry Potter” series that introduces magic, wizards and witches. “The Chronicles of Narnia” also includes magic. How else do you explain how four little children travel to a different world through a wardrobe? The problem I believe people have with “Harry Potter” is that the books use witchcraft, something people believe to be evil, and turns it into something good. J.K. Rowling makes certain that evil stays evil and good, good. Although, Harry, Hermione and Ron are all involved with magic, it is their love for one another that saves them. Everyone has or will experience the darkness of the world and the unavoidable void of loss or troubles of a dreary day. “Harry Potter” magnifies each of these experiences to create an extraordinary fight between good and evil, and the inner struggle of choosing what is right even if that is not what is easy. The world of Harry Potter presents a story that takes a dreary beginning full of adversity, and gives hope that it can be overcome, although not alone. We have countless historical figures that have lived a similar life, of course without the fantastical element of magic. “The Chronicles of Narnia” have the magic like “Harry Potter,” but it is a representation of something else. “The Chronicles of Narnia” series is not real, Aslan is not real, he is an imaginary lion that is in a fantasy element of an imaginary world. I am happy to say Aslan can be real, but not in the sense that if you crawl through a wardrobe you are going to see a talking lion who teaches you how to be a better person. I am talking about the symbolism. Aslan is real because he is a symbol of something that is real. Aslan models Jesus. Within the Narnia books, Aslan died for Edmund as pardon for his treason, just as Jesus died for all of our treason. Fantasy is not a bad thing. It is not manipulative or destructive; it is simply the magic of your imagination. The magic of literature is becoming more difficult to find as technology makes everything available at the touch of your fingers, but it is much more enjoyable and magical to those who search for it.| OPINION | G | 75
UNDER GENDER PRESSURE
The pressure society puts on women and how to deal with it.
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BY JAYNE GOODMAN
Layout by Braden Hall Photos by Braden Hall Graphics by Braden Hall
THE HOLE. WE all feel it at some point in our life: that horrible pit in our hearts that keeps asking for more. The more you feed it, the bigger it gets. We feed it with trophies and ribbons, new haircuts and make-up, staying fit and eating healthy, but it never satisfies. Everywhere we look, we see the world giving us more things to fill the hole. We get the same message from movies to magazines: pressuring us to be perfect, strong and sensitive, and to be accomplished at everything we do. These are the things that the world offers to fill the hole with, and that’s exactly why we have to look outside of this world to fill it. Appearance can be a tricky thing when it comes to determining whether or not it pressures you to be someone else. Catherine Davis, teacher, wife and mom, reflects back and remembers that she used to spend too much time worrying about appearances. “I worked very hard to appear like I had it all together and could do it all with ease,” Davis said. Working at something that never really fulfills eventually becomes exhausting. Its enticing features can consume you for the worse. But there is always a way out of the appearance trap. “The more I fix my thoughts on who God has called me to be and what God says about me, the more comfortable I am in my own skin,” Davis said. Trap number two would be thinking you are only worth the amount of accomplishments you have. It’s easy to feel like you’ve achieved something and live off the praise of that accomplishment for a while. But again, this just adds more false happiness to the hole. Trusting in God will fill the hole in your heart and replace this need for accomplishment. “You have the freedom to be who He created you to be and also trust that He will give you strength and cover you with grace to do what He’s called you to do” Davis said. Trap number three is social media. This trap can get ugly. Social Media can be a great way of staying in touch with friends and lots of other things, but it can easily become a second life. When you use social media to portray yourself as a more perfect person, then you’ve probably crossed the line. “I think there’s a purpose for social media, but I don’t think that it fosters closer relationships or actually makes people more connected in a meaningful way,” said Davis. The list of traps goes on and on. But overall the thing that truly matters is God’s love for us. “It’s a mind-boggling, crazy, audacious love, and when you begin to accept that God really loves you that much, it’s life changing and trumps any struggle you have,” Davis said.
BY MATTHEW SCHRODER THERE IS AN undeniable war on gender happening in the world today. In most of society, anyone can be any gender they want to be. Anyone can say, “I want to be a man tomorrow because I’ve grown tired of being a woman today.” However, this can be very damaging to those certain people who belong to the ideas of traditional genders. Long gone are the days in which people can be confident in the fact that men are men and women are women. Nevertheless, despite the slow cultural attempt at casting aside, there is an ever-growing amount of pressure put on men to be men. In almost every household, boys are taught from an early age to be strong in the face of adversity and to be masculine above all else. However, as Chemistry instrutor Mr. Dodd Naiser, the man of a million stories, points out, “Jesus never taught masculinity.” Jesus never told men to subdue women, bottle every emotion inside and never ask for help to avoid looking like wimps. In fact, Jesus actually redefined the word. “He teaches meekness, tenderness and kindness. He doesn’t teach macho-ness or dominance,” Naiser said. This is the crutch that most men fall on at the present. Even though nobody is perfect, most men feel the need to be exactly that. Something inside forces us to bottle up any flaw that may make us seem weak or incompetent, and accordingly overcompensate in other areas. This is perhaps the greatest setback that men face in the world: their own ambition and inability to admit defeat. While women oftentimes have their own support groups in order to encourage and strengthen each other, men choose to go through hardships on their own as to not show weakness. In order to remedy this, men ought to brave the potential awkwardness and embarrassment of helping someone who doesn’t explicitly ask for it. Traditionally, men were the ones to have jobs and women were the ones to take care of the families. Sure, this wasn’t always the case, but in most societies, every person’s role was already defined. However, with the rise of the modern era in which equal rights are held in high regard, roles are being reversed. “Mom might be the breadwinner over Dad, and that might be the way it should be; that might be what [God] calls you to do,” Naiser said. In today’s age, this is just a fact. However, this can be a hard thing to grasp for those who were raised on the principles of chivalry which hold that it is up to the man to protect and support the woman. Maybe this means that chivalry is dead. Maybe women don’t want to be put up on a pedestal anymore. This is just what our society asks of men now: to be able to adapt to the changes. However, in spite of the changes in modern culture, men still have the ability to thrive and are still well off. If our biggest downfall is too great a sense of pride, then we will be just fine. All the same, please take these words to heart and remember what Jesus tells us: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”|
What it means to be a male in today’s culture.
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EXPANDING HORIZONS TO THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT THINGS THAT MATTER
PHOTO BY TAYLOR TIPPIT GRAPHIC BY RUTH WACKER
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OUT OF THE BOX
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GOT CHICKEN?
Sophomore Luke Bower gets greasy as he reviews the best places for fried chicken in Boerne.
BY LUKE BOWER
Layout by Ryanne FitzGerald Photo by Luke Bower
Raising Cane’s is a popular hang out in Boerne because of its laid-back atmosphere and good chicken. G | 80
RAISING CANE’S CHICKEN
THE MAINSTREAM ANSWER to the question, “What’s for dinner?” is usually chicken. Chicken, is one of the few foods in almost every culture in the world. It is a main ingredient in Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Soul, Thai and Indian food. And each culture has found a way to put its own spin on chicken. In America, we do what America does best: deep fry the chicken and serve it up with gravy and as much bread as possible. I visited several local fried chicken stops to find Boerne’s best fried chicken.
Raising Cane’s, located at 1406 S. Main Street, is one of Boerne’s newest restaurants and was much anticipated by many. The story of how Cane’s came to be is rather interesting. Cane’s is owned by Todd Graves, a business student who received the worst grade in the class when he presented his idea for a chicken finger restaurant. When no banks would grant him a loan, he worked as a factory worker until he could launch Cane’s on his own. His idea blew up across the country, and the new location in Boerne is no exception. The atmosphere in the restaurant is electric, with walls adorned with local school sports uniforms. The concept is simple: they only serve chicken fingers, fries, cole slaw and bread. That’s it. The chicken is tasty and very juicy, but when it comes to the breading, a little more crunch would be appreciated. What really makes Cane’s stand out is their famous sauce: a sweet and tangy creation of what seems like a cross between barbeque sauce and ranch dressing. The three-finger combo is served with fries and a piece of grilled Texas toast. The best way to eat this is to fold the chicken into the bread and add the Cane’s sauce to create the ultimate chicken sandwich. They have a chicken sandwich on the menu, but this method is the best option. You can order extra bread if the one piece of toast does not cut it for you. Cane’s is great and the atmosphere makes it a perfect hangout for anyone in or out of school. Their hours are 10 A.M. to 11 P.M., except for Fridays and Saturdays when it closes at midnight.
BUSH’S CHICKEN
Bush’s Chicken, located at 1550 TX-46, was founded in Waco, TX in 1996 by Keith and Charlene Bush. There are now over 90 locations across Texas. Bush’s has the perfect location for attracting students as it sits right across the street from Champion High School. It also has a unique multi-lane drive-through that gets you your chicken in a flash. As for the chicken, it is Texas-raised and marinated daily in Bush’s signature marinade, which makes it flavorful and juicy. The batter is well seasoned with a great crunch factor. The standard meals are served with a fairly extensive choice of sides, a drink, and a soft, melt-in-your-mouth yeast roll. An affordable favorite among students are the tender rolls: crispy chicken tender sandwiches in some of Bush’s yeast rolls for only a dollar a piece. On “Tender Tuesdays,” you can get 16 tenders, gravy and six rolls for $10.99 (regularly $21.49). Also of note is the tea, which is worth a trip on its own. Happy hour for drinks is every day from 2 to 4. My only critique of Bush’s is that everything on my plate, including the plate itself, was yellow. I must confess, I did have the option of ordering green beans or cole slaw, but I couldn’t pass up the corn nuggets. Nevertheless, Bush’s chicken itself makes any yellow-ness easy to overlook. This place had the best chicken out of the lot. The hours for the Boerne location are 10:30 A.M. to 10 P.M. daily.
HUNGRY HORSE
Hungry Horse is a locally-owned restaurant located at 109 Saunders Street in Boerne. Hungry Horse is well known at Geneva for providing burgers for the junior class fundraising lunches on Tuesdays, but there is definitely more to it. While Hungry Horse has an extensive menu of home-style favorites, the chicken is definitely worth trying. The batter makes it special. It is a perfect mix of flour and seasonings such as salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and oregano. The chicken is juicy and fried to a perfect crunch. Hungry Horse is the only establishment I visited that wasn’t a fast food chain and it shows. The chicken is high quality, the seasonings have that little extra something and the sides available aren’t just your standard fast food fare. You can choose from a variety of vegetables, and your meal comes with a bran muffin. If you are looking for healthier fried chicken without all the grease and fried sides, this is your place. Plus, it never hurts to eat local. The hours are 11 A.M. to 9 P.M. daily.|
CHURCH’S CHICKEN
Church’s Chicken, located at 428 W. Bandera Road next to the HEB parking lot, is an international chain. Founded in San Antonio in 1952 by Goerge W. Church Sr., Church’s serves the usual fried chicken dinners, with a choice of sides, a biscuit and a drink. In all honesty, my visit to Church’s left me speechless over the lack of service and general uncleanliness of the restaurant. Once I finally got what I ordered, the chicken was dry and the breading was scarce and not crunchy at all. The honey butter biscuits were pretty decent, but I couldn’t get past a general artificial taste to everything. The hours are 10:30 A.M. to 10 P.M. daily. Out of the four, Church’s was the lowest quality. I do not recommend.
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KENNY CRITIQUES
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Senior Kenny Kidd delves into the topic of movie criticism and what an informed opinion of a movie looks like. BY KENNY KIDD
Layout by Ryanne FitzGerald Graphic by Ruth Wacker I WORKED FOR almost exactly one year at the AMC theater (still frequently called Starplex, from better times) right down the road from Geneva. My job consisted of selling popcorn, cleaning up people’s trash, smiling, making small talk, ripping people’s tickets and telling them which theater their movie was in—in case they couldn’t read the big, bold number on their ticket. During one shift as a greeter, I distinctly remember a middle-aged man who wore a cowboy hat and dirty jeans, smelled of cigarettes, and spoke with a rough voice. As he handed me his ticket for “Assassin’s Creed,” he asked, “Is it good?” I hesitated: my mind went back and forth between my duties as a polite, ever-positive greeter at a movie theater who mindlessly loves every movie he watches, and someone who thinks about what he watches, judges the worth of the movies he sees and values honesty. But I knew he wasn’t expecting a response along the lines of, “Well, the story is almost incomprehensible, the dialogue feels completely bare and inhuman, and I didn’t feel or think a thing while watching it other than frustration. Also, the action was pretty boring and it looked gross,” so I think I said, “It depends on what you like. He chuckled a little, and I tried my best not to crinkle my nose as the smell of his tobacco-laden breath invaded my nostrils. Then he said—and I’ll never forget this because it sounded written, as if for a character—“As long as it’s got lots of shootin’ and killin’, I’ll love it.” I smiled, ripped his ticket, and said, “You’ll enjoy it then!” He went into his movie, and I never heard if he loved it or not, but I can assume so based on his taste. I remember being frustrated by him and wondering, “Why would you want to spend money and time on lowest-common-denominator garbage? What do you gain, how do you feel fulfilled and improve yourself by watching that? What kind of an experience is something you’ll forget on the drive home?” But then the thought came to me: “How can I say he’s wrong?” And you know what, he’s not. Not really. People put a lot of stock into Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, Metacritic and revered movie critics like Peter Travers and Roger Ebert. How many people go on Rotten Tomatoes, see the “Certified fresh” qualifier, and decide that they should see the movie they were thinking about watching?
The problem with sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB is that they were created by people who thought they could turn something subjective— taste in movies and art—into something objective. Everyone takes something different—some thought or feeling—from the movies they watch, and everyone has a different, subjective idea of what constitutes a “good movie.” For Mr. Dirty-JeanedTobacco-Chewer, “Shootin’ and killin’,” constitutes a “good movie.” For some people, all they want to see is something idealistically happy: some form of escapism. There’s no room for negative emotion and difficult truths in their “good movie.” Some people only want to watch some esoteric, completely metaphorical and abstract art-house film that every member of the audience walks out of not understanding in the slightest what they just watched, but they wouldn’t dare admit that to anyone else. This is their “good movie.” Well, if it’s the case that everyone’s reaction and emotional response to a movie varies by the individual, then what is the point of film criticism? At first glance, it seems that critics review movies with the intention of letting their audience know whether or not the movie is worth their time and money, and this is how it should be. I’ve noticed something, however, and it probably won’t shock anyone to hear it. The majority of people don’t ever fully read a review when they look up whether a movie is worth watching. They see the Tomatometer, the four stars by Peter Travers or the quote on the Blu-Ray cover that says, “One of the best movies of the year.” But they rarely read why. I believe it’s safe to say that most people simply go by the objective measurement (the Tomatometer) when deciding whether they want to see something, and rarely ask why people loved it. So, there may be many film reviewers who are honestly articulating WHY they liked or didn’t like a movie, but all people will see is ¾ stars, a B+, etc. At that point, the purpose of the review is lost. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard people argue about whether a movie is good by saying, “Well, it has a 74% on…” as if that means something. Feelings and thoughts are subjective, and so it is impossible to really call a movie “good.” The only way you can really call a movie “good” is if it expresses some kind of truth or contains an important moral lesson or something, but it’s rarely
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used that way. “Good” means “I liked it.” And people are losing their capacity for thinking independently and feeling their own way about a movie because of the “objectivity” of Rotten Tomatoes, etc. A good review for a movie should accurately inform you about the qualities of the movie that the critic responded to—positively and negatively—and the reader should be able to infer whether or not the movie they are describing has the qualities that they respond to, or that they feel some amount of fulfillment, some satisfaction, from experiencing. What’s really interesting about the subjectivity of movie reviews is that, in reading them, you learn more about the reviewer than the movie, really. Two separate critics could review the same movie, give the same details on it, and express completely different thoughts and feelings on it. In doing so, you’re learning about the kind of person they are— what they think about, how they feel, and what they value as important and meaningful. This is the same for everyone when they’re talking about movies, music or whatever they enjoy and find meaning in. With Mr. Dirty-JeanedTobacco-Chewer, I instantly knew that I could never carry on a conversation with him for more than five minutes or connect with him, based solely on his preference for “Shootin’ and Killin’” in his movies. With everyone else, you pick up a lot of their personality simply in the movies they like, and why they like them. If someone loves “Phantom Thread” because it looked gorgeous and had beautiful costume design, you know they appreciate beauty and the finer things in life. If someone loves it because they related to Daniel Day-Lewis’ character, you know that they’re a self-absorbed “artist” who rarely shows compassion for others or leaves their own mind. If it’s because of the incredible subtlety and complexity of the character motivations, and because the movie found its conflict in the subconscious mind of two people struggling in a relationship, you know that they are analytical, read between the lines and attempt to understand people. If someone says, “I dunno, I just liked it,” when asked why they like a movie, you know that they don’t really think much about why they feel what they feel, and feelings come before thought for them. That or they just don’t think for themselves and like it because it has a fresh Tomatoscore. A proper movie reviewer should understand the various desires that people have when they watch a movie, and express the type of audience that will like the movie they’re writing about. In a very real sense, movies, or your taste in movies, review you. The same goes with everything you find enjoyment and fulfillment in. So it is important to understand why you like what you like, and what that says about you.| G | 84
FOR SOME PEOPLE, ALL THEY WANT TO SEE IS SOMETHING IDEALISTICALLY HAPPY: SOME FORM OF ESCAPISM. THERE’S NO ROOM FOR NEGATIVE EMOTION AND DIFFICULT TRUTHS IN THEIR “GOOD MOVIE.”
CUTTING IT
CLOSE BY EMME OWENS AND LAUREN JARVIS Layout by Lauren Jarvis Graphics by Audrey Ryden
Clothes are always evolving, and styles can tell us much about what is going on in society.
MY NUMBER ONE go-to outfit is ripped jeans, a comfy v-neck and converse. Personally, I care about my appearance and usually try to dress appropriately for every occasion. I don’t do this because I think others will judge me or because I am self conscious or value my looks more than anything. I do this because I enjoy clothes, shopping for new outfits and always getting ready for the day. I do this for me. Your clothes send a bold statement. They say a lot about you as a person and often times offer an inside look at how you live your life. If you wear grungy clothes, some might think you don’t care about what you wear so you must not care about other things in life. Your appearance or style and fashion may not be a priority in your life. Others portray their personalities through their weird sense of fashion with a unique haircut, color or style and crazy makeup while some want attention so they dress to stand out in a crowd and wear clothes that
attract a certain audience and leave an impact on them. Fashion sends a message and plays a major role in first impressions. Walking into a business interview wearing shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops does not send the I-am-a-professional-and-I-really-wantthis-job vibe. It sends the opposite effect and could cost you a huge opportunity for success. Sometimes fashion can be intimidating and provoke the wrong type of judgement. For example, if someone approaches you and they give you a weird feeling, your natural instinct is to get out of the situation and run. But in reality this person could have been harmless. Our clothes determine how we are perceived and allow others to make the choice to approach us or run the other way. Your body is a billboard to promote yourself. Take that opportunity and advertise yourself how you want to be seen.
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1920 1930 1940 1950 1960
THE FLAPPER DRESS This style was unique to its time because it didn’t accentuate the waist and figure of the woman wearing it. Women wore this because men thought women were trying to dress like men.
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SHORTER SKIRTS Fabric was scarce because of the Great Depression so the women did what they could with the fabric they had. Naturally the hems of the skirts got shorter. The skirts rose to about knee length. The celebrities began to adopt this style too.
THE BIKINI It was no surprise to the designer that this style would be controversial because it was literally named after an atomic bomb site: The Bikini Atoll. It was initially created to minimize the use of fabric during and after World War II.
THE MINI SKIRT Even though the popular styles were to wear full skirts right below the knee, the mini skirt started to make an appearance. The public was super uneasy at first because it was so short and, at the time, it wasn’t typical to show that much leg in public.
HEAD TO TOE PVC This was definitely one of the strangest blips in fashion to have been documented. It was famous for being a huge nuisance to wear because of the chaffing.
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
MASSIVE HIGH HEELS These were gigantic. The purpose of these shoes is the same as normal heels. They were designed to make a person taller, but these are unlike any heel I have ever worn. They are basically bricks that you walk around with on your feet. Just imagine walking through the mud with these on; they would weigh probably 100 pounds.
FANNY PACKS Fanny packs are one of those things that you either love or hate. People thought that they looked ridiculous and dorky, however, they are making a comeback! People on the street are wearing them, and Urban Outfitters currently sells them.
CARGO PANTS These were originally worn by soldiers in the ‘30s so they could hold all their equipment. They made their first appearance in modern fashion in the late ‘90s. With these hip pants you never have to carry a backpack or a purse ever again. Just put everything you own in your pockets.
JUICY COUTURE Tracksuits: Have you ever been so embarrassed that your sweatpants and your shirt don’t match?! These tracksuits were all the rage because of the bedazzled “Juicy” right on the butt. Yet another style you can’t wear around your grandma.
DISTRESSED THINGS If you thought that wearing ripped jeans to a Thanksgiving dinner was bad, imagine showing up to your grandma’s looking like you just threw all your clothes in a wood chipper. Ripped clothes became popular because “it looks cool.”|
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CAN’T KEEP THESE BOOKS TO THEMSHELVES Ever wonder where the Geneva teachers got all their brilliance? Check out these books recommended by Mrs. Greenlees, Dr. Lloyd, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Shelton. BY TAYLOR TIPPIT
Layout by Emme Owens Photos by Taylor Tippit
MR. ROB SHELTON
HEAD OF RHETORIC SCHOOL
These aren’t necessarily favorites because 1) there are too many, 2) because I am going to purposely leave off C.S. Lewis because he has written all of my favorites, and 3) because I’ll instead name a meaningful book in three categories of my choosing.
THE VOYAGE TO ALPHA CENTAURI
BY MICHAEL D. O’BRIEN
This is one of those books that, for some reason, I like the “feel” of. It is a mix between Biblical literalism, scientific speculation, conspiracy theory, and redemption. We follow a retired Nobel-prize winning curmudgeon physicist as he and hundreds of others (you guessed it) voyage to a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, our closest neighbor star. But like you probably guessed, it’s about way more than just the voyage.
WHY I AM A CHRISTIAN
NORMAN GEISLER & PAUL HOFFMAN, EDITORS
This is not just a book of collected testimonies, but a collection of specific essays addressing areas that many find to be intellectual hurdles or challenges to Christianity. Three examples: “Why I Am Not a Moral Relativist” by Frank Beckwith, “Why I am Not an Atheist” by J. Budziszewski (a past Mars Hill guest lecturer), and “Why I Believe Jesus is the Son of God” by Peter Kreeft. There is not a wasted page in the book and every writer has an approachable style. Many students over the years have related to me how helpful this volume has been.
NEVER LET ME GO
BY KAZUO ISHIGURO
Ishiguro is one of my favorite novelists and fittingly, he won the Nobel prize for literature this past year. Most of his novels have in common a first-person narrative style that forces the reader to question or get behind what the narrator is saying. One of two of his novels that have been adapted as a film, “Never Let Me Go” explores the unexpected fate of some students at an exclusive English boarding school…and by unexpected, I mean unexpected in a way you probably won’t anticipate.
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MR. PAUL JOHNSON HUMANITIES INSTRUCTOR
I think the reason I like these books best is because all of them struck me with a sense of wonder and awe the first time I read them so much so, that I wanted to read them again.
THE SPACE TRILOGY BY C.S. LEWIS
“The Space Trilogy” is actually three books, but we’ll just pretend that they were meant to be one. This is actually the fist of my top three that I read. My aunt gave these books to me when I was in junior high and they ignited in me a love of science fiction and fantasy literature. In retrospect I realize how much Lewis was influenced by both Homer and Milton in his trilogy. It is all about a journey that really leads back home with a triumphant return, and it is populated with marvelous creatures but also soundly rooted in Christian doctrine.
PARADISE LOST
BY JOHN MILTON
“Paradise Lost” has all the same enchanting features of Epic, but it is also thoroughly Christian. Milton builds his epic story on the first book of the Bible (and a little imagination) to “assert eternal providence, and justify the ways of God to men.” In the place of fantastic creatures like Polyphemus or Circe, Milton personifies Satan and Sin to answer the problem of evil. Milton achieves a sense of wonder in his poem that also animates Christian doctrine which, I think, led me to a deeper understanding of who God is.
THE ODYSSEY
BY HOMER
I like “The Odyssey” for all the fantastic events and creatures that Odysseus experiences. I like the chiastic structure of the poem, the telemachy, the ritual of epithets (when dawn with her rose red fingertips shone once more), and the victory of the conclusion. Odysseus, the triumphant king, returns from an ambling journey to his family and land and claims them for his own. I like this because he foreshadows the return of the triumphant Christ.
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MRS. SUSAN GREENLEES PRE-CALCULUS INSTRUCTOR
CONQUERING MOUNTAINS
BY GINNY HENDERSON
This is the story of a little girl from China who was adopted and brought to America. Her family was challenged when the girl became ill. This book is about her family’s faith and what God taught them in their spiritual journey. I don’t have the experience of the physical challenges and hospital stays. The author gives insight to the stages of conquering whatever they face. She makes sense of what God is doing in her life.
KITE RUNNER
BY KHALED HOSSEINI
“Kite Runner” is a fictional story dealing with abuse and cultural life in Afghanistan. This is one of my favorites because I was interested in the Islamic culture. This book increased my awareness of the struggles of Afghanistan culture. It let my mind go to a place I don’t really have any experience in.
SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME BY DENVER MOORE AND RON HALL
This book describes the relationship between the wealthy and the homeless, and the reality that everyone has problems of some sort. It’s kind of a soup kitchen relationship between a wealthy volunteer and a homeless person. It challenged me in social acceptance. The book taught me that invisible barriers exist in society. This book reminds me of why I love the Harvey work that my husband and I did. This was the book in action.
DR. RODNEY LLOYD CHEMISTRY INSTRUCTOR
GRACE AND PEACE
BY THOMAS H. OLBRICHT
It is collection of essays in memory of David Worley. He was a quiet man who earned a living by owning radio stations. He spent his money on mission work in Russia. I was on the Board of Trustees at Austin Graduate School of Theology. David Worley used to be the president and chancellor at this school. He taught me values by the way he led his life. His emails always ended in Grace and Peace, which is how they named the book.
THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH
BY KEN FOLLETT
“The Pillars of the Earth” is set in the 1000s, about a cathedral builder. It’s about his life and how it took him years of building the cathedral. This book gave me insight on the construction of the cathedral. It had an emotional impact on me and tugged on my heartstrings to live with them through the personal difficulties.
INTO AFRICA
BY MARTIN DUGARD
Dr. Livingstone was an explorer who went to Africa to write about the country. Stanley went into Africa to find him. It was very primitive and very tribal. It gave me an understanding of how the turbulent times were in the late 1800s. The book gives an insight on what they faced and what they had overcome.
THE
TALON
Mr. Shelton makes some suggestions for the new uniform and lists some of the interesting books some of our faculty have penned.
Proposed Uniform Changes Since our uniform supplier has gone out of business, the GSB Board has proposed several possible new uniforms. You can vote for your favorite on our website. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Armor. Comes in either Roman or medieval styles. House-color helmet plumage extra. Burqa. Unisex and comes in black, dark black, charcoal black, or off-black. Work Jumpsuit. You can choose from two styles: hazmat or mechanic, and both have utility pockets! Leisure or Pant Suit: The leisure suit for guys (in choice of orange or chartreuse) and the pant suit for girls (in choice of Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama).
Be sure to log your vote at www.genevaquarterly.com.
Recommended Books Written by Our Faculty Why Dirk Russell’s Calvinism Was Destined to Be Wrong By Dr. John Rosheger How John Rosheger Freely Chose the Wrong Theology By Dirk Russell Cats are People Too: But You’re Not By Paul Johnson Stories About Students Who Like the Stories I Read to Students By Susan Greenlees How to Mispronounce Anyone’s Name By Curby Graham Putting Draygons in Baygs: A Fayntasy Novel By Jill Daniels The Life of Jonah Short: A Minute-by-Minute Account By Hillary Short Stuff You Won’t Understand By Dr. Howard Short Salvation Made Easy: Asking C.S. Lewis into Your Heart By Rob Shelton Shut Up and Get Out of the Office: A Memoir By Royal Brown
GET THIS IN YOUR EARS Music has been a part of all cultures in history; it’s a uniting factor for people everywhere. Sophomore C. Eden Kidd (Cammie Kidd) explores the effects of music and its vast potential for interpretation.
BY C. EDEN KIDD
Layout by Taylor Tippit EVERY SECOND OF every day, billions of pairs of eyes see a different image than every other. Billions of impossibly intricate pathways of nerves in billions of different bodies conjure countless creations of color, sound, feeling, thought and emotion in every complex human mind. Tens, hundreds, maybe thousands of them see or hear the same thing at once, but never in exactly the same way. Every sight, sound, smell or sensation puts a unique image in every head. And that’s exactly how we experience music. If you think about it, no thought is ever fully communicated. We build words to describe our thoughts as best we can. But words are not absolute; they have definitions more than they have meaning. When I say ‘dog,’ ‘joy,’ ‘beauty,’ or ‘platypus,’ it puts a different image in every head, and it gives them all a slightly different feeling. So, you can spend as long as you’d like describing a thought or a feeling to someone, but that feeling to them will be more like a projection on the inside of their forehead. And it can be a lonely thing to think about. You are the only one who has ever really experienced your thoughts, your memories and your emotions. And you have never really felt someone else’s joy, their pain, their disappointment or their bouncing-off-thewalls excitement. Empathy only goes so far. It’s built on an individual’s influences. If we truly felt one another’s emotions, human beings wouldn’t hurt one another. And if we did, we’d waste absolutely no time in seeking to heal the wound we caused because it would be our wound too. We wouldn’t have any trouble with misunderstandings because we would be able to sort things out by just talking. We would have no reason to hide our emotions the way we do. We would always be sure to be honest because we would know that we were understood, I mean really understood. And this is where music comes in. It’s the job of an artist—a musician, lyricist, composer, painter, director, writer, etc.—to talk to strangers. But they don’t just talk to you, they communicate. They do their best to take a thought or a feeling and spin it out of the clouds into
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something tangible—something that just might succeed in sending a complete thought from one mind to another. And the result has a profound effect on people. Like words, every song gives every listener a unique picture based on their personal experiences and history, the mood they’re in that day, what they were already thinking about and so on. But music conveys a message too abstract for language. A songwriter has an incredible opportunity to transform that deeply felt, never manifested, overwhelming something into an unspoken, personal conversation better understood by a soul than a brain. For a little while, wonderfully, mystically, human beings can understand one another; they can connect with one another more completely than they ever could by merely speaking. It’s this effect of a song that reaches people, changes someone’s perspective, or saves a life. The abstract nature of music also leaves it open to a lot of interpretation, which makes it all the more powerful. I could go through plenty of songs (mostly by Florence and the Machine) and explain line by line exactly what it means as if I wrote it. However, I can guarantee that’s not what Florence Welsh means, and not what it would mean to you either. And I think that’s one of the most beautiful things about music. The same song can mean so many things to so many people: every interpretation being so unalike while sharing the same overwhelming, inexpressible something—like contrasting lines in the same painting. So, partially for giggles, a little bit for curiosity, partially to understand people a little more, partially to widen my own perspective and be introduced to new ideas, and hopefully to do that for others, and mostly to provide a small illustration, I asked some people to interpret song lyrics. The diversity of their demeanors when I talked to them was almost more fascinating than their actual answers. Also, I decided to leave out what the artists originally meant by their words to avoid tainting the way anyone hears these songs. That being said, I hope in some way this gives you something to think about.
“Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden (album “Superunknown”).
“Black hole sun, won’t you come and wash away the rain?” • •
• • •
“That sounds depressing.” – Champion High School senior Taylour Hartje “The black hole sun could be representative of the inward need we have to feel content. Especially when we are sad or gloomy, hence the rain. Yet someone happy may never be truly happy, indicated by the black hole.” – senior Connor Tyra “He wants something other than bouncing-off-the-walls happiness to wash away his sadness.” – junior Jillian Albus “I dunno.” – small-group leader from high school Upstream at Currey Creek Church Krissa Swift “I think he’s talking about death. It sounds like he views death as an escape from the way his life is right now.” – freshman Lily Schrode
• •
Soul Meets Body by Death Cab For Cutie (album “Plans”):
•
“Sometimes we get frustrated, stressed, and suffer. Yet peace tries to ease the pain. But even then peace can fail to relieve our grief.” – Tyra “I think it’s about human suffering and the lie that life can always be perfect.” – sophomore Catarina Flores “The king is the self-centered, solipsistic, pity-party person in a relationship. The queen is the one who makes sure he’s okay at the loss of her own well being.” – Kidd
“I want to live where soul meets body, and let the sun wrap its arms around me. And bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing, and feel what it’s like to be new. ‘Cause in my head there’s a Greyhound station, where I send my thoughts to far-off destinations so they might find a place where they’re far more suited than here.” • • • • •
“Sounds like they’re looking for heaven.” – Swift “I think he’s talking about a relationship. He wants a relationship. Or maybe it’s about passion in general.” – senior Kenny Kidd “It sounds like heaven.” – sophomore Corley Petrie “I picture a train station. And wherever he is, it’s dark and black. But somewhere farther down, the train track is brighter.” – Schrode “That one sounds happy and peaceful.” – Hartje
•
“It sounds like he missed an opportunity.” – Hartje “He’s wanting to go back to a time past because of…something. Or he ignored advice people tried to give him in the past.” – worship leader at Currey Creek Church Derian Guajardo “As kids we seldom listen to anything, and we miss out on ideas and opportunities to be part of a plan bigger than us.” – Tyra
White Shadows by Coldplay (album “X&Y”):
“When I was a young boy, I tried to listen. And I want to feel like that. Little white shadows blink and I missed them. Part of a system, a plan.” • •
Queen of Peace by Florence + the Machine (album “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful”).
“Oh, the king, gone mad within his suffering, called out for release. Someone cure him of his grief… The queen of peace always does her best to please. Is it any use? Somebody’s got to lose.”
It’s the general goal of every art form to connect people, to provide some sense of community and understanding in a world full of diverse, independent individuals who have a habit of arguing with each other. It’s art that comes along and brings fiercely diverse thoughts, beliefs and personalities to sit at the same table, to share a dance or a conversation, to be simply human in each others’ eyes, nothing more and never less. It’s because of this remarkable diversity that no two moments are alike; and no moment is only one moment, but billions of contrasting yet complementary moments. It’s kind of a lonely thought, but it’s a beautiful one too.
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FACING UNFAMILIAR
FEARS If you find yourself fearing weird or irrational things—from belly buttons to bathing—you might just have one of these fears.
BY SYDNEY DENNIS
Layout Ryanne FitzGerald Photo by Taylor Tippit
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HAVE YOU EVER been so afraid or disgusted by something it gives you the chills? Maybe it’s small holes or even chickens. Listed down below are a few out of many weird phobias. After reading, maybe you’ll find out you have a few of these.
CHIROPHOBIA
ABLUTOPHOBIA
TRYPOPHOBIA
PEDIOPHOBIA
OMPHALOPHOBIA
GELIOPHOBIA
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
DEIPNOPHOBIA
THE FEAR OF HANDS This is caused due to a fear of germs or an experience or injury. The phobia is one of the rarest; people who are diagnosed typically wear mittens to keep their hands safe or to keep away from others.
THE FEAR OF BATHING As a kid, were you ever sacred to take a shower or get in the bath tub? It was a childhood fear for most but soon you probably learned to enjoy it. For others, it is a traumatic experience to have to bathe. This fear in most likely caused by something that happened in their childhood.
THE FEAR OF SMALL HOLES Although this seems like a weird phobia, it is actually a real thing. If looking at a bee hive or a flower with small holes makes you nervous, you most likely have this phobia.
THE FEAR OF DOLLS This is a very common phobia that many people suffer from: especially after watching a scary doll movie. The dolls evoke some sort of real life creepiness that makes them so easy to fear.
THE FEAR OF LAUGHTER Some love the sound of laughter and it brings them pure joy. But for others, this is not the case—they dread it. The sound of laughter actually brings them fear.
THE FEAR OF BELLY BUTTONS This phobia is also a rare one. It comes from the Greek word “Omphola” which means deep dread. The name quite exactly matches its phobia, but it can definitely be dreadful.
THE FEAR OF LONG WORDS If this word scared you , you may have this phobia. This is usually considered a fake phobia but it is actually very real.
THE FEAR OF DINNER CONVERSATION. This phobia is also a result of anxiety, and it can sometimes be awkward. The person is scared to go out because of what will happen at the dinner table. This can cause them to cancel plans very often.
ALEKTOROPHOBIA
NOMOPHOBIA
DECIDOPHOBIA
EPHEBIPHOBIA
THE FEAR OF CHICKENS This sort of phobia is typically caused by a past traumatic event. It may seem silly, but people can be clinically diagnosed with this fear, and sometimes even prescribed medication.
THE FEAR OF MAKING DECISIONS. Everyone has the struggle of making decisions every day. This can be difficult when you have a fear of making them. This usually links up with anxiety and the fear of what others think.
FEAR OF BEING WITHOUT YOUR PHONE. Lots of people have this phobia. Teens and adults alike can feel as though their phone is a guard and protection for them.
THE FEAR OF TEENAGERS Hopefully no teachers have this phobia, but it was first the “fear or loathing of teenagers.” This may explain why certain people give teens the “stink eye” when they walk into a store.
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GENEAGLE
A glance at some of the interesting things you wish you knew about campus people and random facts you may quickly forget.
THE NAME GAME
BY RYANNE FITZGERALD Photos by Taylor Tippit
AT A SCHOOL as small as Geneva, it can be easy to run into someone with the same name. The south isn’t too creative with coming up with new names, so instead they just decide to add another one of the same. See if you can recognize any of these familiar names. Here are some of the kids at Geneva going along with the same name game.
EMMA
GERMAN NAME: MEANS WHOLE OR UNIVERSAL
freshman Emma Cress, freshman Emma Russell, freshman Emma Wilson, freshman Emma Erfurt, and sophomore Emma DeVries
NATHAN HEBREW NAME: MEANS GAVE
sophomore Nathan Masso, junior Nathan Young, and junior Nathan Zuniga
GRACE
LATIN NAME: MEANS GOD’S FAVOR
freshman Gracie Janse, senior Grace Zara, freshman Grace Wacker, and freshman Grace Babic.
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ROUNDING CORNERS Has this ever happened to you? You are trying to get a friend’s attention, but they’re either too far away or you are supposed to be quiet? What are you to do? I would recommend using the Friendly Bow: an easy-touse longbow equipped with dulled arrows, used in most cases to alert your “target” that you wish to have their attention. For all of you germophobes out there who find it repulsive to do the simplest of tasks—for instance, opening a door—there is finally a product that caters to your weird responses to things that have been around since the beginning of time. With the Germophobic Door Opener’s T-Rex Grabby Stick’s original, neverbefore-seen-in-public design, you can easily reach any door—provided that it isn’t a push door or revolving door. Then, you can squeeze the hand-sized trigger to close the T-Rex’s mouth on the door handle—as long as it fits within the jaw—and pull towards yourself until you can safely enter the doorway.
BY MATTHEW SCHRODER Graphics by Sydney Dennis
While your average fire alarm has the ability to warn all those who are near of imminent danger, what happens when you are in an open field, lighting matches, and you accidentally drop one: birthing a raging brushfire? For this exact case and in other similar ones, it is advisable that one carries on themselves at all times the Portable Fire Alarm to alert those nearby who may be unaware. Once the alarm sounds, all those present can walk to a patch of dirt or concrete at a safe distance for oooing and ahhhing.
THE LUNCH LINE THE WILD BUSTLE of the morning admin is over: no more late students, no more study halls and no more parents dropping off checks. Yet, once the clock hits 11:00, Royal Brown is ready for the notorious lunchtime bustle.
Parents and relatives pile in lunches from far and wide, only to be picked up by their forgetful owners at noon—Chick-fil-a, Cane’s, Whataburger and more. We thought it would be interesting to see the most common lunches dropped off in the admin, and below are the results.
31% Cane’s 27% Whataburger 19% Subway 11% Wendy’s 8% 4%
Other
Taco Cabana
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QUARTERLY COMIC
Today, optimism is a rarity and all it takes to stand out is a positive comment.
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ILLUSTRATION BY NATHAN ZUNIGA
EDIT ORIAL
MATTHEW SCHRODER JACKSON YOUNG GABI GRIFFEY
GRACYN FREILING NATHAN YOUNG
INDE SIGN
ALEXA GEORGELOS
RYANNE FITZGERALD LAUREN JARVIS
JAYNE GOODMAN AISLING AYERS
PHOTO SHOP AUDREY RYDEN
NATHAN ZUNIGA
ANNA REIDLINGER SYDNEY DENNIS
ANSON EGGERSS
PHOTO GRAPHY ASHTON LANDIS
JACQUELINE KNOX TAYLOR TIPPIT BRADEN HALL LUKE BOWER
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THE GENEVA QUARTERLY A HIGH SCHOOL PUBLICATION www.genevaquarterly.com
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