Geneva Quarterly, Volume 10, Issue 1

GENEVA QUARTERLY Volume

CONCEPT MISSION STATEMENT

Seniors Avery Eggerss, George Viña, Hailey Smith, Gage Secor and Ally Turgon joined us on a Tuesday evening in October to capture the photos for the cover of Issue 1. We used the strong color palette for our inspiration to create a bold look.

The Geneva Quarterly, a student-led publication of Rhetoric School, serves to provide Geneva and the surrounding community 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 laced into our community with integrity and to write all pieces from a biblical worldview to the glory of Jesus Christ.

A WORD FROM OUR EXECUTIVES

Dear Reader,

As the school year begins, we hope to embrace the vibrancy associated with a fresh start.

In Volume 10, we hope to incorporate the idea of boldness into the design and creativity behind this first issue. As we dive into themes that dare us to learn, explore, live and play, we hope to bring you along with us on this journey. Our staff invites you, as the reader, to explore the depths of creativity, embrace our campus community, learn more about the world around us and focus on working hard in our on campus sports.

As the excitement around campus begins to build, we look forward to watching the growth of those around us throughout the coming year. The beauty

and inspiration behind the celebration of different colors can be found woven throughout the pages of this issue.

We are so excited to present Issue 1 of this year’s Geneva Quarterly as well as celebrate 10 years of the Quarterly publication. In each story, photograph and design found in this issue we have attempted to fully encompass the feelings and aspects associated with being bold. We hope you all enjoy this first issue as much as we do!

Sophia Baldwin

Abby Bower Ava Ayers

Sophia Dacy Kate Evans

THIS PUBLICATION IS FOR:

Geneva School of Boerne 113 Cascade Caverns Road Boerne, Texas 78015 830.755.6101 genevaschooltx.org

SCHOOL INFO:

The Geneva School of Boerne exists to provide a classical education from a biblical worldview, to equip students for a lifetime of learning, service and leadership to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Rhetoric School Population: 221 Rhetoric Faculty: 38 COLOPHON:

All verbal and visual content is solicited and selected by the Quarterly staff. Approval is garnered from our adviser, Christina Hammock, and from our headmaster, Dirk Russell. All bylined writers are held accountable for their work.

CONTACT:

To purchase an advertisement, contact: chammock@genevaschooltx.org

For questions or comments, contact: chammock@genevaschooltx.org

AFFILIATIONS:

We are proud to announce our seven-year membership with the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, where we have won five gold Crown Awards, a silver Crown Award and received a Gold Medalist Rating. We are also members of the Texas Interscholastic Press Association, where we have received the highest rating of Distinguished Merit. In addition, we have been members of the National Scholastic Press Association the past several years and have been named a Pacemaker Award finalist. This is our fourth year to be members of the Quill & Scroll International Journalism Honor Society.

MAGAZINE SPECS:

Created in Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator and printed by DOCUMation in San Antonio.

Font Families: Nimbus Sans ME, Pontiac, Ostuni Script, Tangerine.

learn live CONTENTS

pages 8-29

The Legacy Lives On Let’s Just Be Real Boy Meets World California is Getting on the Grid Digging through the Decades Controlling the Consumer If You Only Knew

pg 10 pg 14 pg 16 pg 19 pg 22 pg 24 pg 26

pages 30-49

Checking in with Our Grads Great Expectations Making a Plan of Action Sign of the Times I’m Here to Help What’s Your Take? (S)He’s Just Not That Into You Take the Long Way Home One for the Record Books

pg 32 pg 34 pg 36 pg 38 pg 39 pg 42 pg 44 pg 46 pg 49

pg 50-61

Bringing Home the Cheddar Raise a Flag to Mrs. Evans This Teacher’s a Triple Threat Finding Strength in the Struggle Play Big, Eat Bigger

pg 52 pg 54 pg 56 pg 57 pg 60

This is the Udder Truth Oh, How the Time Flies Back at it Again

Cultivating Creativity on Campus This is the Best of Bum’s

pg 62-79

pg 64 pg 66 pg 70 pg 72 pg 74 pg 76 pg 78

play explore CONTENTS

DISCOVERING THE WORLD AROUND US THROUGH CURIOUS MEANS

Gracie Doan (junior)

Graphic Alexis Livingston

THE LEGACY LIVES ON

Remembering the life and legacy of the late Queen of England

At 3:10 p.m. on September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96. Having reigned for 70 years and 241 days, the mark she left on England and on the world as a whole will never be forgotten.

While many knew about her royal duties, she was known as “Elizabeth the Silent” and never gave a press interview in her entire reign. Here are some little known facts about Elizabeth II and a timeline of what all happened during her lifetime.

1920s

1929: The Wall Street Crash of 1929 begins The Great Depression in the US.

1930s

1926: The invention of color TV. April 21, 1926: Elizabeth II born

1928: Amelia Earhart flies across the Atlantic Ocean, making her the first woman to successfully do so. 1929: The Wall Street Crash of 1929 begins The Great Depression in the US. November 18, 1928: Walt Disney's famous Mickey Mouse cartoon character debuts for the first time in "Steamboat Willie."

1934: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip officially meet at the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Prince George (Duke of Kent).

September 1, 1939: WWII begins

1940s

September 2, 1945: WWII ends November 14, 1948: Prince Charles is born.

March, 4 1945: Elizabeth joins the Auxiliary Territorial Service and serves in WWII. She learned how to drive and maintain vehicles, making her the first female British royal to serve as an active duty military member.

November 20, 1947: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip marry at Westminster Abbey, making him the Duke of Edinburgh.

1950s

1953: DNA’s double helix is discovered

November 1, 1955: Start of the Vietnam War

1960s

February 6, 1952: George VI dies and Elizabeth II succeeds to the throne.

June 2, 1953: Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation takes place and becomes the first televised coronation service.

April 12, 1955: The Polio vaccine is declared safe.

May 1965: The Queen visits West Germany.

She is the first British monarch to do so since the First World War

1970s

November 22, 1963: John F. Kennedy is assassinated.

1964: Passing of The Civil Rights Act

January 24, 1965: Winston Churchill dies.

July 20, 1969: Moon Landing 1971: First email is sent April 30, 1975: End of the Vietnam War

June 7, 1977: Queen’s Silver Jubilee, celebrating 25 years on the throne

1980s

1989: The World Wide Web is invented.

November 9, 1989: The fall of Berlin Wall

1990s

November 20, 1992: Windsor Castle is partly destroyed by fire.

August 31, 1997: Princess Diana is killed in a car crash in Paris.

2000s

September 11, 2001: 9/11

April 30, 2002: Queen’s Golden Jubilee, celebrating 50 years on the throne

2010s

June 2, 2012: Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee, celebrating 60 years on the throne

September 13, 2001: The Queen breaks royal protocol to honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks by allowing the American national anthem to play during Buckingham Palace’s Changing of the Guard.

2003: Elizabeth offered the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia a tour of her Scottish estate, Balmoral. The Queen personally drove him in her Range Rover. This made the Crown Prince increasingly nervous because women were not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia at that time.

May 17, 2011: The Queen visits Ireland, becoming the first British monarch to do so since it gained its independence in 1921.

September 9, 2015: The Queen surpasses her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, and becomes the longest-reigning British monarch.

February 6, 2017: The Queen becomes the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee (65 years on the throne).

2020s

September 6, 2022: Queen Elizabeth II appoints the 15th prime minister of her reign, Liz Truss.

June 2, 2022: The Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee commemorating 70 years on the throne.

FUN FACTS ABOUT QE II:

— Served by 15 prime ministers (including Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher)

— Owned over 30 Corgis in her lifetime

— Longest reigning British monarch ever

— Could drive without a license and didn’t need a passport or license plate since they were all issued in her name

— Was married to Prince Philip for 73 years

— Celebrated two birthdays (her actual birthday on April 21st and the other on the second Saturday in June because the weather was nicer).

— Voluntarily paid taxes since 1993, despite the fact that the Sovereign isn’t required to pay income or capital gains taxes.

— Many nicknames including “Lilibet” and “Cabbage”

— Received her first Corgi, Susan, as a gift from her father when she was 18 (1933), many of her later corgis descended directly from Susan.

— Wrote a letter to the men on the moon

— Refused to wear any nail polish other than “Ballet Slippers” by Essie

— Official title was “Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith”, no last name is needed

It’s clear that the Queen saw many changes and was greatly accomplished during her lifetime. May Her Majesty rest in peace.

Words Sophia Baldwin Design Sophia Baldwin Graphics Sophia Baldwin

LET’S JUST BE REAL

BeReal’s rise to popularity and its impact on society

Two minutes left to take your BeReal. When this notification appears on the BeReal user’s screen, pure panic ensues. The user then takes a picture of what they are doing during that exact moment and posts it with all the other BeReals of that day. The notifications themselves are sent out at specific times each day, but the company wishes to keep secret the reason these times are chosen..

The BeReal app was created in 2020 with the hopes of creating a more authentic social media experience. Once a day at a random time, BeReal sends out a notification exclaiming that it is time to post your one photo of the day, and you showcase exactly what you are doing in that moment. The app uses a dual photo system where an image is taken out of the front lens, and then a few seconds later out of the back lens. This means there are no makeup filters, sometimes unaesthetic locations, unflattering angles or messy hair.

The app’s goal is for users to showcase themselves “being real” and what they do on a normal day. Although created nearly two years ago, the app started gaining traction mid-2022.

The idea of the app was to keep people coming back to post their BeReal of the day. Let’s say you miss this two-minute period of posting, the app will allow for you to take it late, but will make sure all of your friends know how late you were.

The app also has a feature which shows how many times you retake your BeReal post in order to catch people not “being real.” In retrospect, the idea of the app sounds pretty neat. You are looking at your friends’ authentic lives and not a skewed version. However, just like every app, users have found a way to make it “less real.”

BeRealer’s are now waiting until they are doing something cool to post, and not following the schedule of the app. For example, some may wait to post until they are skydiving (yes, I saw this once) or at a concert to make it look as if they are constantly doing something crazy.

The app offers a different approach to social media. This idea of seeing what your friends are doing in that two-minute period keeps people coming back for more. However, as the authenticity of the app has quickly faded, the popularity of the app has grown. Today, there are up to 21.6 million monthly active users, and 2.93 million visits to the site. This has a lot to say about what we value as a culture, and how real we want to be on the Internet.

Current culture has decided to place a non authentic version of ourselves at the forefront, and the corruption of the BeReal app is a direct result. Now, the choice is left to the user about what exactly being real means to them.

“However, just like every app, users have found a way to make it less real.”

Words Mattie Sue Arnold Design Sophia Dacy Photo Abby Bower

BOYMEETS WORLD

Discovering cultural differences with new student Micah Briggs

New sophomore Micah Briggs comes all the way from the other side of the world. He was born in China, lived in Dallas for two years, in China for the past 13 years and his family moved to Boerne just this summer. Micah said that moving here has been a bit of a culture shock. One of the things that Micah misses the most about China is its cuisine.

“Here in America, I don’t get any real Chinese food. My mom still makes Chinese food pretty often, but there’s something different about Chinese “fast food” that you just can’t replicate at home,” Briggs said. Fried rice, muslim noodles and bingbing are among some of Micah’s favorite Chinese foods. “On a completely different note, I also love the BBQ and Mexican food here,” Briggs said.

Another thing that Micah misses about China, which is not necessarily a culture shock, but something that would be difficult for anyone to leave: his friends. “Anyone who has moved can attest to the pain of saying goodbye to friends,” Briggs said. He went on to say how it has been difficult to stay optimistic and believe in the virtues of love and friendship—there’s some part of him that does not want to go through the work of building new friendships. However, Briggs has had it easier than he expected. “Kudos to Geneva, it has not been much work to get adjusted,” Briggs said.

One of Micah’s favorite things about America is the COVID-19 policy. This was the only government regulation that was part of his everyday life back in China. “They had a zero tolerance policy for COVID. That means that the entire city would go into lock down. All the parks and beaches would be closed. Schools would send kids home. Flights and trains would be canceled. The whole population of 4.3M would be tested.

“Anyone who has moved can attest to the pain of saying goodbye to friends.”

Invariably, a couple of tests would turn out positive, so the lock downs lasted 2-4 weeks, with tests every other day. Traveling during COVID-19 was an absolute pain.” Briggs said. Every Chinese citizen had an app on their phone with a green, orange, or red QR code. You would register your phone number with the app, and the app would sync with all the government-owned cell providers to see what cell towers you were using and track your location. So if you visited a high-risk area, a city where people had COVID-19, the QR code would turn orange or red. The QR code also turned orange if you did not show up for your COVID-19 tests. They needed this QR code to get into malls, airports, and hotels, so it was important.

The biggest change for Micah in regards to schooling was going from being home schooled for the past five years to a school with classrooms, teachers and classmates. “I remember the first day of classes sitting in Mr. Odom’s room, waiting for class to start. I had the weirdest feeling. I was sitting in a classroom for the first time in a long time. That’s been a big change. My classmates and many people at the school have been very welcoming and made the transition much easier than it could have been. So, thanks to all my friends,” Briggs said.

And finally, the thing that Micah likes most about Geneva is its approach to learning. “I know that the Western Tradition is crucial to the way I understand life. I really appreciate that Geneva teaches me about this massive part of my life and I love going to school with my friends. It’s really different from being home schooled, but I love being able to see my friends every day,” Briggs said.

Words Jacob Goodman

Design Sophia Dacy Graphics Jacob Goodman

CALIFORNIA IS GETTING ON THE GRID

The California mandate on switching to all electric cars

Get ready everybody, California is going electric! Well, that’s the plan at least. On August 25, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsome announced that California is officially banning all internal combustion vehicle sales by the year 2035.

California has led the way in many endeavors to create a greener state and ultimately greener world. For example, with the approval of Ronald Reagan, the state of California established C.A.R.B. in 1976. C.A.R.B. stands for “California Air Resources Board.” Its mission is to create effective programs to fight pollution and climate change. Since the formation of C.A.R.B., air pollution in California has lessened somewhat substantially. However, California is still enduring the effects of a changing climate, and no mandate or standard has proved sufficient yet. So, the state has determined it is time for gasoline, diesel and hybrid electric vehicles to go.

There has been a good amount of buzz about the mandate, but what does it say in its entirety? In summary, on January 1, 2035, there will be no more sales of new internal combustion vehicles anywhere within the state of California; most people are probably pretty clear on this part. However, what some people may not know is that USED models of vehicles from the year 2034 or earlier can still be sold and operated after 2035. This being said, Teslas will not be flooding California roadways come 2035; not in the beginning at least. As for internal combustion vehicles that are NOT cars, the mandate is unclear. There is no segment specifically addressing motorcycles, motor sport vehicles, etc. It seems further detail about vehicles such as these is expected to be released sometime in the near future.

There’s the mandate; if it seems to be a rather simple fix for such a complex issue, it’s because it certainly is. Yes, there are 13 years between now and 2035, but considering the current state of things, that is an absurdly small amount of time to accomplish a goal as lofty as this. First off, California is in the middle of an electricity crisis. Rolling blackouts and brownouts have occurred in California more this year than they have since 2001.

This is largely due to continuous heat waves, which cause people to crank up their A/C units. Consequently, energy stores have been drained to accommodate. Clearly, something must be done about this, whether it be temporarily improving the electricity grid or directly combating climate change. California has decided to immediately address the source of the problem, climate change, with this mandate. However, the way they have decided to go about it, by enforcing use of electric vehicles, completely ignores the hole they have already dug for themselves. Climate change may have gotten them into this, and internal combustion vehicles may very well be largely to blame for this. But considering the new electricity crisis, electric vehicles cannot be the solution. It is safe to say, California has some work to do before they can ring in the year 2035.

So what must be done to ensure the success of this mandate? Well, to be very brief, a lot. California will have to find a more efficient and sustainable way to store and produce energy. For the sake of long-term environmental health, California must focus on the production of green energy. However, this may take years upon years to complete. The world lacks the technology to do this effectively, and producing such technology will require time and resources. Therefore, California will have to create a short-term solution for the sake of the mandate. At the very least, the grid will have to be improved, and energy must be conserved. If all goes well, California will be able to manage electricity enough to support more electric vehicles. If they manage to find better ways to produce energy all while working on ways to reduce pollution and climate change, conditions for the mandate will be optimal.

There’s the mandate; if it seems to be a rather simple fix for such a complex issue, it’s because it certainly is. Yes, there are thirteen years between now and 2035, but considering the current state of things, that is an absurdly small amount of time to accomplish a goal as lofty as this. First off, California is in the middle of an electricity crisis. Rolling blackouts and brownouts have occurred in California more this year than they have since 2001. This is largely due to continuous heat waves, which cause people to crank up their A/C units. Consequently, energy stores have been drained to accommodate. Clearly, something must be done about this, whether it be temporarily improving the electricity grid or directly combating climate change.

Words

Emma Malkowski

Design

Sophia Dacy

Photo

Abby Bower

“At the very least, the grid will have to be improved, and energy must be conserved.”

DIGGING THROUGH THE DECADES

Reviewing the big hits and events of 2013

CONTROLLING

The strategies mega stores use to get you to spend

You browse the aisles of Target, Starbucks in hand. The first thing you see is the dollar section, filled with budget-friendly fall decor and inexpensive electronic accessories. You leave this section with more than a few items that were definitely impulse purchases. Next, you head to the food section to pick up essentials. Along the way you find a trendy new top and cute earrings you did not even know you needed. You finally make it to the food section, only to realize why you never buy food from Target: it is really overpriced. At the checkout, you pick up a new chap stick even though you have hundreds at home. Your receipt reads over $200, yet you do not regret a single purchase. You wonder why you always leave with more items than you came for.

One of the main factors that influences shopping is store layout. Most stores will place necessities, like milk and bread, in the back of the store. This causes the customer to pass through the rest of the store on the way and see more items they may want to purchase. An amazing example of a unique layout is IKEA. The store is built like a maze so that customers have to walk by everything to get to the shopping section of the store. They even provide maps to help navigate through the store. Another layout tactic used by store owners is rearranging the store every so often. Then, customers are compelled to relearn the location of everything.

Pricing is another marketing strategy used in most stores. Oftentimes, a store will price items at a value and 99 cents instead of just rounding up to a full dollar. This can subconsciously trick your brain into thinking that the item is less than it actually is.

CONSUMER THE

The final major tactic often employed in stores is smart marketing and interior design. People are often drawn to stores with fun, interesting interiors such as Target and IKEA. Target keeps everything clean and bright with colorful packaging and vivid product displays. IKEA stages whole rooms filled with their products so you can picture how the decor would look in a home. Marketing through commercials and advertisements is utilized by almost every store. For example, most consumers have heard Walmart’s slogan, “Save money. Live better.” or Target’s, “Expect more. Pay less.” Both are phrases that will stick in your mind whenever you watch a commercial for these brands.

Whether you shop for fun, or just out of necessity, these selling tactics affect all of us. The best way to avoid falling for these strategies is to be aware of them whenever you shop. Notice how these things affect your buying habits, and always ask yourself, “is this product really worth the money?” before you add it to your cart.

Words Mattie Sue Arnold Design Sophia Baldwin Graphics Sophia Baldwin

IF YOU

ONLY KNEW

Exploring the life and accomplishments of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr was born as Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in 1914 in Vienna, Austria. Lamarr showed interest in acting from early childhood and won a beauty contest at the age of 12. At the same time, her father would take Lamarr on walks through the city and explain to her how different kinds of technology worked. Lamarr began her career in film when she forged a note from her mother and went to Sascha-Film, the biggest production company in Austria. She got hired as a script girl and moved her way up from an extra to getting her first speaking role in Storm in a Water Glass (1931). She was cast in a play entitled The Weaker Sex and impressed producer Max Reinhardt so much that he took Lamarr with him to Berlin. There, she was cast in Alexis Granowsky’s film The Trunks of Mr. O.F. (1931) and landed the lead role in No Money Needed (1932) at only 17.

Lamarr starred in many stage productions and accumulated many admirers at only 18. One of these admirers, Friedrich Mandl, was determined to get to know the actress. Lamarr fell for Mandl’s charming personality, not to mention his considerable wealth. Despite her family’s protests due to Mandl’s social and business ties to Benito Mussolini, the two were married on August 10, 1933. He was 33, and she was 18.

In Lamarr’s autobiography, she described Mandl as a very controlling husband, and she claimed that she was basically a prisoner in her own home. Since Mandl was a munitions dealer, he dealt closely with the fascist Italian government and the Nazi regime of Germany. Lamarr attended these business meetings with her husband where she expanded her knowledge of science and military technology.

Then, in 1937, Lamarr left behind her husband and her country. Allegedly, she disguised herself as a maid and fled Austria. She made her way to London in 1937, where she met Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM). Mayer was scouting for talent in Europe and made Lamarr an offer of $125 per week (about $2,500 today), which Lamarr turned down. However, she found herself on the same ship to New York as Mayer, and she managed to impress him enough to receive another offer for $500 per week (about $9,900 today).

At this time, Mayer convinced the actress to change her name in order to distance herself from the image of who she was in Austria. She changed from her birth name, Hedwig Kiesler, into Hedy Lamarr in honor of the actress Barbara La Marr. Thus, Lamarr entered the world of Hollywood in 1938. Soon she was cast as the lead opposite actor Charles Boyer in Algiers (1938), where she captivated American audiences and became known for her beauty.

“Lamarr entered the world of Hollywood in 1938.”

Her career in Hollywood took off, despite the fact that she was typecast as an exotic seductress in nearly all of her films. She starred in Lady of the Tropics (1939), Boom Time (1940) and the big hit Comrade X (1940), among many others. However, Lamarr reportedly became tired of her roles with very few lines and took up inventing to cure her boredom. In World War II, she wanted to join the National Inventors Council, an organization that brought new inventions to the attention of the U.S. Military. However, Lamarr was turned away and told to use her fame to help with the war effort by selling war bonds. Lamarr was married to Gene Markey from 1939 to 1941, and she adopted a child, James Lamarr Loder.

In her spare time, Lamarr still tinkered away at little projects here and there. But during the war, she had heard talk of radio-guided torpedoes, which would be very useful to the U.S. Navy, but could be easily hacked or jammed by enemies. Lamarr brought this issue up with her friend, the composer and pianist George Antheil. They discussed and brainstormed solutions until they came up with an idea for a frequency-hopping signal. This proposed technology would prevent any hacking or jamming of the torpedoes. Lamarr and Antheil worked on this idea together; Antheil sketched out a model, and they began experimenting with mechanisms found in player pianos. Lamarr recruited Samuel Stuart Mackeown, a professor of radioelectrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, to help them work on the project. They worked for a year on this frequencyhopping spread spectrum technology, and Lamarr and Antheil were granted the patent for their work on August 11, 1942.

In 1997, Lamarr and Antheil received the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award, and Lamarr became the first woman to be awarded the Bulbie Gnass Spirit of Achievement Bronze Award, sometimes known as “the Oscars of inventing”. Lamarr died of heart disease on January 19, 2000 in Casselberry, Florida. Her son Anthony Loder spread her ashes in the Vienna Woods per her last wishes. Lamarr and her co-inventor George Antheil were posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.

More Fun Facts:

In 2011, Anne Hathaway revealed that she had learned that the original Catwoman was based on Lamarr, so she studied all of Lamarr’s films and incorporated some of her breathing techniques into her portrayal of Catwoman in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises

In 2019, actor and musician Johnny Depp composed a song called “Hedy Lamarr”, and performed it with Jeff Beck during a UK performance in May 2022.

In 2021, Lamarr was mentioned in the first episode of Marvel’s What If...? The episode aired on August 11, 2021.

Words Claire Coultress Design Sophia Dacy Graphics Jacob Goodman Photo George Rinhart/Corbis Historical via Getty Images

Hailey Kirchner (junior) & Sam Swipes (junior)

Photo Lindsay Lee

CHECKING IN WITH OUR GRADS

A look at the lives of former Geneva Eagles

We checked in with some alumni to see what has been happening since they graduated from Geneva. The former students we selected were the first Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Maddie Inglish, Student Senate President Linsay Peterson, musician Noah Nilsson and yearbook photographer Hogan Petrie.

Maddie Inglish Griege

CLASS OF 2014

Maddie Inglish, now Maddie Inglish Griege, graduated in 2014. At Geneva, she was originally in Newspaper, which we now know as Magazine, and was the first Editor-in-Chief of the Geneva Quarterly.

After graduation, Griege attended Texas A&M and majored in Business Marketing, with a minor in Graphic Design. She got married out of college and moved to Fredericksburg. She has her own business, Cherrywood Design Co. which includes social media, graphic design, invitation suites, email marketing and more. Griege recently gave birth to a baby boy and has been juggling a full-time job and full-time mom.

Words Suzi Nilsson Design Mattie Sue Arnold Photos Lindsay Lee

Linsey Peterson

CLASS OF 2012

Linsey Peterson graduated in 2012. She participated in Yearbook and was the editor during her senior year.

After graduating from Geneva, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Latin at Hillsdale College. Peterson then attended graduate school at Indiana University and received a Master of Arts in Philanthropic Studies. She now works at St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, Connecticut as Development Stewardship and Communications Manager. Recently, she got engaged and is planning her wedding.

Noah Nilsson

CLASS OF 2020

Noah Nilsson graduated in 2020. He sang in the choir and did various TAPPS speech events. After graduating, Nilsson has worked various jobs to support his music career. Among them was flying around the U.S. to set up for Trump Rallies leading up to the 2020 election, exterminating wild hog populations in terrorized neighborhoods and working as a ranch hand.

These days he works on his musical skills while learning about the music industry. He works as a “hired gun” guitar player for various bands that have taken him all over Texas. Nilsson plays local, solo, acoustic shows to stay sharp in singing and songwriting. He plays at Tapatio Springs, Tusculum and various other local venues. He can be found on Instagram: @noahkurtismusic

Royal Petrie CLASS OF 2017

After graduating in 2017, Hogan Petrie began to go by his first name, Royal. While at Geneva, he was on the yearbook staff and served as the Editor of Photography. He began at Texas A&M, majoring in Accounting. Almost immediately, he switched to Architecture.

Petrie also got involved with ARTISTS, a creative faith-based organization. After graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture, he moved to Austin and started working for a small firm called Magic Architecture. Petrie has begun graduate school for architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. He also recently got engaged.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Dream jobs and future careers

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” This question is frequently asked and is answered with a wide variety of answers from astronaut to accountant. I asked a fifth grader and two seniors what they want to be someday or what future careers they have in mind. I then asked teachers what they thought their future careers would be.

Nilsson

COOPER GREEN

Fifth-grader Cooper Green wants to be a professional baseball player because he loves the sport. He has played since he was two or three years old. Green plays first base and pitcher but can play anywhere on the field. He has grown up around baseball and has always wanted to do it.

BRYNN RIEBEL

Senior Brynn Riebel plans to major in Aerospace Administration and Operations to become a professional pilot. She loves traveling and concluded that being a pilot would be the best way to do that. She has been in flight school for the past few months and that has solidified her love for flying.

This is a rather new development that she began thinking about in the summer. Riebel realized her passion when she took the discovery flight.

“After I went up for the first time, I loved it and knew I wanted to learn how to fly,” Riebel said.

ELLE NICHOLSON

Senior Elle Nicholson wants to major in Environmental Studies. Afterwards, she hopes to go to law school to become an environmental lawyer because she’s passionate about protecting the Earth from the negative impacts of humanity. Nicholson especially wants to help mitigate climate change. She’s always been interested in the environment but did not decide to study law until a few years ago. It has been a gradual realization.

When she joined the Debate team, she realized that she is good at argument and began to think about law as a career. She even wrote a book entitled “Survivor” which is now available to purchase on Amazon to shed light on the dangers endangered species face.

DEBBIE GEORGELOS

Mrs. Georgelos wanted to be a lawyer when she was in middle school. She took an aptitude test that pointed her in that direction, and she ran with it.

However, in college, Georgelos majored in Foreign Service. She wanted to be a diplomat or something similar so she could travel around the world. Then, she switched to law school. Georgelos practiced law until she became a stay-at-home mom. After her last child was born, she began to substitute as a Spanish teacher at Geneva.

“It was just laid in front of me, and God worked everything out,” Georgelos said.

SHAWN HARRILD

Mr. Harrild wanted to become a film director as a child because of how much he loved and analyzed movies. In his first few years at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, he majored in Motion Picture Film with an emphasis on Directing. During that time, 9/11 happened and he became a Christian.This changed his focus on his life.

Initially, Harrild came to Geneva because former Rhetoric Headmaster Mr. Rob Shelton invited him, and he wanted to minister to students. To him, the community stood out as the best reason to teach at Geneva and teaching has been an incredible blessing.

“I simply love the people I serve alongside and the students who sit around my Harkness table,” Harrild said.

This goes to show that you do not need to have everything planned out. Preferences, interests and outlooks can change in a few years. While it is good to have a plan, just know that you will not always follow it, and that is okay. Sometimes, real life is even better.

MAKING A PLAN OF ACTION

Inside the planners of our seniors

Staying organized in Rhetoric School has turned into an art form; where Tuesday is labeled with the color blue and Homecoming has a giant cowboy boot sticker on the date. Geneva students, in order to keep up with the work load, have turned their planners into a way to express creativity from writing in different fonts to placing stickers on different events. But aside from the aesthetic of it all, this trend has turned into a therapeutic and exciting way to stay organized.

I was able to sit down with a planner enthusiast, senior Hailey Hubenak, and discuss the work behind creating an organized planner.

“I need to have a planner to stay organized. Writing down all my homework and tests and quizzes helps me stay on track. It’s also super fun and satisfying to check everything off when I finish it,” Hubenak said.

We also discussed her favorite way to arrange her planner.

“I love using a bullet journal as my planner! It’s basically a blank journal with a dotted grid. The best part is that you can design it however you want to fit whatever you need,” Hubenak said,.

Her favorite part was getting to make the spread for each month where she take ideas off Pinterest and makes each month a new theme.

“I get to make my planner personalized, which makes it more fun to look at throughout the month. I love getting to open it up at school and look at the little quotes and Bible verses that I put down for encouragement,” Hubenak said.

She highly recommends bullet journaling or just creating your own planner, because when it’s personalized it fits your needs exactly. It’s also more satisfying to write down assignments in something that you’ve made.

“Bullet journals are great because there’s no one way to do them. A bullet journal could be as simple as drawing a box per day, or it could be a full collage of pictures, paper and drawings made for each week of the month. You can do habit trackers and mood trackers, or you can keep it simple,” Hubenak said.

Words Mattie Sue Arnold Design Mattie Sue Arnold Photos Lindsay Lee

“A bullet journal could be as simple as drawing a box per day.”

SIGN OF THE TIMES

A look into the American Sign Language (ASL) Club

Club President: Senior Hailey Hubenak

Goal: To focus on learning and practicing more conversational ASL during meetings

Club Focus: Teaching introductory phrases and greetings that can be used in different real life situations

Traditions: Christmas tradition of choosing and learning a holiday song in sign language

Club History: Started by Geneva alum Katherine Lacy (Class of 2021) three years ago, the club has now grown to 10 members

Meetings: Wednesdays in Mrs. Wheeler’s classroom

ASL club is an awesome opportunity to learn about hard of hearing culture as well as implement these skills at events like the Aid the Silent 5K or its Gala.

ASL allows students to understand and widen their perspectives on different lifestyles and cultures that can often go unnoticed.

Words Ava Ayers Design Sophia Baldwin Photo Abby Bower

I’M HERE TO HELP

I’M HERE TO HELP

Speaking with the new wellness counselor about her role and her dog

Maybe you’ve noticed Dr. Sara Lapacka’s friendly presence on the boardwalk. Maybe you’ve heard of her because she is the first mental health counselor that Geneva has ever had. Or perhaps, you’ve met her dog Aiken. In any case, Dr. Lapacka has quickly become a well-known figure on campus. But what exactly does her job entail? I had the chance to sit down with her one morning and ask her some questions.

As a mental health counselor, Dr. Lapacka’s job is to care for the psychological, social and emotional needs of the students. She is ready to help students who are struggling with coping with life in general. She is even open to providing outside referrals, if needed.

“I think this position brings something that’s been needed for quite some time.”

“I think this position brings something that’s been needed for quite some time. I think that there’s been a need for support for mental health at this school, and I’ve heard that sentiment reiterated by the students. I think they’re glad to finally have a mental health professional on campus,” Dr. Lapacka said.

The simple fact is, high school is hard. Many students are involved in many activities, and almost everyone at some point has felt overwhelmed. Dr. Lapacka is here to help, to show students that they are not in a hopeless situation, and to relieve their stress and anxiety. Her job is necessary, especially at a rigorous school like Geneva.

Her job is definitely not a predictable one, though. Every day is different, yet through the unpredictability she has a few routines. She often takes Aiken to greet the students across Geneva, and she also frequently checks the mailboxes around campus. One is in the Rhetoric Admin near Ms. Helm’s desk, another is outside the nurse’s door and another is in the Logic Office. These mailboxes are places where students can anonymously insert referrals for themselves or other students.

Dr. Lapacka has already seen the impact of these morning visits around campus. “One of my favorite parts of the day is going around and greeting students because it brings such joy and helps them get to know not just Aiken but my role at Geneva as well. This way we can build relationships so that they are not just seeing me when they’re struggling, but they know who I am and feel comfortable coming to me,” Dr. Lapacka said.

NEED TO TALK?

She tends to meet with students in the mornings. Her schedule alternates weekly between four days and two days, so she can be found on campus fairly often.

Dr. Lapacka has a wonderful dog, Aiken, who is always with her on campus. He is an eight-year-old black Labrador Retriever. After training in Tennessee with basic commands for the first few months of his life, he began a training program under Canine Companions for Independence for a year and a half near Dallas in the city of Irving, Texas. After graduating, he was paired with Dr. Lapacka, who has been his owner ever since. Aiken is a facility dog. While service dogs directly help their owners (for example, a guide dog), facility dogs help others via their owners. Canine Companions for Independence trains dogs for both positions, but Aiken became a facility dog in the end.

The joy and familiarity that these visits bring create a warm and welcoming environment to relieve students and help them feel refreshed. Plus, students will feel less awkward talking with her about their struggles if they already know her from these visits.

In short, Dr. Lapacka is trying to become a familiar face at Geneva who is always willing to help. She wants to be someone with whom students will feel comfortable talking. Dr. Lapacka says that she feels “very blessed to be [at Geneva],” and that she is very grateful that Aiken could come along for the ride.

Words Will Crews Design Ella Dillinger Photo Alexis Livingston

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE?

Unusual opinions and life-changing quotes

“Harry Styles is overrated.”

-Merrick Barrow (sophomore)

“Water before toothpaste.”

-Sopris Oglesby (freshman)

“Guacamole is not good.”

-Kenzie Cates (junior)

“Coleslaw is the worst food ever created.”

-Sam Armstrong (senior)

We all know and love a good hot take, so read on for a collection of Rhetoric School students’ juiciest hot takes!

Bethany De Luna (junior): Baseball is lame.

Samantha Swipes (junior): The Queen is still alive.

Hailey Kirchner (junior): The TV show Friends is overrated.

Elle Nicholson (senior): Cheese is disgusting and ruins everything.

Nick Nowosiwsky (junior): Cottage cheese is better than yogurt.

Hayden Allen (senior): The Houston Texans are going to win the Super Bowl.

Maggie Deimund (freshman): Breakfast for dinner should not be a thing.

Harper Deimund (freshman): Christmas Eve is better than Christmas.

Caroline Pickle (freshman): Mint chocolate chip ice cream tastes like toothpaste.

Madeline Egbert (sophomore): Peanut butter is awful.

Griffin Frieling (freshman): Cheetos should not exist unless they’re spicy.

Caeden Sandifer (senior): Fruit should not be put in a pie. No apple pie, no nothing.

Merrick Barrow (sophomore): Harry Styles is overrated.

Sam Armstrong (senior): Coleslaw is the worst food ever created.

Sopris Oglesby (freshman): Water before toothpaste.

Cammy Curtis (junior): 100% dark chocolate is better than any other chocolate.

Kenzie Cates (junior): Guacamole is not good.

Now on a more serious note, we have also asked the teachers for little “nuggets of truth” that they recall or live by. Each of these sayings or quotes mean something special to them.

Paul Johnson (Humanities):

“He who sings, prays twice.” —Augustine

“We become the sum of our indulgences.” —Leland Ryken

“Nothing fine is ever done without struggle.” —Desiderius Erasmus

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” —Shakespeare

“It is better to keep quiet and let people think you are a fool than to speak it and prove it.” —Unknown

Susan Greenlees (Math):

“There is no shame in having to work harder than someone else. Oftentimes, the prize is much sweeter after putting in the extra effort. Working harder is actually an advantage!”

“Be careful if you cut corners, because you might just get hit by the bus!”

“Was that because you were clueless or careless?” (often used in math class)

Lance Higdon (Latin):

“God writes straight with crooked lines.”

Alex Markos (Humanities):

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

“Wisdom begins with wonder.” —Socrates

John Rosheger (Latin):

“Multum non multa,” which means “much of one thing, not many things”

TRUTH NUGGETS

Debbie Georgelos (Spanish):

“Un hombre solo tiene derecho a mirar a otro hacia abajo cuando ha de ayudarle a levantarse.” Which translates to, “A person only has the right to look down on another when he is helping him up.”

“Loose lips sink ships” a.k.a.: measure your words.

Debbie Wheeler (Humanities):

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Catherine Davis (Math):

“The grass is greener where you water it.” “Progress, not perfection.”

Words Lindsey Lee Design Mattie Sue Arnold Graphics Sophia Baldwin

(S)HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU

What not to do in a relationship

Let’s be honest, all of us have had crushes. Or who knows, maybe you have one right now. It’s all fun and games until they start taking forever to respond or they ghost you. All those butterflies you felt in your stomach start to fly away. It’s truly a heartbreaking moment losing hope for a relationship you once longed for. Have you ever wondered what can cause a guy to lose feelings? Or what can cause a girl to lose interest? Two Geneva students share 10 ways they can lose feelings.

It can take a lot to impress a girl, but not a lot to make her lose feelings. Boys, you might want to take notes. You could call her a love expert, or a wanna be love expert, but Sophomore Madeline Egbert tells us what makes her lose interest in a guy.

If he doesn’t do sports

If he responds SUPER late

If he has a really bad haircut

If he is shorter than 5’5”

If he is an only child

If he cannot take a joke

If he still plays on JV

If he wears flip flops

If he doesn’t have style

If he drives a SUV or super small mom car

NSYNC says it best: “Bye bye bye.” Rumor has it, boys move on faster than girls do. Is that true?

I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know that boys have their own way of losing interest. Sophomore Jake Roberson gives an inside view into the boy world, by telling us 10 things that can make him say: bye, bye, bye.

If she is a bad driver

If she is on her phone around you

If she is not willing to put in time for you

If she is attached to social media

If she has bad taste in music

If she wears too much makeup

If she doesn’t have good style

If she doesn’t love to learn about the Lord

If she is too clingy

If she gets too caught up in drama

Well, there you have it folks, looking for love can be challenging. I’d say the key to relationships is being yourself, comfortable and confident. After all, you know what they say: “Love is a battlefield.”

Words Sophia Dacy Design Sophia Dacy Graphics Kate Evans Photo Lindsay Lee

TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME

Finding the value in long commutes

Irecently gained an hour in each of my days. For the past 11 years of my life, I have been driving 35 minutes to and from school everyday. I never missed an opportunity to complain about just how strenuous and exhausting this 35-minute commute was (when in reality it was usually my favorite part of the day). I never told anyone I was going to “run home real quick,” forgetting my lunch was a travesty and getting back late from a volleyball game was truly dangerous as I was at high risk of falling asleep during my extensive journey home. So, when I found myself living right in the middle of town, five minutes from school, I was expecting my quality of life to increase dramatically. But hey, the grass is always greener! As soon as it was gone, I wanted it back again.

I found out that I actually miss this commute dearly. As the new school year started without the 35-minute drive, I found myself saying “there is just not enough time in the day” often. This feeling seems contradictory to my situation: I now had about an hour more in each day that I had previously spent driving. What I realized is that this hour had not just been spent driving, but I had actually begun to utilize it in many different ways. I would spend the drive doing an array of things: praying, studying, calling people or even intentionally thinking about

nothing. Those 35 minutes in the morning and evening had become a crucial part of my daily routine and now that they were gone I had to reorient myself, carving out time for the things I used to accomplish during my drive to and from town. As I pondered how much I missed the longer drive, I began to wonder if others who have a commute to school used it and loved it as much as I did. My findings suggest that they do.

Senior Hailey Hubenak, whose drive to school is about 40 minutes long, shared that she usually spends the time talking or singing with her younger sister, junior Taylor Hubenak, for whom she is a chauffeur. When Hailey is off the clock—that is not driving her sister—she said she is either jamming out to music or reflecting

“It’s nice to slow down for 40 minutes of my day and not have the option to work on anything.”

on her day. When I asked her if she would rather have a shorter commute, Hailey offered a great perspective saying, “... I don’t know if I’d trade it. It’s nice to slow down for 40 minutes of my day and not have the option to work on anything.” For Hailey, the drive is a mandatory mental rest of which she has realized the value.

Another senior, Naiya Swientek, uses her drive differently. Naiya said her commute is usually spent reviewing information for quizzes, doing her mascara or sometimes she even lengthens her drive by stopping for a coffee. I asked Naiya the same question about shortening her drive. “I like it because I can get a lot done,” Naiya said. For Naiya, the drive is a 20-minute opportunity to be productive that may not be available at other times in the day.

While all the drives are used differently, they are all appreciated. Neither Naiya or Hailey would change their current driving situation, but I would; I would go back to the 35-minute drive in a heartbeat. I miss the hour of my day where my mind could slow down and either prepare for or recharge from the day. This change

like my drive because I can get a lot done.”

has been a lesson of contentment for me. I always want what I do not have, and I got it, but now I want a refund. So, now I am learning how to value my five-minute drive. I hope this encourages you to appreciate where you are and how long it takes you to get to where you need to go. Oh, and always take the long way home.

“I

Words Abby Bower Design Sophia Baldwin Graphics Sophia Baldwin

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

We asked some Geneva students to attempt to break world records, thinking, “It can’t be that hard.” Let’s just say we definitely underestimated how difficult some of these would be.

Here are our results:

— Sofi Treviño (sophomore) was able to balance a total of 14 spoons on her face for six seconds before they all fell to the ground.

— Jacob Goodman (sophomore) held five toilet paper rolls on his head for two seconds.

— Freshmen Nadia Nowosiwsky and Katelyn Fowler did eight leap frog jumps in 30 seconds.

— Pablo Gonzalez (sophomore) ate 3.4 ounces of jello with chopsticks in 11 seconds. Sadly Pablo did not read the fine print and broke the rules by using the chopsticks as more of a shovel to pour the jello in his mouth instead of using them as a utensil.

— Ella Dillinger (sophomore) was able to stack 11 toilet paper rolls on the ground.

These are the world records we tried to break and what the record is.

— most spoons balanced on someone’s face at one time (31 for five seconds).

— most toilet paper rolls balanced on someone’s head (12 for 30 seconds).

— most leapfrog jumps in 30 seconds by a team of two (32).

— most Jell-O eaten with chopsticks in one minute (3.2 oz).

— toilet paper tower on the ground (28 rolls).

— Abigail Bussey (freshman) stacked 12 coins in 30 seconds.

All in all we did not do as well as we thought we would. Good job everyone who participated in the “world” records. And props to all the people who set the real world records.

Words Mazzy Horn-O’Brien Design Will Crews

Geneva students try to break world records

“Let’s just say we definitely underestimated how difficult some of these would be.”

TACKLING THE TOPIC OF THE CURRENT STATE OF SPORTS

Graphic Hailey Kirchner

BRING HOME THE CHEDDAR

When you think of England, what comes to mind? Do you think of Oxford and Cambridge, two renowned universities that contain libraries of information? Do you think of men in tuxedos riding horses? Do you think of rich people with funny accents sitting in a massive foyer sipping tea? Or do you think of dozens of people falling down a hill as fast as they can in pursuit of cheese?

Sometimes known as England’s strangest sport, the cheese rolls happen every May in Gloucestershire, England, at Cooper’s Hill, southeast of Gloucester. People come from far and wide to see the races (three men’s and one women’s). Anyone can compete if they let the organizers know. After the races, spectators and competitors can grab a bite to eat at the Cheese Rollers, a pub in nearby Shurdington.

The cheese itself is a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese, weighing eight or nine pounds. In 2013, warnings from police led to the use of a fake wheel, but real cheese came back the next year. In the races, it has a onesecond head start before the competitors can begin chasing after it. In most races, there are anywhere from 14 to 40 competitors. This head start is more than enough, as the cheese can reach speeds of 70 miles per hour as it bounces down the incredibly steep

“The cheese can reach speeds of 70 miles per hour.”

A bit about the shockingly grueling art of cheese rolling

hill. No competitor has ever caught the cheese; to win, the competitor just needs to reach the bottom first. If you win, you receive the cheese as a prize.

The race is, of course, very dangerous. Injuries abound, including broken bones, dislocations and even concussions. Even spectators have been injured, when the cheese or a competitor uncontrollably veers off the course. The local rugby team stands at the bottom to break the competitors’ falls. In the races, it is nearly impossible to stay in control. Most competitors end up falling over, tumbling and somersaulting down the 45-degree gradient to the finish line.

Why does it even exist? There are multiple theories. It may have stemmed from pagan religions, as part of a spring festival for fertility and harvest. It might also have been for the right to own land or even for the right to marry someone.

And who is the greatest cheese chaser of all time? Chris Anderson, a local from nearby Brockworth, has won over 20 races. Even Anderson isn’t immune to injuries, however. He’s suffered a broken ankle and a bruised kidney throughout his career.

Does this sound interesting to you? Next time you’re over by Gloucestershire during late spring, might as well go ahead and check it out!

Words Will Crews Design Ella Dillinger Graphics Haley Kirchner

RAISE A FLAG TO MRS. EVANS

Mrs. Gradi Evans, coach of Color Guard, shares her experience with the sport

Color Guard. You might see them under the Friday night lights in a twirling mass of synchronized color, or even catch them practicing tirelessly during their lunch hour. They may go under the radar as far as sports go, but no matter the recognition, there is always one dedicated teacher putting hours of work in behind the scenes: the band director, Mrs. Gradi Evans.

Evans is a beloved band teacher and Color Guard coach.”

Mrs. Evans is a beloved band teacher and Color Guard coach, but what many aren’t aware of is that she did Color Guard in her college days! She was a part of the prestigious color guard of the University of South Carolina, known together with the band as the “Mighty Sound of the Southeast.” When asked why she decided to try color guard, Evans said that she was an oboe player, and while the oboes didn’t play on the marching field, she loved the idea of the guard’s colorful visuals on the field, giving the band more dimension and a “bigger presence.” She also said that her father put together all the music arrangements for the band, therefore having her steeped in band culture from a young age.

Throughout her post-college years, Evans kept her love of flag, carrying it with her to the campus of Geneva. She was the founder of Geneva’s color guard, which started nine years ago in 2014. The first year of flag had only six members, but since then membership has blossomed to more than double that number, with 14 girls participating in 2022. She notes that it has been impressive to watch the guard grow, not only in size, but also in “efficiency, organization and dedication,” going from using lackluster practice flags and mediocre routines to putting on beautiful shows with eyecatching flags in all colors of the rainbow.

When asked to name a couple of her favorite Color Guard elements, her answers were:

Routine: This year’s “Thriller” routine

Flags: purple and blue wavy flags from 2021-22

Costumes: black jumpsuit and sparkly white overcoat with hat from The Greatest Showman routine

Favorite thing about color guard: “Working with the Guard girls!”

Words

Sofi Treviño

Design

Ella Dillinger Graphics Hailey Kirchner

Photos

Mazzy Horn-O’Brien

“Mrs.

THIS TEACHER IS A TRIPLE THREAT

Get to know Megan Eichler and her motivations and passions

One of Geneva’s newest faculty members and coaches, Megan Eichler, runs busy days here at school. From cross country practices in the morning and meets in the afternoon, to teaching biology and AP environmental science, she is a woman of many talents.

Ms. Eichler attended Stephen F. Austin college in East Texas and spent time as a student teacher before coming to Geneva. But what exactly brought her to Boerne and, more specifically, classical education?

Ms. Eichler loves listening to theological podcasts, and over time, she found something alluring about the words that old theologians such as C.S. Lewis had spoken. Ms. Eichler appreciates the simplicity and transcendence through time of their words and that the messages will forever be relevant. No matter how modern our world becomes, the thoughts spoken by classical theologians will forever be relevant.

After asking people for suggestions on where to teach classically, Geneva was recommended to her by many. Even when first speaking with faculty and applying, she could see the love and devotion that our staff have, not only for God, but for the students as well, and she realized Geneva was the place for her. Ms. Eichler is truly a blessing to our campus and I encourage you to get to know her; you won’t regret it!

Words Kate Evans Design Ella Dillinger Photo Mazzy Horn-O’Brien

FINDING STRENGTH IN THE STRUGGLE

Get to know the new strength and conditioning coach as he tells of his life before Geneva

This past spring, Geneva hired a new strength and conditioning coach, Matt Virnau. Coach Virnau has brought incredible energy into the Geneva strength and conditioning program. While Coach Virnau is a strength and conditioning coach now, he was not always just a coach. Here is a brief summary of our new coach’s life before Geneva.

“I knew God had greater plans for me.”

Coach Virnau attended college at Texas A&M University. He graduated in 2007 with his degree in Agribusiness and started working for Cargill’s Animal Nutrition Department in San Antonio. Virnau loved his job, however the market crashed in 2008, and he was transferred out to East Texas. He spent about a year there before deciding to move back home with his fiancée, Ashley, and started working for the family business. A short couple of years behind a desk, had Virnau wanting a change.

“I knew God had greater plans for me, so I went to Ashley and told her I wanted to join the military. I’ll never forget how easy it was to convince her,” Virnau said.

After several years in the military, he learned priceless life lessons. The most impactful lesson was self-confidence. Growing up, if you had known Coach Virnau, you would have seen a confident young man, but he would consider it false confidence.

Before the military, he lived life with the security of a safety net in pretty much everything he did. When joining the military and going to selection, he said nobody cared where he came from or about his previous accomplishments. All that mattered was what he could do on that day.

It was terrifying, yet so freeing all at the same time. That knowledge gave him the confidence to attack life. For that reason, he will always be thankful for the time he spent serving our country.

This past year, Coach Virnau and his family decided to separate from the military and move back to their home state of Texas. They had been looking at a classical Christian school in the town where they were living, but he received a job offer to be a strength coach and mentor at the Air Force Special Warfare Schoolhouse in San Antonio. Soon after, they started looking for another school for their two kids and came across Geneva.

One of their good friends from church was coaching the Geneva swim team and asked if Virnau would be willing to help out in the weight room. He jumped at the opportunity, and that led to him helping out with the football and volleyball teams as well. After a few months, he was offered a contract to continue helping with those sports and the athletes in the off-season. Coach Virnau’s goal is to make the strength and conditioning program a place of opportunity.

“I want every student, athlete or not, to know they are welcome upstairs as long as they are willing to put in the work. I pray the students of Geneva develop a lifelong love for training, and I am here to help facilitate that in any way possible.” Virnau said.

Words Spencer Yarbrough Design Ella Dillinger Photo Mazzy Horn-O’Brien

“I pray the students of Geneva develop a lifelong love for training.”

PLAY BIG, EAT BIGGER

We all know our football team has some of the hardest working students on campus. After running on a field for two hours every Friday night, our boys work up an appetite. But what exactly does a Geneva football player eat in a day? Surely it takes a lot of fuel to stay energized on the field and in the weight room. To find out, we turned to two of our finest lineman, brothers Austin and Cole Hodo.

“But what exactly does a Geneva football player eat in a day?”

Austin Hodo (freshman):

Breakfast: For breakfast, I eat three honey butter chicken biscuits from Whataburger.

Second Breakfast: Another honey butter chicken biscuit from Whataburger.

Lunch: Sweet and spicy burger from Whataburger… just the sandwich.

Pre-Dinner: Smokey Mo’s barbecue, but just turkey with mayo.

Dinner: That depends. If it’s after a football game, two sweet and spicy burgers from Whataburger with a large fry and large banana pudding shake. If it’s not after a football game, the same thing, but only one burger.

Dessert: Hmmm…key lime pie.

Midnight Snack: If I’m feeling bold, more Smokey Mo’s turkey at midnight.

Cole Hodo (senior):

Breakfast: See, what people don’t actually know about me that is very important is that I’m vegan, except at meal times. My day starts at 4 a.m. because I’m training to be the dragon warrior. Essentially, when I wake up at 4 a.m., I meditate to find which animal I should hunt for the day. I go and once I find the animal and inevitably eat it, I slumber for three more hours before school.

Lunch: At lunch time, I discover I go to Candy Land and I have a feast with the Candy King. He’s a very good connection. His name is Edward.

Snack: As stated in the past, I do not eat snacks; I eat full meals…of course the CIA has tried to give me snacks before, but…they failed. They tried to offer me a granola bar, but I ate the handler instead.

Dinner: I go with my Viking friends and raid an H-E-B at exactly 10:38 p.m. It has to be 10:38 p.m., otherwise it won’t work. It’s like Oceans 11, but every night.

Dessert: Dessert is the satisfaction of a crumbled H-E-B.

Midnight Snack: Again, I don’t eat snacks. Unless my midnight-sleep eating disorder acts up again…it didn’t work out last time.

Words Sophia Baldwin Design Ella Dillinger Graphics Hailey Kirchner

OPENING OUR EYES TO A WORLD OF CREATIVE CULTURE

THIS IS THE UDDER TRUTH

Coffee and tea, especially iced coffee, are a big part of today's culture. Over 68% of people drink their coffee with creamer, whether the creamer is milk, half-and-half or non-dairy alternatives. In the past decade, there has been a substantial rise in the popularity of non-dairy creamers.

Many students tend to order an iced latte with oat milk or whatever milk is preferred. However, when ordering a drink and requesting a creamer alternative to 2% milk, the charge tends to go up, ranging from an initial price of $4 to a total of around $8.

Starbucks

+$0.70 for Oatmilk +$0.70 for Almond Milk +$0.70 for Soy Milk +$0.70 for Coconut Milk

+$2.00 for Oatmilk +$1.30 for Almond Milk +$1.30 for Coconut Milk +$0.35 for Heavy Cream

OH, HOW TIME FLIES

OH, HOW TIME FLIES

Keeping up with the top trends and events over the past decade

This year marks the 10 year anniversary since the first Geneva Quarterly was published, and as you can imagine, a lot has changed in the world since then.

Back in 2012, the top three grossing movies in the U.S. were Iron Man 3, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Despicable Me 2. The Billboard’s top three songs of the year were “Thrift Shop’’ by Macklemore, “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke and “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons.

The iPhone 5s was the latest and greatest. Musically and TikTok were not even created yet, and Vine had just been released a few months before. Instagram had only been around for three years, and Snapchat for two years.

President Barack Obama was just about a year into the second term of his presidency when the first Geneva Quarterly was published.

One thing still relatively the same now as it was then is the price of gas: in 2013, it was about $3.20 per gallon. The average price now is $3.31 per gallon. Boerne had a population of 11,197 in 2013, whereas now it is just about 20,000.

The field where the Grammar School kids now play had no grass. The Competition Gym and Lyceum were freshly built and the only other buildings on campus were the little portables and the MPB. Now that you have a sense for the time period of when the first magazine came out, let’s take a look at what happened during the years leading up to Volume 10 of the magazine.

2014 was a more serious year. One of the most prolific conspiracy theories was the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. This plane carrying 239 people disappeared without a trace; there were many theories as to what happened, but to this day we still do not know for certain.

The Ebola virus spread through West Africa, devastating many primarily in Guinea, Libearia and Sierra Leone. 2014 also marked the end of a popular video game series in the NCAA College Football games due to licensing issues.

2015 was more of an upbeat time in the world. If you were a kid and not sporting some neon or pink in your outfit and doing the Whip or the Dab, there was a problem. Bright colors were all the rage to kids during this time, and now we may all regret the pictures of the outfits we used to rock, but back in the day, it was quite the statement.

In 2015, we were also introduced to one of the most controversial pictures to ever grace the Internet, one that people still argue about to this day. A picture of a certain dress was uploaded to the Internet, and raised heated debates on its colors. Is it white and gold, or is it black and blue?

Then, to cap off this year, we saw the return of Star Wars. The Force Awakens hit the theaters in December of 2015, ending the 10-year drought of no Star Wars movies.

We made it to 2016—what many say was the best year. The music was strong with Kanye, Beyonce, Rhianna, Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar and many more, all putting out albums. The sports seasons were great, notably the Chicago Cubs snapped a 108-year World Series drought, winning in seven games.

All the talk at school was about Harambe while playing with fidget spinners and fidget cubes. We saw a presidential election unfold with heavy media coverage.

And, of course, we cannot forget about the trend that drove schools absolutely crazy—the infamous bottle flip challenge. The coolest kids in school were the ones who could flip and land their bottle the

most times in a row, or if you were really crazy, land it on the cap.

Moving right along to 2017, this year brought the release of one of the most popular games ever— Fortnite. Almost every kid played it and almost every parent hated it.

We were introduced to a revolutionary iPhone. The iPhone X was released in 2017 and this brought a full-size screen and removed the home button. Bitcoin started to catch attention and became valuable.

In 2018, we saw the trends of 2017 carry on. Fortnite was the most popular game ever and Bitcoin continued to skyrocket. Baby Shark was atop the charts of most popular songs. 2018 also brought us one of the most thrilling World Cups with France taking it home.

In 2019, Disney blessed us with the release of its own streaming service Disney+ Many great movies were released: Avengers Endgame, Joker, Toy Story 4 and The Lion King

2020 … let’s not talk about it.

In 2021, we started to get back to normal life a little more after COVID-19, however, we were all attached to staying inside, watching movies and relying on social media for entertainment. This brings us to 2022. We know what the world is like now and truly how different the times are from the first Geneva Quarterly 10 years ago.

BACK AT IT AGAIN

The familiar musical introduction to my go-to comfort show calls to me from the living room. Most of us have never dreamed of starting a new Netflix series and betraying the one we have been watching over and over again since the seventh grade.

But did you know there is a science behind this act of repetition? Our desire to rewatch a show or re-read a book stems from the reassurance we find in their familiar themes, characters, sounds, colors and plots. By continuing to rewatch or re-read, we are subconsciously developing a preference for material with which we are more familiar.

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This psychological phenomenon is referred to as the Mere Exposure Effect which causes us to prefer anything that is familiar to us over anything new. Repetition can be known to breed annoyance, but it actually creates the opposite. Familiar material requires less mental energy to process, and therefore our brains consider the information we are processing to be good. A book we have read four different times can be easily more enjoyable to flip through again than a book we have never heard of before from straight off the shelf.

The science behind what makes us rewatch and re-read our favorites

‘‘Repetition

be known to breed annoyance, but it actually creates the opposite.”

So as I settle down to re-watch my favorite episode of Gilmore Girls, I can almost perfectly predict what line is going to be said next or what melo-dramatic song will begin playing in the background of the scene.

There is something comforting about watching a film you know won’t disappoint or leave you shocked by its turn of events. Already knowing the outcome of a book or movie allows us to feel prepared for what we are about to read or watch. This can be referred to as Experiential Control, which provides us with the ability to emotionally regulate ourselves which can be applied when watching something and already knowing how it ends.

So, before you entertain your mom’s pestering questions about why you are watching the same episode over for the fifth time this week, remember why we adopted these habits in the first place. Rewatching shows or re-reading books are healthy ways to allow our subconscious to focus on something that will automatically evoke feelings of comfort and happiness. Don't be afraid to grab that same book or turn on that same show when you are in the mood for something predictable.

Words Ava Ayers Design Mattie Sue Arnold Photo Alexis Livingston

CULTIVA TING CREATI VITY ON CAMPUS

The Quarterly’s pick for photo and poetry of the quarter

When in a swoop on that fall day, A snowstorm blew along its way.

The helpless birds began to call To all the creatures round and small. “What should we do? Who all would know What we should do abut this snow!

For we’re so small, and we all fear That winter us will disappear!”

The hares they jumped and flicked about While squirrels tried to figure out Who could be wise enough to tell Them what to do to break the spell And teach them to survive the chill.

A small young mouse emerged to trill, “The wise old fox, he’s bound to know, He’s been around so oft a snow!”

The birds all swooped and chimed so loud They woke the fox, and so he growled, “What do you want, you feath’ry beasts?

For this I’ll make you all my feasts! What do you want you creatures small–You pesky fowl with all your squall?”

“Help us, you must, we’re all confused. Snow came too quick! Will you peruse

The options left for us small things!

The cold is bad for our frail wings

And there is danger from the chill

All the bugs, the cold will kill!”

“And us!” The squirrels chirped in alarm, “The trees still have their nuts and charm. We need to gather more food yet Our winter needs have not been met. If stores run out in longer cold, We won’t end up like you so old!”

The mouse piped in “And me, down here!

Old fox be kind, lend me an ear. As much food as I have saved up Is only such to fill a cup. And other mice I have at home But in the cold we cannot roam To look for food, for we would freeze. So help us all, Old Fox Sir, Please!”

The fox a’ sniffed the air in thought The urge to bite the birds he fought. Then slyly with a toothy grin, Solutions he began to spin. “Fear not, small treats, do not have fear. I have an answer; one right here. Go to your stores, yes go right now And eat as much as will allow You to be fat and warm in chill, Don’t let a single flax seed spill. You will survive the cold this way, Now go and don’t a minute stay!”

They all went off to nests and homes, And leaving the old fox all alone, He raised his beady eyes above To chuckle at his act of “love.”

For now the quiet was fully back, And Christmas dinner was in the sack.

Words Lillian Hendershot (sophomore) Design Alexis Livingston Photo Joshua Kupferschmid (senior)

THIS IS THE BEST OF BUMS

An honest review of different sandwiches served at Bumdoodlers

A Boerne staple, Bumdoodlers Lunch Company (or as us locals call it: “Bums’’) is a highly debated topic amongst all who get the privilege of indulging at the quaint restaurant on Main Street. There is team Brainstorm, team Old Smokey, team Gobbler or Cowboy and even more. The possibilities are truly vast, each one having its own unique ingredients. To start off this year right we took on the challenge of settling the polarizing debate among all sandwich lovers, and finding out which Bums sandwich is officially superior. For this review we will be talking about the four most popular sandwiches according to the workers themselves—the Brainstorm, Old Smokey, Cowboy and Gobbler. Let’s get started!

Brainstorm: 6.3/10

Our first contestant is the famous Brainstorm. Expectations are high for this sandwich considering the ultimate hype surrounding it. To be quite honest, it didn’t deliver as we expected it to. This sandwich is nothing special, and feels as though it could be made from the comfort of your very own kitchen. Why pay around $10 for some mediocre meats being thrown on a (not to mention) extremely large piece of slightly stale bread. We both agreed that the brainstorm radiates lunchable energy and would be perfect paired with a lukewarm bottle of Sunny-D and off-brand Doritos. The combination of what we think is salami and perhaps ham, is just not working. The Brainstorm isn’t bad by any means, but it definitely will never be a craving. For the reasons stated, the Brainstorm earns a 6.3/10.

Old Smokey: 8.4/10

Moving on with hope, next is the Old Smokey. Initially it sounds fantastic, like a step up from the classic turkey and cheese The first bite was questionable, they were not lying when they said smokey! A biting tang sneaks up on you as if this sandwich had been left sitting in the humid air of breakfast sausage. That being said, it was surprisingly good! It’s a simple but solid adaptation on a classic, and it’s working. The smokey undertones and bite from the Swiss cheese pair incredibly, and we would definitely consider grabbing another Old Smokey next time. It gets an 8.4/10, a few points deducted due to the smokey sneak attack and once again sub-par bread.

Cowboy: ?/10

Next up, the Cowboy. “This is seemingly my worst nightmare,” Kate said. From the description, it seems to be a hoagie-like roast beef situation. It definitely is by no means appealing to the eye, but hopefully the flavor will offer redemption. There was a conflict of views on this sandwich—Abby thoroughly enjoyed it, but on the other hand Kate despised it. The roast beef flavor is not desirable for someone wary of lunch meat. Abby said it was a perfect balance of all components in a sandwich. Ultimately we cannot make an agreed rating on this sandwich, and if you can’t live with that you’ll have to go buy your own personal Cowboy and decide for yourself.

Gobbler: 5.8/10

The Gobbler is our final contender. We are gonna keep this review short and sweet, just like the sandwich itself. There isn’t much to it, and again you probably have everything on hand to make this at home. It is quite simply the classic turkey and cheese sandwich. An in-depth description is hard to form considering its contents. If you can imagine a turkey and cheese sandwich made by your mom, with the crusts cut off, and cut diagonally, you can probably taste it too. Final rating is a 5.8/10, it is ok, simply ok.

At the end of the day, each of our sandwich attesting pallets are different. So, take these ratings into consideration, but find out for yourself whether you’re Team Gobbler or Team Brainstorm. We highly recommend pairing your sandwich of choice with a pickle spear and a side of ranch but ultimately, everyone can find something they like at Bums, and it’s up to you to decide. The infamous sandwich debate will unfortunately reign in Boerne for many years to come.

Bumdoodlers Lunch Company

929 N Main Street, Boerne, TX 78006 (830) 249-8826 bumdoodlers.com

Words Kate Evans & Abby Bower Design Mattie Sue Arnold Graphic Kate Evans

Social Media’s Impact on the Music Industry

Cons:

Speeds up rate at which songs become outdated, due to the massive influx of new songs being added online incessantly. — Due to large amounts of online traffic, exploitation of copyrighted music can more easily pass under the radar.

Taylor Swift is a wildly-popular American singer-songwriter who has staked her territory in many music genres over her years in the industry. She is highly decorated in Grammy Awards and has created a loyal fan following, who call themselves “Swifties.” Without a doubt, Taylor Swift’s impact on the music industry has fans across the globe enjoying her new album released in October. Here is a ranking of her best albums to date, according to a few of these self-proclaimed “Swifties” on campus.

Which Shoes Did They Choose?

Recently, a modification to the dress code here at Geneva has resulted in some stylish new footwear being sported on the boardwalk. The new rule allows for any white, brown or navy sneaker or dress shoe to be worn every day except Monday. Students have

taken advantage of their new freedom, expressing their individual fashion and comfort preferences through their footwear. Here are some of the most commonly seen shoes so far.

Shoe #1: Nike Air Force 1, Low Top

Shoe #2: Reebok Club C 85, Vintage Classic

Shoe #3: Veja V-10 Leather, Low Top

The Rise in Film Photography

There is no question that film photography has been all the rage among teens since this past summer. However, in an age of instant quality photos, why have we begun to return to vintage photo capturing methods?

Perhaps the delayed gratification, which the younger generations are often deprived of, has become a sought after sensation. The timeless method of film photography is the perfect way to preserve your memories, while also paying homage to the past.

Words

Hailey Kirchner Design

Hailey Kirchner Graphics Hailey Kirchner