Humans of West High Issue 1 May 23, 2016 Madison Molina and Caroline Young
Contents Page 9 Riley Brunk ‘19
Page 7 Lexi Pfeiffer-Williams ‘18
Page 9 David McNair
COVER AND CONTENTS DESIGN BY CAROLINE YOUNG COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY CAROLINE YOUNG
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Walking through the halls of West High School, you are surrounded by a mirage of different skin tones, body types, haircuts and faces. We are all living in our own world and dealing with our own individual problems. We tend to be oblivious to the emotions and lives of those around us, staying focused on our own days and strolling with your eyes locked on the tiny screen in your hand. When you stop and look up from the glow in front of you, you’ll see the bustling and emotions of our fellow Trojans. We all study under the same roof, but do you really take the time to get to know any of the strangers in the hallway? Each and every one of us has a unique story to share and it is our mission to do just that.
Page 11 Jonah Marcussen ‘18
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Express Yourself
Lexi Pfeiffer-Williams ‘18s blooming career as an artist and musician
ARTWORK BY LEXI PFEIFFER WILLIAMS PHOTO AND DESIGN BY CAROLINE YOUNG
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Cover: Pencil self portrait of Pfeiffer-Williams and her grandfather
I rap a lot but I don’t like rap with sex, drugs and money, that bothers me a lot. I just try to write stuff that means something. By Madison Molina
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exi Pfeiffer-Williams, ‘18 is an upcoming musician and artist who is already making a splash in the music scene. Ever since Pfeiffer-Williams could remember she had a drawing utensil in hand and was drawing. “My mom said when I was younger she saw me tracing things a lot, like the coloring books, I would trace them and then color them and then after awhile I would just know how to do it because I had traced them so much.”said Pfeiffer-Williams. After that, while living in Illinois, she got into graffiti. She would take blank stickers and draw tags or designs on them and put them anywhere and everywhere. Now she draws whenever, teaching herself since she doesn’t like art classes. “I took an art class here (West High) but it was kinda boring, it was too slow.” said Pfeiffer-Williams. Willi also really likes singing and playing instruments. As of right now she can play the violin, flute, trumpet, piano, drums and guitar. “Every year I did a different instruments because I was trying to get to know what I liked more. I typically stick with string instruments now.” The first instrument Pfeiffer-Williams played was the violin through school. But when she moved to Iowa she forgot how to read music and play instruments. Fortunately though her cousin bought her a guitar and she taught herself how to play. Now she teaches herself how to play all of her instruments and songs. If she hears a song on the radio that she likes she’ll figure it out by ear or look up tutorials on youtube. “We don’t have a lot of money for like piano classes and stuff like that. Even if we did i wouldn’t want to
go because I don’t like rules, I like to do what I want.” She is also inspired by many different artists such as Kevin Garrett, Lewis Watson and Bob and Bob Marley. Another activity that Pfeiffer-Williams is passionate about is writing her own music. “I write all my songs, a lot of songs and a lot of poems. I write a lot of stuff like poetry and then turn it into songs, when I’m playing my guitar I just start singing poems to see if they sound good.” It usually takes her a day to write a song and get it the way she wants it. One way she likes to perform her songs is through rap, though she said she does not like most rap music. “I don’t like rap, I rap a lot but I don’t like rap with sex drugs and money, that bothers me a lot. I just try to write stuff that means something.” Currently Pfeiffer-Williams is writing and publishing an album. “I’ve been going to the studio to record it and stuff, because people kept telling me you should publish it, you should publish it.” Right now only one of her songs is published on soundcloud but hopefully they will all be debuted soon. She is also constantly working on new music. “I never go a day without playing my guitar or writing something. I think music, like whenever I’m in class and I think of something I write it down. I have like four books” Another interest of Pfeiffer-Williams is psychology, which she hopes to go to college for. “I love studying body languages, facial expressions and emotions and why we do things. Even animals like I’m really curious about different organisms and what makes our body work.” She hopes to get her PHD in psychology and then do music and art on the side. WSSPAPER.COM MAY 2016 PROFILES 5
WSSPAPER.COM MAY 2016 PROFILES 5
Ride or Die The secret life of Spanish teacher David McNair as an adrenaline junky
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BY MADISON MOLINA avid McNair has been a Spanish teacher for 11 years. McNair decided to become a Spanish teacher because of his love for Spanish and Spanish culture. His interest for Spanish came from when he decided to study abroad in spain for a year in college. When he came back to the University of Iowa he decided to double major in spanish and that set him on his path. Another influence was that both of his parents were teachers. He chose to become a high school teacher because he wanted to try and be a mentor for young kids. He recalls that when he was in high school he had a rough time and his english teacher helped mentor him and turn his life around. McNair has learned many things over the years like, never assume that you understand what is going on with a student until you truly know what is going on with them. “Students come in here from all different backgrounds and they bring lots of baggage with them, lots of personal issues that you may not be aware of. Sometimes those issues cause them to either perform at a high level or at a low level and you can never generalize because everyone is differ7PROFILE MAY 2016 WSSPAPER.COM
ent and everyone has their own story.“ McNair is also very involved with his family. He has a four and a half year old daughter and an 19 month old son. His favorite part about being a parent is, watching them grow up. “Right now, especially with my son, it’s a very interesting time because his language is starting to explode out of nowhere. It’s so great watching the two of them make connections, there are a lot of ah ha moments and I think that is so awesome. Just watching them grow and learn and seeing their eyes when they get it, whatever it may be. It’s a blast.” His favorite time of his day is bedtime with his kids because he gets to tuck them in, talk about their days and read them books. “I forget about my entire day, whether it was good or bad and it’s just like you’re in your own little world and nothing else matters and your kids are right there. At this point they are so untainted, so innocent and it’s just refreshing.” McNair also enjoys this time of day because he gets to go down to their level and be like a little kid again. He can be goofy and silly with them and forget about all of the problems in the world. One thing he
hopes he can teach his children is to be kind, fair and generous people. “I hope my kids grow up to be very humble, respectful, hard working people, no matter what they choose to do. I think if they turn out that way they will be rich in knowledge and be able to do whatever they want to do and be happy doing it.” McNair is excited to give his kids new and interesting opportunities in the future. “I’m excited to put opportunities and experiences in front of them and let them experience it and pick their path. [...] I’m excited to just see where they go and what they choose to do.” His biggest inspiration in life was his mother, who made him into who he is today. “She really shaped who I am, as far as my political views, and my moral and ethical values. My mother was a very much a fight for what you believe in type of person, it doesn’t matter what you believe in. If it’s your conviction, if it is your truth then you need to fight for it.” McNair’s mother was a strong catholic but she disagreed with a lot of things the church would say. She thought that the church should change their thinking on
PHOTO BY DAVID MCNAIR
some things so she would write letters to the bishops and deacons to try and change things and to stand up for herself. “I never understood why she just didn’t go to a different church and she always told me it was her church and she would fight to change it.” Unfortunately McNair’s mother passed away in 2003 from brain cancer. “Every day that passes I miss her dearly just because she was such an influence for me.” He hopes he can be that same influential figure for his kids that his mother was for him. “It’s all about protecting them, get them to be smart thinkers, and have the tools they need for life to be safe and successful. And success is relative, I don’t gage success on how much money you have because I know plenty of people who have a ton of money and are extremely unhappy and vice versa. It’s all about the inner you, what you do and what you value in life.” But there is more to McNair than meets the eye. “Something about me that not a lot of people know is that I’m an adrenaline junky.”
He likes to spend his spare time racing cars, riding motorcycles, skydiving and going fast. He started racing cars in high school at a more amateour level but now he does track days which is when tracks open up to the public for a day. His favorite though is riding motorcycles because he can ride them whenever and wherever. Every summer he and his friends go on a motorcycle trip to places like Ireland and Superior National Forest. One of the scariest situations McNair has been in was when he went skydiving. “I mean talk about adrenaline rush, when I was in the plane and the door opened and then they were like ‘okay, we’re gonna jump!’” McNair says that he has always been this way, having a love for the more dangerous things in life. “I started to snow ski when I was two years old. I’m the type of person that likes to go straight down the hill, I don’t do that back and forth stuff.” After that McNair started to get into boxing when he was in high school, around the age of 15. He would get picked on a lot in school so he decided to learn how to defend
himself by training at a local gym. “It was kinda strange, a local biker club owned this gym and a couple of them were WWE guys and they would practice there and I don’t know how I did but I got in with them. I wasn’t apart of their gang but they would let me come to their gym and train.” Now McNair has slowed down with a lot of these hobbies, focusing mainly on motorcycling. Since he has kids he is more focused on safety and doesn’t get into as many dangerous situations as he used to.
It doesn’t matter what you believe in. If it’s your conviction, if it is your truth then you need to fight for it.” -David McNair
WSSPAPER.COM MAY 2016 SECTION 8
Feeling the Bern Riley Brunk ‘19s blooming interest for politics and theater ecpands through West High.
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BY MADISON MOLINA iley Brunk ‘19 may only be a freshman in high school but she is very passionate about this year’s presidential election. Brunk is a big supporter of democratic runner, Bernie Sanders. “I support him because I like his ideas, like his ideas on free health care and college and how he is going to put a tax on wall street.” She likes these ideas because she doesn’t think it’s fair that these large corporations aren’t being taxed at all while middle and low class citizens are struggling to get by. Another reason she supports Sanders is his stance on the legalization of marijuana. “In my opinion marijuana should be legal because honestly it’s not as bad as tobacco.” She believes this for multiple reasons: one, that it has never been known to kill anyone, two, doctors prescribe it to cancer patients so it can’t be that bad for you and three, it’s not that bad of a drug, since you’re not
injecting anything into your body and just inhaling the smoke. Brunk started to pay more attention to politics around last year in 8th grade. “I think it’s important to be involved at a young age because then you know what is going on in the world. It’s fun to share your views with people and to meet other people with the same views as you.”
go through that and not just have someone that hasn’t gone through the experience.” Another one of Brunk’s hopes for the future is to be apart of SNL and be a comedian. Ever since she can remember she has loved comedy and wanted to star on SNL. “I like seeing the smile on someone’s face after I make a really stupid joke and I really like to make jokes. I also want to do it for the inspiration of it. Show people it doesn’t matter if you come from a small town, you can still make it.” A big comedic inspiration for her is Amy Schumer. “I aspire to be like her because there are not a lot of female comedians out there but she Brunk ‘19 kinda defied everything.” Currently Brunk is involved in Best Buddies here at West High. “I like helping people and I like hanging out with kids that some people may see as kids with issues but if you get to know them they’re not. They’re some of the sweetest kids you’ll ever meet.”
I think it’s important to be involved at a young age because then you know what is going on in the world.
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-Riley
Brunk has thought about going into politics when she is older but she would much rather go into the medical field. “I hope to become a psychiatrist and help people with mental illnesses because it’s something at a lot of people struggle with. It’s good to have someone that knows what it’s like to
Get your
Grip How Jonah Marcussen ‘18 skated his way through tough times.
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BY MADDIE MOLINA AND CAROLINE YOUNG
It makes me feel great, it makes me feel worth something. It’s the reason I’m still here today. 11PROFILES MAY 2016 WSSPAPER.COM
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pproaching a massive railing down a flight of eight stairs, he skids to a halt just before attempting the biggest rail he has ever skated. Contemplating the possible outcomes of this stunt, Jonah Marcussen ‘18 is filled with fear. With determination in his eyes, he advances to the daunting obstacle. Every aspiring skater at the park has their eyes on him as he flies into the air and lands with the front of his board grinding down the railing. He falls short of success and lands in a harrowing crash. “Wow, that was scary,” Marcussen said. Not phased by his overwhelming feeling of angst, Marcussen runs back up the stairs to take another shot. Still, after countless wipeouts, he is determined not to give up. Another attempt, landing beautifully on the rail and executing a flawless finish, Marcussen is greeted by a round of applause and fist bumps all around. His drive and dedication inspires the young boys ogling at his performance. Marcussen, filled with the sense of determination, had overcome his fears once again and his day at the park ended in an invigorating sense of pride. Marcussen has been skateboarding for
around 4 years. Despite being introduced to it at the young age of 6 by his father, he got into it at the age of 12 after seeing his stepbrother and his friends skating. Marcussen explained that he loves skateboarding so much because it never fails to put him in a better mood, “It makes me feel great, it makes me feel worth something. It’s the reason I’m still here today.” Although Marcussen skateboards now out of passion, he first got into it for another reason. He started having family problems at home during junior high and used skating as an escape. “No other sport or anyone or anything in my life at that time was really an escape for me, I kinda used skateboarding as an escape from my family and something that could make me happy, because I wasn’t a happy kid,” he said. He also says that he really started progressing when he was at his lowest state of depression, and it really helped to better his mental state. Once he even ran away from home to the skatepark for a weekend, slept there overnight and skated the whole time. “I was dedicated.” Now, two years later it’s taken over Marcussen’s life. “I’m constantly wanting to
Below: Jonah Marcussen ‘19 skates at Venice Skate Park in California.
I’m constantly wanting to learn more and more tricks. It’s kind of an obsession, I’m addicted
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learn more and more tricks. It’s kind of an obsession, I’m addicted,” he says. He spends 8 to 12 hours every weekend dedicating his time into practicing and learning new tricks. Some tricks can be harder to get down than others, “There’s not really a hard trick but there’s a hard category of tricks, [Like a] switch-front heel. It really depends on the obstacle you’re doing or if you’re doing a flip.” Marcussen is also hoping to continue to skate in the future, “My biggest goals for the future is to definitely get noticed and to do something in skateboarding.” He is making progress with his first goal, as he has accepted a sponsorship. He is sponsored by a skate shop in Cedar Rapids called Eduskate. When you get sponsored the company pays you commercially, for example they would give you a skateboard to use to promote their business. He also explained that to get a sponsor, you film yourself skateboarding and send out the tape to various companies. “It’s pretty much like auditioning for choir and if you’re good enough, you’ll get sponsored.” Skateboarding has also introduced Marcussen to new people, such as Kaylub Ripperton ‘17. They’ve known each other for about a year and a half and skateboarding is a big part of their friendship. “He’s helped spark my joy for skateboarding, I started to [skateboard] a while ago, but never really got into it until I started hanging out with Jonah. From then on
it really took off,” Ripperton said. He also said it’s really entertaining to watch Marcussen because he is really good. Marcussen’s mother, Kim Schulz, is also a big supporter of his skateboarding. “It makes him happy so it’s definitely something I encourage, like I’ll say I want you to come home from school and why don’t you get some skateboarding in.” She recalls watching Marcussen as a young boy and seeing him do tricks she never thought could be possible, “He wanted to do things that very challenging and he developed an incredible perseverance to want to get a trick and just keep going and going. It has been amazing to watch him progress over the years to which now he’s doing things I would’ve never imagined.” Schulz said that skateboarding is a great source of self confidence for him. “It helps him get a better outlook on life and where he fits into that.” Schulz also supports his skateboarding because it’s a good way for him to cope, “It helps him to quiet his mind, all of the chaos in the world, the stress of school, whatever might be weighing on him, he’s got to set that aside to focus. It’s an outlet that allows him to process and sort through his feelings. If he’s had a hard day, he finds escape in that quiet of the mind.”
PHOTOS BY CAROLINE YOUNG DESIGN BY CAROLINE YOUNG
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What’s your story?