Senior Issue 2014-2015

The Bear Facts

Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke VA

Senior Issue

Class of 2015

Contents / 06.12.15.

Cover by Jesse Sands - photos on front and back by Gregg Zelkin Middle School - pg. 6-8 - “I was looking for some piece of driftwood to latch onto.”

Freshman Year - pg. 8-9 - “That does look fun.”

Sophomore Year - pg. 10-11 - “We’re bros now.”

Junior Year - pg. 12-13 - “Screw it, I’m taking the car.”

Senior Year - pg. 14-19 - “I’m just trying to graduate.”

College Plans - pg. 20-21 Senior Quotes - pg. 22-23 Last Words - pg. 24 - Mark Martino (Commencement Speaker) Staff - Josh Wartel • Ben Tobin • Emily Migdal • Jesse Sands • Katie Vinson • Sara Kim • Amanda Hendrix Staff - Elena Simon • Thomas Kendziora • Andrew Clinton • Patrick Kearney • Kathryn Helmke (adviser)

“Class of 2015, you know how we do, doing it big.�

- Anthony Nauls

Starting in April, The Bear Facts asked 24 seniors to share their expierences, favorite memories and lastng impressions of their time at LB. Here is the story of the Class of 2015...

As Told By...

Madeline Wann

Stephanie Chewning

Reagan Jones

Michael Rochlis

Emma Holzer

Anthony Nauls

Natalie Tkac

Gabi Troncoso

Rachel Phandinh

Melchol Fantaye

Madison Free

Sara Kreienbrink

Emma Rakowski

Kinaya Hassane

Karina Kolb

Rachel Ungerleider

Travis Yaga

Devin Moore

David Lynch

Caleb Montemayor

Elspeth Ripley

Sarah Belen

Bianca Thurgood

Robert McQueeney

6

Middle School

Chapter 1: “I was looking for

some piece of driftwood to latch onto.”

O

ur first real taste of LB was the orientation held on the Friday before Labor Day. Madeline Wann: It was really overwhelming and busy. I remember getting lost, and that’s the only time I ever got lost at Lake Braddock. I didn’t even get lost on the first day, so I guess orientation helped with that.

Reagan Jones: I remember me, [seniors] Nick O’Conner and Cole McGarry walking in, and I thought this school was the biggest thing I’d ever seen. We lost the lady that was walking us around, and we were just wandering around the school. I remember orientation was one of the funnest days. It was really, really fun.

Emma Holzer: 7th grade orientation was, like, really not fun. I ended up going to the wrong English class, and I didn’t know anyone in that class, and it felt, like, really intimidating to be there. After, Bruin Blast was fun, but I don’t remember most of it because I was running around trying to meet up with most of my friends from elementary school and getting lost in the process.

Anthony Nauls: It was boring. So I got here, and my mom dropped me off. I remember this. And I had to go to the wrestling room, and I knew one person in the room. I actually made a lot of friends that day, especially in math class. [Seniors] Chris Gilmore, Chris Rosales, Daniel Song. We all became pals.

Natalie Tkac: I remember meeting [senior] Kristen Wolfe in my English class, and she was new. [Wolfe] moved here, and I was like, ‘oh I can make a new friend,’ and I was just very excited. I remember meeting [senior] Daniel Jarris, too. His sister was best friends with my sister, so they made us talk.

With orientation in the rear-view mirror, the Class of 2015 was ready for its first real day of school.

Gabi Troncoso: I came here from a private school that I went to from first to sixth grade. It was a big transition because I went from having 50 kids in every grade to this. I remember the first day, the very first day of seventh grade. The bus driver was late, and I came into my first class ever, and I was sitting right next to [senior] Rachel [Ungerleider], and I was freaking out because I was 10 minutes late for class, and she was like, ‘relax, relax, it’s fine,” and I was, like, on the verge of tears.

But besides that, I remember being really overwhelmed for the first two weeks.

Emma Rakowski: First person I met was probably the bus driver. [I] looked her straight in the eye. She saw my fear. That’s how we bonded. My first period was English. I remember I was looking for you [interviewer Amanda Hendrix]. I was just in a sea, trying to find people I knew, like I was looking for some piece of driftwood to latch onto.

Kinaya Hassane: Well, I transferred here in the middle of the year. I came after winter break. Over winter break I had to come and do registration and stuff, so I would walk through the hallways to go to the guidance counselors. [It was] so overwhelming and really scary because the school that I came from, Lanier in Fairfax City, was not nearly as big as Lake Braddock. On the first day or first few weeks, I had someone guiding me around and showing me how to get to my classes and stuff. So, that was really scary, but most people were really nice and welcoming, so that helped a lot.

Led by a high-powered offense, the LB football team marched all the way to the state final, playing at the University of Virginia in December.

Karina Kolb: My brother [Khamrone Kolb, who graduated from LB in 2010] was a senior. He was really big and played football. I didn’t get to [go to] state finals because I had a swim meet that weekend, but I went to every other game. The most

exciting was their regional final game when they beat Battlefield by a touchdown.

Jones: I remember them going to states. I didn’t go though because it was in Charlottesville, but I remember everyone was so excited, and they were going to take a bus and everything. I thought it was the coolest thing. Like getting to sit in the hype squad. In middle school,

Band of Sisters Karen Vanderpuye, Alexa DiNunzio, Rachel Phandinh, Brooke Docherty, Katrina Tragakis and Maddie Sievers bond in their final days of band. you’re all the way in back. Like, you’re with the parents and everything.

7th grade was also full of fresh encounters with teachers and students. The learning curve was steep, and Snowpocalypse granted LB an entire week off.

Hassane: It was hard to find a solid group of friends. Like, I would hang out with different people and sit with different people at lunch. It really took me a long time to find my niche, if that makes sense. It took me awhile to make friends that I ended up sticking with because I didn’t know people from elementary school, so I had to bounce around a little bit.

Wann: Everyone from my elementary school [Kings Glen] was on the Blue Dolphins, and I was on the Golden Knights, so I was forced to branch out. But I’m still friends with people from elementary school now.

7 I’m so Fancy Sandra Itoh, Maddy Hunter, Natalie Tkac, Madeline Wann, Marrianne Beveridge and Jessica Davidson take photos together before eighth grade formal.

Tkac: I had Mrs. Stevulak. She was my favorite [teacher] because every time we walked into class, she had a pop song playing, and we would listen to it and jam out to it for the first five minutes of class. I thought, “wow, she’s so cool; we get to listen to music in this class.”

I was happy because I was in this cool new place.

Sober realizations clouded 7th grade with lingering truth of what LB would bring in the future.

Rakowski: One of the scariest moments of 7th grade [was when] the bus didn’t come, and I had some seventh grade presentation due, and I thought “man, the future is now, this is going to change the course of my existence if I can’t do this.”

Rachel Ungerleider: I’ve never met so many mean kids in my life.

There were some bullies at my elementary school, but there were so many bullies here. It has gotten better over the years, but mean kids, let’s say that.

Troncoso: I had my first boyfriend in 7th grade, but in retrospect, I don’t like to call it that because it wasn’t really a relationship but just one of those ones where you were dating but you didn’t actually do anything to make it like dating. We didn’t hang out or anything.

In 8th grade, we were the veterans of the middle school. That year was a continuation of 7th grade, but also a chance to turn the page.

Elspeth Ripley: 8th grade was a lot easier. I already had friends. It was a lot better. It was the year when I experimented with myself. I was a whole different person, and I was constantly changing. I tried being introverted [and] extroverted. I was

“Man, the future is now. this is going to change the course of my existence if I can’t do this.” goth for a month. I didn’t have myself as any certain person.

Bianca Thurgood: I went to [Poe Middle School] in 7th grade, and coming back to 8th grade and seeing all my friends from [Ravensworth] Elementary School again... was very pleasant because I already knew people at my new school. So that was nice.

Rakowski: I remember being very frustrated because the 8th grade locker bay bathrooms were always locked, so we’d always have to go somewhere else. I guess this really built up my frustration. I actually went in there one time though; it was open for some reason. Total score, total jackpot of my day.

Tkac: In 8th grade, I had Mr. Kelly, and he has been my favorite teacher for forever. I still go back and visit him all the time and update him about my life. I didn’t have any friends in my lunch last year, so I just went to his classroom every single day. When I had him, I thought he was the coolest person ever. He was this young teacher, and he was in a band, and I just thought that was so cool.

Stephanie Chewning: [The yearbook] had a whole section of all my spirit wear for [homecoming week], and I just remember, even when I walked through the high school hallways as an 8th grader, they were like, “wow, this girl is really spirited, and she’s not even in high school yet. I can’t imagine how she will be when she is in high school.”

Some of us applied to TJ, or the Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology, in 8th grade. The process was highly selective.

Jones: We lost, like, half the kids in our grade. Everyone left. A lot of my friends went to TJ. I remember a lot of people were stressed out in 8th grade.

Hassane: I took this prep course thing at TJ that they offered, and I did that on Saturdays up until the test came. It was kind of half my parents pushing me and half me wanting to do it. I took the test and made it past the first round, and I was like, “ah, I have a chance,” but then I didn’t get past the second round, and I was pretty bummed. But my parents were like, “don’t worry about it, like, we know it’s not a big deal. You don’t have to freak out.”

The death of Osama Bin Laden, the world’s most wanted terrorist, shocked us (and the world) in May 2011.

8

Middle School / 9th Grade

(From Last Page)

Michael Rochlis: It was one of the most patriotic moments of our lives. I was watching Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN; the Phillies were playing the Mets. You can see that in the crowd, whoever had a cell phone was kind of relaying the message that Osama had been killed, and everyone was chanting ‘USA.’ It was really cool to see sports integrate with such a great moment for the United States.

Tkac: Hearing it at my house, I remember thinking the radio broadcasters [were] saying Obama was killed, because they kept screwing it up, and I was like, “oh my god!” But, then they fixed themselves. I remember the next day, my sister had a party, like an Osama was killed party, and they hung up pictures of him shot. That was kind of weird.

Rakowski: I could hear the eagles cawing, and I could taste the colors of the American flag.

Hassane: I came to school, and someone in my circle of friends came up to me and thought it would be funny to be like, ‘oh Kinaya, I’m sorry your uncle died.”

Among the most memorable events of the year was 8th grade formal, which featured an early taste of pomp and circumstance only known to high school dances.

Troncoso: I had to be picked up by my sister because we were still so young and had to be driven around. I just remember seeing red lightning over the football field.

Rachel Phandinh: We thought it was the bee’s knees because we got to dress up, but really it was [in the] cafeteria like our other dances. For some reason, I thought it was kind of cool to wear a Wonder Woman cape with my dress because my brother brought it back from Six Flags with him on his band trip.

Tkac: I went with [senior] Daniel Jarris. We went out to Cheesecake Factory before and then took pictures at my house. There was a lot of stuff that went down that night, but I liked it because it was just our class, and I like that.

Thurgood: My hair fell out of its bun two minutes into the dance, so that wasn’t great.

Jones: I remember I was a lot taller than my date [Jenn Stoddard]. I mean I’m still a lot taller than everyone, but at that time, I was like two feet taller than everyone. We have an 8th grade formal picture where I’m up here, she’s down there, and you can barely see the top of my head.

Everything was just really awkward.

Chapter 2: “That does look fun.”

W

e lost hundreds of students in the transition to high school, but replaced them with a batch of new faces.

Melchol Fantaye: I came here freshman year from a school in Alexandria, and on the first day of school I remember walking into my first period, Biology Honors with Mrs. DeSouza. I just sat down where my name was, all shy and quiet, and I met [seniors] Liana Quinones and Ben Tobin first. [The three of us and another new student] just kicked it off, and that was my first experience at LB. Madison Free: I went to a school where my whole grade had 26 people. And there are more people in each of my classes here, so it was a bit of a shock.

Sara Kreienbrink: I moved here from Oklahoma. Oklahoma and Northern Virginia are two completely different ball games, and it was

kinda like a culture shock actually.

I might have moved across the world.

In 9th grade, we began to fixate on the extracurriculars and sports that

What’s goin’ on?

Cy Haukdal and Obadiah Bridges build a gingerbread house of graham crackers, frosting and plastic spoons. would dominate our afternoons for the next few months—or years.

Thurgood: I knew it was going to be hard to get into [the musical Les Miserables] because it’s more of an opera. I was one of the few 9th graders who did get in, so I thought that was very neat. In years following, I did get tired of rehearsals real fast. But in 9th grade, I didn’t get tired of the rehearsals because I loved the music and the people I was working with.

Chewning: I was a manager in both middle school years in swim and dive. So the transition from managing to actually being on the team was so exciting. I had wanted to compete on the team all of middle school, so that was really important to me. It was surreal.

Kolb: I’ve been doing swim for a long time. I did it in middle school, too. I’m on a club team.

My freshman year, when we placed states, we got a medal. It was my first year [on the team],

9th Grade

9

Flashback From Freshman Year

C and all the older girls were counting on me, so it was a lot of fun.

Phandinh: Indoor track season freshman year is what got me into running because before I had never really done that on my own, and it was great being a part of a team. I don’t really remember what got me to do track, but I just did it, and I fell in love with it. So, that following year [10th grade], I started cross country.

Wann: I didn’t stay with any sport. I literally dropped one every year, like lacrosse, field hockey and track.

Jones: I played four years of [basketball], but I was also on JV baseball for half of the preseason. That was like my claim to fame in baseball. I quit the year that they won states.

[Varsity baseball coach Jody Rutherford] told me I would have been called up at the end of the year, and I just wish I had stuck it out. Just one year, and I could have gotten a ring.

Ungerleider: My friend [senior] Grace Hellier was on the lacrosse team, and she said “we need players,” and I went to go talk to the coach, and she’s like “we need a goalie,” and I was going to be a backup. Grace ended up getting the worst concussion you can ever get, and she’s out from school for a couple months, and I ended up being the main goalie, and I’ve never played the sport in my life. Everyone knows the infamous goal I scored on myself where we’re up 7, and I scooped it with the stick and [threw] it right into the goal. The other team is collecting their sticks saying “we scored!” and I go, “no, I scored.” I will always

be known as the goalie who scored on herself.

Freshman year, we celebrated at GLO, the enjoyable, short-lived spring dance [see page 9 for more].

Chewning: It was the first year there was a blacktop dance, and it was a whole new thing for Lake Braddock. Everyone would go down to the blacktop, and it was so cool because I was standing there dancing next to seniors. It was the moment I realized that Lake Braddock wasn’t a school too separated by grade, which [is something] I love.

Tkac: I didn’t go to GLO in ninth grade.

I went to the baseball game; I remember walking back from the baseball game to my house and looking over at everybody dancing under the lights. I thought “oh, that does look like fun,” and I was disappointed I guess, so I went the next year [to Fusion].

Many World History classes assigned the Historical Hotties project, in which students dressed up as historical figures and gave goofy presentations.

Rakowski: It took me 26 tries because I am not technical. I was filming in my grandmother’s backyard; the neighbors were cooking dinner and watching all this go down.

That’s part of the reason I couldn’t keep a straight face. I was dressed up in 1400 royal capes. I was Queen Clotilda. It was all in the allure of the name. Nicknamed the Clot.

Wann: I don’t remember the name of the person I was. Some Grecian empress. [Senior] Maddy [Hunter] and I filmed together and wrapped each other in sheets. It was so embarrassing to watch

atcher Sara Costa high fives her teammate Courtney Farmer after a hit to score the JV team their 30th run against West Springfield. “We were really close friends.

She was a grade above us, so I was very sad when she didn’t come back,” Costa said. Costa looks back on her two seasons on JV fondly after being pulled up to varsity her junior year. “It was just a fun experience, so different from varsity because varsity is such a huge step up,” Costa said. She recalls the work she had to put in to rise to the varsity level. “I knew if I wanted to make varsity, I was going to work so hard, and I also realized it’s important to know how to play more than one position, and that’s helped me a lot,” Costa said. Her ability to be a utility player and work both in the infield and the outfield has helped her along the way. This season, she has played both second base and right field. Sara has played varsity for two seasons now, but began her softball career when she was only 9 years old.

10-11

9th Grade / 10th Grade

F

Chapter 3: “We’re bros now.”

in class, but it It Takes Crew was fun to film. Laura Egeland and Travis Yaga: I Gabby Rodriguez bond hated doing that at one of their first project. I was regattas. The two are Augustus Caesar now captains of the for my project. crew team and Egeland I wore a blonde will be rowing for Alabama next year. wig and made a video, didn’t really do any editing on it so I had to talk the whole time. It was so awkward.

Phandinh: I was Catherine De Medici.

Peep it on YouTube. It’s going viral. It’s going strong.

Three years later, a surprising amount of our freshman year memories linger in the teachers, moments and discoveries we made.

Fantaye: I had Mrs. Devoti [that year]. I absolutely loved history, and she was the best history teacher I’ve had so far. She told us she used to be a tour guide, and she made history like that.

Jones: It was the Christmas Tournament for basketball, and we were down by 2 and I was a freshman, so I wasn’t supposed to touch the ball. But I got in the game, and [I] came around to like the volleyball line, around half court, and there was like 5 seconds. I just threw it, and it went in. It was the coolest moment of my high school career.

Rakowski: I discovered a whole entire new part of the building. I had no idea we had so many back hallways. My mind was blown. I felt like Nicholas Cage discovering the Declaration of Independence.

or students accustomed to never cracking open a textbook, AP World History was a shock to the system. More work and academic difficulties were to follow.

Tkac: I love history, so I knew I was going to take AP World. It was so hard. They could literally ask you anything that ever happened ever anywhere. I was like “wow; this is insane.” It was a good experience for me because I had a lot of friends in there, and it was my first AP class. It helped me get into my other APs. Rochlis: The work wasn’t extremely difficult, but the idea of sitting there reading a textbook, taking notes, being quizzed on basically reading the textbook. It’s just a different feel from other classes at LB. Ripley: I could not get geometry. That was sophomore year. It was awful. I couldn’t understand it. No matter how many times someone explained it, I couldn’t get it.

Jones: [Chemistry] sucked. Ms. Jain [was] threatening to write me up for destruction of school property because I cut something with her scissors, and they broke in half. I was like “sorry, I broke your scissors.” But she [said] “no, no, no, I’m going to write you up unless you bring me new scissors tomorrow.” So I had to go home, I was like crying to my mom, I was like “my teacher’s going to expel me” so she drove me over to Staples and got new scissors. I think I finished with a

Ain’t Nobody Fresher Than My Clique Shaw Camphire, Nate Corbett, Dante Shrader, Andres Montes, Loney McMillan and Rhys Kriedler walk down the street to Taco Bell. The crew had been friends for many years, and outings like this were a common occurrence. The group is still close, though many have moved away.

10th Grade C+ in that class, and I was so happy.

By sophomore year, we were beginning to realize where we belonged in the school.

Nauls: I went to Sports Marketing [for Bruin Block] everyday because it was the only class that I could chill and talk in. It was a good time. I got kicked out one time because people were leaving. Two girls left the class before the bell rung, so I was like, “I don’t want to be here.” I left too, and the teacher [Brandon Wolf] came out and told me not to come back. I had to go apologize later so I could come back.

Wann: [Free-choice Bruin Block] was so liberating, and it helped me build stronger relationships with certain teachers who ended up writing me letters of recommendation.

Free: I did [crew for] two years, and I didn’t really like it the second year, so I stopped. Crew is a cult because they are just friends with each other. When you're on crew, your whole life is crew. You go to practice.

You go to regattas. You don’t really have time to hang around with other people. You literally race five times.

You’re practicing for nine months, and you race five times.

Ungerleider and Troncoso both joined the yearbook staff, eventually becoming co-editor-in-chiefs senior year.

Ungerleider: I read on the [course selection sheet] that I couldn’t take it until 10th grade, so I missed a year.

But, this is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

I got a whole family away from my actual family.

And it’s given me a safe haven in school because it’s stressful, and people are still so mean, but then you can be yourself, and you can make a great product and just have a great time, which I’m so very grateful for.

Troncoso: So sophomore year, I took [yearbook] because I had fun in [Journalism 1] freshman year, but [journalism adviser] Kathryn Helmke thought I would enjoy yearbook more. So I came into this class, and it was full of like field hockey cliques and stuff, and it was also the year after I got my back surgery so like the field hockey clique was really interested in my back scar.. So I didn’t really have any friends in here until like probably December because I was really shy.

Management was a mess. We didn’t have our spreads until like deadline night because they wouldn’t let us touch the pages.

The friendships we formed in 10th grade were exciting and enduring.

Free: That’s when I met [senior] Hao Nguyen, and we’ve been friends since. It’s very interesting. Before we were good friends, he was very nice to me. Now he just makes fun of me all the time. But it’s okay because I make fun of him back. We have a very nice relationship.

Nauls: I met [senior Daniel] Burnside in 10th grade.

We’re bros now. We were both captains in the JV

[soccer] team. We got tight because were both funny kids. We enjoy the same stuff.

Ungerleider: Sophomore year was when I met my best friend, [senior] Eberth Reyes. If we hadn’t had Mr. Dean’s first period chemistry, I think my life would be different. We have just been best friends ever since. I am so grateful I had that class because he is my best friend.

We’ll Never Be Royals Again Seniors Zoey Mansur (left) and Rory Hatch (right) wave to the crowd in the homecoming parade during their sophomore year. “It was a huge honor to be recognized by the class,” Hatch said, “and I was just so surprised when I got it. I had no idea it was coming.” Earlier in the day, the two were recognized at the pep rally. Hatch’s favorite part of the day was the craziness and energy of the pep rally as she got to walk through the tunnel made of BVD members, she said. Mansur enjoyed riding in the convertible with Hatch at the parade and throwing candy out to the crowd, she said. “It is kind of cheesy to say it was like an honor,” Mansur said, “but it’s just really nice knowing that people think you’re nice enough to go up there and represent your class.”

At the end of the day, the two attended the game and walked across the field with their families and friends under the Friday night lights.

L 12

13

11th Grade

Chapter 4: “Screw it, I’m taking the car.”

Lots us learned to drive in 10th grade, but it wasn’t until our junior year that we took control of the steering wheel and rode the streets on our own.

Tkac: My mom would make me drive around without my permit because she was like “you need to learn how to do this now.” She was a terrible person to drive with, though, because she was like “alright, whenever I want you to stop I’m going to scream.” Like, are you serious? This is what they tell you not to do! So learning to drive was tough when I was with my mom. We Can Work It Out Phandinh: I know when Clara Currier and Amelia I didn’t get my permit on Rafle work together on the the first try, I cried because National Art Honor Society it was a sign that I knew mural. It hung in the art pod and because you can’t try while they worked on it, but again until two weeks later, Currier hopes to see it in the I think, so I was gonna go library before she graduates. to camp, and by that time it would be more than two weeks. I just really wanted to drive, but I’m kind of glad I had to wait.

Free: [My mother] changed my court date three times because she didn’t want me to drive. So I eventually got my license in November of junior year.

Jones: [When you get your license], it’s like “screw it, I’m taking the car. I’m doing whatever,” and you feel like you have so much freedom.

Free: If you have a full tank of gas and a license, you can do whatever you want. My friends and I go on road trips a lot.

When gas was really cheap a couple months ago, my friend

and I just drove to Bethany Beach that night, went on the beach for five minutes and came home because we just could.

By junior year, we knew college was just around the corner.

The SAT and ACT would be crucial barometers for the admissions process.

Thurgood: I didn’t study the first time for the ACT and I got an okay score. And then I got tutoring, and I got a lower score the second time. So the system is rigged, but it’s okay. I still got into my dream college [Brigham Young University] so that’s all that mattered.

Hassane: I remember the first time I took the SAT at Lake Braddock, the proctor, she teaches Spanish here, Ms. Sohl, and she was so sweet. At the end, I was like brain dead, and everyone else was too, and she just pulls out these cookies and was like, ‘here you go guys, this is for you.’ It was so heartwarming. Oh my gosh, that was so sweet of her to bring cookies.

Nauls: I took three [SAT prep] classes. [Each class] was a three-month course. I went to C2 to take SAT classes even though I didn’t like the way they taught. It smelled like cigarettes in there because of the cigar store next to it. I went back for an SAT boot camp.

Devin Moore: I didn’t study a single bit for either one.

Fantaye: I didn’t take my SAT until June of 11th grade, and I definitely regretted that. I wanted time to prepare, and I took a prep class, but I didn’t always do my homework because I had school homework. It was stressful, trying to find out how to do both at the same time.

“If you have a full tank of gas and a license, you can do whatever you want.

My friends and I go on road trips a lot.”

Piece of my hair Bronwyn Neal and Micah Castro donate their hair to Locks of Love for the winter pep rally. The girls had to cut off at least 10 inches to donate. This was the final day of the 28 Acts of Kindness for the month of February.

Ripley: The SAT and ACT and my AP courses was difficult because I was looking the schools I had the option of going to. It was a big eye opener to see what I needed to do to get myself where I wanted. I didn’t really have a social life.

Tkac: I was about to give up and go with my previous score, but then I signed up for one last [SAT], and it was the day after prom. I went to prom and was out until 3 in the morning, so I was exhausted. But then I went out the next day and got my best score. Honestly, standardized testing depends how you’re feeling on that day. Like, you can study all you want and just have a bad day.

Junior year was also a time of rapid personal transformation; we arrived in our new roles and could better articulate who we are. But stress was unavoidable.

Chewning: I was interested in possibly swimming in college, so in 11th grade, I went and filled out all the questionnaires at the schools I was interested in. I started talking to some coaches that year, but I wasn’t ever too worried. I didn’t really prepare myself for applications.

Kreienbrink: Junior year was kinda [my] breakout role [for theater]. It wasn’t in a show that was a main-stage show. We did a competition at VTA’s [Virginia Theatre Association], and I had this role where I had to sing a lot. I’ve kind of become Mirabal’s designated singer person. Because [of that] year, he will just be like “here, take it, go.”

Thurgood: In 11th grade, I joined choir, and that’s when I really branched out. Even for orchestra, I tried out for district orchestra, and I got in. And in choir, I made district choir and all-state, and that was pretty great. I spent most of my days, and I still do, in the music hallways. And I’ve made a lot of new friends in choir.

Ripley: I ended up competing [in DECA] that year. We went to the competition, and we had to sit around for eight hours because we were so behind, and in that time, I was so irritated, but [sponsor] Mr. Wolf said “it’s fine. It will be okay.” After the fact, he talked to me. Even though we didn’t win, I have a real skill for it. He urged me to participate in [business and DECA] in the future. He has really shaped me in who I want to become and who I am now.

“I went to prom and was out until 3 in the morning, so I was exhausted. But then I went out the next day and got my best [SAT] score.”

Lean on Me At the 2013 Braddock Relays, cross country runner Sara Gregg supports her then-sophomore relay partner Madison Deaton in the midst of a downpour.

David Lynch: Junior year is the most important academic-wise, and I figured I needed free time. I was able to hit the weight room, coach basketball and focus on grades [because I didn’t play basketball that year]. I think it was a good year off because I had been playing so much. I was kind of burned out.

Troncoso: It was just such an overwhelming year, and I didn’t process the stress well. So, in November, with the increased pressure of yearbook, I started getting these awful migraines, and it was just like every weeks, I would get these breakdowns, and sometimes it would be like three weeks, but then especially between December and March, they increased where I would have breakdowns every three days, and junior year was a life ruiner. People think I was happy that year, but actually the happier I acted, the [more] stressed I was because I was trying to cover.

Nauls: Junior year was a bad year for me. You know when you step out in the soccer field, all your worries go away. You just focus on the soccer so it was good for me. It relieved my stress.

14

12th Grade

(20)15 - Love Seniors Alex Nesterovich and Nick O’Connor celebrate a good play on senior night. The two have been teammates for four years and are a killer doubles team.

15

Chapter 5

F

ootball season and homecoming were the start of our last year at LB. Jones: I went to a majority of the games, and this was my favorite year being in the hype squad. I remember the first game was an America Out, and [Stephanie Chewning] comes out painted from head to toe in red, white and blue. We ran through the parking lot into the stadium with American flags.

Chewning: I was so excited because I had always been involved in the hype squad. I had prepared so far in advance.

I had all my paint ready. I had my outfits because my closet looks like Party Depot. Going to that first game, I was so excited to see everyone again. Realizing that this was our senior year, it was really a monumental moment. I love seeing everyone so excited and supporting my friends on the field.

“I’m just trying to graduate.”

Caleb Montemayer: It was one of Lake Braddock’s better football years in recent memory, so it was really cool to be a part of that. I was just really excited to be a part of that team.

Free: I went to a lot of football games, and I should have bought one of those sports passes, but I thought I was better than that. I probably spent $100 on sports games this year. And those were fun. The tailgates were kinda awkward. Everyone kind of separated into their groups. And then everyone would race up to the first row of the bleachers. And it would literally be a fight, and no one would want to move. It was just a lot of underlying animosity.

Troncoso: I didn’t go to as many football games as I would’ve liked to because I had a job that I ended up quitting. But I wish I went and was in the student section because I actually have never been in the student section, painted and yelling. I just

16 wish that I would’ve done that at least once.

Chewning: The end of the West Springfield [regional quarterfinal] game, I was crying because I thought it was over, and then when we won, I was so happy. When the boys came to the fence, I got to hug all them. It was such a great moment because it was like “we have one more game.”

Wann: I was thinking about it the other night actually. I get nostalgic for it now, like thinking how we’ll never go to high school football games again.

Assigned Bruin Block rankled some of us who expected more freedom, not less.

Sarah Belen: I was very upset. I [was] part of the PTSA last year, and all the middle schoolers would complain. “We do not like our schedules.

The teachers are giving us work.” All the high schoolers liked their schedules, and then they changed it, showing the [PTSA] is useless.

Jones: It got annoying after a while. It didn’t happen a lot, but if I needed to do something, I couldn’t do it. If I needed to retake a test, if I was out sick, if I was on vacation, I’d come to school and wouldn’t be able to go to that teacher for a couple of days. I really hope they improve on that next year and find a medium.

Wann: I wrote an essay in the senior survey about [the Bruin Block change]. Lake Braddock is being hypocritical because they say they want to teach us to be independent, but then baby us and make us less self-sufficient.

The college application season was finally here.

We applied to a few colleges—or a lot of them.

Fantaye: At first, I was really happy that I had the perfect six colleges I was looking at. Three of them were public, three of them were in-state, three of them were out of state, three of them were urban, three of them weren’t. Then I slowly kept adding schools, and it got stressful.

Free: I actually had no idea where I wanted to go, and I was randomly looking up business schools.

And then I was saw NYU was at the top. It wasn’t Wharton hard. So eventually I applied. And I applied to JMU, Tech and UVA and UNC. Wann: The college search was over-hyped.

I thought it was going to take longer per application, and I didn’t realize some apps were harder than others even though that sounds stupid. I decided at the last minute not to apply to Virginia Tech and apply to LSU instead. I got deferred from JMU and USC, but I got accepted to both in the end so it didn’t really matter.

Jones: I applied to two schools; it was just [Texas] A&M and Wheaton. I got it done and out of the way pretty early because I committed

12th Grade to Wheaton [for basketball] somewhere around October or November. It was all pretty stressfree for me.

Lynch: Virginia Tech [has] binding [Early Decision], so when they accepted me, I knew where I was going before probably 90 percent of my classmates.

Phandinh: [Virginia] Tech has always been a family tradition. Basically everyone in my family has gone, and so it was always in the back of my mind. Freshman year I went to my cousin’s graduation at UVA and then camp at

Glory Days Senior Bobby Seifert pumps up the varsity boys soccer team before they take on West Potomac in the Conference semi-final game (left). Seniors enjoy the capital field trip (middle). Senior Ben Peters gets ready before a lacrosse game (right).

UVA after sophomore year, and I kind of thought I wanted to go there. Then as I started to visit my brother [Class of 2013 graduate Nick Phandinh] more and more at college, I realized that I really wanted to go [to Tech].

Moore: I didn’t really care where I went to college. I knew no matter where I went I was going to have the same college experience. Since I wanted to major in physics, I talked to my physics teachers, and they told me that William and Mary was the best school in Virginia to major in physics.

Rochlis: I kind of decided several years ago that I wanted to go to UVA. It’s my mom’s school.

It’s an excellent school, and it’s in Virginia. I was maybe a little bit overconfident, wearing school sweatshirts last year. It was really cool to get in, since that’s always where I’ve wanted to be.

17 Tkac: It was so stressful. I had no idea where I wanted to go. I applied to a bunch of schools, and it never really felt that real to me. It always felt so far away. I missed the deadline for turning in the things to get my transcripts sent, so my mom got mad at me.

As decisions rolled in, our college choices— and our distant career plans—became newly tangible. We surprised ourselves where we ended up.

Chewning: I’ve always been really bad with decisions, so I applied to five Florida schools

and I was kind of hoping I wouldn’t get into some of the because the decision would’ve been easier. Then I got to go on some official visits for swimming. I’ve committed to go to Rollins for swimming, and that was the first school I visited.

It’s funny because when the school first contacted me, I never had thought about going there.

Free: I got straight up denied from UNC, and their letter was so rude. It was like, “Our admissions committee has decided you will not be able to have a place in our freshman class. I know this is not the decision that you wanted, but this is the decision we’ve come to.” I was like “what?”

Hassane: My parents are both immigrants, and they didn’t go to college, and so they weren’t really as much of a resource...I applied on a whim to this fly-in program; it was a diversity thing where they flew you to Bowdoin for the

“It was a lot of really random chance of events that led me to end up there.”

weekend, and you just stayed there to get a sense of what campus life is like. When I went for the weekend, it ended up being so much fun, better than any other college visit that I had done, so that really made me like the school. So, I applied Early Decision, and it happened. It was a lot of really random chance of events that led me to end up there.

Troncoso: I didn’t know where I wanted to go to school until the fall because over the summer my family took a visit to UNC Wilmington, and that’s the college that I committed to because I love it a lot, and I’m glad they forced me to visit.

I’m also going to be in the nursing program.

Fantaye: [Washington College in Maryland] is completely different than what I imagined, but as soon as I visited and sat in on a class, I realized it was perfect. I sat in on a business class, and they were doing a hands-on project, and the small-school attention they received, I absolutely loved it.

Free: I was deciding between NYU and Tech, and I decided on NYU because they had a better international business program. If I do the degree [I want], then I will spend the entire junior year in London.

Even as we signed our intentions to go off to college, we were still stuck at LB for a long winter of snow.

Belen: [On Jan. 6], I actually could not get out of my neighborhood. I pulled off of my first street, and slid into the next one. I left my car there and just walked home. When you slide, it’s like slow motion; it’s terrifying.

Moore: I was right behind a school bus going up a hill near Kings Parks, and the bus almost didn’t make it up the hill. It started slowing down, and I could tell the bus was trying to get traction, and thankfully it did, but [I] still could have almost died.

Jones: I remember we woke up, and my sister [junior Caroline Jones] and I were trying to get to school. My mom told us to not risk it, just wait two hours and then try and get in.

At like 9:30, we’re on the road, and I have an SUV without snow tires. I tried to make a turn getting out of my neighborhood, and my SUV slips, slides around and almost takes out my neighbor’s mailbox. The entire time, we’re just praying to get to school in one piece. We risked our lives for our education, then we went to school for one period before going home.

Robert McQueeney: #CloseFCPS...was just a bunch of whiny kids not wanting to go to school because of a couple of inches of snow, and it got trending worldwide.

18-19

12th Grade

The pace of schoolwork eased our senior year, particularly in the second semester.

Chewning: I basically just wanted to set up my schedule to make this year easy. I have just two required classes and the rest electives.

I haven’t been stressed this year.

Kolb: I’ve had no motivation to do anything.

In the past, I was really good about doing my homework. I was that person who always did their homework and always got good grades. But now, it’s like trying to get through this year because I already got into college. I’m just done, and I don’t really study for tests anymore.

Wann: My parents have stopped caring about schoolnight activities. Like I can go to concerts in the middle of the week, and they don’t care. Everything flew by senior year, because there’s always something like next

week or tomorrow to be excited about.

Free: I’m just trying to graduate, man. I’m just trying to live my life, and everyone is getting in the way. You feel me?

We still made new friendships, memories and connections this year, even as we prepared to say goodbye.

Kreienbrink: Honestly one of my favorite teachers I had over the course of high school...is my English teacher that I have now, Mr. Weintraub. I don’t know if he knows this, but I honestly find him incredibly inspiring because he is so real. Like he challenges us to think about everything from every single angle and be completely real with ourselves and get over the things that you can’t change. I walk into his class, and I automatically feel like this drive to be a better person.

Nauls: I met Sara Kim this year. She’s cool and funny.

We geek. She geeks at herself because she thinks she’s funny. We work together. We’re a team here.

If she succeeds, I succeed.

We do well on the tests because we study hard for tests, and the results show.

Lynch: For me, [senior night for basketball] was really exciting. It was against South County, our biggest rival.

It was a Friday night, and it was packed. My grandpa actually died that day, and I was really close to him.

He was my neighbor and lived two minutes away.

Originally, I didn’t know if my parents would even come to the game and walk out with me on senior night.

When they showed up, it really showed that they support me in everything I did. I knew it was a tough time for my dad, but he was still there watching me play.

My grandma was there, too.

That basket I scored was kind of for him.

All In This Together Senior Sarah Belen runs the football down the field during the juniorsenior powderpuff game (bottom left). Seniors Casey Phelps and James Davenport dance during pep rally performance of BVD (bottom right).

The varsity baseball boys line up for the “National Anthem” before their game (top right).

Now we can count what is left easily on one hand: Prom, Graduation, All-Night Grad. Then we will go our separate ways.

Tkac: I’m so excited for prom. I’m also really excited for All-Night Grad Party, and graduation in general.

I don’t feel like I’m old enough yet, though. Last year, when I looked up at the seniors, they all seemed so mature and old. This year, I’m like “but wait, I’m still 12.”

Free: I don’t like school dances. They’re very awkward. I’m a very awkward dancer, so I’m not gonna dance. What do people even do at prom?

Montemayor: I’m not going to prom, though. I had to choose between prom and beach week because I

didn’t have enough money for both. I figured I’d either have one really great night at prom or a bunch of them at the beach.

Wann: Graduation won’t feel real until we get our caps and gowns. I always try on my friends’ caps and gowns and run around their house with them on because I’m anxious to graduate.

Troncoso: I think that I’ll be glad to leave. I’ll be sad about not being able to see any of my friends anymore, probably sad about leaving journalism, but I’m going to come to visit next year. So I think [the journalism room, L202] is the only thing I’ll miss about this school next year.

Kreienbrink: We all are cherishing each other more because we are...probably

not going to see each other again, and I’m going to see you [interviewer senior Patrick Kearney] like 10 years from now, so I have to make the most of what’s going on now.

Free: A lot of these people, I’m done with.

Thurgood: If we wanted to we could connect online and stuff. I’ll finally be able to make a Facebook with my parent’s permission. So I can still keep in touch with people. My closest friends will stay close.

Phandinh: I know that nothing is gonna really be the same after I leave. I’m going to be growing up and owning my own apartment soon after that, and...my parents aren’t really gonna be there all the time. It’s just kind of like I’m growing up.

Years ago, we were just another part of Lake Braddock. Now, LB will always be part of us, a part of who we will grow to become.

Chewning: Being a Bruin, wearing purple and gold, bragging to other schools about how much better we are at everything. Even if we statistically aren’t, we are. Not being a Bruin anymore is going to be hard for me because I love this school so much. I know that my memories will always be here, and I’ll always come back. It’s like a sad transition, but it’s like a good sad. I wouldn’t change anything: grades, the nights I skipped projects to go to basketball games.

Free: It was not like I thought it would be. My whole life I went to private school. I feel like I’ve had a very typical high school experience. Lake Braddock is a very stereotypical high school. All the movies, I feel, are based off Lake Braddock.

Fantaye: In a way, [LB] is kind of like home. You might not love everything about it, but you do feel connections because you’re forced to be here every day, and you make friends and memories.

Nauls: [LB] has taught me a lot. Not only school wise, but stuff about life. It set me up to the future very well. I hope I can carry these values and morals to college, and hopefully we’ll succeed as a group. Class of 2015, you know how we do, doing it big.

Where 15 everyone going to college?

American University Mai Le Appalachian State University Amanda Hendrix Arizona State University Younggi Moon Auburn University Gabby Rodriguez Alex Tanner Olivia Tavernier Jonathan Wood Baylor University Joseph Hwang Berklee College of Music Abby Malloy Birmingham-Southern College Rebecca Weston Boston College Caitlin Keenan Bowdoin College Kinaya Hassane Bowling Green State University Alex Strunk Bridgewater College Alex Gerndt Brigham Young University Minh Thompson Bianca Thurgood Brown University Josh Wartel Catholic University of America Kayla Bui Franklin Mendoza Cedarville University Marisa George Christopher Newport University Elizabeth Corbin Emily Donley Michelle Green Madeline Long Caleb Montemayor

Matt Otto Connie Polnow Bobby Seifert Clemson University Molly Hart Ian Smith Cleveland Institute of Music Ye Ram Yoon College of Southern Maryland Sebastian Vargas College of William and Mary Kate Avery Alisa Hoang Amber Kreiensieck Alex Laney Devin Moore Emilly Mudd Bunyamin Sevim Michael Sparrow Emily Steele Colorado State University Lucas McGee Coppin State University Keenan Forbes Cornell University Patrick Kim Davis & Elkins College Aaron Strynar DigiPen Institute of Technology Nick Johnston Drexel University Ji Seung Lee Duke University Tommy Haliday East Carolina University Alex Petrovich Elizabethtown College Lucas Barry Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Roger Acchione

Balint Subert Fisk University Lanita Hodge Florida Atlantic University Hermela Arcudi Michael Galligan Florida State University Connor Baugh Ben Levitt Geneva College Rachel Tuck George Mason University Miguel Ancalle Clara Currier Adam Dannoura Keorachana Don Stephen Durbin Nick Edwards Michael Fasil Michelle Garcia Julianna Hazera Omar Jawaad Alec Johnson Ryan Kane Summer Khalefa Angela Lee Hannah Lee Will Miller Yusuf Monawer Susan Partyka James Porzia Mokshu Poudel Ryan Reynders Sooyoung Rim Romina Rojas Ezequiel Sepulveda Nick Shannon Adam Spector Andrew String Maria Suarez Veizaga Jake Tapper Thomas Tyra Natasha Whiteside George Washington University Sara Gregg

Georgetown University Brynne Long Hampton University Kameron Thomas Hillsborough Community College Nathaly Bascope Illanez Indiana University Andrew Stanger Indiana University of Pennsylvania Sam White James Madison University Paul Barnhill Colin Brechwald Anna Bui Shaw Camphire Jeremy Duran Jenna Edwards Evan Eschenburg Brian Gilmore Kevin Haswell Grace Hellier Brenna Houck Yeong Seok Kim Devin Lee Madi Long Amanda Masters Tyler McDaniel Larry Naupari Bronwyn Neal Thomas Nguyen Kathryn Nielsen Monica Olivo Mickey Pamonag Liana Qui単ones Jesse Sands Andrew Simpson Camille Spain Tyler Stewart Matt Supko Johnson and Wales University Gianpier Pineda Grace Zirkel Kansas State University Tara Ackerman

Lafayette College Zara Bittner Liberty University Rebecca Edminston Terumi Leon Longwood University Travis Bresnahan Andrew Clinton Sophia Manhertz Dan Piraino Rianna Renzi Thomas Yates Louisiana State University Taylor Fleury Marymount University Matthew Barton Mariae Beck Margarita Hernandez Mercyhurst University Zach Erdman Miami University of Ohio Maddy Hunter Michigan State University Kristen Wolfe Montana State University-Northern Justin Newman New River Community College Elisa Stephano New York University Madison Free Kaitlyn Lunardi Hannah Mont Maddie Sievers Northern Virginia Community College Liya Abseno Mohammad Amini Luis Baires Amanda Bartusksa Donte Baxter Renay Bennet Matt Bryant Michael Bountempo

Michelle Chon Arianna Coghill Eamon Congdon Idalys Corado Kwamena Daniels Taylor Day Darian Evans Timothy Gopiao Tamer Hosein Asad Ibrahim Farah Iskandar Moriah Kitaeff Alexis Knox Lazokat Komilova Greg Kupraty Tu Lam Tony Leonardo Daniel Luna Camille Lynch Erika Martinez Neville Mendonca Daniar Miranda Ali Mohammadian Ricky Nguyen Sahuur Osman Edgar Pereira Tristan Pham Kimberly Portillo Marcelo Prieto Omar Rakin Zenat Raza Brady Redman Adriana Rodriguez Elizabeth Romero Neil Rubi Junior Sanchez Hamza Saraira Logan Shock Madison Shock Dante Shrader Deep Singh Samreen Singh Andrew Snellings Kaitlin Stone Brian Talos Hung Tran Vu Tran Rachel Tubbs Paula Tuero Jairo Vargas Diana Ventura Bezawit Yared Vivi Zakharevich Tamara Zerbo Old Dominion University Ryan Alexander Kadisha Conteh Sibel Dag Carolina De Paz Ryan Fraga Tori Krugh Robert McQueeney Alexis Ollison Kwaku Oppong Michelle Ross Bethany Southee Antonia Tempesta Ohio State University AJ Alexander Pennsylvania State

University Harrisburg ChiLan Vu Radford University Telahun Amsalu Dhyan Fontaine Collin Globig Caitlin Justus Nathan Lockuff Katie Mankowski Zoey Mansur Lauren McDonald Colleen Murphy Jake Powell Joey Ray Sarah Riley Austin Shock Justice Vivero Rensselar Polytechnic Institute Scott Thiel Roanoke College Marcello Novella Rochester Institute of Technology Leul Berhane-Meskel Jacob Stenstrom Rollins College Stephanie Chewning Sacred Heart University Danielle Neville Saint Francis University Gabi Hansen Saint Leo University Chris Gilmore Karina Kolb Sam Houston State University Akilah Brittian Savannah College of Art and Design Sarah Belen Eduardo Del Barco Emma Holzer Seton Hall University Benny Levenson Shenandoah University Marissa Chaffee Christos Kokkinis Melissa Mathews Rachel Ungerleider Stetson University Katie Plescow Stanford University Bilqiis Agbere Susquehanna University Sara Costa Travis Yaga Syracuse University Nick Gold Temple University Josh Baker Texas Tech University Louis Joseck Trinity University Soleil Gaffner United States Air Force Academy Matt Reeves United States Military Academy Dejoun Lee

Brandon Roberts University of Alabama Laura Egeland Ward McKinley University of Arizona Mike Chase University of California Santa Barbara Eriko Spurlock University of Central Oklahoma Sarah Kreienbrink University of Cincinnati Laurah Hester University of Colorado Boulder Matt Bowersox University of Connecticut Demetri Karounos University of Hartford Sophie Kaye University of Kentucky Marianne Beveridge Daniel Cox Jade Samec University of Mary Washington Hayes Gottlieb Nathan Harpine Renee Hilelson Samantha Meyers Ethan Moran Melissa Pampel Emma Rakowski Abby Richardson Elspeth Ripley University of Maryland College Park Thomas Kendziora Christopher Scrafford Jason Sheehan University of Massachusetts Amherst Jared Holzman University of Miami Jordan Tippet University of Michigan Ben Peters University of North Carolina Wilmington Gabi Troncoso University of North Georgia Rainer Eldred University of Oklahoma Jacquelyne Klingmeyer University of Pennsylvania Kevin Monogue Daniel Semanda University of Pittsburgh Emily Migdal Katrina Tragakis Hannah Weidinger University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Tommy McArdle University of Rhode Island Nick Powell University of

South Carolina Ally Robinson Madeline Wann Mackenzie Williams University of Tampa Anne Merrill University of Texas Josh Martin University of Vermont Miranda Parker Kate Reid University of Virginia Brian Barbu Nicole Chausse Alex Corbett Tehan Dassanayaka Maryam Farooqui Ahmad Framand Sharon Garrott Rory Hatch Leah Hogenmiller Christina Kosmakos Patrick Lin Victoria Lum Jason Lwin Fatima Mahmoodi Alex Nesterovich Nick O’Connor Amanda Patton Jessica Pham Rhea Prahlad Tiffany Pu Mike Rochlis Nirali Shah Daniel Song Karen Soohoo Ben Tobin Enberg Udquim Katie Vinson Ursinus College Daniel Becker Villanova University Maggie Keane Virginia Commonwealth University Asrar Aljubori Grace Allas Kristina Batal Obadiah Bridges Michaela Caparas Emma Colpitts Sarah Divita Jakob Dizon Alli Feuti Liam Finn Patrick Kearney Max Ketram Raihan Khandker Sara Kim Grace Kristin Danny Le Natalie Lundin Levi Meerovich Elena Perez Melodie Pham Neel Pillai Alex Salm Luna Sandidge Sam Slocum Gisell Somoza Hannah Stokes

Shirin Tavousi Justin Toy Lucia Traweek Karen Vanderpuye Hannah Villarreal Devin Whitmer Alivn Zhao Virginia Tech Mohammed Alisa Siobhan Beaudoin Bryan Bergan Randy Bills Gary Bond Jenn Boyles Meagan Bragg Deysi Camacho Katerina Carney David Cho Matt DelVecchio Bernadette Ferrer Limbert Gutierrez Michael Han Ryan Haskett Jake Hodges Zachary Hu Minh Huynh Matthew Lefkowitz Hannah Lockuff David Lynch Carter Man Christine McGrath Jonathan McVicker Jack Minesinger Anthony Nauls Andrew Nguyen Dennis Nguyen Hao Nguyen Andrea Ortuno Rachel Phandinh Colleen Pramenko Aseem Randhawa Eberth Reyes Chris Rosales Sean Seykowski Will Snyder Joseph Spitek Jasmine Tesfa Alex Tran Danny Wold Lauren Wong Nathan Zelalem Wake Forest University Natalie Tkac Warren Wilson College David Finn Washington College Melchol Fantaye Wesleyan University Daniel Jarris West Virginia University Amber Amin Brandon White Wheaton College Reagan Jones Williams College Anya Michaelsen Other Keanu Greene Effi Hertig Ian Martin Casey Phelps Ryan Rodriguez Elena Simon

Senior Quotes

Liya Abseno: “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” - Robin Williams | Grace Allas: “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” - Anonymous | Abdul Ali: “Tables turn bridges burn you live and learn.” - Drake | Asrar Aljubori: “Unless someone like you care a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” - The Lorax | Connor Anderson: “Lil B loves you.” - Lil B | Konuralp Ayvaz: “When I leave, someone else will come.” - Konuralp Ayvaz | Matthew Barton: “Even when you fail, you succeed because you tried.” - Matt E. Barton | Amanda Bartuska: “Just put your paws up Cause you were Born This Way, baby.” - Lady Gaga (Born This Way) | Kristina Batal: “Live a little.” - Kristina Batal | Connor Baugh: “This place reminds me of Santa’s Workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms, and everyone looks like they want to hurt me.” - Buddy the Elf (Elf) | Dan Becker: “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” - J.R.R. Tolkien | Sarah Belen: “Goodbye, everyone! I’ll remember you all in therapy.” - Sheldon J Plankton (SpongeBob SquarePants) | Marianne Beveridge: “I have no idea what I’m doing, but I know I’m doing it really, really well.” - Andy Dwyer (Parks & Recreation) | Randy Bills: “I’d like to thank Spark Notes, Wikipedia, EasyBib and Starbucks for my graduation.” - Anonymous | Emilee Bondo: “Time is money, money is power, power is pizza, and pizza is knowledge.” - April Ludgate (Parks and Recreation) | Renato Bringas: “Nobody can tell me where I can and can’t go.” - Kanye West | Anna Bui: “Every little thing is gonna be alright.” - Bob Marley | Shaw Camphire: “I wanna say I love you. I wanna say I love you too. Thank you for loving Lil B. Thank you for supporting me.” - Lil B | Mike Chase: “Live, Laugh, Lunch.” - Abe Lincoln | Stephanie Chewning: “I love Lake Braddock, and I’m sure going to miss this place.

Once a Bruin, Always a Bruin!” - Stephanie Chewning | Andrew Clinton: “You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it!” - The Joker (The Dark Knight) | Emma Colpitts: “Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all.” - Meg Cabot | Joel Coltson: “I ain’t got no kids but she still call me daddy.” - Joel Coltson | Elizabeth Corbin: “Never say goodbye because saying goodbye means going away, and going away means forgetting.” - Peter Pan | Sara Costa: “One kind word can change someone’s entire day.” - Anonymous | Clara Currier: “I’m really feeling it!!” - Shulk | Sibel Dag: “We rise by lifting others.”

- Robert Ingersoll | Nick Edwards: “I thank LB for changing meme.” - Nick Edwards | Rainer Eldred: “Don’t take NyQuil...it’s awesome.” - Komal Jain | Maryam Farooqui: “I have a formula that predicts my future after high school, but it only works on a perfectly elastic spherical student moving through a vacuum.” - Maryam Farooqui | Taylor Fleury: “All dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” - Walt Disney | Madison Free: “You feel me, Hao?” - Madison Free | Michael Galligan: “I’m going D1 in Florida just like you said I wouldn’t.

Don’t sleep on me.” - Michael Galligan | Michelle Garcia: “You’re only as smart as the choices you make.” Michelle Garcia | Nick Gold: “You may have talent, but you’re no Kanye West.” - Kanye West | Tommy Haliday: “Whatever you have to do. Just find an excuse to win. Keep. Going.” - Navy drill instructor | Gabi Hansen: “Senior year is the fastest year of your life. Embrace it, and enjoy every second because the friends you have now won’t be with you the following year.” - Gabi Hansen | Kinaya Hassane: “Jake Gyllenhaal, if you’re reading this I’m free on Thursday night and would like to hang out. Please respond to this, and then hang out with me on Thursday, when I’m free.” - Kinaya Hassane | Margarita Hernandez: “Being happy is the goal but greatness is my vision.” - Donald Glover | Amanda Hendrix: “Is it too late to put a senior quote in?” - Amanda Hendrix | Alisa Hoang: “Thank you, and you’re welcome.” - Kanye West | Emma Holzer: “The mountains are calling, and I must go.” - John Muir | Minh Huynh: “Earth.” - Minh Huynh | Farah Iskandar: “Just keep swimming.” - Dory (Finding Nemo) | Daniel Jarris: “Is Disneyland a member of the UN?” - Ali G | Alec Johnson: “If nobody comes back from the future to stop you, how bad of a decision can it really be?” - Anonymous | Nick Johnston: “IT’S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE! TAKE THIS.” - The Old Man | Reagan Jones: “The greatest accomplishment is not in never failing, but in rising after you fall.” - Vince Lombardi | Jason Kaplan: “Going to School changed my perspectics on life.” - Ricky (Trailer Park Boys) | Patrick Kearney: “War is just an escalation of hands.” - Patrick Kearney | Thomas Kendziora: “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.” - Yogi Berra | Sara Kim: “You want? You have.” -Saki | Niall Kingdale: “Lunch is the most important meal of the day.” - Ghandi | Moriah Kitaeff: “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.” - Dr. Seuss | Karina Kolb: “Just keep swimming.” - Dory (Finding Nemo) | Christina Kosmakos: “Water.” - Christina Kosmakos | Amber Kreiensieck: “It’s been real, it’s been fun, but it hasn’t been real fun.” - Anonymous |

Tu Lam: “Peace can be found lakeside. Or frustration. Depends on how sharp your hooks are, really.” - Tu Lam | Danny Le: “Each night, I have to pray to the one true god: Nicolas Cage. He keeps me at peace by stealing the declaration of independence.” - Unknown Redditor | Junior Sanchez: “There is no limits, you create your own limits... Always remember... You are an overcomer.” - Marco Sanchez | Benny Levenson: “#FreeGucci.” - Benny Levenson | Hannah Lockuff: “Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.”

- Rumi | Madeline Long: “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.” - Ponyboy Curtis (The Outsiders) | Daniel Luna: “As a wise fish said ‘Just keep swimming’ as in just keep moving forward through high school.” - Daniel Luna | Kaitlyn Lunardi: “Remember, licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets!” - SpongeBob SquarePants | David Lynch: “What is good?” - David Lynch | Amanda Masters: “If you don’t see a clear path for what you want, sometimes you have to make it yourself.” - Mindy Kaling | Tommy McArdle: “The less you do, the more you enjoy.” - Mahmud Syed | Christine McGrath: “Fake it to make it.” - Anonymous | Samantha Meyers: “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” - Victor Hugo | Jack Minesinger: “We can’t always fight nature, we can’t fight change, we can’t fight gravity, and we can’t fight nothing.” Anonymous | Devin Moore: “Hasa diga eebowai.” - Mafala Hatimbi (Book of Mormon) | Danielle Neville: “Take risks, expand your world, and stay true to yourself. Offer it up.” - Danielle Neville | Dennis Nguyen: “Heat is a verb.” - Christopher Beatty | Nick O’Connor: “Air.” - Nick O’Connor | Lester Ortiz: “You look like a senior quote.” - Lester Ortiz | Sahuur Osman: “When senioritis hits you so bad you’re at the point where you can’t even copy homework.” - Sahuur Osman | Matt Otto: “Why have a 10 when you can have five 2s?” - Anonymous | Mickey Pamonag: “Oh, no! Mickey stole my girl again!” - Every guy ever | Susan Partyka: “No matter who or what I am. I’ll carry where we all began. This time that we had, I will hold forever.” - Darren Criss (This Time) | Katie Plescow: “I can’t, I have softball” - Katie Plescow | Jake Powell: “Shake and bake.”- Ricky Bobby (Talledega Nights) | Colleen Pramenko: “Trumpets, keep calm and vibrato on. Peace out.” - Lil’ Cdizzle | Emma Rakowski: “Bad Dobby!! Bad Dobby!!” - Dobby (Harry Potter) | Joey Ray: “Life is either a great adventure or nothing.” Helen Keller | Katie Reid: “Work hard in every aspect of your life, but don’t forget to watch the sunsets.” - John Reid | Ryan Reynders: “Much senior. Very quote. Such graduate. Wow.” - Doge | Michael Rochlis: “Last time I checked, there is no ‘Hall of Average’.”- Chip Kelly (Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach) | Romina Rojas: “Follow your arrow.” - Anonymous | Alex Salm: “I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now.” - John Lennon | Junior Sanchez: “When I smile, my eyes smile with me. #AsianProbs” Junior Sanchez | Jesse Sands: “Ferris Bueller, you’re my hero.” - Cameron Frye (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) | Bunyamin Sevim: “The thing I’m going to miss most about high school is skipping high school.” - Bunyamin Sevim | Nick Shannon: “If a job is once begun, never leave it until it is done. Be it large or be it small, do it well or not at all.” - Fred Boos | Maddie Sievers: “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” - Dr. Seuss | Daniel Song: “Rocks.” - Daniel Song | Eriko Spurlock: “Everything happens so much.” - @Horse_ebooks (Twitter account) | Andrew Stanger: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.

The second best time is now.” - Chinese Proverb | Tyler Stewart: “I’m a product of pain and sufferin’ and don’t forget to: Go Every Time So Others May Every Time #GetSome.” - Coach Rick Vice | Andrew String: “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.” - Robin Williams | Bianca Thurgood: “I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.” - Michael Scott (The Office) | Natalie Tkac: “Listen up 5s, a 10 is speaking.” - Jenna Maroney (30 Rock) | Ben Tobin: “This is the business we’ve chosen.” - Hyman Roth (The Godfather: Part II) | Gabi Troncoso: “I didn’t ask for any of this.” - Carl Fredricksen (Up) | Paula Tuero: “Learning a new language is challenging but not impossible.” - Paula Tuero | Rachel Tuck: “High school is all about living life and having fun. Don’t isolate yourself from the world, you’ll be the only one that misses out.” Rachel Tuck | Enberg Udquim: “Fire.” - Enberg Udquim | Rachel Ungerleider: “Don’t let high school define the rest of your life. It all changes the minute we turn that tassel.” - Rachel Ungerleider | Jairo Vargas: “The next quote is a lie” - Jairo Vargas | Katie Vinson: “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” - William Earnest Henley (“Invictus”) | Justice Vivero: “You can catch flies with honey, but you catch more honeys being fly.”- Justice Vivero | Chilan Vu: “God puts people in your life for a reason. Some people are only there for a season. You must realize when their season’s over.” - Tyrese Gibson | Madeline Wann: “My dentists told me I need a crown. I was like, I know right?” - Anonymous | Josh Wartel: “I’ve cried too many times in this place to cry now that I’m leaving.” - Miggy |

Last Words

An excerpt from Mark Martino’s Commencement Speech

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Raise your hand if you would rather be looking at your cell phone than listening to me? We all live in a world of convenience right now. Your lives are in your phones. Whether you are texting, Snapchatting, sending Instagrams or getting directions, it is all in the palm of your hand or on your wrist! The instant information that you can aquire is fascinating. It is an amazing world, one that you should embrace wholeheatedly.