Senior Section 2010

the senior issue. >>Senior Profiles (pgs. 4–9)

>> 2010 Destinations (pgs. 10–11) >>Senior Columns (pgs. 14–19) >>portraits by Mackenzie Wylie, Grant Heinlein & Dan Stewart

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SENIOR BREAKDOWN 3

Remember CatDog? Fruit-roll ups? Watching eight episodes of CatDog in a row wearing your Spiderman pajamas? The Harbinger takes a look back to seniors’ grade school days to bring these memories back to life.

THEN NOW Moulin Rouge(2001)

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Finding Nemo (2003)

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)

A. Hey Arnold!

B. Rocket Power C. CatDog D. Recess E. The Angry Beavers F. Jimmy Neutron

Ciara Featuring Missy Elliott Kelly Clarkson Green Day Snoop Dogg Featuring Pharrell Nelly Featuring Tim McGraw Usher & Alicia Keys Eminem Bowling For Soup U2 Kelly Clarkson >>www.top10songs.com

1. Need You Now 2. Hey, Soul Sister 3. Break Your Heart 4. OMG 5. Nothin’ On You 6. Imma Be 7. Rude Boy 8. Telephone 9. Airplanes 10. Baby

technology has Ruben Studdard was Gadgets how changed through the years the first male winner of

“American iPad with Wi- Idol.”

Palm Pilot (1996)

Fi and 3G (2010)

First iPod (2001)

iPod touch (2009)

iPhone G. Fairly OddParents Motorola Razr (new realease H.Spongebob Squarepants summer 2010) (2004) I. Adventure Time

>>

Lady Antebellum Train Taio Cruz Featuring Ludacris Usher Featuring Will.i.am B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars Black Eyed Peas Rihanna Lady GaGa Featuring Beyonce Adam Lambert Justin Bieber Featuring Ludacris

The Xbox 360 is Apple introduced the released the first iPod shuffle in and nano. march.

www.stock.xchng

>>www.sportslogos.net

CARTOONS

1. 1, 2 Step 2. Breakaway 3. Boulevard of Broken Dreams 4. Drop it Like It’s Hot 5. Over & Over 6. My Boo 7. Just Lose It 8. 1985 9. Vertigo 10.Since U Been Gone

when you were in 5th grade...

>>www.movieweb.com

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December2004

Gladiator (2000)

Lance Armstrong won his first Tour De France when you were in first grade.

MUSIC

Toy Story (1999)

April2010

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

George W. Bush was president.

The Royals went 83W-79L during the regular season.

D. E. A.

1996

C. B.

I.

H. F.

G.

2007

2010

>>www.nick.com

4 SENIOR PROFILES

LOIS WETZEL

LEZTEW SIOL

Christian volunteer joins missionary program, hopes to leave comfort zone during gap year

story by Christa McKittrick

ERIK DAYTON

The second 3-month segment is called “Outreach.” Wetzel and her group will choose from a long list of countries where they will go to do volunteer and missionary work. It could be anywhere from Paris to South Africa. Wetzel could be helping impoverished children at an orphanage or comforting patients at a hospital.

Wetzel’s first choice is to work at a hospital, trying to comfort those who know they don’t have much time left, because it would take her out of her comfort zone.

Just letting that dying person know that someone cares about their life is significant and important to Wetzel.

“Whatever outreach program I’ll be with,” Wetzel said. “Whether, orphanage, schooling, hospitals etc. I’ll be so open to learning whatever I can from the people I am trying to serve.”

The final three months will be the most like an actual job. Wetzel’s team will once again choose somewhere to go and intern at a missionary organization. The group will learn the business aspects of operating a missionary program. Wetzel is excited for the experience and what it will teach her.

“I know I’ll come away with a better outlook on how to live my life and living to love,” Wetzel said.

NOTYAD KIRE

B

eginning on Sept. 7, Lois Wetzel will be in paradise.

Not on the beaches of Hawaii or snorkeling the coral reefs of Australia, but in Belize working through the program YWAM, a Christian volunteer program that equips and prepares people to help others and spread Christianity, for the project “Destination Paradise.”

Wetzel’s 9-month trip is separated into three 3-month segments. For the first part, Wetzel will be living on a sailboat in the Caribbean sea off the coast of Belize with 12 other people. This portion focuses on discipleship.

Every week there will be homework and papers responding to Bible passages, but a majority of the schooling will be training over things such as the Old Testament and other passages. The schooling isn’t focused on grades but on teaching the students about God and helping others.

Other than schooling, Wetzel and the others will go tubing, water skiing and swimming. Living like this will be an adjustment for Wetzel because of the material they’ll be studying and the living conditions.

“You’ll never be alone,” Wetzel said. “Every day it’ll make me appreciate my room and my own space.”

The 12 teens will spend Sunday evenings through Thursday mornings on the boat studying but will be on land during the remainder of the week.

Former exchange student host plans to attend an extra year of high school in Belgium

G

raduating from East will not be the end of high school for Erik Dayton.

Next year, Dayton will head back to high school – in Belgium.

Dayton will be spending the 2010-11 school year as a high school exchange student in Belgium through the American Field Service (AFS), a foreign exchange program for high school students.

A mostly French speaking country, Belgium was one of the few nations that allowed 18-year-olds like Dayton to participate in their exchange programs.

In the next few weeks, Dayton will learn who his exchange family will be and what his new home town will be. Though he will not receive any college or high school credit for his year-long venture, Dayton expects to bring back a great amount of intangible experience to the States.

“For everyone that is going to college, they will become independent and grow as a person,” Dayton said. “But going to a different country, with different culture and family, everything will be new to me. It’s going to be like being a

baby. You have to learn everything again in a different way.”

Dayton has been interested in exchange programs since his freshman year, when he heard about AFS in Spanish I. He attended an AFS meeting, which further spurred on his curiosity.

During his sophomore year he hosted a Swedish exchange student, Petter Sundqvist, which increased his desire to travel abroad even more. Dayton’s great friendship with Sundqvist made him seriously consider skipping out on his senior year at East to become an exchange student elsewhere.

In the end, he opted to stay home for senior year and take an extra year of high school.

Dayton is excited for his Aug. 18 departure, and has continued to hone the language skills he acquired in French III. “I’ve heard from other people [that have studied abroad] that the first few nights you go to bed exhausted,” Dayton said. “Absolutely everything is going to be a challenge. It’s pretty scary, but I know it will be worth it.”

story by Mac Tamblyn

SENIOR PROFILES 5 Veteran photographer plans to attend school in Canada after completing six East Photo classes

KEPT MESS

SSEM TPEK

A

asked to perform for professors.

According to Creighton, the quality of their music as a group can only improve at the school.

“Our influences are just going to build up when we’re down there, and we’ll just get more inspiration,” Creighton said.

Since the school is in such an urban environment, they will have ample opportunities to perform in the surrounding area. Rodgers said that the ACM puts an emphasis on “breaking out” and gaining as much musical experience as possible.

“The school and the town have a partnership where bars will contact the school for bands to gig,” Rodgers said. “But if we have to do the networking ourselves that’s fine too.”

Even though they plan on dropping the name Kept Mess, the three will continue to rock out as college students in hopes of making music into their careers. Newman said that none of them could imagine their lives any other way.

“Throughout my high school career I was dreading thinking about college and what I’m going to do with my life after high school,” Newman said. “When I found out about this school is basically when I decided ‘I can’t see myself doing math or English for the rest of my life.’ ”

story by Duncan McHenry

ALI YAQUIBIAN

fter their first meeting as two awkward kids in freshman P.E., the duo decided to form their still-standing band, Kept Mess. Joe Newman and Brian Rodgers have been rapidly progressing as musicians ever since their days in black shorts and white shirts. With the addition of bassist Connor Creighton in their junior year, they created an ideal mix for their unique, free form sound.

“We’ve been playing for so long now that we can just look and listen to each other and completely change a song,” Rodgers said. “The way we play songs live is basically different every time.”

After they graduate from East, the three now plan to continue making music together as students at the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. Creighton is awaiting word from the school about his admission, but Newman and Rodgers have been accepted.

The school is currently in its first year as one level of a building in urban Oklahoma City, but it will expand each year. As students, they will take classes for their core instrument, as well as for supplemental courses like voice and production. They will also be paired up with other students and

NAIBIUQAY ILA

Longtime band members will attend college together in new musical program

I

nspiration for a future career can strike in many different forms, whether with an epiphany while doing a project in class, spending time at the family business or while doing something fun with friends. For senior Ali Yaqubian, he was inspired to become a photographer after flipping through skate magazines and seeing the photos plastered in their pages.

He soon enrolled in his first Photography class during the first semester of sophomore year, and he was hooked. Currently, he is most interested in skateboard photography but does not limit himself. He also works with portraiture, landscapes and architecture.

“I’ve always kind of liked the grittier, urban feel,” Yaqubian said.

“Like in the dark room, [photo teacher Adam Finkelston] says to remove dust from the film before you develop it, but I sometimes add it.”

Last October, with a portfolio filled with outside work and pieces from the six Photography classes he’s completed, he traveled to Chicago for National Portfolio Day. His main purpose was to meet with representatives from the Emily Carr Institute of Art

and Design, located on Granville Island in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“The main draw to it was the price definitely, but Vancouver is just a sweet city,” Yaqubian said.

“I’ve always had this thing for Canada, I don’t know what it is.”

Yaqubian has decided to attend Emily Carr, a 1400 student institution, which was the only university he actually applied to after researching inexpensive schools with his mom. With over 80 staff members, class sizes smaller than most at East and an prominent skate scene in the area, it was the school that drew Yaqubian the most. He plans to leave about a month before school starts at the beginning of August, so he can find an apartment and attend both school and international orientation.

“I’ve been ready to be on my own for a while; I’m going to miss my mom greatly though,” Yaqubian said. “She’s been one of the biggest influences to me, ever. It’s going to be hard to leave, but at the same time it’s not going to be because it’s the chance for me to totally recreate myself and have a new experience. It’s the prime of our life, why not take advantage of it?” story by Colleen Ireland

story by Christa McKittrick

ANNA WEBBER

watching her dad John work in the apparel business for 20 years, Sheridan realized that the marketing side would be a better fit for her. As a sales rep for Gear for Sports and Under Armour, John would receive samples of the garments to go out and sell to golf courses, and Sheridan would help him organize the new collections.

Sheridan liked organizing the collections which would then be sold to customers.

Getting into the marketing side of fashion will give Sheridan more opportunities in the business world, ranging anywhere from planning fashion shows to coming up with new styles for upcoming seasons. One of her top choices would be being a visual merchandiser. As a visual merchandiser, Sheridan would work for an upscale department store such as Bloomingdale’s or Nordstrom.

She would travel to each store and teach them how to display clothing, accessories and bags in an eye-catching and creative way for the upcoming season.

“I just want to learn different ways to merchandise and effectively display product,” Sheridan said.

REBBEW ANNA

A

s she looked at the displays inside the New York City Bloomingdale’s store over spring break, Caroline Sheridan couldn’t help but dream what she would have done if given the chance to set up the displays herself. She’d find a large glass table and layer paisley and striped, knit and woven scarves on top of it.

Above them, she’d strew lockets, rings and an assortment of jewelry pieces. Sheridan was already anticipating the fall of 2010 when she would begin the road to making those design decisions herself.

Come next fall, Sheridan will be attending Stephens College, an all girls school with less than 1000 students, located four minute’s walk from Missouri University.

At Stephens, most girls focus on either fashion design or apparel marketing. Sheridan was originally interested in the fashion design side but is now looking more into the marketing aspect.

“I just felt that I was going to have more opportunities after college starting off with a business background under my belt that just a designer having to start on my own,” Sheridan said. “After

NADIREHS ENILORAC

Broadmoor fashion designer plans to merchandise and display clothes at department stores

CAROLINE SHERIDAN

6 SENIOR PROFILES Frequent traveler will major in astrophysics at Edinburgh University in Scotland

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very summer, Anna Webber and her family travel to different places across the United States, from Arizona to Indiana to North Carolina. Her family has also moved several times to California and back, and then across Kansas City, so Anna is used to making new friends and starting over.

“In the beginning it’s difficult to make new friends but I got used to it over the years,” Webber said.

“Now I’m good at involving myself in different situations that I’ve never been a part of because of these experiences. “I have lived in the US for 18 years and wanted to go someplace new.”

The combination of her love of travel with her experience of meeting new people, made the decision to attend Edinburgh University in Scotland a clear college choice for Webber.

Because of it’s location, the University of Edinburgh stood out among Webber’s other college choices in San Diego and Arizona.

Sprawled out across the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, Edinburgh University lacks the typical American college feel. Classes, departments and living areas for students are dispersed throughout the city of

half a million people.

“It’s not going to be the same college experience that my friends will get,” Webber said. “But hopefully I will get a broader, more diverse cultural experience than I would have by staying in the US.” Once she decided she wanted to study somewhere abroad, Webber narrowed her choices to universities in the UK because of the shared language and because her sister was living in London at the time. Webber’s sister helped her locate good schools in the UK and after researching several colleges, Webber decided on Edinburgh for its academics and location. At Edinburgh, Webber plans on majoring in astrophysics, which will combine her love for science and interest in space.

Ultimately, this major could lead her anywhere from working for NASA to doing research on astrophysics to being a college professor. Ideally, Webber would love to work at a university as a professor and research dark matter, such as black holes and galaxies.

To Webber, Edinburgh is the beginning of a new adventure.

“It makes me a little nervous,” Webber said. “But I’m excited. It will be a whole new start.”

story by Annie Sgroi

ENIH EILATAN

NATALIE HINE

SENIOR PROFILES 7

D

uring her sixth grade year, Natalie Hine would only go to school three days a week.

The other two weekdays she would perform shows with Theatre for Young America. While she participated in small production groups like Theater in the Park and the Coterie Theatre throughout middle school, it wasn’t until her sophomore year that she realized her calling wasn’t acting.

She worked with make-up and sound a lot that year, but when she wrote a one-act show for repertory theatre as a junior, Hine knew she wanted to go into play writing and directing.

“I love theatre in practice and conceptualizing what it’s going to look like, coming up with the stage picture and writing the story - that’s my thing,” Hine said.

As a member of the Coterie Theatre’s exclusive Young Playwright’s Roundtable program, she gained considerable experience in writing. In addition, being a student director and stage manager on several East productions, along with directing her Frequent Friday, have led her to plan on majoring in drama at Vassar College in upstate New York.

At Vassar, there is no core curriculum, so Hine will be studying only what she wants, particularly

the theory of theatre. She plans on learning more about the styles and methods of theatre her first two years and becoming more thoroughly involved with productions in her second two years, while continuing writing and excelling in academics throughout college. “[At East] I wish I would’ve focused more on theatre and less on school, because it turned out school isn’t as fulfilling,” Hine said. “I hope that at Vassar I get really, hyper-involved with the theatre program.”

Hine hopes to attain leadership roles like thespian president, a position she held at East this year, as well as producing and working on “senior shows,” productions directed by juniors and seniors. Ideally she’ll even have the chance to write and direct her own original senior show.

“Ultimately I’d like to be a college professor, I think that would interest me most,” Hine said. “I also hope to get at least one play published or produced, which as a professor, I’d have a really good opportunity. It would give me enough time to keep writing my own stuff, but also get to work with kids and exchange ideas and study what I love to do.”

story by Alex Lamb

NAIBIUQAY ILA

Student director aspires to become a published playwright and eventual theater professor

ELIZABETH McGRANAHAN

Bone-marrow transplant patient hopes to recover and attend college in the Empire State building She’d been bruising for years, but this time, she had no idea where it came from. Not only was this bruise on her face, but according to her mother, Marsha, it was bigger than usual. Elizabeth McGranahan was only a seventh grader, and was supposed to be enjoying winter break like every other kid. This was before the hospital visits, before the blood transfusions, before all the missed school. This was only the beginning. McGranahan would soon be diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, and later Dyskeratosis Congenita, an often deadly combination that not only perplexes doctors, but prevents the body from producing enough of all three blood cell types.

Five years later, and three states away from home, McGranahan is fast approaching the cure she’s spent all of high school waiting for.

Entering East in the fall of 2006, her freshman year went as smoothly as her body would allow. With only close friends and family aware of the condition, McGranahan tried to do what every freshman does: act “normal.”

“I think the reason it didn’t spread is that nobody knows what it is,” McGranahan said. “If I had cancer, that would spread, because everyone knows what cancer is, but nobody knew what this super rare, dangerous disease was.”

She continued with her busy schedule of school, journalism and debate tournaments almost every weekend, and forensics. Despite often feeling fatigued and requiring daily naps, McGranahan enrolled in AP classes and always held high grades.

As school progressed, so did the condition, and by the end of her sophomore year, McGranahan had missed over 40 days in one semester.

Junior year was spent almost entirely behind a computer screen, working through the Shawnee Mission “Homebound” program for students who can’t make it to the classroom.

As a senior, it was much of the same, and in March McGranahan officially graduated with over a 4.0 grade average. She will still get her name read at graduation.

“Everybody would love to go through high school like a breeze, and that definitely did not happen for me,” McGranahan said. “I got good grades, but that didn’t come from just going through the motions.”

Now living in a Minneapolis Ronald McDonald House, a hotel-

like facility for families awaiting a child’s surgery, McGranahan blogs while she and her mother wait. On May 11, Hematology-Oncology Doctor Jakub Tolar will finally perform the risky bone marrow transplant that, if successful, will rid McGranahan of aplastic anemia forever. She’s been tracking the days leading up to her surgery for roughly six months now on her blog “Reason to Smile,” where she gives one reason for why she should smile on every new post.

Here, she mentions how Tolar is one of the only physicians in the world specializing in Dyskeratosis Congenita and may be the only doctor who can truly save her.

But first comes chemotherapy, the often dreadful process that essentially works to kill the body and wipe out everything in it. The hair loss, uncontrollable vomiting and chronic mouth sores will all be a part of McGranahan’s week and a half leading up to the transplant. After a scheduled surgery on Nov. 30 fell through, McGranahan is slowly but surely realizing that she is finally going to get the help she needs.

“I don’t really remember what it’s like to not be sick,” McGranahan said.

“To finally not have that be a part of my life is really exciting. For a long time I thought this was going to be what would eventually kill me.”

While the disease has made her education difficult, McGranahan is already prepared for the future and higher learning, literally. In November 2009, she was accepted into The King’s College, a school located inside of the Empire State Building in New York City. The class sizes are currently very small but are growing every year.

“I didn’t just want a straight-up journalism major, I wanted something kind of with an edge that would expand my capabilities.” McGranahan said. “I really liked their major because it wasn’t just writing, just broadcast, or just online. It’s kind of all forms of media.”

A three-and-a-half year Harbinger staff veteran herself, McGranahan is looking to stick with her passion for writing and journalism as she heads into the school’s “Media, Culture, and Arts” program.

While McGranahan will not be able to start school in the fall like her classmates due to the long recovery process, she plans to begin around Spring 2011. story by Bob Martin

8 SENIOR PROFILES World traveler will travel to Africa to volunteer to support local villages and native inhabitants

SARAH ARE

ERA HARAS

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of where her love for singing and helping others will take her, she can’t wait to embrace the experience.

“I want to sing, and Coe has a great music program,” Are said. “I write a lot of songs on the guitar, and they tend to focus on the melody, harmonies and lyrics. I pump out about two a week, but I rarely play for anybody. I think it’s just a great way to clear my thoughts.”

Are’s lyrics are very heartfelt and show her love for music, especially in a snippet of one of her melodies: “I think I’ll stay awake/ cause tonight will be the day/ where I can be myself / and I won’t sleep that away.”

Coe College allows Are that option to be herself and the ability to continue both of her dreams.

“I knew I wanted to go out of state, and I loved the community, size and liberal arts focus of Coe College,” Are said. “I’m not planning on being a musician, but I’m still very passionate about it, and I don’t want to stop. I guess religion would be a more likely career choice.”

story by Matt Gannon

BECCA HOLLOWAY

s a Coalition Club leader, Sarah Are danced with glee in the East parking lot when she collected close to $1500 of donation from a bake sale. As a member of the Chamber singers, she fell in love with the song “Hope, Faith, Life, Love.” Now, she plans on bringing both of her passions of singing and helping others to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she will attend Coe College.

Are plans to double major in religion and music, two things that have been key to her life.

Her father, Tom Are, is the Senior Pastor at Village Presbyterian Church, and because of her family’s involvement in the church, Are became very enthusiastic about serving others, most often through mission work. Her will for helping others has taken her to places as local as the Village Food Pantry and as exotic as the Dominican Republic.

Are’s passion for music is easily seen when she strums a chord on her guitar, plays a melody on the piano or bursts into a solo on center stage. While Are is unsure

YAWOLLOH ACCEB

Community volunteer plans to expand singing and missionary passions at Coe College

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hen describing the experience of taking a year off from school to study in Africa, Rebecca Rea-Holloway likes to refer to the phrase “Carpe Diem.” She is a firm believer in the saying, which means “seize the day.” That is why on Sept. 15, rather than packing her bags and going to a university, she is boarding a plane to Africa to be a part of the Carpe Diem Education program.

Last summer, Rea-Holloway took part in the National Geographic Student Expedition where she went to Tanzania with a group of students and helped around the community by digging up pipelines and re-building them to create a safer water source.

“It opened my eyes and made me more conscious to the world around me.” Rea-Holloway said.

“People [in Tanzania] have a greater sense of community and they are a lot more positive and more welcoming than they are here.

After experiencing a completely different lifestyle for the summer, Rea-Holloway decided she wasn’t done exploring the world.

Through Portland State University she will be going on a three-month trip through Tanzania, Zanzibar and Uganda.

While in Africa, she and nine others will be staying in various villages with different tribes. The group plans to help the villages by building better homes and making sure the environment is as good as it can be for those living there.

After returning from Africa, ReaHolloway has her choice of going anywhere in the world for a four month internship through CDEP. With the college credit earned after her travels, Rea-Holloway plans on continuing college when she returns. Her mother Melinda Holloway supports her decision to take a year for traveling.

“I think it’s a great opportunity.”

Melinda said. “It’s going be a great time for her to follow her passions and learn more about the world and she will start college more prepared,” Melinda said.

On top of creating a better living for small tribes in remote villages of Africa, Rea-Holloway hopes to arrive home with a better grasp of the world outside of the US. “It’s not all about changing their lives.” Rea-Holloway said.

“It’s also about changing mine and my perspective of different things and different people around the world.”

story by Raina Weinberg

SENIOR PROFILES 9

JANNA GRAF

FARG ANNAJ

Varsity basketball player to join the women’s team at Yale University

story by Kat Buchanan

AMANDA PRIVITERA

get-go, signing her up for numerous teams and helping her hone her skills in the driveway since she started playing 12 years ago.

Graf’s two older brothers guided her through the steps, teaching her the motions of lay-ups and assists before she’d even joined a team.

Though Graf will be highly involved in the women’s basketball program, she plans on excelling in other programs and in her academic studies. With two $1000 scholarships for academic excellence under her belt, Graf has already shown her potential for handling the course load at Yale.

“Next year I know I have to be very organized in order to balance academics with athletics,” Graf said. “It will be a challenge adjusting, but I know I’ll have a great time.”

Graf plans on choosing her career path while attending school, but wants to work in New York City after she graduates from Yale.

ARETIVIRP ADNAMA

S

he dribbles down the court, blonde hair held to her head with a strip of prewrap, but only as a precaution – the sweat already makes her bangs cling to her forehead. She chest passes to her teammate, darts under the net, pivots for the return, then goes in for a lay-up, her Nikes a foot off the ground.

Basketball, an irreplaceable part of her past, is now a fast-coming part of Janna Graf’s future.

With an acceptance letter from Yale University and a basketball in hand, Graf will be making her way to New Haven this coming fall. After browsing countless college clinics, and visiting schools across the country, she found her place at Yale.

“The team, coaches and school all fit,” Graf said. “I loved every aspect of the whole program and team and instantly knew it was where I wanted to play.”

Her family has been supportive of her passion from the

Long-time special education volunteer will work towards a Master’s degree at K-State

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hether its baby-sitting a young girl with Down’s Syndrome, helping athletes with disabilities at the Special Olympics or working with East’s special education students through Pack of Pals and Social Skills classes, Amanda Privitera has always enjoyed working with special education kids. This passion is take her to Kansas State University next fall, where she will work towards a Master’s Degree in Special Education.

“Other people feel uncomfortable around special needs kids but I never have,” Privitera said.

“The kids are so much different than regular kids in the sense that they’re so innocent and the littler things make them happier.”

For instance, one student involved in East’s special education program, junior Brian Levota, always tells Privitera about his job working at Hen House for Job Club, and how much he enjoys it.

“Most kids aren’t excited to work,” Privitera said. “But Brian just loves talking about it.”

After researching schools on her own, Privitera discovered the K-State Master’s program specific to special education, instead of just the general education Mas-

ter’s program that most schools have.

At K-State, Privitera will take classes focused on special education and will be allowed to student-teach at schools around Manhattan. Privitera might also begin her own project, helping to involve special education kids on campus through inter-murals.

After K-State, Privitera plans to go into special education or social work. Privitera’s ideal job would be teaching special education students at the elementary or preschool level.

“I’m hoping that when I start teaching special education kids they will have more chances and opportunities in the real world,” Privitera said. “If they don’t, I would love to help them get more.”

No matter where her major leads her later in life, Privitera is sure that she will continue to love working with special education kids and learning from them.

“I have probably learned more from them then from my other friends,” Privitera said. “They taught me to not take things for granted or to reflect too much on the little things.”

story by Sarah McKittrick

31

10 SENIOR BREAKDOWN

STATES of separation ARIZONA

The Harbinger tracks where members of this year’s senior class will be next year

Arizona State University Jake Gifford University of Arizona Avery West

COLORADO MASS.

Tufts University Jordan Dietrich Boston University Cole Fevold Andrew Mohn Harvard University Tara Raghuveer Carleton College Adele Daniel Leia Swanson St. Olaf College Sarah Evans University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Annie Haynes Macalester College Drake Myers Evan Myers Gustavus Adolphus College Carl Skrukrud

MINNESOTA

WORKFORCE Augie Borchers Stefanie Brown Jake Greene Elizabeth Hernandez MILITARY Nolan Schmidt EXCHANGE STUDENTS Dominika Golinska Dildora Rustamova Anna Seilund Dami Tuerk UNDECIDED Patrick Barry Angelo Borchers Andres Diaz Megan Klugman Grace Martin Caitlin Morley Lauren Riley Lyndsey Riley Allison Roebuck Justin Stults Joe Turner James Williams Adrienne Whitham Stefan Weinrich GAP YEAR Erik Dayton Weston Halberstadt Becca Rea-Holloway Corey Scinto Lois Wetzel Parker Heying ABROAD Alfie Kass - Yeshiva University - Israel Madison Magalski University of British Columbia - Canada Anna Webber - University of Edinburgh - Scotland Ali Yaqubian - Emily Carr University of Art and Design - Canada

TEXAS Texas Christian University Brooks Anthony Haley Dalgleish Baylor University Kelsey Summers Southern Methodist University Mary Tanner Austin College Britini Argeropoulos

Colorado State University Kat Jaeger Ellen Stanziola Grant Stauffer Danny Thompson University of Colorado Sam Carpenter Kathryn DeMoss

Lauren Epstein Jacob Parelman Anna Swanson University of Denver Kaley Herman Western State College of Colorado Andrew Arnold Scott Cantril

ILLINOIS Loyola University of Chicago Maddy Bailey Alexa Schneiders Stephen Shen Columbia College Jake Davidson Northwestern University Joe Deng Wheaton College Lauren Dodd DePaul University Kathleen Fay John Francis Jack Hawkins Millikin University Gordon Green Illinois Wesleyan University Mallory Kirby Principia College Kati Klehm

KANSAS

Broadmoor Technical Center David Moore Ryan Osborne Alex Place Cody Winlaw Emporia State University Gage Grimes Melissa McGregor Johnson County Community College Keelin Austin Joe Barahona Valery Barajas Holland Barling Kelsey Barrera William Carey Rachel Chaney Nicholas Clark Zach Clements Teresa Corrazin Rachel D’Autremont Jai Dayal Joe Dodson Doni Eilenberger Andrew Elliot

Zachary Fair Sam Fisher James Franklin Marisol Galicia Jared Giabbai Lisa Giles Aubrey Grantham Ashley Guerricagoitia Lauren Hackworth Nellie Haghighat Delaney Herman Audrey Howell Marisa Hunter Jessie Jacob Danielle James Travis Janney Kale Justice Seth Kang Ashley Lillis Jesus Lopez-Martinez Amanda Massey Daniella Mata Louis Mehlstaub Alex Munns Katherine Murphy Azad Nowzari Zachary Nutt

IOWA

University of Northern Iowa Lauren Raibble Grinnell College Sami Rebein Iowa State University Nikki Reber

Coe College Sarah Are Simpson College Andrew Dexter Drake University Lauren Erickson Central College Kevin Hertel

CONNECTICUT MISSISSIPPI University of Yale University Janna Graf Wesleyan University Dana Leib

LOUISIANA Tulane University Alexa Donahue Johanna Hild

Southern Mississippi Stacy Coffyn

Michael Olson Micah Patterson Matthew Peterson Nicole Prenevost Zulema Ramirez Connor Rice Elizabeth Roach Sara Robertson Mildred Roque Jesse Russell Megan Russell Kelly Sabates Patrick Schuele Katie Sharp Anne Slaughter Dara Slemp Khadijah Smith Alexander Steinbock Alexandra Szcygiel Melanie Thomann Josh Thrutchley Madison Weaver Kylie Wheeler Alex Wilson Mason WoodersonPhilipo Tori Wydner Kansas City Kansas Community College Brian Little Jeshua Monarres Kansas State

Unive Caitlin Kathle Marle Kinse Kathe Keega Carl C Alexa Valeri Claire Kristin Mack David Chloe Ashle Spenc Mega Emily Lexi M Mega Ryan John Rache Marga Aman Hann Maria Came Carl R Cody Sarah

MISSOUR University of Missouri Matt Beck Clay Finley Emma Fritts Mary Galvin Grace Gillaspie Sydney Henley Stewart Jensen Rachel Kaskie Ellie Kessinger Collin Carter Hannah Mallen Gabe Miller Anna Petrow Lauren Reynolds Hannah Satterlee Andy Yeast Tom Yeast Elliot Yohn University of Missouri Kansas City Scarlett Cooley

TENNESSEE

Vanderbilt University Wake Forest University Annie Bennett Brian Aitken Alex Dahlgren University of North Carolina

Jesse Rach Charl Luis R McKa Kaeva Trum Unive Hann Wash Unive Joe C Jack W North State Sara Kans Instit Teres Penn Comm Gretc Avila

NO

Griffin Duke Nick C Elon Matt

ersity n Allen een Belko ena Birkel ey Cates erine Clark an Conrad Cornwell andra Ferlas ie Fisher e Freeman na Grandon kenzie Haugland d Henderson e Kester ey Kurtzman cer Low an Mack y Mayfield Mische an Nemechek Olander Opsahl el Pedicino aret Peterson nda Privitera nah Quillec a Reyes eron Robles Rodgers Rutledge h Sedorcek

RI

e Fancolly hel Gangwere lie McGraw Rivera ayla Smith an Tavakolinia man State ersity nah Copeland hington ersity Craig Walker hwest Missouri e Fisher sas City Art tute sa Harbison n Valley munity College chen Hummel a University

SENIOR BREAKDOWN 11 Sarah Snodgrass Tori Wrede Tyler Wysong Manhattan Christian College Veronica Kerr Pittsburg State University Connor Callahan Ted Dubois Hunter Ensz Ben Hargis Kelsey Kirkpatrick Tyler McKelvey Kelly O’Neill Amanda Pierce Kevin Smith Robert Williamson Dalton Winn Pratt Community College Alex Cox Tanner Johnson University of Kansas Ashton Adams Zach Amrein Heather Athon Iastou Baldeh Dustin Ballard Jason Bates Rosie Bellinger Charles Bernard

Taylor Haviland Evan Herstowski Kris Hertel Carly Holland Austin Hunzeker Colleen Ireland Kathleen Ireland Ben Jensen Ashley Johnson Beck Johnson Jacob Johnson Ben Kaplan Sam Kovzan Holly Lafferty Sam Logan Nicole Luby John Luther Evie Marshall Geoffrey Maxwell Mary Kate McCandless Max McFarland Megan McGillicuddy Kelsey McGonigle Duncan McHenry Chris Miller Kylie Morrow Jonathan Moss Matthew Mueller Brice Mullane Will Penner Jordan Pfeiffer

University INDIANA WASHINGTON Gonzaga Jeff Rutherford Indiana University Evergreen State College Jamie Edwards Molly Mahon

Jasmine Kidd Saint Louis University Bridget Bergin Hunter Stevenson University of Central Missouri Dana Meyer Cara Rivers Rockhurst University Kareen Schwartze Kaitlin Woodson Lindsey Agee Stephens College Caroline Sheridan Drury University Erin Tuttle

ORTH CAROLINA

n Bur e University Carothers University Creidenberg

Jonathan Bernard Emily Bittiker Jacob Bossing Margaret Brill Natalie Brown Sam Buchanan Brandon Burch Taylor Burkhead Grant Burnside Baleigh Burroughs Zach Busey Tony Camp Ben Carlson Katelynn Cauthon Qi Chen Will Chertoff Leah Chesbrough Chris Clarke Keelia Corcoran Dylan Crandall David Crane Alyx Delgado Kirk Doerr John Dollar Allie Fields Jake Fleming Andrew Forbes Charlie Freyder Kristina Genton Hannah Gerwick Sean Graybill Charlie Gunya

Tess Duncan Appalachian State University Lindsey Sauls

University of Washington Sadie Wendler Seattle University Elizabeth Piper

Becca Clay Adam Levin Depauw University Jackson Harter Allison Kirby Sally Schoenfeld Alison Stephens The College of Wooster University of Notre Catie Herst Dame Miami University of Scott Kennedy Ohio Hanover College Spencer Barnhill Dani Miller David Beeder Caitlin Benson Jack Logan

OHIO

WISCONSIN Lawrence University John Troup University of Wisconsin Jessie Sykes

Austin Puckett Scott Rainen Maddy Rich Phil Roach Brad Robson Lindsay Rooker John Rowe Brooke Royle Laura Scott Sarah Sears Dawn Selder Kelsey Shaffer Tim Shedor Dale Smith John Stewart Michael Stolle Megan Sullivan Mac Tamblyn Elizabeth Tillhof Maggie Townsend Pete Uhl Natalie Turner Araceli Villanueva Nick Wassmer Grant Wekesser Anthony West Maygan White Amilia Winter Paul Wolff Witchita State University Olivia Sullivan

MARYLAND VIRGINIA

St. John’s College Nathan Goldman Charlie Kline

NEW YORK

Jazz and Contemporary Music Matt Chalk Syracuse University Peter Chow The King’s College Elizabeth McGranahan

Washington & Lee University Harper Coulson University of Virginia David Towster

Vassar College Natalie Hine The New School for

OKLAHOMA Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma Connor Creighton Joe Newman Brian Rogers

RHODE ISLAND

Johnson & Wales University Michael Calvert

ARKANSAS University of Arkansas Lauren Bleakley Erica Brandli Erika Davee Megan Deay Claire Finke Ben Galloway PJ Guignon Sarah Hemer

Katy Kettler Hannah Lang Jay Lehoczky Tommy Rappold Sara Schenkelberg Monica Talavera Greg Welsh Tyler Woltemath

GEORGIA

Savannah College of Art and Design Lauren Engelken Agnes Scott College Louisa Morton Georgia Tech University Yong Hahn

Culinary Institute of America Xyrus Najar Fashion Institute of Technology Anders Newman Hofstra University Max Stitt

HAWAII OREGON

Lewis and Clark University Emily Halter Reed College Brice Roberts University of Oregon Whitaker Sherk

Hawaii Pacific University Ian Boat

NEBRASKA

Creighton University Collin Hoefer Molly Tidrick University of Nebraska Mackenzie Wylie

PENNSYLVANIA Butler Community College FLORIDA Kariesha Kidd CALIFORNIA Loyola Marymount University Olivia Botts Drew McNamara University of Southern California Jacqueline Crain Phoebe Unterman California Institute of the Arts Alyssa Jolitz Scripps College Kiley Lawrence Santa Monica College Brooks Williams

Ringling College of Art and Design Gaby Thompson

kevinhosley photography portraits senior ad design khosley@kc.rr.com

TOWN and COUNTRY Asphalt Sealing

6 Years Experience Locally Owned by a Shawnee Mission East Alumni

Brandon Barnds

(913) 669-6092

www.tcasphaltsealing.com

816.665.2717

2010 breakdown top of the class

Governor’s Scholars, top 1 percent of the senior class based on first semester GPA.

Nick Carothers

Duke

Qi Chen

KU

Joe Deng

Northwestern

Dana Leib Jack Walker

Wesleyan Washington Univ.

match the student to their new mascot

a.

SENIOR BREAKDOWN 13

Big vs. Small

e schools with a look at some of th allest underthe biggest and sm t graduate enrollmen

25000 25,000 25000

20000 20,000 20000

21,066 16,751

15,000 15000 15000 10,000 10000 10000 6,856

5,164

5,000 5000 5000

0 00

Hawaii Pacific Univ.

KU

USC

Tufts

senior going farthest away

most unique majors

Alfie Kass

Matt Chalk - Jazz Performance

The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music Cara Rivers - Technical Theatre Central Missouri University

Yeshiva Israel

Grant Stauffer - Outdoor

major: undecided

recreation management Colorado State University

Most Popular Majors Nursing Business

b.

Education Accounting/ Finance Engineering

c.

d.

3.

4. Katherine Clark Collin Carter

1. (B), 2. (A), 3. (D), 4. (C)

1.

2.Austin Puckett

Sara Schenkelberg

00

10 10

20 20

30 30

40 40

Top Three states where most seniors are going (other than KS)

33

Missouri

16

Arkansas

11

Colorado

50 50

14 SENIOR COLUMNS

Hating to love you, Columbia Blue THE FINAL OPINION OF

SAM LOGAN Dearest student body, I’ve given myself to 56 issues of this publication so I love it, hate it and love it some more. It’s weird, but then again if you’re a jock who quits sports to write stories about them, you yourself probably are. That and a huge dork. All I’ve really ever written about, talked about and dreamed about is sports and frankly I’m pretty sick of it.

I love East sports, but I hate loving them even more. It’s a relationship that is so rewarding, yet is so abusive. I go to games, help lead the student section, and (occasionally) do well in competing at them.

Yet when it’s all said and done I always have to go back and tell more about them in the paper. So for once, I’m switching it up. My last column I’m going to be honest with my readers, this one is for everyone and everything else at this school that I hate loving.

I hate loving to be sarcastic. It makes me who I am, yet it makes sentimental pieces like this almost seem sarcastic in and of themselves. I can assure you it isn’t and can thank every one of the following things I hate loving for causing this side of me. Seriously.

I hate loving the faculty here. It’s so un-cool to say that but I truly do. No where else does an administrative team put as much work into satisfying such a demanding student body and their parents because no where else does in administrative team

meet such a dynamic. Whether you like them or not, they make your life better.

And that I can promise you.

I hate loving the experiences I’ve had here. I’ve been to state tournament basketball games, school dances, AP tests, trips to the principal’s office, and cafeteria lunches. Somehow they all will remind me of my high school days and the incredible times I’ve had and won’t be able to have again. It’s an odd feeling growing up, but once you accept it you can finally look back on all the good that’s come of it.

I hate loving my friends. Some have moved on to college already, some are walking across the stage with me next Tuesday, and some will be waiting another year to do so. Every time I think about how lucky I am to have them, though, I remember how unlucky I am to always be separated from some bit of them at a time because of our age. They probably just read this and winced at the word “loving” but in a year when we are all half-a-country apart they’ll know I meant it.

I hate loving my parents. It sounds bad, but they’ve probably heard me say those three words less than they’ve heard me say, “What’s for dinner?” The substance behind them is one that I always have with me, though, and always will have with me.

They have made everything possible, from the good to the bad, even when I may have been the Sam they wish they never had.

I hate loving this school. Because after this week when it’s all said and done, I know that me and Shawnee Mission East are going to have to break up. I’ll miss the memories but keep the people who made them happen with me forever.

I love you and will miss you even when I’m no longer a student. And that is something I love to hate.

Lancer Proud,

Sam Logan

The struggle against mediocrity THE FINAL OPINION OF

MICHAEL STOLLE

I

strive for mediocre. Or I at least settle for mediocre.

In fact, one teacher felt it necessary to joke to my parents, upon running into us at a family dinner last summer that I was the “biggest underachiever” he knew.

Well I’m not sure whether this is entirely correct, but I’ll admit that I at least sell myself short.

Throughout my high school academic career, I’ve been on the “settle-for-the-B,it’s-an-honor-course” and where has it put me. Still putting enough effort to pass the course, but never to excel. What’s the point?

In a school so academically motivated, my 3.992 sits just below the elusive top 25 percent of my class, 25.4 percent in fact.

Had I buckled down in Kelly Fast’s sophomore English class and squeaked out an A one semester, opportunities such as scholarships and college honors programs would have opened their doors to me.

Though resentful about the academic challenges I face at Shawnee Mission Wonderful, it does speak wonders to the academic drive and teaching ability available.

I’ve had the opportunity to learn under high caliber teachers, though I did tend to resent my peers with easier honors teachers. So fighting for mediocrity has had it’s

benefits, but I would have been much better served enjoying my high school experience better.

My mediocrity extends beyond academics and out into the sporting arena.

Being the all-star athlete I am (joke for y’all who might not know me), mediocrity may be all that I could achieve (if that at all).

As a member of the freshman D team soccer team, our impressive 1-16 record most certainly did not reflect experience (two years rec league for me) or effort (Gil’s “Brazillians” were more than punishing for me). But when we garnered that hallowed victory against Pembroke, the celebration, at least for one night made all the punishment worthwhile.

Soccer was done on whim; however, one experience I was sure not to miss out on was the boys’ swim team. The experience I saw shared by my brother in his years as a swimmer and the amazing coach in Wiley Wright drew me to a sport where I could only strive for mediocrity.

Lane six toil (involving flipper tag and hot showers during hard sets), ensured I was no stellar swimmer, but that was beyond the point. It’s no wonder that Wiley is the winningest coach in East history, and it has nothing to do with East’s status as a country club school.

In other sports, the team competes to avoid the punishment of a coach Hair or coach Texiera. However in one of the more individualistic sports, the swimmers hardly do anything for themselves, rather all is done in effort to benefit the team and Wiley.

Though my satisfaction with only achieving mediocrity has prevailed in high school, I think it is best to get it out of the way now. For now (or this summer at least) I can live life like I want, until I have to buckle down and get serious about my future.

After four years, cool is only relative THE FINAL OPINION OF

DUNCAN McHENRY

E

ntering high school as an 8th grade swimming pool rat, I pretty much had two major things I wanted to accomplish as a student at East. Don’t expect me to baffle you with former aspirations of drill team stardom. Being the first male member to do the splits without making every single man in the stands cringe and grab their crotch like Michael Jackson was never in the cards.

No, my goals for my career at East were pretty similar to those of probably 80 to 90 percent of the 8th grade boys in the district: to be part of the “cool” group, and to eventually play varsity basketball (in turn increasing my cool/popularness).

Now that I’m a senior, I’ve realized that being “cool” is something that’s totally relative, and that suicide sprints and defensive shell drills aren’t the most fun way to spend a school night. Don’t get me wrong, I still love to play basketball and still do my fair share of trying to be cool, but now I know that high school isn’t about popularity.

It’s about becoming friends with a diverse group of kids you never would’ve met outside of school, and learning from them over the course of four years.

In fact, high school is arguably the only

time in life when you can be bombarded by contact with a sea of hundreds of different faces near your own age every day. The only possible exception to that would be much later on in the nursing home years, but that peer group is more likely to be working on a will than scribbling inappropriate gossip on their tapioca dish. In other words, they’re guaranteed to be less lively and a lot more wrinkly than the average, bright-eyed East student.

But the best part about high school is that someone who’s just another unfamiliar face out of that sea of hundreds on the first day of freshman year can turn into one of your closest friends by senior year. By ‘one of your closest friends’ I don’t necessarily mean a member of your ‘go-to’ group, but someone that you share classes with over the years and really get to know.

In my own mind, I’ve always thought of those people as my in-school friends, because even though we do everything from sharing the latest music we’re into to copying each other’s homework at school, I rarely see them on weekends or during breaks.

Some would probably argue that college exposes you to the same variety of people and friendships, but in college classes I’ll be forced to limit myself to being around a group of people with similar career interests. Never again will I sit between a National Merit Finalist and a drama fanatic in Spanish, or be thrown into a Writer’s Workshop class filled with a mixture of eccentrics, quiet types and a few kids I’ve known since sixth or seventh grade.

So to all of my in-school friends, best friends and even friends who I’ve grown apart from since freshman year, thanks for being a part of my time at East. The people I’ve met within the last four or five years have made my high school experience what it was: worthwhile.

SENIOR COLUMNS 15

Maturing in high school is the real lesson THE FINAL OPINION OF

GRIFFIN BUR

H

igh school sucks. At this point, everyone’s heard that aphorism somewhere, and probably. After all, high school basically runs the gamut from terrifyingly new at the start to wearyingly difficult in the middle to seemingly interminable at the end.

High school sucks. It sucks in the same way that forgetting your lines in a play sucks: it’s embarrassing, there’s not much you can do about it except trudge on, and you can’t really feel sorry for yourself because it’s happened to everyone.

But somewhere in there, between the veritable mountain of Calculus homework and the valley of social awkwardness, you become a different person. Not the person you’ll be forever, but someone. An adult. A graduate. Someone who can think critically and be a part of a

community. That exact difficulty of high school and everything that happens in those four years changes you from shyor-spastic freshman to (getting close to) mature senior.

Like most important changes, there’s no dramatic moment where we morph from acne-ravaged ex-middle-schoolers to confident future-college-students.

The change is a wide, wide parabolic curve, and it’s all the better for it - if you and your freshman and senior self met, they might not recognize each other.

And I’m not coming at this as a big proponent of “rites of passage.” It took me four years to go to a dance that wasn’t WPA, and I’ve never been to an East basketball game. I’ll be the first to say it: high school entails a lot of crap. But if you add up everything that makes up high school - managing and taking advantage of the highs, the lows, the sometimes sheer surreality of it all - it’s more than a rite of passage. It’s a microcosm for life.

It’s easy to miss the lesson, though.

In John Nickles’ freshman geography class, we had the option to write letters to ourselves and our friends and let Mr. Nickles hold onto them until high school was over. I’ve been thinking about that a lot recently, but I also get the feeling that I might be writing an entirely different column unless someone had implicitly made this point to me four years ago. So, for everyone’s sake, seniors, juniors and freshman, here ya go.

High school sucks. Get over it.

FORGOT YOUR CAMERA? WE DIDN’T.SMEPHOTOS.COM

16 SENIOR COLUMNS

The final prank of high school

Through photos, best high school memories revealed

THE FINAL OPINION OF

THE FINAL OPINION OF

MACKENZIE WYLIE

I

nstead of putting words on paper, I freeze moments with my camera.

Whether it’s the intense look on Sarah Evan’s face, the student director of Footloose, right before the curtains open for the first performance of the musical or Madison Haverty beating the crap out of the dummy at the Ali’s runway self defense class, those were moments frozen in time and captured by my camera.

When I walk away from high school I will look back at photos to remember, not articles in the newspaper and not what people wrote in my yearbook.

Throughout my photography career at East I had many opportunities to shoot a variety of things. My favorite things to shoot were things that aren’t entirely obvious to people—the unseen moments.

Not many people can say that they saw a couple sharing a moment when they received carnations from each other, or the look on Stewart Jensen’s face when he lost the race on the board during World History, or the anger on Coach Hair’s face in the locker room during half time of the Rockhurst game, or the scrunched up look on Kylie Morrow’s face as she has her hair spray painted gray for the school play, or the Sweetheart candidates pretending to take “self pics” of themselves before the student body arrived, or the sense of excitement in the football players faces as they wrote “playoffs” on the bus window. Very few people are able to say they saw that. I can.

KATHLEEN IRELAND

A

s my senior year slowly comes to a close, there is one thing I could not bear leaving East without crossing off my bucket list. For the first time in six years, I did what everyone humorously suggested I do--switch classes with my twin, Colleen. With two weeks left of school the pros outweighed any cons. This was the outcome: First Hour- AP art I walk in late after dropping ‘Kathleen’ off at the front so she wouldn’t be late to Physics. I later finding out she graciously got me a detention.

“Oh hi Colleen,” Lauren, my informed friend, says sarcastically. “Nice of you to show.”

Three people in the class already know.

“Colleen, I wanted to put a couple of your pieces in the show,” says Mr. Finkelston, also my Photo teacher.

“Yeah? Which ones?”

“Well I like the collage,” good, I’ve seen that one, “and also the Diane Arbus one,” Ehh, that’s not ringing a bell.

Super day to have your phone stolen Colleen.

Giving up on finding the second piece I start taping and un-taping the 46-picture collage of us. But the important question: would she be doing it on the clay-rolling table? Up walks James. He’s in on the scheme as well.

“What are you doing?” he asks with the smile of a conspirator.

“Dominating my AP project,” I answer.

Colleen’s classmate, Aveek, joins in, “Whoa, that’s cool, why’d you do that?”

Hmm. “Well my concentration is on twins, so the collage is me and Kathleen.

She’s pretty cool, cooler than me.” He takes the bait.

The bell rings. One down, two to go (Colleen and I have the same seventh hour.)

Hour 3-Newspaper Late. This whole not-having-to-sufferthe-consequences-of-my-own-actions thing is coming in handy. I sit by Maddy, another accomplice. Mr. Tate reads off winners from a newspaper competition.

“Best feature goes to...boring, not my name, boring, clap...and for news writing, Colleen Ireland,” I start clapping. Oh wait, that’s me. Cease clapping.

Then my name’s called twice. Wow, didn’t expected that. After reveling in the glory I realize this isn’t me. Cue clapping. Really? I finally get an award in this class and I can’t even enjoy it as myself?

Where’s the justice?

“Hey Colleen?” Griffin, her page designer, asks.

“Yep?” “Do you know what your senior column’s gonna be on?” Dang, I should’ve done more recon last night.

“Um. I’m still kinda deciding between concepts. I’ll let you know when I decide.”

Yep, really bad day to lose her phone.

Fifth hour-Physics Late from lunch. Why should Physics get special treatment? As my flip-flops smack across the otherwise silent room, I look for Colleen’s spot, I think the left side of the classroom? I spy an empty seat and take it. In front of me sits the too-loudfor-his-own-good student, Cameron. He’s gotten us mixed up before.

I shoot a glance over to my new labbie, Grant, to see a worksheet I don’t have.

Fabulous.

“So when you walked in, Cameron thought you’d switched classes with your sister,” Grant informs me with a grin.

“Haha, nope. That would be weird,” I respond. The best offense is a good defense.

“Colleen?” Mr. Martin whips out a pad of ominous slips.

I walk to his desk.

“Next time you’re late it’ll be an office referral,” he explains. This’ll be fun to explain. “So when can you come in for a detention?”

“Uh,” When does she work this week? “let’s go with Thursday after school?”

Payback’s a B. Seventh Hour-Fibers There’s not much tomfoolery to be had with Colleen in the same class. After informing her of the impending Physics punishment she’ll enjoy on my behalf, she gives me the same news. Should’ve seen that one coming. I lighten the conversation by proposing to a fellow twin, Allison, we organize a school-wide twin switch in the near future. We discuss the likelihood of its success before resuming the tedious, hot-wax-ridden art of Batiking until school is out.

With detentions for the same class, on the same day, from the same teacher, Colleen and I decide to knock them both out and head to room 407. We stay longer than others because we showed up later.

Old habits die hard.

It’s been a good day in the life of a twin must be done. Family detentions are vastly underrated.

Reliving the Cinderella story of 2006 D-Team’s lone victory THE FINAL OPINION OF

SAM KOVZAN

P

rior to Sept. 23, 2006, I’d never witnessed a miracle.

But something magical occurred at South Stadium that one Saturday evening in early autumn. It was not only a defining moment in my high school career, but East’s greatest upset victory that nobody knows about (save the one lucky freshman who had nothing better to do that night).

Well, this fairytale has gone untold long enough.

None of the 20 guys on East’s D-Team, including me, ever imagined winning was possible. After all, we were an absolute disgrace. Shortly after the 16-game season ended, a teammate and I calculated that we had scored 8 goals and conceded 80; fans applauded when we successfully advanced the ball into the opponent’s half of the field; our three goalies combined for zero seasons of competitive soccer experience; we were mercy-ruled twice and even wagered money on how bad we’d lose.

Earlier that day we had endured two blowout losses in the C-Team tournament, and the thought of a third massacre was nauseating. Many D-Teamers lacked the fitness to play a full half, let alone three games in a single day.

Our aching bodies lay scattered around the bench, minutes before the final match against Pembroke Hill. Tall and short, fat and skinny, we certainly were a motley crew.

The roster included a defender who is soon to graduate in the top five of our class and a goalkeeper who probably hasn’t been to school in five weeks. There were honor students and skaters, developed men and prepubescent boys. Seemingly everyone had asthma, and one even claimed to be allergic to grass. It featured this year’s newspaper co-editor, a prominent actor from East’s The Grapes of Wrath and a current D-1 tennis recruit.

But damn, we were bad at soccer.

Standing – no, more like slouching - before us on the sideline was a dejected Brazilian man with silver hair. His droopy red cheeks, watery eyes and slight underbite gave him the appearance of a dehydrated bulldog. Head coach Gil Teixeira always saw the glass half-empty, as would anyone in charge of the 2006 D-Team. But then he said something that made us scratch our heads.

In that thick Brazilian accent, he pro-

claimed, “Guys, we could maybe win this game.”

Occupying the left forward position for the third time that afternoon, I mulled over Gil’s outrageous claim. At this point we were 0-8 and our ratio of goals allowed to goals scored hovered around 20-to-1. Hmm...maybe he was joking.

The game began and we wasted no time playing to our strength: falling behind fast.

Foes always salivated at the sight of our buttery defense and impotent offense, and Pembroke was no exception. Three minutes into the game, we trailed 1-0.

Surprisingly, the score remained unchanged until the end of the half. This can be attributed to two factors that worked in our favor. First, Pembroke thought it was game over at the get-go, when in truth they weren’t good enough to just coast. Second, the half lengths were shortened from 40 to 25 minutes because there was only an hour of playable daylight remaining. Apparently this game didn’t warrant the stadium lights.

Then the game turned on its head. It was a fate-changing moment that enabled us to experience the phenomenon known as “momentum” for the first time all season.

Yours truly snuck behind the defense and chipped the ball over the oncoming goalie, not even waiting to see the net bulge before dashing off in ecstasy. My goal came at an ideal point because we had no time to give back the lead; halftime came too quickly.

“Guys, what did I say?” Gil demanded at halftime, an unfamiliar smile on his face.

“We can maybe win this game...”

Shortly after the restart, we snatched our first lead. Ever. A cross flew into the box, bounced around, and met the golden boot of our tennis player. East 2, Pembroke 1.

“This is really happening!” I remember a fellow D-Teamer yelling as we embraced each other near the goal.

Lo and behold, the choke job: 30 seconds remained and an opponent fired a desperate shot straight at my teammate’s loins. He reacted like any man would and cupped his crotch before collision. The referee blew his whistle, and my heart stopped.

Handball in the box. Pembroke penalty kick with no time left...

We were so close to shocking the world, and it pained me to see opposing players fighting over who would tie the game. Then one of them barked something that made me chuckle: “I know what to do!”

Dude, just avoid hitting it straight at our goalie and it’s a goal, I thought. But hey, this guy knew what to do. Except his shot suggested otherwise.

Anticipating a missile, our goalie was almost startled at the simplicity of saving the back-pass that rolled gently to his feet.

Game over! D-Team wins! D-Team wins!

Yep, that was our lone win in 2006. The following year, many of the players were either cut or decided to pursue other hobbies: journalism, choir, tennis, skateboarding, studying, marijuana, theater. But it was with that dissimilar group othat I experienced one of my finest high school moments.

SENIOR COLUMNS 17

The inner workings of life as a twin THE FINAL OPINION OF

COLLEEN IRELAND

I

can’t count the number of times someone has asked me, “What’s it like being a twin?” I still remain speechless sometimes because I don’t know exactly how to answer. Being a twin is just who I am.

What am I supposed to say? It’s cool, I guess...? Everyone is unique in one way or another, even siblings who go the extra mile and share nearly 100% of their genetic traits.

We definitely have more similarities than the average brother or sister, but what can you expect from two people that have spent 18 years together? I’m fortunate to have someone that shares my tastes on nearly everything—radio stations, restaurants and even clothing stores. I never have to worry about discovering something about her, or vice versa, that could possibly end our friendship because we know everything there is to know about each other. Without her speaking a word, I know what her face is saying when she clenches her jaw or her eyebrows scrunch together, what she’s thinking of saying when somebody cuts her off in traffic or what movie she would rather see if given the choice.

But contrary to popular belief, we aren’t clones. We are in fact separate people, and never hold back stating when we have opposing views. We bicker more than any siblings I know, probably because none of them are together as much as we are. But I know that no matter how heated of a fight we might start, even one that involves the use of ammunition in the form of nearby hair brushes or shoes, five minutes later we could both be laughing hysterically over something completely insignificant.

It’s like being related to your best friend. Sure, you like hanging out on the weekends and talking in the hall between classes, but even the best of friends get a little tired of one another after spending each day together over a week long vacation. I wake up every morning and

note whether our outfits match or not, debate over whose turn it is to drive and possibly get in an argument over how she’ll definitely get a detention because I didn’t drive fast enough. Once at school we only part for an hour and a half at any given time since we have the same 2nd, 4th, and 7th blocks and both lunch periods together, by some twisted fate.

It’s not just the fact that we share our time but we share everything. From birthday parties, to most of our friends and obviously our appearance. I don’t usually mind if someone gets us mixed up, and I don’t want them to feel bad.

It’s not their fault that in their eyes we look exactly the same. I’ve been in that situation several times. In a class with at least eight other sets of twins, I had to go through my own process of correctly identifying many of them, and I’m still confused by a few. It still amazes me when some people say they think we’re the most difficult twins to tell apart, but most people that barely know us handle it similarly. I see the deliberation on their faces right before they take a stab in the dark, hoping they guess correctly with the 50/50 chance they have.

Obviously it’s not an issue for me because I’m not going to get my own name confused with my sister’s. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve had 18 years of time shared with her to pick out our differences. But to me, they’re not that subtle.

Anytime I run into someone outside of school and hear, “Hey Colleen, what’s up” it’s like a breath of fresh air and an accomplishment to have someone that sees me alone. I’m glad to have friends and family that recognize our differences beyond just physical characteristics, like the slight pitch difference in our voices or the fact that one of us has a quicker temper. It also says something for that person, because for them to reach that point means that they are really paying attention and making an effort.

With senior year coming to a close, I realize that in a matter of months, depending on our final college decisions, we could go from spending all of our time together to seeing each other anytime a visit home becomes necessary. No more sitting together in front of the television or sharing homework. We’ll have to rely on ourselves more, but being on our own will also give us a chance to be seen as individuals instead of twins.

It’s intimidating and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but it has to happen sooner or later. No matter how many miles are between us, we’ll always be a part of each other.

18 SENIOR COLUMNS

Reflecting on the NEXT four years of your life THE FINAL OPINION OF

MAC TAMBLYN

D

isclaimer to my dearest journalism pals and fellow writers of 2010 senior columns: I don’t intend to hurt any feelings, but I find it a bit redundant to reflect back upon the past four years of high school in writing my senior column. It has been done in some way, shape or form in every senior column in the history of high school journalism.

From, “My class rank sucks; don’t make the same mistakes I did,” to “Avoiding voice cracks during choir solo tryouts,” and even “I still don’t understand why ordering milk at WPA dinner is socially unacceptable,” they have all been done before.

In 2010, I aim to write something different. Instead of reminiscing on the past meaningfully, I will attempt to foretell the future meaninglessly.

For example, I don’t have a wormhole that tells me the Royals bullpen will blow a 3 run lead in the 8th inning on July 9 against the White Sox (I don’t need one for that, anyway). But my mom has always told me that I have darn good foresight, like the 4th of July when I specifically told my cousin that scotch-taping two M80s and a 50-pack of Black Cats to a measly Moonbeam Missile wasn’t a good idea. For the record, it nearly veered into the bed of a neighbor’s Silverado.

In the next couple paragraphs, that foresight will help unveil the next four years of life on Earth. Pay heed the following dates, because permission is granted to take any of this information to Vegas.

July 11, 2010 – Zinedine Zidane makes a surprise return to the World Cup final, this time in the press box with legendary British commentators Martin Tyler and Andy Gray. After becoming upset with Gray’s usual negative demeanor, Zidane headbutts Gray, forever impairing Gray’s trademark Scottish brogue.

Oct. 2, 2010 – Rock artists Nickelback release their newest album, “Reason for Taking the Dark Road.” Due to a lack of commercial success with the new record, Nickelback calls Radiohead’s “pay what you want” bet and ups the ante. The band decides to ask fans how much Nickelback

should pay them to download the album.

In essence, “How much can we pay you to take this from us?”

Nov. 14, 2011 – Apple releases their newest gadget, a mobile video gaming device dubbed the iPwn. The iPwn is Wi-Fi capable, fully holographic and 3D enabled, providing a visually nauseating experience.

Apr. 22, 2012 – Apple releases an updated version of the iPwn, the iPwn 3G. At this point, you should know to never buy the original Apple gadget in a series, because six months later they release a smaller, faster and much better version of the product.

Dec. 21, 2012 – The world ends. Short term solution – find your way onto a deep space probe. Long term solution – learn how to make Mars biologically habitable.

Hint: the best bet is to inject greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to raise the planet’s average temperature up from the normal -81 degrees Fahrenheit. Good luck.

Remember, the remaining events are theoretical, considering the world already ended.

June 9, 2013 – The ultimate infomercial product, the “ShamOxiWeight,” hits cable programming. A seamless combination of the ShamWow!, OxiClean and Shake Weight, the ShamOxiWeight resembles a hand-operated convulsing dish towel soaked in Pine-Sol. It soon becomes a part of infomercial folklore for its renowned ability to remove stains, soak up residue and tone flabby forearms simultaneously.

The tag line – “For just $19.95, it has never been so easy to eradicate grass stains from a pair of jeans and blast your triceps at the same time!”

Dec. 6, 2013 – Avatar II is released. After some of the biggest days in box office history, the general population soon discovers that, like its predecessor, the plot has been stolen from a “Pocahontas” movie. In this case, the victim is “Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World.”

May 10, 2014 – With his pitch count nearing 220 and his arm swollen to the size of a well-fed boa constrictor, Royals starting pitcher Zack Greinke is removed from his first-ever perfect game in the bottom of the 17th inning. Trying to avoid the still shaky bullpen, the Royals bring in their stalwart, Joakim Soria, despite the fact that he is on the DL with a torn right rotator cuff. Soria must pitch the ball lefty, which turns disastrous when the hitter hammers the ball out of the park.

To gain insight from that series of unimportant events would take some real effort, which, I suppose, is exactly what I set out to do. At least I tried to do something different, something that Nickelback can’t say about themselves.

On that note, seniors of 2010 and fellow senior columnists, see you in the future.

A mix of emotions during the final weeks of high school THE FINAL OPINION OF

MADDY MADDY BAILEY BAILEY

E

ach time I sing the school song in Choraliers I feel more emotionally attached to it. I’m serious. Being a senior is one of the strangest experiences I have ever gone through.

I have almost developed a bipolar personality. Cynical-me can’t pull into the parking lot without letting out a huge sigh, but Sentimentalme keeps on scrounging up the last of my school-spirited smiles. Each day drags on more quickly than the last, and when I step foot outside, I find myself feeling apprehensive.

That step reminds me that graduation will become reality very soon.

By that time Sentimental-me will be in tears singing, “May our spirits be increased.” And Cynical-me will say, “And God, watch over SM East… because I, for one, am getting the heck out of here.”

Cynical-me may think that, being a senior, I have grown up, but Sentimental-me reminds, “That’s a joke.”

I find it comical that my friendships are rather based off our taste in Vera Bradley patterns and our ability to

send a text, while still managing to use the word ‘like’ eight times. But that is only because I have to describe every detail about the time I fell up the center staircase during passing period. We know we are ridiculous, but that’s what friends are for.

Sentimental-me has found that from time to time there is always a pleasant recollection of my past that pops into my head. I remember my “vast knowledge of geometry” and Ms. Bramley’s hot cocoa days. I won’t forget Mathsketball with Mr. Burrows or the unusually competitive fly-swatter game en français. And I will even miss “ruining Fridays” in Filbeck’s class and mindlessly counting out Harbingers to deliver to fellow Lancers. For me, now there is a meaning to the words, “But fond memories linger on.”

I’d like to think that I’ve matured mentally through the years, but Cynical-me comes out every once in a while to act like the self-proclaimed East girl that I think I am. After everything I have learned about myself, Cynical-me can only say that Senior year has flooded me with emotions and memories, while providing a temporary ego-boost before becoming a clueless college freshman.

With the days I have left, this school deserves to see a lot more of Sentimental-me. So next time Cynical-me struts through the hallways with my friends, rolling my eyes at squirrely freshmen, I should probably think twice. Sentimental-me can’t think of anything better to do than to enjoy the time I have left with my classmates, singing, “High school days too soon are gone.”

SENIOR COLUMNS 19

The day when I met high school THE FINAL OPINION OF

TIM SHEDOR

M

om bought my clothes just for that morning. Dark blue shirt. White cargos. New shoes. She walked me to the bus stop too, but she brought the dog along so it would look like that’s what she was doing if there was already anyone there waiting.

I came to this school from a private middle school. Before that, three other private schools in three other states. I knew two people, and one of them hated me. I had no diaper-days friends that I remembered Belinder Days with.

But before I go on with the disaster that was my first seven hours of Shawnee Mission Wonderful, I’d like to pause for a brief foreword since this is my senior column and I can. I’m a bitter, cynical excuse for a senior. I was the bassist for this year’s Bunch of Bands winner (search “Menlo” on iTunes) and I was the second-place winner of the national high school Journalist of the Year contest. I’d like to consider that as a some-what accomplished senior year, but there would have been a few things I would have liked to tell the school brushing me by when I was a freshman, and some things that still ring true to today.

Lastly, the entire following story is true.

At the bus stop, I waited patiently because I had gotten there nearly 20 minutes earlier than the posted schedule had recommended I be there. Just in case. Fifty yards ahead, I spotted a fellow bus-rider coming toward the stop, and I immediately brightened. My first friend.

She walked down the hill, past me and stood approximately five feet behind me.

I waited five minutes, then turned and waved hello. Hello!

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t even look at me. I tried two more times over the next 10 minutes, but I was still reduced to cellophane to this chick. Thank goodness the bus came on time, I was losing faith in this day.

At school, they had changed the homerooms without telling bumblers like me, so I was sent to the library where they corralled the kids who hadn’t paid their fees or couldn’t prove that they were students by showing their schedules. I was terrified.

I eventually found my way to my first hour in John Stonner’s computer apps class. I picked a computer, sat down and typed out my brand-new SMSD account

password. I was so satisfied with myself that I didn’t notice the girl behind me. She had just come back from the bathroom, and I had made a password on her account.

Stonner set me up at the proper computer, and I tried to log in. Three failures later and repeated “Uh…um…what you did…um…didn’t….work” conversation with Stonner, my account finally worked. Then the bell rang. I kid you not, I didn’t know what that bell meant, but when everyone started moving I jumped up and allowed myself to be lost in the herd.

At lunch, the longest line of kids I’d ever seen – I’d graduated eighth grade with 25 other private schoolers – was spewing out the door. I instinctively followed the pack and jumped in line, even though I brought my own lunch and this line was going into the food court.

Coach Brian Hansen, now an administrator at a corrective school, brassly told the mob to keep moving, and to “push if you have to.” Two girls took note and nearly pushed me over.

I finally found an open chair at the future-IB table, and ate my lunch in silence.

I didn’t want to seem overly-ambitious in friend-making, and the other end of the table wasn’t talking with me either.

To wrap up the day, the giant, magnetic mob streamed into the gym. I went up high into the bleachers, found an easy-to-hidebehind thick group of kids and sat down.

But when Pep Club yelled “Freshmen stand up and cheer,” the bleachers caddy-corner screamed. Sophomores yelled at their turn.

I cracked my knuckles out of fear of the possibility that I was with the seniors. Fortunately, I stood up and cheered with the juniors around me.

Caught at the back of the mob pushing through the crunchingly narrow doors after dismissal, I waited until I had a free moment. Then I power walked up to my locker. I grabbed the book that I wouldn’t need because I didn’t have homework but I thought I should grab just in case, and I ran to the bus stop.

But who could remember where the bus stop was after a day like that? I didn’t even have a Link Leader to call.

I ran to both ends of the third floor in desperation. Someone gave me directions, and I hauled ass. I stepped outside and was lucky enough to see that last bumper of the last bus pull away. But there was hope.

A lady walked towards me from around the corner and said, “We’ve been looking all over for you.” She sounded excited, and I could hear a refrain of Allelujahs.

I thanked her and asked for a ride home.

But just as I was about to step forward and kiss my savior’s hand, a girl stepped forward from behind me and began signing to the paraprofessional. She was deaf, and the two rode away in the handicapped bus.

To this day, I believe that if I’m ever within 20 feet of a bus stop, I instantly become invisible.

Finding niche in journalism program makes for an interesting high school experience THE FINAL OPINION OF

back in her head after she performed CPR on her. I’ve written about a high school couple whose relationship would be totally normal except for the fact that they’re both blind. I sat at their lunch table for a week while they whispered in each other’s ears and held hands under the table, oblivious to the rest of the lunchroom around them. My biggest story yet was the children’s book I wrote and illustrated about my grandmother’s life during the Holocaust, which was recently published.

Journalism has given me the stories. Those to write about, and those to add to my own life experience. The trips to Dallas, Phoenix, Washington D.C.; the family of sharp, witty, ruthlessly critical “Harbies.” Journalism has given me something to work for, something I care about so much that I put in the seemingly endless hours and most of all, journalism has given me my identity. I came on staff an intimidated sophomore with a lot of opinions and no outlet for them, and a yearning to write stories that would change people. Now I’m just as much a part of the journalism room as the leftover food neglected behind a computer until months later when someone accidentally touches it or deadline night music: an eclectic mix of X-rated rap, Milkman mashups and Top-40 throwbacks from the early 2000s.

As amazing as the stories I’ve been able to tell are, they’ve also taught me that a story doesn’t have to be tragic or horrible to be compelling.

I’ve been in the pit at two Springsteen concerts. I’m a miserably loyal Royals fan and I drive by David DeJesus’s house almost every day hoping I will catch a glimpse of him taking out the trash. I have a million interests, but never enough time to pursue anything. And above all, I’ve written stories that have taken me to other worlds so foreign from my own.

That’s my story. I’m almost a high school graduate, a Kansan, a friend, a fan. And above all, a storyteller.

PHOEBE UNTERMAN

M

y story is that I am a storyteller.

I may not have suffered a tragic loss or overcome a major obstacle in my life so far, but I’m a listener, an observer, and above all, a writer.

I used to think that I would never be a great writer because nothing ever happened to me. I was just a normal kid, with no broken home or dark childhood or internal twin growing inside me that I had swallowed in the womb. I idolized Harriet the Spy and Scout Finch, whose lives were full of adventure. My black-and-white composition notebooks were full of “spy notes;” my summers, sitting in the bushes in the front yard with my sister and our recorder we got from a box of Rice Krispies. A passerby not picking up after his dog here, our septuagenarian ex-Marine neighbor, Dolly, mowing her lawn in her tank top and bandana there. Or a special appearance by the Mission Hills Golf Ball Man, who rode his bike around and picked up stray golf balls from the country clubs that surround my neighborhood. Not exactly Angela’s Ashes.

Then, sophomore year, I joined newspaper staff, worked my way up to co-editor-in-chief, and have since spent hours every month conducting interviews, painstakingly transcribing quotes, and crafting other people’s stories with my words. I’ve told the story of a girl who lost her mother to a freak heart attack, written about her watching her mother’s eyes roll

>>photos (left to right) by Andrea Zecy, Katie East, Lindsey Hartnett (3), Mackenzie Wylie, Katie East, Mackenzie Wylie, Katie East