Senior Issue 2015

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2 | seniors | the roar

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enior Amber Rios looks like an artist.

“Art has definitely helped me get through some tough times,” Rios said. “Just going to art class—even though the portfolio’s stressing me out right now—is fun and relaxing for me.”

Rios’s fellow Art IV student Regan Schulman says she’s consistently amazed at the speed and style with which Rios’s works of art come together.

“At the beginning, it’s just a bunch of line drawings, and you’re like—how is that going to become anything?” Schulman said. “And at the end, it’s incredibly cool, stylistic piece.”

Rios, who deals mostly in digital artwork, describes her style as “comic book and cartoony,” citing Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” graphic novels as an influence. She counts “artist” and “graphic designer” among her many career options.

Rios won’t, however, be studying art. She plans to major in criminal justice, attending

friday, may 15, 2015

Austin Community College for two years and then transferring to the University of Texas at Austin.

“To be honest, in eighth grade, and I was really obsessed with [the CBS show] ‘Criminal Minds’,” Rios said. “So I was just like, ‘I want to join the CIA or FBI!’” Rios followed up on that initial eighth-grade burst of interest by taking a criminal justice class during her freshman year.

Her interest in the field only grew, and she’s taken criminal justice classes every year since then. Currently, she’s enrolled in two of criminal justice teacher Thomas Rucker’s classes: Emergency Telecommunications and Criminology.

“Amber is very hardworking and dedicated,” Rucker said. “She knows how to acquire information, understand it, and apply it.”

Rucker’s course in Emergency Telecommunications prepares students to remain calm and give instructions while receiving 911 calls. At the end of the course,

jeremy rees

photo & profile by aaron ross

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fter giving the class speech and walking across the stage, senior Jeremy Rees plans to go on a mission trip for his church.

For two years. In South Korea.

“I’ve been saving up for years,” Rees said. “I’ve already started learning Korean a little

bit and before they ship me over there. I’m going to spend a month or so in Provo, [Utah] the missionary training center that’ll be teaching me Korean.”

Rees will be performing his missionary work in the Seoul south mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-

students receive a certificate in emergency telecommunications, which enables them to work as 911 operators after they reach the age of 18.

“We talk about how to deal with stress management,” Rucker said. “When a person calls and they’re screaming, you have to calm them with only your voice and walk them through the situation in order to save somebody’s life.”

Rucker says that the criminal justice field is “not for everybody,” and definitely not for anyone just out of high school, but he believes that Rios has the temperament and skills to be able to succeed in her particular areas of interest: the psychological and sociological parts of the field.

“Her interest is in helping individuals,” Rucker said. “Being in dispatch is just an avenue for her to actually help within her community.”

Rios plans to work as a 911 operator to put herself through college, an experience that she hopes will help her in her pursuit

of a criminal justice degree. She’s not sure, however, how she’ll fit art, such a large part of her life at this point, into her career plan if she chooses to go down that path.

“Some people have told me that I could be a forensic artist, but I don’t think [art and criminal justice] are going to go together at all,” Rios said. “My art style is so different from realistic

art that I just don’t see them mixing.”

The philosophy Rios applies to her art, however, remains relevant to her life—and everyone’s.

“Don’t let anybody tell you how to draw. It’s your style,” Rios said. “Draw what you want. Be happy with what you produce.”

ter-day Saints.

“I’ve been saving up for years,” Rees said. “$10,000’s.

The cost of living all over the world is really different, but everybody just pays the church $10,000 for each person and they redistribute it out so everybody gets what they need to live on.”

Going on the mission is almost considered a writ of passage for Mormons.

“All guys are kind of expected to do it. Not everybody does it right after their senior year,” Rees said. “Some guys will do a year of college, some people will do all of college, it just depends if it’s a good time.”

Regardless of the timing, the culture shock and time commitment are huge.

“You stay over there for the whole two years,” Rees said. “You get to video call twice a year on Christmas and

Mother’s Day, but other than that you just email or write letters. On your mission you are working all day long.”

Rees’s religion and church have done more than just influence his missionary work, but also others.

“He is always willing to do service,” senior and friend Jerry Perry said. “That’s a big thing at our church. One time we were down in Houston on a church trip and we were wearing suits and all of a sudden we saw a car break down in the middle of an intersection.

Jeremy said ‘hey let’s go’ so we jumped out in our suits and pushed the car to a gas station just for service.

Beyond serving his church, Rees also serves as a role model. “[He’s] made me realize there is more to life than having fun,” Perry said. “That try-

ing hard in school is important and that being nice to people is big. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk bad about anyone and he’ll always be there to encourage you or help you.

Some people when they are smarter make people feel bad about themselves. He doesn’t.”

Through his faith and character Rees will continue to maintain his personal responsibility toward himself and toward his community.

“I think the world is... it kind of sucks,” Rees said. “It can be a good place, there are good things in it. I think we kind of have a responsibility.

Lots of the good things in it are person to person things, like people are friends, people love each other, that’s where a lot of the good stuff comes from so we kind of have a responsibility to make this good stuff happen.”

amber rios photo & profile by shilpa saravanan

the roar | seniors | 3

friday, may 15, 2015

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enior Shreya Shankar calls her college application a list of her failures, dropped her phone during a Stanford interview and describes her intelligence as being “better than normal but worse than good.”

Shankar has also been accepted to Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, MIT and Caltech.

“I couldn’t name a success until I got into Stanford,” Shankar said. “When I went to Harvard’s Admit Weekend, everyone was saying things like, ‘I cured freaking pancreatic cancer,’ and I was just like, ‘I tried to create software for an unmanned vehicle, and it didn’t even work,’ and they were like, ‘Oh, better luck next time.’”

Shankar’s mentors, such as physics teacher Michelle Jedlicka, who has known her since sophomore year, attest to Shankar’s modesty.

“To me, a lot of the things that are outstanding about Shreya are things that most people don’t even know about her,” Jedlicka said. “She doesn’t want to be boastful, so she doesn’t even tell people about all of the things she’s done.”

Shankar, despite her own beliefs, has an impressive list of accomplishments, from being named a College Board National AP Scholar to being awarded the US Navy Science Award.

She attributes her success to her individualism, a trait she has emphasized from a young age.

“One of my friends told me when I was in 8th grade: ‘If you do what everyone tells you to do, you’re going to end up like everyone else,’” Shankar said. “So when people tell you to focus on school and GPA and getting all A’s, just look at the entire honor roll. There are hundreds of kids on there. What’s the great thing?

Two names in the newspaper no one but your family is going to see? So I’ve just always focused on what I really liked to do.”

One of these interests Shankar has honed in on is computer science. After her two failed startups, Shankar created Camp Sci Girl, a virtual camp focused on introducing middle-school girls to the world of computer programming. “[For Camp Sci Girl,] I paired one mentor with three to five girls through Google Hang-

beth ashley

profile by rojas oliva photo by austin coats

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hances are you’ve heard Beth Ashley.

“Don’t worry about trying to contain yourself around other people,” Ashley said. “Don’t worry about what other people have to say about it, because as long as you’re happy, it doesn’t

matter what anyone else thinks, because you’re being you, and you’re happy about it.”

Tellingly, Ashley dropped being the school mascot because she wanted more excitement and instead became the unofficial leader of the student section, dancing,

outs because no one lived in College Station.,” Shankar said.

“So I, as a mentor, taught a girl in California, Hawaii, and New York. The whole experience was super surreal.”

After teaching the students simple programming, like video game programming, Shankar found herself inspired by the experience.

“I know it sounds really cliche, but being the only girl in Mrs. Rister’s class and at the lab at A&M [got me into the] whole ‘getting more girls into technology’ thing,” Shankar said. “It just felt like this was my calling.

When I told people, they told me that I should turn it into a startup. And I just thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s the best idea ever.’”

This summer will be Camp Sci Girl’s second year in existence, and it will run for three weeks where students will meet virtually Monday through Friday from three to five PM. Showing personality and action, whether that be through projects like Camp Sci Girl or authenticity in interviews, Shankar says, is what separates college candidates, not GPA and class

rank.

“It’s not all about your grades and about getting a high rank or GPA or trying to be the best in everything,” Shankar said. “It’s more about who you are as a person and the people that you meet. I know this sounds completely contrary to everything you’ve ever been told, but spend more time with other people than you do with your own academics. The one thing I’ve learned is the more you learn from other people, the

more you’re likely to change, and the more you change, the better you are.”

Shankar’s philosophy of change has been the motivation behind some of her most complex projects.

“Shreya comes up with all these bright and brilliant ideas, and sometimes she needs to be reined in a little bit on a more reasonable, logical path,” Jedlicka said. “She doesn’t see limitations.”

cheering and screaming for Consol. This attitude made softball, a game she’s been playing since she was five, a way to bring that pep onto the field. “[Softball] is such a cheerful game. There’s always cheering going on, it’s never quiet,” Ashley said. “It’s the perfect sport for me because you’re always talking, and I love talking.”

After making it to varsity as a freshman, Ashley stuck to it and her performance impressed college scouts enough for her to earn a scholarship to play for the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

“It was a hard process, it was very stressful,” Ashley said. “You had to email twenty coaches every tournament and you had to do all this stuff, but eventually when you’re like, ‘yeah I want to go there,’ and you tell the coach, and you have this bond, all the weight just gets lifted off your shoulders and you just get to enjoy the rest of your time playing softball.”

Part of the enjoyment she got back to, Ashley says, was being with her teammates and coaches.

“They’ve just really helped me grow as an individual and they’ve helped me mature so much,” Ashley said. “I’ve gotten a lot better with being my own filter and holding back some words and being a positive influence on others.”

Ashley is also appreciative of her mother, Janice Ashley, for her guidance in the softball recruitment process.

“She was my rock, she did everything for me,” Ashley said.

“She helped me with my letters I had to write, with the emails I had to type she would tell me if a coach was coming and she’d always tell me what I was doing wrong and what I needed to fix and she was just always there to help me.”

For her part, Janice Ashley is glad her daughter made it.

“This was my job,” Janice

Ashley said. “My hopes for her at UL are [that she] continues to work hard on the field and in the classroom and good things will happen.”

After college, Beth Ashley plans on leaving her softball playing days behind and is considering coaching as a way to keep the sport she loves in her life.

“I just want to give back what I learned. I want to help kids so they can have the opportunity to play in college like I do, because it’s great,” Ashley said. “All my coaches in the past have helped me so much and I just want to give other kids the knowledge that I know.”

But for now, Ashley is just ready for more hype.

“UL is going to be so much fun, I’m so excited. Like, I love Consol, but moving away is going to be the best thing that’s ever going to happen in my life,” Ashley said. “I can’t wait to leave.”

shreya shankar

profile by stephanie palazzolo photo by shilpa saravanan

4 | seniors | the roar

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enior Mamie Barnhardt is a dancing machine.

“On the sidelines, I dance a lot,” Mamie Barnhardt said. “You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. I like to think it does inspire everyone.”

Her sister, sophomore Eva Barnhardt, if not inspired, is at least impressed.

“She’s a rather good dancer.

She does the one from ‘The Great Gatsby’, the one that’s like something with the feet. She does the pelvic thrusts, and the subtle hip movements,” Eva Barnhardt said.

“Everyone knows that she’s one of the best dancers on the [girls soccer] team.”

Mamie Barnhardt has played soccer since the fourth grade, but she has been involved with athletic activities as long as she can remember. This past year, though, she had to sit out the high school games due to an injury, so she found a new job on the sidelines.

“It’s important to be positive, and it’s important to not make drama out of small things that

friday, may 15, 2015

happen,” Mamie Barnhardt said.

“I keep people focused before the game and make sure that everyone has a good warm up.”

But Eva Barnhardt says that her sister’s job involves a lot more than just dancing and warm-ups.

“She always gives me a high five when I come off, and she always says good job. She does really hold the team together,” Eva Barnhardt said. “Even though she doesn’t practice with us, we all know that she’s working really hard in the training room or running. She does work harder than probably a lot of us.”

M a mie Barnhardt’s hard work initially was rooted in a desire to play soccer in college. After becoming injured, though, she decided to put her hard work to use in another way, by joining the Marines.

“Going into the Marines was something that I had always thought about doing. Towards the end of sophomore year, I told my parents. And that was a whole process of talking to them and getting them to be okay with

derrick valladares photo & profile by rojas oliva

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enior Derrick Valladares remembers when he saw his parents for the first time in seven years.

“My aunt went to pick me up [from the airport] and she took me to my parents’ house,” Valladares said. “That’s when I saw them, and my mom started crying when she saw me.”

Until that moment Valladares had been living in Belize with his grandmother, but when

doctors told her she didn’t have much time left due to her diabetes, Valladares left for the United States to live with his parents, leaving a family behind.

“It was really sad because I actually saw [my friends in Belize] as brothers and sisters,” Valladares said.

Even today, there’s much he misses. “[I miss] all the adventures, [and] especially my family, my

it,” Mamie Barnhardt said. “This year, it’s going to actually happen.”

For Mamie Barnhardt, this change in plans wasn’t an issue.

“The military offers a physical challenge,” Mamie Barnhardt said. “Everything people do after high school is challenging, but for me, this is an appealing challenge.”

Mamie Barnhardt’s family is nervous challenge, but she isn’t concerned.

“I know that when I go into actually dangerous situations I’m gonna be much more prepared than I am now,” Mamie Barnhardt said. “So, am I worried? I guess as much as anyone would be.”

Eva Barnhardt, though, is worried about what her sister’s absence will be like.

“It’s going to be quiet in the house. There’s not going to be the conversation that’s in the kitchen all the time, any of that stuff.

Nobody’s going to want to watch ‘Friends’ with me. It’s going to be a lot different,” Eva Barnhardt said. “I am going to appreciate her aunts and all that, they really took care of me,” Valladares said. “[I miss] going to my grandpa’s ranch, hunting and going to the river every Sunday and making a barbecue and [having] all the family come over.”

But living with his parents brought its own joys, including meeting his two younger brothers and seeing the birth of his younger sister, Rosemary.

“She’s my happiness,” Valladares said. “I was really happy when they told me it was going to be a girl and then, when she was born, I couldn’t wait to go and see her at the hospital.”

Outside of his family, however, there were many obstacles.

Coming from Belize, Valladares had a heavy accent and so was starting high school at Consol as an understandably shy 12-yearold. This changed when he joined the men’s soccer team.

“The group of kids that we had made him feel comfortable,” soccer coach Stefano Salerno said. “We had a lot of move-ins that year, but the kids made them feel welcome, and once they’re on the field, once they start playing

mamie barnhardt

photo & profile by sydney garrett

more. Whenever she comes back, it’s going to be really nice.”

Eva Barnhardt will also miss Mamie Barnhardt’s infectious joy.

“Obviously she’s hilarious, but I think everybody knows that.

I think everybody knows she’s like the funniest person ever,” Eva Barnhardt said.

But Mamie Barnhardt is a

little skeptical of the potential of a comedic career in the Marines.

“I don’t know if I’ll be doing any puns. I think that if you talk out of turn, they lay the smack down,” Mamie Barnhardt said.

“I could be the kid that is always running laps for saying puns.”

soccer together and start working hard, they start building that camaraderie that makes it so much easier for them to transition.”

Valladares, who, at only 16, was part of the district champion varsity team this year, found that camaraderie to be the key to overcoming not just his social anxiety, but all the obstacles he faced.

“When you have a team, it’s not only playing with them, but making friends with them,and actually having real friends and real conversations,” Valladares said. “When I made mistakes, they just told me to forget about it, to continue practicing, and not to give up.”

Valladares says he has no regrets in his life and tries to learn from all his mistakes and hardships, a trait that helped him appreciate all he’s had to go through.

“It really changed me a lot because over there I was really dependent on my family and them doing everything for me. But then when I got here my dad started talking to me and he started telling me that one day I’m going to have to do my own stuff because I’m going to be old enough and

he won’t be able to tell me what to do,” Valladares said. “That changed me a lot. I started thinking about the future. It made me more responsible.”

As Valladares looks to the future—he will be attending Blinn College next year and has hopes of playing soccer or looking into mechanics—he reflects on what got him through his past.

“It’s going to be hard at first,” Valladares said. “But then when you find something that you really want to do, that’s going to change you.”

Salerno sees Valladares’ future in the same light.

“I wish him all the best,” Salerno said. “He will do great as long as he’s focused and has something to motivate him to push him forward. Soccer was that for him and he needs to find that thing that will push him and he’ll be fine.”

If that “something” seems unclear now, that’s not stopping Valladares.

“I’ll just keep working hard,” Valladares said, “and see what’s going to happen.”

friday, may 16, 2014

vicky & henry lopez

senior salutes

the roar | seniors | 5

Seniors bid a final farewell to freshman siblings

HEY SQUIRT,

So I know you don’t like it when I call you out, but seeing as I’m not going to be in school for long I figured I might as well. So my advice to you would be DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! This is the worst thing you could do because it will lead to only having two hours of sleep, since you have band practice in the mornings.

Also you’re really smart even if you don’t like showing it, so get in AP classes, but enjoy high school. Get involved even if you don’t want to. Don’t be in a hurry to leave high school, and enjoy it. Oh I didn’t mention your name, so Enrique Lopez (Henry for short) love you!

alex & caroline coopersmith

VICKY

DEAR MEHR,

You have grown so much in the past few years that we are at a point where I can truly call you my best friend. I mean of course you are, our names rhyme and apparently we look exactly the same. I am ecstatic about the fact that we were able to go to school together this year, and the memories we made are priceless.

Unfortunately, I won’t be here to lecture you about your friends and scold you when you make bad grades. So there are a few things I learned from high school that I want to share with you. Firstly, while working hard, you should still have a good time. Take out some time to hangout with your friends because it’s stress-relieving and just good for personal wellness. Also, do not procrastinate. Seriously.

DON’T. But instead of me lecturing you, I just want you to know that it has definitely been an honor to be you big sister. You have taught ME so much about life and being a good person. I’ve never met anyone as selfless as you, Mehr. Just keep in mind that I’ll still be in town, I’ll still love you, and I’ll always be here for you. Friends come and go, but I know that we will be best friends for life. Now have a great summer and start studying for the SAT ;) Lots of love,

SEHR

DEAR CAROLINE,

When I got my letter jacket at the end of junior year, I was the first person in our extended family to ever letter in anything (even though it was for speech and debate). It took you a month into your second semester of high school for you to letter in speech and debate. Not bad. High school is place for you to find what you like and want to do, as well as getting good grades. You’re pretty good at debate, stick with it; there might be a Coopersmith on the National finals stage, or getting A’s in AP math/science classes.

Either would be a first. I’m going to miss you next year; whether it is you talking to our cat like she is an actual human (she can’t understand English and baby talk btw) but also being supportive, caring and an all-around great little sister. Stay awesome, keep punning, continue to make me look stupid, and have a great rest of high school! Love ya,

ALEX

DEAR JONATHAN, I am so proud of your many accomplishments this past year as a freshman. Your humor and giving heart can light up a room. I will miss seeing you everyday next yeat, but no matter what, I’m always here! I love you little bro!

Love,

JESSICA

sehr & mehr khan

jessica & jonathan hamilton

6 | seniors | the roar

friday, may

the Roar surveyed 322 seniors to find out their plans for next year...

NOW THE WHOLE TEAM LOUISIANA

ARIZONA ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY James Gilmore

Mesa, AZ

Riverside, CA

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Stanford, CA

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Anna Talonova

Irvine, CA

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Arena Ali

Los Angeles, CA

E-Quantay Mason

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

Boulder, CO

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY Alex Coopersmith

C.J. Bridges Aliza Grant

Tito Selosse

Lafayette, LA

Washington, DC

FLORIDA

MASSACHUSSETTS AMHERST COLLEGE Rojas Oliva

Amherst, MA

Muthanna Abu-Odeh

MARYLAND Baltimore, MD

MICHIGAN MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

East Lansing, MI

Hector Gusman

MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

Starkville, MS

Austin Coats

Las Vegas, NV

OKLAHOMA Travis Hamilton

Stillwater, OK

Micah McNeill

AUGUSTANA COLLEGE

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

Toniyah Roberson

John Wortman

Norman, OK

PENNSYLVANIA

KANSAS UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Lang Perdue

Shilpa Saravanan

Lawrence, KS

Dominick Adams Yamilet Agbar Jack Allen Charles Allison LaTricia Amos Gunner Andrus Lizette Arellano Selen Ates Sara Barrington Oscar Beas Ke’oshi Blue Jose Bogran Spencer Bruegger Tyler Bruffett Jake Burchfield Chelsea Campbell

Jessica Canales Alyssa Castro Brandon Clipp Tierra Cole Jorge Contreras Taye Cooper Megan Corwin Hope Cory Cameron Countryman

Kendreisha Dickson

OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY

Rock Island, IL

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY BLINN COLLEGE

Boston, MA

Brianna McGillivray

ILLINOIS

Austin, TX

Daniel Stokes

Logan Reynolds

Jasmine Daniels

Gainesville, FL

Amber Rios

Samuel Raisor

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA

Meredith Spillane

Houston, TX

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

FLORIDA SOUTHERN COLLEGE

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

ART INSTITUTE OF HOUSTON AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

NEVADA Lakeland, FL

Abilene, TX

Stacia Roberts

Miranda Sledge

Dahlia Rohm

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY Colorado Springs, CO

Kathryn Unger

Samuel Miller

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

COLORADO Daniel Zivney

ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Baton Rouge, LA

Beth Ashley

MT. SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE

Shreya Shankar

LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

CALIFORNIA Kailey Soares

TEXAS

Philadelphia, PA

Whitney Dubec Kiersten Everett Chelsea Fails Seth Feagan Julian Flores Clayton Gage Marissa Garcia Emilia Gibbs Jonquil Ginn Valeria Godfrey Robert Gonzales Alison Gonzalez D’Kivontra Gray Ashton Green Haley Greer Judge Gwyn

Waco, TX

Bryan, TX

Jordan Hein

Michael Herndon

Samantha Hobbs David Holbrook Gaby Hollingsworth

Danielle Hood Mindy Hudspeth Alexis Hux Jeffrey Jett Matthew Jones Paige Kopetsky Hannah Lind Alyssa Michalsky Matt Miller Cierra Milligan Kathleen Monsivais Abigail Moore Grace Muenich Brisamor Munoz Ferdinand Navarro

Uyen Nguyen Shannon O’Donovan

Jasmine Padilla Ravina Patel Kayla Peterson Vyen Phuong Victoria Pope Sayde Quinones Alina Ramos Saul Ramos Charlotte Reynolds Vanessa Rodriguez Lorena Rodriguez Courtney Roubion Max Ruggiero Levi Sapo Kaitlynn Saxe Daniel Stagg Cade Thibodeaux Ana Torres Thi Tran Jose Tumax Tumax Alejandro Valdes

Derrick Valladares

Dakota Watson Vantaisha Webber Tyrik Wilder Jace Williams Matt Williams

Kellie Williamson Lauren Willis Jordan Wilson Rigoberto Yanez Tarvaris Young

HOWARD PAYNE UNIVERSITY

Brownwood, TX

Ladainian Gooden

KILGORE COLLEGE

Kilgore, TX

Kyla Drake

LAMAR UNIVERSITY

Beaumont, TX

Tracie Purnell

MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY Wichita Falls, TX Cheyenne Humphrey

NORTH LAKE COLLEGE

Irving, TX

Daniel Rastegar

SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY Huntsville, TX Garrett Barina Parker Baumann Ryan Bednarsky Joseph Fleeger Virginia Lopez

Katie Marek Colt Myers Taniel Williams Tyler Yendrey

SCHREINER UNIVERSITY Tevyan Eyestone

Kerrville, TX

SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Tori Carraway

Georgetown, TX

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Makayla Kallie Grace Pedraza

Randy Westmoreland

Jasmine Tate

RICE UNIVERSITY Sydney Garrett

Prairie View, TX

Nacogdoches, TX

TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY Houston, TX

Athaliah Grant Stan Kellen

Stephenville, TX

Rebecca Ragusa

the roar | seniors | 7

y 15, 2015

M HERE

everywhere you’ll find the class of 2015 next fall Kamai Williams Brodie Williams Alan Wortman

Neil Wu Su Jin Youn Kyle Zhu

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY Molli Greene Catherine McCarthy

Galveston, TX

Ryan O’Bannon

TEXAS BIBLE COLLEGE

Lufkin, TX

LaDarian Franklin

TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY Connor Dunmore

Seguin, TX

James Hodges III

TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY Kiyanna Robinson

Houston, TX

TEXAS STATE TECHNICAL COLLEGE Waco, TX Daniel Cuero

TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY Brett Harp Jonathan Lopez

San Marcos, TX

Myeisha McCalister Leland Shane

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY Julia Edrington Thomas Edrington

Lubbock, TX

Thomas Hawkins JulioVillalobos-Torres

Benjamin Creasy

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY Tucker Simms

Commerce, TX

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY Katrina Carroll

Corpus Christi, TX

Samuel Suh

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

College Station, TX

Sibba Al-Kahtani Ali-Zain Ali Hasanain Ali Joy Asad Lena Ayari Brook-lyn Barnett Savannah Barrera Luke Benden Ryan Bouse Sara Brown Jonathan Chang Jose Chavez Rachel Chin

Christi Corkran Antara Dattagupta

Dawson Deere Patrick Diaz Brady Eberle Diego Espina Bryce Florence Kyndall Foust Spencer Fredericks Jason Gade Evan Gan Riley Garner Lindsey Gore

Naomi McCauley Caleb McMilllian Max Miller Zachary Minckler Charles Morey Mackenzie Morgan Thomas Morgan Caleb O’Rear Ian Pierson Melissa Pittman Cristina Ramirez-Hernandez

Azra Razvi Nabhan Riaz Kaitlyn Romoser Aaron Ross Dylan Rudder Connor Schwartz Austin Sims Kayla Townsend Asmita Upreti John Voelker Karly Waguespack Colin Wells

San Antonio, TX

TYLER JUNIOR COLLEGE Stevie Little

Tyler, TX

Houston, TX

UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR Julian Dunmore

RossvienaCastellarParra

Matilde Castro Anisha Datta Mattie DeWitt Phillip Dusold Yuchen Gao Samira Islam-Mina Sung Hyun Kim Jihyo Kim Anchal Kumar

Austin, TX

Mishaal Lalani Sheridan Scholtz Savannah Troy Karna Venkatraj James Wu Lily Xiao Jianing Xie Kevin Yan Michael Yang Philip Yeager Emily Zhao

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS Evan Bendiksen Thomas Gray

Richardson, TX

Kyle Krusekopf Jared Lascurain

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS Derrick Dick Macie Morales

San Antonio, TX

Ben Thornton

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS Alejandra Fajardo

Tyler, TX

UTAH BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY Allyn Jasperson

Provo, UT

Monique Manley

Logan, UT

WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY Riley Quinn

South Ogden, UT

Rachel Reckling

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON Alvina Ali

Anik Banerjee

UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY

TRINITY UNIVERSITY Jacy Gray Autumn Green Reilly Haden Jessica Hafer Jessica Hamilton Monica Hanna Kayla Hanson Derek Henicke Ellen Hennings Carly Hicks Cisco Hurtado Meredith Jackson Kelly Karstadt Ali-Haider Kassam Karl Kehrberg III Sehr Khan Zach Kluver Pablo Leon Brandon Letendre Tom Lopez Morgan Love Marla Martinez Sophia Marvin

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

Belton, TX

Reagan Shafer

VIRGINIA THE COLLEGE OF WIlLIAM & MARY Matthew Cohen

Williamsburg, VA

WASHINGTON

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

Ryan Brauer Madison Brooks Phelan duPlessis

Betz Mayer

Denton, TX

Kent Klein Jax Saunders Toveria Taylor

Seattle, WA

WYOMING

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING

Diego Cruz-Vespa

Delaplaine Johansen

Arlington, TX

Laramie, WY

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS Mary Nelson

St. Andrews, UK

Jasmine Rodriguez

UNIVERSITY OF ZÜRICH Patric Bettati

Zürich, Switzerland

MILITARY Mamie Barnhardt Angel Cepeda Luis Gonzalez

Conner Lathan Mackenzie Snyder

MISSION Jerry Perry

Jeremy Rees

WORKFORCE Armando Banuelos Nick Bryant Daniel Fojtik

Jaylon Kallie Jesus Mauricio Jax Whitis

OTHER Jonathan Colbert Jaiden Harrison Victoria Huynh Kevin Liu Marcela Montes

Mary Morris Dante Reed Christopher Smith Tara Templin

8 | seniors | the roar

friday, may 15, 2015

the favorites of the

CLASS OF 2015 The Roar surveyed 322 seniors about their favorite parts of high school.

Here are the results:

Favorite year in high school?

Fresh sports bloggers provide life inspiration

11% Sophomore 6% freshman 14%

Men

als

d Jan

2048

SS

Favorite fads?

AS

Fahrenheit 451 1984

YA A

nd a e c i M Of

Seniors also voted on their favorite teachers and administrators.

Principal

AUSTIN COATS

Junior

Senior 69%

high Favoroitl ebook? scho

sports editor

Math

English

Aaron Hogan Gwen Elder Buddy Reed

Donna Jordan Monica Bozeman Julie Pye

Chauncey Lindner Ryan Goodwyn Stefano Salerno

Foreign Language

Science

Social Studies

Barton Dowdle Linda Bendiksen Peggy Cryan

Matt Young John Tollett Samuel Childers

Matt Warhol Bobbi Rodriguez Jason Pratt

I’m influenced by people I’ve never met.

If I ever do get the chance to meet them, it’d probably be real awkward ‘cause that’s just the way I am. My biggest role models are chiefly ballplayers like Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, and Jackie Robinson. However, recently, I’ve become influenced by two unorthodox characters: Spencer Hall and Jon Bois of SB Nation.

SB Nation is frickin’ awesome: a sports fan’s paradise on the World Wide Web. It has over three hundred blogs for professional and college teams all over the world, and each is different in its approach to the sports world, whether that’s through blog posts or Twitter feeds. It’s a legitimate news source that’s not held back by traditional journalistic beliefs, and that’s what makes it great. Traditional news sources do what they have to do stylistically to garner credibility so people will read their stuff, while SB Nation is chill and people read their stuff anyway. Sports are supposed to be fun, so SB Nation has fun.

And, really, as a whole, structured writing is pretty dumb. Everyone’s personal writing style should be integral in everything they record, just as they would say things a certain way while speaking. That, among other reasons, is why Mr. Lindner is my favorite teacher; he shrugged-off the eightsentence format we learned in freshman year and told us “as long as you have something smart to say, you’ll do well.” That’s cool.

Spencer Hall runs an SB Nation blog glorifying college football called “Every Day Should Be Saturday,” typically known by its acronym EDSBS. His blog isn’t about who scored the most touchdowns or who ran for the most yards, it just has fun with anyone who does something weird, dumb, and/or cool. All those stats and things play into it, sure, but that’s not where the fun comes from.

Fun comes from being a weirdo and making fun of kooky coaches like Indiana basketball’s Tom Crean, a man hated by a large group of Hoosier fans despite his success with the program, and going berserk on Twitter

during the most important sporting events of the season, like when ESPN2 started showing the “eSport” Heroes of the Storm.

Jon Bois is a man like nobody has ever known before. I can’t recommend just one piece he’s published because everything he’s written is mind-blowingly funny (like my brain feels real weird when I read his stuff), perfectly executed, and creative, leaving you thinking: how the heck did I not think of this? Probably ‘cause none of us are as smart as Jon. One of his main works that shows this is “Breaking Madden,” where Jon uses the customizable options within the game to achieve a feat and aggravate the game into doing something bizarre. He tweets like he’s four years old, but he’s a grown man, and I think that’s hilarious.

Many may say, “Austin, you’re an idiot, how can those dopes be your role models?”

Well, I’d like to be like those dopes. I’ve never played baseball, so I imagine that I’m not very good at it. Following half of my role models, therefore, seems like a dead end.

It just seems that sitting around and writing stuff to try to make people smile is the best option for me. People tell me I’m good at writing, and I hope they’re telling the truth. I don’t know if it will make people smile, but I’ll try real hard.

And you’re probably thinking, “L-O-L— you won’t make any money doing that.”

Maybe, but are you living life the right way if you value money over other peoples’ happiness? That seems selfish. I could be wrong.

I’ll try this. Maybe it won’t work. Maybe I’ll end up in a cardboard box. Maybe I’ll end up inventing a new clock that makes me a lot of money and the whole world happy; I don’t know. But Spencer and Jon made me do it.

This is a sample of my writing. Did it make you smile? Please let me know so I can try harder next time.

Austin will attend Mississippi State University this fall, majoring in sports management.

seniors | the roar | 9

friday, may 15, 2015

news editor

editor-in-chief

AARON ROSS

SHILPA SARAVANAN

Avid AC/DC fan lists worst songs ever Owner of shoes engages in sole-searching 1. Revolution 9 2. You Never Give Me Your Money 3. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 4. Dear Prudence 5. Strawberry Fields Forever 6. The End 7. Don’t Let Me Down 8. A Day In The Life 9. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) 10. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 11. Happiness Is A Warm Gun 12. All You Need Is Love 13. Get Back 14. Getting Better 15. Michelle 16. Girl 17. I’m Looking Through You 18. Ticket To Ride 19. I Am The Walrus 20. I’ve Got A Feeling 21. If I Needed Someone 22. Magical Mystery Tour 23. With a little help from my friends 24. She Loves You 25. Blackbird 26. Hello, Goodbye 27. Can’t Buy Me Love 28. Eleanor Rigby 29. Fixing A Hole 30. We Can Work It Out 31. Dig A Pony 32. Here Comes The Sun 33. Day Tripper 34. Come Together 35. I’m Only Sleeping 36. Let It Be 37. In My Life 38. Please Please Me 39. Across The Universe 40. A Hard Day’s Night 41. I Feel Fine 42. For You Blue 43. Good Morning Good Morning 44. One After 909 45. She’s Leaving Home 46. Back In The USSR

47. Helter Skelter 48. Do You Want To Know A Secret 49. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 50. Help!

51. Think For Yourself 52. What Goes On 53. P.S. I Love You 54. I’m A Loser 55. You Won’t See Me 56. Twist And Shout 57. Mother Nature’s Son 58. I Me Mine 59. Polythene Pam 60. Octopus’s Garden 61. I’ll Be Back 62. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer 63. Rocky Raccoon 64. There’s A Place 65. While My Guitar Gently Weeps 66. Taxman 67. The Long And Winding Road 68. You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) 69. I’m So Tired 70. I’ve Just Seen A Face 71. Two Of Us 72. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) 73. Another Girl 74. Her Majesty 75. And I Love Her 76. Hey Jude 77. Here, There, and Everywhere 78. I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party 79. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window [...]

196. Act Naturally 197. You Like Me Too Much 198. The Inner Light 199. Only A Northern Song 200. Matchbox 201. Bad Boy 202. Chains 203. Don’t Pass Me By 204. Dizzy Miss Lizzy Aaron will attend Texas A&M University this fall. He will major in international studies.

True story: I lost my sole. Witnesses can confirm. It happened gradually, over the course of a few hours—or perhaps a few years, depending on what you define to be “happening.” It was an old sole, fond of Austenian long walks, so this had been a long time coming. There was little pain or surprise: only a mild floating sensation with every step I took, as though I was falling into quicksand and just as quickly being lifted out. (Disclaimer: perhaps that’s not how quicksand actually feels. I only know about quicksand from “Cyberchase.”)

I didn’t realize for a while that my sole was slowly leaving my corporeal self, but at the moment when I finally found the source of the above-described sensation, everything seemed to converge: every step I’d ever taken, every breath I’d ever taken.

Briefly, I toyed with the idea of selling my sole. It wouldn’t have much market value— the value of these things tends to depreciate quickly. (That sole was well-made. It lasted me seven years.) Still, a sole’s a sole. It has a certain intrinsic worth.

Don’t get me wrong, there was no way I was going to enter into anything remotely Faustian. (Don’t tell a sole that I even considered it.) “Diabolical favors” are just not really my style—or my mythology, for that matter. I had a certain conception of good and evil at a young age, but they were always more two points on a sliding scale than two absolutes: the gods were good except when they were bickering with their spouses and each other, and the demons are less demons than just, you know, more often bad than good. They weren’t irredeemable, and the gods weren’t irreproachable. And I learned that soles are little bits of gods, too. So, it’s probably best not to sell them, especially if they leave you. What could possibly have prompted it to leave me, though?

Same group of texts (quoted in “Franny and Zooey,” if you, like me, haven’t read the Bhagavad Gita): my dad always quotes

the part that says,“You have the right to work, but only for the work’s sake. You have no right to the fruits of work.” It’s an entirely un-American attitude. I’ve honestly only ever worked for the fruits of work, and I’ve never seen anything wrong with it: of this I’m guilty. Who doesn’t love the fruits of work, especially when they’re actual fruits?

I’m not sure if there’s anything so wrong in being materialistic, or in avidly eating strawberries. Then again, maybe that’s why I lost my sole.

I’ve had the good fortune to have led a life marked by Phases of various lengths rather than sudden Incidents. The longest Phase by far was the Harry Potter one: for eight years, J.K. Rowling’s ideal of “brave and bold” the only reason I was ever not mousy in situations that called for a certain amount of fortitude. (I was confident I’d get my Hogwarts letter some time or another, and I wanted to be sure I was placed in the most awesome House.) I tried to remember if I’d experienced any sudden coldness during that particular excursion—that’d have been a sure sign of a Dementor, and don’t they suck out people’s soles in the most uncomfortable manner possible? It’s a wonder I’m still functioning. According to Dumbledore (whom I trust as much as any religious book in these matters), you can exist without your sole, “as long as your brain and heart are still working”—but it’s a cursed existence.

I didn’t, in the end, sell my sole. I put it in my garage, close enough to the door that no vehicle could run over it. Not that it’d do anything. You can only truly split your sole by—you know, go reread Harry Potter.

That said, I looked for my erstwhile sole recently, and I couldn’t find it. There’s a lost sole somewhere out there. As for my shoe, gods rest its soul.

Shilpa will attend the University of Pennsylvania this fall, majoring in linguistics and computer science.

10 | seniors | the roar

friday, may 15, 2015

assistant editor

SYDNEY GARRETT

managing editor

ROJAS OLIVA

Appreciation for teachers eternal

Civilization ends in more ways than one

High school is a little awful, and a little great also, and I don’t think I ever thanked the people who made my time here the latter. So here are some little things that I maybe forgot to say.

To Mr. Tollett, chemistry was a crazy part of my life. I’m not entirely sure how, even with terrifying labs and even more terrifying tests, you made chemistry fun for me. Actually, I take that back, I do know how. You care about every one of your students, whether or not they make good grades, whether or not they show up on time, and whether or not chemistry is their true calling. And you have shown me such compassion, in little moments that I will never forget.

I will never forget the first time that I left chemistry crying (although it happened more than once), and how later you called my dad to check in on me, or the time you emailed me to reassure me that one bad test grade wouldn’t ruin me, or how you helped me get a job in a real life organic chemistry lab, or the many times you told me how proud you were of me. Thanks for all the times that you brightened my day, even when school or angry lab partners were looming.

Dear Ms. Rodriguez, APUSH is a trip.

It’s the one class where, no matter how many A’s you’ve made before or how smart you think you are, you will struggle, at least a little bit. And that’s not a bad thing, to be knocked down a couple pegs. You didn’t baby us, at all. You taught us a college class and expected excellence, no matter what.

And you, more specifically, are one of the smartest people that I have ever met, truly. Every day that I came to your class, I had to remind myself how lucky I was to have a teacher that seemingly knew everything. I know that you could teach anywhere in the world, and the APUSH kiddos at Consol are so infinitely lucky to have had you.

What up Mr. Lindner! Three years later,

Recently, I’ve been finding peace in the idea of the collapse of civilization.

It might be the earth reaching its carrying capacity, the radicalization of the two largest religions toward hatred and intolerance, or any of the billions of people that ensure comfort for the few realizing they don’t have to buy into our culture. I imagine imprisoned drug dealers raised in the slums that rot for college kid’s highs teaming up with exploited immigrant nail salon workers (that’s a real and real sad thing) and taking the world by storm.

When our fairly ordinary Congressman uses literally explosive rhetoric on ‘peace through power’ and when the logic of mutually assured destruction keeps our world in balance, it’s really not that radical to think that in a few years we’ll all be wearing frocks and eating grasshoppers.

We seem to be reaching some kind of ends end in terms of our endless need for comfort, and the earth’s, and our fellow human’s capacity to provide it. I don’t know how or where it’s going to start but enough people are angry enough and globalization is going to make sure it’s not just Rome that burns. The downtrodden are coming.

I remember the first time an adult looked at me and asked what I though the best job I could be working in 20 years was. All the ones to follow also took a little breath before squealing that “IT DOESN’T EXIST YET HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.” Ugh. But the sentiment, some generality about how no one knows what the future has in store so you should prepare yourself for abstractions not specifics, seems solid.

And the solid seems really appealing right now because my little civilization is also going to be collapsing soon. I’ve had the same best friend for six years, loved the same girl for, let’s be honest, four years,

and I shudder to remember what I was like as a sophomore. I was a little pretentious and geeky, and I had a pixie cut. Lol. I cannot put into words the value of having had one teacher for so long. I’m not sure how I will function next year taking English classes without mandatory metal, Lindner’s Knowledge Emporium, and the giraffe table. (Quick question: I have sat at the giraffe table 16 out of 18 six weeks in your English class. Is that a coincidence?)

I’m really not sure what else to say to you, except thank you for reading my long and wordy essays (15 page thesis!), thanks for being our MOAS sponsor, thanks for dealing with me for three consecutive years, and thanks for being something constant throughout my crazy, wild time at Consol.

MADAME, je ne sais pas quoi d’écrire à vous, sauf dire merci beaucoup. Et maintenant, j’écrirai en anglais, pardonnezmoi. At the beginning of last year, I had no idea who you were. No one did. None of us had any idea that you would be so crazy influential in our lives. I’ve spent nearly every day with you over the past couple of years, and I’ve truly come to appreciate how hard that you work and how generally awesome you are.

Many of your students don’t realize how much work goes into teaching four entire levels of French, with multiple different classes, tons of projects, homework to grade, students to meet, but you do it effortlessly.

You are the epitome of grace and style for me, and I know that you will continue to truly slay at Symposium competitions and as a French teacher and Madame in general.

Thanks for making French IV so fun this year, and thanks for really caring about all of us. I don’t know how I’ll deal without you and the French IV gals next year, but I’ll really try. Don’t let Yanichka quit French, and also, WE’RE GOING TO FRANCE! Sydney will attend Rice University in Houston this fall, majoring in Biochemistry.

and had all sorts of friends who found me a lonely sad and already tired little boy— and thanks to them, I’m now just a little boy. And we’re all going different places after high school. There’s a real pain in my chest when I think about it. I have nothing new to add to this. It’s awful and we all know it and fellow seniors your feelings are real and valid and I’m sorry.

It’s funny to think that, for all our jort-wearing and liberal-youth posturing, we’ve still bought into the same culture our parents did. Our currency of value still involves ideas like careers and houses and lawns. These things still give us deep comfort, still seem like the answer to the disorder of life. As Riff Raff puts it, “The world isn’t made to be comfortable. Why you think a couple hundred years ago there was no AC and people dying at the age of 30 because there was no such thing as dentists and [stuff] like that? This world isn’t set up for comfort. People created that level, and I want as much comfort as possible.” But some disturbingly wellmanicured monster is slouching its way towards Bethlehem, and just a general look at how much just bad awful things we ignore shows Riff Raff ’s folly. How are we putting so much faith into an institution that seems doomed to collapse? BECAUSE IT’S HUMAN NATURE TO WANT TO FEEL SECURE HAHAHAHA. Ugh. Ok really, my entire point is that if the whole world can live in ignorance, so can I. I’m going to keep comparing leaving my friends to absurdities so I don’t have to think about it and just keep loving them and I don’t want to write a real column.

Rojas will attend Amherst College in Massachussetts this fall, where he hopes to unbleach his soul.

seniors | the roar

friday, may 15, 2015

opinions editor

ALEX COOPERSMITH

| 11

entertainment editor

ZACH KLUVER

Baseball as unpredictable as life

Experiences abroad important at home

Why do I support a losing baseball team that plays its home games 2,193 miles away from College Station, mostly between the hours of 9pm and midnight, that constantly makes me want to pull my hair out? When you put it like that, being a Mariners fan seems pretty stupid.

First I should probably explain why I am a fan of the Mariners. My first ever MLB game was in 2001 at Safeco Field in Seattle. I don’t really remember it, the Mariners played some team, I don’t know who won, but I remember watching Mariners rightfielder Ichiro Suzuki. I instantly became an Ichiro and Mariners fan sometime between national anthem and the seventh inning stretch. I’ve been to several more Mariners games since then, some in Seattle, but often on the road in places like Arlington, Houston, Tampa Bay, Baltimore and Kansas City. I’ve been a fan of Ichiro and the Mariners going into my 15th season, and it ain’t stopping anytime soon, even though the Mariners aren’t exactly the best.

But even when the Mariners are supposed to be good, they aren’t. Take their 2015 season. They were supposed to be very good, but so far have been erratic.

Very erratic. They swept the Rangers, then got swept by the Astros (who ironically got swept by the Rangers next). It doesn’t make sense. The losses are awful, but the wins - oh the wins - are justification for my fandom.

One thing that makes baseball unique is its 162-game season. In football every game matters. That is true, but also not true for baseball. You want to win every game, but you don’t expect that to ever happen.

The average baseball team wins between 40 and 60 percent of their baseball games. The worst baseball team in MLB history (1916 Philadelphia Athletics 36-117) still won 23.5% of their games. The best team (1906 Chicago Cubs 116-36) still lost 23.4% of their games. Losing isn’t fun, but even the worst team (like the 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013

When I was two, I moved from Oklahoma to Singapore. I have absolutely no memories of my life before we moved, so when I came back to the US in 2006, I was essentially going in blind. Over time, I was able to adapt to American life after I got over various culture shocks, but I never forgot the time I had spent in Singapore. So I thought I’d share a few things I learned about life as a whole from my experiences in Singapore.

The world is always bigger than it seems.

Each individual lives in his/her own house, in different cities, in different countries.

This limits the people you can meet, and one person’s view of the world can be totally different from another’s. When you’ve been through the daily grind of doing the same things over and over, it makes sense that the world can seem so small. But the fact of the matter is, there are so many things to do that even if someone spent their whole life traveling and trying out new things, they wouldn’t have seen more than half of the world. Although sometimes our monkeyspheres make us feel small, always bear in mind that there are other places to be and other activities to move onto, and you don’t need to be limited by your circumstances.

Culture influences everything. We like to think of ourselves as unique snowflakes.

But sometimes that is just not true. Culture permeates everything we do – from the clothes we wear to the temperature at which we prefer our drinks. Once someone has a large amount of international experience, this becomes clear. Everyone in China (and a lot of people in Singapore) drinks water hot, and sodas without ice. In the US, everyone drinks them cold, without even making the conscious decision, ‘I like cold drinks more than hot drinks.’ Little things like that, as inconsequential as they are, show how people never really think to try new things to see if they really do enjoy them in their current form. This realization makes me occasionally take a step back from hum-drum

Mariners) still won plenty of games. The Mariners can be awful, but are still fun to watch most of the time.

Additionally, a key aspect of baseball fandom is hope. Most hope is unrealistic, but every once in a while, the best casescenario occurs, and that is awesome. Take Mariners catcher Jesus Montero. He was one of the top hitting prospects in baseball, and the Mariners traded an amazing rookie pitcher, Michael Pineda, to the Yankees to get Montero’s right-handed home run bashing bat in the lineup. But sadly, he didn’t live up to the hype.

He was a worse baseball player for the Mariners than a prototype replacement-level player, which is extremely bad. He crashed and burned so spectacularly that he could have been a postgame fireworks show.

Montero also loved to eat and was overweight-not an ideal situation for your typical catcher. Things got so bad for Montero that he ended up charging into the stands during a game, throwing an ice cream sandwich at a Mariners scout who had sent said ice cream sandwich down to the dugout to taunt Montero. This spring training however, Montero showed up in the best shape of his life. He had lost almost 50 pounds, and when he ran, he no longer looked like a wobbling penguin.

Jesus Montero may never play another game for the Seattle Mariners. However, he might. So far, he has done everything needed to correct his past flaws. He has cleared the path for his talent to show again. Jesus Montero may still end up a bust, but I won’t count him out yet.

That’s why I love baseball. You have wins and losses, as well as the story of ballplayers, people who you will continually root for until they retire. The Mariners may not make the playoffs, or they might. But whatever happens, I will be there rooting for them.

This fall, Alex be majoring in political science at Georgetown University.

American life, and try to find things the way they really are, instead of relying on cultural constructs.

You can never rely on stereotypes. We all know the Asian stereotype of ‘really smart nerd’ or ‘human calculator’, and it’s pretty clear why. We live in a college town, with lots of educated immigrant parents, and most immigrants who came to the US did not come to twiddle their thumbs, but to be successful in a new society. But this stereotype does not hold up in Singapore. 75% of Singapore is made up of people of Chinese descent, and yet they aren’t all incredibly smart or hard-working. They fill average jobs like taxi drivers and store-owners, and aren’t all computer scientists and chemical engineers like some would expect them to be. When I first moved back to the US and first heard this generalization, my trust in stereotypes disappeared.

Freedom of speech is very important.

What we all take for granted in the US isn’t a reality in Singapore. Recently, a Singaporean teenager was arrested and charged for comparing the late founder of Singapore to Jesus in a negative way (because offending anyone’s religious sensibilities is illegal in Singapore). Singapore is renowned for being really strict about small things like littering, but freedom of speech is one of the few ways the people can talk back to the government.

There’s no value in shutting up people who don’t share the same beliefs as you, even if it is hurtful. And that’s why although Singapore is a beautiful place, and has some really cool people, I don’t think I could ever live there again. The looming threat of the authoritarian government is just too much.

So, I hope you, dear reader, spend some time in a foreign country. There are plenty of lessons to learn that are much harder to come by in your native country, and they are valuable lessons.

This fall, Zach be majoring in journalism at Texas A&M University.

bye