The Churchill Observer- Senior Section 2016 by Kelly Knarr

Rey Fiona Asbury Editor-in-Chief

Jar Jar Binks Arjun Swaminathan News Editor

Leia Organa Madison Hurr Features Editor

Jango Fett Jake Certner Sports Editor

Jabba the Hutt Michael Fox Editor-in-Chief

C3PO Isabel Dibble News Editor

Luke Skywalker Jonathan Greenzaid Online Editor-in-Chief

Han Solo Ross Tanenbaum Online News Editor

Anakin Skywalker Nathan Gertler Online Sports Editor

R2D2 Jasmine Baten Opinions Editor

Kylo Ren Peter Durand Social Media Manager

Yoda Kelly Knarr Adviser

Boba Fett Cristian Edwards Online Sports Editor

Chewbacca Ariel Levchenko Online Opinions Editor

Finn Tatiana Hewitt Senior Writer

The Churchill Observer Senior Section May 25, 2015

Senior Quotes Fiona Asbury- “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” -Yogi Berra Michael Fox- “Everybody dies, but not everybody lives.” -Drake Jonathan Greenzaid- “To rank the effort above the prize may be called love.”-Confucius Arjun Swaminathan- “I only quote philosophers.”-Arjun Swaminathan Isabel Dibble- “Maybe it’s sad that these are now memories. And maybe it’s not sad.” -Stephen Chbosky Jasmine Baten- “Though she be but little, she is fierce.” -Shakespeare Madison Hurr- “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” -Bill Nye Jake Certner- “If people aren’t laughing at your dreams, your dreams arent big enough.” -Bryce Harper Ross Tanenbaum- “60% of the time it works every time.” -Brian Fantana (Anchorman) Ariel Levchenko- “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger darling.” - Eames Cristian Edwards- “I know I’m gon’ get got, but I’m gon’ get mine more than I get got though.” -Marshawn Lynch Nathan Gertler- “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” -Michael Jordan Peter Durand- “Yeah, I think I’m going to quit track.”-Anonymous Tatiana Hewitt- “Your focus determines your reality.”- Qui-Gon-Jinn

The Churchill Observer Senior Section May 25, 2016

Rey Fights Fear of Missing Out by Logging Off By Rey My ideal Friday night involves me, my bed and a significant other: you guessed it, Netflix. I realize this sentence could very well be part of a cliché post in the Blank University Class of 2020 Facebook group, as you feebly try to convince your future peers that despite the countless pictures of you amidst red solo cups, you’re actually approachable, maybe self-deprecating and definitely roommate material. However, I’ve yet to post in any college Facebook group, and my social media presence is pretty much free of anything red and plastic. I’m not labeling myself a hermit. I do, on occasion, leave my house for reasons other than school, a sports practice, church or food. However, after a long week of tests, papers, projects and way too many people, I usually need some time to recharge, sometimes even a whole weekend. I know I’m not alone in this. Almost everyone has experienced a desire to skip a social outing and simply stay home, but in the midst of my Game of Thrones binge, I can’t help but feel as if I’m missing the high school experience. Now, 15 years ago, a teenager probably could’ve been perfectly content lounging around the house in sweats and paying no mind to the weekend activities of his or her peers. But the ad-

vent of social media, especially Snapchat, has led to trouble in my TempurPedic paradise. FOMO, or the Fear Of Missing Out, has transformed what should be a relaxing evening spent at home into regret. It’s a lot easier to enjoy Jim Halpert’s practical jokes or Tyrion Lannister’s sass when you’re not constantly being bombarded by Snapchat updates of how everyone else is spending their weekend. While other people might care what you ate for each meal, what song you jammed out to in the car and what quantity of alcohol you consumed in 48 hours, I simply do not. For networks intended to connect people, scrolling through social media on the weekends leaves me feeling far more disconnected and lonely than it should. Maybe your need to chronicle the events of your free time via Snapchat has absolutely nothing to do with a desire to make others feel inadequate. But on a Friday night, from my pillow covered perch, that’s how I feel. You’d think the solution would be simple; turn off my phone. I have no control over how people use social media, and if I have an issue with it, it’s my problem, not theirs. But this is easier said than done, and in fact, it took me about four years of high school to realize how effective it can be. As a generation, we are addicted

not only to our phones, but also to continuous updates of information. The notion of disconnecting completely and ignoring every post and status is an uncomfortable one. However, if you stop obsessively watching everything you are missing, you don’t realize you’re missing anything. And this doesn’t just function as a way to enhance your Netflix viewi n g experience, it works f o r a n y thing. I can’t count t h e

times my connection to my phone has compromised quality time with my family or friends. Experiences are much more fulfilling when you don’t spend your time following the updates of other’s lives, or updating others on your own. I’m not encouraging you to delete all social media accounts or feed your phone to the garbage disposal. However, if you want to embrace your high school experience, spend your time however you want and don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Only when your regrets taint your experiences is your FOMO actually valid. As my senior year winds down, I’ve resolved to get out of the house more in preparation for college. Maybe I’ll try some of the new restaurants, or I’ll finally go cliff-jumping at the Potomac River. Whatever it is, I’ll keep you updated…just kidding, I won’t.

Jabba’s Favorite Memory from the Field of Battle By Jabba the Hutt Throughout everything I have done since freshman year, there is only one event that I can say was my favorite memory of high school. That one thing happened to be Powderpuff. Before I go into detail about why Powderpuff is the single greatest event in the history of the planet, I’d like to give a shoutout to my Powderpuff co-cheerleaders, seniors Matthew Lipson, Nicholas Yazdani, Michael Hughes, Brandon Schumacher, Blake Weltmann, Neil Garg and Dariush Youssefiani and to our coaches/ choreographers, seniors Isabel Jordan, Raz Moayad and Annie Moshyedi. For those who are unaware, Powderpuff was initially created as a kickball game between the freshmen and sophomore girls and a football game between the junior and senior girls. However, what everyone looks forward to more than the actual game is the halftime performance by the Boms (boy Poms). Nothing in the world can be better than watching eight senior boys dancing to Drake in crop tops and short shorts. By the way, I’d like also give a shout out to senior class administrator Brandi Richardson, Class of 2016 sponsor Jennifer Oristian and Principal Joan Benz for allowing us to do the dance in front of the audience at halftime (sorry). Powderpuff isn’t just a game; it’s a lifestyle. It would be an understatement to say that our team

of dancers and coaches put a lot of effort into the halftime show this year. We spent everyday at lunch, and sometimes after school, rehearsing the five-minute dance in the dance studio. Blood,

sweat and tears were put into this event, and it surely paid off in the end. One key component of Powderpuff was making sure that we looked as good as we danced. Now this would be a nearly impossible feat, but our black crop tops with our nicknames on the back and our very precisely rolled up short shorts did the trick. O n t h e d a y of the game, w e d i d o u r final rehearsals and got pumped up for the performance. The CD w a s ready, o u r outfits were

with us, and all we had left to do was perform. Once halftime began, we marched in a perfectly straight line to midfield of the CHS football field. Then, it began. In what was referred to as “an exquisite array of beauty,” our performance clearly dominanted the juniors’ mediocre performance. But it didn’t matter who won or lost, even though we did win. What mattered was that Powderpuff was my favorite experience in high school. I’m not the only one who thinks this way. I know for a fact that every man who embarrassed himself in front of the entire Powderpuff audience felt 10 years younger. Not only is this entertaining for the guys, but it’s also amazing for the players, parents and students who came to watch the halftime show. Taking numerous pictures and recording tons of videos, the crowd couldn’t get enough of the dancers. Sure, the game was fun to watch, but the real action was in between the second and third quarter when the real competition began. Powderpuff was such an amazing time for me, whether I was practicing with the boys in the dance studio, or out on the football field showing off my dance moves. Powderpuff was a high school memory that will live on with me forever, and I am proud to be a part of the Class of 2016 Powderpuff squad.

The Churchill Observer Senior Section May 25, 2016

Luke Reflects on his High School Transformation Through Time and Space By Luke Skywalker I came into high school with two goals: get good grades and get into a good college. As a freshman these goals consumed me. School was strictly business. In the classroom I never said a peep to my friends or classmates. My mission was set in stone. I was a competitive kid who just wanted to be the best, and be smarter than everyone else. However, outside of school I was different. I had a weird, social side. I made strange noises with my friends, said strange jokes, goofed around. Outside of school I was the dumbest smart guy in the land. It’s

like the brains I used in the classroom were gone in the real world. I suck at directions; I have three percent common sense, I laugh at every joke even if it’s not funny. This side of me is the side I have fun with. T h e thing is, school became too serious, like a nine-tofive day job. Everything was about memorizing

information with little understanding of the meaning behind it. What is trickle down economics? What is L’hopitals rule? What is the powerhouse of the cell? It wasn’t until junior year that I began to look deeper into the information. I believe this was because I found my passion for biology. I was obsessed with how every part of the human body works together like a factory to produce life. This passion helped me understand that

school isn't about getting into a good college; it’s about finding out what you love. The world opened up to me. Instead of asking what, I started asking how and why. School became less of a business and more of a hobby. In the classroom, I started bringing out my social side. School became more enjoyable because I wanted to understand and because I wasn’t so competitive. My peers around me weren’t my enemies, but my companions. They are people there to help me and learn from. It’s imperative to learn to enjoy the process. What this means is that yes, school can be a pain, but you have to learn to love that pain because everyone else is going through the same thing. Love what you hate for then there will be nothing to hate anymore.

Chewy Promises He Won’t Rip Your Arms Off

By Chewbacca

RHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGH Just once, I promise. As a person who has finished high school and is going on to college, I’m expected to give some sort of advice on how to live through high school, my tips and tricks, some sort of magical truth that will provide a secret path to navigate the treacherous hallways of CHS. Honestly I have no idea how to do that. There is no secret path or magical truth. There are no sublime words of wisdom that I can offer you. Originally I was going to write about how you really shouldn’t care about high school because it doesn’t matter at all — it’s mostly a worthless waste of time that forces you to get up way too early to waste seven hours learning entry-level material that you’re going to have to re-learn anyway once you get into college, when it turns out that you weren’t really taught anything at all in the first place. That’s what I was going to say, albeit in a more fleshed-out, eloquent manner. But you know what? I think I just about summed it up there, so I’m going to instead talk about something completely different. High school and college are absolutely horrendous places when it comes to groupthink. They’re just about the worst hives of people mindlessly agreeing with one another, a sort of echo chamber where only the correct opinions are allowed to be voiced uncriticized and acted upon. I’d wager that some of the more conservative or classically liberal-minded individuals amongst those reading right now have experienced at least one instance of ostracization based on something politically incorrect or not conforming to herd mentality. So, here’s the word of...not wisdom,

but rather opinion. This is an opinion. Blatantly subjective, freely offered, carrying with it not even the slightest hint of universal truth. Rather, it’s just a worldview that I’ve developed over the past four years. Now, anyone who knew me in middle school or elementary school could tell you right now that if you think I’m bad now, I was much worse when I was younger. I was headstrong (still am), argumentative (also still am), e m o t i o n a l (really, what’s

changed?) and unwilling to listen to anyone else when it came to anything (oh, there’s what’s changed). The problem I see with people nowadays is that they can be mature, intelligent, fully capable of logic and reason...but also whiny, annoying, mecentric and totally and utterly incapable of listening to anything that doesn’t conform to their personal biases. Did that sound a bit harsh? Did you perhaps just have an indignant thought leap into your head screaming, “That’s not me, how dare he talk about me like that?” Yeah buddy, consider why you just had that thought. Why did you, when I mentioned some of the worst qualities ascribed to millennials by the old Baby Boomers, think I was talking

about you? Humans love making ingroups and outgroups. Whether here or in college, you’re going to have a group of people try and get you to join their cause by telling you that they’re the angels and everyone else is at best uninformed and at w o r s t flat-out m a levolent. They’re going to try and radicalize you, try to make you act according to the will of their collective, usually against some other group that they deem to be the biggest problem facing the world. It’s important that you don’t let them. Don’t get me wrong--there’s n o t h i n g w r o n g w i t h believing in s o m e thing, supporting a cause and joining a movement. There’s a problem with doing it spontaneously, about being swayed with emotional, non-fact

based rhetoric designed to hit you in the gut and get you to do something off of the spur of the moment, preferably without you fact-checking what’s being said. No matter the ideology to which you subscribe, this is going to happen to you. Whether it’s feminism, libertarianism, socialism or any other ism, they’re going to try and radicalize you and get you to act the way the ideology demands. And you’re going to want to. It’s nice to be in an ingroup; it’s nice to have a tribe, a herd. As fundamentally pack animals, we love the little divisions that put us in a neat little group with a bunch of like-minded individuals. You’re going to want to feed your biases, you’re going to react aggressively to anyone who doesn’t agree with you because you’re going to be Iron Man and you’ll consider everyone else Captain America--they’re wrong, and they think they’re right, and that makes them dangerous. Don’t feed your biases. Don’t get stuck in a small group of people parroting the same idea. Broaden your scopes; don’t let yourself get bullied or cajoled into something you don’t agree with. Always be ready to change your opinion, and always be ready to defend your opinion. Be like water, not like ice—never be rigid or brittle. Rather, be fluid, flexible, and forceful. Be like the hurricane whose eye is perfect calm and quiet, and let every emotional, passionate thought and possible action pass through that calm center before it gets acted upon. Don’t worry, you’ll figure this all out. It’s not that complicated. Most of us are just flying by the seat of our pants anyway. The reason we succeed isn’t because we have a plan, it’s because we’re capable of planning. The greatest, most benevolent action, after all, is necessary inaction.

The Churchill Observer Senior Section May 25, 2016

Jar Jar is Willing to Battle for a New Republic By Jar Jar Binks

Before I begin, I would like to clarify that I am not directing criticism at specific individuals. Rather, this is simply an overall reflection on Churchill and a student culture that lacks school spirit, as well as a suggestion for how to resolve this problem. Throughout these past four years, I’ve often felt that there is a noticeable lack of administrative presence around the school as well as a tendency for teachers to remain at their desks for the large majority of the day, even when there are no students who require their help. This reduces overall interaction between adults and students, which hinders the latter’s ability to form beneficial relationships with the faculty that would allow them to gain a greater appreciation for their school and result in a heightened sense of pride. Meanwhile, it’s also difficult to have pride in your school when a few of your “spirited” peers engage in actions like organizing a “rich-out” for a sporting event. Frankly, it was embarrassing and distasteful on a number of levels. Rhetorically speaking, how many of these students actually earned the money that they chose to boast about? Instead of being grateful for their upbringing and socioeconomic status, they decided to flaunt their wealth--an insensitive, crass action that insults those who are nowhere near as fortunate. It’s difficult to earn respect from classmates and expect them to unite their sup-

port with you if you participate in such a contemptible display. Also, this serves a perfect example as to why other schools think so poorly of CHS. In general, the apathy of the student populace can also be attributed to a disconnect or lack of solidarity among the various cliques that are evident within each grade. Although it may not be intended, there is a clear inability of certain sets of individuals to fraternize with one another, which reduces the bonding experiences crucial

for one to enjoy the school e n vironment as a

whole. I’ve personally felt the impact of this social structure. Often, I’ve found myself drifting from group to group, friends with each set of people on a superficial level but little more than acquaintances in reality. With regards to administration and faculty, the task is simple: engage more directly with students. Instead of spending all day in the offices and the classrooms, take just a little more time to walk around the school and interact with more students in order to foster those im-

portant relationships that can only improve students’ outlooks on their surroundings. There’s only one specific adult who already seems to make this effort, and having others join him would go a long way towards increasing this important impact. To students, I strongly suggest avoiding poor spirit-building ideas such as a “rich-out” and thinking more carefully about original ways to show support. Perhaps hype videos or fan signs would be better. Also, I offer a simple solution that you have likely heard before but have chosen to ignore: talk more to people who you usually don’t speak to, invite different people to hangouts and make new friends. By stepping out of this comfort zone, you form those bonds that will allow more people to enjoy their school experience and develop a higher esteem for their environment. It’s unfortunate that I am left with this lasting impression regarding CHS. I’ve worked very hard to enjoy this school through my participation in a variety of awesome clubs (do Model UN!) and struggles through difficult courses (take AP Chemistry!), and despite the fact that I will be heading to an amazing top-10 university this fall, I feel somewhat unsatisfied with my experience. I strongly believe the school’s lack of pride is one of the many contributing factors to this perception. However, I am sure that if both students and administration work towards carrying out the straightforward solutions I have proposed, this specific problem will be rectified in the near future and CHS will become a place of unity once more.

R2’s Advice: Kick Back, Relax and Just Roam By R2D2

Beep boop. Beep beep *whirrrrrr* boop! In other words, go on an adventure. Yes, it’s intimidating, yes it’s scary. It’s quite possibly more than a bit dangerous. But do it anyway. Take it from a droid who’s seen more than its fair share of the galaxy—it can be a fabulous place to be, but it’s up to you to hop onto a ship and explore. The point here is to push yourself beyond your normal hum-drum day-to-day (ahem, C3PO), and learn something new about the galaxy, about yourself. The mission and intent isn’t that you shouldn’t be yourself. Not by any means. In fact, love yourself! Stars knows it took a while to learn to love my short, shiny build, but I’d say it’s come in handy more than a few times. Oh, dear, rambling again. This only happens when C3-PO isn’t around to ramble instead. But we were talking about being both yourself but not being yourself. Pushing yourself to try new things and open your mind isn’t necessarily going to make you a different person. It’s just growing into a better version of yourself. Think of it as getting updated circuitry, or polishing up or awakening the Force within you. Yes, yes. How unbearably cliché. Some days, I think I sound far too much like an overly wise Jedi. And we really can’t have that—so far it hasn’t quite worked out well for any of them. But back to the point. Adventures can be anything, so long as it’s new. For starters, I’d suggest breaking and entering into enemy droid factories, saving your friends from a slow, crushing death, or embarking on an entirely new chapter of your life without having it all

planned out (ahem, Luke). I’ve heard in this particular star system, academics and character-laden lives have a bit of a tense relationship. Not to worry—not all adventures require such risk. But consider taking a few chances. Instead of valuing your school course choices by how intelligent they make you seem or how much credit they give you, choose one that interests you. Better yet, choose one that doesn’t! You may like it, and then WHOOP mission accomplished: new thing about self learned! Or you may hate it, and that’s both a lesson and a wonderful story to tell on long trips between star systems. Or perhaps your time in school is too precious to play with. Understandable—for all of the supposed peace and tranquility of the Force, the younglings at the Jedi Academy always seemed to be stressed about everything as well. But perhaps go on small adventures in different ways. I hear this planet has unique foods like pizza and ice cream. Luke told me that people can choose different toppings and such for both, but Han grumps that people will always choose the same things. To that, I say, try

something different! Yes, be a true rebel and try getting anchovies, or get mocha pistachio instead of the usual vanilla. To be honest, I have no firsthand knowledge of any of these; I prefer some zesty electrical current myself. Or go out with your friends and do something impossible. Please be safe and somewhat sensible, but really, go on an adventure with those you care about, whether it be an overly polite friend or your motley crew of a squad. Expand everyone’s boundaries and look beyond the single setting sun in the horizon. Worried about getting scuffed? I have a friend who does that all the time. There will be times that those adventures don’t work out, that the odds you didn’t want to hear were in fact, too highly stacked against you. I mean, I’ve done some pretty outlandish things in my time, gone on more than a few daring escapades, and there have been a few frayed wires and shorted circuits. But it’s been entirely worth it! Either way, we learn. That learning could be about you, others or the world around you. So take the chance and go on a journey. Oh, no. I’m spouting philosophical Jedi again. Ah, well. There must be some truth to it. I mean, after all of my wild ventures and strange exploits, I’ve become the droid I was looking for.

Alabama

University of Alabama Ryan Sorkin

Arizona

Arizona State University Christopher Barber Adam Kass Collin Schmitz Michael Serfaty Northern Arizona University Nathaniel Maane University of Arizona Emily Lundin

California

Loyola Marymount University Kathryn Wright Pepperdine University Evani Seested San Diego State University Cameron Ozatalar Stanford University Isabel Dibble Bradley Lawrence Madison Hurr Kevin Wang University of California, Santa Cruz Max Lennon University of California, Berkeley Michael Yazdani University of California, Irvine Zenyu Chang University of California, Los Angeles Andrea Mejia-Madriz Angela Pu University of California, San Diego Joshua Freilich Gerald Hou University of California, Santa Barbara Michelle Su University of Southern California Nicholas Yazdani Eli Promisel Dylan Cohen

Colorado

Colorado College Alicia Bourelly Colorado University, Boulder Hannah Hansen Jacob Storch

Connecticut

Trinity College Austin LaBorwit Wesleyan University Nicole Brodkowitz Griffin Godsick Yale University Fiona Asbury Anthony Ratinov

Delaware

University of Delaware Rachel Rosenberg Colin Smyth

Florida

Florida Gulf Coast University Charles Butler Florida Institute of Technology Jordan Epstein Florida State University Stefanie Baarman

Athena Lewis Lynn University Charles Reges University of Central Florida Anna Votaw University of Florida, Gainesville Davies Gage Sean Coleman University of Miami Sarah Franceski Valencia College Matthew Morton

Georgia

Emory University Lauren Mackie Jennifer Sheck Jacqueline Rubin Savannah College of Art and Design Michele Gelling Spelman College Kynedi Gray University of Georgia Andrew Reyes

Illinois

Loyola University Aidan Verbeek Northwestern University Colin Drexler Brandon Lieuw Lexi Schiff

Indiana

Indiana University Samuel Beloff Carly Bergman Andrew Dubin Aashay Joshi Blake Weltmann Justin Kline William Waller Purdue University Ethan Liu Dishawn Thiran

Kentucky

University of the Cumberlands Ashley Simpson-Gumobao

Louisiana

Louisiana State University Cameron Jones Tulane University Madeleine Jacobson Michael Lavine Juli Malacane Skylar Schaumberg Andrew Zuckerman

Maryland/D.C.

Bowie State Sydnie Taylor Frostburg State University Eshani Avasthi Mark Lemus Hood College Jillian Tyson Tahliya Lewis Howard Community College Gabriel Solomon Johns Hopkins University Kennedy Gray Dorothy Hu Rodrigo Lamas L’Academie de Cuisine Culinary School Jamie Gelb Montgomery College Gabriel Arias Ziad Ayyub Adam Blitzstein Samuel Cunniff

Miles Denicoff Kyle Eckhardt Henry Elowitch Bahram Esmalian Samuela Fotso Tyler Godbey Tadashi Kino Isaiah Lobaak Matthew Lopez Olivia McAree Daniella Mutai Rachel Papirmeister William Pope Zaid Somji Si Young Sung Dariana Urbina Thomas Winkert William Cousins Omar Farooqi Daniel Latifzadeh Miguel Lazo Mount St. Mary’s University Youngwoo Nam Caleb Mbeng Saint Mary’s College of Maryland Jason Arndt Griffin Bentzel Elizabeth Humphries Valerie Weitz Salisbury University Xiomara Castro Matthew Longshore Jake Wheatley Towson University Mariam Carlon Sara Fink McKenna Graham Tatiana Hewitt Kayla Mazer Meal Miglani Margaret Nardi Ryan Schechter Jacob Sims Lindsey Tait Austin Tuwiner Jenna Khandaria University of Maryland, Baltimore County Shervin Ahadapour Warren Armstrong Natasha Ashtiani Kristina Atansoff Benjamin Eisner Samuel Finke Elisabeth Kan Andrew Knox Nazanin Rezvani Aishwarya Sastry Rebecca Selvaraj University of Maryland, College Park Isa Ahmed Daniel Aivazov Darya Aliakbar Berke Arik Domenica Avellan-Jaramillo Brandon Bagheri Hrishikesh Balaji Jacob Balfour Raymond Bao Gabrielle Bate Jasmine Baten Lucia Bedewi Nathaniel Berg Max Bloomfield Juan Jose Bravo-Romo Justin Bustamante Jason Bustamante Natalia Camp-Nunez Tiffany Cao Jacob Certner Michelle Chan Rita Chen Christine Cho Jacob Cooper Gina Dehdasty Abhiksha Desai Zachary Eisner Bezawit Esayas Giancarlo Estrada Noah Fogelson Andrew Footer Adamandia Frantzis Neil Garg Sophia Giavotto Alexander Goldstein Jacob Grant Charles Grody Victoria Haas Pierina Hernandez-Luperdi Christopher Higgins Katherin Hillman Kyle Ho

Charles Horton Spencer Ihm Shon Kaganovich Katherine Karayianis Yasuo Katagiri Megan Kee Jameelah Khadar Megan Khan Maya Kohli Dan Kossoy Jimin Kwan Gilbert Lau Nathan LeBauer Jonathon Lee Ariel Levchenko Ruoping Li Leonard Liu Emma Margolis Janaya Modi Sahara Mokhtari Chandan Panguluri Victoria Panjikidze Nitul Purohit Namrita Perincherry Harish Ram Kelsey Ridge Sebastian Rink Del Vecchio Marcos Rojas Maiu Romano-Verthelyi Carly Rosenfeld Aditya Sabu Shayan Sadegh Stephanie Safdie Daniel Schleckser Brandon Schumacher Dylan Shevchuk Daniel Silver Elliott Sloate Craig Snow Ayda Soltanian Tida Sonetirot Justin Stackman Smantha Strauss Lucky Sun Weiling Tan Ross Tanenbaum Preston Tong Maria Toro Tarlan Vatan Josiah Wedgewood Mitchell Welter Jonathon Wilson Kendall Wong Michael Yan Austin Yang Rachel Yi Eileen Zhi Jaclyn Zidar Frances Zozobrado University of Maryland, Eastern Shore Melvin Cooper III

14 Massachusetts

Boston College Jeffrey Li Kehl Markley Nicole Menkart Boston University Bayle Margolis Rajen Modi Lilian Tower Clark University Andrew Kurlantzick Emerson College Nicklas Hinsch Raz Moayed Northeastern University Isabella Tan Tufts University Natalie Hwang Wellesley College Jessica Dibble

Michigan

Eastern Michigan University Gabriella Ritter Michigan State University Dana Gilbertson Adam Johnson University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Emily Birnbaum Anand Chandresekhar Anjali Chatterjee Alex Chen Mark Dager John Dorsey Michael Fox Zoe Glick Ryan Gold Benjamin Hwang Madison Kanstoroom Mara Kaplan Nina Kothari David Leventhal Christopher Monteferrante Sarah Renberg Augustin Scriven Josefina Scriven Katherine Vargo University of Michigan, Dearborn Vivien Adams

Missouri

University of Missouri, Columbia Duncan McCracking Washington University in St. Louis Ginger Burrows Benjamin Hartmann Erika Matthews Kathryn Roop Xiangliang Sui

Mississippi

University of Mississippi Sebastian Paez Phillip Spencer

A Co D M D St Jo Ju El N Br M Et Jo Em H Em Sh K U H M Je Ca Bi La U th Se

D A H M

P M C R X R A

Seniors completed surveys in their

33 26 Miami University of Ohio Erin Connolly Lindsey Carretero Abigail Chun Nicholas Faerber Lillian Kosova Chloe Levy Joshua Norwitz Jason Shefferman The Ohio State University Justin Baker Rebecca Bartko Dana Lotwin Taylor Wilkinson The College of Wooster Emily Bernstein

North Carolina

Appalachian State University orinna Mokotoff Davidson College Madeleine Spivack Duke University tephanie Horng onathan Schwartzman ulia Wang lon University Nicole Andrews rittney Burwell Melissa Horowitz than Kaufmann oelle Perlin mma Siritzky High Point University mily Snider haw University Kylah Charles University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Mitchell Bloch essica Ding aroline Gladd iyi Hu ancelot Won University of North Carolina School of he Arts ebastian Freije-Urdaneta

New Hampshire

Dartmouth College Alexandra Conway Hannah Hua Meredith Srour

New Jersey

Princeton University Michael Chen Couty Fall Rachel Silverman Xiaoting Sun Rutgers University Adam Gray

New York

Adelphi University Evan Heger Columbia University Hannah Wang Cornell University Emily Chow Juliana Comer Shanwen Hu Dana Kost Benjamin Magin Ogbonnaya Ngwu Sharanya Suresh Glenna Zhang Fashion Institute of Technology Briana Martin New York University Nathan Gertler Christian Haryanto Siheng He Gabrielle Henoch Rachel Stackhouse Brandon Roberts Parsons School of Design, The New School Sophia Kim Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Allyson Tan Rochester Institute of Technology Madison Farrand Stony Brook University Angelo Gabriel State University of New York, Binghamton University Jessica Kaplan Syracuse University Cristian Edwards Matthew Lukin Anish Pradhan Kai Ruskin The Juilliard School Leo Simon

Ohio

Case Western Reserve University Peter Durand Daniel Kessler Matthew Stewart Denison University Adam Albert Kent State University Lily Pham Kenyon College Selam Bezuneh Renee Wolf

r English class. Great effort was made to ensure accuracy.

Utah

South Carolina

Military

U.S. Air Force Connor Farney U.S. Navy Princess Jegbadai

Gap Year/Working

Camila Crema Trevor Dixon Callen Frillman Chase Frillman Elizabeth Peterson Philip Satin William Salinas Yonaton Subin

Vermont

Washington

Western Washington University John Causey

Abroad

Canada McGill University Elanore Fuller Lily Payton University of British Columbia Natalie Judkins Israel Tel Aviv University Sydney Schneider

Virginia

University of Vermont Jacob Derby

Rhode Island

College of Charleston Andrew Beauregard Rachel Pluznik Brynn Shemer University of South Carolina Jacob Bochner Andre Penzes

Texas

College of William and Mary Sarah Bomfim George Mason University Celine Chan Florence Cheng Arjun Rajan Liberty University Leonardo Munoz Longwood University Brady Hinton Marymount University Khushana Chaudhri Esraa Hassan University of Mary Washington Adam Newburger University of Richmond Catherine Franceski Griffin Myers University of Virginia Madison Ballman Michael Hughes Lily Lin Annie Moshyedi Wolf Schaap

West Virginia

Bethany College Epiphany Charles Marshall University Michael Levenson West Virginia University Brett Miller

Brigham Young University Ryan Richards

Brown University Kyra Foose

University of Texas, Austin Abigail Kash

Pennsylvania

Allegheny College Adele Gilman Bryn Mawr College Rosmarie Fettig Carnegie Mellon University Samantha Locraft Megan Roche Lehigh University Jessica Fitter Pennsylvania State University Paul Armstrong Harini Babu Charlene Binen Maya Demby Elaina Faerber Baba Haidara Sepehr Hoghooghi Shivram Iyer Jiale Jiang Matthew Lipson Michael Lloyd Jessica Maffeo Sofia Martinez Paul Mengucci Skye Mixon Ijeoma Onu-Chiedo Jennifer Robinson Paula Rueda Zhachary Ruvo Katherine Solomon John Tran-Kiem Robert Morris University Sierra Cheri Slippery Rock University Alexandre Zarynow Temple University Emilie Butchko Jacob Goldberg Natalie Wilson University of Pennsylvania Evangeline Chen Hannah Cho Arjun Swaminathan Sydney Veator University of Pittsburgh Audrey Case Lucy Dong Bethany Dubick Hailey Roh Samir Sherlekar University of the Arts McKayla Johnson Villanova University Brighid Dunn Annabelle Humiston Dariush Youssefiani

University of Wisconsin- Madison Lauren Greenberg Isabel Jordan Hannah Lindsey Danielle Marks Janna Rudolph Mengizem Tizale

Tennessee

University of Tennessee Barbara Himelfarb Vanderbilt University Corinna Lin Samuel Lin Mark Weinstein

Wisconsin

Washington, D.C. American University Charin Khan Lily Pourahmad Camellia Hedayat George Washington University Elya Nassaj Monica Oves Julie Thomasian Kimia Zarabian Georgetown University Alexander Chang Mehar Cheema Jonathan Greenzaid Stephanie Prussick Elaina Teramoto Jack Wathieu

Undecided/Unknown

Ovie Agege Dean Atansoff Luqman Bathaiian Lillian Bauer Lena Belvin Sasha Bloch Tania Bonilla-Paul Nathan Bretscher Karen Briones Natalie Chan Hong Ming Chen William Chen William Chen Kevin Claros Kahdeem Clemons Shaine Cohen Camron Cramer Daniella Cruz Jessie Curtis Diana Grant Daniel Gunawan Welsley Hafner-Eaton Madelyn Higgins Brandon Holm Smantha Jacobowitz Matthew Juste Neha Kaul Jonathon Lasdun Nancy McNelly

Melody Mehdizadeh Kohar Meliksetian Julia Miller Ryan Monami Joseph Alexander Monasterial Patrick Muscarella Matthew Olego Thomas OliveraSala Eniola Oniya Emily Pung Iman Qureshi George Resta IV Amira Rosen Jenis Shahi Alante Smith Matthew Speigelman Samantha Sprague Laura Stohlman Meghan Thomas Sarah Vollweiler Daniel White Eden Williams Benjamin Wilson Martin Yau

The Churchill Observer Senior Section May 25, 2016

Leia Stresses the Importance of Depth over Breadth By Princess Leia

So the task at hand is to write a culminating piece chronicling my high school experience. And though it was just a mere four years, it was during those years when I transformed from a callow middle schooler to a more seasoned adult, ready to be ejected into the crazy world outside of this small town and the comfort and familiarity that comes with it. I entered high school trying to find myself and leaving it, I still feel a bit lost, but also appeased because I learned that my identity isn’t really anywhere to be found--it’s up to me to create. High school has brought me innumerable experiences and memories, all of which I cannot possibly touch on. So for this piece, I am going to focus on my constant struggle to find equilibrium between breadth and depth with regards to both friendships and academics. Going into ninth grade, I was told that I’d find my niche somewhere along the way. I never did. I drifted from group to group, but never stayed in one place for long. I never felt like I truly belonged somewhere. I kept this up throughout my four years at CHS, vowing to myself to get to know as many people as possible. This way, I gained a plethora of new perspectives, but with this breadth came lack of depth. I befriended people from all different slices of the school, no matter what grade, group or interest. This allowed me to become acquaintances with hundreds of different people and experience all different types of friendships. My propensity to constantly be interested in new people and passions made my life extremely susceptible to change. I tried my best to steer clear of drama and drifted around while everyone else seemed to have a set group of friends. Like this, I gave up the opportunity to form deeper, more lasting relationships. I seemed to be spending each weekend with a different set of people. I conformed to how they acted, creating different facades of myself without really understanding who I was. I felt like I became an enigma to myself, hard to define. I’ve had episodes where I was obsessed with art, EDM concerts, sports, schoolwork, parties, playing music, being a “nerd,” being “cool,” hanging out with older kids or constantly breaking my curfew. I seemed to change as my friends came and went.

Looking back, I don’t regret it. Branching out to many different people has helped me grow out of my shell, and I’m very comfortable approaching new people now. However, I learned that people’s paths intersect, but they also almost always diverge. I realized that I needed to devote more of my time looking inward and improving myself and less time trying to maintain a large network of acquaintances. So starting senior year, I started to focus less energy on ephemeral relationships and more on self-discovery. I spent a lot more time in my own mind: writing 60,000 words worth of college essay drafts helped me differentiate myself from others. I am now more comfortable and aware of who I am, and I am genuinely happy about who I’ve become. I am so much more secure about my identity, and this has led me to become much more confident and steadfast. However, I do wish I had spent less time preoccupied with what other people did and what they thought of me. Less time idealizing others. Less time preoccupied with always going out and documenting a good night online for my entire network of 2,000 Facebook friends to see. It would have been nice to go through high school without having the influence of social media weigh so heavily on me. It enforced shallow, intangible notions of popularity and evoked a omnipresent fear of missing out. I spent way too much time trying to think of how to portray myself on online profiles and impress everyone when I could have used the time for anything else more productive. In the classroom, I let a formula define my life: get good grades, do extracurriculars, get into a reputable college. I’ve always held this belief that if I can, then I must. I enrolled in a wide breadth of advanced courses, which sort of forced me to be good at every subject, but unable to allocate the time to delve deeper into one or two subject areas. I love to learn for the sake of learning, but most of my high school classes weren’t able to satisfy this need.

I was subject to surface-level learning, teaching to standardized tests, formulaic assignments, memorization and regurgitation. I was immersed in a culture where students plea for grade bumps and resort to cheating in order to improve grades. My passion for knowledge and education was not ignited, but rather extinguished and dulled. I found myself oftentimes more exhausted than enlightened. I overworked myself at times, spending countless lunch periods working in the library or rushing to and from meetings for extracurricular commitments. There were few times I could actually spend time eating lunch with my friends. Although breadth of experience helped me learn and equipped me with a variety of different skills, if I could redo one aspect of high school, I would have done less and done deeper. With regards to extracurriculars, I participated in everything from politics to fencing, lab research to debate. Frankly, much of what I did, I did with the prospect of college admissions in mind. Something I truly am passionate about is music, but I never gave myself a real chance to explore music in school. It’s not to say that I never do what I like or never have fun, because I do. But, sometimes I wish I had relaxed a bit more and spent more times learning things I was truly interested in and partaking in activities more for the sake of my own interests than for the sake of my resume. Rather than joining every honor society and club available, and pursuing disparate, unrelated paths, it may have been better had I focused on just a few things that appealed to me. I should have realized that it was okay to not take every opportunity that presented itself and instead spent more time with friends and family, more time playing music and more time taking care of myself. This is one mistake I won’t make in college next year. I’ll just call these past four years a time for “explo-

ration.” After I graduate from high school, it’s not the hours spent studying for standardized tests I will be looking back on with pleasure. It’s not the onerous yet trivial tasks I was burdened with at the internships I pretended to enjoy that will fill my heart with fondness. It’s not the countless lunch periods I spent at academic meetings that I will remember. It’s those times I’d skip class and lie down in the grass with my friend, feeling carefree and careless, discussing our dreams and our favorite memories. Or those late night adventures I’d go on, stripped of plans and just basking in spontaneity and freedom. High school...I’m going to miss it. Less than I initially thought I would but more than I’d like to. I can’t complain. I worked hard, learned a lot, but was still able to maintain a solid balance between my grades, sleep, work and fun. Looking back now, I’m impressed that I emerged unscathed. I was able to make up for all the hard work through countless adventures with my friends: from night hikes to cliff diving, slow dances to stargazing and first football games to last dances at prom. It’s been a wild ride. Despite the negatives, I got everything I wanted and expected to get from high school, and it has undoubtedly built me a sound foundation off of which I will be able to accomplish something meaningful with my life down the road. As I head off to college, I look at my younger sister and other incoming freshmen and become excited for them to embark on this four-year journey. If I had to leave one piece of advice to her and the rest of the CHS Class of 2020, I would repeat what my friend, now a sophomore in college, told me over breakfast one day: nothing is as bad as it seems. Be confident: talk to that new kid in your English class, create that club you want to see make change in the community and run for a student government position if you’d like. Nothing’s stopping you but yourself. You don’t have to maintain a high A in every class nor should you live solely for your resume. Tests and college applications aren’t as bad as you think they are. Go out, meet new people and don’t confine yourself to just one group or one label. Don’t let stress overcome you. Take a deep breath, because everything will be okay. The future has a lot in store for you.

C-3PO Wishes She Hadn’t Been So Stiff in HS By C-3PO

High School. Two words that can generate various reactions along the lines of sweet nostalgia and complete disgust. As a majority of people know, in Star Wars, C-3PO is a robot who is programmed to follow orders and is devotedly committed to them. High school students can be viewed in the same way, as robots. Many students, including me, feel that they are programmed to take certain, rigorous courses to achieve the overall goal of getting into the college of their choice. One common piece of advice for high school students is to lift their heads up from nose-diving into hard work, and actually breathe and enjoy these transformative four years. This is good advice when studying and developing discipline and good habits for college. However, this advice also reinforces the importance

of creating an enjoyable social life because we are all more than just robots. Being able to grow individually as a person is another important aspect of high school because high school is indeed transformative. Even though people do not have to figure out who they are by the time high school is over, high school is a span of four years for beginning the journey. I can personally attest to the wisdom of this advice. As C-3PO is constantly with R2-D2, I have been with my twin sister my whole life, which has led to a constant struggle to define myself separately from her. R2-D2 is a great companion to C-3PO and my sister is a good one for me too. However, developing some independence away from close friends or family members is a vital step in high school that may be difficult to take. Sitting back and reflecting, I can see that trying to act and appear as others

just to fit in is a natural behavior in the process of discovering who you are. But this should not consume all of your time. Pushing aside your goals to accommodate what your friends want is only a behavior that leads to a life of regrets. Throughout high school, but especially senior year, students put so much hope in life completely changing for the better in college. Yes, I believe college will be an exceptionally amazing time, but having hope cannot create change for someone unless they are proactive as well. Starting to change those old, behaviors, or any other negative aspect of your life in high school, will help you with the transition into a better person at college. With all this said, I hope that this sliver of advice helps current CHS students leave high school with a sweet nostalgia. And for my fellow seniors, may all of you continue on the journey of finding yourself.

The Churchill Observer Senior Section May 25, 2016

Jango’s Freshman to Senior Transformation By Jango Fett

As I reflect on my four years as a Bulldog, I realize that a lot has changed since the first day I entered this school as a freshman, not in the sense that the school is drastically different from when I first arrived but rather in the way I view things. With that in mind, I present to you Jake Certner’s patented chart of thedifferences between freshman and senior years.

FRESHMAN Waking up

Sitting in class

Walking in halls

the

Lunch

Homework

School Nights

SENIOR

● Sets multiple alarms ● Puts on clothes picked out the night before ● Leaves time to brush hair/teeth ● Eats balanced breakfast to prepare for a full day of learning

● Wakes up in clothes from night before, sniffs shirt to determine wearability ● Wears college sweatshirt to remind self that waking up is necessary ● Looks at backpack contemplating whether carrying all day is worth it ● Arrives late

● ● ● ●

● Assumes there is no homework ● Takes picture of board with phone ● Calculates lowest grade necessary on upcoming test to maintain C ● Refers to teacher by first name and discusses the weekend’s rec game

Writes homework in assignment book Takes notes Answers questions Admires teacher’s knowledge on subject

● Looks frantically at map ● Holds backpack straps in both hands to better bear the weight ● Texts mom crying about that B in English ● Sees couple making out and cringes

● Snapchats pic of freshmen using map captioned “…freshman” ● Puts backpack back in car…it was not worth it ● Texts mom bragging about that B in English ● Sees couple making out and cringes

● ● ● ●

Finds nice spot in hallway to sit Visits teachers asking for help Makes up missing work Eats lunch mom packed

● Goes home ● Asks friends to skip second half of day ● Doesn’t do work from night before that I swore would do at lunch ● Eats Cal-Tor on couch shirtless

● Actually does that worksheet ● Starts project due in two weeks ● Makes flash cards for that quiz in 8th period ● Checks Edline

● Texts class group chat for pictures of that worksheet ● Tells self I still have two weeks for that project ● Contemplates most trustworthy sources for finding out which answers to memorize during walk to 8th period ● Checks admissions

● ● ● ●

● Gets home at midnight-ish ● Submits online note concerning why they will be late ● Watches entire season of House of Cards

Organizes backpack Lays out clothes for morning Goes over flashcards one more time Gets in bed before midnight

Han Explains Why You Shouldn’t Pick a Side By Han Solo High school is a confusing time for most people in their life. It is a time that can define who you are for the rest of your life. Throughout your four years, you either change immensely or stay relatively the same person. High school is essentially a fourstep transformation. Freshman year is a year of curiosity when people are getting exposed to new trends and new people. Sophomore year is when people start to adjust to the new changes of high school and try to fit in. Junior year is mainly when everything is decided. The cliques are made, and everyone knows who to associate with. Senior year is when the change becomes official. You become the person who you are going to be before you go off to college. There are many reasons why people change throughout their high school careers. One reason is to fit in with the rest of the popular kids. During my freshman year, there were people from whom I isolated myself because I felt that they were not in the popular group, and I wanted to get in with the popular kids.The truth is that these kids I ignored simply based off social status were much nicer and more normal than the kids who I thought were cool. The reality is that I’m not like the so-called popular kids here so

I should not try to act like people who I really have nothing in common with. The people who are your friends are the people who get to know you and accept you for the real person that you are. If you have to try to act a certain way to get people to like you, those people are not your true friends. High school only lasts four years, and odds are, you are going to lose touch with most of the people that you have met in high school. Only really close friends will stay with you for the rest of your life, and those are the people who are most like you. There is no need to conform to what’s “cool” in high school because you may regret the person who you have become. There is a certain culture that is specific to Potomac. It’s a very preppy and entitled bubble in the world. If you feel that you don’t fit into this culture, don’t worry about it. In college, you will meet people from all across the U.S. who come from various different cultures. Odds are you will meet someone who identifies with you. I know that I do not fit this culture. My parents bought me Vineyard Vines because they thought it was popular. I put it on, looked in the mirror, said “This isn’t me,” and immediately took it off. It’s a shirt with a whale on it. I have no idea why it’s appealing. Also, don’t worry about everyone else’s grades. Churchill is

an extremely competitive school. If you get A’s and B’s compared to the people who get straight A’s, it doesn’t mean you’re dumb; it just means that your grades aren’t as good as theirs. I know some people who work really hard and get A’s, but I can barely carry a conversation with them on another topic other than school. Worry about your own grades, and don’t worry about how they look compared to everyone else’s. It was a little easier for me because I basically knew where I was going to college freshman year. I got the grades required for where I’m going, and I didn’t care about what people thought. I see many people who do not have lives outside of school because they put so much pressure on themselves to go to a good school. Go where you want to go, not where others want you to go. The truth is, high school is a very short time in your life. It is not necessary to completely change who you are for a group of people who you won’t even remember in about 10 years. Focus on your real friends and the stuff that you love, and high school will be a much easier period of time to get through.

The Churchill Observer Senior Section May 25, 2016

The Reward Lies in Creating Own Happiness By Boba Fett To whom it concern; stop worrying about what others think. I understand that this topic is extremely vanilla and very ya know, but I find it very important for high school kids to understand. I don’t want to sound like a preacher or some annoying voice in your head, so I’ll try to get my message across as well as I can without being a sure yea. I invested a lot of thought and a decent amount of time building myself based on what other people thought, or maybe what I thought they would

may

think. My actions and thoughts were influenced a lot by what my friends or some kid I didn’t know thought. I wouldn’t say it was all for the worst, but it made me a tad anxious, and it did influence how I felt and how I thought a little bit. I’m not writing this for me, but I know there are some kids in this school and in high schools across the c o u n try who struggle with overthinking what people think A LOT worse than I did. I feel like this is something every teenager has to go through, but you can’t let the overthinking influence you too much. You may think of those cigarette commercials or those drug commercials where they tell you bad influences aren’t good. That’s not exactly what I’m trying to say, but it’s close. What I am trying to say is that you will experience peer pressure at some point in your life. You will have your

thoughts influenced by what other people think. You will act

to stop caring about what other people thought about me and worrying and perfecting every single detail to fit the approval of everyone else, it made me feel better about myself, and it made me happier. I am my own per-

son, and I create my own happiness, and it’s awesome. I’m not telling you to not be influenced by your friends, because that is a good thing sometimes. But don’t let them or anyone else determine your happiness. Your first priority in high school should be yourself, and no one else. After that, other people are priorities obviously, but you’re first. That’s my message to you, whoever is reading this. So don’t go on doing anything rash and dumb, or post stuff on social media or making a Tumblr because your friends said it was cool. Do your own thing. Be your own person. Create your own happiness.

o u t based o n other p e o ple’s approval. It’s called high school. But it is up to you to understand whether you want to let that drive you, and I promise that you will be so much happier and stressfree if you learn to accept what other people feel, and not let it affect you. When I learned

Anakin Compares Senioritis to the Dark Side By Darth Vader

If you think about it, high school has been a lot like a Star Wars movie. More specifically, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith: the one where Anakin Skywalker turns into Darth Vader. Anakin, the next chosen one by his mentor Obi Wan Kenobi, is destined to become the next J e d i Knight and is on the “good side” f o r most o f

the movie. For most of the movie, Anakin is portrayed as a hard-working, polite, selfless character. These also happen to be the same characteristics of freshmen, sophomores and juniors when they come to Churchill. I came into high school that way as well. After “graduati n g ” f r o m Hoover, I entered Churchill as an eager, young, hard working student who would always try to have great r e l a tion-

ships with my ers and my A l o n g with basketwhich had very intense practices and workouts particularly in my freshman year, I

teachpeers.

ball,

would take my academics and athletics very seriously. Looking back at it, I probably didn’t even have 10 absences total throughout the entirety of my freshman and sophomore years. Things started to change during second semester of junior year, not senior year. As my junior year was going along, my class and the senior class from last year became pretty close, and I started hanging out with a lot of the seniors. That’s when I learned about a thing called senioritis. Like Anakin was allured by the mystery and novelty of the Dark Side and Emperor Palpatine, I felt like I was starting to feel the effects of senioritis. While I was still a junior and did not succumb to the lazy ways of senioritis, I still felt as though I would soon be sucked into it. Now, as a senior, I could not have been more right. As Anakin thought about turning to the Dark Side while

still being a Jedi, the only thing I could think about senior year was second semester, prom, beach week, and finally, graduation. Even during basketball season, my mind was only focused on basketball and being a senior. The day I got accepted into NYU was the day I turned into a different person, but maybe not as extreme as Anakin evolving into Darth Vader. After working hard my entire high school career to get into my dream school, I believed all my work was over. Even though it wasn’t, I stopped caring about my schoolwork, and my absences began to increase at a constant rate. One of the best

decisions I’ve made throughout high school, however, is signing up for Journalism and being able to write monthly about things that go on throughout the school. Even as a second semester senior, evolving into a Darth Vaderesque, careless personality, I still continue to write for the Observer and it helps keep me interested in school events. While Anakin Skywalker was not perfect in any way, he came to symbolize the hard-working and innocent lives of most freshmen, sophomores and juniors. But as senior year came around, like Anakin transforming into Darth Vader, seniors caught the contagious senioritis, and knowing the firsthand effects, can never turn back.

The Churchill Observer Senior Section May 25, 2016

Kylo Claims Best Friendships Happen Naturally By Kylo Ren Starting at CHS is an exciting time for people. We’ve all seen movies romanticizing high school life, and there are sporting events, parties, clubs and dances like homecoming and prom to look forward to. However, the most important aspect of high school life is the group of friends you do almost everything with. Aside from providing emotional support when needed, your friends are the people who will have the biggest influences on

the development of your inter-

ests and define the direction that your high school experiences take you. For this reason I would not recommend caring too much about cultivating a “cooler” image; the people you will naturally end up doing stuff with are the people you share similar interests with. The energy spent worrying about what type of people you’re seen hanging around would be much better spent doing things you enjoy and talking to people along the way. For me, it was my biggest extracurricular, soccer, that led me to most of my friends. One of my best friends (Collin “The Paintbrush” Schmitz) was the varsity backup goalie and it was the time spent hanging out before and after soccer events that brought us together. Although not all of my friends consider soccer to be “their passion” like Collin, most are generally interested and stay up to date with the latest transfer gossip. Even my less athletically inclined friends like Aashay Joshi try their hardest at pickup, though they are

much better suited for other activities such as being fre$h and rock climbing. Once you have made connections through a common interest, you can also branch out and figure out what else interests you share with others. For us, one activity outside of soccer that we all enjoy is going out and trying new foods. For example, my three best friends and I tried this delicious Korean restaurant called

Lighthouse Tofu & Barbecue. Lighthouse Tofu & Barbecue serves more than just tofu, offering a wide variety of delicious meats that I personally would recommend to any Churchill student. At CHS, there are plenty of mean people and the school can seem pretty intimidating at times. However, if you let your friends choose themselves naturally, there will not be any negative consequences.

Finn Fought the Good Fight, Made CHS His Home By Finn Coming from a private school, my freshman year at CHS was like walking into a desert planet. I had never heard of it before and knew no one. Public school was bigger, more intimidating and challenging, but it allowed me to become more independent and experience new things. CHS felt like the Dark Side with homework, pressure to be like someone else and doubt that I couldn’t succeed. However, in every movie there is a happy ending, and I finally made it to my senior year with some scars, but still intact. I felt exactly like Finn. He is the new guy on the planet, and I was the new girl at CHS. Finn trained since birth to serve the First Order, and I had been training since birth to become the best me I could be and prepare my future. Finn is also a stormtrooper, and when times seemed tough or I

didn’t think I could to something, I had to put on my battle armor, get my lightsaber, study hard, practice often and push myself to succeed. Being a student at CHS helped me discover who I wanted to be and helped me discover who I was. It was hard in a class of 500-plus students to

identify myself and find out what type of person I wanted to be to impact this world. Each of my years at CHS was like a Star Wars movie with a plot twist and a usually happy ending. Even when I thought that I wasn’t going to have a good grade in a class or make a certain sports team, it all worked out in the end. I was involved in numerous activities at CHS. For example, girls varsity tennis team, the Signature Program, and of course, the Observer. Getting involved at CHS is key because it is a big school and you can find people that you connect with by joining a team, club or society to find people like yourself. Star Wars stormtroopers are always preparing to fight and gear up for the war between the Dark Side and the Force. You see, each student, or stormtrooper, at CHS is gearing up a with every test and quiz leading up to graduation and maybe even college. This desert planet that I knew nothing about soon became my home. Just remember that in the end this is all for your future, and the teachers, counselors, administrators and even librarians, are here helping you along that path.