16 | BALANCE OF EXCELLENCE ello player, Lexi Baker, is an Alpha Omega who has been at HIES since she was three. She has been in orchestra for eight years. Next year, she will be going to the University of Virginia and is considering majoring in philosophy. She also wants to be a lawyer one day.
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Other than orchestra, Baker has participated in golf, the outdoors club, and the stop hunger club through HIES. Baker said that her favorite teacher in high school was Elizabeth Lamback. “She is always excited to see us in class and always seems like she really wants to help us learn the pieces in orchestra,” Baker said. The hardest class Baker says she has ever taken was AP Chemistry. “Just because it was a lot of information in a short amount of time and it seemed like the information was really difficult,” Baker explained. When asked what her favorite thing about orchestra was, Baker said, “Getting to learn the new pieces and then at the concert seeing how far we have come.” Her favorite concert is always the Spring concert since they get to play newer music. Baker’s favorite orchestra memory is when she went on a class trip to Disney in eighth grade.
LEXI BAKER
In reference to the current situation with the coronavirus, Baker said, “I think it’s had the biggest impact on orchestra because we have to work together to put the pieces together so when we are home we can learn the pieces but we can’t actually work on putting it together.”
AR n his Non-Valedictory address, Coach Dunn Neugebauer wrote this: “I’ll see you on TV soon, will brag to my college friends while ordering drink number two. No one will believe me when I tell them I know you.” Certainly, this is true of Ben Brown, a graduating senior with plans to study both business and journalism at Texas Christian University who just might anchor on national news as a broadcast journalist.
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Brown has been involved with broadcast journalism since a mere freshman and has climbed the so-called “corporate” ladder of the program to become the Executive Producer alongside fellow senior Dara Grocer. Unlike the print journalists of the C&G staff, Brown is comfortable in front of the camera and must look presentable in a suit and tie when in the studio. “I’m very crazy about my clothes, and I have to look very polished on camera,” Brown said. “When I’m in the studio anchoring, it’s the one place that I can be myself and use my knowledge on politics and journalism. It’s right in the studio room with all of the other reporters that is my favorite place to be.” Although his dream is to one day anchor on national television, Brown understands the challenges inherent with such a challenging profession. “Broadcast journalism has always been the dream. I would love to do that as my career. But eventually, it’s a hard road to get to a network and become a network news anchor,” Brown said. “It’s a very, very cheap road [where] you don’t make any money until you’ve made it.” By additionally majoring in business, Brown reasons he will have a “safety net” to fall back on in case his dream fails to materialize. But I would not bet against Brown’s eventual success as a journalist. “If you like being on camera and you have something to say – you have a message that you want to get across – then broadcast is the place to be,” Brown said. And he certainly has more stories to tell.
BEN BROWN
