WAYZATA HIGH SCHOOL PRESENTS
THE
ISSUE May 29, 2014
THE TROJAN TRIBUNE
NEWS 2
THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2014
Running 26.2 @ 18
Remembering Brady...
Two seniors take on Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth By NICOLE STEPHAN J U N I O R S TA F F W R I T E R
26.2 miles seems like a long, if not impossible, run, but Kevin Myers (12) and Connor Eastman (12) will be running a race of this caliber -- Grandma’s Marathon -- sporting their Wayzata track uniforms. The two will be running the Duluth race on June 21st. “I’ve always wanted to do a marathon since I started running. I think it would be a great life goal and saying that I did it when I was only 18 is even cooler,” said Myers. Both have only been using varsity track workouts to prepare. “[Track] probably isn’t enough. I’ll start some longer runs and better training for the longer distance after track,” said Eastman. Myers hopes to get a taste of the difficulty the marathon will present by going on a 20 mile run before the actual race. According to marathontraining.com, a runner should be running consistently, about 25 miles a week, for year. Both Eastman and Myers run six days a week and rack up 40-80 miles. The race presents a large challenge for the two, especially the second half, according to Eastman, but both will have some fans in the crowd cheering them on. “My family will be there and hopefully some friends will come to cheer me on. I’ll definitely need it,” said Myers. As for their track season, they have been working hard to help the team win first place in all of their meets so far, and they will be moving on to sections later this month. Eastman has been running the 800 meter, one mile, and two mile, while Myers runs the 800 meter and one mile. For Eastman, the marathon marks his last competitive race. “I started running in 8th grade because some of my friends were in it,” said Eastman. He will be attending University of Denver next fall, but he does not plan on running for them. Myers is still considering running in a club next year at Madison. “I like it because it’s not easy to do. It gives me a good feeling when I run a fast time knowing that not many people can do that,” said Myers, “Running for this school has definitely been my fondest memory of my high school career. I’m going to miss all my teammates and coaches.”
ask jared: DID YOU SEE THOSE MEESE? Q: Why is the plural of goose ‘geese,’ but the plural of moose is not ‘meese?’ A: It all comes down to the etymologies of each word. The origins of the word “goose” come from an ancient Proto-Germanic word that likely started as an imitation of the animal’s honking. When it is pluralized, it undergoes a linguistic process known as strong declension. Declension is the process by which words are conjugated to reflect number (singular, plural), case (possessive, objective), and gender (masculine, feminine). Weak declension generally involves adding a suffix, like talk/ talked and walk/walks. Strong declension, on the other hand, conjugates words by changing the stem vowel -- how “sing” becomes “sung” and “sang” (fun fact: this specific type of change is known as ‘ablaut’). Therefore, in the pattern of foot/feet and tooth/teeth, which also undergo strong declension, goose is pluralized to geese. However, ‘moose’ entered the English lexicon from an Algonquian Native American language only about 400 years ago, and therefore lacks the etymological reason to be pluralized in that way.
As the school year ends, Trewick still works hard to finish up last-minute graduation details.
WHS employs new principal, Trewick to retire As our h i g h NEWS EDITOR school gets a new coat of paint, it will also get a new head principal. Since 2008, principal Mike Trewick has run Wayzata High School with a smile on his face as well as his tie. “I think in two years, I’ll be ready to retire,” Trewick said. Instead of waiting for two years to hire a replacement, Superintendent Chase Anderson has already found the man for the job. That man is Scott Gengler, former principal of Irondale High School. Gengler will oversee the construction process here at WHS. That means he will facilitate everything from area closures to putting together focus groups and committees to properly assess the needs of staff and students. “We are working with a design team and stakeholders to enhance our facility and make it feel less large,” said Gengler. He explained that he strives to make sure that WHS still feels like a community despite its size. As the leader of such a large project, it will
By DAVANTE WASHINGON
be important to make sure everything is done properly despite the challenges, Gengler said. “As a leader in this process, it is important to ensure that there is little impact on the learning climate as construction begins and progresses,” Gengler said. He explained that there are a lot of groups that need to be provided for, and the school still needs to ensure that students are getting what they need to be successful. Gengler has experience with renovating buildings. He oversaw $27 million worth of renovations at Watertown-Mayer High School. While Gengler focuses specifically on the additions to WHS, Trewick will continue to perform his role as head principal for the next two years. “The route we are going will allow Scott [Gengler] to build his own foundation at WHS. That way when he takes over, he is not asking, ‘who screwed this up for me?’” Trewick said. Trewick and Gengler have built a solid relationship over the past few weeks since they first met. Gengler will start overseeing construction on the school July 1st. “I’ll exit feeling confident the school is in good hands,” said Trewick.
SYNCHRO WINS EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE STATE TITLE The WHS synchronized swimming team won state for the 8th year in a row last Friday after winning all of their season meets and dominating sections. According to the Star Tribune, Wayzata won by a large margin, scoring 137 points to Stillwater’s runner-up score of 94. The team also had success in smaller events -- Colleen Donlin (10) took first place in the solo competition, and Katrin Ree (11), Trisha Morrison (12), and Lucy Liu (10) won the trio event. “It was very exciting, as it always is! Winning is always fun and a great confidence boost for the team,” said swimmer Katie Stover (11). This long-running success may stem from the team giving middle schoolers the opportunity to join a high school team. This way, the team gets a couple more years of experience and can develop more chemistry. In fact,
By NICOLE STEPHAN J U N I O R S TA F F W R I T E R
the synchronized swimming team this year has 28 middle schoolers who will be trained to carry on the team’s reputation. Swimmers like Stover and Caitlin Plate (11) both started swimming for the team in middle school. “We have had our experienced swimmers mentor our newer swimmers,” said Head Coach Signe Hensel. Hensel also attributes the team’s success to their focus, teamwork, precision, and attitude. “It started with the belief that we could win – then we followed up with a plan to get there,” said Hensel. “We were prepared and I expected the team to have solid swims in all events.” “It was a very emotional season with many obstacles that we weren’t sure we could overcome. It was amazing to see all of our hard work pay off,” said Sonia Neculescu (11). “I am so crazy proud of my team. We have really worked hard and every season we come back ready to work even harder to keep winning,” said Plate.
Senior named Presidential Scholar Zoe Tu (12) is a speech team section champion, @k_talerico swim team captain, and Science Olympiad genius. Not to mention, she’s Mrs. 36. As if those qualifications weren’t enough, she can now add “U.S. Presidential Scholar” to her resume. The U.S. Presidential Scholar Program, which is affiliated with the US Department of Education, selects two students from each state to receive the honor, and fifteen students are chosen “at large.” To be nominated, students must score “exceptionally well on an SAT or ACT,” according to their website. Students who score a 36 are automatically nominated. “A lot of others factors come in during the application process, such as leadership, service, and school and community contributions,” said Tu. Her application was “basically like a college application.” “I wrote multiple essays, reported GPAs and test scores, and explained extracurriculars,” said Tu. She also submitted a letter of recommenda-
By KATIE TALERICO EDITOR IN CHIEF
tion from science teacher Mrs. Grack. Tu found out she had been chosen as a scholar by e-mail a few weeks ago when she got back from the AP Psychology Exam. “The subject had ‘Congratulations’ in it and I immediately started to freak out,” said Tu. “I was already really happy with being selected as a semi-finalist since it’s such a selective process, so I wasn’t expecting anything more. I totally wasn’t expecting finalists to be announced that day so I was pretty shocked and really excited. My hands were shaking for the next hour, at least,” Tu said. As a finalist, Tu will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., this summer along with the 140 other finalists. “They haven’t told us specifics yet because government schedules are still pretty up-in-the-air, but I know I will be getting a medallion and get to attend shows and exhibits in the capitol,” said Zoe. In past years, some scholars have been able to meet the president, but due to his busy schedule, Tu said it’s unsure whether or not she will get to meet him this year.
Brady M. Becker January 26, 1996 - May 20, 2014 On Tuesday, May 20th, 2014, senior Brady Becker died. Classmates remember Becker as an empathetic, compassionate, and insightful friend. Tributes began pouring in on Becker’s Facebook page, with over 50 friends, teachers, and relatives offering condolences and recollections. Becker was active in the WHS choirs as a member of the Varsity Men’s Choir and the Madrigals. According to his obituary in the Star Tribune, Becker’s other hobbies included tennis, guitar, singing in church choir, and mathematics. “He had a gentle and kind presence -very giving and very bright,” said WHS Choir Director Rebecca Wyffels. “Brady was such a kind-spirited and bright guy. I loved how much we talked about choir in our stats class. He was sure passionate about choir and I know it meant a great deal to him,” said Concert Choir officer Bridget Sperry (12). “The pastor from Brady’s church commented on the fact that Brady was wearing his class ring. He went on to say that the ring incorporated the two most important things in his life: music and faith. Music was incredibly important to Brady. He sang at both WHS and his church,” said choir member Quinn Cullum (12), who attended Becker’s funeral last Saturday. “He was a great guy. Whenever you would talk to him, he was involved in every conversation you had with him,” said Varsity Men’s Choir singer Riley Allanson (12). “He cared about others, and he never wanted to be the center of attention,” said Bennett Bervig (11).
WHS BY THE NUMBERS Our school is huge, and it takes more of everything to fill it up. Here is a sampling of how many of various things we have in our school (all numbers are approximate, and reflect amenities available to students only).
a
i
yC cb
G
ph ra
en
rm
S
a
an
t an
THURSDAY MAY 29, 2014
THE TROJAN TRIBUNE
GODZILLA MOVES IN NEXT DOOR TO THE
neighbors REVIEWS BY ANDREW STERN
The summer’s off to a hit with the newest in action and comedy. But if these films say anything about the rest of the summer, can we expect more from our comedies than action flicks?
ENTERTAINMENT 3
GODZILLA The sophomore feature film from Gareth Edwards, this is the first American-made Godzilla film since Roland Emmerich’s in 1998. Although Godzilla himself isn’t introduced until late in the picture, the movie wastes no time in developing his backstory by having an opening sequence filled with photographs of the military attempting to kill him with nuclear weapons in 1954. Godzilla then spends a significant amount of time developing MUTOs, malevolent creatures that serve as the primary antagonist. Unfortunately, most of the characters in Godzilla aren’t given a whole lot to do other than stare in awe or give meaningless military speeches in an Asylum-esque setting. There is a notable exception in Bryan Cranston, however. Although his character isn’t more than a supporting role, he provides the most effective human element to the story. Elizabeth Olson is also incredibly charismatic and it’s clear she’s trying, but she just isn’t given too much to do. Even the titular monster is so poorly developed you don’t really care what happens to him. With a $160 billion dollar, the special effects are incredibly complex and well done. Had the computer graphics been designed on a singular computer, it would have taken 450 years to render. That said, a large amount of the effects take place at night, so you aren’t able to see them in their full glory. Godzilla’s roar is absolutely astounding. It’s possibly the most impressive part of his design. The film, veering away from the monster’s campy history, takes itself strangely seriously. It’s as if this was an actual event that took place and the filmmakers were trying to give it as much respect as possible, which could have worked, but with a script involving giant monsters fighting and an abundance of pseudoscience, it just doesn’t. The score, by Alexandre Desplat, uses themes from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and is surprisingly effective. It’s subtle and drives forward the tone of the film. While Godzilla at times seems like a bigbudget Asylum film, it still does a lot right. For what it is, it’s pleasantly enjoyable. If your expectations aren’t too high, you shouldn’t be disappointed. 6/10
NEIGHBORS Despite the tagline “From the guys who brought you This is the End”, Neighbors is directed by Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s Nicholas Stoller. However, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are producers on the film (And Rogen stars). The film revolves around two young parents (Rogen and Rose Byrne) who have a fraternity move in next door (led by Zac Efron and Dave Franco). Right from the getgo, you’re forced to suspend a significant amount of disbelief, and there are plenty of sequences throughout the film that are far too outrageous to be realistic, but yet the film is able to create its own separate reality to engross you in the story. In the style of mumblecore and Team Apatow, the script is highly improvised. That’s not to say that there’s not a strong direction the script takes .The film is incredibly well-
c u t and the gags don’t last too long. There are moments where the film slows down or repeats itself, but those moments are few and far between. The humor itself is raunchy, as to be expected from an R-rated fraternity film, but unlike This is the End, the goal isn’t really to push limits. It’s admittedly juvenile, but it never really feels like it gets too immature. Although not all of the jokes work, there is a nice theme about growing up present throughout that makes the film feel like it has a deeper meaning. Neighbors is also self-aware about the character tropes it’s creating and the ones it’s avoiding. A lesser film would have made Seth Rogen a Kevin James-esque man-child and wouldn’t have given Rose Byrne much to do, but as
m e n tioned in the film, both of the characters are incredibly irresponsible and have a little “Kevin James” in them. All of the fraternity stereotypes are present and parodied, although some of them are used more effectively than others. By all means this is not a perfect movie. But it’s beautifully shot (by one of my favorite cinematographers, Brandon Trost), wildly funny, and incredibly entertaining. Neighbors effectively creates a movie about growing up while still being able to make fun of fraternity-style films. It’s definitely one of the best studio films I’ve seen from this year. 8/10
B Y K AT I E TA L E R I C O
Ivy League colleges have a reputation for being the best schools in the country. But what can you get from those schools that you can’t get at a state school? Wayzata graduates weigh in with their experiences. It is 8:00 am on a Friday morning in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Jenny Lai (‘13) is leaving her dorm. She swings her backpack over her shoulder and sneaks out. Her roommate, the daughter of the dean of the Business School, is sleeping sleeping off a hangover. Jenny doesn’t have time for breakfast, and she’s late to class so she runs. Yesterday was Jenny’s busiest day—Organic Chemistry, with a three hour lab ending at 10:00 PM—but today she can relax. At noon, she meets with a few friends at Annenburg Hall. The food there is mediocre, but it will provide enough energy for a few more hours of studying before Jenny and her friends head outside of the campus walls to Cambridge for some
dinner, and then to a few parties that night. Jenny is a student at Harvard—but don’t let that name intimidate you you. 1,131 miles away at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ashley Klein (‘13) finds herself with the same conflicts, leading, in fact, a very similar day. The same could be said for Roy Zhao (‘13), at Princeton, Megan He (‘13) at The University of Minnesota--Twin Cities, Mady North at University of Michigan Ann Arbor, or Kelly Schiro (‘12) at Iowa State. What, then, is the real difference between an Ivy League experience and that of a state school?
SOCIAL LIFE On college ranking web-
sites, Madison is often ranked at the top of “Biggest Party School” lists. Most of the schools on those lists are state schools. The Ivies don’t make the list until Cornell University, coming in at #51. “There is a lot of hype at Madison because of the party reputation. After being on campus for a year, I have noticed that many of the students do partake in such festivities; however, they all have nearly mastered balancing academics and a social life. Labeling Madison as a party school isn’t entirely accurate. I have encountered many students that decline that lifestyle and find entertainment elsewhere,” said Ashley. “Regarding the social life, whether or not one chooses to drink, there are many activities that are alluring
at Madison,” said Ashley. The famous Jump Around dance at the football games, the view from Bascom Hill, the ethnic options on State Street, the Grateful Red Basketball games, and the hike to Picnic Point are just a few of the significant features that Madison student life has to offer. Mady schedules both social events and time to study during her weekends. “Depending on my exam schedule, I’ll either sleep in or wake up and get a lot of studying/ errands done during the day. At night I’ll usually attend a sorority event. Sundays I always have study groups that are led by UMich upperclassmen, and I’ll have chapter (sorority meeting) in the evening,” she said. Roy’s Saturdays at Prince-
ton often involve relaxing as much as possible before another busy week. “I’ll sleep until noon, then get brunch,” said Roy. “Occasionally I go to New York with my friends.” “Saturday’s a big party night so I’ll hit up a pre-game and head to ‘The Street,’” said Roy. ‘The Street,’ as it’s known colloquially by students, is home to eleven of Princeton’s eating clubs—private dining and social houses where nearly three quarters of undergraduates eat their meals. These clubs act as Princeton’s sororities and fraternities. They facilitate social gatherings like parties and events on Saturday nights, which, depending on the evening, may either be open to all students or only members.
ACADEMICS
ing assignments and projects. College is a lot more work than I thought it would be.” Mady’s schedule has kept her busy. “I’ll have anywhere from one to six hours of class and two to three hours of research. Once that’s all done, I’ll try and get dinner or work out. Then I usually head to the library for the rest of the night.” “For difficult classes I have to work really hard,” said Kelly, who is double majoring in genetics and journalism. “Organic chemistry has been the hardest class by far. When there’s an exam I have to study at least 10 hours for it. Otherwise, my Journalism classes are easy enough, surprisingly. I also find myself reading textbooks in college more than I did in high school.” “I was in the top group in high school,” Kelly said. “I thought that ISU would be easy, but it’s difficult and I have to work just as hard as I did in high school.” “The majority of Madison’s students were at the top of their classes,” Ashley said. Roy is taking five classes this term. Most students at Princeton take four. At Princeton, advisors help students decide on classes to take. They are like high school counselors, Roy said. “If you know what you’re doing and are confident that you can take the workload, they’ll give you the green light to take the classes.” Freshman are usually limited to taking four classes in the fall so that they can experience the rigor of Princeton classes, Roy said. During second semester he was able to speak with his advisor in order to take an additional class.
“Observing the reaction in the jump from high school to college academics of those around me and myself, Madison is an extremely competitive atmosphere,” said Ashley. “The majority of its students were at the top of their class. If a student has discipline, they will be able to thrive at Madison and in their particular program. A Madison degree will go a long way as well.” Ivy League faculty lists are decorated with notable names. Roy’s biology class is taught by nobel laureate Eric Wieschaus. Despite his distinguished title, Roy still finds Wieschaus easy to talk to— easy enough to ask for a position in his lab this summer, which was granted. “Teachers are very willing to talk to students and especially to freshmen.” said Roy. “As long as you are interested and are willing to ask the questions, they are very willing to talk to you about it.” Princeton is known among the Ivies for its grade deflation policy, by which teachers grade on a curve. “What the policy says is roughly only 35% of the grades given out by the department can be A’s,” said Roy. “While this sounds pretty bad, it is not felt much in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) classes, where getting an A usually requires an 85 or 90 out of 100,” said Roy. “In the humanities, this is much more greatly felt. For example, in our language classes, if you get a 90 that is the between B+ and B. Only a 97-100 will CONSIDERING earn an A.” “This makes very hard to find THEIR a ‘slacker’ class here. If a lot of OPTIONS people take the class, then the threshold for an A goes up,” During the fall of her senior said Roy. Within a class, though, Roy hasn’t felt that people are very competitive. “Sure, everyone tries their best to $40B get an A, but in the classes I’ve taken, that doesn’t mean that they won’t help you if you don’t get a question. Everyone is willing to $30B help each other work out problem sets,” said Roy. Roy has had to work harder at Princeton than he did in high school, but $20.8 billion he also has more time in $20B college to work harder. $18.2 billion “I would say that I spend roughly 25 hours a week studying and doing problem sets, but most of that $10B time ‘studying’ gets derailed by talking to other people, or Facebook.” For Ashley and Mady, the jump from high school to college has brought on an increase in competition. “Students at Michigan tend to be really intelligent and really competitive,” said Mady. “I spend around 30 hours a week studying and complet-
year, Ashley considered applying to an Ivy League school. “It would have increased my chances of being a D1 athlete because there was a smaller pool of athletes that could match the caliber demanded to be academically successful as well,” she said. For Jenny and Roy, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and Madison were both options. The University of Minnesota would have given Roy a full ride. It would have also allowed him to take higher level math classes upon entering school. “I chose Princeton because the people you meet here are truly amazing,” said Roy. “That’s true at other schools, but here you have very easy access to professors and teachers.” “The major difference between Ivy League and large universities is the size of each class and the focus on undergraduate students. I think Ivy League universities have a unique culture per school, while universities are more diverse because of the size of the student population,” said Jenny. “I love how Michigan has a little bit of everything. At a big state school, you will meet all different kinds of people. At Michigan, I think it’s really great that all of the students tend to be driven, focused and competitive when it comes to academics. The joke here is that our slogan is, ‘Work hard, play hard,’” said Mady. “While the Ivy League schools have proven their exclusivity and excellence, some Universities have demonstrated their ability to compete with the Ivy League schools. Schools such as Madison and Minnesota have been placed highly in worldwide rankings of the top universities. After attending career fairs and talking with company repre-
sentatives, they have told me that they have the same perspective of graduates that derive from Ivy League schools and top Universities,” said Ashley. For Megan, the University of Minnesota was not her first choice. As a person who aspired to go to an Ivy, she thought they would give her better resources and connections. “Prestige was a huge factor,” said Megan. “There was the fact that these were ‘namebrand’ and easily recognizable schools. Going there would boost your reputation.” “The curriculum and opportunities there would be great as well,” said Megan, but it was mostly for the prestige. “Since Ivies are indeed more recognizable and people will think you more qualified if you graduate from them, one will probably get more prestigious connections and resources there than over here at the U. That doesn’t mean we don’t have our fair share of opportunities as well.” “I don’t really think much about what’s appealing about the Ivies anymore, because I don’t think it matters—with all the great resources and opportunities at the U, it doesn’t matter if they are more prestigious in others’ eyes. If you work hard, you will still achieve the same success,” Megan said. Princeton professor and economist Alan Krueger and researcher Stacy Berg Dale released a study in 1999 which found that when a student performed high enough to enter an Ivy League school, but instead went to a second-tier school, they earned just as much money as their Ivy League counterparts. Their study was released again in 2007 with updated data, arriving at the same conclusion as the original.
$32.3 billion
$20.4 billion $18.6 billion
Educational investment website Investopedia also said that although students pay more for their Ivy League education, those schools invest substantially more into each student, 7.75 times more on each student to be exact. That translates into $92,000 per student at Ivies, while only $12,000 at state institutions. Kelly found the price for an Ivy League wasn’t worth the name. “I think what appealed to me was the name more than anything, but what I have realized is that you can get a good education without paying an arm and a leg,” she said. She received a scholarship to attend Iowa. Megan is attending the U of M on a full ride. Because she was a National Merit Scholar, the U automatically considered her for a number of scholarship options packages. For many students, money is the bottom line. According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2013–2014 school year was $30,094 at private colleges, $8,893 for in-state residents at public colleges, and $22,203 for out-of-state residents attending public universities. An April 2014 Gallup poll of 29,650 revealed that 39 percent of college grads overall say they’re “engaged” at work. That is 10 points higher than the population at large. Five in six self-report doing great in at least one sphere— sense of purpose, financial security, physical health, close relationships or community pride. Only 11 percent are “thriving” in all five areas of wellness. Those percentages did not vary based on whether the grads went to a fancy name-brand school or a regional state college, one of the top 100 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings or one of the bottom 100. “A slight edge did go to those who attended campuses with more than 10,000 students, while for-profit college graduates saw worse outcomes,” said an NPR poll reporter. College debt also had an impact on happiness, on the negative side. Only two percent of those with $20,000 to $40,000 in undergraduate loans reported they were “thriving.” Considering that $29,400 is the national average for the 7 in 10 students who have loans, that’s startling. “It’s been an incredibly humbling experience living with people who are smarter than me and more accomplished than me in many areas,” said Megan. “The Ivies don’t have a monopoly on all the smart kids.”
COLLEGES WITH THE MOST ENDOWMENTS: (Left to right) Princeton, Yale, Harvard, University of Texas System, Stanford.
After school, Alice sets down her backpack beside her desk. A laptop, a mug overflowing with pencils and gel pens, a few stacks of multi-colored sticky notes: these staple study items take their place next to a sketchbook, open to a page cluttered with thumbnail sketches done in black ink. An electronic drawing tablet, still warm from use, is connected to her laptop, where Photoshop is open to the outlines of a new sketch. Pencils are strewn across the desk, labeled with numbers that most other students wouldn’t know what to do with. These pencils aren’t number two, and they’re not for her homework. They’re for something else. Senior Alice Hu spends three hours of her day drawing — at least. After school, Hu abandons the notebooks in her backpack that have already been littered with her doodles from throughout the day. Instead, she turns on music— Bastille, Janelle Monae, whatever mood the current piece calls for—and starts her more serious projects for outside deadlines. “Sometimes I procrastinate on my art, and other times I use art to procrastinate,” said Hu. “My earliest memories involved scribbling on notebook paper with my sister when I was around five,” said Hu. She started with only a pencil and a few stray pieces of paper, but her drawing drew compliments even at a young age. She kept with it. In seventh grade, Hu got her first drawing tablet, the one she uses to this day. Her first exposure to digital art was through Kid Pix, a children-oriented art program that was a staple in elementary school computer labs. Once Hu got the tablet, she began to work with more serious programs like Photoshop and Paint Tool SAI. “I still love working in Photoshop because of all its potential, but I think my favorite medium is traditional ink on paper.” When working with the tablet and computer, Hu takes multiple approaches to get her ideas from her head to the screen. Sometimes she’ll make a sketch on paper and then transfer that to the computer. Other times, the computer screen is just as good as a piece of paper. A blank canvas is a blank canvas. “If I’m not at a computer, I use blue pencil for undersketches and pen for inking, but sometimes I go straight to ink. With computer art, you can start from scratch or bring in scanned artwork to digitally ink or color or otherwise edit — it’s really flexible. I prefer to do linework traditionally and coloring digitally, but I don’t have a scanner at home so I can’t do it as often as I’d like to,” Hu said. In high school, Hu has taken every drawing class through AP, in addition to
Painting 1 and 2. “All these classes had pretty hefty workloads, which really pushed me to improve. I think that in all things, and in art especially, the only way to get better is to work often and work hard, so the workload definitely helped to enforce that,” said Hu. “I make a lot of art for homework and I draw for fun in my spare time,” said Hu. ”Most of my friends are artists, and they all inspire me to make better work. I think that atmosphere of friendly competition and mutual motivation and encouragement is really important to have in an artist community.” “Once I took art more seriously, I could draw inspiration from almost anything because I started to look at the world with a more observational eye,” Hu said. “I’m definitely influenced by other artists, but if I see something during the day that catches my eye I try to write it down or snap a picture for reference.” She also keeps a Tumblr side-blog as an inspiration library to collect fashion, photography, illustration, and animations. In March, Hu found out that one of her pieces made it to the national level of the Scholastic Art Awards. Hu was also asked by an independent engineer to complete some design work for her first freelance project. “I’m proudest of my personal pieces, though, especially my comics,” said Hu. “Making comics is a lot more tedious and frustrating than it seems — every time I finish one it feels like winning a hard fight. It’s really satisfying to take a vision in your head and bring it into existence.” In ninth grade, Hu began to think seriously about a future in art. “Since then, I never really considered anything else,” said Hu. “My parents had doubts at first, since art is notoriously unstable as a career path, but they’ve been amazingly supportive and I couldn’t have gone this far without them,” said Hu. This fall she’ll be attending the Maryland Institute College of Art and majoring in Illustration.
Bookcase The
The Twin Cities' Oldest Independent bookstore.
est. 1963
◆ Over 12,000 books in stock ◆ ◆ Special orders arrive within days ◆ ◆ Book Signings • Live Music ◆
824 East Lake Street, Wayzata (952) 473-8341 www.bookcaseofwayzata.com
Better Scores. Better Choices.
BEST ON THE PLANET! Ask us about... Fundraising for your team or organization or catering your special event!
$100 OFF
AN ACADEMIC EVALUATION
3500 Vicksburg Ln N (Next to Mann Theater) Plymouth, MN (763) 559-9736
The Huntington Advantage: 1-1 instruction Critical reading, writing, English, math & science Test-taking strategies Flexible scheduling Experienced teachers Proven success since 1977
SAT and ACT prep for students seeking dramatic score improvements.
1-TO-1 PRIVATE TUTORING FOR
SAT/PSAT/ACT PREP
1-800 CAN LEARN Yorkdale Shoppes York Ave. S Edina 952-922-3000
Call Today!
®
Waterford Plaza Hwy. 169 & Hwy. 55 Plymouth 763-542-0000
Accredited by North Central Association Independently owned and operated. ©2011 Huntington Mark, LLC. SAT and PSAT are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board. ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc. The College Entrance Examination Board and ACT, Inc. were not involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this program.
THE
WEEK SPORTS
in
PHOTO RECAP Synchro
Stories by Matt Johnson & Hayden Farmer / Picture by Kevin Zheng & Naomi Liew
The girls syncro team won its eighth consecutive state championship, outscoring their opponents by 43 points.
Boys Lacrosse
Photo by Kevin Zheng BOYS TENNIS SERVES IT UP: Nicholas Beaty (10) hits a forehand during practice. The boys hope to continue their successful season as they play in the section tournament at the Baseline Tennis Center at the University of Minnesota this week.
Boys tennis continues domination
As the season begins to wrap up for the boys varsity tennis team, the state tournament is within reach. Coming off of a 2013 title win, the boys are more than ready to repeat the same success. “This season is one of the best I’ve had, and a state championship would be the perfect way to end the season. I’ve still had a great year with great teammates and nothing can change that,” senior Jack Garvey said. The field of play has leveled out this season from last year and will make it more difficult for the Trojans to stay consistent. However, head coach Jeff
Prondzinski will do anything to keep his players motivated and focused. “We all come with the effort and energy to play, and coach Prondzinski is great at focusing our excitement into good tennis,” senior Jake Strom said. On senior skip day, Prondzinski held the students to a higher standard and would not tolerate any of the players missing school. “He said that if we didn’t show up for the day, then we should just turn in our uniform,” Strom said. Despite their excitement for the state tournament, the team understands that winning isn’t everything.
“We know that walking away without a championship would hurt, but it can’t take away from our season we’ve had and the memories we’ve made,” said Garvey. For all of the seniors, this is their last run of their high school tennis career. For many, tennis has changed their lives in ways they couldn’t even imagine. “I think my varsity experience is the best thing that’s happened to me at this school. It’s taught me to make the most out of every experience given to you,” Garvey said.
Boys track headed to state The boys track and field team has had another promising season. As expected, they have won every meet that they have participated in so far. The captains for the 2014 season are senior Michael Smith, senior James Smith, junior Connor Olson and senior Obi Wamuo. The Smith brothers have excelled at all the meets this year. In the True Team meet, the brothers took first and second place in the 400 meter dash. Olson won first place for the 1600 meter run at the Wayzata relays and came in first at the True Team meet for the 3200 meter run. Olson was also all-state in the 1600 meter and 3200 meter events in 2013. Wamuo has placed first for the 300 meter hurdles at the Wayzata relays and second place for the same event at True Team this year. “We took third last year, but I think we have an even stronger team this year,” Michael Smith said. The boys have won back-to-back 7AAA True
Team titles and have won meets by record-breaking margins. Improving on last season’s stats, the boys look to attain the state championship that evaded them last year. “I think we have a real shot at taking the state title, but anything can happen, so we just have to stay focused,” Michael Smith said. Depth has been a huge contributor to this year’s team success. At the Lake Conference championship at Eden Prairie, Wayzata had runners in first, second, third, fourth and fifth place for the 200 meter dash. At the same meet, Wayzata came in first for the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, and 4x800 relays. Four high-jumpers have cleared six feet, which is lettering height. Junior Ryan Keup and junior Daniel Bonneville have made the biggest impact in the throwing events. Both of them made it on to the Raceberry Jam Honor Roll of Minnesota’s best track stars. Keup threw the shot put 49 feet 7 inches at the Wayzata relays and
placed 8th at True Team. Bonneville threw the discus 150 feet 3 inches at the sectional True Team meet held at Wayzata. When asked about the 2014 throwing season, Keup said, “It has been a great year for the throwers. We have serious competitors in both discus and shotput and its our goal to have at least one event go to state.” Wayzata’s pole vault has been watched closely due to senior Ben Yost, who has excelled on the runway. “I will be anxious to see how I do. Today, I stopped at 13 feet because that’s what I needed to get into the Hamline meet,” Yost said in an interview with the Sun Sailor. At the Hamline Elite meet, Yost vaulted 14 feet, his own personal record. The boys qualified for the state tournament at the MSHSL 6AA sectional meet at Wayzata on May 27th. The team will move onto the state championship at Hamline University later in June.
The boys played on Wednesday, May 28th at home in the stadium.
Boys Track
After winning sections, the boys will move on to the state meet at Hamline University in June.
Ultimate Frisbee
Pictured, senior Tony Giguere puts on his game face. After struggling a bit throughout the regular season, the team is looking forward to the state tournament, Giguere said. “We will make fierce competition for the upcoming state tournament,” said senior Greggory Zinniel.
THE TROJAN TRIBUNE
ADDENDUM
THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2014
Incoming Freshmen- the 5th floor pool is real. Dear Wayzata High School, As the 2013-2014 school year is wrapping up, the editors of the Trojan Tribune have some final reflections before we leave for bigger and better things. We look back with #noregrets after hearing your laughable complaints from various things we’ve published over the school year. In fact we found humor with your “angry” tweets and strange stares in the hallway. S/O to Lake Conference Anonymous for the recognition, yes, after that we knew that we had made it. The #nonewfriends mindset has clearly brought us far. Yearbook- #sorrynotsorry that you’re still bitter about Cheetos, but you’ve provided endless entertainment even when it became tense. You call yourself “yerds,” reevaluate your priorities. #youaintknowbutnowyouknow Bi-weekly issues tested our patience with each other, but seeing improvements made over the course of the year was incredibly rewarding. We’ve been lucky to had such a hardworking, dedicated and lighthearted staff, thank you. Venturing to Boston in the fall provided learning opportunities. Learning about public transportation, design software, each other, map reading, writing and journalistic history. Our feet hurt, the 3AM fire drill was hellish, but our determination to beat the rest of em’ only rose. #fighttothefinish #thorns #cannoligangordie Thank you to the administration for mostly cooperating with our countless questions and nervously standing by. #whyyouflexingonus To our Great Leader: Motes you are an indispensable part of the process, where would we be without your meticulous edits and backstage management. We had fun, we made memories and we made our mark. Goodbye Wayzata, it’s been real, it could be arguably fun, but it most certainly has not been real fun. - The Trojan Tribune Editors and to all the kids majoring in journalism without participating in the paper- what the hell?