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Photo courtesy of Tal Netz (12-3)
What will you miss most about high school? What won’t you miss?
I’m going to miss the tight-knit nature of high school. With the small grade size, you get to know people so well. In some ways that’s bad, but in some ways, it’s good, too, because you make really strong relationships that you’re going to have for the rest of your life. What I’m not going to miss is the hyper-competitiveness. Again, since Masterman is so small, everybody’s in each other’s business, and I’m going to enjoy something new next year.
If you could add a class to Masterman, what would it be?
I’d be interested in having a psychology class at Masterman because I know that that’s an AP class offered at a lot of other schools, but not at Masterman.
You’re the co-captain of the soccer team. What was your season like during virtual school?
It was strange because I was really not expecting to have a season at all. In the fall, the deal was that you would have to do a virtual season to be eligible to compete in the spring, so we had Zoom meetings, and we would do stretching and core. It was weird because Aden, [the other captain], and I were basically the only ones who were
unmuted. It was awkward because Aden and I would be panting and sweating, and you could probably hear us panting in the microphone. The fact that all the girls showed up anyway was really cute. I appreciated it a lot because at the time I thought that was going to be the only season that I got. Just getting to see the team, even through a screen, was really nice. By the time we got to the real season in the spring, it was even better, because everybody was so happy to be there and everybody was so high-energy. It was nice to have a schedule, we had practice or games five times a week, so it was nice to have something to look forward to at the end of the day. It gave us an outlet to be competitive and have something to focus on. We had a really good season, too, because we made it to the championship, which has never happened for us before, and it was a close season. I had a really good time, and at the senior game, they made us these adorable posters and gift baskets and we had a whole senior day. That was the first time that I had actually felt like a senior and moving on from high school.
Any plans to continue playing soccer in college?
I wasn’t originally because I thought it was going to be a huge time commitment, but once I found my roommate, she was like, “I don’t know if I’m ready to give soccer up yet.” I’ve played soccer since I was basically a toddler. The thought of just stopping made me sad, but it was something that I had made peace with. My roommate asked, “would you want to play soccer next year, just club or intramural, something casual?” and I was like, “yeah, sure!” so it might happen.
You’re also a section editor for Voices! Do you have a favorite memory or article that you worked on from Voices throughout the years?
My favorite memory is honestly all of our editors’ meetings. When the editors would collaborate it felt like we were really getting stuff done, which was satisfying, especially after a day of feeling like you’re doing nothing. We would find ourselves talking about school gossip and getting insight into the teachers’ world from Ms. Gentlesk; the meetings were really enjoyable. My favorite article I wrote was about the Sunrise Movement, and I did a second part to that article about the environmental protests. I enjoyed both of those because it was Masterman based because we had the Sunrise Movement Masterman chapter, but there was an aspect of fieldwork because I went to the protests and recorded some of the speeches. It was a cool mixture of Masterman and the real world.
If you could give one piece of advice to your freshman self, what would it be?
I would tell my freshman self to just chill out because I was so high-strung and stressed out. Live in the moment and enjoy high school while it lasts. Now that I’m a senior and everything’s ending, it felt like the time flew by. I had a lot of weeks where I was so stressed and would forget to go out with friends and enjoy little things, so I would tell myself to calm down because everything’s going to work out.
What are you most looking forward to after graduation?
Getting away from the screen is a big one! Also relaxing for a couple of months and being stress-free. This year hasn’t been the typical Masterman high-stress environment, but there’s definitely a subconscious kind of stress where I might not have the same huge homework load, and yet it still feels like I have this never-ending to-do list. I’m going to try to savor those two months before college starts. I’m also looking forward to figuring out dorm stuff, and I want to get excited about college. Now that I have my roommate, we’re starting to figure out how we want to decorate our dorm and figure out clubs and classes. It’s a new, exciting chapter!
Favorite cheesy joke?
We do this thing with the soccer team where, on the first day of preseason practice, our coach makes all of the freshmen tell a “freshman joke.” Somebody told this joke, and I thought it was awful but funny at the same time. It was “how do you find Will Smith in the snow? You look for his fresh prints!”
If you had to pick one animal to scale up to the size of a horse, what animal would you choose?
I love my cat and I’d love to see her big, but that’s boring. Maybe a squirrel because the tail would be funny, but at the same time I’m kind of terrified of squirrels so that might be my worst nightmare.
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