friday, may 17, 20132 | seniors | the roar

In many ways, Eugene Ryoo is a stereotypical band student--he finds solace in the band hall, and he’s

rarely without his saxophone. Unlike many fellow band students, however, Ryoo will be continuing with music after he graduates.

Becoming a well-known playwright was never in the plan. Jumping backwards several years, Alyssa said her life never even included theater.

“My family is volleyball all year-round for forever,” she said.

With a mother and two sisters who play volleyball, Alyssa considers herself “the weird one who was able to break away.”

“I really honestly had found something that I loved,” she said. “I knew this was something I could do for the rest of my life and not get tired of.”

After a year of an awk-ward Theater I class (she described herself as “the weird kid who sat in the corner that did pretty much anything Williamson asked her to do”), Theater II soph-omore year was the turning point for Alyssa.

“All I wanted to do was be on stage,” she said. “I re-alized that this is what I was going to do.”

After acting in several plays, Alyssa discovered her love for directing. She got her first opportunity to write and direct for a Theater II assignment for teacher Beth Creel.

“Creel said we had to come up with an idea and write a 20-page script on it,” Alyssa said. “I did it for a grade, the night before. I sat down, I was watching ‘Friends,’ pretty sure I was eating Ramen, and I wrote this story.”

Inspiration for her play came from her eight year

old brother, Cody, who suf-fers from autism.

“I knew I wanted to do something about people with disabilities,” she said. “I wanted to open people’s eyes to something they didn’t know. I wanted peo-ple to see cruelty of another human.”

“Jake Bright”’s plot consists of the trials and tests of relationships be-tween an autistic boy and his best friend throughout high school. When it was performed at Consol, near-ly $500 was raised for the charity Autism Speaks.

Weeks after submit-ting her play to a national playwrighting competition, during a workday for “The Tempest, Creel told her that “Jake Bright” had been cho-sen.

“I just ran up to her and cried,” she said. “I cried for hours. It really took off from there.”

Several performances of “Jake Bright” in Houston led to an extreme explosion of popularity for Alyssa.

“It was weird. People followed me around and asked for my autograph. They asked for copies of the script so they could perform it,” she said. “I had to go get a legal copyright of the play so that people couldn’t steal it.”

Though “Jake Bright” was an enormous part of Alyssa’s high school career, she says it was theater as a whole that truly changed her as a person.

“Theater as a whole made me find myself,” she

said. “This place has seen me at my absolute worst to my absolute best. I don’t have to pretend to be any-thing I’m not. I don’t have to worry about impress-ing anyone. Theater re-ally opened me up. When I came to theater, I found my home.”

Despite her love for theatre, Alyssa has decided to pursue a major in Youth Ministry at Abilene Chris-tian University, a decision that surprised a lot of her peers. However, minoring in Theater Direction will allow Alyssa to achieve her dream of combining her two passions, faith and the-ater.

“I want to start a faith-based camp that reaches out to kids who don’t usu-ally feel welcome at church,” she said. “LGBT kids, kids with drug problems, sui-cidal kids, rape victims; I want [them to know] that they don’t have to be per-fect; they can come broken and as they are and find themselves, just like I did in [theater].”

Alyssa says her involve-ment in theater has helped her learn about herself and the world around her—les-sons that will stay with her after graduation.

“There are no limits,” she said. “It reminds me of my faith; there is no limit on how much God loves you and how much you can love anything. There are no limits to what you can do on stage. You can be any-thing. There are no limits to what I can do.”

“I did it for a grade, the night before.”

Eugene explained how his parents were not im-mediately ecstatic about his passion for music.

“At first they weren’t really happy how I [was so involved] in music,” Eugene said. “But now they’ve got-ten used to it and really just want me to be happy.”

Eugene said that band taught him about discipline and dedication.

“Band kids are a little more unified, they tend to stick together and help each other out, even in situations outside of band,” he said.

Upon reaching high school band, Eugene’s workload increased.

“In middle school, band is just that little extra class,” he said. “But in high school, it takes more time to be in band, with marching band and region band. The amount of my dedication really changed.”

Aside from Eugene’s involvement in school band, he pursues music on a grander scale, participat-ing in The Northgate Phil-harmonic as well as march-ing with the Macy’s Great American Marching Band in the Macy’s Thanksgiv-ing Day Parade in New York City and playing with the US Army All American Marching Band.

“Those experiences were phenomenal,” he said. “It was just a week of [noth-ing but] music.”

Eugene said that he was

intimidated at first, but he soon got used to it.

“It’s kind of nerve-wracking to see other peo-ple from different coun-tries,” he said. “But once you’re there, none of it mat-ters, because you’re all there together working on one goal.”

Though the experi-ences generally centered on music, Eugene laughed and said that music was the last thing he learned during those weeks.

“[I learned] how to interact with a group of random people and work together, how to put myself out there, and how to be a [good leader],” he said.

Eugene considers him-self lucky to be chosen and hopes he inspired other stu-dents.

“It was an honor to be a part of those groups,” he said. “I hope I inspired at least a few people to get out there and do something like this, because it’s not an im-possible thing to do.”

“[It’s important to] cherish those moments,” he said. “Those experiences don’t come very often; you have to remember to have a good time.”

Though his accom-plishments have shown his true musical skill, Eugene knows there is still much more to learn.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m still not good enough,” he said. “I’m still at a high

school level, and there is so much more that I can im-prove on.”

Eugene says that per-forming in those ensembles have inspired him to be-come a better musician and helped guide him in figur-ing out his path for the fu-ture.

“Those experiences have pushed me more,” he said. “I know that if I work harder, I’ll be able to be a part of those experiences later on.”

Eugene plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin to study Music Edu-cation and Performance. He also plans to participate in The Longhorn Band.

“It’s going to be chal-lenging, you’re going up to a new standard,” he said. “You’re basically tak-ing your music to the next level.”

His futures goals in-clude participating in the Graduate programs at UT, and either becoming a band director at the collegiate level, or participating in a military premier band.

Though becoming a recognized musician will always be a part of his dreams, Eugene explains that fame is not the most important.

“Fame isn’t what [I] want,” he said, “I just want to be respected for my mu-sic.”

Alyssa salazar

Eugene ryoo

devin dakota, senior editor

devin dakota, senior editor

the roar | seniors | 3

Most students would shy away from acting out and giving a speech over the complete works

of William Shakespeare in a ten-minute presentation. But then again, most students haven’t won their state speech and debate competitions--that’s because most students simply aren’t Jeff Kettle.

Jeff, a current senior, started his involvement in the school’s forensics team with little prior knowledge of what exactly he was get-ting into.

“When I first joined, I didn’t even know about the speech stuff. I just thought I could argue really well, like everyone else who ever took a debate class,” Jeff said. “It’s like ‘Whoa, there’s a cutting literature and interpreting part? What is this? I came here to argue about the nu-clear bombs in China.’”

Of course, it wasn’t long until Jeff ’s accomplish-ments began piling up—during his sophomore year, he qualified for nationals.

“I started freshman year, but we had an entirely different teacher. We didn’t learn anything. We didn’t go to any competitions or any-thing,” Jeff said. “So, I didn’t really start until sophomore year. Mr. Rodriguez stepped up and single-handedly brought us to nationals.”

Reflecting on his rela-tionship with Rodriguez, Consol’s director of foren-sics, Jeff could only say that they were “best friends.”

Rodriguez jokingly recalled his first encounter with Jeff, when the latter was in his sophomore year.

“He was kind of unruly, kind of like a wild horse,” Rodriguez said, jokingly.

“He had this big, humon-gous hair—that’s what I re-member about Jeff. He had this huge white-guy afro, a curly little fro-—that was Jeff Kettle.”

After Jeff ’s “unruly” beginnings, Rodriguez said that he began to focus on his talent in performing.

“He’s still crazy, but he and I are like BFFs now,” Rodriguez said. “He’s changed--his hair’s differ-ent, he’s really focused, he loves speech and debate. He’s kind of a model; he shows that you can take someone kind of wild and unruly and basically make them a really good per-former and presenter.”

While Jeff primarily competes in events that al-low him to act—much like a condensed theater pro-duction—he tried his hand at more traditional speech events, reflecting on a rath-er somber event from his childhood.

“The one time that I did that event, I wrote a piece about my dad’s death, and how American spirit supporting our troops re-ally does a lot overseas,” Jeff said. “I cited some statistics that showed different levels of happiness depending on how many people are sup-porting them—and that’s not even just troops over-seas, but families of troops

here.”Jeff ’s father’s death in

2007 while he was over-seas serving in the special forces branch of the Army certainly impacted his fam-ily life—shortly thereafter, he and his family moved from a small town in North Carolina to College Station to be closer to Jeff ’s aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Of course, while Jeff said that the academic op-portunities were plentiful at his new schools in College Station, the grief felt by his family could not be over-shadowed.

“My grandparents took it pretty hard, but I guess he was away for so long be-fore he died that it wasn’t so traumatic. I couldn’t imag-ine a parent dying in like, a car accident—like, you saw them yesterday and then they’re gone. But for me, it was less traumatic because I hadn’t seen him in so long.”

Though he said he took it easier than, perhaps, a student who sees his parent everyday, Jeff said that there certainly was a change in him after losing his father.

“It really forced me to become a stronger person,” Jeff said. “I can’t really ex-plain how, but there’s some-thing in you that just drives you to do better.”

dana branham, managing editor

friday, may 17, 2013

GRace wright

During junior year, Grace began pursuing an international soccer career.

“I’ve been to U.S. na-tional camps and the U.S. only has official games dur-ing World Cup years,” Grace said. “I wanted to get inter-national experience for trav-eling, college, and playing out of my comfort zone.”

With her father’s Eng-lish citizenship and grand-father’s Irish citizenship, Grace could play for the U.S., English, and Irish teams. After a tryout involv-ing a trip to Belgium, Grace secured her position on the “Under-17” Irish team.

“It’s given me a lot of op-portunities to travel and see places. I wouldn’t’ve chosen to go to Serbia,” Grace said. “Norway was surprisingly my favorite trip because it was so pretty. We were right at the Olympic site.”

During the last 16 months, Grace has traveled over 100,000 miles with the Irish team, her father, Dave Wright, said.

“Grace has quickly ac-climated to the exhausting demands of international soccer.  On the surface it ap-pears so exciting to be flying to different countries to play soccer during school time,” Dave said. “But this involves travelling long distances not knowing if you will play one minute during these trips.”

Overseas, Grace has noticed a different style of playing.

“Even the American

versus European style of soccer is different,” Grace said. “The U.S. is very athlet-ic-based. Everyone is super fit, fast, and strong; whereas, in Europe, everyone is way more technical and better on the ball. They’re putting a lot of pressure on you in saying, ‘you’re representing a country,’ and people take note of it.”

Dave Wright concurs.“Expectations from the

coaching staff increased a few notches,” Dave said. “What were small errors be-fore are no longer tolerated at this higher level.”

This mental strength is key to playing in interna-tional championships. This year, now as a player for the “U-19” Irish team, Grace traveled to Serbia and Slo-venia for the first round of the European Champion-ship. This successful round allowed Ireland to progress to the second round in Hol-land, where they unfortu-nately did not progress.

While Grace began making college commit-ments far before most of her peers, this process really began during sixth grade, when Grace joined a club soccer team in Houston.

“At that time, I nar-rowed down that all other interests were not as high on my priority list,” Grace said. “Once I joined the Houston team, it was a fast track and once you make that com-mitment, it is like deciding that you’re going to play in

college somewhere, so it took off from there.”

This fast track took off when as a freshman, Grace started narrowing down her options. By sophomore year, she took unofficial col-lege visits, and before junior year was over, she had her final SAT scores and a ver-bal agreement with Texas A&M.

Along with being a part of A&M’s soccer team, she will major in business at Mays and plans to look into the pre-med route offered. She is unsure as to whether or not she will join Ireland in the European Champion-ship this year, saying that grades will come first.

Although school and soccer consume Grace, she only spent one year on Con-sol’s team.

“Our club team re-ally discourages high school soccer,” Grace said.

The fatigue and injuries that come along with high school soccer would jeopar-dize her club team success.

“I loved high school soccer. My freshman year, it was great because I was play-ing against kids three years older than me, so it was re-ally challenging and I had to play faster,” Grace said. “I just made the decision, per-sonally, that I wasn’t going to be playing soccer socially and it was more serious to me than that.”

Less than 24 hours before the beginning of senior year, Grace Wright flew home from Scotland, returning

from over a week of practice soccer games against the Scotland Under 19 team.

laura everett, editor-in-chief

jeff kettle

friday, may 17, 20134 | seniors | the roar

kyle chism & ryan kreider

“It’s a serious bromance,” junior choir member Kelsey Kipp said.

It all started in eighth grade, when both seniors moved to College Station and started going to the same church. A closer friendship began to form when both played football in high school, and Krieder recruited Chism for choir.

“He wasn’t in choir previously,” Kreider commented, “should have been, but he wasn’t.”

Laughs were exchanged as Kreider’s pattern of recruitment continued, inviting Chism to join the Aggie Wranglers dance team during their junior year.

“That’s why we’re doing three extracurricular activities together,” Kreider said of his invitations. “They take up a lot of time!”

When asked if all these activities bring them closer together, they laughed.

“We kind of hate each other,” Chism quipped.

Both quickly backtracked, however.

“No, no, even when we’re not doing these activities, we’ll hang out at each other’s houses,” Kreider said.

The two bantered back and forth when asked to describe each other. The best description was perhaps the most honest.

“He’s a true bro,” Chism said.

Kreider took more time to come up with characteristics, and settled on goofy.

“Just plain goofy,” he said of Chism, “but those are the kind of people I like.”

Chism and Kreider both highlighted the Lake Travis game and their America’s Got Talent audition as senior year moments most important to the both of them.

Both described the auditions in San Antonio as a worthwhile experience and both thought they did well, adding that they had not heard back.

“Well, they said they’d let us know by the end of February and it is now April,” he said. “So we probably didn’t make it.”

Perhaps the simple

moments are what really defines this awesome relationship.

“We love harmonizing together,” Chism said, a tenor, and Kreider a bass.

This harmony is so evident, it makes one jealous of such a close and complementary friendship.

“They make choir funny,” junior choir member Kambrie Kissman said. “They definitely balance each other out.”

Their contribution to choir is significant, earning the respect of director Travis Angel.

“If I need things done, they’re the guys I can rely on,” Angel said.

Their deep friendship and level of character could not be expressed better than by the seniors themselves. Both are attending A&M and rooming together in the Gateway program.

Chism adds that their shared faith in God makes their friendship “ten times stronger.”

The two are ready for new experiences they can share together, but are thankful for knowing each other at Consol.

“High school’s a lot better when you have good friends to rely on,” Kreider said.

There’s only one real way to describe seniors Kyle Chism

and Ryan Kreider’s friendship. nicole farrell, sports editor

“High school’s a lot better when you have good friends to rely on.”

senior Ryan Kreider

zulma vigil

The first goodbye came from her father when she was twenty days old. The next, from her

mother, came two years later.

Her parents were strangers to her, each hav-ing moved to the United States when she was only an infant. For the first time, ten-year-old Zulma Vigil was traveling to the United States to meet them, af-ter she had lived with her grandparents in Honduras for eight years.

“I was ten or eleven when everything happened: new family, new every-thing,” Zulma said.

Ten-year-old Zulma arrived in the United States accompanied by her grand-mother and her cousin, but she said their company didn’t last long.

“My grandma came with me—I was with my grandma and my cousin. He was like my brother, but he had his own family, so he had to go with his family and I was alone for most of the time,” Zulma said. “I felt like an outsider.”

On the first day Zulma spent with her newfound family, neither she nor her younger sister—who was born in the United States—seemed very keen on the new arrangements.

“The first day I was with her, she was like ‘When is she going to leave?’ She said it in English, you know, be-cause she didn’t know who I was,” Zulma said. “She was only five, and I was like ‘I want to leave too; I don’t want to be here.’”

At school, she faced different obstacles, recount-

ing how she had to begin taking English as a Second Language classes to catch up with her English-speak-ing classmates.

“[The teacher would] show me pictures of like, what an airplane was and what different people were called,” Zulma said. “It wasn’t hard at first, but af-terwards, you start realiz-ing that you’re not part of a group because you don’t speak the language.”

The next step to Zul-ma’s future successes was her involvement in the AVID program. In eighth grade, the AVID teachers sought her out, impressed with her grades, and sug-gested that she apply to be a part of the program.

“The AVID teachers, they were always there. When I had Mrs. Stanford and we had ACT or SAT testing, she’d wake us up at six in the morning to go, and she was like ‘If you guys come here, I’ll give you breakfast and then you go and take your test,’” Zulma said. “Little things like that, they make you feel impor-tant. They make you feel special.”

Not only did Zulma grow close to her teachers, but also to her fellow class-mates through the AVID program.

“We all come from dif-ferent backgrounds, but in the end it’s the same general story. We’re not necessar-ily outsiders, because there

are a lot of people in there who are really talented and athletic, but we all under-stand each other to a point. We know what suffering is,” Zulma said.

Of course, Zulma also credits her parents and her siblings with providing un-relenting encouragement in her studies and personal life.

“Five years ago was when everything started changing and getting to the better part,” Zulma said. “I was always good in school, but my family life was kind of messy because, I don’t know if it took three years to get to know [my parents] well, but after about five years ago, we’ve become re-ally close.”

While Zulma initially felt resentful towards her family—especially her siblings, who lived in the United States while she was in Honduras—she believes the experience, obstacles and all, affected her for the better.

“At first, I would think, ‘They left me, they aban-doned me with my grand-parents.’ I had a kind of grudge against [my par-ents]. I didn’t want to be close to them,” Zulma said. “But after those three years, I realized that it was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. My sisters and my little brother, they haven’t been with [my grandpar-ents], they haven’t experi-enced the life I did.”

dana branham, managing editor

friday, may 17, 2013 the roar | seniors | 5

Shankara anand

“My parents are the epitome of the American dream,” Shankara said. “I don’t think I idolize anyone as much as [my father and] he always supports me.”

With his father’s guidance and support, Shankara has been accepted to Stanford as a chemical engineer major. He’s also vice president of Consol’s Gay Straight Alliance club, vice president of Interfaith and plays in the orchestra. He’s been playing the violin since he was in kindergarten.

“Music is the biggest thing for me,” Shankara said. “It’s kind of amazing that music tells a story without any words at all. Each person will play [a piece of music] their own way and it means something to them in their own way. It’s really personal to you, but it’s also personal in how you share it with everyone.”

Shankara also plays the guitar and the ukulele and he intends on continuing his practice for each instrument by finding fellow musicians to have “jam sessions” with at Stanford. Until then, he has his senior recital on May 18th where he will play his senior piece, “Zigeunerweisen,” by Pablo de Sarsate.

In addition to his scholastic and musical

achievements, Shankara has also prioritized learning about religions and faiths other than his own, a trait he said he learned from his brother.

“Since I’ve been brought up in one faith my entire life, it’s important that I find my way on my own,” Shankara said. “I think indoctrinization is a little dangerous, because although it’s combatting ignorance, it’s kind of ignorance in itself.”

Shankara’s father taught him much of what he knows concerning his religion and culture, and he intends to keep hold of what he has learned when he goes to Stanford in the fall.

“I want to hold on to my culture,” Shankara said. “And I think a part of my religion too. [My father] has this really strong, incredible moral compass, it just takes me away at times.”

Despite his exceptional achievements, Shankara remains modest, admiring his father who came to the United States with about one thousand dollars in his pocket to attend graduate school at Kansas State.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to work as hard as my dad,” Shankara said. “He always [tells] me ‘If you die today, you’ll live tomorrow,

if you live today, you’ll die tomorrow.’ That pretty much means that the more work you put in today, the more you’re going to get out of it for years to come.”

So work Shankara did. Throughout his high school career, Shankara took 12 AP classes, participated in 8 clubs, played in the orchestra for four school musicals, with it all leading up to the moment he started his car in the school parking lot back in December, checked his phone and found an email from Stanford admissions.

“That whole days was surreal,” Shankara said. “I was driving like five miles an hour, and I opened [the email] up and it said ‘Congratulations!’ at the top.”

His friend Jeana Nam had been driving by when she saw him standing next to his parked car, dancing around with his face buried in his hands.

“She was asking me, ‘What happened, what happened?’” Shankara said. “I told her I got into Stanford and gave her a big hug and twirled her around. I think that moment was the summation of my high school career. [It was] everything I had worked towards, it was my dream.”

N.K. Anand was twenty years old when he wore a pair of shoes for the first

time. His first son went to Rice University. His second, senior Shankara Anand, is bound for Stanford this fall.

isabel drukker, opinions editor

miranda canatella

While her classmates might be bogged down with difficult math classes next year in col-

lege, senior Miranda Canatella is taking a more nontraditional approach–one that involves more braids and curls than biology and calculus.

“I always liked doing other people’s hair when I was younger,” senior Miran-da Canatella said. “I didn’t have an interest in anything else, so I put hairdressing as my backup plan. But, then I realized more and more as I thought about it that I wanted to do it.”

In the fall of this year, Miranda will go to Manuel & Theresa’s School of Hair Design in Downtown Bry-an.

To allow herself to get a job and save money to sup-port herself, Miranda has opted to go to Hair School part time. Miranda will be in classes for a few hours from Tuesday through Fri-day learning hair technique and skin care facials, which are also a part of the degree. After eighteen months of earning her degree at Man-uel & Theresa’s School of Hair Design, Miranda will be able to perform most of the services offered in most salons.

While styling and cut-ting hair will obviously make up a large amount of her degree, she also enjoys the factual side of hair care.

“It’s really intriguing to me to figure out how to do things,” Miranda said. “I don’t care just about the aesthetics of it or the looks. It is more of a creative out-let for me. I love to learn the facts about hair care too.”

Towards the end of the 18 month stretch at Manuel & Theresa’s, Canatella will take classes through Blinn to earn a business degree.

“I want to get a busi-ness degree so I have that background in case I want to own something,” Mi-randa said. “I’ve heard of people owning hair salons without a business degree, but I just want that back-ground so that if I do own my own place, it is more

stable.”Apart from her goals

to potentially own her own salon one day, Miranda aspires to work in a high end salon and she has even toyed with the idea of doing hair for weddings.

“Even if the economy is really bad, I will still have a job because people are still going to go get their hair cut,” Miranda said.

Miranda understands, however, that this career path will require patience.

“The job may be a low-er paying hair place, but I’ll still find something,” Mi-randa said. “I want to work in a really nice salon, but I may have to start at the bot-tom.”

Although working her way up to finding a stable clientele basis and a nice salon to work in may take time, Miranda says that her parents have been support-ive of her somewhat uncon-ventional career path.

“My parents were hap-py with [my decision,]” Mi-randa said. “I didn’t want to just tell them, ‘hey, I’m go-ing to hair school.’ I came to them with a plan. They’ve supported me with what I want to do.”

Not only has Miranda had the support of her par-ents, but her own hairdress-er has played a vital role in her inspiration.

“I have a really close relationship with my hair-dresser, so she inspired me to be that person that can talk to someone and build a really close relationship with their clientele,” Miran-da said. “I want to do that for someone. I don’t want to just do hair; I want to do this for the social aspect as well.”

laura everett, editor-in-chief

“I don’t want to just do hair; I want to do this for the social aspect as well.

Miranda Canatellasenior

friday, may 17, 20136 | seniors | the roar

“3

8

fighting policy

torememberthirteen

107

42snow day

Sophomore year, we had an unusual holiday when we were gifted with a snow day Feb. 4, 2011.

“My friends and I pulled each other in a fridge along the ice, but that was a pretty bad idea because I slipped and slammed into the ice and got a nosebleed.

“

The softball team had a snowball fight and we built a snowman.”“

1 ““

“ It was funny because no one knew whether the guy was serious or not at the time.

I still don’t know to this day whether this was an attempt at snarky humor or just someone being dumb.-Abel Jacob

-Jacob Mathews

During our freshman year, a vandalism attempt went wrong when Consol students mispelled “Vikings” in an effort to blame Bryan students.

dead week

The older kids had told us all about how great dead week was and I was looking forward to it. I appreciated how Student Council pushed for it after the deadline had passed. Even so, I feel like we missed out on the full expeierence.

“

In 2012, the junior and senior class witnessed a mock car-wreck to show students the effect of drinking and driving.

-Ian Ray

powderpuffTraditionally a match where seniors easily defeat the juniors, last year’s Powderpuff team gave the seniors quite a fight.

“This was the first time in almost ten years that the seniors didn’t outright win. Shout out to Tanner Jasperson for being an awesome head coach and making it possible.

“

- Mary Catherine McCord

9poweroutage

Junior year, students arrived to school with a surprise after the power had gone out. Students were sent home and had the rest of the day off.

“My friends and I went to play hide and seek in Lowes. My best spot was under the sink cabinet.

“

- Frank Ashley

“ We invited everyone over to my house. It was a lot of fun because it was a random free day of school!

“

- Amanda Rodriguez

In the midst of senior year, the sub sandwich line in the cafeteria was removed.Students were greatly upset.

“

“

I just felt that our sub lovers were being hurt emotionally.-Joe Spelce

“ “It was one of the healthier options and they removed it. This is a travesty.

“

-Samantha Wang

-Ashley Esparza

subline

compiled by the Roar staff, with help from the Tigerland Yearbook staff

-Abby Lestina “

“

“

friday, may 17, 2013 the roar | seniors | 7

13from the class of

12

6Buddy Reed planned to end fights at Consol by presenting an idea that we would be rewarded with off-campus lunch for every thirty days without fighting. We recieved only one. “

“I think the administration underestimates the students here. Most students love runing something for everyone else.

You can’t stop the beef, yo.

“

-Daryl Taylor

-Megan James

Buddy Reed became principal the year before we started ninth grade. Our class has grown especially attached to our former principal and his famous “eye of the tiger” catch phrase.

“His tiger spirit made everyone fall in love with him.

“

-Miranda Canatella

“I miss Buddy saying that to me. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Now there is a cold, empty void where his words once rested.

“

-Tyler Rego

Junior year, the administration split the dance floor into two sections in an attempt to eliminate grinding. Everyone was disappointed.

“One word: Awkward.

“

-Jeana Nam

It was a horrible experiment. Everyone just sat down.

“

-Alex Carrillo

The 11th graders celebrated 11/11/11 at 11:11 a.m. together at school. Most students made a wish.

“We had an away football game on 11/11/11 so the 11 Belles in 11th grade took a picture at 11:11 while we made a wish. It was awesome.

“

-Conneley Sears

senior homecomingDuring the seniors’ last homecoming game, our football team went into four overtimes as it began to rain, stressing out the players, fans, and maroon men, who eventually reached a distance of 2,200 yards.

It was the longest, nastiest, and most amazing football game of my senior year. We made history and I got a crown.

“

-Jamarcus Ransom

“Even though we didn’t win our homecoming game, it showed a lot about our team and how we never give up.

“

-Randy Whited

split sadie

11

“

“Everyone was talking about how gross and weird it would be, but he was actually kind of cute.

“

- Mareya Stearns

It’s been trained not to spit.“

“

- Clare McDougal

5prom camel

graduation

““As far as speaking at graduation goes, I think I’m simultaneously terrified, horrified, nervous, and excited out of my mind that everybody in the senior class will be forced to hear what I have to say.”

“

- Yanni Georghiades

To enhance this year’s Egyptian themed Prom, Student Council rented a camel to pose for pictures. His name was Earl.

“

The class of 2013 has spent senior year anticipating

graduation, and reminiscing about times spent at Consol.

“ It is surreal to think it is happening in a week. I watched my brother and sister walk the same stage. I feel like I am still the same kid that watched them.

“

- Kyle Lovas

08 | seniors | the roar friday, may17, 2013

art institute of austinAustin, TX

Chancy BaderKaylinn Klepac

Joshua Turner

austin community collegeAustin, TX

Rosselen CastellarJacob DysartEri FloresJeffrey Kettle

Kyle LovasHaaris SaqibNatalie StrawnMadison Wagner

baylor universityWaco, TX

Will BondsPatrick LenzMerritt Nolte-Roth

Jamarcus RansomAngela Yip

Belmont universityNashville, TN

Skylar Roberts

texas state universitySan Marcos, TX

Brett AllenClay DuckworthTravis HiltonHannah JonesKristen SwannChristina Vaughn

Katelyn ArmatysGrace EstakhriAndrew GehringMary InovejasEmily VenutiCheryl West

texas state technical collegeWaco, TX

Dalton Box Nathan Hosey

dallas baptist universityDallas, TX

Mark TorresBrandon O’donovan

Riley Simms

hardin simmons universityAbilene, TX

Weston Garner

houston community collegeHouston, TX

Daisha Washington

hill collegeHillsboro, TX

Logan HowellRyan Roderick

Ben Kennedy

houston baptist universityHouston, TX

Jessica Wagner

lamar institute of technologyBeaumont, TX

Daniel Casper

university of mary hardin baylorBelton, TX

Charis BrantleyBri HoltkampMegan James

Thomas MiddletonScott Wilding

ranger junior collegeRanger, TX

Keagan Brooks

rice universityHouston, TX

Jeana NamJanet Ni

Mei TanAmanda Yang

sam houston state universityHuntsville, TX

Maddie BeckerMatthew Brossart Claire ChabotMichael CloustonChanler HavelKaylee McCabe

James McKeeRebekah ScholzDarian SoaresJocelyn Volkmar

san jacinto collegeHouston, TX

Kasey Pritchard

southern methodist universityDallas, TX

Alex Arreola-GarciaCamile Aucoin

Esther LimIan Ray

southwestern universityGeorgetown, TX

Anne Finch

st. edward’s universityAustin, TX

Ashley Esparza

tarleton stateStephenville, TX

Shelby Winder

texas christian universityFort Worth, TX

Maggie Drummond

texas lutheran universitySeguin, TX

Jarred Jeter

texas tech universityLubbock, TX

Tanner GregoryShane Rae

Payton Traugott

Abilene, TXJonathan BradfordJosh HaileySara HaileyMegan Kriger

Ryan RichardsonRebecca StarkGabe SagerAlyssa Salazar

abilene christian university

trinity universityKirsten Bevan

texas state technical college

Dominic Simmons

university of dallas

William Cashion IV

university of houston

Alex FeeseHalle Jones

university of north texasDevin DakotaClaudia LeeZach Powell

Gilbert, ARGianfranco HidalgoPhil Bruxvoort

Tyler Wise

Cons. of Recording Arts & Sci

Fayetteville, AKKatie BriceKami Harris

McLean Moore

University of Arkansas

Long Beach, CAJoy Cope

california state university

Stanford, CAEmma FordKensen Shi

Shankara Anand

stanford University

Los Angeles, CAReagan Reynolds

american academy of the dramatic arts

Los Angeles, CAAustin Beltrand

university of california

Berkley, CAJingqi Wuuniversity of california

Davis, CAEllie Chapkin

university of california

Grand Junction, COLeah Vitale

colorado mesa university

Golden, COKeith Howerton

colorado school of mines

Fort Collins, COCallie Rogers

colorado state university

Boulder, COThomas Shomaker Jimmie Gilbert

university of colorado

Storrs, CTHayley Cmajdalka

University of connecticut

Washington D.C.Fernando Zambrano

george washington university

Sarasota, FLThomas Anderholm

ringling college of art+design

Orlando, FLDrummont Govan Jr

university of central florida

Atlanta, GAMatthew Lawler Dillon Moore

georgia Institute of Technology

Chicago, ILViivi Jarvi

university of chicago

Baton Rouge, LACaroline WallerLouisiana state university

Boston, MALauren Hodges

emerson college

Cambridge, MATeresa Defigueiredo

massachusetts institute of technology

North Hampton, MALinnea Hetland

smith college

Minneapolis, MNDeyu Denguniversity of minnesota

Oxford, MSSydney Wiesepape

university of mississippi

Columbia, MOLaura Everettuniversity of missouri

Ithaca, NYBrooke CohenVilja Jarvi

Betty Oliva

cornell university

Troy, NYJonathan Yax Argueta

rensselaer polytechnic institute

Rochester, NYIsabel Drukker

university of rochester

Grand Forks, NDCasandra O’Connell

university of north dakota

Columbus, OHAndy Wu

ohio state university

Stillwater, OKEmily Sloan

oklahoma state university

Norman, OKKyle Syptak

university of oklahoma

Portland, ORYasmina Marden

reed college

Pittsburgh, PASamantha Wang

carnegie mellon university

University Park, PAAmanda Matthews

pennsylvania state university

Philadelphia, PAWanda Lipps Olga Belyanina

university of pennsylvania

Pittsburg, PAHannah Jung

university of pittsburgh

Providence, RIKaley Brauer

brown university

Providence, RIAbby Lestina

providence college

Nashville, TNKelli Klein Alec Lindner

vanderbilt university

Durango, COBoone Flynn

fort lewis college

Searcy, AREthan Smithharding university

Big Spring, TXCarlton Smith

howard college

Wichita Falls, TXKyle Stewart

midwestern state university

Princeton, NJKelly Zhou

Princeton University

Nacogdoches, TXZach Grubbs Carolina Orsi

stephen f austin state university

Megan Hogan

tyler junior college

Cincinnati, OHCody Green

University of cincinnati

Universal Tech. InstituteZach Thomas

Houston, TXShamara Lewis

Texas Southern University

Oh, the places we’ll go

the roar | seniors | 09friday, may17, 2013

87% plan to pursue

higher education

a breakdown of the class of 2013’s future

541 seniors to find out their plans for next fall.

of these graduates

3%plan to join the Armed Services

blinn CollegeBrenham, TX

Joanna FieldHaley HenryDaricia HensonSean Miller

Vincent MorganDaLyric RittenhouseAmanda Schaefer

blinn CollegeBryan, TX

Nazia AhmedKelsy AlexanderBrett AllisonJarod AndersonRey BanuelosDesirae BarnettTiffany BecerraAlex BeckerKadijah BensonAmbreen BhimjiJason BishopBlakely BoriskieKirby BramsonEriele BriggsKyla BrownBraxton BunnerAustin BurnsLuke BushShane CampbellAlex CarrilloJennifer CastrejonJaylan CheshireJordan CienegaHannah DailyTadryan DavisJessica DeCosteAnna DementJuan Diaz MorenoEstefania DiazTracy DinhLauren DouglassLindsey DouglassKyle EddensFrancesca EscalonMichael EtheridgeLori EvansEric FannConnor FinkRaychell FreemanJordan FritscheErnesto GarciaAustin GardnerMisty GarnerBryn Garza-ButtonSadie GarzaKollin GoodmanMonserrat G. DiazKirstyn GreenwadePayton GrishamBen GuzmanKatherine HammondCory Harris-SchaffnerGarrett HaynesEmily HejlDiana HernandezSamantha HernandezZachary HillPayton HoldermanNatasha HolubMoses HongStewart HortonStephanie HuffKellye HunterClark JamesJacob JeanJohaneisha JeffersonGarrison JenkinsChristopher JollyJarrett JonesKyle KavanaughJasmine KennedyStephen King

Donald LancasterZachary LarsonJeremy LeeDavid LindseyChelsea LochteKrishnia LopezJared MancusoCadee MaraistMacy MartinRocio Massa ParraCorbin McClearyTaylor McDermottRyan McKinneySamantha McLeodDarian MillerChristina MonroeMaria MonsivaisAshlie MoonDeena MootiNikki MurphyChris NguyenBrandon NobleJT NormanEmily NorthcliffeChandler NorwoodShelby OverbyAshlyn PiasCameron PittsAlec PrevostJames PyeAamir QadeerTyler RegoWesley RemschelLili RendonAndrew RobertsTennessee RobinsonJD RockwellAmanda RodriguezSydney SalyersJazem SaripadaMisty SeekAna SevillaPreston ShaferSamantha ShugartKayla ShuttlesworthRoshni SiddharthaDallas SkidmoreTanner SlatenMayra Soto-CazaresAislin SoutherlandTyker SpawAusten SpeakmanLindsey SpillerAdrain SteenPorsha TaylorLanie TeinertBrooke ThomasCrystina TovarAriel TranNicole TurnerGabriel VallesStacy WilkinsonTaylor WilkinsonCody WilliamsRobert WilsonKiera WitzenmanGabriel WooleyJacob YanezNedda YazdaniKayla YendreyJohnathan YoungNigora Zuparova

Texas A&M UniversityCollege Station, TX

Bella AbouelkheirAnas Abu-OdehKatelyn AckerKohl AndersonJacob AyresJessica BallJoseph BoringAlexis BowenChandler BowersoxKensey BoykinNathan BrightJordan BrownJoshua BrownKyle BrownMadison BrownChad BurrusJames ByrdKatie ByrneKatie CannonGarret CarstensLauren CarstensHawraa ChararaKyle ChismMatthew ClineMeredith ColeFrankie ColungaJohn CulpepperDonald DennisAnne EalyMackenzie EdwardsOmar ElhassanJoshua FangValerie Flores-MeathMadeline GainesMicayla GoodenAmy GoreCurtis GriceNicole GunnelsEmily HallHenry HansenDaniel HavensMacon HeathQuianna HebertDaniel HulseCarl Ivey IVAbel JacobCheyenne JacobsonAravind JayakumarKaris JochenNicole KashChan KimKatherine KimballJosh KippRyan KreiderAlexander LampoEric LanLucas LawrenceMatthew LeggVictor Leon

Shannon LindleyShane LockettRachel LuchtSofia MarediyaCameron MarquardtJacob MathewsMary McCordClare McDougallMegan McGinnisTaylor McGinnisCalli McIntyreKatherine MillerNazish MominJoseph MotleyKyle NelsonMegan NicholsonZachary NorwoodDaniel OchoaMarcus OrzabalEsther ParulianJeremy ParulianMichal PateChris PaulusNatalie PrattLauren PrivettHaley ReimEmme RettenmaierAdian RileyAlexis RoachHeidi RockwellGustavo RomanBrandon RoquetTaylor RowlandHannah RudderRachel SalzerSean SchumacherConneley SearsJordyn SlocumZachary SmithJanson SoltisAusten StephenWally StrzelecCooper SvajdaCaroline TaylorErin TaylorSafavion TerrellBoyce UngerDiana VaughtCristina VazquezClaire WeaverRachel WelchFredrick WenckShay WilliamsLaura WoodsGrace WrightZiwei XiSu YounYichi ZhangBear Zitterich

texas a&M corpus christiCorpus Christi, TX

Taj FlorenceAmanda Ness

Lee Thomas II

Texas A&M GalvestonGalveston, TX

Taylor BoundsSam Crenshaw

Elizabeth Venuti

texas a&m kingsvilleKingsville, TX

Frank Ashley IVSarah Cruz

Joshua Hafer

texas a&m prairie viewPrairie View, TX

Mustary AkterTaylor Goodman

Christopher PerezCierra Thomas

trinity universitySan Antonio, TX

Kirsten Bevan

texas state technical collegeWaco, TX

Dominic Simmons Austin Livingston

university of dallasDallas, TX

William Cashion IV Anthony Macha

university of houstonHouston, TX

Alex FeeseHalle Jones

Kennosha Turner

university of north texasDenton, TX

Devin DakotaClaudia LeeZach Powell

Joe SpelceJessica TaylorTy Thomas

university of texasAustin, TX

Jared AlexanderMichael BettatiNafis DeenVictoria FazzinoYanni GeorghiadesNoah GieseLauren GrayKevin HeJoshua Ho

Ariana KoufterosRyan LawrenceElizabeth MedinaJorge RomeroEugene RyooMareya StearnsAkshans VermaTiffany Wu

university of texasSan Antonio, TX

Shani HayesTaylor ObergAsad Panjwani

Xiaoyi ZangCaleb Vandevanter

west texas a&m universityAmarillo, TX

Matthew Mikeal

brigham young universityProvo, Utah

Makell GarlickMcKenzie Forsyth

Tim Nixon

utah valley universityOrem, Utah

Hannah Sturtevant

james madison universityHarrisonburg, VA

Rachel Kagle

Tyler, TXMegan Hogan

tyler junior college

Bain MarzeDevon Harris

Army Rangers Air forceColton AndersonJasmine HartKarla Montes Gonzalez

ARMYBrandy CobbsQuindrake RobertsonJordan Wren

Marine corpsCody BrackGrant DikesJoseph HutsonRyan Williams

national guardChristopher Judie

navyBain MarzeDevon HarrisMitchell JacksonNathan MolchakBlake Price

Seonghoon KwonMilitary service in South Korea:

Universal Tech. InstituteHouston, TX

Zach Thomas

Oh, the places we’ll goThe Roar

contacted

most popular majors

most popular schools

22%Texas A&M University

3%University

of Texas

28%Blinn

College

Guelph, Ontariouniversity of guelph

farthest universityAngelique Gratton

12%Engineering

11%Business

5%Nursing Kinesiology

4%

are undecided or will join the

work force.10%Buthaina AlshaqsiDevin BanksJay BernheimBriley BlackshearEnrique BobadillaColton BrickeyJacob CarrellAlex CoatsJuwan Cole

Christopher CollinsCherise DoaneCaroline EddensAlex EvansKaylee EverettAustin FarmerTyler FridrichDequon GrantStormy GravesJasmine Harris

Savannah HedgeJake HodgesJanaya HolbrookYan Yan JiangXavier JonesChristopher KatelyJose MartinezJose MauricioAustin MirthEthan Olden

Clay PattersonValerie ConcholaTiyler RenchieCory RogersJoshua RushRoy SausedaMichael ShaoKiara ShepardJesse StephensTyrell ThomasDaniel Tran

Gabriele TuckerR. Uvaldo-RamirezKeith VelaZulma VigilRandy WhitedColten WinderAshleigh WoodallNazokat Zuparova

Kirby Kubelka Alexandria PetterCharles & sue’s school of hair design

Miranda CanatellaManuel & Theresa’s School of hair design

Callum England Tanner JaspersonMission trip

Maggie EllisonSterling Dance theatre in kansas

Undecided/Other

6% are enrolled in honors programs

friday, may 17, 2013

senior salutesseniors send farewells to freshmen siblings

I cannot believe you have grown to be so old. I remember when we used to sit up on top of our bunk bed and tie hangers to string and pretend we were fishermen and how we would make gigantic fortresses of blankets and chairs in the living room. Even now that we are older we still find that dancing in the living room is fun. You have been such a comfort to have at home whenever I am feeling lonely or under the weather. I could not even begin to tell you how much it hurt this year to see you in your surgery. I felt so helpless and couldn’t bear the thought of losing you. You will always be my little sister. No matter how loud, crazy, and annoying you are, I will always love you and cherish all the times we spent together. It seems like all of that is going to change now that I am leaving, but don’t worry I will be back Christmas for sure and will have so much to tell you. I will miss your quirky attitude and your obsession with Tom Cruise, and if I meet him while in Los Angeles I will definitely try to convince him to marry you. Anyways, I guess this is just me telling you to work hard in school and do your best, but don’t stress yourself out! Love you Little Sis,Joy Cope (your big sis)

I’m really ex-cited to graduate and embark upon a new chapter in my life, but I am also going to miss you a lot. Since I am at-tending Texas A&M, you’ll see me a lot less, but I’ll still be close to home. My advice to you is to work as hard as you can these next few years, because your hard work will pay off in the end. Take responsibility to do your own work and studying, because while Mom and Dad are awe-some and helpful, high school is a measure of how well you can do. Also, moderate your use of the PlayStation by making sure you finish all of your work first. Some of this advice may be hard, but it will be extremely effective if followed. I have all the faith in you to succeed throughout high school and beyond. You may be taller than me now, but you’ll always be my little brother.Love,Megan

I know you and I have many differences ap-parent enough when people are bewildered when they find out we are related but I want you to know that I will always be there for you. High school is full of secrets and hurt and classes that make you want to give up, but you must learn to persevere and become a better person out of these trials. Patience is perhaps one of the most impor-tant things to learn in high school. You can’t al-ways get what you want, and sometimes you just have to wait for the right timing to come along. And by all costs, try to avoid spats with teachers or administrators. My best advice to you would be not to overload your schedule. I know you have a competitive streak, but the worst thing you could possibly do is try to be in too many classes that you can’t han-dle. I don’t want to see you break down into tears from school-related stress. High school can be intensely frustrating, but you must remind your-self that all good experiences come with a healthy dose of negativity. And above all else, be yourself.Love, Your older (but admittedly smaller) sister, Ariana.

10 | seniors | the roar

megan and ryan nicholson

joy and jill cope

ariana and christi koufteros

Dear Christi,

Dear RYAN,

Dear JILLY BEAn,

friday, may 13, 2011friday, may 17, 2013 the roar | seniors | 11

Although it was only one year and a few short mo-ments at a time, I cherished sharing a school with you this year and getting to see you in the hallways. I remem-ber watching Cheaper by the Dozen for the first time and when Hillary Duff said about her sister “There are some days when I want to kill [her], but I would kill for her ANY day” and I thought about how that is exactly how we are. There are some days when I just really don’t want to share my clothes or time but I would share my heart any day. I know that our relationship can only grow and I can hardly wait to compete for the coolest aunt spot and stand next to each other on our wedding days. I love you to the moon and back.-Hannah P.S. Dylan you’re cool too, sorry you couldn’t be the cho-sen one this time. P.P.S. Don’t forget that THEY ALL QUACK ANYWAYS so don’t beat yourself down

Just three more years until you’re out! Until then, you’re the baby so you’ll be stuck at home alone with just mum and pops. Keep taking apart those computers and exercising your curi-osity and imagination – one day, you’ll invent or discover something amazing. If you stay posi-tive, work hard, and do your best, I know you can do anything. Don’t forget to appreciate the good things in life and remember that wherever we end up, I’ll always be here for you.Love,“Mei-mei”

From everything I’ve learned in high school is to be kind to everyone, even when they aren’t kind to me and other peo-ple. And it really does mean everybody. What matters to me is that I’m a good person. I stand up for what is right and for what I believe in, and I try so hard to care for everybody who wants my help with anything I can offer them. I care about the friendships that I made, and what I’ve learned from the friend-ships that didn’t necessarily last. I care about my family (aka you guys) and I care about being happy and bringing happiness to others. Please know how much strength it took to not write something super embarrassing in this. With much love,Taylor

AYYY. Look who made it past their freshman year! Sorry to tell you this, but freshman year is one of the easier ones; junior year will definitely be the worst. And have fun being the only Slocum at Consol the next three years, be sure to carry on the flawless image Tayler and I created. Lawlz, jokes. But on a more serious note (not really), here are some tips for the rest of your high school days: When you get your license, don’t park near anyone in the school parking lot. People will hit you and they won’t leave a note. I learned that one the hard way…I’m not bitter…Really. Don’t try to get away with Nike shorts—it never works. Always get overly excited for fieldtrips, they don’t come around that often. Don’t completely slack off until senior year. when you apply for college, only your grades up to junior year will be complete, so make sure you try up until then. Also, senioritis is real. It’s an actual disorder that you will contract, but don’t worry, everyone gets it so you won’t be getting on the struggle bus alone. Make sure you have room to take off periods your senior year, THEY ARE LIFE-SAVERS. My most recent tip, though? Wear sunscreen to senior wellness, even if it’s cold outside because if you don’t, you’ll end up with one of the worst sunburns of your life. As I sit here writing this letter I can feel the heat radiating from my face. It’s great. But I guess the most important (and most cliché) thing is to have fun, it really does go by super fast so U b3$t 3nj0y it dawg.MuCh LoV3 H0Mi3,Jordyn

HANNAH AND KYLEE RUDDER

jordyn and haley slocum

taylor, Bryson and clayton bounds

samantha and steven wang

HOMEDOGIT,

KYLEE FAITH,

Hey Stevie! BRYSON AND CLAYTON:

SENIOR SURVEYSfriday, may 17, 201312 | seniors | the roar

class of

2013

favorite teachers

from left to right:Science: Matthew YoungMath: Julie PyeSocial Studies: Jason PrattEnglish: Chauncey LindnerElective: Travis Angel

2013SENIOR SURVEYS

0

50

100

150

200

What was your favorite

year of high school and

why?

9th 10th 11th 12th

183

514635

Suin Youn: “Football and track. I was buff. “

Chandler Bowersox: “I got to spend lots of time with friends.”

Ryan Lawrence: “I discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Garrett Carstens: “Off periods, varsity football, preparing for college.”

What school rule would you change?“They should change the no fight rule. There should be areas where students can settle things with ...

...strength and stamina.”—Patrick Lenz

Impactful teachers

Mr. Hogan:

“He taught me how to keep an open mind in life.” -Calli McIntyre

Mr. Salerno:

“He has love for everyone around him.”-Cooper Svajda

Mr. Faulk:

“Faulk helped shape my artistic identity and preparedme for the future.”-Phil Bruxvoort

FAVORITE BOOKS:1) The Hunger Games2) The Great Gatsby3) 1984

ADVICE FOR NEXT YEAR’S STUDENTS?

“Run. Run fast.”-David Deng

“Don’t sleep in class. Other students will take embarrassing photos.”-Esther Lim

As a lesson learned from Disney, never forget your innocence.-Gustavo Roman Jr.

Memorable Places at Consol

all the desks“They were great pillows.”

-Janson Soltis

exit doors“Because I like to leave.”

-Aaron Cruz

theater“It’s where we create new worlds.”

-Maddie Becker

I’ll be spending the next year as a freshman at the University of Rochester.

(Knock on wood.)If I were given a free year though, I

think I’d spend it rereading The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger.

I once heard a teacher say that The Catcher in the Rye only makes sense to certain boys confused about certain subjects at a certain time in their life. I read the book to spite him. I didn’t get it. It’s not that I thought it was dumb. I could sense the brilliance, but it was behind a screen that I couldn’t remove. Having asked certain other teachers about it since then, I know why Holden asks where ducks go in the winter, why he wears a red hunting cap and why he uses the word “phony” so much. With all respect to the first teacher, though, I doubt it was my gender that kept me from comprehending Holden’s crisis, more so my own way of life and thought.

I’ve had way too much confidence in what I want to do with myself to question what I should currently be doing. I first wanted to become a full-fledged, tweed coat, only-uses-a-typewriter author in the second grade, when I read a book about hot air balloons. Entering high school, I wanted a MacBook Pro, but the basic gist of my dreams was the same, if not having only grown more. As it does to everyone, high school had opened my unwilling eyes to the rest of the world. By my junior year, I had established that I wanted to write, and I wanted to help people, and through books and Microsoft Word, I had begun to take the necessary steps to achieving my goal.

But I would still, just really appreciate an existential crisis or something. As New York’s fictional finest, Holly Golightly (from Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote) would say, I’ve never had an existential crisis before. I haven’t had anything threaten my life or make me question what I do, and like the Pulitzer prize winning, all around

super-fly guy, Cormac McCarthy has said, nothing is worth writing or reading if it isn’t about life and death. Nothing has affected me like this, not in the way that I could write a novel about, as far as I know. So, I stick my wet head out the window and hope to catch a crisis.

In all seriousness, though, I know this plea means nothing, and not only because my audience is an assortment of teachers, friends, unknown peers and eventually ILPC judges, and not the existential crisis giving gods. What I want can’t be manufactured. Life can’t be learned in a

classroom, it can’t really be learned at all, so much as it can only be experienced. I want be impactful and I want it to happen with my writing, such as the way

Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn changed so much. I know this much already, but I still have to find what I want to change exactly, and to do that, I have to change and mature myself, perhaps in a way that even rereading The Catcher in the Rye cannot do.

Considering this, I guess I won’t run out on my parents, steal a car, take my two dogs and live on Luna bars in Giddings, Texas while working as a waitress at the 290 Grind coffee shop on 173 East Austin Street. (No more hints at how close I was to actually doing that.) Instead, I’ll go to the University of Rochester (knock on wood) and just hope that the year ends with my being different than when it began. I can only spend my time welcoming whatever change the universe gives me and then returning the favor and I can only advise everyone else to do the same.

This fall, Isabel will attend the University of Rochester as an English major, where she will deeply regret no longer having to count mountains of surveys. Additionally, she will miss the newspaper staff and the excellent English teachers she has gotten to know through it.

friday, may 17, 2013

Lack of existential crisis causes concern, distress

the roar | seniors | 13

Isabel drukkeropinions editor

Plans remain uncertain as graduation approachesWhen I was in elementary school, I

wanted to be a courtroom lawyer…and save the South American rainforests. In my mind, those two things were connected, though I’m not sure how. I guess I wanted to be like the Lorax, but in suit. When I moved out of my short-lived Save The Earth phase, I decided that teaching was the job for me. This was another miss, because even when I was a kid, I was scared to death of kids. (Children are terrifying. They don’t understand anything but they always look at you like they know something you don’t know. Tell me your secrets, children.) The idea of being a librarian was dropped for roughly the same reason. But that was then. Now I’m about to graduate from high school, I’m an adult in the Wizarding World and I’ll be a legal adult muggle in three months. In August, I’m headed to college at Southwestern University.

So what do I want to do with the rest of my life?

I’ll let you know when I figure it out.That’s right. I’m the kid who doesn’t

know what she wants to do after college— or during college, if we’re being super duper honest. If you’re like me, you’ve grown to resent those kids who already have their lives together, almost as much as adults at social events or family reunions whose first question always seems to be “so now that you’re graduating from high school WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH THE REMAINING SIXTY-ODD YEARS OF LIFE ALOTTED TO YOU, ESPECIALLY THE NEXT FOUR?” (This is hyperbole, but only slightly.) I’ve been in community theatre for eight years, I’m on my school’s newspaper staff, I recently cut off a decent-sized portion of my hair, and am completely incapable of crossing my eyes, but does anyone ever begin a conversation by asking me about those things? Nope. (With the exception of the eye-crossing thing, which my dad often uses to introduce me to his coworkers.) I always get the questions about the future, and honestly, it kind of freaks me out.

People always say the years immediately after high school will be amazing, and I’m

willing to believe that, if it’s only true by comparison, but as my graduation date approaches, the reality of leaving Consol and College Station is becoming more…real. In my time at Consol I’ve held onto title as The Chick Who Reads All The Time, probably helped by the fact I’ve spent roughly a bajillion hours in the school library. In the last four years I’ve also realized what the big deal with Doctor Who is (siriusly, go watch it right now) befriended people who hate(d) me and dropped twenty pounds. From my backpack. But next semester, I’ll be gone, and so will my library street cred, which I firmly maintain is a thing. And (slightly) more importantly, next year, I won’t have my BVTROUPE family. I won’t have my newspaper family. I won’t have my Interp family. Not in the same city/building, anyway.

I realize I’m moving to a different city in Texas and not the moon or Nebraska or someplace ridiculous, but you’re sort of a captive audience (unless you turn the page or put down this paper, which you shouldn’t do because SHAME ON YOU), so bear with me. To all the teachers who’ve put up with me—Wellmann, Williams, Rodriguez, and everyone else—thank you. To my amazing friends who are way cooler than me—Banana, Sara, Claire and every single interper or TROUPEr who might read this—thank you. To everyone reading this— (except for you. You probably don’t know who you are, and I think that’s for the best, but just know I’ve excluded you specifically) — thank you.

If you see me next year, ask me what I’m up to. I’ll totally tell you.

But compliment my hair first. I guarantee it’ll look pretty cute.

Anne is attending the University of Southwestern next year, majoring in English (probably). Next year she’ll miss all the stuff listed above, as well as the awesome posters and people in the newspaper lab.

anne finchassistant editor

“I’ve had way too much confidence in what I want to do with myself to question I should currently be doing.”

“I can’t wait to get out of here.”“I’m done with high school.”“Can I leave yet?”We’ve all said it. We’ve all thought

it. We’ve all counted down to summer, to graduation, to the end of this chapter in our lives. But when it’s all said and done, I’m not sure I’ll feel the same way. Maybe I should have attended a Sadie Hawkins Dance. Maybe I should have taken certain classes. Maybe I should have saved my GPA and not taken others. Maybe I should have tried more. Or less. But I don’t want to be trapped in looking at what I should have and could have done rather than what I did do, so I’d like to take some time to thank those of you who have made my high school e x p e r i e n c e worthwhile.

To the ten most beautiful, hilarious, and strange girls at Consol:

Thank you for dealing with me at midnight when I dance in the street with my arms in my sweater, hitting you all with my sleeves. And thank you for being weird with me. Do you remember when we tried to curl a Disney Princess doll’s hair and created a disaster? Or when we cut open a Mexican jumping bean? Or when we drove around town with the horse mask to see how many weird looks we could get? And thank you for letting me read and sometimes write in your spiral in middle school, because if I learned anything in science class – it’s definitely that “Joe Jonas is totes sensi.”

To the one that makes me laugh:Thank you for super gluing my pencil

to a desk junior year. I can’t think of a better way to become friends with anyone.

And thank you for dealing with me when I’m too sad and when I’m too happy and whatever else I am.

To the one who is a lot like me:Thank you for spending too much

time in the newspaper lab with me. And for the times we’ve matched with our v-necks and rolled up jeans or run into each other in public, buying food for our vegetarian friends.

To the crazy one that makes my bad days better:

Thank you for ironing my shirts on every school trip. And thank you for buying a JMU shirt to match me. I won’t thank you for liking random Facebook statuses on my account.

To my t e a c h e r s (especial ly senior year):

T h a n k you for putting up with my late work, and more often than that – my missing

work. Thank you for not hating me when I fall asleep in your class, and for letting me sleep.

To my parents:Thank you for always believing in me.

Thank you for putting up with me being tired and stressed most of the time. And thank you for encouraging me to take chances and make the most out of my experiences in high school.

Maybe I’ve wished too many times to graduate now and maybe I could wait, just a little bit.

It’s now May 17, 2013 and time flies.Rachel is attending James Madison

University in the fall, majoring in Pre-med. Leaving the Roar, she’s sad to know that she’ll no longer sprint out of school with Devin to make Happy Hour at Sonic to get two Vanilla Dr. Pepper’s- easy on the ice. She’s sad to know that she won’t come back to school for unofficial late nights and that overall, she will no longer be living in the school newspaper lab.

friday, may 17, 2013

Peculiar friendships cancel out high school blues

14 | the roar | seniors

rachel kagleexecutive editor

Mother’s patience leads to realization of bigger truthsI’m Chinese. Now this may come as a shock, but my

parents are also Chinese.Mom and Dad grew up in China and

moved to Texas about twenty five years ago. That’s when my sister and I came along: the first generation of our family to be born outside of China. In my earlier years, at home, we spoke in Chinese and ate Chinese food, but outside of the house our lives were perfectly American. With time though, that balance shifted. Maybe it was my American schooling or environment in general, but English began to replace Mandarin, and I would have more play dates with my white friends.

I can’t place my finger on when I began to notice my mother’s strong accent, or if there ever really was a distinct moment (Dad moved here before my mom did, so his accent is slight compared to hers). Once I got to fifth grade my priority became fitting in with all of my friends, a good portion of which were white. Every week day for eight hours, I would go to school and hear countless accent-free voices, then come home to my mom. Gradually, my mother’s accent began to irritate me, just because it was different. Why doesn’t my mom just talk normally? It’s not that hard, I’d say to myself. In middle school, I started to correct my mom on words she mispronounced severely. It was more of a gentle reminder initially, but I’m an impatient person by nature. Over time I began to get fed up by her slight mistakes, snapping and saying “it’s refrigerator, Mom. Not rifrerator or whatever you’re saying.” I knew that her having an accent was reasonable, growing up in China for three decades. But I would brush that off, because I’d had a bad day and she was frustrating me.

By high school, little had changed. A few months ago my mom and I were running errands. The last thing on our shopping list was a flyswatter and we couldn’t find one (seriously, try and think in what aisle you would find a flyswatter). So she said, “Janet, why don’t you go ask one of the workers where it is? I don’t want

to embarrass you with my accent.” No sarcasm, no accusing tone, just an honest statement. I was so overcome with guilt that I could barely manage a “sure, Mom.”

In the years that I’ve berated my mom with snappy remarks on her accent, she has never said a word about it. She’s never pointed the complete hypocrisy in my comments because my Mandarin sounds more like Yiddish. She’s never grounded me in retaliation. She has quietly stood there and taken my cutting words, and continued to do my laundry, pay for my gas, and cook meatloaf for dinner sometimes as a surprise because Janet, it’s your favorite and you seem stressed. And each and every day, she makes sure to say I love you I’m proud of you before I go to school and before I go to bed.

Every New Year, I say to myself “this is the year I’m going to stop being so mean to Mom.” But I get aggravated over something trivial the next day and my resolve is broken. Now I find myself with no more years to try and be nice to Mom. I’ve run out of chances, run out of time. In the time that I was seething about a minor verbal slip-up, I could have been watching Ellen with her (her favorite show). I could have been talking about what she wants to do next with her garden. I could have been just chatting with her and I might have realized earlier what a bright, funny person she is. I guess the main message of this little memoir goes to all of you non-seniors. Every teenager is going to snap at their parents (unless you are one of those people who are filled to the brim with patience, which if you are, I salute you). For the rest of us, that whole argumentative stage is just a part of growing up. Even though that’s true, try to remember that when you become an adult and say goodbye to the people who raised you, the way your mom says refrigerator really won’t matter.

Janet is attending Rice University in the fall, majoring in architecture. Janet will miss late nights in the newspaper lab with loud music and lot’s of food.

janet niphotography editor

“...I don’t want to be trapped in looking at what I should have and could have done...”

I hate writing. I hate it.Photography isn’t my passion. I don’t

want to be a graphic designer. And the last thing I want to be is a journalist.

For the last two and a half years, I have submerged myself in all things jour-nalism at Consol. My involvement on the Newspaper and Yearbook staff has made an enormous impact on my high school career, and I can easily say it was the best thing I did in high school.

I’m so thankful for e v e r y t h i n g I’ve been lucky to learn and experi-ence. I’ve been taught how to interview, write, design, and photo-graph and be successful doing it. I have mastered programs on the computer that some people don’t even know ex-ist. I’ve been able to talk to people about their passions and goals. I’ve been lucky enough to speak to students from every side of the social spectrum; students who, without my involvement in these staffs, I would have never known existed. My best friends work on these staffs with me. Peo-ple I never would have spoken to before have become my favorite people at school. They are the people who push me to be better, and the people who calm me down when I’m too stressed from being pushed.

I love Newspaper. I love Yearbook. The experiences I’ve had are unforget-table, and I’ve learned so much. The most important thing I’ve learned, though, is that I don’t want to do any of this after high school. Between all the interviews, I’ve managed to realize that I don’t want to write stories as a career. I love know-ing how to talk to people, and how to use words to make an impact. I admire people who love it; it’s just not for me. I’ve taken thousands of photos at countless football games, and it’s showed me that I don’t

want to view everything from the sideline for the rest of my life. I’ve designed twenty yearbook spreads and seventeen news-paper pages, and I’m beginning to look forward to a future where I can go a day without thinking about picas or fonts.

I’ve had an amazing experience in high school. I absolutely love the Year-book and Newspaper staff. I wouldn’t take being involved back for anything. It was the best way I could have spent my time.

I’m most grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to realize that this isn’t my calling. It’s only because of my involvement in these staffs that I know now that I don’t want to do

this as a career.Everyone tells you that you should

try new things in high school, because you could find an unexpected passion. More than likely, you’re going to learn what you don’t like, that you’ve hated go-ing to stupid Student Council meetings and sitting at cold football games. Don’t be afraid to be negative. High school isn’t all mushy gushy, it isn’t perfect.

High school is the last period in your life where time isn’t the most valuable thing you have. Waste your time. Waste your time learning anything and every-thing possible, get out and be open mind-ed, discover new passions, new interests, have adventures. Most importantly, figure out what you don’t want to do. The minute we walk the stage, we are forced to make decisions; decisions that impact the rest of our lives. Take advantage of high school and cross some things off the endless list of possibilities.

Devin will attending the University of North Texas, majoring in Radio/TV/Film. She has truly found a home through news-paper and will miss the immediate friend-ship she made with everyone on staff.

friday, may 17, 2013

Moderation provides enjoyable experience, no regrets

the roar | seniors | 15

devin dakotasenior editor

High school reveals unknown distastes

Laura everetteditor-in-chief

In two weeks, I will cross the stage with the other 650-odd kids in my graduating class. Plenty of them will have “more to show for themselves” with high GPAs, Ivy League schools wanting them, and Summa Cum Laude I’m Super Smart collars around their necks.

While I am not going to Harvard or MIT in the fall, I would still consider myself successful. My acceptance into a highly esteemed journalism program more than satisfies any standards I had previously set for myself. Despite this, I measure my success in high school by far more than the 3.whatever I’m going to carry around on my final transcript.

Because, if you’ll allow me to indulge in the stereotype, I’m sure many of these Top Ten Percenters have spent countless nights perfecting essays that they wrote two weeks before the deadline and pulling all nighters to study for some physics test when they are already making a 98 in the class. Personally, I’ve never had to come to school with a thermos of coffee and red, tired eyes from pulling an all-nighter. Sure, I’ve cried over grades during the first few years of high school, but then it clicked. I was able to find a balance.

Sophomore year, we read John Knowles’ “A Separate Peace.” Over the summer, the characters wreak havoc and the rules become rather bent. In one particular passage, the narrator unapologetically describes how he regretted not taking more advantage of the lack of responsibility he had. Out of all the books you’ll read for English, this passage should be remembered, because high school is indeed the only time in our lives where we will have so many safety nets. So, make the most out of it. Everyone says that, sure, but with reason. You’ll learn far more in high school if you’re not bogged down with grades. You’re not going to “find yourself ” in a chemistry textbook, but you’re certainly going to learn through social interactions and mistakes.

Sure, I’ll probably never know physics. (And let’s get real - that’s almost impressive

considering I’ve taken it both junior and senior year.) But, that’s partially because it is the last class of the day and predominantly because I sit next to my best friend, Katie, and quite frankly, who’s going with who to prom is far more important.

But is prom really more important than physics? From my parents perspective, definitely not. But, ultimately, at this point in my life, I am better served by talking to Katie about what he-said-she-said than learning Faraday’s laws. There are a couple valid reasons: 1.) after narrowing down my career choices to exclude sciences, I am quite certain I won’t be using physics or calculus on a daily basis, and if for whatever reason I do, god help me; 2.) I’ve got my whole life to learn physics if and when the need presents itself (here’s hoping it doesn’t!), but I’ve only got a few weeks left of high school, only one more high school dance, and only one more class with Katie before we move to separate states. So, yes, paying attention in class and working towards those 4.7 GPAs is important, but not at the cost of missing valuable facets of high school life.

While I’m the biggest advocate of scrambling to complete homework at the last minute, I would in no way encourage anyone to completely skive off school. The key is to find that balance without sacrificing moments you can’t get back.

So, yes, work hard towards getting into that dream school, but keep in mind that“it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” Because, ultimately, when I look back on high school, I’m going to look through the 13,000+ photos in my iLibrary before I pull out old tests and homework assignments.

Laura is attending the University of Missouri in the fall, where she will major in journalism. She will be greatly missed as the Roar’s 2012-2013 editor-in-chief. She herself will miss the newspaper, her unofficial late nights with Rachel and Devin in the newspaper lab and putting things off until the absolute, very last moment. The last part, she admits will probably continue throughout college.

“Don’t be afraid to be negative.”