Currently Browsing: In-Depth
Caz’s Comments–New priorities
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Written by Lewis 'Caz' Tidrick
School has started. This year is going to be an interesting one. But I’m still excited nonetheless. I’m going into the school year prepared and definitely a lot more optimistic than I normally am about school being back in session.
Though when I got my schedule I was unpleasantly surprised to see that I didn’t have Journalism anywhere on my schedule! I soon found out that a few others were in the same position as me and we had only been given one elective: Ceramics 2. And though I had been hoping I would get Ceramics as one of my electives, I hadn’t hoped it would be my one and only elective.
But despite that minor setback, I still have high hopes for this school year. And c’mon, I’m a sophomore! At least I’m not a freshman anymore. I know how this school works. I know my place in the social standing. I know my place in the classroom. And, most importantly, I know how much I miss CAPA.
Although I’ve begun to enjoy Obama, partially because it doesn’t have nine floors, I still miss the community I came from. And let me set the record straight about why I’m here and where I came from. When I was in elementary school I went to Carmalt, inBrookline, which is a K-8 school. I made many great friends that I hope to stay friends with until the day I die. But I began branching out when I decided to leave Carmalt and go to Rogers CAPA for middle school.
Starting at a new school was something I hadn’t experienced since Kindergarten. And Kindergarten is easy. 6th grade, on the other hand? Not as easy. I went through most of 6th grade with a core group of friends which I wasn’t used to. I had been friends with many people at Carmalt and now belonging to such a small group of friends was definitely a new experience, but I welcomed it with open arms.
As my middle school career progressed, I began making new friends. 7th grade introduced me to some people that I will be friends with for a very long time and several people who I wish I could still consider friends. That was definitely one of my favorite school years ever.
Eighth grade was the year that Rogers& the CAPA high school merged downtown and became CAPA 6-12. That was a new experience entirely, but I still continued to make friends and stay friends with the ones I had been friends with since 6th and 7th grade. Then “audition season” came along.
Sadly enough, CAPA decided to not allow any students to be “grandfathered in” and get into the high school without having to re-audition. And while in the middle school I had been a Media Major. Being a Media Major dealt with photography, filming, editing, and dealt greatly with the making of the yearbooks every year. It was a fun, modern major that had a small amount of students which made it easy and simple to get to know everyone.
The CAPA high school (and now all of CAPA 6-12) does and did not have a media major. Those activities were absorbed into the larger Visual Arts major. And despite the fact that I have been taking art classes every year (plus an art class every Saturday with Farhan since 5th grade), I am still not that great at drawing and the like which are the main focuses of the Visual Arts major. And although they were supposed to factor that into my auditions scoring, I didn’t get in. I was rejected from attending CAPA for high school. Not put on a waiting list. Just simply rejected.
So then it came down to the lottery system to choose for me between Allderdice’s Pre-engineering program or Obama’s International Baccalaureate program. Even though I had no idea what the IB program was at the time, my parents knew that it was a better fit for me than my home school, Brashear.
So here I am, a little over a year later, preparing to go into the second week of school in my sophomore year. So don’t look at school as though it’s hell. Look at school as though it’s a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity. I know that seems all cheesy and stuff, but it’s true. It’s one of the reasons I plan on getting my stuff together and doing good this year. I want a good future, and although some of us might say, “Oh who cares. It’s only school,” I want to get into a good college and get a degree in either photography or journalism. So quite honestly, I can’t wait for the future. I think this will be a good year. Have fun, everyone. I know I will.
Disclaimer: No I am not implying that this is my last column. But due to my new priorities, I may be writing fewer columns than I did last year. But that does not lessen my devotion to The Eagle.
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Currently Browsing: Student News
Culture Clash ’11–Missing America
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Written by Jens Kopper
Note: Our old friend Jens Kopper had an opportunity to go to Venice, Italy for vacation this summer. After a while, it only made him miss America more.
Culture Clash: The Reverse
Some of you might remember me, some won’t. But I was at theObamaAcademylast year for an exchange student year. Now, back in my home country,Germany, I have to fit myself back into my German lifestyle, which can be hard sometimes.
Some American things are just too important to me, but so far out of reach for me. Turning on the TV to watch some football isn’t an easy thing to do here. It took me a while to figure out how I could watch some American sports, but eventually I found a way, and enjoyed the NFL preseason.
But that’s by far not the only thing that changed.
My family life changed and for example, my brother got a license and a car now, and has to work. My friends changed, and so did I, which makes it hard sometimes to find similar things to do. My school is about to start next week, and I’m a little behind in some subjects, which could make it a little different. But overall I’m still happy to be home. Of course I really miss the big city life, living in an under-10.000 people village. So it was good to have a little vacation to get out of my whole “being back stress.”
My family and I went down toVenice,Italy. We had nice weather, perfect to get a little tanned, and had a fun time together. But as time moved on, it began to be a little boring, so I searched the whole coast for a New York Times, so I could get some American news.
After a few days I just gave up. It was really frustrating not finding it, and because I didn’t have my laptop with me, I really had no idea what was gong on, and that was when Hurricane Irene was about to come to the east coast. Luckily, I read later at home, that nothing real major like at Hurricane Katrina happened.
I hope I can do a little “Back-Home Report” frequently and I want to wish good luck to everybody for this school year. See you soon…
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