Meet the Team

Friday, October 21, 2016

Evan Kneedler

Evan Kneedler - Class of 2020
When I was in 4th grade, I was playing soccer with my friend James. He got injured about halfway through the game and ended up having broken his wrist, but I didn’t know it at the time. I was playing goalie and we were loosing like 0-6 so I didn’t really care, so I pretended to dive into the goal post and hurt my wrist so I could sit out with James. At the end of the game, the coach came up to my mom and told her that he thought I should go to the hospital because he thought that I was really injured. I said that it wasn’t necessary, but my mom’s a nurse so she said that I had to go get 
x-rays. I got x-rays done, and it turned out that I actually had a broken wrist the whole time. I went back like 6 months later to get my cast off and it was still broken so I just live with both broken wrists.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Brian Lucchesi

Brian Lucchesi - Class of 2019
Within the past 3 or 4 months I’ve felt like I’ve been falling to the background of my parents’ attention. With my siblings being 2 ½, they need a lot of attention. I’m 16. I don’t need that much attention nor do I require it. But, going from doing stuff with my parents over the weekend to sitting in the house for the weekend is a complete 180 from what I’m used to having. That’s different; upsetting at times, because then when I ask to go away and do something with friends, my parents are upset since I’m not spending time with them. The conflict has struck between my father and I, and has now given him a reason to be upset with me. The time that I spend there is uninteresting, which makes me want to leave early. It’s a vicious cycle and trade-off, because I love my brother and sister but time there becomes tedious.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Saba Whitmore

Saba Whitmore - Class of 2017
When I was 14, I realized that I was gay. As an awkward 8th grader trying to figure out why I thought girls were attractive, this was the hardest thing to accept. No one ever talks about sexuality and what to do if you're questioning yourself. So I spent the next four years in absolute fear and self-loathing because I couldn't accept it. I didn't want to be the "lesbian" of my grade. In my experience, people always joked about stuff like that. No one ever took it seriously. As a direct result, I spent from 8th grade to the summer before senior year hating myself for it and creating a lot of fear, anxiety, and depression.

I didn't get the courage to tell anyone until my junior year where I spent a solid 2 hours crying over FaceTime to my best friend and swearing her to secrecy until I was ready to tell anyone else. Five more cole people later, and the fear slowly started to fade away. Knowing the people you care about accept you for something you couldn't even accept yourself for, is the best feeling in the world. It was the biggest weight of depression and anxiety lifted off of my shoulders.

Coming out wasn't a matter of having everyone accept me, it was a matter of being ready for that kind of judgment and owning it no matter what was said about me. So here I am senior year, out and proud, and it's one of the best decisions of my life. I don't care what others think of me; therefore, the only opinion of me that matters is mine. And I love me!

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Luke Dione

Luke Dione - Class of 2020
I’ve been playing basketball my whole life. When it came time for travel season, I really thought I was going to make the A team because I’ve been practicing so much. When I finally found out what team I was on, I made the B team. I was kind of disappointed but I thought it would be a good experience. So I practiced more and more, and the year after I tried as hard as I could and still made the B team. The third year, I tried out for the third time and I finally made the A team. I was really happy because from the B team I thought I’d learn a lot, but when I finally went on the A team there was just so much more. It had an impact on my life because when I found out I was on the B team, it didn’t make me happy since I’ve been practicing for so long. When I finally made the A team, I was just really happy. I did really good the first year, but I knew I could do better so I wanted to practice even more. Last year, I tried out and made the A team again and I did really well. I didn’t even know I could do that good. I was just really proud of myself.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Maddie Wilson

Maddie Wilson - Class of 2019
Okay, hear me out. I get good grades and I feel like I am the poster child for what a student should be. However, if I had it my way and I could control myself, I would be wild (not disrespectful) and just a fun person to have in class that would be average and get B’s or something. I wouldn’t care and let things get in my head and everything. I wouldn’t be upset if I got anything less than an A, and it would just be about the ride and not about the grade, you know? Honestly, I hate being the smart one because I feel like being the smart one is such a dominant trait that people associate you with, but it’s so meaningless and it’s so empty. If I had the option between being the fun one or being the smart one, and I would be either fun or smart, I would choose fun all the way. I’d rather be a good person to hang out with or be known for something that’s more about my personality and more about who I am on the inside, than about the standards that I need to achieve on the outside.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Pat Gillis

Pat Gillis - Class of 2018
I was born on leap year. It happens every four years. February 29th is the date, and actually when I was 8 years old I was on the front of the Ipswich Chronicle for being born on leap year because actually only 1 in 29 people in America are born on leap year. That's a true fact. I face a lot of oppression for being born on leap year, you know, like when I went to get my permit they actually wouldn't let me get it because I'm not actually 16. So I protested outside the RMV. But other than that, it gets me a lot of sympathy from places. I can still go on kiddie rides if I want to; the ones that are still fun but they don't let you on. But then I'm also 6 feet tall so I can go on the big kid ones, too. Other than that, being 4 is pretty savage because I get birthday cards that you give to toddlers but they just write my name on them like, "Happy 4th Birthday!" and people will add like a .5 to the end of it or something depending on when I was born. But yeah, it's lit!