Lauren Kennedy

Lauren Kennedy - Class of 2019

I first became attached to volleyball when my uncle Pete was diagnosed with breast cancer. My favorite memory is playing volleyball with him. When he passed away, my family and I did fundraisers and tournaments. When I came into 8th grade, I was on the high school team, and I fell in love with the group of girls. I liked the team aspects better at first, but then that made me fall in love with the sport as a whole. Without volleyball, I wouldn't have met the same group of girls and I probably wouldn't be as outgoing. There is a lot of pressure on me to play in college by my parents, and I’ve had meetings with division one and division three schools, but I don’t know if I want to play. In college, you’re supposed to find who you wanna be. I don’t really want to play in college because I don’t wanna give up everything to play a sport that probably won't get me anywhere. I mean, I’d wanna get somewhere with volleyball, but it’s just a ton of pressure and I need to focus on school. I feel like that’s more important now. I’ve made my parents happy by meeting with coaches, but at the end of the day it’s really my decision, not theirs. I want to go far away for school. I want to start my own company when I’m older and I feel like if I go far away, it will give me new creative ideas. I’d like to be my own boss, and I think that going off on my own and seeing what I want to do would help me find myself. I feel like I’m held back by, I don’t know, this community. It’s so small and you grow up with the same people and don’t really get to try new things. Volleyball has made me a better person because you grow with your team and become a unit and work as one, but at the same time it has lots of drawbacks for my future. The pressure from my parents makes me try even harder, and if I have scouts at the game, then it puts all of the attention on me and I don’t know, it’s kind of scary to think about. I’m only sixteen, and I don't want to think about the rest of my life right now. I want to live in the moment.

Ben DiBello

Ben DiBello - Class of 2019

On a Sunday over February Break this year, I was bored and cleaning my room to occupy myself when I found my old handheld GPS. I was looking through the GPS to see if anything may have been saved, when I remembered my GPS could locate geocaches*. Using my GPS, I found a geocache only an hour’s walk away. Having not much else to do, I packed a few items in my bag and headed out.

After walking for about an hour, my GPS began leading me down a trail somewhere by the town wharf. After walking down the trail for close to ten minutes, I found a clearing with a big rock with some plaque on it, and the GPS said the geocache was close. After about twenty minutes of searching, I found an opened Tupperware container that wasn’t in the spot indicated by the GPS. There were a few items strewn around the container, including a plastic top and a notebook with names presumably written inside, but the pages were too wet to be able to tell. I put the items back into the container and buried it. Of course, at that moment, my GPS died. I turned around to go back on the trail, but the trail isn’t there. I must have walked a lot farther than I thought when looking for the geocache, so I spent a little more time trying to find the trail. After a few minutes, I gave up and walked in the direction I thought I came from.

After even more walking, I found a group of huge stone buildings in a field. More than anything, I was confused because I knew I must have been near the town wharf but I have never seen these buildings before. I began walking around these buildings to see if I could find anyone, but no one was around. I ended up coming across these two nuns, and I realized I came out at the Sisters of Notre Dame on Jeffrey's Neck Road. To escape any possible embarrassment this may have brought, I tried my best to avoid getting caught while I found the exit. Thankfully, I found the exit without getting caught, but I must have spent over three hours geocaching and getting lost.

*Geocaches are containers of objects that people bury/hide at random locations whose coordinates are then posted online. These geocaches can be filled with anything, but the general rule is that you take one item to leave another, and when you find the geocache, you sign your name in the notebook.

Carter Tracy

Carter Tracy - Class of 2019

Open on Maryland, June 25th, 2001, Carter Kevin Tracy is born. Son of John and Jacquil Tracy, the world is now a better place. I had a good life in Maryland; full of friendship. But when I was 4, we moved to Massachusetts for my dad's job. Best decision I ever made. I went to preschool at Small World. I had a lot of friends there and everybody was really nice to me. Then, I went to kindergarten at Doyon. In third grade I met Cole. Him, my brother and I have been best friends ever since. I was always the brightest lightbulb in the department store in Doyon, excelling in intelligence and even more in friendship. I started playing sports, like soccer, football, lacrosse and tennis. I was loving it. I had long flowing hair. Then when I entered middle school, I made even more friends, but I kinda sucked at sports. I cruised through middle school and then high school came around. As a freshman, I played football in the fall and tennis in the spring. Towards the end I was playing the best tennis of my life. Then over the summer, I sat back relaxed and worked out for football. I ended up starting both ways on JV during sophomore year. School's going good so far this year and that’s where we’re leaving off thus far in my life's journey.

Alex Rishi

Alex Rishi - Class of 2019

People always look at me as the funny guy who does funny things in class, or cracks a joke every now and then. But I'm not always like that. From 5th to 7th grade I lost three of my grandparents. It was really tough but I found a way to put on that happy face. Recently, I have been struggling with anxiety and depression. That is why I quit the sports that I once did. I was anxious about them and was worried that I wouldn't be able to focus on school or that I would do poorly in them. It has been tough but I am trying to push through, and I just keep on going.

Cole Schildkraut

Cole Schildkraut - Class of 2019

I don’t remember my childhood. I moved here when I was 9 and I can’t remember anything before that. That was over half my life that I don’t even remember, which is weird to think about. Though there are a few things that I do remember. I remember waiting when my sister was born and the nurse came over and yelled at us. I woke up and had heartburn. I just remember it was stinging in my throat. But other than that, I don’t remember that day. I remember the potato wedges at the Albertson’s in Santa Fe, because when I was younger my parents used to just put me in the cart and give me those so I would shut up while we’d go shopping. I remember the public pool. We went there like 5 times and it was disgusting. I remember my swing set. I used to sit on it and you know how you twist yourself up? Yeah, I used to unravel and wheeeeeee. And spin. I don’t remember my house much. I don’t remember school. I remember some people but I don’t remember some people. I kept in touch with one girl a while ago but I haven’t talked to her in years. She was one of my best friends but I don’t remember anything about that. Except I remember one day we just sat there on the back porch on the swing looking out over the desert. I remember that: my backyard was just trees and sand. 

That was it.

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.

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.