Vol 76 Senior Issue

THE

DART

THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWS SOURCE OF ST. TERESA'S ACADEMY | KANSAS CITY, MO

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P. 6 STAR SPOTLIGHT: KAMRYN LANIER

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P. 8 GOING GREEK: FINDING SISTERHOOD BEYOND STA

SIGNING OFF

CONTENTS

4. CLASS OF 2017 WRAPS UP SION RIVALRY WITH POWDERPUFF GAME

6. STAR SPOTLIGHT: KAMRYN LANIER 8. GOING GREEK: FINDING SISTERHOOD BEYOND STA

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10. MAPPING OUT THE FUTURE: WHERE SENIORS ARE HEADED TO COLLEGE

12. COLUMN: THINK YOU'VE OUTGROWN THE ACADEMY? THINK AGAIN.

ON THE COVER

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13. COLUMN: LIPSTICK LEGEND 14. LAST LOOK: CLASS OF 2017'S SENIOR YEAR IN PHOTOS May 18, 2017

14 Cover design and photo by Zoe Butler Backpage design by Anne Claire Tangen

Letter

FROM THE EDITORS

THE STAFF 2016-2017

Adviser Brad Lewis Editors-in-Chief Linden O'Brien Williams Helen Wheatley

WEB

Managing Web Editor Madi Winfield Scheduling Editor Katie Gregory Social Media Editor Anna Louise Sih Social Media Team Member Kate Jones Breaking News Editor Victoria Cahoon Multimedia Editor Alex Davis

EXPLORING FUNDING FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Hey readers, Like clock-work, another class has come to the final stages of their high school career. With just a few steps before seniors can consider themselves high school graduates, we take this time to try and highlight the bright light this senior class is.

Even though it has only been a little over a week since the seniors’ last day, it already feels like another world. No longer do you hear Michaela Coleman screaming (good-heartedly) at her friends across the quad or get what felt like weekly emails from Cassie Hayes saying “it’s gone.”

Although our beloved seniors will be missed, their legacy will live on forever.

Be sure to check out Gabby Staker’s informative coverage of the preparation behind this year’s annual powder puff game against Sion, what she refers to as their “last hurrah.”

Also look out for Katie Gregory’s Q&A with senior Kamryn Lanier, who is switching back to playing soccer in college, after not having played since freshman year. She has kept in shape by playing lacrosse, but will still need to deal with the transition back to soccer.

We also have Julia Kerrigan’s in depth feature on sororities - the history, alumna’s perspective and teachers’

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memories. With Greek Life being a major role in many college students’ lives, this story covers the importance of keeping the sisterhood alive even after graduating STA. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors - we will be seeing a lot more from you.

Be ready for fresh ideas and an even better Dart for next year. We have full faith that our well-equipped staff will be able to handle covering the excitement that always seems to make up STA. But as we pay tribute to our seniors, we must thank two seniors that have played important roles in our lives. Linden and Helen, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everything you have done for us. We truly would not be here without your mentorship and friendship.

Most everything we know about the Dart is from your two’s expertise in leadership.

We have big shoes to fill next year, but if we are anything like you two, we know that the Dart will continue to succeed.

Love,

Managing Print Editor Mackenzie O'Guin Visual Illustrator Ellie Grever Photography Editors Cassie Hayes, Paige Powell Page Designers Maureen Burns, Zoë Butler, Gwyn Doran, Ellie Grever, Hannah Jirousek, Julia Kerrigan, Lily Manning, Gabby Mesa, Claire Molloy, Linden O'BrienWilliams, Mackenzie O'Guin, Margaux Renee, Gabby Staker, Helen Wheatley, Madi Winfield

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Features Editor Zoë Butler News Editor Lily Manning Lifestyles Editor Claire Molloy Opinion Editor Gwyn Doran Sports Editor Katie Donnellan Staff Photographers Gabby Ayala, Meghan Baker, Helen Krause, Gabby Martinez, Meggie Mayer, Riley McNett, Anna Kate Powell, Sophie Sakoulas, Catherine Ebbits Staff Writers Cece Curran, Alex Frisch, Annabelle Meloy, Katie Mulhern, Margaux Renee, Isabel Shorter, Sophy Silva, Anne Claire Tangen, Natalie Telep, Lucy Whittaker

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page design by Lily Manning

STA NEWS

Editorial Policies Ownership and Sponsorship

DartNewsOnline and the Dart are created by the student newspaper staff and are maintained and published by general operating funds of St. Teresa’s Academy, a Catholic institution sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

DartNewsOnline and the Dart will not publish opinions that contradict the teachings and beliefs of the Catholic church, whether on a diocesan or worldwide level.

Editorial Policy

The staff of DartNewsOnline and the Dart are subject to prior review by the St. Teresa’s Academy administrative team in circumstances that concern Catholic doctrine, student safety or illegal behavior. DartNewsOnline and the Dart will not publish reviews of student work or performances. Personal columns reflect the opinions of the writer, not necessarily the staff or school.

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DartNewsOnline and the Dart encourage the community to post comments on the website. Letters to the editors can be sent in the following ways: in person to Brad Lewis in Donnelly room 204; by mail to St. Teresa’s Academy, Attn: Brad Lewis, 5600 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64113; by email to blewis@stteresasacademy.org or to dartpaper@gmail.com. DartNewsOnline and the Dart staff reserve the right to edit or shorten letters for publication.

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All photos on the website are free for public use. If a reader is interested in highquality copies of photos, please email DartNewsOnline at dartpaper@gmail. com.

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DartNewsOnline and the Dart will publish corrections as soon as possible after the error is discovered.

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Class of 2017 wraps up sion rivalry in powder puff game STA seniors team up for one final game against rival Notre Dame de Sion in the annual powder puff game at the Kevin Gray Field May 22.

story by Gabby Staker | Page Designer photos by Meghan Baker | Staff Photographer About 20 seniors trickle onto the field at 9:30 a.m., Monday May 15. They’re wearing white mesh football jerseys and tennis shoes - ready to play. They warm up, tossing around a leather football and huddle up when their coach, STA athletic director Mark Hough, arrives with a duffel bag. He begins talking about post routes and tucking the ball, then sets up a basic receiving drill to test catching ability.

Practice begins.

The first six passes are completed smoothly, then senior Claire Fiorella drops hers and there’s a streak of fumbles. “Oh, I forgot what play it was!” senior Maura Knopke yells as the ball lands in front of her. “What are we supposed to be doing?!”

“It’s a light-hearted atmosphere, with girls constantly pointing out how bad they are with every loosely-thrown ball and clumsily-dropped catch.

Fiorella rotates through the drill, and on her next turn, bobbles the ball up in the air before pulling it in securely under her arm. “I’m so excited! I’m just having so much fun, I’m jittery!” she shouts as she runs it back.

The powder puff game, a recurring tradition between STA and Notre Dame de Sion seniors, will take place May 22.

It’s a flag football game - the culmination of a rivalry that’s seen Avatars and minions, 101 Dalmations and daycare, clowns and royalty. The final theme for the class of 2017: “out to get meat.”

It’s an event that has been building for the last four years - especially for Fiorella, who remembers hearing about it since she was a freshman. She thinks of herself as a competitive person, but doesn’t play with “a mean-spirited competitiveness.”

May 18, 2017

STA senior class president Gabby Ayala is in charge of organizing the game with Sion class president Elsa Brundige.

According to Ayala, there are 60 girls from STA who are going to play.

"I think the biggest challenge is trying to get everyone involved,” Ayala said. “You want everyone to play but can only have seven on a field so it was tricky to figure out how to make everyone play.

In the end it's really fun to organize. The more practices or little meet ups we have the more pumped we get to play."

Two practices and some selfevaluation lead senior Sophie Cuda to believe the team, coached by Hough and theology teacher Andrew Boland, is ready. ““Everyone can throw the football pretty far and we have some really fast people - a lot of soccer people,” Cuda said.

Cuda has been teaching all the players the dance from “Remember the Titans,” so they can perform it before the game starts. She says the idea came from looking back on freshman year and remembering that she and senior Paige Powell became best friends after realizing they both loved the movie.

Cuda is going to the University of Missouri, and like most seniors, will find herself thrown into new, serious rivalries.

Examining the dynamics between STA and Sion, however, she finds it more lighthearted than most people think.

Senior Maura Knopke throws the football during Powder Puff practice at St. Teresa's Academy May. 15. photo by Meghan Baker

“At first, when you’re a freshman you’re like oh, it’s so intense, and then as you get older, you realize it’s funny and with your friends it’s a sweet thing,” Cuda said.

“You always yell at each other and it’s fun when you’re friends with people from Sion because you can get so angry at them during a game and then it doesn’t matter [afterward].”

When asked if STA is going to win the game, she replied confidently, “Yes! Of course we will.”

Senior Claire Benge believes the game is an opportunity for girls who have never played a school sport to really contribute to the STA/Sion sports rivalry. She will be on defense, subbing in as one of sixty girls in a seven-player game. In order to tackle the 53-person bench, they’ll play in groups organized around the quarterback, going in at different times.

It’s sentimental for seniors, as they reflect back on their four years in one of their last school events, after Class Day and graduation.

“STA just seemed so big the first day,” Benge said. “And then by the end of your senior year, you just know everyone

and you feel so comfortable with the school.”

Their first day of freshman year at STA, the class of 2017 walked onto campus not knowing what to expect.

Now, on one of their last, they’ll walk out onto the Kevin Gray field, having learned it all. They’ll wear their white jerseys, Cuda will lead her classmates as they reenact the dance from “Remember the Titans,” and the game will begin - the last hurrah between two classes from two schools that have shared an incredible bond. H

Senior Ellie Brewer celebrates after catching the football during Powder Puff practice. photo by Meghan Baker

Check out the Dart's Snapchat for live coverage on May 22.

page design by Katie Gregory

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STAR SPOTLIGHT

Kamryn lanier Senior Kamryn Lanier prepares to play soccer in college after playing lacrosse for most of her high school career.

Story by Katie Gregory Scheduling Editor of Web Photo by Anne Claire Tangen Writer What grade did you start playing club soccer?

I started off playing Legends in 5th grade, and I played for them until 8th grade. Then I started playing for Sporting Blue Valley in high school.

Sophomore year of high school I played Sporting Blue Valley ECNL, which is their highest team.

What is your history with lacrosse as opposed to soccer?

I started playing lacrosse in middle school, but I stopped when I came to St. Teresa’s because I couldn’t do both soccer and lacrosse. Freshman year I did play JV soccer, but that was the only year that I played school soccer.

Then, both junior and senior year I played lacrosse at STA. What was the recruiting process like regarding playing for club soccer rather than school?

Sophomore year, I talked to a lot of soccer coaches, and I was all about the sport. However, I wasn’t talking to any schools further away from Kansas City, and I knew I wanted to go somewhere far away. That’s why, during my junior year, I stopped playing soccer and started playing lacrosse. That way I could talk to lacrosse coaches at schools further away. During

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senior year, as I was playing lacrosse, I went to a lacrosse camp for Berkeley, and the lacrosse coach there told me that if I got in, I could play. Fast forward to the end of the year, though, and I was waitlisted, so I knew I had to pick somewhere else.

Howard was always one of my top choices, and I had spoken to the Howard coach sophomore year, so we revisited and started speaking again.

He told me that they still had a spot left on the team, and I thought ‘This works out perfectly!' I knew I just had to be committed to regaining my foot skills after taking a year off. The reason I’m not playing lacrosse at Howard is because it’s hard to grow their program, as it is at a lot of HBCUs (Historically Black College/University). I’m really grateful to be able to play soccer because Howard puts a lot of effort into it.

What do you expect the transition back into soccer to be like after your year off?

Honestly, I’m not excited to start training for soccer again because I know it’s going to be really difficult. In my opinion, being in shape for soccer is different than being in shape for lacrosse. That will be hard, but it won’t be anything I haven’t done because I made the transition from soccer to May 18, 2017

lacrosse. So I think it will be difficult, but I’m ready for it.

What do you think the adjustment from high school to college will be like when we consider both the academic and athletic aspects?

I’m excited to be able to keep playing a sport in college. That was a factor into why I chose Howard over schools like James Madison University and Villanova, because I probably wouldn’t be playing sports there. I don’t think the athletic transition will be hard because I’ve grown up playing sports.

I think it may be difficult to balance my schedule, but I also have another friend going to Howard, Elexa Pierson, and so it will be nice to have her there. Howard has a lot of resources for athletes, so that will be nice, too.

How do you think team dynamics differ between lacrosse and soccer?

I think overall the dynamics are the same. Small differences are that in lacrosse, I play midfield, so I’m right down there when we’re scoring. That’s one difference I can notice, since I’m always on defense in soccer. In soccer, I’m never down there for the high fives and the cheers when you score.

However, I think both sports are overall very similar in the way that everyone is a team and is connected. H

THE MONTHLY QUESTION

BITS & PIECES

by Katie Mulhern | Writer

Teachers: What advice do you have for seniors going into college?

“My advice when you go off to college is don’t sleep or if you do make sure you have a bed rail and other than that have a good time."

-English teacher Kate Absher "Don't waste time during the day from eight to five. That is your school time, don't waste it by going to the dorm and lazing around or going to the library and not really studying."

-English teacher Stephen Himes

"Take classes you’re interested in - don’t be afraid to take philosophy or poetry or anything else, because now is really your only time to do it. Enjoy the journey you are entering, a stage of wondering, lasting anywhere from four to five to six to fifteen years."

-Theology teacher Mike Sanem

I N S TA G R A M S OF THE ISSUE Each issue, the Dart highlights students' Instagrams. This month's theme: seniors

by Cece Curran | Writer

MY LIFE SUCKS / MY LIFE ROCKS

by Zoe Butler | Features Editor

“My mom and I adopted a cat in August and he was the cutest and most loving cat ever up until recently when he began attacking me. He will literally be super sweet one minute and then the next minute he will chase me all around the house, jump at me and bite me."

“I'm going to Korea for the whole summer to visit family and take a Korean Cultures class at Yonsei University, so I can meet other people around my age and I'm not just around my family. It's a graduation gift from my family.”

-Senior Jordan Trbizan

@mknopke: "looking at each other like, what happens now?"

- Senior Gloria Mun

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID

@ha.shaw: "hey we made it!!"

Each issue, the Dart shares entertaining student tweets.

Compiled by Isabel Shorter | Writer Senior Libby Terril (@libbyytibbyy): “WAIT STOP! turn the car around! I left my heart & soul at sta:’) can’t believe it’s all over”

Senior Linden O’Brien-Williams (@ThisisLinden): "Moodle getting autocorrected to noodle never fails to give me a laugh” Senior Isabelle Gatapia

Senior Allie McDill

(@isabellegatapia):“"STA girl: have you ever

(@allisonmcdill77): “I would give anything to wake up tomorrow and

wanted hit someone with a car?

have it be the start of junior year"

Her friend: are you serious you just asked the academy woman that.”" page design by Riley McNett

@toricartee: "4 years and still going strong"

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FEATURES

GOING GREEK: FINDING SISTERHOOD BEYOND STA The Dart explores the history of sororities, the benefits of joining and the steps required to do so.

Story by Julia Kerrigan | Page Designer Photos compiled by Cece Curran Writer Darcy Sullivan, a 2016 STA graduate, arrived at the University of Kansas a week before classes started, trying to hide her nervousness. She had spent the summer updating her resume, asking for recommendations from friends and family who had been in sororities and figuring out which chapter might suit her the best. Sullivan’s head was swimming with Greek alphabet letters, GPA standards and philanthropic mission statements. She was intimidated, but kept an open mind throughout Rush

Week.

“During rush, the biggest thing is to not listen to what other people think and just do what you feel you should do,” Sullivan advised.

The process differs from school to school, but recruitment, or rush, is when prospective sorority members present themselves to their local chapters in a week long process before classes start, according to college counselor Debi Hudson. Sullivan and the other potential sorority members visit house after house, where they are interviewed and possibly invited back the next day. After each day, the girls list their top houses and the houses list their top girls. This all leads up to Bid Day, when each sorority picks their members. For Sullivan, that was Kappa Alpha Theta, or KAΘ. After that it’s initiation, charity work and a lifetime of sisterhood.

There were three main characteristics of a sorority that English teacher Lindsey Duff considered when she was rushing at Mizzou:

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philanthropy, grades and the social aspect. She found her perfect fit in Pi Beta Phi, whose literacy promoting service project and high GPA standards appealed to her.

Not only did joining this sisterhood connect her with people who would end up being bridesmaids at her wedding, it allowed her to meet people before her classes even started. Duff noted that even if she didn’t end up in the same sorority as the people she met during rush, they were familiar faces on the first day of classes.

“You don’t have quite as much anxiety over where am I going to sit, who am I going to talk to,” Duff said.

These social connections can be especially helpful since the transition between senior year of high school and freshman year of college is notoriously terrifying. Students go from being at the top of the hierarchy in a smaller community to being at the very bottom, often times in a whole new state.

Sororities are a way to make the school seem a little smaller, since students are coming from a school of 600 students, and the average medium sized college has 15,000.

“It’s knowing there are 200 women May 18, 2017

who would have my back at any and all times,” Sullivan said. “Every grade of women is there to help and talk, and in a new place, it’s really nice to have.”

Sororities aren’t for everyone, though.

While some enjoy having a support system and the positive peer pressure to achieve in school, others, such as senior Ally Nagle, don’t think it will improve their college experience.

“I know it’s not for me. It’s more rules, more money, less freedom,” Nagle said.

On the flip side of that, senior Camryn Gish has been enthusiastic about joining a sorority since she was a kid. She will be rushing this fall at Texas Christian University.

“It always seemed like that's what you're supposed to do in college,” Gish said. “Now that I'm going through the process, I want to do it because I want to get to know people through Greek Life, and be involved in the school, since I'm coming from another state.”

English teacher Jennifer Quick, who, like Sullivan, is a Kappa Alpha Theta sister, was the first in her family to ever partake in Greek Life, and loved the structure and social connection it provided her with in her years at Mizzou.

Like Gish, she was eager to join a sorority

English teacher Jennifer Quick and her sorority Kappa Alpha Theta on bid day in 1991. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Quick.

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GR EEK DICT ION A RY Alternative coverage compiled by Margaux Renee Page Designer Information courtesy of Debi Hudson

Bid

An initiated undergraduate member of a sorority.

Chapter The local collegiate membership

of a national fraternal organization.

Initiation

The traditional ritual or formal ceremony of induction that marks the transition to full membership in a sorority.

Invite An official invitation to come back

to meet the members of a chapter

during formal or informal recruitment.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz page design by Kate Jones

ABCDeFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

to make the connections she needed to run for offices and be more involved on campus. She served as a rush counselor her junior year, advising freshmen through the recruitment process. Quick fondly remembers pranking her sorority sisters over the house intercom by telling them they had a “gentleman caller,” or putting a recently split up couple on conference call.

“When you live in community like that, and you have a whole room full of girls doing that, hilarity ensues,” Quick said.

Leaving the sisterhood they’re in now seems like a huge step, but years of coexisting with other women, designing advisory tee shirts and participating in service week have made STA graduates more equipped than they know when it comes to being a member of a sorority, according to Quick. For those who are unready to leave the everyday feelings of sisterhood behind, Greek Life might be their perfect fit.

“The feeling of sisterhood is just as strong as it was at St Teresa’s,” Sullivan said. “I know every one of these women would have my back and step up whenever I need them.” H

STA alums Darcy Sullivan, left and Jamie Tholen, right pose in 2016 for a photo at a sorority recruitment event.

The two girls are both in Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Photo courtesy of Darcy Sullivan.

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CENTERSPREAD

MAPPING OUT

The Dart compiled where seniors will be attending college in the fall.

Story by Claire Molloy | Lifestyles Editor

ALABAMA

Spring Hill College Mary Keller

ARkansas

University of Arkansas Tori Cartee Molly Coble Gretchen Gleason Deidre Herrman Ally Nagle Abby Rose Libby Terril Molly Winkler

California

Occidental College Emma Winfrey Pepperdine University Katlyn Giefer San Diego State University Kelly Hulsey Santa Clara University Liz Barton University of San Diego Maura Knopke University of San Francisco Helen Wheatley

colorado

Regis University Natalie Hull University of Colorado at Boulder Karen Enriquez University of Colorado Colorado Springs Helen Krause University of Denver Molly Bird Serena Jonas

ILLINOIS

Columbia College Megan Lewer DePaul University Michaela Coleman Lily Cornell Loyola University Chicago Charlie Cornell

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Alex Frisch Jade Riedell Caleigh Wilson Northwestern University Elsa Feigenbaum Rose Genaris School of the Art Institute Chicago Cat DeRousse Southern Illinois University Gabby Wimes University of Chicago Emma Zahner

iowa

Cornell College Abby Kierst Iowa State University Bailey Briscoe Univesity of Iowa Frances Fedinets

kansas

Benedictine University Molly Muehlebach Mary Kate Randolph Emporia State University Hannah Grant Kansas State University Amy Finn Isabelle Gatapia Ellie Meysenberg Jacque Smith University of Kansas Ellie Brewer Marin Brown Raegan Coppinger Lilly Corp Katie Donnellan Gwyn Doran Payton Drummond Bailey Fennesy Claire Fiorella Kayton Froeschl Emma Lovelace

Allie McDill Emily McGannon Ashley Morris Lindsey O'Leary Samantha Panis Regan Reda Sophie Sakoulas Anessa Saladino Grace Schloegel Chloe Sutton Maria Tilson Olivia Woodbury Hannah Zastrow

Missouri

Avila University Reilly Johnson Central Methodist University Martina Florido Fontbonne University Mara Cressey Metropolitan Community College Maryland Institute Lily Levi College of Art Missouri Southern State Sarah Ferron University Yesenia Eicholz Missouri State Boston College University Claire McCann Worcester Polytechnic Institute Ellie Dayton Hannah Murphy Lizy Hagan Siobhan Rowan Northwest Missouri State Jackie Adams University of Mississippi Gina Bisacca Claire Benge Rockhurst University Anna Bresette Aimee Barthol Emily DeWitt

maryland

massachusetts

mississippi

May 18, 2017

T THE FUTURE

ohio

University of Dayton Gabby Ayala Mary Claire Connor Rose Madden Miami University, Oxford Libby Hutchinson Isabella Patterson

oklahoma University of Tulsa Molly Burns

1 2-4

University of the Arts Lily McGonigle

5-9≠

texas

10-14≠

11-24≠

25+≠

Claire Bednar Paige Powell Megan Schmidt St. Louis University Alexis Batliner Caroline McDonald Allie Prososki Kara Sarson Stephens College Alex Davis Hannah Dobson Truman State University Annie Hart Lydia Lundquist University of Missouri Columbia Anna Barone Isabel Burnett Sophie Cuda Meg Duffy Haylee Gant

Jamie Hafenstein Olivia Jackson Laura Kieffer Mary LePique Anna Moore Linden O'Brien-Williams Catherine Parra Tess Rellihan Reagan Shatto Haley Shaw Nicole Snow Macy Trujillo Madi Winfield University of Missouri Kansas City Katya Blair Emma Gustavson Maya Kalmus Gloria Mun Emma Stiles Iyanla Williams William Jewell College Cassie Hayes

pennsylvania

*number of students per school

NEW YORK

Pratt Institue Ellie Grever United States Military Academy Nicole Maus

nebraska

Creighton University Elena Engelke Claire Franey Eilis Leptein Bailey Mitchell Colleen O'Rourke Madelyn Peters Jaclynn Sparks Lizzy Williams University of Nebraska at Lincoln Olivia Ingle

page design by Gabby Staker

Texas Christian University Mary Cornell Camryn Gish University of Dallas Emma Kate Callahan

virgina

James Madison University Sarah Cozad

washington Seattle University Jeanne O'Flaherty

washington d.C. Howard University Kamryn Lanier Elexa Pierson

Wisconsin Marquette University Meggie Mayer Lauren McCann Meg Rohr Isabela Solorio Emma Swinney

england

University of the Arts London Alexandra Curtis

Undecided Jordan Tribzan

Gap year Mackenzie O'Guin

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PERSPECTIVES

THINK YOU'VE OUTGROWN THE ACADEMY? STA will raise you up and catch you if you fall -- you just have to be open to it.

Linden O'Brien-Williams Editor-in-Chief Four buildings dwarf the full, green trees that surround the grassy four corners of the quad. A fair-skinned blur drops her oversized red backpack onto one of the rounded corners of the quad, props it at a 45 degree angle, and tests the classic ground-level STA backpack lean position for the first time.

Dancing through her brain are thoughts of that weekend’s freshman mixer - specifically, how she is going to apply foundation for the very first time. She’s thinking about learning the rules of Eclipse ball, who to sit next to in the daunting freshman acting class…

She’s strategizing making friends, she’s focusing on her “huge homework load” class by class, learning to get the grade… She’s looking out at her peers, trying to name each girl.

Dancing through her brain are thoughts that matter little - she is bombarded with “new” and this is her best attempt to wrestle with the change. Each detail is one she will forget in a week, a month, a year… This is her limited perspective. And although her background is strong and firm, this is where she is for now - and she doesn’t know how much she doesn’t know.

A few years go by, and the

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THINK AGAIN. narrative changes.

This time, the fair-skinned blur is a defined young woman. She rests on a smaller gray and pink backpack. She can name her peers, her values, her knowledge… She could probably even name the blades of grass she rests in alongside her peers.

As she lays in a secure cove, surrounded by a lacy building to her back, a strong tree in front, a brick fortress to her left, her thoughts are monumentally different from those of her freshman self.

A few weeks before, she was beginning to feel that she had outgrown “high school” - the four buildings around the grassy quad dwarfed in comparison to her - she was done with the limitations, done with the restrictions. She was about ready to kick them down like a toddler destroys a block tower.

But as she rests in the cove, she feels small again. She is guided in meditation.

She thinks first of the tree above her how it overshadows her and protects her.

She thinks of her school from an aerial view - she is again a fair-skinned blur. She thinks of her city, her planet, the collection of planets that form the collection of solar systems that form the collection of galaxies that form the universe we know - she realizes how they dwarf her.

She thinks of how small she is, and she thinks of how she had no idea she was so small before learning about her planet and the universe it is a part of May 18, 2017

along with all the stuff that makes her universe meaningful.

She used to gaze up at the leaves in the well-kept trees of the quad and ponder her next class, her grades, her current state. Now, when she’s in the right state of mind, she loses herself. The four buildings of STA’s campus are not simple block towers. They are strong steps with strong foundations. Year one, a freshman will rise up to the roof of Donnelly, the science and math hub, learning the basaszes of fact and research. Year two, she leaps over to Goppert, athletic headquarters - equipped with inner and outer strength. The next year, she is ready for the deeper, philosophical, artistic encounters with the world - she flies over to the Music and Arts building. Her final year, she has been around the track, taken the laps she needs to take. She steps onto Windmoor, the newest of the buildings, the building facing out to the rest of the world.

She steps onto Windmoor, and after a year, she is ready - she jumps upward and outward. Should anything happen, though, she is not worried. She has made her way around the quad, and she knows now that the four stepping stones to get her ready to leave serve another purpose - they hold the sturdy ropes that make up the net to catch her, should she ever fall. H

LIPSTICK LEGEND A nervous attempt at selfreinvention became a symbol of my identity.

Mackenzie O'Guin Managing Editor of Print “I think I want to start wearing red lipstick. I want to make that, like, my thing.”

Standing in my mother’s bathroom at my old house the night before my first day of high school, I was 13 years old, perpetually embarrassed and about to enter a new environment in which I was virtually anonymous.

Thus, two roads had diverged before me – succumb to my social anxiety by skating under the radar as discreetly as possible or succumb to my social anxiety by creating a reputation that would precede me. I chose the latter, and knowing no one else at STA wore makeup, I knew just how I would leave an impression.

The next morning, I woke up early to zip my chubby self into my perfectly pressed plaid and polo. Just before dashing downstairs, I grabbed a silvery tube of Urban Decay lipstick off my dresser, drew it across my mouth, and ran out the door. Throughout the day, I became acutely aware of just how visible I had made myself, and almost second-guessed that decision. At my first midday advisory, a senior girl came up to me.

“I love the red lips! I saw you first thing at the ceremony, sitting in the front row, and I thought, ‘Wow, I love her, she is so bold.’”

I stared in shock. Bold? I was not bold.

I was desperate for acceptance and constantly on the verge of either yelling or crying. But, no one here knew that. In fact, someone evenhere thought I was bold, just because of my lipstick.

Immediately, I became married to the red lip. I bought it by the handfuls. There’s probably a storage closet full of half-used lipstick tubes somewhere at STA from all the times I left my little sidekicks lying on a lunch table or rolling across the pavement in the quad. In fact, I have lost so many of my Urban Decay F-Bomb lipsticks that some days, I reached into my backpack to find not a single tube at all. On those days, in a panic, I would frantically search classrooms, hallways and lockers alike for a substitute. On more than one occasion, I’ve horrified fellow students and teachers by drawing on my lips with red Sharpie. Desperate.

“Is it really worth it? Why can’t you go just one day without it?” another student asked me during one of these lesser moments.

I froze, the marker halfway raised to my lips.

“No!” I answered abruptly, “I need it.”

Sometimes, that would be met with a pitying glance. Fine. Was I using the lipstick as a security blanket? Absolutely.

Sometimes, there would be girls who would be irritated to the point of page design by Anna Louise Sih

confrontation that I refused to let go of the lipstick. How unfeminist! How lacking in constitution to need my token of confidence! Why should I need makeup to feel pretty? Well, that’s where they had missed my point. I knew I didn’t always look better for having smeared lipstick on. Many times, the red lips did not necessarily compliment otherwise un-made-up face and bedhead. Half the time, my lipstick was smudged across my face and teeth or horribly accentuating my reddened, “definitely-has-high-bloodpressure” complexion and dark circles.

But, it didn’t matter, because the day-to-day never really was about the glamour. In the everyday turbulence, I had my controlled variable, and that became my identity. I loved having a brand, I loved having a signature, so I loved having my lipstick.

Sitting in my hotel room in a shimmering red gown before my first time at the Grammys, I am 17 years old, perpetually embarrassed and about to enter a new environment in which I was virtually anonymous. My team bustling about the room, I’m 15 minutes late when my makeup artist finally twirls me towards a mirror.

“Okay, you’re done!”

I stared into the mirror with a stress headache and latte in hand.

“Wait,” I froze, “what about my lips?”

“I don’t think we should do red for this one, Mack. Come on, we’ve got to go.”

“No!” I remained stationary, fixed in front of the mirror. I saw my 13 year old self staring back. “I need it.”

I grabbed a shade of red off the dresser, drew it across my mouth, and ran out the door. I caught a glimpse of myself as the elevator door slid shut before me. I was no longer the pudgy, approval-starving kid that sat in my mother’s bathroom that night. As I strode through the hoards of tuxedos and designer dresses on the way to my seat, I had a hard time believing that girl and I were the same person.

I imagined what she might say if she saw me now. I sat down. A beautiful portrait of a woman took her seat next to me. Her eyes twinkled at me over her tattooed shoulder.

"I love the lipstick," she stated matter-of-factly. "It's very bold." H

13

LAST LOOK

SENIOR YEAR IN PHOTOS The Dart compiled photos from seniors showcasing their experience in the sisterhood and traditions throughout the year.

Photos compiled by Hannah Jirousek | Page Designer

Senior Tess Rellihan goes into the middle of a dance circle at the Walk of Fame and dances with a hula hoop. photo by Gabby Ayala

Students pose for photos in front of the Uptown Theater before senior prom. STA prom was held Apr. 7. photo courtesy of Liz Barton

Seniors Haylee Gant, center, and Caleigh Wilson, right, talk in the quad on Oct. 17. photo by Meghan Baker

14 May 18, 2017

Seniors Maura Knopke, Bailey Fennesy and Jeannie O'Flaherety dressed as the band KISS for the STA vs Sion game. photo by Katie Donnellan

Senior Macy Trujillo dribbles the ball during a soccer game. photo by Helen Krause

Junior Morgan Richards, from left, talks with seniors Molly Bird and Alexis Batliner at the annual Teresian dance Oct. 15. photo by Anna Kate Powell

For more photos, visit

dartnewsonline.com page design by Julia Kerrigan

15

IN THE DNO

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HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW ON DARTNEWSONLINE CLASS OF 2017 SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: Compiled by Natalie Telep FAREWELL TO TEACHERS: Story by Annabelle Meloy

GALLERY: SENIOR COLLEGE CELEBRATION

CLASS DAY: Video by Kate Jones, photos by Gabby Martinez

PHOTOS BY RILEY MCNETT

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SENIOR CAMPOUT STORY BY MAUREEN BURNS PHOTOS COMPILED BY LUCY WHITTAKER

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